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Online Marketing News: Social Goes Global, Twitter Gets New Digs, Instagram For Business, New Panda Update 5 October, 2012, 4:10 am
The Meaning of Like: How Smart Devices and Social Analytics Are Transforming Retail This recent infographic from Symphony Teleca shares some very insightful information on the ways that consumers use devices to make purchasing decisions, and the ways that companies can measure these trends. Going Global: Insights for International Social Media With more companies receiving service requests from outside the continental US this article examines how best to approach a global social media strategy. Via Search Engine Watch. Google patents smart watch with flip-up display that could reveal everyday objects’ secrets The watch would present notifications and other information transmitted from your smartphone at a glance. There are also claims that the watch could channel a plethora of other Google apps, like Gmail, Goggles, and Maps. Via engadget. Twitter Gets A New Home The new office for Twitter boasts approximately 315,000 square feet and includes a spacious cafeteria (dubbed “@birdfeeder”), a Zenlike yoga room, and a rooftop deck for employees to bask in the sun – and even to garden. Via Inc. 10 Creative Ways to Use Instagram for Business Social sites like Pinterest and Instagram present a unique challenge for businesses. Finding a way to create customized content for these platforms is not always easy. This article gives marketers 10 creative ways that their business can use Instagram. Via Social Media Examiner. TopRank Team News Mike Yanke – Panda Update Goes Live Impacting More than 2% of Searches Search Engine Land reported today that a new Google Panda update has gone live impacting nearly 2.4% of English language searches. Still being rolled out as of this writing, this change is due to once again target low quality sites. Unlike other updates, however, this latest change is an algorithm update, rather than a data refresh, meaning the change is expected to be noticeable. Mike Odden – Apple Turning to Select Retail Store Employees to Help Improve Maps for iOS 6 MacRumors has learned that Apple is piloting a program to tap into its vast number of retail store employees to help improve the company’s new Maps app for iOS 6. Via MacRumors. Shawna Kenyon - Redesigned LinkedIn Brand Pages Are Now Available to All Companies LinkedIn announced the revamp of all brand pages to roll out to all companies. These changes will include large cover photo, similar to Facebook and make updates more visible. Via Mashable. Jolina Pettice – Pinterest: 5 Tactics for This Visual Social Media Mecca Check out this 5 step strategy to ensure your Pining is on track to yield measurable results. Via ClickZ. Evan Prokop - That’s a First: NASA’s Curiosity Rover Successfully Checks Into Foursquare From Mars It’s one small step for Foursquare, one giant leap for social media, as NASA’s Curiosity rover becomes the first to check in from another planet. Via TechCrunch. Brian Larson – Search Engine Taste Test Not to be confused with the cheesy cheerleader film, Bing launched the campaign ‘Bing It On’ that allowed participants to compare the search results between Bing and Google. The results may surprise, with 33% of self-proclaimed Google users stating that they would use Bing more based on the head-to-head comparison. As this article from Search Engine Land outlines, searchers say that they’ll change search engines, but whether or not they follow through is a whole different story. Via Search Engine Land. Time to Weigh In: What do you think of Twitter getting a tax break for building their office in a specific SF neighborhood? Has your company started using Instagram? If so, what have been the results? Have you experienced any ranking decreases from the dreaded Panda? Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Online Marketing News: Social Goes Global, Twitter Gets New Digs, Instagram For Business, New Panda Update | http://www.toprankblog.com
MarketingProfs B2B Forum: Integrating Social Media & Content to Optimize the Sales Funnel 4 October, 2012, 4:30 am
The importance of integrating earned, owned, paid and shared media couldn’t be any greater and this week I’ll be giving a track keynote at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum conference in Boston on just that. My presentation will focus on the essential strategies and tactics for sales funnel optimization success with content, search and social media marketing. To get things started, here are some handy general stats on search, social and content marketing plus quite a few specifically for B2B marketing: 50 Billion – By 2020, Ericcson predicts there will be 50 billion internet connected devices. The world population is estimated to be at around 7 -8 billion. Social Media Marketing: 60% of B2B decision makers use social media, according to a Global Web Index study reported by Social Media B2B, late 2011. More B2B marketers use Facebook (87%) than LinkedIn (86.6%) says Social Media Examiner in it’s 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. With a normal allotment for error with such surveys, it’s basically the same. Only 40% of B2B marketers measure social media ROI reports BtoB Magazine in its report, “2012 B2B Social Media Marketing: A Surge in Adoption.” Search Engine Marketing: 63% of Internet users, use search engines daily according to eMarketer’s report in 2012, “Search for Branding: Tools for Better Campaigns”. Interestingly, 2.5% never use search engines. 89% of consumers surveyed use Internet search engines to make purchasing decisions, according to the “2012 Digital Influence Index” report from Fleishman-Hillard. 81% of consumers’ perceptions about a company are influenced by search results, according to the respondents worldwide in a study from PR agency Weber Shandwick reported by eMarketer, 2012. 23 Billion. The search marketing industry association SEMPO reports that $23 billion will be spent on search marketing in 2012 as reported by Search Engine Watch. Content Marketing: 90% of B2B marketers are using content marketing tactics to grow their business according to the joint “2012 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” (PDF) report from MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute. Top B2B Content Marketing Tactics (Content Marketing Institute 2012) 79% Article posting 74% Social media 65% Blogs 63% eNewsletters 58% Case studies 56% Live events B2B Buying Cycle: Content, Devices and Formats (DemandGen Report 2012) How B2B Buyers Start: 81% search engines 35% vendor website 34% industry guides & reports 23% social media Devices Most Used: 84% laptop 61% mobile phone or tablet 30% desktop Formats Sourced: 88% white paper 73% webinar 67% case study 63% blog posts 51% ebook Despite the sheer number of marketers looking and talking about them, there simply are no silver bullets. There is no “one way” to solve most online customer acquisition and sales challenges. Usually, there are numerous ways to solve a particular marketing problem depending on resources, timeframe, competitive landscape and skill. The key to integration of content with search and social media optimization across the sales funnel is to understand the customer journey. What problem is the buyer trying to solve? What are their goals? How do they discovery information online? What are their preferences fo content, media and device? What kind of content and media will motivate them to take action? Understanding the customer journey empowers digital marketers with insight for creating a content marketing strategy that maps prospect interests with topics and an editorial plan. It enables marketers to architect a story that infotains, educates and persuades prospects to the next step in the sales cycle regardless of where they enter. Continuous optimization provides a framework for hypothesis, implementation, and refinement to collect actionable data and refine performance whether tactics involve blogs, SEO and online PR or social networks, mobile ads and email marketing. Besides a more customer centric approach and the importance of storytelling, elevating optimization from a mix of keywords and links to continuous marketing performance improvement is probably the most significant realization a search marketer can make. As I mentioned above, I’ll be sharing a framework for creating a content marketing strategy that incorporates a practical approach to search and social media optimization that attendees can start using as soon as they get back to the office. Here’s the official description: Friday, Oct 5th – 8:15am-9am Lead Generation & Nurturing Track Keynote “Integrating Content, Search & Social to Optimize the Funnel” Content flows in every direction throughout a variety of platforms, formats, and devices. The mass adoption of the social and mobile Web has facilitated a revolution of information access, sharing, and publishing. Google handles over 11 billion queries a month. There are over 65,743,590 blog posts published each month. And, more video is uploaded to YouTube in that time than the three major US networks created in 60 years. Result? Competition for attention on search engines and the social Web is fierce. In this environment, guiding customers through the sales cycle requires an integrated approach to content, optimization, and social media marketing. Join us for this lead generation and nurturing track keynote as SEO and social content expert Lee Odden discusses how to optimize the sales funnel to attract, engage, and inspire customers to buy. You’ll learn: Three key principles of customer-centric content marketing A framework for an optimized and socialized content marketing program How to plan search and social content across the sales cycle Essential KPIs and business outcomes for social SEO and content marketing As always, anyone that liveblogs the session will get a copy of Optimize. I hope to see you there! Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | MarketingProfs B2B Forum: Integrating Social Media & Content to Optimize the Sales Funnel | http://www.toprankblog.com
Google Analytics Guide: 4 Easy Tips For Getting Started With Analytics & Website Goal Setting 3 October, 2012, 4:10 am
So, you’ve taken the important step of setting up a Google Analytics on your company’s website. Implementing Google Analytics is an essential part of gaining insight for improving the customer experience, and improving profitability for your organization. As they say, what gets measured gets managed. However, when you log in, you are met with a sea of data covering nearly every conceivable web metric, a lot of them which you’ve never even heard of. You may be able to find the information you want, but it most likely involves a lot more time and frustration than it needs to. The wealth of data available in Google Analytics can be a double edged sword. On one hand it’s great to have access to the depth of information that is available, but the fact is that a lot of that data is simply not relevant to most businesses, and in fact complicates the analytics process by hiding the most important metrics. Worst of all this data can be misinterpreted, which can result in drawing incorrect conclusions. The four tips below will help you get the most out of your analytics program by cutting through the clutter, focusing on the metrics that matter, and saving you tons of time! *Specific implementation instructions are in reference to Google Analytics, but the tips below are relevant to all analytics programs. Filter Irrelevant Traffic Make sure you are getting the most accurate data you can by filtering out as much irrelevant traffic as possible. In order to get an accurate baseline, it’s a good idea to set up filters as soon as possible. Some good filters to start with are: Traffic from your company’s internal IP addresses. Remote employee IP addresses. External consultants or venders, such as outsourced web development or marketing teams. Your home IP address if you plan on checking your website from home. Keep in mind that filtered data cannot be recovered retroactively, so be careful. A good safeguard is to set up two profiles and apply filters to only one of them. That way you can recover any lost data if you make a mistake. Set Up Goal Tracking Goal setting is a very important part of planning your website. Whether your website’s goals are to sell products, answer customer service inquiries, capture leads, or get visitors to view a certain number of pages, the goals for your website should reflect your overall business goals. Measuring your site’s performance in regards to goal completions is the most important application of web analytics, so it’s essential that you setup goals as early as possible. Your website’s specific goals will probably vary, but the following five are a good place to start: Sales Feed subscriptions Call back requests Lead captures Blog comments Set Up Custom Alerts Analytics are like your email inbox. They both yield lots of important information, but constantly checking either one is a sure to cause you some serious stress. Custom alerts allow you to rest easy between analytics sessions by alerting you to significant changes in important site metrics. Some good custom alerts to start with are: Big fluctuations in traffic (both positive and negative). Large rises and drops in goal conversion rates. High bounce rate. Changes in Adwords spend (for linked accounts). Create Custom Dashboards Custom dashboards are great time savers because they put your most important analytics data front and center. Unlike the previous tips, you may want to wait until you are comfortable using analytics before putting together your first set of custom dashboards. You will have a better idea of which combinations of metrics will be most useful to have at a glance. The initial tendency is to put way too much information in your dashboards, which defeats the purpose. You can create up to 20 custom dashboards per profile, so don’t limit yourself to just one. You will find that certain combinations of data naturally make sense to be reviewed together – and deserve their own dashboards. Some examples are: Traffic: total, sources (organic, paid, referral), and top keywords. Goal tracking: sales, subscriptions, downloads, comments, etc. Visitor behavior: page views, bounce rate, new vs. returning, and time on site. You can take it a step further by creating custom dashboards for specific roles within your organization, such as sales, marketing, and of course, your boss. Not only will your co-workers appreciate the favor, it may even save you some work digging through analytics to answer their questions. What are your essential Google Analytics tips and tricks? Feel free to leave them in the comments below. Analytics Image provided via Shutterstock. Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Google Analytics Guide: 4 Easy Tips For Getting Started With Analytics & Website Goal Setting | http://www.toprankblog.com
Optimize Your Internal Communications – 3 Tools to Improve Communication & Collaboration With Employees 2 October, 2012, 4:15 am
The Internet is overrun with tools and applications promising to make your life easier, create efficiencies, and save your company money. When it comes to marketing automation and customer relationship management most companies are taking steps towards simplifying and organizing their process. Effective communication between teams and offices is still somewhat behind the curve. While some companies are using remote desktop servers for storing information, others have transitioned to file sharing on the cloud. Miscommunication can affect the way that your teams work together, and ultimately the profitability of your organization. On the flip side, a group of employees that can communicate effectively is more likely to wrok together to solve problems and share helpful information with their co-workers. In this post I’ve included three tools to optimize your internal communication strategy. #1 – Yammer What is Yammer? Yammer is an internal social networking and document storage tool designed for companies to use for knowledge exchange. Who is Yammer for? When working with Yammer it depends on how you setup the program. As the administrator you can create different groups for different departments so that everyone’s stream does not get cluttered with information that does not apply to them. If you do not segment your teams in some fashion you may run the risk of overloading your employees with too much information. How much does Yammer cost? Basic Network: Free Business Network: $5 per user/month Enterprise Network: $15 per user/month Review of Yammer Working in the Internet marketing industry, our team has to be innovative and quick on our feet. We’ve found that Yammer provides a great way to share updates with specific team members, praise teammates for a job well done, and create a repository of case studies and stories to share with our clients. We’ve only scratched the surface but if you’re looking for additional Yammer features take a moment to visit their website. #2 – Salesforce Chatter What is Salesforce Chatter? Chatter is a social collaboration tool that allows users to setup profiles, share status updates, and share files in a secure and private environment. Who is salesforce Chatter for? Chatter’s basic platform is for companies looking to begin sharing information internally. However, Chatter is best used by companies that are currently using Salesforce.com as a lead management program. If you have a sales team, Chatter is an excellent choice for communicating since it is already integrated with your Salesforce data. Integration with Salesforce can create a hub for your salespeople to review dashboards, discuss leads, and run custom reports. How much does Salesforce Chatter cost? Chatter: Free Chatter Plus: $15 per user/month Review of Salesforce Chatter While Chatter doesn’t require that each team member have a Salesforce license its features are most beneficial for team members on Salesforce. You can begin using Chatter to organize your monthly meetings, follow up with team members on their sales goals, and share achievements of your team that are directly tied to the system responsible for lead management. #3 – Skype What is Skype? Skype enables users to communicate via text, phone, and video all in one application. Who is Skype for? If you’re looking for low cost (free) video conferencing solutions with individuals and now groups, Skype may be a good option for your organization. While not as socially robust as the other two internal communication platforms in this post, you’ll find that Skype is easy to use and provides unique conferencing features. How much does Skype cost? Standard Video Conferencing: Free Unlimited: $2.99 per user/month Review of Skype Our team has not had an opportunity to test Skype’s new “Group Conferencing” features, but we look forward to doing so. If you have a client that you’d like to meet with “face-to-face” or an employee who works remotely, Skype is a fantastic tool for making a connection that is more than just a voice on the other line. If you’re collaborating with someone outside of the office, I’ve found that Skype is a great tool for putting your heads together for a project. I would always recommending setting up a demo and testing the free version of any communications platform before purchasing to ensure that it meets your organizational needs. I’m curious to know what tools or processes your team has implemented for internal communications, and what the results were: good, bad, and ugly. I’m looking forward to seeing how different companies handle communicating with employees. Instant Messaging Image provided via Shutterstock. Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Optimize Your Internal Communications – 3 Tools to Improve Communication & Collaboration With Employees | http://www.toprankblog.com
B2B Marketing Innovation: The Truth About Influence in B2B Marketing from Master Strategist Paul Gillin 1 October, 2012, 7:16 am
The final interview in our series on B2B Marketing Innovation comes from Paul Gillin, a veteran journalist, author and strategist. He’s the author of several books on new media including, Social Marketing to the Business Customer, with Eric Schwartzman. Paul is giving a sold out workshop and an interactive presentation on influence. In this interview, Paul shares the truth about the role influence plays in B2B Marketing, the importance of community building, common mistakes with marketing planning, deciding on the right tactical mix and his favorite B2B Marketing tools. Please tell us a little about you and the kind of b2b marketing work you’re most excited about. Solve any tough ones lately? I’m not a tactician or an agency, so I work with people at the strategy level. In most cases, this involves speaking to groups or doing one-on-one training with a small group of managers. I don’t really solve problems as much as give them insight that they can use to solve their own problems or grow their businesses. I’ve worked with B2B companies since my earliest days as a consultant. The first few years were tough. Audiences were mostly 50-something men who had been in the business for years and who saw no need to change tactics that had worked for a long time. There was a lot of skepticism in the room, and I sometimes left those meetings feeling like I had accomplished little. Over the last year to 18 months that has all changed. I find even the older audiences to be very receptive to understanding the new language of online relationships. Many are frustrated by their lack of knowledge, but they know the world is changing and they’re eager to get on board. These veteran executives aren’t stupid. Their early skepticism reflected a “show-me” attitude. Now I think the markets are telling them that the terms of business have changed, customers are more empowered and they need to engage through new channels. The real satisfaction is when you see a company president come on board fully and exhort his (it’s always a ‘he,’ I’m afraid) people to get behind him. That’s when things really happen. At the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum you’re participating on the “Social Media Influence – Who’s Got It, How to Find Them, and What to Do Next?” panel. Please share 3 practical takeaways from your presentation about influence and B2B Marketing. My co-presenter, Alan Belniak, is a master of the tools of influence measurement and he’s also got practical experience in influencer relations programs. I’m less knowledgeable about the tools, but changing influence patterns were the subject of my first book back in 2007 and have always fascinated me. I’m going to tell stories about people who are influential online and why it’s worth engaging with them. I have several interesting examples. Takeaways will be: 1. Anyone can become influential in nearly any area today using low-cost publishing tools like blogs, podcasts, Twitter, e-books and others. This can happen very quickly. It used to be that influence was determined by the size of your circulation list or your broadcast reach. Today’s it’s determined by your knowledge, passion and willingness to share. 2. Influencers can benefit businesses in many ways. They’re a great feedback channel because they’re smart and they care. They can also be an excellent early warning sign of problems. 3. Influencers are NOT media and shouldn’t be treated like media. While I recommend that they be included in media communications, there are some important differences between reporters and expert bloggers. I’ll outline a few in the session. An essential part of building a business online is to attract and engage a community. What are your most practical tips that companies and brands should consider for connecting with and cultivating fans? What role does influence play in developing a community? Start with what I call the “give to get” proposition. The more you share your knowledge and expertise, the more you build credibility that builds trust. Trust is what oils the wheels of commerce these days. Be patient. Communities can take a long time to build, even years. You need to invest a lot of time at the front end stimulating conversation and answering questions. The reward comes when the community reaches a tipping point and becomes self-sustaining. That’s when you can reap the benefits of insight and word-of-mouth promotion that come from having a great community. Celebrate your contributors. The people who are most active in your community are like gold. They help encourage others to participate. Promote them, thank them and shower them with praise. They are your most valuable allies. Developing a solid b2b marketing plan takes research, and understanding of the customer goals, pain points and journey. What are some of the most common myths or mistakes you’ve seen with b2b marketing planning? Any tips on how to be more successful? I see a lot of B2B companies going into social media without the faintest idea of why they’re doing it. They’re on Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest and when you ask them why they say it’s because they have to be there. I don’t believe that’s the case. You should choose social channels based upon what your customers are doing, not whether it’s fashionable to be there. Your comment about pain points is also important. When you ask B2B companies to describe their customers, you often get back demographic profiles. That may work for direct-mail campaigns, but when building relationships in online channels you need to understand psychographics: What motivates them? What do they fear? AHow can you make them more successful or ease their pain? That’s the key to developing content and a voice that resonates with them With all the hype in the business marketing media, it’s tempting for companies to chase trending b2b marketing tactics like visual marketing or social networking. How do you decide what the right b2b marketing tactical mix is for companies that you work with? Study your customers’ behavior. Track the most important buying indicators on your website. Call up your customers and interview them. Ask them who influences their decisions. Invite them to step you through their process of researching a hypothetical buying decision. You don’t have to do this 100 times. If you conduct 10 in-depth interviews with customers, you’ll get a lot of useful data that can guide you in deciding where you should be and what you should do. Companies that are in search of business growth with limited resources can often close part of the gap with tools. What tools do you recommend for B2B marketers (or marketers in general) to get more out of their online content and social media investments? In many targeted B2B communities there aren’t good prospect lists, so you have to make it easy for people to find you. I’m a big fan of blogging for B2B companies. Blogs are great tools for demonstrating expertise in targeted areas. As you know, search engines love them. Writing a blog about a focused topic and updating it regularly is one of the fastest ways to rise to the top of search engine results. I also encourage B2B marketers to become familiar with LinkedIn. It’s a great prospecting tool because it can show you new ways to reach the buyers you seek. It opens all kinds of back doors into companies that you didn’t know were available. Thank you Paul! Be sure to check out Paul and Alan’s session, “Social Media Influence—Who’s Got It, How to Find Them, and What to Do Next?“, at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum this week on Thursday 10/4 from 9am to 10:15 am. Space is limited to 40 to encourage interaction. Also be sure to check out the my session on 360 degrees of optimization with search and social media marketing: “Integrating Content, Search & Social to Optimize the Funnel” – Friday, October 5th at 8:15am. For a great collection of 33 tips on B2B Marketing Innovation, don’t miss the free download: B2B Marketing Innovation eBook. Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | B2B Marketing Innovation: The Truth About Influence in B2B Marketing from Master Strategist Paul Gillin | http://www.toprankblog.com
Online Marketing News: LinkedIn Adds Endorsements, Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly, Myspace Previews New Design, Twitter Opens Content to Search 28 September, 2012, 12:30 pm
The Ecosystem of Lifecycle Marketing This infographic from RightOn Interactive takes a deep dive (literally) into the world of lifecycle marketing automation. Key Takeaways: 22% increase of the average sales cycle in the past 5 years 47% of B2B marketers close less than 4% of marketing-generated leads 64% of CMOs have either an informal or no process to manage marketing automation The topic of customer lifecycle marketing is near and dear to TopRank of course, especially when it involves long term engagement with prospects using integrated content, social media and search marketing. LinkedIn Gets its Own Version of Facebook Likes: Endorsements Endorsements allows users to recognize professionals for their expertise. It really is as simple as clicking a button. On the users profile there will be a list of recommended endorsements. You can either click to endorse, or suggest other area of expertise. Via TNW. How to Survive A Bacon Shortage: Twitter Guide Bacon lovers are taking to Twitter after the recent prediction from Britain’s National Pig Association that there will be a shortage of pork in the next year. You’ll even find a flow chart titled “Should You Eat That Bacon?” which will ultimately tell you yes, you should. Via Washington Post. 72% of Consumers Expect Brands to Have Mobile-Friendly Sites The verdict is in, consumers don’t like websites that are not mobile-friendly. The data for this study came from a survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. adults from 25-54. Another thing we learn from this survey is that brands should keep in mind what the goal of mobile users is, and how it differs from that of desktop users. Via AdWeek. Myspace Previews Site Redesign – But Is It Enough? Before Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ were popular the hot ticket item was Myspace. Unfortunately, once users were presented with a more “sophisticated” set of social platform choices, they migrated to other sites. This post includes a video from Myspace showing their new capabilities and design, which is very visually appealing. However, we have to wonder if this change is too little, too late. Via Los Angeles Times. 9 in 10 Online Small Businesses Network Online, 8 in 10 Gain New Business According to this study 74% of respondents say that networking online is just as valuable, if not more so, than networking in person. Additionally, 78% say they’ve gained at least 25% of their new business leads via online and social channels in 2012. Via MarketingProfs. TopRank Team News Jolina Pettice - CMO’s See Value in Social Media Survey of 100 CMO’s show they value social data highly, specifically as it relates to; making predictions, discerning trends and brand awareness. Via MIT Sloan. Brian Larson – Twitter Opens More Content to Search Engines Twitter users know that leveraging hashtags can help them participate in emerging conversations and tap into a larger audience. But what if those hashtag threads were highly visible OUTSIDE of Twitter as well? Searchers would be presented with relevant hashtag conversations related to their query. Well, that’s exactly what Twitter is aiming to do with their most recent update. Learn more about this change in Matt McGee’s post on Search Engine Land. Evan Prokop – Google Ocean View: Maps Now Take You Underwater In the coolest addition to Google Maps since Street View, Google has added Ocean view, which allows users to take the Street View experience under the sea. Here’s hoping for Google Space View! Via Search Engine Watch. Mike Odden – Why Being Unfriended on Facebook Hurts According to a study published this summer, the more you’re on Facebook the more emotional ties you have to different interactions on the social platform. Jennifer Bevan, a professor at Chapman University in California, authored the study on negative emotional responses to being unfriended along with some of her undergraduate students, two of whom are listed as co-authors. Via Mashable. Time to Weigh In: Have you had an opportunity to try LinkedIn endorsements? If so, what impact do you think this change will have on profiles? Have you completed an audit of your site to ensure it’s mobile friendly? Myspace: dead in the water or a new opportunity? Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | Online Marketing News: LinkedIn Adds Endorsements, Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly, Myspace Previews New Design, Twitter Opens Content to Search | http://www.toprankblog.com
B2B Marketing Innovation eBook – Break Free of Boring B2B With These 33 Tips 28 September, 2012, 4:51 am
Is your B2B marketing feeling “old fashioned” and out of date? Have your white papers, direct mail and webinars been called out as “boring”? Maybe you’re losing interest with prospects because corporate chest beating about products and services just isn’t enough anymore? There’s a growing movement amongst progressive business to business marketers to break free of stale and antiquated digital marketing tactics. While consumer product marketing has long been associated with more interesting and compelling marketing efforts, modern B2B marketers include numerous companies that are creating amazing programs to attract, engage and convert business buyers with infotaining content, compelling social engagement and memorable calls to action. As a build up to the MarketingProfs B2B Forum conference in Boston, over the past week we’ve been working on an eBook and publishing a series of interviews covering the topic of B2B Marketing Innovation with advice from speakers at the #mpb2b event. These smarties represent some of the top B2B brands in the world, including: Cisco, IBM, SAP, Salesforce, Silverpop and Monetate. We’ve also tapped many of the web’s most prominent B2B, social media and content marketing thought leaders including Joe Pulizzi, Ann Handley, Amber Naslund, Paul Gillin, CC Chapman, Amanda Maksymiw, Michael Brenner, Adele Revella and many more. We added a twist to the B2B Marketing Innovation interview series by encouraging our readers to suggest their own hard won tips. With the incentive of winning a copy of Content Rules AND a copy of Optimize, we attracted some pretty good insight. The best 3 B2B tip givers really hit the jackpot though (Lynn O’Connell, Scott Williamson, Joe Yaeger) and were included in an eBook that Ashley Zeckman and I put together which will be shared with the MarketingProfs community of over 400,000, our network of over 150,000 plus the thousands that read our blog every day. But you don’t have to wait for those eBook promotions, because you can download the eBook in PDF format, by clicking on the cover image below: Click image to download eBook We took a bit of a “retro” angle to the theme of the eBook to work in tandem with MarketingProfs branding of the event: “This Is Not Your Father’s B2B”. From the importance to data to use of visual content and humor, this eBook is chock full of practical advice for B2B marketers to be more innovative with their marketing. There are tips, examples and plenty of hard won insights from practitioners and thought leaders alike. 33 B2B Marketing Innovators and Their Topics: 1. Customer = Hero – Ann Handley 2. Engaging Content – Michael Brenner 3. Stop Talking & Listen – Joe Pulizzi 4. Study Deeply – Christopher Penn 5. Be First & Fail – Rob Yoegel 6. Actively Adapt – Amber Naslund 7. Remarkability – Alan Belniak 8. Do the Unexpected – C.C. Chapman 9. Borrow Freely – Roberta Rosenberg 10. Automation Tools – Kathleen Christoph 11. Have Understanding – Mack Collier 12. Buyers Are People Too – Amanda Maksymiw 13. Steal Shamelessly – Ellen Valentine 14. Create A Theme – Paul Gillin 15. Honest & Factual – Jeane Hopkins 16. Uncover the Truth – Adele Revella 17. I’m Eric Granof – Eric Granof 18. Use Web Data – Chad Horenfeldt 19. Customer Needs – Susan Emerick 20. Talk To Customers – Matt T. Grant 21. Stick To Basics – Lou Imbriano 22. Serve Up Information – Shelly Kramer 23. Innovation Day – Mark Rice 24. White Paper Rut – Corey O’Loughlin 25. Awesome Audiences – Tom Fishburne 26. Tell Stories – Tim Washer 27. B’s & C’s Are People – Dave Thomas 28. Be Creative – Kami Huyse 29. Flexible Content Plan – Marti Konstant 30. Listen for Gold – Lee Odden 31. Appeal to People – Lynn O’Connell 32. Proof of Quality – Scott Williamson 33. Likes VS. Shares – Joe Yeager Here’s a link to directly download the PDF of the B2B Marketing Innovations eBook. Feel free to post it and share. Below you can view the eBook embedded from Slideshare and get the embed code to easily add it to your own site. For even more great insights on B2B Innovation, here are the 7 long form interviews we ran with some of the B2B Forum speakers: B2B Marketing Innovation Tips from Tim Washer of Cisco Social Media Marketing Tips from Amber Naslund of SideraWorks Tips On Creating Social Influence in B2B Marketing from Alan Belniak of PTC Create More Compelling Content from Rob Yoegel of Monetate Why Before What in Social Media Strategy – B2B Insights from Mack Collier What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Cartoons with Tom Fishburne The Truth About Influence in B2B Marketing from Master Strategist Paul Gillin Thank you again to the speakers from the MarketingProfs B2B Forum who were able to participate in this project and to our readers who contributed their B2B smarts as well. If you’re attending the B2B Forum in Boston next week (if you’re in the area it’s a MUST) then I hope to see you there. I’ll be giving a track keynote Friday, October 5th at 8:15am on Optimizing Search, Social and Content across the Buying Cycle. Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | B2B Marketing Innovation eBook – Break Free of Boring B2B With These 33 Tips | http://www.toprankblog.com
B2B Marketing Innovation: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Cartoons with Tom Fishburne 27 September, 2012, 4:38 am
Customer preferences for information discovery, consumption and engagement have evolved in a way that requires marketers to adapt. In particular, B2B marketers have had to find new and innovative ways to communicate with customers over long sales cycles filled with digital distractions from smartphones, tablets, computers and other connected devices. Content types are equally diverse and can range from videos to white papers to infographics and even cartoons. Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of the wildly popular Marketoonist and in this interview, he’ll share a sneak peek into his B2B Marketing Forum presentation, the importance of storytelling, deciding on visual content and his prediction on the future of B2B Marketing and innovation. We’re big fans of your work! Please describe how you become a “Marketoonist”. Did your journey really start with doodling on business cases at Harvard? Thanks! Harvard Business School isn’t exactly a feeder school for cartoonists. I’d dreamed of being a cartoonist when I was a kid, but I’d let it go. In business school, I started doodling again on the backs of business cases, then in the school paper, and pretty soon professors started asking me for cartoons to use as teaching aids. I knew that cartoons were powerful communication devices, but I never saw cartooning as a potential career, so I worked in marketing after business school, at General Mills, Nestle, and Method Products. I kept drawing cartoons on the side, sending them once a week to my marketing co-workers in a simple email newsletter. Ten years later, my marketing cartoon reaches over 100,000 readers a week. I thought about submitting cartoons to the New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal, which are two of the main cartoon markets. But then, the Wall Street Journal contacted me. They asked if I could create a 20-page cartoon book to help communicate with their readers on how to get the most out of the Journal. It dawned on me that my unique combination of marketer and cartoonist (Marketoonist) could be valuable to others. Two years ago, I started Marketoon Studios full-time to develop cartoon-based content marketing campaigns. I work with a variety of B2B companies, including Oracle, Vodafone, Kronos, and Guidance Software to help them connect and engage with their audiences, using the unexpected medium of cartoons. What are you most excited about when it comes to B2B marketing? There has never been a better time to work in marketing. The shift in the role of marketers as publishers is particularly exciting, because it elevates our role to become thought leaders, rather than just pitching features and benefits and parroting our single-minded propositions. At the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum next week you’re presenting “Content Worth Sharing: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Cartoons”. What are 2-3 of the most important takeaways from your presentation? What can people attending expect to learn? With all of the technology at our disposal as marketers, we sometimes forget the value of the big marketing idea. Technology is only as valuable as the marketing ideas that the technology enables. We can’t make an antisocial experience social just by adding social media. Technology can’t save a boring idea, but it can amplify a remarkable one. The impetus is on marketers to create marketing worth sharing. Another main point is the power of preaching to the choir. It’s a misnomer that to be a big organization, we have to try to talk to everyone in our marketing. One size actually fits none. The more niche we get in our communication strategy, the more powerful the bond we create with our audience. It’s better to be deeply appealing to a few than blandly appealing to the great majority. One of my favorite sayings in marketing/sales is “Facts tell, stories sell”. What advice can you share about the importance of storytelling with B2B marketing? I completely agree with that sentiment. Features and benefits are boring. There is no longer a captive audience in marketing. Without a story, it is easier than ever for our audiences to tune out our messages altogether. In B2B marketing in particular, brand communication is frequently fact and feature-based. There is a tremendous amount of power in telling stories when everyone else is telling facts. The growing appeal of visual content has provided B2B marketers even more opportunities to attract, engage and convert prospects to customers across the buying cycle. What advice can you give companies that are trying to decide what kind of visual content or media is right for them and their target audience? I think of visual content as Trojan horses. It’s most important that it breaks through the clutter and that the audience lets it in. This means it can’t come off as an advertorial. But it’s also key that it convey some meaning about your brand. With our marketoon campaigns, the topics that we parody in a cartoon somehow link so the problems that that brand is trying to solve. The brand proposition for Kronos is that “workforce management doesn’t have to be so hard”. So every marketoon parodies situations where workforce management has historically been “hard”. The audience sees the humor in the situations, and the Kronos brand comes along for the ride. Developing a solid B2B marketing plan takes research, an understanding of customer goals, pain points and journey. What are some of the most common myths or mistakes you’ve seen with B2B marketing planning? Any tips on how to be more successful? Don’t be a one hit wonder. Many businesses take a “Flock of Seagulls” approach to B2B marketing. They create one piece of media and hope that it “goes viral”. If it doesn’t, they often give up. The web is full of “social media ghost towns” from B2B brands that have given up. What’s far more important than virality is continuity. Commit to the long haul in how we connect and engage with our consumers, rather than the one-off campaign. With all the hype in the business marketing media, it’s tempting for companies to chase trending B2B marketing tactics. What tips can you share that will help marketers convince management on the importance of creativity, experimentation and innovation? Chasing the shiny new thing is a real challenge for marketers. It feels sometimes like the tail is wagging the dog. Many campaigns are built around the tactic of the week, as if the tactic alone was the big idea. The advice I would give marketers is to stay focused on the big ideas, and remember that the tactics are enablers to those big ideas. Creativity and experimentation are needed to bring the big ideas to life. That’s a better sell to management, and ultimately leads to better executions with customers too. Any predictions on the future of B2B marketing and the role of visual content? I think that B2B marketing will become much more interesting in the future as we move beyond the hype of new technologies, and focus more on the big ideas that can be enabled by those technologies. We can engage with our customers in more meaningful ways. Technology amplifies great marketing. I think that visual content will play an increasing role in the marketing we want to amplify. Please share a tip on how companies can be more innovative with their B2B marketing efforts. Whether B2C or B2B, the most important shift in marketing is that brand communication is no longer a one-way command-and-control megaphone. It’s a conversation. Don Draper is no longer in charge of our brands. Our audiences are in charge. So the best inspiration for our marketing efforts comes from our audiences themselves. Our goal should be, not to market how awesome our products and services are, but figuring out how to make our audiences more awesome. Thank you for your insights Tom! If you’re looking for even more insight on making your business more innovative, be sure to attend Tom’s solo presentation at B2B Marketing Forum “Content Worth Sharing: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Cartoons” Friday, October 5th at 8:15am. Sadly, this is the same time as my Track Keynote on Integrating Search, Social and Content across they Buying Cycle but regardless of which presentation you see, you’ll get great info . This is why you should bring 2 or more people to the B2B Forum, so your team can attend multiple sessions scheduled at the same time! We’ll be releasing a B2B Marketing Innovation eBook on Friday 9/28 that’s chock full of B2B Marketing Innovation tips from marketing champions like IBM, SAP and Silverpop, so be sure to check back! Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | B2B Marketing Innovation: What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Cartoons with Tom Fishburne | http://www.toprankblog.com
B2B Marketing Innovation: Why Before What in Social Media Strategy – B2B Insights from Mack Collier 26 September, 2012, 4:44 am
Determining why your company should engage in a social media plan is one of the first and most important steps. Working towards the “what” without the “why” can result in wasted time, money and set a B2B marketing program off track. Next up in our B2B marketing innovation interview series is Mack Collier, a well known and respected social media strategist and trainer specializing in helping companies better connect with their customers via social media. Mack is also the force behind #BlogChat, the largest organized chat on Twitter. In this interview, Mack dives into four things brands can do to cultivate and connect with fans, as well as well as three basic questions every marketer should ask themselves before embarking on a social media marketing program. He also offers sage advice on B2B marketing innovation and tools. Please tell us about you and the kind of B2B marketing work you’re most excited about. Solve any tough ones lately? The thing that really excites me about blogging, social media, content marketing, etc. is that I think we are getting back to the idea of creating marketing communications that can also create value for our customers. I think we are getting away from the days when you ‘win’ the sale by simply banging customers over the head with your commercial 15 times, to creating content that also creates value, which helps build connections as well as your expertise. What are the essential starting points small businesses should consider when employing social media marketing and blogging in the B2B space? I think the most important starting point for a small business or ANY business using social media or starting a blog is to answer this question: “We are using social media because we want to ________.” Too many businesses start using social media without asking themselves WHY they want to start using social media. (Hint: ‘Cause everyone else is’ is NOT an acceptable answer) Once your business can fill in that blank, then you can craft a social media strategy that actually helps you reach that goal. There’s a common association that it’s tough to come up with new B2B marketing ideas, but as you know, innovation exists within B2B as much or more as it does with consumer marketing – just in different ways. What’s your process for coming up with new and innovative ideas for your B2B marketing efforts? It’s tough for most businesses to come up with ANY new marketing ideas. But I think that’s often the case because businesses view their new marketing effort as ‘How is this going to help us stand out?’ vs ‘How is this going to help us create value for our customers?’ I think the growing trend of embracing content marketing is really helping businesses to review the idea of creating value via marketing, which I think is awesome. An essential part of building a business online is to attract and engage a community. What are your most practical tips that companies and brands should consider for connecting with and cultivating fans? There are four things that brands can do to cultivate and connect with their fans: Be a part of the audience they want to connect with. Look at the world through the eyes of your customers. How does Harley Davidson do market research? By jumping on their Harleys and going for a ride on the weekend with their customers. The brands that do the best job of connecting with their fans look at their world the eyes of their most passionate customers. Embrace your fans. The biggest mistake most brands make when it comes to their fans is that they leave them alone. Your fans are special people that WANT a deeper connection with your brand. Reward that desire and look for ways to build a deeper connection with them. Focus on the ‘Bigger Idea’ behind your brand. Don’t focus on your product or service, focus on what your customers do with your product. For example, in its content Patagonia focuses on issues that are relevant to its customers, such as sustainability, protecting the environment, and being active outdoors. This approach makes its products more relevant to its customers. Look for ways to shift control to your fans. If you want to make your marketing more relevant to your customers, make sure it is spoken in a voice that they can understand and relate to; Their own. I’m not talking about simply crowdsourcing your marketing, but understanding your customers, and giving them input into the direction of your brand. Remember that your fans WANT to be heard by your brand. They want to know you are listening, and if you show them you are, that only validates their love of your brand. Developing a solid B2B marketing plan takes research, and understanding of the customer goals, pain points and journey. What are some of the most common myths or mistakes you’ve seen with B2B marketing planning? Any tips on how to be more successful? One of the great things about the rise of social media and digital communications tools is that it makes it far easier for engaged businesses to better learn about and understand its customers. There’s an exponential increase in content being created by…well everyone, and that content can be distilled down into valuable customer insights for the businesses that are willing to put in the legwork. I think one of the biggest mistakes B2B companies can make is to form a picture of who their customers are based on outdated or incomplete information. Leverage these new social tools as a way to better understand and segment your customers to improve your marketing efforts and make them more effective and efficient. With all the hype in the business marketing media, it’s tempting for companies to chase trending B2B marketing tactics like visual marketing or social networking. How do you decide what the right B2B marketing tactical mix is for companies that you work with? I think all companies really need to focus on their available resources and do NOT fall for the ‘shiny object syndrome’ and start using whatever the ‘hot’ social media tool or site of the month is. I think it goes back to asking and answering three basic questions: Who are we trying to reach? What are we trying to accomplish? What are our resources? Let your goals define the tools you will use, not the other way around. Companies that are in search of business growth with limited resources can often close part of the gap with tools. What tools do you recommend for B2B marketers (or marketers in general) to get more out of their online content and social media investments? Well I hate to give advice on which tool is best because I think that your goals/resources/audience defines the tools for you. But, when it comes to social media, I think right now there are two main tools to look at for B2Bs: Blogs. I will always love blogs because with a blog you control the content platform. That’s huge, and it allows you to create content that search engines love. LinkedIn. It’s simply more business-oriented, and there’s a higher probability that you can find key decision-makers and cultivate a relationship with them. Now in general, it’s impossible to ignore Facebook simply because it’s userbase is so massive. If you are a business operating in the tech sector, it might be worthwhile to investigate Google Plus as well. Please share your advice for other B2B marketers out there on how they can be more innovative. In general, I think we all tend to overthink marketing. I think it all goes back to understanding who we are trying to connect with and how we can create communications that are valuable for them. For B2C brands, that might be less about the product and more about how customers will use the product and what they will do with it. For B2Bs, the idea is the same, its more about how another business will use your product or service to more effectively and efficiently run its business. I think a good starting point is to ask yourself ‘What business problem does our product or service help solve?’ Create marketing that focuses on the direct benefit for businesses. Thank you for your insights Mack! If you’re looking for even more insight on making your business more innovative, be sure to attend a recap of the first day of the conference on #BlogChat on October 4th. Mack will also be participating in the One-on-One (Marketing) Therapy on the topic of blogging for attendees looking for a little more input from an industry expert. Also be sure to check out the TopRank session on 360 degrees of optimization with search and social media marketing: “Integrating Content, Search & Social to Optimize the Funnel” – Friday, October 5th at 8:15am. We’ll be releasing an eBook soon that’s chock full of B2B Marketing Innovation tips from B2B marketing champions like IBM, SAP and Silverpop, so be sure to check back! What’s your best B2B Marketing Innovation tip? We would love to hear from you. Share your best B2B marketing innovation tip by Wed 9/27 and you will have a chance to win two of the best books on content marketing: Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman and Optimize by Lee Odden (hey, that’s me!). Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | B2B Marketing Innovation: Why Before What in Social Media Strategy – B2B Insights from Mack Collier | http://www.toprankblog.com
B2B Marketing Innovation: Create More Compelling Content from Rob Yoegel of Monetate 25 September, 2012, 5:00 am
Building a solid marketing team and ensuring the company is on the same page with prospect and customer communications is essential for B2B marketing success. In the 3rd interview of this week’s series on B2B Marketing Innovation, Monetate’s Rob Yoegel takes a deep dive into working with a team to create compelling content for more effective B2B marketing. From marketing on a shoestring budget to practical tips on being more innovative with B2B content, Rob gives a great overview on the importance of innovation for B2B marketing success. Please tell us about your role at Monetate and the kind of B2B marketing work you’re most excited about there. I oversee all content marketing initiatives across multiple platforms and formats to drive sales, engagement, retention, leads, and positive customer behavior. We have a team, both in marketing and in other areas of the company, which has so many incredibly talented people who contribute to the success of our business. I get excited when I talk to a member of Monetate’s leadership team, a software engineer, someone in sales or professional services, or a colleague in marketing about a new strategy, content initiative or another project. Everyone believes that the story we want to tell is not about Monetate, but the value in website testing and optimization, dynamic content delivery, and helping our customers create the most relevant digital customer experience possible. At the MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum you’re participating on the “Content Saves the Day: Trailblazing Content Case Studies” panel. Can you share some of the takeaways you plan on presenting regarding content on a shoestring and creating compelling content? Monetate’s success at content marketing is the direct result of building a team of very smart and talented people. Everyone talks about brands becoming publishers. I believe that’s not enough. Brands need to do more than what publishers traditionally have done, or ultimately they will become what many publishers have become today: obsolete and irrelevant. Brands that think that just hiring an unemployed journalist to create content is a content marketing program are dead wrong. There are so many other variables, including buy-in throughout the company and a sound knowledge of search, social, analytics, and the specific market/industry you’re trying to serve that will have a profound effect on whether or not you’re successful or not. You haven’t even started once you’ve committed to content marketing. It is critical to develop personas and start creating content for them, where and when they want it. The media business has forever created content that they think people will want to read. That’s not how content marketing works. Content marketers need to create content their prospects and customers want. This can be a tough pill to swallow for any journalist. Another key is the commitment to social media. There truly is not a social media ‘off-switch’ nor can any content marketer expect someone else to do it. Distributing content on Twitter, SlideShare, Facebook, LinkedIn, and responding to blog post comments, etc., is the responsibility of the content creator. Compelling content will come from throughout an organization. If content marketers don’t think outside their own department or even worse, believe they can or must do it all on their own, they’ll likely fail. For instance, our services team works directly with our clients and contributes so much, whether it’s blogging, interviews, ideas, or just critical input on how to tell a story. I really believe the most successful content marketers will be those who see their entire organization as members of their team. Let’s say you were in an elevator, met someone on the 1st floor going to the 35th and you were asked, “What is a good definition for B2B marketing?”. What would you tell them? I think B2B marketing is no longer about one business communicating to another business the benefits of its product or service. Rather, it’s now about telling a story and creating a one-to-one relationship between someone whose business or career can benefit from the product or service, as well as the knowledge and experience within that organization that contributed to building that same product or service. Right before the elevator doors open, I would add that it’s not a one-way message, and a vendor must expect to constantly get input and feedback from their customers. There’s a common belief that it’s tough to come up with new B2B marketing ideas, but as you know, innovation exists within B2B as much or more as it does with consumer marketing – just in different ways. What’s your process for coming up with new and innovative ideas for your B2B marketing efforts? Like I mentioned earlier, once you accept the fact that everyone’s opinion matters (personally, I can say this isn’t easy to do!) and that one person doesn’t have all the answers, you will never run out of ideas. I love to study what works in b2c and try to adapt it to what I am doing. While there certainly are differences between how to market to consumers compared to a company’s decision-makers, business people are still consumers sitting behind desks and will likely react to the same emotional drivers. Developing a solid B2B marketing plan takes research, and understanding of the customer goals, pain points and journey. What are some of the most common myths or mistakes you’ve seen with B2B marketing planning? Any tips on how to be more successful? The first has to do with not understanding who your prospects are. Again, that gets back to developing personas and revisiting them often. It’s also crucial when developing these personas that you talk to people actually in those roles at an organization as well as have an ongoing dialogue with your sales team members who are on the front lines talking to them every day. I also think b2b marketers can easily forget that all organizations are not created equal. Consider a sports analogy. A basketball team typically plays two guards, two forwards and a center at one time. When a team puts out on the floor three guards, and two forwards, or another combination, its opponent has to adjust the strategy and come up with a slightly different game plan. B2B marketers need to do the same thing. Every organization is not made up of the same individuals; for instance, while the persona of an Email Marketing Manager may actually exist at most organizations, in some companies email may be the responsibility of someone totally different. React and adjust. With all the hype in the business marketing media, it’s tempting for companies to chase trending B2B marketing tactics like social media and content marketing. How do you decide what the right B2B marketing tactical mix is for your business? I think there’s a big difference between a trend and the “shiny new object.” It takes a smart marketer to identify a trend and determine if it fits their business or not. What you don’t want to do is implement something just because a competitor is doing it or for another reason where there is no return on the investment. Other the other hand, I see more and more marketers latching on to something that they may perceive as a trend that hasn’t proven to be successful for any business, or they have no way to measure its impact within their own organization. I think smart marketers are able to distinguish the two. There’s certainly something to be said about taking risks, and the mantra of testing everything is quite valuable when implementing a new tactic, strategy, or even that shiny new object. There are many resources online and off to leverage for practical and innovative information about modern B2B marketing. Of those resources, blogs can be particularly useful. What are your 3-4 favorite B2B marketing blogs? Although not specific to B2B, I try to keep up with Jay Baer’s Convince & Convert. Michael Brenner’s Business2Community website aggregates some great B2B content covering marketing, social media, branding, and more. Of course, I read and contribute to the Content Marketing Institute, and love going through my Tweeter stream a few times a day to see what others are suggesting that I read. I rely a great deal on the quality of the people I follow on Twitter. I have no problem sacrificing a larger Twitter following in exchange for counting on the 60 or so people I follow to keep me informed of some of the great ideas and thought leadership and don’t Tweet their FourSquare check-ins or what they’re having for dinner. Please share your advice for other B2B marketers out there on how they can be more innovative. Think of your entire organization as your marketing department. Listen to your customers. And remember there’s truly a difference between hearing and listening. Make sure your prospects and customers know there’s actually a person/people on the other end of the content that you publish. Don’t be afraid to take risks. It’s OK to occasionally be first and fail. Continue to learn from what others are doing and network, network, network. Rob, thanks for your tips on creating compelling content for more innovative B2B marketing. If you’re looking for even more insight on making your business more innovative, be sure to attend Rob’s panel discussion at B2B Marketing Forum: “Content Saves the Day: Trailblazing Content Case Studies” Thursday, October 4th at 10:45am. Also be sure to check out the TopRank session on 360 degrees of optimization with search and social media marketing: “Integrating Content, Search & Social to Optimize the Funnel” – Friday, October 5th at 8:15am. We’ll be releasing an eBook soon that’s chock full of B2B Marketing Innovation tips from B2B marketing champions like IBM, SAP and Silverpop, so be sure to check back! What’s your best B2B Marketing Innovation tip? We would love to hear from you. Share your best B2B marketing innovation tip and you will have a chance to win two of the best books on content marketing: Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman and Optimize by Lee Odden (hey, that’s me!). Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to theTopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter. © Online Marketing Blog, 2012. | B2B Marketing Innovation: Create More Compelling Content from Rob Yoegel of Monetate | http://www.toprankblog.com

Copyblogger

Why Sex Doesn’t Sell 6 October, 2012, 4:00 am
In his essay It’s Necessary for the Scene, American Playwright David Mamet explains why no play or movie he writes or directs include explicit sex scenes. Mamet is no prude. He cut his teeth in the theatre, working in and around that last great institution of vagabonds and players, excess and fornication. No, what he’s getting at here is something more important than a hopeless moral stance. “When we see the scene of simulated sex we can think only one of two things: 1) Lord, they’re really having sex; or 2) No, I can tell, they aren’t really. Either of the above responses takes us right out of the film.” Good copy and great content come from the humility of being able to listen … to listen to the conversation your audience is having, and to enter that conversation with an honest, clear, useful, and helpful story. What “takes us right out” of that marketing story? Half-truth. Hype. Hard sell. These are the “sex scenes” of copywriting, content, and marketing, online or off. Like so many impotent Hollywood producers who’ve derailed otherwise great films with unnecessary plot lines and scenes, dropping a little “sex” into your copy to punch it up will only cripple your efforts over the long haul. Be patient and courageous enough to build (or market) something truly great, and then tell the story of that greatness honestly, directly, and clearly. Sex doesn’t sell, because it’s ultimately just a cheap distraction, an attempt to veil the emptiness of your product, service, or idea. Start marketing at the start, and you’ll find that the writhing, pushing, sweating bodies of hype are merely a diversion that your business — and your audience — can’t afford. About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media's Chief Copywriter and Resident Recluse. Get very short stories from Robert on Twitter and Google+. Tweet Related StoriesWhat a Fired Television Writer Can Teach You About Finding Your Marketing StoryZen and the Art of Content MarketingThe Art of Being Interesting
A Smart 8-Point Content Marketing Strategy From a Failed Television Writer 5 October, 2012, 4:00 am
In network television a writer literally runs the show. They are appropriately named “showrunners” because they both write and oversee production. Dan Harmon was the showrunner for a critically acclaimed comedy TV series named Community that found a rabid online following, but never hit ratings. Throughout the 71 episodes that he wrote and created for NBC, Harmon blogged extensively and nurtured a growing legion of Twitter followers, now totaling upwards of 150,000. His rapt online audience followed his every word, his unique storytelling and comedic know-how of pop culture made both the show and its creator seem to have one voice. Then something happened … His online following made him as famous as his tv show To the dismay of his fans, Harmon was fired as executive producer of Community at the end of its third season because of creative differences with the network, and a very public argument with co-star Chevy Chase. For many that may have signaled the beginning of hard times, but for Mr. Harmon, it was only evidence of a growing creative revolution within him. Dan Harmon learned something about staying true to his creative blueprint very early in his career, and he wasn’t about to let the gatekeepers compromise it. The underlying power of a great story As an online publisher it is often hard to find the unique story that truly gives your brand or service the volume it needs to be heard above the chatter. Great copywriters have known for years that the heart of a great story begins by entering the conversation your audience is already having and earning enough trust over time to eventually take them on a journey that satisfies their wants and needs. How do you find that compelling narrative that truly captures the imagination of your prospects and gets them to take action? Eugene Schwartz wrote on the “first technique of breakthrough copy”: A copywriter’s first qualifications are imagination and enthusiasm. You are literally the script writer for your prospect’s dreams. We’re reminded of what so many great writers have relied on over the years, Joseph Campbell’s “monomyth,” and the underlying framework of many powerful stories throughout history. Also known as the Hero’s Journey; it’s the distillation of your prospects fears, hopes and dreams, and a key to keeping their attention long enough to reward them with your product or services. It’s no secret that great stories run the world, and Brian Clark often talks about the importance of making your prospect the hero of your story and guiding them on a journey to fulfill their needs with your content: You must grab your prospect’s attention because they are locked into the day-to-day routines of their ordinary lives. By creating a “call to adventure” you are attracting their interest in solving a nagging problem or unfulfilled desire. There is always initial inertia and resistance to your call to adventure that must be overcome by proving that you are a credible resource that holds the keys to their desire. As the trusted authority and mentor to your prospect you provide the answers, the call to action, and the elixir that will solve their problems, making them far better off than before. The birth of a cult following As a struggling writer and comedian in Hollywood, Dan Harmon had his share of setbacks. He spent years attempting to crack the code of successful storytelling. He analyzed thousands of movies. And when he discovered Joseph Campbell, a light went on. He wrote a pilot directed by Ben Stiller, starring Jack Black and Owen Wilson that was rejected by the Fox Network. Undeterred, Harmon realized that he didn’t need the permission of Hollywood players to make great shows. He and some friends created an ingenious short film festival called Channel 101 that was part democratic TV network, part YouTube — before YouTube was invented. He arrived at his own version of the Hero’s Journey, an algorithm that he used to distill a successful narrative into 8 simple steps. Much like successful content marketing, Mr. Harmon’s algorithm takes the protagonist on a journey of self-discovery: The main character finds himself/herself in a comfort zone (ordinary life). They want something (to satisfy their desires or solve a problem). They enter into an unfamiliar situation (a call to adventure). They must adapt to it (and overcome resistance, objections). They get what they wanted (a mentor appears to guide them and provide the the key to solve their problems or satisfy their desires). But have to pay a price for it (the call to action). They return to their familiar situation (they apply the solution you provide) … Having changed (for the better). Dan Harmon applies his story algorithm to every element of every creative project he works on, and it seems to be making some waves. Epilogue … He’s been called a creative genius, and his uncompromising vision has earned him a lot of street cred over the years. Just last month Dan Harmon and friends raised $400,000 in 60 days on Kickstarter to produce a Charlie Kaufman script (writer of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), essentially circumventing the Hollywood studio process and taking the funding right to the people who matter most, their audience. Now he has people like comedian Louis C.K. lining up for similarly fan-based projects, has sold a comedy pilot to Adult Swim, and is in creative talks to write shows on both CBS and Fox. Life isn’t too bad for a guy who found his creative blueprint and stuck to his guns to provide his audience the story that compels them to keep coming back for more. What’s your story? Does it keep your audience coming back for more? About the Author: Kelton Reid is Copyblogger Media's Copywriter, and an independent screenwriter and novelist. Get more from Kelton on Twitter and Google+. Tweet Related StoriesZen and the Art of Content MarketingThe Art of Being InterestingOverwhelmed by the Complexity of Online Business? This May Help
The Art of Being Interesting 4 October, 2012, 4:00 am
“Be interesting.” It’s good advice, but it’s nothing new. You’ve probably known from the beginning that being able to interest readers is a crucial part of growing a popular blog. It’s pretty obvious that no one is going to stick around unless they find your blog interesting. But how are you supposed to do it exactly? How can you “be interesting?” Far too much of what we write about attention and interest is abstract. We talk about differentiation, value, and triggers — all useful concepts, but you can’t point to them. You can’t hold out your hand and say, “Give me some differentiation.” As a result, it’s hard to wrap your mind around what those things actually mean. I’d like to change that. Right now. I’ve been paying attention to the things that command attention, both of myself and others, and I’ve made a list of 21 techniques that work. This list is far from all of them I’m sure, but it should be enough to get you started … 1. Be wrong The world is full of people trying to do the right things. It’s become so common that many of us are bored by it. We long for someone that’s willing to do the wrong thing, say the wrong thing, be the wrong thing. If you have the courage to be that person, you’ll find lots of people paying attention to you. 2. Be right You can also gain attention by being right … but only if you’re more right than everyone else. Run a mile faster than anyone else, explain your topic more clearly than anyone else, be funnier than everyone else. Embody perfection, and people will take notice. 3. Communicate what others can’t As writers, we take ideas from our heads and put them on the page. Sometimes we forget how difficult that is for some people and how valuable that makes us. Lots of people would give anything to be able to say what they mean. But they can’t. So, they turn to songs, books, and art that communicate for them. Be a producer of those things, and you’ll never lose their attention. 4. Do something Everybody online is trying to say something important, but very few are trying to do something important. If you want attention, dare not to just give advice to others, but to live that advice yourself. Then publish it to the open web. 5. Surprise people Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, say that one of the best ways to set yourself apart is to break people’s “guessing machines.” Take a surprising position, making outlandish analogy, or otherwise do the opposite of what you normally do. As long as it’s unexpected, people will stop and pay attention. 6. Make people laugh Bloggers are far too serious. We’re so busy teaching that we sometimes forget to entertain. As a result, large portions of our readerships fall asleep. And what’s the best way to wake people up? Humor. Public speakers have been using it for ages, and as long as it’s appropriate for your audience, humor can wake your readers up and get them paying attention again. 7. Offer them an aspirin Some of the best blog posts ever written are simple as an aspirin. Your reader has a headache, you have a cure, so you offer them that cure in the form of a blog post. They pay attention … not because of how pretty or well crafted your blog post is, but because it cures their headache. Conclusion: try acting like a pharmacist, not a blogger, and you’ll never lack for attention. 8. Show a (half) naked woman Ever noticed that a disproportionate number of advertisements feature a scantily clad woman? That’s because it works. It draws the attention of not only men (as you’d expect), but also women. For whatever reason, nearly everyone finds their attention drawn to it. Here’s proof that it even works with blog posts. 9. Tell them who they are “Who am I?” is not just a question; it’s a universal quest that most of us follow for our entire lives, continually defining and redefining ourselves, always insecure about whether who we are being is really us. As a blogger, you can (and should) harness that insecurity. Turn your blog into something that defines your readers. 10. Predict the future Every once in awhile, use your expertise to make a bizarre claim about the future. If you have any authority at all, people will take notice. Imagine if Brian or Sonia wrote a convincing, well reasoned argument that online courses are the business model of the future. Oh wait… they did, and some of the biggest names in online marketing continue to talk about it. 11. Unleash your inner dork Many blog posts are like miniature textbooks; they’re instructive, well-organized, and put you to sleep with their lack of enthusiasm. If you want to become famous on the web, stop trying to sound like an all-knowing teacher and unleash the “inner dork” inside of you — the part of you that’s so enamored with your topic that everyone else thinks it’s funny … but they pay attention anyway. More on dorkyness here. 12. Be courageous The fact is, pretty much everyone has felt the foot of adversity on their neck, but very few of us respond to it with courage and grace. Be one of those people, and you’ll find the world will be watching. 13. Be startlingly honest Every once in awhile, tell the truth. Be so honest that you’re scared to click the “Post” button. Be so honest that no one knows what to say in the comments section. Be so honest that your lawyer tells you to stop. You’ll feel better … and people will talk about you. 14. Be irreverent Want to stir people up? Make fun of their god, their politics, their family — anything they hold dear. Yes, they’ll be offended, but lots of other people will think it’s hilarious. If you can’t stomach being hated by a portion of the world and loved by another, then you don’t deserve to have a blog. 15. Tell a good story This one has been drilled into us so many times that I almost didn’t include it … except for one thing: people still don’t get it. Yes, stories support your points, make solid openers, and teach people while entertaining them, but a good story can make you a legend. I’m not talking about the little anecdotes that pepper the blogosphere. I’m talking about the story that haunts you on your deathbed. Forget about all the others. Tell me that one. 16. Break an important piece of news Every time Google does something new, thousands of bloggers write about it. That’s great for Google, but where’s the real benefit for the bloggers? The first one to break the story is the only one that matters. It gets all of the traffic, links, and authority. Everyone else is just an echo. 17. Disprove the proven For a long time, everyone thought you had to be the best to be successful. Then Chris Anderson came along and turned the world upside down with The Long Tail. He disproved what a lot of people held to be true, and it made him (even more) famous. Granted, it’s hard to engineer a breakthrough, but if you run across one, people will talk about you for years. 18. Pick the perfect picture Want to make a good post better? Pick a picture that expresses exactly what you mean, and put it at the top of your post. Yes, it takes time, but the extra traffic is more than worth it. 19. Master the metaphor Metaphors are the paths we create to lead our readers to our ideas. Create one strong enough, and it will become a highway of attention, leading readers to your blog more quickly than any other technique here (except maybe the last one. More on metaphors here. 20. Create a work of art Many bloggers crank out posts the way slaughterhouses crank out chickens. They’re ugly things, fit for nothing but consumption. If you want to surprise people, stop and put some actual effort into your blog posts, creating a work of art. You’ll be surprised by how many people remember it long after it’s been swept off your front page. 21. Put your readers first Yes, you’re the blogger. Yes, you’re the one with talent. Yes, you’re the one working your tail off. But it doesn’t matter. The one and only thing of consequence is your reader. You can rail against this fact for as long as you like, but as long you do, you’ll never be interesting. About the Author: In addition to serving as Associate Editor of Copyblogger, Jon Morrow is on a mission to help good writers get traffic they deserve. If you’re one of them, check out his blog about (surprise!) blogging. Tweet Related StoriesZen and the Art of Content MarketingOverwhelmed by the Complexity of Online Business? This May HelpThe WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist
Overwhelmed by the Complexity of Online Business? This May Help 3 October, 2012, 4:00 am
Know one of the most common issues we see from each year’s new crop of Teaching Sells students? “I’m worried because …” “I’m getting a little freaked out because …” “I feel like everyone has already beaten me to the finish line …” “When I look around, I feel overwhelmed and behind …” “Everyone else seems to have it figured out and I feel kind of lost …” Chris Garrett and I teach a series of group coaching sessions when we bring in new Teaching Sells students. It’s our job to get our folks out of that overwhelmed state, and moving forward. And as each new group gets settled in and starts to approach the material, we hear a lot of versions on this theme … “I’m scared.” Well here’s the good news. If you aren’t at least a little freaked out about your business (whether it’s a thriving concern or something you’re just getting off the ground), you may not be paying enough attention. It’s ok to be nervous, worried, anxious, or just … confused. Guess what? It’s overwhelming Website design, content marketing, social media networking, product design, audience development, the global market, payment gateways, security, sales letters, launch plans, evolving technology … Overwhelmed yet? Well, of course you are. Because if you try to tackle all of these things at once, you’ll choke. No human being can process all of that. But the good news is, each of those complex topics can be broken into relatively simple best practices. Challenges can be overcome. Problems can be solved. Solutions get put into place. One at a time, just in time to tackle the next one. You know (because you’re smart) that there’s no such thing as an overnight success. All overnight success, at least in business, is built on a not-so-glamourous foundation of learning and work. In order to make it all add up to something, the first thing you need to do is make sure you’re actually on a viable path. Chasing down rabbit trails gets old fast. And the second thing you need to do is … Do a little today, do a little more tomorrow Know what’s important to work on this week to move your business forward. Work on that. It may not be particularly comfortable or sexy or appealing. That’s ok. (It could even be really fun. Even better.) When you get lonely and frustrated, find a community of fellow lunatics business owners who can help get you over the rough spots. You may find some partners who are good at the stuff you would love to quit doing. A coach is great too, someone who cares about your success and will help keep you focused and accountable. Work on today’s task today. Work on tomorrow’s task tomorrow. When you get a little bit off the path (you will, everyone does), forgive yourself and get back to doing today’s task today. “If you can move it an inch, you can move it a mile” We had a wonderful Teaching Sells student who said this in the forums in the early days, and ever since she did, I’ve repeated it pretty much every year to our new students. Don’t try to figure out how to get 10,000 subscribers. Figure out how to get 10. That will show you how you get 100, which will give you some important insights to how you get 1000. From there you’re off to the races. A lot of the teaching Chris and I have been doing for the past couple of years has revolved around the principles of “Lean” development. You’ve probably heard of the Minimum Viable Product. Chris created a module on it for us in Teaching Sells … how to focus your efforts on a small, well-focused product that will test your market and teach you what you need to move forward. This year, we’ll be adding new modules on the Minimum Viable Audience, Minimum Viable Website, and Minimum Viable Launch. Why? Because those are the tricky spots where people tend to stumble, or freeze up, or get scared. Do it once, do it small, and you’ll learn things you never would have imagined. Then look at what works, and do more of that. Observe. Implement. Observe some more. This is almost the exact opposite of what most people think entrepreneurs do. This is the opposite of Shark Tank, the opposite of raising millions of dollars (and giving your dreams away) to fund an unprofitable idea. Teaching Sells is coming … What’s Teaching Sells? It’s Copyblogger’s comprehensive course on how to build an online-based business from scratch. There’s no “one size fits all” — in fact, we have 10 different business models that can be mixed and matched to find the right fit for you. It’s that “viable path” I talked about earlier … the shortest distance that we’ve found to build a real business online. You can get a more complete description here: What is Teaching Sells? We launch Teaching Sells about once a year, and we’ll be opening it up for new students a few weeks from now. If this kind of “viable path” sounds interesting to you, go sign up for the Teaching Sells email list now. Whether or not you decide to join us for the full course, we’ll be sending you a bunch of good free stuff, including: Our free report on The Online Education Revolution: Will You Lead or Watch? New case studies from people who have built or grown businesses using the Teaching Sells methods A downloadable 20-Part “Process Map” that gives you all of the points on that path I mentioned A seminar with me and Brian Clark on How to Solve the Traffic Problem And a whole bunch of articles on how you can ride the current trends and create something epic I think you know by now that we want you to be successful. If you’re successful using our products, well, that’s even cooler. All you need to do to join us is drop your primary email address at the Teaching Sells page, and we’ll get you rolling. Look forward to seeing you there. About the Author: Sonia Simone is co-founder and CMO of Copyblogger Media. Get more from Sonia on Twitter and Google+. Tweet Related StoriesThe WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency ChecklistHow to Become an Exceptional WriterZen and the Art of Content Marketing
The WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist 2 October, 2012, 4:00 am
As a human partaking in civilized society, there are certain pieces of information that you simply have to know, and critical documents you need to have at-the-ready at a moment’s notice. For example, I bet that right now you know what your social security number is and where your social security card is located. I bet you also know where your birth certificate is. If you have a passport, I bet you know where that is, too. Driver’s license? Deed to your house? Debit card? You can likely rattle off their locations without much thought. Not being able to quickly and conveniently locate any of the above when needed could create serious issues for you at critical junctures in your life. Likewise, for those of you who run websites, there are comparable pieces of information that you had better know, or have ready when needed. But my experience at Synthesis — where we provide managed hosting for WordPress websites — has taught me that too many site owners are far too lax with the most critical information about their websites. Which is why we created the WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist and are providing it to you as a free download. It will make your life as a website owner so much easier having all of this critical information in one place … Click here to download the WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist (PDF) And, selfishly, if you’re a Synthesis customer now or planning to become one in the future, it’ll make our lives easier too … especially if you choose to take advantage of our full-service migration offering. The big problem Let’s say that you’re migrating a website from a poor-performing server over to a new robust, high-performance, WordPress-optimized server. This is a scenario we see every day at Synthesis. Doing this requires having a number of important pieces of information: You will definitely need to know who your DNS provider is and how to log into your account. You may need to know who your domain registrar is, what your current nameservers are, and your MX records. You need to know a WordPress user and password combination that provides administrator access to your site. You may also need FTP information for your old server, depending on how you are transferring the files to the new server. It should take all of about five minutes to locate all of this information. Surprisingly, it often takes people far longer. Issue #1: What do I need to know? One issue is that people don’t even realize what’s “must-have” information about their website. Website owners should be thinking about their domain registrar information like their birth certificate; their DNS information like their social security numbers; and their content management system login information like their driver’s license. You’d freak out if you couldn’t locate your birth certificate, social security card, or driver’s license. Maybe it’s time you start doing the same if you can’t immediately pull up this vital information about your website(s). Issue #2: Wait, don’t they know that? Another issue is passing the buck. Perhaps you have a website for your business, but you hired a developer to build it for you and you have a managed host to help you take care of back end issues. Great! If building websites and hosting them are not your core competencies, then you’ve outsourced effectively. However, the ultimate responsibility for knowing your website’s most vital information is yours, not theirs. A good developer or managed host will probably take care of you by having some or all of this information on hand, but … you should too. You are practicing irresponsible website ownership if you don’t. The simple solution The solution is simple: take 10 minutes to round up and record all of your website’s most vital information … Registrar + the username and password to login. DNS provider + the username and password to login. Email provider + username/password Current IP Address (A record) Nameservers MX Records Login URL for WordPress (or whatever CMS you use) + username/password FTP info: hostname; username; password; port (if necessary); and whether it’s FTP or SFTP Database info: PHPMyAdmin URL; database name; database user; and password And rather than writing it all haphazardly on Post-It notes or slapping it all into a random Word Document, keep it all neat, organized, and in one place with the WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist (PDF) that we’ve created for you. Just fill it out, print it, and tuck it away where you keep your important records. Do it for every single one of your websites. A couple important notes regarding the checklist: The PDF will not allow you to save it. This is not a deficiency of the PDF. We designed it this way for security, because we are always hyper-focused on security. If you save the completed form on your website, and your laptop gets stolen, guess what? The nefarious thief now has all of your critical website information. Not good. Go old school with this. Print it out blank and write everything in by hand. Or you can type in the gray boxes and then print it. Once it’s printed, tuck it away in a folder that is located in a safe place. While you’re at it, print two copies and keep one offsite. Your house probably isn’t going to burn down any time soon, but such things do occasionally happen. Bam. Now you have your essential site information secured and ready when needed. Critical mission accomplished. (If you absolutely must keep an electronic copy of it on hand, you can always take a screenshot of it after you fill it in.) Getting it together … Don’t feel bad if you don’t have all of this information in one place right now. You’re not alone. Many of your website-owning colleagues don’t either. But you should feel bad if you read this post, realize you don’t know some or all of this information, and then do nothing. Because someday you’re going to need this information, and need it quickly. Who knows, it may even be during your migration to Synthesis. And just know that if we ask you for any of the above information and it takes you a while to locate it, we’ll be passing around animated GIFs like this one, making fun of you (Okay, not really.) So prepare for someday. Download and fill out your website owner’s checklist, take care of your website so it can take care of you … Click here to download the WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist (PDF) About the Author: Jerod Morris is a founding member of the Synthesis Managed WordPress Hosting team. He is a copywriter and professional blogger responsible for creating Midwest Sports Fans and Primility. Tweet Related StoriesHow to Become an Exceptional WriterZen and the Art of Content MarketingHow to Beat 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears
How to Become an Exceptional Writer 1 October, 2012, 4:00 am
A man and boy sit in an old house crowded with furniture, sunlight, and dust. The man stomps his foot on the hard-wood floor. He’s wearing a white shirt, black jacket, and black derby hat. The boy is wearing the identical outfit. A guitar rests on his tiny knee. Tiny fingers grip the strings. Tiny fingers pluck the strings. The man is nodding, rocking as the boy plays. The man is Jack White — of The White Stripes, The Ranconteurs, and Dead Weather fame. The boy is his son. Jack White is one of our best living guitarists. And he is teaching his son how to play. This scene is part of the documentary It Might Get Loud. Jack White is the youngest of three generations of guitarists showcased. Jimmy Page and The Edge are the other two. It doesn’t matter. The best part of this film happens in this old house crowded with furniture, sunlight and dust. It happens when Jack White is teaching his son how to play his guitar. It happens when Jack White says, “You have to fight the guitar …” “And you have to win.” Some of the best writing advice … ever That’s an incredible piece of advice for playing guitar. For writing. For life. It’s back alley wisdom. A tip you might get from an older brother in a vacant lot before your first fistfight. You have to fight. And you have to win. If Jack would’ve said, “You have to fight the guitar,” and stopped there, then the mood in the room might have been grim. Leaving it at fight the guitar and the lesson was this: it’s just the boy against the guitar. And my money is on the guitar. In other words, there was no hope. You could win. More than likely you could lose. Yet, he said, “And you have to win.” In other words, fight until you win. There is hope, but you have to fight. It could take three months. It could take three years. But it’s not enough to just fight. You don’t become one of the greatest living guitarists without a little strategy, technique, knowledge and flair. These are things that make guitarists’ world famous. And writers legendary. So, let’s look at how these four categories can help you become an exceptional writer … 1. Strategy Always start with the why. Why do you want to become a writer? Do you have what it takes? What does it take? Here are some signals to look for: Drive for Supremacy — Exceptional writers believe that they have to be the best. They have a sense of destiny. They will put a dent in the universe. They will be a pioneer, champion or master. They map out grand visions and risky projects. They shoot for monumental victories, and they are not satisfied with the attention of thousands. They want millions, even billions. And more often than not they succeed in some capacity. Capacity for Solitude — Exceptional writers are comfortable being alone. They prefer the library over the coffee house, the office over the swimming pool. Their involvement in social, political or religious communities and affairs are low. To be active in these realms is to take time away from work. Work above all else. Special Talent — Exceptional writers can write. It’s usually the only thing they do well. It’s natural that they become servants to that talent, seeking ways to express and master it. They look for opportunities to study under top teachers. They read and write obsessively. Listen, while everyone on the planet can and should be able to write, it doesn’t mean they can do it well. There are reasons why you shouldn’t be a writer. Perhaps you don’t know if you were meant to be a writer. Perhaps you’re not sure you want to devote your life to the craft. If that is the case, then you could always tackle a writing project for 30 days. At the end of 30 days evaluate your feelings. Did you enjoy it? Did you have trouble staying on track? 2. Technique Now we’re into the mechanics of the thing, actually punching the keyboard. This will probably absorb most of your time since mastering technique is what has made the greats the greatest. This is hard work. This is daily work. If you’re a dandy or a princess, then this lifestyle is not for you. Wrestling with a 2,000 word essay is not unlike birthing a calf. A life is at stake here. Your job is to make sure it survives. Your job is to sit in the cold and mud and pull until it comes out. Park your bottom in front of the keyboard — Do I need to explain? Practice — Even when they are not writing, exceptional writers find ways to practice. They write emails, tweets or Facebook posts. They journal in the morning and in the evening, and whether they are running over hilly trails or lying beneath the clouds, they are writing and rewriting in their heads. Furthermore, their practice involves a clear purpose: they are trying to improve a certain element of their writing. It could be first sentences or calls-to-action. And finally, this practice is repetitive. The goal is to make it an instinct. Adjust — Exceptional writers are the best and worst critics of their own work. They pull out old letters and blog posts. They re-purpose recent emails after they’ve ruthlessly edited like David Mamet. And they are always asking themselves: “How could I have written this better?” Ask for feedback — Exceptional writers scheme their way into relationships with honest professionals who can give them the kind of input needed to improve. Your purpose is to become a pit bull on paper — but that won’t happen unless you are willing to adjust. Experiment — Exceptional writers look for new angles. They study a list of the best first and last sentences. They wonder if an article would be better if they injected humor, shared a racy illustration or opened with a quote. Anything to break new ground. There are endless ways to practice and master technique. You are limited only by your imagination. And if you are an exceptional writer, then that imagination will be deep. 3. Knowledge There are two kinds of knowledge: general and specific. General knowledge is three miles wide and three inches deep. Specific knowledge is three inches wide and 3 miles deep. As a professional web writer my specific knowledge plunges into the depths of writing, persuasion, content marketing, advertising, negotiations, SEO and social media. My general knowledge ranges from mountaineering to morality — from Christianity to chess. I enjoy reading about gravity, content marketing, dying, Theodore Roosevelt and libertarianism. There is no end to my curiosity. And all of it feeds the beast. So how do you build this knowledge? Here are seven approaches. I recommend them all. Build a wicked vocabulary — Words are your currency. Do you know how to wisely invest in words? Read blogs, books and speeches. Read wide. And read the unorthodox to build that wicked vocabulary. Become an anti-scholar — Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of The Black Swan, coined this term. It refers to the person who focuses on the books he or she has NOT read. It’s not so much how much you know, but how much you don’t know — and how to find out that information when you need it. Ben Johnson, while scanning the book spines of a fellow’s library, said knowing where to find the information is just as important as having the information in your head. Memorize — Recall in writing is critical. I have a pretty good memory. Not photographic, but I can remember most memories in detail. This is why I try to memorize chunks of text, handwrite a compelling page or listen repeatedly to a line in a speech. I want it for recall. But I also want to impress the cadence, vocabulary and style into my mind. So pick your favorite writers, and then start. Travel — Reading is not the only mode of learning. Actually going through experiences, meeting new people and seeing different parts of the world will build your knowledge base. It’s what Jeff Goins calls the discipline of travel. And it’s an excellent educator. Sit in a classroom — These days this doesn’t mean you have to enroll in school, load your backpack with paper and pencils and roll up to the community college on your bicycle. Most major universities are giving away their courses online. MIT, Yale or Stanford. Just look up your favorite university and I’ll bet you they are giving away courses. Tip: my favorite course I listened to was Shelly Kagan’s Death. Educate through writing sprints — From late October to July of this year I wrote over 220 articles in nine months for a client. These weren’t push over posts. These were technical and an average of 1,400 words per article. That’s five day a week. This is break-neck speed, an accelerated course in SEO, social media, marketing and start ups. And, of course, writing. I got really good at predicting which article would do well, and where. Follow a blog like Gangrey — The guys at Gangrey are on a mission to “prolong the slow death of newspapers.” So they hunt down and share some of the best long-form reporting online. You can trust that each story they find will have this in common: great openers, sublime conclusions, and beautiful storytelling in between. Whether it is about a marathoner fraud or the death of a semi-pro football player, these articles rock. Like technique, the ways you absorb knowledge are only limited by your imagination. What methods do you use to build your specific and general knowledge? 4. Flair Listen, one of the hardest things for a writer to uncover is her voice, style and flair. Why? Lack of confidence, which comes from a lack of experience. And the best way to cure a lack of confidence and experience is to practice. See, churning out page after page day in and day you will slowly uncover who you are. You’ll begin to recognize your voice and flair. But there are other clues you can look for, too. Here are five. Find the source of your compliments — Think back to the last time you shared something you wrote with someone. What did they compliment you on? Did they say you were funny? That you have a way of telling a story? When you start to see a pattern in the compliments you receive in what you write, then you can start to identify your voice. Find the feeling that is you — For many people writing is a process of becoming a different person. Joan Didion said, “It’s the only way I can be aggressive.” Didion is a petite woman who wears dark sunglasses. Anyone who’s read her work understands her carnal severity. The confident voice she uses in her world. The courage to catch hell. What kind of person does writing allow you to become? Find it, and then dwell in it. A Personal Seal — The work of exceptional writers — whether blogs or books — bears a distinctive seal. Hugh McLeod is the darling of meaningful work. Leo Babauta is the spokesperson for minimalism. Douglas Adams is the skeptical comic. C. S. Lewis, the rational fabulist. Here’s the lesson: identify with what you do. View it as a personal extension of yourself. Invest a personal stake in your writing. And make it big. Be an iconoclast — Exceptional writers are usually at odds with someone. The State. The Culture. A person or process. Their style is confrontational, wild and sarcastic. Before his death, Christopher Hitchens was one of the most feared rhetoricians. George Orwell noted that his work was lifeless when it wasn’t political. Are you bucking the trend? Or are you intentionally parroting the status quo? Look for ways to stand out. To confront. And make it appear natural. Milk your dysfunctions — Regret. Bitterness. Pain. These are the usual responses to awful experiences. But have you ever thought of being grateful for these experiences? That because of what you have suffered you are now perfectly suited to help other people cope and fight through those same situations? Flannery O’Connor said that if you survive the first two decades of your life then you’ll have a lifetime of writing material. However, you can go too far in this regard. Exhibit A: Cat Marnell. Have you found your voice? How did you find it? Please share. I saved the best for last … I need to come clean with you. After reading this article you might think I’m a curmudgeon. That I view the writing life as a Spartan affair full of suffering. Not true. I love to write. I think it is a joy. A celebration. Yes, it’s a fight. But it’s not work. I love to climb into that ring every morning and manhandle words. It can be painful and a drudgery at times, but it never really feels like I’m suffering. To quote Ray Bradbury … The moment it feels like work, stop and do something else. About the Author: Demian Farnworth is a freelance writer who hustles the finer points of web copy at the blog The CopyBot. Follow him on Twitter or Google+. Tweet Related StoriesZen and the Art of Content MarketingHow to Beat 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers
7 Productivity Links Worth Your Time 29 September, 2012, 4:00 am
This week on The Lede … Do What Steve Jobs Did, Not What He Said The Science of Procrastination Boring is Productive Joss Whedon on Recharging Your Creative Batteries 10 Social Networks for Creatives A Primer on Full-Screen Living (and Working) The Profound Power of One a Day If you want to grab even more useful links (beyond those that make The Lede), follow @copyblogger on Twitter. // Do What Steve Jobs Did, Not What He Said Mr. Newport earned one more reader about two years ago. I can’t remember how I found his blog Study Hacks, but I have irregularly found wisdom in his clear, useful writing there. One thing he’s been exploring is a bit of advice most western job-seekers are very familiar with: “Follow your passion.” Steve Jobs said you should do it, was he right? // Boring is Productive Routine. Ritual. Sameness. Habit. For some, these words are part of the perfect language of death. You are the free spirit, blowing around with the winds of opportunity and change, making it all up as you go. Fine. But is there a chance you’d be able to accomplish all that, and much more, if you were more … boring in certain respects? // A Primer on Full-Screen Living (and Working) Using the useful function of an operating system’s “full-screen mode” as a simple and creative metaphor, Mr. Babauta goes to work dismantling the myth of multitasking. Do you have too many tabs open (literal or otherwise)? Are you bouncing between your work and the endless siren song of notifications and dings? Stop. Go full-screen, on your computer and in your life. // The Science of Procrastination Is this chronic “putting off” that so many of us have mastered a character flaw? In some cases, it must be. At some point, we’ve got to just get over ourselves and get on with the job we’re responsible for. But there’s also something more subtle going on here … and it seems that there’s a science to it. What do you really want? When do you want it? // Joss Whedon on Recharging Your Creative Batteries The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly advises that we don’t need a vacation, we just need to switch things up. Good advice on staying creative here, but forgive me if I dismiss the Hollywood mogul’s suggestion that I skip the vacation. Whedon, please. // The Top 10 Social Networks for Creatives In an updated version of “one of the most popular things” he’s ever published on Lateral Action, Mr. McGuinness makes an extensive appraisal of the state of social networking as it applies to creative people. As always, he goes beyond a mere listing, supplying an answer to the important question of why networking is important, and how a person can make the most of these content outposts. // The Profound Power of One a Day How do you eat an elephant? In a world where “swinging for the fences” is considered good advice and praiseworthy, are you neglecting the seemingly mundane daily tasks that can — over the span of a career — produce exponential results? Accomplish at least one smart, simple, strategic content marketing act every day (Mr. Godin even provides a suggested list). Tortoise, indeed. // Ernest Hemingway’s Sales Letter A little bonus link here … why? Because it points to a beer ad featuring Ernest Hemingway sitting comfortably in an adirondack chair, reading a book. An ad for which Papa wrote up a little sales letter. That’s why. Also: note the hilarious positioning of For Whom the Bell Tolls in the background. Miss anything on Copyblogger this week? Get Paid What You’re Worth: 37 Negotiation Tactics for Every Freelance Writer Why Content Marketing is the New Branding 7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers How to Beat 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears Zen and the Art of Content Marketing About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media's Chief Copywriter and Resident Recluse. Get very short stories from Robert on Twitter and Google+. Tweet Related Stories7 Content Marketing Links You Can Use7 Very Clickable Marketing Links7 Marketing Articles Worth Reading
Zen and the Art of Content Marketing 28 September, 2012, 4:00 am
One of the best restaurants in the world lives under the fluorescent lights of a subway tunnel in the underbelly of Tokyo. Of the hundreds of thousands of eateries across the globe, this one stands apart, not for its size, or its glitz and glamour, but for its Zen austerity and miraculous consistency. Every day of the year, Chef Jiro Ono arrives at his cramped little 10-seat bar down in the subway to do the one thing he’s dedicated his life to … making the best sushi on the planet. But his sushi doesn’t come with any bells or whistles, or even any appetizers. At first glance one would never guess that this minimalist sushi bar had earned the highest culinary award in the world, three Michelin stars. The menu has exactly one item: the chef’s seasonal choice of sushi. Put plainly, three courses of fish and rice. Yet critics and celebrity chefs from across the world rave that it is easily the best (and most expensive) sushi they have ever eaten. What is the secret to this humble establishment’s success? As a content publisher you may be familiar with that feeling you get when you first taste a bit of marketing success. There’s a buzz, an elation that arrives when ingredients come together, when you know you’ve finally created something that’s valued and shared by your audience. It is something that you want to repeat, over and over, but do you really have the discipline and resolve to consistently create a high-quality content “recipe” every day? Often the simplest answer is the right answer Brian Clark’s own Zen wisdom on content creation is very similar to the dedication of great Japanese Shokunin sushi chefs. Quality and consistency are always emphasized over quantity. In the impeccable documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, the humble master reflects, “If it doesn’t taste good, you can’t serve it.” Simple ingredients leave little room for error And the expert panel from Michelin Guides goes to great lengths to find those errors. That is why there are only 106 three-star restaurants in the world. Michelin employs highly educated inspectors to secretly evaluate restaurants throughout the year using three baseline criteria: Quality Originality Consistency And, much like creating extraordinary sushi, these foundational elements of culinary technique can easily be applied to the discipline of content creation. The 3 Pillars of Content Mastery … 1. Quality Master Chef Jiro starts every day with the freshest, cleanest ingredients possible, and he has a team of experts that help him achieve this. As a content producer you must start with high quality ingredients to create rewarding content that becomes a habit for your audience no matter what type of media you are publishing online. You must learn from the masters. If your content isn’t “fresh” — valuable to your audience — they’ll stop consuming it. Relying on the help of a network of experts and friends is also essential. 2. Originality Jiro worked under brutal, exacting sushi chefs for years with little or no pay in order to build the basic skills to become a master. Through self-discipline and hard work he built a small, dedicated audience and kept his product simple so he could create something utterly unique and memorable. By putting in the hard work and discipline that it takes to become a trustworthy authority in your niche you’ll organically (and simultaneously) build a Minimum Viable Audience, and adapt your content to their needs over time. Originality is inevitable through incremental growth and innovation. 3. Consistency Chef Ono shows up every day and repeats the same process in an unerring ritual. He starts with the same basic ingredients to create a product that is transcendent. By putting in the hard work of building an audience that knows, likes and trusts you through the demonstration of your growing expertise, you’ll build something extraordinary from simple ingredients and patience. To quote Chef Jiro on mastery: You must immerse yourself in your work. You have to fall in love with your work … You must dedicate your life to mastering your skill. That’s the secret of success. The techniques are no secret. Do you have the patience and the discipline to become a master content producer? About the Author: Kelton Reid is Copyblogger Media's Copywriter, and an independent screenwriter and novelist. Get more from Kelton on Twitter and Google+. Tweet Related StoriesWhat a Fired Television Writer Can Teach You About Finding Your Marketing StoryThe Art of Being Interesting7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers
How to Beat 7 Common Self-Publishing Fears 27 September, 2012, 4:00 am
Maybe you’ve watched other bloggers launch their ebooks, and you want to do the same — but something’s holding you back. You probably already know the benefits of publishing an ebook … Establishing yourself as an expert author Finally making real money from your blog Creating a low-priced product to draw new customers in You keep telling yourself that you will write an ebook someday … just not yet. And it’s almost certainly the case that one of the seven common fears in this article is holding you back. Staying stuck isn’t any fun, so let’s get right to it … Fear #1: I’m not ready This is the biggest worry I hear from bloggers: I’m not ready. All too often, the bloggers saying this are more than ready. They’ve been blogging for six months, or a year, or longer. Or they’re subject matter experts. Or they’ve been writing for years or even decades. Even if the longest thing you’ve written so far is a blog post, you probably are ready (or at least a lot closer to ready than you think). Tip: Pick a date when you will begin your ebook, however unready you feel. Put it in your calendar. Fear #2: I don’t know what to write about This fear comes in two forms: I have no ideas at all I have so many ideas, I don’t know which to pick The best way forward is to ask your audience. Give them a list of your potential ideas and ask them to vote on their favorites. Even better, ask them what they’re struggling with, using open-ended questions. Tip: Though open-ended questions are always best, you can use SurveyMonkey to run a multiple choice survey — it’s free at the basic level, and quick and simple for your audience to use. Fear #3: Nobody will buy it No writer wants to pour weeks of work into an ebook … only to find that sales are zero (or as close as makes no difference). I can’t guarantee that your readers will buy your ebook. But if you’ve written what they want to read (see #2) instead of what you think they want, they’re very likely to snap it up. You don’t have to sell hundreds of copies during your launch, either. Ebooks never go off: they can stay on a virtual shelf for months or years, bringing in regular income. Tip: Don’t spend months and months on your ebook. Write something short, and aim to complete it within a couple of months — or try the 30 Day ebook plan here. Fear #4: It won’t be good enough Perhaps you’re worried you don’t know enough. Perhaps you think your writing isn’t up to scratch. This fear is one that pretty much every first-time ebook writer suffers. (And plenty of umpteenth-time writers still find it hard to beat.) Remember, your ebook doesn’t have to be the last word on your subject. In fact, it’s much better (for you and your audience) to write an ebook that tackles one single topic — not one that aims to be the only ebook they’ll ever need. Also, you don’t have to go it alone. Maybe there are a couple of chapters in your plan that fall outside of your personal experience. You can research those, interview an expert, or even ask someone else to contribute text for them. Tip: Ask fellow writers, or some members of your audience, to act as “beta-readers.” Get them to comment on your draft, and use their comments and suggestions to improve it. Fear #5: I don’t understand the technology If you’ve only just got to grips with WordPress, the thought of mastering the technology behind ebooks might put you off starting. The great news is that ebooks are relatively easy to produce. If you’re going to sell your ebook through your own blog, you can simply make a .pdf file that readers can view on their computer. (And you can hire a designer to make it look great.) If you want to get your ebook into major online stores, like Amazon, there are a few extra steps to take — but these are by no means insurmountable. Amazon’s KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is straightforward to use, and Smashwords will help you format your ebook for distribution to other online stores. Tip: There are plenty of individuals, plus companies like BookBaby, that can take your ebook manuscript and format it for you. Shop around and ask for recommendations. Fear #6: I don’t have a big list Yes, an email list is a powerful way to sell products … but you don’t need to build a huge list before you can create your first ebook. Even if your list only has a few dozen members — or if you don’t have a list at all — you can publish an ebook. You can use other techniques, like guest posting, to get the word out there, and build up your list over time. After all, if you write the ebook first, you’ll have something for new members to buy. Tip: Use a free chapter or two from your ebook as a sign-up incentive for your email list. This not only gives them a reason to join your list, it also helps nudge them towards buying. Fear #7: I hate the idea of marketing Some people are natural marketers: confident, charismatic, and with an instinctive grasp of what benefits will entice their audience. Others — probably most of us! — find marketing uncomfortable at first. Marketing may not come naturally to you, but you’re perfectly capable of it. Marketing your ebook simply means letting people know what it can do for them. Some of your audience will decide not to buy, of course: perhaps they don’t need that particular book, or they don’t feel they have time to use it right now. Others, though, will be delighted that you’re produced exactly what they need. Tip: Focus on your audience in your marketing. Instead of trying to write about how great your ebook is, write about how it can help them. If one of these fears has been holding you back, decide today how you’re going to move forward. Drop a comment below to tell us your plans. About the Author: Ali Luke is author of Publishing E-Books For Dummies (Wiley, Sept 2012), a step-by-step guide to help you finish, publish, and market your ebook. If you want clear, friendly help and expert tips, pick up a copy today. It’s available in paperback and ebook form. Tweet Related StoriesThe Art of Being InterestingOverwhelmed by the Complexity of Online Business? This May HelpThe WordPress Website Owner’s Emergency Checklist
7 Social Psychology Studies to Help You Convert Prospects into Paying Customers 26 September, 2012, 4:00 am
When it comes to converting more prospects into paying customers, it all boils down to how well you understand your buyer’s mind and what they want from your business. The thing is, your time can’t scale in every circumstance, and there may come a point where you aren’t able to know each and every one of your customers personally. When that’s the case, what’s to be done? The answer is to turn to rigorously tested research in social psychology. We’re all different, but in many instances our brains are prone to respond in a very similar manner, and understanding these common elements in the human mind can help you find more ways to ethically move more buyers towards saying “Yes!” to your products or services. Below you’ll find 7 such studies that will help you understand what makes many of your customers “tick”, and what you can do to create a more effective selling experience. 1. Play the devil’s advocate Are you familiar with how the term “devil’s advocate” came to exist? It’s actually from an old process the Roman Catholic church used to conduct when canonizing someone into sainthood. A lawyer of sorts was instructed to be the devil’s advocate for the candidate, taking a skeptical view of their character in an attempt to find holes in their arguments for why they should be considered. The marketing world has an important lesson to learn from this process. According to research by social psychologist Charlan Nemeth (and his colleagues), the role of devil’s advocate certainly plays a part in persuasion, but it is not one of creating dissent. Nemeth concluded that when people are confronted with someone who truly appears to oppose their position (true dissenters), they begin to try and understand their perspective. Those playing devil’s advocate? They actually increase the effectiveness of the original argument! This is because group members do not take the critiques from the devil’s advocate as seriously, and since the group is now bringing up (and dismissing) possible alternatives or flaws, they are more confident in their original stance. For marketers, this offers an opportunity: playing devil’s advocate for your own products can actually enhance your persuasive efforts as people see their concerns addressed (and dismissed) before they buy. The Takeaway: Playing the role of devil’s advocate has been found to increase people’s resolve in their decision making, not hinder it. Be your own devil’s advocate and back up typical objections with solutions for your offerings. 2. Use urgency … the smart way Creating a sense of urgency in your copy is one of the oldest tricks in the book … and still one of the smartest. To top it off, Cialdini lists “scarcity” as one of the 6 pillars of influence, and it’s easy to see why: great demand leads to great sales. In spite of this, I have some research that explains how urgency can completely backfire on you and ruin your meticulously written copy. How can this be? More importantly, how can you prevent it from happening to you? The research comes to us from a classic study by Howard Leventhal where he analyzed the effects of handing out tetanus brochures to subjects. Leventhal handed out 2 different pamphlets to participants, both sparing no detail on the horrid effects that the tetanus disease can have on the body. The difference was that the control group received a version of the pamphlet that had the effects of the disease … and nothing else. The second group received a similar pamphlet, but theirs had minimal information that indicated where they could schedule an appointment to get vaccinated. The results? Those who had the second pamphlet (with the sparse follow-up info) were much more likely to take-action: the rate that they followed through to get vaccinated was vastly superior to the first group. They were also more engaged with the tetanus information they received. Why? Even though the follow-up information provided in the second pamphlet wasn’t at all comprehensive, Leventhal concluded that our minds are susceptible to blocking out information that evokes a sense of urgency if there aren’t any instructions regarding what to do next. Those in the first group were prone to convincing themselves that, “I don’t need to worry about this because it won’t happen to me anyway,” whereas those in the second group had less incentive to feel this way because they had a plan to take action and couldn’t put it aside as easy. The Takeaway: Urgency can be “blocked” by your customers minds if you don’t give them specific instructions on how to solve the problem that you’ve identified. Don’t give vague instructions, tell your audience exactly what to do when the time comes. 3. Highlight strengths by admitting your shortcomings Is it ever a good idea to admit to your faults? After all, people don’t really want the “real” you, right? Research from social psychologist Fiona Lee would assert that it is, and in fact, it may be the best strategic decision to highlight your strengths. The study she conducted looked at companies who admitted to missteps and examined what effect (if any) these admissions had on stock prices. Lee and her colleagues had experimenters read one of two fictitious company reports (both reports listed reasons why the company had performed “poorly” last year). The first report placed emphasis on strategic decisions. The second placed emphasis on external events (economic downturn, increased competition, etc.). So what were the results? The test subjects viewed the first company far more favorably than the second. Interestingly, Lee found (after examining hundreds of these types of statements, over 14 real companies) that the companies who admitted to their strategic faults also had higher stock prices the following year. Her conclusions were that admitting to shortcomings in areas like strategic thinking showcased that a company was still in control, despite their faults. Blaming external forces (even if true) created a sense that the company didn’t have the ability to fix the problem (or were creating excuses). The Takeaway: Customers still don’t want you to overshare irrelevant details. But admitting to honest errors helps your customers understand that you are in control of the situation and not prone to making excuses. 4. Embrace the power of labels You might think I’m referring to brand labels, but far from it: I’m telling you to label your customers! Sounds like bad advice, right? WRONG! As it turns, the research has shown us that people like being labeled, and they are more likely to particpate in the “group’s” message if they feel included in it. The study examined the voting patterns of adults to see if labeling them had any effect on their turnout at the polls. After being casually questioned about their normal voting patterns, half of the particpants were told that they were much more likely to vote since they had been deemed to be more politically active. (This wasn’t actually true, these people were selected at random) The other half of participants weren’t told anything. Despite this random selection, the group that was told they were “politically active” had a 15% higher turnout than the other group! Our brain seeks to maintain a sense of consistency (even if it’s artificial), and this is why the foot-in-the-door technique works so well even on prepared minds. We enjoy being consistent so much that if we feel apart of a group by being told that we are, it’s still likely to affect our response. For instance, smart people are obviously going to be interested in an internet marketing course that’s made for smart people, right? The label is at work to make you realize you’re part of a desirable group. The Takeaway: Even when given an artificial connection, people tend to take action in order to maintain a consistent image if they are labeled as being apart of a group. Don’t be afraid to label, people like being members of groups that they approve of. 5. Make their brain light up “instantly” There are few things that our brains love more than immediate stimulation. As a matter of fact, research has shown that instant gratification is such a powerful force that an ability to control against it is a great indicator of achieving success. Wow! In terms of your customers, you’re actually looking to do the opposite: in this case the gratification is about getting instantly rewarded by doing business with you, and your copy should remind customers of this benefit at every turn. When your customers are on the verge of purchasing a product from you (or about to sign up for your email list), they are heavily influenced by how quickly they can receive their desired outcome. Several Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) studies, including one on nicotine addiction, have shown that our frontal cortex is highly active when we think about “waiting” for something. On the other hand, our mid-brain is the one that lights up when we think about receiving something right away (that’s the one we want to fire up!). Words like “instant”, “immediately”, or even just “fast” are known to flip the switch on that mid-brain activity that makes us so anxious to buy. Researchers have noted that the key to these words is that they allow us to envision our problem being solved right away; whatever pain point we are seeking to fix by buying becomes more enticing if we know we won’t have to wait very long. The Takeaway: Our brains love “instant gratification” and light up when thinking about eliminating pain points instantly. Let people know that they will be rewarded quickly and they will be more likely to make the purchase. 6. Know how to sell to your 3 types of buyers Every business (no matter the industry) is going to have to deal with the 3 types of buyers out there. All other aspects aside, these 3 groups are defined by the “pain” that they receive when purchasing something. Neuroscientists have defined human spending patterns as a process of “spend ’til it hurts!”, so understanding these different levels of paint points is essential to increasing your sales. According to the research, all customers are grouped into the following categories: Tightwads (24%) – people that spend less (on average) before they hit their limit Unconflicted (61%) – average spenders Spendthrifts (15%) – people that are able to spend more before they hit their limit Guess who the hardest group of people to sell to is? Since they take up nearly a quarter of your potential customers, you should learn some of the smart techniques to minimize buying pain for your “tightwad” customers. Fortunately, the secret boils down to utilizing well-written copy. According to some remarkable neuroimaging studies, minimizing buying pain for “tightwads” (and everybody else) can be accomplished successfully by incorporating the following strategies… 1. Re-frame the value If I told you that my product costs $1,000 a year, you’d definitely approach with a little hesitation, right? Right. That’s because $1,000 isn’t peanuts. What if I told you instead that my product costs $84 a month? Not bad right? If you got enough utility out of it for your business (or for yourself) every month, it would be a very worthy purchase. The thing is, that’s the same as $1,000 a year! If you’re offering something that has a recurring cost or that could be broken down into smaller increments, look into how you might be able to incorporate this into your pricing. 2. Reduce pain points through bundling Neuroeconomics expert George Loewenstein has noted that all customers (but especially conservative spenders) prefer to avoid purchasing multiple accessories if there is an option to complete their purchase in one swoop. He cites our willingness to upgrade from different car packages, but how difficult it is for the brain to justify each individual upgrade (“Yes, I will pay extra for the navigation… and leather seats… and…”, etc). Lowenstein would assert that these individual purchases create individual pain points, whereas a bundled purchase creates only one pain point, even if the price is much higher. 3. Sweat the small stuff We know that “don’t sweat the small stuff” isn’t all that applicable to copywriting, but just how small of a change matters? In what I’ve named the goofiest bump in a conversion rate that I’ve ever seen, research from Carnegie Mellon University University reveals to us that even a single word can affect conversions. Researchers changed the description of an overnight shipping charge on a free DVD trial offer from “a $5 fee” to “a small $5 fee” and increased the response rate among tightwads by 20 percent! Has the word “small” ever felt so big? With a single added word increasing conversions by that amount, I think it’s safe to say that the devil is definitely in the details. The Takeaway: No matter what business you’re in, you will always have 3 types of customers. Know how to sell to tightwads, they make up a large base of your potential buyers and you can reduce their buying pain with the right choice of words. 7. Make an enemy In the business world, meaningful connections are paramount to your success. That being said, you still need an enemy. Why? When could this ever be a good thing? Turns out, it’s a great thing if you’re looking to achieve a cult-like addiction for your brand. In a hightly controversial study entitled Social categorization and intergroup behaviour, social psychologist Henri Tajifel began his research trying to define just how human beings were able to engage in acts of mass hatred (such as the Holocaust). His findings were shocking to say the least. Tajifel found that he could create groups of people that would show loyalty to their in-group and outright discriminate against outsiders … all with the most trivial of distinctions! In the tests, subjects were asked to choose between two objects or people that they had no relation to (one test had people picking between 2 painters). Despite these trivialities, when it came time to dole out REAL rewards, subjects had a huge bias towards their in-group and avoided handing out rewards to the so-called “other guys.” Sounds an awful lot like big companies going toe-to-toe, doesn’t it? Like the Mac vs. PC commercials or Miller Lite taking potshots at un-manly light beers. The thing is, you don’t need a physical enemy, you need to be against a belief or an idea. Copyblogger would assert that real publishers are self-hosted and that well-written content is the centerpiece of the web. Solidifying your unique selling proposition is as much about deciding who your ideal customer is not as much as it is about defining who they are. The Takeaway: You’ll never find your brand’s true voice without something to stand against. This doesn’t have to be another brand, but in order to divide your ideal customers into your “camp,” you need to be against some ideal, belief, or perception, the way Apple was against “boring” PC users in their ads. Bonus Tip: Keep ‘em on their toes You know that the social construct of reciprocity is a powerful force, but did you know that further research has showed that surprise reciprocity works even better? Since you’ve made it all the way to the bottom, I’d like to surprise you with a beautiful, free e-book revealing more insightful data on your audience and customers. All courtesy of the Help Scout team, we hope you enjoy it! Click here to download it instantly. Thanks for reading, I’d also love to hear your thoughts, specifically: which of the above studies did you find the most surprising? See you in the comments! About the Author: Gregory Ciotti is the marketing guy at Help Scout and the founder of Sparring Mind, where he takes psychology + content marketing and makes them play nice together. Get more interesting customer data by downloading this free e-book. Tweet Related StoriesZen and the Art of Content Marketing49 Ways to Gain the Trust and Loyalty of Your AudienceOverwhelmed by the Complexity of Online Business? This May Help

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Marketing Profs Daily Fix

Is Your Content Sourcing Conversations? [B2B Forum Coverage] 5 October, 2012, 5:07 am
If you’re only developing content with consumption in mind, you’re missing a huge opportunity to keep momentum going as prospective buyers move through the buying cycle. Think about what happens after a businessperson reads a white paper or e-book, attends a webinar, or watches one of your video customer testimonials. You’re probably hoping your thought-provoking ideas inspire the person to spark up a conversation with colleagues and peers. According to Ardath Albee, B2B Marketing Strategist and author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, that’s exactly what happens when your content hits the mark. During her session at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum 2012, Ardath said a key goal of your content should be to transform interactions from dialogues to conversations. She defines dialogue as an exchange of information (only requires one person) and a conversation as an interchange of thought, information actively shared among people (requires 2 or more people). (For more on these definitions, check out Ardath’s blog post on this topic.) You can help this transformation along by using your content as a Trojan horse to get your ideas into the conversations your buyers are having when you’re not in the room. But this only works if you think of your content as part of a continuum, where you tell a continuous story over time that accompanies the buyer from beginning to end of the buyer’s journey. When do this effectively, you can become part of all kinds of conversations, including… Corridor conversations. When those companies lower down the food chain are trying to get buy-in for your solution, they often gather in hallways to exchange their thoughts on the boss’ support for the initiative. You can extend a helping hand by providing content that helps them make the business case to the head honcho. Buying committee conversations. Though an entire committee can be involved in a B2B purchase decision, Ardath says only the person with primary responsibility for the purchase is invested in committee meetings—until a solution is proposed. That’s when others on the committee often speak up to question the decision, throw up roadblocks, and generally take measures that cause the initiative to lose momentum. Your content has to address the committee’s objections to get your solution on the shortlist. Inside sales conversations. In this case, you provide inside sales reps with conversational briefs so they understand relevant content they can offer prospective buyers as they’re qualifying them. During the ensuing discussion between inside sales and your leads, your company is likely to uncover additional profile information because buyers are more open to sharing their information when they’re being offered informative content. Sales conversations. Your sales reps can’t step into the buying process without understanding what the prospect knows and what content she has consumed. Ardath advocates giving them the CliffNotes version that provides this overview, and also guides the reps as to what content they should offer next to keep the conversation going. Customer conversations. Many marketers only think about developing content that helps bring a customer on board. But you can influence customer loyalty and follow-on sales by developing content that helps customers understand how to get more value from your solution once they’ve made the purchase. End-user conversations. By developing customer-focused content aimed specifically at end users, you can encourage adoption of your solution, which helps pave the way for contract renewal and further penetration into the account. Ardath ended her session with three shifts and a challenge. Shift from talking to listening. Find out what your buyers are saying by following their conversations online, conducting keyword research, finding out what communities they participate in, analyzing your data, and interviewing a handful of sales reps quarterly. Shift from packaged campaigns to tuning on the fly. When you create content, think about producing short-form content instead of just longer pieces, and immediately find ways to repackage and repurpose it. Then monitor the response to your content and adjust as needed. Move from one-off blasts to serial storytelling. Make sure your content answers buyers’ questions at each stage in the buying process. Multichannel challenge. The ultimate question you need to ask yourself about your content marketing strategy is “will it blend?” In other words, as buyers consume your content across different channels (e.g., your blog, YouTube channel, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), will they see consistency and a story that hangs together? Remember, your job is to connect the dots for buyers and you do that by orchestrating content and conversations, even as they occur across channels. So, can you really say you’re part of the conversation?
Social Media Doesn’t Connect Us; It Deepens Existing Connections 5 October, 2012, 4:02 am
“Social media doesn’t really connect us,” Dave Carroll told me in the most recent episode of Marketing Smarts. “It only allows us to experience what is already there.” Although you may not immediately recognize Dave’s name, it’s quite likely that you are familiar with the music video he made, “United Breaks Guitars,” which catapulted the semi-obscure Canadian singer-songwriter to global fame and transformed him into living proof of social media’s power as a tool capable of holding big companies accountable to individual consumers. A Big Epiphany In the book Dave published about his experience with United and the many changes it has brought about in his life and thinking, he called this insight about social media “one of the big epiphanies.” “We are connected already,” he insisted. “We don’t need Facebook or Twitter [to connect us].” I must say that I also found this insight epiphanic. Having myself taken it as a given that “social media connects people,” I found Dave’s thoughts not only true, but born out by my own experience. Take Facebook as an example. It is absolutely the case that this platform has allowed me to re-establish relationships with people I knew but had fallen out of touch with rather than helping me start new relationships. Indeed, even when I’ve gotten to know people through Facebook, it was always a meeting outside of Facebook that was the catalyst. (As for Twitter, while I must admit that I have met people through Twitter, some whom I may never meet in “real life,” I view Twitter as a kind of magnifying glass that allowed me to see connections—shared interests, experiences, etc.—with these strangers that I never would have discovered unaided.) Why This Rethinking of Social Media Is Important Businesses today are trying more and more to use social media to connect with their customers and potential customers. This is going about things the wrong way and a rethinking of social media should help them change their approach. Business shouldn’t use social media to create connections but, rather, to find pre-existing connections with the people they are trying to reach. Therein lies the true power of social media. “It comes down to finding that connection point with others,” Dave says, “and if you do that by being authentic and sharing your story, by nature of this ability to be connected to each other (that we come by naturally), then people will buy your story. “And once they buy your story, they will buy whatever it is you have to sell if it’s something they need and it resonates with them.” You Can’t Force Connection, So Don’t! Let’s face it. The hard-selling, coming-on-strong approach is a turn off. It doesn’t create connections. It turns people off. Highlighting the things we have in common with others and sharing stories that draw people in and engender empathy and identification, all that brings people together. Social media doesn’t create the commonalities. It doesn’t spin the yarn or tell the tale. But by shining the light, by providing the campfire around which the song can be sung, it facilitates communion and, if we’re lucky, helps us build the communities of interest and mutual benefit that are at the heart of true commerce. Think about it. It’s not what social media does, but what it allows humans to do, that really matters.
Talkin’ and Doodlin’ About B2B Blogs [B2B Forum Coverage] 4 October, 2012, 6:59 pm
At the B2B Forum tonight, Mack Collier hosted his popular #BlogChat—without the Twitter aspect. In other words, Mack moderated a room full of savvy, bright B2B marketers as they shared their blogging challenges and helpful advice. The highlights from the talk: Personality is critical to a successful blog. (People make up companies, not cyborgs.) Encourage folks in your company to produce content in forms that are comfortable for them. (People who fear the blank page might find a video or a podcast easier to create.) Remember to ask yourself important questions, such as, “What’s the story you want to tell? What do your customers want to hear? How can you create value for your audience’s audience?” Rather than continue with this bulleted list, how about some visual sketchnotes of the session? You can follow the hashtag #mpb2b to see the B2B Forum tweets.
Are You Diving Deep Enough Into Your Buyers’ Heads? [B2B Forum Coverage] 4 October, 2012, 1:52 pm
It seems every marketer is talking about “buyer personas” these days. But are they all spinning their wheels? Unless you’ve interviewed buyers directly and have unearthed insights and trends in five key areas, you don’t know Jack. According to Adelle Revella of the Buyer Persona Institute in her B2B Forum presentation, if you stop at a “core buyer persona” (often called a customer profile), you and your competitors are likely on the same footing. And you don’t truly know enough to make a difference in how you influence the buying decision. The secret is to understand why and how a buyer decides to choose you over the competition or the status quo. As Adele says, when you know how a buyer relates to a decision you want to influence, you have a true buyer persona. And to arrive at all the necessary insights, someone with the right interviewing skills must interview 6-8 buyers as soon as possible after their purchase and before they implement. Through these interviews, you’ll uncover patterns and trends around: Triggering events that make a buying decision a priority Outcomes buyers expect to achieve by using your offering Objections to doing business with you The buying process Decisions made at each stage in the buying process With a solid grasp of what Adele calls these Five Rings of Insight, marketers can: More effectively segment their database Prioritize marketing investments Develop more strategic, relevant, persuasive messaging and content Better focus sales on promising prospects and enable them to win deals Ready to get started with buyer persona best practices? Visit www.buyerpersona.com. Want to accompany MarketingProfs virtually during our B2B Forum? Follow the #mpb2b hashtag on Twitter.
Social Media Influence: What Is It Really? (And Why Care?) 4 October, 2012, 4:00 am
The B2B Forum starts today! As a sneak peek at today’s B2B goodness, I interviewed Alan Belniak, one of the presenters at the B2B Forum, about social media influence. (Here are the details and agenda of the B2B presentations. Belniak, global director of social media at PTC, and Paul Gillin, a B2B social marketing strategist, will be discussing social media influence at the B2B Forum in Boston. Their session is at 9 a.m. on Oct. 4. MarketingProfs: What’s the best description of social media influence? Alan Belniak: Influence in general, I think, is the mystical force that can compel or cause someone to do or not do something they might not otherwise would have done and specifically at your request. Take, for example, a typical consumer purchase of a TV. There are lots of options for information, including technical specifications from the manufacturer, online reviews from trustworthy (and not-so-trustworthy sites), personal recommendations, actual word of mouth… Much of this goes into a purchase decision. Ultimately, there is one thing that activates the decision. That is influence. Translating that to the social media world, it’s not that much different, except that a consumer (our TV friend here, or your typical B2B working professional) is likely bombarded with a lot more information. But in much the same way, she ultimately makes a decision after taking in lots of information. One or two sources were more compelling than others. Ergo, the author or authors of those sources are the modern-day, social/digital media influencers. MarketingProfs: Why does social media influence matter? AB: Aside from TV technical specifications, many buyers are not going to a vendor or company website first to learn more. Sure, in some cases, but I don’t think that’s the norm. In fact, they are probably searching on their business problem or malady, and looking at page one of the search results. A specific company might rank highly in those pages, but I think many others go to other sites to learn more before going to a vendor site. What does this mean? It means that as good as you are at telling your story, you really need the story to be so good that others tell it for you and tell it the way you want them to. That’s a very challenging task since anyone can pretty much say anything on the web. If you can get a prospect to understand truly what you do, what you fix, how you fix it, and why you are a good choice before they ever land on your site, then you’ve done a good job at having the “influencers” tell your story for you, in a much more believable way. MarketingProfs: What is the biggest criticism that you’ve heard about social media influence… and how do you answer that criticism? AB: One of my significant criticisms as it relates to “social media influence” is that it can be measured tritely with a single integer, between 0 and 100. The thing is, these online measures are one of many ways to help understand someone’s online influence. But they are not the only way. In fact, many of these tools are dependent on which networks one willingly connects into them to “let” them determine one’s online influence. If one purposely omits a network, then it shows that the system can be gamed. I think these tools and measures serve a purpose, but they should be part of a holistic review, and not be used singly. MarketingProfs: What’s one of your favorite examples of social media influence and what can come from it? AB: Here are two. The first is probably more well-known—United Breaks Guitars. If you are unfamiliar, you can read more about it via the United Breaks Guitars Wikipedia entry. In a nutshell, musician Dave Carroll was flying on United Airlines. He claimed his expensive guitar was mishandled and ultimately damaged. He registered a complaint with United Airlines, and it fell on deaf ears. After many exchanges later, Dave ended up recording a song about it called “United Breaks Guitars.” The song was posted onto the social web and garnered lots of views and shares (essentially going viral). This finally got United Airlines’ attention, but not after a fair amount of PR damage. The take-away here is that if you’ve got a good message and a platform (he is a creative person by nature, and he uses music as his platform), then a brand (United Airlines, in this case) needs to consider this as a new influencer in this day and age. The second is an approach I like that I followed a little while ago. In August 2011, Windows launched a new smartphone, right in the middle of the iPhone/Android frenzy. Windows needed to get on the minds of those in tech to establish itself as a viable contender. So, it identified a few online influencers . One of them was Molly Wood, a then-CNET Buzz Out Loud co-host. Buzz Out Loud at the time was a daily podcast geared to a digitally- and socially-savvy technical crowd. A Microsoft representative contacted Molly Wood and issued her a Windows 7 Phone Challenge: Try out the Windows Phone 7 for two weeks; if you don’t agree that it rivals (or beats) your iPhone experience, then Microsoft would donate $1,000 to a charity of Molly’s choice. What I liked about this approach is that they found someone who wields a fair amount of influence with a digital and technical crowd (the ideal customer for early Windows 7 Phone adopters), and someone who has an established platform already. In addition, Molly is a frequent and prolific writer, so Microsoft could almost guarantee that she’d blog/share about it—precisely what they were seeking. MarketingProfs: Thanks so much for your insight into social media influence, Alan! Want to learn more about social media influence? Find out how it works in the world of B2B marketing by attending our B2B Forum in Boston today!
Five Surefire Ways to Fail at B2B Customer Acquisition 3 October, 2012, 4:41 am
Sometimes, I think we all share the same grand delusion—the belief that our marketing struggle is against competitors who constantly try and steal customers, opportunities, and market share from us and that leads to a long, endless war of attrition. It’s a war fought trench by trench in what seems a fruitless effort to influence potential customers to buy from us instead of the rival company. After over a decade of working with global enterprise companies, I have been able to work with them to identify five key failures that not only reinforce this belief system but severely disable our ability to adapt or change to a rapidly changing market and customer. Failure 1: Minimizing the Importance of Peer and Customer Recommendations In an era of hyper-connectivity, our biggest failure as B2B marketers very well could be our ignorance of how connected the world has become. It has been a silent, fast, and powerful shift enabling customers to “lift the veil” on you as a potential supplier and partner—without you every knowing what was said and how it has influenced their decisions. Understanding and harnessing the power of these “influencer undercurrents” is critical now more than ever to building confidence in your brand before you even directly touch a customer the first time. Failure 2: Myopic Focus on Big Data Big data. This term has been a growing concern of mine with the rapid advance of social analytics, which in my opinion is like sorting through a trash bin for a half-eaten slice of pizza. You have reached a point of diminishing returns when our understanding of the customer becomes so needlessly complex that we miss some of the simplest insights that drive sustainable customer acquisition: Keep it simple for me and make me feel good about my decision. Laser focus on the scientific dissection of the customer destroys our instinct about how to engage and interact with people. Data needs to be balanced by humanity within the customer acquisition life cycle to be of any use. Failure 3: Corporate Hubris We’ve all been forced to sit through a dinner or meeting with an absolutely obnoxious bastard who goes on and on about how great they are. Do we ever look forward to seeing them again? Do we avoid them? Do we speak poorly of them to others? Many corporations market the same way—a relentless egotistical barrage of how great they are and how lucky you will be if you only decide to become a customer. This circles back and compounds the affects of our first failure: People talk about us. Do you really know what people are saying? Are your survey questions safe because you don’t want the truth? Failure 4: Friction Between Buying and Selling Process To explain this, I turn to Issac Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states when a body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Buying and selling processes in enterprise markets are very similar. When we exert, even the most thought-out sales process on a potential customer, they push back with equal force with a thought-out buying process. The result? A direct negative impact on our ability to convert leads and reduce sales cycles. Failure 5: Poor Hand-off to Internal Partners So many great starts to customer relationships have failed in the hand off. Why? Marketing has a different perspectives on the customer relationship than other internal partners, including sales, customer service, finance, and so on—a factor that fundamentally changes the customer experience from relationship to transaction, from a person to a quota and from engagement on their terms to pressured timelines and rigid sales process. How Do We Overcome This? My esteemed colleague Sam Fiorella would have you believe it is better to invest in customer development—that to improve loyalty, improve share of wallet, and increase net promoter scores is the answer to your customer acquisition woes. While this advice is well-intentioned, it is sure to hobble even the most proficient marketing organization as you now divide your attention and diminishing resources between both acquisition and development. I would put forward that the key is to rethink not what we are doing in customer acquisition, but how we are acquiring customers. By taking customer acquisition from a data-driven transactional science to an enlightened art form of customer engagement, we avoid the need to invest in customer development and can leave that to the rest of the organization. I mean, don’t we as marketers have enough accountability already? You will be judge and jury at this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum in Boston on October 4 and 5 as I teach Sam that customer development is a viable strategy only when you fail at customer acquisition.
Want to Engage B2B Buyers? Shift Your Focus From Customer Acquisition to Customer Development 2 October, 2012, 6:59 am
B2B customers have become more independent buyers in the procurement process as a result of their increasing access to information, research, and peer-recommendations. In fact, this modern buyer is something of an enigma to B2B vendors. Traditional lead generation efforts, such as trade show and publication advertising, direct mail, and email, are decreasing in effectiveness. Lead generation through social marketing has received much hype yet case studies demonstrating real bottom-line impact are still few and far between. How does one capture their attention (and wallet-share) in an environment where competition has surpassed competitive vendors to include the increasing availability of information and perception driven by customers and non-customers alike? Sales teams and marketing organizations are experimenting with lead generation tactics in an attempt to drive both greater volumes and conversion of leads. However, innovation (and results) within a B2B’s sales process will not occur by morphing existing lead generation practices because the problem does not lie with the tactic but the department the business looks to for lead generation. Engaging the modern B2B buyer is no longer about sales campaigns; it’s about re-channeling your business’ sales focus, efforts, and budget from external to internal practices. Real ingenuity and results will come when the business shifts their sales efforts from customer acquisition to customer development. Traditional Lead Generation Continues to Challenge B2B CMOs The challenges of generating high-quality leads, as well as high volumes of leads, continue to be the main challenge of B2B CMOs. Further, there has been a decline in the tactical effectiveness from overall quality and quantity of leads generated according to B2B marketers surveyed recently. In fact, many tactics declined by 50% or more in reported effectiveness per a recent 2012 B2B Benchmark Report. That study highlights the fact that one of the key barriers is the lack of internal resources in staffing, budgeting, or time. The next largest challenge reported is the business’ lack of ability to stop executing lead generation tactics to think and plan strategically. These findings fuel my argument that shifting resources from customer acquisition to customer development will reap the greatest reward in today’s marketplace. Gartner Group reports that just a 1% increase in a B2B’s client retention rate could represent an average 8% increase in the business’ profits. And at the end of the day, isn’t greater profits what we’re ultimately trying to achieve? Rethinking the Lead Generation Source I will admit that marketing teams are—and will be—challenged to wrestle resources and budget from traditional sales departments and tactics in a sluggish economy. However, doing more of the same garners just that: more of the same, which (as the study highlights) is more dissatisfaction with lead conversion. At this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum in Boston, I will be debating Jeff Wilson, my partner at Sensei Marketing, on this very issue. Unlike Jeff, I believe that focusing on customer development strategies is the innovation required to drive greater sales results for B2B organizations. During this debate, I will demonstrate how developing the value of your existing customers, through improved customer experience and management will generate the following. 1. Increased Quantity of Leads Moving existing customers from being just satisfied to becoming an advocate will drive greater new customer leads by populating the marketplace with positive peer-recommendations and case studies—something buyers are increasing seeking before even speaking to sales teams. 2. Greater Conversion of Leads Monitoring and measuring the customer experience with both the products purchased and the service received across the entire customer life cycle generates the insights needed to sharpen the strategies, tactics, and messages needed to improve conversion rates with prospective customers. 3. Increased Profits A better understanding of the relationship between the efforts to maintain a satisfied customer and the profit generated from those same customers, provides the required insight and analytics that will filter and pre-qualify prospects, thus allowing the sales team to focus those limited resources on those customers most likely to drive greater profit. Having debated Jeff often, I’m certain he will present equally valid arguments for investing greater budget and resources into overt customer acquisition strategies. Yet, I’m confident I’ll emerge the victor in this debate. Join us at the MarketingProfs B2B event on October 3 to 5, 2012 and judge for yourself.
B2B Marketing Innovation: 33 Tips From 33 Innovators [E-Book] 1 October, 2012, 6:55 am
Business-to-business marketing gets a bum rap sometimes, doesn’t it? And meanwhile, B2B marketers get mislabeled as boring. Serious. Stuffy people in suits. Some B2B marketers deserve that moniker, maybe. We’ve all been subjected to boring white papers, been pitch-slapped on webinars, and suffered through dull blog posts that plod along like death march. (I’m not talking about you, of course.) (Or am I?) From where I sit, there’s increasingly evidence that B2B marketing is a pretty exciting place to be these days. The truth is that some B2B marketers have always been innovators. As my friend Lee Odden writes, “There’s a growing movement among progressive business-to-business marketers to break free of stale and antiquated digital marketing tactics. While consumer product marketing has long been associated with more interesting and compelling marketing efforts, modern B2B marketers include numerous companies that are creating amazing programs to attract, engage, and convert business buyers with infotaining content, compelling social engagement and memorable calls to action.” (I love Lee’s word there—infotaining.) As a build-up to and celebration of the MarketingProfs B2B Forum conference in Boston later this week, Lee and his team created an e-book highlighting B2B marketing innovation, with advice from speakers at our #mpb2b event. These smarties represent some of the top B2B brands in the world (like Cisco, IBM, SAP, Salesforce, and Silverpop) and also represents a kind of Who’s Who in B2B Digital Marketing. Lee and his team did a fantastic job on this e-book—I especially love the retro theme that coincides with the MarketingProfs branding of the event: “This Is Not Your Father’s B2B”. As Lee says, “From the importance to data to use of visual content and humor, this eBook is chock full of practical advice for B2B marketers to be more innovative with their marketing.” Check it out: Download the full ebook here. 33 B2B Marketing Innovators and their submissions—a BIG HEARTY THANKS to all of you for participating: 1. Customer = Hero—me 2. Engaging Content—Michael Brenner 3. Stop Talking & Listen—Joe Pulizzi 4. Study Deeply—Christopher Penn 5. Be First & Fail—Rob Yoegel 6. Actively Adapt—Amber Naslund 7. Remarkability—Alan Belniak 8. Do the Unexpected—C.C. Chapman 9. Borrow Freely—Roberta Rosenberg 10. Automation Tools—Kathleen Christoph 11. Have Understanding—Mack Collier 12. Buyers Are People, Too—Amanda Maksymiw 13. Steal Shamelessly—Ellen Valentine 14. Create A Theme—Paul Gillin 15. Honest & Factual—Jeanne Hopkins 16. Uncover the Truth—Adele Revella 17. I’m Eric Granof—Eric Granof 18. Use Web Data—Chad Horenfeldt 19. Customer Needs—Susan Emerick 20. Talk to Customers—Matt T. Grant 21. Stick To Basics—Lou Imbriano 22. Serve Up Information—Shelly Kramer 23. Innovation Day—Mark Rice 24. White Paper Rut—Corey O’Loughlin 25. Awesome Audiences—Tom Fishburne 26. Tell Stories—Tim Washer 27. B’s & C’s Are People—Dave Thomas 28. Be Creative—Kami Huyse 29. Flexible Content Plan—Marti Konstant 30. Listen for Gold—Lee Odden 31. Appeal to People—Lynn O’Connell 32. Proof of Quality—Scott Williamson 33. Likes vs. Shares—Joe Yeager Download the PDF of the B2B Marketing Innovations eBook. Or check out the eBook embedded from Slideshare. You can easily grab the embed code to add this to your own blog or site, too. B2B Marketing Innovation eBook – MarketingProfs B2B Forum from TopRank Online Marketing I’m looking forward to seeing Lee and all the authors at the MarketingProfs B2B Forum this week in Boston. And maybe you, too? A limited number of tickets are still available…. so I hope to see you there!
Free Friday: Avoid the Flipside of Awesome Business 28 September, 2012, 6:44 am
Everyone wants to be awesome, but awesomeness requires constant work and vigilance. You can quickly slip from “awesome” to “awful” if you’re not careful. To help you maintain your state of awesomeness (and to point out those dangerous uncool spots along the way), we’re offering you a free seminar from author Scott Stratten. It’s actually the first part of a two-part series focusing on what mistakes to avoid (huge mistakes that take down even the biggest brands). This free seminar is presented by Stratten. He is the president of UnMarketing and is an expert in viral, social, and authentic marketing, which he calls un-marketing. He’s been running his “UnAgency” for eight years, helping it become the place companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross and Fidelity Investments go when they need help with their viral/social media andrelationship marketing landscape. He is also the author of the best-selling Unmarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging. By attending this seminar, you’ll learn… How to ensure customers take their grievances to you and not Twitter What makes a video go viral and why yours hasn’t yet Why you need to be careful with your QR codes And more The free seminar is on Tuesday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. Eastern time (10 a.m. Pacific time). Register now!
Who Does Your Marketing Serve? 27 September, 2012, 6:53 am
What if people were willing to pay you for the privilege of receiving your marketing materials? A while back, I spoke with Laura Fitton about the idea of “useful” marketing, and we thought that, if you could actually get people to pay you for your marketing, that that would be a leading indicator of just how useful people found it. I was reminded of this thought experiment when speaking with IBM’s Yuchun Lee for this week’s episode of Marketing Smarts. Yuchun believes that marketers can and should harness the power of technology to increase the relevance of their communications, with the ideal being a level of relevance that feels to the consumer like a service. “Every email that you send to a client,” he said, “shouldn’t be about trying to sell and promote something. It should be about adding value. It should be about service. We call this marketing so good… it feels like a service.” A Copernican Shift Copernicus famously revolutionized the way humans viewed the solar system by demonstrating that the sun, not Earth, was at its center. Thinking about your marketing in terms of usefulness or as a service attempts to accomplish the same thing because it forces you to view your marketing from the perspective of the customer and not simply as “an augmenting function of the sales function,” as Yuchun put it. In other words, that kind of Copernican shift encourages you to ask of every bit of marketing (your website, your emails, your Twitter and Facebook feeds, your ebooks, your infographics, your blog, etc.), “What does this do for my customer? How does this help them? How can they use this?” Double Talk or the Way of the Future? Putting it that way, of course, makes this idea seem reasonable. We all want to be “customer-centric” and what better way to demonstrate our commitment to this ideal than to create marketing materials that aren’t “for us” but are “for them”? That being said, though, whether we have this service mentality or not, we are, at the end of the day, really creating this stuff for own ends. The proof of that pudding is this: If “marketing as a service” made customers happy but didn’t have any impact on sales, we would pull the plug, right? For this reason, I fear that there is an air of double talk about this concept. Marketers know that people are leery of marketing and will filter out marketing messages whenever they can. Calling it a service then amounts to little more than an attempt to elude these filters by convincing people that your marketing is actually something else. At the same time, according to Yuchun, research suggests that the use of service-type messages—highly personalized recommendations based on past purchase behavior, for example—can lift response rates and that people respond favorably to increased relevance, viewing relevant marketing as helpful (e.g., as a service) rather than intrusive promotional or marketing-y. So, what do you think? Double talk or way of the future? Or is your opinion more like, “If it works, who cares?”

PR 2.0

Facebook: Over 1 Billion Served – Plus Interesting Stats 4 October, 2012, 8:04 am
Mark Zuckerberg announced in a short and sweet post today that Facebook is now home to one billion digital denizens. I’m not going to focus on the impact this news will have on its stock. Instead, I would like to focus on how this significant milestone aligns with his vision, a vision that was clearly communicated in the company’s S-1. After re-reading Zuckerberg’s letter to investors, here are a few themes that resonate with me in light of this news… Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission — to make the world more open and connected. The social network hopes to strengthen how people relate to each other. Even though Facebook’s mission sounds big, the company is focusing on starting small — with the relationship between two people. Its focus is building tools to help people connect with the people they want and share what they want, and by doing this they are extending people’s capacity to build and maintain relationships. Facebook observes that as people share more, they have access to more opinions from the people they trust about the products and services they use. As a result, the global social network strives to makes it easier to build meaningful relationships, discover the best products and improve the quality and efficiency of their lives. This quote by Zuckerberg really captures the spirit of Facebook’s mission, “Today, our society has reached another tipping point. We live at a moment when the majority of people in the world have access to the internet or mobile phones — the raw tools necessary to start sharing what they’re thinking, feeling and doing with whomever they want. Facebook aspires to build the services that give people the power to share and help them once again transform many of our core institutions and industries.” At 1 billion strong, Facebook is certainly closer to its vision than ever before. But, it’s still not enough to convince investors that it’s really on to something here… It’s still not enough to convince skeptics who announce that they’re abandoning Facebook with every new social network that gains momentum…and those that re-emerge again and again. It’s not enough that even at its previous count of 955 million users, that the network accounted for 12% of the world’s population. Facebook’s news is indeed spectacular. While there are many fun, innovative, and and promising networks out there today, it is Facebook that is single-handedly making the digital and the real world a much smaller place. It is, despite is flaws, a primary residence for the digital YOU. To celebrate this milestone, here are some interesting Facebook statistics that I thought I’d share with you… - Facebook reached 1 billion monthly active users on September 14 at 12.45 PM Pacific time. - Over 1.13 trillion likes since launch in February 2009. - Facebook now has 600M mobile users. - 140.3 billion friend connections. - 62.6 million songs have been played 22 billion times – that’s about 210,000 years of music. - The median age of a Facebook user is about 22 as the company hit 1 billion. - Approximately 81% of Facebook’s monthly active users are outside the U.S. and Canada. - When Facebook hit 500 million, the average social graph size was 305. UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal published a wonderful infographic that paints a telling picture of the state of Facebook. Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here…
Twitter Shifts from Tech Startup to Media Network [Infographic] 3 October, 2012, 12:15 pm
The state of the relationship between Twitters and its developer community is nothing short of tumultuous. While there are significant merits on either side of the debate, what’s clear is that the Twitter of yore is no longer on a similar course for what will be the Twitter to come. It’s a sign of maturation and focus. It’s Twitter’s shift from tech startup and media darling to an aspiring new media empire. Ruffling feathers and clipping wings is an unfortunate reality of any business strategy. What was once a Twitter paradox has now become promising new model for the future not just social and mobile media, but all media. Already, Twitter’s 2012 mobile ad revenue will exceed that of Facebook at $129.7 million to $72.7 million based on predictions from eMarketer. By 2014, Twitter expects to generate over $1 billion in sales according to insider reports. To put that in perspective, Twitter’s ad revenue in 2011 was just under $140 million. As Twitter makes the pivot to a fledgling media giant, the teams at “Pivot” and Netbase studied how online conversations reflected the sentiment of the community toward Twitter. The team also looked at how conversations related to Twitter compared to those of Facebook, Tumblr, and Foursquare. Just looking at 2012 in general, Twitter tops the list with the most negative feedback at 30%. So how does that 30% break out? Well, 30% are general complaints. 22% reflect changes to the API rules. 16% are tied to DM. When it comes to conversations around development platform, mentions of Facebook’s Open Graph trumps Twitter’s API at 916,101 vs. 28,717 over the course of one year. But Facebook is close to Twitter in terms of negative commentary at 29% compared to 30%. So what are people complaining about when talking about Facebook? 33% complain that an app can’t post. 14% say Facebook lacks perks and extras. Another 14% feel Facebook is too time consuming. What of the flurry of conversations around API changes at Twitter and Facebook? If you look at the bottom of the infographic, we can see that compared to October 2011, both networks are faring much better now regardless of the media’s take on the subjects. Twitter earned far more negative reactions lasting a longer duration when it announced major API changes last year. This time around, it appears that Twitter’s API change saw more positive conversations in general occurring in a shorter burst. Facebook seemed to earn more positive support in both cases. Taking place on October 15th and 16th in NY, the Pivot Conference will sell out. Use code SolisVIP to save 30%. See you there! Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ lead image credit: Shutterstock
Why Do Customers Use Social Networks for Customer Service? Because They Can… 2 October, 2012, 5:32 am
Every day, an increasing number of connected consumers are taking to social networks to ask for help or express sentiment related to business or product related experiences; some do so to seek resolution from their peers, others broadcast questions or comments as a form of catharsis; and a smaller group of consumers actually hope to receive a response directly from the company. The reality is that social media is the new normal. A myriad of social networks, whether you use them or not, are now part of the day-to-day digital lifestyle with Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Youtube among others becoming the places where your customers connect, communicate, and engage around experiences. They take to these social networks and more because they can. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Social Media as a term and as a movement garnered significant momentum going back as far as 2005 and 2006. Here we are more than six years later wondering whether or not social networks are a fad. Skeptics point to the deterioration of Myspace (although it’s coming back…again!) or the botched Facebook IPO as evidence that social networks are just the latest craze that will go out of fashion a la cassettes, floppy disks, and CD-ROMs. Yet, they won’t. At best, they’ll evolve. But nonetheless, businesses will have to adapt to new forms of engaging with customers to ensure positive sentiment and more importantly, invest in long-term loyalty and advocacy. I believe that businesses will learn how to engage in new networks one of two ways. Either businesses will recognize the opportunity to earn relevance through an “a ha” moment. Or, they’ll say “uh oh” upon witnessing the impact of a crisis on business, branding, and customer influence when a negative experience goes viral. Recently, Sitel and TNS released a study of social media customer service to explore the growing trend. The report features the responses of more than 1,000 consumers in the U.K. and while still nascent, we see a landscape that is shifting beneath our feet. What’s clear is that consumers are becoming more connected. Traditional call centers and knowledge bases work as designed, read…as best as they can considering the circumstances. Traditional customers are no longer alone in their role in defining markets. Connected consumers think and behave differently. One key difference that I learned when writing my book, The End of Business as Usual, was as provocative as it was revealing. When faced with a problem or question concerning a product, traditional customers will first seek out resolution through traditional service means. Connected customers, on the other hand, will either first express dissatisfaction to their friends in a social channel and/or proceed to search for or ask peers and companies for help in online communities or social networks. In other words, traditional customers will seek out information and connected customers expect resolution to find them. Seven-percent of individuals age 16-24 will first complain in social media and 71% will search for a solution online before they relent and contact the company directly. Revolutionary? Hardly. Profound? Yes. There’s an old saying among trendcasters that reminds us to look at the behavior of younger generations if you want to plan for future engagement. The idea that connected consumers will first share negative sentiment to a group of hundreds or thousands of people will eventually play a role in the overall perception of the business. More importantly, to engage with connected customers requires an omnipresent service team tracking activity and engaging customers when and where necessary. When asked how companies could improve customer service, 17% of 16-24 and 25-34 year-old asked for faster response times on Twitter. Across all age groups, an average of 25% want companies to post video demonstrations, tutorials, and instructions. This is another huge difference between traditional and connected consumers. Consumers want to see how things work not just read or hear about it from company representatives. This is one of the reasons why Youtube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Visual references are a way of communication and discovery for connected consumers. As you rethink the future of service, you cannot lose sight of your traditional customers. At the same time, you must bring connected customers into view. No need to reinvent the service center yet. However, listening, learning and adapting starts with research. To better understand the extent of your connected customer behavior, start with these tips… 1. Use a social media listening service to see what people are saying today. If you don’t have access to budget or existing tools, try SocialMention, it’s free. 2. Observe the frequency and reach of service-related mentions. Prepare reports based on your findings and share with key stakeholders. Here’s a free template to help get you started. 3. Are there any trends related to the mentions? Do they require direct engagement or do they offer insight to improve experiences. 4. Develop an ongoing listening and alerting system. It will only get louder as time progresses. 5. Implement a triage and information process to get information in, to the right people, and back out to customers. 6. Establish roles and responsibilities. 7. Learn and Adapt. Improve products and services based on insights. 8. Stay integrated. Make sure that social and call center teams communicate knowledge and best practices. 9. Be proactive. Don’t just address negative commenters or those with questions, engage those who are positive as well. 10. Host forums or town halls to get ongoing input and direction to improve…everything. Originally published at AT&T ‘s Networking Exchange blog Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here… Image Credit: Shutterstock
Social Slacktivism: How to use social media to promote human rights and social justice 27 September, 2012, 8:01 am
There’s been many debates as to whether or not social media promotes activism or whether or not it’s actually fostering a lazy form of participation. Retweets and Likes don’t bring about change. While I believe social media is a strong platform for raising awareness, the relationship between cause and effect is defined by action regardless of medium. Non-profits today are competing for attention just like everybody else. These days, social organizations are competing just the same with brands and entertainment for the finite attention, time, and investment of the communities they rely on for survival and for bringing about change. As a result, the traditional charity model is no longer enough. Social causes need to #adaptordie. On this episode of Revolution, David Batstone, co-founder and president of NotforSale and Professor of University of San Francisco joins us to share his story and his vision for the future of causes and philanthropy. More importantly, his ideas and experiences will help any organization compete in today’s connected economy. Not For Sale is leading the movement to end modern slavery and human trafficking. At the time of this interview Not For Sale and Causes.com launched a joint drive to fund REBBL, a beverage company that will use existing consumer purchases (like beverages at the grocery store) towards fighting slavery. REBBL will create jobs for former and at-risk slaves in high-trafficked communities and fund additional projects to change the world–literally–for the better. Subscribe to Revolution on Youtube or iTunes and connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here…
Infographics are not a Social Media Strategy: The need for social producers 24 September, 2012, 7:42 am
I can’t be the only one to notice this…infographics, “viral” videos, Like and Retweet campaigns, they all seem to be trying a bit too hard lately. For example, most infographics I see today are no more than visual press releases with graphical elements tied to information…and then more information…but wait, then more information. If this was just about visualizing scrolls of information, then anyone using free infographic generating tools and a list of interesting data points could make pinteresting graphics. The key is to think less about the packaging and more about the story you want to tell. But even more importantly, it’s time to put the social in social media and craft the story you want people to talk about and share. It’s not every day that I focus on social media tactics. However, I’m sharing this post to address a growing concern among social media and digital strategists and those to whom they report as to why their content performs at lackluster levels. Much of what we see in our news feeds and social streams is adequate but not yet representative of what’s possible. However, if creative professionals and brands overall do not understand what it takes to make content or campaigns engaging, optimism and support for experimentation fades and as such, budgets dwindle. Rebecca Lieb, my colleague at Altimeter Group, tracks digital advertising and media. Along with Jeremiah Owyang, they published a new report on the integration of Paid, Earned, and Owned Media. She shared with me the importance of not only shareability, but also integration into an overall content strategy, “A common content marketing misapprehension is that it equals social media. Content production is tactical. Its desired result, good content, must be informed with strategies and goals related to customer experience, journeys, sharability and its correlation and integration with both paid and earned media.” Re-imagining Content as Social Objects I ask you a simple but important question, who are you creating for? Are you trying to seek the embrace of your customers and the people who influence them or are you designing for those who will approve and fund your campaign? When I wrote Engage, I called for an end to an era where content was king and explained in detail how for the foreseeable future context would reign supreme. With the glut of uninspired infographics, whiteboard videos and data visualization set to the background of “Right Here, Right Now,” the time is now to raise the bar. Social media implies that media is inherently social. Contrary to popular belief, for media to become social requires that marketers and creative professionals design shareability into content. Without doing so, content is at best consumable. By integrating shareability, content transforms into what my good friend Hugh MacLeod refers to as social objects. And, that’s the point. In what’s purported to be an era of social, we need to think about the levers that move passive viewers from a state of consumption to that of curation and creation. Social media is only social when it’s shared and when it sparks conversations. Otherwise it’s traditional media operating under a guise of social measured only by the lack of interactivity rather than the reverberation of dialogue and corresponding echoes. We live in times of transition and there is no one content strategy that reaches everyone equally. One could argue that no one content strategy has ever truly reached “your audience” or its true potential. These are times of context and segmentation based on psychographics not demographics. Social Producers are the New Storytellers To thrive in social, mobile and new media in general, we need much more than content producers, we need a new breed of designers that grasp the elements of online sharing and have mastered the A.R.T. of social media to trigger desirable (and social) actions, reactions and transactions. A new genre of social producers are taking aim at developing content strategies that are not only consumable, they’re shareable, actionable and act as catalysts or sparks for relevant conversations. These social producers are in fact masters of their domains and understand the culture and the laws of information commerce within each. The difference between Social Producers and traditional content creators is that they begin with the social outcomes they wish to see and reverse engineer content strategies to enliven them. They understand the relationship between cause and effect and they bake-in conversation starters related to an integrated and business-focused strategy and design specific shareable elements as KPIs to measure progress and results. Social producers think about the overall experience and the effect where a social object is at the center of the dialog and interaction they envision…within each network. The overall story and outcome defines the nature of the social object. And the desired outcomes combined with the social effect they aim to trigger is then evaluated network by network. Social producers also borrow a page from the book of transmedia producers. They look at the landscape of social media to evaluate relevant and productive channels and networks available for social storytelling. Whether you love or hate the term transmedia, the point is that an object is only as relevant as its medium and the people who connect with its message and purpose. Multiple objects can tell one story or various facets of the story and they can do so within specific media. For example, a social producer will ask, “this social object may be culturally relevant and compelling for Twitter and Facebook, but will this work equally in Pinterest or in the blogosphere?” Often, social producers will then repackage the social object to tell the same story but in the context of discrete networks to align with how people discover, share and interact within each unique culture. Beyond shareability, the social producers also think about resonance. Conversations on social networks move quickly. What was trending an hour ago gives way to the next social object that captures everyone’s attention until that too is replaced by the next shiny object and so on. Resonance is a technique that allows a social object to enjoy a greater lifespan and continue to swim upstream while other content strategies wash away in real-time. As an example, I can’t help but think of Back to the Future III. Marty McFly is desperately pushing for the steam train to hit 88 mph to jump back into Delorean and head back to the future. But, regular wood only helped the train reach a speed that wasn’t even close. To help, Doc engineered a special form of Presto Logs to throw into the fire at different intervals to help the fire burn hotter and as such, push the train to go faster stage by stage. And that’s the idea of resonance. Social producers design elements into social object so that they can continually rise or align with conversations as they shift over time. If social media is about creating and sharing experiences through conversations and content, start first with the experiences and conversations you wish to rouse. As you think about your content strategy for social networks, do so from the perspective of a social producer. While the social effect is certainly a goal, the social effect is also the result of social design. In the end, people are going to talk, so give them something to talk about! Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here… Image Credit: Shutterstock
Never Say Never: How Loic Le Meur turns startups into successful experiences 20 September, 2012, 7:36 am
All eyes are on innovation hot spots around the world. But it’s not just about hot startups, soaring investments, and mind-blowing exits, it’s about the series of common traits that inspire entrepreneurialism. Vision, determination, creativity, salesmanship and the relentless pursuit of communities is something that not only applies to entrepreneurs but also intrapreneurs within small and large organizations. The truth is that in times of innovation, everyone must think about what we do today and how it can be done differently tomorrow. One such story takes us from Paris to San Francisco on this episode of Revolution. For those who follow emerging technology, Loic Le Meur is a household name. In 1999, he sold his first technology company RapidSite to France Telecom. Following a successful exit, he jumped back in with Tekora in 2000. In 2003, he purchased Ublog, a French blog hosting company and merged it with Six Apart in 2004. He wasn’t done yet however. He started Le Web, a conference focused on the intersection of the web, business and society and today attracts 3,000 people from 60 counties every December in Paris. It is his move to San Francisco in 2007 to launch Seesmic where his story gets more interesting. After a few pivots, Loic recently refocused the company on Seesmic Ping to help social media users centralize and more effectively manage content publishing on social networks. And Seesmic was recently acquired by HootSuite. Congrats Loic! His “never say die” philosophy and the ability to see new opportunities is something we can all learn from. Subscribe to Revolution on Youtube or iTunes and connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here…
The 4 C’s of the Conversation Company: still a long road ahead for most companies 17 September, 2012, 1:01 am
Guest post by Steven Van Belleghem (@steven_insites) One of the key challenges in the social business/conversation world is: how can companies honestly be customer-oriented. In my research, I learned that four pillars help companies to move forward in this challenge. These four dimensions are: Customer experience, Conversation management, Content marketing and Collaboration with clients. Customer Experience: people love to talk about your service and your products. It is the key driver of consumer conversations. Conversation: the story of my previous book, The Conversation Manager. It is the goal to converse and not communicate. Listen, ask questions, facilitate the conversations and actively take part in them. Content: give people stuff to talk about, but do it in an authentic, positive and relevant way. Collaboration: involve customers in everything your company does. Let them be part of your boardroom and let them be involved in your decision making processes. By managing these four pillars (4C’s) companies can optimize their conversation potential. However, the impact of these pillars grows if they are implemented within an open, positive and authentic company culture. In this post, we give a status update on the adoption level of this philosophy in the business world. We executed a survey with top managers who have a commercial function. A total of 1,222 managers were interviewed from companies (+20fte) in the United States, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. The full research paper is attached at the end of the post. Low fit with company culture In our research, we didn’t start with questions about social media usage, but with questions about company culture. We all acknowledge the role corporate culture plays in the adoption of social business. I think it is even difficult to be very successful in social media if the company culture is not clearly embedded in the employees’ heads. We were wondering which corporate values play a role in the adoption of social media and to what extent managers have an emotional relationship with their own corporate values. Striking conclusion: half the top managers do not identify with their own company’s culture. This conclusion is dramatic to me and also explains why so many companies are having trouble to adapt to the more transparent world. If there is no identification with the culture, it is much harder to be open and authentic. Many companies are encountering problems with managing the corporate culture. Apart from the fact that half the top managers do not identify with the values, 37% state that the corporate values are not clear to the employees. 40% of the companies have different values internally and externally: how’s that for a schizophrenic culture! Only half the companies take the corporate values into account when hiring new colleagues: this will indeed make it difficult to revive them! The foundation of a Conversation Company is the culture. Based on the answers we can already clearly state that about half the companies will have quite some problems if they ever want to succeed in changing. And that is evidently a good opportunity for the other half. High adoption but low integration of social media The survey shows that the social media channels adoption is rather high: 61% of the companies have a Facebook page, 39% are present on Twitter and 29% on LinkedIn. However this does not imply that the majority of the companies have embraced social media. The majority of the companies are currently still taking their first steps (27%) or are in an experimental stage (17%). 29% of the companies are not doing anything at all with social media. Companies invest most in Customer Experience, least in Collaboration The survey results rapidly show that there is a long way to go before the world will be submerged by Conversation Companies. The foundation (culture) is not right for one half of the companies, but is for the other half. A minority of the companies are currently investing in the four components which optimise the conversations: 39% are investing in customer experience, 24% in conversation management, 19% in content marketing and a mere 16% in collaboration. These conclusions really got my attention during the analyses: Focus on the customer? Well, not quite everywhere yet When problems emerge, 60% of the companies always choose a solution in favour of the client. In other words: 40% do not do that and choose a solution which suits the company. The latter will of course generate negative conversations. 40% of the companies do not allow the client to choose his/her own communication channel, but force them to use the company’s choice. 63% try to adapt their attitude and become open to feedback from the client. 4 out of 10 companies listen to clients 40% of the companies observe the conversations of consumers about their brand and / or their sector. About 2 years ago this was 20%. Unfortunately the insights from these exercises are not always shared with everyone in the company. In a mere 28% of cases people share insights with the rest of the organisation. In other words: in many cases only a small rather isolated team is aware of this. 50% manages the online conversations themselves; the other half outsource the job The main reasons for outsourcing are, on the one hand the lack of internal competencies and on the other hand avoiding an additional fixed cost. As far as I am concerned this does not really matter, as long as it is done by people who identify with the brand. The best option is of course to choose someone in the company. But the hard reality is that sometimes the people in a branch have been working for a brand longer than some managers. 36% have blogging employees Apart from a central content team it is very relevant to have a team of blogging employees. Their content will often give clients and prospects an idea of what happens behind the scenes in a company. That is how outsiders can get to know the employees better. The employees will also get closer to the clients. Nonetheless only a minority of the companies are embracing this type of content marketing at this point. 50% are not open to input by the client I still find these numbers hard to digest. Half the companies do appreciate input from their clients. New ideas, new products and concepts are created solely by the company. One out of four companies has a client community A quarter of the companies have a client community, either an open one and / or a closed one. These companies manage to integrate the client’s input into their decision-taking processes. By approaching the clients via a community, you go beyond a one-off action. Via the community you manage to engage people’s interest over a longer time span. These people are, so to speak, the ideal consultants for your company. They become employees that are not on the payroll. Do we have a ‘digital gap’ in the business world? As for the future, 40%-50% of the companies indicate they will invest in at least one of the 4 Cs in order to optimize their conversation potential. It is remarkable that the companies who are already doing a lot today are the ones that want to do more in the future. Based on this research I predict that an increasingly large conversation gap will soon emerge in the corporate world. The speed of change will increase in companies which have already started changing. Companies which are lagging behind will find it increasingly difficult to adapt. The basis of the willingness to be open to changes and to taking the necessary steps lies mainly in the identification with the corporate culture. Managers who identify strongly with their company have already evolved the furthest. Final conclusion: if you want to turn your company into a Conversation Company, the first question is: ‘Who?’ and only then do you wonder about the ‘What?’. The hard conclusions is that with the wrong leader, change will not occur. Read and download the entire survey This article describes only a few of our survey’s key conclusions. All details can be consulted in this presentation: The 4C’s of the Conversation Company View more presentations from steven van belleghem
How the San Francisco Giants Hit a Home Run with Social Media 14 September, 2012, 9:38 am
It wasn’t too long ago when sport industries were confounded by the openness of social media and the ability for fans and players to share experiences in real time. Now of course, times have changed and teams in every sporting league imaginable are experimenting with social media to improve relationships and experiences with fans. The San Francisco Giants are among the sports teams that are leading the way for a new genre of engagement and community building. 2010 was a whimsical year for the San Francisco Giants. Not only did the team win its first World Series in 54 years, it was the year that a new Giants story started to unfold. Pablo Sandoval, Brian Wilson and the beard, Tim Lincecum, and the rest of the team started to win together and social media emerged as a digital stadium where fans around the world could not only watch how the story unfolded, but also become part of the story. Bryan Srabian is the team’s first director of social media and he joins me on this episode of Revolution to share the story of why social media is part of the team’s official roster. As Srabian shares, sporting events inherently social. The Giants are empowering their fans to participate in more than just the game, together, Giants and fans are creating digital events that are always on before, during, and after games and seasons. “The city of San Francisco really started to bond together. They were telling this amazing story right in front of our eyes. My role was watching through the eyes of fans from all over the world.” Subscribe to Revolution on Youtube or iTunes and connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here…
Why? 12 September, 2012, 7:07 am
Why? Why ask why? Why not? Why make excuses? Why ignore what it is that will help you stop making excuses? Why stay where your dreams are suffocated? Why would you settle for less than anything than you believe in? Why be unhappy when you could be appreciated for what makes you…you? Well, because it’s [seemingly] easier. But, it’s not who you really are… It takes courage to follow your dreams, courage most cannot find, but that’s why you are YOU and others are not. Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here… Image Credit: Shutterstock
Are you connecting with your new generation of customers…Generation C? 10 September, 2012, 10:00 am
As you’ll no doubt read here over and over again, social media is important to your business. If you don’t engage on Twitter, Facebook, or Youtube, you’ll eventually go out of business. At least that’s what the experts will have you believe. Fear tactics are not so much as effective in business or defining customer relationships as they are at creating a sense of [contrived] controversy. I must be honest with you however. While social media is indeed a game changer, it is not the magnum opus of your legacy. I would like to introduce you to what really is important…your customers. Allow me to be a bit more specific. This isn’t just about your customers. This is about how a growing number of your customers are changing how they influence and are influenced, how they communicate and connect, how they learn, discover and share, how they make decisions and how they take action. See, we often think about social media as the conduit to engagement. It is after all, where attention is focused. So why wouldn’t a presence on any one of the most important social networks cinch our future relevance in business? The answer lies in how we view their worth in the customer ecosystem. We assume to extremes. These networks will either make us or they are completely irrelevant. The problem though is in our perspective. You are a small business owner. You are an executive or a manager within a small-to-medium sized business. You are an entrepreneur. You have a responsibility to not only your business, but your employees, vendors, and also your customers equally. To see them through one lens is well, too clouded. But to see people for who they are and what defines them, that’s where the future of relevance begins. Customer behavior is changing. It’s not about one segment nor is it about a collection of targeted demographics. It’s about the emergence of a new class of consumerism. How is this different the consumers that you’ve known over the years? For starters, they’re connected. I mean, they’re incredibly connected. Yes, they’re on Facebook and Twitter. They’re even using some of the most obscure social networks that you’ve never even heard of. But, it’s more than that. It starts with the technology that binds people together. Smart phones, tablets, ultra portable laptops, and whatever’s next, technology is becoming an extension of humanity. For the time being, it’s not everyone. There is a new group of consumers who are far more connected than everyone else and they’re unlike the traditional consumers we’ve come to know over the past. Your first guess might be that I’m talking about the Millennial. After all, I think they’re born with a smart phone and a Facebook account. What I’m referring to is something altogether bigger than any demographic. This is the dawn of Generation-C, where “C” represents a connected society based on interests and behavior. Gen C is not an age group, it’s a lifestyle. While social networks are the fabric of online relationships, it is how technology affects everyday activity. What’s most important for you to understand is that Gen C is different. In some ways, they’re different from you and me. They put the “me” in social media. They’re always on. They rely on the shared experiences of strangers to guide their actions. And, they know that other Gen-C’ers rely upon their shared experiences to find resolution. What does this mean for you? If you look at the total market for customers, Gen-C today is different than the traditional or digital customers that we cater to today. For some of you, Gen-C is a small, but not insignificant share over your current opportunity. Nevertheless, that was then and this is now. You’re not competing as much for the present as you are for the future. In the grand scheme of traditional, digital, and connected consumerism, only one of those segments is growing. As you think through your businesses objectives and strategies to realize them over the next year, think about the customer experience for Gen-C. Walk in their shoes. Learn how they connect and communicate. Discover how they discover. Uncover their preferences and expectations, and more importantly, what they value. Indeed, there’s an app for that. The chances that new customers will find you through traditional channels grows fainter every day. That’s not as ominous as it sounds. Opportunity is abundant; you just need to step outside of the comfort zone. The only thing that separates you from connected customers is your view of them, their awareness and the channels that they rely upon for engagement and fulfillment. The rest is opportunity and the relentless pursuit of engaging, creating remarkable experiences and delivering value. The truth is that connected customers or Gen-C is only becoming more pervasive in society and ultimately your economy. Now is the time to recognize how your customer landscape is shifting and to what extent traditional and connected consumers discover and make decisions differently. This post was originally published on AT&T’s Networking Exchange Blog. Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ The End of Business as Usual is officially here…

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Weekend Favs October Six 6 October, 2012, 6:13 am
My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but urge you to check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr or one that I took out there on the road. photo credit: K. Kendall via photopin cc Good stuff I found this week: Soovie – Very interesting keyword search tool that uses the related search function from all the major search engines and allows you to create keyword lists. Fileboard – Live web-based presentation tool that makes it very easy to make pitches using archived sales documents. Boostsuite – Tool that takes data from your website and turns it into a list of SEO to-dos. If You Liked This Post. . . :Weekend Favs August FourWeekend Favs August ElevenWeekend Favs August EighteenWeekend Favs August Twenty FiveWeekend Favs May Twenty NineWeekend Favs October Six is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
The Cynics Guide to The Commitment Engine 5 October, 2012, 8:12 am
I have a new book coming October 11th called The Commitment Engine – Making Work Worth It. I know, I know, I’ve talked a lot about it lately, but bear with me. The book is a more personal look at some of the important elements of building a business that serves your life and there’s a decidedly more “touchy-feely” nature. So, as one might expect, there are few folks that are surprised that I am sharing my thoughts along these lines. Today I thought it would be fun to conduct a self interview of sorts with questions compiled from some of what I would call my more cynical readers. No, I’m not talking about you, but maybe you know one. Anyway, hope you enjoy the interview. 1) Why did you write a book about commitment and how does it relate to marketing? A:I think the main thing I started out to do with this topic was to redefine the concept of commitment with regard to business. I’ve seen seemingly successful business owners who felt like their “commitment” to their business was sucking the life out of them. I wanted to frame commitment in terms of commitment to a higher purpose the business services. The marketing connection flows from the fact that when businesses promote why they do what they do, the natural outcome is a committed customer. 2) Where does the bottom line of business intersect with ideas like passion and purpose? A: So often people try to find the bottom line in ideas that don’t seem very “business like” and that’s really a significant theme of this book. Art, passion, purpose, inspiration all produce incredibly practical outcomes when applied with clear intent. For me what that idea illustrates is the notion of extreme clarity – those one or two moments in life when you knew. The most important concept of this book is that of clarity – personal, professional, brand and purpose. 3) I’m in a very competitive marketplace, how will the principles of this book help me? A: The principles I use to illustrate how to build a Commitment Engine – hunger for extreme clarity, culture of shared commitment and a ridiculous passion for community – are powerful tools in the right hands. 4) The book includes some touchy-feely ideas such as the idea of learning to be “present,” taking time for self-reflection and creating a “passion mantra.” Aren’t you concerned that these ideas might alienate some readers? A: No, I am not worried that my point of view might turn a few people off, that’s actually my intent and it’s a central idea of the book. Authenticity is a very attractive quality in business and the only way to keep it and communicate it is to present a clear and consistent point of view and stick to it, knowing that there will be many for whom this point of view resonates. 5) What exactly is a passion mantra? And why should someone do it? A: The idea of a passion mantra is a little like a core message might be in marketing, but it’s your internal life message. When you create a phrase or concept that you can return to daily it can snap you back a bit and remind you why you do what you do, particularly when you find yourself in the midst of chaos. 6) You devote an entire chapter to the idea of treating your “Staff as Customer.” Does it still make sense for businesses to invest like this in their employees? A: The concept is not only possible it’s more important than ever. Your staff is treating your customers exactly as you are treating them. So, does it make sense for a business to invest in employees, well, I guess only if it makes sense to have customers. Where so many businesses get tripped up with the concept of investing in culture is that they think that means buying an espresso machine. The best investment a business owner can make in culture is to understand and communicate the higher purpose or “why” the business exists and find ways to amplify that in every action that impacts the staff. 7) There’s also a section called, “Staff as Owner,” which advocates for creating a culture of shared ownership. Surely you’re not suggesting that every business, even those with seasonal employees, adopt this? Part of this has to do with mindset as well as physical ownership. Any business, particularly those that hire seasonal help, competes for the best people available and attracting people based on a higher purpose ensures you’ll attract a greater of number of people that fit. 8) The first section of the book implores owners to engage in some serious soul-searching about their level of passion and purpose they bring to their business. Is this a necessary step, before you can expect others (namely employees) to follow suit? A: Actually I believe it’s a necessary step if you ever hope to establish a guiding vision for your business, strategy that allows your business to stand out and differentiate and focus on the priorities that will keep you on track. It’s pretty tough to give something to someone else until you possess it yourself. 9) Has all this social sharing that people do now days changed the language of business? A: I think it’s changed a few things. Yes, I think the way we talk about business, the way we share and perhaps what we share has changed dramatically. For years I’ve been advocating the use of personal stories in marketing and widespread social media usage has certainly helped break down resistance to this notion as a leadership style. 10) You say there’s a big difference between the term “plans” and “planning”. I have a business plan explain why they’re so different? A: So many people approach planning as though the end document is the goal. To me it’s the process of figuring out what not to do or what to leave out of the plan that is the greatest outcome of the planning process. That’s why I also believe that it’s essential to keep your plan alive through continual revisiting and pruning. 11) The book includes a section called the Committed Handbook. Does this document serve a similar function as a social media policy for employees? A: I look at it a something more essential than what typically rests as a section of an employee handbook. This is clarity training and includes why we do what we do, core beliefs, marketing proposition, key stories and even updates on numbers and current state of the business. 12) What three ideas from the book would you want a reader to consider and contemplate? 1. Clarity is strategy 2. Culture is clarity amplified 3. Community is a natural outcome of clarity If you enjoyed this interview you might want to hop on over and download a free chapter of The Commitment Engine – Making Work Worth It. If You Liked This Post. . . :A Customer As an Expression of Your CommitmentWhat Is Shared CultureIntroducing The Commitment EngineThere Can Be No Real Commitment Until You Surrender All DoubtHow to Turn Your Business Into a Commitment FactoryThe Cynics Guide to The Commitment Engine is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
5 Ways to Generate More Email Sign Ups 4 October, 2012, 6:28 am
Getting more email subscribers is job #1. Email is and has long been the number one producer of return on marketing investment for businesses large and small. photo credit: @yakobusan Jakob Montrasio via photopin cc Acquiring the contact information of someone who has expressed at least a mild interest in what you do and has given you permission to tell them a great deal more about what you do is the first, and perhaps most important, task. There are few businesses today that can get by on traffic and eyeballs alone. Today’s marketer must get access, permission and time on the screen. Today’s marketer must have multiple opportunities to build enough relationship capital to convert trust into a sale. Email marketing, combined of course with advertising, referrals, public relations and a total online presence is the complete package. List building is an essential element of email marketing today and takes a strategic approach in line with its importance. It’s no longer enough to slap an email sign-up form on every page of your website and call it done. You must focus attention to detail and expand your thinking on list building to get your “value exchange” or “reason I would give up my email address” in front of more of the right people at just the right time. Below are five tactics for list building today: 1) Feature with content There is an assumption in this post that you are producing high quality, educational content – the kind that draws links and readers. Now you’ll want to explore ways to promote your list sign up as people engage with this content. Many WordPress theme frameworks today (Genesis and Thesis) allow for what are being called “feature boxes.” These feature boxes make it easy to place a sign up box at, say, the end of each blog post or top of your blog home page. Placing your email offer where people are reading and enjoy your content improves uptake. 2) Content partner share One of the most important ways to entice email subscribers today is by offering long format content in the shape of an eBook. Generally, this is content that deeply tackles one subject in a way that’s appealing to your target client. Once you’ve gone to the effort to produce this content reach out to other businesses, the ones that know they should be offering content to their customers, and allow them to promote your eBook by way of a special co-branded sign-up landing page. 3) Thank you suggest Once someone signs up to receive your offer it’s good form to redirect them to a “thank you” page that gives them assurance that all is well, what to expect next or other details. Consider partnering with three or four other “high quality” content producers that you would recommend to your readers and suggest subscriptions to these partners on your thank you page. If each of the partners involved performs this action you’ll see more subscribers by way of referral. 4) Advertise If your content, such as an eBook, is attractive enough you may find that advertising is an effective way to create list sign-ups. Of course this assumes that your conversion and measurement activities are such that you at least have some idea of what an email subscriber is worth long-term to your business. You can effectively promote an eBook through Facebook Promoted Posts or by purchasing solo ads in newsletters related to your market. 5) Endorsement swaps One of the most powerful ways to quickly add subscribers is for another list owner, one that has built trust with their subscribers, to send a mailing endorsing your eBook or newsletter content. Now, while this is obviously a great tactic, it’s one that requires many things. No list owner will risk their reputation endorsing low quality content and neither should you. This is a tactic that takes time as it’s best done with partners that you have established a very trusting relationship with either by way of reputation in your industry or by directly working on other projects. Build these relationships, create some killer content and approach your partners with the idea of sending an email offering their great content to your list while they do the same. If You Liked This Post. . . :Don’t Bother With Social Media Until You Have Email Marketing Nailed5 Ways To Make An Email Newsletter Your Best Sales ToolIncrease List Sign-ups 327% with TestingUse Your Neighbors and Partners to Build Your List5 Practices That Will Make Your Email List Your Most Valuable and Responsive Asset5 Ways to Generate More Email Sign Ups is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Real and Raw Stories About Being an Entrepreneur 3 October, 2012, 5:43 am
I’ve been collecting stories of late about what it means to be an entrepreneur, about what work means, about value, purpose and passion. I started asking people about their work and about what makes work worth it to them. I’ve collected many of these stories and find them both inspirational and quite telling about the real things people care about and dream about. (Download the Make Work Worth It Collection – 83 Stories of Passion and Purpose – no forms to fill, just grab it and share it.) I also experienced a fair amount of fear, angst and doubt when I asked this question. Some have stopped wondering about why they do what they do, some have lost hope that any of it matters and some are just simply so busy they don’t stop to think about much of anything as it relates to purpose. I’m on a mission to share this message and the profound impact that it can have on the lives of millions and millions of entrepreneurs and business owners toiling away in dreary and lifeless jobs. If you haven’t connected with that thing that makes work worth it for you, do it now, take a bold step and change course, reconnect with your customers and employees and revel in the awesome opportunity that owning a business or simply going to work in a place that has meaning affords. Tell your raw and real story and help others tell theirs. I really hope you choose to consider and share this collection of stories. If You Liked This Post. . . :What Makes Work Worth It To YouClarity Makes the Best StrategyHow to Use Your Guilt Story to Propel Your BusinessMaking Work Worth ItDo What You’re Good At and the Money Will FollowReal and Raw Stories About Being an Entrepreneur is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
What Internet Marketers Know That You Don’t 2 October, 2012, 6:01 am
I use the term “Internet Marketer” in the title here in a less than flattering way. There are certainly those who make a living selling products and services via the Internet that deliver real value, but many “info and Internet” marketers also prey on people’s fears, hopes and irrational dreams to pedal worthless junk over and over again. photo credit: Jungle Jim’sHowever, what these folks know that you don’t is that you don’t necessarily need the best product, you don’t have to create a revolutionary innovation, you don’t have pile on more and more services and features and you certainly don’t have to slash prices to compete. No, what Internet marketers know that you don’t is that all you really need is better marketing. I’m not suggesting that you aim for inferior and worthless products and services, but I am suggesting that focusing on better marketing from top to bottom is more important than trying to improve or enhance your products and services right now. In fact, if you were to find a way to sell more of what you’ve got you could confidently raise your prices and invest in making the best product known to mankind, but not until your fix your marketing. I’ll go as far as to suggest that you might not even want to create a product or service until you’ve figured out how to effectively market it. What Internet marketers know that you don’t is that: You have to focus on the narrowest market possible You have to get personal You have to slay your prospect’s demons You have to get them emotionally involved in a solution You have to draw them in with a story of hope You have to focus on building and segmenting better lists You have to write better headlines You have to write better bullet points You have to write better calls to action You have to offer better social and tangible proof You have to offer free that is better than most paid You have to engage your prospect through multiple forms of content You have to move your prospect with little steps You have to give them reasons to act today You have to create scarcity and exclusivity around your offers You have to introduce increasing levels of engagement You have to create opportunities to involve your community in sharing You have to build a team of partners and make it easy for them to promote your offers You have to follow-up consistently, predictably and repeatedly You have to monitor, measure, analyze, test and refine everything you do Now, you can use these steps to manipulate and do evil things in support of false promises, hopes for riches and worthless products. Or, you can use these steps to create awareness, build trust and move people to investing in products and services that deliver immense value, but either way, what you really need is better marketing. If You Liked This Post. . . :It’s the New Phone BookCan Professional Services Providers Use Coupons?Upping the Price of FreeSell More When You Sell Some5 Ways to Create More ValueWhat Internet Marketers Know That You Don’t is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Clarity Makes the Best Strategy 1 October, 2012, 5:09 am
I’ve made a bit of a career out of talking with, listening to and understanding entrepreneurs and small business owners. I’ve worked with thousands of you over the past twenty plus years or so and at some point most of the discussion I’ve had center on the idea of strategy. It’s something I’m absolutely fascinated with and it’s something I’ve been on a quest over last 18 months to understand more fully. I firmly believe that strategy, success and happiness are strangely intertwined when it comes to growing a business and I’ve deposited many of my thoughts on this subject in my new release – The Commitment Engine: Making Work Worth It shipping this month. In order for clarity to become strategy you must remove all doubt about what your organization believes and you must be crystal clear about what that looks, sounds and feels like in the simplest way possible. Once you do that everything else just follows form – it’s clarity amplified. Below is a very short presentation of one of the key ideas contained in the book that I gave at this summer’s TEDxKC event. The title of the talk is Rethinking Commitment and in it I introduce Tony and Mary Miller – I also share their story in my upcoming release, because the Jancoa story is a brilliant illustration of the power of clarity as a business strategy I hope you draw inspiration from the Miller’s as I have and check out additional stories on What Makes Worth It at www.makingworkworthit.com (Download a free chapter and grab 6 audio interviews I captured from some amazing thought leader and authors such as Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Derek Sivers, Nancy Duarte, Chris Guillebeau and Steven Pressfield.) Okay, and now for some final pandering to my readers – you truly make work worth it for me and I feel blessed that I get to do what I do particularly when something I’ve shared or experienced offers a fellow entrepreneur and business owner some measure of comfort, control and insight. Peace! If You Liked This Post. . . :Introducing The Commitment EngineMaking Work Worth ItThe Single Greatest Factor of Success in BusinessThe Cynics Guide to The Commitment EngineWhat Makes Work Worth It To YouClarity Makes the Best Strategy is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Weekend Favs September Twenty Nine 29 September, 2012, 5:13 am
My weekend blog post routine includes posting links to a handful of tools or great content I ran across during the week. I don’t go into depth about the finds, but encourage you check them out if they sound interesting. The photo in the post is a favorite for the week from Flickr or one that I took out there on the road. Claes Oldenburg sculptures outside the Nelson Atkins Museum Kansas City, MO Good stuff I found this week: ScreenSteps – Nice little software tool that helps you create documentation. Great for creating instructions for products or processes. Perfect Audience – Do It Yourself ad retargeting platform changes the game in this space. Google Now – Google’s entry into the Siri like assistant game. This Android based app figures out where you are and what you might be interested in knowing and doing depending upon the time of day. If You Liked This Post. . . :Weekend Favs April Twenty OneWeekend Favs September EightWeekend Favs August Twenty SevenWeekend Favs June Twenty ThreeWeekend Favs April Twenty EightWeekend Favs September Twenty Nine is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
How to Create a Social Media Command Center For Your Next Sale, Launch or Event 28 September, 2012, 5:28 am
As more and more people adopt social media tools and get used to Tweeting, Liking and Checking In, smart marketers are employing a raft of tactics to get them to do more and more of just that. One of the most important reasons to promote and incentivize sharing on social networks is that it can multiply your message and carry just a hint of referral, albeit it very faint one. Even small, local businesses can take a clue from large organizations, like Dell and national events like the MLB All-Star Game to create a “command center” approach to promoting a concentrated happening such as a new product launch, new store opening or seasonal sale. The key is to approach it as a very special event and not something you’re trying to maintain long-term. You may, in fact, discover some elements do play long-term, but most businesses and their customer base can’t sustain something like this more than a days and couple of times a year. Let’s take a common example that a local retailer might explore – Black Friday. Black Friday has become a major shopping holiday in the U.S. as shoppers head out to snap up deals the day after Thanksgiving. (Between you and me, I prefer Small Business Saturday, but that’s another story.) Many big box chains spend heavily in local markets in an attempt to lure local shoppers with loss leader pricing. Local shops generally can’t compete on price so they need to get creative and I think the command center could be the answer. For this illustration you might create an “anti Black Friday” or “shop local” promotion and employ social media as your bullhorn. A noteworthy assumption here is that you’ve been active on social media and have created at least some engagement and following. It’s tough to go “poof, I’m social.” The way to make this work is make it one person’s responsibility to create and monitor all of the moving parts. Think in terms of the technology, services, monitors, etc that your point person will need to keep tabs and keep promoting. Choose one or all of the following to build social media buzz around your promotion. Create logo for your theme! – a simple visual to use in all of your merchandising for the event can be a great tool when it comes to sharing on sites with images. Decide on and check an event hashtag – choose a #hashtag that you will use throughout – make sure to check and see if it’s in use by some other cause or theme as you don’t want to find out mid-sale that your hashtag is also slang for a very naughty act in some Iowa subculture. Claim your Facebook location for checkins – if you have not yet done so claim your location on Facebook and create ways for people to earn prizes by checking in on their Facebook page. (Check out Wildfire and North Social apps.) Twitter hashtag tweets – Start tweeting using your hashtag a week prior and create in store posters, flyers and emails to publicize all of your social media activity during the event Choose a local or related charity partner and donate so much per tweet or share during the day Twitter search – Set up a number of twitter searches related to products and other aspects of your event and reach out to people tweeting before and during your event Pinterest – Create a Pinterest account and start pinning images of products you are featuring during the event Live Blog – Create a live blog on your WordPress blog with this plugin or use Tumblr and create updates throughout the day Live Tweets – Assign someone in store to live tweet out hourly specials, giveaways and images of happy customers using the hashtag Google Hangout Live to YouTube – Run hourly Google+Hangouts streamed live to YouTube and announce offerings, interview customers and create news like coverage Foursquare checkins – Create Foursquare checkins particularly focused on swarm discounts Hourly specials – Promote your hourly specials on every channel Display real time stream – Use a tool like Postano to display real-time tweet and social stream in the event Bring Facebook into the event – Install a camera station and let customers upload images to the Facebook pages for even more free stuff Hide discount codes in YouTube videos – Create a series of YouTube videos featuring products on sale during the event and hide discount code in the videos and promote sharing the videos and codes Facebook ads – Run tightly focused Facebook ads and promoted content ads focused on local and related brands – if you sell certain brands target any local fans of the brand or product category Tweet branded messages to get early, early access – Create early, early bird access for people that fan, like, share and RT Consider a street team – think about sending employees out into busy places throughout the day to surprise shoppers with free stuff for tweeting, Liking or sharing images. Another benefit to all of this work is the momentum factor. Even if someone doesn’t veer off course on the given day of your sale, there’s a good chance that you’ve exposed a great number of people to your business and some of those might decide to check you out later. I’m not suggesting this won’t take some work and planning, but hey, the little guy wins always wins when they outsmart and outhustle the big guy. So, any ideas you care to add to the list? If You Liked This Post. . . :5 Ways For Small Businesses To Get In The Location GameHey Brother Can You Spare a Tweet5 Ways Social Media Can Drive Local Business5 Ways to Use Social Media and Your Online Presence to Drive People OfflineExplore the Twitter HashtagHow to Create a Social Media Command Center For Your Next Sale, Launch or Event is a post from: Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

Seth's Blog

The curse of incremental improvement 7 October, 2012, 2:30 am
In an industrial, competitive culture, most things are just barely good enough. Cell phone calls, if they were any worse, would be unusable. MP3 files sound not nearly as good as they could. Car mileage goes up, but really slowly. When something makes a huge leap (like the iPad did), it's headline news, because it's so rare. The market will switch to a competitor when the competitor is just good enough to warrant switching (I know that's obvious, but it's worth stating). As a result, R&D departments ship a product out the door the moment it is just barely good enough to grab enough share to pay for itself. The thought of, for example, working on the CD for six more months before declaring it 'done' would have been considered short-term economic stupidity. As a result, we are saddled with thirty years of sub-par music--if they'd just held on a bit longer, it would all sound so much better. The challenge kicks in for the individual or organization who thinks what they've launched is just barely good enough--and it's not. Prematurely declaring that it's done means that your incremental improvement doesn't seem important to anyone else. And so you flop. Better to make it better than it needs to be.
Get the listing 6 October, 2012, 2:15 am
Most successful (and honest) real estate agents will tell you that their business is about the listings, and that sales ability comes second. All other things being equal, the agent with a better home to sell will make a better sale. The same thing is true for baseball managers—if you have a better lineup you're more likely to win the game. And of course that's true for the sushi restaurant with fresher fish. And the tech company with better programmers, and the college with better professors... If this is all so obvious, why do we spend all our time trying to find cheap average inputs and then make them special through our magnificent sales and management skills? Why do we industrialize the hiring process, spend very little time on scouting, and seek out the replicatable instead of the special exception? Our ego demands that we spend all day polishing the average instead of seeking out the exceptional. Better to invest the time and money on special people and raw materials instead.
Waiting for all the facts 5 October, 2012, 2:56 am
"I'm just going to wait until all the facts are in..." All the facts are never in. We don't have all the facts on the sinking of the Titanic, on the efficacy of social media or on whether dogs make good house pets. We don't have all the facts on hybrid tomatoes, global warming or the demise of the industrial age, either. The real question isn't whether you have all the facts. The real question is, "do I know enough to make a useful decision?" (and no decision is still a decision). If you don't, then the follow up question is, "What would I need to know, what fact would I need to see, before I take action?" If you can't answer that, then you're not actually waiting for all the facts to come in.
Do the (extra) work 4 October, 2012, 2:44 am
Do the extra work not because you have to but because it's a privilege. Get in early. Sweep the floor without being asked. Especially when it's not your turn. Not because you want credit or reward. Because you can. The industrialist wants to suck everything out of you. Doing extra work as a cog in an industrial system is a fool's errand. For the rest of us, the artist and the freelancer and the creator, we know that the privilege of doing the extra work is the work itself. The habit of doing more than is necessary can only be earned through practice. And the habit is priceless.
Amnesty for latecomers 3 October, 2012, 2:04 am
"But what will I tell my neighbors?" Once someone makes a decision about your cause or your product or your resume, it's almost impossible for you to persuade them that they were wrong. You're no longer asking them to remake the first decision, you're asking them to admit an error, which is a whole other thing. Compounding this, organizations often make it awkward for someone who is trying to come around to be embraced, largely because the tribe is hurt that they were rejected in the first place. The opportunity is to encourage the non-supporter to look at new information and make a new decision. Give them the story they need to tell their colleagues. "Well, I know that I always thought this brand was a cult and I said I would never use them, but then I saw their new product line. They've listened to all the stuff I said was wrong and fixed it..." And step two is to celebrate the newcomers, not to dredge up their past statements and wave them in their face.
Denying facts you don't like 2 October, 2012, 2:35 am
Transformational leaders don't start by denying the world around them. Instead, they describe a future they'd like to create instead.Denying the truth about relative market share, imperial power or the scientific method helps no one. Gandhi didn't pretend the British weren't dominating his country, and Feynman didn't challenge Einstein's theory of relativity or the laws of thermodynamics. It's okay to say, "this is going to be difficult." And it's productive to point out, "our product isn't as good as it should be yet." The problem with Orwellian talking heads, agitprop, faux news and Ballmer-like posturing is that they take away a foundation for a genuine movement to occur, because once we start denying facts, it's difficult to know when to stop. Tell us where we are, tell us where we're going. But if you can't be clear about one, it's hard to buy into the other.
The easiest way to thrive as an outlier 1 October, 2012, 2:00 am
...is to avoid being one. At least among your most treasured peers. Surround yourself with people in at least as much of a hurry, at least as inquisitive, at least as focused as you are. Surround yourself by people who encourage and experience productive failure, and who are driven to make a difference. What's contagious: standards, ethics, culture, expectations and most of all, the bar for achievement. The crowd has more influence on us than we have on the crowd. It's not an accident that breakthroughs in music, architecture, software, athletics, fashion and cuisine come in bunches, often geographic. If you need to move, move. At least change how and where you exchange your electrons and your ideas. We all need leaders who challenge the tribe. We benefit even more when our leaders have peers who push them to be even better.
Instead of outthinking the competition... 30 September, 2012, 2:20 am
it's worth trying to outlove them. Everyone is working hard on the thinking part, but few of your competitors worry about the art and generosity and caring part.
The wishing/doing gap 29 September, 2012, 2:10 am
It would be great to be picked, to win the random lottery, to have a dream come true. But when we rely on a wish to get where we want to go, we often sacrifice the effort that might make it more likely that we get what we actually need. Waiting for the prince to show up is a waste of valuable time, and the waiting distracts us from and devalues the hard work we might be doing instead. If you can influence the outcome, do the work. If you can't influence the outcome, ignore the possibility. It's merely a distraction.
How to downgrade 28 September, 2012, 12:10 pm
Sometimes, your organization will be tempted (or forced) to offer some of your customers less than they’ve received in the past. Perhaps you need to close a local store so you can afford to open a better one a few miles away. Or reroute a bus line to serve more customers, while inconveniencing a few. Or maybe you want to replace a perfectly good free mapping application with a new, defective one so you can score points against your hometown rival in your bid for mobile domination.A few things to keep in mind:1. When possible, don’t downgrade. People are way more focused on what you take away than what you give them. Many times, particularly with software, it’s pretty easy to support old (apparently useless) features that a few rabid (equals profitable, loyal and loud) customers really depend on.2. When it’s not possible to avoid a downgrade, provide a bridge or alternatives, and mark them clearly and discount them heavily. In the case of Apple maps on the new iphone, it would have been really easy to include links or even pre-installed apps for other mapping software. It’s sort of silly to make the Lightning adapter a profit center. When you cancel the all you can eat buffet, be generous with the gift cards given to your best customers.3. If you can’t build a bridge, own up. Make it clear, and apologize. Not after an outcry, but before it even happens. The genius Francois at the Grand Central Apple store insisted that my hassles with the Music Match feature in iTunes were merely my "opinion," and all the steps I had to go through to move the audio books I’m reviewing from one device to another were in fact good things. It's silly to expect your customers to care about your corporate priorities or to enjoy your corporate-speak. If you've taken something away from them, point it out, admit it and try to earn a chance to delight them again tomorrow. Apologizing to your best users is significantly more productive than blaming them for liking what you used to do.

TwistImage Blog

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #120 6 October, 2012, 10:02 am
Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see". Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another: Mind Control - Decoded DC. "With party politics on everyone's mind, this podcast on the neuroscience of party politics is both informative and depressing. Hosted by former NPR reporters, it's a smart episode of an even smarter site that tries to get behind the scenes of Washington, DC." (Alistair for Hugh). The crayola-fication of the world: How we gave colors names, and it messed with our brains (part II) - Empirical Zeal. "Do the names we give things affect how we think of them? In this fascinating piece on color and naming, it turns out the answer is sort of yes. Researchers looked at our ability to distinguish colors based on whether we had names for them. Makes you wonder: what other names have the side-effect of making us treat the world differently?" (Alistair for Mitch). Marc Andreessen - Why Andreessen Horowitz Is Investing in Rap Genius - Rap Genius. "Andreessen Horowitz (one of the most famous web VC funds) is putting $15M into Rap Genius, a site used for annotating rap lyrics. A strange choice, explained in detail by Mark Anderseen on the awesome Rap Genius platform itself." (Hugh for Alistair). It's Not About You: The Truth About Social Media Marketing - Tim O'Reilly. "Tim O'Reilly of O'Reilly Media talks about marketing: don't market your products, he says, but instead: help people do great things (with your products), and then find ways to amplify their voices, and help them connect with other people who want to do great things also." (Hugh for Mitch). An Experimental New Starbucks Store: Tiny, Portable, And Hyper Local - Fast Company. "We tend to forget how dramatically business has changed. I'm currently reading, Makers, by Chris Anderson (editor for Wired Magazine and the author of The Long Tail and Free). Makers is about the new industrial revolution that isn't coming out of traditional manufacturers, but our of our collective basements. The Makers Movement is large and getting larger, so when I see stories like this, it makes me realize how much more dynamic big business can be in a world where both bits and atoms are getting easier for all of us to create and manipulate." (Mitch for Alistair). Neil Gaiman's 8 Rules of Writing - Brain Pickings. "I love posts like this. I love posts like this even more when they are about people like Neil Gaiman. Some people see Gaiman as a science fiction writer. Others see him as a comic book writer. I see a true renaissance man... in every sense of the word. He's smart. Scary smart. But, beyond that, Gaiman is a shining light of someone who is not only following their muse, but comfortable in publicly sharing the journey. This isn't just for writers. It's for everyone. We would all be better people if we were all a little more like Neil Gaiman." (Mitch for Hugh). Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it. Tags: alistair croll andreessen horowitz bitcurrent brain pickings chris anderson complete web monitoring crayola decoded dc empirical zeal fast company free gigaom hugh mcguire human 20 iambik librivox link exchange linkbait makers makers movement managing bandwidth marc andreesen media hacks neil gaiman npr oreilly media pressbooks rap genius social media marketing starbucks story the book oven the long tail tim oreilly wired magazine writing year one labs
Communicating Without Words 6 October, 2012, 9:31 am
"Words account for only 7% of all communication." That's one data point that has been kicking around forever. The translation is simple: your personal brand is screaming so loud that people can hardly hear a word that you are saying. As someone who gets to present to small, medium and large-sized audiences all over the world, I pick up a trick or two by watching myself present, by watching others speak and by reading and studying the craft of public speaking and storytelling. The differences between what makes a good presenter and a great presenter are - more often than not - slight nuances. An example of that will be: certain speakers think that by putting their hands in their pocket or that leaning on a lectern, it gives off the impression to the audience that they are relaxed and calm. In fact, these non-verbal postures give off the impression of being lazy, unsure and even hiding something to an audience. Hard to believe? It's true think about how you feel about the body language of someone the next time they are presenting. It's amazing how many inputs we humans take in (and how insignificant the words actually are). In this recently posted TED Talk, Amy Cuddy (an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School), dissects the power of posture and our body language. It's something that I have been thinking a lot about recently. I spend a lot of time hunched over a laptop or sitting in a plane or in an airport lounge. None of those positions foster a good posture and, I'm convinced, it's affecting my overall health. It turns out that your body language also shapes who you are (not just how others feel about you, but how you feel about yourself)... As marketers, if we're not great presenters and presenting ourselves in the best possible way, all is lost. Tags: amy cuddy audience body language communications harvard business school marketing professional non verbal communication personal brand posture power posture presentations presenter public speaking storytelling ted ted talk
The Truth Behind Branding In The Digital Media Age 5 October, 2012, 5:32 am
The digital publishers want more from the big brands. If you have been following any of the coverage from Advertising Week, this seems to be the main (and continuous) cry from the digital media sector. There's a feeling that as more advertising dollars shift to the online channels, that the bigger brands (the ones with more significant advertising dollars) are still shying away from really opening up the ad dollar coffers until they can get the true brand effect that they're looking for (or that they had in the good ole days of television advertising). Impact. Impressions. Eyeballs. Attention. When you are a large consumer packaged goods company, the main thrust of advertising needs to create an impact to drive sales. The ad's role is to break through the clutter of every media input with a slight distraction that is about the brand. That distraction is created as a way to inform you of something new or something improved or something that you may have not known about their products. In a world where so many brands are clamoring for this attention and the competition is fierce, the days of creating slight differentiators and then doubling down on frequency is getting more complex (and expensive). Television has evolved (from cable to specialty channels and beyond). This focus on television is critical, because that's where advertisers have traditionally been able to get the most impact. The digital media battlecry seems to be that the Internet is the new television. The Internet is not television. Both Facebook and Twitter have been creating a lot of news in the past week about looking beyond clicks and likes as measurement metrics. They want brands to dig deeper into the branding opportunities that exist in digital media. It's true, with the advent of native ads, brands can do some pretty impressive types of branding campaigns that look more like advertorials than a traditional ad, as we have seen on TV (more on that here: Native Advertising And The Trouble It Will Cause). What's not true is that digital platforms can deliver the same kind of branded advertising experience that traditional advertising does. It simply can't. Yet. CTRL ALT DEL. Yes, it's the name of my upcoming business book, but the original concept of CTRL ALT DEL came to me when thinking about this, exact, issue back in 2006. It became abundantly clear to me, that the reason display advertising was suffering from such a low clickthrough rate was because brands (and publishers) were putting very traditional-like ad units in a very different media format. The Internet is not a passive media. It's an active media. Screen/page sizes are not static (like a TV set and a newspaper), they are organic. They are not stale (flat or non-interactive). The consumer online manipulates the experience (with a mouse, with a finger, by swiping and clicking on links and typing and sharing). If the advertising can't keep pace with the user experience, the ad unit dies. More is not better. The response to consumers being active with the digital media properties from brands (and publishers) has been to put more ads on the page, bigger ads, to block the page with an ad, to have an ad pop-up into the space, to make them blink more. This doesn't lend itself better to the digital experience, it simply makes the ads more annoying (no matter what your ad serving data is telling you). There's an argument to be made for experiences, the use of videos in ads and the fact that everything I just blogged about is not true for every brand. There's an argument to be made for retargeting and real time bidding to ensure that - at the very least - the ad unit has a better fighting chance, because it's more relevant to the content and context of the user. All of this is true, but it doesn't strike at the core challenge: if brands want a better brand experience for consumers in these digital marketing channels, at what point do we all agree - as a marketing industry - that we have a ways to go in ensuring that the advertising matches the user experience? No clear answers. Some of the smartest people in the world, working at some of the smartest organizations in the world are working on this very challenge. There are options and opportunities abound. There is no doubt that these are exciting times. The problem comes when marketing professionals see the glass as half-empty instead of half-full. Think of it this way: as a marketing professional - in this day and age - there will probably never be another moment in time like this for our profession. It's a moment in time where we're not just be continuing to work with limitations that were laid out by our forefathers and foremothers. We're now able - in real-time - to define not only a new way to advertise and connect with consumers, but a better way to create advertising. I don't think we'll ever get to a place where people will necessarily seek out advertising, but I am bullish on getting to a place where people appreciate the advertising because it truly creates a relevant moment of impact and it fits within their overall digital experience. A boy can dream. Tags: active media ad unit ad units advertising advertising measurement advertising week advertorial brand brand effect branding business book cable television clickthrough rate consumer packaged goods content ctrl alt del digital experience digital media digital platform digital publisher display advertising facebook marketing industry marketing professional native advertising newspaper advertising online channel passive media publisher real time bidding retargeting specialty channel television advertising traditional advertising twitter
The End Of Conversation 4 October, 2012, 7:19 pm
Can we move beyond the notion of brands engaging consumers in a conversation? I had the pleasure of presenting at a Google event in Chicago the other day. The audience was - mostly - business to business. They have a deep interest in digital marketing and social media but grapple with the idea of a conversation with consumers. I don't blame them. I don't see many people having any sort of conversation with a brand (and there isn't much conversation happening about a brand). Shocked to hear someone like me say this? Don't be. Social media is not a conversation. I've said it before and I'm going to say it again... What makes something (anything) "social" is a brand's ability to make their marketing materials (and this includes their content) as shareable and as findable as possible. When a brand makes their content as shareable and as findable as possible, people will latch on to it and share it. If brands are doing something especially interesting, consumers may have some level of engagement with it (comment on it, write a blog post about it, etc...). Engagement is not a conversation. It's not an ongoing dialogue that happens back and forth. Brands fail at conversations. Don't believe me? Write a blog post about your favorite brand and let me know a couple of things: Did the brand even come by and acknowledge it? Did the brand engage in the comment section? Did you respond to the brand's comment and did they come back to continue the engagement? Did other readers of your blog jump into the comments and did the brand respond to them as well? Did the brand come back at a future point because of how great the conversation was? So, how do you really think brands do in a conversation? So, how do you really think consumers want to connect with brands? Access, response and care is not a conversation. It's an engagement. It's a connection. There's rarely any back and forth that resembles anything that looks like a conversation (and when there is back and forth, it's usually a customer service issue... and if that issue flares up, brands are trained to take that consumer offline to figure it all out). The Cluetrain Manifesto brought the term, "markets are conversations" to life. They're correct. People within marketplaces have all types of lively conversations. Can brands take part in them? They can, but we have to dig down deep and ask ourselves why and will anyone really care? If you can answer that, you now have to ask these questions: what will make consumers care about a conversation with our brand, and are we truly committed to being in a conversation (whenever and wherever they happen)? What a brand wants. A brand wants one thing: to sell more stuff to more people. Yes, they want happy and satisfied customers. Yes, they don't like too many hassles and issues. Yes, they're looking for cheaper and faster ways to help them achieve their one goal: to sell more stuff to more people. When people hear this, they cringe. They cringe as if there is something inherently wrong (or evil) with this. As is it's sales above all else (morals and goodwill included). That part is not accurate. Most brands just simply want more people to know that they exist, so those people will buy from them. Some brands don't need conversation. When we talk about the end of advertising, I simply want to sigh. I used to believe that social media could make advertising more appealing. That social media is an amazing opportunity for brands to use marketing in a less intrusive way. I've grown to realize that could be the case some of the time, but not all of the time. I've grown to realize that it's not a zero-sum game, either. For years, I've tempered this kind of thinking by letting brands that know that it's "with" not "instead of." Just lately, I'm falling back in love with the simplicity of advertising: a quick message and nudge to let you know that something exists. No need to friend, like, +1 or have a conversation. The end of conversation. It's on us. It's on us to let the deodorant, paper towel, diaper, chewing gum, frying pan, nacho chips and other brands know that people - honestly - don't want a conversation about their products (and there's nothing wrong with that). Now, if the brand is interested in using social media to nudge, inform and share, then by all means, go for it. Just understand the landscape and define realistic opportunities, goals and outcomes. There is vast majority of brands that will not benefit one way or another from a true conversation. Instead, the focus should be on making the advertising as shareable and as a findable as possible with the ultimate goal of selling more stuff to more people. That's where you will find social media ROI. That's where you will always find ROI. Tags: advertising advertising roi blog brand business to business marketing content customer service digital marketing engagement google marketing material markets are conversations online conversation sales social media social media roi the cluetrain manifesto
The Moment 3 October, 2012, 6:55 pm
Have you had "The Moment" yet? When you look through the newspaper, do you stop and review the job postings? Do you take some time during your work week to hop over to Monster.com or Craigslist to see what positions are open? When you look at e-newsletters from industry trade publications do you keep an eye on which career opportunities are open and available? Are you constantly looking on LinkedIn to see who is hiring and who went where? Do you engage in your industry's rumor mill as to who is hiring and which people are going where? That used to be me. I used to be that person. The truth is that I was engaging in that type of activity whether I was happy with the job I had... and I was engaging in that type of activity when I wasn't all that happy. It could be human nature to be looking (or searching) for what's next. Upon reflection, I wasn't all that happy. I thought there was something more... something better and, if I couldn't find it where I was at, I had to look for it elsewhere. What was going on? Clearly, the work that I was doing was not fulfilling. Work isn't always fun. Work isn't always focused on the things that we want to do. Work isn't always the reason we wake up in the morning and the reason we go to bed at night. But, there were moments (and jobs) where I was very, very satisfied. Yet, I was still looking. Today, while travelling home from a Google event in Chicago, I was reading the Wall Street Journal (yes, I still read the physical paper version, but only because there are moments on the plane when I'm not allowed to be on the tablet or Air). As I came towards the end of the business section, there were a handful of pages of job listings. I didn't look. I folded the paper over, put it away and stared out of the window into the clouds... and that's when it hit me: I haven't looked at a career or employment section in ages. I tried to think back to the last time I had looked (be it online or in the actual paper). I can't remember the exact date, but it was probably a couple of years after I joined my business partners at Twist Image (so, we're talking about close to eight years or more). That's "The Moment." "The Moment" is when you're no longer looking for the next gig. "The Moment" is when you're actually doing that work that you were meant to do. "The Moment" is when you realize that you're content. "The Moment" isn't about resting on your laurels. "The Moment" isn't about not thinking about or imagining the future. "The Moment" isn't about being satisfied to the point of losing your ambition. "The Moment" is the realization that you're doing what you are supposed to be doing and you're not worried about what you will do if this doesn't work out, because you know you'll be doing exactly what you're doing for a long, long time (just maybe not in the exact, same location, with the same people). Lucky. The majority of people haven't had "The Moment." The majority of people still struggle at work - each and every day. They feel like they are undervalued, underpaid and overworked. They don't like their bosses. They feel like they're surrounded by morons. They feel like they're not lucky. Some people don't believe in luck. Other believe that luck happens to those who work very, very hard. Malcolm Gladwell believes that you have to put in your ten thousand hours (see: Outliers). I believe that it's all subjective. I believe that we make our own luck. I believe that I'm lucky that I was able to realize today - on that plane... as I skipped over the careers section of the newspaper - that I'm simply not interested in figuring out my next move. I'm much more interested in figuring out how I am going to do a whole lot more with what I'm currently doing. Because, I'm doing what I am supposed to be doing. What about you... have you had "The Moment" of realization yet? Tags: ambition business section career opportunity craigslist employment opportunity enewsletters google human nature human resources job job posting linkedin macbook air malcolm gladwell monster newspaper outliers tablet the moment trade publication twist image wall street journal work
In The Nick Of Real-Time 2 October, 2012, 9:53 am
Are consumer expectations getting out of control? True story: our brand-new dryer broke down. It's not even one year old. It's not the first time. We were told we would have to replace a piece, and that it would take five to ten business days for them to receive the piece, and only once the piece is in inventory will they be able to make an appointment to replace the piece (which could also take up to an additional five business days). Young kids, colds flying around from daycare and wet weather doesn't make it any easier. We haven't heard a peep from the company. We keep calling them and they keep telling us that they will call us back when the piece comes in. Ten business days later, we now have an appointment to get the part replaced. They said that they will be at our house at some point on Thursday between 7:30 am and 5:00 pm. Well, isn't that convenient? It's not hard to tweet out the brand name in an effort to publicly shame them into speeding up the process. It wouldn't be hard to name names in this posting and have it become an ever-increasing piece of content that defines their brand story. It's not all that challenging to post the story on Facebook and encourage everyone in my social graph to not do business with this brand. I'm holding on by a thread here in not revealing the brand's name. It is frustrating beyond belief. During all of this frustration and waiting, I ordered my iPhone 5 directly from Apple and watched one of the hottest pieces of technology arrive in less than five business days via China. Five days for the new iPhone with full visibility into where the product is and how it is tracking to my office (thanks to UPS) versus no idea, no response and no sense of care from a major appliance manufacturer. What gives? There are three sides to every story. As a consumer, none of this makes sense. As a marketing professional, I have seen brands struggle with customer service and supply chains. It's a complex world and getting pieces manufactured, shipped and installed professionally is actually a lot harder than it looks. We hold brands to such a high standard in a day and age when a tweet can change corporate dynamics as public shaming is the new (and sometimes best) way to get a brand's attention. Real-time is now time. The Social Habit is a social media research series from Edison Research. They are publishing their latest report in a couple of weeks, and have been teasing out some of the more eye-opening pieces of data that they have captured. Last week, Jay Baer of the Convince & Convert blog (he's also co-author with Amber Naslund of the business book, The Now Revolution, and one of the editorial partners of The Social Habit) let the world know about this one, fascinating, nugget: "Among respondents to The Social Habit who have ever attempted to contact a brand, product, or company through social media for customer support, 32% expect a response within 30 minutes. Further, 42% expect a response within 60 minutes." Suck on that one for a minute. There are some brands that would struggle to provide a response in thirty to sixty minutes when the customer is actually in their physical location. Just last night, a friend was lamenting on Facebook that it took three phone calls and over two hours to their get their iPhone 5 activated via their mobile service provider. In short, brands are being put to the test of speed. With instantaneous connectivity and brands pushing for customers to like, follow, friend and plus one them, consumers are pushing back and expecting the responses to their customer service issues to happen at a fast and furious pace. It's not just this pending research report, you can feel it live and in-the-moment right now. Head over to Twitter and type in any brand name in the search box and witness the differing levels of engagement. What this all means... Pandora's box has been opened. It can't be closed. Brands are racing to capture as many fans as possible in as many social media channels as possible. It's not enough for brands to capture and connect with these consumers, without the expectation of one good turn deserving another. It turns out that consumers want one thing: their issues resolved. And, they want it done fast. Faster than fast. The challenge is this: the majority of brands act fast... as fast as they can. Sadly, it's not even close to being fast enough for consumers. Now, brands and consumers are going to have move forward and figure out a way to define what the true speed limits are. Right now, we're in the autobahn phase of social media... there is no speed limit but it's all moving very, very fast. Over to you: do you think consumers have realistic or unrealistic expectations of how quickly a brand should respond? The above posting is my twice-monthly column for The Huffington Post called, Media Hacker. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here: The Huffington Post - Are Brands Failing the Speed Test? Tags: amber naslund apple brand story business column consumer consumer expectations content convince and convert customer service customer support edison research facebook iphone 5 jay baer major appliance marketing professional media hacker mobile service provider real time web social graph social media social media channel social media research supply chain technology the huffington post the now revolution the social habit twitter ups
The Marketing Imperative Of Writing A Book 30 September, 2012, 6:20 pm
Episode #325 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to. Welcome to episode #325 of Six Pixels Of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast. I first heard about Jim Kukral when my friend, Chris Brogan (co-author with Julien Smith of Trust Agents and the soon-to-be-released business book, The Impact Equation) would not stop talking about the book, Attention! This Book Will Make You Money. I tend to shy away from books that claim to help people get rich from the Internet. On top of that, the rest of Kukral's digital content felt like it was slipping into the the "get rich quick" type of affiliate marketing that just isn't my cup of tea. A while after that, Hugh McGuire (PressBooks and author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) was telling me that Kukral was using his PressBooks platform to publish all kinds of business books. I finally met Kural in person at Content Marketing World earlier month, and he explained that he's now in the business of helping people publish their own books. His knowledge is second-to-none and he's a smart individual passionate about helping people - like me and you - to write and publish our own books. Enjoy the conversation... You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #325. Tags: advertising podcast attention this book will make you money blog blogging book a futurists manifesto brand business book chris brogan content marketing world david usher digital book launch digital marketing facebook hugh mcguire itunes jim kukral julien smith marketing marketing blogger marketing podcast online social network podcast podcasting pressbooks social media the impact equation trust agents
Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #119 29 September, 2012, 1:38 pm
Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see? My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, the author of Complete Web Monitoring and Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks), Hugh McGuire (The Book Oven, LibriVox, iambik, PressBooks, Media Hacks) and I decided that every week or so the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see". Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another: Kickstarter Is Not a Store - Kickstarter Blog. "The crowd-backed project model is on a tear. Sites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, and even specialized ones like petridish.org give people a new way to make their vision a reality. Kickstarter alone has given out hundreds of millions of dollars since it launched. Yesterday I spoke with Rebecca Rodriguez about her $7,000 project to film the KeyStone XL pipeline as she walked it -- backed by Indiegogo supporters. But as the model grows, it's forced to confront issues. The biggest Kickstarters raise millions of dollars -- with no guarantee of delivery. The company has made some draconian, but ultimately wise, changes to the amount of risk and speculation allowed in projects that focus on technology. If you don't understand how big of a deal this is, you're missing the huge importance of crowdfunding." (Alistair for Hugh). Meet the New Boss: Big Data - The Wall Street Journal. "Mitch, last week you had a Big Data link for me. With Strata right around the corner, I'm spending a bunch of time looking at the consequences of a Norm world (where everybody knows your name, and a whole lot more.) Big Data is interesting because it's where technology touches people, and is therefore fraught with ethical and moral perils. Take this Wall Street Journal piece on how companies are using data to make management decisions. For example: Ignore the resumé. don't hire that creative type for a call center, because they won't stick around long enough to recoup their training cost. Ouch." (Alistair for Mitch). A Conversation With Randall Munroe, the Creator of XKCD - The Atlantic. "One of the best places to visit on the Internet is the Web comic site, xkcd; it's a delight of day-to-day philosophy, math and physics and much more. The comic's creator Randall Munroe, a former NASA engineer, sits down with The Atlantic to talk about life, the universe and everything." (Hugh for Alistair). Philip Roth and Wikipedia - Non-Commercial Use. "You may have heard recently about Philip Roth's public fight with Wikipedia. A Wikipedia article about one of his books, The Human Stain, 'suggested' that the main character in the book was inspired by the life of NY Times book reviewer, Anatole Broyard. Roth took exception; he was inspired by someone else entirely, he claimed. Roth tried to get somebody to change the Wikipedia article. Editors reverted the change. There was Wikipedian back and forth, and Roth wound up writing an Open Letter to Wikipedia in the New Yorker. Much heavy breathing ensued in the media, which portrayed the venerable Roth as a victim of the bureaucratic nightmare that is Wikipedia, and hyperventilated about how Wikipedia must be badly broken if the subject of a Wikipedia article couldn't fix mistakes about the article itself. That's been the mainstream play on the controversy, but it gets things so wrong. Most importantly, the Wikipedia article did not state that Anatole Broyard was the inspiration for Roth's character, but rather it referenced the NYTimes Book Review of the book, which made this claim (and which, by the way, remains online, unedited, unretracted, on the NYTimes website... and no one has written an Open Letter to the NY Times about it. The result of all this is ironic: Wikipedia now has a balanced article with reference to both the original Broyard claims, and to Roth's different version of things - the 'correct' outcome. Somehow, many people in the world will not pay much attention to this, and will come away thinking Wikipedia is broken, when, in fact, it worked exactly as it is supposed to." (Hugh for Mitch). Data Barns in a Farm Town, Gobbling Power and Flexing Muscle - The New York Times. "We are at a crossroads and some tough decisions are going to have to be made. We are in the middle of the digitization of everything. But, guess what? All of this innovation requires a lot of power and energy. All of this hardware and software that we're consuming is taxing on... guess what? Yup, the environment. What, you thought your iPhones grew on trees? So, where do all of these high tech companies go to power the devices that power our lives? Yup, they go to the places where electricity is cheapest. Rural areas, etc... In this fascinating piece, you'll get a better understanding of what happens in these rural areas where agricultural farming is quickly getting usurped by data farming." (Mitch for Alistair). What Business is Wall Street In? - Blog Maverick. "Mark Cuban is a fascinating guy. I'm especially enamored with him because he generates no apathy. People either love him or loathe him. That's a good thing. I often don't agree with Cuban's perspectives on all things, but I fell in love - head over heels - with this recent blog post on the business that is Wall Street. Does Wall Street still help companies create capital and generate wealth or has it degenerated into a Pong-like game of high speed trading technology in a race to out-speed one another? It's one of those 'wow moments' that makes you realize that even the best investors don't have an upper-hand in a world - and financial model - that is driven by the speed of technology mixed with algorithms and nothing more. It's not only depressing, but it makes you realize that your hard-earned money is probably much better off being stuffed in a mattress. Ugh." (Mitch for Hugh). Now it's your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it. Tags: alistair croll anatole broyad big data bitcurrent blog maverick complete web monitoring gigaom hugh mcguire human 20 iambik indiegogo iphone keystone XL kickstarter librivox link exchange linkbait managing bandwidth mark cuban media hacks nasa new york times new york times book review new yorker non commercial use petridish philip roth pressbooks randall munroe rebecca rodriguez story strata conference the atlantic the book oven the human stain the new york times the wall street journal wall street wikipedia xkcd year one labs
Just Another Screen 29 September, 2012, 12:49 pm
Is TV becoming just another screen? In my next book, CTRL ALT DEL (out in May 2013), there is an entire chapter titled, The One Screen World. In it, I make the argument that the only screen that matters is the screen that is in front of you. That we're quickly moving from a three screen (or four screen) world to a one screen world (if we haven't aren't arrived there). Screens are increasingly becoming more connected. Not just to the Internet, but to one another. So, it makes sense that screens (everything from their price and functionality) will essentially become smart pieces of plastic and glass that connects us to our content. A place where the size and experience will be dictated by how we want to consume and interact with the content. In short, you can watch TV on whichever screen you like, when you like it and how you like it. One person's Homeland experience can happen in their den on a traditional TV, while another's can happen on a smartphone on the way to work in the subway, and another's can happen on their iPad at 39,000 feet in the air. So, how is TV handling this one screen transition? Very well, thank you so much for asking. All Things Digital ran a news item the other day titled, Tipping Point? We're Watching More Web Video on TVs Than on PCs. Here's the crux of the situation: "Consumer-tracking service NPD says TV sets are now the most popular way to watch streaming video. NPD says 45 percent of consumers report that TV is now their primary Web video screen, up from 33 percent last year. It basically swapped places with the PC, which used to account for 48 percent of viewing but now represents 31 percent. This is a story about devices: NPD figures that 10 percent of homes now have at least one Internet-enabled TV (though I bet that only a minority of them are actually plugged into the Web), and we're seeing a steady increase in the use of Web-video peripherals, like Blu-ray players, Apple TVs and Microsoft Xbox 360s." The post PC-world. PCs are the true victim here. Mobile devices and TVs connected to the Internet are making the PC a relic. Quickly. Don't listen to what the computer manufacturers are telling you. These are trends that are churning with exponential growth. What makes the All Things Digital piece that much more interesting is that it points to Netflix as a key driver for this shift in consumer consumption behavior. The lesson: give people what they want - cheap and easy - and they'll adapt to the new landscape faster than you can say, "social media is so yesterday, it's all about big data now." It's all about removing friction. What eight dollars a month gets you. When you can grab and stream a whole bunch of movies for eight bucks a month, you start seeing the truth about mass adoption (also known as The Tipping Point). People can do the math and they can do it fast. If Apple TV costs about one hundred dollars, and one month of Netflix is eight dollars, you don't have to be a math wizard to know that it's equal to about three visits to a movie theater with a friend (and we're only talking about the price of admission here). Granted, these are not the same entertainment experiences, but having access to that many movies on so many devices makes it an enticing option for those who can't afford the luxury of having both. The cloud wins. We're at the beginning of networked appliances, but this too is happening at a fast and furious pace. The majority of new TVs for sale are Internet enabled and, as the All Things Digital article suggests, that many people are probably not even plugging them into the Internet... yet. Once they do, and they experience Netflix, there is no turning back. Having that type of content stream is powerful, and that will push towards appliances as well. No, I'm not talking about streaming Netflix to your dishwasher, but I am talking about having full control over your appliances through your screens . The ability to not only manage the devices, but to have the devices being networked to the cloud (and one another) is going to change a lot of things about how we manage our lives (and content will be just one of the many channels). My guess is that this is all going to happen a lot faster than the majority of us are prepared for. Do you agree? Tags: all things d all things digital apple tv big data blu ray player business book cloud computing computer manufacturer content ctrl alt del entertainment four screen homeland internet internet enabled tv ipad microsoft mobile device movie theater netflix networked appliances npd one screen world post pc world screen smartphone social media streaming video the tipping point three screen traditional tv tv web video web video screen xbox 360
The Master Of Media 28 September, 2012, 5:45 pm
Who is the master of media? Two words: Clay Shirky. I believe that Clay Shirky is the Marshall McLuhan of our time. I realize that it is statements like this that will either make certain individuals roll their eyes and others to bail on this blog. I'm fine with that. But, before you debate, engage in discourse or dismiss me as a lunatic, I urge you to watch this TED Talk that was just posted online where Clay Shirky (author of Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) talks about how transformative the Internet has been to our media landscape. Beyond the power of his thinking, pay close attention to his presentation skills. In particular, the language he uses, the stories he tells and how he breakdowns complex concepts by illustrating them through fascinating and digestible examples. Boardrooms would be a whole lot more interesting if more people were like Clay Shirky... Tags: blog clay shirky. marshall mcluhan cognitive surplus here comes everybody internet media media landscape presentation skills ted ted conference ted talk

JohnChow

Driving with John Chow Episode 2 24 May, 2013, 11:29 am
On this episode of Driving with John Chow, I headed out to Aliso Viejo for a board of advisors meeting for Linked Orange County. I figure I would use the driving time to talk more about the Home Business Summit. The Summit is happening June 7-9 at the Hilton Long Beach. That’s less than two weeks away. If you haven’t booked your hotel, You have to do it within the next 72 hours, otherwise, the hotel will not honour the group discount we got, and will also offer the reserved rooms to other guests. This is the schedule so far. Friday June 7th: Arrive at the Hotel around 4-5pm if you can. We’ll be having an informal two hour gathering in one of the hotel ballroom where you can meet myself, some of the other speakers, and all the other attendees. Saturday June 8th: This will be a long day, with lots of learning. We’ll start at 8.30am sharp. Registration will be at 8am though, so make sure you get to the room early. We’ll go until around 6pm or so, and then that night, there will be a private party, so make sure you keep the night free and don’t make other plans. Sunday June 9th: We’ll start around 9am, and go through till about 4 or 5pm, and then everyone will say their good byes. I’m very excited about this event, and I think you’re gonna love it. I recommend you stay for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night if you can. I’ll be around Sunday night so if you’d like to get some more 1-on-1 time with myself, that will be the night to do it. See you at the Summit! Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Driving with John Chow – Episode 1 The Free MercedesJohn Chow on The Lab with Leo LaporteMy First Audio InterviewNow This Is What I Call Driving!Get Your John Chow dot Com Blidget!
What You Will Learn At The Home Business Summit 23 May, 2013, 8:07 pm
The Home Business Summit is less than three weeks away. Have you got your tickets yet? If not, then you better hurry. There’s only a handful left. Here’s what you’ll be learning at the Home Business Summit. First off, the Home Business Summit is NOT a pitch-fest. None of the speakers will be selling anything. They will be sharing insider secrets on what is working RIGHT NOW (not 6 months or a year ago) in online marketing. As you know, the “game” is constantly changing. And those who are NOT on the cutting-edge, doing this business “day in and day out” will soon go the way of the dinosaur. Which is why the Home Business Summit wil be such a game-changer for you. Make $100,000 in the Next 12 Months The Home Business Summit is an “international event tour” being held in the U.S., U.K, and Australia (with plans to expand). Every single speaker is an “in the trenches” online marketer – they are DOING what they teach, not just selling “how to make money online” products or putting on seminars. In addition to myself, you’ll be learning from people like Terry Lamb, Marlon Sanders, Matt Lloyd, and more. We will show you exactly what you need to do to make $100,000 in the next 12 months. In fact, if you walk away from the event without knowing exactly what you need to do to make $100,000 in the next 12 months, we’ll pay for your ticket and your hotel room! I’ll even go one better. Come to the Home Business Summit on me! The Home Business Summit happens June 7-9 at Hilton Hotel in Long Beach, California, and I like to invite you to come as my personal guest. I’ve been given 50 tickets to give away to John Chow dot Com readers. Thirty-six tickets has already been claimed. I only have 14 tickets left. Would you like one them? Watch the video below to find out how you can claim those final tickets and come to the Home Business Summit for free as my guest. I look forward to seeing you in beautiful Long Beach! Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Come Join Me At The Home Business SummitMeet Me At The Vancouver Marketing Mastery SummitDot Com Pho – Home Business Summit EditionSkinny Boy From China Gets A Brand New MercedesJoin Me For Dinner In Vancouver – I’m Paying!
Driving with John Chow – Episode 1 The Free Mercedes 23 May, 2013, 8:40 am
I’ve decided to add a new feature to the blog call Driving with John Chow. The idea is to increase my content productivity by creating new video based content while driving from place to place. On this premier episode, I talk about the car I’m driving and how I got it for free. For those who don’t know, I recently pick up a new 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL550. I was driving it to the dealership to get it wash and figured I’ll stick a GoPro to the windshield and just record myself. You have to admit, this is a pretty easy way to create content, and we know that content drives traffic, and traffic equals money. This is also a very easy way to create content. There’s really no editing. It’s just me talking, with mistakes and all. Let me know what you think of Driving with John Chow. Would you like to see more episodes? Would you like to see me do it with a passenger? Would you like the camera pointed at something else instead of on me? I welcome your feedback. Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Filming and Driving – Mercedes-Benz SL550 Safety FeaturesWife Gets Mercedes For Supporting Internet Marketing HusbandThe Winner of The 24″ LCD MonitorMercedes-Benz ML350 – Perfect Car for Asian Drivers In RichmondThis Is Way Better Than Blogging From Starbucks
Unleashing the Accidental $710,000 Secret Formula 22 May, 2013, 8:24 am
When you take a look around the Internet marketing community, you’ll quickly learn that there is only a small percentage of gurus who are actually making a sizable amount of money while the majority continue to struggle. Some people may chalk it up to luck, but there is definitely more to it. The people who have found success have “figured it out” and the key is to really understand this “secret formula” for raking in the big money. And that’s how Vick Strizheus has now come into the picture. His new product is called the Big Idea Mastermind and he wants to share his specific techniques with you for free. Let’s dive into today’s review and see what you can expect from Vick. Over $700,000 in Under a Month There are Internet moguls out there who are pulling in five or even six figures each month, but I doubt there are very many that are able to earn over $700,000 in under a month. But that is exactly what Vick was able to achieve not that long ago. The strange thing is that he almost did it by accident. He was simply performing an experiment to see if this system would work — not unlike the “experiment” that John conducted to see if his blog could make a full-time income from part-time work and look at where John is today — and the results blew him away. With zero marketing dollars and a modest mailing list of just 1,300 subscribers, Vick Strizheus generated $710,000 in 28 days. He posted up an introductory video where he briefly goes over this story, and then he encourages you to watch his free video series to see how can achieve the same kind of success by “doing the polar opposite of what everybody else is doing online.” What’s in the Free Videos? After you provide Vick with your email on the webpage above, you gain access to some free videos that describe his “secret formula.” Vick starts out by going a little more in-depth about his story and why you should listen to what he has to say. My initial impression was that this was a lot of fluff and it was meant to “sell” you on his dot com lifestyle. We see him driving around town in a Ferrari and then he pulls up to a rather impressive-looking house. Thankfully, the first video then proceeds to have Vick dive into some real material. Standing poolside, Vick proceeds to talk about his secret formula in more concrete terms. He doesn’t go into great detail, to be sure, but he does provide you with a quick overview of the three key components to his secret formula: vehicle, engine and fuel. You can watch the video for yourself for further explanation (there are sadly no real video controls on the site, aside from being able to pause it by clicking on the video), but the crux of it is as follows: the vehicle is the offer that you want to promote, the engine is the system you’re going to use to promote that offer, and the fuel is getting traffic to your system. You need all three parts to work in unison in order to achieve any real success. And surprisingly, the fuel is not the hardest or most important part. Get Ready for the Big Idea? When I clicked through to watch Vick’s videos, I found that only the first video was immediately available to me. It seems that you need to sign up for his email updates and that’s how you gain access to the other videos over time. Video #2 should tell you “how to get money now” and video #3 describes “the biggest opportunity ever.” I’m not entirely sure what is the “big idea” and what is the real secret in his “secret formula,” but I suppose that’s why you need to sign up for this free video series to find out. CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT BIG IDEA MASTERMIND Be the first to comment... Related Posts:There Is No Secret FormulaOne More Reason To Dump Google AdSense[Video] The “$2 Per Hour” Power FormulaPay Per Click Formula 2.0 LaunchedLast Day To Get An Instant Payday At A Discount
Fully Monetize Your Blog with teliad 21 May, 2013, 8:28 am
As you know, there are many different methods for monetizing your blog. While private advertising has the potential to bring in the most money, it can be quite the challenge to attract the right advertisers unless you are already a very large and well-known website. That’s why turning to a network or marketplace can make a lot more sense. What you’ll find, though, is that many of these networks will specialize in only one kind of monetization. That is not the case with teliad, which serves as the subject for today’s review. Here is a network that offers you several options to make money from the Internet, all under one convenient and potentially lucrative roof. What Is Teliad? The main idea behind teliad is to connect the right ad buyers with the right ad sellers. You have a blog that you want to monetize and teliad gives you the platform to get in front of a large number of advertisers. The good news here for blog owners is that they don’t have to stress out about page views, click-thru rates or conversion rates. This is because all the advertising sold through teliad is on a flat fee basis. The advertiser pays one price, regardless of the relative performance of the ad. That’s why teliad says it is “this easy to earn consistent income” when you “register yoru blog on our marketplace.” Text Links, Post Links, Blog Posts and Presell Pages As far as blog marketing, teliad allows you to monetize your blog with four different types of advertising: text links, post links, blog posts and presell pages. These all get listed in the marketplace for the the advertisers to peruse. The offers include all sorts of pertinent details — which you provide as the ad seller — like the language, PageRank, Alexa rank, description, number of external links, age of domain, relevant keywords and so on. For the text links, you can choose the placement location (header, sidebar, footer, etc) and this is indicated in the offer. A post link can utilize existing text or new text in an existing blog post, hyperlinking that anchor text to the advertiser’s URL. A paid blog post is what you’d expect it to be, adhering to the advertiser’s instructions, whereas a presell page has a “fixed position in the website structure of the domain.” This calls for a higher price. Remember that this entire process, for both ad buyers and sellers, is done manually. How Much Money Can I Make? As with everything else that has to do with running a blog, the amount of money that you can make through teliad is going to vary quite widely. If you already have a reasonably popular website, you have a higher potential to earn more money. You can set your own price, but there is a price calculator to help you determine what should be fair market value. For perspective, I used the tool to see what would be the “automatically determined average price” for a couple different ads on a few sites. A sidebar text link on DotComPho.com, for instance, came up as just $11. By comparison, a blog post on Beyond the Rhetoric was calculated to be $76. The same blog post on JohnChow.com would be $148. Interestingly, when I tried to get the estimated price for a text link on JohnChow.com, instead of getting an actual estimate, I got this message: We have determined that your URL has a very high quality. Your site has e.g. an above-average RankingScore (Google.com) of 640.49.A fair market price for this offer is very individual and can hardly be determined automatically. The price can vary from 85.- US$ to theoretically some hundred US$ A Money-Making Marketplace There will always be some concern about getting punished by Google for selling backlinks, but because the entire process with teliad is manual and the links are designed to be as relevant and natural as possible, this risk is minimized. Furthermore, because of the different types of offers available, teliad can prove to be a valuable tool for bloggers who want to make more money from their sites. Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Making Money with PicApp Custom Photo GalleryIf You’re Going To Monetize Your BlogHere are the Best Ways to Monetize a BlogFive Star Blog Again – ReviewMe Fixes My RankingCOTD – 25 Cent Clicks Vs. $40,000 a Month Edition
How I Went From Zero To $200,000 In 1 Month 20 May, 2013, 8:54 am
The following is my presentation from the More Power To Publish 2013 conference. The event was held May 17 to 19 at the Atrium Hotel in Irvine, California. At More Power to Publish, attendees were led through the entire process of becoming a published author, from idea to the bookstore shelf. Since there were already a lot of book experts speaking at the conference, I decided to center my presentation around information publishing. I have created three best selling info products in the past year, and have just started the fourth. My presentation showed how I created an info product and took it from zero to $200,000 in sales in the first month. I’m sure you can use an extra $200K this month, so I recommend you watch the video. I was given only 30 minutes to present, which really isn’t enough time to go into super detail. However, I will be speaking again at the Home Business Summit, and I’ve been allocated two hours for that presentation. If you like what you see here, I welcome you to join me at the Home Business Summit to find out how the really big money is made. Enjoy the video and I welcome your feedback. Please leave it in the comments. Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Biggest ReviewMe Day YetWhen a Unique Isn’t a UniqueStarting September On a High NoteThe Bonanza Is About To Begin!How To Set Up PayPal Subscription
The 3 Elements of Money Making Blogs 19 May, 2013, 10:16 pm
A lot of times, we think that making money online is favorable to some pro bloggers and we give flimsy excuses why we’re not qualified. But does it really matter? The most vital action step to take this year is to study blogs that are already earning income. This is the only way you can leverage on other people’s insights, secrets and ideas to become better. In 2010, I had already resolved in my heart that all those Super Affiliates were wicked. In fact, whenever I see those BIG checks, it makes me want to puke. In 2011, I discovered how dangerous my thought pattern was and made a decision to change it. Right there and I did. Fast forward to 2012, I’m already making enough money with my freelance writing business. If your blog isn’t making enough money, the fault is not Google’s. Neither is it your fault because you didn’t start off early – don’t blame anybody. It’s time to look at the 3 elements that could help you earn a living online if you work hard and smarter. 1. A custom blog design Right now, did you know that one of the reasons why you love Johnchow’s blog is because of his custom blog design? I caught you red-handed cowboy… don’t deny it. Maybe you didn’t think of that. Yes, quality content is the foundation of every blog that makes money today, but it goes beyond that. If you run a brick and mortar business, you’d agree with me that most times, the cover or design doesn’t really matter that much. Haven’t you seen great books on Amazon that are bestsellers, but the cover looks like a 2-year old artwork. That’s for offline and traditional publishing… But on the internet, it’s different because prospects actually do judge a book by its cover. If you sell digital products of your own or promote affiliate product, even if the content isn’t ‘that’ informative, you’ll still make a lot of money once the e-cover is excellent. Don’t get me wrong; always promote helpful products because that’s the only way to sustain your growth and expand your business in the future. If you want to make money with your blog this year, please customize your theme. It doesn’t cost so much – you could get a good (not great) design for less than $400. Start from there and when you start profiting, revamp the entire blog – because custom design is a MUST. It helps you to stand out from the teaming crowd – and when you’re unique, unique readers would flock to your blog… 2. Vision I wouldn’t say all the blogs that are making money now, but majority of them are owned by visionary entrepreneurs – bloggers who are not after making millions today no matter the tricks employed. The future of your blogging business is very important. You can’t just be overly consumed with the “hype” out there and sabotage the success of tomorrow. Run with a vision and you’ll consciously produce better and rich content consistently. Bloggers who are in this game for the long haul don’t publish generic articles that everyone and their Dog have already published. Instead, they publish less but spend quality time researching, writing, listening to their audience and developing a content calendar. A surprise announcement might work in some cases, but don’t bounce on your readers with a new product they know nothing about. If you’ve plans to author a book in 2014, start preselling now. Tell your subscribers and fans about your forthcoming product. This would ensure that when you eventually launch it, you’ll sell more and impact many lives across the world. Have a vision and write it down. Then start acting on them. 3. A product or service The third element you MUST consider is a product or service. Money making blogs either sell a product or offer a service to the target audience – that’s how it generates income. No gimmick or luck here. I don’t know about you, but I strongly believe that selling your services as a freelancer is easier, especially when you’re starting out. Freelancing is hard work and so is affiliate marketing, product creation, guest blogging and so on. There is no shortcut for achieving success when you’re blogging. Instead of complaining that making money online is all hyped-up, why not monetize first and then scale it through from there. Do you presently use a premium tool or software to run your blog? See if there is an affiliate program that pays out decent commission. If so, become an affiliate and recommend the same products that you love. I tell you the truth. Your reviews would be fully-packed with persuasive words and honesty because you’re happy with the product in the first place. And that’s the secret of Super Affiliate Marketing. Knowing the potentials of the product you’re promoting would open up a new realm of creativity for you. I call this “blog copywriting.” What other element…? Do you think I missed out on a vital element that makes a blog profitable? You might say I didn’t mention email list – which is essential by the way. But I’ve seen successful bloggers who don’t have a list as yet. I also earned my first $500 even when I had no optin box on my blog header. List building is important if you’re an online marketer. But you MUST captivate the readers first to come in and have a look at your exclusive content. And you can easily do that with a sleek custom blog design. Then quietly channel the readers to your landing page, via the subscription box and get them unto your list… Please write a valuable comment below… Let’s chat…because you’re awesome! Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Elements to Consider As You Design Your New BlogI Am The Number 2 Make Money Online BlogWhy Bloggers Fail To Make Money By BloggingThe Biggest Reasons People Fail At Making Money OnlineWeb Revenue Blog Rankings
Dot Com Pho – The Big Dog Edition 18 May, 2013, 5:33 pm
This edition of Dot Com Pho features a really big dog, and I mean REALLY BIG! The owner of the dog told me he is quite shy and is easily scared. I thought it should be the other way around – the dog would scare everyone else! In addition to the big woofer, this week’s Dot Com Pho features a really big dude showing off a really big jacket. Oscar tells you how to get a free lunch on the last Friday of every month, and I tell how the next 25 people can get free tickets to the Home Business Summit. Overall, it was a very fun afternoon on the patio of Pho Ba Co. The sun was out and the temperature was a nice 74F. The top was down on the Mercedes for sure. Anyone is welcome to join us for Dot Com Pho. Follow me in Twitter to find the time and place of the next one. Be the first to comment... Related Posts:New GoPro Hero3 Black EditionDot Com Pho – The Olympic EditionDot Com Pho – Princesses and Vampires EditionDot Com Pho – OC Home Coming EditionDot Com Pho – Leave My Mayorships Alone Edition
The Easiest Way To Make a Squeeze Page 17 May, 2013, 10:26 am
For my current promotion of the Home Business Summit, I’m using a great service call LeadPages to generate all the sales and landing pages. This is by far the easiest way to create a squeeze page, landing page, sales page, email capture page, etc. With Lead Pages, you can have a page up and running and less than five minutes. It really is that simple to use. LeadPages is a SAAS (Software As A Service) product. They can host the pages for you, or you can publish them on your own site. LeadPages integrates fully with WordPress. What I’ve been doing is having LeadPages host the landing page and then sending traffic to it via a masked redirect. The above email capture page for the Home Business Summit was created in about three minutes. The LeadPages interface makes it super easy to add custom titles, headlines, copy, and video. The system integrates with all major email marketing providers, like Aweber. LeadPages has a ton of professional looking templates to choose from. From a simple squeeze page to a long sales page, LeadPages has a template for it. With LeadPages, I’ve been able to create new landing pages pretty much on the fly. This has allowed me to test and tweak multiple landing pages to find the high converting one. The video below shows how easy LeadPages is to use. Integrating Facebook with LeadPages Want to put a landing page inside your Facebook fan page? LeadPages can do that too! LeadPages cost $37 per month, and it’s worth every penny. The hot deal is the Pro plan at $197 a year. That saves you over 50% off the monthly price, and gives you access to a really good landing page course. If you wish to test out LeadPages, they offer a 30 day money back guarantee. For serious Internet marketers, LeadPages is a must have tool. Lead Pages – The Easiest Way To Make a High Converting Landing Page 1 Comment - Read what others are saying about this post... Related Posts:How To Make Squeeze Pages 101Create Instant Squeeze Pages in WordPress with Squeeze PluginEven Obama Thinks The Money Is In The ListSqueeze Theme – The Ultimate Email List Building WordPress ThemeLast Chance To Sign Up For Squeeze Camp
OC Metro 40 Under 40 Awards Reception 17 May, 2013, 12:24 am
Last night the movers and shakers of Orange County came out to honor the recipients of the 2013 OC Metro 40 Under 40 Awards. As you can guess by the name, this award is given to 40 people who are under the age of 40. The event was held at Newport Lexus in Newport Beach, California. This has got to be the biggest Lexus dealership in the world. The place is massive. It’s just down the road from the biggest Mercedes-Benz dealership in the world (where I picked up my SL550). Like most Newport Beach events, the 40 Under 40 is very upscale, and filled with beautiful people. Unlike the last black tie Newport event, where I showed up wearing a T-shirt, I put on a suit and pink tie (pink is the new black) to fit right in with the 40 under 40 crowd. Congrats to all the winners of the 40 Under 40 Awards. Let’s go change the world. Or take it over in my case. Be the first to comment... Related Posts:Riding The Shanghai Metro2011 SFU Student Entrepreneur of the Year Networking ReceptionTeching It Up At The Seattle 2.0 AwardsAm I The Most Controversial Blog of 2007?The Affly Awards At Affiliate Summit East 2012

BrianSolis

Be a Tool: Properly Resource Your Enterprise for Social Media 24 May, 2013, 8:25 am
Guest post by Danna Vetter, VP, Consumer Strategies, ARAMARK You’ve heard it all before. You do your research. You write the strategy. You set the goals and objectives. You train your community managers. You go live in two weeks. Facebook announces Timeline. You kick [insert EVERYTHING]. There is only one thing that can be done in situations such as these – control what you can control. As marketers, we have all come to rely on these external social platforms, of which we do not own, control, or lead. There is obviously a certain compromise that we all must accept in this new world – we don’t make the rules. It’s not our code. It’s not our functions. It’s not ours. Welcome to Digital Marketing 2013. But here’s what you can control – always preparing your organization. Give them the tools and resources they need to be successful in social media every single day. Training is a fundamental part of getting your users ready for managing social media. But learning can’t end there. The industry evolves and changes too much. Education and knowledge need to be a continuous process. What they learned yesterday is already the past. And by continually providing the right tools and resources to your managers, you can ensure they are prepared in the best ways possible. Get your team the technology to manage social media. At ARAMARK, we started with a social media management system (SMMS). This gave us a place to corral all of our company’s social accounts, and just as importantly, it gave our community managers a one-stop shop where they can manage multiple social channels and campaigns. They can schedule, publish, and track content, as well as measure analytics. Most SMMS providers now even have functionality for ads buys on Facebook as well as targeting your content’s audience and promoting your posts. Also, we kept our social managers up to speed on the latest developments through topical resource guides, mini playbooks, and even infographics. Be creative. Collaborate. Communicate. Share knowledge. Hear what your team needs, what they want, and what they are missing. Then provide it back to them. Learn from each other. If you don’t have an internal collaboration network, consider cloud versions like Yammer or Chatter. If your company wants to keep everything in-house, use email. Or pass notes. Maybe shout. Find anyway possible to share information and experiences. If you don’t have the answer for a community manager, maybe one of their peers does. There’s so much out of our control today as marketers. But no matter what, at a company, you win and you lose together. So stay ahead of the game and keep your company prepared. And look out – Facebook just changed how people access and use newsfeed! Part of an ongoing series… They All Laughed – The Road to Becoming a Social Enterprise The 5th P of Marketing is People – Engagement begins within Mitigating Risk in Social Media Engagement Follow Danna on Twitter Image credit: Shutterstock
Getting Back to Basics: Why Brands are Getting it Wrong in Social Media 21 May, 2013, 8:29 am
Question: What is your #1 advice for social media strategists and managers? Answer: Stop talking about social media Type “social media” into a Google search bar and you’ll find roughly about 4.7 billion results in .30 seconds. Next, try “social media conference.” You’ll see something along the lines of 1.2 billion results in .25 seconds. Social media is important but I’d argue we aren’t celebrating it for the reasons we should. Instead, we are forcing social media to conform to traditional thinking and processes rather than adapting business philosophies and supporting methodologies to meet new opportunities. Every day, I hear about how social media strategists and managers are frustrated with the lack of executive support. Yet, many aren’t doing themselves any favors. Executives don’t speak the language of social media. They speak the language of the C-Suite and their audience are shareholders and stakeholders…not necessarily customers or employees or “people” in its most human sense. So, in the face of skepticism or fear, the best advice that I can offer you is to learn the language of the C-Suite when making the case for what it is you believe is the right thing to do. Making the case for social media has less to do Facebook or Twitter or Likes, views or Retweets and more to do with using these networks to glean or introduce value. To earn the attention and respect of the C-Suite and ultimately customers is the ability to connect the dots to the very things that every stakeholder values and communicating it in a way that is approachable and appreciated. This takes a thoughtful approach to rendering value in a contextual means that hits home with different people their way. Altimeter colleague Charlene Li and I conducted a series of research interviews and surveys over the last year on this very topic…how social today’s social media strategies align (or do not align) with business goals. We shared our findings in a newly released report, “The Evolution of Social Business Six Stages of Social Media Transformation.” Needless to say, we found a significant gap And, it is this gap that makes communicating value to executives difficult if not impossible. Charlene and I found that only 34% of businesses felt that their social strategy was connected to business outcomes and just 28% felt that they had a holistic approach to social media, where lines of business and business functions work together under a common vision. A mere 12% were confident they had a plan that looked beyond the next year. And, perhaps most astonishing was that only one half of companies surveyed said that top executives were “informed, engaged and aligned with their companies’ social strategy.” In the early days of social media, emergent networks changed how people connect to one another and the information that’s important to them. With each update, shared experience, and event, the world shrank. People were and are becoming increasingly connected and as a result they are more informed. With information and connectedness comes the reality of increased customer expectations. Value, engagement, entertainment, personalization, people must takeaway something meaningful from the exchange otherwise there can be no relationship. A relationship is after all a mutual exchange where all parties believe that connectedness is beneficial. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and every network thereafter are merely communities, ecosystems, and platforms where information is exchanged and relationships are formed and abandoned. How you make the case for engagement and how to deliver or extract value isn’t directly tied to the nature of the environment as much as it is the facilitator of the way and the weight that value is defined, expressed, and measured. If we’re not providing solutions we may in fact be contributing to the problem. See, social technology isn’t the answer; it’s part of the answer. Yet social strategists are often caught up in a socialized ecosystem of catch-up and that’s part of the challenge and the test. There’s always going to be a new network or another shiny object. There are always new case studies or expert theories flooding blogs, conferences, and books. Again, the best advice I can give you is to stop talking about social media as a means to an end and start thinking about how social media becomes a means toward triggering meaningful activities or outcomes that align with business priorities or objectives and customer expectations. This is the time to get back to basics. This is the time to take a step back. Social media is not the crux of you argument. It is an enabler. This is your opportunity to lift the conversation from tools to value and to translate the promise and opportunity of social into an emissary of meaningful engagement that aligns business goal, social media strategies and customer value. The story continues… Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube This post originally appeared at AT&T’s Networking Exchange Back to Basics: Shutterstock
Internal social networks improve communication + collaboration when empowered to do so 17 May, 2013, 4:49 am
I received an email from my friend at CIO Journal just as I boarded a United flight from Mexico City to San Francisco. He was on deadline and the topic was too good to miss as I’ve spent more than a fair amount of time studying and reporting on the social landscape as it pertained to internal engagement, communication and collaboration. I frantically typed on my iPhone with my thumbs before the door closed. Time was.running.out. With the hit of the send button, the door closed, and I was relieved to know that I made the deadline. Fast forward….the article recently ran in WSJ’s CIO Journal with a few of my thoughts. Since the topic is important to me and hopefully you as well, I wanted to share the response in its entirety. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on the subject… Here’s the setup (edited): A company has rolled out a new social media platform to its employees in the hopes of improving its health and safety record by getting workers to talk about best practices and also to point out problems or things that need to be done differently. Question 1: Is it unusual for companies to introduce a social media platform to fix this type of problem (versus trying to foster more collaboration for business processes)? Answer: Research shows that when a majority of the employee workforce is “disengaged,” it’s due to the reality that a lack of leadership or belief in overall corporate purpose or direction is prevalent. Social + gamification without uncovering and fixing employee relationships is simply gaming the system. However, social + gamification combined with an overhaul in process, management, and communication is how to bring about true change. Without investing in the culture, most initiatives are short lived and often minimizing the problem. As my good friend and digital sociologist Stowe Boyd would say, “The tangible result of culture change is behavioral change.” The opposite is also true. This is why management needs to explore its DNA to give employees something to align with. Question 2: Is adoption of enterprise social media a challenge. particularly when there is distrust of management? Answer: A recent Altimeter Group study published by Charlene Li found that businesses that employ enterprise social networks without a true vision for collaboration or how to improve relationships often fail to meet expectations. Also, without leadership adoption, it’s impossible to lead by example. Hope this helps. Join me as the story continues…#WTF Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube
New Digital Influencers: The Coming Youthquake 14 May, 2013, 7:32 am
Elements of inspiration that went on to become my new book, What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences Blame it on the youth they say. Indeed, there’s a great assumption that the future of technology falls in the hands of emergent generations. The youth of today will someday represent the majority of consumers, employees and citizens. That’s always the case, but what we don’t yet fully appreciate is just how different young adults think today. We don’t yet understand what it is they value and why. We’ve not yet assimilated how they make decisions and what factors influence their daily activities and journeys. Generation Y, also referred to as Millennials, and Generation Z represent those individuals born in the late 1970s or the early 1980s to the early 2000s. They follow Generation X, my generation, and they are already a powerful force in the future of the global economy and politics. While I don’t have the numbers specifically for France, I do have some interesting facts from the U.S. to consider in the broader discussion. For example, 70 million people in the U.S. belong to the Millennial Generation aka Millennials today. Millennials also represent 35 percent of the workforce today, and by 2014, they will comprise of almost half of all employed professionals. In a separate study conducted by Millennial Branding, it is expected that by 2025, Generation Y will represent 75 percent of the workforce. Right behind them is Generation Z. And as they grow up, they too will have a profound impact on society. In fact, they already do. In the United States, Generation Z is said to already control up to $30 billion in spending. What’s different about these generations than those before them? Gen Y and Z were born with digital in their DNA. While that may seem like a given, it is the very detail that separates them from their parents, teachers, businesses, governments, and any organization other than those already run by Gen Y and Z. As a result, our society splits into two camps, those who “get” these connected generations and those who do not or will not. Your Experience is Not Their Experience I’ve studied connected behavior for many years now. And it never ceases to amaze me how older generations refuse to see the world any other way than through their perspective. It’s almost as if there’s a superior and inferior right to certain life experiences. Yes, to ignore our own experience and point of view is a personal strength. But when considering the vantage points of Generation Y and Z, it is also a potential weakness. For each decision we make in life, we bring an abundance of life lessons that help us choose what we believe the right path at every personal and professional intersection we encounter. But we are not qualified or truly experienced for that matter to assume that how we make decisions and how younger generations make decisions are in parallel. And, we cannot assume however, that as we design products, services, or any agenda for that matter, that Gen Y and Z will appreciate those outcomes as we seem the. The reality is that they already see the world differently than you and me. Perspective is a gift nowadays. It’s in how we see the world through their eyes that we can then invest in the future of their experiences. Why? They will not do the same for us…at least not yet. Some of us can multitask, but we say our ability to do so diminishes each of the tasks we simultaneously perform. This is not true for younger generations as their brains are wired differently. We complain about privacy in social networks. They’ve mastered it. We don’t get why people share as much as they do online. They’ve created incredible filters to sort through the noise. We use Google.com to find relevant information but younger Generations go to trusted networks or rely on YouTube videos to make decisions. We watch TV on televisions. They watch TV on tablets and smartphones We listen to radios on radios. They listen to music on Pandora, Spotify and the like. We can eat dinner or sit in the same room with loved ones without looking at our phones and we get angry when others don’t return the favor. We trust family and friends and younger generations trust people “like” them whether they know them or not. This is just the beginning… Empathy is the Gift worth Getting: Seeing the World Differently Look, getting older doesn’t mean we have to become irrelevant. Assuming that the way we live is the only way to live is incredibly presumptuous. Young adults started life differently than us. What they know is what they know. You and I had to learn how to evolve from analog to digital and we’re still learning. But the gap that separates us and them is bridged only by our ability to take the first step toward understanding their behavior, expectations, and preferences. Then and only then can we build a more connected world and chart a better course for the future of education, commerce, government, art, and everything that keeps society and humanity moving forward in positive and productive ways. In a study of young adults in the US and UK conducted by JWT entitled “GEN Z: Digital in their DNA,” we learn just how connected they are and how different they are from us. When some of us wonder whether or not Facebook will follow the way of MySpace and all the other social networks that succumbed to digital irrelevance, we can see that for those 13-17 and 8-12, Facebook is the online homebase for 84% and 46% of younger generations respectively. For those who question whether or not kids who focus on their screens are having an affect on conversations in the real world, be warned. Times, they are a changin’. In the study, almost half of Generation Z expressed that they feel their real social life happens on social networks. And, 43% in aggregate feel more comfortable talking to people online than in real life. Online relationships are also making the world a much smaller place. This is true for all those connected online however. But for 26% of such a young demographic to say that they would have to board a plane to visit their online friends is exceptional and practically unprecedented. And when you ask Gen Z parents how they feel about their children’s online behavior, 68% wish they would log off and engage more with the real world. But that’s just a digital fantasy it seems as younger adults are already affecting how households make important purchases. 73% influence this week’s dinner menu. 69% influence entertainment. 60% influence TV. The list goes on… Born Digital What’s clear is that Generation Y and Z are born digital and therefore engagement strategies, products, services, and employee relations need to also be born digital to meet expectations. If you think you’re placating or giving into this generation whines or unfounded demands, think again. This is just a way of life for them and any organization or decision maker that doesn’t understand them cannot with any meaningful effect engage them or earn relevance among them. But think for a moment what this means. These younger generations aren’t the only one who are becoming incredibly connected. Anyone who throws themselves into the digital lifestyle start to exhibit different but eerily similar behavior to that of their more youthful counterparts. iPads or Droid tablets, smartphones, laptops, Nike Fuelbands, FitBits and other personal devices, social networks, connected devices, collectively contribute to an always-on society. The result, people are not only connected, they’re informed, empowered, and discerning. This means that they are also either elusive or immune to traditional marketing messages in traditional marketing channels. According to a Google Insights macro study exploring the “Zero Moment of Truth,” today’s shoppers now rely on over 10 sources when making purchase decisions. This is twice as many as the previous year. The more society embraces the digital lifestyle the more likely this is to go up. We’re moving from a world that prefers “screen face” to face-to-face engagement and it knows no geographic or demographic boundaries. In a separate Google report, “The New Multiscreen World,” it the extent of cross platform, cross screen consumer behavior among connected consumers was revealed. Google found that we are indeed becoming a society of multi-taskers and multi-screeners with consumers spending an average of 4.4 hours of leisure time across four screens every day. Those screens include smartphones, laptops, tablets and TVs. The study also found that only 10% of all media interactions are non-screen based, which include radio, newspapers and magazines. Wow. What’s clear is that Millennials and Generation Z behind them are in fact born digital. To get them takes effort. And, to keep up with younger generations takes a shift from antagonism or skepticism to that of comprehension. Understanding how they connect, why, and how doing so influences online and real world behavior, we can make informed decisions about how to develop relevant engagement strategies and meaningful products and services. Essentially we must become digital anthropologists and ethnographers to learn and appreciate the differences and subtle nuances that create a great divide among living generations. Doing so teaches us about current culture but also conditions us to better anticipate change. This is important as technology is only accelerating therefore making change a constant. As we learn more about these digital natives, chances are that we too, might very well become the people we’re trying to reach. What we cannot do however, is underestimate the influence of these connected generations on economy or society. They, and those who learn how to connect with them, contribute to a culture that’s not only digitally literate but also interconnected. Perhaps soon, we will not be so different after all. Join me as the story continues…#WTF Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube Image Credit: Intel, “How computers are born”
Part 2: The Broken Link of Social Customer Service 9 May, 2013, 8:05 am
Part Two. An edited excerpt of What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences In Part 1 of this series, The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service, we reviewed the opportunities and challenges that face any business seeking to engage customers in social networks. To become customer-centric requires a culture that supports customer-centricity and an active investment in defining the first mile experience. The first mile of customer engagement is a post-commerce or post-transaction strategy that invests in an ongoing experience to keep customers happy now and over time. Doing so sparks positive word of mouth and in turn influences decisions the dynamic customer journey that defines the new era of connected consumerism. If in fact getting closer to customers is a key objective, then why do many businesses neglect the first mile of customer experience? In February 2012, American Express published a report that found 46% of U.S. internet users stormed branded social media presences to express frustration about poor experiences. In the American Express study, the results were as telling as they were indicative of how much work it’s actually going to take to transform customer experiences. For the most part, brands miss a majority of activity in the social web whether it’s good or bad. But, if you break it out to the most common engagement opportunities, companies will need to rethink the overall social media strategy and allocation of resources. Social media marketing is just the beginning. Customers aren’t on popular social networks because they’re looking to be entertained by their favorite brands. They’re online to seek and share experiences. Take a look at these numbers for example… 50% – The number of customers seeking an actual response from a company about a service issue. 48% – The percentage of people who praise a company for delivering great service or experience. 47% – The influence factor of your customers who share information about service and experiences with a wider audience. 46% – Those who vent frustration about a poor service or experience. 43% – The amount of customers asking others how to have better experiences. Rejoining the links If people are acting as either an extended and connected sales force, marketing team or as detractors, perhaps a reset in priority is necessary. When you look at how social media is supported inside the organization, you find that there’s a broken link between social media marketing and customer service. In fact, the majority of time, money and resources are invested in marketing and not in supporting customers through influential social networks. If a customer shares an experience or asks a question the ability for marketing to acknowledge the act is certainly there. The trouble is that most of the time, the person or team in front of most social presences cannot effectively respond with any form of resolution or satisfaction. Nor is there an internal process or technology platform that connects outside activity through social marketing to customer service and back out again. This leads to a phenomenon that I call the Broken Link of Customer Engagement or the Social Arc Effect. Let customers own their experience Just because a company does not have a dedicated presence for customer service on social networks doesn’t mean that customers understand the difference. To everyday consumers, a Facebook page or a Twitter handle is the brand. Customers do not see silos, they see one company. It’s up to the social media team to connect the dots instead of lock social in a silo of its own. Customer-centricity starts with recognizing that customer experiences are in fact owned by the customer. As much as we attempt to integrate experiences into product features and design, the ultimate experience unfolds at the point of outreach. In social media, most activity is run out of the marketing department. As a result, when a customer expresses discontent, praise, or simply requires direction on the social presences of any brand, it is initially received by the community manager or the representative agency/consultant. The lost art of following up Depending on internal processes and connectedness, chances are that customer sentiment will pass the first point of entry, but according to statistics, customer needs will become the victim a siloed enterprise. In reality, marketing doesn’t talk to customer service and customer service, without design, doesn’t recognize conversations and expressions en masse. In a study conducted by Satmetrix in mid-2012, it was revealed that less than half of the companies it surveyed tracked and followed up on customer feedback in social media. An astonishing 28% do not track or respond leaving customers to question their value to the businesses that they support. The lack of acknowledgment or engagement also leaves the door wide open to competitive courtship. Linking social media to improve experiences In 2007, I wrote a piece on how social media presented an opportunity to turn customer service into the new marketing. I believe that acquisition in social media is only part of the story. The brilliance of social networks is that it presents opportunities for engagement to transform negative experiences into positive outcomes. Conversations also inspire opportunities for product refinement or innovation to create remarkable experiences from the onset. Retention is the new acquisition. For the companies that are experimenting with social media, it’s time to break it out of the traditional call center and create a proactive group of expert agents. While social media is yet another channel for agents to engage customers such as chat, email, and phones, the reality is that it requires a different philosophy to effectively manage relationships and agent performance. Time to resolution, cost per engagement, NPS, wait time, these are metrics of an aging era. Advocacy, referrals, positive endorsements, reviews, loyalty, these are the metrics that can be directly linked to social customer service among many other tangible outcomes including ROI. Unlocking advocacy The first mile of customer satisfaction starts with reflection and introspection. To become customer-centric requires a change in how we value customers and the role they play in the decision making cycles of those who make choices based on the shared experiences of others. The first mile is then paved through listening, governance, and engagement. The Arc Effect is a visual representation of what is and what could be. Completing the arc should become a 2013 priority investment for any business genuinely pursuing customer-centricity. It takes good intentions of course, but to truly improve relationships and unlock advocacy requires that social media strategists work with customer strategists to create an integrated series of processes and defined roles and responsibilities. Doing so delivers a holistic experience that turns customers into stakeholders and stakeholders into protagonists of aspirational experiences. ctrl-alt-del The story continues…#WTF Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube Photo Credit: Shutterstock This post is based on a piece I wrote for AT&T’s Networking Exchange
The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service 7 May, 2013, 7:03 am
Part One. For all that social media is doing to change business for the better, it’s not yet enough. Interview any executive and ask them what their priority business goals are for 2013 and I’m sure you’ll see some element of customer-centricity on the list. Yet the challenge that exists for any organization trying to get closer to customers lies in the definition of customer-centricity. If getting closer to customers is a key objective, why do many businesses neglect the first mile of customer experience? Sure products and services count for almost everything. But if and when a customer has a question, wishes to share ideas or provide feedback, or needs help, why is it often the beginning of buyer’s remorse or resentment? Over the years, companies invested in automated solutions to improve the efficiency of inbound customer engagement. Sophisticated voice recognition systems alleviate the hardship of pushing a button to direct calls. Improved call transferring lessens the frequency of getting dropped. Web forms, click to talk applets, and email now ensure that the first round of automated replies you receive look more human than ever before. And, internal metrics are now designed to reduce the amount of time we can get our issues resolved, reducing the need to build comfort, confidence and trust in each call. No, I’m not serious. But this is the reality that a majority of human beings experience to attain satisfaction or resolution. The Customer is Always Right—Right Now Enter social media. Customers no longer require a “hotline” to express sentiment nor do they need approval to do so. Everyday people express themselves through every channel possible. You’ve heard it before. A happy customer tells a few people, but an unhappy customer tells…everyone. Thanks to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, blogs, Foursquare and a myriad of other social networks, customers now possess the ability to share their experiences and affect the impressions and ultimately decisions of an unprecedented number of peers each and every day. If you’re reading this, you probably already get this. Yet, still today, almost seven years after the inauguration of the social media movement we know today, there’s still a disconnect between the importance of social networks and customer expressions and the ability for executives to appreciate the affect and the consequences of not engaging. It’s the difference between the function of customer service and the intentional result of customer satisfaction. In the realm of social media however, every comment either compliments or peels away from the sanctimony of an engineered brand. And, if the formula of happy customers telling a few and unhappy customers telling many more holds true, the collective of customer experiences are indeed indexed for others to find and consider in their decision making cycle. One must not need be a mathematician to understand that when someone searches about your company, chances are that without engagement or design, posts, comments and real-time conversations will work against you. In February 2012, American Express published a report that found 46% of US internet users stormed branded social media presences to express frustration about poor experiences. Imagine considering a series of brands related to a product category you’re investigating. In the first round of research, you find a series of posts, videos, and conversations that reveal negative experiences and the inability for the company to positively change opinions. Chances are that you’ll react accordingly. In Part 2 of this series, we’ll discuss the disconnect between social media marketing and social customer service within the organization. We’ll also take a look at how the majority of time, money and resources are invested in marketing campaigns and not in supporting customers. If customer retention is the new acquisition, a shift in the balance of marketing and support is desperately required. The story continues…#WTF Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube Photo Credit: Shutterstock This post is based on a piece I wrote for AT&T’s Networking Exchange
The Imminent Shift from Social to Digital Engagement 29 April, 2013, 6:53 am
How do you define engagement? No matter how you define it, engagement is something that we most likely underestimate. Engagement symbolizes the touches that occur in various moments of truth and this should completely change not only how you engage someone in each moment but also how the inside of your company works with one another to make it frictionless and experiential. Whether a customer stands on the stage of awareness, consideration, purchase, or post purchase, touch points open and close. And, it is in those moments that engagement, regardless of source or shape, affects the next steps and impressions of customers. These moments of truth however are not limited to any one channel. Whether customers are navigating social, mobile, web or IRL (in real life), they approach each stage of the journey with different needs, in varying stages of decision making, and with one of several frames of mind depending on the context of engagement and also the screen (smartphone, PC, tablet, TV, etc) they’re using in each moment. It’s becoming increasingly complex, but then again so is the path of consumer decision-making. That’s why I wrote WTF, What’s the Future of Business…someone had to tell the story of the new customer journey, their way points, and how to reach them. The answers revealed that social was only part of the adventure. The image above represents a detailed customer journey map, which outlines the important steps your connected customers take during and following decision making. The map also introduces the diverse elements that factor in to each step. Perhaps more importantly are the channels and screens individuals use to make their way along the journey. Mobile, social, web, IRL, they each contribute to a customer experience that either helps or prevents them from moving along in your favor. In my research I’ve found that more often than not, each stage of the customer journey along with the mixed channels that they use are defined or programmed by different groups within the organization. The social experience is developed independently of the mobile experience, which is disconnected from the web experience. The point is that customers only see one brand or business and therefore each channel should complement one another to deliver against a desired experience and journey optimized for the moments of truth and for the context of each screen. The Expansion from Social to Digital Engagement One of the ways I’ve defined “engagement” over the years was quite simple, when a business and consumer interact within their channel of relevance during various moments of truth. Engagement though, is then measured by the actions, sentiment, and outcomes that result from each interaction. To optimize results, experiences, click paths, outcomes, and sentiment must be defined and enlivened through each channel in each moment. To do so takes vision, articulation of that vision, and collaboration with all stakeholder groups to cast a unified approach. Yes. It’s the age-old argument of bringing down silos and opening doors between departments and groups that just don’t talk to each other right now. But, that’s just what needs to happen and the more progressive companies are already taking note. One such company is one that you’re more than familiar with. Starbucks recently appointed Adam Brotman, former senior vice president of Starbucks Digital Ventures, was appointed to an entirely new executive role, chief digital officer. The CDO role assumes all of Starbuck’s digital projects, which includes web, mobile, social media, digital marketing, Starbucks Card and loyalty, e-commerce, Wi-Fi, Starbucks Digital Network, and emerging in-store technologies. Sephora is another forward thinking company that is uniting disparate channel strategies and various customer journeys in the name of holistic experiences. Sephora recently underwent a makeover to define the ideal customer experience and how it would play out in digital and real world channels, including in store engagement, while complementing and optimizing one another. Perhaps a Chief Digital Officer is just the beginning. What we’re really talking about is someone who can bridge marketing, sales, service, and technology to create a frictionless path between customers and the business…at every step of the journey. Perhaps it’s time to think about escalating the role to someone who can own the entire customer lifecycle and bring the people within the organization together to do it. To break down walls, someone must be able to show how and why everyone can and should work together and also what’s in it for them. It would take someone who isn’t tied to any one function but instead someone who has everybody’s best interest inside and outside the organization to redefine the experience and how it’s formed and sustained. As I write this, I imagine someone taking over the role of customer journey management for digital, social, mobile and IRL. The digital lifestyle is just a way of life now and businesses that don’t think beyond social or traditional will miss the greater opportunity to lead desirable customer journeys, experiences and outcomes. Take one more look at the Dynamic Customer Journey. As you plan for 2013 social, mobile, digital, and other channel strategies, consider how each can converge into a reciprocal and congruous ecosystem. The future of customer experiences lies in experience design and more importantly, customer journey mapping…across the screens and IRL. Welcome to a new world of customer journey management (CJM) and the ability to bring people together around a common vision for improving customer experiences, sentiment and relationships. The story continues… Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube Photo Credit: Shutterstock This post is based on a piece I wrote for AT&T’s Networking Exchange
Without Analytics, Big Data is Just Noise 24 April, 2013, 2:47 pm
Guest post by Eric Schwartzman, founder and CEO of Comply Socially, which helps employers manage the risk and capitalize on the opportunities of social media in the workplace. Follow him on Twitter @EricSchwartzman The online Boston Marathon bombing witch-hunt last week dragged social media down to a new low. Social media has become “the cocktail party from hell,” writes Maureen Down in her column “…with the flood of information jeopardizing meaning.” When everyone’s talking about a crisis in real time and you have unlimited access to what they’re saying, the wisdom of the crowd can be very hard to find. With so much information swirling around, looking for meaning manually is impossible because there are never enough people to consider everything out there at once. “What happened to Sunil Tripathi’s family scares the hell out of me, and I feel that any sort of crowd crimesolving platform needs to take that into account–the risk of lives being disturbed by overenthusiastic sleuths is just as important, in my opinion, as the potential for solving unsolved crimes,” says Neal Ungerleider, who wrote about how Reddit became a hub for a crowdsourced Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Like most of the other social networks overflowing with new posts every millisecond, Reddit lacks even the most basic analytics. According to another story by the AFP, Reddit uses Google Analytics to monitor their own traffic. We need to take a moment to acknowledge the critical importance of being able to find trends and credible sources in big data. When Google Reader goes away on July 1, 2013, not a single alternative offers in-feed search or analytics, and nobody seems too concerned about. In my book, that’s totally crazy. Without the ability to drill down and analyze your feeds, all that news is just a bunch of noise. At what point does it become irresponsible to provide the world with access to a communications tools that can literally reap havoc in the lives of individuals and companies without providing any visibility at all into the patterns and shapes of the content being shared? Is a social network without integrated analytics like a vehicle without a safety belt? Freddy Mini, CEO at Netvibes — a Google Reader alternative that’s more focused on providing insights than powering engagement — says, “Context is the comparison of metrics.” Meaning comes from the intersection of multiple sources. In the old days, journalists triangulated truth against a handful of sources. Today, we need to triangulate truth against millions of sources. An avalanche of information is not necessarily a good thing. More often than not, it’s a path to obfuscation rather than enlightenment, where speculation inflicts irrevocable harm and sensationalism travels farther and faster than tolerance. If you’re a business, the takeaway is that sharing without analytics is essentially useless, that engagement is not as valuable as insight, and that seeing things in context is more important than being popular. Image Credit: Shutterstock
TNN (Twitter News Network) Trumps CNN….Again 21 April, 2013, 3:50 pm
Like many, I found myself gripped by the real-time reports that poured in on the evening of April 19th…Boston Police were in close pursuit of the second Boston Marathon bombing suspect. Up to this point, I mostly followed the story via @CNN and CNNLive. I noticed however, that some of the most interesting updates were shared via Twitter directly by the Boston Police (@Boston_Police). As police surrounded the second suspect while he hid in a recreational boat in the backyard of a home in Watertown, I shifted from online to TV. Yes…my phone was nearby and it was in fact my second screen. I tuned in to Anderson Cooper on CNN to witness the apprehension as it happened. Cooper cut to a report from a CNN field correspondent, who shared unconfirmed cheers among local residents. In that moment, I saw a Tweet come through on my phone from @Boston_Police, “Suspect in custody. Officers sweeping the area. Stand by for further info.” Just then, something truly significant had occurred. Once again, we were reminded that…News no longer breaks, it Tweets. Anderson Cooper then asked the reporter to hold on as he looked down at his phone and on live television, shared with the world, that Boston Police had confirmed that the suspect was in fact in custody…via a Tweet on Twitter. TNN, the Twitter News Network is a powerful thing. In real-time, people create an incredible information network that expedites awareness. While it also raises the need for real-time fact checking, the information divide that Twitter introduces between citizen media and mainstream journalism is notable and game-changing. Here, the Boston Police broke the story via Twitter and essentially informed and scooped traditional media in the process. We do in fact live in interesting, and tweetable, times… Connect with me: Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | Google+ |Youtube
It’s The End of Business as Usual in Japan 20 April, 2013, 8:34 am
I’m so excited. As I type, I’m moments away from heading to SFO to visit Tokyo for the first time in years… Shortly before the official launch of What’s the Future of Business, I spent several weeks writing new chapters for The End of Business as Usual. Why? I’m proud to announce that it’s finally the End of Business as Usual in in Japan! The new book features new content specific to the Japanese economy. But that’s not all. It also has received a new title and cover design. Introducing… エフェクト = EFFECT Mr. Natsuno, a board member of Nico Video and professor at Keio University contributed a special message at the beginning of the book. Thank you Mr. Natsuno… There will be a special presentation and press conference to celebrate the occasion. The event will take place in Tokyo at the Place Hotel, 1-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku. The book is also available now on Amazon. I would very much like to thank Hide Hashizume and Eiko Hashizume for all of their work and support over the last year on the book and this event. Also, thank you to Mr. Kanayama for his work in translating the book. It’s more than exciting to finally have completed エフェクト and to have the privilege of bringing it to Japan personally. ありがとう Arigatō #EFFECT

Econsultancy

IMW 2013 Econsultancy Hangout: Measurement, analytics, and attribution: part two 17 May, 2013, 8:16 am
The discussion was prompted by Stefan Tornquist when he asked, “What are the internal, organizational challenges to Integrated Marketing?” Here’s a wrap-up of our collective response: Too many large organizations are using incentive structures that foster (dis)integrated digital marketing by issuing bonuses to individual teams based on the performance of the marketing channels they are responsible for. Because each team (search, social, email, display, etc.) must prove their own channel’s performance for compensation, they’re thrust into internal competition and left to seek metrics and attribution models favorable to their particular channel. This creates both operational and data silos. As Tom Cunniff put it, "each data plume creates more smoke to hide behind”. He cautioned marketers to “beware of glowing reports, because everyone has incentive to make it look great” and joked that you’ll find “everything’s working, but sales are down!”. While the joke brought laughs, it highlighted a serious organizational flaw that introduces a channel bias that often turns attribution into politics. It’s no wonder that Econsultancy found that 61% of organizations spending more than $5m on marketing a year said “internal cross-team politics” was holding them back in a recent survey. So what needs to be changed? In order for organizations to execute effective integrated marketing, their marketing teams need to be integrated internally. Jim Sterne was quick to point out that there has to be a culture change and adjustment of incentive structures to ensure teams are functioning in synergy towards a common goal, rather than to satisfy individual objectives. Sterne suggests incentive structures be based on group profitability. If all teams are given bonuses according to aggregate success, each is incentivized to operate and spend in a way that drives overall marketing performance. With a singular goal, teams would be more willing to cut back spending and shift to areas where traffic is more profitable and better integrate on multichannel campaigns. According to Cunniff, this change would “break down silos and demand programs that are harder to attribute individually,” leading to better integrated marketing and creating the need for integrated attribution. The best marketing is so well integrated that you can’t tear it apart to see which thing worked the best, so you have to attribute channel performance by how well it syncs with your entire marketing mix to drive sales. Without the pressure to use reports provided by vendors with an equally-vested interest to prove their singular channel’s performance, an integrated marketer incentivized by group profitability can (and should) assess their channel’s performance using independent attribution tools and unbiased models. Organizations focused on successful integrated marketing don’t want their marketers asking “how does my channel drive sales?” They want them asking “how does my channel interact with others to drive sales?” Will a change in incentive structure breed a more integrated marketer? We think so. See the full discussion on Econsultancy’s Youtube page.
Announcing The Digitals awards shortlist 9 May, 2013, 3:34 am
Automotive AutoTrader: New car drop. Bandwidth Group for Citroën: The New C1 Connexion. Candyspace for Citroën UK: Citroën Seekers. HookLogic for AutoTrader.co.uk: Launch of high-performing advertising opportunities for car dealers. Line Up for Volvo: V40 Launch Event Toolkit. Manning Gottlieb OMD for Nissan JUKE: Nissan JUKE and The Dark Knight Rises. McLaren Automotive: Launch of a global luxury car brand. SapientNitrofor Chrysler: Fiat 500 Abarth Reveal. B2B 1000heads for MarketReach: Real:The Physical Network. Adido for Glenigan: Doing digital better for Glenigan Construction Insight. Berwin Leighton Paisner: Do Amazing Things - winning the war for talent. Creator for MSD: Thought leadership in medicine. Financial Times: FT Smart Match for IMD Leadership. Greenlight for RS Components: Transforming B2B SEO revenue project. OgilvyOne for Kern & Sohn Precision Scales: The Gnome Experiment. VCCP Media for Sage: Brand building through content and search campaign. Ve Interactive for Liberty London: Cart recovery, remarketing & optimisation campaign. Charity & not for profit 3 Sided Cube for American Red Cross: Hurricane App. Code Computerlove for Oxfam GB: Getting people to do more to fight poverty. Firefly Communications for Give as you live: Give as you live. M4C, MEC & Channel Flip for Department of Health: The Awkward Conversations Project. 38 Degrees: Save our NHS. Public Zone for Prostate Cancer UK: Football League campaign . Responsys for charity: water: September 2012 Campaign. The Good Agency for WaterAid: The Big Dig. Wunderman London for Sabin Vaccine Institute: END7 - How to shock a celebrity. Consumer products and services 3 Monkeys Communications & LBi for Microsoft: Brandon Generator. Cake for Sony: The Sony NEX-5R real-time gallery. Carat for Kellogg Krave: Krave Week. EVRYTHNG for Diageo: Father's Day campaign. Fifty6 for Virgin Media: 100 Day Game Project. Line Up for Coca-Cola: The Coca-Cola Beat Generator. McCann New York for IKEA: The 2013 IKEA Catalog App. Mischief PR for Kellogg's: Special K: The Tweet Shop. Mondelez International for Cadbury: Let's Play Our Way To London 2012. netCORE Solutions for Hindustan Unilever: Active Wheel rural mobile marketing campaign. Financial services City Index: The Trading Academy. Havas Media for AXA PPP Healthcare: Little Big Things. HSBC Expat: Expat Hints and Tips. Lombard: Web transformation project. Ogilvy & Mindshare for American Express: Hidden Talent. RKCR Y&R and MECLloyds for TSB: London 2012 Torchview. Media & entertainment AOL's goviral for Volvo Trucks: The Ballerina Stunt. Essence for Google+: Christmas Hangout. Havas Media for Penguin: Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals - Cook it, Snap it, Share it. Immediate Media for BBC Worldwide: Top Gear magazine interactive edition. M2M for Momentum Pictures: Sinister - the theatrical release. Numiko for Channel 4 & Windfall Films: Foxes Live: Wild in the City. Reuters: The Wider Image. Th_nk for Channel 4 & Kudos: The Utopia Inquiry. Think Jam for Warner Bros. Pictures: The Dark Knight Rises - online campaign. Tiger Aspect & The Project Factory for Channel 4 Television: The Great British Property Scandal. Retail Argos: The Multichannel Retailer. Bell Pottinger Wired for Fortnum & Mason: Digitising a 300-year-old brand. eBay Advertising for House of Fraser: Summer 2012 sale campaign. Fast Web Media for Bravissimo & Pepperberry: FWM weatherFIT. Greenlight for RS Components: Transforming online retail performance project. iProspect Manchester for Go Outdoors: Driving multichannel growth through smart PPC campaign. Deloitte Digital for John Lewis: Project EPIC. MediaCom iLab for Co-operative Energy: Maximising market share campaign. Orange & Last Second Tickets: Fun Finder. UM for Royal Mail: Gold medal winner stamps campaign. Travel & leisure Bozboz for Fastjet: Airline launch campaign. Brandwave Marketing for Clipper Round The World: "Achieve Something Remarkable". Detica for Transport for London: Get Ahead Of The Games. Expedia for Drawbridge: Desktop-to-mobile retargeting campaign. Gatwick Express: Express Tracks. Rough Guides: RoughGuides.com. VisitScotland: Operation "Shetland Ponies in Cardigans". Ad campaign Aol UK for The Huffington Post UK: Conversations Start Here. eBay Advertising for House of Fraser: Summer 2012 sale campaign. RAPP for Virgin Media: Postcode Checker online banner campaign. Time Out London for Samsung GALAXY Camera: "Share your Now" Time Out London vs Time Out New York. Undertone & Essence Digital: Driving awareness and engagement for eBay campaign. Customer & user experience ASDA: The ASDA App. Barclays: PingIt. ITV News: Website and livestream project. Line Up for Coca-Cola: The Coca-Cola Beat Generator. OgilvyAction London for Triumph: Triumph Essence launch at Selfridges. PrettyGreen for Cadbury: Cadbury House RFID. Qualcomm: James May's Science Stories. Email marketing CACI for Vodafone: Netherlands lead management programme. optivo GmbH for RWE: Conversion campaign. planning-inc for Argos: Abandoned basket project. Rakuten LinkShare & SaleCycle for Monsoon: Basket abandonment email campaign RedEye for LV=: Marketing automation customer conversion programme RedEye for Craghoppers: Customer conversion programme with dynamic content RS Components: Making email an essential part of our marketing mix Sony Playstation: PlayStation Vita + hardware retail offer. Mobile marketing Cherry London for O2: Priority Moments. Cybercom for L'Oreal: INOA Colour Capture App. LIDA for O2: Money Account Card. McCann New York for IKEA: The 2013 IKEA Catalog App. MEC for Halifax: Home Finder App: Beyond advertising. MEDIACOM for BSKYB: Sky Broadband Wi-Fi finder. MediaCom iLab for Co-operative Insurance: Driving education and awareness through mobile. Mindshare UK for LG: Ticket Hunter. Multichannel marketing 1000heads for CBS: Look for Longer. Barclaycard: PayTag. Creator & TUI UK for MyThomson Cruise: MyThomson Cruise. Fast Web Media for Carling: Bottle your summer with Carling Zest. Mindshare UK for Nestle: KIT KAT Chunky Champion 2013 . RAPP for Bacardi: Our Birthday Your Party. RS Components: Open-source Arduino starter kit launch. Performance marketing Affiliate Window for BT: Performance channel maximising project. Havas Media for East Coast: Real time pricing project. Infectious Media for Waitrose: Christmas RTB campaign. LBi for Rakuten's Play.com: Play.com response display. MEC for T-Mobile: Optimising the T-Mobile affiliate programme. Tradedoubler for Tesco: The Tesco affiliate programme. Tradedoubler for The Body Shop: Omnichannel affiliate programme. Rich media & video ASOS: #BestNightEver - Christmas 2012 campaign. Carat for SCA Bodyform: Bodyform Responds: The Truth. City Index: The Trading Academy. ITV News: Website and livestream project. myThings for Shop Direct Group: Love Label for Very.co.uk's personalised video ad campaign. Wunderman London for Sabin Vaccine Institute: END7 - How to shock a celebrity. Search marketing Fast Web Media for Bravissimo & Pepperberry: FWM weatherFIT. Greenlight for RS Components: Improving SEO campaign. Greenlight for Legal & General: Moving beyond bid management . Havas Media for National Express: Optimising SEO project. iCrossing UK for Boden: Delivering revenue through non-brand search. iProspect Manchester for Go Outdoors: Driving multichannel growth through smart PPC. Net Media Planet for Cotswold Outdoor: Improving performance - no matter what the weather. STEAK for John Lewis Insurance: 2012 paid search test plan. Stickyeyes for Dreams.co.uk: Organic Search Domination Social media ASOS: ASOSInteractive Twitter. Blonde for AG Barr: How IRN-BRU made a million. Carat for SCA Bodyform: Bodyform Responds: The Truth. M2M for Paddy Power: Sky Tweets, Ryder Cup 2012. M4C, MEC & Channel Flip for Department of Health: The Awkward Conversations Project. OgilvyOne for Kern & Sohn Precision Scales: The Gnome Experiment . OgilvyOne for British Airways: Social Symphony. R/GA London for Getty Images: The Feed by Getty Images. RS Components: Open-source Arduino new starter kit launch. Samsung: We are David Bailey. Web analytics and optimisation 4Ps Marketing for Kaplan Law School: The Prospect Interaction Insight Project | Post Graduate Visitor Performance. DC Storm for Play.com: Embrace "Because?" using attribution to drive incremental sales from marketing. Greenlight for RS Components: Reinventing web analytics project. Greenlight for Legal & General: Optimising and customer segmentation analytics project. IgnitionOne for Oreca Store: Optimising campaign performance project. Infinity Tracking for TUI Mainstream: Identifying best ongoing strategy project. Qubit Group for Arcadia Group: User experience improvements across the UK's leading high street fashion brands. Innovative new technology Fast Web Media for Bravissimo & Pepperberry: FWM weatherFIT. ITV: Ad Sync. McCann New York for IKEA: The 2013 IKEA Catalog App. myThings for Shop Direct Group: Love Label for Very.co.uk's personalised video ad campaign. Specific Media: Householding. Stickyeyes: Roadmap: Smarter SEO. VoxPopMe: VoxPopMe. Rising star Charlotte McMurray Giovana Ruaro-Lane James Barber Matt Sutherland Scott Taylor Tom Wright
Loyal customers are key to online growth 30 April, 2013, 7:51 am
When it comes to gaining repeat customers online, independent research commissioned by Rakuten revealed that 39% of shoppers surveyed see loyalty programs as the biggest incentive to making a second purchase online. Retailers and marketers should look to put loyalty schemes in place to garner repeat purchases, encouraging yours to become the "go to" brand. The modern loyalty program Loyalty programs are nothing new. In 1979, Texas International Airlines launched the first frequent flyer program, and in 1981 American Airlines followed suit with the AAdvantage frequent flyer program, seen by many as the first full-scale loyalty marketing program of the modern era. Department stores have long offered store cards, while other retailers offer products instead of points, like the My Starbucks Rewards, which offers you a free coffee after you've bought a certain number of drinks or when it’s your birthday. Today retailers are realizing that rewards and loyalty programs don't just mean money off. Partnerships with complimentary brands, such as spas, salons, and restaurants, are becoming increasingly popular. Consumers are open to receiving incentives and rewards based on their interests and shopping behaviors. This might mean early access to sales or new lines or being able to buy treats -- such as tickets to the movies or a Broadway play -- with loyalty points. In 2006, Coca-Cola began its own customer loyalty marketing program, My Coke Rewards. The program allows customers to enter codes found on specially marked packages of Coca-Cola products on the company's website, where customers can redeem points for prizes, sweepstakes entries, gifts, and more. Coca-Cola also works with a number of partners including Nike, FTD, Live Nation, Olive Garden, and Disney Parks. The program has been such a success that it’s been extended every year since its start. It's currently scheduled to run through December 31, 2013. Personalizing your rewards In ecommerce, online loyalty programs are now highly sophisticated. Cookies, other tracking technologies, and services such as affiliate networks mean that retailers, brands, and marketers have a vast wealth of data on when, where, how and why their customers shop online. They also have data on what shoppers have bought, how much they spend, and what else interests them based on their purchase history and web-browsing behavior. This allows brands to offer incentives targeted at an individual customer. This is great news for brands trying to reach younger generations; Rakuten’s research recently found that younger online shoppers prefer the personal touch, with 24 percent stating that personalized offers were most likely to encourage another sale. It's also worth noting that consumers don’t differentiate between channels. As PriceWaterhouseCoopers explains in "Understanding how US online shoppers are reshaping the retail experience," retailers need to understand that even digital channels don’t change the face of a business. It’s all the same for the customer. Retailers need to focus on providing services for customers across all channels, integrating all channels to provide the best customer experience. Treats for everyone Loyalty programs present benefits both for retailers and consumers. The data that retailers gather on consumers who opt into a loyalty program is invaluable, allowing them to better target offers and products to a consumer based on purchasing history. This personalized targeting continues the virtuous circle of buying, rewards, and therefore more buying. Make sure to offer your customers something that will encourage them to pick your brand over another brand, whether it’s points, discounts, or other treats. A modern, digital loyalty program can either be specific to one retailer or, even better, encompass multiple brands and retailers. Ideally, online shoppers should be able to shop, earn, save, and spend with every purchase made, whether they shop online or in-store with the participating brands. This drives customer loyalty and return rates to multiple brands, rather than restricting customers to one loyalty system per retailer.
Performance marketing in the UK: three 2013 observations 30 April, 2013, 1:08 am
With the inaugural European Affiliate Management Days coming to London in just two weeks, I have been actively discussing the state of affiliate marketing in the UK (and on the continent) with the conference's speakers lately. Most of the things mentioned can be boiled down to three key thoughts which I would like to bring you today. No longer an afterthought Long gone are the days when affiliate marketing programs were treated as a secondary or non-essential part of an online advertiser's marketing mix. Kevin Edwards (Strategy Director, Affiliate Window) points out that "the performance industry in the UK is now a fully established, mainstream marketing channel used by the vast majority of large retailers to grow their sales". Naturally, "with maturity and growth comes additional scrutiny and responsibility" that both affiliate networks and individual affiliate programme managers should be paying more attention to. No longer last-click only Dan Cohen (Regional Director, UK & Ireland, Tradedoubler) points out that: Performance marketing is no longer just about the last click. Tradedoubler Insight Unit's latest survey shows that connected consumers are making performance marketing sites and apps their first port of call when researching what to buy (92%). Cohen believes this to be a tremendous "wake-up call for marketers and high street retailers, who need to understand that consumers are looking for value and that if they are not present on performance marketing sites at this important first impression stage – they are not even going to be in the consideration set." More sophisticated than ever Besides the above-mentioned reason for looking beyond the last-click attribution, Nick Fletcher (Client Strategy Director, Tradedoubler) draws attention to the fact that: Showrooming is becoming mainstream consumer behaviour, with 60% of tech-savvy consumers using their smartphones whilst out shopping." Therefore retailers must either adjust their marketing strategies to encompass (and profit from) this behavior, as well as consumers' use of smartphones, or lose their share of the pie. Kevin Edwards of Affiliate Window also adds that: The burgeoning growth of mobile handsets and tablets is also requiring us to think in a more multi-channel way about how performance marketing can apply across these devices. What is clear is the CPA model's flexibility and low barrier to entry will be critical in helping to monetize new and innovative channels and technology. What trends (or opportunities) are you seeing in UK's affiliate marketing? You can register here for Affiliate Management Days London 2013. (Econsultancy's Andrew Warren-Payne is one of the speakers).
Is it time to review the small print in your affiliate network relationships? 26 April, 2013, 3:12 am
The CEO of a popular European network explained that their strategy is to negotiate three to five year deals with their most important clients, acknowledging they will take lower margins over the contract lifetime. (a4u) In a channel which is growing quickly, underpinned by major technological advancement this feels short-sighted. In the area of service provider choice the performance marketing channel has got into somewhat of a rut. So, when looking to extend or renew third party partnerships, how do you ensure that you are future proofed for the long term? How do the world’s leading brands choose the best performance marketing solutions to deliver growth? Here are some factors to consider before you commit to any service provider. There doesn’t seem to be a day go by in performance marketing without the release of some new technical innovation, or a different way of doing business coming to light. No other sector offers such a myriad of specialisms all clustered beneath one umbrella - from search… to content… to mobile…. New and existing publishers are all developing creative and interesting new ways to drive growth and revenue for the brands they work with. Technology is increasingly being engineered using the latest database infrastructure to facilitate customer scalability and visibility. Turning big data into meaningful data in a real time environment is the CMO’s dream. Understanding the full landscape and the options available and what they really mean for your business is essential in making such an important decision. On the flip side there is value in long-term partnerships, where your partner demonstrates the flexibility and adaptability that your business may need as the market place evolves. Within a technology-driven ecosystem, price will (and should) also play its part in your decision-making process. However is this most import factor for you? What about: The features and benefits of your service providers technology? Their ability to innovate? Their approach to servicing your requirements, (and those of your customers)? Their expertise in the performance marketing sector? I’m sure we all have stories of situations where cutting costs in the short-term has ended up costing more in the mid to long-term. If generic reporting and tracking can deliver you the incremental growth you seek …as if it can…why hasn’t it so far? As brands continue to capture increasingly wider data sets, it seems prudent that your serviceprovider can offer a fully scalable infrastructure, as well as offering different ways to consume and present that data. Whether that’s managed in house, agency partner or network. One size definitely does not fit all! Of course, investment in strategy and affiliate acquisition needs to be addressed and,until relatively recently, it was one of the areas where traditional networks led the market. However this is now an area where online influence solutions such as Linkdex can help. There is also a much broader industry knowledge base for the affiliate channel compared to just two years ago and increasingly, brands have been capturing the knowledge to manage partners in-house or through their media agencies (who can provide wider digital channel insight outside of the affiliate channel). Just look at how successful Amazon and ebay are at running their own direct partner channels. Continuity and costs do have a value, but they’re not the only factors to consider. At a minimum we’d suggest asking at least the following technical questions, particularly if you are looking to RFP: How will you help me to scale? How will you centralise all of my performance marketing activity? Can you customise the experience for partners and internal stakeholders? Do you have an extensible rest api? If we want to go global how would you manage this? Why did your last client leave and where did they go? Can you track, report and analyse data in real time and how does this change with volume What will your solution look like in 3-5 years time?
Are you getting personal with your customers? 24 April, 2013, 8:43 am
In fact, according to Econsultancy's recent Quarterly Digital Intelligence Briefing, 52% of digital marketers agree that personalising content is crucial for online strategy. Q: To what extent do you agree with the following statements? Personally, I think this is 48% less than it should be, especially as studies show that personalised marketing campaigns are consistently more successful than static and BAU advertising content. Why bother to personalise content? In the past, you might have seen online adverts that were so irrelevant that you wouldn’t have given them a second glance, labelling them all as irritating and intrusive. However, if content is displayed in an unusual and interactive way, or is directly relevant, consumers are far more likely to engage with it, especially if they can personalise it themselves. Marketers are beginning to realise the importance of unique content, so more companies are creating innovative ways of allowing customers to personalise and interact with site content. Sky has created a widget that allows their customers to choose a personalised ‘Sky bundle’ with automatically updating prices. Once the customer has made their choices, they are sent straight to the shopping basket on Sky’s ecommerce site, which is pre-populated with their personalised package. The M&S virtual makeover counter is another great example of content personalisation. This platform lets customers upload their photo and virtually test make-up products, making it easier for them to find the right shade of foundation, lipstick, eye shadow etc. for their skin tone. Spontaneous personalisation Content delivery, particularly timing, is also crucial and the effect of real-time personalisation was seen recently when the power went out during the American Super Bowl. Making the most of the situation, several brands released adverts that were inspired by the blackout. Oreo tweeted a simple picture of their famous biscuit with the caption ‘you can still dunk in the dark’ but it received almost 16,000 retweets. Perhaps this advert was planned, perhaps it wasn’t. Either way, the timing was key to its success and companies should be aware that a clever response to a sudden event can lead to increased product awareness and customer interaction. What do others in the industry think? Martin Connolly, Co-Founder and Commercial Director at adGENIE: If a customer leaves a site without purchasing, enticing them back to the site will only be successful if they are shown relevant content. Adverts need to be personalised so that they engage with the customer and incite a response. Harry Hurst, Business Development at Qubit: Delivering the right content at the right time is key to driving up overall visitor conversion rates. Having all the details about the product clearly outlined, like prices and sizes available, can make this targeted message a much more compelling call to action. Rakhee Jodgia, Director of Publisher Business Development at Rakuten LinkShare: Affiliate marketers often think they need to work non-stop to receive commission, but the key is to ensure that the products they are promoting relate to their site content (whether a food blog or travel review site), and to their audience. Chris Sheen, Head of Marketing, SaleCycle: When it comes to email, personalisation is everything and it's vital to ensure the emails your customer receives feel as personal as one from a friend or colleague. This ensures a great customer experience – and more importantly, extra clicks and additional sales! Sanjit Atwal, Co-founder and CEO, Squawka: Consumer engagement is at its highest when tied to particular events or major (and timely) pieces of content through second screen devices. We have seen engagement levels up to ten times the industry average, proving that real-time personalised advertising works. The end of generic content It’s important that each online channel provides a unique user experience, but brands must be represented consistently across all channels, with content that is directly relevant to the audience within that channel. Using product data to personalise content for online consumers ensures that they sit up and take notice of it, helping to generate product and brand engagement. By making the most of captured data and ‘big data’, it’s never been easier to target product content towards your existing customers using marketing technologies.
Future of Digital Marketing Malaysia 2013 21 April, 2013, 11:42 pm
The next will be the now in about 18 months. Digital marketing moves faster than any other market on earth. That makes peering into the future a kind of mission-critical activity. But by ‘the future’ we don’t mean 5 years away – that would be ridiculous. We mean the next 12-18 months. A timescale you can do something about; a timescale you can build into your plans. The Future of Digital Marketing (FODM), now in Asia, is the only place where senior digital marketers (client-side and agency) can do four things: Visionary keynotes and presentations on what's coming up on the digital horizon Get a quick, concentrated dose of insight into what’s around the corner Compare notes with the most ambitious, innovative and interesting marketers in the game. Get a potent shot of adrenalin to take back to the office. ... all topped off by relaxed networking at our evening drinks reception. FODM takes senior digital marketing strategists on a fast-forward tour of the tactics and technologies that will change the way they engage with their audiences. The Future, served up in three big chunks: Setting the Scene: We're currently in teh age of the digitally-savvy consumer, and here's what they have come to expect... Keeping Up with the Accelerated Change: These days we're really trying to keep up with teh Jetsons after having said our goodbyes to the Flintstones. Its all moving so fast... how do we make it work across our business? Figuring Out How to Make It Work: As we follow the rainbow all the way, how do we make this digital stuff work a whole lot better, and we can ensure there's a gleaming pot of gold at the end to keep our customers content? Give us just one day - learn about the changing landscape, the use of digital marketing & media, the future of digital marketing from those leading the way. Get inside the minds of expert practitioners and leading thinkers to find out what needs to be in your development plans if you're to be amongst the best. The Bottom Line: Miss FODM and you'll wonder what everyone's chatting about as they zoom past you.
Making digital and traditional marketing work together 17 April, 2013, 8:01 am
In fact, the most effective marketing strategies are those that incorporate both traditional and digital elements into a cohesive package that elicits a desired behavior from the consumer. Here are some tips to ensure that your marketing strategy does not overlook one channel at the expense of the other. Reframe the Debate There shouldn’t be a debate between ‘traditional marketing’ and ‘digital marketing’ -- this is a false choice. Instead, the conversation needs to shift to focus on how the two channels work together, as well as how marketers can leverage the best both channels have to offer. A good way to think about traditional marketing is that it presents a highly effective way to reach a broad consumer audience. On the other hand, digital marketing can be used to create a relationship with the consumer that has depth and relevancy. Marketers should use the wider reach traditional marketing channels present to generate broad awareness and drive consumers to the digital experience. Active vs. Passive Engagement A good example of the contrasts between traditional and digital can be found when comparing the passive nature of a traditional marketing message to the activity generated by an effective digital marketing campaign. A 30-second television ad always lasts for 30 seconds, and the consumer is most likely passively participating. On the other hand, an effective digital campaign will lead to consumers actively participating in a digital experience for anywhere from two to five minutes. Marketers can take advantage of the passive experience of viewing a television commercial or flipping past a magazine ad by delivering a specific call to action to the consumer that leads to more active engagement on the brand’s digital channels. For example, each year companies spend millions of dollars for a 30-second Super Bowl ad to reach a wide and captive audience. By adding a digital call to action--like an invitation to like the brand’s Facebook page to be entered in a giveaway--brands can extend the value of that advertisement and get a broader return on their (very significant) investment. Once that consumer engages online, marketers can provide additional details about the product in the ad, invite them to opt-in for future communication, or offer a digital coupon or promotion in order to encourage the type of active engagement that digital channels have to offer. Traditional and digital marketing are also coming together in exciting ways in the live events space. While brands have always paid for sponsorship of billboards and signage at a rock concert or sporting event, the emergence of mobile enables marketers to engage consumers while they are experiencing the event. For example, you can take your traditional buys to the next level by including a call to action for a mobile campaign that makes the crowd a part of the event. You can achieve this by asking audience members to submit user-generated content, opt-in for mobile or email communications in the future, or driving them to buy something online. Boost Relevance by Delivering a Personalized Experience Traditional marketing is also a very effective way to target customer audiences based on demographic information like location or age, as well as psychographics like interests and lifestyle. However, marketers can take this one step further with digital -- as it is the only mass marketing vehicle that enables you to instantly customize the experience and communication in real time. When a consumer is driven to a landing page for a digital promotion, marketers can use registration information to dynamically make each piece of the experience even more relevant for the consumer on the fly. For example, if you understand that the most important attribute a consumer with children takes into account when buying a car is safety, you have the ability to deliver a personalized message that is more likely to resonate than with a single person who is mostly concerned about price. Marketers can deliver even more personalized messages on social channels like Facebook, as you have the ability to target consumers based on the information they share. For example, you can supplement your traditional media buys in media properties where consumers are likely to have children by targeting parents on Facebook that have already shared that information. Digital and Traditional Working Together While digital has emerged in recent years as a cost-effective way to drive marketing results, it is important for brands to not overlook traditional methods that can help amplify and take their campaigns to the next level. Depending on your specific goals, it is important not look at traditional vs. digital as an “either/or” proposition, and instead look at it as an opportunity to engage consumers holistically.
Making the most of mobile over the holiday period 17 April, 2013, 5:59 am
When looking at activity through mobile devices, it is important to separate handset and tablet data. The intention of the user could differ greatly depending on the device they are using. For example, tablets could be used at home as a desktop replacement, while handsets could be used while out and about. The visitor’s intention doesn’t necessarily have to be to make a purchase, they could simply be looking for directions to the nearest store. Tablet Over the Easter weekend we saw tablet traffic average at 11.1% share of the entire network's traffic while 11.3% of sales were generated through these devices. Saturday was the peak for tablet traffic with a 12% share whereas sales peaked on Easter Monday at 11.7% (despite receiving the lowest share of traffic over the four day period – 9.7%) If we look at Saturday and Sunday in isolation and compare this with the previous and following weekends, it is evident that mobile was more prevalent over the Easter weekend. Traffic on the Saturday and Sunday averaged at 12% while sales stood at 11.25%. Looking at the weekend prior to Easter this was 11.6% and 11.1% respectively, while for the weekend after Easter this was 11.95% (traffic) and 10.6% (sales). Handset Looking specifically at handset activity, we also saw noticeable peaks over the Easter weekend compared to the pre and post Easter periods. Handset traffic over the Easter break averaged at 14.7% of the total traffic through the network. This is significantly higher than the 12.5% of mobile handset traffic that we had seen across the network throughout March. The peak over the weekend was a day later than we saw for tablets, with traffic reaching an incredibly impressive 15.8% on Easter Sunday. As we saw with tablets, the share of traffic through handsets was at its minimum on Easter Monday. Unlike we saw with tablets though, this was also the day with the lowest share of sales. Sales through handsets averaged at 6.9% over the four day period, peaking at 7.1% on the Saturday. Again, if we compare sales through handsets on the Saturday and Sunday to the previous weekend, it is again evident how consumers turn to mobile devices more frequently. Traffic and sales stood at 15.7% and 7% respectively while the weekend before this stood at 14.8% (traffic) and 6.9% (sales) Having previously analysed our trends over the Christmas period, it is evident that mobile usage accelerates over the holiday season. Advertisers can take advantage of increased mobile activity over these periods through the performance channel. By running short term promotional offers they are able to get in front of an engaged audience. Multichannel retailers can also benefit from driving footfall to stores with a number of publishers offering offline opportunities. Additionally, research from Knotice indicates that 41% of all emails were opened on mobile devices throughout 2012. This is an extremely powerful tool for advertisers to take advantage of – especially during periods where consumers are spending more time with their mobile devices. With mobile commerce accelerating at a remarkable pace, savvy retailers are primed to make the most of the emerging opportunities.
Q&A: Matthew Wood on affiliate marketing challenges & opportunities 12 April, 2013, 3:11 am
If you were to emphasise one important area/issue that every affiliate manager should be paying more attention to, what would it be? And why? Consumer behavior continues to shift towards mobile and tablet. An article published today indicated a 23%+ decline in the shipment of Desktop PCs globally and some countries such as South Africa are bypassing the desktop mentality completely and heading straight to mobile. This we can’t ignore. Affiliate Managers need to do everything in their power to ensure their m-commerce site tracks through their affiliate network. This opens up their affiliate programme to smart, innovative publishers that by embracing mobile are ahead of the curve. It’s no longer a chicken and egg, standoff scenario. Serious volumes of sales are being driven via mobile and forward thinking merchants are already reaping the rewards - Continue to ignore that at your peril! What do you see as the main areas of opportunity for online (and especially affiliate) marketers in 2013-2014? Getting to grips with data is key. As affiliates we hold an enviable amount of data that’s ripe for being used to both increase user experience and relevancy – that’s a huge win-win-win as both the customer, affiliate and merchant holistically see benefits. There have been incredible examples of affiliates using their data to drive incremental sales and providing profitable customers and insights to their merchants. Effective use of data also provides you with an incredible USP as a publisher when seeking closer collaboration. It’s not that hard either to get started. Simple strategies that I’d urge all affiliates to kick-off with include segmenting your customer database by persona and link that to the propensity to buy by vertical, track user behavior and re-target via email or MPU on your own inventory where appropriate. It isn't unusual to hear that since affiliates operate in the mix with other marketing channels that merchants use (paid search, retargeting, social, etc), with this multi-touchpoint ecommerce, the last-click attribution model is not longer an optimal one. What do you think/recommend? Attribution modeling, whilst great in theory remains incredibly hard to implement as it invalidates to some extent some key performance based business models i.e. cashback. Their power should not be underestimated. That said, in an agile commerce world affiliates should continue to innovate and consider how their proposition can be involved in as many parts of the customer journey as possible; not just build business models that rely on the last click. In addition as a note to affiliate managers publishers consider overall ROI when promoting a merchant i.e. giving them key exposure within their inventory and to continue to promote to such a level to so many eye-balls expect a set level of ROI – if diluted by attribution then an affiliate manager many need to consider how their programme is promoted in the future. I’d actually see just an increase in tenancy fees to compensate for attribution which kind of invalidates the reasoning for it in the first place. We often hear that voucher affiliates are seldomly adding value. What do you say in response to such statements? And if an affiliate website that's distributing vouchers and discounts can indeed add value, can you give us three ways how an affiliate manager can enhance this arrangement? Historically voucher code sites relied on organic SEO to drive significant share of traffic which creates to some a questionable, low value user journey. Whilst this remains to a much lesser extent, voucher sites now work with smart brands to deliver significant volumes of sales through their multiple touch-points / reach both online, through email marketing, re-targeting and driving foot flow to bricks and mortar stores via geo-aware apps. Between the top three voucher site which I currently deem to be vouchercodes.co.uk, vouchercloud and myvouchercodes.co.uk over 14 Million active online shoppers can be reached at the click of a button. These voucher publishers are multi-million pound, smart operations that have platforms to be able to collaborate with brands, share data and meet business objectives. For effective code deployment my three tips would be: Co-ordinate a multi-channel campaign. Significant reach can be provided that would cost double through traditional display advertising. Consider the eye-balls on your brand when conducting a campaign in return for an exclusive code that incudes, email, on-site MPU exposure and APP exposure to drive in-store sales. Use stretch and save offers to increase basket size, split test these. Provide product or range specific codes where higher margins exist or codes valid for new customers only. Finally, if you were to leave online advertisers/merchants and affiliate managers with one piece of advice, what would it be? Invest your time across a broad range of publisher types. Whilst voucher & cashback account for around 70% of the non financial market in the UK it’s imperative to give respect to bloggers, content sites, paid search, re-targeting and technology affiliates to broaden the reach and stability of your affiliate programme. You should collaborate closely with your key partners whilst picking one or two up-and-coming affiliates each month to contact and engage with in detail – these affiliates on the peripheral of your programmes performance may well become the next big player and reward your engagement with loyalty. Simply put - don’t always give your best voucher codes and deals to the same publishers, spread the reach to tap into new customer types and databases – not all affiliates and not all databases are the same! You can register here for AM Days London. The early bird discount offer ends today.

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