Saturday, March 3, 2012

5 Things I've Learned From My First 100 Tweets

Sending out this blog post will mark my 100th tweet and so I thought I would take a moment to share 5 things I have learned from my twitter experience so far...

1) Follow Quality over Quantity
  • Maybe I am not using the "Lists" well enough but there is a massive amount of content shared via twitter and finding a way to navigate through the noise is difficult.  The more people you follow the more difficult it is to keep tabs on things you really care about so choose who you follow wisely!
2) Every tweet should end with #IN and/or #FB
  • All I ever hear about is "integrated marketing" and I have seen very few true cases on integrated marketing be successful because the reality is that the audiences between Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Email and Social Media don't have enough overlap.  Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have tremendous overlap and its an easy way to share great content.
3) You can Tweet too Much
  • What is too much?  I have no idea, and it may depend on the day and my mood but you can tweet too much. My first 100 tweets can in just over 100 days...I have not tweeted once a day but more in spurts when I was really motivated to contribute.  I think the key here is relevance...if you have something good to say I will probably keep following you but know it is hard to have something good to say that often.
4) Don't Be Afraid to "RT"
  • I struggled with this concept at the outset but I may be more of a "re-tweeter" than I am a "tweeter"...sharing something GREAT that someone else wrote is of high value to me when others do it.  It expands the people I follow and great ideas expand my mind and it's a nice way to acknowledge someone who said something great in hopes they will keep it up knowing someone is listening.
5) Automated Messages Still Suck
  • Acknowledgement mailings, emails, etc in fundraising all suck...we always ask for money...again (because it works) but it just never feels sincere.  If I follow you and I get your automated "thanks for following me" that is strike 1!  The better etiquette I have learned is tweeting a thank you to new followers...it gets their names out to your followers and its a nice way to show everyone there is someone real at the keyboard.
I may be a late adapter (a trend in many cases with me) but I see high value in Twitter and am always looking for ways to make it better.

I am hopeful this post will generate some response because I know I still have a long way to go!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Order A Whopper And Create Your Next Breakout Strategy

Over the last few months I have spent the majority of my time focused on developing 2012 strategic plans for our nonprofit clients and my new favorite theme has become "What's our breakout strategy"?

I have dedicated several posts on this blog talking about ways to think using the 80/20 rule.  And, for me, thinking in terms of "breakout strategies" has helped me separate the true opportunities from the tactics. I believe it is very possible that 80% of your growth in 2012 can come from 20% of our ideas...putting more attention and focus on ONLY the 20% may actually improve your success rate.

Maybe I am suffering from the Tetris Effect but now I am looking for breakout strategy motivation and found one among the fast food giants to share to get you motivated...Burger King's push into delivery service.

To be truthful, I have not studied the timeline of innovation among the top fast food giants but would summarize past efforts as follows:
  1. Cheaper prices
  2. New french fries
  3. Super Size
  4. The McRib (a category unto itself)
  5. New french fries (again)
  6. Healthy alternatives
None of the above qualify as breakout strategies but instead tactical changes to gain incremental revenue, market share, etc. like testing a new OE teaser on an envelope.

To be clear, nothing is wrong with incremental as long as you spend less time here and more time on areas where you can truly breakout. 

So for your next brainstorm meeting, order some BK for delivery and take the extra time answer this question "What can we be doing differently to TRULY create separation from our competitors?"

Saturday, January 14, 2012

More About the 80/20 Rule for Creative...

I am starting to sense an emerging obsession with identifying ways in which the 80/20 rule can be applied in marketing considering I have covered this topic in an earlier post.

With that disclaimer aside, I came across a great blog post by Michel Fortin on
Copywriting the 80/20 Way and this part really resonated with me:

Less Effort, Better Results

Writing copy the 80/20 way is about getting maximum results with minimum effort. It’s about doing more with less.

Don’t waste hours trying to create the “perfect” sales letter. Rather, write a letter that’s good enough. Then split-test it to success. Let the software do all the heavy lifting for you.

How do you see the 80/20 rule applying in your marketing approach to your creative planning, analytics, etc?