Marketing is Groovy!

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Some of the dictionaries are just plumb wrong!

They lead you to believe that groovy is strictly a 1960’s term and have you thinking that the word was originally defined then. While it’s true that groovy emanated from tongues naturally in the 1960’s similar to the popularity awesome enjoys today, it's actually a comeback of sorts for the word.

Interestingly enough, groovy dates back to the 1930’s, to a time before mini-skirts, Elvis shaking his censored pelvis, and Alan Freed’s coining of the phrase “Rock ‘n’ Roll.  Jazz musicians used the term to describe how they felt when they were playing, in a sense, it defined their feeling of well-being. And it was spelled differently: Groovey. Some sources cite it as being derived from “in the groove”. Now this origin makes the most sense.

However, there’s a whole other development of the word groovy. Groove can mean a furrow, channel, or a long, narrow cut or indentation in a surface. Okay, like the grooves of a record! Those cuts in a vinyl platter that went round and round. And the noun expanded its meaning and evolved into an adjective when someone stuck an “eeee” on it.

In either case, a more modern definition of groovy is wonderful, excellent, marvelous.

Now how does that tie into marketing?

• Marketing is groovy when it’s well-planned.
• It can be groovy when it’s well-executed. 
• Being “in the groove” means you have the confidence to keep moving ahead in your endeavors and you know just what to do.
• “Groovy!” may be what you’ll shout out with reckless abandon when you first see the seeds of success. 

What do I say to that? Could be time to “groove”…click here for a groovy treat.

This blog is part of the A to Z Challenge. Here's E and F. Enjoy!

Data, Social Media, and You.

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How do YOU pronounce it? Day-ta or Dat-a?

What actually IS it? Encarta defines it as information, often in the form of facts or figures obtained from experiments or surveys, used as a basis for making calculations or drawing conclusions.

Surveys? Experiments? How does this apply to social media? And, you thought I was going to talk about ROI, didn’t you?

Ah, questionnaires. Good old fashioned quantitative market research; an excellent way to get some insight from your fans, followers or circlers. And plenty of free sources to use. But beware of bias and improper wording; I’ve seen lots of poorly written surveys in my time!
Find a market research professional, tell them what it is you’d like to learn from your clients, and let them do the rest. Great data starts from the best preparation, from defining the issue, including determining the possible actions that will be taken as a result of the findings, creating the questionnaire, testing, fielding, processing, analyzing and reporting.

What do you want to learn from your fans on Facebook for example? Some ideas include:

• Demographics, beyond the location, age group and gender that Facebook provides to page owners
• Gather ideas on what they’d like to see on your page
• Test out a new product concept
• Their opinions on a particular subject; perhaps something that you’d like to blog about at a later date
• Greater detail on their interests (psychographics in market research speak)
• How they feel about some of your current products and likelihood to buy
• What charity they’d like to see you make a donation to

And the other half of that definition, experiment?  How about trying something new with your posts? For example, my other endeavor, Groovy Reflections, offers products, namely hand tie-dyed t-shirts sporting the brand logo. Personally, I don’t enjoy getting in people’s faces touting these offerings.

So, instead, I’ll post something that’s more on the “softer side”, such as giving away a shirt instead (have been doing this every 500 new fans).  Discussion about the free shirt will be lively and some of the more curious folks may inquire more about the products while others will explore quietly on the website. It's both engaging and creating awareness.

Not exactly a focus group facility!

It’s not as good as having a focus group, but you’ll get some qualitative feedback. DO remember that this is a very informal way to gather information and it’s not representative of the population at large that has an interest in your brand or business.

Focus Groups, either in person or on-line would provide some concrete data on the respondents as well as their individual responses in conversation based on a well-planned out guide contain the question you’d like to have the respondents discuss.

Data is powerful if gathered wisely! Do learn from it to make your social media efforts even more successful!

For more data (ha!) on data, say hello on my Facebook or Google+ pages or tweet me.

This is "D" of the Blogging A to Z Challenge. Don't forget your A, B, C's!

Far Out! Voice-Activated Market Research Software from NGMR

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I recently had the honor of beta testing a perhaps slightly unusual market research tool that takes efficient, easy and fun to a whole other level. It was quite exciting to spend a month evaluating and reporting on this next step forward in the world of Market Research.

And yes, I have seen a few cross-tab analysis packages in the past (have even formally trained users in one), but this one gets top awards in my book for two reasons:

•    It’s voice-activated
•    The target user audience is boomers

That's right, voice-activated. And, while you still have to choose which attributes you’d like to run, it's not necessary to click on anything to make the selections; just SAY them. So for example, you could say “column comma age 35 to 54 comma percent”, and the chosen attribute would automatically be retained as your column data. Do the same for your rows, and conditions. When you’re done with your selections, simply say “run”, and the data is automatically placed in an excel spreadsheet, ready to analyze.

Customization is available. For example, after running a query, the software will then ask you if you would like to save the query. If so, say “yes” and it automatically stores it with a logical name. Note: If it's an already existing query that was run, you will be asked if you want to save it with the same name, a new name, or continue to work with the query. And, when they software asks these questions, it can be verbally, as a pop up on the screen, or both; you can program the software to suit your preferences.

So while there is still some use of keyboard and mouse, it is very limited.

But wait! I mentioned that the software was aimed towards Boomers. You can choose how you would like the software to speak to you. “Fillmore Style” contains expressions such as “far out” and “that was such a groovy choice”. “Surfer style” contains jargon such as “cowabunga” and “dude”, while “Puff the Magic Dragon Style” is geared towards all the folkies. But perhaps the most unusual one is “Carnaby Street” where even Mary Quant (not quantitative) is mentioned when one is wrapping up a session with the software.

I highly recommend this software for its ease of use. It DID take a while for it to understand my Jersey accent, so there is a bit of teasing and training involved. And initially, it is good to have attribute lists printed out for your databases or to visit the lists within the software, which ever option you are more comfortable with. I personally liked having a few pages spread out in front of me, which meant that I didn’t have to use the keyboard or mouse at all.

And oh how smart this software is! I could be talking with someone on the phone or in person, and unless I say the name of the software first, it will ignore everything that I am speaking out loud. All I had to do was say “GroovyTab” before a command, and say it again when I finished my commands. And I could go right back to my conversation.

Some great news! If my review has tickled your interest, the company is currently looking for more beta testers, so if you'd like to give it a whirl, leave a comment here, and I’ll make sure they get your message.