Waking up at the crack of dawn after Thanksgiving to save on a new flatscreen has become almost as much a holiday tradition as a plateful of turkey and mashed potatoes. And this past Black Friday was one of the most aggressive in marketing history. Stores even began opening their doors on “Black Eve,” meaning stores opened at midnight on the night of Thanksgiving. Now we have to ask ourselves…is this crossing the line? Is it asking too much to have salespeople come in for shift on Thanksgiving and work through the night so the Black Friday shoppers can get a head start on camping out for sales? (more…)
Month: November 2011
The Lake and Stars Campaign Takes Things Too Far…
Call me a prude, but I’m really disgusted by the Lake And Stars lingerie ad campaign featuring a mom and daughter in sexually provocative poses…together!
The Lake and Stars Fall/winter lingerie campaign broke this Fall and is getting some negative press, for good reason. Obviously appealing to a younger audience, it saddens me that they have stooped to a new low and demeaned the mother-daughter relationship by putting them in these sexually provocative photos. I love the quote from the owner of Lake and Stars, Maayan Zilberman, as it relates to the negative feedback they are receiving from the campaign, “We’re surprised that people are reacting with such violently negative connotations such as incest, given that we were only making light of a healthy, beautiful relationship between two women…” Here’s a news flash Ms. Zilberman, it’s not just two women—it is a mother and her daughter. Do the right thing here and listen to consumers. Pull the ads and admit you went over the line. (more…)
Content is King: If it’s worthwhile to read, it’s worthwhile to click
With new algorithms constantly being generated by search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing everyday, generating new content has never ever been more critical to upping your website’s ranking on a search engine results page (SERP). Sure you can fire out a trillion spam messages all over the web, but don’t expect such an ill-inspired idea to work anymore. 
Crawlers are catching on. Actually they’ve already caught on, and it’s harder to post spam and easier than ever to get it down. Not to mention, consumers hate it. Meaning once they see that fake posting for a free cruise on their favorite forum, they will associate hatred with the culprit of that spam (hatred may be a strong work, but you get the point).
Now, a digital marketing strategy that does work is spending more time generating interesting content. The consumer doesn’t want to be tricked; they want to be entertained and informed. Marketing agencies are retargeting their efforts and hiring specialized writers to generate a web presence that drives traffic instead of wasting space.
Besides spam, another thing search engines are picking up on is top topics, frequently visited content and viral buzz. With that being recognized….engaging, informative and attractive copy is the mainstay of all websites that have managed to maintain their great SERPs. It’s a given that every business’ website should be well written and provide the information and insight that visitors want to see. But to get people there, we need to place a higher focus on generating REAL buzz through can’t-tear-my-eyes-away-from-the-screen-press releases, blogs, social media and directory submissions. A keyword thrown into a meaningless blasé post isn’t going to get clicked on, sorry to break it to you. But a keyword incorporated into a gripping, informative post just might do the trick.
Generating material that people want to read consistently, helps your following. Consumers will position you as a thought leader—witty, interesting, maybe even a little out there, but at least they are coming back for extra helpings of what you’re dishing out.
So, if you’re serious about getting that click-through rate up or a higher spot on the SERP, it’s time to focus on purposeful posting. Just because something is posted on the internet doesn’t mean it needs to be any less poignant than print content. Content is king.