Category: marketing

Almost Time For Product Camp

Posted by joshua duncan – August 6, 2010

Product Camp Austin is tomorrow and it is going to be a full house with 600 registrants.  I have been working on a session with Bertrand Hazard, VP of Product Marketing at Troux Technologies, on Product Marketing.  Here is the session outline:

How to be a Product Marketing Genius, Ninja, Guru, Rock Star, Wizard, [Insert Buzz Word Here] (Session #PE521)

There has never been a more rewarding, yet challenging time for Product Marketers to engage with customers. The social media world has opened a new land of opportunities to tell your story. The question however is where one should focus its efforts given limited time/resources to be the most effective? Led by two Product Marketing practitioners, this Town Hall discussion, will focus on the what’s working today and what to look for in the future. The presenters will give examples from the industry and their experience while highly encouraging audience participation.

We are planning for a lively discussion around product marketing and have some great examples to share plus a few surprises.  Hope to see you there!

Photo Credit:  Flickr

How Apple Uses System Settings To Delight

Posted by joshua duncan – June 27, 2010

Continue the conversation on delighters, I have a great example to share.  I figured this one will work better if I show it so here is my video walk through of the demo:

Having a functional trackpad is a requirement.  Increasing the usability of the trackpad is a delighter.  Apple gets bonus points for thinking through the usability of this feature and including how to video screen demos inside the settings.  A great combination of product planning and product marketing.

One of the ideas that I have captured as a takeaway from Apple is how to make sure the work you do to make a product more usable not only gets noticed, but also get used.  Providing educational content is a great way to start.  Finding the right place and time to get that content to your customer is the challenge.

On a side note, I have been looking at screen capture tools and stumbled across Screenr.  It is simple, easy to use, and easy to share when it comes to capturing screen videos.  I love how when you are finished it not only automatically loads to the Screenr site, but it also lets you download the video as MP4 and upload directly to YouTube.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

One Reason Why You Should Read The Referral Engine

Posted by joshua duncan – June 7, 2010

John Jantsch, from Duct Tape Marketing, has written a book called The Referral Engine.  The book is about how to make business referrals the core of your marketing strategy and why that is a good idea.

Before I tell you why I think this is such a good book, I need to set the stage with a few introductory points.

First off,  if you are looking at making a product (or service), and you want the customer to focus on more than just the price tag, you are now in the experience business.  This is a good place to be if you are delivering an experience that aligns with expectations.  It can be a great place to be if you are meeting expectations and finding ways to delight and surprise your customers.

John introduces this topic in the book,

A culture of buzz is not created by attempting to do things that get attention; customers regonzie publicity stunts when they see them.  The most effective long term cultural shift for most organizations comes when the focus is put on making the total customer experience something worth talking about on a case-by-case basis.

The second point is that if you want to deliver an experience, it must be 100%.  You can’t deliver 25%,50%,75% or even 80% and assume your customers will rave about you to their friends.  It must be a total experience meaning that you must be willing to align all of your strategies to support this.

John hits the nail on the head here when he covers what it really takes to make your business all about referrals,

A referral strategy is a lead strategy, it’s a customer strategy, it’s a process strategy, it’s a competitive strategy, it’s a management strategy, it’s a people strategy, and it’s a financial strategy.

If you are still with me, here is the one reason why you should read The Referral Engine:  John has absolutely packed the book with cases, resources, tools, guides, links, and recommendations all in support of creating an authentic referral strategy.  Even if you are not in the process of laying out a full strategy, there is a boatload of marketing ideas in this book (you can see all my bookmarks captured in the picture above) that is guaranteed to generate ideas.

I love finding books that fill your head with ideas but it’s even better when there are concrete steps to action.  The Referral Engine is just such a book and well worth your time.

Resources:

  1. Duct Tape Marketing blog
  2. The Referral Engine book

Now On Facebook

Posted by joshua duncan – April 11, 2010

I have been a big believer that Twitter is great for business and Faceook is for keeping it personal.  This means I have spent more time paying attention to Twitter and very little to Facebook.  Facebook has been nice to share a few things with family and friends but I really have not started to engage with any of the Fan pages or businesses on the site.

I am telling you that it is now time to start paying attention to the business side of Facebook.  If you have already started to drink the Facebook Kool-Aid, now is the time to pour yourself an even bigger glass.

You may have seen stats on growth of users online (as of March 2010, it’s the most visited online site in the U.S.) and stats about time spent online (over 7hrs+ a month).  However, it is stats like 82 million users playing Farmville and 25 million wannabe Mafia dons that may lead you to believe it is all fun and games.

It is these stats from Facebook that make me believe that marketers are starting to take Fan Pages seriously and users are responding:

  • More than 3 million active Pages on Facebook
  • More than 20 million people become fans of Pages each day
  • Pages have created more than 5.3 billion fans

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It’s 2010 & Everything Matters

Posted by joshua duncan – January 10, 2010

So, the first week of January is already over and I have not gotten around to making any New Year’s resolutions.  I am blaming it on a case of strep throat that went through the family, building up speed until it took me out of commission for a several days.

Instead, I am going to start off with a couple of articles that I think are worth thinking about as 2010 gets going.

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4 Reasons Not to Hide the Demo Button

Posted by joshua duncan – December 29, 2009

My son got an educational toy globe over the holidays.  The front control panel of the globe is almost overwhelming in the number of modes you can select (see the picture above for a close-up).

If you look right in the center of the controls, next to the volume buttons, you will see the demo button.  Your first reaction may be that this is a strange place to put the demo.  Why not put some other function here and hide the demo button out of the way?

The truth is, demo modes are very important and should be easy to find.  You don’t have a lot of time when a consumer is evaluating your product so you need to hook them fast so they want to learn more.

A good product demo should do the following: More…

You Have to Earn it

Posted by joshua duncan – October 31, 2009

napalm motor sports

Philip Kottler:

Don’t buy market share.  Figure out how to earn it.

Every morning on my way to work I pass Napalm Motor Sports.  Usually, I am driving by just as the the crew assembles their product display.  They take at least 20 of their coolest looking motorbikes, scooters, and ATVs and line them up on the patio for all the cars going by.  In the afternoon, they continue to tease by firing up the smoker for BBQ.  Now, I am not a biker, but you can’t help wanting to stop and check out everything on display and grab a bite to eat.

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Inspiration From Room To Read

Posted by joshua duncan – October 20, 2009

Have you ever heard the recommendation that looking outside your industry can be great way to find inspiration?  Well, I have a great example to prove the point.

I had a chance to listen to John Wood, founder of Room to Read, last week at the Kellogg Innovating Social Change conference.  John was nothing but impressive and so is his book, “Leaving Microsoft To Change The World“.

One of the corporate principals that John carried over from Microsoft was the belief that knowing your numbers is critical for driving results.  John went a step farther and put his company metrics front and center in his communications (even adding it to his email signature).  He wanted to make sure there was no doubt about the firm’s priorities and achievements.

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The MouseDriver Chronicles

Posted by joshua duncan – October 13, 2009

If you have not heard of the MouseDriver Chronicles you are in for a treat.  It is a tale of two guys trying to start-up a business around a novelty golf product.  I had the opportunity recently to here John Lusk, one of the founders, talk about his experiences and share his wisdom.  There was some great advice for entrepreneurs, marketers, and product managers.

Here are some of their lessons learned they captured at the end of the experience:

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Advertising Is Not Marketing

Posted by joshua duncan – September 20, 2009

Rocketwatcher had a great post last week reminding people that marketing is not SPAM.   My favorite quote from April’s article,

Spam is what happens when there is an absence of marketing.  It’s what happens when you don’t think about what customers want and don’t care about building offerings for them.  It’s what happens when you don’t care about market segments and you believe a cat, a CEO and a teenager are equally likely to click on your link.

I was reading an article on Amazon’s brand this weekend that really helps make the point that marketing is not just advertising either (though the term marketing is often used interchangeably with advertising).

The Business Week articles Amazon’s approach,

Instead of shelling out big bucks for lavish trade shows and TV and magazine ads, Amazon pours money into technology for its Web site, distribution capability, and good deals on shipping. The result: a smooth shopping experience that burnishes the company name.

If your marketing strategy is focused on your customers, your customers will rave about you.  Amazon understands its customer and knows that the best way to delight is by delivering amazing service and focusing on ease of use.  This focus has led to a sterling reputation and increased brand awareness all without spending on advertising.

Advertising can be a very effective marketing tool but it is definitely not the only tool you should pay attention too.

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