I’m a big believer that brand awareness is not a goal. I’m also a big believer that OfficeMax may even have failed at that. Grok Dot Com gives an object lesson in how to miss the mark with a marketing campaign, no matter what that mark is.
Robert Gorell does a great job explaining what ought to be your rationale behind your site. Ultimately if your site – whether a main site, a microsite or an affiliate site – doesn’t lead to revenues, then you might want to rethink it, no matter how much fun it might be. Even sites like JibJab or the Onion need a business model. And I suspect Ze Frank got lots of business opportunities from his work on The Show.
If your goal is to launch a fun, funny, viral experience, that’s OK. But if it doesn’t tie directly back to a measurable, repeatable, realistic goal, take it back to the drawing board. You don’t want to Elf up your campaign, too.
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Learn from the best minds in marketing every week by reading the best of the Web. Here’s this week’s list:
- You can find at least two ways to succeed: The way everyone does it, or by forging your own path. Pam at Escape From Cubicle Nation argues it’s better to be authentic to who you are than simply following like sheep. Kudos to Seth Godin (damn him in his superior finding!) for pointing it out.
- One way to avoid herd mentality: Follow Grok Dot Com’s advice and give your customers something unexpected.
- Being unique is great and all, but if folks can’t find your business, you’ve got troubles. Mike Blumenthal explains how Google is bundling Maps into its core interface. Ensure your business gets represented the right way as Google changes.
- And finally this week, Mike Moran explains the times when you don’t want to use paid search. I’m a big fan of Mike, but I think he missed a key distinction with his first reason: “if you sound a lot like your competitors, it’s less likely you’ll do well.” As the first links of this week’s list show, that’s probably true for your business overall, too.
Enjoy the weekend. See you all on Monday.
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small business interactive marketing,
small business search marketing,
viral marketing
