Sunday Video: This Will Make Your Content Easier To Read

Engaging content is the new kid on the Marketing block.

But your copy has to be easy to read in the first place.

Need I say more?

Watch this video and learn a few powerful secrets I'm using for my copywriting.

 

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Sunday Video: I Don't Want To Work For Free.. Even If You're My Friend!

Putting your time and energy into a valuable activity for someone and not getting anything in return - often this leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Should you work for free for your friends?

If it's a light, few hours long job, I am happy to do it.

Otherwise, I say polite 'no' because I can't afford to work for free.

Check this video if you also find it hard to make your friends understand you don't want to work for free. I bare my soul here.


P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Sunday Video: SEO Basics Easy As ABC

Breath fire into your website.

Have you suddenly woken up and  felt that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is like a new kid on your block? You want to become friends but you just don't know how. 

You came to the right place.

Watch this video and learn some important tricks on how to improve your SEO before you can say Jack Robinson.

It really is that fast and easy.

P.S. Yes, you'll hear me pronouncing "SEO" as "CEO" and it's a tiny experiment I'm doing these weeks, so don't get scared or scratch your ears, just eat the content :)

P.P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

Sunday Video: Reach For The Stars - Marketing Trends of 2014

I made a list of Top 5 Marketing Trends and there will be no bigger fish to fry this year.

Need I say more?

The fourth video is on Personalization. Sink your teeth into this:

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. I always talk very spontaneously so please be kind and take my pauses and tongue slips as natural reaction trying to be myself while imagining you :)

Tuesday In India: You Can't Go Wrong With Rajinikanth, Can You?

You can never go wrong with the living legend.

Especially, for the promotions in India.

In the end of last year, Shine.com, the online recruitment firm for social and employee referrals, created a professional CV of the Tamil superstar Rajinikanth on LinkedIn (and if you don't know Rajinikanth, you don't know India).

I thought it was a fun, simple and very cost-effective promotion.

It was shared among friends, created buzz on Twitter ( #RajinikanthCV) and it made us smile for an afternoon.

What else you need?

Here is an excerpt of skills and strengths that Shine's creative team included in Rajinikanth's profile - it's funny but reminds me of Chuck Norris jokes we had flying around 10 years ago.

Well, art is a recyclable thing anyways, so thumbs up for a good execution.

Skills: 
- Has counted to infinity, twice.
- Has sliced bullets in mid-air, using other bullets.
- Knows why this kolaveri, kolaveri, kolaveri di. And knows why this kolaveri e, f and g too.
- Can write into a READ ONLY file
- Can operate Windows on a 64 KB processor. 
- Capable to generate Electricity from Wind Energy (while Breathing)
- Ability to kill even Living Room
- Can sign a cheque… and make the Bank bounce
- Can fast forward live TV

Strengths: 
 - Can successfully complete the work assigned to me on the previous day itself
- Has successfully deleted the Windows Recycle Bin
- Can retain ‘Permanently Deleted’ files
- Light moves at the speed of ME.
- Bill Gates lives in constant fear that Rajinikanth’s PC will crash.

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your favourite promotion on social media channels? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

Sunday Video: Don't Miss Marketing Trends of 2014

You want to know this.

I made a list of Top 5 Marketing Trends which will be super important this year.

Put them to work! (for You)

The first video is on Content Marketing. It will rule further but from a different chair. Check it out:

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. I always talk very spontaneously so please be kind and take my pauses and tongue slips as natural reaction trying to be myself while imagining you :)

Promo Wednesday: Just A Quick Look At The Subject Lines

Every Wednesday I mention Subject Lines that had me at hello, and the ones that went to my bin before you could say Jack Robinson.

This week I found nice and inviting :

• Just a quick look at the sales 

• Mister Cool: Men's Color Story Blue 

• Blue Monday Just got BETTER 

• Wake up your makeup 

• Start new year with a critically acclaimed new author

Now, the lines which were hard to digest this week:

• Juicy Savings Today Only! 

• Brace yourself for the cold with our fantastic range of winter warmers! 

• New Year, New Look 

• Your first bite of SS14’s trends – bring on the new! 

• Celebrating You! $15 off + Healthy Hair Tips That's it for now.

Let me know which emails tickled you pink this week? Share in the comments or Tweet Me!

Research Friday: Fun Me + Fun You = No Fun

When Will You Use This? 

 

Thinking about maximizing efforts to reach consumers in a brand-cluttered world and planning various forms of brief brand exposure.

What’s The Red-Letter Bite Today?

 

Over the course of a day, consumers are briefly exposed to hundred of brands. Prior research* has demonstrated that very brief exposures to brands can affect consumers’ attitudes and choices. It’s important to examine this influence when brands are presented together just like in a real world.

The current series of experiments** examine how being exposed to multiple brands at once affects consumers’ reactions to these brands, particularly when little effort is exerted in processing this information. Focusing on the role of brand personalities, researchers found that when a focal brand is seen with a brand that has a dissimilar personality, it will seem more distinctive and thus generate more positive consumer reactions than if it is seen with a brand that has a similar personality. However, this will only happen in low-elaboration settings (when consumers process information in more superficial, less effortful process).

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks  

 

Consumers do not form perceptions of a brand’s traits and characteristics in isolation, but instead use the context to form their impressions. That's why it’s important to plan the context carefully, especially where brands are paired together (product placements, event sponsorship, commercial slots in advertising).

• Understand your brand’s personality,

• Explore personalities of the other brands around,

• Dedicate your resources to capturing advertising slots that allow your brand to be seen with a series of dissimilar brands.

*Ferraro, Rosellina, Tanya L. Chartrand, and Gavan J. Fitzsimons (2009), “The Effects of Incidental Brand Exposure on Consumption,”in Handbook on Brand and Experience Management,ed. Bernd H. Schmitt and David L. Rogers, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 163–73. {Thanks for the material}

**Linyun Yang, Keisha M. Cutright, Gavan J. Fitzsimons, Tanya I. Chartrand (2013), Distinctively Different: Exposure to Multiple Brands in Low Elaboration Settings.” (forthcoming), Journal of Consumer Research {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share your strategies for differentiating your brand through various channels? Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on figuring out your brand's personality? Let's do this together.

Sunday Video: Make Your Letter Impossible To Ignore

Have you been writing letters to your customers?

Do you want to increase the response rate?

Then make sure they open your letter in the first place.

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. I always talk very spontaneously so please be kind and take my pauses and tongue slips as natural reaction trying to be myself while imagining you :)

Monday Video: Imagine Power In Your Marketing

This just might be the most powerful word to trigger your customers.

Imagine what you could do with that power.

I take it lightly in this video but it's real.

P.S. When you’re done watching, leave a comment or Tweet me how did you like it. Can't wait to hear from you!

P.P.S. I always talk very spontaneously so please be kind and take my pauses and tongue slips as natural reaction trying to be myself while imagining you :)

Research Friday: Oh Don't Shock Me That Much!

When Will You Use This? 

 

Managing word-of-mouth marketing campaigns. As word-of-mouth is linked to decision making, increased sales, faster product adoption, it’s important to know which type of conversation has impact on people’s choice. Marketers often believe that controversy increases conversation and this research reveals some interesting details.

What’s On The Front Page Today? 

 

We believe that more controversy always leads to more buzz. Really?

The current series of experiments* analyze effects of controversy on likelihood of conversation and how situational variables such as identity disclosure affect people’s willingness to talk about controversial topics.

Results reveal that controversial issues, in fact, are often more interesting, which makes people more inclined to talk about them. It is noted that moderate levels of controversy increase likelihood of conversation. Simultaneously, additional increases in controversy (=high level of controversy) is never better as it increases discomfort and makes people talk less.

Furthermore, this research shows that when people are granted anonymity (for example, online forums) or when the conversation partner knows the speaker fairy well (for example, friend), the link between controversy and conversation tends to be more positive since it is driven primarily by interest (not discomfort).

Credit: Wikipedia image

Addition To Your Bag of Tricks 

When you are planning to generate consumer to consumer word-of-mouth, keep these few points in mind:

• People avoid talking about extremely controversial topics (for example, death penalty, abortions) so you should avoid too. High controversy is also connected to negative publicity. 
• Develop ad campaigns that are moderate, at most, in controversy (for example, PETA “I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur” campaign, many campaigns of United Colors of Benetton).
• If you want to encourage online discussion, then more controversy may be more tolerated in comparison to face-to-face environments. 

* When, Why, and How Controversy Causes Conversation. Zoey Chen and Jonah Berger. Journal of Consumer Research, 2013, vol. 40, issue 3, 580 - 593. {Thanks for the material}

P.S. When you’re done reading, I’d love for you to share which controversial topics were you discussing lately. Leave a comment or Tweet me, let's chat!

P.P.S. Need some help on creating your word-of-mouth piece? Let's do this together.

Tuesday In India: Why Oh So Silent?

You will be surprised to know how surprised I was that I was never able to verbalize it.. To let it out. To share it on the paper.

It was like heavy, undigested meat stuck in my stomach.

Like a mucus ball glued in the end of my throat in the morning shower.

Like a tiny needle in a huge pillow full of feathers. You know it's there and you can't sleep.

I was living only that moment, only today, and today was never shared. Not even tomorrow.

You wouldn't believe it.

I lived in India for almost 3 years and I have never written a word on it.

Not a word on that experience which was maddeningly moody, extraordinary wonderful, sometimes haunting till tears or diarrhea and…oh so very different.

For a person who prefers texting instead of calling, it’s rather weird.

For a person who is a pure copywriter at heart, it’s unforgivable.

But this flood is starting to come out.

Sparkling, muddy, uncontrollable water of memories, ideas, adventures will flood me and you every Tuesday.

Otherwise, I'll be haunted forever. My Muse said so. She actually Tweeted Me.

Me On Writing: The Young and The Restless

Writing is my shaking ladder to survival.

I went through poetry, haiku and short novels in my early teens to marketing and public relations in my official adulthood, and I never stopped admiring the absolute and eternal power of Word.

Writing to me is like stretching your back in the morning. Unavoidable.

Like banging the ball into the ceiling when neighbors are arguing upstairs. Totally ordinary.

Like turning around to look at the passer-by to find him already staring back. Bewildering magic.

I love writing.

Like reading before sleep. Like dancing when no one's watching. Like eating an apple with one hand. Like kissing my boyfriend’s eyelashes.

It’s all about this passionately growing feeling.

Is it mutual?

Muse, stay close and keep breathing on my neck. It thrills me till matchless madness.