Our predictions, in no particular order:

1) Corporations try to attract and retain loyal customers by marketing to the individual, not a market. Digital marketing and NFC devices make this reality easier, and companies evaluate strategies that leverage different social media channels, devices, and apps.

2) Marketing and IT departments become more integrated. Digital marketing and analytics have become essential to tracking and measurement, not just for marketing campaigns but as bellwethers of company success. Could a Marketing IT department be far off?

3) Better use of social media to convey company character and values. It used to be Price, Product, Place, Promotion. Now add to that Personality. When all else is equal, consumers prefer to buy from a brand that shares their values and presents an engaging personality.

4) Marketing gets real time. Instead of, or as well as, the traditional planned annual campaigns, brands will develop the capabilities to launch opportunistic campaigns that capitalize/respond to social media buzz—or lose out to their more agile competitors.

5) Marketing departments outsource more content development and curation. As competition for mindspace in the digital world keeps getting worse, quality and credibility matter more and more. And it takes more effort than internal resources can manage. Time to build a freelance team.  (See our blog post on the Digital Slush Pile.)

6) Companies adopt a focused approach to social media. Companies who decide to take social media seriously will do so by investing in the few that matter to their audience, and which are appropriate for their brand. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the number of channels out there, CMOs take a step back and assess where to focus their digital marketing efforts instead of diluting their brand across the Internet.

7) eBooks take it up a notch with rich media. The technology is ripe, and now with Apple leading the charge, textbooks go digital and more eBooks go multimedia, thanks to enhancements in tablets.

8) Gamification inside the corporation for training and motivation. For a generation of employees brought up on video games, it’s a natural evolution to take training courses or work on tasks that score points—on the job.

9) Intuitive user experience design know-how enters the list of most-wanted skills. With more technology that combines multiple functions into a single device, successful brands are the ones who can create a user experience for every device and app that allows consumers without previous digital knowledge to just pick up, use, and enjoy.

10) NFC gains traction. Retailers and advertisers find creative ways to deployment near field communications in ways that create more consumer intimacy. (See our NFC blog series.)

11) A new appreciation for content curation. Content, content everywhere but not from anyone who thinks. Or as the song goes, “fifty-seven channels and nothin’ on”. A jaded Internet audience seeks out sites that feature credible sources and well-written analyses that explain what’s really going on (closely related to #5).

12) Game theory gets real for retail. Bricks and mortar shops haven’t been able to track how visitors travel through their stores the way their digital competitors can. Companies such as LightHaus VCI use mathematical methods to analyze video footage taken inside stores. Heat maps and other data inform companies about shopper behaviour and where to improve customer engagement. The real borrows from the virtual.

Literary agents have a name for the thousands of manuscripts that come through their door each day from hopeful authors. It’s called the “slush pile”. The agent’s job is to read through that slush pile and pick out the few that are worth taking to market. Thus, when we read a book, we trust there has been some quality control. Similarly, when a reputable newspaper prints an article, we trust the editor has checked facts and news sources; furthermore, he has curated the information by giving prominence to the article based on his assessment of its newsworthiness.

On the Internet, anyone can blog, tweet, and YouTube. As a result, the content out there is the digital equivalent of a huge slush pile, all of it competing for attention from your target audience. What can you do to increase the success of your content marketing efforts?

Why Bother with Content Marketing?

If you want to be successful with content marketing, you have to believe that it will work. More to the point, you need to believe that it is necessary to your overall marketing strategy. Whenever consumers have the choice, they shut out traditional marketing. They ignore magazine ads, use PVRs to skip TV commercials, and mentally edit out banner ads on web pages. They don’t want to be pitched in an intrusive way, but they do want information that helps them make good decisions. Content marketing delivers intelligent, useful information in a digestible, consistent, and free format. In return, we hope our audience rewards us with their trust and their business.

Consider this. According to a study from the Custom Publishing Council and Roper Public Affairs:

• 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement.
• 70% say content marketing makes them feel closer to the sponsoring company.
• 60% say that company content helps them make better product decisions.

Not only that, but in a January 2012 survey of more than 1,000 marketing professionals, the Content Marketing Institute found that on average, 60% of participants had plans to increase their content marketing budgets in 2012. What’s striking about the results is that they represented a fairly even distribution of company sizes:

• 25% – micro (fewer than 10 employees)
• 29% – small (10-99 employees)
• 21% – mid-size (100-999 employees)
• 25% – large (1000+ employees)

Is Content Marketing Just Blogs and Social Media?

Nope. Done right, content marketing is something that permeates every communication with your target audience. Businesses are incorporating content marketing into:

• Articles
• Blogs
• Case studies
• Digital magazines
• eBooks
• eNewsletters
• Microsites
• Mobile content
• Podcasts
• Print magazines
• Print newsletters
• Social media (other than blogs)
• Trade shows/exhibitions
• Videos
• Webinars/webcasts
• White papers
• Product packaging
• … and more

If you are thinking “wow, this would change how we do marketing”, you’re right. To get successful results from content marketing, you really do have to think differently. You need to think like the editor of an omni-media company, with a variety of “channels” as listed above. The good news is that there’s so much bad content marketing out there, if you are able to deliver and promote consistently high quality content, you can be more successful than your competitors at this game.

Content marketing is about relationship-building, and relationships require trust. You don’t need a huge budget. Creativity, quality, and professionalism can take you a long way—that, and understanding what interests your customer outside of your specific product or service.

• What underlying problems are we trying to solve for the customer?
• How can we complement this information?
• Do they have, or aspire to, a certain lifestyle?
• Is their industry or technology sector in flux?

If you run an organic food delivery service, you may want to write about issues with genetically modified foods, provide recipes, sustainable fishing practices, or how you support urban gardens in poor inner-city neighbourhoods. If you sell financial services, provide links to government web pages about RRSPs and TFSAs and write up some case studies about financial makeovers.

Think Like a Managing Editor

How can you support your business goals through content marketing? The scope of your content marketing efforts depends on your business, communications channels, budget, target audience, and dozens of other parameters that you understand better than I do. At the same time, there are some tasks common to any marketing team who wants to integrate content marketing into the company’s campaigns.

Develop the messages. A managing editor is responsible for articulating the messages to communicate and drive business goals. The goal(s) could be: brand awareness, lead generation/customer acquisition, thought leadership, or increased website traffic. The messages you develop go to the top of every creative brief you hand out to writers and your social media community manager.

Develop the plan. You also need to determine when, where, and how to disseminate these messages through the various “channels”.  An editorial calendar, which lists the content you will feature on each channel, each week or month, is a great way to organize a plan. Try and schedule out a year’s worth of content. Good writing takes time and research, so give your team enough lead time.

Remember to insert internal and external events such as trade shows or product launches so that you can schedule content to support them. An editorial calendar is flexible, so feel free to tweak it in response to customer or company needs, so long as you maintain a consistent schedule. Think of how you always turn to your favourite newspaper column—you want your audience to do the same.

Each piece of content requires a purpose as well as a message.  Develop more detailed briefs for your content developers. Quality content requires time and research, and in the online world, you also need compelling graphics to convey information. You also need to promote the content once it goes out the door.  Work with your team to determine what each piece will need in terms of:

• Content. What is the key message? What information need does it fulfill for the customer? How does it support our business goals? What is the call to action (if any)?
• Design. What images or infographics should accompany the piece? How should it be laid out?
• Promotion. How do we let the world know? How do we alert bloggers and industry analysts?
• Network. Can we use this piece to collect comments, friends, followers, or emails? How can we monitor response?

Hire Professional Content Developers

The same survey from the Content Marketing Institute found that the biggest challenge for marketing departments is “producing the kind of content that engages prospects and customers”. When you make a commitment to content marketing, you need to commit time, budget, and resources.

Your content development needs to be handled by trained writers, graphics designers, and videographers, under the direction of Marketing. Each piece needs review, editing, and proofreading. Poor logic, bad sentence structure, and spelling mistakes will not advance your goal of being the experts that customers should come to for products and services.

Measure Results

One of the calls-to-action you should almost always include in your offline content is a way to link to your website. The reason is simple: you need to measure results over time, and one of the easiest metrics to capture is web traffic.

• Take baseline measurements of traffic. You can look at before/after statistics and also see how was traffic referred to your site.
• Create landing pages. Where appropriate, specific landing pages that support the referring content piece can increase conversion.
• Set up conversion funnels using analytics. You can track which pages visitors click on and help you determine the effectiveness of your web presence.

If you have social media channels, you can also collect online metrics. Traditional surveys are also useful for measuring engagement effectiveness. For example, between customers who receive your eNewsletter and those who do not, what is the awareness level of your newest product?

“Over time” is the key word because building relationships take time. So start now! Once you establish yourself as a source of helpful information, your target audience will also think of you as a trusted source for products and services.

When every major brand has a Facebook page and a community manager who monitors tweets, it’s time to recognize that social media has become mainstream.  Marketing departments who want to attract and retain followers must dial up the volume to get noticed by social media users.

Remember the days when a website was just an online version of your print brochures? Now websites must capture attention, deliver a constant supply of useful content to their customers, and work hard behind-the-scenes to collect data.  Good online campaigns drive visitors to a website for proof and measurement of a campaign’s success.

The same goes for social media. A simple Facebook page is old hat. Your campaigns must engage, amuse, and assist your customers before they’re willing to share their social network with you.  Many companies with Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook already know that in order to make a difference to their businesses, they need to take the next leap and treat social media as a communications channel, not just an advertising spot.  Here’s what we’re seeing:

Customer loyalty programs tied to social media. Starting in 2010, Tasti-D-Lite customers who engaged in social media about their experience got more reward points than those who just swiped their loyalty cards at checkout. The franchise makes it easy to be social. After customers link their cards to their social profile, each card swipe at the Tasti-D-Lite checkout automatically generates Facebook and Twitter messages, and signs them in to Foursquare. The idea is spreading to other loyalty programs.

Social mixes it up in the real world. The best social media campaigns have always included an offline component, whether it’s a party game (see our TM Events blog post) or the integration of RFID wristbands with Facebook at the Coca-Cola Village Amusement Park. These successes will spur more creative cross-media social experiences.

More gaming embedded into social. You can’t say it was unexpected. Brands know it’s hard to get your attention, so they are building social apps with game-like qualities – and the rewards are for participation.

Conversational content accelerates. That initial engagement can’t be expected to provide enough momentum to retain your followers.  Companies are running contests, launching interesting discussion topics, soliciting feedback, or offering free video content, apps, and games – all of which keeps the conversation going. Some companies already use Twitter in their support group as a way to carry on real-time discussions with customers. Engagement is not enough. Brands need conversation – and that’s a two-way street.

Social media measures ROI. Consider the Tasti-D-Lite campaign. Imagine the data the franchise now collects that they can use when analyzing their business. They can verify absolutely the number of swipes, tweets, and posts, and tie them to sales figures. Plus, over time those statistics can provide a more complete picture of social media’s contribution to business goals. Consider something else: if a campaign is designed to collect user opinions in real-time via Facebook polls and other social channels, it’s a lot more cost-effective than spending money on formal research.

It’s clear that some companies have made the decision to stake out the social media territory with innovative campaigns that put them ahead of their competitors. What’s holding back those other companies?

Lack of social media knowledge at the top. Social media and corporate image are now inextricably bound. Chances are that in most medium-large organizations, it’s the younger members of the team who use social media daily and understand about personal branding and social media etiquette. That being said, social savvy does not equal years of experience with brand strategy, product lines, or overall marketing strategy. CMOs and Marketing VPs are still the ones who carry the responsibility for the success of social media campaigns, so if you haven’t taken a course in digital marketing yet, that’s a good New Year’s resolution to put on the To Do list. At the very least, invest 2 days to find out how social media works and what’s possible.

Lack of IT resources. More than ever, Marketing needs support from IT. Social media is real time and marketing campaigns must respond in an agile way. But for many organizations, IT constraints put the brakes on their ability to take advantage of opportunities or to counter bad PR in a timely manner. Furthermore, IT has to follow procedures to ensure compliance with corporate security and privacy regulations. Marketing and IT need to work together to create a framework that recognizes the cross-disciplinary requirements of a digital marketing world. This may require a push from the top.

Lack of marketing resources. A community manager for social media. A content developer or three. Some creative types who can work with both traditional and online media. A digital marketing guru who can put together a campaign. Start recruiting. Or find some experts for hire.

The bottom line? Creativity and knowledge help design campaigns that meet business goals. Make it your 2012 goal to dial it up for social media.

Social Media Policy

When to Create a Policy

You need a social media policy when:

• Your company deploys a social media strategy. Your social media policy must be referenced when you are drafting plans for content marketing, escalation procedures, approval procedures, and a company spokesperson.
• Your employees are active on personal social media. Your social media policy will provide best practices and define parameters for how they can talk about the company.Remember though, it’s not all about mitigating risk and crisis management. A social media policy is very helpful when employees want to promote your brand. After all, social media is about sharing information. In the absence of such guidance, the most well-meaning intentions will sometimes backfire.

What a Policy Looks Like

There is no set format for a social media policy. You may only need a few specific statements about social media added to your employee handbook and confidentiality agreement. Or you might want a separate document that explicitly states your social media guidelines.

Fortunately, you don’t need to start from scratch. The Social Media Governance website has compiled a list of social media policy examples from over 100 different organizations. (No matter which one you use as the basis for your policy, a lawyer should review the document—especially if you are a public company.)

A simple and short policy is best, like this draft social media policy. However, if your policy is longer than a couple of pages, consider the format of the document. A general policy statement followed by bulleted key points is easy to read. You can also append an FAQ with examples of situations and best practices to further clarify topics.

What to Include in a Policy

Online content goes into the public domain, just like press releases or marketing collateral. Therefore, a social media policy should explicitly state that it applies to online platforms (social networks, blogs, wikis, and multimedia sites) for both professional and personal use.

Full disclosure is important, not just for the company’s sake but for the employee’s credibility online. Unless their job responsibilities include contributing to the company’s online presence, employees need to avoid the appearance of being an official company spokesperson.

Here are some basic guidelines:

• Employees must adhere to copyright and privacy laws and should not disclose confidential or proprietary information about the company or its partners and clients.

• Company logos and trademarks can only be used with permission and must conform to the corporate style guide.

• Employees must clearly identify themselves as employees of the company whenever they post or comment on any aspect of company business.

• Employees must clearly separate their personal views from those of the company; a simple disclaimer such as “The views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of MyCompanyName” is sufficient.

Many companies manage risk by asking or requiring employees to submit content for approval before posting about the company or industry. Some companies reserve the right to have employees avoid certain topics and remove inappropriate comments and posts. Although this sounds rigid, most employees welcome the guidance; they want to promote the company brand and avoid making statements that could create issues.

How to Implement a Policy

Once your policy is finished, appoint some staff members as the go-to people for social media questions. Then make the policy available to your employees, and let them know there has been a change to the employee agreement they signed when they joined the company.

You may want to educate them on best practices for social media—not just to clarify the policy but to ensure they understand social media privacy and security settings. Help them protect their families and their own privacy, as well as your company.

The best approach is to regard the social media policy as a document that enables rather than restricts. Social media has the potential to create a community around your brand and employees are part of that community. They can be your best advocates because they contribute insights, technical expertise, and business contacts. Make sure they receive the guidance they need to express their views confidently in the world of social media.

Note: While this post offers information on creating a social media policy, it should not be construed as legal advice.

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/social-media-policy-essentials/feed/ 1 http://marketingsmartt.com/blog-your-way-to-success/ http://marketingsmartt.com/blog-your-way-to-success/#comments Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:41:57 +0000 Martin Wong http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=5212 read more >>]]>

We always recommend blogging to our clients because it delivers proven results. A good blog increases credibility with your target audience by positioning you as an expert in the field. In addition, blogging helps your SEO results, social media visibility, and increases website visits. It’s an essential component of digital marketing.

As a result, clients frequently ask us, “How should we blog? What are some best practices when it comes to blogging?”

The best business blogs provide regular, valuable information to their target audience. This means you need to determine:

• Who are you writing for?
• What topics will you write about that will keep readers coming back?
• How often will you blog?


Who are you writing for?

Your target audience affects everything from writing style to content decisions. Think of your audience as a community of potential buyers and influencers. Are they graphics designers, operations managers, or personnel departments? Think of the way they talk and use language. The best writing style is one that is friendly and conversational but slightly more formal in tone. A conversational style makes you sound approachable, but adopting a slightly more formal tone conveys a professional image. Write in a way that makes people want to do business with you.

While you should feel free to use slang and other expressions common to that industry, you still need to write a well-structured piece to get your message (and professionalism) across. Also remember that your community includes people who are new to the industry or are looking for information. It’s best to include brief explanations or links to information if you are covering a topic that requires some background knowledge. Don’t assume that everyone knows that an acronym refers to; write the whole expression first followed by the acronym. For example, once you have written “search engine optimization (SEO)” you can use SEO for the rest of the blog post.

For more ideas on writing for your audience, check out this post.

What topics will you write about?

Whether your business sells to consumers or other companies, your blog exists to support your marketing strategy. Are you trying to increase sales, build brand awareness, or communicate with customers, partners and vendors?  Your content (and writing style) should strive to establish thought leadership, provide guidance, and comment on the latest trends in the industry. Content marketing is all about building credibility through sharing expertise. Avoid selling yourself. Think of topics and advice that your audience would find compelling—it’s about them, not you.

One of the best ways to come up with content for your blog is to brainstorm with your team on a regular basis and develop an editorial calendar that spans three to six months. Decide on the “stories”, the key message for each, and who will write them. This allows writers enough lead time to deliver quality content. Find images for each post to add appeal. Finally, it’s a good idea to assign an editor who proofreads all the posts before they go online and tweaks them for a consistent “voice”.

This ensures a blog filled with:

• A variety of topics (to avoid repetition).
• Posts written by different individuals (to make your business look bigger).
• Core issues (to establish credibility in your chosen field).

How can you come up with some compelling blog ideas?

• Interview clients or leaders in your industry.
• Brainstorm “How to” articles.
• Collect industry statistics and consider the reasons behind them.
• Review industry news, new products and services, business books.
• Feature a successful customer project as a mini-case study.
• Use lists: “Top 10 Reasons Why …”, “Best Sources for …”, “5 Good Ways to …”
• Answer customer questions using quick tutorials.

For more blogging ideas, read this post.

How often should you blog?

There’s no getting away from it—blogging requires an investment in time and writing, especially from the subject matter experts in your company. And once you start, you must stick with it because nothing looks sadder than an out-of-date blog; it looks like you’ve given up on your business.

Posts should be regular and frequent. I feel that once a month is the minimum for keeping up appearances, but consistency is the key, whether it’s daily, weekly, or monthly. Choose a schedule and commit to it.

Whatever the frequency, get the most out of each post by ensuring your social media is integrated with your blog. Your Twitter and Facebook updates should include a link to your newest blog post. You want people to share, tweet, re-tweet, and link to your blog.

Blogs can seem lighthearted and spontaneous, but in practice they need a lot of planning and fresh content if they are to contribute effectively to your overall marketing plan. That is still the main goal of any marketing professional: to execute on a marketing plan that reaches the right target audience.

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/blog-your-way-to-success/feed/ 1 http://marketingsmartt.com/what-is-nfc-advertising/ http://marketingsmartt.com/what-is-nfc-advertising/#comments Thu, 27 Oct 2011 19:31:32 +0000 ray.silva http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=5166 read more >>]]> Near Field Communication Series (Part 1 of 2)

The Promise of One-to-One Marketing

In a world of hype and unfulfilled potential, near field communication (NFC) devices and apps are making a strong case for going mainstream with a new class of services.  With 1.3 billion Internet users worldwide and companies such as Google, Apple, and RIM working on NFC-based tools and services, marketing professionals need to keep an eye on developments in this area.


What is NFC?

Near field communication (NFC) allows short-distance (“near field”), encrypted wireless data exchange for transactions and data communications between devices that are touching or in close proximity of less than 20 centimeters. Two NFC-enabled devices can exchange information or launch applications by simply touching with a tap or being close together.

Many smartphones already contain NFC chips, and while these are still early days for the technology, applications developers and retailers are betting that consumers will want the convenience of tapping and pointing their way to product information, discount coupons, file sharing, electronic business card exchange, gaming, Wi-Fi connections, routers, mobile payments, and much more.

While NFC sounds similar to Bluetooth for short-range communication, NFC is faster than Bluetooth; this matters because we have become an impatient society with a short attention span.  NFC devices don’t need passwords or pairing or waiting—they will automatically establish connection within 0.1 seconds—making NFC more appealing when you want to respond as soon as a customer taps for more information or gets within range of your promotion.



What are NFC Devices?

NFC hardware fall into two categories: NFC-enabled devices and NFC tags.

NFC devices have more intelligence and can exchange data with other NFC devices. Point-of-sale terminals, ticket readers, and other e-commerce equipment can be NFC-enabled to read or exchange information from another NFC device. The smartphone will be the NFC device of choice for consumers; airlines are already looking at using phones as boarding passes to reduce check-in delays, while transportation and entertainment venues are experimenting with NFC for ticketing.

NFC tags are passive and store data that can be read by an NFC-enabled device. Tags do not require batteries so they are ideal for retail posters or displays, providing information on-the-spot to shoppers. NFC tags and cards are technically the same, but cards may contain additional technology to secure data.



More Compelling Customer Interactions

In the world of retail and advertising, some see QR codes as the predecessor of NFC, a way to integrate digital with print media and link instantly to web content. QR codes, however, require the user’s active participation to initiate the interaction by scanning the code.

Like QR codes, NFC-enabled devices can connect consumers in the real world to digital marketing content. In addition, devices can exchange information quickly and automatically when they are in close proximity. This allows retailers proactive marketing opportunities such as offering daily deals or delivering product information as a shopper browses near an item.

Furthermore, since NFC is two-way, a consumer’s smartphone can download a discount coupon or an electronic ticket, and then “use” the coupon by touching the phone to an NFC-enabled cash register or ticket reader. Using a NFC-enabled mobile payment service, the consumer also can purchase the product on-the-spot, for a closed-loop shopping experience that requires very few steps from the user.

Better Data for One-to-One Marketing

This seamless experience between digital and physical worlds has benefits to the retailer beyond improving the customer experience. A competitive retail environment has stores vying for customer loyalty, and now the Holy Grail of marketing is to target individual consumers rather than a consumer demographic.

Shopper interaction via NFC provides the retailer with data to reward frequent shoppers, recommend new items based on previous purchases, or give a thank-you coupon to a new customer.  Retailers would be able to track the success of offers and refine their marketing and promotions to woo buyers in a way that builds brand loyalty and increases sales.

From a marketing perspective, data from NFC-enabled applications is a gold mine. This kind of business intelligence adds to the richness and accuracy of databases with information that provides both broad and extremely granular views of the target audience. NFC brings businesses closer to true one-to-one marketing, and if your business is quick to adopt this new technology, you may see some amazing possibilities.

Next month our  NFC series will continue with an in-depth look at usage examples of NFC.

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/what-is-nfc-advertising/feed/ 0 http://marketingsmartt.com/supporting_the_written_word/ http://marketingsmartt.com/supporting_the_written_word/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 07:29:49 +0000 Martin Wong http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=5056



On October 22, twenty-six emerging writers will take the stage at SFU Woodwards. These students, from SFU’s The Writer’s Studio program, have just published a student anthology, emerge 2011, and are launching the book with readings from their works of fiction, poetry and lyric prose, and creative non-fiction.

MarketingSmartt is proud to be a corporate sponsor of this event. We have a passion for communication. We help clients communicate their brand, benefits, and values. We communicate these messages through social media campaigns, email, or a great website. In an age of increased digital communication, the written word matters more than ever.

When any person with an opinion can publish online, quality content lifts worthwhile reading above the digital slush pile. While tweets and texts may dominate the airwaves, it is still the well-honed sentence that slices through our consciousness. Good writing will always find its audience.

TWS poetry and lyric prose student Meg Torwl agrees. With an established career in photography, video, radio, and new media, she still works hard to master the “old” medium of writing.

“It’s about finding the right medium for each story,” she says. “Whether a poem, photograph, video, radio, or live performance, the skills of narrative, pattern recognition, dissonance, editing are the same in each media.  Writing is the backbone of all arts. I often include poetry in radio, video, live performance, and at exhibition openings. TWS teaches you everything – from creative and technical aspects, to trusting your instincts, ergonomics of writing, getting published, networking and readings.”

What draws students to TWS is the way the program addresses all the needs of a writer.

“I was attracted to the well-rounded blend of individual courses,” says fiction student Claire De Boer, ”from how to workshop your prose to navigating today’s publishing world. Few creative writing programs offer an opportunity to work in a one-one-one setting with a mentor. This feedback is invaluable. The program also places great emphasis on community and I knew this would be critical to my writing journey.”

The notion of community underscores The Writer’s Studio, which encourages participation in literary events and public readings.

“Writing is a solitary pursuit,” says Carol Tulpar, creative non-fiction. “We need to meet readers and hear what they have to say about our work. We also need the fellowship of other writers, who can articulate their sense of what needs work, regardless of their own genres. TWS founder Betsy Warland says ‘To write is to enter public space’. The opportunity to gauge audience response to my work has been priceless, both within the workshop setting and in our public readings.”

In the past, MarketingSmartt has supported charities, such as A Loving Spoonful and the Union Gospel Mission, which feed our community. We support The Writer’s Studio because the arts also feed our community.



Register to attend the emerge 2011 Student Anthology book launch and reading. Admission is by donation.
Copies of the anthology available for purchase at the event, the SFU Bookstore at Harbour Centre, or by contacting: twsinfo@sfu.ca

Tweet and post about the TWS emerge 2011 event



Chat about the event live on Twitter:  #TWSEMERGE2011



Join the discussion on the TWS Facebook page

Find out more about The Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/supporting_the_written_word/feed/ 0 http://marketingsmartt.com/facebook-privacy-no-more-games-of-tag/ http://marketingsmartt.com/facebook-privacy-no-more-games-of-tag/#comments Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:13:02 +0000 Martin Wong http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=4976 read more >>]]>

Ever been tagged in a photo in someone else’s Facebook album? There hasn’t been much you could do to prevent colleagues from tagging you on photos of the last office party – until now. Facebook has launched a new set of privacy and tagging features that give users more control. One of the most useful new privacy settings is Tag Review, and we recommend you add this to your company’s social media policy or at least make sure staff is aware of the benefits: to protect their privacy, and avoid those embarrassing photos that come up in their profiles before they’ve had a chance to untag themselves.

How it works:

1. Go to “Privacy Settings” on Facebook (on the top right, drop down menu beside HOME)



2. On the Privacy Settings menu page, find “How Tags Work” and click on “Edit Settings”

3. In the pop-up box, the “Tag Review” setting should be “On”.



4. If it’s “Off”, click on the option “Tag Review” and you will see this pop-up:



5. Select “Turn On Tag Review”, then select “Done” and voila!

From now on you will be prompted to either accept or decline tags on photos that your Friends have posted. When non-friends want to tag your posts or photos, they always need your approval.

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/facebook-privacy-no-more-games-of-tag/feed/ 0 http://marketingsmartt.com/video-marketing-online-and-making-money/ http://marketingsmartt.com/video-marketing-online-and-making-money/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 23:49:03 +0000 alexey.lyakh http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=4898 read more >>]]> How does the average person make money on YouTube? It’s no secret that when given a choice majority of people prefer watching a video content over reading an article or even listening to a recording. Video engages your senses and delivers information much faster than any other medium. Would you prefer to watch an engaging info graphic that conveys a mass of information in less than a minute or would rather go through stacks of reports and graphs? We prefer to take in information quickly, in a concise manner and the fastest most sensory engaging way of doing so is through video.

With the rapid technological growth we are experiencing today, speed, size or quality are no longer an issue when it comes to content on line. HD cameras are cheap and now days come built into most phones. You no longer need a high production shoot or a marketing budget to make a quality video and distribute it to thousands of people. The playing field is completely levelled to the point where a 14 year old with a phone can get more exposure on his video than a million dollar budget advertisement. You can literally wake up, film something funny with your phone, upload it to YouTube with a push of a button and get tons of exposure.

The Quest for Viral

Video on the internet is incredibly social and is the most shared form of media. Only about 10% of youtube’s views come from the site, the majority happens off site embedded on social networking sites and blogs. And yet YouTube is the worlds second largest search engine and 3rd most visited website after Google and Facebook. Though video sharing sites are abundant, YouTube towers above the rest by a mile. It’s no wonder that so many companies are now building their own YouTube channels and trying so hard to make that next “viral” hit. But perhaps that’s the trouble, people can tell if you’re trying too hard. Even the old spice “I’m on a horse” commercials have run their course. Old spice keeps on making videos with a different spin on their first one but none to the same grandiose effect as the original. The videos no longer surprise or shock people, it’s something everybody is used to by now. So what’s the secret to popular online videos? How can brands use this powerful new medium to promote their products and get the same amount of exposure as your typical “Charlie bit me” home made viral online video?

There are many routes to success, here are a few examples:

Use Awesome Celebrities and their Characters

Use an Awesome Song with a Hilarious Video.

Though, not all of us may have easy access to celebrities or hundreds of models, almost everybody is capable of creating funny music and videos with a relatively low budget. Which brings us to the next topic…

How Can You Make Money on YouTube?

Online video and YouTube can provide many streams of revenue for anybody who can consistently create unique and original content. The formula is pretty simple, the more views you get and the larger your audience grows – the more money you can make. Some of the top YouTubers make well over a six figure income.

1. YouTube Partnership and Revenue Sharing. If you can consistently make original videos that gain a lot of views and subscribers you can apply for partnership. If your content meets their guidelines and you are accepted into the program, you will be able to place ads on your videos and make money every time someone clicks on them. This is done through Google’s Adsense program, in the same manner as placing Google ads on your website. You will also get a lot of extra perks, like custom thumbnails on your videos, a custom header on your channel, and in depth analytics among other things. You can read more about it here: http://www.youtube.com/partners

2. Product Placement. If your audience is large enough and your videos consistently get lot’s of views you can partner up with companies such as Cloud Meida (http://thecloudmedia.com/) Companies such as this bring together YouTube partners and brands with the aim of incorporating products into the videos of successful YouTubers.

3. Merchandising. If you look at the channels of many successful YouTube personalities you will often find a link to a store or a website that sells T-shirts with their logos. Services such as cafe press or zazzle allow people to upload their designs, choose their mark up and forget about it. These companies will take care of all order fulfilment, e-commerce, shipping etc. If your audience is large enough and your designs are cool enough, this can often be a huge stream of revenue.

4. iTunes. If you create a song along with your video, you can place it for sale on iTunes, YouTube will recognize it and put a link directly below your video. You can also create the link yourself in the video description.

5. Opportunities. YouTube can help you gain millions of views and achieve massive exposure. Almost all successful YouTube partners have had real life opportunities come their way thanks to their online success. From appearances on daytime or late night television, to worldwide tours and live shows, to tv commercials, acting and other movie industry careers.

Brands and Creators

The above 5 monetization methods are just the begging of the success and exposure online video can bring to a content creator. These are also the methods that brands and agencies keep in mind when creating content and running campaigns. However there is much potential for growth in this emerging industry. It’s important to take example of brands that are doing a very good job to stay with the curve such as redbull and cadbury. Neither over promote their product in their videos, yet because of how memorable their content is we remember the product and share the content, usually because it either amazes us or makes us laugh or in extreme cases both!

]]> http://marketingsmartt.com/video-marketing-online-and-making-money/feed/ 0 http://marketingsmartt.com/blog-post-writing-tips/ http://marketingsmartt.com/blog-post-writing-tips/#comments Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:40:43 +0000 Amy Gyoba http://www.marketingsmartt.com/?p=4846 read more >>]]>

Writing a blog post can be difficult—even when you’ve picked a topic. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Just Write

For some of us, this might be the best way to start. Don’t worry about getting your blog post perfect on the first try; just write everything you want to say. You can (and will) edit it later.


Organize your thoughts in an outline

This is the opposite of the first tip and may work better for others. Think about what you want to say and in what order you want to present it. Write the major headings and main points and use this as a guideline for filling in the details.

Write notes

Sometimes you look at what you’ve written and it doesn’t work, but you don’t know how to fix it. Write notes in the margin about what bothers you and why. This leads us to the next tip…

Walk away

When you get to the point where you can’t write anymore, take a break. Work on another project, take a nap, do the dishes, etc. Don’t force yourself to think about the blog post or avoid thinking about it; you may be able to work out the problem while you take a break. And when you come back to your writing, you’ll have a fresh perspective on it.

Edit, edit, edit

Once you’ve written the main content of your blog post, edit it until it’s ready to post. Here are a few things you should do:

• Check the flow and organization of your writing.
• Check all facts to make sure they’re correct.
• Remove unnecessary words that don’t add to the meaning of a sentence.
• Refer to a dictionary if you’re unsure about the usage of a word.
• Fix any grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors.
• Ask someone to read through your blog post to check for clarity issues and typos.

These tips are useful for any sort of writing, not only blog posts. If you have any other writing tips, add them in the comments below.

Image Credit: nicolasnova / cc

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