Out-Smarts Marketing Services

The topic of discussion at the International Internet Marketing Association meeting last night was “Facebook Your Business”.  Three panelist brought their own perspective on Facebook from a business perspective.

The first speaker was Maureen McCartney from Citizens Bank of Canada.  She talked about how her organisation used Facebook to advertise during RRSP season.  Citizens Bank was one of the first banks to do so and they were able to generate buzz as a result.  Click through rates for their campaigns however were dismal - the highest being .13% - (which seems to be the norm with Facebook) but given the very small investment in comparison to traditional advertising, the campaign was deemed a success.

The second speaker was Michael Ferguson from Kinzin, the company that developed one of Facebook’s most succesful apps “Are you Normal” (incidentally I am 40% normal or slightly abnormal as the case maybe).  His off the wall presentation took a step back to look at how our culture is changing and embracing social media technologies.  He pointed out that to stand out in the crowd of Facebook applications you have to stand out from the rest of the wallpaper.  He coined the term Facebook jewellery to describe your profile or page picture and pointed out that it has to stand out if you want to attract attention or grow business on Facebook.

And finally, Phillip Jeffrey of UBC talked the crowd through the Facebook set up process, discussing the security capabilities and privacy issues. He pointed out that a Facebook page is to a business what a profile would be to an individual and provided an invaluable introduction to the medium aimed at new users.

Facebook is rapidly being adopted by all age groups and Canada has one of the fastest adoption rates for the social network.  Here at Out-Smarts we use Facebook extensively for business development:

1. To advertise to a very targeted niche at a very low cost.

2. To spread awareness of what Out-Smarts does via our Facebook page and application.

3. To build our business network with industry peers.

4. For branding - our logo appears on each fan and friend page.

5. To drive traffic to the website and blog.

6. To maintain awareness.

The concensus among the IIMA panelists: your company should get on Facebook as soon as possible.  

Last night the High Tech Communicator’s Exchange featured a great presentation by Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications. They discussed the 7 risks you should be aware of when considering a social media campaign. Here they are in cryptic fashion. For more detail, you’ll just have to buy their ebook (or the soon to be released in paper version) - Getting to First Base.

1. Your efforts are just not interesting enough - so spice it up a little.
2. Blogger backlash - beware the prima donnas and know your blogetiquette.
3. Rejection or backlash - could haunt you forever.
4. Efforts die on the vine - because of improper resource allocation.
5. You have Cluetrain goggles - social media is another tool in your marketing arsenal not the be all and end all.
6. Too self absorbed - always blowing your own horn rather than adding real value to the audience.
7. Be Proactive - do your homework and be prepared.

I would add only one thing to this and that is the risk of missing the mark. When considering any marketing effort, its always important to put yourself in your audience’s shoes and determine which social media hubs you are most likely to reach them in i.e. which Internet networking hubs they hang out in. For example, if your target audience is educated professionals, a MySpace focus would be less appropriate than LinkedIn or even Facebook or if you plan a campaign to promote a hi-tech device to bloggers you should hone in on tech bloggers not knitting bloggers.

A recent article in the Canadian Marketing Association blog asks: Can direct mail be environmentally friendly?   Written by a direct marketer, the article claims that proper use of direct marketing is reducing the environmental impact in various ways including:

• clean mailing lists reduce the amount of undelivered or improperly addressed mail;
• providing and properly administering opt outs reduces the amount of paper required;
• house holding and list management can reduce the amount of duplicate mail.

These days I see a divide between marketers. There are 2 camps, the traditionalists and the technologists and rarely do the 2 meet, far less collaborate - which is a shame because a marketing project is much more likely to be a success if it blends the best of both to reach the intended audience.

Traditionalists tend to be of the opinion that tried and tested approaches to market are best. They eschew the Internet preferring to focus on tangible approaches within their comfort zones. They have been doing things their way for years, it has worked for them so why try anything new.

Technologists on the other hand scoff at traditional marketing pointing out that the Internet is more cost effective and highly targeted. They say that times have changed and no-one pays attention to traditional approaches anymore.

A good marketer should take a step back and consider who they are trying to reach. They should look at all of the options available to reach that audience and determine which will be the most effective. More often that not a blended approach to market, one where traditional marketing complements Internet or vice versa will deliver by far and away the best results.

A case in point this week at Steadyhand. Their blog, which already boasts very respectable traffic (and is an invaluable component of their marketing strategy), saw a huge spike in traffic to the site as a result of the blog being featured in a Globe and Mail article and poll. Traditional fed into Internet and the blended approach enabled them to build brand awareness with a wider audience.

Its called the marketing mix for a reason you know. By blending the best of traditional marketing strategies with new Internet approaches, your chance of nailing the target audience is greatly enhanced.

Still not convinced that e-commerce is the way to go? Then consider these:
1. It allows you to instantaneously access a much wider customer base and geographical reach.
2. It makes it easier for your customers to do business with you at their convenience.
3. Makes it easier to partner with affiliate companies who in turn sell your products to their customer base.
4. It means you can be open for business 24×7.
5. Adding an e-commerce site will help build awareness of your offering.
6. It increases traffic to your site.
7. Its ideal for providing product specifications, photos and other details that make the decision making process easier for buyers.
8. Lower cost of sales, distribution and process.
9. Builds customer loyalty.
10. Allows your company to hone in on a highly targeted market niche.

Having trouble at the office? Try these office pranks as posted by Odee. My favorite is the mouse in jelly - now that just might get me of the Interweb.

A recent Information Week article asks the question - Is podcasting dead?. The article cites that “there is no easy way to sample podcasts without an excessive and irretrievable investment of time” as the reason that podcasting hasn’t taken off.

Lets look at the numbers to see if podcasting is indeed dying a death. eMarketer estimates that the total US audience for podcasts reached 18.5 million in 2007 and is expected to grow by 251% by 2012. These statistics hardly reflect the death throes of a dying medium but the growth rate isn’t exactly stellar if you compare it to other web 2.0 technologies.

The reason for its slow adoption rate is indeed, as Alexander Wolfe of Information Week suggests, a result of podcast complexity. And this doesn’t only apply to users.

Creating and publishing a podcast is not as seamless or as simple as it should be either. If you’ve read any of my new experiences in podcasting posts you will know of my own frustrations with the technology and I am relatively tech savvy. It seems to me that if you want to podcast you have to be a true propeller head. At this point that is podcasting’s main barrier to entry.

iTunes has tried to streamline the podcast publishing process but even using Garageband to create a podcast on a Mac doesn’t guarantee simple podcast submission.

On the bright side for podcasting, more and more traditional media outlets are using the technology to disseminate audio so that users can listen on the run and users are recognizing the benefits of being able to listen on their terms (coincidentally, one of my first ever blog posts back in 2005 touched on this). Global TV in Vancouver offers video and audio podcasts of its news content.

Podcasting is not dead but its not exactly burgeoning either. As podcasting is promoted more to the mainstream it will become more prevalent (it is slowly gaining popularity, especially in the 35-54 age group) but until producers can create and publish podcasts efficiently and users can access them as easily as turning on the radio, podcasting growth with remain slow.

Spring is still threatening to visit us in Vancouver, the birds are chirping and new media moves along at a swift pace. This months reasons to be cheerful also include:

Plaxo Pulse - I’ve avoided Plaxo like the plague since using it a few years ago on a client project and having it constantly crash so I was skeptical when a friend invited me to join Pulse. I have to say though it seems that the Plaxo team have been working away to develop a real alternative to professional networks like LinkedIn and to integrate other social media sites.

Ever on the search for the right accounting package, I recently met with LedgersOnline a local firm specializing on online bookkeeping solutions. Could this be the one?

Goodboog is another local offering that provides an on-line catalogue designed to facilitate the promotion of products and services online in 25 different languages.

Send e-mail to the future with Time Machiner.

Okay the last one is rather whimsical - it is spring after all.

The Canadian Women in Communications recently hosted a workshop on negotiation for women. Hosted by Rodger Harding, a former diplomat, the session honed in on difficult issues we have to deal with in the workplace and the tools we can use to effectively negotiate for the best results. Here is a quick recap of some of the tips Rodger recommended:

1. When entering a negotiation situation, always know in advance what you want to get out of it, what your objectives are and ensure that these goals are realistic.

2. Not only should you know what you want to get out of it but you should know in advance what concessions you are willing to make to achieve your goal. Ask yourself, what is the absolute bottom line.

3. Take some time to consider who you are dealing with and any background issues that may come in to play.

4. Prepare a compelling argument as to why the opposition should agree to your proposal. Make it attractive from their perspective.

5. Ask - is it worth it? If the answer is no or if your heart just isn’t in it then your negotiation position is weakened from the get go.

6. Always be rational and do not let emotions get the better of you. If you ‘re in a negotiation session and this happens, ask for a time out and get things under control before returning to the bargaining table.

The session was a great opportunity to brush up on negotiation skills and (for me) to be reminded of one of the reasons I founded Out-Smarts - so that I could be in control of my own negotiations and mitigate my exposure to office politics.  Thanks Rodger!

The concept of personal branding is de riguer these days and being the in thing, its getting a lot of coverage. Personal branding is, in essence, a means to self package yourself in such a way as to present a particular image for career purposes. Its the way you market yourself to your peers and prospects.

The idea of having a professional image is not a new one - uniforms have been standard for many occupations for centuries. The difference with personal branding is that the concept is not to make you look like one of the crowd rather to make you stand out from it.

When considering your Personnal brand you should look at many factors: the way you speak, the way you look, the car your drive, your character but the single most important aspect to consider when building your brand is that it has to be real. It has to reflect the real you. A personnal brand that portrays a false image will be apparent to everyone you come into contact with and will do more harm than good. For example, there’s no use trying to talk in a sexy foreign accent, people will just laugh at you.

I am fortunate to already have a sexy foriegn accent (or so I am told) so rather than try to North Americanize my vocabulary, I emphasize my Scottishness - its part of my brand and something that makes me stand out from the crowd.

Identify the unique aspects of your personality or the way you look and use those to make you stand out from the crowd. By building on a personal brand that it true to you, your efforts will be more rewarded and your image will be more realistic and authentic.