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Test your products before launching them!

Posted on by Brian Lee

I’m stunned by the lack of product testing these days. Companies spend a lot of money and time on R&D, but then they don’t spend anything on seeing if their product is actually functional.

An article on MarketWatch discusses Microsoft’s latest iteration of its Surface tablet, after the first version had disappointing sales:

The software giant — an expert in “if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again” — recently had to go back to the drawing board to finesse one of its most important software products, the latest generation of Windows, Windows 8, which has been a disappointment since its launch last year. In October, it released Windows 8.1, an improved version addressing consumer complaints, such as the loss of the “Start” button. It then moved on to addressing criticisms of the Surface, such as its lack of an Outlook email option and issues with the tablet’s one kickstand slot.

It seems Microsoft should have done focus groups and other research so that the second version of Surface would have actually been its first. That’s what I would recommend to any company with a product to sell.

(And I’m not just bashing Microsoft. Other companies are guilty, too. Remember when holding the Apple iPhone 4 would block the antenna?)

LinkedIn for B2B marketing

Posted on by Brian Lee

In addition to teaching a social media class and doing speaking engagements on social media, I had the opportunity recently to talk about LinkedIn at an expo and be interviewed for a magazine article about LinkedIn.

My big takeaway is always about how LinkedIn is well-suited for research, networking, job hunting, recruiting and even business-to-business (B2B) marketing.

For that last item, it seems many people who use LinkedIn are familiar with groups, introductions and InMail, but few know about sponsored updates.

First, you need to have a company page. Don’t forget to populate it with your company’s background, products/services, etc.

When you post an update, the only people who will see it are those who are following your company page. If you’re just getting started, you probably don’t have many followers, and they probably aren’t necessarily your target audience.

To get your update in front of your target audience, you can make it sponsored, which is similar in setup to Google AdWords or Facebook ads, meaning you can be highly selective in the categories in which your audience fits. For example, you can choose geography, gender, age, industry (including which to exclude) and my favorite, job title.

Yes, this is how you can get your message into the news feeds of CEOs, HR people, etc. Think about this: how would you get in front of your selected group otherwise? You would probably have to do things like advertise in niche publications and trade show marketing.

LinkedIn offers you both a pay-per-click payment option, as well as pay per 1,000 impressions. I like the latter, as it seems more cost-effective, and you don’t pay for the clicks you do get.

I suggest your sponsored update be of some value to your audience, like a white paper, article or video, instead of some sort of solicitation. Your content should be housed on your website, and you should monitor the clicks as part of your conversion tracking (often done through Google Analytics).

When communications professionals get together

Posted on by Brian Lee

In 2008, when I was president of PRSA-Madison and vice-president of Ad 2 Madison, I noticed that we had so many communications groups in town, yet we never got together. That notion is extra odd when you consider in the working world, most communications is integrated, meaning that people in PR, marketing, graphic design, etc., are working in tandem, not in silos.

Thus my idea to organize a joint holiday networking party came to be. That year we had PRSA, Ad 2, Design Madison and Madison MAGNET (a networking group for young professionals).

On Dec. 12, I get to be the MC of the latest edition, which features PRSA, Ad 2, AAF-Madison, AMA Madison, Design Madison, MCA-I Madison, AIGA, SMPS Wisconsin and IABC. If it weren’t for the fact that there are so many competing events the same night, we’d probably get more than the 200 people expected to show up.

I really enjoy getting to catch up with colleagues and meet potential new vendors, partners, clients and employees. Plus, it’s fun to see a group of professionals known for drinking and socializing have a great time.

One last thought: I’m crossing my fingers for good weather. We’ve had two years with snow/ice storms that kept the attendance down.