Joe's AdBlog: March 2008

Persuasive Writing Lesson / Writing Techniques for Marketing

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PERSUASIVE WRITING LESSON

This all leads us (READ Previous posts) to the step-by-step communication process used to either write or speak in a persuasive manner. Here it is:

1.) Persuasive Writing Tip: Get Attention

Attentionthe first thing you must do in persuasive communication is to gain the reader's or listener's attention. Give them a reason to continue to pay attention to you.

2.) Persuasive Writing Tip: Gain Interent

Interest-once you have their attention, you can't leave them there. Next you must build their interest. How does the product work? What does the product do? Which colors does the product come in? Can I see a photo of the product?

3.) Persuasive Writing Tip: Create Desire

Desire-now you have to make the “sale.” Give them some reasons they can't live without your product. It saves money. It saves time. It has beauty or status. We call these the "why buys."

4.) Persuasive Writing Tip: Get the customer/reader to take action

Action-get the customer to take action. Tell them how to order, how much it costs, the choices for payment, how long for delivery. Everything they need to know to take action.

This process is commonly called the AIDA form of persuasive communication (taking the first letter of each step).

WRITING & GRAMMER RULE ARTICLES
Comma, Semicolons, Colons
Quotation Marks
Abbreviations & Titles
Using "I" or "Me" and the Use of "Self" Pronouns
Double Adjectives
Transcribing Numbers
Separate and Joint Ownership
"Who" Versus "Whom"
How to use commas
Persuasive Writing

Persuasive Communication Strategy
Communicating Bad News
Communicating Bad News / TIps and Tricks
Communicating with People with Disabilities
Cross Cultural Communications
Types of Communication and Characteristics
Nonverbal Communications

Types of Appeals / Ethical / Emotional / Logical

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So how do you get it across to me that I need to buy your product or hire your service? You make an appeal. This is what most advertising and marketing is based upon. Below are the three types of appeals that are normally used.

THREE TYPES OF APPEALS

Ethical Appeal
-an appeal made to someone's or something's image. This is the type of appeal used frequently in political advertisements. For example, politicians have been known to criticize their opponents to attempt to elevate themselves. Also, ethical appeals are effective when a customer writes a company and says, "I've always thought of your firm as being professional and customer oriented, but…."

Emotional Appeal
-an appeal made to an emotion. This is used in many types of advertising and marketing. Companies try to make you fearful of not having insurance or make you want to look good driving that convertible.

Logical Appeal
-an appeal made to a person’s ability to reason. This is the most effective type of appeal—but the least used. Why? Because it requires significant time to develop and can't easily be put into a 30-second commercial. The process would be to give me logical steps, "If this is so, then you must conclude this, etc."

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs / Self-Actualization / Esteem / Social / Safety / Physiological

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MASLOW'S HIERARCHY

Self-Actualization
(highest level need—your need to be totally satisfied with your life, oftentimes associated with philanthropy)

Esteem
(your need to excel—not just be a member of a group, but to be the president. Higher education is oftentimes placed in this category)

Social
(your need to belong and affiliate with other people and groups)

Safety/Security
(your need to feel secure in your environment)

Physiological
(your need to eat, sleep, and breathe)

Maslow stated that in order to move up the hierarchical ladder, you have to basically meet the needs of the previous step. This has nothing to do with "growing up." You could be 65 years old and be fixated at the Safety/Security stage. So, we may buy insurance to satisfy a safety/security need, we may join a club to satisfy a social need, and we might go to college to satisfy an esteem need. One common theme holds—our needs are what motivate us to act (or not to act).

Persuasive Writing / Communication / Writing Rules and more

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PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION

It's safe to say that a good deal of the communication that occurs in the workplace can be put into two categories:

Persuasive (get people to buy your product, get people to use your service, get people to vote for you, get people to hire you)

Bad News (we're not extending you the job offer, we're not extending you the loan, we can't refund your money).

We will look at both in the following blog entries.

WHAT MAKES US TAKE ACTION?

Ever since we were young, we've spent a good deal of our time trying to persuade people. We cried when we were hungry to get someone to feed us, we tried to persuade our parents to let us stay out late, and we tried to persuade our teacher that we didn't deserve that "F"!

So what makes people take action? Needs. We have needs and, if you can appeal to a person’s needs, you can oftentimes get them to do what you want. In the business world, this means everything from demonstrating how slick your car is, to showing how much your toothpaste brightens teeth, to getting people to sign up for your low interest credit card.

The most influential needs research was done by Maslow. The following blog entry will talk about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

WRITING & GRAMMER RULE ARTICLES
Comma, Semicolons, Colons
Quotation Marks
Abbreviations & Titles
Using "I" or "Me" and the Use of "Self" Pronouns
Double Adjectives
Transcribing Numbers
Separate and Joint Ownership
"Who" Versus "Whom"
How to use commas

Does Adsense Work?

Does Google Adsense really work? That is a question that get asked often by those who are interested in it and by those who have started using it. For those of you who may not know what Google Adsense is: Adsense is an advertising service that Google provides to webmasters. It's a service that you earn money from, or at least you hope to. The way it works is that you place Adsense HTML code in your own website or blog code. This code will then be used to display ads that are related to your content. For example, if you blog is related to classic books, then the Adsense advertisements on your blog will be advertisements from companies that deal with classic books or maybe provide free classic books for users to read online.

Every time someone clicks on one of your advertisements, you recieve some revenue. How much you recieve per click is an amount that is determined by Google by a number of factors. Which include, the positioning of the ad and by how much people will be willing to pay for a keyword relating to your topic. The Adsense advertisements are created in Google's Adwords service. Advertisers target their advertisements to a series of keywords and phrases that they would like for their advertisements to show up for. For example, to advertise this website, I would bid on keywords like "advertising" and "marketing." How much I bid on the two keywords will depend on how much I'm willing to pay for the most targeted display, and how much others have bid for your keyword.

Whether or not adding these advertisements generate you income will depend on a variety of factors, all of which I won't discuss at this point(look for more future entries on the topic coming soon), but I will give a brief description of why or why not Adsense generates income.

The answer is yes, Adsense works for some people, but probably not most. By "Adsense working" I mean, generate substantial income for your efforts. It works for people who have ALOT of traffic and who haven't clicked on your own ads. NEVER click on your own ads. You can't trick google, they have a very good system that determines if people click on there own ads, and you will NOT get away with it. If they determine that you have clicked on your own ads multiple times, you will be banned from google.

Income from adsense is ALL about TRAFFIC. Traffic, traffic, traffic. I will be posting entries soon on how to generate traffic, both for your blog and for your website.

If used correctly Google Adsense can provide some decent income. Some people even make a living from this type of advertisements. This doesn't happen often, but it can be done. So to get started you should create an Adsense account and then learn how to use it. Read all you can. Read this blog and others, and then write good content. Read about making money online and about advertising your website/blog. Once you have learned all you can, start writing blog entries and update your website regularly. VERY often is the best. I will be adding more entries on this topic, so check back soon.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Business Email Writing

Tips on Business Email Writing and Emails in General

There are people who worry about the effect this will have on the workplace. Will people lose the art of conversation? Will it encourage an impersonal atmosphere? Regardless, e-mailing is here to stay.

Positive Characteristics of E-Mail

Messages are immediately available of screen and in print

Decisions can be made among several people without a meeting

Less Time is Needed

Less time is used to send identical messages to many people simultaneously, to send copies to others at the same time, or to forward information on to other interested parties at a later date

You can easily keep track of communication

E-mails typically tell receivers the date, time, and success of the transmission

Negative Characteristics of E-Mail

Immediate Email Transmission Can Be Bad

The immediate message of transmission often does not allow for adequate consideration of content, style, of tone—this can cause miscommunication and misunderstandings

Email doesn't take into account face to face feedback

Making decisions by e-mail can save meeting time. However, face-to-face interactive communication includes nonverbal behavior, immediate feedback, and the development of consensus. Such meetings can produce more effective and satisfactory decisions

Business Email can Create Ethical Issues

Making decisions or discussing confidential matters by e-mail can create ethical issues. If potentially damaging or unconfirmed grapevine material is sent, there is no guarantee as to how the receivers will use it. Also, e-mail can be misaddressed, resulting in problems and negative feedback

One interesting aspect of e-mail is that, although we all take writing courses in school, we typically have never been “formally” instructed in the appropriate way, time, and situation to send a message.

There seems to be a certain “anonymity” to sending an e-mail. Sometimes, people write aggressive, negative messages—writing things they would never say to someone. In a workplace setting, it is important that you refrain from this type of behavior.

If someone angers you, a good strategy is to wait a couple of hours—maybe even an entire day—before sending a message. Another technique is to draft an e-mail and send the message to a friend or trusted colleague and ask his/her opinion. One of the worst things that can happen to you in the workplace is to do something you will regret.

Below is the link for an excellent article on e-mail etiquette (“netiquette”).

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec99/pirillo1.htm

WRITING & GRAMMER RULE ARTICLES
Comma, Semicolons, Colons
Quotation Marks
Abbreviations & Titles
Using "I" or "Me" and the Use of "Self" Pronouns
Double Adjectives
Transcribing Numbers
Separate and Joint Ownership
"Who" Versus "Whom"
How to use commas
Persuasive Writing

Persuasive Communication Strategy
Communicating Bad News
Communicating Bad News / TIps and Tricks
Communicating with People with Disabilities
Cross Cultural Communications
Types of Communication and Characteristics
Nonverbal Communications

Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing / How to Write

Busines/Formal LETTER FORMAT & How to Write

Possibly one of the biggest “mistakes” made in workplace/marketplace communication concerns letter format (business letter format). If I asked each you to send me an example of a business letter (or formal letter) you’ve received, I’d bet that we would get many, many different versions/formats. It seems that professionals believe the format of a letter (business or formal) is left up to “artistic license.” In fact, there are essentially two accepted business letter (or formal letter) formats by the various organizations that oversee professional communication.

Business Letter Format: Full Block Style (Also Applys to Formal)

The first business letter format (or formal letter format) we’ll look at is the full block style letter format. This is the easiest style to produce (and the one we’ll use from this point on). This style is where everything is lined up with the left-hand margin of the business letter (or the formal letter). I’ll give you detailed instructions about how to use this format in the text below.

Business Letter Format: Modified Block Style

The second business letter format (or the formal letter format) is the modified block style letter format. The only difference between full format and modified block format is that some of the parts of the business letter (or formal letter) are centered—instead of lined up with the left-hand margin. The centered parts of the business letter (or formal letter) would be the date and the closing (Sincerely yours) and signature lines.

The following points are true of both the full and modified block styles of business letter format (or formal letter format). Hopefully, this list will assist you in producing professional looking and dismiss some of the myths of business letter (or formal letter) writing:

Business Letter Format: Rules (Apply to Formal Letters As Well

Never indent the first line of a paragraph of your business letter / formal letter (keep everything lined up with the left-hand margin)

Do not double space within paragraphs (single space within the paragraph and double space between paragraphs—because you don’t indent the first line—the “empty line” between the paragraphs indicates when one ends and the next begins).

Typically the only indenting you would do within the body of a business letter (or formal letter) is when you’re using a bulleted list, stressing special content within a business letter (or formal letter), etc.

You might ask—“Who cares what format I use when writing a business letter (or formal letter) —why can’t I make up my own style/format?” Well, a professional look is important for all written workplace / marketplace communication. Also, it’s been shown that consistency among written pieces of company communication (such as business letters (or formal letters) and memos) is important for several reasons. First, it demonstrates a uniformed image when all the letters sent from a particular company look the same. Secondly, when the company chooses and then explains its preferred business letter (or formal letter) format/style to its employees, it makes it easier for employees to know how to design their correspondence; and it takes away the temptation to create their own business letter (or formal letter) formats.

Business Letter Format: Easiest Format to Use

My suggestion is to always use the full block style for business letters / formal letters. This is the easiest letter format because all you need to do is line everything up with the left-hand margin—there’s no indenting needed.

Here is the suggested format to use when typing your business letters (or formal letters. It would probably be a good idea to print this out and save it for future reference (cover letters for resumes, etc.):

Date (Type the date like this: October 1, 2004. Don’t abbreviate the month or use 10/1/04. Then hit “ENTER” 4 times)

Name of Person You’re Writing the Letter To

Address of Person You’re Writing The Letter To (If appropriate, you can include the person’s title and company name. Then hit “ENTER” 2 times)

Dear (Fill-in Name): (Notice that the punctuation used here is a colon not a comma. Then hit “ENTER” 2 times)

(FOR THE BODY OF THE BUSINESS LETTER (OR FORMAL LETTER): DO NOT INDENT THE FIRST LINE OF THE PARAGRAPH—SINGLE SPACE WITHIN PARAGRAPHS AND DOUBLE SPACE BETWEEN. BELOW IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE BODY OF A BUSINESS LETTER (OR FORMAL LETTER).)

Here is an example of what the body of the business letter (or formal letter) should look like. How we indicate that we’re going to a new paragraph is to double space to get a “blank” line.

Do not indent the first line of your letter. Although we often see people indent the first line, there is no business letter (or formal letter) format that uses that method. (At the end of the body, hit “ENTER” 2 times)

Sincerely yours, (Notice that you only capitalize the first letter of the first word of the closing line—then use a comma. Then hit “ENTER” 4 times)

Type Your Name (If appropriate, you can include your title below your name. The three “blank” lines you’ve created by hitting “ENTER” 4 times are used for your signature.)

There are some additional pieces of information you may need to include under your typed name. One would be, if someone other than the person the business/formal letter is from typed the bsuiness/formal letter (for example, an administrative assistant typed the business/formal letter for a company executive) the lowercase initials of the typist are added. This might look like:

mh

You would hit “ENTER” 2 times before typing this—leaving one blank line between the previously typed line and the initials. The reason for doing this is it acts as a reference. The initials help to recognize who typed the letter and who could be approached for changes or copies.

Another thing that might be added would be the word “Enclosure” or “Enclosures,” if you have included some materials in addition to the letter. This might look like:

Enclosure

Or

Enclosures

If there is more than one enclosure, you can either indicate this by typing “Enclosures” or by putting a number after the word—“Enclosures (3).” This is done to alert the reader that they should find more than just a business/formal letter in the envelope. You would hit “ENTER” 2 times before typing this—leaving one blank line between the previously typed line and “Enclosure.”

One last addition to the end of the business/formal letter would be if copies of the letter were being sent to people other than the person to whom it is addressed. This would be done for informational reasons. In the “olden” days, the letters “CC:” were used—signifying that a “Carbon Copy” was being sent. But since carbon copies have been replaced by “Photocopies,” the letters “PC:” are currently used. This might look like:

PC: Bob Jones

Mary Smith

Todd Green

Notice that you list the names in a column form. You would hit “ENTER” 2 times before typing this—leaving one blank line between the previously typed line and “PC:”

This information should help you with your written correspondence for both personal and professional letters.

Here’s a brief full block style business letter (or formal letter) sample.

June 2, 2007

Mr. Charles Smith

1234 Oak Street

Toledo, Ohio 43333

Dear Mr. Smith:

Thank you for your recent inquiry about Peat Moss, Inc. We have been in business for 35 years and pride ourselves on our excellent customer service.

In the next few days, we will be sending you our newest catalog and a brochure entitled, Peat Moss, Inc.—Our First 35 years.

Please review the catalog and contact me with questions or if you would like additional information. I look forward to meeting you.

Sincerely yours,

Chris Coe

President

E-MAIL

That's the End of the Section of Business/Formal Letter Writing. Let me know if the information helped you

WRITING And GRAMMER RULE ARTICLES

Comma, Semicolons, Colons
Quotation Marks
Abbreviations & Titles
Using "I" or "Me" and the Use of "Self" Pronouns
Double Adjectives
Transcribing Numbers
Separate and Joint Ownership
"Who" Versus "Whom"
How to use commas
Persuasive Writing
Persuasive Communication Strategy
Communicating Bad News
Communicating Bad News / TIps and Tricks
Communicating with People with Disabilities
Cross Cultural Communications
Types of Communication and Characteristics
Nonverbal Communications

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Self-Generating Demand: How to Use Word of Mouth to Sell Your Product

Mckinsey & Co. developed a list of ideas that can launch effective word of mouth (WOM) influence.

Design the Product to be Unique or Visible
The only innovations that are worthy of buzz are those that have something unique about them and are visible. The new Ford pickup truck probably wont get much buzz attention, but something like the new Hummer concept probably will. The innovation also has to be highly visible or has to confer status. If a lot of opinion leaders are invited to a pre-showing of a movie, it would be an example of conferred status. It gives a sense of status to the individuals. If wow is a good word to describe your product then you have probably mastered this principle.

Select and Seed the Innovators
Innovators are the ones that try an innovation before anyone else in that area of interest. As a marketer for your product you should try to identify this group of people and then do as much as possible to encourage this group to adopt your innovation.

Ration Supply
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. People have a strong desire for things that they cannot own. Therefore marketers find the use of scarcity to be a very useful tool in generating demand. Think about the craze for the Sony PS3’s. People (including me) waited in line for days to make sure they got one as soon as they came out. It became an epidemic. All the available PS3’s were sold immediately on the release date.

Use Celebrity Icons
When celebrities use something it generates excitement about the product. Enough said.

Tap the Power of Lists
There are top lists for everything. Top restaurants, top colleges, top golfing locations, and your name it. If you can get your innovation or company on a top list it will help consumers cut through the advertising clutter and find you more easily. It is also a very useful tool for buzz creation. So find some list and get on it. Well not all lists, it might not be a good idea to get on the “Worst You Name It” of the year.

Nurture the Grass Roots
And no, I don’t mean the little plants in your lawn, I mean the process of getting the adopters to get other consumers to adopt too. Try and create incentives that will encourage the adopters to spread the word about your product. Maybe you could offer and discount if they get a new person to buy your product or use your service, but whatever the case, don’t rely on letting word of mouth spread on its own. Help it along.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Buzz Marketing: Law of the Few: Stickiness Factor: Power of Context

A perfect example of successful buzz creation is Myspace and FaceBook. It took only a couple years to reach many millions of users. The membership growth rates of these websites are astronomical. Think of buzz creation as creating an epidemic. When a virus spreads it starts with a very few people, those people interact with other people, and so on, until many thousands of people are infected. When talking about creating a marketplace epidemic, there are three theories that can be used to describe the flow of information about market innovations.

Law of the few
It doesn’t take very many people to create an epidemic. As stated in the previous blog entry it just takes a few influentials / opinion leaders that know a lot of people and that are convincing to create an epidemic. An example of this is when Burger King hired their present marketing team. One of the first things the marketing team did was create a website that had a game people could play. The game had a chicken that you could type commands to and the chicken would do what you would tell it to do. For example, if you told it to do a jumping jack, then that is what it would do (it’s probably still out there somewhere, try googling “burger king chicken” or something similar). When the marketing team was done with their creation, they sent an email that contained a link to the game, to about 20 people the team considered influential. These people forwarded the e-mail to their friends, and within 2 or 3 weeks over 20 million people had played the game (it’s been awhile since I’ve read the story, so my numbers might be slightly off, but I believe they are pretty close).

Stickiness Factor
Messages that are spread are messages that have high levels of stickiness. In other words, the message needs to capture attention and be something that is memorable. When Apple launched it’s need Air laptop, it was talked about a lot because Apple made the computer so thin. This was something very unique and memorable. People wanted to talk about it. Which leads to another point; if the message diffusion is to become an epidemic, people have to WANT to talk about it. They need to have something to get excited about. Therefore, when creating the marketing communications plan, it is critical to create a message that will make even ordinary information worth sharing and worth getting excited about.

Power of Context
For an epidemic to occur there has to be a right context for it. In other words there are certain circumstances under which word of mouth buzz is created. It is difficult to pinpoint any specific circumstances that will create an epidemic, but the truth is that they have to be just right. An example of how context affects a message would be an article in a newspaper about a drunk driver getting caught the night before. The message wouldn’t get spread very far if the driver was your next door neighbor, it would, however, be a huge epidemic if that driver was the presidents daughter (no implications here, lol).

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Word of Mouth: Viral Marketing : How to Get People Talking About Product

“Buzz” isn’t something that just effortlessly happens. It is something that needs the active participation, careful planning, and integration. It is essential for marketers to influence the type of buzz that occurs. You can’t just sit back and hope that positive word of mouth will happen by some random chance. The term marketers use for the process of generating positive word of mouth influence is appropriately called buzz creation. There are also other terms that are used to describe this process that may be more familiar to some people. These terms include: diffusion marketing, street marketing, guerrilla marketing, and viral marketing. This process is both planned and organized in such a way that will encourage positive information to be spread about a certain brand, product, service, and etc.

Some of the most successful products obtained there success through the effective use of buzz creation. Apple regularly influences word of mouth communication to help launch its products. As the video in the previous entry talks about, the CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, used buzz creation to turn the company around. He created something new and something that would be talked about – he created “cute” computers by using a unique design and color combinations (see video for more information). One of the most important aspects of creating buzz is creating something that is very innovative and very unique.

Imagine your target market network as being like the airline transportation network. The airlines have a few main airports into which most of the flights are routed through. These main airports are called hubs. For example, a hub would be considered the New York JFK International airport. If you wanted to take a flight from San Francisco to Niagra Falls NY, you would probably have to first land at the JFK airport and then take another flight to a smaller airport in Niagra Falls. The Niagra Falls airport would be considered a node airport. Similarly, with word of mouth influence there are those individuals who are highly connected are like the hub airports, they are responsible in some way for most of the traffic, or in this case, influence. The individuals with less influence are like the node airports, they have some traffic, but usually only if they have had some influence with the main hubs. The nodes in the buzz network are similar; they have some influence on buzz, but that influence is limited, and without the “hubs” can’t reach much of the target market. Therefore, it could go without saying that the key to creating a buzz epidemic is to get essential information to highly influential / connected individuals (commonly referred to as influentials.

In my next blog entry I will be discussing specific steps that can be undertaken to create an epidemic. So check back soon! Let me know what you think and if you have any questions.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Word of Mouth Marketing: Buzz Creation: How to Generate

Below is a good video on Word of mouth marketing. Andy Sernovitz talks about how to find a great word of mouth marketing topic. From his book: Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking. The video quality is rather poor and it ends a little early, but what it has is pretty good. Comment and let me know what you think.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Viral Marketing - Word of Mouth: How to Create Buzz

Stephanie Leffler and Ryan Blair discuss the growth of viral websites like Social Diva and Flavor Pill. Leffler and Blair discuss how these two companies have grown and used the web and viral marketing to gain popularity and an avid following.

Word of Mouth: Social Ties & Opinion Leaders: Market Maven Expertise

Obviously some people have a much larger network of relationships then do others. Tie strength is a measure of how strong of a connection an individual has with other members of their relationship network. Relationships with a closer connection, such as family relationships, are considered strong ties. If information is received from a relationship with a strong tie, that information has more influence on the individual’s choices. The flow of information that takes place between social ties drives the flow of information about new products and services. It is therefore essential to stimulate the word of mouth influence when introducing a new product or service.

Opinion leaders are people who are looked up to by others when it comes to there opinion on a certain topic or product. They are usually influential in their area of expertise, but usually not in other areas. Therefore the opinion leaders influence moves horizontally through a social class, not vertically (from one class to another). An example of an opinion leader in electronics would be a blogger who painstakingly examines and critic’s new electronic products when they reach the market. If the blogger has a favorable opinion of an innovation, the readers are likely to have a similar opinion of the innovation.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Diffusion Process: Steps For Increasing Product Sales

The process by which an innovation is adopted though out the marketplace is known as the diffusion process. In terms of marketing communications, diffusion is the progression through which a new product goes through as it is adopted a growing number of consumers. This diffusion process is affected by a number of different factors. In theory the process would eventually spread the adoption process through out a target market, but in the real world this doesn’t happen because of a variety of factors. These factors include, but are definitely not limited to unsuitable communication strategies and to competitions marketing efforts.

Consumers vary in the way they respond to and adopt new product innovations. Some individual want to get the newest products with the new features as soon as possible. These people are known as the innovators. Then there are the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, and the laggards. I wont go into to detail about what each of these are because it is kind of self explanatory.

To create an effective diffusion process it is usually necessary to accomplish the following objectives:

1. Generate rapid early adoption by the innovators and the early adopters.
2. Once the innovators and the early adopters have taken the bait,
focus of creating rapid acceleration to reach the early majority.
3. Reach the late adopters and the laggards to have maximum
penetration in the target market.
4. And lastly, try to sell as much as possible while the target market
still has interest in innovation.

Product Characteristics: Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, Observability

There are five product characteristics that influence how attitudes are created towards new products and services.

 Relative Advantages
 Compatibility
 Complexity
 Trialability
 Observability

Relative Advantage

This is the extent to which a given consumer sees a certain attribute of a new product or service to be better than the attributes of similar existing products or services. If a consumer sees the new product attribute as better than existing ones, it does not necessarily mean that that attribute is actually better. This means that this product characteristic is based on consumer perception.

There is a direct relationship between positive relative advantage and new product adoption rates. The more a consumer views a certain attribute as being better than those of existing product attributes, the more rapid the rate of adoption. A new product’s/service’s relative disadvantages (such as increased prices and the increased time it might take to learn how to operate the new product) will, of course, have an opposite effect on the adoption rate.

Compatibility

Compatibility is how the consumer perceives the new product or service into the person’s lifestyle choices. When the product or service closely matches the individual’s needs, wants, beliefs, values, and consumptions patterns, the innovation can be considered highly compatible with the consumer. For example even though a coke substitute might have an almost identical flavor to the real thing, consumer’s who are loyal to the Coke brand are unlikely to purchase the substitutes. This is because in the consumer’s mind the real Coke is the only Coke, and anything else is considered “junk” or worthless. In this case the coke substitute would be considered incompatible with the loyal Coke drinkers.

Complexity

The extent to which the consumer considers the innovation to be difficult utilize in known as the innovation’s complexity. If the innovation has a high level of complexity, it will have a lower level of adoption. If the innovation is perceived as being less complex than it’s existing counterparts, a marketer can sometimes use the advantage to gain a price premium on the new product or service.

Trialability

If the new product or service can be tried out for limited time period before an actual outlaying of money, the product adoption rates will rise substantially. Trialability reduces the consumer’s perceived risk of making a purchase of the product. By letting your customer try your product before the purchase, you are showing your customer that you are confident enough in your product to allow them to try it before they make a purchase. Of course, the trial offering has to be tailored to appropriately fit with your product offering. For example if you own a website that offers paid subscription based financial services, you might want to try to offer a free one month subscription.

Observability

The extent to which a potential consumer can observe the innovation and it’s positive effects is known as observability. The more the positive effects are sensed, the more observable the effects are to the consumer. For example, if you are running an online gaming website and you come out with a new edition of a game with that has 20 more guns than in the last edition, this addition would be considered an easily observable positive attribute; you can see them in the game when you are playing it. But if you made the little tree in the corner move a little, that would be considered a less observable positive attribute.

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Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Stages of Product Adoption: Coupon / Samples / Trade Shows & More

There are three key stages that an individual goes through before he/she adopts a new product or at least one that is new to the individual. The stages are as follows: awareness class, trier class, and repeater class.

Awareness class:

The first step in ensuring that product adoption occurs is to make individuals (or consumers) aware of the existence of the product. There are four main marcom activities that are commonly used to creating awareness.

• Coupons and samples
• Personal selling and trade shows
• Advertising
• Distribution

Coupons and samples are usually more effective for the introduction of less costly items, such as detergent. Personal selling and trade shows are most commonly used for business to business product adoption procedures. Advertising is usually an essential to facilitate the successful adoption of new products. Distribution is most closely associated with point of purchase displays and shelf placement.

Trier class:

After a potential customer has moved into the awareness class, the chances that the individual will eventually want to try the new product increase. There are generally three aspects that have an effect on whether consumers will transition to the trier class. They are as follows:

• Coupon offerings
• Effective distribution methods
• Introductory low price offerings

The effective use of these factors depends on the product offering and would have to be determined on a per case basis. Reading the section about product characteristics might give you a better idea about which of these would be most effective for your new product offering.

Repeater class

This class consists of five aspects:

• Personal selling
• Advertising

• Price
• Distribution
• Product satisfaction

An effect use of these elements will encourage repeat purchases. Consumers are more willing to purchase a service or product if they are satisfied with the new product offering and if distribution, personal selling, and advertising efforts are used on a continuous basis to remind of the offering. Price must be considered reasonable to the level of satisfaction that is given through the product or service.

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Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Custom Printed Engraved Promotional Pens Are Great Advertising Tools

Pens are a great way of promoting your business. Most people own a pen that has a company’s advertising message engraved on it. If people are offered a free pen, they usually don’t have any qualms about taking it, and usually they keep it until they lose it or until the ink runs out. People will use your custom printed pen multiple times and hopefully see your marketing message while they are using it.

Custom printed pens are a great, non-invasive way of reaching your target market. Instead of being just another advertisement amongst a multitude of other advertisements, the pen provides a service to your customer. It gives people a solution to an everyday need.

The LJ Market Research company did a study on how effective promotional products (other products too, not just pens) are in creating brand recall versus how effectiveness of print advertisements. There study concluded that 76% of respondents recalled the company’s name on a promotional product that they had received, while only 53.3 recalled the name of the company in an advertisement that they had seen in the last week. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that most advertisements that are received don’t even get noticed by a consumer in the first place.

There is a large number of company’s out there that print / engrave pens. Make sure when you are picking a company to print your pens that the pens they use are good quality ones. Don’t just settle for the cheapest ones. Cheap pens won’t work correctly and will give customers a bad image of your company. Depending on your company, it might be a good idea to go with more expensive pens. Expensive looking pens will get used more and will give your customers a good image of your company. You don’t want to look cheap. Below is a link to a company that has a good reputation in creating good products, but you may want to do your own research before settling with them.

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Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Weber's Law: Just Noticeable Difference: Differential Threshold

The differential threshold
The minimal difference that can be detected between two similar stimuli is called the differential threshold, or the just noticeable difference (the j.n.d.). A nineteenth-century German scientist named Ernst Weber discovered that the j.n.d. between two stimuli was not an absolute amount, but an amount relative to the intensity of the first stimulus. Weber’s law, as it has come to be known, states that the stronger the initial stimulus, the greater the additional intensity needed for the second stimulus to be perceived as different. For example, if the price of a half gallon container of premium squeezed orange juice is $5.50, most consumers will probably not notice an increase in 25 cents, and it may take an increase of 50 cents or more before a differencial in price would be noticed. However, a 50 cent increase in the price of gasoline would be noticed very quickly by consumers because it is a significant percentage of the initial cost of gasoline.

According to Weber’s law, an additional level of stimulus equivalent to the j.n.d. must be added for the majority of people to perceive a difference between the resulting stimulus and the initial stimulus. Read the articles listed below in the order that they appear for more information.

This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

Definition of Perception. Relevance to Marketers and Advertisers

Element of Perception: Sensation: Response to Stimuli

Absolute Threshold of Sensation: Adaption to Advertising: Getting Used To Something

Sensory Adaption: Changing Advertising Campaigns To Reduce

Weber's Law: Just Noticeable Difference: Differential Threshold

Need an online marketing service? Graphic or Website design? Shopping carts? Printing? Visit my website (www.josephkolb.info) or e-mail me (joe@josephkolb.info).

Sensory Adaption: Changing Advertising Campaigns To Reduce

Sensory Adaption
Sensory adaptation is a problem that concerns many advertisers, which is why they try to change their advertising campaigns regularly. They are concerned that consumers will get so used to their current print ads and TV commercials that they will no longer “see” them; that is, the ads will no longer provide sufficient sensory input to be noted.

In an effort to cut through the advertising clutter and ensure that consumers note their ads, some marketers try to increase sensory input. For example, Apple Computer once bought all the advertising space in an issue of Newsweek magazine to ensure that readers would note its ads. From time to time, various advertisers have taken all of the bus cards on certain bus routes to advertise their products, ensuring that wherever a rider sits, he or she will be exposed to that ad. Other advertisers try to attract attention by decreasing sensory input. For example, some print ads include a lot of empty space in order to accentuate the brand name or product illustration, and some TV ads use silence, the absence of audio sound, to generate attention.

Some marketers seek unusual or technological media in which to place their advertisements in an effort to gain attention. Examples of such media include disks placed in bathroom sinks that play commercials when activated by running water, ads embedded in the floors of supermarkets, and small monitors that display weather and news, as well as advertising, placed on elevators. Researchers have reported that the use of ambient scent in a retail environment enhances the shopping experience for many consumers and makes the time they spend examining merchandise, waiting in line, and waiting for help seem shorter than it actually is. Some marketers have invested in the development of specially engineered scents to enhance their products and entice consumers to buy. Marketers try to form stronger bonds with young, design-oriented consumers and brands, using the store image itself to give “dimension” to their brands, and present them as “cool.” For example, in one store selling sports footwear, the shoes are integrated into a huge sound system in the shape of a wall; in another store selling advertised high definition TVs, the screens show art inside the store. Read the articles in order below for complete information on this topic.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

Absolute Threshold of Sensation: Adaption to Advertising: Getting Used To Something

The absolute threshold
The lowest level at which an individual can experience a sensation is called the absolute threshold. The point at which a person can detect a difference between “something” and “nothing” is that person’s absolute threshold for that stimulus. To illustrate, the distance at which a driver can note a specific billboard on a highway is that individual’s absolute threshold. Two people riding together may first spot the billboard at different times; thus they appear to have different absolute thresholds. Under conditions of constant stimulation, such as driving through a “corridor” of billboards, the absolute threshold increases. In other words the senses tend to become increasingly dulled. After hours of driving through billboards, it is doubtful that any one billboard will make an impression. Hence, we often speak of “getting used to” a hot bath, a cold shower, or the bright sun. as our exposure to the stimulus increases, we notice it less. In the field of perception, the term adaptation refers specifically to “getting used to” certain sensations; that is, becoming accommodated to a certain level of stimulation. Read the article in the order below for more information on this topic.

This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

Element of Perception: Sensation: Response to Stimuli

Sensation
Sensation is the immediate and direct response of the sensory organs to stimuli. A stimulus is any unit of input to any of the senses. Examples of stimuli (i.e., sensory input) include products, packages, brand names, advertisements, and commercials. Sensory receptors are the human organs (the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and skin) that receive sensory inputs. Their sensory functions are to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. All of these functions are called into play, either singly or in combination, in the evaluation and use of most consumer products. Human sensitivity refers to the experience of sensation. Sensitivity to stimuli varies with the quality of an individual’s sensory receptors and the amount of the stimuli to which he or she is exposed. For example, a blind person may have a more highly developed sense of hearing that the average sighted person and may be able to hear sounds that the average person cannot.

Sensation itself depends on energy change within the environment where the perception occurs. A perfectly bland or unchanging environment, regardless of the strength of the sensory input, provides little or no sensation at all. Thus, a person who lives on a busy street in midtown Manhattan would probably receive little or no sensation from the inputs of such noisy stimuli as horn honking, tires screeching, and fire engines clanging, because such sounds are so commonplace in New York City. In situations in which there is a great deal of sensory input, the senses do not detect small changes or differences in put. Thus, one honking horn more of less would never be noticed on a street with heavy traffic.

As sensory input decreases, however, our ability to detect changes in input or intensity increases, to the point that we attain maximum sensitivity under conditions of minimal stimulation. This accounts for the statement, “It is so quiet I could hear a pin drop.” The ability of the human organism to accommodate itself to varying levels of sensitivity as external conditions vary not only provides more sensitivity when it is needed but also serves to protect us from damaging, disruptive, or irrelevant bombardment when the input level is high

One researcher pointed out the 83 percent of all communications today appeal to sight; also that smell, not sound, is the second most important sensory input. This study also reported that consumers preferred shoes and belts presented in a scented room rather then a non sented room, and were also willing to pay higher prices for these products. The importance of smell in communication was strongly supported by two Americans who developed a scientific explanation as to how people associate memories with smells and other studies demonstrating the impact of fragrance on product and store choices. Read the articles listed below for information on this topic.

This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

Definition of Perception. Relevance to Marketers and Advertisers

Perception is defined as the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli into a meaningful and coherent picture of the world. It can be described as “how we see the world around us.” Two individuals may be exposed to the same stimuli under the same apparent conditions, but how each person recognizes, selects, organizes, and interprets these stimuli is highly an individual process based on each person’s own needs, values, and expectations. The influence that each of these variables has on the perceptual process and its relevance to marketing will be explored later in this article. Read the articles listed below for the rest of the information.

Articles Related to Above Topic. Read in Order.

This is from the book "Consumer Behavior." It's by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk. If you want to really know in depth information about consumer behavior, get the book.

Below is a List of My Most Read Entries
Search Engine Optimization
Presentation Skills & Public Speaking Presentation Tips & Ideas
Sample Marketing Plan IMC Integrated Marketing Communications
72 Examples of Best Print Advertisements
Business Letter Format/ Formal Letter Writing

Emotional Appeals: Fear, Humor and Abrasive Advertising Appeals

Advertising Appeals
Factual appeals, or “reason why” appeals are good when you are trying to reach well educated consumers. Emotional appeals are usually more effective in convincing less educated consumers. There are different types of emotional appeals, of which the most popular include: fear, humor, and abrasive advertising appeals.

Fear is an appeal that is used fairly often by marketers. They can be a pretty effective means of persuading a consumer if the fears created aren’t to strong. Usually, mild fears work pretty well for the right products.

Humor is an emotional appeal that is used very often by marketers. About 24 percent of all TV in the U.S.A use this type of appeal. It is usually a pretty effective tool for the right products and services. What is I mean is don’t start using humor is funeral home ads or something. It usually works the best with those members of the audience who are younger, better educated, upscale, and professional.

Abrasive Advertising
Annoying and unpleasant advertisements can be very effective. Research shows that the abrasiveness of a commercial that uses this type of appeal will wear out over time and the brand name will remain in consumers’ memories. I’m not sure how ethical this type of appeal can be at times, but I guess it works in some product areas.

Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:

Use of Resonance in Advertising/Marketing Messages

Message Framing and Advertising/Marketing Message

One-sided VS Two-sided Messages

Comparitive Advertising In Marketing Messages

How Order Effects Marketing Messages

Use of Repitition In Marketing Messages

Emotional Appeals In Marketing Messages

Use of Repitition in Advertising / Marketing Message Structure (Brief look)

Repetition
This is one of the most important factors to consider. Repetition is beneficial to persuasion, ad recall, brand-name recall, and brand preferences because it allows for the message to be encoded in the consumers’ memories. When you run your campaigns, don’t just run one advertisement and expect to get great sales. Research shows that it takes about 3 times for most advertising messages to be encoded by viewers.

Articles Related to Designing a Marketing Message Structure:

How Order Effects Advertising and Marketing Messages.

Order Effects
The order in which advertisements are presented has an effect on how those advertisements are received by the audience. If you are running a television ad campaign and the sales person convinces you that having your ad play in the middle of the commercial break, don’t take it. Unless, of course, they have some kind of discount offer available. The most effective advertisement are those that are that the beginning and those that are the ends. This is true in magazines, newspapers, TV and more. Order is also important in advertisement design. Make your important points first to capture the attention of the viewer. Then list the rest of the points in order of what you consider important. Research also indicates that having the brand name in the beginning is beneficial for recall. This depends on your specific advertisement, however. If you are doing a TV commercial and want to create suspense or surprise, then it might be better to wait for the brand name to appear.

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Comparative Advertising In Marketing Messages. Effective?

Comparative advertising
Comparative advertising can be a very effective tool in your marketing strategy if used correctly. United States is one the countries in the world that allow this type of advertising to take place. Most other countries have laws against comparative advertising. I have only had this blog a short time and already I have had people from probably 50 countries around the world reading this blog. Make sure you check with your country’s government before attempting this type of advertising.
Anyways, back to comparative advertising. Comparative advertising is a technique that marketers use in advertising in which direct comparisons are made about that product and a competing product. For example if you made an MP3 Player that had more space than an IPOD (yeah, I know, like that will happen soon), the advertisement would say “50 more Gigabytes of storage than the IPOD has,” or something along those lines. (Of course, in this that example, one would worry about the honestly of the advertising company. It’s hard to make something better then what Apple puts out. Which leads to the point, make sure your comparison is honest, like all your other advertising.)

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