Workflow marketing

Marketing should be a means to generate a conversation with your customers. Engage with them, identify their needs, pains and introduce your solution and value proposition. I am of the belief that this conversation, to be successful, needs to be done within that customers particular workflow. I call this approach Workflow marketing.

Workflow marketing is introducing your product when it is needed in a prospects daily routine. Interacting at the right moment is where social networking, blogs, ratings, wikis, audio, groups, etc. are so powerful because they are becoming ingrained in our every day routine and firms can leverage these tools to interact with prospects to start a conversation.

Workflow marketing is the opposite of flooding people with information in the hopes that they will remember you when the time is right. The key is to be there when your customer is seeking what they need as they will be more open to a dialog. Obviously, this is similar to behavioral marketing and targeting but I think it goes beyond those tools because it is less intrusive, less obvious and more welcoming to the prospect.

Less with less vs. more with more

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I heard someone say "less with less" is the new mantra of the day and that people now really have to do less with less at work. Less money,time,people,energy,you name it. Does this mean you should do less marketing however? I believe that this downturn is going to really show the value of web 2.0 and the associated social networking tools and services.

Web 2.0 tools now allow you to get even closer to your customer at minimal cost. Set your blog up to let your customers know what you are up to and also shed some light into the struggles that your own organization is experiencing. Set up FaceBook pages and start/join groups on Linkedin. Start to interact with peers to see how and what they are doing with less. The key is to become more open, more public, not secretive or go into bunker mentality and "ride it out." Everyone is in the same boat and looking for help and advice. The power of the network allows you to turn less with less into more with more.

Product Development: Incremental changes vs. blowing it up

I am currently in the middle of market and customer research to support the next version of our flagship product. The product has good content but the technology is lacking. We compete in the corporate learning market, a market that is undergoing a wave of change due to new Web 2.0 tools and the retirement of the baby boomers. The Boomers are being replaced by younger workers who have grown up with technology and have certain expectations that they think should be met. Most current corporate learning products do not meet those expectations, ours included.

The question arises: do we build for the next generation of users now( blow it up) or perform incremental changes and arrive "there" in 3 years?
I personally favor blowing it up and building something completely new. The market is ripe for change with no real leader in the space. We have the opportunity to be very forward looking, something our customers expect from us. An incremental change will be warmly greeted by our customers, but not in an overwhelming, tell your friends, we have to have this sort of way. The technology is there, we just need use it!