SLA 2011: Creating Groupies – Info-Pro Guerrilla Marketing » Community

The SLA Division of Government Information was the lead division for the Tuesday, June 15, 2011 spotlight program: Creating Groupies: Info-Pro Guerrilla Marketing. The co-hosting division was the Pharmaceutical and Health Technology Division. The speaker was Mary Ellen Bates, Bates Information Services.

Here are a few takeaways from the program:

We have to earn our groupies.
Take the example of the hotel maid. Do you clean the room or are do you create a home away from home for a guest?
Remember the difference between features and benefits.
What do you do that is unique and is needed?
When you describe yourself make sure it includes the why and not just the what and how.
“We don’t make the strategic decisions. We make them better.”
Maintain a value-added mindset, speak their language, develop C-suite champions.
When working with your end users, turn it to them instead of to you. Not what I do but what I do in the integrative context. Then everyone listens.
Do, don’t say.
Promote, don’t defend.
See yourself as a brand. Own your brand/public profile. Differentiate yourself. You’re building a 3-D profile. Cross-link your online personas.
“Social media puts your brain in the cloud.”
How to add value to your profile: live-tweet conferences, blog some conference highlights, share your presentations.
How to create a following on Twitter: Write so that you can be retweeted. Follow interesting people on Twitter and retweet them. Pace yourself. Don’t be flat – show dimension. Don’t post in the heat of the moment.