
Episode 52 – Amazon Versus Google, Marketing with Controversy, and Instagram Contests
Updated: October 10, 2023
Published: August 30, 2017
This week Matt, Rai, and Kyle dive in the battle between the tech giants Amazon and Google for online retail. Additionally, our hosts look at the benefits, and downfalls, of using controversy in your marketing efforts and how Instagram contests can boost engagement and increase your relationship with your target audience.
Amazon Versus Google [13:00]
Marketing with Controversy [17:15]
Instagram Contests [24:00]
Amazon Versus Google
Recently the tech giants Amazon and Google have been fighting over the online retail space with both companies grabbing at anything that could give them the upper hand. In an attempt to best Amazon, Google has partnered with Walmart but our host Kyle isn’t sure it’s a positive move. Join us as we dive into the battle between Amazon and Google and how the partnership with Walmart could effect Google.
“I was not so happy with Google about partnering with Walmart and I thought it was kind of a reputation management thing but I realized it was a war of online entities.” -Kyle
“Everyone is trying to compete for our business which pushes companies to become more user friendly.” -Kyle
“Facebook is trying to take up safeguards to let business promote their products easily.” -Kyle
“Influencer marketing is kind of a more natural form of marketing because you’re really looking to people you trust for your decisions.” -Kyle
“I watch tons of videos before I make any big ticket purchases.” -Matt
Marketing With Controversy
One of the most powerful driving forces in social encounters both online and off is controversy. This week, our host Matt explores how adding controversy to your marketing can work out and how, in some cases, it can be a necessity for obtaining rapid growth in innovative spaces.
“In any product or thing in general, you have an adoption curve with early adopters, beginning of the curve, majority saturation, then late adopters.” -Matt
“There’s an old saying ‘If you’re not offending someone you’re not doing it right’ and that holds true for just about any new product.” -Matt
“Slack was dubbed the email killer and obviously that goes against the grain on Outlook, Gmail, or whatever other email you’re using but it’s also to the appeal of people who hate using emails.” -Matt
“This whole idea relates to the theory of Cognitive Dissonance which essentially means if someone has two ideas they’ll choose the lesser of two evils.” -Matt
“Creating controversy is a great idea, any time I come across it I actually stop to check out what the company does and see what the deal is.” -Rai
“If I see an article online and it says something like ‘Why this sucks’ I stop because it’s like, ‘Hey, that’ something I do every day!” -Kyle
Instagram Contests
Getting users to engage with your content is a constant struggle with social media. One surefire way to get both strong engagement and valuable content is through Instagram contests. Our host Rai explores Instagram contests and how you can get started using them right way.
“Contests are a really good way to increase interactions on Instagram but you need to think about legality when you’re getting involved.” -Rai
“Sweepstakes and promotions, which means anyone can win a prize based on chance is totally okay.” -Rai
“Have contests or competitions that are like having someone guess the score of a football game are safe to run.” -Rai
“Any contest that makes someone buy something is illegal by Instagram’s standards.” -Rai
“If you’re running an Instagram contest, you need to supply rules of eligibility.” -Rai
“When you run a contest, be sure to run a follow up that lets people know who won and it ensures people recognize the validity of the contest.” -Rai
You can find this episode of The Digital Natives Cast at:
The Digital Natives Cast on iTunes
The Digital Natives Cast on Google Play
The Digital Natives Cast’s Website