Do You "Really, Really Care?"

Some thoughts on Web writing.

1. Website writing is now an art and science.  It is a science, because the site needs to be written with optimization in mind.  It is an art because it still needs to be written in a crisp and engaging manner.  Remember...the "science" gets people to your site; the "art" inspires them to interact.
2. The way it should work is the SEOer (I may have just made up a word) should provide the writer with relevant keywords.  The writer should review the content with the SEOer before the client sees it, to make sure the content is rich in keywords and will enhance SEO efforts.
3. Of course, the SEOer could go overboard.  So if you are doing a Website for a bowling alley, for example, the SEOer might tell you to make sure the phrase bowling alley shows up, like, a million times.  The writer as artist needs to determine how much is too much.
4. On the other hand, the content should be keyword rich.  That is good, because the more keywords you have, the less room you will have for those self-serving adjectives and adverbs (best, fastest, prettiest, newest, experienced, etc.) that nobody but you cares about.
5. Which leads to the next point.  The purpose of your Website isn't to gratify your ego by going on and on by how great you are.  People go to your Website to learn how you can help them, and why they should choose you instead of your competitors.  This is best done concisely and objectively, without superfluous hype.  You don't have to say you are great.
6. On the other hand, third party endorsements are wonderful.  For example, for a hospital to say it is great is not appropriate.  But for a hospital to say it is on the U.S. News and World Report Top 100 Hospital list is significant.
7. The most important page, of course, is the home page.  Keep the copy short.  Detailed descriptions of your services...employee profiles...your approach...these are all appropriate for subpages.  But keep the home page simply to what you do.  And try to keep the copy "above the fold."
8. And I would be remiss if I did not mention two of the most overused phrases on the Web.

• "We care."  That, folks, is assumed.  The fact that you care (even that you "really, really care") does not differentiate you.  If that phrase sounds gratuitous, that's because it is.
• "We customize solutions."  No you don't.  You sell products and services that help your customers meet a need.  You may even package some of those products and services together in a way that will best meet those needs.  But you sell stuff.  Don't insult your prospects' intelligence by saying otherwise.

I hope you found this of value.  Because I really, really care about you.

Seriously, I welcome and comments or thoughts.

Unlock Your Social Media Piano

With thanks to Judith Singer, system director of online marketing and media production for Presence Health for inspiring the title, and to Dr. Farris Timimi, medical director at the Mayo Clinic Center for Social Media, for the story that demonstrates the power of social media. 

Perhaps you can use this story to convince your organization to unlock its social media piano.  In other words, you have the instruments…play them!

Major league baseball player Jayson Werth was hit in the wrist during spring training in 2005.  More than a year later, still experiencing discomfort, Jayson visited The Mayo Clinic and was diagnosed with a “split tear” of the ulnotriquetal (UT) ligament.  Dr. Richard Berger, a leader in this field, performed successful surgery.

Since then, Jayson has won a World Series, and has become one of the best and highest paid players in baseball.

That is Jayson’s success story, but here is how Mayo Clinic made this a social media success story.


1. Jayson agreed to film three videos for Mayo Clinic.  All were posted on YouTube.  Here is the link to Part 1.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7DVzKk7RAI
2.      The Mayo Clinic posted the story on its “Sharing Mayo Clinic” blog and issued a press release based upon the YouTube videos.
3.      Dr, Berger hosted a Twitter chat.
4.      The Mayo Clinic provided a list of physicians from around the country who trained under Dr. Berger, and are qualified to perform the surgery.
5.      The Mayo Clinic posted other videos describing the pioneering treatment of the condition.

Some results.


1.      The Jayson Werth YouTube videos received more than 24,000 views.
2.      A local news station aired one of the videos.
3.      USA Today picked up the press release and wrote a substantial article on how The Mayo Clinic helped Jayson.
4.      The Mayo Clinic, as a result of the publicity, has treated numerous other people –people who may have never known about the treatment other than through social media.

The bottom line here is not only did social media help the Mayo Clinic generate awareness and increase business, but it helped educate the public on a matter of health and thus improve the health of the community. 

In fact, Dr. Timimi believes (as do I) that if your business can play a role to make people’s lives better in any way, it is almost a moral imperative that you use social media to engage them to do so.

Is your social media piano locked?  How do you plan on unlocking it?

The Game of the Name

This past week both Abbott and Kraft announced new names for the companies they are spinning off: Mondelez for the Kraft spinoff and AbbVie for the Abbott spinoff. Some thoughts:

1. First I understand that naming is not easy. In addition to getting customer feedback, the names have to work globally from a language perspective, and have to pass legal hurdles.
2. Both announcements apparently came with instructions on how to pronounce the name. That is not good right off the bat.
3. Apparently, both companies also saw the need to explain the names. That isn’t good either. If the reason for the name is not self-evident, maybe the name choice is not that good.
4. I am going to give both organizations the benefit of the doubt and assume they did research as part of this. This is not a given. I personally was involved with one U.S. brand with a lot of brand equity here that was acquired by a global brand. The global brand said it would not research the appropriate name in the U.S. The global company name was the brand everywhere else; it would be the brand here.
5. So even if the brands did research, the question is how aided the research was.

a) If people were just asked what they thought of the name on an open-ended basis, that is OK.

b) If people had to have the name explained to them before rendering an opinion, not so good. After all, these brands are not going to spend a lot of effort explaining the name in their marketing efforts.

6. For AbbVie specifically, it appears the company is really trying to leverage the Abbott connection with both the Abb, and the Vie. The Vie is based on the Latin for life, and ties into the existing great Abbott tagline of “A Promise for Life.” This may not be a bad strategy in the near term, as the Abbott brand is strong. But long-term it may hinder the organization’s name to establish its own identity.
7. Mondelez supposedly is meant to convey “delicious world,” using a derivation of the Latin word for world and “delez”, which apparently has Romance language roots signifying delicious. I am a pretty smart guy (IMHO), but if I do not get it, I am not sure who else would. Combined words and made up words are tough. Earlier this week, my daughter taught me the word “bracktastrophe,” which is an upset in the NCAA basketball tournament. I got that. I don’t get Mondelez.
8. In the end, these companies will spend hundreds of millions if not billions marketing these names, and the name itself might not make that much of a difference.
9. But if you don’t have hundreds of millions to market your name, do your due diligence, and make sure your name resonates with the target market.

Time will tell. Let me know what you think.

When the Easy Answer is the Right Answer

Recently, I was part of a team developing brand architecture for a healthcare organization. The organization had one hospital, and was in the process of building another hospital. For the sake of argument, let’s call the original hospital Brothers of Sisters. And let’s say the new hospital is being built in Northbrook.

So we brainstormed and came up with a bunch of different names to test. Some were geography-based, some were mission-based, some were competency-based.

Next step was to test the names in research. Research was conducted, and here is the winning name: Sisters of Brothers – Northbrook.

I told this story to someone, and it was greeted with a rolling of the eyes, a smirk, and a caustic “and how much did they pay for that?”

Frankly, I don’t know how much they paid for that. But I will tell you this – it was worth the price, and it is a fraction of what they will spend to communicate and promote the brand.

Maybe it is the easy answer. Maybe it is the obvious answer. Maybe it is not an especially creative answer. But here’s the point: It is the right answer.

We know it is the right answer because data tell us it is the right answer. So when millions are spent communicating and promoting the brand, there is confidence that the right brand is being promoted.

Which would you rather have: an obvious answer that has been tested and you know is right? Or some novel name that has not been tested, and you haven’t a clue whether you are right?

So when you hear what appears to be the easy answer, don’t ask: “How much did they pay for that?” Ask “Did they test it?” Until then, hold the smirk.

QR Codes – A Technology in Search of an Application?

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my 23-year-old daughter and her friends if they had ever scanned a QR code? The answer was a unanimous no, with a few of them asking me what a QR code is.

If you don’t know, QR codes are those ever-ubiquitous little squares that are appearing on anything and everything. Scan it with your smartphone, and it will quickly (the Q after all does stand for quick; the R for response) take you to a Web page.

QR codes are appearing on print ads, business cards, billboards, trade show displays, etc. They also show up online, although why people would put a QR code online and make you scan it with a smartphone when they could just give you the link is lost on me.

Research would tell you:

14 million people in the U.S. have scanned a QR code (do you believe that? I don’t)

• 60.5% of the people who scan QR codes are men. Or, depending on the research, 68% are women There is agreement that people who scan QR codes are younger and more affluent, but that is not exactly an earthshaking revelation.

I get the sense that QR codes are yet another technology in search of an application. Yes, we do put QR codes on client materials. And I think they make sense if done right. So here are some thoughts.

1. The QR code should take you to a compelling page. For example:
1. A performing arts client of ours directs the QR code to a clip of them performing
2. A healthcare client directs the code to a worksheet where potential clients input some information, and then estimates how much they can reduce their costs
3. A White Paper that demonstrates credibility
4. An order form, so they can buy on the spot

2. Include a call to action with the QR code that clearly explains the benefit of scanning it. For example: “Scan the QR code to calculate how much money we can save you.”

3. Be creative with how you use QR codes. A recent NY Times article had these examples:

1. A fashion designer put QR codes on gowns being worn by models at a fashion show.
2. Tiffany put QR codes on a cookie

4. Remember, your “landing page” will be viewed on a mobile phone. So make sure the page is mobile compatible.

Have you used QR codes? What is your experience?

Enjoy Your Leftovers

Thanksgiving is over. Hopefully you enjoyed all the traditions. You had a great holiday feast. You watched your share of football. You survived Black Friday and maybe even Cyber Monday. And you maybe just finished eating all those leftovers.

Now it’s time for another holiday tradition involving leftovers – spending those “left over” marketing dollars before the end of the year. You know - those leftover dollars you’ll lose if you don't spend them by year-end. Here are some thoughts about consuming these "leftovers."

1. Don't do anything until you know you have authority to spend those dollars, even if you have budget. Organizational profitability requirements may prevent you from spending those dollars.

2. Don't spend just for the sake of spending. Figure out strategically how your money can be best spent. If you can't think of anything, don't spend the money.

3. Here are just a few things you can do:

a. Get all your online efforts for next year in line. Finalize your Website. Optimize it. Get your social media programs going. Get any videos done.

b. Instead of mailing your direct mail campaign just after Jan. 1, mail it just before Jan. 1 to expense the postage. But don't mail it too soon - you'll want it to hit after the first of the year.

c. Have any miscellaneous writing projects initiated in December.

d. Begin the process of initiating a market research project in December, and see how much of it you can pay for up front.

e. Prepay planned 2012 advertising expenditures. You might even be able to get a discount.

f. Talk to other providers about paying them in December with 2011 money, even if your schedule doesn't permit them to start working on a project until after the first of the year.

4. If you are a B2B company, try using this strategy with your clients. Have them commit to spend IT money, buy office supplies, whatever. It works.

What other ideas do you have? Leave them here.

“What Position’s Your Positioning In?”

That thought came to me the other day when I heard the old Kenny Rogers and the First Edition song “Just Dropped in (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).”

I’ve been helping a lot of clients with positioning lately, and was thinking about one of them when the song came on. So the transfer from condition to position was pretty fast and I thought: “hey, great title for a blog.”

I think the reason positioning is becoming so important is that organizations do not have a lot of money to spend, and they want to make sure the money they are spending is being spent correctly. That means understanding what positioning will resonate with their target markets.

Your position in the marketplace is how you want your target audiences to perceive you (as opposed to your brand, which is how they actually do perceive you; and if your positioning and brand are not in alignment, your organization is not in alignment).

So here is what you need to do to correctly establish your position:

1. Know why people want your category. What is the pain that drives them to buy the type of product or service you offer? Sometimes it is easy; “I want to reduce costs.” “I’m having a baby and I need an ob/gyn.” Sometimes it is not. For example, why do people want that room addition?
2. Know the purchase decision drivers. What motivates them to buy from one source vs. the other? There are many possible attributes, ranging from quality to convenience to price to expertise, etc.
3. Know why they do or do not buy from you. This gets right at their perception of you and the competition, and is essential in competitive positioning. It also is essential in aligning your positioning with your brand.

The only way I know of to answer these questions is to go out and ask your customers, your referrers, and prospects. To assume you know the answer is an invitation to failure. But once you know the answers, you can do all sorts of great things:

1. Create your positioning statement. According to Reis and Trout, your positioning statement should build upon your present strengths, search for a niche, or reposition the competition.
2. Rebrand your organization. (We just did this for a client, and the cool thing was the name did not come from one of the names we tested, but from a comment made by one of the people we talked with)
3. Develop a new tagline and logo, even if you do not rename your organization.

So, what position’s your positioning in?

Garbage In, Garbage Out

The other day, an architect client posted on his various social media sites an article on how to talk to an architect. It drew this response from another architect: “I think it would be better if some of us learned how to talk to our clients.”

Good point. Clearly sellers of products and services…be they doctors, financial advisors, car salesmen, architects or marketers, have to know how to talk with clients. Theoretically, it should be more important that we know how to talk with them than for them to know how to talk to us.

But then I got to thinking about the old Garbage In, Garbage Out line. You get garbage as input, you produce garbage as output.

If you receive garbage as input, whose fault is that? Yours! If your client does not know how to provide the right input, it is up to you as a professional to get it.

There are a variety of ways to help your clients give you the input you need. For example, you can provide them with tools. When I first start working with clients, I send them a document called “Let’s Play 20 (Marketing Questions).” Here is a link to an article outlining these questions. http://www.lsternmktg.com/wp_images/articles/20_Marketing_questions.pdf

The document asks a whole series of marketing questions that hopefully entice people to think about what it is they want to accomplish from a marketing perspective.

For very specific marketing projects, I, along with many others, ask clients to fill out creative briefs. These briefs address topics such as;

• Target market
• Positioning
• Core benefits
• Offer
• Desired tone
• Budget

This is not much different than a doctor taking a medical history or a financial advisor asking questions to build a financial profile and financial plan.

We also get input just by talking with people and knowing how to ask the right questions. Just the other day, we had a call with a client for a logo project. We had already conducted research and helped us decide on the name, tagline and positioning statement. But we still spent an hour on the phone with the client asking a series of questions. At the end of the conversation, we were confident that we had the information we needed to create a compelling logo.

So don’t trash the idea of sending clients an article on how best to talk with you. The bottom line is: knowing how to talk to your clients includes helping them to talk to you to eliminate the garbage.

How do you educate your clients on how to talk to you?

Facebook Ads: Annoying or of Value?

I just logged onto my personal Facebook page. I saw the following ads.

• Netflix – makes sense because I list movies as an activity
• Website inviting me to connect with other people from my high school graduating class
• American English concert – understandable because I “like” the Beatles

I didn’t click on any of them, but I did not mind them either. I am frankly a little puzzled about some of the vitriolic comments about Facebook ads. Basically, advertisers can direct ads to people on Facebook based upon the content the users themselves post: profiles, wall posts, status updates, etc. The advertiser does not know the identities of specific individuals who are exposed to the ads. Yet one person described Facebook’s approach in the Chicago Tribune as “a stealth digital surveillance apparatus.” Really? Maybe the Defense Department, CIA or Jack Bauer’s CTU should talk with Facebook.

This person then is quoted as saying: “Facebook users should be cautious about whether the social network giant ultimately has their best interests at heart.”

Get real. In February, more than one-third of all online ads were placed on Facebook. There is a simple reason for that. Facebook has more than 600 million users. Advertisers go where the people are. Advertisers can also target Facebook messages based upon profiles, wall posts, status updates, etc. The key is: advertisers are leveraging information the people themselves are putting out there. There is no prying. There is no stealth.

There is another reason more brands are advertising on Facebook. It works. One of the great things about Facebook advertising, and most online advertising for that matter, is that you can track results. You can track clickthroughs, and often tie them back to actual purchases. We have done some Facebook advertising. Some of it has worked, some of it has not. But we know.

I actually do not mind getting ads on Facebook. Most of the ads I am served are relevant to my interests and activities. I will occasionally click on them, especially if it a deal to a restaurant or retail outlook I like. Those I am not interested in I ignore. But to those of you out there who are offended when you go onto your Facebook page and see advertising, I offer these alternatives.

1. Stop using Facebook. Sure, you will deprive yourself of the many benefits, but at least you won’t be exposed to those “annoying” ads. Of course, if you don’t like to see any ads online, stop going online altogether.
2. You could limit what you post on Facebook. But that probably will not substantially reduce the number of ads you see. It just means advertisers will have less information about you, and the ads you receive will be less relevant to you.
3. Best advice. If you don’t like the ads, ignore them. Maybe operate on the assumption that if everybody ignores the ads, brands will stop advertising. But don’t bet on it.

What are your thoughts? Do you find Facebook ads annoying? Do you respond to ads on Facebook? When and why?

Solve this problem, and you can solve the healthcare problem

Americans love apples. And fortunately, there are plenty of apples to go around. But what if there weren’t?

Let’s assume the average American eats an apple a day (it is actually nowhere near that, but let’s keep it simple). Then let’s say American apple growers produce exactly that amount. Supply equals demand, equilibrium pricing, everybody is happy.

Now let’s complicate things.

First, let’s assume as people get older, they need to eat more apples. So there is greater demand for apples. Unfortunately, apple growers cannot physically produce more apples than they do now. Anybody that has taken high school economics can tell you that if supply stays flat and demand increases, prices must go up.

While apple growers cannot increase the number of apples they produce, they can improve the quality of apples, which makes people healthier and enables them to live longer. That increases the demand even more, causing prices to go even higher.

So what do we do in this state of disequilibrium, now that the price of apples has risen so much that many people cannot afford it? Well, you could try to do a few things.

First, you could focus on demand and tell people they can’t have all the apples they want. But people think eating apples is a right, and you should not ration apples.

So, second, let’s focus on supply. You could try to increase supply by getting more people to grow apples. But people don’t want to become apple growers, because there are big barriers to entry like education and insurance. Then once you become an apple producer, the cost of the supplies needed to grow apples, the cost of paying people to work in orchards, and shipping costs keep going up. Plus, because they are afraid of getting sued, apple growers are doing things they really do not think they need to do to ensure the quality of apples, but do just to avoid lawsuits.

Third, you could raise prices, but subsidize the cost of apples for people. People would pay middlemen money so that they could get apples whenever they wanted. The amount of money people would pay would depend on how many apples they wanted, and what kind of apples. These middlemen would then pay the apple growers.

Unfortunately, the apple growers still have to pay for labor, supplies, insurance and shipping. Those prices keep going up, so they have to raise prices to the middlemen. The middlemen also have their own business to run and salaries (some say exorbitant) to pay. So the middlemen raise prices to consumers. Soon it would get to the point that people could not even afford to pay the middlemen, so they could not get apples.

At the same time, these middlemen now have huge buying power, so they can actually force the apple growers to provide the apples at sharply discounted prices. So the apple growers are faced with increasing costs, barriers to entry, and now reduced revenues. Clearly, no motivation for people to become apple growers, even though there is clearly a demand for more apples.

That is the core of this hypothetical apple problem (sorry about that). What is your solution? If you can figure this out, congratulations, because you have also solved the healthcare problem.