Too many hands....

So I had the great opportunity to meet with a business group today. Let me put it this way, and I hope it does not sound harsh, the company has potential but will not grow as it is presently constituted. The problem? Too many ideas from too many people. In theory the idea behind the company is great, get people from as many different specialties as possible to generate the greatest amount of ideas that do not cost anything to implement (ok so that last part is not as conducive to making money but that is not the point of this post). The problem is the amount of "expertise" in the room.

What I have found from my business traveling's in the small business world is that sometimes you just need to jump in to test the water. The more you think about your product/service the more you will over think. Now this is not always the case but 9 times out of 10 this will happen. Am I advocating not having a plan? No. I am advocating having more of a guideline and that you tweak it as you go. You need to stay flexible when starting and running a business as change is inevitable. Taking on business partners can be good, as long as you do not have too many and they all know what role they are to play.

Remember my motto, Dive in and Adjust your Plan!

Best, Guaranteed, Most Effective Social Media Marketing Techniques!

So I hope you did not come to this blog looking for the tips that would make you a super star social media marketer in the eyes of your employer because, much like those late night get rich quick schemes, there is no one formula for hitting it big. What you need are the basics and a willingness to learn. Now that will not get me a spot in a big marketing seminar but honestly I am here to give my insights. What I can do is give you my steps towards potential social media greatness... after all if you wanted a strict proven formula for success you would have chosen a field other then marketing.

First and foremost, you need to jump in. You can learn everything from book... or in this case websites, but if you do not take that first leap, noting is going to happen. Research is of course key. That part of marketing should not be left out as you NEED to know who you are targeting, which kind of social media they use most (but honestly jumping into Facebook, Twitter and blogging are going to be your best bet... at first) and what they look for online.  Once you have the basics about your demographic you need to take that leap.

After jumping in you need to tweak your strategy. Yes you still need somewhat of a strategy to get this done but the strategy is flexible. The way to tweak the strategy is to continue learning from your favorite social media marketers, be they bloggers or actual companies that you feel are doing a great job. Follow them, learn from them, observe their ways. This is how I have actually learned the most. I have seen what true social media dialogue should be.

Ask your followers. When you get a few, a certain number to be determined in your strategy, ask them what they want from following you. If you rely on the people who you are trying to get in touch with, there is a good chance others are going to feel the same way. As you ask for information you will also make your followers feel part of the process. They will be invested in you, your online strategy and your company, WIN-WIN!

Next up is do not be pushy. We all know the hot used car salesman that always gets on everyone's nerves. Why are they everyone's favorite? They only talk about the sale. Don't be that guy. Talk about news that is pertinent to your industry, look for glowing reviews of your product and retweet it out for others to see and you can always take the Best Buy route and go for a support squad, looking for opportunities to service your potential customers. One of my favorites is the good old contest/giveaway approach, for questions geared towards your business off course. Do not be the used car salesman of Twitter, for all of our sakes.

I will also say that you need to innovate. Try something new. Use social media as a way for people to receive discounts or special information on sales. There are a number of ways for you to innovate and bring more customers to your website. Be creative.

These are the basics. Build on them. Just remember that there is no true secret formula to success on the interwebs, no matter what you are told. Look into the blogosphere and even Mashable, they are good people.

Advertising on Quack!

So I was watching the season premier of 24 this past weekend when I happened upon the new ad from the Zimmerman Agency in Florida and the supplemental insurance company AFLAC. This new campaign is challenging the public's notion that AFLAC is just like their major medical insurance provider and that there is no need for the company's products. Having sold insurance for the company for a few years I understand the frustration that the company is going through. They have only recently started advertising what they do. The ads that originally came out did not give a lot of information, only the annoyingly cute duck spokes-animal.

What they are trying to do now is dispel the myth that AFLAC is like all the other insurance providers that are considered the primary insurance. The "supplemental" title has started being used (I am not going to go into detail about the differences between the two types of insurance as the purpose of my blog is not to try to sell products or services.... besides, I will not get a commission off any sells made (; ) to differentiate itself.  It is great to see the strategy expanded. Could the spot be better? I am sure. I do love the challenge to find out more but maybe they could give an incentive to those who do try to find out more. The typical consumer has been ignoring their ads for years so will this really help? Hopefully more then I give them credit for.

Check out the splash site they have set up to complement the campaign and see if you "know quack."

Social Media Marketing Continues!

So I have decided to dive into a few new social media sites to try their worth and I must say I am impressed with what I see. I am going to list a few of the newer services I have been trying out and mentioning what I see as the marketing opportunity for the service.

First let's go with Google Wave. This new service is invite only (for those that may want to try I have a few invites.. let me know). This service has great potential... for the business end of the spectrum. I see this service as a supplement to an instant messenger/email service with a little bit of the conferencing built in. I can see Google is trying to take over the internet and doing a really good job of it. This is a great cooperative site that may not be for consumers but by using Google Groups with this could really do a lot. Sadly this needs a little something extra  to really be pick up on by the consumer masses.. still a great product.

Next is Loopt. Loopt is a great little service to get to know your surroundings. Hungry, find some good food close by. Need to find your friends? Well as long as everyone has a GPS-enabled phone your can find them if they are close. Need to find something to do? Find events nearby. It is a great service to fill up your weekend. Enable it to connect with your other Facebook and Twitter to let your newer social media challenged friends know what you are doing. Great little service to figure out what is going on.

Finally I am now trying out Foursquare. This app seems to be a great idea for local businesses. One can check in at different place (much like Loopt) but the kicker is you can set up your own list of your Top 12 places and your Top 12 "To Dos" for the new people coming in. What is great is you can become a "Mayor" of certain places by checking in so many times. Really like your local bar? Check in and become Mayor. Then you can let everyone know. While this service is still pretty new, Mashable's founder has spoken very highly of it, including the fact that it could very well be the next Twitter. Check out this article detailing the possibilities behind the service.

Check out the new social media platforms and vote for your favorite by using it. I am really leaning towards Foursquare myself and if you need a friend... on these services, comment and let me know!

Chew-a-licious Advertising

So as I was looking over some of the news articles on my phone this morning I came across one from Mashable that I really enjoyed. This article shows a great deal of "social sensitivity" from Trident Gum. Honestly a great piece.

So what I find great about this print ad is the fact that Trident took the time to find out what people were saying about their new gum. They way they did it was even better. I am so happy to actually find a company truly using Twitter in an advertising sense (yes best buy has done this to an extent with the @twelpforce but has not used unsolicited testimonials). This is what social media was made for. This is a great way for a company to find out what people are saying about the products and services and best of all.... it is FREE!!!! Previously one had to send out surveys or create a focus group to really find out what consumers were thinking but with Facebook and Twitter, Marketers are able to figure things out quickly and efficiently.

I really hope more small businesses and large ones get used to social media marketing. It is a great tool and not hard to learn. I look forward to more great ads like this one. Great job Trident Layers!

I wanna be like Mike.

So as you may have heard by now, Michael Jordan (the ungrateful basketball star of yesteryear) did not show up for a half-time show for an NBA development league game in Orem, Utah for a charity shoot-out that he never even agreed to. The nerve of some people. Ok maybe you have not heard of this latest marketing blunder made by the owner of the Utah Flash... and you have probably never even heard of the Flash.... or for that matter the NBA development league but I will will allow you to mosey on over to KSL.com's news report on the incident and then come on back to hear my take on the whole ordeal. Go on.... I will wait.


Welcome back. So as you now know Brandt Andersen, the owner of the Utah Flash, decided it would be a good idea to try and get Mr. Basketball, Michael Jordan, to come to his game to bring in a crowd. The only problem.... MJ did not agree to anything while Mr Andersen slyly promoted the event as a possibility. That is kind of the gist of the article. Brandt did try to apologize via his blog but that did not go over too well.  At least he tried.


Ok here goes the "real" meat of the blog. Was this a good idea for Brandt and the Flash? In theory yes. Was it carried out well.... obviously no. Brandt did try to cover himself with his statement, "Michael Jordan will be here, and if he's not, we promise to make it entertaining." Now if it would have been left at that the whole situation would have been avoided.... for the most part. The problem comes with the organizations desire (read Brandt's desire) to experiment with Social Media Marketing. In the right hands Social Media Marketing can lead to great growth and loyalty among your customers and potential customers. In the wrong hands it can cut you in two. Whoever said bad press is good press lied. Would you like to go to an event that continually lied about what was going on or a restaurant that continually received poor health code ratings? No. Hence no press can be better press then bad press. You want people to come back and purchase again, right? 


So to go back. This "experiment" as he put it entailed taping the MJ look-a-like in various spots around the city. That would have been great if there was a possibility of His Airness actually showing up but by creating the "viral" wave, as he put it, and not having a disclaimer, Brandt stepped over the ethical line. Was it technically illegal? Probably not. Was it a good idea? Far from it. Now the Flash will have to overcome the bad PR blitz that has already come their way. Can they recover? Yes. Will it be easy? Of course not, nor should it be! Social media is not the only answer but it is a great option. Maybe he should still try to donate the $100,000 to a very deserving charity to help make up for the lost goodwill. 


Brandt, reach out to your community. They are the only ones you can rely on... they just need to know they can rely on you. Show them that you care beyond the refunds and free tickets. Run social media contests on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Loopt. You need them more then they need you. Good luck and you can overcome this. Just try harder.

"There's an ad for that!"

So I will take a little turn from my typical Social Media Marketing blog post and dive a little more into the realm of business and business strategy (of course I am throwing the advertising in the post).

There are many truly great rivalries in the world of sports. Fortunately we also have great rivalries in the world of business. Whether it is the PC vs. MAC, Pepsi vs. Coke, out-sourcing vs. in-sourcing, or AT&T vs. Verizon. As a disclaimer, I have been a customer of AT&T (and Cingular) and am a current customer of Verizon. I was not impressed with the cell service I received at AT&T while the customer service at Verizon is not always the best.... there I got that all off my chest.

As for the reasoning behind my post, the new "fight" these two companies is making me laugh... mostly at AT&T. Unless you have been living under a rock... or just do not watch television, you have probably seen Verizon's ads poking fun at AT&T's inferior 3g coverage with their "There's a map for that" tagline. From a truly strategic and creative stand point, the ads are very well done. AT&T, understandably, was not happy with these spots (my favorite is this one that uses the island of misfit toys with the iPhone being the misfit toy because of the spotty 3g coverage). In fact AT&T even went as far as to sue Verizon for the ads, which the court threw out.

This is where poor Luke Wilson comes in. In this, the first spot done by BBDO (that just seems a little rushed by AT&T), Luke tries to tell us why AT&T is the better cell phone provider. This spot just does not do it for me. I understand the thinking behind it, as AT&T is trying to save face but from the commercial it appears as the only thing they really have going for them is the iPhone. It is the hottest phone by far in the market right now and will continue to be that way. Verizon just happens to have the largest 3g network, and that is what they have going for them. There is no disputing those points. Unfortunately for AT&T, Verizon is starting to catch up on phones. These phones do not have the app capabilities of the iPhone but the Droid has some great offerings.

Back to the strategy. AT&T's current strategy is more of a retaliatory one. They feel that they must "clean up" the image of its service when really, at least to this blogger, they still have nothing to worry about. Look at the iPhone. It is still a very highly sought after item. They also have many other phones, like the line of Blackberrys they carry, that will continue to work out really well for them. Yes it is a matter of market share but until Big V can come up with a phone that matches the iPhone's popularity (or if the internet rumors hold true and VZW gets an iPhone by 2011) AT&T will still sell more phones. People will still "defect" between carriers. That is the American way.

Now do not get me wrong. I really love the ads done by BBDO. They are one of the better ad agencies. Unfortunately an agency many times has to play by the client's rules. Sometimes agencies are order takers. This stifles creativity. Honestly it is only recently that McCann Erickson has been really creative with Verizon's ads. Sometimes a little competition is good not only for consumers, but creativity too.


UDPATE: I finally saw an AT&T ad that was good. Ok so it was more of an Apple ad that AT&T kinda jumped on to. It actually showed how one could make use of the data and voice that AT&T's network allows. It then sent a jab straight to Verizon. Thanks guys. I am glad to see a good ad.