No matter which holiday you choose to celebrate in December — it seems like it's a season for sharing, for hanging with the people we care about and for giving gifts.
I don't want to get all mushy — but I am so grateful that you keep coming back to the blog to share your ideas and thoughts on the blog posts, I value your friendship and collegial spirit and look forward to exploring 2011 with you.
To that end, I've rounded up some gifts I'd like to share. I think you'll find them both well worth the time to unwrap!
Junta42's annual Content Marketing & Social Media Predictions for 2011: Joe & his team reach out to marketing folk and ask them to contribute their predictions for the year.
With over 100 participants — there is plenty to read, chew on and use as you plan out 2011 for your organization. (click here to download the PDF)
RainToday's Research Excerpt on Lead Generation: As you know, I am a huge fan of RainToday.com. They provide lots of very pragmatic, B2B focused research, tools and how to advice. They just finished up a new study on best practices for lead generation.
If for no other reason that reading more about Best Practice #3 — it is worth the download. click here to download the PDF)
It's the holidays and everyone is not only crazy busy but bombarded by ads. So we tune them out.
But as of 12/23 — 1.5 million people booted up their browser and went looking for this video. (email subscribers, click here) They didn't get tricked into watching it — they sought it out. And they not only watched it for almost 5 minutes — they shared it with their friends. Who also watched it.
As you may know, I am a Disneyophile. I love the Disney parks, I love the Disney movies' happy endings, I love the unrelenting pursuit of better customer service that drives Disney to their own level of excellence.
I also love Walt Disney's story.
I know he wasn't perfect by a long shot. But he was a dreamer, a story teller and a man who believed so strongly in his own vision that he ignited the people around him until they were as caught up in the dream as he was. And despite being told no about a million times — he just keep at it until his dream came to be.
But if you've studied his life like I have, you discover that his philosophies are incredibly simple. And in that simplicity, incredibly profound.
When asked how to build a successful business, he replied:
"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends."
Pretty much sums up referral selling, word of mouth marketing, and customer retention all in one sentence. And in the end — isn't Walt talking about creating a love affair with your customers?
Do you think we make it too complicated? Do you think Walt was right? Is that really all there is to it?
We’ve just started working with a client who launched his own blog about 6 months ago. We’ve re-designed his website (with the blog on the home page) and are just about to go live.
As one of the last things on the To Do list, I was taking his old blog posts from his original effort and moving them to the new site.
God love him….but yikes! As I was preparing a document for him on business blogging basics, it occurred to me I should share it here too.
These are by no means all inclusive, but they are the cornerstones that we preach at MMG. (with a nod to Mike Sansone, who taught me all of them when I started blogging back in the stone age!)
Short and Sweet: A blog post should hover around the 300 word mark. Yes, you can occasionally go much longer or shorter, but in general, people have the tolerance for a good 3 minute read. Which means you must stick to…
One and only one message: Lots of reasons for this but if you’re going to stick to the word count and put some meat on the bone, you can only dig into one topic. So stay focused. And, it makes the post easier to read and remember. It also helps you to…
Write often: Our client was posting about once a month. At that rate, you might as well not bother. Business blogs are chock full of perks (SEO, define your expertise, attract new customers, etc) but only if you write on a regular basis. 3-4 per week is really what you should shoot for, if you want to build a legitimate blog. Now if you want actual readers…
Go out and find your readers: This is not a “build it and they will come” sort of deal. You have to be willing to step away from your own blog and go talk to the readers you want. Where are they? Odds are — at other people’s blogs. Go comment, share, and get elbow deep into conversations on blogs that parallel yours in terms of topic. If you’re smart or interesting there, they’ll come visit your blog as well. Another way to draw attention…
Link out: When you’re writing about a specific topic or person — link out to them. Especially bloggers who track their links like bloodhounds. You should try to include at least one link out in every post. Not sure where to find relevant writing? Use a free tool like Zemanta to help.
Of course, there’s much more, but these are the training wheels of blogging! From your experience either as a blogger or reader — what would you add?
Maybe it's the time of year and the fact that we're having a beautiful evening snowfall, but as i watched it snow, I got thinking about the uniqueness of snowflakes. They say there are no two the same because they're all asymmetrical in their own way.
And yet, when we draw them or use them for decorations — we can't help but draw them incorrectly, fixing the asymmetry and making them "perfect."
In our pursuit of perfection, we actually take something unique and make it common and ordinary.
And yet — what do we want from companies who market to us? Do we want fake perfection or do we want to see them for who they really are, warts and all? Personally, I want those rough edges. They're reassuring.
Mette Mitchell wrote about a fascinating trend called Wabi-sabi (from the Japanese aesthetics concept) that is the celebration of things imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.
Check out her post (by clicking on the link) and see how Wabi-sabi is impacting packaging, retail spaces and brands.
This isn't a trend about sloppiness or not caring enough to clean up imperfections. It's actually about being brave enough to be a little lopsided.
Because lopsided is real, one of a kind, honest and puts a consumer at ease.
This is the sort of job I wonder about sometimes. How does one become the person who selects the color of the year? Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® must know — as her organization has declared Honeysuckle the 2011 color of the year.
Here's what Pantone had to say about the selection:
A Color for All Seasons. Courageous. Confident. Vital.
A brave new color, for a brave new world.
Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it. While the 2010 color of the year, PANTONE 15-5519 Turquoise, served as an escape for many, Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor.
A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life.
“In times of stress, we need something to lift our spirits. Honeysuckle is a captivating, stimulating color that gets the adrenaline going – perfect to ward off the blues,” explains Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute®. “Honeysuckle derives its positive qualities from a powerful bond to its mother color red, the most physical, viscerally alive hue in the spectrum.”Eiseman continues, “The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color, not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named, is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar. Honeysuckle may also bring a wave of nostalgia for its associated delicious scent reminiscent of the carefree days of spring and summer.”
Honeysuckle is guaranteed to produce a healthy glow when worn by both men and women. It’s a striking, eye-catching hue that works well for day and night in women’s apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men’s ties, shirts and sportswear.
Add a lively flair to interior spaces with Honeysuckle patterned pillows, bedspreads, small appliances and tabletop accessories.
Looking for an inexpensive way to perk up your home? Paint a wall in Honeysuckle for a dynamic burst of energy in the family room, kitchen or hallway.
Hmm. Apparently I am more of a 2010 kind of guy. I'll go with the turquoise, thank you. Pretty sure you will not see any honeysuckle shirts hanging in my closet. But…and here's the actual marketing point: it doesn't matter if I don't like it.
All too often, marketers allow their personal opinions color (pun intended) how they create marketing tools for clients. All of us need to be very wary of allowing these sorts of decisions to be subjective. There should be a reason why you choose a particular font, color, headline or visual.
As business owners, we often make decisions that at first blush serve the business well. But, as things roll out, there are consequences that we didn't anticipate and don't want.
The airlines are living this out as we speak. A while ago, to boost themselves out of the red, most major airlines instituted bag fees. A passenger must now pay an additional $25-$35 per checked piece of luggage.
I'm sure that when the airline executives came up with this plan — they were elated. I can envision the equation on a big white board somewhere. X million bags times $25 = a TON of money.
But what they didn't think through was the consumer's reaction. At the same time they were trying to boost their bottom line, so were traveling families and business people. So rather than pay the $25 fee, people simply ignored the carry on bag size regulations and more and more people bypassed the checked luggage option.
Longer lines in security as people take more through the check point (and have no idea how to manage it all)
A jam up in plane boarding (everyone wants to get on early in hopes of snagging some overhead bin space)
Adding significant staff time in gate checking many, many more bags
Disgruntled customers who are now being forced to gate check bags with computers and other valuables that they thought they could carry on
More broken overhead bins due to people shoving bags that are too large into them
Delayed flights because people board with bags that won't fit — and have to swim upstream to the front of the plane to do a late gate check
Increased dissatisfaction ratings from frustrated fliers
Maybe the money is worth it… but imagine the brand position some airline could take by renouncing fees and putting some of the convenience and comfort back into flying.
Bigger picture for us — we need to think past the first blush advantages. Ask yourself these questions before you make a major shift in how you do business:
How might our customers act differently, based on this change? What are the consequences to those shifts?
How might this change the way we are perceived by our customers? By our employees?
What hidden costs come along with this decision?
What do you think — if they would be candid, would airline executives tell you that baggage fees are worth the extra hassle, staffing, and customer dissatisfaction?
Saw this on a recent layover at O'Hare airpot in Chicago. They were on the escalator handrails going up/down into the tunnel that connects the B and C concourse.
(Yes, I risked my life by not holding onto the handrails to take these pictures for you!)
In many ways — pretty smart placement on Hampton Inn's part. Talking to travelers in a very unexpected place and way.
You will need to be a content creator and curator…or else you won't survive some of the new shifts in how people gather information, make buy decisions and build brand loyalty.
We can't rely on others (mass media, press releases, other "official" sources) or hype to tell our story anymore. It's our responsibility to tell our own stories and create content that helps people find us, understand us, and ultimately buy us.
This isn't a new topic for this blog — and if you're a regular reader, you know how vital I believe this is to marketing success today and down the road.
It's also the main thrust of the new book Content Rules by Ann Handley (Chief Content Officer for MarketingProfs), and C.C. Chapman (founder of DigitalDads). (click on title to buy the book from Amazon*)
I can hear you now…do we really need another "content is king" book? Probably not. This may not be the first book written on the topic, but it is definitely one of the best I have read. It's fun to read, insightful and most important in my opinion — Ann and C.C. give you the tools to take action.
They set the stage by demonstrating why content matters and then quickly move into the how's. A wide range of case studies, examples and stealable ideas will get your mind racing and the dog-eared pages multiplying.
I love the straightforward approach, the humor and the humanity of this book. With chapter titles like Share or Solve; Don't Shill and If Webinars Are Awesome Marketing Tools, Why Do Most of Them Suck — you know you're going to learn a thing or two without having to dig through a lot of pretentious language or fluff.
The book itself is a living example of how potent content can be, when written for the reader, with their best interest at heart. And that of course, is the kernel of truth that is the heart of content marketing.
B-to-B your playground? Have no fear — they take special care of you in this book with a chapter devoted just to you and plenty of B-to-B examples and case studies.
Seriously — you need to read and learn from this book. Like now!
Looking for the link to buy it? Here you go…click here.*
We are creatures of habit. Even as marketing professionals who are supposed to be creative, innovative and "out of the box" thinkers. There are some SOP (standard operating procedures) that are tied to most aspects of marketing.
You'll recognize some of these… (By the way…not saying I agree with these)
B to B advertisers should choose talk radio over top 40 stations
Non profits should sent out an appeal letter between Thanksgiving and December 5th
You have to drive traffic back to your own website
You should focus on the value proposition in your marketing
But, we're not the only ones who know these golden oldies. Our audiences do to. And so do our competitors. Which often makes it a snore.
Sometimes if you can find the courage (and sell it internally) — taking a different direction and zagging when you should zig gives your effort a freshness and element of surprise that can be very influential and action inspiring.
Take this video by American Express. They're trying to get consumers to join their cause marketing effort called Take Part. The campaign is encouraging people to donate their time and/or dollars to charities. They can also vote to decide which charities win financial support from Amex.
Now…conventional wisdom would be to do a campaign that touched the hearts of the audience. Inspire them to action. Nothing wrong with that approach but a bit expected. Which is why I love what they did instead. Take a look. (email subscribers, click here to view the video)
By using a very trendy celebrity who plays a character we really don't want to be anything like (but find funny), AMEX was able to make their point in a very fresh way. It's the polar opposite of the PSA featuring the Indian who is so dismayed by litter than he sheds a tear (from the 70s).
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No matter which holiday you choose to celebrate in December — it seems like it's a season for sharing, for hanging with the people we care about and for giving gifts.
