If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." — Wayne Dyer, Author and Motivational Speaker
Are we stuck with biases about our channels from our early professional development?
I’ve been in marketing since the the early web in 1994, and I wonder if, even as channels have developed, expanded, been reborn, we all haven’t caught up with what’s changed and what’s possible.
Perhaps you intuitively look at common channels and formats like this:
- Email - The door opener
- Out of home - Supports 360 experience for TV and online
- Web - Inbound channel for publishing and transactions
- Chat -Servicing in CX and social care
- Podcasting - The new radio
- Thought Leadership - White papers
- Video - best for brand statements, demos or case studies
- Apps - Not really marketing’s job
Companies that restlessly rethink and reimagine everything they do and how they do it are evolved enterprises. At the Emerge Americas conference this past week, I shared this philosophy and belief that we could refresh our channels and format strategies, punctuated by a series of examples. Here are a few highlights:
Email - Breaking the tyranny of best practices
We’ve all had years to tweak and follow the best practices of email, from providing two links to CTAs above and below the fold. What if you ignored them in favor of building an experience? I showed an example from Peel accessories in which an email for iPhone chargers scrolled and scrolled and scrolled down the page, to highlight the length of the chord. And there's Charity:Water, who rethought the newsletter format to use their nurture emails more like a blog. My favorite is from Spotify, who re-thought what opt-out looks like. When I downgraded my subscription from Premium to free—instead of the bland "Goodbye" or "Are you sure?" statement—Spotify sent me a farewell playlist, with 10 songs around goodbye.
Out of Home - A hub for experience
What was once supplemental media has become central. With the long arms of TV, out of home increases the reach of web and social campaigns, driving up search. Plus, you can play with the formats, sync with data, interact and even buy with your phones. Out of home isn’t just a broadcast channel, it can also be a channel for direct commerce.
The Demo - Selling it
The classic demo, usually delivered through video or animation, distributed by web, social or sales, has a lot of importance to many B2B and some B2C brands. Steve Jobs knew this better than anyone else and his presence on stage explaining how the new Apple products would work made us ooh, ahh and buy. With greater conviction and urgency. Poo-Pourri famously brought back the infomercial five years ago to record sales, but we can also see more interactive demos happening by turning on your camera and trying on clothes or glasses from FittingBox. Luidchart is my favorite demo of the moment. They’ve mashed up memes with their software to show you what you can create yourself. You get how to use the product and you want to use it immediately. Here is one of the popular series. Dogs, of course.
Web - Refresh your story
The biggest 24/7 brand canvas in the world is also the least prioritized. In my research of About Us company pages, we found most companies have them but few push what is possible. Studying more than 100 sites, my colleague Helen Nie and I found five archetypes for what you might do to bring your brand DNA online: Purpose-led, People-led, Product-led, Pedigree-led, and Performance-led. If you want to know more, listen to this recent interview on The Content Experience Show, and I can share more about this in future posts.
Thought Leadership - Reassert your authority
Classic downloads of PDFs are giving way to dynamic experiences, tools, webinars and Ask Me Anythings on twitter. Plus, we’re seeing more brands not just deploy thought leadership at the very top of the purchase funnel but form stronger connections to consideration and sales.
Chat - Not just for customer service
Not just for cost-savings and social care. We’re branding our chatbots plus solving for new use cases from fulfilling transactions within the bot and storytelling to even building awareness. Sound crazy? BBC’s Real Happiness Project is still my favorite example in which, to promote the show, “Planet Earth," the Facebook bot asked you about your preferences and then delivered a customized weekly "happiness moment."
Apps - For awareness?
Mobile apps are usually a post-purchase experience, but look close at digital natives and you’ll see them use their descriptions in the app stores and notifications to build awareness and educate. Some, like paper company Domtar, have even used it as a product lab.
Ready for a reboot?
We depend on our owned and paid channels to deliver the messages and experiences that grow our brands. I love reboots of classic formats in new ways or rethinking entirely how to use an existing channel sitting in front of you. As you do your next growth move or your next year's planning, take a moment to challenge what you do currently. And if you're already a fan, please tweet me any examples you find as well.
