Have you heard the latest news?  Probably.

Have you BEEN the latest news? Probably not.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Buzz Marketing.  It isn’t new — actually, it’s been around since well before the Internet.  Heck, it’s been around since before computers.  The only difference is that now, the Internet and computers make buzz marketing a lot more accessible to average companies.

It has many definitions that are all open to interpretation, but in a nutshell, buzz marketing is about making yourself or your product the subject of conversations.  Lots of them.  It could be based upon something that you do or something that you sell, something you produce or something you work with, but either way, buzz marketing is one of the best ways for certain companies to get the word out that they want and to get the exposure that they need.

Unlike other forms of Internet marketing like social media marketing or search engine optimization, buzz marketing isn’t for every business.  Some simply do not have a need to get “buzzed”.  Before a company decides whether or not they are “buzzworthy” they should ask themselves a few questions:

1. Do I offer anything unique?
2. If not, is anything about the way I offer it unique?
3. If not, is anything about ME or anyone in the organization unique or interesting?

At this point, you should have been able to answer yes to one or more of these questions.  If not, perhaps buzz marketing isn’t for you.

Then again, it might be.  We’ll assume it is for now.

With that said, what happens in a buzz campaign.  Simply stated, news is made and put out into the world.  Through blogs, press releases, interviews, videos, and other media the news is created.  Then, it is put out for all of the world to see through social media.  That’s it.  It isn’t rocket science to understand, but it is extremely difficult to make it happen properly.

If you want more info on video marketing, check out this how-to at video marketing strategies!

When Nike+ launched two years ago, there were many skeptics.  Other corporations have tried to create a strong social network for their users.  The results have been horrendous for most, but Nike has been able to build their brand and establish strong avenues of interactions with their customers through this social network.

What did they do that Coke, General Motors, and several other large corporations did not do?

First, they gave the platform connectivity and interactivity.  Using a device within the running shoes themselves, members can track every run they do and keep accurate records of how well they are doing.  This in itself has an appeal to those who are serious about running, but Nike+ took it a step further by allowing users to communicate with other runners around the globe.  The mutual interest that can often be called a passion gave the network the “legs” to bring people in and keep them coming back.

The second thing they did was give purpose to the network.  Through events that could only be coordinated online do to logistical challenges of multiple-locations worldwide, Nike+ made itself into a hub for runners to participate with distant peers towards common goals.  Earlier this year, nearly a million users logged on and signed up to run a 10K race.  It was sponsored by Nike simultaneously in 25 cities.

In a recent interview that Businessweek’s Jay Greene had with Stefan Olander, global director of Nike consumer connections, the enthusiasm for the products and network were evicent.  Skeptics were harsh when the network first started, but its success in accumulating active users has made most silence their criticisms.

But in the end, the real question is, “Has Nike+ helped the company sell more running shoes?”

“Absolutely, yes,” said Olander. “We’ve seen great conversions so what we do in our continuous service is we see the relative market share that we gain from other brands and it gives us a tremendous opportunity.  If someone is used to running in another brand and they like another brand, once you start using Nike+ you have a really good reason to try out Nike’s line of shoes.

“We like to think we have a fantastic running shoe line but a lot of that is just what you’re used to so if someone is used to another brand the only reason could be communication.  Another reason is the community and you have another reason to try it out.”

While sales of related products have hit $56 million, it is a drop in the bucket for a company that posted $18.63 billion in sales in fiscal 2008. For a real impact that would raise the eyebrows of other corporations, there would need to be a bigger splash that crossed several products, not just the running shoe niche that appeals mostly to hard-core users.

“I am convinced that the learnings we’ve drawn from what Plus does from a behavioral perspective – absolutely we’ll be to use that and replicate it,” Olander continued.  “I don’t think that it necessarily means always using the same technological solution with a chip in your shoe and a receiver but the insight that you can use digital technology to enhance someone’s performance and make sure that there is both a community angle of it and all the social attraction – all those layers we can definitely use in other categories.”

With a beta launch of their Ballers Network on Facebook underway and plans for future expansion into other products, it is possible that Nike could be the first major corporation to truly enhance their bottom line through social networking.

The keys to launching a strong corporate social networking site are:

• User Focus - Make it useful, fun, and informative for your customers and potential customers.  People do not want to participate in networks that simply advertise new products or offer specials.
• Niche Building - Having a social network is nice, but creating one that is THE place to go for participants passionate in a particular niche is extremely important when it comes to making a network stand out.
• Product Tie-Ins - In the end, a social network should make a splash on the bottom line.  People have shown that they are willing to spend money on a product if the benefits work both ways: the product must enhance the use of the network and the network must enhance the use of the product.
• Event Tie-Ins - The Internet is loaded with ways to learn about and register for events.  By using the social network to improve the efficiency and communication of events, especially ones that are locally focused but involve multiple venues, the overall value of the network will be enhanced.
• Set Community Goals - Nike+ is getting close to logging 100 Million Miles amongst their users.  To promote this, they ask a very simple question:

After all is said and done, don’t forget.  A social network is made for socializing.  There should be ways for users to communicate with each other as well as management within the corporation.  If all of these things are done, a strong social network can be built that will succeed where most others have failed. Here’s a video advertisement about the Nike product.

Content Marketing has emerged as one of the hottest marketing tools on the web. Whether you are using social media tools such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook or any other platforms, marketing comes down to content. Of course marketing has always been about content in one way or the other. Marketing messages are all contents but the content marketing today is different than what it used to be in the past. Content marketing today is what we call “marketing through education.”

We all know there are millions of blogs floating on the internet today. Almost 75% of these blogs are created not to maintain a personal diary of any sort but with a motive to earn revenue. The reason is simple – compelling content generates attention. This is the reason why corporate blogs have surfaced on the web. They sell products and services not through direct marketing but through content marketing. Any information that can educate people in a genuine way will certainly generate interest which will convert.

When we use social media platform what is one thing that we all chant about – participate, provide value and become an influential part of the community. This is not possible if we simply try and sell product. It is possible if we engage with meaningful content and conversation. Whether we are acting as an individual on social media sites or as a company, conversation is important. Participation and engagement is of equal importance because without it your strategy to market through content will fail.

Recently we have been seeing more and more businesses getting into social media space. It would be safe to say that soon we will see content marketing and conversation marketing slowly take over the traditional marketing approach. The way your potential customers think have changed. It is about time we all switch our approach to marketing and embrace both content marketing and conversation marketing as a prime marketing tool.

We will get more into content and conversation marketing as we move along.

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ChirpMarketing

a form of marketing that is used to convey short messages that are highly centralized, can create impact and grab target market’s attention without them having to spend substantial amount of time looking at the marketing message.

ChirpMarketer

any person or business who uses Twitter or other similar services to create brand awareness with short, enticing messages that call for action

Marketing on Twitter therefore is ChirpMarketing and anyone using Twitter to market are ChirpMarketers.

Twitter as you all know is one of the best online communication tools out there. It helps you connect with other users and share your views and ideas. The key to any marketing strategy is to communicate, which can be through content, images, video or any other forms of marketing. Marketing thrives on communication and communication online thrives on Twitter to say the least. Twitter has emerged as one of the most influential marketing platform and this is the reason why we are seeing more and more companies diving into it.

The growth of Twitter has been nothing short of a miracle. Although the service itself has yet to see any form of revenue, more and more businesses are implementing Twitter into their marketing strategy. If you are a business and you don’t exist on twitter yet, you are losing a good share of your target market. Movies, retail products, services you name it and you will find businesses related to these on Twitter. There is a reason these businesses have taken the leap and embraced “chirpmarketing.” Communication is the key to building a presence and an influential presence can do good to your business in many ways.

Lets quick take a look at why your business should exist on twitter,

1. Communication - Marketing thrives on communication. Twitter gives you a platform to send messages that are short yet effective. The 140 character limitation to some might be a pain but to effective marketers this is a blessing. If you can convey your message within 140 characters your consumers are most likely to pay attention to you rather than a sales copy that takes almost 30 minutes to read.
2. Branding - If you exist on Twitter, you exist on the web. Period. Twitter can tremendously help in creating brand through community participation.
3. Humanization - Twitter gives you a platform which helps you participate actively as an individual community member rather than a business as a whole. Think about it, how many businesses actually can and do share “what they are doing?” not very many. Twitter’s foundation is based on that very question that allows you to participate without being tied to marketing itself.
4. Customer Service – Lately I have been more inclined to use twitter search rather than google when I am looking for customer service for a particular business. Whether it is an airline ticket that I bought or problem with my hosting service, I am tempted to “@” them on twitter rather than call and wait for hours.
5. Trust - Social Media presence is built on “trust factor” and the same rule applies on twitter as well. Twitter gives you a platform that hosts millions of active users where you can gain presence within a short amount of time and build the trust factor. By the way, I recently bought a DELL computer although I am more inclined towards HP simply by seeing DELL’s active participation on Twitter, and of course recommendation from other Twitter users. Marketing isn’t simply about selling products, it is about influencing and Twitter helps you influence the market not through your business profile alone but through the community itself.

Let us quick take a look at a graph that shows the growth of Twitter since its launch in 2006,

You can clearly see from the image above that twitter has enjoyed a steady growth. I can almost guarantee that by the end of 2009 we will be seeing more and more businesses dropping off of Facebook and using twitter more aggressively as a marketing tool.

Are you chirping yet?

]]> http://marketinghackz.com/why-you-should-use-twitter-and-become-a-chirpmarketer/feed/ 8 http://marketinghackz.com/word-of-mouth-marketing-prevails-in-social-media/ http://marketinghackz.com/word-of-mouth-marketing-prevails-in-social-media/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:44:09 +0000 Ritu http://marketinghackz.com/?p=776

Before we even get started on this post I would like to confess something – I suck at making graphs and diagrams. I have been trying my hands on it lately so until I get better at it please bare with me. This is one of the reasons why I have been using “text” to explain my images. Others would have simply done it through their images without having to support their images with text to explain. Trust me I will get better .

If you look at the image above it is hard to make out anything. What this image shows is traditional marketing and social media marketing. The black arrows that you see are traditional marketing. The little black circles and sticks are of course your customers. As you can see the black arrows aren’t penetrating through the circle and the reason is because it is getting harder and harder to market using traditional media. For example, while watching your favorite show you hate to get up to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom. What do you do? You wait for commercials to come on. It is intrusive and we would rather ignore it.

The red arrow on the other hand is social media. You can clearly see that this is penetrating into the market and reaching a certain number of people. These people belong to one group, one community. Say facebook. If you are taking the right approach to social media marketing, one of these users might go into a different platform and talk about it. You can see from the image an arrow pointing to another user inside a smaller circle. Now this user might talk about it within their community and then may be hit the other community that he/she belongs to. Say Twitter.

As you can see, at first it penetrates into one community and slowly from there on it moves along from one community to another. Social media is simply word of mouth advertising. You don’t pay a dime, you simply participate, become a valuable member and penetrate into the market. Once you take care of that, each user will carry on the message without them even knowing that they are actually promoting your products and services.

Word of mouth advertising has been the holy grail of traditional marketing and it is true when it comes to social media marketing as well.

The title might seem a little odd but I will try to explain what I mean. Social Media marketing is a sector that most companies have recently embraced. The reason of course is because they see the potential of adding more to their sales number. That is the key to marketing and the only reason a way business can sustain – get more sales, make more money. No doubt about it.

Most businesses that use Social Media as a marketing tool don’t realize that social media isn’t traditional marketing. In the real world throwing a billboard on a crowded street might draw some attention but taking the same approach on the web with social media isn’t going to work. There is a reason why it is called social media – because you need to be social. The prime element of social media marketing is humanization of your business through active participation. By humanization I mean that your company needs to be seen as a person, an individual willing to participate and offer valuable suggestion to the community. If you offer nothing but products alone that is not marketing, we call that spam.

The key to social media marketing is making sure that your company is seen by the community as a human and not just a business. The meaning of humanization according to Merriam-Webster,

to represent as human : attribute human qualities to b: to adapt to human nature or use

If you would like to use social media as a marketing platform, take this meaning literally and apply it to your marketing strategy on social media. Show qualities of a human, in this case your customers. What are they talking about? What are they trying to achieve? What problems are they facing today? Whether or not your company has direct ways through products and services to answer these questions isn’t the key here, the key here is to be there. Be there to listen to them and participate with them like anyone else would. Not as a company but as a person. If you want to create a brand image on the web through social media, participation is a must. Social media isn’t about throwing a product with a 20% off coupon to get the sales rolling.

Let’s take an example of humanization. Dell as you all know is one of the leading brands when it comes to computers. They are one of the companies that have been utilizing the social media scene through different platforms such as blogging, social gaming, twitter, etc. Dell has quite a few Twitter accounts and as you can imagine not all of these accounts can be just “Dell.” They have actual person’s name that use these account. Lets take for example, RichardatDell. Please take a look at the image below,

Upon looking at the image you can see that this person doesn’t simply promote Dell’s products or services. He actually participates with other community members. I am 100% sure Dell doesn’t sell cowboy hats so it is obvious that there is a person to person communication going on in here that is well, personal and not business. This gives dell an edge among other businesses in social media who exist merely for promotion and not participation. This account from Dell shows humanization of company which tells potential customers “Hey, we care. We want to be part of your daily lives and want to share stuff with you just like you do. We are no different.” That is humanization. This in turn gives dell that added exposure and helps them build a community around their business.

We will cover more on Social Media Marketing (SMM) as we go. But for now if you want to market on social media just remember – Humanization.

The best person to endorse your products and services aren’t celebrities that get paid millions of dollars for an ad. Everyone knows they are bought and although in US celebrity endorsements are highly influential, it still beats the endorsement of a regular “normal joe.” The best person that could ever endorse your product is someone you don’t pay to do it but who actually pays you for your product and services. Your existing customers are the best marketing resource a business can ever have.

Turning your existing customers is one of those things that is easy to talk about but hard to implement. Few have successfully done it and many fail to even embrace this “top of the line” marketing approach.

If you were looking to buy a laptop and your friend suggests Toshiba, your friend is actually helping you make a decision (intentional) and he is also marketing for Toshiba (unintentional).

That is exactly what you want from your customer base – word of mouth marketing without them even knowing. Here are a few tips on how to achieve that :

1. Your product/service needs to be top of the line. Not in terms of luxury but in terms of what it is supposed to do. Create a product that fills a gap and you will have your customers talking about you.
2. Customer service is the holy grail of any business. Provide service that makes your competitor’s bite the dust and your customers will talk.
3. Build a community around your business and product. With internet growing day by day and with services like Twitter and Facebook, the need to create an existence on web isn’t an option – it is a necessity. Be seen by the masses and participate. Become a major player on social media scene and people will talk about you as a business which will turn into increased ROI.
4. Take negative feedback as a feedback and not criticism. Work on it, fix it. Your customers will talk when they have a bad experience and you make it good after hearing from them.
5. And finally, do not follow the norm. Think outside the box and be creative. Creativity is contagious…make your customers feel the disease and they will talk about you and the way you promote your products and services.

Like I said its easy in talks but really hard to implement. But to know whether or not it works for you, you have got to try .

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Everybody wants to be the best, the best there ever was and only few succeed. The reason – Only few dare to be different.

The above saying applies directly to marketers as well. Every one of us wants to be the best, the best to create a message that will compel others to buy our products or services. Sometimes we fail and sometimes we succeed. If you look at it with an open mind and a broader approach everyone is marketing something everyday whether or not marketing is their profession. While buying grocery we might tell our spouse a certain brand of wine is expensive than the other, we are unknowingly marketing someone else’s product. The point is that whether knowingly or unknowingly we are always promoting something.

But as a marketing professional you have got to sell something and this time you are doing it knowingly either for the check or for the brand image. Marketing is not hard, what is hard is to set yourself from the crowd. Each day we are bombarded with thousands of ads and even though we see ourselves as marketers we are no different than our own consumers. We ignore some ads and some catch our attention and compel us to buy. Here are 5 ways to set yourself apart from the rest of the crowd and become better at what we do which in this case is marketing,

1. Be creative : This is a no brainer. If you want to sell beer simply saying “Here is a new brand of beer that will get you drunk” might not be enough. Why? Because there is nothing creative about it. The message says what every other brand of beer says. I can’t stress the effectiveness of creativity in marketing. You know it, I know it but most of the times we fail to apply it. Marketing is nothing but a creative art, an art of generating ideas based upon what the current trend is and your demographic.
2. Speak their language not yours :  One thing that most marketers forget is to speak their target audience’s language. Who are you marketing to? Children? Men? Woman? A certain age group? Although every marketing department knows the answer to this they fail to apply this to their message. A child is more likely to respond to a message that caters to the way he/she understands. If you are promoting your product and services to an age group that is between 18-25, research the way they talk and do things and build your marketing message around them.
3. Don’t be a preacher : This might sound a little different than what you are used to hearing. Do not tell your potential customers what they need to do. They can make their own purchasing decision, thank you very much. The “Buy Me” marketing approach doesn’t work. Don’t be a preacher and tell your customers they “need” to purchase your product. Instead give them reasons as to why your product or service might be helpful….the “must” marketing strategy usually forces people and people hate to be forced. Let them choose, you guide them where they should go rather than telling them.
4. Lose the “me” and give them the “you” : Of course when you promote a product or service you have got to tell why your product is better but try not to be self centered. Lose the “me” and give them the reason why your product and service is there initially. Let the customers know why they matter and the reason why your product/service exists. It exists for a reason and the reason is because you have a target market – let your target market know why they are important rather than always talking why you are important to them. Make them feel special and they will in turn return the favor.
5. Take the feedback and apply it : There is a reason the saying “Failure is the key to success” seems to work for the most. If every marketing campaign a marketing department rolled out did well, it certainly would halt any chances of learning anything new. There are going to be a few times when your marketing campaign will go down the crap shooter. Take that one opportunity to learn what went wrong and suit your next marketing campaign according to the feedback you got from you failure. Failure truly can be the best “idea generation” source ever, so next time you fail do not frown. The next one you roll out will be good and then you can thank to the one that failed.

Hope you enjoyed these points. Let us know what you think and share some of your own tips.

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This particular ad that was created by SEGA was able to cause quite a buzz for them. One of the reason it was one of their successful and buzz causing marketing campaigns is because the ad is seen by many as taboo. Something that is not easily accepted by our culture. However, if you look at it closely and read the context of the ad there is nothing wrong with it. The ad says exactly what SEGA joystick could do for the gamers. The ad itself no doubt is controversial and can cause people to frown about it and I am sure some of you are frowning and thinking “what the hell,” right now. But that is what “Buzz Marketing” is all about.

There is nothing wrong with this ad. It is controversial and people might take it the other way but do you have to? Not exactly. Thats your personal choice as to how you want to see this ad. You can either see it as an ad that sends the message right to the point or you can see it as something taboo and unacceptable, this is totally upto you. But nevertheless, this sort of message gets the attention, makes people talk about it. It becomes a conversation starter. I am sure some of you remember the time when this ad debuted, share with us what it was like. Did you talk about it with your colleagues and friends? I can almost bet you did. This is what the purpose of buzz marketing is, to make you talk and get the message flowing with word of mouth marketing.

The text that on the ad that says “The More You Play The Harder It Gets” is actually true and once again its upto you how you take the message. SEGA also adds another text in the message that says “TO BE THIS GOOD IT TAKES AGES, TO BE THIS GOOD IT TAKES SEGA.” If you look at it closely you can see that SEGA spelled backwards is AGES and the marketing message ties in quite good with what they are trying to promote. The point is if you want to create some buzz, get some free advertising, you have to make people talk about it. And that is the essence of buzz marketing, promoting your products through word of mouth marketing.

Personally, there is nothing wrong with this ad. It is one of those ads that I have seen which I think embraces one of the holy grails of buzz marketing - taboo.

Each day from the time we wake up till the time we “hit the sack” we are exposed to thousands of ads. Most of them we simply ignore cause we are used to them. We get out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and read a newspaper, there it is hundreds of ads throwing their messages at us. We turn on the TV and watch our favorite show and there it is again – commercials that make us get up and do something else. Advertisements in general are hated by the masses. A marketers worst dream is their messages being ignored and this happens quite often.

The thing that makes people ignore your marketing messages and ads are the fact that they don’t have personality. Usually ads are plain and do not really catch potential customers eye or attention. Colors, message and the way an ad is presented has a lot to do when it comes to marketing effectively. When creating an ad don’t think of it as a marketing message but an art. Try to be different, think outside the box. Create a message, an ad that sets yourself apart from your competitors.

Here are 5 tips that might help you get started on marketing effectively and getting the attention that you deserve,

1. Top notch product : Yes, product! Marketing is directly related to your product isn’t it? This is one of the reason why your product or service has to be top notch. Don’t go marketing a product or service that is exactly similar to your competitors. What’s the point? Of course you might be able to garner new clients or customers but your competitor might still lead you as he probably already has a good share of market. Set yourself apart and if you don’t have a killer product forget about it. Marketing might work once but when your product fails to deliver it won’t work again. So create a product that catches the attention and then your marketing message itself becomes effective.
2. Cause controversy : People love to talk – good or bad, gossip is something that flows like a river and spreads like a wildfire. If you want your ads to create some buzz, don’t forget the controversy rule. It is effective, it will capture people’s attention and it usually works. However, controversial ads should be created with utmost care. We want good controversy. Of course with any controversial message there are going to be a few that are not going to be happy and talk negatively but exposure is exposure. As long as your main targeted market talks about it in a positive way, you are good to go.
3. Do not follow the norm : You all have probably heard the saying that if one sheep jumps off the cliff every other sheep just follows the first one. Same thing with marketing. Do not follow every little trend. Try to be different, be an artist not just another marketer. Think outside the box, dare to be different and rock the boat with your marketing skills. You do not have to be a great marketer, you just have to be creative and trust me it doesn’t take that long to come up with an idea that might rock your sales.
4. Secrecy is the key : People love secrets. I have already written an article regarding this but once again I would like to stress that if you want anything to hit the charts, secrecy works. Anything you want to hit big start it with a hint of secrecy. its like a spice that everyone loves to get a taste of. Secrets make people talk and talk some more. Although it might not work each time, if applied properly the “secret” marketing can do some wonders.
5. Double Meaning : Yup, double meaning. This is another way of setting your message apart. Create a message that can be taken in two ways. This makes people think. Of course the meaning has to directly connect with your product as well. And the second meaning, well, it has to be taboo or something that will make people talk. This ties back to the first point – be controversial. When people have two ways to think of something they will do exactly that and spread the message around to see what others think of it. 1,2,3 and the message goes viral.

If you would like to share tips with us please feel free to do so through your comments.

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