DNA Abstract from Stock Images

I wrote the following manifesto back in 2006. Have things changed much as we now approach 2010? Certainly social media has become a hotbed of possibility and a swell of mostly meaningless cruft. What would we add to the list below?

* Wave bots

* Tweet mining

* Fan fishing

* Yelp!

* iPhone & Android widgets

* Linking your Tweets to your Blog to your Facebook to your cerebral cortex out to your ping tool and back again

* Linkedin but not linked to the above

* Getting over the fear of sharing your secrets, your methods or your executive suite* Making sure you honestly and genuinely feel that what you are creating (the thing that is to become viral) is something that you would use to improve your human condition – not just something that sounds cool, has would-be neatness or is perhaps not so neat or cool once you’ve made it and you realize that it’s not much better than what you already had or it takes more time and effort than the way you used to produce the same result. Will what you’re doing really matter? If so, there’s a good chance someone else is already creating a solution. Don’t let that stop you, but know that you’re going to have a much lower chance of riding the viral vibe. Viral is not a reasonable goal for commodities. People will have to latch onto it and be happy to share it.

Here’s the original manifesto from approximately 3 years ago:

1. Creatively and effectively push beyond meeting the needs and desires of a buyer or user. Without first making this the goal and then accomplishing it, there’s little chance of any viral marketing. Above all, find out what your audience wants – what would radically improve their lives or dazzle them with delight. This requires a bit of work, to say the least. Perhaps you’ve already done this in some suitable way. Maybe you’ve created something that has received an embrace from those who buy it or use it. Nevertheless, there’s always more to learn from them. And, if you don’t think so, go back to bed. You’re too tired for this.Exceed expectations in an amplified manner as opposed to simply meeting needs. Fulfill desires in full force. Create an experiential memory that lingers and resurfaces in your customer’s recollections. Exploit the resulting traffic or promotion in ways that are beneficial to all. These are the basic components of viral marketing.
2. Focus on novelty and uniqueness, but be utilitarian, if possible. Novelty is best when it meets needs and most satisfying when it does so with supreme style and design. See: Best Product Design 2006
3. Make it fun. Everybody likes to be entertained or better yet blown away. Everybody likes to play. So, how do you get people hooked in and elated? How do you get folks to play hard? Give them a tangible goal to extend beyond the quotidian with a tangible signifier or experiential means. Who doesn’t love to hunt treasure? Who would turn down random bedazzlement? Whatever you do make sure that those involved come away with a story. People remember stories and love to tell them. Good stories replicate and spread quickly.As an exercise, take on the mindset that, “All Business Is Show Business”. Now, do more of the same.
4. Let your buyers become a part of your company or a part of your campaign. There are several ways to do this. One way is to let users provide advertising content or to be made visible in some way related to your product or service. Amazon is a perfect example of incorporating their buyers into the very fabric of the company.It’s time to get over any fear of negative word-of-mouth impact. Face problems. Deal with discontent in a way that turns it around. Endeavor to realize problems more rapidly by accepting the inevitability of a less-than-perfect experience for many of your customers, and get close enough to them to find out when it happens and to make it good in real-time – real good.
5. Be generous. If you want your customers to associate you with value, you aren’t going to be faking this one. If you can’t find ways to be novel, fun or inclusive – then consider taking a popular product and reducing the price to a point where you shake the want-it-but-cannot-justify-it buyers off the proverbial fence. They won’t soon forget that you did so. To do this right, you have to make sure that the word gets out before you drop the price, and that the price drop is limited to a short time span. If you spread the message on the web, you’ll surely get a horde of residual traffic, which is best met by practicing the same exercise at least once every month. This keeps would-be buyers on the lookout, and it keeps your business present in the minds of consumers.See: Woot.If you can, then by all means bring more than one product into the mix, but don’t become a Wal*Mart, please. Hey, what about Woot*Mart? Wal*Woot? Wal*Moot?You can also use this tactic with any email campaigns that you might be running. Again – pick that one must-have or several hot items if possible. Make the product irresistible via price, and make sure you’re overstocked (to satisfy the volume and to get a volume discount). Feature this product in your update or newsletter emails to your opt-in audience. Make sure to time the email appropriately.
6. Write exceptionally compelling press releases. Submit all press releases to blog and news aggregators and to your comprehensive, current and perfectly targeted database of recipients. Find ways to merit writing a press release at least every 2 months (i.e., have a hot event or a great feature launch), which is to say don’t trumpet anything that is considerably lame, but rather only that which sticks to the eyes, ears and mind and shines at the edges – as a minimum. Repeat steps 1-3.
7. Once the campaign is ready to launch, find several highly-trafficked bloggers that show the potential for interest in what you’re offering or giving away. Contact these bloggers prior to sending out the press release, and give them the scoop. Be complimentary. Explain why you picked them. And, tell them you’d appreciate a mention by them, if they are willing. You might even go so far as to ask them for their opinion. Nokia is a great example of a company that uses a similar tactic.Not all of the bloggers you contact will respond. But, by forming one strong alliance, you’ll likely get a great deal of free advertising.
8. Confirmation email opportunities are a great source of visibility for your company. Though you’re not likely to generate instantaneous conversions, you should use any purchase confirmation emails as an opportunity to create awareness about other products, especially the ones that have competitive pricing or are extremely popular. The great thing about confirmation emails is that they are not in any way intrusive, as they are expected by all but a negligible few. And, they give you an opportunity to advertise to your customers who have not opted into your newsletters or updates.
9. Giveaways and complimentary gifts are great ways to win loyalty and to get folks to talk about your company. However, don’t even bother if you can’t find something that is truly novel or cause for excitement. Come up with something that folks will want to bring to the office, or share with their friends. Forget giving gifts, if they are going to fast become dumpster doo. Think: unlike anything seen before or off the hook.Back at Planet Lame, Sony learned (not too long ago) that a sweepstakes campaign which targets college students giving away thousands of dollars in cash prizes is going to draw about half the participation and cost multiples more than a sweepstakes that offers a dorm room decked out in state-of-the-art electronics. Focus on the persona of your target. Focus on the moment. Capture the spirit of your audience. Capture the spirit of the place and the time. Augment each of these elements as richly as possible.
10. Far from forgettable: you are on a stage. Where are you? Far from forgettable.
11. How to push the phrase “Tell a Friend” to the “Sell a Friend” level? It’s every business’ dream to have people selling their products by excited, cost-free, word-of-mouth inducements. A cheap, global, on-the-ground sales team can be yours, if you figure out a way for people to express themselves in your company’s name. If you need some help with this concept (as it seems to be out of reach for many), check out WOMMA – the Word of Mouth Marketing Association – www.womma.org.
12. Decadence. Belgian chocolate. Naked people. Now you just have to figure out a way to use them in your marketing plan. (Just wanted to make sure you’re still awake or maybe I’m serious. How to know?)
13. Invite reviews. Induce reviews. Beg for reviews. When you’ve gone out of your way to help a customer, by all means, politely ask them to take a moment and give you a review on your Yahoo! local listing, or any place where they can do the same. Another kind of review is a kind you facilitate. See below.
14. Use free classifieds and listings. This includes, but is not limited to craigslist, Froogle, Froogle Local, Googlebase, Google Local, Yahoo! Local or
    

    Backpage.com	various local classifieds
    GetitSellit.com	simple, kid-friendly classifieds website
    Adpost.com	national and international classifieds
    DomesticSale	local, national and international classifieds
    Meetup	classifieds for local groups with shared interests

15. Be a resource. If you have a website, provide users with information about your industry. Give solid, effective tips and advice. Link to as many other resources as you can. Keep the links current, relevant and insightful. Become an authority on topics that correspond to what you sell. Get your CEO blogging about what she loves (which will hopefully include the products you sell). Share your knowledge and expertise. Provide tools that inform your customers or any means to allow buyers to buy with confidence. Implementing a means to let customres share reviews is a particularly good method, which harkens back to the word-of-mouth element. The benefits of product reviews are profound (believe it). A great example of a reviews pioneer online is New Egg (www.newegg.com).Provide as many ways as possible for users to calculate, communicate, comment, customize, create, connect, compare, compose, correct, cross-reference, celebrate, cluster, classify, clip and call up again. And, make sure to ask your customers what they would most want from your business. Give great choices and follow through. Let users know that you listened and acted.
16. Gratitude. Genuineness. Consistency. Institute at least 5 new ways to show your appreciation, increase transparency and adhere to stable policy and practice in your business processes.
17. Talk is cheap and so is chalk. How many people walk a particular path from the subway to the office every morning? Don’t be obnoxious about the message. Make it simple and memorable.
18. Use children as a source of market knowledge. Hipness is of great value. Use trend-setting teenagers to find out what’s emerging or hip. Use the information to make your campaigns “of the moment”. You may be cool, but you’ll be surprised at what you’ve failed to gather from the world of pop culture.
19. Utilize incentives. Get referral kick-backs into the mix. Affiliate marketing is powerful incentive prospect. It provides inbound links, spreads the word at a cost you set, and it builds your visibility in a way that’s mostly in your control. And, there are good platforms that make the process easy to establish. Share the wealth or get ready to be poor.
20. Hire people who are truly excited about your company. Make those you hire stakeholders in the company, whether by ample incentive stock options, profit-sharing, commission or generous performance bonuses. Your sales department doesn’t have to be the only department selling your product or service.If you make it possible for employees to gain from the company’s success, the sales folks won’t be the only people cold-calling. There is perhaps nothing more powerful than internal excitement. When you give your employees a reason to dig in, you can bet the business on the fact that they will be spreading the word like no one else.

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