Pirate Moves- From Awareness to Extended Action

March 26, 2009 · Comments

duck pirates We’re all fighting against attention clutter. Our email inboxes are creaking. Our media consumption habits (from newspaper to magazines to TV to radio) are all sporadic and random and very hard to track. It takes more and more for someone to capture our attention and convince us to change our course of action.

Let’s consider this to be the continuum: awareness, attention, engagement, execution, extension. I’ll explain all five, and thread into them how social tools can help.

Awareness

Before we can build genuine relationships between would be buyers (and let’s use the term “buyer” to mean the person you want to have take an action, be that a change of religious view, a supporter of public parks, a purchaser of tickets to your event, or whatever the person represents in your perspective) and your would be product (be that an opinion, a service, or what have you), one first must be made aware that there’s an offer of some sort out there. If you’re selling the coolest software in the world, but no one knows that, how are you going to sell it? What comes first is awareness.

Awareness is often purchased through marketing. Ads are bought. Events are planned. Something happens where people are made aware that there’s a new offering in the world. This is often the inorganic part of the process, meaning that an effort to capture awareness is launched through means like buying ads in magazines, or on websites, or against some other type of media.

Content marketing like setting up blogs or Internet videos are an inexpensive way to build out awareness, especially if your buyers are online more than not. What do you put in the videos or posts? You tell stories, genuine stories. You add to whatever the primary marketing message is about the product. Tell it as genuine as you can be.

It’s a way to build information and deliver value to your prospective buyer, and doesn’t cost nearly as much as traditional advertising efforts. Building out special websites or microsites or landing pages falls into the category of awareness as well.

What comes next, once someone is at least marginally aware of your offering, is attention.

Attention

Attention is a bit more than awareness. It means that people are giving you a little bit more of their time. They expect something back for this, be that entertainment, or a perception of value, or a sense of participation. Attention means that they know you’re there and that you’ve made it into their mind (if only a little bit).

Once you have attention, social software is a great way to keep people engaged. If it’s more 1:1 facing, a service like Twitter lets you as a marketer forge even more connections between your prospective buyer and your organization, through sharing and learning about each other. Attention might just mean comments on blog posts, showing that people are responding back and forth to your efforts. Remember to return the favor by commenting on their blogs, and participating in their media, as well.

Attention can also be maintained by continuing to produce interesting content. This might be blog posts or videos or audio podcasts or even the occasional free ebook. There are many ways to maintain and grow attention. It’s also during this phase that it might matter how you spread attention. For instance, if you’re promoting an event, have you created badges for speakers, exhibitors, attendees (or the like) to share? Have you given people a hash tag to use to reference your product or event?

During the attention phase, tools that allow others to share your media and content are very useful. Think about Digg and StumbleUpon and other means of spreading content digitally. Having that in place helps this move forward.

Engagement

Engagement in this case means the sustained interaction between you (or your product or brand or service) and your buyer. If I’ve started researching buying a new car, this might be where I’m not absorbing every little morsel of what you’re telling me about the model. Here’s a great place for social tools to kick in.

I don’t buy cars (for example) based on what celebrities say, but I do read reviews. If your offering had social tools to allow for comments, especially if the comments had some depth or sentiment to them (like Quick Comments, for instance), that would be something. If your site permitted passionate fans to upload their own videos or type in their own testimonials, this would feel engaging, too.

It’s during the engagement phase that you can use tools to maintain two-way interactions. Look for ways to engage in a participatory way. What if I could watch video clips of my specific car being built? What if I could say hi to some of the people on the assembly line making it?

Are there ways you can make your buyers participants? Are there tools that will encourage this two way interaction? That’s what you will want to think about with regards to your offering.

Execution

In this stage, we’re talking about the actual event, or the purchase, or the delivery of information. This is where it all goes down. Execution might be the conference you’ve been promoting. It might be the purchase of a hotel package. It might be the sale of a new car.

While thinking about execution, are there ways that social tools can smooth the process? If you are staying at a hotel, are there online concierge humans, like they have at the Roger Smith Hotel in New York? Can you make your event shine by broadcasting it live on Ustream.tv? Should there be a backchannel, or will Twitter suffice? How many ways can you share and improve that execution moment?

Extension

Finally, extension is a way of moving from what happened to what happens next. For instance, if you sell someone a beautiful new home, why not take a two minute video using a Flip camera and ask them about the process, including asking them for a testimonial? When the conference is over, post up your videos on YouTube (and other places) and your photos on Flickr. Share things where appropriate via the Creative Commons license. Make sure the experience doesn’t end with the execution.

Social software and media making technologies have really made this step easy. A few Flip cameras handed out at a company news event becomes even more footage to use for informational materials. Blogging and live-tweeting a product launch gives everyone a chance to participate, even if they can’t be there in person.

It all amounts to buzz and news that keeps people engaged after the cycle has past the purchasing phase. This translates into new awareness for others, plus a bit of social proof for you around the work you’ve done for someone. These extended actions complete the feeling that your buyer was part of something.

The “Hamburger Helper” of All Marketing

When social software and online marketing are used in the above fashion, they act like Hamburger Helper for your larger efforts. You understand: it’s less expensive and it stretches everything out more. Nothing listed above costs more than a single advertisement placed in a mainstream magazine or large market newspaper.

With that in mind, consider awareness, attention, engagement, execution, and extension as five trigger points where you can deploy social media as part of a larger unified strategy to help improve your marketing efforts.

I didn’t get into details, as this post was pretty long as-is. You’re welcome to add ideas to the post, and/or to ask my any questions. If you have an alternative viewpoint, feel free to blog it, and link back to this post, and we can talk back and forth about it.

What do you think? Did this make sense? Did it change your perspective? What do you think we should explain more? How else can I help?

Photo credit yodel anecdotal


The preceding is part of the Pirate Moves series. There will be five or six of these in the coming days.

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  • Chris,
    This is a great post! My first time commenting on your blog. Thank you, for sharing your knowledge as you've been a great "learning tool" for me.
    Since most points have been discussed in the comments, I'd like to make mention to the "engagement" section.
    It would be very interesting to actually talk to the person working on the assembly line. Transparency moves deeper. I suppose this could make or break a biz brand on one hand, if the job wasn't performed correctly or the person wasn't knowledgeable. On the other hand, the assembly worker would take more pride in the work they're doing, enjoy the interaction with the consumer, realizing that they're not only educating the consumer but providing more strength to the company. Everyone in the company becomes empowered.
    The deeper the transparency, the more likely the business will prosper. As a customer, I would be happy with more information. I suspect that employees would enjoy the interaction that social tools offer.
    I can see how this could apply to many other types of businesses.
    Either way, the use of the social tools allows for deeper scrutiny into the business which in turn offers a deeper sense of stability and security to the consumer.
  • Chris, I am brand new to all of this and can't thank you enough for your insights and clarity. I am already a great fan, although it feels a bit daunting at this point, since I'm already working 80 hours a week.
  • This helps a lot. I think it's easy to get lost in the blizzard of "Just do it" in social media. It's often difficult, in the middle of the blizzard, to remember what we're doing and why. The idea of a home base and a few outposts is important because it keeps us sane. Now the addition of these 5 steps adds more detail and flavor to the process. Knowing this process will, I think, help a lot of people not feel impotent or helpless in the social media arena. it's a progression and it's OK to be at any point in the progression and look forward to the next step.
  • Chris,

    I about to get interviewed on live TV next week about social media. I have been struggling with what to say in 3 minutes or less about social media that would be impactful and get peoples attention. This post helped me to sift thru all that I could say to these 5 points that apply to most any business.
  • You stated that much of traditional advertising is hard to track. I have worked many years in advertising and there are some great tracking methods for newspapers and radio (I never worked in TV so I can't speak to that).

    In fact radio is very trackable via demographics. Each station is like a little house that has a certian demographic living in it. If you want high income males you would go to (in Boston) to TKK and EEI.

    If you wanted 80% women you would check out MAGIC. If you wanted women who were college educated you might want to check out 95.5 FM.

    I just don't want people working in Social Media to duck the ROI question. I feel you can track Social Media (auto dealers have been doing it for years) and when the question comes us we should address it just as traditional media does.

    In fact I would argue that the cost per point for Social Media is far lower then traditional advertising.
  • Chris,

    Thanks for the post. The pivotal step is converting the awareness into engagement. Through an engagement and putting yourself out there, the execution should be fairly easy. Be authentic, be yourself and people will listen. With social media growing, bringing followers or those aware, into a more personal one on one relationship is key.
  • Brilliant Guide and excellent article once again. I agree word of mouth marketing from your friends is a great influence to remember.
  • What I love about you is that you're always taking into consideration The Branding aspect of the online experience. It is true that every encounter online with a brand is either building it or eroding it. I couldn't agree more. Too often we see such an effort placed on the tactic; the transaction; the immediate purpose -- that we forget about the overarching priority in fulfilling our customers' needs. Especially in these lean days, when we all want to have our product stay on the list, this is the only way we'll survive, yes?

    Many thanks. You are a beacon!
  • Awesome article thanks so much Chris, always inspiring.
  • lorrie
    Chris, thank you. I thank you for writing for me. I am not a marketer, I do not have a business (yet).I don't even have a college degree. I find this world of social media and all else extremely facinating and this is one of the few places I can come and understand whats being talked about.
    What I am is a 'buyer'. I'm a mom, among other things that makes me a target for business.
    Though you didn't say it directly, you're right. 'buyers' are getting picky. I know what gets my attention, I know what I'll click off in 3 seconds, I know how to sum up the value of a product/service/etc. very quickly. I skip right over business' that don't immediately offer samples/trials/etc. And I know where to go to find out if this product is really worth the money/time, or at least I know where to go to ask. First and foremost I ask my friends or groups I trust or know to share similar values. (much to the frustration of big business) they don't know how to break into that because they can't. They can set up as many aggravation /review/ social/ blog/ comment sites they want, but we still know its coming from them and we are all starting to not listen anymore. Isn't Yelp totally in hot water right now?

    I will absolutely be more likely to try something that was personally recommended or suggested by someone in a forum or blog that I'm familiar with. But even more I know I will be buying in the future from places that allow me to 'exist' in their space. I don't want to read a bunch of testimonials on the same site thats selling said item. I want to know that it's out in the community, that there is a community to be involved in. Just look at MakeMag/Instructables for a good example.
    *free tip from 'buyer': we are not looking for perfection; we are looking for you.
  • I'm not sure about other markets but my clients who are coaches, speakers and authors seem to have the biggest challenge in the stages of engagement and execution within the context of social media.

    I agree with @DebWorks that stories that take us from Attention to Engagement to Execution would be great models to observe.

    Thanks. I was really looking forward to this series!
  • This is a good road map and I am looking forward to more ideas and tips.
  • Well done Chris. In a traditional marketing "funnel" the phase you're calling engagement is typically referred to as the "consideration" phase. While I think engagement is a better term with respect to social media (as are all of the terms you use) the one concept that's embodied in consideration that's important to note is that this is the phase when a consumer is weighing the benefits of your product/service versus an alternative. This is when it's important (nee, critical) that the messages you're conveying in this "sustained interaction" help someone to understand WIIFM -- what's in it for me? As Seth Godin would say, why should I find your product/service irresistible?

    Too, @mark makes a good point and something I always stress with my clients - how do you empower your customers to become champions of your brand? Afterall, they've just invested in it by purchasing whatever you're selling, so now they have a vested interest in seeing it become more successful.

    Cheers, Alex | @goodchemist | www.goodchemistry.com
  • Isn't this just a sales funnel repackaged!? Awareness -> Leads -> Prospect -> Qualified Prospect -> Sale
  • Yes! Attention is the commodity for the information age. Success and fortunes depend on the management of it more than anything. This post is very valuable, in real, tangible terms, to anybody who really gets it.

    It was quite amazing to see this post in my reader, Chris. I've been thinking along these lines a lot recently (though maybe not with the same level of clarity I see here.

    I think you'd definitely be interested in this.

    Now I feel like Hamburger Helper.
  • I saw a few folks asking about a story that utilized the principal Chris talked about here. I have blogged about a story in where I used all of the steps to engage my community. http://tinyurl.com/cjkyv3

    The social media community is growing rapidly and companies are getting involved quicker and quicker. Take advantage of the remarkable aspect of being able to engage in one-on-one conversations with your customer while you can. Before you know it customers will expect it rather than think it's really cool.
  • Great post! This totally makes sense! I need to focus on the last two components of this strategy to move my business forward to the next level.
  • This is great, but I would recommend the addition of one more stage - Champion.

    What have you done to make the 'experience' so compelling that in addition to posting the flickr video, your 'customers' feel compelled to comment and share the video you posted with friends, and better yet, post something organically.
  • While these have some degree of helpfulness in the execution steps, for the most part it is rather traditional--sounds like using social media with the same old marketing noise. You already commented again on having great content, but when I see the comments by dl and Melissa Ward I see a piece that your methodology here is missing.
    1) I don't think Awareness necessarily has to be "purchased". This point is addressed by David Meerman Scott with World Wide Rave which I feel is largely onto something (though those "raves" are by no means "free").
    2) To Melissa's issue, getting current members to share their positive experiences is not easy. I'm a believer that the ideas from The Tipping Point are accurate and someone set. What I mean is that some people are connectors, some are mavens, etc. There isn't a lot any marketer can do to get people to share if they aren't sharers by nature. But to Melissa's second issue, the need is to utilize those that are willing to share in the most effective way so that it inspires others to join/purchase.

    In my experience, inspiring people to purchase rarely happens from any traditional marketing medium--especially in this time of instant information for everyone. I may recall seeing a new soda on a commercial because I also saw a million billboards around the city for the same one, but I'm only inspired to buy it myself if my friend IMs me and says, "damn, I just tasted a great new soda. You'd love it."

    So how do you move from new product to friends sharing with friends? Give out some free samples to people in office buildings during the middle of the afternoon? Those people are likely to be online and ready to share as opposed to handing out the sodas on the street when they aren't at their computers or are running for the bus.
  • Some really great comments back, and I want to address them, but have a lot on my plate this morning. Let me take a quick swipe at a few.

    This post mostly laid out an execution channel. Yes, content is really important. I can and probably should write another Pirate Moves post about content and the value of content, and why it matters, and how to delete about 80% of the crap on your site.

    Yes, this gets more complex when you stretch this across multiple brands, but not exactly. You can look at one to make the other make sense, if you follow my meaning. Extrapolation isn't "just double it;" it's "take the parts that need scale and set them in motion. I'm doing this with Citrix's GoTo_____ brands, for instance. I intend to do it with a number of Pepsico brands.

    @William - trial is definitely a good piece of the sale. I'd say that's tucked into execution in my model. You can break it out, but I didn't see the social components, except to say, "Make sure you talk to them during their trial."

    @Thomas - fish where the fish are. That's what I say. And no, don't go all over the place. Try to build a home base, some outposts that point to the homebase, and some passports that reference the home base. (Search my blog for outposts).
  • Great post Chris, thanks. I hope that as social media itself matures and companies understanding of it matures there will be a shift in attitude. Most companies I speak to are always looking for a silver bullet, not an improvement of what they are currently doing. The Hamburger Helper analogy is great, SN elongates and expands, it doesn't replace. SN helps what you already do to be more penetrative and sticky.

    You've sowed that seed that SN is about talking with your customers and extending your reach.
  • Hello Scott,

    As always, a brilliant post. Sometimes there is something between engagement and execution. I call it trial. Once someone is engaged, it is valuable to give them a taste so they actually start to experience the value you can deliver to them.

    The 'freemium' model works well here - where your clients get to test drive your offerings without spending too much time or money. This gets them hooked and gives you permission to continue the conversation so they upgrade to more valuable products or services.

    Thanks, Chris.
    Best.
    William
    www.williamarruda.com
  • Great post Chris, thanks for making the process easy to follow!

    The hardest thing is to create great content - I am just starting an initiative for a client who sells kitchens - the idea is to give out a Flip micro or similar with the kitchen and then ask the customer to film the process of the new kitchen going in and tell the story of why the job is being done etc. We will give them a few questions to answer to try and make the content interesting (we are looking for the human stories behind the process). This is clearly going to be fairly hit and miss, but hopefully over time we will end up with a selection of short films for the website, which should be more "real" than anything we could professionally produce.

    The point is to use all your contacts, colleagues and customers to help provide you with content - you could call it crowd content - hopefully the only job you will then have is one of editing and summarising.

    So much to learn...
  • This part:

    "It all amounts to buzz and news that keeps people engaged after the cycle has past the purchasing phase."

    captures it all. Happy customers give the best word of mouth.
  • I'd be curious to know how effective Leo Laportes (TWiT) sponsors do. I find his use use of social media tools most interesting "
  • Knowing what your customers want and need and how to give it to them through online social media tools or more traditional marketing strategies continues to be key building awareness, attention, engagement etc. Thanks for the great insights.
  • derekshowerman
    All I will say is "content is king". Without compelling content to share-everything else is moot! Argh matey!
  • Excellent break down.

    I have been using SN tools to spread the word about our local Rotary district. Battling the stereotype to increase membership has been a challenge. I find that the more members I can get to share their story the more awareness we achieve, but bringing it to the next steps has not been easy. In this case - it's a two fold issue. 1) To convince the actual participants (meaning members) to see the value in sharing their story, 2) To capitalize on the stories that are being shared, to eventually move people into joining a club.

    An organization like this (or any NFP - community service) can put out all the TV, radio, print ads they want - but it will never give people the "why" which is the chief motivating factor in joining. IMO if you put out a good 'why' and you'll have people coming to you.
  • I'm new to all of "this", and find myself intrigued. I'm learning to love "marketing" and "social networking", especially "twitter". Yet, real or not, I sense a dichotomy. Rhetorically speaking, does one focus on one in order to influence another, thereby building a "wave", or does one throw a broad net, desperately hoping to catch one? In my experience, sustained proactive influence and the principle of excellence, one person at a time, seems "real", realistic and fruitful. Is the rest really necessary? What am I missing?
  • When I was in grade 8 (many, many years ago), our class did an exchange trip to rural Quebec where nobody spoke English. It was hard, but in 2 weeks I not only learned French but also a lasting appreciation for French culture that has informed my social interactions (positively) ever since.

    I've been involved in technology for 17 years now, but have only very recently immersed myself in trying to find a sales justification for social marketing. In two dizzying and sometimes disorienting weeks, not only have I found the justification I was looking for, but I'm now beginning to converse in the native language and I'm wondering how I ever thought the sales function could be distinct from the social marketing function in the first place.

    Chris - I now understand why you are a leader in the charge of converts!

    Thanks!

    Don Power http://twitter.com/donpower

    http://twitter.com/donpower</a>
  • dl
    chris hate to be a downer... but you know that you need all these things to be in pre-production and story architecture right? so for the person selling themselves it works...for monetization outside one product...it gets very complicated.

    For you, who gets the steps and the directness that you need (shortest distance between points) it will be easier...problem with web sites right now are

    they are bad. the content tends to be bad or weak 99 times out of a hundred.

    Most need step 1...first...better content. Then they have to understand pre-production and story architecture...then bring these points in (and navigate very difficult waters of product/meme integration...which is much more difficult then most web people realize...network/studio/old media people have been trying to evolve with it for almost a century)

    I have said it a million times over the points are great but those points and you need to be integrated with good content creators and those who understand product/brand/meme/tone/emotional integration into story. That is going to be the key to monetization of the web.
  • An excellent post and I love the way you break things down very simply.
    This is a must especially for new businesses struggling with the process and the overwhelm of doing marketing in the proper way.

    Thank you Chris, for sharing your valuable insight!
  • Love your broad definition of "buyer" and the consistency of that messaging you provide. It's why your Inbound Marketing Summit and Bootcamp isn't just for marketing types.

    The tools are the tools. What excites me about this type of post is that is digs into practice. We all need to refine our skills as practitioners regardless of our goals.
    What I've learned here is to see the cycle of engagement from beginning to end so as not to get to bloated in only one of the phases. I'd be interested in knowing which af the above steps was the one that eluded you the longest.
  • Excellent!

    Great to see which tool to use when in the overall process ...
  • This is an excellent post, and when it's combined with the low cost of making it happen become a very compelling proposition for clients.
  • Deb
    Great breakdown of the five steps to follow. I'd like a story showing the 5 steps please. It's easy to get caught up in the awareness and attention stages. Perhaps a story of moving out of attention into execution?

    I know that stories sell. They also tell. It's easier to see someone thoughts when they tell a story with it.

    Thanks!
    @debworks
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