June 7, 2013 Leave a Comment

Few things in marketing are binary

During yesterday’s prep for my Critical Influence in Social Media webinar, one of my late additions to the deck was a discussion point that very few things in marketing are binary, even though we as marketers desperately wish they were. By this I mean binary in its literal state – 0 or 1, no or yes, deal won or lost. When have you influenced someone? It’s not a binary state by any measure – influence is far more analog, with a spectrum of different states of influence, each with different outcomes.

Even something as simple as a deal won or lost isn’t binary. Certainly, you may say that a sales deal is lost at present, but things change. Contracts come up for renewal. Products don’t work as advertised. When that happens, your window of opportunity opens up again, and the “lost” deal is back on the table.

Google Image Result for http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ip1G1ojoCNg/TZVQPZfYdXI/AAAAAAAAASU/3rX688K6om8/s400/MiracleMax.jpg

Miracle Max: He probably owes you money huh? I’ll ask him.
Inigo Montoya: He’s dead. He can’t talk.
Miracle Max: Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive. With all dead, well, with all dead there’s usually only one thing you can do.
Inigo Montoya: What’s that?
Miracle Max: Go through his clothes and look for loose change.

What does this mean in practical terms? When you’re doing your marketing analysis and reporting, more things should be measured in terms of scores and progress towards goals rather than simple binary measures. When you’re analyzing lead quality, get rid of the idea of a single status of qualified or unqualified and look at scoring those leads more granularly, so that you can determine better how far along the spectrum of qualified or unqualified they actually are. Finally, be accepting of the fact that not everything can be measured cleanly and precisely. At the end of the day, we’re working with human beings – creatures who are deeply imprecise, highly unpredictable in many ways, and working with them is as much art as it is science.

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Basics for Digital Marketers
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Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing, Metrics
June 6, 2013 1 Comment

Marketing Over Coffee: Now With More Awkward Pauses

If you normally listen to the polished, well-produced audio version, then today will illustrate the wisdom of that choice as technical difficulties abound in the live show. We discuss the Salesforce/ExactTarget deal, webinar registrations, negative SEO, and so much more:

Subscribe now to the Marketing Over Coffee podcast!

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Basics for Digital Marketers
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SEOMoz SEO Software
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for small business incorporation.
Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing, Podcasting, Video
June 3, 2013 1 Comment

Basic podcasting analytics

I was recently asked on Twitter about what podcasting analytics you should pay attention to. Let’s look at a handful to see what’s important.

First, podcasting is a medium, just as social media is a medium, just as television is a medium, just as radio is a medium. That means that it fulfills the function of attracting and retaining new audiences for you and your business (if you’re podcasting for business purposes and not just as a fun hobby). Fundamentally, we want to understand the answers to three questions about the audience:

1. Who is in the audience?

What does the audience look like? How many personas are in it? How large is the audience? One of the most effective ways to get this data (besides flat out asking them) is to use something like LinkedIn Groups or a Facebook Page, as that will give you basic demographic and professional data. That’s one of the reasons Marketing Over Coffee maintains an active LinkedIn Group.

2. How engaged is the audience?

If no one’s listening, why bother? Services like Libsyn can give you download data, which is helpful. Services like Stitcher and YouTube can give you insight into how far people listen or watch.

Analytics - YouTube

If you’re a sponsored show, as Marketing Over Coffee is, then we know based on this information that we need to deliver the paid ad in the first 25% of the show, when attention is highest.

3. How valuable is the audience?

This is the ultimate question. What does the audience do for you in exchange for the value you provide them? You won’t find this in your podcasting analytics. You’ll find this in your web analytics or your marketing automation system/CRM. How many people signed up for the mailing list? How many people filled out a lead form? How many people bought the book? How valuable is that audience in doing the things that matter to you?

Measure your podcasting efforts along these three categories of metrics if you want to understand what the value of your podcast is. Oh, and subscribe to my podcast that I do with John Wall every week, Marketing Over Coffee.

If you enjoyed this, please share it with your network!

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Marketing White Belt

Basics for Digital Marketers
is now on Amazon & B&N

I recommend & use:
SEOMoz SEO Software
SEOMoz SEO software. 		I recommend:

for small business incorporation.
Filed Under: Advertising, Marketing, Metrics, Podcasting
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