Digital strategy, a methodology

Ah yes, digital strategy. It's one of those ambiguous terms with lots of promise attached to it. But what exactly does a digital strategist do? The answer will most likely vary depending on who you ask. I, for one, believe that it's not simply sitting around "thinking." Rather, developing an actionable digital strategy--one that helps an organization meet its business goals--requires some clear actions to fully understand the challenges and opportunities at hand.

I approach digital strategy projects by looking at four key elements on a needs/opportunity continuum: brand, business, market and user. (Note that this is not a new process, in fact many types of strategists use it. It works for digital and social media only when coupled with a deep understanding of this domain).

1. Brand

Why it matters: Understanding a brand's core attributes is key to developing a digital and social media strategy that syncs with an organization's character and essence. The user experience should convey a brand's attributes. Getting clear on what they are is essential to developing that experience. For example, if "daring" is a brand attribute then the interaction design and creative should embody that attribute. In many cases, brand attributes aren't communicated clearly online, or maybe the brand is evolving. In both cases, digital can help.

How to get there: The easiest and most effective way to understand the brand is to work with your planner or brand strategist as well as take a good read through the company's Annual Report, if available. I also like asking key stakeholders a series of brand related questions during Stakeholder Interviews. In addition, an audit of current digital properties against brand goals is useful input.

2. Business

Why it matters: As much as I love twitter, twitter for twitter's sake doesn't cut it. Real creativity is required when it comes to defining a features and functionality set and interaction dynamic that can help an organization meet its goals. This input also plays a key role in defining the project's success metrics.

How to get there: The key here is Stakeholder Interviews, and the more the better. I've found that 20 to 30 60-minute interviews done on a one-on-one basis provide a great foundation for understanding an organization's needs. The goal is to listen and document what each stakeholder knows about the brand, the organization's challenges, as well as to clearly understand what goals they will personally be measured on. Stakeholder Interviews also help identify what organizational challenges exist, both from philosophical and resource standpoints. Finally, findings from this phase can help key stakeholders (who often differ on important matters) align.

3. Market

Why it matters: An industry understanding of best practices is key to developing a strategy that is differentiated. Especially with social media, a relatively new space, it is important to understand what others have tried and what has succeeded, or failed, and why. (This is in addition to general digital best practices, which are vital to getting a project right. Digital Strategists, in my opinion, should have experience with user experience concepts).

How to get there: I like to complete a Competitive Audit as well as a literary review from services such as Forrester, eMarketer and any industry publications.

4. User

Why it matters: In the digital space, the end user or consumer is especially important because they are directly involved in the conversation. Understanding who the user is and what activities they have a propensity for, as well as what interaction models they will best respond to, is necessary to developing a feature set which will be embraced. Also of interest is how key users find information, what they feel is credible online and who they trust.

How to get there: Primary user research is vital to a solid digital strategy, especially because each target segment within each industry can differ. Primary research does not just include focus groups but may take the form of one-on-one interviews, photo studies, shadowing, etc. In addition to primary research, secondary research in the form of industry analysis and web site metrics are important. Understanding how current users use an organization's website and their behavior in relation to that site can be powerful.

This is a high level look at what I would consider comprises a digital strategy. The entire process is more detailed and complex, in my experience. Thoughts and feedback, as always, are welcome.

Facebook to accept OpenID, now the real fun begins

I'm so excited by last week's announcement from Facebook that they will soon accept OpenID.

For those of you unfamiliar with OpenID, it is, essentially an open-source single sign on for the Web. It allows you, the user, to have one name and one password that works across many sites, as long as those sites accept OpenID. 

Obviously, for OpenID to be significant, many sites need to accept it. To date, more than 30,000 do just that, including highly trafficked sites such as Yahoo!.

So Facebook accepting OpenID is a very big deal. In fact, I'd suggest that Facebook will be to OpenID what Oprah was to Twitter, for a number of reasons:

1. Facebook will take OpenID mainstream
Facebook, more than any other site out there to date, has achieved acceptability among the mainstream U.S. population. With more than 200 million members ranging from your boss to your nanny to every one of your former college classmates, Facebook is present everywhere, which means that OpenID could be too.

2. Facebook users pay attention
Facebook, like it or not, has a user base that pays attention to changes in both interface and policy. Hopefully they will notice this change and embrace it.

3. People sign into Facebook more often than they brush their teeth
What's the saying ... it takes 20 days of daily use to form a new habit, or something like that? Facebook's users visit daily, which means that they may become accustomed to signing in via OpenID, which will mean their propensity to use it will increase (as well as other sites' willingness to consider it).

Once OpenID becomes accepted by the Internet population, as well as the majority of substantial websites requiring sign-in, we are well on our way to a single sign-on for the entire Interweb. 

What would that look like? I'm not completely sure, but I do know that it is a building block to the next iteration of wherever it is we are going.

Brave new advertising: experience the experience

Have you heard the story about the woman who trimmed the ends of her pot roast before she put it in the pan?

One day, her older sister was watched her do this, and asked, "Why do you trim the ends of your pot roast before putting it in the pan?" "Because that's how mom did it," the sister responded.

"True," the older sister said, "but mom's pan was too small."

The advertising industry is in exactly this position right now. We do things because "that's the way we've always done them." We have a process and a vocabulary which served us well in a different time. We talk of "Big Ideas" and "Creatives" and "Mass Mediums." Advertising, as we knew it, was certainly the best we could do with the tools we had at the time. 

But what happens when the big idea is a small one, the experience is just as important as the message the channels are many and distributed? Today we can create true interactive experiences and dialogs. It's a far better way to engage with people than shouting at them and hoping they'll listen.

So why, I wonder, do we hold onto antiquated processes and vocabularies when we have so much more to work with? 

My best guess is two fold. First, change is hard. And second, we can't see the opportunity. But let's for a moment, assume that change is possible. How would we do things better? Here are three simple suggestions to get started:

1. Expand your vocabulary

If you talk in terms of the "big idea" and "creative briefs," think about learning a few new words. For example: experience brief, semantic web, interaction design, wire frames, user experience, meta-data. Do you know what those mean? If not, you should. These word are your future.

2. Be collaborative

Let go of the idea that the creatives own creative. (In fact let go of the idea of creative, see point 3). The digital medium, by nature, is more collaborative, and the process should be too. Who’s in your brainstorms? If it’s just art directors and copywriters think about inviting a diversity of team members to the table. The process needs to change for the output to change.

3. Embrace the experience

The consumer experience must go beyond the traditional messaging strategy. How do you create experiences? Start by hiring a team of sharp information architects, content strategists and analysts, and integrate them well. Add to that designers and copywriters. Voila, you have an Experience Group. Creative is simply a subset of experience, albeit a vital one.

I just joined a great advertising agency in Seattle called WONGDOODY. While they are rooted in traditional, they are smart, open-minded and collaborative, and because of that, we are making phenomenal strides in the digital space. I'll keep you updated on our work.

In the mean time, be well, ask questions, and push the status quo. We all can do so much better. We just need to be open to the possibilities.

Think global, tweet local

The Internet is a great activator. Here's just one, small, local story that I'd like to share.

About 40 minutes ago, our local news station King 5 (@King5Seattle on twitter) tweeted that the Cherry Street food bank was about to run out of baby food. Here's a photo from @chrisdaniels5 of all the food that is left. 

They also encouraged people to re-tweet, and posted a few more updates, one with a link to the food bank and how to donate.

About 15 minutes ago, two local business, Boom Noodle and Blue C Sushi (@boomnoodle and @bluecsushi) responded that they would be at the food bank within the hour with food.

For those interested in helping, here is a map and a link toNorthwest Harvest.

Thank you twitter. Thank you King 5, Boom Noodle, Blue C Sushi and Seattle. You are awesome.

I'll update as I learn more, or get on Twitter and follow the story yourself. And keep retweeting!

A second look at virtual worlds

I admit it. I was a Second Life naysayer a few years ago. But I am beginning to change my ways. I just read some very compelling numbers that show the strong growth of virtual worlds. 

For example, membership of virtual worlds grew by 39 percent in the second quarter of 2009 to an estimated 579 million, according to virtual worlds consultancy K Zero and reported by The Guardian. What's more, 39 percent of that growth came from children. And according to eMarketer, 54 percent of children will use virtual worlds by 2013. Numerous virtual worlds for kids, such as Poptropica, Neopets and Club Penguin, already have memberships in the millions, according to the report. 

Then there's the marketplace. From a virtual goods standpoint, roughly 12 percent of Americans have bought a virtual item at some point in the last 12 months, according toFrank N. Magid Associates and reported by Gigaom. The research also predicts that the virtual goods and currency market is estimated to reach $1.8 billion this year, with 15 percent of young males purchasing virtual items—but also 15 percent women between the ages of 35-44.

While these numbers are compelling, I'm not suggesting that we all run out and create a presence in virtual worlds. I do think the same rules apply here as they do with other social media. Identifying business needs and your user behaviors should dictate where you build a presence. 

What I am suggesting, is that we pay a bit more attention to virtual worlds. As core users get older and as technical capabilities grow (for example when users can move from one virtual world to another) we should all be ready to embrace this emerging media as a worthwhile connection point.

Personal Branding - Beyond Your Resume

 I recently found an article that someone sent me back in 1997. I don't know who gave it to me but I saved the article because while the concept was strange to me the idea intrigued me. It wasTom Peters' - the brand called you. As the fates would have ..soon after reading it I was down-sized from my job with the Georgia Lottery Company. Thoughts that a company would want to hire "more than a resume" were radical 12 years ago.

• Who am I anyway? Am I my resume? That is a picture of a person I don't know. What does he want from me? What should I try to be? So many faces all around, and here we go. I need this job, oh God, I need this show. I CAN DO THAT - A Chorus Line - I Hope I Get It

Girlfriend, there was more - Peters said we should manage our personal brand. What did that mean? I should be wearing Jimmy Choos instead of Gucci or investing in a Mont Blanc instead of Bic pens? Did that extend to non business aspect of my life too?  In one of my first resumes I included creative cooking. I was told it wasn't "professional" and took it out.  Should I add it back it .. was that part of my brand called me?

But as confusing as it was to figure out how to navigate this new way of presenting myself in 1997, it no way reaches the complexities that the Internet and social media have in impacting the brand called you. A few weeks ago I was talking with my favorite niece about the photos on her Facebook page. Last year Jessica Robyn went from college student to career girl. She's more aware of her online presence, especially after the Facebook debacle of content ownership, these days. 

Jessica might error on the more liberal side but what about the people in the Boomer generation who are being "down sized" or thought they were retired and now must enter the job market again? They are learning that their resumes must extend beyond paper (or digital) to LinkedIn, sometimes Facebook and if they are adventurous to Twitter. Finding the right balance is a new tight-rope act for many. 

 With Diva Marketing I guess I'm getting it right because someone who does understand personal branding, Dan Schawbel, publisher of Personal Branding Magazine, highlighted me in his May issue - titled Female Power Brands. Thanks to Dan and Justin Levy for the interview.

• "In this issue, we’ve interviewed some of the brightest and most talented female brands on the planet .."

I am honored to join divas Sarah Austin, Natalie Gulbis, Laura Ries Valeria Maltoni and Anita Campbell who were also profiled in this edition. In addition, there are articles written by fabulous women: Ann Smarty, Christine B. Whittemore, Cece Salomon-Lee, Nisha Chittal, Judy Martin, Thursday Bram, Maria Reyes-McDavis, Becky Carroll, Pamela Slim, Camille Watson, Natalie MacNeil, and Angela Natividad.

For your reading pleasure .. one of the the answers from my Female Power Brands interview. Sort of like saying that .. Female Power Brands.  (I'm thinking of turning the pink boa into a super diva cape! What do you think Connie Reece andMutha Mae?)

Personal Branding: What role do you think online personal branding will play in getting hired over the next few years?

Toby/Diva Marketing: Looking at how a personal brand fits  into an organization's brand, I can't help think of enterprises that have opened social media to their employees. Those companies seem to have a strong sense of "self" e.g., their corporate brand and are secure enough to let their employees' brands complement the enterprise brand.

Personal branding done well extends business into more of a "personal" world. It's a way of taking what is on the inside and courageously letting people see it on the outside. Perhaps (some) women struggle with not being perfect 24-7 especially in the world of business. However, on the flip side it's a way of connecting with people and women do that so well.

As we speak Human Resources is online searching for information about their latest candidates. The perception that someone takes away after reading your posts or tweets or LinkedIn profile is an additional element that will be incorporated into a hiring decision. Ready or not .. you inevitably are creating a personal brand. Why not step back and be a little more strategic? ###

The Internet and social media have changed the personal brand game. We no longer have the luxury of only building our image, which does impact our credibility, based on a choice between designer shoes or flip flops. How do you maintain your authentic self online when Google has become HR's best friend?

What does personal branding in the 21st century mean when the whole world knows not only your name but your favorite toys, games, wine, beer, friends, dating status, doctors and opinions on life in general? Maybe when Dan and Jessica are in charge of running corporations it won't matter much but in 2009 it's a factor.

Kisses to our moms in the stars

05/01/2009

  

  "Social media" combined with Web 2.0 technology offers new ways to communicate with each other and in doing so we are reminded that "we are not alone." That someone hears us. That we share experiences. That we matter. Some smart marketers, who are responsible for brands, are beginning to understand that this form of communication can be a powerful "strategy."

Popping into Facebook this afternoon I saw Christine Lacombe's  wall post and it resonated with me. 

• "Mom, you are no longer with me on the physical plane, but I carry your heart forever in my heart. I love you, Mommy."

Then I saw JessicaRobyn's tweet - 

• going to visit my mummy soon =(

The very heart of social media (or the tools that have been developed) was never meant for marketers to bring our brands to market. They were created for people to engage with people - from Twitter to Facebook to blogs and more.They are one more way in the early 21st century that people can emotionally touch & connect with each other across miles and cultures.

Christine's wall post added one more thread to our virtual relationship tapestry. Jessica's tweet is my heart - (Tears to Smiles for Susan) Today is Mother's Day. A day that celebrates the women who are special in our lives. Christine reminded us that today should also be about the women who were special in our lives .. and will always be so.

This post sends kisses to the stars where my mummy and Jessica's & Scott's, Christine's, Polli's, Marianne's, Bobbi's. Kaye Ellen's, C.K.'s, Sybill's, Kate's, Hilleratte's, Chris', Arline's, Auntie Barbara's and perhaps yours or someone you might hold dear is dancing and smiling.

Marketers as you explore using social media to bring your products and services to the marketplace keep in mind that you're not just creating an advertisement or a crafting a media release. If you are authentic, transparent and genuine you are demonstrating that your customers matter. How powerful is that?