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Signals from the Field

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3 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Doesn't Work - What???

3 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Doesn't Work - What???

This is not what you’d expect from someone who leads a digital marketing firm but it’s true, and the “truth will set you free”. Digital marketing doesn’t work, unless of course you avoid making the three biggest mistakes.

Neal Lappe

Neal Lappe

Mar 4, 2015

What's Wrong With Your Content Marketing?

What's Wrong With Your Content Marketing?

Let’s talk about content.

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Feb 26, 2015

Don't Get Buried In Bad Marketing Advice

Don't Get Buried In Bad Marketing Advice

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Feb 18, 2015

The Secrets Behind The Success of Exploding Kittens

The Secrets Behind The Success of Exploding Kittens

Pug drawing cat

Every few months we hear a story about an incredibly successful online marketing campaign. Last summer, it was the Ice Bucket Challenge. In early 2015, it’s card game (more on that in a minute).

It’s easy to get inspired by the results that come from such wildly successful campaigns. To the point where we try to dissect and incorporate elements of these campaigns in order to make ours more successful.

So how much can we learn from stories of such massive online success and how much can we emulate?

Turns out, it’s not a lot.

Now let’s talk about a game of cards.

The Oatmeal is a popular web comic based out of Seattle, Washington (warning: the comic's humor is sometimes crude and borderline NSFW. View at your own risk). In only six short years, its creator has developed a worldwide fan-base. Originating online, The Oatmeal has monetized through site advertisements, comic merchandise, printed books, and most recently, a card game called “Exploding Kittens” (it’s much more playful than the name implies).

To get the card game funded, The Oatmeal launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of raising $10,000. "Exploding Kittens" met and exceeded the $10,000 goal in only 20 minutes. At the time of this writing, over $4,600,000 (yes, four million dollars) had been raised.

Remember, The Oatmeal did not start as a card game company. It didn’t even start as a business. It began as (and remains) a free web comic. But instead of focusing on revenue from day 1, The Oatmeal’s creator focused on the quality and value of his product (the comic strip). When the time came to monetize, people answered in droves.

This makes for an incredible story of how one guy built a brand so beloved, its followers were willing to hand money over with little thought. And it was all done online with no advertising. Just word of mouth.

So what lessons can be learned, whether or not they’re practical for our own business?

Building momentum within your followers can pay huge dividends.

The Oatmeal did this by flipping the ratio of selling to giving. 99% of activity is giving away free comics, with 1% dedicated to selling. By comparison, most businesses are always selling, with the occasional “free” sprinkled in.

When you combine intense dedication with best-in-class talent, incredible things happen.

Unfortunately, we all can’t have best-in-class talent (the middle of the bell curve has to end up somewhere). This speaks to the importance of identifying and developing the strengths that do exist in our people, marketing, and products.

The internet is a catalyst for helping great products flourish.

In marketing terms, the internet is simply a tool for reaching people more effectively. If your product is truly great, the internet can be incredibly valuable. But if your product stinks or is even just average, the internet will add little to nothing.

The challenge with trying to emulate this type of success is people get infatuated with the outcomes while ignoring the process it took to get there. In the case of The Oatmeal, it took one insanely talented cartoonist cranking out two comics per week over six years. On top of which, he comes from a career of digital marketing. So he knows how to utilize social channels very effectively.

So this isn’t a story of how one person mastered the internet in order to make a ton of money. It’s a story about building an incredibly loyal following through a great product. Take away the internet, and this would have still been possible. Take away his faithful following, and it would have failed.

In the final analysis, a lot of unique things went right that led to the success of the Exploding Kittens Kickstarter campaign. And while there’s something to learn about quality, value, and building momentum from an online community, there isn’t necessarily a lot to emulate.

 

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Jan 30, 2015

Why Is Email Marketing So Effective?

Why Is Email Marketing So Effective?

Let’s talk about email marketing. Before you hit the “back” button in your browser, think about this for a second: of all the strategies businesses use to sell online (search, social, content, display, email), where do you think email marketing stacks up in terms of effectiveness? Towards the bottom? Middle of the pack?

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Jan 15, 2015

When Hiring a Digital Marketing Partner, Hire The Team

When Hiring a Digital Marketing Partner, Hire The Team

If you're a business owner or in charge of your company's marketing, you're probably solicited non-stop by digital marketing agencies. Each company claims to offer something others can not. Each claims it can solve your online marketing challenges.

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Jan 2, 2015

Top Five Online Marketing Trends That Will Impact 2015

Top Five Online Marketing Trends That Will Impact 2015

The biggest challenge facing brands online is the ability to stand out from the crowd. Put simply, it’s become a very crowded and very competitive space. Winning online today is less about being the most technical savvy and more about understanding your customer journey. To maximize your chance for success in 2015, consider these five important trends.

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Dec 23, 2014

Four Important Online Marketing Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Four Important Online Marketing Lessons Learned The Hard Way

Whether in life or business, experiencing failure often provides invaluable lessons. Today, I intend to help you bypass that hardship and failure by sharing four important online marketing lessons we’ve seen businesses learn the hard way.

Chris Leone

Chris Leone

Dec 19, 2014

How to excel in a competitive marketplace

How to excel in a competitive marketplace

Charles Darwin said, “It is not the strongest nor the most intelligent of the species that survives, but the ones most responsive to change”. How this applies to you is determined by many factors. But with the marketplace becoming ever more competitive and buyers’ attitudes influenced by so many new and changing factors, successful salespeople and businesses need to focus on three important factors to ensure they adapt and survive.

Neal Lappe

Neal Lappe

Oct 22, 2014

Marketing Budgets - How much should you spend on marketing?

Marketing Budgets - How much should you spend on marketing?

Pie Chart with Dollar Signs

This is an update to a post written previously about marketing budgets, and includes an update about what companies are spending on marketing activities; including digital marketing, search marketing and social media. The two sources of data are Forester Research and the CMO Survey, an organization dedicated to marketing insights and supported by Duke University and McKinsey.

Neal Lappe

Neal Lappe

Oct 19, 2014

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