Disqus - Latest Comments for themarketingspot

Re: How To Separate Strategies from Tactics

Jay Ehret — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 07:42:21 -0000

The brands that have a hard time answering "What should we do?" most likely have not defined "Who We Are" nor spent enough time answering "What do we want to accomplish?" Those two answers usually provide clear direction for "What We Do."

Re: How Measurement Can Kill Your Content Marketing Strategy

Jay Ehret — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 08:21:00 -0000

True Eric, the better measurement is long-term. Content marketing is better viewed as a strategy, and not a magic traffic machine.

Re: How Measurement Can Kill Your Content Marketing Strategy

Jay Ehret — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 08:46:28 -0000

Eric, You've picked the age-old battle to fight here. But I believe it's a disservice to paint it with a broad stroke of "more measurement = less desirable content." It's true that measurement can kill "your" content marketing strategy if your strategy includes a total abdication of responsibility. Creators want to create, I get that. But I believe the content marketing community as a whole has encouraged the creation of content for content's sake, while largely ignoring the need to quantify results. This was the same problem problem we faced with the social media marketing evangelists hiding behind the Oz curtain.

The better approach is to research and encourage ways to maintain content quality while improving measurement. In my anecdotal experience, that's not what I've seen from content marketers. It's been more of the content machine approach.

Re: Why are companies so horrible at communicating?

Jay Ehret — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:29:29 -0000

Companies suck at communicating in real life because they
are wearing an unnatural persona. When a brand does business, they seem to
forget they are real people running a business. Instead of communicating
naturally, they communicate like…a business.

Yes, I agree that training is a problem, but the bigger
issue is our unnatural approach to business.

Re: 7 Ways to Use SlideShare for Your Business

Jay Ehret — Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:52:55 -0000

Hi David, thanks for sharing the different ways to use SlideShare, but I would be interested to learn your reasons for using SlideShare. Other than just to be found in a less-crowded channel, there should be purpose behind the tool. One reason is credibility and authority.

Re: Report: 60% Of Social Media Users Vary Their Actions & Connections Vastly Across Social Sites

Jay Ehret — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 11:12:58 -0000

This seems to be a valid argument to simultaneously posting the same comment across multiple social channels. Each channel has it's one flavor and purpose and should be treated individually.

Re: Why MLB Teams Put So Many Eggs in the Facebook Basket

Jay Ehret — Tue, 06 May 2014 12:46:02 -0000

Thanks for the takeaways, John. I believe one reason MLB avoids YouTube is because it wants fans to watch video on the MLB team websites. They are a huge component the team site. Personally it's the biggest reason I visit my favorite team's site. Smart marketing.

Re: Can Brother Printer Beat Dropbox At Online Document Management?

Jay Ehret — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 12:47:50 -0000

That's a great formula, Ray. Let's get a Kickstarter going! I like your use of "disrupt." That's the key, the new tool must be strong enough to disrupt usage habits of the current tool.

Re: Can Brother Printer Beat Dropbox At Online Document Management?

Jay Ehret — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 12:16:32 -0000

I guess that depends on how you define "beat." If your definition is "have more users" then the answer is no. Brother is starting out at a disadvantage for a couple of major reasons.

1. They are introducing a me-too product. Maybe they have an advantage in a feature or two, but nothing that makes a major difference. And as Todd Henry, author of The Accidental Creative says; "Cover bands don't change the world."

2. The service is tied to the Brother brand. BR-Docs? Yikes. They would have been better served had they launched it as a separate brand and then made a special deal to tie in with Brother Printers, with that aspect only being promoted by Brother Printers.

...that is, if they want to beat Dropbox and Box.

Re: April 2014 Google Algorithm Updates Heavily Targeted Song Lyrics and MP3 Websites (4/05 and 4/18)

Jay Ehret — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:20:18 -0000

Thanks for doing yeoman's work on this, Glen. There are lots of lessons for everyone here, not just the song lyric sites.

Google is not a search engine, they are an internet police force. Meting out justice as they see fit. They are Sheriff, judge, and jury, but that is our fault, not theirs. Businesses are built by sitting at Google's table and then panic when Google no longer feeds them. One of the big lessons here is if you put all your eggs in one basket, then you should be prepared for the day that basket no longer wants your eggs.

Re: The Old Reader: behind the scenes - The Old Reader Premium!

Jay Ehret — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 22:29:17 -0000

I support this 100% and glad to see you stepping out into a premium model. Remember, Google Reader was free.

Re: An Experiment: Testing Facebook’s News Feed Filtering Algorithm

Jay Ehret — Tue, 24 Dec 2013 11:07:52 -0000

Jon, Great work, and this is an excellent snapshot of the current state. However it does nothing to compare with how things were, say three months ago. So it cannot comparatively answer the question of brands being squeezed.

One thing occurred to me in reading you post and the the comments below, Mashable is getting a lot of visibility. Curiously, Mashable has started showing up prominently in my feed when it rarely used to show. Makes me wonder if Mashable and Facebook have a "special relationship" to show more often without being pegged as a sponsored post.

Re: Private: New Release: Camtasia Studio 8.1 Adds Green Screen Effect & More!

Jay Ehret — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:10:37 -0000

Where can I get one of those green screens in the tutorial/promo video?

Re: The Art of Marketing: Chicago

Jay Ehret — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:58:23 -0000

The most challenging aspect of marketing is the ability to pull the trigger on ideas that are outside the norm. It's fun to brainstorm new ideas and strategies, but when it's time for implementation, businesses tend to fall back on the familiar. The result is variation on the familiar rather than something that is different.

Re: Businesses Love Affair With Mediocrity

Jay Ehret — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:17:01 -0000

Eric, As you and I have discussed, it is difficult for entrepreneurs to pull the trigger on new and exciting ideas. Even more difficult to re-shape a business into an exciting brand, despite clear evidence of value. The reason is because there is comfort in the cradle of familiarity. People tend to persist in what they've always done in the way they've always done it. That doesn't necessarily change because you pay a consultant. The familiar is still familiar and it's still comfortable.

Love your Value Innovation paradigm.

Re: Confessions of a Web Developer: Quality eCommerce is Simpler than You Think

Jay Ehret — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:22:58 -0000

Hey Charles, Thanks for the nice overview. Can you provide some examples of ecommerce WordPress sites running the plugins you mention in the article?

Re: How to Utilize Your Social Media Consultants

Jay Ehret — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:37:05 -0000

Sana, You raise an excellent point about knowing your social media strategy. You should be able to clearly define it to your social media consultant. I've found most SM consultants are more implementer than strategist. A social media strategy is not just about how many follows and likes you get, it's also about how you can grow your business through social media. Agree on a defined strategy with your consultant that includes business growth.

Re: Brands Lose Ground As Facebook Bug Penalizes Third Party Apps

Jay Ehret — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 23:39:52 -0000

I am an admin of 4 business pages, my own and three clients. Three of those pages have not even received an impressions report on status updates since the 12th.

Re: How to Turn Your Business Into a Commitment Factory

Jay Ehret — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:41:31 -0000

Companies should replace their credo with a commitment. What this all boils down to is that the commitment starts at the top. Ownership must provide the commitment that becomes the raw material in the factory. Good stuff, John.

Re: “The Great Lie About Customer Experience”

Jay Ehret — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:10:50 -0000

Spot on! It's not what you sell, it's how you sell it. But, Mr. Newman is sort of right. There are very few businesses that sell their products differently. Those unique experiences are rare, just try to point them out in your day-to-day shopping.

The most important thing for a business to understand is that anyone can sell the product you are selling, but no one can deliver an experience that is uniquely yours.

Re: Video Killed the Copywriter?

Jay Ehret — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:37:25 -0000

Danny,
I think people operate under a misconception that because the tools have made video easier to produce, that the somehow they take less effort than words. As you point out, that is not the case. Even with the tools, video requires more effort, particularly video consumes a lot of time. Words may require more
skill, but creating good video takes longer than creating good words.

Re: What the most popular time to post on Facebook

Jay Ehret — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 10:26:18 -0000

David, Thanks for highlighting my article. It's also important to note that those "best times" are the best times for my business. Each business should do it's own study, which I describe how to do in the article. I also provide a free tool to help with the research.

Re: Should We Be Un-Integrating Our Marketing?

Jay Ehret — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:37:34 -0000

Eric, in addition to your suggestion of a stop doing list, I would also suggest a "why we are doing what we're doing" list. Sometimes it's not that we're doing too many things, but also that we're doing things just to be doing something.

Re: Having the Stomach to be an Entrepreneur

Jay Ehret — Mon, 30 May 2011 08:50:50 -0000

Spot on, Eric. As you were asking the question: "What scares you?" My mind was answering: "that I might be forced to get a real job." And then you shared Henry's answer.

There's nothing wrong with real jobs...unless you're an entrepreneur.

Re: Mobile Marketing – Where Small Businesses Should Focus

Jay Ehret — Thu, 19 May 2011 08:48:19 -0000

Navin,
Small business owners remain confused and conflicted because mobile marketing itself is confused and conflicted. It's not an easy thing to figure out. Let's say a small business owner wants to do some mobile advertising, where does he go? He doesn't know, unless a marketing consultant shows up on his doorstep talking SMS, mobile display ads, apps, check-ins, and engagement. (I've been that guy) Talk about confusing. What if he wants to do some newspaper advertising? One number to call to place an ad. TV? Let me call my TV rep.

If the mobile industry wants to reach out to more small business owners they need to make mobile marketing less confusing. So, who do you call to get that done? Exactly.