

Reaching the right people - bdfh42
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/09/reaching-the-ri.html

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njharman
Makes a big assumption that I don't think is questioned enough.

That you know who the "right people" are or even what your product is.

Might not be as true with products but how many times have you heard about
software or website. "We started out to do X by Y is what users latched onto
so we did that instead.

Also why target such a niche when you can target everyone with an internet
connection.

His example might work it's expensive and time consuming. Better to just
upload sample tracks and even let people pirate your whole album. Your real
fans(if any, you might just suck) will buy your next albulm, your merchandise
and go to your show. They'll also spread the word.

~~~
RobGR
You say "Also why target such a niche when you can target everyone with an
internet connection."

The answer is, that targeting everyone with an internet connection is not
targeting. It's called carpet bombing the internet, and it's expensive.
Invariably, you can't carpet bomb the whole internet, so you only carpet bomb
a tiny faction, which ends up being chosen not by smarts, but by chance and
the nature of whatever advertising you are doing.

Even if you just upload tracks and let people "pirate" your whole album, you
are leaving it up to chance that the people want your music will find it.
People do not download every free track out there and listen to every single
one just because it's free. So putting it out there for free is not an
automatic answer -- it's better than changing $15 a CD and then just waiting,
but it's still a pretty basic attempt.

The example given is expensive and time consuming. It doesn't have to
expensive in money, you could buy used B-52 CDs and re-sell them at cost, for
example, but it will be time consuming and take care and attention to detail
to do it right. But seems likely to me that any success in internet marketing
will take time, money (or even more time), and care and miticulous attention
to detail. It's just not as easy as it was when banner ads were first
invented.

------
michael_dorfman
So, to summarize, Slashdot style:

1) Identify the most likely consumers, and then give them the product for
free. 2) ????????????? 3) Profit!

It reminds me of the sales guys at one of my previous jobs-- _"Sure, we'll
lose $10 on each sale, but we'll make up for it in volume!"_

~~~
rsheridan6
>What a shame that Amazon hasn't figured out how to provide this as a useful
service. Amazon knows who buys a lot, they know <b>who reviews a lot</b>...
why not ask those people if they want a free prize now and then? An
<b>influential person</b> would earn the right to a huge number of free
samples.

The idea is that people who might influence other people to buy something
would get it for free.

~~~
baha_man
The good thing about reviews on Amazon is that they are by other customers who
actually had to shell out for the product. If there was any suggestion that
they were being written to get freebies, wouldn't they lose whatever
credibility they currently have?

~~~
rsheridan6
Amazon reviews are kind of questionable anyway because anybody can write a
review. If your name is, say, John Lott, you can create an account with the
name Mary Rosh and write yourself some 5 star reviews. Also, Amazon has been
known to scrub negative reviews. You have to read between the lines. I don't
think that would really change.

------
baha_man
'What if your new rock group appeals to fans of the B52s?'

Then it's going to appear in the 'Customers Who Bought Items Like This Also
Bought' section when I'm looking for B52s stuff on amazon.

'If you have a massage service that is the perfect complement to customers of
a personal training service down the street, why not give that trainer a dozen
intro gift certificates she can use to thank her best customers?'

Vouchers and free gifts? Hardly a new idea.

~~~
kleevr
An interesting low budget guerilla self marketing tip. It goes beyond just
giving a few of X away for free, and it's really about the targeting/pre-
selection of your audience to maximize your 'advertising' budget.

Seems smart, and might get things done...

~~~
baha_man
It would be more interesting if he'd actually _tried_ this himself, and was
blogging about the success or otherwise after the event. I can't access the
link at the moment, so I don't know if the other guy actually gave it a go or
not.

~~~
iuguy
I get the impression that Seth Godin is a really smart guy.

I've got a few of his books and I have to say that he makes some great points.

I also think, like most (or all as he said in one book) marketers he is a liar
(I mean that in the sense of the book, not in the ad hominem sense of the
term).

I don't believe for one second that he eats all of his own dog food. Whilst
he's great at what he does (marketing), he's not great at doing what he tells
others to do.

Let me take the example from the article regarding the B52s as a case in
point.

One commenter has already mentioned that similar items are listed in Amazon.

Another point is that in doing the CD giveaway, you're not making a sale
(unless you sell the whole package at a profit, which may be lower than your
normal profit due to differences between new and used CDs).

Yet another point is that the CD giveaway is only effective if you know your
target market. If you think you sound like the B52s, then great. If the buyer
only likes Rock Lobster by the B52s or the Flintstones you've not really
gained much (unless your 'giveaway' was profitable).

My final point is this. In the example of the CD giveaway, he missed
something: What you really want is dedicated fans of the B52s to talk about
your music. This means that you may need to start the conversation. You'll
need to get bloggers, community forums etc. to talk about you as an Amazon
seller, to talk about your band and to use the opportunity to raise awareness.
Giving away the CDs to people who buy B52s music on Amazon alone is not going
to achieve this.

As usual from Seth Godin, it's interesting advice in a kind of 'why didn't I
think of that' way, but the applicability of it changes substantially once you
give it some thought.

On a final note, has anyone else noticed a distinct increase in the amount of
Seth Godin material linked to from here? I get the feeling that not all this
is strictly relevant to HN...

