(Ap)perception Becomes Reality
If your company is jumping into social media because that's where the customers are, then, by the same logic, it should think about video—especially considering the popularity of mobile devices.
I commute to and from Manhattan for my job, and on the roughly hour-long train ride, I'm seeing more people plugged into their tablets, watching a TV show, movie, or some sort of video. Within each train car is literally a captive audience looking for something to do, and watching videos on a mobile device is a great way to connect with valuable content at an opportune time. I'm guilty of it too. Although the cell reception isn't always consistently strong inside a fast-moving tin can—especially under the East River—I'll occasionally watch videos on my smartphone.
These connected rail riders are not alone, as watching videos on mobile devices is becoming a more popular downtime activity. YouTube maintains that more than 1 billion videos are viewed each day from tablets and smartphones, which represent 25 percent of its global views, according to the cover story, "Mobility Drives Multichannel Video Strategies," by Associate Editor Kelly Liyakasa. As sales of smartphones and tablets have soared in recent years, it should come as no surprise that YouTube's mobile viewer traffic has soared as well. It has nearly tripled from 2011, according to the article.
More visibility means more brand recognition and more opportunities to grow your business. One company experienced 40 percent growth each month in the 18-to-34-year-old category by crafting video content intended for a younger audience.
However, one can't assume that a video intended for people in the same age bracket will affect all of them in the same way. It can elicit entirely different responses from members of the same cohort. That's why knowing the difference between perception (the ability to use one's senses to see, hear, or become aware of something) and apperception (how someone interprets what he perceives) is important. The latter is what the experts in the feature story "The Prospects and Limitations of Neuromarketing," by Eric Barkin, are trying to uncover.
Neuromarketing aims to uncover this mystery by studying various biological responses (e.g., brainwaves, pulse, blood pressure, galvanic skin response, eye-tracking, voice-layering, and blood flow) that might indicate what's going on at the subconscious level and how this could influence purchasing decisions or brand affinity. It's not something you can consider lightly, as this new practice requires a high upfront cost for the equipment. However, if a lot is riding on your video or other marketing campaign, you might find this novel approach helpful.
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While the two stories mentioned above represent some of the latest customer relationship strategies, there are a lot of new industry developments that affect sales, marketing, and customer service departments. If you're looking to find out what they are, mark your calendar for the CRM Evolution conference (www.CRMevolution.com), from August 19–21, 2013, at the New York Marriott Marquis. Attendees will discover how to take their CRM efforts to the next level by learning from and networking with leading industry analysts and consultants, CRM project leaders, and CRM vendors. The event will be colocated with SpeechTEK (www.SpeechTEK.com) and the Customer Service Experience conference (www.CustServExperience.com).