Organic Marketing

My definition of organic marketing is what develops naturally as you interact with people in every day life, either online or "out in the real world".

There are many opportunities to extend a hand, say "Thank you", "Hello", ask "How are you doing today?".

I was a huge fan of an author. I studied what she did on all of the social media outlets. I tend to seek and try to figure out how people work, how their marketing plan for works for them, and emulate their success (by the way, she isn't a huge name).I was disappointed that I didn't see much interaction between herself and well, anyone.

So I watched a while, still bearing my author crush around, keeping an eye on her books and where I'd see her name pop up. Again, not seeing much response to people who posted on her fan page or response on Twitter. At one point, an opportunity presented itself for me to comment on something. I posted a message and waited. I waited a day/two. Then I went and deleted my comment and unliked her page. Haven't wasted my time since.

If you don't take time for people, you won't be very successful in whatever it is you are marketing. I've heard people say they don't care, they're introverts. Don't have time to be polite, to care about another human being, to acknowledge their existence?I don't care how introverted you are, extend yourself.

This, my friends, is the wave of the here and now and the future. It's not all about how great you are (in your own mind or others). It's about that connection, that organic connection that takes place when you interact and put yourself "out there".

A Butcher's Butcher

Let's say I own a well-to-do meat market. One of the best butcher shops in town. The other butchers come to gather and point at the meats on display. I go to their shop as well and oooh and ahhh. Occasionally, I'll buy a really good piece of meat from them. They've used a new combination of spices and I just can't wait to eat it for dinner. I even learn a new recipe that I can apply to meat for sale in my shop. Sometimes we even do mutual marketing and advertise for each other.
Problem is, most of my reach has been to or through these other butchers. Sure, they share, especially if I have something dressed up real special and of benefit to their own customers. They're good like that. They're my friends. I love them.
But how do I draw customers to my shop and keep them coming back?
How do I get the word out without breaking the bank?
We're going to be exploring some techniques over the next few weeks.
How to reach your readers.
How to target your audience.
On social networks and out in the "real world".
Marketing 101.
Creating your base. The best choice meats in town. 
Your words. Your products.
Follow along.

Dive Bomb Dan - Marketing 101

Many people use Facebook as a marketing tool and rightly so. It's a great way to connect with like-minded people over a new product, book, or idea. This morning I had the unpleasant experience of someone bombing my author page with SPAM to go to his page and like it. "You've been tagged, come like my ___ page."
Curious, I went to the page and was accosted by ridiculous innuendo and posts that were blatant in their "Look at me, I'm an idiot" category. With a satisfied sigh, I deleted his post on my page.
Possibly 10 minutes later, I get another post on my page. "Liked. Would you consider liking my author page too?" Score one, polite. Score two, win-win....you liked my page, I'll go peek at yours. You're an author, score three...something in common thus content I can relate to.
Visiting (and liking) other people's pages who are in a similar business can be a win-win for you both. You can learn from each other to discover marketing strategies and techniques, discover new products (we do what we do because we love it), and increase the potential to gain a guest on your soon-to-be new friend's blog, or a possible collaboration in the future for a cross promotion.
Reach out, but don't dive bomb.
Sorry, Dan.

Daydreaming of....Yogurt?

So I burnt the popcorn for the 10th time this summer. I have now officially been banned from making popcorn. (It sure does stink up a house.)
So reaching for a yogurt instead, I sat on the back porch enjoying the summer afternoon heat, my feet thawing from the central air in the house.
I took a bite. Ahh, strawberry. Yeah, it was pretty good.
I pulled my eyes away from the summer flowers, reading the label with curiosity.
"Strawberry Shortcake" it read. I took another bite.
Wham, Pow, Fireworks!
It really did taste like Strawberry Shortcake....now that I had seen the description and imagined it in my head.
Marketing.
Tell me what you want me to believe...about your product. Of course, the product should back this up, but get my attention, my imagination flaring. Make me want to get it! Fill my daydreams with it, pull me in, make me not only want but need to buy your product.
Yes, Strawberry Shortcake not just plain old strawberry yogurt.

Blah, Blah, Blah, Potato Chips

As a mom of five sons (okay, one is out of the nest, but still...don't take away one of my unique selling points), I don't stay awake long once I sit down without being actively engaged.

Movies are great, love them, but as my husband can attest...unless they rock my socks, I fall asleep. Even if I stay awake, most fade from memory after a few days.

So on New Year's Eve, I didn't have high hopes of staying awake during Red 2. It helped with the anticipation factor that I had seen the first movie and vaguely remembered Bruce Willis' attempts at being witty.

I must say the movie has left it's indelible impression. For days after, I remembered one scene. Potato chips played through my mind. What he did with them. The results of placement. I will never look at a potato chip the same way again. I will always remember that scene and the movie it came from. Genius.

Potato chips are so relatable. We all have a potato chip story or remember the saltiness of the first bite of a good chip. It brings us back to backyard barbeques, summer nights, a ballgame, or a time at the beach.

What do potato chips have to do with marketing?

Make it memorable. Relate your product/book/blah, blah, blah to me personally. Potato chip me. Flavor it, pack it with nostalgia or hopes of a future with your product. Be sure to add the salt.

Unless of course, we're talking marketing candy. We'll chat about that soon.

Have you read Five Trends That Will Significantly Shape Content Marketing in 2014 by Ross Simmonds? I highly recommend it.

Quote:

As time goes on, more content will be created. As more content is created, the more difficult it will become for marketers to cut through the noise. What's causing the most challenges to a content marketers efforts isn't the noise from consumers, it's the noise from other content marketers. Thousands of brands are creating and publishing content that is irrelevant and far from engaging their audience.

Love Me to Death

We were rockin' out in the car recently. Great song, beautiful day, windows down.
Then it happened, that song we used to love came on the radio. The one a year or so ago that we'd nudge each other over, our eyes taking on a happy glow. I'd turn up the radio and sing along. It hit #1 and stayed there....for months.
So when that song came on the radio the other day, I turned it lower and still, the incessant beat hit every last nerve in my body. Actually, I think my hair stood on end and a tick began in my right eye.
Punching the power button on the radio, I completely silenced the contraption.
A similar thing happens when I see a book cover back blurb (or repeated content) for the same book is posted 800 times in FB groups. Eyes glaze over and reactions go from interest, to boredom, to dislike, to ok...dare I say must look away for fear of a spontaneous aneurysm.
It can get to the point of making a declaration of  "I will never read that book even under threat of torture".
Think I'm exaggerating? Or maybe you don't and have had a similar reaction to posts/ads/repeated content by marketers for their products.
Come on, throw us a bone.
Give us a few lines from the book (love this for authors), a review of the product, even a different review every day. Yes, that will make us happy, dare I say giddy. We'll look at your product image a million times, maybe even buy it.
But please don't Love Me to Death with replaying the same song over and over again until I have no choice but to hit the OFF button....