Archive for February, 2011
Marketers, people are cynical, and hype is not the antidote.
The chorus of marketing voices has become cacophonous to the point where advertisers and their customers have tuned it out as so much white noise or have become hardened against it. We think the following makes sense and will help to separate you from the countless “dog and pony” shows.
1. Conduct a thorough competitive analysis.
• Marketers are becoming smarter, so competitive advantage is harder. Everything is online. It’s never been so easy to see what your competition is doing from a presentation perspective.
• Assess your current competitive situation
• Who are your competitors?
• What are your core strengths/weaknesses?
• What current and emerging opportunities and threats are imposed by the competitive environment?
• Use this information to critically evaluate your value proposition.
2. Explore and test new media.
• When we polled our staff, asking, “What are the most significant changes in marketing technology or tactics from a year ago?” new and emerging media were high on their radars.
• Social networks. Even if you’re not ready for a presence there, go there; find your customers and observe them. Listen to what they’re saying.
• According to a 2007 Deloitte survey of 2,200 U.S. consumers between the ages of 13 and 75, 85% of Gen Xers said they are influenced by someone’s recommendation.
• Mobile Landing Pages and Mobile ad placement. Optimization for mobile will be different than for PCs. Begin to monitor and test now.
Posted by eBrand Media Research Department in Advertising, Marketing, Opinions on February 18th, 2011
Less Than Half of Marketers “Like” Facebook’s ROI
By Tom Polanski, EVP, eBrand Media and eBrand Interactive
Despite all of the talk about audience engagement, most advertisers, marketers, algorithms, and bots, miss one overarching factor, the human psychology. The mind of a person, colored by moods, remembrances of events past, and fear of potentialities yet to be lived, can’t be predicted or relied upon.
One person’s floor is another person’s ceiling. One end-user’s idea of a compelling ad is another end users idea of garbage. We are seldom a consensus.
I believe search will always be king because it makes us feel empowered. We are taking actions that we have decided to take to find something. And that is a different psychology from the person who goes to Facebook to read their feed, and to update their status.
Posted by Tom Polanski in Facebook, Twitter on February 9th, 2011