#BigData could mean #BigTrouble. A post from @econsultancy.

[Extract] "We're quite literally swimming in a sea of data. We have the ability to collect it from every consumer touch point we choose, whether it's website activity, cookies, socialgraph information, direct marketing database, in-store or using other third party tools.

There is no shortage of data, but what does your business do with it all? Is your brand using big data to enrich people's lives? Or is it just used for more "accuracte" ad targeting?

It probably depends on how your business is structured and where you sit, or how you employ your agencies. Do you consider the entire consumer journey, and understand how your product and services enhance the lives of existing customers? Or are you only concerned and targeted on achieving high advertising click-through rates and low cost per clicks?

There is a balance to be struck, and one of the biggest challenges facing brands and agencies today is to ensure they really do have the right intentions at heart. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of using all the insights derived from the various data sources to construct "relevent" marketing messages to interrupt people with the aim of persuding them to buy stuff. This interruption, even if deemed relevant by the business, maybe unwelcome to the consumer and could tarnish your brand.

Read on, if you feel you, as a marketer, may be falling into such a trap. "

Real Time #Social: Planning for the unplanned #InternetWorld2013

Real Time Social and ROI: Capture the moment #InternetWorld2013 from Karl Havard

The #Social Consumer Journey: from a brand perspective...The #Funneloop

There have been a number of consumer and customer journey models, all of which have been very confused and somewhat fudged, since the arrival of social media. McKinsey, GfK, Forrester (with Facebook) and a few others have been doing the rounds for the past few years. #Imho, none of them have actually really grasped an accurate and representative model that includes the social dynamic of people interacting with each other. So, please let me introduce to you the #Funneloop.

 For those of you familiar with previous models will see two subtle differences:

• It combines the funnel (the consumer attrition from awareness through conversion to loyalty) with the Loyalty Loop
• It adds the much missed consumer into the equation. Not a consumer on their own, but consumers in numbers, interacting with each other

The image may be likened to a limb challenged squid, or one of Ricky Gervais' Flanimals, but if you take the time to follow it, it does actually serve as a beneficial framework for marketing and social marketing purposes.

The key factors are:

• The people flowing through the funneloop. 
• Numbers are one thing...you need these of course. 
• But specific audience segments, based around their passions, influence and value is a major, and potentially more important consideration 
• Understanding how they interact with each other is also key
• The amount of attrition throughout the flow, the "leaky pipe", naturally, needs to be kept to a minimum. 
• There will be leaks, so it's worth knowing where these occur, understand the reasons why, and have a baseline measure. This will enable you to see if these become larger than normal at any given time. 
• Product, brand and fellow consumer experience post purchase, which will impact the decisions of those considering purchase. [ZMOT]. 
• The experience will also impact the number of customers (already purchased) who decide to turn right at the "Reconsideration point".
• Minimise the "left turners" and reduce churn rate. 
• Build up advocacy and trust to drive Momentum. 
• As well as the numbers and quality of consumers, enhancing the speed of flow will also increase conversion rates and repeat purchases. 
• Make it easy and a great experience at every touch point for them. Momentum will be stimulated by achieving high degrees of advocacy and trust.

It's important to realise that a brand's social behaviour plays a part at every stage of the funneloop and will also enhance the returns (ROI) from other marketing, when operated in a synchronised manner. 2nd screen with TV and Twitter are good examples of this. You may also see a #Funneloop in an aquarium.

Looks like #PaidSearch is a "goal hanger" and #SocialMedia is the play maker.

Courtesy of Harvard Business Review, the above chart is part of an article outlining how "swim lane" measurement i.e. measuring a channel in isolation, can provide misleading results and ROI. Quite clearly, from this analysis, Paid Search is that player that hangs around the 6 yard box, waiting for the easy tap in and taking all the glory. This makes sense, when you keep in mind that people searching are those with an intent, and towards the conversion end of the consumer journey. Where as, social media looks to be the chap crafting the build up play and making the assists. Full article here.

Wouldn't it be cool if #nikeplus could calculate your possible best. #makeitcount

Like most runners (and I use that term very loosely) there are certain routes I run on a regular basis. Sometimes my times are ok; sometimes I'm blowing like a factory chimney, and could probably walk quicker. However, overtime, each route becomes very familiar and has certain points on the way, where you gauge how well your doing against the clock.

So, wouldn't be cool, if you could overlay the run stats on Nike+ over each other, so you could see where you're quicker, and where you're slower. Maybe even annotate where the landmarks are too.

By doing so, Nike+ could then calculate your possible best time and pace for the route, by showing your best pace, across all runs, at each stage of the route. I've tried, quite badly, to demonstrate this below. So, Nike, if you ever get to see this, please add it to your dev' path. I don't think it would take much effort to make it work, and it would help give every runner that reachable goal based upon their own personal performance.

An example of three graphs, of a short route over-layed on top of each other.

#SocialMedia Love v Respect Matrix: Which platform is a "Lovemark"?

You may or may not be familiar with Lovemarks. This is a concept which came out of Saatchi and Saatchi, and identifies, as best as possible, the characteristics of those brands which become things we love. The idea of "brand" is always in the head (and heart) of the consumer, and therefore, what is a Lovemark to some, maybe something very different to someone else....Apple and Microsoft for example.

One way to grade a brand is to place it within the Love v Respect matrix. High Love, and High Respect making it a Lovemark, where as the opposite (Low Love and Low Respect) makes it is a commodity. The image below fills in the gaps.

I thought I'd choose 12 social media platforms to place where I believe they sit, but also accompany each with an arrow representing the direction of travel. i.e. Where they used to be, say 6 to 12 months ago. The longer the arrow, the further they have travelled. Obviously a matter of opinion, and I haven't given the reasons why I think this (some may be obvious), but it would be interesting to hear others opinion. [The time of writing is a key element here.]

We're all feeling it! Facebook Fatigue.

That feeling of getting a little tired of Facebook, has been validated by Pew Research. An interesting report on the changing behaviours of people towards the worlds largest social network.