Digital Trends Report 2007

trends report  ’07
Customer Eng
agement

www.cscape.com

Customer Engagement: trends report ’07

Contents Introduction
One Customer Engagement - Richard Sedley Welcome to the cScape Customer Engagement Unit (CEU) 2007 Trends
Report. 2006 was an exciting time for all those involved in the CEU. We
Two Right Touching - Dave Chaffey were working behind the scenes for eight months building up a series
of project wins and exemplary case studies ready for the Unit’s launch in
Three Corporate Social Responsibility - Rob killick
November 2006. Accompanying the launch, the publication of our Online
Four Persuasion - Richard Sedley Customer Engagement Survey Report provided an essential insight into
how organisations are undertaking the task of customer engagement.
Five User Generated Content - Clare O’Brien

However, the ‘problem’ with survey reports is that they need to be objectively based on the results
Six Podcasting & Audio Branding - Simon Barnett
gathered. It wasn’t appropriate for us to include our own experiences, opinions and prejudices.
Seven Search Marketing - Dave Chaffey The Trends Report in front of you has given us the opportunity to let loose. Each of our CEU consultants
has offered their take on what has been important in the last 12 months, and what they feel will be
Eight - Dave Chaffey central to engaging your audience in the next 12.

Nine Findability - Lynda Rathbone
We hope you find it stimulating and insightful and look forward to being held to account in 2008.
Ten Subscription - Alexander Kohlhofer Do let us know what you think of our thoughts and keep in touch because we have some very cool
events planned for the coming months.
Eleven Brand - Ed Lloyd-Williams

Richard Sedley
Twelve Web2.0 - Richard Sedley
cScape Customer Engagement Director
r.sedley@cscape.com

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No.
Contact the cScape CEU >


Fig.2 (Outer circle CUSTOMER ENGA
) How central ar GEMENT

Richard Sedley
experiences to e personalised
engaging your au
dience?
Essential
50.75% Introduction
November 2006 saw the launch of cScape’s Customer Engagement Unit (CEU). To coincide with
Useful
the launch we sponsored the world’s first Online Customer Engagement Survey. Over 800 respondents
44.40%
undertook the survey to produce an invaluable snap-shot of the current state and aspirations of our industry.
Not important
4.85%
The survey revealed a significant gap between the customer experience organisations are aspiring to deliver,
and that which they are providing in practice. Almost two thirds of company respondents (64%) believe that
Fig.2 (Inner circle joined-up online and offline experiences are essential for engaging with their audience, but 60% are either
) How much does
organisation pe your not very advanced at mapping customer experiences and identifying touch-points (36%), or admit they have to
rsonalise the ex
online users? perience for
start looking at this because they are not doing it at all (24%).
Completely persona
lised Half of respondents (51%) believe that personalised experiences are essential for audience
1.77%
Quite heavily perso engagement, with a further 44% believing they are useful. Despite the perceived importance of
nalised
9.89% personalisation 37% of company respondents are not providing it at all.
Lightly personalised
47.7% 2007 will be a watershed year for businesses in terms of the way they react to the multi-channel challenges
Not personalised they face. Many businesses will jump on board customer engagement strategies; and will progress towards
47.7%
developing personalised ‘conversations’ with, and seamless experiences for, their customers. Those that keep their
Not relevant / Don’t
know distance are likely to fall behind.
3.19%

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No.
Request a free copy of the Online Customer Engagement Survey Report >


Introduction

‘‘
RIGHT TOUCHING

Dave Chaffey
WITH EMAIL

‘ Right Touch
ing’ means t
at the right t he right offe In 2006 I coined the term ‘Right Touching’ to find a way of highlighting one of the biggest challenges in online

ime with the r, customer marketing. In an Email Marketing context, ‘Right Touching’ means delivering the right offer, at the right

’’
right frequen time, with the right frequency and interval using the right medium for each individual list member. Easier said than
cy done! If the frequency is too high, you risk alienating the majority of your list, but if your frequency is too low, the
risk is that returns will fall.

Right Touching becomes really powerful when you use web analytics for a ‘sense and respond’ approach to deliver personalised
emails via web and email which have that perfect context for the right point in a customer’s lifecycle. In ’06, clients we have worked with
to create personalised web, email and direct mail touch strategies have seen great returns from a structured analysis approach.

To refine touch strategies further means going beyond simplistic overall campaign reports of opens, clicks and sales to testing and
reviewing the responsiveness of list members, by their e-retail lifecycle stage, demographics, RFM cell, and channel preferences integrated
across the whole year (rather than for individual campaigns). Through a more granular approach, we see that some list members are less
responsive to email, so we can test decreasing the frequency, enhancing the offers, changing the messaging or placing greater weighting
on direct mail in order to gain better response from these members.

For 2007 I see the biggest rewards for those who can deliver personalised search, web and email experiences, based around
understanding individual customer’s needs. Marketing automation, is what’s required; building rules to deliver experiences and results
which sync with the customer’s needs, not a marketing campaign timetable.

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No.
Get touched right >


Corporate Socia

Rob Killick
l Responsibility
Fig.1 How centra
l is communicatin

Introduction
organisation’s co g your
rporate responsib
the 2007 Online ility? Taken from All of us are increasingly urged to be accountable for the social effects of our activities – if you are in business of any kind this
Customer Engage
ment Survey includes the ethical treatment of your staff and the communities in which you operate. As the website is your front to the outside world,
it is imperative that any corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda is communicated through the digital space. If you run volunteering

‘‘
schemes for your staff, incorporate CSR into your business strategy or measure the social impacts of your work, be sure to tell the world
about it on your website.

The web will
become the fr Demonstrating how your business benefits society is an integral
line for meet ont part of branding, which is increasingly about trust-building. cScape’s 2007
ing the grow
demands for ing Annual Customer Engagement Survey demonstrated that over the next

’’
accountabilit 12 months, web users are likely to see more initiatives from companies to open
y up channels of communication through social media or so-called ‘Web 2.0
features’. Charities and companies across all sectors are increasingly using
these tools to accommodate their prioritisation of transparency. For instance, 35% of the respondents said they are planning to use
corporate blogs in the next 12 months; 17% are using them already.
Essential
21.19% In addition, CSR is seen as a crucial way of engaging customers: 21% believe that communicating their CSR agenda is essential, with
Useful a further 57% believing this is useful.
57.25%
Not important My prediction for 2007? The web will become the front line for meeting the growing demands for accountability. Those that take it
21.56% seriously will see the potential for brand development, those that don’t, beware.

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No.
Talk to us about developing your CSR commitment online >


Introduction

‘‘
Persuasion

Richard Sedley
Welcome to p
ersuasion in The thing about customers is they just can’t be relied upon to do what you want. It
era of Web2.0 the doesn’t even matter how findable, how accessible, how useable or how interactive you
. The best me
for achieving thod make your website there are still no guarantees they’ll do what you want. In fact a recent
engagement survey revealed that ‘60% to 80% of customers who defect to a competitor said they

’’
were satisfied or very satisfied on a survey just prior to a defection1’.

The process of pe If even satisfaction doesn’t offer guarantees what can you do? You can engage and persuade.
rsuasion change
s the persuader

Engagement is your only guarantee of future performance with persuasion your best method for achieving it. Now
persuasion has had a bit of a bad rep. recently, the concept has been saddled with negative, Machiavellian conatations.
Welcome to persuasion in era of Web2.0, time to change your mind and embrace the P word.

For the cScape Customer Engagement Unit persuasion is about aligning the needs, interests and preoccupations of
customer and business, and changing the actions of both parties. The flip-side of the process of persuading a customer that
To influence a pe they should engage with you is that you learn and change yourself – your services and your products – to better suit your
rson to change
their beliefs of customers. A win-win situation if you like.
actions

The CEU already has some excellent persuasive case studies under our belt and 2007 will see us exploring these
concepts further as we develop ‘Persuasive solutions for demanding times’.

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No.
Listen to Richard’s podcast on Persuasive Design >


Introduction
User Generated

Clare O’Brien
Content

The most fascinating thing about the interactive world in 2006 has been the explosive realisation of the importance of user generated content
and social networking – exemplified in commercial terms by Google’s YouTube buy but, most strongly, in very human terms. Quite suddenly, thanks
to broadband, the majority are online and have embraced the internet as part of their lives. As well as functional banking, shopping, emailing, selling
and research, 2006 was the year the internet gained real social traction.

‘‘
These are not lonely geeky pursuits. They’re about sharing, reaching out and are respected social currency – posting family pictures on
Flikr, building playlists on iTunes, emailing film and ad trailers to your friends, reviewing books on Amazon, commenting on the Guardian’s group
blog, telling the truth about that little hotel just off the Grand Canal on Venere.com. 2006 was all about people getting much more comfortable
with the medium.
Brands that
recognise pe
the internet ople come to In 2007 it will become even more embedded as core functions are increasingly taken up (banking, for
to ‘do someth instance). Against this background, as traditional television audiences continue to decline, the big brands are
opportunity t ing’ have the
o truly develo struggling to effectively transfer their advertising dollars online. Pull marketing doesn’t come naturally and
p their equit

’’
in the rush to be part of the social medium that’s ‘user generated’ (and controlled) there have been and will
y. continue to be plenty of trip-ups where customers reject staged or even fictional online presences.

Brands that recognise people come to the internet to ‘do something’ rather than passively ‘consume’ have the opportunity to truly develop their equity. In 2007
the best brands will have the courage to facilitate interaction among their customers, to provide really useful online destinations, that respect their customers’ needs
and views; producing genuine points of engagement. It’s not so much about technology now as learning to let the brand go. Very exciting.

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No.
UGC case study >


PODCASTING &
AUDIO BRANDING
Fig.1 Podcast us
surveyed in the
age amongst or
2007 Online Cu
ganisations Simon Barnett
Engagement Su stomer
rvey

‘‘
Key developments in the digital media world in 2006 include the seepage of the word
‘podcasting’ out of the lingo of the early adopter and into the mainstream consciousness of the
iPod-owning consumer. Once a new form of media enters the Oxford English Dictionary you know
it’s here to stay.
Podcasting: fr
om early ado
to mainstrea pter The take-up of digital radio is one of the great British success
m consciousn

’’
ess stories of 2006 and the radio community is waiting with
baited breath for Ofcom’s decision on who will run the country’s
second digital multiplex - insiders’ favourite to win is Channel 4 who are offering to launch a selection
of radio channels as diverse and exciting as their TV content.

The cultural impact of YouTube’s merger with Google is yet to be seen, but once all of their rights
issues have been sorted out and they include more diverse content, I fully expect this to be a significant
Currently use podc contender to the mainstream broadcasters.
asting
17.83%
Plan to use podcas My prediction for 2007 is the rise of sites like lastfm.com – a community-based, peer-to-peer
ting in the next 12
32.95% months radio service which creates bespoke audio playlists for its subscribers. As the sheer volume of available
Never use podcas material grows, gatekeeper sites like this will become increasingly important to those who don’t have
ting
49.22% the time or energy for extensive surfing.

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No.
Request a copy of our podcasting case study >


Introduction
SEARCH MARKE

ng
TING

eti
Dave Chaffey
ow
Mark
We used to talk about Search Engine Marketing, but Google continued to

’’
it’s G t SEM, n

grow in importance throughout the year with some of our clients now recording
over 95% of their search referrals through Google.
oogle
‘‘Forg
e

‘‘
Google is now much more open about their approach to ranking sites in the
natural listings thanks, in big part, to Google’s own Matt Cutts’ blog, which we
use to inform our approach to search within the CEU.
Pre-defined p
ersistent sea
related-conte rch and Assuming your site is included within the index I see the biggest
nt portlets a opportunities for search engine optimization (SEO) as detailed keyphrase analysis
way of impro re a great and reporting, plus creative methods for automatically generating smart folder
ving results content which is useful for both users and search engines. With the importance

’’
of internal links to Google, I see pre-defined persistent search and related-content
portlets within page template design as a great way of improving results.

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No.
Contact the CEU to find out more about search marketing >


BLENDING RICH

Dave Chaffey
MEDIA

Google was also in the news for its acquisition of YouTube. It’s easy to criticize the investment

‘‘
and valuation, but Google’s share price didn’t suffer as it stopped a rival gaining YouTube. This story
was vindication for Web 2.0 concepts which blend innovative new technologies with user generated
content and participation. But it left many companies who are not media owners questioning how they
Every compa should adopt Web 2.0. I think the answer is that online, every
ny needs to t
as a media ow hink of itself company has to think of itself as a media
ner or publis owner or publisher in order to engage with
to engage wit her in order its audience effectively.
h its audienc
e effectively.

’’ cScape saw clients engaging audiences with podcasts, blogs and RSS, but others found it
difficult to devote the resources to generating and distributing engaging content. Of all the Web 2.0
approaches, I believe blogs coupled with RSS are the most powerful way of engaging online audiences.
Our Annual Online Customer Engagement Survey supported this, with 35% planning “corporate blogs”
although I hate that term – blogs should be designed for search engines, customers and journalists in
roughly that order.

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No.
Read Dave’s blog >


Introduction
FINDABILITY
senc bout hav ing

Lynda Rathbone
ing
v
a we site, it’s about ha

2006 saw the number of people online exceed 1 billion. They’re all hoping to find, not search for, information. Information that’s
personal, useful, interesting and relevant to them, with personal being the priority. If your website isn’t set up to deliver content that’s
’’
findable by your customers in the way they think of looking for it, then they’ll simply look elsewhere. Understanding their vocabulary
and making sure your content is optimised to support it, setting up customer-led journeys through your site based on past behaviour
and ensuring there are no ‘dead ends’ in your content are all critical.
t
a
a we s not jus

e

It’s not enough to simply think about offering content on your own site. Many of your customers start their online journeys
elsewhere before they get to your site. Placing content on other sites to increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your site,
positioning your organisation as the expert in your field and becoming an active participant in the many online communities is vital to
a good web strategy. 2007 is not about just having a website, it’s about having a web presence. Harness that traffic and make it easy

‘‘
b pre

for them to find what they want.
‘‘ b
2007
i

My prediction for the new year? It will be all about customer engagement.
Don’t wait fo
r customers Don’t wait for your customers to search for you – find them. Understand where they
to search for go, what they do, how they think and how they seek information. Then be there to
you – find the engage and participate with them.

’’
m

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No.
Contact the CEU to discover the power of findability >


Subscription

Alexander Kohlhofer
IntroductionSearch is key to the internet - it has been for a while and it will be for the foreseeable
future. Unfortunately the very nature of searching always requires the user to have quite detailed
knowledge of what he/she is actually looking for.

Subscription is a powerful alternative way to access the vast
amount of information on offer. Rather then searching for specific

‘‘
information you subscribe to a trusted source of information. Just
like search, subscription is well established and supported already.

One of the m For websites not already offering some form of subscription via RSS, atom or email I would make that a
ain challeng
will be mana es for 2007 priority for the coming months. We need to recognise that for our customers one of the main challenges for
ging the vas 2007 lies in identifying trustworthy and valuable sources, and more importantly, managing and maintaining
of our valuab t collection a vast collection of these sources. How sites help the customer manage their subscriptions is likely to be as
le resources

’’
important as how they encourage subscriptions.

The danger we need to mitigate against is that of our customers losing control, not
because there is too much noise, but because there is a such colossal quantity of potentially
valuable signal.

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No.
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Introduction
Brand

Ed Lloyd-Williams

‘‘
Online offerin
match, or exc
propositions
gs now need
eed, the way
are presente
to
offline
2006 saw a giant leap forward in the design and development of web interfaces. Great examples like Yahoo Mail,
Microsoft’s Hotmail and Flickr indicate the future of front-end development by utilising new technologies like Ajax.

The use of such interfaces has contributed to increased understanding amongst
customers of what can be achieved and offered though digital channels. As a by product
they have also encouraged intolerance of designs and interfaces that deliver substandard
d

’’
experiences. Indeed online offerings now need to match or even exceed the way offline
propositions are presented.

When we introduced Customer Engagement Strategies to the online market place in
2006, we did so aware of the fact that in order to truly satisfy our clients and their audiences,
we needed to design propositions and experiences that are not only aligned with each other
but also strengthen an organisation’s brand on and offline.

In 2007 the best brands will develop impactful interface interactions that meets the demands of
accessibility. This provides a wonderful opportunity to produce compelling, accessible, ‘persuasive solutions’
that can enhance a brand and its reputation whilst maintaining and extending an organisation’s online value
proposition.

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No.
Talk to Ed about developing your brand >


Introduction
Web 2.0
flickr
Richard Sedley
digg wikis folksonomies
wikipedia delicious 2006 has seen the term Web2.0 enter the mainstream consciousness. While at the end of 2005 Google held 9.5m
social software ajax hotmail citations, by the close of 2006 there were 460m. More than four times as many as the Harry Potter, Britney Spears and
linkedin netvibes

Web2.0
the Olympics combined. A number of websites (MySpace, Flickr, Del.icio.us) have gained very high profiles epitomising
the long tail what Web2.0 represents. However the defining forms of Web2.0 (social networking, mash ups, RSS, wikis, blogging etc.)

video bittorrent feedster offer great potential for reaching, engaging and retaining audiences for the vast majority of organisations.
rss amazon
mobility blogs Key to utilising this next generation of digital media is an understanding of the context in which they can be used:
skype
technorati open api • Media fragmentation has reduced consumer loyalty
audio youtube • The proliferation of broadband as provided increased opportunities for delivering and measuring interactive experiences and engagement.
itunes css design • Interactivity has changed the nature of marketing. It is now about sales and customer relations, not just increasing awareness and traffic.
zengarden • A combination of the points above, with a relatively ‘cash rich’ economy, is driving advertising revenue to the digital media.

‘‘
• The above has invigorated innovation in ‘interface’ design providing opportunities for new customer focused products to be created on the
back of the digital infrastructure.
• Finally customer expectations and participation has increased on the back of all of this elevating their role in product development and
The web is n marketing.
o longer a co
medium, but mmunication
the product it s Those organisations wishing to benefit from this Web2.0 context in 2007 need to grasp the opportunities

’’
self with both hands and recognise that the web is no longer simply a communications medium, and as such a cost,
but in many situations is the product itself. This is a product that the customer can add life-time value to through
participation and co-ownership.

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No.
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