Nearly everyone has heard the expression “there is no such thing as bad publicity” but no one has taken this concept quite as literally as Vitaly Borker. To this Brooklyn-based e-commerce entrepreneur, bad publicity has actually become a good thing.
Vitaly Borker, founder of DecorMyEyes.com, essentially discovered that by treating his customers badly, he was able to increase his PageRank in Google searches. The reason for this strange phenomenon, is that Google does not rate sites based on whether or not they are getting “good” or “bad” links. So when Borker swore at customers and refused to give refunds on counterfeit products, and consumers complained about the experience on reputable consumer review sites such as Get Satisfaction, his PageRanking actually went up.
In an interview with David Segal of the New York Times, Borker admitted to trying regular search engine optimization first by paying companies to write positive reviews of his website, but when this tactic failed to get his site to the top of search results, he began to stop caring about pleasing his customers. It was at this point that he realized that negative promotion was actually more effective. People were far more likely to complain when something went wrong during a transaction than they were to post positive reviews after having a good experience, and since those negative reviews still came from a reputable site, they had the same “Google juice” to push his site to the top of results, and drive sales.
This tactic obviously falls squarely into the un-ethical category, and would definitely not be a very good long term strategy for most companies to pursue, but it is fascinating that someone could be so successful with promotion by essentially abusing their customers.
The New York Times’ David Segal reported on this amazing story last week, and actually got an interview with Borker, and his report on the subject is one of the most fascinating articles I have read all year. I highly suggest reading it.
Radio, television, and Internet promotion are all well established media channels for marketers, but podcasts still tend to go underutilized, even as their effectiveness for value-based marketing grows.
By using a combination of advertising, sales promotion, and PR, marketers can reach a highly targeted audience of enthusiasts (who also happen to be the best people to spread the message even further by word-of-mouth to their friends and family). In addition, the marketing messages are endorsed by podcast hosts that listeners and viewers trust, so it is more likely that the message will reach the “Desire” and “Action” stages of the AIDA model.
Advertising and PR
As mentioned above, advertising is particularly effective on podcasts as they are often supported by endorsements for the podcast hosts as well. Not only can the advertisers tailor and customize their messages, but they also gain the PR benefit of sparking a positive conversation on the podcast following the ad about the product. In addition, many companies will not even have to pay for the hosts to talk about their product, and can provide press releases for podcasts to discuss as they go over the weekly news.
Sales Promotion
In addition to advertisements, marketers can also provide special limited time offers and coupons to listeners of the podcast. For example, Audible advertises on TWiT, but also offers TWiT listeners free books and a free trial if they sign up at a customized link (www.audible.com/twit2).
The true pioneer in this space is Leo Laporte, founder of the TWiT Network and host of a number of podcasts including This Week in Tech, and The Tech Guy. He founded his entire company podcasting, and has been extremely successful in building a loyal listener base, and enticing marketers into this new field. In the recent episode of This Week in Tech below, there are numerous examples of these promotional mix elements including the sponsors at the beginning (PR) and the breaks in between segments for endorsing advertisers’ products.
Promotion is a common method employed by retailers to control the situational factors influencing their customers. In stores, companies can entice customers with free gifts, or “buy one get one free” promotions, but in an online store such as Apple’s App Store, there are unique factors that need to be considered when devising a successful promotion.
An interesting trend that has taken over App Store promotion is the “free for one day only” concept. iTunes is very crowded with good apps, and has a limited amount of space with which to promote them. As a result, most customers only see the apps that are featured in the Top 200 list (which is comprised based on sales numbers). In order to get their apps onto these lists, developers have begun changing the price of their apps to free for one day in order to inflate their sales numbers, and then quickly change the price back to normal by the end of the day.
One might think that the sales would drop off again after the app was no longer free, but by generating so much buzz in a single day, the apps are usually able to make it into the Top 200 Paid Apps list (which is separate from the Top 200 Free Apps list) quite easily. Once they have secured a spot in the top 200, the increased visibility generally continues to inflate their sales, and if the app is good they might even make it up into the top 25.
This promotional method may not always be enough, however, as so many developers have begun to exploit it. To ensure the promotion’s success, it is also important to get featured on blogs and websites around the internet. FreeAppADay.com was started up with this exact idea in mind, and has been extremely successful since its inception in 2009. I began following the site on the very first day that it offered a free app, and within weeks it was already putting nearly every app it featured into the best sellers list on iTunes.
This is by no means the only promotional method on the App Store, but it is arguably the most prevalent today. Similar to other online stores, ubiquity is important to App Store promotion, and it is imperative to secure features and reviews on as many blogs and websites as possible. For iPhone games, Touch Arcade and IGN.com have some of the largest readerships, and provide an excellent source of promotion.
I was prompted to write this post by the influx of amazing iPhone games that have seen price drops this week, and I will feature some of the best downloads below. Some of the more premium apps (which cost anywhere from $2.99 to $9.99 regularly) have $0.99 sales instead of going all the way to free, and most of the apps I will list below are currently on sale for $0.99.
I have posted about Osmos previously, and this is because it is one of the absolute best games on the App Store. IGN.com (the largest games reviews site on the internet) ranked it the #1 game on the entire app store in its Top 25 iPhone Games feature, and I couldn’t agree more. In Osmos, you play as a tiny orb floating in space, surrounded by smaller and larger orbs. To win, you must propel yourself into smaller orbs by ejecting mass, and avoid larger orbs that will consume you. The game sets the mood with vibrant visuals and excellent ambient music.
Peggle is similar to the classic game of Plinko, and has players shooting balls at coloured pegs with the aim of removing all the orange pegs. The game oozes style with its colourful visuals, catchy soundtrack, and memorable characters (each with their own special power-ups and stages). Its high level of polish will come as no surprise to those familiar with its developer, PopCap Games, which has released hits such as Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, and Bookworm. When the final peg is cleared at the end of a level, the game switches to a zoomed-in, slow-motion shot of the ball colliding with the peg, that triggers a shower of fireworks and blasts the triumphant tune of “Ode to Joy” through your headphones. It is truly one of the most satisfying and enjoyable experiences that you can have on the app store.
