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We had a fantastic interview with Mark Schaefer on our podcast about his post, How the physics of social media is killing your marketing strategy. Mark provides evidence that every company must be working on providing spectacular content, higher volumes of valuable content and delivering that content where the audience is.
Some folks call this snackable content and some nuggets. There’s an explosion of this content thanks to visual mediums like Pinterest, Instagram and Vine. Given this growth of easily digestible content, the myth that’s being propagated throughout marketing and the internet is that consumers’ attention spans are getting shorter. Multi-tasking, distractions, email, phone, apps… all of it must be taking our focus off of the tasks at hand.
Not BS on Mark’s advice, which I believe is spot on. I’m calling BS that the attention span of the average business or consumer is getting smaller. I believe the attention span and focus is greater than it’s ever been. I believe consumers are leveraging search, social media and tools to become more efficient at consuming information than we ever have been in history. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have the opportunity to find and thoroughly research our next purchase from the palm of our hand. We had to rely on sales professionals and marketing material alone. Purchases and decisions were made within the trust of a handshake and sometimes little else.
In the ol’ days of the Internet, it was referred to as the information superhighway. The reason was simple… so much information available within milliseconds. For marketers, this has been extremely valuable. This last week, I had to find a new ad management system for my blog after the last one discontinued some key features. After a few minutes, I had a thorough list of platforms. After a few hours, I was able to research which ones had the features I needed. And within a few days, I had tested each. The result was that I found a platform with all the features I needed without ever speaking to anyone or signing any contract.
No other project had my attention during that period. I wasn’t on Facebook and Twitter. I wasn’t answering phone calls. Short attention span? Not a chance. That said, many of the sites that I visited lost me. Poor feature documentation, lousy overview videos, difficult registration processes, no contact information… all of these inhibited my ability to get the context I needed to make my decision.
Some marketers utilize focus and context deceptively to their advantage. The average case study, for instance, points to a client that’s had the greatest results with the product or service sold, ignores other contributing factors, and never mentions the clients who had terrible results. The result is that the consumer or business that’s making the purchase decision is left to analyze the information and see whether it’s a good purchase decision.
Readers are left to generate their own context around the facts you’ve provided. This can lead to missed expectations and may generate leads that aren’t a good fit for your organization.
Key to Mark’s advice here is offering amazing content AND maintaining the quality of the content while making it more digestible. At the extremes, this is the job of a great inforgraphic designer. Too many infographics are simply a ton of stats slapped in nice graphics. But the best infographics develop an overall story that the graphics and statistics within support.
Many would have you believe that this is the difference between Twitter and Blogging… that Twitter is for the attention-deficit user and that blogging provides the context we need. I would argue that Twitter is absolutely valuable because of the context it generates. On any given company, user, topic, update or hashtag, Twitter yields conversations and links efficiently to give you the context you need. Apps like Vine and Instagram lack the ability to link for deeper context – but I do believe that will come (especially as they request advertising).
Don’t be concerned with the attention span of the reader. Be concerned that you’re providing the greatest value and full context optimized and minimized in the most efficient, effective, and portable media possible.
Guest post by Nick Steeves from Wishpond.Online retailers are always looking for an edge. With all of their competitors just a click away, they need to create unique reasons for people to shop there and nowhere else.Social channels are a great way to drive traffic to your website and convert new customers. But what about people who come directly to your website? Wouldn’t it be great to share all of your awesome content and engage with them just like on Facebook or Pinterest?In this article I’ll describe six ways in which you can make your website social to build a connection with shoppers, give them ideas on how to use your products and increase your conversion rates.We all know that Pinterest is popular, but new studies are showing that it’s actually driving a large number of purchases – as well as increased spending. A study by Rich Relevance shows the site now accounts for 25% of all social shopping sessions and that Pinterest shoppers, on average, spend significantly more per purchase ($194) than Facebook shoppers ($84), respectively.Check out the infographic below:
Why is Pinterest so good at driving purchases?Pinterest boards allow you to showcase your products in a lifestyle format as opposed to the basic product display format. This gives your customers ideas on how to use your products and gives them more reasons to buy.But not everyone knows about your Pinterest boards, so how can you bring the power of your lifestyle boards to your website? Adding the “Pin it” button is a simple, yet fairly impotent method to drive engagement. It may get a few shoppers pinning, but it won’t allow you to showcase all of the cool things you’re doing on Pinterest.One way you can get to the next level is to embed your boards directly on web pages and link to them from product pages that are included in the board.How can you execute this?1. Embed your boards on a page on your website using an app like Wishpond’s Pinterest Tab.2. On each product and product category page, have a call-to-action that links to the board on your site. Include a bit of text that reads “Check out how you can [way to use this product]”For a furniture store you can have pieces link to boards that display showrooms. For clothing you can have pieces link to boards that show entire outfits. For outdoor equipment you can show boards of items that are best for certain activities, environments and conditions.Just think about the ways in which people use your products and make boards for those activities!In the vast array of grocery store chains, there is one that stands out for its personal connections to its customers.Whole Foods has created a brand that is tied to its consumers’ lifestyle and personal choices. So, it’s no wonder that they are a great example of blogging on a personal level with your patrons.Whole Foods does not have just one blog on its website, but three. Each blog site is personalized and written to connect both the reader, and the products that Whole Foods offers.Their main blog is called the Whole Story Blog. On it, you will find lots of seasonal foods with tips and recipes on how to use them. Being Whole Foods, the blog also has sprinklings of causes and tips to be healthy.The blog posts are written in a friendly, informative tone. They’re written in the first person, with lots of “I’s” and “you’s”, and some even read more like a excerpt from a Joanne Harris novel than a corporate communication piece.Here’s an example of the Whole Foods blog, and how they relate their food products to their consumers’ lifestyle. They wrote a blog post about what to snack on during road trips. The post also has tips on family games to play in the car – all related to food and groceries.
Most bloggers on the site has a brief bio about themselves with a photo, so the readers are able to feel a stronger personal bond with the blogs and authors. Most bloggers have professional experience in health or nutrition.
The two other blogs on the site are from Whole Foods’ co-CEO’s.Walter Robb’s blog has a lot of company updates, with lots of videos showing the actual announcements in the various locations they were made. The intros to the videos are written in a personal manner, without a lot of the traditional multinational corporation-type dialogue.John MacKey’s blog also has lots of videos, with John being interviewed about lifestyle choices.Not every company would be so bold as to have their CEO’s express themselves personally on their public website. But, if you want to really connect with your customer, speaking to them in whatever medium necessary will create a closer (and more loyal) connection.Ok, but this is nothing new! How can I better utilize the content on my ecommerce website?Similar to the Pinterest board calls-to-action on product pages, you can include excerpts of CTAs to your blog posts that mention a product or product category. This works especially well for companies like Whole Foods that sell food items. They can include recipes directly on the product pages of how to use those items in a dish – or provide links to different recipes if the item is included in several.This method can also work great for both clothing and furniture companies. They can include excerpts from their blog posts that discuss the materials and manufacturing process of each item, and why the designer made the item the way they did.Giving shoppers the full story behind a product gives a real connection between it and them. They know it well enough to have an educated understanding and, especially when the design process is described, they can connect the item to their own personality.No longer are gift registries used solely for weddings. Occasions such as anniversaries, baby showers, housewarmings, and even holidays are becoming known for gift registry use.
Out-of-the-box apps like Get Satisfaction come packed with the features you need to create a great customer community. These include the ability for people to ask questions, file complaints and even make suggestions on your products.People can upvote questions and answers to show how important they are within the community to allow you to see what you need to focus on the most. You can even have individual employees answering questions under their own name to give people personal answers. In section #6 we’ll look at a couple of ways to enhance the personal connection between shoppers and your customer support staff.Most marketers these days are running contests on Facebook only. But the majority of web traffic goes to your website, not your Facebook Page. So why not run it right there?Contest apps like Wishpond make it easy to embed a contest on a page on your website using a small piece of iframe code.The best types of contests produce user-generated testimonials of your products that you can use on your site and social channels once a contest is complete. These can include simple text contests that ask people to say which product they want and why, up to photo and video contests that ask people to show themselves using your products.Why are customer testimonials important?According to a recent Forrester Research report, “70% of US online adults trust brand or product recommendations from friends and family”. That same report indicated that 46% trust online reviews written by customers, but only 10% trust online ads and company written text messages.Check out a recent photo contest that Nasty Gal ran on its website to get people to share photos of themselves wearing Nasty Gal items:
Just because the contest is housed on your website, doesn’t mean it won’t be social. The contest above asks people to post their photos to Instagram or Twitter to enter – giving your contest exposure to their friends and followers. And you can even include automated sharing or sharing pop-up windows in your contest just like on Facebook!During an online purchase, a customer’s doubts or questions could potentially influence them to change their mind about buying a product. Providing live online chat for them to use in the middle of an online purchase provides customers with the assurance needed to make their decision.
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