Reading Brian Stelter’s story in the New York Times was a little unbelievable, but completely inspiring. And made me wonder what we could do through twitter – or how his story could help other companies.

The basics: Brian Stelter started a twitter account specifically to help him lose weight. Every day, he would tweet what he was eating, when he was working out, and how much he had lost. It was a chance for him to be held accountable and have a cheering section. He said he thought about trying weight watchers and other programs, but none would keep him motivated…so he turned to twitter. The post talks about the success he has seen, and the results he is experiencing. One of the most impressive results were the number of people who supported him, sent him messages and even called him. He in turn became motivation for others, who joined in his weight loss goals!

So how can a business learn from what Brian did? What are the take-aways from his twitter plight to lose weight?

1. Have something compelling to talk about. Brian found a group to follow him because he was putting himself out there and giving people a real chance to connect with him. Businesses need to be open in the same way. Provide answers, help and be available for your consumers and finding a follower base will be easy.
2. Create a community. The followers liked Brian’s account because he created a community around his weight loss. Others could comment, share their stories and be involved. Giving people a place to share a common bond will create a stronger network.
3. He stuck with it. Just like his weight loss, he also stuck with twitter. He didn’t ignore it, or worse, do it for a month and then give up. His accounts reliability meant that others were willing to follow and be a part of it. People don’t want to follow accounts that will disappear overnight.
4. He talked about things everyone understands. If you try to be too technical, or share content that only a small percentage of people will care about it is hard to gain followers. People want to be able to respond and understand – so give them content that is on their level. Stay away from the technical jargon.

Many companies try to over complicate what it takes to find success through social media. Brian’s account and results show that there are better ways. Open lines of communication, sharing real stories and being honest to your followers will deliver the best results.

What else can we learn from his twitter account and how he managed it?

If you’re Koleston Naturals Hair color, it’s done by placing a billboard where the changes in the sun level will change the hair color on the billboard:

The image above is a time lapsed series of a billboard in Beirut, Lebanon from 2007. The billboard captures the image, and hair, of a beautiful woman, designed to show the beauty of natural hair color that Koleston Naturals provides. I personally love the simplicity and creativity of the ad – using natural light and natural changes to capture the Blondes, Redheads and Brunettes of the world. What I also appreciated was the fact that they let the nature and the picture speak for themselves. They didn’t need to tell you that Koleston hair color was all natural, made to be gentle on the hair and protect it’s natural beauty…they didn’t have to. The billboards told the story without the words. The only thing I see as problematic is that if you were to just pass by the billboard (unless you planned on hanging around for a few hours), you would only ever see one color. And if you only saw it at night…it wouldn’t seem as impressive. With that said, this is still one of the most impressive pieces of creative marketing I have seen in awhile.

Have you seen other ads that are capitalizing on nature? Share!

Marketing itself is free – word of mouth, meeting new people, talking about what you do – there is no inherent cost. But, creating a strong marketing strategy, tools you can use and creative you can hand out does have a cost. And that cost varies greatly depending on who you are, how you plan to market and what audience you are reaching.

Small companies with targeted audiences can get away with smaller marketing budgets because their audience is usually easier to reach in less expensive ways. Whereas a company like Coca Cola wouldn’t survive without a huge marketing budget because their audience is, well, everyone!

So, as the small business owner with a small marketing budget, what tools and techniques can you use to optimize the money you can spend?

1. Brand yourself the right way. Having a strong branding and good marketing pieces to back you up will make everything easier and more successful, which leads to a return on your investment
2. Use twitter, facebook, and your blog. Online marketing is much less expensive than traditional marketing strategies. Using these tools effectively can create conversation which enables your marketing to be more effective.
3. Attend networking events. These events are usually $5-10 to attend, but can generate some serious business. If you combine attending these with a strong social media strategy, you will already have small introductions to many of the attendees.
4. Ask for referrals. Great clients are hard to find, but when you do, make sure you really appreciate them. And, when they are at their happiest after a project, as for them to pass your name along! Free word of mouth from someone else.
5. Sponsorships. Find local events that your ideal audience will be attending and create something memorable as a sponsorship. Give away something that is valuable, but doesn’t have a high out of pocket cost. Time is always a good one…

If you can find ways to use your money more effectively in marketing, you will soon realize you have a larger budget and more to spend on the tools that work.

What other ways can you market on a budget?

In late 2008 Netcraft placed the number of websites at just over 182 million, stating that it was growing  every day. If the trend continued as they suggest, we are looking at easily over 200 million websites that exist today. Of those websites, how many do you guess are great sites? The sites that make you stop and admire them, sites that you want to use because they are easy and effective on top of beautiful? Probably not very many. While there are many ‘good’ sites out there, a great site is hard to find.

Good sites are the ones you see every day. They work, you can find your way around, the writing is clear and the design looks put together. But there is nothing about these sites that makes you say wow. You don’t stop and look at the site to admire its use of colors and textures, the way the navigation is seamless with the way you think. You use it, but you don’t feel part of it. You use it because it is there, but rarely find reasons to go back to the site unless you have to.

Great sites on the other hand, you feel excited, welcomed and involved. The beauty of the site is felt, rather than seen. When you ‘use’ the site, it just feels natural. Everything is where you would expect it, from the navigation to the smaller links.  A great site doesn’t need flash (although some great sites have flash) and a great site doesn’t need a $250k price tag (although some will have to have it). A great website is a website that your consumers will want to visit and want to use again and again.

Good sites sites have these 4 elements:

1. Navigation.
2. Design.
3. Copy/content.
4. Contacts.

Great sites have these 4 main elements:

1. A navigation system that is innate to the user, where they could practically point out where things are without ever looking at the screen. The navigation is involved in the site, instead of just on the site.
2. A beautiful design that captures attention and makes you want to stay. You feel the design more than just see the design.
3. Content/Copy that enthralls you, you want to read more, discover more and be more involved. It teaches you  without pushing you. You learn from the site.
4. A contact system that makes you feel like they want you to call, email, tweet and facebook them. They are there, just for you.

Is your site good? Or is it great?

Traditional searches for companies/services/etc in the big heavy yellowbook are gone. I think the last time I event used the “real” yellowbook was 1998 and yellow book knows this. So, rather than attempt to revive the book, they took themselves online and created a new ad campaign.

The ad campaign for yellowbook online is extremely well done, and I have to applaud them for creating something that not only got the point across but were able to create a series of clever ads that we all can relate to. For those who haven’t seen a new yellowbook commercial, all of their ads are similar – something happens and leaves the protagonist looking for a solution using yellowbook online. This is my favorite:

How does this ad help you? There are 3 main pieces of the ad that make it (and can make you) more effective:

1. It sets you up from the very beginning. The first time I saw this ad, I was intrigued within the first few second because they told me I should be. I knew that something was going to happen, but because I didn’t really know what a “yellowbook moment” was, the surprise wasn’t ruined, it left me wanting to find out more.
2. It is honest, direct, simple and unbelievably clever. While I doubt many of us have had our dog eat a canary at the vet, we have all had moments where we feel like that guy does. It pulls at our human instincts of embarrassment/fear/worry/shock and tells us that they can help when we need it. They are there for us in every way.
3. It doesn’t have corny music, doesn’t draw on too long and doesn’t treat us like we’re stupid. Too many commercials are aiming for “pretty” or “creative” instead of being simple and to the point.

What did you think of their commercials? What can you learn from their style?

1. Not only is this ad gorgeously done, but it became a part of pop culture, different than what all the other alcohol companies were doing.
2. It is an ultra premium brand using an ultra premium artist.
3. Was it successful? I would say so, Absolut was just sold to Pernod Ricard for $8.3 billion.

Ad campaigns are not difficult. They are difficult to do right. These 5 steps will help you to break apart your advertisement to make sure that the next one you create is stronger than the last.

1. Capture the big picture – When someone looks at your advertisement, they should see the story behind it. It isn’t just pictures on a page, it should stir an emotional response. Make the viewer laugh, cry, be happy or angry, whatever emotion, make sure that it is powerful. should tell a story.
2. Your brand/logo – You would be amazed at how many ad campaigns place their logo in a place that it is impossible to find, or forget it altogether. How can people have brand recognition without a brand?
3. Simple and clean – People don’t have the patience to sit and try and figure out what you’re talking about. Make it easy to understand, easy to read and to the point.
4. Extensible – should be able to convert it through all the mediums
5. Memorable – If all 4 of the above have been done properly, #5 should just fall into place. But, the key is to make your advertisement something that people are going to talk about and remember.

Next time you are working on an advertisement, or are just looking at them, see if they fit the 5.

What are your thoughts on ad campaigns and following these 5?

Building a message for your audience takes time and thought. But, in a world so fast paced, your message is often missed in the blur of information transfer. You need to know who you are writing for, what you want them to feel when they read it, and most importantly, if they buy your product.

Let’s take a quick look at the key messaging of the 3 well-known brand rivals:

Which messaging do you find more effective? What about more creative?

And lastly, is the product you prefer to use/drink, the one that’s message you find the best?