Below the Line

Bing paying Google to advertise free music service

Spotted on the LA Times website: Bing is paying Google to advertise its free music service? I think my eyes are going to spotify.

 

Scanning for trends: QR codes

QR codes are being used by an increasing number of brands - from airlines to banks to retail. QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes which can be read by select smart phones. Users can scan the QR code to display a web page within their mobile browser, display text or access contact information. 

The benefit for marketers is to be able to provide relevant information to users who are at a specific place, or who have your physical product in their hands. It also gives advertisers useful metrics to understand who is interacting with their ads and where.

Here's how it works:

The brand publicizes the QR code. In this case, it was on a print ad for Hearts of Fire diamonds.

Here's a close-up of the code:

The user then opens a QR code app on a smart phone to scan the QR code:

A customized web page opens in the user's smart phone web browser:

While it may seem like QR codes will only appeal to the tech savvy crowd, I think practical applications such as mobile boarding passes and bicycle registration will drive adoption.

In addition, Google sent out 100,000 QR code decals to businesses in December 2009, so expect to see an increasing number of these in store windows and point of purchase displays in the future.

QR codes are already being adopted by fashionable brands such as Missoni, Clinique and Calvin Klein. 

In Japan, Louis Vuitton even used a designer QR code in one of their campaigns.

QR codes could be used in businesses with physical locations to encourage people to sign up for your email list, "like" you on Facebook or follow you on Twitter. Brands can use QR codes to create campaigns with hidden content or other game-like elements. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies can use QR codes to provide additional content about their product and drive people to their website for further engagement. QR codes are not complex and the cost is relatively low. The timing is right to start considering how QR codes can fit into your overall marketing mix.

Marketing your local business with little or no budget

Here are some quick tips on marketing a local business with little or no budget:

Let your customers speak for you.

Ask your customers to post honest reviews on high-traffic sites like Yelp.com. Be sure to respond to any unfavorable reviews.

Post customer testimonials on your web site.

Ask your customers for referrals.

Ask complimentary businesses to link to your web site; for instance, if you are a wedding photographer, ask a wedding florist to link to you.

Use Google.

Google offers a number of services that can help – post your business on Google Local Business, create a Google Profile for your company’s key executives and link to your web site, consider spending some money on Google AdWords.

Use social networking sites.

Set up a Facebook fan page, start connecting with prospects on Twitter and join groups on LinkedIn. You can also set up your company profile on LinkedIn (rather than only using your personal profile).

Send out an online press release.

There are a number of free online press release distribution services. See this previous post for an analysis.

If you have any other tips, please leave a comment below.

Related post:

DIY online marketing and PR

How to Market Your Product/Service Using Cutting Edge Social Media

"You're on Facebook whether you want to be or not."
- Dan Rose, Facebook VP

Last night I attended a social media forum hosted by Kellogg. It was moderated by Tom Bedecarre and featured: Dan Rose, Vice President at Facebook; Seth Goldstein, CEO at Social Media; Jeremiah Owyang, Partner at Altimeter Group; Marisa Gallagher Vice President User Experience at Razorfish; and Clara Shih, Author of The Facebook Era.

I "live tweeted" the event and earned some geek cred (not quite as cool as "street cred") when Tom Bedecarre gave me a free copy of Shih's book for being the most prolific tweeter.

Here are some of the highlights of what the panel had to say to the roomful of MBAs: 

On the state of the industry:

Goldstien: Advertising is changing. Ads need to be real messages from real people; otherwise people ignore them.

Shih: Facebook is still dominating. There are more users on Facebook Mobile alone than on Twitter.

Owyang: Facebook's biggest competitor is Google. 

He mentioned that Google has set up a stealth social network, referencing Google Profile (here's mine) and highlighting the fact that users interact through e-mail, IM, Google SideWiki and Google Wave. Shih also mentioned Google Latitude. Later in the evening Owyang claimed that e-mail itself is a social network, an idea which had Goldstein shaking his head in disagreement, but a debate did not ensue.

Owyang: Social media impacts all of your digital marketing assets. Social media is a horizontal in your strategy, not a vertical.

Owyang: Social search will be very disruptive to the SEO/SEM industry.

On brands getting involved in social media: 

Rose: You're on Facebook whether you want to be or not.

Owyang: The earliest brands that got punk'd on social media are now the most successful.

Gallagher: You shouldn't use Facebook and Twitter for the same thing. The content should be different.

Gallagher: Customers are looking to engage with brands. And they want discounts. 

Who's doing it right?:

Shih: BestBuy and 1-800 Flowers are doing a good job of letting you buy on Facebook.

Owyang: Volkswagen uses your Facebook profile information to recommend a car for you.

Rose: Sprinkles gives away a free cupcake to the first 25 people who mention a secret word revealed on their Facebook fan page.

On new tools:

Rose: Brands with Facebook pages can now send messages targeted by geography and language, so you don't spam all of your fans.

Owyang: Flowtown will find all of the social networks a person is on, based on their e-mail address.

Goldstein: There are 100 thousand people on FourSquare. Checking in on FourSquare is even easer than tweeting.

Gallagher: Yelp's augmented reality iPhone app uses the phone's camera and GPS to show reviews of the businesses right in front of them.

On data and privacy:
Owyang: I believe Facebook has more information on Gen Y than the U.S. government.

Shih: Use privacy settings in Facebook to segment friends because "our Facebook profiles represent our personal brand."

There was a lot of discussion on privacy, what information Facebook and other sites have access to, and how individuals and brands should manage data-related risks. There were many people in the room who don't trust Facebook to keep their personal photos and information in a silo if they also set up a business presence on Facebook.

Although the panelists noted that using Facebook's privacy settings is easy, the attendees did not agree. Some users even admitted to setting up fake individual Facebook profiles to use in order to set up fan pages for their business. Rose's response was "why wouldn't you want to be associated with your business on Facebook?"

Actually, there are many reasons someone might want to keep their personal and professional lives in iron silos. For instance, those in certain professions need to avoid any crossover: psychologists, prosecuting attorneys, etc. Those types of professionals might want a Facebook page where they post resources, etc., but they don't want their patients or clients to have any chance of window into their personal lives.

Overall, the panel did a great job of discussing what's going on in the industry today and Bedecarre did a great job as moderator, getting the attendees involved in the discussion. Below is a (blurry) picture of me and Jeremiah Owyang at the event.

Affiliate Links:
The Facebook Era - Amazon US
The Facebook Era - Amazon UK