2010 is quickly becoming the year of mobility. With the introduction of the Google Droid late-last year and the continued strength of iPhone and Blackberry devices we are as connected as ever. In the past (recent past) we would have to set up our laptops at the local Wi-Fi hotspot in order to check e-mail, get directions or just surf the web. If you haven’t noticed during your last trip into Starbucks, this phenomenon has shifted. There are still people working on laptops, but for a quick check of information savvy people are using mobile devices.

Last November, my wife and I bought our first home and we are doing a lot of furniture shopping – I mean, a lot. I noticed as we were going in and out of stores that we were reliant on our mobile devices to tell us if a store was worth looking into. It would be extremely inconvenient to stop off at the cafe and open our laptops, even though I require heavy doses of caffeine to get me through day-long furniture shopping expeditions. The store would benefit from our patronage if they were mobile ready (i.e. Crate & Barrel and Target) and those that weren’t wouldn’t get as much attention.

eMarketer had a conversation with with JCPenney‘s Development Director for Emerging Digital Media, Dave Owen, about their approach to digital marketing and their mobile coupon testing. JCPenney launched a 16-store test in the Houston market last September, where people could access JCP coupons on their mobile devices and would redeem them by the sales associate scanning the bar code from the phone with a special, optical scanner. JCP used Cellfire for their mobile coupon initiative because they didn’t want to be limited to just smartphone users.

“The phone is becoming more of a life tool for our customer rather than simply a way to send text messages and make calls.”

- Dave Owen, Development Director for Emerging Digital Media at JCPenney

One kink I find in JCPenney’s plan is that their site, just like a lot of companies, isn’t optimized for mobile use. Having just one piece of the mobile puzzle isn’t the answer and as mobile coupons become the norm people will work with companies that offer easy navigation. Sure they will still get their foot traffic and people that search jcp.com from the comfort of their own homes, but the mobile generation is on the go and that means mobile.

Over this recent holiday season retailers saw record sales online. So far the trend has showed that people are going from in-store to online shopping. The next logical step is the online to mobile shopping. My advice for retailers in 2010, set your site to be mobile friendly because just like the mobile devices the consumers are getting savvier.

In a study released by the Participatory Marketing Network and Pace University’s Lubin School of Business’ IDM Lab they found that Generation-Y likes social networks, but still prefers e-mail and text-messaging to communicate.

The study evaluated time spent and the communication preferences of Gen-Y consumers using e-mail, social networks,  texting, visiting (non-social-net) websites, talking on the phone, reading a magazine and watching television. Most notably, 26% of people surveyed said they wouldn’t give up e-mail or text-messaging if they could only use one of the above tools for one week. And only 9% said they wouldn’t be able to give up social networks for a week.

Chart About Generation Y's Preferences

I don’t think it is any surprise that Gen-Yer’s need their e-mail and texts (an average of 740+ sent each month), but what is interesting is when you go further in the study. The research found that the average Gen-Yer spends 33 hours a month on social networks compared to 31 hours on their e-mail. I think this highlights that social networks aren’t competing so much against communication tools as they are competing with media consumption, which means that brands need the content to compete.

Why should marketers care? Why not just plug your online budget into e-mail campaigns and mobile promos?

The study actually evaluated the interest Gen-Y has with mobile marketing promos and the interest is rather low. 59% of people studied had no interest in receiving mobile promotions.

Generation Y Interest in Mobile Promotions

Marketers get so caught up in the buzzwords of the day: Twitter, E-mail, Facebook, Corporate Blog, etc. And they think we need to be on there; we need to be doing this; but what marketers really need to do is evaluate their consumer. Go where they are and use what they are using.

If your product or service is geared to Generation-Y, then I would propose a broad mix for your online strategy. Each product and service strategy will be different because of what they offer, so I am not going to propose a specific mixture. But, mark my words, marketers that find a balance in online presence and a concrete content strategy will reap the rewards of this generation.

Last week, I posted a response in favor of the Federal Trade Commission’s new endorsement and testimonial in advertising rules.  I understand if you take what I say with a grain of salt (I really hope that isn’t the case). Of course I agree with the new changes because my company (Raidious) wants to help your company with its digital content and we have been preaching the “full disclosure” method since day one.

That is why we asked our friend Michael Wilkins at Broyles, Knight and Ricafort P.C. what he thought of the new changes. This is what he had to say:

“We have not yet had a chance to review all 81 pages of the new guidelines. But, from the news accounts and an initial review of the guidelines, this appears to be a positive development for both consumers and brands. The guidelines are intended to bring more transparency to the world of Internet endorsements, advertising and other marketing. Ideally, consumers will have increased confidence in these types of marketing efforts. Increased consumer confidence means more effective marketing. There is a natural tendency toward suspicion of increased regulation, especially regulation of new media, but these guidelines appear to be a reasonable effort to bring some some control to what is becoming a growing problem that threatens the credibility of the entire industry. Reputable brands and marketers should find these guidelines especially helpful.”

In my book transparency is what all marketers should strive for. If you feel the need to be underhanded or deceitful about the product you are peddling you should find a new product. Marketers have a right to properly portray products for its customers and its company. And now, because of the FTC, that includes bloggers that endorse and review products.

My previous post: Brand Bloggers Get a New Set of Rules

On Monday the Federal Trade Commission changed the rules for advertisers and bloggers and how they communicate to the public.  Starting December 1st bloggers that review products must divulge their relationship with the advertiser.

Why change the rules for these seemingly innocent bloggers?

Well for starters the current endorsement and testimonial in advertising rule hasn’t been visited since 1980, four years before wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg (founder of Facebook) was born. And with the continual change of the online social construct (Twitter, Facebook, etc), marketers are seeing the value of the brand journalism that review bloggers do.

For instance, if you follow a home restoration blog regularly, and have for some time, you have a certain amount of trust in what that blogger is writing about. You visit there site for all sorts of reasons: for simple maintenance tips, for help on design options and to see what cute thing their kid did today. This person is real to you and help guide your decisions in everyday life. Therefore you have a right to know if Lowe’s or Home Depot is covering the cost of this bloggers materials or writing them a $5,000 check every month. That is what the FTC wants to clear up.

There are probably bloggers out there clamoring at the thought that they will no longer receive “FREE” items from advertisers. First off, if this is why you blog I can’t help you. Secondly, you as a person have a choice to talk about any product you want, good or bad. That advertiser wants you to write a glowing review, but your opinion is worth more than a pair of adequate sneakers.

“the rules are looking ahead to a quite possible future when there is a market to buy ‘authentic’ public endorsements.” Jonathan Zittrain, professor Harvard Law School and co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society

Raidious Digital Content Services isn’t in the game of “ghost blogging” or misrepresenting brands. We believe in leveraging owned media to engage the relationship between the user and the brand. Posing as an “earned media” source is underhanded and we are happy the FTC is stepping up to stop this practice.

More Reading:

• NYTimes article “Soon, Bloggers Must Give Full Disclosure”
• Time’s “25 Best Blogs 2009″

We’ve spent the last few years paying close attention to digital marketing – reading scads of research and opinion on marketing operations, client needs, trends in ad budget allocations, technology, consumer behavior, SEO, emerging media, and lots of other related subjects.

We’ve also been a part of a lot of digital copywriting initiatives over the last decade and a half or so. We’ve experimented, we’ve analyzed, and we’ve generally thought digital marketing to death. Here’s a few things we’ve learned that we’re fairly certain about. We reserve the right to change our opinion on some of this, but we think these statements qualify as absolute truisms, based on what we’ve learned.

1. Technology is a great enabler – but only humans can actually create.

Time after time, we’ve seen marketers invest tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars building platforms – websites, microsites, content management systems, custom web applications . . . but there is no technology available for content creation for those platforms.

It takes skilled humans to actually make the content that drives digital marketing. There’s no way around it, there’s no technology that can replace it, and even automation requires skilled human oversight.

2. Content drives every interaction on the web.

As much time and money as we spend on technology, design and usability, it’s only there to serve content. Whether it’s an eCommerce transaction, a succesful search, a download of a whitepaper, or signing up for an email newsletter – people are online to find content. Period. Every browsing session is a quest for some kind of content.

They don’t care about your website – they care what’s on it. They don’t care about your Facebook page – they care what’s on it. It’s not the Twitter platform that’s making it succesful-it’s the Tweets.

3. Content drives Search results.

Google’s search algorithm is trying to help you find the most relevant content. All other things being equal, Google and other search engines will rank the newest, most relevant content higher. Google is indexing for content, and also for reputation . . .  i.e. inbound links from others who found your content.

The only way to create fresh, compelling content to drive SEO, is with skilled humans. Those super-valuable inbound links that tell Google what others think of you, rather than what you think of yourself? Another problem that can only be solved with more skilled humans.

4. Consumer behavior is not “changing” – it has already changed.

We are not in the middle of a seismic shift in media habits – this has already happened. People are spending more time online and on their mobile devices than with traditional media – now. Not tomorrow, not next week, right now.

If you want to reach consumers where they are, on their terms, inside their social circles and their inboxes, it’s no longer a simple matter of creative messaging and media weight.

5. Functional capability is not the same as experience, skill, and expertise.

Just because you think you can, doesn’t mean you necessarily should. Yes, you can set up your company’s Facebook account and post things on it. Yes, you can create a blog in under three minutes with a variety of free tools. You can go buy an email marketing tool, or a CMS for your website, or even build your own social network with a few clicks.

Then you can have your receptionist, or an intern, or some other junior level person “write stuff”. You’re functionally capable of doing this – and your staff is functionally capable of creating content. That doesn’t mean you’re good at it, or that it’s going to have much of an impact on your business goals.

It doesn’t mean you have time for it, or that you’ve actually planned for it, or that you can make it a priority and keep your content relevant, fresh, and on strategy.

6. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth measuring – but it takes a human to have an insight.

Marketing is an ongoing science experiment. Our goal as marketers is to provide the best possible return on investment for our respective companies. That’s our job. Ongoing analysis is critical to the success of any campaign, and digital media lets you see it all on the fly, hour by hour if you like. It’s all just charts and graphs without an intelligent, skilled human to interpret the data and make insightful recommendations.

7. Agencies are not built to plan or produce digital content.

Ad agencies are great at what they do. Ad agencies make advertising. They are structured to make advertising, they are trained to make advertising, and the good ones can still move the needle with well-planned, insightful advertising. Ad agencies are built to make ads – they’re just not designed to produce digital content.

Ad agencies are staffed with media buyers, creative directors, art directors and account managers. They make their money on comissions, markups, and outsourcing. Their fee structure is built around making things like billboards, TV ads, and print pieces, and placing media – and they’re awesome at it! But they’re just not set up to manage digital content on an ongoing basis.

8. PR firms are not designed to plan or produce digital content.

PR firms are a little closer to being able to create digital content. They have some writers on staff, but they write press releases, not web copy (which is a specific art unto itself). If they’re well connected, and a little bit lucky, they can get you a lot of valuable, credible exposure. We use a PR firm ourselves.

PR firms are fantastic at generating press . . . but how does a PR firm deal with YouTube or Vimeo? What are they doing to maximize your exposure on Google? How do they plan a dynamic 1:1 content campaign? How do they manage your analytics?

The short answer is, they usually don’t. They’re not supposed to. They’re supposed to generate press. They’re not designed to build digital content, they’re designed to get television and newspaper reporters to write or say something – hopefully positive – about your brand. But they are not staffed or operationally designed to build digital content.

9. Digital shops and web developers are not structured to plan or produce content.

Programmers. Developers. Designers. Information Architects. Animators. This is how a web shop or a digital agency is staffed. Web shops are designed to make websites and web applications – and they’re generally pretty good at it, because that’s what they’re designed to do.

Digital agencies fall somewhere between an ad agency and a web shop, and they’re staffed with some combination of agency-esque roles like Account Managers and Strategists, working in concert with Developers, Digital Designers, and Programmers. They’re really good at creating slick, higher-end content like Flash animations, but they’re marketing and tech people, not content people.

These companies are set up to take advantage of technology, platforms and paid media . . .  but they’re not set up to regularly create content for your brand on an ongoing basis.

We make the content that makes digital marketing work.

Call us. 317-203-9807  Email us. info@raidious.com

Connect with us.  

After spending several years focused on consistently creating digital programs for marketing efforts in media, on the client side, at a web design firm, and at an ad agency – all with some success, and a lot of lessons learned – it became clear that a totally new approach was required to serve the needs of marketers in the digital space.

Marketers have been investing heavily for years in digital media, like websites, microsites, Facebook pages, Twitter programs, email marketing platforms, mobile device programs, and other online initiatives. In the past, all the focus has been on implementing the technology, with no real plan or  operational methodology to support these platforms on an on-going basis.

Content, and the skilled human involvement needed to produce it, is the biggest obstacle to success in digital marketing. Whether it’s email, blogging, social media, mobile device marketing, or web video, none of it works without content, and ongoing management, monitoring, moderation, and optimization. Yet, there were no companies offering the kinds of services marketers need to activate their online efforts in an easy or effective way. And so, we set about building a content company.

A Totally Different Approach

Raidious was created to do one thing – create digital content for marketers. We take a fully integrated planning approach to developing content for email marketing, blogging, social media management, monitoring, and moderation, mobile device marketing, and web video – and we structured and staffed our company to execute the plan in an easy, affordable and agile way.

To build a company that could actually serve the content needs of modern marketing, we had to completely rethink how marketing services is approached – particularly in regards to staffing, and the way digital marketing has been attacked in the past operationally.

Staffing

We have no programmers, developers, or QA people on staff. We’re not solving a technology problem.

We have no creative directors, art directors, or media buyers on staff. We’re not solving an advertising problem.

We’ve staffed our company with experienced journalists – writers, editors, producers, reporters and digital marketing strategists.

Operations

Operationally, we’re structured much like a broadcast news operation, and we attack the content problem the same way a news team attacks a story.

The difference is, instead of our stories being about Sports, City and State, National News, or Health . . . our stories are about your brand, and designed to impact your marketing goals.

Purpose-Built

We are structured by design to proactively create content based on your marketing objectives. Agencies, web design firms, digital agencies and PR firms aren’t really staffed or structured for this. That’s not a bad thing, they’re just designed to serve different needs.

They’re set up to solve a different set of problems, like how to make an ad or how to build a website or how to get you press.

We’re staffed and structured to create and manage the content that drives your digital initiatives, delivers on your marketing goals, and consistently shows measurable ROI. We plan, manage, monitor, and moderate your brand’s presence online, and we create the content that drives it all.

We make the content that makes digital marketing work.

Call us. 317-203-9807  Email us. info@raidious.com

Connect with us.