September 12, 2012 · 10:58 am

What’s In A Name?

A friend asked me the other day why my brand is Keith Ritter Media when most of what I do is in digital and/or sports.  Not a bad question and since I’m always using the screed to encourage everyone to keep rethinking the business world around them, I did the same about his question.

Choosing “Media” instead of “Digital” was not an accident.  Having spent most of my formative professional years in what is now called “traditional” media (local and national TV), my approach is less focused on the technology and very focused on the business.  Here’s the bulletin:  it’s all media.   Sure, it’s also getting to be all digital but these technologies are nothing but other channels of communication that can be used in a smart marketing/business mix.  They’re other tools in the box.  The business and all of the relevant best practices remain pretty much the same.

I’m not sure that’s what some of the charlatans out there want to hear.  I’ve had clients hand me stuff from other digital specialty shops (most of whom are run by folks with all of 5-7 years in business) that was very tool-intensive but missed the entire reason of why those tools should or should be used.    Think about it.  Have you only heard of a “print” or “TV” or “radio” ad agency?  Sure, some folks focus on the various types of creative but your better shops take a 360 degree view of media because THAT’S HOW YOUR CUSTOMERS INTERACT WITH THE MEDIA WORLD.  Sorry for shouting but the notion of a digital or social agency bothers me.

“Digital” can be anything.  Website development to content creation to hardware to mobile and social applications. I don’t think it’s precise enough.  After all, we call them “carpenters”, not “hammers”.  It’s not about the tools – it’s about the business.

Am I thinking clearly about this?

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September 11, 2012 · 10:26 am

Strategic Planning From Mike

Today we take our business cue from the noted executive Michael Gerard Tyson.

Mike Tyson at SXSW 2011

Mike Tyson at SXSW 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You might know him as Mike or as “The Baddest Man On The Planet.”  Hopefully you were well aware of him before the “Hangover” roles (which didn’t make a lot of sense unless you were aware of him!).  One of Mike’s quotes is something every businessperson should keep in the back of their mind:

Everyone has a strategy until I punch them in the face

There are variations of that quote out there but you get the gist.  It’s about the best summary of strategic planning I know.  While long-range planning is a good idea, those plans need to be etched in sand and not in cement.  Being agile and working with the flow is critical in an environment where it seems as if most of what we thought we knew becomes untrue.  Like a boxer, a business’ ability to take the punches, move away from the trouble, protect itself and recover is the manta.  Stick and move, indeed.

There’s something to be said for perseverance.  On the other hand, when a plan of attack isn’t working and you’re catching way too many punches, one of three things is going to happen:

  1. You’re going to get knocked out
  2. Someone is going to stop the fight
  3. You’re going to change your strategy

Doing the third thing early on while maintaining the same goal (knock out the competition and win) is really the only route (see companies under buggy whips, internet 1.0, and airlines) to success.  Many of us ignore the surprising things that happen, writing them off to “lucky punches” and only focus on what we expect.  Big mistake.

Getting hit in the face can knock you out or it can wake you up.  Your choice.

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September 10, 2012 · 10:52 am

Unoptimized Optimization

Logo of Adobe Systems Incorporated

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The folks at Adobe

came out with their annual Digital Marketing Optimization survey and I finally got around to spending a little time going through it.  The results are kind of troubling to me.  You can get a copy of it here (registration required) to see for yourself.  The gist of the survey is to ascertain how well marketers are using the data available to them to optimize what they’re doing in digital media.  For example, one thing I usually tell my clients is low-hanging fruit is to optimize content and marketing around on-site search – what your users are typing into the “search” box on your site.  It’s a great indicator of content that’s either missing or not presented in a way that’s obvious to your user. 34% of site visitors use site search first (according to the study) yet fewer than 50% of respondents are optimiz­ing on-site search results.  Hmm…

Here are a few other findings that make me want to scratch my head:

  • More than 50% cited testing was not a company priority
  • Marketers spend $92 per user to acquire traffic yet only $1 to optimize it.
  • Landing pages (41%), home pages (33%), and paid search (29%) are the top areas in which marketers are conducting online tests. 38% are not conducting any.
  • Social sharing was only chosen by 9% of respondents for optimization even though there is other research that shows how social sharing can play a big role in conversions (especially for online commerce).

If I spent $92 to get you to my site I’d do everything I could to get you to stay!  Here are the study’s top 5 recommendations:

  • Prioritize optimization across your organization as a strategic process
  • Use a data-driven approach to optimization
  • Optimize conversion with video
  • Optimize social engagement
  • Optimize for all mobile channels

All of which is pretty good advice (but not always so easy to do!).  In other words, commit to refining digital as you might your “real” product – ascertain what’s working based on data and commit to making it better every day.

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