Do You Copy?

Jumping into Social Media Marketing? Look for the Influencers

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:51:56 +0000

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…

What TV Commercials Catch Your Ear, or Eye?

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 18:45:29 +0000

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?

Keep Your Email Message in Precise Focus

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:29:49 +0000

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!).

Paid Blogging: What’s the Problem? Is it Ethical?

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:28:28 +0000

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.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-16

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:03:00 +0000

@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 #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:03:00 +0000

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. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-26

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:03:00 +0000

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. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-12

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:03:00 +0000

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? #

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-02

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:03:00 +0000

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 #

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:03:00 +0000

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 #