Moments that Matter … Moments that Don’t by Doug Klein.
Another marketing jewel for the topic map crowd.
Doug writes (in part):
What’s needed is a new approach engineered around what the customer wants to hear from us, not what we want to say to them.
I could personally fill a tome or two with stuff that I want to say about topic maps and/or using topic maps, that doesn’t have much (anything?) to do with what customers want to hear about.
What about you?
Here are Doug’s take aways:
So what can we take away from all of this?
- Commit to learning why customers buy. It is critical for successful experience planning and innovation to update our traditional purchase behavior knowledge with insights into new channel-device integrations.
- Revisit how customers shop today. Really understanding how customers interact with your brand across the media and device landscape, both online and offline, results in understanding the “moments that matter” to your customers, and the ones that don’t.
- Focus on “attracting” customers, not acquiring them. Resist the temptation to overwhelm your customers by trying to be everywhere at all times and you will have a better chance at creating meaningful relationships at key buying moments.
- Understand that the traditional marketing funnel is dead. Customers control more of the decision cycle and are spending more time researching on their own. As a result, programs and properties need to be retooled with information in key channels like search, social, and CRM to answer customer questions before they have to ask.
- Be an environmentalist. As digital professionals, we need to stop polluting the airwaves. We must prioritize, focus, and do the few things that really matter to customers exceptionally well, instead of scrambling to do too many things only moderately well. In the end, a focused approached is a win-win for brands, their customers, and the entire community of experience designers and marketers.
Here is my fractured version for topic maps:
So what can we take away from all of this?
- Commit to learning why customers buy. Learn the price points for enhanced information. At what point will customers pay for better information and/or information services?
- Revisit how customers shop today. In our case, where do they look for information? What makes it valuable to them?
- Focus on “attracting” customers, not acquiring them. Some things are better done with a pencil and note card. Others with a relational database. Push topic maps where they will make the most difference to your customer.
- Understand that the traditional marketing funnel is dead. Not only broaden marketing channels but I would suggest powering marketing channels with topic maps.
- Be an environmentalist. Read from above. I can’t add anything to it.
What moments are you going to focus on?