#40 The Future of Marketing is...Social.

Audiences today do not want to be talked at. They want to be engaged in conversation. Social media gives us the power to do this, allowing us to define and control our brand. There is a shift from corporations and institutions to individuals and communities. Here are a few tips to take advantage of social media.

• Facebook. To help spread the word about a new campaign, why not ask employees to change their Facebook status to announce your latest campaign? If you have 20,000 employees, most likely 10,000 of them have Facebook. With the average person having 100 friends, your announcement could receive over 1 million impressions for free. Ask employees to include their LinkedIn Profiles – now you have 2 million impressions for free


• YouTube. Create a YouTube channel dedicated to teaching people more about your industry. This channel would feature a series of short, focused videos that educate your audience on related topics that help position you as an industry expert. The videos could highlight benefits and features of your products.


• Twitter. To help build and establish your company as an industry expert, top executives should create Twitter accounts to help position your company’s executives as thought leaders in the industry. Tweets should be business-related topics that talk about industry trends and forecasts. Zappos CEO has 1.6 million followers and is following almost 400K people. A total of 430 Zappos Employees have Twitter accounts. This presence helps Zappos engage and participate in conversations about their company.


• Flickr. Flickr is a great way to help promote events that your company sponsors. Photos can be optimized to show up in search results and increase brand awareness. Using Flickr to increase branding opportunities for KeyBank’s sponsorship of a 10K race, the Key “Bank to Bay” gallery has alone received 6,000 views following the event.

W6M: People visit social media sites every day, why not join them in what they are already doing?

#35 The Fun Theory

Volkswagen believes that the easiest way to change people's behavior for the better is by making it fun to do. They call it The Fun Theory.

W6M: Volkswagen tried something different and almost 2 Million people watched it in 6 days. Impressive. Even more impressive is the fact that they were able to change people's behavior, choosing stairs over escalators. How do you plan to change your audiences' behavior?

#34 Choose Your Own Ending

Digital Buzz: YouTube campaigns are changing and so are the ways you can develop interactivity with video. Since the introduction of video hotlinks we’ve seen more and more “interactive” videos & story telling campaigns emerging. This new campaign called “Choose Your Own Ending” by DropTheWeapons.org is an interactive film that allows you to decide what happens next. You can interact with it, choose what to do and decide how it ends!

W6M: This is a fresh idea that you will start to see more of. If you grew up reading "Choose your own adventure" stories, you are really going to appreciate these. The campaign created by DropTheWeapons.org is outstanding.

#31 Social Bookmarking in Plain English

A short explanation of the features and benefits of Social Bookmarking sites like Delicious.com. This video shows you how to keep all your favorite websites organized.

W6M: I know that I am a little behind the curve on this one. For those of you already in the know about Social Bookmarking, I apologize. If you are in the minority of people that have no clue what Social Bookmarking is you may want to check this video out. Then if you want, you can follow me on http://delicious.com/w6talent/.

At minimum you should visit delicious and see who is bookmarking your site.

#30 Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world

Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change. He urges us to do so.

W6M: If we convince one person with a loyal following to support you, that Center of Influence will convince his tribe to follow you.

• Mass Marketing has been replaced by targeted marketing. -nternet allows you to target silos of similar interests.
• Take a close look at changing behavior and connecting with Center’s of Influence.
• Find people who care and believe in your idea and they will spread your message.
• Tell a story > Connect a Tribe > Lead a Movement > Make a Change

#28 The Decline of Traditional Advertising...What does that mean?

Forrester Research released its five year forecast that estimates interactive marketing spending from 2009 – 2014. Forrester predicts that interactive marketing in the US will near $55 billion and represent 21% of all marketing spend by 2014 and will include search marketing, display advertising, email marketing, social media, and mobile marketing.

W6M: A co-worker just passed along this article on how traditional advertising is on the decline. If you read it closely, this article applies to agencies that don't adapt. Lucky for us, we adapt well.

My job isn't traditional advertising. My job is to create solutions to business problems for my clients. In my experience, the best solutions are typically an integrated approach of the mediums that best reach my targeted audience. You tell me what your objective is. I recommend the best approach.

#21 PhotoFunia

I recently discovered a new website called PhotoFunia.com. Again, when I say new, I mean new to me. Basically, Photofunia is an online image editing tool that allows users to insert their pictures into fun shots.

W6M: You really just have to see this to believe it. No real explaination needed. This site is very cool, very viral. Don't be tricked by your friends that created pictures using PhotoFunia.

If you have any similar sites that you would like to share, let us know.

#20 Social Media Map

Social media are the means for any person to: publish digital creative content; provide and obtain real-time feedback via on-line discussions, commentary, and evaluations; and incorporate changes or corrections to the original content.

W6M: A number of my posts talk about social media (YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, etc.). When I found this Social Media Map created by Overdrive Interactive, I thought I would include it for reference.

• When you create a viral video, the first site you think about uploading your video to is YouTube. But there are a dozen more Top Tier sites that you shoud also submit your video to.
• When you optimizing your site, people typically focus on Yahoo, Google and MSN. There are again a dozen more Top Tier sites that you should also try to get listed on. Your competition may be duking it out on Google, which would allow you to take over ask.com or dogpile.com.
• When you think Social Media, you want to create videos, get ranked on the search engines, blog, wiki and podcast. Try to take advantage of these and figure out what works best for you.

My advice would be to not focus on a single area or site, but get listed on as many possible.

#17 Photo Booth - Event Marketing

I haven't had a chance to do this yet, but if you are looking for a cool idea for your clients next big event, you may want to try to set up a photo booth for attendees. The idea is to have people take pictures in a booth (perhaps provide them props to make it interesting) and have the photos appear on TVs or projectors through out the event. This is a great way to entertain guests.

W6M: If you want to do this right, set up a landing page to drive people online the next day. People will visit your website the next day and perhaps email their friends a link to their pictures. For a little extra branding, consider adding your logo or url to all the photos.

#8 Running From Camera

The rules are simple: Muggezifter puts the self-timer on 2 seconds, push the button and try to get as far from the camera as he can.

W6M: I had to include my man Muggezifter on my blog. I found his site a couple years ago and keep returning to check out new pictures. He has a unique style and it works. When you are working on projects for your clients, try to keep Muggezifter in mind. Not suggesting you copy his style, he likes to call those people out "It ain't me babe". But rather do something unique that makes you stand out against the crowd. You will know you made it when people start to copy you.