People Consume Content Differently Today

If your content strategy hasn’t changed dramatically in the last five years, you’re probably losing the content war.  Think about the content you read.  The competition for your time is almost endless. To get attention, content needs to be compelling, experiential and tell a great story or solve a real problem. The best brands are finding ways to engage prospects by creating exceptional online experiences and scaling their core message across relevant digital properties. One way to achieve scale is to take content and repurpose it.  Take one research paper, turn it into tweets, blogs, videos, webinars. Another way to achieve this shift is to engage bloggers to promote your message to their communities to extend your reach above and beyond what you can produce on your own.   

Prospects are Jaded about Marketing  

Consumers are getting shell-shocked. They’re the targets of too much messaging. That’s why good content needs to mimic a conversation with your customer that creates meaningful engagement.    The right conversation will help to solve a problem and build a relationship with your customer that will be sustained and reinforced with each interaction.   Consider mapping out an editorial calendar as you publish content. Lay out your web site in a way that’s designed as if you were having a talk with your customer on a topic that interests them. Your brand voice needs to connect over multiple interactions before you can move to a selling conversation.  Prospects will let down their guard if you become a trusted source of information.

Only the Exceptional Will Stand Out  

Fortune favors the brave.  Good content needs to be relevant, differentiated, and compelling.  Your brand voice needs to connect in a meaningful way with your audience.  It needs to be provocative or interesting and it needs to come at the speed of an old fashioned PR machine, rather than a slow-moving marketing production schedule.   If you don’t have a journalist on your marketing team, you may want to consider hiring one. Exceptional content at scale, with speed is the objective.

So while content marketing has been around as long as people have been telling stories, the laws have changed and the battle for attention has intensified.  Many companies are slow to move from the traditional focus on outbound messaging to a targeted content strategy geared toward building engagement, collective awareness and buzz.  The transition is a hard one—it takes a lot of work to shift your entire content strategy. The new winners will be those who can engage, delight, entertain, and teach.

How are you building engagement with your customers?  Are you winning the war, or just adding to the noise?

Here's my thinking.  As a marketer, it's important to show you understand personal branding.  These days, the “digital you” is more important than ever. Here are a few easy steps to make yourself stand out and become a stand-out member of the digital community.

• Influencer Status:  Take some time to think about your Twitter persona. Who are you and what are you bringing to the table?  Make your profile interesting—potential followers will read it before deciding to follow you back. Done well, your Twitter profile and contribution to #Marketing, #CMO, and #Brand conversation streams will help you to be seen as a thought leader.
• The Visual You: Do yourself a favor and get a good profile photo to share across your social properties.   If you think you have a “face for radio,” don’t let that stop you from adding a great visual representation.  Try experimenting with different types of media —video, webcasts, interviews, or podcasts—to expand your digital footprint.
• Tribe Up:  Start to engage and build your community.   Followers are a great way to start — but make sure you take it to the next level and reach out to engage people on a more personal level.   On line engagement platforms, like Triberr, are a great way to support fellow bloggers and build your on-line network.

Keep in mind that prior to a meeting or interview, more than 40 percent of people will search for you on Google, review your LinkedIn profile or look you up on Facebook.  So whether you’re job-seeeking,  working to stay relevant, or trying to meet new colleagues, a fresh digital profile is a must. Take pride in the digital you.

That's the problem today. It takes all of the above—and even the best brands are struggling to deliver the personal touch that customers have come to expect.  Exactly when did customers become so needy—and so picky?

As a consumer, you know in an instant when you're dealing with a company that doesn't have it together.  We’ve all been there: “Pleeeassse, don't ask for my serial number again and the spelling of my name and my account numbers. Know me. That's all I ask."

So as a marketer, you know when you've gone awry and crossed the line from a clever campaign to an intrusive, poorly formed communication. But sometimes, the systems, the agencies, and the processes hold you back. I am, like the rest of you, searching to deliver this Nirvana. Done well, our customers become something more than customers. They become brand advocates who shout from the highest rooftops about how truly great we are. Done poorly, and well, the opposite happens.

All of this is, of course, hard work. Back-end processes need to talk to the front-end office. Marketing campaigns need to be tied into inventory. Websites need to know what interests people. Customer service needs to be clairvoyant.

I'm thinking it might just be easier to take out an ad on Craigslist: "Motivated marketer seeks loyal customers and active brand advocates for long-term relationships."

On second thought, today's savvy customers just might see through it!

Most brands are still wondering how to use photo sharing apps to push their messages. There's no good answer to that, because it's the wrong question. Instead, try starting with a picture that expresses emotion–one that can be understood in a moment's glance. That connection will become part of the fabric of their vision board. And others may recognize it as something familiar. They may add it to their vision board and make it their own defining moment. Start with the intent to influence one customer, and then ten, and then hundreds, and let the love of your brand, your cause, and your message shine through.
 
So how is your brand weaving itself into the fabric of your customers lives? Can your message be captured in a vision board? Or is it still a one-way push? Take action now to humanize–and visually communicate–your brand. It's the only way to be sure that your customer will get the picture.
 

As marketers, we need to consider how this phenomenon changes the game. When assessing mobile, most of us immediately suffer from “shiny object syndrome.”   We get distracted by the idea of flashy, expensive mobile apps and SMS campaigns. But let’s get real for a minute. Whether you’re a marketer for a B2C or B2B business, think about the mobile basics first before you approve that large purchase order for a shiny new app.

Look at how you use your iPhone. When it comes to games, social networking, music and maps, your first choice is likely an app. But in most cases, you tend to pull up a browser, right? According to mobiThinking, once they’ve been downloaded, one in four mobile apps never get used again. So as marketers, we need to stop thinking about having the coolest mobile app, and start thinking about the ways customers use these devices on a day-to-day basis.  

Even as mobile commerce continues to accelerate—making up almost 10 percent of 2011 Black Friday sales—some brands and companies still aren’t covering the basics. B2C businesses have a much higher percentage of customers who are shopping and browsing via mobile devices than B2B, but many B2C brands still have less-than-ideal mobile experiences.

So next time you think about spending a lot of money on a new mobile marketing campaign, think of the basics first and ask these simple questions:

1.  What percentage of your customer digital interactions and web visits are coming from mobile devices? How are they trending?

2.  How well do your important web presences render on popular mobile devices? What is the experience like? How are your bounce rates from mobile devices?

3.  Are your email campaigns optimized for mobile? Do you have an email platform that provides mobile previews?

Keep these basics in mind, but don't be afraid to experiment. The important thing to remember when designing for mobile is to prototype and iterate on your site. And of course, be sure to measure and monitor the results. If you prove enough mobile ROI, you can pay for that shiny new app you’ve been after!

Think about how online communities and social networks have changed the game. To today's buyer, the connection matters more than the service or product—and therein lies the secret to the new business model. Like most consumers, I'm heavily influenced by a community of people I admire and respect—some of whom I know through personal relationships, some who are associates from work, others who are influencers in my industry and some who may even be celebrities. The point is, I care more about what these people have to say than what an advertiser might tell me about a product or service or lifestyle.

Contextual relevance matters so much today, communities are developing story-based engagement models. Because I want to engage, learn, and buy from others I trust in my circle, a story is formed around me and around those who 'like' me. They matter to me more than commerce, more than material things. Triberr, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Uncram… they're all creating these storytelling tribes of connection. Business leaders, thought leaders, marketers, entertainers, technologists—you name it—they're all out there building influence.

The companies that still think social is just for fun are missing the point. The world has changed from a market driven e-commerce environment to a socially driven me-commerce era.  The most sophisticated brands are building a community of influencers to co-create and reinforce their brand message.

So ask yourself, who is your tribe in the era of me-commerce, and what stories are they telling about your brand?

At some point, I realized there were no more legitimate excuses. So I opened a Twitter account, I updated LinkedIn, and built a Facebook profile.

I was plodding along, mostly lurking, sometimes posting, until slowly I began to make connections. You live in Chappaqua? You're a working mom? You work in marketing? Me too, me too, me too! At some point, the technology faded away and it wasn't about building my Twitter following, it was about finding these kinds of “me too” moments.

I've met some amazing people through social— the best moms, the best marketers, and the best of friends. I'm learning that social is about nothing more—and nothing less—than a means of embracing these connections.

So what started out as a quest for a social following has evolved into a search for people who are great to know. I've stopped counting Facebook fans and started counting new friends.

Are you social? Of course you are. We’re only human, after all.

The London Olympics this summer were made up of many moments when the whole world seemed to connect and collectively engage. Among my favorites: the first Saudi woman in history to compete in track and field, the U.S. “Fabulous Five” gymnastics team’s gold medal victory, Andy Murray’s smashing win over Roger Federer for the gold in men’s tennis, and Oscar Pistorius, a South African paraplegic, competing to run the 400-meter race.

The advertising during the games has been particularly powerful, successfully aligning with the overall spirit of the Olympics. P&G was the standout in my opinion — tapping into the emotion of a mother’s pride and dedication with the slogan, “While the rest of the world honors Olympic athletes, P&G honors the moms who got them there.” Needless to say, this campaign struck a chord with moms on my block and around the world.

As the Olympics come to a close, I find myself remembering a time when my dreams were bigger — when there were no limits. The experience leaves me with a renewed sense of the beauty and endurance of the human spirit. The Olympics are a mother’s dream, a child’s dream, an athletes dream, and let’s face it, a marketer’s dream. A dream of a better time, a better place and a better world where we’re all connected—and we’re all playing on the same team.

As marketers, our job is to connect. We try to find moments that can be captured, harnessed and remembered. I suggest we look no further than the Olympics for inspiration.

So how can you be sure to maximize your ability to interest the reader and engage them in a dialog that 'feels' like a conversation as opposed to a disturbance? Here are three ways to increase customer intimacy and drive more successful marketing campaigns:

1. Hyper-Segment: Typically customers are interested in certain areas or product lines. The more finely you can segment interest, the more likely prospects are to engage and eventually purchase. To illustrate the point, one of my favorite brands is Lucky Brand Jeans. In order to effectively market to me, the marketers at Lucky Brands should know my preference in jeans, the facts that I'm heavily influenced by social media and I am more likely to purchase based on seasonal trends. My segmentation should include preferences, behavior, purchase history, demographic, and psychographic profile.
    
2. Personalize:  These days, you need to collect off-line and on- line purchase behavior to create a holistic view of customer profiles.  In order to effectively target me, the marketer should know I typically buy my fall wardrobe in September and that I like to buy outfits, including accessories.   An effective offer might be a sneak peek at the fall trends as I always buy ahead of the season.
    
3. Re-Target:  Targeting should be refined based on my interaction with your brand. ie. I left jeans in the shopping cart. Consider a banner ad for free shipping to all 'cart abandoners' who may have dropped off after seeing shipping charges. Retargeting has been shown to increase conversion rates by 15%.  It's an incredibly effective tool when used in combination with segmentation and personalization.

In today's customer-centric world, you need to know your customer–Their buying behavior, reason for the affinity with your brand, and their likes and dislikes. Effective email marketing aligns with this mindset of personalized service, which must be relevant and targeted. It's safe to say batch emails and 'spamming' are going the way of the 'vinyl record'.

What were your customers' last 10 interactions with your brand? What are they most likely to purchase next? — Hard questions for marketing professionals to answer, but answer we must.

And please…whisper, don't scream.

The integrated marketing campaign that fueled The Hunger Games phenomenon is a case book example of effectively igniting a 'Gen We' fan base.  The campaign initially incentivized 'nodes' with special perks to build sensation around the movie.   Broader engagement was built by extending the early buzz with rich content including interactive games, contests, and user generated shares.  Check out the  Hunger Games Facebook for an example of an experiential Brand page.   The recent launch of The Dark Night Rises built on the success of this campaign strategy. These campaigns are a great model to successfully tap 'Generation We' featuring a compelling mix of social, mobile, video and gaming tie-ins.

Another great 'Generation We' campaign is Pepsi’s LIVE campaign – “Live for Now” The landing experience for the campaign curates and ranks pop culture experiences, capturing the excitement of ‘now’.  The campaign pushes through new barriers with its use of mobile & geo-location. In addition to an impressive line up of radio & television advertising, Pepsi is able to target specific regions with localized advertising messages derived from location data in Facebook. With 8 million fans to date, another great example of a fan base ignited by social.

Now I realize we're not all in the business of entertainment, but in scanning the universe for innovative new campaigns to tap this digital generation, I suggest we use these examples as a primer and i propose some key takeaways:

1. Lead with Social.  Make it the anchor of your campaign versus the icing
2. Tap nodes to drive early influence and build the seeds for your campaign
3. Build in geo-location data to localize your campaign
4. Moderate the conversation with a stream of user generated content
5. Make it personal, make it relevant, find the emotional tie in

How are you engaging with the ‘Generation We”?