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12 tips from 2011

Another year has come to a close but the story continues with more scenes. Thanks to hundreds of industry colleagues, friends and family members. They made it an extraordinary year!

For this post, I looked back at key people, experiences and ideas that were influential in 2011. I can’t mention everyone due to space but know they are appreciated. And I won’t get into global issues or big predictions because many other experts are covering those topics. But I came up with 12 tips that I think will help you or someone you know in 2012.

Customer experience management contributors

The first half of my 2011 was dedicated to Sitecore as a former VP in Mill Valley, California; it was a meaningful time. Since both Ektron and my previous employer have many things in common like .Net, web content management (WCM) software, cloud deployment options with the Windows Azure Platform, implementation partners and support for customer experience management (CXM) strategies and results -- it’s appropriate to mention them in this post.

Tip #1: There are good reasons to consider a number of WCM solution providers with similar value propositions. I believe Ektron provides the best CXM enablement strategy for customers and their partners with legacy and new technologies, needs and relationships. Think integration for CXM results in 2012+ as discussed with Stephen Powers of Forrester Research, Inc.

 

Brian Solis, Gary Vaynerchuk, Josh Bernoff, Rachel Happe and Seth Godin

I read analysts, authors and bloggers in our space daily, especially those who cover community, social media and strategic marketing topics. There are many experts out there but Brian, Gary, Josh, Rachel and Seth were influential in my professional decisions and business strategies in 2011. Gary’s Thank You Economy book is less about how to tweet and more about cultural shifts needed to humanize business. Brian’s new book, The End of Business as Usual, is packed with research, ideas and insights from the field. Josh Bernoff’s Empowered book is a reminder of the power of others and how to support them for your cause. Rachel and the Community Roundtable are a great resource when thinking about community strategy and tactics. And Seth, with his quirky advice and books, is always a good source of nuggets.

Tip #2: Find passionate, talented people who research and cover your professional space and tune into what they say. Support them and your success by deeply understanding and sharing their point of view.

 

Nate Elliott and Rajiv Parikh

Last April I attended Forrester’s Marketing Forum in San Francisco and connected with Nate Elliott, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester, regarding his ‘Interactive Brand Ecosystem’ research. Nate’s point of view is relevant for anyone concerned with optimizing website, social media, mobile, email, search and traditional media channels for our real-time, interactive environment. The research also aligns with owned, earned and paid media thinking that is foundational in all of my planning and execution at Ektron. Rajiv Parikh, CEO of Position2 in Palo Alto and the mastermind behind Brand Monitor -- a tool/service I used extensively in 2011 -- was key for monitoring social channels and making business and communication decisions with real-time media analytics.

Tip #3: You have an interactive brand ecosystem that is growing in terms of size, real-time intelligence and importance to your organization. Your website is in the center of this activity and other channels are critical to integrate, staff and support; shift more resources from traditional to interactive channels.

 

Chef Nona, Dan Oliver and Steve Jobs

2011 was an ongoing reminder of how life should be lived -- doing what you love, doing it well and rising to the occasion when an opportunity presents itself. While attending the Gartner Portals, Content and Collaboration Summit in Los Angles last March, I talked with Chef Nona about her success strategy as the winner of Hell’s Kitchen season 8. Two months later, I connected with Dan Oliver -- a former CBS TV colleague earlier in my career -- and we talked about his ‘Beer Guy’ niche that has turned into a thriving business and source of enjoyment. And then there is Mr. Jobs. His life’s work at Apple, along with dedicated staff that supported his vision, should be an inspiration for us all whether you’re an Apple fan or not.

Tip #4: Life is short with many twists and turns. Always be true to yourself and others, and do what you love no matter what!

 

John Phillips and team

I met John in 2010 when our work and play interests came together. Men’s professional tennis was the intersection but ultimately it was John’s attitude, digital vision and work ethic that drew me in to help him and his team. When my work situation changed in May, John was the first person I called to update given some prior commitments and our collaborative relationship. Even in the midst of change, the 125^th Wimbledon Championships -- an experience of a lifetime -- soon became a reality after many years of wanting to attend. And there were many pleasant surprises while in London. John and the ATP’s generosity will never be forgotten.

Tip #5: Look out for the success of others first, based on shared interests, and you’ll be surprised at how others look out for you.

 

Aaron Kahlow, Pookie Martin and Erik Thompson

I’ve been a fan of ABC Shark Tank for the past two years and thought about auditioning for just as long. So when I had some free time on my hands and thinking about what to do next, I chose two simultaneous career tracks: 1) focus on the job search and 2) audition for ABC Shark Tank in Dallas with a web solution and patent. At different stages of my ABC Shark Tank process, I received help from three key people that shared one thing in common. They are entrepreneurs and support other entrepreneurs. I know Aaron from prior Online Marketing Summit work and Pookie has helped me with writing projects over the years. I met Erik in Dallas (he was #1 in the audition line) and we teamed up on the fly. I can’t share where things ended up with Shark Tank just yet but rest assured the experience will resurface in 2012. The new season starts on Friday, January 20^th.

Tip #6: Technology entrepreneurs (also creators) are critical to our economic growth and social prosperity for years to come. Seek them out, collaborate with and invest in them in 2012.

 

Greg Hembrough and team

I drive a Volvo sedan and think it’s a good car and owner experience. Volvo’s safety record and contemporary design got me to the local dealership a few years ago. But I’m impressed with the Volvo experience on the road, in the service department and online. I was asked by Greg Hembrough's team in July to test drive the new S60 R-Design in Napa as part of a national campaign to promote the R-Design. The test drive experience (digital and in-person) was impressive and I blogged about it with no financial gain for doing so. The blog video has already exceeded 3,000 views and generated comments from other drivers and Volvo fans.

Tip #7: Companies with good products and services should invest in ‘experiential marketing’ strategies (digital and in-person) to differentiate themselves, retain happy customers and create influential word of mouth. Orchestration across channels and functions are key. 

 

Ken Fadner, Hope Frank and Steve Latham

July was a back-to-reality-month after Wimbledon and the ABC Shark Tank audition, and what better way than with MediaPost’s OMMA Metrics event in San Francisco. MediaPost events, led by Ken Fadner, always deliver and I walked away knowing more about the value of analytics and how to become a more intelligent marketer; even in our ‘Splinternet’ environment. The good news is analytics and reporting are getting easier with products and services from companies like Webtrends, Encore Media Metrics, PR Newswire and Position2. I connected with Hope Frank of Webtrends and her colleague, Eric Rickson and interviewed Steve Latham of Encore. It was an eye-opening event.

Tip #8: Regardless of a marketer’s role or seniority -- analytics is a muscle to develop in order to influence budgets, strategic decisions and higher paying roles. Dive in with vigor.

 

Tom Wentworth and Bill Rogers

While at the 125^th Wimbledon Championships, Tom (Ektron’s CMO) tweeted about my experience on June 20th. Although we were familiar with each other’s work in the industry, this was the first time Tom and I communicated via social media or any other method. We exchanged direct messages while I was in London and the conversation continued with direct messages and email for two months before interviewing via WebEx with Tom, Bill (Ektron’s CEO) and other members of the team in August. An offer was made and accepted and we all connected in Portland on September 11^th for partner meetings. My role was announced at MediaPost’s OMMA Global NY on September 26^th. Enthusiasm for Ektron and our Global Community Practice (GCP) strategy goes beyond social media and securing a good job. I really like what we’re doing as a company to support customer experience management with WCM and many technology partners. And what we’re doing is touched on in this recent ZDNet article and webinar with Tom on connecting content to revenue.

Tip #9: Don’t underestimate the power and ROI of social media reach, engagement and earned media. Back up all community/social media efforts with response, relevant content and value for your target audience.

 

Salim Hemdani, Carol Rozwell, Anthony Bradley and Mark McDonald

Now into October, a few new encounters got me thinking about how all organizations find themselves needing to continuously innovate – especially with the Internet/web – to remain appealing to digital consumers and competitive in their markets. Salim Hemdani of Razorfish presented at a Developer Meetup in San Francisco and we talked about his point of view. Next, Gartner Symposium/ITXpo in Orlando; I attended two sessions about the ‘Social Organization’ with Carol Rozwell, Anthony Bradley and Mark McDonald. Armed with fresh thoughts and prior experience, I gave a webinar entitled, ‘Your Social Organization: Do You Have a Meaningful Plan for 2012?

Tip #10: Continuous innovation with the Internet/web is the new norm. Organizations that apply a collaborative or social approach with purpose are more likely to succeed. This applies to marketing as well as product management, customer service and financial performance.

 

Many Synergy and Gilbane contributors

Winding down the year with two significant events, Ektron’s Synergy Conference and Gilbane Boston. On one hand, Synergy was the collection of all things Ektron and key partners for a sold-out audience in Las Vegas including customers, partners and special guests. Keynotes, workshops, multiple tracks, networking, entertainment and a lot of useful content for 2012 -- most of it now available online via PPTs and recorded webinars. On the other hand, Gilbane Boston provided the same sort of event benefits as Synergy but with a cross-section of industry experts, vendors and practitioners. Topics like big data, CXM, content marketing, social analytics, multichannel integration, user centered design, collaboration, etc. Too much to summarize here in this post but certainly influential, and I recommend visiting Ektron’s YouTube channel, Synergy and Gilbane sites for useful content. Special thanks to Nicole Denil, Jeffrey Frey, Mustafa Muhsin, Tony White, Julio Zaldivar, Sarah Skerik, Jeff Cram, Stephen Powers, Scott Liewehr, Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose. You can also access related PPTs via Ektron's SlideShare.

Tip #11: If you’re in a content management, digital marketing, web development or strategy role, you’re fortunate with many opportunities and challenges to keep you busy in 2012. Tap expertise in the community, like from people mentioned in this post, to help you achieve your goals.

 

Jeffrey Hayzlett

If you don’t know who Jeffrey is as a former Kodak CMO, his appearances on Celebrity Apprentice with Donald Trump, his best-selling book ‘The Mirror Test’ or his active Twitter and Facebook presence -- now’s a good time to get acquainted. Jeffrey and I met last May when we talked about his first book and ABC Shark Tank. I’ve been actively staying in touch since and we connected last week in San Francisco to talk about his new book called, ‘Running the Gauntlet.’ I’ve read it and like the content from a change agent perspective (we should all be change agents) and I also admire his use of interactive tools to help make his thought leadership come alive and useful for any business, marketing or technology leader. Disclosure, Kodak is an Ektron customer.

Tip #12: Watch our ‘Web Innovation Now’ conversation on video, share with others and help your team successfully run the gauntlet in 2012. Watch for more posts focused on RTG.

 

It’s a wrap!

That was a long post but there’s much to summarize from a busy year. For real-time updates and actionable details, follow us on Twitter (Ektron and creatorbase). Connect with me via LinkedIn if you are an Ektron customer, partner, developer, or industry leader and you’re interested in learning more about Ektron’s Global Community Practice initiatives.

Last but not least, the Ektron team and I are determined to help you be more successful in 2012. We’ve made recent investments and we’re excited about a number of programs that will be released soon. Cheers to you and your team’s success in the next scene!

 

Salim Hemdani from Razorfish on change and continuous innovation

Change is most certainly in the air. Put another way, change is constant and the best companies in the world choose to embrace change to grow, serve customers and gain competitive advantage.

Recently, I talked with Salim Hemdani, group vice president of experiences and platform at Razorfish, after his Ektron Developer Meetup presentation in San Francisco. We discussed how continuous innovation is a must in the context of the web and digital marketing. I enjoyed Salim's point of view regarding new consumer expectations, our ability as people to process more information faster, and related growth trends (i.e. mobile, social, devices, etc.) that seem to be fueling human evolution.

Many businesses are staying a step ahead of consumers to meet their digital needs. Cross-functional teams that master continuous innovation with the web are more likely to succeed in the next few years. Watch the brief video above and download Salim's presentation to learn more about his thoughts and how Razorfish is helping their enterprise clients including Best Buy, Dell, Disney, Intel, Ford, Sony, Staples and more.

 

B2B growth comes to those who embrace the buyer's journey in our digital world

Sometimes the obvious is not clear, especially if you work for a B2B organization in the midst of one of the most challenging business environments on record. But one thing is certain. B2B buyers no longer need to rely on sales and service teams to influence or make buying decisions. This digital reality is a growth opportunity and source of risk.

Christine Crandell, a B2B marketing strategist and Forbes blogger in the San Francisco Bay Area, provides suggestions on how to attract new buyers, retain customers, increase revenues and keep CEOs happy. The buyer's journey and content are key in this video discussion above. What are your thoughts?

Join me and other B2B marketing leaders at the Marketing Sherpa's B2B Summit in San Francisco on October 25 - 26th. Learn more details about the agenda and speakers by clicking here:  http://www.marketingsherpa.com/b2bsummit/sanfran/overview 

Want to connect on Facebook? Join us by liking this page.

 

Happy 20th WWW. What's next?

Today is a significant day in the history of the Internet. On August 6, 1991, exactly twenty years ago, the World Wide Web became publicly available. Its creator, the now internationally known Tim Berners-Lee, posted a short summary of the project on the alt.hypertext newsgroup and gave birth to a new technology which would fundamentally change the world as we knew it.

The video above, created by Kate Ray, features a number of Internet pioneers and experts during the past 20 years including Tim Berners-Lee, Clay Shirky (author of 'Cognitive Surplus'), David Weinberger (author of 'The Cluetrain Manifesto'), etc. -- and also touches on the future including what many refer to as the Semantic Web.

The ~14 minute clip has flashes of insight, humor, nerdiness, history, and it reminds us of what can happen if we're too connected too much of the time. What do you think is in store for the next 20 years? Here's a related post to read and share.

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It’s time to become an intelligent marketer

MediaPost events always hit the spot. I can say this with certainty after participating in many Email Insider Summits and OMMA Global, Mobile and Social conferences. Last week’s OMMA Metrics 2011 in San Francisco was long overdue for me and perfect timing to inspire a deeper urgency around marketing intelligence.

In case you haven’t noticed, digital marketing measurement has evolved in a very short period of time; and so have the tools. A comprehensive understanding of how your customers and prospects behave across channels will absolutely impact your revenues, brand building, customer loyalty and paycheck. Successful companies and marketers realize this and focus on building cross-functional, realtime capabilities for understanding and communicating performance.

Established channels -- like your website -- are being complemented with newer channels such as social media, mobile applications, streaming video, and media distributed across Internet connected devices like set-top boxes and interactive billboards. And we can’t ignore traditional channels -- like television, radio, print media, and direct mail -- because they are highly influential and are more than likely now connected to digital campaigns.

Yes there is more complexity given the sheer volume and speed of digital activities but I suspect your boss doesn’t want to hear excuses. And then there is attribution. How do marketers know what is driving brand awareness, consideration, preference, action and loyalty across channels and why does this matter?

Sorry to break the news but I’m now convinced that if you’re in marketing at any level, you must apply and understand analytics. The risks of not are either being underpaid or unemployed. This is especially true if the Internet is at the core of your marketing strategy and, for most organizations, this is the case. The good news is the business of analytics has gotten much easier in the past few years even as the proliferation and speed of digital channels continue to overwhelm most marketers. Analytics pioneers and web innovators like Webtrends, Facebook, Position2, Encore and comScore are a handful of companies that empower marketers to become more intelligent and relevant.

20 Take Aways from OMMA Metrics 2011

• According to eMarketer, 63% of brands have no clue how well they’re doing in their mobile channel. Measurement is an imperative to successful marketing and mobile is no exception. Not being able to measure mobile activity is a fallacy.

• Apps alone are not enough. It is no longer a question of App or SMS or Mobile Web, it’s a question of when and in what order do I launch each. It’s a no brainer that optimizing for Mobile Web is the starting point for any mobile strategy.

• Understand the consumer’s journey with mobile to best understand what to measure and how.

• Mobile and social are intertwined. Social media provides a great channel for marketers to promote their mobile assets; mobile provides a great mechanism to drive social engagement.

• Attribution and insight across all digital channels really matter today. It has never been about the last click and never will be.

• Have a “tracking policy” so you’re transparent about the data use and so consumers know what and how you’re using their data. Be prepared to be part of a lobbying effort.

• What is the story you’re communicating to audiences about “why mobile” and what you’ll get? Being able to measure the “promise” and share that with brands is key. It can’t be nebulous.

• Brands also want to understand the impact relative to TV, online, etc. Think holistically and use tools to help you rise above the complexity.

• Apply some centralization with a “command center” like approach to manage and optimize marketing intelligence.

• Testing has gone from an after-thought to part of an ongoing QA process.

• Work on behalf on multiple stakeholders and everyone needs to identify their objectives to be clear about each others’ objectives; alignment early on helps.

• Management needs to permit testing teams to “fail” and not be penalized so teams can learn, innovate and improve.

• Have a plan, have a hypothesis and track to your plan – learn and adjust.

• Don’t pass all analytics and testing responsibilities to people outside of your business. These are strategic functions -- a competency to create inside your organization with help from external experts and services as needed.

• Move to a viewable impressions standard and count real exposures online.

• Online advertising must move to a currency based on audience impressions (real behaviors from real people) vs gross ad impressions; reach and frequency against a target.

• Because all ad units are not created equal, we as an industry must create a transparent classification system.

• Determine interactivity metrics that matter for brand marketers, so that marketers can better evaluate digital contributions to brand building.

• Digital media measurement must become increasingly comparable and integrated with other (i.e. traditional) media.

• Marketers get hired and increase their compensations when they master analytics and marketing intelligence to inform strategy and campaigns. Start with web, email, mobile, social and search channels.

Thanks to Eric Rickson of Webtrends, Bob Page of eBay, Steve Latham of Encore Media Metrics, Josh Chasin of comScore and other panelists from OMMA Metrics for their input. These folks are well-traveled in their fields and I recommend you follow them for best practices and upcoming speaking sessions. And check out Josh’s closing presentation at OMMA Metrics: Making Sense of Measurement.

Parting Tip

If you have a blog or Facebook Page, login to free Google Analytics, Facebook Insights and Webtrends Social accounts weekly to learn more about and master the terminology and basic workflows behind creating marketing intelligence. Experiment, ask yourself questions and answer with the tools, have fun and bring out the intelligent marketer within you! 

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What does the future hold for tennis fans, players and sponsors?

The professional tennis season is in full swing with the French Open and AEGON Championships completed in June and the 125^th Wimbledon Championships coming to a close on Sunday, July 3rd. Other ATP tournaments and the U.S. Open are ramping up now. Can you tell I’m a tennis fan? 

Whether you’re into tennis or not, there is much to learn from the ATP’s evolution and insights as an entertainment and sports management organization on the Web and in cities worldwide. Conceptually, every business has it’s own stars, matches, tournaments, venues and seasons. Common success themes to consider for any industry are:

• Content strategy and editorial to create storylines and value for key stakeholders

• Realtime content creation and distribution to drive authority, immediacy, sharing and multichannel engagement

• Web, email, social, mobile, search, television onsite and print channels and solutions to enable, grow and interact with communities and individuals

• Affinity and passion that inspires action and participation 

I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate for a few days early in this year’s 125^th Wimbledon Championships. An extraordinary experience that was 30 years in the making; a guest of the ATP focused on blogging about and enjoying this grand event as a loyal fan. You can read more about some of my Wimbledon adventures and see related photos. Fun aside, let’s talk about and tune into the business and future of tennis.

Tennis is big business and has been for decades. Everything from equipment, clothing, courts/clubs, tournaments, professionals, sponsorships, etc. generates billions in revenue each year worldwide. So you may ask yourself, “what’s the future of tennis” -- in terms of digital and onsite experiences -- for fans, players, sponsors and friends from the ATP working behind the scenes? John Phillips and I discuss this in our creatorbase thoughts video above and get into some futuristic examples that are in play now, and touch on what's to come.

With more than 4 million people participating onsite at 62 ATP tournaments in 32 countries and more than 4 million people actively engaging online each month via ATPWorldTour.com, mobile and social channels -- there are many opportunities to create and monetize compelling tennis experiences that entertain and WOW the tennis community. Businesses in any industry can learn from the ATP's playbook and successes to date.

If you're doing similar things as the ATP/tennis community in your industry, I'd like to learn more and share your insights. Stay tuned for another creatorbase thoughts video from Wimbledon.

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Jeffrey Hayzlett on communication changes and the future of marketing

Let's call this post and video part 2 from a conversation last week in Palo Alto with Jeffrey Hayzlett, best-selling author of The Mirror Test, "Celebrity CMO" from Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice, former Kodak CMO and founder of The Hayzlett Group. Jeffrey and team have been very busy since 2010 and he has some thoughts for other creators and marketers to consider.

We talked about communication changes including social media and networking and why brands -- and the people behind them -- should take it serious. Isn't it safe to say that social is now mainstream? Any hesitation to fully commit today is going to have significant downstream impact in terms of brand perception, relationship building and competitive advantage going forward.  

According to Jeffrey, a 'brand is nothing but a promise delivered' and social media, mobile, video, search and trust are key for today's brands on the Web. For example, friendsourcing is somewhat of a new concept and it's a natural extension of crowdsourcing. But people trust their friends and families more than anyone else so brands should invest in initiatives that enable friendships and value exchanges to flourish via digital and face-to-face interactions.

Another hot topic. Building and nurturing communities with real-time value creation is key because consumer affinity and interests change like the wind. It takes ongoing commitment and some new skills to maintain trusted relationships with your customers and influencers. And just to be clear, "community" is not just a destination you log into on the Web. Community is all around us with every communication and transaction touchpoint.

I asked Jeffrey about his predictions for the next year or two and he believes businesses need to:

• make websites extremely interactive; not brochureware -- this takes commitment
• use top-level domains (TLDs) for brand marketing; significant changes are coming around this topic

We touch on examples (i.e. BMW X5  shopping) in our ~5 minute conversation in the video above that helps to illustrate the future of marketing and related digital strategies.   

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A conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk about humanizing business

It was a pleasure sitting in on Gary Vaynerchuk's recent book tour stop at Books Inc. in San Francisco after participating in meaningful (and similar) conversations earlier in the day at the Forrester Marketing Forum. The @TYEbook crowd was charged up, Gary’s advice was to the point and witty, and wine was flowing from The Winery SF.

Gary and I discussed what CMOs and heads of marketing should do with The Thank You Economy thinking; sooner rather than later. Tune into and share the video above and check out the complete post on my Sitecore Community blog.

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Congratulations Twitter

I first heard of Twitter early in its startup phase because I spent some time in the South Park area of San Francisco where Twitter was first located. Early on, like many Internet startups in the SF Bay Area, it wasn't understood and didn't create much impact. So it seemed. 

Times have changed and so has the world. That's the beauty of creativity, the Internet and life in general. We're often pleasantly surprised by what appear to be small events that end up being significant advances for humanity. Happy 5th birthday Twitter and congratulations to the team.What do you think is in store for Twitter during the next 5 years?

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ATP World Tour: Creating extraordinary tennis experiences for fans, pros and sponsors

Is tennis your game of choice? It's definitely mine and so I was more than happy to talk with one of our Sitecore customers in Florida this past October about some new digital initiatives.

The ATP's lean publishing team led by John Phillips, senior vice president of digital marketing, has got their real-time game down to a science. They're also passionate about men's professional tennis and mobile is quickly changing the game.

A little background -- the ATP is the governing body of the men's pro tennis circuit ATP World Tour that serves a global sport and broad audience with 62 tournaments in 32 countries. The ATP has enjoyed significant success during the past couple of years but they wanted to create more value for their global (and growing) community of tennis fans, professional players and corporate sponsors. Watch this brief Focus on Community video to learn more about the ATP's success story.

For related info and news, visit my Sitecore post.  Are you a player? Let's connect with Twitter and on the court!