David Bowie
Let’s Dance
EMI Records
1983
In a week of everyone sharing David Bowie memories, here’s my favorite Bowie LP. It’s not the favorite of the critics or many fans. But it’s top of my list due to the the album’s guitarist: Stevie Ray Vaughan!
The first votes in the 2016 Presidential race are less than 3 weeks away. The Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire & South Carolina Primaries in February mean an explosion of political messages in an already-crowded media space. It’s estimated that approximately $500 Million may be spent on Facebook ads for the 2016 Presidential Election.
Franchisors, franchisees, and all business owners need to figure out their Facebook plans now.
Even before this massive spend leading up to each state’s primary, the organic updates from candidates, increased posts from political bloggers, and campaign stories from news outlets are already consuming most of the attention on Facebook.
Ted Cruz is broadcasting using the new Facebook Live streaming video every day. Ben Carson’s campaign took off entirely from Facebook fans spreading his messages. Donald Trump posts pictures and remarks from the campaign trail several times per day. The campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders manage multiple pages for their organizations in each state showing a strong local community focus and ground game.
Imagine how much more crowded the space will be in 30, 60, or 90 days. And that will pale in comparison to later this year when the two eventual nominees, their parties, and their PACs throw hundreds of millions into Facebook ads for the general election. Imagine the competition for consumers’ attention!
Organic reach using your current tactics will be zero. How can your message get to your potential customers and candidates? Here are a few ideas to try to rise above the noise.
1. Post when others are not posting. Get a calendar of upcoming primary events and avoid the days before, during, and after a primary in any state or a debate. Instead pick other days of that same week to post. This may mean moving out of your comfort zone of days / times for posting. But that’s a good thing; I’ve never been a fan of so-called “best times” to post. Your customers are active on social 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
2. Plan on buying more ads and increase your ad budget. There’s no way around this!
3. Be prepared with a non-Facebook Plan B. If Trump and Clinton (or whoever the 2 nominees are!), as well as the DNC, the RNC, and the PACs all start dumping a half Billion dollars into Facebook, you may have to explore alternative channels. If your business is not already set up on Instagram, Periscope, Snapchat and other places, do so now and run some tests. Get ready to move into that space if you find engagement.
Arlo Guthrie
Alice’s Restaurant
1967
Warner Bros
Thanksgiving tradition: give Alice’s Restaurant a listen once each year.
The title track itself was 18 1/2 minutes long. Note, the missing Nixon White House tapes were also 18 1/2 minutes long. Coincidence? Or was some listening to Alice in the Oval Office? Hmmm…
Bob & Doug McKenzie
The Great White North
1981
Anthem / Mercury Records
Here’s another great comedy LP, as well as the first Christmas – themed record for this year in this series of TBT Vinyl spotlights.
Bob & Doug McKenzie (aka SCTV’s Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas) released The Great White North in ’81. The LP featured mostly comedy bits but most memorable were a couple of songs: “Take Off” featuring Geddy Lee of Rush, and the Brothers’ version of “Twelve Days of Christmas.” Give it a listen when you can, hoser.
“…And a beer in a tree.”
I’m doubling down on this absurd dress meme, while remembering Leonard Nimoy today.
Have great weekend all.
Many people start tweeting or posting once they arrive at a conference or convention. These mostly consist of messages like “I’m at the XYZ 2015 Conference. WOOT!” There’s not much value there for anyone else. This is the conference version showing us what you’re having for lunch.
A better use of social media for conferences is connecting with people before you arrive. You can create some awareness and interest for your business and services before anyone sets foot into the convention center by sharing information that is actually of value to your connections and potential connections.
My Social Geek Radio co-host Deb Evans and I recently aired an episode devoted to Social Media tips for conferences. Listen to it here and check out our list of top tips:
What would you add?
Everyday, bloggers and other content creators use the device of “The Top (insert a number) Things You (insert topic, advice, or other).” This is an easy way to attract readers who don’t really want to dive deep into a subject but want a quick read.
As we near the end of the year, I’m sure the lists of the best this or that from this year will be flying soon. So, as you develop your lists, think about what that number is that you want to us to stand out. Top 100? Too much. Top 40? Too old-school radio. Less than ten? Now you’re talking! Here’s my list of the best numbers to use for lists, with absolutely no scientific evidence of anything.
You may think, “It’s the holidays and everyone is busy. Everyone is distracted and not paying attention. Anything we post will be ignored…”
But consumers and your customers will be online more than ever! They will be shopping, keeping up with friends & family, and checking Facebook constantly.
Here’s your Social Geek marketing tip to jump on for next week:
Try just one new social media activity next week.
You probably spend a great deal of time checking, monitoring, creating, and analyzing your current pages each week. You know you need to do these particular things and you have very little time for anything else.
But ask yourself, “What am I not doing?”
Are there customers, prospects, and other people with whom you should network on other channels? Are there places that have slipped by you where you could share content or engage with others?
Some potential things to check might be developing your YouTube channel, checking into new groups in LinkedIn, refreshing your activity on Pinterest or Tumblr.
I hope you find that one of things will give you better results than some of your current activity!
The holidays are coming and you’re about to get buried in tradition and annual must-dos. You’ll have little time for any new marketing ideas or experimentations. So before the onslaught check into one new (or two!) different social media or marketing activity next week.
I am looking forward to our interview of Guy Kawasaki on this week’s Social Geek Radio Show and Podcast!
Guy and his colleague Peg Fitzpatrick will join Deb Evans and I to discuss their new venture Canva and how franchise systems can use it to create custom images for their entire system’s local marketing.
Join us here Wednesday night, July 23 at 8pm ET / 7pm CT or download from iTunes right after the show!
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