October 14th, 2009
It’s quite interesting that while Google gives in depth information about many other websites around the world with Google Ad Planner yet it gives no information on its own site. That’s not exactly the case below as we can see Quantcast gives full data on Google.com:
Why doesn’t Google want you to know about their data? Is it because their traffic is flat and has been flat for the last 6 months?:
As you can see below in depth demographics data IS available, just not from Google:
Some quick demographics from Google:
- 67% of users are between 18-49 and is above the Internet average.
- 78% are Caucasian but this is below the Internet average.
- 15% are Asian, Hispanic and Other. This may seem small but their usage of Google is higher than normal.
- 58% make $60K+, so Google’s usage amongst monetary classes is split pretty evenly.
- 58% have attended College and Grad School. What’s interesting here is that as education goes up the concentration of users in the more educated groups goes up as well.
Whatever Google’s reasoning is, the fact of the matter is that their data is out there yet they don’t want you to have it via their tools.
Tags: analysis, business, consumer, consumer demographics, consumers, data, data traffic, demographic data, demographics, depth demographics, gender demographics, Google, google ad planner, internet average, knowledge, marketing, measurement, selling, Value
Posted in analysis, business, featured | 1 Comment »
October 13th, 2009
Most brands in the social media space want to be able to define Social Media Return On Investment (smROI) and for good reason. They’re putting in money to the medium so they should be getting more money out of it ideally. In this respect there is NO difference between traditional and social media measurement. Here’s why:
In both mediums there are intangibles such as word of mouth and message internalization. These two factors are the strongest influencers that your customer will encounter. Generally speaking brands don’t measure the effects of these factors with the exception of the NetPromoter Score .
So why are people freaking out about measuring social media’s effectiveness? One word: money.
Let’s relate smROI back to traditional ROI in advertising. Companies advertise in magazines, newspapers, commercials and all other sorts of media outlets yet there isn’t a particular outlet that will tell them that someone bought their product or service based on advertising. Sure there’s a targeted audience there based on subscribers and media consumer demographics but unless you’re polling people at point of purchase on exactly why they bought your product then you can’t actively tie outreach to purchases. So why do companies invest money into these channels? Because there’s an audience there.
The problem with social media is that the audience isn’t built in like traditional media. You have to build up a following all on your own. Your message is competing for attention along with tons of others. That’s no different than traditional where there are many channels, magazines, newspapers and ads.
What HAS changed are the channels of communication. Instead of big media corporations dictating what the consumer consumes now the power is in the hands of the consumer. Whereas before consumers were able to choose anything within a limited confines now they have almost an unlimited pool to choose from online.
For you as a brand nothing has changed except the venue. Think of your customers as the new big media corporation. They’re deciding the programming, they’re cancelling shows, they’re greenlighting the content and syndicating your show into perpetual prosperity.
In part 2 I’ll go into the different types of measurement you can do in social media to further define smROI for your brand.
Tags: advertising companies, advice, audience, business, channels of communication, commercials, communicating, confines, consumer, consumer demographics, consumers, core values, good reason, influencers, intangibles, interactions, knowledge, marketing, media corporations, media measurement, media outlets, media space, mediums, message internalization, mindshare, NetPromoter, NetPromoter Score, outreach, point of purchase, return on investment, selling, smROI, social media, social media return on investment, social media ROI, Value, venue, word of mouth
Posted in analysis, business, featured, social media | No Comments »
September 29th, 2009
Regardless of the economy, not every transaction is right for you. Money is important but sometimes it’s more important to stand your ground and say no.
Your brand is your most important resource. Underselling it sends the wrong message to everyone out there. Remember, people are always looking.
Recently speaking with me at IOWAtasmic, Derek Johnson (CEO of Tatango) spoke about running a landscaping company that ran into this predicament. He ultimately didn’t say no and learned a valuable lesson from it. By cutting his price to do a partial job as a favor for a friend selling a house he misrepresented himself to the public’s perception. People driving by, the neighbors, the new owners, and even his friend’s partner all saw the job done and assumed that was the best work.
Learning the valuable lesson of when to say no has it’s benefits. Your brand image is all you have in the eyes of the public. If all they ever do is view you from afar all they will ever perceive is what they see. Make sure your best foot is always forward when representing yourself and your brand.
Tags: advice, benefit, brand, brand image, branding, business, communicating, communications, consumer, core values, economy, interaction, interactions, iowatasmic, job, knowledge, life, marketing, money, perception, predicament, productivity, selling
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 20th, 2009
While it may be your brand you do not actually own it. Your public owns it. Your customers decide what your brand means to them. Once you put your company out there it is now in the hands of the public.
The fact that your audience has final say in whether your product thrives or dies doesn’t change the fact that you still have the last say in the decisions implemented. If a majority of people purchasing your product decide decide they don’t like something either you must change it, change their opinion or become a victim of change.
Changing your brand based on feedback alone is shortsighted. Although there is wisdom in the crowd you ultimately are the professional. Your years of experience coupled with thorough knowledge of the category definitely weights your opinion. Just remember, you don’t pay your bills; they do.
So what do you do?
• Survey your customers with key questions
• List all potential pros and cons at hand
• Compare with competitors and other businesses who may have had the same issue
• Create a mindmap of your business / product / situation landscape
• Map out the best possibility to completion
• Implement your plan in timely phases
• Gauge for feedback
• Adjust accordingly
Not all situations are created equal and neither are your customers. By being aware of your capabilities, your customer’s savviness and the clarity of mind to know the difference between the two, you should be positioned to dominate in any situation you encounter.
Tags: advice, attributes, audience, benefit, brand, branding, business, business product, capabilities, clarity of mind, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, corporate message, cradle to grave, cross country race, crowd, customer relationships, decisions, endurance, feelings, foster innovation, gauge, goals, interaction, interactions, landscape, life, lifeblood, lists, long term relationship, map, marketing, mindmap, network, networking, passion, person smile, productivity, pros and cons, purchase decisions, retention rate, savviness, selling, social, sprint, term rewards, Value, wisdom
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 19th, 2009
Social media isn’t just one thing to everyone- it’s everything to everyone. Social media is marketing, PR, advertising, customer relations, branding, influence building and most of all, social. To focus only one area for your brand is extremely short-sighted yet ultimately it may be your best move.
Admittedly as a brand you should be proficient and well represented in all of these aspects of social media. That IS what should be happening but let’s face it- most brands are really great at one thing & need help at all the rest. So what does one do?
You could do a couple of things:
• Be a Jack of all trades, master of none by continuing to spread your valuable resources and energy over many areas.
• Hire a competent professional (employee or agency) to head up the areas that your brand isn’t so savvy in.
• Focus on the area your brand is amazing in and just kill it. Be the number one at what you and over time your other areas will pick up because of how great you are in that niche.
The first solution is never the answer because all of the areas suffer when you just half-ass it. The area that your brand naturally shines in is losing out because you have to take away from it to give to the others. You can only split up 100% so many ways.
Tags: advice, attributes, benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, corporate message, cradle to grave, cross country race, customer relations, customer relationships, endurance, feelings, first solution, foster innovation, goals, interaction, interactions, jack of all trades, jack of all trades master of none, life, lifeblood, lists, long term relationship, marketing, network, networking, niche, passion, person smile, productivity, professional employee, purchase decisions, retention rate, selling, social, sprint, term rewards, valuable resources, Value, wisdom
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 18th, 2009
I know we’d all like to think our brands are original, given to us by divine inspiration – but they’re not. Regardless if youre just starting out or have been in business for many years, we all are influenced on a day to day basis.
All of your past experiences, biases, likes, dislikes and predispositions all affect your decision making process. You also must account for anyone else who influences the brand. This includes key internal players in messaging, imaging and managing among others as well as external influencers of customers, competitors and partners. Add all of this to the influence of pop culture and media consumed and you have a tremendous amount of influence.
With all the forces vying for dominancy what can you do?
• HUMANIZE: Start thinking about your brand as a human. Each and every human has a personality with likes and dislikes.
• PERSONIFY: Create categories where you can list your brand’s preferences in music, art, literature, movies etc. The sky’s the limit here.
• SPECIFY: Give your brand specific attributes. If it were a human what would it’s demographics be? Gender, age, race, income etc
• ANALYZE: Analyze all of these attributes and figure out what feeling your brand conveys. Is your brand a posh upper east sider that comes from money and summers in the Hamptons?
• ATTRIBUTE: Based on your brand personality analysis what clothes should your brand wear aka what are it’s coloring, styling & imaging attributes.
• SYNC: How do others regard your brand? How do you want your brand to be received? Now that you know how your brand looks & who your brand is you need to make sure that the words coming out of your brand’s mouth syncs up with your image.
We as humans are always changing. New influences come into out lives daily and must be acted upon. Your brand functions in the same way. It’ll always be the same “person” at the core but it must be flexible adaptable and aware of decisions to change on a concious level. Remember, you are what you “eat”.
Tags: advice, attributes, benefit, biases, brand, brand personality, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, corporate message, cradle to grave, cross country race, customer relationships, decision making process, decisions, demographics, divine inspiration, endurance, experiences, feelings, foster innovation, gender age, goals, influencers, interaction, interactions, life, lifeblood, lists, long term relationship, marketing, network, networking, passion, person smile, personality analysis, pop culture, productivity, purchase decisions, retention rate, selling, social, sprint, sync, term rewards, Value, wisdom
Posted in branding, business, featured | 1 Comment »
September 17th, 2009
Go look at something. What’s your first impression? That’s what counts. When people say first impressions are the most important this needs to be paid attention to, especially for your brand.
Your potential customer takes in everything about your brand at the point of contact. Your colors, fonts, wording and text shapes, and graphics all affect their purchase decision. What message is your brand conciously and subconsciously conveying?
Is your target market accurately receiving your message visually? What is the feeling your are looking to convey? Designing a brand that communicates your message effectively is so much more than colors text and image.
The most powerful brands know how to strike a balance between all of these elements. Any designer worth their salt knows that there’s a limit to the amount of colors, fonts, graphics and the scale and placement of all of these elements. The Golden Ratio is a good guideline to test this crucial balance.
People are generally intuitive. If you want to know how it feels to your custom er put yourself in their shoes. Envision yourself AS them, down to the precise specifics of their demographics. Are you a stay at home mom with 3 young kids concerned with family values and on a budget? Well now you are.
Separate your head from your heart then bring them back together. How does your brand feel to you? Now how does it seem to you logically? This is exactly what your potential customer is going through.
Take the time to account for your brand’s intangible qualities and you’ll see tangible reults in your bottom line.
Tags: advice, attributes, benefit, bottom line, brand, brand messages, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, conciously, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, corporate message, cradle to grave, cross country race, customer relationships, demographics, endurance, family values, feelings, first impression, first impressions, foster innovation, goals, golden ratio, intangible qualities, interaction, interactions, life, lifeblood, lists, long term relationship, marketing, network, networking, passion, person smile, point of contact, productivity, purchase decision, purchase decisions, retention rate, selling, social, specifics, sprint, target market, term rewards, Value, wisdom
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 15th, 2009
Passion and romance do NOT make a relationship. They’re not sustainable in the long run. Ask anyone who’s been in a long-term relationship. They are key attributes but not essential. This goes for brand-customer relationships especially.
What’s mutually sustainable over time is love, respect, common interests and the ability to make the other person smile. Passion and romance are a sprint. Love and the above mentioned attributes are a cross country race. A burst of passion is needed every now and then to invigorate the relationship but what is truly needed in the long run is endurance.
A brand’s ultimate goal is to have a customer from cradle to grave. This also plays true for the customer. A customer doesn’t want to have to change brands often. The less thinking a customer has to do about their purchase decisions the better.
People are bombarded with tons of decisions they have to make every day. Make their lives simpler and they’ll thank you for it by purchasing often. Some things you can do to make their decision easier:
- Keep a consistent brand imaging and messaging on all fronts
- Give a personality and life to your brand. Make them smile in your own way
- Be honest and open with all communications
- Encourage discussion especially feedback. Your customers are your lifeblood. You should know if they’re unhappy even before they’re dissatisfied. Got that?
- Make interacting fun and interesting. There’s nothing worse than having the same corporate message drilled into your head over & over again.
- Foster innovation internally and externally. Some of the best ideas come from customers and workers from different departments. Remember the wisdom of the crowd.
- Reward for short and long term. By giving people short term rewards you satisfy their need for the now. Giving them long term rewards allows them to strive for something greater thus having a better retention rate all around.
Remember, you’re in this relationship for the long haul. Your customer is that hot blonde at the bar that everyone is eyeing and making moves on. Why should she stay with you? Give your customer enough of an incentive not to go anywhere and you’ll be the one reaping the rewards.
Tags: advice, attributes, benefit, brand, branding, burst, business, common interests, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, corporate message, cradle to grave, cross country race, customer relationships, endurance, feelings, foster innovation, goals, interaction, interactions, life, lifeblood, lists, long term relationship, marketing, network, networking, passion, person smile, productivity, purchase decisions, retention rate, selling, social, sprint, term rewards, Value, wisdom
Posted in branding, business, featured | 1 Comment »
September 14th, 2009
Know that old truism 80% of your business is from 20% of your clients? Well the same goes for word of mouth. Numbers are all well and good for surface value but in actuality a small group of your customers are fueling your business.
This small group of people are your brand evanglists or ebrandgelists. These are the people that are rabidly consuming your product or service. These are the people that are publicly and passionately promoting you. These are the people who are your online an offline digital soldiers. They make your brand viral in a way that counts: amongst their trusted circle, their friends.
What are you doing to cultivate this group? Are you rewarding their behavior? Are you encouraging them to ebrandgelize you more? Do you have a special incubator to allow these ebrandgelists to connect with others like them?
Whenever you encourage ebrandgelists to interact with others like them this allows enthusiasts to solidify their beliefs and actions through other enthusiasts. Setting up a system of rewards and encouragement creates an environment where people feel cared about by your brand. This ultimately drives them to utilize your product or service more as well as tell others about their wonderful experience.
People LOVE to be passionate about things. Give them a reason to be passionate time and time again. Being passionate about something makes them feel good. Feeling good allows them to connect with others in similar situations. People look to connect with like minds because humans are intrinsically social creatures.
Large numbers are important because it sends a message of prosperity to the masses. The numbers you need to focus on are the group of people most passionate about your brand. Passion is infectious. Give your ebrandgelists a reason to spread it
Tags: actuality, advice, benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, consumer, consumers, conversation, core values, digital soldiers, ebrandgelist, encouragement, enthusiasts, evangelist, evangelists, feeling good, incubator, interaction, interactions, large numbers, network, networking, passion, passionate, prosperity, rewards, selling, small group, social, social creatures, surface value, truism, Value, word of mouth
Posted in branding, business, featured | No Comments »
September 1st, 2009
Social media has swung the pendulum back from traditional media’s focus solely on the brand as king. The peasants are fed up with their tyrranical ruler and demand to be heard. These followers and friends are storming the social media castle of web 2.0. They’re not standing for anything less than full court with the King of the land. What the King has to say depends on how long he’ll stay on his throne.
Today’s landscape is a volatile one at best with the economy in an upheaval, jobs in question, and general unsureness all across the land. People want to feel security from somewhere. This is when they look to what they love and trust: your brand.
The unsettled state of the world coupled with the proliferation of real-time social tools have now given the peasants their pitchforks and torches they need to be heard. The unsureness of your customer’s environment plus new technological tools to communicate directly faster equals the perfect storm.
Your customer today doesn’t just want instant access answers, they DEMAND it. With all of the old ways failing them each and every day, they are increasingly latching on to new ways of communicating, thinking and purchasing. You don’t tell them what to do, they tell you.
History is littered with the corpses of Kings who forgot what makes them Kings: their subjects. Without a kingdom you can not be a king. Likewise, without customers you will not have a product or brand to sell – you’ll just go out of business.
This is why your customer is king. That’s ALWAYS been a given. The only thing that’s changed is that now your customer has access to tools through social media to feel empowered to affect the change they’ve always wanted but have felt discouraged to do so.
Keeping this in consideration, I have a panel on Social Customer Relationship Management (sCRM) in the South by Southwest (SXSW) panelpicker that you can vote on. Brian Solis has been kind enough to collaborate with me in crafting this panel & gathering some of the top minds in this area , including himself.
An in-depth discussion of how social media networks & tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogs are important to brand customer relationship management. Who should be heading up these efforts, what rules they need to abide by and what companies are getting it right/wrong will be looked into. In the social Web, a brand’s perception reputation is in the hands of the new influencers – those customers, peers, and prospects who leverage social media to voice their views, opinions, and questions. It’s how you discover and engage in these discussions that determine the brand’s resonance.
- What is Social CRM and how is it different than CRM or CRM 2.0?
- Who owns the conversation? Who is responsible for sCRM if Social Media is cluttering the internal marketing landscape (PR, Marketing, Interactive)?
- How is the infrastructure of CRM adapting to incorporate the “now” or real-time web?
- What are the new roles required for sCRM?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of offshoring vs. nearshoring?
- How does an organization justify the less costly form of inbound-focused customer service to outbound CRM and ORM?
- Is there value in engaging everyone on the social web?
- How can companies change and adapt internally to reduce the negative chatter, thus reducing required responses?
- How should a brand manage a crisis about them in social media?
- How much transparency does a brand need to have in social media in respect to government agency regulations?
Tags: benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, consumer, consumers, conversation, customer relationship management, Facebook, follower, followers, friends, instant access, interactions, knowledge, life, marketing, networking, pendulum, perfect storm, productivity, proliferation, scrm, selling, social, social media, south by southwest, sxsw, technological tools, twitter, unsettled state, upheaval, Value
Posted in business, featured, social media | No Comments »
