marketing

Your Choice. Your Voice.

One thing we have a lot of these days is choice.

Want olive oil? There are a hundred to choose from.

Want to host your website on a reliable server? There are many, many options at your fingertips.

Choice is great.. until there’s so much choice you feel overwhelmed. My brother had a great line in one of his films from a few years back, which was “Why is it there are hundreds of cheeses to pick from, yet only 3 political parties?”. The political parties seem to be catching up with the cheese these days.. but I digress.

I’m sure many an article has been written about choice paralysis… not being able to make a decision due to too many options. This is what makes personal endorsements so powerful. If someone I know and trust recommends something – I am considerably more likely to get it. A friend’s endorsement offers needed guidance in a world stuffed with multiple choice.

This is why the latest evolution in Facebook Ads is so brilliant. This month Facebook started experimenting with friend’s ratings of ads.
This means people in one’s personal network can like an ad, rate it (out of five stars) and leave a comment. This allows friends to see what each other has liked – personalizing the advertising and making it more relevant to the target audience. Products or services endorsed by a friend you respect and like, are more likely to get your attention and your business.
You can read more about that here.

Google Places has enabled reviews of ads for some time – but this too is evolving. Now, business owners can respond to the reviews people write and post on Google Places. Additionally, business owners can now post real-time updates to their Google Places listings – to offer customers timely specials or deals, or even coupons compatible with mobile phones.

Yelp is another directory all about customer reviews. (Interestingly, Yelp was almost acquired by Google in 2009 when the deal fell through.)
It helps too when businesses respond to reviews. It’s only fair and I, personally, appreciate hearing the other side of a story. However, some people need to be reminded of just how publicly permanent their written words are. This particular Yelp response to a review is one that should be a lesson to us all. The business owner blasted the reviewer and accused him/her of being the competition in disguise.

Well, at least such a vitriolic response helps to eliminate that business from your basket of choices…proving any voice can shape your choice.

Tags: ads, customer reviews, facebook ads, Google Places, marketing, yelp

A Vancouver Marketing Strategist’s Day in 20XX?

Photo Credit: skippyjon

7:00am

I woke up to my alarm clock, yawned and wondered what day it was today. Realizing it’s Tuesday, I brushed my teeth, took a shower and got dressed for work.

7:30am

I sat down at the kitchen table to eat my favourite cereal, Honey Nut Cheerios. As I poured out the cereal, a small holographic sticker fell out of the box. Picking it up, I thought, “They still make these?” and had a good chuckle at myself. Stretching out, I reached for my iPad across the table and opened up the Vancouver Sun. The Headline News was “Google Bought Another Country”…go figure. Right beside the headline I saw the Flash video playing an ad for our client. Yes, it was Flash!

8:00am

My iPad suddenly spoke, “It’s now eight o’clock”. I took a quick glance at the clock, hoping my iPad was somehow lying. I jumped off my chair, grabbed my MacBook Pro and darted for my car, knowing how bad the traffic would be in the morning.

8:30am

I slipped into my car, where the fun begins every morning. My Google Android equipped car powered up and gave me a report on any traffic accidents on my route. After that I told Jessie (Yes, I named my car, Jessie) to login to Twitter and read the latest tweets from my Twitter List. Hands-free of course, it’s great how voice-recognition technology has come along.

As always it’s cloudy and raining in Vancouver. Pulling up to a red traffic light I started daydreaming about what it was like back then, driving without a HUD windshield. The windshield is great especially while driving at night or in the rain when visibility isn’t that great…

“The traffic light has turned green”, Jessie spoke.

…or for drivers who are often preoccupied.

I drove past Cambie & Broadway and Jessie prompted me, “Moyra checked in at this Starbucks 15 minutes ago. She recommends the Chai Latte”. Jessie’s hooked up to Foursquare, of course, and all my other social media accounts. Location-based social media marketing at its finest wouldn’t you say? I was tempted to stop by, but I was going to be late for work.

9:00am

I arrived at work. (To be continued…)

Victor Chan
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: foursquare, google android, hud windshield, ipad, marketing, Social Media, starbucks, strategist, technology, Twitter, Vancouver

Social + Search = Marketing (Part 1)

The internet marketing, social media and search engine marketing scene in Vancouver is changing at a rapid pace. The industry, as a whole, is moving even faster. In the excitement of trying out the latest new gadget, developing a new profile and making that next connection, it is easy for a business to forget the basics.

Social media marketing, search engine marketing, internet marketing or online marketing all have one thing in common, and that boils back down to marketing. Frameworks have often been created to organize the thought process to help companies identify the best strategy to market a company.

Getting back to the basics may be the key to developing that next biggest and greatest campaign. I thought it would be useful to write a series on Marketing basics. In part 1, I will discuss the 4 P’s of Marketing.

4 P’s of Marketing

The 4 P’s of marketing are Product, Price, Place (distribution) and Promotion. It is important to have a clear understanding of each of these elements for your company and how these elements could work together in your marketing strategy. Here are some questions to consider.

Product (goods and/or services):

• What is your product?
• Can your product be changed to better fit your target customers?
• What is the single, most important benefit* your target customer gains from buying your product?

*NOTE: There is a clear distinction between a feature and a benefit. Your customers are not interested in product features. They are interested in the benefits they can get from a product. For example, cell phone plans with unlimited calling to a certain number of friends is a feature, being able to speak to your best friend anytime, all the time, without a massive phone bill is, in the customer’s perspective, the benefit.

Price:

• How does your product price compare with that of your immediate competitors?
• Would you offer price promotions?
• Would you offer different pricing strategies depending on your sales channel?

Place (distribution):

• Where can your customers purchase your product?
• Can a good or service you offer be more efficiently provided online? (Eg. after sales services).
• Is there an additional good or service you can offer your customers online to provide them added value?

Promotion:

• What is the key message you want to convey to your target customer?
• What perception do you want your customers to have of your company?
• Through which communication channels will your target customer be most receptive to to receiving your message?

This is only a sample of questions to consider when thinking about your marketing strategy. The 4 P’s is a basic framework, but is still applicable in the online environment. Do you agree?

Stay tuned for more of the Marketing Basics series.

Victor Chan
eMarketing Strategist

Tags: 4 P marketing, basics, internet marketing, marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Vancouver

Marketing? No Thanks.

by Flickr member Petrov Escarião

This is a story of the power of word of mouth…online.

Anyone from the Canadian Prairies will tell you there isn’t a lot of motivation for spending top dollar on a raincoat. It does rain in the Prairies, and hard, but compared to the West Coast, it’s infrequent enough that you’d be fine with a big ugly *cheap* poncho that you can replace every few years. A winter coat on the other hand, you buy wisely and spend freely if it keeps you warm (and alive!) at minus 48 with a windchill.

When I moved to Vancouver in 2001, I still had this mindset. I continued to acquire cheap raincoats, wimpy umbrellas – and fabulously warm winter coats.

Believe it or not, it has taken me 9 years to resist the urge to purchase an expensive winter coat. It was time to instead use the money to buy a quality raincoat.

I wanted something stylish, not sporty. I started my quest, not by hitting the stores, not by Googling, but by direct messaging some fashion-forward friends on Twitter for advice.

Within minutes I had several options. Within a week I purchased THE BEST raincoat I have ever had or even seen from a little bustling store on Alberni Street. It was expensive but when it pours I am covered – literally. And judging by the quality and versatility of the coat, I will have it for years to come.

What’s interesting about this line of outerwear is it has never marketed its products in a traditional way (newspaper ads, magazine ads, TV commercials, etc..). That is to say, according to the folks in the Vancouver store, and my friend who recommended them to me, m0851 didn’t feel traditional marketing was worth the money. Online marketing appears to be another story as they have a Facebook Page, a blog, and a website.

What this speaks to, in my opinion, is a belief that if you sell quality, people will notice and then talk – and that is the most powerful advertising of all. Add to that the steroid effect of talking online.

m0851 has 7 stores on 3 continents. I think the word is getting out.

Erin Garrity
Sr Web Producer

Tags: advertising, facebook, marketing, Vancouver