Interestingly, the gamification trend shows us that once they’re in, consumers may want something more than a sample, a coupon, a demonstration or a few moments of entertainment.

My theory is that the Conversation Cloud™ that envelops the consumer during active evaluation is a chaotic mess. There are options all over cyberspace from which you’ve got a roughly equal chance for getting totally lost, completely distracted (“Oh look … a butterfly”) or terribly misled (presumably by misinformation that’s posted and reposted by unofficial sources). However, when a brand publishes brand-specific materials across the vast expanse of digital outposts, the value of its participation in the “chaos of the Conversation Cloud™” provides guideposts (“points of light” is an old metaphor, but I’ll take it) that may attract the consumer’s attention.

… More to come … (Still working on this post, but gotta go. BRB.)

Randall Cunningham should be in the NFL hall of fame. He was among the first African-American NFL quarterbacks to be given the starting role on a major market team — the Philadelphia Eagles. At the time, the Eagles sucked. They’d lost a Superbowl, badly, and rebounded into the cellar. Along came Cunningham.

He passed with a strong arm and acute accuracy while standing strong in the pocket and executed play action fake handoffs along with the best of them. But he was also the team’s leading rusher. He had to scramble because his offensive line just couldn’t keep the opposition’s defense from flattening the quarterback.

Cunningham was the archetype of today’s NFL superstar quarterbacks. He had all the skills — passing, reading defenses, calling audibles PLUS running, scrambling and improvising. But the media and most fans couldn’t fathom that a Black QB could do all that. He single handedly raised the bar and set a new standard for excellence, yet nobody was willing to give him the credit he was (and is) due.

As the result of Randall Cunningham, any athlete who aspires to become an NFL quarterback needs to have skills above and beyond the previous generation’s established bar — without slipping an iota in the mastery of ALL those skills as well.

So it goes with interactive marketing. Great design is not good enough to engage consumers in the Conversation Cloud along the Consumer Decision Journey. That’s why the recent (ugh … if we can call 2-3 years “recent”) rise of content strategy has become so important.

Successful brand communication, presence and engagement across digital and physical channels requires the focused effort and diligent discipline of content strategy. These areas of content strategy work are essential for launching and maintaining successful programs made of persuasive content:

Editorial Strategy

• Definitions for the guidelines by which online content is governed: values, voice, tone, legal and regulatory concerns, user-generated content, etc.
• Define the editorial calendar including content life cycles.

Web (Interactive) Copywriting

• Writing useful, usable content intended for online publication.
• Understanding the basics (and better) of user experience design.
• Translate information architecture documentation.
• Write effective metadata.
• Manage a flexible, fluctuating content inventory.

Metadata Management

• Identify the type and structure of metadata.
• Outcome: identify, organize, use and re-use content in ways that are meaningful to key audiences.
• Title
• Description
• Keywords and phrases
  • Market Defining Keywords (MDKW)
  • Informative Content Descriptors
• Sample Meta Data (for ChilliwackLife.com)
  Title: Chilliwack BC Canada – Chilliwack Life
  Description: Your source for living, working and playing in Chilliwack BC
  Keywords: Chilliwack BC british columbia canada

  What the actual meta data looks like in HTML
  <TITLE>Chilliwack BC Canada – Chilliwack Life</TITLE>
  <meta name=”DESCRIPTION” content=”Your source for living, working and playing in Chilliwack BC”>
  <meta name=”KEYWORDS” content=”Chilliwack BC british columbia canada”>

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Edit and organize content on pages, screens and/or across a website – including metadata – to increase relevance to search engine keywords and phrases.
• Apply link building best practices

Content Management Strategy

• Define the technologies needed to capture, store, deliver and preserve content.
• Considerations include publishing infrastructure, content life cycle(s) and work flow(s).

Content Channel Distribution

• Define how and where (and sometimes why) content is available to users in various user-centered scenarios and across digital platforms based on personas/consumer insights.

Source: Kristina Halvorson, “The Discipline of Content Strategy”

More on this topic soon … This entry is a DRAFT (aka work in progress) that I’m posting for the benefit of feedback, discussion and my own inner process.

Advertising is the distribution of persuasive content assets (aka “social objects”) into the conversation cloud along the Consumer Decision Journey in order to influence brand affiliations and purchase decisions.

A great experience is reward in and of itself.  Think if a dinner party among friends. But it’s equally true of a meet up or business party that’s truly well planned and curated. You don’t need bribes to lure people into your home for a dinner party. You do send out an invitation that helpfully and creatively expresses what the theme and purpose of the meeting is all about.

Ultimately making a product purchase decision leads to a sort of meeting. It may be online in a cart or at a store at a counter. But one way or another the consumer needs to make time for that pivotal moment when the decision becomes a transaction.

It’s not just a good deal. It’s a great deal. As long as folks at home want to watch movies on discs, Redbox has the best deal in town.

Some critics, pundits and experts would argue that Redbox is not a paragon of 21st century commerce. They might say, fairly speaking, that it’s a short-term business that is suited to the short window of opportunity that will end in a few short years. Fair enough. Let’s not forget how Enron was adored by the business press and professional pundits alike.

Redbox does serve a purpose here and now, though. It provides the path of least resistance coupled with the most reward for a nominal fee. That’s a magical combination in any category of business.

We need planning tools and methods for creating content – brand stories, article marketing, branding applications – that  befits the brand story, brand world, brand character and supports marketing goals that lead to measurable results (most frequently an impact on sales, share or volume).

Kristina Halvorson’s work, company, book and presentations are invaluable for defining content strategy (aka content management or editorial management) as a practice with heft. Let’s start there. 

Then let’s look at possible models for Predictive Content Models based on qualitative research, social monitoring and search optimization as linguistic anthropology. In other words, we can use brand planning and social monitoring techniques to identify content areas that consumer groups (segments, profiles, personas) want or at least are likely to find interesting. 

Establishing linkage (that’s a term I’m going to use a whole heck of a lot) to brand values, brand equity and the brand story is the ultimate measure for persuasive content. Taking a page from the promotional marketing playbook, linkage means defining that offer X is relevant and related to the brand. For example, any company can offer a cash prize or an exotic vacation; but choosing a prize structure that has conceptual and strategic linkage to the brand story and/or equity.

To be continued … 

“According to ORC (Opinion Research Corporation), companies are welcome into the social network communities as long as you follow the rules:
* 51% said companies should have a presence but shouldonly interact with consumers as needed or by request
* 34% feel companies should be in social media and interact regularly
* 15% say companies should sit in the balcony or stay home

According to a recent Razorfish study, an impressive 64% of connected consumers had made their first purchase because of their digital experience.  In addition:
* 60% consider the brand favorably when they are in the market for a product/service in that category
* 40% recommend the brand to others

Cone Research found:
* 74% who interact with the company/product online usually have a more positive impression of the company, product/service
* 72% feel a stronger connection with the company/brand because they can interact with the company online
* 70% feel better served when they have an online discussion with the company
* 68%have improved their opinion of the company/product because of friend’s recommendations
* 64% become followers, friends, fans of companies/brands because they showcase my personality/interests online

Constantly strengthen your relationship with your best customers online.  Develop new/different ideas, share thoughts/concepts, listen.

People who go online to research a product/service will almost unanimously place customer care/customer service high in their decision making process.  IDC research found:
* 74% choose companies/brands based on others’ customer-care experience shared online
* 72% research companies’ customer care online before purchasing at least some of the time
* 84% consider the quality of customer care in their purchasing decision
* 81% say blogs, online rating systems, discussion forums give consumers a greater voice in customer care
* 33% believe companies take customers’ opinions seriously
* Search engines are their most valuable research tool followed by social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, microblogs”

via Social Media #6.

Long ago Google began saying “atomize and distribute” content on the web to gain influence among engaged audiences (or consumers). So, instead of putting all your marketing effort behind a large-scale destination website and spending an enormous amount of money, time and human capital driving traffic to it, you’d generate content modules and spread them throughout social networks and community sites for people to discover and share them at will.

Back in the old days (of a few years ago) when destination websites ruled the web, usability ruled the roost. Giving people a clear, unambiguous path from the home page into the parcels of content they want was the ultimate goal.

Now that content is both aggregated at a brand site (remember, we live in an “and” world now) and distributed through social networks widely across the web, findability is singularly most important. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the foundation for making content findable. And social media optimization (SMO) is ever more important in this context.

Discovering a relevant, useful chunk of branded content online gives consumers a reason to go deep with a brand. Whether they do depends on persuasion — good old-fashioned advertising salesmanship will never become irrelevant. Never.

As the debate between brand “story” vs. brand “utility” gets more and more blurry thanks to digital convergence, the only answer is to stop debating in the first place. Story “and” utility must complement each other in order to persuade consumers to take one or more steps that lean into the brand — the only way to go deep is to choose (or click) for oneself.

Rohit Bhargava’s blog post about Social Media Optimization hits the relevance and importance of this new practice in the sweet spot.

What I love about this excerpt is how the author connects the branding app/utility to the brand promise. The brand becomes an experience through interaction. The metaphor I’ve long liked to use is “The propaganda of the deed” attributed to Mikhail Bakunin but actually written by another 19th century anarchist.

“Here are a few examples of utility marketing that do just that.

1. The Snow Report by The North FaceAn iPhone application that allows users to select their favorite ski/snow resorts and receive real-time snow and weather conditions along with trail maps, directions and site links.
Supports the brand promise: Being prepared to enjoy the outdoors.

2. SitOrSquat sponsored by Charmin.The SitOrSquat Website and mobile application allows users to find a public toilet anywhere in the world – plus add and rate bathrooms that they find.
Supports the brand promise: An enjoyable bathroom experience.

3. HP’s print function for MySpace.HP is developing a “click to print” function for MySpace enabling users to turn their library of pictures into tangible photos, photo books, postcards and posters.
Supports the brand promise: Making printing easy.

4. Samsung Mobile Charging Station.Samsung Mobile have installed charging stations many US airports. The stations include outlets and a handy shelf where travelers can rest their devices.
Supports the brand promise: Empowering technology on the go.

5. Driving Guides from Michelin.Michelin guidebooks evaluate and recommend restaurants on a range of criteria across Europe, the US and Asia. They’ve recently launched a restaurant application for the iPhone.
Supports the brand promise: A better way to travel.“

via Odopod – Utility Marketing: Usefulness Creates Connections.

People do what is easy and effective. I’ve called it “enlightened self interest.” Pushed too far, self interest becomes selfishness. But when we’re looking for a product to solve a problem or salve a discomfort, we just want something good.

How we go about finding these things, from low interest consumer goods to hot and sexy conspicuous brands, has changed (see Mike Troiano’s blog and read Sally Hogshead’s book — links in my blogroll). And discovery is a non-linear process. Still, the consumer journey needs to start somewhere.

I believe it begins most often with search. eMarketer cites several studies in today’s article (link and image above).

And why not?! Social networking has reached critical mass. So, search is beyond that. It’s normal to do what comes naturally for making good decisions for ourselves. Mostly, that leads to Google, Yahoo! or Bing.

So, brands need to pay closer attention to search engine optimization in order to improve rank, relevance and organic search results placements. To improve SEO, marketers and their agencies need to start caring about content strategy (Kristina Halvorson’s book Content Strategy is great, btw.).

Content strategy is a hard term to fathom. It lends itself to execution. Its practitioners want to be above all that. It’s a topic worth exploring in detail. Stay tuned.