There is a quote in the book The Truth about Email Marketing:
"Email marketing has been called the original social networking tool..."

Social media does not replace emails.  The advantage continues to be that not everyone has a Facebook or LinkedIn profile, but everyone has an email address.

You can capitalize on your social media campaigns by integrating email marketing:
Capture email addresses on your Facebook page.
Promote your email services on your LinkedIn profile.
Test marketing messages and creative elements on social networking sites.
Use email to drive traffic to your social media initiatives.

Recent stats from EmailStatCenter.com you might find helpful in convincing your management team to continue to invest in email marketing in order to reap the benefits:

"50% of consumers surveyed said they're more likely to buy products from companies who send them email, whether their purchases are online or at a place of business."
- Epsilon "Branding Survey" (Feb 2009)

"80.4% of marketing executives surveyed say email performs strongly as an advertising channel for their companies."
- Datran Media "3rd Annual Marketing & Media Survey Results" (2008)

"While 60% of marketers plan to cut their traditional marketing budgets this year, 47% of marketers plan to boost their email marketing budgets."
- Aberdeen Group, "Recessionary Marketing: How Best-in-Class Companies Are Weathering the Storm," (Jan 2009)

Has social media replaced email marketing?  Hardly!  Has it changed it?  Sure.  It offers a new way to use email marketing.  Email marketing continues to drive relationships, retention, and revenue.

Definition 6 sends out almost 300 million emails on behalf of clients.  We also specialize in social media.  We can help you integrate your interactive marketing initiatives to maximize the benefit.

As the CEO of an Interactive Ad Agency, I have been in the digital marketing arena for about 14 years now and it still boggles my mind when I read an article that highlights the lack of metrics use in the world. I have included a link to the full article at the end of the post but I wanted to highlight this particular quote: "Less than half (47%) of marketing professionals in North America and the U.K. recently surveyed by Alterian reported that they currently use analytics to measure on-line campaign results." Are you kidding me, how can you not use web analytics? It is like not having a scoreboard at a game or a speedometer on a car. Driving traffic to your web site without a control panel is stupid! Sorry to offend those of you that are in the majority, non web analytic users. Why would you spend money on SEO, email marketing, interactive advertising or even hosting services if you are not tracking what is happening on-line and on your site?

I guess maybe it is because it cost so much to implement analytics when doing website development! I barely could type that sentence without laughing - it can be Free and done in less than 5 hours! So I understand that a full blown deployment maybe more than you can handle, but no software cost, no usage fee and less than 1 day of effort to track what is happening on your website, seems like a no brain-er to me.  Check out Goggle Analytics if you are part of the 53% that are doing nothing. If you are part of the 47% that are, what do you do with the information?

A good Interactive Agency should be making monthly or quarterly recommendations to improve conversion and a weekly adjustment to PPC spends (or even hourly) and a good Media and Advertising partner would be accountable to you for the results. Of course if you don't care about management, then I'm sure your agency is very happy to charge you without accountability. 

Sorry about the rant, I was just blown away.

Fewer Than Half Of Marketers Use On-line Metrics

by Karlene Lukovitz, Friday, February 20, 2009, 2:02 PM

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=100692

Definition 6 Project Manager, Lisa Seals, on what not to do on FaceBook…

Before establishing a social media strategy, particular as it involves FaceBook, it’s important to understand the laws regulating how you market your product or service.  Failure to adhere to these regulations can result in warnings, requests for immediate action, suspension, termination/disablement of an application or just plain user turnoff.  Online Ad Agency Definition 6 can help you avoid making these mistakes when launching a campaign on FaceBook.

1. Infringing on Intellectual Property Rights - The legal rights bestowed by regulatory trademarks and copyrights are binding in the social media realm.
2. Pretending to Be Someone You're Not - FaceBook explicitly states that applications must not be designed "to impersonate any person" or "in a manner that is misleading, deceptive or fraudulent."
3. Violating Users' Privacy Rights
4. Flouting the Accepted Rules of User Engagement - FaceBook policy dictates that applications may no longer offer incentives to users for inviting friends or adding profile boxes, etc.

FaceBook is implementing more controls for establishing trust between users and companies who market on the site and in November 2008, they launched an Application Verification program, which rewards marketers with a certification seal - similar to the VeriSign logo used on e-commerce sites.  To read the entire article, login to MarketingProfs.com.
 

Definition 6 Business Development Exec, Ken Brantley, points out what search engine marketers should know about sorting through social media strategy fads and laying the groundwork for leveraging media and advertisting in the interactive space...

Jennifer Winners, Chief Operating Officer and Social Media Specialist of DISC, Inc., sums it up well in a recent article on VisibilityMagazine.com.  She explains that, up until the era of Social Media,” the internet was largely impersonal, random, and largely intimidating.   It was difficult to know which businesses were legitimate, which sources of information were accurate, and generally who could be trusted.”

There were some key points that I took from the article:
1. Social Media offers tools for people to behave online much as they do offline
2. It’s important to understand which social media tools are the best fit for communicating with your customers
3. Social Media is a loose term for all things “social” on the internet for example: blogs, wikis, video sharing, podcasts, social networking sites, picture sharing, social bookmarking. Social refers to the ability to interact, and Media refers to the tools.
4. Behave with your customers online as you would offline

At Definition 6 we certainly understand that in today’s world, marketing and technology strategies are interconnected.  We leverage expertise in all interactive areas including social media marketing and strategy.  Contact us today or check out some of our additional blog posts on social media to find out how we can help implement and manage your next digital business solution.

Lisa Seals, Definition 6 Project Manager on earning consumer trust through the use of blogging…

Blogs are one of the most cost-effective mediums available for building relationships with your customers, and driving traffic to your website.  But, according to Forrester’s North American Technographics Media and Marketing Online Survey, corporate blogs rate very low on the scale for consumer trust.  Don’t swear off blogging quite yet - rather, use blogging as an addition to your marketing mix and overtime customers will value your openness and candor.  Here are some interesting suggestions from an article I recently read which were key take-aways for me…
 
1. Come up with a well-thought-out blogging policy to institute credibility into your company blog
2. Instill reader value – think about your customer's perspective before you blog
3. Foster transparency - be up front with your readers about who you are as the author.  Include your background, role within the company, if you have vested interests in the topic of discussion and whether they're writing from an insider-expert or end-user perspective
4. Set the tone - abstain from taking on a formal tone, talk to your readers like you would talk to real people in professional situations. Bring in your own personality and say what's on your mind
5. Allow readers to participate in the conversation -  your blog can provide an effective vehicle for gathering and understanding your customer’s perspectives

Check out the full article by logging into MarketingProfs.com and visit our blog to find out how online ad agency, Definition 6, leverages our website integration expertise in providing the right tools necessary to create your own corporate blog.
 

Account Coordinator Jeremy Bromwell speaks out about Social Media:

As we settle into 2009 it is extremely important to stay in tune with market conditions.  Social media is expected to see significant growth as an interactive channel largely as a result of our economic reality.  Earlier this week Erik Qualman at Search Engine Watch published an article with his predictions for social media in 2009.  Here are a few highlights from the article:

1. Social Media will continue growing, Business Networks will surge, Free Services will become defunct, Traditional broadcast television moves online, Social Media will change real world behavior, More Social Media searches for Products and Services, and Marketing Budgets will Continue Shrinking
2. If your business or service does not currently have a presence in the social media space, now is the time.
3. When considering your social media presence, consider the goals.  Many times the success metrics for social media are different than other channels.  The focus for most brands should be brand engagement and awareness.  The primary goals of social media, in my opinion, are viral distribution of your marketing message and to remain top of mind for your audience.  If you can achieve this you will ensure that your brand stays in the buyers evoked set and has a higher propensity to purchase YOUR product/service.
4. Mobile devices will be the primary way people access social networks and tools. 

In summary, companies that are not leveraging this relatively low cost channel will be left behind as more and more users adopt social media.  Developing a solid social media plan is a great place to start and is something that can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time for a low cost this quarter and can then be executed for the rest of 2009.  Additionally, a study conducted by the Kelsey Group and ConStat shows that the percentage of mobile phone users who said they accessed social network sites from their handsets jumped 182% from September 2007 to October 2008 (see graph below).  Check out our Social Networking Quickstart blog to learn how leading interactive agency, Definition 6, can help maximize all of your social media efforts.

 

 

Lance King,  shared an interesting article from SocialMediaToday.com about how to define a Community Manager...

 

Starting a blog or community on your website is relatively easy, but what considerations have you given to managing it? What do you want to do with the information you get from outsiders? How do you share information from insiders? How should the community manager participate in the community? Ben Grubb posted a video on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/2293813) where he leads a conversation on the definition of a community manager. Matt Rhodes’ article on Social Media Today summarizes some of the key points of that discussion: 

1.     A community manager should provide personality to the brand by interacting with the community as a person, not as a generic user. People should be able to trust and respect the community manager. The people in the community need to know that the community manager really cares about them and their needs and concerns.

2.     A community manager should help translate the user's comments to internal improvements and should also translate internal communications back out to the community.

3.     A community manager needs to advocate the community to the company and advocate the company to the community.

 

A simple execution of an online campaign can lead to a lot of traffic and lead generation. If it is done right, it could come back year after year to provide you with results.

 

 

 

Definition 6 Technical Project Manager, Lance King, delivered an article presentation on how a simple execution of permission based email marketing campaign led to increased traffic and lead generation for marketing firm Enlighten.

For years Enlighten was delivering electronic holiday cards, costing the company marketing dollars while gaining very little exposure.  Two years ago, they developed an online “Holiday Party Excuse Generator” which resulted in a viral marketing bonanza.  They reaped the benefits even more when, a year later, traffic spiked despite any additional marketing efforts.  The lesson: if you can create a low-budget campaign that has the potential to get people buzzing about it, sharing it and spreading it, that’s great in any situation but certainly more now that marketing dollars are being closely scrutinized.

Three final points from Lance’s article:
1. Create a timeless, targeted email marketing campaign
2. Create a campaign that is fun and easily shared with others
3. In addition to direct sends, get information out to the press and social media outlets about your campaign  

You can read the full article at http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=30964&pop=no#

Contact Definition 6 today to find out how we help our clients strategize and deliver impactful email campaigns.

At this Interactive Advertising Agency, we have been writing about how traditional media spending is moving on line. We have not been alone and we do believe that it is a good action to take if you are in Interactive Adversing. However, Pat LaPointe makes a good point last Friday in the article "Fools Rush In -- In Search of Magic ROI", by Pat LaPointe , Friday, December 12, 2008 "....beware: nearly EVERYONE ELSE HAS THE SAME IDEA. .....But the laws of marketing physics suggest that more marketers and marketing dollars will rush in to the arena than proven executional avenues can accommodate in the short term. And most of them will NOT bring breakthrough new creativity with them. That will create lots of failure and un-delivered expectations, which in turn may slow adoption of otherwise valuable marketing options." Full Article at: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&art_aid=96614#comments.

So it got me thinking...what about Email marketing?  The more the idea soaked in the more I liked it. Targeted Email Marketing is a wonderful way to shift ad dollars into digital and avoid being overwhelmed by the clutter. It is your list, your relationships and your message. It might be better than an over priced PPC campaign and a weak display campaign. It certainly will be faster and cheaper to do!

At the same time, if your Interactive Adversing Agency is good at creative, good at media planning and optimization and good at conversion techniques, you might just be someone who can break through the clutter, gain market share and then use Email to crush your competition.

The best part of having an Interactive Advertising Agency is seeing how leading edge thinking evolves and grows. Years ago we would just talk about eMail Marketing, Search Engine Optimization Consulting, Website Development and hosting services. That was it and then the crash of 2001 came along and Interactive Advertising Agency life became harder and many companies went out of business. If the last two days are any indication of things to come, interactive advertising is going to only become stronger in the next 18 months. Take a look at this chart from Media Daily News:

ZenithOptimedia, GroupM Forecast U.S., Worldwide Ad Recession In 2009
	2008	2009	2010	2011
ZenithOptimedia
U.S.	-3.8%	-6.2%	+2.1%	+2.8%
Worldwide	+1.3%	-0.2%	+5.5%	+5.8%
GroupM
U.S.	+0.3%	-3.2%	NA	NA
Worldwide	+2.6%	-0.2%	NA	NA

Who would want to be in the traditional adverting and media business next year?  Not me, and not because traditional isn't important and can't help brands, but compared to Interactive Advertising - look at this chart from Online Media Daily:

Share Of Worldwide Ad Spending By Medium
	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Newspapers	27.1	25.4	23.8	22.3	21.2
Magazines	12.0	11.5	11.2	10.7	10.4
Television	37.3	38.0	38.3	38.5	38.5
Radio	8.0	7.6	7.1	6.9	6.7
Cinema	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.6
Outdoor	6.5	6.7	6.9	7.0	7.1
Internet	8.6	10.3	12.1	13.9	15.6
Source: ZenithOptimedia

Next year Interactive Adversing will exceed Outdoor, Radio, Magazine and I personally believe by 2011 will be equal to newspaper even if  others don't yet. Look for our upcoming posts on some rapid start programs on how to get involved in Interactive Advertising solutions for 2009.

Today’s Client Services meeting led into a discussion about how economic forces affect our clients’ media planning and budgeting.  Jeremy Bromwell, a Definition 6 Account Coordinator, shared some of his thoughts from an article he recently read on Marketing Sherpa…

Cuts for offline media and brand tactics are taking the biggest hits.  As an interactive advertising agency, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients divert offline dollars to the interactive channel and use superior analytics tools to increase both ROI and ROAS.  Jeremy’s key points included:

1. Over 50% of brand advertising is projected to have some to significant reductions in 2009.  Brand advertising would consist of both online display ads and print ads.
2. 68% of direct advertising budgets are projected to have no change or to increase.  Direct advertising includes tactics like direct mail and email campaigns.
3. When you split the same tactics between online and offline budgets, 12% of traditional media budgets are expected to increase while 31% expect increases in online budgets.

Brand efforts support direct tactics which can be especially important during an economic downturn, when brand advertising can underscore an organization’s strength.  Further, a downturn creates a buyer’s market for brand impressions offline and online which can give opportunistic companies a chance to enhance their market position.  As your overall marketing budget gets cut, evaluate the proportions like you would an investment and look for areas to reaportion funds to yield the most fruitful return.  As consumer preferences evolve away from traditional channels, money can easily be diverted to a variety of interactive techniques to keep brand engagement high.
You can read the article in its entirety at: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.html?id=30914

With social media being a hot topic around the Definition 6 water cooler these days, I solicited input from my Client team on where they predict the gender gap to be between men and women using social network sites.  Lance King, a Definition 6 Technical Project Manager, referenced an article he recently read in Business Week which had this to say…

Both twenty-something men and women are likely to be members of social network sites like Facebook, MySpace and Flixter however it’s the women who are dominating the space – especially women between ages 35 - 50.  This said we will likely see that the next wave of innovation is targeted more toward women.  The article goes on to say that male adoption of social media will continue to climb but it won’t be able to keep up with the expanding engagement of female users.

Here are some great points that Lance shared from the article:

1.       Men are more transactional in nature and tend to spend more time on websites such as LinkedIn which is all about intelligence gathering and making introductions.  Women’s online behavior is more relationship driven.

2.       Women spend more and make more purchasing decisions than men – and because women are more likely to tell friends about their purchases, advertisers gain a double benefit from female consumers.

3.       Since the future of social media is going to be about women, it makes sense to target women for any viral marketing campaign.

To read the article in its entirety, go to: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2008/tc20080516_580743.htm

There's challenges facing every business:  How to break through the clutter, get the word out and build both credibility and attendance at events.

PR, advertising, promotions, and direct mail all play an important role; but for more and more companies, bloggers are becoming a key part of the outreach and promotions strategy.

This generally involves giving a ""press pass"" to a blogger in return for their covering your event.

The real benefit of engaging a social media maven, blogger, or industry evangelist lies in the longer term relationships you are able to form:
- stronger relationships with industry influencers and insiders
- pertinent insight and feedback
- reach, exposure and search engine credibility (over time)

First, invite a blogger to your event.  Hopefully, the relationship progresses so that they are a respected insider.  Ideally, you want them to become a collaborator who helps you create industry events.

It's media relations 101 applied to the blogosphere.
- Identify bloggers, mavens or others whom you respect both their writing and their audience

- Reach out and begin developing direct relationships

- Be clear about expectations and open to input and suggestions

- Actively monitor and participate in conversations as they happen online  

Read the article, entitled The Why and How of Engaging Bloggers at Your Event, at:  http://www.mpdailyfix.com/2008/05/the_why_and_how_of_engaging_bl.html

Lynn Moss
Def 6 Client Manager