People by Branding and Not the Contents

But I wanted apple juice...

After its package redesign, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging. It had been on the market less than two months.

Understanding Social Media a Bit More

I'm using Social Marketing to get better tasting dog food on the market.

Is social media a mystery to you? What is all the big fuss over Social media? Isn't it just a bunch of teenagers using multiple internet tools to communicate with each other?

If you've been trying (like me) to figure out the ROI for all these new tools and are still scratching your head then this list should help.

I come from 30 years in this industry, and the last five have been a challenge even for me. It's hard to figure out strategy in these days of tremendous change. The way people can now communicate and develop communities is staggering and it's just going to get more interesting as this new approach to marketing matures.

Follows is a great list from Larry Brauner blog.
Thanks Larry for all you generous insights.

1. Social marketing is a logical extension of the multichannel marketing strategy of diversification. Social media sites can extend a company’s web presence far beyond the limits of its e-commerce, lead generation or information sites.
2. Social media builds awareness of products and brands by attraction rather than interruption, and by pulling rather than pushing. Consumers enjoy the discovery process and don’t feel annoyed by it.
3. Social media employs a community and list building paradigm that’s much more comprehensive, natural and intimate than conventional databases and autoresponders.
4. Social media marketers engage customers in dialog. They talk with the customer rather than at the customer as is generally the case with conventional media. Social media can also facilitate post-sale support and dissemination of valuable product tips to customers.
5. Social media used properly can build frequency less expensively than conventional media educating and informing the consumer over time.
6. Social media can help reach target markets that are too difficult or expensive to reach using conventional means.
7. Reach doesn’t determine cost, so social media can target a narrow vertical market while at the same time casting a wide net. Efficiency doesn’t really matter much in the context of social media reach.
8. Search engines like social media, and social marketing leverages free high-quality search exposure which is preferable to paying for low-quality pay-per-click or banner advertising.
9. Social media sites and your e commerce websites are available 24/7 more or less indefinitely. It’s much like having an ad run in every issue of a publication or like having a catalog or sales letter retained until the customer is ready to make a buying decision.
10. Using social networking sites it is often possible to connect directly with B2B decision makers without interference from protective gatekeepers.

Remember that social media is a brand new way of communicating and in a lot of cases is diametrically opposite to the way people have done marketing in the past.

My advice is to get into it now... just jump into this river of opportunities, learn how to swim in it and start swimming with the current and stop fighting against a current that goes faster and deeper each day. (that's a bit of poetic license from the bobster)

Twitter Tips Countdown

A twitting we will go a twitting we will go...

Here is a slimmed down post from Jacqui Cheng Associate Editor
at arstechnica.com for the full unedited story please go to this link.

There are no explicit rules for how to use Twitter, of course, and ultimately, people are going to use it however they see fit; that's the beauty of such a flexible social platform. Still, if you follow these unspoken etiquette rules for being a good Twittizen, you should have no problems gaining followers the old-fashioned way.


Gaining more followers on Twitter
Here are six tips on how to win friends and influence Twitterers.

1) Fill out your bio
It doesn't matter if you're not someone "important"—think of a line or two that describes who you are and what you do and stick it in there. Be clear about it, at least from the casual observer's perspective.

2) Be yourself
Twitter users appreciate it when you simply say the things you want to say, the way you want to say them. Don't waste time trying to think of the funniest possible way to say something and don't try to make yourself sound smarter or wittier than you are. The Twitter community is largely made up of people who just like conversing with others; they want to follow real people, not the shell of the person you might awkwardly be trying to fake.

3) Engage in @ replies, but don't go overboard on @ replies
twitterfollowers.pngTwitter users love to feel like you're noticing what they say and find it compelling enough to engage in a brief back and forth every so often. If you come off as a friendly individual who chit-chats once in a while with followers, more people will feel like you're a welcoming person to follow. This is especially important as you gain more followers.

At the same time, don't @ reply to every single person on the face of the earth. If too much of your Twitter stream is made up of @ replies, new people have little motivation to follow you. Think of it this way: when strangers go to your Twitter page and see an entire page of @ replies about obscure stuff that they couldn't understand unless they followed all of those other people, why would they follow you?

4) Come to think of it, don't go overboard on anything
Tweeting about how your dog scared itself with its own fart is funny the first time, not the 62nd time.

5) If you have nothing to say, don't
No one expects you to force yourself to tweet just for the sake of tweeting if nothing is popping into your head naturally.

6) Don't give yourself an ulcer when followers leave
There are many reasons why someone might "unfollow" you. Sometimes, people realize that you don't talk about the stuff they expected you to talk about, or they thought you were someone else, or they simply feel like they follow too many people and have to start making cuts.

LINK: A couple of other cool twitter links:
6 Unique Twitter Visualizations
Top 10 Twitter Tips for Beginners

PART 5: Freebies as Business Promotion

My precious my shiny precious

Lets face it, everyone loves to get stuff for free.

I have a campaign going this year where I hand out small carabiners with my website stamped on it. What makes it interesting is I also have a hiking website stamped on it too. I am an avid hiker and so I give them out when I meet people on trails and direct them to the hiking website so they can download maps and info on hikes available in the Vancouver area.

I also give them out when I meet people in networking parties. This is a great conversation starter and these days, if you are networking, you are trying to get to know people and not sell them. Think of an inexpensive gift you can hand out that will help steer the conversation down a different path and introduce them to something you are passionate about (like cooking, sailing, hiking or watching movies).

I like to give away 30 minutes on consulting to clients, It's what I have on the back of my cards. The reason for this is that it is very hard for me to explain the value of what I do. Getting the chance to give a person solutions to a variety of their marketing problems is a great way to show the value of hiring me as a "marketing solutions consultant".

I also do free seminars for my local networking groups and my chamber of commerce. Giving is always a good idea and will make you stand out in a crowd or networkers. So start thinking of the type of offers and gifts you can use to get more business connections at your next chance encounter or networking meeting.

Remember that "Givers Gain".

PART 4: Promote Your Business Inexpensivly

Will you be my marketing buddy?

Use strategic partnership marketing

Cross brand strategic marketing is a way to share the cost of printing or the actual mailing of the campaign.

I have done this a lot of times when the budget would not enable me to have a key element. I have negotiated a cross brand concept where both parties came out on top. See this blog post for details.

Another idea would be to send out marketing material (brochures, leaflet and/or business card) of another business in your mail out package. They would do the same for you when they send out to there mailing list which will gives you the chance to reach a whole new pool of potential customers.

Carry out business promotions with complementary businesses. Her is an example: A pet store and a pet grooming business, for example, might use shared advertising, or run a contest together. This can considerably cut down the cost of business promotion, and allow each business to use promotion techniques that would be too expensive to implement alone.

Take some time to pair up complimentary businesses that you know of and pitch the idea. You might be surprised with the positive reaction you get.