Read a great post recently at Twist Image on selling 2.0 - letting the customer do the communicating. Mitch writes on the great strategy used by e-commerce sites for empowering consumers to be vocal about products and what they like and don’t directly on the same page as the product.
Amazon comes to mind as a site that does this extremely well. When making a purchase (which is pretty frequently as I’m addicted to reading) I always read the consumer reviews there, especially when it comes to new authors. The consumer reviews always tell the real story about the product. And everyone knows it, I am willing to bet a heat-map of an Amazon product page shows consumers spending more time reading reviews than the publisher copy someone painstakingly drafted.
Why is this? Simple - we know the publisher copy is going to gush praise. While it is worthwhile in getting someone’s attention and providing them an intro, what provides real value in a consumer site that is unfamiliar territory with a potential new visitor is other consumer’s opinions and thoughts. It is social proofing. Continue reading...
image credit: fred cavazza (click image for high resolution version)
A major aim of The Future Buzz (as seen in the tag line at the top of this blog) is helping you create buzz on the web. If you’re reading this, certainly one of your goals is to become a power user of social media or high profile blogger, and/or learn how to bend the network to your advantage.
As such, it is prudent to learn what others have done/are doing successfully at the edge. Studying how social media power users (or influencers, same thing) create and share information, ideas and trends with the world and their interactions with their carefully built networks is vital to becoming one yourself. Continue reading...
image credit: adstream via flickr
Smart organizations and individuals across industries are building their brands through gathering organic audiences and encouraging dialogue.
By organic, I mean people who have opted-in to receive messages. And, encouraging dialogue not only between individuals and the organization, but also between fans of their brand as well. When you function as a connector, you become even more valuable to your audience than merely providing content.
Blogs function great as connectors because they publish not only a reader’s name but a link to their blog or website when they comment. So, when someone posts an interesting comment, it not only adds to the conversation on-site, but it allows the readers of that comment to potentially connect with the writer. Continue reading...
image credit: bbsc30 via flickr
I receieve a decent amount of reader questions via email. I always take time to give a response, as generally email questions are quick one-offs, and I’m happy to answer.
Once in awhile I get an email question asking for detailed, specific advice and seeking a more in-depth response. When that happens, I give the writer two options:
1) I can answer the question in an open-format for all my readers to see and get value from. In this case I can either give detailed advice to your company if you’re willing to let me disclose your company name and issues publicly, or I can tackle the question from a general perspective and keep your company name private (unfortunately with this method, I can never be as thorough with an answer). Continue reading...
image credit: circulating via flickr
Choosing an online marketing or PR agency is a decision you should not take lightly. There are a plethora of choices in this space, and lots make big claims. You should choose an experienced agency that will position your brand in the right way for your desired audience on the web.
This is no easy task. From big brands to small businesses, everyone needs to be strategic in how to enter the social web properly. Social media marketing, SEO, blog development, organic traffic building strategy, and how to grow your brand on the web are just a few of the things to consider. You need a flexible agency that knows how to do all of this and more. Continue reading...
