bwagy

Having my monthly coffee with Rich of GetFrank we were talking about all the learnings you get from running an online business.

It really is all about the groundswell – creating the word of mouth.

It’s less about sinking money into something and more pulling your sleeves up and getting your hands dirty.

These are the fundamentals offline as well, yet you forget the basics to be honest.

If you can take these basic principles back offline into a traditional market you can really dominate.

Imagine applying Internet Marketing 101 to staplers? fruit juice? car tyres?

Your marketing cost would be a fraction of the competition and I daresay magnitudes times more effective.

Basic concept of innovation – take a successful framework into a new context.  You could have some real fun with it – so why not give it a shot?

Brand experiences tend to be post event. 

However now we have the technology for live experiences. 

Social networks with live engagement are such an example.

Local energy drink provider has taken advantage of this with their V Bebo Community.

Another great example is Vaughan Rowsell.

Now Vaughan is cycling the length of New Zealand Uphill (bottom to top) for charity.  He is just about half way now.

You can send him messages on twitter, see his blog, watch his videos.  I have included his first one below:

You can experience it as he does.  With the right software and cell coverage he could even stream live from his cycle trip.

Imagine watching the Tour De France from Lance Armstrongs bike with his commentary as he rides.  Motor racing does this with in car cams – but there is a ways to go.

You could be sponsoring such an experience as Vaughans, some great fits would be:

• Hotel Chain (where to rest after a long day of travel)
• Energy / Sports Drinks (providing the fuel for the journey)
• Clearly the bike / clothing
• Technology (we are where you want to be)

This isn’t for everyone, yes it is less controlled, you don’t know what will happen.  Maybe it will be boring? Or maybe you will be there when something remarkable happens.  It is reality tv meets real world.  We all know reality tv isn’t that real anyway so why not deliver an authentic experience.  (Hell if you even track Vaughan down you can partake).

Twitter, Blogging, Video all allow people to engage with your brand real time which creates an extremely loyal customer base.  Neat huh?

(Vaughan is raising money for a good cause TASC The Agency for Spinal Concerns, check his blog out for more details).

A brand experience is magnitudes times more valuable than observing a brand.

You experience the Apple lifestyle, you experience the Gary Vaynerchuk brand through his video blog, you experience my brand through this very blog.

Seeing an advertisement at a bus stop just doesn’t compare – however pairing that up with an experience completely changes the game.  A great example is a free ringtone which you can grab via bluetooth from the advertisement which then gives you something to walk away with and experience.

Living a brand is so much more fun, engaging and most of all attractive to others as they want to be a part of it.

Sure it’s not for everyone but those that can master it will reap the outrageous rewards….

Viral activities are a dime a dozen.  Everyone giving it a go.  And that is great because they longer they keep at it the better they will get.

Often you will see a somewhat lame initiative go viral, or at least succeed in your perspective, you think hey i had a better idea.

But guess what?

They have much more momentum.  When Nike or Skittles does something cool, it is more likely to spread due to their momentum.

If I announce a project it has a higher chance of spreading than a blogger just starting out even if it is the same initiative.

Viral success = Momentum + Remarkability

If you don’t have momentum you need to really push the remarkability side.  You need to be doubly, triply, quadruply remarkable.

So don’t be disheartened if you haven’t had success the first time, keep giving it a go and remember the formula.

Twitter is a great platform for conversation. 

However how could you run a marketing campaign on it?

Criteria would be:

• Remarkable content
• Idea worth spreading
• Of actual benefit to those who consume it

If you were to fulfill these, how could you spread the word?

Same as any strategy, plan, line up your chess pieces and execute.

My strategy would be around:

• Have a series of tweets, to provide background information or arouse curiousity
• A follow up tweet with the actual subject
• Stimulate discussion tweets.

Then target 5 users in your niche to engage in it, with slightly different variations of the tweets.

An example would be:

1. bwagy: checking out this cool video @bwagy sent me
2. bwagy: hilarious, check out this video from @bwagy http://blog.bwagy.com
3. bwagy: what did you think? watch it here http://blog.bwagy.com retweets appreciated

Of course this only works for the criteria above and with people you have solid relationships with.

It’s more of an initiative to maximise coverage of your first and second tier networks of your offering.

The next step would be to do multiple timezones within a 24 hour period to ensure global coverage.

You can then directly measure through tracking webpage visits and tweets (using search.twitter.com).

That’s what I would do if I was to try and get a message out over twitter.

This information is worth thousands to the right person so help spread it for me as its free :)

Update: Tweet this to share:

Running a campaign on Twitter http://tr.im/2j8k by @bwagy [make sure to add your comments when you tweet]