Monday, November 26, 2012

Do QR codes really work for B2B marketing?

The pick up of QR codes as a marketing tool to link prospects directly to Internet content seems a compelling idea - but does it work?

We first commented on the widespread use of QR codes in April 2011. Developed as a device for component tracking in the Japanese automotive industry, their use in marketing appeared to offer a simple means of linking to a web site, or specific page without the need to type in a url. But is it that quick and are business customers that motivated to go through the process?

Sitting in front of my Mac writing this piece and using the QR code on this article, I made 3 tests with an iPhone. Switch phone on, unlock, find scanning app, focus, scan, site reached and open, took variously 16, 18 and 17 seconds. Not that long, but given how quickly people give up if a web site doesn't open in seconds, how many will be bothered? Also it can take longer if the QR code is not focussed straight away. But surprisingly using the Mac, Safari and Google combination took longer - open new browser window, key in company name until it appeared as a prompt, click search. Then the process slows as I scan the results page to find the actual company site, click and open. This took twice as long. And of course if not seated in front of the Mac then the mobile solution would win easily, provided there was a good signal. So may be the technology is robust but is the expectation of what the link will lead to, offer a strong enough motivation to bother with the process?

Not only does the 'call to action' need to promise access to interesting or valuable content, but in my case it also depends on what else I am doing. In a restaurant waiting for the bill my wife and I scanned the QR code on a card to enter a simple questionnaire promising the chance of a prize, because right at that time we had nothing better to do. But if I was skimming through the pages of a magazine would I bother to stop, get out the iPhone and scan a QR code in a display advertisement unless there was powerful motivation to do this?

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Is display advertising still the safest option?

An article by WebProNews raises an interesting question - will brands shift focus away from Facebook?

The WebProNews piece which can be read in full here points out "There has been quite a bit of controversy, especially in recent weeks, about how many of Page's updates are making it to their fans' News Feeds, as Facebook pushes its monetization efforts (like promoted posts), which are essential to make shareholders happy." Further on and quoting from another blog "Defining engagement by clicks, likes, shares, unlikes and reporting works for Google's search engine, I don't believe it works for a social network."

And while Facebook has always been the biggest dilemma in what it really offers, look what has happened to Twitter. The function of Twitter is more immediately obvious as a means of sending news headlines optionally linked to the full story published on your blog or Virtual News Office. But the Lord McAlpine issue demonstrates the importance of keeping to the law in what is written and passed on in the public domain. 

Perhaps not surprising that many clients, even those experimenting with social media, still maintain a significant share of the marketing communications budget in display advertising in the traditional trade press. There is safety here particularly that advertising is going to appear associated with industry relevant editorial copy - content that is not going to lead to legal recrimination. Of course the voices of those selling online advertising regard print advertising as archaic and lacking the trackability of online pay per click advertising for example. Much depends on where your audience goes for information. Are they still reading printed publications? Do they influence and cultivate views and opinions on what is going on in the market and who are the important companies in that sector? At a stage when not actively researching products or yet ready to make a purchase, magazines remain a convenient way to keep in touch and seeing advertisements and press coverage remains an important part of that function. When ready to check out possible vendors for a product,  then it is time to turn to Google, but not turning to search for a generic product but as a quick means of going directly to already familiar brand names - thanks to awareness from that display advertising.
 


 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Do people with limited time want to keep up with new interests all in one place?

In an information rich, time deficient world there is some merit in being able to go to just one place to keep informed of the latest developments on topics of interest. The question for b-2-b marketers is to discover  where this might be for their customers and prospects.

It was during a conversation with the publisher of a special interest web site that the idea of busy people checking into one place regularly to keep abreast of the latest news, developments and chatter of interest and relevance to them, came up. This notion that there are people who actively monitor activity and developments as opposed to passively consuming received communications runs contrary to the traditional marketing approach. In the conventional marketing communication plan messages are sent to the target audiences - advertisements in trade journals, postal campaigns to individuals, emails to inboxes - all as outbound marketing campaigns. In-bound marketing shifts the initiative from marketer to customer or prospect, but still places a requirement on the marketer to make the information available in the format required by the consumer of information.

Ten years ago or more, RSS seemed to offer just such a solution. In the early days of RSS feeds the user downloaded reader software then selected which RSS feeds they wanted to monitor. For example  feeds from major news organisations such as the BBC or CNN could be combined with feeds from information relevant to work such as new products, new technologies, exhibitions and conferences and finally perhaps news from a favourite sports team or hobby. Quite quickly, say each morning, the headlines from all the news feeds of interest could quickly be scanned and those of more interest than others clicked on to read the story in more depth. But RSS got built into browsers so readers became redundant and the notion of a personalised headline service never really caught on. Twitter has kind of captured this solution and certainly has widespread acceptance. As with RSS feeds you can select who you choose to follow, but beware of the sheer volume and triviality of some of the messages. Some advocates of Facebook anxious to update on the current status of friends used this as the one place they were anxious to review on a frequent basis and used this as a peer to peer communications platform as well, but extending this to following the antics of your favourite company may be a stretch for the typical b-2-b company.

So if RSS is fading and social media not really cutting it as the single destination for such a diverse range of "need-to-know" information embracing both personal interests and work knowledge, perhaps the old concept of industry portal or community interest site might be a good place to ensure your information is there and regularly updated.  The thing is few companies seem to be asking their customers the question where do they visit on a frequent basis to keep informed of important developments relative to their field of work.

 


Monday, November 05, 2012

How are your online communications being viewed and received?

There is growing evidence that an increasing number of visitors viewing web sites and emails are now using mobile devices.

A quick view of Google Analytics for some clients indicates that over 10% are currently using mobile devices to view their web sites. The suggestion is that the percentage now viewing emails may be even higher. These are not statistically validated research findings, merely observations based on what we actually see happening. The problem is that the web site does not always work too well on mobile devices.

Emails may have communication  problems other than how an html email is displayed on an iPhone or iPad, but also in how the message is handled by the recipient. For a long time we have tended to use email not just as a quick message system, but as a tool to deliver a more complex document as an attachment, with a brief covering note in the body of the email. There is a suspicion that the frequent lack of response suggests that the documents are not being opened or even being received at all. So where possible the document content now becomes transmitted within the body of the email. By of necessity shortening the document this may actually improve the focus of the report. But then another problem arises in that many recipients simply forward it to someone else within or even outside the organisation. So don't send anything confidential is the thought.

May be there is a psychological issue at play here in so far as emails received on a phone are thought of as similar to text messages, some ephemeral, even trivial communication. So before sending out the next email, check how it will display and think about how it might be received. And finally, why don't people change that "sent from my iPhone" footer.