Viral Marketing: Be Careful What You Wish For …
August 25, 2008
I’ve written before about the perils involved in the pursuit of viral marketing. on the surface, it appears that viral marketing is a GREAT way to get “free” marketing by creating enough “buzz” to elevate a marketing campaign from “ordinary” to “viral”.
Marketing Gone Horribly Awry
Fortunately, marketing doesn’t carry the risks of say, oh brain surgery. When you screw up and make a marketing mistake, people don’t usually get PHYSICALLY injured as a result. Oh sure, some money may be left on the table if you make a marketing mistake, but it isn’t too difficult to pick yourself up, brush yourself off and get back on the right track. In other words, in most cases, marketing mistakes won’t kill your business.
One of the reasons I question the value of a viral marketing campaign is because of how QUICKLY you (the business owner or marketing professional) can lose control. Once a message goes “viral” it takes on a life of its own. Like its namesake, the viral campaign mutates and adapts to the host. The message changes as its spread and often the end product may be little resemblance to the original marketing message.
This is what happened to Naomi Dunford over at IttyBiz.
Naomi is a very smart cookie. She’s bright, she’s captivating and she’s fun. She launched her freelance marketing biz with the intention of helping micro businesses with the task of marketing. In other words, her “niche” market is teeny-tiny businesses. That is who she writes for when she’s posting articles to her blog because those are the types of people she wants to attract as clients. In her words,
“I write a blog for IttyBiz owners and wannabes. I write for people who don’t know if they can justify the purchase of a printer. My readers cannot afford a thousand dollars an hour. They can’t afford a printer, for God’s sake.”
Naomi is brilliant!!!!
I think Naomi is a brilliant marketer because she’s practicing what I preach which is tightly targeting a niche audience. Because Naomi is tightly targeting her niche audience, she starts having a same conversation over and over again with her clients. Naomi recognizes that if her current clients are stumped by the basics of SEO, then maybe other potential clients are also scratching their head over the whole SEO thing.
See, that’s the GREAT thing about choosing a target audience for your products or services. It makes it SO much easier to develop other products and services for your current clients/customers.
In the language of this blog, Naomi is making what is known around here as a MAJOR SALE. She’s selling an intangible (her marketing expertise) which hits heavy on these two elements of the Major Sale:
- There is the potential for a long-term relationship between you and your customer.
- The consequences of making a purchasing mistake are high.
Mark Silver on his Heart of Business blog in the post Why and How to Create an Information Product writes:
The job of a good information product is to help people dance along off to the side, out of the spotlight. This will not only help them get some of the results they need, but it will also get them ready to get out on your dance floor and engage more deeply with what will really help them: your main products and services.
I love Mark’s word picture. I’ve got to work on creating better word pictures here.
Using the language of this blog (which IMHO is way too “grad school-esque” but I’m trying to lighten up) Naomi’s decision to sell an eBook is a “Minor Sale” product with the intention of establishing enough “trust” to enter into a Major Sale relationship. The plan for any information product is usually for potential clients to buy the eBook and get to know, in this case, Naomi. Prospective clients read Naomi’s blog, buy her book, see that she is, indeed the “real” thing and then eventually hire her.
Because she KNOWS her audience, she put a rock bottom price on her eBook. Her people are not ones who will spend $795 on a monthly membership site. She knows them and priced her eBook for them.
Again, Naomi is so smart!
Because Naomi is a gifted marketer, she sets up an AFFILIATE program so others can sell her eBook. This way, others can make a little cash on the side by promoting her product which, in the end will bring more paying clients into her marketing practice. She makes it a healthy commission and gets a LOT of people promoting her eBook. All is well until Brian Clark over at Copyblogger gets into the loop and writes a review.
Naomi is stoked and
NINJA SEO SCHOOL GOES VIRAL!
This is where Naomi’s marketing dream turns into a business owner’s nightmare. Naomi didn’t create an “information product” when she wrote Ninja SEO School. She included support with the product. It makes PERFECT sense if you view this through the “Naomi wants to get more clients who are fun and who ‘get’ her” lens. It makes LOUSY sense if Naomi is subscribing to the “get rich quick, here’s my book, gimme your money” line of thinking.
When the marketing goes viral for SEO Ninja School, Naomi does what any sane business person would do: she stops selling the product. She doesn’t want to ruin her reputation by promising support she can’t provide so she sets an end date and stops selling the product.
Unfortunately, the viral marketing machine is in full swing. Naomi is getting HAMMERED by people who want a piece of the SEO Ninja School action but didn’t learn about it until it was too late.
Be careful what you wish for when it comes to viral marketing. I drum I repeatedly pound in my book Beyond the Niche and in my practice is that an effective advertising campaign can be the best thing, or the worst thing, that can happen to your business.
Oh, by the way, ever since I put a small business OUT of business by crushing them with too much business, I’ve always tried to prepare clients for that possibility. I am now careful to define with my clients what success looks like for them because my definition of success may not be the same.
Last year, when I got slammed with a huge influx of business, I put my head down, worked through it and emerged with a better business model. I’ve worked with clients though that when faced with the same “crush” chose to “die” instead of “change”.
Naomi’s brilliant and she’ll emerge from this stronger (and funnier) as a result of her experience. Just remember - viral marketing has it’s down side as well as its upside. I’m sure that Naomi now wishes there was some way of turning off the faucet for her viral marketing campaign. However, she’s still getting visitors who come to her site expecting to be able to buy her eBook.
There is no “off” when a campaign goes viral…. be careful what you wish for….
The Six Biggest Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
August 22, 2008
| Beyond Niche Marketing is pleased to offer a guest post opportunity to Jodi Kaplan of KaplanCopy. |
The Six Biggest Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
1. Spraying and Praying
What’s spraying and praying? It’s closing your eyes, spinning around, and hoping to hit something with your marketing.
Here’s a true story. Mike and David each decided to start their own businesses. Both want to publish e-newsletters offering benefit information to US military personnel. Mike raised $7 million and used it for office space, staff, furniture, and ads on the sides of buses in Washington, DC. David spent $30 to run off 500 issues of the first newsletter on bright yellow paper and stood in front of the Pentagon handing them out to people as they left the building.
Mike burned through the cash in six months, went broke, and lost his house. David had 250 signups by the time he got home that first day, and built it virally to 300,000 subscribers.
Thousands of people saw Mike’s ads, but they weren’t necessarily military people – the target audience. David, on the other hand, figured out where to find his target audience, went there, and offered them something relevant.
If you want to catch trout, go to a river, not the ocean.
2. Believing your own hype
Sony ran an ad two years ago with a headline that said, “ It’s not the first Blu-ray Disc Player on the market. It’s the first Sony. (Isn’t that the same thing?) “
Nope. The headline says nothing about what the customer will gain by buying the product. Why is Sony better? What will this machine give me that other players won’t? Will I be the first to own one?
3. Talking about features instead of benefits
A benefit is something about your product or service that makes your customers’ lives better. Tell your prospects why and how your product helps them rather than what it looks like or how you package it.
A feature of a calculator is that it’s solar powered. A benefit is that you never have to buy batteries. To go back to the Sony example, what if they’d said, “Our system installs in minutes without complicated instructions. You’ll feel as if you have your own private movie theatre.”
Highlighting benefits such as these in your advertising will make your product more appealing. Benefits can also help you stand out from your competitors. Imagine if you promised (and delivered) easy installation and the companies competing with you didn’t. Which do you think people (especially non-technical people) would choose?
4. Succumbing to Super Bowl ad syndrome (splurging on one big ad)
It’s tempting to think that a big advertising splash can get you lots of attention. InfoUSA’s SalesGenie Super Bowl ads have become famous (maybe infamous). The company says that their ads target small businesses, sales people, and entrepreneurs. Lots of people watch the Super Bowl, but they don’t necessarily fit that profile.
For $2.7 million (per ad), they could have run an ongoing mail, email, and banner ad marketing campaign focusing on niche markets and small business magazines and reached ONLY the people they say are their target audience.
5. Judging your marketing based on what appeals to you, rather than your audience
Many years ago, the company I worked for was producing a brochure for a product aimed at Latin America. I went to the graphics department to take a look at it, and saw that the design was purple and black. I said, “We need to change it.” Now, I don’t like purple, but that wasn’t the problem. In largely Catholic Latin America, purple and black are the colors associated with funerals!
6. Talking about yourself
Many businesses make the mistake of talking about how long they’ve been in business, or how many stores they have. Your customers just want to know if you have something that solves their problems. Say “you” and “your”, rather than “I” and “we”. It’s about them, not you.
If you sell grass seed, don’t go on and on about the 10 years you spent hybridizing seeds and growing test patches. Instead, tell people they’ll get a beautiful, thick green lawn with very little work. Show pictures of happy customers in front of their lawns, with before and after pictures. Better yet, include testimonials about how happy they are with your product.
It’s not about your grass seed; it’s about their lawn.
| Jodi Kaplan fixes “broken” marketing. If your marketing is costing more money than it’s making and people leave your Web site without buying, your marketing is broken. If you’d like to fix it, visit KaplanCopy for free articles, marketing resources, and information on marketing services.To get your free 25-page Small Business Marketing Guide, visit http://www.kaplancopy.com/free_guide.html |
Can Creating a Google Knol Help Promote Your Business?
August 20, 2008
In case you hadn’t heard, Google has launched it’s own version of Wikipedia. It’s called Knol and like Wikipedia, it’s a collection of “expert articles” that others can annote and comment upon.
In her article, Take Advantage of Knol Kay Frenzer writes:
Knol pages tend to be more educational and formal.
More focus is placed on the author than in Wikipedia. You can complete a bio (there is a simple verification process via a PIN code through your cell phone, if you want to utilize it). Another difference between Knol and Wikipedia is that whereas Wikipedia is strictly factual, the author of a Knol page can express an opinion or point of view.
However, there appears to be a significant SEO benefit to creating Knols. JR’s Internet Marketing blog reports in Google Knol - the Good, the Bad and Internet Marketing Benefits
I was searching for migraines the other day and I noticed a knol.google link in the SERPS. Not having heard of Knol. I did some research into what it was. After that I looked closely at the SERPS and realized that not only was the very new Knol article sitting on Page 1 it was sitting above several authority migraine sites, that were PR5 and PR6.
Aaron Wall write extensively about the “favored status” of Knol articles when it comes to Google SERPs in Google Knol - Google’s Latest Attack on Copyright. Aaron makes a compelling point that Knol articles truly enjoy a Google House Advantage!
He also points out a huge “problem” with Knol:
Hijacking Your Rankings via Knol - Google Knoljacking
Where this becomes a big issue is if a person…
- posts your content to Knol
- and buys/rents/begs/steals/spams/borrows a couple decent inbound links
they can get you filtered out of the search results - even if your site is an authority site. Bad news for anyone publishing copyright work online.
Essentially, Aaron’s saying be prepared. Those free ebooks we’ve all been handing out like penny candy could end up on Knol under someone else’s name.
With that in mind, I’m going to start publishing my ebook content on Knol myself. I have published my first Knol article: How to Create a Pillar Posts for Your Business Blog. I invite you to comment and rate the article. (Of course, I’d ADORE it if you rated it positively!)
Because this is a Google creation, I doubt that Knol will fall into obscurity, especially with the “favored content” status Knol articles are receiving in Google’s SERPs.
Have you used Knol? Will you now?
The Quest for Viral Marketing
August 12, 2008
It’s the holy grail of marketing these days: the quest to create a viral marketing campaign. Thirty years ago, advertising agencies were charged with creating advertising and marketing messages that delivered results.
Now, there’s a new face of advertising where it seems that the goal of creating an advertising campaign that delivers results doesn’t make it into the top ten these days at most agencies.
It seems that the primary concern these days is to create viral marketing.
Rob Cottingham has a great post over at ReadWriteWeb in There Must Be Something Between Viral & Obscure… which he ends with:
It’s been said over and over again, but maybe one more time would help: “viral” can be encouraged, it can be prayed for, but it can’t be engineered. Your only hope is to create engaging, compelling content, and tell a terrific story… and then hope.
One of the problems with setting out to create viral marketing campaigns is that viral marketing usually skates right along the edge of crude, rude and insensitive. In order to set the stage so that a marketing campaign has the potential of going viral, one has to find the defining sides of “the box” and then create a marketing campaign that slips just outside, but not too far, outside “the box”. Inhabiting that magic space just outside “the box”, well, that’s what makes a marketing message go “viral”.
Viral marketing messages evoke one of the following responses:
- Viral Marketing may make the audience laugh
- Viral Marketing may make the audience may cause the audience raise their collective fist in triumph
- Viral Marketing may make the audience may cause the audience raise their collective fist in anger
In essence, viral marketing messages evoke the extremes in emotion. In order to do so, the viral video usually has to skate the fine line between offensive and evoking.
Viral marketing is really nothing more than another term for social marketing. Whether you call it social marketing, viral marketing or word of mouth advertising, the foundation is the same: count on your customers to carry the marketing message of your company.
It’s a fact: people are much more willing to spread bad news than good news. It’s just the nature of the beast. Every business owner should be aware of this “quirk” in human nature and how this “quirk” will play out on the stage of Web 2.0. (Read What Every Business Owner Must Know about Web 2.0)
In another post over at RWW, Sarah Perez writes in the post When User-Generated Content Goes Bad
The Jupiter report was also able to build a profile of the typical creator of negative user-generated content. This person is usually a heavy user of social networks, predominantly male (60% are male) and into technology (40% are influential in this area and 23% are considered “early adopters”). They are also a potential valuable audience for marketers as 49% tend to act as brand advocates - which means they tend to be vocal influencers who spread the word online.
In other words, when you’re looking for the “viral influencers” keep in mind that it’s a LOT more fun to spread trash talk than fact!
It’s one thing to create a powerful marketing message which by a stroke of luck or genius actually achieves the goal of “going viral” but it’s playing Russian Roulette with the future of your business to set out with the objective of creating a viral marketing campaign.
In the end, the business that lays its marketing hopes and dreams into the hands of the consumer is asking for trouble - PERIOD!
Viral, by definition, means “uncontrolled”. Imagine taking a feather pillow to the top of a hill and slashing the pillow open with a sharp knife.
THAT is how viral marketing works.
Now, imagine in true Science Fiction Fashion that those harmless bits of down and feather are suddenly transformed into lethal razor blades. ( A.K.A what happens when either the marketing message “crosses the line” or when the “typical creator of negative user-generated content” gets his hands on your marketing message.) Suddenly, the air is filled with stinging bits of steel instead of white, fluffy down.
When Ariel Waldman aired her complaints against the micro-blogging application Twitter, the message quickly went “viral” and moved beyond the control of Walman, Twitter or any other force on earth. She was forced to close comments on the original blog post, yet the viral messages continues to circulate, having developed a “life of its own” shortly after release into the wild.
It’s my recommendation to my clients to plan on taking an ACTIVE role in the management of their marketing message.
I grew up in the Midwest, in the land of farming and fields. If you’re a business owner, treat your marketing efforts like a field. If you methodically plant your field so it’s full of daisies, then a few weeds here or there won’t ruin the overall effect of the field. If however, all there is in your field is bare dirt - then those few weeds will soon take over and that’s all you’ll have in your field -weeds!
The daisies in this scenario are the carefully cultivated marketing messages you pay to have prepared and delivered. If you have enough of those daisies planted - you don’t have to worry much about the weeds! In other words, viral marketing is fine as long as it’s the icing and not the cake of your marketing strategy!
Niche Marketing: Tightly Targeting Your Audience
August 8, 2008
I tend to drone on and on about the power of tightly targeting your niche market here on this blog, and for good reason - because it WORKS! However, a lot of people still aren’t “believers” in the cause.
Today is 08-08-08, the luckiest day of the year if you’re Chinese! Samuel Goldwyn is credited with the quote, “The harder I work, the luckier I get. ” Well, it’s my belief (based on years of practice AND observation) that when you tightly target your niche market, you increase your “luckiness” factor exponentially.
There’s an interesting story of the value of tightly targeting your audience over at TalkShoe. TalkShoe is an open application that allows people to use voice and text-chat to talk with interesting people with similar interests around the world.
In the post Online Audio Advertising Market Still Developing, Dave Nelsen writes:
TalkShoe has demonstrated that audio advertising can be very valuable when properly targeted to narrowly-segmented audiences. An example of this is my Cellar Dwellers Home Winemaking show. Brad Ring, the editor of WineMaker Magazine, emailed me after discovering the show on iTunes. He wrote something to the effect of “Dave, every one of your listeners is a perfect candidate subscriber for my magazine; let’s do a deal.” And even though I average just 500 to 800 unique episode-plays per week, we did. Anecdotally, it appears that a very high proportion of my listeners now subscribe to Brad’s magazine, although neither of us knows the exact numbers.
Now that I’ve seen it in action, the power of micro-segment targeted advertising is undeniable.
Ah, another believer enters the fold!
As a magazine editor, Brad Ring knows EXACTLY who his target audience is and when he discovered the podcast, knew he had a perfect vehicle for adding subscribers to his magazine. Meanwhile, had Dave created a show “Dave’s Many Diversified Interests”, a show which covered home wine making AND cheese making AND trapshooting AND agility training for dogs… the results would have been much, much different.
The point is, had Dave not tightly targeted his podcast, he wouldn’t have been “lucky” enough to be found by Brad. The reason Dave’s podcast caught Brad’s eye is that Brad’s eye is caught by ANYTHING to do with wine making. (Hint: Brad’s subscribers eyes are equally drawn to anything having anything to do with home wine making as well!)
What is your niche market? Who is your tightly targeted audience? When you know the answers to these questions, you can easily craft content which catches those people’s attention.
If you’re having trouble getting focused, pick up a copy of my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results. I’ll walk you through the process of identifying and targeting your niche market step by step.
Expert Copywriting Tips from James Palmer
August 6, 2008
| Beyond Niche Marketing is pleased to offer a guest post by James Palmer of The Copywriting Blog. James is an expert copywriter dedicated to helping small business market their products and services more effectively. |
Bullets are one of the greatest weapons in a copywriter’s arsenal. They are those little benefit-laden tidbits that tease the reader into wanting to know more, and ultimately buy the product. But just like any other copywriting element, there’s a right way and a wrong way to craft effective bullets that compel your readers to keep reading—and ultimately buy your product.
Today I’d like to share a few tips for crafting effective, compelling bullets.
Expert Copywriting Tip: The 4 U’s
Michael Masterson teaches this concept in his AWAI copywriting courses, and with good reason—they work! If you can make your bullets fit just three out of the four U’s, you’ll be well on your way to making some serious moolah!
Here’s how they work.
The first U stands for Urgency. A good bullet must communicate urgency, a reason for your prospect to desire the benefit now instead of later.
The second U is for Useful. The promise or claim made in the bullet must be useful to the reader, or else why should they care if your product has that benefit or not?
The third U is Unique. The benefit should be unique, as in one particular thing instead of a group of things. A unique thing is real and concrete, which lends credibility.
The fourth U is Ultra-Specific. To be compelling, your bullets must be extremely specific, not boring, hum-drum and mediocre. Include numbers, lengths of time, how much weight was lost, how much money was earned, and how long it took.
Let’s check out the 4 U’s in action. Here’s a bullet I wrote for a client recently.
3 simple secrets developed by “the world’s greatest car salesman” that you can use to gain almost instant access to over 250 potential prospects for your product or service.
Does it meet the 4 U’s? Let’s see . . . I don’t know about Urgency, but it’s definitely Useful, and I think “the world’s greatest car salesman” is certainly unique. The 3 secrets and 250 prospects make it Ultra-Specific. Well, two out of three ain’t bad!
As long as you hit on most of the 4 U’s, you’re good to go. So what are some other tips?
- “The answer may surprise you”
Reword a claim as a question followed by the phrase, “the answer may surprise you”.Example: “Should you really drink 8 ounces of water a day? The answer may surprise you.”
- Create a Villain
With this technique, you simply paint the opposition to your solution as the enemy.Example: “Tax secrets the IRS doesn’t want you to know.”
- Think Timely
Writing a bullet based on current news is a powerful way to make them more compelling, as long as it fits the product. Here’s an example of mine from the same promotion:What’s in your tomatoes? (Hint: It’s not salmonella!) The hidden potential dangers lurking in your tomatoes, corn, soybeans, even your favorite ice cream, and the 1 thing you can do to avoid them.
- “How to”
The phrase “how to” works well in bullets, as it does in headlines, especially when combined with uniqueness and specificity. Just don’t overuse it.“How to look good naked.”
“How to make $500 a week working part-time from home.”
- “Secrets of . . .”
Everyone loves a secret, especially if said secret comes from an unusual (i.e. Unique) source.“Secrets of a one-armed golfer . . .”
“Secrets of a multi-millionaire . . .”
- Challenge the Reader
Get the reader involved in the copy by testing their knowledge.Example: “20 common health problems that can be alleviated by losing weight. Can you name them all?”
- Tell the Reader Where They Can Find the Information
Example: “How to turn your blog into a money-making machine. Page 66.”
Remember, when you’re writing a long string of bullets, you’ll want to vary your technique for each of them. List some short bullets along with longer bullets like my “world’s best car salesmen” example above. This will keep your copy lively and hold your reader’s interest.
Now, go write some killer bullets that keep your prospect’s reading all the way to the “Buy Now” button!
| James Palmer is a freelance direct response copywriter who specializes in creating online sales letters, landing pages, and other marketing material that make people money. He has written for Bob Bly, Early to Rise, and a wide variety of businesses both large and small. Please visit his blog at The Copywriting Blog. For his free report, “6 Copywriting Mistakes Online Marketers Make That Absolutely KILL Response,” sign up at http://www.jamesmpalmer.com/newsletter.htm. |
What Every Business Owner Needs to Know About Web 2.0
August 1, 2008
Over at the Church of the Customer blog, Jackie Huba writes of a horrible customer service experience she endured as she tried to purchase a gift certificate as a gift for a friend.
In Handling fee, or manhandled? Jackie writes candidly of her experience. Fortunately, the business owner is web savvy enough to have a Google Alert set to alert her to when her business is being discussed on Web 2.0. She found Jackie’s post, commented and not only was able to have the opportunity to try to “heal” the damaged relationship, but she was also alerted to a serious problem in her business.
However, the business owner did get a chance to “peek” in on what people thought about the practice of charging a handling fee for a gift certificate.
One of my favorite sayings lately is: “Wisdom is when you learn from other people’s experience.” This spa owner’s “experience” is your opportunity to gain business wisdom won by the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune of another’s experience.
- Treat every customer like they’re a “POWER CUSTOMER”. (I cover the topic of POWER CUSTOMERS in my book Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results.) Bloggers are the ULTIMATE power customers- especially a blogger with an RSS feed with over 196,000 subscribers!
- Remember that if someone is satisfied with the service provided by your business, they’ll tell 3 people. If they’re upset, they’ll tell on average, 16. (That’s assuming they don’t have a blog.)
- If you haven’t already, set up a Google Alert for your business name. A Google Alert will alert you to when your business (or you) are the topic of discussion on the millions of blogs and other websites on the internet!
- Have your own PLATFORM to defend yourself.
Because even after the the spa owner above has made her apology/explanation via the comments section of the blog, many of the blogs readers won’t find it hidden in the dozens of comments. Another disturbing fact is that the original blog post will be there FOREVER! It may achieve a rank of #1 when someone searches for your business!!! (Blogs have a way of dominating the search engine results.)
If this isn’t the most compelling reason why YOUR business should have it’s own blog, I can’t think of a better one.
Visit Acumen Web Services to get your own business blog.
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8 Week Power Blog Launch
