Distributed Presence TM

2009 Industry Prediction: Digital Marketing Goes to Washington

Obama's use of technology and social media has been widely credited with his ability to connect with U.S. citizens and to raise an unprecedented amount of money ultimatly resulting in his historic presidential win.  As Business Week stated "[Obama] leveraged his website, the blogosphere, and even user-generated content (remember Obama Girl) and video games to engage not just donors and volunteers but all citizens." There is no doubt that future presidential candidates will elicit outside agencies with the directive to employ the "Obama online community networking model" to mobilize their constituency, but what is the near-term impact to the digtital marketing industry? 

Recognizing that change must come to Washington, Obama has already promised to appoint a Technology Czar to ensure that the Government is appropriately investing in next generation technology.  Obama's vision of a friendlier and more responsive government should be seen as very good news for the digital marketing industry.  Here's why:  The Government has long invested in technology infrastructure projects, which is why today you see D.C. and Northern Virginia riddled with technology consulting firms.  Though, as most of us know in the digital marketing industry, the "back-end," though an enabler, is transparent to the end user.  What matters most to the consumer (and to the average U.S. citizen) is their experience; were they able to complete the task that they set-out to do with as little frustration as possible.  From a marketing perspective, we take this further by ensuring that the consumer experience reflects the brand's positioning and provides a consistent stop along the customer journey.  In our industry we continuously seek to optimize the consumer experience; employing testing techniques such as heuristics, split and multivariate tests, concept and usability testing, focus groups, etc.  We think beyond the core consumer experience and seek to create a brand web or distributed presence that touches  consumers across all channels (both paid and unpaid) with a consistent message.  Simply put, we want to get noticed, while at the same time we continuously seek to demonstrate value to our target consumers.  I don't need to tell you that accomplishing this is difficult to do today given the short attention span and high expectations of the digital consumer. 

That said, the U.S. Government and it's various agencies do not have the expertise to effectively leverage the new media environment to accomplish their goals all on their own.  Just having a website no longer does the job, as Obama clearly demonstrated to McCain during the 2008 campaign.  If you combine the above with Obama's recently announced economic stimulus plan set to kick-off shortly after his inauguration, it doesn't take much to connect the dots:  Beginning in 2009, digital marketing agencies are headed to Washington D.C.  Sure you can argue that they're already there; AKQA, Arnold & Wunderman/RTCRM all have offices in the area, but given Obama's new mandate it won't be long before many more digital marketing agencies infiltrate the newest digital marketing frontier; our nation's capital. 

Do You ShopText?

What if I told you that there is a platform out there that allows you to sell or interact with your customers directly from traditional media?  Would you say, "that's impossible!"  Well, I have some surprising news for you.  You may recall that in a previous post I discussed Text Marketing and how it's bringing both accountability and interactivity to traditional static channels such as radio, print, direct mail, out-of-home, events, etc. Enter ShopText.  ShopText has created a platform that allows consumers to request product samples, enter sweepstakes and even purchase products directly from your mobile device. 

How does it work? Here goes...

Registration:  Consumers can choose to register with ShopText, but it is not required for a consumer to participate in an advertiser's program. During the site registration process, the consumers opts-in to Pull-only Text Marketing, provides secure credit card information, billing/mailing address and a secret code that confirms requests or purchases.  This entire process takes about two minutes.  If the consumer is not pre-registered, the ShopText platform will lead them through this process when the consumer sends their first text message to a brand marketer.  

Program in action:  Whenever this consumers sees that friendly ShopText Logo (seen here) on advertisements, they can simply text the advertised word to a specific short-code to perform a desired action, such as enter a sweepstakes, obtain a discount code and even purchase a product. 

ShopText Example:  A female consumer who has previously registered with ShopText is flipping-through Shape magazine while waiting at the dentist's office and sees an advertisement and/or editorial about a new type of yoga mat that promises to "elevate her workouts" through special ionic material that encompasses the mat (no, it's not true).  She has to have it, but doesn't want to call an 800-number, go to the website or tear-out the page.  She notices the ShopText logo that allows her to either "buy it now" or request more information.  She decides to buy it, she sends keyword "ionicmat" to short-code "54321."  ShopText responds with a text message requesting her PIN to confirm the order.  She replies with her PIN, ShopText then sends a receipt to her email address on file and sends the order to Ionic Mat, where they handle fulfillment.  

It appears that ShopText is having some initial success with their new business model as they've inked deals with an impressive list of companies:  Burger King, General Mills, Unilever, Rodale, Meredith, P&G, etc. to name a few.

I love this idea.  ShopText not only brings accountability and interactivity to traditional media, it allows brands to engage in mobile commerce as well.  Sure you can set-up your own Text Marketing program to do much of this, but ShopText has simplified the process through the creation of a robust platform and a broad network of both media partners and on-the-go consumers.

Be sure to check-out ShopText and consider it for your next offline program; it just could be the next big idea that you're looking for.

Social Media's Impact on the Customer Journey

Traditionally, the Customer Journey has been defined as:  the cycle of the relationship/buying interaction between the customer and an organization across all channels and over a period of time.  However, the online environment, specifically social media, has created the opportunity for external forces to impact the traditional Customer Journey. That said, marketers are now beginning to map the Customer Journey to include these external forces and seek to optimize the consumer experience during each stage of the customer lifecycle.

Sound interesting?  Check back soon for the complete article where I go into detail on how social media is rattling the traditional marketing funnel and what marketers can and should do about it.

SMS/Text Marketing: Friend or Foe?

Recently, I've been engaging in more and more discussion with other marketers about the use of SMS/Text messaging as an alternative/support marketing channel, referred to as Text Marketing.  From flu alerts to special offers/discount notifications to mobile viral promotions, text messaging as a marketing channel is growing in popularity.  However, Text Marketing is fundamentally different from other channels and marketers need to tread lightly when communicating with their customers via this very personal channel.  

This morning I came upon Davis Brewer's article Mobile Brings Value to Traditional Channels, where he discusses the use of text messaging as a support channel for traditional media to bring both interactivity and accountability to traditional (static) channels.  I couldn't agree more with Davis as I've been trying to convince my own clients to incorporate a Text Marketing component into their media plans using the same two arguments. 

Davis further cites Neilsen research stating that "77 percent of U.S. wireless phone users use text messaging. In a month, the average cell phone user sends and receives more text messages (357) than phone calls (204). The average age of those using text messaging is 35." 

The fact of the matter is this; text messaging is growing in popularity with US consumers and marketers are eager to open an additional channel to reach their target consumers.  However, it is important to note that consumers have preferred communications channels, where they may wish to hear from marketers; email, postal mail, phone AND text messaging.  Employing research and consumer insight, marketers should seek to optimize the customer journey by reaching their consumers via their preferred communications channels, which may or may not include text messaging.  

From a marketing perspective, Text Marketing can be placed into one of two categories: 

1.  Pull Text Marketing:  Consumers make a request via text message and a response is made by a marketer, referred to as demand-response.  Here's an example: A consumer sees McDonald's print advertisments that states: send the word "happymeal" to short-code "54321" to receive a $1 discount code toward your next purchase.  This is usually a one-time contact by the marketer with the consumer.

2.  Push Text Marketing: Consumer subscribes to alerts, special offers, discounts, etc. and agrees that the marketer can contact the consumer according to their agreement.  The marketer then pushes alerts or notifications to consumers at will.  Here's an example:  A consumer goes to Chevy.com and subscribes to be notified via text message of upcoming special offers or incentives.  Chevy then pushes incentives text messages to the consumer whenever they update their marketing programs.  It is important to note in this example that there is no end to these alerts unless the consumers replies with a "stop" message.

Pull Text Marketing is the less intrusive of the two tactics since the consumer made a specific request.  In short, consumers are expecting an immediate response from the marketer and actually sit and wait for the response. However, Push Text Marketing is where the waters become a bit murky as it feels more invasive to a consumer compared to its counterpart.

So, why is this?  Text messaging is more personal than any other communications channel.  I've often said that today, email is for business (impersonal), social networks are for friends or extended relationships (more personal) and text messaging is for very close or immediate relationships (very personal).  Additionally, there is a cost to the consumer to receive text messages, which is different from other communications channels.  When a marketer begins to employ Text Marketing tactics, even if previously invited, backlash against the brand can occur.  Here's an example of a recent experience:  I received a text alert from My Coke Rewards; apparently they missed me.  Though I opted-in to text alert notifications, I forgot about it since it was more than 6 months ago.  When I heard that familiar text notification sound on my Blackberry, I excitedly checked my text in-box in anticipation of hearing something like:  Wife: "what do you want to do for dinner?"  Friend: "are we still going skiing over Christmas?"  Another Friend: "what time are we meeting for the 5K this Sunday?"  As you can imagine, I was not expecting to hear: Coke "we miss you, come back to us."

That said, here are a couple of key take-aways with regard to setting-up and executing a Text Marketing program:  

1. Text Marketing is not email marketing; different consumer engagement rules apply.  Messaging should be timely and relevant; keep in mind that over time, consumers will forget that they subscribed to your alerts and will likely be annoyed regarding the contact.  Therefore, opt-in programs should be short with an expiration date.
2. Pull Text Marketing is a marketer's best friend as its: immediate and brings both interactivity and accountability to traditional vehicles such as Print, OOH, Broadcast, etc.
3. Text Marketing costs your consumers money.  Though many mobile plans include unlimited text messages, many still do not and consumers are charged for each incoming and outgoing email
4. You will need to partner with a mobile aggregator who will help you to set-up your program; obtain short-code, work across carriers, execute the program, etc.
5. Text Marketing limits communications to 160 characters, including spaces.  It is good marketing to engage in split or multivariate testing to optimize communications messages.
6. Keep in mind that cost of text marketing programs are variable.  Successful programs are great, but they are very hard to budget for.
7. As always, don't forget to measure and optimize the program.  With regard to a Pull Text Marketing program, it is optimal to use different codes or messages for different vehicles to allow you to measure a vehicle's contribution to overall program success.

I'm interested in hearing from you; please write to me and let me know if you have something to add to the above conversation: mail@keithrhodes.com

Confused about Widgets & Gadgets? Read on.

Recently I created an iGoogle Gadget for Lufthansa Airlines to support the Lufthansa "Discover your moment" sweepstakes.  When we began our planning we felt that a gadget would be a great idea to distribute the Lufthansa brand online, beyond their US microsite.  However, with limited content to distribute combined with the short attention span of the digital consumer, we were unsure of what to do with a gadget and Lufthansa. 

Now, I know what you're thinking; why use technology for technology sake?  Technology should only be employed to support a well defined consumer strategy, right?  I completely agree, however, there were special circumstances that required us to create a Google Gadget- let's just say that it was a special budget that could only be used for "innovative" ideas.

As we continued to refine our sweepstakes concept, an idea occurred to us:  Let's create a gadget that enables consumers to enter into the Lufthansa sweepstakes every day for the duration of the promotion by simply answering a new question each day about Lufthansa.  The gadget concept had everything that the marketing team was looking for: Brand awareness, distributed presence, engagement and education.  To date the Lufthansa gadget downloads, brand engagement and program performance has exceeded our expectations. 

So what can Widgets/Gadgets do for you?  Below is an article that discusses widgets, gadgets and other content distribution tactics.  It provides some examples of widgets/gadgets that were created by agencies for top brands. 

Before you go, I have a couple of key take-aways for you:

1. Gadgets/Widets are cheap to produce, but they're worthless if no one sees them.  Widgets/Gadget's require promotion to encourage distribution; don't rely on on viral or word of mouth.
2. There are many platforms that you will need to develop for.  We chose to use Google, but we could have also developed Widgets/Gadgets for Yahoo, Apple, Gigya, Clearspring, Facebook, Myspace, etc. Begin with your target consumer, let that be the driver for the networks or platforms that you choose.
3. Don't forget about mobile.  Many of the most useful iPhone and Blackberry applications are not applications at all; they're nothing more than Widgets located on mobile devices.  Explore the possibilities of mobile Widgets to provide utility to your target consumers.
4. Content and utility are king.  Without content, you have nothing to distribute.  I assure you, no one needs another branded weatherbug or desktop analog clock.  Your best bet?  Start with an existing concept or program and explore ways that you can extend your program, content and brand by using Widgets. 
5. Evolve.  The attention span of a digital consumer is short to say the least.  Think about how you will evolve the Widget/Gadget over time to maintain a level of utility to your target consumer.
6. Widgets/Gadgets don't have to always be consumer facing.  Consider using Widgets/Gadgets for measurement dashboards, monitoring sales, and other performance data. 
7. Always measure and optimize.  A Widget/Gadget is part of your program.  Measure, analyze and consider ways to optimize the consumer experience like you would a website, a CRM program or a banner campaign.   

Finally, here's the article:  Widgets are made for marketing, so why aren't more advertisers using them?