When putting together marketing materials for your company, it’s incredibly easy to get carried away with long lists of features or services. The longer the list and the more in-depth you get with impressive technical details, the better you must look to prospective customers… right? Unfortunately that’s not always the case.

Especially in a world dominated by the web, companies must vie for visitors’ increasingly short attention spans with catchy hooks and brief descriptions. Most importantly, the short amount of time you have to make your pitch needs to count. Explain the benefits of your products or services, not just the features. You have to make a potential customer desire what you’re offering, and the best way to do that is to make it all about them. Tell them what they will get out of the deal, and then go one step further by explaining why they should care.

In other words, what are the benefits of the benefits offered by your features?

A great example is Apple’s web page for FaceTime video chats on the iPad. The page consists of a few prominent headlines, along with short blurbs that describe why FaceTime is something you should desperately want. Apple shares some technical information – like the fact that it works over WiFi and there are two cameras – but that’s it as far as features go. The screen size and resolution isn’t mentioned, nor is the number of megapixels the cameras have. Those are irrelevant to getting you to want to buy the product.

Instead, Apple tells you what the benefits of FaceTime are. You get to see, not just hear, your long-distance family and friends from wherever you are. Okay, that sounds great but why should you really care? Because you’ll never miss a birthday, anniversary, or holiday gathering ever again. You’ll get to see your little niece or nephew blow out the candles on the cake. You’ll get to laugh at your childhood dog’s new trick long after you’ve moved away from home. You’ll get to watch your grandchildren open their gifts on Christmas morning. It will almost be as if you’re really there taking part in the events.

That’s a much more powerful and effective way to sell your products or services than just throwing some bullet points on your company’s website, isn’t it?

Yahoo! is re-branding. Many products and services are in dire need to do the same. But why?

One of the most important things you can communicate to your potential customers and clients is how you can help them. How can you make their world easier? It also helps if your message looks good. Whether you’re only interested in a particular part of advertising or are looking into a revamped marketing strategy as a whole, you need to make sure that your product, your service, your unique selling point is pushed into the spotlight.

(Unique Selling Point: the main thing you have and can offer your clients that no one else in your industry has or can offer)

For example, one of Album’s USP is Confidence. While other items are important, our clients know that they will receive the best service, product, and help possible. We are dedicated to only launching/releasing the best work possible.

Here’s a commercial that does a GREAT job of pointing out their USP, and in a funny way to boot. Can you find the USP?

USP: They help you learn English better.

Some of us use Google, while others of us just google. Either way, Google has dabbed a bit into everyone’s life, to say the least.

Don’t know what the capital of Poland is? Google it.
Don’t know how to make the yummy Brazilian dish Frango com Catupiry? Google it.
Don’t know who sings those lyrics you love? Google it.

But what do you really know about Google?  Beyond providing information on virtually anything you ask for, most know it as another option for an email address. Or that you can pay to advertise on it.  But there’s another way of looking at this all-knowing, all-powerful search engine. In just that way, one could say, it strives to be all-knowing, all-powerful — to have a hand in everything you do.

The video below will share just a piece of what else Google is about.

What do you think? We’d love to hear what you have to say regarding… well, anything! Google, Marketing, Media, whatever!

It’s not the tool but how you use it.

You can have a group on Facebook, an account on Twitter, a photo collection on Flickr, and a channel on YouTube, but what does that mean to your brand?

Online marketing is more than just creating accounts online and hoping the search engines lead potential customers to them. You have to be active with your fans, followers, and subscribers. Social media is an important part of Internet marketing that allows you to build a more solid brand by having a human connection. Current customers are more likely to suggest your product to friends if they have a good experience.

However, if you leave your accounts idle, you are missing out on communication opportunities. Even if your potential customers don’t need your product or service right now, keeping them posted with fun facts, transfixing trivia, and pensive pictures will keep you at the forefront of their mind when your product/service becomes a need.

Not only that, but the more relevant information you post, the more searchable your brand becomes to potential customers. And with Google as today’s #1 search source, pleasing the Google Search Engine Gods could lead you down a path of Internet sainthood.

Ready? Set? Rock!

Since 1993, no other ad slogan has gained as much attention and been abused more than “got milk?”.  According to GotMilk.com, the campaign has over 90% awareness in the United States!

The idea came from the ad agency Goodby Silverstein who was hired by the California Milk Processor Board.  It all started with this first “got milk?” commercial produced by Michael Bay, which was later nominated as one of the best 10 commercials of all time in a USA Today Poll:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSsswr6z9Y

From this ad spot and many more that followed, a successful brand was born.  The problem is: Most people fail to recognize that a brand is not just a logo, slogan, or name.  Album defines it as the “perceptions and expectations of your customers and prospects.”  In other words, it’s what people feel, expect, and hope when they think of you.  “You” is an appropriate word, because a brand is human.  It carries a personality just like the people around us.

But this isn’t a lecture about branding, this is a post to show the lack of creativity and blatant misunderstanding of what made “got milk” so popular.  Hint, hint, it wasn’t this magic formula:

Got [replace "milk" with your amazing product] ?

Enjoy these brilliant examples.  Since they asked, I answered:

Ah man, I don’t have any on me today.  When I do, I’ll let you know.

Actually, I do.  I’ve found that the ground is the best place to find it.

You mean, do I have a raft?  Or have I gone rafting before?  Oh, I’m sorry, you’d like to see my new rafting.  Yeah, I’ve got a rafting right here.

Hey, congrats!  I’m happy you “got video phone.” You’re really movin’ up in life.

Not anymore.  At least not for more abusive “got milk” examples.