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6 Tips to Market Your Business on Google+

May 21, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha Leave a comment

High ranking in Google search results is one of the top priorities for most marketers and, with more than 500 million registered users, Google+ has become an essential tool for high search ranking and networking because it offers businesses a way to show up in the search results of potential customers by using the power of their networks. The logic is that the larger and more targeted their Google networks are, the more search results will feature these businesses.

Google+ offers multiple features that empower businesses. It is linked with all aspects of Google: search, calendars, Gmail, Hangouts, etc., and provides a social base with circles, new communities and video Hangouts. How can marketers leverage this platform to market their companies.

1. The first step is to create a Google+ profile for your business:

Take a quick look at your major competitors’ profiles, as well some of the top Google+ business profiles, to get an idea how companies are using this space to position themselves and interact with their followers. Once you have done this, click on Google+ for Business page to create your page.

It is a good practice to get a verified name on Google+, as it shows your page is official, rather than created by an impostor. This is similar to a Verified Name on Twitter. Go to link your Google+ page to your site. The site admin will then ask for your Google+ ID number, which is mentioned in the address bar. Choose your preferred badge style and paste the code into your site.

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Filed under online advertising, SMB marketing Tagged with Google marketing, Google rank. Google+, Google search, online marketing, SEO

Marketing to Target Multi-Screen Consumers

May 14, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha 2 Comments

Most consumers today don’t limit themselves to a single device to check out deals, compare competing offers and get reviews from family and friends. They use a combination of phones, tablets, computers and TVs to consume and share digital content.

While each of these has a significant role in our consumption today, the important objective for marketers is to harness the power of how the devices are used together—in combination. Ninety percent of all of our media consumption, or 4.4 hours per day, is happening across all four (which doesn’t leave much room for paper-based books and publications or for radio). This not only has implications for how content is designed, but also for how companies like Google will continue to hedge their bets across all four screens.

This infographic by Google depicts the multi-screen media consumption pattern:

With simultaneous usage, around 77% of viewers watch TV with another device in hand. In many cases, people search on their devices, inspired by what they see on TV. This means cross-media campaigns can help you make the most of consumers’ simultaneous usage across screens.

As marketers, we need to understand both the multi-screening patterns to be able to plan our brand communication strategy. In a study conducted by Microsoft Advertising with Flamingo Research and Ipsos, consumers are combining devices in new ways to multi-task, amplify experiences, connect with others and get things done. The new research shows four common multi-screen pathways and consumer needs that drive each:

Content Grazing

This is one of the most common tendencies, with 68 percent of consumers having multiple responsibilities and using two or more screens simultaneously to access unrelated content. For example, I usually watch a show on TV while checking emails on my PC and sharing tweets with my mobile phone.

Investigative Spider-Webbing

As the second most common multi-screening pathway, 57 percent of consumers use this approach. It involves consumers investigating on multiple devices at the same time, either to gather more information or to explore. While watching movies on TV, many of us look up the other movies in which the lead actors have appeared on our tablets or PCs.

Quantum Journey

The research indicated that 46 percent of consumers fall in the quantum category. In this case, productivity and efficiency are paramount as consumers are trying to accomplish tasks. Each screen separately and additively takes them closer to achieving their goals. In other words, you snap a picture of a pair of shoes on your mobile that you see for sale while shopping and then look up reviews about the shoes on your PC at home before purchasing.

Social Spider-Webbing

This is the least common multi-screening pathway with only 39 percent consumers engaging this way. These consumers are extroverted. They are focused on sharing content and connecting with others across devices. One example could be that you beat your friend’s high score for a game on your Xbox and then use Skype or social media to brag about your win to friends.

How can we as marketers make use of this knowledge and integrate it in our marketing? Here are a few steps that could improve our customers’ experiences and brand engagement as they consume content on multiple screens:

Be available on multiple technology formats

This not only involves making your content available on multiple screens but also requires you to format the content for each platform.

- Provide content appropriate to the device. Think where your potential customers use the device and the tasks usually performed by them. People usually access a restaurant website through their mobile phones when they are in the vicinity, looking for directions and interested in specials of the day to make up their mind which restaurants to visit. Therefore, it is a good idea to have directions, specials menus and click-to-call numbers to reserve tables on the home page of your restaurant’s mobile website.

- Allow the entire experience to occur on multiple forms of technology, such as providing podcasts for webinars on your website.

- Develop targeted content to engage audience on different platforms, especially mobile. To illustrate, Canadian retailers offer specific mobile apps to help customers locate the nearest stores that support their favorite programs and check for in-store offers to boost their reward totals.

- Enable social sharing, commenting and reviews on all formats.

Encourage simultaneous media consumption

Share product information and offers in multiple formats and platforms. Adding social layers on top of core content helps you to deepen your relationship with your audience, enhancing the experience of engaging with your brand and extending the opportunity for further interaction.

A travel infographic published by Monetate indicates that 61% of those shopping for a hotel room refer to traveler-submitted reviews when booking their rooms. This shows that majority of hotel bookings are, in some way, influenced by hotels’ online presence and reputations. Therefore, when hotels focus on becoming known presences on social media through engaging content, offers and contests; it makes readers feel comfortable with their properties. This trust translates into increased association with the hotels.

These tips could help you keep audiences engaged while accessing your brand through different platforms:

- Engage users on social media platforms with social sharing.

- Provide (extra) entertainment with behind-the-scenes looks and/or extensions of content.

- Allow for other forms of interaction such as gaming and comments.

Go beyond using your primary media platform

Think of other platforms to offer related information about your products. The goal is to provide information to support your main content to give your audiences a reason to further engage with your brand. Can you extend the users’ experience across platforms? Think about making distinct variations of your content:

- Allow users to participate with comments, ratings and/or other forms of content such as photos and videos.

- Provide updates on new products and services on SlideShare.

- Feature related information, such as how-to advice and training manuals on specific tools.

Consumers are connected for nearly all their waking hours, so you need to be careful that your audience does not get tired of your content. Therefore, it becomes that much more important to make your content stand out by tailoring it for the platform and users’ needs at various points in time.

Do you target multi-screen users? If so, how does it improve your brand’s engagement with your customers? And how do you adapt your messaging to work with different channels of digital interaction?

Filed under online advertising, retail marketing, SMB marketing Tagged with multi-screen consumers, multi-screen users, multiscreen marketing, online marketing

The SMB Marketing Opportunity for Mother’s Day

May 10, 2013 by Kelly Glass 1 Comment

Last year, consumers spent an average of $140 each on Mother’s Day gifts for moms, wives, daughters, aunts and other special women. That was an increase of more than 10 percent over the previous year. As a publisher or marketing service provider, how do you drive more advertising revenue while helping your small- to medium-sized business customers capitalize on spending for the holiday? We have some great ideas. You might be able to try a few this year but have plenty of lead time to make the most of the holiday in 2014!

The overarching theme is that advertising has to do more than just tell people how great product and services are. It has to offer consumers something of value. When building marketing campaigns around Mother’s Day, there is an opportunity to thank mothers but also to give them discounts and other incentives. And don’t forget grandmothers—advertising can drive additional purchases for a second generation!

Here are some categories of advertisers for you to target that can tie in with Mother’s Day.

Traditional Gifts and Cards: Encourage businesses in this category to count down to Mother’s Day, feature a variety of products and services and remind consumers to prepare for the holiday.
Restaurants: Along the same lines, restaurants can use advertising to suggest people make reservations for the holiday. This is probably a good idea considering that approximately 80 million of the adults in the U.S. will be going out to eat on Sunday (about one third!).
Salons/Spas: This category has really jumped on the Mother’s Day bandwagon. When advising local businesses, suggest they create “special experiences” for mothers. For example, package services that have never been bundled together before like a “mother-daughter” treatment or a massage, facial and pedicure for the ultimate pampering. Or they can provide discounts like “free $15 products with every treatment”.
Dentists: Mothers’ might take advantage of specials on teeth whitening and free electronic toothbrushes when coming in for cleanings or even discounted Invisalign packages.
Automotive: With the need to take kids to school, sports, conferences and doctor appointments, motherhood tends to involve a lot of driving. You can target mechanics or garages to offer discounted oil changes or tire rotations. It would also be appealing to provide free car washes with maintenance over a certain dollar amount spent.
Optometrists: Tap eye care stores to offer mothers discount prices on name-brand frames that will help them feel good about themselves. With summer almost here, stores can also offer discounts on prescription sunglasses or buy one, get one deals.
Chiropractors: Help chiropractic offices promote packages of treatments or discounts, free massages with treatments or sample packs of products such as homeopathic remedies and mothers will feel healthier for the tough job they have.
Veterinarians: Most people think of pets as members of their family. Veterinarians might want to offer discounts to mothers who bring in their pets before Mother’s Day. If they offer accessories or other goods, they can provide free items when pets are brought in for their grooming or shots. Giving away bags of treats are also effective.
Non-Traditional Gifts: Depending on the mother, some might love gift certificates for piercings, sets of power tools or briefcases. Advertising unexpected products’ suitability for Mother’s Day can open up a broad opportunity for new revenue and attract mothers who appreciate a fresh, un-stereotypical approach from your advertisers.
Post-Holiday: Advertisers can reach any mothers who might feel forgotten or who didn’t get quite what they wanted, and invite them women to pamper themselves. And you have the opportunity to sell more ads by extending the holiday timeframe!

It’s not easy to come up with a new and effective approach to Mother’s Day, but PS Print has some ideas on how you can offer a unique perspective.

Show Animal Moms and Babies: this works well, especially if you can include something related to the businesses featured in ads. If possible, try to go unusual rather than the standard kittens and puppies.
Pathways. Mothers help their children overcome obstacles as they grow, so pathways work as a theme in Mother’s Day designs.
Market to Sub-Segments: Mothers are a diverse group. Some cook, some are athletic and some are both. Identify target audiences as specifically as possible. If there are hobbies, professions, or pursuits shared by your advertisers’ audiences, then you can create designs to meet their needs. The more targeted the campaigns and the designs, the more revenue they will drive.
Condolences: If you can tie your products into an understanding of how much mothers have to endure with as they raise their children, you can establish a humorous slant. In this ad, the same effect is achieved but directed toward the children buying the gifts.

Ultimately, on Mother’s Day the key to success for advertisers and their target audiences is to remember the holiday, according to Hotcards! That’s why there are three core points to stress in marketing copy:

Mothers are important and underappreciated
The day will be here before you know it
If you forget, the consequences will be highly unfavorable

Beyond remembering Mother’s Day, you can provide these recommendations from 365 Days of Marketing to your advertisers to help them successfully leverage the holiday.

Make sure you know what women want. Find out what the women in your target markets or the wives and mothers of your customers actually want. Survey customers about their favorite Mother’s Day gifts or what they plan to purchase for their own moms this year. Use social media to gather information. Use a poll to solicit customer and reader feedback but also to make specific Mother’s Day gift suggestions by listing ideas in the choices for poll questions.
Make it very, very easy for people to buy Mother’s Day gifts and easier to buy from you than anyone else. Use email newsletters to make gift suggestions with one-click ordering. Allow ordering ahead for store pickup or include wrapping, gift cards and delivery services. Make specific suggestions that would be appropriate for the different women in their lives (e.g., moms, daughters, aunts, etc.). Provide last-minute creative gift options. Pre-package gift baskets with themes, such as outdoor lovers, exercise lovers, food lovers, movie lovers, makeup or pampering products, etc.
Drive repeat business. Create Mother’s Day gifts that come with a good reason for the recipients or the buyers to come back to your business again soon. For example, a spa could offer a promotional price on a massage and a 20% discount for the next massage booked.
Take advantage of the opportunity. Use Mother’s Day to target customers who might not normally buy from you but need gifts for their wives, mothers, etc. Think about giving them an incentive to come back for Father’s Day or another sale or event. Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on social media or add to your direct mail list to receive future promotions. Set up an online survey form and invite them to rate their experience. And you can extend special offers via landing pages on your website or emails thanking them for their business.
Conduct cooperative campaigns to reach the gift buyers. If you cater mostly to women, then your challenge is to get the word out to men about the great gifts you offer. Create strategic partnerships with businesses that target men, such as clubs at golf courses, recreational or outdoor sports facilities. For companies that target men, get them to swap: they promote your offering, while you promote theirs for Father’s Day. You can also conduct cooperative email or direct mail campaigns. Work with restaurants, bars or clubs that have high percentages of male patrons to place signage or table tents describing your products.

Have you seen any unusual and memorable Mother’s Day ads this season? What innovative approaches have you taken with your advertisers and their products and services to set them apart during a cluttered advertising season?

Filed under advertising, newspapers, SMB marketing Tagged with advertising, marketing services, newspapers, online advertising, SMB marketing

Proven Marketing Practices to Nurture Leads

May 7, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha Leave a comment

We all have our eye on the prize: increased sales and revenue. But before we can close deals, we have to acquire leads and follow up with them over time in an appropriate way to ensure that they convert. Lead nurturing is a critical stage in the sales funnel that keeps contacts interested and engaged. It is a powerful tool that helps to establish a preference among buyers for your solutions over the competitors’, while helping you assess time-frames for decision making.

Lead nurturing is about having consistent and meaningful dialogs with prospects at all stages of the sales cycle. It means building trusted relationships with the right people. It is not salespeople calling every few weeks to find out if prospects are “ready to buy yet.”

The four main goals of a lead nurturing process are:

Seek permission to connect with prospects:

This is one of the most important goals of lead nurturing, as without it, the achievement of any other goals is impossible.

Keep the discussions informative and interesting:

If your potential customers lose interest in your interactions or do not see any value, they will disconnect, start ignoring your messages or unsubscribe from your email campaigns.

Plan content by establishing important ideas:

Lead nurturing is gradual, as you need to attract the attention of your audiences through regular interaction. Your potential buyers may not enter a decision-making process for a long time. Therefore, the interim needs to be filled with content that educates them about problems and solutions. Marketers, who are able to do this well can better position their companies so potential customers become actual buyers.
Watch for signs of progress through the buying cycle:

As you nurture potential buyers, track their behavior to understand if they are ready to engage with sales. There are 2 indicators that you can track for lead scoring:

Fit score is based on attributes that tell you how well the prospect compares against your ideal buyer profile – things like job title or role, industry, and company size. In other words, how attractive is this potential lead to me.

Interest score is based on the prospect’s engagement with your campaigns and content. This can include things like reading the blog, attending webinars, downloading papers, and even social behaviors such as sharing your content on their networks. Interest score tells you how attractive you are to the potential customer.

To successfully nurture leads, your marketing programs need to deliver content that is of sufficient value and interest to prospects so you earn permission to stay in contact. However, any organizations use “long-term nurturing” as a label for leads that do not respond to their product/service offers. So the contacts are sent random emails every once in a while. But this approach does not have any pre-set goals, messaging strategy or action parameters to recognize when any of these dormant leads become “sales-ready” and require action.
IBM recognizes one of the toughest business challenges is to generate highly-qualified, sales-ready leads. Most marketers try to do so using a mix of disconnected technologies and manual processes. The result is ineffective marketing, inadequate sales coordination, uninterested prospects and missed revenue. The IBM lead management solution offers capabilities for generating leads and converting them into loyal customers.
Some of the steps that the IBM approach uses to improve the lead management process are:

1. Generate new leads by executing targeted, personalized and integrated campaigns to improve close rates and increase revenue

2. Deliver personalized, relevant marketing messages across all touch points

3. Engage customers and prospects with timely email and mobile messages

4. Give marketing users the power of predictive analytics in reports with clearly defined metrics like lead generation ROI and responses

5. Determine the optimal contact strategy over time for customers

According to the website Software Advice, Hubspot has lead nurturing practices such as drip email, marketing automation, conversational marketing, etc. Here is their advice for lead nurturing:

1. Build sufficient inbound lead volumes: Getting a steady stream of inbound leads to nurture is the hardest part of the equation. This requires constant cleansing and updating of data lists. Industry research shows that the average marketing database expires at the rate of 25 percent per year as people switch jobs, change email addresses, unsubscribe, etc. Secondly, you need to keep tabs on all those who have expressed an interest in your content by signing up for your newsletter and blog updates or following you on Twitter, LinkedIn or other social media. These aren’t necessarily leads, but they’re at least connected to you and this could act as a trigger for your nurturing campaign.

2. Create useful, valuable, “lovable” content: Buyers now come to the table much more informed than before. If you really want efforts to show results, you need to shift away from self-centered marketing and toward more informative, useful content that people actually want to see in their inbox. This might take longer and require more creative skills, but the results are well worth the effort.

3. Segment, segment, segment: A more granular segmentation of your database and campaigns can generate better returns. At Hubspot, leads are divided according to two characteristics: persona and lifecycle stage. When you categorize leads in this way, it becomes easier to employ a strategy that with content, language and other nuances that are most likely to resonate with the contacts.
Eloqua, a marketing automation Software as a Service (SaaS) company, shares six different types of lead nurturing programs based on their marketing research:

Welcome campaign: Welcomes the new subscribers by introducing the brand, reinforcing subscription benefits and spelling out the next steps in the transactions with customers.
Education campaign: Engages prospects to get more detail for better profiling and defines the value proposition to get them ready to talk to the sales team.
Why us campaign: Establishes the brand and differentiates it from competitors by providing customer experiences, testimonials and case studies.
Accelerate campaign: Removes any roadblocks from the decision-making process and provides tools to speed up the buying process.
New customer on-boarding campaign: Welcomes new customers, thanks them and identifies next steps.
Customer retention/loyalty campaign: Seeks customer feedback to further develop relationships and retain them; features tips/ tricks to get the most out of the products.

The trick is to find a balance between process automation and meaningful and personalized communication with prospects. Only when you achieve excellence in both aspects, can you hope to create improved relationships with qualified potential customers and go a long way in creating an ever expanding database of prospective buyers.

As we continue to focus on trends in lead nurturing, tell us which tools and tactics have helped you engage and convert leads for your business.

Filed under advertising, SMB marketing Tagged with lead management, marketing leads, nurture leads, nurturing leads, sales leads

Helping SMBs Market: the 12 Questions You Should Ask

May 3, 2013 by Kelly Glass 1 Comment

Today, a diverse array of companies target small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to provide marketing services and take advantage of their large sales forces, existing retail locations or related products to drive sales. We see this trend among publishers, financial services companies, office supply stores, printers, shipping franchises and many other categories. For example, there is a trend in recent years for newspapers to offer print and digital services and take on the role of digital agency for their local advertisers.

One of the challenges to launching successful campaigns and generating results for SMBs is getting a clear understanding upfront of goals, products and budgets. Sales teams have to sell high volumes of SMBs and gather critical information quickly for designers, copywriters and others to execute. Plus, their SMBs contacts might have limited marketing knowledge.

With this in mind, we’ve created a list of the essential questions to ask SMBs so you can build comprehensive marketing services programs that will deliver.

1. What does your business do?

When you know the scope of the business, the marketing plan can be focused rather than too broad and inefficient, according to Alex Burke of Demand Media. This is a good opportunity to learn about important industry terms that best describe the business, which can be used as keywords in various marketing channels. Plus, if there any legal requirements for advertising and other marketing materials, this is the time to find out.

2. Describe your products or services and the problems they solve.

Talk about the products and their features and benefits with your client. It can also be helpful to discuss the size of the market for each product and the client’s current market share, says Ian Linton of Demand Media. And just because you have a client in an established category doesn’t mean you automatically know what they want to sell and what is profitable for them (e.g., a cosmetic surgeon may be more interested in selling non-surgical procedures like Botox because they are more profitable). You should also ask about the biggest benefits products provide.

3. Who are your customers and what are their most pressing issues and concerns?

It is impossible to build a campaign to reach everyone. That’s why the best marketing plans are built on a clear understanding of ideal buyer profile, whether that means focusing on an industry segment like real estate agents or demographics such as young, single career women in urban areas. Another consideration is the most important decision makers. There are the actual buyers and the influencers. Food products tend to focus on women in their mid-30s as the main decision makers, but a happy family is featured as the end result of buying the products, notes Entrepreneur Magazine.

4. How long is the sales cycle?

Different marketing approaches support different buying timeframes. Fast food relies on quick sale volume and aggressive techniques, but selling financial services is a gradual process of establishing reputation and building trust over time. This affects the media and the tactics used.

5. What are the buying triggers?

For some companies, purchases are seasonal (e.g., accountants and software during income tax season) or they could be everyday occurrences like groceries. The circumstances influence what consumers want in solutions. In other words, you have to consider if fast and cheap are the major concern or if the audience wants quality that will last. Entrepreneur Magazine indicates that, by identifying the circumstances and key buying criteria, you get a list of traits to emphasize in marketing materials.

6. What are the geographic targets for your business?

You want to help the client focus efforts where they can do the most good, rather than casting a wide net. Take the time to delve into the locations where the client is selling now and where can they ship. Find out if they are focused on expansion and if they can handle a high response rate (if not, you might want to recommend a phased campaign).

7. Who are your competitors and what makes your company different?

Knowing the competitors enables designers to research how, when and where they advertise, in addition to structuring the client’s plan to better capture the target audience. Discuss how strong your client’s competitive advantage is and how the products compare with those of competitors. If the client has proof that his or her business is better (e.g., testimonials, case studies, etc.), it can be incorporated into materials to strengthen them and build credibility.

8. What is your pricing strategy?

Messaging, images and tactics will change based on the pricing strategy. A high-end, expensive brand will focus more on image compared to the low-priced leader, who will sell based on cost and need to drive volume. See the comparison between these two ads for Neiman-Marcus and Dollar General.

9. What factors affect your industry?

There are seasonal peaks and valleys, along with holidays, that can affect marketing programs and the placement of ads. Mother’s Day promotions are in full swing right now and the ads for florists and spas, candy companies and restaurants are common. It’s also a high-visibility time for home improvement companies because of the spring planting season. For some businesses, offering incentives might be important when sales volumes are typically low.

10. What do you want to accomplish?

What are the marketing objectives of the client? You need to understand what he or she is trying to achieve, whether that is market leadership or entering a new market where the company is unknown, suggests Ian Linton. The client may want to launch a new product or increase sales of existing products to new customers. Wherever possible, it is helpful to quantify so that proof of return on investment becomes easier. Targeting 1,000 website visitors per day or getting 10,000 sign-ups to a newsletter is easier to measure than “brand recognition” and helps you ensure the plan is relevant and focused.

11. How do you market today?

Learn about what has and has not worked for the client. You can also gauge where there are gaps in the marketing approach and create a plan to fill them with the services you offer. Be sure to inquire about printed marketing collateral, print ads, direct mail, websites, online ads, emails and e-newsletters, deals of the day and social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, etc.

12. What is the budget and time frame for the marketing program?

It’s not the easiest question to ask but you have to know how much the client is willing to spend. Furthermore, the combination of the goals and the budget tells you whether the expectations are realistic (Allan Pollett). You can also provide guidance on what additional tactics fit into the budget or what would have to be spent to leverage other approaches.

If you serve SMBs with marketing services, what other questions do you ask your contacts? Which of these do you believe are the most critical to achieving success for clients? Do you have another means for gathering this kind of information?

Filed under advertising, marketing communications, SMB marketing Tagged with advertising, marketing services, newspapers, SMB marketing

Tips to Market Your Events Online

April 23, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha 5 Comments

Events and conferences are one of the best marketing and networking tools for companies operating in the B2B segment because they can help companies find potential new customers and build relationships with existing ones. With online marketing, we can share information more quickly and have deeper conversations with customers. As a result, we get increased awareness and, ultimately, more sales inquiries before, during and after the events.

Here are seven steps to promote your events and transform them into “mega events!”

1. Create listings on the events page of your website:

Dedicated events pages help you share information about all upcoming events and highlights of the previous ones with your website visitors. Key things to share on this page include event overviews, brief bios of speakers/attendees, and locations and registration details. On the Boeing company website, the page has an added feature that lets you add an event to your calendar with the click of a button and set a reminder.

2. Use calls-to-action on all high traffic pages of your website:

When planning events, it is important to use every channel of communication possible to promote them. Share the details on all pages that get high numbers of visits to direct traffic to your events pages. For example, place banners promoting events on the home page, products/ services pages, contact us page and more. If you have a blog, it’s a good idea to use a promotional banner on the home page. If you have developed an event microsite, including links on your website pages makes it easier for visitors to get more details and register.

3. Publicize the event with listings:

There are many listing websites that can promote your event instantly to a huge network online. While press releases are still used by marketers, dedicated event websites are becoming more prominent on Google. With some you can submit your event information and it will be listed on the site, as well as anywhere else that syndicates content from these sites. The best example of this type of website is Zvents.

Yelp is a review community with a section that lists local events on community calendars. Members can register to attend and submit reviews after events take place. It works well for companies in the B2C space.

4. Send event-related emails to your database:

There are three steps to this activity.

Design:

develop emails to provide glimpses of upcoming events, making them look interesting while communicating their tone and character.

Content:

Write headlines to pique curiosity. Share brief introductions about the speakers along with the agendas and important take-aways. Include the event location and hotel details. It is also a good idea to share pictures from past events, testimonials, discounts for early registrations and contact details.

Custom mailing list:

Carefully build the mailing list to target those who are most likely to attend and benefit from this event.

5. Promote the event in your company blog:

Your blog could be the best place to talk about events because you can cover aspects that don’t work in press releases and other advertising formats. For example, discuss the inspiration for events and include experiences of past attendees. Interview excerpts make the event much more appealing in the eyes of first-timers. Think about a series of posts in which you have an introductory article followed by blog posts by some of the speakers. Cover the location and discuss attractions that can be enjoyed in the city. If you have organized some additional activities at the event or conference hotel like golf, live entertainment or gala dinners, they could also be covered in a post.

6. Use social media to provide updates:

Tweet and create Facebook updates about events. Upload collages of pictures from the previous events on your Facebook page to show the scale, turnout and social gatherings. Tweets could begin a month prior to events and include info about the event, the agenda, testimonials from attendees of past events and notice of early bird discounts. LinkedIn Company Pages and LinkedIn Groups are great vehicles to contact industry associates and peers who may be interested in attending, since networking is high on the agenda of active users. Regular social media updates will help your network build business cases for attending the events. Don’t forget to add links to registration pages.

7. Use mobile apps from planning to follow-up stage:

Attendees now expect instant access to important event information—in the palm of their hands. That’s why marketers are developing mobile apps to share event updates with audiences while they are on the move. The apps have become an essential part of planning and networking for events and can help you do the following:

Build relationships and interact with attendees through real-time messaging
Help attendees plan their schedules, navigate the events, and easily find exhibitors/break-out sessions
Enable attendees to contact product managers to discuss specific queries
Capture leads and grow partnerships

How do you plan and promote your events? How has this changed to incorporate online tactics and social media? How do you think the expectations of potential attendees have changed in the past five years or so?

Filed under advertising, online advertising, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with corporate events, event marketing, events, marketing for events, online marketing

Businesses Betting Big on Engagement through Gaming

April 16, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha Leave a comment

As the gaming industry continues to grow and diversify, there is a great opportunity for businesses to advance their branding in new and innovative ways.

According to some recent statistics researched by Software Entertainment Association:

The average gamer is 30 years old and has been playing for 12 years. Sixty-eight percent of gamers are 18 years of age or older.
Forty-seven percent of all players are women and women over 18 years of age are one of the industry’s fastest growing demographics.
As the video game playing population expands and diversifies, in-game advertisements and advergames are increasing as well. Massive, Inc., a creator of dynamic video game advertisements, estimates the in-game advertising market could grow to $1 billion globally by 2014.

A report by Newzoo indicates that the total number of Americans that play games on their smartphones, tablets or iPod Touches has now surpassed the 100 million mark, a year-over-year increase of 35 percent. In Europe, there has been a growth of 15 percent, for a total of 70 million gamers across seven key territories. Men slightly outnumber women in the U.S. (52 percent), as well as in key European countries (55 percent). Furthermore, the share of in-game spending continues to rise to 90 percent in the U.S. and 79 percent in Europe.

As marketing costs increase, it is becoming ever more important to be judicious about the types of audiences you attract and how you retain them. The more they interact with games, the more opportunities there are for in-game advertising or other engagement methods. Here are some ways companies are using gaming to “click” with their audiences.

Advertising in real-time with games.

From dedicated consoles to mobile devices and browsers, games are a multi-platform stage for brands to get in front of consumers. According to a research done by Forrester,almost 40% of Europeans ages 45 to 54 who are online are playing PC games at least weekly. And across mobile devices, more than 50% of U.S. adults ages 18 to 44 who are online, engage in game playing. Advertisers are tapping into this segment by placing their ads alongside browser-based games to integrate in-game advertising on consoles. Many of today’s in-game ad campaigns use dynamic advertising which, unlike static advertising, can be altered remotely by advertising agencies. Firms can tailor these ads to geographical locations or times of day, allowing more flexibility for time-sensitive campaigns, such as movie or product launches. Because dynamic ads do not have to be hard-coded into the games by programmers, advertisers no longer need to formulate and insert their messages months in advance.

Dynamic advertising also allows companies to track and receive information from players’ consoles about the performance of advertisements. Advertisers can record data, such as time spent looking at the ads, the most-viewed ads and the viewing angles, to determine the most successful ads and provide valuable insights for future campaigns.

Attracting potential customers through “advergaming”.

The term “advergaming” refers to organizations that develop video games to promote products or services. Companies are providing interactive games on their websites in the hope that potential customers will be drawn to the games and spend more time on the sites or simply become more product-aware. In recent years, advergames have proliferated, often becoming the most visited areas of websites and helping to reinforce brands in the minds of potential customers. Users registering to be eligible for prizes help marketers by sharing valuable personal details for their databases. Gamers may also invite their friends to participate, which further promotes brands through word of mouth. Some examples of early adopters of this technique are Taco Bell, Reebok, Coca Cola and Chex Quest.

Using games to motivate customers.

As the generation that grew up with video games enters and assumes leadership positions in the work place, computer and video games increasingly play a role in business operations. Major companies from automobile manufacturers to beverage producers use video games to find and train employees and increase sales among their younger, tech-savvy customers. A gaming environment rewards people for their interest and engagement. Chances to play games and win prizes are much stronger calls to action than simple invitations to click through to websites because the incentives are greater. According to a Gameasure/Interpret study, consumers actively engaged in contests and games online are 22 percent more likely than the general population to seek information about new products and 36 percent more likely to switch brands.

Improving employee satisfaction and productivity.

Combining work and play might sound counterintuitive, but companies that do so have noticed measurable results. Samsung, for instance, mixed frivolity with serious business initiatives when it created the social loyalty program Samsung Nation through the behavior platform Badgeville. The purpose? To grow its user-generated content and traffic on its global website. Fueling competition, the game lets users level up, unlock badges and gain subsequent rewards and recognition. Samsung, in return, saw 66 percent more users submitting 447 percent more product answers on its global website.

Companies could use rewards and competition commonly found in the gaming world to make tasks such as management training, data entry and brainstorming seem less like work. You might let your team members receive points or badges for completing jobs or meeting deadlines for assignments. You could also use leaderboards to let team players view each other’s scores, to encourage friendly competition and to motivate performance.

Providing excellent learning environments.

In addition to being great ways to keep students engaged, researchers have found that video games have real potential as next-generation learning tools. Games use new technologies to incorporate principles crucial to human cognitive learning. As Dr. Jeffrey Taekman, the director of Duke University’s Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center noted, “serious games and virtual environments are the future of education.” Many companies have realized this potential and are using it to continuously challenge and develop their employees. Global consulting firm Deloitte employs digital games for its Deloitte Leadership Academy, an executive education program it uses to train clients and its own consultants. Users receive virtual badges after completing training courses and “unlock” more complex training courses when basic levels are completed.

An IBM report entitled “Virtual Worlds, Real Leaders” comments “Leadership happens quickly and easily in online games, often by otherwise reserved players, who surprise even themselves with their capabilities.” Online games such as World of Warcraft can involve an overriding goal for a team of players. For example, there are a series of raids or missions that make up the journey, each of which requires leadership of player groups of varying sizes. This gives many players the opportunity to “try on” leadership roles. The study asserts that there is no reason to think that the same cannot be done in corporate settings of various sizes, missions and markets.

Given universal broadband communications and ever-faster computers and mobile devices, online gaming could revolutionize the business environment.

Have you used games to make your communication more fun or your marketing more engaging? How do you plan to excite your customers and colleagues by gamifying your interaction?

Filed under online advertising, retail marketing, SMB marketing Tagged with gaming, online advertising, online marketing

Weekly Reading–All About Social Media

April 12, 2013 by Kelly Glass Leave a comment

A few days ago, Kriti mentioned to me that I haven’t done a weekly reading post in a while and, since I’m taking a few days off this month (YESSSS!), I thought this would be a great opportunity to clear off some of the virtual piles of articles and research that I have been collecting. In the past several days, I’ve seen quite a few posts and articles that guide companies to on social media. I hope these tips help you advance your brand.

Brands Favor Social Shares Over Likes

Marketers have been asking consumers to Like their brands on Facebook for a long time. But Likes are the “digital grunts” of Facebook and the absolute minimum commitment you can request from a Facebook fan, according to an article in Adweek published on Monday. As Scott Monty, social media director at Force noted, “Likes, comments, shares—it goes in that order of importance.”

Facebook’s News Feed algorithm gives up to 1,300% more weight to shares than likes, affecting the viral performance of a promotion. An Eventbrite study found that Facebook shares are worth $4.15 each when it comes to event ticket sales, whereas retweets are worth $1.85 and LindkedIn shares are worth $.92.

Some are calling “shares” the new “retweets” because they indicate that people endorse your content to their networks and are willing to link their names to it. Ultimately, shares generate real engagement.

Make Facebook Marketing More Mobile-Friendly

About 680 million Facebook users access the channel from mobile devices, so it is important to make your marketing mobile-friendly. Here are five things to try to improve your results:

Target sponsored stories to mobile users. You can pay for a Sponsored Story targeted to mobile users when you have an important update and it will show up in your fans’ news feeds and networks on their mobile devices.
Make sure your email is mobile-friendly. MailChimp reports that 40% of Americans who use mobile devices read email on them. Therefore, it is important to ensure your promotions can easily be viewed on mobile devices. Econsultancy discovered that people close emails immediately when they are not optimized for mobile. You should also keep subject lines short, use direct calls to action and consider special offers for mobile users only.
Integrate mobile with your other efforts. Promote your Facebook page in stores with signage that feature QR codes, offer whisper codes on Facebook and provide incentives to check in at stores.
Make sure your Facebook apps have mobile capability. Some apps for Facebook won’t work on mobile unless the developer uses “smart” URLs that detect whether the user is on a mobile device or desktop.
Test everything. You want to confirm on multiple devices that your images load quickly, your links work and your message appear correctly.

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Filed under SMB marketing, social media Tagged with SMB marketing, social media

16 Copywriting Tips to Improve Your Marketing

April 5, 2013 by Kelly Glass 3 Comments

Affinity Express specializes in high volumes of quality marketing designs in fast turn times. That’s why we write often about how to create effective visuals for a wide range of industries, occasions and media. But design is only half the equation and we realize that strong copy is essential to successful marketing materials. But it is never as easy as the best copywriters make it look. Take it from the person at our company who spends hours pulling out her hair while trying to writing everything from press releases and ads, to trade show brochures and sales presentations.

To help SMB marketers keep the hair on their heads, we compiled some general copywriting tips that will improve your advertising and other digital and print marketing materials.

1. Evoke feelings

According to research, mirror neurons in the brain activate when people observe something happening and then transfer some of the feeling to you or your products. This works best when you speak to a feeling that is already there versus forcing one on your viewers.

For example, when advertisers are selling beer, they often try to call up our memories of good times with friends over beer. This is the basis for the Miller Time concept that began in the 1970s and was recently re-launched to target millennial drinkers.

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Filed under advertising, SMB marketing Tagged with advertising, marketing, SMB marketing

2013: The Year of Digital Brands

April 2, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha Leave a comment

Sometimes I ask myself if “Digital” is a type of media or is it a congruence of all media. In the past, we would paint on canvases, shoot and store photos on film and listen to music on records. Now “digital” brings all these capabilities together and merges them to appeal to all senses. It allows you to see videos, read case studies and watch product demos, listen to songs, informative webinars and podcasts as well as touch to explore, interact and share your views across the globe. And as far as the customers are concerned, when they want something, they want it personalized, and they want it right away. Only the online environment can meet these kinds of demands.

Many of us realized the importance and started exploring the full potential of digital. While Standard Media Index (SMI) recorded a rise of 4% in U.S. ad spending during the first two months of 2013 versus the same period in 2012, digital spending (including online display, video, search, social, mobile, email, etc.), accounts for the second-biggest share of media spending, representing more than a fifth (21.7%) of the buys made by the major agencies. As a category, digital media buys expanded 16% during the first two months, led by a 12% increase in premium display, a 6% gain in search and a 23% surge on ad networks.

Marketers are increasingly investing a greater chunk of their marketing budget in digital because it includes better metrics, targeted outreach and the ability to connect with consumers in their comfort zone. But another factor is also working in digital’s favor: savings.

As overall marketing budgets increase by an average of 6%, as researched by Gartner, much of the increase in digital spending will come from marketers reinvesting cost savings. When asked how they were funding their digital marketing programs, 41% answered that they were saving money by replacing traditional tactics with digital tactics and that this savings was funding further investment. Another 28% responded that they decreased traditional marketing budgets to free up funds for digital.

However, an even more intriguing trend is the role brands are playing online by investing in building and nurturing their digital identities to have a much wider reach in the virtual world than the physical world. Here are some important steps being taken:

Creating and sharing great content: Companies are building digital content that becomes the driver of audience engagement and eventually revenue opportunities. Successful online marketers begin by understanding what can capture their target customers’ attention and then weaving in good stories and content that viewers will want to share. Red Bull is one of the brands that used this tactic successfully with their “death defying jump.”

Great content also has a spin-off effect. Successful content marketing experts use COPE: Create Once, Publish Everywhere. While this suggests content should be pushed out on multiple platforms, it also means that content which might not be valuable to one audience in its current form, such as a press release about a senior member joining a company, can be spun into an interesting blog post, which shares the person’s vision, experiences and take on industry trends that many readers may find informative.

Using social media to extend brand reach: Another big step for brands is going all out and embracing social media to extend their reach. This is a wonderful vehicle that helps in spreading news, creating awareness and providing an environment for meaningful two-way dialogues with target audiences.

A good example was this year’s London Fashion Week, which used digital technology and social media to reach out to the growing segment of shoppers. More than 21 shows at the fashion event were broadcast live on the LFW YouTube channel, of which 60% were live-streamed to the LFW website. Brands, publications and designers used social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share their experiences of fashion week. Participants on Pinterest created a photographic diary of brands and fashion magazines, designers and celebrities; giving the equivalent of “VIP” access to the shows. Twitter trends enabled fashionistas to not only get the opinions of fashion leaders and celebrities, but to also give their own feedback—that is what social media is all about.

Using visuals for more engaging stories: In their digital journey, brands are slowly but surely evolving to build visual montages that feature everything from their daily accomplishments to major victories. They are using image-driven networks such as Pinterest and Instagram and making compelling visual updates to customer-centric platforms such as Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn. It is a great opportunity for brands to go beyond traditional “push” marketing tactics and to create videos that address multiple audiences and a variety of consumer needs. A great example is Best Buy that uses its YouTube channel cleverly by using the logo and corporate color palette perfectly for branding.

Visitors are greeted with six videos to choose from and can easily scroll through a variety of video content with a blue slider beneath the featured videos. The channel also shares links to the Best Buy website and social media profiles and highlights their Daily Deals.

It is no wonder why marketers are scrambling to get their brands on a media that offers a vast array of sensory experiences. As business leaders want each dollar spent on marketing to be linked back to sales figures, the need for accountability has accelerated the speed of going digital as this medium allows every activity to be measured, in real time, down to a single click.

So, have you gone ahead with marketing and positioning your organization on digital platforms? How have these efforts affected your brand reach? Share the ups and downs of your digital journey with us.

Filed under interactive, online advertising, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with digital, digital marketing, internet marketing, online marketing, retail marketing, SMB marketing

Easter Campaigns that Deliver

March 29, 2013 by Kelly Glass Leave a comment

Every year, when I first hear the clucking of that bunny that brings Cadbury chocolate eggs, I have to smile. Typically, I can restrain myself from racing out to buy a half dozen or so, but I still really like the campaign. As we head into the holiday weekend, I got to thinking: what are the secrets to ads like this that stand the test of time and actually make consumers look forward to seeing them? Our team went through quite a few past and present Easter ads to give you some tips to help you develop strong holiday campaigns for your business.

By the way, beyond candy, the biggest categories of advertisers for Easter are retailers, especially grocery and supermarkets, travel companies, eCommerce sites and movies.

1. Use traditional symbols

Most Easter marketing features pastel colors, dyed eggs, the Easter bunny or, possibly, religious themes. These are all well-recognized symbols of Easter, which give you instant recognition for your promotions. The trick is to pull them off without looking just like everyone else. One way to do this might be to go bright and bold with the eggs or feature your logo in pastels so that your campaigns are distinctly different but equally effective.

For example, you might not think of going to the zoo on during the Easter holiday but Kolner Zoo created a campaign featuring eggs painted with pictures of their unexpected animal contents. It’s eye-catching, clever and attractive.

This imagery in this Pernod Ricard ad is extremely simple but it uses an Easter symbol in red and black rather than pastel.

2. Adapt your characters to embrace themes

On the flip side, you can take the character or mascots you use regularly and have them celebrate the holiday. M&Ms get dressed up in a bunny costume to spread some joy in this ad. The company takes it a step further with a mobile ad campaign that encourages viewers to access recipes that incorporate M&Ms.

3. Tie in unexpected products and services

It’s no surprise that M&M’s jump onto the Easter bandwagon since it is the second most important candy-eating occasion of the year for Americans (we consumed 7 billion pounds of candy in 2011) and M&M-Mars started offering pastel colors in the early 1980s. But you don’t necessarily associate Mercedes-Benz with this holiday. Nevertheless, the company used direct mail to send camouflage-decorated eggs to soldiers who test drove the latest G-Class model, which was very innovative and publicized the good things the auto manufacturer is doing.

4. Find unusual, holiday-related applications for products

Has the local store run out of those kits for dying eggs? No problem. Pick up some Kool-Aid. It never would have occurred to me that you could use the drink mix to color eggs but this is how the company drives up sales at a time of year when the product is not top-of-mind.

5. Be funny

One of the best ways to build positive associations with your brand is to make people laugh. We can all relate to this “chicken” who is exhausted by his work and needs a real holiday.

How about this Schick razor ad that has no copy other than a simple “Happy Easter”? Classic.

6. Talk about renewal

Easter is often considered a celebration of renewal and new beginnings, allowing a wide variety of products and services to develop marketing campaigns when the winter chill is transitioning to summer heat. Using this theme opens up possibilities for a wider variety of advertisers, such as spas, beauty products, diet and fitness categories, home and garden stores and more.

What other advice do you have for marketers looking to connect with consumers and stand out on Easter? How do you feel about the Cadbury bunny and are there any other Easter promotions that have stuck with you?

And just in case you were wondering, I’m in the “ears-first” camp!

Interesting Easter Candy Facts

Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year. According to 76% of Americans, they should be eaten ears first, but 5% said feet first and 4% said tail first.
In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today, it takes six minutes. Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue and white.
If all the Easter jellybeans were lined up end-to-end, they would circle the globe nearly three times. For kids aged six to 11, 70% say they prefer to eat jellybeans one at a time, while 23% report eating several at once. Boys were more apt to eat a handful than girls.
Candy is a relatively recent Easter tradition. Chocolate eggs, the most popular Easter candy, were first made in Europe in the early 1800s.
Pretzels were originally associated with Easter. The twists of a pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossed in prayer.

Filed under advertising, online advertising, SMB marketing Tagged with advertising, online advertising, SMB marketing

Selling Marketing Services to Small Businesses

March 22, 2013 by Kelly Glass 1 Comment

Targeting small business is big business for many industries. That’s because there are 23 million small businesses in the U.S. and they account for 54% of all U.S. sales. Plus, they provide 55% of all jobs and occupy 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20-34 billion square feet (Source: US Small Business Administration).

Small businesses also do a lot of marketing. A survey by Borrell Associates revealed that SMBs have a median spend target of $8,000 per year for marketing, with 34% to be spent on marketing services and 19% to be spent on online/digital. This means there is a target opportunity of $4,240 per SMB per year for marketing services providers.

When asked about the services they would like to buy, small businesses answered: website design and hosting 32%, social networking support 29%, lead generation 20%, email solutions support 18%, graphic design services 18% and video production 11%, among others (Borrell and Associates, 2013).

For newspaper publishers, creating an in-house digital ad agency to serve these local companies is perhaps the most promising new trend in the industry today, according to the Local Media Association (The Local Digital Ad Agency, 12/22/11). Early adopters are having success because they are diversifying their revenue streams and growing the digital side of their businesses.

There are also numerous companies in a range of industries—Deluxe, American Express, Staples and many more—that are trying to build on existing advertising or other offerings to create broader packages of services and leverage their sales teams to reach local small businesses with marketing products and services.

So we decided to build this infographic to give you more detail on small businesses and what you need to know about their marketing in 2013.

As the Local Media Association notes, the revenue potential of providing digital and print marketing to small businesses outweighs some of the other emerging opportunities such as mobile right now. For that reason, the organization recommended every local media company consider the addition of digital agency services.

Now that you’ve seen this infographic, what do you think of the small business opportunity? Are you offering advertising and marketing services to local business? If so, in which categories are you experiencing the most success?

Filed under newspapers, SMB marketing Tagged with advertising, marketing, newspapers, online advertising, print advertising, SMB marketing

Mobile Marketing Adoption by SMBs

March 19, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha 1 Comment

As the world around us goes mobile, businesses face a new challenge of adopting this channel to reach and interact with their target audience. While SMBs have a hard time grasping the hows and whys with their limited means and resources, many believe this could be a blessing in disguise for them.

xAd and Telmetrics recently released a Mobile Path-To-Purchase study, conducted by Nielsen, which explored the growing importance of local mobile search. The study determined the top 3 reasons that consumers have for engaging with local mobile ads:

Locally relevant: the ad is for a business that is nearby and easy to access
Local offers coupons/promotions: presented with multiple business options, the ad presents a deal that the consumer can’t get with the others
Features a known brand: like any type of advertising, consumers are often drawn to businesses they know and trust

According to a report from Borrell Associates, “2013 Local Advertising Outlook: Get Ready for the Rebound,”U.S. local digital advertising will reach $24.5 billion in 2013, to take a 25% share of total local ad budgets.

Of those who have used mobile advertising, a solid 83% said they were at least somewhat likely to use it again in 2013.

Broken out from online spending, 25% of SMBs planned to increase mobile budgets this year.

A continuous wave of new statistics are illustrating that consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices for local information. This was also confirmed by Google in one of its announcements that as much as 50 percent of mobile search via its platforms is for local information.

Mobile is where today’s consumers already are, but local businesses are not. So, what do the local businesses need to do to integrate mobile in their marketing communication strategies? I took inputs from my colleague Adam Burnham, vice president of interactive services, to understand the path forward for mobile.

Which mobile ad features produce the best responses for advertisers today?

Just like most advertising, clean and simple campaigns with clear calls to action will produce the best results. And mobile allows great levels of targeting to get messages to the right audiences.

Which mobile marketing tactics have the highest adoption rates among the advertisers?

There are three products within the mobile platform where I see the best tactical adoption and execution. Those are mobile banner display, mobile banner interstitials and mobile sites. All three work well together and complement a diverse media buy.

Marketers have been targeting local buyers for years with publishing news about deals and store openings and expansions in local newspapers. The next step is mobile banner advertising that provides targeted reach and interactive messages tailored to suit individual tastes and preferences. Just make sure to design ads that clearly state the offers, give clear directions for interested buyers and have decent analytics installed to analyze campaign reports to help you get instant feedback and act quickly.

Which business sectors are using mobile marketing effectively? Which types of businesses can benefit the most from mobile marketing?

This is what is so great with mobile. Many think you need to be in a specific business or serve a certain type of customer for mobile advertising to be effective. The reality is that it will work for pretty much anyone. You should absolutely make sure you have a mobile-optimized site where you are driving traffic through mobile search and mobile display options. The mobile platform is growing faster than anything we’ve seen before, which means more people will access it.

How does mobile marketing help publishers target the local SMB advertisers?

Local publishers have a leg up just as they do on the web, as they are delivering a content-rich experience for their audiences. People are already visiting their mobile sites to access the content they want, when they want it. That gives them immediate leverage and opportunity to serve the local marketplace through display advertising options. They can then build from there to offer additional mobile products including landing pages, mobile sites and search.

How can publishers integrate mobile into their multimedia services offering?

Leveraging the mobile platform as part of complete offerings is very necessary. Publishers have to look beyond strictly web-based sales opportunities. And they have to accept that their audiences will be migrating to mobile devices. You can’t fight that. Publishers need to embrace it and build the right offerings to serve the needs of their advertisers. Mobile aligns very well with print, web and social.

Though many studies show people on the go engage with mobile ads and convert into customers at high rates, many local business owners still have skepticism about mobile as the latest “next big thing.” So I tried to understand from our technical expert, Ray Sheerer, about some key tips that SMBs could use before going live with mobile marketing.

What should an advertiser keep in mind before starting to use mobile advertising?

Before the mobile campaign begins, geographic location is usually considered the most important piece of targeting criteria for a small- to medium-sized business. Next, the advertiser needs to choose an ad serving platform either through a publisher or on their own. The ad serving platform delivers these mobile ads to mobile websites, microsites and apps that are part of the ad network. The ad networks extend the reach of the mobile ads and allow the SMB to specially geo-target the ad delivery. The advertiser should also request reports that display daily metrics about impressions, clicks and conversion rates. These reports are essential to measure the performance of the mobile advertising.

Does the call-to-action of a mobile ad need to be different from an online ad?

The call to action of a mobile ad needs to be more clear and concise due to the smaller ad size and reduced space for text and graphics. More important than the mobile ad is the mobile landing page that corresponds with the overall campaign promotion/message. A clear call to action with a click-to-call or a simple lead generation form could highly increase the ad ROI.

Mobile ads can use some innovative ideas to improve engagement. One example is to run click-to-call campaign that initiates the mobile phone’s call function after the user clicks on the banner ad. There is also a click-to-SMS functionality that can be combined with a number of techniques, including the ability to SMS back to the user a mobile web link. These actions reduce the time to reach the seller and share your query. Click-to-download is another mobile-specific choice that is popular for app download campaigns. This call to action takes the user directly to the app store where they can download the advertised app onto their mobile device. Another example of a mobile call to action would be the use of QR codes.

Which mobile features are being utilized by marketers most effectively today?

SMS opt-in is becoming one of the most effective mobile marketing tools. The messages are delivered to the consumer because they requested them and are typically not viewed as being annoying and unsolicited. QR codes are also being utilized to drive traffic to mobile websites and mobile landing pages. The consumer scans the QR code and is automatically directed to a URL without having to type. The use of call to action buttons for calling, SMS, mapping and emailing is also effective because these are one touch functions to allow the consumer to contact or find the advertiser.

As the main purpose of adopting any technology is to better achieve your organization goals, mobile fulfills those criteria by reaching out to your customers in their comfort zone and initiating interactions that have high chances of resulting into business transactions.

How do you foresee integrating your advertising efforts with mobile technology?

Filed under interactive, mobile marketing, SMB marketing Tagged with business advertisers, design mobile ads, mobile ads, mobile advertise, mobile advertisements, mobile advertising, mobile coupons, mobile marketing, Mobile Marketing Adoption, mobile search

Another Year of St. Patrick’s Day Ads

March 15, 2013 by Kelly Glass Leave a comment

No, I do not wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, I do not drink green beer and I can’t stand boiled corned beef and cabbage. My mother thinks this is a betrayal of my heritage, but I wear my Irish all year long thanks to my name. And I do notice St. Patrick’s Day advertising, so I wanted to share some examples and tips that may get you in the mood to “go green!”

Products. When it comes to advertising, it seems like a limited array of products and services tie in with the holiday. Beers and liquors are at the top of the list thanks to Guinness, Bass Ale, Yuengling and Jameson Whiskey. Bars and parties are also big. I thought it was very creative for Taxi Share Chicago to tie in, since they are a solution for all those who indulge too much. And there are a small number of food companies and restaurants that also promote special products,” such as McDonald’s with their shamrock shake.

In this ad for St. Patrick’s Day treats, the cookies and cupcakes blend together with the background in a riot of shamrocks—very festive! By the way, shamrocks have three leaves but clovers can have five to seven leaves (unless you get the odd four-leaf clover). The correct symbol for St. Patrick’s Day is a shamrock because the saint used it to explain the Holy Trinity.

Colors. We all know that green is the dominant color of the day but it is often complemented by orange. You can see that approach represented in the ad below for a store selling flooring. The orange really makes the categories of products stand out, which is important when there are no product images featured.

In contrast, Guinness invites you to “paint the town black” because of their logo and in honor of the holiday, which they extend to an entire weekend. Great idea because that triples their opportunity to sell beer!

Images. Again, no surprises here but shamrocks are all over everything that has to do with St. Patrick’s Day. But there are also leprechauns, horse shoes and pots of gold. Since many of the advertisers fall into the party, bar or alcohol categories, we also find quite a few voluptuous red-haired women!

All the standards are included in this ad for Saylor’s Market and the designer even threw in a rainbow for a splash of color that breaks up all the green.

Fonts. Typefaces are often used to evoke the look and feel of the days of St. Patrick and tend to be Uncial, Insular Script, Carolingian, Blackletter, Gaelic and Celtic fonts. Although these are not necessarily the actual typefaces used during that period of time. You can see samples of these fonts here.

This is an attractive ad from a florist. I wouldn’t have thought about flowers for St. Patrick’s Day but I might order some now that I have seen this. The ad uses a variety of different greens effectively and the font for the headline resembles Blackletter.

Nostalgia. If you have a story to tell about the history of your company or products, or you just want to make people yearn for simpler/better times, then you play on nostalgia. Jameson’s uses the foundation of its long history in Ireland to poke fun and suggest that the whiskey must be saved at all costs.

In contrast to these rules of thumb, we have this year’s ad for Party City. Now I realize that there aren’t many upbeat dance songs that come to mind when you think of St. Patrick’s Day but it boggles my mind why the company would opt for Mambo #5 for their ad this year. However, by going against the grain, they have gotten quite of bit of attention and it is almost impossible to get the song out of your head.

If you want more traditional design advice for your St. Patrick’s Day marketing campaigns, PrintRunner Blog offers some tips and examples of St. Patrick’s Day ads that you might find helpful.

Focus on your identity and never lose sight of it. Yuengling identified itself with a city that has a storied history of its own, which allowed the company to maintain its brand.

Be viral. The more engaging your ads more, especially in the age where social media has become a viable medium to market your business, the more chances people would want to join your festivities. Guinness does a great job with this ad: featuring a sheep dog.
Acknowledge your history. People seem to put a lot of trust of brands that have stood the test of time.
Be sensitive with the color scheme of your ad design. Green is the color of choice because of its association with the Irish celebration.
Keep the design appropriate. Style your ads according to the kind of event you’re holding.
Tie in with the holiday. Get extra visibility for your existing marketing campaigns by inserting images or linking in upcoming events.

For those of you who didn’t grow up having to eat soda bread when you preferred brownies, here are the top ten facts about St. Patrick.

Have you tied in with the St. Patrick’s Day holiday for your advertising? If so, what has helped you to stand out and what would you suggest for other companies looking to set themselves apart?

Filed under advertising, online advertising, print advertising, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with advertising, online advertising, print advertising, SMB marketing, social media

Technologies and Trends to Rock the Future of Mobile Marketing

March 12, 2013 by Kriti Adlakha 4 Comments

Is your mobile phone becoming your new email inbox? Are the lines between between static e-mails, real-time tweets and instant brand messages going to blur further in future? Kevin McNulty, President and CEO of NetWeave Social Networking says, “There’s no doubt that the proliferation of smartphones and tablets will continue in the future, making the mobile experience more important. For some, their mobile device has largely replaced their laptop or desktop for browsing experiences. If you as a business are not addressing this trend, you risk being left behind completely as web marketing goes mobile.”

How will this impact the retail scene? Deloitte predicts that within three years “mobile influence” will be directly determining 19%, or $689 billion, of U.S. retail sales. So we decided to take a closer look to see which technologies will prove to be game-changers in the near future and how will they impact small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) trying to engage their target customers.

Location-based mobile advertising (LBA): This integrates with location-based services and the technology pinpoints consumers’ whereabouts to provide location-specific advertisements on their mobile devices. LBA is the most personal and direct marketing channel today that allows marketers to reach a specific target audience by creating campaigns aimed at age, gender, income and lifestyle segments. Celtra’s Q3 2012 Rich Media Monitor Report last December found that, in Q3, the average rich media mobile ad engagement rate was 13.7 percent, nearly a one percent increase over Q2. Location-based features have overtaken branding and presentation with an 18.8 percent engagement rate. Matevz Klanjsek, co-promoter and Chief Product Officer of Celtra said, “Gaming, location-based and social media features in the mobile ads engage consumers in a meaningful way, providing an essential and often missing link between typically overcrowded upper and lower funnels.” Mobile location data reveals the behavioral insights of audiences based on actual consumer activity. As a result, store owners or restaurateurs can find out where users shop and eat by using both real-time and historical data. They can use this information to design and share their promotional offers. Such targeted activity translates into real customer results.
Near Field Communication: Another trending mobile technology is known as Near Field Communication (NFC) and is a form of contact-less communication between devices like smartphones or tablets, which allows users to wave their smartphones over NFC compatible devices to send information without needing to touch devices together or go through multiple steps setting up connections. Mobile users can use this technology to integrate credit cards, subway tickets and paper coupons all into one device so they can board trains, pay for groceries, redeem coupons or store loyalty points. They can even exchange contact information with the wave of their smartphones. It helps retailers by tying offline shopping with the online experience and drives people who tap on products in their stores to additional collateral on their websites. This increases loyalty and conversion, as faster transaction times mean less waiting in line and happier customers.
Mobile Visual Search: Mobile phones have evolved into powerful image and video processing devices equipped with high-resolution cameras, color displays and hardware-accelerated graphics. Read more of this post

Filed under interactive, retail marketing, SMB marketing Tagged with Future Marketing technology, Location based mobile advertising, mobile advertising, mobile commerce, mobile coupons, Mobile Marketing Technologies, Mobile Ticketing, mobile tickets, Mobile Visual Search, Near Field Communication, Trends Mobile Marketing

SMBs: What Content Should You Tweet?

February 22, 2013 by Kelly Glass 4 Comments

To thrive in their communities, small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need to build personal connections with their customers and prospects. Twitter is a great way to connect and drive business. It is essentially a free local, regional and internet listing that takes just a few minutes to set up. But once you have an account, the big question is: what should you tweet to produce the right kind of results?

First things first, think about what you want to achieve. Yes, you realize you need to be on Twitter because everyone tells you so, but do you have a defined expectation? For example, do you want to provide support to customers? Do you want to drive traffic to your website? Do you want people to buy something? Do you want your brand to be top-of-mind for whenever decisions are made? Once you have determined this, much of your content strategy will fall into place.

The most likely goal is that you want to sell products and services. However, you should keep in mind is that, instead of overtly trying to promote, on Twitter your initiative should be to help and engage. This will ultimately result in long-term relationships and sales.

You need followers to read your tweets and one of the best ways to acquire and engage them is by posting links to quality content. That means you have to know your audience to share the information that interests them. Relevance is how you become known as an authority and a resource. For example, if you are a fashion expert, you don’t want to retweet something about the latest automotive trends. Furthermore, your news should also be current, not from last week or last month, because someone else has probably already shared it.

Another important consideration is that there is a correlation between the amount of personality a Twitter brand has and the success it achieves. This is one of those forms of communication in which it is beneficial to relax and let some of your personality show. People who use Twitter read and post about a wide range of subjects, not just business concerns. But you should still remain professional.

Lastly, use #hashtags. When you do, your tweet will not only be seen by your followers, it will be included in a larger stream of tweets with that same hashtag, which exposes you to many potential new followers and leads.

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Filed under marketing communications, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with marketing, SMB marketing, social media, tips

10 Tips for Supporting the Sales Team in Today’s Environment

February 15, 2013 by Kelly Glass 1 Comment

The traditional role of marketing is to create awareness of the brand, company and products through various tactics such as advertising, trade shows, public relations, email and others. Marketing is also expected to generate inquiries and leads that sales can turn into prospects and, ultimately, clients.

But the way people buy has changed dramatically, as Todd Ebert details in this eBook, due to the prevalence of information and opinion online and in social media. Very often sales joins the conversation long after prospects have heard about an offering, researched it and solicited advice from others. With this in mind, how can SMB marketers support sales?

The good news is that, despite the changes, the core objectives for marketing remain the same: directing sales to the right opportunities, promoting the organization and offering, and providing tools and information to equip sales to close deals.

Affinity Express recently hired Rick Ashcroft and Brent Hoxsey, two retail industry veterans, to help grow our business in the segment. Working with them over the past couple of months has enabled me to develop the following checklist you can use to cover all the bases with your sales team.

Social Media Buying Cycle, CMS Wire, Rob McCarthy 1-17-12

1. Build a target list

If you don’t tell sales what and who to sell, you can bet they will sell whatever they want. Instead, your first step should be to decide on the segments and accounts you want sales to target. Describe your ideal customer(s) and list the reasons why. How large are these clients in terms of revenue, number of employees or other criteria? Does your company do well at displacing competitors or selling early adopters? What kind of unmet needs should sales look for? You might not be able to build a perfect database but you should take the time to compile as much information as you can. There is no need to buy a prospect list anymore, since you can find names of companies online from various industry sites and publications, as well as on LinkedIn.

Once you have your target list, help sales prioritize based on the most promising opportunities. If you have more than one sales person on your team, assign accounts to ensure thorough coverage and avoid duplication of efforts.

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Filed under marketing communications, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with advertising, marketing, online marketing, SMB marketing, social media, tips

What You Need to Know About Facebook–This Week!

February 8, 2013 by Kelly Glass 2 Comments

Facebook is overwhelmingly the most effective social media marketing channel for small businesses, with respondents saying it is better than Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and all other social networks, based on a Constant Contact Small Business Pulse Survey.

75% of SMBs said Facebook was the most effective social medium for their business
56% of users are more likely to recommend a business of which they are a Facebook fan
51% of Facebook users are more likely to buy after becoming a fan of a business

Despite the results, social media remains a challenge for small business owners, as 59% listed it as a marketing activity on which they need help.

With these points in mind, I wanted to share some of the latest tips, rules, news and features in recent days from the social superpower.

Facebook Wall Post Cheat Sheet for Marketers

What works and does not work when you post on Facebook? Edgerank is the algorithm that determines what appears in News Feeds. What it boils down to is that, the more people engage with your pages, the more they will appear on the site. And it follows that high engagement equals high sales.

The Facebook Wall Post Cheat Sheet created by Linchpin SEO has statistics that will help you post content that will engage your audience. Here are a few highlights.

Photo posts receive interaction rates 39% higher than average.
Posts that contain emoticons have 52% higher interaction rates and 57% higher Like rates, 33% higher comment rates and 33% higher share rates.
Don’t bother with the emoticon because it is so yesterday. However, has a +138% interaction rate!
Posts with 80 characters or less get a 23% higher interaction rate but 75% of posts exceed this length.
The most effective calls to action on Facebook include Like, caption this, share, yes or no and thumbs up. In contrast, take, click, submit, check and shop have much lower interaction rates.
If you want someone to share your post, you just have to ask. When publishers do, the share rate is seven times higher.
Along the same lines, if they are asked to comment, there is a 3.3 times higher comment rate and, if they are asked to like a post the rate is three times higher.
“Winner”, “win” and “giveaway” are keywords that significantly increase interaction.
You’ll get lower interaction rates with posts containing questions but will get a 92% higher comment rate.
Be sure to put your questions at the end because these posts have two times higher interaction than those with questions in the middle.

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Filed under advertising, interactive, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with advertising, online marketing, SMB marketing, social media, tips

Multi-Channel Retailing Today and Tomorrow

February 1, 2013 by Kelly Glass Leave a comment

When I attended the National Retail Federation conference a couple of weeks ago, there was a session on “Exhibitor Big Ideas” dedicated to what global consumers say they really want in a multi-channel world, based on a 2012 study by NCR. The research was very enlightening about the current state of retail and the preferences of today’s consumers.

The study mapped what consumers look for and like with against retailers are actually offering and there is a lot of room for retailers to improve. In fact, retail will change more in the next five years than it has in the past 20 years.

1. Personalization and target marketing

When it comes to personalized coupon offers:

69% of consumers worldwide would welcome them.
73% of shoppers said the availability of electronic coupons is a must-have for them.
27% of grocery retail locations provide personalized offers.
46% of favorite grocery retailers offer electronic coupons (“favorites” were a specific sub-set of retailers cited by respondents)
Overall, 35% of U.S. retailers offer them but 80% of American consumers want them.

2. Buy anywhere, get anywhere

Shoppers expect a connected or converged experience. They want to feel like they are dealing with the same business in-store, online, in mobile apps, etc. Brick and mortar stores must embrace that consumers are using technology. For many, the internet has become the shopping channel of choice. Retail has gone from a B2C to a C2B experience.

For each company, all of the pricing strategies, policies and procedures have to look and work the same. The best way to accomplish this is to put the right platforms in to manage the entire ecosystem versus managing all of them individually.

78% of shoppers in North America want to purchase anywhere and get merchandise shipped or picked up anywhere.
82% of favorite retailers in North America offer the option but 26% did not.

There are some interesting developments happening. Retailers are creating multiple channels for returns. It’s good they are doing this because expensive or lengthy return policies and procedures were reasons for not making purchases for 76% of consumers.

Retailers have to think about getting creative because there are many opportunities to think outside the box. For example, Sears had a drive-through window for returns after the holidays.

3. In-Store Self-Service

Most grocery stores have some self-service options but there is opportunity to incorporate this approach across all retail categories. Even in grocery, many retailers have self-service in the front lanes but not enough help around the store. Consumers want independence and control of their shopping experience.

Nearly 20% of retailers provide in-store self-service
However, 44% of North American consumers desired increased in-store self-service options.

Apple consumers can walk in, buy accessories and walk out without speaking or engaging with store associates.

4. Consumer Mobile

Retailers have to do mobile right and consumers love it when they do. The experience should be clean, fast and positive. Furthermore, it has to be timely. When it works, the adoption rate will be strong and fast. From mobile apps and offers to research and payment—there is no end to the trend.

Regarding mobile scan and pay:

52% of consumers want mobile scan and pay
Only 12% of their favorite grocery stores offer (because it is tough to implement and there are operational considerations).

Retailers who drive this feature early may actually get consumers to switch their loyalties. Even if retailers decide they want to hang back and join this trend late, they should start soon in the next one to three years because consumers will demand this feature.

Mobile can be a win-win.

Consumers are using technology for faster checkout and personalized offers. They also use it to monitor spending.
Retailers get valuable insight into purchasing behavior, store utilization/traffic patterns and can influence shoppers at the point of decisions with targeted offers. On top of that, scan and pay is a huge opportunity.

Stepping back to look at the big picture, time is the biggest problem retailers can solve for consumers. And they are getting more impatient. They digest technology really quickly. So if “Big Brother” is smart, he will be successful.

Ultimately, retailers have to remember that the consumer is in charge. Purchasing used to be a straight line of activity. Now there are lines all over the place in the C2B experience. The best advice for retailers is to think of all the points of contact, look at their technology architecture and centralize to deliver what consumers want, as well as how and where they want.

What makes certain retailers “favorites” for you and what multi-channel options do you value most?

Filed under advertising, interactive, marketing communications, retail marketing, SMB marketing, social media Tagged with advertising, customer engagement, online marketing, retail, retail marketing, SMB marketing, social media

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1. The first step is to create a Google+ profile for your business:

Marketing to Target Multi-Screen Consumers

Content Grazing

Investigative Spider-Webbing

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Be available on multiple technology formats

Encourage simultaneous media consumption

Go beyond using your primary media platform

The SMB Marketing Opportunity for Mother’s Day

Proven Marketing Practices to Nurture Leads

Seek permission to connect with prospects:

Keep the discussions informative and interesting:

Plan content by establishing important ideas:

Watch for signs of progress through the buying cycle:

Helping SMBs Market: the 12 Questions You Should Ask

Businesses Betting Big on Engagement through Gaming

Advertising in real-time with games.

Attracting potential customers through “advergaming”.

Using games to motivate customers.

Improving employee satisfaction and productivity.

Providing excellent learning environments.

16 Copywriting Tips to Improve Your Marketing

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Be available on multiple technology formats

Encourage simultaneous media consumption

Go beyond using your primary media platform

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Seek permission to connect with prospects:

Keep the discussions informative and interesting:

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7. Use mobile apps from planning to follow-up stage:

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Advertising in real-time with games.

Attracting potential customers through “advergaming”.

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Improving employee satisfaction and productivity.

Providing excellent learning environments.

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