Kevin Nichols

Having been at this #martech thing for a minute, Scott's framing and reframing of marketing and martech both surprised / didn't surprise me one tiny bit. Since day one we've been asking "Is martech a thing?" We asked it so often that it became a joke of sorts. After all, if martech wasn't a thing, why on Earth were we building a brand around it? The CMO survey cited in Scott Brinker's post highlights for me, the core of what's going on in marketing today which is that you cannot do modern marketing without technology. It's like air at this point. No technology, no marketing. I'd bet that the 24.7% of CMOs reporting that their companies are not using marketing technology isn't a reflection of their competency or knowledge of their organization's stack but something much, much simpler. It's that MARTECH IS MARKETING - and for at least some of those CMOs, they don't care to make the distinction. And that's why we run the MarTech Conference and write on MarTech.org - because it's impossible today to "do marketing" without "marketing technology." Mike Pastore Chris Elwell Constantine von Hoffman Chris Wood Kim Davis https://lnkd.in/e9RFhYRs

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My recent Creative Differences newsletter, comparing human marketers' writing to LLMs got me a ton of responses. Several marketing friends made the entirely fair point that they just don't have much autonomy in the messaging and that it is difficult and unrewarding to push anything other than the most mundane writing through the system. That's fair. I should have been clear that the marketers know their market. Executives too often have a very uninspiring view of what good comms and good writing look like. Here, are two questions ... Is there a word - not a brand or trademark or new coinage, but a plain word - that you can find in your writing that your competitors do not use? Most likely you can't think of any. Carl Buehner famously wrote, "They may forget what you said — but they will never forget how you made them feel." How do you want your readers to feel, reading your work? Intrigued, surprised, optimisitic? Even a simple set of installation instructions can impart a feeling: confidence, for example, that I can now straightforwardly achieve the task ahead. Rather than endlessly noodling on the exact phrasing that will convey the technical, or business, nuance of the product or service, pay some attention - even just a little - to how you want your readers to feel. https://lnkd.in/gz-KhmK2

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Read this part twice, "in order to identify issues and THEN address them." Seek to understand and then to solve. Also...processes can be tested; communications can be tested. Not everything is/or requires a tech solution. #citizenexperience #equity #efficiency #bpr

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What is SGE, and what does it mean for higher ed marketers? Search Generative Experience employs advanced machine learning techniques to produce organic search results and recommendations that are customized to the unique needs and preferences of each user. SGE "provides 'AI Overviews' in response to certain keyword searches in the form of interactive bubbles above traditional organic search results." Why should we care? Carnegie lays out exactly how higher ed institutions can use this tool to their advantage. #SGE #AI

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Are your survey questions too formal? 🧐 Our team at Profiles by Kantar found that a conversational tone in surveys makes participants feel more at ease, encouraging honest answers. Overly formal or complex language can make surveys feel intimidating. Try this 👉 Use simple, everyday language that your audience understands. For example, instead of asking, "What is your perception of the brand's value proposition?" ask, "What do you think about what the brand offers?" Make your surveys more engaging and effective! Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/grfAfs4R #SurveyDesign #MarketResearch #KantarProfiles #ResearchTips

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Now that curation has earned its way into more and more programmatic circles, it's only fitting that Pesach Lattin has dived into the question "are all data curation solutions interchangeable?" Spoiler alert - they aren't, which makes this article a must read both those who are already capitalizing on curation and those just getting started. Drew Stein Audigent Ted Smith Greg Williams Jake Abraham Gina Cavallo Chris Meredith #data #curation #programmatic #programmaticdata

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If you're in the NYC area and enjoy talking AI, join me for dinner on Wednesday, October 9th at 6pm 🌱 These monthly dinners provide a casual space to nerd out about trends and challenges + get some perspective on what other people are working on. A sentiment I've heard is that *no one* is getting positive ROI from gen AI. From these dinners, I know that's not true. My favorite thing to do is ask lots of questions and pick the brains of smart people. It's the best way to learn. This is all new, so let's figure it out together. DM me for an official invite! Limited seats, first come first serve. #genai #aicontent #JulesLearnsAI

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Wondering what's new in the world of early-stage innovation research? Katie Sheehan's team has helped many brands use conversational research to better explore unmet needs and whitespace territories, understand their real potential in the market, and refine ideas. Register for the next Reach3 Insights masterclass webinar featuring Katie and Matt Kleinschmit to hear what they're learning and best practices you can use right away: https://lnkd.in/gwrpUxga #innovation #marketresearch #productresearch

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This booklet is an incredibly thoughtful and much-needed resource for experts seeking to engage with the press. If you're looking to share your expertise with the media, be sure to check it out!

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Health privacy is breached every day online. Most Americans don’t realize their Amazon info is being aggregated with Google searches, news browsing, FB/Instagram/TikTok posts & more. So our entire online experience, including health, is being sifted for marketing. Two LDI fellows, Ari Friedman and Matt McCoy, showed how hospitals and abortion clinics are just as likely as others to track users and pass on the info to aggregators. Check out this LDI piece that lays it out. #https://lnkd.in/eetqaPi3

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Gen AI is transforming digital publishing. No disputing that. Specifically, learn from the wise Erin A. Hallstrom about how Google’s recent change will impact website traffic. https://lnkd.in/dVhUfZHq #SEO #GenAI #digitalmedia

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I recently spoke on an Atypon panel, "Unlocking the Power of Data: Strategies for Audience Engagement," with Leslie Eager (Health Affairs), Rachel Bock (Wiley), and Hannah Smith (Wiley) to talk about the why, what, and how of building an audience strategy. The recording is now available. The link is below in the comments. I've also included in the comments a link to a blog post I wrote, "Audience Strategy for Publishers and Associations." For organizations looking to be more audience-centric, I offered the following 8 tips: 1. Bust silos: Organizations have a single, multifaceted audience, not separate disconnected ones. Within an audience, individuals often have multiple roles - e.g., reader, author, member, and event attendee. Recognizing these interconnected roles requires breaking down internal silos to develop a view of each community member, enabling personalized experiences that transcend traditional departmental boundaries. 2. Reimagine (and invest in) marketing: To fully capitalize on the benefits of an audience strategy, marketing needs to be modernized and valued (i.e., invested in). Organizations should look to other industries where marketing has been central to driving business success. 3. Data need to be actionable: Marketing teams must be able to quickly activate data for campaigns and personalized experiences without IT bottlenecks. Staff in all functions should have access to relevant reporting, analytics, and KPIs to inform their decision-making. 4. Challenge existing tech: AMSs and CRMs are not sufficient to achieve audience centricity. If this is an organizational priority, additional investment will be required. 5. Business-outcomes led: An audience strategy often requires investment. Start by identifying high-value use cases and business case framework first. Different organizations have different needs and financial upside potential. Careful analysis is required to determine the best path forward. 6. Tools do not tool: Build a strategic roadmap and be clear what you need. Do not look at tools in isolation. There is no single magic bullet tool. 7. More than tech: Change is not just about purchasing new technology, but the strategies and skills needed to adopt the tech. Successful adoption often requires changes to processes and organization design. Don't purchase technology before understanding the total cost of ownership and the change required within your organization. 8. Balance roadmap with quick wins:  While a single customer view is important, it is a long-term destination. Many use cases can be advanced without fully achieving it. Adopting technology requires a disciplined focus on specific use cases. The goal is to achieve value quickly, prove that value, and then continue to extend capabilities. You don't want a twelve-month project before seeing benefits. Instead, aim for incremental improvements that deliver tangible results along the way to a more comprehensive customer view.

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Fantastic article from Anita Puri and Kevin Ellenwood on the extraordinary opportunities and critical accountability required for generative AI. Read more for excellent recommendations, especially for leaders across the public sector, as we continue to evolve marketing communications efforts in the era of AI. #generativeAI #AI #marketing #communications #publicservice #government #leadership

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Some conclusions -- yes, I said conclusions -- on #AI for writing. Should writers be using AI? Yes. Should AI be doing the #writing? No. AI is not a solution you turn on and instantly benefit from. It is exceedingly good at giving you options, ideas, alternatives, and writing cliche lines. It is exceedingly bad at idioms, clever, wordplay, alliteration, memorable writing, metaphors, and understanding the ways word give voice to emotion. But yes, EVERY writer should be using it. If you said, "We don't use AI here," you are making a career-ending mistake. That's akin to saying, "We don't use spellcheck here." And, every writer should be thinking about HOW TO CREATE A WORKFLOW that makes sense, taking advantage of AI's core strengths, and mitigating its weaknesses, again, the brilliance that good writers exhibit. This blog was an extremely helpful synthesis of these concepts. https://lnkd.in/gd-zY-V3

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If you are an exec focused on understanding customers, this paper by Alexander Chernev and Ryan Hamilton is a great read. Most execs do not consider the role consumption plays in our own identity formation. Some choice quotes below. It is all worth a read. The commonly held belief is that consumers look to brands as tools of self expression. Either the brand tells the world something about them or reinforces something they believe about themselves. I carry an Alo tote to let people know I am athletic or use a Nalgene to show I care about the environment. The Author's research suggests that individuals have a finite desire for self expression and that consumption is only one way to satisfy that need. There are others. It is an important conversation to have, both when considering brand expression but also when designing experiences. "This unprecedented access to personally relevant self-expressive offerings and information raises the question of how this increase in the means of self-expression—both in terms of number and access—sways consumer preferences." "Brands create value for customers on two dimensions: by serving to signal the quality of the underlying offerings and creating meaningful associations that add value beyond the intrinsic product attributes." "Merely making consumers aware of the different means they already use to express their identity is likely to decrease their need to self-express in subsequent choices...[W]hen a consumer’s need for selfexpression has already been met by some brands, additional self-expressive brands are relatively less attractive." "Consumers’ need for self-expression can be satiated not only by a brand’s direct competitors but also by brands from unrelated product categories, nonbrand means of self-expression, and self-expressive behavioral acts." https://lnkd.in/gx-jYRyK

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