It’s All Marketing

Some is good. Some is bad. But it's all marketing. 
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February 3, 2010
 

Another PR and Marketing Webinar

Here's another marketing webinar for those interested.

Expect to cover topics like:
  • Generating global buzz for your clients
  • Effectively leveraging news releases in a web-based world
  • Optimizing a website's online media room for search engines
  • Why people want authenticity, not spin
  • Why content drives action

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February 1, 2010
 

Utter iPad Fail

Seriously? You own iPad.com and this is all you got?

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Filed under  //   Web Marketing  

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February 1, 2010
 

A $300 Paper RSS Feed

I just got a free trial issue of Internet and Marketing Report in the mail. Looks good, but $299.00 a year? Come on, every article has a link to where you found the info on the web. It is like a paper RSS feed.

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January 28, 2010
 

Random Notes from Dan Zarrella's Talk

These are my notes from Dan Zarrella's Social Media Talk. Somewhat random. 

I'll link to the recording and presentation slides when I get them

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Takeaway #1 - Try lots of campaigns (variation) and iterate on what works

If idea passes to more than 1 = Epidemic (Idea will spread rapidly)
If idea passes to one = Endemic (idea will spread, just not rapidly)
If idea passes to less than 1 = Die out (Idea will die)
Most marketing ideas have far less than 1.

"The more valuable the sentiment or the activity the members exchange with one another, the greater the average frequency of interaction of the members" (Quote lost)

Social Proof - "One means we use to determine what is correct is to find our that other people think is correct... we view behavior as more correct in a given situation to the degree that we see others performing it" - Robert Cialdini
-- Tweet meme button
-- Seeing lots of people RT gives more weight to a post

as social proof gets piled on a post (idea, etc), its value increases

Information voids - rumors spread when there is an information void.
Takeaway #2 - Don't let voids to develop around your brand.
When information is scarce, become the source of information.

The goliath effect - Position yourself from a David position. This can get your audience to side with you. (example - Droid)

Communal recreation - "telephone" game.  This is what happens to ideas as they spread.

Takeaway #3 - Be a box of crayons, not a rubber stamp.
"elf me" // lolcats // encourage remixing

New/Old - creating viral idea
Take new content and fit into old structure
take old content fit into new structure
Romeo Juliette movie (old story, told new)

Exposure: More people following, increase odds
- Seed your campaigns to more people
- Find influencers

Takeaway #5 - Find and target your influencers

Awareness:
lots of people have "seen" your tweet from exposure, but we need to break through the noise
Graphic - Bigger banner ads get more clicks
Selective attention - hearing your name across a crowded, noisy room
Takeaway #6 - personalize: talk to your target audience

Don't post links all the time. The more links per hour the less click through
Takeaway #7 - avoid link fatigue.

Motivation: Why do people share
Personal Relevance ("right up my ally" or "I knew my readers would like this")

Takeaway #8 - Use combined relevance

What do people share?
RTs are noun heavy. Sound like news headlines.
Uniqueness

Takeaway #9 - Don't forget calls to action

Self-reference 
don't talk about yourself so much

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Filed under  //   Social Media  

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January 28, 2010
 

Dan Zarrella on The Science of Social Media Marketing

Just saw this on Twitter. The webinar is at 10 a.m. PST (as in 10 minutes from now). http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/e/1516

Dan is the real deal, so I'm actually excited about listening to this one.

Dan will cover:

* The history of word of mouth marketing, from pre-web to online
* Lessons from social psychology, memetics, and statistics to understand what motivates people to share information
* Scientifically proven best practices for getting people to talk about your business online

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Filed under  //   Social Media  

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January 27, 2010
 

The "Inner Circle"

ESPN The Magazine sent me renewal offer today. In the pitch was the added benefit of becoming part of the "Inner Circle."

Sounds important, right? I get to be special, right?

Let's have a look:

Apparently, the inner circle means I can lock in the $11.97 rate the are offering me AND have my account auto renew every year without me having to do anything.

Here are my main issues with this pitch:

1. I paid $5 for my original subscription. So, $11.97 doesn't sound very impressive.
2. A couple months ago, The Mag offered me the chance to renew for $1. Seriously, $1. That makes $11.97 sound like an utter rip off.
3. Being in the inner circle means I'm locked into my subscrition until I proactively call to cancel.
4. They'll renew me at the "prevailing rate." What the heck is that? I think they just left the door open to change me whatever the heck they want when renewal time comes around.

I don't have a problem with trying to get me to opt in for an auto renewing subscription. But, if you're going to pitch it as being part of the "Inner Circle" at least offer me a cool jacket, membership ring, or access to a secret hand shake that allows me to drive a zamboni or something.

The "Inner Circle" benefit sounds more like the the "We Think You're A Sucker" benefit.

People really fall for this stuff?

Note: Last August Mr. Magazine had an good post on the ESPN The Magazine $1 renewal offer.

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Filed under  //   Magazines  

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January 27, 2010
 

Don't Be Too Vague

If you're going to have a call out with an interesting fact about your company, product, or organization, make sure that it isn't too vague. Ask yourself, "could my competitor paste this on their marketing material without chancing a single thing?" If the answer is yes, then rework the copy and make a better pitch. For example:

Pretty sure this isn't a statement unique to WTS. Plenty of seminaries can say the exact thing. It is like saying, "Our graduates have jobs..."

A simple fix would be to take the vagueness away and give a number. Even small numbers or ball-park number would make this more interesting, engaging, and unique to WTS.

"More than 15 alumni serve a presidents..."
"Over 200 alumni serve or have served as.."
"15% of all seminaries around the world have WTS alumni serving as..."

Don't be too vague.

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Filed under  //   Writing  

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January 27, 2010
 

MarketingSherpa’s ROAD Map to Social Marketing Maturity

Another webinar for those interested in that sort of thing.

Details:

Free marketing webinar with MarketingSherpa covering insights from MarketingSherpa's 2010 Social Media Benchmark Report.

Based on MarketingSherpa's 2010 Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report, discover during this one hour webinar:
  • How each of the three stages to social marketing maturity impacts results
  • Where your social marketing maturity stands in relation to other marketers
  • Insights on how B2B and B2C marketers plan a social media strategy
  • Which practices are routinely performed using a formal practice
February 4, 2010
2:00 p.m. EST

Speaker(s):
- Sergio Balegno, Senior Analyst, MarketingSherpa
- Jeanne Hopkins, Director of Marketing, HubSpot

http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-webinars/marketingsherpa-phases-of-social-marketing-maturity

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Filed under  //   Web Marketing  

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January 27, 2010
 

The iPad and Great Marketing Copy

I love Apple's ability to keep their marketing copy clear and simple. In today's announcement of the iPad, Steve Jobs summed up the iPad like this:

Our most advanced technology
in a magical and revolutionary device
at an unbelievable price.

Don't know if I'll buy one, but in just one sentence I know what it is all about.

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Filed under  //   Web Marketing   Writing  

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January 26, 2010
 

Free Website Conversion and Social Media Webinar

Not interested in Trends in Media for 2010? Then maybe you'd be interested in the Website Conversion & Social Media webinar. Both appear to be running on January 27th at 2 p.m. EST, so you'll have to chose one... unless you're really good at multi-taking.

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Filed under  //   Social Media   Web Marketing  

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