A few weeks ago I talked about Web 2.0 marketing in my class.  People are using tools such as blogs, podcasts, forums, and social media sites to better communicate with their customers.

For example at Elfster, we have a blog and a Facebook group.   During the class Aaron Burcell discussed his go-to-market plan for Smarty Card which included both traditional marketing and Web 2.0. (Check out The Wall Street Journal's article "The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World" and "Adding Social Media to Marketing & PR" by Lee Odden).

Recently I ran across IBM's new "A Smarter Planet" blog. It is a good Web 2.0 attempt to show their involvement and thought leadership on topics such as the smart grid, smart transportation, etc.  They use a mix of text, audio, and video including this video which is lighthearted overview of the smart grid.  The format seems uncharacteristic of Big Blue and I am guessing that was deliberate. 

Aaron Burcell the VP Marketing from SmartyCard and veteran of many successful start-ups (WebTV, etc) talked about Go-To-Market planning at my class last night, great stuff.

Many good insights, but a few ideas that stuck out for me:

-spend 50% of your time listening to your customer (via customer support, beta programs, watching customers use your product, site analytics, etc.)

-being one-of-a-kind and quickly getting to market isn't everything

-really understand what your company is trying to achieve and what value it provides its customers before you can craft a go-to-market plan 

-with that identify launch goals and metrics

Aaron, Chris Carvalho, and the whole SmartyCard crew recently had a very successful launch: People's Choice Award at demo09 and WSJ http://tr.im/gZm6 and USA Today coverage http://tinyurl.com/cmmbjc