Engagement & Influence: The Most Monstrous Words in Marketing

// ENGAGEMENT & INFLUENCE: The Most Monstrous Terms In Marketing

Many of the insights, ideas and quotes are taken from the 2011 Razorfish Research Report

“Liminal”.

I am in no way connected to Razorfish, but their reports are some of the best in the industry.

Please support them and download the report now.

ENGAGEMENT is a messy, complicated word when it comes to marketing/communications

CHANGE

Things aren’t just changing…

WE’RE ON THE CUSP OF SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW

PRESENCE

IT’S NOT ABOUT “BEING” ON THE NEW CHANNELS

It’s about understanding them, who is using them and why

Most customers continue to use older channels of communication

Others are using new channels like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to publicize

their relationship with brands

As marketers, we should follow this model:

WE’RE EVERYWHERE YOU ARE - MULLEN

This is no longer our reality

Millions of people are migrating to social platforms but they don’t yet view these networks as a way to engage with brands

So what the hell is engagement anyway?

“Engagement is speaking with her (in this case, Mom) where she is, when she is looking for info and in the way

she is looking for it.”- Liz Hawks, Fleishman Hilliard

“The step from attention to action. A one-click social gesture such as a tweet or a like, a blog post written in

response with a trackback, or a letter written in response to an online campaign.”

- Rob Clark, Edelman

“Engagement is discovering how a channel fits a relationship need with the consumer.”

- Liminal Razorfish Research Report

How do we measure it?

Step 1: Stop Measuring From a Marketer’s Perspective

Things like time spent on site, site visits, page views and session length do nothing to elicit how consumers feel about

their relationship with the channel

Step 2: Start To Understand the Following Equations

Engagement = Channel + Relationship Need

Channel < Relationship Need

The Six Engagement Elements

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

ValueKnowing a brand cares about you• A phone call• A personal response on Twitter• A coupon for loyal customers

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

TrustFeeling confidence in a company’s credibility• A blog about R&D• Testimonials from

experts/professionals• Reacting honestly and being

transparent when issues arise

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

RelevanceWhen a company’s messaging matches needs• Providing mobile coupons for moms on-the-

go• Offering discounts on frequently purchased

items

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

EfficiencyWhen a company respects a customer’s

time and energy• Great customer service• Online billing• 1-2 day delivery

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

Consistency

When a company is uniform in all aspects of business• Easy tech support in all channels• Always reliable• Always dependable

Value Efficiency

Trust Consistency

Relevance Control

Control

When the customer can determine the communication• Facebook opt-in• Coupons without attaching email

address• Even distribution of messaging

The Key to the New Consumer

Value EfficiencyTrust

BED BATH & BEYOND

OLD = INNEFFECTIVETransactional emails and company Web sites still engage

Does everything need to engage to be effective?

.It just scores low in all of the areas of

engagement

PRINT = DEAD

Engagement often comes down to accessibility

Web sites still work because anyone can type a urlPhone centers still work because everyone can pick up a

phone

Not everyone knows how to tweet

So how does all of this work?

Step 1: Figure Out What Your Customers Want

Do they want coupons, advice, videos, stories, testimonials, recommendations, downloadable music, etc, etc, etc.

Step 2: Figure Out What Channels They Use to Get It

Are they using mobile phones, do they tweet, do they text, do they email, do they spend time online?

The goal of engagement is inevitably influence

Influence is a messy, complicated word too

Regardless, we must take into account a consumer’s power to influence others

• When asked what sources “influence your decision to use or not use a particular company, brand or product,” 71% say reviews from family members or friends exert a “great deal” or “fair amount” of influence”

• 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know; 70% from those they don’t know

Digital platforms allow us to identify online influencers and how much influence they wield

Kind of…

KLOUT

STLINDEX TWINFLUENCE

TWITTERGRADER

Regardless, it’s still about one thing:

Giving people something worth sharing

Regardless, it’s still about one thing:

Giving people something worth sharing

We cannot make someone an ambassador of a brand if it’s not worth it to them

OLD SPICE = SUCCESS

Old Spice was a revolutionary case study about the power of viral and the speed at which social networks allowed for

conversation

It was also a lightening strike, a lottery win and a short term engagement

The future of influence lies in the hands of the consumer

The Fox Theater• Gives complimentary tickets to individuals

with a high influence score on Twitter and asks that they tweet during the show

The common trend for the future of marketing:

Product-centric efforts turn to customer-centric efforts

ENGAGEMENT = BHAG

A big, hairy, audacious goal

It requires a deep evaluation of touch pointsAnd a thorough understanding of your customer

Remember…

CHANGE

Things aren’t just changing…

WE’RE ON THE CUSP OF SOMETHING COMPLETELY NEW

PRESENCE

IT’S NOT ABOUT “BEING” ON THE NEW CHANNELS

It’s about understanding them, who is using them and why

This doesn’t have to be scary…

But it is a monstrous change in the marketing industry

Are you ready to respond?

buffamj@gmail.comhttp://twitter.com/mbuffa