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It’s about time we start re-inventing direct marketing. How not to get distracted by technology while using technology.

Polle de Maagt (@polledemaagt) for Spring Global Mail

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Hello. I am Polle de Maagt.

I failed in most things during my

life (including being a rock star) but am still

trying to reach world domination. This time

by helping companies change. Change to

a company that is about consumers and

driving conversations.

Guess that makes me a change agent.

Guess that makes Nike, KLM and Telenet

my clients of change.

Introducing: B&B ‘Il Giglio d'Oro’ Brilliant direct marketing machine

A simple, small and targeted message ... At the end of your visit, the owner Eduardo, will ask if everything during your stay was ok. And if you would do him a favor and write a review on

… with a tremendous return on investment. Il Giglio d’Oro was ranked number 8 of all B&B’s in Europe, number 1 in Florence and had a 97% approval rate.

A lot of things happened.

Nothing changed.

Honestly, sentences like the world has changed, power has shifted to the consumer, increase your share of conversation, consumers trust each other most, shifting power from marketers to consumers, marketers are no longer in control, social media strategy and learn to lose control make me puke in

my mouth a bit.

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And it’s not about being on Facebook. Or Twitter. Yes, Twitter is huge. And Facebook even bigger. But they are both platforms, not end

goals. So it really is about if and how both can help you reach your end goal. Which is

most likely not about having a Facebook fan page and more about driving

conversations, customer retention, sales or brand value.

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It’s not about being a big brand. With big brands come big problems. Never look

for an excuse in just being a small company with

little budgets. When it comes to connecting with

consumers, real relationships work. And size, for

once, doesn’t matter.

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And it certainly isn’t about being the first mover in adopting new technology. Mobile, augmented reality, location

based services are all just awesome.

And yes, there is PR-value in being the

first Augmented Reality bakery in your

neighborhood. But is that really what

you want your consumers to talk

about?

What IS it about?

Hygiene levels are getting higher. Exceeding expectations is getting harder. Tolerance for mistakes is getting lower

Advocacy is the new retention is the new acquisition. Reach is more and more built by consumers. So fuel them with stuff worth sharing.

We’re going from a consumer life cycle to a conversation life cycle. Who are your best customers? The one that pay the most or the ones that talk the most?

Faster communications. Twitter, Facebook, email and text messages make communication extremely fast.

Simple collaboration and chat tools take it even further.

The world is getting 24/7 and realtime. KLM helps customers Monday to Sunday from 8AM to 11PM. That

is almost a 24/7/365 realtime customer support center. Imagine the

implications for your organization.

With new tools come new ways of measuring success. Try measuring the Net Promoter

Score to see how likely it is that your

colleagues will recommend your

company.

But most of all: the real fundamentals never

change.

“ “ Advertising is the fee for

being unremarkable.

Robert Stephens (GeekSquad)

I love this one, just because it’s so true.

It’s about committing acts, not ads. Don’t talk remarkable, act remarkable and capitalize on the stuff you’re already doing. Like KLM with it’s KLM Surprise campaign.

KLM KLM Surprise

It’s about un-technoligizing technology, about acting human. Zappos does an amazing job in making

technology invisible and really

understanding consumers.

(Thanks Steven Verbruggen for the tip!)

Helping people helps. You might be surprised that 11% of all organizations doesn’t answer

customer emails. Even more when you know that exceeding customer

expectations builds loyalty (81% repeats, 63% recommends) and falling

below customer expectations erodes loyalty (5%/71%).

So start helping.

Focus on emotional connections. Emotional connections build a buffer for possible negative experiences.

The power of employees and company culture. Employees are your ambassadors. All the advertising in the world can’t buy you great employees and a remarkable company culture.

Convenience and simplicity. Just make it work.

Facilitating ownership. Capitalize on the stuff you’re already doing and make people feel part of it. Like the Antwerp Zoo did with the birth of Kay Mook: 300K extra visitors.

Create stuff worth sharing. LinkedIn is extremely

smart in creating

personal, relevant

messages that are

extremely worth sharing.

Expectation

Over-delivery Makes positive conversations

Over-the-top-delivery Makes negative conversations

Under-delivery Makes negative conversations

Delivery Gives no reason to talk

Be maniacal about managing expectations. Under-promise, over-deliver in everything you do. Not only towards customers but

also to your colleagues.

That really means we have to re-invent direct

marketing.

Here’s a hint of where things are going.

A paradigm shift, as some gurus would call it. But joking aside, there is indeed a huge shift in the way we will be doing

direct marketing.

Swedish Postal Service Magical Christmas Cards

Swedish Postal Service: Send happiness by the meter. Send a special personal card to friends.

Bpost SMS Card

Zappos doesn’t sell shoes, it delivers happiness. Customer service and great logistics do the rest. A small story about free shipping. Oh, and read Delivering Happiness.

The best advertising started to have nothing to do with advertising: Commit acts, not ads. Albert Heijn actually helps people.

Dealification is a blessing in disguise. What do you want your consumers to talk about? About pricing or something else?

However, recognize the lead-potential and social buying mexhanics.

Old Spice The man you could smell like

With change became new and different ways to earn money. Gym-Pact let’s people pay when they DON’t turn up in their gym.

With change came new competitors. Wakoopa once was a geek tool, now a very promising marketing research tool.

You can forget most of the things I said in this presentation. But please, remember these 3 things.

Conversations drive business. Companies that connect with their consumers perform better. So start the conversation.

1)

To drive conversations, exceed expectations and create stuff worth sharing. Don’t plan only for life time money value, but for life time conversation value.

2)

Start with observing, but start with simple ways to drive conversations. Start monitoring, start with pilots and learn while doing.

3)

Read the manual.

Seriously.

Read it.

I hope I was worth sharing.

Send me an email at polle@insites.eu or

find me on twitter at @polledemaagt.

Find the presentation at

http://polle.me/springglobalmail