Marketing Safari

Sexism in advertising

Point made...

How do you get likes on your Facebook page?

"How do I get likes on my Facebook page?" is a question I get a lot. Like if Facebook was a target group. It's not. It's a medium. It's a platform. It's a tool to reach your target group but not a target group in it self. 

That means it depends on your target group how you get likes on Facebook. The methods to do it can vary greatly, based on your target group. So just like you try to realize what your target group is interested in before your engage in other marketing activity, you need to do exactly the same for Facebook. Try to realize what pictures your target group likes to see, what topics they like to discuss, what videos they like to watch, what info they like to share. That is what you need to know before you start engaging Facebook. So find something your target group will love to share on Facebook.

It's not about how many likes you get. It's all about who likes you.

Hjörtur

ps. speaking of which, would you like to like my Facebook page?

 

Micro Copy Mayhem

Why don't people sign up? Finish the form? Follow the instructions?

While copy writing is something most people realize the importance off, I don't think many people realize the importance of micro-copy. So what is micro-copy?

It's all those small words that explain to you what you are doing or what you should do next. Usually just a single word or a short phrase. There is a simple error of thought that most websites suffer from which I'm going to correct right here and right now:

Do not write the micro-copy from the viewpoint of the company, but the viewpoint of the reader!

This is crucial. It is not about what you want them to do, but why they would want to do it. The wrong wording here can actually be really damaging to your conversion. Let's look at an example. A friend of mine has a website for a computer game. To start playing the game people had to register. Nothing much, nothing complicated, just a name and an email address. The link people had to click on to start that process was called "Register". 

Now, who would want to "register" on a website you don't know? You might want to "register" to get the right to vote, or with the IRS because the law says you must, but it is not something you're eager to do, because it sounds something serious. 

So he changed the word from "Register" to "Play now". People still needed to provide a name and an email address and everything else was just like it had been before. The results of changing that one word were mind-blowing. Over 100% increase in conversion of visitors to players!

So how is your micro-copy? Do people need to "register" on your site or can they "play now"? 

Hjörtur

ps. To learn more about microcopy, I recommend reading "The Construction of Instruction" by Relly Annett-Baker.

The Power of Good Copy Writing

"A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip."
Caskie Stinnet 

It's not necessarily what you're saying, but more the way you say it. This doesn't only apply to how you explain great philosophies or the truth of life. This goes for every single little word you put on your website or your marketing material. It all counts. The power of the word is rarely overestimated and good copy is the most important component of your website. Who wrote your copy? Does it make sense to the reader and encourage him in the direction you want it to?

Here is an excellent example of good copy from Purplefeather, a content agency in Glasgow:

 

Put your words in a context people can relate to and it will make all the difference.  

Hjörtur

Keynote Speaker on Social Media and Marketing for the Travel Industry

Talks and courses on social media and marketing are becoming a bigger and bigger part of my schedule. I am now booking 2011 and it looks like it's going to be an exciting year. This year and the last I've been running courses, live-blogging and giving talks at conferences in as different places as New York, Faroe Islands, Berlin and Latvia. My main focus has been on the travel industry though that is not always the case. Most popular are my two day courses on social media and Internet marketing for the travel industry.

I'm now booking 2011 and it looks like I'll be in Latvia, Belgium, Greenland, Denmark and Norway, as well as Iceland of course. Some other exciting events are being explored as well. Exact dates and location can be found on my "Keynote Speaker Schedule"

If you're interested in getting a talk at your event or a practical and effective course in your home town on how to use social media and the Internet, send me a line. 

Hjörtur Smárason
Keynote speaker on social media and marketing 
hjortur (at) scope.is 

Dear World Leaders. We are still waiting. - The UN Winning Ad!

 Stefan Einarsson

An old colleague of mine, Stefan Einarsson, won a prestige award today. He got the first prize in a UN competition for the best ad for fighting poverty in the world, called "Unleash Your Creativity Against Poverty". He accepted the award in Madrid today from Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain, along with the actor Antonio Banderas who was awarded for his work for the UN. 

Stefan is an art director at the White House ad agency in Reykjavik, Iceland and has received a number of awards both national and international. He was the art director of the Mastercard Circular Campaign where I was the copy writer. That campaign won the Cresta Awards, Epica Awards and New York Festivals awards. Stefán is one of the most creative designers I've worked with and it is no surprise to me that he wins this awards. I have seen his creative brilliance at work. Out of the 2030 competing ads, he had not only the winning ad, but also the one in third place and a third one in the top 30.

Stefan Einarsson 

When receiving the award Stefan said: "Our crisis is mainly a crisis of luxury. We had too much and still have enough. We should be grateful every day for being among the few in the world who are fortunate enough to have access to clean water, food, medical care, education, housing and security." 

Congratulations, Stefán!

Hjörtur

Who Should Be the Face of Your Company in Social Media?

One of the big worries companies have regarding social media is who should be the face of the company. Should it be the CEO? Should the marketing department run it? Or the PR department?

GM's Fastlane blog decided to use the managers of different departments in the company. Not just from marketing or pr, but also from the production team, the design team, all of the departments. A company is always the sum of its employees so a company does have many faces, even though they try to maintain a single, wrinkle free, cut-out-in-ivory face.

You should look at the face of the company as a mosaic. A face of many faces. Don't try to shut up your employees online. They're all on Facebook, Twitter and thousands of other communities and whether you like it or not, they're all spokespeople for your company.

So this is your job:

1. Make sure ALL your employees know what the face of the company should be. If you can't convince your own employees of what you want the company to represent in the minds of the public, how are you supposed to be able to convince your customers? Or let's rephrase that, how do you expect them to convince your customers of that?

2. Evangelize. Realize that a happy employee spreads good rumors and a good image about your company. Let's say you run a company with 25 employees. Those 25 employees are all but one on Facebook and have on average 250 friends. Their direct reach is therefore over 6000 people. Maybe 3.500 if we take into consideration that many of them know the same people. If you've got 250 employees we might be talking about 35.000 people they reach directly. That's a pretty powerful tribe you've got there. Don't shut it down, evangelize it.

3. Activate your employees by allowing them to be more active in the decision making. They're the people on the ground. Listen to them and integrate them in the company's decision making. That way, they will care for the company in a whole new way, because they feel they and their opinions really matter.

Have a happy employee meeting

Hjörtur

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The DIY Economy During Recession

Let’s skip the pro and save a few bucks. But we can’t really skip everything that needs to be done, so we try to do it our selves. That’s why DIY programs, tools and tutorials are really sought after these days. Whether people are renovating their home, fixing the car, making some clothes, baking a cake, designing a brochure or doing SEO on their website.

These are the days when people seek advice on how to solve it them selves and if you’re generous in giving advice, you’ll be building your brand as the expert to go to in the field and creating some valuable relationships. By applying this, you can still make a living. You teach people to do it themselves. And when they get into trouble, you can always help them out. All for a fee of course.

The DIY tendence during recession is not a threat unless you allow it to be. See it as an opportunity and make it your ally.

Let’s beat the recession.
Hjörtur

Is MLM The Way To Go During Recession?

The Internet is being bombarded with all sorts of offers to participate in different kinds of MLM programs. And I’m often asked about those programs, if they are a good thing or not, a good investment of time and money, or if they’re just a scheme, some sort of a pyramid scheme.

No, they’re not “some sort of a pyramid scheme”. They ARE a pyramid scheme. That’s just how it works. If you’re at the lowest level you’re going to have a hard time making any real money. You need to move up the ladder to do so, to recruit people. And the time comes when the market becomes fully saturated.

I wrote my BA-thesis in anthropology “Salesmen or Missionaries” on MLM companies, comparing them to NRM (New Religious Movements). The results were actually quite scary.

A morning "mass" - "It's a great gang that sells a Kirby". But at least they have a real product.

If you come across something where the focus is on selling you the system and all the benefits but the product seems almost irrelevant, you can be certain you will not make any money on it unless you are at the top of the chain. They’re not selling a product because there is no value in the product, they’re selling a program. That’s a pyramid scheme.

This is a classic, offering money, white beaches and fancy cars (images) but actually, no product.

The recession is a great time for MLM, because desperation drives many people to try it. It brings bunch of people into the lowest level who invests in the system and that’s what the top needs to survive. Both MLM and NRM target people that are vulnerable, people in difficulties, whether personal or financial. If the desperation is sufficient and paradise tempting enough, you can get people into anything. Just ask a suicide bomber.

My advice, after both participating in MLM and studying those systems academically, is just don't do it. Consider this: Even though you might be entering early enough and desperation be widespread meaning there’s a large market now, consider where the money comes from. Is it the value you create for the end customer, or by recruiting another level below you (read: exploiting others desperate for money). Invest your energy and money elsewhere and you are much more likely to succeed, no matter how tempting the MLM “paradise” may sound.

What's your experience?

Hjörtur

A Year of Value, Not Wealth - Urban Lifestyle Report

I just got my hands on the first issue of the now free Urban Lifestyle Report - and I love it. The ULR is a new media trend report for marketers and published online. It's been published for some time for subscribers but now they have decided to distribute it for free.

It contains some excellent articles about new media, predictions for 2009, articles about Twitter and loads of other good stuff. I've got a short article there as well, called "A Year of Value, Not Wealth" where I describe my predictions for the year of 2009 and the rise of the new influencers but there's a lot of other articles there that are really worth reading.

Check it out, you can download the Urban Lifestyle Report for free.

Hjörtur