Category: Marketing

Although social media
is an important part of marketing,
it is impossible for small business
to have a presence
on all applications.

So should you have
a blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account
or a…?

It depends on your target audience.

The hip and trendy and
the tail end of the early adopters
are right now using Twitter.
As I write small press novels,
it is natural I hang out there.

My buddy writes novels
for middle class moms.
Obviously she’s on MySpace
and she blogs on blogger.

Use social media
but use the right application
for YOUR prospects.

Amazon got the bright idea
to drop what they deemed
‘adult’ content
(which included
children’s books written for
the alternative lifestyle crowd
and classics like
D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover)
from their best seller lists
and rankings.

Then they were surprised
at the very noisy outcry.

Ummm…
what part of best selling
did Amazon not understand?
Of course, more people would be upset.
More people bought those books.

If you mess with your top products,
be it the Classic Coke formulation
or the product’s placement
on best seller lists,
you WILL get push back.

As you should
because that says customers care.

U.S. News & World Report has come out
with their list of top 10 recession busting industries.

Home gardening, movies, romance novels,
condoms, resume editing, public universities,
chocolate, McDonald’s, career development websites,
at home coffee brews…

In other words
escapism, frugality,
and proactive change.

Can you tap into these trends
with your marketing
or
your product development?

I recently read an interview
with an author
who clearly hated reading eBooks
and claimed they weren’t true books.
A strong and honest opinion.
The thing is…
her books are now only available
in eBook.

I once worked with a coworker
who very vocally felt that cola should be
only enjoyed out of glass bottles.
That despite 
economics and consumer preferences
dictating that most cola was sold in cans and plastic.

I continue to hear grumblings from movie folks
about how HD DVD should have won
the format wars
and how Blu-ray is inferior.

Doubting the format
your product is now in
creates doubt in your customer’s mind.

Sure, go ahead and work on another format
but until customers are ready to switch,
don’t put down the one
they’re currently buying.

If you do,
you’ll end up looking
like a pretentious jackass.

Employee Of The Year
is a very powerful award
within a company.
It should not be given out lightly.

Why?

Because the choice sends
a strong, clear signal
to other employees,
to management,
to customers,
to vendors.

It says
‘this employee
has the characteristics we appreciate.”
If the employee of the year tows the company line,
you’ll build a company of yes men and women.
If the employee of the year is an innovator,
you’ll build a company of innovators.

Think about where you want your company to go
and THEN select an employee
embracing that direction.

In Susan Gunelius’ post on
10 Steps to Effective Copywriting,
she reminds marketers
to focus on ‘you’,
rather than ‘we.’

“Remember, writing in the second person
helps your audience quickly connect the points in your copy
to their own lives and
allows them to personalize
the advertisement or marketing piece.
This is how the ad is connected
to an individual customer’s own life.”

Using ‘you’ in copywriting
is difficult for most corporate folks.
We’re trained from entry to use ‘we’
in every communication.
It is part of team building.

But that is the corporate environment.
Selling is different.
The customer doesn’t care about your team.
They care about themselves.
Use ‘you.’

A study by Glamorgan University shows
that women prefer
curved lines on sites,
more colors
(and women prefer warm tones like reds or oranges
vs men’s preferences of cool tones like blues or greens,
women also prefer complimentary not contrasting colors),
and informal language.

I can vouch for the informal language difference,
especially when selling to romance readers
(the majority are women).
Women buy from friends,
not salespeople.

Women also value other opinions.
I saw an increase in sales
once I put reviews by readers and other authors
on my romance site.

If your target reader is female,
design your site with her in mind.

A DJ on the radio announced
that 70% of all ringtones
are purchased by women.

What is interesting about this
(other than that the only online reference
I could find to back this ‘fact’ up
was over 3 years old
– proving how information
is forever)
is, of course,
the marketing possibilities.

A women targeted product
could offer freebie ringtones
or develop
a ‘jingle’ that samples well
or associate already popular ringtones
in their advertising
(linking their product to the ringtone).

The possibilities are endless.

I received advanced notification
of a writing honor
(the official announcement is this weekend).

Now, it is time to say thank you.
No, not with an email or card,
(though I will send those too)
but by helping promote the award.

Some award winners are shy
about telling the world they won.
That is unfortunate
because the best thing they can do
is be a spokesperson for the award.

There’s a reason why
Miss America tours the U.S. after her win.
She is responsible for helping promote
the pageant.

If you win an award,
use it in your marketing.

One of the trends for 2009
is shockvertising.

I wouldn’t say this is a new trend.
Shocking prospects
with outrageous commercials
has always been a tactic.

The difference is…
it is far more difficult to shock people today.
Advertisers have to get more and more graphic,
more risque.

I put this in the same category
as competing on price.
It is a challenging tactic to maintain
(especially with any dignity).

Try for another emotion.