Clorox, I have faith in your products, but your content needs a little help

I'm what you might call a clean freak.

I have a cleaning schedule to keep the house how I like it. I vacuum (because sweeping doesn't get all the dust) weekly, and  mop every other time. I disinfect the kitchen countertops before and after preparing a meal, and then I finish them off with Windex to eliminate streaks -- and the appliances get Windexed, too. I scrub the bathrooms every week until they smell like undiluted Clorox, because they're not really clean until they do. I disinfect doorknobs and light switches throughout the house, and scrub away scuffs on the stairs and baseboards with a Magic Eraser. I could go on and on (but I won't).

In a perfect world, I'd stay on my little schedule, and everything in my house would be always be clean. But it's not a perfect world, and there are messes around every corner.


Luckily, my husband has enough sense to not do that. But, Clorox certainly makes it easy to clean up such messes quickly, which is why it's one of my favorite brands as well as one I'd be proud to represent.

Women (and to a degree, men) are embracing homemaking like it's 1950, and Clorox -- a housecleaning staple for the past 100 years -- should be a part of that movement. Clorox already has a lot of great cleaning and laundry tips on their website. However, these features are not being promoted well elsewhere -- like on Clorox's Facebook or Twitter accounts. What Clorox is doing on Facebook and Twitter is providing sources of interaction for its followers. And that's a good thing. But it should also be mixing in quality content, such as blog posts on how to get red wine out of your carpet or how to make a dingy undershirt white again. Clorox is in the business of making cleaning everyday messes simple; the brand already represents the best of cleaning, so why not share that expertise through blogging and social media?

In this age of "new domesticity," Clorox's Pinterest boards should be chock full of cleaning tips that subtly incorporate their products, but it's sparse so far. I have a cleaning board on Pinterest (I named it Cleaning Queen), and there are many more clean freaks on the network collecting tips for tidying and disinfecting. Clorox could easily be the source for many of these pins. Because Pinterest has an a particularly engaged homemaker-type audience (users spend more time there than Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn combined), Clorox could take the cleaning tips beyond just getting this or that stain out. How can Clorox help clean the crevices in your bathroom that are surely full of germs? How often should you bleach your sheets or towels? How long should whites soak in Clorox, and how do you properly dilute it? Clorox could also address questions like these on their YouTube channel, which is currently mostly ads. Granted, their ads are pretty funny.


But in addition to introducing these creative messes, how about some videos on how to clean things up? Creative advertising is great, but content is king.

I'm borderline obsessive compulsive about keeping my house clean, I'm an experienced social media professional (check out my resume) and I'm a believer in Clorox products. If you guys at Clorox decide to kick up your content and your social media presence, I'm just the clean freak to do it.

Instagram: Content community for photography nuts and filter-loving fools (in a good way)

It would be easy to label Instagram simply as a social medium. After all, it's owned by social giant Facebook. And many users, myself included, mostly follow and interact with people they know either in real life or from another social network. That makes Instagram fit nicely into the definition of social media, which are held together by pre-established relationships between individuals. But that would be ignoring part of what makes Instagram work.

Instagram more squarely fits (get it? the photos are square!) into another category: Content community. Content communities are created around a common interest, such as photography, short videos and a love for vintage filters. In a content community, the user can choose to share content with a select group or with the entire public. On Instagram, users have the option to make their account private, which allows only approved followers to see posts. Or users can elect to leave their account open, which means followers will see the user's content in their feed but nonfollowers can also see photos and videos via hashtags, username or location searches. Followers will often be the people with whom the user has pre-established relationships. But followers might also include random people who appreciate the subject of a particular user's photography or videography.

Which brings me to my next point. Content communities can be nested -- and Instagram certainly is. I think it's safe to say that everyone who joins Instagram at least marginally likes photography, even if they're not professionals (I'm certainly not). But there are subcommunities within Instagram based on particular photo or video subjects. Hashtags are a great way to get photos on a specific topic in front of the interested subcommunity. And you may even gain some followers you don't know in real life who simply want to see your work on that topic. I've noticed likes from people I didn't know and even new followers on my account after sharing photos using hashtags like #beer or #wine (breaking news: people like to drink). I've also made connections with people I didn't know in my city through the locally popular hashtag #InstagramBham.

With its photo plus 15-second video capabilities, Instagram is a great place for businesses to share content about products, events and even the workers behind the scenes. Your content must be interesting, even only to one subcommunity. Finding your niche audience and targeting your content to a particular interest group is actually a good thing. It ensures that you are entering the network with an understanding of why you're there other than it's the newest, shiniest thing. Just do Instagram users a favor and take the time to come up with a creative approach that doesn't scream "I'M SELLING YOU SOMETHING!" That won't do you any good -- on social media or content communities.

An analysis of 5 blogs: What they are and why they work

This week, I'm digging into a few different types of blogs and exploring how they work. I'll answer these questions on each blog:

• What type of blog is it?
• What is its purpose?
• What makes it unique?
• How does it reflect the brand?
• What drives the traffic to the blog? High on search engine? IMC? Website links? What gets people to read?
• Is it a successful blog?
• What’s missing on the blog?
•  Are there advertisers? If not, who are some potential advertisers?

Tech Crunch

• Tech Crunch is a news blog.
• The purpose is to report updates and trends specifically in technology news.
• Tech Crunch reports on a lot of topics in technology that don't make it to the mainstream larger media companies. They cater to a niche audience who look to them for tech news.
• The Tech Crunch blog is the basis of the brand, but the name of the blog describes what they do very well. They analyze technology, so in a way similar to the phrase "crunching numbers," they "crunch" technology news and issues. Blogging allows them to share their tech expertise and keep their blogging focus sharp.
• Since they are in the tech industry after all, Tech Crunch maintains a number of social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon and YouTube, all with sizable follower bases. This would certainly get a lot of eyeballs from the various social media networks to techcrunch.com. They also provide RSS feeds broken down into categories as well as follow-by-author. Their news blog also does well in search for several broad tech terms. A search for Apple iPhone yielded a Tech Crunch article on the first page of results, as did searches for "Facebook" and "Pinterest." Terms like these would likely be what Tech Crunch's target audience would search for.
• I think Tech Crunch's social media following alone shows that the news blog is successful, because that's probably fairly indicative of their number of readers. Most of Tech Crunch's readers would be social media savvy, because social media is a large part of what they write about. So I would think their follower numbers that number in the hundreds of thousands and even millions on some networks would translate to similar if not higher numbers of people clicking through to read articles on their site.
• Tech Crunch does have the option to subscribe via email, but it's not mentioned until the footer at the bottom of the site. I think they could have moved this option up beside the social media and RSS buttons at the top right of the homepage.
• Tech Crunch does have advertisers. The first few top banner ads I was served when visiting today were for different smartphones, which seems appropriate for a tech news blog.

Brown-eyed Baker

• Brown-eyed Baker is a recreational blog.
• Blogger Michelle shares her recipes -- mostly delicious sweets, but also snacks/appetizers and comfort food. Michelle says on her About page that she started the blog as a creative outlet for both her writing and baking skills. I'm glad she did, because her recipes are delicious and usually not overly complicated.
• Michelle shares beautiful photos that she takes herself (and she's even provided information on how she does that for those interested in food photography), and often links to other related recipes from within each post. Since she's been blogging for about six years, she also links to whatever recipe she had posted a year ago, two years ago, etc., which exposes readers to recipes that they might not have otherwise seen. And her blog has a fabulous recipe index that breaks her posts down by category.
• Michelle created the brand Brown-eyed Baker for the blog itself. And why not? It's a free way to build your brand, and it provides someone like Michelle a platform to recommend things within her area of expertise -- baking.
• Brown-eyed Baker's social media accounts, which are updated on a regular basis, have accrued a very respectable following. Her Twitter account has more than 25,000 followers, her Facebook page has more than 70,000 likes and her Pinterest account has more than 56,000 followers. I'm sure Brown-eyed Baker gets referrals from each of these networks. Brown-eyed Baker also allows readers to follow the blog via RSS or email; the buttons are right beside the social media buttons at the top right of the homepage and in the footer. Michelle periodically hosts giveaways of items that interest her readers to drive engagement on her site, social channels and even drive email signups. The site also does fairly well in search. While it doesn't land on Page 1 of a Google search for "baking blog," it does appear on the first page for specific searches, such as "brownies" and "cupcakes," which people are more likely to search for that "baking blog" anyway when searching for a particular recipe for one of those desserts. The interior links I mentioned before also would certainly help drive traffic to other recipes and keep readers on the site for all their baking and snack-making needs.

Brown-eyed Baker's posts show up on the first page of Google results for "brownies" (left) and "cupcakes" (right). The links are circled in yellow.

• I would consider Brown-eyed Baker a successful blog. It was started as a creative outlet for the writer/baker and now touches at least tens of thousands of people and attracts advertisers.
• I can't find anything missing on this blog other than perhaps more of Michelle's back story.
• Brown-eyed Baker does have advertisers. Some of the ads are AdChoices ads, which serves you ads based on your browser history (and hopefully, your interests), but there are a few that seem to be more static, such as BizChicks and a Private Selections Kitchen Giveaway. I think she could probably attract more kitchen and baking specific advertisers -- either brands like KitchenAid or stores/sites that carry kitchen things such as Bed Bath & Beyond.

Etsy

• Etsy's blog falls into the categories of both professional and group.
• The purpose of the blog is to bring attention to particular shops and products on Etsy. Etsy is a big place, so it's helpful to have this blog to highlight some of the coolest things listed.
• Is there any other site quite like Etsy? The online marketplace provides a platform for artists and crafty folks to sell their products whether they have a small business or are just making something as a hobby. The blog describes different products -- sometimes in lists based on category -- and occasionally profiles a particular artist who has an Etsy shop.
• The Etsy blog definitely promotes the Etsy brand well. It basically takes a huge and sometimes overwhelming marketplace of homemade and handmade and artsy-craftsy things and makes it more digestible. It says, hey Etsy customer, we know you could get sucked into our site for days, but here are a few of the best or coolest or most unique things we have available from our shop owners right now.
• Etsy's blog is linked in the menus at the top, and "Recent Blog Posts" are also promoted in the main well of the homepage with headlines, excerpts and photos under the "Handpicked Items" section. Etsy maintains social media accounts including Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest, all of which help promote blog posts. Etsy also offers the option to follow the blog via RSS.
• I think Etsy's blog is successful. It is regularly updated with original, high quality content. Almost every blog post has gotten a high level of engagement, with anywhere from 50 comments to 500. So you know that more people than that are reading and, hopefully, finding the content useful. Those comments, in conjunction with their blog analytics, also allow Etsy to better figure out what their audience wants. Tracking engagement and clicks shows the folks behind Etsy's blog to decide what to do more of and what to change going forward.
• Etsy does not have advertisers on their blog, probably because the main purpose of their blog is to promote the sellers on their site. So they would not want to invite other advertisers in to pull potential customers off the site. In a way, each blog post is a paid advertisement, because each seller pays Etsy a percentage of their sales, and Etsy features their best shop owners. I'm not sure exactly how Etsy decides whom to feature in their blog, but high sales from a particular shop would be a good indicator that the shop is selling high quality products that deserve featuring.

12 Most

• 12 Most is a group blog.
• The purpose of this blog is to provide easily consumable lists to inspire professionals and stimulate conversation. They accept guest posts that adhere to their specifications, and they pull bylines for all the different writers using Gravatar.  
• This blog might remind you of Buzzfeed's listicles, but their posts are actually nothing like the GIF-filled ones that, while entertaining, mostly just aid your procrastination process. Instead, 12 Most collects and publishes lists (always of 12, hence the blog name) for professionals. For instance, this post by Katherine Kotaw lists 12 don'ts of personal branding, including failing to adequately apologize when you mess up and bragging about your drinking habits in your Twitter bio. Some lists are also meant to inspire, such as this confidence-boosting one by Becky Gaylord that includes tips like "Tell yourself you can do it" and "Get up and move." While the idea of creating a list for easy consumption is not new, the idea of a group blog for professionals to submit lists limited to 12 items to help or inspire other professionals is quite unique. The group blog allows professionals to share their expertise on topics, which is what blogging is all about!
• This is another blog that doesn't promote a particular product or company, but instead exists for the sake of the blog. 12 Most is an apt name since its lists are limited to 12 items, and "most" is a word with a positive connotation, which is important when you want your brand to elicit words like inspiring and helpful.
• 12 Most has buttons near the top of its page that allow readers to follow them on Twitter, Facebook and Google+, as well as via RSS or email. 12 Most also asks its visitors to display a branded badge on their blogs to drive traffic to the list-based group blog. 12 Most is the first item that displays after a Google search for "12 Most," followed by other lists that include those terms from sites like Huffington Post and the aforementioned Buzzfeed.
• I think this is a successful blog. They have writers regularly submitting high quality content to them. What more could a group blog ask for? 
• 12 Most updates its social media accounts regularly and should add social media widgets to their site to further promote these account, which would then bring visitors back to their site again and again.
• On 12 Most's homepage, there are AdChoice ads in the sidebar and bottom banner positions, and on post pages, there are top and bottom banners and a sidebar ad. 12 Most also directly gives information about how to advertise with them on their site. It seems like some business consulting companies or individuals may be interested in advertising on this particular kind of blog to target the folks who are seeking this kind of advice.

Birchbox

• Birchbox's blog falls under professional, since they are providing content that indirectly promotes their what they're selling, high-end beauty products as well as a monthly subscription service that sends you sample size products so you can try them out without splurging on the full size version first.
• The purpose of the blog is to provide beauty tips and insider information that will ideally lead you to try out Birchbox's beauty products and/or subscription service. 
• Birchbox's blog posts work their products into blog posts that aren't really even about the products on the surface. For example, this post is about how to create the perfect sock bun without using a sock. The headline says this is going to help you with your hair -- not sell you hair products. But, the writer also conveniently throws in the name (and link to the products on birchbox.com!) of the hairspray and brush that the stylist uses.
• The blog reflects the Birchbox brand because it's about what the company is about -- high-end beauty and grooming products. The blog posts tell readers how to use their products in every day life to achieve magazine-worthy looks and results.
• The blog is linked in the "Magazine" flyout menu at the top of birchbox.com and in the footer. Links to specific blog posts are also in the mix of links being shared on their social media accounts with huge followings (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+).  
• I would definitely call this one a successful blog. Mashable reports that Birchbox is experiencing healthy growth, especially in ecommerce, at least partially because of their blog. The Mashable article says:

"(Birchbox cofounder Katia) Beauchamp says Birchbox is now attracting buyers who don't even subscribe to its monthly program, but instead discover products through its on-site editorial, which includes a blog and more than 20 how-to videos every month. Those buyers now represent 15% of ecommerce orders, she says." 

Birchbox told Mashable that their priority is to capture first-time buyers of products. This is certainly helped by their blog that informs about products that the ideal reader will have not yet tried.

• They have Twitter and Facebook widgets in the right rail of their blog, but they should also have their social buttons all collected together, even if it's in the footer. On the blog homepage, there is just a link to their Pinterest account (which I missed the first several times because I was looking for the logo), and there is no mention of their Google+ account. Collecting those buttons in one place with the familiar logos, in addition to the widgets they are currently utilizing, might help drive more followers for those accounts. 
• There is no display advertising on this blog, probably because Birchbox doesn't want any competitors placing ads there to take customers away. But, Birchbox does place links to the products on their own site within the body of their blog posts, which in a way, is a subtle form of house advertising.

Yes, email marketing is still a thing

Email marketing is not dead; it's just been deceptively quiet. Everyone makes such a fuss over social media that marketers may forget about what should be obvious -- that many people check their email as often or more often than they check their social accounts. That's not to say that email marketing can replace social media marketing. But it can move the conversation about your brand to the more personal setting of your customer's inbox.

In fact, email marketing is growing. According to this infographic, the number of permission-based emails per email address has risen from two to three a day since 2009. Even though people (myself included) complain about the volume of email, not to mention spam, that crowds their inboxes every day, people are actually opting in to receive more emails from businesses.

However, you still have to make the content of your emails stand out. As the folks at Mad Mimi say, you have to know your audience. Even better, think like your audience. What content would you want to see if these emails were coming to you? If you think of something that fills your business requirement, but you have a hunch that you'd skip over that content as a user, leave it out! You're not writing for you; you're writing for your customers.

Email is the "first and most frequent thing people check," with 72 percent of people checking their inboxes 6 or more times a day. If you put valuable content with engaging subject lines -- whether it's a sale, new product or blog post -- in front of those email checkers on a regular basis, you should start seeing more views, which leads to more clicks (and more sales!).

One way to get more email subscribers is to use that thing many marketers are buzzing about instead of email -- social media. But the two don't have to compete. They can work together as two complementary pieces of an integrated marketing strategy. In the mix of your interesting, informative and engaging social content, also ask your followers on Facebook or Twitter to join your email list. Constant Contact reports that businesses that combine email with social see faster list growth, larger lists and more click-throughs.

Copyblogger reports that the return on investment of email marketing is 4,300 percent. As I say when convincing myself to buy something that's on sale, you're losing money if you don't do it!

Lowe's pushes and pulls customers to their doors, which is much better than it sounds

National chains often have big budgets, but even companies with the deepest pockets can blow a marketing effort if they don't have someone who knows what they're doing. Good thing the marketing team behind Lowe's has it all figured out.

Lowe's maintains a healthy balance between push and pull marketing techniques, which both makes potential customers aware of the role the brand could play in their lives as well as entices them to make a purchase from the home improvement store. Lowe's advertises on TV, in print publications and on billboards across the country. This puts their products -- or even just the idea of a home project, as demonstrated in the billboard below -- in front of consumers.

These techniques get customers thinking about what Lowe's has to offer, even if they didn't have a home project in mind at the time. If you saw this commercial on TV this summer, it might have inspired you to revamp your back deck, too.


And if you had seen these inserts in your daily or weekly newspaper, you might have decided to go to Lowe's to buy a product you didn't realize they had or something the circular reminded you that you wanted.

Online, Lowe's allows customers to opt in to emails that alert them to online and local sales, as well as ideas for new projects.

Lowe's balances all the pushing with a considerable amount of pulling -- enticing customers to visit their site and perhaps one of their stores. They host a Creative Ideas community blog, where users can upload photos and a story or how-to describing projects they've completed or ask questions about ones they're working on. This rewards the customers who want to share their project stories, as well as provides inspiration to other customers wanting to do something similar. Building this community on lowes.com creates good content and draws more people to join the home improvement customer community there.

Lowe's also creates its own content to draw readers/customers with the How-To Library. This content is pulled together by experts who help customers do things such as pick color schemes or repair drywall. It's valuable information that could pull a customer in who knows they need to stain their back deck but doesn't know exactly where to start. With help from the Lowe's How-To Library, that customer can see step-by-step instructions for the project, and then it's likely that the customer would then purchase the materials needed from Lowe's, the place that helped in the first place.

The home improvement store also has an app that allows you to shop from your mobile device as well as locate products in the store (which, let me tell you, is super handy when you're going in there with a very specific list). There's also the MyLowe's feature that allows you to track your purchases, which may eliminate the need for the very specific list if it's not your first time buying a certain product. And if you're not an app person, you're in luck -- lowes.com is mobile friendly.

Lowe's is active on social media, which I talked about in another Lowe's-is-awesome post, and which is another marketing technique they use to pull customers into their site. Lowes.com has social buttons in their footer to allow customers to easily connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Instagram and Google+.

It's difficult for me to come up with a criticism for the home improvement store that I have visited so many times since my husband and I bought our house last fall, but I do have one bone to pick with Lowe's. Up to maybe half of the times I've been to one of our local Lowe's stores, I've been "helped" by someone who did not know much about the department they were supposed to be covering.

In order for Lowe's to successfully market themselves as the home improvement experts that their website and advertising efforts make them out to be, the people in the stores need to be knowledgeable about their products. After all, the point of the pushing and the pulling Lowe's does is to get customers into a Lowe's store. And if the customers happen to be assisted by someone who doesn't know what they're doing, that experience, along with customer loyalty, is ruined. So Lowe's, beef up your employee training. Because like many homeowners, when I walk into a home improvement store, I need help!

Push vs. pull marketing: A brand's guide to not making Julie angry

I hate push marketing. I hate aggressive salespeople and aggressive ads, and because I'm so darn stubborn, I will actually make the conscious decision to not buy a specific product based on my perceived bad experience. However, I do recognize the value for companies to utilize push alongside pull marketing; limiting your brand to only one of those methods won't allow you to reach your full potential. But to avoid making people like me angry, it has to be well balanced.


Push marketing can get your brand's product/message/content into the hands of people who wouldn't otherwise realize that you could fill a need they have. This method is especially helpful for newer businesses looking to build their brand. You can't entice people with pull methods if they have no way of knowing you exist. Push can also work for companies with an already established audience who opt in to receive information pushed to their email or cell phones. In that case, customers have actually asked for the extra information being put in front of them.

Pull marketing is way more cost effective than push because the ideally really awesome content does the selling for you and spreads your message organically. The pull method allows you to target -- through SEO and SMO -- your message to exactly the people who would want to see it. You can also open the door for a two-way conversation with your audience. That creates a memorable user experience, making your customers feeling valued and fulfilled -- and less "interrupted" by your marketing methods. However, if you balance these pull marketing techniques, plus using push to get the word out about your business and keep current customers well informed, the two can work nicely together, and you can avoid driving away the me's of the world.

Social media is important to any brand's marketing strategy. You have to be present where the people you're trying to reach already are, but you have to keep your eye on the prize -- pulling them to your website. You don't make money by just having a lot of followers; but you can make money if you can get those followers to your site, where they can buy your product or read your content. A strong social media presence is important, but it's not the end game. Brands that get too caught up in only their social media accounts (1) end up not really owning any of their content and (2) are missing out on sales and traffic to their own site.

Home decor retailer Wayfair maintains a blog that includes decorating inspirations, which they then promote alongside products on their Twitter and Pinterest accounts. You may have also seen Wayfair's advertisements on TV, such as this fun dancing furniture commercial that made even me want to go shopping.

Gatorade does a great job making their customers feel valued with its current promotion urging users to create their own bottle. The thirst quenching giant obviously has a larger than average budget to work with, but they use it well, balancing push and pull. Gatorade manages Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram accounts, which mainly promote the brand and reach out to other big sports brands but also point to their dynamic website.

Also, neither of these brands has turned me off -- yet.

Lowe's multimedia approach extends a lifeline to homeowners, especially the power-tool-challenged

Home, sweet, home.

Last fall, my husband (of about four months at that point) and I purchased our first home. House hunting was an exhilarating, and sometimes heartbreaking, whirlwind of an experience. When we finally found the one, we felt so relieved and, well, at home. We signed the papers and got the keys and voilà -- we had a brand new home!

... Except that it wasn't so brand new. It actually needed a lot of work. We painted every wall and piece of trim in the place, pulled up carpet, tweaked some of the plumbing, and we still have a to-do list a mile long. What's a project-piling homeowner to do?

Enter Lowe's.

Let's start with the home improvement giant's YouTube channel.

Lowe's posts short, helpful videos about how to better your yard or house, and they put the most appropriate seasonal videos toward the top. This keeps people like me -- who are very unlikely to read the directions on the products they buy -- not ruin their home improvement projects.

Lowe's incorporates those videos as well as other how-to's posted directly on their website into their Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts. On Twitter and Facebook, Lowe's also responds to both happy and dissatisfied customers and asks fun interactive questions to engage their followers and fans.

This tweet links to lowes.com's how-to for building a doghouse like the one pictured.

Being in the doghouse isn't all bad. Your pup will love this! http://t.co/Ym4FRcKRga #Dog #House pic.twitter.com/dsxYJqBHA7
— Lowe's (@Lowes) September 4, 2013

This tweet just links directly to a product on lowes.com -- a fire extinguisher.

Sometimes dinner doesn't turn out like you planned. Stay safe in the kitchen by keeping this on hand: http://t.co/o1KpX2iU30 #Safety
— Lowe's (@Lowes) September 5, 2013

The brand's light yet helpful tone makes @Lowes a fun and useful account to follow.

Lowe's gets major respect from me for not just sharing the same things to Facebook that they're already sharing to Twitter. It would be easy to do that, but it's a much better experience for their users who follow them on both networks to get unique content in each place. Lowe's also doesn't post things and walk away. They continue to respond to users who comment on their Facebook posts even hours after the original post.

Then, Lowe's covers pretty much every home category you could think of on Pinterest.

On top of their impressive social media presence, Lowe's also has a great set of apps -- including MyLowes, which tracks your purchases so you can remember what size your air filter is without digging out a measuring tape.

The Lowe's multimedia approach to home improvement helps even the least experienced project tacklers figure out what in the world they're doing, and it's certainly helped us since moving into our first house last fall. Thanks, Lowe's! (Now, maybe send me some special coupons for the free press?)

Google trumps Facebook, except on the Google+ front

For decades, businesses relied heavily on newspapers to advertise. Newspapers would (and still do) tout their circulation numbers to woo advertisers who want those readers to become their customers. But just because 500,000 people pick up a paper does not necessarily mean that they read every article and every ad. One person may pick up a paper to read only the sports section, and they entirely miss all the stories and ads in the news section.

The beauty of Google is that not only can they target ads to the people who are searching for a product similar to the thing the advertiser is trying to sell, they can also tell you how many times the ad was delivered as well as how many people clicked through to the advertiser. Google has turned advertising into a science. However, that’s not to say the Google folks are not still artists. They’ve delivered some genius print ads that cleverly demonstrate why digital advertising is so valuable.
But other forms of advertising are not necessarily dead – even print. But now, you can’t just pick one form of advertising. Companies are successfully launching campaigns across platforms, and they’re figuring out the biggest bang for their buck through targeting. Antony Young gives Nike as an example of a company that has figured out how to effectively disburse their advertising funds using a multi-pronged approach. Nike very purposefully creates an experience across media for their customers rather than a single sales pitch (Young, pp. 37-38).

Facebook’s value thus far has been in connecting people with other people as well as products, but not necessarily through paid advertising. Businesses have always attracted new customers in part by word of mouth, and Facebook is the new word of mouth. Instead of asking the ladies in church group about the best beautician in town, you can just put up a quick Facebook post: “Just moved to Birmingham. Where should I get my hair cut?” and sit back and wait for the notifications. It’s not easy for a business to buy their way into this kind of conversation. But they can get close by using Facebook’s ads targeted depending on basic information like gender and location as well as the pages you like. The smartest companies are creating “unpaid armies of customers” through branding to spread the word about their products for them (Antony, p 34).

There is certainly potential for Facebook’s advertising to grow. In fact, Google’s redesign of Gmail may have just helped Facebook become one of fewer options for marketers looking to advertise. Because Gmail now filters “promotional” material to a separate tab in the user’s inbox, email marketing campaigns may take a hit. But Facebook should be able to save the day with its targeted ads by email address.

I think Facebook is and will for a long time be a social giant. Google has shown that despite successes in many other areas, it still hasn’t quite gotten the hang of developing a social network – see the now retired Google Buzz and the still sluggish Google+. But Google has the money-making thing down pat, posting a $14.1 billion revenue for the second quarter of 2013. Facebook did better than expected in 2Q, posting a revenue of $1.81 billion.

Reference:
Young, Antony. (2010). Brand Media Strategy [iBooks for iPad mini]. Retrieved from https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/brand-media-strategy/id425330355?mt=11