People who misunderstand marketing often think the goal is to create and emphasise the gap between reality and perception. In my opinion, getting a sale is not the end goal for marketing, it is gaining a customer. To achieve this, whatever product or services you sell, your marketing must emphasise what you do well, and not what you wished you did well.
Microsoft is pushing their brand new Outlook/ Hotmail marketing campaign really hard right now. I’ve seen it on TV, heard it on the radio and it is following me around the internet (with no remarketing cookie I’d add). If you live in the UK and consume any media, you’re almost certain to be exposed to at least one form of the advert.
The adverts focus on the fact that Google (Google are never named but it’s pretty clear they mean them) use your emails to show you adverts. Microsoft is pulling out of the oldest tricks in the marketing book; fear! Fear of Google reading your email (even though they don’t) and then spinning that in to why you should use good old trustworthy Microsoft’s Outlook instead. They won’t read your email! They have also totally given the game away that they are losing.
Creating your social media profiles is the easiest part of any social media strategy. It is often the first and last steps many businesses take along what should be a long road if they are to be used properly. Getting people to actually engage with you via Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and alike is where the real hard work starts. In this post I will show you the reasons why people interact with brands on social media along with specific ideas for you to use.
For some marketers flying by the seat of your pants can be fun, especially as the deadline thunders towards you and the adrenalin kicks in, handing in briefs at the last minute or not starting until it is so late, nights are inevitable. For me, that’s a horrible way to work and I can’t do it like that.
In the second of my monthly round-ups of great content I’ve read over a month (read September’s here), you’ll find links to running a successful content marketing campaign, how to write an effective email subject line, getting and using customer testimonials and much more. I’ve picked out the best I have read, but that isn’t to say it is comprehensive, so if there is anything you’d like to add for other people to read leave a comment below.
The old saying ‘Everyone is a critic” is very true of the marketing world. Because so much of it is based around opinion (and that’s still true even with a lot of data behind you), ideas and concepts put forward will often be judged and analysed by other team members very subjectively. In these circumstances I believe highlighting a problem is easy, coming up with the solution is what makes a great marketer.