Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

When Going Viral is Enough to Make You Sick

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one-bottleYou know those commercials that everyone talks about but no one seems to remember what they are advertising? Here is a fictional look at one such campaign that goes viral, much to the chagrin of the advertiser. I got a kick out of it, and I hope you do, too. Mike, the writer, shares a bit of his fractured take on life at bikeswine.com.

Pretty much everybody understands the purpose of advertising. It is an attempt to persuade people to buy a product. This can be done through simple means such as listing all of the benefits of the product. It can also be done through more subtle means by getting a celebrity to endorse a product or showing attractive people using and enjoying the product. Subconsciously we are trained to believe that we will be like the celebrity or attractive person if we use the product.

Now the internet has brought about “viral marketing.” The idea relies on people to see something worth sharing in an ad and thus pass it along to their friends. This word of mouth advertising is free as opposed to the price of $4 million for 30 seconds of airtime during the Super Bowl.

A shampoo company hoped to advertise their new shampoo for couples by creating a viral video featuring a couple. The idea behind their product was that it was great for both men and women, thus it was only necessary to use one shampoo in the house. Unfortunately for them, the message somehow got lost. [Read more…]

Create an Infographic and Go Viral!

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One of the most effective and entertaining ways to package a large volume of information is through an infographic. Most people would find an article full of statistics boring, but put them into an infographic and people eat them up!

Infographics get shared on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. On sites such as Reddit, Digg and StumbleUpon, infographics get “upvoted” a lot and are very visible

So, how do you create a winning infographic that generates buzz and traffic?

Begin with a Great Topic
Start with a useful, interesting and unique idea. The concept should involve a topic that people want to know about. Surprising or controversial information will get attention, as will helpful information that teaches how to do something or helps the reader make a decision.

You don’t have to create an infographic about what you do, but you should make your infographic interesting to your target market. For example, if you sell office furniture don’t create an infographic about different types of office furniture. Instead, you could do an infographic on “The 12 Types of Office Jerks” or “9 Ways to Procrastinate without Getting Caught” to capture the attention of office workers.

Do Your Research
The goal of an infographic is to provide a lot of information in a concise format. Gather data from sources like Wikipedia, various government agencies including the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the IRS, books, newspaper articles, magazines and so on.

Do online searches and capture interesting facts, statistics and websites. Use Evernote or your favorite method to compile your research. You may or may not use all of the data in your infographic, but having a lot of information available will help in the final graphic creation process.

Organize Your Data and Tell a Story
Infographics are usually created in Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, but you can use whatever graphics program you are most comfortable with.

Keep the design simple and clean. Too many effects and embellishments complicate the graphic. Make sure the important message of the infographic is obvious.

Lay out all the data you have in a logical fashion. Make it a story that is unfolding as the reader scrolls down your infographic.

If you aren’t a design wiz, there are DIY infographic templates you can use to create your graphic. Or you can hand off your data to an infographic designer to have them put it together for you. If you do not have a favorite designer, you can find one on sites such as elance or even fiverr.

Once you have a completed infographic, put it up on social bookmarking sites, on your own social media profiles and on your website. Be sure to include an embed code with your infographic to make it easy for people to publish your infographic on their own sites. And include share buttons for the major social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. If the graphic is shocking, funny and informative, you can bet it will spread.

Dare to Be Different

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Does your marketing look like everyone else’s? It may be that everyone markets that way because it works, but it is as least as likely that they are all trying to blend in. Why not set yourself apart from the crowd?

Miranda July is an author, artist and filmmaker. For her book of stories, No One Belongs Here More Than You, she created an unusual website:  http://www.NoOneBelongsHereMoreThanYou.com/. The site itself tells a story, with each page containing a snippet.

July begins by writing that she is going to, “make this whole website right now on this dry-erase board.” Then she takes you through a stream of consciousness narrative about the book, the website and more, all written on her refrigerator and her stove top (because it turns out she doesn’t have a dry-erase board). Odd? Yes, but also oddly entertaining.

Almost as interesting as the website itself has been the reaction to it. People either love it or hate it, but no one is neutral. Some viewers think it is marvelous and can not wait to read her book. Others think it is boring or just don’t “get” it and think it is a waste of time.

What is clear is that Miranda July has created something that has people talking. Because her site is being linked to from all over the web, lots of new people are learning about her.

Will it harm her book sales that some of them think the site is silly? No, because those people would not have purchased her book anyway. However, others will discover her through the site, respond to her quirky style, and buy the book. These are the people for whom the site is intended. Miranda July’s site speaks to her audience. People who would like her stories will also like the site. Who cares about everyone else?

Does your marketing aim for the lowest common denominator, trying to be acceptable to everyone while speaking to no one? By positioning your product to appeal to a specific group of people, and focusing on their wants, needs, tastes and opinions, you risk rejection by others. That can be especially difficult to take when the product is you or something you have created. However, if you stay in the middle of the road, being careful not to do anything that someone somewhere may not like, you run the risk of speaking to no one.

Do not be afraid of alienating people who are not part of your target market. You can not be all things to all people, nor should you try.

This does not mean that you should create a site like Miranda July’s. Your market is different, and your approach must be as well. Craft your message to attract the customers who are most compatible with your business and deliver it to them in a way to which they will respond.

Know your audience. Understand what excites them and moves them to take action, and you will make an emotional connection with them that will cause them to buy.

Pssst . . . Pass It On (Viral Marketing)

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Have you heard of “viral marketing”? It means creating something that customers want to pass along. Seth Godin called it the Idea Virus, and he used the concept to promote his book of the same name. He gave away a free download of the e-book version at his web site, http://www.ideavirus.com/ and he encouraged people to let others know about it.

Godin believed that some of the people who got the free download would end up buying the book (perhaps because they didn’t want to read the entire book onscreen or use their paper and toner to print it out). And, he was right. The first print run sold out quickly.

You may not want to give away an entire book, but there are lots of ways you can get the word out about your company or a new product, especially online.

Create something funny, informative, interesting or just cool, and start by telling your friends and customers about it. If it is truly funny, informative, interesting or cool, they will tell their friends, who will tell their friends, who will tell . . . you get the idea.

What should it be? Consider posting a short film or animation at your web site. Offer e-cards (online greeting cards visitors can send from your site). Write a poem or top 10 list and e-mail it to your friends. Create a song that can be streamed or downloaded.

To get the most benefit, make your viral marketing item relevant to your business. If you want to use it to build a mailing list, it should be a download that people only get after they register at your web site. Keep in mind that many people are still using dial-up connections, so make sure your downloads are optimized for slow connections.

Viral Marketing Made Easy

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You may have heard about “viral marketing,” but perhaps you are not sure exactly what it is. Viral marketing simply means using a marketing strategy that is designed to encourage people to pass along your marketing message.

Many Web marketers are using games or short Flash movies to encourage people to visit their Web sites and tell all their friends to come, too. During the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, the clever animation of Bush and Kerry singing “This Land is Your Land” drew massive numbers of visitors to http://www.jibjab.com/

Some book publishers have started offering online trailers, with a preview of the book, at their Web sites. For an example, see http://www.smalldogspress.com/ Book trailers are usually Flash movies that may combine author comments with visuals and music. They are often similar to the movie trailers you see for coming attractions.

Viral marketing is usually spread via email, and it may be contained in an email. For example, a clever “Top Ten” list, a touching story or a funny photo will be forwarded from person to person.

How can you put this to work for you? Look for something you can offer that people will pass along to their friends. It should not be a purely commercial message, it must also include utility, information or entertainment to interest people enough to forward it to their friends.

Send your viral message to your mailing list, and encourage them to pass it along to the people they know.