A few months ago, I put together a digital strategy brief for a multinational media-conglomerate that would basically recreate the functionality of Facebook for one of their child-facing networks…
My first question was, “why are we creating something that already exists” which I quickly answered myself after I saw that the target demographic was 14 and younger. Facebook TOS requires users to be 13 or older which is only a one year campaign/platform overlap.
As I saw the above picture, I thought about how the modern child’s digital footprint starts (in many cases) long before conception and follows the little booger through their 13th birthday.
Which brings me to my question: why doesn’t Facebook create a limited, sub-network geared specifically towards children (e.g. no advertising, adult-content filters, etc.) that would be administrated by a child’s parents or guardian and would give them access to the network they’re already signing up for themselves using false identities or with the help of their parents?
I’d love to hear the “objections” from parents who currently have a child that is younger than 13. Thank you!
“How do organizations measure the success of their offline advertising (e.g. billboards)?”
You’ve probably heard the canonical quote by management theorist Peter Drucker: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” So, it’s no coincidence that the question (that is the title of this post) gets frequently asked, however offline marketing campaigns present marketers with a challenge since there is no inherent or baked in analytics tool to measure such endeavors. The answer: create a “digital tie-in.”
I don’t believe any marketer that is worth their salt will disagree that today, the efficacy of an offline campaign largely depends on digital-traditional (or tradigital) integration.
Here’s my answer to the above question recently posted:
- Setup a personalized URL or PURL, and/or a QR code—displayed prominently on your billboard (assuming your target audience knows how to use this medium)— that will lead your customers to a highly-relevant landing page where they can read more about the offer and most importantly “take action.” This online behavior can and should be tracked with analytics.
- Give your customers the option to call: have a unique phone number on the billboard that is tracked (e.g. # of calls, duration of call, resulting actions or sales) so that you have a clear view of your sales funnel. I’ve seen companies large and small use google voice to funnel this type of traffic, for free. There are much more sophisticated and expensive systems out there for larger campaigns but this one is free and give you simple analytics.
- If you’re displaying on a digital billboard, you should have the unique opportunity to do A/B testing to see which offer is pulling more action—lather, rinse, repeat.
- Always have clear, strong and low-friction calls-to-action (CTAs): make sure the consumer can answer the “why” in your advertisement (e.g. why should I call in, or “like” you on facebook, or inquire more about the offer?)
- Depending on your organization/product, you may want to run an on-hold message ad for your CS and sales lines, again the same concepts apply (PURL, CTA, measuring action in the sales funnel).
- Depending on the size of your brand and marketing budget, send periodic surveys and make sure to include a question about where your customers have seen your brand (e.g. billboard, direct, tv, radio, in-store, etc.). If appropriate, ask this question and take note at the POS.
These concepts will also work for direct mail, radio, tv, etc., except that with direct you can segment your list which gives you the opportunity to display/sell a more targeted offer. Television/radio/billboard will be more of a broadcasted message, though there are niche time slots and programming options in today’s hyper-fragmented media model.
Another note: I don’t really believe that you can run a truly, “offline” advertisement. When is the last time you saw a billboard without a URL? How many consumer-facing companies don’t have some sort of a (albeit poorly managed) social media presence. Consumers are so “wired” and digitally enabled these days, it makes no sense to run a siloed offline campaign because a) it’s more difficult to measure—which I presume is why this question was asked in the first place, and b) you’ll get a poorer response rate. There are exceptions to probably everything that I’ve mentioned here, however, I use these best practices with my clients.
Can anybody add to my list or provide experience that contradicts my points? Please post below…
To support the anti-censorship movement with regards to PIPA and SOPA legislation, [ digital. marketing. speak. ] will be going offline around 12:00 EST, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 for 24 hours. If you don’t want the internet to break, we encourage you to do the same. Please also use the app above and the infographic below to help spread the word and show your support.
After being out of a country and off-the grid (yikes!) for just under a week, I’ve finally been able to comb through my emails, address most of the fires, and already fail at project “inbox zero.” Fantastic! Happy 2012, world!
In my heap of 985 emails (in 4 days!), I found a private beta invitation to Microsoft’s so.cl network from David Sascino, Senior Program Manager (FUSE Labs) at Microsoft Corporation. You may have heard about this FUSE labs project under it’s working title “Tulalip” which, in true Microsoft reactionary style, launched right around the time Google Plus did in 2011.
There’s really not too much value I can add to this conversation because Jim Stroud already made a pretty amusing video which you can watch for thoughtful analysis + I’ve only perused the network briefly…enough to understand that (currently) there’s no apparent value or technology I need from so.cl that doesn’t already exist in my digital portfolio.
What I need is time. So unless Microsoft invents a time machine (oh wait! MS Windows is kind of like a time-machine since I get to experience 2nd rate technology that mac users have had for years only with archaic limitations that don’t let me install an SSD hard drive unless I buy a new license! what?) or the next best thing and does it first (i.e. Kinect), I’m not really interested but you decide for yourself: http://so.cl (I have 10 invites if you don’t yet have access).
Please post your comments on so.cl below…
Very interesting analysis that brings a 60 second perspective to our fast-paced society.
Here’s another one:
The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.
Steve Jobs
