by Susan Carroll | Sep 14, 2011 | Random
Giving Customers What They Want
Before “customer-centric” marketing grabbed the ear of the executive suite copywriters were crying in the wilderness: “Give your customers what they want.” In the process of writing copy, the copywriter has to make stuff up they think the customer wants — not just what they want to hear. In doing so, they are providing their clients with invaluable creativity at a very reasonable price. But all too often, when a copywriter even questions a creative brief, or makes a suggestion not on the brief, they get their hands slapped.
I’d like to remind marketers to think of customers/potential customers as an audience, rather than a target, and the copywriter as a translator between the two. Equip your writer with your ideas, the support information they ask for and work with them on a direction. If you don’t give them that, don’t be surprised when they “fill in the blanks” differently than you expect. The writer should be encouraged to make suggestions about what the product can deliver, not discouraged.
Speak Softly and Listen to Your Copywriter
Think how you would feel if you were the object of a sales pitch, and you’ll understand the challenge the writer faces as the intermediary between you and your customer. Ask yourself these questions when reviewing your copy:
“Do I want to be yelled at?”
(how many times must you say free and how loud?)
“Do I believe that?”
“Does that sound true?”
“Am I giving the person an idea they can focus on?”
“Am I putting the person to sleep with too much information?”
“Am I giving the person too little information?”
“Does the information relate to a need or desire the person has?”
“Am I wasting this person’s time by using the same words my competitor’s use?”
“Why would they choose me over my competition?”
“Do I like listening to ‘corp speak’ or do I prefer conversations?”
by Susan Carroll | Sep 7, 2011 | Random
What is RSS? Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary (RSS) finds and gathers headlines and snippets of content (both text and multimedia) together with their links from across the web. RSS content management software organizes these feeds by topic, and sometimes category. Users select the topics they want to read about through a news feed, either installed on their computer or through an online service, such as delicious (which I use through my Yahoo! account) or newsgator. Then you can have the service deliver the latest news of current interest to you to your email. Here’s a list of RSS readers and aggregators.
By subscribing to an RSS feed, you can stay up to the minute with industry buzz. RSS is a great tool for market research and competitive analysis. If there’s a news or blog storm brewing, you’ll be among the first to know about it.
By syndicating your content through RSS, you’re creating a viral niche marketing opportunity – with a virtually unlimited ability to be linked by any number of subscribers or sites. As a promotional tool you can
Feature your news aggregator button on your site. Put an RSS newsfeed on the news section of your website, and news sources interested in your topic may find you even if you never send them a news release.
Unlike email marketing, the opt-in is built-in.
RSS is spam-free, so you don’t have to worry about your information getting blocked.
What’s more, you can pick up fresh content daily to add to your site, since copyright on shared content has been cleared by the posting source. Timely commentaries direct from your website or blog, if RSS enabled, create more exposure for your company.
You can find those who’ve bookmarked a topic you’re interested or engaged in. And then add them to your network and share bookmarks back and forth. Sites where you frequently post and to which you link may feature your RSS link — so it’s a great link building tool. With a bit of dedication, you can become an industry insider in a topical circle on the web.
The Ultimate Niche Marketing Tool
The beauty of RSS for marketers is that your prospect is already receptive to your message. RSS allows the user ultimate control over how and when they receive information, which can comethrough their TiVO, iPOD, text message, satellite radio, and other consumer-controlled media. In fact, RSS is increasingly
interactive: Yahoo! Shopping allows users to create lists of products they like or don’t like, and distribute these lists via RSS. So, although it’s a bit of a double-edged sword if your news isn’t necessarily good news, marketers who are on their toes can really tune into their customers.
American Life Project found that 6 million Americans use RSS aggregators for online news in 2006. Slashdot.org, a leading edge technology blog, showed that 73 percent of its existing RSS users intend to increase their RSS consumption this year.
Ready for RSS Advertising?
Advertising embedded in RSS feeds is a hot topic. You can find case studies on Pheedo and other web analysis services. Pheedo as well as FeedBurner and Syndicate IQ provide RSS Metrics. You can get statistics on the daily circulation, activity, advertising stats and the number of requests for your feed.
by Susan Carroll | Mar 16, 2011 | Random
The day before the terrible Tsunami struck Japan, Yahoo! News carried a story entitled “Will March 19 ‘Supermoon’ Trigger Natural Disasters?” picked up from Life’s Little Mysteries (March 10). After a quick read it was clear that the term “Supermoon” was coined by an astrologer, but the possibility that the moon might have a greater pull on ocean tides, thus relieving pressure on the tectonic plates (especially in the Northwest U.S.) was posited by a U. of Washington scientist. I did wonder if the 8.9 earthquake may have been affected by this closeness, called a perigee. But by the 4th paragraph it was clear that it’s the fullness of the moon, not it’s distance, that affects tides. Theoretically it should affect seismic activity, but scientifically there has not been any historic correlation.
Life’s Little Mysteries (March 11 story) clarifies the correlation between seismic activity and the moon. A scientist friend of mine said that the “Supermoon” was a “hoax”. But that’s not quite true. The “Supermoon” is really a superb moon. It underscored to me that words do matter — especially about the way we interpret facts vs. ideas. And that neither science nor mysticism is clearly separated in our concept of the world. The only thing that clarifies the distinction is the use of words.
by Susan Carroll | Nov 17, 2010 | Random
Playing Literati on Yahoo! the other day, I decided to look at the banner ad interrupting my game and noticed it was for “Pristiq”. Well, I like Pristiq very much, so I actually read this ad: All it had was the “Pristiq” logo and a scrolling list of “Important Safety Information” along with a button for “Important Safety Information” and a link to their website.
The most important safety information is so dull and long that I doubt very many people want to read it on a banner ad. I mean, this ad didn’t even show the wind-up doll. There was nothing but the brand’s logo on it. Not even the FDA-approved indication.
I propose making the important safety information more palatable to the average consumer — after all, I’m a consumer myself. Why not something like, “Pristiq, like all anti-depressants in its class, has not been ok’d by the FDA for adolescents or pregant women. Also, people with X, Y, Z problems really need to be careful about it. For more safety information click here.
by Susan Carroll | Sep 29, 2010 | Random
When I first entered the advertising business, one of the best parts was the “brainstorming” session. Since then I’ve seen the technique either drying up or being used in increasingly disjointed ways during my travels through ad agency lands. Too often, a brainstorm is done under the duress of an impending storm, where the client needs a solution the next day. Or, the brainstorm doesn’t include a key player.
However, brainstorming best practices are starting to make a come back. “North Carolina State University researchers have found that steps taken to make brainstorming sessions more productive can actually lead to success in real-world business environments.” says a recent story in the Washington Post, “The researchers also found one variable that can negate any potential benefits of high quality brainstorming: managerial bias. If a team leader comes into the brainstorming process with well-known preconceived notions, that effectively short-circuits the brainstorming effort — and using best practices will not help.”
by Susan Carroll | Jan 21, 2009 | Random
Is the Oath of Office written grammatically? Or grammatically written? And who actually messed up? Or who messed up, actually? Was it President Obama or Chief Justice Roberts?
Should “faithfully” come, as an adverb, at the end of the sentence, to modify the whole sentence. Or after “execute”? Or is the oath correctly written with “faithfully” as an adjective placed before “execute”?
Protocol-wise, whose interpretation matters most: Obama, Justice Roberts or God. Apparently Justice Roberts added, “So help you God?” or “So help you God.” at the end.
This last bit– whether declarative or posed as a question — is especially interesting: Is the Chief Justice asking if the President wants God’s help, giving him God’s blessing, or telling him to start praying?
Here’s the actual written oath:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Where does the oath of office come from? Marvin Pinkert, executive director of the National Archives Experience, displays several original documents regarding the presidential oath of office. Getty Images. From NPR website.
by Susan Carroll | Jan 16, 2009 | Random
Today there’s a lively discussion about Blogging, Social Media and Ethics on MarketingProfs. The question is whether or not it’s right to outsource your corporate blog to a ghostwriter. Some have issues with transparency, others with revealing too much to the competition. However, having a pro outside the organization — an outsider looking in, looking out — writing your blog who is sensitive to the issues and ethical, too makes sense.
I agree with both camps. First off, who wants to read your blog? If it’s dull and corporate, no one — except possibly your competition trying to uncover strategy. Also, why in the world would a CEO want to publicly discuss his business? GM’s CEO has done a stellar job of this. But maybe he should have spent more time watching the bottom line? I found this commentary on corporate blogging from a PR pro insightful.
Using a blog to create a conversation with potential clients is a good idea. If you can show them that you’re thinking about issues that concern them. And want to have them control the conversation.
Copy editing is definitely a good idea (someone of you had “their” instead of “there”) on a corporate blog. If you have one person overseeing the contracted writer/blogger…who’s available on a daily basis…outsourcing to a pro is a great idea: Simply give them a byline as editor to solve the transparency issue.
by Susan Carroll | Oct 6, 2008 | Random
Oh boy, now the National Academy of Sciences is in on this neural marketing thing. Wine tasters thought “more expensive” were “more pleasant’ and even experienced greater pleasant sensations in the neo-cortex, even though, in reality there were no differences in the wine. Hmmm, I guess advertising’s “snoot appeal” can now be proven!
Hmmm, I wonder who funded this study, using MRI brain scans, at the California Institute of Technology? Next thing you know, panels will have their brains wired up during concept testing.
