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Why Your Definition of Spam Doesn't Matter: A Lesson in Social Media Marketing
August 06, 2009
What is spam?
It doesn't matter. Definitions or legal views of what constitutes spam don't matter. Your personal interpretation of spam doesn't matter. What does matter is people's reaction to your marketing activities. Because the moment someone calls your marketing 'spam' it becomes spam.
Can the Spam to Spare the Ham
Your email campaign or brilliant Twitter strategy may be legal, legitimate marketing efforts with every opt-in box ticked, but if people start shouting 'spam!' then you've got a problem. Even if you can rightly argue that you're on the right side of spam laws, you shouldn't waste your breath. Apologise, stop the campaign and come back with something less offensive.
An Example
A Brighton-based business recently discovered how this principle works in reality. They were using Twitter to push a new web directory, when people starting crying 'spam!'. The company argued that they were using Twitter reasonably to promote their directory. No, argued many in the local Twitter community, they were abusing Twitter and generating spam. Enough people flagged them as spam and within days their account was suspended. A brilliant social media campaign? No, it was a disaster. They managed to alienate the very people they should have been trying to woo.
The Lesson?
Listen to your audience. If you hear even a whisper of 'spam' then be wary. Be prepared to change your approach in the face of criticism. And don't bother arguing the definition of spam. If someone feels that you're spamming them then you are. So stop.
The Art of Sales
August 05, 2009
The art of selling can be looked at in two ways. Either it’s persuading someone to buy something that they neither need nor want – “selling coal to Newcastle” – or it’s about discovering customer needs and finding the most appropriate way to meet them. Newcastle no longer mines any coal and frankly, the ram-it-down-your-throat sales approach is about as up-to-date as the expression. That said Newcastle in Australia, named after the UK one, is actually the biggest coal exporter in the world.
In contrast to the US, the UK doesn’t see sales as a profession, and popular culture places all sales people into the cowboy pen. This can be seen from the euphemisms used for sales roles here in the UK. Sales people are called account managers, business development executives, consultants, customer service representatives - anything except sales.
In fact, if a prospect ever tells someone they are good at sales, it probably means they’re not. People need to feel that they have a choice in order to buy. If they feel pressured, they react badly.
Selling the right thing means fewer returns. It also means happy customers who buy again, and tell their friends. Alternatively, selling the wrong thing gums up your phone lines with complaints, increases your cost of doing business, and leads to you being denounced on social networks right across the internet.
I don’t know how many people have consciences, and how much they apply them to business. Whatever the answer, it’s good to know that honest sales lead to better profits, even while letting you sleep at night.
Online Advertising Regulation - Pulling Together?
August 04, 2009
I'm not sure if anyone has really noticed, but recently a fairly important document was published over in the good 'ol US of A. The document, imaginatively titled "Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising" is, I believe, the last ditch attempt by the industry to avoid the hard line of US government regulation on the online advertising industry.
This document was compiled by a major trade group made up of execs from Google, Yahoo, Facebook and others. The objective would appear to be to appease Washington and consumer groups who believe we are being tracked too closely online.
Having read through the fairly lightweight 55 page document I have to say its fairly open to interpretation. The proposed self-regulation seems to focus on data collection between the numerous online ad networks. But though this would be a move in a positive direction, it is implying the ad networks will agree to work together.
In practice however, this is a seismic shift away from the real world. Both Google and Facebook jealously guard their (or our) data. For this to be adopted and for the ad networks to avoid Washington's red tape there will be some very interesting developments in online advertising in the next few years.
Personally I feel if this self-regulation is adopted, including a stringent set of opt-out policies, it's going to be a step in the right direction, but it remains to be seen how big these steps will be.
You can read the document here (warning pdf), and if you're in online advertising it might be a good idea.
Outdoor Advertising: A Dying Medium? Definitely not.
July 31, 2009
Recent articles in the media and marketing trade press, are hotly debating the question of whether outdoor advertising has had its day.
For the record, we say the answer's 'no'; but I wanted to explain why we know this is the case. A quiet revolution is going on in out-of-home advertising. Small businesses are really starting to tune in to the medium's benefits, and we are seeing ever-increasing numbers – around 250 per week, in fact - signing up to Signposter.com to run out-of-home campaigns in their local area.
I believe that if small businesses are prepared to invest hard-won capital into an outdoor campaign on an ongoing basis like this, it’s because of hard evidence - such as sales increases or increased footfall to their business - of the medium's effectiveness. When every pound counts, they won't do any promotion without the confidence it will work.
This says to me that 'on the streets', where it counts, outdoor is working; it’s picking up more converts to its impact and effectiveness. And if it works like this for small businesses and local campaigns, I'm confident it'll continue to deliver for the big players as well.
How to use content to follow up sales and maintain top-of-mind awareness
July 31, 2009
In his article 'Why 8% of sales people get 80% of the sales' Donut expert and founder of Marketing Wizdom, Robert Clay reminds us of the importance of good 'follow up'. His research shows that only 2% of sales occur at the first meeting; the other 98% will only happen once a certain level of trust has been established. Incredibly, only 20% of sales leads are ever followed up - that's a shining pile of potential opportunity lost without a trace. For small businesses, what is the best way to keep contact with prospects after sales meetings? What communications strategy can you employ to show customers that your proposed approach is the right one for them? Effective follow up does not mean pushy closing and constant demands for orders or appointments. It's a different mindset: an ongoing dialogue; gently building rapport and proving your expertise, not bashing down doors. At the heart of this approach is good content - meaningful, useful communication that helps to build trust in the eyes of your potential customers, keeping you top-of-mind. Here are 5 examples of useful content you can send to prospects when following up sales meetings:
- Articles: get your expert opinion and ideas down in writing - on the web, in magazines, on blogs (your company blog and/or other well-respected blogs in your field). Write for your customers: write articles that show them how to solve their business problems.
- Educational case studies: show how other customers have benefitted from the type of approach you're proposing. These powerful sales tools help you capitalise on past success. They turn your claims in to evidence and open the reader’s eyes to what is possible if they work with your company.
- Whitepapers: somewhere between an article and an academic paper, these persuasive documents contain useful information and expert opinion, promoting your company as a thought leader and helping solve customer issues.
- Newsletters/e-newsletters: inform and educate your contacts on a regular basis with valuable content - news, views, research and case studies that they'll find of interest.
- Third party evidence: send your prospects articles and research by others that back up your proposed approach.
This is where marketing can really help sales. Produce powerful, customer-focused, helpful content that your sales teams can use to keep contact with customers until they are ready to buy.
Is Twitter Twaddle?
July 23, 2009
I've recently started twittering, for no reason other than, well, to partake in something that has grabbed millions of people around the globe. As an alleged marketing entrepreneur, I was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable whenever the subject of Twitter came up, and I knew that I wasn't part of the crowd! That said, I didn't go into it with any strategic plan or any great expectations and my initial thoughts were to use it as an online diary. As a business author, I reckoned it would be a useful discipline to see if I could write mini stories within the 140 characters limit, with no txt talk! So, having used Twitter religiously for six weeks, documenting my daily antics and providing a blow by blow account of my latest Amazon book rank, what are my thoughts so far? Firstly, I'm fascinated by the sheer randomness of Twitter. I’m not doing anything to gain followers, other than attempting to write interesting tweets. Well, they seem interesting to me, because after all, I am the subject matter! But boy have I attracted some unusual followers. I've had three women of obvious shady character (a euphemism for porno queens) that I suspect follow anybody with a pulse and a heartbeat in the hope they’ll get one or two people interested in following them. Then I've had the people that are obviously doing keyword searches on Twitter, and you tweet on their chosen subject and they either follow you for your next two tweets before summarily despatching you or they stick around because you start following them. I've ‘met’ some fascinating people and I've also got a handful of clients, following me, which means that I have to think about what I write. And obviously, there are the followers that I don't know. At the moment I've got a very good magazine and a television company following me. My strategy? To play it cool. I've not set the world alight with a huge following, but then I'm not doing anything to generate one and I'm not Stephen Fry! So how much enjoyment do I get from twittering? If you look at my postings, you’ll see that I like the sound of my online voice. I’ve gone back to my teenage years when I kept a diary, except now my diary is there for the world to see, (minus the drunken antics!). I've definitely increased my book sales on Amazon through Twitter and I've had direct messages from some interesting people. I suspect that if I really made the effort I could crank up my followers. But, I've made a conscious decision not to do this. I'm going for the slow scenic route. Let's see where it takes me.
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