Transcription
****Please forgive any and all transcription errors as this was transcribed by Otter.ai.****

[intro music]
Shark 0:16
Welcome back. And thank you for joining A Shark’s Perspective. I am Kenneth "Shark" Kinney, keynote speaker, marketing strategist as well as your Chief Shark Officer.

Shark 0:24
Great topic today. What is the future of marketing? Is it more data personalized to the extent where every brand or AD is personalized, targeted directly for you? Is it the bright new shiny object in technology and apps? Or the FOMO? About running on a social media channel with posts and content that gets likes and shares? Or is it something else where brands are challenged to add something of value to their customers?

Shark 0:47
Crystal Washington, CSP, is a technology strategist and certified futurist, and author who works with organizations that want to leverage technology to increase profits and productivity.

Shark 0:59
And on this episode, we'll discuss the future of marketing with a crystal ball if you will, and some future trends, breaking bad habits and trying to add value versus noise, personalization, digital amnesia and technology data social media, relationships and conversations with customers noise being a keynoter board Millennials Jean Dixon is winning Powerball numbers, adventure travels and tarantulas in the Amazon, Amethyst and quartz the secret recipe to why Crystal's husband stays, and a lot, lot more.

Shark 1:26
So let's tune into a fortune teller, if you will, with a futurist shark on this episode of A Shark’s Perspective.

Shark 1:38
Crystal, thank you so much for joining us today on a sharks perspective. Talk a little bit about your story in your career today, please.

Crystal Washington 1:45
So Kenneth, first off, I'm excited to be here. To kind of summarize my my trip, I guess, to the place where I'm at now is you know, I started off in corporate America, and sales and marketing. And I was very young in my 20s. I was breaking sales records, I mean, winning trips to Disney World, and bonuses and stuff, they've been changed the bonus structure, because I was bonusing too high. So you're paying too much. Um, I got bored, because I'm a millennial. And so when the revenue manager left my company, I told my boss because it still ran under him, even though as sales, I want that job in revenue managers kind of like the front end of accounting with some marketing responsibilities. And I remember my boss said to me, no one does that. Like, that's not a thing. And me being the millennial was like, Well, I'm bored. And I want numbers. And I like numbers, too. So you can either give me this job, or I can find somebody else, my sales record is amazing. So he's like, Ah, you millennials, or gave me the job. And that's really where I started getting involved in each channels in the marketing into the business and moving away from sales, seeing the front end of it. And there's this little thing called social media that was at its infancy. And can't if I went to my boss, and this is me being in the job for about a year and a half, still crushing my records, even in this department. And I said, Hey, this social media thing, I have a feeling it's gonna be big. And of course, kids were like, you know, now, duh. But at the time, it wasn't a thing. And I said, I have a feeling one day companies will get on here. And imagine them having conversations with like, their customers. You could like have a conversation with McDonald's. So again, up now, Kenneth, we're all like, Duh, but it hadn't happened yet. This is like MySpace days

Shark 3:25
MySpace using a Blackberry.

Crystal Washington 3:29
Yes and so my boss, Kenneth looked at me. Now here's this older man, baby boomer, and he said, Look, kid, you make us a bleep load of money. You can say bleep. He said, stick to what you know, said oh, so remember millennial. So I plotted and planned and six months later, I quit my job to start a digital marketing firm, because everything in me said this was going to be huge. And I started with small companies first consulting for mom and pops because they're agile. And then from there, I got contracts with like Google and British Airways to do consulting. And the speaking came from that, because most of my consulting clients were members of different organizations. And they said, you know, Crystal, you're so good at explaining what you and your team does. Will you speak at this event? And I would take them until I started getting too many requests. And then one day, it hit me as like, these aren't billable hours. I can't keep doing this. And then the first organization that I said no to they said, but but we'll pay you. And I said, Oh, and that was the beginning of my speaking career. And now I speaking is what I do primarily. And so I speak on technology, helping people leverage it to increase profits and productivity. And I'm also a futurist as well certified futurist and so I incorporate a lot of futurist elements and models into how I suggest that people leverage different types of technologies.

Shark 4:56
You talk about the future of marketing as a futures what is the future market Getting through the lens and eyes that you bring today.

Crystal Washington 5:02
You know, there's that's that's such a big question that's almost like what's the future of this country? Or what's the future? Big? I don't there's so many pieces.

Shark 5:11
What are the winning numbers for Powerball next week?

Crystal Washington 5:13
So yeah, oh, I'm not a psychic. I'm a futurist. I see where you went there,

Shark 5:18
Jeanne Dixon. It was, yeah.

Crystal Washington 5:20
Technically, if I had a ball in front of me, I'd be a crystal ball, because I'm Crystal. But no, no, that's not, not how it works. But I will say I think one of the biggest things that in terms of trends with marketing, we've moved into this arena where things are hyper focused, where things are very much customized to the individual person, I do think we're going to reach a point of saturation in the near future, because there's so much noise, it's overwhelming for people. And they're trying to figure out how to unplug, they're getting text messages, the stadium that they're going to see the game that is the name of another company they should purchase from, they're getting phone calls, they're getting emails, they're getting pop ups, they go on Facebook, and they're seeing the thing that they didn't buy last night on a website, you know, pop back up again. And so I think the challenge for marketers is figuring out how to add value versus noise. How do you become almost a consultant in marketing, where you're giving ideas and simplifying lives, not just adding products? And that's a conversation I haven't really seen happen. But I'm pretty confident that that's where we're headed.

Shark 6:31
What do you think will stop marketers from going in that direction, though, with noise? Because as much as that makes sense, it's hard for people to break the habits that they're in?

Crystal Washington 6:42
Well, I think what, I don't think this is unique of marketers, I think what causes most people to change is necessity. When they start to see less and less sales from certain things that they're doing. You know, they'll realize, oh, wait, wait, this is where people are going. Maybe it's about you know, leveraging some you know, somebody on the metaverse instead of using the celebrity instead, maybe I need to hire a voiceover actor and create my own persona for my company, but it not be salesy and adds value. It just happens to wear my clothing. You know, while it's you know, interacting with people, what make what makes people change is necessity when the things we're doing no longer work. That's what inspires some of us to change. Now, some of us will die on that hill, some of us will keep doing the things that don't work, and we're just going to perish in the process. But that's always been true. That's not new.

Shark 7:35
Well, so a lot of the journey and the process can be different when you think about b2b versus b2c or other How do you sort of think through some larger scale changes and where we're going with the future of both of those?

Crystal Washington 7:49
Well, I think we have to look at the relationships. At the end of the day, whether you're doing b2b or b2c, it's all about relationships. And the journey is definitely different. And the way that you communicate has to be different, because if you're b2b, you typically have a much smaller book of business or clients than if you're b2c. Right? So just because at scale, you can't do the same things. But I do think we have to pay more attention to the customer journey, customer experience, we're starting to see more systems being built around customer experience, not just CRMs. But people are actually buying customer experience databases and connecting them to CRM, and really getting down to the nitty gritty with tracking the entire journey. And the data is wonderful. We look at data science, it tells us a lot about people. But people also don't want to just be a data point. And we're also seeing more and more people in organizations push against organizations being able to collect that data. And we're seeing countries in the world like we look at Eastern Well, when we look at parts of Europe, right and some of their laws. So I think that we're headed to a point where people have to be more intentional about understanding their individual customers, and finding ways to help alleviate stress, versus adding marketing noise. And if your product can help alleviate stress, and I don't mean like it has to be some type of medical product or self help. But if you're stressing about maybe do you look good on your zooms, or, you know, are you fashionably dressed? Well, some of these subscription services that send you clothes every couple of weeks, they're alleviating stress. So we just have to be more intentional and think about our customers and what would help them versus how we could manipulate them to hit like how a lot of marketers we hit those pain points are like, Ah, this hurts. Now you need us a different approach than what we have been taught to do since the 60s.

Shark 9:51
We refer to digital amnesia, and how choices are being made for us by technology because they remember what we did or liked or acted upon. And you know, when you were talking about things moving at hyperspeed, obviously, with the advent of technologies that are coming up, every day, there's a new app that will over personalize everything for you. Yeah, they're intended to help. But they're getting to the point where they're starting to hurt marketers. And it's also hurting a lot of the people making choices that our sheep, you know, rather than creatively trying to figure out what in the world their problem is, rather than what the technology tells them it is. So unpack that, if you will, with where you look at all the technology today.

Crystal Washington 10:30
Well, you know, I think technology is neutral, like money. Money is very neutral. You know, it's when you give money to someone that is responsible, and that has a plan, and that maybe has a good heart, you know, that that money is going to be used responsibly. If you give that money to someone that is a hot mess, right, in terms of their decisions, think that they do, guess what, you're going to get more hot mess. And so I take a very neutral view of technology, very clinical let's, let's see what the benefits are. And here's the thing, you know, when I talked about personalization, and understanding what our customers need, we have to do that for ourselves in our organizations as well. Because sometimes there's technology that's cool, that we could incorporate into our marketing strategies or our businesses. But it doesn't add enough to warrant the learning curve, training our people, the trade off isn't enough. And then sometimes there's unintended consequences as well. Sometimes it doesn't pair well with the other pair well with the other technology that we're utilizing. So I think that, if anything, I would suggest anyone that's listening to us right now, before we adopt any more technology, we sit back for a moment and breathe and talk with our teams about what is our brand, what are we trying to communicate, chart down this customer journey that we want people to have where they keep coming back, or referring or reordering, and chart it down on paper, I'm a big fan of paper, at least for you know, just getting the ideas out. And then as you're looking at technology, always ask yourself, does this technology fill a gap that we know that we have, because anyone can convince you that you need one more thing, but if it's not filling a gap that you already have, then it becomes a distraction from solving the problems that you already know that you need to address.

Shark 12:25
One of the things I also want to talk about you alluded to earlier with social media, there's a new channel every day, I know that a couple of those helped me get through COVID. I mean, when I think of how much time I spent on tick tock and clubhouse and everything else. But yeah, I know it's hard for brands in general with good reason to really figure out how to navigate the space when what we joke about with MySpace was two decades ago and now to New Video or Audio conversation a minute going on? How do you sort of approach social media as part of your own brand and for those that you serve today?

Crystal Washington 12:59
So I think one of the underlying things we have to sit with, and be honest about is we have to sit with our fear, Kenneth, because many of us right now we live in a society that has trained us like Pavlovian dogs to be afraid of missing out. FOMO. Right. And so we're adopting technology, sometimes, because we're afraid we're gonna fall behind. Well, this is what's new, we have to get on this. Sit back and breathe for a moment and know where it is you want to go with all of this technology, before you utilize something. I mean, I think that's the biggest piece, we have to sit with it. Now when it comes to social media specifically, it's actually a little bit easier than most people would think. You follow your customer base. If your customer base is C suite executives, guess what? clubhouse is wonderful. You know, I've been on clubhouse for a while I was there when it was still invite only and everything. I've been there for a while. I'm not on it very often anymore, because it's not serving my purposes right now. But if your target audience is C suite executives, I'm not sure clubhouses, the best usage of your time, when it comes to attracting clients doesn't mean you don't have another reason to be there might be information gathering, it might be potential partnerships, if you're trying to attract Gen Z, guess what? Facebook, ain't it. That's not the number one place for them. And so typically, with social media, I find that one of the best rules of thumb for marketers that are using it to attract their clients is just go where your clients are no the demographics of the social networks, and go where they are, you actually don't even have to be a pioneer on a social network. Because you don't want to be the first one there. And none of your clients are there. That's not a good use of your time you want to you want to wait till there's a base of them there. And then you go in. So for most organizations or businesses, I actually say when it comes to social media, choose maybe two social networks and men estrogen, game them to the highest degree, whether you're hiring staff, whether you're hiring a team show out on those two main social networks that are most likely to get you the best return on investment, and leave the other ones alone, it doesn't mean they have no value, it just means that you're concentrating your efforts. And just like in the real world, where we could all be a member of 10 different professional organizations, none of us are because we don't have the time and we wouldn't get the same return on investment, we would get same relationships with volunteer as much. We choose a couple. And then we put our all into them social media, in my opinion, my way, not the way is very similar.

Shark 15:41
Let's talk then a little bit about data, data and privacy in particular, we've taken such amazing leaps with the ability to capture data, to manipulate it, yes, to move it in the areas and directions someone may want to to help influence a decision. Yes. Do you see any pushback? You know, because you alluded to Europe and GDPR. And there's a cultural difference in how they value privacy in the way we do you see us coming to a point where that becomes more of a concern to your generation. And beyond? That it it necessarily is it today, because a lot of people really enjoy being told, here's what's a good fit for you. As a simple, simplistic example, while there are a great deal of people who also find it to be they're afraid that you know, they get to wear aluminum foil cat because they're afraid Alexes lipstick job.

Crystal Washington 16:37
Right. Um, do I think there'll be more pushback in the States? I think was the underlying question. I do think so over time, we're starting to see a lot more grumblings now than we did five years ago. Whereas, you know, this has been a concern in Europe for a little bit longer. So I think that we're a little bit behind them, but we'll start to see some of the same issues. You know, I think we're battling with two different things. Number one, who controls our data, you know, you and I were putting out and in same amount of data every single day, you know, and then most people don't even realize how much we're putting out daily. Who controls that? Who gets to monetize that? Should I get to monetize the fact that I'm sharing this? Well, if it's something free that I'm utilizing this collecting the data? Well, then do I still have ownership? or would I rather pay for the service? And then own my data? I don't know. I don't know what the answer is to that. That's something we'll have to figure out collectively. On the other end, I think that big data is much like some of the advancements in agriculture that people rally against, you know, I end up speaking to a lot of agricultural groups, and understanding why they're using some of the technologies they're using, and manipulating crops and things, it makes a lot of sense when you're talking even to the mom and pop farmers that are explaining why it's a necessity. But oftentimes, the public only gets a soundbite, and we run with it. And so data has helped save, you know, we look at big data and, and being able to utilize information. It's saving countless lives, especially when it comes to diagnosing people with different diseases and things because we have data that allows us to basically interpret small signs and tell us if someone's likely to have cancer, or someone's likely to have this disease or that disease. It's allowing us to have smarter city planning, so that we can have stoplights that aren't, you know, going at different type times, which seems like a small inconvenience. But when you understand the correlation between that and things like accidents, that's a whole nother situation, right? And so big data has a lot of wonderful use cases, and even in marketing and helping people get the products and services they really, really need. But who owns our data that's going into these machines and that people are sa machines going into the cloud, you know, is and it's being processed? That's a little bit more of a complicated question. And we get to decide as a society what the answer is,

Shark 19:05
I'm going to lean back into a question that I asked a little bit earlier with a little more clarity and definition, hopefully here, but are several of the things we talked about primarily evolved around digital marketing. And one of the things you were talking about providing value and how we do that through the future of marketing, I agree with completely, but I find it interesting that a lot of the marketers today, focus primarily on optimization of a channel, for example, as opposed to how do we serve our customers better? And I'm curious if the future of marketing to you and where people go to learn from Crystal Washington if they can't find her. I'm curious where you think they're gonna go to get a better education and marketing to help them connect better to their customers.

Crystal Washington 19:50
So two things. First, you know, I think part of the issue which you kind of, you know, alluded to, is the culture of organizations that we're working for as marketers. Right, whether it's our own business or when we're working for, because it's, you know, when you look at sales and marketing, they're measured on different levels of success. But you know, with marketing, it really is about numbers and tracking in clicks. And, and you know, sales job is to convert them once you get them on the phone, right? Or possibly email. But sales is a little bit more the conversions end of it. And marketing is the attracting and so I think part of the challenge here is that organizations have to redefine success for marketing, we definitely need things to be measurable, I believe it's if it's not measurable, you have no way of knowing what a success is. But sometimes it's a little bit bigger than that. It's almost like banking. You know, I remember a few years ago, when all the big banks got in trouble hand slap, because they're opening up all these extra accounts. And part of it was or accounts people to ask for. Part of it was because these banks had very high sales numbers, goals for their people. And the markets were saturated. And so the only way that they wouldn't get fired was to open these other accounts. That's a cultural problem. And so now, they took those away at the largest banks, and they measure their success instead of the bankers on customer satisfaction. And so for marketers, it might be a combination of different things that they can measure, in addition to just sheer numbers to the website, click throughs, things like that. Now, where do they go to get the newest information on marketing, I guess, wherever they go to get their information. Now, it's just going to take a lot of trickle down. Now they want to know where I get information. This kind of goes into the whole futurist or foresight model. It's called horizon scanning. And what that means is we look at a particular area, so maybe it's the future of digital marketing, it'd be even better if you got it by industry. So if everybody looked at it by their industry, and you just start collecting as much information as you can, about trends in that industry, not even necessarily marketing trends, but trends, what's going on in that industry, what's going on with their customers, the demographics, so it might be information coming in. And you can use all kinds of tools to Google Alerts and different news, aggregate services to bring the news to you. But what will happen is, you'll start to see trends can have because the future doesn't just land on us, most people think the future happens, and then we have to adapt to it. It's not true, the future actually leaves us easter eggs. But we have to be non emotional, and untied from what we want to happen to be able to see them. So a very quick example would be taxi companies, who had more data than the large taxi companies, Yellow Cab, all these different cab companies around the world who had more data than them about what customers needed all day. All they had to do was talk to their dispatchers and say, Hey, what problems are you seeing customers upset about every single day? And all of those dispatchers, every single one of them said, Oh my gosh, people call back because they're trying to figure out, where's the cab? They ordered? How soon is it coming, they're frustrated, or they can't get them in certain neighborhoods, all over the world. But the problem is these company leaders didn't go to those people. They got with other executives. That's what we do. We're management, we're all brewing. And they totally missed a trend. And now companies that don't even own cars are eating their lunch, they were easter eggs, we could do the same thing with, you know, Blockbuster and Netflix, all of these examples. They were easter eggs. And so I think the challenge then for marketers is to be bold enough to look at things outside of the accepted norm, and start to notice trends and then figure out how they're going to react to them. That's why I quit my job, I noticed a trend, I saw a buzz happening. And I literally put my entire future on the line. to back it up.

Shark 23:56
What do you think it takes to be a great marketing keynote speaker? Obviously, there are a lot of a lot of marketing speakers out there. But you're well established. You've been doing this for a while you're sought after by a lot of different industries. What do you think it takes to be a great marketing keynote speaker?

Crystal Washington 24:13
Oh, that's a hard one. Um, I think number one

Shark 24:17
to do for you to pat yourself on the back. So

Crystal Washington 24:19
I see. I see. And I appreciate that. Kenneth, I think honestly, too. It's the same thing that it takes to be a great marketer, or to be a great speaker, we can overlap those things. But it's an understanding of who your target market is, and tailoring information so that they feel seen. So whether you're marketing shirts through a website, or whether you're on stage speaking to the people in the room, if they know that you know who they are specifically, I don't mean talking in generalities. They know it's not a canned speech. And you're using examples of the people in the audience that pop up on the screen and they're like, whoa, that's Ted right. If you make people feel seen, they will trust you because they know that you know them and everyone else is talking at them. Whether it's marketers online, or even some speakers from the stage just know who your audiences and serve them.

Shark 25:13
Great point. So crystal, you're near enough to the Texas Riviera near Galveston in Corpus Christi a few sharks in the Gulf. It's it's not one of my favorite diving places. But I've gotten a few murky just a couple of sharks out there is this of all the guests on the sharks perspective? What is your favorite kind of shark and why?

Crystal Washington 25:30
You know, I've never thought about it.

Shark 25:33
I'm very few people.

Crystal Washington 25:35
I got you. I got you. I got you that way. Can you say I'm an adventurer traveler, I do all cave diving. I am in the middle of the rainforest which Rangel is hanging out. So I do adventure stuff. But I don't do underwater adventure stuff for the most part. And so I think my favorite type of sharks I've been in shark infested waters before my favorite type of shark is the kind of shark that doesn't bite me.

Shark 25:57
Fair enough. Fair enough.

Crystal Washington 26:00
I just need to not get bit. I said I do my adventure on land. And I I respect and appreciate you doing yours in the sea.

Shark 26:06
You got it? Well, crystal is a special time in the show. Are you ready for the five most interesting important questions you're gonna be asked today? I don't know if they're that interesting or important, but we'll see. Alright, number one as a speaker in person events or virtual

Crystal Washington 26:23
in person, the energy is higher, but I do still enjoy virtual but in person.

Shark 26:29
Fair enough. All right. Number two, we talking about the future a lot. Fortune Cookies are one of those magic eight balls, which is more reliable. For good fortune more reliable. Well, you can call it that. Oh, I

Crystal Washington 26:43
don't know. Um, which one would I rather use? I think fortune cookies only because for me, they're often really, really wrong. So at least makes me laugh. Okay,

Shark 26:53
True. True, and you get food with them. So Alright. Number three. You're in Houston. So a day trip in Houston to NASA's Johnson Space Center or a day trip to the Galleria, which is about the same size.

Crystal Washington 27:11
That would be Johnson Space Center because I love space. And when it comes to shopping, I order almost everything online.

Shark 27:18
Yeah, unless you need to go ice skating. There's not a lot of although there is a Nobu. There is a Nobu on the internet. It's fantastic. Oh, there's

Crystal Washington 27:26
a Nobu. There's restaurants that are delicious. And I do take family members ice skating there from time to time. So Good point. Good. Fair enough.

Shark 27:33
Fair enough. All right. Number four, popular crystals, Amethyst, or quartz. Amethyst, I had to look them up because I know nothing about crystals. Alright, number five. And the most important question that you're going to be asked today is biscuits, or cornbread.

Crystal Washington 27:54
Okay, so hang with me there. Biscuits because I make amazing biscuits from scratch.

Shark 28:02
Amen to that. So

Crystal Washington 28:03
I'm about to get you some biscuits. Yeah,

Shark 28:07
Paula Deen is is secretly the woman I yearn for because of her biscuits. So

Crystal Washington 28:11
I hear you. My husband stays partially because I get some honey comb get a comb of honey. So you can scoop that off there on that fresh biscuit. So not just the squirty not nothing there. But get the comb where you're scooting the comb on the freshly made biscuits.

Shark 28:30
That's fantastic. We're, we're coming over since crystal where can people find out more about you? Keep up with your thought leadership in the marketing space, your keynote addresses and more.

Crystal Washington 28:42
Okay, well, I made it really complicated. They have to go to Crystal Washington, which is my name crystal spelt like a rock crystal washington.com. And everything's there. You can connect me with me there, see what social networks I'm on? We can hang out and be BFFs

Shark 28:55
perfect. Crystal, thank you so much for being with us today on a shark's perspective.

Crystal Washington 29:00
Thank you, Ken is.

Shark 29:06
So there was my conversation with Crystal Washington CSP, a Technology Strategist, certified futurist and author who works with organizations that want to leverage technology to increase profits and productivity. Let's take a look at three key takeaways from a conversation with her

Shark 29:21
First, so what is the future of marketing? Crystal starts out talking about how we have to look at the relationships. Great point, we can create content and ads and target the chocolate ice cream cone out to people but as she points out, the challenge for marketers is how to create value versus noise. And it comes down to alleviating stress more than creating more marketing noise. It's hard for people to break old habits but they will as we continue to see sales drop when marketing doesn't trump what helps consumers solve their problems?

Shark 29:50
Second, you've heard me talk often on other episodes about technology and how much of it becomes a crutch. She points out that before we adopt any more technology Sit back and breathe, work with your teams, chart it down and then ask, does this technology fill a gap that we know that we have, anyone can convince you that you need one more new thing, and then it becomes a distraction. And I love that. And it applies to social media as well. Don't worry about FOMO worry about where your audience is, and what their problems are, and how social helps you leverage to fixing their problems. Are you supposed to be the coolest brand with the hippest tech on a social channel? Or is the goal to best serve your audience?

Shark 30:29
Third, I love optimization with channels, landing pages, e commerce, etc. But I focus on the bigger issue anytime I can, which is what do we as marketers want to focus on simply how to optimize a website or a post on a social channel, for example, or optimize the experience for customer and now marketing becomes part of their solution for them to solve a problem and not just part of the noise that we too often create. It's one of the reasons that I love being a keynote speaker in order to impact change in serve our audiences. And that's part of the future that we want to make. Got a question send me an email to Kenneth at a shark's perspective dot com.

Shark 31:02
Thank you again for the privilege of your time. I'm so thankful to everyone who listens.

Shark 31:06
Please consider writing a review and letting me know your thoughts on the show.

Shark 31:10
The future has been told and it's full of sharks, at least this one and I hope in your future that you'll join us on the next episode of A Shark’s Perspective.
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