Paul Wallbank – Brilliant Communications

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  • The truth is in the data

    The truth is in the data

    Emma LoRusso founder of Sydney based social analytics service Digivizer believes the truth in a company’s data will challenge many managment and marketing beliefs.

    In a somewhat poorly recorded interview as part of the Decoding the New Economy YouTube channel, Emma described how analysing social media trends and tying them into an organisation’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform can help improve a business’ marketing and customer satisfaction.

    The Truth is in the data

    “A lot of marketing in the past has not been data driven,” says Emma. “There’s still this gap between people saying ‘this is what we think’, ‘this is what we’ve always done’ and ‘this is what they’ve found’ – we’ll come behind that and say ‘let’s let the data tell the truth.’”

    That data is powerful due to the context Emma believes Digivizer adds, “because we can map people to the social web based on their profiles – who are they, what they talk about, who they are engaged with and what’s important to them.”

    “We let data become the truth and we push back on the hypothesis that might have been unsubstantiated previously in the organisation,” Emma says.

    Fighting the average

    For some organisations, this truth can be challenging. “The ones who resist it are those with a fixed position who have built a career of playing to the averages,” states Emma. “We get massive returns, say 39 to one, whereas they were getting maybe seven to one or twelve to one.”

    “Again, data can be the truth in this story.”

    One advantage of real time social media monitoring is marketers can now track how consumers changing lives unfold are affecting their buying habits and desires as people get married, become single, have children, move houses or just simply change tastes.

    Hearing the consumer

    A key part of modern marketing is letting customers know their voices have been heard, as modern consumers know they have a voice and expect companies to acknowledge what they’re saying.

    Emma sees a lot of lip service has been paid in companies to the ‘single customer view’ where businesses need to know their customers better.

    “I actually think it’s customers that are driving that,” says Emma. “Their expectation is ‘I’ve interacted with you a lot of times, you’re asking me to engage with you digitally and now I expect you to serve me better.’”

    “Now if you plug that data into organisations you can start to offer more meaningful – the right message at the right time.”

    Emma believes that makes customers happier as they now feel they’ve been heard and understood. “That’s the beauty in the data,” she says.

    One of the big challenges facing all organisation is using Big Data to understand their customers better, Emma LoRusso and Digivizer are part of the new wage of businesses and entrepreneurs providing the tools to help managers make better decisions.

    While there’s some risks with paying close attention to customers’ online behaviour – as we saw with the famous Target pregnant girl mailout – the benefits for businesses listening to their clients is obvious. It’s another example of how the slow to adapt businesses will be crushed in the changing economy.

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  • Being SWAMed

    Being SWAMed

    One of the constants of social media services is their habit of penalising users without giving any avenue of appeal or recourse.

    The latest example of this is Box Free IT’s story of how LinkedIn’s blacklist censors thousands of legitimate users.

    Should the moderator of a LinkedIn discussion group choose to ‘block and delete’ a members’ message, that user is thrown out of the group, prevented from re-joining and have their posts in other groups pushed into a moderation queue.

    ‘Block and delete’ is a very powerful feature – a thin skinned administrator or a vindictive competitor can damage an individual or a LinkedIn reliant business – yet users have no means of challenging the block or undoing the effects.

    This is fairly typical of social media sites; Facebook sanctions anyone who falls foul of their war on nipples while Google users who fall of the company’s algorithms find themselves in an administrative maze similar to something from a Kafka novel.

    In every case, the social media service shows it’s unaccountable and opaque, which is ironic as these sites’ proponents preach about the new age of openness.

    Once again, the Box Free IT story shows that businesses can’t afford to depend upon social media sites as primary marketing platforms. It’s essential that businesses use social media services to drive traffic to their own websites rather than risking losing their online presence because of an administrative mistake.

    These risks are something that everyone using new media should keep in mind when building their online marketing channels.

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  • Five actions for disrupted marketers

    Five actions for disrupted marketers

    It’s necessary to tell compelling stories with the aid of big data and smart algorithms McKinsey’s Joshua Goff told a conference in Sydney two weeks ago.

    As part of the recent ADMA Global Forum, the head of McKinsey’s Asia Pacific Consumer Marketing Analytics Center spoke of importance of story telling, big data and personalisation for marketers meeting the challenges of today’s connected marketplace.

    Goff sees three disruptions to the current marketing industry – a proliferation of channels, a mountain of raw data to deal with and a hyper-informed consumer. These are challenges which businesses and marketers didn’t have to face in previous years.

    To counter these disruptions Goff proposes five actions; develop a four screen strategy, build a content supply chain, broaden personalisation, understand big data isn’t just about data and forget your current marketing mix.

    Forget your current marketing mix

    “Spending on digital media and non-traditional media is soaring,” says Goff. “We’re recommend to some of our clients to double or triple their spending on these channels.”

    Goff showed ASICS’ Support Your Marathoner campaign as an example of how innovative marketers can create digital campaigns that look beyond banner ads and popups. Campaigns like this are critical to building advocacy around a brand.

    Develop a four screen strategy

    The four screen strategy is essential as consumers are changing how consumers behave, something that is going to accelerate as more screens like Google Glass appear on the market.

    “If we have multiple screens is it not reasonable to think when you turn on your TV – and I count the TV as a screen – that they see the same information?” asks Goff. “But recognise that different screens offer different experiences.”

    Build a content supply chain

    One of the key problems for marketers is feeding content to these screens, which means world class editorial teams will be essential to getting customers’ attention.

    “Content is going to be king going forward,” says Goff. “Content is going to be a source of competitive advantage.”

    In this mix, user generated content is a key factor as well. One of the examples Goff gave was Disguised Lighting, surprisingly a business to business operation which proves that getting fans as advocates is not just restricted to consumer brands.

    Personalisation needs to be broadened

    “If you give the customer in return, they will give you the information you want,” Goff states. “Start solving your customer’s problem.”

    Personalisation is more than just email, it now means delivering personalised goods and configurable services. The physical experience, such as a Japanese vending machines that tailors the drinks available based on the demographic segment the system identifies the customer as being in.

    Big data isn’t just about data

    Data is worthless without the algorithms and the APIs required to understand and distribute the information. To do this well, Goff sees data scientists and software engineers as critical which means the global race for talent is going to be particularly acute in these areas.

    As an example of big data, and cloud computing, Goff showed Sberbank’s lie detecting ATM machine that issues personal loans based up the applicant’s voice patterns. The device brings together a number of technologies to deliver a personalised experience for customers.

    “We can’t afford to wait wait,” warns Goff. “There’s a lot of change and it’s complicated but there are successes and we need to start our own stories.”

    At the heart of Goff’s presentation is the fact we live in a noiser world and for brands wanting to cut through that noise they have to offer something more than what has worked in the past.

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  • Black

    Black

    Some days you wake up and it’s black.

    If you are lucky – and sometimes you are really lucky – later in the day you get the opportunity to speak to folk who are really changing the world.

    Those are the folk who can light up a dark world.

    And sometimes you’re lucky enough to speak to them.

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  • 2013 MYOB Business Monitor: Cloud & web-savvy SMEs continue to enjoy better business

    15 April 2013

    2013 MYOB Business Monitor: Cloud & web-savvy SMEs continue to enjoy better business

    Financial chasm has widened between the online-savvy & online-cautious

    Small and medium business operators (SMEs) who embrace cloud computing and business websites are much more likely to enjoy rising revenue than others, according to Australia’s largest accounting software provider, MYOB. In fact, those who say they are in the cloud were twice as likely to see an earnings uplift in the past year.

    The March 2013 MYOB Business Monitor also found the financial chasm between the online-savvy and the online-cautious is widening, while the take up of online technologies has changed little in the past nine months.

    In the latest study of 1,000+ SMEs commissioned to research firm Colmar Brunton only 16% said they use cloud computing in business, up on 14% in the July 2012 report. Only 38% have a business website, unchanged on July.

    Those who do use cloud were 106% more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year than those who don’t, up on 53% in July. Similarly, those with a website were 60% more likely to see a revenue rise, also up on 53%.

    CEO Tim Reed says, “It’s obvious that as time goes on Australian business operators using cloud computing are increasingly likely to achieve positive financial results. That said, I’m surprised fewer than one in every six say they use cloud in business. This ubiquitous technology has helped so many smaller businesses become better connected, more productive and more competitive.

    “Our research findings provide a clear cut case for embracing online technologies in business. The latest study reveals SMEs using cloud were twice as likely to see a revenue rise in the past year than those who aren’t. It’s similar for those with a business website, who were almost two thirds more likely to see a rise than their peers.

    “These ratios have increased significantly since the Business Monitor study conducted nine months ago, which suggests the gap in financial performance is widening between the online-savvy and the online-cautious.

    “Interestingly, more than half our respondents said they would vote for the political party that proposed ‘providing free government-funded training to all small businesses on how to use the internet to enhance and grow their business.’ This says the majority realise they require further education on how to best employ online technology.

    “It’s also clear the majority are unaware of the value in having even a simple website that contains their contact details. Many businesses have first-hand experience of the benefits of being found online, being able to attract and retain customers in this way. Our research proves it can have a tremendously positive financial effect.”

    Financial benefits

    Business operators in the cloud were not only more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year (33% versus 16% of those who weren’t) they were more likely to expect one in the next year (37% versus 28%). They were also more positive about the domestic economy improving within 12 months (33% versus 23%).

    Further, those using cloud computing were more likely to plan to increase these activities in the next year:

    §  Focus on customer retention/acquisition strategies: 52% versus 34% who don’t use cloud

    §  Prices and margins on products/services sold this year: 36% versus 22%

    §  The number or variety of products or services offered: 33% versus 24%

    §  Working with business advisers to enhance the business: 30% versus 15%

    §  Spending on marketing and advertising  their business online: 29% versus 18%

    §  Pay their employees more: 28% versus 20%

    §  Boost staff numbers this year: 25% versus 11%.

    Similarly, those with a business website were not only more likely to see a revenue rise in the past year (24% versus 15%) they were more likely to expect their revenue to increase in the next year (35% versus 27%).

    They were also more likely to plan to increase these activities in the next year:

    §  Focus on customer retention/acquisition strategies: 49% versus 29% without a website

    §  The number or variety of products or services offered: 37% versus 20%

    §  Spending on marketing and advertising their business online: 36% versus 10%

    §  Their prices and margins on products/services sold this year: 28% versus 19%

    §  Pay their employees more: 28% versus 16%

    §  Working with business advisers to enhance the business: 22% versus 14%

    §  Boost staff numbers this year: 21% versus 8%.

    Key drawcards

    The most popular reason for cloud use was the ability to access data from whatever location they wanted (52%), well ahead of other reasons. Over one third pointed to being able to have their team members work remotely (36%), while 30% said they used it because their data was better protected and safer online on external servers.

    Business operators were also asked what business tasks they used cloud computing for. The top five were: file sharing (50%), file back-up (49%), email (44%), file storage (42%), and online banking (41%).

    Those who didn’t use cloud computing were asked why and the top reason was ‘I don’t know enough about it to make the right business decisions about it’ (35%). Ranked second was ‘I am not very tech-savvy and don’t feel confident about even starting to look at it for my business’ (22%), followed by ‘It is of interest, but there are many more important other business priorities to take care of first’ (21%).

    Other recent MYOB research found the top three reasons why SMEs without a website hadn’t set one up were ‘we prefer to advertise and market our business using other methods’ (68%), ‘it’s not a priority right now, we have all the work we can handle’ (66%) and ‘we don’t see any value in having a business website’ (60%).

    Businesses most likely to be online-savvy

    The business types most likely to use cloud computing and have a business website were:

    Cloud computing

    Business website
    Businesses exporting goods and services

    31%

    58%
    Businesses whose revenue was up in the last 12 months

    29%

    48%
    Business, professional and property services sector

    27%

    50%
    Businesses importing goods and services

    26%

    64%
    Small businesses (5-19 employees)

    25%

    66%
    Metropolitan-based businesses

    18%

    42%

    Across the mainland states, South Australia had the highest proportion of cloud users (22%) and business website owners (42%). In the prior report, New South Wales had the highest proportion of cloud users (15%) while Queensland had the highest proportion of business website owners (47%).

    For MYOB product information, research results, business tips, discussions, customer service and more visit the MYOB Business Monitor webpage, The Pulse blog, MYOB LinkedIn, MYOB Facebook or MYOB YouTube.

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