Target Precisely and Measure What Matters
September 20, 2010
I recently invited Hilary Briggs, an experienced company director and consultant, to give us her thoughts on media measurement. She asks:
Is your message really hitting home? Ignore the data at your peril.
“Key messages don’t always hit the target group with the desired level of impact”.
Unfortunately this is far too common a problem in the world of Corporate Communications, PR and Marketing. Or as Richard Bagnall, Managing Director of Metrica, the UK’s largest PR measurement consultancy bluntly put it: “Too many PR professionals take a blunderbuss approach – firing out press releases to lists of contacts on a media type approach rather than investing the time to develop a target audience approach.”
It got me thinking… as a Management Consultant, with an Engineering background, I have a passion for solving problems. In particular, I like to collect data, analyse it and come up with ways to fix whatever the issue is. So I asked myself; “could data analysis help communications professionals hone their key messages and ensure they hit the right people with the real impact?”
I believe it can. And a good example of this is Darren LaCroix, winner of the 2001 Toastmasters International Speech contest. In order to become a World Champion public speaker he took advice from other Champions. One tip he was given was “Let no one out prepare you.” So, amongst other things, he presented his speech to 22 different audiences, and videotaped almost seven hours of his practice speeches to prepare for his seven-minute winning speech. One of the key things he was looking for was how well he was connecting with his audience.
So the tough question is; how much effort do you put into testing and refining your messages before launching them in a crucial presentation or article? How well defined are your objectives? How will you measure success?
If success comes from doing appropriate research up front, what could be learnt from the Market Research sector itself? Recognising how using a systematic approach can improve the consistency of results, the industry has put in a lot of work over the last 15 years with bodies such as the Market Research Standards Board and British Standards Institute to develop methods to ensure this happens and that quality levels are raised as well. In a nut shell, market research is about finding out what a particular target group are thinking or doing. Hence I would argue that it would be worth considering some of their approaches in the PR and Corporate Communications field.
It’s fine for them you say, they have much bigger budgets. Maybe – if the projects that are requiring the research represent major investments by the clients. But what tools might there be though to test messages in a cost effective way? For instance, on-line methods are fast, cheap, and effective – as long as they will reach the particular target audience you’re after. The key is to ensure you are clear about what you want to achieve, what success looks like, and then develop appropriate Key Performance Indicators. As Richard Bagnall told me, “many of the measures that people use can be meaningless – the best practitioners measure what matters”. For instance, percentage of the target audience reached (this requires a tight definition of who they are) and what actions they have taken as a result of the communication – e.g. did target investors actually invest?
Still unconvinced? Then turn the question around and consider the cost of failure in the Corporate Communications arena. The last 12 months has seen massive swings in the share prices of the likes of BP and major Banks. Extreme cases you argue – but what if the impact was just 0.1% of share price? For the average FTSE100 company, even that would be worth over £10m! And for smaller companies that have floated only recently, the success or failure of regular corporate communications can mean the difference between the company establishing itself with analysts and investors – or not…
Thorough analysis of each communication activity can yield useful insights to allow refinement and improvement for the next one. For instance, companies like Metrica can help to identify how much of the target audience was reached, as well as who was not reached – which can then be further studied to improve the effectiveness of future campaigns. Adopting this kind of approach consistently will lead to more impact with less waste – handy when budgets are under pressure.
There are signs that more and more companies are starting to adopt this kind of approach, evidenced by the number of companies working in the measurement space. They have their own trade body, the International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (AMEC), established in 1996, which has set out to define and develop the whole industry of media measurement.
Audiences in every field are becoming more sophisticated. And the attention spans are ever shorter. “Right first time” communications is hard to guarantee, however you may only get one chance, so it’s worth doing everything you can to make it count. In my experience you’ll reap huge dividends if you invest the time and resources to test approaches in advance, have clear KPI success measures and to set up a feedback loop for ongoing improvements in the methods.
As Darren LaCroix also learnt, the thing that marks out true professionals is that they think differently. He gave me the example of what another World Champion public speaker did after winning his title, “The minute Craig Valentine stepped off his plane, he went and bought a book on public speaking!”
Thanks Hilary!
Hilary Briggs is Managing Director of R2P (Route to Profit) Ltd and Chairman of the Academy of Chief Executives in London. Hilary is passionate about helping businesses grow.
Hilary has been Logistics Director for Rover Group Large Cars; European Product Marketing Director for Dishwashing, Whirlpool Corporation and Managing Director of Laird Group plc’s German-based Car Body Sealing Division, with a turnover of £200m and over 4,000 employees worldwide.
Contact: hilary.briggs@r2p.co.uk / www.hilarybriggs.co.uk
Two Colors Dominate Web Branding
September 17, 2010
In a recent article on ColourLovers.com, the two most popular colors for brands on the web were determined to be blue and red. In fact, blue and red aren’t just in the lead — they dominate the web. Take a look at the image showing just a handful of logos for major players in the world of social media to see for yourself!
Interestingly, the research done by ColourLovers.com also found that brands in similar categories use similar color schemes in their branded online destinations. However, it appears that for most of these brands, color palettes were chosen in a far less technical manner than you might expect.
Most of the popular online destinations started small with no budgets for logo development. Colors were chosen not based on research but rather on what leaders of these technology start-ups thought looked good.
Sometimes branding really is that simple, and sometimes that simple approach actually works.
The popularity of blue and red online isn’t really surprising if you look at color branding offline. As ColourLovers.com points out, a study conducted a decade ago by Wired Magazine revealed that blue and red dominated brands and logos of Corporate America at the time. This was years before brands like Twitter and foursquare became household words.
But what do blue and red actually mean?
Blue: Cool blue is perceived as trustworthy, dependable, fiscally responsible and secure. Strongly associated with the sky and sea, blue is serene and universally well-liked. Blue is an especially popular color with financial institutions, as its message of stability inspires trust.
Red: Red activates your pituitary gland, increasing your heart rate and causing you to breathe more rapidly. This visceral response makes red aggressive, energetic, provocative and attention-grabbing. Count on red to evoke a passionate response, albeit not always a favorable one. For example, red can represent danger or indebtedness.
What do you think? Are blue and red the best choices for online brands? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.
This Is a Post about Skydiving
September 17, 2010
Actually, it’s a post about the idea of skydiving—and why the word “skydiving” grabs attention so effectively. I’m thinking about this topic because the following subject line appeared in one of my inboxes:
What skydiving can teach you about attracting clients
I was intrigued! Maybe (I thought) something about conquering fear would create a new level of self-confidence. And that would be attractive to potential clients. Or the exhilaration of the experience would enhance charisma, and that would be attractive to potential clients.
Either of those things might possibly happen, but as it turned out, the email wasn’t actually about lessons from skydiving as applied to client attraction. The point of the email was: by relying on expert guidance from the instructor and on the rigorous safety system provided for the event, the author was able to do something (i.e., jump out of an airplane) she couldn’t have done alone. The email was really an invitation to purchase expert guidance and learn a system for attracting clients.
However! This is not a post about deceptive or disappointing emails. I get dozens of emails daily, all from sources (including the skydiver) that I’ve opted into; many of the emails are mildly deceptive/disappointing, but I keep their sources in the mix in case they bring something interesting to my attention. Most of each day’s mail I don’t even open because I’m pretty sure the content won’t be interesting or informative. I opened this one because it had a persuasive gimmick: a “hook” that grabbed my attention.
One way to create a hook is to suggest an unexpected relationship—for example, skydiving + clients. Another way is to reference one of the topics that appeal to our reptile brains—something about security, sex, power, et cetera. And now that I notice, the word “attracting” in the skydiving email is actually one of the things that makes the subject line work so well. (“What skydiving can teach you about getting clients” just isn’t as effective.)
A third component of the irresistible subject line is a buzzword of some kind. Which brings us back to the allure of skydiving, and why it catches attention. At a very basic level, skydiving seems like something that takes courage, but it’s also something that anyone could do if they decided to. We even hear about centenarians who celebrate by taking a dive–so in some ways it seems like the ultimate rite of passage. Plus there’s the romance of floating through clouds and the lure of the adrenalin rush . . .
Believe it or not—we’re just halfway through this topic. So come back for Skydiving Part 2: Adventures in Employer Branding with the U.S. Army.
(Thanks to joebaz for the great skydiver shot!)
Google Instant, Google Caffeine & Brand Implications
September 16, 2010
Given the interest over the last couple of days in the changes to Google search, I asked Rhys Wynne to comment on this for us. Rhys is a Search Engine Optimiser based in Manchester, United Kingdom, with over 5 years experience working in SEO, as well as 7 years experience in blogging & social media. Check out his website for links to his blogs & social media profiles, as well as a shortened CV.
In the past couple of days, Google launched Google Instant, its newest evolution of its search engine.
It’s probably one of the most striking changes to happen to Google, as famous updates in the world of SEO (such as Google Florida & Google Caffeine), were more gradual algorithmic changes. Google Instant, whilst having little or no effect on its actual algorithm in ranking sites, can have an effect on the way your brand is perceived by the public.
Google Caffeine & Its Implications
Google Caffeine was the last big change, mostly algorithmic, which gave positive weighting to respective brands. While in the past you had to optimise your site to rank for certain words, recognised brands can now rank for phrases even without simple on page optimisation for that phrase.
Take for example the word "stationery":
Ignoring the top 3 paid-for results, the first three natural search results are Google’s best guess as to what I’m searching for (‘stationery’). Note that Staples appears in that list despite not having any of the best guess key phrases in the title or description. Furthermore, Google "Apple" and page 1 is dedicated to the company, rather than the fruit.
Google gives massive weighting to brands, which has huge benefits for large corporate entities:
- They can build brands a lot more easily than smaller companies, with large PR & advertising campaigns.
- It has become a lot harder for disgruntled individuals to manipulate search results for negative rankings for said company.
While Google Caffeine was largely a positive move for corporate brands in terms of SEO, Google Instant can be troublesome for some companies.
Google Instant & Its Implications
If you have searched on Google since the launch of Google Instant, you will see that Google provides results for searches as you type, furthermore it can also provide suggestions for related searches, as well as results for similar searches.
Not entirely sure what I mean? Here are the related searches for the word BP:
Stick the word "oil" at the end and you get this:-
Again, it’s a bit of an extreme example, but by even having that information on your prospective customer or client’s screen for a split second can be damaging, as Google’s Suggestions are based on other people’s activities, so if a majority of people are searching for your brand name in association with some negative press, it will likely appear in Google Instant’s suggest box.
What You Can Do In This Situation
Rarely does this happen, but it can. Luckily you can use the power of your brand to minimise the effect. Release a press release on your corporate news section, carrying out simple SEO tricks (such as mentioning the keyword you wish to target in the title, for example), that deals with the situation & communicates a satisfactory response to customers. Hopefully, you will rank for the negative keywords, as well as being picked up by sources.
Google Instant’s Implication For The Rest Of Us
In reality, if you have a strong, well respected brand that doesn’t suffer any PR nightmares, then the implication of Google Instant will be largely negligible. However, it is important to be aware of possible implications further down the line, as while ranking in Google hasn’t changed as a result of Google Instant, behavioural patterns by its users almost certainly will.
Thanks Rhys! Do let us know what you think, by commenting below: will this affect your brand?
Twitter Repositions with a New Brand Message
September 16, 2010
Since Twitter debuted a few years ago, the site has been considered a social destination — a cross between blogging and social networking dubbed microblogging where users can share 140-character or less snippets with links to more content through third-party, off-site applications. This week, the Twitter team announced that the time has come for the Twitter brand to be repositioned as a news site rather than a social site and with that comes a redesign of the Twitter site.
The reason for a Twitter brand repositioning is cited as a change in usage habits. No longer are people tweeting simply to converse with other users. Today, people tweet breaking news as they witness it. Examples include an eyewitness who tweeted the crash of an airplane in New York’s Hudson River, news from people in Iran during the protests following a controversial election, and even tweets from people trapped with few other communication options after earthquakes destroyed areas of Haiti.
Both journalists and individuals turn to Twitter as a place to share news and consume news, and it’s that news consumption that Twitter sees as leading the next generation of the site. The new redesign is intended to keep people on the site longer, whether or not they are actively tweeting. If people spend more time on the site, advertisers will be more inclined to invest and those investments will be larger.
It makes sense that the Twitter redesign is being rolled out with a two-pane design — one where tweets are visible and another where additional related content will be displayed. According to an article from BBC News, Twitter reports having closed deals with, “16 photo and video sites including YouTube and Flicker to have their visual content embedded on the site.” In other words, contextually relevant content will appear alongside the tweets that people are already interested in. It stands to reason that if the additional content is interesting to both Twitter users and Twitter consumers, those people will stick around and take a closer look at that content.
What do you think? Has the Twitter brand evolved organically into a news source or is it still a social site that happens to offer an easy way for news to spread quickly? Will the Twitter team’s efforts at repositioning the site as a news destination rather than a social destination work? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on this interesting branding story that truly is playing out in real-time right before our eyes.
Image: stock.xchng
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