The information super-highway. I haven’t heard that phrase in a while, and I suppose it is now so dated that it elicits laughter before it draws you into a metaphor. These days the glut of information out on the internet is creating a layer of haze that reminds me more of an information traffic jam. Everyone wants my attention when I am online and marketers (like me) are all vying for a few minutes to explain themselves in a supremely commoditized world with shorter attention spans. Explain why you think you are different in 8 words or less.
Some might say this has produced savvy consumers who can see right through marketing tricks. To a degree I think this is true. People are not subject to basic commands delivered by marketing. To another degree, I think psychology has become more important for marketing and the internet has become a more manipulative environment, where we still expect consumers to follow the chain of calls to action that we marketers lay out like breadcrumbs.
I have enough data about myself online to assemble a rather complete profile of my consumer behaviors, psychological habits, political beliefs, intelligence, reading habits, and just about anything else that would be useful in creating an advertising environment where I might buy something. As a marketer, I think this is an excellent opportunity to essentially aggregate my desires and meet me with things I might actually find interesting. As a consumer, I don’t appreciate being profiled with information that I did not volunteer for the purpose of evaluation so much as for the purpose of ordering a book or connecting with people (it’s Web 2.0. I’m finally a part of the movement! So I’m not always an early adopter…)
Because of my conflicted approach to things, I am still not convinced that using the data out there to target our audiences is really the best new thing for MarComm professionals. We run the risk of drowning in data while true understanding still evades us. I know the use of demographic data will still be a part of my proactive marketing activities, but I put it in the same ethical bucket as direct mail. It works at a predictable pace and though it runs some reputation risk for my brand, it is a manageable risk. In favor of considering the virtual copies of personalities that form the modern web as rich mines of information, I would prefer to think of them as the individuals they represent, not the demographics they represent.
The more data you know about someone the less you probably understand. Someone like me with a plethora of personal information on the web does not “go online,” we are always online. The internet is a component of the modern world, integrated into my work, play, and everything in between. As such, you may know what I buy and where I shop, but you will only capture the things I have done in the past. Now, granted, there is a lot you can profile and infer based on where my information is coming from, my age group, my politics, and many other things that can be used to create a sophisticated model of who I am. I know I just don’t have the time or budget to concern myself with this, and there will always be companies and organizations that simply can’t worry about such advanced options. My point here, is that in the basic steps of trying to push information out into the market, I do not think the all-seductive data is the only answer. We need to be prepared for the fact that many users will want to find us on their own. Some of that push through advertising, SEO, or media will create awareness, but once awareness is established, the modern organization needs to be prepared to be poked and prodded in ways that not everyone is ready for yet.
You cannot be all things to all people, and you cannot advertise everywhere; but you should have a flow to your online presence. There should be direction provided to your online investigators that brings them to an information rich environment. Nothing makes me dismiss a company more quickly these days than not being able to find anything online. Even the pizza restaurant around the corner at least has some online reviews (whether they know it or not) and though I don’t need an online presence for my brick and mortar stores, I do for my business partners.
If your brand is successful, people will identify with it. People will talk about you (this may happen for a broken brand promise as well.) You will not be able to control it. The best thing you can do, however, is participate in it. By participating, you can bring people where you want them to be. Dealing with savvy consumers and giving control over to the mob does not mean you can’t let people find their own way to where you want them to be. If you bring people to an information rich environment, and you are participating or responding to the good and the bad, then you will at least know what is going on. If people complain about you and you do nothing, then you have made the choice to ignore the free advice. If people complain and you respond, then you are embracing the collaborative environment that modern stakeholders demand, and you might stand a chance.
That is the point in the end. It is not about trying to control the consumer through analysis and suggestion; it is about meeting the consumers on their own turf. You should still be able to portray a voice of the company, even if the company is more transparent than it has ever been. At times the new landscape of the information age can seem more compartmentalized than unified, but you should develop an idea of where the pieces click together and how you are doing in the community that your business serves.
I truly believe that most marketers have embraced a healthy sense of collaboration with stakeholders in their lead nurturing and acquisition cycles; I think this is meant more as an advocate’s plea for non-marketers to adopt a marketing mindset. Don’t be afraid of the new landscape. Jump in, embrace the opportunities. You will benefit from it, your stakeholders will benefit from it, and ultimately the economy will benefit from it.
Digital Construct 