Agent-X » ethics http://blog.agent-x.com Agent-X Fri, 16 Sep 2011 14:13:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Consumers LOVE the word “free.” http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/ http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:30:35 +0000 Jill http://blog.agent-x.com/?p=404 Consumers LOVE the word “free.” Even more so in recent years. We love it so much that we go out of our way to get some freebie that we don’t even need. Free pen? Yes please. Free t-shirt? Sure! Free dessert? I’m full from dinner and really don’t need… well okay, it’s FREE!

On the flip side, someone has to pick up the tab; when paying for the free ‘swag’ companies often find it difficult to see the value in giving things away for free (rightfully so). In the past, we could only assume that our message would get out there to increase brand awareness and visibility. What if you were able to measure the number of impressions you gained to truly gauge the value of the campaign? With the addition of online forums, social venues and blogs, it’s now easier than ever to measure success and ROI even when you’re giving it away for free.

An insightful article from Event Marketer: “The ROI of Free” http://www.eventmarketer.com/article/roi-free, points out a few examples of companies who were able to get a tangible return from their “free campaign.”

You remember Denny’s Grand Slam give-away during the Super Bowl, right? Last year they gave away 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts in 8 hours, and in return they received “$50 million in news coverage, 47 million hits on their website and thousands of emails.” Little Debbie gave away one million cupcakes and in three weeks their fan base on Facebook grew from 5,000 to 50,000!

Before you just start handing stuff out, there are a couple things you need to do first:

  • Define your overall goal of the campaign as well as what will make it a success
  • Make sure the appropriate channels (website, social, etc.) are set up and monitor and track the numbers!

Now, anyone know of any good freebies out there? Post them in comments!

jill

]]> http://blog.agent-x.com/2010/03/consumers-love-the-word-%e2%80%9cfree-%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 "I know how to control your social media presence!" http://blog.agent-x.com/2009/07/i-know-how-to-control-your-social-media-presence/ http://blog.agent-x.com/2009/07/i-know-how-to-control-your-social-media-presence/#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:15:50 +0000 david http://blog.agent-x.com/?p=20 No you don’t. No one really does. Please don’t think for a minute that ANYONE has ANY control over what happens out there. Your only hope is to be honest about what your organization does and what you have to offer to the world and to contribute in a meaningful way to the greater conversations that are already going on around you. But how? That’s the real question.

Where do you start? Start a Facebook page? Put some tweets out there, and the people will listen? Maybe, but probably not unless you get lucky. You have to accumulate an understanding of what’s happening around you and find a point of entry into the conversations that concern and interest you. Again, but how? This is your lucky day, I can tell you how. You don’t start with a tactic (opening Flickr accounts, etc.). You start with a plan. And to build a plan, you need data. Sooo, it would seem that you need to collect data, UNDERSTAND IT, build your plan of attack, execute it (here’s where you get to contribute to the greater conversations), track it and tweak your plan of attack accordingly. Does that make complete sense to you? If not, let me know, and I’ll help you figure it out. If it DOES make complete sense to you, please do share your thoughts…
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