gtd

Twitter provides self-organizing psychographic market segments

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

3buckets
 
Wow, that's a mouthful huh?  Ok, so let me explain…

The follow/follower model in social technologies creates self-organizing communities where those who "follow" someone or something are publicly stating a preference or interest in what that person says/does or what that brand provides.  This is not limited to Twitter but also applies to Facebook fan pages, LinkedIn company pages, etc.

Psychographics are "attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles" and cut across traditional demographic segments (industry, role, geography, etc.). 

Reaching a target segment based on psychographic attributes can be tricky as that is not what the traditional marketing playbook is designed to support.  The key is to identify where those with these attributes gather, share, and collaborate with each other and then to engage in a way that utilizes the same attributes.  In other words, don't be stupid once you identify who you want to reach and engage with shallow ads, cheesy promotions, etc.  Know your audience and what makes them tick – that is why you are doing psychographic segmenting in the first place.

So back to the title of this post and "self-organizing psychographic market segments" for a moment.  Let's say you have a productivity product that will completely revolutionize task management – the "next generation to do list."  That's awesome.  Who uses "to do lists?"  Well, just about eveyrbody so demographic segmentation will not be overly effective.

Try this – go to Twitter search and identify a few folks who talk about productivity, discuss workplace efficiency, or preach David Allen's getting things done (GTD) gospel.  How?  Start with searching on #gtd, #productivity, and #work and see where that takes you. 

Using David Allen as an example, he has over 1.3 million Twitter followers who cut across demographic segments but who have self-organized around an influencer and possess the psychographic attributes you are seeking.

DavidAllen_GTD_Twitter
This is, of course, only the beginning of the process with reach and engagement being the next and more quantifiable activity.  A topic for another post.

Hope this is helpful and happy to discuss further.  Email me, leave a comment below, or reach me on Twitter @ReplyToAll.

Photo from Flickr:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/florianpainke/4500254335/

 

Why I write things down

/ Robert Pease / Leave a comment

  Moleskine

It does seem a bit peculiar to write a blog post about the reasons I still put pen to paper but as the number of electronic gadgets explodes and we spend more of our waking hours with our noses stuck in smart phones and iPads, I thought explaining why there is still a place for writing things down in my world seemed appropriate.

I have always carried a paper pad of some kind (steno, legal, etc.) around with me to take down notes or lay out my thinking on a topic or problem.  For years, I used a leather portfolio given to me when I graduated from college.  It is black, fits a legal pad, and has a pocket for papers – simple, but effective.

Always on the quest to learn new things by reading other's blogs, I saw a post from someone about using a Moleskine notebook to capture thoughts.  Paper and portable, I thought, count me in.

The Moleskine has a distinguished history hailing from Milan and used by the likes of Picasso, Hemingway, and Matisse.  More on the history here including its demise in 1986 and rebirth in 1997.  I capture nothing as distinguished but do find reviewing previous entries pretty fascinating and like the way it fits in my back pocket.

I was in Chicago last week meeting with some great folks ahead of an event and took out my Moleskine to jot down a name and phone number.  From the other side of the table, I heard "Don't you work for a technology company?"  This was all in good fun and I replied "Why yes, I do, but this is my secure and portable note taking application.  Instantly searchable (thumb pages) and encrypted because my handwriting can become undecipherable even by me."

We all laughed at the situation but it stuck with me and is the inspiration for this blog post.

I write things down because I want to remember them, reference them, and demonstrate to the other person that it is important enough to capture by hand.  A phone number, a name, a place, or a random thought…it doesn't matter.  I find it much easier to jot down a quick note when an idea comes to me or I am trying to organize tasks.  

This is part of my workstyle and I'm not saying it is for everyone or that a Moleskine is the key but it is how I capture important thoughts, detail follow up items, and organize my activities.