How to Create, Market and Manage Your Digital Brand

Editor's Notes

1. I suppose I would describe my self as a child and product of the digital age. One of my first jobs was working for the first Australian personal computer company in 1985 that sold the first IBM personal computer. Ten years later I remember firing up my PC and connecting to the internet with a very slow modem and hooked into the web using one of the first search engines “ Alta Vista ”
2. 1. Life has become more complicated. In the past it was simpler as we only had one brand to create and maintain. You real world and offline brand. You got up in the morning and showered , shaved, put on your makeup, did your hair, put on your clothes and you were ready for the world. 2. Today we have another brand to maintain, nourish and prepare. We check our emails, logon to our Facebook page, review our Twitter updates, see what Blog posts are resonating and review and approve the comments. We want to know how many friend requests we have, what out family and friends and colleagues are doing online. Others will be checking how many hits have happened over night to the YouTube channel, LinkedIn connection invites and if you are on slideshare how many have downloaded or viewed your presentations. As they say “its complicated” 3. My digital brand life was born over 4 years ago when I logged onto Facebook for the first time in 2008. And saw dozens of old friends and colleagues from decades past emerge on my screen. It was like magic and it was easy. Grandfather mobile story This reminds me of a quote from Arthur C Clarke the science fiction writer of Space Odyssey 2001 fame. He said that any mature technology is indistinguishable from magic. 4. 6 months later I created a Twitter account and found it rather quirky, amusing and didn’t really know what to do with it and for the next few months I just sent the occasional tweet to a few friends and strangers around the world. 5. A few months after that In March, 2009 I started my blog after being inspired by David Meerman Scott and his book the “The New Rules of marketing and PR”, Hubspot (an online blog and company online marketing platform based upon content marketing) A book by Time Ferriss “The 4 Hour Work Week” which gave insights into creating a digital life. 6. My Blog story Twitter – from random to focused and also automated Email Facebook Slideshare LinkedIn YouTube The blog is my home base and hub and my social networks are my outposts and ambassadors
3. We have a fast changing world but the challenge is that humans are slow to change and our thinking and habits are still trapped in traditional habitual thinking and customs. A lot of senior managers are still acting as if we are in a industrial and traditional mass media economy, The “ Big Gap ” between how we read and consume our information and the way we market and advertise. Radio took 38 years to reach 50 million users TV took 13 years Internet took 4 years iPod took 3 years Facebook added over 200 million users in less than one
4. Patrick Story – Car suspension part shipped from London to Sydney saving 40% Your competition is not just in your suburb, city or country. They are in Germany, Japan or China
5. These digital economy black swan events are both an opportunity and a challenge Some businesses will thrive Others will die The question is which will you be?
6. Some sectors are under more pressure and change than others Digital Photography Publishing Music Industry Newspapers
7. How does your Business stand out in a Crowded Digital Ocean of 500 million plus websites? This digital economy also raises some questions.
8. We live in an age of “ Big Data “ ..which means there is more data than ever before. In one day we create 1.5 billion pieces of content, 200 million tweets and 2 million videos. Trying to make sense of the mountains and oceans of data that are now part of our knowledge world due to computers, mobiles and the web is a daily challenge. The challenge is what to
9. Consuming and organising all this information is one of the challenges of a modern knowledge world in which we live Do we book mark it File it on our laptop Do you punch the reference into your notes function of your iPhone or iPad Do you grab a pen and jot it down on your beloved Moleskine notepad? So
10. It is no longer just about building a website and hoping to be found amongst all that noise and clutter, It is not as simple as that anymore! You need to start changing your thinking and paradigm about the importance of web presence and start thinking about the making it a priority to build and establish your online assets. Analogy Business will spend 100,000 on a reception area that may only get 100 visitors a day while your website may have a 1,000 or more. Yet CEO ’ s will agonise over investing properly in their website. It is time to change your thinking about the importance of your digital assets when we are increasingly working and buying in a digital economy.
11. 1. Have a Winning Website There are 3 Main Types of websites • Business website Blogs • E-Commerce website They are your online digital front door that you own and control, more people visit your digital property than your reception or office • So invest appropriately • Treat it as important as your physical assets • Building an online digital asset is not a zero sum game – the sooner you start and optimise the further ahead of the competition you will be as you continue to create content that brings people back to your website and Google pushes further up the rankings • Websites should not be set and forget – it is an active environment that requires constant and persistent updating • It informs and educates while you sleep that a salesperson cannot do.
12. Key Elements Great design – It ’ s not just how it looks! Steve Jobs when interviewed by “ Wired ” magazine in 1997, said that intuitive and usable design goes much deeper than how it looks, it is how it works! - you really need to to “ Grok ” it. To intuitively understand and to empathise with your users and your target audience 2. Calls to action to capture those important leads 3. Integrated to your companies CRM or email database 4. Designed and developed for search engines 5. Socialised – built for sharing and subscribing to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ 6. Create an interactive blog as part of your website – It needs to move from static to interactive allow comments and feedback. To provide a platform for engagement. 7. Write and develop content that is addictive, liquid and linked 8. Publish high impact images and multimedia that brings your viewers back and compels them to share with their friends and colleagues
13. Key Elements Great design – It ’ s not just how it looks! Steve Jobs when interviewed by “ Wired ” magazine in 1997, said that intuitive and usable design goes much deeper than how it looks, it is how it works! - you really need to to “ Grok ” it. To intuitively understand and to empathise with your users and your target audience 2. Calls to action to capture those important leads 3. Integrated to your companies CRM or email database 4. Designed and developed for search engines 5. Socialised – built for sharing and subscribing to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ 6. Create an interactive blog as part of your website – It needs to move from static to interactive allow comments and feedback. To provide a platform for engagement. 7. Write and develop content that is addictive, liquid and linked 8. Publish high impact images and multimedia that brings your viewers back and compels them to share with their friends and colleagues
14. Anything created and uploaded to a website and published to your outposts. Content Marketing is about creating compelling contagious content and sharing it freely on social networks and blogs. create “ Ideas ” so contagious that they cannot be controlled this is what is called “ liquid content ” . Coca Cola Strategy story People can create more conversations about your brand online than you can ever hope to achieve
15. Create Multi-Media to reach everyone
16. Create strong visual content to power the sharing of your website and social network content There are many emerging signs Facebook has just spent $1 billion acquiring Instagram. Pinterest according to Experian is now the 3 rd biggest social network in the US
17. Now by social I mean that you should make it easy for people to engage with your content Share it Subscribe to it Comment about it Many sites do not make it easy for people to share. Sharing buttons take two clicks don ’ t make it hard.
18. Online retail and online commerce is growing fast all around the world. It is challenging the traditional bricks and mortar stores. Ecommerce stats Global Ecommerce sales will reach $963 billion by 2013, growing at an annual rate of 19.4%, Japan with 3% of all retail sales and China at 4% lag the USA at 11% of online sales Predictions for online retail as a percentage of overall retail by 2020 predicts Goldman Sachs in JP Morgan ’ s annual Nothing But Net: 2011 Internet Investment Guide on digital commerce. Consideration must be given to making it easy for customers to buy your products at your physical store, your online store and other ecommerce distribution outlets such as Ebay. It is about Omni commerce, having your products everywhere It is about making it easy for your customers to buy no matter where they are and no matter what digital device they are using.
19. Driving with a project manager to a meeting and asked him what he was doing and he was buying a t-shirt form ebay! Make it easy for people to buy in their diwntime..
20. What are the key elements for a successful online store Top three Provide discounts and incentives Make it trusted Optimise it for SEO 1. Build it on a robust technology platform that you can easily update and control yourself 2. Intuitive design it so you don ’ t make people think 3. Make it easy for people to check out – each page you make customers click through to you lose 15% 4. Create Trust – credibility through awards and obvious security features 5. Offer a choice of widely accepted payment methods 6. Provide discounts and incentives 7. Personalize it – eg Amazon. Registering as a guest using Facebook connect allows your visit to personalized 8. Make it social – allow reviews and sharing
21. The growth of the social networks over the last few years has been matched by the mobile internet with smart phones sales approaching nearly 500 million units in 2011. The synergy that these 2 fast tracking trends provide is changing how we work and play. So what are some statistics worth noting? • The smart phone sales were up over 63% in 2011 from 2010 (488.5 million) • 5.9 billion people now use mobile phones globally • Over 300,000 apps have been developed in the past 3 years and downloaded more than 10.9 Billion times • 77% use mobile phones for search • Social networking accounted for 50% of all page views on mobile phones in 2011 • Facebook mobile users quadrupled in 2 years from 50 million to 200 million • There are 200 million mobile video playbacks from YouTube every day • There are 1.2 billion internet connected smart phones • In the US 50% of the population with a phone now has an internet connected smart phone The upside for mobile commerce and smart phone growth is enormous as all mobile phones will eventually become internet connected. On current numbers that means that 4.7 billion smart phones are yet to be sold and connected! Is your business ready for the mobile web? I don ’ t know about you but if you walk the street, ride a bus or a train have a look at what people are doing. They are checking their smart phone or tablet. People commuting to work or watching TV at home are browsing on the mobile devices. Checking their Facebook or even buying products from Ebay or an online store. Smart phones and Tablets - use elements from Trends presentation • Apps for your online store • Website that can be viewed on the major mobile platforms, Android and iPhone Sony has released an internet-linked wristwatch powered by Google-backed Android software. SmartWatch gets online by connecting wirelessly to a wearer's Android smartphone using Bluetooth technology, according to Sony. The high-tech timepiece reminiscent of one worn by classic comic strip detective Dick Tracy was priced at $US150, available online and at Sony stores. Advertisement: Story continues below "SmartWatch provides access to live content and entertainment on the go," said Sony Mobile Communications customer unit president Paul Hamnett, who billed it as the first in a series of gadgets to "expand the smartphone's reach." SmartWatch can switch from displaying time to acting as a touchscreen interface for smartphone information. Vibrations or alerts flashed on the 1.3-inch (3.3-centimeter) screen can signal incoming calls and wearers can glance at their wrists to peruse email or text messages as well as Facebook or Twitter updates by friends. Mini-applications tailored to add features to SmartWatch devices were available at the Google Play online shop, according to Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/hometech/sony-unveils-dick-tracy-android-wristwatch-20120413-1wx8f.html#ixzz1rtLqg4GF
22. The growth of the social networks over the last few years has been matched by the mobile internet with smart phones sales approaching nearly 500 million units in 2011. The synergy that these 2 fast tracking trends provide is changing how we work and play. So what are some statistics worth noting? • The smart phone sales were up over 63% in 2011 from 2010 (488.5 million) • 5.9 billion people now use mobile phones globally • Over 300,000 apps have been developed in the past 3 years and downloaded more than 10.9 Billion times • 77% use mobile phones for search • Social networking accounted for 50% of all page views on mobile phones in 2011 • Facebook mobile users quadrupled in 2 years from 50 million to 200 million • There are 200 million mobile video playbacks from YouTube every day • There are 1.2 billion internet connected smart phones • In the US 50% of the population with a phone now has an internet connected smart phone The upside for mobile commerce and smart phone growth is enormous as all mobile phones will eventually become internet connected. On current numbers that means that 4.7 billion smart phones are yet to be sold and connected! Is your business ready for the mobile web? I don ’ t know about you but if you walk the street, ride a bus or a train have a look at what people are doing. They are checking their smart phone or tablet. People commuting to work or watching TV at home are browsing on the mobile devices. Checking their Facebook or even buying products from Ebay or an online store. Smart phones and Tablets - use elements from Trends presentation • Apps for your online store • Website that can be viewed on the major mobile platforms, Android and iPhone
23. Google has conducted a survey on the use of smart phones and how they influence our lives and how we influence businesses with our smartphones daily. The survey was carried out by Ipsos OTX and it features many statistical facts and a short video, explaining the results. Of ocurse, the research was focused on marketing and it aims to explore and promote the smartphone as the next-gen ad platform and a source of new revenue for Google (their business is ads, you know). The results of the research show that we use our smart phones vigorously throughout our day, at home and at the office, and even in the bathroom. It shows that by using our smartphones as guides on shopping products of all types incl. groceries makes us more pretentious customers with a higher demand for the quality and adequate pricing. Here are just some of the highlights: ” 81% browse the Internet, 77% search, 68% use an app, and 48% watch videos on their smartphone ” ” 72% use their smartphones while consuming other media ” ” 93% of smartphone owners use their smartphones while at home ” ” 95% of smartphone users have looked for local information ” ” 88% of these users take action within a day, indicating these are immediate information needs ” ” 71% search on their phones because of an ad exposure, whether from traditional media (68%) to online ads (18%) to mobile ads (27%) ” ” 82% notice mobile ads, especially mobile display ads and a third notice mobile search ads ” http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mobiles/smartphones-outsell-pcs-for-the-first-time-20110209-1an7t.html
24. You own your website and online store but you also need to consider that we also are on a social web. So securing your presence and designing and branding your business on the major social networks is absolutely key. Hub and Spoke diagram • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Slideshare • LinkedIn
25. You own your website and online store but you also need to consider that we also are on a social web. So securing your presence and designing and branding your business on the major social networks is absolutely key. Hub and Spoke diagram • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Slideshare • LinkedIn
26. You own your website and online store but you also need to consider that we also are on a social web. So securing your presence and designing and branding your business on the major social networks is absolutely key. Hub and Spoke diagram • Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • Slideshare • LinkedIn
27. So you have built a great website that can be viewed on Mobiles and tablets, your signed up and have a presence on Facebook so you can sit back and relax. Think again – the real work now begins!
28. The 2 foundational elements Create a wining digital marketing strategy. This starts with a strategic approach not just tactics. Create a clear vision Know who your audience is Know what your goals are Create tactics to achieve those goals Persist and be patient 2. It also requires the foundation of creating liquid and linked content that is published everywhere and in a variety of media formats Articles, images and videos. We all consume information differently so provide content in a variety of multimedia formats that communicates to as many people as possible It is about spreading your brand and being found everywhere. – be ubiquitous!
29. Business often does not give enough priority to being found by search engines. Some Facts • Up to 90% of purchasing decisions start with an online search. • Organic online clicks account for 75% of all click throughs to websites • 25% of all clicks are paid eg Google Adwords. How important is it to be at the top of Google ’ s search results? • Ranking first on Google gets over 40% of all clicks • Ranking second receives just over 11% - coming second has distinct disadvantages – only ¼ of all clicks compared to first ranking • 90% of all clicks occur from first page of search results 2 Keys for Optimizing your Websites for Search Engines 1. Onsite SEO – Designing and developing your website so that Google ’ s crawlers can find the keywords and phrases that people will use to finfd you 2. Off site SEO – Core activities here is “ Link building ” (this is where you get other websites to link to your website. The more important the website that links to you the greater value Google places on your website and pushes your site up the rankings. Links http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/07/14/10-facts-reveal-the-importance-of-ranking-high-in-google/
30. Business often does not give enough priority to being found by search engines. Some Facts Up to 90% of purchasing decisions start with an online search. Organic online clicks account for 75% of all click throughs to websites 25% of all clicks are paid eg Google Adwords. How important is it to be at the top of Google ’ s search results? • Ranking first on Google gets over 40% of all clicks • Ranking second receives just over 11% - coming second has distinct disadvantages – only ¼ of all clicks compared to first ranking • 90% of all clicks occur from first page of search results 2 Keys for Optimizing your Websites for Search Engines 1. Onsite SEO – Designing and developing your website so that Google ’ s crawlers can find the keywords and phrases that people will use to finfd you 2. Off site SEO – Core activities here is “ Link building ” (this is where you get other websites to link to your website. The more important the website that links to you the greater value Google places on your website and pushes your site up the rankings. Links http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/07/14/10-facts-reveal-the-importance-of-ranking-high-in-google/
31. Business often does not give enough priority to being found by search engines. Some Facts Up to 90% of purchasing decisions start with an online search. Organic online clicks account for 75% of all click throughs to websites 25% of all clicks are paid eg Google Adwords. How important is it to be at the top of Google ’ s search results? Ranking first on Google gets over 40% of all clicks Ranking second receives just over 11% - coming second has distinct disadvantages – only ¼ of all clicks compared to first ranking 90% of all clicks occur from first page of search results 2 Keys for Optimizing your Websites for Search Engines 1. Onsite SEO – Designing and developing your website so that Google ’ s crawlers can find the keywords and phrases that people will use to finfd you 2. Off site SEO – Core activities here is “ Link building ” (this is where you get other websites to link to your website. The more important the website that links to you the greater value Google places on your website and pushes your site up the rankings. Links http://www.jeffbullas.com/2010/07/14/10-facts-reveal-the-importance-of-ranking-high-in-google/
32. Building a highly ranked website that Google can find takes time, patience and persistence. Provide a catalyst to your organic marketing and SEO activities that enables you to fast track your digital brand. It can be targeted and increasingly local Examples of this type of marketing • Google Adwords • Facebook Ads • Banner ads on websites where your customers hang out
33. Building a highly ranked website that Google can find takes time, patience and persistence. Provide a catalyst to your organic marketing and SEO activities that enables you to fast track your digital brand. It can be targeted and increasingly local Examples of this type of marketing • Google Adwords • Facebook Ads • Banner ads on websites where your customers hang out
34. Building a highly ranked website that Google can find takes time, patience and persistence. Provide a catalyst to your organic marketing and SEO activities that enables you to fast track your digital brand. It can be targeted and increasingly local Examples of this type of marketing Google Adwords Facebook Ads Banner ads on websites where your customers hang out
35. Exact Target If there ’ s one flashing headline from our 2012 Channel Preference Survey, it ’ s that email is the channel consumers prefer over all others when it comes to a broad range of direct marketing communications. Consider that email is: • The most used channel for written, personal communications (45%) • Checked daily by more users than any other channel (91%) • The preferred channel for permission-based marketing communications (77%) • The direct channel that influences the most purchases (66%) • The preferred channel for financial (52%) and travel (43%) alerts • Preferred even by teens over all other direct channels for permission-based, marketing communications (66%) Email owes much of its success to its versatility. No other channel at present can deliver the broad range of messages—from promotions and newsletters to receipts and alerts—in a format that provides privacy and familiarity. Neither does any other direct channel command email ’ s near universal adoption. In an age of ever-changing social interfaces, there ’ s something to be said about email ’ s simple, nearly unchanging inbox format that trains users to check each and every message—even on a smartphone. If email has an Achilles ’ heel, it may be that it ’ s not flashy enough in today ’ s social-centric world to generate marketing headlines. Rest assured, however, when properly leveraged with the right mix of permission, customer data, and actionable intelligence, the ROI of email will make headlines within your marketing department.
36. Exact Target Study carried out this study in January and February of 2012 and included 1,481 respondnets http://resources.exacttarget.com/rs/exacttarget/images/SFF14_The2012ChannelPreferenceSurvey_WEB.pdf?mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvK7LZKXonjHpfsX76eorXqeg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIBTsF0dvycMRAVFZl5nQlAG%2BOBaIFS%2FfBJ If there ’ s one flashing headline from our 2012 Channel Preference Survey, it ’ s that email is the channel consumers prefer over all others when it comes to a broad range of direct marketing communications. Consider that email is: • The most used channel for written, personal communications (45%) • Checked daily by more users than any other channel (91%) • The preferred channel for permission-based marketing communications (77%) • The direct channel that influences the most purchases (66%) • The preferred channel for financial (52%) and travel (43%) alerts • Preferred even by teens over all other direct channels for permission-based, marketing communications (66%) Email owes much of its success to its versatility. No other channel at present can deliver the broad range of messages—from promotions and newsletters to receipts and alerts—in a format that provides privacy and familiarity. Neither does any other direct channel command email ’ s near universal adoption. In an age of ever-changing social interfaces, there ’ s something to be said about email ’ s simple, nearly unchanging inbox format that trains users to check each and every message—even on a smartphone. If email has an Achilles ’ heel, it may be that it ’ s not flashy enough in today ’ s social-centric world to generate marketing headlines. Rest assured, however, when properly leveraged with the right mix of permission, customer data, and actionable intelligence, the ROI of email will make headlines within your marketing department.
37. Lebanon and Social Media • Facebook is the most visited site with 28.8 % of all time spent online • Nearly 90% of the Turkish population consumed online video watching 144 videos and spending 14.8 hours per month • 16.6 % of adults in Lebanon use Twitter This the biggest change to the web since the invention of the search engine . There have been 3 basic phases to the web since 1990 1. Portals – Yahoo – mid 1990 ’ s 2. Search Engines – Late 1990 ’ s - Google, Bing and Yahoo 3. Social Networks – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube It is democratizing marketing. It is putting marketing in the hands of business people that has never occurred in the history of business marketing. What are the Key Benefits of Social Media? 1. It amplifies your content 2. Makes you stand out form the crowd 3. It puts your networking on steroids 4. Accelerates the spread of your brand through “ Global word of mouth ” 5. It can position your company as a thought leader in its industry 6. Your business can self publish 7. Creates trust – Edelmann (Titanka – found you everywhere) 8. Improves search engine rankings What social networks should you market on Where your audience is • Facebook • Twitter • Linkedin • YouTube • Slideshare
38. Lebanon and Social Media Facebook is the most visited site with 28.8 % of all time spent online Nearly 90% of the Turkish population consumed online video watching 144 videos and spending 14.8 hours per month 16.6 % of adults in Lebanon use Twitter This the biggest change to the web since the invention of the search engine . There have been 3 basic phases to the web since 1990 1. Portals – Yahoo – mid 1990 ’ s 2. Search Engines – Late 1990 ’ s - Google, Bing and Yahoo 3. Social Networks – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube It is democratizing marketing. It is putting marketing in the hands of business people that has never occurred in the history of business marketing. What are the Key Benefits of Social Media? 1. It amplifies your content 2. Makes you stand out form the crowd 3. It puts your networking on steroids 4. Accelerates the spread of your brand through “ Global word of mouth ” 5. It can position your company as a thought leader in its industry 6. Your business can self publish 7. Creates trust – Edelmann (Titanka – found you everywhere) 8. Improves search engine rankings What social networks should you market on Where your audience is • Facebook • Twitter • Linkedin • YouTube • Slideshare
39. One of the core approaches to social media marketing is the Hub and Spoke approach to Marketing Publish content at your website, blog or online store Distribute it out onto multiple social networks and media
40. Social Media Marketing is potentially exponential Many to Many It also amplifies due to low friction sharing This is seen with sharing buttons Facebook Shares, Likes and Twitter Retweets
41. By building online properties such as websites blogs and social media digital assets you can Be ubiquitous Variety of formats that allow people to easily share to their tribes
42. Networking was cocktail parties, events and lunches Networking can be accelerated with social networks by identifying common interests and grouping us in tribes globally Virtual connections can quickly turn into face to face meetings and opportunities
43. The Web gives us access to a global village 1. Social Media Channels allow you to publish in a variety of media to many social networking channels. A mobile phone puts a printing press in your hand Social networks and easy to use blogging platforms are the revolution to publishing in nearly 600 years since the invention of the Gutenberg press
44. Word of Mouth is powerful for referrals and trust but it is slowed by an analog world It was restricted to your friends and colleagues which are constrained by the Dunbar number (150) World of mouth transfers information globally in real time, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube
45. Seen once online trust factor is 4% Being seen or heard 3-5 times online takes the trust level to 59% So being visible on Facebook, a blog and YouTube accelerates online trust building
46. Build online assets Don ’ t ignore the growth of mobile Market your online assets relentlessly Optimise for search engines Connect to the power of social networks Wrapping up Business can take advantage of the digital economy or you can ignore it. It is here to stay Adapt or Die - Do you want to be a dinosaur?
47. You will need Persistence in building, maintaining and marketing your digital assets to Win a Digital economy. The challenges are there but the opportunities are global. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not,…Genius will not, Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. – Calvin Coolidge US President
48. You will need Persistence in building, maintaining and marketing your digital assets to Win a Digital economy. The challenges are there but the opportunities are global. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not,…Genius will not, Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. – Calvin Coolidge US President