As usual Mitch Joel, raises an interesting issues in his posts. This one recently caught my eye - The E-Commerce Tipping Point.
The tipping point he’s referring to is the adoption of mobile not the move into E-Commerce itself. Online stores are already making a dent on the trading volumes of Bricks and Mortar retailers. But many of these online retailers, either exclusively online or a mix of online and bricks and mortar, are sitting back waiting to decide if / when they should adopt a mobile strategy.
Joel says the tipping point is here now. Retailers who wait for conclusive proof of it miss the opportunity to stay ahead or at least compete favourably in this space. I’ve argued previously that early adopters in a niche stand to take a significant advantage over the rest of the niche. That logic applies here, but in this case the niche has the potential to become mainstream.
Joel closes his post with “The future belongs to selling everywhere, anytime*. Why some retailers are sitting back and waiting is beyond me.”
* Sounds like E-Commerce to me.
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Filed under Mitch Joel ecommerce
While reading an Andy Sernovitz post (Why do so many dry cleaners get bad reviews), it occurred to me that there are many industries in a similar situation. The only (or the overwhelming majority of) comments they get are negative. How often do you hear good things about lift mechanics, pest controllers, office cleaners or car mechanics? Is it a challenge to get Word of Mouth referrals in your industry?
As Andy suggests, sometimes the solution is as simple as asking for a review, but make sure you deserve a good one. Andy’s other suggestion is just as valid but more difficult to achieve - do something review-worthy.
Andy often writes on the theme of word of mouth referrals and is fact running a conference on that theme next month in the US (I won’t be attending). One of the presenters is Saul Colt. In one of the promotions for the conference Saul tells a story about he received “remarkable” service from one of the invisibles - a bellhop. I’ll do my best to retell the story ….
Saul pulled up in a taxi and the bellhop collected the bags. Presumably by checking the tags on the bags, he was able to refer to Saul by name. This wasn’t so unusual. The next day Saul encountered the bellhop. The bellhop was still able to refer to Saul by name without benefit of luggage tags. Saul was so impressed he wrote to the manager of the hotel to comment on the quality of the service he received from the bellhop.
So what’s my point? “Marketing” comes in all shapes and sizes and has lots of variations in cost structures. The option with the highest price tag is not always the most successful. It does take thought and effort.
These ideas only reinforce the concept that every employee has a marketing responsibility.
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Filed under Saul Colt Andy Sernovitz Word of Mouth
“All successful businesses have a phone line, a website and a Facebook page. Facebook does not take time away from you. Facebook can give your business a personality.” misschu as posted on Let’s Talk Business.
I can go along with the phone line and website part. The Facebook page is little less believable, but I suppose it could depend on your definition of “successful”. And I’m definitely OK with the personality statement. The one I have an issue is “Facebook does not take time away from you.” How do you keep it updated if it doesn’t take your time?
Paul Wallbank had a post recently (The free myth) in which he commented on this statement heard at a social media event … “I can’t believe all businesses aren’t on Facebook - it’s free.” That statement is clearly wrong as Paul pointed out. Facebook costs in several ways - time and the data mining that Facebook performs.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Facebook has an important role to play for many businesses. We shouldn’t gloss over the true cost of participation. How else can we really assess the value?
Filed under Facebook Paul Wallbank
“We are leaving the Information Age and entering the Recommendation Age” Frog Design as quoted in “The Long Tail” by Chris Anderson
I’m not sure about the “leaving” and “entering” in that quote but I am convinced the Recommendation Age is upon us.
Everywhere you look there are recommendations. Some of them have different names e.g. “Likes”, “Friends”, “Followers”, “Pins”, but they all mean the same thing. They are an implied endorsement by someone for something or someone. These recommendations are not just about the warm and fuzzy feeling of being liked or followed. So many of these endorsements are being used to influence decisions.
Think about it. If one of your Facebook friends likes a company’s Facebook page, might that influence a “buy” decision if you have a need for that company’s products?
Filed under Facebook Long Tail Chris Anderson Frog Design
Robert Tercek and the “Information Tsunami”
Rob Tercek is not a name I knew until I started watching a video podcast that he hosts - “This Week In Social Media”. This video was shown in the 7th episode of that podcast. While the content is now a little old in Internet time, the material is still relevant and interesting.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by the volume of information and options that confront you, then this video may help create some context for you.
“People generate new information all day long, not just by writing and posting videos, but also through our consumption, our reactions, our trackable behaviour and our habits. We even generate new information when we are asleep, in the form of brainwaves!” Robert Tercek
Filed under Robert Tercek Information Tsunami This Week In Social Media
Follow your own path to success (midboh.com.au)
The upside of being ordinary and obvious (rohitbhargava.com)
At face value these two posts may seem contradictory but I don’t think they are. They seem in harmony to me.
They are both about evaluating choices and making decisions. It is perfectly valid to seek new ways to achieve, just as it is to stay true to the current path. As long as you make a choice not just allow things to happen without direction. It is about choice based on your circumstances and the best advice and information you can get.
And never lose sight of your goals.
Filed under fork in the road choice
This headline at Marketing Pilgrim caught my eye - “Is Facebook Getting Serious About Search?” I rarely think of Facebook as a search facility but it may be soon time to reconsider.
Facebook’s search is OK to find someone in Facebook but it’s not where I research products and services. Although I’m not tied to Facebook, there are many Facebook users who all but live there. It’s likely that some of these will use Facebook’s search facility regularly. That number will only go up if Facebook successfully improves its search capabilities.
In case you weren’t already aware, Facebook has an arrangement with Bing. Facebook adds Bing results to the bottom their search results. This means that businesses with a Facebook page and a website indexed by Bing have two bites of the cherry to be found by anyone using Facebook search.
Isn’t it time you added Facebook to your marketing plans?
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Filed under Facebook Bing Marketing Pilgrim
I’ve just finished reading two posts from some of my favourite bloggers - Seth Godin (Don’t give up (you’re on the right track)) and Chris Brogan (Choose Your Own Adventure).
The posts are quite different but they share a common theme - don’t rely on history to choose your path. Seth wrote about breaking the four-minute mile. At that time the common perception was it impossible to break. That is until someone broke it. Chris wrote about setting a different agenda than the common perception. The road less travelled. Both of these posts are both worth a read.
Sometimes we just have to stop and think why we choose a particular strategy - in our daily lives or in business.
Is it because it’s the conventional (safe) wisdom? Decades ago the perception was that no one would be fired for buying IBM. Eventually that stranglehold was broken.
Is it because it is the way we were taught by a predecessor? A former colleague of mine referred to this as the “Sit By Nellie” syndrome, as in go and sit next to Nellie so she can teach you the job. This model fails miserably when Nellie doesn’t understand the reasoning behind the checklist she follows without question. Mindless following doesn’t work out well for Lemmings.
Or do we follow the our chosen path based on the best available information and resources?
We won’t always have the right answers, but asking the right questions is a good place to start. And not accepting trite, well-worn, stock answers is a good follow-up.
How does this apply to small business organisations? Just because no one in your circle of friends or your product niche is striving for new business opportunities through social media, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Traditional, well-worn paths of marketing via Yellow Pages and advertising in the local paper may seem like a safe path, but research and the common experience is telling us these channels are less dominant than ever before. These options may seem safe, but for how much longer?
Filed under Chris Brogan IBM Seth Godin Lemmings
Too often I see neglected websites, collecting cobwebs since launch. The businesses running them are dumbfounded about why they are not getting many business opportunities via their website. If there ever was a time when the “set and forget” mentality applied, it is long gone now.
Even if the website was “state of the art” when launched, there is a serious risk the art has moved on. The web is constantly changing. Why would anyone expect that the role of the website would not need to adapt to compete?
For businesses pursuing a content marketing strategy, the corporate website becomes the focal point of all the satellite activities that have become so common, such as blogging and social media. But eeven at a more fundamental level, most businesses change periodically - prices change, product and services vary, prominent staff move into new roles and the business move locations. Do you issue press releases of have other media opportunities? Do you run events? All of these things need at least a little maintenance on the website.
The image in this post is a screenshot from an active site (12 April 2012). This site is largely untouched since 1998 (http://web.archive.org/web/19980111010004/http://gensys.com.au/). Clearly this organisation was an early adopter and established a presence on the web ahead of many others. But the early adoption decision has since been abandoned and the site largely left derelict. In a hi-tech niche a low tech, outdated, abandoned website bereft of style will always struggle to attract and retain the attention of potential customers.
Cultivate a relationship with your webmaster (internal or external) and make sure you keep them informed of all these opportunities. If your webmaster is slow or reluctant to make these changes, perhaps it’s time for someone new.
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Filed under Website Web Design and Development
I have mentioned ACRS (Australian Centre for Retail Studies within Monash University) before on these pages. When they are referenced in the mainstream media I pay attention. In many of those articles there are implications for B2C (Business to Consumer) organisations. This article http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/taphappy-shoppers-spoilt-for-choice-20120224-1ttkm.html is no exception. Here are a couple of the sections I thought most relevant ..
Recent research from eBay reveals 37 per cent of people who use their smartphone to research a product do so while standing in a store and 44 per cent of consumers who use a mobile to research a product still go to a store to buy it.
Selma Mehmedovic, a research consultant at Monash University’s Australian Centre for Retail Studies, says …. “Savvy retailers will have no choice but to embrace the explosion of smartphones and tablet technology.”
The emerging technology analysts Telstye predict Australian smartphone user numbers will hit 18.5 million by 2015, which will mean smartphone users will account for 90 per cent of all mobile phone users within four years. Sales of tablets will also soar: Telstye says by 2016, half the Australian population will be using tablets.
When faced with quotes from studies about which I know little, I often re-examine the figures apply a 50% reduction to see if it changes the implications significantly? Let’s see:
- 18.5 per cent use smartphones to research while in a store
- 22 per cent research on mobiles and then go to store to buy
- 9.25 million Australians with smartphones by 2015
- quarter of Australian population will use tablets by 2016.
Even at these heavily discounted number, the implications are strong. Businesses need to make sure all their web content is easily accessible on smartphones and tablets … AND SOON. Don’t assume you are in a market segment not affected by this type of change. It doesn’t mean you have to develop Apple and Android apps to compete, but you need to make sure your website functions well on a range of devices - dumb phones, smartphones, tablets, notebooks and desktops. The easiest way to check is to make sure you visit your own website using whatever resources you have available.
How does your website look on a mobile phone? Have you checked?
But even more important, have you considered if the needs of a person using a mobile phone. Specifically, do these needs differ from someone using a desktop or notebook computer? Sometimes they just want to see a price and / or a phone number to make contact and are uninterested in company history and white papers. If mobile visitors can’t find the basic information quickly and easily, will they stay? Will they become a customer?
Filed under Monash University Mobile phone Smartphone
