The Engagement Principles

Are corporate “loyalty” programs really effective? A recent Direct magazine article suggests the answer is “sortof. And no.”
Does engagement marketing offer any hope?
Loyalty Marketing: Still Growing — But Growing Ineffective?
Designed to drive customer retention, loyalty programs offer a premium (frequent flyer points, rewards points, etc) to keep customers connected and “loyal.” Of course, incentive-based loyalty [...]

Moleskine notebooks are expensive, luxurious… and rather craftily marketed. Proclaimed the notebook used by Hemingway and Van Gogh, they’re the kind of product that attracts a cult following.
In an earlier post, I outlined the ways they brilliantly leveraged the power of engagement marketing, connecting with their readers’ values and passions.

The Moleskinerie Blog; stunning artwork, all [...]

Blogging for engagement is a powerful technique. But what about engaging with other bloggers?
Engaging readers via passions and values is valuable — whether you’re aiming directly at customers or at influencers.
It’s why Nikon just launched an outreach program aimed directly at bloggers; for six months, they loan a Nikon D80 digital single lens reflex camera [...]

I tend to focus on engaging via passions and values, and fun is a passion shared by almost all of us. That’s why this post on Communities Dominate Brands (the grandaddy blog of engagement marketing) caught my eye.
He points his readers towards a new “Free Paris” online game by MyNuMo.com

From me, this is brilliant marketing [...]

Everyone knows that sinking feeling; you return from a vacation only to find several bazillion e-mails clogging your inbox, or an RRS reader so jammed it would take a dozen of you to clear it before your next vacation.
As related by Debbie Weil in the Guardian, Fred Wilson handled the situation the same way many [...]

Is the Home Page dead? Are businesses wasting their time building (and optimizing) them? And are engagement marketing media like blogs about to become the center of the corporate Web site?
That’s the question posed by Matt Ambrose of the Copywriter’s Crucible, which led to my asking a similar question on my Copywriter Underground writer’s blog, [...]

Thanks to the Copywriter’s Crucible for alerting us to this one — a short video created by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solution (of all people). It satirizes the master/slave relationship many advertisers still wish existed.
It’s time to engage, baby. Coupons are not enough…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDXfB0Rd4Q

Blogs have exploded on the media scene because they’re easy, they’re affordable, they’re instant, and they allow for a level of connection (two-content flow) that most other media simply don’t.
Of course, blogs are capable of doing great things, but for the marketer, they’re also potential vehicles of doom.
Sure, mention the blogging hall of shame and [...]

In my last post, I wondered aloud if “Engagement Writers” weren’t about to become a critical subset of the copywriter species.
Matt Ambrose at the Copywriter’s Crucible posted in much the same vein (and it’s worth reading even though I won’t cover most of his post here).
Of interest was how he ended his post:

The Tamar report [...]

Over the last three decades, copywriting has increasingly become an “outsourced” function.
When an organization needs the occasional ad, an annual brochure, a few press releases, and some Web site copy, outsourcing makes sense.
Today, I’m seeing the reverse trend.
Too Many Channels. Too Few Words.
Organizations have many, many media channels to fill. Blogs, e-newsletters, e-mail, forums [...]