Hi, as CEO of Definition 6, I will be sharing our organizations readings and thoughts on Interactive Marketing, Web Site Design, Social Media, eCommerce and all things Internet related. I hope you enjoy our posts.Hi, as CEO of Definition 6, I will be sharing our organizations readings and thoughts on Interactive Marketing, Web Site Design, Social Media, eCommerce and all things Internet related. I hope you enjoy our posts.
I don’t know why this ad ticked me off so much. Maybe it seems to embrace the notion of bad money management practices? Maybe it's the fact that there is no amount of personal responsibility or accountability? Who does this ad speak to? The consumer who doesn't want to be punished if they spend more than they have, but still manage to scrape together $3 for a cup of coffee?
I have no doubt the message is well-targeted, but is it the right message to send? Does it really hammer home the 'less fees' message it was probably intended for?
It sort of is a "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche” comment and it didn't sit well with me.
I'm one of thousands exposed to this message, but keep this point in mind - while your message may resonate with a lot of people, make sure it's not going to irritate an equal or greater number.
I'd rather see them figure out a way to make my coffee cheaper.
I was at an event a few weeks ago hosted by Blue Hornet and the speaker was talking about growing your e-mail list through multi-channel techniques. More specifically, how to use SMS to add to your e-mail list, and how consumers who subscribe via SMS tend to have higher value than consumers who register through other channels.
Some of the folks in the audience were unfamiliar with the concept and none had implemented it for themselves. It's easy to take this stuff for granted when you're managing SMS campaigns for major brands.
When I was out over the weekend, I saw a great example of SMS opt-in and figured I'd share (this isn't one of our campaigns). I think this example does a great job at illustrating how to tie POS materials (offline) with SMS (mobile) to build your e-mail list.
We have found this to be useful for our customers and I find it useful as a consumer.
Now if only my birthday hadn't just passed. I could go for a free scoop.
I took this picture earlier this month in a small cafeteria in an office building. Six months into the year and the sign still has a Happy New Year message on it. While I too am surprised by how fast the first half of 2010 has gone by, I can't help but think how many times the business owner has passed this sign since January. He's probably walked by it every day and night, yet hasn't thought about updating it.
This isn't the first time I've seen this. You'd be surprised how many times I come across websites with 2009 press releases on their home page or a blog post from April. It's easy to to let time get away from you.
Even if you're updating your news room and blog on a regular basis, when was the last time you updated your product pages with fresh images or refreshed the copy on your "About Us" or "Our People" pages? Chances are, there are updates to be made.
Think about content management as part of your marketing responsibility and part of your customer service responsibilities. It does matter.
Oh yeah, in case you didn't know it, U LOOK MARVELOUS.
What do you want? Those of you that are CMOs, Brand Managers, VPs of Advertising or Marketing, what do you really want? Whenever and wherever this question is asked, the answer is always the same: Results! You want results and you want them now (it’s the same thing you wanted yesterday, and the same thing you’ll want tomorrow).
If you are in the agency business, you should never lose sight of this basic marketing need. If you are in-house and spend your money on advertising and marketing, I hope this helps you think about how to find people who can improve those results faster.
This topic has been on my mind since I got together with a group of marketing professionals earlier this month. We started off talking about how to produce ROI reports for their CFOs and finance counter parts. Ultimately, what everyone really wants to see is results.
How you define results and what value they deliver for your business may vary, but here are some sample measurements based on our discussion:
• Brand health metrics
• Units Sold
• Leads Generated
• Awareness and Recall levels
• ROAS
• E-mail marketing conversion
• Increased Foot Traffic
How can agencies produce results more consistently when results are so varied by each client? Here are six suggestions for ways I think agencies can be prepared to provide a variety of results for a variety of clients and also for the same customer who has evolving needs over a long period of time.
1. Understand your client's business. If you are not as much a management consultant as an ad person, then I think you will fail in the future. Today's marketing and advertising challenges, impact customer service, public relations, product develop & procurement as well as IT, finance and channel relations. Now, they always have, but now that the world is digitized and visibility is possible; the demand to work on more than just demand is higher.
2. Understand customer behavior. One of the things I think Agency can do better than most client-side marketers is getting to know the end customer and the customers along the way. We can and should provide outsider insight into the purchase drivers that lead consumers or businesses to buy from clients. By being involved in the insight business, we can help our customers produce the results they need.
3. Be more social. So much has been said about this over the last 18 months, so I'll share why I think agencies need to become more social. We are in the business of communications and in connecting companies and customers. The landscape has evolved where the cost of distributing messages is virtually zero and the demand for connection is 100%. When demand is this high and the cost is so low, there is an unlimited amount of success you can have for you and your customers if you tap into this skill set.
4. Learn math and how to analyze data. I became a Speech Communications major because it had no math requirement. I bet a lot of people who are in our field did the same thing, I know it. Math has never been a problem for me, I just didn't care to do any more formulas or equations. Then I got into advertising, and as I did Nielsen store data, GRPs, category management, research, coupon redemption and media plans, it became clear that math was going to be a big part of my life. When I started our Integrated Interactive Agency in the 90s it become clear that math, engineering and analysis would be at the center of much of what we would do to help clients. A strong analytics capability and good math people, programmers, engineers and analysts are essential if you are serious about producing results and proving those results.
5. Learn how to produce. Content, code, sounds, event. From branding to social, to broadcast to micro-cast. From visual to technical, and in-home to the 6th screen. A good partner doesn't outsource the doing to sub-contractors, it is no longer acceptable to do the boards, the concept, the design, the plan and then hand it off. In these days and times, buyers expect ongoing interactions and learned messaging overtime. The mediums must be an integrated seamless experience or you will lose sales and revenue for your clients. That is not the result they want.
6. Ask your clients what they need to thrive. So I end with this, what do you need to thrive in your current marketing and advertising role? We are listening……….
As the U.S. recession winds down, and the recovery begins to pick up steam, talent acquisition, development and cultivation will again become important to companies that want to get ahead.
“The War for Talent” is now global and very, very digital. Finding talent might be easier than you think. I’d like to offer a high value, low cost way to find talent in the marketplace and within your organization.
In the information age and knowledge economy we’re operating in, the power of the mind is key component of success – at least for organizations able to tap into that power.
From a management perspective, managers need insight into the minds of their employees like never before. It’s not easy to figure out who is willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.
I believe the answer to the challenges can be found in the blogosphere.
Finding Talent in the Blogosphere
If you establish a companywide blogging program that is open to all employees, at all levels and job functions, it can be an excellent device for gauging the intellectual abilities of your team.
You can do it as internal blogs, public blogs, and topic specific, pre-screened or free for all. Whatever you do you will gain insight into your employees. You will find out which ones are slow to adopt new technologies, which ones have good thoughts, but poor communications skills, great writers with hollow thinking or innovators trapped in task jobs.
You’ll get far more valuable information than you can from performance reviews, meeting attendance or coaching sessions. Simply because it is self selected participation, self-expression and the opportunity to rise to the top or to fade into obscurity.
Just track who is a continuous contributor, who is a commenter and who is absent. Then read those that are intriguing, comment back and see how they conduct a digital conversation. And before you say your business is about relationships and face-to-face today, the future of face to face is digital to digital.
The ability to conduct civil discourse that is a matter of digital record is a daily requirement in business and in life today. The understanding of when to add imagery, video, graphs, links to others and medium appropriate content, is critical and the best new weapons in your arsenal.
I guarantee you that as the talent wars heat up, that your competitors will look for talent in your organization and your employee’s Facebook profiles, blogs, tweets and comments on the digital radar will be part of how they determine who to target for recruitment. You should do the same thing, start with your employees and then move to theirs. The future of your business is dependent upon the next generation of thinkers, doers and digital actors.
“The War for Talent” is now global and very, very digital. Finding talent might be easier than you think. I’d like to offer a high value, low cost way to find talent in the marketplace and within your organization.
In the information age and knowledge economy we’re operating in, the power of the mind is key component of success – at least for organizations able to tap into that power.
From a management perspective, managers need insight into the minds of their employees like never before. It’s not easy to figure out who is willing to go the extra mile to get the job done.
I believe the answer to the challenges can be found in the blogosphere.
Finding Talent in the Blogosphere
If you establish a companywide blogging program that is open to all employees, at all levels and job functions, it can be an excellent device for gauging the intellectual abilities of your team.
You can do it as internal blogs, public blogs, and topic specific, pre-screened or free for all. Whatever you do you will gain insight into your employees. You will find out which ones are slow to adopt new technologies, which ones have good thoughts, but poor communications skills, great writers with hollow thinking or innovators trapped in task jobs.
You’ll get far more valuable information than you can from performance reviews, meeting attendance or coaching sessions. Simply because it is self selected participation, self-expression and the opportunity to rise to the top or to fade into obscurity.
Just track who is a continuous contributor, who is a commenter and who is absent. Then read those that are intriguing, comment back and see how they conduct a digital conversation. And before you say your business is about relationships and face-to-face today, the future of face to face is digital to digital.
The ability to conduct civil discourse that is a matter of digital record is a daily requirement in business and in life today. The understanding of when to add imagery, video, graphs, links to others and medium appropriate content, is critical and the best new weapons in your arsenal.
I guarantee you that as the talent wars heat up, that your competitors will look for talent in your organization and your employee’s Facebook profiles, blogs, tweets and comments on the digital radar will be part of how they determine who to target for recruitment. You should do the same thing, start with your employees and then move to theirs. The future of your business is dependent upon the next generation of thinkers, doers and digital actors.
Over the course of the past six months, we’ve continued to invest in technology and talent to expand our video production capabilities at Definition 6. Following the acquisition of Creative Bubble back in August, and leading up to the recent launch of the wildly popular Coca-Cola “Happiness Machine” viral video, we’ve seen increased demand across our client base for video production services as part of the integrated interactive marketing programs we provide.
We’re actively working with several long-time clients to help them develop and deliver video across broadcast, Web and mobile channels – the three screens. While there is no question delivering content across these channels drives significant ROI for our clients, we’re also seeing demand spike for channels that extend beyond the three screens.
Enter the Fourth Screen
Next time you’re out and about, keep your eyes peeled for monitors, LCDs and other screens as you go about your day. You’ll be surprised where these screens show up: airport terminals, taxis, grocery store checkouts, ATMs and even the bathroom. What you might not realize is a lot of those screens are already – or quickly becoming - part of integrated digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising networks. These networks enable brands to reach consumers with incredible precision, but also present new opportunities for creating immersive brand experiences.
Digital out-of-home advertising is great for targeting audiences for the obvious reasons –marketers can deliver content to specific places at specific times. The benefits of DOOH advertising go far beyond those of geographic targeting. Take for example the emerging behavioral or interactive components – being able to tap into lifestyle patterns, or to encourage consumers to interact with your advertising content through other technologies like mobile devices.
Beverage brands can penetrate the nightclub scene through displays in bars at 2am on weekend nights. Restaurants can reach tourists through the screens in the back of NYC taxi cabs. Airlines can reach business travelers in the terminal during excessive flight delays. And lotteries can post the latest jackpot value on the screen at checkout.
As far as interactivity goes, several major brands have recently started leveraging mobile devices, social networking sites and video cameras to pull consumers into an advertisement. Text a special code and see your message on the screen. Stand in front of a display and a camera puts you in the advertisement. This type of interactive content is transforming the way brands interact with consumers beyond the reach of broadcast, Internet and mobile media.
These are might seem like obvious applications of DOOH targeting, but only a handful of leading brands have begun integrating the 4th screen into their interactive marketing programs. You can expect more and more brands to take advantage of DOOH advertising, particularly as more organizations look to more integrated interactive marketing efforts.
We’re actively working with several long-time clients to help them develop and deliver video across broadcast, Web and mobile channels – the three screens. While there is no question delivering content across these channels drives significant ROI for our clients, we’re also seeing demand spike for channels that extend beyond the three screens.
Enter the Fourth Screen
Next time you’re out and about, keep your eyes peeled for monitors, LCDs and other screens as you go about your day. You’ll be surprised where these screens show up: airport terminals, taxis, grocery store checkouts, ATMs and even the bathroom. What you might not realize is a lot of those screens are already – or quickly becoming - part of integrated digital-out-of-home (DOOH) advertising networks. These networks enable brands to reach consumers with incredible precision, but also present new opportunities for creating immersive brand experiences.
Digital out-of-home advertising is great for targeting audiences for the obvious reasons –marketers can deliver content to specific places at specific times. The benefits of DOOH advertising go far beyond those of geographic targeting. Take for example the emerging behavioral or interactive components – being able to tap into lifestyle patterns, or to encourage consumers to interact with your advertising content through other technologies like mobile devices.
Beverage brands can penetrate the nightclub scene through displays in bars at 2am on weekend nights. Restaurants can reach tourists through the screens in the back of NYC taxi cabs. Airlines can reach business travelers in the terminal during excessive flight delays. And lotteries can post the latest jackpot value on the screen at checkout.
As far as interactivity goes, several major brands have recently started leveraging mobile devices, social networking sites and video cameras to pull consumers into an advertisement. Text a special code and see your message on the screen. Stand in front of a display and a camera puts you in the advertisement. This type of interactive content is transforming the way brands interact with consumers beyond the reach of broadcast, Internet and mobile media.
These are might seem like obvious applications of DOOH targeting, but only a handful of leading brands have begun integrating the 4th screen into their interactive marketing programs. You can expect more and more brands to take advantage of DOOH advertising, particularly as more organizations look to more integrated interactive marketing efforts.
I’m excited to share with you that Definition 6 has recently acquired Creative Bubble , a leading New York City video editorial, design, sound and production company. This acquisition comes on the heels of our recent private equity investment and solidifies our commitment to expanding both our capabilities as a full-service interactive agency, as well as our national presence by creating our New York office.
I’m most excited about the expanded capabilities we are now able to provide clients around rich media and video production. Through this move, our expanded team now includes a team of professionals that have been recognized by numerous organizations for its technical and creative accomplishments, including the receipt of 7 Emmy Awards and 13 Emmy Nominations for their work developing original and re-purposed content for cable and broadcast television programming.
There is no question that the addition of Creative Bubble greatly expands our ability to provide clients with a new range of services, build on technology, innovation and outstanding creative, to help capitalize on new and emerging opportunities for digital content production and distribution.
Over the course of the past couple of years, Creative Bubble has established itself as a leading provider of rich media and video production services in the New York market. You’ve seen their work for Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, Nick At Night, TV Land, Food Network, HBO, MTV, CBS Sports, Court TV, Comedy Central, Showtime, Lifetime Discovery Kids, TRIO and USA Network.
Through the addition of Creative Bubble, Definition 6 will continue to serve clients from both offices with the latest in interactive marketing, rich media and video production services. For now, please review our new Rich Media and Video Production Services overview and view the video that highlights some of Creative Bubble’s work.
We look forward to sharing this news with you individually as we move forward and invite you to contact us to learn more about our expanded rich media and video production capabilities.
I’m most excited about the expanded capabilities we are now able to provide clients around rich media and video production. Through this move, our expanded team now includes a team of professionals that have been recognized by numerous organizations for its technical and creative accomplishments, including the receipt of 7 Emmy Awards and 13 Emmy Nominations for their work developing original and re-purposed content for cable and broadcast television programming.
There is no question that the addition of Creative Bubble greatly expands our ability to provide clients with a new range of services, build on technology, innovation and outstanding creative, to help capitalize on new and emerging opportunities for digital content production and distribution.
Over the course of the past couple of years, Creative Bubble has established itself as a leading provider of rich media and video production services in the New York market. You’ve seen their work for Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, Nick At Night, TV Land, Food Network, HBO, MTV, CBS Sports, Court TV, Comedy Central, Showtime, Lifetime Discovery Kids, TRIO and USA Network.
Through the addition of Creative Bubble, Definition 6 will continue to serve clients from both offices with the latest in interactive marketing, rich media and video production services. For now, please review our new Rich Media and Video Production Services overview and view the video that highlights some of Creative Bubble’s work.
We look forward to sharing this news with you individually as we move forward and invite you to contact us to learn more about our expanded rich media and video production capabilities.
As an Interactive Ad Agency executive I get questions all the time from various people about eMail Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design, Social Media Marketing, and Online Advertising. Often times it is from a frustrated marketing manager who says something like: "My boss doesn't get digital marketing and it is frustrating", so one of the things I try to do is help map digital marketing back to a deep seated belief in the executive mind.
Let's take banking and social media marketing, this conversation came up at Mashable Atlanta, "how can I convince my banking boss that social media is something we should use?" I asked the marketing manager if her boss believed that banking was based on relationships? And of course, the answer was "yes", then I asked if he was one of those bankers that thought it was important to be a member of the right country club, right business club and school alumni network; And of course, the answer was "yes". Well, then it is very clear to me that the banker was the perfect candidate for social media marketing, because social marketing is about "RELATIONSHIPS" and the banker clearly believes that you need to have a relationship with your customer and prospects. So I pointed out that we should talk to the boss about joinning the best new club in town, "the social media networks" - be it Facebook, LinkedIn, or Affluence, it was the new club where RELATIONSHIPS were made and strengthened.
We will see how the conversation ultimately goes with her boss, but I wanted to share that the technique to selling Interactive Marketing to management is to start where they are and move from there to the digital world. Check out our thoughts at twitter.com/Defintion6 or my personal tweats at twitter.com/mkogon.
Let's take banking and social media marketing, this conversation came up at Mashable Atlanta, "how can I convince my banking boss that social media is something we should use?" I asked the marketing manager if her boss believed that banking was based on relationships? And of course, the answer was "yes", then I asked if he was one of those bankers that thought it was important to be a member of the right country club, right business club and school alumni network; And of course, the answer was "yes". Well, then it is very clear to me that the banker was the perfect candidate for social media marketing, because social marketing is about "RELATIONSHIPS" and the banker clearly believes that you need to have a relationship with your customer and prospects. So I pointed out that we should talk to the boss about joinning the best new club in town, "the social media networks" - be it Facebook, LinkedIn, or Affluence, it was the new club where RELATIONSHIPS were made and strengthened.
We will see how the conversation ultimately goes with her boss, but I wanted to share that the technique to selling Interactive Marketing to management is to start where they are and move from there to the digital world. Check out our thoughts at twitter.com/Defintion6 or my personal tweats at twitter.com/mkogon.
I just got a call from a strategic business partner, and as an Interactive Advertising Agency we stay up to speed on most things in the marketplace, and he was calling me from a break at a conference for his company. As he said hello, I congratulated him on their company raising another round of VC dollars. He said "Wow, how did you know that?!" I told him simple; Twitter! I was a follower of his company's partner account and at the same time they told the company they tweeted about it. Interactive communications is so fast, that in less than 5 minutes the word was out! Now this is a great story because they are an eMail marketing partner of ours, he is a long time friend and the news was good. We talked about what the investment meant to his company and our partnership, we discussed how online ad agency business was continuing to see good growth this year and that 2010 was going to be a great year, and hung up smiling.
Now what if the news had been bad? What if they had a meeting that was altering the relationship with partners and it was negative? And someone had tweeted about it? I suspect our call wouldn't have been the same.
Let's talk about your online interactive marketing and message management. Do you have a twitter monitoring policy? Do you have an account? Do you follow your partners, customers, employees, competitors? I do, you should too. Website Development is a very small part of being digital, search engine optimization is only a part as is eMail or even PPC. The big parts are listening, monitoring, and watching the ecosystem and being informed as quickly as possible to make decisions as rapidly as possible. So next time you are with your Interactive Ad Agency, ask them what they know and when they learned it. You will be amazed at how fast Digital has become.
At our Interactive Ad Agency we continually help our clients make good decisions regarding their online media usage. Social Media, eMail Marketing, PPC/Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Display, Mobile and Video are just the headers of the variety of options available to us. But recently Twitter has been owning the headlines.
David Martin, vice president, primary research, Nielsen Online, wrote in a blog post: "People are signing up in droves, and Twitter's unique audience is up over 100% in March."
But today I was sent a great article from MediaPost about an online / microblogging / SMS option to reach the masses that might not be the techno elite, but make up the mainstay of consumer America. More spending power and more of the participants in creating UGC for all our social media sites. The company is called Predicto and it is very focused on the celebrity world, think People, US, The View, TMZ, etc. http://www.predicto.com/
Between October and December 2008, Twitter had approximately 812,000 unique SMS users, but Predicto Mobile interacted with more than 2.3 million unique users. "We have a mainstream audience, which can help us grow faster," Kathein said. "Our members aren't necessarily the early adopters. Our customer base isn't made up of heavy iPhone users." The full article can be found at http://bit.ly/M1QQy
I think this a great example of how Interactive Marketing is very niche and how you shouldn't fall in love with one channel, because your users might be better served with another channel.
Social Media Strategy is one of the most interesting things we do here at Definition 6, Atlanta Interactive Agency. The rise of Web 2.0 Applications as commonplace within our daily lives has made Socail Media mainstream. Sometimes we are asked how can we use social medai to improve search engine optimization and other times we are asked how can make social media fit into an integrated online marketing plan. But it is a daily topic of conversation and I've found a really good report from destinationCRM.com that talks about a 5 year forecast for social media. The key points from the author, Jessica Tsai citing Jeremiah Owyang, are:
The report breaks down the past, present, and future state of the social Web into five overlapping eras:
1. The era of social relationships: Beginning in the mid-1990s, people signed up for online profiles and connected with their friends to share information.
2. The era of social functionality: As it exists today, social networking is more than just a platform for "friending," but one that can support a broader array of what Owyang calls "social interactive applications." However, identities are essentially disconnected silos within individual sites.
3. The era of social colonization: By late 2009, technologies such as OpenID and Facebook Connect will begin to break down the barriers of social networks and allow individuals to integrate their social connections as part of their online experience, blurring the lines between networks and traditional sites.
4. The era of social context: In 2010, sites will begin to recognize personal identities and social relationships to deliver customized online experiences. Social networks will become the "base of operation for everyone's online experiences."
5. The era of social commerce: In approximately two years, social networks will be more powerful than corporate Web sites and CRM systems, as individual identities and relationships are built on this platform. Brands will serve community interests and grow based on community advocacy as users continue to drive innovation in this direction.
So if we are doing a good job of being Interactive Marketing Strategists to help prepare our clients for the "era of social context" and upgrading our customer's sites to incorporate OpenID and Facebook Connect today. This will help them meet their customers where they are and with what they are doing online today. I'll talk more about being ready for your customer in some future posts.
Social Media is the hot thing right now, we have been spending a lot of time talking about it with clients, building profiles, communities, blogs, twitter strategies, giving presentations, being on panels and writing about it.
It is very interesting to me that the word “media” got attached to it. It is really modern day Public Relations, but instead of having to do “media relations” you have to do “consumer relations” or “customer relations” – know your messaging, know what they care about and provide for a two way information exchange where their needs are put ahead of yours.
Then repeat your message, refine it based on “customer response”, always have a “crisis communications plan” in place and never forget that the public wants to see a hero fall more than a star rise. So it is important to be authentic and transparent when communicating in the public forum.
Very interesting and ever-changing environment to operate.
We usually talk about 'Social Networking' as it relates to media and the web, but for Ricky Steele, former Definition 6 Chief Development Officer and long time friend, 'Social Networking' means building personal and professional relationships. Here are a few of Ricky’s networking tips – you can read others on his TechLinks blog, Nothing But The Net.
1. Meeting Attendance: When attending a networking function there are certain things you need to remember. Create and practice your elevator speech many times before the event. You need to be able to interest your prospect within a very few minutes with something that interests them enough to continue listening or even better, to grant you a meeting in the future. I have heard so many horror stories from executives about people who attempted to create a relationship by dominating their time at an event.
2. Communicate in a Meaningful Way and Communicate Often: Avoid at all costs, impersonal mass mailings. Everyone has received Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa cards. Weeks later, which cards do we still remember or keep? Of course, they are the cards that had a personal message, a photo of a new baby, new house, or their garden. If you are not willing to personalize every communication to your prospects and clients, save the 42 cent stamp. Personally, if I receive a card that says, Seasons Greetings from the A B ...., I never get to the C Company, I throw it in the trash. If you don't have time to personalize the card, don't send it.
3. Be Available: Great Networkers are available people. Most people go through life fast and furiously. I felt like for many years that the only reason Rome was not built in a day was because I was not the General Contractor.
4. Plan Your Work and Then Work Your Plan: Successful networking does not just happen, you must prepare for it. Everyone has heard the cliché: "Plan your work and then work your plan," yet many people try to network without planning anything. For that matter, too many folks go through life without planning for their future.
5. Help Others Succeed: The Golden Rule may be a verse from the Bible but it is also a sound business principle. If you will treat others as you would like to be treated, you will be successful. Is there anyone who does not appreciate a helping hand? I know that 90% of the greatest sales I have made or successes I have celebrated came from someone else opening a door or making an introduction.
6. Without Work There Will Be No Success: The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary. If you want to be a great networker, prepare to do a lot of work. Thomas Edison once said, "The reason so many people miss great opportunities is that the opportunity shows up in overalls and looks like hard work." I could not agree more with Mr. Edison.
We'll be posting more of Ricky's networking tips so be sure to visit us again!
Definition 6 has a great role as an Interactive Ad Agency that provides a wide array of services, most notably the surge in interest in Interactive Media. I found this chart at Silicon Valley Insider and felt was a great picture about what is happening to media spending.
As newspaper ad spending continues to decline and digital media spending rises, we see the growth of the digital consumer. If our grandparents settled into the paper on Sunday's and evenings to learn about the world; Our generation uses our mobile devices, computers, gaming consoles and each other to learn about what is going on in the world. And this is the most important part of Interactive Marketing, we use lots of channels to get information, but more and more of it is digital.
So if you are selling to the under 65 consumer and business executive, you need to look at SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, email and Websites to communicate and connect with your digital customer. Overtime, next 2-3 years, Interactive Advertising will take over newspaper spending and that is when Media and Advertising will look digital and "traditional" will no longer be the same ever again!
As newspaper ad spending continues to decline and digital media spending rises, we see the growth of the digital consumer. If our grandparents settled into the paper on Sunday's and evenings to learn about the world; Our generation uses our mobile devices, computers, gaming consoles and each other to learn about what is going on in the world. And this is the most important part of Interactive Marketing, we use lots of channels to get information, but more and more of it is digital.
So if you are selling to the under 65 consumer and business executive, you need to look at SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, email and Websites to communicate and connect with your digital customer. Overtime, next 2-3 years, Interactive Advertising will take over newspaper spending and that is when Media and Advertising will look digital and "traditional" will no longer be the same ever again!
Business Development Exec, Rhonda Vincent, shares with us the 7 top online marketing trends for 2009…
For online marketers 2009 will be a challenging year, they’ll need to build the basis for future expansion, leveraging social media, emerging technologies and vendor partners who are thinking about their business and find ways to maximize their budgets. Here are 7 online marketing trends for 2009 that I came across on a ClickZ report:
• Increase customer retention efforts by marketing to your existing customer base – it’s cheaper and more effective because you know who they are and you understand their behavior.
• Create more attractive content – it will engage your customers and will help with your search engine optimization marketing
• Develop targeted marketing campaigns across a variety of mediums…e-mail, text messages, instant messages.
• Leverage online communities such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter…
• Increase your Web Analytics efforts
• Enhance search marketing advertising to expand across social media, mobile, and local search.
• Continue to integrate distribution channels despite higher cost
Interactive Ad Agencies like Definition 6 can leverage this insight to maximize your spends with the best ROI to get you through this year and still plan for 2010 initiatives.
Project Manager, Lisa Seals, shared a great case study with us that she found on the Marketing Professionals site. The study talks about how the Days Inn chain uses mobile text marketing as opposed to mass email marketing and rich media advertising to communicate with guests, build loyalty, increase revenue and provide value-add services. The article boasts text marketing as “customer service 2.0” for the hospitality industry. Here are a few key items Lisa shared with our Client Services team…
1. Building the opt-in list. The campaign began by generating awareness for the new texting program - front-desk associates ask guests at check-in whether they'd like to participate. Special contests are set in place driving people to text (and opt-) in order to win a weekend getaway. The program was promoted through elevator notices, keycard holders, and other key collateral.
2. Engaging the opt-ins. The chain implemented a marketing plan of text messages which consisted of general promotions, hotel-specific promotions, and customized messages based on guests’ specific needs.
3. Lessons Learned. The chain used a double opt-in program to attract only those guests who were truly interested – guests were reassured that their information would not be shared. The time of day for messaging was considered for nationwide messages and messages were managed on frequency depending on a guest's length of stay.
Days Inn had a 22% increase in room upgrades and substantial increases in website traffic through their text marketing campaign. There was even an increase in the use of hotel amenities with a 15-20% increase in reward program signups – not to mention the immeasurable increase in brand awareness.
Definition 6 Client Manager, Ira Gross, discovered an enlightening article in the Wall Street Journal around the impact of implementing overnight sends for email marketing newsletters. The article mentions that companies who execute marketing programs in concert with their customers pay cycle are yielding better returns than performing promotions without paying attention to that cycle. A few items worth mentioning from the article:
1. People buy bigger ticket items closer to payday
2. People spend less at the end of the month
3. Aligning promotions and offerings to pay cycles yeilds stronger sales
Given the current economic situation, firms need to understand their customers cash on hand and run appropriate promotions. If you are running tartgeted email marketing campaigns, this article is definitely worth checking out.
Definition 6 Client Manager, Ira Gross, shared an interesting article he came across on NYtimes.com that talks about how to identify leads and prospects through two new Web-based data brokers, BlueKai and eXelate. This aligns very well with our customers who do online promotions tied to e-commerce.
These new sites are "information" exchanges where firms can purchase highly specific and timely information with which to market products and services to active seekers and buyers. Here are a few items worth mentioning from the article:
1. The tools track who is interested in what via a cookie, and then they sell that cookie data.
2. BlueKai lets users choose the cookies they want and raised the cost of ads from $1- $2/thousand impressions to $4 -$10 for the same thousand eyes, but they are much more highly targeted.
3. eXelate wants to purchase registration data and publishing data for resale in a similar manner as Bluekai
These new data broker sources can provide significantly more tailored prospects for Interactive Marketing – check out the full article on NYtimes.com.
There is a great report out by the 4 A's "Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services" By Joe Burton - it explains in great detail why Interactive Ad Agencies charge what they do for our services. It highlighted the importance of understanding the labor costs that go into SEO, Web Site Development, eMail Marketing, Video Advertising and Social Media Marketing and how the critical talent is scare to do the job well.
One key point was that in Traditional Advertising, media equals 73% of all spending with your agency partner but with an Interactive Media Agency you should expect 52% to be media and 45% to be agency services fees. This is critical when doing channel shifting from one medium to another.
So it is very important if you are going to make the move from direct mail to eMail or from broadcast to display media or PR to social media that you understand the costs and the ROI before jumping into the fray. But the rewards are worth the effort.
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