Background
I've spent a lot of time as a "Me" marketer - nearly 15 years as a matter of fact. During those 15 years, I've done "Me" marketing at a small agency, a financial giant (Fidelity Investments) and eventually for an white-lable community company (Shared Insights/now Mzinga). Ironically, most of the "Me" marketing I did during that time was in the online/Web channel but that didn't make it "WE." If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, read on...

In 2006 right after joining Shared Insights/Mzinga, I started working on a wiki book project called We Are Smarter Than Me. The premise of the project being that we'd partner with "the crowd" to write a book about companies who were using social media to improve areas like product innovation, market research, customer service and public relations. There's a good discussion of the journey on the Open Innovators blog based on an interview I did with them so I'll spare you the details. In short, we published the book and learned a tremendous amount in the process.

From a professional standpoint, I've had the opportunity to talk to a number of smart companies (like Dell) and how they engage in conversations with their customers versus talking at them. To that end, I recently interviewed Dell's chief community blogger, Lionel Menchaca and we touched on the fact that Dell had lost their way back in 2006 and realized that they were failing their customers by not engaging them in dialogue. Their solution? Lots of  blogging and a world class conversation tool called the Dell IdeaStorm.

On a personal note, I've been amazed at how participating in communities like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has helped to make me a better "WE" marketer (nothing like watching lots of other smart "WE" marketers and PR people at work.) These social networking sites have also allowed  me to market -- appropriately I hope -- my podcasts, blogs and even my company, Mzinga. Obviously, it doesn't hurt that I can get my message out to a thousand plus influential and engaged people within seconds, but the real power of these communities is that many of these folks are willing to act as my advocates and endorse my content (just as I'm willing to do the same for them). A real example of this was a recent blog post I did titled "Hiring in a 2.0 World." Within hours, several other bloggers picked up on my post and wrote their own story about it. Within days, U.S. News and World Report did a post about it as well. A good illustration of the power of "WE" marketing at work!

What is a "WE" Marketer?
Sometimes it's easier to describe what something isn't than what it is in order to convey a concept. In this case, I'll tell you that a "WE" marketer is not someone that sits behind closed doors. It's not someone that doesn't share or include "the crowd" into their planning process. A "WE" marketer doesn't ignore its customers advice and certainly doesn't prevent them from collaborating with their company. A "WE" marketer is also not afraid to take risks and use new tools and techniques to share their message. Above all, a "WE" marketer is someone that is an excellent facilitator and understands now to most productively work with their "crowd."


How Do YOU Become a "WE" Marketer?
Although Web 2.0 tools make it easier than ever before to become a "WE" or social media marketer, it's really not about the tools. In fact, the tools often get in the way of what's most important about "WE" marketing i.e. the people. More importantly, it's about meaningful conversations with real people. Having a blog is a start but it's not enough. Marketing the "WE" way really requires a cultural commitment at the top of the organization.

The commitment starts with some simple rules:

• Partner with your customers to market your company and your products. The rock band, Radiohead, did a phenomenal job at this by partnering with their fans to market and sell its most recent album, In Rainbows, by telling them that they could pay the band whatever they wanted for the album (downloadable version).
• Engage in open and honest  dialogue through blogs, videos and other social media to talk with your customers. JetBlue did an admirable job at apologizing to its customers using YouTube when they angered thousands of valued customers by leaving them grounded on the tarmac for hours on end.
• Welcome feedback (good and bad) and be willing to do something about like Dell did on their IdeaStorm site when their customers asked them to put Linux on their desktops.
• Participate in social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and GetSatisfaction to "fish where the fish are." This may seem like a no brainer but many companies turn up their nose at participating in other people's social networks.
• Understand that the crowd is smart and not just the "unwashed masses." There are millions of people (my wife being one) who may have a passion for particular products, services or communities but lack formal product or marketing training. Procter & Gamble is doing a great job working with their "crowd" of teens and moms to create new products and market existing ones through the Tremors and Vocalpoint communities.
• Let go of your brand instead of violently protecting it. While it's important to uphold brand standards, your company no longer owns its brand. Look at Doritos who has allowed their customers to create their Super Bowl ads for the last two years.

Five Questions your Should be Asking Yourself as a "WE" Marketer
One of the things that Barry and I are working on in general to help companies (including our own) think about how to incorporate "WE" into every aspect of their business is a list of questions that you can ask yourself to see just how "WE" you really are. Answering these questions will help you determine where you are in the process and provide an end goal for where you'd like to go:

• Are you having direct dialogue with your customers through social media or your community to do market research?
• Do you rely on your customers to design, contribute and deliver your advertising and marketing campaigns?
• Are you encouraging your customers to act as its marketing agents using social media as its primary means of communications?
• Are you allowing your customers to contribute to your brand in order to make it more relevant and meaningful?
• Are you enabling your customers to comment on your product and service, rate them, and make suggestions for improvements?

Benefits "WE" Marketing
There is no doubt that being a "WE" marketer comes with risks. It also takes a lot of work but in the end, it is our belief that the benefits far outweigh the extra work. For starters, companies that are using "WE" marketing should see:

• less expensive, richer market research
• better, cheaper product innovation
• more engaged customers who are actively listening to your messages and helping you fine tune those messages
• a means for passionate customers to actively market your company
• more successful product launches with greater adoption rates

How to Start Being More "WE"
Getting started really begins with your company's willingness to engage in open and honest conversations with your customers (and employees). Some companies get this, many do not. If you're one of the lucky ones, and your culture is already aligned with the philosophy of "WE", there are really two routes that you can go to begin your community marketing efforts.

The first way is to begin engaging through external communities like Facebook, LinkedIn or GetSatisfaction or even YouTube. The second way is to start building community for yourself by either partnering with community provider like Mzinga or going the DYI route with some free social media tools like a blog, discussion forum or wiki. Either way, it is KEY that you designate someone with social media/community experience to help you on your "WE" journey. Many companies ignore this step and assume that "if you build it, they will come." This may work at first but over time they won't come back.

So how does your company stack up?  Like my colleague, Dave Wilkins, said in his recent post about From Human Resources to Human WE-sources, our company is still getting there. We have our moments like the day we used Twitter to help announce our purchase of Prospero. We'll make it eventually. Will you?