The Lunch Pail

Knotice and Closing the Digital Divide

November 20, 2009 – 12:05 pm

The Lunch Pail, and Knotice, are 100 percent focused on the application and evolution of direct digital marketing in order to advance the business-to-customer relationship in a more relevant, accountable way. To that end, the wide adoption of certain technologies pertaining to direct digital marketing is also an interest of ours because it is beneficial for our customers, the general "consumer" and society as a whole. Providing access to information is extremely important, and the primary direct digital marketing channels - email, Web, mobile - best facilitate access for all.

The Connect Akron project is designed to provide free wireless Internet access to anyone within a projected 10 square mile radius of the network right in our own downtown of Akron, Ohio. From time to time here on the Lunch Pail I will take a moment to provide updates on this important project.

The project is currently in a time of leadership transition that will no doubt make it stronger and better aligned to meet objectives. The goals remain the same with the project having a target completion date by the summer of 2010. Akron’s ambition is to be an example to the entire country for the successful implementation and adoption of a free wireless network in a metropolitan area. While the project is a boon for businesses and workers in the downtown area, that segment does not represent the project’s only beneficiaries.

One of the more important ambitions of the project is to provide Internet access to folks that do not normally have it… closing the digital divide. The reasons for creating the wireless corridor on a downtown area are self-evident. But the opportunity to grant access to information for all is important not just for the continued success of business and economic development, but for society as a whole.

As the number of wireless access points increases each week, the project has also adopted the ambition of providing local citizens with free computers to access the free network. Training is already underway for citizens in every demographic and walk of life.

As Akron becomes an even better city to work in – with the ability for workers to be connected and plugged in anywhere within the city’s burgeoning network – the efforts to educate and provide access for all are pivotal for continued growth.

Cities all over the country are finding new and exciting ways to incorporate new technology. From Manor, Texas’ use of QR codes for citizens to get instant information about government sites around the city to Akron’s free wireless network, access is improving for all.

By Josh Gordon | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Knotice | Tags: Akron ohio wireless network, business, Connect Akron, Direct Digital Marketing, Josh Gordon, Knight Center of Digital Excelllence, Knotice, marketing software, marketing technology, mobile marketing software, on-demand marketing software, on-demand marketing technology, OneCommunity, QR codes for government, smart technology for government, software, technology, technology based cities, technology in cities, technology in government | Leave a Comment

Making Sense of Mobile Tagging

November 18, 2009 – 12:32 pm

Mobile tagging is a category term for the creation and rendering of a two-dimensional bar code that is link to an online experience, accessed through a mobile device. There are two basic types of mobile tagging solutions. I will go into greater depth in a forthcoming column for the MMA, but here is a quick overview of the types of mobile tagging solutions.

Software-based Solutions

QR Codes: For “Quick Response,” these are the most commonly recognized 2-D code format, and commonly used throughout Asia and Europe. The code format is not proprietary and many providers offer applications for creating, rendering and scanning tags.
Microsoft Tag: Microsoft has a proprietary code format, and well-developed tools for rendering, managing and scanning tags. Microsoft Tags are quickly recognized by their CMYK color scheme.
ScanLife: ScanLife was early to the North American market, and now a well-established provider with a proprietary code format and scanning software pre-loaded on some devices in North America.

Software-free Solutions

JAGTAG: JAGTAG is a pioneer of software-free solutions that leverages MMS, email, and Twitter to drive interactions. They market the service as an attractive alternative to software-based solutions.
SnapTag: A similar concept as JAGTAG, with an interesting twist: the brand’s logo is the central component of the tag design, delivering a clearly branded tagging experience.

Both solutions have pros and cons. I prefer and recommend software-based solutions because the superior user experience is my primary consideration in most cases, and therefore the prevailing factor. I find the Microsoft Tag solution provides the best tools for rendering, managing and scanning tags. The software is widely available across device types and the download process is user-friendly.

Editor’s Note: Bryce was recently a guest on Brian Prow’s highly regarded mobile marketing podcast, MobileBeyond. Make sure and listen and forward the link to your coworkers and colleagues!

Bryce also will be published in an upcoming Mobile Marketing Association newsletter about this very topic. Bryce hits on a few points here, but goes much more in depth in the forthcoming MMA article – keep an eye out!

You can also still read his Making Sense of Mobile Marketing white paper!

By Bryce Marshall | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Knotice, Mobile Marketing, Tech Tips, marketing, technology adoption | Tags: Bryce Marshall, business, differences in mobile tagging, JAGTAG, Knotice, Knotice mobile marketing, Making Sense of Mobile Tagging, marketing software, marketing technology, Microsoft Tag, mobile marketing expert, mobile marketing software, mobile marketing technology, mobile marketing thought-leader, mobile tagging breakdown, mobile tagging comparison, on-demand mobile marketing, on-demand mobile marketing software, on-demand mobile marketing technology, QR codes, ScanLife, smart mobile marketing, SnapTag, software, Software-based Solutions mobile tagging, Software-free Solutions mobile tagging, technology | Comments (1)

Holiday eRetail: Reach Women with Relevance

November 16, 2009 – 11:46 am

I have an iPhone. Therefore, I am an AT&T customer. As a result AT&T has added me to their email distribution list, and I now am on the receiving end of several email tactics. My favorite (and not for a good reason) are the acquisition tactics.

I receive offers to bundle additional AT&T services: home phone, Internet and television. What is really neat about these offers (sense the sarcasm???) is that I am not in a serviceable area for AT&T U-Verse. Then WHY, AT&T, ARE YOU WASTING MY TIME? Why are you sending me email communication with offers for services I do not qualify for? As your customer, that does not make me happy. I do not feel that AT&T knows me or cares enough about me as a customer to pay any attention to me. The email makes me unhappy and causes me to opt-out of future communications. I am guessing this is not the desired outcome AT&T had in mind.

I want information that matters to me when interacting with a business. At some point, I have opted in to receive communication from a company, so I care what the company has to say. But, what a company has to say better matter to me. Make email content relevant. Take what you know about me as a customer and apply that knowledge. What interactions have I had with a company? What are my shopping habits surrounding the products? Have I offered up any personal information that could be useful in targeting communication to me? Am I am mom? Do I work?

Now, I have always believed I am a bit of a tough customer. But, it turns out I am not alone. Relevance is important to most women, and it is even more important to women who are mothers. Fifty-eight percent of women surveyed say they want information that pertains to their lifestyle or relates to their recent purchases. Seventy-one percent of women responded that they are willing to share information like an email address, their age, and their gender to receive discounts, promotional offers and coupons. If I am interpreting this survey information correctly, women want information that is pertinent to them, they want savings offers, but THEY WANT INFORMATION. Did you hear that, companies? Women want information from you… that is half the battle right there.

Companies must surprise women with information that actually matters to them. Spend some time getting to know them, demonstrate that they are valued. Right now, send them a savings offer that is relevant to them (go ahead, I will wait). We all know that if women do not like what they are hearing from a company, they will tell their friends (just like I told you about AT&T). But also keep in mind that if women do like what they are hearing, not only will they tell their friends but they will also remain a loyal customer!

By Amy Chubbuck | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Online Retail Marketing Tips, marketing, online consumer experience | Tags: Amy Chubbuck, AT&T email tactics, AT&T marketing, bad AT&T marketing, business, digitally marketing to women, Direct Digital Marketing, directly marketing to women, favorite email tactics, how to market to women, Knotice, marketing software, marketing technology, marketing to women, marketing to women survey results, mobile marketing software, smart marketing, software, technology, women demographics | Leave a Comment

Better Email with Usability and A/B Testing

November 13, 2009 – 12:01 pm

I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to usability. I really get excited about the idea of tweaking a page to get just the right response… and learning why it works. When I overheard someone here at Knotice talking about an eye track study and heat maps, my ears perked up. Turns out this was an older study and specific to news media websites, but it got me thinking about how customers view the creative that is worked so diligently to perfect.

There are a lot of good studies that use eye tracking from the biggest names in usability. And there are a bunch that reveal what shape is made when the heat map is complete – an “F,” a “Z,” something that looks like the “solution” without the maze, etc. But there are also a few places where all the different studies tend to be in agreement. Most of these studies are centered on how we all read text.

Usually we scan. Customers are very adept at reading email and making quick decisions on it. A longer publication like a newsletter may get less than a minute’s attention from the most engaged readers. Email, unsurprisingly, competes for a limited – usually fixed – amount of time with everyone else’s email. Readers do not add to their email time budget for each new subscription.

So what can be done? Here are a few standards I always strive for when reviewing email copy and layout:

Clearly all the shapes created by these heat maps put emphasis on the top left. That is how we in the West read, left to right and top to bottom, so this comes naturally. Put the goods there.
Some studies will show that the best length for a text link is 7-10 words. Often eye trackers guide us to make the first few words count. That may be all that is read (or scanned) before a decision is made to click or move on.
The same principles apply with headlines. The first few words matter the most.
Text links are best and buttons are second for getting clicks. Anything that looks like an “ad” in the content, regardless of how well it actually supports the content, will likely be ignored.

It may not be possible to get the budget, time, or desire to do an eye track study, but it does not mean improving the content is impossible. Besides taking my word for what works, do some A/B testing. Conduct a focus group with a few customers. If something new and different is learned, let us all know.

By Dutch Hollis | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Optimization, Testing, email marketing, marketing | Tags: business, Direct Digital Marketing, direct digital marketing software, Dutch Hollis, Dutch Hollis email expert, email marketing, email marketing creative, email marketing software, email newsletter readability tips, email newsletter tips, ESP, heat maps, Knotice, marketing, marketing software, software, standards for email copy and email layout, tips for reviewing email copy and layout, usability studies, what keeps customers engaged | Comments (2)

The Difference: SMS versus Twitter

November 11, 2009 – 12:04 pm

One of my prevailing themes on The Lunch Pail is untangling marketer confusion within the very broad topic of "mobile marketing."

One source of confusion - perhaps we can call it a "misconception" - is common enough to address here in detail. Many marketers misunderstand, or do not see a distinction between, the micro-blogging social media platform Twitter and permission opt-in text message marketing through SMS.

Here is what we often hear from marketers suffering this misunderstanding:

“Twitter is text messages, right? And since it’s free, I think we should dip our toe in the ‘mobile marketing’ waters here first. If it works, maybe we’ll consider creating a budget for opt-in SMS marketing.”

The misconception is simply that Twitter is a viable replacement for opt-in SMS text message marketing. Or, that the benefits of “free” far outweigh the potential benefits of anything you have to pay for.
However, please consider two very critical areas where Twitter falls short as an SMS-marketing replacement (even if it is free, for now):

Twitter is not mobile marketing

Some Twitter users leverage their mobile devices, enabling tweets to be forwarded to their mobile devices as SMS. But many do not. And if they are receiving SMS text messages from Twitter it may be for select members only – primarily close friends. On the other side of the spectrum, a group of followers may be following one business’ tweets in addition to hundreds of other brands and marketers with all of the tweets stacking up in a web queue. So, for all of those followers, how many are receiving and reading marketing messages at the intended time and place? In a lot of circumstances, tweeting will not classify as mobile marketing either in the technical sense of being accessed on a mobile device, or in the spirit of mobile marketing which is designed to leverage timeliness and location to make a marketing impact.

Twitter is not database or direct digital marketing

Twitter is not database marketing and please do not let anyone argue that it is. Twitter followers do not represent a marketing database in any respect, not like the opt-in database of mobile phone numbers you can gain with savvy SMS marketing. Twitter followers are fans and perhaps loyalists, but they are not individually addressable in a scalable way. Marketers are unable to gather additional data points such as a location, product preference, or purchase history and layer these attributes to create more comprehensive follower profiles. Marketers cannot segment and target your tweets based on these attributes, as is possible with SMS marketing. Marketers cannot personalize in any scalable way. Marketers cannot insert dynamic text in a message, or have the user click thru to a personalized mobile web page with a targeted offer or generate a unique barcode for in-store redemption, or track an individual user’s preferences, activity, and behavior.

Twitter, and any form of social media, definitely has a role in a direct digital marketing tactical plan. However, marketers must be diligent about understanding that different roles exist for different applications.

Let’s compare how these benefits break down.

SMS is more targeted, timely, and provides a broad array of useful, automated, interactive touchpoints:

Timely and targeted offers drive purchases, move foot traffic, and influence purchase decisions at the point of sale.
Provide helpful information on-demand by using Web services and APIs hat query online applications for information like store locations or shipping status notifications.

Twitter can support promotional messaging and drive foot traffic, but is excellent for achieving larger branding, positioning and PR goals:

Help establish key terms and positioning points for the business with hashtags, tapping into the power of trending topics and searches.
Build a network of fans, loyalists, and advocates who help distribute a message through the social network. ReTweets!
Twitter is a better channel for establishing and honing a brand personality because of the highly social, discussion-based nature of the application.

While Twitter definitely has a place in a tactical game plan, please do not fall victim to the misconception that opt-in SMS text message marketing is somehow obsolete.

Bryce recently published a white paper called, Making Sense of Mobile Marketing. Download it for free! Read his new follow up article to the Making Sense series called Making Sense of Mobile Tagging.

By Bryce Marshall | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Knotice, Mobile Marketing, marketing | Tags: business, Direct Digital Marketing, how does twitter work, how does twitter work for marketing, is twitter good for marketing, Knotice, marketing software, marketing technology, mobile marketing software, mobile marketing technology, retweets, SMS marketing, SMS text messaging marketing, social media marketing, software, tactical marketing game plan, technology, Twitter, twitter and text message marketing strategies, twitter for business, twitter marketing, twitter marketing strategies, twitter versus sms, twitter versus text message marketing | Comments (1)

Duane Reade's Sweet Mobile Campaign

November 9, 2009 – 12:41 pm

One of the newest additions to the growing Knotice family of customers, Duane Reade, is using Knotice's on-demand marketing software to ask New Yorkers an important question: How do you like your cookies?

For those of you who may not know, Duane Reade is the most recognized drugstore chain in metropolitan New York, with more than 253 stores throughout New York. The chain offers a vast array of products which recently expanded to include a new line of food products under the DelishTM brand. Two of these products are at the center of the company’s most recent city-wide campaign – the Delish Hard Cookies and the Delish Soft Cookies.

Duane Reade is blanketing New York with posters and in-store creative pieces that urge customers to express their preference for either hard or soft cookies. Customers can vote one of two ways. The first is by visiting www.hardorsoftny.com and voting via the Web poll. The poll (powered by Knotice!) collects votes and reports on the current results in real time. Customers can also enter their zip code to help Duane Reade find the “hardest” and “softest” neighbors in New York.

Duane Reade customers can also text the keyword POLL to Duane Reade’s shortcode and participate. Upon the request, our software sends the poll question to the customer’s mobile phone. The customer can reply with either HARD or SOFT to lock in their vote. The customer also receives a reply thanking them for voting and includes a snapshot of the current live results of the poll. The message invites customers to visit the hardorsoftny.com site. The site recognizes their mobile browser and serves up mobile-optimized content accordingly.

Duane Reade’s campaign is a fun and engaging way to get customers involved in a new product offering. Everyone – young and old – has an opinion about how they like their cookies. By making clever use of Knotice’s polling and mobile capabilities, Duane Reade will soon be able to tell the world which way the cookies crumbles in the Big Apple.

By Emily Haase | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Knotice, Mobile Marketing, Online Retail Marketing Tips, marketing | Tags: best new york ad campaign, business, Delish Hard Cookies, Delish Soft Cookies, Direct Digital Marketing, Duane Reade, duane reade customers, duane reade marketing, hard or soft, hard or soft ny, hot new York ad campaign, Knotice, live poll mobile technology, live poll results with mobile, marketing, marketing software, marketing technology, metropolitan New York, mobile marketing software, mobile marketing technology, mobile optimized content, New York, New York ad campaign, software, technology | Comments (1)

Knotice Customer Gets in the Digital Driver's Seat

November 6, 2009 – 12:41 pm

As The Lunch Pail's newest contributor, I will provide updates on some of the most cutting edge direct digital marketing programs and campaigns from some of Knotice's newest customers. Today's installment involves a really cool example of onsite targeting.

Classic Auto Group has taken evasive action to avoid a routine website by implementing onsite targeting technology across all of its websites, souping up its online presence with direct digital marketing custom-made for individual customers.

Classic is using Knotice’s onsite targeting technology, called Concentri^® SiteTarget, to deliver finely tuned marketing messages aimed at specific customers based on profile attributes and past website activity. Knotice’s onsite targeting transforms formerly static website content into “Live Zones” that rotate content based on the attributes of the customer viewing the content. One area on a website displays different content for different customers. For example, a current Classic customer who has visited the website in the past and then clicks through to the parts and service part of the website is eligible to receive a discount offer for routine maintenance on their car while a new visitor to the website is eligible to receive a special APR promotional offer for the purchase of a new vehicle. These different marketing messages are delivered without interrupting the overall appearance of Classic’s website or the creating additional page-load time.

How does this work? Knotice’s onsite targeting code snippet is directly tied into each and every Web page in the Classic Auto Group family of websites. The direct tie-in allows Classic to capture website browsing activity with precision – even for anonymous site visitors – and using information about website visitors to deliver relevant, targeted content to individual customers based on their activity. For example, a customer who prefers a Ford may not want to receive an offer about Chevy. Classic creates the content and defines exactly which customers should receive what content. Concentri^® SiteTarget translates the basic understanding of a one-on-one interaction at a dealership to the digital channel.

Classic is taking Live Zones into the fast lane by even incorporating them into the slideshow content on the website. Now, within a single slideshow content element, Classic can control which visitors see which slides.

Knotice is excited to add horsepower to Classic Auto Group’s direct digital marketing!

By Emily Haase | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Knotice, Onsite Targeting, behavioral targeting, marketing | Tags: behavioral targeting, business, Classic Auto Group’s website, Classic customer, Classic’s website, Concentri® SiteTarget, define live zones, define: onsite targeting, digital marketing for car dealers, Direct Digital Marketing, example of onsite targeting, implemented onsite targeting technology, Knotice, Knotice Customer Gets in the Digital Driver's Seat, Knotice’s onsite targeting technology, Live Zones, marketing, marketing software, marketing technology, online marketing for car dealers, onsite targeting, onsite targeting example, onsite targeting motion, real behavioral targeting, real onsite targeting, safe behavioral targeting, software, technology, using onsite targeting, what are live zones, what is onsite targeting | Leave a Comment

Optimistic Online Retail Holiday Forecasts

November 4, 2009 – 1:31 pm

The holiday season must be just around the corner. At least I hope it is… or that snow outside my office window is a huge bummer. But, while the weather is getting colder, the economy appears is in the beginning stages of a thaw. However, according to some industry analysts, the impact of a thaw may not be felt in time for the fast-approaching holiday season. Despite some cautious forecasts there is reason for guarded optimism in the online retail world.

First, some perspective. Last holiday season overall retail sales declined 2.4 percent. Despite the negativity of last holiday season some retailers, like Macy’s and other leading department stores, are already adjusting earnings forecasts upward.

The news of upticks in some earnings forecasts was followed closely by the forecast from the National Retail Federation (NRF). The NRF predicts that overall holiday retail sales will decline by roughly one percent this year.

But, there is good news as of November 3, 2009.

When considering only the online retail sector, Forrester Research is forecasting an eight percent increase. According to the report, online retail remains a bastion of hope for the economy and the retail industry as a whole. The eight percent forecasted growth is higher than last year’s actual growth of five percent. In the online retail world, the economy has thawed and consumers are spending.

Part of the explanation for the growth from some analysts is a solid percentage of incumbent online shoppers shifting more time and resources to online spending. A recent study from the e-tailing group proves the shift. According to the study, in 2008 44 percent of holiday purchases came from brick-and-mortar stores while 49 percent of holiday purchases were online. It was the first time the Web had ever been responsible for a larger percentage of sales than traditional channels.

With forecasts for online retailing increased this holiday season, and the growth forecasts of the online retail sector only getting better, marketers must ensure all of the necessary tools for direct digital marketing are in place to maximize the increasing value of the online channel. As consumers willingly adopt new technologies in the name of added convenience, marketers must be properly positioned to leverage addressable channels. Great direct digital marketing campaign execution this holiday season will make an already strong sales performance stronger.

By Josh Gordon | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Online Retail Marketing Tips, Shop.org | Tags: Knotice, marketing, Forrester Research, National Retail Federation, technology, Direct Digital Marketing, business, software, marketing software, marketing technology, holiday retail forecast, online retail forecast, holiday online retail forecast, last holiday season sales results, sales decline, thawing economy, the e-tailing group, 44 percent of holiday purchases, maximize the increasing value of the online channel, Great direct digital marketing campaign execution, make an already strong sales performance stronger | Comments (1)

Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites, Interchangeable?

November 2, 2009 – 1:12 pm

Bryce Marshall, The Lunch Pail's resident mobile marketing expert and Knotice's Director of Strategic Services, recently responded to an interesting question about mobile websites and mobile apps. His answer was compelling enough to become good reading here on the Lunch Pail. If you have a question for Bryce about mobile marketing, please post it in the comments and he will answer it in a future post!

Here is the question posed by mobile marketing specialist Alexander Gregori followed by Bryce’s answer:

“I have long wondered why a company, any company, would choose a marketing tool that can only reach a fraction of its potential customers. Applications or “apps” are just such a marketing tool. Volkswagen America seems to be the first international heavyweight to have realized that they can reach almost everyone of the over 4 billion mobile phone owners worldwide with a mobisite (mobile websites) instead of an app.” In short – why do companies bother with mobile apps over a mobile website?

The follow are Bryce’s comments:

Primarily, apps and mobile web sites have different strengths and should be applied accordingly, as complements, not interchangeable replacements.

A mobile site should be optimized to provide essential content to the greatest number of consumers – valuable information like customer service/help, product information, finding locations, etc, with complete cross-browser, lowest-common denominator functionality in mind. Providing easy access to information, performing simple tasks, streamlining content, and ultra-basic navigation are all essentials when attempting to maximize reach. As it stands today, many mobile browsers are poor and do not provide a positive consumer experience for complex or multi-stage tasks, or where data/character entry is required.

There is a tipping point when it comes to directing consumers to a dedicated device app on an iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Palm, etc. An app can be used for:

Complex tasks like a truly user-friendly experience for searching and buying airline tickets. Frequent flyers and business travelers love to have the same level of usability and speed in searching/booking that they expect on the website-proper, which is difficult to achieve today on a mobile site.
Close engagement with a consumer on very focused elements of the brand experience. I know some of the folks who worked on the Nationwide Insurance app, which places heavy emphasis on allowing Nationwide customers (and non-customers) the ability to log all details of an accident, take photos of the scene, find the nearest repair shop, call a tow truck, call the police, and call their agent – all in a very usable experience. This is a perfect case study of delivering real interactive value, and focused on one specific but extremely valuable aspect of the overall business.

Mobile browsers today do not realistically allow Nationwide to accomplish all of these objectives – or anything remotely close to a positive consumer experience – with a mobile website. However, the browser technology is improving quickly, and possibly in 18 or 24 months this experience may be possible. While apps are used now to fill gaps and create engaging mobile experiences, a mobile website end-game is necessary to migrate this functionality over to the mobile Web in a few years’ time.

A quick strategic note: If any marketer is planning on developing apps, please plan on developing an iPhone, Blackberry, and Android app – at least! Nothing irritates non-iPhone users (like me) more than brands that only take the time to create an iPhone app. These brands are basically communicating to the majority of all smartphone users that they are not valued because they do not have an iPhone. iPhones represent approximately 20 percent of all smartphones in the U.S…. Blackberry represents approximately 50 percent. It is time to for marketers to think beyond the iPhone.

Remember, if you have a question for Bryce about mobile marketing, please post it in the comments and he will answer it in a future post.

By Josh Gordon | Posted in Direct Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, marketing | Tags: Alexander Gregori, android apps, Are Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites Interchangeable, BlackBerry apps, Bryce Marshall, business, Direct Digital Marketing, iPhone apps, irritate non-iphone users, Knotice, marketing, marketing software, marketing technology, Mobile Apps, mobile expert, mobile expert answering questions, mobile marketing expert, mobile marketing specialist, mobile marketing specialist Alexander Gregori, mobile marketing strategy, Mobile Websites, nationwide insurance app, Palm apps, smartphone information, smartphone market, smartphones, software, technology | Comments (2)

Direct Digital Marketing and Cable's 3 Screens

October 30, 2009 – 11:49 am

The annual CTAM (Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing) Summit wrapped this week. A central theme of the CTAM Summit is the discussion of the "TV Everywhere" concept. TV - in its current definition - has to adapt. Competition from the Web - where video content is available anytime through Hulu, YouTube, and thousands of other sources - is creating a fragmented media universe and cuts into the recurring monthly subscription revenue that cable operators have found so profitable for many years.

Cable providers are in a rush to figure out the logistics of making programs available to customers not just through TV but also through computers and mobile devices. The idea is to create the same wealth of content customers receive for their monthly cable expenses, but make it available across all three of the screens customers use most. The goal is a completely channel-neutral content accessibility strategy.

The potential user experience is compelling, but the consumer will not patiently wait – the development of this experience has to be a top priority. A generation of consumers under 18 already spends more time with Hulu, YouTube, and their iPhones than they do with a TV. The cable TV brands we know well are virtually meaningless to this generation. The youngest consumers will not look to or accept content from brands with which they have no association.

With a shift in the logistics of content delivery inevitable the consumer needs time to adjust their perceptions about how a cable company delivers content. The average consumer does not associate Time Warner Cable or Comcast with “online episodes of How I Met Your Mother or Deadliest Catch.”

Bottom line, the general consumer needs to undergo behavior modification. The cable companies need to build awareness, create smooth transitions from one screen to the other, and guide customers to adoption. Pointing customers to the right content at the right time manufactures the ideal customer experience.

The expansion of content availability provides one very distinct, potential opportunity: Customers must be logged in to access content. This enables a completely trackable media environment where each access point and interaction provides a wealth of data that is mined to identify behavior patterns and preferences, and then develop insights to create a more dynamic and user-friendly experience.

Direct digital marketing is essential to the behavior modification process. Direct digital communications are ideal because they allow marketers to focus on the three devices through which customers are consuming content: the computer, a mobile device, and even interactive TV.

Behavior modification is about creating opportunities for the customer to find, explore, experience, and embrace a new content and technology relationship. The flexibility to manage timely communications across digital channels is possible thanks to a wealth of customer data to drive segmentation, targeting, and event-triggered messaging.

Here are a few quick examples of how smart direct digital marketing strategies expedite the mass adoption of a trackable, user-friendly media experience:

Timely text messages remind a customer to view a favorite sports highlight show while waiting for a flight
Emails alert a customer that episodes of a favorite program are available for viewing online
Dynamic and interactive TV content promoting new Fall programs that appeal to a customer based on past viewing habits
Automated email or text messages remind customers of unwatched programs and movies on their DVR (hint: these should be sponsored!)

The current competitive and platform challenges for the cable operators are real. But the opportunities for a “TV Everywhere” concept to deepen relationships with subscribing customers are immense. Direct digital marketing plays a critical role in making the dream of a content-consuming utopia a reality.

By Bryce Marshall | Posted in CTAM Cable, Cable Programmers, Cable and Broadband MSOs, Direct Digital Marketing, Mobile Marketing, email marketing | Tags: "3 screens", 2009 CTAM, 2009 CTAM Summit, Automated email or text messages remind customers of unwatched programs and movies on their DVR, Bryce Marshall, business, Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing, cable companies using online better, CTAM, CTAM Summit, Deadliest Catch, Direct Digital Marketing, Direct Digital Marketing and Cable’s 3 Screens, Direct digital marketing is essential to the behavior modification process, direct digital marketing strategies, direct digital marketing strategies expedite the mass adoption of a trackable, direct digital marketing’s impact on cable, Emails alert a customer that episodes of a favorite program are available for viewing online, How I Met Your Mother, Hulu, iPhones, Knotice, marketing, marketing software, marketing technology, online content distribution, online strategies for cable companies, platform challenges for the cable operators, software, technology, text messages remind a customer to view a favorite sports highlight, TV Everywhere, user-friendly media experience, YouTube | Leave a Comment

The Lunch Pail

Knotice and Closing the Digital Divide

Making Sense of Mobile Tagging

Holiday eRetail: Reach Women with Relevance

Duane Reade's Sweet Mobile Campaign

Knotice Customer Gets in the Digital Driver's Seat

Optimistic Online Retail Holiday Forecasts

Mobile Apps and Mobile Websites, Interchangeable?

Direct Digital Marketing and Cable's 3 Screens

Lunch Pail Links

Informative Screencasts

Knotice

Links

Stuff We Read

Most Popular

Archives

Search