Marketing for algorithms, not just for people
The best insider at the annual Word of Mouth Marketing Association conference , which was held this week in Washington, was heard from Ted Lionsis (AED vice-chairman). He noted that “Marketing is no longer directed at people. Our marketing is focused on algorithms. ” As an illustration, he cited the example of several algorithms that greatly influenced his own purchasing and life-related decisions: Google, blog search, car diagnostic system and recommendation system from Amazon.
Lionsis's comment highlighted the growing inextricable relationship between algorithms, their interaction with people, and the influence on the course of broader information flows between people (a good topic for a word-of-mouth marketing conference). The more human behavior leaves traces in digital space, the more opportunities are open to algorithms to use this “live” data and become an information mediator, broadcasting, thus, commands, added value or influence. Many so-called web-services, belong to this area, but the essence of algorithms and their interaction with people extends much further than the generally accepted understanding of web-browser services. They are becoming more and more integral and key to a variety of “smart” (smart) products and services that affect our lives, both covertly and explicitly, from phones and GPS mapping services to medical devices and RFID tagging systems.
Marketers are very important to catch this idea, especially now, when they need to revise their models of consumer decision-making. The old linear model, according to which, the consumer makes a decision, loses its relevance and requires its replacement with a new one, which includes not only open behavior in a “half-hearted” style, such as personal conversations or consumer conversations online, but also any behavior that creates a layer of metadata that is processed, sorted and dispersed using algorithms.
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In short, the point is that the algorithms are woven into our lives and affect the information we are looking for, which we study, which we share, with which we communicate, which we receive and in which we believe. Algorithms increasingly condition our perception of reality and often, we do not even notice that this is happening. Influence can be invisible or stunning, instant or stretched, narrow or wide. Consequences may be foreseen or predicted, but more often they are unpredictable.
The search refers to one of the marketing disciplines that are most obviously related to algorithms, but, as a rule, their use is aimed at high-speed tactics of direct reactions, modeled on the basis of rational decision-making. But the thing is that algorithms have a massive, global impact that marketers must adopt in all its fullness and depth - including the emotional and psychological levels. Yes, and including, advertisers of mass market brands, who work in this way, singing engagement, are forced to turn to algorithms in order to tune out to the changed mental models of consumers.
The topic of algorithms is much broader than this short note, but I still try to demonstrate several obvious algorithms that influenced my metadata and metadata of other people, affecting consumer decisions, media-consumer habits and other vital decisions:
1. The restaurant guide Zagat, using reviews of its participants, a database and search algorithms, helped me choose more than fifty restaurants, from those that I visited this year.
2. Download.com, a CNET service site where you can download software and read reviews, helped me choose almost a dozen of PC program names using my search capabilities, user reviews, ratings and, most importantly, general download statistics.
3. The real estate database from The New York Times, listened to my criteria and recommended several houses that meet my needs. Now I am negotiating the purchase of one of the options offered by her.
4. The fact that I stayed this week at the Helix Hotel in Washington is entirely the result of Expedia's algorithms, as well as search criteria, price, level, user reviews, and proximity to the WOMMA conference venue.
5. My wife and I were looking for a nanny and other services from this area, looking at the search results and recommendations on the sites of the parent communities.
6. The music playlist helped me sort out the new music and choose the right one, after I indicated which one I like.
7. The GPS mapping service for a car helps me decide which way to go, which cities to cross and which stores it will stop at.
8. Social media filters and recommendation systems like Digg and Tailrank help me decide which news and which information is the most resonant and important, as well as which photos and videos are the most interesting.
9. The EZPass system records and informs me every month how much I drove along toll roads and bridges, and how much cash I rolled off to our Ministry of Public Transport. Having a collection of this data in front of me, sometimes I make a decision regarding some alternative route.
10. The company that services my credit card monitors fraud attempts and informs me about them, so that we can combine our efforts in the pursuit of crime. Other companies that deal with credit cards do not provide such a service, and I have no business with them.
Which algorithms could you attribute to those that affect your purchasing and other solutions? Which ones are most noticeable? Which ones are hidden or unobtrusive? And most importantly, do you use them for your marketing purposes?
Translation from English to:
blog.worldwebstudio.com
Lionsis's comment highlighted the growing inextricable relationship between algorithms, their interaction with people, and the influence on the course of broader information flows between people (a good topic for a word-of-mouth marketing conference). The more human behavior leaves traces in digital space, the more opportunities are open to algorithms to use this “live” data and become an information mediator, broadcasting, thus, commands, added value or influence. Many so-called web-services, belong to this area, but the essence of algorithms and their interaction with people extends much further than the generally accepted understanding of web-browser services. They are becoming more and more integral and key to a variety of “smart” (smart) products and services that affect our lives, both covertly and explicitly, from phones and GPS mapping services to medical devices and RFID tagging systems.
Marketers are very important to catch this idea, especially now, when they need to revise their models of consumer decision-making. The old linear model, according to which, the consumer makes a decision, loses its relevance and requires its replacement with a new one, which includes not only open behavior in a “half-hearted” style, such as personal conversations or consumer conversations online, but also any behavior that creates a layer of metadata that is processed, sorted and dispersed using algorithms.
')
In short, the point is that the algorithms are woven into our lives and affect the information we are looking for, which we study, which we share, with which we communicate, which we receive and in which we believe. Algorithms increasingly condition our perception of reality and often, we do not even notice that this is happening. Influence can be invisible or stunning, instant or stretched, narrow or wide. Consequences may be foreseen or predicted, but more often they are unpredictable.
The search refers to one of the marketing disciplines that are most obviously related to algorithms, but, as a rule, their use is aimed at high-speed tactics of direct reactions, modeled on the basis of rational decision-making. But the thing is that algorithms have a massive, global impact that marketers must adopt in all its fullness and depth - including the emotional and psychological levels. Yes, and including, advertisers of mass market brands, who work in this way, singing engagement, are forced to turn to algorithms in order to tune out to the changed mental models of consumers.
The topic of algorithms is much broader than this short note, but I still try to demonstrate several obvious algorithms that influenced my metadata and metadata of other people, affecting consumer decisions, media-consumer habits and other vital decisions:
1. The restaurant guide Zagat, using reviews of its participants, a database and search algorithms, helped me choose more than fifty restaurants, from those that I visited this year.
2. Download.com, a CNET service site where you can download software and read reviews, helped me choose almost a dozen of PC program names using my search capabilities, user reviews, ratings and, most importantly, general download statistics.
3. The real estate database from The New York Times, listened to my criteria and recommended several houses that meet my needs. Now I am negotiating the purchase of one of the options offered by her.
4. The fact that I stayed this week at the Helix Hotel in Washington is entirely the result of Expedia's algorithms, as well as search criteria, price, level, user reviews, and proximity to the WOMMA conference venue.
5. My wife and I were looking for a nanny and other services from this area, looking at the search results and recommendations on the sites of the parent communities.
6. The music playlist helped me sort out the new music and choose the right one, after I indicated which one I like.
7. The GPS mapping service for a car helps me decide which way to go, which cities to cross and which stores it will stop at.
8. Social media filters and recommendation systems like Digg and Tailrank help me decide which news and which information is the most resonant and important, as well as which photos and videos are the most interesting.
9. The EZPass system records and informs me every month how much I drove along toll roads and bridges, and how much cash I rolled off to our Ministry of Public Transport. Having a collection of this data in front of me, sometimes I make a decision regarding some alternative route.
10. The company that services my credit card monitors fraud attempts and informs me about them, so that we can combine our efforts in the pursuit of crime. Other companies that deal with credit cards do not provide such a service, and I have no business with them.
Which algorithms could you attribute to those that affect your purchasing and other solutions? Which ones are most noticeable? Which ones are hidden or unobtrusive? And most importantly, do you use them for your marketing purposes?
Translation from English to:
blog.worldwebstudio.com
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/30914/
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