Stop “Marketing for the Sake of Marketing”
Online marketers, brand managers, and channel marketing managers: Why are we in business?
- To build our mailing list?
- To "get more traffic" to our site?
- To increase average time spent on our site?
- To increase average pageviews per visit on our site?
- To get more new users to visit our site (no matter how qualified)?
- To get more followers on twitter?
- To get more fans on Facebook?
None of the above.
These are by-products of a marketing campaign. In fact, these are not even indicators to suggest positive or negative performance of a campaign. Why? Because they are not relevant to a consumer/customer. If these are listed as goals of a campaign then this is "marketing for the sake of marketing."
What is relevant to a consumer/customer?
Growing your mailing list by 10% does nothing if that 10% never buys your products. Increasing time spent on your website does not suggest you've tapped a resource for new brand advocates, either (it may however suggest you've created additional roadblocks preventing site visitors from completing desired tasks in a short amount of time).
Meaningful messaging that triggers action leading to a conversion -- this is marketing and it's why we're in business. Anything else is just noise that makes your brand irrelevant to your target audience.
What is E-Business?
Defining E-Business can be difficult because of the many meanings it carries in various organizations. The following definition is what I use to describe the wide net E-Business casts over an organization and operates under the assumption that E-Business is closely aligned with or organizationally structured within the Marketing Department:
Role of E-Business:
E-Business drives multichannel sales, new customer acquisition, brand recognition and loyalty, and customer retention.
The 5 Pillars of E-Business
- 1.) BI & Analytics (learn more) (Updated 2/1/2011)
- Database management
- Business Intelligence
- Competitive Intelligence
- Web Analytics
- 2.) Design & User Experience (more information) (Updated 12/17/2011)
- Content Strategy
- User Experience (UX) & Design
- Information Architecture (IA)
- Interaction Design
- Visual Design
- Usability Testing
- 3.) Technology (more information) (Updated 12/17/2011)
- Web & Application Development
- Data Modeling
- Data Warehousing & ETL
- Product Data Management
- System Integration
- Operations (Order placement, order processing, & supply chain management)
- 4.) E-Marketing (more information) (Updated 12/17/2011)
- CRM
- Email Marketing
- SEM, SEO, Online Advertising
- Social Media Management & Monitoring (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
- 5.) Conversion (more information) (Updated 4/24/10)
- Online Merchandising
- E-Commerce
- Internal Site Search
- A/B & Multivariate Testing
Applying Six Sigma to Web Development, Design, and Usability
A few weeks ago while analyzing the results of an internal test on a new web design we're testing, it was brought up about how manufacturing is guided by Six Sigma standards. It was suggested the website live in a similar realm of excellence.
What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is a rigorous and disciplined methodology that uses data and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company's operational performance by identifying and eliminating "defects" in manufacturing and service-related processes. Commonly defined as 3.4 defects per million opportunities, Six Sigma can be defined and understood at three distinct levels: metric, methodology (DMAIC/DFSSstructured problem solving roadmap and tools) and philosophy (Reduce variation in your business and take customer-focused, data driven decisions).
Can Six Sigma be applied to web development, design, and usability?
This is a very logical question. Yes, it can be applied, but achieving it is another issue altogether.
Pulling from Jakob Nielson's November 2003 post, Six Sigma engineering relies on a five-step process called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). He was really ahead of his time in this article. A google search does not pull up much information on applying six sigma to web development, design, or usability. This tells me the concept has not been discussed too much and it makes sense -- the web is still in its infancy, and the more experienced developers within organizations today are now moving into upper management where they are beginning to look at the website from a higher view within the company.
As the web becomes more of a vital tool for most businesses today, upper management (who often times knows little about how exactly a website goes together or how to build a successful site) is seeing the value in applying other business practices and methodologies towards the design, testing, and execution of their websites.
Why Six Sigma is difficult to achieve in web development today.
In manufacturing, the amount of variables encountered in an assembly line is not as vast as a complex website. Manufacturing doesn't deal directly with consumers, either, and the manufacturing process has very strict processes and tolerances for how things are assembled.A website is dynamic in nature and also navigated and operated by your customers -- customers who may not know a thing about your product and have had no training on your website. Manufacturing lines are staffed by duty-specific workers, trained to perform specific tasks accurately and efficiently.
A website on the other hand can be navigated in millions of different ways and combinations by millions of different people. Testing each of these combinations is impossible and will result in you testing your website into eternity without ever releasing it to the market. Add on top of this a team of people who are most likely very diverse in their backgrounds: developers, designers, and marketers -- each come with their own education and experiences and often time have no visibility into what their other team members' job responsibilities really entail (how many developers do you know that can truly do graphic design? how many designers do you know that can write complex database queries?).
Accept the variables in web development, and apply the concepts of Six Sigma
The key is applying the Six Sigma mentality to web development, design, and usability so you can get the best balance of accuracy and conversions. The problem most developers and designers have is that they get "tunnel vision" and focus exclusively on just one piece of the entire web application. This is a problem for any type of site which has multiple conversion funnels (sales, registration forms, contact forms, etc.).
Next Segments:
More on this topic over the next several days as I cover each phase of the DMAIC process in individual blog posts in an effort to keep the posts spread out and on-topic, rather than one long, rambling post. 
I'll provide links at the end of this post as each phase of DMAIC is evaluated.
Building a dynamic web team without the silos
I came across this post while scanning my RSS feeds and it made me think about the group of designers and developers we've got. The "silo'd" effect is really common in web development. Project manager, developer, designer...and the only links in between are a task list with due dates. While this is effective for some companies, I don't believe it lends itself to an outstanding online experience, whatever the desired goals might be.
The end-user savvy developer & designer
Having developers who are usability-savvy and having designers who are development-savvy (may not be experts, but understand the general concepts of abstracting out CSS classes and approaching it like a developer would) is the perfect blend of talent. It's why I'm also not a huge fan of completely separating design elements from development elements in the code on a site.
A designer who's primary responsibility is interface design and usability is of much higher value to me if they know some code and can navigate around some of the simpler concepts with languages like PHP. Likewise, a developer who understands the value of making an effort to build a usable application is also highly desired. It's less work in the long-run for everybody.
It's hard to go into too many specifics without divulging our internal projects, but the above article was a really great overview as to why you've got to encourage collaboration and hire individuals who take interest in what the other aspects are of web design and development. Sprinkle in some marketing savvy amongst the designers and developers and you've got a very efficient team. It gives the project manager more time to spend with the individuals to brainstorm ideas rather than being the "bridge" between design and development.
Silos are bad in many areas of business, web development is just one of them
I prefer working with people who themselves don't act like their job responsibilities are in a silo. This is true in many aspects of business, not just web development. It's a concept that many developers don't fully realize and as a result, they may be limiting their potential growth within their organization/career path.
never under estimate the power of a mass of people who fear change
I love the collective power of online communities. However, sometimes it really works against your best intentions. A recent upgrade to facebook.com, a large community-based site, brought about an internet riot of massive proportions. Scores threatened to leave the service after new features were added that simply were making it easier to do things that were already available on the site.
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2208197130
We run into this all the time on SuperMotors. Granted, our userbase is not in the millions like Facebook's is, but it still hits home when we work months on new improvements and enhanced features that are greeted by luke-warm reactions or feelings of complete hostility towards us. It keeps us honest, though. We never do anything to purposely make our site operate worse, which is what Facebook did, but sometimes the best intentions can be your worst nightmare.
The net/net, I think, is that new features need to be introduced before they are...well, introduced. It is the responsibility of business owners and site owners who are frequented by hundreds, thousands, or millions to manage the expectations of users. Nobody likes to visit their favorite site one day only to have it completely changed the next day without warning. This of course, is easier said than done!
Blog by Eric Long
I'm an experienced online marketer, information architect, digital strategist, and social media enthusiast. I'm passionate about providing outstanding cross-channel experiences for considered purchases (with a focus on mass customization).
About Eric Long
Recent Tweets
- New blog post: Mass Customization, Considered Purchases, & Mental Models - Why Usability & Content Strategy Matter http://t.co/ABOwvq1Z 1 month ago
- Looking for a Manager of Web & App development to come work for us and manage a team of Sr. PHP & Ajax Developers: http://t.co/16BhmKjx 1 month ago
- UX Practitioners Will Excel in an Increasingly Digital World: http://t.co/QH6cgr5 5 months ago
- UX practitioners have bright futures with more & more marketers needing help understanding relevancy for when/why to use new technologies. 6 months ago
- We're looking for a Manager of Interactive Design & UX to come work for us: http://t.co/0U1AbN8 7 months ago