B2B companies are looking beyond conventional marketingcommunications and using social media to engage directly withtheir audiences, build trust and gather customer insight. Butmany companies are struggling to do this in a meaningful way.They’re prioritising marketing rhetoric over content creation,community building, and problem solving. This means thatbusinesses are missing the opportunity to turn prospects intocustomers and customers into advocates.In this workshop, Text100’s Global Digital and Social Media LeadJeremy Woolf will present the case for B2B social media and amethodology for driving results. The delegation will then be splitinto four groups, each tasked with creatively responding to aB2B social media brief. Text100 experts will guide the groups,with each presenting their strategy back to the delegation.
2. Jeremy Woolf
text100.com
publicrelationships.blogspot.com
linkedin.com/in/jeremywoolf
@jeremywoolf
www.socialmedia-mba.com
@jeremywoolf
3. Social Media: Moving Beyond the Hype
•Beyond conventional B2B comms
• Engage directly with audiences, build trust and gather insight
• Marketing rhetoric vs. content and community
• Turn prospects into customers and customers into
advocates
•Buyers and their journeys
•Workshop exercise
•Skype!
@jeremywoolf
4. “There's going to be an
opportunity over the next
five years or so to pick any
industry and rethink it in a
social way...we think that
every industry is going to be
fundamentally re-thought
and designed around
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook people.”
Mark Zuckerberg - World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009,
World Economic Forum,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/3488879012/
@jeremywoolf
5. 1. Who do you sell to?
2. How do they buy?
@jeremywoolf
7. Meet Dave (Not his real name)
BACKGROUND:
• Head of IT in digital advertising agency
• Worked at the same company for 10 years; worked
his way up from senior systems engineer
• Married with one child (11)
DEMOGRAPHICS:
• Skews male
• Age 40-50
• Dual HH Income: £220,000
• Urban
IDENTIFIERS:
• Calm demeanor
• Small team, jack-of-all-trades
• Very active online
@jeremywoolf
8. Meet Dave
GOALS:
• Support business goals
• Reduce storage costs
• Improve data access speeds
CHALLENGES:
• Getting everything done with a small, dispersed
staff
• Rolling out changes across the entire company
• Keeping pace with innovation
HOW WE HELP:
• Offer storage and services via the cloud
• Integration with existing systems
@jeremywoolf
9. How Does Dave Buy?
(Obligatory social media
numbers bit)
@jeremywoolf
12. He’s hungry for content…
Consumers gather 60% of
information needed to
make purchase decisions
before contacting vendors
@jeremywoolf
13. He’s hungry for content…
Most tech buyers become aware of
technology products by talking
with their peers/colleagues
(followed by industry
influencers and web search)
@jeremywoolf
14. He’s hungry for content…
An average of 9 information
assets are downloaded
during the purchase process
@jeremywoolf
15. Sales is evolving…
1950s
-
Sales teams find and persuade buyers, supported by
1990s advertising and public relations
1997 Buyers start to search online, find product information
from multiple vendors
2006
Buyers start to confer with each other via online social
networks
Sales uses online tools to prospect, generate and qualify
2009
leads
Sales uses social networks and diverse content to engage
2012
with prospects before they contact you
@jeremywoolf
16. How do we reach Dave?
• Relevant, useful and entertaining
• Enhance social status
• Reaction and fun
• Connect him with peers
• Enable participation
• Direct behaviour by understanding and directing
the buyer’s journey
@jeremywoolf
17. The buyer’s journey
RESOLVE
AWARENESS
Reduced cost of RETAIN
customer CONSIDERATION
acquisition PURCHASE
INTENT
ELECT
Influence others’
DECISION
buying journeys SELECT
SUPPORT
RECRUIT
LOYALTY
CREATE
ADVOCACY
@jeremywoolf
18. Content directs the buyer’s journey
TRADITIONAL OWNED / SOCIAL EARNED PAID
Announcement
AWARENESS Tweet Third party blog Display ad
release
CONSIDERATION Case study Blog post Discussion forum SEM / SEO
INTENT Whitepaper Video Q and A site Email offers
DECISION
Social support
Survey Support forum Discussion forum
SUPPORT platform
LOYALTY Win release Guest blog post Third party blog Satisfaction survey
Trade show P2P Advocacy
ADVOCACY Video blog post Blogger site visit
presentation Program
@jeremywoolf
19. EARNED OWNED SOCIAL PAID
Product / news Press release / Facebook / Banner ad
press / blog case studies on Twitter
Buyer: coverage website updates
SEM
• Realizes
Case study Flash demos Quora /
problem or media / blog LinkedIn Outdoor
business need coverage Answer
Blog posts responses
• Doesn’t yet Broadcast
understand Analyst papers Social games
Landing page and Print
solutions Feature articles competitions
• Needs product about
technology / Tip sheets Trade show
and industry trends
information
• Commitment is Search Infographics
low
Content informs, demonstrates
understanding of the problem and vendor
expertise @jeremywoolf
20. EARNED OWNED SOCIAL PAID
Expert Facebook / Speaking
Free webinars
interviews Twitter engagements
Buyer: media / blog updates
coverage Whitepapers
• Performs Discussion SEM
research Case study
Podcasts forum /
media / blog LinkedIn
• Has determined coverage Group
Telemarketing
tech needs eBooks interactions
• Asks more Analyst papers
Quora /
educated Spec sheets LinkedIn
Review
questions websites
Answer
responses
• Email is Buyers guides
frequently Expert
preferred Gamification interaction in
social channels
• Commitment is
Email from
low to medium Content reinforces vendor suitability,
sales rep and
ability to solve problems @jeremywoolf
21. EARNED OWNED SOCIAL PAID
Case study Free trials Expert
media / blog interaction in
Buyer: coverage social channels
Product demos
• Established
Analyst Discussion
‘must haves’ outreach
Consultations forum /
• Price, quality LinkedIn
etc. Group
Spec sheets interactions
• Narrow down
vendors Product
• Concerned whitepapers
about missing
details
• Commitment is
medium-to-
high Content defines and meets custom
requirements @jeremywoolf
22. EARNED OWNED SOCIAL PAID
ROI calculators Expert
interaction in
Buyer: social channels
• Compare Consultations
vendors
Proofs of
• Detail is concept
important
• 4.2 technology
products /
solutions
examined
before decision
• Commitment is
high
Content arms buyer to make / endorse
decision @jeremywoolf
24. Helping buyers buy: Ninefold
EARNED OWNED SOCIAL PAID
Website Twitter
Foursquare
Bar tab
Trade show
Sales engagement
Proof of concept
Case study
@jeremywoolf
25. Helping buyers buy
• Not usually a linear process
• Cross over between phases
• Many people involved in decisions
• Buyers armed to sell products internally
• Create relevant content for each person involved in the
process
• Deliver content where, when and how it will have the
greatest impact on the buying decision
• Understand the signals that indicate readiness to move
between phases of the purchase process
• Simplify the buying process for customers
@jeremywoolf
26. Summary
1.Understand your buyer
2.Understand your buyer’s journey…
3.…and the content that helps them
4.Not all content is created equal
5.But it can drive decisions
@jeremywoolf
28. Jeremy Woolf
text100.com
publicrelationships.blogspot.com
linkedin.com/in/jeremywoolf
@jeremywoolf
www.socialmedia-mba.com
@jeremywoolf
Editor's Notes
How many people are on….channel…And a little about me. Here’s my blog where you’ll catch my occasional ramblingsMy professional profile is on LinkedinAnd I’m more active on twitter, where you’ll get more frequent ramblingsI’m also co-author of the upcoming book, The Social Media MBA, will be available in February
B2B companies are looking beyond conventional marketing communicationsUsing social media to engage directly with their audiences, build trust and gather customer insightBut prioritising marketing rhetoric over content creation, community building, and problem solvingMissing the opportunity to turn prospects into customers and customers into advocatesWe’ll take a look at today’s buyers and their journeysWorkshop exercise
Net-net, the world has changed. Forever. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg succinctly summed up the required changes during his company’s sFund event in October 2010. He said: “There's going to be an opportunity over the next five years or so to pick any industry and rethink it in a social way...we think that every industry is going to be fundamentally re-thought and designed around people.”Now admittedly, Mr. Zuckerberg – as the creator of the world’s largest social network – has a vested interest in company’s re-designing themselves around people. But it is hard to fault his logic. The people have spoken and they want change. And, perhaps what’s most critical is that they want change across the board. While many marketers have rather crassly embraced social media as a way of simply amplifying their output, the potential value goes well beyond clicks on a press release or amassing a follower count in the hundreds of thousands. We have a responsibility to create change because the people we want to reach don’t want to work with us on our terms any more.He’s talking about social business
Their decisionsare being influenced by social mediaThis data from research company GlobalWebIndex tells part of the storyDecision makers and senior decision makers are more likely to purchase a product online, review a product or brand online and manage a social network profile than average social media usersThey’re posting on forums or BBSsThey’re using microblogging services, writing their own blogs and editing their websitesThe opportunity – business decision makers are consistently more engaged in social media and online activity than average internet users (60% use social media) so there’s clearly an opportunity to engage and influence them through these channels. While senior decision makers are ahead of the norm, there’s even greater take up of social media amongst their junior colleagues – that makes sense, since we know that younger people tend to be more likely to use this stuff, but it’s also a good indicator of what we can expect in future. (Hat Tip to GWI)Why has this happened? What changed?
IDG Enterprise
Consumers gather 60 percent of information needed to make purchase decisions before contacting vendors - Come Recommended, LLC
When researching solutions, buyers rely most on their peers, industry influencers and web search – ITSMA and PAC, How Customers Choose Study, 2010Most tech buyers (72%) say they typically become aware of technology products by talking with their peers/colleagues – Harte Hanks – Mapping the Technology buyers journey
An average of nine informational assets are downloaded during the purchase process – IDG Enterprise, Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process
So how do we reach this new consumer?Keep it relevant, useful and entertainingEnhance social status within tribesAsk for a reaction and have a fun social interfaceConnect Gen C members with each other, not just with a brandEnable Gen C to participate in, play with or produce themselves and pass on
The Customer Hourglass FrameworkThe challenge is that companies continue to build tactics in silos. Public Relations, Branding, Ecommerce and other groups might be building different social experiences for the same brand. These individual efforts result in an incomplete customer experience.The traditional purchase funnel is outdated. Think about how we can use that funnel to be more effective, ala "Flip the Funnel" (Joseph Jaffe). The Customer Hourglass is a model for this alternative thinking and looks at the entire customer experience: Awareness, Consideration, Intent, Purchase, Support, Loyalty, Advocacy. Jeremiah’s presentation explores each of these brand and customer experiences as it relates to social media.Awareness: Customers & prospects may not know who you are, so the goal is to become top of mind. A great example: AmEx OPEN Forum surfaces small business owner discussions and networking opportunities. This community enables small business owners to connect with each other and gain insights and expertise from thought leader contributed content.Awareness Key Take Aways:Expect paid media such as advertising to fuel the Awareness phaseOften rely on content about lifestyle and pain points of customersConsideration: It’s about letting customers advocate for you. Leverage your customer’s content. Example: Epson has included customer reviews. Visitors who interacted with reviews were 67% more likely to convert. They also had a 25% higher average order value. The downside of other people’s content is you lose control.Consideration Take Aways:Repurpose your product inventory information an apply it to the real worldAggregate 3rd party reviews to your corporate websiteRepurpose your reviews on your corporate website to 3rd party websites and blogs: extend and repurposeIntent: Customer interactions with ecommerce content provides opportunities to share their intent with relevant networks. Example: Levi’s incorporates the "Like" button. Shoppers can "Like" and post comments about products straight to their Facebook wall. Customers see an instant shopping cart based on previous friend’s "Likes". The caveat is that the data isn’t always correct, but is improving. Levi’s isn’t sharing performance numbers but they’re continuing this activity, so something is happening for them to warrant continued investment.Intent Takeaways:While still emerging, social features are fueling sales efforts by adding richer context to the customer experienceExpect next gen apps to re-populate wish lists and shopping cartsPurchase - Tapping into friends at POP (point of purchase). This is where to connect with customers at the point of decision in the ecommerce experience. An example is Facebook launching group buying deals. Another is Sony using group buying incentives to promote an album launch (Britney Spears). If a visitor got 5 friends to pre-order they all get 20% off. Sony reports a 50% traffic bump at launch.Purchase Takeaways:Social features allow friends to share point of purchase with othersWOM (word of mouth) can be measured and attributed to individualsExpect in the future that virtual currency or virtual goods will offer consumers discounts or exclusive dealsSupport: Using these technologies to encourage customers to have a great experience. Example: Wells Fargo – @askwellsfargo is used to listen to customers and offer assistance. In the regulated space there are important concerns around privacy, so conversations are often taken to private chat or channels. Q/A tools, forums and similar applications can be used to encourage customers to support each other.Support Takeaways:Reduce support costs by giving information to consumers on handUse a tiered approach" load up FAQ first. Follow up providing the ability for them to conduct peer to peer support. Provide them with direct to company support when the first 2 avenues have been exhaustedLoyalty: The social application to this phase extends to multiple areas. Example: Hilton developed a mobile application "Top Guests", which is basically a white label version of Foursquare for the hospitality industry. Honors members can give a Facebook friend 25% off Doubletree B&B reservation once they check in.Loyalty Takeaways:Loyalty programs of the past are based on long term commitment and total potential spending valueIn the future, companies will factor in game mechanics, badgingAdvocacy: Another phase that extends to multiple areas, involves enabling customers to serve as brand ambassadors. Example: TurboTax Inner Circul uses a community management tool.Another Advocacy example is Microsoft MVP – Most Valuable Professional. Every year 4,000 MVPs are nominated by peers, employees, and other MVPs then selected by an internal panel. Term of service is 1 year. It gets customers to do the work of evangelizing the brand.Advocacy Takeaway:The holy grail of marketing, this is the lowest cost of acquisition, most effective marketingSummary: Remember that customers are behaving in new ways, in new places and have new expectations. Think beyond the silos.
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
Connecting to customers is going to get more complicated, and brands (and their partners) must pay attention to the Dynamic Customer Journey.We want to hear your point of view on the Dynamic Customer Journey (either in the comments below, or from your own blog) and we’ll cross-link to thoughtful discussions. Introducing The Dynamic Customer JourneyWe see this disruptive theme as consumers being able to use many sources, devices, and mediums at any given time, giving them more options and choices. The result? Consumers are enabled to have a unique path each time, making it harder to predict. This means the experience becomes increasingly fragmented for the brand, as they struggle to reach consumers across all these choices of sources, mediums, and channels.What’s the opposite of a Dynamic Customer Journey? Back in the early mid-century, consumers had only a few TV channels and a few newspaper outlets to choose from. As a result, the experience was predictable, easy to target, and one-size-fitted-all. Today, this has drastically fragmented and is ever changing.The metaphor I use, is when I’m in Times Square NY, and I’ve so many choices to look at logos, ads, and content across many screens, the real world, and people to talk to. We see a similar experience being present in front of consumers wherever they go, even in their living room with so many choices between TVs, laptops, tablets, mobile devices and soon-to-be Google Glass augmented reality.The Factors that Impact the Dynamic Customer Journey Multiply ComplexityA corporation that’s seeking to connect to their customers must understand all of these forces that impact the journey. They must be able to quantify the following for every persona:New sources of information: Aside from press, media, analysts they are also relying on the crowd, and their friends. Soon augmented reality will allow for new data forms we’ve not yet seen. (that’s about 5 factors)New forms of media: The channels as we know them Paid Owned and Earned are starting to intermix, as a result a new form of media is impacting them. Social websites have social ads, making content and advertising a new form. (that’s about 3 factors)New screens: Traditionally we’ve thought of TV, Laptop, and Mobile, but now we must factor in a tablet experience (which is different than the aforementioned) and with Google Glass augmented reality coming, that will be a fifth screen to build a strategy for. (that’s 5 factors)To understand the complexity, this model suggests 5X3X5 which is 75 different permutations. Next, the brand must understand this for every single phase: awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, support, loyalty, advocacy, (that’s 7 steps, resulting in 525 permutations per persona) then multiple times every product group and then geography, the math is staggering on the complexity.Call to Action: Share your Point of ViewThis theme is complicated, so in our Open Research model, we’re calling for the community to source and share ideas, so we can collectively learn together. Want to get involved? We’ve published more on our POV on the official Altimeter Blog, and if you wanted to share your perspective, we want to hear, and will link to the community discussion.Technology innovators: What new devices, software, data do you see emerging that’s resulting in customers having more choices in their journey?Agencies and Service providers: How will brands need to catch up in their go to market strategy? How should brands restructure their internal organization to accommodate this change?Brands and Companies: What are you seeking from your solution partners to help bridge this gap? What do you need from technology and service providers to move forward?
And a little about me. Here’s my blog where you’ll catch my occasional ramblingsMy professional profile is on LinkedinAnd I’m more active on twitter, where you’ll get more frequent ramblingsI’m also co-author of the upcoming book, The Social Media MBA, will be available in February