5 Pearls of Wisdom for Digital Marketing Success

1) Start with a Goal.  Setting goals is crucial to the success of any digital campaign. Before you start your digital journey, you must know your destination. What do you want to accomplish at the end of the campaign? What are the business goals? What results are you expecting?  Before getting to the fun tactics like a new website, a mobile app, and a fun video series, STOP and think about what you are trying to accomplish with the tactic.  There is a profound bible verse that says where there is no vision, the people perish. I can say the same is true of a marketing campaign without a vision/goal, the campaign is sure to perish/fail. 

2) Tell a Meaningful Story. Stories are a powerful way to interact with consumers. We are all shaped by our life experiences, both personal and professional. Story-telling helps companies become more relatable to their consumers. Michael Margolis states in his book Believe Me: a story manifesto for change-makers and innovators, “We are hardwired to seek and make sense of the world through narratives.” In the same book, Margolis states that “Anthropologist content that 70% of everything we learn is through stories”.  Customers will share stories that are worth talking about so make sure they have a good story to tell about your brand.

3) Content is King. In the New Rules of Marketing & PR, David Meerman Scott, states that “Content brands an organization as a thought leader”. He goes further to say that instead of just selling something, a great website, blog or podcast series tells the world that you are smart, that you understand the market. “Content turns browsers into buyers.” In today’s marketing environment, you don’t have to be a newspaper, or a consulting firm to provide thought leadership. In fact, companies like Red Bull, a beverage company, are creating compelling content with their key buyers in mind. Content is the meat and potatoes of your digital strategy.

4) Be Flexible. Planning is a crucial step to successful marketing, but you must leave some room for a little spontaneity.  Being able to respond to relevant news in real-time is priceless. Just as Oreo responded to the Super Bowl blackout, brands need to have a little fun and allow for some flexibility in their marketing. Developing a real-time marketing mindset enables you not only to capitalize on earned media opportunities but also gives you the ability to stay relevant to your buyers.

5) Make it Simple. My last pearl of wisdom for my client would be to Keep It Simple. Avoid using Gobbledygook. No Marketing Fluff needed. I started my blog exposing the common practice of marketing fluff and I end my blog with giving the ultimate answer to avoiding it - Keep your marketing simple.  Make it easy to understand, straightforward, relevant and consistent.

Relationships & Brand Interactions – Are They Different?

I have to agree with the Harvard Business Review article “To Keep Your Customers, Keep it Simple” that consumers don’t want relationships with brands. I personally don’t think we were created to have relationships with our laundry detergent, phone carrier, and/ or favorite clothing company. We are meant to have meaningful relationships with people not things. We are meant to be in relationships with those around us, to love and be loved.  Brands can’t give us love, although some may claim, and have claimed they can.  That said, I do believe relationships share some strong similarities with the way consumers interact with brands. Below are my top 3 similarities. 

1) They always occupy our time and space. Whatever time and place, relationships are always occupying our time. We all have families, co-workers, organization members, and class-mates that we do life with everyday. Brands are the same way. We are constantly spending time with brands. From the time we get up to the time we go to sleep. Whether it be brushing our teeth with either Colgate or Crest or lying down on Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein sheets, we are constantly surrounded by them.
2) The simpler the better. I tend to have the best relationships with people who are easy-going, fun, trust-worthy, consistent, and simple. I am normally attracted to people who have these qualities. In the other hand, my hardest relationships are with people who are complicated, hard to understand, and difficult to get along with. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the complicated people in my life, I just don’t have the closest relationships with them. Similarly, I tend to be attracted to those brands that make it easy for me to interact with them. I also tend to interact more with brands that have clear messaging, great customer support, and offer a consistent product value.
3) We build relationships, one interaction at a time. We often meet people for the first time through a close friend, or through a class project, or at a new job. We then start talking to them and start interacting with them more and more.  As the interactions increase, the relationship starts to build, getting stronger and stronger. The same is true with how we build our loyalty with a brand. For example, I first purchased the Apple iPhone, and I really liked the product, and the experience with the brand, so when it came to buying a tablet I chose to buy the Apple Ipad. The more positive interactions I have with a brand, the more I am likely to buy the brand again. 

Newsjacking the Royal Baby

 I am really “fascinated” by the idea of Newsjacking.  Newsjacking, as defined by marketing guru David Meerman Scott, is the “process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.” To be successful at newsjacking, marketers must know their audience really well, and be able to react to news in real-time. That’s exactly what Pampers did on July 22.

On July 22, Prince William and his wife, Kate, welcomed a healthy baby boy, Prince George Alexander Louis, into the world. That same day, Pampers tweeted “Every baby is a little prince or princess.WATCH http://youtu.be/XXzg_TcE04k & SHARE pics of yours at http://www.pamperslovesleepandplay.com #PampersLoveSleepPlay.”   The tweet led to a YouTube video titled  Every Baby is a Little Prince or Princess. It’s as simple video but it plays to the heartstrings of thousands of proud moms and dads around the world.  See full video below.

So far the video has received 128K views on YouTube.  It’s too early to know the revenue impact of Pampers' newsjacking efforts, but what Pampers has achieved is to remain top of mind with thousands of moms and dads, who believe their kids are little princes and princesses. I personally feel that the advantages of newsjacking far outweigh the disadvantages. Some of the advantages include:

• Relevant, timely content  leads to increase website traffic and social media interaction
• Earned media. There is nothing better than free media. Well, I guess leads are better but earned media is up there.
• Increased brand awareness
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What do you think about Pampers newsjacking efforts?

Big Data: Looking Back. Looking Forward

Looking Back

The term Big Data became an industry buzzword in 2012, but the term has been around for decades.  In fact, an article published in Forbes entitled “A Very Short History of Big Data” states the term was first used in 1944 in an attempt to quantify the growth rate in the volume of data. In my quest to learn more about Big Data, and where the term came from I came across a great TedEducation video which details the history of Big Data.

 

Exploration on the Big Data frontier - Tim Smith

 

 

Looking Forward

Fast-forward to 2013 and Big Data continues to be a trending topic. The ever-increasing amount of digital information is a key component of what we now call Big Data. In the article “Why big data is the sexiest new marketing tool” the author is shocked by the stat that "Humans now create in two days the same amount of data that it took from the dawn of civilization until 2003 to create." That’s a pretty crazy statistic. Can you imagine what that number will be in 10 years?  So what does this all mean for digital marketers? Why should we care about Big Data? Below are the Top 3 reasons why digital marketers should care about Big Data based on an article I recently read entitled “Big Data, Analytics And The Future Of Marketing And Sales” 

 

1)      Fresh insights into customer needs and online behaviors

2)      Increase productivity and profitability

3)      Improved marketing ROI

 

Those sound like pretty compelling reasons for me to care about Big Data. Wouldn't you agree?

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Compassion International: 3 Platforms. 1 Simple Call to Action

Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy nonprofit that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.  With over 1 million sponsored children, and 5,659 international church partners, Compassion International offers it’s  website visitors, future donors and sponsors, a consistent website experience across all digital platforms.

As a donor myself, I have visited the Compassion International site numerous times on my tablet, smart phone and PC and I have always found the site easy to navigate and pretty intuitive. I know now that’s not by sheer accident but it’s the purposeful effort by Compassion’s web designers to build a responsive site that will resize itself whether the user is in vertical or horizontal viewing mode, on a tablet, desktop or smartphone. Here are my top 3 reasons why I believe Compassion International not only has a great mission but also a great website across all platforms.  

1. Simple. The sites content is simple and focused on it’s purpose – breaking the cycle of poverty for children in need around the world. In fact, the first thing that displays at the front screen of each device is the call to action (CTA) – sponsor a child today. This CTA is prominent and consistent across all three platforms.  No fluff marketing here. The site is full of childen’s profiles, their stories and current initiatives.  The content is also scannable and easy to read.
 
2. User Centered. Most people who visit the Compassion Interational site go there to sponsor a child, donate, and/or learn about the nonprofit. For this reason, Compassion make it easy for visitors to search for a child by country, gender, and age. The top navigation bar on the website, viewed on a tablet, smart phone, and computer, allows the user to quickly select whether they want to sponsor a child, donate, or  learn more about how they can get involved. If they choose to sponsor a child, the website employess parallel scrolling, allowing future sponsors to easily browse and select the child they wish to sponsor.
 
3. Design that makes logical sense.  Another great thing about the Compassion International website is the website’s intuitive color scheme and logical layout.  Let me explain.  The Compassion site uses four dominant colors – dark blue, light blue, white and “attention grabber” yellow.  It always uses the dark blue as a background color, the light blue for navigation menus, and the “attention grabber” yellow for buttons that direct the user to answer the call to action such as sponsor, and donate. This effective use of color makes the site more intuitve and easy to navigate. The site is also purposefully laid out into 3 sections that engage, build trust, and validate. The first section is all about the children who need sponsorship and their stories. The second section is designed to build creditbility and trust by sharing their commitment to financial accountability and integrity - which is very important to donors. And the last section gives visitors  what makes Compassion International different from other charitites.  

Don’t just take my word for it, learn more about Compassion International by visiting  www.compassion.com on your tablet, smart phone, and computer, and let me know if you agree with my analysis.

 

 

 

 

 

To pay, or not to pay: That is the question

To pay is my answer. In this digitally fragmented world, I believe paywalls are a smart strategy for newspapers that have a unique value proposition. And only those newspapers with a unique value proposition like the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times can be successful at implementing a pay per view strategy. With the rise in internet consumption and the introduction of new social media mediums like reddit “The front page of the internet” people don’t need newspapers like they needed them before. We can get information from hundreds of different sources such as blogs, Twitter, RSS feeds, Google alerts, niche news organization, etc. It’s no longer just about the news but it’s about offering readers a unique experience and compelling content. Sound familiar? Like with any other product, consumers will always pay more for a product if they perceive it to be of high value. I am willing to pay $15.99 a month for SHOWTIME just to watch Homeland.

The real question comes down to are these newspaper organizations differentiating themselves from the rest of their competitors. Is their offering unique? Is it perceived as valuable? If it is, there is no reason for a paywall not work.

I commend The New York Times for seeing the writing on the wall early and adapting to their new reality. Many newspapers like the Washington Post were critical of the New York Times in 2011, but since then have implemented their own paywalls.

What are you willing to pay more for?

The Maestro: Confident, Goal-Oriented, Influential, Opinionated, and Decisive

I am always a little skeptical when I take personality tests. How do these tests do it? How can a test accurately describe you by simply asking two dozen and half questions?  

The Fascination Advantage Test does it. It only took a couple of minutes to complete and with unbelievable accuracy it described some of my most admired personality traits. I was really amazed at how it pinpointed my core strengths.  The test identified my archetype as the Maestro which is a combination of the power and prestige triggers. Even though power and prestige are not words that I would usually use to describe myself, the descriptions of these triggers were spot on.   It described me as always seeking to expand my sphere of knowledge and elevate my value.  It also described me as competitive, driven, confident, detail and goal-oriented.  

One of the best things about the Fascination Advantage Test was the action plan. The test provided three key actionable steps to continue to fascinate.  It’s important to identify your core fascination triggers, but it’s even more important to harness your fascination factor and continue to build on it.

How do you fascinate?

Champions Make No Excuses

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was watching the French Open finals this weekend and I was moved by the level of performance and athleticism shown by Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams.  Rafael and Serena both overpowered their opponents to win the grand prize. Serena did it in two sets (6-4, 6-4) and Rafael did in three sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-3).   Rafael and Serena are champions, successful athletes, at the top of their game. They are well known, admired by many and brand ambassadors for Nike.  Over the years, Nike has done a superb job at associating its brand to successful athletes like Serena and Rafael. Nike is one of the brands that time and time again engages me in their brand story.  Athletes and fans alike, Nike inspires the young and old to Just Do It!. So, how are they doing it?

Nike keeps it simple. Inspiration and Innovation for Every Athlete in the World. There is no fluff in this positioning statement.  The characters of its story are made up of professional athletes, at the top of their game. The setting of the brand story is ones respective playing field- whether it be a clay court, a baseball field, a track or life. Nike inspires and motivates millions to be more active and to achieve their goals. Nike inspires me.

Below are some of the Nike commercials that tell the brand story perfectly.

 Find Your Greatness

 

Rewrite the Future

 

No Excuses

What brand moves you?

Welcome

Welcome to the No Fluff Marketing blog.  Why name my blog No Fluff Marketing, you may ask?  I have a background in accounting and finance and I have been in the world of marketing for the past 7 years. It’s been my experience that unlike finance and accounting, fluff is widely accepted in the marketing function. We all know that fluff is not tolerated in accounting and finance. In fact, there are governmental agencies that have been created to uncover accounting and finance fluff.  Fluff in accounting and finance has led to damaged corporate reputations, costly penalties and eroded shareholder value. Marketers, however, have been getting away with fluffy marketing for years. The consequences of fluffy marketing may not be as devastating as those of fluffy accounting, but it does result in ineffective product launches, irrelevant content and wasted marketing dollars.  Let’s face it.  All marketers across industries, at some time in their marketing career, have used fluffy marketing.

So why is marketing fluff a common practice in our industry? I would submit to you that the reason why so many marketers resort to using fluffy marketing is due to the lack of understanding of their customer market and product offering. As marketers, we have to get past the marketing lingo, aka fluff, and create relevant and compelling content that will motivate potential buyers to act. 

In a world where buyers are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages a day, relevant content is king and there is simply no room for fluff. My goal with this blog is to take you in a journey where I cut through the marketing fluff and present best practices on how to spot marketing fluff and how to avoid it.

Why do you think there is so much marketing fluff?