Understanding Your Guests

January 4, 2009 · Comments

Disneyland Paris Disney theme parks know more about how humans will flow through their systems than any other organization probably knows about its customers. They know how far apart to space trash receptacles. They know where the rest rooms should be. They understand what makes a family linger in a gift shop versus what moves them to the next potential upsell point. And all of those things are invisible to the typical guest to the park, because after all, you’re there to see Mickey or Jack Skellington or whoever your character is (we all have one).

Can we think this way about our online presence? I think so. And it’s important to realize that, just like above, though I know you come here to experience the content, that I’m thinking about the trash receptacles, the rest rooms, and the gift shops along the way.

Understanding Your Guests

When I write a post like 27 blogging secrets to power your community, I know what will happen. It will be bookmarked by people using Delicious. People will pile on bookmarks, which means that it will reach Delicious/popular. That will trigger it to be picked up by Popurls. Then, several robots, including those on Twitter, will pick that post up, and it will get lots of traffic.

I know this because it’s a list, it seems handy, and you want to go back and refer to it later.

What makes a post like that useful? That one’s fairly obvious. It’s promotion. More people find the blog who haven’t seen it before, and that means I capture more new friends and potential community members to have conversations with.

Are there other traffic experiences where I know the outcome ahead of time? Yes. Here’s a list.

Traffic Experiences in My Park

  • Big list posts – visibility by tons of bookmarks. (see above)
  • Videoblog posts – few comments, but a nice level of engagement. The videoblog posts are a way to show you my human side, which is more of a loyalty experience. I do that so you see that I’m real, and human, and just like you.
  • Posts about sharing thoughts – posts like your 3 goals for 2009 are designed for the community to share and talk with each other. The goal there is for me not to be the center, but the starter. What also happens, as you can see by the 48 trackbacks (and counting) is that people link to a post like that to make sure their post about the same topic is discovered. Trackbacks tell Google that there’s something useful happening over at chrisbrogan.com
  • Posts about software – when I write a piece about something like how I use Twitter at volume, I’m not expecting a lot of comments, but I know I’m going to get lots of eyes on the post. The reason is simple: we’re all looking for ways to improve how we use the web. This sometimes translates to links, but definitely always translates to new community members.
  • Pointer posts (where I write just to link to something else) – do just that. They shunt traffic to places where I want eyes to be. Posts like 8 Marketing Bloggers to Watch in 2009 are written so that you’ll visit those other people, and not stick around the blog. That’s also the goal of any sponsored post I write. I’d rather you check out the sponsor than get into it with me in the comments section.

The Importance of Knowing Your Guests

People want to have a good experience with your content. They want their expectations met. If you come here, you’re hoping that I’ll give you another thought about business communication. Thus, if I write way off topic, I know most times what you’ll do. If it’s a “woe is me” post, you’ll be comforting. If I write a “my family’s awesome post,” you’ll agree. That’s because you and I have built a relationship. We know each other enough to celebrate each other’s successes.

But I know why you come here, and so I never intend to dwell on matters that run too far afield of business communications and emerging technology.

It’s important to build your content, your online experience, the interaction of humans and your digital “stuff” such that your guests have the experience you hope they will with you and your presence.

What do you think about all this? Does the above make sense? Can you see where your own sites and your own material does different things for different types of posts? Am I seeing my own site and your experience with it accurately?

Photo credit banoootah_qtr

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Tagged as: , , , , ,

ChrisBrogan.com runs on the Thesis Theme for WordPress

Thesis WordPress theme

Thesis is the search engine optimized WordPress theme of choice for serious online publishers. If you’re a blogger who doesn’t understand a lot of PHP, Thesis will give a ton of functionality without having to alter any code. For the advanced, Thesis has incredible customization possibilities via Thesis hooks.

With so many design options, you can use the template over and over and never have it look like the same site. The theme is robust and flexible enough not only to accommodate a site like ChrisBrogan.com, but also to enable the site to run far more efficiently than it ever has before.

  • Hi Chris,

    It kind of reminds me of a concept in a book I'm reading about writing a non-fiction book. It talks about writing a book that is "backlisted", meaning essentially a book that will be evergreen in nature, a book that over the years can be referred to over and over, yet still be true and helpful. I think that's a great concept to apply to blog posts, and a great way to engage an audience.

    Cheers,

    George
  • Chris

    The theme park analogy is very apt and since I am in the process of revamping my blog, very timely too.

    I think it is essential to understand one's audience but your own aims are primarily important. Do you want to build a community? Or build a showcase for your 'services' or problem solving abilities for clients and prospects? Or create collateral for activities not directly related to your sources of revenue or to create new revenue sources?

    As those aims evolve,, so should the theme park. Which is why I like the living, breathing nature of web 2.0 much more than the brochureware that some of us (Gen X) experienced first when we made acquaintance of the web.

    Thanks. Interesting post.
  • Interesting, my experiences are similar. My blog's fairly new, but I have noticed:

    - List articles = most bookmarks and comments
    - Posts about software/online tools = most traffic
    - Insightful posts = most comments

    But I hadn't really analyzed my stats vs. comments vs. diggs before now, so thanks for pointing out these trends!
  • Aloha, Chris!

    Great post, and I love the Disney comparison as they truly do have a clear overview of their guests experience at any given time. I've been doing content development since 1994 when I worked for Prodigy Services and have continuously, since then, sought to have a "theme park" environment via multi-media branding. The one thing that trips me up is technology platforms; incorporating them, learning to use them, trying to make good choices and tying them all together. Thankfully, since getting more involved with Twitter, I've run across folks like you and others who are the Disney's and Eisner's of social media. : ) Mahalo nui loa (thank you!)
  • Chris, What you talk about in this post is very similar to the "personality moments" that Rohit Bhargava shares in his Personality Not Included book. I love that what you do everyday is share with us, show your caring personality, and let it shine. Looking forward to more "personality moments" from you in 2009. :)
  • Hi Chris, another great post. Excelent thoughts. It will help me a lot to understand my guests..

    Best Regards,
    Monthiel. I invite you to know my blog.
  • Chris,

    I love how you started off this post. Right to the point and you painted a picture. Just like you said. Knowing your customers and or audience is probably one of the most important things to always keep in mind as you continually produce content and engage your audience. Great stuff!
  • Hi Chris,

    Happy New Year to you! I've only just discovered this blog. I've been blogging since 2006, although I am a writer rather than *blogger*. Anyway, last year already I have been pondering on possibly making videoposts: some of the posts I have on the blog are about art, and I thought it may be good to intercept 'static' video content (e.g. a painting with my voice-over) with 'dynamic' (i.e. me in the frame, talking). I suppose I would do this anyway at the end of the day, but reading this in your post really pushes me to start doing it earlier rather than later.

    Thanks, and good luck in 2009!

    Julia
  • It an interesting experiment to consider what the "typical" profile of blog visitor would or could be, or to generate five types, much as they do in consumer testing. Then while generating content, have those types in mind. Of course, you can identify actual readers and engage them in a way where they fill that role.
  • Here's an example of /not/ understanding your guests you might get a kick out of. I use facebook to communicate with friends, family, the usual. However I use twitter to listen and talk about the mechanics/measurement of social networking. Within minutes of setting twitter to update my facebook status, I received some good feedback.
    Erich, nobody understands a word you're saying.

    and
    who...whaa? me speak simple.

    My guests were right to vote my twitter status off the fb island.
  • @Erich - boy, I know that feeling from time to time. : )

    @Julia - I think "blogger" is a strange term anyhow. It's a medium, not a career. We've just overlaid (or lazied) the "job" of blogger over the tech. I think bloggers are writers of a different kind.

    @Monthiel - I've visited from time to time. Great to see your progression. :)

    @Mark - Rohit who? Just kidding. He's a really great guy. I've bought his book three times.

    @Diana - sometimes, we're just having fun and enjoying the moment, and don't get into the stats part. But then sometimes, we think more on that, and it's helpful too. I like to dabble in each.

    @George - I might have to think about that a bit more. I should do that.
  • Good Morning Chris,

    After the opening paragraph I was half expecting an article on understanding your blog readers by segments, where they come from, what they want and then catering to each one of them.

    Rather it turned out to be an article on the types of "products" you "sell," which is great and useful. However, I'm left a little wanting for insights into how you measure and segment your blog readers. Have you written such a post?

    -KyNam
  • As (almost) always you are right on. Sometimes it is hard to practice some self discipline and stick to your roots (I've certainly been guilty of that). But at the end none of us is competing with the editorial part of the New York Times.
    I enjoy your blog for what its worth: I can relate to what you write. If you start posting about growing bananas in the Carribean I might get lost in transition ;-)
  • Chris - Thanks for the insight. I work for an agency. We have a difficult time figuring out how to write content that will attract potential clients rather than others in the industry. While generating industry traffic is no doubt a positive, the goal of the blog is to increase awareness within our potential client base. We feel like we know our audience and understand them quite well. Now, we need to produce the content they will actually be interested in. A challenge for 09!

    Billy
  • Chris, this is an excellent post - that is obvious. However, it is excellent because you are not only being transparent, but showing that you care for your community.

    I have so much left to learn, but that is what makes life, and blogging fun. I often ask questions of whether I have a "right" to do a particular post. Have I earned my readers' trust - did I build relationship?

    It is good to see that I made progress this year, and so long as there are great advice-giving guys (and gals) like you - I will continue to learn, improve, and hopefully return the love to the community.

    Thanks, and have a wonderful new year.
  • This is something I definitely will think about. Thanks for sharing.
  • Not just understanding guests but treating them with respect and/or respectful of their time.
  • Hey! I was going to comment about how good this post was, but I guess you already knew that ;)

    Happy 2009 people!
  • I do believe that list posts (not yours actually) but in general are a bit gimmicky and not necessarily the things that cause people to subscribe. They can be a part of your post structure but I think encouraging people to post lists isn't the recipe for success as much as carving out a unique voice.

    I agree and have seen similar traffic spikes when I post lists, but actually gain more subscribers on days I post deeper thinking and not merely 20 awesome blanks to help you blank. Just hope your readers don't think that is all it takes (post a bunch of lists) because it isn't. Some of your shorter posts I actually find more useful than the lists =)
  • Thanks for sharing, Chris. It does seem that lists are very popular with readers. It is also a strong or unique headline that seems to pull readers in. If it doesnn't catch their initial attention then they'll often pass.
  • HI Chris--I like it. Lists do indeed get review....again and again. One of my favorite "Listers" is Chris Elliott (www.elliott.org) in the travel category. He's a master at it. TOp 50 Travel blogs you should follow. Follow these top 50 people on twitter. Six things to know before you go, etc.
    And while I think it's important for you to know your guests, I also think it's crucial that your guests know you. These online media are much different than traditional print/broadcast formats. As writers/producers, we have the chance to break on through to new levels of engagements with our guests--I think you're doing a great job.
  • @ Chris:

    I think “blogger” is a strange term anyhow. It’s a medium, not a career. We’ve just overlaid (or lazied) the “job” of blogger over the tech

    I haven't read your blog since its beginning, so per chance you'd had something about it in the past, but if you could consider expanding on 'medium' vs. 'career' in relation to blogging, it would certainly be good. I think it also feeds into what you said about questioning yourself and what you do, and with blogging one can easy lose the sight of what they are there for.

    Thanks :-)
  • Chris -

    Great post (as always!). Made me think of two things:

    1. The importance of metrics. Disney knows everything about their visitors because they're a highly data-driven organization who measure every detail of your visit and feed it into an analysis machine that continuously improves the park experience. Gardening a community is the same: your garden is only as rich as your data. Go beyond the numbers built-into Wordpress (or your blogging platform of choice) and spend some time getting to know Google Analytics. I'd be curious, for example, to see if the low comment posts have a high enough time-on-page and low enough bounce rate to show that people are reading rather than leaving.

    2. I'm commenting from my phone so can't really look it up, but I'm reminded of a story Daniel Burka told during a presentation at meshconference last year. I'm pretty it was about a new building at MIT, and specifically about the paths leading to it across the surrounding lawns. Rather than laying them out in arbitrary or aesthetic lines, they put down no paths and simply surrounded the building in grass. We've all encountered ad hoc paths: a deep, dirt groove through the greenery where the wisdom of crowds says it wants to walk. They waited for some time to pass and then used those ad-hoc paths as their guide for where to put the real ones. The first lesson here is simple: your community will find their own way through your site and will usually blaze the same trails over and over whether you want them to or not. Do you have grass in place to measure it? The second is equally simple but a little more bitter: students at MIT have to go into that building so their need overcomes the "path of most resistence" to create the "path of least resistence". No one has to read your writing and so their determination to undertake grassroots trail blazing will be considerably reduced. That means you, as Community Gardner, have to step up your observation and measurement from pasively watching grass get trampled to actively monitoring and responding.

    Thanks for being thought provoking Chris! That's got to be the longest comment I've ever tapped out on my iPhone but hopefully of value to other people.
  • It is very important to understand your guests. It is difficult to know a lot about your own visitors so it is hard to compare it to something like Disney. They have tons of money to figure out every little thing were people like me are not that lucky.
  • You all give me every bit as much back as I give to you. There are at least 4 blog post ideas in the comments now. I'll get started on them tonight. Thanks.
  • What if I am still trying to understand my OWN self, now I have to be responsible for my guests too? ;)

    Great post!
  • Great post Chris. It's definitely important to understand your guests and use the power of analytical data and traffic data to help give the best reader experience. I've been able to taylor make a number of blog posts related to my content based on keyword traffic and analytics data alone and those posts are almost always a hit. It can always help you develop content you know that many of your readers or people looking for information on your topics are looking for.

    I was amused that you brought up the trash receptacle reference when you talked about Disney. I worked at the house of mouse for five years and one of the things I learned while working for them was how they came up with the spacing. Apparently one day while Disneyland was being built Walt handed a friend of his a piece of candy and then counted the number of steps it took for his friend to open the candy and pop it in his mouth. That number of steps is what is used to space trash cans to help prevent litter. Just thought I'd share that one, because I always found the concept behind it amusing.
  • as always so interesting and, as always, the blogword can seem SO unpredictable.

    I love your notion of the readers as guests and say, at MizFit, that my blog blossomed commentwise when my readers took it on as their own and no longer thought of themselves as guests but part owners....as members (the began to refer to themselves as the bumbling band).

    I really enjoy your videoposts AND doing my own. the feedback Ive received is that my readers like knowing that, every monday no matter the TOPIC, they see my face.

    Carla
  • I'm really glad I saw your tweet today and was driven to read this particular post (whew, you're smokin with the '09 content already!). It strikes me for a couple of reasons.

    One, yesterday I discovered a critique tweet via Twit(urly) someone (whom I hadn't been following) made about a post I'd written several months ago. Their critique was hurtful, but moreover their thoughts weren't directed to me personally and they offered no specifics. So I didn't have an opportunity to engage them in discussion, nor learn really what they felt the piece lacked (for them). Their comment stung, but thankfully I was able to talk myself into accepting that I'd put myself in this space and in doing so, am subject to the good, the bad, and the ugly.

    But I really wish I'd had the chance to learn more about this persons' thoughts. Maybe it would be valuable, maybe it wouldn't be; I could weigh and measure that through discovery process. But I didn't have the opportunity, so their opinion sits there--and I'm unable to potentially improve my content.

    Your observations above are astute and no doubt developed over your years of blogging (and engaging) experience. What I'm learning here is:
    1) being in tune with your audience and their information needs is critical
    2) remember goal is to engage, not talk 'to,' so solicit opinions and even controversy
    3) variety keeps things interesting, and draws new eyeballs
    4) be multi-dimensional and humanize your writing; helps people relate
    5) be sure of your focus, and stand true

    My (late) second reason is this--the humility and earnestness of your writing and content never ceases to amaze me, reinforcing my conviction about community as a brand-builder and marketing mindset. It's my hope that more companies seeking to evolve their strategies pay attention. Thank you.
  • Chris, add one more experience: "And when I write posts like this, I get some traffic/I redirect my readers to my older posts that may have been overlooked. I do it because I know that the majority of my readers don't read each and every post on my blog".

    And besides, it's a pitty that WordPress cant show You how many people started their own blogs RIGHT AFTER they finished reading one of Your posts (has anyone thought of some kind of an WP affiliate link, just to measure it? :). I guess the number would be amongst the highest around the web.
  • Thank you Chris,

    I love the Disney Park analogy and it makes it easy to explain my site's main problem.

    I can't come up with a good navigation plan. I've got some great content, but my visitors don't know how to find the things that might interest them most. It's like walking in the park entrance and having no directions to Pirates of the Caribbean.

    I'll keep plugging away and I appreciate a way to explain it.

    Julie
  • Chris,
    I don't disagree with your comments on what drives bookmarking, traffic, eyeballs, etc, but I feel you might be missing a category... For any blog to be successful, the author has to establish an amount of credibility, thought leadership, etc, and does so by writing those posts that truly cause people to think about the world in a different way.

    I'm not convinced that raw volume of comments is a good indicator of this effect, as people comment on blogs for many reasons, and sometimes the more profound articles (or more profound blogs) may not have the most comment volume.

    Does that type of post fit in? How do you measure how effective it was at causing the readers to truly stop and think?
  • @Steven - That's a great point. Thought leadership is in the same category as "thinking" piece. Here's the thing: traffic-wise, those pieces usually blow. Not sure why, but my posts where I think I've said something really meaningful are always the worst "performers" from any kind of audience point of view. People might like them, but if they do, they tell no one, say nothing, and run away.

    That said, if you don't do things to maintain thought leadership, why should people bother going to your blog?

    Thanks for that perspective.
  • Chris,
    It's interesting because it is a very similar debate to what I see a lot of in analyzing all sorts of marketing (especially longer sales cycle). If you don't establish thought leadership and expertise, your sales will not do well, BUT, the marketing initiatives that generate thought leaderships and establish expertise are almost always terrible at generating direct leads. So, intuitively, we all know we must do them, but the analytics points us away from them as tactics. Thanks for the perspective though from your position in social media, it's interesting to see that a similar model holds...
  • Hi Chris

    Vey interesting concept and analogy. Using a theme park as a mind map for your blog makes great sense from a marketing stand point. I was reading a nother post where the writer used the analogy of a rose garden.

    The great thing about the theme park scheme is there are no long lines to wait in. Either pick the thrill ride or the carousel, evena the ferris wheel will give you a different view. But I just came off the water ride, so which way to the rest room

    Gary McElwain
  • Chris, I thoroughly enjoyed this post. Your analogy regarding blogging and Disney was superb. I have always agreed that it's important to learn from big business - and garner lessons from their success.

    Walt Disney created an empire. Isn't that what we're trying to accomplish in each of our niches?
  • I'm working on building my online presence in the "work happiness" industry. It's a small niche now, but I expect it to explode soon. I'm going into my second year of blogging and I feel like I'm just learning to grasp what my readers want. It's hard in the beginning because there isn't much feedback.

    I think the most important part is watching for the subtle signs that a lot of bloggers miss. A link or a small comment can open a whole area of research and writing you never considered.
  • Hi Chris,

    Knowing the people that visit your blog and what they expect to find and read is one of the things you can do in order to get them to come back. When you experience something that impresses you in a good way you'll most likely want to experience it again. Especially if the person creating the experience is trying to bring something new for you but in the same boundaries.

    In time every blogger develops a certain relation with his readers - but in time. That is why every post you write receives dozens of comments and in my case my personal best is 10 comments. Trust is something that takes time to be earned but once you got it if you play your cards right you'll get only benefits.

    Thank you for your article.
    WebOptimization on Twitter
  • Another analogy that comes to mind often involves bands. If I play my "old favorite" song that made #1 on the charts, then you're happy. If I experiment with new stuff, a small percentage of you are happy. It's a mix game, doing a bit of both, that keeps things growing. Right?

    Look at Sting's LATEST effort, with the lute guy, etc.
  • @Steven - Read this, as I think it touches on what you said

    How not to sell out:
    http://www.skelliewag.org/how-not-to-sell-out-5...
  • These are interesting analogies. The one thing that underlines them all is experience over time.And a certain amount of expertise in knowing what to look for. Both Disney and other companies assess their customers over time and then gear their offerings to those customers. With a blog you can do this too, however I think it's also important to note this happens over time.

    I had been blogging for nearly a year on a range of subjects on my Blog 1. I was always curious about what my stats were telling me - which was that certain posts were getting more attention than others - why?. In this case I looked at time on site and traffic to content rather than comments. I also found that even the way in which I wrote a post could alter the response to it. I discovered a lot of things through reviewing stats.
    and I'm a great believer in using them as well as what's happening on your site. But again: time, experimentation and patience. On a fairly new blog you're not going to get those insights until much later on... if you are looking for them
    I've always tended to mix it up in terms of styles of post. I've not categorised them in quite the way you have (response expected) so that's something to explore.

    It will be interesting to look at the expected responses to the different types of posts i do, although.. it may vary depending on the audience, what they want and topic.

    One big thing for me is that if a reader says "I read your post and remembered it when was doing X and it helped me" I will tend to ensure more of that type of post if they've not been common.
    Thought provoking post. I shall bookmark.
  • Thanks for your insight! We are new to blogging, and have found it to be fun but challenging. I appreciated your point about video blog posts and how they allow you to display your human side.

    Thank again!
    Brian
  • What I liked about this post was the fact that it seemed to follow the "flow" from your past post with more detailed content. Also, as I have been thinking more about generating valuable contents for future blog sites, your post generated additional insight for me which I am happy to share with other others in social media world. As always your content on the site is directed toward your audience which u seem to know ur own demographics of readers which helps to come back on a daily basis for me. It makes sense for me and your traffic experience overview was just superrrr so thx! p.s. ur fan site on Facebook - is "about" time LOL ~ honestly was happy to see that just now.. best wishes! ~ Sus @pinkolivefamily
  • I enjoyed this post very much. You have a good, commonsense style of communicating. We need to embrace new ways of connecting and interacting with people - and not just as 'punters'. You use some interesting analogies: disney theme parks, visibility, promotion, eyeballs - our guests will soon just be "bums on seats" - mere punters, waiting in line to purchase or download something reduced to mass consumerism. Sorry, getting carried away somewhere that this article has led me.
    I have to disagree about one thing though: you have to listen to more new music - that 'old stuff' is far too boring, and haven't you heard it all before?
  • @Adam, thanks for the Skelliewag link, I definitely enjoyed that and hadn't seen it before. Great point on bands too @Chris, it all comes down to what you want to be as a writer. The Smiths may have been one of the most influential bands of the last few decades, but they did a lot of very novel things, and did not just try to create music for popularity's sake. Influential, but not as commercially successful as Madonna. Similar choices to what we each make (although at a much more micro level), I suppose.
  • Very thought-provoking post. I don't analyse my stats too much, but this has given me a reason to put more thought into it.

    Thanks
  • Thank you, Chris. There aren't too many blogs/posts which make me stop and think terribly hard, but this one had me gazing out the window for an age.
  • Good stuff, Chris.

    One of my new year's resolutions is to read your blog regularly and apply what I learn.
  • I don't know a lot about my visitors' habits yet. I have developed personal relationships with them though, because I recieve fewer comments than larger sites. Yes, I want Disney levels of visitors, but I'm happy meeting individuals right now :)
  • This post provides an excellent bridge between my personal affection for Disney and my professional life as a PR consultant and nascent blogger. My affection for the Disney experience, its stellar customer service and attention to minute detail to ensure the best possible experience for its guests was a subject that came up over the holidays as my sister in law and her family are about to embark on a Disney cruise for the first time. Having enjoyed a Disney cruise on our honeymoon, we joked that the entire staff on the ship are in fact Terminators, programmed with every minute detail about the guests, so uncannily perfect is the experience, with staff and ship alike anticipating your needs even before you yourself may realize them. As we grow our blog, where we have written more than once about our own experiences with customer service, we shall keep the items you mentioned in mind in the hopes that our readers will have the best experience possible.
blog comments powered by Disqus

Previous post:

Next post: