Experimentation: Getting To 1.21 Jigawatts In Your Online Marketing
Posted on 27. Jul, 2009 by Robert Rose in Uncategorized
“If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight miles per hour… you’re gonna see some serious S*&!.” In this economy, I think we’re all feeling a bit like Marty McFly, being chased by crazed Libyans and we’re just about to hit the Photomat booth before….. well hold on to that thought a moment. Last week we did a Webinar for Folio Publishing called - Selling Results Instead Of Impressions. In it, I offered some (hopefully) helpful tips on how publishers could start to reposition their content offerings for online marketers. The webinar focused on what online marketers had on their shopping lists (hint: all have the word “results” in them) and how publishers should start to use this down economy to start to experiment with different types of advertising and sponsorship programs in order to differentiate, as well as start to produce the proof of life that online marketers are after. Today, I was pleased to see myself following some excellent company when I read . If you’re not familiar with them, they are an excellent school for journalists. In a post called ““ they interviewed Jim Brady, the former executive editor of the washingtonpost.com; and he said something regarding the success of online publishing properties that I completely agree with: “[In depends on whether] you view the Web as a platform or a medium? If you work at a paper or TV station that merely views the Web as a way to distribute content from your legacy product, then I think you’re doomed on the Web. If you view it as a platform, as a way to tell legacy stories differently, to share the floor with your audience, to consciously inject your content into the broader ecosystem of the Web, then I think you’ll be fine.“ Then, match all of that with today’s excellent article in iMedia Connection from - . In this article, he interviews Randall Rothenberg and discusses how organizations are going to have to be more creative, and provide more services in order to rise above the commoditization saying “those who prosp I won’t belabor my take on this here (). But I thought these two article and our Webinar are certainly pointing to an interesting set of ideas in terms of how we deal with the market, our marketing and how we deal with shrinking appetites for all things experimental. The interview with Jim Brady is especially interesting if you’re in the publishing business. It is especially in this type of market, where experimentation is key here – lest our business one day end up on the wrong side of technological progress. You have to experiment – and because you have the opportunity to have a measurement-rich environment – you should know exactly what is and isn’t working. For publishers the key is making sure your web site is not just the online version of the print publication – but is an online marketing platform. Or, as the article on Poynter puts it: “of the Web, not merely on the Web.” But one key safety tip here – if you do nothing else – make sure that before you go out with your online experiments, that you have permission to fail. The keys are running small experiments and testing on everything. Look at the content – look at the relationship of that content with your customers. Look at how they’re rating your content or providing you feedback. Look at your microsites and your campaign specific sites – how are they performing. Are they earning their keep. Stop what’s not working – fund what is working. And, make sure you get permission to fail. Because you will. Campaigns won’t work. Your landing pages may need to be completely re-designed – a price campaign may backfire. But because you’ve built the marketing engine that can measure everything you need. You have the ability to know where and why it failed in the funnel. And more importantly, you know where things are working – and can fund those things more and more. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you get to 88 miles per hour. Then, just watch out – because on the other side… Well, you’re gonna see some serious S&%#$!
Posted by Rob Rose on March 09, 2009 at 03:29 PM PDT
– Dr. Emmett Brown
er will be the companies that get to know their customers better and provide services and an environment that will enable them to move beyond price”.
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