Marketing Pilgrim

Everyone knows about Twitter. Every news outlet on TV and elsewhere encourages viewers to follow them on Twitter. Every brand from the Main Street SMB to the top of the Fortune 500 asks people to “Follow Us on Twitter!”

Yup, everyone KNOWS about Twitter but how many people actually use it on a monthly basis doesn’t inspire the same “Twitter is everywhere!” response. Look at this chart shared by eMarketer that shows the incongruence between awareness of Twitter and the actually numbers using the service. Note that the usage number is based on someone having EVER used the service vs. someone using it regularly.

There are two ways to look at this. One is that Twitter has a lot of room for growth and that’s a good thing.

What if a bunch of dentists predicted that there would be a 50% increase in the enjoyment of root-canal surgery by 2015, would you believe them?

Or, telemarketers told us that there would be a 50% increase in the number of people looking forward to being called during dinner. Sound reasonable?

How about if politicians told us that we’d happily donate 50% more to their election campaigns because of an increase in trust?

No? Not buying any of that?

Then you’re likely not to believe Google when it predicts that…

Engagement rates across all display ads will increase by 50 percent. As ads become less cluttered, more relevant, more engaging and more attractive, we’ll see the rate at which people interact with display ads (such as watching videos or playing games) increase dramatically.

For years, moms across the US took a break in the afternoons to watch the soaps on TV. It was their “me” time while the kids were in school and their husband was at work. A time to relax and drift away to another world where they didn’t have to worry about bills, dinner or family squabbles.

Now, says Jay Samit, CEO of SocialVibe, they turn to social gaming instead. He says social games have become the modern “Calgon Moment” for busy women who often feel life spiraling out of control around them.

“Now she can have the perfect farm or restaurant, a world that’s in order and it’s a very peaceful experience. That’s what killed the soap opera.”

Older generations often think of the younger generation as frivolous, fun-lovers who don’t know the meaning of hard work and sacrifice. Ask that younger generation how they see themselves and you’ll get a whole different answer.

The McCann Worldgroup has a new study called “Truth About Youth” and it’s essential reading for anyone marketing to millennials. 7000 young people from around the world were asked questions about what they value in life, how and why they connect with others and how they want to be viewed by others.

The concepts that popped up most often could all be categorized on the same page of the thesaurus: honesty, truth, authenticity, genuine. This crowd can spot a fake without ever looking up from their iPhone and that’s bad for brands who think they can reel them in with hype and hoopla.

The role of the CMO in the new world marketing order is one that is constantly being redefined. We took a look at how HubSpot is trying recently and found that there is no real ‘template’ for this position. That’s a bit disconcerting if you are a CMO but very encouraging if you aspire to become one.

Forrester has put together a paper called “Thought Leadership: The Next Wave of Differentiation in B2B Marketing”. Geared for the CMO and high level marketing professional, it looks at how thought leadership needs to evolve from its current state in order for CMO’s to be relevant and impactful to the bottom line of their organizations. From the looks of things this is not your father’s CMO.

One thing you can’t accuse American business of is not trying during this economic train wreck we are still in. If you want to believe the rhetoric that we are in some form of a recovery that’s fine. Let me know when the unicorns and rainbows you ordered arrive as well.

MerchantCircle has put together their latest “Merchant Confidence Index” report and the findings are, as always, interesting. Of course, since MerchantCircle deals with the SMB world and would love to see everything ‘cooking with oil’. From what is reported, it’s not. (We are waiting on a link to the report but in the meantime you can read the press release.)

Here is a look at the SMB’s view of the economy.