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Pull up a chair around the fire

sprinklr fireplaceThe purpose of a trade show booth or tabletop is to get prospective customers to come in an talk to you. You want to have a conversation.

But most exhibits do a lot to block that conversation: big TV screens, laptops between the exhibitor and the prospects, or having conversations standing in front of the table so your back is to people walking past.

That’s why I like this simple tabletop by Sprinklr. The fireplace catches your attention. The furniture encourages you sit down and have a deep conversation, and the whole arrangement visually draws people in.

Newsletter #869: The “Support Their Obsessions” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

When you find fans and communities that have true, dedicated passion, it’s your job to support them and keep them going. Make them happy, and these powerful talkers will bring in everyone else for you. How a few marketers are doing it:

1. With an online library
2. With helpful instructions
3. With a dedicated channel
4. Check it out: The Restart Page

1. With an online library

Sometimes what enthusiastic communities need most is a home base to share their passion, knowledge, and geeky details. That’s what Foot Locker’s Sneakerpedia does for shoe nerds. Just like the name implies, it’s essentially Wikipedia for shoes. Through it, fans can browse thousands of shoes, edit entries, and create their own articles about shoes they love. They’ve also created a Sneakerpedia blog and Twitter account to keep the community talking.

The lesson: A lot of enthusiastic talker groups need your help with a simple place to share their passions and meet others like them.

Learn more: Ad Age

2. With helpful instructions

A great way to support your fans’ obsessions is to help them do what they love a little better. You could go all out with detailed guides and training, or you could just post some simple instructions. Beer brewer Stella did it with their video on how to pour the perfect beer. It includes 9 steps like “The Sacrifice” and “The Beheading” that bartenders and connoisseurs should follow when pouring any brew. Their video has some high-end production value, but the content is straightforward and easy for beer lovers to forward, share, and talk about.

The lesson: Help the super-fans by giving them tips, tricks, and how-to’s to help them do what they love even better.

Learn more: PSFK

3. With a dedicated channel

Sometimes all the super-passionate fans really want is access. The more they get to see, touch, or experience the brand they love, the better. That’s the idea behind Burger King’s Whopper Lust channel. They actually created a channel on DirecTV to air endless footage of a spinning Whopper. For each 5 minutes people watch and respond to prompts, they get a voucher for a burger. The idea is a great way to give Burger King fans a new topic to share and forward — and who knows, all that subliminal burger spinning might have created a few new obsessive fans too.

The lesson: Support your fans by doing your best to give them non-stop access to whatever it is they love so much.

Learn more: AdWeek

4. Check it out: The Restart Page

Check out this throwback site to relive the restarts of classic operating systems from Apple and Microsoft.

Check it out: The Restart Page

The secret to becoming an amazing public speaker

Make a LOT of speeches. 

Practice makes perfect. Everything else is minor.

Exhibit: 16 years of speeches on my hard drive.

image

Social media is a party, not a lecture

A classic quote from George Eberstadt, CEO of TurnTo Networks:

[Good social media is the] difference between teaching a class and hosting a party.

In both, all the participants are in the same room, but the dynamic could not be more different. In the classroom the teacher (the brand) dominates the conversation, and the flow is hub-and-spoke, with the teacher at the hub. At the party the guests (customers and prospects) may or may not interact directly with the host, spending most of their time with one another. But since most of the guests know and like the host, when the discussion touches on the host it’s likely to be favorable. Even though the host can’t control exactly what is said, the guests at the party are every bit as likely to go home with positive feelings toward the host as the students are to go home with a positive view of the teacher. As you say, it’s not that one model is right and the other wrong; the challenge for brands is to use the right model for each context.

(Emphasis mine. From Harvard Business Review, January 2011.)

Knock-out-the-competition marketing

Freytag FloristWhen we moved into a new house, we got the usual flood of flyers and brochures from businesses trying to get our attention. They all went into the trash.

Then we got a nice plant from Freytag’s Florist around the corner — with a $10 gift card for our next order and a stack of coupons.

It was a simple demonstration of what they do and how good they are. Sure, it cost them more than printing some flyers.

IMG_2656But we never even looked at their competition.

They instantly became the only one on the list. And we still have the plant to remind us of them.

Lesson: One great marketing move beats a whole lot of average marketing every time.

Are we measuring the right thing?

Robert Kennedy, March 1968: Our Gross National Product…if we judge the United States of America by that – that Gross National Product counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage.  It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for the people who break them.  It counts the [...]

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Did you tell them that their opinion counts?

If you want more feedback and reviews from your customers, let them know that you care. People appreciate being appreciated. They want to know that their voice has been heard. Here’s a great example here from TripAdvisor’s email newsletter.

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Abuse of trust

Did you ever wonder why so many consumers hate businesses? Often it’s because businesses take advantage of the relationships we have with them. When I bought a camera from Casio, I was pretty excited about the relationship. I bought several models over the years, convinced many friends to buy one, and blogged about them more [...]

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Newsletter #868: The “Use What You Have” Issue

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] Great marketers aren’t just looking for the new and shiny — they’re also looking at how to get the most out [...]

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