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09.21.17 ecommerce

How to kill your marketing and profit from its demise

Times Square at dusk
Image: Getty Images

The authors of “Killing Marketing” say if you don’t evolve, you’ll die

“Marketing and innovation produce results,” wrote Peter Drucker, “all the rest are costs.” 

Sadly, in a world where over half of all digital advertising—an industry expected to hit $75.6 billion by the close of 2017—won’t be seen by an actual human… that assessment no longer stands. At least not when it comes to marketing.

The symptoms are everywhere.

Ad blockers, fake traffic, and bots (oh my). Toss in plummeting consumer trust and the skyrocketing cost of getting your message seen and, apologies to Mr. Drucker, but marketing is most certainly a cost.

The question is: What’s a business to do?

The thesis of Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose’s new book—Killing Marketing: How Innovative Businesses Are Turning Marketing Cost into Profit—offers a shocking answer:

“For the last 60 years, we’ve been operating marketing the same way, despite all of the disruptive changes that have gone on around us with digital, mobile, and everything the internet has brought.”

“What if everything we know to be true about marketing is actually what’s holding us back from being successful? And what if killing it was the best way forward?”

To find out why you should kill your marketing, I sat down with Joe and Robert. Turns out, getting away with murder comes down to three steps.

1. Audience is the asset

At first, killing marketing can sound revolutionary. And in many ways, it is. However, at its core stands one of business’ eternal truths: It’s not about you; it’s about them … your audience.

“Today,” says Joe, “there are no barriers of entry to building an audience nor for reaching whoever we need to. Because of that, it’s time to start looking at marketing in a different way: the possibility that marketing itself can be a profit center.”

Unfortunately, rather than take advantage of the new digital landscape as a direct access point, most brands still rely on the “gatekeepers of traditional media.” The result, in Robert’s words, is “interruption advertising on rented land.”

As Joe puts it, “Most marketing and communication experts are still running marketing as a disruptive force to generate sales for the current products and services they offer. This means revenue is dependant on one or two streams and ROI is wholly a matter of money spent versus money earned.”

Ironically, that assessment applies just as much to television commercials and print advertising as it does to pre-roll ads on YouTube and retargeting campaigns on Facebook. Regardless of the form, product-centric marketing stops the flow of an audience’s true pursuit and pays other companies for the privilege of that bothersome access.

Killing the old model starts with displacing products and services as the center of your marketing and replacing them with your audience.

“Amazon,” says Joe, “is a really good example. They sell a lot of different things, they’re getting into almost every industry on the planet, and they’re doing it by building a loyal audience first. Once you understand their needs, there’s no limit to product sales, service sales, running our own events, or launching our own media properties. You name it, we can do it.”

However, developing your audience means investing the right way in one of today’s most misunderstood buzzwords …

2. Content is the product

Content is a squishy term. Thanks to the online proliferation of all things written, visual, auditory, and interactive, it’s not exactly popular. But within that tension, as Killing Marketing reveals, lies a paradox: “As the production and distribution of content has become more commoditized … the value of original, high-quality content continues to increase.”

What separates good content from bad?

Treating content as the product meets your customers where they are. It begins with their needs, wants, problems, and desires. Rather than divert attention, good content capitalizes on it. A small but impressive minority are embracing this new model. 

Netflix started as a DVD rental service and now has 104 million monthly subscribers. Soon, more than 50% of Netflix’s content will be original productions. Not to be outdone, Amazon plans to spend roughly $2.6 billion on original content in 2017 alone. 

Or consider Starbucks who, through a partnership with former Washington Post editor Rajiv Chandrasekaran, invested in a series of TV and film documentaries centered on social issues. The classic example is Red Bull who evolved from an energy drink into a lifestyle magazine into documentaries, a TV series, live events, merchandising, and a music studio.

Of course, that’s all well and good for entertainment and product companies, but what about B2B services and ecommerce?

While not mentioned in the book, iQ by Intel is a shining example of just such a content-driven B2B initiative. Led by Managing Editor Deb Landau—a former investigative journalist—“the key,” says Deb, “is knowing the difference between a thing and a story.”

“Companies want to sell things. But things aren’t that interesting unless they mean something to people. You have to make a connection between what’s meaningful to your company and what’s meaningful to your audience. Things become interesting to people by telling stories about people.”

Good content creates an audience, and an audience leads to customers. But this symbiosis also offers something else important for long-term growth: data.

“Johnson & Johnson’s BabyCenter.com,” notes Robert, “reaches 23 million visitors a month and even though you’ll find sponsored ads from other companies, you won’t find a Johnson & Johnson product.” Instead, J&J uses the site to cultivate their audience and collect data, data that tells them everything from when new mothers start planning their baby’s birthday to what new products they want to which marketing messages resonate best.

At every step, content is the vehicle. The goal, however, is anything but content for content’s sake …

3. Profit is the goal

Good content provides value that both precedes and is distinct from traditional products. Unlike marketing, that content doesn’t interrupt your audience with a pitch, it serves them with an experience (one they already want). 

All this takes time, investment, and energy. But does that mean content costs? Maybe not.

“Marketing forces you to rent an audience’s attention on someone else’s land,” Intel iQ’s Head of Publishing, Luke Kintigh, told me. “Tactically, content may start with paid distribution and retargeting, but it retains an audience through subscriptions, so you can harvest them on land you own.”

That harvest is precisely where Killing Marketing offers its best insights. Joe and Robert plot ten separate revenue streams available to brands not only as a result of content, but through content itself.

Image: Image via Killing Marketing

Interestingly, even organizations committed to content often overlook the immense value in two of those streams. First, premium content: creating and selling guides, ebooks, traditional books, webinars, and training. Second, advertising: opening up your outlets to other company’s marketing efforts (e.g., Johnson & Johnson as well as branded-content powerhouses like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Thrillist).

In fact, profit cuts both ways. 

While many of the businesses noted above are product companies who became publishers, publishers are also proving how lucrative products can be. Buzzfeed sells the Tasty One Top, The Chive’s ecommerce stores account for one-third of its revenue, and Mashable—at the risk of getting meta—sells online courses in everything from cryptocurrency to programming to (gasp) online marketing.

Plotting your marketing’s demise

Killing marketing is a big idea. One that can get you in a lot of trouble in organizations where campaigns and immediate ROI still reign. So, where should you start?

“The first step is to take the first step into an owned media experience,” says Robert. “What can you do to make a change, start to build direct access to your audience, and provide for multiple lines of value? It’s not about throwing everything out. It’s about investing now in a process that will pay dividends years from now.”

In other words, the worst thing you can do is try to dismantle marketing overnight. Far from being a wrecking ball, treating (1) your audience like the asset, (2) content like the product, and (3) profit as the goal can begin humbly. Regularity and consistency, no matter what medium you select, matter a great deal more than cinematic flash and excitement.

Just remember Robert’s final words: “There’s an evolution taking place and if you’re not in process of evolving, you’re in the process of dying.”

Aaron Orendorff is the founder of iconiContent and a regular contributor at Entrepreneur, Lifehacker, Fast Company, Business Insider and more. Connect with him about content marketing (and bunnies) on Facebook or Twitter.

WATCH: This camera could keep you safe at your next protest

Read more: http://mashable.com/2017/09/21/kill-your-marketing-and-profit-from-its-demise/

09.13.17 Telecom

Verizon is just going to straight up give you concert tickets for your personal data

Image: Getty Images

It’s an open secret that there are a ton of companies jockeying behind the scenes to collect as much of your personal data as possible so it can then sell ads that target you. 

But most of those companies aren’t quite as honest about it as Verizon. 

The telecom giant has a new plan to get your data, and it’s admirably straightforward — Let Verizon track you on the web, in apps, and even where you are in the real world, and Verizon will give you everything from concert tickets to phone upgrades in return.

SEE ALSO: Taylor Swift’s Ticketmaster scam is why she’s capitalism’s favorite pop star

The program is called Verizon Up, and it will replace its old program, Smart Rewards. 

It’s about as explicit a deal for your personal data as you can find. While most companies implicitly gather your info — use our services for free and in the background we’ll be watching what you do and then selling ads off of it — Verizon’s new program might be the most transparent ploy for data yet.

People have to be Verizon customers to participate. Members received one credit for every $300 spent, which can be redeemed for various offerings. Verizon’s website currently lists Lady Gaga tickets, Star Wars movie tickets, and smartphones. Verizon Up also teases other offerings like Uber and Amazon rewards.

The catch is that just being a Verizon customer isn’t enough. Verizon customers must also be signed up for Verizon Selects, which enables the company to track customers and then sell ads based on that data.

This data is very valuable to Verizon, particularly as it works toward its goal of becoming an alternative for advertisers looking beyond the online dominance of Google and Facebook. Verizon is hoping this user data, combined with its growing digital properties like its new media unit Oath (which includes both AOL and Yahoo), will make for a potent offering.

With Up, Verizon now gives customers an easy way to opt into Select.

On the bright side, Verizon is at least giving its customers something in return for their data. On the down side, it’s just another logical step toward a world where people feel they might as well get what they can for their personal information since it’s out there already. 

At least we can get some Gaga tickets out of the deal.

WATCH: Great, now you can get dumped via Spotify playlist

Read more: http://mashable.com/2017/09/05/verizon-up-concert-tickets-personal-data/

09.11.17 ecommerce

The UK’s MarTech and AdTech industries are on the rise

Image: pixabay

Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, machine learning, interactive video, and mobile multimedia are just a few of the decidedly buzzword-y innovations tantalizing marketers with a promise to capitalise on a growing abundance of consumer data.

Underlying these advancements are two less sexy-sounding but crucial catalysts: The marketing and advertising technology industries (sometimes collectively referred to as “MadTech”). From CRM to programmatic to novel ways of tracking customer behaviour both on and offline, savvy marketers are developing increasingly creative ways to put data-driven insights to work.

The UK is quickly becoming a leader in the MadTech space. Below is a brief overview of the current state of marketing and advertising technology in this region of the world, as well as a few examples of companies doing remarkable things in the space.

The state of MadTech within the UK

MadTech is gaining considerable ground both in terms of innovative product offerings and overall influence.

Recent studies, such as Salesforce’s 2017 State of Marketing report, make the motivation for this trend clear: According to the report, 52% of customers and 65% of businesses are likely to abandon brands if a company or vendor fails to provide “customised communications.” In other words, both B2B and B2C organisations must fine-tune their focus on optimising client experiences in order to stay competitive and boost ROI.

The lines of distinction between AdTech and MarTech, which have long been considered related but independent fields, are becoming blurrier by the day. Whereas AdTech has traditionally referred to media-driven initiatives such as programmatic and omnichannel advertising, MarTech has served as more of an umbrella term for SaaS-driven marketing platforms. (MarTech is a particularly convoluted industry as of late; a recent infographic detailing the 2017 landscape reported there are currently a whopping 5,381 solutions available from 4,891 distinct companies, a 40% increase from 2016.) 

But more than one source in recent memory has noted that these industries are on a clear-cut “convergence course.” In an oversaturated marketing landscape, companies want to further streamline strategy: Brands are seeking tools not only to make the most of powerful “walled gardens” (i.e. Google and Facebook)’s access to eyeballs, but also to consolidate their marketing stack and inch ever closer to the coveted single customer view.

With venture capitalists increasingly turning their attention to UK-based startups in the industry, the UK is particularly well positioned to leap to the forefront of MadTech innovation. It is, undoubtedly, a ripe market: Earlier this year, the Internet Advertising Bureau UK reported that almost 75% of UK digital display advertising is now purchased programmatically. The same report detailed that digital advertising grew at its fastest rate in nine years in the first quarter of 2017, surpassing the £10 billion threshold; spend on mobile video ads doubled, marking the medium as the fastest growing ad format.

Advertising has come a long way.

Image: pixabay

Content marketing, a close relative to both MarTech and AdTech, is another arena that UK companies plan to prioritise in the coming months. According to the Content Marketing Institute, 61% of UK marketers say their organisations are “extremely” or “very” committed to content marketing, and 60% cite higher success levels in 2017 than with CM tactics a year ago. Of the tools they currently use to measure success and carry out campaigns, 80% use analytics platforms and 55% employ some sort of content management system. The average content marketer uses a combination of eight different tactics as part of their overarching strategy.

Additionally, video-centric media platforms like Snapchat are also gaining ground in the UK: Among the coveted teenage demographic, usage and engagement rates have topped that of the US for the same demographic in 2015.

Top-notch universities have recently homed in on the potential for MadTech to provide employment opportunities for UK-based graduates. With digital technology employment predicted to increase by 6% by 2020, world-renowned universities like the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), Oxford and University College London are particularly suitable for students seeking a career in marketing and computer science.

MadTech innovation on the rise

There are also a growing number of startups and established companies alike in the UK’s tech scene finding success in novel MadTech campaign tactics.

Marks & Spencer, for example, has employed HTML5 video overlays via Smartzer, a startup that lets brands turn their videos into interactive and clickable (i.e. “shoppable”) experiences. 

Unruly, a social video advertising startup that was acquired by News Corp in 2015, employs a predictive algorithm to “create better ad experiences for consumers, improve brand outcomes for advertisers, and increase revenues for top-flight publishers.” The company has had a hand in some of the most iconic viral marketing videos to date, including the iconic “Dove beauty sketches” videos. Unruly, which originated out of London’s Shoreditch neighbourhood, has become a global contender, with 20 offices worldwide and 91% of Ad Age’s Top 100 Brands in its list of estimable clients. Adludio is yet another organisation using cutting-edge technology to take MadTech to unprecedented heights: The company provides “programmatic sensory advertising” and interactive ad units that help brands master mobile strategy.

On the ecommerce side of things, Qubit, a London data analytics startup that was founded in 2010 by ex-Google employees, helps retail organisations like Topshop provide personalised experiences for online customers. The company’s suite of products collects and processes large data sets via machine learning, statistical analysis, and high-performance computing.

With a spirit of audacious innovation, the UK is well on its way to becoming a force to be reckoned with in the MadTech industry — and the world is, quite literally, watching.

Read more: http://mashable.com/2017/09/11/uk-madtech/

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