New Marketing for the Socially Digital Age – TiE CON East 2013

Can a room full of experienced VC’s learn some new tricks about digital marketing, from the perspective of video game PR? That was my hope today as I represented TriplePoint during the 7th annual TiE CON in Boston.

It’s a conference that brings together both established and startup entrepreneurs in Technology, Life Sciences, Education, and Cleantech. I lead a boot camp with help from two other marketers, on the topic of New Marketing for the Socially Digital Age. The panel touched upon everything from Facebook and YouTube to email blasts, lead-generation, and timing for advertising campaigns.

Takeaways included:

  • Be where you belong online. If your brand isn’t appropriate for a certain social media channel, there’s no need to shoehorn it in. Example: cloud services aren’t the least bit visual, so a Pinterest presence just isn’t necessary.
  • Apps aren’t for everyone. A simple, intuitive mobile website can be more effective than even the best app. With a mobile site, you don’t have to worry about unique versions for each platform. Plus, you’re not asking your customers to find and download anything from the app store.
  • When it comes to social, don’t spread yourself too thin.  Cross-posting the same content between  Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can dilute your message.
  • Gamification is a great motivational tool. However, it’s crucial that the points users earn be redeemable for something beyond mere bragging rights. Otherwise, people lose interest once the novelty has worn off.

Marketing tactics are rapidly evolving for the socially digital age, but with a good strategy and the right team, it’s possible to harness a whole new group of connected customers.

Special thanks to my panel-mates, Peter Gracey of AG Salesworks and Praveen Ramanathan of Ayantek.