The End of Blogs (and Maybe Websites) as We Know It

I started this blog five years ago as an experiment.  Over the years, I built a decent following, got listed on a few “best of’s”, and built up a solid bank of content.  I never wrote a post for money or allowed advertising; I was in full control of the site and the content.

That changed last week when Blogger rolled out its new Dynamic Views template. Almost instantly, I saw the future and it was an eye opener.  The new technology is a “game changer” and has the potential for causing a SIGNIFICANT “rethink” for marketers.  There are two features in particular that make this innovation noteworthy. 

The first is that you, the reader, can change the layout of the site.  Although dynamic content and websites have been around for years, this is the first tool that I’ve seen that has the potential to turn complete control of the user experience to the visitor.   It allows readers to organize the blog in seven different layouts (click on the tabs above).

The second, and most concerning, is the “Flipcard” view (click that tab).  In a sense, it allows you to “flatten” my website.  Suddenly, the majority of my content (good and bad) is visible above the fold and can be scanned in about 8 seconds (the average time spent to view a web page).  Readers can quickly sort through thumbnail images or blog titles searching for relevant content. 

This new disruptive innovation arrives at a time when corporations are just now beginning to appreciate and understand the value of content marketing and blogging.

According to Hubspot’s State of Inbound Marketing report, nearly 40% of US companies are now using blogs for marketing purposes.  And for good reason, B2B companies that blog generate 55% more traffic, and 67% more leads per month than those who do not.

Those blogs are reaching an ever-growing population of readers.  The global population of readers grew 65% last year, according to Hubspot.   And they are consuming more, 46% said that they were reading blogs more than one a day. 

To keep pace, more content is being produced.  Emarketer reports that there are 31% more bloggers today than there were three years ago, creating an estimated 160 million blogs on the Internet at the end of 2010. 

What does this mean for the content marketer?

The speed at which audiences move around online will get faster.  They will be more difficult to connect with, engage and keep.  Further we are going to have to be prepared to give control to readers in order to be successful.  Based on my experience, here are a few things marketers need to consider:

• Flag post  – An average reader spends 86 seconds on a blog.  To “stop” a visitor who is on the express train to “contentville,” we will have to rethink the titles and images used in posts, and we’ll probably have to live with higher bounce rates.  Suddenly, getting the reader’s attention is just as important as getting them to engage.  
• Relevancy - Turning control of the site over to the visitor also comes with the reality that we are now writing content the visitor wants to read and not, necessarily, just espousing our opinions or services.  Communicating the company point of view is still important, but now it has to be done using the audience’s language.
• Understanding the reader - Google Analytics gives us the demographics but that longer will be enough.   We’ll need to understand what appeals to the reader by monitoring comments, how they’re sharing links, and where they’ve come from, and where they are headed.  We’re merely a morning stop along the way and to get to engage we have to know how to get their attention. 
• Content production – Producing good quality content has long been a challenge.  Now with the ability to flatten sites the lack of content will be visible in an instant. Marketers will have to create a content calendar and rely on trustworthy sources for output. 
• Timing – According to Hubspot research, link-sharing among blog readers reaches a peak at 7 am.   Comments on blogs top out at 8 am, and by 10 am blog reading begins to decline.  As the data suggest, when content is posted and distributed matters.  New internal processes will have to catch up with external audience preferences. 

The real “game changer” is that this technology will quickly make its way into corporate website design.   And for years we have tried to figure out the “user experience.” Visitors can now create their own unique experience, actually seven of them, and do it in real time.  It is a great opportunity, as well as a great challenge, and it’s one that Marketers can’t afford to miss.

This post appears today on Forbes.com.

CIOs Are More Than Just IT Buyers

Even if you believe in love at first sight, the likelihood of a marriage proposal on the first date is highly unlikely. Committing yourself to someone without getting to know him or her first is a ridiculous idea. Yet far too often companies are asking audiences to “commit” at the hint of an interaction despite knowing little about each other.

Why?

In the tech industry and according to author Tom Grant, Ph.D, companies desire early commitment, due to the industry’s “voracious appetite for leads.” As Grant explains in his report, Tech Marketers Pursue Antiquated Marketing Strategies, the “high-speed innovation” rate drives a hyperfocus on product marketing and lead generation compared to other industries.

Developing a relationship with an audience takes time and resources and can often be perceived as a distraction to the task of finding “ready to marry” prospects.  This outward-in view of marketing ignores audience needs and assumes that all audiences are the same and that all searches must indicate intent.   

However, the key to driving demand and lead generation in today’s economy is not being more aggressive and pushing harder, but rather, taking time to develop and nurture relationships.  Audiences, like dates, can sense desperation.   Perhaps the way to go faster is by slowing down and shifting the focal point from the conversion to the conversation.

We have long known that relevancy drives conversion and that conversion drives revenue.   Getting to relevancy requires us to engage with the audience to understand their unique needs and motivations.   As a result, our role changes from dictating to facilitating and understanding that it’s now on the buyer’s timeframe, not ours. 

New technologies, such as Bizo allow us to know who the audience is at the first interaction. We also know where they’ve been for 30 days (who they’ve been dating) before the conversion point, via Google Analytics new Multichannel Funnels.

We can serve up custom content through re-targeting based on audience profiles, adapt for whatever device they are using, and deepen engagement by providing specific product or brand messages that align with their journey. 

“95% of prospects on your website are not yet ready to talk with a sales rep” Source: 2011 MECLABS research

We no longer have to interrupt a buyer’s journey to gauge their interest level.   We no longer have to call a prospect to qualify them.  This can, and will happen, at the buyer’s choosing, if we let it.  

By providing something of value (e.g. relevant and personal) buyers will share their interests, desires and needs, but only if we listen, nurture and respect the relationship. According to Forrester, this intimate information is critical to creating real opportunity (leads) for the sales force.  

In the Technology Buyer Insight Study, Forrester found that, although tech has done a good job of equipping their sales force to discuss their products, they have failed to provide reps with insight into buyer’s roles and responsibilities.  Only 29% of CIO’s said that sales reps could “relate to their role”, less than a quarter (24%) of business leaders said that reps were “knowledgeable about their business.”

Still too touchy feely for you? Consider Harte Hanks’ report, Mapping the Technology Buyer’s Journey which states that the relationship with the vendor is still a top 5 consideration driver.   The first and second most important drivers are what you’d expect: 1) Meets all needs, and 2) Cost. 

Competitors can match your price, but they can’t necessary match your understanding of the buyer’s need or the relationship developed through that journey.   

This post is featured on Forbes.com

Top 5 Ways PR Can Support Sales

This post was also featured on PR News. 
For the most part, sales and marketing view PR/Corporate Communications’ role to be high in the funnel. Some would even say that its focus is on “above the funnel” activities.  But if used strategically, PR activities can be very effective in playing a critical role in supporting sales.  Below are five ways PR can help the sales organization:      

1. Creating an impression – Typically thought of as a primary role of PR, but the ability to create a perception that the company plays in a “space” gets the company in the consideration set and the sales force in the door.  A few years ago, we did some research on the key consideration drivers in Tech.  The research showed that relationship with the rep was not a driver…meaning, if the customer perception is that you don’t have product/solution for their need, the rep is not getting a call. 
2. Damage control – As “they” say, “things happen”, and how the company handles it may be the difference between losing and retaining a customer.  PR can help get out in front of an issue, explain the company’s position, and help the sales force navigate what can be a difficult conversation.  Ford’s handling of the corporate bailout was masterful.  As Alan Mullaly’s peers from GM and Chrysler were taking their corporate jets to Washington to ask for a hand out, he and his team were driving from Detroit.  They said “no” to the handout and walked out with consumer confidence, which later turned into market share gains.  
3. Checking a competitor – A huge concern for sales is having a competitor leapfrog ahead with a new solution or product.  PR can create the impression that the company has a similar product or solution when in reality it may not.  Large established companies, like GE and Cisco, turn up the noise to drown out fast moving smaller competitors. 
4. Building momentum– There’s nothing better for a salesperson than a product that “sells itself.”  Creating excitement in the market for a product or solution helps generate inbound leads, which have the highest close rates.  Do you really think that the new IPhone 5 went missing…again?  It’s all about creating a buzz.
5. Enabling and managing Social Media – In certain industries, such as hi-tech, Social Media is owned by PR/Corporate Communication. This important channel for engaging with customers can provide sales with new insights into customer behaviors, needs, and motivations, but that insight has to be carefully managed as to how it is used. 

And for a bonus example – Virtual Coverage - years ago, I conducted research on how well a medical equipment company was covering small customers.  The results showed that their sales force visited customers about once every three months while a competitive sales force came by about twice as much. 
The company couldn't afford to increase the field sales force but could ramp up corporate communications.  A year later when we did the same research, this time customers said that the reps were showing up twice as often.  They weren't, but the increased communication resulted in the perception that they were seeing the reps more often.  

The Social Media Squeeze in Hi-Tech

After much internal debate and in-fighting among departments you finally decide to put Social Media in  PR.  Well, don’t get too comfortable.  The risk, according to recent research on the technology industry, is that PR may get pressured to turn a vehicle for engaging in genuine conversations into a broadcast channel for generating leads.  

According to research from ExactTarget, close to 40% of Facebook users said that they “like” a brand to share their support of that brand with friends.

Why users “like” brands:

•  40% to receive discounts and promotions


• 39% to show my support for the company to others


•  36% to get a “freebie”


•  34% to stay informed about the activities of the company


•  33% to get updates on future products 

63% of FB users reported that they would “unlike” a brand if postings become excessive, and in particular, if they are too promotional or repetitive.  52% of Twitters users would stop following a brand if their tweets became repetitive or boring.  This is where the danger for hi-tech marketers exists.  

In a report titled Tech Marketers Pursue Antiquated Marketing Strategies, Forrester found that 42% of hi-tech companies have handed over Social Media to PR and Corporate Marketing. 

The research also showed that 76% hi-tech marketers say that lead generation was one of the two most important priorities for marketing compared to 53% of non-tech companies.   Non-tech companies also list customer relationship management to be a priority at 52% versus only 22% of tech companies. 

Because of the pressure for leads, tech has a tendency to want to turn any interaction into a sales conversation, by doing so it risk alienating what could be its best sales voice, the brand advocate.  It doesn't mean that PR organizations in tech can’t successfully execute social media programs, in fact, many of the best practices come from the industry.  But if not carefully monitored and controlled, PR and MarCom will be under pressure to use social media as a one way outbound spam machine aimed at anyone who hints at liking a technology brand.  

That squeeze will come from the product organization, which has P&L targets that will be made or missed according to the marketing team’s ability to produce leads. Forrester found that Product Development and Engineering (35%) has the most influence of any business function in the hi-tech industry. 

To put that into perspective, only 4% answered Marketing.  So you can expect Product to bring the heat.

Where should social media sit? 

The Forrester report went on to say that other industry respondents believe social media plays an important part in other marketing activities, as a result, it could be owned by a corporate marketing/PR (24%), web/interactive group (22%) or a brand or product marketing group (16%).

If you are in hi-tech and PR manages social media remember this - the top measurable benefit of social media, according to a recent McKinsey survey, is that it increases the speed to access knowledge; specifically, to understand the external environment, find new ideas, and experts which has resulted in improved marketing effectiveness.   Note that these activities are collecting information, not distributing. 

Are Existing Customers 8 Times More Valuable than New Customers?

It’s conventional wisdom  that it is “six to seven times more expensive to gain a new customer than to retain an existing customers.”  Given today’s economic uncertainty, could the inverse also be true?  Could existing customers be six, seven or even eight times more valuable in terms of revenue and growth than new ones?

Frederick Reinchheld of Bain & Company coined the phase based his research on customer retention and acquisition in a study published in the Havard Business Review in 2001.  He would later go on to develop the Net Promoter score, measuring the impact and importance of “loyal enthusiasts” on a company’s performance. 

So for many companies, existing customers are a bellwether investment –  such as gold – in times of instability and uncertainty.  But what the research does not address is the potential existing customers represent.  Many are a goldmine of opportunity for incremental revenue growth that is often missed. 

For example, a financial services company found that because it focused on promoting and selling new products, the majority of new customers acquired in the last 2 years had high penetration of new products (75%) and low penetration of older products (40%). 

The inverse was also true: Customers for more than 10 years had high penetration rates of products older than 10 years at 65%, while new customers had penetration of 37% for those same products.

Marketing promotions, and sales compensation incented behaviors that led to new customers only being exposed to new products.  With existing customers, the company focused on retention and spent little time on trying to sell new products.  As a result, the company discovered a host of cross-sell and up-sell opportunities as a result of this segmentation … opportunities that may exist in many other organizations. I would recommend segmenting your customers by date acquired, and the age of the product they own or use to discover your own goldmine.

This incremental revenue potential, combined with the value a customer represents as a brand advocate (Reinchheld’s Net Promoter Score) powered by social media raises the stakes even further.  It is a solid argument for suggesting that existing customers are in fact, even more valuable than Bain originally suggested ten years ago.

Don’t get me wrong; new products, markets and customers are critical for growth.  I’m not advocating that a company abandon these pursuits, however I am suggesting that given the current situation there might be an overlooked, low-cost opportunity for growth right in the backyard.

You just need to mine it.

Need another reason? At this writing, an ounce of gold is trading at about $1,700..  Two years ago, it traded at $1014, appreciating 68% over this period.  

Treat customers like gold and you might see the same kind of return.