Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 166
March 14, 2017
Scratch That One Little Customer Itch
Twitter did some thing this week. It was very small. It can have a huge impact.
Yes, Twitter is in all kinds of trouble. They have sliding revenues and meager growth. They are amping up on their traditional advertising to drive customer acquisition, and everyone knows that the biggest bump that they're getting these days come from a United States President that loves to drop 140 characters bombs on a variety of topics. In fact, Twitter has much larger problems to deal with. Many of them date back to the early days of the platform. One of the biggest one is how they have dealt with trolls, harassment and anonymity. As anyone who is familiar with the platform knows, it's fairly easy for anonymous trolls to spew their bile all over anyone's @ replies.
Twitter takes a stand... kind of.
Last Thursday, Twitter deployed a handful of features that give us all much more control over the notifications that we receive. In short, you can disable notifications from people you're not sure of. All you have to do, is go to your Notification pane, tap settings and then hit "advanced filters." In there, you can force Twitter to mute the following:
Accounts you don't follow.
People don't have a profile picture (that egg thing).
People who have not confirmed their email address.
People who have not confirmed their phone number.
What's great about this... what's bad about this?
In looking at the options, it's clearly the last one that is most powerful. All of the other stuff is just fluff. That last one - the phone... that's the powerful one. In fact, why does Twitter allow anybody to even create an account, if you don't attach it to a phone number? Anyone can fake an email address, but confirming a phone number really makes it a lot tougher for the trolls to do their trolling. So, this is great (and, I highly recommend that everyone takes five seconds right now to make the adjustments to their profile), but why doesn't Twitter do this at sign-up? It's not too late for them to even retroactively suspend accounts for those who have not confirmed their phone numbers. Of course, this will diminish their overall numbers. In fact, it is being reported that up to 48 million Twitter accounts are bots and that between 9%-15% of tweets come from fake accounts (more here: Cnet - Up to 48 million Twitter accounts are bots, study says). Still, these numbers don't do anybody any good (including Twitter). Couple bot accounts with trolls and harassment, and it would be very interesting to see what the real Twitter numbers look like. Regardless, all of this would make the platform more (not less) valuable. To users, to advertisers and to Twitter (in the long run). On the plus side, Twitter is a large, expansive and growing platform. With all of the challenges also comes all of the amazing content, the speed with which it is delivered, how easy it is to tweet and follow interesting people and brands and more.
Focus less on harassment and more on what happened to uncover some business and marketing gold.
Let's put aside the business ethics of Twitter making this move to slow down the trolls and harassment, and focus on the consumer. For anybody who uses Twitter, this has been an itch that we could not scratch for a very long time. While it's only one little check-box with the words "mute notifications from people who haven't confirmed their phone" it has - without question - scratched that bad itch. One, simple little tweak to the functionality.
What customer itches are you not scratching for your customers?
Often, a brand has to dig down deep to find it. Often, customers don't even know how bad of an itch it is, until it's scratched. Regardless, all brands have these itches. Some have more than others, but all brands have them. Imagine if the iPhone suddenly had a battery that didn't need monitoring/charging for a few days? Imagine if that airline app tripled their speed (my airline of choice just released their latest app, and I often have to switch over to the mobile version of their website because the app is so slow and unresponsive)? There are countless of these little, tiny opportunities that brands - too often - simply ignore, because they feel like there are bigger fish to fry, or that they can couple these issues together and wait for a larger update to make in the future. Don't do this. Don't wait. Get on it.
Customers often don't know just how frustrated they are.
Sometimes, it's the little things that create big changes. Often, customers just want to be able to get get in, get out and have that experience be a clean and obvious as possible. They often can't even pinpoint these itches, but they're there. Brands like to think big, make swooping changes and update many things at once. Those two ideologies are not diametrically opposed, but there's no reason for brands not to rethink how they approach the connections that they're trying to make with customers.
Brands should not kid themselves. Those little itches that get scratched can lead to much bigger and better things. Right?
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March 13, 2017
Twitter Curbs The Hate, Messenger Attacks Snapchat And More On This Week's CTRL ALT Delete Segment On CHOM 97.7 FM
Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on iHeart Radio, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what's going on in the digital world. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
Montreal and Google are getting even closer these days. Last week, Google announced that they have selected Montreal as one of it's first Canadian Google Cloud Platform Region. The announcement was made during a keynote Thursday at the company's Google Cloud Next '17 conference in San Francisco last week. The new region now lets customers - such as large corporations - move large amounts of information to online storage without having to leave Canadian borders. But that's not the only reason.
Twitter is finally doing something about the abuse and trolls on its platform. This is great news... and long overdue. All you have to do is go to your Notifications pane, tap settings and then hit "advanced filters". You can tell Twitter to automatically mute any of the following: Accounts you don't follow. People who don't have a profile picture. People who haven't confirmed their e-mail. People who haven't confirmed their phone number. That last one may be the most powerful one. Anyone can set-up an email address, but changing a phone number is much tougher. Most troll accounts are less likely to have a confirmed phone number, making this a pretty smart strategy for curbing harassment. Too little too late? Let's see!
As Snapchat struggles to find its financial footing and growth post-IPO, Facebook is doing everything it can to kill it. Like this: they just announced a new feature for Messenger called, Messenger Day. This new functionality will live inside Facebook Messenger -- which now has more than a billion monthly active users -- and allows users to share what it calls a "visual status" with others for 24 hours at a time. Yep... disappearing images and video. Poor Snapchat?
App of the week: Work Hard Anywhere.
Take a listen right here...
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March 12, 2017
Douglas Rushkoff Debates Media, Technology And Politics - This Week's Six Pixels Of Separation Podcast
Episode #557 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.
When the state of media, news, broadcasting and digital channels creates more confusion than better solutions, there are few big brains I'd rather sit and discuss this with than Douglas Rushkoff. Simply put: Douglas Rushkoff makes my brain hurt, because he is so smart. His latest book, Throwing Rocks At The Google Bus, is about to come out on paperback, and it will make your head spin too. Not to be a contrarian for contrarian's sake, this Media Theorist also happens to understand the underpinnings of the news business, politics, economics, and his thinking will startle you. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum or how you feel about "fake news" this will make you think deeply. Rushkoff (for those who do not know) is the person responsible for coining terms like 'digital natives', 'social currency' and 'viral media'. If you've never heard of Rushkoff, he's the winner of the Media Ecology Association's first Neil Postman award for Career Achievement in Public Intellectual Activity, he is an author, teacher, and documentarian who focuses on the ways people, cultures, and institutions create, share, and influence each other's values. He is Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at CUNY, technology and media commentator for CNN, digital literacy advocate for Codecademy.com and a lecturer on media, technology, culture and economics around the world. If that's not enough, he recently published a graphic novel titled, Aleister & Adolf. Enjoy the conversation...
You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #557.
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March 11, 2017
The Hot Mess Dumpster Fire That Is Corporate Content
How many brands are creating content that you just can't wait for?
Go ahead. Make a list. I'll wait. You're done, aren't you?. Are there any brands on your list? Stop for just a second and think about that. We've been looking at this content marketing space for some time now. My blog, Six Pixels of Separation, started back in 2003. It wasn't the first corporate blog. It won't be the last. Since then, we've seen so many new and exciting forms of media (text, images, audio and video) come into their own. On top of that, we've seen platforms grow beyond many of our own wildest imaginations. Seriously. Think about it: Facebook is closing in on two billion users. Snapchat has over 160 million daily active users with an average of 2.5 billion snaps per day. Instagram is racing past half a billion users. The list goes on from YouTube to LinkedIn to Medium and beyond. In short, any brand can create content (in short and/or long form) and have that content distributed (in text, images, audio and video) for free (well, almost free) to the entire planet. These brands can put that content on their own website, app, blog, etc... or choose one of many of the platforms listed above (and even more that are not listed). This has been going on for well over fifteen years.
If you sit back and think that, it's staggering that advertising is still (primarily) the best that most brands can do.
Of course, this is painting a pretty wide brush across the business landscape, but it feels true. From small, medium and large brands to those that are focused on B2B and B2C, there are many that are creating, publishing and distributing content in new and interesting ways. Many brands are getting great response from the content that they're producing. Still, how many of these brands have "must see" content. The kind of content that you actively seek out, pursue, like, share, comment and engage with? As a consumer, you may appreciate the fact that there are some smart brands who are speaking to you, rather than screaming at you, but it's not the vast majority. Now, if you lay that raw fact on the table, and compare it to how many talk the talk about their content marketing strategies, platforms and more... something doesn't add up.
It's not a real interaction. It's just an interaction.
You can go back to the early 2000s and read me saying things like: the beautiful thing about social media (when done right) is that it enables and empowers a consumer to have a real interaction with a real human being at the brand. That all of this publishing empowers brands to speak in a more human, humane, friendly and relevant voice and tone. The more like-minded a brand can now be with their consumers, the better. Yes, many brands capitalized on this moment in time. Still, many more brands commoditized this moment in time. I agree with my friend, Chris Brogan. Today, he posted an article titled, Nobody Reads Your Corporate Blog Because It's Boring. It's true. Make a run through some of the brands that you admire most. Most of them have blogs. Some of them have abandoned ship. Some of them have slowed down on their publishing frequency. Most of them are not fresh. Most of them are self-serving. Most of them are nothing more than a slightly personalized press release. Chris lays out the blog problem like this:
"But there's a NEW challenge afoot. The attempt at a solution for most companies was to either outsource their content creation or to assign the task to someone internally. In both cases, the person usually tasked with creating the material just isn't all that into the company, the customers, and the space that they're covering. Meaning, they don't really talk about anything useful or interesting to the person hoping to learn more and get involved in some way with what the company does or sells. Plus, they're writing 'me too' and boring content."
It's not just blogs. Check out the Twitter feed. Check out their Facebook Page. Go ahead... stomp around.
Most social media spaces are being used to put out fires of one sort or another. Customer service complaints, the promotion of the day, an attempt to newsjack something that has happened in the media, an opportunity to shine the light on someone in the organization who did something right, a platform to distribute their traditional advertising on, and more. In my second book, CTRL ALT Delete, I wrote about something called, Utilitarianism Marketing. The hopes of this opportunity were that brands would now create something (an app, a website, a tool) or - better yet - content that consumers actually need. Sounds simple enough, but there are so few examples of brands that have been able to make this happen, that it's scary.
If you care about your brand...
Go ahead and do your own quick audit. It's a simple exercise. Grab the last three months of content that your brand has put out into the world. Grab everything. Every tweet, post, article, video, etc... Split the content into these three lists:
List number one: self-serving content (stuff that's about you/your brand).
List number two: all customer service related content (stuff that's about issues that your consumers have with your products/services).
List number three: content that adds real value to the consumer's life (that doesn't have a self-serving ask/call-to-action at the end of it).
How to improve your brand experience...
Odds are that most of your content will come from lists number one and two (sorry). Here's the challenge: inverse the results. Try to make the most content that you produce, content that adds real value to the consumer's life (list number three). This will one of the toughest marketing challenges that you will ever take part in, but I can promise you this: your content will actually become valuable. Your consumers will take notice. They will become more valuable to you and anyone else who may touch your brand. And, slowly, over time your content will stop being the hot mess dumpster fire that it probably is these days.
Are you up for the challenge?
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March 8, 2017
Embrace The Shift Away From Stuff - Strategy Magazine Column
Audio streams trump everything when it comes to music.
That may seem obvious, but one could argue that it is both sudden and scary to see just how quickly consumer behaviour has changed. Neilsen recently released data on the rise of music streaming and the net of it was that audio streaming had a 76.4% year-over-year increase for music consumption in the U.S. Comparatively, CD album sales were down 16.3% in the same time frame and digital album sales performed even worse (down 20.1%). In the blink of an eye, the downloading/stealing/wanting-singles-and-not-albums concerns have been completely obliterated because of services like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal. And it is not just music. Look no further than Netflix, or the fact that people now consume 1 billion hours of YouTube videos a day.
But this is not about really about streaming as a new form of media.
What Spotify and Netflix has validated is that consumers quickly adopted the model of paying a monthly subscription fee to be given access to an entire library over a one-time payment for ownership of physical goods. Unilever purchased the similarly modeled Dollar Shave Club for roughly $1 billion in 2016, less for the products that they sell (razors and shaving cream) and much more for the subscription revenue model (and database that it's attached to). Still, when the products shift from the physical to a digital stream, there is something deeper that all brands must consider.
It's a cloud-based brand new world now.
If consumers are actively moving to a place where they want to own less, and prefer to access what they need on-demand, on-the-go and without a long-term commitment, how does your marketing evolve? You may not see a correlation in your current quarterly sales. You may not see a correlation between this dramatic shift in consumer behaviour to your current marketing strategy. But this trend is spreading. In the second quarter of 2016, the home ownership rate in the U.S. fell to 62.9% percent, which was its lowest level since 1965. The truth behind the data is that younger people are more likely to rent than own a home now. This is partially because of salaries and the work available to the younger generation, but the tech industry has allowed them to adapt their lifestyles to this reality, which means you need to as well. The belief that we all grew up with - study hard, get a degree, get a job, get married, have kids, get a mortgage, buy a home (and a car and a big-screen TV) - is dwindling. This newer generation wants experiences, are much more digitally nomadic and, ultimately, don't want the burden of more "stuff" as they attempt to suck as much juice out of this life as possible.
How can a brand survive if all it sells is stuff that people are wanting less and less of?
There are several questions you can ask yourself about marketing today in world where consumers will want less tomorrow:
How can you leverage your current database to better understand how consumers are spending their money beyond your brand?
What new kinds of marketing channels might best reach consumers who are shifting their buying habits so rapidly?
How have those in different industries with similar customers to yours disrupted their own business model?
And it's less about seeing all the consumer trends you have to fight against in this world and more about the opportunities that come with it. Look for your offerings that can be digitized, packaged and sold in a library or cloud-based way. Find the new digital product or service that your brand can create and market. Perhaps the best question marketers can ask themselves when facing a future free of stuff is this:
If you had to quit your current company and build a startup in the same vertical, how would you build it?
The above posting is my new/regular column for Strategy Magazine. I cross-post it here with all the links and tags for your reading pleasure, but you can check out the original version online here:
Strategy Magazine - Embrace the shift away from stuff.
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March 7, 2017
Is Technology An Addiction, A Crutch Or Normal For Who We Are?
I'm addicted to my iPhone. There, I said. Are you? Be honest.
This is a tale of two stories.
Story #1. When it comes to managing your smartphone, accessibility, and being engaged at work, many people leave their devices on the default settings. For years, I have argued that this is a big mistake. You can't let technology control you. You have to control technology? How? My simplistic technique (which I still apply and recommend that you do as well) is this: turn off all notifications, pings, rings, ringtones, etc... On the iPhone, you can create a unique tone/pulse for specific contacts. I have one for my spouse. That's it. Otherwise, my phone does not ring, beep or notify me of anything. If I want to check email, the phone, text messages, Facebook updates, etc... I have to take the proactive step of doing so. It's a small and simple way to take control of one's technology and access. It doesn't notify me. I check in when I want to/have the time.
Story #2. I have lost all control. I am constantly checking for emails, messages, updates, mentions and more. I don't think I do it more/less than the average bear, but because so much more of my life is operated through the iPhone (note taking, banking, travel, reading books, magazine articles, shopping, etc...), it's become the place where I spend a lot of my waking hours. It's become the place where a lot of my creative effort in inputed, published and interacted with. It has come to a point where having/not having the notifications set up (as defined above) hardly matters because of how much time I'm spending in front of the screen. In fact, even when I "disconnect" through my daily mindfulness practice, it is done via the app Headspace. So, still on the iPhone. Ugh.
Is it just me? I don't think so. Here's some staggering data about how connected we've become:
70% of office emails are read within six seconds of arriving (source).
47% of adults say they would not last a full 24 hours without their smartphones (source).
Americans collectively check their smartphones upwards of 8 billion times per day (source).
The average attention span has fallen to eight seconds in 2016, down from twelve seconds in the year 2000. That's a shorter attention span than goldfish (source).
This is just the beginning. There is a lot more data on this topic (just Google it).
Are you addicted to your smartphone (can't live without it/constantly checking it/get nervous when it's not on you)? Do you use your smartphone as a crutch (able to look busy when you don't want to interact with human beings in their protein forms/not interested in what's in front of you in the physical world, so you grab the phone)? Is this normal? Is this who we have become? Is this healthy? Is it a problem? While these may not be new questions, they are questions that we must, increasingly, look at as business professionals. How much of what we create, market and push into people's faces is adding value and not more noise to this experience. Look no further than the groundbreaking work of Sherry Turkle (and her two incredible business books, Alone Together and Reclaiming Conversation). With every day, our usage and connection increases, so even studies done last year on these topics, may not be correct as we use these devices now to do more and more (like control our homes, TVs, garage doors, alarm systems, thermostats, etc...).
The first step is admitting that you have a problem (as they say).
Today, Adam Alter published his latest business book, Irresistible - The Rise Of Addictive Technology And The Business Of Keeping Us Hooked. Adam is an Associate Professor of Marketing at New York University's Stern School of Business, with an affiliated appointment in the New York University Psychology Department. We met back in 2012, prior to the publishing of his first book, Drunk Tank Pink (you can listen to our conversation right here: SPOS #358 - Understanding Humans And Making Marketing Better With Adam Alter). This new book, Irresistible, must be read by you (and everyone that you know). As we continue to build our brands and amp up sales for our businesses, we tend to pay little attention to what, exactly, all of this content, information, technology, innovation and connectedness might be doing (that isn't so great) to our overall health. Adam's book looks at the implications of our evaporating attention spans, our ability to truly empathize with one another, and the need (for many) to get professional help, because of how addicted they truly are.
We're not born this way. We have done this to ourselves.
This is not binary. It is a spectrum. And, no matter where you sit on this spectrum of addictiveness to technology, it's important to step back, read Irresistible, and think about how our relationship to technology could be crippling the relationships that we have with our family, friends and - even - ourselves. In the next few weeks, Adam and I will record a new conversation for Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast (so, look for it in the coming weeks). Until then, pick up his book. Think about the alternative as well: is it possible to be "successful" without being this connected? And, yes, the irony of me reading this book on my iPhone (Kindle app) was not lost on me.
What has technology done to us? And, more importantly, as overwhelmed as we have become, is there a viable solution? What do you think?
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Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #351
Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS; chair of Strata, Startupfest, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO; Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".
Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:
Exponential growth devours and corrupts - Signal V. Noise - Medium . "Basecamp and Ruby creator David Heinemeier Hansson minces no words in this scathing indictment of the Venture Capital world, where words like 'Engagement' and 'Vitality' are ends that justify all means. It's actually about Uber, and society, and the dangers of spiralling into a Black Mirror caste nightmare. It's long and angry, and I wish a politician would take it up." (Alistair for Hugh).
Bear 71 - National Film Board . "Canada's National Film Board is making interesting VR experiences these days. Check out Bear 71, a documentary about the increasingly dangerous life of a bear in a human world. Plays on mobile devices too!" (Alistair for Mitch.)
The Amazon Rainforest Was Profoundly Changed by Ancient Humans - The Atlantic . "Is the Amazon rainforest an untouched, wild expanse, untroubled by human interference until our modern, mechanized age? Or, have humans been shaping and cultivating the species in the rainforest, effectively gardening this forest for thousands of years? New research suggests it's less the former, and more the latter." (Hugh for Alistair).
Bill and Ted vs. Wayne and Garth - Deja Reviewer . "Every once in a while, someone my age says something like, 'Party on,' or ' xcellent!' or 'Strange things are afoot at the Circle K,' or 'In France she would be called La Renarde' or 'Put them in the iron maiden!' and I have a moment of deep existential confusion, panic even, trying to figure out whether the quote comes from the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure or Wayne's World. This article helps clear up the similarities and differences." (Hugh for Mitch).
When Prince Made a Chambermaid His Queen For a Day - The Daily Beast . "My buddy, Tom Webster, posted this article on Facebook. I had not seen it. It's a long, strange trip indeed that takes a look back at culture, music, perception, contests, marketing, the music business and what it takes to pull something off (and what it means about us and society). Prince was a true iconoclast. No doubt about that. This article makes you wonder what the people behind him were like (to keep that persona going). Great read!" (Mitch for Alistair).
Why the Internet Didn't Kill Zines - The New York Times Magazine . "I called them 'magazines' when I was publishing them back in the nineties. Upon reflection (and, if I'm going to be candid with myself), they were much more like fanzines. Sure, they had better design and were not printed on a Xerox machine, but the content came from that same 'zine scene/place. You would think that the Internet, blogs and publishing platforms like Medium would have killed the zine. You would be wrong. Thankfully. This culture keeps pushing on. I wonder how many brands could pull of a zine?" (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
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March 6, 2017
Uber Is In The News (For The Wrong Reasons), Facebook Is In The News (For The Right Reasons) And More On This Week's CTRL ALT Delete Segment On CHOM 97.7 FM
Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on iHeart Radio, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what's going on in the digital world. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.
This week we discussed:
Uber is back in the media for all of the wrong reasons. The New York Times is reporting that Uber has a technology called Greyball, that would warn drivers if the potential user was tagged as law enforcement or city regulators and - in kind - the potential law enforcement officers/regulators would be served up a fake version of the app, populated with ghost cars to evade being caught. Uber used this technology, primarily, in cities where their service was being resisted/banned. According to the article, this is still going on.
Can artificial intelligence save a life? Facebook is using AI to prevent suicides. Using a combination of pattern recognition, live chat support from suicide prevention organizations and other tools, Facebook will (primarily) be using this in their live video streaming service. It will be showing people resources and allowing others to report someone attempting to take their life. Facebook will also be using AI for recognition of posts that include thoughts of suicide, etc...
Is YouTube your next cable provider? Last week, YouTube launched YouTube TV. For $35 per month, users will get CBS, Fox, ABC, NBC, ESPN, Fox Sports Networks, and more. Perhaps even more interesting is that there are no contracts, so you can cancel whenever you want. YouTube also has a virtual DVR service with unlimited storage, but shows will automatically delete after nine months. YouTube TV will launch in a few months in the US. No word on when/if Canada will get it.
App of the week: OverSight.
Take a listen right here...
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March 5, 2017
They Ask And You Answer With Marcus Sheridan - This Week's Six Pixels Of Separation Podcast
Episode #556 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.
He has one of the most profoundly powerful stories about how to grow a complex (and regional) business using everything from social media to marketing automation. It has worked so well for him, that he went from selling swimming pools (which he still does) to helping other businesses understand how to leverage this amazing moment in time to grow a business (which he spends the bulk of his work time on). Marcus Sheridan is an incredible human being. Not just because of how he transformed River Pools And Spas into a thriving business during economically challenging times, but how he morphed that into The Sales Lion. Now, he's published his first business book, They Ask You Answer, in which he breaks down how inbound sales, content marketing and the digital channels can help your brand flourish. He's an amazing speaker and passionate entrepreneur. I count myself lucky that I can call him a friend as well. Enjoy the conversation...
You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Mirum Podcast #556.
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March 3, 2017
In Case You Were Wondering, "Digital" Is Not Just A Medium
When it comes to marketing, it's all about the idea. That's the fact.
Brands, agencies and media companies can go back and forth these days on what it takes to "make it" in marketing today. It feels like a lot of the energy is moving away from the most important part of the work: the final product. There's a lot of talk about platform, technology, automation, optimization, virality, media composition, data, analytics, and more. In the end, cherished business professionals, if the idea doesn't stick with your potential audience, a strong marketing automation platform or responsive mobile experience or well-tagged landing page is not going to save you. In fact, as much as marketing has changed, the message is still the message... and it needs to connect.
Still, there's a lot of confusion when the word "digital" gets tossed around.
I'm guilty of this. When asked "what works" in marketing today, I often say that it must be "digital first." This frustrates the purists, traditionalists and (most) creatives. They shake their fists in the air and demand to know why the medium is more important than the message. Of course, the medium is not as important as the message. The message needs to stick and it needs to sink deep into the consumer's psyche. Famed advertising legend, Bill Bernbach, said: "If no one notices your advertising, everything else is academic" (thanks for the reminder: Dave Trott) That's true, whether the message is on a billboard, television, banner ad or a YouTube video. It's also true that you rarely hear a marketing professional say something like: "all I care about is the idea." Yes, the idea has to work, but part of making that idea work is understanding the environment it is going to live in. The environment is also not the medium. An idea can be brilliant but not fit in the current zeitgeist. That's why "digital" should not be confused as simply being another medium. It's not. When a client requests a "digital first" idea, the reaction should not be, "did you think I was going to give you a TV-first idea," but this is (all too) often the case. Personally, I've been called into many c-level marketing sessions, because the brand asked the agency for work and the idea (great ideas, good ideas and bad ideas) are presented in a storyboard/30 second spot model. The brand can't get behind the idea, as the agency is too busy convincing them that the idea (narrative, etc...) is easily adaptable to "digital" (as in, another medium), and all the brand can see is a TV commercial. These too are ideas that are medium-specific.
It's the idea. It's the story.
This is true. This not true if you don't know where your audience lives and how they consume ideas and stories these days. Yes, an ad can be adapted for Facebook. Yes, a great idea can be adapted for multiple forms of media. Still, it's very rare when that does happen. Sadly. Thinking of ideas in a digital first world opens up new forms of communications. That's the true spirit of digital first. It's not about the idea working on a digital channel, it's about the idea being complementary to a consumer who is - more likely than not - swiping right more than they're sitting on the couch waiting for a 30 second spot to unfold. Digital first also means that maybe, instead of an idea, it's a product, a service, an app, and more. It's about not limiting the idea to being something that could be contained only in an advertising media format. Yes, ideas first. Yes, the story matters more than where it appears. Yes, yes, yes and please make your marketing message something bigger than the construct of another ad that can be formatted for different screens. The idea, story, brand experience no longer needs to linger as an ad.
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with saying "digital first" before the idea, with this kind of definition. Do you?
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