Archives for December 2024

I’ve written here about my niece Brooke, who, when she was about two, could tell when an adult wasn’t making sense. She’d say, “You’re talking jellybeans!”

My pal Jim Reische, exec comms chief at Williams College, got a great big bowl of jellybeans over email last week, and thoughtfully shared it with his colleagues in our Higher Education Leadership Communication Council.

Hi James,

I caught something interesting – Williams College’s shift in digital engagement patterns signals you might be ready for what we call “tactile marketing automation.” It’s fascinating how we’re seeing B2B companies completely flip the script on traditional marketing.

We’ve engineered an AI-driven system that predicts exactly when and where to inject physical brand touchpoints into digital customer journeys. Think Netflix-style predictive analytics, but for tangible marketing moments. Our clients are seeing their digital conversion rates double when we time physical brand interactions with key digital triggers – like sending a custom-engineered unboxing experience right when a prospect hits their third high-intent webpage. The system even forecasts which physical items will resonate best based on real-time behavioral data.

Would you be interested in seeing how your current customer journey map could be enhanced with these predictive physical touchpoints? I’ve got a quick visualization specifically for Williams College’s engagement patterns.

Thanks,
Emily
Proforma

The letter put me in an avuncular frame of mind, and I took it on myself to write an open reply to Emily (not her real name):

Dear Emily,

Over the holidays, when your mother girds herself to finally ask you what you do all day down there at Proforma, will you explain to her that you and the boys are injecting physical brand touchpoints into digital customer journeys? When a look of gloom crosses her face like a shadow of doom, will you then rush to clarify that all you’re talking about, Mom, is simple custom-engineered experiences and high intent webpages, and whatnot?

I bet you won’t. I bet you tell her, “I do sales.” And leave it, mercifully, at that.

Emily, don’t you want to be doing more meaningful work than this? I mean, no occupant of a death bed ever said they wished they’d had more tangible marketing moments in their digital customer journey.

Maybe this is your first job out of college. We all make mistakes. I once sold stuffed animals door to door. Talk about some predictable physical touchpoints!

An old boss of mine once wrote that his first job after getting out of the service was at a company that sold false teeth by mail. His job was to write letters to customers who complained the teeth didn’t fit. He lamented many years later: “Was there nobody to tell me that surely, in the post-war booming year of 1946, there were better jobs to be had, better companies to work for? Evidently not.”

Emily, if you’re smart enough to know what a high-intent webpage is, then you’re smarter than me. And I’m sure your mom and I agree, you were certainly made for greater things than this.

Sincerely,

David