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Givers, Takers and Fakers

by Jason Falls · April 1, 2013

The social marketing space is an awesome collection of people. I’ve had the good fortune to get to know many of them in the last few years. Generosity of time and spirit is a common thread. Unfortunately, it’s not always the case. I spent three years or so helping other people build their businesses, lending time, travel, ideas, promotions, etc. When I needed help building my business, the true colors showed. Genuine friends emerged. The others were outed, even if they didn’t know it.

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Online Subscription Models Are An Assault On Literacy

by Jason Falls · January 7, 2013

If you don’t know the newspaper business is broken by now, I’m sorry about your decade-old coma. No, I’m not one to proclaim print media to be dead. But we are certainly planted squarely in the midst of a massive shift in how news is disseminated, who receives it and how reliable it is.

I fear that more and more newspapers and other online versions of trusted media outlets moving to paid subscription models is ultimately an assault on literacy. As you may know, I serve on the board of directors for the National Center for Family Literacy. This subject is close to my heart. I don’t speak for the NCFL here, only offer my own opinions, but I don’t come to this conclusion lightly.

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Does Compelling Art Sell?

by Jason Falls · August 27, 2012

Watching the promotional video for a friend’s new product recently, I found myself really engaged. It was a beautiful piece with vibrant imagery. Whomever produced the video worked hard and the finished product was well worth watching. It was compelling, visually. It was a piece of art.

Great art alone never sold anything

But nothing in the piece told me what the product was, why I might use it or how I can even buy it.

Great art serves a purpose. But great art alone never sold anything. For that, you need great copy.

Permanent link to this post (95 words, estimated 23 secs reading time)
7 comments

The Social Technology Behind Empowering Your Fans

by Jason Falls · August 20, 2012

Since the early days of social media marketing, which is to say for the last 10 years or so, the coveted Nirvana for brands has been to recruit, engage and empower its most loyal fans in hopes they’ll advocate on behalf of the product, service or company. Building an army of marketers you don’t have to pay drives word-of-mouth referrals and buzz, which is often cited as 10 or more times more effective than traditional advertising. Having a community of loyal advocates on your side is a powerful marketing weapon.

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Increasing Customer Spend With A Little Social Media Help

by Jason Falls · July 6, 2012

Postcardmania reached out to me recently to tell me of a social media case study of their own that generated $120,637 in sales. Case studies with metrics are hard to come by — everyone wants to tell me what they’re about to do. Very few want to tell me what they did. So, I started asking questions.

It turns out that Postcardmania, which is a full-service marketing company, but one that certainly has a direct mail bend, came up with a nice case study on increasing current customer spend. It’s not altogether a social media case study, but what they did is worth noting because social media can at least get an assist here. Here’s what they did:

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Making The Switch To Online Video Advertising

by Jason Falls · March 23, 2012

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post written by Samantha Peters, an avid blogger who writes about social media, digital marketing, and online communications.

The internet is still populated with the numerous banner ads that were a hallmark of its earliest days. But, on an advertising front, there’s no question where the marketing world is turning: Video.

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6 comments

Are Social Advertisements A Game Changer?

by Jason Falls · March 12, 2012

Note: The following post originally appeared at SocialFresh.com as a guest post for my friend Jason Keith. I’m reposting it here for further discussion.

Real estate agent Jim Olenbush awoke one morning in 2010, opened his local newspaper, the Austin Statesman, and read a story about the drug violence in Mexico. The story indicated that affluent Mexican families were migrating to the U.S. in record numbers to flee the uncertainty of safety thanks to the drug cartels.

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Should Your Packaging Explain Your Product?

by Jason Falls · January 17, 2012

Product packaging is certainly not a frequent topic we cover here on Social Media Explorer, but I received a gift recently that, frankly, I couldn’t figure out, even after I opened it. Oddly, after I went to their website, I was able to ascertain what the product was, but only through context clues and assumptions. I still can’t figure out what this product actually is or does in some sort of official way from the brand.

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6 comments

Small Businesses Can Go Zaarly, Dude

by Jason Falls · January 13, 2012

The concept of Zaarly, a not-yet-year-old startup, is pretty cool and simple. You login and either post, “I’m looking for X product and will pay Y price,” or you post, “I have X product and will sell it for Y price.” The system then helps you match up a peer-to-peer purchase and sales opportunity with people in your local area. It’s kind of a cross between the old radio swap shops and eBay.

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