Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

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I’m starting a new series here at EMP dedicated solely to the horrible “black hole” experiences we all have from time to time- Really Bad Adventures in Search. Join me, won’t you, while we explore our latest, the Case of the Round Bed.

Lately my wife and I have been giving our place a makeover of sorts (translation: tossing out all our crap and buying stuff we actually want.) Last week she threw me a bit of a curveball. Click here to keep learning

What do you do when you have to incorporate too many keywords in too little copy or you have a group of keywords that don’t easily fit into the existing web page? Besides the obvious solution of creating more copy to accommodate these situations, use your right brain to help you out here.

What do you do when you have key phrases that are personal in nature i.e. “make my writing better” as a core term? You could use it as a headline to spark your readers curiosity, but at times that may be an awkward act to follow. The most simple way to do this is to use customer quotes or testimonials.

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There has been a bit of hubub for a while about persona based marketing plans and what that really means. Personas are templates used to identify a customer on a wants and needs level, so that you can adjust your site’s user experience to be as well matched to your customer as possible. Persona based marketing is the art of identifying those personas in a way that you can build out several templates and see things from the users point of view.

The creation of personas is not an easy task, but with some online resources that you may not have thought of, it can be done quickly and efficiently. Social outlets such as myspace, facebook, flickr, technorati, wordpress, live journal, and blogger (just to name a handful) can be a great way to find out how customers interact with you. Just do a search on any two of those services for your top keywords and your brand name and you should be able to find a wealth of information.

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Catherine Toole’s at e-consultancy set out to develop what she calls the 7 Deadly Sins of Writing for Social Media. While the whole list is pretty spot on, number one seems to get to the “root of all marketing evil,”

1. Not setting a strategy before you start. “We should have a blog” says the CEO. And so it begins…

Tossing your company’s hat in the social media arena is extremely popular right now, and you might even feel pressured to “not be the last on your block” doing it, but failing to chart your course before you begin can doom your efforts.

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I posted an article over at Search Engine Guide discussing the recent slow down in growth in online sales as noted by the NYT. In it I discuss the math behind the slowdown and touch briefly on one of the reasons mentioned and how that’s just good for business. Click the above link to read it for yourself.

In a bold move, Ask.com has risked its 1.01% share of the search engine market by positioning itself as the Target of the search world… forcing me to make the obvious comparison between Google and Wal-Mart.

Consider this: Who can compete with Wal-Mart on price? No one. If you are a store and you sell, pretty much anything, then it will crush you beneath its giant, omnipotent smiley face. So how did Target survive its battle with the juggernaut? Target offers something Wal-Mart can’t: a fun experience. It’s cute, it’s cuddly and you can admit to your friends you go there. Shopping at Wal-Mart on the other hand, offers a glimpse into a nightmarish hell from which you only escape with a fraction of your sanity.

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Be in control of your copy, but let the reader think they are in control at all times. Never make them feel like you are pushing them in a direction they don’t already want to go. Lead them in that direction and they will go willingly. If you do this successfully, they won’t even know you are leading them anywhere. Here’s a few tips to help you refrain from being a control freak:

• Trust people
• Let the customer do the driving
• The visitor is the center of attention
• Remember, you can’t do this by yourself
• If the customer is always right, you could be wrong
• Don’t be insulted if others don’t take your advice
• Listen to others with enthusiasm, not boredom
• You don’t know what’s best for everyone
• Get used to different styles
• Nothing is perfect, even you
• Learn to like surprises
• People can disagree
• Be patient

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Use bullet points or a numbered system to:

• Break up your copy into consumable pieces
• Aid in the clean design of your page
• Make it easy for the reader to reference previous points
• Save time when reading through dense copy

When you are marketing to an audience, logic would dictate that you need to speak to them in a language that they understand. This seems like an obvious statement. But I am talking about something far more subtle than sending a Spanish commercial to an English speaking audience. I am talking about a common mistake amongst marketing professionals, especially when dealing with the youth market.

Just like clothing styles that rotate in and out of fashion with the occasional new concept joining the cycle, the words used to describe the trends move in cycles as well. What was “cool” yesterday is “hot” today. Or maybe it’s “wicked” or “awesome”, “boss” or “sweet”. You most likely won’t find accurate definitions for these terms in Webster’s Dictionary. But, if you’re going to be in the marketing game you better know today’s definition of the word.
Having an understanding of your target’s demographics current linguistic nuisances not only establishes your credibility with your audience, but its helps them better understand your message. It also makes them feel like your message is for them, not aimed at them.
So how do you acquire such rapidly changing language skills?

You PARTICIPATE in conversation with your audience and when they are speaking you LISTEN.

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Here’s a tip about writing press releases. Simply put, never ever ever do this!!!