Three21 Launches Podcast, ‘T-Minus’
T-Minus, Three…. Two…. One….
We have launched our podcast!
Our team truly enjoys each others company; and so they choose to collaborate and debate on industry-related topics such as culture, approach, technique, etc. These are just some of items that provided the extra push needed to commit to this new adventure. Headed up by our Digital Director Dan Melick, it is a goal to involve all members of Three21 that are willing to participate. While most topics are curated with Digital Marketing in mind, we invite anyone who has industry perspective to share, to join us on T-Minus.
With so much change happening in the marketing and advertising space, it seems there will never been enough time to cover all of the content. Products continue to come out almost daily, and new techniques and methods are published. Design styles change. Programming languages evolve. Google comes out with new releases that alter their algorithm. These are some of the ‘industry-related’ topics we will cover, whereas some of the more broad topics- such as Amazon versus Google, might apply to a wider-range audience.
To date we have about 12 episodes that have been edited and some which have already been shared. Dan plans release one podcast weekly, and orchestrate 2 of them, all filmed at Three21’s new HQ. The podcasts will vary in length based on commitments available by our team, and we also seek to involve other business owners, agency participants, and friends. If you have a particular topic that you feel would be interesting, feel free to submit it to tminus@three21.com, and Dan will evaluate it.
You can view all of the available podcasts at TMinus.Three21.com, and they are available on YouTube, SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify for your listening pleasure.
National Recognition. At the cost of (a whole bunch of) free beer.
Ah yes. There is nothing like national syndication and free earned media- when you least expect it. In fact, us marketers yearn for online attention like this…..
Owned and paid media are the most common platforms for brands and companies to engage with their consumers online. However it is the third type of online media that brands and companies (are often ignorant to and) strive to achieve, earned media. The best way to drive traffic and sales online is to create a stronger sense of public awareness about your brand, and to get people to talk about you. Earned media has an organic to the public, and there is a different level of trust that resonates with the consumer based consumers’ opinion of the respective earned media source. Some brands and companies that are ahead in the digital age, are cognizant of the effects that earned media can have to drive sales. Whether being featured on a prominent blog, featured on an Instagram post from an account with millions of followers, or retweeted from a famous athlete or actor; these are the moments that brands strive for.
I’m a partner in an Orlando watering hole called ‘The Basement‘, located in Downtown Central Florida. We are a local favorite that offers a laid back atmosphere, with a grungy 1920’s prohibition-era feel. My partners and I are proud University of Central Florida Alumni, the nation’s second largest college. Our establishment has grown to be the downtown UCF-alumni hub, and often host watch parties. The past few seasons have been memorable with our huge upset over Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl Championship in 2014 led by Blake Bortles. However this season, our young team looks absolutely pathetic. Call it Coach George O’Leary’s gameplan, call it our young roster, or call it bad luck; either way it has been ugly.
One of my partner’s from The Basement decided (through what was first just a sarcastic comment) to offer ‘FREE BEER UNTIL UCF WINS’, and posted it on @TheBasementOrlando ‘s Instagram account. To clarify that it was not a joke, it even said “Seriously, free beer during every game until we win. Because we need something to be excited about.” So what started as a joke, to poke fun at our team’s slow start, turned into national syndication. I received the first e-mail from a CBS Sports representative asking to speak with a manager regarding the special. Next thing I saw during a business trip up to New York for Advertising Week, the NASDAQ ticker in time square was mentioning ‘The Basement, a bar in Orlando offering FREE BEER until their team wins.” I knew that this was in the midst of going viral, and was not going to stop anytime soon.
“The suds are going to be flowing in the basement”, ESPN said. CBS Sports wrote a story, and we got tweeted by SB Nation. Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, Bleacher Report, USA Today, and many other large news stations and heavily trafficked domains did features on this activity. They most recently talked about the UCF Knights on College Gameday, with mention of ‘the bar that’s giving away free beer’. The local Orlando stations continue to keep other national sources up to date to piggy-back off of the attention gained from all over the country.
Sales are up. Our followers are up on all social media sites. We continue to get not just local publicity, but national publicity. While this may not be great from a cost of goods perspective, the bar has been very busy. The cost of domestic beer is lower, which has a lower margin that any type of cocktail. The thought process was to pack the place, and sell drinks, shots, and other items that were not free. Of course, the fact that UCF continues to lose is not helping, but the amount of publicity gained, and people talking about ‘The Basement Orlando”, is worth every ounce of free beer poured.
Some brands, companies, and PR firms will pay THOUSANDS of dollars for sponsored posts from celebrities or site owners rich with traffic. All we had to do was give away some free beer. Now let’s just pray the UCF Football team can win a game…. sometime…. soon.
(Leverage) Your Online Presence
Most of the information discussed here is awfully basic. Although some may find this advice trivial, most of these points are not capitalized on, and even worse- simply overlooked. There are three ways that you can leverage your online presence without reaching into your pockets.
To start, you may question “why is my online presence important”? Simply put, ACESSIBILITY. The internet never snoozes. It is awake 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The internet doesn’t take sick leave or vacation days, and never skips a beat. So why not ensure you are BRAND BUILDING upon a marketing vehicle in constant drive. 78% of the population in North America has actively used the internet, while 40% of the world population actually has access to internet connectivity (and growing).
A benchmark which business owners often overlook is their customer acquisition cost. Yes, your sales are up, but what are you doing to procure those sales? You should be able to measure exactly how much money you are spending to obtain a sale, convert a lead, or ‘close the deal’. You can effectively lower your customer acquisition cost by having a strong online presence. A relative example resides in the fact that 77% of individuals have searched for a product online WHILE SHOPPING INSIDE OF A STORE. Make your product or service visible and optimized on a quick mobile search (a great topic for my next blog).
3 FREE ways that you can leverage your online presence:
1- DISPLAY RELEVANT INFORMATION.
- Have a consistent N-A-P (Name, Address, and Phone Number). Ensure your NAP is consistent among all directories and contact pages across the web. Your business listings should all match up.
- Your website should be organized with ‘structural consistency’ and ‘structural familiarity’ in mind. If a user comes to your website, they are expecting a ‘Home Page’, an ‘About Us’ page, ‘FAQ’, and a ‘Contact Us’ page. Don’t try to trick them or make them rummage through a maze. Give them the information they came to find.
- In fact, try to answer your prospective clients’ questions before they are asked. Take the most commonly asked questions of your business, and put them on your website right in front of your customers. The less time you have to spend answering FAQs, the more time you have to focus on other aspects of your business.
- Diversify your content. Some people want to read. Some people want to listen. Some people want to watch. Find a way to appease everyone by using videos, photos, audio, among other options. These reasons should be used as supplementary material, enhancing your messages strategy rather than sacrificing it.
2- ALWAYS REFINE & OPTIMIZE YOUR LISTINGS.
- Aside from displaying accurate credential information about your business, do what you can to consistency refine and enhance your listings. Update your avatars and photos. Provide offers and discounts, in addition to news, updates, and shares.
- Claim your Google+ Business Page, then populate your business on all other directory websites you can locate.
- Secure placement or ‘mentions’ on any authority websites that you can.
- Authority websites (as I see them) are high-quality, trusted websites. They are respected by knowledgeable people in the industry, they harvest links to other trusted places on the web, and have strong perceived value and rankings among search engines. For further explanation, here is a little more insight: http://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority.
- Polish your business descriptions and categorize your business consistently. Make sure the descriptions are meaningful and easy to read, as this will help improve your organic rankings.
- Create comfort and trust for your consumers by being found often. “Lack of trust kills conversions”.
3- BELIEVE IN & UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF REAL REVIEWS.
- You’ve heard of ‘word of mouth’ for marketing. Well, this is “word of mouth marketing ONLINE.”
- Try to acquire reviews on different platforms. If possible, actually ASK your clients to post reviews. Start with Google and other search engine reviews, followed by Yelp and other review platforms. Follow with any other third parties websites that you can find.
- Offer discounts of kickbacks for reviews. Understand that people want to take action to complain more than they want to praise. This is why positive reviews carry a tremendous amount of weight and are simply invaluable.
- Always respond to reviews, whether they are positive or negative. There is no need to be combative to negative reviews, but addressing the issues publically will help. Also, make sure to recognize a positive review by thanking the reviewer personally.
- Showcase your reviews on your company website (or really anywhere that you can). There is no such thing as too many positive testimonials. In fact, people like to read full stories as they often can relate to more than a 2-sentence statement. Don’t be afraid to post a happy customer’s story, as well!
Content Marketing. Summarized.
Although there are far more intricate methods to leveraging your online presence, I wanted to highlight some of the ones that can be done immediately, and at no cost to you. After all, everyone loves free stuff. Mostly every piece of information described in the above copy is synergized with the term ‘Content Marketing’, which can be defined as:
Creating and sharing valuable, free content to attract and convert prospects into customers, and customers into repeat buyers.
The type of content that you share should most certainly be closely related to with what you sell. You want to educate people so that they know, like, and trust you enough to reach out, engage, and potentially do business with you. Make them aware of your product/service, and prove that you are an expert. Content marketing creates discussions, comments, and posts. Do not ignore these, and always make sure to respond and engage. Do not miss out on FREE opportunities to interact with prospects or current customers!
1- ENGAGE. In whatever form of content marketing you do, the target objective should be to first get your prospect to engage. Create some interest by stimulating their senses. You can do this with a to-the-point advertisement, or offer a discount of a kickback. Tell a story. Create a short documentary or motion graphics clip. Use some type of comedy skit, a cartoon, or perhaps build a campaign around a game. The possibilities are endless, and this creative brainstorming is the fun part for us. (Link to Stratestorm)
2- CONVERT. Next, you want to convert them. Through whatever digital strategy or other method you use, find a way to get them to make an appointment, request more information, or buy your product.
3- SUBSCRIBE/REQUEST. After the ‘sale’, get them to subscribe to a future offering or update, or request additional information. Existing customers are your best sales tool. Utilize them as a means for recurring transactions!
4- SHARE. Finally, get them to share their experience. How many times have you seen the ‘share this with a friend’ button, or ‘get X discount by posting on your Facebook Wall’. This viral effect is stronger and ‘free-er’ than any other type of marketing.
One of the most commonly used vehicles for content marketing are blogs and articles, whether digitally composed, printed in magazines, or in the form of webinars or podcasts. Content marketing is sure to be even more effective when underlined with the use of media and videos. Although ‘content may be king’ for organic purposes, visuals certainly engage the average consumer more. You will often notice trends of users navigating directly to videos on websites to visualize something, rather than taking the time to read it.
Some other vehicles include persuasive landing pages, conversion driven e-mails, and of course, social media. While Social Media is certainly the most popular form of content marketing, it has been proven in many studies not to be the most effective. Although social media sponsored and organic posts may be ‘attention-grabbers’, conversions will most likely prove not to be as strong.
Through whichever vehicle you choose to employ your content marketing, understand that you are establishing integrity by presenting factual and relevant information. Know that insourcing content almost ALWAYS will beat outsourcing it. Take the time as a business owner to create content yourself. You know your business and costumers best. Time may be money, but money not spent is money earned. So, strategize how you choose, but content marketing is a choice made wisely.
To finalize on all made points, ineffective messaging is most company’s biggest marketing issue. Not only in content marketing is this an issue, but in most company’s overall outreach and strategy in general. It is important to understand your overall goals, and use those goals to actually create your content. As an owner of a marketing and advertising agency, it is disheartening to see wasted advertising and marketing dollars spent on ineffective messaging. If you have something to say, let a professional help create a compelling message, while building a structured campaign around it. Be creative, witty, and comical. Offer a discount or incentive. Whatever you need to do, focus on getting your customers’ attention.
And if you need help…. myself, my agency, and many other companies out there are here for you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone who understands these topics. After all, realize that you just subjected to be a part of my company’s content marketing in reading this blog. You are the eye of our creative brainstorm.
Google: The Most Powerful Company in the World
Google is set as my default search engine. Google delivers me all of my e-mails. Google organizes my schedule each day. Google advertises my business(es). Google makes my business money. Google stores my documents, data, and information. Google allows me to chat with friends and colleagues. Google directs me where to go with their maps. And Google actually knows more about me than the government does.
…and that is where it gets scary. It is a safe bet to say that Google knows more about most Americans and their habits and personal information than the government (and more than one’s significant other) does. Google’s powerful technology grants them the ability to produce larger and longer records of each individual by harvesting search data, web history, and plenty of other information. Little do we know that day after day, year after year, Google continues to gather and simultaneously learn more about each and everyone of us.
Recently Google Plus, the company’s social network, has played a crucial role in tying a respective individual’s data together. Google representatives will highlight the advantages of Google Plus- stating that users have “a more consistent and seamless experience across Google’s multitude of products. Meanwhile, many users have rebelled against the forceful push of Google Plus stating that its practices are invasive. When it comes to social sharing with friends, most will choose Facebook over Google Plus. However, Google Plus will most likely still understand more about people’s social lives more than Facebook ever will. See, Google Plus, is Google’s way of creating a connection from each Google user’s products- from Gmail, to Youtube, to Maps, and more. It allows Google to see WHO you are, WHAT you do, and WHERE you are going. Regardless if one doesn’t ever return to the social network again after the initial signup process, the connection has still been made. (Google says Plus has 540 million monthly active users, but almost half do not visit the social network.) In order to use YouTube, you now need a Google Plus Account. Is one going to refuse to sign up for Google Plus and not access YouTube? We all know the answer to the question. Google controls us.
Google was started with a vision to be the ‘perfect search engine that understands exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want’. Google is now a well known verb and routine practice that continues to satisfy our searches for information, and might as well be labeled as an ‘addicting habit’ that we all have. As their technology advances with more and more search data, Google can now even predict behavior of its users before they search.
Think about this. Advertising is used to persuade us for activities such as shopping. So for example, you may see an advertisement on a bus-station bench about a new model of BMW, or a new pair of Nike shoes in a magazine. Google takes it a step further by utilizing historical data to predict your desires and put them in front of you before you even think about them. With the help of Googles new project (called ‘Conversions API’), they are able to merge offline consumer information with online intelligence- which strengthens Google’s predictability and advertising placement. Google can actually reengineer how your brain works by telling you what you want, and DELIVER it (or put it in front of you) before you even think about it.
The company focuses on improving the ways people connect with information. Google has created products such as Google Voice, to connect all of your phone lines and voicemails. Google Docs/Drive allows you to harvest all of your spreadsheets, docs, and reports in one cloud space, accessible anywhere in the world. Google Wallet, where you can use your phone as your wallet. Google Earth to explore the rain forest in Costa Rica, or the large tree at the end of the street in your old neighborhood. Products such as the Google Glasses have recently been released, and products as advanced as self-driving cars are on the horizon. To be considered the most powerful company in the world, a sense of foreshadowing/advancements are needed. Google’s innovations continue to amaze me. An interesting fact is that 2005, before the iPhone even existed (smartphones were rare at best), Gmail was available as a mobile application. Google is always one step ahead of the game. And for that I’m thankful.
Google is said to be worth in the upwards of $65 billion dollars with a customer base of 100’s of millions of people. From rudimentary services such as the Google Search Engine, to products of prototypes like self-driving cars; Google has something for everyone- and therefore has an influence on just about everyone. A company that has this much leverage over the human population, HAS to be considered the most powerful company in the world. The only thing that Google has yet to convert me on is becoming an Android user. But, 79% of the population feels otherwise as the market share still has Android ahead of the game. One thing everyone should appreciate about Google is that the company continuously makes improvements and innovations that allows us to enjoy the things that we love the most.
Oh yeah. And if none of the information here has you convinced that Google isn’t the most powerful company, consider this when you compare to another company: Google’s brand is so powerful that it even owned its place in the dictionary. Don’t believe me? Just Google it.
Native App VS. Mobile Web App
As seen on Three21 Creative’s Website
Your customers are going places. Are you going with them?
Sitting around the conference table at Three21 Creative, the team started to reflect, as we often do over a cup of piping hot java…
It seems like only yesterday that we used to do our online shopping and product research while we stared at 17-inch monitors tethered to a desk. (Maybe that’s because it was only yesterday!)
But today, the cord has been cut. It’s more likely than ever that your customers are searching for you and your competition on a sleek new tablet or smart phone while sipping on Frappuccino or waiting for the traffic light to turn green–not that we condone such a thing!
The point is, to stay connected to your customers you need to be where they are. And that means going mobile.
Mobile apps are the new essential tool for all types of businesses, services and charities–including yours. They allow customers to do everything from ordering a pizza to boarding and airplane and just about everything else in between. Mobile apps make it easy to stay connected your community and separate you from your competition.
Native vs. Mobile Web App
Now that we all agree that Mobile Apps are a necessity, should you develop a Native App or a Mobile Web App? That’s a question that the Three21 Creative team can help you answer. First, some background.
Native App
A native App is developed to run on a specific mobile platform such as Android or Apple’s iOs. The Apps are able to access and take advantage of the built-in hardware and software features of each device such as the camera, accelerometer and GPS. Because they are platform specific, they generally run faster than web apps.
Native Apps require a separate development process for each platform making them more costly to develop and maintain multiple code bases.
Native apps can be easily located and downloaded from an online marketplace like Google Play or The App Store but updates must be executed on each individual device by the user.
Mobile Web App
Mobile web apps are web-based apps that are accessed through the web browser of a mobile device and don’t need to be downloaded and installed like a native app. The updates are made on the server side unseen by the user. Currently, web apps can’t employ of all the features of a mobile device and typically run slower than native apps.
Because there is only one version of a web app, they are generally less expensive to develop and maintain. However, since there is no central marketplace for web apps, they are not as easy to find. Of course, for the web app to be able to function, the device must be connected to the internet.
The Right App Solution For You
When deciding whether to develop a native app or web based app you will want to consider your budget, the device or devices you need it to run on, the features it will need to be internet enabled. The Three21 Creative team can help you make smart decisions that meet your needs and your budget.
At Three 21 Creative, we often share this expression with our clients, “Go where your customers are going. Go Mobile.” If you’d like to have a conversation about mobile apps and fresh ideas for your business, we love to hear from you. Give us a call today. We’ll put some coffee on.
A Blog Can Be A Startup’s Most Valuable Investment
With the an estimated 150K new websites and 7M new pages added to the Internet every day, the biggest challenge for every entrepreneur is to get found, and get some credibility for a new startup. I can attest from experience that publishing a regular blog to properly showcase your offering, even before you have it, is a most cost effective approach in time and money.
The biggest roadblock is that startup founders already have too much to do building a product, mapping strategy, courting investors, etc. So finding time is hard, and good writing is simply not what most people do. But here are some key reasons why you need to give it some priority:
- You can validate the need and your solution before spending money. Too many entrepreneurs spend big money on development, only to find out that the solution isn’t quite right. Feedback from your blog will tell you quickly whether anyone agrees with your assessment, and whether you have a customer base waiting.
- Find potential partners. Most of the people you would want as co-founders are now cruising the relevant blogs for ideas and partners. It’s a great way to find like-minded people, and get a dialog going. From a networking standpoint, it’s a lot more efficient than going to seminars and other industry events.
- Populate your team. Smart potential employees are also reading blogs to stay up-to-date in their field, and find the new leaders. More and more, employees work for people they respect, rather than companies. Take the initiative to put yourself out there. Of course, ultimately you want employees who can blog for you and your company as well.
- Cultivate early customers. It’s never too early to start a dialog with customers, as long as you don’t mislead them about where you are in the cycle. Build your brand and get leads today. There’s also the opportunity to do some consulting with interested customers to provide needed revenue while the product is still under development.
- Build your credibility with investors. A blog is an excellent vehicle to meet investors, before you are ready to ask them for money. You will also learn about competitors, who can’t resist responding to a well-written blog. Once you gain real traction as an expert in your space through the blog, investors will put you at the top of their funding list.
- Hone your communication skills. Writing a blog is all about communication, and that’s your number one job as founder of a new startup. Trying to write something down for someone else to understand quickly, will tell you if you really understand it yourself. Even if you use a ghost writer for your blog, the briefing process will enhance your skills.
- Your Google ranking will go up dramatically. Whereas Google and other search engines may take two or three weeks to list your new website in search results, new blog sites and new blog entries are indexed every day. From comments, you will accumulate external links both into and out of your site, and get additional ranking from Google.
Since a startup by definition is not a recognized brand, you are the brand, based on the social media culture of today. People assume your startup is real, if they see real people, and they will attribute credibility to your startup, based on your own credentials and the quality of information you offer through your blog. No person and no blog puts your startup at the bottom of a long list.
The best part is that all this is not a revenue drain. The major blog platforms, including WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad are free, and can be linked directly into an existing domain name to consolidate your overall SEO impact. In fact, many people are now using WordPress as their base website, as well as their blog. This eliminates even the standard site hosting fees.
Business blogging, or value-blogging, is all about helping others and helping yourself at the same time. I wonder if the 70% of startups that fail in the first five years are the same 70% that don’t have a blog? What’s holding you back?
Article Written By: Marty Zwilling
Does Your Brand Need More?
Every month, dozens of new social networking sites and thousands of blogs are created.
- Do you know how to engage your target demographic?
- Which sites are right for your brand?
- Will you be a victim of “cyber squatting” or “social media identity theft”?
- How will you manage your online reputation?
- Do you have analytics to measure your success?
- What is your plan for growing your social networking infrastructure?
Brand Management 2.0 can save you the time of hunting out niche sites for your social networking campaigns. We can build, design and manage your long-term social networking strategy. We work with SMBs, cottage industries, non-profit organizations, political campaigns, and Fortune 1000 companies who will need an active presence on 5 to 350 different social platforms.
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