Meet your customer…of the future!
Here's a study from the Kaiser Family Foundation that's a good introduction to the customer (or general consumer, for that matter) from tomorrow...the kid of today. You know him, or her -- that's the prospect who'll be surveying your category, judging your product line or service offerings, and who you'll need to understand and engaged in dialogue with in order to sell and succeed.
What jumps out?
Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time 'media multitasking' (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
"Media-savvy" doesn't do it justice. They're immersed in media, and all those forms are working toward being joined at the byte in ways that will make them all interactive, interrelated, and instantaneous. Social media, mobile media, convergence communication...every interaction, whether you're buying shoes, shopping for groceries, or conducting a vendor call, will be done increasingly through digital channels. Why not? It's what they're already used to.
Digital telepresence, videoconferencing through your iPhone...they'll all lead to a business world where fluidity and rapidity of communication and response will be paramount. The faster you show your smarts, the better you'll fare. Be ready for a world where near-absolute transparency and incredible depth of communication with your customers is a must, because that's the world they're experiencing today.
The iPad DRM strategy, in a nutshell
Here's an incisive analysis of Apple's ultimate iPad strategy by Tom Foremski at his site Silicon Valley Watcher, which is always good for smart, informed information on the tech business.
iPad observations: has Steve Jobs already won the war?
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
I've got serious marketer envy happening here.
There are a lot of people out there doubting Steve Jobs right now, after the debut of the new iPad. They’re trolling everything from its name to its feature set. But the marketing game he and his team are playing on a level that's well above many critics' purview. And that's spoken as a guy who doesn't use Apple hardware, because I've shed too many tears over dead hard drives and idiosyncratic design features.
But they miss the point. Apple has already struck a powerful blow. Gen 1.0 will ship 4-6 million, easily. The big fail in criticisms to date is to be looking at it from the standpoint of a habituated PC user or fanboy geek...and that's not the target; those scores of millions of iPod Touch and iPhone users will snap them up because it's an extension of the UI they know and appreciate. Many of them don't have laptops, even...but when they get one, who'll they buy it from? Two guesses? Why even buy a laptop when they can get an iPad, whether 1.0 or 1.1 or 3.0?
So as for those who call it simply a juiced-up iPhone...well, it's very much supposed to echo the iPhone experience. Jobs and crew said as much during the presentation. In fact, they're counting on it, to leverage their existing loyalists.
They're the classic example of the "lighthouse" brand that deliberately polarizes in order to secure more fervent adherents. Their "enemy" is Everybody Else, and the hyperbole and self-confidence around the iPad launch, or any Apple launch, is part of making the Appleistas feel they're part of a movement that goes beyond hardware or software or even the UI.
Every line of trolling or criticism they're hearing right now is music to their ears, in fact, because it reinforces this strategy. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if somebody piped up with an objection to the much-disparaged "iPad" name in a meeting, and Jobs and his lieutenants laughed themselves silly with delight at the provocation and buzz it generates. Does anybody think any of those 75 million iPhone or iPod Touch users -- the people Apple is after as 1.0 first adopters here -- is going to care about the name?
Others are coming out with tablets. But…Lenovo? HP? Sorry, but I’ll lay odds they'll repeat the same mistake they always make -- delivering products that are laptop/PClike and striving to do too much at once, thinking like engineers and not designers, while using UIs which don't can't hold a candle to Springboard. This device isn't for a person who embraces the PC experience. Does anyone have faith that a Dell or an Asus can successfully deliver a user experience that compares with an Apple? Even if incorporating Android?
The Kindle? Dead. I'd dump mine ASAP for a device that can offer similar functionality and includes Web appliance features. The eBook market isn't saturated – despite what some day -- except among users who have considered or have bought e-ink-style ebooks. There are tens of millions of others who thought e-readers were indulgent devices at the price, would soon be supplanted, and who'll gladly jump on iPad-type devices because they make more sense because of their broader utility.
Besides, the iPad needs to be seen in the greater context of what Apple has been trying to do over the last decade: not deliver a cool gadget, but deliver a transformative tool for living. They know exactly what they’re doing – and who they’re doing it for.
The iPad is just another CONTENT spigot for Apple. No less, no more. Observers and trolls who get hung up on the hardware completely miss the point of what they've been doing over the last decade or so. Hardware is mutable -- becoming a familiar convenience you coexist with almost instinctually is the objective. Steve Jobs has been connecting content with lifestyle appliances in ways heretofore never seen, and so successfully that it's foolish to bet against him with this one.
Innovation is all about attitude.
Here's a great post at the blog of Coast Southwest, one of our clients. It's on the subject of innovation, and how those who see themselves as victims will never invent. That's simply, inarguably right -- successful innovation and growth is as much about attitude and the understanding that there's no such thing as "bad luck" holding you back. That's not just a belief, it's scientifically proven. Do we make our own luck? Yes, in ways we don't even know or understand until they're revealed to us.
When you’re marketing online, intimacy=relationships.
We’ve all been so prejudiced by certain early pioneers of the Internet: when you see the word intimacy mentioned in conjunction with the Web, many peoples’ minds go in a less than businesslike direction.
Flush the thought out of your head (online porn represents anti-intimacy, actually, if you think about it). What we’re mulling today is the intimacy that’s crucial to the selling process – the sense of personal contact and trustworthiness that helps convert any prospect. If I don’t trust the person across the conference table, I’m not gonna buy their widgetry, regardless of how their product fits my need. So I use a whole host of filters to discriminate who I like and trust from who I don’t – body language, eye contact, what they say and how they say it, depth of their answers, quickness and salience of their responses.
There are online analogues to all of these we need to keep in mind. Remember one key point: online is breaking down the old rules of advertising, marketing and communications. Banner ads are a struggling genre, in many regards, because they represent ‘advertising’ to users – impersonal and somehow untrustworthy by virtue of simply being, well, advertising. The Web is innately a user-directed medium, just like human conversation, with endless opportunity for give-and-take, redirection, open flow. Just like a talk with your friends. Or a live sales call.
That’s why providing “value,” touted as the secret to successful blogging, Tweeting, email, mobile, and so on, is critical – because we have the opportunity to tune out or turn off the dialogue whenever it bores us or fails to provide rewards.
Building value into the conversation is important, but it’s also a signifier that it’s a conversation to begin with, even if it’s one-sided. Think about it: using the Web is a very personal experience, in many ways, subject to each user’s whims and objectives. It’s why any marketer should give their audience opportunities for feedback, and forwarding and repurposing of their content – that’s part of dialogue, too. It engages them in who you are and what you’re bringing them. And so, it’s a step toward real trust and purchase.
How do we create a sense of intimacy and dialogue in our online efforts?
- Show your face: It sounds dumb, but it’s not -- put your picture on it. Whether a blog post or an employee profile, put an image out there so they know who they’re dealing with. And if you can put some personality behind it, via a personal profile, descriptive snippet or other expression, so much the better.
- Conversation, not broadcasting: This is one of the most important, and one of the hardest to pull off, frankly. Keep your dialogue with prospects and respondents friendly, conversational, informative but not doctrinaire or textbook-tedious. Imagine every posting, tweet or eblast you execute is like an email or text message to a close colleague…without any ****s and ****s, of course, if that’s how you talk to your co-workers. Let honest personality and character shine through whenever possible.
- Feedback: Take it. Encourage it. That Comments section can do you a lot of good. Even the haters and the trolls (who you can always block or delete) are evidence of a dialogue with the community you want to reach. Willingness to listen, even if it’s to stuff you’d rather not hear, is evidence of your willingness to engage…and that implies better response and customer service, doesn’t it?
- Repurposing: Give people content they can use – white papers, technical articles, even graphics and easily Retweetable/Diggable posts that will – if they’re of value – be passed along, will raise your profile, and generate goodwill.
- Constancy: It’s important in social media executions, especially, to stay out there. Yes, it’s more time and budget-intensive than not doing it, but social media programs are burgeoning almost exponentially, so it’s a matter of staying competitive at the very least.
- Planned Spontaneity: Don’t do anything – blog, eblast, BBS, Twitter or Facebook – without sitting down, either with your team or your agency, to figure out an underlying strategy. You can still be engaged in an open dialogue with your audience while still advancing an agenda, and you should have an agenda. If you’ve got a new product launch, if you’re expanding your sales area, if you’re trying to position yourselves as the go-to authorities in your category…no matter what the larger business purpose, it should be plugged into how you use social and digital media dialogues. Treat these channels just like an advertising or sales program – ‘flight’ your efforts, lay out a calendar, and take it step-by-step toward defined objectives.
Break out of the (in)box: 7 tips for a successful B2B e-blast
If you’re planning a B2B eblast or email program, here’s a list of basics to keep in mind when designing it. Your eblast's RODI (Return On Design Investment) will live or die based on how well you execute these.
An enticing subject line: Keep it short (40-50 characters) but deliver the prospect of surprise! Value! Savings! Intrigue! Information you can’t do without! It’s old hat, but it works. Just don’t overpromise the contents – otherwise they’ll disdain opening your next email, no matter how well-crafted it may be.
It’s from a human being: Make absolutely certain you have this come from a personalized, branded mailbox. Don’t let it look like a mailbot or mass drop – would you rather get an email from john.jones@smithco.com, or from jj2212@smithco.com?
Preview-perfect: It’s got to look good in the preview pane of their mail reader. If you’ve got an offer – make sure it’s visible. Make sure any action button or link is visible. Remember that often they won’t see more than the first few inches of your missive, so you’ve got to engage them immediately.
Hyperlink from the lead line: The first text line of your email should include an embedded link to any offer or value, or to the most important item in your mailing. It should be placed above or immediately below anyheader graphics, as well.
Help their eye along: They’ll spend less time scanning your email than it took you to just read this sentence, so make sure what you want to say jumps out. Break up the content into shot paragraphs, use embedded links, buttons, bolded or highlighted text for key ideas or links.
Graphically gorgeous: Use graphic headers, textures, buttons, et al. Used tastefully, they’ll help readability, but also help circumvent some spam blockers.
Test, test, and test again: Set up inboxes in different email apps as a standard protocol and test your outbound work of genius beforehand to debug.
The best tip of all? Let an accomplished digital agency (like Biersma) do the work, so you can reap the rewards.
Social media’s future is shining bright.
The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) has released a study -- capsuled here -- that maybe states the obvious by putting some survey numbers up that depict a brilliant future for social media, as marketers give it increasing importance and budgetary weight. The post and, perhaps, the slant of the study may be a bit self-serving, of course -- it is the Society of Digital Agencies, after all -- but it's swiftly becoming a simple home truth that social media is supplanting other forms of media with miraculous speed.
As always, we'll be looking for ways to make social media work harder on behalf of B2B marketing objectives, and more on how we'll measure and project against that in a future post...
Augmented Reality is on its way…but to you or to a competitor first?
This astonishing simulation of what it might be like to live in a world enhanced by Augmented Reality demonstrates a future that's much, much nearer than many of us realize. In a day when A/R apps are commonplace, where as Apple apps or as promotional interactions on cereal boxes, even B2B marketers should look at the possibilities, especially since so much of the software and hardware is economical and off-the-shelf. It's better to get a leg up on implementation of breakthrough tools now, rather than play catch-up later, even if you're simply exploring the option with your digital or design agency to see if it makes sense.
Execution in the real world of marketing and sales has to be affordable, sensible and not just glitz and boilerplate. So any consideration of this kind of technology has to ask the question, does it give me a real competitive edge? Can I do it in a manner that's not perceived as superficial, but provides concrete and rewarding interaction that's meaningful to my category and my customers?
Imagine an A/R business card that's not just entertaining, but unlocks high-value content for your prospects? What about a sell sheet or brochure that activates a 3D product demo? When companies like Boeing (where the term orginated) and others are exploring integration of A/R and virtual reality into their production and maintenance procedures, it's time to speculate about how this technology could help your business present a more dynamic face to the world across its advertising and marketing.
So much for snake oil.
This post at Tribble links Mahatma Ghandi with advertising (talk about the profound and the profane!), but it's a wry and relevant adoption of one of the great man's observations. Big ad agencies, heretofore threatened and dismissive of SEO and social media practices since nearly the inception of those innovations, are now tripping over their checkbooks to bulk up on those capabilities through acquisition.
(Good luck to those nimble and innovative digital firms as they're joined to the Interpublics and WPPs of the world, by the way; let the schlerosis and calcification commence! There are a host of good reasons why game-changing marketing innovations seem to nearly always happen outside of major agencies.)
As one poster put it dismissively, back in a day that seems a long, long time ago already: “Every good techie knows that SEO personnel are just blowhards who couldn’t hack it in any real vocation. Calling their product snake oil really isn’t fair to snake oil manufacturers, as I believe snake oil is effective at oiling snakes.”
With attitudes like that, it's no wonder big agencies -- and big IT departments at those agencies -- have taken an enormous hit these last few years. Small shops know the importance of keeping on the cutting edge, and recognizing competitive advantage when it presents itself. Maybe the author of that post is among the 180,000 advertising job casualties over the last few years; we sincerely hope not. But they can look on the bright side: maybe there's an open spot or two as a snake oiler.
Client news: a new digital/social media program for North Bridge Staffing
From our Shameless Self-Promotion Department (not to be confused with the Department of Redundancy Department or the Office of Repetition Repetition)...here's a press release that sums up some of the work we're doing for the good folks at North Bridge Staffing Group.
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North Bridge Staffing Group launches new digital media push.
Chicago, Illinois – January 21, 2010 – Chicago staffing consultant North Bridge Staffing Group has launched its first-ever digital marketing program, utilizing a blog, e-newsletter, and social media tools LinkedIn and Facebook, all developed and coordinated by Chicago marketing and design firm Biersma Creative.
North Bridge, located in the historic Wrigley building, has for ten years been its clients’ “best resource for great temporary, temporary-to-hire and direct hire career opportunities.” During the current recession, its ability to deliver bridge staffing solutions has been particularly valuable to its customers, located in the Chicagoland area.
The digital initiative, according to Biersma Creative’s Director of Marketing, Michael Semer, is “pretty much the cost of doing business nowadays” in any B2B sector.
“The intense competition out there has nearly every one of our clients converting to social media and consistent digital outreach as being their go-to tactics for propecting and maintaining solid customer relationships,” he says. “That’s regardless of category.”
North Bridge, which prides itself on a high degree of customer service, sees the closeness and collaboration that digital marketing permits as “a fitting adjunct to what they do, but certainly not a substitute,” Semer explains.
Its Web site allows clients to place job orders, while candidates can browse available positions and also avail themselves of resources for resume writing, interview protocols and more. Its blog allows regular news posts, personnel highlights and commentary, directed at issues and concerns facing the Chicago-area economy. It’ll also provide a soapbox for the firm to support its pet causes, like Ronald McDonald House, Children’s Memorial Hospital and others.
“It’s essential that a blog really express your own character, interests, your sense of institutional self,” Semer says. “It’s your opportunity for an expressive dialogue with customers, friends, stakeholders and total strangers. Use it.”
North Bridge Staffing’s owner and president is Gerrie Dugan, a Chicagoland native who brought more than 10 years of experience at both national & privately owned staffing organizations to the company. Ms. Dugan has created solid partnerships with some of Chicago’s top firms. Her priority is to have the best internal talent, giving NBSG the ability to attract and retain the best external talent to better serve North Bridge Staffing Group’s clients’ needs.
North Bridge Staffing Group’s flagship office is located in the historic Wrigley Building on Chicago’s ‘Magnificent Mile’ and enjoys membership in the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association (GNMAA), the Illinois Staffing Association (ISA) and the American Staffing Association (ASA).