I love when a company actually takes the time to know its customers well enough that they would think of a promotion like this. Jones Soda is a quirky micro-brew soft drink company that makes bizarre soda flavors like Turkey & Gravy for Thanksgiving and Jelly Doughnut for Hannukah. To be fair, they also make more mainstream flavors like Rootbeer and Cola, but I think their limited editions are far more interesting.
But…I digress.
Recently Jones Soda launched a promotion with ICanHasCheezburger to create a new label for their sodas. Beyond this they’ve created the ultimate in Web mashup experience. You can order a 12-pack of Jones Soda with your own customized “LOLcat” label for your soda. Now if you’ve never heard of ICanHasCheezburber or LOL cats, you’ve missed out on one the Web latest and greatest time wasters. Heck, there’s even an LOL Cat translation of the bible now. By the way, LOL cat is a generic term. You can really use any animal for this, hence the Hippo shot above.
Jones Soda cements their “hipster” status by joining forces with the ican crew and clearly knows that this site and the LOLcat experience appeals to their customers. I’ll be really curious to see how they don on sales. Even I’m considering it buying my own custom 12-pack.
When I try to explain Twitter to people I usually get blank stares. I’m really loving it and will be sharing some specific ways that different companies are using this tool soon, but for now — an explanation in plain English.
Photo Credit: Andy Piper Used via Creative Commons Attribution Copyright
Depending on your point of view blogging is either the greatest thing to happen to marketing in the history of modern marketing, or the most over-hyped channel in history. Like most everything, it’s really somewhere in between. Blogging is honestly a great tool, if you use it well. Fame and fortune are hard to come by via blogging, but building a reputation — that’s a bit easier.
There are two main avenues to go about building your reputation via blogging:
Writing a blog
Commenting on other blogs
Since most people are familiar with the power of writing a blog — let’s talk about option number two. When I’m working with clients, they are often surprised that I don’t start out recommending that they write a blog. To me this is like trying to run a marathon when you’ve never even laced up your running shoes. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to build up your individual professional reputation or build awareness of your company in B2B or B2C markets. This works for all of them, but there are slightly different approaches. It often doesn’t occur to someone that leaving a comment on a blog can work not only at an individual level, but also have positive (or negative) effects at a B2B and B2C level.
Best Practices for Blog Commenting
Regardless of the reason you are commenting on a blog, if you are doing it for professional reasons there are a few best practices to keep in mind.
Add value to the conversation. Forget about marketing and be a human being and respond to what you just read. If you are in a regulated industry like Pharma, you need to use some common sense here. Be aware and be very clear if you are speaking for yourself or your company.
Utilize the URL or “Website” field. This is where you mention your website. Almost all blogs have a place for commenters to leave their website. If you say something interesting, people will click to learn more about you. If you don’t have your own blog then link to your LinkedIn.com profile, or other appropriate location
Use a consistent and appropriate name. Blog comments can appear in search results. Make sure you use your full professional name.
It’s really that simple. Picking the right blogs to comment on to achieve business and marketing goals is a bit more challenging. There’s more science to that to ensure that the blogs have the right type of content, reach and engagement levels, and will allow you to truly build relationships over time. But, a little common sense can also go a long way.
Measuring Success
The last element of this technique I want to quickly cover in this post is measurement. The basics are really quite simple.
Website Analytics: If you are linking to your website or blog from your comments, simply check your analytics program to see if people are clicking through.
Responses: Are people responding to your comments and continuing the conversation based on what you said? That’s a great outcome.
References: Are the bloggers you are engaging with seeking you out in different arenas or referencing things you’ve said in comments in later blog posts? It’s a softer outcome than click-through rates, but it’s a highly desirable outcome.
Here’s one final tip. If you want an easy way to keep track of all those comments you’ve been leaving, you can use a service like coComment. It will track all the conversations you participate in and aggregate them for you.
I’m working on two new buzz campaigns for Buzz Agent. I honestly get a kick out this, because I get to learn about all kinds of new stuff that I might otherwise not hear about. Plus — I love getting to be the first one to tell my friends about it. My current campaigns are for Hornitos Tequila and Benjamin Moore Aura Paint.
Since my whirlwind business trip to Cabo San Lucas a few months back, I’ve developed a taste for high-end tequila. So when the campaign for Hornitos opened up, I definitely was interested. I just received my “buzz kit” so I haven’t had a chance to pick up a bottle and try it out for myself, just yet. I’ll report back on that once I’ve sampled. What was funny, though, was one of the items in the kit: a tequila bottle shaped USB drive. Great — just what my computer needs — a shot of tequila!
I also just received my kit for Aura Paint, and I’m really looking forward to testing it out. The big selling point seems to be that it’s low odor and quick drying, but what I’m excited about is the low VOC (volatile organic compounds). That means it’s better for the environment. It’s funny that they are leading with “low-odor” and not eco-friendly — but maybe they think it will appeal to a wider audience that way. It’s more of a “why is it good for me” than “how does it help me save the world.” Either way — it seems like a good thing. I also dig the colors — now I just have to choose one!
Learn how to create connections that work. I’ll guide you through the world of sites, techniques and technologies and walk through what they are, who uses them, how you can engage on them effectively and honestly.
Through the Years
This site has been through many iterations since I first launched it in the Summer of 2000. Every iteration since 2001 is actually captured in the Internet Archive.
