Jumping into Social Media Marketing? Look for the Influencers
By admin | July 28, 2010
Social influence is a key factor when it comes to marketing. It doesn’t matter if you are using traditional channels or not. Influence is what drives a person to choose one car manufacturer or fast food restaurant over another. Social Media Marketing which targets online influence is the wave of now.
With that in mind, inbound marketing has become the way to attract leads and customers throughout the Internet world and beyond. Whereas in the not too distant past a company could place an advertisement in a few magazines and run a TV commercial to build leads and make sales, these avenues are being tuned out by former customers who are looking elsewhere for their entertainment, news and information. But even with marketers turning to social media for inbound marketing they have hit upon a couple of hurdles.
First, social media marketing takes time. There truly isn’t one specific avenue to take to get great, immediate results. Social media is more about building relationships than any other form of marketing short of taking your wares door-to-door. Which, in essence, what is really happening. Companies are finding that they need to start pressing the virtual flesh. One person at a time.
The other hurdle is measuring results. Right now, it isn’t easy to do. These kinds of metrics are relatively new. With traditional ads response can be measured by clicks, promo codes and other tracking features. Social media, who knows? If you start passing out promo codes on Twitter you may end up turning off more prospects than you gain and you’ll "out" the marketer you have in place.
But social media isn’t going anywhere and it’s an avenue that should be used to build brand and community.
That brings me to the point of this post. To reduce the time it takes to begin influencing people and building community and buzz, your best bet is to influence the influencers. You know, the Ashton Kutchers, Seth Godins, and Chris Brogans of the world. The social influencers you want to reach are the top members in the industry or topic that your prospects are most likely to be listening to or reading about on the social influencer’s Twitter pages, blogs and web sites. By targeting the top social influencers and getting in their good graces you cut down on the amount of door-to-door flesh pressing you’ll have to do to get your social media marketing campaign underway.
Question is, how do you know who the influencers are if you don’t know them by name? Stay tuned…
Topics: Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »
What TV Commercials Catch Your Ear, or Eye?
By admin | July 23, 2010
Shoot the Gap, Shoot the Gap!
Well, I learn something new everyday. Being that I’m a defensive driver I never knew that shooting the gap meant to scoot into the space between 2 slightly non-parallel vehicles so you can pass them. I guess I missed those teenage years. Or, maybe I’m just that conservative driver like the folks in the commercial?
Most car commercials don’t leave a lasting impression on me. I thought this one was rather cute. The commercial was good enough for me to remember the idea, not the car company. Which is half the battle. Now I’ve got my eye out for the commercial again. Or, that’s why we have the Internet. Just do a quick search and you’ll find it! Here it is for your viewing pleasure, the VW Autobahn for All Event.
So, what TV Commercials have peaked your interest lately?
Topics: Advertising, TV Advertising | No Comments »
Keep Your Email Message in Precise Focus
By admin | July 11, 2010
I’m a big believer in the written word. Regardless of how social media is changing PR and marketing, a quality direct response sales letter will still sway the reader. But, even with the CAN-SPAM law in effect, we still get more emails than we can handle on a daily basis, so to grab the reader’s attention the subject line, headline and first paragraph need to to be strong and precise. Unfortunately, most miss the mark.
A recent email I received didn’t get to the point until the last paragraph. And that was 350 plus words later. So why would you go off on a historical tangent on the subject of your email before you even had the chance to tell the reader what your email is about?
Here’s what I’m looking for: Hit me baby. Don’t ramble. Give me the meat and potatoes and then, and only then, if the history of your subject is REALLY important to convincing me to contact you should you go off on that tangent. But make it quick and precise. There’s nothing wrong with filling in the details. Just let me know what I’m reading about so I can make an educated decision whether I want to continue reading.
An email without immediate focus will at best confuse the reader until they get the gist. At worst, DELETED, before they reach the end of the first paragraph (and that better be short too!).
Topics: Copywriting, Direct Response, Freelance Copywriter, Marketing Opinion, Social Media | No Comments »
Paid Blogging: What’s the Problem? Is it Ethical?
By admin | October 23, 2009
SEO Politics of the Internet - I’ll pay you to vote for me! What’s all the hoopla about paid blogging? Is it good for business? Is it ethical? Should it be policed by the Big Brother of the Internet, Google? Lots of ideas and opinions are running around as how to view paid blogging. Here’s a quick rundown as we look at the pros and cons of compensating bloggers to review products and services.
Pros
- Positive Influence: Positive reviews can influence opinion of your product or service – This can be good or bad (see cons)
- Encourages reader response – this depends on the popularity and trustworthiness of the blog(ger). A popular blog that receives hundreds of hits a day and has garnered enough interest from its readers will create a buzz in the local blog community which can lead to…
- Viral Marketing – Increased exposure on one blog leads to another blog through word of mouth (or is that fingers?), back links and more discussion which leads to…
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and increased exposure throughout the Internet. The more other bloggers pick up on the review or story, the more exposure you’ll receive with the Search Engines like Google, Yahoo! Bing and others, which leads to more exposure – good publicity.
Frankly, the current search engine business model is based on a pay-per-click (ppc) paid inclusion so paid blogging fits. So, how can there be anything ethically wrong with paid blogging?
Cons
- Ethically is it in the gray area? Can a paid blogger be trusted to provide an objective review of the product? Should an honest blogger base their review on their experience and not what the company paying for the review wants?
- Write this! The majority of paid bloggers are not told directly what to write – of course they will be influenced by the fact they are being provided free products to test on their own or compensated monetarily.
- Can readers expect an objective review? Because the whole point is to get an opinion of a product before you buy it yourself
- Negative Publicity: What if the product doesn’t live up to the blogger’s hype? The product received a glowing review, yet it doesn’t function up to that level. If enough customers who buy the product based on the blogger’s recommendation don’t agree with how good that product is, not only will the blogger’s reputation suffer, so will the product’s sales and the company that manufactured it.
- Big Brother is Watching: Google says it is currently working to prevent their search engines from recognizing paid blogs. Is that possible? If at some point it is, could your product be black listed by Google? Is paid blogging truly a black hat tool?
Conclusion Paid blogging is no different than lobbying politicians, just on a different level. I don’t see our current government model going away any sooner than paying writers to write about products and services – particularly if the current search engine model promotes paid inclusion. Besides, it’s been done for years in the print world, should it be any different online? Consider paid blogging the advertorial of the Internet.
Topics: Blogging, Branding Strategy, Copywriting, Freelance Copywriter, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-16
By admin | August 16, 2009
- @BrightMeadow You must be from across the pond. Most Americans who aren’t foodies won’t know that a Corgette is a Zucchini.
in reply to BrightMeadow #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02
By admin | August 2, 2009
- Sometimes your marketing message just needs to be reorganized. #
- Is tweeting an opinion based on fact a cause for a law suit? A PR conundrum. #
- If you cut back on your marketing due to the recession now is the time to get back in gear so you’re ready to hit the pavement running #
- Finishing up copywriting and design concept for a magazine coverwrap for the Good Sam Club Signature Visa card. #
- Copywriting isn’t a commodity – it’s an investment #
- Down time – Waiting for the client to get back to me with edits. #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-26
By admin | July 26, 2009
- RT @MackCollier: BURN NOTICE! #
- @joannayoung Tea is Great! Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, Kenyan, Java, Nepalese = yum! in reply to joannayoung #
- Welcomes New Client Bet Tracker – Web site, Flash Demo and Audio Script #
- Starting work on a new project for the Good Sam Club – Copywriting and design concepts for a 2-page magazine cover wrap and magazine ad. #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-12
By admin | July 12, 2009
- Just finished putting together 5 magazine ad concepts for an ad campaign for the Good Sam Club #
- @ladysncharms need any help setting up Word Press? in reply to ladysncharms #
- SEO and Copywriting: Can they co-exist? The best SEO in the world won’t necessarily win customers hearts and minds. #
- @RobertStover I know, rhetorical question. I would say it can be done. It’s not easy and you have to use other methods of SEO/SEM to assist in reply to RobertStover #
- @RobertStover True. I’m a copywriter first. I believe keyword density can best be served inside the html programming as meta/comments in reply to RobertStover #
- @RobertStover Excrescence? Can’t say that word is in my vocabulary. in reply to RobertStover #
- @RobertStover Awh, Jeez. Now I have to look it up and use it in a sentence! in reply to RobertStover #
- @RobertStover Somehow I don’t think that quote from Johnson dated 1759 took into account either changing tastes or technology in reply to RobertStover #
- Creative Directors: Could your marketing materials use a different creative angle? Drop me a tweet! #
- I don’t know. Google getting into the OS industry isn’t far fetched, but I wonder if it will fly. #
- @RoyBlumenthal Or Intel Inside… in reply to RoyBlumenthal #
- @NEWSUNSEO Smaller newspapers have had the ability to adapt to the online world that much easier. Now they need to charge for their services in reply to NEWSUNSEO #
- @MackCollier Mack, have you seen this article about Twitter-censorship? http://bit.ly/cCK0o Moonfruit got canned for becoming too popular! in reply to MackCollier #
- Inspiration: Born from experience or gleaned from our surroundings? #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-02
By admin | July 2, 2009
- Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01:
Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30:
Ira Says: Twitter .. http://tinyurl.com/l4v2pr # - @MackCollier I think that’s where you’re supposed to not think about work for 5-7 days or more at a time. When is that? in reply to MackCollier #
- @MackCollier Agreed. Excessive compulsive tweeting can be a real turnoff. It fills up the Twitter screen! in reply to MackCollier #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01
By admin | July 1, 2009
- Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30:
Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-29:
@Wordyworker Hi Jo.. http://tinyurl.com/m2qpfk # - Finishing a PR article for a local real estate agent. There’s more to copywriting than just producing high end ads and direct mail. #
- Ira Says: The Joy of Marketing: Marketing can be rather fun, especially if you look at the process as b.. http://tinyurl.com/l655oh #
- Just got a personalized twitter background at http://www.TwitterBackgrounds.com #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
The Joy of Marketing
By admin | June 30, 2009
Marketing can be rather fun, especially if you look at the process as being a matchmaker for couples as opposed to selling snake oil. (Then again there may be good snake oil that may have medicinal properties, but I wouldn’t prescribe any, and hopefully the snakes won’t blame me for saying so.)
The stereotypical evil snake oil salesman of old would sell anything to anybody. But I prefer the road of integrity. What does the product or service offer and who would be the best fit? Just like there is someone for everyone in the dating scene, there is someone for just about any product or service. The trick is finding it; or, finding a niche market for the product that the original intent hadn’t realized.
And this can be done truthfully and strategically without resorting to trickery. Because a “lemon-ny” product or service will have an extreme public relations backlash, particularly with the easy dissemination of information throughout the Internet.
Happy couples or happy customers – the proof will show in the bottom line. And there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction seeing that a product or service is being used effectively or with enjoyment by customers that truly purchased what they were looking for.
Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30
By admin | June 30, 2009
- Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-29:
@Wordyworker Hi Jo, your Twitter profile URL is either broke.. http://tinyurl.com/lw7zua # - @nathanparikh Web 2.0 feel? Should that be the next phrase added to the English dictionary after Web 2.0 itself? Ask them to describe it in reply to nathanparikh #
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Topics: Freelance Copywriter | No Comments »
If You Build It, They Will Not Come – Get Marketing! Create Some Buzz!
By admin | August 23, 2008
"If you build it, they will not come" is the new tag line for Web sites. Long, long ago in the not too far distant past of having an online presence on the Internet it was a whole lot easier to be in the top 10 never mind the top 100 or 1000 today. There are a lot more factors to consider when it comes to putting the right SEO / SEM into place. From more competition from thousands of sites with similar content, to ever-changing search engine algorithms, it’s a jungle out there.
For instance, it can take up to 6 months to get accepted as a listing on Google (indexed). The buzz has to get out in other ways. Strike up online conversations, make comments on forums and blogs, advertise on local Web sites – even start your own blog or discussion group. Marketing online including Social Media is only just an extension of what you’d be doing for a physical business in other media.
Sitting and waiting for business to come to you isn’t going to work. Market, market, market.
Topics: Freelance Copywriter, Online Marketing, Social Media | No Comments »
The Copywriting Sweatshop – SEO Anyone?
By admin | August 12, 2008
I’m contacted by a lot of potential clients looking for articles written about a variety of subjects. They want lots of articles with an SEO build so they can fill up their Web site and attract surfers. Basically filler material.
What good is filler material to the reader if it’s written haphazardly and doesn’t address what the reader was looking for? Nada. The back button is a click away and that defeats the purpose unless all you’re looking for is huge amounts of search engine traffic so you can claim site impressions from Google. But high traffic won’t happen unless you have phenomenal SEO because Search Engine Marketing isn’t going to work for this kind of site. For some companies, this is their niche. However, increased traffic and impressions are best built with repeat hits, return visitors who find what they want and value in what you provide – quality writing with the right content.
I visit dozens of sites using filler material every week while surfing for recreation or professionally. And I’m clicking away faster than you say – or think – go back. Why? Because I know that the articles are schlock. The articles or blog posts have been thrown together by writers in India or some other country who don’t have a firm grasp of the English language, or by part-time writers for a sweatshop dealing out a paltry $10 per article regardless of size or complexity. Even the most knowledgeable writer isn’t going to be able to put together a quality piece of writing in 30 minutes.
Other similar sites have plagiarized material from other sites, mirror images of articles and posts without a "by your leave" to use this information from the original author.
As a matter of fact, I find most of these Web sites when I’m actually looking for something else, which makes the whole experience that much more frustrating.
Legitimate Web sites should have original material that is truly informational and not a lure. It shows respect for the intelligence of the reader when the material is written with the reader in mind and not the search engine because insincerity can be smelled a mile a way.
An investment in quality copywriting is an investment in your readers – and your business.
Topics: Copywriting, Freelance Copywriter, Web Site Copywriting | No Comments »
Emotional Branding of the High Tech World
By admin | July 21, 2008
In the Simon Says column of the April 28, 2008 Brandweek magazine, Simon Sinek offers up the opinion that Advertising Agencies are making the purchasing decision too complex.
His statement, "They [marketers] can help reduce the need to think too hard by communicating the core beliefs of a brand so that we can just let the emotional parts of our brains guide our decisions."
Now, I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a general statement for marketing in all industries, or just the high tech industry considering he offered up the fact he was looking to purchase a flat screen TV and a computer. So I’ll comment about the high tech industry.
Mr. Sinek commented that many of the PC manufacturers had flooded their home pages with sales offerings. Well, they are e-commerce sites as well as information tools. In addition to promoting sales, these companies should also continue to interact with the consumer by having easy to find information about the products as well as customer service and brand fan tools like forums, games, etc. This also depends on how each company wishes to brand itself.
He went on to comment that the branding messages put forward by Sony, Samsung and Philips were inadequate. He ended by saying that Philips provided too much technical information about how LCD screens work. It seems that Philips has changed their Web site since the article was published to be much less technical and more branding.
But, hey we are dealing with technology. "Tech"-nical is built right into the name. Consumers go to online sites specifically to find information about the products they wish to purchase. Companies should allow the consumer to be as technical as they want to be while learning about a brand and its products.
So, in retrospect, Web sites for technology products may want to follow a path from simple to complex as they emotionally charge through technically "WOW" their prospective customers. Because you know, there are a lot of techno-geeks out there that do get emotionally charged by the technical "WOW."
Topics: Advertising, Branding Strategy, Freelance Copywriter, Marketing Opinion, Online Marketing, Web Site Copywriting | 2 Comments »