Is your company packaging experiences? Are they sought—or are they sold? And, drilling the concept down one more level: have you ever looked at yourself and considered the package that you offer and the experience you provide? In the current downturn, where layoffs loom large, those with the better shot at developing business or finding a job understand that the complete package and the experience contribute to a brand identity that stands out in a crowded marketplace.

In search, you have a very short window of opportunity for engaging your prospect. The only way to get a solid competitive advantage in SEO is to use techniques that ensure you are giving a prospect exactly what he or she is looking for. Otherwise, your prospect will simply click the back button and visit one of your competitors—a process that takes mere seconds.

Gems of 2008: Ever sigh to yourself, "There just aren't enough hours in the day!"? You're not alone. Most marketers are overloaded and under-resourced. But it doesn't have to be that way. And managing your time more efficiently isn't the answer.

by William Leake

Gems of 2008: Online reputation management means tracking your brand and reacting when necessary. Brand monitoring can save you from a potential disaster when someone cites your name in an article that misrepresents you. What's more, it can help you proactively join conversations around your topic area, helping to get your brand name out there.

Gems of 2008: You need an e-newsletter and you know it. But before rolling up your sleeves, please review the following six bromides from a recent how-to article phoned in by a reigning email-marketing magnate. After each, I'll explain how to do the exact opposite so that you can avoid polluting the e-cosystem with mediocre e-newsletters.

Gems of 2008: People have not stopped buying things, so how are they researching and purchasing products since they have made themselves immune to old marketing techniques like banner ads and direct mail? The answer is with search engines and Google. According to comScore, Americans conducted 11.5 billion searches in June 2008, and Google was used for 61.5% of those searches. This means it is essential that you make it easy for customers to find you, and one of the most effective ways to do so is search engine optimization (SEO), which focuses on getting your Web site listed in the unpaid, organic search engine results.

Over the past couple of months the number of people following me on Twitter has more than doubled. This may be because I am writing a book about Twitter. It may be because of reference bots such as Mr. Tweet or it may be because my focus seems to have drifted away from its historic center of Silicon Valley.

While it cannot help but boost my ego just a tad, it is also humbling in many ways to realize so many people may be listening to what I have to say. For better or worse, I have lost a certain edginess in my tone. I've also lost a certain intimacy because I am speaking to so many people I have never met, who are coming from so many diverse cultures.

Perhaps, I am posting this so that I can better understand what is going on during this period of growth and change I am writing it here and sharing it with you. My observations:

• My focus has left Silicon Valley. I began in social media with a strong tech-business perspective. My leading passion remains social media, and my immersion is overwhelmingly in Twitter. But social media is no longer very much of a tech issue as I see it. It seems to me that as Twitter brings ground level conversations to me from Pakistan, India, China, Israel and Arab countries, my interest in the bugs of a product named Zune or the WiFi on a bus headed to a Las Vegas Trade show just aren't that interesting anymore.
• Twitterville is traveling faster than I can write it. When I outline the book back in August, I did not think my research would bring me to ground-level views of terrorism and war. Nor did I realize at the outset, the fundamental change to democratic elections in the world. The story is getting bigger faster than I can write it--and if I don't watch out, it can become a never-ending ever expanding thing.
• At the heart of the matter, I am a journalist, but a new kind of journalist. Over the past few years I have anguished over my conflicting roles of consultant, speaker and writer. I am a writer first and foremost.
• As a new kind of journalist I want to give my readers a balanced point of view. But I want my readers to know where I am coming from. Then they can weigh all the facts on a given point and decide for themselves. But I will not be shilled. An example is my recent abundant coverage on Israel-Gaza. I side with Israel in a complex situation. I will write about this issue and about #Mumbai in Twitterville. I will invite Al Jazeera to be interviewed as well as the Israel Consulate who representative who held a news conference. But my story is not the war. It's Twitter role in the conversation about the war. That may prove difficult for me, but that is my role as I define it.
• I will not allow my place in Twitterville to be used to distribute hatred of "them." I don't care who "them" is. In the past few weeks, I've heard cries to kill or destroy Pakistanis, Israelis, Muslims and Arabs. I abhor all of that. I will not allow the new popularity of my Twitterville account to be abused by hate mongers and will be quick to blocks such people, perhaps without even a warning.
• I have a short fuse for personal insults and I do not intend to lengthen it. My Twitter account is my place and I want to have enjoyable, enlightening conversations. You are welcome to come and tell me you think I'm wrong, to barrage me with fact that refute my position. I'm likely to retweet them so others can consider your view. But if you come to tell me I'm absurd without reason or to shut up because you don't think I know what I'm talking about, I am more than likely going to block you.

Like I said, I may have written this one, to clarify my thinking in my own mind, but I am curious to hear what you think.

.

By now, you've probably seen that Sham Wow ad starring Vince Offer- a slick-talking spike-haired wiseguy in his 20's who raves about an overpriced rag.

I was joking around with my friends about Vince's condescending tone, New York accent. His pompous demeanor ,headset and rushed delivery imply that he has better things to do than waste his time talking you- the ignorant consumer.

My favorite Shamwow quotes from Vince:

'Are you following me camera guy?'

'You know the Germans are always going to make good stuff.'

'You're going to spend $20 a month on paper towels so you already throwing your money away.'

I think one reason the infomercial became memorable from the clutter of late-night ads is because of his tacky headset. It's totally irrelevant to the ad, but it's also one of the main items you remember. For some reason, those seemingly  trivial visual touches can make a lasting impression.

Don't believe me? Ask anyone from the Orlando area about Appliance Direct. For years,a lady in plaid dress and a knee brace has yelled "If you didn't buy direct, you paid too much!" at the end of every ad. The funny thing is- her knee brace has alternated between each leg. Obviously, she recovered from her initial injury years ago, but for some odd reason, the brace remained. "Lee the appliance lady" told tackyfabulousorlando blog, that the knee brace remains because it evoked a positive reaction from focus groups.

So what's my point? Whether its a knee brace or a headset, those simple visual tricks can distinguish a brand from the rest of the pack.

Llevo unos días buscando sentido a Coguan PostShare, no al hecho de que buscan bloggers, y sí al tema de los descuentos navideños en su oferta. Porque una vez que quiero entender el modelo de negocio sobre el que se sustenta PostShare, o como dar vida a las webs cuya publicidad llevas, menos le encuentro sentido (a esos precios y a lo que implican). Ojo que no voy a comentar sobre Coguan como marketplace publicitario, y eso que hay alguna cosa que me chirria bastante. ¿Qué no veo de PostShare? Lo mismo que les define:

¿Quieres incrementar el tráfico en tu página web? ¡Invierte en contenidos para atraer a usuarios a largo plazo!

Un precio a determinar, dependiendo de la calidad que se compre, lo que implica más cantidad de palabras… y que se estén entremezclando los términos blogs con websites. Vale, y digo yo, ¿qué tienen que ver las churras con las merinas?

Las respuestas vienen con más preguntas. Esto no consiste en darle a la máquina de churros y venga a crear contenido empaquetado. No es coger a alguien para que escriba un artículo y ya está, porque se supone que se debe firmar con un nombre (tema voz humana). Consiste en que esa persona continúe escribiendo, comentando, opinando sobre la conversación bidireccional que establece con la gente que le lee y entra a opinar sobre sus ideas. No es comprar, vender y me lavo las manos. La longitud del texto no implica que las entradas o el artículo con pocas palabras no sean buenos, ¿o es que no existen auténticas maravillas entre los 140 carácteres de twitter?

El vídeo que da encabezamiento a esta entrada tiene bastante que ver como réplica a PostShare. Si cuesta que los blogs corporativos generen confianza, centrándonos en ese medio, y se busca recapacitar cómo o por qué tener uno, la solución no es empaquetar un servicio y ya está, o dar con la tecla adecuada. Consiste en saber escuchar y en aprender a escuchar. Hablamos del banco de confianza de los clientes hacia el medio, de generación de comunidades, de dar unos pasos necesarios antes de participar (y en el vídeo lo repiten sin parar muchos de los expertos en medios sociales en USA), y sin los que no es posible entender que se hace, y en consecuencia avanzar.

Es olvidarse que el marketing está ardiendo. Cierto que aquí no se ha parado de hablar de la importancia del contenido, pero tu ventana en Internet no sólo debe resumirse a eso. Entendiendo que el punto de mira está puesto en los blogs corporativos, estas palabras de David Armano respecto a la fuerte carga de trabajo que requiere tener un blog viene bien resaltarlas:

Si estás empezando desde cero y tu cabeza se pregunta por qué tus iniciativas de Social Media no son el objeto brillante y reluciente que te vendieron - es hora de preguntarse que hay de cierto hasta aquí y que va más allá del Social Media todo junto. La realidad es que resulta arduo trabajar para producir algo de valor. Es realmente duro hacer algo que enganche a la gente a conversar (de una forma correcta), y no hay nada en la estrategia, ni horas de la misma, que pueda producir confianza. La confianza viene con el tiempo, la interacción y tiene que ser demostrada.

Claro que, visto el panorama en las redacciones de los medios tradicionales, juntando ambos intereses, no hay duda por donde van los tiros. Pero que no hablen de bloggers, y si lo hacen, que expliquen lo que entienden sobre la economía de los enlaces o la del boca a boca, por decir algo en voz alta. Es decir, volviendo a un término utilizado antes, no estamos ante una máquina de churros.

Este texto lo forman 622 palabras, más el vídeo. ¿Qué precio tendría este texto fuera de los contenidos y la conversación de este blog como ente independiente y a modo de encargo? A eso es a lo que me refiero.

Más información | The Buzz Bin
En eTc | La confianza en los blogs corporativos (I)
En eTc | La confianza en los blogs corporativos (y II)

Hay veces que nos preguntan que es eso de una agencia de Social Media Marketing, y qué diferencias existen entre ésta y una agencia tradicional de marketing o una agencia de marketing sin adjetivos. En este video, el director de la agencia Ignite Social Media, Jim Tobin, explica bien la diferencia. La conversación no se inicia poniendo un anuncio en una web o empleando una estrategia SEO que te posicione bien. Conlleva otras cosas, la primera, y más que saber escuchar, aprender a escuchar lo que tengan o estén diciendo o comentando sobre uno. A partir de ahí, ayudar a saber cómo emplear las diferentes herramientas sociales que tenemos bajo nuestras manos.

En suma, no sólo es tener claro si tu consultora de medios es social, ni siquiera hacerla las cosas. Es enseñarla donde puede cometer alguno de los 25 errores que se pueden cometer, como por ejemplo, pensar que el Social Media es sólo sobre crear contenidos, o creer que es el único terreno en el que pueden hacer algo la publicidad o las agencias de Relaciones Públicas, o limitar los medios sociales a aprender a usar las herramientas, en contraposición a tener conversaciones con las comunidades generadas.

En este camino se necesita la ayuda de alguien que quite el grano de la paja. O como dirian en el Cluetrain Manifesto:

“Los mercados son conversaciones; y la conversación es fuego. Por tanto, el marketing está ardiendo.”

Y todas esas 25 reglas no escritas son comentadas de manera muy divertida por Andrea Vascellari en este vídeo.

Vía | Jeremiah Owyang

In the wake of the Wall Street meltdown, corporate CEO's don't have the best reputation with the American public. I believe it's unfair to lump every CEO into one category, but the court of public opinion is heavily influenced by every news report of a CEO taking the easy way out of a dire situation with a "golden parachute" of compensation.

While many of us live from paycheck to paycheck, it’s infuriating to hear some of the outrageous figures CEOs are earning. That’s why Daniel Amos, the CEO of AFLAC, is being hailed as an exemplary leader. AFLAC's policies, including say on pay, portray Amos as an executive who is in touch with his workers, rather than the stereotypical, money-grabbing character we've become accustomed to visualizing.

 Last night, Amos was a guest on Mike Huckabee's weekly TV show on Fox News, and Amos explained why he didn't receive a $13 million dollar bonus. AFLAC uses a “Say on Pay program”, where AFLAC's investors vote on the figure they think the top five executives should earn. AFLAC's reasoning? If times are tough for their employees and investors, times should be tough for them as well. Amos told the USA Today he would refuse any “golden parachute” offer that bCEOs were receiving during the banking crisis last fall.

If they don't think I'm doing a good job, they don't have to worry about paying me off.

Amos' stance is more than a paradigm shift, it’s also a great strategy to bolster AFLAC's image. For all the personal income Amos lost from his possible bonus, he's virtually raised millions more in positive, free publicity from major news coverage.

 

David writes in to point out that banks are losing a fortune on foreclosures because many frustrated homeowners are trashing the houses before they leave. This dramatically diminishes the value of the home and leaves scars all around.

Why not, he wonders, offer the homeowners $1000 in cash if they leave the house in great condition?

I can hear the objections already. "What! Why should we pay people not to break the law!" After all, if you do it this time, if you bribe people to behave, then you'll have to do it every time...

Every time? How often, exactly, do you expect to evict a person?

It's very easy to set up policies and procedures designed to give people what they deserve, to set a standard, to teach a lesson, to make sure they understand who's boss. And I think that for parents, this is an excellent idea. Bribing your kid leads to spoiled kids who don't get it. But businesses aren't parents and customers aren't kids.

"I can't let you in, because you didn't follow the procedure, and even though you're never coming back here again, if I let you in now, without having followed the procedure, you'll think that you can ignore the procedure the next time you do business with someone else..." It sounds stupid when you say it that way because it is stupid.

You can extend this all the way to how you hire people. Is penalizing a 40 year old by not giving her a job a way to teach her a lesson about studying harder for the SAT when she was 17?

Instead of worrying so much about establishing good habits among transient customers, perhaps it's worth figuring out what works best for both sides and doing that instead.

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