Tag Archives: advertising

Cause Marketing: Make $ and Help Somebody

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One of the most exciting developments in American commerce that I’ve seen recently (although it’s been prevalent for years) is the emergence of cause marketing. To me, it truly reflects the greatest potential of our economic system and illustrates a heightened level of corporate responsibility, as well. It’s amazing what can be done when free enterprise and benevolence meet. Mickie Kennedy of Causewire explains that companies will spend about $1.61 billion on cause marketing this year — up over 6% from last year — and how it could help your business:

Associate your brand with a positive cause

Consumers respect cause-related marketing. It helps to humanize your company, showing your customers that you aren’t just concerned with turning the highest profit possible, but that you also want to help make a difference in the world. This breeds credibility, and it puts your company in a positive light with customers.

Associating your brand with a positive cause can also be useful for separating it from the competition. It’s a powerful differentiator that can actually motivate customers to do business with your company rather than one of your competitors.

Even your employees could become more loyal when you associate your brand with a positive cause. It allows them to feel like they’re doing more than just a job…that they’re actually working to make a difference.

Connect with consumers on a deeper level

Supporting causes your customers care about gives you something to bond with them over. It’s like you and the customer are working together to help make the world a better place. This allows you to create a much deeper relationship with the customer than you would just by being the typical company that interacts with them on standard purchases.

This new, deeper connection can be helpful in creating more loyal customers. It can also increase your visibility, allowing you to connect with customers who may not have even known you existed until you tied your brand to a cause they cared about.

Give your brand more stories to tell

Charitable contributions and cause-related marketing make for great press release topics. These press releases cut through the clutter of boring, self-indulgent press releases that reporters receive all day long. Everybody loves a feel-good story, and by helping raise awareness for a cause, you can generate more media coverage and positive publicity for your company and the cause you support. It’s a win-win.

Building a Twitter Marketing Strategy

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TopRank blog writer Lee Odden recently penned some very useful thoughts on cultivating an effective marketing strategy on Twitter. I know I speak with many members about social media, as well as how useful Twitter is as a marketing component. As Odden explains, these things seem to vary from industry to industry, so it’s important to understand yours. I really recommend reading the entire post, but here are a couple of key points:

Where does Twitter fit in?

3. Where does Twitter fit within your overall online marketing strategy? Is Twitter meant to be a customer service tool? Brand monitoring? Monitoring for sales opportunities? Promotion of other corporate social activities? (ie blogging, Facebook, YouTube, Etc) Does it support some other communications function?

As a communications and social networking tool, Twitter can connect with customers, prospects, journalists, employees, candidates, investors and marketing partners. Understanding where Twitter fits within the overall mix of online marketing and communications will help with: allocating monitoring and engagement resources, establishing a working social media policy, workflow management and reporting. You may very well find a number of synergies available through Twitter, such as connecting with journalists and bloggers for PR purposes but also encouraging link usage when citing the company to assist with SEO efforts.

Twitter is a tool and only as useful as the tactics you use.

4. A firm grasp of the first three steps really needs to be addressed before useful tactics should be implemented. If all you do is focus on Twitter popularity tactics without addressing a plan for reaching other goals (hopefully being popular isn’t the sole goal) then the investment in time and effort becomes more like guesswork.

First and foremost for tactics, the Twitter page needs to be designed and optimized. If a business has the expectation to be perceived in a significant way, then the Twitter page needs to avoid looking insignificant. Tweets need to be diverse, yet follow a theme that is consistent to the messaging and audience goal. Kudos to customers and offering tips are great but alone are not going to attract followers fast.

There are a few tactics with Twitter that are almost always a good idea regardless of the audience, goals and overall plan:

  • Having a persona or target profile in mind, research Twitter users and follow them.
  • Associate the Twitter account with something else that is social, such as a YouTube Channel, Facebook Fan Page and/or a blog.
  • Make an effort to link to a small number of high quality and creatively written resources, daily. Mornings are best. Brand these with a hashtag like #yourbrandtips, where “yourbrand” is the brand within your company that this Twitter account is focused on. It could also be a behavior or action. Ex:  #niketips or #runningtips.
  • Schedule a #yourbrandtips Twitter event every month, two weeks or weekly. This would be run like #blogchat where a real person from your company hosts a chat on Twitter about survey topics. Ideally there would be influential guests involved so that their tweets attract new followers to your brand’s Twitter account.
  • The company should really post their twitter handle everywhere their web site address is posted.
  • Find a way to ask followers questions, then use those answers in blog posts, which are promoted via the business twitter account.
  • Create a Twitter list of a segment of the target audience. One list for each segment. Then solicit followers asking for recommendations of people that belong in the “segment one” list or “segment two” list. Ex:  ”librarians” or “network administrators”. Mention that anyone who retweets a link to the list can get added to that list – provided they belong. Lists must be relevant and managed to be of any use. Promote lists with Listorious.com.
  • Use #FollowFridays or #FF to recognize people that retweet the brand’s Twitter content the most. Also mention influential Twitter accounts that you have had some connection with. They might retweet the #FF and expose the brand Twitter account to new audiences.

Collaboration Could Enhance Your Messaging

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Does your company use a PR agency? For that matter, is your company a PR agency? Glasscubes.com recently conducted a survey that showed 90% of the PR professionals questioned thought results would be better if the agency/client relationship was more collaborative. One would think many of their clients would feel the same way. So Glasscubes offers these helpful tips to improve your relationship, and hopefully improve your visibility in the process.

5 Tips to Improve Agency-Client Collaboration

Every day, Glasscubes helps small businesses improve working relationships by strengthening collaboration. The following tips are based on that first-hand experience, as well as feedback collected in the survey.

Stop thinking in terms of “agency” and “client.” Instead, be part of one team working side-by-side to meet goals. By tearing down the walls separating the agency from the client, you’ll build a more trusting, team-focused relationship.

Reduce reliance on email. Email is quick and easy, but it doesn’t lend itself to give-and-take, back-and-forth communication – one of the driving forces behind effective collaboration. For example, by encouraging conversations on a shared online workspace, agencies and clients can listen to suggestions from multiple people, discuss ideas and work together to develop a solution. Plus, reducing emails means less time wasted searching archives, and no more forgetting to CC someone.

Encourage collective brainstorming. Barriers develop when agencies think they’re supposed to have all the answers. Likewise, tension is created when clients don’t provide enough input, but still expect agencies to deliver the goods. Instead, brainstorm together and encourage feedback. Combine the collective resources of the agency with the client’s subject-matter expertise for better results. This brainstorming can happen in-person or online.

Build trust. Trust isn’t developed overnight. But, it’s critical to effective agency/client relationships. With trust comes confidence, an openness to new ideas and a sense of partnership.

Continue to evolve. Just because “that’s the way it’s always been done” doesn’t mean it’s the right. Nearly 90% of survey respondents said relationships are “somewhat collaborative,” which is okay, but not good enough. There’s a clear desire to increase collaboration as a means to generate better results. Be willing to shake up traditional agency/client communication.

Twitter: It’s Time to Start Making $

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It was only a matter of time, but Twitter has decided to delve into the world of advertising. While their user base has grown exponentially into the millions, their model wasn’t really a sustainable one, which was no secret to the company or its users. So here’s what’s going on, according to PC World:

Twitter will start testing a new advertising program that delivers contextually relevant ads in a user’s search results, the micro-blogging site announced on Tuesday. Called Promoted Tweets, the new ad program will post sponsored tweets at the top of your Twitter search results, based on the context of your search terms.

These sponsored search results, which are similar in some ways to Google’s AdSense program, are just the first step in Twitter’s new advertising plans; more changes will be considered after Twitter has had time to measure the success of Promoted Tweets.

Search Results

Twitter is hyping the "organic" nature of Promoted Tweets, where advertising will be based on tweets that Twitter’s advertising partners have already sent out in their regular Twitter streams. At launch, these advertising partners include Best Buy, Bravo, Red Bull, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, and Virgin America.

If a business wants a particular message to reach a wider audience, that tweet will become a Promoted Tweet and will appear at the top of contextually relevant search results. "There is not a single ‘ad’ in our Promoted Tweets platform that isn’t already an organic part of Twitter," wrote Twitter Co-Founder Biz Stone in a blog post announcing the program . "This is distinct from both traditional search advertising and more recent social advertising."

Twitter says the messages will be clearly labeled as "promoted" and will function just like any other tweet with the ability for users to retweet (repost), reply, or bookmark the message. In fact, what users do with these "Promoted Tweets" may be crucial to the success of Twitter’s new advertising program. The micro-blog says it will measure the success of particular tweets to make sure that only messages that "resonate with users" are included in Promoted Tweets. So if people don’t interact with a particular sponsored message by retweeting, replying, or bookmarking it, the company says the tweet will soon disappear from search results.

What “Hoosiers” Can Teach Us About Brand Management

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In a piece for Advertising Age aptly titled, "Sometimes You Need to Let the Town Drunk Coach the Team," Tom Denari, president of the Indiananpolis-based ad firm Young & Laramore, explains how Angelo Pizzo’s cinematic masterpiece (a.k.a. "the best movie ever made" in this critic’s opinion) can help you manage your brand. The advice is timely and quite creative. Here’s a 20-second timeout’s worth, but I’d advise you read the whole thing:

Work on the boring stuff, like defense and ball handling, first. When Coach Norman Dale arrived at Hickory High, he didn’t just roll out the ball and start scrimmaging. Instead, he wanted to see what kind of talent he really had, and then he worked his players tirelessly on the basics of the game to ensure their fundamentals were sound. Dribbling around chairs and doing defensive drills wasn’t fun for his players, but these basics had to be sharp before they’d be ready to play a game.

Too often, new CMOs want a quick fix, thinking a new campaign or a new ad agency will solve everything. They choose to jump into the most outward demonstration of change — the advertising and communications plan. While it’s the easiest aspect to adjust, a new campaign will make the least amount of difference if your brand’s fundamentals aren’t right.

Before you change your campaign, ask yourself a few questions. Can you easily state your brand’s promise? Is your brand’s product offering deficient in any way? Is your pricing appropriate? Does your service model support what your brand stands for? Until these basics are tended to, the communications part of the equation is meaningless. Too often, we forget that brands are more about the consumer’s experience with a product than the ad campaign that tries to sell it. One of the best examples of a company that gets this is Zappos, which is completely focused on the unglamorous, hard work of getting its service model right. Making sure that its service is consistent at every consumer touchpoint has paid big dividends beyond any ad campaign it could have produced.

Sit the player that doesn’t follow the game plan. During Hickory’s opening night of the season, Coach Dale yanked star player Rave out of the game, even though he was making one-handed set shots one after another. Why? Because Rave wanted to play fast and loose, ignoring his coach’s game plan of passing five times before shooting. Despite Rave’s early scoring, his coach knew that instilling discipline and sacrificing short-term gains would lead to team success later.

Especially given the current environment, exercising discipline is difficult. What are you doing in the name of short-term results that you’ll regret later? Are you selling a product that doesn’t fit your brand promise? Are you discounting to the point that it’s mortgaging your brand strength? Don’t forget that a brand is not static — it’s either getting stronger or weaker. Which direction is yours headed?

New Media Requires New Plan for Businesses

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Entrepreneur.com recently offered instruction regarding how small businesses can engage potential customers and stretch ad dollars as far as possible. The site offered three key points to keep in mind, and for further elaboration, read the entire piece:

Want to know how to spend your marketing dollars this fall? Here’s a hint–throw out last year’s plan and start fresh. The economic downturn coupled with the rise in social media and the full-bore acceptance of an internet that’s accessible virtually everywhere has forever changed the way customers shop.

Rather than rely solely on media such as television, radio, newspapers and magazines, it’s time to allocate a larger percentage of your budget to less traditional tactics. Winning and keeping customers now calls for innovative marketing that engages prospects in more direct ways. As you plan your holiday marketing tactics, be sure to factor in these three critical elements for a campaign that will work in today’s socially and economically altered marketplace.

  1. New Media Has Taken Hold
  2. One-on-One Communication Builds Bonds
  3. Consumers Expect to Be Engaged and Understood

Harry Potter-esque Video Ads to Wow Magazine Readers

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So I guess print is not dead. In fact, it is quite alive, according to the Financial Times. Readers of Entertainment Weekly will soon be privy to moving video-style ads within the pages of the magazine. Hogwarts grads and fans of dragon-related foods may find this exciting as similar concepts have been featured in "Harry Potter" books/films.

When some readers of Entertainment Weekly open their magazines next month, they will discover characters from US television programmes speaking to them from a wafer-thin video screen built into the page.

The marketing experiment – which is being conducted by CBS, the US broadcaster, and Pepsi, the soft drinks maker – recalls the fantasy newspapers of the Harry Potter films and works much like a singing greetings card, with the video starting once a reader turns the appropriate page.

The cost of the full-motion video ad was not disclosed, but it will be far more expensive than traditional print ads, according to executives familiar with the technology, developed by a US company called Americhip.

The willingness to spend on such a promotion highlights the radical means marketers are employing to reach consumers at a time when a growing number of people are using new technologies such as digital video recorders to avoid ads.

“It’s part of the future – a way to engage consumers in new and surprising ways,” said George Schweitzer, president of CBS marketing group. “How do you sample a drink? You give them a taste.”

In the Harry Potter films, the “Daily Prophet” newspaper has pictures that move. The ad in Entertainment Weekly will feature characters from several Monday night offerings on CBS, as well as a video promoting a Pepsi diet cola for men.

The video, which will play on a screen about the size of those found on mobile telephones, will appear in copies of the Time Warner magazine sent to subscribers in the New York and Los Angeles areas.

Digg Taking New Approach to Advertising

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Digg.com, a news sharing site where readers determine the popularity of stories, is applying the same approach to advertising. Maybe this will work. Maybe it won’t. But it’s worth reading about:

The line between traditional content and advertising on Digg is about to get much much smaller. The news-sharing site announced plans Wednesday for a new advertising platform that will intersperse ads among the streams of stories. Just like with stories, users will now be able to vote on ads that show up in the streams (Click on the thumbnail to the right for an example). Advertisers will then pay depending on the popularity of their content. “The more an ad is Dugg, the less the advertiser will have to pay. Conversely the more an ad is buried, the more the advertiser is charged, pricing it out of the system,” says Digg Chief Strategy Officer Mike Maser in a blog post.

For advertisers, this will provide a way to get Digg users to directly interact with their content—be it good or bad. It should also motivate them to set up their ads much like the typical Digg entry, thereby breaking down the traditional content-advertising wall even further. Indeed, Maser says he expects the ads to “link to stories, video trailers, independent product reviews – many of the same types of content you see on Digg every day.” (Of course, there’s also the possibility, mentioned by the NYT‘s Brad Stone that no matter what the content is in the ads Digg users will simply vote down all the ads that show up in the stream.)

Blogger Describes 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media for Businesses

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Blogger David Griner recently outlined the 7 deadly sins of social media — some things to keep in mind as your business tackles the fabulous Interweb.

There are a million ways for businesses to use social media well, and only a handful of ways to do it horribly wrong. So why do companies keep falling into the same traps?

The answer is easy: human nature. And as we all know, humans are constantly beset by malicious temptations.

So as a public service, I’ve decided to break down the Seven Deadly Sins that make social media go sour. (Click on any one of the tips to learn more.)

1. Lust: Loving your customers is great, but take it slow.

2. Gluttony: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

3. Greed: It’s hard to shake hands while you’re reaching for someone’s wallet.

4. Sloth: Always avoid the temptation to “set it and forget it.”

5. Wrath: There are a lot of people out there itching for a punch in the nose, but you’re not the one to give it to them.

6. Envy: Don’t be dissuaded by other people “doing it better than you.”

7. Pride: Stay humble, rock star.

Idaho Teacher Sells Ads on Tests: “A” for Creativity or “F” for Crossing Boundaries?

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In an effort to save the district money, a Pocatello High School teacher decided to advertise a local pizza shop by promoting the business on paper he uses in the classroom. The restaurant provided 10,000 sheets of paper that included a company logo, and the teacher will use that paper in class over the next two years — a value of $315. The Idaho Statesman has the story:

Marianne Donnelly, chairwoman of the school board, said the ad apparently violates a district policy barring schools from directly promoting businesses. But she said the board considers the ad harmless and is not making an issue out of it.

"Give the teacher credit for creativity," Donnelly said. "There’s no question we’re in desperate financial straits."

Elsewhere, nonprofit organizations are helping teachers obtain free or discounted classroom supplies, and Web sites match educators with benefactors willing to buy materials. But Harrison’s approach has at least one critic worried the idea will spread.

"It crosses a line," said Susan Linn, a Harvard psychologist and director of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. "When teachers start becoming pitchmen for products, children suffer and their education suffers as well."

Granted, the timing does seem interesting as a tax levy for more funding was recently shot down by the public, so critics argue the teacher and the school are just making a statement here. Regardless, it raises an interesting question: Should teachers be able to allow advertisements in the classroom? What if they would otherwise have to purchase classroom materials out of their own pockets?

Tell us what you think:  Is this an inspirational, opportunistic educational tool, or just a matter of worlds colliding that shouldn’t, just to make a point?