Presentation given in Seattle around the 4 to 5 trends that are changing the way we communicate. Special focus on higher education communication departments.
Before I start … Each year ExactTarget publishes new editions of our Subscribers, Fans and Followers research series. The most recent edition, our 21st, 2013 Global Stats Executive Summary, where we share stats on email, mobile, social and the web from our 7 offices around the globe.You can visit exacttarget.com/SFF to download it or any of the other additions that you see here.
When we set out on creating new editions of research, we look to our clients and marketers and consumers and asking them: “what’s next”. All of the stats, themes and info that I will talk about today come from the research.
“Businesses need to be able to truly serve the individual.” Well said. Traditionally, marketer have targeted groups of customers; a select audience.Marketers are now shifting their focus to targeting individuals; the individuals that exist within a select audience.
Email has survived more “guru”-predicted, near-death experiences than any other medium. The lesson, “_____ Is Dead” proclamations are foolish in a world fragmented by channels and devices. There’s more than enough room for everyone. This should calm some content marketing nerves who woke up to “Blogging Is Dead” headlines earlier this year. But it should also serve as a cautionary tale about beating a dead subject line. “_____ Is Dead” headlines are clearly provocative, linkbait. However, if you ride such waves too late or with a faulty premise, you run the risk of sending “rolling eye content” and losing your credibility. Don’t sacrifice accuracy for provocation.
Email has survived more “guru”-predicted, near-death experiences than any other medium. The lesson, “_____ Is Dead” proclamations are foolish in a world fragmented by channels and devices. There’s more than enough room for everyone. This should calm some content marketing nerves who woke up to “Blogging Is Dead” headlines earlier this year. But it should also serve as a cautionary tale about beating a dead subject line. “_____ Is Dead” headlines are clearly provocative, linkbait. However, if you ride such waves too late or with a faulty premise, you run the risk of sending “rolling eye content” and losing your credibility. Don’t sacrifice accuracy for provocation.
Moments … yes, moments. Moments are opportunities to connect with consumers.Moments are an opportunity to create a big something out a seemingly nothing.Moments can be monetized. Moments are the result of savvy marketers who understand what is it that their customers want, when they want it and how they want to get it. Moments matter. The good news is that digital marketing powers a lot of moments.
Seth Casteel is photographer of these “dogs under water” snaps. When he took these his bank account was almost empty.He had previously bought an underwater camera and decide to put it to good use. He took a few pics of his dog in the pool, posted them on his website; shared it to facebook; a friend then posted a pic reddit; Seth and his underwater dog became an instant viral hit. Almost overnight , traffic to his website jumped from around 200 hits a day to over 100,000.Seth’s underwater dogs photos are now a coffee table book.He also now sells photos of on-land dogs, kitty-cats and people and their pets. Seth has since received over 1,000 request for private photo shoots from dog owners in over 20 countries around the world. Seth Casteel’s dog picture was a moment. The moment he snapped that pic of his dog underwater, he created a big something; he created a moment that people wanted to be a part of … and pay to do so. Seth’s bank account isn’t empty anymore.
And this is a good point, because today’s life cycle isn’t the linear, one-size-fits all, end-to-end process that it used to be. Today’s lifecycle is about the many, various online and offline touchpoints that customers can have with brands, products or services throughout the lifecycle.And if my powerpoint skills were any better, I would have made that squiggly line of touchpoints twist itself up into a double-helix strand of DNA to represent an individual’s own unique collection of moments throughout the lifecycle.
OK, now let’s run through a few different type of moments. First up, Mobile Moments
You may have seen this before … The top image was taken in 2005 in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome when the crowd said goodbye to Pope John Paul.The bottom image was taken in 2013, when the crowd said hello to Pope Francis.Those images say it all. We’ve gone from being observers of moments to participants where everything and anything … any moment … can be shared, tagged, tweeted and marketed to.
The next type of Moment clients are talking about: Responsive Moments.
Responsive design has moved from a nice to have to a must have. The increased, everyday importance and use of mobile in our lives requires us to design to meet customer expectations.And their number one expectation is that there be no pinching required to read what we are trying to sell them or tell them. Any effort needed to pinch-in or zoom-out is not worth the value they may find in your hard to read email … another lost subscriber, another lost opportunity.
Responsive design has moved from a nice to have to a must have. The increased, everyday importance and use of mobile in our lives requires us to design to meet customer expectations.And their number one expectation is that there be no pinching required to read what we are trying to sell them or tell them. Any effort needed to pinch-in or zoom-out is not worth the value they may find in your hard to read email … another lost subscriber, another lost opportunity.
Staples lets you change your email address, opt-down to receive fewer emails, or opt out completely. The options are clearly laid out.
Staples lets you change your email address, opt-down to receive fewer emails, or opt out completely. The options are clearly laid out.
Jetsetter offers folks the opportunity to change their email address, opt-down to receive fewer email, and to update their interests—which addresses three of the top reasons people unsubscribe.
Lowe’s email is very tablet-friendly. Even their navigation bar is touch-friendly. They limit their product grid to two columns wide, use large text and big buttons. They also use plenty of white space to boost contrast and make the text easier to read.They also use plenty of white space to boost contrast and make the text easier to read.
emails are still desktop-oriented. They’re very long, use small text, and have a 5-column wide product grid.
emails are still desktop-oriented. They’re very long, use small text, and have a 5-column wide product grid.
The email clients that block images by default have been struck through, but it’s changing all the time.
The email clients that block images by default have been struck through, but it’s changing all the time.
This 2011 B&H email uses great defensive design techniques like HTML text and alt text,…
image server failed so no images were displayed.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
Local Moments!Anywhere, anytime, anyhow is the new mantra. Sending consumers easy to action messages on their mobile devices can create exciting “right now” opportunities for brands to engage with their customers.
OK, last but not least: dataLet’s go back to what I said at the start of this chat: marketers used to target a select audience; now they need to shift their focus to target individuals within a select audience. Relevance is everything.
OK, last but not least: dataLet’s go back to what I said at the start of this chat: marketers used to target a select audience; now they need to shift their focus to target individuals within a select audience. Relevance is everything.
OK, last but not least: dataLet’s go back to what I said at the start of this chat: marketers used to target a select audience; now they need to shift their focus to target individuals within a select audience. Relevance is everything.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
image server failed so no images were displayed.
A couple sentences pulled from a recent article in Forbes magazine:(read quote)We cannot continue to make decisions based on gut-feel and biases alone.
Data based decisions will determine the winners from the losers.Subjective perspectives and past experiences should not be the primary factors in our digital marketing decisions; these are the lags indicator.
Data tells us what the lead indicators are: what we need to prepare for; how people are likely to respond; what is the best use of our time, budget and creative energy.
And data will change the marketer’s job, too.
A quote from Hal Varian, Chief Economist at Google(read quote)
If you are a marketer and you cannot understand, process, extract value, visualize and communicate data …You may soon be out of a job.
We can’t rely on data telling us what happened; We need to look to data to tell us what needs to be done next. A poignant quote David Walmsley, head of multi-channel at Marks & Spencer, supports that statement:“We must move from numbers keeping score to numbers that drive better actions”Simply stated and well said. Data is a good trend to end on as it underpins the logic and strategy of all good marketing decisions. And, ultimately, the importance of data may imply what will become the next biggest trend of them all: Marketing CRM.
We can’t rely on data telling us what happened; We need to look to data to tell us what needs to be done next. A poignant quote David Walmsley, head of multi-channel at Marks & Spencer, supports that statement:“We must move from numbers keeping score to numbers that drive better actions”Simply stated and well said. Data is a good trend to end on as it underpins the logic and strategy of all good marketing decisions. And, ultimately, the importance of data may imply what will become the next biggest trend of them all: Marketing CRM.