The masterminds behind increasing Hulu’s paid subscribers should give themselves a pat on the back. Reaching their goal of 1 million users 3 months ahead of the predicted target date says a lot about Hulu’s marketing and business strategy.

After taking a look at Hulu’s strategy and successes I wanted to point out a few aspects of their strategy that we at SnapHawk believe exemplify an effective marketing strategy aimed at targeting key audiences and listening to customers.

If you’re like over 15 million other people worldwide, you may be a user of StumbleUpon, a discovery engine that suggests web content based on your interests. Once overtaken by your interests, one can spend hours on this site, sorting through pages and pages of content about technology, design, music, or any other topic you may be interested in. While this site is a fantastic procrastination tool, it can also be a great marketing tool, too.

Some marketers, however, have a love/hate relationship with the site because even though it sends a large number of viewers to your site, the traffic doesn’t usually last for more than a couple of seconds. However, with StumbleUpon recently beating out Facebook and becoming the biggest social media traffic driver, you may not want to discount the site from consideration. StumbleUpon lets users discover your site without having to click on ads or links; your page is your ad. Here are some tips on how to maximize your site’s or blog’s exposure on StumbleUpon.

A lot can be learned from successful author, marketer and blogger, Seth Godin.  One of Godin’s key points throughout his written work and in his blog post topics is that the best way to market a product is to generate buzz.  Often times this buzz is generated through word-of-mouth where friends spread the word to other friends, inherently building a trust factor into the marketing surrounding an idea or consumer good.

Marketing and advertising have traditionally been known to interrupt us during activities we would prefer to do more than watch an ad.  Commercials on TV, pop-up ads on the Internet, and distracting billboards on the highway all tend to get in the way of our everyday lives, leading us to ignore and disregard them at any opportunity.

There’s a quote by Czech author Milan Kundera that I’m fond of.  He states, “Business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.”  While this assertion is easier said than done, it’s certainly a powerful idea that can help us understand what it is that generates customers for a business.  To delve a little deeper, let’s look at some examples of companies that truly take this idea to heart.

To start with, innovation is what moves businesses forward.  If you don’t innovate, you’ll get left in the dust.  Google has made a living off coming up with the newest, coolest technology that consistently meets its customers’ needs.  Apple, too, is infamous for coming out with innovative, high-tech products so sleek and user-friendly that some people go fanatic over them.  On the other hand, Blockbuster is a business which is failing because of its inability to innovate.  Once the leading video rental store in the country, Blockbuster failed to adapt to new technology, and as a result, has seriously struggled to compete with newer companies such as Netflix and Redbox.  Now Blockbuster is close to bankruptcy.

If you need an example of how to perfectly integrate social media and viral marketing into your business’s marketing campaign, look no further than Old Spice.  If you haven’t seen the new hilarious Old Spice Body Wash commercials, you should check them out right now.

What’s most impressive about the campaign isn’t how humorous or unique its ads are, but rather how quickly it generated huge viral buzz stemming from Old Spice going out of its way to interact with fans all over the Internet.  On July 14, Isaiah Mustafa, the Old Spice guy himself, replied to comments and questions on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks via personalized YouTube videos.  Within 24 hours there were 181 reply videos posted on YouTube, producing over 6 million views.