August 14th 2008
The Internet revolution will transform all aspects of our lives.
In business there is never only one way to do anything.
July 5th 2008
If you want your customers to have a consistent experience and develop a loyal relationship with your brand, you must clearly define your organization’s communications and relationship management responsibilities. Normally, marketing is responsible for managing an email direct marketing program, but it is not the only part of your organization that will engage with customers. Customer service, support, sales, and perhaps even e-commerce groups may also communicate with your customers independently.
To avoid any confusion, I propose that if your company is communicating with thousands, perhaps even millions, of customers, you put your marketing department in charge of managing and coordinating all customer communication, regardless of where it originates, and that the “relationship czar” discussed earlier be responsible for this initiative. Marketing’s role in the engaged organization is to ensure that your company’s email communication have a consistent voice, that they are focused on servicing the customer and effectively coordinated across all points of contact. To do this requires the following: Continue Reading »
June 21st 2008
One of the most powerful ways to teach and communicate is through stories. And one of the best ways to engage your customers is to think of your communications as a narrative. Even the blandest material can be spiced up by giving it an engaging rhythm and making it familiar and involving. At the same time, even the most exciting information can be made boring by presenting it as a list of facts, without any personality or tension. Like a good storyteller, you have to consider how your story will engage your audience. Now I’m not proposing that you try to disguise your marketing and sales messages as gripping drama. Customers are too savvy for that and they’ll call your bluff. But you can still include a narrative thread to draw people in. An online health products retailer could, for example, includes a storyline in its email communication that features real people and the impact that health products have had on their lives. By following the lives of a cast of characters over an extended time period, readers become engaged in the story and follow it. The important thing to remember is that people like stories, remember them, and enjoy telling them to others. Continue Reading »
March 14th 2008
The development of a secure and verifiable form of electronic money will be the catalyst for an explosion in the field of digital marketing. Also known as cybercash or digital cash, e-money will become the standard currency of the digital age. You’ll be able to load e-money onto smart cards using readers attached to your telephone, or download it from your bank account to your hard drive. You’ll use it to buy products and services online, and transfer it to your friends and relatives. You’ll also carry around a digital purse with electronic money in it, and use it like you use cash today.
Daunting hurdles must be overcome before digital money becomes a reality, and many questions remain unanswered. Should electronic money be based on existing national currencies, or should a new international electronic currency be created? Continue Reading »
