[TEAM] Gathering "testimonials" for marketing purposes

michael meelis michael at meelix.com
Mon Aug 8 09:53:04 UTC 2016


Hi,

For what is worth, that is what I have been going (as a lead) for 5
years full time with http://www.freshbook.nl/faq/ 
(check with google translate Dutch-English (or your language))
(Note: Site design is now also 5 years old. Also click through to
youtube for timestamps).

I can tell you the whole case from:
* First Windows user found the UI too ugly, so we make Xubuntu look
  really cool
* Than we had to make videos to show how cool it is (seeing is
  believing).
* Than we made a teaching video of 3 hours (production took one whole
  year). Youtube kept on flagging it with violation on public domain
  stuff. Even with videos that where uploaded much later. That *we*
  were as violation their content that they had ripped from us!!! (GO
  FIGURE)
* Than we had 10 (+1) professional cartoons made to point out Windows
  Annoyances. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zAQwetfXvw or
  The +1 video is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NShpY_oSs4
* Than we had to make a cool website because ppl believe more what they
  *read* than what they see with their *own* eyes. Weird but true.
* Than we organised events all over the country (NL) where ppl could try
  it out on their own computer. Help them upgrade and transition.
* Than we took each weekend a stand at a different summer fair. To show
  it to ppl that where not looking for it.
* Than we recruited supporters to go out an do it.

In the whole process we spent a *lot* of money on 3rd parties, salaries,
PR, advertisement, flyers, marketing, etc, etc. 

Summer of 5 years work: we converted no one!!! Let that sink in!!
Near no one! Only ppl who where already convinced we have helped with
the transition. The conversion rate of near 0% is is statistically
significant. We have have written it of as some sort of Mind Control to
keep ppl in the dominant systems. To check this theory we retested it
with Andriod users with slow smartphones. Same results.   

So do what you have to do but expect nothing. 


Hope this feedback helps,
Michael
-------

Op Fri, 5 Aug 2016 19:29:26 +0300
Pasi Lallinaho <pasi at shimmerproject.org> schreef:

> Note: Top-posting reverted.
> 
> Comments at the end of the message.
> 
> On 05/08/16 15:04, Sean Davis wrote:
> > On Mon, Aug 1, 2016, 5:24 PM Pasi Lallinaho <pasi at shimmerproject.org
> > <mailto:pasi at shimmerproject.org>> wrote:
> >
> >     Hello team,
> >
> >     especially during the #LoveXubuntu campaign we've got quite a
> > bunch of "thanks" from our users. These include stories about how
> > Xubuntu has made the users' computing experience better, good
> > arguments for why Xubuntu is the best OS for them (and potentially
> > others) etc.
> >
> >     Currently, we are officially only gathering submissions for the
> >     #LoveXubuntu contest, but some of these mails has left me
> > thinking we could gather some of these "testimonials" for potential
> > marketing purposes in the future. Use cases that I can imagine from
> > the top of my
> >     head include the Xubuntu flyer, our website and more.
> >
> >     My proposal (in a very early idea stage) is that in addition to
> >     specific
> >     contest and campaigns, we could use the Xubuntu-contacts
> > mailing list for gathering these "testimonials" and thanks. This
> > would need some kind
> >     of organization:
> >
> >     1) Create a page that describes what we are looking, with
> > instructions (see further points)
> >
> >     2) Require the submissions to have a certain tag at the
> > beginning of the
> >     subject
> >     This helps us when we seek for any content in the mailing list
> >     archive.
> >
> >     3) Require the submitter to agree that we can use their content
> >     however
> >     we want (either by licensing, or a generic permission)
> >     We likely need the users to send this approval with their
> >     submission on
> >     the mailing list. To do this, we can instruct them to specify
> > which license they want to use, or use any kind of general
> > permission text. At
> >     this point, I would say we shouldn't approve content which
> > license or terms isn't specified (clearly enough) on the mail.
> >
> >     What do you think?
> >
> >
> >     At the same time, I want to remind that anybody in the team who
> > wishes to read the mailing list archive can simply ask to get
> > subscribed. The list has been very light in traffic so far, so no
> > extra hands are required for moderation at this point.
> >
> >     Cheers,
> >     Pasi
> >
> >     --
> >     Pasi Lallinaho (knome)       › http://open.knome.fi/
> >     Leader of Shimmer Project    › http://shimmerproject.org/
> >     Xubuntu Website Lead         › http://xubuntu.org/
> >
> >
> >     --
> >     xubuntu-devel mailing list
> >     xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com
> > <mailto:xubuntu-devel at lists.ubuntu.com>
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/xubuntu-devel
> >
> >
> >
> > This sounds like a good idea to me. If there's any way we can
> > simplify the process (copy and paste template, online submission
> > form, etc) I feel like that would improve the quality and quantity
> > of submissions.
> 
> Right, I didn't think it this way at all (but read on).
> 
> My intention was to simply make sure we save the "natural" thanks we
> are getting from people. For this, maybe the better way was to reply
> to the sender (and CC the -contacts list) and simply ask them if we
> can use their submission if we need it for marketing.
> 
> If we want to gather these in a more active way, then sure, we can
> organize that as well. The reason why I wasn't thinking this is that
> while there are use cases for these testimonials, we haven't planned
> using them anywhere. Asking for them and then letting them sit for
> years doesn't sound very nice...
> 
> Anyway, thanks for the feedback!
> 
> Cheers,
> Pasi
> 





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