This story is so incredible to me, I don’t have anything to add to it, frankly.
Though I do wonder:
A great article this month on how blogs influence consumer purchases. (Read the article here.) It concerns Jupiter Research’s latest findings that, among other things, consumers trust and make buying decisions based on things they read in blogs, more so than on social networking sites.
Just speculating, I would have to say this is because most social network pages – either a Twitter or a wall post on Facebook – are generally short, and non-descript. Social network messaging is really for the person who wants to be heard, but doesn’t have the ability to write anything longer than, oh, say, 140 characters at a pop. A blog post, on the other hand, has the time to explain its point properly. So if one were cruising the blogosphere and found information the new Google Phone, they might be more inclined to believe the blogger, who created several paragraphs reviewing it, than they would the person who tweets, “Google Phone sucks.”
What’s your opinion? Why would blogs be better for business than social networks?
You may or may not have heard the term - microsite. What is it? Why would one consider developing a microsite? What is a microsite’s purpose? How should it be promoted?
Not to be confused with Micro Machines (a miniature Hot Wheels toy car rip-off made popular in the late 80s by their fast talking spokesperson), micro sites are smaller versions of a comprehensive Web site. Consisting of one to a few pages, micro sites have an individual and specific message and are often an extension of a larger corporate site. Some times used to provide content for a particular promotion, product, event, or idea, microsites live on their own and have a unique domain name. In many cases, microsites are developed to bring attention to a particular facet of a business/organization. For instance, here’s a microsite built by Audi to demonstrate how customers can synch their iPods with Audi’s built-in electronic interfaces. Other microsites are simply developed to make a connection between content in high demand and a company’s marketing message. For example, a garden nursery could develop an educational micro site about protecting your plants in the winter and generate awareness for their own business by pulling traffic from potential customers searching for this kind of content.
Situations in which a micro site makes sense:
- You have a specific campaign, promotion, or event that you would like to devote attention to separate from your main Web site.
- You have a product launch that necessitates a separate campaign with which you will drive traffic to a dedicated micro site.
- Your features and benefits message deviates by target audience specific (e.g. microsite about station wagons for soccer moms vs. microsite about station wagons for guys who play the drums, surf, or tailgate).
- You plan to determine the success of messages, layouts, or even product concepts with a select audience (i.e. using a micro site as a testing ground).
Situations in which time and budget is better spent on another tactic:
- There is a lack of demand for micro site content/subject matter
- There is a lack of marketing to support the micro site
- There is a lack of tracking to measure success
How to Promote
Paid Search (PPC) - Many microsites are promoted with paid search, PPC, SEM or whatever else we’re calling it these days. The most common reasons are speed to market, greater control over traffic and audience, and many microsites (for whatever reason) are often built in flash. As you may know flash and SEO are like bats and wind turbines - the don’t mix too well despite the fact that Google is at least trying [link to http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/06/improved-flash-indexing.html].
Natural Search (SEO) - As a matter of discipline and good practice, many microsites are optimized for search. And well they should be. As mentioned above, due to the short lifespan of many micro sites, natural search is not often the preferred method of online promotion, especially for event sites, limited time offers and other sites with a ticking clock.
Social Media - Social is being used more and more to not only take a temperature check on conversations taking place online, but also to tap networks and ongoing discussion streams. Sites like Eventful, Upcoming, StumbleUpon, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, Digg, Del.icio.us, Epinions, Yelp, Twitter, etc. etc. etc. can all be used to place content that drives interest, awareness and eyeballs to a micro site.
Other Promotional Tactics - What other tactics can be used to drive traffic? Well, depending on the message, campaign and budget, one should consider online display, traditional advertising, public relations, link building, and - what the hell - why not slap a link on the main site too.
Some Examples from Your Friends at Mighty Interactive
Promotional Microsite - Fujitsu Eclipse Contest
Event Microsite - Masterpiece Replayed Exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum
Educational Microsite - A Guide to Prescott sponsored by a local master-planned community
Yes, I’m sorry, but another social bookmarking tool. This one, however, I kind of like, and think you ought to give a shot to - particularly if you’re a reformed del.icio.us user.
Twine is a new site that, like most of the sites I learn about, was added as a new source on FriendFeed. I set up a new account where I’ll be keeping articles and information for the Mighty blog now, because frankly I really like it.
Why? Because it’s about as easy to use as del.icio.us, (or “delicious.com,” now that they’ve sold out to the anti domain hack crowd,) but it manages to fill out the tags and description fields for me.
Am I that lazy I can’t write a description for my picks? No, but I am that busy. Frankly, I often just want to notate neat stuff quickly and move on, not write yet another post. Also, since it automatically determines the best possible tags, this means most users can give a story the wrong tags, thereby screwing up the search system. Frankly it always bothered me that with del.icio.us I had to guess at every possible spelling of a tag, because God knows how someone else might try to find the thing I wanted them to know about.
So, anyway, I’d give it a spin if you have a mind to try something new. It’s not as sexy as StumbleUpon, but it at least works a little easier to use than Mister Wong.
The Yahoo! web analytics platform launched this week which is basically IndexTools if you are familiar with them. IndexTools.com also just redirects to Yahoo!’s web analytics page so it looks like they are no longer a stand alone company but just under Yahoo! now.
From the features section it looks like you can create your own custom reports, provides real time stats, and segmentation selectors. Other than that it has your standard analytics feature set. One of the key features being real time stats as compared to google where it usually takes up to 24 hours for your statistics to update.
Has anybody tried the Yahoo! web analytics platform yet?
Recently, I was walking around the office and was attracted by this cartoon. What does it mean?
I think it’s telling us that companies need have a strategy in order to create a competitive advantage in their field. This strategy is synonymous with yes….CREATIVITY!
If you have nothing…and I mean, you “can’t compete on price…quality, features or service,” then you need to have creativity work for you! Of course, creativity isn’t something that you can just scoop up in a minute. You need to think in and outside the box in order to evaluate the unique qualities of your business and then represent them through innovative marketing and branding tactics.
After all, that’s what creativity is:
“the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.” (dictionary.com)
Brand Image
Good news is that creativity is within reach of everyone. You don’t need to have the most innovative product, just be able to sell it! How? Well first off, you will need to satisfy the needs of your customers in order to sustain your success. That is, you must have a decent product or service, just not necessarily the #1 rated in the market. There are many firms who have created a competitive advantage not on their product or service offering quality, but on their creativity and brand image.
Any come to mind?
• How about Geico using the “gecko lizard” to target young audiences? Is Geico insurance anything exceptional?
• McDonald’s? They have made a fortune on their image! They are proof that you can package artery-clogging “Supersized” meals and sell them when paired with images of active lifestyles.
So, perfect examples of creativity put to work on whatever it may be. The key is these companies are able to create meaningful representations in the minds of consumers.
On the other hand, I see many great companies that I wish had better marketing and branding efforts because they have a great product or service. They aren’t hopeless; they’re just lacking the creativity necessary to stand out or at least reach larger portions of their target markets. Hopefully they can do this before it’s too late.
Bottom Line
How you brand and present your company will likely be the first and most lasting impression customers will hold of you. This is why having creative campaigns that resonate are crucial for successful businesses. Likewise, you can have the best product out there, but if you don’t know how to market it, then some inferior but more creative entity will get the profits. So go ahead…mix it up, make a name for yourself and get creative with your ideas.
As for the cartoon…..it’s not fraud, it’s just common sense.
Pinnacle West's corporate website was dated and was perceived by internal marketing and investment relations executives as no longer reflecting the goals of the company nor needs of the customers and shareholders.
Internet marketing continues to heat up locally, with interactive agency Mighty Interactive recently signing six new clients including several well-known Arizona brands.
