Why are we still talking about engagement?

Carly Yanco, Director at J Walter Thomson Sydney asks why marketers are still using 'engagement' as a key metric when plenty of experienced and revered industry professionals like Mark Ritson and Bob Hoffman have now debunked the term. Even Facebook has told us all to stop using it and its associated metrics.

Here are in my opinion the top eight charts on marketing effectiveness from the work of les Binet and Peter Field originally chosen by Tom Roach at BBH. Steal them, share them, use them as you see fit to nudge those around onto the path of effectiveness.

Marketing initiatives mainly have one of two main objectives: brand building or sales activation. Brand building has a long term perspective whilst sales activation is more short-term focused.

The yellow side of the scale refers to short term sales activation initiatives, whilst the long term brand building initiatives are shown in red. Not all mediums are created equal, some are better at sales activation, such as inserts whilst others are better at brand building such as PR, sponsorships and online videos.

What the data tells us is that the ideal split between sales activation and brand building to obtain maximum effectiveness is a 60/40 split between short term sales activations and longer term brand building.

The benefits of brand building initiatives builds over time. This is different to the short-term impact received from monthly sales activation initiatives.

Focusing only on existing customers have earlier effects but smaller paybacks. Focusing on long term customer acquisition has broad but slower effects but bigger paybacks.

Focusing on penetration which can be obtained through higher frequency is the main driver of very large business effects.

Television remains one of the key mediums to gain a broader reach, which in turn lead to a bigger impact.

Advertising awards are published and celebrated because creative campaigns are a lot more efficient at driving growth in market share.

Create Improved Customer Experiences Through Internal NPS Surveys

How to Create Future Memorable Customer Experiences

In his blog ‘The Conflicting Nature of Customer Service, Flavio Martins explains that bad customer service occurs because of rigid policies, when what is needed, are flexible frameworks.

He goes onto to explain that organisations who can adapt to the needs of their customer base will be the winners of tomorrow. One tool that may be used during regular telephonic customer interaction is customer automation. We are all used to the level of customer automation that requests the user to press 1 for ‘x’ and 2 for ‘y’. What if we were able to offer a higher level of customer service through ‘smart’ phone systems?

Customer Satisfaction Predicts Future Performance

Di Bella Coffee has been awarded the winner of the 2014 Telstra Queensland Business of the Year. Phillip Di Bella’s objective was to create a company with an unwavering dedication to exceptional customer service and a commitment to delivering consistent quality coffee at competitive prices. Di Bella quoted exceptional customer service, as one of the reasons why this business won this award. There is a clear link between the success of this business and their passion to deliver exceptional service. It goes further. Di Bella Coffee embraces social media to engage with customers and re-sellers, share news and build the brand on a daily basis. Their Facebook page has over 24,000 fans.

Is Your Timing Right with Social Networking?

The growth and subsequent importance of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter as a communications platform is undeniable. Regular articles are found on how businesses have grown their customer base using social media see the story of Milan Direct. But what makes these businesses successful using social networking? Social media provide us with more than a place to communicate. It provides us with an opportunity to closely listen, learn, observe and analyse. Pay attention to conversations and time contributions and interventions by offering a solution, just at the right time!

B2B Collaboration creating Customer Loyalty - A Unique Approach to Service Organisations

Medibank Private recently announce an agreement with the Coles Flybuys program where customers will qualify for one FlyBuy point for every $2 spent on monthly health premiums and triple points on dollars spend on fruit and vegetables in Coles stores. This adds up to a saving of $250 a year for a family of 4.

Who is funding this sizeable saving? Are customers paying more for groceries or more on health premiums? Customers do not have to necessarily pay more on either if the supply chain is improved.

If the supply chain can be managed, upwards or downwards, higher margin in-store brand products can be sold at a higher value per kilogram. This is where Coles' interest in packing freshly made salads starts to make a lot of sense. If vegetables can be washed, pre-cut and packed into ready to eat portions, customers will pay more per kilogram for fresh food.

Medibank Private is managing its supply chain through its 'members choice' providers, which leaves members with $0 out of pocket in many cases.

Both organisations have a few million customers, Flybuys were quoted to have 6 million members, Medibank Private, 4 million members. With the obvious overlapping of members, and scope to grow and add value for customers, these organisations are creating new customer colonies whose buying preferences are influenced on both a conscious and eventually on a subconscious level. Perceived benefits are high in times when customers' attention span for finer details such as actual points accrued through loyalty schemes or reduction in health benefits are limited.

The impact on consumer behaviour through innovative collaboration systems such as this will be fascinating.

Is Social Media Meeting Your Needs?

Few of us will notice just how much social media and the internet have become central to our lives. It meets a lot of our needs as humans on multiple levels. Not only basic needs, but needs found almost at all levels!

Thanks to Maslow we know that the most basic needs of humans are firstly basic living needs, followed by feelings around safety (second level), being loved by family and friends (third level), feelings of accomplishment (fourth level) and feelings of self-realization (top level). 

John Antonios published how Maslow's Hierarchy of needs are met through social media. How does social media meet our needs on almost all levels?

Antonios makes the case that social media not only helps us to create feelings of security and safety (for example through LinkedIn), but also allows us to share friendships and build relationships. Facebook and Google+ are examples.                                                                                         Source: John Antonio's Social Media Hierarchy of Needs