How to Harness Your Customer's Marketing Power
Are You Ahead of the Social Media Curve?
If you’re not, register now to see Jackie Huba, co-author of Citizen Marketers - When People Are the Message, speak at the Radisson Hotel in Greentree on Friday, April 13th.
Social media has given consumers tremendous power, and increasingly it's the public—not you—that controls your organization's message and reputation. A solitary citizen today with a blog or podcast has a substantially better chance of influencing the public's perceptions of billion-dollar corporations than ever before. Social media are enabling the fusion of pop culture with traditional marketing, and it's causing all manner of disruption.
Citizen Marketers
Citizen Marketers, a new book by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, outlines a common architecture for understanding the role and influence of the everyday person as citizen marketer, entertainer or information source. It is a guide to understanding the significant changes caused by social media, specifically through blogs, bulletin boards, YouTube, MySpace, Google and community forums.
Here is what the experts are saying about Citizen Marketers…
"An insightful explanation of how the Internet has armed the consumer -- which is to say, everyone -- against the mindless blather of corporate messaging attempts... Drop everything and read this book."
-- The Wall Street Journal
"Citizen Marketers has really inspired my thinking and the direction I am taking with my marketing team. Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell have convinced me of the way to engage today's consumer and provide a roadmap for how to do it."
-- Cammie Dunaway, Chief Marketing Officer, Yahoo
"In the Internet age, the medium is no longer the message. As Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba show in this extraordinary book, people are now the message. Tens of millions of intrinsically motivated, self-expressive amateur content creators are overturning the old marketing orthodoxies. Citizen Marketers is a brilliant guide to this new landscape. It bursts with so many fresh insights and so much smart advice, you'll need a second highlighter."
-- Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation
Since 2001, Jackie has been researching the effects of word of mouth on customer loyalty. Forbes Magazine calls her work in this field "the word of mouth gospel" and on April 13th, she will dynamically discuss the significant changes caused by social media and how marketers can use them to engage consumer "Filters, Fanatics, Facilitators and Firecrackers!"
Here are a few statistics that demonstrate the impact of social media:
- By March 2006, Pew estimated 48 million Americans were regular online content creators.
- About 41% of all cell phone owners use them as content tools.
- By July 2006, 50 million blogs were created and their number was doubling every 6 months.
- By 2006, 10 million people listened to podcasts; by 2010, estimates are 50 million people.
- About 100 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube; about 65,000 uploaded daily.
- In 2006, MySpace had over 100 million registered members, most of them from the U.S.
Citizen Marketers makes the case that the distributed, power-sharing nature of social media is a reflection of the ideals of democracy, where liberty, free speech and freedom of association are its ruling principles. Positioning, message delivery and reputation management are in the hands of the populace, where anyone can be a publisher or broadcaster. People are creating content about products and services whether companies like it or not. Citizen Marketers examines and classifies the work of everyday people who build content on behalf of products, brands, companies or people and provides ideas on working with them. It's ideal for anyone hoping to convince colleagues, coworkers or clients about the broad and tactical changes social media are having on business, marketing and popular culture.
Whether you target consumers or businesses, your customers are influencing each other in ways that were never before possible. The result is that traditional marketing strategies are becoming less and less effective. To win in 2007 and in the future after 2007, you not only must understand the shift that's taking place, you have to be able to adapt your strategy to take advantage of these new opportunities.
Please join us April 13th and hear Jackie Huba explain the radically active role customers are taking in the marketing process, and how you and your company can succeed with new media-blogs, chats, web forums, and much more.
In this lively seminar, you'll learn how to how to harness the increasing marketing power of your customers from one of the leading social media experts in the world and leave inspired with new perspectives and solid tools that you can apply immediately.
Registration Information
When: Friday, April 13th 7:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Where: Radisson Hotel - Greentree, 101 Radisson Drive Pittsburgh PA 15205
Registration: $50 Online Registration, $75 at the door
BONUS: FREE autographed copy of Citizen Marketers A $20 Value!
Special Rates: Special group rates available for companies and associations. Contact Stephen Wayhart for details at 412.401.0555 or stephen.wayhart@brandmill.com.
Program Agenda
7:00 - 8:00 a.m. Registration, Networking and Continental Breakfast
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Keynote by Jackie Huba, co-author Citizen Marketers
9:00 - 9:30 a.m. Audience Discussion, Q&A
Register today - book quantities and seats are limited.
About Jackie Huba
Jackie Huba is the author (with Ben McConnell) of "Citizen Marketers: When People Are the Message," for which the Wall Street Journal proclaimed, "drop everything and read this book." She is also the author of "Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force," which the New York Times called "the new mantra for entrepreneurial success" and the co-author of the Church of the Customer blog.
As a speaker and business advisor, Jackie has worked with Whirlpool, Discovery, Yahoo and American Express as well as thousands of small and medium businesses at association conferences. Previously, Jackie led B2B marketing efforts for 12 years at IBM in its software division. She is a board member of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, a native of Butler, PA, a graduate of Penn State University and an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan.
Her work in researching passionate customer loyalty has been profiled by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Fortune, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report, the Financial Times, Fast Company and several thousand blogs.
Stephen Wayhart - Moderator
For more than 20 years, Stephen Wayhart has built a solid reputation as a strategic marketing campaign maker from his Ad Agency days with General Motors’ Cadillac and Oldsmobile Dealer Marketing Groups to McDonald’s Corporation to helping launch Sprint PCS. As principal of BrandMill, he has consulted with MARC USA, Allegheny Energy, EDMC, Ford Motor Company, Kennywood Entertainment, Vocelli Pizza, Sprint PCS and True Value Hardware.
Key achievements include creating the initial marketing plan for “The Club”; leading McDonald’s most successful public relations event, “Big Mac’s 25th Anniversary”; launching Baja Fresh Mexican Grill in Pennsylvania and “In the Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf” television show on The CW in Pittsburgh.
Stephen serves on several non profit boards and is President Elect of American Marketing Association – Pittsburgh Chapter, and Marketing Chair of the American Cancer Society of western Pennsylvania. He received his BBA in Marketing from Kent State University and earned his MBA in Marketing and Management from Duquesne University.
