Sweetmantra: Internet Marketing Advice

The Serious Business of Funny Email

It's no secret that using humour is a powerful marketing strategy that marketers can use to attract and acquire new customers. Every day we're likely to see a whole raft of 'funny' ads, the collective effort of creative teams who have worked very hard to come up with them.

I'm sure that you have, at least once in your life, been attracted to the products or services of a company because their marketing material made you laugh. (The same can be said of marketing material that is intended to make you cry, but that's another blog post...)

But what about using humour to retain customers? Which companies are making their current customers laugh for all the right reasons?

A little company called CD Baby is.

Until a few weeks ago I had never even heard of CD Baby. I stumbled across them while trying to find out where to purchase the debut CD from a Canadian band I admire, Delhi 2 Dublin. It turned out that their CD was available at CD Baby, an online music retailer that calls itself "the little store with the best new independent music."

"Cool," I thought to myself. I quickly found and ordered the CD on CD Baby's Website, and then promptly moved on to the next item on my to do list.

The next day, I got an email from CD Baby confirming that my CD had been shipped. This was no ordinary email, however. While most e-tailers send confirmation emails to customers once a product has been shipped - which is a best practice - this was the funniest and most memorable order confirmation email I have ever received.

Here's an excerpt:

"Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow...

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CDs into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package..."

So as not to spoil the surprise should you ever become a customer of CD Baby and receive one of these emails, I have left out some of the email's content.

Not only did I laugh out loud when I read this email, but I immediately showed it to my wife (who was sitting near me at the time). "Wow. That makes me want to buy from them," she said. I couldn't agree more.

Thanks to the clever use of humour in their order confirmation email, CD Baby not only forged a tighter bond with me as one of their current customers, but they also motivated me to share my positive experience with prospective customers - first my wife, and now you.

And that's nothing to laugh at.

Recommended: Podcasting for Profit, by Leesa Barnes

I am so not into book reviews, however last week I had the honour of leading a roundtable discussion on podcasting at the Digital Marketing Conference. Near the end of the session I was asked to recommend a book on the subject of podcasting. That book was, and is, Podcasting for Profit, by the multi-talented Leesa Barnes.

Leesa's book was published a few months ago, and I've been meaning to blog about it ever since. Podcasting for Profit is unique in that it's not a technical 'how-to' manual about the production side of creating a podcast, nor is it one of those cheezy 'become an Internet radio star' publications. Plenty of those kinds of books kicking around already!

Podcasting for Profit, on the other hand, is focused on the business side of podcasting. Amen!

This is the book to pick up if you're struggling with whether or not you or your company or your clients should be podcasting. And if you've already decided to move forward with podcasting, Leesa's book will help you identify new business opportunities related to podcasting that you might never have thought of.

Written in a warm, honest, and down-to-earth style (it's by Leesa Barnes, after all), Podcasting for Profit is highly recommended to anyone interested in understanding the business implications of this exciting new medium.

You can find out more about the book at http://www.leesabarnes.com/book/.

P.S. I'm also supremely flattered to be mentioned in Podcasting for Profit, along with lots of other podcasters whose work I admire. Congratulations, Leesa!

Aesthetic Intent: A Podcast That's Driven By Innovation

Yes, the rumours are true; I've left MacLaren MRM and will be starting a new job in a few weeks. I can't reveal the details of the new gig yet. As a loyal reader of this blog, however, you'll be one of the first to hear the news.

Meanwhile, I wanted to let you know about one of the projects I'm most proud to have worked on during my time at MacLaren MRM. It's a podcast series called Aesthetic Intent and it's for the Buick division of General Motors of Canada. Aesthetic Intent quietly launched during my final week at the agency, and to the best of my knowledge is the first ever podcast by a Canadian automotive manufacturer. Even more noteworthy, in my opinion, is that this podcast is NOT about cars.

Aesthetic Intent is a six-part podcast series that "deconstructs the connection between passion and beauty" and features interviews with an eclectic group of people. Each episode is smart, engaging, and authentic ... as well as "inspired by the new Buick Enclave." It's not an infomercial for the vehicle, and the only quasi-advertising content appears discretely in the last few moments of each podcast episode.

Kudos to General Motors of Canada for continuing to be an innovator in the Internet marketing space. Yes, I said "innovator." There are very few 'traditional' Canadian companies that have invested as heavily in the Internet channel, and launching this podcast is just another example of GM Canada's enthusiasm for the medium. Regardless of whether or not Aesthetic Intent turns out to be successful, you've got to give GM Canada credit for trying new things. I'll miss working with them for this reason.

I also want to tip my hat to the great team at MacLaren MRM that I worked with on this project. It was quite an adventure getting this unconventional project off the ground, however I am confident that all the time and effort will pay off.

Check out Aesthetic Intent and let me know what you think. And if you like it, subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

The Future is Simple, Literally

Want to ensure the success of your next product or service?

One way to do this is to buck today's "more is better" philosophy and instead aim for the utmost simplicity.

Start by reducing the number of features. Cut back on the options. And focus on doing one thing, and only one thing, well.

You can never make something too simple. Don't believe me? Ask yourself when was the last time you heard someone complain that a product was too easy to use?

Case in point: the Jitterbug mobile phone, a partnership between Samsung and First Street (for the US market). I came across a print ad for this product recently and was immediately captivated by the headline:

"It doesn't play games, take pictures or give you the weather."

Billed as "a cell phone that makes life simple," the Jitterbug features a big, bright screen, large, clearly-labeled buttons, and 24-hour operator assistance.

Designed with the (massive) boomers market in mind, the Jitterbug may also pick up admirers of all ages who appreciate an extraordinarily easy-to-use mobile phone.

Brilliant.

What does this have to do with Internet marketing? Well, I encourage you to take a cue from the Jitterbug and look with fresh eyes at your own products and services, and how you market them.

Have you made things as easy to understand or accomplish as possible? Are you using technical or marketing jargon that few laypeople would understand? Are you potentially confusing consumers by offering them too many options or features?

Perhaps the most "innovative" thing you can do is pare things down to the essentials. Easier said than done, of course, but worth considering.

Do this right and I'll bet the world will beat a path to your door.

15 Cool Things I Learned at the 2007 CMA Annual Convention

I had the privilege of attending, and speaking at, the 2007 Canadian Marketing Association Annual Convention in Ottawa earlier this month. Here are a few fascinating tidbits I gleaned from the many excellent talks and presentations I attended:

• Marketers need to learn how to 'outsource' the marketing to the consumers.
• Marketers need to develop mechanisms to detect and nurture the brand ambassadors (i.e., those consumers who will willingly act as promoters).
• Mass advertising for the iPod didn't happen until 9 months after the product launched; until then it was all 'word of mouth' marketing by brand ambassadors.
  (Source: Dr. Joe Plummer, Advertising Research Foundation)

• "Don't fear theft of your ideas; fear obscurity."
• To today's 'Net Generation,' "choice is like oxygen."
• Google is the world's fourth largest computer hardware manufacturer (of data servers).
  (Source: Don Tapscott, New Paradigm)

• People want more of what they can get less of.
• 90% of people look for less risk (try to avoid risk) when it comes to making a decision.
• You are four times more likely to be a CEO in North America if you are over six feet tall.
  (Source: Heath Slawner, Hart Resource Development)

• 50% of complex search queries (in search engines) go unanswered.
• 40% of the Web is not searchable...yet.
  (Source: Owen Sagness, Microsoft Canada)

• WestJet receives 1,000+ unsolicited resumes a week.
• The airline has a Department of Culture that is responsible for "creating a remarkable (workplace) environment."
• WestJet holds retirement parties for the planes it takes out of service. At the last retirement party for a plane, over 600 employees showed up.
  (Source: Richard Bartrem, WestJet)

• 74% of bloggers say they are open to receiving product or service information from companies, but only 9% actually do.
  (Source: David Jones, Fleishman-Hillard)

Next year's CMA Annual Convention will be held in Toronto in May, 2008.

American Idol Demonstrates Power of the On-Demand Consumer

I am addicted to American Idol. There, I said it.

Now that I have confessed, let me explain why I am hooked on this show. It is a great example of what I call the new "On-Demand Consumer" in action.

Every year (every season), millions of consumers vote for their favourite product (the singer), the one they want to be manufactured (their album produced and released by a major music label).

And how do these On-Demand Consumers vote? By calling a toll-free number or sending a text message from their mobile phone. It's a simple - yet utterly brilliant - model. And it is being replicated all around the world with Canadian Idol, Australian Idol, Latin American Idol, etc.

Last week I was giving a talk on the On-Demand Consumer and I was asked what percentage of American Idol voting was done via SMS (text messaging). I didn't have an answer at the time, but I did get one later.

According to figures released by Telescope, the company that handles the voting for American Idol, a combined total of 580 million toll-free and SMS votes were placed during Season 5 (2006).

Cingular, the telco partner of Telescope for the American Idol voting, claims that 64.5 million text message votes were received for that season.

When you crunch the numbers, that means that 11.12% of voting was done via SMS.

I don't know why I thought this number would be higher, but I did. Then I realized that not only is 64.5 million an enormous number, but each and every one of those 64.5 million votes was paid for by the voter.

That's right.

Millions of Americans, mostly teenage girls (right?), were so motivated by the On-Demand nature of this show that they were willing to pay 5-10 cents per vote to help influence the 'design' of a product. A product they would then be willing to fork over more money - a lot more money - to buy when it was released a few months later.

Take, for instance, the first American Idol, Kelly Clarkson. Her debut album debuted at number one on the Billboard chart and went on to sell over 2.5 million copies in the United States.

With all due respect to Ms. Clarkson's talent as a singer, it's no surprise her first album was a bestseller. Those millions of On-Demand Consumers were getting precisely the product they had voted for.

Welcome to the world of the On-Demand Consumer.

"Generation Google" Makes Its Ontario Debut

Join me, if you can, on February 22nd for the Ontario debut of my provocative and popular talk "Generation Google: The Rise of the On-Demand Consumer". I've given this talk at conferences in Vancouver and Montreal, and now now it's time for the Ontario premiere!

"Generation Google" explores the new breed of consumer and outlines how marketers must adapt their methods in order to successfully interact with today's On-Demand Consumer.

I will be delivering this talk at a networking and professional development event presented by Canadian Women in Communications that takes place from 6-9 PM on Thursday, February 22, 2007 at the Ontario Club in Toronto, Canada.

Canadian Women in Communications (CWC) is "a national, bilingual organization dedicated to the advancement of women in the communications sector through strategic networking, targeted professional development and meaningful recognition."

For more information and to register for the event, follow this link.

Domain Name Advice for Toronto Mayor Wannabes

The race to be the next mayor of Toronto has started to heat up now that 38 people have officially declared themselves in the race for mayor.

As an Internet marketing specialist and long-time citizen of Toronto, I believe it is my civic duty to pass along a few words of advice to those who might aspire to oversee Canada's largest city:

Register your Website address before you start talking to reporters.

For example, if your name happens to be "Stephen LeDrew" and you are purported to be one of the three main contenders in the race to be mayor of Toronto, it would be a good idea to register the domain names stephenledrew.ca and stephenledrew.com BEFORE going on CBC's popular Metro Morning radio show to announce that you intend to run for public office.

Otherwise, you see, someone listening to the show might register those domain names. Who knows, that same someone might even point those domains to their Internet marketing blog and write about it. After all, this is a perfect example of what not to do when it comes to launching a high-profile marketing campaign.

I have to give Stephen LeDrew credit where credit is due, however. He told reporters he intends to run an unconventional campaign, and by golly he's off to a roaring start.

I wish him the best of luck.

Update: October 7, 2006

It's been just over a week since I launched this "media experiment," and I think it's safe to say that I have made my point loud and clear. Some might say I was too successful!

Since this whole affair began on September 29, 2006, numerous blogs and Websites have written about my "Domain Name Advice for Toronto Mayor Wannabes." This story was picked up by the National Post, Toronto Star, Toronto Sun, Eye Weekly, and Spacing Votes. My traffic peaked when Warren Kinsella blogged about it, and overall there have been over 5,000 visitors to my Internet marketing blog.

I've particularly enjoyed reading the dozens of comments and emails that I have received from all over the country. 65% of the folks who took the time to write agreed with what I did, and the rest accused me of being a cybersquatter, a thief, unethical and an all-round menace to the democratic process and society at large. (Let's just say it's a good thing I don't take things personally.) Thank you one and all for your feedback. Even if we don't see eye to eye, at least I got you thinking.

Since Wednesday, I have been in contact with Stephen LeDrew's campaign management through an intermediary. They're not huge fans of mine right now, although to their credit they didn't threaten me with legal action. I am optimistic that over time they will come to realize that they really did screw up by not registering the domain names ahead of time, and - more importantly - that Internet marketing professionals like me are not the real enemy; naivety (in regards to the Internet) is.

"They have the Internet on computers now?" - Homer Simpson

The official launch of LeDrew for Mayor of Toronto campaign is planned for this coming Tuesday, October 10.

As a gesture of good faith, and to prove to LeDrew's campaign management that I am not an "Internet predator" (their actual words, I kid you not), I will be forwarding stephenledrew.com and stephenledrew.ca to the "official" Stephen LeDrew campaign Website on Monday, October 9 (Thanksgiving Day), one day prior to LeDrew's campaign launch.

I have communicated my intentions to Stephen LeDrew's campaign management, and I have also told them (via the intermediary) that if they want me to transfer ownership of the two domain names to them, I will gladly do so at NO charge.

This never was, and never will be, about money.

Happy Thanksgiving, Stephen, and thanks for helping to inject some excitement into the Toronto mayoral race.

Defining Success Metrics for Corporate Blogs

I was recently asked to help someone define success metrics for a corporate blog. I thought this was such a great topic that I'd share my answer with a wider audience.

Many of the success metrics for blogs are similar to those that might apply to a Website, since blogs are a variation on a Website.

These 'shared' success metrics include:

Blog/Website Traffic

• Unique Visitors
• Unique Visits
• Repeat Visits
• Page Views
• Page Views per Visit
• Average Time Spent on site

Blog/Website Brand/Content Interactions

• Content Page Views
• Content % of Page Views

Blog/Website Responses (if applicable)

• Number of Desired Responses
• Conversion Rate from site visitor to Desired Response
• Cost-Per-Desired Response

In addition to the above 'shared' success metrics, there are a number of success metrics that are specific to the unique nature of blogs.

These blog-specific success metrics include:

• Number of Subscribers to the blog's RSS Feed
• Number of Overall Inbound Links to the blog
• Number of other Blogs that Link to the blog
• Number of Comments Submitted to the blog
• Number of Trackbacks Submitted to our blog

Not all of these success metrics will apply in every case, however these are some of the more common ones.

Blogging with the Whales

When I find myself discussing the merits of companies having their own blog as a companion to their corporate Website, I am often asked for examples of "real" companies doing so. (Most of the corporate blog examples I am aware of tend to be from Internet or technology related companies, which are sometimes not considered "real" enough companies by the folks I am speaking to. But that's a topic for another blog posting.)

I was on holiday in New Brunswick last week and stumbled across a seemingly unlikely but unquestionably "real" company that has its own corporate blog. There are at least a half-dozen small companies in the Bay of Fundy area that offer whale watching tours. Based on the limited information I had gathered from various regional tourism brochures, the whale tour companies all seemed to offer pretty much the same service for a similar price. So, like many other people would do in my situation, I turned to the Internet and explored the various companies' Websites.

The companies without Websites immediately lost my business. (That's a topic for another blog posting as well!) The remaining companies offered pretty much the same info on their Websites, with one exception. Quoddy Link Marine, to my pleasant surprise, also had a "Sightings and Updates" blog. The blog is maintained by Danielle, a marine biology graduate in charge of photographing, identifying and recording the whales and sharing that information with various marine research organizations. Danielle's blog chronicles through words and photos (by Danielle) the recent whale sightings and had been updated earlier the day I first looked at the blog with photos of whales that had been spotted that morning.

I was immediately captivated by the near-immediacy of this information and the fact it chronicled the spontaneous nature of whale watching. The "Sightings and Updates" blog also demonstrated to me that Quoddy Link Marine really cared about whales and the environment, not just selling whale tour tickets. Thanks to their blog, I also felt one degree closer to the people behind this tour company than with those from any of their competitors.

Needless to say, I chose to go whale watching with Quoddy Link Marine, not because they had a blog, but because of what the blog revealed to me about the company and its staff, something a typical corporate Website is not usually very good at. And in case you're wondering, the company and the whale watching tour lived up to my expectations. The afternoon we went out we played 'hide-and-seek' with a minke whale plus saw lots of harbour seals, harbour porpoises, and a young bald eagle.

Not only did I have an amazing afternoon on the sea, I also found a great example of a "real" company that has its own corporate blog.