Marketing – Page 2 – Beverly Bambury Publicity

October 31, 2013July 27, 2018

Why You Shouldn’t Buy Followers: Book Marketing without B.S. #1

Book Marketing without B.S. is a weekly publicity and marketing advice column for writers and other creators who prefer a realistic, clear, and no-nonsense approach.

The marketing and publicity worlds are important for understanding audience and customers, and getting the right word out to the right people; but, let’s be honest. There’s also a lot of bullshit. My goal is to help you cut through the B.S. with direct, understandable advice you won’t be embarrassed to follow.

Welcome to my inaugural Book Marketing withouth BS column. Today’s question was asked anonymously, and it’s about purchasing followers on Twitter (and by extension, purchasing likes/on other blogs and social media such as Facebook, Pinterest, etc.).

The short answer to this is “Don’t do it”. Below is the breakdown on why, but first, I should say that other people have written about this. Just Google “Should I buy Twitter followers” (without quotes) and you’ll find other discussion.

Here are more thoughts on the topic, and be sure to leave yours in the comments. I’ll share the best in my next post.

1 – It’s dishonest, and if you’re found out, people will think less of you. Remember what happened to President Obama and Mitt Romney in the recent election cycle?

1.1 – It’s also pretty corny. Honestly. See #2.

2 – It’s much more obvious than you think. If you’re not famous, but you have tens of thousands of followers (and you’re only following a small number yourself), no one is going to believe you’ve got that many followers. Really, really.

There are people I know and otherwise respect that I am certain have purchased followers. I feel bad for them in the way you feel bad for someone who buys a bad hair piece or who has a comb-over. They don’t seem to feel good enough as they actually are, and so they try covering it up. They don’t need to do it though–they’re already cool on their own. They’re just looking for an easy way to get a boost, not realizing that there’s no easy way with social media. More on this later.

One other note: Facebook’s analytics tell anyone where a page’s audience is, not just the page owner. One of the people I know had around 85% of his followers from a former Russian republic. It’s there for all to see, and it looks plain bad.

3 – Most importantly: it won’t deliver results. There may be a few little metrics here and there that will boost, but mostly it won’t work. Why? Well, if you’re paying for followers, and the vast majority of them are fake/inactive, you are not expanding your audience at all. You’re only buying a bigger number and nothing more.

The 30,000 followers you bought? None of them are going to buy your graphic novel. They aren’t going to share your book with anyone. If they do–by some crazy chance–they’re sharing it with other fakes. It’s a waste of your time and money, and you don’t have enough of either, right?

It’s possible a few people who stumble across you will be impressed with your numbers, but you know what? If you’re posting useful, relevant stuff already, they’d have followed you when they stumbled across you with or without high numbers. Also, the more savvy people get about fake followers, the more likely it is to be a turnoff. Once again, I refer you to #2.

In all my research I saw no one, even anonymously, saying that they were thrilled with their results (aside from a few stray blog comments that were so awkward and ham-handed that they were obviously from people who sell the fake followers). Surely someone out there would boost them if they were effective, but I don’t see that. Have you seen a trustworthy source ever say it was a good idea? I personally have not.

I also interviewed three people who have bought followers or likes, some on Twitter, some on Facebook. (And yes, I know this is not a scientific sample. I just wanted some directly shared anecdotes!) All three of them say they saw no tangible results. Two of them are specifically unhappy and regretful and one has neutral emotions about it. One said that some of the Facebook “likes” occasionally interact with his page, but that there’s been no boost in sales. That person also wonders whether it might have made more sense for his business if he’d waited. I concede that it is possible that this purchaser might appear a bit more often as a suggested page on Facebook because of the likes; however, I still think it won’t likely boost sales since the purchased followers have zero emotional connection/interest with you or your product/service.

The main thing to remember is that it’s really tempting to buy followers for many reasons. Some of that is what I mentioned above: feeling unsure, desperate, insecure, worried. Some people are more mercenary and genuinely think that they’re going to improve their standing on social media and they see it as legitimate. I can understand all of those reasons and more. You want to look good. I get it, but this isn’t the way.

“So how do I build audience?”, you ask. It’s actually not too difficult. The problem is it takes time and effort, and that’s why it’s hard. Time is short. We’re all tired and hoping for a shortcut. The only good way is to interact with people. Share other people’s content and ideas. Share about your dog, your wife, your kids–and also your books and creations. Try not to let all of (or even the vast majority of) your tweets be “BUY MY BOOK” stuff or “READ THIS EXCERPT NOW!” stuff. Some rules of thumb say 10% of your stuff should be about your stuff. I think that may be about right. Some weeks it will be more, some weeks it will be less. Mainly remember that (and yes, I am repeating myself) social media is social. Be a real, integrated human being who sometimes shares his or her work, and you will build a following.

Will you ever have a million followers? Almost certainly not. The followers you have, though? They’re actually interested in YOU. Respect them. Cultivate them.

Check out Zenni Optical on Twitter. Whomever does their social media is skilled at building loyalty and feelings of community. They tweet back to people who mention them. They ask about what the potential customer is interested in. Not only are they building followers with genuine interest and interactivity, but they’re offering a good, high-touch customer experience and that’s going to garner a healthy percentage of followers who are likely to spend money. Not only that, but Zenni is getting real data from consumers about what they like and don’t like, and what products are popular. This is incredibly valuable information.

“But, I’m dark and serious and not that social. Plus I don’t sell glasses. This advice sucks!” you say. OK, I’ll grant you that. It’s not the same thing, selling glasses and selling dark fiction or surreal graphic novels. And, well, yeah, that overly happy voice isn’t a good fit for everyone, but that isn’t the point. The point is that they are social. They interact. They participate with potential customers instead of broadcast, so despite that perkiness that may not appeal to you, those principles are the same, and I’ll cover them more specifically (along with examples that you may find more relevant) in next week’s column.

Thanks for joining me for the inaugural Book Marketing without BS. Let me know what you think, and you have my deep appreciation for reading this far. I hope you come back again, and if you’re forgetful like me, you can sign up by email.

Have a questions you’d like to see answered? Email them to beverly@beverlybambury.com.

May 20, 2013July 27, 2018

The Power of Default Choices: Psychology, Influence, and Bank of America

This is another originally posted on elsewords.com. This is a favourite of mine, combining some of my consumer interests and media literacy interests.

Update: It looks like reports like the one I discuss below have led to another solution. Some cursory info here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/31/foreclosure-review_n_2389431.html.

I was browsing my beloved Consumerist the other day when I came across this piece: Bank Of America Provided Cheat Sheet To ‘Independent’Foreclosure Reviewers. (It references the original investigative work of ProPublica into the matter, which can be read here: http://www.propublica.org/article/cheat-sheet-bofa-supplied-default-answers-for-independent-claimsreviewers) ProPublica discovered that Bank of America (BoA) was providing default, filled-in answers for the review process of the Independent Foreclosure Review agents working on behalf of the U.S. government. Bank of America and its hired, independent investigators at Promontory denied any wrongdoing and will not review prior decisions, saying that the investigators always had the power to override default answers. I believe that this decision on their part is not only incorrect, but unethical, and I also believe that BoA knew precisely what they were doing and intended to use this default choice method to influence the investigators.

First, the fact that there was work done by BoA on behalf of the auditors in the first place meant BoA was spending its own people’s hours, thus its own resources on the issue. Businesses do not typically expend those kinds of resources if they don’t expect a significant return on investment. Second, the widely-known nature of default choices and the way they affect decision-making is too commonly known for this to have been anything but unethical and possibly illegal shenanigans which defiled the integrity of independent review (which was probably already compromised by the fact BoA paid Promontory, and that they were not hired by an independent party – but that is another blog’s purview!).

So while both of those things are damning, it’s number two I find most damning of all, perhaps since I approach this from a marketing/communications perspective. The power of default choices is frequently discussed in communications circles, business circles, human resources circles, and even health circles. Numerous papers, journal articles, and general interest articles have been written on the topic, as well as books – books shelved in the business section of book stores. I would go so far as to say that it’s impossible that someone at Bank of America was not aware that filling in defaults was likely to have changed the outcome of the investigation.

Further reading on default choices follows. These were all easily found just using search terms like “default choices” or “the power of default” without the quotes.

The Effect of Default Options on Retirement Savings: http://www.nber.org/bah/summer06/w12009.html

3 Main Lessons of Psychology: http://danariely.com/2008/05/05/3-main-lessons-of-psychology/

Do Defaults Save Lives?: http://www.dangoldstein.com/papers/DefaultsScience.pdf

Amazon and the Power of Default Choices: http://blogs.gartner.com/lydia_leong/2011/11/17/amazon-and-the-power-of-default-choices/

The Default Choice, So Hard to Resist: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/technology/default-choices-are-hard-to-resist-online-or-not.html?_r=1&

As always, I hope you’ll share your thoughts. I bet you’d be more likely to do so if a pop-up comment box showed up right… about… now.

May 16, 2013July 27, 2018

How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Product Placement

Until recently I thought of product placement as the corporate sponsorship only of movies and television. In the past I, like many, railed against it as the destroyer of all things creative and I never would have seen product placement in books. It made me want to watch only the indiest of indie films. It made me want to make fun of people who wore corporate logos. During this time I didn’t have a television (of course I didn’t) so avoiding this kind of advertising wasn’t all that difficult.

Eventually my views grew more nuanced, especially as I ended up marrying someone with a TV and I grew to like a few shows. I started using a DVR and downloaded a bit more, too. This meant I saw fewer ads. Advertisers needed to find a way to get their messages in front of people; because (let’s face it) they aren’t going to go away. Placements are something that will continue to increase in frequency because of the way our viewing habits have changed. While I still don’t like it, I understand that there’s more to it than a simple sellout. There is the advertising issue I already mentioned, and – as distasteful as it is – it has become a standard part of raising funds in Hollywood for both television and movies.

Anyway, my uneasy truce with product placement carried on for a few years until I spotted some product placement in a book. “No,” I thought, “It can’t be. Not in a book.” As luck would have it, I was dead wrong.

Product placement can be ridiculously obvious and ham-handed. Season 1 of Heroes, anyone? I can never use enough brain bleach to remove the Nissan Versa advertising from my memory. I suppose it worked in the sense that I remember it; but, it gave me a bad association with the brand because it was so irritating. “Look! Not a scratch on the Versa!”

Really, Hiro? Really?

Of course movies are the granddaddy of product placement vehicles. It’s got a long history and has taken many forms from the nearly subliminal background image of a logo, to the end of the martini era for James Bond. I haven’t seen the Twilight movies either, but I’m told the “vampire drives a Volvo“.

And don’t get me started on Adam Sandler. I am appalled at how many people continue to pay to see his commercials. I mean movies.

A non-placement type of product integration happens when ad people and artists work together to create something new, and let’s make no mistake, good ad people are most definitely artists. Some examples of this are BMW’s The Hire series starring Clive Owen as The Driver, and Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Alpha film by Academy Award-winning directors Herve & Francois.

Getting back to books, I’d always thought books were somehow sacred; however, with last year’s advent of the ad-supported Kindle I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be long before the sacredness wore off. Of course, I have always seen brands in novels, and I guess I can’t be sure, but it never seemed like it was actually a product placement so much as it was the way we speak. We probably all use brand names every day without thinking about it. There is a difference between “It was a shade of yellow in the Benjamin Moore catalogue…” and “It was a shade of yellow in the paint sample catalogue…” I am not sure whether one is better than the other, but I do know the first is almost certainly not a paid mention.

I’ve spotted things in major novels that made me wonder. I wasn’t able to think of any at this writing, but cursory searching shows plenty of examples: Dan Brown’s Pratt & Whitney and Lincoln Towncar (about which there has not been disclosure either way about payments) to the Fay Weldon’s Bulgari Connection to Apple and Ikea in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series (about which there has not been disclosure about payments, either). That’s the thing with books. It’s a relatively new concept and so far most people aren’t talking about it.

It seems like the worst offenders are, not surprisingly, teen romance novels. In “Consuming Desires: Consumption, Romance and Sexuality in Best-Selling Teen Romance Novels” by Naomi R. Johnson, her evidence suggests that these books are heavily-laden with products and that they explicitly point out how sexy and popular the character is. Check out this awkward monstrosity from American Beauty: An A-List Novel, “…every few seconds a gust of air would blow her vivid strawberry blond ringlets against her Bing My Cherry Plump Your Pucker lip-glossed mouth. A perfected flick of one OPI ballet-slipper-pink polished finger (French manicures were so last year) unstuck them… ” and that’s just part of a paragraph that goes on to mention Seven for All Mankind jeans and a Ferrari belt as well as an Ella Moss shirt, and the fact that this character has such amazing breasts that she doesn’t need a bra – because she’s had breast augmentation surgery. This (and Clique and Gossip Girl – all part of the same media group) is the “literary” equivalent of a fashion magazine – more ads than content, and where there’s content it’s kind of weak – and this targeted to girls 9-14.

I think we’re going to see more and more ads in books now that so many of us read them in digital form. I don’t just mean Kindle’s ad-supported version (which did seem to be a harbinger of some sort of advertising free-for-all,) but publishers’ increased ability to tailor each digital edition to include current brands instead of out-of-date ones, or to keep a spot or two in a novel up for periodic grabs like an outdoor billboard. There are also non-integrated ads on the rise that display information or a coupon anywhere in the book. I guess we just have to get used to it, or work harder to avoid it, though I can say with certainty that I won’t be buying an ad-supported ereader. Not to mention it’s only about $20 less than the regular one. It’s worth the $20 for many people to not have to deal with the ads.

Ads are always going to be around, and it seems as though brand integration like that mentioned above is going to continue to increase to keep pace with our TV- and movie-watching habits; and, now it seems our reading habits as well. In the renaissance artists were supported by wealthy patrons and today those wealthy patrons are corporate interests. In some ways it may be more forthright to have our current system than that old renaissance system, since we always know what the advertiser wants (a product to be featured and featured well).

Having recently watched The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, as flawed as it was, I gained appreciation for some of what an artist has to go through once funding is received. There were some really illuminating moments in that film and it’s worth watching if this topic interests you.

So did I learn to love produce placement? I understand it. I accept it. I may even use it someday for a client, and I am even sometimes fascinated by it; but, love it? Never.

(Originally published on http://www.elsewords.com.)

May 16, 2013July 27, 2018

Comic Books: Marketing Leads to Creative Storytelling

Today I offer this delightfully informative blog post by Kendall Whitehouse (Wharton School’s tech and media blogger) about transmedia and how it relates to marketing and publicity for comic books.

Transmedia: this is a term I’ve only seen around for a few years, and I haven’t been to any panels or done in-depth research yet; however, it’s a concept that appeals to me on multiple levels. Anything that crosses platforms has the potential to feel more real and more interesting. Whitehouse’s blog post is what’s finally inspired me to gain better understanding of the concepts of transmedia.

It’s interesting to note that CZP’s campaigns for Ninja Versus Pirate Featuring Zombies (NVPFZ) and Rasputin’s Bastards both enter this realm. (As a reminder, I was at one time affiliated with ChiZine Publications and so almost certainly hold bias on this topic!) James Marshall, author of NVPFZ, has a blog that’s mentioned in the novel by Guy Boy Man – the protagonist – and is also an actual website which is in part “authored” by Guy Boy Man. There are also NVPFZ twitter events, blog interviews and more – crossing media in fun and interesting ways. (And don’t forget the Zombie Acceptance Test! The ZAT tells you whether you’re cut out to be a zombie or zombie food.)

I particularly enjoy the Rasputin’s Bastards website, WhatIsCity512.com. Take a look through the video elements, the CSIS files and the articles. There’s a Facebook page that you can follow, too. There are more interesting things coming for Rasputin’s Bastards in the future, though you’ll just have to wait and see. By the way, one of my personal favourite things that was done for this campaign was the teaser trailer, which can be found here.

I’m starting on a project soon that has me revisiting these transmedia ideas. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.

(Originally posted at http://www.elsewords.com and slightly edited to bring it up to date.)