What Gini Dietrich Taught Me About Marketing In The Round

As president of the Detroit chapter of Social Media Club, I had the extreme pleasure of welcoming Gini Dietrich as speaker at our monthly event last night. Having spent a little time with her before and after the event, I can tell you she is as personable, funny and delightful in person as her digital persona would lead you to believe. Which translates into a very dynamic speaker. She delivered a lot a great info and insights with energy and humor. One of the many Yaffe folks in attendance told me she thought Gini was in the top 3 speakers she had seen.

Detroit was a stop on Gini's current book tour for "Marketing In The Round – How to Develop an Integrated Marketing Campaign in the Digital Era" which she co-wrote with Geoff Livingston. We had a large Yaffe contingent, as this is something we try to do for our clients. I say try, because as Gini herself will tell you, it's a hard thing for any company to truly grasp and pull off. For one thing, even when people think they're all working together, they may be trapped in their own silo. And breaking down the silos is one of the keys to getting true integration in your marketing efforts.

Gini talked about two types of silos and I had never really thought about it in this way. One is the "lonely silo" which is typified by entrepreneurs, startups and small companies. You are so into the one thing you're doing that you don't think about the other areas that need attention or even realize they exist. In the lonely silo, the problem is that you're not connected to the outside world. You just need to get things done, regardless of whether you're doing it the right way or not.

The other type is the "functional silo" which happens more in bigger companies. In this silo, you have a group you work closely with on a certain account or handling a particular part of the business. You may be doing everything together and really believe you have un-siloed, but in reality, you don't know what the rest of the company is doing outside of the particular function of your group. To get out of your silo you need a core group that knows how the whole company works. It's not necessary to know how to do everything, you just need to know how all the disciplines work together.

Another interesting idea Gini talked about was creating a "Marketing Round" within your company. This involves getting together someone from each discipline within your company and having an in-person meeting. The in-person is vital to build trust. So, if you have multiple offices, this can't be a video conference or conference all, you have to meet. You then set up to have regular meetings (bi-weekly at least) that cannot be missed except in case of emergency. And you encourage the people who make up this marketing round to communicate directly with each other on an on-going basis outside of these meeting. This group becomes a great problem solving force within your organization, because they're the group that knows what's going on in every part of your organization.

I don't want to give it all away, you'll have to buy her book to get the full lowdown. But one final thought I found particularly poignant was Gini's assertion that social media needs to be and will be a part of everyone's job within an organization. Not just the social media team. Or the marketing team. Or the PR team. Or the customer service team. Everyone. We all need to take part in it and that will make our company stronger, give us advantages over our competition, create stronger ties to the customers, make the organization as a whole smarter and a myriad of other things.

It was both a pleasure and enlightening to meet Gini and hear her Marketing in the Round message. It's an important one for where we're all going. I suggest you read it, catch one of Gini or Geoff's tour stops or listen to the half dozen or so podcasts I've heard her on recently. Special thanks to Scott Monty and Ford for sponsoring the event and bringing Gini in for all of us to hear.

So, go round up some of you compatriots at work and start your marketing round. Well,really there's some other steps first, but you'll have to read about it somewhere else. Time for me to go home.

New Note: Since writing this, Gini has written a new book by the same name as her blog, Spin Sucks. I think it's one of hte best books on exactly how to use social, digital tools and your website to promote your buesinss. You can find out more about it in my review here. 

Mike McClure, well-rounded being

People photo by Deborah Edwards-Onoro

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