Marketing through Communities

I remember being the only product manager who didn't have a budget for my marketing activities. I had to be creative and my boss then gave the directive that I should do community development which meant I had to partner with trade associations and other business organizations to promote the product I was handling.

I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with the trade associations I was going to partner with so I had to do some research. I searched through Google if there were organizations that matched the market I was targeting. After identifying the organizations I then looked up the events they were doing and figured out what I could do with them.

Remember, don't be shy. It is not enough to reach out to these organizations, you have to channel your enthusiasm to them as well. Aside from that you have to determine what their needs are and what solutions you can actually provide for them. I'd say it's easier to do community development for B2B associations rather than for B2C because their needs are much easier to determine.

Anyway, one concrete and recent example I have is the Taste Asia Blogger Food Fest (done in 2 parts). My training always reverts me towards doing activities that have more impact and with the least (or no) cost. I also have to make sure that what I do multiplies its effect.

I've been blogging for a year already and I did not really expect that it would be a way for me to reach out to communities. Blogging's just a past time, something to while away my time since I don't have officemates nearby to bug (like to throw a ball with or nudge to have some coffee with during breaktime). But, it's been a big help since these are people who are knowledgeable and have the energy to teach others as well.

The Taste Asia Blogger Food Fest was an unexpected event, but brought across a message for a slew of products I'm supposed to market. It was quite easy to do since I just basically used available free tools online which made it easy for me to organize the event amidst all the other activities I'm doing. Here are some of the tools I used to organize the event:

Gmail (sign-up now!)
Blogger
Google Docs & Spreadsheets

After the event I realized I managed to talk about and use the following products as well:

Google Adwords
Google Adsense
Google Blogsearch
Youtube make your own custom channel!)
Picasa (create your albums online now)
Google Apps for Your Domain (create your own webpage free!)

Communities are important to any marketing strategy. It is also noteworthy to say that it helps in educating the market.

Happy Anniversary to An Apple a Day!