Twitter exploded on Thursday afternoon, with the trending tweet of GoDaddy CEO. This was based on a video of Bob Parsons, the CEO of GoDaddy.com shooting a an elephant in Zimbabwe. Time.com had the highest Top tweet, stating “Shoots an elephant for a good cause. Too bad he’s wrong” with a link to their article. The other top tweets were calls to move your domain off of GoDaddy.com, and onto other domains.
Among the other news tied into this trending tweet were the several companies that are jumping on board. One domain hosting company, called Namecheap, is offering to make donations to African elephants on your behalf if you sign up with them in the very near future.
This blog is not commenting on whether what he did was right or wrong. We are curious, as far as a marketing decision is concerned, was this a bad move?
GoDaddy.com marketing, for the last several years, has been based around attractive woman taking their clothes off. The question of whether Danica Patrick is ever going to bare all on GoDaddy’s site is always in question. Is there target demographic, who is not offended by the sexual material of their advertising campaigns now, going to be hugely offended by the CEO killing an elephant?
Putting any moral judgement aside, and looking at this incident as a strictly marketing opportunity, do you feel that Bob Parson’s video is going to hurt Go Daddy? The ideas of “No news is good news” and “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” are no longer true, and several companies have benefitted from and had losses caused by viral campaigns for or against them on different social media channels.
Last night, while watching television, I saw an ad for Old Navy that caught my attention. I was so used to seeing the Super Mannequins, when a music video came on, I assumed it was for a different product. Instead, it was Old Navy, completely redoing its current marketing strategy.
This alone would not have warranted a blog entry. Companies change their marketing structure all the time. What snared my attention was the “Shazam” logo appearing along the bottom of the commercial, with instructions to identify this song on your mobile phone for additional information. In other words, Old Navy has done a cross promotion with Shazam, and has in essence created something new:
An audible QR Code. Neat!
For those that don’t know, Shazam is an application for mobile phones that allows the user to identify a playing song’s artist, name, album, etc. It allows the user to immediately purchase the song, and more. You no longer need to say, “What’s the name of this song?” or wait in hopeful anticipation for the DJ on the radio to tell you. The software has been out for a little while now; it by itself is not new. There are other apps that do the same process; Shazam just happens to be a real popular one.
What is the implication of this new usage? Companies already pay royalties for music when they want to use it in an advertisement. Imagine not only having usage rights, but having the ability to virtually marry your product onto a song. Microsoft paid $10 million for usage of the Rolling Stone’s “Start Me Up” for the release of Windows 95. Imagine if any time anyone heard the song, and had Shazam look it up, it brought your phone to the Microsoft website? Think of the connections that could occur.
Could this become the new wave of advertising? Rather than simply using the music as background, it would become a link point to whatever the artist is currently willing to promote to? The possibilities are amazing…
I can just see it now, listening to a 50 Cent song, and my phone asks me if I want to order a case of Vitamin Water. Perhaps Shazam on a particular Counting Crows song would order me a taxi?
About once a month or so, an article comes across my desk regarding a company that has put faith in a social media channel and not had overwhelming success. Not a month can go by without someone handing me or emailing me an article about how even though the Facebook campaign got lots of attention, the business witnessed a decline in sales for several quarters in a row.
Is this the end of Social Media?
With any luck, the buzzword “Social Media” is… But the concept isn’t going anywhere.
In all of the articles I’ve read regarding “Social Media is Dying”, none take the time to define “Social Media”. In the most basic definition of the term, it means one person communicating with another in a public forum that anyone who observes can also comment on. Before it became a buzzword, there were plenty of examples of this. There were chat rooms on AOL that were a form of Social Media. The bulletin board hanging up in many offices, where people can post “Free Kittens”, “Ice Cream Social Next Tuesday”, or any other communication, is by definition “social media”.
This type of social media has been around for many many years, and it isn’t going anywhere.
So when the industry gurus speak of “Social Media Peaking”, they are typically discussing the software versions. The Facebook, Twitter, etc. ways of communicating between people. Are these going away?
Once again, the answer is a resounding, “Nope.” They are an effective means of communicating with a large group of people. The individual user has no reason to stop using facebook, as an individual. I was able to wish someone I haven’t talked to in ten years “Happy Birthday” the other day. There’s no way I’d pick up a phone and do that. From a personal user point of view, I don’t see the social media channels going away.
So, whatever can these industry experts mean, when they say, “The Social Media Fad is Ending”?
I believe that they mean, useless, fad based Social Media is going out. There are several social media sites that are not social; they exist on social platforms, but do nothing except promote ads. Interaction is scarce at best, and pointless in many cases. There is no reason to visit any of these sites; they provide no information, stirring content, or spark any intellectual debate. Look at your own list of social media sites that you personally subscribe to. How many of these provide advertisement content only? How many are not able to help you with service issues? Are these the ones that you are moving away from? I know these are the ones that I am “Unlike”ing.
Companies that understand engagement, and that work to constantly create bonds between the company and the consumer will succeed. These companies reward users with both positive reinforcement and with increased service, and will not only survive but thrive. These companies realize that social media is not simply an advertising tool, but something more. Social Media that is complex, completely ad driven, and based more on the company’s “Brand Message” than on the consumer, will continue to be edged out. If your company is considering Social Media as a way of putting ads in more places, then you may wish to pull back.
I remember years ago, before there were smartphones, visiting a doctor’s office, and grabbing a magazine. I had about 15 minutes of wait time, and although the chair looked like it had some padding, I believe it was simply an elaborate paint job, that gave the appearance of a cushion, when in reality it was cold steel. I was flipping through a magazine, and came across an ad for a product. It looked interesting, and the call to action was “Please visit http://www.thecompanywebsite.com/thiscurrentpromotion for additional information.”
I had only a few options:
Find a pen and paper, and write down the webaddress to look it up later.
Smuggle the magazine out under my jacket on my way out the door.
Be that guy that rips pages out of a magazine.
Hope that I’d remember what it was.
I’m not the type to steal the magazine, and destruction of other’s property is never a viable option. I don’t typically carry a pen with me, and it seemed like it was too much work to bother the busy nurse at the desk for one, so I went with option 4.
Needless to say, I never went to the website.
Enter in a new era. A smart advertiser now would have attached a QR code to the ad, and made it so that I didn’t even have to type the web address into my phone. I would have simply scanned the code, and presto! I would have been on the site the author wanted me to visit.
QR (Quick Response) Codes are wonderful little graphics that have hundreds of uses. Basically, they allow the creator of the code to build a graphic that stores the text of a website’s URL. The person with the scanner can “read” the image, and the scanner will direct their device to open up a particular webpage. Every smartphone has a different app that can do this, and so every smartphone user can be automatically linked to whatever the QR code points to, with the push of a button.
These little codes are popping up everywhere. They can direct users to websites, to watch videos, to social media sites, and more. They can link a mobile phone to anywhere on the web, simply by scanning. Looking to increase traffic or customer engagement? Take a look at QR codes.
There are so many different uses for these codes, it does not make sense to try and create an example that would fit everyone. The beauty of these codes is that they are completely customizable for every situation. For ideas on how to use these codes for your business, please feel free to contact us. For a free PDF guide on these wonderful codes, click here.
Foursquare, Facebook Places, and GoWalla are great for letting people know where you are, right at that moment, or where you’ve been. The next generation Geo Social Tools will enable you to know where you are going.
There are several new applications out currently that small businesses need to hone in on, sooner rather than later. The three that look the most promising are crowdbeacon, imup4, and ditto. These new style geo-location tools enable the user to plan for where they are going to go, in both a social manner among their group of friends, as well as from everyone connected.
For example, Jane Smith has an iPhone, and is a member of crowdbeacon. When she signed up, she stated she was a local expert in Worcester MA’s dining scene. A random user, named Fred posts, “Where can I get a good steak around here?” Jane, as a local expert, can respond and give a suggestion, such as, “I prefer Restaurant X. Great service, too!” Fred’s friends on crowdbeacon can give their opinions as well, stating things like, “Restaurant Y is the best in Worcester. Give that a try tonight!” One may respond, “Hey Fred, you’re in Worcester tonight? Let’s meet up at Restaurant Z!”
That’s nice for the person to person, but the bigger advantage goes to the small business in Worcester who has signed up. They can automatically say, “We are the best place to get a great steak in Worcester! And because you asked, you can have 5% off too!” Small businesses can enter in keywords to search for, so that someone who does not exactly specify “steak” will still show up under keywords such as restaurant, burger, food, etc..
Friends can use these tools to set up meeting places. Let’s pretend for a moment that a group of people are trying to settle on a seafood restaurant. Using this tool, they can discuss where they are interested in going. On top of that, restaurants can chime in, and give reasons for the group to go to a specific location. Forget calling your friends, and trying to guess where the best meal and deal is. Instead, communicating with this type of app may make the restaurants battle over who is going to provide the best service to you that evening.
All of these apps are in the very early stages, and with small followings, which means their effectiveness is still lacking. It will take some time for the concept to hit home with everyone. Switching from “Where were you” to “Where would you like to be” makes an amazing amount of sense. Better to plan ahead, rather than simply learn what you may have missed.
According to Bloomberg, Facebook will soon be rolling out a new test service that will allow consumers to buy discounted, one-time offers similar to the services offered by Groupon.
Groupon does this via email, which means that it is a one on one conversation between the consumer and Groupon if the customer chooses to take the deal. Bringing this discussion over onto Facebook is completely up to the customer, which means he or she can choose to talk about the wonderful deal that he or she received, but is in no way obligated to do so. The way that Facebook shares information, chances are, the customer that takes Facebook up on a deal is going to automatically share this information with all of his or her friends.
Imagine if there was a 50 inch flat screen on sale for $200. It’s two weeks before the Super Bowl weekend, and a group of friends will be gathering around at John Smith’s house to watch the game. John’s friends could see the sale, and send John a message, saying, “Hey John, look at this deal. Time to replace that 14 inch b&w set before the big game!” General ribbing takes place, and John buys the television. Ads would fly around, some taken as jokes, some as legitimate suggestions, and the consumer and the seller wins.
Here’s another example. A great deal comes along, and you, the customer, take advantage of it. Your Facebook status is automatically sent out to all of your friends with “John Smith just bought a $150 day spa visit for $20.00! You too can take advantage of this!” Since it’s a great deal, six or seven of John’s friends also go and buy it. And five or six of each of their friends also takes advantage of this excellent deal. You can see how this is a great sales model.
Proponents of this service on Facebook will certainly have no issues with this. The answer heard from them regarding the lack of privacy involving the purchase will most certainly be “So what? If I chose to get a great deal on a local business’ service, why wouldn’t I want to share this with all of my friends? Wouldn’t I want to offer this same benefit to everyone that I know, if it’s a great deal!”
Except that maybe, just maybe, you don’t want your wife to know that the spa day you got for her birthday, a $150 value, you bought for $20, on her birthday during your lunch break at work, when Facebook kindly reminded you it was her birthday in the first place.
I’m just guessing.
This is not to say that it is a bad idea. The structure of this form of socialized selling is an excellent idea, one that has the potential to really help small businesses capture more customers through word of mouth. Depending on the pricing requirements, and the commission rates paid to Facebook, this has the potential of replacing services like Groupon.
What other potential pitfalls do you see in completely socializing your purchases?
Companies use social media to promote their businesses in several different ways. Some use it to create customer loyalty, and provide promotions to their customer base. Some use it to show a more “personal” side to their business, by showing they care about the world around them by offering support to the community. Others use social media to showcase their expert knowledge on particular subjects, to enable customers to feel confidence that they are working with the best professionals in the field.
One of the questions we are asked most often is, “Where can I find more content for my social media channels?” Today, the answer is, “Your employees.”
I don’t mean for you to ask your people what to post. I’d guess that you already go to them for ideas of what to post. I mean, post about your people. Do you have an employee that has been with your company long enough to celebrate a milestone with the company? Has one of your employees recently earned a promotion? Have you hired anyone new? These work related accomplishments should be praised on your social media sites.
Posting about work accomplishments of your employees has many benefits:
Gives the employee recognition, and shows them that you acknowledge their accomplishment and are willing to praise them publicly.
Gives your employees a reason to visit your social media sites or platforms, which will increase internal traffic of these sites.
Allows people outside of your organization to see that you as a company care about your employees.
Provides an opportunity for those employees being recognized to be congratulated by other users.
For example, if you were to post “Congratulations John Smith for 20 years of service! Thank you!” on your Facebook page, what could happen? John Smith might go onto Facebook, and like that comment, sharing it with all of his friends and family. Some of your employees may also comment, saying “Way to go John!” and share their comments with all of their friends. Your comment, which is one that you are perfectly willing to make, can in turn bring additional fans to your page. Not to mention the benefits already listed.
You may also want to congratulate your employees on their personal achievements. If a member of your staff recently gave birth, or has gotten married, for example, these joyful occasions can earn you some karma points. It all comes back to making your social media page social.
Do not buy into the hype, and believe for an instant that “Print Ads are dead.” When there are no longer newspapers, magazines, billboards, or paper and ink left in the entire world, print will be dead. Maybe. Until then, print is very much alive. If you think print media is dead, chances are you aren’t capitalizing on what it can do for you.
Social media has become a leading form of advertising because it interacts with a customer in a way that traditional print could not. You need your print advertising to cause some interaction between the customer and your company. I’m not saying your ads should feature paper doll cutouts, Sudoku puzzles, or hand puppets. I am saying that your advertisements should be the beginning of a conversation, not simply a statement.
A couple of quick suggestions:
Incorporate your social media pages into your ads, so that interested readers can see you in a social atmosphere, if they so choose.
Create custom landing pages for your ads, rather than simply providing your regular website. If something on your print advertisement made them go to your website, you should focus their attention on that particular product or service, not simply dump them onto your homepage.
Incorporate a call to action. Do you want customers to visit your website? Then tell them to. Do you want to have them come into your store? Give them a special coupon, and invite them in.
Make sure you are imparting something on the reader. Ads that are simply for product awareness are fine, but ads that move readers to become customers are better.
Just for fun, I’m going to provide two lines of text. Obviously, in a print ad, especially one this short, there would be graphics involved, and the graphics would steer the conversation just as much as the text. However, for simplicity’s sake, we’ll pretend that the images and layout of these two ads is exactly the same. The only differences are the text.
SAVE SAVE SAVE Best prices best selection best service. You will not find a better price anywhere. SAVE SAVE SAVE Call xxx-xxx-xxxx now to speak with a professional, or come in today!
Best Prices ever! Check out the comparison at www.yourbusiness.com/pricewars See what others are saying about this deal at www.facebook.com/yourbusiness Call xxx-xxx-xxxx to discuss your specific needs, or come in today!
Not only does #2 provide two separate links to begin a conversation with the customer, it also incorporates a way to see how effective the print ad is, by capturing readers on a specific landing page. I don’t think anyone would disagree that #2 was the better option.
Is it time to update your print catalog or marketing structure?
Pick the item that can have your page shut down on Facebook:
Enter everyone that likes your page automatically into a giveaway for a free oil change.
Notify your winner by a wall post, saying “Congratulations Mr. Smith, you won a free oil change!”
Have people post a status update of “My auto dealer rules!” in order to win a free oil change.
And the answer is: ALL THREE.
Facebook has rules in place that make sure any contest you run could be run on a more traditional website. You are not allowed to use any of the cool functions that are Facebook specific to facilitate your promotion.
All contests must have a disclaimer, releasing Facebook from everything having to do with the outcome, entry, or qualifications of the promotion.
Your Facebook promotion must be in a third party application. For those less informed, that means it has to be on its own tab, not built by Facebook. Pages like your wall, info, or photos are pages that Facebook built for you. In order to be compliant, you need to add your promotion onto your site using the “New Apps” section of the “Edit Page” feature.
Understand, these rules are in place to protect Facebook. The last thing that Facebook wants is to expose themselves legally because a company used Facebook to promote a contest. They do not want lawsuits against them. Imagine sitting in a courtroom, and hearing “Well, on FACEBOOK, Company X said I’d get new car if I "Liked" their page. FACEBOOK shouldn’t let Company X say that if it’s not true. Therefore, FACEBOOK should have to give me my Porsche now, since that’s where I read it.”
Does this mean that the Facebook Police are going to come after you if you break their guidelines, or close down your page? Chances are, unless you have a large following, or break them in a major way, your indiscretions will not attract their attention. I recommend against gambling on the fact that you can get away with breaking them.
We often give you advice on this blog, on how to better your social media presence, your SEO, and other marketing ideas. Today, we're going to give you a different type of advice: Financial!
Okay, maybe that's not entirely true. We did want to share this video that we put together for Webster First Federal Credit union with you, though. Enjoy! We have a full video production center, so if you're looking to expand your advertising into video, whether for the internet or television, contact us today.
For over 60 years Davis Advertising has been the stand-out ad agency in Central Massachusetts. In 2007, riding the wave of great success we opened a second office in Greenville, South Carolina. Davis Advertising brings the talents of over 50 marketing professionals together to create the kind of strategic thinking that sells. You can’t move a product until you move a person and the advertising we generate has proven extremely effective in doing just that. Davis Advertising creates marketing that stands out from the crowd, conveys a message that hits home and sells your product or service. So contact us today and get the small town service you want with the big-city creative and capabilities you deserve.
