Marketing

Content Management Systems as Marketing Tools

Posted April 29, 2010 - 2:06am by elias

Althought the name is related to "managing" content, and usually they are used only to add articles, and simple user management, CMSs have evolved to give the marketing person huge power over functionality, business rules, and layout tweaks.

This presentation was shared in our Web Analytics Wednesday - Dubai Group, using my favorite (Drupal) as an example on the capabilities it provides marketers in managing our online products much more effectively and efficiently.


 

Why The Next Big Thing is the Previous Big Thing

Posted April 26, 2010 - 3:50pm by elias

"The Next Big Thing" is a very nice thing to figure out. To be ahead of the market, to invent something that nobody thought about, and make a revolution. That's all cool stuff, nothing against it. As everything else, because the potential gains are enormous the risks are enormous too.

You can't 'know' what the next big thing is. You can speculate, do your homework, take the risk, and hope for the best. Again, nothing against that. I'm just analyzing what needs to be done.

The preious big thing, however, is the trend, brand, or idea that is no longer in fashion and buzzing, but started to gain credibility as a viable business option, and it is on its way to maturity.

In this case you have the most profitable option because you are benefiting from the momentum, maturity, and experience that has been gained in the industry.

Email marketing is a great example. It even sounds outdated! But it is still one of the most cost-effective and profitable marketing methods out there. There are many providers giving you tons of options, the analytics and testing are evolved, and there's a ton of data about people's behavior and responses. Furthermore, you can learn a great deal about it, and become really good and sophisticated in your offering.

All these factors make it much easier for you to sell the previous big thing, and since it is still not completely flat in terms of growth you can charge a big premium for it.

Unless you can afford the risk and budgets of going into the "next" big thing, sticking to the "previous" one can be much more profitable.

The Marketer vs. The Technician

Posted December 9, 2009 - 2:27pm by elias

An interesting thing I read recently mentioned that Google transformed advertising into a software program. Well, they are not the only ones. Many other companies have transformed many other crafts and professions into software programs.
That is what appears to the superficial observer. People, who have learned how to use a specific software start thinking that (or forget) they are (should be) marketers.
Real people, selling real things, to other real people, who are responding to messages meant to convince someone to do something.

AdWords Workshop - Social Media Forum

Posted December 2, 2009 - 2:10pm by elias

I shared this presentation during the last Social Media Forum in Abu Dhabi, and it was great interacting with AdWords users at different levels of expertise in CPC and online marketing in general.

My main frustration is with AdWords technicians who view it as a software that they just "use", instead of dealing with it as one of the tools available to them as online marketers.

Hence, the structure of the presentation is on how to best use AdWords for effective marketing, and didn't give much focus on the details of setting up accounts, campaigns, etc.

Scratch and Win Online

Posted May 8, 2007 - 7:45pm by elias

The idea seemed really absurd when I first heard about it. But actually it really works, and fun to do. Everyone who sees it gets addicted to scratching and looking for whatever might appear on the "card".