Tag Archives: Digital marketing

November 2, 2016 · 10:13 am

Don’t Better Deal

Have you ever been to a business function or a cocktail party where the person with whom you’re speaking is constantly searching the room with his eyes? They’re better dealing you. They’re trying to find someone more important (or interesting) who is a better deal than you. In a business setting, it’s usually a higher-up they’d like to impress but it’s generally someone who they think can make their life better than you can. I think that sort of thing is rude. Sure, you should have a general awareness of who is in the room but I think it’s important to be “present” in any conversation you’re having. If you want to end it gracefully and move on, so be it, but don’t nod your head and mumble “uh-huh” while scanning the room.

I can hear you thinking that you’d never do that, at least not unless someone was a boring, raging drunk. As it turns out, there is evidence to suggest that many marketers are better-dealing their customers all the time instead of focusing on what the customer is saying. How do I know? This from eMarketer:

HubSpot examined marketing priorities of marketers worldwide practicing inbound strategies (next-generation techniques that foster a two-way interaction and relationship with prospects and that aim for customers to come to the brand) and outbound strategies (more traditional marketing, in which customers are sought out and reached with general, one-way messaging such as TV, print ads or cold calls). Converting contacts and leads into customers was a marketing priority for 77% of inbound marketers and 68% of outbound marketers.

Increasing revenue from current customers , on the other hand, was only a priority for 46%. This despite the fact that it’s about 5x more efficient to retain a customer than it is to acquire a new one. Thinking of it another way, you would have to find five new customers to gain the same profitability as you would from retaining one. You have a 60%-70% chance of selling something to an existing customer and only a 5%-20% chance to sell to a new one. Which odds are more appealing?

You might think you’re giving yourself a better deal by focusing on the next conversation (finding new customers) but as it turns out you’re way better off devoting resources and staying focused on the current chat (your current customers). The odds are the “better deal” will still be at the party when your current conversation moves on. Make sense?

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October 31, 2016 · 11:17 am

Some Important News You Might Have Missed And Why You Should Care

There was a bit of news that broke last week which you might have missed since it seems that the election drowns most other news out. The FCC told Internet Service Providers to be much more explicit concerning what information it collects and shares with others, and provide (mostly) clear “opt-in” requirements on some of that data collection. Hopefully, you realize that more than any other entity in the digital age your ISP (and that can be your wireless provider as well) know pretty much everything you do on the internet.

Not surprisingly, there were immediate outcries from both the broadband providers as well as from the Association of National Advertisers. “The FCC’s new sweeping privacy rules decision is unprecedented, misguided, counterproductive, and potentially extremely harmful,” the advertisers’ organization said in a statement.

This comes on the heels of Google changing their policy related to how it connects DoubleClick advertising to other data that it has about you, allowing the company to actually link your name and other identifying information to you as you surf the web. The real issue is that Google isn’t being very clear about how this information is going to be used. At leat, however, they do give you the ability to opt-out and to clear your history. Your ISP gives you no such option. Be that as it may, having to opt out is far different from granting permission by having opted in.

Obviously, the ad industry is upset because less useful data means diminished ability to track and target consumers. Having spent a career in the media business I know that this could be bad for content providers as well as marketers. But I can’t understand why explaining clearly and transparently what you’re collecting and why as well as allowing consumers control over how their data is collected and used is a bad idea. Failing to do so leads to ad blocking or worse.

What could be worse? Check out Sudo. As this article explains it, Sudo allows you to create:

nine “virtual identities,” each of which is associated with a phone number, email address, credit card number, and even profile picture. They’re digital nom de guerres, in essence — fictional profiles for services, websites, and apps to which you’d rather not supply your personal information…Sudos live as long as you want. You can delete one after a week, or devote a profile to activities like online shopping, social networking, or calling.

That, in my mind, is worse. Data is collected and associated with a false person who just disappears. So if I decide to label myself as a 35-year-old woman (which is quite different from my much older male self), marketers will waste money promoting products to me I won’t care about. When I get sick of that persona, I’ll disappear her.

Being transparent and honest with your customers isn’t optional anymore. You can fight legislation but fighting consumer desires is much harder. I suspect that the ISP’s will get around these rules by burying the information they’re forced to disclose in some click-wrap agreement. Nobody reads them; they just click “agree” and move on. I think this is a missed opportunity for the ISP’s to change their behavior, their business model, and their relationship with their customers. You?

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October 10, 2016 · 12:45 pm

Set, Forget, Fail

You probably didn’t know that we take requests here on the screed. Today’s post is by request and is sort of a joint effort with my friend and former co-worker Russ. He and I are both fans of Michigan football and we ran into one another at the game in New Jersey last Saturday. “Game” may be an overstatement since Michigan blew out Rutgers 78-0. The first half of the game was played in the rain, making sitting through the one-sided contest even less appealing. Needless to say, the stadium was half empty after halftime (the student section was empty, as were most seats on the home side of the field). No, this isn’t a rant about fickle fans.

After the game, I’ll let Russ (well, Russ’ post on Facebook) explain what happened next:

I root for Rutgers when they’re not playing Michigan. I want the program to be good. But you can’t send this automated email with the game score and line score attached to a survey asking fans to rate their experience at a game you lost 78-0. You just can’t.

That’s the email, and Russ’ point is a very good one. Many marketing programs have become “set it and forget it.” I applaud the folks in the Rutgers athletics department for surveying fans to find out how to make the game experience worth every penny. But this comes across like the old joke about the evening at Ford’s theater: “So other than that, how did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?”

We can never set and forget anything in business. As Russ so aptly posted in a comment: “I knew my buddies with e-marketing experience would understand how bad it was. “Our solution is fully automated!” Automation is great. You have to be able to defeat it with human sensibility when needed.” Exactly.

Had someone been paying attention the copy could have been modified to remind fans that winning (or losing) is just part of why fans attend sporting events. Sitting with friends and family, tailgating, or any of the other myriad components of game day could have been mentioned since Rutgers’ football team just isn’t that good.

I suspect most of the feedback on this survey involved firing the coaching staff. That’s not particularly helpful information. While the football team can’t win them all, the marketing team can if someone would pay attention and get beyond setting and forgetting. Make sense?

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