I've long been an acolyte of new marketing technology. I developed my first major ecommerce portal--over 25,000 registered users--more than a decade ago. I was a customer of the first content management system, the first online advertising system, and the first web analytics system. I was on the beta team for the predecessor to Dreamweaver, now the dominant HTML editor on the Web, and my agency developed one of the first Flash Web sites in the world.
I marketed through listserv before email, and developed customer communities before social media.
Hooray for me, right? The point of that shameless appeal to my own authority is that in the last few weeks, I've seen a tidal wave forming that's going to catch a whole lot of marketers by surprise. If you think it's been hard to get up to speed on all the emerging technology, take a deep breath while the world shifts into second gear.
No, I'm not talking about Twitter, or Pownce, or Pligg, or one of the endless additions to the long slow freight train of new Web 2.0 applications. I'm talking about the erosion taking place at the foundation of stalwart applications and techniques marketers have only just figured out how to integrate after years of flailing.
In just the last few weeks, I've had a string of experiences that cast a long shadow over email marketing, search engine optimization, and even lead generation as an effective marketing tool. I'll take you through them one at a time.
Lead Generation is Dead. Long live lead gen.
This summer, my new agency MotiveLab started running its first lead generation program, with a whitepaper detailing 12 Essential Tips for Success in Social Media. By almost any measure it was a great success. We’re nearing 600 fully qualified and registered downloads. We identified 30-40 significant prospects, most of whom we connected with by phone, and wound up making four solid pitches for immediate new business. Almost 8 weeks after starting the campaign, this morning’s batch of new leads weighed in at 19.
When I was talking about this campaign with a friend in the social media space, he looked at me like I was a dinosaur. “Dude, that’s so Web 1.0”. And suddenly it seemed so obvious. With 600 qualified leads, I had developed single points of contact, but no community, no synergy, no engagement. To keep alive the prospects who aren’t interested today, I have to continue expending energy to keep the one-way channel of communication open for months at a time.
Within an hour of talking to my friend—by the way, I’m talking about Jeremiah Owyang, who writes the Web-Strategist blog—I decided to do something radically different. My whitepaper had already run out 8 weeks behind a registration page, so I created a Facebook group, posted the whitepaper there for free, and posted an invitation on my blog for people to come and read the whitepaper and offer their own response. Kudos, criticism, whatever. In less than 24 hours, more than 60 marketers joined the group. I haven’t even aggressively promoted it yet.
Now consider the difference with traditional lead generation. Because Facebook is a profiled community, nearly everyone in my new group has a profile that tells me as much or more about them than a lead generation form. Instead of one-way points of communication, I have the opportunity for dialog, for synergy among members of my community. Yes, that’s a scary prospect sometimes, but if you moderate the dialog well, it’s self-sustaining and engaging in a way that lead generation can’t match.
I still have a long way to go in building this group and growing it to match the returns of past lead generation programs. But in my mind, the writing is on the wall. Traditional lead generation takes far more energy to sustain than developing a community of prospects and customers.
The End of Search Engine Optimization
I’ve long been a critic of Google’s “magic box” approach to search. You type in a word or phrase and, voila, the answers flow in. At least, that’s the idea. More often than not, the results page is the first step of a wild goose chase searching for relevance.
The primary problem with Google is that if you don’t know enough about the topic you’re searching, the results make little sense. You can’t tell what result to put any trust in, because you don’t have a foothold for discerning credibility and truth. Which leads to the second, more substantial problem. SEO. Search engine optimization has turned Google into one massive payola scheme. On any topic that matters, someone is paying a lot of money to make sure their information rises to the top, whether it’s the best information or not. Imagine going to the library to research a topic, and when you asked the librarian for help, she came back with a stack of books she’d been paid to promote, many of which were totally irrelevant to what you were searching. Not good.
There’s a growing list of search tools specifically designed to thwart gaming the results through SEO. Mahalo is one of the most prominent, which relies on a human network to build and validate the results generated from keyword searches. It’s a different take on the concept behind Techmeme, a news site that builds its feed not from press releases, but from the news topics being discussed within a rapidly growing network of trusted bloggers and friends. The idea is that it’s more reliable to lean on trusted sources of information than marketers.
This isn’t a trend that is going turn the world upside down tomorrow, but the momentum behind it significant. 80% of all web users begin a web session with a search engine. When those search engines become so gamed by optimized placement that they become unreliable, people start to get frustrated and migrate. The next generation of search is growing from this frustration, and is designed explicitly to block out search engine optimization, and incorporate social networks to validate content.
Email Marketing Is Gasping for Breath
In the last two weeks, I’ve cancelled every email newsletter I subscribe to. More than two dozen. It’s not that they’re worthless, it’s that I don’t have time to read things cluttering up my email. Yes, I use filters to drop my newsletters into a special folder--and then I rarely check the folder. Great information piles up unread, because email is a lousy and inefficient medium for consuming content.
I’ve long preferred RSS as a method for reading subscriptions, and recently I finally made the shift over to Google’s news reader, after watching Scoble filter through 600 feeds using key commands. What a difference. I can scan through feeds in a way that vastly simplifies the process of filtering and consuming data, and I can access it easily from my laptop, desktop, or any computer.
Add that to the statistics emerging of younger users not using email at all, or IM, but communicating through Text and social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and you may want to start spending more time getting familiar with social networking sites. I’m not even a motivated migrant away from email, but I’m already finding myself communicating more through Facebook and text, because that’s where conversations are emerging.
Reading the Trends
What do all these points have in common? Two related issues. First, we’re seeing the peak of narrow point-to-point communication channels, as better technologies emerge that facilitate communication based in community participation, and that allow us to process more volume intelligently. Second, social marketing is continuing to spread its influence not just over Web sites and content, but over applications and communication. People are not just tired of the constant flood of aggressive and irrelevant marketing messages filling up every channel of communication, they’re finding alternatives to tune it out.
Think about it. Do-not-call lists. Spam filters. The CAN-SPAM Act. These are all obvious social and regulatory markers of a society fed up with blunt force marketing tactics. How long before that filters down into the design of applications and communications technologies? Well, it’s happening all around you. Are you ready?
Lead Nurturing Content Ideas and Tactics
I recently wrote about how lead nurturing improves lead generation ROI. If you aren’t doing lead nurturing to your early stage leads, I encourage you to get started today.
When it comes to actually doing lead nurturing, I find that many marketers get stuck because they lack enough good content to do it consistently. So my advice is to start accumulating content and building your lead nurturing library ASAP.
How do you build your library of relevant lead nurturing content?
A lead nurturing program can leverage existing investments that you have made in other marketing tactics such as events, white papers, contributed articles, or any other thought leading content. Third-party resources and content can also be effectively utilized to bring you an aspect of credibility through the halo effect.
Begin by developing a catalog (think library) of all of your lead nurturing content. Unfortunately, if you have a lot of content this can be tedious process. But trust me it's worth it. To help you get started, I’ve put together a simple spreadsheet (with example data). Download Lead-Nurturing-Content-Catalog-Sample.xls
Next, start digging around for good content in places such as your website, shared network folders and other content management systems that you have access too and collect that data in your spreadsheet. I advise starting with the most recent content first and then working your way back in time. And once you're done, be sure to keep your lead nurturing library catalog updated.
Here are some tactics you can use to leverage your lead nurturing content:
What can you send via direct mail?
The workhorse of business-to-business direct mail is still the one-page, personalized letter sent in a #10 envelope. Here are some direct mail content ideas: personal letters, dimensional mailers, books, newsletters, press releases, white papers, event invitations, research reports, case studies, success stories, article reprints and third-party articles.
What can you send via email?
Send personalized one-to-one emails with links to: by-lined articles, blog posts, relevant third party articles, case studies, press releases, white papers, e-newsletters, event invitations, archived events, research reports, blogs, success stories, case studies, videos, podcasts, and website content.
How can you leverage events?
Invite people to attend events such as: trade shows, live seminars, webinars, webcasts, executive briefings, workshops, conferences, road shows, speaking engagements and on demand events. Leverage past archived and recorded (archived) events with email links.
What can you do online?
Be sure to give your audience a way to subscribe to get updates either via RSS or via email. Here are some online examples such as: blog posts, podcasts, vidcasts, webinars, e-books, personalized microsites, wikis, and other multimedia.
What can you do via the phone?
Share new ideas, develop relationships, confirm correct contacts, get internal referrals, be sure to always get opt-in email addresses, personal invitations to events, reengage aged opportunities and identify sales ready leads.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of ideas but it should get you started. You might also find value in my recent webinar on lead nurturing relevant.
Do you have any other lead nurturing content ideas that you'd like to share?
August 20, 2007
The Power of Word of Mouth
Today I was struck by how powerful my wife’s mom’s club is in terms of word of mouth. Gina, mother of our four kids, is a board member of the Livermore Mothers club. She was drawn to this community of moms who support, inspire, and share experiences with one another.
Like most moms, these are often the “economic buyer” of the household. And that makes them a powerful force in Livermore because they talk about their buying experiences–the good and the bad.
Gina once posted a note asking “does anyone have recommendations for electricians?” She got back many responses yet one name came to the top of the list—Carl Keeney. We hired him based purely on the strength of references from fellow moms. Turns out his business comes almost exclusively from referrals from the Livermore moms club. The moms use Yahoo groups to communicate so what would take months of verbal word of mouth takes a click of the mouse to get out to the 150 moms. And some of these moms are executives. Talk about power.
But this club is not so unusual. For example, I personally belong to the following:
• HP Alumni Association (5000+ members)
• Women in Consulting (200 members)
• EPIC – Enabling Partners in Consulting (72 members)
• Bay Area IChild (170 members)
All of them are part of what internet marketers call the “long tail” or where there are far fewer “visitors” to a website because they represent a very specific interest group unlike portals which serve the masses. But I see a further distinction here than the “long tail” descriptor. These are communities that foster word-of-mouth which in turn has a huge impact on buying behavior.
Common characteristics of a private online group:
• Open vs. closed – Blogs, podcasts, and niche websites are community builders in the sense that they attract people with common interests. Anyone can visit the site and post a comment. But a community using, say, Yahoo groups, is typically closed to non-members. This exclusivity makes the group more intimate.
• Member vs. visitor – And because the group is closed, participants in the community are “members” not just anonymous visitors to a website. Membership confers with it a responsibility—what you say matters and will affect your relationships with other members.
• Trust and honesty – People join this community because they share a common area of interest and, more importantly, a common experience (e.g. motherhood, HP tenure, adoption, etc.). And that bond engenders both trust and a desire to help one another.
• Elicit not solicit – Community lists facilitate member requests. Members elicit a response when asking for inputs whether it’s about colic, constipation, computers, or consultants. This is very distinct from websites, association mailing lists, or publications in which vendors solicit its subscribers with specific offers.
• Conversation vs. communication – You’ll find most online groups have “threads” or conversations online on a particular topic (e.g. does anyone know…?) as opposed to one-way communications (e.g. articles and announcements).
What marketers can do to leverage word of mouth:
• Look beyond the obvious targets – Who would have thought that one of the biggest influencers of electrician hires was mothers? Ask your customers who they turn to for advice and whether they belong to an online group.
• Deliver excellence – There’s no hiding in this venue; both good and bad purchase experiences will get telegraphed instantly in an online community so your product/service better meet or exceed expectation well past the initial purchase. This is true whether we’re talking about electricians or enterprise software.
• Nurture relationships – you know my mantra has been that customer retention is more important than acquisition. This holds especially true when marketing to a tight community where your very first customer and your last one will carry equal weight.
• Be a member or befriend one -- Carl, our electrician, was connected to the Livermore moms club through one of his early customers. And that connection proved vital since virtually all his business now comes through club referrals. You can do the same by finding out how you can better connect with your target group. If it’s CIOs of banks, perhaps your best customer can give you visibility of what conversations are taking place among them.
• Don’t market – If you do somehow get to be a member of your target group, resist the temptation to promote, brag about, or pitch your product/service in any way. Sure you can buy a sponsored ad but never solicit business in the online group. You only hurt your credibility and risk blowing relationships.
So to sum up, we all know that word of mouth is the #1 best form of marketing because of its impact on purchase behavior. But do what Carl Keeney, our electrician, does: identify your target buyer’s community, deliver excellent product/service, and build lasting relationships that will reward you many times over.
Resources:
• NYU grad school -- Word-of-Mouth Ain’t Just Blogging
• Brand Autopsy -- The Influential Power of Word-of-Mouth
Copyright © Sridhar Ramanathan Pacifica Group
Only a matter of time before Microsoft combines ad business with 'software plus services'
Looking over the reports from the Microsoft financial analysts gathering last month in Redmond, Wash., I'm reminded of baseball ... modern ballparks in particular.
Far as I know, most major league baseball teams have been profitable for many years, many decades. Most of the teams in large cities are doing better than ever, in spanking new stadiums.
What's different now is the explosion of advertisements, endorsements, sponsorships, hucksterism and crass commercialism. Whether you attend a game or watch one on television, there isn't a time or place where you are not treated to literally dozens of commercial pitches while you try and figure out the real pitches.
Why on Earth would people who love baseball, or even just tolerate baseball, allow such a plastering of advertisements across their consciousness (and perhaps unconsciousness)? Well, because they don't have a choice, of course.
Baseball, like Microsoft (and soon, Google?), is a monopoly. There are few if any real choices for most anyone who wants to watch a major league game but to incur the ad wrath.
And that's why it's only a matter of time before Microsoft starts injecting scads of ads through their "services plus software" portfolio. That's right, when you open your online (or offline orhybrid-line) applications for a spreadsheet, word processor, email, calendar, ERP interface – just like you're now thoroughly accustomed to on Web pages and services – there will be ads. Lots of them. Targeted right to you as an individual or business (or both) with budget to spend.
Local, state, regional, mobile, location-based, keyword-oriented, and fuzzy-warm branding types of ads. All over your visual perimeter – just like at the ballpark – you'll be served up ads, ads, ads while you toil away to offer more cookie crumbs of insight into what the next ad should be that you see. Attention!
The implications for this, of course, are enormous. If Microsoft and the other services providers – for they will all have to follow suit, just like each ballpark followed the other – can better target these ads to you based on your relationship with them and the technology cauldron that forms from your use of "software plus services," then all the other providers of platforms for online ads will be sunk.
We used to have the division of church and state between editorial and advertising, but what of the division between technology and advertising? There isn't one. You may think you own your PC (vendors would differ) but you don't own the servers that toss up your "software plus services." You want to play ball? You gotta look at the ads.
Reminds me of the line from Southie strongman Frank Costello in the Oscar-winning movie The Departed: "I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me." You, dear readers, will be a product of the environment that your "services plus software" provider wants for you.
Even, over the next 3 to 10 years, as the newspaper business thinks it can reinvent its paper-based revenue streams from the Internet, in comes the IT vendors. These "software plus services" providers will – from the start-up of the first craplets when you turn the thing on until the last mouse click before you die – have you pegged. They know what you want before you do. No other entity can better match ads to users than a combined IT platform provider and online services provider whose business is based on advertising revenue. The marketers will finally have the tools they've always wanted.
And so those other media company web sites that dish up the highest- quality content, that provide top-line fourth-estate journalism will do okay (we hope), but the largest ad dollars growth will go to those "software plus services" providers that can give the advertisers the best on-target and metrics-based match-up between buyers and sellers. And then the IT companies buy the media companies, and then they buy the telcos and cable and mobile providers. Nice and tidy. Just like baseball.
Who to blame? No one. It's inevitable. Government regulators could scarcely keep up, even if the will and budgets existed. If Google and Microsoft don't do it someone else will. Mark Cuban thinks those alternatives could well be the local broadband providers, and he's right ... but only for a time. Once the ad monopoly kicks in, it will be Standard Oil on steroids with no Sherman Antitrust Act.
Is Google the white knight and Microsoft the evil empire. Nope. Just like in any good vs. evil saga (Star Wars, Harry Potter?) both sides need each other desperately. The better that Google does in making ad- based online applications and services work, the easier it is for Microsoft to inject that model into its current stable of software, err ... services, and present it as ... ad-based services.
And the more successful (could they be any more successful?) that Microsoft is at providing applications and services locally, online or both, the easier it is for Google to make its applications alternatives look good enough. These two massively and globally influential companies will ratchet each other up to the level of the modern-day ballpark. It's not either-or, it's both propelling the shifts in the market to ad-based everything online, including your business applications.
We are all just going along for the ride. For many of us, we think we get the functional services cheaply because the ads pay for the "software plus services." But when was the last time you saw the price of admission tickets to a ball game fall as they hoisted yet another billboard up over left field?
It won't be ad-based revenue or subscription. No, it will be ad-based revenue plus subscription. Has to be.