Optimarketer: The Marketing Optimization Blog

Take It From Us, You'll Love It

We've accumulated a huge amount of educational content for marketers looking to move beyond business as usual. In coming days you'll find a good chunk of it on our agency's Facebook page. "Like" us here.

P&G Digital Ad Czar Says Facebook Isn't Media. Say What?

Procter and Gamble's interactive marketing chief doesn't think social networks like Facebook are advertiser-worthy.

Check out this Ad Age story with Ted McConnell's remarks (you'll find some of Ted's comments below, followed by my comments on his comments).

"I have a reaction to that (social networks' inability to monetize their sites) as a consumer advocate and an advertiser. What in heaven's name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?"

A corporate behemoth with revenue bigger than the GDP of some countries pays you big bucks to separate consumers from their money. I'm sure you want to do right by them, but do you really consider yourself a consumer advocate? And I'll take a shot at why social networks think they could monetize that real estate: because they're offering a rich experience for consumers at no charge, and to keep delivering it they need to make money. Just like the TV networks your company has paid billions to over the years.

"I think when we call it 'consumer-generated media,' we're being predatory. Who said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren't trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody ..."

Ted, if I found a way to put the Preparation H logo on your Charmin toilet paper (Hey, there's an idea!), it would be media. Consider Facebook ads: It's media that's bought and sold, and they have inventory. And why should we even debate whether Facebook is appropriate and viable for advertisers? Shouldn't they just test it and let consumers vote with their dollars?

"So the targeting is fanstastic. You can really do amazing things. But I'm not so sure I want to be targeted like that ... I don't think everything every consumer says to someone else and writes down is somehow monetizable by the media industry."

OK, but since you also alluded to the shortcomings of "spray and pray" advertising (something your employer's done a bit of in the past), why not embrace permission-based advertising that respects consumers' privacy limits while cutting waste by being more relevant?

What do Freaking Marketing readers think?

Guess Who MarketingSherpa Considers Poster Boys for Web 2.0 Lead Gen?

Check out this article from MarketingSherpa's "Great Minds" series on the ABCs of Web 2.0 lead generation. Get the lowdown on how our direct marketing shop uses a four-pronged social media strategy that combines Facebook (our young group "What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution" already has 1,350 members, including "living legend" Joe Sugarman), LinkedIn, Twitter, and yes, the good old Freaking Marketing blog (subscribe by adding your email address in the upper right and you're guaranteed a spot in marketing heaven).

The secret to juggling all those social media balls? Don't sleep.

What are you doing on the social media end of things? Share your experiences in "Comments."

P.S. MarketingSherpa is maintaining open access (I think that means no sign-in required to view the article) until August 5.

Measuring Profits from Social Media: a 60-Second Seminar

Forget what you've heard. It's not impossible to measure the value of customer relationships that originate in social media.

Example: Let's say you add a comment to Freaking Marketing, and it's the first time we've had any contact. Prior to seeing your comment, we had no record of you in the Mothers of Invention database. 

Three months after your comment appears, you become a client, and you remain on our roster for four years.

If I add up all revenues from our relationship, plus revenues from all other clients who arrive via Freaking Marketing, and subtract the real costs of this labor of love, I'll have a profit figure.   

What do ya think?

Social Networking Explained in a Ha-Ha Sorta Way

Confused by all this social networking stuff? Check out Trendspotting with Demetri Martin, from Comedy Central.

The Web 2.0 Bubble Song is Sweeping the Nation

Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration -- but it's rising like a rocket on Digg.

Sung to the tune of We Didn't Start the Fire, the Bubble Song was written and performed by a group of San Francisco area businessmen known as The Richter Scales. One is a Pixar technical director. Another is CEO of an Internet startup called Emode.

They're available for public and private performances throughout the Bay Area. Catch their holiday show on December 14 at Noe Valley Ministry in San Francisco. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it. I'll be hammering away at my non-musical keyboard at the Mill in Maynard.

Watch the video and let us know if you think there's a Web 2.0 bubble.

You're Live On the Air with NowLive

With NowLive, you host your own live call-in show via the World Wide Web.

You're able to take callers, share media, run live chats, and basically have a blast.

Jessica Buttafuoco (Joey's upstanding daughter) has a show, so you know this is fascinating stuff.

Don't see a concrete business benefit? That's what people said when terrestrial radio was introduced.

Stay tuned.

A Facebook Group For Direct Marketers Who Dare To Be Great

The first Facebook group for non-mediocre direct marketing practitioners just went live. Click here to become a charter member of What I Saw at the Direct Marketing Revolution (if you're not a Facebook member you'll need to register, but it'll be worth it). Hope to see you contributing awesome stuff.