Is it because more people understand affiliate marketing—and have experienced the spammy nature of its content? Or is it that most people just don’t understand how Facebook makes money from them?

The interesting or perhaps biggest risk I see Pinterest facing is in the relationships it will now have (or perhaps, not have) with brands. The launch of Google + brand Pages saw its biggest growth spurt in users since it launched—as brands scrambled to create their own space—but what will brands now think about the affiliate relationship with Pinterest content?

Whether brands are using Pinterest in any kind of “subversive” manner (e.g., creating profiles called their company name for example and collating customer/product-related pins), even now they must be thinking twice that, potentially, content they are creating for their own customers is funding another business, or worse still, is actually costing them money through the affiliate links Pinterest is adding.

Tough times are ahead on the face of it, but this could have a simple solution: search-indexed premium brand pages with customization capabilities would more than offset the sparse revenues that affiliate marketing would generate.

What are your thoughts?

And marketing professionals are left trying to filter the wheat from the chaff.

The challenge marketing and brand managers face today, however, is not the basic how-tos of social media. They need less of the top five and top sevens and top 10s, and more content that marries the tactical to-dos and the strategic approach that ties social media marketing into other channels and systems to drive business.

Whether it’s the blogs you read, the webinars you sign up for, or the conferences and events you attend, there’s got to be a level of push back if these channels aren’t answering your questions. It’s not just a matter of filtering out the B.S. from the meaty substance anymore. Marketing decision-makers need to hold their trusted resources to higher standards, too. It’ll make all of our efforts more effective.

So, if I were marketing your business, here are several questions I would ask when reading blogs, sifting through white papers, or listening to experts and practitioners talk about social media marketing:

Instead of giving me broad advice, can you please cite real examples of companies doing that very thing and seeing success?

Too many of us spout off ideas or hypotheticals when it comes to executing on social media marketing. And not enough of us do the work to say, “Here’s how you can do this and here’s an actual example that shows it could work.” We’re far enough along in the social world now that in many cases there are case studies to show proof. Let’s see them.

How are these companies budgeting for and around social media? What about staffing?

One company’s success story does little for my brand and my business if I don’t have a full understanding of how much it cost, how many people they had to throw at it, and how they worked around typical inter-office resistance to social media marketing efforts. Give me deeper context, so I can have a more clear understanding of the situation.

The case study is interesting, but where are the business metrics? What needle did this move for the company?

Like knowing the context of the case studies, if I don’t see business metrics, you’re just illustrating another example of how wonderful the make-believe world of social media is. I don’t want fluff. I want hard numbers that can help me prepare my own strategies.

How did you come about the metrics? What analytics or measurement services or mechanisms provided your data?

It’s frustrating to have someone say, “This lowered our call center costs by $64,000,” as a flippant aside to a customer service story. Back up and tell me how you were able to determine that number so I can better understand how to find it in my business. Surely you don’t think one issue solved on Twitter means that person would have absolutely called the call center? Show me the math.

Speaking of data, where did it come from? What is your sample size? And what’s the +/- of that statistical analysis.

Social technology companies anonymizing their own user data is interesting, but perhaps not altogether useful for my specific business. And if your sample size isn’t big enough, the data isn’t relevant. Further, if you’re really offering up research, there should be margins of error and context added to the information, so I don’t buy a bill of goods that turns out to be less relevant than I need.

Did you analyze just numbers or did you also look at the content or qualitative data that goes along with your statistics?

Everyone wants to tell me what the data says, but social media marketing is a world predicated on content. Why isn’t anyone analyzing the content to know what fosters better engagement? Feed me stats all you want, but I need some analysis, too.

These and many other questions will hold bloggers, speakers, consultants, and the like much more accountable for their advice and information. Better advice and information will make your jobs as marketers easier and the content you consume more effective. We’ve passed the sandbox stage of social media. It’s time to elevate our industry by forcing the tackling of these types of issues.

This furthering of the industry thinking is what inspired me to start my own traveling conference series. Explore visits five cities in the United States this year. The first event takes place on Feb. 17 in Dallas, Texas. Our speakers have been challenged to push your thinking. Attendees will be challenged to push back. In the end, we’re all going to learn a lot more and a lot more efficiently.

To sign up for Explore Dallas-Fort Worth, register online and use the discount code MPROFS for a 50-percent discount (just $200 total)! To stay apprised of plans, including exclusive ticket prices and early notifications on the other four events, sign up for the email notifications for the city of your choice on the Explore event page at Social Media Explorer.

P.S. Want to attend Explore Dallas-Fort Worth for FREE? Zero? Zilch? Nada? You could win a free ticket if you share this post on Twitter AND include the hashtag #ExploreMarketingProfs. Doing so puts you in the running to be one of four lucky folks who will win a free pass to Explore Dallas! We’ll draw the names randomly on Friday, February 10, and will notify you via Twitter.

Change is necessary for almost any business. In fact, two of the most important jobs of any marketer are to anticipate customer needs as they evolve over time, and then translate those emerging needs into the next thing you do for customers. Change can be positive and very profitable if these two jobs are done well. If not—as I believe we have in this case with what Netflix did—change can be stressful for customers and shareholders (and you).

With that, let’s take a closer look at a few of Netflix’s missteps—and lessons you can take away, as marketers, and use in your day-to-day work:

1. Leading with a price change. A 60-percent price increase was the first of many changes Netflix customers would hear about. Ouch. Right off the bat, customers were riled up. Although the reality that the 60-percent increase translated to just a few dollars more per month for most customers, the problem was that customers began to re-evaluate the value of Netflix’s service. Lesson: Carefully consider where price increases fall on the timeline of announcing business changes.

2. Failing to explain why in an authentic way. Prices often change for goods and services, but when times are tough, people want an explanation for price increases. To be fair, Netflix did write a detailed blog post on the changes. However, had they offered more insight into why the changes were happening in the first place, customers may have been more understanding and accepting. One possible reason it could have pointed to: Netflix’s licensing payments for content have become more expensive. Lesson: Be authentic. Most customers will understand business decisions if they are given a full explanation. And, don’t be afraid to provide more detail to your customers—it will help them better understand the change.

3. Losing sight of customer effort. When Netflix announced it was creating a second entity, Qwikster, it split its core services into two separate businesses. Let’s look at this from the customer perspective: One day, there’s one company handling all your entertainment content needs, and the next day, there are two companies. Customer translation: Two bills, two websites, two account logins, and two customer service numbers. Whose life was made easier by this decision? Netflix simply lost sight of its promise of convenience and effort in its target customer experience. Lesson: Every decision you make should be driven by the clearly defined, ideal version of your customer experience. Plain and simple.

4. Forgetting why your business exists. When Netflix launched and later added instant streaming, it filled a need for customers who wanted any media, at any time, through one service. By splitting into two companies, Netflix lost track of the problem they originally solved for their customers. The company literally moved backwards. Lesson: Remember the original need your business filled for your customers—the offering that made you successful in the first place. Even as your business changes and evolves, don’t stray from that mission.

5. Falling into the trade-off trap. Netflix made massive operational changes, and in doing so, short-shrifted their customers’ experience. It doesn’t have to be an either/or proposition, though. Does it take more planning and thoughtfulness to achieve both? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Lesson: Don’t fall into the trap of thinking operational excellence and customer experience is a tradeoff. You can have both. Top performers in any industry know this.

6. Leaving your customers behind. Netflix has always been ahead of the curve, but this time they were leaping a bit too far ahead of its customers. There will likely come a day when everyone will be streaming, and DVDs will fall by the wayside; but we’re not quite there yet. The infrastructure for streaming is simply not available to all consumers. In addition, not enough in-demand, “hot” content is available via streaming from Netflix (or anywhere for that matter). Netflix’s aim to solve an emerging need for anytime, anywhere streaming is smart and spot on. It just executed too early. Lesson: Be careful not to move your customers to a future they can’t have yet. You can make a good decision—just make it at the right time.

One thing Netflix did right: They recognized that it wasn’t worth pushing a bad plan forward and decided not to split the company in two (although they did keep the increased prices). They didn’t avoid a few bruises, though. The company lost 800,000 subscribers in Q3.

What did you take away from the Netflix debacle? What lessons did you learn?

As a multiple-hat-wearing marketing director for a boutique commercial architecture firm, one of the many responsibilities I am tasked with is to make regular updates to our company website, as well as our social media outlets. I have also begun to keep an eye on our website stats, “follows,” and “likes” on our social media sites. The trends I’ve seen lately are interesting, if not a bit alarming. As our social media activity grows, our website traffic has remained relatively unchanged. So, I’ve begun to wonder: What’s the point of having both? Is social media going to be the death of the traditional website?

Our website, which was professionally designed, was rolled out just over two years ago. We spent an exorbitant amount of time and money creating a simple yet comprehensive site that would offer clients and prospects a glimpse into our portfolio and expertise. As the site was designed by a seasoned webmaster, not many people in our organization (myself included) would step up to make regular updates to the site out of fear of mucking up what someone else worked so hard to create. Therefore, we have retained said webmaster to make ongoing—usually quarterly—changes to our site. This typically involves project updates, news feeds, press releases, and any awards we may have won. The fee we pay is not outrageous, but it certainly adds up.

Jumping Into Social

As the proliferation of social media sites took hold, I approached the owner of our firm with the idea of creating some pages for our company. Not knowing much about social media sites other than the amount of time his kids were wasting on them, he rightfully had many questions: Will Facebook increase sales? Will we get new clients through LinkedIn? What the heck are we going to post on Twitter?

“Who cares?” I replied. “It doesn’t cost anything, and plus [insert competitor’s name] is doing it so we should,too.” And with that, we leapt feet first on the social media bandwagon—not really knowing where we were headed. I immediately created a corporate Facebook page, company LinkedIn page, and Twitter account. I implored my fellow employees to create LinkedIn pages, put social media links in their email signatures, and have their colleagues “like” us on Facebook. We even had our webmaster add Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook buttons to our website, for a fee, of course. In no time, we were a social media juggernaut.

Now, by design, the architecture industry is not one that would benefit from social media. Most firms aren’t offering coupons, launching new products, running specials on our services, or getting foot traffic through our doors. Yet a large portion of us use social media sites for other things, such as announcing new projects, welcoming new hires, and posting other relevant company or industry news. Similarly, this is why most of us created websites in the first place.

Depending on your level of web design acumen or if you employ an in-house webmaster, social media can be that everyman medium to getting info out into cyberspace instantly. On our end, we post professional photography of our projects, news and announcements, and if we’re going to attend an upcoming event. We even link our quarterly e-newsletter to our social media accounts. So, what the heck do we need a glossy and expensive website for anyway?

Why a Website Matters

Quite simply, the answers are: stability and familiarity. Think of the company website as a landline phone number and social media as a prepaid cell phone. Both will allow you to make a call, receive a call, and offer a number at which to contact you. But there is sense of trustworthiness, standing, and permanence to a landline phone number that you just don’t get by using a prepaid cell phone.

Social media can be viewed in the same way—anyone can use it and it doesn’t take a whole lot of expertise or credibility to set it up. In fact, it’s often difficult to judge if a company Facebook page is “official” or merely set up by an outside user or group. Furthermore, people are more apt to click through to an actual website in a search engine result (such as Google) than clicking through to a URL that is linked to a business page on Facebook or LinkedIn, or worse, tweeted on Twitter. Social media feeds quench our thirst for instant gratification and therefore, the information is fleeting. We receive a news update, and as quickly as it’s received, it’s forgotten.

A static website offers a permanent location where visitors can return time and time again and find the information they need, and not have to scroll through endless pages of status updates. When a person clicks the Twitter button on a webpage, the page URL is then tweeted in their Twitter account to all their followers. Some of their followers will read the tweet and few will actually click the link in it. The same thing happens on a Facebook page. You have to go to the info page to view the URL to the actual business website. Specific to our industry, while it’s nice to post project photos on our social media sites, nothing beats a portfolio of full-screen, easily-navigable, high resolution photos on your website.

While social media does in fact help to boost a company’s search engine optimization (SEO), nothing beats a properly coded website for SEO, and companies would be wise not to abandon efforts of raising SEO value through a business website over increasing your business presence in social media accounts. It is important to remember that social media was never meant to be used to push businesses—rather it is a way to stay in touch. As many of us still use social media solely as a way to stay in touch with family and friends, most people I’ve spoken with feel that it’s a bit unprofessional to push or oversell a business on social pages. It’s like getting a telemarketing call when you’re at home eating dinner.

Your company website should be the place where you push your business. Our company’s Internet marketing strategy—whether via social media, e-newsletters, or any other correspondence—has always been to drive people to our website. It does not work the other way around. Sure, we have links to our social media sites on our website, but we are in no way trying to push visitors away from our site. To promote your actual website over a Facebook or LinkedIn page drives traffic to your main website and will increase its popularity, and its SEO value.

To have a well-structured presence on the web, it’s important to treat your website and social media pages as you would if you had to manage two competitive and insecure employees. Allow them to coexist, nurture a working relationship between them, and try not to let one get more attention that the other. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of each, utilize them accordingly, and don’t allow one to usurp the other. You will find that, working in tandem, social media and your old-fashioned website will lend credibility, professionalism and a sense of internet savvy to your company.

Franz Keller is Marketing Director at RSC Architects.

How can you engage staff who will never have direct interaction with customers or those executives who still think improving the customer experience is a trade-off to improving bottom line performance?

In top-performing organizations, there is tight alignment between the “performance chain”—all the things, people, and processes that have to move from the moment you trigger demand to the moment you have cash in the bank—and the things customers value most to solve their needs. In other words, leaders who match daily decisions across the entire organization to a clearly defined target customer experience perform better than those who don’t.

The following seven ideas can help you align your customer experience with your performance chain and give those people in customer service some well-deserved company.

1. Appoint executive-level accountability for customer experience.

Picture a typical leadership meeting: There’s someone at the table reporting on finances, someone giving a marketing report, someone going over production updates. Who’s reporting on customer experience? Who takes accountability for the value your experience brings to customers and to your organization? Don’t let the cliché “If everyone owns it, then no one owns it” happen to your organization. Perhaps it’s something that naturally falls into someone’s purview, or perhaps it calls for an entirely new position. We’ve discussed many approaches to this role. Whatever way you address this, your customer experience and its link to performance must be accounted for at the highest level of your organization.

2. Define a target, or ideal experience, for your product, brand and whole organization.

Too many companies just have one-off improvement goals with no shared end in mind. In many cases, the local results are great. But in too many cases, there is wasted effort. There are improvements to certain aspects of the performance chain, but they aren’t far-reaching enough, or important enough to customers in a global sense to change the overall experience—or your performance—for the better. What’s needed is an enterprise-level vision that every department and location understands and can act upon with massive focus.

3. Get crystal clear about your target customer experience.

You may not be able to get everyone in your whole organization to understand all the ins and outs that must happen and how customers should feel at every step of the customer experience. But you can get employees to remember three simple things. At my company, Aveus, collaboration, sustainable action, and change that pays are three ideas that guide everything we do, from people we hire to tools we develop to client work plans and technology platforms. What three things define your target customer experience?

4. Require customer experience goals in annual operating plans.

Everyone says customer experience is important. But how many leaders actually put pen to paper and make it a part of the businesses’ daily operations? That defined vision for an ideal customer experience will quickly become just another forgotten idea if it’s not translated to the work each department and each person declares in their annual operating plans.

5. Add overall measures of customer experience to enterprise metrics.

Everything else in a business is measured and held to specific goals—why not apply the same logic to customer experience? Measure two things: the value to customers and the value to the organization. Some companies use an algorithm of customer effort and loyalty and profitable growth. Some ask a version of the simple question “Did we solve the need that triggered you to act?” to measure the value to customers, and then analyze revenue plus profit to measure the value to the organization. Set it up in whatever way works best for your company—just make sure these two measures are somewhere in your performance metrics.

6. Define target or ideal experience for non-customer constituencies, too.

The people purchasing your products or services are typically who we talk about when we discuss customer experience. But there are many other people who interact with your company along the performance chain: employees, distributors, suppliers, and investors, just to name a few. Each of these groups has a unique need that your company exists to fulfill. Take time to define these different groups of people and identify what their ideal experience with your business would be. Start with employees. Knowing where the needs for these groups are in alignment—or not in alignment—can focus company efforts and create shared value for all.

7. Practice “positive conspiracy.”

Once the ideal customer experience is defined, it will take every employee across the company to achieve that vision. But “We tell everybody to change and POOF it happens!” is not a common tale. Establish a plan for how employees will learn about the target customer experience. Create a “positive conspiracy”—engage the handful who live the alignment between customer experience and daily action. Then watch and help as they engage others who translate your ideal customer experience to their own daily actions. Leaders at HealthPartners did a powerful thing as they went through annual planning last year; they called it “3 for Rita.” Senior leaders worked with department leaders to work with their teams, asking everyone to name three things they could do to positively affect “Rita,” a profiled persona of HealthPartners plan members.

It’s a tall order, I know. But if the conversation isn’t started, customer experience will always be stuck in the customer service department. As a marketer, you have a product, brand and organization-wide line of sight on this topic. How have you approached customer experience with your company? What other examples have you noticed of other organizations bringing customer experience to all levels of the organization?

Note: Photo courtesy of lamont_cranston via FlickR Creative Commons.

It’s a word that gets flung around a lot in our business: authenticity. Mostly, authentic is used by social media pros to mean “transparent.”

It’s true that a consumer can gain a brand’s trust online when they think they’re speaking to a real person. But making an authentic connection between brand and consumer takes more than a community manager on a brand’s Facebook page asking fans what they had for breakfast that day. For consumers to authentically connect with a brand, they must feel as if they are engaging with the brand on their terms.

Here are four ways for brands to authentically engage with their consumers, offline and on.

1. Offer them a genuine experience with your brand that’s out of the ordinary, funny or surprising, and yet makes perfect sense given where they are in their lives at that moment. Strategic and offbeat pop-up events tied to online activation are great for this. Young women attending Natasha Bedingfield concerts this summer stopped for a bite at Freschetta Simply … Inspired branded food trucks. They then went online to share their excitement about the brand; Freschetta earned more than 2,000 hits on its social media sites. A mobile phone company scored when its exclusive series of inflight programming featured travel tips for smartphone users. The messaging was unexpected and useful (take a photo of everything in your wallet in case you lose it, for example), and it was delivered when consumers had time to act on the advice.

2. Reach them when they least expect it. A company that paints an entire house with an advertisement recently received press attention. Whether this is effective is doubtful. Advertising in unexpected places works, as long as the messages are highly relevant to consumers at that very instant. This year, some ski slopes featured ads on chair lift maps located on the safety bars. The ads, for juice and energy bars, delivered just the right message at the right time to the active audience. A few airlines use CareCovers, an antimicrobial tray table cover that features an informative ad and user polls indicate that fliers like receiving content and information this way.

3. Read their mind. Understanding your customer’s frame of mind when sending a message helps advertisers be more relevant and creative, especially when that message is being delivered at their point-of-need. For example, 40% of travelers forget to pack toiletries. Why not consider giving away products that hotels don’t typically provide and that travelers want and need? Then, don’t stop the conversation. Place a QR code on the sample insert that leads travelers to the brands’ social channels. Here, you can encourage these “rescued” (and likely grateful) travelers to comment on their experience right away. Make sure your community manager is armed to quickly reply to the feedback.

4. Make it incredibly easy for your passionate consumers to do the engaging. Sampling and advertising aren’t enough today. Consumers expect to be able to say something about the brands they love online, so brands must enable and encourage fans to be the experts. The best way to do this is to use an online platform designed for sharing opinions about brands (beyond Yelp!) that prompts brand fans for comments or guides them with questions about their experience. After they received special samples, a group of cold-sufferers chatted up a popular cold remedy, sparking more than 5 million conversations in social media, increasing share of voice by 14% over the competition during the campaign.

Of course, your community manager can and should prompt relevant conversation on your brand’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Daily engagement can give brands a seat at their customers’ tables. But, tying a promotion to a customized platform that encourages consumers to dig a little more deeply into their experience with the brand can be much more effective in spreading richer messaging. The best part is that the prompts allow your consumers to spread the words they want to spread.

Authentically engaging with consumers means being relevant and in tune with their frame of mind. This insight enables brands to deliver messages, experiences, samples and coupons organically that are memorable and conversation-worthy. Making the best use of these tactics engenders engagement that sticks. And brands build equity and turn fans into ambassadors because, to these fans, the brands feel authentic.

Sherry Orel is the chief executive officer of Brand Connections.

1. It looks nothing like the ad’s call to action or theme.
How many times have you clicked an ad or link in an email only to find out that the page you land on has nothing to do with the ad or link? That mistake is so unbelievably irritating for the person who has clicked through to the landing page.

When visitors arrive on your landing page, they should feel the connection between the ad or link that got them there and where they’ve ended up. If your ad is appealing to the champagne-and-caviar set, you can’t have them landing on a page that’s for the milk-and-cookies crowd.

2. Your call to action is unclear.
Ineffective landing pages are bossy; they push you around in different directions, trying to herd you one way and then another, shouting at you the whole time. But the folks who arrive at your landing page need to immediately know what to do or how to get the info they need. You need to communicate very clearly what you want the visitor to do. So, imagine that you’re writing an old-school telegram (or its modern equivalent, a tweet). You don’t have a lot of time to get your point across, so just say it without getting too wordy or fanciful.

3. You showed off in smarty-pants language.
Let your credentials show your business savvy. Avoid sounding like a snake oil salesman shouting out the miraculous power of your product or service, but then don’t go to the other extreme and end up sounding like a robot either.

“Speak human,” Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman write in Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business. “Communicate your brand missions, values, and philosophy in simple terms, using the language of your customers. Speak in a conversational tone, with personality, empathy, and true emotion. Kill corporate-speak, buzzwords, and other language that makes you sound like a tool.”

4. Your content is buried.
You don’t want heavy, bloated landing pages that creak under the weight of their own text. Website copy (not just landing pages) shouldn’t remind visitors of dissertations by a 19th century professor. Write in crisp, snappy and focused sentences. Think Ernest Hemingway, not Charles Dickens.

5. You’re rushing the goodnight kiss.
Crummy landing pages are like bad first dates. Instead of just enjoying the date and spending a reasonable amount of time building up interest and trust, the bad landing page is pushing the viewer along with excessive demands, unclear goals, and just wanting the reward at the end of it all. Make sure you’re not demanding everything as soon as the person arrives to your landing page.

Are these landing page mistakes sounding familiar? Want to learn more about what makes a landing page an excellent destination for your target audience? Then be sure to check out our handy, dandy guide, Landing Pages 101: Common Mistakes That Confuse and Confound and How to Fix Them.

In May 2011, the European Union made changes to how companies worldwide are allowed to collect or use information from web page visitors from Europe. The legislation, called the European e-Privacy directive, legally mandates that websites tracking users with cookies collect explicit consent from the person being tracked prior to dropping a cookie. Although they are similar, the legislation is even stricter than the CAN-SPAM Act of the United States because it forces U.S. email marketers to delete a client’s information as soon as the customer unsubscribes.

The EU’s Commissioner for Justice, Viviane Reding, says, “Privacy standards for European citizens should apply independently of the area of the world in which their data is being processes. To enforce the EU law, national privacy watchdogs shall be endowed with powers to investigate and engage in legal proceedings against non-EU data controllers whose services target EU customers.”

All businesses and websites tracking Europeans must comply by the regulations to be in compliance with the EU’s new legislation. American businesses will need to take reasonable measures to identify which website visitors are European and collect their permission.

Compliance is important for international email marketers because in some cases, not being compliant with international law can cost thousands of dollars in legal fees and fines, and possibly even criminal sanctions.

When asking for permission, inform subscribers about exactly what data is being tracked and how you will use it. The key is obtaining explicit consent.

Furthermore, there must be some kind of affirmative action where the subscribers acknowledge their consent to marketing and tracking. A good example of this is where a subscriber provides consent by clicking a link, which causes a pop-up box specifying what you will do with the subscriber’s personal data.

You can decide where to collect consent and then drop the cookie. Many businesses allow European visitors to browse some pages of sections of the website before asking for permission. The idea is to enable the website visitor to see the value of the web content or services before asking for tracking permission.

For example, you might want to ask permission after a European visitor has viewed a certain number of pages, spent a given amount of time on the site or visited specific web pages.

The following are laws enacted by the European Union that address email marketing from a privacy perspective. These laws must be followed by all of the member states.

• Data must be fairly and lawfully processed.
• Data must be processed for limited purposes.
• Data must be adequate, relevant, and not excessive.
• Data must be accurate.
• Data must not be kept for longer than is necessary.
• Data must be processed in-line with individual rights.

To safely comply with the European e-Privacy directive, remember that every EU member state interprets and implements the laws relevant to privacy and email marketing differently. Don’t make the assumption that legislation in one member state automatically complies with the legislation in another.

Yo Noguchi is an experienced freelancer, guest blogger, and frequent contributor to a blog hosted by Benchmark Email.

I was among the skeptics. Why would I want a Starbucks Card? After all, it was an extra, meaningless step in the coffee-purchasing process. Why would I use my credit card to put money on a card to buy my coffee, when I could have just as easily used my credit card right from the beginning?

But oh, how wrong I was!

Today, the Starbucks Card has become a social phenomenon. Advocates willingly fill them up with credit for the status it brings at the POS. Good-natured friends readily recharge the cards of friends through Facebook to spread goodwill. Starbucks proactively rewards cardholders with perks and special treatment in stores, online, and elsewhere. And all of this has me wondering whether businesses are aware of how much of a threat this is to existing card-based transactional models.

Two ideas have been circulating around the financial services industry for some time now—social currency and alternative currency. They represent intriguing possibilities about the future of banking. And yet none of the theories or studies I’ve seen so elegantly express both of these ideas as well as the Starbucks Card.

For many financial institutions and the business community as a whole, social currency is nothing more than the social connectedness of the business to its customers. For others, it’s become another name for a rewards programs. But social currency is something much deeper. Social currency is the connectedness between customers as much as with a business. It’s about the community being created as much as the transactions.

Which is why the Starbucks Card shines. The card is facilitating and enhancing existing social interactions, rather than forcing the customer into some preconceived mold. It turns the card into a means of buying a friend a cup of coffee or being known by the employees of their favorite store. It creates connections, not just transactions.

And out of this community naturally springs an adherence to this alternative currency it represents. These cards are not just being charged with “credit.” The money being used to fund these cards is literally being “converted”—as surely as you convert dollars to euros when you travel—into a currency that creates a better value exchange for the customer. This “Starbuck” represents not just a purchase, but trust in a monetary system that more closely aligns with the customer’s point of view and desires.

Starbucks is not the only one creating alternative, socially based currencies either. Zynga has been doing it for their social game properties for some time now. World of Warcraft has created an entire, in-game economy. And with near-field communication (NFC) coming to smart phones, there is the potential for services like iTunes to become the real power players in brokered transactions and monetary exchange, with the banks merely playing a secondary, commodity role to the more vibrant relationships being created within these mobile-based communities.

Many of the banks are trying to get ahead of this curve by brokering deals to position themselves as the financial institutions funding these efforts. But like the British crown who funded the American colonies, there’s a tendency for the old economic system to eventually be eclipsed by the newer one. And then what?

Whether you are in banking or are simply a retail-based business looking for new ways to entice customers, it may be time to re-imagine what financial transactions look like. Now we must consider:

• How can I make every transaction an instant social connection?
• How can I turn transactions into communal events among customers?
• How can I create enhanced value exchanges for customers at POS?
• How can I even turn my B2B transactions into social relevant events?

It’s not entirely ludicrous to think that, one day, monetary markets may be based on the much more complex valuation of socially based, electronic currencies, rather than just the dollar, euro or yen. And without communities of our own to build this type of connected value, we run the risk of being left behind.

Bob Knorpp is the host of The BeanCast Marketing Podcast at thebeancast.com and is president of The Cool Beans Group, a marketing strategy consultancy based in New York City. He likes laughing even more than breathing. You can follow the madness on Twitter at twitter.com/thebeancast.

The recent summer blockbuster, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, though perhaps not vying for membership in the annals of film art, has earned a substantial berth in the chronicles of marketing.

Film and marketing are similar: the latter being the combined art and science of telling brand stories, and the former the same, only non-advertorial stories (with some exceptions, of course). Film and marketing also frequently share craftsmen and artists: filmmakers who relish the brief and well-paid commercial gig between feature projects, and marketers, like myself, who come from a visual storytelling background (there are many of us) and who continue to produce movies on the side.

But unlike marketing, where research and insight are king, Hollywood is a “drop it and see where it lands” business, with the studios regularly losing money on nine out of 10 pictures. They usually do make up the loss exponentially on the one “tent-pole” film that not only works with audiences but also keeps the studio from collapsing. Rise of the Planet of the Apes is such a picture.

Isn’t it natural then that marketers should glean priceless insight about the disposition of the market from a similar enterprise, Hollywood, which is essentially a barometer for consumer climate? Try this on for size.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, starring James Franco and released by Twentieth Century Fox, is the story of what happens when a scientist, trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, genetically enhances a pet chimpanzee who uses his sudden and enhanced intellectual power to lead other chimps to rebellion and, ultimately, freedom. It cost around $93 million to make, over half that much again to market, but at the time of this article, it has already grossed roughly $125 million, and shows every sign of being an absolute windfall.

Now, I know the plot sounds staid. It is a loosely associated and shameless addition to the Planet of the Apes franchise, and it’s not the first film that’s had viewers sympathizing with lab chimps. (Remember a young Matthew Broderick in Project X?) But here’s where this film is different.

1. In this film, the apes represent a film history first where the lead protagonists—the characters with whom the audience truly sympathize—are the only purely digital creations surrounded by a cast of real-life, flesh-and-bone actors.

2. The film makes the apes the heroes, whereas in previous iterations the apes were tyrants who oppressed the humans. This change is significant, and what I call the “Howard Zinn Effect.”

3. Finally and most important, the emotion that the film’s marketers are using to successfully sell the movie suggests that we are on the precipice of a new Zeitgeist, an important change in consumer attitudes.

The Apex of the Digital Evolution

Consumers are no longer merely conceptually literate in digital media. They are now emotionally literate, too.

There have been films in the past that have compelled audiences to care, sometimes deeply, for characters that were not human or portrayed by anything “real.” From Bambi to Where the Red Fern Grows to the Toy Story franchise, from animated deer to real-life dogs to computer generated pixels, this has always been part of the magic of movies. In Bambi or Toy Story, however, what choice does the viewer have? Everything is animated. In Red Fern, the dogs elicit emotion, but it is really through the boy that emotion flows. In none of these instances does the audience sympathize completely with a character that is neither human nor real, and do so despite all the other real, human alternatives.

In Rise of the Planet of the Apes, audiences do.

This insight is of unimaginable value to marketers. Marketers now know with certainty that consumers are capable of sympathizing, even empathizing, completely and in favor of human counterparts, with computer generated entities. This film proves that consumers are now not merely conceptually fluent, but emotionally fluent in the digital language. Imagine what this means for the telling of advertorial stories in the future, the proof that mankind’s long-unmolested narrative archetypes are not only changing, but perhaps changed. The proof that notions of (what were) human emotional trajectories and boundaries may no longer be ample to define the true range of consumer resonance.

One would not dare to speculate here on the myriad ways this shift will evolve the brand stories of tomorrow, but one certainly does wait with bated breath to see.

The Howard Zinn Effect

Consumers are no longer interested in aspirational and commercial stories, but rather backlash against them in favor of stories that raise person above product.

Howard Zinn is an author, professor, and intellectual perhaps best known for his book, The People’s History of the United States, which relates major historical events from the perspective of the loser—through British eyes, for example, instead of the American Revolutionaries, or the American Indians instead of the U.S. government’s. I use the term “Howard Zinn Effect” in my office when I believe that a fundamental shift is occurring in the stories consumers want to hear.

Someone at Unilever or Ogilvy Mather, for example, shrewdly saw a Howard Zinn Effect occurring in the story appetite of female consumers. Many of these consumers were no longer interested in stories about perfection, flawless beauty, sheer convenience, or sex. Someone saw that these women were craving stories that exalted inner beauty, authenticity, independence, and dignity. This person put together the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, a campaign that so resonated with these consumers that it spawned everything from mass sleepovers to stage plays and films.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes gives marketers a similar glimpse into the changing story appetites of consumers today. The success of Rise of the Planet of Apes—a story, remember, about the evils of unchecked capitalism, the danger of corporate and governmental hubris, and the unalienable value of the individual and therefore the group—portends a consumer craving for brand stories that avoid too much humor, feeling too good and overt sex appeal. The consumer opts, instead, in favor of transformational, cause-related stories like we haven’t really seen since the late 1960s and 1970s. (Remember Coca Cola teaching the world to sing?)

Smart marketers will recognize this Howard Zinn Effect occurring in consumer tastes. Smart marketers will start telling brand stories that exalt social responsibility and deny the supremacy of the almighty dollar, stories that illuminate the intrinsic value of transparency and avoid any hint of manipulation or “selling,” and stories that challenge the status quo. Smart marketers will recognize that consumers will soon demand brand stories that, above all else, raise people above commerce.

The Apex of the Revolution

Consumers are at the threshold of a market revolution, and smart marketers must stop marketing to the movement and realize that now the movement is the market.

All of the above leads to a primary, consequential conclusion: Among consumers, there is a revolution brewing. The core emotional strategy successfully employed by the marketers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes is this simple tagline: “Evolution Becomes Revolution.” Judging from ticket sales, this emotion resonates with consumers today, who live in a country where 90% of the wealth is controlled by 1% of the population, the economy is in the proverbial can, and most mothers can’t afford the medical care their children need. Is it any wonder that consumers en masse have grown tired of evolutionary messages and are connecting with messages of revolution?

Much has evolved recently in a short period of time concerning consumer psychographics and therefore marketing strategy. The advent of emotional marketing and cause marketing are examples. But now, consumers are not satisfied by offsetting their complicity in the status quo. They want to change the status quo, and they are developing a taste for brands whose stories don’t merely mention the greater good, but are built upon it, TOMS Shoes and Eyewear being a shining example.

So, what does this mean for marketers? Just as in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the primary emotional driver is a combination of the audience knowing the apes will rebel and wanting them to do it, so, too, will smart marketers realize that successful brands will soon have to tell stories that know change is coming and are eager to be a part of it.

It is no longer enough for brands to market to the movement. They must become the movement. Any brands that fail to tell their stories from the frontlines will risk becoming irrelevant.

Duke Greenhill is the founder and CEO of Greenhill+Partners.

So, what’s the driving force behind all this change, the force that has marketers failing? It’s the buyer. Studies continue to confirm that, when it comes to making a buying decision, they have more access to technology, more interaction with their peers via social networks, less need for vendor-driven information, and less reliance on salespeople. Marketers are struggling with this new dynamic. Amid the morphing of the buyer and, subsequently, the B2B environment, marketers are failing to convince buyers to buy their products or services. Why? Because there remains one constant no matter how technology-driven or socially enabled we become. That one constant (and many fail to understand it) is that we market and sell to people.

As obvious as that seems, it is something that is lost in many of today’s marketing approaches. It’s as if we in the B2B space have failed to understand that behind the “B” in business to business are hosts of “Ps” (people).

A recent study by Televerde shows that even though some companies are making an attempt at nurturing the buyer, they are truly not connecting to the human element of B2B marketing.

• Over 60% of those surveyed stated incomplete data and poor data hygiene as their biggest marketing challenge when it came to data.
• Only 29% stated that more effective and relevant customer touches should be the highest priority for lead nurturing. (For that 29%, conversion rates ranked the highest. This indicates that  more effective and relevant touches lead to higher conversions.)
• 83% described their definition as providing educational and collateral (i.e., one-way communication).
• 57% make no distinction on how they nurture leads based on their buying stage. (All buyers are treated the same.)
• Of those that use nurturing, 54% do not use lead scoring. (Lack of lead scoring does not allow for one-on-one dialogue, but ensures that all buyers are treated the same.)

As seen above, many organizations are still not clueing into the fact that we are selling and marketing to people. People are the ones who make the buying decisions and vendor choices. Those people have thoughts and emotions that affect their buying decisions. We must remember that. To help move from a B2B mindset to a B2P mindset, here are a few quick tips.

Stop Trying to Sell

Randy Aronis of Ingenuity Sales Consulting has taught many that the first sales call should be focused on the building of rapport. In other words, start by getting to know your buyer. It seems crazy, but try it sometime. The first time I tried this was early in my career. I was selling into the largest IBM distributor in the world and had secured a call with one of the key decision-makers.

After the obligatory introductions and overview, we spent the next 25 minutes talking about golf, our favorite courses, etc. (Keep in mind the call was scheduled for 30 minutes.) We ended the call by scheduling a follow-up onsite that, of course, included a round of golf. Long story short: They were one of my best accounts for my remaining two years at the company. Why? My contact told me, “You guys were not the lowest cost nor did you have the largest staff, but I liked your company and knew I could call you directly if we were ever going to have a problem. I felt that you would personally address it.” Instead of selling, I built a relationship. Marketers would do well to begin thinking this way.

Put the Social Back in Social

The term “social media” is interesting to me. Yes, there is indeed a component that is social. Yet, social media also provides a false sense of relationship. Too many marketers are using this channel to provide one-way communication, doing nothing but sending out facts, figures, and business information. They forget to use social media to engage. What does that look like? Well, for starters, don’t be afraid to have some fun with social media. Comment on posts, answer questions in forums, and engage in online conversations. This will significantly enhance relationships with your buyers online and socially. Buyers want to know there are people behind the walls. So, listen and respond.

Act Like a Politician

OK, before you stop reading, don’t worry. By suggesting you act like a politician, I am not suggesting you give yourself a pay raise every year, slander your competition, or tell lies to divert attention from your mistakes. What I am suggesting is, like many politicians, seek to get personal with your buyers. This doesn’t necessarily mean a marketing/sales bus tour. However, it does mean adding face-to-face interactions to the mix. Marketers erroneously think that the face-to-face stuff is for sales to handle. Not so! Marketers need to stop hiding behind technology and to start meeting with buyers. This can be done by attending sales calls, conferences, and even one-on-one meetings. Nothing will replace a face-to-face interaction and connection. Sitting down across the table from your buyers (or playing a round of golf) will go a long way.

Be Slow to Speak

This goes hand in hand with the “Stop Trying to Sell” tip. My brother tells his kids all the time, “God gave you two ears and one mouth to remind you that listening is more important than speaking.” He may have something there.

By listening to your buyer and asking questions, you will gain (as will they) more from them than from all the things you so desperately want to tell them. You will also show them that you are genuinely interested in them and in meeting their needs. In the course of building a relationship, you’ll have plenty of time to talk about your product or service. So, be patient.

No matter how advanced technology becomes or how easy it gets to dole out information about our products and services, we’ll always be marketing and selling to people. That fact is something we cannot afford to forget.

The Story

The Roche Brothers grocery store in Massachusetts offers delivery as well as order and pick-up. So, en route from a cut-short vacation, we ordered some groceries for pick-up the next day. I headed out Sunday in the torrential downpour and winds. I pulled up to the dedicated parking space and chatted through the intercom. I was half-expecting to go inside to get my stuff, but Roche Brothers pride themselves on customer service (no tipping permitted when they load groceries into your car, etc.). So, I know I paid a small fee for the pick-up option. But I was prepared to go into the store and get my order in this case. After all, it was raining sideways!

Instead, the complete opposite happened. I was greeted by Neil in a raincoat, rain and wind whipping in his face. He was smiling. He greeted me professionally. He said to stay put in my car. He opened the hatch to load groceries. He asked if there was any particular order to load the groceries. I said whatever is fastest to get him out of the rain! He smiled and said to not worry and to be safe. He loaded the groceries in an orderly fashion.

The clincher of this story is when the grocery cart attendant swung by—not just pick up the cart, but to help Neal load the groceries into my car. And as the rain is coming down in buckets sideways, he says to me, “Thank you for your business, sir. Have a safe day, OK?”

“Thank you for your business,” he says to me. As he is getting soaked. Most people in his position would grumble. Most might not even say anything and just sling the bags, breaking eggs and everything, into the car. Or call in sick. Instead, this guy goes out of his way to say thanks to me on what might be one of the worst outdoor working conditions of the year.

The Lesson

Word of mouth isn’t dead. I told this story to a handful of people that day, and again the next. The story I told wasn’t: “My grocery guy is great.” Instead it was: “The Roche Brothers supermarket in Westborough is awesome because of their customer service. Listen to what happened to me a few days ago … ”

You might say, “Whatever, Alan. Word of mouth is dead. This is an isolated incident.” To that, I respond, “Well, tell that to the people I’ve already told.  And, you’re reading this right now, aren’t you?  so it worked right?” By virtue of your reading this, it’s appearing on the MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

Good customer stories travel far. What are you doing to empower your employees to be part of those?

Recently, we drove with friends to Ashland to see a couple of plays in the 2011 season of the venerable Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Beyond a dazzling dunk into contemporary and Elizabethan drama, I was reminded of a few things relevant to all of us who market for a living.

The first night we saw “August: Osage County,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a dysfunctional Oklahoma family. However, the play we thought we were seeing and the play we actually saw were two different things. We arrived to learn that the Bowmer Theatre had to close for structural repairs, and the play would be relocated to a smaller theater at Oregon State University. Only 300 seats vs. the 600 tickets sold were available, so it would be a first-come, first-served experience.

The festival staff compensated by offering all patrons the opportunity to get either a refund or a voucher for another play. And for the 300 who made it into the new theater, the performance would be free. We arrived early to wait in line and get our seats. The festival staff was on hand to direct us to the location of the unfamiliar theater and to delight us with free chocolates while we waited. We felt well-attended to.

Lesson #1: If you must tell a customer bad news, leaven it with care, consideration, options for satisfaction … and freebies.

Once inside, we faced a stage that was completely bare, save for about a dozen school chairs situated across the stage in twos, threes, and fours.

The director came on stage, apologizing for the lack of a set—which in its original staging was comprised of a three-story home, replete with sitting rooms, kitchen, and an attic bedroom. He walked us through the chair set-ups, naming each set as a particular locale in the home. He also advised us that there would be one violent scene that could not safely be performed on this stage. Instead, the stage manager would come out and tell us what was occurring, so that we could safely segue to the next scene.

Not knowing what to expect, we watched the play unfold. The acting was brilliant, the characters deftly drawn, the dialogue powerful and resonant. We forgot that there was no set. We were all deeply immersed in the drama. We could imagine the attic bedroom, the staircase, the kitchen—and all the pain, humor, and insight the author intended. We all stood for a thundering ovation, moved to tears by this powerful work.

Lesson #2: At the end of the day, marketing is about content. Great content moves people. You can wrap crap writing in a gorgeous red bow, fancy website, or colorful ad, but if you don’t provide information or writing that moves people, it’s still crap.

The next night we saw Shakespeare’s “Love’s Labour’s Lost” in the outdoor theater in the round. The director staged this comedy of love in the fifties with the entourage of the king dressed and cavorting as a college varsity team. The young queen and her coterie were dressed and behaved like spoiled sorority sisters, with their sweater sets, puffed skirts, and ponytails. It was clever costuming and clever staging, and we were initially smitten with the hijinks and collegiate repartee overlaid on Shakespeare’s poetry.

Lesson #3: Shakespeare has been around for centuries, but his works remain fresh because every director brings a new sensibility, nuance, or style to it. His “brand” doesn’t get old and stale because we renew it every time it’s staged.

We made it to intermission. However, two of the couples decided they’d had enough. They didn’t enjoy all the silly wordplay. We, however, stayed to the end as we rarely get to see Shakespeare’s plays. Our friends, however, didn’t miss much; the second act was more disappointing because instead of the typical joyful pairing of young lovers, they end up postponing their amour for a year.

Lesson #4: Even Shakespeare can write a stinker. We all try to be original, to produce great and lasting creative content. It’s good, however, to remember that even William wrote a clunker or two … and it hasn’t diminished his reputation. He just kept at it. And so should we all.

We marketers may not be producing great works of lasting literature … but Shakespeare, in his lifetime, wasn’t doing so either. Like us, he was making a living by his wits. And therein lies the tale.

Mimi Sells is the chief marketing officer of Oshman Family JCC.

As a direct mail marketer, it’s ingrained in me to say that any marketing campaign should include direct mail. In reality, brands will get the greatest return when they use direct mail intelligently.

Direct mail also works best when used in combination with other channels, such as email, phone calls, mobile marketing, etc. There are certain audiences and industries for which direct mail is a perfect and necessary option, as well as recommended tactics to employ to ensure success.

While direct mail can and does work for a myriad of industries, reaching all kinds of audiences, here are my thoughts on when direct mail works best and how to make it smarter.

Audiences

The affluent consumer
An article in Luxury Daily reports that 50% of our wealthiest populations (the top 10% of affluent U.S. individuals who make up 35% of all U.S. income; individuals with a minimum net worth of $828,000 and an average net worth of $3.1 million) don’t engage with social media—at all. In that same article, to Ron Kurtz, principal of Atlanta-based American Affluence Research Center suggests that to reach these affluent buyers, brands should focus on customer referrals and direct mail, including catalogs.

The 55+ consumer
Brands that sell to a target audience that could easily be described as mature and conservative would benefit from using direct mail. While there are members of that audience that are on Facebook and other social media channels, it’s important to recognize that a traditional channel, such as direct mail, might still pack a powerful punch for the majority of that audience.

American youth, 18-34 demographic
Technology is often associated with what’s fresh and new. It’s an association so strong that some marketers assume younger generations would prefer to receive information online or via other digital channels. Within that last couple of years, however, studies revealed that American adults ranging in age from 18 to 34 actually prefer to receive messages for certain types of products and services by print. A study titled “Finding the Right Channel Combination: What Drives Channel Choice?” indicated that more than 60% of that demographic group surveyed preferred to receive information about personal care, food, and cleaning products through direct mail and other print media.

Industries

Generally speaking, a brand that requires local awareness to sustain and grow business understands how direct mail fits in the new marketing mix. Not only do local businesses (including national brands with local retail stores) need to reach consumers that may not be online, they also must direct internet-using audiences online to collect more customer data.  With new technologies now available allowing brands to initiate automated and trackable direct mail campaigns, the need for brands to capture detailed and reliable customer data is key for growth. Some examples of local, neighborhood businesses include restaurants, retail stores, real estate agents, household service providers (plumbers, roofers, landscapers, etc.), child-focused businesses (day cares, photographers, play gyms, etc.), and any franchise business with multiple locations.

Local and franchise businesses can use direct mail to drive awareness, extend special offers and customer loyalty appreciation, and incorporate variable mapping options to direct recipients to the business, based on the consumer’s address. Another localized industry that can benefit from the use of direct mail is the health care industry. Doctors’ offices, hospitals and other health facilities often have a need to communicate particularly sensitive messages, which are typically best delivered via mail. These sensitive messages are not defined as personal, private data, but rather topics that are sensitive and relevant to certain demographics.

Content

Personalize direct mail, and by that I don’t mean a simple insert of the recipient’s name. For optimal performance, personalization should extend far beyond that to include content that’s relevant to the recipient. This level of personalization is not only recommended, but is becoming expected by consumers. To make your direct mail piece even stronger, it should refer to past purchase behavior and/or information that is unique to the recipient. Keep close tabs on your customers’ buying behavior via CRM, and this should make this level of customization fairly simple.

To influence behavior, direct mail works best when there is one, very clear call to action such as a coupon, special offer, or a reason to go online to find out more. Including multiple calls to action may seem to be a good idea on the surface, but instead of enhancing performance, this approach can often leave consumers confused, sending your direct mail piece to the trash bin.

Direct mail that has some form of emotional impact or message is often successful. Content that evokes an emotional response is clearly a perfect fit for non-profit, but can also be quite effective when used in B2C and B2B campaigns.

Data and Technology

Data
Sure, it is fun to spend time on the creative portion of a marketing campaign. This may include the design, the messaging, and the call-to-action. However, the success of a direct mail campaign is almost always primarily related to the quality of data for the mailing list. Brands that take the time to scrub their databases in an effort to truly target the most highly qualified members of their audience will garner much higher response rates.

Direct mail not only helps to get a message out to an audience, but also to receive information back from those that interact. It can be a great way to collect further customer information and collect information on new prospects. Keeping track of new and repeat customer behavior and then using those insights to tailor offerings can shorten the purchase cycle and encourage loyalty. The latest variable data print technology combined with targeted data can be a very powerful, automated solution.

Technology
When integrating barcodes with direct mail, marketers must understand how and where they will be used. Will the consumer take the piece into the store so the barcode can be scanned at the register? If so, marketers need to be mindful of what type of barcodes will be recognized by their POS system. Will the consumer scan the code to go online? If so, make sure the destination is mobile friendly and that it is a continuation of the sales experience.

Before attempting to integrate mobile with direct mail and print, marketers should clearly define what type of consumer they’re trying to reach. Research to determine if the target consumer primarily uses smart phones, flip/feature phones, no cell phone, SMS, etc. to decide if the audience is likely to engage via mobile—and how. Also determine if the action you want the direct mail recipient to take would feasibly be taken using mobile technology before slapping a QR code in mail piece, for example. It doesn’t always make sense, therefore don’t integrate mobile with print if there’s not a compelling reason to do so that benefits the brand and the consumer.

Integrating technology is best when used to make direct mail more relevant to the recipient and track able to the brand. If your campaign is not audience specific and simply blasted to the masses, the true benefits of technology integration will be glaringly absent.

As always, have tracking mechanisms in place so you can determine campaign ROI.

One final area that is imperative to keep in mind to execute an intelligent direct mail campaign is not to stop at the initial mailing. All too often, brands send out one postcard to a list, then sit back and wait. Then, if they are dissatisfied with the results, they often make one awful mistake—they do nothing. To ensure that a message gets noticed and the intended action is taken, plan for a multitouch approach that includes A/B testing. Today’s consumer’s attention is being demanded by a multitude of distractions—from children, to technology, to work, etc.—therefore repeat and relevant messages are more essential than ever before to convert a direct mail recipient into a customer.

Jamie Klemcke is the marketing director at QuantumDigital.

I was a tad jealous as I listened to my brother recount to me the details of their meeting. Interestingly though, the thing that made the biggest impression on my brother was that Bono was the one who asked all the questions. To quote my brother, “He didn’t break eye contact and his demeanor showed that he was genuinely interested in learning about me.”

It often comes as a surprise when we hear stories of world-famous celebrities showing so much interest in “the common man.” Why? Because we often get the impression that they have more important things to do.

This thought made me wonder how that same dynamic applies to companies and those that buy their products and services. Are buyers surprised when a company shows genuine interest in their wants and needs? Which are you, as a seller, more concerned with: being interesting or being truly interested in your buyers’ needs? While the difference in the two may be subtle, the way they come across to your buyers will make an incredible difference in how they engage with (and ultimately buy from) you.

Continuing with the theme, here are four characteristics of companies that are more focused on being interested than interesting:

1.  They Engage With Their Buyers.
Organizations that are interested in their buyers focus on engagement. What does this mean? It’s not just the new wave of brand marketing. It’s a communication process whereby they connect with their buyers, seek to understand them, and ask questions. The questions lead to answers that provide understanding; understanding leads to a better overall buyer experience; a better experience leads to a long-term relationship. This rarely begins with: “Hello, when can you view a demo? Engagement takes time and will be accomplished by patient, ongoing dialogue.

2.  They Know Who Their Buyer Is Before They Engage
Ask anyone what they are looking for in a romantic relationship, and the answer often is a list of character traits or a description of the ideal mate. Companies that are interested do the same with their buyers. They create buyer personas or ideal profiles, which allow them to better focus and target their messaging and offers.

The development of these profiles is a continual process. The more information you obtain through engagement, the more the profile of your buyer will evolve. The more you know about them (being interested), the better you’ll be able to help them achieve their goals.

3.  They Don’t Treat Everyone the Same
One of the things I like to do when I get a consumer telemarketing call at home is to see how quickly I can get the caller off script. It’s so painful to hear them reading word for word from this script, especially knowing that I’m hearing the same spiel they’re giving everyone else they call.  You know you have them thrown when you ask a question. There’s usually five seconds of silence and then they begin reading again, perhaps hoping I’ll forget I asked a question. It’s great fun.

Ineffective B2B marketing and sales organizations are acting in much the same manner. Instead of a one-on-one dialogue with each buyer, they take a scripted approach that indicates they have no understanding of the buyer. Conversely, organizations that are interested tailor communication and overall experience to each unique buyer (or buyer category).

4.  They Measure Their Engagement
I recently served on a panel which was asked, “How do you know if your content is effective?”  Other members of the panel began answering, giving elaborate answers about key indicators, and percentages of opens and clicks (obviously email focused). When my turn came, I offered up one short line: “You will know it’s effective if your buyers respond to it.” It’s pretty simple, but it’s true. If there is no response or action, your content is not working.

The only way to know this is to measure your buyer engagement, response, and (ultimately) purchase behavior. If they don’t keep coming back for more, then there’s a problem.

Interesting or interested? One gets attention, the other develops and maintains long-term buying relationships. Which one do you want to be?

Most of us are guilty of not being focused. We want to sell our product or service to as many people as possible. So, we go out there and market with a message that’s some flavor of “buy my product or service.” The spirit of this is not a bad thing—after all, most of us are in business to sell our product or service. But marketing is about changing behavior. And if you’re going to change customer behavior effectively, your marketing message needs to be focused.

To do this, you need to understand your customers’ purchase process and then focus your marketing objectives on a specific stage or two within this process.

Here are the six general stages of your customers’ purchase process.

1. Origination: What’s the need that triggers your customer to buy? If you’re a web design service, one origination trigger for your customer is the purchase of a domain or hosting service. Your marketing objective could be to “get people who just bought a web domain to use our web design service.” If you’re a flooring contractor, one origination trigger for your customer is the purchase of a foreclosed home. Your marketing objective could be “get people who just purchased a foreclosed home to repair their flooring with us.”

2. Information Gathering: Where and how does your customer gather information to address the originating need? If your customer turns to mommy blogs to find a solution to her need, your marketing objective could be “get moms who are searching on mommy blogs to find our product.” If your customer solicits the advice of her accountant for a product recommendation, your marketing objective could be “get accountants to recommend my product instead of competitor X’s.”

3. Category Choice: What category choices do your customers have when seeking a solution to their need? For example, a customer looking to create a website can choose between self-service web design services or full-service web agencies. If you’re a web agency, your objective could be to “get customers who are looking to build a website to choose our full-service agency instead of choosing a self-service option.” If you sell children’s toys, your marketing objective could be “when a parent is looking to buy a birthday gift for their child, get them to buy a toy instead of a game, puzzle, or movie.”

4. Brand Choice: Once your customer has made a category choice, which brands will she choose from? For example, if you sell PR services, you should identify your key competitors and focus your marketing objective on “get startups who are looking for a boutique PR agency to choose us instead of competitor X or Y.”

5. Usage: How does your customer use your product? For example, if your customers use your software weekly but you want them to use it more regularly, your marketing objective will be “get my existing customers to use daily instead of weekly.” Of if you offer a “freemium” product with a free trial, your objective could be “get more existing customers to signup instead of churn after the trial period.”

6. Repurchase: Would your customer purchase from you again? Would she refer you? For example, if your repurchase rate is low, your marketing objective could be “get more customers to repurchase my service instead of lapse.”

Sketching out your customers’ purchase process is a critical step in helping you decide where you to focus your marketing efforts. And depending on where you decide to focus, your marketing message and efforts will be hugely different.

Gary Gebenlian is vice president of marketing at Future Simple—small business software.

I had an unusual experience worth sharing a few weeks ago, but this was no mere flotsam—this story needed the full multimedia treatment if I wanted it to spread.

Take a look:

The night I posted this video, I dialed Chico’s customer service number to alert them. I also let our heroine Sally know, of course! And I shared it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

After a few days, a Chico’s PR rep emailed me: “I recently saw your amazing post about your Chico’s shopping experience! I would love to send you something to say thank you for sharing your story.” Later, a $50 gift certificate arrived at my door. Sweet.

Content Begets Content Begets Content

Customer experience mastermind Leigh Durst saw it and blogged that telling your story matters less than how it’s told and who it’s shared with if it’s going to get any word-of-mouth love. Leigh must be onto something, because Andy Sernovitz, the king of word-of-mouth marketing himself, also shared it with his readers.

My favorite blog-nod came from verbal tycoon and rabblerouser Margot Lester, who offered ideas on how companies can reap more benefits from testimonials like mine.

I wondered what benefits Chico’s would be able to reap.  Could I get the inside scoop for Ann Handley Daily Fix?  I asked the PR rep if I could interview her to learn what impact the video had within Chico’s organization.

No such luck. “At this time we will not be able to participate in the interview.” Drat!

Remove the Social Media Blinders

No one from Chico’s has commented on my video page or any of the other blogs that featured the video.  Yeah, I did get an email … but if you don’t at least publicly acknowledge the mention of your company on someone’s blog, your “silence” still conveys something about your brand.

Maybe the Chico’s team is focusing their social media attention on Facebook (62,704 fans!) and Twitter (2,416 @LoveChicos followers!).  I can see lots of conversation there, and Chico’s is doing a decent job in those venues.   But no matter how many glittering new social networks emerge, marketers should still be monitoring their brand in the blogosphere. There’s content gold to be mined in blogs, perfect for sharing on all the other networks!

This is pure conjecture about Chico’s social media marketing tactics and policies, of course, since I was unable to get my interview.  I still admire Chico’s and remain a forever-fangirl. I’ll be shopping there tomorrow, in fact.

As for Sally?  She has promised to let me know if she gets any formal recognition herself.  She certainly deserves it.

The Frequently Asked Question, Answered

“How long did it take you to make this, Shelley?”

Because the story pretty much came together in my head during the home from Austin, I spent less than an hour writing, recording, and editing the narration. Creating the visuals (you see 69 in 3.5 minutes) and synching them with audio, music and sound effects: 15 hours.

I invested the time because once I had the idea to tell the story this way, it grabbed hold of my brain and refused to let me focus on any Real Work. I’ll bet truly creative people must feel like that a lot—if they don’t get their idea OUT THERE for an audience, their skulls will explode.

I’m jazzed that my video has generated so many conversations and new aquaintances.  Still … I hope Chico’s will grab it and find ways to use the story.  What would you tell them to do?

Consider the fact that by 2030 Baby Boomers will outnumber those less than 20 years of age. Not so youthful or sexy for the future of America? Right now, there are almost 80 million baby boomers (and growing) with a huge capacity to drive consumer spending.

Baby boomers are one of the most loyal and active users of direct mail. It’s been part of their daily routine for quite some time and that’s not going to change anytime soon—regardless of the Internet, mobile, and social media.

When crafting a direct marketing program for baby boomers, consider the process of ergonomics, which is the study of designing equipment and devices that fit the human body, its movements, and its cognitive abilities. Great examples of brands that are adapting to this demographic shift are Ford, CVS and HP to name a few. Aging does bring on a unique set of changes to the body and mind, which does affect how you should approach direct mail in a holistic way.

Here are three key ways you can leverage the power of ergonomics to connect with baby boomers in a relevant and meaningful way:

1. Mail Package Format
The power of touch and physical ergonomics is one way to connect with boomers. Physical ergonomics is concerned with human anatomical, and some of the anthropometric, physiological and biomechanical characteristics as they relate to physical activity. It sounds a bit cliché, but arthritis is a real concern for boomers. Handling small items can be a task for some, so:

• Simple is best when deciding on a direct mail package format. Avoid using complex folds to deliver your offer.
• Go big with your mail package size if you can afford it, which will allow for larger mail package components (OE, Letter, Reply Mechanism, etc.). This will deliver an easier handling experience while providing more real estate and should be most effective.

2. Overall Type Size
This approach would involve the cognizant side of ergonomics and be the most easily to implement. Cognitive ergonomics is concerned with mental processes, such as perception, memory, reasoning, and motor response, as they affect interactions among humans and other elements of a system. As we age, it gets tougher to scan, read, and recall type with a small point size.

• Consider headline point sizes of at least 14 point and body copy size of no smaller than 10 points. While offer and copy points are most important, if they cannot be read easily, you don’t have a shot.
• Avoid serif fonts that will become increasingly difficult to read when reduced. This applies for both print and digital marketing strategies.
• Do remember overall recall is higher with print media in general.

3. Icons
The use of simple and easy to decipher illustrations is another use of the cognizant side of ergonomics. Icons serve as a great platform when trying to communicate key subject areas or benefit points.

• Less is more when making a quick connection.
• Icons are a great substitute for costly photography, which if not done tastefully, will be a complete turn off to baby boomers.

The average baby boomer now cites 68 as the new retirement age, which is up from 65.5 back in 2003. There’s no doubt the failure of the economy has contributed to boomers working longer and harder. This means your direct marketing programs will have to do more to connect with this busy, distracted and potentially lucrative demographic to deliver more brand value.

Paul Prisco is the founder and principal at Dog Food Design, a design and direct marketing agency for brands. He can be reached at 404.829.2704 or paul@dogfooddesign.com.

I have had enough, and I can’t stand no more.

I’m talking about ads, commercials, spots, whatever cool vernacular you want to use to describe the visual medium that plays over airwaves and into our house via what is commonly referred to as a TV.

The target of my ire is aimed directly and squarely at the airline industry. Truth be told, I do not blame these companies and their respective ad agencies one bit for capitalizing and promoting a benefit they offer and others don’t. I get it … It’s their USP, Universal Selling Point. Or at least it’s one of them.

Here’s two spots from two different airlines:

The first one is Southwest’s campaign—which I like by the way in terms of creativity and execution—that promotes and advertises the fact that on their airline “Bags Fly Free!”

The second spot is for Jet Blue and promotes and advertises the fact that passengers on their planes get … a whole can of soda!

Now before I go on, let me state for the record that I do not fly very often, point being I don’t even know if these “amenities” are still being offered by each respective airline. But just the fact that they were at one point in time was enough to make me want to put pen to paper, as it were.

I just love the line in the Jet Blue spot … “free unlimited brand-name snacks.”

Man: “What airline should be fly, honey?’
Woman: “Jet Blue, for sure … ! We can get all the Oreos we want, and none of that store-brand crap the other airlines offer.”

But think about this, boys and girls. Should we as consumers now be happy that we are getting something for free that should have been always been free to start with?

Are you kidding me?!?!?!!

I was out a few days … I apparently missed the part where the American consumer gleefully celebrates getting ripped off, duped, and downright conned by the greed of corporations and companies.

Don’t you see what is happening here, people?

1. Companies are taking things that used to be free and now assigning a cost to them.
2. Everyone gets outraged.
3. The outrage dies down and ultimately passes, and the aforementioned charging for what used to be free becomes an accepted practice.
4. Said company then creates an ad campaign/blitz that promotes and advertises something which is NOW free, which should have stayed free the whole time!
5. We all dance gaily in the streets and happily patronize said company for “being different” than the other guy.

And this is just one industry I’ve touched on …

Did you know some supermarkets now charge you to use a shopping cart? How many restaurants now charge for what used to be free refills on beverages? We even have to pay for air for our tires now!

So, if you’re enjoying something for free right now, chances are it won’t be free for very long, and the cycle will begin and then one day, it will be free again.

What can we as the American consumer to stop this incessant cycle from happening or are we powerless to stop it?

Help me out, please … someone. Anyone. Bueller?

Most people don’t think about self storage units when they are considering great ways to market their products, but there is actually great marketing advice to be learned from the marketing of storage facilities.

Self storage units in no way, shape, or form look glamorous.  There is nothing really flashing about them that can be used as a gimmick, and they just come across as boring.  They are simply tin boxes with concrete floors in which we use to store our extra possessions in remote locations.  However, those marketing storage units are able to entice tenants by the droves.  How?  By using a few of the following basic marketing tricks:

1. Informing Your Target Market Why They Need Your Product

Just about everyone in the United States has stuff, and lots of it; however, we’ve gotten pretty good about storing it away in every cupboard, nook, and cranny of our house. Most people with extra things don’t even think about renting a storage unit so storage unit owners tell them why they should consider it.  The general public won’t do something or better their current way of doing things until you tell them why your product would enhance their lives.  Pick out key features of your product or service that will immediately make a potential client feel as though it would enhance their quality of life.

Marketing Lesson: Create a need for your product or service among your target audience by telling them why your product or service will enhance their life.

2. Pointing Out Current System Failures

Sure, a person who rents a self-storage unit could easily place their items in their basement or garage at no cost to them, but they chose to place their additional belongings.  Why?  Because marketers for storage units let their target audience know why storing their items in a garage or basement would be detrimental.  They point out the flaws in doing this.  Basements are prone to mold and mildew, and garages are often not protected from the extreme temperatures brought about by seasonal changes.  Potential tenants find the logic in this, and then start looking at storage facilities near them.

Marketing Lesson: Always state why or how your product or service is better than current solutions.

3. Remaining Aware of Trends

The self-storage industry has recently boomed because of the dip in the economy. When the economy began to increase the cost of living while keeping wages stagnant, self-storage owners knew many home owners would be looking to downsize their homes, and they allowed their target market to shift from simply those with too much to downsizing homeowners.  The switch paid off.  Many homeowners who have chosen to purchase smaller homes or rent apartments have chosen to store their additional belongings in storage units which has allowed this industry to profit while many other industries are struggling to get by.

Marketing Lesson: Trends will always effect how you market and who you market to.  Organize campaigns around trends.

4. Creating New Ways to Use the Same Product

When most people think of storage units, they envision a place where they can store their additional belongings.  Instead of accepting that this was the only function a storage unit could serve, storage facilities revamped their current product.  Storage units are no longer only for extra furniture or holiday decorations, now they can be a great place to restore a car or keep a wine cellar which has brought about a whole new craze to the industry.  When your target market starts to lose interest in your product, consider new and innovative ways that you can pitch the same product to them to pique interest once again.

Marketing Lesson: You have to tell potential clients how to use your product or service—even if the uses seem obvious.

5. Providing Great Customer Service

This may seem like a no-brainer, but the reason why you don’t often see large marketing campaigns in the form of direct mailers or commercials for storage unit facilities is because they rely heavily on word-of-mouth advertising.  Not only is this a free form of marketing, but it is also one of the most effective.  People turn to their friends and families when they are interested in purchasing a service, and if one of their friends or relatives have something good to say about your business, they will most likely seek you out allowing you to gain a new client at no cost to you.

Marketing Lesson: Customer service always create the best word-of-mouth marketing campaign.

If you are offering a service or product that may not be easy to sell, take a lesson from a storage facility and focus on functionality.  Most tenants don’t necessarily need a storage unit, but storage facility owners have been able to convince them otherwise through efficient and effective marketing campaigns.

Brandy Olson is an internet marketer, writer, and lover of all things outdoors. She performs market research for 43a.com and represents StorageMart.

When market researchers want to find out what customers think, they do everything—except ask them directly. Face to face. Or even Facebook to Facebook.

For decades, market researchers have surveyed customers anonymously by using methods that haven’t been cutting-edge since telephones and paper surveys were the last word in marketing technology. The results may or may not be accurate because response rates are so weak that many surveys aren’t statistically significant. These efforts don’t do much, if anything, to expand our brands.

Enough of that.

We in marketing research can strive for better results. We don’t have to bore customers with “do you agree, strongly agree, strongly disagree …” surveys that go on longer than the last Harry Potter book. By combining social media, business intelligence and customer interaction technology, we can initiate ongoing conversations with our customers that yield instant, bankable market intelligence.

Welcome to the era of the eternal focus group

Using business intelligence and customer relationship management systems to identify highly engaged customers, market researchers can invite them into ongoing discussions about products, services, branding, pricing—everything we study by blind surveys now. Social media is the glue that holds these panels together. It’s the conduit for quick, visual surveys that replace the time consuming paper-based questionnaires. Market researchers can send customers interactive images, full-motion video, even links to virtual worlds where the respondents “act” their replies. Companies distribute the questions to the panels as e-mail attachments, or through Facebook groups, or by tweeting links to Web portals. More engaging content increases response rates and accuracy while keeping customers from dropping out from boredom or overload.

Instead of a massive campaign that takes weeks of planning, marketers can tap into these online panels for input in real time from real customers without sacrificing research validity or missing out on an evolving trend or opportunity in today’s instant gratification society. The online panel and surveys are brand experiences in themselves and will keep online panel members engaged well beyond the single interactions of yesterday.

The philosophical base for this new marketing model is engaging customers directly. Objectivity has its place, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of marketing research. Tell your customers who you are and what you want to talk to them about. Somewhere along the line, marketing latched onto the idea that customers won’t answer honestly if they know who you are. They’ll be too nice and won’t yield a complete picture.

Not true.

There’s enormous value in having open conversations with customers who know they’re talking to you about your brands. Customers who like your product and want it to succeed so much that they’ll tell you exactly what they don’t like about it in unmerciful detail. It might not be objective because they know who you are, but it’s unvarnished and motivated by the right impulses—they like you and want you to succeed.

The future of market research lies in ongoing conversations. True insights and competitive intelligence come from open conversations with customers who know they’re talking to you about your products it’s time for a long talk at the kitchen table—a virtual kitchen table and a multimedia chat.

Andrew Reid is CEO of Vision Critical.

“I was front row at the U2 concert.”

Anyone who says that is probably one of the band’s biggest fans. But think about the last concert you were at. What did the artist do after the show? If your experience was anything like mine, the artist probably disappeared backstage.

Today, I saw something different. The lead singers got off the stage, headed straight for the fans in the front row, and started shaking hands. Slowly, but surely, they made their way down the front row—from one end to the other—stopping every once in a while to pose for a photo. They slapped fives, made eye contact, grinned, and chatted. With every fan. Every single fan.

And this was a very big stage, which meant the front row was very, very long.

That’s why this band is still in business a decade later. Steve Jobs uses this fancy marketing tactic too. He mingles with the audience after product announcements while they’re playing with prototypes on display after the show.

In between marketing campaigns, consider hustling to delight your front-row fans. Or maybe … make that your only campaign. Maybe in your business, there are no alternatives.

Some ideas for delighting your front-row fans:
• Offer fans a sneak-peek of your upcoming product. Make it invite-only. And maybe even hand your front-row fans an extra invite—that way, they can bring a friend and evangelize on your behalf. Do it face to face or online using some screen-sharing (GoToWebinar) or livestreaming solutions (Vokle).
• #FF your front-row fans every week on Twitter. RT their stuff. Learn a lesson from Sean “Puff” Combs—follow some of your fans.
• Pick up the phone and get their opinion on a decision that would impact them.
• Offer them early-bird discounted pricing. Discounts don’t work for your business? How about offering limited-edition, exclusive packages at premium pricing?

Nehemiah “Nemo” Chu is an ambassador of Bloomfire.

As much as creative marketing and promotions can help a product, service, or company stand out, it always comes down to a simple premise: Did you solve the need that triggered the customer to act in the first place?

Said simply, did you solve the customer’s problem?

One reason that question may be difficult to answer is that marketing leaders get lost in trying to “surprise and delight” customers with the latest in technology and gadgets, or the most liberal service policies. All those additional features and options are bound to make customers happy in the moment, but if you don’t solve the problem that triggered them to act in the first place, their satisfaction–and your business performance–will fade quickly. This holds true across industries. Customers are looking for companies that can simplify their lives by providing quality service without hassle. A great Harvard Business Review article on customer service highlights two key takeaways that should remain top-of-mind for businesses:

• Delighting customers doesn’t build loyalty, but reducing the work they must do to get their problem solved does. (A win for your customers!)
• Acting deliberately on this insight can help improve customer service, reduce customer service costs, and decrease customer churn. (A win for your company’s bottom line!)

The second reason this question may be difficult to answer is that marketing often doesn’t have complete accountability for solving the customer’s problem. As the old African proverb and a former First Lady have taught us, “it takes a village.” Marketers must work across, up, and down the organization to solve customer needs. Your organization needs a shared view of the target customer experience that solves your customers’ needs, and focus in each area of the company making the right daily decisions to make that happen. Marketing typically sets this direction; everyone plays a role.

Who Is Succeeding?

If you’re looking for examples of companies that are living the mantra of solving every customer’s need, start with Amazon. The company does consistently well in customer surveys and performance rankings because of a strong, unwavering focus on fulfilling customer needs. If there is a problem, it is quickly rectified with the goal of getting the right product to the customer ASAP. Technology investments are high for Amazon, but they’re all matched to things customers’ value. When Amazon was ranked the most trusted brand in the U.S. in a recent Millward Brown study, I thought it was a great testimony to the effectiveness of its ability to use technology to solve customer needs in a personal way. The model at Amazon is simple: Create a place where customers can find or discover anything they can imagine buying online.

Other companies that rank well in terms of solving the customer’s need include:

• Apple
• Kohl’s
• Zappos
• Costco
• Lowe’s

How Does This Change the Role of Marketing?

Make no mistake about it, marketers’ roles are changing. The link between marketing performance and effective customer experience is now unquestioned. Joe Tripodi of the Coca-Cola Company is a great example of a leader that is adapting to the expectations of customers while protecting one of the most well-known brands in the world. By remaining supportive of loyal Coca-Cola brand advocates, Joe and his team are reaping the benefits of customers who fill online channels with positive messages.

The flow of information is no longer just company-to-customer. Information now flows both ways, sideways and diagonally. The marketing team has switched from measuring impressions (views or reach) and now measures expressions (a comment or other kind of action that demonstrates engagement). What Joe’s figured out at Coke is that if they can provide exceptional experiences that solve needs, then those experiences can be multiplied and shared time and again—online and off.

6 Simple Tips

By following some simple principles, most businesses can minimize the risks of negative “buzz” while ratcheting up the likelihood that positive experiences will be shared. Here are six tips to keep in mind:

1. Do what you said you would do to eliminate the customer problem. Seems simple really doesn’t it? Deliver on the promise you made to address that particular customer’s problem in the time period agreed upon. Poor customer experiences arise from a failure to deliver on that initial promise or when surprises in the process pop up that were not communicated.

2. Don’t make your customers jump through hoops. Customers are not seeking another task on their daily to-do list. The reason they reach out for help is an understanding that there is someone out there more qualified to do this job than they are. They are seeking help. The last thing they want to do beg for it.

3. Don’t try and deliver added benefits the customer doesn’t need. Keep it simple. Don’t try and oversell how wonderful you are. Bragging about those 20 new features you just added (that are more about extending your sales or helping your operation than they are about moving your customer toward a need solved) isn’t going to convince anyone to be an advocate for your brand. Keep it simple. Fix their problem. Then stop. Then solve another one.

4. Be emotional. While the tangible product or service itself (and process steps a customer follows) must directly solve a customer need, the emotional elements of the customer experience best inspire loyalty and satisfaction. The trick is balance, a focus on both in a way that solves your customer’s need better than anyone else could. Ideally, what should your customers feel at each step of their experience? Match your actions to that.

5. Be helpful. Any experience must be accessible. You’re the expert. Your customer is hiring you to solve a problem or desire. Focus on how you can be a trusted source by providing the insight, explanation, and resources needed to solve the customer need. This is one area where your website, social networks and greater peer connectivity is a tremendous asset. Another (and often overlooked) opportunity is held by leaders whose customers use their company’s products or services over time (rather than in a moment, like an ice cream cone). My use of Windows software as I type is an example. How can you design your customer’s ongoing experience to give your customers the ideas and support they need to feel good about the process and decision to hire you, buy, and use your product or service?

6. Lead the village. Think about the interactions most critical to solving your customers’ needs as customers learn about your product, try you out, buy, use your product or service to solve their need, and even evolve over time. Which departments, processes and people have the biggest impact on making those interactions successful? Marketers have a key role in defining the target–or most ideal–experience customers should have at each step, and then engaging others in the company to aim at the same target. Building alignment can turbo boost the efforts of smart, well-intended people across your organization.

Ultimately, it’s not what customers accept, it’s what they value that matters most.

All aspects of marketing, promotions, and engagement should be working toward the goal of solving the customer need. If—and how well—a need is solved is your customers’ measure of success. And it’s a key measure of performance for you, your brand, and your organization.

Note: Photo is courtesy of featureset1 via FlickR Creative Commons.

1. Paid Media

Dynamic creative is an excellent example of being smart. The trick to today’s dynamic creative revolves solely around “customer intel,” doing what you do best, (e.g., if you’re a travel company, featuring your latest travel deals), and knowing where to draw that fine line between relevancy and just plain creepy.

I’ve seen a handful of companies doing this right. Recently, I purchased a pair of ADIDAS shoes from Zappos. Because of my product purchase history, Zappos began “serving” me dynamic creative that included a carousel of the newest line of ADIDAS shoes. They scored points (not to mention extra dollars) with me when I wound up purchasing another pair of shoes I saw in the carousel.

Zappos also understands the concept of learning how to tap a consumer on the shoulder when there’s something they may be missing (e.g., new products based on past purchases or the subtle reminder of items they may have abandoned before purchasing). We’re a society obsessed with finding the next best thing—all the while convinced we’re missing something. Sometimes, we need gentle prodding and reminding that something may be missing us.

2. Owned Media

The biggest challenge I’ve seen marketers face is finding a message that is delivered at the right time, in the right way, at the point in which a consumer needs it. For many companies, the solution to this dilemma is all too often a landing page. Driving consumers to a landing page is fine if you know the answers to the following questions: What’s the destination? How is my message being fulfilled? Dropping someone into a boilerplate portion of a website isn’t the right solution.

Marketers need to be flexible, and they need to understand the relevance of a personalized experience. Threadless does a very good job of this as their entire business model is built a community. When they communicate with you, they’re not just driving you to a landing page, they communicate, encourage you to contribute and rate other people’s designs. They’ve truly captured the full circle of giving back in customer loyalty while they’re still capturing an interest that I may have had before.

Connecting the content dots often requires email campaigns. To that effect, customer preferences have never been more important—especially if you’re migrating CRM platforms. Be sure to pay close attention to these preferences if you decide to change CRM vendors; you’ll need to make sure that your vendors are of “like abilities” (in the way of their ability to deliver specific, already-identified preferences).

The identification of preferences doesn’t just start and end with a spreadsheet. Companies like Amazon have gotten exceptionally smart about connecting consumer site behavior to email campaigns. In pursuit of the perfect patio furniture set, I went to Amazon to see its selection. For the next month, all of the emails I received were focused on patio furniture. Creepy? Maybe. But I tend to think it’s less creepy when it’s an email that reflects actions taken on their site.

3. Earned Media

And that’s powerful.

Z Gillispie is the creative director at Nurun. He has more than a dozen years of experience in website development, interactive marketing, and eCRM communication.

Guy piqued my interest, which made me add the movie to my Netflix queue, which made my family learn much more about Justin Bieber than they ever wanted to know. And I learned 5 awesome  tips for treating your audience well, thanks to the pint-sized fabulously coiffed wonderboy.

1. Know where your audience is. Everyone knows that Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube. But when opportunity came to him, it didn’t immediately force him into purple baseball caps and toss glittering bags of money at him. Sure, Justin had the ear of some important people, but heneeded to find the earbuds of his target audience. So, when the radio stations refused to play Justin’s music (they didn’t know how to categorize him), he hit the venues all around him, from a water park to a high school gym to just playing acoustic songs on morning shows. He kept posting videos of his singing on YouTube  and kept playing at malls and wherever his target audience was. He didn’t wait for them to come running to him, he went running to them.

2. Continually engage your audience. Justin maintained interest in his gigs (no matter how small) by telling people about it. One of the most effective ways he reached out was by using Twitter. Just a little tweet about where he was singing helped pass the word along, and the number of people showing up kept increasing every time. In the movie, Justin is shown tweeting often to tell fans where he will be, what the latest news is, or just to thank fans for caring about him. With 10,474,859 Twitter followers (at the time of writing), Justin maintains a steady stream of communication with them, which means he answers their tweets, retweets their comments, and appears accessible to everyone who follows him.

3. Single out your most devoted fans now and then. A trademark of a Justin Bieber show is the “One Less Lonely Girl” event. A girl is plucked out of the crowd to be on stage with Justin. The girl is guided backstage by Justin’s people then ends up on stage during the song. She sits on a bar stool, receives a bouquet of flowers, and is serenaded the song “One Less Lonely Girl” by Justin. Sure, he does it for every concert; sure, the freshness might wear out at some point, but then I’m not Justin Bieber’s target audience. The girls with “I’m a Belieber” bedazzled on their shirts and crying from joy at the sight of him? Those are his target audience members, and they adore him. So, he shows them some mutual love by putting the spotlight on them. And you know what? I bet you that every single girl who shows up to his concert must, on some level, hold a secret hope that she will be chosen for the “One Less Lonely Girl” number.

4. Reward loyal fans with spontaneous acts of gift-giving. Justin Bieber’s people often have a handful of concert tickets that they give out to loyal Justin Bieber fans. They will check out the throngs of girls hanging out near concerts, girls who want to attend but cannot afford the tickets. And his team just gives them to the girls there. They will also check out the nosebleed seats at his concerts, and they hand out tickets for seat for the very front. Every fan matters, and Justin Bieber’s team lets the fans know this.

5. Show your fans the human side of  your business. Justin isn’t perfect, and he doesn’t come off that way. (Well, maybe his hair is.) In the “Never Say Never” flick, Justin is shown in a full light, not flattering, not shadowed. He comes off as a regular boy with an amazing talent, and his life has been a mix of highs and lows. The scenes of arenas filled with screaming fans are interspersed with scenes of Justin being restless backstage, getting scolded by his voice coach, hanging out with his friends, and so on. And when Justin’s throat gives him major problems, the film shows how annoying and isolating it is for him. A poignant shot is of Justin lying in bed and tweeting his fans to let them know he is grateful for their thoughts and prayers for his throat condition. He does not look like a major teen hearthhrob in the shot. He looks like a kid who is feeling down about being silenced, about not being able to perform, about not even being able to chat with his friends. It’s this glimpse of the other side of the sparkling purple-clad teenager that endears him to his fans. The girls get a sense that Justin is very real, very human, and completely accessible.

Whether you’re indifferent to Justin Bieber’s music, a huge fan, or the fan of a raging “Belieber,” you can still a learn a lot about the boy who sells out venues.

What’s your take? Do you have any pop figures that inspire you? I’d love to hear about them! Just let me know about them in the comments.

Listening effectively to your customers can be a very insightful experience. The better you are at listening; the better you can understand your customers’ wants and needs. Do you wonder what your customers are saying about your product or service across the web?

With the rise, and seemingly universal adoption, of social media among consumers, businesses can now listen in on conversations regarding their products and services—if they have the right tools. Although you cannot control these discussions, you can monitor them and respond accordingly.

Here are five free tools to include in your social media listening tool belt:
1. Social Mention: A site that offers real-time social media search and analysis. It’s very easy to use and features the most common indicators of social media activity (strength, sentiment, passion, and reach).
2. RSS Reader: Sign up for a free RSS reader, such as Google Reader. Then use the Google Blogs search option, and search blog directory sites, such as Technorati and Blog Catalog, for blogs that are relevant to your product or service. When you find what you are looking for, simply subscribe by clicking on the RSS feed and adding it to your reader.
3. Search.twitter.com: Here you can search for keywords or phrases and view those mentions (up to two weeks) as they occur on Twitter. Once you find relevant keywords you can subscribe via RSS feed, add to your reader, and stay alerted when these mentions happen in real time.
4. Online surveys and polls: Online survey tools can be an invaluable resource for listening. Embedding a survey or poll directly into your website or blog engages your audience and gives them a voice. You can also launch a survey or poll directly into Facebook and Twitter, giving your business a focused listening platform.
5. Google alerts: Google alerts allows you to set up search queries for keywords which Google will then email you whenever it indexes those keywords. A good idea to start with is to set up alerts for your company name, relevant products, and your website URL.

This may seem like a lot to jump into—so try not to get overwhelmed. It can be a real challenge to monitor everything at first so take it in strides and find what works best for you. Once you get your “listening headquarters” all set up, you will find it hard to turn off.

Listening to what people say can teach you a lot about what you are doing right, and perhaps more importantly, what you are doing wrong. In any case, your current and potential customers will likely appreciate the fact that you are indeed listening.

Jason Miller is a social media marketing manager at Zoomerang.

For more info about free online tools, check out Take 10: How to Monitor Conversations With Free Online Tools.

Just because the country has been in a financial funk for the past few years, that doesn’t mean that mothers have lost their tremendous influence over the market. Walk into any department store, thrift store, or grocery store, and you’ll see what you have always seen, mothers shopping for their children, mothers providing.

The beauty of marketing to mom is that mothers (more so than almost any demographic) love to share the information they learn about what products are worthwhile—and which ones aren’t. Once a mother trusts your brand and your products, you can be sure that the word will spread like wildfire. That being said, here are a few things to remember when marketing to moms.

1. Develop a relationship. If you want to successfully market to moms, you have to remember one thing above all other things: Build a relationship. Mothers, especially new mothers, are looking for brands they can stick with, and that will stick with them, for the long haul. They want brands that are going to provide real value and quality products for years to come.

2. Get personal. The brands that resonate the most with mom are the ones who market their products with content that reaches out to them in a very real, personal way. Don’t clutter your marketing campaign with flashy photos and wordy subject lines. Speak truthfully, and speak from the heart, and moms will be able to see that you deserve their trust.

3. Be appreciative. Women, especially moms, have always appreciated small gestures of appreciation, like thank you notes for example. Let the moms that you market to know that you appreciate their influence among their peers. Offer them coupons and discounts as a gesture of thanks for their support of your business … or you can always write them a note.

4. Learn their spending habits. Like I mentioned earlier in this article, everyone has been affected by the current state of the economy. More often than not, moms are buying generic brands and foregoing unnecessary spending—except when it comes to special occasions. Birthdays, Christmas, and anniversaries still warrant big spending. Keep an eye out for the big celebrations, and you’ll see the real spending power moms have.

5. Offer coupons. Moms love coupons. Make it a point to offer the moms on your marketing list a coupon every now and again, and you’ll be rewarded by loyalty and free word of mouth advertising. If you have any doubts about the power of a mom spreading the word about her favorite products, head down to your local playground on a Saturday or Sunday, and listen to what the moms are talking about.

There is no doubt in my mind that moms are some of the most loyal consumers, and every marketer would do well to acknowledge the buying power—and the free word-of-mouth advertising—that moms represent.

Daniel Cassady is an experienced freelancer, guest blogger, and frequent contributor to a blog hosted by Benchmark Email Marketing Company.

But in the frenzy of donning and doffing garments, clothes may unintentionally disappear. This happened with my favorite shirt. I thought it gone for good, so when I got home, I immediately searched online, looked at several options (none in my signature green, however), and finally ordered the same shirt that disappeared.

And then, I received an e-mail telling me that my beloved shirt had gotten mixed into someone’s pile and would be returned. Now, I had two.

Case closed? Not quite.  Immediately, ads began showing up touting the shirts I had not bought. The same two shirts in the same two colors (red and black) followed me everywhere I went. The web had decided I’m in the market for a shirt and was determined to sell me one—even though I had already made a purchase (and now had two).

With this experience fresh on my mind, I saw this article on re-targeting:

Lesson: Technology is wonderful and re-targeting might work sometimes, but enough is enough! I lost my shirt, yes, but I found it already.  Twice.