As we know, once the initial rounds of advertising takes place, the content then goes out into the ether. Up until recently, these adverts were lost in the great expanse of the internet. Yet as long as the number of views and impressions were in line with what was expected, not too many people have been worried about these finer details.

However, inevitably the money men are going to want some clarity on where advertising spend is going. Results are all well and good, but in an era of Sarbanes Oxley, transparency has never been more important for big corporates. Yet what they will find may well alarm them more than not knowing at all.

In just over the year that we have been running commercially in the UK, we have found around three to four per cent of adverts we monitor are appearing on client-defined inappropriate sites, like peer-to-peer sites offering illegal content. When you extrapolate that figure with the number of adverts that are served monthly, then you are looking at hundreds of millions of adverts appearing on sites that offer zero value.

Worse still, we have documented millions of adverts appearing on sites which support criminality. Up until recently advertisers could legitimately say this was a consequence of the system and there was little they could do to prevent this from occurring. That is now no longer the case with ABC certifying a number of products which offer content verification, helping to stop adverts appearing on inappropriate sites.

With these solutions in place, the vast void of online advertising has had a light shone upon it, highlighting how often these adverts appear in the dark recesses of the internet, and pinpointing where campaigns are failing to deliver value for money. With a greater ability to track and analyse advertising campaigns, practices and methods will need to change to reflect a more scientific and accurate approach. By doing so, it will lead to a safer industry, more confident brands willing to part with online advertising funds, and prevent brands tacitly supporting criminality.

1.  Logo – (Noun) “A symbol adopted by an organization to identify its products or services” We all know it’s never about what you have, it’s about how you use it that makes the difference! Since you've spent the time and/or money on this masterpiece called your "logo," make sure it shows up everywhere including business cards, social media sites, and any other promotional materials. Your logo is your company's identity in a picture and the more you show it off, the quicker your brand recognition will grow.

Does this really matter, you ask? Consider this… how likely are you to remember a random fast-food restaurant you visited when they use generic bags and soda cups versus the restaurant that brands every cup and bag with their logo? That garbage in your car becomes advertising and will make an impression every time you see it.

2. Interact – Who knew this was a part of branding? Speak directly with your target and, even more importantly, with your clients. Share and respond to social media comments, answer your phone using your company name and/or slogan, and use interactive communication tools such as surveys and email marketing. Remember, everything you send and share should always include your logo and slogan.

3. Solve – Your mission should be simple. Every business offers a product or service that offers results and/or a solution; and just because you know that, it does not mean your target market does. Leverage your interactive tools to share a clear, concise, and consistent solution that is unique to your brand identity. Remember, the process you use to help your clients may be complicated but your message should be simple enough to earn the trust and comfort of your clients.

Branding is more of an art than a science; it takes creativity, time, patience, and just like a painting, it will even go through an ugly stage. An initial brand launch should focus on creating awareness for your unique product or services. Luckily you have a friend in the industry- whether your current brand is sour or your business is brand new, HMG can help you too!

With the release of Firefox 22, Mozilla joins Apple’s Safari browser in blocking third-party cookies. This will likely impact 40% of unique browsers (actual, not downloads), and advertisers and agencies will see significant measurement distortions (except those solely using click metrics) and data management impact. (Note because measurement is census-based, the distortion will be exponentially larger than 40%.)

First order of the day is to take an inventory of the near-term impacts to the eco-system. Typically advertisers use 8-12 different technologies to plan, decision, deliver and manage digital advertising. The eco-system has historically bounced data from partner to partner via tags, broadcast synch or stitched it together. ALL THESE WILL BE IMPACTED: attribution, analytics, data management, available cookie pooling, ad measurement, site conversion measurement, etc. etc. In tests just on the Apple browsers, we’ve seen this distortion create significant impacts and distortions up to seven times, so we will expect to see this rise rapidly after Firefox 22 goes into wide release.

With the increased volatility in the measurement framework, we will also see the collateral power shift to sell-side groups with well-architected data models. These include the usual suspects—Google, Yahoo!, Facebook—. These companies are being joined by eBay and Amazon. As these companies also enjoy a direct consumer relationship, they are well-insulated from the volatility that besets others in the market such as third-party networks, publishers using third-party networks as an inventory model, retargeters (though one could argue that Criteo is better-placed than most as it relies on click model) and data pools that use third party tags that do not have a direct client relationship. Expect to see the balance of power shift to the majors.

What is less clear will be how the DMP folks will fare as, on the one hand, they are organizing data in a first-party model to support programmatic buying, while on the other hand, they need to effect good linkage currently. Companies such as Blue Kai could be very well placed as they also have strong data and publisher links while more standalone DMPs may struggle.

Clearly the uber-players are seeing big potential gains.  Weakness in the third-party middle of the market may drive better quality inventory to them as they develop significant data on-boarding frameworks. Of course, the sting in the tail here could be that privacy concerns are escalated. Last year Senator Markey et al. in Washington and others in the market pushed hard for change in different data practices and fair and adequate notice, choice, consent and derivative works.

The uber-publishers also need to be sensitive to the fact the advertiser and agencies need to able to measure the efficacy of their investments and also have the tools and technologies to determine where to invest in media. This may be antithetical to the model of “We know what’s best” but advertisers and agencies have significant concerns that, with the two largest ad delivery technologies owned by the majors, there will be a dumbing down or restriction on things like data exports, etc.

As the Barclay’s Renaissance of Ad Technology report (published just before the Firefox announcement) showed, there is still a need for better validation of spend as the industry investment still lags significantly behind the volume of eyeballs consuming content. Measurement and targeting are key staples of driving effective media investments and there is need to ensure that there is adequate availability of these on the buy-side as well as the sell-side. Judging by the volume of new business calls our team is getting for our first-party model, this is understood in the market. I’m actually excited by the change as it will force the market to innovate with renewed energy as a disruption in the eco-system creates opportunity to get creative. We may be able to eliminate much of the non-working media costs in the model, which currently is probably the biggest limiting factor in the equation. When 63% of the cost of media is not on media, then there is a problem.

Evolution or revolution is being forced on the market. The power shift has created better visibility into who is buy-side and who is sell-side – the LUMAscape can be re-drawn with more clarity – you are buyer or a seller or you help the buyer or the seller, ambiguity resolved. Simplifying and redrawing the eco-system will maximize efficiency of spend and improve ROI across the board. Display marketing will be stronger and serve all parties better, once the growing pains have been overcome.

What other media channel can compare with this?

Consumers are rapidly adopting mobile devices and behaviors and spending an average of 2 hours per day on smartphone devices. We are rarely separated from them, and we check our phones every 6.5 minutes (or 150 times daily). 

MOBILE advertising grew by 88% in 2012

While MOBILE ad/media spending is only 1% of total media (vs. 10% share of consumer media time), MOBILE advertising grew by 88% in 2012 (from $2.4B to $4.5B). MOBILE ad spending growth to-date has been limited by marketers/agencies challenges in creating MOBILE ads designed specifically to take advantage of MOBILE devices. Chia Chen, SVP Mobile Practice Leader at Digitas indicated their client's mobile ad spending grew by 400% (4X more rapidly) because their ads for Amex, Taco Bell, M&Ms and other clients treated smart phones as "small TVs" and incorporated richer media, and more native creative palettes.

Global Tablet Advertising Study - Results Presented

Beth Doyle, Innovation Director at Vivaki, revealed the results of a 14-month global industry study of 20 million global tablet users (sponsored by 12 advertisers including P&G and Coke and 12 media companies) titled The Pool: The Tablet Lane - TABLETS RISING. This study tested 35-40 tablet advertising formats and yielded 3 STD Tablet ad formats being proven as meeting consumers' needs: (1) let me drive; (2) more for me; (3) "tablet-ize" the user experience; (4) no guessing games - keep it intuitive and simple. Clearly, with MOBILE (smartphone and tablet) ad standards emerging, marketers are well on their way to utilizing this new medium in unique ways not available through other previous media channels.

MOBILE's Big Differentiators

MOBILE is a one-to-one media channel and LOCATION is MOBILE's big differentiator. These devices give consumers the ability to find anything they need in real-time and for marketers (with opt-in permission) to find their best customers and prospects when they are in active shopping/buying mode. 40% of consumers already utilize MOBILE devices as their primary (exclusive) online research channel and 60% of mobile shopping converts to purchase (with 75% of sales take place in-store).

Todd Morris, EVP of Mobile & Marketing at Catalina indicated mobile-assisted grocery shoppers buy 8%+ more and over 1M+ consumers are already spending over $1B+ in mobile grocery shopping where items are scanned, store discounts/coupons are applied, and orders are delivered or picked up without waiting in checkout lines.

Trish Mueller, CMO at Home Depot indicated mCommerce grew 129% in 2012 and sales from MOBILE are projected to exceed $650M by 2016. Home Depot has developed a MOBILE web and apps which make it one of the top 10 retail sites creating "an endless aisle" where consumers can access 400,000 SKUs as well as product information and peer reviews at the point of purchase. One of the most innovative apps is "Find A Pro" where consumers can take a video of a problem, send it to Home Depot, and they will connect consumers with "Pros" who can bid the job.

Winston Wang, Global Director - Strategic Innovation at AB Bev, demonstrated "beer and MOBILE go hand-in-hand" indicating beer is the original social network and MOBILE is helping Sales & Marketing along the entire purchase funnel as well as in the loyalty/advocacy areas after purchase. Winston shared MOBILE apps for Stella Artois (9 step pouring ritual, LeBar finder), Beck's and Bud Light.

Announcement: A New MMA Initiative To Address The Mobile Talent Gap

MMA-NA has launched a NEW Mobile Talent Task Force (Jeff Gundersen - Co-Chair) and the first open Committee meeting was held at the MMA-NY 2013 Forum. All parties (marketers, agencies, media companies, technology providers, educators, training & development companies, and other interested parties) are invited to reach out to Jeff Gundersen for a copy of the "Strategic Framework" and related mobile talent research studies pertaining to this new Committee.

Traditionally a time when people take stock of personal and professional successes and set goals for the next year, I found myself singing along to: ‘I love you, You love me …’.

At this point you might be thinking, ‘Is this blog now getting into what Barney, that ghastly purple dinosaur, can teach me about marketing or marketing research?’

No dear reader, I wouldn’t do that to you … I give you more credit than that. But you’re close!

What could parenting and marketing research possibly have in common?

Outside of work, much of my free time is spent figuring out how to be the best possible father, raise an adjusted child and a good citizen of the world. And that’s how I found myself enjoying the book Erik Erikson’s ‘Eight Stages of Life’, essentially about the development of personality from birth through death.

In reading about these stages, my mind naturally turns to my chosen field of marketing research, specifically as it relates to the role that research plays within an organization, and its stages of acceptance within that organization. As mentioned, Erikson’s eight stages go from birth to death, but I will focus on those stages from infancy to adolescence.

I’ve taken the liberty of modifying this work to make it more meaningful and relevant to this audience, and am providing my own thoughts and reflections as they loosely relate to each ’stage of development’.

Stage 1 : Infants learn to trust, researchers gain credibility

Infancy (birth to 18 months)

Marketers and others within an organization often doubt research. Maybe that’s because the data doesn’t agree with the story they want to convey, or worse, the data itself has quality issues.

It’s critical to get buy-in on the integrity of the data provided. It should be designed, organised, labelled and structured the way you like to see it.

Stage 2 : Toddlers crave autonomy, researchers seek control over data

Early childhood (2 to 3 years)

Having access to research data can be empowering. Some people within an organization may be data-savvy enough to really dig in and mine the data with one of the powerful data investigation tools around.

However, sometimes guardrails are appropriate and users won’t want full flexibility, so use a more appropriate option. Actually, being able to physically view the data is critical and provides a sense of autonomy.

This often frees up resources of the research function and can reduce costs to vendors for ad hoc data requests.

Stage 3 : Preschoolers take the initiative, researchers reduce silos

Preschool (3 to 5 years)

Often data sits in various places, rendering the information useless.

Being able to bring multiple data sources together to make informed decisions is invaluable, as is the ability to share information across different business functions.

Stage 4 : Young school children navigate social demands, researchers engage in group decision making

School age (6 to 11 years)

Providing access to data, either through an analysis or data visualization tool, provides users with an opportunity to interact more and share information, making collective decisions.

The more people who have access to information, the better the end decisions.

Stage 5 : Adolescents become competent, researchers take action

Adolescence (12 to 18 years)

The propensity to act on business decisions based on research findings, varies by company. Research is expensive and the decisions that stem from the research and value received, is constantly under review. It takes courage to stand by research and act on its findings, to help move an organization forward with its business objectives.

Find inspiration - it's out there!

Inspiration for drawing insights regarding research can come from the oddest places. In thinking about the child development process, parallels can be drawn to understand how to better achieve success with research, within an organization.

Giving credibility to research data and providing people access to research data, sets an organizational culture that values and welcomes research. Further, access to data helps reduce silos and encourages group decision-making

Once consensus is researched, organizations must have the courage to act.

Here Infotools provide five quick tips for insight departments. Use them to make sure your data gets used by the marketing team.

1. Data organisation

Consumers are messy. Researchers and data scientists love to put them in boxes, but human beings don’t always fit neatly. Preparing data by checking, categorising, labelling and recoding into logical categories can make a database many times more useful.

Collating all sources of consumer and marketing data in one place not only means data can be cross-analysed, but also removes a massive headache for the data custodian. Even when staff move on, data can always be found.

2. Speedy turnaround

Relevance is key to keeping the attention of busy stakeholders. Involve the marketing department in the planning stages, and then show them the results of their input as quickly as possible.

A good way to save time is to decide what you want to see in advance of having the data. When deciding what questions to ask or what data to include, think about what business questions it will answer, and how you’ll need to see the data in order to answer those questions. For example, a recommendation score out of 10 might generate these questions:

• Are people more likely to recommend us in branches where we introduced a customer service initiative?

• Are there differences in likelihood to recommend us by region?

• If so, what are the unique beliefs people hold about us in our most successful regions?

To answer the first question, you could view the percentage who recommend in branches where the customer service initiative was introduced, and those where it wasn't introduced. You’d want statistically significant difference between the bars to be shown.

Above : A simple chart with significance testing can show us if customers are more likely to recommend in branches with our customer service initiative.

For the second question, you might want to see a shaded map where the colour represents the strength of recommendation in different regions.

Above : A shaded map helps us see where recommendation is strongest.

For the third question, you might want to see a correspondence map of our image attributes and our regions.

Nothing is stopping you from planning out these views in advance, ready to be populated with data when it arrives.

3. Engaging presentation which encourages interaction

Just as good branding enhances the value we feel we get from a product, good presentation enhances the credibility of insight. Of course the data is more important than aesthetics, but why make people work hard to understand it? We need to get the insight right, sure, but just as important is getting it used.

This is where data visualization comes in. Data visualization in a nutshell means 'well-thought-out charts.'

The latest platforms for data visualization not only present data flexibly, clearly and attractively, but they also encourage your audience to interact with the information.

This is important because when we manipulate data for ourselves, our attention levels increase. We begin to ask questions and engage with the subject. We’re more likely to remember and act on the insight, because we’ve taken part in discovering it.

4. Showing the right info to the right people

'This report, by its very length, defends itself against the risk of being read,' said Winston Churchill.

The best way to ensure consumer insights are not read is to bury them in a fifty-slide PowerPoint deck. Marketers in particular are used to effective communication, and so they have little patience for irrelevant information.

Prepare your story, using just the information relevant to the point you’re making. Structure it around marketing questions, not research questions. Make your point clearly and don’t expect your audience to have to go looking for the data.

Of course, people in your organisation who are data explorers should be given the ability to interact and delve deeper into the data. Ideally, we want to give different levels of functionality to different people.

Examples of simple interactivity include demographic filters and switching between charts and tables. More advanced interactivity would be changing the metrics charted, ranking, changing the default significance testing, etc.

5. Capability to collaborate and exchange ideas

So you’ve got your marketing department’s attention. Now to get some action.

The best ideas don’t happen in a vacuum, and neither do ideas for responding to consumer insights. By making it easy for your audience to share charts, add notes, and reply to each other’s comments, you can generate momentum around the findings.

Social sharing functionality is a common feature of newer data visualization platforms. These are often cloud-based, so you can share a link to a chart or view you’ve created and someone else can comment on it. If you update the chart, they see the updated version too – avoiding multiple versions of reports floating around or stored in Outlook inboxes.

In summary …

The best consumer insight in the world is nothing unless it inspires in marketers the confidence to act. We can make this happen by …

• Preparing our database so it’s easy to use

• Planning our reporting so it’s quick to deliver

• Using data  visualization to engage our audience

• Giving relevant insight – and nothing but relevant insight – to the right people

• Making it easy for our audience to exchange thoughts and plans based on our insight.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
― Ernest Hemmingway
The concept of buyer personas, as a means for understanding buyers, has been around now for over a decade.  It is an understatement to say many things have changed in the world of buying and selling since their beginning.

We have witnessed the changing dynamics of the buyer-seller relationship. The dynamics I refer to are buying behaviors and buyer goals.  On the other side of the coin, we see marketing and sales making attempts to adapt.  The concepts of content marketing, lead nurturing, insight-based selling, customer experience, and brand management emphasized.  These practices have been introduced as gateways to connecting with buyers in the new digital age.

Adapting to New Realities

Personas, at their core, were introduced as a tool to communicate the goals and behaviors of users and buyers.  Specifically for informing strategies related to product design and marketing to buyers.  For B2B Marketing and Sales, a clearer picture has begun to emerge around the goals and behaviors of buyers.  Yet, there are many more miles to go.  My endeavor and work with organizations over the past decade lead me to this conclusion:

Personas, specifically in B2B, need to be adaptive to new goals and behaviors of buyers throughout their buyer’s journey.  In addition, personas need to be designed for the new practices, which are developing in marketing and sales.

The term buyer persona has been used universally to an extreme level. The term worked well when buyers relied on sales for their buying cycle for upwards to eighty percent.  We are seeing the inverse today.  Here is where I believe buyer trends as well as qualitative evidence is telling us to go:

B2B personas need to be researched, understood, and designed to meet robust goals and behaviors of buyers throughout the end-to-end buying cycle and brand experience.  In addition, personas need to be designed to enable as well as make more effective new practices, functions, and roles.

Persona Buying Cycle™

As new operational models for marketing and sales develop, there are 5 buying behavior phases of the buying cycle personas must now address:

1. Audience Behavior: the concept of content marketing reaching audiences is more prevalent.  Audience goals and behaviors are distinctly different when not in the market for products or services.  Yet, awareness, insight, and intelligence are an important component of connecting with existing customers and future buyers today.  Content marketing effectiveness is enabled when it can reach many different types of audiences.  Audience personas must now include the likes of industry influences and more.
2. Lead Behavior: one of the fastest growing areas, in terms of emerging practices, is the rise in lead nurturing and lead development.  Buyers have distinct goals and behaviors when they convert from being a part of a wider audience to an interested party.   New forms of lead research and lead personas can create more effective conversions from an interested party to an active buyer.
3. Buyer Behavior: the core persona when buyers have become actually engaged in the process of buying.  Buying behaviors, and buying goals, operate on a different level when buyers are actively engaged in the buying process.  Buyer personas, true their original intent, are designed to enable the buying process between buyer and seller.
4. Customer Behavior: when a buyer becomes a customer, there is a trial period underway.  This trial period consists of a different set of goals and behaviors meaningful to confirmation and customer experience.  Specific customer personas can enable understanding and capabilities to meet customer goals post-sale.  Implementation and customer support teams can benefit immensely from personas designed specifically for their roles.
5. Brand Behavior: brand management is emerging out of the shadows, as a competency B2B companies have to get right today.  Fulfilling the brand promise consistently is one of the hardest jobs of marketing and an organization as a whole.  Customers and buyers have different goals, behaviors, and beliefs, which surround brands.  The goal here is to convert customer personas into brand persona advocates.

A recommendation for forward-thinking marketing and sales leaders is to begin thinking in terms of the Persona Buying Cycle™ versus a singular focus on a buyer persona.  One certainty is the buyer’s journey not only begins before buyers think of themselves as a buyer, but also extends beyond the purchase.  Having a common visual and story of how buyer’s goals and behaviors change throughout the buying cycle is compelling.   We are also seeing activities, functions, and roles widen in marketing and sales in response to changing buying behaviors.  The Persona Buying Cycle™ is a natural extension to address both of these developments.

Positive Outcomes

Creating B2B personas through the lenses of a Persona Buying Cycle™ help bring these positive outcomes:

• • Make personas relevant throughout the major touchpoints of the end-to-end buyer’s journey
  • Make personas more practical to each functional team interacting with audiences, buyers, and customers
  • Make demand generation, lead generation, opportunity management, and customer experience more effective
  • Provide a common communications platform for understanding buyers
  • Foster alignment between marketing and sales by mapping to specific buyer goals and behaviors

In a dozen years, we have seen the then straightforward buyer-seller dynamics become more complex.  How B2B views the use of personas, from a pragmatic standpoint, now must adapt.

(Become part of the dialogue.  Connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google Plus as well as subscribe to the Buyer Persona Blog on the tonyzambito.com website.)

Related articles

• Marketing is in the Throes of a Buyer Revolution
• The Art of Buying

• 5 Buying Behaviors of the Persona Buying Cycle (tonyzambito.com)

When talking about marketing metrics, Return on Investment (ROI) quickly surfaces as the centerpiece of the conversation. Impressions, clicks, media costs, conversions, view-through conversions, conversion rate, and cost per conversion are thrown onto the table and dissected for new insights.

What’s not discussed as frequently is the Total Cost of Marketing (TCM). When TCM enters the discussion, it changes the dynamics of the dialogue and forces everyone to take a broader, deeper and more holistic view. In other words, it enables the CMO to assess ROI at a much more detailed, accurate and useful level.

In assessing the value of a specific marketing channel or campaign, it’s important for the CMO to include costs for overhead, salaries, production costs and outsourcing fees. At the same time, the CMO cannot have a myopic view of the “R” in ROI. Instead of limiting their view of results to the volume of leads or other types of conversion, additional factors such as lead-to-customer ratio and lifetime value of customer need to be included in the equation.

The true measure of a campaign is not necessarily return-on-ad-spend (ROAS), for example. It’s the projected lifetime value of the campaign vs. TCM. Yet you hear certain marketers treat ROAS as a golden standard all the time. We need to upgrade the conversation in order to gain a firmer grip on true ROI.

The CMO of the future is certainly one grounded in numbers and metrics, but the data needs to go way beyond surface-level campaign stats.

If the $42.3 billion spent online this past holiday season has taught retailers anything, it’s that capturing customers—and their dollars—online is crucial.

But online is a big place. And mobile, which can seem like an entirely different universe, looms ever larger. So where to even start if you haven’t yet…started? And who should lead the charge?

The modern day merchant must have an intimate understanding of the importance of online and mobile commerce, access to a vast array of customer data, and a strategy for transforming this analytical data into winning online experiences.

In all cases, the goal is to attract and retain both new and returning customers. Whether online novices or experts, business leaders crave insight on how to accomplish this. The question is: who inside the company can embody these traits and help the CEO rule the roost? That responsibility should belong to the chief marketing officer.

A CMO should be somebody who uniquely understands marketing, merchandising, data, analytics and web design, and who can also maintain a creative, innovative organizational structure. IT tends to lean too heavily toward data for data’s sake, while Sales too often relies on revenue and relationships.

Placing the CMO in charge allows for the best of both worlds. Armed with the science of data analysis and the art of consumer engagement, the CMO is well positioned to emulate merchant princes of old and join the ranks of retail royalty. A good CMO can nurture a culture of testing, measuring and learning instead of depending on guesswork and subjectivity, as well as reach out to those on the front lines of customer interactions to figure out what those customers want. The ambitious CMO knows that their company site must be more engaging than the competitions’, as well as a place that customers trust, valuing the available products, services and information on offer. It also needs to be a reliable gateway to actions that grow sales beyond the initial purchase, such as cross-selling and upselling.

What’s the best way to make all this happen? One word: data.

Data is crucial to online retail. It comes in many different forms, the main type being the individual behaviors of current site visitors: which search term or webpage brought them over, what time of day and day of the week they’re most likely to stop by, what recent purchases they’ve already made onsite, what pages they visit and what product categories most interest them. All this pertinent info helps define what the “best content” is for each specific viewer. Other types include customer relationship management (CRM) data and social media data.

The aspiring CMO must then use this accumulated data to gain perspective on what customers want; analytical optimization and personalization tools will aid in this quest. Segmentation sifts through the data to find discrete groups of people with similar traits and/or interests, who can then be targeted and tested with relevant content based on site activity. Product recommendations and other offers are then provided based on what the various groups are most likely to purchase.

Product information tools give customers a deeper understanding of the product at hand—a 360-degree view of an article of clothing, or a close-up of various types of textured materials. User-generated content, like ratings, reviews or social media feedback, also aids and influences purchasing decisions. The savvy CMO uses all these methods to strike the delicate balance between intuition and analysis.

At a recent Coca-Cola conference in Atlanta, Eric Salama, CEO at Kantar Group, said the following in a presentation on the future of research: ’I won't call them consumers, I'll call them people.’ Speaking to him afterwards, I confirmed his belief that our industry will increasingly rely on the notion that people are more than consumers or respondents.

Understanding the behaviours, attitudes and beliefs we measure in the context of real lives is increasingly important as people expand their social presence into digital spheres, and demand to be recognised as individuals.

Acknowledge the human element in people

Equally encouraging, in a recent blog 'I’m not your consumer: How research misses the human behind the demographic', Douglas Van Praet argues that ’We’re not consumers, eyeballs, non-responders, laggards, Millennials, or Hispanics. We are humans.’

His message is the same – reducing a ‘person who consumes’ to a resource called a consumer, conceals what is most important to us about that person – that they are a person! While he doesn’t explicitly make the connection I do, Van Praet does imply that making respondents of consumers is simply an extension of that same mistake.

Another post 'Consumers are people too', makes the same point again from a marketing rather than a research angle: ’Using the word ’consumer’ to refer to ‘people who eat’, makes food impersonal. But of course, food is intensely personal by its very nature.”

So, am I right to sense progress? It is clear from the comments section in these posts that the message resonates with many (I encourage you to read them). And the idea isn’t new – I first heard it expressed by a marketer at a previous Coca-Cola conference way back in 2006.

Perhaps … but we still have a long way to go. In a February 2013 post, Jonathan Pirc at Lab42 starts off with a promising title ‘Survey respondents are people, too’, but goes on to reveal his ‘standard world view’ by reducing those people to respondents again in the body of the post.

Researchers, this is a call to share the love!

I suspect the world of marketing is ahead of the research industry in switching to the lexicon of love. In this blog, also called ‘Consumers are people too!’, Peter Smith of IDExperiential in the UK makes light of the consumer/person conflict – something that would only work if it was a well-established conversation in that field.

He says: ’As dedicated marketers, so obsessed with brands and advertising that even our parents are just another couple of consumers to us these days, it’s sometimes nice to slip off the ole marketing flat cap and remember what it’s like to be a regular person, I mean consumer, no, person.’

With the support of industry leaders like Eric Salama, I think we researchers can steal back the lead in this arena. Marketers look to us for guidance on what’s coming next and if ever there was an opportunity for us to provide, this is it … share the love!

As the shelf life of ecommerce sites gets shorter, it becomes harder for marketers to balance the latest trends while maintaining a seamless customer experience. When constant upgrades and revamps become daily tasks, or the functionality just isn’t meeting your growth demands, it might be a sign that it’s time to replatform—or migrate your site to a more stable, streamlined infrastructure.

The bad news is that if you’re considering a replatform, it’s likely because your ecommerce site is highly complex and dynamic, with rich content, targeted merchandising, interactive customer support and advanced search capabilities. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be tricky. Here’s a checklist of six things to help ensure a smoother process.

Think long-term

According to Forrester Research, 39% of surveyed companies see a drop in conversion rates after replatforming, while 44% note slower load times once a new platform goes live. It’s a given that ecommerce sites will need to be further tested and tweaked after replatforming. Therefore, selling the process as a singular project with a definite end date is counterproductive. Replatforming should be treated as a long-term program that caters to the site’s goals and capabilities. Be upfront about this so stakeholders realize that a post-launch dip is part of the plan. And ensure them that you can bring things back into balance through testing and optimization.

Be realistic

The average delay for a replatforming program is 4.2 months; so promising a three-month turnaround is setting your company up for failure. Functionality and usability issues are common once the transition takes place, so be aware of that when devising a timeline. Companies that rush their replatforming efforts often have to spend more time dealing with unexpected snafus, unlike those who allocate enough time to get things right at the first pass. Pro tip: don’t schedule a replatform in Q3 or Q4—unless you enjoy needless holiday chaos! Instead, plan to make the shift earlier in the year (right now is actually a good time!) so any delays that arise are dealt with during the summer, and the bigger issues can get resolved before shopping season begins.

Use teamwork

While it’s tempting to keep replatforming decisions strictly within the marketing department—perhaps under the assumption that less cooks in the kitchen will make things go faster—remember that other departments (IT, sales, executives) are bound to have their own goals for the project, each with their own key performance indicators. Having all that input and feedback is highly valuable, and crucial to a successful replatforming. Keeping everyone in the loop in a diplomatic and transparent way results in a consolidated master KPI list for the program with fair and effective prioritization.

Stay focused

A big replatforming no-no is trying to fix too many problems at once. New site features, design changes, cross-channel implementations, updated order management solutions…implementing all those changes at the same time will make the possibility of things going haywire even more likely. Adding excess scope at the start often leads to trimming things down later on—in other words, wasted time, money and effort. Figure out what the most important changes will be at the start, and implement those in a focused, rational manner.

Know what you need

Replatforming is not the end…only the beginning. Therefore, it’s important to have a clear idea of what tools and interdepartmental support are needed to keep things running smoothly once the transition takes place, and to make those needs clear during preliminary discussions so there’s no surprises. Any manual effort or IT hours should be estimated in advance, as well as any possible ongoing financial outlay beyond upfront costs.

Test everything

Forrester notes that an astounding 63% of companies decide to re-platform based on “perceived ROI” (otherwise known as hunches), while 54% are motivated by internal company demands (also called wishful thinking). That’s a whole lot of guesswork, when what’s needed is actual customer experience testing to see what really improves matters. Any variable you can think of—site traffic, bounce rates, navigation, checkout processes, layout/design, revenue per visitor—can be tested both before and after replatforming to ensure the changes taking place will actually make a difference to the bottom line.

Marketers have started to tackle their social media needs, similar to how they have historically approached every other marketing tactic - by isolating and siloing their strategic parameters, success metrics, and analytics. We’ve seen this time and time again. This is how marketers dealt with banner advertising in the ‘90s, SEM and email in the early ‘00s, and mobile and in-game advertising in the late ‘00s. Over a decade later and the same mistakes are being made. Next it will be real-time-bidding and then most likely video; especially as digital convergence really takes form and everything (i.e. TV, radio, print, etc.) is technically “digital”. Agencies and media providers are always ready to reposition themselves based on the flavor of the month. Social is the new black. Or is it the new pink? Most trends are just that – “trendy”.

Don’t get me wrong, social marketing is extremely important. In fact, it is too important to think you can just silo it out and hire a specialized social media agency to manage it on your company’s behalf. The most successful marketers are not experts in analog media, digital media, social media, search marketing, or real-time-bidding; they are efficient in communication and understanding how to serve people’s needs. Once you understand what your audience/customers’ needs are and their communication requirements, you can determine the most effective channels and tactics to satisfy those needs - just like establishing any human relationship.

I realize most marketing disciplines these days require specialists to deploy and manage specific tactics. However, we must not confuse strategy with execution. You must have an integrated communication strategy that puts your customers and target prospects at the core. Through the communication planning process you should determine how much social marketing support is required and how it should be managed. Additionally, we should stop referring to social as a tactic and think of it more as the fabric that weaves throughout your entire marketing program. There’s no such thing as a social media campaign. You don’t make friends with someone and then decide to abruptly end that friendship because he/she had plans on the same night you wanted to go out.

A strong relationship is cultivated over time and this means you need to be willing to allocate the necessary resources to building those high value relationships and plan on managing them indefinitely. The only way to assure this can be done is by centralizing your customer relationship management internally. Yes, social is a component of CRM. Only now, it is a multi-dimensional dialogue and your refer-a-friend programs have exponential potential. Those that are positioning themselves as “social media experts” are less concerned about the long term value of the relationships between you and your customers, and really trying to capitalize on the ignorance that exists in the marketplace to, once again, provide false value – kind of like that “friend” who is always there to console you during a really bad time. They appear to be genuine, but we all know there is an ulterior motive which is driven by taking advantage of your vulnerability.

Be less concerned about the new, bright, shiny objects and focus on better understanding your audience and customers. The more you learn about what people want, the better you can serve their needs. Marketing channels and tactics are just the delivery mechanisms to serving those needs. With all that being said, I do recommend partnering with those that are proficient at managing the execution of each tactic. Many tactics are extremely labor-intensive and require a deep understanding of the market and the various technology platforms used to effectively manage these programs. However, when it comes to building your strategy, focus on the communication needs of your audience, then determine the channels and tactics that will help facilitate how you address those needs.

Remember this, there is no such thing as a category called “social media”. All media is social. It always has been and always will be. Only now, you can actually see what people are saying behind your back. You just need to determine what value you can contribute to the conversation – more importantly, make sure it is a reciprocal dialogue. Leave your “push, push” mentality back in the 20th century. And if you plan on playing in the social sandbox, make sure you are welcoming, respectful, appreciative, and provide value. Treat those the way you would like to be treated.

Sometimes I think marketers forget what it means to be human. In the words of Robert Fulghum, “all you really need to know, you learned in kindergarten”. Play fair. Share everything. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Don’t hit people. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Clean up your own mess. Now, stop your wining and go make some friends!

We all know SEO has changed dramatically over the years and will continue to change. The way we market, sell, deliver and report on SEO services has not kept pace and needs to catch up. If you ask marketers today what SEO is about they will likely still say things like, "ranking #1 in Google" and unfortunately this is what they are looking for in the SEO sales and service delivery process. (Read: SEO Buying & Selling Tricks that Create Unachievable SEO Results & Expectations)

We know SEO is an on-going, long-term process. More specifically, it is the process of continually discovering highly converting, non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions. It’s about understanding search intent and how keywords used to describe your products and services evolve as a prospect progresses through the buying cycle. It is then about having insight into great data and taking action by including those optimized keywords in your content marketing plan.

This SEO process cannot begin and end in a particular project phase or be completed after just one month of keyword research. It is now a four-step process that requires an SEO culture change, which includes:

• Selling the concept of discovering and optimizing for highly converting keywords
• Discovering non-branded keywords driving traffic and conversions
• Delivering additional SEO services to capitalize on highly converting keywords
• Reporting on the evolution of highly converting keywords and content

Step #1: Sell the Concept

The first place to introduce the concept of discovering and optimizing for highly converting keywords is in your marketing and sales conversations. Many SEO prospects and clients still want to buy the promise of a #1 search position for their keywords. This goal is difficult to obtain and maintain and sets unachievable expectations for you and your client.

Instead, avoid the urge to agree upon a list of keywords with your client that your team is going to "optimize for" - that list of 10, 20, or 30 keywords that your team will go away and "do SEO for." We call this list of keywords the Keyword Gap. Every client will have a list of keywords they think they want to rank for when in reality there’s a more highly converting keyword list that will perform better. That’s what the second step, Discovery, is all about.

You can do some initial keyword discovery in the sales process to demonstrate the Keyword Gap. Show the prospect some data for two keywords, for example:

Which one is the better performing keyword:

• Keyword #1 (condominiums for sale in Richmond) in Position #4 for a particular page with 20 visits and 10 conversions?
• Keyword #2 (condos in Richmond) in Position #3 for a different page with 3 visits and 1 conversion?

Based on the topic of this article, the quick answer is, Keyword #1 in Position #4 (condominiums for sale in Richmond) is a better performing keyword. An alternative answer is: more keyword discovery is required to understand if there are opportunities to optimize the web page that Keyword #2 is positioned for. Or maybe Keyword #1 is one of those highly converting keywords that should be included in all content marketing efforts.

Take away: Build time into your sales proposal and SEO program for on-going discovery to uncover those highly converting keywords prospects are using at different stages of the buying cycle. Base decisions on great SEO data from a variety of sources including SERPs, organic traffic, and conversion data. Always be on the lookout for new opportunities to optimize.

Step #2: The Discovery Process

The discovery process for new non-branded keywords should be practiced as frequently as possible. Uncover the new, non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions and determine whether there is an opportunity to further optimize the web presence for these keywords. The success of this process depends on setting up goals and conversions in your analytics system. One of my favorite sayings about SEO is, "don’t bother even starting the SEO process unless you have website analytics goals and conversions configured."

Goals and conversions in your analytics system do not have to be complicated. Start with simple conversions and as you learn about your web presence increase the sophistication. Think about what you want your website visitors to do. What would you consider a successful visit? Here are a few examples of metrics to measure successful visits (conversions) from organic search:

Time spent on site - If a visitor has stayed on the site for a certain number of minutes (3+) and the bounce rate is low, then perhaps it can be concluded that the visitor read the content. The content was appealing to them.

Number of pages visited - If the visitor reviews two or more pages, then perhaps it can be concluded that they were intrigued with the content enough to read further.

Main product or services page to contact sales page - If the main purpose of the site is to promote the organization’s main product, did the visitor review the product page, then the pricing page then the contact sales page?

Take away: Below is the process for uncovering highly converting keywords.

1. Set up goals and conversions in analytics.
2. As frequently as possible, look for the top non-branded keywords that are driving organic search traffic and conversions.
3. Understand the rank position for the keyword and which page or pages are ranking.
4. Understand the search volume for the keyword (both broad match and exact match).
5. Analyze the ranking pages and look for opportunities to optimize for the keyword in question.
6. Implement changes and watch for changes in position, traffic from organic search, and most importantly conversions. If there are positive changes, create some additional content that includes the keyword and again watch for changes.
7. Report newly identified, non-branded keywords and progress to the client.

Step #3: Deliver Additional SEO Services to Capitalize on Highly Converting Keywords

Once a new non-branded keyword is discovered and reported to the client, discuss the keyword opportunity and the plan for capitalizing on it.

• What was the entry page for that keyword?
• Where in the buying cycle is that keyword likely to be used?
• What kind of content can be created and distributed to further support that keyword and the prospect as they demonstrate their intent to find content?
• Is it worth further investment in SEO?

At this point, there is an opportunity to upsell the client on additional service hours to optimize and create content for the newly discovered and agreed upon keywords. It is also the point where the keyword should be included in the full content marketing strategy and further planning done on the type of content prospects require at this particular stage in the buying cycle. Perhaps it’s a focused case study, with supporting blog content, video, whitepaper or a combination. Think about the distribution points for the content and the possible backlinks and social signals that can be created for the keyword.

Take away: Set aside time each month to discuss newly discovered keywords with the client.

Step #4: Report on the Evolution of Highly Converting Keywords & Content

The approach of identifying and focusing on highly converting keywords then incorporating those keywords into the full content marketing strategy requires a different level of reporting compared to the basic monthly SEO reporting of number of backlinks, number of keywords on Page 1, etc.

Including keyword visits and conversions data alongside position data is a great first step to getting the client thinking about the difference between ranking #1 for any keyword versus ranking for the keywords prospects actually value and associate with your organization.

Once the keyword is incorporated into the full content marketing strategy the reporting requirements should shift to be focused on the performance of the particular piece of content or the content marketing campaign. This is where the disciplines of SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing begin to completely collide. (Read: 10 Reasons Why You Need an Optimized Content Strategy Now)

Take away: With the right tracking and metrics technologies the impact of content on a web presence for the purpose of organic search optimization can be reported, including:

• How the position has been affected for a particular cluster of keywords
• How many backlinks and social signals have been created
• How many keyword visits and conversions are associated with the content campaign
• And most importantly, how many sales are attributed to the content

Conclusion

Google’s algorithm updates have changed the practice of SEO. Search marketing firms have an opportunity to evolve their sales, delivery and reporting practices to differentiate themselves. Focusing on the discovery of highly converting keywords beginning with the sales and marketing conversations through delivery and reporting will produce stronger SEO results over the long term and happier SEO clients.

Released in open beta today, Unruly Analytics is based on the company’s proprietary technology, which has tracked seven years’ worth of historical video sharing data across YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere. The cloud-based dashboard has been beta-tested by some of the world’s biggest advertisers and measures content from 1,300 brands across all verticals.

Unruly Analytics Social Dashboard

In a press release announcing the launch, Irène Labus, Analytics Director of Havas, who has been beta-testing the product, said, “Unruly Analytics is super easy to use, has a sleek user interface and offers beautiful data visualization which updates in split seconds.” She added, “What’s most valuable about the product is that the real-time data tracks such a broad spectrum of branded video content, across paid, owned and earned media.”

The real-time dashboard is available in two versions. The Benchmark Edition is used to effectively measure a brand’s social video footprint against its competitors, while the Campaign Edition provides real-time insight into a specific campaign’s performance and ROI.

Unruly Analytics provides:

• Cloud-Based Access: Advertisers can login wherever and get real-time insights into video performance to quickly pull reports, measure success and inform future strategies. The data is collected every 60 seconds so you can always have an accurate picture of what’s happening;
• An Enterprise-grade Software Platform: This robust, stable product is based on seven years of research and development;
• Data Visualization: Advertisers can create a variety of simple and elegant visual representations of vast sets of data in seconds. They can present them in an wide choice of classic and cutting edge visual analytics – including pie charts, bar graphs, polar charts and even streamgraphs;
• Historical and Real-Time Analysis: Advertisers can capture data from specific timeframes e.g. last quarter, last year, and the past 24 hours;
• Competitive Analysis: Advertisers can benchmark a brand’s social video performance to outsmart the competition;
• Granular Metrics: Advertisers can track a broad variety of metrics, including total shares, shares by platform, views, views by platform, comments and likes;
• Ease of Use: The dashboard is easy to use and requires no training.

In the press release, Matthew Cooke, CTO and co-founder of Unruly, said, “We are seeing an explosion in the social video market and brands are struggling to keep pace with how to measure the medium and report the success and ROI. Four billion items are shared on Facebook every day and 700+ YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute.” He added, “Unruly Analytics bridges the gap between the big data deluge and the ability to pull actionable insight from video content tracking. Brands can now benchmark the success of their individual video campaigns or calculate their total share of voice versus their competitors.”

Unruly has tracked over 329 billion video views and tracks 1.6 million videos in real time. Some of the data used in Unruly Analytics also powers the Unruly Viral Video Chart, which has been used since 2006 by advertisers worldwide to track their video content.

Many platforms don't begin tracking content until users have identified the content and asked for it to be tracked by entering it into the database themselves. However, Unruly Analytics is already tracking 1,300 global brands and counting. This is the reason why users are able to access historical data and competitive intelligence as soon as they log in to the dashboard, with no set-up required.

Predictions are that global online video advertising spend will rise to $10 billion by 2015, with internet ad spend expected to account for 59 percent of the growth in total ad spend between 2012 and 2015. In such a fast-paced environment, it is critical that brands have access to up-to-the-minute statistics.

Unruly Analytics is the latest in a line of Unruly products released in 2013. It completes Unruly’s capability to provide end-to-end campaign support to its clients, from creative solutions and content evaluation, through video distribution, social tracking and now customizable benchmarking.

We also found that stations are increasingly using online video to reach their audiences online. Today between 58%-70% of local TV station’s budgets (depending on market size) are allocated to online video advertising and fully 85% plan to use online video ads to support their tune-in efforts in 2013.

Local TV stations understand that “today’s audiences are not only online, but are increasingly spending a large portion of their online time watching video. TV broadcasters are uniquely positioned to take advantage of this shift and reach viewers with online video advertising. TV marketers already have engaging video content, daily topicals, social media strategies, promotions, co-op programs, and skilled creative resources at their disposal.” This makes online video a no brainer to extend the reach and frequency of their on-air promos.

Travis Brower, Manager of Promotion & Production at PHL17 says it best, “Including online video advertising in a station’s promotional mix is no longer an option, it’s a requirement.”

What are the best ways for stations to create engaging and effective online video ad campaigns that drive viewership?

The basics:

1. Use your existing on-air spots.
2. Lead with daily topicals to drive immediate spikes in viewership.
3. Ride the coat-tails of popular prime time shows by using a split-start frame where the left side of the display ad features a popular network show and the right side features a topical for the 11pm news. Or split the video spot itself between two shows.
4. Personalize the ad by local call letters and logos to drive engagement rates up to 27% higher and view rates up to 30% higher.
5. Entice viewers to watch by clearly showing that the ad is a video. Include a still image of the video framed in a player (including control buttons).

A more advanced collection of best practices can be found here: TUNED IN: 2013 Tune-In Advertising Market Research.

On the face of it, the idea of a rigorously testing and optimizing your ecommerce web site seems like a no-brainer.

After all, who would object to gathering hard data on exactly how customers move through your site, what happens on specific visits, and what unseen speed bumps and sticking points are hurting sales? Who wouldn’t want definitive answers to such questions?

Fact is, though, in many online marketing organizations, there is often surprisingly sharp resistance to technologies such as multivariate testing.

Sometimes, it’s simply because there’s some confusion about how multivariate testing actually works and what the benefits are. (“You’re going through all this to test the color of the ‘Buy Now” button? Really?”)

But the real problem usually is buried a little deeper. With hard testing comes the threat of upsetting or overturning some cherished beliefs, or disproving what people ‘know’ to be true. Marketing and creative teams have traditionally crafted websites around ‘established principles’ and ‘gut feel’ for what works. (What if that isn’t so? What if we’ve been dead wrong all this time? )

The IT people build the site a certain way because it’s simple and robust makes perfect sense in terms of data flow. (But what if that actually turns customers off? What if that makes shoppers bail out before buying?)  The notion of actually testing ingrained practices is a bit scary.  Who wants to have their worldview changed?

In other cases, there’s some reluctance to admitting there’s even a problem.  “We’re getting X% conversions. That’s the industry norm.  Nobody is complaining. Why bother?”

The best approach to getting buy-in for a testing strategy is to position it as less of a of a threat, and more of a way to ‘refine’ and direct the efforts of your creative, marketing and IT teams.  It’s a way to out-smart, out-maneuver, out-think your competitors; it’s not a way to beat up on what we’ve been doing.

Detail the pain, document the bad

First step:  point out the pain points on your site. Are visitors fleeing as soon as they arrive? Are they actually buying or just poking around?  Do they buy once, and disappear forever?

To make your case, use strong graphics, charts, video clips, whatever it takes. But make sure the visuals are backed up by solid data that will speak to your audience: You bounce rate, cart abandonment rate, search engagement and average order value. Make the pain and problems clear, and the idea of a testing program will be much easier to sell.

Add up the losses

Find a way to dramatize and quantify how much money you’re losing in the current situation.  Then show how much more money the company could be making if you could get hard data on exactly what’s working and what’s not working.

Bring up smart competitors, industry darlings

Peer pressure is another go-to tactic for getting reluctant executives to embrace change. Explain how other respected, successful organizations are leaping ahead by definitively testing what they’re doing. For examples, check business publications, LinkedIn, public case studies, blogs and so forth.

Nobody likes to be left behind — if stakeholders see other businesses are implementing test programs to their benefit, it’s more likely they’ll want to do the same. And if competition’s already ahead of the game, even better for you. (Although the alternative is that they’re not and you can beat them to the chase.)

Speak to IT on their terms

Your development teams may feel that site testing is unnecessary, especially if they've already evaluated usability and other qualitative factors. They may consider testing their domain, and not appreciate any input from the marketing department.

Address these concerns by speaking their language and giving them concrete information they can actually use in making development decisions. Don’t just have a verbal discussion — provide all those statistical facts in writing, in terminology they know and use. Point out that shifting the responsibility of site testing to marketing frees up IT time and manpower to work on other projects.

Relate it all to the brand

In a critical way, the e-commerce site is the final touch point, the ultimate ‘proof’ of the brand concept. Does the experience on the website match the brand promise? Does it reinforce and capitalize on all the branding efforts so far?  Is there something we can do better? Something in our web experience that is somehow compromising our brand?  Multivariate testing can quantify this very accurately.

“Just try it”

Finally, propose a trial run — a limited test, shown to a small percentage of page traffic. Be sure to track key data points like visitor stats, cost per conversion, and abandonment rates. Once the results are gathered, share them with various departments throughout the company. As more co-workers find out what’s going on, your potential support base will become even larger.

At ground level here in London there are streets and there are people, much as in every other city. But below all this, deep beneath the lights and shops, there is the dislocated world of our metro system we call the ‘tube’.

As the trains rattle through these underground passages, there are thousands of people, but there is little interaction. Rather than acknowledge the pressing crowds, we stand inert or sit with our knees held close together, as we attempt to stretch the narrow distance between ourselves and others.

In this way we deal with the harsh proximity of our fellow passengers, people who are a muddle of triggers for our prejudices and passions.

But, of course, there is more to these journeys than closure to the outside world.

Far from attempting to ignore the other commuters, there is instead a hidden hungry evaluation of the lives that are placed so close to our own. We are all adept at reading the small signals of a person’s class and character; their grooming, choice of clothes and newspaper. We can observe and judge their diet from the branded foods on their laps and follow the way they hold their transport-bruised bodies.

Vision through layered observation

For those of us who work with market research data, the passion for understanding and exploration is the same. Market research presents an opportunity to gently unveil the character and motivations of consumers and markets.

The difference is that the reach of our vision is more profound than the insights we glean from our trains and streets. As we turn over the findings, and mentally place into position each discovery, it is possible to shape a more-or-less three-dimensional understanding of our markets and customers. We turn our respondents in our hands with the same urgent need to comprehend, to see beyond the obvious, and to take sight of the nuances and subtleties of their motivations

Hence, what is often so surprising in market research reporting is the rush to remove the textures from the observations. To reduce the rich dimensions of groups of consumers to flat labels and generalisations, as if the finely-honed mental processing that we all possess, and test so keenly on our morning commute, is of no value or somehow inappropriate in the context of data presentation.

Keeping the textures in groups and profiles

One of the areas where I most frequently see an unnecessary rush to simplification is segmentation studies.

I am a great believer in the power of this work, with all of its rough groupings and compromises. They represent a means of approaching the complexity of human behaviour and classifying relationships with brands and categories. I also believe the understanding of segments can be aided through thoughtful labelling and descriptions.

However, if a group has been identified as ‘quality conscious’ that need not mean the role of convenience as a secondary influence is of no importance.

And to state simply that they are predominantly female, when over a third is male, merely encourages interpretation of the behaviour through the lens of gender, rather than through the dynamics of the variables on which a group has been clustered.

And, perhaps the biggest distraction of all is the use of poorly chosen illustrations and photos of ‘typical members’.

These pictures often embrace our society’s preference for beauty, and aspiration. The result is attractive people in harmonious environments. The inadequacy of this is often apparent when we take the time to explore these polished simplifications against the segment’s responses to questions of demographics, attitudes and behaviours.

These models are sometimes unrecognisable in the harsh outlines of the true ‘typical’, often a place many of us marketing professionals have never visited.

Clarity, not simplicity

We should not be afraid to understand the complexity of our markets and their groupings, particularly when this speaks of the true human condition with its contradictions and exceptions. But where we have responsibility for communicating our data, we should feel the need to represent this complexity in as accessible a way as possible.

The target should be clarity and not simplicity.

Market research studies are not typically burdened with the complexity of their data. The problem is, instead, the limitations of its scope and dimensions.

We often compound this error by representing behaviours in isolated and flat forms when we have the resources to provide a richer picture. If we care about sampling errors and significance testing in our market research reporting, why are we so accepting of the error that comes from reducing data to simple text? Or the error that comes from colouring our findings with illustrations that are a poor fit to the textures of our groups?

To a large degree we should be content to let data talk of its own shape. If we are unhappy with its communication, then we should look at the form and manner of how we have structured and delivered it. It is not the granularity of data that is its problem - that is its strength and it should be jealously preserved. Words should speak of interpretation and action, but the rich dimensions of data should be given their own place from which to talk. Otherwise we risk replacing understanding with generalisation.

This morning I was again on a train, rattling through the deep underground passages of London. I was seated between tourists in heavy knit pullovers and grey city workers with crisp white shirts. As I stared absently at my tired reflection in the window opposite, I wondered just how much was being given away to those silently evaluating me.

I pulled my bag closer to my chest and silently questioned, ‘Why are we so good at dissecting those around us, but we struggle to portray these layers in market research? Why, when we thrive on the freedom to observe, do we choose to hide so many pieces of the puzzle when we are dealing with our targets and consumers?’

Top image : 123rf

A bit of a trick question: If you had $100 to spend, would you be better off devoting that money to doubling the traffic to your site?

Or doubling your conversion rate?

Many marketers get this wrong.

Despite years of front-line, real-world experience to the contrary, more and more online marketing budgets are disproportionately aimed at driving traffic, rather than conversions.

There’s the notion that things like SEO, PPC, affiliate marketing and the like are far more important than increasing shopping cart sizes, decreasing abandonment, upselling and cross selling.

To be sure, driving traffic is a critical mission for any e-commerce site.  After all, no visitors, no sales.

But at the same time, even the most brilliant SEO or affiliate strategies will be for naught if the site itself fails to entice customers to actually buy.

That’s precisely where site testing, optimization, and personalization come in.  Failing to actually sell goods on the site can cost brands the effort, the dollars, and the brand equity that they devoted to attracting all that traffic.

Doubling your conversions can be dramatically more profitable than merely doubling your visitor numbers. And here’s why:

You want insight, not just raw numbers

Slice and dice your site traffic analytics all you want. But at the end of the day, they are still just numbers. What rings the cash register is actionable solutions you can use to improve your customer experience.

The first step is to employ an internal test-and-learn methodology to understand what visitors to your site are engaging with, where they’re dropping off, where their gravitating towards. (Hint: this may even differ by traffic source!)

But only through continuous A/B and multivariate testing, can you actually begin to understand your visitors and place content decisions in their hands. You can fundamentally change how your organization learns about its online traffic. In other words, nobody should be increasing traffic or making a site without a focus on improving conversions.

You want sales, not just visitors.

Yes, going to your boss and detailing how you doubled site traffic in the last quarter is a grand accomplishment! But can you really document how that increased traffic contributed to sales? Do you really know?

If you aren't tracking conversion rates, or attempting to optimize the site in any way, boosting traffic rates is simply doesn't matter.

Once visitors land on your site, your goal is to get them to buy (and hopefully become repeat customers). This is where testing and personalization are essential to turning traffic into sales.

Optimizing your site for content, design, offers, and copy is the only way to ensure your are taking full advantage of your site traffic. If the experience is irrelevant, frustrating or cumbersome, you might as well have not ever invited them to your site in the first place.

Better experience, more dollars

Today’s consumers are good at comparison shopping. They research, they sign up for emails, they track down deals.  Which may lead you to believe that the key is to boost your traffic as much as possible.

But the reality is, if you provide a really stellar online experience, they will want to come back, again and again. Which makes the overall job simpler, and clearer.

Thanks in part to more advanced testing methods, it’s a lot easier to listen to what your visitors want (and need).  Customers have become a lot more vocal even if they don’t know it. Through their clicks, page views, bounces, reviews and purchases, your online customers offer real-world feedback about their online experiences, in real-time. So pay attention to them. Make website changes and marketing decisions based on your customers, not on what your gut — or marketing budget — is telling you to.

Personalizing wins

Getting into a traffic war with your competitors is a sure-fire way to waste resources and precious attention.  It’s far more effective step up your game by using testing and conversion optimization to gather data and visitor profiles that can dramatically increase actual sales and repeat visits.  You may even find that segmenting your customers by where they came from can help you convert them into loyal and repeat buyers.

When it comes to their websites, major e-commerce players need to realize that only through a customized combination of multivariate testing, optimization and personalization best practices can they truly begin to tailor experiences in meaningful and profitable ways. It’s an ever-evolving practice that reaches miles beyond SEO, ad targeting and landing page optimization. But the rewards of it means a lot more return traffic, and a lot more improved conversions.

Follow the money

No matter how you define a conversion, at the end of the day, the holy grail for e-commerce marketers is to increase site sales. And the dollars are in the details, not just the volume. Focusing on conversion rates is where you’ll see not only site engagement improve, but revenue as well. Your traffic drivers might bring you more people, but conversion strategies bring you more money. No contest.

When it comes to site optimization and traffic acquisition, the best brands aren't just surviving — they’re thriving. By focusing on the deep analytics and insights gained from testing with online customers, not just boosting traffic, not only improves the efficiency and effectiveness of their e-commerce site, but several other aspects of their businesses as well. They have a better grasp on who their customers are, how they buy, when they buy and what they buy.

In short, they can offer experiences more suited to customer needs and wants — and that is the true goal of any e-commerce business.

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#1 Hello Kitty - photo2013-03-31 16:41

Hope you have an eggcellent Easter!

1.046% enagement rate 97,186 likes 853 comments 34,921 shares 26% shares

#2 McDonald's - photo2013-03-30 23:00

Bacon, Ranch or Sweet Chili. What more could chicken ask for? www.mcdonalds.com/PremiumMcWrap

0.982% enagement rate 244,083 likes 20,440 comments 8,434 shares 3% shares

#3 Louis Vuitton - photo2013-03-25 18:05

Spice up your life with Louis Vuitton in Piment.

0.795% enagement rate 96,632 likes 1,442 comments 5,732 shares 6% shares

#4 Mercedes-Benz ► Cool Hunting - photo2013-03-30 10:22

Cool Hunting editor Josh Rubin had a chance to drive the CLA 250 in South France and used it wisely for these stunning pictures. Take a look and read the full story here: http://www.coolhunting.com/design/mercedes-benz-cla250.php

Cool Hunting with the CLA 250

Cool Hunting editor Josh Rubin had a chance to drive the CLA 250 in South France and used it wisely for these stunning pictures. Take a look and read the full story here: http://www.coolhunting.com/design/mercedes-benz-cla250.php

0.659% enagement rate 59,572 likes 568 comments 5,172 shares 8% shares

#5 Taco Bell - photo2013-03-25 20:30

Cool Ranch DLT, Nacho Cheese DLT or both?

0.644% enagement rate 56,302 likes 5,705 comments 2,157 shares 3% shares

#6 BMW ► Les Voitures - photo2013-03-28 17:08

Do you want to see the world of BMW in a whole new light? Come to Paris and visit the first BMW Brand Store on Avenue George V. Experience in a futuristic and stylish setting some of our outstanding cars and much more. For more impressions please check the Les Voitures blog: http://bit.ly/YHOXhM

BMW Brand Store Paris

Do you want to see the world of BMW in a whole new light? Come to Paris and visit the first BMW Brand Store on Avenue George V. Experience in a futuristic and stylish setting some of our outstanding cars and much more. For more impressions please check the Les Voitures blog: http://bit.ly/YHOXhM

0.631% enagement rate 73,198 likes 807 comments 8,400 shares 10% shares

#7 Natalie Sabrowske ► H&M - photo2013-03-28 12:33

H&M eins sag ich euch, würdet ihr dieses Top verkaufen, würden euch alle Mädchen den Laden einrennen.

0.592% enagement rate 80,881 likes 2,520 comments 176 shares 0% shares

#8 Burberry - photo2013-03-25 18:12

Check canvas tote bag with leather trim http://bit.ly/Vae6vH

The Burberry Prorsum Spring/Summer 2013 Accessories Collection

0.562% enagement rate 76,704 likes 1,449 comments 5,779 shares 7% shares

#9 Buffalo Wild Wings - photo2013-03-26 00:00

It's a little savory, a little sweet, plus "Teriyaki" is just downright fun to say.

0.459% enagement rate 44,840 likes 1,453 comments 932 shares 2% shares

#10 Aéropostale - photo2013-03-31 23:47

Like if you'd wear it! http://bit.ly/Srr4am

0.441% enagement rate 38,049 likes 145 comments 506 shares 1% shares

About

TopTen is weekly summarty of the previous week's ten most engaging posts from the largest 100 consumer brand pages on Facebook. All data is pulled using social media content strategy tool Zuum.

If you have a website or use a search engine on a regular basis, it’s likely that you've heard of SEO or PPC. These two common acronyms are mentioned and preached every day. However, does everyone really know what they mean, or how they work? If you don’t, you’re not alone.

Let’s answer any lingering questions, settle myths, and clear the air of this SEO madness! I've compiled the most common myths, most important facts, and the most exciting secrets in this post! I know what you’re thinking, “Whew! it’s about time!”

So let’s start from the top…

Define:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – An algorithm designed to impact visibility of web content (pages) through organic search results. Commonly used as a free alternative to PPC (pay per click) advertising.

Facts:

• Organic search results is a natural method for locating a webpage. This process will match search terms with relevant content on competing webpages. The stepbrother of organic search results is “non-organic”, or paying per click. “Paying per click” are ads that allow a company to blindly bid on highly competitive key search terms.

• New content is the maintenance that will keep your page ranked. The most effective way is blogging and tagging with search terms. Google, and other leading search engines will reward your website for publishing relevant information. Since you know your business, show off and show off often!

• Content is king. Keep relevant and new content flowing like a river! Adding content is important for your ongoing ranking; the most effective way is with a blog attached to your website. All blog content should follow the relevancy rules; essentially giving extra space to display content that your website does not have room for.

• Play to win. Similar to Monopoly night with your Grandmother, the SEO game is never ending. Compete, and compete often to maintain and most importantly to increase your ranking.

• Duplicate and be dumped. Search engines (especially Google) are smart enough to detect fluff and manipulation; so think of these algorithms as more of an art than a science.

• By the numbers. If you’re more of a numbers person; you can make SEO a science project by using the KEI (keyword effectiveness index) equation. This will give specific words a rating based on the number of times a word is searched over the number of webpages displaying the word or phrase. Using this approach will show you what words and phrases can give you the best chance of winning the keyword game.

The internet can be the most rewarding source of marketing if used properly. Website optimization best practices are ever evolving and will only become more competitive as time passes. Adopting this process now can completely change the way your business operates in a positive way for years to come.