IA and Marketing Sneezers (was Re: [Sigia-l] Site registration

[Andrew Boyd]

Stew Dean wrote:

> Wise words. I totally agree with you that registration sounds like a 
> great idea to those in marketing and my experience is the same as 
> yours, once they have it they don't know what to do with it.   It's 
> one of  those 'great idea at the time' ideas like adding 
> personalisation, message boards and magazine type content to sites 
> ('So who is going to keep the content updated?' 'Carol in marketing 
> will do it' ).
>
Hi,

apologies if this has been mentioned in this context before - and it is 
a marketing source, but... Seth Godin has written three books that I 
have found interesting in this context ("What do I do with these people 
now that they are registered?") - Permission Marketing, Ideavirus and 
Purple Cow.

Here's one of those declarative statements that I warned people about, 
but I am game to stick my neck out because it is something I believe in...

"If a system design is related to direct marketing of a product or 
products, then marketing support for that product or products needs to 
be part of the design".

Usable systems get used. People sneer at marketing and marketroids, but 
if you are an "innie", and you are designing a system to support a 
product (e.g. a product support and order site, with stated supporting 
practices), then you need to help the marketing people look good (move 
product) to help yourself look good. You may have sullied your paws by 
dealing with direct sales, but everyone in the organisation wins.

You might help the marketroids by:
- introducing them to Mr Godin's books and discussing the death of 
traditional marketing methodologies - why targeted is cool.
- talking to them about how you can help them look good by identifying 
and supporting their pet "sneezers" (knowledgeable early adopters who 
convince other people to try crzy/sexy/cool products and services)
- showing them how you are proposing to find the sneezers, and ask them 
if there is anything they can tell you about their target audience 
(usually they can talk for hours about characteristics)
- taking what they want (sneezers) and what they know (characteristics 
of their sneezers) and using this as one of your persona sets for the design

Cheers, Andrew