Matt's Marketing Digest

ALL MARKETERS ARE LIARS

I am of course referring to the Godin book and not casting aspersions on my fellow marketers. I am guessing that if Seth Godin had entitled the book ‘All Marketers tell the truth’ then the eye-catching title may have lost some of its impact and you wouldn’t be reading this. 

So what’s the lie? The lie is what we ALL tell ourselves because we don’t tell ourselves the WHOLE truth – we tell ourselves a selected version of the facts or truth [the story as Godin puts it] to make sense of complex matters in a world of overwhelming data overload. So the lie is not from the marketer, it’s the consumer’s lie to themselves. 

This is therefore a book about how to tell stories that spread; hinged to the idea that people pass on stories, they don’t spread all the facts for the simple reason that those we tell them to don’t remember everything, it is passed via a selected and packaged version of the truth. So successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe. 

At its core then this book to me is about two of marketing’s core elements; the process of segmentation, targeting and positioning [STP] and the principle of translating features to benefits. Godin describes his book as being about the ‘psychology of satisfaction,’ satisfaction being the main driver behind Godin’s ‘ideavirus.’ He talks of how marketers should frame their story according to the worldview of those that you are telling it to. 

You’ll be able to identify evidence of the early stages of ideas that Godin further develops in his next book Meatball Sundae [see earlier blog] which is also worthy of a read. One of those being the changing shape or role of the marketer [in the internet age] and the increased responsibility the marketing industry has in a branded and more competitive world. Godin’s book is actually more about TELLING and LIVING the truth, and he isn’t suggesting we all start telling lies.

 

Review: 'Crowdsourcing – How the power of the crowd is driving the future of business'

Crowdsourcing – Jeff Howe

What is Crowdsourcing you might ask? It is essentially the ‘act of taking a job traditionally performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people.' Or more specifically, it is the concept that labour can often be organised more efficiently in the context of community, than it can in the context of a corporation.

 

Jeff Howe sets out a convincing argument for the case of crowdsourcing, one that is well supported by many good examples already well known to the digital marketing community including Open Source Software (Linux), Dell's Ideastorm, InnoCentive and Netflix Prize. It perhaps loses some of its momentum in the number of examples in the first part of the book [How We Got Here], and as a result doesn’t really get into the meat of the issue until the middle, or section two [Where We Are].

 

Crowdsourcing, (as opposed to crowdcasting which is the act of broadcasting a problem to the widest possible audience in the blind hope that someone, somewhere will come up with a solution), relies on certain ingredients to make it work. The important factors are that the problem needs to be of a complex nature, the ‘crowd’ needs to have some qualification to solve the problem and the participants in the process need to be drawn from a diverse enough pool. So evidently, this concept won’t be for everyone.

 

The idea of open collaboration though is central to any digital marketing strategy and can be interpreted in many ways. By way of an example, Media Safari has been working on the launch of a new ‘photo-networking’ website called SendPhotos. Currently the product is in BETA so the task now is to build awareness of the product and encourage feedback from the community of users to help the developers, Avanquest Software, improve the product. So at the moment, it is offering the service for free in return for comments and suggestions.

 

Crowdsourcing is not a new concept, it is simply one that has been massively enhanced and enabled by digital technologies (the tools) and the Internet (the means). The benefits of collaboration speak for themselves as two-way communication improves the quality of the dialogue, bringing a deeper sense of engagement with end users and therefore an opportunity for the marketing department to create a bond of ‘loyalty,’ which in the context of leaner budgets, is no bad thing.

 

Matt King is a digital marketing specialist and delivers training workshops on digital strategy to a wide number of corporate clients. He is also an EMEA region tutor for digital marketing for Microsoft.

REVIEW: ‘Groundswell – Winning in a world transformed by social technologies’

Groundswell - Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff

Read this book. Ideally, buy it and read it; then read it again. It’s good stuff.

Supported by research, data and proven practices, it is a wholesome story of compelling insights, case studies and models for the novice and experienced marketer.

As marketers look to cultivate new skills in the area of digital this book will appeal to those looking to grasp the new realities of digital, whilst also satisfying the more advanced, skilled practitioners.

Groundswell adequately covers tactical elements in some depth, explaining their use and benefits; but it goes beyond that pulling them altogether to present a useful view of the strategic nature of digital and how best to exploit it.

If you’re looking to incorporate digital into your mix as a way to engage customers, this may well help you to avoid some of the pitfalls and mistakes. Launching a blog or engaging in social media sites like Facebook need a clear purpose. Be clear with your objectives and the right strategy will follow.

What’s more, as it’s written by two researchers from Forrester Research, you can be assured that the advice and guidance is driven from some fairly credible analysis.

Chris Fill's 5th edition on Marketing Communications is now available

The latest edition of Chris Fill's comprehensive and successful series of texts on Marketing Communications has just been published. This fifth edition, entitled 'Interactivity, Communities and Content,' will be of huge benefit to marketing communications practitioners looking to update their knowledge and for students looking for guidance and support during their study.

It's presented in 6 parts that cover every facet of marketing communications in a simple to follow format with case examples to illustrate the theory. It also provides online support with multimedia learning tools for students studying the CIM Professional Diploma. At just over 900 pages, it’s probably not going to be one you read from cover to cover, but it should be one that you consider for your library to dip into and further your knowledge of this ever expanding topic.

On the note of case examples, Media Safari contributed a three page case history on integrating traditional and digital media located on page 766.

 

REVIEW: 'Meatball Sundae - How New Marketing Is Transforming The Business World'

Meatball Sundae - Seth Godin (Author of The Dip and Purple Cow)

I just finished reading this book and for those new to the world of digital marketing, it is a great introduction with some thought provoking material.

The context of the book is based around 14 trends that are happening both in the wider 'real' world and in the virtual world. Clearly, these trends have (or should have) an affect on all organisations and the way they do business. Bar none. I have outlined a short summary of those trends on another blog entry under digital marketing. Take a look.

New media is generating new ways to engage with customers at the point of need rather than continually bombarding or interrupting potential clients with 'just in case' scenarios - in other words, just in case you happen to be looking for a holiday cottage in Cornwall, here's a brochure full of them (as it drops out of your copy of the Sunday Times straight into a recylcing bin).

My only minor complaints are that it doesn't go far enough to provide some good solid guidelines to digital marketing strategy, which would no doubt leave many readers thinking "hey, this is great stuff, but what do I do now?"; and some of the examples are a little tenuous or just a bit American e.g. online T shirt shop (Cafepress.com) where you can customise your own print

But like I said, for an introduction to what digital is all about, and more importantly, why you as a marketer need to get your head around the great possibilities that digital can offer, it's worth a read.