My thoughts exactly

Buzz is the answer. The question: what is the better way to market something to younger age cohorts, buzz or paid advertising?

In today’s Wall Street Journal (10-16-10), Jonah Lehrer discusses a study of 180,000 people interviewed about movies. The study was done to try to understand the pre-release buzz about a movie (The Sixth Sense) and how it worked.

Turns out 21% is the tipping point for movies. Once the buzz reached this many Americans, a successful box-office run was virtually assured.

The key point for me from the study was that there was almost no relationship between who was in the movie or how much was spent on ads and the pre-release buzz. In other words, waiting for buzz to happen naturally or trying to kick-start it with advertising simply won’t work.

Still, it’s clear that the old model of buying ads will not guarantee buzz. Because young folks don’t pay much attention to traditional media and their ads, social networking is the way to go. You have to create your own buzz.

If you are not in the game, you can’t win it. Get started with social media campaigns. Today.

Ever since AdAge’s Simon Dumenco said the press release was dead about a month ago, people have been weighing in with their opinions. Being the Slow Thinker that I am (more crockpot and less microwave), it has taken me awhile to decide what I think.

I think it is. Or it is about to be. Or rather, it should be. Here’s why.

1. Its very name is an anachronism: the “press” was more or less invented by Johan Gutenberg in the late 1400s, and indeed it was basically a grape press for making wine. (Thus, the natural connection between journalists and booze.) News release or information release might be the better choice of words.

2. The press as we know it is dying, or at least is gravely ill, so the parasitic PR industry that lives off it — as it is currently structured — will go along with it. The whole idea of releasing information by sending a piece of paper via snail mail to a member of the print media is such an out-of-date thought that it’s almost cute. Pre-emptive nostalgia.

3. The idea that the best way to mold public opinion is to send that piece of paper again is woefully out of date. The game has always been one of “tricking” the news media by writing the press release so it emulates a news story — whether by writing or video. That way the PR message gets to the public without being edited: it meets the editor’s technical structure. With social media’s direct connect with customers, this isn’t necessary. Companies can control the conversation directly, leaving the MSM out of it.

4. The press release will be replaced by the “social network release.” This can be done through any number of social media, but the main point is that it won’t be mediated, as with the press release. It will be words, images, and video over multiple channels. Controlling the message and guiding the conversations people have about you will be better than ever.

5. Most companies will still need a specialist to handle this aspect of their public-messaging work, unless you want to do it yourself. With the right person — either inside your company or an outside consultant — you will be more successful than in the past with press releases because you are in control, not the media.

Let’s plan a funeral.

What do you think? Please leave a comment.

“Social media is still so new,” [Jason] Sadler [of I Wear Your Shirt] says. “You might spend a ton of money for someone with a ton of followers or fans, and then get absolutely nothing–it may just be a flash in the pan. You’ll realize that you dropped $100,000 on something that doesn’t last, and just gets lost in the mix. Nissan is not really taking that chance, because it’s not costing them much at all.”

This an excellent point.

Social media is a new and different way of getting your marketing message to your customers and potential customers. Paying lots of money to buy space or time for your messages and/or spending cash to get celebrity posts or tweets is so last century.

If you want to do things the old-fashioned way, or if you like to spend money needlessly, then that’s the way to go.

If you want to get a conversation going about your company, and if you want to control the buzz online, then get to work on your social media. If you can’t or don’t want to do it yourself, hire someone.

I wouldn’t wait another minute.

For more, see this Fast Company article.

If you have a business, you know people are going to talk about you. People will share their experiences with you and your customer service. Sometimes it will be good and sometimes not. That’s just the way it is.

Today, this conversation among customers happens online. This means that customers are more likely to be heard, and you get to eavesdrop, if you will, and enter into the discussion. This is especially important if negative information is being shared.

Monitoring the online conversation is one of the many things a good social media manager can do for you. If there is some negative feedback — and there are always some people who feel wronged in their dealings with you — you can intervene and make sure your story is being told as well.

Sometimes you can take the negative feedback and use it to improve your product, service or system. If it is positive, you can use that information as well in support of your overall marketing message.

The main point is that social media allow you to join conversations that normally would have taken place without you. Wouldn’t you rather be a part of the buzz?

I have been playing around with Twitter — the 140-character tapas of writing — for several months now and have come to mixed conclusions as to its worth. Apparently, I am not alone as Twitter has a pretty good churn rate after 30 days, according to the WP.

On the plus side, I have been led to some great web sites and articles. That has been very good, but I am not sure that outweighs the negatives. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Some people seem compelled to tweet their every thought — and most of these people appear to have salient thoughts in their heads that would sound, if they were made physical, like two BBs rolling around in an empty tuna fish can. They suffer from a mind-numbing twitterhea. I don’t need to know you are bored tonight or read the drunken conversation you overheard in a bar.

2. Other people seem to do the above and then re-tweet what I already get from the original twitterer, probably in an attempt to push as many tweets as possible. Didn’t we follow one another because of similar interests in the first place? There is no need to re-tweet to fellow travelers.

3. Some tweets are simply empty and obvious marketing moves, sort of tweeted junk mail. I don’t mind links to relevant blog links (I’ve even done that once or twice.), but don’t keep trying to sell me on links to marginal copy.

4. Many tweets are just fluff, simplistic ideas that are the written equivalent of like, uh and um in spoken language: they take up space unnecessarily. A well-known designer took the time to let everyone know that content is more important than design and design should support the content. Well, duh. Share your genius not platitudes.

5. Finally and this is rather like No. 4, some real experts in a field seem to think that we want reports on their daily life instead of insights and thoughts along the lines of their professional expertise. As an example, I follow the Getting Things Done guru, David Allen. I had hoped for some good daily tips. Instead I have found out about wine, gardening and the weather in Ojai, Calif. Interesting, but not what I hoped for. I’ll stay a follower, however, because the occasional gem is in there.

I have been guilty of a few of these, in part because I felt the need to say something once or twice a day, but no more. Tomorrow I cull my “following” herd and will tweet only what I think is truly important, even if I am silent for awhile.

I am sure the Twitterati will be saddened…. The Muse is merely miffed.