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Archive for the ‘marketing’ Category

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Number One Tip for Making LinkedIn Connections

In marketing, media on February 11, 2012 at 10:10 pm

wedding invites
The number of connections you have on LinkedIn instantly signals how well networked you are. The larger your LinkedIn network, the more exposed you are to new networking and professional opportunities. So how can you go about adding more connections to your profile?

I have one tip for you (get mentally prepared because this is going to be revolutionary): send personal messages.

I cannot count the times I have received invitations to connect with people without knowing how they have heard of me. Some people would like to expand their professional network, they stumble upon my LinkedIn profile and click “connect.” They might even know me from somewhere, but they still don’t bother writing a line or two explaining how we might be connected. I don’t accept these invitations. (And LinkedIn doesn’t like them, either.)

However, I have accepted to connect with people whose names I don’t recognize if they add a personal message. Some folks take the time to write that they enjoy my blog posts, ebooks or Twitter updates. I’d love to be connected with people who follow my work.

Of course, I am not arguing that everyone on LinkedIn behaves like me. People approach their LinkedIn presence in different ways. Still, the chances of you making a connection by adding a personal message are definitely higher than if you simple left the default “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” In fact, erase that message altogether. Instead, add an explanation of how you know the person and why would like to connect with him/her.

With more than 150 million member, LinkedIn is the word’s largest professional social network. Start leveraging the power of this platform.

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Facebook Marketing Gone Wrong

In marketing, media, social media on September 22, 2011 at 12:06 pm

You know a company isn’t doing Facebook marketing right when someone else clicks the “Like” button on your behalf. It’s actually surprisingly invasive and upsetting. Or at least that’s how it felt when it happened to me.

Earlier this summer, I had the chance to attend Identity Fest, an electronic music festival sponsored by a whole bunch of popular brands, among which Skullcandy, Rockstar Energy Drink and Heineken. These companies were trying to attract the attention of the audience in different ways–by giving out free stuff, displaying large posters near the stage and placing their logos all over the place.

There were also a lot of booths, but my friends and I were instantly drawn to one that was promoting the movie “Our Idiot Brother.” The two promo girls inside were busy. They were offering folks the opportunity to get their photo taken against, what I assume was, a movie-related backdrop. You could put some accessories on and make faces at the camera. It seemed fun! What is more, after the photo was taken, you could post it on Facebook, thus making sure all your absent friends regretted not being there. ;-)

So we went for it. After our picture was taken, and we laughed over our ridiculous poses and faces, we got a little bit upset. Using an iPad, we posted the picture on Facebook but were strictly guided by one of the girls (the other one was busy taking other people’s photos).

“So you can post it on your Wall,” she told me. “And then if you could just ‘Like’ our page, that would be great,” she added.

I had posted it on my Wall, which was my original intention, but I hesitated to “Like” their page. I hadn’t seen their movie. What if I didn’t actually like it? I am not going to lie to my friends, family and co-workers.

While these thoughts were running through my head, the lady rushed to press the “Like” button for me. It’s not a big deal, one would think, but for some reason I felt exploited. I knew that the first thing I was going to do once I got home was to un-Like their page. And guess what, I don’t want to watch their movie at all.

In this case, the border between creative and obtrusive marketing seemed pretty thin. Have you had similar experiences with Facebook?


Local Businesses & the Power of Sampling

In marketing, media on March 24, 2011 at 1:48 pm

“What do you guys do for marketing?” was definitely not the question our tour guide was expecting to receive. After all, we were there to learn how their factory produced chocolate. But after a brief pause, he shared what the main instrument of marketing was for Taza Chocolate Factory.

Sampling, the tour guide said. And no wonder! The place offers eight tours a week, in which visitors can find out more about the magic of chocolate-making. You not only get to touch the coffee beans and examine the old roasting equipment, but can also taste the spicy chocolate bars. In this way, sampling defines the experience of product learning, enjoyment and sharing—a very holistic marketing system, indeed.

The Power of Live Events

Local businesses now have the opportunity to easily organize group activities around their products. Much like musicians at live concerts, companies can build a following by giving out something of value and turning their employees into rock stars.

That’s why the concept of ticket-buying is not unfamiliar to Taza Chocolate Factory. The company uses eventbrite to facilitate the tour registration process, and guess what– their events get booked pretty quickly. (We had to call a week in advance to book tickets for a Sunday afternoon tour.)

Showcase Your Business Quirks

The one-hour tour I attended was fascinating. I learned that one of Taza Chocolate’s founders used to be a scuba-diver. I learned that one of the factory’s coffee roasting machines was imported from Europe and pieced together here, in Somerville, MA. I also learned about the concept of direct trade (not the same as fair trade). All these stories made me really appreciate the final product I was about the experience. So, if you are a local business, think about ways in which you can showcase these types of quirks and fascinate your customers.

Do the Math of Sampling

Let’s check out the math behind this type of food sampling:

I invited my friends to sign up for the Chocolate Factory tour, so we can enjoy this activity together. +
I paid $5 for my tour ticket. +
I attended a “behind-the-scenes, guided tour” and learned cool new stuff. +
I ended up buying some chocolate. +
I told more friends about it. +
I would love to go back! =

= A pretty holistic marketing approach.

The idea here is that this type of sampling defined an experience beyond the product purchase. It is not just marketing; it is a thread of stories that begs to be shared.

In-Page Search: Where Education & Journalism Converge

In journalism, marketing, media, new media technologies, newspapers, online content on December 28, 2010 at 2:15 pm

Convergence between Journalism and educationI was reading an article in the Economist when I first encountered the browser extension Apture. I had highlighted the name “Martin Luther” by accident when a pop-up appeared on my screen to give me background information about that person. I, the ultimate hater of pop-ups, found myself completely engrossed in the stories provided by that little box—all content revolving around the highlighted name. All of a sudden, my information intake was interrupted by a thought: This tool offered the perfect point of convergence between journalism and education.

Apture is an extension you can attach to your browser to optimize your reading experience. The service will give you information about highlighted words, whether that is a location, an author’s name or a theoretical term. Apture offers different types of content, including Wikipedia entries, news articles, YouTube videos and Creative Commons photos. That way readers can gain true understanding about the subject at hand. Here are some of my reasons for believing in Apture’s promising future:

It Is Intuitive to Use

In-Page Search, in general, and  Apture, in specific, do not reinvent the wheel but take advantage of readers’ existing habits. How many times have you found yourself Google-ing names, places and unfamiliar terms used in articles? I do it all the time. I know this was also how my college roommate would start reading about U.S. politics and end up discovering the unique characters in the Georgian alphabet… It is a wonderful (and often quite distracting) process of learning.

It Responds to People’s Hunger for Learning

Just the thought of learning a lot more while reading articles gives me the chills. One can easily find out more about someone’s quote or location. Think about the countless conversations you can engage with using that knowledge! This is an amazing opportunity for expansion of one’s education in academia as well as outside school.

It Challenges Journalistic Expertise

Such tool will allow readers to gain more control over their news consumption. Journalists will have to be careful about the metaphors they use and the people they quote. Does it really make sense? Now the common reader is a step closer to verifying the information used in a piece.

It Prolongs the Readers’ Stay on a Site

In-page search will certainly increase the time of a site visit. I know I remained on that Economist article for a while, reading it like a map and deciphering its familiar and foreign territories. As mentioned on Apture.com, in-page search successfully increases visitor engagement and tracks traffic data.

It Provides Publishers with Insights

That type of tool gives publishers insightful information about their readers’ interests. As the site explains, “When they use Apture to highlight and search on the page they are telling you what they want to know more about. It’s time to start listening.”

I have high hopes for social media-friendly, in-page search. Let’s see if others share my enthusiasm.

Photo credit: Jônatas Cunha

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European Tech StartUps Take On Crowdsourcing

In marketing, media, new media technologies, social media on November 27, 2010 at 7:22 pm

TechChrunch Europe recently reported that 16 startups were selected to compete at LeWeb’s competition in December 2010. As the biggest tech conference in Europe,  Le Web will definitely draw public attention to the 16 lucky sites. Four of them highlight well the element of crowdsourcing user content and making it meaningful.

Waze is a social mobile application that provides real-time traffic information. As written on the site itself, it offers up-to-date maps “based on the wisdom of the crowd.” It is run by a community of drivers from different countries. For example, when I selected to check out the traffic situation in Bulgaria, I saw the map of my home country and the following message appeared, “The driving community in Bulgaria has only recently begun developing, so it’ll take a bit of time until waze begins to deliver its full value in your area.”

TinyPay seems like a mix between Twitter & eBay. It is a web service that allows you to quickly sell items. You see a small thumbnail of the product for sale and when you click on it, you are able to share the listing on social networks, see where the seller is located, leave a comment and purchase the item with PayPal. The site also features “trending items.”

Paper.li allows users to turn Twitter feeds into a daily newspaper. From my academic research earlier this year, I found out that social media will increasingly be used for news exchanges, and this new platform reinforces my conclusion, emphasizing the importance of community-driven newsgathering.

Garmz was one of the start-ups that made me go, “Wow.” And not because it introduced a necessarily new idea–but because it introduced some form of social change, wrapped up in a beautifully designed site. It is a platform that allows you to start your own fashion label and participate in selecting the winning models by voting. “If a design is successful, Garmz handles the complete production, at zero cost and risk for the designers.” The mission and the platform seemed to have blended in an exquisite selection of fashion designs.

The notion of crowdsourcing and sharing is fueling tons of great community-driven projects and start-ups. Can’t wait to hear who the winner at Le Web’s is going to be!

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