Columbus Day: An Opportunity to Reflect on Marketers’ Journeys and Discovery

By: Charles Benaiah

Is the world flat? Of course not. To some folks in 1491, it was. Do ads help customer journeys? Of course not. To many folks in 2016, they still do.

It was recently Columbus Day, a holiday surrounded in controversy. While it can an occasion to think about the devastating impact Columbus had on the New World, it also presents an opportunity to reflect on journeys and discovery — in marketing terms.

Journey is the new buzz word for marketers like us. It used to be ads. We were like troglodytes, hitting people over and over with the same message. Advertisements were our clubs and we believed they would hammer in a Pavlovian habit to buy our stuff. Our outlook was, in a word, “flat.”

Even cave-dwelling ‘trogs painted walls with their stories. It’s time we learned from our ancestors. The world is round, colorful, and full of stories. Journeys matter and we yearn to discover.

Customers want our story. That’s why we have sales people. That’s why we create content. That’s why we have thought leaders. That’s why we put the totality of our stories on display. All these things aid and accelerate the customer journey.

Most current media is geared to display ads, not to tell stories. Discovery escapes them. They simplistically flood places with content and hope something attracts a viewer. Quick as a flash, they show that person an ad. They ensure it expands at random times and bounces all over the screen to maximize the chance that the viewer hits it and, voila, a click-through.

Everyone wins, right? Content for free, ad revenue, and customer engagement. Well, no. The consumer is annoyed and the publisher obscures their content. The brand may be the biggest loser. They set the boulder of customer resentment in motion, one that threatens to crush them.

So what is discovery? Helping consumers find stuff that they want. One way to do that stems from how things look. We understand simple designs. Colors, shapes, and sizes are all signifiers. We see something big and red, we know to stop. We see green and we know we can go forward. We don’t have to think; we just react. Publishers can infuse character into content to help it stand out. Then, they can change those characteristics for each user to help them parse through endless choices and — wait for it — discover.

Now what if your brand interlaced your story with real a discovery process? You’d get more engagement with specific parts of your story that help your customers reach and make decisions. Less bounce, happier customers, and a compressed journey.

That’s what we do. We make journeys and discovery better. For us and the marketers who work with us, every day is a new adventure.