the only cat photo on this bllog
Walk under any ladders yet?
It seemed appropriate to have a think about some of the silly superstitions that infest the world of marketing, and proffer a view about the reality.
- “The internet will never be a good marketing tool”. Hello, the jury came back a decade ago.
- “Twitter is a waste of time.” Wrong. Twitter is now a powerful tool for search, connection, and marketing. The # is changing the face of marketing in new ways every day. Some time ago presenting the Andrew Olle lecture, the editor of the Guardian offered a whole bundle of uses for Twitter, which I massaged into this post, 15 uses of Twitter.
- “Google is just another search engine“. Google is way, way more than just a search engine, it is a door into a host of tools, platforms and services.
- “TV, radio and magazine advertising is dead, supplanted by the web.” Rubbish. Crap advertising never worked anyway, now we just have a viable alternative. Good old fashioned advertising still can work, but is a far more demanding mistress than ever before.
- “Social media is free“. Well, it is if you do not count the time and effort it consumes to develop, organise and post content, then follow up to make the effort worthwhile. It is a two way medium, not one way as media used to be.
- “Banner ads on the web work“. No, it seems not, despite the touting that goes on. Economic logic prevails, when supply is infinite, as virtually it is with space on the web the price should be very low, as will the value. Detailed and focussed targeting can deliver some value, and in the right circumstances can be a useful part of a media mix, but just using banner ads……..why?
- “You need help to be on line if you are an SME“. Not any more, there are free tools to build very serviceable websites, so you are just up for the domain and hosting, and anyone with a bit of curiosity , time and inclination can do it. Weebly, Squarespace are two of the best, my preference is Weebly because of the plug ins, and there are people around who can help you for remarkably low cost. Getting the summer intern to do it for you is a mistake however, do it for yourself, and learn as you go, or use Imagehaven or someone who can teach you as you go.
- “As an SME owner you need to do everything yourself” . Only if you choose to. As with the point above, there are great services around, world class expertise available to you often at modest cost offering outstanding value so long a you are very clear about what you need and actively project manage the services. Mostly the outsourced experts are not mind readers, and assuming they are is a mistake. From design to IT selection and implementation, copywriting, marketing and financial management, engineering, and operational management, the expertise is a mouse-click away.
- “Collaboration is too hard for an SME“. Rubbish again. The collaborative economy is booming, as Jerry Owyang keeps on documenting, and is even easier for SME;s to leverage. One of my mates runs a personal training business, and has developed relationships with a nutritionist, yoga instructor and womens apparel retailer, all of which support and reinforce each other to their mutual benefit, and they agree on the joint marketing programs over coffee.
What further examples do you have?
Outstanding! Continue the good work. 😀