colin eagan content strategy for personalization confab 2016

Content Strategy for Personalization | by Colin Eagan | Confab Central | May 20, 2016 @colineags #ConfabMN

TARGETED EXPERIENCESBY COLIN EAGAN, M.S.Confab Central | May 20, 2016

PERSONALIZATIONFIVE STEPS TOWARD BUILDING THOUGHTFUL

CONTENT STRATEGY FOR


COLIN EAGANPLEASED TO MEET YOU.

PRINCIPAL, USER EXPERIENCE | ICF OLSON

@colineags

Hello.

#ConfabMN

(Today’s Topic)


TODAY WE WILL:

EXPLORE AN EXCITING NEW UX POWER: TARGETED USER CONTENT

LEARN HOW TO USE IT FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL

LEAVE YOU WITH A CHOICE


BUT FIRST, SOME

NUMBERSEveryone loves numbers.


Average number of times the online activity of an average internet user is tracked daily

Source: Acxiom Corp


Yearly value to Facebook of a female user who is “very active” on the site (males are worth $22.09).

Facebook has 1.65 Billion Users as of Q2 2016.

Sources: Acxiom Corp; Facebook Newsroom.


What a “relatively inactive” female user is worth to Facebook per year (inactive males are worth $9.09)

Source: Acxiom Corp


ALL OF THESE NUMBERS HAVESOMETHING TO DO WITH THE VALUE OF

USER TARGETINGFeeling small?


WHAT IS TARGETING?AND WHY DO I CARE.

Glad you asked.


• Responsive design personalizes layout;

targeting personalizes content!

• Facebook has done it for years

• Targeted content is adaptive to some

unique user trait

• Can be as general as the zip code you’re

in, or specific as browsing history

WHAT IS TARGETED CONTENT?

NOTHING NEW.

Source: AdThis.com

$$$


TARGETED = CUSTOMIZED BASED ON DATA


Used properly, targeting can dramatically improve the

user experience, saving time and creating trust. Amazon

and Netflix have been doing it effectively for years.

FOR GOOD…

“Highly-specific,

multi-compound

genres.”


An innocent search for a muffin recipe fills your

browser with ads from HP for printers. (Note: actual

sales promo from online advertising company)

Source: Flashtalking Online Advertising. http://www.flashtalking.com/us/targeted-ads/

FOR…GOOD?

WTF?


ALSO KNOWN AS

STALKER ADSAs in upon seeing one, you might feel a bit like this…

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TARGETING THAT LEAVES A BAD TASTE

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• In November 2015, started collecting

data on any app downloaded (not just

from within Twitter)

• Recently started letting advertisers

use that data to target ads

• Facebook has done this since 2012

Source: Motley Fool, June 18, 2015

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/06/18/twitter-starts-

using-your-apps-to-target-ads.aspx

TWITTER USES YOUR APPS TO TARGET ADS

AS OF LATE…


Source: Fortune Magazine, October 5, 2015

http://fortune.com/2015/10/05/linkedin-class-action/

LINKEDIN TO PAY OUT $13M IN CLASS ACTION SUIT FOR HIJACKING YOUR IDENTITY VIA EMAIL

EVEN MORE RECENT: ANYONE GETTING IN ON THIS?

• “Add Connections” feature led users

to unknowingly send hundreds of

spammy emails

• Linkedin settled for $13M in damages

• Lawyers get $3.25 mill

• You get 10 bucks!

Content Strategy for Personalization | by Colin Eagan | Confab Central | May 20, 2016 @colineags #ConfabMNSource: AdThis.com

YAHOO’S HOMEPAGE IS JUST PRETY MUCH ALL TARGETING (NOT THAT YOU GO THERE ANYWAY)


WHAT ABOUT FACEBOOK TARGETING?DO YOU TRUST THEM?

Source: AdThis.com


• At its worst, tracking invades

privacy and erodes user trust

• Belgian privacy commission taking

Facebook to court for alleged

“trampling” over Belgian and

European privacy law

• Tracking of non-users and logged

out users for advertising purposes

• Additional countries in EU have

since followed suit

THE EUROPEAN UNION DOESN’T…

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• Courts in Canada and the EU have

ruled that Facebook's “Moments”

auto photo-tagging product

violates privacy law

• Certain laws forbid the “collection

of biometric data without explicit

user consent”

• Instead users must manually tag

themselves

DOES FACEBOOK OWN… YOUR FACE?

Source: The Verge, May 10, 2016


BACKLASH: COOKIES ARE CLOSELY REGULATED IN THE E.U.

European Union (EU)

regulations now require

sites to inform users if

cookies are active

Source: UPS.com


• Cookies are small text files sent from a web server and stored in user's browser to track “stateful” information

• Classic example is shopping cart

• 64% of users have cleared cookies (Pew Research)

• 41% disable cookies in browser

• 14% now use an anonymous browsing service, like Ghostery

Source: Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304704504579432823496404570

BACKLASH: MORE AND MORE USERS ARE BLOCKING COOKIES


Example of Mashable.com on my Chrome browser session with Ghostery enabled (notice missing content chunks)

Ghostery can block over 1900 trackers (here it’s DoubleClick, Google’s internet ad subsidiary)

BACKLASH: GHOSTERY CAN BLOCK OVER 1900 TRACKERS

Source: Ghostery.comPER

IODIC

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BUT IT’S HARD TO RUN…

• Facebook's "Year in Review" was intended to showcase your best moments of the previous year

• But as it turns out, not every memory on Facebook was happy

• This user’s boyfriend’s apartment had caught fire earlier that year

Via CBS News December 29, 2014, 12:09 PM


EVEN WORSE.

• This user received a photo of ashes of his dead father

Source: CBS News


“INADVERTANT ALGORITHMIC CRUELTY”

• In one of the most disturbing examples, web designer and speaker Eric Meyer was shown a photo of his daughter, who had passed away earlier that year

• She was surrounded by images of people having a party

• Meyer called it “inadvertent algorithmic cruelty”

• Facebook later apologized

Source: CBS News

WITH POWER COMES

RESPONSIBILITY.


AND YET DESPITE ALL THAT…


IF YOU ASK TEN MARKETERS…What they think about personalized user content…


Data based on a survey of 1,506 marketing and communications executives worldwide, representing all major industries. The survey was conducted in the fall of 2014, and follows a similar survey conducted in 2013.

9/10 MARKETERS CAN AGREE!9/10 Marketers agree “personalization is the way of the future.”

This is us agreeing.


HOWEVER IF YOU LOOK AT SPEND…


Before people get to your site

After people get to your site

MARKETING $$ IS HIGHLY SKEWEDFor every 92 marketing dollars spent trying to lure users to their sites, companies spent only one dollar trying to keep them there

$92

$1

Source: AddThis: “Website Personalization: What It Is and How It Can Help Increase Conversions on Your Site.” Published May 2015


MARKETING $$ IS HIGHLY SKEWED

$92After people

get to your site

*TODAY WE

ARE TALKING ABOUT THIS EMPTY WHITE SPACE HERE

For every 92 marketing dollars spent trying to lure users to their sites, companies spent only one dollar trying to keep them there.


THIS TALK IS ABOUT

PERSONALIZED UXON YOUR OWN WEBSITE

INTELLIGENTLY DESIGNING


OK, GREAT.WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.


• Traditionally, the average UX person

didn’t have much of a role in targeting

• Ads were controlled by marketers; e-

commerce by proprietary algorithms

like Amazon’s

• The advent of robust, out-of-the-box

targeting platforms has helped

democratized the landscape

WHAT’S CHANGED FOR CONTENT PEOPLE: ENTER THE “EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM”

$40k - $300k + 20% annuallyASP.NET, C#

$40k - $500k + 20% annuallyASP.NET, C#

$140k - $1.2M + 20% annuallyJAVA based

*Pricing data from: Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.

NB: Colin has zero interest in promoting any of these

products, other than making you more knowledgeable

about them


LET YOU CREATE TARGETED VERSIONS OF YOUR OWN SITE Entire experiences can be targeted, from the images and copy to background colors

FOR “HER”

FOR “HIM”

Source: Adobe.com


JUST A FEW GLOBAL BRANDS USING SOME KIND OF “EMS” TODAY

Source: Forrester


LESS EXPENSIVE (SORTA): THIRD PARTY “OPTIMIZATION SYSTEMS”

$20k -- $250k / year

(a “Drupal Hybrid”)$20k -- $100k / year

$100k+ / yearly (custom pricing)

$100k+ / yearly (custom pricing)

• Can be “plugged in” to any existing

site by inserting some JavaScript in

the header of pages (similar to

analytics tagging)

• Segmentation and content

management handled in external

tool, not your CMS

• “All-inclusive” pricing w/ hosting

can be better for higher-traffic sites *Pricing data from: Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.


IF YOU’RE NOT USING TARGETING YET, OR YOUR CLIENTS AREN’T YET, CHANCES ARE THAT WILL CHANGE QUICKLY. AND YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED.

YOU WILL HAVE

A CHOICE.


Next we will look at the essentials for putting together a targeted information design using a standard experience management platform, including…

1. Goals & Objectives The Why2. Audiences & Segments The Who3. Rules & Campaign The What 4. Testing & Analytics The So What5. Learn from Others The Whatcha Done

WHAT WE’LL LOOK AT NEXT


TARGETING STRATEGYSTEP 1 | DO WE EVEN NEED TARGETING?

Does the pool have water in it?


GOOD REASONS TO TARGET• Your audience can be segmented in ways that are meaningful

• Narrowing your message provides incremental value

• Targeting is tied to specific business KPIs or objectives

• Because we can.

• Some variation there of.

WHAT TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU START

BAD REASONS TO TARGET


1. Like any other content project, begin with intent

2. You still need to determine your core principles and goals

3. The question is how (or if) targeted content can further those goals

REMEMBER, PEOPLE!

TARGETING ITSELF IS NOT A GOAL. IT’S JUST ANOTHER TOOL IN THE CONTENT TOOL BOX.


EXAMPLE: CONTENT GUIDING PRINCIPLES

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AUDIENCE SEGMENTSSTEP 2 | WHO ARE WE TALKING TO?

Once you have your mission, you can begin segmenting your audience.


WHAT’S A SEGMENT?

• Similar to personas: a group of users with some distinguishing trait, like age, interest, location

• Generally speaking, targeting can be either: 1. Segment Based (all males 50+) 2. Algorithm Based (previous purchases,

clickstream, etc)

• For our purposes, we’ll look at how to set up segment-based targeting, since this is how many EMSs are set up


SEGMENTS ARE DETERMINED BY DATA

BEHAVIORAL TRAITS

Pages Visited Duration of Visit Frequency of Visit Search Terms Used Site Referred From Interest on other sites

(determined using tools like Spyjax)

DEMOGRAPHIC TRAITS

Age Income Family size Marital status Gender Location

Examples: Site User Profile Google Ad Planner FaceBook Connect

DemandBase (B2B)

This is how we know who is who. Typically these will be fed through some type of targeting data exchange to be accessed by the CMS


Logged in; My Profile

HOW DO WE GET DATA? TWO WAYS TO KNOW ABOUT

“Explicit Data” “Implicit Data”

Explicit data is based on something the user tells us directly, such as via profile information. Implicit data if something we infer, such as via IP lookup


•

••

•

•

•

•

SOME DATA IS BETTER THAN OTHERSSegments are identified by user data, either implicit or explicit


SOME DATA IS BETTER THAN OTHERS

•

••

•

•

•

•

DARK ARTSLess transparentAvailable—for a priceHighly unpredictable

HAPPY PLACEUsers provide data openlyHard to buy or fakeReliable, if you can get it

Segments are identified by user data, either implicit or explicit


BIG BROKER IS WATCHING YOU.

• Federal Trade Commission released 2014 report on lack of transparencyamong data brokers

• Axciom has more than 3,000 data points on nearly every citizen in the US

• Some are what you might expect: race, gender, age

• Others get very creepy very quickly

Source: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/reports/data-brokers-call-transparency-accountability-report-federal-trade-commission-may-2014/140527databrokerreport.pdf


BIG BROKER IS WATCHING YOU.

•

•


RACEGENDER

AGEOCCUPATION

MARITAL STATUSPOLITICAL AFFILIATION

HOME OWNERSHIPVEHICLE OWNERSHIPHOUSEHOLD INCOME


GAMBLERSMOKER

GUN PURCHASER“BIBLE LIFESTYLE”

SPORTY LIVINGBIKER / HELL’S ANGELS

ALLERGY SUFFERER“LEANS LEFT”

FINANCIALLY CHALLENGEDPLUS-SIZE APPAREL

“DIABETES INTEREST” WORKING CLASS MOM


• There is a fine line between providing helpful personalization and betraying user trust

• No form of targeting is inherently good or evil; it’s how you deploy it

• Users may invite personalized content if it’s helpful and you are transparent in your methods

• Invite users to “self-identify” by giving you information, like profile data

• If you want to dabble in implicit data, make sure you’re being up-front

• Give users a way to “opt out” if they are uncomfortable

LESSONS!


LET’S PRETEND…THIS IS ALL GETTING A BIT ABSTRACT, SO


We want to target busy creative professionals who travel regularly

What online content should we create to give us an edge?


Research suggests that $1 spent on business travel can generate $9.50 in revenue and $2.90 in profits.*

That’s good!

But there are also hidden costs: Travel is stressful.

(That’s bad.)*Source: HEC, Carlson Wagonlit

SO WE DO SOME RESEARCH…


So our first idea is to start a content campaign that takes the stress out of travel. The traditional method would be “one size fits all.”

But that makes a lot of assumptions – what does “stressful” even mean? Is it the same for everyone?

What if we look at it by audience…

WHAT CONTENT SHOULD WE CREATE?


Survey of 7,400 global managers accustomed to travel.Source: Harvard Business Review. Data from HEC, Carlson Wagonlit


• Support Staff Male• Associate Staff Male• Manager Male• Director Male• VP Male• Senior Exec Male

• Support Staff Female• Associate Staff Female• Manager Female• Director Female• VP Female• Senior Exec Female

So we could potentially* set up 12 segments in our system. For our pilot campaign, let’s limit our focus to Senior Execs, male and female.

IDENTIFYING SEGMENTS FOR PILOT

*Note for research people: don’t freak out this is just an example. We would absolutely want to research the “why” behind this data.


EXAMPLE: SETTING UP A SEGMENT IN ADOBE

Client Context: Male Sr Exec from USGender = male is a basic business rule. Can get more complex. Advanced segmentation is more like JavaScript

Credit: Adobe


EXAMPLE: SEGMENTS & CAMPAIGN WORKSHEET

Credit: ICF Interactive

Helps you organize segments and which content campaigns to show them



EXAMPLE: TARGETING USE CASEHelps illustrate how targeted content will improve the experience of a user segment


RULES & CAMPAIGNSSTEP 3 | WHAT ARE WE GOING TO SAY?

We know who we want to talk to.Now how and when do we say it?


OUR PILOT CAMPAIGN: IDEAS TO SHOW SR EXECS

Ad for Business Class

ServiceList of Flight Cancelations

Links to priority web

content

Travel tips to reduce stress

If we knew they were visiting our site, what would we say?

Art Credit: ICF Interactive


Consider a “typical” layout…

• EMS can configure each zone differently depending on who is visiting

• Rules are “if then” statements, typically applied at the component level

• Campaign is set of rules that work together to create an experience

OUR SITE: DETERMINING TARGETABLE ZONES


Understanding these types will help you determine what type of targeting rule to create and where you would like to show it on your site

Show this user time-sensitive informationE.g. A delay or cancelation impacting this user

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TARGETED CONTENT MODEL: FOUR WAYS TO ADD USER VALUE

Promote site functions useful to this userE.g. Navigation options helpful to this user

Task at Hand

Big Picture

Notify this user of relevant products or services E.g. Ad for a product or service we think user will like

Notify this user of relevant (non-sales) contentE.g. Blog content, articles, social content, etc.

ALERT

MAKE EASIER

CROSS-SELL

ENRICH


A list of flight cancelations in real time

Some shortcuts to Priority web content

An ad for new Business Class Service

Tips on Trip Prep (male)Tips on Destination (female)

Understanding these types will help you determine what type of targeting rule to create and where you would like to show it on your site.

APPLYING THE MODEL: WHAT TO SHOW SR EXECS

If Sr Exec, Then Show:

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Task at Hand

Big Picture

ALERT

MAKE EASIER

CROSS-SELL

ENRICH


DEFAULT STATE: WE DON’T KNOW WHO USER IS


IF SR. EXEC FEMALE: TARGETING CAMPAIGN SHOWS THIS:

Note, we’re NOT even using the main banner zone

here. Targeting can be more than just ads!


IF SR. EXEC MALE: TARGETING CAMPAIGN SHOWS THIS:

Neat.



EXAMPLE: TARGETING ZONE CHART


CONTENT MODELINGAND NOW LET’S PAUSE FOR A BRIEF WORD ON

How does the system “know” what content to show someone?


TAGGING & TAXONOMIES: CREATING SEMANTICALLY RICH CONTENT

• Tags help the system know what content to show which audience

• Tags can be organized into taxonomies

• We might tag a banner ad for audience “Sr Exec” or by type “Priority Content”

Clickstream CloudAs the user navigates, you can capture tags related to pages they look at. For example, Basic products vs Expert. You can tag content with this. Video could be more expert vs basic.

Credit: Adobe


Credit: Sara Wachter Boettcher“Content Everywhere”, Rosenfeld Media

• Helps define relationshipsbetween content

• Informs how you set up content types in CMS

• Helps create your taxonomy and metadata schema

• Can also help with things like search results

EXAMPLE: BASIC HIGH-LEVEL CONTENT MODEL


A BIT MORE COMPLEX…



TESTING & ANALYTICSSTEP 4 | HOW DO WE KNOW IT WORKS?

The “so what.”


DOES IT WORK?

• Personalization only as good as ability to measure it

• KPIs are key to proving that targeting works

• Agency TBG estimates +10-20% in KPIs1

• Rockport: +32% order value, +10% conversion with personalized recs2

• Iron Mountain: +123% referral rates for targeting healthcare-specific message3

1 Berndt, John. “Personalization Mechanics: Targeted Content for Web Teams of All Sizes.” March 10, 2015.2 “Predictions 2015: Invest in Customer Insights To Activate Contextual Marketing.” Forrester Research. November 10, 2014.3 Demandbase also reported a 115% increase in the small to medium business segment using a similar approach. Source: Strohmeyer, Robert. “Driving Conversion Through B2B Personalization.” March 5, 2015.


EXAMPLE: CHILDREN’S NATIONAL REDESIGN BY TBG

• Built on Sitecore CMS

• Targets based on content previously viewed

• Ex: Show neurology story to user who viewed neurology content

• Using Maxmind IP geolocation, can even target high-value customers from parts of the Middle East

• 161.45% increase in session duration overall1

1 TBG reported 15% increase in page views, and a 161.45% increase in session duration. The new site also increased site-based donations by 54%. You can read the complete case study at http://www.berndtgroup.net/projects/portfolio/childrens-national-website-redesign-and-cms-implementation


Shifting from low-cost provider of credit cards to ramping up customer experience

Personalize based on whether customers are researching or buying a car

Adding personalized recommendations to its online store

BUT WILL IT WORK FOR ME?

JUST A FEW NON-TECH BRANDS THAT TARGET

Wells Fargo’s latest ATM UI reshapes based on transaction history

“Flavor Profile” shows relevant recipe and product recommendations

Source: Forrester Research. November 10, 2014. Predictions 2015: Invest In Customer Insights To Activate Contextual Marketing


READY TO START?WHAT’S THAT? YOU’RE CONVINCED AND TOTALLY

Just a few things to consider before you hurt yourself…


YOU MAY STILL NEED SOME WORK IF…• You don’t have enough content to make targeting useful

• You don’t have enough staff to maintain targeted content

• Your content is not semantically rich – you need a taxonomy, metadata, etc.

• You don’t have a CMS that supports it

• You don’t have analytics and tracking in place to gain insights and adjust

BEST PRACTICES FOR WHEN YOU’RE READY• Start segmenting traffic on your CURRENT site. Third party providers like

DemandBase can start showing you IP based user data asap

• Role out campaigns iteratively. Avoid “big bang” approaches. Tune your

business approach and technical infrastructure over time

• Never stop testing. Audiences change over time as consumers learn more

about your products, make purchases, read reviews, etc.


REMEMBER: IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE COMPLEX Even if your organization doesn’t have a fancy targeting platform, you can start thinking in that mindset

Source: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/articles/one-to-one-personalisation-will-boost-conversion-rates/646

In a survey of digital marketing managers, 92% of respondents claimed to offer a level of personalization in their email communications.

QUESTIONWhat’s the number one method

of customer personalization used today?

ANSWEREmail.

AND YOU TOO

CAN TAKE BACK

TARGETED

CONTENT

FOR GOOD.


THANK YOU@colineags

#ConfabMN


*BONUS READING!

Approaching Content Strategy for Personalized Websites

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http://alistapart.com/article/approaching-content-strategy-for-personalized-websites


*PLEASE COMPLETE YOUR CARDS!

Approaching Content Strategy for Personalized Websites

We at Confab value your opinion! The content universe thanks you!

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