Google, The Matrix & Getting Personal

I read a really interesting article in The Guardian recently that asked us to all stop thinking of Google+ as yet another social network but as The Matrix of the internet. Having a G+ account is not about participating in the G+ community, its about having a passport (remember that Microsoft terminology, funnily enough released the same year as The Matrix?) that gets stamped everytime you cross the borders of content, data and interactions. Watch a Youtube video, ask directions on a Google map, click on a search result or open a Gmail message and all of these interactions are recorded and used to better personalise your Google-based experiences.

Of course, the jury is out on whether this is a good or bad thing. We continue to tread the line between wanting better experiences and not wanting to have our privacy invaded. But the future is inevitable - we will get more unique interactions from brands. Consumer demand is too strong.

I, like many, am fed up with the impersonal, irrelevant and downright annoying content shoved in my digital face on a daily basis. I've also posted before about the woeful lack of personalisation from companies such as Apple. Especially (in Apple's case) when i've thrown my heart, soul & wallet into becoming a loyal customer. That in essence is behavioural marketing - letting brands tailor the experience within their owned web, email, social & mobile assets to hopefully make the consumer experience just a little less frustrating, and dare I say it, enjoyable.

And it doesn't have to Big Brother/Borg/Vogon-like either. You have enough explicit information to personalise your marketing today, without the need for covert operations. Consider the wealth of behavioural data you have already: 

• Email : opens, click thrus, time of day preferred, device used
• Web : views, downloads, visit history, device used (again)
• Social : likes, shares, posts/comments
• eCommerce : cart abandonment, items purchased, previous purchases
• CRM : customer segment, age, marital status, location, preferences
• ...and so on.

So I welcome anything that helps to ease my digital day. Even if we tag it as something as menacing as The Matrix. And nothing could be more gratefully received then on today, my very birthday, a personalised Google Doodle (see below) wishing me Happy Birthday.  As I've always said, It's the little things...

Practice what you preach - a powerful way to market yourself

Many of us are in the lucky position to sell products that we ourselves can use in our own business operations. SFA, CRM, ERP, business intelligence, web analytics, email marketing and marketing automation are all great examples that aim to make the life of the sales/marketer easier and can be demonstrated in anger by the companies making them.

By how often have you dug deeper into these companies and come up with the old "Cobbler's Children" adage. Turns out the producers of the tools are just as immature in the use of their own tools as the companies they're trying to sell to. Sales people in some CRM vendors don't update the system with their activities and BI companies ​use Excel for analysis & reporting. You get the idea.

Which is why I'm extremely proud that the all new silverpop.com is a model example of what behavioural marketing can be. The site demonstrates what is possible from a behavioural marketing approach, listening out for behavioural cues from individuals and self-optimising to deliver the perfect, individualised customer experience.

Or put more simply, the more you use it, the more it learns and the more it serves up a personalised experience built just for you.​

Here are just six things (and one "...and finally") I love about the site:

1.  Social Sign-In which allows individuals to automatically populate a form with their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google and, most importantly for B2B organisations, Salesforce.com account.​

2. A personalised sidebar which serves up relevant content based on information gained through progressive profiling:

​3. A resources section that displays case studies and other pertinent content based on my specific industry:

4. Personalised contact information on who to speak to in Silverpop, based on data in our CRM system (in my example BTW i get a generic contact)

​5.​ A view of my interaction history with Silverpop (downloads, emails received etc.):

6. The opportunity to self opt-in to nurture programs (wow!):

...and finally:​

I love that our company website has become a living, breathing commercially active demonstration of what we can achieve. No canned demo or screen show. A powerful message to our prospects that we practice what we preach. And also an open, honest, transparent view of what we do. Something I believe all brands in a similar position should try & do.​

The power of great story telling in marketing

I was absolutely blown away by the volume (and quality) of tweets that came from the delegates at our Silverpop Connect Dubai event yesterday. I've snapped some of them here during my session, which made up just 45 minutes in an all day programme.

Much is talked of the role of social media in the Arab Spring of 2010/2011, but my point isn't necessarily to do with that. Dubai isn't a hotbed of political unrest and upheaval anywhere near comparable to Egypt and Tunisia.

My point has to do with the power of storytelling, and the basic need of us humans to communicate.​ Being a relative novice in doing business in the Middle East, I'm told its a very relationship-based region. You have to get to know people and build trust. And I saw some of that at this week's event.

Trust only comes when you have a story that is believable and credible. If you have a good story, tell it in an interesting/timely/relevant manner and relate it to the issues/wants/needs/desires of your audience then you'll go a long way.​ Story tellers and raconteurs have known this for years, and this core human skill has been practiced around campfires, in bars and over the dinner table for centuries. Social media gives the individual the uber-megaphone to tell or share a great story, and I'm pleased to say the story we had to tell in Dubai was ripe for repeating.

As marketers, we should continually bear in mind the power of having a great story when trying to build an emotional connection with consumers or business customers. ​Get the story right first and the channels will do the rest.

Finally, you'll see below a snapshot of the twitter activity, curated as a Storify. Have fun & enjoy the story!​

Danger: shiny marketing toys ahead

With the recent deluge of digital marketing tools, today's marketer is spoilt for choice with a box full of amazing, wonderful toys to play with. 

I'm a bit of an advocate for experimentation, testing and "marketing R&D". I've gone on record in the past stating that marketing teams should devote a small percentage of their budgets to trying out new approaches, testing things out, failing and learning. But be warned not to be spellbound by bright, shiny new things.

With the advent of social media, content marketing and inbound marketing you'd be ​forgiven for thinking its time to throw out the old and adopt the new. Forget broadcast, outbound marketing, its all about conversations now right? You'll get better results from a concerted blogging strategy that creates inbound opportunities years after they're created?

Well, yes and no. ​

As this fascinating case example from Doug Kessler at Velocity Partners shows, sometimes the "old" trumps the new. Here Doug shares that an outbound email and advertising programme outperformed a new wave content marketing programme.

And whilst many ​find it unpalatable to come terms with the fact, content marketing and its like may not be the right answer on their own. Actually, its all about a blended approach that takes the best of both worlds. As a recent Marketing Pilgrim post put it, "a balance between the ‘tried and true’ and the ‘new and exciting’ should be struck to ensure that marketers are not leaving money on either table."

So don't discount that email strategy out of hand, or ignore direct mail quite yet. Go back to first principles:

• who do you want to target (audience)
• what do they want to hear from you (message)
• where do they get their information (place)

Get that right, and don't worry you'll still get to play with those shiny new toys.​

In customer experience, it's the little things that count

I recently stayed at a hotel in Amsterdam. ​It was a good hotel. It scored 20 out of 30 on Google Reviews. 4 stars (and thumbs up) on booking.com. 4.5 out of 5 and 34th (out of 331) best hotel in Amsterdam on Tripadvisor.

It was right next to Centraal railway station, so only 20 minutes from Schipol Airport. The front desk staff were helpful. Check-in was painless. The room had an Apple iMac with cable TV and free internet access. Wi-fi was included. The room was clean. The free toiletries were upmarket. The bed was comfortable. I had a great sleep. Breakfast was above average. Guest services were efficient in organising taxis to my destination.​

It had all the makings of a hotel to be thoroughly recommended.​

​But I still came away slightly annoyed by my experience.

Why? Because for the three days I stayed there this ice bucket remained in the corridor just outside my room. It was a small thing. It could've been picked up at any time by any member of staff passing by. By the cleaning staff passing through 2-3 times a day. By room service attendants. By the night porter checking for door-hung breakfast requests at 2am. And, even worst, by the loyalty programme rep who slipped my new loyalty card under the door.

It's this attention to detail that tainted my experience. Don't get me wrong, it won't stop me staying there again. But its a frustrating example of how a brand sometimes forgets on the smallest of details.​ And sometimes, for me as a consumer, it tips the balance. Especially when hotels are becoming uber-competitive and collectively raising their game.

Which also means that there's opportunity to make great in-roads into customer experience by doing the small things. Sometimes we get paralysed into thinking that improvement needs a massive overhaul. But sometimes it just requires you saying thankyou to your existing customers for their custom, greeting new customers with a well thought-out welcome programme or recommending to them other products you know they'd just love.

So yes, sometimes you need to refit your hotel and put iMacs in every room. But sometimes you just need to pick up that one, small ice bucket.​

Small things make all the difference.​

The B2B marketing automation journey

An interview centred around the topic of B2B Marketing Automation (MA). Topics covered include how MA helps:

• align sales & marketing.
• marketing have a more "grown up" conversation in the business
• marketing move from a cost to a profit centre.
• provide a single view of customer behaviour across all digital channels

Like any good interviews, it took place in a restaurant/bar :)

Making your marketing more "bobular"

This is my favourite local wine shop. I shop there all the time. I’m so protective of it that I’m going to keep its identity secret!

But let me explain what this shop has to do with good marketing.

It's all to do with Bob, the manager of the shop. You see, Bob knows me. He knows what I like, what I don’t like, what I’ve tried before. What I’ve bought recently. That I like to cook and entertain.  The kinds of things I like to cook. My attitude to wine. My price range for normal evenings and for special occasions.

Where I live. Where I work. What I do for a living. How many kids I have.

Three weird facts you need to know:​

1. I buy five times more wine from Bob than from my local supermarket. 
2. I tend to leave the shop having spent 30-200% more than I thought I would.
3. I wouldn’t think of buying my wine anywhere else.

In fact I enjoy buying from Bob. I love the experience that much.

The bad news: most of today's marketing is far from Bob. In fact its decidedly un-Bobular. 

If Bob was a marketer instead of the world’s best wine salesman, I’d walk in and instead of saying “Hey John, how’d you get on with that Riesling?” he’d say, “Hello potential customer. This is a wine shop. We have red wine and white wine and sparkling wine. Some of it is from France.’

Instead of saying, “I’ve got a Rioja that your wife is going to rave about.” he’d say, “Buy three cases of Asti and get one free!”  (I loathe Asti).

Behavioural Marketing is ​the best way to get more Bob-like.  And it really is a simple idea:

• You capture the things people do when they interact with you across all channels (email, web, mobile, social, call centers etc).
• You combine that data with the stuff you already know about that person – the profile & preferences; or past behaviours.
• You apply a few rules to that data.
• You use the rules to generate a PERSONALISED interaction and a MULTI -CHANNEL MULTI-STEP relationship that delivers the most relevant customer experience for the INDIVIDUAL.

Simple.​

Its being Bob-like on a massive scale - being that personal, informed brand that doesn’t treat every customer like a new person who just walked in off the street.

Treating each one like the valued individual that they are.

Go forth and become Bob!

Sh*t Content Marketers Say

I came across this video recently and it did make me laugh. Despite the plethora of "Sh*t XXXX say" videos.​

​Favourite pokes for me:

• "Content is King"
• "You really should create an editorial calendar"
• "Want to go to lunch? I'd love to but i'm hosting a webinar"
• "Why does Joe Pullizi always wear orange?"

Anyway, enjoy!​

The end of segmentation in B2B Marketing

Looking forward to speaking at the B2B Marketing Forum in Amsterdam on March 14th.​ 

My presentation will be titled "The end of segmentation in B2B Marketing". In a nutshell it'll be about how marketing should focus on a more personal approach, instead of a segmented one. I'll be giving some prime examples from best-in-class companies and sharing my experiences and tips with the audience.

In advance of that here's a short interview I did with event organizer Shimon Ben Ayoun.

Auto DM and how to humanize the bots

It's something I've never really considered before, but recently I've been pondering on whether or not to automatically reply to my new followers on twitter (so called Auto DMs).

You know the thing - you follow a subject matter expert and within minutes you get a bot-driven response back such as "Thanks for following" or "Check out my fantastic site" or "Hey, follow me on Facebook too!"

The problem is, this is all very self serving and self indulgent. And as a follower myself I'm not sure it really adds much value. Working with leading consumer brands, this is similar to the Welcome/Onboarding challenge many businesses have in trying to build an emotional connection with their consumers. This is difficult to achieve at scale, and most businesses resort to automation as a way to manage the volumes. But whether you're a business or an individual, we're all trying to sell/market our services in a way that helps us stand out from the crowd and build a better connection with our audiences.​ 

Back to me (sorry for being selfish), I really enjoy connecting with fellow marketers around the world and sharing thoughts and ideas. Auto DMs in the way most people use them, however, go against this. They're impersonal (bad), self promoting (badder) and have little thought put in to them (baddest). And above all, they're counter to the fundamental principles of social media - to share interesting stuff and to enter into a conversation.

That's why recently I came upon a great idea. Why not think a bit differently about Auto DMs, step away from the "about me" and step nearer the "about my community".​

That's why I've started to Auto DM new followers with a simple message that encapsulates gratitude for following along with a desire to share. It is this:​

• "Thanks for following me! If you're into B2B marketing I can also recommend AAAA, BBBB, CCCC"

No promoting my blog (you can find that easily enough). No sales pitch on me or my company. Just a note of thanks and some suggestions on people I rate as a way for you to get a better understanding of who I am. 

In fact I've gone a stage further, using SocialOomph I rotate this message randomly to allow me to share even more great people. I have 4 messages now:​

• "Thanks for following me! If you're into B2B marketing I can also recommend AAAA, BBBB, CCCC"
• "Thanks for following me! If you're into B2B content marketing I can also recommend DDDD, EEEE, FFFF"
• "Thanks for following me! I can also recommend you follow these smart marketers GGGG, HHHH, IIIII"
• "Thanks for following me! I can also recommend you follow these Silverpop experts JJJJ, KKKK, LLLL"

Thats 12 people I rate and trust now shared with my new followers. Ultimately I think this is a smarter use of Auto DM as it leverages automation, is way more positive and delivers much more ​value to both sides of the equation (in the business world we'd call that "delivering a better customer experience").

And the great news? It's working. Here's  some of the feedback (keep it coming) I've got back in just the last week:

• "thanks for the follow recos - great thought leadership in the bunch"
• "thanks for the recommendation! Just added them and look forward to learning more on the subject!"
• "thanks for the recommendations on #thoughtleadership and #B2Bcontentmarketing. I will check them out."
• "That's a nice auto follow reply." ​
• "Great tips. Cheers."
• "Thanks for the follow suggestions!"
• "Thanks I have connected to all. Best"

​​​So why not give it a try yourself? After all, just like the real world, aren't we defined ourselves by the friends we have?