marketing that touches an audience deep inside. powers is a true visionary in the changing the world world.

*via captaincopley

reblogged via thegongshow:

MailChimp (an Email Service Provider — ESP) released a set of benchmarks for the performance of marketing email set over their system. They categorized all their customers based on the type of mail they send (Religion, Insurance, Non-Profit, etc…) and then revealed each category’s average performance numbers.

I’m delighted to see MailChimp using their data exhaust in this way. I’ve had a number of people over the years ask me, “is my open rate of X% any good?” and now I know where to point them.

The most interesting data point for me was which category got the highest clickthrough rate and open rate.  It’s “Other”.  Why?

Gary Vaynerchuk has made a career out of arguing that content creators should get more niche. I regularly hear him saying stuff like, “don’t write a blog about sports… instead, focus specifically on the NBA, or maybe even just on the LA Clippers.” I think “Other” represents quirky topics that just can’t be clearly bucketed because they’re so niche.  

I suspect the average size of an email list in the “Other” category is shorter than most categories because it’s more niche, but that means that the audience is more targeted and specific.  So, if you want to increase performance, get specific.

I’m sure there are other confounding factors at work that undermine my conclusion, such as “Other” includes usage of MailChimp that requires clickthroughs more often… like coordinating social outings in a small organization. But, that said, I think the more niche you get, the more tightly defined and engaged your audience will be.

Take, for instance, the infamous “Star Wars Kid,” a Youtube video that has garnered over seventeen million hits since it was first posted.  The humor in the video lies not in a clever plot or witty dialogue, but in the entertainment enjoyed by the viewer at the expense of the film’s subject (and his dignity).  The “Star Wars Kid” video is therefore a prime example of the public’s enjoyment of social media content, resulting directly from a schadenfreude-based emotional response.

…Content can be manipulated or produced in a way so as to elicit schadenfreude from social media consumers; it then has a greater chance of going viral as consumers experiencing schadenfreude strive to share that emotional response with others in the social media sphere.  Not only does this cut down on marketing costs, as consumers disseminate the content themselves, but it also provides a reprieve from the standard emotional responses elicited by traditional marketing methods.

*article by Lindsay Goldner

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”

-Da Vinci

As you shape your marketing message, consider what Da Vinci was trying to teach us:

1. Be Clear: Shape your message appropriately. Speak in terms that they can understand & relate to, yet challenge their thinking. Don’t talk over their heads… clarify the complex.
2. Be Simple: Less is usually more… let brevity and minimalism enhance the strength of your message. In other words, stop trying to fill in every little piece of white space. Treat the white space as if it were rest notes in music… the notes and rests are equally important in creating passion in the over all composition.
3. Be True: Be a straight shooter. Your message should be of value not of fluff, deceit or manipulation. People are craving truth and honesty in an over communicated world. Give it to them straight and start building honest relationships… then they will want to work with you.

reblogged from Norman Wright Jr.

While rates vary by demo, here’s a high level look at costs for targeting specific consumers on facebook.

Group of Eight: If you look at the G-8, Facebook users in the United Kingdom are the most expensive to reach, while Italian and Japanese users are the cheapest

Emerging markets: With lower costs of living and smaller numbers of Facebook users, these countries naturally have lower suggested bid ranges. China, which has largely blocked Facebook access, has an estimated user base of just 34,000, so its range is probably not very reliable. Brazil and India also are the remaining strongholds for Google’s Orkut social network and Facebook hasn’t made deep in-roads in either country. That being said, Russia leads BRIC countries in CPC and CPK levels

Age: Older users are more expensive to reach than younger users

Employers: Amusingly, Facebook employees are much more expensive to reach than employees of other companies like Google or Goldman Sachs Group Inc

Media brands: Facebook users that are interested in or like CNBC are more expensive to reach than users who like other media brands (presumably, they work in finance or have significant investable or discretionary income)

Legacy approach to marketing: Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. Ask for the sale. Convert.

Web 2.0 approach to marketing: Educate. Syndicate. Reinforce. Convert.

• Educate — Think of content as a welcoming mat – it transcends websites, social networks and formats. Content connects consumers to you, and it’s all the more effective when it’s viral
• Syndicate — Using platforms like Tubemogul, dlvr.it and ShareThis will help manage the syndication and dissemination of content across the Web
• Reinforce — Remarketing techniques that present your offers as potential customers travel to other websites help reinforce an online marketing campaign. Once the seed’s been planted, keep watering, remarket and make the sale bloom
• Convert — make it rain. enough said.