It's All About Being "Real"

In today's fast-paced world we're all searching for the next turn of the crank when it comes to marketing/advertising. Social Media is certainly up there in terms of a buzzworthy candidate, however, whether we're using social media, e-meetings, e-mail, telephony, etc. we need to be ultimately REAL in portraying ourselves to others! Let people see who you are...give them the electronic firm handshake, look them in the eye, convey real likes, dislikes, ambitions, motivations, etc. - really let them see who you are. If they do business for any period of time with you, your real self is going to come out anyhow. (better to let them see who you are right from the start) So, don't look at today's bevvy of indirect communication formats as a means by which to avoid or hide putting yourself out there (some people do). It's actually the perfect way to let your "real" self shine through. And ultimately that will attract the types of customers who think like you and will provide the best "fit" for your business!

The "Joke" Theory of Marketing

You know how you'll go to a party...you're standing around a group of people making small talk...really kind of boring, right? Suddenly someone says "I've got a joke," and everyone begins listening. They're intent on hearing something to break up the ho-hum conversations they've been having with the others. The person starts the joke, and you realize, "I've already heard this." And almost immediately, without thought you'll resume the conversation you were having before the person announced that they had a joke. If the joke had been something you hadn't heard before, you'd have been paying attention for the duration.

This is the same thing that happens with marketing messages. If you have something that people have already heard and/or is predictable they'll keep their attention elsewhere. In other words, there can be no interest without mystery. A couple of examples:

People will make time (even those that hate football) to watch the Superbowl just to see something new, funny, and creative. (Budweiser almost always gets my vote for funny creative...kudos to their creative shops)

Another would be the rise (and fall) of Reality TV. Audiences were drawn to it by the millions just by the thought of seeing something "unscripted." Then, when they came to realize that much of it was indeed scripted they began to turn away...essentially, the punchline of the joke was already a "known."

We humans need to be approached in such a way where there is a captivating story line, where there is anticipation, where there is a unique feature of the campaign that mesmerizes us.

So, as you develop your value proposition and delivery methodology don't go telling the same, predictable joke...keep the approach fresh, and keep us wanting more of your message, and subsequently whatever it is you're selling!

The One Thing!!!

In advertising there is only ONE THING that matters and will get someone to buy your product or service. Now, before I go into what it is (and it's really simple) you need to realize that apart from this one thing, all other items that we blog about on this site are simply tools or delivery methods. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, The Internet, Magazines, Television, Radio, etc. all delivery methods and/or tools that bow down in homage to this one thing. The one and only thing that matters in any form of advertising or marketing is ... getting the target audience to envision themselves using your product and/or service and feeling that in some way it will enhance their life. That's it...sounds really simple...and it is, in theory. That's what all these neat tools are for...to provide a means by which someone can hear about, realize, and in some way verify that what you are selling will assist in making their lives better. If you hold onto this "one thing" your advertising will be much more effective. (The term we use for this very important issue is Synaptic Marketing)

Don't Replace the Live Drummer with a Drum "Machine"

As I was sitting here on vacation it dawned on me that as we move headlong into the age of "digital marketing," that "creativity" is taking a back seat to technology and metrics. Whether a banner ad is blinking, partially or fully animated, swirling, etc. it's still a banner ad and it seems as thought the technology to make it dance and sing (along with the immediate tracking and desire of/for the all-important click-through) has taken the place of delivering a significantly "creative" message. When speaking to Todd (our CEO) about this yesterday AM he said, "sure, it's like all those bands out there who found that they could get by with a drum machine instead of a live drummer." The machine did a great and "predictable" job. But, with the live drummer you had a creative mind that could improvise and potentially make the song better and/or more interesting." This is what I would caution small businesses against these days...whether it's an in-house person you rely on for marketing, or an outside group, don't give up the compelling and otherwise relatable message in exchange for a simple/predictable "click through" vehicle. Now, don't get me wrong...we're ALL FOR DIGITAL MEDIA...we just believe that any banner or online ad you put together (or is put together for you) must still have a "Creative" component that the viewer will relate to and will therefore get them to view your product in relation to his or her own life. The Drum Kit is good, The Drummer is Better!

Over 40s Now Flock to Social Networks

The explosion has already occurred, if you're still waiting for "grown ups" to begin using social networks - you've missed the launch.

In the last six months, I've been found online by 150 high school classmates. I'm 42.

We're here, we like it, and we're staying.

If you have a marketing message...all generations are now well-represented. Yes, we all know about Facebook and Twitter, but there are many more....do you know how to find your audience online?

Wal-Mart Leaning

Just saw an article that talked about how Wal-Mart is leaning on marketing to cut costs. With the iAdvertizing.com model we've put in place here at WPM, I cannot help but to think this totally validates (on the grandest scale possible) the new a-la-carte, fixed-rate model that our team has put in place in order to help companies of all sizes save money on their ad-spend. It's nice to get it right every once in a while :-)

Fantastic show in FL. TC attended and saved our client from the onslaught of media folks interested in their products after they won "best of show" in the Freshwater Rod category (30+ entrants into this category). Out of that and other recent experiences, something rather remarkable has struck our team. As we watched this "explosion" unfold in Orlando it was apparent that these folks have done it right! Believe me that we've seen enough "GREAT IDEAS" wither on the vine from either poor planning, not enough market/consumer-base research, and/or under capitalization. As a matter of fact there are a number of new clients that are "doing it right" these days. Maybe, just maybe that's one small silver lining in the overall economic downturn we're currently experiencing...new companies are performing more due-diligence in preparing their go-to-market offering...setting up the correct amount of funding...developing dealer/distributor channels, allocating budget for marketing, and otherwise planning for what happens "IF." Perhaps these new entrepreneurs are feeling as though this is their shot at making it, their one shining moment, and therefore aren't going to leave anything to chance. If that's the case, then that is indeed a silver lining and we couldn't be happier

The Beginning ...

I sat at my son's computer on Dec. 26th, 2008 and came up with the idea for iAdvertizing.com I thought to myself, "what a great day it must've been over at Apple when they came up with the thought behind iTunes. Someone could actually come in to their website and instead of purchasing an entire CD for $12-$15 dollars, (when they only wanted 2 or 3 songs) they could simply choose those 2 or 3 songs and pay only .99 cents for each - saving themselves the difference." Now, since THE WPM GROUP (our full service agency offering) is virtual, with all designers and staff working across the nation from their homes I figured that we could do the same thing for the advertising world. With the economy circling the drain and businesses being squeezed from every direction (supply and consumer price side) we realized that there is really NO SHORTAGE of marketing NEED, but there was a server shortage of businesses willing to pay for the long-term agency retainer style contracts. So, with the help of our management team and designers we were able to develop a fixed pricing list and otherwise commoditize each of our marketing agencies' service offerings. This would allow business owners, marketing officers, etc. to come in, choose only what they want and/or need and not have to worry about whether or not their advertising/marketing dollars were being used effectively. On top of that we decided that we'd offer evey business a free service that they could use, even if they didn't purchase from iAdvertising. That service was a free, real-time, automated quote feature. You see, for far too long traditional advertising agencies have cloaked the cost of services in a shroud of mystery. We felt as though the time for complete transparency had arrived. So, with the launch of iAdvertizing we made it so that anyone can come to our menu of services page, begin clickng on the items they want and then, off to the left side, they would see a real-time total appear. This would allow them to move forward with a baseline number from which to compare with other marketing options they may investigate. We felt as though this was the best way to do business and from what we've seen to date, so do our customers.