I’m really big on clever marketing and advertising. I don’t like the normal- I like when people get down, dirty and creative. If you’re trying to grab your audience’s attention, you need to have something that will literally make them stop and stare… or in my case- take a screenshot and write a post about it.

I was using my trusty Grooveshark account to blast some music today, to get into my Internet marketing zen, when I saw a clever and cute advertising message gently hogging the right side of my screen.

What did I see? Read on.

If you scroll down a little, and take a peeksies at the bottom of the ad, you’ll see that Grooveshark has proclaimed its undying love for me. Yup, it’s true. That’s not all! They also coupled this adoring love sick message with a geo-targeted ad for the gulf coast cleanup. Why do I like this? Because I currently live in Florida and the beaches are of great concern to me.

I AM wondering one thing, Grooveshark. Why the panda? And why the hell is he named Pickles? Last I knew, Pandas weren’t native to the gulf coast. But what do I know?

Anyway, I really am getting to a point here- and here it is. When you’re trying to grab someone’s attention with advertising, to encourage conversion, there are a few things that Grooveshark did right (other than tell me it loves me).

  • Out of the ordinary is good. Grooveshark caught my attention with its graphics and cute message
  • Geo-targeted ads have a much higher conversion rate than regular ads
  • Do something catchy- pickles the panda  is recruiting- and he asked for your help
  • No sales copy. Don’t be a pushy a-hole. Be clear, concise and witty
  • Use coloring that reflects the tone of your ad. Blue and black = panda sadness and fish death.
  • Proper targeting. Users of Grooveshark will appreciate the “I <3 U” because they’re the right demographic. Grandma (who probably wouldn’t be using Grooveshark anyway) would think it’s strange or that she had a creepy stalker that found her on the Internets.

The moral of my story, other than clever advertising is awesome and I wish I saw more of it? I really just needed a reason to outwardly brag about Grooveshark’s love for me and let Pandora know that I’m taken, and also, I wanted to ramble for a bit. My conclusion? I integrated it into a (somewhat) useful post. There you have it!

5 points for posting at 10:30 PM when you’re sick :)

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or you can follow my (3 week old) personal account @esvienne