Marketing Ideas

Spotify and your media cornucopia

 

They want you to throw away your hard drive!?

Spotify and a gaggle of other companies are hoping you chuck away your precious storage device in favor of their cloud-based services.

As usual, right about the time the critical mass fully adopts some form of technology the next idea or platform is beginning to be adopted.

It appears that mp3s and all the other audio file types are about to become the next dusty media relic shelved right next to yellowing 8-track cassettes and warped vinyl.

Why? Everything, not just music, is going into the cloud.

Right now there are literally thousands of startups cranking the wheels to get cloud data and media streaming services to your fingertips.

Can you imagine a music service with just about every song ever recorded in the history of mankind available whenever you want it in real-time? It's like having a 500 million petabyte iPhone.

It reminds me of this old Qwest TV commercial about a motel that touches on the same idea "...all rooms have every movie ever made in any language anytime, day or night."

Services like Spotify want to be the total source for your music.

What is Spotify? Spotify is largely unknown in the U.S., but that could change very soon. It’s basically a music service that allows anyone to stream music directly to their computer or mobile device.

"I already have Pandora!", you cry. Spotify goes beyond simple channel streaming by offering the world of music and has integrated social sharing by allowing users to connect with their Facebook friends for their music experience. Note: Pandora does this too, but not as well.

Most of our music experience is about shared songs, recommendations and music writers, DJs or band members. This whole network is very important to how we grow with and use the songs in our everyday life.

But it's not just about music - in the next few years the Qwest commercial will be a reality for just about any type of media or data we desire.

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Like it or not Facebook is getting personal

 

Facebook's new 'Like' feature has just begun to alter the online advertising model and in turn moved the social network a step closer to playing seriously with Google.

As web user, you and I are already used to targeted advertising. In my every day web travels I enjoy the recommendations I receive on sites like Amazon.

It's like a having my own personal assistant who filters through junkmail or unwanted solicitators because they understand I read a lot of books about marketing or economics and couldn't care less about the next Danielle Steel book, unless I was shopping for my aunt.

In that respect the shared information model will clean up the web for each personal user. I get a bit more of what I want to see. Don't worry Steel fans, the popular stuff will always make it through just by simple advertising economics alone.

The next obvious question is 'how much will be too much?' Users hold the key to the answer. If it was up to Facebook or the advertising and media companies they'd want to know if you felt like a grilled cheese or salad for lunch...but seriously we're not that far from that becoming a reality.

If I shot a message to my friend Sally about meeting at noon couldn't I theoretically receive packaged advertising bits telling me where the best deal is in my location?

Foursquare is leading the charge with this type of interaction right now while Yelp is not doing such a great job on mobile platforms, but just wait until Facebook feels like being a geolocation assistant too, they'll simply need to flip a couple of switches.

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Facebook: What's to 'Like'?

 

As you probably already know Facebook has introduced their new suite of social plugins to the social graph.

Super technical way of saying if you like something you can now click on a button to keep inform others all over web which is tracked back to your Facebook account.

Many sites have already integrated this feature, such as Yelp.com, CNN.com and IMDB.com.

I have nominated myself to be a Typepad beta guinea pig so keep me posted whether or not it's working for you.

5 Don'ts: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Truth

The word is out! The internet can power great marketing ideas, and develop company brands!

On a serious note, blogs and social networks have opened up the doors of business relationships by providing a more intimate connection with the faces behind business.

As I've said before, every sword in business is double-edged.

If a website blog, or Twitter feed are part of your marketing plan then I have just a few quick pieces of advice:

THE GOOD: You have a blog on your website!

THE BAD: There are no posts on it.

THE UGLY TRUTH: You're better off with no blog at all.

THE GOOD: Your website has tons of keywords jammed into the copy!!

THE BAD: No human being on earth can decipher it.

THE UGLY TRUTH: I don't care what SEO monkeys tell you, some people still need to read about what you do.

THE GOOD: You wrote your best blog post ever!

THE BAD: You stole the idea from someone else.

THE UGLY TRUTH: If you want to borrow an idea for part of your post, give a brother some love.

THE GOOD: Your "click here for more info" link is radiantly amazing! Who can resist it's call?

THE BAD: After clicking 5 pages deep, the real call-to-action delivers a form to fill out.

THE UGLY TRUTH: Do I need to explain further?

THE GOOD: Nobody knows what's behind your trending topic linkbait with URL shortener!

THE BAD: ...and nobody cares.

THE UGLY TRUTH: Consider this brand suicide.

Almost forgot, don't use the term "startup junkie", or "human capital". If I have to explain...well, I guess it won't make sense.

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Client relations? Only two things matter (part 2/2)

This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Click here and read part 1.

2. If someone expresses discontent, you've been given a gift. 

When prompted by an issue, the unsatisfied party is giving you the ripest opportunity to earn their trust and lifetime brand love. This is no time for salesmanship. Do not force the issue, let it come to you.

If your product doesn't do what it's advertised to do or your service is lacking, take that opportunity to step up and show your worth. Nordstrom's are well-known for this type of customer service. They understand that stories of customer satisfaction and problem resolution travel quickly through word-of-mouth.

Restaurant owners must understand this principle too or they'll quickly be out of business. I was recently asked to develop a marketing plan for a group that is building a small franchise of Asian fusion boutique restaurants.

My job was much easier than usual because they had done a lot of the work already in order to gain some initial funding - they know their audience like the back of their hand.

We developed a plan to manage customer issues which is part business plan, part marketing plan. It goes without saying that you can't afford to separate the two these days.

The order of this process is a proven psychological structure that works wonders. The whole goal is to leave the once-disgruntled customer with the sense that they were heard and blown away by the responding action from the staff. With such well-heeled clientele nothing could be more important.

Social media uses

Social media works in much the same way. The ability to listen in and canvas industry-specific discussion or dialogue about your brand is priceless.

Companies have no excuse to not be attentive to their audience. The opportunity is great for those who make the effort to put a system in place and allow their buying committee to virtually design their products for them merely by freely giving the information about what they like or don't like.

What are you doing to improve client relations in your business?

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.