Well, obviously.

We all know that people’s viewing habits have changed but it’s not just film and TV producers that need to take note. If content (like movies, games or TV shows) is being viewed online via social media and other platforms, then surely businesses that have sought to place their products amongst what’s popular need to do the same.

The survey showed that the younger and more affluent the viewer, the more ‘screens’ they’re viewing. What this means, is that a holistic strategy that encapsulates all forms of media is needed.

Are you where your customers are?

As a sneak peak, here’s an interesting talk by Malcolm Gladwell about how one psycho physicist brought about a change in the way that food companies thought about their products.

Malcolm tells the story of how food companies came to realise that there isn’t one perfect formula for their product. That different people have different tastes, and by diversifying your product line you can satisfy more people.

How can you adapt this way of thinking to your product line?

To watch the rest of the talks head to the hubspot blog.

Recently, Bluewire Media has claimed the #1 spot from John Hacking, who has dropped from #1 to page 2 (any ideas why?). If you looked at the home page of the Bluewire Media website however, you might be confused as to how we’ve made it to the number one spot. There’s no heading saying “Web Design Brisbane”, the words “Web Design” and “Brisbane” appear only once each in the browser title tag, and they’re not together or near the start. In fact, the phrase “Web Design Brisbane” or “Brisbane Web Design” doesn’t even appear anywhere on the page.

Compare this with the companies who share spots 2-10, most of whom start their titles with “Web Design Brisbane”, and you’ll be left to wonder why Bluewire Media is even on the first page.

Well, if you know anything about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), you’ll know that inbound links (links from someone else’s site back to your site) play a huge factor in getting your site to rank higher in search results. A quick scan of the number of links pointing to each of the top 10 websites reveals that Bluewire Media has roughly 24,000 inbound links, while the rest of the top 10 have between 1,000 and 10,000 inbound links (with a couple of exceptions).

Search results for "Web Design Brisbane" using SEOBook's SEO Toolbar to display link data

Fair enough, you might say, until you hear that Bluewire Media does not actually offer SEO services directly (apart from ensuring the websites we build are search engine friendly, we refer our clients to our SEO partners, Reload Media, for all their other SEO needs). How then, have we managed to get twice or three times the number of links that our competitors have, most of whom offer SEO and linkbuilding services?

Well, at Bluewire Media, we’re big believers that the best way to market your business online is to give something of value away for free. Our free Web Strategy Planning Template, co-created with international keynote speaker and best-selling author David Meerman Scott has been downloaded and used by thousands of businesses worldwide to help them define their web strategy.

By giving this template away for free, we’ve managed to not only get our logo and contact details into the offices of hundreds of companies Australia wide, but also to get hundreds (and eventually thousands) of links from webmasters and bloggers who have found it useful and wanted to share it with their audiences, and in doing so have helped us achieve our number one ranking.

We try to recommend to most of our clients that they write an e-book or similar and give it away for free, but many of them, being business-people, just can’t get their head around the concept; and it’s often hard to think of all the right arguments to convince them on the spot. Here, I’ve outlined here what happens when you give away for free something other people thing is pretty valuable.

The process:

1. You publish something (let’s call it a widget) that people would pay for (because it’s that good), but instead you give it away for free. It could be a free e-book, an online tool or app, a printable template or checklist (like ours), or even just a great blog post!
2. People read or use your widget and find it valuable. It’s so good that they can’t resist telling their friends and followers about it using social media (especially if you make it easily shareable). This spreads your brand name and increases your reputation.
3. If your free widget is good enough, eventually it will create enough of a social media storm that people will start blogging about it (hello backlinks!).
4. People who read those blog posts will then know about you and your free widget, and if they find it valuable enough, they’ll tell their own friends and followers.
5. This cycle goes on and on while your brand name is being spread further and further and your reputation is skyrocketing.
6. You now have a first-class reputation, and your customers come to you ready to buy your products/services because they’ve read about you, seen your work and trust your expertise.

But why does it have to be free?

Making your widget free means that when someone comes across it, they don’t have to deliberate over whether they can afford it or whether it will be worth the money, they don’t have to get up and walk across the room to get their credit card details (don’t under-estimate the laziness of the general population), and they have no reason to trust that your widget will do what you claim it will. If it’s free, however, there is absolutely no reason why someone wouldn’t use/read/download it right then and there and be blown away by how valuable it is. Basically, by making it free, you’re allowing it to spread faster and further.

Want to learn more?

[Edit: Lesley has linked to an excellent video in the comments. If you're interested to know more, please have a look]

David Meerman Scott is a thought leader in this field, and has some great books that really help clarify exactly why you should give something away for free. I recommend buying and reading his book ‘World Wide Rave’ (we’ve got some copies in the office if you’d like to borrow one) and downloading some of his free e-books (yes that’s right, he practices what he preaches).

Are you convinced?

A lot of people will remain un-convinced, especially if they think they’re in an industry that this doesn’t apply to. Really though, if you have a product or service and you have a website, there’s a way that it can work for you: you just need to be creative.

If you’re having a hard time thinking of a way to do this in your industry, leave a comment explaining your situation and I’ll think of one for you!

Sadly there’s no magic rubric for deciding whether an in-house social media workforce, a social media consultant, or an agency will best be able to meet your particular business needs. Like almost every business decision, it depends on your business’s goals, budget and particular situation.

There are, however, definite pros and cons to each approach. We’ve highlighted some of the most important factors to consider for each style of social media team. Read More…

Calendaring Your Social Media Marketing Content – Hubspot
From the many Website Optimization Webinars I’ve done over the past six months, I’ve signed up for many Facebook company pages, and I follow tons of people on Twitter. I realize there are those companies – or people – that overkill on the posting and those that I never hear from. The over-killers tend to post information about themselves, and to be honest, after a while I don’t even read their content. Then there are those whose information is consistently valuable. I may not have time to read everything they send, but whenever I do, I’m rewarded. Read More…

5 New Ways to Market Your Brand on Facebook – Mashable
With 500 million members and growing, Facebook offers brands and marketers direct contact to the largest pool of online users on the web. After all, social media is fast becoming more popular than e-mail on mobile devices and more convenient for news consumption than the daily paper.

In recent weeks and months, Facebook has introduced and improved a number of on-site tools that sage brands and businesses can use to better market themselves. Even the simplest of tools such as “Likes” and photos could serve as a catalyst for a viral network effect. Of course, there’s also opportunity to be had with more calculated efforts around Place Pages, Questions and the New Groups. Read More…

Should Your Content Aim for Traffic or Conversion? – Copyblogger
Which articles attract reader attention, bringing you more traffic, more tweets and Stumbles, more eyeballs on the page?

Which articles convert, bringing you more subscribers and sales?

And how do you roll out a strategy that maximizes the twin impact of attraction and conversion? Read More…

7 Deadly Assumptions of Online Marketing Success – Open Forum
It’s not really enough to have a website. These days you must create a total web presence, but you’ve also got to create strategy based on overall objectives.

This is another way of saying unless your online activity ends in a sale you’ve failed in the game of online marketing. There are countless ways to fail on the quest to convert a pair of peering eyes into a paying client. Read More…

Of course, design is important. Not only the way the website looks, but also the way it works will affect customer satisfaction. But what about the words?

Too often, websites are chock full of overly technical terminology. Sure, it might make perfect sense to the person that wrote it – someone that works for that company and understands the industry lingo. But what about the customers?

This can be seen on websites that cover less than simple topics. Few people enjoy spending their time decoding superannuation industry speak for example, so it’s important that the content is simple and succinct. If something is explained in lay terms and saves a customer time, they are going to walk away pleased. And we all know that’s good for business.

Another mistake many companies make is to divide the copy work up between the faculties or areas of business that cover that topic. Sure, it’s important to get a draft from the people that know what information actually needs to be covered, but it’s equally important for those ideas to be brought together into a united body of information. The tone of a website should not be fragmented by the varying styles of multiple authors – instead, it should reflect the company or organisation as a whole. Left to the devices of a range of authors with no editor, some pages will be long, some short, some simple, some technical. The person using the website will come away with a confused range of ideas about what it is the website is trying to communicate.

A great example of a company with a strong personality is Virgin. Across all platforms – whether it be online or off, the character of the company is clear. This is delivered in unifying design, but also through copy. Virgin feels like an approachable, casual and friendly company and this comes down to the way they deliver information – through the type of language they use, as well as the design.

The aim of the game is to create a voice for your company that people will recognise and remember. So even if the copy is written in-house, think of your company (and your website) like a person.

Because while certain language and clothing suit some people and not others, the same can be said of design and copy.

When writing for your company always ask the question “does this suit us?”

Copywriting Brisbane: For copywriting with character call Bluewire Media on 1300 258 394.

Shortly, Toby & I will be in the “Hot Seat” being grilled by a panel of three experts!  The event is being organised by The Source – a group that fuels young professionals in Brisbane.

It should be an exciting night & I’m looking forward to the questions the panellists and the audience throw our way.  A big thanks to Adam Penberthy from Fresh Marketing for the opportunity to be involved!

Details: 5 November 2009 at 6:00pm
Location: Sky Lounge, The Stock Exchange Hotel, 131 Edward Street, Brisbane
Time: 6pm to 9pm
Cost: $35 per person
Includes: Drinks and Platters

HOT SEAT BACKGROUND (from their website)

How many times do you get the opportunity to grill a local corporate highflyer, finding out intricate details about how they have made it to the top of their game?

The Source Hot Seats are your opportunity to not only hear from some of the countries leading young entrepreneurs and corporate legends, but to ask them questions relevant to you and your areas of interest.

Join us for what will be a fantastic evening of inspirational conversation, friendly banter, some networking and of course a bit of food and drink – see you there!

THE PANEL

Karla Hannant – Change Manager, Management Effect
Mark Ross-Smith – Head of Innovation, SMS Fun
Julian Creagh – Solicitor, Quinn & Scattini Lawyers

MC
Adam Penberthy-  FRESH

 
Innovative online advertising from Apple…

 
And just for fun…

This commercial from SAAB has been executed really well. And the concept of ‘changing perspectives’ is great too.

Highlights from the presentation and the MiniMovers story:

• Give customer what they need, NOT what they want
• Exceed expectations by adding unexpected value in every step of the process
• Marketing can be summed up by “getting people talking about you”
• Social media allows you to do three things:  Entertain, Inform or Comment

In this short interview with Bluewire Media after the event, Mike O’Hagan shares how to use social media to promote your business.

Mike continued by making the following observations.

Advertising has changed.
Now people will firstly google, then look at a website, then read reviews by other people.  These days people rarely make decisions based on traditional ads because Google makes it so easy to get “real” reviews on companies. This transparency is what is changing the advertising world.

Plus you don’t need top quality for YouTube videos
Some of best viral videos are shot in-house on digital cameras.  Blendtec’s “Will It Blend?” video series has had enormous success and the video of them blending an iPhone has had over 10 million hits alone.

And PR has changed too.
No longer do you just send a press release to journos & cross your fingers. Now journalists are sourcing their stories from the Internet on sites like blogs, PRweb and PRnewswire.

It’s well worth checking out Mike O’Hagan if you get the chance.

PS. Mike has been very generous with his time in mentoring Bluewire Media since the early days in 2005 when he addressed the small business group we were a part of.  Thanks for your support and guidance Mike!

PPS. Mike’s presentation was organised by Freedom Events and it was hosted in excellent facilities and with friendly, personal service – well done!

Web Design Brisbane: If you’d like to know how Bluewire Media can help your business, please contact us on 1300 258 394.

They have just been awarded 2 Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Lions 2009 56th International Advertising Festival for their ‘Best Job in the World’ campaign.

For those of you who have been living under a rock and managed to miss the publicity that surrounded this very successful campaign, head to the Cannes Lions 2009 website to check out their awards for Public Relations and Direct Marketing.

Great job guys!