Brands Who Are Running Blogs
Tue Aug 18, 2009 at 07:42 AM by Ethan uAmplify has completed an observational research study centered around 153 recognizeable brands. In doing so, it has found that 69 of these companies (45%) are running blogs on their websites, many of which are updated and maintained on a regular basis. Blogs have proven to be an effective way to communicate with clients and potential clients who want to find out the latest undertakings of the company. People are looking for any exciting news to help draw their attention and even get the attention of their friends and others in their social and business networks. That is why blogs are a powerful tool that many popular brands in entertainment, fashion, technology, sports and others use to not only draw appeal to the site but get through to people with the latest goings on. uAmplify has a multi platform system that can help a business, whether it’s a well publicized company or not, to come up with ideas for effective blog formatting techniques and layout designs and ways to generate leads and further interest.
In the beauty industry Beau-coup has been posting blog entries at least 3-4 times a week focusing on tips centered around wedding and party planning. A potential customer can view their blog and see their archived blog posts to see what the company has been involved with in the past. A visitor would find browsing through the blog easy because one can see the breakdown of the posts into categories like: bridal showers, engagements, planning tips, etc. Kenneth Cole shoes posts at least 3 blog entries a day and uses the catchy name ‘a-wear-ness blog’. Kenneth Cole not only posts about the latest shoe designs, but is also able to generate a broader audience with posts on social rights, well being and the political landscape. Their blog includes a Question and Answer portion so that users can submit questions on these topics, and many entries contain videos so the user doesn’t have to read all the content. These are just some of the ways that blogs can effectively engage the user. | Tags: uamplify, observational study, beaucoup, kenneth cole, blog entries, entertainment brands, fashion, technology, sports, blog roll, customer feedback | | | |
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Brands Who Engage in Forums
Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 08:01 AM by Ethan Forums, message boards, discussion boards and community chat rooms are all great ways for people with a common interest to express ideas and share opinions online. Out of 153 brand websites observed, 37% of them are running a forum of some kind. This means there is a lot of room for growth in this area, whether it’s because companies aren’t aware of how to run a forum, or aren’t prepared to set up a forum or they aren’t aware of the power and customer engagement that a forum can command. Especially with brands that have a variety of items to offer, forums are very useful to see what people are discussing from one product to the next.
On Netflix’s discussion forum, one can see what users are saying on a variety of topics like: about movies, TV shows old and new, instant watching, etc. Users can create their own discussion topic like ‘what do you think is the most overrated movie?’ and there’s no telling how many responses there will be and how long the discussion can carry on. Pacific Sunwear is able to generate a lot of user interaction with categories like: sports, style, social and music. One can view the most recent comments and posted videos, which shows another example of a brand that is not limiting the discussion just to their own offered products or latest offers or any other selling points. There is a lot of freedom in forums in terms of allowing meaningful discussions that people can easily relate too with as few limitations as possible. |
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Brands Running E-cards
Wed Jul 08, 2009 at 12:07 PM by Ethan E-card campaigns continue to get popular and more widespread and more and more people see the many great uses that a card sent online can have. Out of 153 companies observed, just 16% of them have e-card campaigns on their sites. There are just a handful of major brands out there that have incorporated e-cards into their sites, and the chances of more catching on all depends on who is interested in e-cards and which brands find e-card campaigns to be worthwhile to begin with. Some consumers may go through with sending an e-card through a site that is strictly card oriented, as opposed to going to a corporate business site where a consumer might be more concerned with new products rather than an e-card. The most popular use for an e-card has appeared to be with holiday greetings, and for companies that like to connect with their customers and send out greetings, e-cards can be a useful tool.
Build-a-bear workshop allows users to send a holiday e-card with a variety of layout possibilities with their company theme. Discovery Channel Networks allows users to send an e-card with program themes and animal themes. For someone who is an avid animal lover but who is not so interested in Discovery, perhaps receiving an e-card from a friend will get them interested. This can be just as effective as word of mouth distribution or friend referral or any viral method that can help attract more prospective fans to a website.
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