Internet Marketing and Digital Media Strategy Sydney Australia

Hi, it’s me, I haven’t updated my blog for awhile - haven’t had much to say.

I suppose it’s because a lot of the work I’ve been doing is about cutting out the noise and clutter - you know, taking long, wordy pieces of writing and ruthlessly cutting it down until the message is clear.

I wonder if that’s the main difference between quality writing and rambling blogs or quality video versus the large amount of crap in the 25+ hours of content uploaded to Youtube ever minute?

In today’s digital age creating content is easy BUT creating good content is harder than ever.  Below is a snapshot of the amount of content created in 60 seconds - it's bamboozling and makes you wonder how you can create cut through?

The analogy I often use is the best designs are those that appear simple - the iphone comes to mind; a duck gliding across the water - below the surface there’s a whole lot going on.  

Infographic by- Shanghai Web Designers

Did You Know That - In 60 SECONDS

• Search engine Google serves more that 694,445 queries
• 6,600+ pictures are uploaded on Flickr
• 600 videos are uploaded on YouTube videos, amounting to 25+ hours of content
• 695,000 status updates, 79,364 wall posts and 510,040 comments are published on Social Networking site Facebook
• 70 New domains are registered
• 168,000,000+ emails are sent
• 320 new accounts and 98,000 tweets are generated on Social Networking site Twitter
• iPhone applications are downloaded more than13,000 times
• 20,000 new posts are published on Micro-blogging platform tumbler
• Popular web browser FireFox is downloaded more than 1700 times
• Popular blogging platform Wordpress is downloaded more than 50 times
• WordPress Plugins aredownloaded more than 125 times
• 100 accounts are created on professional networking site LinkedIn
• 40 new Questions are asked on YahooAnswers.com
• 100+ questions are asked on Answers.com
• 1 new article is published on Associated Content, the world’s largest source of community-created content
• 1 new definition is added on UrbanDictionary.com
• 1,200+ new ads are created on Craigslist
• 370,000+ minutes of voice calls done by Skype users
• 13,000+ hours of music streaming is done by personalized Internet radio provider Pandora
• 1,600+ reads are made on Scribd, the largest social reading publishing company

Creating Compelling Content

Here’s five tips for creating content that hopefully engages and shares

1. What's your objective?  Is it just to express your personal opinion OR does it have some other objective?
2. Who is your audience and what are their needs? You can't be all things to everyone so visualise the types of readers you want and understand what they want.
3. In terms of content there are six key questions to work with - Who, What, When, Where, How Much and Why?  What answers are important for your reader.
4. Tone: Is easier to be yourself - be real, natural and conversational - we’re all becoming highly tuned at filtering irrelevant BS.  As a reader I want to get to know you - your opinions.     
5. Is the content likely to be shared?  Does it have a call to action?  Does it entertain?  Does it have a logical flow so that it is easy to read?  Write - proofread (something I'm guilty of often neglecting) - rewrite - cut - post.

This blog is the ongoing chronicle of our own application to our business of the theories; ideas and lessons we are sharing and recommending with our clients.  

Taking Risks

If you're not taking risks then you're playing it safe.  It's one or the other.

Yes, it's hard for some people/ companies/ brands to take risks - there's the natural fear of failure, but today, the paradox is it is more risky to maintain the status quo - you risk become commoditised and irrelevant - easily replaced.

"If you or your brand does not have relevance and create passion from your customers and fans then long term you're in trouble - you're no different than washing powder."  Franklyn Un

Much of the current marketing talk today is about online social media, building and connecting with fans but social media is more than just about setting up a Facebook fan page or Twitter account.  It's about creating social objects says Gaping Void's Hugh MacLeod.

Facing Problems

I faced a problem with the CLIVE stuff we were creating - namely potential customers where comparing us with inferior produced competitors.  Our key messages were not being heard.

The reason - our website - (which is where most of our customers find out more about us)  did not clearly communicate our unique selling points - we looked like our competitors - ie just selling the technical video production ability instead of where we wanted to play - our creativity, our online marketing understanding, our script writing, our production quality, presenter coaching, technology platform and analytics. 

We had to change the way we sold and move from a volume production view of the world towards a very customer centric, creative, niche approach.  Less how many video jobs but more about developing the whole of customer experience - right through to their customers experience.

Seeds take a while to germinate

It took a very long time (in web years) for my team to actually understand what I was saying (and I suppose my deeper understanding of the space and ability to communicate).

Lonely Girl 15 (2006)

We'd all seen the Lonely Girl thing way back in 2006 but what was the end result today? Did it eventually ever sell anything beyond building the Directors profile? Was/ where's the long tail benefit to fans?  What's the point if those no end in sight?

Beached As

I'd seen the clips years ago but the guys appeared on one of the national morning TV shows - I sent the interview to my guys - it's when they saw the commercial return from the books "they got it".  In many ways many businesses are like this - they need to see someone else successful before they have a go - it reduces their perceived risk - they need to be sold and convinced.

For every huge success there will tens of thousands of failures - today there's 37 hours of video uploaded to Youtube every minute.

"It ain't viral till it's viral" but there are some common elements to viral video success - low budget; humour; topicality; provocation; surprises and strategies - piggybacking on trends or celebrities; kids and cute animals.

If you focus purely on the $$$ then customers will soon see through your work.

2010 - Doing Incredibly Boring Work and the Creative Stuff that inspired.

My video guys were stuck on a very boring government job - we done a hundred simple presenter to camera CLIVE clips, it was the creative ones like Wendell's Dancing Reebok that got the most Click Thrus and results - social media was focused on how many fans or Twitter followers - the next metric is engagement. 

2011 - Focus on Creative Inspiration 

Less now on volume and more focused on customer experience.  The development of characters to deliver key communications messages to targeted audiences; a platform for companies and brands to engage online; a framework for new talent to be involved.

Introducing The Characters

Each character went through a behavioural profiling approach (60 questions) used by Human Resource consultants around the world - developed to hopefully resonate with each customer segment.

The Hard Arsed CEO	The Punchy Salesman	Online Presenting Diva	Viral Video Expert	The Nerd
Facebook	Facebook	Facebook	Facebook	Facebook

Each character a Facebook fan page; Twitter account created and behind the scenes video element created. 

The rest to unfold - I'll keep you posted.  

Mel, the buxom blonde barmaid gets a lot of tips and it’s not just because she looks great.  Customers very quickly discard the looks if the service fails to deliver.

Mel knows that Bernie the builder drinks VB, she started pouring his beer when she saw his car drive into the car-park  “data is the new black” she says “it’s all about knowing your customers’ needs, behaviour and predicting their needs”.  The moment Bernie gets to the bar and sits at his corner chair his cold beer is served with a welcoming smile.

Every shift Mel gets 20-30% more tips than anyone else, she knows the drinking and social habits of hundreds of her customers, but there’s more to her success then just knowing and delivering a service, there’s a lot more that goes into getting Bernie in the door in the first place.

Bernie has hundreds of other beer options available and there are other factors that influence his purchasing decisions - prices, friends; the quality of the product and service; location, the feel and atmosphere of the pub and the event - is it drinks with his mates or dinner with his wife or boss?  

Why would Bernie buy from you?

As we know Marketing's role in business is about making sales easier and whether you like it or not, today, the greatest influence on your business, group, brand or your own personal career is via online social media. People you may not even know are talking about you and your business in social media.  This information fore-ever indexed by search engines - now in real time.

Today, when we're looking for anything we begin at search - a new employee, a customer, a new car, camera, or cafe -  the first thing we do is Google.

So what are people saying about you?  What’s your brand reputation?  How do you stand out from the crowd and influence the conversation?

In many ways your website or application is a bit like a pub - it needs to be well designed, quickly deliver what you’re looking for, easy to transact, the sentiment positive and easy to share with your friends but it also needs to be different, engaging, relevant to your audience for your message to spread.

In the old days you could buy and own the media conversation, today, you, I, the consumer are in control and our advocacy has to be earned.

So what differentiates you for the hundred and thousands of similar businesses?  What’s your Seth Godin’s Purple Cow combined with Mike Prasad’s Shiny Circle social media model?

We’re iIn Melbourne, about 250 Digital Media types from across Oz and NZ are gathered for the I-strategy conference, we all want to know where the future is headed, to hear digital strategy and social media keynotes from industry heavy weights such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn, MTV, ESPN and local case studies from Cudo, Tourism Australia, Coles, NAB, Telstra, CCA, and Lonely Planet.  There’s also some thought leaders in recruitment with Firebrand and predictive targeting presentations from Exact Media.

For our company, these type of events are a very important litmus test to constantly check we are heading the the right strategic direction with our clients.

You see, like never before, what is hot and new today in digital is old news tomorrow - this mornings hot off the press complete Digital Strategy 101 course book is already out of date.  

I look across the aisle - thirty heads down, they’re not sleeping, they’re on their i-pads and i-phones tweeting and blogging.  

The “Ah ha” moments - that is, anything learned and new, are quickly absorbed, transmuted and spread out as a rapid rippled tweet into the global collective pond of knowledge - the speed of light insight dispersion.

There are two conversations going on - one offline at the event and the other online Twitter - this convergence - this “inline media”.  

For the uninitiated twitter newbie it is quite a surreal environment, an uncensored real time feedback loop in play.  You can understand why presenters get nervous checking the twitter stream before their presentation - for most people presenting is not the easiest thing to do at the best of times but especially talking digital strategy to the twitter powered digerati - “they’re ruthless”.  Shameless plug - see CLIVE Presenter Coaching.   

Hence the Presenter and event organiser challenge, is the content relevant to the audience?

I’m not going to review every presentation - my #istrategy twitter stream and other blogs already serve that purpose but to say the content was very rich and engaging - so much information that unless your there it’s difficult to determine what information would be most relevant to you.

For some people starting off it’s all new ground and overwhelming, for others it’s the 1% of deep new insights gained.

My personal theory on these type of information rich events is that you need to act, implement, share your leanings quickly while they are still close to top of mind.  You see, the major difference today is speed, it’s real time, it’s now.  

People and companies that have already invested and are building a digitally savvy culture can quickly absorb, assimilate, implement, evaluate, new technology trends - it’s this real time process of constant improvement culture.

In conclusion, when it comes to social media, the reality is that there is not much difference between now and BG/ BF (Before Google/ Before Facebook). Anywhere where people meet and chat is social - the pub, parents picking up their kids from school, the office water-cooler, the country club.   Word of mouth marketing from a relevant trusted source has and always will be the most effective form of marketing - your reputation proceeds you - a referred potential customer is already qualified.  The only major difference today is the speed and reach of technology.

As good mate Mahei (iconic88) reminds us “it’s the last mile that matters most” - our family, friends, people we trust and inspire us, that have the most influence on what we do.

“You’ll love these new chilli crisps” says Mel, Bernie takes a bit and smiles without needing to say a word.

Scott Maxworthy is CEO of www.maxys.com.au, the CLIVEvideo Project  and an ex publican.  The online social web is no different than offline.

S*x Sells - Setting the Scene

The room is very dark that you can only sense it's small size by the steamy confined heat and the short re-verb of the pulsating sounding background beat.

Each beat the sound gets louder.

Through the dark a single light beam shines cutting through the dense smoke. A body lies near naked - a voluptuous and scantily clad woman.

Camera cuts to a man, he's all green, standing over the body.

He pours liquid, much like maple syrup, over her body - she awakens and screams with delight.

The camera zooms onto the jug label - "Create Compelling Content" scrawled across its bright label.

Cut to green man taking a photo with his new Smartphone.

The man laughs loudly and smiles devilishly (even though he doesn't have a mouth) - he looks for a pocket to put his phone but he doesn't have one - fade to black -

title card - "capture the moment".

"Cut", the camera pulls back wide to capture the whole studio. Chisolm explodes!

Note: Reminder to self - need to add something so that potential clients understand this is a marketing vehicle to promote products or services using brand ambassadors. The key to all of this is developing characters and stories that resonate with your audience.

Reflection

OK - maybe the ad concept above is not going to work for most (any) potential client but that ad is not designed for everyone - that's the key message - as guru Seth says "it's about products for customers not customers for products". We explore characters and ambassador authority.

Developing Characters

We finished shooting the last few CLIVE clips this week - Sales guy Ernie Cash, CEO Franklin Un and Creative Director Chisolm Van Schwizer. We'll have the very short, professional corporate CLIVE clip and then a background behind the scenes video where you learn a bit more about the team. As Ernie says "it's people and stories that sell" and Franklyns swear jar rises quickly - I'm not sure how well this will go?

Filming, Scripting and Creativity

We look at the draft edits - they're amazing - you just couldn't write those sort of dynamics quickly (I don't think). Chisolm tells me the sytle is called "Dogma" - yep - I'm sure there is some academic out there who will tell me what the term is for what we've done - the approach we've taken. My thoughts are that by doing we learn - by sharing we understand. There's a continuous cycle here somewhere.

Roll out

I'm still playing with ideas on how to roll the whole new site - the phased roll out gives us the ability to easily add layers more layers and elements as we go. As you know the web is not the big bang media launch but a long tail customer and fan engagement strategy. Don't get me wrong we still need to develop some promotion element at the front end to get word spreading faster. Ideas take a while to cystalise.