The fundamentals of digital engagement in 2014

The Fundamentalsof digital engagement-------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital professionals in 2014

Simon Nash-----------------------------------------Planning Director, Reading

Room

--------------------------------

Some of our consultancy clients

Successful engagement isn’t about tinkering with social media or starting a blog. It’s a major shift in thinking and requires co-

ordinated action.

The Fundamentals of Digital Engagement

------------------------------------------------------------------Five key challenges facing digital professionals in

2014

----------------------------------------------------

Audiences – Strategy – Content – Multi-channel – Change

Technology is advancing at a bewildering paceTechnology is

advancing at a bewildering pace

Digital technologies are changing the way we sell and market products and services.

And they’re transforming the relationships we have with our audiences.

And then there’s the Internet of

Things

The only constant is change itself. And the only organizations that

will prosper in this context are those that

adapt.

Challenge No.1 -----------------------------------------

Understanding your audience -----------------------------------------

Culture is increasingly embracing the opportunities afforded by new technologies with open arms.

People are now integrating the internet seamlessly into their daily lives using an increasing range of

devices to access the internet at home, at work and on the move.

New styles of interaction are driving the

development of new formats of bite sized

content

“There are 200 million people on the U.S. ‘Do Not Call’ list. Over 86% of TV viewers admit to skipping commercials. Forty-four

percent of direct marketing is never opened. Roughly 99.9% of online banners are never

clicked. Buyers wait until they have completed 60-80% of their research before

reaching out to vendors”

Michael Brenner, Senior Director of Global Marketing at SAP

Major companies like BT are taking these changes very seriously. Hiring analysts to understand how

they need to adapt their services channels for hyper connected customers.

Our audiences expect transactions and experiences to be increasingly seamless and

connected as they wander aimlessly between on and offline touch-points.

And the way they interact with us has

changed too; they share their

experiences with their networks in real time.

And the way they interact with us has

changed too; they share their

experiences with their networks in real time.

And the way they interact with us has

changed too; they share their

experiences with their networks in real time.

And the way they interact with us has

changed too; they share their

experiences with their networks in real time.

And the way they interact with us has

changed too; they share their

experiences with their networks in real time.

Traditional barriers between organizations and their audiences are giving way to new forms of

relationship. Transactions have gone beyond the confines of simple monetary exchange and

people are increasingly playing a participatory role in campaigns and product development and

engaging in dialogue about services .

New expectations are being set by innovative and progressive organizations who are

blessed with either the agility or the budget to set new benchmarks for the way we interact

with our audiences.

Meanwhile the rest of us are all playing catch-up – we have to take established processes,

entrenched technology, decades of experience and conservative organisational mindsets –

and steer our organisations toward bold new frontiers.

Challenge No.2 -----------------------------------------

Developing a coherent strategy

-----------------------------------------

Most organizations seem to be facing the same basic challenge. We’ve been on the back foot, developing

platforms & infrastructure and adopting new channels & technologies.

Whilst we’ve kept our audience in mind, the limitations enforced by organisational structure, marketing imperatives and operational processes

have conspired against us.

Generally, despite individual successes this path has led to web presences cluttered with good intentions,

inconsistent platforms, incoherent messaging and legacy campaign assets. Our audiences often have to

wade through ‘digital landfill’ to access what they need - it’s a wonder they bother.

There are a vast number of digital options available to us. So how do we make the right choices?

“A good strategy has coherence, coordinating

actions, policies, and resources so as to accomplish

an important end. Many organisations don’t have

this. Instead, they have multiple goals and

initiatives that symbolize progress, but no coherent

approach to accomplishing that progress other

than ‘spend more and try harder’ “

Richard Rumelt – Good Strategy/Bad Strategy

You must set tangible strategic outcomes as objectives. Attention

matters, but engagement itself is not

an outcome.

Target 55+ males

Using digital channels

Convert from blends

Upsell to higher SKUs

Encourage advocacy

Taste The Glenlivet

Awareness +58%

Consideration (amongst those who are aware but not buying TGL) +75%

Preference (vs. Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie) +113%

Brand I trust

Brand for me+24%+37%

Consumption / Sales

regular buyers of TGL52%

Challenge No.3 -----------------------------------------

Giving your content a life

of its own.-----------------------------------------

Content strategy used to mean thinking about what content you were going to put on the website, who

was going to produce and approve it etc.

Content now lives well beyond your website and there are some key considerations that can make all the difference in ensuring your content is conveying

your message effectively.

.

A whole science has emerged in relation to the development, creation and deployment of

content and its role in conveying your message implicitly & explicitly.

Concentrate on making your content interesting, entertaining, useful, helpful, & most of all, relevant.

As interesting as your product message might be, the fact is that your audience is very unlikely to be sat at their desk

waiting for you to issue your next product promotion. In order to grab

their attention you need to think like a publisher and offer them a compelling reason to engage with your content,

some sort of value exchange.

The fine art of editorial calendars

“If I like your content it’s not because I like your

brand it’s because I like my friends.”

Henry Jenkins

‘Spreadable Media ‘

Think about what your content means to the end user. If they share it – what’s in it for them?

Ongoing scheduled moderation and publishing according to strategy

2015 Campaign

2016Campaign

Time

Size of Social Following

2014 Campaign

Don’t lurch between campaigns. Communicate and engage consistently in an always on fashion and

grow your audience so that it can act as a platform for future engagement.

Embark on a journey from conversational

engagement toward a storytelling narrative

Inspiring visits to England with a thematic always on approach to content publishing and social

engagement.

Focusing on experiences and inspiring visits.

Slice and dice and focus on spreadable formats

Multiple formats increase the chances of engaging users who have a preference for a particular content type. And publishing on third party

syndication sites increases your visibility in search results.

The growth of the multi-channel web means that structured content is growing in importance

And don’t forget Google glasses, a car

dashboard, an internet fridge…..

More visually appealing, more findable, better for SEO, incorporation of reviews and other data plus

deep links into site sections and taxonomy.

More visually appealing, more informative and more likely to catch the eye in the newsfeed.

Structured Content

Much more real estate, more visually appealing, more shareable and more likely to generate a site

visit.

But if you are starting from scratch you can go deeper and prepare for the future. Foundations

First

Challenge No.4 --------------------------------------------

Becoming a smooth ‘multi-

channel’ operator

---------------------------------------------

Someone who can handle multiple situations in a fashion that can only be described as "Awesome, spectacular, and, above all else, awesometacular". Usually a smooth operator is someone who tends to be "on top of things", and is usually in control of any given situation. If he/she isn't in control of a situation, they usually find a way to gain control of it to make it more awesome for everyone involved.

Urban Dictionary Definition: Smooth Operator

Digital channels are expanding exponentially. 2009

Digital channels are expanding exponentially. 2013

Our audiences have adapted comfortably & they move seamlessly across channels & platforms both on and

offline. But most organisations are failing to rise up to the challenge.

We need to consider experiences from our audience’s point of view.

Keep things neat and tidy!

Rethinking search for the multi-channel web.

Findability not SEO

The Internet of Things has arrived and multi-channel experiences just gained a whole new dimension.

CRM has been a buzzword for many years yet many organisations still struggle with

unsatisfactory customer data and few have properly integrated their various touch-

points. This is problematic because it introduces dissonance as your audiences

move between them. But the real problem is that you cannot then identify people and use

that information to add value to the experience.

Unlock the potential of the multi-channel web

Challenge No.5 -----------------------------------------

Moving from digital owner

to digital leader.

-----------------------------------------

Stuff Marketing control

Stuff we need to change

Stuff IT Manage

You simply cannot conceive or implement a successful digital strategy without collaborating

with teams across the organisation.

Marketing

Operations Human Resources

Product

IT Dept

Organic Growth(Silos,

Fragmentation)

Customer focused approach

multi-channelcustomer

engagement

Marketing

Technology

Culture

Operations

Customer focused approach

Organic Growth(Silos,

Fragmentation)

Customer focused approach

multi-channelcustomer

engagement

Marketing

Technology

Culture

Operations

Customer focused approach

You need to develop a pan-organisational framework for engagement. Develop a distributed structure with guiding policies and enable teams to own

implementation.

London Business School have placed engagement at the centre of their digital strategy and have invested across all of their digital channels to

support this. We helped them develop an engagement strategy and a framework to support

that.

So to summarise

Five challenges facing digital professionals in 2014

• Understanding your audience

• Developing a coherent strategy

• Giving your message a life of its own

• Becoming a smooth ‘multi-channel’ operator

• Moving from digital owner to digital leader

More on this subject…

Email: Yes please to freebook@readingroom.com

slideshare.net/readingroomstudio

More on this subject…

A practical guide to content marketing featuring insights gleaned from Reading Room projects and case studies provided by industry peers from a range of backgrounds.

Recently presented at Internet World, this presentation by Simon Nash outlines the importance of connecting engagement activity with real world outcomes.

Thanks------------------------------@ReadingRoomUK@SimonNash