This past weekend at BlogPaws (a social media conference for pet bloggers) an FTC rep was on hand to disseminate the information to publishers, but this information is extremely valuable to those of us in marketing who conduct blogger outreach.

Understanding FTC guidelines is essential to protecting your agency, your client and also the consumers who you are marketing to.

1. When does a blog post need to have a disclosure?

Whenever there is a material connection between the post’s author and the brand. If a blogger happens to purchase a product that they love and then write a post detailing the product’s virtues, there is no material connection between them and the brand.

A material connection is established when an agency or brand reaches out to a publisher and offers product, gift cards, payment or other items that could be considered a transaction (a free dinner, trip etc.)

So, if you work in-house or at an agency and are conducting blogger outreach you need to be familiar with FTC guidelines. If you chose to ignore them, you are running a risk that your agency and your brand will be the subject of an investigation and possible action by the FTC meaning fines.

Who has been subject to these investigations? The speaker mentioned Porter Novelli, HP, Ann Taylor Loft, and Hyundai.

What were they giving away? As little as a $50 gift card. So, whether you are offering cars or carnations to bloggers you need to know the FTC guidleines.

2. Direct bloggers to use the #ad in any tweets, pins or Instagram images they share to promote product review or sponsored posts. DO NOT use #Spon

The FTC would like to see bloggers on Twitter and other microblogging platforms discontinue the use of the hashtag #spon (which means sponsored post in blogger speak). The meaning of the #spon hashtag may not be apparent to consumers, and the mission of the FTC is to ensure consumers understand the material connection between the blogger and company. It is the responsibility of the brand who did the outreach to communicate this as a necessity.

#Ad is much more clear to everyday people that what they are seeing is an ad of some sort, whether the post is paid for which cash or stems from a product review of items sent free of charge to a blogger.

3. Disclosures should be placed as close as possible to the claim they qualify.

This means, that instead of a blogger writing 4 paragraphs about the nifty gizmo they received and then waiting to the end of a post to mention that the above post was paid or that they got said gizmo for free, bloggers should disclose their material relationship to the brand in the heart of the post, close to where they detail the product.

What language should be used? The important thing is that a normal person can understand the disclosure. Legalese need not apply. So, ask bloggers to disclose that the product was provided free of charge by your company right when they start discussing it. For instance: “Gizmody  Co. just sent me GizmoXY  free of charge for review and I think it is super nifty.”

Asterisks and other weird symbols that refer readers to the bottom of a post for disclosure just don’t cut it in the eyes of the FTC. With an increasing number of mobile users who are viewing content in small bits and bouncing fast, they realize the number of people who read posts in their entirety is small.

4. If you are a marketer, you are not allowed to leave positive reviews for your clients on Yelp, Amazon, iTunes or anywhere else.

Especially if you do not disclose that you are a representative of the company. The FTC rep was very clear that this would not be tolerated and highlighted a case in which the FTC investigated a PR company who left numerous positive reviews for a client’s video game app in the iTunes store. So, just don’t do it.

5. Don’t use hyperlinks for disclosures that are integral to a claim

Linking off to information that the consumer needs to make an informed decision about the value of the opinion stated in the post or for important information like safety or cost. The speaker did add that hyperlinks are permissible if a disclosure is expecially long or has to be repeated over and over on the same site.

6. Make sure your agency or brand has a social media policy that includes mandating disclosure from bloggers you work with.

The speaker said some investigations against agencies and brands ultimately were closed without action because the agency or brand had a social media policy in place and showed that the outreach for the campaign being investigated was done by a “rogue” employee. Having a policy documented and in place could help your agency or brand in the event that an FTC investigation is launched.

Blogger outreach is a great way to build word of mouth, backlinks and to seed a new product with consumers. Just do it responsibly.

Additional resources for brands, agencies and bloggers can be found at www.business.ftc.gov

AdTruth, the global leader in securing digital relationships, is teaming up with Adform, a provider of digital media trading technology and campaign management solutions, for a live webinar on May 30^th to discuss how the entire online advertising ecosystem can benefit from improving audience recognition across desktop and mobile.

The two companies will delve into how Adform is using AdTruth’s universal device recognition technology to reach both desktop and mobile audiences efficiently and at scale.

During this session, attendees will benefit from:

• Discussing the principles of universality: The ability to work on all device types and in all use cases
• Programmatic-level performance: The ability to support billions of impressions at millisecond speeds
• Privacy-by-design: The approach that is at the core of device recognition technology empowering marketers and agencies to execute online campaigns while respecting consumer privacy and choice

Attendees will learn from Adform on how they’re utilizing AdTruth’s device recognition technology to support its platform’s desktop and mobile real-time bidding (RTB) capabilities to increase campaign reach and audience engagement.

Join the conversation May 30^th, 2013 at 6 a.m. PST/9a.m. EST.  Register Now

What surprises me most about marketers’ spending behavior is that they are almost unknowingly wasting their budgets away on meaningless clicks and impressions.

I’m not saying that paying for clicks (CPC) or impressions (CPM) are a waste of time, but I would say that marketers need to understand if these campaigns are actually going to help them achieve their key performance indicators (KPIs).

I’m going to only use two basic online advertising KPIs as points of discussion on suitability of CPC & CPM campaigns. (1) Creating brand awareness (2) Driving online sales.

Now if you owned a company that sells real estate properties or cars for example, your main purpose would be to create attention, interest, desire and demand from the internet audience. In this scenario, your performance indicators would be in the number of clicks and views of your ads, so CPC & CPM campaigns are the likely solution for you. The choice of agency or vendors is most crucial here as you would need to verify the quality of publishers and understand the measures these vendors take to ensure that they don’t open the floodgates to any “Joe Bloggs”. Additionally, you can practice preventive measures such as using content verification tools where you can block or receive reports, in real time, the serving of your advertisement onto destinations that have been defined as inappropriate to your campaign. When you’ve ticked these boxes, I’d say your clicks and impressions costs are possibly worth your while.

However, if you owned an ecommerce business and your main purpose is purely to increase customer leads or sales, you actually have the benefit of tangible tracking of your returns of investment. Now I’d say I’m a believer of Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA) campaigns, and I believe that this is what would work for you. Here’s why:

Benefits of CPA Campaigns - Positive ROI ALWAYS

Within the CPA model, you only pay the publisher when you’ve acquired a lead or a sale referral. No acquisition, no cost. We’re talking about 100% risk free advertising especially when costs only occur for validated leads or sales.

Problem with CPC Campaigns - “Paid Clickers”

Especially frequent in Asian countries (where I am based), people are often paid to click on ads. So for people who are looking to earn a quick couple of bucks, this is a joyride. As an ecommerce advertiser, you are actually paying for meaningless fraud clicks, and getting absolutely no sales.

Problem with CPC Campaigns - Software:

There are unscrupulous publishers who use automated clicking tools, such as robot programs, to click on CPC ads. Again, you are wasting money on fraud clicks by software.

Problem with CPC Campaigns - Competitors

If you’re an experienced digital marketer, you could spot a CPC ad listing from miles away. Don’t be surprised if the person clicking away behind those screens is actually your competitor. They could be clicking on your ads over a period of several days to deplete your ad budget.

The problem is not in the model of advertising, but rather the choice of models. Often, decision making circles around justifications of quality vs quantity of traffic, authenticity of clicks, vendor’s management costs etc. So choose well, the last thing you want are “worthless” ad spends.

As someone who lives and breathes in this space everyday, I’m often surprised at the number of misconceptions that exist about this subset of marketing. It’s my belief that the lack of clarity on programmatic buying is a big part of our industry’s general ambivalence toward it: Whereas some advertisers are reticent to accept programmatic buying as a viable tactic, others have embraced it with open arms.

The goal of this column is to distill what programmatic inventory entails at its most basic level and debunk some of those most common myths that surround it.

Myth #1: “Programmatic buying and real-time bidding (RTB) are one and the same.”
Reality: Programmatic buying is a term widely used to define the automated nature in which media buying and selling takes place. It’s simply the process of executing media buys through digital technology platforms rather than through manual negotiations. Real-time bidding, or RTB, is a form of programmatic buying where ad inventory is bid on and sold within an auction environment in real time.

Programmatic methods remove the friction that exists in traditional media buying to permit faster execution of user-level targeting at scale. Most often you’ll hear this term associated with online display buying, but as programmatic evolves programmatic is growing into other areas, such as out-of-home and – someday – television, too.

RTB has existed in search for more than a decade. The most common description of how RTB functions involves a “pipe” (access to inventory, such as an ad exchange) and a “brain” (bidder that uses an algorithm to determine whether to submit a bid request). The “pipe” announces each biddable impression available for the “brain” to evaluate and determine the optimal price to pay.

Myth #2: “Automation will replace media management.”
Reality: The human element of programmatic buying is critical to its success.

Programmatic buying is both an art and a science. The scientific element – the algorithm – gets most of the glory, but the human element is crucial to proper execution. Algorithms are only as good as the data that feeds them. And data is only as good as the strategies it informs.

Marketers can use data to inform optimization strategies, such as frequency capping, distribution of money and seasonality.  So, while systems help bring data to light, human intuition still matters. Technology has altered the role of the media planner, but it has not eliminated it. More data requires more strategic thinking around that data, especially when it comes to assessing potential partners and optimizing buys over time.

Myth #3: “The inventory is no good.”
Reality: There is, in fact, quality inventory available to advertisers and real push from within our industry for publishers to police their inventory and expand the creative canvases available for programmatic buying.

Some of the most premium publishers around the web open their inventory to exchanges and SSPs. Top-tier pubs like Forbes, Conde Nast and Hearst have all opened up their inventory to allow for programmatic buying.

And while advertisers are constrained to a subset of formats (standard IAB ad units), there is promise for future growth and maturation in the types of ads canvases that marketers can utilize. Of course, the continued evolution of emerging units (such as those put forth as part of the IAB Rising Stars program) is dependant on publisher adoption.

As inventory becomes more and more commoditized, it is in publishers’ best interest to be more selective with the ad space they offer. Promoting scarcity – to some degree at least – and creating more premium ad experiences will allow them to clear bids at higher rates and provide higher quality inventory to advertisers. This will also help overturn the misconception that the quality of programmatic inventory, generated in large part by ad exchanges, is universally poor.

Myth #4: “Programmatic buying is hard to do.”
Reality: Programmatic buying isn’t inherently “hard,” but proper management cannot be understated. Choosing the right partner is essential for marketers entering the programmatic space.

Marketers should enlist partners that not only have access to inventory and the ability to process millions of bid requests or queries per second (QPS), but also ones that re positioned to incorporate rich audience segmenting and provide deep data intelligence to meet their goals and objectives.

This is where the “art” piece of the puzzle comes into play. Having access to the right technology does not automatically guarantee success in the programmatic space. Marketers should assemble a team of the right people, as well – experienced buyers and analysts able to pull the levers and make sense of the data.

Programmatic creates efficiencies and eliminates artificial cost inflation by consolidating efforts and minimizing overlap among partners on a plan that are achieving the same ends within the campaign. Of course, these efficiencies are only met by employing a strategy that places a human filter on the wealth of data on hand.

Big Data necessitates big brains behind it – analysts able to continuously decode patterns and identify opportunities from a stockpile of data that includes first-party data from the advertiser, second-party data from originating from the analyst teams themselves and third-party data from various partners and providers. Constant and vigilant data-mining and analysis is critical to developing ongoing optimization strategies.

Myth #5: “Programmatic buying is a black box.”
Reality: Programmatic buying is actually the most transparent type of buy marketers can put on a plan.

At its core, programmatic buying promotes transparency and increases the control marketers have when it comes to when and where their ads are displayed. It allows advertisers to see the market value for each user – and in some cases, gain transparency into the actual fee that third-parties apply to the media or data. The automated nature of programmatic also allows marketers to set bid thresholds, customize their own inventory mix for optimal performance, and obtain URL-level performance metrics amongst other things.

Some marketers see programmatic buying as a challenge since it involves working with their holding company’s trading desk, which is separate from the day-to-day media team.  At 360i, we have a dedicated programmatic buying group that handles such efforts directly on behalf of marketers and work closely with the media and analytics teams to inform optimization strategies.

*****
Programmatic buying methods, especially RTB, are on the rise. According to a recent eMarketer study, digital display ad spend is projected to increase 73 percent this year. This means that about 1 in 5 display ad dollars will be transacted via RTB in 2013 – a healthy and growing share of the display market.

As programmatic buying continues to grow in prominence, advertisers and media buyers can no longer afford to be afraid of or perplexed by automated processes. Education will be paramount to socializing programmatic within the media buying space and dispelling the myths outlined above.

Planners should feel empowered to ask the same questions they would of a third-party vendor and recognize that a sound strategy is core to the success of any programmatic campaign. Though automated, programmatic is far from a ‘set it and forget it’ panacea for digital media buying. It’s simply another tool in media planner’s ever-expanding toolbox for achieving client objectives.

From the big idea to campaign integration, to media  strategy, it’s all about developing the best creative concepts and making the best media choices to reach the right audiences with the right messages and calls to action. So, does amazing creative succeed without the right media strategy? Can great media save bad creative? Or working together, can they make any product or service successful?

David Murdico: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Jason DeLuca: I always thought that the chicken came first, but after much contemplation I came to the same conclusion as Aristotle once did, that both the chicken and the egg have always existed together at the same time in harmony; much like the relationship between creative and media.

DM: What's your background and what brought you to Allscope Media?

JD: I’ve spent the last 15+ years working closely with some of the worlds most iconic brands, helping them manage every aspect of their online media research, strategy, planning, buying, content integration, targeting, tracking, reporting, analysis, optimization and reconciliation needs.

What brought me to Allscope was the opportunity to marry my digital media expertise with a successful group of traditional media professionals to create a truly integrated media services offering.  Since traditional media accounts for such a big majority of all marketing dollars spent, it’s critical that we, the digital media mavericks, find creative ways of integrating with traditional media touch points.

Additionally, I was attracted to Allscope because they are a nimble independent shop made up of only senior level experts. I was impressed with their strong experience in utilizing data and analytics to drive effective media strategies.  I also saw the tremendous value they provide to their clients that is way beyond the norm, something they refer to as Positive Value Exchange. Last, I saw work that was being done efficiently without all the slow moving over worked inexperienced junior filled teams that I so often see with most agencies these days.

DM: Who are some of your more notable clients, and what's your most memorable campaign?

JD: Over the years Allscope has worked with dozens of clients from a wide range of industries including: National Geographic Channel, Timberland, BlueCross & BlueShield, The Travel Channel, SmashBurger, Atari, Clarks, The Tennis Channel, Toshiba and Harper Collins.

A few memorable campaigns that stand out for me that were exceptionally fun and thrilling include winning the Atari business and working closely on a brand that was such a big part of my childhood.  Additionally, having the chance to work on The Travel Channel’s ‘Man v Food’ show was a great thrill as it was a program that I was already a loyal fan of prior to working on, so it made it that much more rewarding to help drive TV ratings.  I felt part of the family from the start so it felt very personal.

DM: Do most of your media buys start with the media buying strategy or the creative concepts?

JD: We start with both congruently, dividing responsibilities into each area then coming together to share and refine the best combinations. It’s very counterproductive to work in silos or to have one discipline dictating the other.  Therefore, we always strive to intertwine both disciplines until they become as one. Like the chicken and the egg, buying strategy and creative concepts work best when they are conceived of together at the same time.

DM: Can the right creative and media buying approach save any campaign, no matter how bad the product is? In other words, is the right combo putting lipstick on a pig?

JD: Good question. It’s not always black and white.  On one hand the right combo can put lipstick, a cowboy hat and disco roller skates on a pig with ease, but all that swine entertainment can quickly hit a mud patch if a product fails on its core promises.  Then again, there are many examples of great creative and strategy shining a light on not so good products that end up being successful, at least in the short term.  Those products typically require a high level of media reach and frequency commitment to stay relevant.  Most consumers assume that if they see an ad for something “everywhere” how bad could it be?  In fact, most think that the products/services advertised, “must be doing well if they can afford all those ads!” In the end there must be a balance between the right marketing flash and the product promise to maintain sustainability in the marketplace.

DM: If you were "king of all brands" and could change the way things are done in your industry, how would you do things differently?

JD: If I were the “King of All Brands” I would…

A) Create more accountability in media.  I’d start by redefining all digital media impressions as only those that can actually be seen.  Millions of dollars worth of media are spent and wasted each day on ads that cannot even be seen.  Remember when John Wanamaker, the father of modern advertising, said, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.“?  Well guess what, we now know which half.  It’s the half consumer can’t even see.  Brands must rise up and demand accountability or they will continue to be taken advantage of by Publishers.

B) Stop squeezing the life out of agencies and start by paying them more money and investing in longer relationships.  This would enable agencies to afford to hire the best people, invest in the best technologies and provide a level of loyalty that was once commonplace.  These types of investments would keep my agency team happy and allow my brand to shine.

C) Stop placing media into black hole silos and begin to bring everyone to the same table to think on how to effectively integrate all media options together as one organism. Although this is talked about ad nauseam by agencies, it is rarely done effectively and often the TV media tail wages the dog.

D) Bypass traditional content partners and create a custom content creation juggernaut that entertains and inspires, much like what Red Bull has done.

E) Listen very carefully and attentively to my brand ambassadors and social media network for insights, then act diligently to make changes to address their concerns and needs.  We would create an open dialogue, give public recognition where due and express gratitude to our customers.

DM: As a media professional, what do you think is the best-executed product launch in recent memory? What made it so successful?

JD: In recent memory, I would say Apple & Red Bull continue to impress me most in how simple yet powerful their ads excite the senses and imagination.

I also admire the selection of media they invest in to surround their target audience with ads while supporting their related passions. I look forward to seeing their ads and branded content evolve even further in the future.

A one-minute video is a recommended start, and you might find yourself liking that length, viewers do. You’ve got to keep things simple being careful not to over saturate the viewer with too much content. To retain what they are watching, people need “nuggets” if information so they can consume and think about it.

Structure the Video

The structure of your video is like a program at a play with a beginning, middle and an end. If you ramble on and leave people hanging, you’re better off not doing a video. It might make you look bad. Hire a professional copywriter that knows video. It’s worth the effort.

Develop Your Story

With every presentation, try to make it into a story. Give your information purpose for even being put into a video. People follow stories, they like to hear the conclusion, and they like to know you have things well thought out too. Stories that are communicated well can influence others. Use emotion to help stamp the video into the viewers’ mind.

Use Plain Terminology

You may be talking to people that know your industry, but some won’t or may not know what you know. Be inclusive and if you need to use an “industry term,” briefly explain it so you don’t lose anybody. Using BIG words is a great way to get people to NOT watch anymore of your video.

Make Your Video Likable

The human mind likes laughter. Things are remembered more when you are “stirred” in this way. I’m no scientist, but the brain reacts well to humor. But, BE SURE it’s funny. Bad jokes can make you look dumb and drive people away. It’s not as easy as it sounds.

Have A Clear Call-To-Action

When you get to the end of your video, you have a unique opportunity. You get to instruct the viewer where they should go next or what they should do next. Flat out tell them what to do. They can:

Go to your site, if they are not already there

Share your video with others

Sign Up for More Informative Videos or a Newsletter

Download an App

Click a Link

Prank call your mother-in-law (just kidding)

Tell your viewer what you want them to do. Make it clear so they are likely to do what you ask of them.
Those are some thoughts in making a great video. But keep in mind there are always variables. That is why a professional copywriter might be needed. He/She can help you mold the “story” to include your variable and it can have a great position within your video.

By Dan Nuckolls
Creative Director at Nuxx Media
www.NuxxMedia.com

What results often times is either: 1) shoving traditional campaign structures into social networks, or 2) a big bowl of tactics that are stand alone gimmicks, giving neither the creators or brand managers a fair way to evaluate whether integrated campaign tactics actually do integrate. And when they do integrate, how do you create consistency without droning sameness?

To make sense of it all, to give teams a structure by which they can create ideas that build on each other, I made a bit of a simple, strategic mashup: First, take the 3-act storytelling structure that humans have been using for a few thousand years to relate and process information. Then, blend with Nielsen's Participation Inequality Law, the rule of thumb that describes digital participation behaviors at scale.

What comes out is a way to look at campaigns where the launch / event / purchase isn't the end of the story, or the beginning. It should be where it belongs: at the climax of the story. That allows the ending of your arc to be the resolution of your audience members succeeding: the behavioral outcome that could not have occurred without the brand having facilitated it.

But that only gets us as far as campaign content, and campaigns in social aren't enough.

To truly model out and encourage positive behaviors, you need to be actively facilitating the community. The Participation Framework makes sure that your brand's declarative statements are balanced as part of a mix that balances content and conversation.

Because people engaging with the brand is a means to an end: people using the brand as a setting to strengthen relationships with each other. Again, positive community behaviors are what you're shooting for. It's these behaviors that will ultimately determine the social success of a brand.

Here's the whole deck with much more step-by-step detail on how Behavioral Storytelling works.

If you're wondering how you can use structures like this to make the difference for your brand, join me at General Assembly in NYC for a class on June 4, or I can work with a number of different teams in your organization: as a speaker or consultant.

What's your take on social content strategy? Drop a note below in the comments or on twitter @mleis.

WOM is the leading way customers find out about start-ups and small businesses, study after study has shown. Even search is now driven by Word of Mouth. (Google and other search engines optimize for user reviews, a form of WOM.)

Yet most companies aren’t fully harnessing the power of Word of Mouth.

Here are five ways to turn Word of Mouth into leads and sales now.

Identify WOM Champions or “Advocates.”
Ask your customers the “Ultimate Question” for loyalty: “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend our company or product to your friends?” Customers who respond 9 or 10 are Advocates. A simple survey can do the trick.

Encourage Advocates to rate and review your products.Seventy percent of consumers trust online reviews, Nielsen says. And 67% of consumers don’t buy after reading only one to three negative reviews, according to Lightspeed Research. Make it easy for Advocates to create and post online reviews by giving them online tools. Here’s an example of online reviews tool Webroot, a security software company, give to its Advocates.

Amplify Advocates.
Enable Advocates to rave about you on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and elsewhere by including social sharing widgets in content creation forms.

Monetize Advocates.
Give Advocates promotional offers they can share with their friends and colleague. Here’s a hint: give Advocates special offers to share instead of the same offers you give everyone.

Generate referral leads.
Make it easy for Advocates to generate referral leads and referral traffic to your website and landing pages by including links in the content and offers they share with their friends and colleagues.

Like any marketing program, WOM marketing takes time and effort. But compared to other marketing approaches, WOM marketing is inexpensive and effective. So get started now!

Questions? (Photo credit: Valerie Everett)

The more change occurring  the more questions arise.  This year is no exception.  B2B Marketers are experiencing ongoing as well as new challenges as we start to hit stride in 2013.   What are the big future questions for B2B Marketers?  Let's look at a few:

How do we generate more leads and keep them?

Survey after survey indicate B2B marketers have this issue top of mind.  Creating demand and filling up a pipeline is loaded with pressure packed environments.  In my qualitative buyer research work, I see shifts in behavior on the part of buyers.  There are unique sets of goals and behaviors emerging in the area of nurturing.  Calling into question how leads should be defined and segmented.  Lead research and unique lead persona development will emerge to help B2B marketers address this most important question.

How do we use marketing automation effectively?

Marketing automation has crawled out of infancy stage and is being more widely adopted.  Many organizations have been in the "let's just get started" phase.  Experiencing the pain of implementation.  The next level question is how to make marketing automation more effective to get better results.

How do we operationalize content marketing?

Content marketing has certainly arisen as one of the core capabilities B2B marketing must possess.  It is causing radical shifts in thinking about the role of marketing and how to build internally.   To operationalize content marketing begs further questions related to structure, roles, and skills.  Presenting CMO's with the daunting task of figuring out how to build internal strength in content marketing.

What do customers and buyers want?

Usually, when this question is asked, there is a tendency to give a product-centric answer.  If you find yourself doing this - then you might want to catch yourself.  Admittedly, this is one of the hardest questions to figure out.  Since no one is guaranteed to be a mind-reader, this will take qualitative intelligence.  To understand how your customers and buyers think as well as what is motivating this thinking, it takes skilled customer research and buyer research.

How do we create seamless multi-channel experiences?

Existing customers and prospect buyers, simply stated, do not want to have to alter how they interact based on the channel.  My theory on this is based on hearing how buyers complain about how one channel works for them but another does not.  The wider the gap, the more disruptive.  Disrupting your customers and buyers - well - is not a good thing.   Here is an example:

"Okay here's what I mean, I go to the website.  It is impressive and I find some good information.  I am thinking this could be a smart organization to potentially get to know.  Of course, I download the white paper and I get the call.  Let me just say they had no idea what they were talking about." (Director, IT Integration and Service)

How do we stop reacting and plan for the future?

There is palpable tension in the air for B2B Marketers this year.  The need to know and the need to get results creates mounting pressure.  When first quarter results may not have been as expected, it is bound to cause some to push the panic button.  It can become a fire drill.  All hands on deck to create the next campaign.  What I believe is happening is buyers are out in front and B2B marketers are trying to catch up.   I advocate having a solid foundation of buyer intelligence to work with.  This means a collective body of research-based reference knowledge like audience personas, buyer personas, mapping tools related to content and buying journeys, and much more.  These give you the perspective you need to know why something may not have worked and to plan intelligently.  Another words - stop hitting the panic button.

How do we build more buyer predictability into B2B Marketing?

Predictive analytics continues to grow.  With limitations.  It holds promise to scale down Big Data and give the ability to predict buying behaviors.  While this may help us to predict how buyers may behave online for example, it may yield little on predicting why.  A capability I am advocating is developing customer and buyer foresight planning.  This type of planning calls for  emerging buyer scenario modeling and mapping capabilities.  Knowing where your buyers may be headed can give you the foresight needed to anticipate future motivations.  In addition, share your foresight and help them envision a future which includes you.

There are many more questions.  It is the nature of business and marketing.  It is the one constant we can count on.  Things will change enough which will beg more questions.  B2B Marketing leadership and success wil be predicated on the ability to answer the big questions.

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

Related articles

• The Art of Buying
• 5 Buying Behaviors of the Persona Buying Cycle
• One Way to Know the Ideal Buying Scenarios for Lead Nurturing

You need to work hard to find a thread amongst your daily narrative - a story -  EVERYONE has one.

You need to remember that award-winning plays have a story, great movies have a well-written story, good books have a captivating story. It’s no different for a video that represents you or your company. You have a story.

When your story is created, think of three acts in a play and get started thinking of your story with a beginning, middle and end. This way, it is more likely that your video will be watched to the end to find out the conclusion to the story.

by Dan Nuckolls

Former Hollywood Producer
www.NuxxMedia.com

So, what about expertise? There is no doubt that it can be important. Most often, expertise can provide a degree of perspective to a discussion, but again, we are looking at businesses in a fast-paced world. What worked in 1997 is not a guarantee – or often even a good indicator – of what will work in 2014. What benefit strategy testing and decision-making are fresh ideas. How are you going to achieve true innovation and breakthroughs by bringing up past ideas and processes? The answer is, most likely, you will not. Breakthroughs often come not just through an examination of new ideas but through new ways of thinking about those ideas. Think of it this way: If you have a new product idea that follows the same model your company has been following for many years, how new is that product really going to be? Not very.

Recently, I came across an article by a schoolteacher that I thought started a good discussion about how to approach innovation and showed how expertise isn’t the be-all, end-all. In his article entitled “The Disruptive Peacock, or Why the ‘wrong’ [sic] Way Might Be the Best Way,” Adam Webster explains the idea of disruptive innovation, the concept of “doing the opposite of what is expected/what convention tells you will be successful.”

It might sound a little “out there” at first, but the example Webster used really brought it home for me. Think of soft drinks, he said. What should most drinks be like to be successful? They should be cheap, tasty and aspirational, he explains. So, what if you say, “No, my drink will be expensive, not that tasty, and functional?” Most people would think that you would have a flop of a product, and maybe in most cases you would. But, as Webster points out, Red Bull showed that the opposite could be true, and they not only made it work for them. They made it their brand. And people liked it.

Sometimes expertise can actually be a hindrance, as it likely was in the Red Bull example. “But experience tells us that won’t work,” someone in that campaign likely would have heard if expertise was the driving force. This is why a culture that empowers people, allows them to take risks, and really strives for innovation is so important.

Now think about electronics. Success in this area in the last 10 years has come not from companies who just created new gadgets. Success has come from companies that recognized or anticipated new ways people think about the world. Introduce a new way of thinking with a product that supports or drives that change, and then you start to get somewhere. As useful as expertise can be, it does not help you do this.

Now, another measure of expertise is diversity, and, as my colleague Dejan Duzevik said, expertise can be a “driver of growth and success as long as the measure of expertise is diversity.” Note, though, that driving growth and success are not necessarily the same as driving creativity or innovation.

So, tell me: Has expertise ever stopped a good, new idea or project from moving forward into the adoption or implementation stages in your organization? How has it helped you gain perspective on a project?

"Like many Americans, I have always been deeply annoyed by this major mistake in spelling," Yahoo! CEO Marisa Mayer remarked in a press conference announcing the acquisition.

"We hope this first step puts young peoples' fears to rest that we will change Tumblr into something uncool. I mean, what's cooler than proper spelling? Am I right guys??" Mayer then high-fived a colleague and sashayed off stage.

The recent purchase of Tumblr has come under heavy criticism, particularly from Tumblr users who fear Yahoo! will impose standards and guidelines for content which will make it cleaner and more family friendly.

"Marisa and the management of Yahoo! just want everyone to know that we will work hard to keep Tumblr the cool and fun place people love" Yahoo! spokesperson Mark Stickupas proclaimed.

"I mean, yes, there will be a few new standards and rules enforced, particular about profanity, pornography, racism, sexism, crass humor, inappropriate memes, immaturity, violence, nudity, tasteless GIFs, copyright, disturbing images, music rights, religious sensitivity, homophobia, and cruelty, but other than that, we aren't changing anything. None of that stuff is cool anyway, am I right guys?"

Stickupas then attempted a badly improvised Gangnam Style dance move as he exited the press area.

This business decision only reinforces just how remarkably in touch Yahoo! is with actual people who use the internet. Recently they announced several sexy and bold new initiatives including a partnership with Conde Nast, a partnership with CNBC, and a partnership with WWE.

"It's clear to us that the reason our company is failing is because we don't have enough partnerships." Yahoo! COO Jerry Borstein stated.

"Anyone can just invent something brand new that people love like Google Earth, Google+, and YouTube, but the real leaders of the future will be the ones who announce lukewarm partnerships and bland acquisitions. Yahoo! feels that actually creating something new and innovative is not something people would really be interested in. Internet users are interested in partnerships. Lots and lots of partnerships. Partnerships are cool, am I right guys?"

Borstein then slipped on a pair of brightly colored sunglasses as he attempted to exit the press room in mid-electric slide.

And yet it is – in fact, kale was the hottest thing online in early May 2013. Regular old good-for-you leafy green kale. It’s true: with the right tools and techniques even kale can go viral on Pinterest. The key is getting all the details right so that they add up to deliver meaningful impact.

• Size Matters – On Pinterest, as on the runway, taller is better.  So show off those beautiful green leaves in a taller box, and you’ll get more views, which leads to more re-pins. We’ve found that a taller pin can deliver re-pin ratios of up to six percent higher than the average.

• Dress to Impress – They say the clothes make the man (or woman), so to make an impact and attract more attention, dress up the image with unique graphics, logos or captions. The little things count, and with the right styling, even kale can be sexy.

• Know Your Audience – Most pins fall into one or more of ten top categories. Kale has been dubbed a “superfood” by the nutrition community, so we could place it in the Food and Health/Fitness categories outright, but it could also apply to the Fashion and Beauty categories based on its weight loss and skin-enhancing benefits, and even in the Kids category based on its nutritional benefits. Considering this, our ideal audience is probably a fashion and beauty-conscious foodie mom looking for healthy food ideas for her family.

• Timing is Everything – Pins are not passive; they are most effective when they go out at the time when your target audience is online to view them, not just when it is convenient. Intelligent scheduling factors in the day of the week, the time of day and how many pins are scheduled per day to determine when pins should be posted. To get your sexified kale pin in front of the foodie mom, its important to consider when she’ll be online between her job, her workout, feeding her kids, etc.

• Finally, Keep your Eyes on the Prize – If you’ve done everything else right, you should see a jump in your re-pins, site clicks and new followers within the first 24 hours. If you don’t, or if you’d like to see more improvement, just make tweaks as necessary.  Could your kale leaves be a brighter green? Could your logo be more stylish? Could you revise your tagline to focus on more health benefits?  Remember, on Pinterest, it’s the little things that add up to make a big difference.

Skillsets for success: what the CMO of today needs to know for tomorrow.

With greater change, and greater uncertainty of today’s marketing landscape, the opportunities for marketers with skills and the ambition to capitalise on them are potentially unrivalled. Ample supplies of customer data and insight, the power of sophisticated analytics technology to turn complex data into meaningful and actionable information, customers who will engage, albeit on their terms, if they see there’s something of value in it for them or their businesses, not to mention diversifying channels with increase convenience for the buyer (search and social media).

This is all fertile ground for the CMO who can identify and mobilise the resources necessary to take up the challenges and flourish. Here are some of the scenarios likely to impact on senior marketers’ roles moving forward.

1.    Taking wider responsibility for the overall success of the company

Having the foresight to predict customer needs and wants in the new marketplace gives the CMO the chance to have a wider influence on corporate strategy. Big data and an analytic approach will help to highlight what customers are looking for in terms of products and services to take their businesses forward. With an understanding of the business issues at hand, an ability to spot new opportunities and shape product offerings to meet these needs, the CMO will have a direct and quantifiable effect on the bottom line. They will no longer just have to take what the business gives them to sell, but offer insight as to what will sell and how customers buy it.

2.    Be aware of new technologies, and be able to adapt existing strategies to make best use of them

This involves having an eye both on what works in the marketplace, and what might work better given evolving technological developments.

The tech savvy CMO needs to see value adoption of technology, but also see value in experiential platforms to drive innovation and collaboration. With the growing use of marketing automation platforms and social media management software as growing examples, it is key to emphasise that efficiency, cost-effectiveness and impact is only achieved if they can deploy standardised systems and achieve user adoption across their enterprise.

Effective marketing communications relies on a mix of more conventional sales and marketing techniques, adapted to take into consideration the new opportunities to connect with prospects and drive them towards a sale. Shouting your way to a sale doesn’t wash – walking alongside prospects as they journey further along the buying cycle requires different skills, different content and different actions even if the outcome, for the successful operator, is the same, just achieved more efficiently and more cost-effectively.

3.    Have the pulling power to attract the best people

Recruitment has always been key to organisational success however in a more open recruitment market with wider access of information online, pulling and retaining power is even more vital. With the pool of hybrid, multi-skilled marketing professionals at a premium, leaders are often challenged to find the A players that really make a difference.

Personal branding will become more important with ambitions skilled professionals seeking both opportunity, and the ability to learn from industry leaders to enrich their own experience.

4.    Departmental integration to bring together marketing, sales, product and IT

In the new paradigm, cross-departmental thinking has become the only way. Operating in siloes leads only to needless repetition of tasks, mixed messages going out into the marketplace and waste of time and money.

Putting a consistent strategic direction and common marketing goals in place across the organisation helps to unify marketing efforts and maintain control of budgets and brand consistency.

Just as importantly, access to relevant data enables marketing to substantiate reasons for new products or services that meet specific and visible customer needs.

CMO’s need to make friends outside of marketing, and have the ability to get full alignment and buy-in on marketing activity. Whereas once support from peers was enough, now buy-in from traditional enemies is required.

5.    Combine creative vision with a pragmatic understanding of measuring, delivering and demonstrating returns on marketing spend

Alongside the ever-present need to apply lateral, creative thinking to overcome marketing challenges, the need today is to combine creativity with real-time insight and deep analytics. In the sea of content and with most products holding little real differentiation, the value of brand and creativity is once again high on a CMO’s priority list. In many instances, it is even seen as the only real long-term differentiator.

In the era of Content Marketing, the CMO’s is challenged is enabling and empowering content creation; across departments, regions and teams. Maintaining brand consistency and content quality is vital as buyers seek to find the information they want, when they want.

We are in a buyer’s market, and the CMO must make the buyers job in buying easier.

But this is not something that everyone currently enjoys. While most in urban areas have access to a good standard of broadband provision, the government acknowledged in 2009 that there are two areas which struggle: rural regions which are far from a telephone exchange, and suburban areas on the cusp between two neighbouring exchanges, that also lie far from the familiar green telecoms cabinets found on pavements.

The government pledged to address these issues in its Universal Service Commitment. This was initially proposed as bringing speeds of at least 2Mbps to ‘virtually’ all homes by 2012, but the target is now 2015. Culture Secretary Maria Miller recently affirmed that the government would meet its broadband targets – including a commitment to having the ‘best’ superfast network in Europe by 2015 – with a further 10 million homes and businesses achieving the 2Mbps level by the end of the current parliament.

Meanwhile, communications watchdog Ofcom recently declared that the UK broadband market had reached a new milestone in competitiveness, saying that nine million homes now receive their broadband through unbundled lines – meaning rival service providers can use the existing BT telephone network. Effectively increasing price competition, the level of unbundled lines has risen 70-fold since its just 123,000 in 2005, according to Ofcom.

So, there are many options out there now and plenty of opportunities to compare broadband packages looking for cheap internet deals. ISPs like TalkTalk now offer fast and cheap broadband as part of a standard package. But the question remains; exactly how fast does your broadband connection need to be?

Enough is enough?

The government said it reached its magic number of 2Mbps through broad consensus with internet providers, balancing the need for serviceable speeds with the cost of rolling it all out. This level, the government said, would be enough to stream TV (such as iPlayer), browse the web at high speed and download an album in five minutes. Importantly, it would be able to handle MP4 media and video conferencing via the TV – things that wouldn’t be possible with a 1Mbps connection. In short, it should be ‘enough’ to handle anything you would want to do online.

But while a 2Mbps connection is probably enough to do anything you need to do, it may not do it as quickly, or in as high quality as you would like in an ideal world – especially if you have more than one person in your household trying to get online at the same time. So let’s look at a few examples:

Downloading - If you want to download music, photos, or even video files, the truth is that any speed is likely to be sufficient. With a typical MP3 album weighing in at around 100MB, downloading may take five or ten minutes at 2Mbps – or just seconds if you have a really good superfast connection. But once it is downloaded, that’s it, so it’s purely an issue of momentary patience while you get the files onto your laptop or MP3 player.

Streaming – According to the popular online TV and film service Netflix, a download speed of just 0.5Mbps is ‘required’ to use the service, but 1.5Mbps is ‘recommended’. If you want a DVD quality picture, you need 3Mbps, while for HD it recommends 5Mbps. Super HD requires 7Mbps, while 3D needs 12Mbps. In other words, even a very meagre connection is enough to use the service – but if the quality of the picture is important to you, then you need the faster download speeds.

Gaming – If you are a keen gamer who wants to compete online in live environments, this is an area where you may need to weigh up the importance of a faster connection. While 2Mbps in theory could work, a speed of around 8Mbps is recommended. This is because the real-time live experience is crucial and if your connection slows you down against rivals – or causes you to lose connection to the game altogether – you will soon find it an unrewarding experience.

Max out your speed

Of course, there are some simple steps you can take to get the most out of your home broadband – wherever you live, and whatever the basic speed of your connection.

•                  Think about when you do your heavy lifting: Try to avoid downloading or streaming content at peak times – typically this means during the evening.

•                  Don’t stray too far: You may be able to get WiFi access from the darkest recesses of your garden, but staying closer to your broadband router will ensure the best possible connection.

•                  Block passengers: From a security point of view, you should always ensure that your connection is password-protected – but another benefit is that you will avoid any unwanted leaches from using your bandwidth.

•                  Cut out black apps: Applications running in the background can be a real drain on your connection. Close anything you are not using on your device – for example, video players – to keep everything as streamlined as possible.

Conducted for the second year in a row with Nielsen, the 2013 Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study covers what more than 2,000 U.S. smartphone and tablet users report they are doing via their mobile devices and captures their actual preferences and behaviors in specific categories. This year’s categories include Retail, Gas/Convenience, Insurance and Banking/Finance. As with last year’s results, it is evident that mobile preferences, behaviors and purchase timing vary by category. We’ll be releasing a deep dive for each category in the coming months.

As far as overall results, marketers should take the time to understand and develop ad campaigns that align with consumers’ mobile purchase habits, including preferred research tools, activities, timing and purchase influencers. This is a critical opportunity as only half of all mobile consumers reported knowing exactly what they were searching for, thus indicating that many mobile consumers can be influenced during their purchase cycle. This is underscored by findings showing half of all mobile users depend on their device at the start of the research process and 1 out of 3 report using their smartphone or tablet throughout their entire purchase cycle.

The findings show that mobile now rivals desktop as consumers’ primary media resource, with 45 percent tapping mobile devices first. Along with this increased mobile focus, local offers and promotions are the top reasons for making a purchase, and nearly 1 out of 3 smartphone users and 1 out of 4 tablet users use their devices to find business contact information such as phone number, address, maps or driving directions. Further, the majority of those surveyed expected business locations to be within walking or nearby driving distance. Marketers must take this local mindset into account when planning mobile ad programs, including featuring local information prominently within ads.

Ultimately, mobile users are showing high conversion rates, with 60 percent of smartphone users and 53 percent of tablet users making purchases related to their mobile activity. Interestingly, 53 percent of mobile users—including 74 percent of smartphone users—reported completing their transactions offline. This trend emphasizes the need for marketers to bridge the attribution gap between mobile marketing initiatives with offline sales.

To fully leverage mobile consumers’ significant purchasing power, marketers must incorporate their mobile preferences for local and promotion-related information into mobile ad strategies, as well as be mindful of reaching mobile consumers throughout their purchase cycle. They must also consider the large number of mobile users who convert offline and use this information not only to develop tailored mobile ad strategies but ensure there are effective performance and attribution models in place as well.

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

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

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

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

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

Want to be the go-to guy or gal on your team with the flashiest new apps? The one dressing Instagram photos with never-before-seen filters and stamps, using emoticons our Japanese counterparts only released yesterday?

It can be time-consuming to stay current in social and digital media, so here are some effective ways to quickly surface and assess the hottest toys.

1. Assign yourself playtime. My playtime is Sunday evening after “Mad Men.” I pull out my iPad and iPhone and I furiously start downloading new apps. I jump over to the Featured and Top Charts sections of iTunes to see if there are any new additions. I download them, bring them to the forefront, launch them, create a new account, follow the top accounts (if applicable), invite a few friends and make time to revisit them later in the week. If it’s a photo app, I try out some photos and push them out to Facebook to see how they look. If it’s a news app, I load it up with my interested topics and see how it populates.

Interaction with apps is important. You need to understand the functionality before you make a recommendation. And don’t just bury your new downloads in the graveyard, i.e., the last page of apps.

2. Subscribe to folks who do the research for you. Having been part of the tech PR community, I am (somewhat) responsible for having jammed reporters’ inboxes with pitches about startups. The good folks at TechCrunch, Mashable, The Next Web, ReadWrite and countless other online publications filter through all that noise to help uncover the next big thing. So listen to them, they’ve done their homework.

A few worth noting: I closely follow my buddy Ryan Lawler, who is responsible for introducing Uber and BlackJet to my vocabulary. And Mashable’s Emily Price posts a weekly app roundup of top mobile apps.

Determine what you like to follow on the medium that’s easiest for you to use, and stay on top of it.

3. Identify a network to discuss and share your latest finds. New York Tech Meetup holds monthly events where tech companies demo their products to a large group of tech enthusiasts. Digital LA holds events for “Silicon Beach” startups to showcase their products. These are two examples of larger organizations, but you can replicate the experience with a close group of friends or coworkers. Identify networks both online and offline where you can share exciting discoveries with others. Pass around your phone or pull up the site on your desktop. Don’t just chat about it – do it together.

Yuna Park is Associate Director of Social & Digital Innovation at 22squared. Follow her @yunapark, and follow the agency @22squared.

Location-based mobile advertising, and its typical application of geo-fencing, is one of today’s hottest mobile marketing’s topics. However, the true power of location is often misunderstood. When it comes to driving ROI through mobile advertising, location often doesn’t matter – at least not in the way you think it does. Instead of simply geo-fencing a static location, the more effective use of mobile location technology considers historical location data and the consumer behavior it reveals.

Smart marketers are implementing “location for lifestyle” targeting strategies as opposed to zeroing in on “location right now tactics.” Sending an ad to a consumer based on their current location often isn’t as powerful as sending mobile ads based on the user’s lifestyle and behavior that analysis of historical location data reveals. In fact, our research has shown that there is no correlation between distance-to-store and mobile ad clicks for retailer brands.

Also, consider that most consumers have their day planned out. They may be walking past a retail location and receive an ad, but they are unlikely to stop what they are doing and immediately head into the retailer to make a purchase – especially if the deal isn’t relevant to them.

Studies show that 80 percent of purchases are planned. Therefore, marketers should deliver ads to consumers about relevant topics beforehand to influence purchasing decisions. By analyzing historical location data, marketers can tell more about a consumer’s lifestyle choices and preferences – fast food junkies, shoe-shopping addict, loyal WalMart customer, etc. – and send them ads based on those preferences.

This reinforces the notion that simple geo-fencing is not an optimal targeting practice on its own. Instead, it is critical to target users based on what location tells us about their behavior. Especially for national brands that have many well-known locations in a metro area, consumers’ historical shopping patterns, demographics and lifestyle will have a greater impact on driving store visit rates (SVRs) and ultimately purchases, than the fact that they are one mile from a retail outlet.

Critics of location-based technology are quick to blame the data, claiming it to be unreliable or inaccurate. While the industry still largely struggles with the quality of location data, the lack of a relationship between a mobile user’s real-time distance to a store and CTRs cannot be explained by “bad location data.” Location data is of varying quality, but even the best location data doesn’t prove valuable in this situation.

Marketers should keep in mind that targeting power comes from understanding what location reveals about the user, not just the location point itself. It is who, not where, that more strongly impacts CTRs and SVRs. The power of mobile location data lies in extracting context and meaning from historical location patterns to interpret meaningful insights about users; not the fleeting, real-time moment that a consumer enters a geo-fence.

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

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

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

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

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