How to be trend hunter: figuring out emerging trends

September 6, 2011

{EAV_BLOG_VER:da36d18e0d868e5f}   <– ignore.  Verifying my blog for Empire Avenue

Here is a common scenario for many.   A request to identify the top destinations, gadgets, trends, etc… of the day/week/season.   This request begs the question – how do you figure out where people go, who the influencers are, what trends are emerging.   The answer takes quite a lot of time and research.  Nothing is without significant human time investment – no one tool will pump out the answer. 

My challenge in these requests is that sometimes folks can have false expectations on how long it takes to definitively come up with some answers.  Presenting the storyline takes even longer.

In a quest like this – I always ground my work into a consumer segment, then turn to multiple sources.  I am quite grateful to be well equiped and supported by good tools in my current role. 

I’m simplifying this task a bit but some of the things I do: 

  • understand which sites yield large digital audiences for specific segments, as well as growth patterns over time.  (tool = comscore)
  • understand site cross visitation for the brand, its competitors or what lens you need (tool = comscore)
  • use social listening, like Sysomos, to identify where conversations are taking places and to a certain degree, what key conversations are emerging. 
  • drill down to sources of authority and manually search for the key conversations to gain better depth on conversations. 
  • look at how this marries up to other sources such as ones that highlight consumer behaviour trends
  • if you are lucky, compare to primary research! 
  • if you are lucky, compare to decent secondary research (google insights, pew american life, etc)

To me, it is a rather fun strategy exercise.  A bit like playing tetris really.. putting the pieces together as they fall.

2 Comments | digital strategy | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

Today’s digital strategies need to recognize that digital is a ecosystem

August 9, 2011
Great image found in Mats Hernvall's presentation

Ecosystem is word that I’ve started to use a *lot* lately to explain how paid, earned and owned medias must work together when creating digital strategies for big brands.  

The media classification – paid, owned, earned - is a well accepted marketing framework first articulated, to my knowledge, by Forrester research’s Sean Corcoran (@seancor) in his report “Defining Earned, Owned and Paid”.  This lovely classification outlines how brands may have strong control on the content and channel in owned channels, control on content but ‘renting’ in paid medias but in earned – the brand has neither control over the content nor the channel.

This distinction has been helpful for clients to understand the role of the three media and its suitability toward achieving certain marketing objectives.   Interestingly, some of the benefits have been changing namely paid media’s increased ability to affect conversion goals.

Where the “ecosystem” comes into mind – is not just understanding the overall benefits of a media but delving into what the organizational weaknesses in the various medias.  If a company has no mobile solution and turnaround is not timely, then how can owned media support this gap?   It can be damaging to the business to wait for future development of large owned media and digital strategies need to examine how the other medias will bridge the gaps.   Owned media is just the example.  Downfalls exist in all medias which can supported by the other medias.

Leave a Comment » | digital strategy, social networks, strategy | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

How to develop a digital strategy – a 101 lesson for non-profits

June 15, 2011

I was recently asked to present at My Charity Connects – an annual sold out conference helping non-profits understand how to use emerging technologies for social good.  I had a tough mandate – the conference organizers had pre-sold the topic “Developing a Digital Roadmap” – intended to be an advanced topic - to which 60 people signed up – all before I was asked to be a speaker.   The topic was a good one and, in my experience heavily in demand, and so I was pleased to get @canadahelps (Amy)’s call.

Truthfully, I find it tougher to speak on strategy development versus any random social media topic.  It is a topic that runs the risk of being dry, difficult to explain, hard to share frameworks, and perhaps at risk of presenting motherhood.  

Motherhood like this – what is strategy?  (then I visually depict the gap to a future goal ..e.g. revenue/profit)

Right or wrong – I always perceive non-profit audiences to be generous and forgiving and so, I boldy looked adding the frameworks that have both shaped my thinking over my career or included ones that I’m still working on.

The first is the concept of consumer expectations – that there are basic, satisfying and differentiating expectations (experiences) that a consumer has. 

Strategy on developing customer experiences

Basic expectations are experiences that must exist for consumers to do business with you.  Without them, consumers will leave your franchise.  This may include presence in social media channels, response and interaction.  Satisfying expectations make consumers happy but do not grow market share.  So businesses should not over-invest in these areas.  Finally, differentiating experiences are ones that consumers would switch brands, competitors for. 

Of course – this framework begs the question on what qualifies as a basic, satisfier & differentiator experience.  So the next chart was my “social media maturity” framework – that I’ve been futzing with for a number of months. 

I welcome your thoughts & feedback – see below for the slideshare link…

How to develop a digital strategy http://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/8274555

[human moment:  notice this post date of June 15 is earlier than my published date of July 21st?  I have tons of posts stilling in draft format.. dying on the vine.. so I'm going to just publish shorter thoughts as my twitter cannabalizes my blogging and my work cannabalizes my twitter.  :-0]

Leave a Comment » | customer experience, digital strategy, social networks | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

Demystifying digital strategy

May 10, 2011

Often self absorbed in my own digital strategy work – I sometimes forget far I’ve travelled and the level of transition the advertising industry is in over digital strategy. 

I’ve been doing digital strategy for years – though at IBM, we called it e-business strategy, then marketing strategy, then customer experience strategy & design and now, due to how broad digital has become, digital strategy.  (I know.. its really just strategy but to limit scope, allow for digital).

When asked what a digital strategy is – my elevator answer is that digital covers mobile, social, web, apps, etc. and strategy is the ‘how’ to achieve a gap between where a company or brand is currently and where they want to go.   Arriving at a digital strategy & plan is more complicated than I’m making it sound but essentially it is a gap analysis done right.  (not minimizing the difference between strategy and good execution).  Simpler – I say that digital strategy is identifying which of the 20 digital opportunities facing a business are the right ones for business, brand and marketing.   (long elevator ride right!)

Back in late 2009 – early 2010 – I thought myself quite progressive by labelling myself a digital strategist but the actual role, its qualifications, the job description and deliverables are much confused today.   

And this was the topic of tonight’s discussion with a meeting of the minds with Paul Crowe at Bnotions , @pcrowe – a growing dev/strategy/start up into cool mobile, game things +.  Among the audience – @Ianbarnett, @michaelnus and Rick Jacobs  – all very bright, articulate and seasoned folks.

Couple great gems coming out of our dicussion. 

1. we debated over a framework for developing a digital stategy.  It was a different lense than I’ve used but it actually worked well and I’m grateful to see a new perspective.

2.  we spoke about a digital strategist being a rather senior, long tail digital/strategy experienced individual – though not to say that there isn’t a need for junior strategists and career path for this senior role.

3. there are tiers to digital strategy – that sometimes the deliverable is large and other times quite small. (or the timeframe to complete is tight)

4. I spoke of the role of a digital review or business review plays in arriving at a digital strategy.  A digital strategy often has optimization of existing digital assets as a goal and this is only best understood by reviewing performance.

5. I also spoke of how the strategy needs to be separated from the plan – which is what my own ad agency/planning department has teased out of me – forcing a focused strategy from the planning/roadmap stage.

Anyhow – the popcorn is ready.. I welcome your thoughts on the matter.

Leave a Comment » | digital strategy, social networks | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Laurie Dillon Schalk

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