You can buy attention (advertising)
You can beg for attention from the media (PR)
You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales)
Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hat tip to Randy for opening my eyes to the simplicity of this as an explanation of social media marketing.
source: Web Ink Now
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Mashable’s Spark of Genius series review of “BookFresh”:
Quick Pitch: BookFresh makes it easy for new and existing customers to connect with businesses and schedule an appointment online.
Genius Idea: BookFresh is an online appointment book that small businesses can use to easily schedule appointments for their services, take payments online and integrate with existing websites or even Facebook.
I love being able to schedule appointments with businesses online. I don’t always have time to schedule an appointment during business hours (or more to the point, I forget to schedule during business hours) and being able to see availabilities and schedule things in advance is always really nice. BookFresh (formerly HourTown) is a whole suite of tools for small businesses to integrate into their online sites.
With it, customers can make appointments online, pay in advance (via PayPal), get an e-mail reminder of the appointment, and even schedule an appointment from a company’s Facebook page. BookFresh will send business owners SMS messages when an appointment is made, lets them sync their appointment book with iCal or Google Calendar and review appointments before confirming them. BookFresh also has an iPhone app for businesses to keep track of their appointments and bookings.
[more...]
I think that having the ability to book an appointment with a business via their Facebook or other social profiles could definitely help a small business owner stand out from the crowd.
Two years ago, when Facebook launched its advertising platform, it included a “pay per install” choice. Since then, millions of dollars have been spent on application install campaigns. Many application brands, however, are realizing the difficulty in getting users to return regularly – identifying a serious weekness in this type of advertising model.
Because of this, advertisers are turning to a “pay per fan” model which takes advantage of the greater number of people who remain fans long after they abandon the initial application. As far as I can tell, many brand networks trying this new pay per fan approach seem to like it.
Look forward to this tactic to be wide-spread as everyone searches for ways to remarketing to existing customers and fans.
What if you could follow Dr. Izzy Stevens on Twitter? Or be friends with Greg House on Facebook? What if, during the episode, they were filmed actually using these services – or making reference to their Facebook account?
Networks like ABC or FOX are really missing out on another “in” to their audience. Countless fan pages exist, “Official” show websites exist, but let’s bring TV into real life. Let’s let fictional characters encourage interaction with their fans in real life.
All of the networks except CBS seem to have a basic understanding of where the world of entertainment is going. Hulu is supported by ABC, NBC, FOX, and many others is the leading provider of studio content.
So, what do you say, Big Networks? Are you interested in being the first to step into this uncharted marketing territory?
Micro-blogging is a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates (usually 140 characters or fewer) or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging,email, digital audio or the web.
The content of a micro-blog differs from a traditional blog in that it is typically more topical, smaller in aggregate file size (e.g. text, audio or video) but is the same in that people utilize it for both business and individual reasons. Many micro-blogs provide this short commentary on a person-to-person level, or share news about a company’s products and services.
Wikipedia
The Quaker Oats billboard on Western Avenue in Seattle. (Mónica Guzmán/Seattle P-I)
What some have deemed an marketing flop, we are calling genius.
Quaker Oats recently started displaying billboards with half the Quaker Oat guy, and a simple phrase:
“Go humans go”
The point?
Just type “go humans go” into any major search engine.
The “Go humans go” slogan is being used in many advertising outlets including television, billboards and print publications. Additionally, you can already see “Go human go” integrated into the Quaker Oats official website at QuakerOats.com.
On the site, you can read about the health benefits of their products, view a catalog, read cooking tips and vote on the best recipes. There is also a section for healthcare professionals to learn about why they should recommend Quaker Oats products.
The website goes on to explain how, in these tough economic times, a bowl of oatmeal only costs about twenty-five cents.
They may not be delivering a powerful marketing message on the billboards, but the amount of conversation they have generated on the web is more than paying for its self.
Why is it relevant? Because in today’s economy, saving money, staying healthy, and doing it “yourself”, is all the rage. Kudos to them for capitalizing on those three hot-buttons.
