Quality vs. quantity:
Sustainable social media strategy
[By David Reis, founder and CEO of social media agency DEI Worldwide. Originally posted in Promo Magazine.]
A client recently told me they wanted 500,000 “Fans” on Facebook by the end of the year. When I asked them why, they just looked at me blankly. When I pushed, they just hemmed and hawed—ending up mumbling something like, “it is a good round number.”
When I further pushed to ask what they wanted to do with all those fans, and if they were prepared to spend the significant budget to manage a community of that size—”You’re going to have to have lots of conversations with them, you realize.”
They recoiled with alarm—“I thought social media was free!”
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Insider’s tips: How to execute a great photo shoot:
Photo shoots can be a cost effective way to update your existing marketing materials. But the key to making your photo shoot a resounding success – whether it’s in the studio or on location – is planning ahead. Creative direction should be established long before the photo shoot takes place.
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The proof(ing) is in the pudding:
(Or, the sweet victory of error-free work)
“I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma.
In the afternoon I put it back again.”
- Oscar Wilde
While we don’t generally spend an entire day contemplating a single comma, the importance of proofreading cannot be understated. Here are a few of our tried-and-true tips for successful proofing.
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What matters most when selecting an agency:
CMOs, use your intuition and get to know shops well
[Borrowed from Avi Dan, published: August 25, 2010]
One of the most important decisions a CMO makes is agency selection.
These days, client-agency relationships fray faster than ever. They last, on average, only three years. This harmful churn reflects growing pressure on CMOs to deliver short-term results in a tough environment. Marketing is scrutinized around the clock, and CMOs face a vastly more complex, multiplatform ecosystem. Even the communications model was turned on its head as the consumer seized control of it. This upheaval makes agency selection more difficult than ever. More than half of agency reviews backfire within a few years.
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We don’t do spec:
Why Mindpower doesn’t do speculative work and why you shouldn’t either
[Borrowed and edited a wee bit, yet strongly believed, from Cam Foote, editor Creative Business]
The main product of our business is our “mindpower” — creative solutions to the issues and opportunities facing our clients and prospects. And, good ideas — creativity — can be tough to define, or agree upon.
One person’s passion is often another’s poison. So, it’s no wonder that potential clients often ask us to take a project on speculation. That is: To “test” our creative product in much the same way they may try out other types of products before purchasing.
Unfortunately, we must turn down such projects. This article may explain why NOT doing spec work actually makes us a better, more stable and reliable partner for whom to do business.
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