The need for an agile Digital Strategy

Most industries and vertical sectors now face increased pressure from digital technologies to transform the way they run business. This pressure exists all the way across the online spectrum, from customers with new and increasingly diverse channel preferences through to agile market entrants that threaten to disrupt the status quo, the need for change (at speed) is huge.

Organisations therefore need to respond quickly and build the right digital, commercial and information technology road map for future demands...

• To protect key revenue streams
• To remain competitive
• To find new lucrative products and markets

In other works, any Digital Strategy that exists in an organisation needs to be flexible enough to change quickly, whilst still providing consistency in service levels, customer experience and product quality.

The agile digital strategy may therefore not just be an ideal... but possibly the only way to fully relevant and valuable in a world that is changing at an ever-increasing rate.

Multichannel retailing trends in 2014

If you've never heard Ian Jindal from Internet Retailing present, then I suggest you get yourself along to one of the many digital and eCommerce events that he either runs or participates in.

As part of my involvement at the ScotlandIS Scottish eCommerce Forum today, I saw him give the keynote below. What was supposed to be an outline of the trends in multichannel retail for the next year actually became more of a philosophical view of the meeting (AKA a clash) of the human condition with the always-on & connected paradigm of the world wide web.

Just what was needed to kick-start an entire day (and evening) of thought-provoking presentations and discussions on the future of eCommerce north of the border.

 

Ps258 2014 Trends in multichannel retail - keynote for ScotlandIS, February 2014 from Ian Jindal

You can't answer everything with analytics

I'm a big believer in the use of digital analytics to inform business decision making. And this isn't just the correct presentation of data in the right format, but in the delivery of insight from this data.

But statistician John Tukey had a different perspective. He once stated:
“Data may not contain the answer. The coordination of some data and an aching desire for an answer will not ensure that a reasonable answer can be extracted from a given body of data.”

In other words... sometime the data you have collected just isn't enough. Or more pointedly... if you have not originally set-out to collect the data you need to make the right decision, then no amount of analysis effort can generate the answer.

So how do you resolve this? Collect everything you possibly can, in the hope that you will one day find a use from  it?

Finding User Experience Resource in Glasgow

Since moving to Glasgow I have noticed that there’s been a lack of some digital-specific skills. The most obvious so far has been around the subject of analytics & insight. However more recently there has been a new glaring resource gap opened up… User Experience.

I currently have a large client project in the Glasgow area that requires User Experience resource.  So for the last couple of weeks I've been looking for decent local freelancers who can consultant on-site over 2 to 3 months. This is an important piece of work and I really need someone who can take things from Customer Strategy all the way through to wire-framing (ideally with large eCommerce and travel experience).

However, despite one unsuccessful avenue, I've so far drawn a blank. And after speaking with several digital contacts in Glasgow, there seems to be a real unmet demand for decent and available user experience contractors and consultants in the West Coast of Scotland.

Or am I missing something?

Is your Digital Strategy actually Strategic?

Does your Digital Strategy really deliver a vision and road map that takes your organisation forward?
Or does it simply to just wallpaper over the cracks and problems?

This is a question I've been wresting with lately and one that's let me to reconsider the work I do and scope of what Ideal Interface is actually involved in.

Or to put it another way, let me share with you a few key parts of a digital strategy outline and one that companies could use as the basic of their own.

Strive to be 'digital first':
Whether this be in the way you communicate to prospects, the way you design your core services or the way you integrate with business partners, 'digital first' is both a philosophy and a key requirement.

Accept change as a constant:
Understand that there is a continual change in customer & user preferences, channel shift patterns and technology trends. 

Be inclusive and user-centred:
Providing self-service functionality via digital touch-points isn't enough. You need to do this regardless of a user's: ability, connection, device and location.

Be optimised:
Whether this be by providing relevant, timely & targeted information or by maximising revenue using sophisticated conversion optimisation techniques, nothing stands still and everything needs to be tested, modified, measured and tested again (and quickly).

Be great:
I'll leave this one up to you.....

Improving Scottish eCommerce

As some readers of this blog will know, I've recently been asked to present on the opportunity for eCommerce across Scotland.  But what value do these events have in the context of encouraging Scottish companies to engage in eCommerce and to do it better?

Well the feedback I have had via face-to-face, email & social channels so far has been very positive. One example that really got a great response was... during my presentation I had a quick interactive session where I got everyone with a website to stand up. They then gradually sat down as I increased the level of sophistication in the use of eCommerce Analytics.

This not only showed people that they weren't alone in not fully utilising one of the most useful digital tools out there, but also demonstrated the next few steps they could take to online maturity.

However... this is just the start of things. As Scotland's only dedicated eCommerce consultancy (I did ask a year ago where all the Scottish Digital Consultants are, and nobody responded), we see a huge opportunity for companies and organisations to not just do things better (improving what they have) but to do better things (innovate, take opportunities, etc).

It is this mix that I believe should help take Scottish eCommerce forward!

Why do I see 'Not Provided' in my SEO agency report?

Since October 2011 Google has increasingly been hiding the actual terms used in organic searches. This has been done by Google as they “believe that protecting these personalized search results is important”.

http://analytics.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/making-search-more-secure-accessing.html

However, Google has only hidden these terms for organic searches and is seemingly prepared to overlook this privacy issue for its paid-for marketing service AdWords (or as search engine specialist Danny Sullivan put it more bluntly, Google Has Put A Price on Privacy )

These hidden search terms are now reported in Google Analytics under a generic “Not Provided” category and the comparative size of this catch-all segment has been steadily increasing over time. In fact, aggregated industry figures now put this figure as high as around 80% for some sites, with a major increase seen in the 3rd quarter of 2013.
http://www.notprovidedcount.com/

Whilst there are some work-arounds to try to get some insight from this missing data, site owners have no real option but to ‘like it or lump it”, use the data they still have available for search engine optimisation and hope the figure doesn't get any higher in the future.

Basic eCommerce Terms revisited

When you work in the digital and eCommerce consulting industry, there's the tendency to assume that the person you are speaking to always has enough experience to be able to understand what your saying and act accordingly. However, this is not always the case (e.g. when the person has just been moved or promoted into a new role) and sometimes it takes time to cover the basics with a client, even though you don't always want to make it too obvious.

I therefore thought I would revisit some of the more common eCommerce terms used. Not just in case a current or potential client was reading this blog, but also to help anyone else who may be venturing in the world of online transactions, etc.

Acquisition

The processes and tools used to get new customers to start using / visiting any digital company touch-point (e.g. website, app, social media presence, etc.). Acquisition rates can be increased by using different marketing techniques (e.g. paid advertising or search engine optimisation).

Example KPI = Website visitors

Conversion

The amount of people who complete a required online goal (e.g. a booking or a purchase) divided by the total number that visit. It is sometimes called the 'look to book' ratio and in some markets / companies it is one of the most protected (e.g. Secret) of figures.

Typical average conversion  rates by industry:

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/average-website-conversion-rates-industry

Retention

The number of customers who come back to the digital channels and book/purchase again within a given time period (sometimes set as the entire customer lifetime) .
There are no recognised benchmark figures on digital customer retention that I'm aware of and this depends considerably on industry, product, customer type, etc.

AOV:

Average order value is typically the sum of revenue that has been generated divided by the number of orders taken. Again, there are no standard measures for this, as the range of products and prices vary from company to company.

Social Media Training - do you really need it?

It's almost shocking to see the number of "introduction to Social Media" courses still being touted about. A quick search on Google highlights just how seriously the suppliers of Social Media Training are right now:

And a quick look at the term "Social Media Training" in Google Trends shows that the term is predicted to grow in the number of searches over the next year, albeit less so than when it first appeared on Google's radar back at the beginning of 2009.

So given all this supply and searching for the term, just who are the intended recipients?
I'm sure I can't be the only person who must assume that anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube must have got to grips with the basics of each by now?

Are you owed money by Merchant Soul ?

As some readers of this blog and the wider Scottish business network will know, we are still owed a large amount of money by Stephen Halpin of Merchant Soul in Glasgow. This sum of £26,280 has now been completely outstanding for over 6 months, with some of it owed for over a year.

Earlier this year I sent an email to Stephen Halpin that concluded our working relationship and subsequently sent a Lawyer's Letter to Merchant Soul. But both of these communications received no response.We therefore assume that Merchant Soul has no intention whatsoever of paying us for the outstanding debt it owes our company.

It does however raise the question in my mind about whether this has happened before. Could it be the case that Stephen Halpin or his companies owe money to other individuals and organisations around Scotland or further afield?

Never bet against Google in 2014

Over the last dozen years Google has grown to be one of the most dominant online players, perhaps the biggest. Its current market value is about $350bn and all signs are that it can continue ruling the online space, despite several factors, including:

1.  More and more people using mobile devices for their daily searching and browsing activity
2.  Increased competition from Microsoft’s Bing.com search engine (which has blatantly tried to copy Google’s model and put a lot of money behind it’s promotion)
3. A list of discontinued products that have surprised on-lookers and left some users high & dry (e.g. Google Apps: closed in early 2012 and Google Reader: a feed-based news aggregator which was dropped in July 2013)

However despite Google’s mantra of “Don’t be evil”, which tries to set it apart from the more traditional software and IT services companies... it’s sheer size and might means it can’t help but disrupt any market or segment it decides to move into. From mobile phone operating systems & devices, to the Chrome operating system and a web-based email service (that became the top provider about a year ago) Google continues an upward trajectory. The consequence of this is that it is probably the only company able to challenge Apple in some areas of consumer electronics and communications.

What this means is that betting against Google in anything it decides to do is an unwise move. So if it targets any market or products that your company is in over the next year or so… my advice is, get out.

Global map of Social Networks - December 2013

For my last post of 2013 I thought I'd quickly mention this map of Social Networks used across the world for this month, December 2013.

Every 6 months Vincenzo Cosenza collates information from Alexa to understand which Social Media platforms are the the most popular in each country across the globe:

Since his last review 6 months ago, Facebook's growth has been slower. Its population is now up to 1.189 billion monthly active users, made up of: 199 million U.S. and Canada users, 276 million users in Europe, 351 million users in Asia (up by 34 million) and 362 million users from other parts of the world. Showing that it is still the world's leading network and that others such as V Kontakte and Twitter will have a hard job overtaking.

What is interesting for me is that there are a number of social networks that I was not familiar with at all, including Adnoklassniki, QZone, Cloob and Drauglem. Their prominence in this review highlights the need for a global social media marketing approach (e.g. when planning any international eCommerce efforts).

GAP PPC misses important sale figure

Imagine the situation.  You're managing the PPC digital marketing campaign for your global retail client. However they haven't yet told you the specific discount they are applying at the post - Christmas Sale.

So you stick a couple of x's in for the meantime, with the intention of putting the real figure in later.

Oops.

Mercure Hotels Hides the Wifi Link

I spend a fair bit of my time in hotels and therefore have to work using the provided hotel wi-fi services. I'm very grateful for this (usually) free service and it has been a factor in my hotel selection in the past (although most now provide it, including a number of Bed & Breakfast establishments).

However I thought it worth pointing out the poor usability of the Mercure Hotel group's wi-fi link on it's page... can you spot it on the screen grab from my high specification laptop??

Nope, it's not the purple title that says "Free WiFi" or the purple text underneath it that says "Free WiFi - ideal for basic browsing and emailing". But the button beneath it that is lost on my screen... and therefore must be the same for other users.

Developing Scottish eCommerce

I recently answered a few questions for a press article about eCommerce, following my presentation at a the 'Pixels & Pies 2' event in Edinburgh.

One of these was printed yesterday in The Times Business Insight supplement:

http://www.times-scotland.co.uk/

The latter part of what I wrote was quoted:

The Question?

What themes/issues were most able to help attendees get to grips with in the tourism industry briefing?

The Complete Answer.

My presentation covered the opportunity that eCommerce presents for all industries and in particular the tourism and food & drink ones. I gave several examples of new businesses that are using eCommerce in

different ways and across the international stage. The UK is actually one of the most mature markets for the adoption of eCommerce, both from a supplier/retailer perspective and a buyer/consumer one too. 

We therefore have the opportunity to learn from the fantastic success stories that are out there already, build

or evolve current off-line processes, products & services to suit a growing online population and contribute to the growth of the Scottish economy.

Ecommerce maturity is an opportunity

The UK leads the way in eCommerce and we are one of the most mature markets for online retailing.

Therefore, as the whole world shifts more and more towards the use of digital channels for marketing,  engagement and buying, we have an opportunity to lead the way and make the most of this opportunity.

In short, the tools, technologies and communications we use to trade online are not going away any time soon. We therefore need to embrace this chance, utilise the online skills & experience we have, share best practice, build up more talent & skills and then sell to the world.

The seven key areas of an eCommerce evaluation

I get asked to evaluate online retailing proposition a fair bit. So I thought I would share the key areas that I typically look at and report on.

User experience:

Quickly assess a site’s reaction from target site users (ideally using video & audio remote assessment tools such as whatusersdo.com)

Conversion rate optimisation:

Carry out an analysis of the potential use of conversion rate optimisation (CRO) tools & techniques, including possible AB & MVT processes and products

Retailing, merchandising & site operations:

Review of Inventory, pricing & fulfilment processes & systems. Then review the current processes for photograph & video asset production, merchandising, content management and offer promotion, as well as any sale, distressed inventory, affiliates, syndication, etc.)

Analytics:

Review of current Google e current digital analytics set-up, including: campaign tracking, eCommerce (e.g. funnel & conversion) metrics, integration with other services (e.g. digital marketing, product recommendations, etc.)

Site health:

Review the code, page loading time, internal linking, redirects and 404 (not-found) pages (note: this could cross over into search engine optimisation territory, so can in theory be done at the same time)

Volume & Performance (V&P):

Carry out an assessment of any projected volume and/or performance figures and (hopefully) a check of an previous testing done. This then leads into a validation of these figures and the subsequent planning of future V&P testing.

Have I missed anything?

Customer Services on Twitter need what?

In a recent rant on Twitter about my mobile phone broadband, I got a response from EE the mobile phone & data network provider. However the response I got wasn't what I expected and this raised a couple of questions in my mind:

1. Why do I need to contact them directly and provide my full name, in order for a company to investigate what was a technical or process issue?
2. Surely by looking at my Twitter account they can see what my name is (and a quick look at my profile will validate this)?

I'm sure EE has it's own reasons for this Twitter Customer Services policy. But I did find it slightly strange that EE want that level of contact and can't be bothered to look up basic publicly-facing information on people.

Multi-screen shopping - useful infographics

I've used a new Google service to produce an infographic (actually 4 separate ones) that outline how the multi-channel shopping experience has changed.

Content Marketing : owned, paid & earned doesn't work

As the subject of content marketing grows into more of a discipline, I've been looking at ways to categorise the different types of CM activity you can engage in.  I therefore wanted to see if these categories mapped to the three classifications of marketing originally developed by Forrester Research. Those of Paid, Owned and Earned.

Note: For those of you that want a better perspective of this general topic of Paid, Owned and; Earned, I produced a blog post on the merging between these 3 area a few months back.
http://press20.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/paid-owned-and-earned-blurring.html

However, I have to be honest on this occasion and say "no, I don't think that Content Marketing and the Paid, Owned & Earned classification work in this context"