My title's ridiculous - I know, I know. It is also ridiculous that my poor blog has been neglected for so long... but no longer! Here we are, delving back into the pudding to find the proof... in other words, trying to figure out how to measure the success of marketing tactics, campaigns, etc.
My recent web wanderings have brought me to a blog post by Katie Paine, who via her blog has introduced me to two new terms of which I've grown rather fond of, rather quickly... "rigor" and "diversity". Paine uses these terms in reference to measuring your brand's strength on Wikipedia. And since, as Paine attests to, Wikipedia dominates organic search listings, this is something that we, as marketers, need to be paying attention to.
"Rigor", again, according to Paine, refers to the number of times an article is edited. "Diversity" refers to the total numbers of unique users (note - not readers, but users). And apparently, especially if you're a big brand, then these stats can be indicators of brand strength - as can measuring the sentiments of what is written about your brand in Wikipedia.
While I value the importance of non-financial measurements, I cannot help but wonder how this information, once gathered, might be acted upon. If you have poor Wikipedia rigor and diversity, what do you do? Or are these just symptoms of a greater disease for which the cure is a brand strategy overhaul? And if this is the case, what are some of the other factors that should be considered? While I love measurement, sometimes it's difficult to seperate what is essential to measure as opposed to what is simply interesting. Food for thought.
Showing posts with label online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label online. Show all posts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Wine for Conversation: An Example of Calculating the Value of Online Influencers
Those of you that know me personally will know that if offered a drink, I almost always opt for a glass of Australian red. For those of you that DO know me personally, it won't surprise you that in a short fit of random Google searching, I used the keywords "wine" "marketing" and "ROI." The best result? An intriguing blog post by an Aussie marketer by the name of Matt Granfield.
Granfield, who works for a digital marketing agency called e-CBD, agreed to a social media "exchange" as he calls it wherein Kirrihill Wines sent him twelve bottles of wine for instigating/creating a conversation about their products.
In his post, Granfield describes why he is deemed by Kirrihill to be an influencer. Essentially it comes down to a few simple numbers - how many people can he reach with his online network as well as a subjective judgement as to how much clout he has with this group and with the wine industry.
Granfield then uses some made-up, but realistic statistics to predict the actual value of sending him some bottles of vino - how many bottles he himself is likely to buy and how many bottles his friends and members of his network are likely to buy. This obviously makes sense, and is a nice simple, clear-cut example of how small investments in nurturing influencer marketing can really pay off.
There are other benefits to influencer marketing of this type that Granfield's blog post doesn't mention. Firstly, his post make me picked up by other bloggers... and well, the proof is in the pudding in this case, no? (You know I had to write that... I couldn't resist). So in fact, Kirrihill Wines is actually getting exposure to not only Granfield's network, but to mine as well (which, not to brag, is quite large - check out my LinkedIn profile for proof or follow on me on Twitter). Plus, links to the winery from Granfield's pages, as well as this blog will aid in organic search engine result positioning.
Important Side Note:
Australians living in various parts of Victoria are currently facing an enormous tragedy with bushfires burning out of control across the state. Victoria is a large wine-producing area, along with being the home to over 5 million Australians. Please join me in making a donation to the Australian Red Cross to help support our Aussie friends in crisis.
Granfield, who works for a digital marketing agency called e-CBD, agreed to a social media "exchange" as he calls it wherein Kirrihill Wines sent him twelve bottles of wine for instigating/creating a conversation about their products.
In his post, Granfield describes why he is deemed by Kirrihill to be an influencer. Essentially it comes down to a few simple numbers - how many people can he reach with his online network as well as a subjective judgement as to how much clout he has with this group and with the wine industry.
Granfield then uses some made-up, but realistic statistics to predict the actual value of sending him some bottles of vino - how many bottles he himself is likely to buy and how many bottles his friends and members of his network are likely to buy. This obviously makes sense, and is a nice simple, clear-cut example of how small investments in nurturing influencer marketing can really pay off.
There are other benefits to influencer marketing of this type that Granfield's blog post doesn't mention. Firstly, his post make me picked up by other bloggers... and well, the proof is in the pudding in this case, no? (You know I had to write that... I couldn't resist). So in fact, Kirrihill Wines is actually getting exposure to not only Granfield's network, but to mine as well (which, not to brag, is quite large - check out my LinkedIn profile for proof or follow on me on Twitter). Plus, links to the winery from Granfield's pages, as well as this blog will aid in organic search engine result positioning.
Important Side Note:
Australians living in various parts of Victoria are currently facing an enormous tragedy with bushfires burning out of control across the state. Victoria is a large wine-producing area, along with being the home to over 5 million Australians. Please join me in making a donation to the Australian Red Cross to help support our Aussie friends in crisis.
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's Next, Next Director?
Recently, I interviewed marketing and strategy consultant Michael Field (@michaelfieldcom) regarding his new LinkedIn group Next Director, how he promoted it, and how the group has grown.
Katrina: What is Next Director and what are the benefits to becoming a member of the group?
Michael: Next Director is a global online community of more than 300 emerging and aspiring company directors who connect via the LinkedIn online network. The benefits to members include access to a global network of aspiring, emerging and practicing company directors, governance experts, regulators, recruiters and others interested in directorship.
Next Director provides practicing directors with the opportunity to contribute to the director community through sharing their experience and connecting with emerging directors.
Aspiring and emerging company directors can connect and engage with experienced directors, recruiters and regulators to obtain more practical insights into the role and requirements of a company Director.
Specialist executive recruiters and recruiters for board positions have also shown a strong interest. I expect that to be a positive relationship for all participants.
Katrina: How many members are a part of Next Director, and how did you go about attracting them?
Michael: Next Director was launched on 22 November 2008, it has already attracted more than 300 directors globally, including Australia, United States, Canada, Chile, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Russian Federation, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. Experienced directors were hand-picked from my own network as well as those whose career path is moving beyond management and into director roles.
The marketing was conducted exclusively online through social media networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The viral effect has been quite extraordinary and has produced a number of interesting results:
1) The quality of applicants has been extraordinarily high. I attribute this to the calibre of the founding members and the professional focus of networks such as LinkedIn.
2) The global reach was immediate and very experienced directors have joined, showing a great interest in contributing their expertise.
Katrina: Who did you expect your target audience to be, and what are the demographics of your current group?
Michael: To join Next Director, your career and experience must demonstrate that you are managing those aspects of your career that make for a suitable director. This can include formal education and skills gained through employment or other community involvement. It is a difficult criteria to define, but Next Director is clearly focused on Directorship, not management issues.
The demographics of the group are interesting:
Location
47% are from Australia
30% are from the United States
7% are from the United Kingdom
The balance are evenly distributed across the countries mentioned earlier.
Role
50% are in senior management positions exploring directorship as a next step
16% are executive directors
2% are Chairmen
Academics, regulators and governance advisors represent much smaller numbers.
Katrina: What are your future plans for Next Director?
Michael: When the group reaches ‘critical mass’ and additional services are required (such as a dedicated website) I will respond to that need. I have looked at a number of funding models and obviously in the fast-moving social media market there are many exciting options available.
I have met with a number of service providers including specialist executive search firms to consider developing additional services.
I see digital distribution of content as a key platform for growth of Next Director.
About Michael Field
Michael Field is a strategic marketing consultant based in Sydney Australia.He has worked in a number of senior marketing roles in listed technology companies. As the former General Manager of Member Services and Marketing for the Australian Institute of Company Directors he held wide ranging responsibilities including the ASX Top200 programme.
Michael has served on the board of Save the Children Victoria and is a former guest lecturer in marketing at ECU in Western Australia.
He now manages his own marketing consultancy at http://www.michaelfield.com/
If you are not already a Next Director member on LinkedIn you are invited to join at: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/1331907
Links
Follow Michael on Twitter
Follow Next Director on Twitter
Join Next Director
Michael Field's Consultancy Site
Katrina: What is Next Director and what are the benefits to becoming a member of the group?
Michael: Next Director is a global online community of more than 300 emerging and aspiring company directors who connect via the LinkedIn online network. The benefits to members include access to a global network of aspiring, emerging and practicing company directors, governance experts, regulators, recruiters and others interested in directorship.
Next Director provides practicing directors with the opportunity to contribute to the director community through sharing their experience and connecting with emerging directors.
Aspiring and emerging company directors can connect and engage with experienced directors, recruiters and regulators to obtain more practical insights into the role and requirements of a company Director.
Specialist executive recruiters and recruiters for board positions have also shown a strong interest. I expect that to be a positive relationship for all participants.
Katrina: How many members are a part of Next Director, and how did you go about attracting them?
Michael: Next Director was launched on 22 November 2008, it has already attracted more than 300 directors globally, including Australia, United States, Canada, Chile, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Russian Federation, United Arab Emirates, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India and Singapore. Experienced directors were hand-picked from my own network as well as those whose career path is moving beyond management and into director roles.
The marketing was conducted exclusively online through social media networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. The viral effect has been quite extraordinary and has produced a number of interesting results:
1) The quality of applicants has been extraordinarily high. I attribute this to the calibre of the founding members and the professional focus of networks such as LinkedIn.
2) The global reach was immediate and very experienced directors have joined, showing a great interest in contributing their expertise.
Katrina: Who did you expect your target audience to be, and what are the demographics of your current group?
Michael: To join Next Director, your career and experience must demonstrate that you are managing those aspects of your career that make for a suitable director. This can include formal education and skills gained through employment or other community involvement. It is a difficult criteria to define, but Next Director is clearly focused on Directorship, not management issues.
The demographics of the group are interesting:
Location
47% are from Australia
30% are from the United States
7% are from the United Kingdom
The balance are evenly distributed across the countries mentioned earlier.
Role
50% are in senior management positions exploring directorship as a next step
16% are executive directors
2% are Chairmen
Academics, regulators and governance advisors represent much smaller numbers.
Katrina: What are your future plans for Next Director?
Michael: When the group reaches ‘critical mass’ and additional services are required (such as a dedicated website) I will respond to that need. I have looked at a number of funding models and obviously in the fast-moving social media market there are many exciting options available.
I have met with a number of service providers including specialist executive search firms to consider developing additional services.
I see digital distribution of content as a key platform for growth of Next Director.
About Michael Field
Michael Field is a strategic marketing consultant based in Sydney Australia.He has worked in a number of senior marketing roles in listed technology companies. As the former General Manager of Member Services and Marketing for the Australian Institute of Company Directors he held wide ranging responsibilities including the ASX Top200 programme.
Michael has served on the board of Save the Children Victoria and is a former guest lecturer in marketing at ECU in Western Australia.
He now manages his own marketing consultancy at http://www.michaelfield.com/
If you are not already a Next Director member on LinkedIn you are invited to join at: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/1331907
Links
Follow Michael on Twitter
Follow Next Director on Twitter
Join Next Director
Michael Field's Consultancy Site
Monday, January 26, 2009
Exclusive Interview with Zappos' CEO: Measuring Success Through Customer Feedback
According to Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, the proof of the pudding really is in the eating - so to speak. When your focus is providing the absolute best customer service above all else, feedback from your customers is all the proof that you need to show that your marketing is working. Read on for Proof's exclusive interview with Tony.
Katrina: When did you launch Zappos Canada? What metrics did you look at before deciding to cater to this market? Do you have plans to launch any other geographically-specific sites?
Tony: We launched Zappos Canada several years ago in response to requests from Canadians that wanted to be able to shop from us. We actually did not look at any metrics. We do not currently have plans for othergeographically-specific sites, but we do ship internationally to some countries from our regular Zappos site.
Katrina: What types of marketing do you employ at Zappos, and how do you measure the success of your marketing programs?
Tony: Most of the money that we would have spent on paid advertising we instead put into the customer experience (such as free shipping both ways, surprise upgrades to overnight shipping, 24/7 customer service, etc.).We've grown from no sales in 1999 to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008. The #1 driver of that growth has been from repeat customers and word of mouth. We really view anything we do to improve the customer experience as a form of marketing because it drives word of mouth.
Katrina: It's clear that customer service is key to everything Zappos does. How do you measure the success of your customer service initiatives?
Tony: We receive comments from our customers and we also randomly survey our customers.
Katrina: As your main sales vehicle, your website is crucial to your business. What types of improvements have you made to this site over the years, and how did you build up the business case for each of these?
Tony: We are actually in the process of launching a new site, which we are internally calling "zeta". You can find it here:
http://zeta.zappos.com/
Our original site was designed primarily to sell footwear. Today, we sell a lot more than footwear, including clothing, accessories, and even electronics. Zeta is designed to handle all the different product types.
Katrina: How is your marketing team structured and how large is your team?
Tony: We have a direct online marketing team that handles our keyword buys on search engines such as Google as well as our associate (affiliate) program. We also have a brand marketing team that handles some of our brand advertising, such as print or TV. Combined, our marketing team is about 15 people.
Katrina: What is your vision for Zappos ten years from now?
Tony: Hopefully 10 years from now people won't even realize we started selling shoes online. We just want the Zappos brand to be about the very best customer service and very best customer experience.
For the Zappos site, click here
For the Canadian Zappos site, click here
For Tony's corporate bio, click here
Follow Tony on Twitter
Katrina: When did you launch Zappos Canada? What metrics did you look at before deciding to cater to this market? Do you have plans to launch any other geographically-specific sites?
Tony: We launched Zappos Canada several years ago in response to requests from Canadians that wanted to be able to shop from us. We actually did not look at any metrics. We do not currently have plans for othergeographically-specific sites, but we do ship internationally to some countries from our regular Zappos site.
Katrina: What types of marketing do you employ at Zappos, and how do you measure the success of your marketing programs?
Tony: Most of the money that we would have spent on paid advertising we instead put into the customer experience (such as free shipping both ways, surprise upgrades to overnight shipping, 24/7 customer service, etc.).We've grown from no sales in 1999 to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales in 2008. The #1 driver of that growth has been from repeat customers and word of mouth. We really view anything we do to improve the customer experience as a form of marketing because it drives word of mouth.
Katrina: It's clear that customer service is key to everything Zappos does. How do you measure the success of your customer service initiatives?
Tony: We receive comments from our customers and we also randomly survey our customers.
Katrina: As your main sales vehicle, your website is crucial to your business. What types of improvements have you made to this site over the years, and how did you build up the business case for each of these?
Tony: We are actually in the process of launching a new site, which we are internally calling "zeta". You can find it here:
http://zeta.zappos.com/
Our original site was designed primarily to sell footwear. Today, we sell a lot more than footwear, including clothing, accessories, and even electronics. Zeta is designed to handle all the different product types.
Katrina: How is your marketing team structured and how large is your team?
Tony: We have a direct online marketing team that handles our keyword buys on search engines such as Google as well as our associate (affiliate) program. We also have a brand marketing team that handles some of our brand advertising, such as print or TV. Combined, our marketing team is about 15 people.
Katrina: What is your vision for Zappos ten years from now?
Tony: Hopefully 10 years from now people won't even realize we started selling shoes online. We just want the Zappos brand to be about the very best customer service and very best customer experience.
For the Zappos site, click here
For the Canadian Zappos site, click here
For Tony's corporate bio, click here
Follow Tony on Twitter
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
