Market to One Person, Not a Crowd

Are you marketing to a blur of indistinguishable faces, or to 47-year-old Charlie in Seattle, who’s concerned about finding the right options strategy for his 4000% $NVDA windfall? When you view your audience as a fuzzy crowd, you risk wasting both time and money trying to reach them. Podcast clip:

Get a rifle and narrow your sight. (As you know we write for people who sell considered purchases or services to a discerning audience; not mass market products. If you’re selling Doritos or sedans or iPhone chargers then the shotgun approach may be effective.) More on that:

Rifle vs Shotgun Approach in Marketing (the classic metaphor):

The shotgun approach in marketing aims to reach a broad audience through mass media, generating many leads at a lower cost but often with less precision in targeting. The rifle approach is more strategic, aiming precise content at a narrowly defined group to drive higher-quality engagement and conversions.

mini-podcast: Market to One Person, Not a Crowd

Play on Apple // play on Spotify // or play everywhere else via Podlink.

Content marketing landscape:

Consider the vast amounts of content online along with how much people actually retain:

1. 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day. (A staggering amount we can't really comprehend.) Source: Exploding Topics, June 2024

2. The Forgetting Curve: “Some studies suggest that people forget about 50% of new information within an hour of learning it. That goes up to an average of 70% that's forgotten within 24 hours.” Source: Indigene, Understanding the Science Behind Learning Retention​

The smart, targeted content creation approach:

If you're creating content in hopes of achieving a business outcome, be thoughtful and specific (use the rifle, not the shotgun):

• 💬 your message (we love the Verb-Your-Noun copywriting framework as shared by Clay Hebert)

• 👩🏼‍🦰 your avatar (target persona, a face)

• 🛒 your CTA

• 📈 your goal

Because it's truly a sea at this point. Have a clear picture of exactly who you're marketing to (avatar), whether you’re advertising or doing organic content. You may have two or three avatars; write to one at at time. Make separate content for separate avatars. (Btw, Hubspot is a good tool for segmenting content.) Otherwise you're like the Land Rover Defender and diabetes medication commercials played back to back 242 times in a row over months of re-watching The Sopranos on MAX. (Anecdote explained more on the podcast. Both were a waste of CPM.)

In 2024 we don't need to do the spaghetti at the wall / shotgun thing in marketing, especially not for considered purchases.

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In-Car Voice Assistants and Billboards - What's Next for OOH

Voice assistants in the connected car could be a boon for billboard advertising.

How many people use voice assistants in the car?

Total in-car voice assistant users in the U.S. is almost 130 million with 83.8 million active monthly (as of January 2020).

• This total reflects a 13.7% rise in users from September 2018 to January 2020 and is more than 45% higher than the number of smart speaker owners.

• About 51% of U.S. adults have used a voice assistant while driving and about one-third have become monthly users. (Via Cerence and Voicebot, 2020)

Are billboards still effective?

• 37% of drivers report looking at an outdoor ad each or most of the time they pass one (Arbitron National In-Car Study, 2009)

  • 58% learned about an event or restaurant they were interested in attending by viewing a roadside billboard.

• Billboard advertising is big money, accounting for $40 billion of global advertising expenditure since 2000 – a figure that is expected to increase by at least 7.6% by 2022.

• 71% of surveyed individuals in the U.S. recently shared that they feel billboard ads stand out more in comparison to online advertisements

Billboards and Effective Short Messaging

First, remember that billboards should have about five words or less.

What’s next for OOH (Out of Home) and voice marketing?

Billboards whose primary aim is branding probably won’t change much. If they’re a mix of branding and DR that is location based, here’s what could happen. Take McDonald’s for example. Their 2018 Cannes award-winning ad campaign where the Golden Arches were cleverly cropped to create direction arrows is perfect as-is. There’s no reason to add a voice command to the billboard unless it would allow pre-order, faster window pickup, or increase the average cart size (which it could). (Remember, the only reason to use voice is when it makes the customer’s life easier or more convenient — not just to check a box.)

“Follow the Arches” Campaign: McDonald’s Creative Billboard. McDonald’s built these billboards to show drivers the closest restaurants. The Golden Arches were cleverly cropped to create direction arrows. This smart minimalist approach won the Outdoor Grand Prix award at Cannes in 2018.

But for the billboards whose aim is direct response (DR): You’re going to see a change from featuring URLs (and hopefully we’re done wasting four characters on “www.”). It will change to a voice-based hint or command, like, “Ask Alexa to order White Claw.” And Alexa will be accessible in the car. It may be Siri or Google. Or we’ll get to that agnostic point where we have a symbol for “Ask” like we currently realize the @ symbol means it’s a social handle on all networks. Example: “Follow us @beetlemoment” - we don’t need to tell you this means Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn - it’s implied. Voice will have that too. Maybe it’ll be a talk bubble symbol instead of the at sign.

Prediction: Within 2-4 years: instead of putting a URL on a billboard, advertisers will display instructions to ask the in-car voice assistant for more information, directions to a location, or to purchase the item right then (perhaps with a discount). This will be done hands-free.

Billboards should have the fewest words possible to convey a simple message that is legible from afar.

Then people will get so used to using voice that the instructions won’t have to be spelled out at all. Over-instructing people would be like saying today, “Pick up your phone and type a search for our brand then tap on the underlined blue text to access the hyperlink.”

In short, effective advertising moves to where people are (i.e. on Instagram, or looking at billboards but using Alexa Auto or Siri / Apple Watch). The ad’s goal is to make it convenient for the audience to understand the message or act. It makes AIDA happen.

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Advertising in 2020: Stats (3 Episode Miniseries on Voice Marketing Flash Briefing)

People wouldn’t mind if 77% of the world’s brands ceased to exist, according to a recent study by Havas. That’s up 3% from 2017.

Photo by Dan Farrell on Unsplash

6.5 minute listen:

Below you can play our three-part miniseries about key advertising and marketing stats for 2020. This aired on Voice Marketing with Emily Binder, our Flash Briefing and daily podcast (links to subscribe are at the bottom).

Episode 1 of 3: 84% Expect Content from Brands

Havas research from 2019 says that 84% of consumers expect brands to create content. But where will you create it tomorrow? Data from Havas’ global Meaningful Brands® 2019.

Episode 2 of 3: 70-80% of Consumers Avoid Paid Search Results

SEM, Your Days are Numbered

70-80% of consumers avoid clicking on paid search results - via Search Engine Land and/or Hubspot / IMForza.

Episode 3 of 3: Videos Are Shared 1,200% More

Videos are shared 1,200% more than text and links combined - Forbes.

Stay on Top of Marketing & Voice, Easily:

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Sonic Logo: Marriott Bonvoy is Missing One Thing

Marriott International's new Bonvoy loyalty program is well-researched and globally applicable. About the name: Karin Timpone and team chose "Bonvoy" because it works in many languages, such as Chinese. This is key for a global brand. That covers the linguistic / text part. But what about the entire sensory brand?

Visual branding for Marriott Bonvoy. What about the audio logo? Marriott Bonvoy combines Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and SPG, February 2019.

Voice Shopping - Market Size

The voice shopping industry is on track to reach $40 billion by 2022. Companies must invest not just in how their brands look and read, but how they sound. Brands need a distinct, recognizable identity on screenless interfaces (voice assistants, smart speakers, etc.)

Ecommerce of all kinds including booking travel will happen through voice more and more, until it is primarily done through voice.

Mastercard for the win:

Recently, Mastercard released its new sonic logo, a beautiful six note sound that has variations for different countries around the world (hear Mumbai version or Cape Town below).

The sonic brand is the sound equivalent of the iconic red and yellow circles. Hear more. It will play every time someone pays with MasterCard. This will diminish the standard two-year learning curve for audio branding.

Can you guess what is missing from Marriott’s otherwise great campaign?

I don’t hear an audio mark. The background music is well done and you could say this is part of sonic branding, which is more overarching than an audio logo. (I would liken sonic branding to marketing as a whole, and an audio logo to advertising.)

Marriott in Warsaw, Poland. Photo credit: Michal Mrozek

Marriott needs a singular audio logo in order to set themselves up for marketing through voice. Reservations will increasingly be booked through voice. In-room voice will present even more opportunities to play a short song, a set of notes that capture the essence of Bonvoy.

Example - future use case: With my voice, I use my Google Assistant to book a reservation through Bonvoy. I should hear an audio logo when the reservation is successfully made. I should hear that same bit of music when I arrive in my room and turn on the TV or pick up the phone to call the concierge. It should play when I open the Bonvoy app too.

Post script from Emily:

As a travel credit card point hacker, I was disappointed to see that SPG and Marriott Club access went away when my Marriott Gold status became Bonvoy Gold Elite. Club access is one of the most beloved perks of this status granted by cards like the American Express Platinum (watch my video about AmEx Platinum authorized user benefits).

Customers in the point hacking world of TPG and friends aren’t happy. Much like Delta Sky Clubs, which are not directly profitable to maintain, the benefit of customer loyalty and delight for the premium experience is worth it in the long run. People love the Sky Club and people loved Club access at the Sheraton etc. I’d be 100% happy with Bonvoy if this Club perk transferred over to the new program without having to upgrade my tier.

Comments about AmEx Platinum Authorized User Benefits, one of which used to be SPG Gold Status with Club access. Watch the video here.

This Week in Voice Podcast - Emily Binder with Jason Fields, Voicify (Season 3, Ep. 13)

Emily Binder joined Jason Fields, Chief Strategy Officer at Voicify, and host Bradley Metrock, CEO of Score Publishing and head of VoiceFirst.FM on This Week in Voice.

Stream the episode here or click the image below:

This Week in Voice Podcast: Guests: Emily Binder and Jason Fields (season 3, episode 13) with Bradley Metrock

Listen on your favorite podcast player:

1. Apple Podcasts (iTunes) - This Week in Voice: Season 3, Episode 13

2. Stitcher

3. TuneIn: on your smart speaker, say:

"Alexa, play This Week in Voice."

"Hey Google, play This Week in Voice podcast."

Timestamps and stories (sources linked):

1) 04:15: Amazon's Super Bowl ad, featuring Harrison Ford, is already drawing positive reviews in advance of the big game

• Amazon is reassuring us that they can be trusted (PR wake)

• “Not everything makes the cut” re: Amazon Alexa hardware

• I love this - very Bezos: Queen: “Don’t Stop Me Now” plays at the end

• Celebrities and testimonial - well cast, diverse (Harrison Ford, Forest Whitaker, Broad City women, astronauts)

• A little creepy

• Transparency about product failure - brands can make mistakes (this is the zeitgeist we’re in)

  • 10:35 - Amazon Alexa microwave

• Clever psychology

2) 11:48 - Siri Shortcuts can be used to steal and send personal data

• Moore’s Law (Jason)

• 15:45 - another Apple security breach with Facetime Groups - microphone on before call is answered

• 17:50 - is Apple’s quality decreasing?

3) Voicebot.AI Story of the Week: Walmart pulls out of Google Express and Google Shopping Actions

• This is about DATA

4) BBC: Are smart speakers good for kids?

• Remember Mattel’s Aristotle, a 2017 Alexa kids smart speaker that never made it to market? Because privacy concerns.

• “Mattel announced on Wednesday that it was canceling plans to bring to market a smart device called Aristotle, which was aimed at children from infancy to adolescence and was set to hit stores in 2018.” -NYT, 10/5/2017

• It’s complicated

5) "Can we create a non-patriarchal, unprejudiced, post-gender virtual world?"

• What is “post-gender”!?

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