SmartSymbols^tm

Matt Fellows from BostInnovation wrote a great article about SmartSymbols.

It really is a nice summary about SmartSymbols (thank you Matt), but what is interesting is that it is nice summary from a different perspective.

Take the article’s tag line for example: “Finally, all of your product research in one place”. Well, yes, thank you! That is exactly the problem SmartSymbols was designed to solve for the shopper.
From the “sales guy” perspective, Matt points out that “the sales team gets to cram all of the positive content about your product in one easy-to-digest place, complete with a “buy” button for instant conversion. ” The is also, as they say, gets straight to the crux of the issue.


Of course, it is great to have a positive review written by someone who grasps the magnitude of the problem and the importance of the solution. The side benefit, however, is another perspective that may make us look at our own product from a different angle. Perhaps a clearer one.

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When books receive glowing reviews and win awards it is wonderful news for everyone involved. The only challenge is to figure out how to tell your prospective readers about it when they shop online. And furthermore, it is important to find out if they really pay attention.

This short 90-second video shows how SmartSymbols visual marketing platform can help organize and showcase praise a book has received, as well as how to track the impact of sharing that praise with readers via “Reviews” icon:

Enjoy!

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A quick video about SmartSymbols for Jothy Rosenberg’s book “Who Says I Can’t”. Enjoy!

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What are the most efficient ways of improving the impact of your SmartSymbols? Here are 5 fundamental ways of SmartSymbols work for you more efficiently and give you the information about what people are really interested in, directly from their behavior while they look at your product.

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1. Put SmartSymbols into all your online properties
It’s very easy to do (click “Share”, select the format you want, then copy & paste the snippet on the right) and there are two reasons for that: buzz and analytics.
Buzz: every time a symbol set is added to a web property (a web page or a blog) it generates more buzz: people will explore the symbol set and will share it with others.
Analytics: every instance of SmartSymbols will produce a set of analytics (see more here). By comparing traffic from different installations of SmartSymbols sets you will be able to create your next step in the marketing campaign.

Aggregate and Distribute - Click to Enlarge

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3. Use SmartSymbols Analytics
Analytics will tell you (more here) what people are actually interested in a straight-forward and blunt way : what readers actually spend time on - what they read, which video clips they watch (you have video clips, right?) and so on. This is more than just analytics - this is marketing data that can be used in many ways, such as creating campaigns.

Icon Usage Chart - Click to Enlarge

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2. Share symbol sets consistently with others
Let people - blogger, journalists, your fans and followers - embed your SmartSymbols into their web pages and blog entries. This will benefit them as well - readers and visitors are more likely to explore something interactive and visual, which is a clear advantage of plain text. Every time you talk to a blogger or a reporter - offer your symbol set. It’s very easy to do - just copy & paste a code snippet under the “Share” button.
Click on the diagram below to see code snippet locations.

Sharing SmartSymbols - Click to Enlarge

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5. Use icons creatively
Sky is the limit here - you will run out of content before SmartSymbols runs out of space. Things you did not have space to tell before - you can now. And it will not take much space! For example - show pictures of places where your book is taking place, show some illustrations that a book has, or show a map of where your product is being used. (See more here: Secret of the Compass Icon)

Show Where Product is Used - Click to Enlarge

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4. Try different campaigns
For example - put “Social Networking” icon in the first place, then a week later swap places with “Reviews” icon, or try different content within the icons. Also, consider what other icons you would like to try - maybe different aspects of the product connect with your customers better than others. All these combinations will help you figure what works best.

Different Icon Combinations - Click to Enlarge

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“If you can’t beat them - join them”
- Author Unknown

There seem to be no shortage of bad news and challenges that book publishing industry is facing now. The challenges revolve around the apparent conflict between the traditional print format and the new, electronic media. But if publishing industry embraces the quote at the beginning of this article, it might find itself in a much better position, even better than it was before the conflict has started.

But what are the strategic steps the industry should take in order to become a winner in the new market and technological conditions? Here are some specifics.

Step 1: Lead the Electronic Format
True, some companies have already made an alliance with Apple for the iBook and iPad deals. But what is really needed is for them to embrace the electronic format fully and lead the way. Leading the way is different from the reactive response to new technologies we have seen so far. In Step 1 publishers have a huge advantage over others businesses:
a) they have vast experience in book publishing
b) they have direct connection with authors
c) publishers and authors have an ability to connect directly with their readers

Using these advantages publishers can re-position themselves to become de-facto leaders in any the new format.

Step 2: Add Rich, Multi-dimensional Content
We have written a number of articles on this could be done with SmartSymbols (”Who is the Author“, “Secret of the Compass Icon“, and more), but fundamentally (SmartSymbols or not), new technology allows publishers to aggregate all the marketing and promotional materials and attach it to any book in any format: book trailers and movies based on the book, interviews with authors and book illustration; the list is endless. The key is to figure out what readers really want (here is my tip on that) and make it easy for the readers to access the information.

Step 3: Create Book Eco-sphere
This one is really easy: book fans and book clubs have been around for ages. New technologies, such as SwapTree and GoodReads, makes it even easier for publishers to create very rich book eco-sphere. All publishers really need to do is package Step 1 and Step 2, so we, the readers, can easily access information we are looking for, which is the very foundation of Permission Marketing (probably the most cost-effective marketing approach today).

One Last Point.
Investment in this strategy, or its specific steps, not only addresses immediate survival needs of the publishing industry, but also opens doors to new developments and innovation that will propel books and publishers back to their rightful place as the leaders of one of the most needed and valuable industry in history.

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