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. Read the rest of this entry

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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?

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. Read the rest of this entry

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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,

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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. Read the rest of this entry

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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, Read the rest of this entry

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