Today is Thursday, May 17, 2012

Marketing and Sales

When you hire a blogger for a bank or other organization, be sure the bloggers know their places

Former Sen. John Edwards, a candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, has learned the hard way that not all bloggers know their roles.

A corporate blogger must recognize the difference between being an indepdent soul and a spokes person for his employer.

Now Edwards has at least one major Catholic organization angry and vowing to turn the Catholic community against him.

And by refusing to fire the offenders, he’s revealed a basic character flaw. He doesn’t have the guts to fire incompetents, and he’s too loyal to those who fail him.

Number of new blogs may be peaking but blogs are getting more attention

Micro Persuasion examines Technorati’s data on blogging and finds that some indicators suggest blogging may be peaking. At the same time, other data suggest blogs are gaining in influence.

Impact graph:

What every marketer can learn from Wal-Mart about creatilng public impressions

A PR person who advised five Democratic Party presidential candidates is helping Wal-Mart mould positive public impressions of the company.

 

The telephone loop ends in a busy signal

This morning I called a famous national publisher to find out when a subscription would expire, because we keep getting renewal notices with limited information in them. First I had to listen to three messages, pick from four options on each one and then, get a busy signal when I was supposed to be connected to a customer service person.

Now, we all have to use phone messaging systems, because having someone sit and wait for phone calls is so expensive. But this experience just reminds me how frustrating these systems can be, and how they drive away customers, including those who want to renew their subscriptions.

 

How long will banks advertise in newspapers; how can newspapers save their franchises?

Jack Shafer writes in Slate that newspaper executives knew they were in trouble 30 years ago, and they still haven’t figured out how to attract new readers and retain the some 70 million they have.

Banks continue to advertise in newspapers, but they’re also expanding on to the internet, especially the national banks. You see community newspapers filled with ads from local merchants, but how long will they continue to advertise in metropolitan papers that represent so many wasted ad dollars?

Be sure to read the articles that Shafer links to. They’re actually as interesting, if not more interesting than his piece.

How will media moguls make money, preserve their pipes, or will they?

As Google, Yahoo, Apple, eBay and Craig’s List destroy the newspaper, radio, TV, movie, music and advertising business models, media executives and investors are trying to figure out the media model or models and “pipes” of the future.

What’s not covered in this article is the question, How will advertisers, marketers and PR departments reach their target audiences efficiently?

Product placement in mega churches could include promos for regional banks

Do some creative thinking about how to do product placement for a bank in a mega church or any church.

 

Banks can use viral marketing, but be careful

Banks use advertising and web sites to attract new customers, and they count on word of mouth referrals to bring in new accounts as well.

Word of mouth advertising, referral advertising and viral marketing are all pretty much the same thing. That is they depend on “buzz” to bring a bank or other business to the attention of potential clients and customers.

Banks and other financial institutions, of course, are conservative marketers, because they have important reputations to promote and protect. Movie and TV program promoters, on the other hand, can take big risks, because they’re promoting events and not institutions.

With these thoughts in mind, you might want to take a look at 7 tips on viral marketing.

Manipulating the media and consumers never pays for long; consumers informed by multimedia

Steven Silvers over at Scatterbox.com warns big organizations against trying to manipulate consumers with under the table paid content columns and broadcasts. And in response, I note that the mistake that unethical marketers who spike news stories and broadcasts with paid content can’t win. This is because consumers obtain news and advice from many more sources than any consumer manipulator can control.

Marketers and publicists who play straight with the public don’t have to worry that slime balls have an advantage. The conumer gets it right every time.

How not to pitch a story to the media

Steven Silvers over at Scatterbox says “beware the bad pitch.”

 

Blogs increase media attention on corporate web sites that publish them

Porter Novelli has published a survey that shows corporations that publish blogs find they get increased media attention as a result. Tip of hat to Buzz Marketing With Blogs, which is promoting a book on blogging. Nice site.

The reason’s pretty simple: Search engines rank frequently updated sites higher than sites that aren’t updated, and when the content is interesting and rewarding, readers come back for more.

What does the decline of newspapers mean for health care communications?

Big time blogger, Jeff Jarvis, reports on the newspaper industry’s continuing efforts to stem its loss of readers in the face of growing competition from interactive blogs, message boards and news sites on the Internet. This brings up the interesting strategic question for health care providers, which depend on community and metropolitan newspapers to help inform consumers about health trends, threats and services. If consumers don’t read newspapers and don’t know your web site exists and don’t watch the evening news or open their junk mail, how are you going to interact with your publics? I’ll followup later.

Blogging: Wharton scholars discuss blogging and the main stream media

Interesting overview and summary of blogging.