The younger generation isn’t the only group using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other social media platforms. According to a recent AARP survey, 27% of Americans age 50 and over say they use social media sites. Of those sites, Facebook is the most popular. Here’s a look at some of the findings as noted in the survey’s executive summary.
For a more detailed look at the findings, the survey can be downloaded here, free of charge.
You can’t please all of the people all of the time. And even if you could, it’s probably not a very good idea.
Why? Because that’s how vanilla is made. And who pays attention to vanilla?
No knock against vanilla (unless it’s in candles), but great marketing does not start with a strategy position that reads, “I hope every single person likes it”. Great marketing, and I’m talking about the kind that gets results, not just awards, is provocative. It challenges people to think differently about something.
Not everyone is going to like that. But you have to ask yourself, who are you trying to impress, everyone or your target? Then the question becomes, will this offend my target? If so, perhaps you should rethink the creative. Otherwise, go bold and don’t worry about ruffling a few feathers.
It’s amazing how many communication tools we have out our disposal these days: iPhones, iPads, email, text, Twitter, message boards, Facebook… the list goes on. But even with all this technology, sometimes it seems like we’re still not doing our best when it comes to communicating with our clients. Specifically, keeping our clients informed to the level that gives them confidence in the job we’re doing.
This should a big no-brainer. But my experience tells me that the lines of communication are not as clear as they should be.
A little background first. I once had a boss who told me I had to “manage up” better. I had been working on my projects in a vacuum, not sharing progress or giving heads ups about potential obstacles. As a result, my boss would get nervous that things weren’t happening as they should be. Clients are like that too.
Personally, if a client has to ask how things are coming along, I know I’ve dropped the communication ball. So why not go out of the way to make sure that doesn’t happen? This is especially important with new clients who are just getting to know you. To start with, at the beginning of an assignment set the proper expectations in terms of timing and deliverables. Let them know what they’ll be receiving and when. Be clear about how many revisions they get before going into change order mode.
Once your client knows what to expect, keep the lines of communication open. Let them know that later in the day they’ll be receiving the first look at that new landing page. Or, if there’s been a delay, let them know why and how it will impact the overall time line.
I’ve found that a bit more effort on the communication front pays large dividends in two key areas:
Granted, these are not breakthrough insights, and successful marketers have been doing this for years. These are best practice basics that, in today’s fast paced world, we sometimes forget to do. And that’s a shame, because the extra effort required to ensure that your clients are well informed goes a long way toward keeping them happy, and keeping them as your clients.
A recent Consumer Reports survey concludes that certain info we post on social network sites and how we use those sites may be putting us at risk for identity theft and cyber crimes. So how does one stay safe in the digital world? As reported by the Los Angeles Times, Consumer Reports offers this helpful list of seven things users should “stop doing now” on Facebook, MySpace and other social network sites.
With the debut of Apple’s iPad this month, the digital book reading experience comes a bit closer to that of reading an actual printed volume. Whereas devices such as the popular Kindle present pages in black and white, the iPad displays realistic representations of actual pages that even turn as if they were made of paper.
Click here to read the Los Angeles Times’ in-depth comparison of the iPad versus the Kindle.
Tired of carrying around those cumbersome, wallet-busting gift cards? Target wants to ease your burden by allowing you to keep their gift card right in your smartphone. The big box retailer just announced that customers can now access their gift cards right from their smartphones by presenting the digital bar code to the cashier at time of checkout.
Clearly this is a big step forward in m-commerce (as in mobile commerce) and a likely look at the shape of things to come. “There’s been such rapid growth in m-commerce in the last two years,” Ben Rushlo, senior manager of Internet technologies at Keynote, based in San Mateo, Calif., told Marketing Daily.
Read Sara Mahoney’s article in Marketing Daily for more info.
Laurel Sutton of Catchword Branding does a great job spotlighting some of the most notable Internet company names of the decade. Her recent Marketing Profs article, shown below, offers some valuable insights into what can make or break an effective company name.
Like the internet phenoms they trumpeted, Internet company names of the last decade have been, by turns, wildly inventive, deeply troubled, breathtakingly silly, serviceable (if dull)—and, occasionally, brilliant.
Having christened our share of Internet phenoms, we at Catchword decided to looked back to identify the 10 biggest dot-com naming trends—and their best and worst examples.
(Although, frankly, it was hard to choose just one “worst” in some cases. There were so many Web 2.0 disasters! It was as though the rules of language had ceased to apply.)
Here are the trends and names that rose to the top (and sank to the bottom).
1. The Hookup
But if two words don’t have a discernible relationship with each other—or the brand—it’s a Random Hookup. And we all know how short-lived those are—in this or any realm.
Win: YouTube
Intuitive, catchy, grassroots-y. The retro slang “tube” for TV evokes simpler times and ease of use: clever for a new app that could have been seen as intimidatingly high-tech.
Fail: TalkShoe
Say what? The name is a play on the use of Ed Sullivan’s pronunciation of the word “show” on his long-ago TV show. Like anyone is going to make the connection…
2. The Conjurer
Evocative words can make memorable brand names when they relate to the core of a brand’s story (like Yelp). But the line can be fine between edgy and baffling.
Win: Twitter
Whimsically conjures up users’ sharing short little bursts of information (like birds twittering in a tree)—as well as excitement (”all atwitter”). It’s extendable, too. A whole vocabulary quickly takes flight—from tweet and twitfriend to twipic.
Fail: MOO
Great for cows, milk, cheese, ice cream. Not so great for a site offering printing services.
3. The Letter-Dropper
The problem with this type of coinage is it’s so distinctive you’re almost bound to look like a copycat if you’re not the first out of the gate. And if you drop more than one letter, you’re asking for trouble. (Was Motorola’s SLVR cell phone meant to be Silver or Sliver? And what’s with Scribd?)
Win: Flickr
The image of a camera’s flicker is relevant for photo sharing and reassuringly familiar, while the dropped letter—a new naming convention—suggested cutting-edge technology.
Fail: iStalkr
Creepy.
4. The Assembly Line
Names assembled from word parts with meaningful associations can be rich and unexpected (witness Gizmodo, the gadget blog). But tone and messaging need to be just right.
Win: Wikipedia
The unusualness of the name establishes it as a fresh player, while the evocation of both encyclopedias and speed (”wiki” is Hawaiian for “quick”) is spot on.
Fail: Nupedia
The flatfooted claim of newness sounds dated from day one. Plus it’s risky to stake an identity on newness in internet-land. Before long, this premise is far from “nu.”
5. The Misspeller
This kind of brand name often spells disaster: hard to remember (Ideeli, Scrybe), confusing to pronounce and spell (Myngle, Wotnext, Gravee), and reeking of URL-search desperation (Itzbig, Profilactic, Fairtilizer).
Win: Boku
French word “beaucoup” is on the money for an online payment service—and for many Americans, the misspelling is actually more intuitive and inviting.
Fail: Cuil
Meant to be pronounced “cool,” but who’s gonna get that? Rule No. 1: Your name shouldn’t need to come with a pronunciation guide.
6. The Wordster
Another convention that ages fast. And there’s nothing more pathetic in naming than a transparent attempt to appear cool (cases in point: Dogster, Agester, Talkster).
Win: Friendster
Not exciting, we’ll grant you, but the intuitiveness of the name helped usher in the era of social networking.
Fail: Napster
In light of its ensuing legal woes, to highlight the “kidnapping” of music is probably not the best idea (to put it kindly).
7. The Double or Nothing
Doubling a letter in a real word only works when the word remains recognizable, and the addition of the second letter serves some purpose, other than to complicate spelling (as in Gawwk).
Win: Digg
Intuitive and evocative, the double “g” underscores the digging nature of research and is graphically interesting.
Fail: Diigo
A social bookmarking site, the double “i” destroys the semantic connection and confuses pronunciation. (Is it Dee-go or Dih-go?) Plus, coming on the heels of Digg, it seems hopelessly derivative.
8. The eThing, the iThing, the meThing, the myThing
“e/i” shorthand quickly becomes redundant in the internet space, although it spawns many workhorse names: serviceable, if dull. The me/my thing (as in mySpace) tends to be similarly predictable and unremarkable. (Now, myBad—that would be interesting…)
Win: iContact
For a provider of email marketing, the “i” works on three levels: “I contact,” “eye contact,” and, of course, “Internet contact.”
Fail: eSnailer, eBaum’s World, eXpresso…
9. The Empty Vessel
A word without recognizable semantic roots can be a useful umbrella name for a company that may want to branch out in different directions. But it needs to be pronounceable and have relevant sound symbolism. Otherwise, it’s not an Empty Vessel—it’s Alphabet Soup. Like Disaboom, Xoopit, Yebol, and Goozex. Cover your ears.
Win: Kazaa
Recalls huzzah or hurrah, conveying excitement. (Sample exclamation: “Kazaa! I just downloaded Season One of Six Feet Under, FOR FREE!!!”)
Fail: Eefoof
Vintage Web 2.0: hard to spell, silly—and utterly meaningless.
10. The Foreigner
Words in little-known languages can also make good empty-vessel names, especially if their meaning provides a springboard into their brand story. The trick is to find words that are easy to pronounce and pleasing to the American ear (like Kijiji, a communal website with a Swahili name meaning “village”).
Win: Hulu
Good empty vessel name for an entertainment company that wants to keep its options open. (Interestingly, the word means “empty gourd” in Mandarin.) The rhyming word is playful, and by evoking hula hoops, it suggests fun.
Fail: Jwaala
Talk about a tongue-twister.
The Coming Decade
As for Internet company naming trends of the coming decade: Companies will demand more meaningful brand names, as far from Web 2.0 flights of fancy as possible; they’ll be willing to pay a premium for real-word or lightly coined domain names; and they will be creative in the messages they explore—as long as they’re relevant to the brand.
Like Internet companies themselves, it appears, Internet naming will be coming back down to earth.
From an early age, we’re taught that misspellings are a no-no. In school, they can lower your grade. In the professional world, they can mean missing out on an opportunity. But when it comes to your URL, you might want to consider registering one or several misspellings of your domain. Why? Because unlike your fifth grade English teacher, many of us are poor spellers.
Case in point: I have a friend who can’t spell his way out of a paper bag. One day he asked me to check his spelling on something and I came across the word “braw.” When I told him he spelled “bra” wrong, he replied, “Oh, did I leave off the ‘w’?”
He’s not the only one out there, which is why we need to anticipate how they might misspell our company names when doing a Google search.
For example, if your company is named Lemon Anchovies, we’ll assume your URL is LemonAnchovies.com. But you might also consider registering LemonAnchovees.com and maybe even LeminAnchovies.com. The cost of registering additional domains is little in comparison to the business potential of grabbing new customers. And really, just because they can’t spell, that doesn’t mean they can’t spend.
Facebook recently announced its new privacy enhancements that may just make our information less private. Although there are new controls that allow you to limit who sees your personal information, posts, photos, etc., the change that’s causing blow back is due to a new category, called “publicly available information,” that is beyond users’ control. This new category includes a person’s name, picture and city, the list of their Facebook friends and the Facebook pages they have endorsed. As a recent LA Times editorial observed, “The friends list is particularly sensitive, privacy advocates note, because of the amount of personal information that can be gleaned from knowing a person’s associates.”
Why did Facebook do this? According to the LA Times, it’s simply good business. For them, not necessarily for you. Read the Op-ed piece here.