The fundamentals of digital engagement in 2014
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Transcript of The fundamentals of digital engagement in 2014
The Fundamentalsof digital engagement-------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital professionals in 2014
Simon Nash-----------------------------------------Planning Director, Reading
Room
--------------------------------
Some of our consultancy clients
Successful engagement isn’t about tinkering with social media or starting a blog. It’s a major shift in thinking and requires co-
ordinated action.
The Fundamentals of Digital Engagement
------------------------------------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital professionals in
2014
----------------------------------------------------
Audiences – Strategy – Content – Multi-channel – Change
Technology is advancing at a bewildering paceTechnology is
advancing at a bewildering pace
Digital technologies are changing the way we sell and market products and services.
And they’re transforming the relationships we have with our audiences.
And then there’s the Internet of
Things
The only constant is change itself. And the only organizations that
will prosper in this context are those that
adapt.
Challenge No.1 -----------------------------------------
Understanding your audience -----------------------------------------
Culture is increasingly embracing the opportunities afforded by new technologies with open arms.
People are now integrating the internet seamlessly into their daily lives using an increasing range of
devices to access the internet at home, at work and on the move.
New styles of interaction are driving the
development of new formats of bite sized
content
“There are 200 million people on the U.S. ‘Do Not Call’ list. Over 86% of TV viewers admit to skipping commercials. Forty-four
percent of direct marketing is never opened. Roughly 99.9% of online banners are never
clicked. Buyers wait until they have completed 60-80% of their research before
reaching out to vendors”
Michael Brenner, Senior Director of Global Marketing at SAP
Major companies like BT are taking these changes very seriously. Hiring analysts to understand how
they need to adapt their services channels for hyper connected customers.
Our audiences expect transactions and experiences to be increasingly seamless and
connected as they wander aimlessly between on and offline touch-points.
And the way they interact with us has
changed too; they share their
experiences with their networks in real time.
And the way they interact with us has
changed too; they share their
experiences with their networks in real time.
And the way they interact with us has
changed too; they share their
experiences with their networks in real time.
And the way they interact with us has
changed too; they share their
experiences with their networks in real time.
And the way they interact with us has
changed too; they share their
experiences with their networks in real time.
Traditional barriers between organizations and their audiences are giving way to new forms of
relationship. Transactions have gone beyond the confines of simple monetary exchange and
people are increasingly playing a participatory role in campaigns and product development and
engaging in dialogue about services .
New expectations are being set by innovative and progressive organizations who are
blessed with either the agility or the budget to set new benchmarks for the way we interact
with our audiences.
Meanwhile the rest of us are all playing catch-up – we have to take established processes,
entrenched technology, decades of experience and conservative organisational mindsets –
and steer our organisations toward bold new frontiers.
Challenge No.2 -----------------------------------------
Developing a coherent strategy
-----------------------------------------
Most organizations seem to be facing the same basic challenge. We’ve been on the back foot, developing
platforms & infrastructure and adopting new channels & technologies.
Whilst we’ve kept our audience in mind, the limitations enforced by organisational structure, marketing imperatives and operational processes
have conspired against us.
Generally, despite individual successes this path has led to web presences cluttered with good intentions,
inconsistent platforms, incoherent messaging and legacy campaign assets. Our audiences often have to
wade through ‘digital landfill’ to access what they need - it’s a wonder they bother.
There are a vast number of digital options available to us. So how do we make the right choices?
“A good strategy has coherence, coordinating
actions, policies, and resources so as to accomplish
an important end. Many organisations don’t have
this. Instead, they have multiple goals and
initiatives that symbolize progress, but no coherent
approach to accomplishing that progress other
than ‘spend more and try harder’ “
Richard Rumelt – Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
You must set tangible strategic outcomes as objectives. Attention
matters, but engagement itself is not
an outcome.
Target 55+ males
Using digital channels
Convert from blends
Upsell to higher SKUs
Encourage advocacy
Taste The Glenlivet
Awareness +58%
Consideration (amongst those who are aware but not buying TGL) +75%
Preference (vs. Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie) +113%
Brand I trust
Brand for me+24%+37%
Consumption / Sales
regular buyers of TGL52%
Challenge No.3 -----------------------------------------
Giving your content a life
of its own.-----------------------------------------
Content strategy used to mean thinking about what content you were going to put on the website, who
was going to produce and approve it etc.
Content now lives well beyond your website and there are some key considerations that can make all the difference in ensuring your content is conveying
your message effectively.
.
A whole science has emerged in relation to the development, creation and deployment of
content and its role in conveying your message implicitly & explicitly.
Concentrate on making your content interesting, entertaining, useful, helpful, & most of all, relevant.
As interesting as your product message might be, the fact is that your audience is very unlikely to be sat at their desk
waiting for you to issue your next product promotion. In order to grab
their attention you need to think like a publisher and offer them a compelling reason to engage with your content,
some sort of value exchange.
The fine art of editorial calendars
“If I like your content it’s not because I like your
brand it’s because I like my friends.”
Henry Jenkins
‘Spreadable Media ‘
Think about what your content means to the end user. If they share it – what’s in it for them?
Ongoing scheduled moderation and publishing according to strategy
2015 Campaign
2016Campaign
Time
Size of Social Following
2014 Campaign
Don’t lurch between campaigns. Communicate and engage consistently in an always on fashion and
grow your audience so that it can act as a platform for future engagement.
Embark on a journey from conversational
engagement toward a storytelling narrative
Inspiring visits to England with a thematic always on approach to content publishing and social
engagement.
Focusing on experiences and inspiring visits.
Slice and dice and focus on spreadable formats
Multiple formats increase the chances of engaging users who have a preference for a particular content type. And publishing on third party
syndication sites increases your visibility in search results.
The growth of the multi-channel web means that structured content is growing in importance
And don’t forget Google glasses, a car
dashboard, an internet fridge…..
More visually appealing, more findable, better for SEO, incorporation of reviews and other data plus
deep links into site sections and taxonomy.
More visually appealing, more informative and more likely to catch the eye in the newsfeed.
Structured Content
Much more real estate, more visually appealing, more shareable and more likely to generate a site
visit.
But if you are starting from scratch you can go deeper and prepare for the future. Foundations
First
Challenge No.4 --------------------------------------------
Becoming a smooth ‘multi-
channel’ operator
---------------------------------------------
Someone who can handle multiple situations in a fashion that can only be described as "Awesome, spectacular, and, above all else, awesometacular". Usually a smooth operator is someone who tends to be "on top of things", and is usually in control of any given situation. If he/she isn't in control of a situation, they usually find a way to gain control of it to make it more awesome for everyone involved.
Urban Dictionary Definition: Smooth Operator
Digital channels are expanding exponentially. 2009
Digital channels are expanding exponentially. 2013
Our audiences have adapted comfortably & they move seamlessly across channels & platforms both on and
offline. But most organisations are failing to rise up to the challenge.
We need to consider experiences from our audience’s point of view.
Keep things neat and tidy!
Rethinking search for the multi-channel web.
Findability not SEO
The Internet of Things has arrived and multi-channel experiences just gained a whole new dimension.
CRM has been a buzzword for many years yet many organisations still struggle with
unsatisfactory customer data and few have properly integrated their various touch-
points. This is problematic because it introduces dissonance as your audiences
move between them. But the real problem is that you cannot then identify people and use
that information to add value to the experience.
Unlock the potential of the multi-channel web
Challenge No.5 -----------------------------------------
Moving from digital owner
to digital leader.
-----------------------------------------
Stuff Marketing control
Stuff we need to change
Stuff IT Manage
You simply cannot conceive or implement a successful digital strategy without collaborating
with teams across the organisation.
Marketing
Operations Human Resources
Product
IT Dept
Organic Growth(Silos,
Fragmentation)
Customer focused approach
multi-channelcustomer
engagement
Marketing
Technology
Culture
Operations
Customer focused approach
Organic Growth(Silos,
Fragmentation)
Customer focused approach
multi-channelcustomer
engagement
Marketing
Technology
Culture
Operations
Customer focused approach
You need to develop a pan-organisational framework for engagement. Develop a distributed structure with guiding policies and enable teams to own
implementation.
London Business School have placed engagement at the centre of their digital strategy and have invested across all of their digital channels to
support this. We helped them develop an engagement strategy and a framework to support
that.
So to summarise
Five challenges facing digital professionals in 2014
• Understanding your audience
• Developing a coherent strategy
• Giving your message a life of its own
• Becoming a smooth ‘multi-channel’ operator
• Moving from digital owner to digital leader
More on this subject…
A practical guide to content marketing featuring insights gleaned from Reading Room projects and case studies provided by industry peers from a range of backgrounds.
Recently presented at Internet World, this presentation by Simon Nash outlines the importance of connecting engagement activity with real world outcomes.
Thanks------------------------------@ReadingRoomUK@SimonNash