Marketing Blog: FootPrints

by Ken Gaebler, on January 27, 2012, filed under: Marketing, Trends, Walker Sands

We all know that being a commodity is the kiss of death in business.

The second you start to sense that sales prospects are viewing you as a commodity, you’re on the cusp of business failure, unless you immediately embark on the proactive actions that I’m going to prescribe to you below.

The Problem

Before we get to the cure, let’s understand the malady a little better. Commodities are purchased on price and price alone. In commodity markets, much to the dismay of sellers, lowest price always wins. Profit margins erode quickly as competitors race to the bottom.

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by Mike Santoro, on January 25, 2012, filed under: News, Public Relations, Walker Sands

In the last two years Walker Sands has more than doubled, causing us to completely rethink employee professional development.

Account Executive Julie Walsh launched the program in October with a personality assessment. Since then the company has met every month to tackle a new challenge. So far our sessions have covered: (more…)

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by Allison Lautz, on January 17, 2012, filed under: Public Relations

Tomorrow several websites including Reddit, Wikipedia, WordPress and TwitPic will participate in a 24-hour blackout to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act. A small community of around 30 websites will temporarily shut down to demonstrate how radically different the Internet could look without their presence. Though rumors circulated that Twitter would also participate in the protest, earlier this week officials stated that the site will remain up and running.

For those who may be unfamiliar the story behind tomorrow’s blackout, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is a proposed bill that would drastically change the way people use the Internet. In a nutshell, SOPA seeks to remove copyright-infringing material from the Internet; this could include restricting links to offending sites in search engines, and the removal of certain sites altogether. Its main objective is to protect intellectual property, but many fear that SOPA is blurring the line between upholding copyrights and censoring free speech.

Yesterday Twitter chief executive Dick Costolo reported that Twitter, an outspoken opponent of SOPA, will not be joining the online blackout along with the aforementioned sites. He tweeted: “Not shutting down a service doesn’t equal not taking the proper stance on an issue. We’ve been very clear about our stance.”

Be that as it may, Twitter’s participation in the blackout would certainly carry much more weight than several of the contributing smaller sites. In recent history, Twitter has played an integral role in freedom of speech and enacting or disabling policies worldwide; events ranging from the retraction of Bank of America’s $5 user fee to the Arab Spring have been attributed, at least in part, to protests over Twitter.

The social media giant’s participation in the anti-SOPA blackout is almost necessary to the cause of the protest. More than any other participating site, Twitter has the potential to set off a chain of events that could stop SOPA from being enacted, chiefly because Twitter has proven its ability to wield influence among its millions of users worldwide. Disabling the site for 24 hours would educate people trying to access it about their cause. It might be inconvenient for a day, but in the long run it would mean spreading knowledge of a potentially damaging piece of legislation to hundreds of millions of Twitter users. And as they say, knowledge is power.

With a bill such as SOPA threatening to change the way we use the Internet so significantly, we need the social media giant to flex its muscles, show its strength, and oust the threat of SOPA for good. What do you think? Be sure to leave your opinion in the comments below.

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by Andrew Cross, on January 13, 2012, filed under: Public Relations

Social media use among Fortune 500 companies has plateaued, according to recent data. This hardly means these organizations have adopted social media en masse (62 percent have an active corporate Twitter account, while only 58 percent maintain a Facebook page), and it presents an opportunity for those without a social presence or those who remain inactive in those channels.

This prompts an important question for the laggards: Who should be in charge of running these things, anyway?

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by DanielLaloggia, on , filed under: Public Relations

Welcome back to part 2 of our look at how we report for our SEO Clients. In this part we take a look at the current report and why we do things differently now. Thanks for sticking with us.

2011 was the year of standardization. The first thing we did  was make all of our spreadsheets and report documents follow the same narrative. Instead of each report being a little different, each excel document having things in a different order. This way, each new piece of data builds on the last one, creating a story that makes sense and explains where things stand. This is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of reporting.

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by DanielLaloggia, on January 6, 2012, filed under: B2B SEO, Search Engine Marketing, SEO, Trends, Walker Sands

In our last move, we uncovered years old reports (archeologist style) from filing cabinets, desk tops, and flash drives. Strata of old paper reports came crashing down as we moved some people’s (John’s) desk. I decided to take a look at these reports and see how the SEO world has changed in the past few years, how we’ve changed our approach, and what exactly people did around here before I started.

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by Kim Lucio, on January 5, 2012, filed under: Social Media, Technology, Trends, Web Development

With the tablet craze at an all time high, I recently bought an iPad 2.While I am still exploring my favorite apps on there, Flipboard grabbed my attention pretty quickly. A social magazine application, it allows you to integrate all of your favorite websites, blogs, and social media outlets into one place and read them in a more visually appealing way.

Why it Works

Since starting to use the application, I’ve found that I read more than before. Being more of a visual person, the layout and big imagery on pieces of content keeps my attention longer. After checking out their site, it seems like I am one of many who feel this way. As they state, “We believe this more beautiful, more readable layout will increase your viewership and cause more people to retweet, share and like your content.” The application currently has over 4.5 million downloads.

Ease of Use

Another one of the reasons I love this application so much is the ease of use on it. Andrew Cross, a Media Relations Specialist here at Walker Sands, agrees. “I’m a big Flipboard fan, mostly because it displays the information in a way that’s easy to digest. Twitter can be a great source for news, but I like Flipboard’s Twitter stream because I don’t have to click a bunch of links and open new windows just to see if something is worth reading,” stated Andrew. The idea of making it easier to sift through the hundreds of thousands of articles that are shared on the web daily adds to the appeal of the visual application.

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by Allison Lautz, on January 3, 2012, filed under: Technology, Trends, Walker Sands

It’s a new year, meaning it’s time to get crackin’ on those resolutions that seemed like such a good idea last week.  Like millions of others, I made a list of resolutions that I hope to accomplish in 2012, and also like millions of others, I’m beginning to feel like that list is a little daunting – and it’s only day 3.

Enter the iTunes App Store. Knowing that average folks like you and me have trouble keeping up with our New Year’s resolutions, the geniuses at Apple crafted a new addition to the App Store last year: a section entitled New Year, New You. Now it should be easier to make – and stick to – those New Year’s goals.

Over the next few weeks, I will be testing out two apps from each category of the New Year, New You section of the iTunes Store to discover which work best for keeping New Year’s promises, be it in terms of health, lifestyle, finances, or time management.* I will then review each app because, let’s face it, by that time we’ll probably all need a reason to recommit to our resolutions.

The apps I will be reviewing include:

Health -

Nike Training Health Club: According to the App Store it “Gives you your own personal trainer anytime, anywhere.” (Yikes!) It includes 130+ drills and allows users to listen to music and track progress, among other features.
vs.
DailyBurn – Personalized Fitness Evolved: DailyBurn is a little different in that its users track both fitness and nutrition (Bye bye, delicious chocolates sitting on the countertop in the Walker Sands kitchen). Like Nike Training Health Club, DailyBurn provides users with advice and videos from personal trainers to get fit.

Lifestyle -

Bloom: My friends at Apple tell me that Bloom “inspires you to live every day to the fullest: Reminders to make healthy choices, stay connected with others, manage stress, strengthen your spirit, save money, advance your career, and enhance your creativity.” That sure sounds better than an anytime/anywhere personal trainer…
vs.
TED: TED is an acronym standing for Technology Entertainment and Design. Its app provides users with access to educational conference videos. Though this app is much different than Bloom, it will be interesting to see if one sticks out over the other as far as enhancing lifestyle goes.

Finances -

Mint.com: Mint helps you manage your money by securely accessing your banking information. It sends out email updates that summarize where you’re spending the most money.
vs.
Pageonce: Pageonce promises “financial peace of mind” by allowing users to pay all bills at once.

Time Management -

Wunderlist: Wunderlist lets people share and sync to-do lists on its cloud-based platform. My first to do: emotionally prepare myself for seeing my Mint spending summary.
vs.
Orchestra To-do: Orches tra has been named the “Productivity App of 2011.” It helps users remember tasks to accomplish and assign tasks to others, regardless of whether or not they own the app.

Have you tried out any apps that help you stick to your New Year’s resolutions? I invite you to try this experiment along with me. You can visit the iTunes App Store for more information about compatible devices, or, feel free to try out apps on other mobile platforms and suggest them to other readers in the comments below.

*Note: because one of my resolutions is to watch my spending, I will only be downloading the free apps.

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by Julie Walsh, on December 22, 2011, filed under: Public Relations, Social Media, Trends, Walker Sands

The days left in 2011 are fleeting, which leaves many thinking about auld lang syne and the year ahead. This is a particularly special time for the world of public relations, as it is no secret that we love trends and prediction stories. So, what’s next for the world of PR? Here is what some of the Walker Sands PR professionals think will be big in 2012:

“Journalists will increasingly turn to social media, particularly Twitter, to research stories and even look for sources. The result is that company representatives and spokespeople need to be accessible through these channels, or at least provide alternate contact info on Twitter bios, LinkedIn profiles, etc. “-Andrew Cross, Media Relations Specialist

“More publications will shift further to the Forbes ‘contributor’ model. I’m thinking Fast Company will highlight their expert section more and Inc. and Entrepreneur will shift further. We might see more reader contributions on WSJ.com and NYTimes.com as well.”-Will Kruisbrink, Account Executive

“The death of traditional press releases. I’m hoping we no longer see ‘a leading provider of ___ solutions’ followed by jargon that means nothing, and more straightforward, conversational content that actually gets the point across. Also, I think services like HARO are going to become more utilized by reporters. I’ve heard of reporters starting their own version of HARO and I wouldn’t be surprised if that continues. Since there are so many less reporters trying to cover the same amount of stuff, they have to turn to tools like that for sources.”- Jackie Lampugnano, Senior Account Executive

“The PR industry will experience a paradigm shift with C-Suite executives in 2012. With business schools like Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business and others incorporating public relations classes into their MBA core curriculum and PRSA’s series of webinars on the Barcelona Principles of measurement, the PR industry will make major strides in demonstrating its value in 2012.”- Julie Walsh, Account Executive

“Death of the Infographic: Rise of Infographic 2.0 – Infographics have saturated electronic media and a backlash against their use is forming. If it hasn’t happened already the use of infographics as we think of them now will jump the shark and you’ll begin seeing resistance to publishers wanting them. Yet, the core concept is solid and simplifying complex information isn’t going away anytime soon. You’re already seeing the seeds of more interactive infographics that move and twist based on what you do with them. These will only become more popular as infographic fatigue sets in and technology allows the proliferation of these more advanced data presentations.”- Mike Santoro, President

I wish you all a happy holiday and many successes in 2012.

*Note: A visual representation of 2012 was not included in this post because they were all “doomsday scenarios.” I think we can be more uplifting than that.

Cheers!

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by Jackie Lampugnano, on December 20, 2011, filed under: Marketing, Public Relations

After reading a GigaOm article this morning with great advice from The Lean Startup’s Eric Ries, I realized the question “When is the right time to launch your startup?” can actually mean two different things.

As a PR professional, when I hear launch I think media blitz. How are we going to make sure every news outlet, blogger and influencer in your space is raving about this thing?

But in reality, that launch is not your launch to the public. That’s your “marketing launch,” and it should come after you’ve already given consumers a chance to try out your product/service.

Ries said: “Do the big publicity push after you’ve already figured out how to build a sustainable business.”

That makes a lot of sense. I’ve worked with quite a few tech startups, and I’ve seen some of them come in to us for PR well before they were ready. What ends up happening when they decide to do PR prematurely is (usually) one of two things: They get tons of coverage but no traction for their product, so eventually the startup fails. Or, we can’t really build buzz for them because they “pivot” (to use a concept from The Lean Startup) a few times over before figuring out what makes the most sense for their company. By that time, the whole focus has shifted and they need to regroup before tackling PR.

That being said, when you’re ready for your marketing launch you want to make sure it’s done tactically.

For instance:

• Are you going to do a “soft launch” or beta test first?
• Who are the early adopters of a product/service like yours? How are you going to reach them?
• Have you been collecting email addresses along the way? (services like LaunchRock and Kickoff Labs are great for this) What are you going to do with them now?
• What are the different messages for each audience you cater to? Who will actually care about this the most?
• Strategize on the timeline for announcing your launch – are you going to slowly leak out information? Go big or go home? Speak to businesses first, then consumers? Celebrate your launch city-by-city?
• Consider what is truly unique, or “revolutionary” about your product/service: What are you changing or disrupting? (if you list a bunch of features without sharing the bottom line benefit, people won’t connect the dots on their own)
• Ask yourself, what do you want to happen next after the initial launch?

Another important aspect of the marketing launch is what I like to call the “snowball effect of PR.” PR done right should build up over time. Every piece of news/blogger coverage a startup receives is extremely important to them (more so than a huge Fortune 500 that’s well-known on its own), but at the end of the day it’s the traction that matters. The snowball effect of PR should align with the growth of the startup. Let both of them build up naturally over time.

Why do I say this? I think this point made in the article explains it best: “There have been any number of interesting products and services that launched with little fanfare but slowly found their groove as time went on…Don’t launch before you’re ready. And don’t expect a lot of press to make up for a half-baked product. You only get one chance to make a first impression, after all.”

One more thing I have to mention (although it pains me a little bit) is that it’s called the marketing launch for a reason. PR cannot stand alone. If you’re doing zero marketing – grassroots with brand ambassadors, email marketing, sponsorships, social media marketing, contests/giveaways, PPC, SEO, etc. – and/or zero advertising (online or traditional)…then PR isn’t going to get you as far. It’s the proper marketing mix that you need.

Think about what makes the most sense for your startup and your budget, of course, but PR on its own won’t always be enough to drive sales, downloads, or repeat usage of your product/service.

Above all, be honest about where your company is at. Of course you think it’s the coolest thing in the world (you better!), but that doesn’t mean it’s ready for a marketing launch yet. The good news is that eventually it will be.

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