A Fun Look at Strategic Marketing

Guest Blog: The Importance Of Being Liked.

Contributed by Mara Marich Tardy
copyright 2011 reprinted with permission of Chateau Publishing 2011

What's the latest social marketing tool advertisers are raving about? The Facebook Like Button. Marketers in the U.S. are starting to place more weight on Facebook's Like button than they are on any other form of brand awareness. Why? Simply because it is making a previously nebulous concept, suddenly measurable. Throughout 2010, I've had major advertisers ask me first to introduce a Facebook presence for their brand, then brief me to use various marketing promotional tools to pump up the Like count. They then use it as a measuring device to determine success in increasing brand awareness, important especially when justifying a budget spend to the CEO and the board. However like any other form of brand awareness, a high Like count does not necessarily translate into instant sales. Think of it as you would think of voting for your choice on American Idol. Pressing the Like button on Facebook means the viewer sees something, approves of it and endorses it. Same as when you vote by phone for your favorite performer on American Idol. The Liker, like the American Idol phone voter, feels they have a say and that their opinion counts in a way that is directly visible to the ENTIRE WORLD. They feel validated. Important. Dare I say, famous for 15 seconds? Subliminally they believe that they too are as knowledgeable - perhaps even more knowledgeable - than professional judges like Idol's Randy Jackson. And that thought creates an emotional link to the object being Liked. Having a stake in a Liked brand, advertisers believe, will translate into greater sales for that brand down the road........you know, when the economy gets better. What worries me though is that there is no DON'T LIKE or even HATE button.Until we see these additions to Facebook's repertoire, the deck is stacked, because only part of the information is being recorded. Unless the Facebook ad sales crowd fesses up and evens the playing field, it may be wise to approach the current Facebook Like button statistics with caution. And until the Like button translates into a ka-ching at the check out, it is hard for advertisers to justify its veracity or import, whether they like it or not. Mara Marich Tardy is an internationally awarded media advisor. She writes articles on popular culture, mass media, art, feminism, and politics.

Networks employ 'pod-busters' to keep viewers in their seats

I've been blogging about Social Media for a couple of weeks and you're probably wondering what pod-busters have to do with it...I'll tell you.

Advertisers and the ad agencies that service them are fighting hard to stay relevant and keep hold of the consumers mind-share. With today's technology is making this a wee bit difficult. With the advent of the DVR (those cable boxes that pre-record programs) viewers have been able to fast-forward through traditional ad breaks, thus by-passing all the commercials.

In the past, to combat this, advertisers have used inventive measures, such as product placement. But that has a limited effectiveness. And it doesn't exactly result in what the advertisers are looking for.

They want interaction. To achieve this, ad agencies are driving traffic to Social Media sites via a new method: pod-busters. Not to be confused with pod-casts, these are mini ads that look and feel exactly like the show that the viewer is watching. It may even include actors from that very same show.

The pod-busters aren't soft-sells like product placement. As one exec from Discover Channel says, "It's a form of creative insinuation, it's a little Zen-like: being intrusive without seeming intrusive."

Here is the key to their mission & ultimate success: Ads that reflect the shows you like, tempt the viewer to transfer positive feelings about those shows to the products being advertised on them. If you're feeling good about the Modern Family, Mad Men, or other program and are urged to visit a FB, web or other social media site, the likelihood is that you will do it. And what advertisers are looking for now, is building brand value by expanding their social network.

You can read more about pod-busters at today's New York Times or listen to a report on today's NPR.org.

From Evangelist to Enchantment

Years ago, former Apple employee Guy Kawasaki made news about his take on being an evangelist. Not from a religious POV, but from a brand and product POV. His take on business was that for success, everyone in your company needed to be an evangelist of your goods or service in order for you to achieve success. He went on to write several influential and amazing books. He's now formulated another social theory, that around enchantment. I think it very applicable to marketing...that sense of peace, happiness and satisfaction that comes from helping a customer or client and then in turn their satisfaction with the transaction. Here's his video:

Enchantment v2.1

View more presentations from Guy Kawasaki.

Why are Journalists Using Twitter?

Journalists are using Twitter as a way of distributing their news stories and engaging their readers. Just like retailers and service providers, Journalists survive, live and die, by readership numbers. If they can use a new technology to improve and promote that, why not. Read more here: http://blog.peerindex.net/who-are-the-top-uk-journalists-on-twitter-16?c=1

And for more info on using social media in your marketing mix, contact me, Tammy at tromer@tammyromer.com

Okay, you've got a Facebook Fan Page, now what do you do with it?

Deep breath. First, let's look at what it is you have to offer and to whom you want to offer. And then, before post a single item, ask yourself, "If I was talking to one of my friends, and I wanted her to know about this amazing product how would I talk to her?" Would you ask her questions? Ask her for input? Same thing goes with FB. Instead of blasting out, maybe your initial foray is to ask questions and pull people in. Say you sell pens (rollerball pens) maybe you ask a question like, "Do you prefer felt tip or roller ball pens, and if roller ball, do you like gel ink? If yes, why? If no, why?" Instead of you blasting a one size fits all post about rollerball pens, now you have a two way conversation that you can engage with.

Need help with your social media plans, call or email me. We can make it simple for you..

The Future of Business is Social

The future of business is social and as such, every aspect of business affected by outside activity will require a social extension. Businesses must shift from reacting to the outside in, bottom up groundswell to also leading a top down, inside out program to earn relevance, community, and authority. In order to do so, the social business will take a human touch…and internal transformation. Read more...