I challenge you to find me a less captive audience than the one you find on the Internet. Tell me where I can find people in a comparable state of temptation fueled by an endless sea of customized possibility. It's impossible - there's just too many options online. Too many cool sites. Too many Facebook photos to creep. Too much damn stuff to do. And herein lies the challenge of blogging, that is, creating content that pulls your reader in deeply enough that they wont jump ship in the middle of a post.
So, what are the keys to creating blog content that is sticky, interesting and, most importantly, looks tastier than any of the dangling carrots that the world wide web puts in front of your readers?
1. Save the keg for college Micro-sized content rules. If I'm interested in a lengthy thesis, I'll pick up a book. But here on the Internet - the land of free music, porn, and cute videos of seals holding hands - my attention span is firmly set to minimal. Think in terms of offering your readers a beer, instead of forcing them to do a 23 minute keg-stand. Give me quick points, intriguing information, and good links in case I'm so inclined as to go further down the rabbit hole.
2.Sequels are for movies Nothing makes me cringe like reading an introductory sentence that sounds something like this: "In this, the first post in my 9-part examination into report-appropriate sans serif fonts of the B2B sector......" Oh. My. God. Blogs are supposed to be efficient and intriguing. Being concise is in your best interest. If you can't explain it in one post, then it probably isn't worth listening to. The mere thought of having to look at several subsequent pieces in order to fully understand your idea turns me off of reading even the first one.
3. Personality rules It's been said a kajillion times, but it still holds true that the best bloggers write the way they talk. Blogging is built around personal commentary, and yet so many people are terrified to show their bias and state their own opinions. This is the biggest difference between traditional journalism and online thought-sharing. People can find raw, objective data in any number of places; they read your blog because they are looking for insight. You must strike a balance between the two. So go ahead - take a stand, make a point, pick a side! This ain't CNN, folks. Compelling information + an intriguing stance = a great blog.
4. Don't suck. Be something. Most important thing to remember is this: nobody HAS to read anyone's blog. Readers follow them as an extra curricular function, and only when they enjoy doing so. As the author, it is your obligation to provide content that entertains and enlightens. It goes without saying, but a polished product is always the first step to success. Be funny. Be smart. Be something. Have you been on Technorati lately? There's no shortage of competition in the blogosphere, so you better have something incredible to offer. Stand out and make sure you're not adding to the clutter. Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association by CMA on behalf of Brook Johnston
Showing posts with label Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association. Show all posts
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association: A Little Friction Ain’t So Bad
That's the message from Terry O'Reilly who addressed CMA's National Convention last week in Toronto. O’Reilly provided a fascinating and unique perspective on how to effectively market to a target audience.
“Sometimes people want and sometimes people need friction in the process before they buy a product or idea,” O’Reilly said.
This approach represents a paradigm shift away from the marketers’ traditional practice of helping their clients find the most efficient and speed bump free pathway to a sale.
O’Reilly used both historical and contemporary examples to show the dramatic impact friction can have on sales.
During the late 1950’s, a major food company developed an instant cake mix. The product was initially very popular, but was soon being ignored by its target consumer - housewives. After undertaking extensive research, the food manufacturer determined the cake mix was making women feel uninvolved in the cooking process. The food manufacturer decided to remove the egg from the mix so women could add it themselves. The result was a significant spike in sales. Women became instantly more attracted to the product with the added friction of having to mix in the egg themselves.
Another relevant example is pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson’s development of an antiseptic cream to promote the healing of cuts and bruises. The companies’ scientists designed the ‘perfect’ product that was both effective and painless. Initially, sales were quite impressive but surprisingly, there were few repeat purchases of the cream. After the company engaged in a significant amount of product research using focus groups, they made an important determination about human nature – people tend to see pain as a positive indicator of a healing product’s effectiveness. Johnson and Johnson subsequently added a small amount of alcohol to the product to give it a sting – and sales increased dramatically. As O’Reilly explained, the friction of pain convinced consumers that the product actually worked – and left the company’s scientists in a state of utter confusion about where they went wrong.
A more recent illustration of the impact of friction involves a Google analytics professional. He was hired by an E-commerce site to replace its current five-step cart checkout process with a much simpler model. The business considered its current five-step process to be overly time consuming - so they requested the development of a single step process. To the company’s surprise, the new model failed miserably. The friction of the five-step process had given purchasers an added sense of security, which dissipated once the five-step process was reduced to one simple step.
There will always be a tendency for marketers to provide their clients with strategies that emphasize efficiency and convenience to sell a product.
O’Reilly summed up the idea of friction as a persuasion tool:
“If you ever need to make people believe, if you’re ever struggling to get people to a certain place, if you need to get noticed, if you’re ever looking for the leverage point to move a mountain - maybe what you need is a little friction.”
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association by Jordan Sandler at CMA
“Sometimes people want and sometimes people need friction in the process before they buy a product or idea,” O’Reilly said.
This approach represents a paradigm shift away from the marketers’ traditional practice of helping their clients find the most efficient and speed bump free pathway to a sale.
O’Reilly used both historical and contemporary examples to show the dramatic impact friction can have on sales.
During the late 1950’s, a major food company developed an instant cake mix. The product was initially very popular, but was soon being ignored by its target consumer - housewives. After undertaking extensive research, the food manufacturer determined the cake mix was making women feel uninvolved in the cooking process. The food manufacturer decided to remove the egg from the mix so women could add it themselves. The result was a significant spike in sales. Women became instantly more attracted to the product with the added friction of having to mix in the egg themselves.
Another relevant example is pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson’s development of an antiseptic cream to promote the healing of cuts and bruises. The companies’ scientists designed the ‘perfect’ product that was both effective and painless. Initially, sales were quite impressive but surprisingly, there were few repeat purchases of the cream. After the company engaged in a significant amount of product research using focus groups, they made an important determination about human nature – people tend to see pain as a positive indicator of a healing product’s effectiveness. Johnson and Johnson subsequently added a small amount of alcohol to the product to give it a sting – and sales increased dramatically. As O’Reilly explained, the friction of pain convinced consumers that the product actually worked – and left the company’s scientists in a state of utter confusion about where they went wrong.
A more recent illustration of the impact of friction involves a Google analytics professional. He was hired by an E-commerce site to replace its current five-step cart checkout process with a much simpler model. The business considered its current five-step process to be overly time consuming - so they requested the development of a single step process. To the company’s surprise, the new model failed miserably. The friction of the five-step process had given purchasers an added sense of security, which dissipated once the five-step process was reduced to one simple step.
There will always be a tendency for marketers to provide their clients with strategies that emphasize efficiency and convenience to sell a product.
O’Reilly summed up the idea of friction as a persuasion tool:
“If you ever need to make people believe, if you’re ever struggling to get people to a certain place, if you need to get noticed, if you’re ever looking for the leverage point to move a mountain - maybe what you need is a little friction.”
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association by Jordan Sandler at CMA
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association: Mobile Marketing Draws Foot Traffic During Back to School
Chances are that you don’t know what your 14 year-old is saying most of the time. Neither do we. But what we do know is that a whopping 85 per cent of teens own mobile phones before they reach the age of 16 (Teens & Mobile Phones). Of these, 57 per cent believe that their mobile phone significantly improves their quality of life (Why Back to School Marketing Should Include Mobile). They send an average of 2,899 text messages per month (Breaking Teen Myths)—which represents about one-and-a-half 500-word essays per day—just to their friends. Ignoring the most important communication and consumption medium amongst teens will be a sure-fire way to fall behind the pack.
The marketing world is changing, and connecting this demographic with your brand is the next evolutionary step to reach your customers. Adopting a properly designed mobile strategy has been proven to increase foot traffic to stores and generate sales. Other than the holiday season, the Back to School shopping cycle ranks as the largest revenue producing period for the retail sector. Over $1.5 billion was spent on children’s clothing, accessories and stationary in Canada while more than $7.6 billion was spent stateside in the third quarter of 2008 (Back to School, by the Numbers). Although parents are paying for the goods, the purchasing decisions are strongly influenced by the kids. The demand is there and the medium is established; the onus is now on the retailers.
If you visit your local mall or school, you would be hard pressed to find a student without a mobile phone. Teens and tweens carry their mobile phone with them everywhere they go, as a necessity for communication and an expression of their social status. For a brand to reach this critical demographic, it must include mobile communication in its marketing mix. There are a variety of benefits a mobile Back to School campaign has, including:
1. The ability to draw foot traffic to stores and retailers, therefore increasing sales. Retailers can use SMS alert with mobile coupons to drive traffic (some retailers have traffic counters to measure lift post alerts), other transaction enabled mobile sites use display mobile ads to increase traffic and convert clicks to sales.
2. Personal connection with teens via their most prized possession which is always on them. Mobile opens up a static channel where the user can always be reached in a medium where they are open to hearing marketing messages and are consistently using. Brands benefit from the connection with increased awareness and recall, not to mention the associative innovation benefits.
3. Remarketing ability (Holiday Shopping and more). When one campaign door closes, another campaign window opens. One of the primary benefits of utilizing SMS in a marketing campaign is capturing mobile phone numbers in the form of an opt-in list that can be used for subsequent marketing campaigns. It is imperative that dialogues continue and proper value exchanges are served to those loyal mobile users. We must strive as an industry to quantify the value of a mobile number. Without assessing a value, mobile will be reduced to one-off tactical tests which only industry laggards can afford to invest in.
Now more than ever, brands need to reach back-to-school shoppers in new, innovative, and most importantly, relevant ways. A long-term strategy is the key to raising brand awareness which will translate to increased sales.
Brady Murphy
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association
The marketing world is changing, and connecting this demographic with your brand is the next evolutionary step to reach your customers. Adopting a properly designed mobile strategy has been proven to increase foot traffic to stores and generate sales. Other than the holiday season, the Back to School shopping cycle ranks as the largest revenue producing period for the retail sector. Over $1.5 billion was spent on children’s clothing, accessories and stationary in Canada while more than $7.6 billion was spent stateside in the third quarter of 2008 (Back to School, by the Numbers). Although parents are paying for the goods, the purchasing decisions are strongly influenced by the kids. The demand is there and the medium is established; the onus is now on the retailers.
If you visit your local mall or school, you would be hard pressed to find a student without a mobile phone. Teens and tweens carry their mobile phone with them everywhere they go, as a necessity for communication and an expression of their social status. For a brand to reach this critical demographic, it must include mobile communication in its marketing mix. There are a variety of benefits a mobile Back to School campaign has, including:
1. The ability to draw foot traffic to stores and retailers, therefore increasing sales. Retailers can use SMS alert with mobile coupons to drive traffic (some retailers have traffic counters to measure lift post alerts), other transaction enabled mobile sites use display mobile ads to increase traffic and convert clicks to sales.
2. Personal connection with teens via their most prized possession which is always on them. Mobile opens up a static channel where the user can always be reached in a medium where they are open to hearing marketing messages and are consistently using. Brands benefit from the connection with increased awareness and recall, not to mention the associative innovation benefits.
3. Remarketing ability (Holiday Shopping and more). When one campaign door closes, another campaign window opens. One of the primary benefits of utilizing SMS in a marketing campaign is capturing mobile phone numbers in the form of an opt-in list that can be used for subsequent marketing campaigns. It is imperative that dialogues continue and proper value exchanges are served to those loyal mobile users. We must strive as an industry to quantify the value of a mobile number. Without assessing a value, mobile will be reduced to one-off tactical tests which only industry laggards can afford to invest in.
Now more than ever, brands need to reach back-to-school shoppers in new, innovative, and most importantly, relevant ways. A long-term strategy is the key to raising brand awareness which will translate to increased sales.
Brady Murphy
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association: The Changing Face of the Direct Marketer
As a leader of direct and digital marketing professionals, I have come to the realization that there is a rapid convergence of these two worlds resulting in a new face among direct marketing professionals.
Today’s strategic marketing plans necessitate cross-channel integration that go beyond the traditional channels. Our marketing plans include digital marketing tactics like SEM and social network marketing to help us achieve the end goals of consumer brand awareness, consideration, purchase, retention and loyalty.
The traditional skill sets of a direct marketer, while highly data driven and analytical, is no longer sufficient. Similarly, web marketers need to leverage the highly valuable skills and discipline that direct marketers bring to the table in order to ensure marketing plans are trackable, measurable and ultimately accountable to the program’s end goals and objectives.
This often makes recruitment exercises challenging whereby I find myself seeking marketing candidates who not only have a firm grasp on the ‘science’ of direct marketing (not an easy find) but can contextualize their application to emerging digital marketing technologies and platforms (an even harder find).
Would love to hear others’ views on the changing face of the direct marketer.
Martha Turner, AVP Marketing Services and Campaign Management, Aviva Canada & member of CMA’s Direct Marketing Council Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association
Today’s strategic marketing plans necessitate cross-channel integration that go beyond the traditional channels. Our marketing plans include digital marketing tactics like SEM and social network marketing to help us achieve the end goals of consumer brand awareness, consideration, purchase, retention and loyalty.
The traditional skill sets of a direct marketer, while highly data driven and analytical, is no longer sufficient. Similarly, web marketers need to leverage the highly valuable skills and discipline that direct marketers bring to the table in order to ensure marketing plans are trackable, measurable and ultimately accountable to the program’s end goals and objectives.
This often makes recruitment exercises challenging whereby I find myself seeking marketing candidates who not only have a firm grasp on the ‘science’ of direct marketing (not an easy find) but can contextualize their application to emerging digital marketing technologies and platforms (an even harder find).
Would love to hear others’ views on the changing face of the direct marketer.
Martha Turner, AVP Marketing Services and Campaign Management, Aviva Canada & member of CMA’s Direct Marketing Council Canadian Marketing Blog - Canadian Marketing Association
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