Sales Psychology

Meghan Jones explains the psychology behind windowless groceries .

-DD

Marketing Your Home

Emily DiNuzzo reports on a study suggesting a front door painted black increase the value of a house by thousands of dollars. The original Zillow study does warn that "The color also could turn many buyers off. They may think it feels too imposing or doesn’t give the overall property a positive feeling when first looking at the house."

DiNuzzo also refers to an article by Marissa Laliberte which provides home selling tips.

-DD

Memorable Corporate Names

Meghan Jones shares how the names of U.S. retail companies originated.

-DD

Planned Obsolescence

Adam Hadhazy writes about planned obsolescence .

-DD

Socially Responsible Investing

Aswath Damodaran a blog post and video where he muses on the challenges of investing in companies which claim to operate environmentally, socially, and with good governance.

He finds that in some markets these companies may have greater return and/or resilience, but that the data indicates that the additional return can be small or even negative, depending on the industries involved.

-DD

Fraudulent Advertising

Kaiser Fung describes why fraudulent advertisers thrive.

-DD

Education Marketing

Linchpin staff write about trends in marketing higher education . However, these recommendations may be skewed because Linchpin sells online advertising. Speaking with students, personal referrals were what led them to select a school, and not search engine optimization (SEO). Thus the advice on referrals offered by Steli Efti and Hinge might be more beneficial than fine-tuning SEO.

-DD

Building a Story Brand

Donald Miller's book Building a Story Brand was promoted in recent branding training, and therefore this video on the book caught my eye. Marketing Books Summaries did an entertaining overview of the book. I am now inspired to use some of Miller's concepts in scripting video promotionals for library services. And I plan to read some of Miller's writings myself.

-DD

The Value of Writing

John Henry writes about expert writer Larry McEnerney and his comments about marketing and value.

-DD

Marketing/Advertising

Quora offered some examples and stories about advertising.

-DD

How Public Libraries Communicate

OCLC has released a report exploring how public libraries communicate. Findings include:

• 96% use social media;
• 84% post photos, videos, or library information on social media;
• 70% send email messages;
• 40% have a communications strategy, but only 17% say it's current;
• 71% say they don’t have the necessary staff resources;
• 25% have marketing professionals on staff.

-DD

Facebook Patents Social Class Algorithm

Violet Blue warns that Facebook has patented an algorithm which predicts an individual's social class . Blue inidicates this technology would allow banks and other marketers to "target the lower class, the working class -- which are often people of color, too -- because data shows poor people (those least in a position to take high-interest loans) are more likely than the general population to be so desperate that they'll take on a bad loan."

-DD

Content for Google's Mobile Knowledge Panels

Mordy Oberstein guides web content creators in using Google's mobile knowledge panels .

-DD

Sales With Civility

Preston Gralla comments on spectacular marketing flops resulting from picturing the audience using a gross sterotype. Pitch with respect.

-DD

Jargon in the Academy

Jeffrey Young says that jargon is slowing educational innovation . He shares varied definitions for the term "adaptive learning," a phrase that is being used to market a number of initiatives. When administrators apply varied meanings to the same term that designates a methodology, it is no wonder that results differ widely in differing university implementations.

-DD

Unused Features In Automobiles

Lucas Mearian finds that car buyers can be confused about high-tech features . Mearian cites the 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report, which indicates that:

The five features owners most commonly report that they "never use" are in-vehicle concierge (43%); mobile routers (38%); automatic parking systems (35%); heads-up display (33%); and built-in apps (32%).

"In many cases, owners simply prefer to use their smartphone or tablet because it meets their needs; they're familiar with the device and it's accurate," said Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction and human-machine interface (HMI) research at J.D. Power. "In-vehicle connectivity technology that's not used results in millions of dollars of lost value for both consumers and the manufacturers."

-DD

Targeted Marketing on Facebook

Zach Miners reports how brick and mortor purchases result in targeted Facebook ads .

-DD

Behavioral Cues

Anita Elberse draws from the example of an unappreciated violinist to speak to job seekers about the need for appropriate marketing . While the author did not specifically mention the term "behavioral cue," the violinist Joshua Bell found that busking in a subway seemed to be less appreciated than playing solos in Carnegie Hall. Cues such as an appreciative crowd and a challenging entry fee were absent from the subway performance, with the result that people did not recognize that this was an experience to be appreciated and valued.

The culturally acquired cues are a form of brain programming that provide an automatic response to common life situations. A common greeting in my Midwestern culture is "How are you?" and the appropriate response is "Fine" unless one requires the services of a medical professional. The unthinking ritual communications of daily life help us navigate life quickly and productively, and thus psychologists and parents need to work with children who don't respond to behavioral clues. On the other hand, if we are inattentive and don't look beyond ritual behaviors that get us through the day, then we limit our awareness of the suffering and beauty in the world, and can be unappreciative of the roles of others in our lives. As you go through your day, consider the words of those around you. -DD

 

In the following video clip, Kare Anderson shares the importance of welcoming listening for communication and buy-in.

Marketing with Facebook

Chris Gerber shares eight ways to market with Facebook.

-DD

Promoting Technology and Ideas

Tech&Learning has a good article on how to promote a specific tech tool (Wordle), and the same motivational methods apply to encouraging database use or other technologies.
The same virtual magazine has a discussion on what the ideal school library would be like -- some visions seem to threaten the stereotype of the traditional librarian. And I liked the suggestions on what role or responsiblity educators have AFTER attending a conference -- if we discover something that will work in our environment, we should promote it.


^-DD