Topic: Bitcoin needs a marketeer - page 2. (Read 3382 times)

Does your calculation assume that the store is accepting Bitcoins "natively" without using one of the third-party services that immediately convert sales into USD? Because offering a 2.9% discount for Bitcoin is only a break even proposition for a merchant if the total fees involved with a Bitcoin sale, everything from when the customer clicks "pay" until USD (or applicable local currency) hit his bank account is 2.9% less than the total fees involved with the other methods of payments.

Probably only the merchants that desire to sell more product. As a buyer, I'm offered two sites to buy a certain product, both at the same price. But one does offer an extra payment option, one of which I would recognize an immediate 2.9% discount. I'm going with that one. The seller just got an extra sale, one where PayPal didn't get a cut. He's out $0 (or he gained $.30, the other part of that PayPal fee). He even has an opportunity to sell that same product to that buyer's friend(s) because not only does everybody love a bargain, but they love bragging about it, too.

If I had a formidable website which sells a variety of products, I would have a campaign outlining how the next 1,000 people who purchase from me, using Bitcoin as their sole payment option, will enjoy a 2.9% discount on everything I sell--for life. I suggest after you make your purchase, to tell your friends and family about this amazing offer. Only about 1,000 will be able to enjoy this offer, so hurry.

You know the beauty of the above? They'll have no idea if 108 or 7,339 people took me up on that offer. It costs me nothing and, in fact, I gain. I recognize the same exact profit margin as I did when I only accepted PayPal. But I'm selling more product. (forgive the tenses--not editing)

~Bruno~

I don't see that as a bad idea. I'm not sure how many merchants would bother though.

I just want to emphasize that it's in the best interest of people who want Bitcoin to succeed as a currency (rather than those who just want to make themselves rich via speculation) to focus on the needs of merchants and customers because in the end the value of Bitcoin as a means of exchange trumps everything else.

Merchants want to make it as easy as risk-free to sell their products as possible. They generally don't care about toppling the international banking cartel.

When people talk to me about Bitcoins I explain to them why it can be beneficial for selling things over the internet and encourage them to convert any Bitcoins they receive immediately to local currency. I don't want people who are dipping their tow in the water getting burned by exchange rate fluctuations.

I think that's what Bitcoin needs to be right now: a high-velocity online means of exchange that is superior to PayPal. If that keeps the exchange rate low in the short to intermediate term then so be it. If Bitcoin makes life easier for buyers and sellers of real products and services then its use will grow over time and eventually there will be enough of a real economy backing it up that it will make sense to start holding on to them.

Only then does it make sense to start talking about Bitcoin as a store of value.

The only thing I would improve on that model is having a fee scheduled where the more BTC exchanged, the lower the cost, with the highest percentage ever a business pays is the lowest that PayPal charges.

Or consider this hypothetical scenario:

On a website, an Xbox 360 Console is priced at $278.50. At checkout, the buyer is presented with the traditional PayPal option and the Bitcoin option. With the Bitcoin option, the buyer notices an $8.08 savings (2.9%) if he opts for paying with bitcoins. He's even offered three choices of which he must click only one box that's next to those choices (box not show below for this example).

• Take the $8.08 discard now.
• Give me half and I'll apply the other half with my next purchase from your company.
• I opt to use this instant rebate on my very next purchase, good for the next 10 years.

Now which one is the buyer more likely to click. I'm guessing the first box. And that buyer will jump through hoops at this stage of the purchase to get those coins into his wallet so that he can purchase this hot new game (I know it ain't new, but...).

The bigger the ticket item, the bigger the savings, the more apt a buyer will consider using Bitcoin.

The other end of the spectrum is in those smaller purchases and micro donations that have been discussed on this forum, e.g. the Indies (independent) market.

~Bruno~

Just my opinion - target small business owners who sell over the internet and are tired of PayPal's bullshit (that would be nearly all of them).

Emphasize the lack of chargebacks and lack of any central authority who can freeze your account for an indefinite time and arbitrary reason.

Services like bit-pay are ideal for merchants who just want an easy way to get paid without the hassles involved with PayPal and also don't want exchange rate exposure. Getting USD deposited into your bank account every business day with no chargeback risk and for a fee that's competitive with PayPal or a MasterCard/Visa merchant account is a really good deal for them.

Get the merchants on board and they will encourage their customers to follow.

From this list http://www.marketingminds.com.au/features/gurus.html

I picked this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ7EG58J5eo

WOW! Part 3 is good! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N-1NzS4OJk&feature=related

Going to watch Part 4 now.

I think we need a "Bitcoin Wizard," a site that lets "normal people" scroll through the typical newbie's learning process in about 5 minutes.
1. What is Bitcoin? (don't talk about the blockchain, talk about tangible benefits like tiny fees, international banking, instant transfer, no chargebacks)
2. Get a Bitcoin "account"/address (which term is better?)
3. Buy bitcoins
4. How to use it

BitTalk Media is at your service.

I wouldn't worry too much about promoting Bitcoin in general. I would focus more on offering whatever goods/services you can in Bitcoin. If you have a financial stake in Bitcoin, Bitcoin will be promoted by default. We need more businesses willing to accept Bitcoin as payment.

VICTORYYYY

That video was going to be the very next video I was going to link to in this thread. Thanks for beating me to the punch, phatsphere.

~Bruno~
 

Bingo!

I've studied marketing at university, and had a couple of jobs in that domain(salesman, market surveys, sport promotion, business plan, etc). I know this domain pretty well.

btc_artist is spot on. You would be amazed about the lack of knowledge and fear that general people have with computers. You guys know that "google" is one of the top searches in Google?

Bitcoin have many "interfaces" problems. First, it's really long to start the first time. Yeah, I know, it download the block chain, but for somebody who don't know about it, they just see it as "it's long".

Ok, so now you have Bitcoin installed. Where is the button "Get Bitcoins"?. I can't use them if I don't have some. And opening your browser to go to MtGox/Virtex/whatever, making an account, validating that account, copying your bitcoin address and funding your account to buy Bitcoins is not something easy for a newcomer. It looks like a mountain of hard work and time to invest that they're not interested in doing.

And we're not talking about the wallet security yet. We don't need a Bitcoin wallet, we need a Bitcoin safe. The unbreakable kind, with a way to be able to manage many wallet on the same computer without moving the file each time and risking of overwriting wallet.dat. We need to offer better tools for people with a lack of skills.

The main competitors of Bitcoin on the Internet is Paypal and credit card payments. If Bitcoin is not as easy-to-use than those ones, don't bother with the mass market.

not true, geeks can also learn how to talk to other people.

watch this video and educate yourself:
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action.html

Somebody get Don Draper on the phone!

This basically sums up why Bitcoins hasn't taken off mainstream lol

Exactly.  Right now Bitcoin is "rough around the edges".  It is functional but hardly user friendly.  Spending resources trying to get everyone's brother, sister, and grandmother using Bitcoin is not only futile it is likely counter productive. 

The first time they lose coins because they didn't realize that deleting wallet.dat was bad they will not use Bitcoin and they will call it a scam, a trick, a piece of shit, a good way to lose money .... etc.

The first time their Mt. Gox account gets hacked the same thing happens.
the first time they naively pay a seller "100 BTC upfront" without escrow and the person disapears the same thing happens.

There will be a time when Bitcoin is ready for mass adoption but it isn't today.  The good news is Bitcoin can continue to grow filling niche cases, and being adopted by tech savy users.

I don't think bitcoin needs marketing until we have something better to offer in terms of desktop and mobile clients, and mobile clients fully support easy-to-use POS transactions.

I offer up this only 3:02 video to hopefully address this marketing issue. Please take the time to view it in its entirety to get the full impact at the end. This guy is the marketers guru's guru. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cELuBcZxmKk

I've read that we're back to that chicken and egg thingy. A marketer would say forget about the smartphones for a second and concentrate on Bitcoin's other strengths, e.g., online transactions which are quick enough for direct purchases. As this aspect evolves, somebody will come along and develop that uber-smartphone APP for Bitcoin, albeit it's even being worked on as we type and read.

If I was a great marketer and read this ad, my wheels would spin in the following direction. Take up this marketing position by joining BitcoinTalk, thereby having a community behind me. I would stake at least a 10K BTC claim knowing that my investment would more than double in a relatively short period of time all due to my marketing efforts. In fact, I would get one of my marketing buddies to do the same thing, thereby combining our marketing knowing to hedge my, now ours, investment. (BTW, this thought has nothing to do with the video which I encourage you to view)

~Bruno~

I agree,  one thing we don't need is novices having bad experiences with bitcoin as it is today.
 

That is a valid point - to promise a slick "Mercedes Benz" user experience and then deliver less than that gives a very poor impression.

(I am not criticising any of the bitcoin solutions mentioned - I know we are all trying to make things as good as possible but we are definitely not there yet).

It is just that I would hate us to get to the point where we have everything rock solid and then we lose, say, 6 months because we should have started earlier.