RonAmok!

I love data.

Whenever I get the keys to a client’s Web analytics, I feel like Indiana Jones, exploring cobweb-laced catacombs that contain hidden treasures which are just waiting to be discovered–treasures that frequently result in meaningful business intelligence. Unfortunately, though, I’ve learned that traditional business communicators don’t share my enthusiasm for online data analysis. Many view such activity as meaningless busywork, so, instead of rolling up their sleeves and wading deeply into the raw data, they cast fleeting glances at their automatically generated Web reports.

It’s understandable. Most marketing and PR folks still don’t understand the impact of a dynamic online marketplace. In the past, these professional business communicators reported on static measurements such as banner ad impressions or media mentions. Such metrics were good-enough when companies were the only initiators of online content, yet fall short of the task as 3rd parties (customers, prospects, competitors, and investors) have joined the online content party.

The amount of online content created about your company is increasing every day, and the effects of that content are becoming more significant. The question remains, “Does your company have a finger on the pulse of these effects?” If not, it’s like running into a dark forest without a helmet.

Most companies do nothing with the data that their analytics packages collect every day, and of those that do, even fewer perform analysis, preferring cursory looks at first-order results (unique visitors, page views, referrals, popular pages). First-order results work well in a traditional controlled content environment, but reveal their inadequacies in a dynamic online world. The real juicy business stories are found in the second-order calculations. Remember that old High School algebra and y=mx+b? Remember how to calculate the slope of a line?

Business stories are found in the second-order affects of Web analytics data. Rather than glancing at static numbers collected independently on a week-to-week basis, savvy communicators plot them over time. Enlightened business communicators study these graphs and ask questions such as:

• What is the slope of the data?
• Are the unique visitors rising or falling over time?
• Did the visits to a specific Web page spike and then return to its baseline level in a short amount of time? What could be the cause of that?
• Why did a number of people recently come to our Web site through someone else’s YouTube channel?
• Why did our company see a significant spike in Facebook fans over the past few weeks?
• Why is the fastest growing Web referral from Google tied to the keyword bad customer service?

Keep a close watch on these second-order effects. Find the trends. Once you do, you’ll be able to make smart executive-level decisions based on what you find.

Of course, if you’d like to hire a very smart consultant to show you how, I’m always available:-)

Photo Credit: vrkerbs

Tags: data y=mx+b algebra social media second-order effects ronploof measurements ronamok

The successful implementation of social media requires a fundamental shift in the way professional corporate communicators approach their customers. Historically, marketing and public relations professionals have described their customers in the abstract, referring to them generically as “markets,” “buyers,” or “consumers,” rather than as living beings. As a result, customers were considered entities to conquer, as proved by the war analogies communicators used to describe how they orchestrated campaigns and launched initiatives in a continuous effort to position, target, and capture them.

Such vocabulary made sense when corporate communications endeavors consisted of simple, one-way transmissions. But ever since customers began interacting with online content by leaving comments on blogs, recording voicemails for podcasters, and responding to online videos with videos of their own, they ceased being militants to conquer. And when they started identifying themselves as “friends,” “fans,” and “followers” through services such as Facebook and Twitter, they demanded more respectful treatment.

Before you allow your marketing or PR folks to start using social media channels, have them rethink their approach. I’ve found that a simple exercise in word substitution helps kick-start the transformation. For example, by substituting the word “friend” for the word “customer,” the differences become clear.

• Do you target your friends?
• Do you capture your friends?
• Do you position your friends?
• Do you plan campaigns against your friends?
• Do you launch initiatives at your friends?
• Do you blast your friends with emails?
• Do you manage the expectations of, enhance your reputation with, or craft your messaging with your friends?

Thinking about customers as “friends,” “followers,” or “fans” is the “social” part of social media.

Who does your company communicate with? Enemy combatants or friends?

Photo Credit: Thumpmaster6

Tags: vocabulary war analogies marketing PR public relations ronamok friends ronploof

Yesterday I was notified by email that The Southern California chapter of the Automobile Association of America was following me on Twitter (@AAASoCalNews). Always interested to learn how organizations are using New Media channels (I’m also a long-time AAA member), I decided to check ‘em out. That’s when I was greeted with the following message:

“That’s odd,” I thought. Why would an organization want to restrict the number of people that they can communicate with? And that’s when I saw the bio.

It’s funny how history always repeats itself. Remember how the Telecom Acts forbade Telcos from publishing online phone directories simply because the Internet dared to reach beyond the Baby Bell territories of NYNEX, Bell Atlantic, Bell South, Ameritech, Southwestern Bell, US West, Pacific Telesis, and AT&T?

The nature of technology is to obsolete things and corporate rules are not immune from its wrath. Therefore, it’s important for your company to review its corporate policies and compare them with the technologies of the day. Does the corporate handbook contain antiquated rules that prohibit the free flow of information with customers? Does it preclude your organization from sharing information with the widest possible audience? Most importantly, does the policy seek to serve the company before the customer? If so, you might wanna sharpen the ol’ pencil because…

…the Web hath no boundaries.

Tags: AAA Twitter telcos technology obsolete corporate policies antiquated