Content & Copywriting, Infographics, Marketing, Product Reviews
Most marketers know that one of the best ways to convey pertinent information, especially statistical data, is through infographics. When potential or new clients ask me what they are, I often say “it is a visually pleasing and engaging way to consume medium to large quantities of information.” The purpose of the infographic is as multidimensional as the design. Over the years, I have seen infographics used for a variety of purposes – educational, political, business soliciting – you name it.
One that recently caught my attention, made me start thinking about companies and organizations purposes, agendas and the like, that are using this “visually pleasing and engaging” method of marketing to accomplish the their vision and goals. Join me as we journey though some of the most compelling and captivating infographics published to date.
Peta’s Life of a Cow infographic tops many emotion-evoking infographic lists. It educates consumers, encourages veganism, and intentionally elicits emotional pain over what baby calves go through to become dairy- and food-producing options. This infographic holds nothing back when it comes to mapping out the beginning with the fear-inflicted eyes of the baby calf to the ill-fated end of becoming dinner.
Domestic violence is a huge issue in our society, in the U.S. and abroad. It can be physical, sexual, emotional; and the least publicized, psychological. Millions of Americans, women AND men, have been victims of domestic violence and this infographic displays the ugly truths of these heinous acts. Developed by NowSourcing for Socialworkdegreeguide.com, Exposing What Happens Behind Closed Doors, is an educational infographic reflecting truth, demographics, and current statistics. From the first, engaging image through the un-ignorable statistics, this in-depth domestic violence awareness all-in-one definitely does what it should.
Sure to get a few guffaws, this infographic from Killer Infographics is sure to crack the corners of your mouth with statements that most people think but don’t have the guts to say. I’m Cooler Than You Because…was designed in 2013 to showcase “why certain people are cooler than other people” relying on “bold icons and funny copy to make this infographic super effective!” And that it does! So if you don’t have a bunch of nay-saying, humorless colleagues, post this in your cube to surely receive a few laughs and engaging conversation. And in case you didn’t know and are bold enough to rock it, you can get this on apparel by visiting here.
Eye-opening content is always welcome in my book, and as well, that which is shockingly truthful. In the 21 Shocking U.S. Food Waste Facts & Statistics, the designers at AZ Solutions, ensure you are well aware as to how much food wasting goes on and its riveting impact. So many of us do it in one way or another, but I had no idea that my disregarding, no left-overs mentality impacts the masses. It was compelling enough to change both my mind and my own behaviors.
So there you have it folks, just a few jaw-dropping, tear-welling and knee slapping infographics that are out there. Stay tuned as I may address this topic again in the future and once again reveal why well thought out, skillfully designed infographics are such captivating and compelling content around.
Blog, Marketing, Product Reviews
Yes it’s here – the apple of everyone’s eye yesterday and today, is Apple’s new iPhone 5S and 5c. And once again, Apple gets an gold star for creating strong marketing buzz and panting anticipation in the mobile device marketplace. Radio, TV, or Internet – news media outlets across the globe are all busy buzzing around Apples latest technological appendage and its new iOS7. Just when you think they’ve outdone themselves with the iPhone 4S operating system and the introduction of Siri, they one up (if not ten) themselves. So let’s look at the multifaceted dimensions of the Apple’s winning marketing strategies.
Marketing the Technology and Software: Apple refuses to be put in a pile of seconds (fruit picking term), knowing their consumer base well and leading this campaign with the technological improvements. Offering a synchronized and integrated user experience across all features, the new iOS7 takes multitasking to a whole new level! Techies and mobile junkies are going to love the new A7 64-bit chip, making the device’s CPU and graphics 2x faster than the iPhone 5. For the snappy Instagram’er, the iOS 7 is designed with multiple enhancements to take advantage of the best photo ops. They even upgraded Siri – I wonder if she sounds like Beyonce?
Marketing the Esthetics – Apple has gone above and beyond in marketing the beautiful color options, as well as, the structural elements. Almost all media outlets have spoken about the product and technology, and as well, the beautiful color options and sleek design. As soon as you log into Apple’s site, you are hit with this on-screen color explosion that causes one to pause. I did – it was just that engaging! What you also see is a link to the key-note speaker which after just a few seconds – you can tell that the company is hearing its consumer groups. Much fun also, is this video, where you get the whole life cycle of the product in a comprehensible, down-to-earth manner.
Marketing the Security: Although the Fall may be Macintosh picking season, Apple has seemingly found a solution to its own Apple picking problem and it’s WOW’ing the digital marketplace. Thievery of its iPhones, commonly referred to as “Apple Picking,” has been a big problem over the years for this mobile technology powerhouse. So Apple has implemented Touch ID, a new fingerprint authentication feature (also known as biometric coding) into the iPhone 5S, making it less appealing and almost worthless to those with sticky fingers. They get my thumbs up, knowing that a fingerprint can also approve purchases from iTunes or the App Store.
Marketing the Price Points: The bean counters have taken notice and Apple is now marketing to everyone – siding with consumers who want the product but are limited economically. Who can beat the 4-inch Retina display, 8-megapixel rear camera (front facing too) and A6 processor with 16GB for only $99? This is smart marketing for all those on limited budgets and feeling the economic pinch. As for those who want Gold Member status, you’ll love the sleek gold tone version that’s just a month’s worth of Starbucks runs. Apple has done a great job marketing both mobile phone options simultaneously, to widen the net for capturing potential and faithful consumers with a strong economical hook. Thanks Apple for advancing mobile technology once gain and giving us better technology for less.
Marketing to the Following: By offering 2 options, Apple captures not only its faithful following who could care less about the price, but also those who haven’t bitten the iPhone apple just yet. Despite the global recession, historically Apple has made no apologies for their high-end products. However, offering a cheaper alternative, one could surmise that the time and sales reports may be reflecting an undeniable truth. Build it better, offer it cheaper and more will come. Kudos to them for acknowledging this and casting a wider net beyond just their faithful following to the soon-to-be’s.
So, as you can see, Apple is strongly considering its consumer’s input and is addressing those needs esthetically and technologically. It’s obvious that they have the fingers on the pulse of their marketplace and following. They continue to be pioneers and leaders, again setting a gold standard in strong, strategic planning and successful implementation.
All Posts, Branding, Content & Copywriting, Marketing, Social Media, Web Design
What in the world is Link Baiting?
In the simplest form, it is the act of creating any content within a website, advertisement or blog that is designed to gain attention and more importantly, encourages people to link to its original form. The goal of link baiting is to leverage content to become an extremely powerful form of marketing. Some feel it’s another tool to acquire the currency of SEO. Let’s talk about how it can be the biggest fish in the pond of SEO, why it’s important to get others hooked into it and then what it really reels in for you and your business.
To completely understand its meaning you have to understand what is at the heart of its composition. Link-baiting goes way beyond words within the content of your website, advertisement and/or blog. Aside from text, it can also be an image, audio or video clip. Any of these can be effective link baits as long as they are interesting enough to catch people’s attention. And once someone has clicked onto one of these vehicles, you want them to share it and hence great amount of traffic for your content. And that’s the goal-for some part of your content to become the Los Angeles freeway at 5pm. Think about how popular blogs have become that have infographics or videos. Videos gone viral on You Tube can take a no-name person or product and spread it like wildfire. Its all about engagement, the tantalizing, wiggly worm on the hook just waiting to be nibbled.
Now that you understand what it is, where & how do you use it?
What-For blogs you definitely need a strong & compelling headline to capture the readers’ attention and engage them. Take for instance this blog. “Link baiting” is a popular, strongly researched topic. So having a witty “hook” title will return good traffic once its out there. And while the “body” of the work needs to be strong and compelling to keep you entertained, its important to hook you right off the bat with the title. If a title doesn’t create intrigue then you won’t get the readership; and without readership, your content just floats along lonely in the sea of the worldwide web…you don’t want it to be Dory in Nemo singing “keep on swimming” – lol.
Where -You want your content on all major Social Media sites to ensure good dissemination. Period – it’s that simple.
How-A simple example is making sure to add links to your website and/or blog to a witty catch-phrase let’s say on Twitter. I plan to do it with this very blog so check me out on Twitter to see this concept hard at work. https://twitter.com/#!/Dt_Yvonne You can also add a video or audio clip to your content so that others will want to share it. http://blog.jpdesigntheory.com/why-website-content-is-important-video-interview/ For most businesses, the goal of disseminating information is to generate business as well as inform in some nature-whether it’s to sell shoes or trying to get elected as Mayor. Therefore the process of employing effective link baiting requires preparing the hook with the best content. Oh by the way- GOTCHYA!
If I didn’t persuade you enough, check out this listing from Wikipedia which offers some of the most common approaches to effective link baiting:
- Informational hooks – Provide information that a reader may find very useful. Some rare tips and tricks or any personal experience through which readers can benefit.
- News hooks – Provide fresh information and obtain citations and links as the news spreads.
- Humor hooks – Tell a funny story or a joke. A bizarre picture of your subject or mocking cartoons can also prove to be link bait.
- Evil hooks – Saying something unpopular or mean may also yield a lot of attention. Writing about something that is not appealing about a product or a popular blogger.
- Tool hooks – Create some sort of tool that is useful enough that people link to it.
- Widgets hooks – A badge or tool that can be placed or embedded on other websites, with a link included.
- Unique content hooks – This hook is intended for people that are in need of unique content or articles for traffic or AdSense revenue. This became popular after Google implemented Duplicate Contents Filter and sites with duplicate contents saw fall in traffic. To use this hook, you have to create unique content and give it out to bloggers and webmasters with an obligation to link back to your site.
- Curated hooks – A content that links out to other websites by citing them as resources naturally attracts linkers and have high chances of going viral as the mentioned sites in the link bait are most likely to link to the site and share it through their own networks.
Always remember that your content must be current (ripping something tantalizing from the headlines of major reporting forums such as nightly news, respectable magazines or newspapers) and is a great form of SEO currency. Don’t let your creativity dwindle when it comes to achieving this objective. Remember, the ultimate goal of all this is to create buzz and get people to share your content and its links – which hopefully hooks bank for your business.
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O
ver the past two months I’ve been attending quite a few networking groups, meetups, expos, and the like. My experiences range from great to a complete waste of time. Some were free and some carried an entry fee; but all of them left me with something to learn and something to walk away with.
Let me start by saying that I would recommend any solo-prenuer designer to try to attend as many networking engagements as you can when you’re starting out. You’ll get a chance to practice your elevator speech over and over again. If you don’t have one, you’ll quickly learn one as you introduce yourself to people every few minutes. Have a speech prepared already, the repetition will help finesse your keywords and delivery. Those of you who’ve been around for a few years, you already know that your time is important. Being strategic about which events you attend is key. Think about who in the community in terms of leaders or movers and shakers will be in attendance. Try and work your way to meeting them and making a good impression. Not just to get them to take your business card, but to find interest in what you know about a subject matter. If the conversation goes well then give them your card. Also seek out city officials and editors of your local newspapers.
You’ll pick up a lot of business cards during the event. Even during a 2 hour meetup with about 40 attending professionals, you’re set to collect about 30 new business cards. Treat each new business card as a possible lead. Quickly email them back with a short personal message the very next business day. Include something to remind them about what you may have discussed together and leave them with an open-ended request for service. For example:
“Good morning Mr. Smith. It was great to meet you last night at the Entrepreneur’s Networking Event. Especially to meet someone else who still wears penny loafers! You had some really interesting points about your products. If you ever have any questions about (design, or websites, or social media, or graphics) feel free to give me a call.”
That’s all you need to say really. Short and to the point. In my experience I hear back from 10-15% of the people I reach out to after an event. Out of those that I hear back from I’m able to convert clients or referrals out of at least 1 or 2.
The events that could be a waste of time are ones where your target clients are not obviously attending. After you’ve been to a few networking events you should be able to tell from the invite who the audience in attendance will be. Save yourself the gas and RSVP to ones based on who will attend, even if you may be at bit nervous. I’ll admit that stepping out of your comfort zone may be nerve-wracking but the more you do it the more rewarded you will be. Eventually you’ll build up a good confident vibe when entering a room, talking to new people about what you do in under a minute, and having people ask you first for YOUR business card because they recognize you’re the authority on your industry.
Have any recent experiences like this to add? Please share in the comments field below.
