Will oil spill grassroots marketing campaign work for Palm Beach County?

Collateral damage is part of any disaster or emergency. Misinformation or the wrong perception is common. Florida is going through that right now.

Mention vacationing or buying waterfront property or near beach homes in Florida, outside the state, and many react, “The beaches are flooded with oil,” Property values are crashing because of the oil,” and on and on.

It’s just not true.

Click Below to See The facts:

Will oil spill grassroots marketing campaign work for Palm Beach County?

It Takes More Than a Single Bullet to Win in the Marketplace

Over the last month I’ve heard one employee after another, one senior executive after another, and one consultant after another tell me that they are looking for a magic bullet to solve their marketing and sales problems.

They didn’t phrase it that way. They said things like:
* “We’re jumping all over this social networking thing.”
* “I’m trying TV. I think that’ll bring in leads and traffic.”
* “I’ve got this really hot sales exec coming in. She’s going to make our numbers soar.”
* “The guy I was going to hire a year ago is available now so we’re ‘bringin him in’ because he’s a market maker.”

I asked, after each one of these statements, what else are you going to do and they each said, essentially, nothing. That’s it, nada.

Doing more than one thing makes it more complicated… harder to imagine.

Click here to read more:

http://brownltd.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/it-takes-more-than-a-single-bullet-to-win-in-the-marketplace/

From Print to Phone to Web. And a Sale?

"Item Level Intelligence" (Radio Frequency Identification) will eventually replace bar codes on products. Smartphones will integrate that function to make point-of-sale more interactive and possibly ad/PR more interactive. In the meantime, to get more product info available to shoppers and ad/PR measurement for business, publishers are using scan/web/text messaging to get consumers to interact.

Smartphones that can read bar codes are allowing magazines to add Internet-like interactivity to print graphics and advertisements.

NY Times

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

Published: January 10, 2010

Print may be a flat medium, but that has not stopped magazine publishers from trying to add dimension to their pages. For at least a decade, they have been experimenting with bar codes and icons that could take readers to Web sites, trying to add a bit of Internetlike interactivity to their pages.

But the average consumer did not own a bar-code reader — until now. With the sudden ubiquity of smartphones, which have apps that can read bar codes, and cameraphones, which can easily snap pictures of icons, magazines like Esquire and InStyle are adding interactive graphics to their articles, while Entertainment Weekly and Star are including them in ads.

Click to Read NY Times Article

Copywriting that Works in Social Media

You can write anyway you want to market your products, services, and relationships. Are they listening? Are they acting on your words? Do you get more qualified leads, traffic, sales, or relationships that matter?

I’ve always written to engage people as simply and personally as possible with the idea that a personal, helpful approach leads to a relationship.

The point is to add value to someone else. Adding value in relationships leads to two-way influence. A sale can come from that relationship – or not. You might get something better… world changing advice, a great friend, a business partner, or more.

Many in the Social Media world write like they speak or sound like they do at work.

As William Zinsser says in his classic book On Writing Well, “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon.” I would add acronyms to that list.

When I was writing speeches for IBM and Motorola executives, I would ask to interview the speaker at their home. Most thought it strange but went along with it. The reason was to find out what they sound like when they are a real person. Not their work voice - their personal voice. A spouse or kids won’t put up with corporate-speak. Those tech and “leadership” words make executives all sound the same at work and bore an audience.

They make you sound the same as everyone else on social networks too.

If you aren't getting more leads and meaningful business relationships on social networks, consider hiring a professional writer. Social Media has become a vortex of content.

Professional writers help your content break through the clutter. They know, and have practiced, how to reach your audience and start relationships. To learn more about my freelance writing services, click here: Get Words That Work For You!

E-Marketing Outlook for 2010

SMART Marketing & PR is advising clients to act on the following advice in 2010.

This will be a year in which social network advertising will intersect with other types of advertising.

• Integrate Social Media Into Your Advertising
- Find Customers, Where They Are, Online
- Contact Your Repeat Customers (easier to keep than get): LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
- Prospect for New Customers Based on Your Best Customer Profiles: Groups in LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
- Create Content Once – Publish Many Places
- Use the One Campaign, One Message Technique and A/B Test: Don’t Sell – HELP!
- Use the Mixed Media in Multiple Channels That You KNOW Your Customers & Prospects Use
- Separate Landing Pages & 800 Numbers for Each Channel to Measure Results
- In Addition: Social Ad Networks Will Expand
Expect more momentum behind advertising that is targeted based on information from social network user profiles. News Corp.’s Fox Audience Network (FAN) and services from startups 33Across, Media6° and others are already up and running. Meanwhile, some advertisers, such as Discovery Channel, have tested ad formats that are personalized on the fly by using Facebook profile data.

• Continue Search Engine Marketing and Target the Right Social Networking Sites and Groups in Those Sites.

• News Release, News Release, News Release at Least Twice a Week. When you are successful at this, the press will come to you – the expert.

• Expand Your Content Marketing Strategy. Helpful Content is King and It Makes You the Expert in Your Field.
- Twitter is Expanding. Make Sure You Follow the Influencers and More Importantly, Get the Influencers to Follow You.
- Think Beyond the Desktop. Mobile is Moving Into the Mainsteam!

> Look to the 55+ Age Demographic for Internet Usage Increases
Does your product or service "fit" the 55+ market? Internet usage will continue to rise, as consumers find more ways to access the Internet. Plus they have CASH. The continuing proliferation of laptops, smartphones and Internet-enabled TVs, MP3 players and gaming consoles will be the main force behind this trend. Teens and young adults are already active Internet users with many devices. The change will be seen among adults ages 55 and older, many of whom have always had an interest in consumer electronics and now are discovering social networks and other media.

• Traditional Off-Line Media Must Have Online Measurement Components
Set Up Separate Landing Pages and 800 Numbers For Each Channel/Ad. Measurement Saves You Marketing Budget.

If you need help implementing this advice, contact me! mikebrown@BrownLtd.com

SMART Marketing at the Right Place to the Right Audience

Even a fifth grader Gets It.

This sign is on a community dog "Poop Can." It's advertising a dog sitting service.

STRATEGY TO MEET THE GOAL & TARGET: The message goes only to prospective customers. It does not intrude on anyone who would have no interest in the service, like in a mailbox or a doorhanger of a home without a pet.

RIGHT MEDIA MIX IN THE RIGHT LOCATION: Sign on the Can

CREATIVE THAT SELLS: Hand drawn picture of a dog that attracts and headline that lets you know what's for sale instantly.

BRANDING THAT STATES THE BENEFIT: "I Will Be There"

TACTICS TO FIT THE SITUATION. CALL TO ACTION THAT CAN BE MEASURED (# of calls): "Call xxx-xxxx"

Most Lemonade Stand Entrepreneurs Get IT Too!

Original Post From www.contentmarketingtoday.com

Marketing that is Working Right Now: Customer Research

What is working right now in this tough market as the best, reasonable cost, mix for any organization is finding out who your customer types are (profile them) and then do the following:

- Events

- News Releases (not necessarily to the press)

- Web Promotion

- Radio Advertising

- E-blast Newsletters

- Direct Mail Advertising

- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

- Social Networking (Social Media Marketing, SMM)

All must be highly targeted at your top purchasing demographics and done as a campaign – not a series of unconnected media activity. It works right now!

The strategy starts by figuring out exactly who your buyers are and creating unique events for them, and people just like them. This article will cover customer research and future articles will cover the events and the media mix shown above.

Who are Your Customers? Once You Find Out, You Can Find More Just Like Them.

Find out the demographics and other information about your best customers. Check with your top sales people, look at customer records, hold focus groups with your customers, call them, poll them, find out as much as you can about the following:

- What is their household income?

- What is their age?

- Where do they live?

- Single, married, kids?

- Have they bought before?

- Why did they buy your product or service?

- Was there a particular benefit, feature, message that brought them to you?

- What media do they use: Which TV channels, radio stations, websites, magazines and newspapers, etc.?

- How did they hear about you? Careful! This is tenuous at best. Most won’t remember or won’t tell you accurately for a number of reasons but if most say the same thing it might be reliable.

- What are their favorite charities?

You’re looking for trends, not private or individual information.

After you figure out your best customer data, create customer profiles so you can use the information to:

- Create events to appeal directly to them

- Decide when is the best time to have an event and advertise

- Figure out where to have events

- Position your product or service vs. the competition

- Create a message to use to write news releases and other copy

- Target web sites you can use to use to promote (including social networking sites and groups)

- Promote on specific radio stations

- Get potential addresses to use for direct mail

Next article, Unique Events!

"If It Bleeds It Leads" Just Doesn’t Work Anymore

I think we're in a great position to offer more for news and advertising. What do you think?

Our mantra at IBM in the 1980's was to change the communication world from one-to-many, to many-to-many communication, as we were inventing multimedia technology and predicting what the Web would become.

We believed that newspaper companies would either evolve into web-based media companies or not make it. When I showed Web prototypes to the NY Times in 1990, they just scratched their heads in amazement.

Back then, some said nobody would read that much on a computer screen. Now we watch our teenagers, heads bent over all the time, looking at a cellphone screen.

I’m just surprised newspapers haven’t totally switched or gone under yet.

TV has taken a long time to adapt because the engineering architecture of TV and a computer are completely different and incompatible; and, it’s taken a while for the network (transmission pipe) to get big enough and fast enough.

Radio and other audio were pretty easy to move to the web. I remember getting voiceover talent to come into our studio and do recordings. Now, most of the VO talent lives in Costa Rica, Hawaii, wherever they want, and they have an in-home studio with ISDN lines to deliver what they do. We listen-in while they’re recording.

I pass by Rush Limbaugh’s house here in the Town of Palm Beach everyday and it’s funny to think he’s about to go live on the air from his “compound” on the beach, referring to his small studio space as a "network."

I was asked today what I thought of all the media changes. Here's my answer.

To communicate, inform, market, and sell has almost completely changed and the change is getting faster.

Moore’s Law, once only applied to integrated circuits. Now it applies even more to information.

Since the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit has increased, doubling approximately every two years. It has continued for over half a century and now they are so small you can put them in ink, along with transmitters (Radio Frequency Identification), so that labels on anything have “item-level intelligence” and can be tracked on a wireless network.

Click to read my blog article about RFID technology and it will blow your mind:

What Item-Level Intelligence Will Mean to Marketers

Because of all this technology, and the masses need for unbridled communication, information is expanding exponentially.

George Lucas told a group of us at a lunch in Las Vegas in the early 1990’s that everyone was going to become a producer… His prediction became reality: YouTube and Google Video is just a start.

I replaced a $5 million post production video studio (2001 dollars) with about $125.00 worth of software on my laptop and still don’t need all the features it provides.

I talk to media advertising reps and members of the press all the time and most are wondering if they will have a job in the next 5 years.

Google now gives advertisers the ability to bid on space and place ads in most offline major market newspapers, much like their SEM AdWords, including a way to deliver camera-ready ads. Plus they offer the 800# and online measurement service for that offline ad – for free.
Newspapers don’t offer measurement and what do you need a media ad-rep for if you can do it all online using Google?

For news, the media covers a very narrow channel of information. People want more than this:

1) If it bleeds it leads (celebrity death is right up at the top, wars and riots if there is a lot of death, airline and mass transit crashes, etc.)
2) The latest sex scandal
3) Stories about animals - mainly cute ones
4) “Newsworthy” information – euphemism for: If it’s very confrontational or controversial, we’ll run it.

That’s it. That covers just about all they publish.

With the many-to-many channels available and a huge body of other information that is of interest to consumers and businesses, the savvy marketing and PR folks among us have figured out a way to do an end-around on the press to deliver stories, so the press aren’t gatekeepers anymore.

If done effectively, the press ends up coming to you.

Media has changed and I think in many respects, if used for good purposes, many-to-many is better. You can be in charge now. Those that don’t adapt quickly will be left behind, and even more importantly, out-of-touch.

Learn Web 2.0 technologies and techniques. Keep up with them as they evolve and get ready for Web 3.0 (more in another article).

Become excellent storytellers and "reporters," and publish a wide scope of interesting content and you will lead your organization to become a stronger brand, engage all your stakeholders, create a much larger lead bank full of qualified prospects, and your reputation and sales will go up!

Marketing Mix That is Working Now!

I've been using social networking and the Internet since the 1980's at IBM to create and increase business. It is a low cost way to increase leads, add prospects, and generate sales. This is a MUST HAVE as part of your marketing mix.

What is working right now in this tough market as the best, reasonable cost, mix for any organization is:

- News Releases (not necessarily to the press)

- Web

- Radio

- Events

- E-blast Newsletters

- Direct Mail

All must be highly targeted at your top purchasing demographics and done as a campaign – not a series of unconnected media activity. It works right now!

Subscribe today and follow me as I add case studies and examples of the work I've done, and others have executed, with measurable results.

I'll show the strategy, the creative, the measurement systems, and results - so you can follow the formula that will increase your leads, prospects, and sales.

New Social Network Marketing Experiment: Small Retail

About to find out if Social Network Marketing works for a small retail operation. Launched my wife's side business this week: Senora Empanada! She provides empanadas for parties, family gatherings, and events. The wife's meat, vegetable, and dessert empanadas are amazing! Bookmark the site: www.site.senoraempanada.com

Place an order by phone or email. Shopping cart to come. Wish us luck!

Launch is strictly over social networks and our email lists. The food is great. The prices are right on the money. Website has good reviews. Already started filling orders from the "Friends and Family" campaign last week. Let's see how good this social network stuff is!

News Releases as Marketing

I've been using "news" to market products and services for decades.  Most people don't believe advertising.  They still believe news.  

I started out using News Groups on the Internet in the 1980's when I was at IBM.  Now I use a number of Web and Email channels.

I'm not talking about press releases.  The press has become almost irrelevant because of the web. Create and distribute enough real news about your product, service, and company and the press will come to you.  And even if they don't, customers will learn about your offerings and you will increase leads, traffic, and sales.  Try to do at least two per week.

Don't think of news releases as just print or web.  I produce news in video for TV and web; audio for radio and web; and writing for newspapers, magazines, e-blasts, and the web.  If you want to learn more, get a copy of the book:

The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing, and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David Meerman Scott

You can see examples of the news I'm talking about on my website: www.BrownLtd.com

Learning, and Profiting, from Online Friendships

Companies are working fast to figure out how to make money from the wealth of data they're beginning to have about our online friendships.

By Stephen Baker
BusinessWeek May 21, 2009
Click Here to Read the Article

Item-Level Intelligence

You’re going to hear a lot more in the near future about “item-level intelligence.” This technology puts electronics: transistors, transmitters, etc. into ink that can be printed on everything.

Right now 30 million transistors can fit on the head of a pin. So including the electronics you need to attach to any item you want using ink isn’t hard to imagine. Bye-bye barcodes!

I worked on presenting Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) as a future technology when I was at Motorola in 2001. It’s now a reality.

A Simple Example
Think about a consumer package good like a can of beans. The manufacturer puts the beans in a can and a printed label is put on the can. The ink on the label has transistors and transmitters in it so the bean manufacturer knows what ‘s in the can, the date of manufacture, and where the can has to go. The company that ships the can knows where the can is. The company that bought the beans knows when it gets to the warehouse and what store it is supposed to go to, and when it arrives. The store knows when it got on the shelf, AND WHEN A CUSTOMER PICKS IT UP TO LOOK AT IT, or buys it.

Thought that would grab you. Ink based paper antennas are positioned at the end of each aisle so the merchandising system can keep track of where the beans are moved (stop it).

Item-level intelligence brings a whole new meaning to Just-in-Time manufacturing and the entire supply chain. What does this mean for marketing?

You can negotiate with a buyer right at the shelf. Don’t want to advertise the beans? Try a coupon strategy just like they do now. Instead of having tags on the shelf under the beans, when a customer checks out the beans by picking them up and looking at them, the system can offer a coupon to the buyer’s opt-in smart phone when the buyer puts the can back on the shelf. It might make the buyer reconsider.

Benefits to buyers are a way to budget, reduce costs of goods, find them, and create a shopping list that is managed on their phone. Need milk? You’ll know if your garbage can has an RFID antenna. When you throw the milk carton in the garbage, your shopping list gets updated. You see the benefits.

Item-level intelligence will offer in depth data on products, sales, segment penetration and analytics, and will finally allow one-to-one marketing at the residence and shelf level.

Keep an eye out here for more on this emerging marketing technology.