Whisper To A Scream

Part two of three on the ideas behind the new layout at ArkansasRazorbacks.com

Icicle Works is one of my fav one-hit-wonder 80's bands. Birds Fly is their Shatner-esque effort. Nobody remembers the title. Everyone remembers the refrain -- a whisper to a scream.

Check it out on iTunes. The melody builds slowly, then it explodes into a hard Taiko-drum roll. Just like your promotional ideas -- they should start as your whisper to your fans and their social graphs -- the reverse distribution group that will have the greatest lasting impact because it is the most trusted distribution network.

Want you subliminal message du jure? Tell me that in the middle of that song isn't the inadvertent explanation of the state of net marketing in the modern it's not longer a speech, it's a conversation world: "Finding our way around indecision; we are, we are rather helpless."

Next time you hear that song on the golden oldies station, you'll remember this column.

And that, kids, is a successful meme.

Today’s successful advertisement is a meme, a brilliantly clear message set adrift into the internet; a mental virus to be calculating about it that will multiply and spread among those interested in receiving it. Marketers who spend time figuring out how “to go viral” are laboring to get that perfect meme.

The steps are simple. Almost too simple to be believed.

First, have a quality product. Ron Harlan said it, if the product sucks, social media won’t fix it. In turn, no amount of advertising or promotion can repair it. It is shocking how many people believe they can succeed in the marketplace without this basic fact.

The rest of the steps are easy.

Bring the key information together with clear language written in active voice.

Verify the accuracy of all facts, figures and action points like phone numbers, emails, addresses both physical and virtual.

Keep the details up to date and attached to as many carrier stories as possible.

Deploy easy to use tools for your consumers to spread the information to friends.

That’s it.

No elaborate splash screens. No flash videos.

This was the heart of the most recent design at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Less ads, more editorial, clear marketing messages, everybody wins.

Next: A checklist of integrating marketing into editorial.