This is the sixth in our www.www series in which guest contributor Michelle Corsano talks with Jen Evans, Founder & Chief Strategist, Sequentia Environics.
What impact is the recession having on marketing operations?
I think in some industries it’s having a catastrophic effect while others are flourishing. But I wouldn’t say the pressures are solely recessionary. There is an interesting duality to the current state of marketing ops: some pressures are recessionary, but it’s hard to tell how much because the other area of significant pressure is that newer forms of communication are now into late majority adoption. The masses are online and social. It’s not changing everything yet, despite all the forecasts, but it’s changing a lot, especially how budgets are distributed. Everyone is being forced to innovate and that makes operations challenging.
I do believe that digital media will transform the way people research products and services for business and personal use alike. I don’t think we are even at the beginning of understanding how fundamental that shift is going to be. Right now we are still putting old wine in new bottles – trying to shift ideas from old media into new, and it doesn’t quite work. But a new model is going to develop that won’t bear any resemblance to the old. It’s just not going to happen nearly as quickly as anyone thinks. I don’t think we’ve actually seen it emerge yet.
Which online tools and sources of information do you rely on?
Just about everything! I am an information junkie. I am increasingly using Twitter to consolidate information sources, and it’s really effective for a few reasons: almost everything I would otherwise read now has a presence there. As well, particularly useful or noteworthy information tends to get more visibility through retweets, so it’s a very efficient way of finding the most useful information (given you follow the right people and sources, of course!). I use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn very differently, but they are probably my top three aside from search.
Where do you go online when you login in the morning?
I have kept Facebook almost exclusively to actual friends and family, so it’s usually where I start. I love it. It’s such an incredible tapestry of where everyone is and what they are doing, and how their lives are evolving in real time. And Twitter for the latest news and discussion.
Who do you follow online?
I do most things in life with the start scattershot and narrow approach, and that’s definitely how I follow information and people. I follow a broad cross section of people and personalities and publications, and see how much interest they hold over time, add new people and sources and edit others. I’ve noticed that as my focus has shifted from developing a content approach and methodology to learning how to evolve and expand a business, the things that I read and the people that I follow has shifted dramatically, so it’s a moving target.
When and how do you measure digital marketing success?
Revenue or cost reduction. Business value. It’s sometimes rewarding working with smaller companies because you can see the actual effect you are having on their business, and that’s incredible. But it’s also very rewarding getting to help move the needle in large organizations.
Why are some companies reluctant to embrace social media?
I don’t think it’s about a reluctance to embrace social media. It’s about what you are as a business, and there are many businesses out there that will never need or adopt social media as a ‘thing’. Social media, as the space is described today, is simply an articulation of customer and employee service and empowerment, and information sharing ideals that have been in place since there were customers and employees. Either you’re a customer focused company or you’re not. It is less about reluctance and more about values.
It’s not always prudent for companies to dive quickly into new areas of exploration, and there are still a lot of mistakes and misfires as people try to figure out how this new heavily populated social landscape works. Some of them are just being smart, biding their time, until they see a mature model emerge that makes sense for them to adopt.
What has changed is the rapidity of change itself, and the ability of companies to keep up with that pace of change in their customers’ wants and needs. The mass adoption of social media by customers and consumers makes it an ideal environment to measure and understand where and how that shift is taking place. If you’re not able to stay on top of the shifting customer landscape, someone else is going to be better at doing it, and will eventually figure out a better way to attract the people you do business with – customers or employees. The closer you are able to monitor that ever changing customer pulse, the more prepared you are to act when things change. As they constantly and inevitably do.
However, the vast majority of marketers and companies, for a variety of reasons and especially in Canada, do not employ social tactics that way at the moment. They are simply using it as a way to distribute messages and advertisements. The reality of online customer engagement is a much more complex mosaic of interactions, indications and exchanges, over an extended period of time. The wonderful reality of the new social landscape is that companies large and small can benefit from this.
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