I heard a little story the other day that made me smile. One of our earliest clients, which selected Bluetext for a digital platform and website overhaul as well as marketing and social media strategy, has seen their business go through the roof since executing the campaign with us. What makes me happy is that this client was very hesitant to spend the money, skeptical about the potential results, and had never done any impactful marketing. Thinking back to this early project, I think it’s instructive to explore why working with this reluctant client turned out so well.

First, we did our homework on its industry and competitors, and designed a digital platform that demonstrated to the market that it was serious about the future and committed to the business of its customers. As a rule, when designing websites and digital platforms, you have to understand the user experience, how your customers interact with your business, and what they can and should expect when working with you. Many businesses organize their websites around how they operate instead of how their customers want to consume content. And many businesses think that a new website is merely lipstick on a pig.

Second, the client spent the money on a custom photo shoot, which we strongly recommended and helped to execute, as its products lend themselves to having their customers see them and get a clear sense for what they are going to get (as opposed to, for example, a software product). Sometimes, creating a sense of something tangible in the digital world can be very important.

Third, it got aggressive with social media in a market where it originally believed it was not important to prospects. The client committed for the long haul to develop new content and push it out via all channels.

Everyone wants happy customers that benefit from the work you do for them – in this case, a major investment which was met with skepticism has significantly benefitted the bottom line. That is the kind of success that makes me and the entire Bluetext team smile.

Bluetext is very excited to announce that it has been chosen by the Meridian International Center as its official Branding and Marketing Partner for Meridian’s 44th Annual Ball and Global Leadership Summit, to be held October 12, 2012. The Annual Ball has been named one of the top five social events of the year by The Washington Post, and attracts more than 1000 political, diplomatic, and business leaders from the Washington community. This is the first year for the Global Leadership Summit, and one of our assignments is to help make that a valuable and memorable event.

“We look forward to working with Bluetext to prepare for the 44th Annual Ball and Global Leadership Conference,” said Greg Houston, Meridian’s Senior Vice President for Development and External Affairs. “It’s vitally important that those who attend and enjoy the Ball every year recognize the value that Meridian brings to the global community, and Bluetext will help us develop and convey that message.”

Hosted by Meridian in partnership with Gallup and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, the Summit will feature presentations from The Gallup Organization and from Fred Smith, the legendary CEO of FedEx. This year’s Ball and Global Leadership Summit will be co-chaired by Mr. Jay L. Johnson, chairman and CEO of General Dynamics, and Mrs. Sydney McNiff Johnson. The Summit will convene a cross-section of international and domestic policy makers, corporate and diplomatic leaders, academics, and members of the media to explore more efficient, effective ways to address global economic and social challenges.

While the Ball is well-known in Washington, the inaugural Global Leadership Summit preceding the Ball will bring leaders from Congress, the Administration, the diplomatic community, and the corporate world together to discuss issues that are central to the challenges they are facing. Part of Meridian’s mission is to bring leaders together to interact with and learn from each other, because leaders make better decisions through shared experiences.

We are honored and excited to be working closely with Meridian on this year’s events. Our brand and marketing experience gives us a unique opportunity to help Meridian deliver to its attendees a great understanding of what Meridian achieves for the international community, and how its members can engage with the organization to further that mission. We want everyone who comes to the Summit and Ball to leave there with a greater sense of global purpose, and also to have a great time.

The Meridian Ball is one of the most prestigious annual events in Washington. Now in its 44th year, the Ball brings together policy makers, private sector and cultural leaders, and the diplomatic corps to celebrate Meridian’s ongoing efforts to strengthen international understanding through the exchange of ideas, people, and culture.

Traditionally held in October, the Ball in known for its intimate dinners, each hosted by an Ambassador at his or her Residence or Embassy, in addition to a dinner hosted by Meridian at its White-Meyer House. After dinner, all guests convene for dancing, dessert, and dialogue at Meridian House, an architectural treasure listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Ball is well attended by public officials including Cabinet secretaries, Supreme Court justices, and members of the U.S. Congress, as well as prominent media figures, foreign Ambassadors, and representatives from the international business and cultural communities.

Are you a fan of the network hit, “The Good Wife?” I knew the show was popular, but quite honestly I had never watched it until this Spring, when I was asked to help tutor the show’s writers on crisis management for the upcoming season. I did catch a few episodes before meeting with the entire writing team this month to talk about how crises and scandals are handled by professional damage control experts in the real world.

Without giving away the potential plot line, suffice it to say that one of the characters is going to find themselves in a situation where crisis management will be required. I can say that both the writers and myself learned a few things. The writers learned that handling crisis in today’s internet-driven news cycles is extremely difficult, and that there are few elements of how the story plays that a real person has control over. One of those, I told them, is timing, and the other is location. If you know that something bad is going to come out (and in television, it always does come out), then you can control when it is made public, and in which publication. If you don’t take advantage of those elements, you effectively seed the only things you have power over to your adversaries.

The one thing you don’t have control over, I reminded them, is the facts. That’s why good crisis managers look for every bit of context that they can wrap around the facts to put them in the fullest perspective. I also told them that very often, damage control experts didn’t have access to all of the facts. Individuals lie, hide information, neglect to tell you important details, and otherwise obfuscate. Never draw a line in the sand that you have to walk back from.

And I learned that a television show must have conflict, tension, uncertainty, and a limited number of characters that it can focus on. Sounds a lot like the real thing. And I won’t really know happens in the show until it airs next season.

Quora’s rise is all the buzz as the digitally savvy crowd try out the latest social media phenomenon. I find it to be a great site for research and participation. We see thought leaders from Steve Case to Vint Cerf using the tool to get there messages out, answering questions that involve their brands, and enjoying the search optimization visibility benefits the emerging platform delivers to its aggressive user base.

First, what is Quora?

Quora is “a continually improving resource of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.” Like Wikipedia, Quora is a collaborative effort, where users are meant to document the world around them. Over time, the database of knowledge should grow until almost everything that everyone wants to know is available in the system. Over the last couple of weeks, Quora’s traffic has doubled, likely making it the “breakout site” of 2011.

After extensive research, I am confident in saying that B2B, B2C, and B2G companies should become Savvy with Quora as it is likely the social networking site will become increasingly more important as part of a holistic digital media strategy. Here are some ways that Quora could benefit B2B social media engagement and further business development:

Establish thought-leadership within your specific industry

Asking and answering important and timely questions about your industry shows other industry leaders, prospects and clients that you keep yourself informed about market research and other key developments. The beauty of Quora is that it preserves its participants’ thought-leadership, as it banks questions and answers forever. Also, because attention to quality questions and answers is fundamental to the success of Quora, the Quora team ensures that you always sound professional by enforcing proper spelling, grammar, punctuation and style. People can also vote on your answers, which can elevate you to an “expert” status.

The user interface and user experience approach and how it integrates with social media is some of the genius that they deliver. Smart integration with Facebook. Sound policing systems to avoid a spam filled environment, and other smart techniques are driving great quality consistently across all topics for all industries.

Connect and build relationships with industry experts, prospects and existing clients

If you are going to use social media in your digital media strategy, you must be present everywhere people could reasonably expect you to be. I mentioned previously that Quora is on the rise. There are already thousands of individuals to connect with from multiple industries participating on the site. Like any social networking site, engagement with fellow industry experts, prospects and clients offers many rewards, including brand awareness, loyalty, promotion and business opportunities. Demonstrating thought leadership on Quora can also help you expand and develop your community based on the exchange of helpful and insightful professional information, which consequently encourages others to turn to you for professional assistance.

Also, while individuals interested in your business may not expect to find you on Quora immediately, as they may Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, it is still important for you to keep it on your radar. I am hopeful that applications like Posterous and other social shrapenal tools will integrate Quora so that content produced on Quora can be published elsewhere with ease. Keep in mind that early adopters of new media tools can get the first-mover advantage over those who join late. For example, if you are quick to answer questions related to your industry, you have a good chance of earning loyal followers, an opportunity that other businesses may miss. Also, if Quora becomes a sensation over the next few months, you will already have a firm enough grasp on the tool to be able to participate competently right away.

SEO

More often than not, people turn to Google to find answers to their questions. Quora has a solid SEO platform that ensures questions and answers from their site surface on search engines. By being a regular contributor to Quora, you have a better chance of surfacing in a search of questions related to your industry.

Get your urgent questions answered by experts

The purpose of Quora is to ask questions which require immediate answers. There are currently thousands of experts from multiple fields participating on Quora. Use their expertise to ask hard and specific questions. If you run into an issue, especially if it’s technology-related, chances are someone else has experienced the same thing at one point or another. Post it on Quora to receive fast answers and connect with others who share your experiences.

So, do you plan on leveraging Quora in your marketing strategy? Try it and let me know what you think. Its my pick for the hot web brand of 2011. Any questions?