Lessons in branding from Social Media success and failure

One of the keys to successful branding is finding a niche and being the first in to do something unique in that niche. We've seen this develop in different social media outlets.

MySpace allowed you to personalize your page, and it acted as a great center for musicians and artists to promote their work. Unfortunately,

this was never capitalized on, and with the high risk of being hacked, as well as with the rise of Facebook, MySpace has lost its appeal, much like one of the earlier blogging websites, Xanga, lost its appeal when Blogger and Wordpress came around.

Facebook was a cleaner version of MySpace and included more information options. It focused on relationships, and it was successful.

Twitter made its mark by only allowing 140 characters and by owning the word "tweet" in the consumer's mind. It also brought about new ways of getting information out with hashtags, @ abilities, and mobile options.

Now, Google+ is attempting to do something similar by focusing on the idea of "circles," "sparks," and other unique terms. Google Buzz didn't work because it was too simple, too out of the way, far less convenient than Facebook. It didn't have a point. Google+ seems to offer easier organization of friends, and it offers the extra plus of the ability to edit photos.

Will Google+ succeed? There's no telling right now, as it is in its beginning stages. It definitely seems to offer some things Facebook does not offer. We'll just have to wait and see if it's unique enough to stand out as a first, rather than a rehashing of Facebook and Twitter. It's already had enough of a demand to warrant shutting down invites for the time being.

What are some other firsts in social networking?

E-mail versus Social Media

Which is more effective? E-mail or social media?

More and more people are saying e-mail is old and not worth using, but Hubspot pointed out in a recent post that the two are good partners in keeping customers active. This is why it is so essential to MAKE CUSTOMERS AWARE OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS. In addition to using e-mail newsletters to promote your events and products, use e-mail to promote your accounts. I can't emphasize this enough. And you can always use your social media accounts to promote your e-mail list, as well.

What are the most important elements for a successful e-newsletter?

Tips for best e-newsletter practice

E-mail newsletters are about more than making customers aware of events. You need to personalize them and send them out on a regular basis in order to make them feel genuine and to keep them from making it to the SPAM folder. Use intriguing headlines, but short headlines, and put the most important information "above the fold." Provide features and stories, how-to's, anything that isn't just boring events. Give readers a reason to open the email, and give them an even better reason to read the email and click on its links.

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage from Breaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "If you're really committed to building a relationship with your patrons, you've got to send them engaging, relevant, and timely information that will grab their attention and bring them closer to your organization. You're going to need to think beyond the common practice of sending "e-mail blasts" that go out at the last minute to drive ticket sales"

Social Media Revolution: Electronics Taking Over How We Do Things

Social media, electronics, the web.... they're taking over how we do things, even for kindergardeners. Watch this video for some thought-provoking statistics. If it doesn't convince you to use social media in your marketing tactics... well, then, you're lost.

Why do you think technology and social media are so popular? How have they changed the way you do business?

Does Advertising Work?

Advertising doesn't work the way it once did. At least that's what most marketing experts tend to say. People don't pay attention, and teens tune out the ads. Newspapers (supposedly dying) don't make as much as they once did on advertising, not even online. Al and Laura Ries (authors of The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding) would say advertising reenforces, but does not guarantee success (which is more likely to come from publicity and word of mouth).

But advertising is finding a new way to get at the younger generation, and, contrary to the majority opinion, advertising is working — at least when it comes to mobile users.

According to Website Magazine,

"Google recently released the results of a smartphone-user survey it conducted... at the end of 2010. Among the key findings was the mobile consumers are particularly responsive to all kinds of advertising. ... More than 70 percent conduct searches on their phones after exposure to an ad... and nearly half of the 5,000 respondents (49 percent) said they'd used their phones to make actual purchases after seeing or hearing an ad."

Your Turn: How much importance and priority do you place on advertising? Is it still effective?

Excitement is key to success

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "People connect emotionally with what you do because arts organizations fuel their passions. Approach them with this in mind. Your appeal to get them to sign up should be, "We're so excited about our upcoming events and we want to share this information with you on a regular basis."

E-mail versus direct mail

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "you may find that the direct-mail piece brings in the same amount of revenue as e-mail, but with e-mail your ROI is much higher"

Why promoting events is important

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage from Breaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "Since arts organizations are generally event-driven, it makes sense to dedicate significant resources to tools that can target your marketing effort to reach patrons around your event schedule"

Glenn Beck's successful marketing tactics leading the way

HubSpot has a great article on the brilliant marketing of Glenn Beck's new online TV network.

My thoughts:

I agree completely with the article (plus I love Glenn Beck). I have friends who have been watching his FOX show on YouTube because they don't have the money for Cable, but this may be closer to home for them and more worth their money, especially with the convenience of having it on-demand.

Also - great thoughts on the disappearing gatekeepers. With online content, you can control things yourself - it's just a matter of using the right techniques to make sure you're not lost in the crowd.

Go here to read the full article.

Focusing on current patrons

Harmony Wheeler would like to share a passage fromBreaking the Fifth Wall: Rethinking Arts Marketing for the 21st Century "Audience-development efforts need to recalibrate and move beyond the laser-beam focus of hunting down new patrons. Instead, what arts marketers should be doing is spending at least as much time and money nurturing existing audiences as they do finding new ones. As an example, arts organizations offer benefits to their donors, such as CDs, tote bags, discounts on gift shops, and the like. Why not use these same tactic"