What is your digital vision?

I hear a lot about corporate online strategy and the need to outline 'roadmaps' for: functional website & mobile development, integrated digital marketing and even business-orientated data approaches.

These are all great things (which sometime even co-exist and work together for some organisations).

However, what is sometimes missing is the even bigger picture. For example "engage existing customers via social media" is not an over-arching digital vision. In fact, that's not even a mature & considered social media strategy! However, I hear lines such as this regularly uttered (or was that muttered) my senior teams in strategic planning sessions about their online presence.

So here's a thought.....

Before trying to document your lengthy digital strategy and outlining the different deliverables you think are necessary for online success, take some time to paint the overall vision of what success actually looks like.

For example, I'm sure Jeff Bezos didn't initially say "I'm going to build automatic product recommendations and a handy one-click ordering system". I think he said something like "I'm going to be the number online bookseller, with fantastic features to help people find & buy what they want as easy as possible".

Have you therefore considered your vision of what success looks like first?

Combining paid, owned and earned media

In a post from earlier this year, I gave my thoughts on the blurring boundaries between paid, owned and earned media http://press20.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/paid-owned-and-earned-blurring.html . I was therefore very keen to read the report from research and advisory company Altimeter Group on 'The Converged Media Imperative'. This paper lays it out clearly, that brands now need to combine the different media channels of paid, owned and earned to get the most from them.
http://www.altimetergroup.com/research/reports/how-brands-must-combine-paid-owned-and-earned-media 

Now to me, this is hardly a revelation and it is great that this report has been published. My post from last April suggested that rather than there being definitive boundaries between the three, there's significant cross-over. And this is the point Altimeter have explained too. In fact our models of this integration are incredibly similar, see below:

My diagram to show the blurring

(The star representing press releases)

Altimeter's diagram showing the convergence of paid, owned & earned

Is your PPC agency working hard enough?

I've worked with paid search campaigns long enough now to have more than just a basic idea of how the main bid systems work. I've also learnt that there's numerous ways to waste money on PPC campaigns, when just a few changes can yield much better results.... Meaning your online marketing budget can go further. Much further!

This issue can sometimes be amplified when you use a digital agency to run your paid search campaigns. Especially when said agency gets paid a percentage of the budget for setting up and managing these campaigns.

For example, why wouldn't an agency bid on higher priced terms and use up the budget quicker? (Compared to structuring the account around a lot more mid to long tail terms).

There's also no point in the agency advising you when your search campaigns are yielding a low quality score. Why would they? An improved QS merely means there is more work to be done for the same amount of commission.

Why I'm moving to Scotland

A personal post from me today.

Most friends and family will know by now that The Sutherlands are moving to Scotland in matter of weeks. For some this will come as a shock, but for others it will seem an obvious step.

Most people who know us, know that my wife Moya is originally from the Scottish town of Paisley near Glasgow. There she has a large & welcoming family, plus a great set of friends she has had forever. Not forgetting that our kids were both christened in the local cathedral where we got married there.

Moya and I have been discussing and subsequently planning our move (to what my brother once 'politically incorrectly' called "North England") for a couple of years now. So this most definitely is not a short-term venture, this is a change of country, lifestyle and outlook. One of us is going 'home' and the rest are either going because we want to (me) or to get our own bedroom (the kids).

I'm also longing to get out on my bikes more, as both the mountains and road in Scotland are better for cycling compared to West London. This is part of my commitment to lead a healthier lifestyle (and lose that spare tyre that seems to be inflating around my midriff).

So what am I leaving behind?
Well, it's fair to say I've built up a great network of contacts, clients and colleagues in London and the South East. I know my way about very well and I know where to go for business drinks, impressive dinners and the best burgers (Wolfs near Covent Garden do an amazing wagyu beef burgers that IMHO hard to beat). I don't have this sort of knowledge where I'm going, but I'm not one for standing about....

Yes, I will miss running the Ealing Tweetup, something that I've coordinated for about a year and a half. That's been a great event for me, with the chance to build up friendships, meet local social media users and even to sing at the top of my voice whilst backed by a live band (thanks to Brace Yourself).

One question I have been asked several times by those who already know of our departure and that I've avoided answering, is whether our decision to move away from Ealing was influenced by the riots last year. The honest answer to that has to be "no". You see we'd already decided to move by last Summer, however the madness that happened across the UK (but not Scotland) only ratified our decision.

One last thing. Just because I'm moving to Scotland, it doesn't mean I'm not going to be down in the metropolis. You see....

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."
SAMUEL JOHNSON (1709-84)

How O2 is responding to critisism

Although I am currently suffering from having no mobile and data signal for around 7 hours now, it must be nothing compared to the stress O2 must be going through, given the network issues they have all afternoon and evening.

I therefore turned to Twitter tonight to see what is being said on that account. Take a look at this insult from an unhappy customer and the UK online service centre response.

Well done to O2 for being assertive and yet not patronising it it's response.

What your insurance website UX says about you

I've been reviewing a number of insurance websites lately and have been genuinely surprised by the poor user experience they have.

Its not just a few tiny things either..... There's some pretty important issues you can find if you take the time (and boy have I!). These issues include: a lack of contextual help, incorrect or missing error messaging, system time-outs for no apparent reason and accessibility failings nearly across the board.

Are we actually in the 21st Century?

Surely these pretty basic failings (that are more suited to sites 10 or more years ago) actually tell us something about the companies that create them and rely on them as an important revenue stream?
IMHO is says they are still treating the digital channel as an addition to their traditional business.... Even if the web makes up the majority of their revenue now.

It's not all negatives though. Some insurance company sites I've looked at do cover (most of) these essential requirements and a few provide an intuitive experience that seems to have the right balance of mandatory information fields and optimised user journey. These organisations have obviously taken a more considered and user-centred approach. It shows.

Companies in every market really need to keep developing and evolving their ecommerce experience, with insurance companies being no exception.
Because if you don't, then your users will notice and vote with their mice.

The confusing Microsoft messenger

The World's largest software company has me confused (again). But not this time over the naming of their software development tools or their licensing agreements for SME's, but over a seemingly small piece of technology, the enterprise messenger tool set.

It's pretty obvious that Microsoft's general consumer instant messenger product is no longer used by half as many people as a few years ago. In fact a quick sign in to MS Messenger (something I've not knowingly done in years) shows very few of my old contacts do the same. I guess the complete take-over of the social space by Facebook, which has its own messaging service, and Twitter has taken its toll. So many people now use Twitter as a peer-to-peer messaging service, as well as a way to broadcast their thoughts...it's taken over (within my sphere of friends anyway) as the primary online tool for 1-2-1 dialogue..... with mobile chat & text still the major platform with the younger generation.

I've also recently started using Lync, the computer-telephone integrated software that is described by Microsoft as their 'Enterprise-ready unified communications playform'. If you've never used it before, it is: part Messenger, part Skype, with Outlook integration. Note: it even has a mobile app, that I've not yet got to work.

So why then did MS this May just pay $8.5billion for Skype (making it their biggest every acquisition) and then only a couple of weeks ago agree to purchase Yammer, a leading provider of enterprise social networking services for $1.2 billion in cash?

Although Skype will create its own division (department not rift) within the software giant, Yammer will join the Microsoft Office Division. Potentially meaning that it will be integrated somehow with Lync and possibly Skype & Messenger?

This sounds like too many packages all doing the same thing to me. Each has it's own unique productive functionality, but they all also have significant functionality overlap, that will have to be integrated, standardised and quite possibly rationalised.

The challenges of the modern digital marketer

Having recently asked the question of several job applicants "what are the biggest challenges currently faced by the digital marketer?" I thought I'd give my own answer (coming perhaps a little too late if, dear reader, you were looking for any pre-interview insight).

1. The speed of change
The rate things change in the online marketing industry is amazing. What was accepted practice only a month or so, e.g. in a field such as search engine optimisation, is quickly outdated or even counter productive.

2. The complexity of technology
It is no longer enough these days to say "oh, that's technical, I don't need to understand that". Technology is now an intrinsic part of digital marketing and it is only getting more intertwined with other strands (such as content & customer data) and complex.

3. The increasing demands of the user
Although I state that user needs are increasing, I should point out that a lot of their requirements (e.g. An intuitive interface, the ability to do what they want on any device, etc) are not new.... They have just not been possible to deliver, due to technology, budget or other constraints). That said, there's no doubt in my mind that the target of your marketing efforts now expects: timely, relevant and engaging contact via any channel and in a more personalised manner. Gone are the days of 'spray & pray' email campaigns and woe betide any company that doesn't produce a suite of different creative options targeted at specie groups of users.

4. The social feedback loop
There can be no excuse these days for tuning into the social back-channel for your brand or service. Tools are now freely (or paid for if you want a better service or experience) available for listening to what your intended audience is saying. Sure, it comes with its own unique challenges and difficulties, but surely part of the 'fun' is finding these out and solving them?
If you're not listening, you're not marketing.

The 5 steps to creating a successful Digital Strategy

Here’s my 5 steps to creating a successful Digital Strategy

1. Understand …

…. not only the commercial goals, but the stakeholders & team involved. Take time to then walk through the current digital requirements (priorities & dependencies) and all the relevant internal processes that you have to work within  (there will be some, even on a ‘green field’ project – or as I recently said to one senior marketer, who said there were no restrictions: “every green field has borders eventually”. 

2. Review …..

all existing projects, including any project interdependencies with the work done by other departments (e.g. IT),  current suppliers of online services (e.g. Digital Agencies) and make sure you know what KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) are reported against across the business. 

Note: You should also take the time to identify the immediate wins (e.g. is there something so obvious and easy that is can be done now?)

3. Document…

Key Deliverables. This means writing up what has to be done and when it is expected. Focus both on commercial optimisation (operational efficiency) and innovation to gain competitive advantage. Consider all digital touch-points, where possible adopting a user-centred approach and cover all lines of business, such as: B2C, B2B, Back office (e.g. purchasing).

4. Plan….

for success by creating a rolling 30 day plan that keeps delivering wins and fixes over the short and medium term. From this build up a longer-term roadmap that integrates functionality with marketing activity (content, campaigns, etc.). Where necessary develop robust justifications (business cases) for large pieces of work.

5. Future-proofing…

means considering all changes likely to occur over the roadmap timescales. I use the “STEP” acronym as a handy way to classify the different innovation drivers:

a.       Social (what will individuals and groups do differently?)

b.      Technological (what new software or devices are expected?)

c.       Economic (how will and increase/decrease in household income affect you plans?)

d.      Political (why legislation is due that could cause an impact to the organisation?)

 

Aggregator Maturity

Recently I've been posting my thoughts on the online aggregation services, including the more mathematical Herfindahl Index.Last month I was attempting to explain to someone how aggregation got more technically complex as the product or service became more complex and I quickly drew out a table that explained it. So now I have put it up online to shame and to get feedback.Aggregator Maturity

View more PowerPoint from Hayden Sutherland

As always, I see this as 'work in progress' and never a definitive completed concept.

Aggregation and the Herfindahl index

The Herfindahl Index (AKA the Hirschman-Herfindahl Index or HHI) is a measurement of the competitiveness of a particular industry. The index gives a figure between 0 and 1, with those markets closest to zero being more competitive and those closest to 1 being an (almost) monopoly.


An increase in the index typically means that there’s been a decrease in competition and therefore greater market power to those still operating. Whereas a decrease towards zero indicates more companies fighting over the same customer base and therefore the existence of a more ‘perfect’ and competitive market.
So why is the Herfindahl Index important in the online aggregators markets? Well, over the last decade, the appearance of aggregators in different online markets has created a more level playing field for customers; by collating the rates and fees for different suppliers and presenting them to the online user in an easy-to-compare format. Therefore in those markets where price is so-often the defining decision factor, such as utilities, financial services and travel, the use of aggregators increases competition and pushes the Herfindahl Index figure closer to zero.

Take the UK motor insurance market right now. As you will see from the diagram below (sourced from Towers Watson’s report ‘why aren’t we making money’
www.towerswatson.com/assets/.../Why-arent-we-making-money.pdf

In the last 10 years (really since the appearance of confused.com which was the first UK motor insurance aggregator) the HHI has moved closer to zero.

So what are the implications of this? Well, if anything is predictable, it is that the UK motor insurance market is going to get more (not less) price sensitive over the next few years, becoming more like the oil and airline industry in its competitiveness, unless something happens to interrupt this trend……

eCommerce Directors for Dummies

I think there needs to be a new book added to the 'Dummies' range. One that explains the basics for some people on the subject of leading an ecommerce department. Why? Well, it seems that not everyone who reaches this role necessarily knows all the key points needed to stay in it.

Ask yourself:

• Have you told everyone that you know all about pay-per-click strategies, but secretly wonder what all this chat about "AdWords" is?

• Have you got an understanding of conversion rates, but aren't too sure if it is orders divided by visitors or orders divided by visits?

• Do you think data-driven marketing is looking at your Google Analytics to see how your email campaigns are going?

If so, then perhaps you need a copy! (if it is ever published).

Note: Apologies to the 'Dummies' books for such a blatant copyright infringement

the corporate layers - an idea developed

In a recent post I started to work through my thoughts around the development of McKinsey's company software layer concept. I mentioned that I thought there was at least one obvious omission (e.g. web services) and that a single layer to explain it all was too simple.

So now I find myself putting forward an evolved version of this idea, unashamedly taking McKinsey's model as the basis of it.

Corporate layers

View more PowerPoint from Hayden Sutherland

As you can see from my embedded presentation there are now five proposed layers rather than just two.

1. Core business processes
2. Web services & API’s
3. Owned media such as website(s), Apps, Kiosks, etc.
4. Paid media such as online advertising (PPC, etc.)
5. Earned media such as Social, Word-of-mouth, etc.

Although I believe the lines between owned, paid and earned are now becoming increasingly blurred, there is a place for each of the different communication media in my new model.

The digital age – a new world?

The following is a guest posting by entrepreneur Ben Blomerley

I read Hayden’s last blog post about innovation with interest. I was fascinated by the line ‘adaptation and change are just business-as-usual’. It is absolutely true – okay, maybe the pace of change is faster than it used to be, but there are more tools and skills out there than there used to be that help you deal with that pace. But businesses have always had to adapt and innovate to survive – I’m sure Thomas Edison wouldn’t recognise GE now, and what Charles Flint would make of IBM is anyone’s guess!

It’s interesting to take a few examples. Pinterest is fascinating for me, given the way that it seemed to explode from nowhere (it didn’t – it’s over two years old). But what did it do? Revolutionise a business model? Create something completely unexpected? No – what it did was look at the market and realised that social networks massively underserved bored Midwestern housewives. They wanted a way to share, in an incredibly easy way, the things that interested them. And that’s Pinterest – social media for an under-served category. 

And let’s look at that, too – the idea of successful social media (or social media campaigns). Every day I read a story about how people can’t get their social media campaigns moving. Corporations big and small throwing money at it because they have to be ‘in’ social media – or even worse, not throwing enough money at it, leaving it to the interns who, being young, must ‘get’ it. But the principles of social media are easy –something that someone wants to share, someone who wants to share, someone who wants to listen, a call to action, and monitor what’s happening.

A final thing I find very interesting is that I see people who are worried about barriers to entry in this new digital age. If any kid with a laptop can knock up a website, how can established players protect their markets? Whilst it’s true – and fantastic – that you have punchy upstarts shaking up the established order, looking at competition is not a new thing. And there’s plenty than can still be done – punchy upstarts can’t build quality content, for example. And people still want to see something on a website, they need a reason to be there. I found this post by Mark Schaefer fascinating on what the new careers in social media will be (and no reason to think it stops with social media!) 

So – what do these three examples say? Is Pinterest a revolution? Is social media an alien concept? Can nobody defend themselves against an engineer with an idea? No. These are three age old concepts of business. You need to look at your customers. You need to execute well. And you need to look at what your competitors are doing, how you can entrench your position. 

Is innovation new? No. 

Are the fundamentals of doing business in this new world different? Well, what do you think?

Bio:

Ben Blomerley is the founder of AskHerFriends (www.askherfriends.com), which aims to apply some digital age solutions to an age old problem – how a guy can get better gifts for the women in his life!

Are you employing the right digital staff?

As I speak to various companies in my consulting travels around the UK, I meet a lot of boards who are looking to hire senior digital staff.

They look internally and then externally, but don't find the people they think they need.
In my opinion this can be for a number of reasons including:

1. There is nobody else in the organisation to benchmark senior digital people against. The digital 'all rounder' often needs to be a combination of creative marketer, technical geek and strategic thought leader. But often they might also call themselves a planner, architect or programme manager (and a lot more besides).

2. Internal staff and HR interviewing them might not be up to speed on all the latest tools, techniques and technologies. So therefore the selection and interview process is flawed.

3. The small number of truly good people in the market means that candidates are thin on the ground and snapped up quickly.

Therefore my advice for those organisations looking to hire someone like this is:

- focus on what candidates have done, rather than what their titles have been

- consider bringing in an independent specialist just to help you define, search, filter resumes and interview candidates

- move quickly when you think you've found the right person

Infographication

Infographics, they're everywhere you go online these days.

Follow someone on Twitter?
Then watch them link off to an image full of bar graphs, circles and calibrated scales.

Reading an online news site?
Then expect a convoluted embedded image showing growth / decline in this commodity or that financial product, when all you really want is a green tick or a red cross (or just the words "Buy" or "sell")
Note: Some are now animated or allow you to see progress over time.

Attending an industry presentation?
Expect the occasional slide pulled together in Adobe Illustrator that baffles more than it explains.

Infographication, the practice of using too many complex infographics.

Sure, a picture does paint a thousand words, but what if you only need to say a few?

Is the term innovation overused?

Yes!

'Innovation', along with the buzzwords 'synergy' and 'efficiency' have now become such a cliché that they have lost their impact to most people.

However, in an always on world where ideas are instantly streamed from pc to pc and continent to continent, success is short and new products & strategies are copied quicker than ever.

A lot of companies who now claim to be innovative are just doing their job. Adaptation and change are just business-as-usual things that organisations need to do to maintain the status quo.

But still I see companies talk about innovation as something that happens to a single person and not the entire organisation. It's a flash of inspiration, rather than a cultural way of building competitiveness.

Perhaps we need to rethink innovation or come up with a new term for things?

Digital DNA - do you have it?

Everything you use these days is powered, improved or made by technology. From the kettle you boil your morning tea with, through to the smartphone you browse the web with, play games with, share images with and occasionally make calls with. Technology is unavoidable in the modern world.

But some people just seem to understand it more, they just 'get it'  and others don't. Why is this? 

It's pretty obvious that younger people, the digital natives, are far more savvy than the older  ones. They've been weaned and brought up seeing tech used in everyday life and are far more familiar with it in business, encouraging the BYOB (bring your own device) approach that we now see IT departments struggling with. My three year old daughter tells me "daddy, the tv is broken" because it isn't touchscreen and doesn't allow her all the choice available on her* iPad.

* I haven't actually bought her a £500 device, this is a work purchase. But somehow it typically finds its way onto her lap when it's not being used.

But it's not just an old vs new thing. I've seen some young people struggle with even a simple device and have observed senior citizens pick up & use intricate equipment like they've always had it. On top of this, there are grades of tech understanding, which sees some users coding complex development code in minutes and others just about able to use consumer devices.

I put this down to something I've been referring to as Digital DNA. The additional skill of understanding modern technology and being able to use it quickly and effectively for either passing the time, saving time or for commercial gain. 

Don't get me wrong, this is not some genetic mutation I'm suggesting here, that will be revealed by sequencing the chromosomes of specific people. It's actually a mental function that either exists or is developed (natured or nurtured? That's perhaps a question for another time), but I call it Digital DNA because for me this goes to the core of an individual. It means they are far more likely to integrate tech products and concepts into their work & play. They have it within them to understand how things work and integrate without much explanation and then are willing to learn as they go.

The secret for any employer looking to keep ahead of the competition in the online and increasingly multi-channel market, is to identify these people within the organisation and decide how best to use and encourage this innate ability.

--
Hayden Sutherland
www.idealinterface.co.uk
Digital Strategy - Website Delivery - Online Marketing
+44 (0)780 1341955

Ecommerce for everyone

I work with some fab companies, helping them implement or take their ecommerce operations forward. These tend to be major organisations who have established retail operations, such as stores.

The digital marketplace has quickly filled up, leaving only those companies who have yet to take the ecommerce leap. This is a diminishing minority now, mainly made up of those who think they are either too small to set up an online sales channel or who are happy enough to let someone else run the digital commerce channel for them.

But what opportunities are there for other companies to move into the ecommerce space?  What about those websites who don't already have an existing sales channel, could they benefit?

Quite possibly.

Setting up a professional ecommerce operation isn't as difficult as you might think. 

Isn't it about time we had eCommerce for everyone who wants it?

How can companies stay ahead in the 21st Century?

Business life is hard right now and even the large corporates are having to examine everything they do to stat ahead. Here’s some of my high-level thoughts on the trends andapproaches that are shaping the modern digital workplace and therefore how competitive edge can still be maintained:

1. Digital DNA

Online is not a 'bolt on' to the customer's life, it is howthey live their life now; digital has become part of the customer DNA. Theyadopt, use and integrate technology all the time, to either save time or wastetime. Businesses therefore need to put themselves in the mind of thedigitally-savvy customer or just think like the customer they actually are.This is especially true of the newer generation (Generation Y / Millenials /etc.) who are ‘Digital Natives’, for whom most cannot remember a time beforethe Internet and the use of multiple screens is an everyday occurrence.

The aim is therefore to create understanding, encourageinnovative & agile ‘web 2.0’ thinking within a company and learn how to apply this within the modern working environment.

2. Customer-centric 

The concept of ‘User Centred Design’ has been successfullyutilised for over a decade now to create online experiences that put the userat the heart of the process, rather than just being a passive node that has todeal with whatever interface the system creates at the end.

This turns some business processes on their heads, as theway some corporate departments and product catalogues are structured are notnecessarily the way that users want to browse, search, consume, etc.

Be prepared to turn things upside down if it means thedifference between doing what you’ve always done and what needs to be done tomove forwards.

3. The connected corporate ecosystem

As more systems become interconnected and as we all learnthat data does not have to be re-entered if it already exist online in someform…. This will provide the opportunity for some data (e.g. inferred from auser’s browsing history) to be integrated with other data (e.g. explicitknowledge about a user’s age, purchase habits, etc.) and to significantlyreduce human errors such as those from simple data re-keying. The semantic webis almost upon us, is your business ready?

4. Use of Data for insight

Thanks to the Internet, every 2 days the human race nowcreates as much information as it did in its entire history up to 2003. Thisgrowth in ‘big data’ creates its own challenges (e.g. the storage and abilityto quickly access the right data, re-posted mis-information, etc.) as well asits own opportunities, such as an unprecedented amount of useful data on userbehaviour.  This therefore facilitates afar greater level of personalisation and supports various real-time activities& incentives such as individual offers and rewards (perhaps the very reasonwhy mega supermarket Tesco used & subsequently purchased DunnHumby forcustomer insight and data driven marketing purposes) plus then the future predictivecapabilities that may come from this.

Turbo-charging your digital marketing strategy workshop

This week I flew off to participate in a day of meetings and discussions about the digital marketing plans for a well know IT equipment manufacturer.

The whole day went really well (in my opinion) and as well as meeting people I'd only spoken to on the phone before, I got to do what I really enjoy.... Standing up at a whiteboard with a marker pen & post-it notes and working in a collaborative way to map out "what the short and medium term will look like".

Doing this sort of workshop can at-times be a little daunting, however I've done enough of them in the past to be able to cover most problems that are likely to occur. But this session was actually made a lot easier by two important factors that I wanted to share:

Firstly, by having an agency team around me who are not just smart (even though we all got up before 4:30am that morning to catch our flight), but able to think in a commercial and practical way.

Secondly, having a couple of clients participate in the workshop who are not only digitally-savvy, but driven, passionate and fun at the same time.

This all meant we were able to not only get the plan of work for the short & medium term mapped out, but we got to understand far more about the supporting factors, systems and processes necessary to deliver the business objectives. In essence, getting twice the work done in the same amount of time.

If only every workshop could be like that!

Research online, purchase offline - don't miss out

ROPO is a term introduced by Google some while back to reflect the cross channel habits of today's modern shoppers who research online and then go on to purchase offline.


This is often the unmeasured factor in eCommerce sales, where the online store has actually contributed to an in-store sale by helping the user view the product online (e.g. see the button detail of a jacket, view the specifications of a computer component or read the details of a hotel or resort) before a customer then wanders into a physical location and hands over money to buy the actual goods. 


This shouldn't be confused with the other multi-channel functionality such as: 
click & collect (view, select & pay for your products online, collect in-store)
click & reserve (view & select your products online, pay & collect in-store)


So how do you, as an online marketer help, in this cross-channel transaction? Here's some thoughts:


1. Provide every possible means on your site to help the user record and remember the product they have chosen. This especially means making that 'Print' button easy to find (especially when the item you are displaying online is out of stock).
It is worth noting that some online stores do not include an on-site option to print out the product detail page, instead relying on the browser print function. I'm not a great believer in this, as over time most of the browser companies have done their utmost to hide the print function behind hard-to-find menu options.


2. Make sure your site visitor knows where your stores are!
Simple I know, but assuming you don't yet have the full multi-channel capability to inform your visitor of the exact stock position of each store, make sure the links to your store finder tool is easy to find.
Note: Whilst on this subject, PLEASE make sure the phone numbers of each store are accurate and clearly displayed too.


Furthermore with the increased adoption of mobile / smartphone usage, users aren't just researching online at home.... they are researching all the time online, including in-store! Yup, they are quite possibly browsing your mobile site, app or maybe just your main site in a smartphone whilst wandering around your premises.


John Lewis identified this issue last year and announced their plans for in-sore WiFi in October:
Here's what they said about this:
"More than 60 per cent of John Lewis customers research products online before visiting a shop to make a purchase and in-store Wi-Fi access allows them to continue and complete that journey, accessing product information and viewing ratings and reviews to influence their purchase."
http://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/media/press/y2011/press-release-21-october-2011-john-lewis-commits-to-free-wifi-in-all-its-shops.html 


With the Multi-channel & eCommerce landscape becoming more competitive all the time, it will be increasingly hard to ignore ROPO as a factor that contributes to sales.

Paid, Owned and Earned - blurring boundaries

I recently put some thoughts together for a client on the blurring boundaries between paid, owned and earned media. Take a look at the presentation below on my initial thoughts on this (note: this isn't meant to be comprehensive, as some of this is client-specific)Paid Owned & Earned : The blurring boundaries

View more PowerPoint from Hayden

This theme has also been mentioned by Rebecca Lieb from Altimeter Research, who has given some more specific examples of how the boandaries between these three different media classifications are now very blurred.
http://www.imediaconnection.com/printpage/printpage.aspx?id=31333

To me its clear that both clients and their agencies must eventually integrate all three of these media to get the maximum return on investment (of resource / time and money).

Companies and the services layers

I recently received a report from McKinsey [link] that covered the topic of the 'corporate software layer'. This wasn't just another publication talking about application development standards, it referred to a metaphorical layer of services that surrounds the core 'hardware' processes and functions of an organisation. This software layer is an all-encompassing wrapper that the author described as including APIs, digital customer touchpoints and even Social Media.

Coincidentally I was chatting with someone in the Digital industry only a few days ago (thanks Wyndham) about how the use of web-based services can allow a company to incrementally develop its inner and external functions to remain agile & responsive to changes. I explained that via a Service Orientated Approach (SOA), a company could continually evolve its client-facing functionality (internal and external clients), wrap legacy functions and get the most from its digital agencies... by getting them to utilise any existing services.
Note:
We also questioned why digital agencies never seemed to develop work for clients using their own suite of web services to quickly deliver more intelligent work for their clients, but that's another topic for this blog sometime).

Anyhow.... Having thought about this some more, I do think there's the opportunity to not only merge the two topics mentioned above, but to then represent this in a similar (but perhaps more complex) way than McKinsey have done.

Here's what I mean:

1. McKinsey (perhaps in an effort to de-techie their report) haven't mentioned SOA and it's obvious benefit.

2. The 'software layer' is a little too catch-all for me.

3. Their diagram doesn't explain the big difference between the more technical machine-to-machine interfaces and the softer services that involve human interaction.

I guess what I'm saying here is that there might not be just one layer around the business, but possibly several service layers..... And the diagram needs to reflect this.

EU Privacy Directive - my recommendations

In my earlier post, I covered my understanding of the EU Privacy Directive and what the current situation was with this legislation in the UK.

At the end of this post I raised the question of what you can do. So here's some recommended steps you can take to compliance:

•  If you have an ecommerce site, immediately update your transaction Terms and Conditions.
• Carry out an audit of all 1^st and 3^rd Party cookies and other tracking technologies used across the sites. Then assess whether they are still required
• Clearly and accurately communicate to visitors about your cookie policy and what tracking is used.
• Develop a solution that requests consent if it is not already obtained. This consent needs to be obtained before any other actions are carried out on the site.   Note: Consent can only be gained by positive action (e.g. the user doing something. The user NOT doing something is not consent.
• Also check with your SEO company to see if any solution proposed affects your rankings (e.g. is seen as a blocker, cloaking, etc.?)

I would also strongly recommend that you speak with your legal representative or in-house counsel to ensure that you know your legal responsibilities when the legislation comes into force on the 26th May 2012.

EU Privacy Directive - Fact vs Fiction

There's been a lot of discussion in the last few months on the new EU Privacy legislation, so I thought I'd write-up my current understand of the situation.

The UK government has given websites until May 26th 2012 tocomply with the EU Privacy Directive. As of 26th May 2011 it has already becomelaw across a number of countries in the EU.

The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has the power tofine website owners up to £500,000 for serious breaches of the law. But he hasstated he will take a ‘practical and proportionate’ approach to enforcement ofthis legislation where organisations are making efforts to comply.

The Directive requires consent for storage or access toinformation stored on a subscriber or users terminal equipment. In other words…
obtaining consent for cookies and similar technologies. For example this could include: Local Shared Objects, commonly referred to as “Flash Cookies”, web beacons or bugs (including transparent or clear gifs).

The only valid exception is cookies which are ‘strictly necessary’ for a service requested by the user. However the ICO has stated thatwebsite analytics are not strictly necessary. They are also aware that obtaining consent from users may affect website owners’ ability to track users. In fact, when an opt-in message was placed on the ICO's own site, they saw visits (from opt-in users only) drop considerably. However, this will not stop them responding to complaints from visitors or carrying out their own investigations.

So what can you do?

(I'll hope to cover than in a subsequent post)

Social Media Espionage

I'm surprised (and a little humoured if I'm honest) to read that some of the most senior members of Western military have been compromised by their Facebook activity.

It seems that by posing as a top NATO chief, spies have managed to 'friend' other Military / Defence officials and obtain their personal details as a result. So although they thought they had become genuine online friends with Nato's Supreme Allied Commander, they've more than likely handed over their family and friend information to Chinese agents.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/9136029/How-spies-used-Facebook-to-steal-Nato-chiefs-details.html

It isn't just corporates that are being brandjacked via social media now. It is clear that the security services are targets. And just like companies that eventually adopt social media rather than avoid it, Nato has now advised its senior people to set up & own their own social network pages to hopefully prevent a repeat of this embarrassing issue.

Famous in fabric - the Hayden T-shiirt

Having something named after you typically only happens to famous (or infamous) people, royals and inventors. It is definitely not an occurrence that regularly happens to eCommerce consultants.

However I've been humbled by a product that has recently been launched by one of my clients.

The "Hayden" T-shirt is a new product for the AllSaints Spring/Summer 2012 collection and is available in different colours. As you can see from the screen grab below, it is available to buy online as well as in-store at the modest price of £40!

And you can buy it here (for now):

When I asked Alix the AllSaints eCommerce Manager how this had happened, she explained that as the business gives a name to every product, they are always on the look out for unique ones. It would therefore seem that my name was deemed appropriate and it has been used for this T-shirt.

The only question remaining is not whether I will buy it and then wear it.... But if I have any choice in the matter!

New York Times - what's in a photo?

There is a great review of the new Facebook timeline feature in eConsultancy yesterday, which mentions the New York Times as a good example.

http://www.facebook.com/nytimes

However the one thing that stood out for me in this photo is the red staircase in the centre. Taken from this angle it has the sort of company performance chart that every Chief Exec doesn't want to see. 

Perhaps it is just me, but is the NYT trying to tell us something?

Back to the stone age

Back when the Internet was new and exciting, when Yahoo ruled search
and before Mark Zuckerburg had learnt to build websites..... There was
utter mayhem.
(Note: I'm talking about 12 or more years ago here folks, it's not
like this was last week)

You see back then the amateur ruled web development. Anyone with a bit
of understanding of how to build a site could cobble a few pages
together and charge a few hundred pounds (or much, much more) for the
service. These sites were a mess..... flashing text on multi-coloured
backgrounds and nasty graphics were often seen an innovative and basic
usability, let alone accessibility, wasn't even considered.

This was partly because web standards were still emerging, partly
because the technology was so new (so browsers were so basic and often
flimsy in their rendering of HTML code) and partly because nobody knew
any better; from digital agencies half-putting this stuff together
through to clients who thought they were being clever by trying to
reinvent the wheel (e.g. sticking the main navigation on the right
hand side of the page).

Fortunately, over the years standards evolved and more people actually followed
them. Browser got more complex and in-turn developers learnt they had
be more rigorous in their coding. But more than this.... we learnt
what actually worked.

And now, just a few years into the mass use of Social Media, we have
the same thing all over again:

• Wacky ideas from agencies who are trying to do anything to differentiate themselves
• Poorly considered support for social activity in the long term (a lot of people still think it is something they can pick up and drop just as quickly)
• People with very little experience touting themselves as experts - and charging a fortune

It makes me wonder if we learnt anything first time around.....

Email the key to Multi-channel retail

I've been reading about a new technology that emails your shop receipt to you when you've made a store transaction. This functionality (called Yreceipt) basically automates the process for retailers and takes the customer one step closer to a paperless shopping experience.

But in my opinion it also provides one very important function to the seller.... it helps join up the multi-channel picture for stores, by getting that one piece of data that marries the store purchase with online cuistomer transactions with any digital marketing preferences.... their email address.
This isnt exactly ground-breaking stuff, but getting a customer's usual email address when they are in the store (and yes, I'm well aware that we all have several these days) means you not only know if they've purchased at your online shop, but if they've signed up or opted out of your bulletins. You can then link the in-store purchase to this account or even reactivate them for subsequent email marketing.

Surely by linking till systems with the ecommerce database, any serious retailer can then make the shopping experience more favourable for the customer (by providing loyalty discounts & other incentives, proving an online way for them to see their entire purchasing history and then delivering added value such as emailing receipts to them)?

Multi-Channel competency and innovation

Over the last few months I've been speaking to clients about two different principle facets of Multi-Channel retailing:

1. Continue to improve what you're doing
2. Find new ways to do what you're doing

This came to a head a week or so ago when I saw Sir Terry Leahy, the former CEO of Tesco, present on future global trends. As he talked, I was struck by one key phrase he quoted.

"Don't just do things better. Do better things"

And in an instant I had the key way to integrate my two disparate facets (Thanks Sir Terry!)So here's my presentation, which brings together my current thoughts on this subject. It's not complete, in fact it is a long way from it.... but I'm putting it up to collective scrutiny, with the aim of getting your feedback to develop it further.Multi-Channel Innovation & Competence

View more PowerPoint from Hayden Sutherland

Show me the Social Media money!

My, I must be getting sensitive after all these years in the digital industry. I've just got a bit annoyed after reading a single tweet.
No, it wasn't a rant by one of the angry accounts I follow, nor a bigoted response to a pressing social matter... It was this one:
"The number one objective for social media strategists is to evangelise a new initiative"
(I've withheld the name of the person who tweeted this, but if you have the skills.... You can find out who it is yourself).
No!
In my honest opinion this is NOT the first objective of anyone in social media, let alone someone responsible for the strategy.
Let me explain...
I believe that the most important role of anyone in any company is to support the organisation in its business objectives and responsibilities. These typically are to make money and reduce costs.
Sure, it is also the role of most employees to: take responsibility for their work, think innovatively (although perhaps more those in a more supervisory / management position) and question traditional business practices. But for a social media strategist to consider the evangelising of a new initiative as their principle role..... Is surely missing the point?
Are they not there to: asses, measure, understand and come up with strategic initiatives that make a difference to revenue, operational efficiencies, brand value, etc.?
I would very strongly reconsider the position of someone employed at a senior strategic level who does not understand this economic fundamental.

Clarification:
I'll keep my original posting above, but provide clarification after some subsequent information has come to light (thanks Gabrielle). The Tweet I referenced was not actually the thoughts of the person (Jeremy) who tweeted it: https://twitter.com/#!/jeremywaite/status/179667787705364481
but a quote from someone else at SXSW who made this statement.

Augmented Reality for retail

A couple of weeks back I was told about an innovative 'Virtual fashion mirror' from Cisco. As well as being covered by the BBC, Cisco also blogged about it here:
http://blogs.cisco.com/retail/cisco-styleme-virtual-fashion-mirror-inspires-sales-across-all-age-groups
Although this immediately gained the interest of the techie press and the online fashion community, a little digging found that this technology is still in its infancy and that the actual technology isn't available right away.

Now Microsoft have demonstrated their Holoflector, a large translucent mirror with an LCD panel  behind it, connected to a Kinect camera
.
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/video-microsoft-research-holoflector-augmented-reality-mirror


Is this the future of retail?

Don't declare the death of F-Commerce just yet

News that several major retailers have recently shut down their Facebook stores has led to a lot of predictions about the death of f-Commerce (the term used for eCommerce on the World's biggest social networking platform and therefore the most visited website).

See this article on Bloomberg for a touch of hype generation (and link baiting... dammit):

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-17/f-commerce-trips-as-gap-to-penney-shut-facebook-stores-retail.html 

One Forrester Researcher was also quoted as stating:

“There was a lot of anticipation that Facebook would turn into a new destination, a store, a place where people would shop. But it was like trying to sell stuff to people while they’re hanging out with their friends at the bar.”

People please...... before we go around proclaiming the end of social commerce, can we please get a bit of perspective here?

Yes, it is true that some big US retailers such as Gap and Nordstrom have closed their Facebook retail channels. But it is still very early days for f-Commerce and a lot of companies are still finding their feet with this stuff. Its currently the same as web-based selling was back 10 or so years ago.

Back then customer confidence was low and the methods and tools & best-practice are still being learnt.

It is also true that users have a big security issue with using their credit cards via Social Networks:

http://mashable.com/2012/02/10/credit-card-information-social-network/ 

And even less trust Facebook stores to prevent fraud.

http://threatmetrix.com/study-reveals-only-a-quarter-of-consumers-trust-facebook-storefronts-to-prevent-fraud/

However the race hasn't been run yet. Given the speed of change in both the eCommerce and Social Networking space, I wouldn't declare the death of f-Commerce straight away. In fact Gap have stated: “We will continue to evaluate if this is something we want to bring back in the future”

My suggestion is therefore to ask yourself one simple question 

"does your Facebook store make a decent ROI without cannibalising other sales channels?". 

And if the answer is "Yes"...  then I suggest you keep it going.

Social Media - a platform for complaints

When everyone first got excited about the Social Media Goldrush back in 2008 - 2009 the same stories circled round and round. We all know them.... the Dell Hell blog, etc.
Things haven't got much better several years on. Recently, peeved about a new $5 monthly bank fee imposed by Bank of America, Molly Katchpole logged on to the Change.org website to start an online petition urging the bank to reconsider imposing monthly fees on debit card users. Quickly more than 300,000 people joined her  campaign demanding the bank drop what they saw as an monthly usage charge and the bank backed down. Many not credit Molly with eliminating debit card fees for the Bank of America and others.

Today's consumers are relentlessss with their expectations and complaints about brands - and with easy access to site like TripAdvisor (for travel users) and tools like Twitter, their words can go far. 

It seems that Social Media has now provided a platform for complains and potentially helps foster a Culture of Dissatisfaction online.

Aggregators - why they exist in specific markets

Meta search and aggregation (for the purpose of this article I'm saying these two are the same thing, although some may claim there are subtle differences) have grown over the last few years to be a dominant acquisiton force in a number of important online vertical markets.

Financial services, from credit cards through to insurance, are now subject to aggressive aggregation from a handful of major players such as: compare the market, go compare and moneysupermarket.

Utilities including: gas, electricity, mobile phone tariffs and broadband access are now compared online. In fact a lot of fuss and claims are made by the market leaders in this sector that they are championing your consumer cause (without obviously stating that your business with them helps their financial cause).

And travel has its obvious aggregation in the form of meta searches for: car hire, hotels, flights, etc.

Each aggregated vertical has its specific nuances and intricacies, plus each its own referral & commission structures, but in essence the the business model is the same:
a. Collate as many similar products or services as you can
b. Provide a single interface that qualifies the visitor's choice (usually by a series of form fields common to all parties)
c. Deliver the results in a consistent and comparable manner (usually cheapest first, but also allowing the user to filter some options)

Aggregators exist because two simple facts:
1. customers do not believe that they always get the cheapest rate for all products from one supplier
2. customers do not want to spend the time completing the same form on numerous sites

But why don't aggregators exist in other markets... such as fashion or FMCG products (e.g. washing powder and chocolate bars)?

Well, for fashion products, the usual reason is that products are exclusive to the manufacturer. Therefore because the channels to market are all protected (e.g. the manufacturer has some level of control over price and/or distribution) there is no real flexibility in the price. Then (assuming the brand site has eCommerce functionality), it is then typically just as cheap for users to shop from the brand site as it from a re-seller.

For FMCG the lack of aggregation is a different one, that of convenience. Most shoppers, when looking to source FMCG products go to a grocery store or supermarket. They also assume that the shop has done some sort of price comparison with the competition, so they don't have to (although prices may only be matched for the core 'basket' of goods and other less common items are still priced to maximize profits). Although sites such as http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk have sprung up to allow web users to compare grocery and health & beauty products from the leading retailers, people still either only visit one store or use one online supermarket at a time.

The question I have is... are there any remaining markets where aggregation is possible but has yet to take off?

The Physics of Social Media finances

Following my recent post on The Physics of Social Media, it has been pointed out to me that there's the distinct possibility that the finances of Social Media and social platforms are also subject to Newton's Third Law. This is the one that states "To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction"

What does this mean?

Well, how many people these days use social networks and expect them to be free? Everyone, right?
But there's a problem with this.... The cost of developing, improving and running these sites isn't free. There's no such thing as a free lunch where website hosting is concerned. The cost of just hosting a social website like Facebook, with its approximate 700,000 - 800,000 users and billions of page views per day, is huge! (Annually estimated at $50 million in September 2010)
But someone has to pay for all this infrastructure.

Sites such as Facebook make a lot of their money by selling advertising space, in much the same way as Google or another search engine does. In the attention economy companies want to be where the eyeballs are and the more targetted they can make their advertising... the more they are prepared to pay.

So by giving more details about yourself, you are therefore allowing social networks to sell more specific advertising inventory to companies. They in-turn can pin=point your needs more.... or in other words, you're paying for their lunch (AKA the incredibly high valuations of these companies) by sharing your personal information with them. And somewhere within me that stirs a physical reaction.....

Social Business - the evolution of Social Media

Back in 2011, I did a presentation at the iShopKent 2011 event on the topic of Social Media. However rather than cover the usual stuff you see all the time (transparency, engagement, build a Facebook page, etc.) I triumphantly proclaimed the death of Social Media.Here's the presentation I gave that day and would welcome any feedback on the content (or your questions, if its not clear what I was talking about from the set of slides below)

View more PowerPoint from Hayden Sutherland

The cyclical nature of online marketing

One of my more typical observations is just how 'inter-connected' all
things digital have become. In other words.. when you affect one
thing, you stand a good chance of creating a knock-on effect with
something else.
Take this cyclical set as an example:
PR affects SEO
SEO affects Content
Content affects Pay-per-click (PPC)
Pay-per-click affects Conversion
Conversion affects Analytics
Analytics affects email
Email affects social media
Social Media affects PR
Have you seen any other similar cycles?

The future is responsive

PC's, tablets, mobiles and TV interfaces.... The list of devices used
to browse the Internet changes and increases all the time.

When designing and developing a new website, the common accepted
practice is that you start your user experience (UX) work first, based
upon how users with a PC and sometimes large tablets (e.g. the iPad),
might see things. Then depending upon the other popular devices used
to access your site, you then consider building an alternative
version.... say mobile.

But turn this concept on its head for a moment and consider the following:
1. Nobody fully knows what the future devices will be (up until 2
years ago the tablet market was virtually non-existent).
2. It is safe to predict that mobile devices will continue to grow in
use and that the available range will expand over time, as
manufacturers experiment and try to invent new form factors (in the
hope of finding a previously in-tapped customer need).
3. Bolting a mobile interface onto your existing site is hard work.
Some do fancy things with style sheets, while others just 'make the
buttons bigger' (yes this is a cheap and quick change, but not all
sites look good with chunky submit buttons, etc.).
4. Building a separate mobile-specific site is usually more work than
spending a little longer on your main one.
It is therefore unsurprising that I predict a future where a
significant number of company websites will no longer be developed
with a version for each specific device.... but a single one that
automatically adapts to the size and orientation of the devices used.
Note: I'm not talking about interfaces such as the Microsoft Metro
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_(design_language) design
language, which the software giant is successfully using across most
of its devices.

But this isn't a pipe dream for the far-off future, this is all
possible now using responsive site design & development techniques.
And soon it will be clients asking for this technology that will drive
its adoption, as they realise they don't need to spend a lot more
money building separate versions just for specific device profiles....
For examples, take a look at:
http://mediaqueri.es/
http://designmodo.com/responsive-design-examples/

RNIB serves bmibaby for inaccessible website

According to its website,the RNIB has served travel website bmibaby with legal proceedings. Apparently this is because it has a website that remains inaccessible to those using screen readers or those who can't use a mouse.
Yup, that's correct. After over a year of informing the company that has failed to make vital changes to its website to allow customers with sight loss to use their online services, the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has decided to take the legal route.
It would seem from the online press release found on its own website that despite "receiving expert advice, recommendations and a full audit report from RNIB", bmibaby still hasn't made any real progress in this area. So RNIB has now served the company with legal proceedings.
The implications of this action are potentially huge. To date in the UK (that I'm aware of) there has been no public airing of the accessibility legislation all now wrapped up in the Equalities Act of 2010.
If this action does proceed, it could have far-reaching consequences for other high profile websites who continue to flout the legislation.
I think I can safely state that the eyes of the industry are now firmly focused on this case....
http://www.rnib.org.uk/aboutus/mediacentre/mediareleases/mediareleases2012/Pages/pressrelease27Jan2012.aspx

Sponsoring the Ealing Tweetup

For about a year now I've been running the Ealing Tweetup. An informal social media networking event in West London that brings together a diverse range of (mainly) local business people, politicians, bloggers & journos, digital industry types and other interesting folks from many walks of life…  With live music - and sometimes even free pizza courtesy of the host, Tom at the Rose & Crown, the events are proving a great success with anything from thirty to over 200 attendees joining to meet fellow twitter users and expand their networks!  

What is becoming increasingly hard, however, is to find corporate sponsorship for the event. Even in these tough financial times, we have had companies willing to sponsor/donate money to provide a first drink at the bar or to pay for the band. But we cannot always go knocking at the same doors, so with the next Ealing tweetup now less than 5 weeks away and taking place on Thursday 1st March... I thought I would explain what any potential sponsor might get in return:

1. Association

The Ealing Tweetup is one of the most well-known and successful London Social Media events. Linking with the night automatically boosts an organisation's ‘social currency’ and builds awareness of their brand online via event Tweets and subsequent press releases. Previous sponsors have associated themselves with the event to improve their visibility in Ealing and with the wider community....and not just in Greater London, but also further afield (we've had attendees from East Anglia, Scotland and even Sau Paulo, Brazil).

With Social Media constantly growing in popularity and increasingly integrated with corporate marketing, PR and commercial targets, this is the ideal time to partner with Tweetup events.

2. Knowledge

Understanding and participating in Social Media can be quite daunting to the inexperienced. The Ealing Tweetup provides the ideal opportunity for a company marketers and managers to meet with a variety of practitioners, from in-house Social Media mangers to PR agency directors .... or even just normal average people who now follow, post and ‘retweet’ as part of their daily lives. From finding information on the latest blogging platform through to ways legitimate of building up your followers, attendees of all experience can learn something new.

3. Marketing visibility

Previous tweetups have been attended by journalists, bloggers, BBC presenters and senior political figures including the Deputy Mayor of London. Consequently it provides a fantastic vehicle for any marketer to promote their company. The sponsor has the opportunity to place banners alongside the band which are usually captured in photos and videos throughout the night; and then in the nature of Twitter, will be constantly posted online. The sponsor will get numerous mentions in blogs, online press postings and even local & regional newspapers.

4. Search Engine Optimisation assistance

Links are the currency of the World Wide Web, with search engines such as Google using them as the key indicator of your site's online gravitas. This means that when someone mentions your company in a post and link back to your website….. you can gain a better foothold on search engines. Therefore one of the many benefits of being a sponsor is the number of online mentions your company will receive in association with the Tweetup. 

What's better than Twitter being free? Being reliable!

Connecting to Twitter tonight, I saw the attached screen indicating
that Twitter was down for maintenance. Sure, it wasn't the 'Fail
Whale' more usually seen a year or so ago:
http://press20.blogspot.com/2010/06/twitter-fail-whale.html
But this wasn't the expected user experience.
Now does anyone else find it strange that one of the largest Social
Media platforms actually has to stop its service for some users to
carry out changes, etc?
Surely Twitter by now has worked out how to provide a 100% available
service to its users? You don't find Google or Facebook putting up
holding pages claiming they are unavailable....

The end of QR Codes?

It is not often I see a new technology and am genuinely surprised by it. However has Augmented Reality finally found its killer app?

For the last month or so I've been using Blippar, an application that sits on my smartphone and allows me to 'Blip' the front of packages, newspaper adverts, etc. This then puts a virtual layer over the front or top of the object that then let's you read, play or engage with the product. Some products are providing games and others are providing information (e.g. recipes)
This had led several industry commentators to suggest the imminent demise of QR Codes.

Although this may be a little presumptuous, there’s no doubt that the boundary between the real world and the digital one has narrowed to the point where Augmented Reality and 2D barcode scanning are realistic communication and marketing tools.

Chief Digital Officer - why your company needs one

There's a nasty jibe in some senior technology circles that the title CIO stands for "career is over". However I disagree and have my own thoughts on this.

The title and role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) is now getting quite long in the tooth, but more importantly the reliance on the word 'Information' here is the issue. These days, the competitive edge within a lot of companies doesn't come from their use of information (processed data), it comes from the migration of systems, processes and roles to an online way of working. The web has not only taken over our personal lives, it has also taken over (or taking over) our business ones too. Software as a service (Saas), Platform as a service (Paas) and Infrastructure as a service (Iaas) ... plus others, are all cloud-based approaches to online computing and each has its benefits and challenges. Now these are all typical subjects that typically would come under the remit of the CIO.

But when you then factor in the need to provide connected digital marketing services (e.g. an email or CRM system), eCommerce transacting functionality (along with the associated online merchandising and sales optimisation expertise) and the complex communication and customer services requirements that the online world needs, the experience and skills of pure technologist start to look less than comprehensive.

But who is actually hiring Chief Digital Officers right now? Nobody that I'm aware of, but maybe in the future we will see this role come to some prominence.

SEO, paying for links, bloggers and Google

There is sometimes a fine line between ethical and non-ethic online promotion, particularly when it comes to search engine optimisation. The rules can often be confusing and even possibly counter-productive to your needs.

As an example, let's look at the efforts any diligent, modern and professional PR company these days might look at bloggers as a way to promote their client's new product or service. They might send out information in the form of a press release and possibly a product sample if there was one.... and maybe the blogger might charge for writing this piece and linking to the client's site.

However, according to Google's rules, this is a paid for link and must include the "no follow" code. If it doesn't it could fall foul of Google's rules and be degraded in its search results.

Bu that would never happen to a big company right?
Wrong!

But that wouldn't happen to an SEO-aware company right?
Wrong

But this couldn't possibly happen to savvy Internet companies like Google could it?

Wrong!

You see a story has come out that Google has demoted itself in Google search for (indirectly via an online marketing network) paying for bloggers to write & link stuff about its own Chrome browser.

"So, if Google can make a mistake like this, what chance have the rest of us got?" I hear you cry.

Well potentially this means that any online marketing campaign could have a negative effect on the profile, traffic and revenue of a client's website.

Food for thought.....