When Marketing Automation ISN'T Useful

Those who know me and have worked with me know that I'm a fan of using marketing automation to schedule some messaging.  Not all messages, but some, especially on Twitter and text messages.  But I'm also a big fan of thinking about the audience and what the message will mean to them.  I ran across a case in point this morning and wanted to share it.  I'm not picking on the business that I'll talk about, I really love them, but this incident shows that they probably scheduled a text message and didn't account for how their database would be affected by it.

I'm in St. Louis, as is this business.  We're having snow today, many schools are closed, and the ones that aren't will most likely be sending students home early because the heaviest of the snow will be coming starting around noon.  The Missouri Department Of Transportation has issued a "stay off the roads" alert so they can get to the snow and keep people safe.  So it's fair to say this isn't the day to be going out unless you really have to.

Even with all that happening, I got this text message at 8:40 this morning.

I've got to believe this was a scheduled message, if for no other reason that any reasonable person would know not to ask their customers to come out during the time the snow is supposed to be falling hard and the state wants everyone off the roads.

So what happened here?  My hope is that the message was scheduled in advance and the person in charge of marketing for this restaurant either wasn't up yet to assess the weather or just forgot that the message was in the queue.  At least I hope that's what happened.

There's an important lesson here.  Taking advantage of marketing automation is usually a good thing, but if you do, you need to be able to stop pre-scheduled messages from going out and be able to do it fast.  In this case, it's because the weather stinks and asking people to come out in a snowstorm might not reflect best on the business. But scheduled messages could need to be stopped for any number of reasons, a news event that might take people's attention and make the business look crass, the death of a famous person, or even a public relations problem for other outlets of the same chain or the parent company.

Sometimes "radio silence" or rescheduling a small promotion is the least helpful to your business, yet safest way to act.  But you've got to know when your messaging is going out and be able to stop it, especially because your reputation, if not your sales, will benefit from an abundance of caution.

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Leading Social Media Blogger Says "Hire Mark Edwards"

One of the most listened to voices in the Social Media world belongs to Sarah Evans and her blog Sarah's Faves.  Sarah has become a leading Social Media thinker and has just joined the company Trackly as Chief Evangelist.  She's well known in Public Relations and Social Media circles as an innovator, big thinker, and one of the best and brightest in the online world. Sarah handpicked three people who should be working in Social Media or Public Relations and posted their stories on her blog.  I was honored to be one of the three people she thinks should be hired, and here's what she had to say about me and my work.

Name: Mark Edwards

How to Create Real Relationships With Social Marketing http://t.co/4DfHaWst

June 19, 2012 7:57 pm via iftttReplyRetweetFavorite

@markedwards

Mark Edwards

Twitter: @MarkEdwards Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/markedwardscubfan Blog: Markedwardsuncensored.com, Markedwardsworldwide.blogspot.com

Dream job title: Employee. I’m able to help in so many ways that I’ll let you, the employer, decide how I can help you best and what to call me. Three adjectives that describe you: experienced, innovative, connectedIf I’m hired by your organization I will: bring unmatched experience, knowledge, enthusiasm, and new levels of success to you.

What kind of  culture are you looking for? An environment that has energy, teamwork, and a culture of cooperation. I’ve worked in small offices, huge offices, and alone. The culture of the organization I join should foster creativity, no matter how many people are in the office.

What’s your most impressive professional accomplishment?  What about personal? Almost singlehandedly and secretly building and launching a brand new radio station, including a full suite of social media outposts and a marketing plan, in 18 days last year in Kansas City. Personally, I’m most proud of my three incredible sons. You can’t do anything more important than being a parent.

How many years experience do you have? 27 as a content creator, brand manager, and marketer using a score of traditional and new media resources.

Where should your ideal job be based? St. Louis, MO because it’s the best place I’ve ever lived to raise a family.

Are you willing to relocate? YES, Chicagoland would be my first choice, but I’ll go anywhere for the right job. I can also use the miracle of the Interwebz to work from World Headquarters in St. Louis.

Want to hire Mark? Email him at edwardsmark@gmail[.]com.

It's truly an honor to be recognized by a heavy hitter like Sarah, and yes, I'm available now for full time employment or project work through Mark Edwards Worldwide.   If you'd like to talk about how I can help your organization, please use any of the methods in Sarah's post to contact me.  You'll be glad you did!

The Internet Never Closes, Why Does Your "Customer Service"?

I had another one of those "slap myself in the forehead" moments this morning, and it reminded me how important customer service is in the age of the always running, worldwide, time zone agnostic Internet.

All weekend long, I tried to upload songs to my (now I guess I call it) Google play music library in the cloud. I probably tried to do it ten times starting on Saturday and running until Monday morning, and had no success any time. I did all the normal troubleshooting and still no luck. For some reason, I was getting a message that the application was unable to connect to the server. Normally, that means a problem on the server side, but sometimes it could be a problem with my home network. Hence, I was a little concerned that I couldn't reach a service that I've never had problems reaching before.

On Monday morning I ran some troubleshooting and went to the Google help site, which is an adventure in itself. I finally found an option to have someone from Google call me to discuss my problem, which I will admit I had not seen before. I put my number in, and about 15 seconds later a very nice lady from Google was on my phone. When I explained to her what was going on, she replied with "oh yeah, there's some kind of a problem with the server. We've been having it all weekend and we know all about it."

HUH?

I was a little taken aback by both the casual nature of her response and what she was saying to me. Google knew they had a problem all weekend but didn't let anybody know about it. I asked her if it was posted on a blog, a tweet, or somewhere in the application, and she said no because it was the weekend. I asked her when something might be posted to give us an update on the problem and she told me that it's Monday and people are trying to get their week started, so something may not be out until later today if the problem is still going on.

HUH?

Maybe it's my training in broadcasting, where our business was always open or maybe it's just my understanding of the fact that the Google play service is always running, used around the world, and it's 9 AM somewhere at any time. Just because this issue happen on the weekend, it shouldn't be overlooked or not communicated to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of users sitting at their computers wondering what's going wrong. Rather than not acknowledge that there's a problem, here are some things Google could have done had they decided to actually take this concept of an ever–operating Internet seriously.

• They could have sent tweets out saying that there was a problem with the application and that they were aware of it.
• Many Google products have blogs or other status update sites, and the issue could have been added to the site for this product.
• With a minimal amount of coding, an announcement that there was a problem with the app could have been put into the app itself.

If you run a business that does almost anything on the Internet, it's important to remember that your business really truly never closes when it's online. Stunningly, Google seems to have forgotten that when they had this problem with Google play. 

You, as a business owner, can avoid the problem by having someone on staff on call and available to fix a big problem should something go wrong. It could be knowing that your brick and mortar business is going to be closed tomorrow because of snow, it could be that your e-commerce vendor is down, or it could be that you're doing some work on your website that you hadn't planned on and you need to put up a landing page. 

Whatever the reason, someone should be able to communicate to your visitors and customers that things are not as they should be and give a very rough estimate as to when they'll be okay again.

As we had into the mobile-based, highly personalized, on-demand world shaped by the Internet, it's important to remember that old concepts like business hours have to be redefined for a new age. If someone as big as Google hasn't figured that out, the small business that does will look like a trailblazer.

This Post Should Be Read By Every Executive In The Radio Business

I've written before about how radio is on the fast track to irrelevance, and that the smart owners and execs in the radio industry have the power to stop that and save the business.  Media guru Mark Ramsey wrote about Pandora and how radio is freaking out about it but shouldn't on his blog yesterday.

Today, I found a blog post by Steve Parker, Jr. talking about what I think is the root problem for most radio companies and stations when it comes to their digital future or lack thereof.  Quite simply, they lack a digital strategy, even if they think they have one.  I've worked for companies whose long term digital strategy changed as often as I changed my socks.  That won't get you to the Promised Land in an era of mobile, personalized, on-demand communication and entertainment.  And the people who run most of the big radio groups just don't get it. 

Here's Mr. Parker's post in full, via Jack Myers Media Business Report's website

Lack of Digital Strategy & Accountability is Killing Brands - Steve Parker, Jr.-Levelwing

March 9, 2012

Published: March 9, 2012 at 02:55 PM GMT
Last Updated: March 9, 2012 at 02:55 PM GMT

'Doing' is not strategic insight. Just because it is measurable does not mean it is accountable.

If you are reading this and don't own a smartphone, you might as well stop right now. You won't understand nor can you be helped at this point – the technology world has passed you by. To the rest of you who have an iPhone or another 'super' smartphone, such as a Droid or Blackberry, read on. Many of you are probably reading this from your mobile phone as we speak. In fact, I'm doubtful you could put it down for a day or even a few hours. We have all become heavily reliant on our mobile devices – and for great reason. Mobile phones don't just make calls anymore; they actually help us in our daily lives. In your personal life, you have bought this device so you could have the 'Power of the Best' – best technology, best experience, best of everything. So, why in your business life are you settling for something that only makes calls? Seriously, why have you settled for the basics, knowing very well there is something much better and much more powerful? In the business world, this mindset goes way beyond phones: using Google Analytics when you could be using Omniture or simply reporting on campaigns vs. uncovering true business intelligence.

Smartphones have apps for seemingly everything – simple tools we use nearly every day for things like travel, directions, games, photos and social experiences. We use our phones to talk, write, chat, video conference, listen to music, check blood pressure, buy products, sell products, check email, do our online banking…

In short, smartphones and apps are all around us and engrained in our daily lives. But there are some things an iPhone or Droid just can't do. Contrary to popular belief, 'there's an app for that' doesn't actually apply to everything.

Digital Strategy:
Sorry, there is not actually a digital strategy app. However, most businesses are treating digital as though there is some magical strategic app that will make it easy to grow a business. Facebook is not a strategy. Twitter is not a strategy. Search engine marketing is not a strategy. Most companies, from the Fortune 500 to the local dry cleaner, do not have a sound digital strategy. You could argue this, but you would be wrong. It's true many businesses are implementing digital activities and, in some cases, doing a lot and seeing success. However a solid, well-planned strategy is lacking in most every case. Executing upon paid search marketing campaigns, communicating via Twitter or delivering a set of viral videos online is not strategy. I will clarify that I do believe in strategy for each of those separate executional elements (solid planning, measurement and management process, if you will), but an overarching strategy is still of most significant importance.

Measurement & Accountability:
Sorry, no app here either. Most businesses in the digital world fail to achieve true measurement and accountability – it's arguably one of areas most wrought with error. Many companies simply choose not to hold their investments in digital accountable. Let me be clear: measuring and reporting on clicks, likes, fans, site traffic, sales, share of voice and ad rates on some nifty dashboard is not the same thing as holding your marketing investments accountable. Those metrics (and many others like them) provide your business with little more than false hope and misdirection. Measurement and accountability are not quite so convenient and easy to attain. True accountability takes dedication, hard-nosed planning and a keen focus on goals.

Why Do Businesses Fail at Strategy or Accountability?
The answer is an inability to answer a simple question: 'why?' Most businesses do not know WHY they are doing the things they are doing in digital. No, the answer is not as simple as 'to sell more stuff.' That's the derivative – it is always the derivative or the expected outcome. But WHY are businesses doing the things they are doing? Are they doing them because of economic indicators, weather patters, overall demand in the marketplace, to provide better service to customers, to refine customer channel strategy, to define patterns in the business that can be shared throughout the organizational hierarchy? WHY? An honest and clear digital strategy answers these questions, provides clarity and then allows the business to execute strategically against them. Just because a million dollars was spent and a study shows brand awareness increased by four points does not mean the campaign was a success. Similarly, just because that $1 million in media sold $2 million of products does not mean it was successful either. You must understand why that happened and how you can improve from there. 'Doing' is not strategic insight. Just because it is measurable does not mean it is accountable.

People Are the Only Apps of Strategy and Accountability
People are the real applications that drive a business. Driving strategy and critical thinking while holding a business accountable starts with people. People have the power to create, guide, teach, define, measure and hold accountable that which is meaningful. Without true strategy and accountability, most well intended efforts will fail. You and your team of co-workers, senior leadership and third-party partners should fight for the hard answers, to define strategic vision and hold accountable all tactics and people involved. It's not easy, but it is right.

I've read that Steve Jobs didn't believe in the whole concept of apps initially. Good thing he got on board, though. They have helped to transform Apple and the ways we interact with our devices. However, one thing I am certain of is that he did not rely on an app to plan his business nor let something that is measured define accountability. Steve Jobs understood the complexity of strategy, held the business accountable and delivered well against that strategy and accountability plan. Sometimes our apps need updating – and, frankly, we are those apps.

Steve Parker, Jr. is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Levelwing, a digital advertising agency that provides data-driven marketing solutions. Steve can be reached at sparker@levelwing.com. Follow me on Twitter at @sparkerjr.

This advice applies to almost any brand, but it is particularly relevant to radio, because radio can choose to embrace the future or continue, in most cases, to not acknowledge it.  Or to think they've got their "digital strategy" under control and in reality be far behind the rest of the Digital Universe because they rely on second tier vendors and second tier "Digital Gurus" inside their organizations. 


Don't get me wrong, I WANT radio to win the Digital battle.  But how many radio companies started working Wednesday afternoon to make sure their station or group iPad app would look right on the new Retina display?  For that matter, how many radio companies even HAVE iPad apps?
 

What was once the digital equivalent of Thomas The Tank Engine is quickly becoming a Bullet Train, and radio has to get on board, be able to react instantly to changes in technology and user behavior, and do whatever it takes to stay relevant in a Pandora world.  I know some groups and stations can do this.  I just wish the ones that can't or won't would get on board the train before it runs them over.

 Related articles

• What Has Deterred Your Digital Strategy? (contently.com)
• The 7 Hot New Digital Marketing Strategies That will TRIPLE Your Business In The Next 12 Months [Dave Newton] (ecademy.com)
• Digital Marketing Strategy (kaon.com)

Greetings And Salutations!

I really thought I'd never start another blog.  I've got blogs everywhere.  There's Mark Edwards Uncensored, Mark Edwards Rants, Mark Edwards 3.0, Mark Edwards Unlimited even Mark's Cubs Worship Pulpit.  To a lesser or greater extent, those blogs are sort of general interest, with the exception of the blog dedicated to the Chicago Cubs.

This blog will be different.  The focus here is the focus of Mark Edwards Worldwide. The Media.  Old media, New Media, Social Media, and perhaps most importantly, the future of media.  You'll hear my opinions on some of the issues facing content creators, I'll share some particularly noteworthy things I find around the Interwebz (which I do a lot at the Mark Edwards Worldwide Newsfeed) and hopefully I'll rile up the folks who stumble onto this blog to get a good conversation going every once in a while.

So welcome, please bookmark, tell your friends, and feel free to subscribe to the e mail or RSS feeds of the blog.  I promise to never spam you.

Stay tuned for semi-regular updates!

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