I frequently get calls from a local market research firm to participate in product trials and discussion panels, mostly consisting of consumer goods or food. This past week I took callson four separate evenings to clarify my history and awareness of a specific brand and product. It seemed like they were trying to squeeze as much information out of me without paying, and they couldn't tell me how much the study paid. I still don't know if I qualify. But the process got me thinking about the cost of Market research. I spent about 30 minutes total on the phone over 4 calls discussing my knowledge of a product. Even conservatively, the brand would pay at least $30 an hour for the research study. They need at least 100 participants for a statistically significant survey, and if they are treating my like a murder trial juror, let's say they pick 25% of the people they contact. $15 x 200 = $3000 before the study even starts. I've been paid anywhere from $30 to $75 for a market research study. Say the study pays $50, there's another $5000. Plus whatever the research firm charges to consolidate the study data. At a minimum, that single study could cost a brand upwards of $10,000. And they perform similar studies in cities across the country to understand regional differences in opinion. That was along way of saying that no start-up brand or small business could afford that type of elaborate market research. So what is a blogger or web entrepreneur to do?
Fivesecondtest.com is an awesome site for web designers, graphic artists, and product designers to get their products reviewed for free.
Sign up for an account and you get initial free credits to have your material reviewed. 1 credit equals 1 review. They consist of an introduction, a quick 5 second view of the site, then a few questions that ask you to recall what you saw. Questions like "what was the point of the site?" "what service did the site offer? "what's the name of the site?"
If you are short on time, there is a pay option for the site. This is great because it gives a value to the market research and if you are billing a customer, you can offer the service as a pass-through cost. Here is the secret, invest some time helping your fellow marketers and earn "karma" points for reviewing their site.
To have your site reviewed, just upload screenshots of your site and ask some good questions that will help you improve your site. Fivesecondtest.com is also great for gathering evidence of why a site needs redesigned. Take your opinion out of your pitch and rely on the research when presenting your ideas to your customer.
Fivesecondtest.com is also great for having your mobile app reviewed. Even your product package or print ad can be posted for research. I have received some great data and advice on my websites from fivesecondtest.com and I have never paid for reviews because I enjoy checking out other sites and getting ideas from the questions that are being asked.
If you want to know the name of the mark research firm and get a link to sign up for real paid market research studies, just email me or subscribe to the blog.
Communication 3.0 is about new media, social networking, mobile, and marketing. Communicate Faster.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Corporate Graffiti: Art, Vandalism, or Advertising
A new trend by some, but companies have been using graffiti as a guerilla marketing tactic. While many have termed this type of guerilla marketing, "environmental" advertising, rebel advertising agencies are acting without explicit permission. This video from WSJ.com references Attack! Marketing as a company that has been doing this for years. This new road for street marketing will continue to grow as companies look for new, more effective channels that are less expensive. Just drive through any college campus and the prevelance of stop signs with bumper stickers will show you this is nothing new.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Don't fight it - Social Media's Impact on the World
With all the negative press that social media gets (how it shorts children's attention-spans, how it deteriorates physical social skills, how it is an invasion of your privacy, how your information is not safe. . .), this video takes a look at the impact of social media on the world with some astonishing statistics. Some of the numbers will make your head spin. The video is part of Erik Qualman's promotion for his new book Socialnomics, so tweet about this or post it on your facebook wall )because that seems like the social thing to do). check out @equalman on twitter. Good tip not to post on Saturday.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Easiest QR Code Application is Google Goggles
The Best QR Code App (or at least the easiest, available, and multipurpose QR Code reader is Google Goggles.
I have 5 QR code readers on my phone and under different light or after too many cups of coffee, each reader has a time and place when it works perfectly. The new BeeTag app update has made great improvements for the mobile 2D barcode reader, but every once in awhile it struggles.
Just out of curiosity, I tried to scan a QR Code from the black friday Best Buy ad with the google app on the new G2 Tmobile phone I have as a loaner to demo and within a few scans of the image it recognized it as a qr code and let me follow the URL to the ad online (it also gave me the option of viewing text for QR codes that are used to embed contact info or other data). For those that don't want ANOTHER app on their phone, using google goggles as a QR code reader is a perfect solution.
iPhone users, you can also you the google app with the new image search function to scan QR codes. This works almost exactly like google goggles, only with different scanning animation.
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| Google Goggles App |
Just out of curiosity, I tried to scan a QR Code from the black friday Best Buy ad with the google app on the new G2 Tmobile phone I have as a loaner to demo and within a few scans of the image it recognized it as a qr code and let me follow the URL to the ad online (it also gave me the option of viewing text for QR codes that are used to embed contact info or other data). For those that don't want ANOTHER app on their phone, using google goggles as a QR code reader is a perfect solution.
iPhone users, you can also you the google app with the new image search function to scan QR codes. This works almost exactly like google goggles, only with different scanning animation.
Best Commercials and Advertisements Page
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| The Best of Advertising |
I just added a new page with some of the best television, print, and environmental advertising. Link to the right or click this image.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Make money on your website with Solve Media's alternative to Captcha
Do you have a website with a community, user registrations, or a store with checkout? There is a great alternative to captcha or reCaptcha from Solve Media that Makes a marketing opportunity out of your sites user authentication process. Add this to your adsense or other affiliate advertising to monitize your website. Drive your revenue potential with user engagement that is like product placement for your website.
How Solve Media works?
1.)When a new user on your site creates an account or goes to check out of your e-store, they are prompted to type in a series of words. Instead of the jumbled words or distorted phrase, Solve Media features a brief advertisement from their affiliates.
2.)users then type in the phrase to confirm they are not a bot.
(example: GE promotes their "ecomagination" campaign and users type in 'ecomagination' as the authentication code.
3.) sign up and publishers get paid in a new way when they add new users.
Solve Media from Solve Media on Vimeo.
How Solve Media works?
1.)When a new user on your site creates an account or goes to check out of your e-store, they are prompted to type in a series of words. Instead of the jumbled words or distorted phrase, Solve Media features a brief advertisement from their affiliates.
2.)users then type in the phrase to confirm they are not a bot.
(example: GE promotes their "ecomagination" campaign and users type in 'ecomagination' as the authentication code.
3.) sign up and publishers get paid in a new way when they add new users.
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| http://www.solvemedia.com/ |
Solve Media from Solve Media on Vimeo.
Monday, November 8, 2010
COMING SOON: QR Code Study
I started several discussions on LinkedIn with professionals working in print & mail, innovative technologies, and marketing asking the question:
Post a comment hear to be included in my research on QR Codes and the readiness of consumers.
Are consumers ready to use QR Codes?
or Are marketers so convinced that we are pushing QR Codes without understanding the end users perspective? I am posting this in several groups that I am in related to innovations, marketing, and mail. QR Codes are the talk of trade shows, blogs, tweets, and meetups for marketers. Success in Asia and Europe has brought the QR Code into the public eye in the U.S., but does the public even understand what they are seeing? What do you think about QR Codes?
Example: TV commercial with a QR code static on the screen. But 30 seconds wasn't enough time for me to recognize it, processes that I wanted to scan what I saw, and get my QR code App loaded so I could take a picture... I just saw another commercial for Sears Appliances featuring a QR Code and icons to promote Sears on twitter and Facebook.Post a comment hear to be included in my research on QR Codes and the readiness of consumers.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Peaceful Protest: Inside and outside this year’s National Postal Customer Council Day
This is slightly off topic for communication3.0, but it is still relevant to marketers who still consider MAIL an important channel (and you still should!) Direct mail volumes have declined in the past years as companies look for cheaper alternatives, but with SPAM filters and junk mail overload, the mail box is re-emerging as a great channel for direct marketing. This is about my experience and feedback from this year's National Postal Customer Council Day, September 15th, 2010 in Portland, Oregon. (This article was recently featured in my Mail Systems Management quarterly newsletter).
(BEGIN)September 15th was National PCC Day. In addition to the many local events held across the country, the main event was host by the Greater Portland PCC in downtown Portland, Oregon. The big attraction to the main event at the National location is the Keynote speech from our Postmaster General, Jack Potter. It was obvious that the post office is trying to get creative and remain optimistic. At this event, the PRC was still reviewing the postage increase request for 2011 and had not released a decision. Everyone in attendance had hoped for a buzz-worthy announcement on 5-day delivery or a drastic strategy for reorganization. Prior to the keynote there was much discussion about the many turn-around strategies that the USPS could employ. Unfortunately, no major announcements were made that day and PMG Potter’s speech was an optimistic, but vague outlook of change within the USPS organization. It is obvious that Postal Executives are hard at work looking for creative solutions; the challenge is that there seems to be a group standing in opposition of every proposed alternative.
To my surprise, outside the event, American Postal Workers Union was represented with a picket line of protesters holding signs like, “Keep the service for our customers” and “Save 6-day delivery”. The presence of the APWU should not have been a shock though, as this heated debate from Washington stands to impact every Postal Employee across the country. The USPS was, and still is to some extent, looked at as a great place to work, because of the benefits and career potential. Many other groups have joined the anti-5-day debate with arguments ranging from the critical nature of USPS Saturday delivery to rural communities to the demand for DVD delivery on the weekend from mega-mailer, Netflix.
The debate has also made its way onto social media sites with posts and comments; even a Facebook page has been created for “Citizens Against 5-day delivery” with 1,313 people that “like it”. Because I work in the mailing industry, I am open to any idea that sustains mail, maintains delivery, and keeps postage increases to a minimum for my customers. But the arguments from many groups are valid and deserve some attention. Instead of making a judgment or sharing my opinion, I posted a question on our MSMA Ohio Valley Chapter Linkedin group to start a discussion on the topic.
We all rely on the USPS as a crucial link in our livelihood. Come join the discussion and share your perspective. If you want an invitation to the Linkedin MSMA Ohio Valley Chapter Group, email me at rmcmanus@kerninc.com or connect with me on Linkedin.
(BEGIN)September 15th was National PCC Day. In addition to the many local events held across the country, the main event was host by the Greater Portland PCC in downtown Portland, Oregon. The big attraction to the main event at the National location is the Keynote speech from our Postmaster General, Jack Potter. It was obvious that the post office is trying to get creative and remain optimistic. At this event, the PRC was still reviewing the postage increase request for 2011 and had not released a decision. Everyone in attendance had hoped for a buzz-worthy announcement on 5-day delivery or a drastic strategy for reorganization. Prior to the keynote there was much discussion about the many turn-around strategies that the USPS could employ. Unfortunately, no major announcements were made that day and PMG Potter’s speech was an optimistic, but vague outlook of change within the USPS organization. It is obvious that Postal Executives are hard at work looking for creative solutions; the challenge is that there seems to be a group standing in opposition of every proposed alternative.
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| Outside the Event: APWU Protesters for 6-day delivery |
The debate has also made its way onto social media sites with posts and comments; even a Facebook page has been created for “Citizens Against 5-day delivery” with 1,313 people that “like it”. Because I work in the mailing industry, I am open to any idea that sustains mail, maintains delivery, and keeps postage increases to a minimum for my customers. But the arguments from many groups are valid and deserve some attention. Instead of making a judgment or sharing my opinion, I posted a question on our MSMA Ohio Valley Chapter Linkedin group to start a discussion on the topic.
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| Post Mortem? Odd Flower Arrangement for a Postal Drop Box |
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What Jenny Can Teach You About Social Networking - "You gave me the codes"
TheChive.com posted this series of pictures from a girl named Jenny. The video below shows the 33 picture series that she emailed to her co-workers first thing monday in the most awesome resignation notification ever. Watch the video below or watch it on youtube.com HERE.
What can Jenny's sweet revenge teach us about social networking?
Forget the Jet Blue disgruntle stewardess and look at Jenny's awesome display of sticking it to the man. This movie moment must have been hysterical in the office, hushed laughter and possibly a scrambling IT guy doing check-point style inbox raids to delete the embarrassingly honest email. But boss 'Spencer' had the game flipped when the tracking system/internet witchhunt he installed was used against him. Moral of the email: Anyone with access to your information can and will use it, for or against you. This includes the data that is put out there on public social media sites. Now that social networking is in full swing as a new marketing channel, low-cost variable printing, and databases to capture every point of customer interaction, marketers have an opportunity to market smarter, market smaller, market sharper. And they do this in part to the data publicly available on the multitude of social networking and media sites that get you to give them a piece of your online social life.
For users of social networking, in 2010 it is understood that between google and facebook; if you use it, its recorded. Period. No one is surprised, only slightly put off when forced to think about the ease of access to slightly personal info, when things like user agreements change and need you to say you read it (when you know you haven't read one since you signed up for a free 30 day AOL dial-up trial). For marketers, if the info is there, use it. A great sales strategy is to find those by looking for areas where they may seek gratification from touting personal accomplishments, with instructions how to contact them. It's there so grab it. Linkedin is one of the sites to find the personally ambitious.
My frustration is in the selling of information. Personal Example: I responded to an advertisement for a "MAKE A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS A WEEK WORKING FROM HOME". My mistake. I heard the pitch, decent offer, have a website, promote a website, sell stuff. Just not a good fit for me, so I passed. Lost $15 on shipping for an information packet, but I'll take the learning experience. But about a month after I ended my communication with the the MAFHDAWWFH company, I began receiving two to three calls a week (now on my 5th week) from callers that opened with letting me know I signed up for offers for a work from home business, then racing through the sales pitch hoping to keep me on the phone till the say "holt a d, please" when they get a break to play a "6 minute audio recording that will explain how you will make money". 1st Call": I was curious and had a conversation before passing on the promise of independent wealth at the end. With every call I listened to less of the pitch, resorting to hanging up if "not interested's" were ignored. So far not a single call has broken from the same script.
Now, Not only was I pissed at the idea of my information being sold (I am alright with it being found, just not sold), but they passed on a bad lead. I knew a work from home business wasn't for me, that's why I didn't do it in the first place. So did my identity become a recycled lead? Now I am receiving, seemingly endless, marketing cold calls that ''ain't smart" and "ain't sharp". And all the data is out their, but they are wasting resources with the law of averages style marketing instead of targeted, data driven marketing to a select few that could drive greater lifetime value customers. Find 'em, Get 'em, Reward 'em, Keep 'em.
The future of marketing is in reaching the targeted few that matter. (Sorry Television media)
SPOILER ALERT
Thechive.com posted these pictures of "Jenny" and her awesome resignation. I received them from a co-worker and after checking out the site I learned it's a HOAX. A great skit.
What can Jenny's sweet revenge teach us about social networking?
Forget the Jet Blue disgruntle stewardess and look at Jenny's awesome display of sticking it to the man. This movie moment must have been hysterical in the office, hushed laughter and possibly a scrambling IT guy doing check-point style inbox raids to delete the embarrassingly honest email. But boss 'Spencer' had the game flipped when the tracking system/internet witchhunt he installed was used against him. Moral of the email: Anyone with access to your information can and will use it, for or against you. This includes the data that is put out there on public social media sites. Now that social networking is in full swing as a new marketing channel, low-cost variable printing, and databases to capture every point of customer interaction, marketers have an opportunity to market smarter, market smaller, market sharper. And they do this in part to the data publicly available on the multitude of social networking and media sites that get you to give them a piece of your online social life.
For users of social networking, in 2010 it is understood that between google and facebook; if you use it, its recorded. Period. No one is surprised, only slightly put off when forced to think about the ease of access to slightly personal info, when things like user agreements change and need you to say you read it (when you know you haven't read one since you signed up for a free 30 day AOL dial-up trial). For marketers, if the info is there, use it. A great sales strategy is to find those by looking for areas where they may seek gratification from touting personal accomplishments, with instructions how to contact them. It's there so grab it. Linkedin is one of the sites to find the personally ambitious.
My frustration is in the selling of information. Personal Example: I responded to an advertisement for a "MAKE A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS A WEEK WORKING FROM HOME". My mistake. I heard the pitch, decent offer, have a website, promote a website, sell stuff. Just not a good fit for me, so I passed. Lost $15 on shipping for an information packet, but I'll take the learning experience. But about a month after I ended my communication with the the MAFHDAWWFH company, I began receiving two to three calls a week (now on my 5th week) from callers that opened with letting me know I signed up for offers for a work from home business, then racing through the sales pitch hoping to keep me on the phone till the say "holt a d, please" when they get a break to play a "6 minute audio recording that will explain how you will make money". 1st Call": I was curious and had a conversation before passing on the promise of independent wealth at the end. With every call I listened to less of the pitch, resorting to hanging up if "not interested's" were ignored. So far not a single call has broken from the same script.
Now, Not only was I pissed at the idea of my information being sold (I am alright with it being found, just not sold), but they passed on a bad lead. I knew a work from home business wasn't for me, that's why I didn't do it in the first place. So did my identity become a recycled lead? Now I am receiving, seemingly endless, marketing cold calls that ''ain't smart" and "ain't sharp". And all the data is out their, but they are wasting resources with the law of averages style marketing instead of targeted, data driven marketing to a select few that could drive greater lifetime value customers. Find 'em, Get 'em, Reward 'em, Keep 'em.
The future of marketing is in reaching the targeted few that matter. (Sorry Television media)
SPOILER ALERT
Thechive.com posted these pictures of "Jenny" and her awesome resignation. I received them from a co-worker and after checking out the site I learned it's a HOAX. A great skit.
Twitter: Why You Should Care In 4,450 Characters
Microblog megasite, Twitter, has defied skeptics to become one of the most popular social networking sites online. Over 100 million registered users post an average of 55 million “tweets” every day in 140 characters or less (this limited format is what separates it from other blog sites, hence the ‘micro’). But why should you be on Twitter? There are many reasons why Twitter should be included in your “social-web-life”, but I am going to stick to three compelling reasons: Learn on Twitter First, Search what’s NOW, and Twitter as your living resume.
READ IT HERE FIRST: Twitter is set up so users can follow other users and get a real-time feed of what they are tweeting. I agree with many of the said skeptics that twitter is filled with celebrity blabber and narcissistic notations. But don’t let the few ruin the site for you because there is much that you can learn from following even a few worthy tweeters. I use twitter as an alternative to RSS feeds. My personal and work inbox is overflowing as it is and I don’t want to clutter it with daily emails from the few blogs that I enjoy, but don’t always have time to read. Marketing guru Seth Godin has a daily blog and I follow him on Twitter to see a daily posting of the days blog topic. This saves me time in having to check the site and I only click through when I am interested in the message of the day. Twitter is a great place to hear news first and stay up-to-date on the people and companies you are interested in for both your personal and work life.
WANT TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK?: Whether you get your news from Fox, or MSN, or Yahoo, either way you are reading a reporter’s story, but what do the people think? Twitter features a site search that allows you to search tweets to find topics that you are interested in. From the BP oil spill to the Lebron James saga, you can get a feel for how others feel about today’s news, again, in real-time. Plus, you do not need a Twitter account to search the active conversations being tweeted. Try out a search for yourself!
Promote Your Personal Brand: Sites like LinkedIn are an awesome way to connect with other professionals and maintain a static resume for your bullet point accomplishments. But what about the little things? The projects you are working on or the things you are proud of? Twitter is a great forum for sharing your professional activities and updating your followers about what you are up to. (Note: Use this carefully; tweeters like to follow others that add benefit to their tweet feed.) Your Twitter page can function as a living resume or as a news feed to announce new videos you post or something great your company has done. (Philanthropists love Twitter) A perfect example of using Twitter as a news feed is from a recent tweet I posted after creating a LinkedIn group for the Ohio Valley Mail Systems Management Association. This informs my followers that there is a new group to join and I always include a link. Linking is a key element to Twitter. Because Twitter is text only and limited to 140 characters, you must choose your words wisely. This may seem limiting, but this pure-text formula is what makes Twitter so great. It is sleek and fast (until you get the fail whale). To post pictures and video, services like Twitpic help you link to other media to give legs to your tweet. For linking of URL’s, services like www.bit.ly allow you to shorten web links so you can fit your message into 140 characters (you can even track the clickthrough’s which is great for marketers).
Now I just threw out a lot of new words for many of you, so get to Googling and I encourage you to set up a Twitter account of your own. I bet many of your companies are already on Twitter you should at least be aware of what they are saying. For those of us in the mailing industry, we are continuously looking for ways to improve and keep mail relevant. Those discussions are happening and you can find them on Twitter. Your next great idea may be just a tweet away.
Twitter.com/rynmcmns
Final Word: “What Happens On The Internet, Stays On The Internet” so make the most out of your social-web-life and present your professional self. There are many articles touting the benefits of Twitter and why companies should be looking for their next hire on Twitter.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Google Swirl - image search like none other
Google Swirl
Another innovation from google that gives you the same information as a normal search, but now with slick motion and connections of similar images shown in a way that sends the bing images (which seemed so cool when it was launched almost a year ago) back into the dial up dark ages.
Your image search starts with sets of related images organized in stacks for you to choose and launch your swirl. From there you choose the path of your image search by the linked images. Images are linked by similar image content and shown in group levels that expand and contract based on the number of images included in the group. Images load quickly and once you are into the initial search, the images refresh and change seamlessly. Of course it's flash and won't load on your iphone, but android users will get some use out of this application.
Google Image Swirl resides in the google labs wing of the search mecca and can be linked to when you click on images. Launched in November of 2009, this search function hasn't and may never make its way on to the google main stage, but it is definitely worth your time (I bet you waste some more while you are there)
The possibilities are endless for interesting searches and google offers some suggested searches to get you started. Into architecture or art or fashion or cars. . . whatever you are looking for, this search displays images to meet your search desires in a new way.
Friday, January 1, 2010
2010 Site Description
In 2010, we communicate in ways that did not exist in 2000. Never before has communication changed so rapidly and marketers have more data to reach consumers in new ways. Communication 3.0 is the culmination of new media, social networking, mobile, and multichannel marketing strategy. I attempt to make sense of it all. Tutorials, links, tech reviews, ideas, and more.
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