Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

Social Media Marketing Works

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

I’ve been looking for an event photographer for a social function and I admit my standards are high.

Yesterday, I noticed a fabulous new photo that one of my daughter’s friends had uploaded to Facebook. The photographer’s name and telephone number were embedded on the photo.

A quick Google search resulted in a link to his company listing and from there – I was directed to his portfolio on Flickr. There, I found some wonderfully creative photos. Great I thought – and promptly called him. After a brief conversation I decided he was the one! What more could I ask? He lives in the vicinity, is prepared to photograph the event and preparations, the price seemed fair – and all was set (except for the minor fact that he’s busy on the date I neeSocial media marketing d him).

Everyone knows that the best recommendations are by word of mouth. Will social media come to replace a few phone calls to friends? Maybe not, but the media’s power as a marketing and informative tool cannot and should not be ignored.

However good our gut feeling is about SMM, we shouldn’t forget that measuring social marketing campaigns is important. In a recent post on Marketing Sherpa’s blog, Adam T. Sutton was surprised to find that only 35% of respondents said they were tracking sales conversion and other ROI metrics related to social media.

So for now, I have yet more proof, if I really needed it, that social media marketing works!

On the other hand, I still haven’t got a photographer…

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To Do or Not to Do

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Recently there have been a number of industry blog posts about Marketing in 2010. They discuss a variety of what to do and what not to do in the realm of Marketing. 

So here are a few:

A recent article on AdWeek discusses the Five Marketing Principles Brands Should Embrace in 2010. In their opinion the marketing rules we lived by just five years ago are almost obsolete. While you may not agree with all, it makes an interesting read.

Additional tips can be found on Michael Fleischner’s good marketing tips blog.

Laura Lake offers five no and low cost tips in the Marketing section on About.com. Laura has ranked “Network at events” as the first, one of the most important personal marketing tips in my opinion. She also discusses the top five marketing mistakes. 

Further mistakes are currently being collected by Dianna Huff who is compiling a list of “silly B2B marketing mistakes”. You can submit yours until 10th February 2010.

Judy Shapiro listed the nine digital marketing mistakes that she won’t make in 2010 on Advertising Age.  I think she’s provided a great list of “un-resolutions” and un-resolution #9 definitely brought a smile to my face! 

To provide a more visual ending to future marketing, I’d like to share a video created by Keiichi Matsuda, a designer and film-maker. This video titled Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop is part of a larger project about the social and architectural consequences of new media and augmented reality. It provides food (and tea) for thought…

Feel free to add your tips and comments below on marketing dos and don’ts.

Posted in Marketing, Opinion, Social Media Blogs, Social Media Marketing (SMM), Viral Marketing | No Comments »

A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

An image – it conjures up an immediate spontaneous response.

Tibetan Girl by Efrat Nakash

Tibetan Girl by Efrat Nakash

What do you see in this picture ? I see pure curiosity.

When building your corporate marketing collateral, messaging; colours; fonts and layout are all of great importance. So are images. An image tends to create the initial impression.

Consider building a bank of your own images. Choose the images that you want to become part of your collateral collection, in a similar way that you select fonts and colours.

There are a number of ways to create your own corporate image bank depending on your requirements and budget.

  1. Create your own exclusive images using photographers and graphic artists. This is especially important if you have unique photogenic products such as designer clothes; accessories; artwork; etc.
  2. Purchase images from images banks such as Getty Images. Image prices are often negotiable – a discount is worth a try.
  3. Purchase images at lower prices from websites such as iStockphoto. If you are looking for exclusive images, don’t forget to check if there are numerous downloads for the image you’re purchasing.

If you work with a graphic design studio, they will assist you in the process, recommending images that suit and match your corporate look and feel.

Keep track of all images purchased and expiry or renewal dates of image rights when relevant. The type of image usage often needs to be pre-defined for web, exhibitions, brochures and geographical distribution.

Be sure to choose your images with care – they will convey your corporate message before a word of text has been read.

Thanks to the talented Outdoor Photographer Efrat Nakash for the great picture.

Posted in Graphic Design, Images, Marcom, Marketing | No Comments »

Viral Video Marketing – does it work?

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

Do you share videos? Anyone who has an email account, not to mention dabbles in social media knows how time-consuming it can become. Someone sends you a video or presentation. Do you open it or leave it waiting in your Inbox? Even worse do you hit “delete” before reading? What makes us open a video clip – and how well can viral marketing videos work?

The first factor in my personal decision-making process is “who sent it?”. If it is a friend or colleague whose opinion I trust, there is a good chance that I’ll check it out.
An example fresh in my mind is this “How NOT To Use PowerPoint” By Comedian Don McMillan video shared on Facebook by a friend.  My friend is currently completing her doctorate at Cambridge and if she thought it “share worthy” than I guessed that it probably is!  

On the other hand if the video clip arrives from someone who sends me four emails a day –Viral Marketing each one with an attached 4 MB video clip that takes forever to download – I tend to think twice (or more) about the value of these specific viral videos – and that’s before I’ve even viewed them.

There are other numerous factors – but what really makes viral marketing work?
Is there a recipe for a good viral marketing video? We all have our own perception of what a good video clip is and what makes us share a video but what do the professionals think?

Thanks to Kaitlyn Wilkins, VP at 360 Digital Influence who participated in the recent WPP Annual Stream Conference we can gain some insight into viral videos and how they spread.  Kaitlyn wrote a great blog post: Stream 2009: The Myth of the Viral about YouTube’s presentation at the event.

What are your “video sharing criteria”? Please comment below.

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Word of mouth marketing

Monday, September 7th, 2009

September is here and I admit I am enjoying the fact that the number of summer distractions is greatly reduced. These include overpowering heat and humidity, kids at home and a general “summer atmosphere”.

So – now it’s back to work.

We all know the importance of social media and the power of the people. We know that word of mouth can make or break a brand or product. However, this summer made me realize just how many of us actually trust total strangers’ opinions, when it comes to making purchasing decisions, as opposed to, or should I say in addition to multi-Dollar or Euro advertising campaigns.

 

Once of the most recent examples was that we decided to take a last-minute short family holiday. There were a number of criteria including – not too long a flight and 3-4 nights. The kids spent some time looking at a variety of offers and my 11 year old daughter painstakingly researched the hotels by “touring” their websites. When she came and told me she had decided which hotel we should stay at– and offered me the video tour of the hotel – I found myself saying “yes – well – they are the photos the hotel shows – that’s marketing – but let’s check what people who stayed there think…” Thus – open another browser tab and TripAdvisor here we come. Oh! What awful reviews the hotel had…

 

We finally booked a hotel with better reviews although I admit the agent was rather surprised. “I have better (more expensive) hotels” he pushed. I politely refused and hoped that the dear people who had taken time to write a review were in fact objective!

 

We arrived at the hotel to find friendly staff, a warm family atmosphere and a clean pleasant hotel, well located. What more could one ask for? On the bus transfer back to the airport at the end of our trip, there were other travelers who had opted for the “nice hotel” my daughter had found – only to be rather disappointed.  

 

What I am saying is – when planning your marketing campaign stick to facts. We all want to promote products in the best possible light – but don’t raise expectations to a level that you can’t meet.

No less important, do try to incorporate “real” people in your marketing mix: an interesting client case study or a positive customer comment on the level of your service.
Don’t forget to check what people are saying about you out on the web. If you can find it – so can your potential and existing customers! 

As I’ve posted this today – September 7th, I’ll take advantage of this opportunity to say Happy Birthday to my mum, a special lady. It’s thanks to her love for the English language (and her pedantic upbringing) that I speak, read and write English so well.

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