The 9 C’s of eMarketing. Still valid after +15 years?
#Trending topics on social media seem to cover various comparisons between business social media platforms; how do for instance Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn compare? Where do you get the biggest bang for your buck? What platform can help you reach the largest audience and impact?
It’s interesting to see all those different trends in digital marketing and business social media. That reminded me of the early days of internet marketing in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. At that time I was involved with internet marketing, ecommerce and ebusiness in general. It was the time of bringing ebusiness as a topic to the board room where the cheerful term of C-level was starting to come up. Now more than 15 years later, still many of those topics are on our minds. The terminology might be different (e.g. “the Cloud” versus ASP) but the principles are still all the same. That made me wonder about some things I wrote in my bookabout ebusiness during the internet hype (translated from Dutch into “ebusiness, from hype to necessity”), just before the ecommerce bubble burst. Even then we talked about online communities and market places, communities of interest and online platforms. Elements of the “internet of things” that have continuously evolved over the last decade and a half and that will continue to evolve even more.
eMarketing model; 9 C’s
So let’s take a closer look of some specific things that were so true then and see if they are still applicable today. In the eMarketing model I described in my book I was unfolding what I called the 9 C’s and 6 P’s. My assumption is that these C’s are still quite accurate today, nonetheless the ever-changing digital marketing landscape. I will go through these 9 C’s one by one and I encourage you as reader to provide your feedback how you believe these C’s are still not only appropriate but also useful for guiding you with your digital marketing strategy. There are plenty of books written about the marketing 4 or 6 p’s so I will not get into that here where I will focus on the 9 C’s only.
By the way, when I came up with my 9 C’s (late ’99, early 2000) for my eMarketing model I was not aware any other “9 C’s” that coexisted. Curious as I am I just Googled “9 C’s” and not so surprisingly several versions came up. Lucky for me, most of them were created in recent years in blogs, posts, articles and such. Some of the 9 C versions I found: 9 C's of Customer Engagement Overview, The Nine C'S Of Leadership, The 9 C's of Social Sales Success, The 9 C's of Writing, Speaking & Listening.
Anyway, let’s continue looking at the 9 C’s of eMarketing in more detail:
The first 4 C’s are basic requirements of your eMarketing Model
Conditions
That’s where it all begins. What are the conditions of your eMarketing strategy? No matter if we are talking about a new website, a Facebook campaign, a Youtube channel or using Instagram for business purposes. What is your strategy, the purpose of your initiative? Does it match your company branding and identity? What are technical conditions? Does your team have the capabilities to support this? Is there budget available? For lack of a better term, let’s call them the parameters of (your) eMarketing.
Competitors
The second C that is part of my eMarketing model is Competitors. What is your competition doing online? Is their website still just about “Presence” or are they facilitating interaction, commerce, integration with communities, etc.? How would you like to position yourself versus the competition? Are there any online tools and platforms they are using you should too? How can you differentiate yourself from your competition? (As an example, take a look at how KLM positions themselves online and how Ryanair does this. Do you see the differences? What are these differences according to you?).
Culture
An important element of your eMarketing and your entire business is your company’s or organization’s culture. Your online culture should be in synch with your bricks and mortar culture. Of course when you are only about “clicks” your culture is still important and has to be in-sync across all platforms. Your company culture should be coming back in all media tools you are using, both offline and online. So your company culture should be reflected in your Youtube channel, your company’s website, your twitter account, etc. Makes perfectly sense, doesn’t it? But you will be surprised how many companies use different company styles at various platforms. Not because of a different positioning or independence of various business units but just because the conditions were not set right. Which companies do you know where their company’s culture is out of synch with their eMarketing implementation (or the lack of it)?
Customers
Undeniable the most crucial of all; the customer. As one of my first sales managers said, without our customers buying our products and services any longer “the smoke won’t be coming out of the chimney anymore”. Are the online tools you are using appreciated by your customers? Is this what they expect from you? If your customers are leaving Twitter by the masses and prefer Instagram but you are still focused on tweeting, how effective are you? Does your customer want to contact you directly via your website (via Skype or Whatsapp numbers for instance)? Are they looking for training videos on Youtube or on your website? Are your digital platforms linked with each other, can your customer easily find what they are looking for? And very important are you meeting your customers’ expectations or even better, are you exceeding them?
The accompanying 5 C’s: implementing your eMarketing
Content
It all starts with “why.” I am sure you agree with that. And when you have thewhy covered, the next question you typically want to answer is “what” (followed typically by “how”). Content is all related to the “what. What do you want to share, what is the content you want to show and promote? Do you want to share information via a website, via digital newsletters, via blogs, video’s, tweets, photos and webinars? What kind of information do you want to share? Market trends, company historical information, application and product information? “How to” videos? Customer feedback, Q&A, customer reviews? An event calendar? The last one reminds me of a very important element of your content; keep it up accurate and updated. Are you still promoting that your company will be present at an event that took place already 3 months ago? Is the last news update dating back to last year? Do you still show a product video that has become outdated due to a new product launch? Different examples of situations you want to avoid; keep your content fresh and intriguing. And perhaps most important of all, your content should have added value in the eyes of your “audience”. A good way to check if your content is in line with what your viewers are expecting to see, is simply ask them. You may want to organize focus groups and test the water of the different eMarketing vehicles you want to use before you go live.
Communication
Communication can be described as the way you translate your content and deliver it to the recipients. For example, is the way you communicate a one way street (monologue) or will you be open for feedback in a dialogue with your target groups? Will you provide daily updates? What platforms will you use for this? How easy is it for your audience to respond to your information? Is your communication in one or more languages? Can your viewers share the information you post? If questions are asked by your target group, how long does it take you to provide an answer? Is the type of communication, the choice of words for example the same across all different platforms? What is your objectiveyou’re your communication? Is it about corporate or product branding, is it about increasing mindshare, becoming top of mind of your customer and prospect groups? As a suggestion, before thinking about which digital platform you would like to use and what content you want to deliver, start with a communication plan for all your digital initiatives. With clear objectives, deliverables, timelines and people involved.
Communities of Interest: coins
Community
One of my personal favorites; (online) communities. From the early days of the dawn of the internet, online communities were starting to form. Perhaps you remember the first digital marketplaces (or then called eMarket places). Where a group of buyers came together online bidding for the same items. Or think about the large variety of online communities you see at LinkedIn today. Anyone can start his or her online community and attract individuals and groups with similar interests. Cisco’s book NetReady already in 1999 introduced the term “Community of Interest” or in short coins. A term that has stuck by me ever since and that I like to implement where possible. What online community can you start up with other groups or individuals where you share the same interest? A group where your efforts combined makes the total sum only bigger. Affiliate marketing could also definitely be part of your communities.
Customization
And that was the 7th C…(No, not “seven seas” from Annie Lennox’ lyrics; “I travel the world and the seven seas”). Two more to go. Do you customize your content and the way you communicate depending of differences of your target groups? If you work internationally, does your website for example have different language options? And is the content on your website customized per country or location? It probably is. In the last +15 years many changes have taken place regarding digital customization. Your customer profile is typically stored on your computer (cookies) so when you buy a product online, you can find your buying history, automatically other product preferences and suggestions pop-up, you are welcomed by your name, etc. Digital customization is a basic need and requirement. From using your own desktop picture on your whatsapp profile, to the background of your Youtube channel or Twitter account. Nowadays we are so accustomed to this, that when you fail to have this functionality you will negatively stand out.
Commerce
Hang in there, bear with me, we are almost there. We arrived at the last one; commerce. Again, when I came up with the 9 C’s of eMarketing, the world did look different than it does today. Ecommerce was just getting started and we are still seeing the results of that every day. Think about old bricks and mortar retail stores that go bankrupt on a weekly basis for example (this is very accurate in the Netherlands momentarily where old retail power houses have failed to keep up with online competition). If you are not selling your products online because maybe ecommerce is simply not a sales channel you would like to pursuit, you still probably show where customers can find your product and where they can buy these. Through “store locaters” and “where to buy” functionality you can promote the sales of your products and services although the actual transaction does not go through your website or other digital platform. As this is a eMarketing model, I have left the linkage between eCommerce and eProcurement out of the equation).
Now with hindsight and 15 year more experience after modeling the 9 C’s of eMarketing, I realize several more C’s could have been added. Think about “Communalities” (or is this part of Condition or Competition?), “Collaborate” (although similar to Communities?). Which term or verb with a C would you add to this model?
Thank you for reading this blog about my 9 C’s of eMarketing. I believe the content (!) of these 9 C’s is still quite accurate today and hope you share that opinion. Please feel free to share this blog and its content and let me know how you believe eMarketing has changed over the last +15 years. I look forward reading your feedback and suggestions.
