Must Market

Beginning of the End - Marty Note
This  Marketing Land report confirms Mark Schaeffer's Content Shock and highlights a few of our favorite rants including:

Burn Your Website THINKING Down
 http://www.curagami.com/burn-down-your-website-3-more-reasons/

and Tactical web marketing, that time when it was possible to beat the crowd and gain competitive advantage is gone too. When your website is simply another marketing tactic and not connected to the bone and sinew of your company, brand or spirit then you will end up talking to yourself about yourself. 

Websites are focused on US (we lucky few web marketers) more often than not. Good luck with that going forward. Tomorrow's website will be focused on THEM (customers) with more ways to connect, engage, empower, and inspire than we can imagine.  

Content marketing is over time to start thinking about and creating whatever is next.  Oh, and content curation will be a big part what's next we are convinced since curation combines creation, support and tribalism. 

http://www.curagami.com/burn-down-your-website-3-more-reasons/

Are Demands The New Rule of a New Marketing?
If experience is the new branding then DEMANDS may be the new marketing. The idea of creating friction in order to demand customers "do the right thing" seems a radical notion. 

A radical notion until you think about how much the SAME everything is, how bland, how NOTHIING. Any purchase is a collaboration, a special dance. As David Edelman describe so well in HBR (http://hbr.org/web/ideas-in-practice/aligning-with-the-consumer-decision-journey ) our new buy cycle is different.

Social media is changing demands made OF brands and now, as @TrendWatching outlines so well in this new report, cutting edge creators (manufacturers, brands companies) are creating exclusive clubs where all need not apply but where demands are the new rule of a new marketing. 

Social media changes buyers as they feel more informed, included and "let in". As the wall between THEM (customers) and US (marketers) breaks down we will search for collaboration and experience. Demand create deep collaborations fast since we (consumers) are only willing to fulfill demands we care deeply about. The bond a "demanding brand" can create run deep fast. Advocacy FOR demanding brands could last a lifetime. 

My favorite "demanding brands" include:
ChrityWater.org
Keva.org
Toms.com

From TrendWatching's examples my favorites are:

Organ Donation in South Africa
Blood donation in Victoria
Buy One Get Half (David Amerland)

@DavidAmerland has wrote about this trend in his What If We Had A New Value System for Goods and Services highly influential post:
http://bit.ly/17qUzdu 

Part of David's "new value system" is a fully informed consumer willing to help reallocate, transform and change by how they spend time, money and social capital. 

 

This original research by Internet Retailer offers insights into whats driving growth in sales conversion among Americas leading web merchants.

Marty Note
Listening to David Payton discuss the cool conversion report FedEx created with Internet Retailer:

1. Free Shipping = top way to convert visitors to buyers.
Some will even opt for a slower time for free shipping. Some want ship to store. Free shipping is "essential" said VP Marketing David Payton at SMB Conference today.

2. Responsive = device agnostic.
The ability to see the site and have the site function across platforms is key. Company in David's slide deck saw a 40% increase in conversion from responsive design.

3. Email Marketing Still Matters
David's and FedEx's study shows email is still very important. Persoans and personalizing emails is key. No more batch and blast.

4. Ratings and Reviews
Ratings and reviews boost online sales 62%. David referenced a Bazaar Voice review. Add one product review = 10% product review. From 0 to 30 increase 30%, 0 reviews to 100 = 37% sales increase.

5. Loyalty
Easier to sell those who are already in the boat. Make sure you value and reward those who are loyal to you.

Why is a headline great? What content is viewed most? The Scoop.it Cool Content Curation Report answers these questions to improve your content marketing.