Simon S. Tam's Blog, page 19

Making New Fans in Unexpected Places

This article is being cross-promoted from my music marketing blog because I think there are direct applications for all brands and marketers.

Whenever I write an article aboutsponsorshipor marketing, I always talk about finding your unique, target audience. As bands, we usually focus on the genre: people who like certain acts that resemble our music. Sometimes, we base it on the subject matter of the songs or even the band’s image image. However, have you considered just connecting fans who ha...

The Best Social Media Site to Use

I often get asked: what’s the best social media site for bands? My business clients ask the same thing using different words: what is the best marketing channel to promote my brand? The idea that there is a magic formula or single solution to take care of all your needs is a misnomer. Where you should be promoting and the tools that you should be using should revolve around one main concept: where your target audience is. It’s as simple as that.

We often make things more complicated by adding...

Developing Obsessive Fans of Your Company

The best way for any company grow their customer base is through personal referrals. Do you want crazy, obsessive, almost borderline-stalker fans of your brand? Here are some tips on how to make it happen:

Always Over-Deliver: Always take the time to get to know your customers: online, via social media or email, and especially at the show.Turn your fans into friends. When people buy something from you or ask you a question, always deliver over-the-top customer service, the kind that people bra...

Marketing is Like Dating

There are many lessons that can be learned from dating that can be applied to Marketing:

Pick-up lines don’t work, personality does.Don’t rely on the cheesy slogans or buzzwords to get you there, they won’t stand on their own. However, if it’s a part of your brand and reveals some of your personality, then you might just have a chance. Do people see you as serious? Fun? Over the top corny?
Know your type.Remember who your target audience is. In the dating world, you focus on people of the same...

Reducing the Spam

I recently wrote about using Facebook Events to promote something effectively.

It’s important to make your messages count. Your emails, Facebook “shares,” tweets, get diluted if you only change frequency instead of efficiency. If you’re like me, you can see this online everyday: getting invitations to events that are across the country or that you have no interest in, getting recommendations from people you don’t know, special offers on products that you’ve never purchased (and never will). Do...

Why Buying Followers is a Bad Idea

(Cross posted from my Music Marketing blog)

Buying Facebook or Twitter Followers

There are several companies out there that offer services where you can buy “real” followers on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr. Other services sell “real” views on YouTube videos or plays on SoundCloud. For nearly every social media site available, there are services that claim to boost your reach, increase your followers, and give you more credibility by increased views.

How It Works

Follower services are driven by b...