The Structural Graphics Blog

Depending too much on volatile social networks

There is no doubt that social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter offer unbelievable business opportunities. However, when businesses rely too much on the emerging medium, still in its infancy, there can be problems.

This week Twitter announced that it will no longer allow third-party applications to advertise in their live tweet streams. But guess what was announced last week? In-stream Twitter advertising platform, Ad.ly, just secured an additional five million dollars of angel funding. There is no word yet on how Ad.ly will deal with this, but it seems pretty bleak for the young startup. There entire business model will be obsolete when Facebook enacts this new restriction next month.

The folks who probably are affected most by sudden regulatory changes from the major social networks are developers. The rules for developers are constantly changing, especially on a major platform like Facebook. For example, Zynga, developers of Farmville and Mafia Wars, two of the most popular third-party apps on Facebook, face this same danger. What if Mark Zuckerberg, 26 year old CEO of Facebook, wakes up tomorrow with an itch in his throat and decides he doesn’t like cute little farm animals and doesn’t want them on his site?

Last year the enormously popular website Tr.im ceased operations. Tr.im was a service that allowed Twitter users to shorten long URLs to preserve space in their 140 character tweets. After offering the company for sale and failing to find a buyer, they had to shut down. A company representative said there was just no way to monetize their site traffic. Isn’t that something they should have thought of sooner? Anyway, all of the millions of people that used their shortened URLs now found them completely useless. Dead links everywhere!

Of course I am not advising that you drop your social networking efforts or cancel your Facebook account. We have seen lots of success driving new people to our brand through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. But with companies increasing their online spending every year, you have to wonder if some of them are putting all of their eggs in one basket. Smart marketers are finding ways to utilize digital and traditional mediums through highly effective integrated campaigns. These campaigns take advantage of the best of both worlds, which makes a lot of sense given how volatile online networks seem to be.

How Apple nearly cost me $500 for something I didn’t need

Regardless of how you feel about Apple products there is no denying they are genius marketers and communicators. They run a very tight ship and heavily control the flow of information from their organization to the public. That’s the only reason why the recent iPhone 4G leak scandal was even a scandal at all. But that’s only part of what makes the folks at Apple geniuses.

When you see their advertisements, whether it be television, web, billboards (yes, there are Apple iPad billboards in Boston), or even those goofy highly-scripted spectacles that Steve Jobs puts on at a convention center every time they have a new product to announce; their marketing just makes you want to buy. Well, I should say “most of us want to buy” to be fair to those non-techy people like my wife who could care less about gadgets.  Apple’s marketing is very consistent. Images always have a clean white background with the product angled in a specific way and a nice reflection going through the top half. Their fonts are always bold, clean and crisp. You get the sense that the product is so special and so advanced it’s worth every penny of its usually high price tag. This could not have been more true for the recent release of the Apple iPad.

I watched the online video on Apple’s website where they take you through the iPad and talk about its functionality. The calm but dramatic voices of their engineers and product managers (the same people that appear on all Apple videos) just make the iPad seem magical. In fact, that’s how they describe the iPad, “magical”. Clearly, the iPad is not magical. It’s a series of wires and processors that form a really cool tablet. But despite the fact I had no practical use for the iPad, I really wanted one.

Later that week my wife and I were out and I asked her if we could take a stroll through Best Buy to checkout what all of the buzz is about regarding the recent iPad launch. She gave me a disapproving look and agreed on the condition that I would not buy anything. “Sure honey”, I agreed, “there is nothing I really need”.

I spent about 3 minutes playing with the demo iPad in the store when it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I was disappointed to find that I really didn’t need or want the iPad. Yes, it was cool. Yes, it was slick looking and technologically advanced just like Mr. Jobs said, but I couldn’t find any reason to own one. It was then that I realized I was a victim of the brilliant marketing by Apple. Of course, no one will admit that marketing works on them. But in this case, Apple got me, hook line and sinker. Well, to be more accurate, they got me to the store, but they didn’t get my five hundred bucks.

So, is there a point to all this? Well, perhaps not a very compelling one, but there is a question. How can we as marketers sell our brand the way Apple sells theirs? I don’t mean be a follower or do what they do, because your brand is different. I mean, the kind of marketing that brings you to Best Buy on a typical Saturday afternoon for absolutely no reason.

Tips for Marketing to C-Level Executives and Everyone else!

You’ll find plenty of books, articles, seminars and guides on how to market to c-level executives. They are the elusive top-prize for most b-to-b marketers. However, they read mail, visit websites, check voicemail and respond to marketing just like the rest of us. The trick to reaching them really isn’t all that different from reaching any other consumer.

To get anyone’s attention you need to be relevant, engaging and impactful. That’s it. That formula works regardless of the title you are going after. If your marketing can combine all three of these components chances are you’re going to have a successful campaign.

Relevance: Is your message relevant to a c-level executive? Depending on the size of the company, buying decisions are often made below the c-level, so perhaps you’re making an assumption on who the right person to talk to is. You also have to take into account that many c-level execs have assistants. If an assistant doesn’t think what you have to say is relevant to their boss, chances are they won’t pass it on.

Engaging: So perhaps you have made it into a c-level executive’s office. Now what? How are you going to get he/she to notice your message? Engagement is all about getting the recipient to notice and spend time with your brand. Using personalization is a very effective way to engage your recipient. Taking that one step further, a PURL (personalized URL) holds their attention and allows you to capture more intelligence on your prospects. We’ve got more ways to make something engaging than you can shake a stick at! By the way, where the heck does that expression come from? Since I am a bit of a nerd I had to look it up.

Lastly, we have to be impactful. Our piece has to make a lasting impression. I have received a lot of flat mail in my day and the only one I can really recall is my Dunkin Donuts coupons. Impact can only be had when the piece speaks right to the recipients needs and causes a response. [blatant sales pitch warning] We know impact like nobody’s business. As LeVar Burton used to say, don’t take my word for it.

It’s sort of funny that entire books, lectures (and blog posts) have been dedicated to this subject. For me, there aren’t too many differences between getting the attention of a c-level exec and Joe Shmo. I admit, the gatekeepers that executives have tend to be much better than Joe’s, but even gatekeepers respond to clever marketing.

The John Deere Paper Tractor wins First Place at the NAMA Awards!

Our John Deere paper tractor project won a First Place Award at the NAMA Convention (National Ag Marketing Association) last week. Ad agencies and companies throughout the United States submitted more than 465 entries for judging and recognition to this contest. "This is significant because the John Deere group won awards competing against the leading advertising and public relations agencies in the country," said Barry Nelson, Manager, Media Relations, Ag & Turf Division. CONGRATULATIONS JOHN DEERE! To learn more about this project, click here.

Five Day Mail Service, Not so Fast!

The USPS announced last year that they were working on a plan to reduce the postal service delivery days to five, instead of the six we have now. Since then there has been vibrant debate on both sides of the issue. Some saying that the cost savings are a necessary step to reducing the multi-billion dollar losses each year. Others believe the measure goes too far and will ultimately hurt the USPS by reducing dependency on the mail service.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue it looks like you have at least six months to mull it over. Nothing happens quickly in Washington and the Postal Regulatory Commission is no exception. They have just announced a six month review period to discuss the effects of the proposal. In that time they will conduct town hall meetings in several major cities, hold hearings with Congress and review with major stakeholders.

What do you think about the issue? Will it affect the direct mail industry? Sound off below!