Infomercial Twittering - The Long and Short of It
Q:How can micro-blogging enhance my DRTV marketing efforts? A:The June ERA webinar "Top Five Keys to Twitter Retail Success" is a must-see presentation for anyone with deep roots in infomercial marketing.
Presenter Randy Price explained how micro-blogging offers several opportunities for brand building and commerce, each of them premised on engaging consumers in real conversation.
Most encouraging, Dell-which alerts followers to hot deals by micro-blogging-made over $3 million via Twitter by June.
My previous speculations about Twitter's potential have been grounded in the bottom-line practicality that drives most DRTV campaign decisions.
And indeed, Price confirmed that micro-blogging expands your arenas for personalizing customer service, conducting pre-qualified focus groups and serving as a means to sell products on cell phones.
But for DRTV practitioners, these uses are secondary to the "real" messaging-long-form programs and one- and two-minute spots.
Are there any marketing techniques more diametrically opposed than half-hour commercials and 140-character messages? The math is amusing.
It's been said that 140 characters create about 25 words and can be spoken in about 10 seconds.
If you believe as I do that the more you tell, the more you sell, your Twitter channel will be selling with one keyboard tied behind its view screen.
Why bother? DRTV vets are a features/benefits-obsessed bunch, but we prefer them to be plain to see.
While it may be that nothing that fits on a cell-phone screen is plain to see without squinting, Twitter may offer some valuable meta-benefits.
Yes, there's more! oIf seen as a sales channel, micro-blogging will be an additional sales channel-one that enables incremental sales.
As audiences shrink for traditional media formats, the best way to recapture TV expatriates is to track them down where they've moved.
Twitter is one of those places.
oTo thrive as a sales channel, you must persuade fellow tweeters to follow and find you.
Price offered several suggestions for building an audience, which fundamentally boils down to this: be interesting and be relevant.
It's equal parts effort and opportunity.
Twitter is new, and best practices are evolving.
Helping define them requires innovation, and thus sharpens your creative staff's skill set.
oIf campaigning for the imaginary title of "The Soul of Wit," brevity is an excellent option.
If campaigning for improved sales upon Twitter, it's pretty much mandatory.
Pitching products in 140 characters or less demands a pithy presentation of product benefits.
In other words, you need a unique selling proposition.
Creating sales-minded tweets requires your creative team to conjure a memorable "just set it and forget it" for every product you pitch.
Not everyone remembers to devise such a slogan for traditional DRTV shows and spots, but they should.
So start to tweet; new sales may be sweet!
Presenter Randy Price explained how micro-blogging offers several opportunities for brand building and commerce, each of them premised on engaging consumers in real conversation.
Most encouraging, Dell-which alerts followers to hot deals by micro-blogging-made over $3 million via Twitter by June.
My previous speculations about Twitter's potential have been grounded in the bottom-line practicality that drives most DRTV campaign decisions.
And indeed, Price confirmed that micro-blogging expands your arenas for personalizing customer service, conducting pre-qualified focus groups and serving as a means to sell products on cell phones.
But for DRTV practitioners, these uses are secondary to the "real" messaging-long-form programs and one- and two-minute spots.
Are there any marketing techniques more diametrically opposed than half-hour commercials and 140-character messages? The math is amusing.
It's been said that 140 characters create about 25 words and can be spoken in about 10 seconds.
If you believe as I do that the more you tell, the more you sell, your Twitter channel will be selling with one keyboard tied behind its view screen.
Why bother? DRTV vets are a features/benefits-obsessed bunch, but we prefer them to be plain to see.
While it may be that nothing that fits on a cell-phone screen is plain to see without squinting, Twitter may offer some valuable meta-benefits.
Yes, there's more! oIf seen as a sales channel, micro-blogging will be an additional sales channel-one that enables incremental sales.
As audiences shrink for traditional media formats, the best way to recapture TV expatriates is to track them down where they've moved.
Twitter is one of those places.
oTo thrive as a sales channel, you must persuade fellow tweeters to follow and find you.
Price offered several suggestions for building an audience, which fundamentally boils down to this: be interesting and be relevant.
It's equal parts effort and opportunity.
Twitter is new, and best practices are evolving.
Helping define them requires innovation, and thus sharpens your creative staff's skill set.
oIf campaigning for the imaginary title of "The Soul of Wit," brevity is an excellent option.
If campaigning for improved sales upon Twitter, it's pretty much mandatory.
Pitching products in 140 characters or less demands a pithy presentation of product benefits.
In other words, you need a unique selling proposition.
Creating sales-minded tweets requires your creative team to conjure a memorable "just set it and forget it" for every product you pitch.
Not everyone remembers to devise such a slogan for traditional DRTV shows and spots, but they should.
So start to tweet; new sales may be sweet!
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