Social Marketing Still Requires A Purple Cow

Social Marketing Still Requires A Purple Cow

If you have been around marketing for a while,
that title isn't much of a surprise to you. On the
other hand many still aren't all that familiar with
Seth Godin and his Purple Cow principle.

It goes like this.

If you drive by the average farm, cows are so
commonplace that you don't really notice them.

But if you drove by and saw a Purple Cow, then
you would sit up and take notice. No doubt you
would tell everybody you came in contact with
about that Purple Cow that you saw. You wouldn't
be the only one either, and this would create a buzz
that would spread exponentially.

Virally you might say...

This concept has made a lot of people a lot of
fungolas with so called Purple Cow marketing
campaigns. Today however, with everybody
hitting Social Marketing with a sledgehammer
the importance of having a Unique Sales Proposal
(or USP) has slipped a lot of people's minds.

It shouldn't!

Just as the internet is just a tool, Social Marketing
methods are also just tools. They do nothing to
change the fact that your marketing message
needs to have it very own Purple Cow, or USP.

Now think about how quickly a Purple Cow ad
campaign can go viral using Social Marketing tools.

Want an example?

Okay, maybe you have heard of Jason Moffat.
His YouTube videos are hilarious! They get
tons of views and he sells affiliate products like
few crazy. Take a look at this one:



The particular offer that this promoted is over,
but I will guarantee that Jason's sales were in the
top 10% of all affiliates. Note that his "Prostate
Exam" got over 24,000 views. This is definitely
a Purple Cow approach to marketing.

Am I suggesting that you do something this shocking
to promote your campaigns? That is up to you!

Shocking is relative. Sometimes what will stand
out is not as over the top. Another YouTube video
that stands out is something that Seth Godin himself
has pointed to:



Who would think of running an iPhone through a
blender? The guy that did has gotten not 24,000
views, but in excess of 4,000,000 views!

Their site is listed in their YouTube profile as Blendtec
and has an Alexa rank of 117,028. Wanna bet they're
selling some blenders?

YouTube isn't the only Social Media site where it is
possible to start a Purple Cow ad campaign, but it
is a great one. The challenge is to use the unique
qualities of each to greatest advantage.

Take Twitter for instance.

It is the most widely used platform for microblogging
right now. How can you use their 140 characters to
make a marketing statement that will stand out in
a field like a Purple Cow? There are a growing number
of apps out there built just to maximize the Twitter
experience. Maybe they can help...

What about Digg? Can you make your profile, or
your Diggs themselves into a USP?

Hopefully this post will start your own creative
juices flowing. I know it isn't my first post on this
subject, but it is one of the toughest challenges
that we face as marketers. Creating buzz!

That's why I have a ceramic cow on my desk!

Guess what color she is...

Eat a peach!

Floyd Bogart

Social Marketing Video Slumgullion - A Mixed Web 2.0 Bag

Social Marketing Video Slumgullion - A Mixed Web 2.0 Bag

My Web 2.0 perspective gets wider constantly.

This post will hopefully open your eyes to an ever
expanding world of Social Marketing opportunities.

Slumgullion was a dish that my Dad used to make
for out family on the few occassions when he cooked
for us. His description of what Slumgullion is was
simply that it was a vibrant mixture of whatever
inspired him at that moment.

Which is exactly what the following videos are...

Watch them and I guarantee your outlook will
expand and expose you to a multitude of new
and exciting Web 2.0 and Social Marketing
ideas, products, projects...

You get the idea!

Let's start with a mind-blowing overview of
just what this whole Web 2.0 experience is:




While your mind is still reeling, and you
ask yourself how we fell down this rabbit
hole, watch this:




This is what it is all about. Whether you
call it Web 2.0 or Social Marketing or even
Slumgullion, that tag line is appropriate:

"The audience is up to something..."

Now watch and listen to seth Godin, author
of Meatball Sunday and founder of Squidoo,
as he talks Marketing. When Seth talks
marketing, anyone that markets, listens:




So now ask yourself:

"What is my Purple Cow?"

Here is one company's:




Nothing will ever be the same in the
marketing world again. Web 2.0 means
that to a greater extent than anyone
would have thought possible, the market
is now in a greater position of control
than ever.

For the first time, the dog is wagging
the tail, and not the other way around.

The winners of the Web 2.0 - Social
Marketing game will be those that work
with the flow and respond to that market.

By definition, the only way to respond to
anything or anyone is to be a part of the
conversation. Will you be?

These guys found a way to be:




Being a part of the conversation means
speaking in the language it is taking
place in. YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook,
blogging, social bookmarking and forum
posting are all parts of that language.

Now, take your purple cow, and translate
it into that language!

Floyd Bogart

Overcoming The Squidoo Lens Google Slap

Overcoming The Squidoo Lens Google Slap

Recently, changes in the way Google indexes webpages have resulted in a loss of ranking, and therefore search results, for most if not all Squidoo Lenses. Squidoo remains an important tool for Internet Marketers, but new and refined methods are necessary to maintain traffic levels.

Watch all four of the videos below, and follow through on the methods outlined and you will see improved results for your lenses...



Floyd Bogart

Do You Squidoo?

If not, then you should!

Squidoo is the brainchild of Seth Godin,
and is another Web 2.0 success story that
you should be taking advantage of.

There is absolutely zero reason not to as
everything there is Free! Which of course
is everyone's favorite Internet Keyword!

You can publish an unlimited number of
pages, or "Lenses" as they are called on
Squidoo.

The range of tools to be found there is
truly amazing and with them you can build
lenses of any niche you could desire.

Here are feeds of a couple of mine:












A few other topics that I have done lenses on:

Eckhart Tolle and "The Power of Now"
Cat Stevens
Little Feat
Avery Brooks
Neon Park
Jeri Ryan
Robert B Parker

An eclectic set of topics to be sure,
and an equally wide array of content.
You can post video and audio but very
little in the way of HTML is enabled.

RSS Feeds are a great way around many
of the limitations and can be customized
within limits. You can see that I used this
within my Robert B Parker lens to post
links to full length episodes of TV Episodes
at AOL Video

There are Plexos and Wikis and a
whole range of other options to delve
into and create very Search-Friendly
pages on most any subject.

As you can see while there are limits
on the scope of what you can do with
Squidoo the possibilities could still keep
you busy and making fungolas for a long
time into the future.

So let me ask you again:

Do you Squidoo ?

Floyd Bogart