It became obvious very rapidly that there was tension between these two groups. While the goal of both groups was to have fun and be entertained, their means by which to achieve it were greatly different. It was a very awkward situation that only ended when one group departed from the event.
This really got me thinking about companies who are trying to communicate with customers and prospects. While you may have a product that is a strong solution for different groups you really need to do you homework and make sure your message and communication style correctly target your audience based on their personality and expectations. If you don’t get this right, while your intentions may be good, could blow up in your face and produce the opposite results.
]]>We also need to look at the rapid growth and adoption of Internet technologies in our every day lives. While a few years ago it could have been considered a trendy and youthful medium that is no longer the case. Most Americans are connected and use the web on a daily basis for communication, research and purchasing. If everyone were as ignorant as some like to portray this would not be the case.
Lets give our users a little more credit. After all, 74% of the U.S. population currently has Internet and uses it regularly. Instead of dropping our efforts to the lowest common denominator let’s help move everyone forward and create solutions that not only work today but also help drive business into the future.
]]>During my train of deep thought I realized that in a way I have become a zombie myself. Not the brain eating, shuffling kind, but the brain-numb digital kind. I whole-heartedly admit that I surf the web almost continuously. Whether I am at work, on my laptop at home or my iPhone, I am hardly ever disconnected for more than 30 minutes at a time. As a person with an insatiable thirst for knowledge I am always reading. The problem is that I often find myself just looking at drivel.
I frequent numerous, news, industry and entertainment sites looking for content. However, when there is not a specific topic I am looking for I tend to digitally graze. This can bring about some interesting topics and tidbits of knowledge but more often than not I waste an hour or more of my life and truly get nothing out of it. Imagine reading a book while thinking about numerous tasks you need to accomplish at home and at work. You simply won’t retain any of the information you consume. While you may have a general emotional sensation regarding the contents of the book the actual meat will be left on the pages.
With the continued proliferation of new online content providers and aggregators and the new devices being sold to enhance our consumption of them, at what point do we just become brain-numb digital zombies? If we really aren’t paying attention while we surf, no ad or marketing message will get through to us. Have we already hit the apocalypse and just not noticed it?
]]>Apple hasn’t yet delved into the ad network arena so it will be interesting to see how they sell the new mobile ad inventory that will of course become available to advertisers. I also want to see how will they target users with relevant marketing messages? Will they pull usage information from each application the user currently runs or will they leverage information about their iTunes purchasing and browsing habits. It will be very interesting to see this unfold over the next year or so.
]]>As marketers we can tend to focus on the latest trends looking for the next silver bullet. Well, while we may get lucky from time to time, we probably waste more time than we should on unproven tactics.
I’m not implying we shouldn’t try new things but let’s be sure to temper our ambitions and make sure we work hard on a few things to bring them to fruition. Remember slow and steady wins the race.
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If you are not familiar with Technorati, it is search engine specializing in the indexing of blogs. It’s true that Google also indexes blog content, but it’s results are not nearly as timely as those of Technorati. Due to the nature of blog software and the technology of ping services, Technorati is notified automatically when a blog adds a new article. This entry is then quickly indexed and made available for search.
So how can this help you? Easy, have you ever wanted to know what people are currently talking about regarding your industry or any given topic? Technorati gives you a powerful search tool for any topic. Not only that but you can search by the authority level of the blog. The authority is basically a measurement to whether the blog has high readership, commenting & inbound web links. So you basically know whether the blog in question has pull or not.
On top of that the search will also display how many mentions the term you used has been mentioned over a period of time. This gives you instant feedback to know if the topic is trending up or down.
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