Bloggers read this – it is the law!

On Dec 1, the FTC regulations regarding aspects of social media went into effect. First of all this is a good thing (not that regulations are good). It demonstrates that the era of social media has not only arrived but is a main part of business marketing and communications.

The FTC ruling is entitled “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”. The ruling is mainly directed to online media and specifically blogging. The aim of the ruling is to provide consumer protection that is found in traditional advertising media.

Some aspects of the ruling:
• Full disclosure by bloggers, on their blog posts, when they are either receiving compensation or free products by organizations whose products or services are discussed in the blog posting.
• If a company or advertising agency provides a blogger or other online commenter with incentives the online comments will be treated legally as endorsements
• If you provide incentives to a community of “preferred users” who blog about your product or service, you may be liable for any misleading statements made by the blogger
• For customer organizations, if one of your employees receives an evaluation sample and lets say free tickets to a Magic game and the employee evaluates the sample product as one of your employees, you may be liable for any statement (positive or negative) made by the employee.

A best practice guideline is to now treat company-initiated social media and blog posts as official corporate communications. Thus it becomes imperative that all social media marketing activities of an organization come together under one policy.
Thus Social Media, previously unregulated, now is regulated.

Marketing vs Technology

As we move from recession to transition, one of the areas that is changing is the type of market research and analysis that is conducted. It used to be one of the following two major categories:
• Technology driven
• Market driven

Computer and high tech companies are examples of technology driven. These companies based their marketing plans on what was/is the latest technology. Once the technology is replaced, the marketing program becomes unraveled. Product R&D drives the market.
Market driven is driven by market characteristics such as demographics and/or psychographics. Once the demographics change, the marketing approach must also change.

What works for baby-boomers will probably not work for Gen-X or Gen-Y.In the transition world, the most important thing is to address what customers want. The main point to remember is that customers do not really know what they want. What they are really looking for are better ways to solve their problems. The challenge thus becomes being able to understand the customers and their problems in depth. We must continually work on ways of making life easier for our customers. This may occur because of luck or detailed marketing research. The how is less important than the end result.

It is a Great Time to be Small

The reality is that we will not be in this recession forever. We are moving from recession to transition. Yes, clients are still buying but they are buying differently. After full economic recovery, they will continue to buy differently. Thus every organization and company needs to develop responses and solutions to address this transition.
Even the larger companies will have to change and this is great news for smaller companies. Large organizations have organizational structures that are slow to move and change. Their bureaucracy prohibits the types of changes that will be required. An example is when it comes to advertising. Previously advertisers and marketers measured ad campaigns by the amount of exposure. Social marketing channels have changed that. What we need to offer our clients (no matter the industry) are metrics to measure not exposure but effectiveness.
We must realize that the digital world is no longer a specialty but rather a competency that must exist throughout all elements of an organization. So my advice to small business owners and managers of larger organizations – as a ‘60s popular song lyrics read “for the times they are a changing”. That is a good thing if you start today moving from recession to transition just like your clients purchasing patterns.

Look Smart, Act Smart, Be Smart

One of strongest selling points for an organization, especially when providing professional services, is to have current and potential clients believe you are “smart”. This does not mean that you act as a “wise-guy” rather you are known for good ideas, professional knowledge, and willingness to share your insights. We call this Knowledge Perception.

There are several ways to build Knowledge Perception:
• Give seminars, workshops, and presentations – always be open to “speak” to people. Act as a subject-matter-expert (SME).
• Write books, e-books, and white papers – get your name and your organization’s name in print
• Electronic magazines and newsletters (e-zines). Provide helpful and relevant information to your audience.

We strongly suggest that you consider e-zines as part of your sales and marketing leads generation. Develop Knowledge Perception as part of your brand awareness.

What are you colored blind?

When working with clients, especially when it comes to brand and branding, we emphasis the importance of color (quick lesson: if 80% of all purchase decisions are emotional and 60% of emotion is created by color then. . .). Yet color is often a great source of frustration for both the designer and the client. This is especially true when the client wants you to match a color from some printed material (they do not have the color code (PMS, CMYK, RGB, etc.) and are judging if you have isolated the correct print color by viewing it from their lab top. Or they are trying to view using their in-house, free ink-jet printer of 4 years ago and are thinking that you are just stupid because it does not look green to them – it looks grey. You think that they are crazy and must be color blind.

It does not work. Stop right there. The two parties will never agree and if you do wait until you print. It will look even worst (did not even mention coated or uncoated.)

Designer – color is important. Take time to instruct your client on the science of color, Explain what the various color codes are, and why at times there is not a direct match between PMS CMYK and RGB. Explain what are web safe colors and their benefits. Warn them to never do final approval for print via a monitor.

Clients – Color is important. If you selected a professional studio/agency they know what they are talking about. Invest time in learning color management. Trust them. If not, you are just causing problems for the professional you hired and for yourself. Remember the most effective color probably is not your favorite color. We are trying to sell not select a color swatch for painting your house.

One final note: more than 15% of the population has some type of color blindness, but that is not the type of color blindness I am talking about. Color is important to the sales and marketing process. Take time and learn about color and color management – do not be blind to color.

Touching the Infinite

One thing good about blogging, is that your blog can and should be personal. Your blog should also be at times controversial. Well today I enter both arenas.

Yesterday, the studio took an employee motivation day and went to the Business Motivation Seminar at the convention center. There were over 7,000 attendees just at the convention venue. Do not know how many were at the Arena downtown. NO I am not going to comment on the program or the speakers (my favorite was Laura Bush). The organizers of the seminar said that their surveys indicated attendees were looking for more topics on spirituality and personal finance.

I was pleasantly surprised that most, if not all speakers continually referenced the need to include God in what we do. This got me thinking. God is the creator of all things. Our industry often uses the word create or creative such as creative graphic design. Not that we are playing God (even though there are some out there who border on thinking they are God). There is something in us designers who try to tap into that spark of creativity given to us as a gift from God. We, on/in various forms of media try to create stories, ideas, communications, and yes even beauty. As designers we try to “create” beauty and balance that we see all around us. As designers, everything we see is looked upon from a view point that was given to us as a gift from God. We strive to touch the infinite knowing that we never can. As St. Theresa once said, "God in the blinking of an eye can create an infinite number of new realities (new designs)".

I thank God for my gifts and talents in participating in the creative process, even if it is, in terms of eternity, just a grain of sand.

Get rid of some of the hot air

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is sometimes misinterpreted as visualization can replace words. This is so – not true! When marketing and selling, words are extremely important. Designers must work hand-in-hand with copywriters. Words are necessary tools to motivate and persuade your audience. Words are still a storyteller’s strongest tool. This is such an important subject that copywriting will be the theme topic for our upcoming monthly e-zine “Studio Buzz”.

I will leave you with just one of the many skills, good copywriters must have – elimination of wordy expressions! Marketing and sales collateral must be focused and on topic. The shorter the available copy space, the more challenging the task. Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was a masterpiece. The President was able to say more in his short speech than the speaker before him did in an hour and a half oration.

So here are just some examples of phrases that amount to little more than “dead wood” Most can be trimmed to a single word.

Instead of: At the present time, use now
Instead of:At this point in time, use now
Instead of:As of this date, use now
Instead of:At that time, use then
Instead of:At that point in time, use then
Instead of:During the time that, use when, during
Instead of:At which time, use when, during
Instead of:On the occasion of, use when, during
Instead of:Subsequent to, use after
Instead of:In the event that, use if
Instead of:After very careful consideration, use after considering
Instead of:Make inquiry regarding, use inquire

These are some of the many examples that demonstrate avoiding wordy expressions.