Why Facebook Advertising Doesn’t Pay Off For Most Companies

by Alex Goldfayn on May 17, 2012

So many companies rush to Facebook.

They spend a lot of money to “engage in the conversation” with their base.

They pay for ads.

They hire youthful social media managers, and they engage agencies to run their social media outreach.

Here’s the problem:

Facebook is just a platform. It’s just like TV, radio, your Web site, and your product package. Most companies go to Facebook without effective messaging and language.

If you don’t perfect your message before broadcasting it, the platform doesn’t matter. It won’t work. 

So, here are five message development actions to engage in,  before engaging in social media:

  1. Who is your market? Precisely. Who do you want to reach and convince?
  2. Once you know, it’s time to go talk with them. Qualitatively. Not with surveys or focus groups, but one-on-one. Here what you want to learn:
  3. What is important to them? Exactly. What do they consider relevant, interesting?
  4. How do they talk about your product? Because once you have the language, you know it’s messaging that will work with your market — because it comes from your market!
  5. How do they use your product or service? Once you know this, you’ll know which features to emphasize. Because you unearth the information from your customers, you know it’s automatically relevant and compelling to your market.

The above is not difficult or complex — but it does require effort.

If you jump to the platform — whatever it is — without developing your messaging, you’re probably engaging the wrong conversation.

Figure out what the conversation is first.

Then engage in it.

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How Marketing Affects Stock Price

by Alex Goldfayn on May 14, 2012

The Evangelist Marketing Minute is a weekly thinking launch point that is always short enough to read in about 60 seconds. It covers technology marketing, branding, positioning, language, and public relations. Your email address is never shared, with anybody, for any reason.

This Week’s Launching Point:

Consider these stock prices:

  • Apple in 2000: $23 | Today: $566
  • Amazon in 2000: $30 | Today: $228
  • Microsoft in 2000: $58 | Today: $31
  • Netflix in July 2011: $295 | Today: $77

What lesson do these numbers teach? That consumer excitement — which we create through excellent marketing — is correlated directly, positively and precisely, with stock price.

Apple, with its best-in-business consumer energy, has seen its share price increase a ridiculous 25-fold in the last 12 years. Amazon’s share price has enjoyed a nearly eight-fold increase in those 12 years for similar reasons: powerful marketing, deeply understanding its customers, and developing evangelists.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has seen its stock price nearly halved in the same time period — even while making more money than both Apple and Amazon for many of those years. Why? Poor marketing. Low market energy. Few evangelists.

Finally, for a more micro picture, consider Netflix: In a six-month period last year, due to a horrible series of marketing decisions, Netflix lost many of its evangelists, most of its positive customer energy, many customers, and two-thirds of its stock price.

These lessons apply to startups and publicly traded companies equally: if you want increase your value to investors, improve your marketing and focus your efforts on building market passion for your products.

Because as goes customer energy, so goes the value investors perceive.

I help clients dramatically increase sales through powerful marketing. My clients include TiVo, Logitech, Sony and Pandigital. See my Web site for details about my work

I am a marketing consultant with clients that include TiVo, Logitech, T-Mobile, Sprint, Yelp! and ZAGG. My new book, Evangelist Marketing, was published last month, and is 288 pages on topics like this one. My Web site details my work. 

Sign up to receive the Evangelist Marketing Minute e-newsletter here.

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Why Microsoft Is Being Left in The Dust

by Alex Goldfayn on May 11, 2012

My new Mashable column was posted this morning.

It begins this way:

There are now a number of companies — Apple, Google,Amazon, and others — that have Microsoft in their rear-view mirrors, disappearing quickly on the horizon in a cloud of dust.

That kick of dust in the company’s face is being emitted by Apple’s iPhone and iPad, Amazon’s Kindle, and Google’s search and cloud domination. Microsoft’s own wild lunges into various technology segments are also contributing considerably to it being left behind. Take the company’s recent partnership with Barnes & Noble, where it took 18% of the Nook e-reader for $605 million in cash and future guarantees. This was a move to compete with Amazon, but can it really compete?

Read the rest here.

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Start A Lot

by Alex Goldfayn on May 7, 2012

Starting is often the biggest hurdle in getting things done.

Once you start writing the email, you usually finish it.

Once you begin to exercise, you’ll complete it.

Similarly, once you start making calls you’re not eager to make, or start on the work task that you’ve been avoiding, you’ll likely finish it. At least, the chances are much higher than if you hadn’t started doing the work.

When you start, you create forward inertia.

When you start, you take down the hurdle.

When you start a lot, you conquer procrastination.

So, start early, and often.

Start a lot.

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Be The Disruptor

by Alex Goldfayn on May 5, 2012

AT&T’s CEO, Randall Stephenson, had this to say this week:

“You lie awake at night worrying about what is that which will disrupt your business model. Apple iMessage is a classic example. If you’re using iMessage, you’re not using one of our messaging services, right? That’s disruptive to our messaging revenue stream.”

This is the classic defensive posture of a leader who is not thinking big.

He is waiting for the next big thing to go wrong. iMessage is causing problems, but the next thing could be worse. What could be next? He lays awake at night anticipating disaster.

When you spend energy on this kind of thinking, you’re not thinking big. You’re not innovating your products and your marketing. You’re not leading. In that quote, Randall Stephenson is the Cleveland Browns, when, in fact, he needs to be thinking and acting like the New England Patriots. He needs to go on offense.

He needs to stop worrying about being disrupted and start disrupting.

Don’t worry about reacting to others. Make others react to you.

Be the disruptor.

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What New Learning Will You Implement Today?

by Alex Goldfayn on May 3, 2012

My friend Aviv Shahar brought this fascinating lesson to my attention: the magic number for implementing new learning is 24 hours. If it gets beyond that, normal life begins to get in the way.

So…When you read an article you find helpful, hear a good speaker, watch a valuable TED video, or come across some material that you can use for improvement, ask yourself:

What can I do today to begin implementing this? 

You don’t have to execute the entire plan, or apply the entire practice — but do begin it. Disrupt your routine for five minutes — or 20 — and start the new activity. You can continue it later, or the next day. But start today. If you don’t, you’ll just continue with your current habits, routines, and practices, the the learning will never get integrated.

So…what new learning will you implement today?

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Making Halftime (Marketing) Adjustments

by Alex Goldfayn on May 2, 2012

I’m a big sports fan — living and dying with each of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, and Cubs.

I was at the Bulls playoff game last night against the Philadelphia 76s. It was an emotional night as our best player, Derrick Rose, had severely injured his knee at the end of the last game — the first game of the entire playoffs. With Chicago mourning its championship hopes and aspirations for this year, the Bulls came out for Game 2 without their superstar.

They were leading by eight at half-time, exhibiting above-average, if not spectacular, play.

Then the third quarter started. The 76ers outscored the Bulls by 22 points in the third quarter, a massive margin.

What happened?

One team adjusted at halftime, the other did not.

One team executed its adjustments effectively, the other team stopped executing.

Business is like that too, especially marketing.

Interestingly, though, we get halftime pretty much every day. We don’t have to wait for half of the game to pass before we can make improvements for the better. The key is awareness – knowing what to improve — and then execution – implementation.

So, when it comes to your…

  • market understanding
  • consumer insights
  • language
  • platforms
  • public relations
  • channel strategy
  • support

…what adjustments do you have to make? Where are the opportunities for improvement? Where is the low hanging fruit?

What adjustments to your marketing strategy can you make and execute today?

 

 

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Microsoft’s Acquisitions Are Not a Shortcut to Innovation

by Alex Goldfayn on May 1, 2012

Microsoft purchased an 18 percent share in Barnes & Noble’s Nook business for over $600 million this week.

Of course, that’s after buying Yahoo’s search business in 2009. And billions more to partner with Nokia to put Windows software onto its phones. And another $8.5 billion to acquire Skype.

Microsoft is trying to use money in lieu of innovation. Investment instead of ideas. The company simply isn’t investing in innovation as much as its acquisitions.

It’s why Microsoft’s share price is about half of what it was in 2000. And it’s why Amazon’s and Apple’s stock prices are soaring. Because the latter two companies are paving new roads, innovating their offerings and their marketing aggressively.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is using acquisition as an ineffective shortcut to innovation.

 

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Great Marketing is Affordable — Will You Do The Work?

April 30, 2012

There is a misperception that powerful, effective marketing costs millions of dollars. It need not and does not. Great marketing is: Deeply understanding your customers. Creating language based on your market’s experiences, wishes and words. Distributing that language from powerful platforms. These include: Great public relations for earned media Direct communication with customers and prospects [...]

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How to Create Customer Evangelists

April 27, 2012

My new Mashable column covers the three most critical steps to creating customer evangelists for your company: When you have evangelists for your product or service, you have the best possible kind of customer. Your evangelists are passionate, loyal, and thrilled to recommend you. They are communicators — when it matters. They are your public [...]

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