BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) If you are going to flog, aka Adverblog (and you know you will) the old school ideas of subtlety, innuendo, irony and sarcasm need to be supplanted with simplicity and clarity. Basically because we suck at spotting subtlety in written communications. Like Duh!
It’s extrememly difficult to recognize sarcasm and irony in writing especially on the web. Perhaps this is because of the fact that people skim web pages rather than read them in detail. But studies have identified a more likely cause as being the missing information which can be derived from voice and body language. We’ve all picked up the phone after a long series of confusing emails, back and forth, forth and back, each more difficult to write, seeking to describe the subtlety, and neuance of the situation, only to clear it up in a 30 second phone conversation.
Personal experiences that many of us share relating to that time when they “totally missed the sarcasm/irony in that email” should help us to understand the depth of the problem. I’ve jumped down people’s throats because they were more subtle than I was able to detect in their email. Man, that makes you feel stupid.
Man, that makes you feel stupid, is the point here. The very last thing an Adverblogger needs is to make their target audience feel stupid, misled, fooled, hoodwinked, bamboozled, betrayed, etc… you get the point. So the only way to deliver AdverBlogging that works and isn’t an affront to the readers is to be clear about your intent, goals, or support (i.e. the money behind the words.)
Consider carefully how the reader could possibly misinterpret your words. Could they be thinking your Advertisement is not that, but a true unsolicited customer testimonial? If that’s the case, (and it often is) then you need to make it more apparent that it’s an Ad, period. If that means a label as blatant as “this is an advertisment” then that’s what you need to do. Because the alternative is making the target audience, your customers feel stupid. And that’s never a good thing.
Do you think I’m being stupid?
Tanks for reading,
Chris
Tags: Reasonable Social Networking · Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Seth raised the ire of the blog-o-sphere last week with his post about clicking on ads as a way to pay the blogger for a good post. Here is a round-up of the reactions.
But first a nerdy side note on the story; some funny things happened when I started my research on this post. I first turned to Google (naturally) to discover the links to Seth’s blog post. I used the following search:
Google: link:http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/08/ads-are-the-new.html -site:typepad.com Which returned 0 results, surprising for Google. MSN had the same problem, link:http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/08/a returning 0 results.
Yahoo however found what I was looking for: link:http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/08/ads-are-the-new.html -site:typepad.com = 100+ items
Next I looked at Nielsen’s Buzzmetrics tool BlogPulse which shows a nice quantity (25+) of links to the blog post. The problem being they missed the most important one- mine! Now I’m not a Top 100 blogger by any means, but I do have a decent following and readership. I’ve a got a fairly good Technorati score (220+) and Alexa Rank (322,000), so why doesn’t 1 Good Reason make it with BlogPulse?
This then led me to look at Seth’s blog post again and wonder about the Trackbacks. It seemed that the only Trackbacks Seth was showing were for complimentary blog posts. So I wrote to him and asked him about it; Seth answered that he approves “EVERY SINGLE trackback that comes through typepad”. Which made me wonder why my trackback wasn’t coming through Seth’s Typepad blog.
There I discovered a difference in the way that WordPress handles trackbacks form other WordPress blogs, compared to the way they handle them with other bloging platforms. Let’s skip the tech stuff and just say you should be sure to include trackbacks for blogs in your posting, it’s a pain but worth it.
And finally a last point about Seth’s blog. In my correspondence with Seth I suggested to him that revisit his commenting system. Several years ago, Joseph Jaffe over at Jaffe Juice commented that Seth’s blog didn’t take comments. That’s my first recollection of this, perhaps you have others? But since then I’ve been not alone in the impression that Seth holds himself to be above the fray, and doesn’t accept comments on his blog. Well I found that is wrong. Seth does accept comments, it’s just very hard to find them in the 8 point small print at the footer of each blog post. So I would suggest to Seth that unless he doesn’t want people to comment, he should make it a bit easier and more apparent.
CORRECTION: Seth, doesn’t take comments on his blog. I was confused by the comments link on the Diggs for the post, where there are a number of comments. Seth explains his reasoning for not taking comments here. After reading that post I have to say that I don’t agree with Seth. Thinking about the reactions of others to your writing, or speaking, is called being “SOCIAL.” And that’s what Social Media is all about.
Here are the main articles I’ve found surrounding this issue: (this list is stolen, in part from BlogPulse, and I’m not sorry because you didn’t list my blog.)
However this list is not nearly complete because it missed among others, this post by Joseph Jaffe.
So what do you think?
OH yea! Be sure to look for next weeks BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!
Tanks for reading,
Chris
Tags: Dear Mr. Reasonable · Reasonable Social Networking · Reasonable Techie Advice · Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF Seth Godin’s blog today is recommending that we all start using Click Fraud as way to tell bloggers we love them.
Seth today proposes that we should simply click on ads on blogs that we like.
Seth Godin’s Blog: “If you like what you’re reading, click an ad to say thanks.”
Seth’s post today promotes theft of services!
There is no difference between Seth’s post today, and a Bank Manager telling you how to successfully kite checks.
A store security guard giving you advice on how to shoplift.
Seth is a Marketer. And a very internet savvy one at that. His site search lists 136 results for Website Design, and 246 for SEO. So Seth knows how the internet works. He especially knows how Pay Per Click (PPC) works as evidenced by this post written back in 2006 when he still explained technical details, now he just does “big picture, high level, strategy stuff.” I’m telling you this so you know that Seth understands the details of PPC and the details of how the PPC economy works.
Seth today proposes that we should simply click on ads on blogs that we like. This will pay the website owner for the free content they have provided. This way only the advertisers will have to pay for the useless clicks they receive. Seth even goes on to say that, “Pretty simple, but not an accepted online protocol, at least not yet.”
For a big picture guy like Seth this a really stupid idea. For an experienced online marketing expert like Seth- this borders on criminal conspiracy.
On successful sites people start clicking all sorts of ads. Good advertisers leave these sites in droves because the ROI drops out the bottom. Click Fraud becomes the accepted Standard Operational Procedure for people to do business on the web, if this becomes “an accepted online protocol.”
Just to clear up any confusion here is Google’s take on the idea: (quoted from the Adwords Help section
Google defines invalid clicks as:
- Manual clicks intended to increase your advertising costs or to increase profits for website owners hosting your ads
- Clicks by automated tools, robots, or other deceptive software
- Extraneous clicks which provide no value to the advertiser, such as the second click of a double-click
Don’t be fooled by Google’s spin, “invalid clicks” is CLICK FRAUD. Seth’s idea is to promote Click Fraud as a way to encourage Bloggers to write more.
Maybe SEO’s should Google Bomb Seth? Seth Godin is a thief.
A Better Alternative
Hey Seth, why don’t you suggest that we enter a friend’s name on a subscription for a good blog? That’s good for the blog and good for the environment. How about building things up instead of tearing them down, eh Seth?
What do you think?
Tanks for reading,
Chris
Tags: Dear Mr. Reasonable · For Unknown Reasons · Reasonable Techie Advice · Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) Another shameless plug.
Evidently it’s a slow day over at Mad. Ave. Journal again, or the real editor’s are on vacation. But in either case they published another article I wrote following along the theme of Floggers & Astroturfers aren’t Evil.
I kind of like the “Social & Search Media Evangelist” title, rather pithy. Let me know what you think.
Tanks for reading,
Chris
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF: Last weeks post highlighted a Fake Blogger (Flogger) and the comments following the post illustrated the emotion attached to this issue by many in the industry. But in my research for this post, I’ve reached a surprising epiphany- Flogging & Astroturfing isn’t wrong, it’s advertising.
The Epiphany
Flogging and Astroturfing aren’t inherently wrong, or evil. They are just a form of advertising that we aren’t familiar with, yet. The reason so many in Social Media react so strongly is that we’ve not built up our defenses to this form of advertising. We can’t see it coming, so when it’s finally discovered we are chagrined, dismayed, betrayed, and feeling foolish. And our reaction to that is often anger.
What is the difference between these types of advertising:
- The Radio DJ who talks about how much they love the local hot spot.
- The Magazine Advertorial which is almost indistinguishable from the content. So much so in fact that it’s wrapped in a box labeled “Advertisement” just so you can tell.
- The audience of the TV infomercial who goes crazy for the latest kitchen gadget.
- The Facebook friend who tells everyone they use this brand of lipstick, or deodorant, or blogging software?
- The blogger who extols the virtues of the medicines they take.
- The “housewife” or “construction worker” who loves the new Ford or Cadillac on a TV commercial.
They are all deceptive ads designed to bypass our learned defenses and gain our attention to deliver their message. These ads aren’t deceptive to fool you, they are deceptive to fool your defenses. They are simply trying to get noticed.
The reason so many in social media have an aversion to Flogging and Astroturfing as that we are upset when we feel deceived. We feel like we’ve been foolish. Taken advantage of. Betrayed. But the real reason is that we didn’t see it coming.
The Remedy- we need cues for these ads.
Most importantly we haven’t developed the cues to inform us “Hey this is an ad.” Because it’s all about perception, and if I perceive that it’s an ad I’m not going to feel betrayed, deceived or fooled. And the Advertiser won’t suffer any of the blowback, repercussions, anger, and frustration of the community at large.
What we as Social Media Mavens need to do are help the industry develop the mechanisms that can indicate to the casual observer “Hey this blog comment- this twitter message is really an ad!”
Because when you know what’s coming you won’t be fooled into letting down your defenses. Then it can’t hurt you and you won’t be angry.
What are you going to do about it?
First, I’m a lousy poker player, and a lousy liar and actor. Therefore you won’t be seeing me creating any Flogs or Astroturfing anytime soon. And I think there are still some very big mine fields out there for the field to negotiate, (like medical, pharmaceuticals, and lifestyle issues). But the leaders and strategists in the field need to think about how we can help our customers create these ads. All of this talk about transparency and honesty and openness is useless without some concrete guidelines on how to deliver realistic ads that work in the space.
Over the next several weeks I will outline several methods and techniques Marketers can use to create Flogs, Astroturf and other Personna Based Marketing initiatives without raising the ire of the marketplace.
Tanks for reading,
Chris
NOTE: Jonathan Trenn and I have been discussing this subject for several days. His take on it can be found in this excellent article: http://marketingconversation.com/2008/08/19/what-chris-kieffs-wife-can-tell-us/
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
Flogger: n; Contraction of the two words: Fake, and Blogger. (syn: Persona Blogger) One who writes fiction but portrays it as autobiographical, usually as a paid writer to promote products, services, brands or ideas.
Astroturfing: v; The act of writing fictional comments on blogs, bulletin boards, or in online discussions. usually as a paid writer to promote products, services, brands or ideas.
Yesterday at Social Media Camp NYC hosted by Mashable, and Yoono, there was a very lively discussion started by a young woman who presented herself as a “Persona Blogger.” She was joined in this discussion by a company (who I have decided to not name, yet) who is employing her to blog for them.
She discussed how she assumes the persona of several people; 52 year old woman, 25 year old man, 20-ish woman, and then blogs, twitters, and creates pages on social networks like Facebook, MySpace, and others as these people. She spoke about how this is a 24/7 job that requires her to maintain this work constantly to keep up the facade.
I’ll not mince words, this is simply lying, and as I’ve stated in this blog before, lying is a terrible way to build a relationship.
The audience at SM Camp NYC seemed to divide somewhat along generational lines, with some of the younger people taking the side that it’s understood that people can’t be trusted on the internet. Their arguments followed the logic that everyone on the internet makes things up. They’ve grown up understanding there are different levels of honesty. All marketers are liars who are often telling people a story they want to believe. Throughout history there have been great works put out under false names. “I’m not a doctor.” TV infomercial fake audiences, etc, etc.
So the question is where is the line- Blogging, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, FriendFeed. When has the flogger crossed the line? If a “Persona Blogger” writes a blog posing as a fictional person, and creates a myspace page, and a twitter persona, and then runs that persona 24/7 on these services is that a problem?
The test for this is simple; if you were selling a hard product that I could go to a store and purchase could you be accused of false advertising?
Here is the problem for the Advertiser: The basis of the effort in Flogging or AstroTurfing is to gain the trust of the audience in order to break down their defenses against advertising and pitch your products to a more open audience. The problem is that if you are found out then you have not only broken the trust you have gained, but you have betrayed it. Betrayal is common in almost all societies, and people have a highly developed sense for detecting it. This betrayal will often lead to alienation and retribution. Pete Blackshaw’s book title says it all, Satisfied Customers Tell Three Friends, Angry Customers Tell 3,000.
Here is the solution for the Advertiser: Hire the brilliant writer (or brilliant editor) and find a real person. Have the brilliant writer edit that real person’s words. This can never cause you a fraction of the grief that Flogging or AstroTurfing can cause.
Tanks for reading, now tell me what you think in the comments below:
Chris
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) You’ll know social media and the internet are the primary source for people to get info when that’s where they turn first in an emergency.
Mike Hudson over at ThreeMinds wrote an excellent article Titled “Citizen Journalism Kicked Big Media Around” discussing how people reacted to the recent earthquake in Los Angeles. Which got me to thinking, I have a question for you-
If an emergency happened to your city right now where would turn to on the web for news and information about it?
Examining this question can lead us to some very interesting insights.
- Who do you trust to tell you vitally important news?
- How do you contact your friends and loved ones to check on them?
- Where do you FIRST turn for the news about your local area?
If you first turn to the web, instant messaging, twitter, and a local newspaper website- then I would guess you are a Gen-Xer, and an early adopter, and in the minority.
If you first turn to radio or TV, and telephone, then I would guess you are solidly in the mainstream. And I’m not alone in thinking that.
I myself, would turn on the TV or Radio nearest me, use the phone (as do so many people) for loved ones and then jump on Twitter to find out what’s happening. From Twitter I would learn some good websites that have up to date news, video and images. For me, social networks are not quite there yet to replace the tried and true big media news for my most trusted source when the chips are down.
I believe that in time social networks will replace main stream media as the place for breaking news about local events. Mike notes in his article that the LA Times website crashed because so many rushed there following the quake. Other sites note that phones were constantly busy.
In my opinion until a significant portion (>1/3) of the online population turn to social networking as a first and primary source for news, it hasn’t yet arrived. When people begin to first turn to IM, texting, and Twitter like applications, we will know that social media are finally entering the mainstream.
Where do you turn when the chips are down? Tell me in the comments below…
Tanks for reading,
Chris
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
BLUF: GetSatisfaction.com the consumer complaint site was able to do something no other social networking site I’ve encountered was able to do, they got all of my friends. The site found 550 of my Twitter friends in a few seconds.
I sign up for, try out and test lots of new Social Media sites constantly. Somebody mentions a neat new site on Twitter, or Facebook, or in a blog and I’m likely to go there and try it out.
So when I finally got around to signing up for GetSatisfaction.com last week it was with a jaded eye that I ran their Import Twitter Contacts function and was astounded! It instantly returned 550 people that I’m friends with on Twitter.
Now I’ve got lots of connections on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Plurk, etc, etc, etc. And I’ve tried dozens and dozens of sites applications and plugins. Not long ago I tried a Facebook App and it failed to find a single one of my friends. I wrote the help line and they said no one in their company had as many friends as I had, I only have about 900, which by Facebook standards isn’t a huge amount of people. This type of reaction is something that I’ve grown accustomed to; applications fail to find all, or even any of my connections.
The other side of having a big list of friends on sites, like Facebook and Twitter, is that even if the application or plugin you are using can deal with a big list it can take several minutes for it to work. As an example Facebook has FriendWheel that graphs the connections between your friends, so you can see how they are interconnected. FriendWheel can deal with up to 600 friends but in doing that it takes several minutes to generate the graph. (Although Friendwheel, I tried you today and it says 60 seconds but… it was more like 3 minutes.) But GetSatisfaction.com not only found most of the people I am Friends with on Twitter but on top of that, they did it in seconds. I was literally jaw droppingly astounded. (I don’t think that “droppingly” is a word, sorry.)
A warning for Twitter
I’m not sure how or why GetSatisfaction.com can do what so many others can’t seem to manage. I requested an interview but received no reply. Scott, did reply to my question posted on the website itself but he only said that they have a smaller user base. Whatever GetSatisfaction.com is doing, should be emulated by Plurk.com, identi.ca and any other social media wannabe’s. Because the greatest barrier to entry is moving your existing network from one social site to another. And with Twitters Fail Whale flying regularly they are ripe for being picked off by one of the other sites.
What do you think?
Tanks for reading.
Chris
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
On Sunday, I like several others on Twitter received the following Direct Message from a Twitter User named SeoVice:
SeoVice Hey Everyone, Sending you all an Invite.kwippy invite 4 u http://kwippy.com/signup/e21093035b/; check out my page http://kwippy.com/seovice
Now, in my book any personal message sent directly to me and no one else that begins “Hey Everyone…” is starting on very rocky ground. I think that most people will feel that this is a spammy beginning. And then to follow that with a purely commercial pitch which has nothing in it for me, drops it wholly into the spam category.
So what should SeoVice have done?
- Personalize the message- scratch the “Hey Everyone” I’ve found “Chris” works better with me, your results may vary.
- Do it! Don’t tell me you’re doing it. Remove the “Sending you all an” it’s not the message, how about “You’re Invited!” instead?
- WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? “Check out my page at…” is never enticing. Heck, if I send that message to my wife she usually tells me she doesn’t have the time. List the benefits for the reader. It’s not about you unless someone is paying you money to endorse their product.
So now let’s try out the new less-spamy message that SeoVice should have sent on Sunday:
Chris, you’re invited to be one of the first to try Kwippy our new social networking system at http://kwippy.com/signup/e21093035b/
Now is this spam? Well According to Wikipedia; “Spamming is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages.” So I don’t know if this was a bulk message or not. However, the tone sets the perception, and in Marketing perception is reality. So while it’s still spamy, it has the following advantages:
- What it’s about (an invitation to try a new service.)
- Why I care (I can be “one of the first.”)
- What it is (a new social networking system.)
- It’s personal (”Chris” as opposed to impersonal “Hey you!”)
I’m not being pitched at, I’m being offered an exclusive early chance to try something new. This is enticing, exciting and interesting. Is it still spam, who cares?
Tags: Reasons For Net Marketing
Variety the Children’s Charity
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the word “conversation” is opposite of the root word “versus“. Versus, as in two teams fighting each other (NY Giants vs. NE Patriots for example in the epic Superbowl just past) means; to turn against, so conversation means to actively turn towards. Therefore conversation is the reverse of opposing, hence the title of today’s blog.
Or in a more literal sense, "versus" means to turn away, as in; turning away from him. (It’s actually an archaic sailing term.) "Con" as a modifier means to reverse the meaning of the root word. So "con-versus" means to reverse turning away from, or to reverse your reversal. "Tion" as a modifier means the "the act of" or "the action of". So finally, "con-versa-tion" means the act of reversing your turning away from, or to actively not turn away from. Originally "conversation" meant "to live with" or literally "to turn about with". Interestingly, in the middle ages the meaning evolved into; "having dealings with others" or "the manner of conducting oneself in the world". Later it evolved into a synonym for "sexual intercourse" but I think that can be said of most words at one point in time or another. I hope I’ve cleared that up for you.
In business today the hot topic is social media and social networking. Everyone is talking about how you must have a conversation with your customers. And, unfortunately like the old joke about the weather, everyone’s talking about it and no one is doing anything about it.
Well, I’m happy to say that this situation has changed. In the second book of the series The Age of Conversation, the masterminds Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton have drawn together 237 authors from across the blogosphere discuss how to have this conversation.
Despite the fact that it brings their judgement into question, Drew and Gavin have allowed me to contribute to this masterwork. So, while some 1/237th of the piece may be less than stellar, the majority of the compilation will be excellent reading. And the best part of it is that all of the profits from the book go to Variety the Children’s Charity. (Which has nothing to do with Varitey Newspaper or Hollywood in general.) Variety has a simple mission, “Variety the Children’s Charity is dedicated to promoting and protecting the health and well-being of children around the world.”
Below are all of the wonderful bloggers who contributed to the Age of Conversation II:
Now click on one of these blogs below to learn something else new and most likely much more useful than etymology:
Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Chris Brown, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Schawbel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Dave Davison, David Armano, David Berkowitz, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne & Todd Cabral, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, John Herrington, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kristin Gorski, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Robert Hruzek,
