Category: marketing

Number One Tip for Making LinkedIn Connections

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.

Facebook Marketing Gone Wrong

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

“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

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

European Tech StartUps Take On Crowdsourcing

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!

Three Google-backed Sites that Blew My Mind

Have you ever wondered what types of start-ups Google would back up? Now is the time to satiate your curiosity and learn about some hidden gems in the new media landscape.

The industries represented in the Google Ventures portfolio come as no surprise. They range from software engineering and payment services to companies involved in scientific research and energy consumption. But three of the featured start-ups fascinated me the most:

English Central & the Power of Languages

English Central is language learning software that uses interactive (and current) video to teach English. As a non-native English speaker, I thought the platform was engaging and very intuitive to use. What is more, it makes the process of learning languages fun and enjoyable. I only wish they could develop it for other languages too.

Recorded Future & the Impulse for Predicting Trends

Recorded Future is an analytics engine that plays with the concept of predicting the future. It uses existing information online and creates a scientific approach to mapping trends. It is definitely a fun way to visualize data and rationalize the occurrence of certain events.

SCVNGR & the Fun of Games

SCVNGR is a gaming platform that invites people to visit places and perform certain tasks in order to win points. Recently, it drew tons of attention in the blogosphere as well as in mainstream media. I like it because it is based on the concept of games and entertainment, two activities people always want to be part of.

Did you see something else in the Google Ventures portfolio that grabbed your attention? Share it in the comments!

Photo credit: Jeremy Brooks

The Politics of a Site: Paying $4.3M for a Tourist Portal

Building a website can be expensive. Paying $15 annually for my WordPress domain name, for instance, is always painful. But if you plan on impressing readers with appearance rather than content, plan to spend a lot more. Like, millions.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Regional Development recently announced its plans to spend 6.5 million leva (about $4.3 million) on building a new travel portal to advertise the country as a major tourist destination. The site, which currently exists here, will be revamped to include a lot more multimedia content like photos and videos. It will also be available to be viewed in nine languages.

So how exactly is the money going to be spent?

According to the Bulgarian newspaper Money, the budget will be split into building the actual site, collecting professional content and then advertising it on the Internet. All in all, that should add up to $4.3M, right? Right.

It sounds like this project extends good ol’ corruption to the Web, allowing people with power to make irrational decisions on behalf of “the people.” Not sure who will be building the site or contributing content for it, but it must be someone famous. As a reader commented on the topic, “For 6.5M they might as well hire Lady Gaga to sing a song about Bulgaria, and keep the change.”

Photo credit: Kenny Miller

Disloyal newsletter readers, you have been saved

Newsletters are like expensive but unwanted food: you promise yourself to consume it but you never do. Like a piece of Rockford cheese sitting in your fridge, newsletters watch you from your inbox everyday. “Open me,” they whisper. Sometimes,  you open one with reluctance and browse through the featured content. But usually, you don’t even bother.

I remain one of the most disloyal newsletter readers. With excitement, I sign up to receive news about topics that truly interest me. Then, I easily archive those emails. I answer messages that seem urgent, and promise myself to go back and catch up on the informative articles in that newsletter. But I rarely do.

What is it about newsletters that makes them initially appealing and then ever-boring? Does the first read determine whether one would keep following the updates? Or does the headline make it worth checking out again? These questions started occupying my mind after I stumbled upon the Daily Beast.

In the middle of their home page, the Daily Beast has a “Cheat Sheet: Must Reads From All Over.” The section introduced international news and articles from different fields. I signed up for it and have been reading The Morning Scoop almost every day. Why?

The Morning Scoop | Daily Beast

Simple & Consistent Lay-Out

The format of The Morning Scoop is very simple with only three colors and minimum images.  The reader’s attention is focused strictly on the text. That does not happen often nowadays, does it?

Engaging & Informative Headlines

The headlines and sub-headlines of each brief are both engaging and informative. They trigger my curiosity and invite me to find out more. A recent Washington Post article about the art of writing headlines makes me appreciate this aspect of the newsletter even more.

Direct Referrals to Original Sources

At the end of each piece, there is a direct link to the source where the article was first published. If I am truly interested in the topic, I instantly visit that site and learn first-hand about the reported issue. I find this fair to me as an engaged reader and fair to the original source as it is getting a direct referral from the Daily Beast.

If you don’t have a favorite newsletter, check out the Daily Beast and share your thoughts and opinions!

Photo credit: quinn.anya

A doll within the doll: Landing pages on Facebook

Companies expanding their business pages within Facebook remind me of Russian nesting dolls—corporate sites bustle within the social network, while the social network grows within the larger Web. And all dolls look the same.

Have you noticed how identical Facebook business pages have become to company websites? The structure of your typical corporate site—an About Us page, a Contact Us page with FAQ and an eStore—seems to overlap with the now typical Facebook business page. This phenomenon proves that existing formats inevitably dictate the direction of development for new tools. So, it wasn’t too long before we saw landing pages emerge on Facebook.

Landing pages, or also known as lead capture pages, call the reader to action—they might ask you to fill out a form, visit a Web page or make a purchase. Landing pages present a technique for companies to attract leads and convert them into customers. That is why the experimentation with landing pages on Facebook, a topic tackled in a recent LinkedIn discussion, greatly intrigued me.

Kristin Warner, a social media strategist at Brand Tango, was asking members of the LinkedIn Group Social Media Today for examples of good Facebook “Become a Fan” landing pages. The comments that followed in the thread offered some valuable recommendations and marketing takeaways:
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Harris FloteBote & Audi: Enter to Win a Contest

Harris FloteBote, a marine craft manufacturer, has set up a Facebook page for photo contests. Its simplicity gives readers a sense of clarity and provides them with three ways to take action: enter the competition, vote for photos or invite friends. Audi has developed a similar contests’ page, asking the community to upload photographs and win a prize, to invite friends or to vote.

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MidWest Laboratories & Coca-Cola: Interactive Lay-out

The Facebook page of MidWest Laboratories asks people to simply “like” the company and its mission. The page is designed in a creative fashion with an arrow pointing to the Facebook Like button on top. Such interactive lay-out can be fun for people to respond to. Coca-Cola has developed a similar approach—a red bar on top of the Coca-Cola Facebook page, reads “Like us? Click “Like” above.”

Most online businesses are increasing customer conversions through landing pages on their company sites. That might no longer be enough, though. With the call-to-action format shifting to another platform, businesses will have to quickly adapt to the new environment. Please, do this creatively—sameness can only go that far.

Photo credit: John ‘K’

What is the Future of the News Release?

How is the news release adapting to the digital environment? This is a question I have pondered a lot recently and got a chance to ask at a marketing and PR panel this weekend. Sadly, no one could give me a satisfying answer. Maybe you can ponder with me?

News releases work well in the traditional media ecosystem. PR specialists pitch stories about their clients by contacting print publications, radio stations and TV channels. Usually, they spread the same content–press releases, event announcements, interviews–across different platforms in an attempt to increase publicity for their customers.

How the News Release is Distributed in Traditional Media

But this dynamic changes with the shift of traditional media online. In the era of convergence, we see the birth of hybrid media models and the intersection of video, audio and text on the Web. Unlike in traditional media, however, the delivery platform of digital news remains the same: all content is flying on the wings of the Internet.

How the news release is distributed in new media

Distributing the same content in the same environment raises some concerns.

Readers will inevitably feel disappointed by the lack of original reporting and the way too obvious copy-and-paste. Ten years ago, a New York Times reader might not have been a BBC viewer. But today’s audiences are accessing multiple sources of information and entertainment. Why would they remain loyal to one brand if other online newspapers are offering the absolute same coverage, distributed by an old-school PR agency? And how would advertisers react to a media organization that is losing its loyal readership?

Undoubtedly, the news release has to adapt to its new primary environment. It can no longer be only a denizen of print publications, radio stations or TV channels. The digital ecosystem has demanded a different approach from PR specialists. What would their response be?

Photo credits: bestfor / richard, when i was a bird, Susan NYC, Annie Ok, Tonymadrid Photography