You know what it’s supposed to mean.

Too Close

As content creators, we know what our message is supposed to mean and are tied into the process every step of the way. But the audience has no such prior knowledge.

The key question to ask: does the audience understand the message the same way you do?

The Problem: Confusion

Usually, the problem is not that the audience got the wrong message, but that they got the no message at all. Three things are the primary causes:

1. Too dense
2. Too clever
3. Too ambiguous

1. Too Dense: Message Packing

By far, message packing is the primary culprit in audience confusion. Back in the Mad Men days of advertising, we referred to this situation as:

10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound sack

Generally, audiences can only absorb one primary message at a time. The following media should always be single-minded:

• Print Ads
• Web pages
• Banner Ads
• TV commercials

2. Too Clever: Making the Audience Work Too Hard

“Just the facts, ma’am” doesn’t move the meter in advertising and marketing. But being too clever leaves the audience wondering what it’s all about.

Use of metaphor often falls into this trap. A recent Acura commercial features a Gold Medal skier in her competition clothing. In the commercial, stop-motion animation strips her naked, then redresses her in an evening gown. Cut to the Acura.

The connection is supposed to be that the Acura is like the skier – a beautiful exterior concealing an athletic, performance-oriented machine. Clever.

Maybe too clever. All I saw was some gratuitous nudity followed by a car shot.

As a producer, I always avoided clever. I preferred unexpected as a device. Upsetting viewer expectations, even a little, can freshen up the oldest idea.

3. Too Ambiguous: Huh?

My favorite example of Too Ambiguous is the long-running line for Cisco: The Human Network. What does that mean?

Messaging should always start from a simple statement of what you do, what benefit you provide or what pain you can ease.

For Cisco, they make routers and switches. They make other stuff too, but let’s not confuse the message. Routers and switches are their main line business, the products for which they are best known.

How about: Cisco – We Connect the World

We can all think of examples of too-ambiguous messaging, lines they made us wonder just what the heck was being sold.

The Fix: Hallway Survey

So how do we fall into these messaging traps? It is because, as the creators, we always know what it is supposed to mean. Therefore, the messaging always works on us.

It is an impossible task to forget what you already know, so as creators we must rely on others. A simple hallway survey usually works.

Ask your husband, wife, kids, co-workers or neighbors, anyone not associated with your project, “What did this mean to you?” What’s the message?”

The first thing out of their mouths should align with your intent. Guide your hall-survey audience away from executional suggestions – that’s your job. Further, it makes them co-creators, defeating their value as a disinterested audience.

Always remember that your real audience really is disinterested. They have no prior knowledge of your intentions, nor do they care. You have to grab their attention, make your point and make it memorable all within a glance.

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Photo by Max Westby

Cary, NC – In 2011, most businesses, organizations, non-profits and civic groups have Facebook Pages. Now, there’s a unique, branded way to control the link you share with your audience.

What’s in a Link?

Links are among the most important components of digital communication. Using proper links is a subject we frequently cover on Goodtree & Co: Blog.

On Facebook, links have always been problematic, especially on Business Pages. For example, our old link was a combination of letters and numbers and looked like this:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/CaryCitizen/124390674088

Not very memorable.

Unique URLs for Pages

Months ago, Facebook rolled out unique URLs (web addresses) for Profiles. Now, that same option is available for Business Pages.

Here’s our new Facebook URL:

http://www.facebook.com/carycitizen

That’s better!

Why It’s Important

Unique URLs for Facebook Pages are a giant step forward for business on the world’s most popular social platform.

• Easy to remember
• Simple to tell

This makes it so much easier for your audience to find you on Facebook. Easy for the customer is good when it comes to communication.

Now you can easily associate your brand in a direct way with Facebook and control how you appear in your web address.

How to Change Your Facebook URL

If you have a Facebook Page, follow these steps to change your web address.

1. Go to your Facebook Business Page
2. Click on “Edit Page” (upper right)
3. From the admin area, click on “Basic Information” (menu on left)
4. Click on “Username” (second item from the top of the form)

Be warned: you can only do this once. Make sure before you make the change.

Update Your Other Info

Don’t forget to update your website, business cards, LinkedIn profile and everything else with your new Facebook Page web address.

Of course, feel free to friend us on Facebook at facebook.com/carycitizen.

Cary, NC – On Twitter this icy morning, Google Goggles was trending (that means it was a very popular topic of conversation). I did not know what Google Goggles were, but I had to have a pair.

Google Goggles

Google Goggles, it turns out, is an app for your smart phone that reads bar codes and connects print media to the online world of information.

You snap a picture of something with your phone and Google Goggles shows you related data.

Things You Can Do with Google Goggles

Her are just a few of the useful things you can do with this free Android and iPhone app.

• Bar Codes – Snap a shot of a bar code on almost anything – a can of beans at the supermarket or a washing machine at Home Depot – and get connected to a world of information. Product ratings, nutrition, even competitive prices.
• Translate Text – Take a picture of something in German and it will translate it into English. Presumably works for some other languages as well.
• Magazine Ads – Some magazine ads now include data that can be scanned by smart phones. Get a coupon or more info from a print ad.
• Landmarks – Take a picture of a landmark and you’re connected to directions, hours, travel guides.
• Books – Photograph a book cover and find out about the author, plot, publisher and retailers.
• Business Cards – Take a picture of a business card and capture the contact information.
• Wine – Snap a shot of the label and find out what others thought about the vintage.

Android and iPhone

Google Goggles is currently available for Android and iPhone. Check it out:

Google Goggles

If you know of another similar app, let us know what you’re using.

Cary, NC – If you have a business, you need to make use of Google Places. That’s today’s Tech Town Tip, the first in a series on using simple technology to make your presence more effective on the internet.

What is Google Places?

Google has dozens of products, services and technologies. It can be a bewildering array.

Google Places is a subset of Google Maps. In brief, it places info about your business on the local map. Inclusion in Places will help you come up in general search.

The 7-Pack

Sometimes, you may have noticed, a little map comes up with search results (picture above). A list of businesses comes up next to the map.

That’s called the 7-Pack. It’s one of the hottest areas in search marketing because people click on it.

You have to be in Places to come up in the 7-pack.

Totally Easy. Totally Free.

All you need to get started is a Gmail address. Don’t have one? It’s free.

Surf over to Google Places where you can add your business.

In many cases, a listing for your business will already exist (generated from existing info). You can edit the info, but most importantly, you can claim your business.

Claiming a Business

You say, “I own my business. Why do I have to claim it?” Actually, you’re not claiming the business, you’re claiming the map listing (in Google terms, a Place).

The process is simple (and kind of cool). If you’re business is already listed, click on the “Business Owner?” link and fill in your info.

Google will offer you two ways to verify the claim. The first is by phone. The alternative is by postcard.

Go with the phone option.

Enter the same number you used for the business. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll receive a robo-call from Google with a PIN. Enter the PIN where requested and click confirm.

Shazamm! You own your Place.

Getting Fancy

You can add pictures, video and additional info to your listing to make it more attractive to visitors.

Whether or not you come up in the 7-pack (see below), you’ll come up on general Google Maps of the town and your neighborhood.

Listings with pictures get clicked on far more than listings without. Add at least one picture.

My Business Doesn’t Have a Physical Address

Service and professional businesses without a retail address can also benefit from Places to enhance their “search cred”.

In fact, you can list your business as associated with a town or geographic area and hide your street address.

My Place Doesn’t Come Up in the 7-Pack

Utilizing Google Places is good, basic and easy for any business, but it’s no guarantee of top-ranked search results.

In fact, it’s just a first step.

If you are in a competitive field (who’s not?), chances are someone else has better search cred than you. Building your search ranking is a process, not an event.

But Google Places is a good start. Get Started.

What’s Your Favorite Tech Tip?

If you have a favorite tech-tip for business, hyperlocal media or personal enjoyment, share it with me: hal@carycitizen.com.

After all, this is Tech Town.

The Facts

According to RISMedia:

“Recent studies have shown that when done correctly, videos with proper tags are up to 53 times more likely to generate a first page Google ranking when compared with traditional SEO techniques. Studies also demonstrate that video is preferred over text by a 6 to 1 margin and is growing online at a rate of 40% a year.”

Traditional SEO Takes You Part Way

Everyone should use traditional SEO all the time. It can have great, long-lasting results, especially against niche terms.

Choose a narrow set of keywords and use them in blog posts, headlines, tags and descriptions. Do it on your blog, Flickr, web pages and social media. For WordPress blogs, we recommend All-In-One-SEO-Pack, a very handy plug in.

It works great for narrow terms. In real estate, target a neighborhood instead of the whole town. One of my clients has done this for every single neighborhood in Cary. Another client decided to focus on her own subdivision. In less than a week, we’ve moved up to the top of page one.

But broader targets can be hard to crack. That’s where you have to go beyond traditional SEO.

Cranking Up Page One

Back in 2007, we had a large medical practice in South Carolina as a client. One of their services was non-invasive surgery to fix varicose veins.

This is a very crowded field, with national competitors and local doctors willing to spend big on AdWords every month. In short, we couldn’t crack into page one search results with just some web pages and blog posts.

One day, I brought my video camera (a cheapo miniDV, btw) and recorded one of the docs talking about their magical procedure. I posted the result on my YouTube channel (properly tagged of course).

A few days later, I was searching for terms related to my client’s business. I searched on the term “varicose veins.” Guess who came up at the top of page one? Me!

Quickly, we set up a YouTube channel for the docs and basically transferred the benefit to them. The rest, as they say, is history.

Good Video vs. Bad Video

In the intervening three years, a lot of people have jumped on the video bandwagon. The results have not always been pretty.

As an example, let’s look at dentistry. In my town, every dentist has a video. They’re all dreadful. Poorly lit, bad sound and a parade of people uncomfortably mouthing marketing points. “I get great satisfaction helping people have healthy mouths,” says a hygenist in one. Earth-shaking.

Most of these videos get 30-60 views. That’s basically the staff and their relatives.

Late last year, I shot a video for my dentist. He was shaving his head for charity. I used the same cheap video camera, shot the event, and had him narrate it with voiceover.

His video got over 1000 views. In the first two weeks.

Can you do this with your cheap video camera? Probably not. But the cost of high-quality, professional video has crashed over the last few years, mostly due to cheaper editing and better low-cost cameras. So now, experienced filmmakers have the ability to whip off a project in a day without expensive rentals or a large crew.

How To Make A Great Video

This is what I told people in seminars at WordCamp and RebarCamp last year: It’s all about the concept.

A great concept trumps fancy production every time. This has always been true in filmmaking. Still is.

It doesn’t have to be complicated or “highly creative.” Simple is best.

Tell the video producers about your business and let them come up with the concept. It’s their job to propose something that’s interesting and can be done within the time and resources available.

My First Viral

Three years ago, I did my first viral for a Realtor. We were going to include a testimonials page on her web site. I said, “Why don’t we shoot a video instead?”

She gathered three of her best clients and I asked them a few questions about Julie (the Realtor). I intercut their answers, added a little music and kept the whole thing under two minutes.

The result: the average duration of visits to the page almost exactly matched the length of the video. People watched the whole thing. It’s also the second most popular page after the index (home page).

More Info

For more info, scan my posts tagged video. If you’re considering a video project, email me.

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Picture above: on a shoot for The New York Times in 2004. We’re at the corner of 73rd and Amsterdam in front of the subway station. See the spot on YouTube and you’ll recognize the guy in the beige suit.

That’s it.

The term “social marketing” dates from the 1970′s and originally defined a concept of using marketing for social good. Today, social marketing means employing user-generated channels on the internet to achieve business goals like reaching a broader audience and motivating action.

Social Marketing Channels

Here’s a quick run down of some popular social networks and how businesses are using them as marketing channels:

Facebook – Businesses can create pages, groups and ads. The FB platform is 5 years old and boasts 1 in 5 internet users worldwide.

Twitter – Sometimes called “microblogging,” messages are no more than 140 characters in length and often contain links to more content. Great tool for a real-time interaction with your audience.

LinkedIn – This portal is all about business and networking. Its social tools are still pretty basic, but users can start groups, republish blogs, post status and employ several other useful features.

ActiveRain – A huge community of real estate professionals. Vibrant blogging community.

Flickr – Popular site for serious photographers (amateur and professional). Millions of users. Flickr is both a utility (a convenient way to serve pictures elsewhere on the web) and a social community.

Ning – Build your own social portal. Works well for niche categories.

YouTube – like, Flickr, YouTube is both a utility and a community. YouTube videos can have a profound effect on search results, catapulting your business to the top of page one.

Delicious – Social bookmarking is a way to share collections of links. See an example of how we use this for Julie Roland Realtor.

Blogs – A huge audience gets news and information from blogs, often without knowing it. Blogs provide businesses with a low-cost personal publishing platform that can accomodate text, pictures, video, links and comments. Blogs are easily shared and republished, making them a powerful social marketing platform.

Viral for the Masses

One of the key attributes of the new social media landscape is the opportunity to launch viral marketing initiatives. “Viral” simply means that you are relying upon your audience to circulate your message.

Where viral happened in the past, it was either carefully engineered or largely by accident. Viral marketing remained a small business.

But social channels including Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook all contain built-in features that allow anyone, anytime to start something viral. Example:

• “Share a link” on Facebook
• Retweets on Twitter
• Status messages on LinkedIn

What’s better than getting your audience to circulate your message?

Promote Engagement

Social media, which include blogs, promote engagement between marketers and the audience. It’s important to open up all the potential avenues (while protecting yourself from spam, of course). Make it easy for people to comment, share or email your content.

When people take the opportunity to interact with your brand, they are more likely to return, remember and purchase.

The keys to promoting social engagement:

• Real people, real names – audiences respond best to real people using their real names. “info@…” doesn’t cut it in social media.
• Many channels – it’s easy to share your content across many social marketing channels. Enter it once, it appears everywhere. In social marketing, you have to go where your audience congregates, not expect them find you on your outpost in cyberspace.

Those are just a few of the most popular ways businesses are using social marketing. We’d love to hear how you use social marketing to advance your message. Comment here or drop us a note.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs of chicken (could be a whole chicken, parts or even just bones – must have the bones)
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• fresh or frozen dill

Basic Recipe

Start the soup early in the day – after breakfast is ideal. Pack a large soup or pasta pot with the chicken and cover completely with water. Bring it to a low simmer and cover. Let it cook all day.

Strain the broth and discard the solids. Skim the fat. Return the broth to the pot. Add the carrots, then the onions, then the celery. Season generously with salt and pepper. Add egg noodles (or matzoh balls). When the starch is cooked, turn off the flame (pull the pot off an electric burner). Mince up the dill and add it to the soup. Cover and let sit for ten minutes. Serve.

Finer Points

Fresh dill is the magic ingredient. Dill freezes well in a ziplock bag, too. Just don’t used dried dill.

Saute a couple of chicken breasts and add them to the soup with the vegetables. Serve with fresh bread and you have a compete meal.

Matzoh ball mix is available in many supermarkets (in the “international” aisle). Simple to make – you just need two eggs and a cup of water. But don’t use the spice pack that comes with the matzoh ball mix – it’s mostly salt.

All kinds of trends, inspiration, tools and tricks for web designers.

I’m having breakfast with Jason on Friday. Should be informative!