Kyle Lacy - Principal, Marketing Research and Education, ExactTarge

By Allan Maurer

Today’s world of digital marketing is not a nine-to-five job. “It doesn’t matter when you’re working, it matters when the customer is buying and using your product,” says Kyle Lacy, principal for marketing reserch and education at ExactTarget, which sells interactive marketing solutions.

“If you’re a retailer and you are not following and using social media on a Saturday, one of the biggest retail days of the week, do you have an issue? In my mind you do. If I’m having a bad experience and tweeting about it in your store but I don’t get an answer until Monday, you missed an opportunity.”

Lacy is the author of two critically acclaimed books, Twitter Marketing for Dummies (2nd ed) and Branding Yourself (2nd ed). Prior to ExactTarget, Kyle co-founded a marketing technology company, helping over 350 clients build and deliver digital marketing experiences. He is one of dozens of top speakers at the upcoming Digital Summit in Atlanta May 9-10.

At the event he’ll focus on stories about clients who used email, social, and mobile channels to attract new customers, build community, and increase sales performance.

The rise of media where people can send a live message to millions in a split second has destroyed the traditional idea of marketing communications, Lacy says.

Branding Yourself

In his book, “Branding Yourself,” Lacy explains how business owners and employees can tell a story that applies specifically to the business or owner “So people remember you for what you’re good at.”

Lacy says, “We all have stories that are unique to us and no one else can tell that story.” To tell it, he adds, “You need to understand what you do best.”

He recommends starting by writing a one-sentence pitch. “What do you do best and and want people to remember? If someone asks us what ExactTarget does, they not going to remember we’re an interactive marketing hub, so we tell a story about how a specific client uses us to generate more business.”

To be effective, you have to make your story personal and memorable. “It’s like those old sales videos where they tell you if you see a bass plaque on the customers wall, be sure to talk about fishing. It’s the same idea.

We discussed the way marketers are using Twitter, which some reports say is not a particularly good channel for sales.

“How you use Twitter depends upon your company and your strategy,” Lee says. “It can be used for lead generation and our research shows it does drive traffic. The question is whether social drives traffic to lead generation opportunities such as webinars and such. “It’s a quick communication channel we’re seeing more and more companies use for customer service or education. It’s valuable if your customer is using it.”