Web Marketing

Some people get it: a good example and some good advice

February 9, 2005 by Susan Getgood

The example: From Diva Marketing, Corporate Blog Strategies: Toby writes about three blogs developed by marketer Rick Short—one for his company Indium and two personal. This is a great example of how the blogging "medium" can be used in different ways for different purposes – Rick has developed an authentic corporate blog for his company, and also created his own personal blogs, each with the style appropriate for the purpose at hand. Kudos to him!

Rick’s personal McChronicles site

The advice: From Jeff Nolan’s blog: The Dawn of a New Age – Marketification I found Jeff Nolan’s blog from a link on another blog, and I don’t even remember whose. Jeff is a VC and writes about all sorts of things. I don’t know him, but I like his blog because he is often VERY funny. His article offers some of the advice you’ll read here, and on many other marketing blogs, about how marketers should be monitoring the blogosphere. So, if this is the same as you’ll read elsewhere, why do I think it is such good advice? Because Jeff is not a marketing, advertising or communications professional – he comes at this from a different perspective, and we marketers should pay attention.

When is a blog a “fake blog?”

February 9, 2005 by Susan Getgood

Lots of conversation today about fake blogs, which got me thinking, just what is a "fake blog?"

The McDonalds fake french fry (FFF, also stands for fake fast food) blog is a creation from McDonald’s ad people, but it was supposed to be poking fun at the "whole food that looks like dead people phenomenon." So is it really "fake?" Or should we criticize it not for being fake, but simply for being lame.

Pepsi Girl blog wasn’t covertly sponsored by Pepsi, so not "fake" in that sense. According to the latest info from AdRants, Pepsi apparently had nothing to do with it, but it was developed as a joke. So it wasn’t authentic, or "real" as we have come to expect of blogs. But does that make it fake?

Here’s a round-up of the fake blog opinions I read today:

Jim Logan ; Matthew Oliphant/BusinessLogs (you’ll find the links to the mentioned blogs in this post); BL Ochman’s original post on the Pepsi Girl blog ; InsideBlogging ; Dan Gillmor ; courtesy Dan, I found Kevin Dugan’s Strategic Public Relations blog and his review of the FFF blog as well as a later post Fake Blogs Should Sponsor Real Blogs ; Andy Lark

So what’s a fake blog?

On one hand, I agree with Andy Lark — these were jokes, and perhaps we should lighten up a bit, like ’em/love ’em/hate ’em, have a laugh and get back to something more interesting than a styrofoam french fry that is supposed to look like Abe Lincoln.

On the other hand…. we need to figure out how to tell a blog that has the reporting or opinions of a true live person (whether we think they are a wing nut or not) from a blog that is an invented piece of fiction (funny or sad, effective or lame, it doesn’t matter). Why? Because we rely on blogs to be the voices of real people, people like us with whom we will agree some of the time, and disagree others. People we can respect and trust.

So I’ll make a suggestion… if you want to write a fictional blog, go ahead. Just tell the readers somewhere … like in the "about this blog" link … That’s what we do with books, right. We tell the reader whether they are reading Fiction or Non-fiction 🙂

Now, the big brand marketers are definitely going to continue to try and manipulate blogs. By creating fake/covert ones, or by trying to pull the wool over our eyes about the "buzz" something has (example: the recent Ogilvy-Mather stunt for client American Express. For details, BL Ochman summarizes it here.) And it will probably get more subtle, even as we get better at sniffing out fakes. They just won’t be able to help themselves. In the end, they probably won’t do much damage to their brands.

But, of course, they won’t do them any real good either, and that’s the point that they miss: done right, real blogs can actually help build the brand.

Of more concern to me is the smaller firms who follow in the fake blogger’s footsteps. Their brands likely won’t be strong enough to survive a serious mis-step in the blogosphere. They have to get it right the first time.

Which is why I was so pleased by the news out of NY PR firm CooperKatz today. As covered in MarketingVox: Congratulations Steve Rubel: CooperKatz Makes Blog PR Practice Out of Exec’s Blog.

Steve’s own post at Micro Persuasion provides more detail. CooperKatz’s approach, and public commitment to "doing it right" is a much better example for companies trying to figure out the blogosphere than some of the other examples we’ve been reading about this week.

Do you want fries with that?

EXACTLY!!! Chris Locke’s post: bloggers as migrant knowledge workers

February 2, 2005 by Susan Getgood

Chris Locke has it EXACTLY RIGHT in his post over at Chief Blogging Officer: bloggers as migrant knowledge workers You have to read the whole post, written in Locke’s unique (and fun) style, but here’s the bit that got my attention:

Instead, here’s an idea! What if companies first: paid attention to who’s writing about what, and what for, and how well; and second, picked someone who seemed to be talking to people who overlapped with some part of that company’s market?

Take an example. We can all laugh at cat sites. Ha, ha-ha. We are so above that. But look, some people really are that into cats. And at least one of these cat fanatics must write cogently enough to draw an audience of less articulate but no less enthusiastic cat fanciers. Right? Are you tracking? I know this is pretty complex stuff.

So wouldn’t it make sense for Purina Cat Chow or IAMS or one of those to underwrite such a skilled cat-o-blogger? Yes, it would. And would this person then turn into a shill for Purina or IAMS? Not if the corporate braincase had retained sufficient neural capacity to understand that such a move would alienate the very audience it wanted to impress with how blog-savvy it had become.

So what would our cat blogger change after becoming the beneficiary of such underwriting? Here’s what: NOTHING. No, she would continue just as before to chronicle the ineffable cuteness of kitties and the insufferable yet endearing aloofness of cats. And there in the upper left corner, say, of this fabulously catty blog’s pages it would say something like "Underwritten by Purina — Your Pet, Our Passion™" or somesuch.

EXACTLY!! And I’ll take it a step further. I think that under the right circumstances, a company can create an authentic blog at the intersection of its and its customers’ interests by developing the blog with its customers, and calling on its committed and articulate customers to be the blog’s writers.

What are the right circumstances? The company has to be willing to work with its happy customers to develop the blog’s "Editorial Mission" as it were and then let ‘er rip. That doesn’t mean that the company can’t also participate as a writer or respond to comments. But it DOES mean that the writers can write whatever they want on the topic, no editing by the company, no backdoor lobbying to get a writer to change his mind if something is slightly negative about the company or a product. Everything in the light of day. Takes a strong stomach to commit to this, but the companies who do this right are going to kick ass.

It’s not EITHER direct marketing OR blogs. It’s AND! — Developing marketing strategy with AND

February 1, 2005 by Susan Getgood

First item of business: As always, I have links to other articles that discuss the topic at hand at the end of the post.

Now to the promised discussion: "AND" Marketing Strategy.

As I said in my earlier post today, there is, and will continue to be, a lot of debate about the role of blogs and bloggers … in the media, in marketing strategy, inside corporations, in crisis communications etc. etc. etc. And there are a lot of great thinkers and writers in the discussions (check the links below and the ones in my earlier post today for some recent posts).

But thinking practically for a minute, what should a marketer DO? How do you build a marketing strategy that appropriately includes the newest tools and techniques. Not simply because they are the latest, greatest thing, but because they are the best choice for the situation at hand. Here’s my advice.

First, if you haven’t already, read The Cluetrain Manifesto. Not because it has all the answers, because it doesn’t. Not because everything in it is "right," because you probably won’t, and shouldn’t, agree with everything the authors say. Read Cluetrain because it asks the RIGHT QUESTIONS. It is then up to us to find our right answers. Besides, bottom line, you have to read Cluetrain because many, if not most, of your marketing peers have or will, so you need the common language. And it is a fun easy read. Just think about it: a book with a co-author who has an alter-ego named Rage-Boy is just not going to be boring!

Next, read some blogs. This is easy because if you are reading this, you are already doing it. Start with topics that interest you, professionally and personally. Then start monitoring blogs that mention your company or products, or at least cover your industry even if your firm is below the radar. But don’t do anything yet (unless of course someone starts a blog that rants about your company or products, and then you’ll need crisis communications. In which case my post here will direct you to some resources!)

Do NOT start a blog just because you think you have to, because everyone else is, because it is the hot new thing. Instead, sit down with your marketing plan. Review your objectives, and the current results against those objectives. Take the hard look at all the marketing tools you are using, against the expected and achieved results. Look at upcoming needs and be objective about the strategy you have outlined to meet them. Perhaps you have a product launch and you always do product launches in a certain way. Is it the most effective way, given the new tools at your disposal? Could a blog be more effective? Think about your product or service. Is direct response the only way to generate leads, or could building an expert reputation with your target audience effectively supplement your marketing strategy?

Your strategy and tactics arsenal probably includes the following:

Direct mail (snail, e-mail)
Advertising (print/online; brand/direct response)
Tradeshows, seminars and Webcasts
Public Relations (product and corp comm; speakers program)
Website
Collateral (printed, electronic) – brochures, white papers etc.

Does a blog really fit in this list for your business?

Before you answer the question, I suggest you organize your tactics along three main categories depending on their PRIMARY role in the marketing strategy. (And yes, there is overlap, but I am going to mostly ignore that for the moment.) This may give you an immediately clear picture of where a blog fits. Or confirm that it just doesn’t, at least not now.

Here are the categories, and how I classify things (NB: YMMV)

Lead Generation: direct mail, direct reponse advertising (print or online), tradeshows, seminars and Webcasts

Awareness/Reputation: brand advertising (print or online), public relations, some Webcasts/tradeshows

Sales Facilitation: Website, collateral. Some people may disagree with me on this one, and call these two items Awareness, but I truly believe the primary role of a Website is not to reproduce a brochure or act as a billboard for news releases. I think Websites, and to a lesser extent, all collateral, should be about providing the prospect with additional information that moves her further along the sales cycle.

Intuitively, most marketers will sense that blogs can play a strong role in awareness and reputation, but struggle with the ROI. So what’s the answer?

I don’t know, only you do.

The answer will be different for every business, and there will always be an exception that blows the generalized rules away.

However: here’s a set of guidelines that I think will be mostly true. But PLEASE don’t just take my word for it — do the analysis of your plan and test it against these guidelines.

A blog shouldn’t replace your direct response marketing. If you only have budget for direct mail, and it is working, and getting you the leads and sales you need, don’t mess with success.
A blog strategy is absolutely necessary for your PR and product marketing teams. At a minimum they should be reading, and where appropriate, responding to, blogs that mention your company and products. And not just the negative. A public thank-you to someone who says something nice about your product goes a long way.
A blog, perhaps written by a product manager or support rep, is a far better resource site for your Website than a static listing of Weblinks. It will give your Website some life, which most, alas, are sadly lacking, and help move prospects along the sales continuum as well as help build your experts’ reputations.
If you are in an industry that has a strong community, a blog may work as a lead generation vehicle. Likewise, if you are a local business that engages with your community through a blog, I absolutely believe it drives business. For most B2B marketers, however, see item one: blogs don’t replace direct mail. Ditto, for B2C marketers — they don’t replace advertising. Think about it: GM now has a C-level blog, but they aren’t pulling their TV ads, are they?
If you can do it right, a corporate blog is a terrific reputation and awareness tool. If you can’t, don’t do it. Here’s an early post I wrote on the topic. You can find discussions about corporate blogging almost daily, including at the sites I link below and in my blogroll.

If you decide to include a blog in your marketing strategy, take your time and do it right. Talk to customers, find out what they’d like to read. Talk to employees, you may find a candidate to be your blog writer that you’d never thought of, but who is passionate about the company. See item two — read other blogs in your field, try to find a space that is un/underserved by what is already out there (but don’t worry too much about this). Read the many blogs that are very specifically blogs to help people/companies get blogging. Here are a few:

Finally, remember to have some fun!

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More PR, Marketing and Blogging links/references

February 1, 2005 by Susan Getgood

Ok, gentle readers, I do have a more substantive post on the way about the ongoing debates at Bob Bly’s weblog about direct marketing versus weblogs, and the similarly polemicized blogging versus journalism debate that is happening in various forums (for more check out Dan Gillmor and PressThink/Jay Rosen. They both have good posts that link to all the other conversations about the topic, more than I want to list here.)

For those of you that know me or have read some of my other stuff, you’ll know that I don’t consider it an either/or discussion at all. As Doc Searls points out in a response to the Bob Bly thread linked above, either/or is a false choice. The answer is AND.

Marketing is about conversations AND purchases. Bloggers AND the traditional media both have a role to place in the mediascape.

So preview of my post … coming soon … It is going to cover what the AND means for marketers, and one way of considering how we should develop marketing strategy with AND in mind.

In the meantime, though, I have a few links that I didn’t want to miss posting so here goes.

A nice article on MarketingProfs about corporate blogging. This is a nice simple intro to use for colleagues, clients or bosses that don’t get what this blogging thing is all about.

Hottest Branding Trends by Nick Wreden at FusionBrand. In particular, see number 5: Blogs, wikis and RSS

Ten Tips for Better Blogging from the folks at InsideBlogging.

Nice post from VC Jeff Nolan, Shaping a Message Through Blogs. Covers many of the same PR and blogging topics that have captured my interest. In fact he comments that:

there’s a fixation with blogs versus the media. The media business is just that, it’s a business that is going to have to evolve in order to compete effectively in the future with electronic media. It’s not an ideology and it’s not going away..

A couple of posts from Jim Logan’s JSLogan – Making the Most of Your Business blog: Here’s a Great Example of Integrating a Blog into Your Web Presence and If used, blogs should integrate into your web strategy. In one of the posts, he talks about a thread at the CorporateBloggingBlog on which I had also commented. I agree with him, CorporateBlogging is a very thought provoking blog, and well worth a visit.

That clears up the blog links that I had saved from the past few days. Probably just in time for a whole bunch more to surface. But next up is the post about marketing strategy.