Skype Rolls out Click and Call Advertising for Businesses
July 21, 2010
Skype has long been known as the site where people can make free online phone calls to anyone at anytime. Last year, eBay sold the majority share of Skype to a consortium of buyers. Less than a year later, Skype has partnered with Marchex (an advertising company) to launch a new click and call advertising program.
Here’s how it works:
- Businesses sign up for click and call advertising with Skype through Marchex.
- Once signed up, advertisers get a blue Free Call button with their listings on various local directory sites (see the image for an example) that consumers are likely to find through keyword searches, such as Yelp.com, YP.com, and more.
- A consumer can simply click on the Free Call button in a directory listing where it appears to immediately call the advertiser via Skype.
- Advertisers are charged a flat fee per Skype call.
- Advertisers can set a pre-determined budget to manage costs, and Marchex provides call analytics reports.
Marchex and Skype are promoting the partnership as a great way for businesses to boost contacts from the 560 million registered Skype users around the world (100 million in the United States). Check out the video below for more details (or click this link to view it on the Marchex website if you can’t view it below).
The program is still in early stages, and there have been some criticisms because consumers can’t see the Free Call button in some browsers unless they have a specific Skype browser plugin installed. However, Google offers similar programs in its mobile pay-per-call product and its Google Voice extension for its Chrome browser, which have shown some success, so the expectation is that the Skype program should do well.
It’s an interesting concept that certainly has the chance to attract consumers who are actively looking for information about a specific business or product at the exact moment they need it. Research shows that leads attracted through click-to-call advertising have the potential to deliver higher conversion rates than other forms of advertising. I’d imagine we’ll see many retailers testing the Skype program out. What do you think?
What Makes for Effective Investor Relations Sites? Part 21: Annual Reports – Give Readers a Choice in How to Access Them
July 20, 2010
Time was, back in the dark ages of about twenty years ago, people only had one option when it came to annual reports – ink on paper. Nowadays we have a multitude of ways to read things: traditional paper, web based, PDF files and e-readers. And people who are visiting your web site to read your annual report expect to have a variety of ways to access the report. Good investor web site design seeks to incorporate a variety of delivery methods for their investors.
A nicely integrated approach for delivering both a web based report and the ability to download PDF files of the report is demonstrated by Standard Chartered, the financial services company. They start with an electronic cover page, which allows you to navigate to various sections of the report.
Each section in turn allows the reader to easily get to relevant subsections, whether it be by opening a new page to the Chairman’s statement or by clicking and expanding a sections such as operational highlights. One can easily navigate the report in this web-centric manner.
For those readers that wish to read the report in a more traditional, linear fashion, Standard Chartered also provides a download centre. The download centre allows an investor to either choose the entire annual report in a zipped file for quicker download, or pick and choose which sections interest them most for downloading.
In one final interesting piece of design work when you click on the two tabs on the right hand side of the page in the download centre, additional capabilities become visible, such as the ability to email the page or to create a customized PDF file.
Overall, this is a nice piece of design work that addresses the way people navigate for information on the web with the way more traditional readers seek information.
In this series:
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5 Rebranding Mistakes to Avoid No Matter What
July 17, 2010
Rebranding is hot these days. It seems like more companies are sending out press releases about their “rebranding” initiatives than ever. However, many of these rebranding efforts miss the mark despite the huge amounts of money invested in them.
How can your company ensure that your rebranding is successful? It’s simple. Avoid the 5 mistakes listed below.
1. Forget a facelift. A simple nip-tuck will do.
A rebranding takes more than a few tweaks to your logo and slogan, redesigning your signage, and printing new business cards. A rebranding is an opportunity to re-imagine your story and create a new brand promise that will take your company into the future. Would you rebrand yourself by simply getting a new pair of shoes or would a complete makeover — physically and emotionally — be required? The same goes for your business brand.
2. Don’t call in unbiased branding experts to help you.
One of the most common mistakes companies make when it’s time to rebrand is assuming that they have the talent in-house to get the job done. The job might get done, but it won’t be as good as it could be if you got help from people who live and breathe branding and can cut through the internal debates and hangups to truly roll out the best rebranding effort possible.
3. Involve anyone and everyone in the decision-making process.
When it comes to rebranding, everyone seems to feel like it’s their place to weigh in on the decisions. Believe it or not, most people don’t have all the facts. Their opinions should be taken into consideration but those opinions should not rule with an iron fist.
4. Don’t bother doing any research. Go with your gut.
It’s true that the best branding experts have a sixth sense about branding, but there is more to branding than gut feelings. You need to be able to formulate strategies and decisions should be based at least partially in fact. Strike a balance between research and creativity, and you’ve struck marketing gold.
5. Just update the logo and forget about everything else.
Your brand is far more than just a logo. Rolling out a new logo is not rebranding. Don’t confuse the two.
Image: stock.xchng
Summer Fun
July 16, 2010
Summer isn’t really less fraught than the rest of the year, but we keep on thinking there’s more time to play during the warmer months . . .
In the spirit of the season, here are a few ideas that have (or at least could have) something to do with careers/recruiting/work/job, with a little fun in the bargain:
- Catch up on your reading. If you haven’t already followed last year’s Summer Reading suggestions—why not now? And add to the list Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, a quirky look at what works—and what matters—in today’s employment environment. Some chapter titles to give you the flavor: First-Time Managers Do Not Need to Suck; Sex Discrimination Is Everywhere, So Don’t Try To Run; and Getting a Promotion Is So Last Century.
- Start your own blog. Seriously. TypePad is super-friendly, offers dozens of great designs, and gives you a 30-day free trial or even a free microblog. WordPress also has a free version. Don’t think about it in terms of an audience–blogging is a great way to talk to yourself!—but if you want to do something more in the professional line, you can start your own blog on ere.net with almost no effort. (Extra motivation: ere.net bloggers can compete during July to win an iPad.)
- Get some business cards. No, not those dull ones you already have a box of. Some really great ones from MOO. MOO offers a wonderful array of designs, or you can upload your own images—and every card in your order can have a different design if you want to go nuts. These cards really do grab attention, so they are worth the small investment. Use them to invent an extra/alternative version of yourself, start that freelance thing you’ve been thinking about, or add some snap to your professional image.
- Organize your life. That’s a big one—but hope springs eternal, so if you’ve already run the gamut of time management methods with no luck, the Pomodoro Technique may be just what you’re looking for. All you need is one of those kitchen timers that looks like a tomato, plus a free ebook from the Pomodoro website. You’ll either love it or hate it, but you’ll get some fun from the try-out. And some people say this method worked for them when nothing else did. (Pomodoro is Italian for “tomato,” by the way.)
Enjoy! And if you guessed that today’s illustration is from the 1804 edition of Youthful Sports, give yourself ten points.
Begin With a Tweet? Foraying Into the Social Media Landscape
July 15, 2010
At 140-character increments, marketing your business has never been so easy. Twitter has made it simple and exciting for companies and individuals to interact, network and brainstorm on its platform.
How does social media fit into the grand scheme of things? How can a simple tweet change the way a media department is perceived?
Corporate Networking
Creating an environment that is conducive for social networking can be a challenge for some corporations. Perhaps many of the corporate executives think that the whole “social networking” thing is a fad that will pass. How can they be convinced otherwise? Sometimes, trying to convince corporate directors that a popular idea will work, doesn’t always work. Rhonda Sloan of American General Life Companies found out the hard way, but also found a way around the “no’s” to navigate her way to a “give us more” and at the same time, develop a strong company social media platform that saw growth. On average, public relations specialists may not have that degree of perseverance, but in the end, it can pay off in a big way.
Entertainment Networking
One fairly recent example of the power of social networking was when a Facebooker campaigned to get actress Betty White on the New York, USA-based comedy show, Saturday Night Live. The entertainment community was all abuzz about having the actress to appear and through Facebook and fans rallying to make it happen, the network decided to go ahead and have Betty White host the show. It was one of the most entertaining and impressive examples of the power of social networking seen yet. And, Betty White wasn’t too shabby on the show either!
Incorporating the Two
Although the corporate landscape and the entertainment world are two totally different, distinctively separate types of media, they both work on the same premise.
People.
Both genres need people-power to work, but the biggest difference in the two is the way that you get them to work, or to be effective. It may not be appropriate to have your company executive appear on a comedy-sketch show. It may not be the best idea to have a comedian give your corporate sales-team a virtual webinar either. But some way, somehow, there is a method to lift from both genres the things that work best and incorporate them into your media relations package.
What do you think would work best? I’ve come up with a very short list of the things that I feel would be conducive to it working, but I’d love to hear what you think also.
- Be creative, genuine. Don’t re-invent the wheel, just put your own spokes on it. Do something that hasn’t been done before, with your corporate personality on it.
- Utilize available resources. There’s no need to incur additional expenses. Use what’s at your disposal. Accounts with social networking platforms are free, upgrades at additional costs are optional.
- Engage the audience. Ask readers what they think and what they’d like to see. You’d be surprised at their responses and likely to get ideas as well.
Tell me what else you think would be ideal for social media outreach to work. What tools does your company use?
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