First, a Little Rant

I got caught up in the Thanksgiving and Holiday Shopping emotion and hype, and I penned two related blog entries. One was on why we should appreciate bloggers. The other, this post, was going to be about, among other things, how to be a good blogger. Well, see the comment section on SharePoint Stories to read about how to be a good blogger, they said it better than I can. That left me with a less-helpful rant about web-based and social media marketing. Still, I am going to get the ball rolling with that, and either through comments or a follow-up post, we will get some useful information on this subject. Actually, I think my rant includes a little bit of useful stuff.

What follows might just be one man’s opinion, but consider that this one man made his wife buy Hellman’s (R) Dijonnaise (TM) instead of mixing mayonnaise with Dijon mustard because I liked that the ad is set to the tune of ‘Duke of Earl”. I have been labeled a ‘marketing sap’ by those most dear to me, and I do admit to buying things based on advertising. I like to think that we all do it, but I am willing to admit this. So, I am the guy you hope to get in the crosshairs of your ad, and here’s what you should know about achieving that goal.

Newton's Third Law – That’s the one that talks about ‘action’ and ‘reaction’, can be applied to website advertising. The harder you make it for me to avoid your ad, the harder I am going to try to avoid it. When I encounter the 8 – 15 second timed full-page entry ads, and the stretch-down or peel-back ads on newspapers, I open something else in another tab and let them play out to a blank wall. I know that free news on the web can’t really be free, but if you virtually blare the music at me, I’m going to run away. I tear the ads off the real (paper) comics on Sunday, I throw out the ads with the perfume samples, and skip the page talking about how I can heat my house for $15 a month – in my face = ignore. On the other hand, I actually look at the tasteful and proportionate ads on the side of a good website.

Do I Know You? – Email advertising has never been something I look forward to reading, but lately, it’s going straight in the trash. If you got my email address from a list, or picked it up because I attended a seminar or worse, a webinar, you better get your facts straight and then tread lightly. I signed up to attend an event in Boston in September, but then an injury kept me from attending. I received over a dozen emails from sponsors of that event, and the only one I read completely was the one that said “sorry you couldn’t make it…” Several actually started with “it was so good to meet you at…” What a good way to begin a relationship, by lying to me. Next, the pushy email reminding me that I didn’t take “just 15 minutes” to complete your survey goes straight to the trashcan. Even if I find 15 minutes I want to kill, it won’t be spent completing your survey. If I am your customer, and you want to ask me something or point something out to me, fine. If we have not done business, don’t pretend to be my buddy.

Following too Close – My following you on Twitter is not an invitation to send me multiple Direct Messages. I don’t even like receiving one DM if it was automated. If you want to know more about me read my tweets, follow the links I put out there, read my blog and look at my pictures. If you don’t really want to know that much about me, that’s fine, just don’t ask me to send you an abridged biography so you can better market to me. I follow people I think I might like. If I read some of their tweets and I do like them, I add them to a list that I read all the time. I follow almost 700 people; less than 10% are on that regular-read list. If you want to get on that list, tweet something interesting!

OK, I’m done ranting for 2010. With a little luck, next week you will read some specific advice for successfully using the web, email and social media for marketing. If you think you already have that answer, please add your thoughts as a comment and save me the trouble of writing next week’s blog.