The Follis Marketing Report

Coors Light is extending its presence in the new media with efforts on the social networking Web sites Facebook and MySpace.
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More and more organizations are using popular virtual world Second Life for advertising, education, e-commerce, or for the novelty factor alone. Are these meaningful forays into the future of the internet, or simply companies playing around in virtual reality for its own sake? Leading tech journalist Leo Laporte chats up Virtual Worlds Marketing Consultant, Catherine Winters, about SL and future applications of virtual worlds.

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Shel Israel, the 50-something marketing/tech guru was recently asked this question on the LexBlog Q & A. His answer is worth hearing. (And I agree.)

Rob La Gatta:
It seems like while a lot of professionals utilize new media, the general public is less quick to adapt. Is a mass embrace of these tools - newsfeed readers, for example - something that will inevitably occur over time? Or will we continue to see this technological divide until the old model is rendered obsolete and retired?

Shel Israel:
I disagree with your premise. When you add up the number of people reading blogs, watching online video, [and] engaging in social networking, you probably have a number nearly equal to the number of people reading newspapers and watching TV. For example, there are 125 downloads on YouTube for every New York Times newspaper sold. Until a couple of months ago, Facebook was growing by a million [users] a week. I don’t see a technological divide. I see a generational divide. Younger people are in the habit of using social media tools and most older people are not. As the younger people age and replace my generation, their habits will not change.

So, what do you think?

It pays to be creative. The more creative your message is, the more memorable it will be. The more memorable it is, in a positive way, the better your chance of making a sale. Here’s one Follis example:

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Don’t confuse “marketing” with “advertising”. Some people hear the word “marketing” and think “advertising.” Not the same thing. And to grow your business you must understand the difference.

Traditional “advertising” is about paying for traditional media exposure via newspapers, magazines, Yellow Pages, radio, TV, billboards, etc. It’s generally designed to reach a broad audience and the ad/media costs will reflect that. For many products and services advertising works great if it’s done right.

“Marketing” is a broader term that involves any possible way to get your message out. That includes PR, direct mail, your logo and tagline, personal networking, giving talks and writing articles, and many non-traditional and online strategies like having an effective website, sending out email newsletters and promotions, buying Google Adwords, pay-per-click, SEO, and using “social media” like blogs and podcasts.

Effective marketing includes the right mix of traditional advertising and non-traditional online strategies.

www.podcampnyc.org

In this hype-happy, what-to-believe world, it comes down to a very basic, fundamental thing: credibility. How does one get it? How does one convincingly communicate it? And is there a Good Housekeeping Seal of the 21st century? Yes, there is, and it’s called “G cred.”.

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Just incase you’re not up with Web 2.0 terms and sites, here are the most popular:

Web 2.0
The second generation of the Web involving social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, video, podcasts, etc, which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing.

Social Media
The umbrella term that defines the activities that integrate technology and social interaction.

Blog
(short for ‘web log’) is a website formatted as an on-going log or diary of text entries posted by the creator or “blogger”. Unlike traditional websites, blog technology allows users to easily create a web site and then easily add content (text, mostly).

Podcast
An audio or video blog.

Facebook
Perhaps the most popular social networking website. It began as a way for college students to connect and is now open to all.

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No matter what your business, 99% of people could care less about it. Why? Because some people simply aren’t good prospects. But for many others it’s because you haven’t convinced them otherwise. In fact, there are thousands of people who’d buy you IF you got them excited and convinced them of the value of your product.

Do you Believe in Marketing? (more…)