If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 1933)

I had the pleasure of having Julian Eisner (from Germany) in my Web Marketing class in UCSB and he kindly gave me permission to share his thought leadership on web marketing.  THANKS JULIAN!  Enjoy Julian’s words of webdom and this brilliant analogy to boost your marketing!

Author: GUEST BLOGGER Julian Eisner
It’s time to change your web marketing!

There are many reasons why some businesses still do not apply the new rules of web marketing. First, individuals as well as businesses might still be afraid of using web marketing because they feel that they lack the knowledge and the resources necessary to compete in the World Wide Web. Second, they simply do not want to change their old habits and continue relying on the marketing strategies which they always followed. However, these might not be as effective in the 21 century as they used to be. Third, the do not realize the outstanding opportunities that web marketing may provide, no matter what size the company is.  Now, what can web marketers and consultants do to help such companies to get over their reluctance towards the new rules of marketing?

My major back home in Germany is International Business Administration with focus on change management, i.e. how to implement changes within your organization as well as how to make an impact in order to change your organization as a whole. My goal is to show what web marketers do so that businesses overcome their initial aversion towards web-marketing, for whatever reason.

Therefore, the 8-step-change model by John Kotter, professor at the Harvard Business School, will be modified for the specific needs of changing a company’s web marketing.  Change management theory can help web marketers to engage businesses to proactively play a role in the e-marketplace to enhance their performance, customer satisfaction and results significantly.  Moreover, there are tips provided for web-marketers and consultants how they might support and convince their clients in each stage of the change process.

Level 1 – Creating the climate for changing your web-marketing

1. Increase the Urgency
The first thing a change manager has to do is to create awareness for change. Businesses as well as their representatives must face the fact that it is very likely more dangerous to continue “business as usual” than to take a chance and try some new ideas. Some people might come up with excuses like: “Oh, we have never blogged; our company doesn’t have a Facebook account”. But not doing something right now must not mean to never get it started! Of course, nobody wants a company to completely give up on the marketing that still works well for them. And in this early stage of the process, harsh criticism of the current practices might even add to the client’s aversion towards web marketing. However, the client must the opportunities he/she is missing by not actively participating in the web. Soon or later, his business might be pushed aside by its competitors. At the end of the stage, a client should have the feeling that time is running out and that the conviction becomes firm that something has to be done.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Evidence from outside: Come up with best-practice examples of how competitors or other companies in similar industries succeed with web marketing. Showing a client the superiority of the competitor’s web marketing certainly increases his willingness to take on action!

2. Building guiding teams
In order to build a great site, for instance, web marketers, designers and site engineers must work closely together. However, only if all parties act in concert, a great design, usability and visibility will eventually come together. Therefore, web marketers should assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort.  Maybe you have already figured out which persons in the company who are already taken with the idea of changing their web marketing. Attract these persons as key change leaders by showing enthusiasm and commitment. Key change leaders do not only carry the project, they can also help convince the more reluctant team members.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Be passionate about web marketing! Show them how web marketing helped your business to thrive. Your enthusiasm might spread over to your client.

3. Get the vision right
A vision statement outlines what the organization wants to be. Consultants should help their clients to create a realistic “web vision” to help direct the change effort.  If your client is a jeweler in Santa Barbara, your vision should not be to become nr 1 on “jewelry” in Google Search. However, “jeweler Santa Barbara” might seem a more realistic and more effective search engine term for your customer. Help to develop strategies for achieving that vision, e.g. creating great content on your site, engaging in search engine optimization etc.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Keep it simple: Make the company focus on what is essential for their business to thrive, e.g. their unique selling position, and how they can create and present customer value in the web.

Level 2 – Engaging and enabling the organization

4. Communication for buy-in
Once a clear vision has been established, web marketers now can focus on build alignment and engagement within the organization they are consulting. You can feel free to use every vehicle possible to communicate and promote the new vision and strategies for web-marketing within the client’s company.  For web marketing, communication also means introducing. Introduce and teach employees who never used web marketing and social media tools before to its advantages and benefits. Make sure to keep the communication simple and heartfelt. Get insecure employees on board by addressing their needs and providing them with help! In a second stage, employees who have experienced a sense of achievement with a social media tool might become communicators of the new approach to other employees.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Communicate with social media tools so that your client becomes accustomed to it. For instance, write a blog about your new web vision and how you are planning to enable action.

5.  Enable action
Remove obstacles to the change! For instance, if your client is lacking the technical knowledge, do something about it, either by hiring or training or think about soliciting professional help! For whatever reasons there are obstacles in your way of succeeding in the World Wide Web, work hard to change systems and or structures that work against the vision.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Help to self-help! In this stage of the change process, the client should learn to do more and more on his own initiative. The consultant should adopt a more supportive role rather than pushing the client and keeping them dependent….

Brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people! (Randy Pausch)

6. Create short term wins
In this stage of the change process, you should plan for and achieve visible performance improvements. No matter if you want to increase your search visibility, enhance the design of your web site or update your e-mail list, share the results with everybody! Make sure that the improvements you made are not only recognized by the client’s customers, but also within the organization. It’s hard for those who are still doubtful and biased about web marketing to argue against hard, visible facts.  Besides, recognize and reward those involved in bringing the improvements to life, because these employees will continue their effort once the feeling of success has confirmed their confidence in the new tools of web marketing.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Step by Step! To see how the client’s company climbs up the latter in Google search by adapting the new rules and techniques of web marketing visibly shows the positive effects of your effort.

Level 3 – Implementing and sustaining the change

7. Don’t let up
Now that you have created trust, motivation and credit for new marketing tools within your client’s organization, the web marketing of your client does not run like clockwork, but still needs to be actively and professionally supported by the web marketer. If you don’t go forwards you go backwards! Reinforce the behaviors shown that led to the improvements. Therefore, continue allocating resources within the organization for steps that turned out to be successful and monitor how the employees improve their web-marketing-skills.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Monitor and track! Implement Google Analytics for your clients to see which actions taken were successful and what the issues to focus on in the future are.

8. Make it stick
In this final stage of the change management process, articulate the connections between the new behaviors and corporate success! Now that your client has successfully adapted new web marketing tools that suited his business the best, don’t stop mentioning who much the company has improved since the time you came here. Motivate the client to continue improving his web-marketing and keep him up-to-date with recent, interesting web marketing tools that might help his business.

Tip for Web Marketers:
Keep contact with your client! Both your client and you will gain mutual benefits!

This 8-step model is a good initial guideline of how web marketers and consultants can proceed in a change management process. First, web marketers have to create a positive climate for change so that the client is willing to change his/her web-marketing. Second, engage and enable the organization with the ability to compete in the e-marketplace. In the final stage, implement and sustain the changes you achieved and focus on continuous improvement.
However, every change management project remains unique and has to be modified to meet the specific needs of every client the best.  The most important thing is that at the end of the process, your client is ready to “set sail” and explore his new business opportunities with the “web-marketing ship” you built together.

Julian – THANK YOU for a great contribution and so many points to ponder!

Web Marketing Therapy Related Links:

• What is Your Work Doing to Change The World?
• Blogging Can Change Your Career For the Better!
• Zen Web Marketing of the Day