Ask any angler, timing is everything. A fish hits, if you hit back too soon you lose the fish, if you hit back too late, you lose the fish, and your bait, not to mention your pride.
The same can be said in launching a consumer generated marketing campaign. I like to monitor newswires for relevant topics and track the number of stories on a daily basis. For example, if planning a CGM campaign around a back to school related product or service, I'll regularly check relevant keywords in news engines. When I see the amount of media start to spike, I plan the CGM campaign to hit when the mainstream media is at its highest.
The benefits are two-fold and somewhat circular. First, consumers are more likely to produce content about a topic that is current. Secondly, consumers are more likely to search on topics that are current. Here's an ideal example of the latter: your target consumer hears a story about the cost of college tuition on NPR on her way to work. She gets into the office and Googles to find the text of the story. Instead of finding the story, the first links she sees are bloggers writing about your product. Mainstream media is driving consumers to content created by other consumers and facilitated by your efforts.
That is an excellent strategy. I've done that a number of times with huge success and interest.
Mainstream media becomes the catalyst that draws the consumers to you.
What can we say but thanks?
Posted by: Gary Bourgeault (thealphamarketer.com) | August 02, 2006 at 01:29 AM