Some pretty exciting news on the Next Generation Marketing front.  Well it’s not quite news yet – more like an embryonic news nugget.

Jeff, Skip, and I got on the phone this morning to plan out our next dates.  One thing that looks more or less definite is a stop in Beckley, WV in November.  We’ll post more here and on the main site when this gets locked down and we have more news.

* I just felt like opening with some Spanish today.  Weird – I didn’t even catch any Dora or Diego this morning.  If that’s misspelled or otherwise incorrect, please let me know.  I took Deutsch in high school and college.

He’ll be live blogging the conference today to give folks that couldn’t make it – or are waiting to register for Martinsburg – a taste of what we’re discussing.  You won’t get the slides, the free marketing book, a free review of your Web site, the opportunity to network with other Morgantown, WV area marketing professionals, to meet Jeff James or twitter with Skip Lineberg…but it should give you a glimpse of how you can be more effective in your own marketing efforts.

This is good news for everyone except Paul; he hates live blogging (with good reason – it’s hard!).  Maybe he’ll post a picture of himself with a frowny face here to complement the post.  It would complement his “oooh” picture from his live blog of the Southpointe, PA online marketing conference.

Elizabeth serves as the chief marketing officer at Charleston Area Medical Center, the largest tertiary hospital system in West Virginia and is one of our guest speakers this coming Wednesday at the Charleston event. She supervises the marketing and public affairs team. View Elizabeth’s full speaker bio here.

1. What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in marketing ____ [e.g. since you joined CAMC, over the last 5 or 10 years]?

In 20 years, without question, the biggest change has been technology. The pace of the creative process has quickened, the pace of communication is at light speed, and there are new mediums to communicate over everyday.

2. How are you moving CAMC forward in terms of new methods of advertising, marketing, public relations, and measuring their effectiveness?

We have a goal every year at CAMC to create or utilize at least one new space/medium for our advertising messages every year. For instance, one year it was the banners on our campuses, one year it was wrapping our delivery trucks that go hospital to hospital, etc. This year we are exploring web driven advertising more than ever before. We continue to drive for more targeting marketing using direct mail, e-mail and other sources. As for ROI, we are always looking for ways to align our market research and our ability to put campaign effectiveness with patient revenue.

3. Do you see these new methods enhancing or replacing the more traditional means?

Enhancing. To abandon traditonal media completely is to abandon a huge part of our audience. New and old must work in tandem.

4. Which Web 2.0 / social media / new marketing applications are most exciting to you?

Probably Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and the likes because they often disguise marketing as “discussion, gossip, or cool video”. Brilliant. Marketing always works best when the audience does not realize it is being marketing to.

5. What do you think are the benefits of holding conferences such as Next Generation Marketing in West Virginia in cities like Charleston?

These conferences are a great and affordable way for people with expertise to come togther and share their knowledge. Also a wonderful way to network with other people in the business (and we are fun group overall!).

If you’d like to hear more from Elizabeth on these and similar topics, you can catch her at the Charleston leg of the Next Generation Marketing tour this coming Wednesday, May 14th.

Sign up now if you haven’t already.

Register here.

April 30 – Martinsburg – Days Inn Martinsburg
May 13 – Huntington – Pullman Plaza Hotel
May 14 – Charleston – Embassy Suites Charleston
May 21 – Wheeling – Wheeling Island Resort
May 22 – Morgantown – Waterfront Place Hotel

We’ll continue to post more information about this executive roadshow on the blog, as well as excerpts from our speakers’ blogs. In the meantime, feel free to gather more information by visiting the main Marketing Conference site or by calling 877.858.0982.

The videos were shot, edited and uploaded by the Network Learning Alliance:

The Network Learning Alliance is a virtual training environment designed to support the West Virginia Information Technology labor market which targets federal contracting opportunities. As an initiative of the West Virginia High Technology Consortium (WVHTC) Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Fairmont, W.Va., Network Learning Alliance is facilitating the education of the IT industry workforce through its partners; the Workforce Investment Board (WIB) One-Stop Centers, West Virginia University, Fairmont State University, West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and select private training providers.

This project is building the regional workforce development system’s capacity to meet the needs of a growing federal IT marketplace in north-central West Virginia. It focuses on the development of specific educational programming aligned to meet the needs of the region’s high-technology business sector.

Network Learning Alliance, through the assistance of its parent organization and partnerships, has identified a gap between the current workforce development system and the needs of the companies in the regional IT Industry. Economic analysts project that within the next 12 months an estimated 350 to 400 new technology-related jobs and support positions will be added to the regional economy. To ensure the long-term stability and growth of the region, these companies must consistently recruit and retain highly qualified employees, upgrade existing employee skills, and stay at the leading edge of technology.

To accomplish this goal, Network Learning Alliance is creating educational programming that aligns with the identified needs of the IT employers. By focusing on the latest instructional technologies, Network Learning Alliance is creating a unique educational model that will facilitate content and educational services to regional government contractors.

Hopefully, we’ll have a few clips to be able to show you before long that may entice a few of you who didn’t attend the conference to view proceedings from the comfort of your own computer chair. If you feel so inclined.

It’s a shame I can’t make an excuse to kick back myself and watch the whole thing in glorious technicolor as you don’t need to watch them all at once. You can take your time and view each presentation as and when you feel like it in chunks that are palatable to you or suit your particular schedule.

And whilst we’re on the subject of e-learning and West Virginia, Justin Seibert of Direct Online Marketing™, who gave a great presentation on New and Proven Uses for Search Marketing, has been published in the latest edition of the West Virginia Executive. I’d love to be able to point you in the right direction via a link, but it hasn’t been put up on the Web as of yet.

You’ll just have to go out and purchase a copy. (Or wait until I put the link up!)

Conference Overall:

There weren’t any major disasters just the odd minor glitch, which would need ironing out if we were to hold another. We’re talking things like the color of the font in the binders being a touch light, speaker microphones not being used by everybody and times between speakers and for lunch being a bit on the long side. These weren’t complaints across the board, but that doesn’t mean everybody wouldn’t agree if they were brought up in conversation.

The Speakers:

Overall we felt the speakers were very good. Yes, there was a problem with a couple of them being a bit on the quiet side (could be rectified by ensuring everybody was wearing their mic), but that was as problematic for me as anybody else considering I was sat at the back and I’m a bit mutton Jeff (deaf in Cockney rhyming parlance). Most people thought there was a good balance between the mix of large, medium and local companies represented and that, on the whole, they referenced and complimented each other well. Some thought there were one or two moments when things became too much of a sales pitch for their liking.

The Topics:

Too broad and too vague, or a good mix with enough meat on the bones of each presentation? That is the question. Whether t’is nobler in the mind to suffer……whoops. Obviously, those who turned up thought the topics interesting enough in the first place, but did that pad out in practice? Well, nobody really smashed the topics in any of the feedback sheets, so we’re presuming everybody thought they had inherent value. Obviously, any one of the topics could’ve lasted the whole day and in the case of several other conferences around the country, a good few days. But, this was more of a sampler plate as opposed to a full three-course feast.

So, a few questions we’d maybe like to ask to get more detailed feedback:

What did you think of the conference overall? You know, organization, binders, room, lunch, set-up, stuff like that.

What did you think of the speakers? Let’s have a straw poll…..

Did the topics match up with your expectations?

And finally, would you come to something like this again, or would it need to be shorter for you, or more concentrated, or at a different time of the year?

Also, if you have any other thoughts, please, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

#1 Articulate that each group has different goals.
While both marketing and sales want common outcomes—more sales, market share and customers—the timetables and metrics they rely on are very different. Marketing hopes to develop a brand over an extended period of time; sales tries to develop near-term revenue based on current demand.

#2 Stay on the same page—and “on brand.”
The generation, and passing along, of leads probably creates the biggest gap between sales and marketing. Marketing develops its materials based on its perceived perfect prospect, but sales may simply ignore both the prospect and brand image that marketing worked hard to create to close a deal.

#3 Respect the differences, but realize they’re working at the same “joint.”
Sales personnel greet the customer and serve the burger; marketing folks get the prospect in the joint in the first place. Both are fundamental activities to a successful business, but are managed by people with often very contrasting disciplines, personalities and even educational backgrounds. Sales needs more time to sell and negotiate; marketing seeks more opportunity to analyze and be creative with their marketing strategies—and they both should be paid accordingly.

This is very similar to what Jeff James of Microsoft will be talking about in his session: Execution for ROI: Aligning the Sales & Marketing Planets.

The session synopsis is as follows:

Marketing remains one of the least disciplined organizations within many companies, and CEO’s aren’t standing for it any longer. It’s no longer acceptable to put your finger to the wind, pray the CFO approves your budget, and then hope something good happens.

This session will cover how to

* Understand your marketing objectives so campaigns can be built to achieve them
* Segment and prioritize your most influential customers, your highest potential prospects and other key customer groupings so marketing can be more targeted
* Come to agreement with your top sales executive on what the definition of a quality lead really is
* Measure the impact of marketing that is not directly revenue related such as brand, relationship, and customer loyalty
* Measure the impact or contribution of your marketing investment across various communication channels (web, TV, radio, direct mail, etc.)

Anyone having a hard time justifying their marketing budget requests with their CFO, or feeling the heat from their VP of Sales regarding the quality of leads, should attend this session.

So, you’d better look sharp if you’re particularly interested in Jeff’s topic as he’s first up on Thursday morning.

For those of you who aren’t too sure as to who the gentleman above is, it’s Paul Gillin. Now don’t feel bad if you haven’t heard the name; Paul just so happens to be the former editor-in-chief and executive editor of Computerworld and the founding editor-in-chief of TechTarget.

He’s also the author of the book that’s taking the online marketing world by a bit of a storm: The New Influencers.

Blogging, podcasting and other social media are profoundly disrupting the mainstream media and marketing industries. Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers explores these forces by identifying the influencers, their goals and their motivations. The book also offers advice for marketers at both large and small organizations on how to influence the influencers.

The New Influencers explores:

• Why social media are now so important in consumer decisions;

• How to leverage the blogosphere to enhance your company’s message;

• Strategies for taking advantage of this new medium;

• The need for transparency and how to make it work for your benefit;

• Action items for both small and large businesses

• Whether and how your organization should use blogs, podcasts and other social media tools in your marketing strategy.

I first started exchanging emails with Paul when he kindly asked if I’d answer a few questions about The Tinbasher’s success for the book (I think it’s mentioned around page 200). I had no idea at the time who the dickens he was or how well the book was going to be received (a book review in the Wall Street Journal and an interview with the BBC are rarely to be sniffed at).

I certainly didn’t have any idea as to what a thoroughly decent chap Paul is, and even less of an idea that he cites The Tinbasher regularly when he speaks. If we’re being honest, how many specialists in their respective fields start their book talking about how wrong they were to write off the field they’re now specializing in? Genius!

Anyway, Paul is more than an accomplished speaker and has also organized the odd conference in his time, so I thought I’d ask him what could make or break a conference. He very kindly responded with this:

Conferences are vast and complex things, with many moving parts and many possibilities of failure. One bad speaker can shut down an audience for the rest of the day. Two bad speakers can kill a conference before it gets off the ground.

The key to success is to know the audience, know the thought leaders and match the two perfectly. It’s also critical to vet the speakers for their speaking ability, making sure they know how to hold an audience’s attention, engage their imagination and leave them deep in thought. The difficulty of ascertaining this important information in phone calls and e-mail can’t be underestimated.

I have the highest respect for successful conference organizers, because the job demands such high levels of organizational skill, interpersonal engagement, domain knowledge and raw creativity. Those who are successful at it are a rare breed.

If that isn’t enough to reduce your average conference organizer and speaker into a quivering, self-doubting wreck then I don’t know what will.

But, if listening to and schmoozing with the good and the great we’ve managed to assemble isn’t cranking your excitometer up past 11, you’ve also got the added bonus of rubbing shoulders with a new influencer – namely, erm, me.

I actually got to meet the chap this morning and he’s a lovely fella. As you can tell from his answers he’s most definitely someone who’s on the button. And I can assure you that he’s just as engaging as he is sharp. So, I reckon you might not only learn a thing or three but you might also have a decent little informal chat after he’s done.

Read Jeff’s full bio here.

1. With the advent of blogging and other ’speculative investments’ related to social media, how do you go about measuring things that don’t have a bottom line such as customer loyalty, relationship and brand?

I’m not sure I would agree that those things don’t have a bottom line. In some ways, the perception that things like “brand” aren’t very measurable are the reason there has been so much waste associated with advertising. It is not always easy to find a direct measurement from awareness or brand affinity to end sale, but there are effective methods for finding strong directional correlations.

The challenge today is that many smaller firms don’t – or feel like they can’t – set aside a portion of their limited marketing budgets to actually measure their efforts. Larger companies are finally beginning to mandate a testing phase of any major campaign so they can optimize their investment and test which sets of messages or media channels are working to drive financial results.

2. How can businesses on smaller budgets target their marketing more effectively?

It begins with understanding their customers better. It’s surprising that the smaller companies who have less to waste actually do less than bigger companies (who have more room for error in many cases) to deeply profile and target their customers. A small company or a company with a smaller budget should spend a significant amount more time thinking about their highest ROI customer scenario.

It begins very simply with documenting customer scenarios, or personas. Who are your most loyal customers? Who are your most profitable? Hopefully they are the same, but not always. Document what these profitable customers do, what they want, where they go. Document what they read, who influences them, what their future needs are. Learn everything you can about them via surveys, on-site visits or other low-cost tactics. Don’t just let an agency do it for you; have your executive team go out and meet customers, and they’ll be surprised by what they observe that is very actionable when it comes to targeting.

Once you have that level of customer knowledge and intimacy, targeting becomes a much easier task.

3. Which communication channels (web, TV, radio, direct mail, etc.) do you consider to provide the best ROI for smaller businesses?

That is probably a dangerous question, because it might lead someone to assume that one channel is better than the others in a general sense. In reality, it depends on a lot of things – the audience you’re targeting, the product/service you’re selling, etc. And more importantly, in most cases, research has demonstrated very clearly that a MIX of communication channels is more effective than using just one channel. Each media channel plays an important role in building a “sum is bigger than its parts” effect. For example, a direct mail campaign that is backed up by radio awareness sees higher results than just a DM piece by itself.

The Internet of course plays several different media roles – awareness, branding, direct response and search. So even within one media realm, you have to think of it very holistically in order to get the best results.

4. How do you see marketing in relation to the aforementioned communication channels developing in the near future?

Consumers have the power in today’s world. So marketing must shift to become an honest, responsive dialogue with customers vs. a one-way mass communication approach. Companies are struggling with the reality of losing this power, but the evidence is absolutely there. The most successful marketers today are the ones who use marketing to create a story that consumers want to hear and share, and one that they can contribute to. There will always be a place for quick hit announcement-style marketing (“big sale on Saturday”), but it is losing its relevance outside of a well-established customer relationship.

5. What do you think are the benefits of holding conferences such as Online Marketing: Innovations That Work in places such as Western PA, Eastern OH, and West Virginia?

I think it can only benefit companies in the region who may not have the benefit of hearing these insights in “big media” markets such as NY or San Francisco. The faster we can bring proven marketing innovations to the region, the faster companies can begin growing faster and more profitably. The opportunity to meet peers and begin sharing learning among local companies, the faster everyone will learn and be able to take advantage.