For any marketer who wants to get a better handle on their personas, and optimize their journey, user testing is the way to go.

In this episode of AMP Up Your Digital Marketing, Glenn Gaudet speaks with Michelle Huff, CMO of UserTesting. They sit down to discuss the benefits of user testing and why it’s more important now than ever.

* Building your buyer persona based on data and intuition is limiting because you’re missing the why behind your customers’ decisions.

* User testing helps you connect and empathize with your customer base. By getting feedback directly from members of your target audience, you can optimize the customer experience.

* COVID-19 has drastically changed the way people live, and it’s forcing brands to relearn their customers — their new behaviors, needs, and buying habits.

As a marketer, buyer and customer personas are vital in understanding your audience, but here’s where they often fall short: They’re primarily driven by intuition and data.

“As marketers, we’re trying to make sure the message, the campaign, and the conversations we’re having resonate, but it’s hard if you think about who you’re talking to as just this static persona,” explains Michelle Huff, CMO of UserTesting, a usability and testing platform.

Empathizing with and relating to Suzi, a mother of three with a household income of $120,000, will be easier if you sit down and have a conversation with her.

Besides, COVID-19 has upended the way everyone operates, so chances are, Suzi’s habits, needs, and behaviors have drastically shifted in the past several months.

But instead of relying on that gut feeling or those two-dimensional statistics, user testing can help you better understand your audience. Michelle joined the AMP Up Your Digital Marketing podcast to talk about the benefits of user testing and how companies are using it to pull through COVID-19.

But first: What is user testing?

User testing is an exercise where real humans test various products, websites, apps, and services.

When you think about user testing, you might picture someone behind their computer, clicking around on your site and identifying glitches. But user testing can be way more extensive. Companies can get real third-party feedback on their designs, messaging, and user flow.

“You can find exactly who you’re wanting to target and really send them through an experience,” Michelle says. “You can see what they go through and hear their thoughts out loud and how they react to your products, your app, your website’s prototype, and your content campaigns. You can really start using the voice of the customer and making decisions.”

Understanding the why: The benefits of user testing

Don’t be mistaken: Quantitative data is still important, but oftentimes it’s lacking the why, which you can discover through user testing.

Sure, you can test A versus B and find the click-through rate on A is 0.5% higher, for example, but you’re missing context. What if B was downright confusing, so naturally A won — even if it wasn’t that effective?

The feedback you gain from user testing can help you escape this vacuum of data and better understand the why behind your customers’ decisions.

“I just feel like if you can be curious — try to figure out why it’s happening that way, why are there problems, why are there concerns, why are there issues — that leads you to a better path of understanding and empathy, and you just create better results,” Michelle explains.

User testing also helps you bust your own bias.

Business intelligence software firm Domo had been planning its March 18 Domopalooza conference for nearly a year. About 3,000 customers and partners were expected to flock to Salt Lake City for four days of technical training and meetings, capped by a concert by the Black Eyed Peas. But as quarantines and lockdowns began sweeping the world in late February, Domo made the tough call to take the conference virtual, with just 12 days to make the shift.

Chief Strategy Officer John Mellor spearheaded the shift. In this interview he summarizes the rapid series of decisions Domo had to make to pull off a successful virtual event that ultimately attracted more than 12,000 visitors. There are more details in this story Paul wrote for SiliconAngle.

Mellor turned a three-day event into one 90-minute plenary session that mixed live conversations with pre-taped segments, along with a series of dozens of break-out sessions that could be streamed on demand. He focused on delivering great content, driving a higher attendance and better engagement through a well-defined user community. He also saved a bunch of money, even after paying the no-show fees for the various in-person aspects of the event. In our podcast, he discusses his decisions and why he expects to take a “virtual first”  approach to future events.

Episode 43 of Circle of Fellows — back in March 2019 — addressed the communicator’s role in supporting their companies’ diversity and inclusion (D&I) efforts. The topic has undergone a dramatic transformation since then and, notably, since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Suddenly, companies that had merely checked the D&I box are revisiting their commitments and introducing more meaningful policies and practices, in addition to taking direct action.

IABC revisited the topic in the August episode of Circle of Fellows. Five IABC Fellows — Priya Bates, Neil Griffiths, Todd Hattori, Rajeev Kumar, and Brenda Siler — joined moderator Shel Holtz for an updated conversation about the communicator’s role in evaluating and promoting D&I; including best practices in language and visual representation.

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

Neil Griffiths, ABC, Chart.PR, IABC Fellow, is Senior Manager, Global Communication & Global Inclusion Lead at ERM, the world’s largest sustainability consultancy. Neil has worked in communication management for 15+ years in public, private and non-profit organizations. Neil is a serial volunteer and has held a number of leadership positions on global committees within IABC, including the inaugural Global Communications Certification Council. Neil was Chair of the 2018 IABC World Conference to be held in Montreal in June 2018. He has been recognized with awards for his leadership within the profession, being made IABC Fellow in June 2019. Together with co-author Deborah Hinton, Neil has published two studies on the current and future state of the communication profession and has spoken on the topic at several conferences. Neil holds the Freedom of London and is a member of the Company of Public Relations Practitioners.

Todd Hattori — After 20+ years of leading in-house communication functions within a variety of organizations and industries, Todd “Tosh” Hattori, ABC, IABC Fellow was drawn to the consulting world by PeopleFirm’s core business philosophy: your people = your success. He leads PeopleFirm’s organization design community of practice, engaging and collaborating with cross-functional teams to address business challenges by designing solutions with their people in mind. Outside of his client work, he serves on the volunteer board of directors for the Technology Access Foundation, a national model / leader in providing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education to students of color; and improving teacher diversity and retention of teachers of color in Washington. He currently serves as the IABC Ethics Committee vice chair.

In a career spanning roles as a colonel in the Army, a Ph.D. in organizational communication (Fulbright Fellow) and professor in a business school, a communication consultant, teacher and trainer, Rajeev Kumar is an author and recognized speaker with a significant profile regionally, across many cultures and languages. Rajeev has a strong commitment to the profession and IABC, demonstrated through local and regional and international leadership roles. Rajeev’s work and references reinforce his commitment to the IABC values and he is a brand ambassador for the association in all aspects of his professional life.

Brenda C. Siler is a journalist and public relations strategist. She is currently director for partner relations for 2020 Census at Quantasy + Associates....

Here I am…trying to figure out how I’m going to be a second grade teacher, ESPECIALLY because I thought I retired from teaching on June 6. Alas. Here we are again.

While I rush around like a crazy person trying to put together last minute plans, you get to enjoy an episode of the Agency Leadership podcast, which I co-host with Chip Griffin.

In this episode we talk about how we can offer services, such as social media, community building, and crisis…and still be able to have a life, sleep, and perhaps even become a teacher.

It should help you think about how to set boundaries and expectations—and how to reframe the conversation with an executive.

How Do We Do Our Jobs in a 24/7 Media Environment?

On this episode, Chip and Gini explore how to handle clients who want around-the-clock social media management or other services that require major staff commitments — and would prove to be quite expensive to offer.

As is often the case, this question originated in the Spin Sucks Community, where an agency leader said he had stopped providing social media management services:

We used to offer it a few years ago but continued to run into expectations issues with clients. Mostly our clients wanted our team to be 24/7 on and often they would not approve our content fast enough … To give the clients what they needed / wanted, we would have had to charge more than they were willing to pay so we stopped offering it to avoid losing clients.

This is a challenge that many agencies face — especially in a 24/7 media environment.

Chip and Gini discuss strategies for handling these situations, and also explore other lessons that come from requests like these.

The co-hosts also give a shoutout to Shel Holtz who recorded the 1,000th episode of the For Immediate Release podcast.

Enjoy!

You may have heard this before, but this year has been unlike any other, and it has forced marketers to boost their digital marketing efforts.

In this episode of AMP Up Your Digital Marketing, Glenn Gaudet speaks with Winfried Schultz, VP of EMEA Marketing at Teradata, a provider of database and analytics software and services. They discuss the transition to stronger virtual and digital marketing efforts from in-person marketing.

What you’ll learn:

* The challenges of transitioning to a strictly digital marketing strategy. 

* How to overcome your digital marketing challenges.

* What marketers can do to make their digital presence more engaging. 

The marketing team over at Teradata speaks directly to the executive offices and high up decision-makers of prospective buyers. This entails a great deal of high-touch and in-person marketing activities, meaning conferences, face-to-face meetings, etc.

Of course, practicing this type of marketing is frowned upon in 2020 thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. During the past few months, Winfried and his marketing team worked extremely hard at moving away from event marketing and meetings towards stronger digital marketing efforts through virtual interactions.

He quickly learned he needed to adjust his strategy, and it wasn’t as simple as offering your conference sessions through a webinar.

Your Digital Marketing Transition Won’t Be Easy

Early the pandemic, it became apparent that face-to-face interactions were not going to be an option for the foreseeable future.

They tested out webinars and forums in an attempt to recreate the experience of a roundtable in a digital setting. But, it just wasn’t working. Winfried points to the short attention spans that people have with digital content, so your digital marketing efforts have to adhere to cadence, storytelling, and suspense.

“We have to get the point across much, much quicker,” Winfried said.

When people watch YouTube videos, they’ll switch to a new video within 10 seconds if they aren’t entertained yet, so your content needs to grab their attention.

Take a Multilayered Approach

You can’t replace a face-to-face meeting or a networking experience from a conference through any kind of virtual setting.

“The buzz from a live event is different,” Winfried said. “It’s impossible to recreate that. You have to play to other senses and attention spans and interests.”

You need to be a bit more sophisticated and strategic in your digital marketing approach. It needs to be multifaceted with multiple channels.

“Blasting out a list of emails doesn’t really work very well in this environment,” Winfried said. “You have to reach out to people directly and indirectly. You need inbound tactics for thought leadership development. You have to train your organization for social selling a lot more. What was a ‘nice to have’ is a prerequisite for business.”

No matter the channel or format that you use to engage with someone, you need to give them easy opportunities to engage with you to keep them interested. Find ways for them to participate and give them opportunities to raise their hands, like online polls.  If doing a webinar, use a moderator to help with interaction. You want to keep calls conversational. Make it a back and forth interaction, much like you’d have if you were in person.

Be Prepared to Meet

When you have a contact willing to get on a call with you, you need to be ready.

You have to do your homework. Who are they? What do they do? How big are they? What problems are they trying to solve? People don’t want to spend their time filling you in on this. They want to get the answers about what you can offer, not give you answers about what they do.

The August 2020 episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report features Neville and Shel discussing…

* Twitter’s new conversation settings (which are not an assault on free speech)

* Instagram’s terrible attempt to duplicate TikTok

* What the coronavirus pandemic will do to our homes and offices

* How the pandemic is reshaping our approach to social media

* Google’s pandemic-related additions to travel searches

* Amazon Web Services lets brands integrate livestreams into websites and apps

* Dan York’s Tech Report covers the release of WordPress 5.5, the TikTok war, the war against app stores, merging messengers, and the demise of Flash

We are hosting an FIR Communicators Coffee Break on Zoom each Thursday during the stay-at-home period at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials, contact Shel or Neville directly or request the credentials in our Facebook group or send an email to [email protected]. Spread the word to your communications community.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

Links from This Month’s Episode

* The Immediate Future podcast

* Politemail’s third consecutive year on the Inc. 5000

* Politemails Michael DeRoschers on telling stories with data

* New conversation settings are coming to a tweet near you

* We Tested Instagram Reels, the TikTok Clone. What a Dud.

* Instagram is Reels Complicated Now

* Instagram Creators Say They’re Not Switching to Instagram Reels, Survey Finds

* This is what coronavirus will do to our offices and homes

* With virtual meeting burnout, can companies be remote forever?

* Longing for the days of hallway conversations

* A PwC exec says the global disruption has accelerated the future of work by 5 to 10 years

* Companies Start to Think Remote Work Isn’t So Great After All

* The Office is Far Away. Can Its Culture Survive?

* Schroders to allow thousands of staff to work from home in milestone for City

* Tired of Zoom calls?

#446: John Vuong and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Be seen by a huge audience online by elevating your digital presence. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert John Vuong https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/, who is the founder and president of Local SEO Search.

John works with small business-owners to help them rank on Google and grow their business organically.

If you are a local-based service business that’s not getting found and is not getting the traffic that you need to get, you’d want to talk to John Voung at https://www.LocalSEOSearch.ca/.

Here are a few AHA messages from this episode:

* Local-based service business owners that are not found should see the work being done by John Vuong at https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/. #DigitalPresenceElevation

* Running a business is so important. But some are forgetting a huge audience base who are looking for services and products on a regular basis online. https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/ #DigitalPresenceElevation

* Service-based business owners are so busy running their businesses for 12-14 hours a day. When people have no time to get their message across on a digital platform, that’s when we step in. https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/ #DigitalPresenceElevation

* We partner with business owners to take care of their digital presence thru 1) Website; 2) Social media; 3) Blog writing; and more. We build their authority and expertise in the online space. https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/ #DigitalPresenceElevation

* Before starting my company 7 years ago, I had already been working in the online space for 10 years, helping small- and medium-sized businesses with their advertising and marketing. https://www.linkedin.com/in/John-Vuong-205b2917/ #DigitalPresenceElevation

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, go to: https://thoughtleaderlife.com.

 

#447: Virgilia Virjoghe and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Expand your audience and increase your revenue with consumer-centric strategies. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Virgilia Virjorghe (https://www.linkedin.com/in/virgiliavirjoghe/), Brand Strategy & Marketing Consultant, Media Contributor, and Author.

Virgilia is a quadrilingual multi-channel strategist who pioneers a holistic lifestyle marketing approach via consumer-centric strategies and revenue-generating partnerships focused on Beauty, Wellness and Medical field integrated with Technology and Media. She is a revolutionary strategist and brand expert who understands people’s connections and aligns a team’s interest with a clear objective.

If you have the right brand strategy, but somehow, the consuming public doesn’t have a clue because there’s a disconnect with how you use the platform, you may consider reaching out to Virgilia Virjorghe by visiting her profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/virgiliavirjoghe/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Anyone who struggles in delivering a message effectively via social media platforms should reach out to Virgilia Virjorghe. https://www.linkedin.

#442: John Bartold and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Build a relationship-motivated brand strategy that delivers customer satisfaction and financial returns. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert John Bartold (https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnabartold/), connector, visionary, master builder, and Brand Architect at PIVOTL cx, where he is the design-thinker behind some of the most loved and lauded loyalty and engagement programs in the market such as Dunkin Donuts Perks, Walgreens Bounce Rewards, and Domino’s Pizza’s Piece of the Pie Rewards.

John is a natural architect with the innate ability to converse fluently across all business functions within an organization with a common goal. He leads teams across technology, analytics, project management office, data enhancement, creative, consulting and finance to set a vision and lead by example in bringing opportunities to life. John  is passionate about bringing out the best in brands in building deeper, more meaningful relationships between consumers, associates and brands.

To learn more about John Bartold not just about designing a program for your brand but helping you think differently how you do business that builds relationship with your consumers, visit his website https://www.linkedin.com/johnabartold/ or email [email protected].

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* C-level executives from branded companies that have shallow relationships with their customers and want to get past that should reach out to John Bartold. https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnabartold/

* Brands out there have great products and services. I can teach you how to communicate what your brand stands for so consumers get to know more about you and what your company is all about. #BrandConnection [email protected]

* What is your #BrandConnection to the community? My role is to help increase awareness by linking your consumers to your brand, seeing new business perspectives aligned with the mission and vision of your company. https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnabartold/

* I have extensive knowledge of CRM and loyalty tech solutions that gives me credibility to provide consultation and program design services on what best practices to employ relating to excellent customer experience. #Brandconnection [email protected]

* It is important to build #BrandConnection and a good relationship with your consumer base. How are you consistently communicating your brand to your employees and consumers that brings in revenue to the company? https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnabartold/

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

 

#443: Cheryl Moses and Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility Episode

Leverage your brand to grow your business by connecting and showing up with authenticity. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Cheryl Moses (https://www.linkedin.com/in/cheryljmoses/), CEO of Mogul One Media, digital marketing expert, web designer, writer/blogger, brand strategist, and partner to ambitious entrepreneurs, coaches, and course creators ready to confidently scale and build a profitable business.

Cheryl is passionate in connecting the dots to generate more profit, influence and exposure for her clients pushing them to stand out,...

Lauren Vaccarello’s first year as CMO of Talend has been about resilience, psychological trust and safety, along with frequent quick pivots. The former marketing executive at Salesforce.com and Box and host of a Mission.org marketing podcast has had to adjust to working with an entirely new leadership team, leading a full company rebrand (and a second rebrand thanks to COVID-19) and transforming a planned in-person event to a worldwide series of virtual events fielded across three continents in a single day.

In the process, Lauren has learned to think on her feet and how to rewire marketing in this brave new pandemic world. In our interview, we talk with her about the changes COVID-19 has wrought in the B2B world, what marketers still need to learn about digital marketing, how B2B is affected by the surge of e-commerce usage in the consumer world and why Talend is so transparent about pricing (its page is a model of clarity that every SaaS vendor should follow). She also tells why she is excited to be working for an all-female leadership team and the collaboration and shared responsibility they bring to the table. It’s something other Silicon Valley firms could learn from.

As is the trend for August (OK, it’s my trend because 2020 sucks), I am doing a cross-promotion of the Agency Leadership podcast, which I co-host with Chip Griffin, every Tuesday.

I am lazing about in our inflatable pool and playing “onion” with my small child (a pool game she made up).

And you? You get to enjoy bickering between two people who act like they’ve been married for a gazillion years—and you might actually learn a thing or two, as well.

In this episode, we talk about how to create non-traditional revenue streams.

Many of you know I’m a bit fanatical about this topic.

I believe every one of us, business owner or not, should not rely on one revenue stream.

For some, that means you have ways to make money outside of your paycheck and for others, that means you sell something other than agency services.

You’ll get lots of ideas in this episode. Enjoy!

How to Create Non-Traditional Revenue Streams

Chip and Gini discuss non-traditional revenue streams for PR and marketing agencies.

First, the pair address tax law changes related to meals and entertainment expenses—something that affects many agency owners.

Next, Chip and Gini look at how agencies can go beyond retainer and project revenue to find opportunities in education, training, products, and software.

They also explore the pros and cons of partnering with startup companies in exchange for equity.