2010 August | 60 Second Marketer

August 31st, 2010

20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand

A few years ago, I wrote a post on the 60 Second Marketer called “20 Questions to Help You Differentiate Your Brand.” It was based on a list I got from a good friend of mine named Alan Deeter, who now runs the Dangerous Kitchen brand consultancy.

With that in mind, here’s the list. It seems to be just as valuable today as it was a few years ago:

How are you differentiating your product or service? Use these questions to help you figure out the answer.

What are we at present?
What do we want to become in 2 to 5 years?
What is our greatest opportunity in the next 2 years?
Why is that such a great opportunity?
What would we need beyond our company’s current strengths/positioning/products to seize the opportunity described above?
What is our greatest threat?
Are these threats that we can control? If so, what should we do to control them?
What do we do better than anybody else?
When we win, why do we win?
How does our customer benefit from what we sell?
What are the top three reasons customers have bought our products or services?
What are the typical objections to a sale? In other words, when we don’t gain a new customer, what is the reason given?
What percentage of next year’s revenue is expected from new vs. existing customers?
Going forward, what are the essential attributes of our target customer? (Industry segment, size of organization/corporation, demographics, job position, motivators, internal and external influencers, buying habits, key message points, factors in buying decisions, associations, publications, trade shows.)
Who are our key competitors?
What type of work do we most enjoy?
Who is our competition targeting?
How do we wish to be viewed in relation to our competition?
What is the typical sales cycle?
What values, personality, and attitude do we want to project?

Are there any questions you’d add to the list? If so, let us know in the comments section below.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. To download a free chapter of Jamie’s new book, click “How to Make Money with Social Media.”

Category Branding | Comment 16 Comments »

August 29th, 2010

Free Online Social Media and Mobile Media Training

It’s time for another one of our fun and engaging Social Media Roundtable discussions.

As you know, on the first Thursday of every month, we host a live, interactive online training session where we provide tips and techniques to supercharge your social and mobile media campaigns.

The Social Media Roundtable is attended by people from around the globe.

This month, we’ll be covering a wide variety of topics including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook as well as some new tools on the mobile media front.

Here are the specifics:

When: Thursday, September 2nd at 1:00 pm ET (10:00 am in L.A., 6:00 pm in London)

Where: Online, via GoToMeeting

Why: Because you’re interested in staying up-to-date on all the latest and greatest social media tools

How much it costs: Zilch, zip, zero, nada.

C’mon in and join the fun. You can register by clicking Social Media Roundtable.

Category General Marketing | Comment 2 Comments »

August 24th, 2010

An Introduction to the Next Big Thing — Mobile Media

Michael C. Robinson, who helps run the Integrated Marketing Summit with Shawn Elledge, recently submitted a video blog to the 60 Second Marketer about mobile media.

In his video, Michael discusses location-based mobile applications such as Gowalla, Foursquare and Yelp. Michael’s 60-second video is definitely worth checking out. With that in mind, here’s an excerpt from “How to Make Money with Social Media” that will serve as an introduction to Michael’s video.

The six most common ways companies use mobile media to connect with prospects and customers:

SMS (Short Message Service): Neilsen estimates that SMS, usually referred to as texting, is the most common phone-based activity among U.S. cell phone users of all ages. That said, some people feel as though SMS for marketing purposes is equivalent of Mobile Media 1.0. Will Smart phone technology will soon overwhelm SMS as a marketing tool? Who knows. But for now, it’s still a viable mobile media tool for marketers.
Mobile Websites: The most sophisticated marketers have a sub-domain set up specifically for mobile phones. So, for example, when you type www.ESPN.com into your smart phone, the ESPN site actually figures out that you’re visiting the site from a mobile device and re-directs you to a sub-domain (e.g., www.m.ESPN.com). That way, your experience from a mobile phone is different from your experience at your computer.
Mobile Ads: Research indicates that mobile ads perform about five times better than internet ads. The most common mobile ads are simple text links and graphical banner and display ads. Banner and display ads are sold on a cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-acquisition (CPA) and a cost-per-thousand basis (CPM). CPC means you only get charged when someone clicks-through on your ad. It’s the same model that a paid search campaign on Google, Bing or Yahoo uses. CPA means you get charged each time you acquire a lead from your mobile media ad. CPA programs are great if you know how much a lead is worth to your company and what percentage of leads you can convert to a sale. And CPM means you get charged based on the number of times your ad is served up. Typical rates for a CPM program are about $6 to $20 per thousand times your ad is delivered to a mobile device.
Bluetooth Marketing: This is a form of on-demand mobile marketing that targets users based on precise geographical location. So, for example, if you’re standing within 100 feet of Joe’s Pizza, you might receive a free coupon, wallpaper, ringtone, video or audio file that prompts you to visit Joe’s and order a pizza. (Might we suggest a double pepperoni on thin crust?)
Smart phone Apps: The primary smart phone platforms include iPhone, Android, Palm and Blackberry. The best way to use apps for marketing is to create something that’s either functional (e.g., a calculator), entertaining (e.g., a game) or provides some sort of social connectedness (e.g., an app just for your community). Many applications are fee-based, but more and more companies are giving away Smart phone Apps as a way to stay connected with customers and prospects.
QR Codes: These are the two dimensional barcodes that can be found in print ads, in-store posters and even on the jacket cover of our book. They were initially used for tracking parts for vehicle manufacturers, but are now used in magazines, newspapers, signs and even T-shirts to send people to a web page, download an MP3, dial a telephone number or send an email message. Some people are even putting them on business cards so people can download contact information directly into their contact database.

Okay, now that that brief summary introduction to mobile media is behind us, let’s check out Michael’s 60-second video about Gowalla, Foursquare and Yelp, shall we?

Category General Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Media | Comment 3 Comments »

Tags: Mobile media mobile media best practices

August 23rd, 2010

What Is Foursquare? And How Can You Use It to Promote Your Business?

Kyle Wegner, who is one of the social media experts at BKV Digital and Direct Response, wrote a terrific post on BKV’s blog the other day. It outlined 43 different ways people can use Foursquare to promote their businesses.

What is Foursquare?

What is Foursquare? It's a powerful new social media tool you can use to promote your business.

In a nutshell, Foursquare is a mobile check-in service that allows regular customers to get points every time they visit their favorite restaurant, bar, coffee shop or whatever. The more points you get, the more likely you’ll be the recipient of special offers from that establishment.

If you’re really lucky, you’ll become Mayor of a particular business. That award is typically given to the person who “checks-in” most frequently.

To read more about what Foursquare is, check out BKV’s blog post called The Foursquare 411. Otherwise, here’s Kyle’s post on the 43 ways you can use Foursquare to promote your business:

First, set it all up:

1. Search for your business on Foursquare.com.
2. If it isn’t there, add it using this link.
3. After you’ve found or added your business, claim your business by hitting the link on your listing that looks like this:

4. Also, make sure to link your Twitter account to your listing.

The claiming process is fairly simple. Once that is done, it’s time to start using Foursquare to help promote your business!

Deals, deals and more deals:

5. Reward first time visitors. Give users a percentage or dollar amount off their bill the first time they check in.
6. Or a free upgrade!
7. Replace your loyalty card – give discounts or rewards every 5 or 10 times someone visits your business. 8. Reward the mayor. Give them a freebie or discount.
9. Or call them out, putting their name up on the wall and thanking them for being the mayor!
10. Create deals around big events. Give a free drink for anyone checking in after the big game, or a % off during a conference.
11. Have evergreen specials, like 10% off for anyone who checks in on Foursquare. Remember, a check in is free publicity.
12. Change deals often. Keep users coming back for different specials by swapping them out.
13. Cross promote your properties that are in close proximity. If users check in at one, present a deal for the other part of your business next door.
14. Make deals “limited time only.” Give a sense of urgency to persuade users to come now instead of later.
15. Stave off seasonality or weekly trends. Have a part of your business that struggles on Tuesdays? Promote that part in the deal.
16. Highlight existing deals. Just because you don’t have any Foursquare exclusives doesn’t mean that users won’t want to know about other deals.
17. Promote group check ins. Make deals progressively better (10, 20, 30% off etc) the more people in your group check in.
18. Accept competitor deals. What better deal is there than “We accept all competitor coupons.”?
19. Bring them back with a “next time” coupon on check in. Give a coupon redeemable on the next visit, ensuring the customers will visit you again.
20. Use “2 for 1″ deals that require both parties to check in. Double the promotion for half the work!
21. Interact with your customers. Make them accomplish a small task (build an origami figure out of a napkin, high five the sales person, say a “passphrase”) to redeem the Foursquare special.
22. Give deals to users who leave behind Foursquare tips. You can regulate this by saying “the first X people to leave a tip get a free shirt!”

Deals will show up in the “deals nearby” section on iPhones, meaning your business will stand out above the rest.

Create events:

23. Host a swarm party. The Swarm badge can only be achieved if 50+ users check in at the same place, so help organize that event at your business for local users.
24. Better yet, host a Super Swarm Party! This badge takes 250+ people checking in at the same venue at the same time. These are rare events and have been great ways for businesses to bring in new business.
25. Create temporary venues. Speaking at an event? Have a booth at a conference? Users can check in anywhere on Foursquare, so create locations for these temporary venues.

26. Promote grand openings. Give away freebies or deals for the first X people who check in on opening day – build buzz for your brand new location and create loyal customers at the same time!

Create custom badges:

27. Have more than one location? Give users who check in multiple places a specially branded badge!
28. Create event-based badges, like a badge that can only be earned when checking in during an industry conference.
29. Create a badge that you can only get if you check in to your venue a certain number of times. Apple has a “Jobs” badge for triple-checkins.

Custom badges have to be created by Foursquare, so you’ll need to contact them and form a partnership at this point. Lots of companies have done so though, so Foursquare is more than open to adding new badges.

Join in the fun:

30. Create an account and start checking in. People will notice when they keep checking in the same places as you.
31. Connect with your customers. Follow them on Foursquare, but make sure to let them know why they should follow you back (which is discussed in the next section).
32. Shout! If you’ve gathered a number of followers and know of some interesting news or of fun happenings in your local area, shout the information to your followers.
33. Monitor on Twitter. Many users automatically post their check ins to Twitter. Thank those customers for coming in and invite them back with an exclusive Twitter deal!
34. Get to know your mayor. This doesn’t only apply to within Foursquare, but make sure you know who your mayor is (they will be redeeming mayor deals, so this should be easy). You should always know your best customers

35. However, don’t BE the mayor. Since you work there, you will have the easiest time being the mayor of your business. This takes away the fun of checking in and means you will never be able to award mayor deals to an actual loyal customer.

Get local, give tips:

36. Give tips in your area to get more followers. Businesses like the Huffington Post and IFC provide local tips and recommendations to their followers on a regular basis.
37. Create a scavenger hunt around your local area, leading users through or to your local business.

38. Monitor for duplicate or incorrect information. This can apply to your business or any of those around you. A clean list of businesses, without duplicates or incorrect listings, makes it easier for customers to find your correct listing.

Promote your presence:

39. Put up Foursquare signage reminding customers to check in. Include your deals to incentivize it even more!
40. Also include your Foursquare username so customers can connect with you. Explain why they should follow you as well (local tips/deals, local expertise).
41. Get your business in the “Trending Now” section. Businesses that have multiple people check in within a small period of time are highlighted at the top of the Places list, so coordinate check ins if you can.
42. Connect with local Foursquare deal aggregators and enthusiasts. In Atlanta there is a Twitter account @4sqATL (website at http://4sqatl.com) that covers local deals and specials. I bet there is one in your area too.
43. Cross promote from other social media platforms. Remind your Twitter followers or Facebook fans of your Foursquare deals.

While this is a fairly long list, there are plenty of other ideas out there. Have you seen any cool Foursquare promotions in your area? Have any ideas? Leave them in the comments! We’ll update this post over time to include your suggestions so we have the most extensive list of ways businesses can use Foursquare.

Kyle Wegner is the SEO & Emerging Media Manager at BKV. He also podcasts at The Business of Tech and you can find him on Twitter @kwegner and on Google Buzz.

Foursquare, Social Media | 6 Comments »

Tags: Foursquare social media marketing tool How to use Foursquare for business What is Foursquare?

August 19th, 2010

Fox News vs. CNN: The Ratings War

Allow me to come clean on something before you get too deep into this post. I have a vested interest in the success of CNN. Not only is CNN based in my home town (Atlanta), but many years ago, I developed the “trust” marketing strategy for CNN International that was eventually picked up by the rest of CNN and used for more than a decade.

So I like CNN.

Furthermore, I agree with Jon Stewart who consistently comes down on Fox News for positioning themselves as “fair and balanced.” I mean, c’mon. Calling Fox News “fair and balanced” is the equivalent of calling Pizza Hut an “Italian restaurant.” (Right wingers can send the irate emails to Jamie.Turner@60SecondMarketer.com.)

All that said, Fox News consistently beats CNN in the ratings. For several years, they’ve beat them and it doesn’t look as though there’s any end in sight.

Why is this so? What is Fox News doing to keep CNN in second place?

People a lot smarter than I am will have dozens of perfectly valid reasons why Fox beats CNN in the ratings war. Their analysis will range from the idea that Fox provides better content to the idea that the country is getting more conservative and that Fox News benefits as a result.

They may be right. But I think those experts are overlooking a very simple and fundamental reason for Fox’s success.

It’s no more complex than this — people like to watch good-looking people, no matter what that person is saying.

For proof of this, check out the anchors and reporters on Fox News and compare them to those on CNN.

I’m not asking you to compare their talent, or their resume, or their experience. I’m just asking you to compare their looks.

Research shows that humans like to look at attractive people.

It’s why movies stars are innately attractive. It’s why the “ordinary” people on Survivor don’t look so ordinary. And it’s why MTV plays more Jewell videos than Bare Naked Ladies videos.

This isn’t sexist. It’s just a fact. Humans are humans. And until CNN understands that fundamental premise, they’re going to continue getting their butts kicked by Fox News.

Go home tonight and turn down the volume on your TV. Then flip between the two channels. Without the sound on, decide for yourself which program you’d rather watch.

If you’re like most human beings, you’ll gravitate to Fox News. Not because of what they’re saying. Not because of how they frame stories. But because Fox News taps into a fundamental human instinct which is that people like to look at attractive people.

That’s my point-of-view on this matter. It’s entirely possible that I’m wrong. But I don’t think so.

(Final Note: Despite the fact that my last name is Turner, I have been unable to find any direct link between Ted Turner and myself. If any genealogists can find a link, let me know. I’ll split the resulting goodies with you.)

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer and author of “How to Make Money with Social Media.”

Category General Marketing | Comment 15 Comments »

Tags: CNN ratings CNN vs. Fox Fox News ratings Fox News vs. CNN

August 18th, 2010

Why Social Media Fails by David Henderson

My friend David Henderson wrote a nice post about social media on his blog today. It reminded me of one of my posts called “Why Your First Social Media Campaign May Have Failed” only David’s post adds a new perspective to the story.

David is a former CBS Newsman who has a some great insights on social media, journalism and modern media. He agreed to let us let us share his blog post with the 60 Second Marketer community.

Here goes:

Social media is all the rage among companies and organizations. But when you stop to examine the return on investment and effectiveness of many social media efforts, it’s often embarrassingly ineffective and trivial at the expense of more important potential ways to communicate to key audiences.

It’s one thing to have Twitter and Facebook accounts; it’s quite another to really know how to use them … and the spectrum of other social media tools … to achieve results.

Is social media right for your company? Maybe yes. Maybe no.

Online social media works best when an organization invests the effort in developing a comprehensive and focused communications strategy. Consistent and effective messages that connect with an organization’s audiences requires the work of skilled, accomplished people who know the online and communications environments.

Postings on Twitter and Facebook are largely meaningless when they lack value and meaning for audiences. Most so-called social media “gurus” I’ve met are amateurs and lack authentic, established skills or accomplishments.

Effective social media that creates valuable results for companies and organizations is not the purview for beginners who have no track record.

This digital era – as I have written in “Making News in the Digital Era,” my latest book – is unquestionably the most exciting period of my career as a journalist and strategic communication adviser. But as an early adapter of online and blog technology, I believe it’s only going to work for us on a sustained basis when we stop long enough to embrace the core elements of effective strategic communication to drive any social media or online communications initiatives.

Strategic planning, storytelling and clear messages have always worked to point us forward. They will do so in the digital era, too. Today’s online social media is just another in a long line of tactical communication delivery tools that stretches back to storytelling around the tribal fire, epic poems, books, postal mail, the fax machine and e-mail. In fact, think back to when e-mail first hit the big time. Pundits predicted world-shaking possibilities. Nobody predicted spam.

Brooke Gladstone of the “On the Media” program on National Public Radio says, “Journalists are taught to talk and write in human terms. Tell me a story.” It’s been that way forever, and it’s no different in countries, cultures and communities around the world.

We share an infinite variety of stories about the human experience, and often the best stories are repeated over and over. Storytelling is an opportunity that’s often missed by a PR and communications players who seemingly obsessed with traditional press releases, a perceived easiness of social media and predictable promotions.

Storytelling cuts through competitive clutter far more effectively and with greater influence than anything else in an organization’s marketing or PR arsenal. It gets to the heart of what’s special about your organization and what you have to say.

My colleague Anne Bell at PBS NewsHour says it best: “A great story has legs that in today’s world can travel many miles per hour.” Anne is correct. Consider how a great story can sprint the globe today in a nanosecond.

We are living in a world where new and not-so-new tools collide, merge and morph, all with the intent to better connect with audiences. To do that, we must use all these advanced technologies to do something ancient: tell stories that people want to hear and will be motivated to share.

David Henderson is a writer, brand journalist, media strategist and Emmy Award winning former CBS Newsman.

General Marketing, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Tags: how to use social media Social Media

August 18th, 2010

What Did Thermos, Yo-Yo, Hoover and Pilates Learn About Trademark Law That You Should Know, Too? Find Out Here.

If you’re a marketing professional or a business owner, eventually you’re going to come across the issue of trademark or copyright usage. Your questions might range from “What is a trademark?” to “What should a trademark do for my business?”

Those are good questions. And they were answered recently in a presentation I saw recently by John Harris, a trademark attorney who works with Morris, Manning & Martin.

One of the things I learned during the presentation was that Thermos, Aspirin and Escalator were once brand terms that lost their trademark because they didn’t actively protect them. (I learned later that Yo-Yo, Hoover in the U.K., and Pilates are brands that also lost their trademark.)

At one point, Yo-Yo was a brand term, but they lost their trademark because they didn't protect it. What are you doing to protect your trademarks?

With that in mind, I took a few notes during John’s presentation. Here are the answers to some of the more common questions you might have about trademark law.

What is a trademark?

A trademark is used to identify physical commodities which may be natural or manufactured or produced, and which are sold or otherwise transported or distributed.

What are some examples of trademarks?

Some of the more familiar trademarks include Coca-Cola, IBM, the Home Depot and Microsoft.

A composite mark is the combination of the word and a design. So, for example, the stylized representation of Coca-Cola is a composite mark. So is the orange Home Depot logo. Or the AT&T logo with the blue globe.

Sometimes, just a logo can be considered a trademark. The NBC Peacock, the Nike swoosh and the Golden Arches are logos that are registered trademarks.

Tag lines are also considered trademarks. “I’m Lovin It,” “What’s in Your Wallet,” and “So Easy a Caveman Can Do It” are tag lines that are registered trademarks.

Surprisingly, colors can also be trademarks. Pink for Owens Corning, Brown from UPS or Green for John Deere are all color trademarks. (It’s important to note that it takes a concerted effort and a good amount of time to make a color a trademark, but it is possible.)

What is a service mark?

It’s used to identify services – that is, intangible activities which are performed by one person or company for the benefit of another person or company.

What should a trademark do?

It should distinguish goods/services from competitors. It should serve as a guarantee of consistent quality, whether high, medium or low. It should help advertise and sell your products and services. And it should serve as the legal basis for rights, ownership, and branding.

What are some of the most valuable brands/trademarks today?

The value of a brand/trademark can be roughly calculated by taking the market value of a company and subtracting its hard assets.

Using that calculation, Google is worth $100 billion, Microsoft is worth $76 billion, Coca-Cola is worth $67 billion and McDonald’s is worth $66 billion. It takes years of work to build up a brand’s value, but as you can see, the investment is often worth it.

What are some desirable trademark characteristics?

Here’s a quick list of some of the things you should look for in a good trademark – it should be easy to remember, easy to read and pronounce, easily adaptable to any media, have no unpleasant connotations, be suitable to export and lend itself to pictorialization.

If you have more questions about trademarks or copyright law, please feel free to reach out to John Harris. He’s a wealth of information and a specialist in his field.

General Marketing, Trademark | No Comments »

Tags: Hoover brand how to protect yourself from trademark lawsuits Pilates brand Thermos brand trademark law what is a service mark? What is a trademark? Yo-Yo brand

August 17th, 2010

McDonald’s Marketing Case Study: The Happy Meal

Are you interested in re-visiting a McDonald’s marketing case study to see if you can apply their techniques to your business?

By far, one of the most popular videos on the 60 Second Marketer YouTube channel is about how McDonald’s invented the Happy Meal to attract kids and their parents. If you’re interested in learning more about this classic marketing success story, this video is worth checking out.

But first, I’d like to share a though with you about McDonald’s. I know it’s very popular to come down hard on fast food chains for all the unhealthy food they’re serving. Some of the criticism is warranted.

But if you’ve been to a McDonald’s lately, you’ll notice a lot of positive changes. Oh, sure, they still have the Big Mac and the Quarter Pounder, but they also recently introduced fruit smoothies, side salads instead of fries, sliced apples, smaller meals (e.g., chicken wraps) and a whole bunch of other innovations.

Is McDonald’s perfect? No, and they’d be the first to let you know that. But are they trying their best to provide healthy, innovative meal options for Americans of all stripes? Yup. And that’s not such a bad thing.

Okay, all that said, here’s one of the top 10 videos on the 60 Second Marketer YouTube channel. Check it out and see how you can use McDonald’s marketing techniques for your own business.

Category General Marketing, Marketing Best Practices, Marketing Techniques, McDonald's | Comment No Comments »

Tags: Marketing Best Practices Marketing case studies McDonald's marketing McDonald's marketing case study McDonald's marketing techniques

August 12th, 2010

The 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Marketers

Not too long ago, a friend of mine named Ken Robbins who runs Response Mine Interactive told me there are only three things people are interested in paying money for — Love, Weight Loss and Getting Rich.

He was simplifying things a bit. After all, Ken’s company sells plenty of things that don’t have to do with love, weight loss or getting rich. But his point was a good one — that humans function in very basic, very instinctive ways. And if you, as a marketer, can tap into those instincts, you can make a lot of money.

"Love" is one of the 13 most important emotional triggers for marketers. Do you know what the other 12 are?

How can you tap into human instincts and make a lot of money?

It’s simple, really.

Actually, it’s not all that simple. But it’s not that hard, either.

The starting point is to understand what motivates people. And when you come right down to it, there aren’t all that many emotional triggers for humans.

Here’s a list of the 13 most important emotional triggers for humans. If you can wrap your product or service around one (or more) of these, you’ll have unlocked the secret to successful marketing.

Here goes:

•   Sex
•   Greed
•   Flattery
•   Fear
•   Self-improvement
•   Love
•   Better health
•   Weight loss
•   Longevity
•   Exclusivity
•   Fame
•   Uncertainty
•   Doubt

Putting the 13 Emotional Triggers to Use

How can you use these for your own marketing purposes? Here are a few headlines I’ve written around each one, in order.
•   Sex: “The secret to better and more frequent sex”
•   Greed: “How to make millions on the internet and retire wealthy”
•   Flattery: “Why people with blue eyes attract more attention from the opposite sex”
•   Fear: “1 out of 4 homes will be the victim of a burglary this year”
•   Self-improvement: “How you can get twice as much reading done in half as much time”
•   Love: “What the Eskimos know about love that you should know, too”
•   Better health: “How 3 simple ingredients in your home can help strengthen your heart”
•   Weight loss: “The secret to weight loss may be staring you right in the face”
•   Longevity: “7 secrets the French know that can help you live 20 years longer”
•   Exclusivity: “The fine wine for people who don’t have to ask ‘how much?’”
•   Fame: “How Julia Roberts got famous. And how you can get famous, too”
•   Uncertainty: “Why risk Lasik surgery on someone who is offering cut-rate prices?”
•   Doubt: “Would you want your children to drive in a car with unsafe brakes?”

The key with all of these is to pick one or two of them and wrap your product’s marketing program around them. That way, you can tap into basic human emotions to help drive your sales and revenue.

I hope you enjoyed this post and will come back for the third installment of our series tomorrow.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and in-demand keynote speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.

Category Advertising, Branding | Comment 5 Comments »

Tags: best practices for writing ads Copywriting tips emotion in marketing how to write ads

August 11th, 2010

The 14 Most Powerful and Effective Words in Marketing.

In Go Mobile, the book I’ve written with Jeanne Hopkins from HubSpot, we review a list of the 14 most powerful words in marketing so that readers can use them in their mobile marketing campaigns. This post gives you a sneak peak at the list that’s included in the book. Enjoy.

Have you ever bought a product that you didn’t really need? You know the kind — they’re often found in the aisle displays at Lowe’s, WalMart or Barnes & Noble. You grab it off the shelf, pay for it, then get home and say, “Why did I just buy something I didn’t really need?”

What are the most powerful and effective words in marketing? Interestingly, "sale" isn't one of them.

Or, you may have been told about a deadline to buy concert tickets, join a health club or even buy a car for 0% interest. The sheer power of the deadline or the false sense of scarcity get you to pull out your wallet to buy the tickets, join the club or drive off in the new car.

What’s up with that? Why does our brain buy stuff that we don’t really need? What powerful triggers are being used to get us to do that?

This week, I’ll be posting blogs on this very topic. Partly because how the brain works is very interesting to a lot of people, and partly because, as a marketer, you should know how to use these trigger points to increase demand for your product or service.

Below, you’ll find the 14 most powerful and effective words in marketing. I first came across these in a book called 2,239 Tested Secrets for Direct Marketing Success (affiliate link). These are the 14 words that direct marketing agencies (like BKV, who sponsors the 60 Second Marketer) have known about for years. They’re based on decades of A/B split tests that have proven which words get people to buy stuff and which words don’t get people to buy stuff.

I’ll cover this entire topic in depth when I speak at the SXSW conference. With that in mind, here are the 14 most powerful and effective words in marketing:

Free
Now
You
Save
Money
Easy
Guarantee
Health
Results
New
Love
Discovery
Proven
Safety

After decades of testing, these words have proven to be the ones that are the most persuasive at encouraging people to choose Brand A over Brand B.

What do all these words have in common? Each and every one of them taps into an emotional trigger that originates from Sub-Cortical and Limbic areas of the brain. These areas are more commonly known as the “Lizard Brain” where our deepest and most instinctive impulses originate. (We’ll be talking about the Lizard Brain in a post scheduled for later this week.)

In addition, these words tap into the 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Consumers, which is what we’ll be talking about in tomorrow’s post.

How should you use these words in your marketing campaigns?

For starters, I’d encourage you to do an A/B split test with a paid search, direct mail or email marketing campaign. Use words like Free, New and Proven in one of your ads, and don’t use them in the other one. Then compare the results and you’ll see how much more revenue you generated from Version A vs. Version B. Will there be a huge difference? That depends on your product or service. But I can guarantee there will be a difference.

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow where I’ll be writing about the 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Consumers. That’s going to be a fun post to write and to read.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile.” He is also a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.

Category Direct Marketing, Direct Response, General Marketing | Comment 25 Comments »

Tags: how to improve the results of my ad Marketing Best Practices most effective words in an ad Most effective words in marketing

August 10th, 2010

Insider Tips on Using Twitter for Business

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably trying to figure out how to unlock the power of Twitter to grow your sales and revenue. After all, since it’s one of the better known social media tools, many of your customers and prospects will be using it to connect with their favorite brands. Shouldn’t you be in that game, too?

The first step is to understand how Twitter is being used by businesses. Here are 5 ways companies are currently using Twitter to connect with customers:

To put a face behind the brand. Research indicates that consumers like to buy products from people rather than corporations. Twitter can help you personalize your brand. It works for Martha Stewart. It can work for you, too.
To create a dialogue with your customer base. A lot of companies use Twitter as a way to talk with their customers and prospects. In fact, just today, I asked my Twitter followers for ideas on a blog post I’m writing called “People don’t buy products, they buy experiences.” I got some good ideas from @GinaO0131. Thanks!
For customer service. Comcast was the first company I know of that understood the power of Twitter for customer service. They go to Search.Twitter.com to scan the Twittersphere for disgruntled customers who may need extra help. Brilliant.
To drive traffic to an eCommerce site. Of course, Dell has done a wonderful job using Twitter to drive prospects to their website. They have 1.5 million followers and, by my rough guesstimate, they generate about $20,000 every time they Tweet a special offer to customers.
To generate B2B leads. A lot of B2B companies use Twitter to drive people to blog posts, white papers or eNewsletter sign up pages. That’s how BKV uses Twitter. And it’s how you should use it, too!

Those are the primary ways businesses are using Twitter to grow their sales and revenues. Are you interested in getting a few more tips? Then check out the 60 Second Video below. It outlines 5 extra tips on how you can use Twitter for your business.

5 Additional Tips on Using Twitter for Business:

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer for the 60 Second Marketer, BKV’s online magazine for marketers.

General Marketing, Social Media, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Tags: tips on using twitter twitter for small business Twitter tips

August 9th, 2010

The 10 Most Common Paid Search Mistakes

Paid search is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your website and leads to your business. Oh, sure, the days of being able to print money using paid search are over, but it’s still a useful tool that all marketers should be aware of.

Given all that, I thought it might be a good idea to re-visit one of our previously-posted articles about paid search. This one is called “10 Most Common Paid Search Mistakes.”

Mistake #1 – Not stealing from your competitors: Some paid search programs and software offer the ability to track what your competitors are doing online; what keywords, where they bid, when they bid, etc. Why not learn from their mistakes? With this approach, you should be able to circumvent a lot of the guesswork and gain on your competitors with efficient bidding, even on a small budget.

What are the 10 most common mistakes in paid search? Read this post and you'll know them all.

Mistake #2 — Too many keywords per ad: Adding too many keywords to one ad group often leaves you with irrelevant keywords generating impressions for the ad. First, these non-targeted impressions will decrease your quality score because your click-through rate will likely decrease. Second, these irrelevant keywords will cost you extra money.

Mistake #3 — Focusing on budget instead of ROI: Focusing on what you’re spending instead of what you’re getting in return leads to inefficient bidding and a campaign that does not maximize the benefits that paid search offers. Instead, manage paid search on a day-to-day basis, adjusting your bids and keywords in order to capitalize on the return on your investment.

Mistake #4 – Ego Bidding: This mistake usually results from emotional attachment to a certain keyword or campaign on the part of the bidder. In most cases, the bidder simply wants the satisfaction of running a search and seeing his/her keyword in a top position. Sometimes, they want to rank a phrase using internal language, which is irrelevant to most searchers. This mistake can easily result in inefficient spending of the budget, and can often deplete your daily budget before dinner or even lunch.

Mistake #5 — Forgetting to think negatively: A common mistake in the campaign planning process is not thoroughly researching negative keywords. Positive keywords will drive traffic to your site, but negative keywords will filter out the traffic that you don’t want. For example, if you are selling Nike sneakers, and you are bidding on the general phrase “sneakers,” you would want to negative keyword “Reebok” or any other brands competing with Nike. This negative keyword will ensure that anyone searching “Reebok sneakers” is not directed to your ad simply because they typed in sneakers.

Mistake #6 — Poor or no landing page at all: Many newcomers to paid search don’t understand the impact of your landing page on your quality score. If your ad links to a page with irrelevant information, this will damage your quality score, causing you to pay more for clicks and appear lower in searches. This correlation is why linking all ads to your home page is such a bad idea. Creating specific and highly relevant landing pages will improve the effectiveness of your campaign.

Mistake #7 — Poor ad copy: While this mistake should be obvious, there are a few simple rules to follow that will keep your ad copy fresh and click-friendly. First of all, include the keyword pointing to the ad in your ad copy. Most engines will highlight the keyword if you include it, which improves the visibility of your ad. Second, clearly state the offer and use action words in your copy. If you’re going up against competition directly, make sure your offer at least sounds better than theirs. If they are offering a lower price, for example, use a percentage number or other differentiating statistic to improve how your offer reads.

Mistake #8 — Focusing only on “big” keywords and not the long tail: These long tail keywords are generally less competitive and less expensive. Additionally, their clicks skew towards searchers that are farther along in the buying process, because they are searching for a specific term, such as a model number like “Blackberry.” According to some recent studies, 28% of terms searched had never been searched before. This statistic speaks to the opportunities available in long-tail keywords.

Mistake #9 — Not pairing SEO with paid search: If you’re not leveraging both, you’re missing out. There is so much commonality in the research that if you are doing one, you might as well do the other. Not to mention that doing both ensures that if something goes wrong, such as the algorithm changing or your paid search budget running out, you are still alive in the other part of search.

Mistake #10 — Bidding on brand terms only: Bidding on non-brand terms is what brings you new customers. If someone is searching for a term with your brand name in it, they are already familiar with your brand and potentially your exact product. While you must cater to these people as well and complete sales, it is important to remember to seek new customers. The beauty of the internet is its broad reach, and if you do not bid on non-brand terms, you are not taking advantage of this reach to its full extent.

Remember, even with a small budget, you can compete with big competitors. Provide the right clues for your prospective customers to be able to find you.

The 60 Second Marketer is the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response.

General Marketing, Paid Search | 1 Comment »

Tags: can I lose money on paid search? mistakes in paid search mistakes on paid search mistakes to avoid on paid search Most common mistakes in paid search what not to do in paid search

August 6th, 2010

Free Weekly Marketing Tips from the 60 Second Marketer

A lot of the folks who stop by our blog may not realize that we have a free weekly eNewsletter that includes tips that aren’t discussed in the blog. These tips are typically quick, short ideas that you can use to grow your sales and revenues.

Interested in getting insider marketing tips not available on the 60 Second Marketer blog? Click here to sign up for our free weekly eNewsletter with additional tools, tips and techniques for marketers.

For example, here’s the eNewsletter content from today’s blast that went out to thousands of subscribers across the globe:

“A few weeks ago, I talked about how A-1 Steak Sauce allegedly changed a minor line of copy on their labels and grew their sales significantly.

What did A-1 change? They put “Refrigerate After Opening” on the label.

Why did that grow sales? Because for every one time people open their pantry, they open their refrigerator eight times. As a result, they were in front of hungry consumers 8 times more frequently than before they changed the label.

It’s a great example of how paying attention to small details can sometimes make big changes in your marketing program.

(Special thanks to Alex Van Winkle for sharing the A-1 story with me a few years ago.)

Don’t try to change behavior. Preach to the converted. It’s easier to sell worms to a fisherman than it is to sell aspirin to a fisherman.
Study your sales data. All the qualitative and quantitative research in the world won’t teach you as much as sales data.
There are only 4 reasons people don’t buy your product. The four reasons are: I don’t need this, I don’t have time for this, I don’t have money for this, or I don’t trust you. That’s all. Just 4 reasons.
The subject of any good campaign isn’t the product or service. The subject is you, the consumer. Anyone who ignores this maxim is doomed.
People buy from faces more readily than they buy from corporations. Just ask Martha Stewart. Or Betty Crocker. Or Aunt Jemima.
Write copy as though you’re writing to one person. It changes the tone from one of selling to one of friendship.
Think backwards. Get inside the mind of your consumer. What’s their pain point? What problem is your product actually solving? (Special thanks to Jerry Brown who taught me that trick.)
It takes hard writing to make easy reading. First said by Robert Louis Stevenson. I wish I had more time to craft my blog posts and emails. I don’t. So please forgive me, Mr. Stevenson.”

If these tips are the kind of thing you think you’d be interested in receiving, the I’d encourage you to subscribe to our weekly eNewsletter. It’s a great way to stay up-to-speed on the latest and greatest techniques in marketing.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer, the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response.

Category General Marketing | Comment 5 Comments »

Tags: Marketing Best Practices Marketing newsletter Marketing tips sign up for marketing newsletter where can I find a marketing newsletter? where can I get marketing tips?

August 5th, 2010

8 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Dive Into Social Media

Every so often, I’ll post an excerpt from “How to Make Money with Social Media,” the book I’ve written with Dr. Reshma Shah from Emory University.

We’re in the final stages of proofreading the book right now. (It’ll be published by the Financial Times Press in early October.)

Here’s an excerpt I just came across tonight that I thought you might find useful.

Enjoy.

“When you’re thinking about how you can use social media to connect with your customers and, ultimately, make money, ask yourself these key questions:

This guy looks kind of skeptical. That's what you should look like when you ask yourself if social media is right for you. The only difference is that you're much better looking than this guy is.

Will the beneﬁts of engaging in social media marketing outweigh the risks?
Are there any risks if you do participate?
Does your industry, product, or brand have a unique characteristic that may make social media more or less critical and relevant?
Can you use social media marketing to inﬂuence key stakeholders in the intended manner?
Do you know which platforms will resonate best with your stakeholders, and can you motivate them to participate?
Does your organization have the necessary capabilities—including resources and processes—to achieve your desired brand positioning through social media?
Do you have a way to integrate social media into your current marketing communications strategy?
Do you have a set of metrics that will help you understand whether the return from social media was worth the investment?”

Are there any questions we missed? What would you add to the list? Do tell.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer, the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine for BKV Digital and Direct Response.

General Marketing, Social Media | 7 Comments »

Tags: is social media right for my business? Social media best practices who should use social media?

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