April 15, a date that Americans typically dread - because income taxes are due - seems like a perfect time to write about the intersection of social media and taxes. But not from the angle you'd expect.

I'd like to share a story with you about impatience. I know, I can hear you asking, "But what does that have to do with social media and taxes?" I'll get to it. Just bear with me.

Like many marketing bloggers, I receive my fair share of bad pitches. I suppose that makes me hypersensitive to emails in which writers indicate that they've been reading my blog and think there's a fit for their pitch. Usually the fact that they haven't commented or that they only make reference to the last two or three posts is what tips me off to their insincerity.

But let's be honest. Blogger outreach is a hard job. Unless you're already embedded in the community, you have to get up to speed with your target audience very quickly - and usually with many of them. It's incredibly labor-intensive. I really empathize with the people that are doing this, especially with experienced marketing bloggers on the receiving end. We can be harsh critics, maybe simply because we're pressed for time. Impatient, one might say.

And I can be pretty harsh. Most of the time, with good reason. But recently, I let a pitch slip by that I should have spent a longer time considering.

I received an email titled "Do Taxes and Social Media Mix?" I thought it was an odd combination, and when I looked at the body of the email, I noted that the author of the note referenced some recent posts I had made on the blog here. Rather than being encouraged that she was taking an interest in my work, I assumed it was a form email with recent topics plugged in and "social media" as the topic of my blog simply inserted into the title "Do Taxes and _____ Mix?" I immediately hit the Delete key as I thought it was a contrived effort.

I made a mistake.

It turns out that it was part of a pretty well thought out campaign for H&R Block from 360i, the agency where my fellow author David Berkowitz works. Evidently, H&R Block has a pretty sharp VP of marketing for their digital tax solutions, and she's really savvy about social media.

The campaign was pretty comprehensive, including:

• A MySpace profile


• A Facebook page


• A YouTube channel


• An interactive Web page where you can discuss taxes and download podcasts


• A Twitter presence


• And one of my favorites, a Common Craft video about Tango, their online tax solution.

If you'd like to read a couple of summaries and professional opinions of the campaign, check out Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer and Jake McKee at Community Guy. Both are positive but fair assessments of H&R Block's efforts.

The bottom line is, had I taken the time to learn about the effort a little more and been less judgmental on the opening salvo, I would have been more likely to pay attention to the campaign.

I probably would have been even more likely to pay attention to it had the author been participating in my community, used a different subject line or been a little less scripted in her email.

Then again, if I had a little more patience, these points would have been moot. Suffice it to say that patience was just a little too (dare I say it?) taxing for me last month.

Update (5/15/05): H&R Block gave a presentation this week at AdAge's Digital Bites breakfast in which they shared what they learned.

Photo courtesy of PPDIGITAL

Labels: brand, outreach, social media, Video

 Comments

 LINKS TO THIS POST

 Comments:

At 4/15/2008 9:42 AM,  Jake said...

Well, yes, patience might have benefitted you, but I think the point is still valid - you missed the mail.

Bad subject line, a lack of introduction first, and/or a lack of participation on the site all lead to you ignoring their message.

Truth be told, I almost did too. I actually deleted it but for some reason it didn't come out of my inbox (server sync issues), so I noticed it again.

Don't be too hard on yourself! :)

Jake
communityguy.com

 

At 5/26/2008 6:50 PM,  Andy said...

I think that H&R Block has realized something that very few companies have realized: that the traditional sales model has been greatly impacted by social media, especially for web-centric and Software-as-a-service (SaaS) products. While the functions within the traditional Discover, Evaluate, Purchase, and Support areas remains relatively consistent, the people and resources responsible for delivering those functions has shifted.

Think about it: traditionally a Sales Rep would be responsible for getting new customers to discover the product, help the customer to evaluate it and answer questions, and then close the deal. Now a potential customer does a Google search to find the product as well as read blogs and other customer reviews (that are not run or posted by your company) about your product. They look at your website to evaluate the product, download a trial version/subscription to decide if they like it, and then purchase through the website. You made or lost the sale without any human interaction; “seller” control over these areas is lost to the web and social media. The only area left, the only area where you still have control, is Support.

Support has now become critical to influencing the other areas. When someone does a Google search for a product you sell, you want them to see the blogs and reviews written by your raving fans because they are so impressed with the amazing customer service and experience that you provided them. Treating one customer like royalty in the short term may be more costly, but in the long term not only will you spend less on helping current customers, their free word-of-mouth marketing will help you add even more customers. Support has effectively become the new marketing. Now the question is: can you follow H&R Block’s lead and adapt to the new world of social media and marketing? I recommend taking a step back and figuring out what it’s like for your customer in the Support area, and how you can improve it.

I'd be happy to email a “How SaaS has Impacted Selling” or a “7 steps to Online Marketing” guide that I put together for my internal team. Note: I don't work for an agency & am not offering any professional service, making a sales pitch, etc - just offering free, no-strings help from one marketer to another.
- andy[dot]ridinger[at]muralconsulting[dot]com.

 

Do Taxes and Social Media Mix?

April 15, a date that Americans typically dread - because income taxes are due - seems like a perfect time to write about the intersection of social media and taxes. But not from the angle you'd expect.

I'd like to share a story with you about impatience. I know, I can hear you asking, "But what does that have to do with social media and taxes?" I'll get to it. Just bear with me.

Like many marketing bloggers, I receive my fair share of bad pitches. I suppose that makes me hypersensitive to emails in which writers indicate that they've been reading my blog and think there's a fit for their pitch. Usually the fact that they haven't commented or that they only make reference to the last two or three posts is what tips me off to their insincerity.

But let's be honest. Blogger outreach is a hard job. Unless you're already embedded in the community, you have to get up to speed with your target audience very quickly - and usually with many of them. It's incredibly labor-intensive. I really empathize with the people that are doing this, especially with experienced marketing bloggers on the receiving end. We can be harsh critics, maybe simply because we're pressed for time. Impatient, one might say.

And I can be pretty harsh. Most of the time, with good reason. But recently, I let a pitch slip by that I should have spent a longer time considering.

I received an email titled "Do Taxes and Social Media Mix?" I thought it was an odd combination, and when I looked at the body of the email, I noted that the author of the note referenced some recent posts I had made on the blog here. Rather than being encouraged that she was taking an interest in my work, I assumed it was a form email with recent topics plugged in and "social media" as the topic of my blog simply inserted into the title "Do Taxes and _____ Mix?" I immediately hit the Delete key as I thought it was a contrived effort.

I made a mistake.

It turns out that it was part of a pretty well thought out campaign for H&R Block from 360i, the agency where my fellow author David Berkowitz works. Evidently, H&R Block has a pretty sharp VP of marketing for their digital tax solutions, and she's really savvy about social media.

The campaign was pretty comprehensive, including:

• A MySpace profile


• A Facebook page


• A YouTube channel


• An interactive Web page where you can discuss taxes and download podcasts


• A Twitter presence


• And one of my favorites, a Common Craft video about Tango, their online tax solution.

If you'd like to read a couple of summaries and professional opinions of the campaign, check out Jason Falls of Social Media Explorer and Jake McKee at Community Guy. Both are positive but fair assessments of H&R Block's efforts.

The bottom line is, had I taken the time to learn about the effort a little more and been less judgmental on the opening salvo, I would have been more likely to pay attention to the campaign.

I probably would have been even more likely to pay attention to it had the author been participating in my community, used a different subject line or been a little less scripted in her email.

Then again, if I had a little more patience, these points would have been moot. Suffice it to say that patience was just a little too (dare I say it?) taxing for me last month.

Update (5/15/05): H&R Block gave a presentation this week at AdAge's Digital Bites breakfast in which they shared what they learned.

Photo courtesy of PPDIGITAL

Labels: brand, outreach, social media, Video

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