Independent Thinking » Professional Development

What’s Trending in the Digital Space?

Daria Steigman — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 06:01:24 +0000

Web 2.0 was so last year. Or last decade.

Either way, we’re moving on.

So what’s going to be trending in the digital space moving forward?

If you’re in the D.C. region, join me and my fellow panelists for an IABC/Washington breakfast meeting on January 12 as we discuss trends in digital communications.

I’ll be joined on the panel by Dan Horowitz of Fleishman-Hillard’s Digital Group; Steve Radick of Booz Allen Hamilton’s Digital Strategy and Social Media Practice; and Rick Dunham, Washington Bureau Chief of the Houston Chronicle and chief author of the Texas on the Potomac blog.

This should be fun. If you’re in the Washington area, please do join us.

Photo by Rosaura Ochoa (Flickr).

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6 Sales Questions Every Business Must Know

Daria Steigman — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:04:51 +0000

I’ll be the first to admit that conversations about CRM, lead times, funnels, and sales systems make my eyes glaze over.

Maybe it’s because I’m a small business. Or that I’m a fan of paper, pen, business cards, big red desk calendar. Or that every time someone starts talking about sales systems all I hear is jargon, jargon, jargon. Or that it really isn’t rocket science.

Mike Schultz broke the elements down nicely during a Webinar last week on The Art of Sales Conversations. The gist of his message was that it’s all about bridging the “conversation gap” between what you deliver and what your prospect wants. And then understanding how to talk the (right) talk.

Which brings me to the six sales questions every business must know.

Can You Answer These Questions?

My big takeaway from Schultz’s presentation is six questions you better be able to answer about your business:

Who are your ideal customers?
How do you help? (What needs do you address?)
What value do your clients gain from working with you? (How do they describe it?)
What are your core offerings?
What is the proof that you can do what you say you do?
What makes you distinct? (How do your customers describe it?)

If you can’t articulate your target clients, the target need, the business value, your offering, your proof points, and what makes you unique–then how do you expect anyone else to buy what you’re selling?

Photo by Holger Zscheyge (Flickr).

3 Surprisingly Awesome Ways to Use Location-Based Marketing

Daria Steigman — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:04:46 +0000

I really dislike the early iterations of location-based marketing.

They’re interruptive rather than integrated. And gamification turns me off. (Seriously: being the mayor of your local coffee shop matters to you?) Then there’s the whole tweeting-about-it thing. People are all indignant about Triberr, but I find all those “I’m at…” tweets are far more irritating.

There has to be a better way to use this technology–and to get me to give up my data.

In a recent MarketingProfs Webinar, Aaron Strout and Mike Schneider talked about some of the more forward-thinking ways that companies are using location-based marketing to engage with both customers and prospects. Here are my top takeaways:

Showcase your smarts. USA TODAY’s foursquare page includes a “10 Great Places” feature that gives users “tips”–information on places ranging from The National Mall to the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, Arizona. In doing so, the media company has found a way to engage with a broad, geographically dispersed audience. I can see ways that all kinds of organizations can create campaigns that give me a reason to check in.
Make it participatory. Buffalo Wild Wings teamed up with SCVNGR to create a series of challenges around the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Most required small actions (a picture of the sauciest wing in the bucket, a snapshot of you with a fan of the opposing team). The campaign drew almost 200,000 unique players and 1.3 million challenges. Sure, there was a big gamification element–but it also fit the personality of both the venue and the forum (sports). If my favorite sports bar did this around the NFL playoffs, I’d probably be all over it because it’s social and it’s fun.
It’s not just for B2C. Strout and Schneider talked about how cybersecurity firm BreakingPoint has created a foursquare location for its conference booths and encourages check-ins via its marketing collateral. The strategy, which also includes prizes for checking in, has led to hundreds of demos with key prospects. It’s just another example of how business-to-business companies can take advantage of location-based marketing.

During their Webinar, Strout and Schneider also provided a peek into the future of location-based marketing, including passive check-ins (addressing the “interruptive” problem), location-at-point-of-sale strategies, and better use of meta data. There’s some terrific stuff here.

What creative uses of location-based marketing have you seen? What would you like to see?

Photo by sophiea (Flickr).

3 Ways to Strengthen Customer Experience Online

Daria Steigman — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:05:30 +0000

I heard Linda Ireland speak last week about how to strengthen the customer experience on social media platforms. A key point she made during the MarketingProfs Webinar is that customers are demanding–to be heard, authenticity, speed, support, interaction, reaction–and you’d better be ready to meet their needs.

Ireland also walked through 10 tips for connecting more effectively with your customers. My top three takeaways:

1. Know which platforms work best when. A blog can be a great way to connect with prospects or to educate existing customers with ongoing or evolving needs, but it’s probably not the best platform for addressing customer service issues. The more you understand where your customers are in their buying cycle and how they interact, the more proactively you can plan where you should be engaging with them.

2. Customer experience is about what happens AND how customers feel. Ireland’s point: you (the business) impact both.

3. Focus on your customers, not your competitors. Ireland glossed over this at the end of her presentation, but I think it’s the most important takeaway. Too many companies are so busy worrying about what the competition is doing that they forget why customers interact with their brand in the first place. Don’t imitate. Instead, create your own customer experience.

What’s your top tip for strengthening the customer experience online?

Photo by lulu (Flickr).

6 Tips for Creating Awesome PowerPoint Presentations

Daria Steigman — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:05:59 +0000

Mention PowerPoint, and just about everyone will tell you they hate it. But why do we blame the tool for the fact that presenters abuse it (a lot)?

In Speaking PowerPoint: The New Language of Business, Bruce Gabrielle makes a compelling case for Microsoft’s oft-scorned presentation software. In a well-written, easy-to-read book crammed with actionable advice, Gabrielle demonstrates how PowerPoint is a “critical tool for driving strategy” that uses “the power of visual thinking to make ideas clearer and more persuasive.”

Over at the Entrepreneurs’ Organization blog, I’ve compiled my top 6 takeaways from Speaking PowerPoint. A sample:

Your Deck Is an Iceberg. Gabrielle writes that “when planning your main message and support points, think of your slide deck like an iceberg.” In other words, about 10 percent should be above the waterline–what you want your audience to do and the 1-2 key points that support that most broadly.

There are also tips for storytelling, chunking, and mapping your slides on paper. Some good stuff–so check it out here.

Photo by cogdogblog (Flickr).

5 Digital Trends to Watch

Daria Steigman — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 10:05:17 +0000

If Steve Rubel is right, there are some fascinating digital trends to plan for in 2011.

During a recent MarketingProfs Webinar, Rubel highlighted 11 digital trends, including location-based services, thought leadership, and social media schizophrenia (e.g., information overload). From his list, here are five that stand out:

Attentionomics, or the concept that it’s not enough to reach people (e.g., eyeballs or numbers)–you have to grab their attention to drive behavior. A couple ways to do this: using visualizations and creating digital embassies within your social networks.
Digital Curation, which Rubel concisely defined as “separating the art from the junk.” This is a big one for me, because right now we’re focusing on aggregation far more than curation (think paper.li and similar “auto”-curation tools).
Integration Economy, or the concept that the way we communicate will demand that people collaborate more across an organization. I’ve been talking about shattering silos for a long time, so I hope Rubel’s right about this one.
Ubiquitous Social Computing, or what Rubel said involves “optimizing for mobility, not just mobile.” A couple ways to do this: designing for multiple platforms and thinking about integrating social sharing into your products.
Transmedia Storytelling, which is the concept that technology is changing the way stories are told (think Avatar, Toy Story). Rubel said that “narrative is no longer a whole,” and that we must think instead about “connecting the dots.”

What stands out for you? And what trends would you add to the list?

Photo by Phillie Casablanca (Flickr).

Is Your Marketing Team Obsolete?

Daria Steigman — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 10:42:45 +0000

Hubspot founder Brian Halligan kicked off What’s Next DC* with a terrific presentation on inbound marketing (aka, how to get found by your clients, customers, and prospects). In it, he identified six steps to viral growth and looked at the skill sets needed to market to the way that people today shop, learn, and buy.

Halligan said the six steps to viral growth include:

Content Creation. He advises creating as much content as possible, and suggests that each piece can act as “a mini-magnet” to attract customers.
Optimizing for Social Media. Halligan talked about creating “remarkable” content. Halligan said that some of the best-read posts on Hubspot’s blog promise (in the headlines) insights, analysis, or marketing tips.
Be Original. The more your content is unique (or you’re first with breaking news), the more likely it will have legs (and spread via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks).
Include Strong Calls to Action. Halligan recommends that these be “valuable, easy, prominent, and action-oriented.”
Nurture Your Leads. This is obviously a big deal, because if you’re not nurturing leads you’re losing them.
Study Your Analytics. If you’re not looking at your statistics and measuring your success, then how do you know what’s working and what’s not? Halligan talked about the need to “measure often and evolve fast.”

Don’t be Cocktail Party Compliant

Halligan said that many marketers are “cocktail party compliant,” a great phrase to describe going through the motions but not really being invested in the process. Does your marketing team have the right skills for 2011′s business environment?

Halligan suggested that every marketing organization needs to identify people with four key skills. (If you’re an independent consultant or a small business without a big marketing staff, think of these as skills you need to either own or borrow.)

Digital Native. Halligan suggests this is genetic. I’m not convinced it’s a gene thing, but I am convinced it’s not demographic. I’ve seen 70-somethings who “get it” and 20-somethings who are Web-phobic.
Analytic Capacity. We all know I’m a big proponent of data-based decision making, so I was happy to see Halligan highlight the importance of having at least one person on your team who’s happy crunching data.
Reach. “Reach is the new Rolodex,” says Halligan. This speaks to the need, even more today, to value the skills that networkers and connectors bring to the table.
Content Creator. Clearly being a good writer helps. But content is broader (e.g., video, photography).

Other conference speakers also talked about the need to rethink how you’re doing marketing and PR in the digital age. Bryan Eisenberg touched on a theme that I believe is critical to business success: being nimble, authentic, and continuously improving. Rand Fishkin pointed out that companies are very under-invested in SEO (so there’s a huge opportunity to make the long tail work for you). And Shonali Burke offered case studies of two companies that are building relationships with their customers. Echoing the day’s “content” theme, she talked about the need to tell your story “really well” and pointed out that everyone in your organization today is (by default) involved in customer service.

*Disclosure: Comped admission; but choice to blog and what to write about are all me.

Photo by Matthew Rakola Photography.

Are Keynotes Necessary?

Daria Steigman — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 13:20:52 +0000

Jessica Hibbard, who’s organizing a February conference in Frederick, posed the following question on Twitter the other day:

At a conference, how important is the keynote address? Do we have keynotes because they’re essential, or because we’ve always had them?

My initial response:

A little of both. They’re only essential if they rock and/or have a rock star to draw participants. So many end up duds.

I added that I’d rather see more networking or additional content sessions. Beth Schillaci added that she’s “skipped many a keynote.” Others also chimed in, and most were lukewarm on keynotes. Which really begs the question of why so many conferences include them.

A case in point: At GrowSmartBiz in 2009, the keynoters were Chris Anderson and Mark Warner. They (okay, Anderson) attracted me to the conference. Both were terrific. In 2010, the GrowSmartBiz keynoter was SBA Deputy Administrator Marie Johns–in a city where government officials are a nickel a dozen. Johns’ remarks were relevant–but she was clearly giving her usual speech. And she wasn’t drawing a crowd.

Case in point 2: I’ll be blogging at What’s Next DC in a couple of weeks. The conference is set up as a series of presentations. Sure the first one is Hubspot founder Brian Halligan. But he’s “Act 1: Foundation,” and not a keynoter. There’s an Act 2 (and 3, and 4…). All the speakers are given equal weight, and the program is the draw.

What’s your take? Are keynotes necessary?

Photo by Beau Giles (Flickr).

What is True “Social Media Integration”?

Daria Steigman — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 15:28:54 +0000

According to Jeremiah Owyang, true social media integration doesn’t exist.

In a fascinating keynote speech at the MarketingProfs B2B Conference last week, Owyang walked through an 8-step roadmap for integrating social media and your (corporate) Web site. The aim is to identify where you are now, where you want to be, and to move slowly and strategically forward.

The framework starts from the point of no integration and moves toward an ideal:

Do nothing (while the conversation is happening around you in other platforms).
Link outward from your Web site (i.e., send traffic away with links such as “follow us on Twitter” or “follow us on Facebook“).
Link away, but encourage sharing (i.e., “I’m now following Company X on Twitter,” which offers some social endorsement).
Extend your brand in social channels (i.e., mirror your corporate brand experience elsewhere, a.k.a. “fishing where the fish are”).
Aggregate the conversation on your Web site. (Think Skittles, which centralized discussions on its site. The downside, of course, is loss of control.)
Use social log-ins (i.e., Facebook Connect or Twitter Connect. Think H&R Block. While this may increase sign-ups, you lose the opportunity to collect e-mail addresses and other key data.)
Social log-in triggers sharing (creating a social or interactive experience that enables users to stay on the site while interacting with both the company and their friends/peers, and to recruit other people into the social network. The challenge is that this requires planning, the right technology, a solid campaign strategy, and extensive resources.) Pepsi Refresh, for example, lets people vote for their favorite ideas and share them with friends on Twitter and Facebook. Dell IdeaStorm triggers consumers to recruit friends to vote for their ideas.
Seamless integration (the idea that you won’t be able to tell the difference between your Web site and a social site).

Owyang said that seamless integration requires a fundamental change that we’re not yet ready for. “The idea of sending traffic to a .com is an old way of doing things,” said Owyang. In the future, “you’ll send traffic to people and the networks.” He also suggested that the future Web will be sorted around people and contextual situations (not URLs).

Pretty heady stuff. I’m still somewhere between Step 2 and Step 4. Where are you, and where do you want to be?

Photo by ming1967 (Flickr).

8 Keys to the Perfect Lead Generation Form

Daria Steigman — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:27:55 +0000

Your Web site has great content, but are you using it effectively to generate business?

I’m guilty of this. I know prospects are visiting my site, but I don’t have a strong call to action–so I’m missing opportunities to build these relationships. I’m working on remedying that right now, so last week’s MarketingProfs Webinar on tips for increasing Web conversions was very well timed. Amy Africa offered a lot of great information, including 8 keys to the perfect lead generation form:

Only ask relevant questions (relevant to the user). The aim here is to get someone to fill out the form. Once you have their information, you can always survey them later.
Make sure your privacy and security policy is clear and on every page. Aren’t you more likely to fill out a form if you’re confident that the recipient isn’t going to turn around and sell your name?
Make sure your full contact information is visible in every page view.
Use only vertical capturing fields (i.e., put city, state, zip code, each on its own line so that it’s easy for people to spot if they make an error).
Pre-fill data where you can. I think you’re more likely to be able to do this with an e-commerce site, but it goes to ease of use.
Use the middle column. Africa said that most forms work best in the middle column.
Deploy colors that work. Blacks and reds work best. (Hmm… Since my logo (and secondary site color) is green, I’ll have to make an exception on this one.)
Big buttons help. You want to make sure the “Submit” buttons are easy to find–and to hit.

Finally, I thought I’d reiterate something Africa stressed several times: that relevancy is in the user’s mind. So look at your current contact forms (or the ones you’re getting ready to put onto your site) and make sure they’re quick and easy to fill out–and are only asking for information that your prospects are willing to give.

Photo by Chris Chappelear (Flickr).