Images Done Right: Eventbrite Email Review

I've mentioned in posts past that one of the questionable things about email marketing is how and when to use images instead of straight text. Most email providers, like Gmail and Yahoo, now block images from senders until you explicitly approve them. Which means that if you use images, your audience might see emails that don't look the way you intended them to look.

The other day I received the email below from Eventbrite:

You can see that there are images in the email that are blocked from view. But at the same time, the message still gets across. This combination of text and images is an important one. Though I don't get the same impression as others who may see the images when they open the email, I still get the main point. The value of the email still comes across.

And here is the email once I clicked 'display images below':

Well done Eventbrite.

Overall Grade = A.

Top 10 Gatekeeper Tactics for Sales Reps

Many sales and business development professionals feel that gatekeepers are the bane of their existence, but complaining about it ' or worse, just quitting ' is the wrong approach.

Instead, the most successful sales professionals think of creative ways to get around the gatekeeper and sometimes even leverage the gate keeper as a resource to help with the sale.

Over the years I have gathered tactics for working with gatekeepers from many of the sales professionals I have worked with. Here are the top 10:

1. Don't sound like a sales person when you ask for the contact:

• This is the first mistake that most people make. If you sound like you know the person you are trying to reach, you are a lot more likely to get through without any questions.
• Instead of: 'Hi this is Bob for Acme Inc., I'm looking for Michael Ka'Kaplansky? Is he available?'
• Try asking with confidence: 'Hi, is Mike there please?'
• The second approach will work much better, but you have to be confident, quick on your toes, and prepared to answer follow up questions like, 'Mike who?' and 'Who is this?'

2. Build a rapport with the gatekeeper:

• Make sure to get his or her name every time, and make a note of it for the next time you call ' people like hearing their name, and it creates an instant bond. 'Thanks Rebecca,' sounds a lot better than 'Thanks, bye.' She will remember that touch the next time you call.
• Match tonality and empathize with the gatekeeper. If he sounds like he is having a bad day, show empathy by adjusting your tone: 'Gee, it sounds like you might be having a bad day, would it be better if I called back another time?'
• Ask, 'How is your day going?' Most sales people don't do that. It will set you apart.
• Use humor.

3. Be friendly, brutally honest, and ask for help:

• 'Ms. Gatekeeper, I have been trying everything to get in touch with Mr. Decision Maker over the last few weeks. I could really use your help. What would you suggest would be the best way to get in touch with Mr. Decision Maker?'
• Make the gatekeeper your ally, and she will want to help you.

4. Treat the gatekeeper like a concierge, not a bouncer:

• A concierge is someone whose job is to provide people with the information they are looking for or accomplish a task. Use the gatekeeper to get other relevant info that can help you with the sale, such as:
• Company info
• Contact info for other contacts
• Best time/way to reach the decision maker
• Other people who might be involved in the decision-making process
• Many gatekeepers will have access to their boss's calendar ' ask to get 15 minutes on the calendar.

5. Use flattery:

• 'Gee Elise, I really like that name. It's actually my daughter's name' This typically works better when the gatekeeper is of the opposite gender.
• For really important deals, sending flowers, a bottle of wine or bourbon, or some nice cigars addressed to the gatekeeper with a note will almost always get you a meeting.

6. Leverage social media:

• Try connecting with the contact on LinkedIn or send an InMail to circumvent the gatekeeper
• Try sending a message via twitter.

7. Ask to speak with accounts receivables:

• If the company you are calling has an accounts receivables department, it may be your best way in. Usually when people call into AR it's to pay a bill, so gatekeepers will not usually filter those calls. Furthermore, most of the AR professionals I have met are extremely friendly, and would welcome any phone call in which they don't have to negotiate with an angry client who doesn't pay on time. Once you get them on the phone just explain why you are calling and ask for their help. You may be surprised by what you find.

8. Ask a technical question:

• GK: 'What is this call regarding?'
• You: 'Well, I am putting together a proposal for Mrs. Decision Maker, and there were just a couple of other details that I needed from her to get this together. Do you know what the average daily site traffic and conversion rate is?

9. Send a calendar invite:

• Send a calendar invite to the decision maker the day before you call. Often, people will simply accept the calendar invite, so when you call the next day you can simply say, 'I'm looking for Mike. He should be expecting my call. I sent over a meeting invite yesterday.'

10. Use an email return receipt:

• Send your prospect an email with return receipt turned on, so that you get a notification when they open it. When you get the notification you know that they are either at their desk or by their phone. That is a perfect time to call and get a hold of them.

There are plenty of great tactics out there. Please feel free to share some that have worked well for you in the comments.

For more great tips on improving your sales strategy and growing your business sign up for the OpenView newsletter.

photo by: Näystin

How to Attract Qualified Real Estate Prospects in a Down Economy

As a real estate professional, you know far more about the state of the industry than the average person. The best real estate agents are an informational resource, ready to educate prospects about the advantages of home-buying in a down market'lower selling prices and unique buying opportunities.  Focus on problem-solving and providing insight to your clients.  Strategically sharing your expert knowledge through targeted online marketing is the path to attracting qualified buyers in a down market.  Read on to learn specialized realtor marketing tips.

When the economy is booming, it's easy to attract new clients.  There is just so much business out there that you barely need to promote your services, and people are enthusiastic about buying and selling (although the smart agent is busy promoting their successes to establish their brand value when there are plenty of successes to promote!).

However, when the economy takes a hit, fear sets in.  In rocky economic times, individuals are bombarded by negative media warning them about the dangers of an industry in crisis.  Yale University's Professor Robert Shiller, of the infamous Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, recently gave an interview in which he predicted real estate prices may be depressed for an entire generation in some markets!

Buyers and sellers hear horror stories about homes going into foreclosure, tightening credit lines and the subprime mortgage fiasco, and it understandably makes them anxious.  You really can't blame them.  People don't buy or sell a home, when you need business.  They make buying and selling decisions at points in their lives that makes sense for them.  However, through targeted online marketing, you can educate prospects about why buying and selling in the current market might not be the treacherous endeavor the media portrays it to be.  Learn how to navigate the current marketplace with strategic realtor marketing tips like these.

Focus on Giving Rather Than Getting

In most real estate ads, the focus is the agent or broker and their accomplishments.  I receive all sorts of agent promotions, and they are almost always the same:  a picture of the agent smiling, a line about how they just sold a home in my area or how that agent is the No. 1 agent and a brief, 'If you're thinking about buying or selling, call me.'  Although these types of promotions are largely a waste of money, they can drum up business during a real estate boom, because so many prospects are ready to buy or sell ' it's like dropping fish food in the fish tank.  In a down market, on the other hand, these types of promotions just don't work, since they are focused on the agent's self-interest, which is 'getting' new business regardless of the current life circumstances of the prospect.

When you focus on 'getting' business'that is, when your needs are more important than your prospect's needs, you sound needy.  You do not sound like a competent professional who has more clients than you can handle.  Instead, you sound like you are begging for business, which, in your prospect's mind, means you probably are not very good at what you do.

However, with targeted online marketing, you can succeed in the current economy.  Marketing that is effective in a downturn focuses on 'giving' prospects value.  It involves putting yourself in your prospect's mind and asking yourself, 'What is this prospect most concerned about, and how can I educate him or her about how to solve this problem?' The more specific, the better. After careful consideration, you should write up a special report or record yourself giving a talk about a particular problem and what your prospect needs to know or do in order to take steps toward solving this problem.

Examples of Special Reports You Can Create:

• The Top 10 Reasons Why This Is a Great Time to Buy a Home, Despite What the Media Tells You
• 25 Ways to Get Financing For Your New Home in a Tightened Credit Market
• 17 Issues You Need To Be Aware Of When Buying Foreclosed Properties
• The Top 15 Mistakes Made by Home Sellers in a Down Economy and How to Avoid Them

Make your report specific to one problem your prospect has.  Then, give him the steps required to understand the situation, the options that are available and the best way to solve the problem.

Promote Your Special Reports, Not Yourself

When you run ads or do mailings or post on your Facebook page, make your special report the focus of the offer, rather than a picture of a home or you smiling (smiling pictures are good, but don't make them the focus of your offer).  Get a graphic designer to create a nice cover for the report and put a picture of the cover on all your promotions.  Include the headline in big letters and make all the text in the promotion focus on why your prospects need to know the information in this guide'all of its benefits and points of interest and how they can get a copy.

If you have successfully targeted your market and have written the guide based on the top concerns of your prospects, a number of people are bound to request your guide.  Create a record of all the people who request your guide and build a database of leads you can continue to market to'through more educational materials.  These individuals showed a genuine interest in your report and self-selected themselves as good candidates for your services.  Of course, some leads will not turn into qualified prospects, but many will.  Even if they are not quite in the market for a new home just yet, they may be in a few months.

Education-based marketing works in every market'from booming economies to downturns.  Listen to your prospects and clients and learn about their major concerns and biggest worries.  If you pay close attention, they will tell you how to market to them.  Becoming an informational resource is great for business in any environment.  To learn more about real estate marketing, check out Marketing for Real Estate Agents 2.0, SEO for Real Estate Agents and Inbound Marketing: 4 Steps for Creating More Real Estate Leads.

Does a 'No' Surprise You?

It should!

Henry Ford once said, if you think you can or if you think you can't you're right! This could not be truer when selling. Compare these two sales representatives making sales calls with a similar product. One has the attitude, 'It is a question of will the customer commit to using my product,' and the other, 'It is not a question of if, but when will the customer commit.'

Which one of these sales representatives do you think will be more successful at making sales calls?

That's right, the second sales representative has the advantage. The reason for this is their mental state about making a sales call or about making a call on a particular prospect or customer.

When I travel with salespeople I hear words like tough, difficult, challenging, and etc. to describe an upcoming sales call or about a particular prospect. These words are all manifestations of what are known as self-limiting beliefs. These self-limiting beliefs can be poison and act like viruses that invade and control what a salesperson believes about his or herself. For example, take these three statements:

• I want to sell this prospect but there is a problem.

• I want to sell this prospect and there is a problem.

• I want to sell this prospect even though there is a problem.

Any difference? You can be sure of it. From a mental standpoint the first statement can seem almost insurmountable where each progressive statement there is a loosening up of the belief with the third statement making situation more doable. That is from a mental perspective. This is why two sales people facing the same situation may interpret it the sales situation differently, act according to their different beliefs, and experience different outcomes.

These limiting beliefs will directly affect our actions or inactions. Just as Henry Ford once said, if a sales person believes the sales call will be tough, difficult, or challenging, they're right! It will be.

In reality we have no limitations except what we put on ourselves. These limitations are a thing of the mind only. Unfortunately, you cannot move beyond them. They can create a vicious cycle that can keep you from moving beyond where you already are. The good news is that these thoughts and beliefs are only programing and you are the programmer. You must root them out and bring them to extinction.

To eliminate these beliefs you must first identify them. Write them down or catch yourself saying them either to yourself or out loud. Then change the word or phrase into more positive affirmations and repeat it to yourself. You need to be very aggressive at rooting these 'thought viruses' out. The phrase I used when I began my selling career was:

'This prospect really needs to see and talk with me if they want to . . .'

Remember, a prospect is only as tough, difficult, or challenging as you believe them to be. It all starts and ends with what you believe about yourself.

You Are Not the President of the Communications System

I often think we misunderstand the moment in which we are living. Sure technologies are transforming the way that we work. Sure these fancy mobile devices are making us more connected and connectable. And yes, all this data is allowing us to find, engage and even predictively sell to our customers.

But where are YOU in this moment? What is happening in your present moment ' there between breaths and tweets?

When you work for a brand or an agency, you often spend a great deal of your creative energy on 'cutting through' the noise of our everyday lives. It's as if it is possible to excise your experience of life as a professional from everything else. But what if you were able to dissolve that distinction ' and what if you were to open the imaginative floodgates between your different lives?

My view is that it is inevitable ' and that it is happening whether you like it or not. It's what I call The Social Way. But rather than being something to be feared, it's something to be embraced.

To succeed in The Social Way we need to rethink a few things. Like customer relationships. And what it means to be innovative or creative. And we need to think about respect.

But don't take my word for it ' listen to Dan Wieden ' founder of creative powerhouse Wieden + Kennedy. As he says, we need to rethink the way we use communications systems ' after all, you're not the president. Respect and storytelling ' they go hand in hand. They both start by listening.

And thanks to Martin Weigel for sharing.

13 Tips for Writing Your First Professional Development Book

Question: I want to write a professional development book. What is your number 1 piece of advice for a first-time author?

Question by: Will

How Will Yours Stand Out?

'It's a popular niche, so you need to ensure that the book you write is going to stand out from the crowd and hold its own against what's already there. Before you even put (virtual) pen to paper, figure out why people should read your book instead of any other and identify what they'll get from doing so, that they can't get anywhere else. Once you've done that, just get writing!'

- Lea Woodward | Co-Founder, Inspiring Ventures

What's Your Personal 'Why?'

'I am sure you are very passionate about what you want to write. Take the time to figure out why you want to write the book. Just wanting to prove you can do it is different from really wanting to move units. Know your personal 'why' and remember that writing a book is totally different from marketing and selling a book. I learned the hard way.'

- Michael Bruny | International Speaker | Coach | Author, Ambassador Bruny.Com

Develop Strategies

'Work backwards. First, evaluate what your target market really wants and needs to hear. Then develop your book. As you begin working on your book, start positioning yourself as the go-to person on the subject matter. Write and speak about it as often as you can. Before completing your book, develop a plan for how you'll get it into the hands of people who need it.'

- Lisa Nicole Bell | CEO, Inspired Life Media Group

Character Trumps Credentials

'Worry less about impressing us. Instead, describe the journey you've been on. What have you learned the hard way that you don't want others to suffer and struggle with? People love to learn from those who have an interesting story to tell. Or better yet, a story to identify with as their own. What's missing from the conversation, but you think really matters? Make that the gift of your book.'

- Michael Margolis | President, Get Storied

Ask Writers for Help

'If you're going to engage in something as difficult as authoring a book, make sure you have some help. Find a writing mentor like Carol Tice of MakeaLivingWriting.com and get them to support you as you write your book ' since writing a book is a very different skill from covering news stories and blogging.'

- Danny Wong | Co-Founder, Blank Label Group, Inc.

Start Today!

'Stop talking and start writing today. It doesn't matter where you are in the process, but in order for your book to become a reality, you must begin. Make an outline of the chapters you want to include, then map out the main points in each chapter. This skeletal foundation is easy to do and will give you an outline for the rest of the book.'

- Louis Lautman | Founder, Young Entrepreneur Society

Write a Proposal First

'Instead of plunging into writing a book, write a book proposal first. This document will help you to clarify what your book is about, who is in your target market, and what is your competition. This is also what you will need to show to a book agent if you're planning on pursuing a publishing contract.'

- Elizabeth Saunders | Founder & CEO, Real Life E®

Build Your Audience While Writing

'The best piece of advice I was given was to market the book while writing it. Publishers print books without marketing them. As the author, you are in charge with building awareness for your book and selling copies. I built my following, shared the books ideas, and got publicity for it ' over a year in advance of publication!'

- Dan Schawbel | Founder, Millennial Branding

Get a Great Agent

'If you can get a great agent, you are already halfway there. It is extremely hard to get the attention of a publisher, but it is very important to tap into publishers for their distribution networks and media connections. Agents are the best way to get a great publisher and big advance. They can also help you write a killer book proposal.'

- Vanessa Van Petten | CEO and Author, Science of People

Niche, Niche, and Niche Some More

'As the CEO of a company that publishes over 100 business, motivation, and self-help books every year, I've seen about everything! Nothing makes me cringe more than when I hear an author proudly proclaim, 'My book is for everyone.' Success for the non-household name is a matter of being important to a small niche of people. Craft your book to a specific subgroup, and own that sliver of pie!'

- Adam Witty | Founder & CEO, Advantage Media Group

Get a Fantastic Editor

'Many books do not become great books because of the lack of professional editing in the interior. Hire yourself a fantastic editor who can work with your book and make unemotional, unbiased suggestions and corrections. This will take your book from good to great, and will leave you feeling much more confident as the book is shipped to your reader's hands.'

- Erin Blaskie | CEO, BSETC

Is Your Content Even Original?

'Buy every book that's already been written on your specific topic, and read (or at least skim) them all. That way, you'll know a specific angle you can take that hasn't already been covered. The top mistake first-time authors make is writing a proposal for a 'me too' book that's already been written by someone else. Then, convey in your proposal why you are credible to speak on that fresh angle.'

- Michael Ellsberg | Author, Penguin and HarperCollins

Don't Even Think About It

'Who is going to buy your book? How are they going to know about it? First, you need fans of your work ' a blog is the perfect place to start. Very quickly, you'll realize whether or not your ideas have merit. If they aren't spreading, well, you just saved yourself a lot of time and effort. The book is the easy part; creating a loyal fan base is the hard but critical part.'

- Adam Gilbert | Chief Body Tutor, My Body Tutor

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC leads #FixYoungAmerica, a solutions-based movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work.

A Nontraditional Application of Triberr: B2B Marketing

Triberr. Just say the name on Twitter and you are likely to get responses that range from disdain that is only constrained by 140 characters to adoring love and affection. It is a lightening rod application.

1. I believe as marketers and as individuals, we must serve our connections or audience if we have any desire to maintain and grow them.
2. I use Triberr.

No, despite the reputation Triberr has with some people, these points are not contradictory.

As a marketer, if your social media program includes establishing individuals as participants in industry conversations, Triberr should be on your radar.

One of my personal goals in social media is to engage with people interested in modern B2B marketing. If my goal was to promote Babcock & Jenkins, the agency's work would be more prominent on this blog, but my overall activity would be very similar. If Triberr works for me in this context, it can work for individuals in your organization as well.

How to Use Triberr for B2B Marketing

Here is how I use Triberr, and how I would recommend you use it as part of a marketing program:

1. Read every post before sharing. Your goal is to serve your prospective audience, not your tribemates. Set your bar for quality and relevance high, and do not deviate from it.
2. Filter topics. If you have read and shared enough on a topic (recently Pinterest for me), your audience likely doesn't want more either.
3. Share sparingly. I probably share between 1/3 and 1/2 of the posts from Triberr. Your standard for sharing through Triberr should be no different than your overall standard for sharing.
4. Take time to engage. Include comments with your tweets and comment on the blogs posts you share. The biggest complaint about Triberr is its history of automated sharing. You will be thoughtful in what you share, how you share needs to reflect that.

In short, Triberr functions as a second RSS reader for me, with a built in Tweet button that automatically credits the author and spaces tweets out throughout the day.

However, you can do all of that with an RSS reader. Here is the real reason Triberr is worth adding to your toolkit, and why you should give it real consideration.

The Real Unexpected Benefit of Triberr

One thing I never expected but has become the most valuable aspect of Triberr to me is the improved connection from two-way reading. When I read someone's blog AND they read mine, comments and discussion have more context and better relationships are formed.

Your Turn

Have you used Triberr for business? If so, please share your thoughts or experience below.

Do you blog about B2B or digital marketing and want to try Triberr? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@wittlake).

Teaching Marketing Concepts to our Children

Sometimes I get the question at home from my children, 'Dad what exactly do you do?' My response typically is, 'Son/Daughter ' Each day dad is trying to serve current clients and look for ways to attract new clients ' It's all about people'

To a child, this may not make a whole lot of sense, but as my kids get older, the questions keep coming. I was reminded of this last night when my 7th Grade Daughter asked me how to link a YouTube video to her Powerpoint presentation. We looked at her presentation slide, and linked some key words to the appropriate YouTube video. My daughter thought I was very smart.

Other times, I have heard my kids tell their grandparents on occasion that all dad does is play on Twitter and Facebook all day. I want that type of job when I grow up.

My kids range in age from 10 to 16 and they are starting to look at college and career choices. However, do they really understand what dad does each day as a Marketing Director.

This is my challenge' I have taken this initiative very seriously and I want them to understand what I do. I am actively trying to tell them and show them what I am doing on Social Media sites and email so they have a better understanding of why marketing is such a necessary part of business and life. I have really found that by telling my kids about basic marketing ideas, they have been able to learn more about their own personal branding and have used these principles to excel in the classroom and in their activities. We really need to tell our kids more and give them the tools in the area of marketing to help further their educational and career development.

Here are some of the items I have shared with them. (Mix in Business and School ' Find ways they can incorporate Marketing into their everyday lives)

• Make sure that you are seizing your opportunity as an athlete. Look your coach in the eye when he is talking and make sure you prove to him that you are working harder than the rest of your teammates. If you want more playing time, you have to separate yourself from your peers in some way. (Example: If the others are not going all out on a particular defensive drill, seize the opportunity and show the coach that you care about defense) Personal Branding is all about you and stays with you for a lifetime.
• Make sure that you are different in some way from the other students. Pay attention in class and show interest in the teacher's subject. Try to learn something everyday. (Listening is a huge part of Marketing)
• In business always try to find out what the needs of the clients are. If you can find out what their needs are in the beginning, you can formulate a plan to exceed their expectations. ( If you are in a conversation with adults, listen attentively you never know what dividends it could play down the road.
• Social Media is about informing people about your company, showing interest in their work and looking for opportunities to connect. (It is not always about selling)
• Make sure you question content you read on the internet, get another opinion. Same is true for media news. Always seek out the truth behind numbers. (Whether its topics presented in class, articles from internet sites or media, always question the information and raise discussion.
• Make sure you work at becoming a good writer. Writing is getting lost with all of the modern texting devices. Keep a journal and document new ideas and goals you have. This is a skill that few people keep over time.

These are just a few ideas that come to mind. I really believe, we as Marketing Directors should tell our children more about the work we perform and give them some principles that will help them as they advance in their education and careers. If you have some additional thoughts on this topic, I would encourage you to share them.

Picture via KellyB

Start Your Carts!

A natural outgrowth of the continuing increase in ecommerce sales is a jump in abandoned shopping carts. With more people browsing and buying across mobile, tablet, and desktop devices, as well as getting comfortable with comparison shopping online, it's not surprising that cart abandonment reached an all-time high of 72% by the end of 2011, according to research from remarking services firm SeeWhy.

While you can apply a range of tactics to rescue these potential sales, why not start with a good offense that focuses on usability, offers, and customer experience to capture sales when visitors are in the moment? Monetate recently gathered some leading ecommerce experts, who shared their winning ideas for building a better checkout in the free webinar, Create a Shopping Cart That Converts Browsers to Buyers.

The panel included Lauren Freedman, president, the e-tailing group; Cam Jensen, senior manager, product management, Lands' End; and Eric Miller, director, product management, Monetate.

Some of the valuable ideas they recommended marketers test include (you can learn the rest by watching the webinar):

1. Streamline the experience to save shoppers time.
Shoppers don't always need to save money, says Freedman, but they always want to save time. According to research from the etailing group, the average number of clicks from the start of checkout for a new customer to order completion, looking across the 100 top online retailers, is 4.83. Now that mobile shopping is on the rise, Freedman advises retailers to think hard about how to reduce the number of clicks it takes for shoppers to place an order.

2. Simplify presentation of sign-in, registration, and guest checkout options.
When Lands' End launched a redesign of their cart and checkout process last year, analytics and usability testing were key tools in figuring out where the pain points were. One of the major findings, Jensen reports, was that the start checkout process needed to be more clearly defined for registered customers versus new and guest checkout customers. By altering the layout to create two distinct areas''Account Sign In' for registered customers and 'Start Checkout' for guests and new customers'Lands' End made it easier for visitors to begin checkout quickly and accurately.

3. Leverage shipping thresholds more effectively.
Free or reduced shipping wields great influence over purchasing decisions. To make this offer more powerful, Miller suggests online retailers present real-time calculations of how close shoppers are to qualifying for the deal. And consider adding product recommendations in the target price range (or higher) to this messaging.

4. Show estimated total earlier in the checkout process.
Usability research also helped Lands' End determine that waiting too far out in the checkout process to present the total cost of a visitor's order prompted cart abandons. So, Jensen says, they added a shipping/tax estimation tool to the View Cart page to help visitors with this decision-making aspect.

5. Provide access to customer service support.
Of the 100 online retailers studied by the etailing group, 47% offer live chat during checkout. Freedman encourages marketers to integrate live chat in the cart and make sure the customer service representatives responding to shoppers have good product knowledge. Why? Forrester estimates live chat garners an ROI of 105%, especially because it can be leveraged to promote upsell and cross-sell purchases.

6. Be careful with coupon code boxes.
When visitors see a coupon code box on a checkout page, they naturally think there must be a promotion code they can find somewhere online to save money, Miller explains. Once they start searching elsewhere online for a code, they're less likely to finish making their purchase. To combat this challenge, try hiding coupon boxes for customers who don't qualify for current promotions. Or, you can automatically apply a coupon code when a visitor is identified as part of a promotion group.

7. Eliminate unnecessary fields.
One of the sacred cows of cart design that Lands' End tipped over was the inclusion of fields that most customers didn't use, like middle initial. Also, the retailer converted some fields'gift order, delivery instructions, use shipping address as billing address'into check boxes that generate dropdown fields to collect the necessary information. These changes expedited the collection of shipping/billing information, while preserving functionality for those customers placing more complex orders.

8. Target testimonials by traffic segments.
Different customer groups need different types of reassurance when contemplating a purchase. Experiment with testimonials targeted to answering the type of objection specific to each segment. For example, new customers might respond to testimonials about prompt delivery or an easy returns process, while returning customers might benefit from learning about highly rated products that complement their previous purchases.

For more tactics like these, access the free recording of the webinar and start chipping away at your cart abandonment rate.

Best Random but Interesting Marketing Posts, Articles and Resources of 2011

As always, this penultimate post highlighting the most valuable content of the past year is dedicated to interesting marketing and social media content that didn't fit neatly into any other category.

Are QR codes an intriguing technology that never lived up to the hype, or is widespread adoption still just around the corner? Is social media worth the effort for online retailers? How can B2B companies improve customer service using social media? How can you deliver dazzling presentations by avoiding common mistakes? How can someone with no artistic talent create inspiring and informative infographics?

Find the answers to those questions and more here in eight of the best hard-to-categorize-but-worth-a-read marketing posts and articles of the past year.

12 Most Important Things We All Can Control by Straight Talk

Noting that 'There are so many things in life that we simply cannot control, but what about the things we CAN control? As human beings, we have the power of reasoning and choice, both of which give us substantial control over our own life situations. We just need to be reminded of this from time to time,' Ted Rubin provides just such a reminder in these dozen aspects of life that are under our control, from our actions and attitudes to friendships and learning.

Marketing with QR Codes by Smart Insights

For those curious about QR codes but don't know a lot about them, Danyl Bosomworth explains what QR codes are, marketing considerations when deciding whether or not to use them, seven of the top applications for QR codes (e.g., maps, coupons, how-to advice), and two illustrative case studies.

Ten ways marketers can use QR Codes by eConsultancy

If Danyl's post above got you interested in exploring QR codes, Lee Carpenter-Johnson presents 10 ways to use them in business, from placing them on cash register receipts (particularly if you have a mobile-savvy clientele) and product labels to business cards and print ads.

E-tail Marketing: Is Social Media Worth the Cost? by MarketingProfs

The short answer is'yes and no. Among the research results presented here, 'Only 5% of online shoppers surveyed say they are primarily influenced by social media to visit a top retailer's website. Most (38%) cite existing familiarity with a brand, followed by promotional emails (19%) and search engine results (8%)'however, customers who visit retail sites because of a social media interaction are highly likely to purchase.'

7 Ways to Improve B2B Customer Service with Social Media by Social Media B2B

Writing that 'If you have not yet brought your customer service reps into the realm of social media, it is time. They are the most qualified to respond via social media, as they are the ones responding by phone and email,' Jeffrey L. Cohen details the process and key considerations for getting a customer service department up to speed and effectively using social media for customer interaction.

5 Ways to Ruin Your Next Presentation by CIO Magazine

Thomas Wailgum shares five tips from Carmine Gallo, author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audienceon how to avoid common presentation mistakes, from talking too long ('Nobody is as interested in you as you think they are') to failing to rehearse to (ugh)'reading from your slides.

How To Create An Infographic ' With No Discernible Talent Whatsoever by DIY Blogger NET

Dino Dogan presents a seven-step guide to creating an infographic, though despite the title, at least a bit of talent is needed. The guide is designed for Mac users (and the Pixelmator tool he recommends is an Apple iOS app), though several of the steps are universal.

Inbound Marketing Partnerships and Pricing by Impact Branding & Design

Finally, benchmark pricing/costs can be hard to come by, but this detailed price and service list is one helpful data point for inbound marketing costs, whether you're agency thinking about how to price these services or a corporate marketer wondering what you should expect, roughly, to pay for them.

Catching Up With AT&T's Trish Nettleship: Coaching for Better Content and Stronger Community

When Trish Nettleship was hired two-and-a-half years ago as the social media lead for AT&T business marketing, she assumed the role of a bridge. On one side were the communication giant's business customers, and on the other, a community of industry experts. Nettleship realized early on that the bridge is not the destination, and that using social media to give customers access to experts across the chasm would provide the best value.

First step? Build a blog. In December 2010, she quietly launched the Networking Exchange Blog, 'a place for business professionals to learn, share, and engage with networking experts on advancing business goals through technology innovation.'

AT&T's technology experts aren't natural writers, but with coaching and support, Nettleship helped them become more polished communicators. 'We coached them to be more conversational in their tone,' she says. 'We didn't help them create a voice; we coached them to express that voice.'

By February 2011, AT&T was ready to promote the blog. An initial webinar drew 5,000 participants, and readership spiked by 55 percent. Still, Nettleship sensed a key component was missing. She knew personal networks were the best way to build a following, and although the company had trained its experts to be writers, it had not taught them how to build personal brands for networking.

So Nettleship developed an internal social networking academy, with the first class graduating in July 2011. Today, it continues to attract five to ten new members per week. 'These are our internal social ambassadors,' Nettleship notes.

Wanting to learn more about the impressive outcomes (the Networking Exchange Blog landed AT&T on our 50 Brands to Watch in 2012 list), we recently caught up with Nettleship to tap her expertise and find out more about what'and who'inspires her.

How she evaluates content: In my mind, there are a couple of key elements to any content asset. If any content doesn't pass these elements, it gets sent back:

• Start with your audience in mind: Will my audience care about this?
• Provide content that is interesting and adds a unique point of view.
• Is there a clear takeaway for my audience?

How she builds community:

• First, find people, blogs, and groups you respect and can learn from.
• Then, start engaging with them. Build a rapport and, over time, a relationship.
• Share your point of view with these newfound relationships and they will start to respond.
• It's important not to get too caught up in the number of followers; instead, it's about the audience. Are you attracting the right followers?

How she turns experts into writers: Writing gets better with time. Your first blog post, for example, will not be the most successful post. However, with time and encouragement from your mentors, friends, fellow writers, and support team, you will improve. I've seen many non-writers become my top bloggers with the right dose of enthusiasm and persistence.

Where she looks for ideas: I'm always looking into what our audience is interested in to determine where we should go next with content. I can spend hours looking at conversations that provide a wealth of insights into interests, pain points, and just fun ideas for content.

What she's geeking out on: I'm a big fan of Hootsuite and manage both my personal and professional social media accounts from the tool. I've played around with many other tools but keep coming back for the ease of use and the analytics. My favorite app for personal use is Spotify, so I can tune out the world for just a little while.

Who she's following: I follow quite a few folks in the digital space. I don't go a day without checking out what they've got to say: Amber Naslund, cofounder and president of SideraWorks, was an inspiration in my early days of social media and where I still go to get a dose of reality. Michael Brenner, senior director of global marketing at SAP and president/co-founder of Business 2 Community, is a great example of how someone within a large corporation can make a difference. He has built his own personal brand in the digital community while still supporting the overall SAP vision.

What she's reading: Mashable: Who doesn't go there for trends and news in the digital space? MarketingProfs has a wealth of resources covering various topics across marketing. I love the case studies and webinars.

To Make Your Business Sing: Got Design?

Design. All important and all critical to the success of your business.

Design as function, that is. Design that makes sense of what your business needs to say and how best to say it. Design that establishes a content hierarchy so navigation is efficient and intuitive, allowing people to find what they need without extra precious seconds wasted. Design that is not mere surface decoration, an off-the-shelf theme or the latest shiny bells and whistles, but design that clarifies and never obscures. Design that engages and yes, looks absolutely terrific as it persuades and accomplishes the business objectives set forward at the onset.

Design that understands the big picture and how each website, each social media channel, each ad, brochure, sign, exhibit and business card are not separate entities but facets of a crystal where the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts. This is your brand and is what will resonate in a noisy world if applied smartly, cohesively, and consistently.

In short, I am talking about design that makes your business sing. Nothing more, nothing less. The most admired companies in the world do it. You know them well and they know the power of design. It has been proven over and over again. Whether your business is large or small doesn't matter, the principles are the same and isn't it time you took the same steps?

Think design. Bring it into the earliest phases of your business strategy and listen to the pros, not the hucksters. And I know you have impeccable taste and two eyes just like I do, but please do not think you can 'do the design' yourself. Yes, I know you know PowerPoint and maybe even a bit of Photoshop ' well, not to be insulting, but you don't know what you don't know. Playing around with software, widgets and tools is not design any more than a brush is a painting. Respect yourself and your business enough to entrust design work to a trusted, dedicated professional who has the talent and experience to do it right.

Effective design also incorporates solid marketing principles and communication skills. It values client input, understands market trends, analyzes the competition, pays attention to metrics, utilizes and optimizes for the latest technologies, accommodates manufacturing concerns, respects budget restraints, meets real-world deadlines, stands on its head, rubs its belly and chews gum all at the same time. Left brain meets right brain. Design does all these things and if it sounds like a challenge, it is! But it can be done with the right team.

So what are you waiting for? Got design? Got Milk image © California Milk Processor Board. Gem image courtesy of stock_xchnge. Photo illustration by Paul Biedermann, re:DESIGN

The Emperor's New Clothes: Undressed by Bad Word Usage

It's not clothes that make the man (or woman), its words ' and how they're used.

Now I may be biased because I've been in the word business for 40+ years. But I maintain that people who are sloppy with word usage will be equally sloppy in discharging managerial duties or being good team players.

What do I mean by 'sloppy?' I'm glad you asked. Here are some of my pet bugaboos:

Compliment vs. Complement: The former means, of course, to praise or laud someone, while the latter means to add a positive element to something. There is no way these two words should be confused with one another, but they often are ' and it makes me cringe.

Okay, that's an example of using the wrong words. Equally bad are gross mispronunciations. Here are three:

Realtor vs. Relator: Guess what, world, only one of these is an actual word. It's 'realtor' because this is a person who deals in 'real' estate. Yet I bet you will hear the word pronounced the wrong way within a week if you listen closely.

Nuclear vs. Nuculer: Are people so lazy that they can't get their arms (or tongues) around the 'cl' sound and must opt for the simpler 'cu' version? For some reason, this mispronunciation seems to pop up more in the South.

Fiefdom vs. Fifedom: Feudal lords held fiefs, hence the correct pronunciation. Why some people want to put a Colonial musical instrument into their utterances is beyond me.

There are people who prefer to use polysyllabic words that they think makes them sound like management consultants, even though shorter words communicate better. Think of poseurs that like to 'utilize' things rather than 'use' them.

Cheap vs. Inexpensive: these words have very different meanings, but most folks don't think that through. Simply put, 'cheap' is both a price judgment and a value judgment. 'Inexpensive' is only a price judgment. Therefore, if something is good but doesn't cost a lot of money, it's inexpensive, not cheap!

What are the verbal miscues that tell you someone is sloppy? And please don't give me 'aks' vs. 'ask.' Even sloppy people know that's wrong.

Is Your Funnel Sick? ' Part 2 of Funnel Series

This is the second in a series of blog entries about sick sales funnels. In the first installment, I reviewed symptoms that may indicate the presence of illness. I cited a hypothetical example of a B-to-B marketing effort to Fortune 100 companies that yielded zero sales.

What went wrong in that example? These questions may reveal underlying deficiencies.

• Did you identify your target prospects?
• Did you understand target market?
• Did you build a precise profile of a prospective customer?
• Did you customize your offer to preferences of each segment?
• Did characteristics of the target segment drive the selection of marketing tactics?
• Did you test on a small scale to decide which channels and campaigns to scale?

Sometimes we need to go back to Marketing 101. It's important to remember these basics before investing time and resources:

• Know the target segment well BEFORE starting.
• Content is the foundation of everything.
• Test before scaling.
• Measure and monitor constantly. Cut your losses if warning signs appear.

Some underlying problems are frequently subtle and not so easy to identify at first glance. You may need to explore these questions:

• Do you have a funnel management process? If so, is does everyone understand and embrace it?
• Do you employ enough people to run that process?
• Is your content segment-specific? Do you understand the message and objective for each piece of content? Is it clear? Is it compelling?
• Are you nurturing leads that are not ready to purchase immediately?
• Are you building enduring relationships with customers AND prospects?

Perhaps most important: Marketing and sales must jointly own the problem identification process as well as the cure. This is critical.

I'll talk about treating the patient in the next post for this series. As well, I'll go beyond the simple absence of illness. We want sales funnels to be fit enough to run triathlons!

Content Marketing: How Your Business Can Produce Content

With more and more businesses realising that content marketing is a great way of generating traffic to their site by gaining ranking in the search engines, and ultimately leading to more sales, we are often faced with the question 'How can my business produce content?'

Business owners and managers know they need to come up with ideas but quite often come unstuck at the thought of what they can write about; that is if they even have the time to do so in the first place!

As time is often the issue for coming up with ideas for content, for the rest of this post I want to show scenarios in everyday businesses where you and your employees could be generating content ideas to be put to good use.

Scenario 1

Your business is IT support and a customer rings you and their computer will not power up when they press the power button.

In this scenario you will more than likely go through the motions of making sure this is not a human error and work through the issue until it is resolved by replacing the power supply unit in the computer.

Turning this into content ' You create an FAQ page on common human errors for computers not turning on. Plugs are often disconnected by people feet under the desk, switches turned off by the cleaners, etc. You can expand the FAQ section so that it covers common hardware failures that mean a computer will not start.

Scenario 2

You own a golf shop on a high street.

You have regular customers and without a doubt you build relationships, even friendships, with these people. Being avid golfers you talk about techniques you use and are regularly giving advice to your customers.

Turning this into content ' You develop a series of blog posts showing how to improve your swing, and you could even ask some of your knowledgeable customers to contribute or guest post.

Scenario 3

You run a travel agency.

Every day you have customers booking holidays and you are giving advice on destinations.
Turning this into content ' You create a lifetimes worth of content with titles such as '5 places to stay in Paris', '10 things to do in New York' and 'The Bucket List of Holiday Destinations'.

As you can see, there are possibilities to come up with content ideas throughout the daily working day of a business. In fact, every time you communicate with a customer there is a possibility of using that information and turning it into some form of content marketing. It could be a phone call, a letter, an Email or a brochure; you then only need to adapt those communications into a blog post, a PDF, a podcast or a video to turn everyday activities into something usable.

This blog post itself is a fine example of what I am writing about. Here at Vertical Leap we endorse discussions within our teams and bounce ideas off each other. One of these discussions was about getting our clients to talk openly with us about their business, and it was from that conversation that the idea of this post was created.

Put simply ' If you are communicating, you are creating content!

I hope you found this blog useful and has given you some ideas how you can start creating some great content for your business! If you still find time and resource a challenge, talk to us, our team of Brand Journalists are ready to help.

AdWords Will Now Match Out to Misspellings and Close Variants

Before now, AdWords phenoms have had to list paid search keywords to encompass common misspellings and close variant keywords. Keywords like 'red chaisr' would not match out to 'red chairs,' even though they were clearly typos. Google's team has recognized that about 7% of search queries are misspelled and, therefore, wants to help make both the users' and search marketers' lives easier.

In May, AdWords will roll out a feature that will trigger paid search ads to show when a user types in a close variant or a slight misspelling. For example, the keywords in column 2 do not match out to ads with column 1 keywords listed as exact or phrase match keywords (before now):

1. Waterproof sunblock | single serve coffee maker

2. Waterpoof sunblock | single serving coffee maker

Now that Google understands the user's need for compensation when mistyping or misspelling, it will offer this matching service automatically. This means no more having to list common misspellings and typos in your paid search keyword lists, which should be a great relief when building your keyword lists.

Google says that during experimentation with the new tool, 'advertisers [got] a third or more of their clicks from phrase or exact match. On average, the new matching behavior increased AdWords search clicks by 3%, with comparable CPCs.' We think it's great Google AdWords is implementing a change that will aid both the user and search marketer, and we hope to see success as the new match behavior is proved out.

Apple Reports Most Amazing Quarter on Record!

'The most amazing quarter that Apple has ever had.' -Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer

Apple can thank the new iPad, as well as strong sales of both the iPhone and Mac, for nearly doubling its profit for the fiscal second quarter.

Did you happen to catch the webcast on Apple's second quarter earnings we talked about previously? Apple executives proudly announced to the world their financial results for the second quarter of 2012. Hold on to your cotton socks, I'm going to throw some big numbers at you!

Apple posted a revenue of $39.2 billion and a net quarterly profit of $11.6 billion i.e. $12.8 per diluted share. Last year, during the same quarter, the company had a revenue of $24.7 billion and a net quarterly profit of $6 billion i.e. $6.4 per diluted share Overall, the gross margin was 47.4 percent during the current quarter while last year the gross margin was 41.4 percent. Interestingly, international sales made up 64 percent of 2012's second quarter.

Here's some interesting statistics on how many apple products were sold this quarter compared to last:

• 4 million Macs Sold ' 7% increase from last year
• 35.1 million iPhones Sold ' 88% increase from last year
• 7.7 million iPods Sold ' 15% decline from last year
• 11.8 million iPads Sold ' 151% increase from last year

Of course Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, is 'thrilled' with all of the increases. He adds, 'The new iPad is off to a great start, and across the year you're going to see a lot more of the kind of innovation that only Apple can deliver.' ahem, the new iPhone 5? Let's hope so!

Apple's CFO, Peter Oppenheimer, reported, 'Our record March quarter results drove $14 billion in cash flow from operations. Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter, we expect a revenue of about $34 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $8.68.'

What would you do with that kind of cash Apple fans? Invent the next iPhone? Design some cool apps? Our D.i.D. Doctor of iDevices are interested in hearing from you in the comments below!

Brands: Adjacent Storytelling

Often when I speak with other marketers, they complain that their brand, products or services are just not 'sexy enough'. They are interested in social media and in producing content but simply cannot find the angle to make their brand shine. But this is not a problem of social media. And it's not a problem of branding. It's a problem of storytelling. And the only way to attack that problem is not with demographics and data (as much as I love them both). It's with imagination.

Take a look at this 'best job' video connecting a bunch of brands from the P&G stable. Not only is it interesting to see P&G stepping out from the long shadow of their powerful brands ' it's fascinating to see how 'adjacent storytelling' can really showcase beauty and triumph in the mundane existence of our everyday lives.

So, what is 'adjacent storytelling'? To me, it's secret sauce.

How many times have you been asked to make the 'logo bigger' or 'more prominent'? How many times have you been pushed to mention a product or brand name three or more times in 30 seconds? This infantile understanding of branding comes from the triumph of data over imagination.

Adjacent storytelling is not about naming your brand. The adjacent story is there ' the one that you see out of the corner of your eye. It's the story that stays with you long after you have forgotten the wording. It's the feeling that reminds you that your experience is not singular and that we are connected more by our commonalities than by our differences.

The adjacent story is the story of your brand in the hands and lives of your customers. Someone, somewhere, once had a problem that needed to be solved. This too, is the adjacent story. It's the story of the problem, not the story of the solution.

Every brand ' every product or service ' has this story buried within. You need to scratch the surface to find the beating heart of your brand. But don't stop there. It's time to go deeper. Let's hear less about you. Let's hear how, together, we can change lives of those around us. Of those most important to us. Let's explore how we can change this world.

That's the adjacent story. And here you were thinking this was a blog post on social media!

Substantiating the Ghost (Writer): Part 2

Greetings, and welcome to the second installment in my series about the merits of ghost writing. In Substantiating the Ghost (Writer): Part 1, I went over important qualities for your content writing service to have if it's to properly represent you in print, and I put a lot of focus on getting a company's 'voice' right. Every company needs to be represented uniquely in print, and doing so successfully is a hallmark of a seasoned content writer.

However, while getting on social media is an important part of content writing, it's not all of it. A lot of exterior research needs to go on in order for your company's 'voice' to not only sound good, but have the knowledge and information needed in order to not only write good content, but get that content to convert. How's it done? Read on.

Research This: It's Important

Research is the cornerstone of all writing, whether you're going for a dissertation or a drip marketing email. Research is what separates the chaff from the champions ' and believe you me, I'm always looking to be at the top of the content writing game. Here's an inner look at the writer's mind when the writer is looking to haunt your business.

While this example is outside of the realm of content marketing, Philip Neil writes a beautiful piece with Research, Writing, and Getting a Life. He says that all good research for writing is like detective work ' and truer words were never spoken.

Even though I'm hindered by my ability to talk about specific clients due to NDA contracts (a bond that is holy and not to be broken), I'd like to speak a little bit about research I've done for a client in the automotive industry.

Now, I'm not a mechanic, and I don't have much of a natural affinity for cars. However, when it comes to providing on-point content that converts for a client, I'm ready to roll on all eight cylinders.

The good news is that there's plenty of literature out there about the beauty of cars, even for those who don't know the difference between a chassis and a carburetor. (Note: I now know the difference between a chassis and a carburetor. See? Research does wonders!)

To give you an example, these were the references I consulted when building conversion based content for my client:

• Automobile Magazine
• Car and Driver Magazine
• Motor Trend Magazine
• Road and Track Magazine

I have to admit that the research is sometimes my favorite part of the process. It's enjoyable to learn about new things ' both the client's particular business and the industry as a whole.

If you'll notice, however, there's nothing specific about these resources. That is, assuming that my client sells oil dipsticks, it's not as if I'm going to get a lot of hard information about that particular car component in Motor Trend.

The research done on major publications in the industry is what helps me wrap my mind appropriately around the client's copy. Sure, I could sit down and write 200 words about dipsticks, but that's not going to get the client to convert. In order for content marketing to work its magic, the writer doesn't just sell a product - the writer sells the expertise of the company involved. I wouldn't want to write product specs for a dipstick ' I want to make the dipstick company an authority on all matters car-related.

Expanding the scope of my writing through research also allows me to write about a variety of things. A blog that solely revolves around dipsticks is going to have a limited audience. But a blog that can talk about everything from pricing announcements on the Mitsubishi EV to the Aston Martin Cygnet launch is going to appeal to a broader swath of people. The research is necessary, even though you may not see it directly in the writing ' understanding the bones of the business is essential to representing it.

This, in essence, is the heart of content marketing. Not only does the writer have to understand how to write, they also have to have the ability and the desire to dig deep. A ghost writer isn't a ghostwriter until they understand the industry enough to disappear in it, and understanding a dipstick isn't the same as understanding a car.

In short, don't be a dipstick. Sell them ' with the power of content.

Big Data has Big Implications for Customer Experience Management

Unless you have been living under a rock, you know that Big Data is the latest buzz word in the world of business. The concept of Big Data a is broad one and I consider it an amalgamation of different areas that help us try to get a handle on, insight from and use out of data. Pat Gelsinger, President and COO of EMC, in an article by the The Wall Street Journal said that Big Data refers to the idea that companies can extract value from collecting, processing and analyzing vast quantities of data. Businesses who can get a better handle on these data will be more likely to outperform their competitors who do not.

When describing Big Data, people typically refer to three characteristics of the data: 1) Volume: the amount of data being collected is massive; 2) Velocity: the speed at which data are being generated/collected is very fast (consider the streams of tweets); and Variety: the different types of data like structured and unstructured data. Another characteristic of the data that, I think, warrants attention is the source of the data. Businesses data can come from different sources. These are:

1. Operational: Operational data contain objective metrics that measure the quality of the business processes and can come from a variety of sources. Hardware providers use sensors to monitor the quality of their implementations. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems track the quality of call center interactions (e.g., call length, response time)
2. Financial: Financial data contain objective metrics that measure the quality of financial health of the company and are typically housed in the company's financial reporting system.
3. Constituency (includes employees, partners): Constituency data contain attitudinal metrics as well as more objective metrics about specific constituents. Human Resources department has access to a variety of different types of data, ranging from employees' performance histories and completed training courses to survey results and salaries. Partner programs track partner information, including attitudes, financial investments, and sales growth.
4. Customer: Customer data contain attitudinal metrics. Large enterprises rely on their Enterprise Feedback Management systems to capture and analyze data from such sources as surveys, social media and online communities.

One way businesses are making sense of their data is by linking them together.

Business Data Integration

In a study on customer feedback programs, I found that business data integration played a crucial role in the success of the programs. Specifically, loyalty leading companies, compared to their loyalty lagging counterparts, integrated different sources of business data into their customer feedback data. They linked their customer feedback data to operational data, financial data and constituency data. By linking disparate data sources to their customer feedback data, companies gain insight about what is important to the customers.

But data integration is a difficult problem. Within a given company, data are housed in different systems. HR has their own system for tracking employee resources. The call center tracks data on their CRM system. Finance tracks their data on yet a different system. What approach can companies take to integrate all their data? In a recent interview, Anjul Bhambhri, VP for Big Data for IBM, talked about how business can solve their Big Data integration problem with respect to data silos:

'My response and suggestion ' and we've actually done it with clients ' has been that, you leave the data where it is. You're not going to start moving that around. You're not going to break those applications. You're not going to just rewrite those applications' just to solve this problem. Really, data federation and information integration is the way to go. Data is going to reside where it is.'

Anjul Bhambhri, VP for Big Data, IBM

The problem of Big Data for businesses is one of applying appropriate data federation and analytic techniques to these disparate data sources to extract usable insight to help them make better business decisions. Companies who can extract the right insights from their business data will have a competitive advantage over others who can not.

Next, let us turn to the field of Customer Experience Management to see how the application of Big Data principles can help companies gain insight from their business data to help them grow their business.

Customer Loyalty is our Ultimate Criterion

Customers play a critical role in the success of any business; customer loyalty is key to business growth. Businesses that have customers who engage in more loyalty behaviors (e.g., stay longer, recommend, continue buying, increase share-of-wallet, more clicks/views) toward their company experience faster growth compared to businesses that have customers who engage in fewer loyalty behaviors. The key to growing one's business, then, is to understand how to improve customer loyalty.

Customer Experience Management

One way companies are trying to improve customer loyalty is through customer experience management (CEM). CEM is the process of understanding and managing your customers' interactions with and perceptions of your company or brand. A CEM program consists of a set of organized actions that support the goal of CEM. While a CEM program has many moving parts, an easy way to organize those pieces into six components of a CEM program (see figure to the right).

The source of data in most CEM programs, not surprisingly, is customer feedback data. Businesses gain customer insight primarily by collecting and analyzing customer feedback data from different sources, including customer feedback surveys, social media sites, branded online communities and emails. Using customer feedback data, companies identify the customer experiences that are closely linked to customer loyalty and use that information to allocate resources to improve those customer experiences, and, consequently, increase customer loyalty.

Three Implications for CEM

Customer feedback is just one type of data that need to be analyzed and managed. By integrating different business data silos, businesses can more fully understand how other business metrics could impact or be impacted by customer satisfaction and loyalty. The impact that Big Data integration will have in CEM falls in three related areas: 1) Answering bigger questions about customers; 2) Building companies around the customers; 3) Using objective measures of customer loyalty.

Implication 1: Answer Bigger Questions about Customers

A successful CEM program is designed to deliver a better customer experience which translates into a more loyal customer base. As mentioned earlier, the source of data in most CEM programs is through customer feedback tools (e.g., survey, social media). Businesses gain customer insight primarily by analyzing customer feedback data with little or no regard for other data sources. By linking disparate data sources to their customer feedback data, companies gain insight about their customers that they could not achieve by looking at their customer feedback data alone.

Here are a few important business questions that can be addressed by linking disparate data sources to customer feedback.

• Where do we set operational goals in our call centers (e.g., number of handoffs, length of wait time) to ensure we maximize customer satisfaction?
• How many hours of training do employee need to ensure they can satisfy their customers?
• Which call center metrics are the key determinants of customer satisfaction with the call center experience?
• Where do we need to invest in our employee relationship (e.g., across the employee experience touch points) to ensure they deliver a great customer experience?
• Do customers who report higher loyalty spend more than customers who report lower levels of loyalty?

Companies who integrate their business data to understand the correlates of customer satisfaction and loyalty can better answer these questions and, consequently, have a much better advantage of effectively allocating their resources in areas that they know will help improve the customer experience and maximize customer loyalty and business growth.

The process merging disparate data silos depends on the question you are trying to answer. You will need to apply appropriate data federation and aggregation processes to build specific data models for statistical analyses and interpretation for each question. For example, studying the impact of employee satisfaction on customer satisfaction requires a different data model than when studying the impact of call center metrics on customer satisfaction.

This entire process of data integration is sometimes referred to as Business Linkage Analysis. The interested reader can explore the outcome of this data federation and aggregation process below. I developed three customer-centric data federation processes and data models to help companies use their existing data to address some of those Big Questions presented above.

1. Linking operational and customer metrics: We are interested in calculating the statistical relationships between customer metrics and operational metrics. Data are federated and aggregated at the transaction level. Understanding these relationships allows businesses to build/identify customer-centric business metrics, manage customer relationships using objective operational metrics and reward employee behavior that will drive customer satisfaction.
2. Linking financial and customer metrics: We are interested in calculating the statistical relationships between customer metrics and financial business outcomes. Data are federated and aggregated at the customer level. Understanding these relationships allows you to strengthen the business case for your CEM program, identify drivers of real customer behaviors and determine ROI for customer experience improvement solutions.
3. Linking constituency and customer metrics: We are interested in calculating the statistical relationship between customer metrics and employee/partner metrics (e.g., satisfaction, loyalty, training metrics). Data are aggregated at the constituency level. Understanding these relationships allows businesses to understand the impact of employee and partner experience on the customer experience, improve the health of the customer relationship by improving the health of the employee and partner relationship and build a customer centric culture.

Implication 2: Build your company around your customer

The success of a CEM program depends on the adoption of certain business practices in each CEM component. While there are several best practice standards, the major success drivers are related to strategy/governance, business process integration, and applied research. Companies who adopt best practices in these areas have higher levels of customer loyalty compared to companies who do not adopt these practices.

Integrating different sources of business data helps build a customer-centric company by building interest across the company in understanding what impacts the customer experience. Because the integration of different business data would necessarily involve key stakeholders from each organization, the mere act of integration would be a catalyst for further cross-organizational discussions about the customer. Applying a customer-centric data federation and aggregation approach to business data integration would help senior leaders understand how their organization (and its metrics) impacts the customer.

The results of customer research become more applicable to other organizations when you are using their data in your research. Different data owners (e.g., senior leaders) can now start asking (and answering) questions about their metrics and how they are related to the customer experience. Expanding the use of customer data to other departments (e.g., HR, Call Center, Marketing) helps the entire company improve processes that are important to the customer. Here are some examples of how companies are using this type of research to build a customer-centric culture:

• Identifying and building customer-centric operational metrics for executive dashboards
• Removing the noise from executive reports by including only customer-centric business metrics (known to be predictive of customer satisfaction)
• Integrating customer feedback into operational systems (CRM) so front-line employees understand the interactions and attitudes of their customers
• Conducting in-depth customer research using all business data to continually gain customer insight and gain a competitive advantage

Big Data technologies and processes can go a long way in helping you support your CEM program. By taking a customer-centric approach to your Big Data, you will be able to literally build the company (its data) around the customer.

Implication 3: Use Objective Loyalty Metrics

Despite the existence of objective measures of customer loyalty (e.g., customer renews contract, recommends you, buys more), CEM programs rely on customer surveys as a way to assess customer loyalty. Measures of customer loyalty typically take the form of questions that ask the customer to indicate his or her likelihood of engaging in specific types of behaviors, those deemed important to the company/brand.

CEM professionals (me, too) typically use these self-report measures as our only measure of customer loyalty when analyzing survey data. While these loyalty metrics do provide reliable, valid and useful information, you are always interested in what customers really do. By linking up financial data and customer feedback data, you would be able to understand how the customer experience impacts real customer loyalty behavior using objective metrics, like purchase amount, products purchased, products liked, products shared, renewed contract).

End-of-quarter financial reports include customer loyalty metrics (e.g., churn rates, ARPU, repurchase rates) with no information about the factors that might impact those numbers. Traditionally analyzed at the end of the quarter as standalone metrics, these objective loyalty metrics provide no insight about how to improve them. Linking satisfaction with the customer experience to these objective loyalty measures, however, lets you build predictive models to help you understand the reasons behind your financial metrics. This is powerful stuff.

Could we stop using self-reported customer loyalty metrics? It would make the loyalty measurement debate a moot point. I think, though, the use of self-reported customer loyalty metrics will always be used. Survey-based loyalty metrics allow companies to quickly and easily gauge levels of customer loyalty and provide a forward look into the future about customer loyalty.

Summary

The era of Big Data is upon us and the Big Data problem for business is one of linking up their disparate data silos with customer feedback data in order to identify the correlates of customer satisfaction and loyalty. A major hurdle in solving this problem involves applying appropriate data federation and aggregation methods across the different data silos. This data federation process results in usable datasets with the right metrics culled from different data sources to answer specific questions or hypotheses. Once the metrics are pulled from their respective data sources, businesses can apply statistical modeling to answer important questions about the causes of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Big Data principles have a role in CEM programs. Integrating other sources of business data with your customer feedback data can help you extract much more value from each of your data sources. By linking up these data sources, companies will be able to ask and answer bigger customer experience questions, embed the importance of the customer across different organizations/departments and provide the use of both subjective and objective metrics of customer loyalty.

3 Things to Stop Doing in Your Startup Right Now

Leaning Tower of Pisa © by HarshLight (2007)

Startup founders often make decisions based on unpredictable factors, but there are a few things you can (and should) be able to avoid. Here are 3 areas not to put too much emphasis on in your brand-new business:

Acquiring New Clients

When I was starting out as an entrepreneur, I was only concerned about one thing: acquiring more customers. I thought I understood the logic: more customers equals more work, which equals more money, which then equals more happiness.

However, I soon found out things don't work this way. I don't deny the benefits of having an abundance of business, but I discovered that focusing exclusively on sales is a recipe for disaster: the more I focused on acquiring new clients, the less I focused on my existing clients. I noticed a downward spiral of putting out fires with existing clients while trying to appear like a well-oiled machine to prospective clients.

In order to succeed in business, you must focus on your entire business, not just parts of it. Focus on acquiring more clients when you are ready; don't jump the gun.

Relying on Entrepreneurial Emotions

I also discovered early on that I would make bad business decisions based entirely off of emotions. I spent money on advertising just to feel accomplished, kept unproductive employees because I felt sorry for them, purchased equipment I didn't really need, and paid for services because I thought I might use them one day.

To be successful, an entrepreneur needs to make logical decisions, not emotional ones, especially when it comes to money. Before you do so, you should think of what it will do for your business or life and if it is worth the investment.

Using the Fearful Pricing Strategy

When I started my business, I undercharged for my service. I didn't have the confidence to ask for a decent price, and I thought I had to have the lowest price in order to get business.

What did these practices get me? Low profits and poor cash flow.

In order to survive as a startup'both financially and mentally'it's crucial that you make sure you're receiving maximum reward for your maxed out efforts. If you don't see the true value in your business, how do you expect your clients to do so? Your work is worth it; adjust your prices accordingly.

Brad Kendall is a serial technology entrepreneur from Winnipeg, Manitoba with an obsession for entrepreneurship. He is the co-founder of multiple companies including CCR Technology Group, Enlite Digital Advertising Solutions and Digihedron.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC leads #FixYoungAmerica, a solutions-based movement that aims to end youth unemployment and put young Americans back to work.

How Asking 'Why' Helps Us Get to Our Larger Story

If you're a parent, you've no doubt at some point had to master the never-ending onslaught of a 'why?' session. Comedian Louis CK has a wonderful bit on this, where he talks about how his daughter's asking 'why' led him to mind-altering insanity as a question about going outside while it's raining led deeper and deeper into the meaning of life.

But of course we were kids ourselves once. Remember? We had all the time in the world ' and nothing was more important than understanding the wide world around us. Dr. Dawn Taylor, a psychologist at Penn State who specializes in child development said something that resonates with me: 'Asking 'why' is one of the most important strategies children have for connecting with their caregivers and learning about the world around them.'

It's also one of the most important strategies for content marketing. Let me explain' why.

Using the 5 'whys'

As content marketers, getting to the 'why' of our content is central. We are so trained to think in the classic 'features and benefits' form of creating, that it can be hard to step back and tell the larger story. And, of course, that's what we want to achieve with content marketing. Our content marketing should be focused on delivering value to our audiences beyond the product or service we provide. It should ultimately answer the question of 'why' our consumers care about us.

There is a concept in problem solving called the '5 Whys.' It was developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was originally used within Toyota Motors during the evolution of its (now) famous Toyota Production System. It has since been adopted by a number of project management and other processes ' namely Six Sigma.

The classic process is simple. It's about stating a problem, and then asking the 'why' question 5 times to get to the 'root cause' of the problem. Here's an example:

Problem: The living room is dark.

1st Why: Because the light bulbs are not working
2nd Why: Because the light bulbs are dead and burned out
3rd Why: Because the light bulbs are old and should have been replaced
4th Why: Because we didn't know that they needed to be replaced
5th Why: (root cause): Because we don't have a way to track how old the light bulbs are

So, the root cause in this case is that we don't have a method to track the age of the light bulbs. So, we can't predict when they will go out, or the greater problem this will eventually lead to (darkness). So, fix the root cause and you can avoid the eventual problem.

Now, there are extensions to the 5 Whys, and its weaknesses are well documented. Not to mention that more complex problems can require asking why more than five times.

But from a content marketing perspective, an exercise in asking why five (or more) times can provide real benefit.

Using our inner child's eyes to arrive at the larger story

One of the techniques that I use in workshops to go from 'tactical idea' to 'larger story' is a classic exercise built on the foundation of the '5 Whys.' However, like a kid, I don't stop at five, but rather go until I get at the larger story that we're trying to tell.

One of the most common questions I get asked during the sessions or workshops that I teach is, 'How do we take the content we already have and turn it into engaging content marketing?'

It's a wonderful question ' and one piece of it is to ask ourselves what I call the 'Story Whys.' Now, this is a part of a larger education workshop that we do here at CMI ' and is available through our Consulting Division ' but it's something you can certainly do on your own. Here's how:

Ask your group (or just you by yourself) to come up with ideas for content marketing. Chances are the ideas will look something like this:

• Launch a blog that informs users on how to use the kind of product we sell.
• Create a white paper series on the business benefits of the kind of service we provide.
• Use a blog platform to curate news from our industry to position ourselves as thought leaders.

Now, all of these are fun and interesting content marketing ideas. But let's take one of these ' the 'curate news' idea ' as an example and run it through our 'Whys' to get to the true purpose of that idea and how (if at all) it fits into our larger story. (By the way, this is from an actual workshop for a B2B company.):

Idea: Use a blog platform to curate news from our industry to position us as thought leaders.

1st Why: Why is curating news to position us as thought leaders important to our customers?

• A: Because our customers will see that we have our fingers on the pulse of our business and have a point of view on the industry.

2nd Why: Why is it important that people see that we have our fingers on the pulse and have a point of view on the industry?

• A: Because then our customers and prospects will have more trust in what we say.

3rd Why: Why is it important to our customers and prospects to have more trust in what we say?

• A: Because developments in our industry are changing really quickly and our customers need a trusted partner to keep them on top of what's going on.

4th Why: Why do our customers need a trusted partner to keep them on top of what's going on in our industry?

• A: Because they are really busy trying to be successful and a trusted partner can help them be informed.

5th Why: Why is it important for our customers' success to be informed?

• A: Because if they're informed about the industry from a trusted source, they will be more competitive ' and can then be more successful.

Pretty cool huh? Within five 'whys' we go from a blog that's focused on 'positioning us as thought leaders' to a blog platform that 'helps our customers be more competitive and successful.' Go back and read those 'why' answers in reverse and you have a pretty well formed mission statement for that blog.

Now, if we're not entirely satisfied with that question, you could continue on this 'through our child's eyes' exercise and ask a few more. For example, 'Why is it important that our customers are more competitive?' Each 'why' takes a bigger and more important leap toward understanding the larger context of their world.

That's an important point. You'll notice that in the questioning, I immediately put the emphasis on 'why' this is important to the customers. They are the central audience here. It's not about us. It's about them.

Now, you won't have an epiphany every single time you do this exercise. And, in many instances you'll find that the 'whys' lead to a 'meh' and you can safely abandon the idea. But it's the process that's important. Just like with a kid, developing the 'whys' helps with the inquisitive mind and helps with learning how to solve problems in a creative way. And, most importantly, it encourages the idea of the joy of discovery.

As the wonderful quote from Proust says, 'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but seeing with new eyes.' Asking 'why' can certainly open them wider.

As always, it's your story. I dare you go make it remarkable, and then come tell us about it.

'Why' image via Shutterstock