'The fundamentals of digital engagement': Simon Nash is a strategist and consultant specializing in multi-channel digital strategy, communications and engagement. He examines the major challenges that organizations have faced in 2013 and defining the major trends that will dominate the next 12-18 months. These are illustrated by client case studies and followed up with some practical approaches and actionable guidance that can be applied to your own digital marketing activity.

1. The Fundamentals
of digital engagement
------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital
professionals in 2014

2. Simon Nash
----------------------------------------Planning Director, Reading Room
--------------------------------

3. Some of our consultancy clients

4. Successful engagement isn’t
about tinkering with social
media or starting a blog. It’s a
major shift in thinking and
requires co-ordinated action.

5. The Fundamentals of Digital
Engagement
-----------------------------------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital professionals in 2014
---------------------------------------------------Audiences – Strategy – Content – Multi-channel – Change

6. Technology is advancing at a bewildering pace
Technology is advancing
at a bewildering pace

7. Digital technologies are changing the way we sell and market
products and services.

8. And they’re transforming the relationships we
have with our audiences.

9. And then there’s the
Internet of Things

10. The only constant is change
itself. And the only
organizations that will
prosper in this context are
those that adapt.

11. Challenge No.1
-----------------------------------------
Understanding
your audience
-----------------------------------------

12. Culture is increasingly embracing the opportunities afforded
by new technologies with open arms.

13. People are now integrating the internet seamlessly into their
daily lives using an increasing range of devices to access the
internet at home, at work and on the move.

14. New styles of interaction are
driving the development of
new formats of bite sized
content

15. “There are 200 million people on the U.S. ‘Do Not
Call’ list. Over 86% of TV viewers admit to skipping
commercials. Forty-four percent of direct
marketing is never opened. Roughly 99.9% of
online banners are never clicked. Buyers wait until
they have completed 60-80% of their research
before reaching out to vendors”
Michael Brenner, Senior Director of Global Marketing at SAP

16. Major companies like BT are taking these changes very
seriously. Hiring analysts to understand how they need to
adapt their services channels for hyper connected customers.

17. Our audiences expect transactions and experiences to
be increasingly seamless and connected as they wander
aimlessly between on and offline touch-points.

18. And the way they interact
with us has changed too;
they share their
experiences with their
networks in real time.

19. And the way they interact
with us has changed too;
they share their
experiences with their
networks in real time.

20. And the way they interact
with us has changed too;
they share their
experiences with their
networks in real time.

21. And the way they interact
with us has changed too;
they share their
experiences with their
networks in real time.

22. And the way they interact
with us has changed too;
they share their
experiences with their
networks in real time.

23. Traditional barriers between organizations and their
audiences are giving way to new forms of relationship.
Transactions have gone beyond the confines of simple
monetary exchange and people are increasingly playing a
participatory role in campaigns and product
development and engaging in dialogue about services .

24. New expectations are being set by innovative and
progressive organizations who are blessed with either
the agility or the budget to set new benchmarks for
the way we interact with our audiences.

25. Meanwhile the rest of us are all playing catch-up –
we have to take established processes, entrenched
technology, decades of experience and conservative
organisational mindsets – and steer our
organisations toward bold new frontiers.

26. Challenge No.2
-----------------------------------------
Developing a
coherent
strategy
-----------------------------------------

27. Most organizations seem to be facing the same basic
challenge. We’ve been on the back foot, developing platforms
& infrastructure and adopting new channels & technologies.

28. Whilst we’ve kept our audience in mind, the limitations
enforced by organisational structure, marketing imperatives
and operational processes have conspired against us.

29. Generally, despite individual successes this path has led to
web presences cluttered with good intentions, inconsistent
platforms, incoherent messaging and legacy campaign assets.
Our audiences often have to wade through ‘digital landfill’ to
access what they need - it’s a wonder they bother.

30. There are a vast number of digital options available to
us. So how do we make the right choices?

31. “A good strategy has coherence, coordinating actions,
policies, and resources so as to accomplish an important
end. Many organisations don’t have this. Instead, they
have multiple goals and initiatives that symbolize
progress, but no coherent approach to accomplishing that
progress other than ‘spend more and try harder’ “
Richard Rumelt – Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

32. You must set tangible
strategic outcomes as
objectives. Attention
matters, but engagement
itself is not an outcome.

33. Target 55+ males
Using digital channels
Convert from blends
Upsell to higher SKUs
Encourage advocacy

34. Taste The Glenlivet
Awareness
Consideration
(amongst those who are aware but not buying TGL)
Preference
(vs. Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie)
Brand I trust
Brand for me
Consumption / Sales
regular buyers of TGL
+58%
+75%
+113%
+24%
+37%
52%

35. Challenge No.3
-----------------------------------------
Giving your
content a life of
its own.
-----------------------------------------

36. Content strategy meant thinking about what content you
were going to put on the website, who was going to produce
and approve it etc.

37. Content now lives well beyond your website and there are
some key considerations that can make all the difference in
ensuring your content is conveying your message effectively.

38. .
And a whole science has emerged in relation to the
development, creation and deployment of content and its
role in conveying your message implicitly & explicitly.

39. Concentrate on making your content interesting,
entertaining, useful, helpful, & rmost of all elevant.

40. The fine art of editorial calendars
As interesting as your product message might
be, the fact is that your audience is very
unlikely to be sat at their desk waiting for you
to issue your next product promotion. In
order to grab their attention you need to
think like a publisher and offer them a
compelling reason to engage with your
content, some sort of value exchange.

41. Think about what your content means to the end user, if they
share it – what’s in it for them?
“If I like your content it’s
not because I like your
brand it’s because I like my
friends.”
Henry Jenkins
‘Spreadable Media ‘

42. 2016
Campaign
Size of Social
Following
2015
Campaign
2014
Campaign
Ongoing scheduled moderation and publishing according to strategy
Time
Don’t lurch between campaigns. Communicate and engage
consistently in an always on fashion.

43. Embark on a journey from conversational engagement
toward a storytelling narrative
Conversational
Content Led
Narrative Led
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Responsive
Promotional
Engaging
Positive
Proactive
Content creation
Advocacy driven
Campaigning
Strategic
Story telling
Dialogue driven
Always On

45. • Huge and complex marketplace
• Reductions in funding
• Consolidate technology
• Focus on inspiration
• Work with the sector

46. Slice and dice and focus on spreadable formats
Multiple formats increase the chances of engaging users who have a
preference for a particular content type. And publishing on third party
syndication sites increases your visibility in search results.

47. •The growth of the multi-channel web means that structured
content is growing in importance
And don’t forget Google
glasses, a car dashboard, an
internet fridge…..

48. More visually appealing, more findable, better for SEO,
incorporation of reviews and other data plus deep links into
site sections and taxonomy.

49. More visually appealing, more informative and more likely to
catch the eye in the newsfeed.

50. Structured Content
Much more real estate, more visually appealing, more
shareable and more likely to generate a site visit.

51. But if you are starting from scratch you can go deeper
and prepare for the future. Foundations First

52. Challenge No.4
--------------------------------------------
Becoming a
smooth ‘multichannel’ operator
---------------------------------------------

53. Definition: Smooth Operator
Someone who can handle multiple situations in a
fashion that can only be described as "Awesome,
spectacular, and, above all else, awesometacular".
Usually a smooth operator is someone who tends to
be "on top of things", and is usually in control of
any given situation. If he/she isn't in control of a
situation, they usually find a way to gain control of
it to make it more awesome for everyone involved.

54. Digital channels are expanding exponentially.
2009

55. Digital channels are expanding exponentially.
2013

56. Our audiences have adapted comfortably & they move
seamlessly across channels & platforms both on and offline.
But most organisations are failing to rise up to the challenge.

57. We need to consider experiences from our
audience’s point of view.

58. Keep things neat and tidy!

59. Rethinking search for the
multi-channel web.
Findability not SEO

60. The Internet of Things has arrived and multi-channel
experiences just gained a whole new dimension.

61. Unlock the potential of the multi-channel web
CRM has been a buzzword for many years yet many
organisations still struggle with unsatisfactory
customer data and few have properly integrated
their various touch-points. This is problematic
because it introduces dissonance as your audiences
move between them. But the real problem is that
you cannot then identify people and use that
information to add value to the experience.

62. Challenge No.5
-----------------------------------------
Moving from
digital owner to
digital leader.
-----------------------------------------

63. Stuff Marketing
control
Stuff IT Manage
Stuff we need to
change

64. You simply cannot conceive or implement a successful
digital strategy without collaborating with teams across
the organisation.
Operations
Marketing
Human
Resources
Product
IT Dept

65. Culture
Customer focused
approach
multi-channel
customer
engagement
Marketing
Operations
Organic Growth
(Silos,
Fragmentation)
Customer focused
approach
Technology

66. Culture
Customer focused
approach
multi-channel
customer
engagement
Marketing
Operations
Organic Growth
(Silos,
Fragmentation)
Customer focused
approach
Technology

67. You need to develop a pan-organisational framework for
engagement. Develop a distributed structure with guiding
policies and enable teams to own implementation.

68. London Business School have placed engagement at the
centre of their digital strategy and have invested across all
of their digital channels to support this. We helped them
develop an engagement strategy and a framework to
support that.

69. So to summarise
Five challenges facing digital professionals in 2014
• Understanding your audience
• Developing a coherent strategy
• Giving your message a life of its own
• Becoming a smooth ‘multi-channel’ operator
• Moving from digital owner to digital leader

70. More on this subject…
Email: Yes please to
freebook@readingroom.com
slideshare.net/readingroomst
udio

71. More on this subject…
A practical guide to content marketing featuring
insights gleaned from Reading Room projects
and case studies provided by industry peers
from a range of backgrounds.
Recently presented at Internet World, this
presentation by Simon Nash outlines the
importance of connecting engagement activity
with real world outcomes.

72. Thanks
-----------------------------@ReadingRoomUK
@SimonNash