Um, Professional Cornhole?!; Tips; Oh, and Something I Need to Tell You.

Constant change is one of my favorite oxymorons.  Like marketing automation and professional cornhole, it is maddeningly paradoxical, leading even reasonable and charming people like you swatting at the air and muttering under your breath. The last 15 months of constant change have shown us that the only thing we know for sure is we don’t know for sure.  So the best we can do is constantly learn from constant change.  Full disclosure:  I am a recovering philosophy major so I am wont to uncork similarly intoxicating whines at any time.  That noted, let me share some good sense – tips and learning from our resilient archers who are expertly navigating a complex landscape for business generally and for marketers in particular.

Tips (and Topics)

1. Design for git ‘er dun.  If you know from thoughtful observation, transactional analyses, gut instinct and your know-it-all uncle that your customers and prospects are coming to your digital storefront with a clear, single-minded purpose, you need to plot the simplest, most efficient, frictionless path toward that end.  If they are there to renew a membership, let them do just that without an upsell, a cross-sell, a pop-up, persistent navigation links, your new sizzle video, nuthin’.  Only when they are done with that specific task should you unleash the marketing and sales hounds.
    
2. Re-direct thyself properly.  You might think I am quoting a Shakespearean play here.  You would be overestimating my erudition.  I am using purple prose to lure you into this geeky guidance:  If you are updating your site or building a new one and trying to maintain your natural (i.e., organic, or non-paid) search ranking, you need to understand:  1) Redirecting (via 301 redirect) an old page to a new page that doesn’t contain directly related content will not only not help your search position, it will likely hurt it.  2) Any HTTP page you are redirecting should redirect to a more secure HTTPS page, or the Googlers (yes, they call themselves this) will penalize you, lowering your page rank.  All of this giving you a thumping headache?  Call us or your trusted SEO guru.
    
3. Try micro-casts. Most marketers are more focused on quantity than quality when recruiting for their virtual events.  The problem is they often spend too much to fill the top of the so-called funnel in hopes of getting a third of registrants to actually attend.   And even then, only a quarter of these attendees are genuine, mouth-breathing prospects.  It’s an expensive waterfall.  But what if your event was focused on a small, hyper-targeted audience with a very specific affinity or need?  What if you could invite 75% fewer people, get 75% more of them to attend and get 75% better conversion to opportunity?  We call it micro-casting and it works.  Ask an archer for more info.
    
4. Make sure you are ADA-compliant digital citizens.  Brick and mortar businesses (remember those?) know that they are obligated under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to accommodate the needs of employees and customers with physical and cognitive challenges.  But did you know that digital businesses and organizations may be similarly obligated (albeit, not legally) under WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) to provide digital experiences that are more accessible and functional for those among us who surf the web differently?  In practice, this means providing easily identifiable visual iconography to signal alternative experiences.  It means providing specific color contrast ratios and minimizing knock-out and exceptionally small type.  It means providing directional, specific calls to action and captioning all video elements.  Though it’s not a legally binding direction,  it is clearly the right thing to do and will ensure a more broadly accessible user experience.  And that’s good business.
    
5. Hey, how will you measure Facebook campaigns?   After June 30, Facebook Analytics will be “retiring.”  You can bet that this has everything to do with money, but that’s a rant for another time.  For now, make sure between now and the end of June you and/or your team:  1) Download all of the data from Facebook campaigns you may have been running.  2) Get Facebook Business Suite up and running (probably at a price…) 3) Make sure you continue to access Facebook Ads Manager and Events manager and pull any/all data from there.  4) Consider third party measurement tools like Amplitude.com and Mixpanel.com.  5) Enjoy a cold beverage of your choosing.
    
6. Remember, friend, what you think doesn’t matter.  Ok, this provocative teaser is aimed at those of you who are stewards of your organization’s user experience.  If, when evaluating prospect  journeys and designing pages and you find yourself uttering the words, “I don’t like…” or “I wouldn’t do…,” stop right now and either slap yourself on the wrist or self-impose a 24-hour TikTok ban. Unless you are in your target segment, your personal preferences (read: biases) are not only relatively unimportant, they may significantly impact your site’s effectiveness.
    
7. Things you do not need to test.  You’re welcome.  Testing is complicated, expensive and hella important.  So here’s a gift-wrapped present borne of 20+ years of glorious success and laborious failure: Things you no longer need to test.  A personalized subject line will almost always outperform a non-personalized subject line.  An email sent from an actual name will almost always outperform an email sent from an organization or group.  An animated digital banner will almost always beat a static banner.  A specific call to action will almost always beat a general call to action.  A user-tested site will ALWAYS outperform a site not tested by target prospects.  Want more?  Shoot a flaming arrow into the sky and we will respond.
    

Something I Need to Tell You…

I’ve lured you down here, below the proverbial fold, to simply say I miss you.  I miss seeing many of you in person.  I miss live, face-to-face status meetings, product briefings and check-in lunches.  I even miss trade shows and flying out of New York’s terrible airports.  And no, I can’t believe I just typed that.  But it’s all true and I’d guess even though many of us have enjoyed more time at home with family, we’re ready to re-connect – with non-family members – in a more human, less digital way.  I hope this year continues to bring more than a few opportunities to do just that.

As always, if I can do anything for you – make a connection, share some experience, remind you that a t-shirt and denim cut-offs might work at home, but probably not back at the office – please let me know.

Thanks again for your patient indulgence.

Best,

Jay