Online Branding Blog – reactorr.com

Online Branding Strategy

It’s been a long time coming. Advertising has been about the same for some 50 years, but things just don’t work the way they used to. Within the last 5 years social media has grown so much that customers are more reliant than ever on referrals.

Marketers facing this shift find themselves looking towards social media to get in front of their audience and its a whole new ballgame. One recent development that advertisers should be aware of is the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is watching the online space for signs that advertisers masquerading as independent third parties.

Now monitoring blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and many other social network platforms, the FTC is on the watch for advertisers posing as ordinary consumers raving or providing misleading testimonials on products or services. A recent example posted by Consumerist mentions a well known fast food chain posing as fans of a marketing campaign.

An excerpt from the FTC;

“The fundamental question is whether, viewed objectively, the relationship between the advertiser and the speaker is such that the speaker’s statement can be considered ’sponsored’ by the advertiser and therefore an ‘advertising message.’”

It’s probably a method used as long as the web has been around. I recall reading about ‘seeding’ being done by the music industry to launch new pop stars some years ago, and it probably continues today. But you can imagine how this might affect your online branding strategy should you be caught.

Online branding and reputation management is becoming more imperative to monitor, and with this news regarding the FTC, you’ll want to be listening to your endorsers as well as consumers.

What to take away from all this? Monitor, engage, and also be transparent, providing full disclosure where applicable.

Tags: Advertising, branding, Marketing, online branding

Social Media and Online Branding

Whether its social networking or social bookmarking, social media is creating a paradigm shift in the way we consume media. This is not a mere blip on the radar, but a tsunami of sorts. But don’t mistake social media as another advertising channel. Marketer’s need to realize its more about talking to, and not talking at.

By knowing your audience you can leverage this medium. Note that its not a trend and your marketing efforts should include social media for your online marketing or branding strategy. Consider watching the following video to get a better understanding of social media’s influence.

A prime example of social media acceptance is a site you may know of called Facebook (a social media favorite) with over 250 million uers. It sees more than 1.5 million pieces of content (Web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on its site daily. In fact, the way we interact and socialize has undergone surprising changes, with one out of eight couples married in the U.S. last year having met via social media. Although you might be surprised to learn that the fastest growing segment of Facebook are 55- to 65-year-old females.

About 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content. With about 78% of consumers trusting peer recommendations, and only 14% trusting advertisements. Furthermore, 34% of bloggers post opinions about products and brands. Another interesting fact – 25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video… on their phone .

Social media, bookmarking, and citizen journalism may jeopardize the future of print media. Its estimated that 98% of the largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news – the news finds us.

 If you’re serious about online branding and engaging with customers, you need to include social media in your strategy.

Tags: Advertising, online branding, Social Media

Advertising Is Dead… Again!

Unless you have a superbowl budget or award winning creative, your ads probably aren’t getting the attention they deserve.

A few years back a book called “The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR”  discussed how advertising’s ineffectiveness can no longer be overlooked. There used to be a saying that for an ad to work, a viewer or consumer should see that message at least 7 times. Then it was 12, followed by 20, and I’ve even heard it repeated as “if a consumer doesn’t see your ad at least 30 times they don’t see it at all”. Oh really? After anything even close 10 times, I’m changing channels or tuning out this repititious drivel.

So how does a marketer reach a consumer these days? A savvy marketer is going to go where consumers are to put their message in front of them. But isn’t that just advertising again?

The key is value. Give something people want, and make it accessible. Providing value in your offering is going to do much more than advertising. You can’t ignore that advertising is great for raising awareness, but on the web there is this thing called “bounce rate”, which refers to people that visit your site and click the back button. That’s wasted advertising dollars if your bounce rate is high. But a truly decent value proposition has many advantages. Consumers become your marketers, spreading the word for you. How this is done will have to wait for another time.

Tags: Advertising