Business blogging: Know your foes

In the world of social media, we hear a lot about “friends.”  In fact, this term has risen to the highest form of prevalence: assuming multiple grammatical forms.  In the noun sense, we refer to the number of friends we are connected to in our online networks.  When we receive a new request, we use the verb form, saying that someone has “friended” us.  Yes, this term has really occupied the fast lane into our lexicon.

When it comes to companies and blogs, it is also important to consider a word we don’t often hear in the social media context: foe.

So, who are your foes?

Foe #1: For one, your foes are your competitors.  It’s time to heed the advice of Green Day and truly know them – particularly what they are doing on social media channels.  If your competitors are effectively executing on their own integrated marketing strategies, they may very well be managing company blogs.

Consider these company blogs publicly available intel.  Read them religiously.  Understand how your competitors are using this media to generate ROI.  Are they offering free trial of their products?  Are they flexing their customer support muscles?  Are they boosting their email subscriber lists?  Learn their tactics and use your own blog to compete.

Foe #2: In addition to companies publishing official blogs, beware of unofficial bloggers.  These seemingly harmless unpaid Internet journalists are foes for a couple of reasons.  For one, they may be writing about you – without you reading, revising, or approving their content.  There are a number of individuals who solely devote their blog content to everyone from large corporations to private universities.  And, these individuals have no official ties to their subjects.

Unofficial bloggers are also foes because they can beat you on the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) battlefield.  Depending on the search terms people use to locate information about your company, they may first see information from an unaffiliated search.  The unofficial blog may rank higher than your official one.  Or, it may rank higher than your company website.  It’s worth a quick Google Search.

The scariest thing about unofficial bloggers is that they can assume the identity of both friend and foe.  In one post, they may give a gleaming review of one of your products.  On the next, they may criticize your acquisition strategy or highlight recent negative publicity.  The minute you trust them, they will turn on you.

The cliché “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” has never been truer, as the digital age has brought us all closer together – friend and foe alike.

The internet: your indie theater

Fourth Street in Downtown Winston-Salem is a happening place.  Along this strip, there’s the local microbrewery, a Lebanese restaurant with $3 falafels on Tuesday, and a great gym for rock climbing.  And, nestled between it all, there’s another great gem: an independent movie theater.  It’s the kind of place you can go to see cutting-edge documentaries, foreign films, and cult classics – with a bag of popcorn in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.

A/perture, in the theater’s own words, serves as a “modern, unique alternative” to more traditional venues for watching movies.

A modern, unique alternative.  Say it three times.  Meditate on the words.  That’s what your brand deserves – a modern, unique alternative to the traditional.

In this case, we mean traditional advertising.  While the media of yesteryear still has its place, it’s no longer enough to help you stand out from the crowd.  So, what per say is your unique alternative?  How about a film of your own – that truly shows your brand’s independence?

Impossible.  Films take expensive camera crews, highly-paid actors, and months to put together.  Right?  Wrong.  It’s easier than ever to make a short film and embed a marketing message.  You just need an idea (we’re here to help) and a means with which to capture it (take the family camcorder off the shelf or use one of ours).

It’s also easier than ever to showcase your films.  There’s an entire theater at your disposal, packed with viewers ready to watch and share your message.  With streaming communities such as YouTube and Vimeo, the Internet is the perfect venue to showcase your masterpiece.

Here are some tips help you please your critics:

• Make it entertaining so your viewers will want to watch all the way through.  While videos are a click away, so is the “Stop” button.  Introduce conflict early, on the way to a well-defined climax.
• Make it accessible so you don’t eliminate potential audiences.  Save your work in a variety of file formats and sizes to accommodate different browsers and Internet connections.  And, don’t forget mobile.
• Make it sell so it’s worth your while.  Tap the huge potential of this media by subtly featuring your products and services.  In other words, sell without selling.

Remember, you aren’t filming a commercial for a reason.

RTPL: Featured band

At OffForty, we love music.  It inspires us.  It gets the creative juices flowing.  And, yes, it often leads to spontaneous dance parties.  So, on occasion, we will be introducing you to a featured band we’ve been listening to.  Our goal?  To help you create the ultimate Road Trip Playlist (RTPL).  First up: New York-based Vampire Weekend.

Why they make the playlist: They have a unique style, with an indie heart, punk energy, and reggae vibe – all played by preppy guys that could be your frat brothers.  But, most importantly, they have a song devoted to the Oxford comma.  For those non-grammar-nerds, that’s the last comma in a series such as “apples, oranges, and bananas.”

We think this is great, because the Oxford comma is often the star of discussions about consistency.  And, consistency is next to godliness.  Many people debate whether to use the last comma in the series or drop it altogether.  At the end of the day, parties on both sides say to be consistent.  If you use it, carry it all the way through your message.  If you omit it, make sure it doesn’t creep back into the text anywhere.

The all-important Oxford comma decision is only one important one when it comes to verbal consistency.  You also have to choose your tense, debate “toward” versus “towards,” specify the number of spaces between sentences, and decide whether to abbreviate or write out state names.

Even if you have mastered the wording, you’re only partway there.  It’s not only about maintaining verbal consistency; visual consistency is also a major consideration.  As with operating within the same grammatical guidelines, you should adhere to one overarching color scheme.  Start with a dominant color that helps your audience identify your brand.   Other hues should be complimentary.  Fonts should pair well together too.  Even when it comes to photo selection, there is a lot to consider.

Related to the joint efforts of the verbal and visual is tonal consistency.   This involves identifying your voice and sticking with it.  Do you want to come across as formal?  Funny?  Authoritative?  If customers see that your brand has found itself, they will want to find your brand.

Advisory: Using a choice expletive (sensitive ears, beware!), Vampire Weekend asks who cares about an Oxford Comma.  Since it plays a role in ensuring consistency, we definitely care!  We know how important it is for your messages to be consistent – not just within one piece, but across multiple channels.  Your website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and mobile app should all read, look, and feel like they’re authored by one source: you.

Call us today to help you promote consistency in your communications.  And, while you’re at it, add these songs to your playlist:

Oxford Comma (explicit)
Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (live)
Cousins

Road to the Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is today, and the New York Giants and New England Patriots will square off.  But, the week leading up to the Big Game, it’s been our Carolina Panthers who have been making headlines.  You wouldn’t expect the Cats of recent years to be in conversations at this point in the season.  Nonetheless, here they are – lighting up blogs, flooding the AP, and even rising to the #1 trending topic on Twitter.

It’s not because of the upcoming draft, or even stud QB Cam Newton’s bout for Rookie of the Year.  It’s all because of a new logo that really doesn’t look that different from the one the Panthers have had since joining the league in 1995.  The logo still utilizes the Panther face.  And, it still maintains the shape that is designed to represent how North and South Carolina appear on a map (if turned slightly sidewise).  Reportedly, the new Panther is intended to be fiercer and resemble the smooth statues outside Bank of America stadium.

The franchise is also ditching the funky, fun logotype for block letters mauled by a few anticlimactic cat scratches.  In the image below, you can compare the old (top) and new (bottom) logo/logotype:

When the news broke the Internet, it seemed as if our Panthers had become the latest chapter of the GAP logo fiasco.  Fan reactions were both harsh and hilarious.  On one end of the spectrum, diehards criticized the team for changing brand elements that had become iconic.  On the other end, people wondered why they did not opt for a complete rehaul.

Here at Off Forty, it’s tough for us to criticize the changes, because the team had emerging media in mind.  According to a press release, one of the franchise’s key goals was making the logo “more three-dimensional for ever-increasing digital use.”

The web is a vehicle

Metaphorically speaking, the web is often referred to as a vehicle.  A blog by Chora, an educational consulting firm, says it is “emerging as the major communication, education, and entertainment vehicle of our time.”  It is easy to see this analogy, as the Internet serves two key functions:

• It delivers content.
• It transports users. 

For example, my 3G connection (as antiquated as it may be) brings me news headlines and takes me to a place where I’m running through a temple, chased by ravenous “bird monkeys.”  And, that’s all before I leave home for the office.  

Looking deeper reveals that the comparison of the web to a vehicle is not a good analogy.  It’s a great one.  Consider the emphasis placed on aesthetic appeal.  From candy apple red Porsches to sleek black Landrovers, people are drawn to how their cars look.  The goal is for them to be clean, shiny, and down-right cool.  By the same token, websites should have clean lines, slick layouts, and appealing colors. 

 Yet, when it comes to vehicles, it isn’t enough to have a pristine paint job and shiny tires.  These aesthetic elements only go so far (literally) without the proper controls.  It’s also essential to be able to steer the car, change gears, and accelerate.  The same is true on the web.  The best-looking site is obsolete if users are unable to navigate. 

When it comes to crafting the usability experience, consider the users who are most likely to visit your site.  What is their comfort level with Internet functionality?  Have they demonstrated navigation preferences in the past?  Are you putting someone behind the wheel of a Manual transmission when they’re only comfortable with an automatic? 

Aesthetics and usability are commonly regarded as the necessary components of creating a well-rounded website.  But, it doesn’t stop there.  In our competitive digital age, websites must inspire and influence.  They must create emotion.  We’re talking the kind of emotion that overcomes people when they’re given a new car in a Christmas commercial.

At Off Forty, we want to help you create a website that dazzles on the showroom floor, has the right mechanics under the hood, and makes a difference in the lives of your consumers.

Prue Sain

“My turn signal taps out the rhythm of a CD I borrowed from a friend.

I should return it, but there’s no time now.  I’m off to a new place with new songs and new friends.

And there’s no looking back.  Except to check my blind spot as I drift across the yellow line.”

I’m not including this poem I wrote in college to show you there will be road themes throughout this blog.  Of course, there will be – but you probably already knew that.  Instead, I’m including it to confess that I’m a poetry geek.  I majored in writing, wrote my thesis on poetry, and try to keep one or two books of verses on the shelf at all times.

And, I learned much of what I know about life, fate, love, and marketing from a poet named Billy Collins.  Collins has a beautifully simple way of putting me in my place.  This is particularly the case in his poem, “Advice to Writers.”  It is as if he is peering at my desk, cluttered with pizza crumbs from late-night brainstorming sessions and napkins with hand-drawn layouts.  He is calling me out, telling me you have to clean up before you can create a masterpiece.

Collins’ poem could have easily been titled “Advice to Marketers.”  Let’s face it.  Companies, large and small, often have much to do in the cleaning department.  In this case, I don’t mean sweeping the crumbs and tossing the napkins.  I’m talking about de-cluttering any misconceptions about their target audiences.  This means taking the time to learn the ins and outs of the consumer population.

Of course, by avoiding the pitfall of slapping labels on customers, you risk offending those who would have otherwise bought your product.  But, it doesn’t stop there.  In our world of emerging media, sweeping away the misconceptions can lead to improved performance in the area of Search Engine Optimization.

• If you know how your customers talk, you will know the keywords they search for.
• If you know their schedules, you will know when they are most likely to be browsing the Internet.
• If you know how they think, you will know what they want to find.

It all goes back to a key principle they teach you in writing poetry – or in writing anything else for that matter.  Write what you know.  As a college student, I knew the road that took me to my university like the back of my hand.  I knew it took me away from home and off to a place that was simultaneously frightening and exciting.  And, I knew halfway along the way, I would pass a small side-road called Prue Sain.

At Off Forty, we want to help you write what you know.  We want to help you achieve a tidy understanding of who you are attempting to reach.  That way, you can deliver the masterpiece that will make them spring to action.

Missing the ride?

The last section of Interstate 40 was completed here in our home state of North Carolina, connecting Raleigh to Wilmington.  With this final stretch of road in place, Charles Kuralt reportedly said:

“Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything.” 

In many ways, this quote is reminiscent of musings often uttered about emerging media.  New forms of media are constantly being introduced that can whisk users to far-off places; yet, many people assert that this is at the expense of the true human experience.

How often have we heard people say the following?

• “Children talk to their friends via Skype. Yet, they are starved for true face-to-face interaction.”
• “Search engines are replacing academic research.”
• “My son and I used to play football.  Now he plays Angry Birds.”

Those who use emerging media can read a book before it hits the shelves.  They can discover new music without fighting concert crowds.  They can see Japan without ever getting a passport.  Yet, naysayers would contend that these users are travelling along without truly seeing anything out their windows.  They are getting there faster but are missing the ride.

Keeping with “the ride” analogy, consider last year’s Toyota Venza ad.  In this commercial, a young girl boasts about her 687 Facebook friends.  She compares this to her parents’ nineteen friends, and accuses them of not truly living.  Her rant is juxtaposed with footage of her parents enjoying life together – with actual friends. While she sits at the computer, they get out of their Venza and bike through the mountains.

To make matters worse, the girl looks like a zombie.  She appears to be hypnotized by new media, and she is self-admittedly unable to read an entire article.  She is a testament to those who think social media is killing all that is human about us.

It’s time to introduce a detour to this line of thinking.  Here at the Off Forty advertising agency, we are firm believers that emerging media does not detract from the human experience.  Rather, it helps shape it.  The new channels we all have at our disposal give us fresh and exciting ways to interact with one another.  They also give you powerful methods of connecting with clients and promoting a valuable brand experience.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) & Social Media Online reports how the instantaneous qualities of new media can help efficiently address consumer needs.  Along these same lines, small businesses like yours can use online surveys and polls to gain insight into clients and track their feedback.  And, you can make your customers feel special by providing “something extra” in the form of an interactive contest or innovative discount.  The list goes on.

Throughout the “Word on the Street” blog, we will be looking in-depth at how emerging media can help you shape meaningful relationships with the world of consumers.

The view out the window is beautiful.  Enjoy the ride.