The $5.99 Question: Biggest Turnoffs
The Connected Generation Podcast: The $5.99 Question: Biggest Turnoffs, Episode 53 
In this week’s podcast Lisa and I talk about the some of the biggest turnoffs to the connected generation and how companies can better reach this group.
Key Takeaways
Excuse you!
Now that content is king (in 2004 the exchange of content surpassed communication as the #1 activity on the Web), the key is to provide relevant information that people can easily access and share. The goal should not be to interrupt someone while they’re reading, watching or listening to something else, but rather to enhance the user’s experience with your product or service. Online advertising, in particular, can sometimes feel like getting cut off on the freeway, especially if it’s done in a sneaky or annoying way. (e.g. Hyperlinks in articles that are really advertisements or a pop-up that’s impossible to close.)
Check out this NY Times article to see how Nike is moving towards a new mode of experience-based advertising.
Content control.
Allowing the user to be in control of the content you provide is also extremely important. If you have a content-rich site for instance, make sure that the user can control what they’re watching, reading or listening to. If you have music, make it easy to turn off. If you’re telling a story through video, make sure it is easy to fast-forward, pause and rewind. Give the user the option to pull in what they want.
Keep in mind that people have little patience so juicy, bite-size bits are the most desirable forms of content. If you have important information that you want to relay to your audience, make it available in multiple formats. For example, if you have a tutorial for one of your products then both a video and step-by-step written instructions are highly valuable.
Shell Oil did a really great job with their interactive Eureka video, which tells the story of an oil employee discovering a new drilling solution to minimally disturb ecosystems. The short film is well produced and has three interactive learning points that provide links to additional information for viewers to click on.
Avoid the mushy middle.
If you’re wanting to go after the Connected Generation and realizing a change is in order, don’t fall into the mushy middle by keeping some of the old and adding a little of the new. Incremental change will not work when you’re trying to be compelling to this group.
There are things you can do that are sure-fire hits that appeal to an older demographic as well as the Connected Generation. However, if you want to go after this younger market and need to make decisions about music, humor, voice, etc., the best way to experiment is to isolate a younger team within your company and to give them a chance to put together a highly targeted project. Don’t give them an assignment that will have to be weighed in on by large committees of people that don’t understand this younger group. Instead, give them objectives and the opportunity to analyze and measure what they’re doing.
This post was written by Cassie Pruett
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