Nowadays, everybody is talking about the “art of storytelling.” Sites like this of Burberry’s not only try to tell a personalized story to the visitor but also to make the time he spends with them better and fancier. At the same time, all the brands work really hard to have a story to say, a story that is appealing to people, something capable to attract their interest, to make them spend money, to engage them even more with their values, and of course to increase the probability of making them purchase something.
But while it is obvious that we try to say our story, and we do everything to achieve that (as brands or as people addressing others), it seems that we are completely unprepared to listen the stories consumers have to say. We master the art of storytelling, but we forget the art of listening, and this is a big a mistake. Moreover, we fight and we spend tons of money trying to get the best place on the most personal gadget of peoples’ lives: their mobile phone. We push, we speak, we say the story, but we don’t listen, we don’t know what to measure or why. As I said in my previous post, mobile is not just another channel, another media thing. Mobile is all about understanding and listening to what people have to say, share, where people are, and why they are somewhere.
Therefore in order to measure mobile we need to start working and understand the five “W’s”. If we manage to understand the five “W’s”, then we might be able to chart and translate peoples’ journey and behavior.
1. Where
Location was never more important than in our day. They are the places where people spend time, share files, post pictures, comment on something, ask for advice, or for help or tips. Location becomes even more crucial to understand the route the people we want to address, follow, repeat, spend time.
2. Who
Back in 2005, Steve Jobs said, during his commencement speech at Stanford University, that we can connect dots only when we look backwards and understand how things and our actions lead to specific results and outcomes. The same is true with mobile, we can connect the dots and understand who our person/consumer/customer on mobile is only when we look backwards. This means only when we understand the story he has to say, the way he unfolds things and details about his personal choices, flavors, ways to spend his money, how and where he socializes and, most importantly, what triggers his curiosity for new things and experiences, can we understand him. In other words, mobile CRM and insights become the strongest and most necessary foundation/element to chart the behavior of our people.
3. Whom
But our mobile people are not alone, they don’t share things only for their eyes or to satisfy their egos. People become social personas who love not only to attract attention but also to trigger conversations. By understanding how a conversation can be sparkled or started, we can not only participate but also measure our ability to interact with them, add value to their daily life.
4. What and 5. Why
What people talk about and why they talk about it on a specific location (and with whom) is the next big thing that we have not only to measure, but also to track. Because this can be the key to building the profile of the person we like, not only to say our story but also to listen to theirs, understand it, and return something back they can really appreciate. Ideally, it’s something able to add value to their lives.
This what really matters. What people say and what people do. Not only how our story can reach more people, but how the peoples’ stories can be heard by us so we’ll be able to return what they need at the place and the moment they need it.
