A sampling of interesting links from this past week.

Engagement is one of those terms being tossed about regularly by marketers, advertisers, publishers, agencies and others in the marketing space. It seems like everyone either has it, wants it, wants to tell you how to hold on to it or, if you’ve lost it, how to get it back.

But what specifically is engagement? I’ve posed this question to clients, colleagues and students and the answers seem to depend upon your role in the value chain, your level of experience, the channel(s) you’re using, the type of business you’re in and the desired outcomes of any given initiative.

Here’s a list of the most frequent terms shared with me by marketing people to whom I’ve posed the question, “What is engagement?” They feel that one or more of these terms must be present in order to properly achieve “engagement” with the consumer.

• Active – the conversation between the brand and the consumer is ongoing.
• Two-Way – the consumer isn’t being talked at by the brand; instead , the conversation is based on a two-way exchange of information and value.
• Relationships – all of the people I’ve talked with think there must be some type of relationship established before engagement can happen.
• Timely – while this can be related to “Active” and “Two-Way”, I think what we’re talking about here is the ongoing relevance and timeliness of the the conversation (and the information and value contained within that conversation).
• Permission – the consumer must give permission before anything can happen.
• Value – there has to be value offered (and at some point, actually delivered) on both sides or there’s no reason to engage.

I think Trust is another descriptive term that should be included here. There needs to be a level of trust before meaningful engagement can take place.

Additional reading on the topic of engagement:

From the New York Times comes news that Google is working on a set-top box initiative complete with the Android operating system as the foundation.

“Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the Web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes.”

With search (advertising) and apps (including a version of the Google Chrome browser), the set-top box will offer Google a way to extend its already broad reach beyond the computer and phone to touch consumers in their living rooms, right on their TVs.

“The Google TV software will present users with a new interface for TVs that lets them perform Internet functions like search while also pulling down Web programming like YouTube videos or TV shows from Hulu.com. The technology will also allow downloadable Web applications, like games and social networks, to run on the devices.”

The NYT article reports that Google is expected to open the (open source) platform up and make a developer toolkit available to outside developers over the next couple of months. The article also says that products based on the TV platform could start showing up as soon as this summer.

As this Lifehacker article puts it, “For more than a decade, pundits have been saying that your internet connection would, any day now, be the primary pipeline for television shows, on-demand movies, YouTube videos, music videos, video podcast feeds, online radio, personalized audio streams, online and offline pictures and music—anything you could fit on your screen, really.”

With entrants including (but not limited to) AppleTV, Boxee, PlayOn, Yahoo Connected TV and now Google (and all of the TV vendors who will surely build this capability into their TVs), it seems like that vision is becoming a reality.

When I’m meeting with clients, speaking at industry events or teaching my digital strategy classes at NYU, I have to work hard to avoid the buzzword and jargon trap. I can tell when I’m not doing a very good job of it because the audience, no matter how small or large, starts to lose interest (and in the case of Saturday morning classes at NYU, fall asleep).

“One of the main mistakes is when leaders come up with a new vision but never translate that broad analytical vision into something people on the frontlines can actually execute. I was talking to an entrepreneur who wanted his employees to have a “mindset of customer service.” But if you’re an employee, when you hear that, all you hear is buzzword, buzzword, buzzword, jargon, jargon, jargon.” – Chip Heath

Like you, sometimes I’ll sit in meetings and listen to vendors pitch their products or services. I’m amazed at the amount of buzzwords and jargon they use. The presentations often feel like the vendor has somehow transported us all to a conference room at their headquarters where a team of designers, engineers, marketers and salespeople all sit around in a product development meeting tossing around nothing but buzzwords and jargon that only they can really understand. As I look around the room, I can see signs of confusion, boredom, or in some cases, frustration on the faces of the meeting participants.

Here’s a fun exercise. Visit the Web 2.0 Bullshit Generator or the Web Economy Bullshit Generator and crank out some cool buzzwords and jargon. Here’s what I came up with in just 15 seconds:

• reinvent real-time schemas
• deploy mission-critical web-readiness
• incubate impactful communities
• scale frictionless action-items
• engage data-driven network effects

Feel free to write them down and use them in conversations with your colleagues or better yet, the next time you’re in a vendor meeting, ask a few questions using the terms you’ve generated. Here’s one I’ll be asking: “Say Bob, what’s your approach for reinventing real-time schemas, especially as they relate to the way we incubate impactful communities in our business?”

Whether you’re teaching, leading teams or companies, working the front lines, or marketing shoes to millennials, you’ve got to communicate your thinking practically, free of buzzwords and jargon so your audience can latch on to whatever concept you’re trying to convey and fit it into their world – the way they need/want it to fit, not the way you think it should fit.

With a little conscious effort eliminating the buzzwords and jargon from your conversations, you’ll be on your way to more focused communications and better outcomes. Take it from me, there’s nothing like “eating your own dog food” for a new perspective on things. Really.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

A sampling of interesting links from this past week.

I’ve been doing my thing in the new media space for 25 years. Entrepreneur, consultant, executive, teacher, author. And I’ve had my share of successes and failures, good partners, bad partners, great gigs and crummy gigs.

The one thing I’ve learned, no matter what role I’m in, is that success comes from keeping a positive mental attitude, having a plan and putting it into action (especially when change is involved). After awhile, you’ll develop a comfortable process that works for you. Execute that process with precision over and over and over again and you’ll reap huge rewards. Guaranteed.

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many bright, motivated and driven people. One question that comes up quite often is if I have any advice regarding breaking-in to the digital marketing business. I can tell you this – it’s not quite as glamorous as breaking-in to the music business, but the process that gets you there is the same. And like I said, the rewards can be great.

So, for those of you  seeking a career path in digital marketing, whether you’re just getting started, transitioning from traditional marketing or just want a change of pace from whatever the heck you’ve been doing for the past 10 years, here are four tips to help you succeed, and fast:

Know the business – the biggest value, to you and a prospective employer (or clients, if you’re doing your own thing), comes from having a 35,000 foot, end-to-end view of the digital marketing business. You need to have a generalist view of the whole shebang, from developing a digital product(s) to collecting payment on an invoice and everything in between. Product development, sales, operations, creative, production, technology, finance…it’s a big (digital business) world out there. You need to have a big, broad knowledge base to work from.

Figure out what you’re passionate about – there’s going to be something that really turns you on (and maybe it’s more than one thing – that’s cool). When you figure it out, do a deep dive and learn all you can about the topic. Remember, technology, new media and the business of digital marketing itself are constantly changing. You can’t be a guru and shouldn’t try. The minute you think you’ve got it all in hand, that’s when you need to step back, take a deep breath and dive back in, because there’s always something new to learn.

Narrowcast, don’t broadcast – the broadcast model is dying a slow death. Your edge will come from focusing on niche verticals and the companies within them. Smaller companies are better for a number of reasons. First, they generally do things faster and without the pain  and overhead of the bureaucracy inherent in the larger companies with lots of managers, execs and others who might just be ascending the ranks via the Peter Principle. Second, you’re more likely to be dealing with the decision makers in a small organization instead of going through layers of waste to get your ideas heard (or to get what you need to do your job).  Find a small, progressive, wicked smart company to work for…or start your own.

Seek out the right people – surround yourself with people you aspire to be like. Successful, smart, into the digital space and loving it. The more top talent you can get next to and spend time with, the more (and faster) you’ll learn. You need a mentor. Read the trades, speak to friends and colleagues, and find someone you can look up to for guidance and inspiration while you ramp up – and don’t give up until that person agrees to help you.

There you have it. Four tips to not only help you get into the digital marketing business (or any business), but really do well once you’re there. Do you have other tips you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you.

Please take a minute to sign-up for my free newsletter. It’ll help keep you informed and competitive, for sure.

The passion I had for the marriage of media and technology in the mid-80’s when I created one of the first online social networks is still with me today. I’m almost giddy when I see my 12-year-old digital native at home using his iTouch to study for an upcoming school exam. And I get a big smile on my face when the other digital native in the house asks when he’ll be able to simply talk to the computer instead of using a mouse and keyboard.

He might get his wish before too long, if these 2009 Internet stats are any indication of where we’re headed technologically (and how fast we’ll get there). As Dylan said, The Times, They Are a-Changin’.

• ~1.73 billion global Internet users (it was ~16 million in 1995 and ~365 million in 2000)
• ~90 trillion e-mails sent
• ~27 million tweets per day
• ~350 million people on Facebook
• ~4 billion photos hosted by Flickr
• ~12 billion videos viewed monthly on YouTube

And mobile phone (and mobile broadband) use is exploding, with the US mobile user population nearing 78% in 2010, or some 242 million people, according to eMarketer (versus ~2.7 million in 1989).

While 3G networks continue to suffer from over subscription and huge amounts of data trafic, the promise of 4G (WiMax and LTE) might not be enough if mobile adoption continues its current growth; Cisco expects mobile data traffic to increase 39-fold over the next five years. AT&T’s data traffic has grown 5,000% over the past 3 years.

The there’s the portable Internet-enabled devices. “Always-On Mobile Devices and Networks: New Opportunities to Reach Consumers“, a report by eMarketer published in January 2010, considers the following four categories of portable Internet-enabled devices the most relevant:

• Netbooks (mini notebook computers with screens 10″ or less used for less advanced applications)
• E-readers (tablets designed for the consmption of books, magazines and newspapers)
• Media Players (portable devices whose main function is music or video)
• Gaming Platforms (hand helds designed mainly to play cartridge, disc-based or downloaded games but that also allow for playback of stored audio and video content)

And marketers take heed – the convergence of the Web and TV is here. Internet Enabled Television Sets (IETVs) can connect directly to the Internet without the need for a media adapter. Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, YouTube and more at your fingertips – all while you’re watching American Idol.

“The number of Americans going online to an information service or directly to the Internet has more than doubled in the past year, but most consumers are still feeling their way through cyberspace. Few see online activities as essential to them, and no single online feature, with the exception of E-Mail, is used with any regularity….Among those who currently use their modems, the study detected a decided softness in attitudes toward online activities and a fragile pattern of use. Only 32% of those who go online say they would miss it ‘a lot’ if it were no longer available.” – Study of Internet use in America by the Center For The People & The Press; October 16, 1995

My digital natives may just get the chance to interact directly with the computer without a keyboard or mouse, dive deeper into augmented reality than we ever thought possible, use gestures to control the (Internet Enabled) TV, their skin as an input canvas/touchscreen and probably a whole lot more.

What’s your take on all of this? I’d love to hear from you.

I’m often asked for career advice from students, colleagues and sometimes even complete strangers on the street seeking a career in digital marketing (OK, that last part about strangers on the street might be a stretch).

I decided to write this post after a conversation this morning with a really bright woman seeking a change in her career path. She’s been in the same job for a number of years and feels like there’s more out there for her, particularly in the digital marketing space.

The advice I gave her is similar to what I’ve told many other people who want to move into digital marketing. Here’s a breakdown of the steps you should take if you’re thinking about making a change in your professional life. Of course, you can also apply these steps to personal life changes, too.

Leverage Prior Experience and Skills

If you’ve spent time developing a set of skills in a given area (human resources, traditional marketing, PR, corporate communications, sales, etc.), don’t simply cast them aside and think you’ve got to start all over again. Leverage the time and effort you’ve put into building those skills and apply them to the digital marketing space. Your prior knowledge and where you’ve been and done are what makes you valuable and unique. Use that to your advantage by making it the foundation of where you’re going.

Forget About Your Age

So you’re 35. Big deal. That’s an advantage, not a hindrance. Digital marketing (and other) organizations want people who can solve problems, people who are “taxi-tested tough” with the experience necessary to get things done. As a leader, I want to surround myself with people who will worry for me and deliver results. Age has no bearing on any of that. I’ve seen kids out of college as well as 75-year-olds who blew me away with their energy, skills and some kick-ass deliverables.

Think Long-Term

It’s a different world out there, with the US economy and the rest of the world in what sometimes feels like a free-fall. The days of short term thinking are behind us. This economic crisis will continue for many years to come and this is all the more reason you need to leverage your prior experience and skills to build new value for yourself as part of a long-term plan in digital marketing. The road map to success you create for yourself today has to prepare you for a cross-country journey, not a 200 mile trip to Aunt Mae’s in Connecticut.

photo credit: Jesus Vivas

Get Your Inventory Together

It’s about where you’ve been, where you are today and where you want to go tomorrow. So get a pad and pen, your iPad, or whatever you use to create and make a couple of lists. The first one should hold all of the things you’d like to do in the digital marketing space. I’m not talking “Take a trip to Madagasgar”. You should list all of the things you’d like to be doing going forward. It can be as simple as a job title or a few words related to a specific role you think would be a good fit for you.

The second list is a personal skills inventory. Take some time to list all of the skills you have that make you different. Continue adding to both lists over a period of 2-3 weeks. Then, order both lists, moving the things you’re most passionate about doing and the skills that best define who you are, to the top.

Get to Work

There you go. It’s a good start, but there’s definitely more to do. Check back soon for my next post on this topic and meanwhile, make sure you sign-up for my free newsletter. It’ll help you stay informed and competitive in the digital marketing space.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below – I’m happy to take general questions. If you need more personalized help, don’t hesitate to drop me a note. I’m ready to jump in and help you adjust your course (or chart a new one) for success!

The Wall Street Journal ran a piece a few days ago with the subhead, “Tests Find Consumers More Likely to Remember Web-Video Ads They Are Allowed to Pick“.

“The new research shows that consumers are likelier to watch and recall an ad that they choose than one that is forced on them. Of course, the thing that brings a chuckle is the stated driver of the initiative; the desire to wrest more ad revenue from online video.”

This is truly groundbreaking information, that consumers will be more engaged with a piece of content that’s relevant and self-selected. We’ve obviously moved to new levels of consumer intelligence in the digital marketing and advertising business, folks.

We’re so busy focusing on topics like how to “…wrest more advertising revenue from online video” that we lose sight of the fact that consumers don’t want to (and won’t) look at advertising that’s not relevant to them. We’re busy ignoring the 300-3,000 mostly irrelevant marketing messages we’re subjected to each day (YMMV depending on whose study you read and believe). Truth be told, the 15+ year-old ideas we’re using in digital marketing today just aren’t cutting it (read Bob Garfield’s Chaos Scenario for more about old ideas and how media as we know it is dying)

I’ve often said that if we just slowed down for a minute and started thinking with a clear head about what it really means to deliver targeted, relevant messages to consumers when using our digital channels, we’d realize there’s a lot of ways to get closer to the consumer and maybe even generate more of that elusive revenue everyone’s so focused on (instead of the consumer experience).

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about.

If I visit a website and choose an article I’d like to read, several things are happening. First, I’ve self-selected the topic/content I’d like to engage with based on my personal preferences. Second, the publisher should know exactly what content I’m reading via content tags and other magical technology approaches (that have been around for many years). Easy peezy, lemon squeezy.

So, if the publisher knows what content I’ve chosen to read, why don’t they show me advertising messages that are relevant to my choice? If I’m reading about Cancun, why not show me something topical and relevant, like a vacation offer or something similar? If the messages shown to me were more closely matched to my interests (“interests” being the topic/content I’ve chosen to engage with) it stands to reason that I might notice and maybe even engage with those messages.

Why are the banner advertisements and pre-roll never related to the content I’ve chosen to look at? Let me answer my own question – the argument will be that because publishers have created so much inventory, it’s quite difficult, if not impossible, to match advertisers with specific content. Why publishers tend to create unlimited inventory and the issues around sales teams selling it are best saved for another post.

Why spend good money on expensive behavioral targeting technology or worry about offending the consumer privacy wonks? Just a few simple content strategy rules and one or two business and technology leaders in the organization who understand how digital works and you might just develop an audience of engaged, repeat visitors who take the time to lift an advertising message or two.

There. I said it. Don’t be afraid, digital technology people – it’s okay to tell people that what you do isn’t based on rocket science and black magic.

All kidding aside, I admit that there’s no simple answer, especially when you consider that most publishers are wholly focused on dollars, not people. That’s understandable, because we all have businesses to run. However, the business starts with people. If you’re not giving them choices that are relevant to their personal preferences, they’re going to ignore you.

To test this, think about your own experiences – you’re a consumer, too. When was the last time you engaged with a relevant banner advertisement or pre-roll video? In fact, when was the last time you even looked at a banner advertisement, relevant or otherwise?

What are your thoughts on the Publicis research? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

The Silicon Alley Insider ran a piece on February 1 that detailed the frustrations of a UK advertiser with Google and DoubleClick. The article started with this comment: “We have seen in the past how many mergers and acquisitions in digital media have been disasters.” And it went downhill from there.

For those of you who’ve spent more than a week at any company anywhere in the world, it’s no surprise to hear that a client is unhappy with the service received from a vendor. It happens quite often, especially when the client fails to take the time to perform a detailed business requirements analysis and then fails again to properly review, in detail, the vendor and offering before committing to an agreement for service. I’ll even go so far as to wager that at least one vendor you work with right now isn’t delivering the goods, especially if you’re at a large company.

But the blame doesn’t completely fall upon the shoulders of the vendor. It’s more complex than just poor service and a crummy product roadmap. It’s about broken windows, on both the client side and the vendor side. And it’s also often due to really, really bad management.

This is same management who continually promote incompetent people or, for no reason anyone can identify, are promoted themselves. These people can usually be counted on to go forth and execute deals that produce unpleasant results, as the e-mail writer in the article shares (and then fix blame on some unsuspecting underling!) Maybe GoogleClick really does suck in the service and product road map departments in the UK (and elsewhere), but I’ll bet the product selection process in this case wasn’t as robust as it could or should have been, resulting in the e-mail writer’s company selecting an offering that wasn’t really suited to their business needs. I could be wrong about this, but I’d be willing to wager I’m not.

On the one hand, it’s all good, because it keeps consultants like me in business. But for those of you who really want to cut down on the pain and overhead you deal with on a day-to-day basis, here’s some advice that’ll help ensure a greater chance of success for anything you do, from choosing a vendor to managing a complex project, and even managing your kids:

Manage Expectations

You must clearly establish what you expect from the vendor (this comes from your needs analysis) and what the vendor can expect from you. There’s no short-cutting here. You don’t just wake up one morning and decide you’re going to use GoogleClick as your ad serving platform. It takes research, time and competent people to make a decision like this. Fail to clearly establish and manage expectations from the start and you might find out later that the product you’ve chosen won’t support multiple currencies, time zones, or worse yet, has no provision for interfacing with your financial systems. I’m green-lighting here, but you get the idea.

Assign Responsibilities

Here’s the answer to that nagging “Now What?” question. Make sure everyone involved is a stakeholder. Now, I’m not using the term ’stakeholder’ like some of the management wonks you’ve encountered might use it. I mean put your ass on the line and take some owenership of the process and the project. Making sure everyone has a reason to be involved and shares in the up or down-side of the outcome. Assign responsibilities to everyone to ensure the expectations you’ve set previously are met.

Feedback

You, your team and everyone else involved need to be relentless about follow-up and feedback. It’s the crucial link in the chain. The more you communicate, the better chances you have of success (back to my original thought; this works for just about anything, from choosing a vendor to managing a complex project and even managing your kids). Make constant feedback part of your DNA if you want your projects (and anything else you do) to succeed.

There you have it. My secret formula, guaranteed to reduce pain and overhead in three easy steps.

I’d love to hear from you – please leave a comment with your thoughts.