I’m turning over this blog post to one of my most respected
colleagues: Denise Williams. Recently Denise had the opportunity to
share her marketing expertise with students who were working on a
marketing strategy for a non-profit start-up in Ghana. This is her
story…
--------------------
It’s one of those things that we don’t learn in school. We don’t quite
“get it” until we’ve experienced the words of a mentor; The presence of a
community that welcomed us; the feel of arms around our shoulder to
support and encourage us. One day it clicks that it’s the right thing to
do – to give back to the business community that so graciously helped
me, taught me, disciplined and directed me.
Recently, I felt honored to be invited to participate as a panelist at
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s Global Consulting
Practicum.
Each year, a group of very bright students are assigned to work with a
non-profit or for-profit enterprise (usually in the developing world).
The students work throughout the academic year to help that
organization address a critical strategic challenge.
Last week I joined students who are consulting with a private boarding
school start-up in Ghana that will cater to 7th through 12th graders.
The students are helping the school's founders define their launch
strategy and positioning in the marketplace so that they can attract
students, faculty and funding.
It’s not so easy to launch a school like this in Ghana — in fact there’s
not really anything like it in Western Africa. It takes considerable
funding create and develop innovation, and it takes driving momentum and
global connections to attract the kind of faculty that truly make a
difference in the lives of Ghanaians.
To make a difference means that students experience an exemplary
learning environment that nurtures business and community leaders of the
future and subsequently generates economic and social wealth for Ghana
and the West African sub-region. The goal is to keep Ghanaians in Ghana,
thereby enriching the lives of others while becoming leaders in their
own country and not envision coming to America or staying in America,
and leaving Ghana forever.
We listened to the founders share their story, their vision of unifying
their people, building leadership and bringing innovation to their
economy (made up of rich resources like cocoa, gold, and oil). We
shared marketing advice, pitfalls, best practices, and answered their
questions. It was a satisfying exchange on both sides -- after all,
it’s not every day that you get to spend time in a room with
entrepreneurs who want to change the world they live in!
Opportunities to volunteer and give back to the community are
everywhere. Marketing contributions ever so small but so helpful to the
community not only feel right, but allow us to make new friends – new
connections – and you just never know where those connections will take
you.
For a day it put me in a place in which I had no familiarity – no
knowledge of the challenges and viewpoints from a Ghanaian perspective.
And afterwards, it made me appreciate that no matter where we live on
this beautiful planet, there’s always opportunity to give back, just as
the founders of this school are doing.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Email marketing: Is your grade an “A” or an “F”? Do you even know?
If you rely on email as part of your marketing mix, what are you doing to make sure it’s accomplishing its objective?
A recent study by Marketing Sherpa revealed that only third of the 2,700 organizations surveyed, had a method for quantifying the ROI from their email marketing programs. Of those that are in B-to-B, just 34% have a way to measure ROI. You already know that there are plenty of organizations who are more than willing to sell you an email solution (just check your own inbox!). But perhaps the real challenge is determining what to measure and how to measure it without making that kind of investment.
Start by taking a minute to reflect on your own email campaigns and ask yourself three questions:
1. What do I want my target to do after they receive my email?
2. How will I determine if my target did what I wanted?
3. Based on knowing the answers to 1 and 2, what will I do differently in my next email campaign?
The first question may have sounded obvious, but if my personal experience with clients is any gauge, I’ve received multiple answers. The RIGHT answer, however, is “to open the email.” As silly as that sounds, this is the first metric you need to test, measure, refine and test again.
There are literally hundreds of articles written about how to get email opened, so I’ll just cut to the chase.
Getting your email opened depends on 4 things: Your target audience, the “From” line, the “Subject” line and the mood of your recipient. While you can only control 3 out of 4, you can make a difference in open rates just by spending a little more time on carefully managing and testing the first three variables.
Too often I see target audiences lumped together (existing customers with cold prospects with lost customers, for example). And, if you have an unsophisticated email system, you’ll never be able to understand how one group performed against the other – your results will be “an open rate of X%” which is not useful at all. Your email marketing message SHOULD be different to these 3 audiences and your subject line MIGHT be different to each of them, so you should NOT be blasting them as one group anyway. Next is your “From” line. While the name of your company is often important, sometimes it’s not the best (or only) way to peak interest.
If, for example, you’ve created a segmented marketing campaign that uses a spokesperson as your “expert,” the email could come from that individual or a combination of the spokesperson’s name and your brand name. If your brand is a sub-brand of a larger (and better known) brand, you might try leveraging that brand name – especially with cold prospects that may have never had heard of your brand before.
The “Subject” line is probably the most tested variable. After reading dozens of articles and research papers on this topic, and from my own experience, I’ve concluded that Subject lines are best when:
* They are 35 characters (including spaces) or LESS
* They are benefit-focused
* They are structured such that the benefit is part of the first set of characters and not the last
Character length is important because most in-boxes are set to truncate the length of the “Subject” line length. In Outlook, the most popular business software, it’s at 35 characters. And I’m embarrassed to report that some of the worst offenders are publishers of marketing content!
Here’s a recent Subject Line from Marketing Sherpa (I personally love their content, but this 88 character subject line is NOT a best practice…
Reader Favorites: Email marketing ROI, personalized URLs, and powerful marketing messages
In most Outlook in-boxes (set at 35 characters), email recipients would see this:
Reader Favorites: Email marketing RO
Or how about this 66-character Subject Line from LinkedIn? (Aside from the grammatical challenges of this statement):
Top news today: What Recruiters Look at on Your Resume in 6 Seconds
Again, here’s what most folks will see: Top news today:
What Recruiters Loo
There are lots of ways to design your emails for higher readership and more click thru’s, but if you can’t get your email communications opened in the first place, the rest, as they say, is irrelevant. And while we’re on the topic of email measurement, I’d like to challenge the way the “experts” recommend you measure click thru rates.
Most industry pundits suggest the formula is: Clicks/# of emails sent = click thru rate. I’d suggest it should be: Clicks/#of emails opened = click thru rate
After all, you can’t click thru an email if you haven’t opened it. And wouldn’t it make more sense to hear a statistic that says “15% open rate, 65% click thru” instead of “15% open rate, 9.75% click thru”?? Done my way, you instantly comprehend that more than half the people that opened the email clicked through (and that’s a good thing!).
To get to a simplified ROI, you determine your cost of the email (all-in for creative, blasting, etc.) and divide it by the number of people who opened the email. That represents the cost of getting eyeballs on your message. Divide that same cost by the number of people who clicked on a link (don’t include those who clicked to “opt out” or view your privacy statement!), and you have the cost to stimulate interest in your product or service.
If there’s a direct link to a product that your target would most likely buy “on the spot,” then you can take the gross revenue earned, subtract the cost of the campaign, and get to a final Return on Investment.
Even without a final sale, if you can measure open and click thru rates, and understand how to use them as a baseline for improvement, you’ll be joining the ranks of B-to-B marketers who know how to quantify the ROI from their email programs. And that gets an “A” in my book.
A recent study by Marketing Sherpa revealed that only third of the 2,700 organizations surveyed, had a method for quantifying the ROI from their email marketing programs. Of those that are in B-to-B, just 34% have a way to measure ROI. You already know that there are plenty of organizations who are more than willing to sell you an email solution (just check your own inbox!). But perhaps the real challenge is determining what to measure and how to measure it without making that kind of investment.
Start by taking a minute to reflect on your own email campaigns and ask yourself three questions:
1. What do I want my target to do after they receive my email?
2. How will I determine if my target did what I wanted?
3. Based on knowing the answers to 1 and 2, what will I do differently in my next email campaign?
The first question may have sounded obvious, but if my personal experience with clients is any gauge, I’ve received multiple answers. The RIGHT answer, however, is “to open the email.” As silly as that sounds, this is the first metric you need to test, measure, refine and test again.
There are literally hundreds of articles written about how to get email opened, so I’ll just cut to the chase.
Getting your email opened depends on 4 things: Your target audience, the “From” line, the “Subject” line and the mood of your recipient. While you can only control 3 out of 4, you can make a difference in open rates just by spending a little more time on carefully managing and testing the first three variables.
Too often I see target audiences lumped together (existing customers with cold prospects with lost customers, for example). And, if you have an unsophisticated email system, you’ll never be able to understand how one group performed against the other – your results will be “an open rate of X%” which is not useful at all. Your email marketing message SHOULD be different to these 3 audiences and your subject line MIGHT be different to each of them, so you should NOT be blasting them as one group anyway. Next is your “From” line. While the name of your company is often important, sometimes it’s not the best (or only) way to peak interest.
If, for example, you’ve created a segmented marketing campaign that uses a spokesperson as your “expert,” the email could come from that individual or a combination of the spokesperson’s name and your brand name. If your brand is a sub-brand of a larger (and better known) brand, you might try leveraging that brand name – especially with cold prospects that may have never had heard of your brand before.
The “Subject” line is probably the most tested variable. After reading dozens of articles and research papers on this topic, and from my own experience, I’ve concluded that Subject lines are best when:
* They are 35 characters (including spaces) or LESS
* They are benefit-focused
* They are structured such that the benefit is part of the first set of characters and not the last
Character length is important because most in-boxes are set to truncate the length of the “Subject” line length. In Outlook, the most popular business software, it’s at 35 characters. And I’m embarrassed to report that some of the worst offenders are publishers of marketing content!
Here’s a recent Subject Line from Marketing Sherpa (I personally love their content, but this 88 character subject line is NOT a best practice…
Reader Favorites: Email marketing ROI, personalized URLs, and powerful marketing messages
In most Outlook in-boxes (set at 35 characters), email recipients would see this:
Reader Favorites: Email marketing RO
Or how about this 66-character Subject Line from LinkedIn? (Aside from the grammatical challenges of this statement):
Top news today: What Recruiters Look at on Your Resume in 6 Seconds
Again, here’s what most folks will see: Top news today:
What Recruiters Loo
There are lots of ways to design your emails for higher readership and more click thru’s, but if you can’t get your email communications opened in the first place, the rest, as they say, is irrelevant. And while we’re on the topic of email measurement, I’d like to challenge the way the “experts” recommend you measure click thru rates.
Most industry pundits suggest the formula is: Clicks/# of emails sent = click thru rate. I’d suggest it should be: Clicks/#of emails opened = click thru rate
After all, you can’t click thru an email if you haven’t opened it. And wouldn’t it make more sense to hear a statistic that says “15% open rate, 65% click thru” instead of “15% open rate, 9.75% click thru”?? Done my way, you instantly comprehend that more than half the people that opened the email clicked through (and that’s a good thing!).
To get to a simplified ROI, you determine your cost of the email (all-in for creative, blasting, etc.) and divide it by the number of people who opened the email. That represents the cost of getting eyeballs on your message. Divide that same cost by the number of people who clicked on a link (don’t include those who clicked to “opt out” or view your privacy statement!), and you have the cost to stimulate interest in your product or service.
If there’s a direct link to a product that your target would most likely buy “on the spot,” then you can take the gross revenue earned, subtract the cost of the campaign, and get to a final Return on Investment.
Even without a final sale, if you can measure open and click thru rates, and understand how to use them as a baseline for improvement, you’ll be joining the ranks of B-to-B marketers who know how to quantify the ROI from their email programs. And that gets an “A” in my book.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Is there an ECHO in Here?
Industry awards should and can matter. Here’s why…
As a marketing agency, we enter our work into awards shows when we believe that our agency (and our people) deserve outside recognition for our accomplishments. Whether it’s for one particularly creative idea, a brilliant marketing strategy, or the performance of a marketing campaign, we all like it when others acknowledge our brilliance and hand over that coveted trophy.
After we win, we bask in the press coverage, emails from colleagues and friends, and the satisfaction of knowing “We won!” And, let’s not forget bragging rights.
Agencies and clients alike line their bookshelves with hardware, and more than one winner I’ve known has been seen polishing the trophy when they think no one is looking.
As a Creative Director, I get invited to enter our work into lots of industry awards shows — and we do choose to enter many of them. From the Addy Awards (sponsored by the American Advertising Federation) to the Davey Awards (Honoring creative excellence from smaller agencies and companies worldwide), our agency enters 6 or 7 different shows a year. But there’s only one award that we truly covet… and I mean really, really covet.
And that’s the ECHO Award, from the Direct Marketing Association.
The ECHO represents what, in my mind, is what marketing is all about: 30% brilliant strategy, 30% breakthrough creative, 30% superlative results, and 10% of that little thing we call “Mojo.”
The ECHO judging process is rigorous. There are 3 rounds and in each round, a minimum of 3 judges review the entry. At each round of judging, the scores for the entry are tabulated and only those with the highest scores make it through to the next round. After the 3rd round, entries with the highest scores are awarded Gold, then Silver, then Bronze Awards. And then, from among the Gold winners, the ECHO Board of Governors determines the “best of the best” by reviewing and awarding the Diamond ECHO and USPS Gold Mailbox Award.
Since these are International Awards, judging takes place around the globe, and by experienced marketers who have “been there” and “done that” across a host of industries. So when an entry stands out as a winner, you know there’s very something special about it.
I’ve been an ECHO Judge and I can promise that it’s a well thought-out process that leverages the talents of many of the best marketing minds in the industry. I started as a 1st round judge over 15 years ago, and slowly worked my way up the food chain.
I’m proud to say I now serve on the Echo Board of Governors and delight in the meeting where we evaluate all of the about-to-be-awarded Gold winners to determine the Diamond and USPS Gold Mailbox ECHO awards. The debate is lively and I’m always fascinated how entries are evaluated by others during this judging process. I can promise you that no stone is left unturned as entries are dissected and analyzed to identify the “best of the best.”
In October, when ECHO winners are announced at the annual conference of the DMA, I’m always thrilled if our work is part of the winner’s circle. Because I know that means that those long strategic planning sessions, rounds and rounds of creative revisions, and the time-consuming process of setting up and tracking results — all spent to help a client drive their business forward — has now been recognized as exceptional work by our industry and our peers.
The 2012 ECHO Call For Entries is now open. If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll consider submitting your work. The awards show will be held in Las Vegas this year and,as we all know, there’s nothing like leaving Vegas a winner.
As a marketing agency, we enter our work into awards shows when we believe that our agency (and our people) deserve outside recognition for our accomplishments. Whether it’s for one particularly creative idea, a brilliant marketing strategy, or the performance of a marketing campaign, we all like it when others acknowledge our brilliance and hand over that coveted trophy.
After we win, we bask in the press coverage, emails from colleagues and friends, and the satisfaction of knowing “We won!” And, let’s not forget bragging rights.
Agencies and clients alike line their bookshelves with hardware, and more than one winner I’ve known has been seen polishing the trophy when they think no one is looking.
As a Creative Director, I get invited to enter our work into lots of industry awards shows — and we do choose to enter many of them. From the Addy Awards (sponsored by the American Advertising Federation) to the Davey Awards (Honoring creative excellence from smaller agencies and companies worldwide), our agency enters 6 or 7 different shows a year. But there’s only one award that we truly covet… and I mean really, really covet.
And that’s the ECHO Award, from the Direct Marketing Association.
The ECHO represents what, in my mind, is what marketing is all about: 30% brilliant strategy, 30% breakthrough creative, 30% superlative results, and 10% of that little thing we call “Mojo.”
The ECHO judging process is rigorous. There are 3 rounds and in each round, a minimum of 3 judges review the entry. At each round of judging, the scores for the entry are tabulated and only those with the highest scores make it through to the next round. After the 3rd round, entries with the highest scores are awarded Gold, then Silver, then Bronze Awards. And then, from among the Gold winners, the ECHO Board of Governors determines the “best of the best” by reviewing and awarding the Diamond ECHO and USPS Gold Mailbox Award.
Since these are International Awards, judging takes place around the globe, and by experienced marketers who have “been there” and “done that” across a host of industries. So when an entry stands out as a winner, you know there’s very something special about it.
I’ve been an ECHO Judge and I can promise that it’s a well thought-out process that leverages the talents of many of the best marketing minds in the industry. I started as a 1st round judge over 15 years ago, and slowly worked my way up the food chain.
I’m proud to say I now serve on the Echo Board of Governors and delight in the meeting where we evaluate all of the about-to-be-awarded Gold winners to determine the Diamond and USPS Gold Mailbox ECHO awards. The debate is lively and I’m always fascinated how entries are evaluated by others during this judging process. I can promise you that no stone is left unturned as entries are dissected and analyzed to identify the “best of the best.”
In October, when ECHO winners are announced at the annual conference of the DMA, I’m always thrilled if our work is part of the winner’s circle. Because I know that means that those long strategic planning sessions, rounds and rounds of creative revisions, and the time-consuming process of setting up and tracking results — all spent to help a client drive their business forward — has now been recognized as exceptional work by our industry and our peers.
The 2012 ECHO Call For Entries is now open. If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll consider submitting your work. The awards show will be held in Las Vegas this year and,as we all know, there’s nothing like leaving Vegas a winner.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
5 Stupid Reasons to Like Me
The whole concept of social media is lost for many marketers. And today it reached an all-time low.
I got a message through LinkedIn from someone I didn’t know. Some gal named Claudine, who (apparently) belongs to one of my many Discussion Groups. Her message was simple. Simple but stupid.
“We are up-dating our website at the mo [Seriously? Mo? How hip of you.], to be more Social Media friendly and work better on mobiles. We will then be making an app and a game.
Please can you give us a like at:
http://www.facebook.com/treefox.cartoons
http://www.treefoxcartoons.com
We will like you back too next time we are on Facebook
Check out our video on YouTube:Treefox Cartoon Demo Reel 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvNx2pGPusE&feature=youtube_gdata_player”
and also
Salt Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1d5wggJ-0g
Huh?
Let’s start with Stupid #1: I have no idea who you are; I’ve never heard of your company, so why would I “give you a like” on Facebook? Doesn’t that make the “like” button meaningless and therefore defeat the purpose??
Stupid #2: LinkedIn is for my professional networking activities. Facebook is for my personal relationships. It’s pretty presumptuous to think I might like you on Facebook when I don’t even know you on LinkedIn. Heck, we’re not even linked in on LinkedIn!
Stupid #3: I don’t want to be “liked back.” I’ve got lots of friends. Friends “like” my comments and photos all the time. I don’t need you to like me to feel validated.
Stupid #4: I laughed out loud at “We will like you back too next time we are on Facebook.” Sounds like you don’t visit Facebook very regularly…
Stupid #5: See Stupid #1, 2, 3 and 4 above.
If you really want fans on Facebook, why not invite website visitors / purchasers to like you on Facebook? Post something clever to your Facebook page and tweet about it. If it’s truly clever, it will go viral and you’ll have lots of fans, followers and those who “like” you.
As for me, stop asking for my approval. Because the answer to that question -- every time – will be "Sorry, but no."
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Brands Want Content Curator Jobs
It isn’t often that someone writes EXACTLY what I’ve been preaching to B2B clients for years. But today, Josh Sternberg nailed it in his column in Digiday. Hats off to Josh, my guest blogger. I have reprinted his article here, unedited. Thanks Josh!
-------------------
Digital media has emboldened many brands to consider themselves publishers. After all, American Express has credibility on financial matters and Coke has a network 36 million Facebook fans. Who needs publishers to serve as intermediaries?
The problem is publishing is a lot harder than it looks, or rather it’s a lot harder to do it with the consistency, day after day, that’s needed to build a long-term audience. That’s leading some brands to hook onto the idea that their role lies more in the curation of content.
Curation is the vogue digital term for the ability to not only aggregate and distribute carefully selected information, but also to provide a unique voice on top of the original pieces of information. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, it seems like all the world is curators now. Brands want in on the action.
Brands are trying to establish themselves as trusted sources of information. Hop onto Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr, and you’ll see brands that gather up articles from all sorts of publications and push them out to their followers. For example, look at IBM’s Tumblr, A Smarter Planet, which is a stream of curated content focused on areas of Big Blue’s core competencies. Or there’s American Express’ Open Forum Tumblr (yes, Tumblr is apparently a good platform for curation) that has cultivated a business community online by providing relevant tools and information to help business owners succeed.
“If a brand is an expert in a certain topic, their reputation might make them a credible source of information,” said Neil Chase, svp of editing and publishing at Federated Media. “But if a company that makes toasters gives health advice, they might not be credible. If they’re sending out recipes, that’s a reason to trust them.”
There’s little doubt that brands can amass sizable audiences of their own nowadays. Show me a chief marketing officer who isn’t interested in an owned, earned, paid media model — often in that order — and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. It’s been four and a half years since Nike marketing chief Trevor Edwards plaintively said, “We’re not in the business of keeping media companies alive.” Translation: We can build direct connections with audiences, thank you very much.
The devil is in the details. Brands aren’t set up to be publishers. They don’t necessarily understand the editorial process or have the stomach for the length of time it takes to build an audience. Take AmEx’s OpenForum, for instance. It took four years to get 1 million people aboard, and now it gets about 150,000 unique visitors per month. They have the resources to build and cultivate an audience others may not. Additionally, OpenForum was put on the shoulders of the end-user: small-business owners. These business owners are able to communicate and share ideas with one another, but they must be American Express Cardmembers. AmEx recognized the need to provide small-business owners with a connection platform and information that will help their business succeed.
“Not everyone is meant to be a storyteller,” said Colleen Decroucy, CEO of Socialistic, a social media agency. “Brands, as marketers, are trying to have these conversations and what do they have the right to own and see any ROI off of that.”
Publishing content in 2012 can be immensely complex or surprisingly simple, depending on your approach. Curation straddles the line. It can be difficult figuring out not only what tools to use, but also what platforms and, of course, what content to share. The plus side is that once you do figure out how you want to curate — how it becomes part of your broader communications strategy — it’s pretty easy to establish a voice.
Steve Rubel, Edelman’s evp of global strategy and insights, suggests brands start by having an editorial point of view and deciding where the content will live — the brand’s site or aggregation sites like Tumblr or Pinterest.
“The best way to do it is to identify a high-interest topic that you want to be perceived as an expert in,” he said. “Curate that topic and provide some context around it. If you’re curating a lot of content in a topic area, over time that leads to expertise and credibility.”
Brands need to be careful in not only what, but how much they curate. There can’t be articles that make the reader question why a brand is sharing it. Also, brands need to make sure they’re not just regurgitating content, but instead offering readers/followers valuable information, as readers will quickly determine the curated content — and thus the brand — is not worth their time. Since consumers have their own tools for curating – Storify, Storyful, etc. – brands have to know each of their customers and have the credibility in their field to get consumers to trust the content they spread.
“It takes time to build that reputation, whether creator or curator,” said Chase. “It might take faster if you’re good at what you do, but you still have to get it up and running. You’re competing with a lot of other stuff in people’s in-boxes.”
There’s also a limit to what curation can do. At the end of day, if brands want to be publishers, they need to put in the hard work, warns Jonah Bloom, KBS+P’s executive director of content strategy. “It’s more likely that original content changes minds than just being a filter,” he said.
-------------------
Digital media has emboldened many brands to consider themselves publishers. After all, American Express has credibility on financial matters and Coke has a network 36 million Facebook fans. Who needs publishers to serve as intermediaries?
The problem is publishing is a lot harder than it looks, or rather it’s a lot harder to do it with the consistency, day after day, that’s needed to build a long-term audience. That’s leading some brands to hook onto the idea that their role lies more in the curation of content.
Curation is the vogue digital term for the ability to not only aggregate and distribute carefully selected information, but also to provide a unique voice on top of the original pieces of information. In the age of Twitter and Facebook, it seems like all the world is curators now. Brands want in on the action.
Brands are trying to establish themselves as trusted sources of information. Hop onto Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr, and you’ll see brands that gather up articles from all sorts of publications and push them out to their followers. For example, look at IBM’s Tumblr, A Smarter Planet, which is a stream of curated content focused on areas of Big Blue’s core competencies. Or there’s American Express’ Open Forum Tumblr (yes, Tumblr is apparently a good platform for curation) that has cultivated a business community online by providing relevant tools and information to help business owners succeed.
“If a brand is an expert in a certain topic, their reputation might make them a credible source of information,” said Neil Chase, svp of editing and publishing at Federated Media. “But if a company that makes toasters gives health advice, they might not be credible. If they’re sending out recipes, that’s a reason to trust them.”
There’s little doubt that brands can amass sizable audiences of their own nowadays. Show me a chief marketing officer who isn’t interested in an owned, earned, paid media model — often in that order — and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. It’s been four and a half years since Nike marketing chief Trevor Edwards plaintively said, “We’re not in the business of keeping media companies alive.” Translation: We can build direct connections with audiences, thank you very much.
The devil is in the details. Brands aren’t set up to be publishers. They don’t necessarily understand the editorial process or have the stomach for the length of time it takes to build an audience. Take AmEx’s OpenForum, for instance. It took four years to get 1 million people aboard, and now it gets about 150,000 unique visitors per month. They have the resources to build and cultivate an audience others may not. Additionally, OpenForum was put on the shoulders of the end-user: small-business owners. These business owners are able to communicate and share ideas with one another, but they must be American Express Cardmembers. AmEx recognized the need to provide small-business owners with a connection platform and information that will help their business succeed.
“Not everyone is meant to be a storyteller,” said Colleen Decroucy, CEO of Socialistic, a social media agency. “Brands, as marketers, are trying to have these conversations and what do they have the right to own and see any ROI off of that.”
Publishing content in 2012 can be immensely complex or surprisingly simple, depending on your approach. Curation straddles the line. It can be difficult figuring out not only what tools to use, but also what platforms and, of course, what content to share. The plus side is that once you do figure out how you want to curate — how it becomes part of your broader communications strategy — it’s pretty easy to establish a voice.
Steve Rubel, Edelman’s evp of global strategy and insights, suggests brands start by having an editorial point of view and deciding where the content will live — the brand’s site or aggregation sites like Tumblr or Pinterest.
“The best way to do it is to identify a high-interest topic that you want to be perceived as an expert in,” he said. “Curate that topic and provide some context around it. If you’re curating a lot of content in a topic area, over time that leads to expertise and credibility.”
Brands need to be careful in not only what, but how much they curate. There can’t be articles that make the reader question why a brand is sharing it. Also, brands need to make sure they’re not just regurgitating content, but instead offering readers/followers valuable information, as readers will quickly determine the curated content — and thus the brand — is not worth their time. Since consumers have their own tools for curating – Storify, Storyful, etc. – brands have to know each of their customers and have the credibility in their field to get consumers to trust the content they spread.
“It takes time to build that reputation, whether creator or curator,” said Chase. “It might take faster if you’re good at what you do, but you still have to get it up and running. You’re competing with a lot of other stuff in people’s in-boxes.”
There’s also a limit to what curation can do. At the end of day, if brands want to be publishers, they need to put in the hard work, warns Jonah Bloom, KBS+P’s executive director of content strategy. “It’s more likely that original content changes minds than just being a filter,” he said.
Monday, January 23, 2012
How to Leverage The WIFM Factor
For a society that has often shunned discount coupons as something distasteful, it’s somewhat surprising that the popularity of discount companies like Groupon, Living Social or RockBottom has reached such a feverish pitch.
But for those of us who are died-in-the-wool direct marketers, and who understand the power of the greed factor or the “What’s In It For Me?” (WIFM) factor, it makes complete business sense.As any good marketer knows, there’s no point to sending out a 1:1 marketing message without a compelling offer. Offers are the reason you give your target to “act now,” while the rest of the message is crafted to present the most compelling reasons why the product/service is perfect for them.
Offers have often been treated with disdain by many marketers. But I was always taught to lead with your BEST offer — the offer the recipient won’t find anywhere else; An offer that is too good to refuse; And an offer that will compel the target to raise their hand and say “count me in!”
If positioned properly, a superior offer to the right audience will achieve dramatic results (fantastic email open, click through and conversion rates; superior direct mail response rates). No matter how you measure it, a marketing initiative with a superior offer will propel a sales program to a new level of success.
But in my experience, that’s not what companies do when putting together the offer.
Instead, they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to convince their organization that a paltry “10% off” is necessary for their initiative, and everyone is disappointed when the email open rate/direct mail result is dismal.
But now the “put forward your best offer” strategy has been proven to be true once again.Take Groupon, for example. I got caught up in the excitement the first time my local golf course offered a round of golf for 4, 4 pull carts, and 4 tokens for a bucket of practice balls (a $118 value) for only $50. Apparently I wasn’t the only one to smell a deal because it seems over 400 people took advantage of this offer!
Now, let’s do the math together… that means this Groupon deal generated $20,000 of gross revenue. And, since Groupon keeps half, the golf course received $10,000 in revenue… up front… before the buyers even took advantage of the offer. Why is that good news?
It’s called C-A-S-H F-L-O-W. The golf course ran an offer, and got $10,000 in sales just like that. They don’t need to wait for the coupons to be redeemed (in fact, some folks will forget to redeem them).
But more importantly, it proved that a good offer — no, a GREAT offer — works. It drove their target to respond… immediately.
So, the next time you spend marketing dollars to put together an email or direct mail campaign, stop and spend some time on offers. Your goal should be to put together your BEST offer in order to get your BEST result.
And, if that particular golf course hadn’t used Groupon for distribution, they would have received $20,000 in cash instead of $10,000.
But this golf course has never asked me for my email address… or my mailing address, so they don’t seem to have a database. Which means they have no idea who their customers are… and that’s just shameful.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
LinkedIn. Networking... for Dummies.
It seems that plain, old-fashioned, good manners have been tossed out the window along with handwritten notes and real blind dates.
I’m a huge fan of LinkedIn – (in their words: [It’s] the world’s largest professional network that connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.) and there’s nothing better than being able to review a prospective client or employee biography, or participate in a peer-to-peer dialogue on a hot marketing topic in one of my favorite marketing group forums.
But lately I have been getting invitations from complete strangers to “link in” to them. And often, they’re from lands far, far away, where I’d have to use my Nancy-Drew-turned-anthropologist skills to find it on a map.
Why not take the time to write a personal note to me like: “I’m a talented art director with heavy B2B direct marketing experience. After visiting your website and looking at the types of clients you work with, and the types of work that you do, I think I could be another resource for you if you ever have the need for new talent. Would love to connect.”
Clearly, this would help me put the individual into some sort of perspective, understand why they want to link in to me, and help me determine whether or not I might want to make a connection with them. But no. Instead, they default to the standard “Since you are a person I trust, I wanted to invite you to join my network on LinkedIn.”
How can I be a person you trust if you’ve never met me? Done business with me? Been introduced to me?
Before you initiate contact with a complete stranger on LinkedIn, here are a few tips:
- Do your homework. Why do you want to connect with this individual, but, more importantly, why should they want to “accept” and connect with you? Use that information in your “request to link in” message. To learn more about them and their company, visit their website, Google their company name or their individual name. It’s not that hard, but it will help make the connection more relevant.
- Post a RECENT and DECENT photo of yourself. No, not the one with you holding your kids (save that one for Facebook) or your dog (funny, but not appropriate for a business networking site). And don’t take one with the camera on the top of your computer (not very professional). Schedule time with a professional photographer. And, when you crop the photo to place it on the site, don’t show me more than your head and shoulders. Your face gets really, really, tiny when the image on LinkedIn is about ½” high.
- Complete your bio… please. Your bio should be robust and as complete as possible, otherwise, I start to wonder if you’re trying to hide something. Didn’t go to college? That’s nothing to be ashamed of… just that by listing your Elementary School only, it looks like you only went as far as the 5th grade (helpful for those looking to reconnect to their 1st crush, but again, not appropriate for a business networking site).
- Ask for references. 1st class LinkedIn profiles always have a few references included. So why don’t you have any? If no one will endorse you, why would I want to do business with you? And why would I want to “link in” to you?
- Be prepared to be rejected. If your bio is incomplete, or I don’t know you, or you’ve not given me one good reason to get to know you, I’ll reject your invitation. And, if I suspect you are abusing the LinkedIn platform, I’ll report your request as SPAM. So, consider yourself warned.
Friday, January 13, 2012
8 Tips for Maximizing Landing Page Conversions
During my “down” time over the holiday season, I was able to catch up on lots of my white paper and research reading… and have gathered a succinct set of tips for those marketers seeking to optimize landing page conversions. I could spend a lot of time lecturing on landing page strategies, but most people reading this want me to just cut to the chase…
1. Click This… Right Here… Right Now: When you invite someone to do something (in an email or via direct mail or web banner) and you take them to your destination page, keep the information on that page clear, concise, visually clean and with directions so simple your 4-year old would understand. You want your target to sign up for a newsletter? Then ONLY offer that sign up option on your page. You want your target to download something? Then that’s the FOCUS of your page. Don’t clutter it up with navigation bars to the rest of your site (it will only distract the user from the assigned task). Don’t offer other options (after all, they arrived at the site because of one of your clever copy points; don’t muck it up now!). And DO NOT introduce a new offer/option. Distractions will only serve to dilute your desired result. If you want to add those options AFTER they take the desired action, then design a “thank you” page with additional offers/options/navigation tools.
2. Watch Your Language: Every little word offers a subtle nuance that can be misinterpreted and prevent the user from completing the desired task. Words like “Required fields” sounds harsh. How about turning that around and using “Optional” for those fields not required? You’ll be surprised how many people supply you with the optional information anyway.
3. Looks Count: Clean and uncluttered works best; WHITE or lightly colored backgrounds are far preferred over reverse type out of a dark color. If you want to include an image, people like looking at images of people. Smiling people… good looking people. Not a box shot or, a picture of the product – unless it’s being used by smiling, good looking people who are being more productive in their lives as a result.
4. Forget the Small Print: Don’t try and trick your user. Make sure they know exactly what they’re signing up for and reiterate the benefits of doing so. Trickery only makes people angry… and then they opt out at the first opportunity.
5. Don’t Ask if You Don’t Need To Know: If you have no plans to create a direct mail campaign, then why gather a mailing address at first contact? If you’re never going to call me, why ask for my phone number? And really, is my birthdate, marital status, eye color, or shoe size relevant to how you’re going to market to me? If so, then by all means ask away! But if not, why not try dating me first before asking for my vital statistics.
6. Forms Designed by Real Users: When designing forms, make sure users can jump to the next field by clicking on the “tab” key; ask for a phone number with 3 different boxes (the first box is for a 3-digit area code and, once completed with three keystrokes, it should jump the cursor to the next box automatically). I personally HATE having to input a phone number only to be told I didn’t follow the correct format for YOUR site (who had time to read your instructions??).
7. Confirm Our Relationship: Either create a pop up window (“Thanks for registering!”) and/or send me an email confirmation. Otherwise, I’m not sure you ever got my registration form. So I’m not sure if we’re dating… or not. Or if I need to fill out the form again. Confusion is NOT the way I should end our meeting.
8. Keep Those Divorce Papers Handy: Once registered, you have to nurture our relationship. Don’t keep knocking on my door every day (unless I agreed to your daily visits); the first time you email me after I register should be part of the “wow!” factor. Relevant to me and the information I just shared about me. Best offer. Best foot forward. It’s like arriving at my doorstep for our first post-meeting date and forgetting to put on a clean shirt.
1. Click This… Right Here… Right Now: When you invite someone to do something (in an email or via direct mail or web banner) and you take them to your destination page, keep the information on that page clear, concise, visually clean and with directions so simple your 4-year old would understand. You want your target to sign up for a newsletter? Then ONLY offer that sign up option on your page. You want your target to download something? Then that’s the FOCUS of your page. Don’t clutter it up with navigation bars to the rest of your site (it will only distract the user from the assigned task). Don’t offer other options (after all, they arrived at the site because of one of your clever copy points; don’t muck it up now!). And DO NOT introduce a new offer/option. Distractions will only serve to dilute your desired result. If you want to add those options AFTER they take the desired action, then design a “thank you” page with additional offers/options/navigation tools.
2. Watch Your Language: Every little word offers a subtle nuance that can be misinterpreted and prevent the user from completing the desired task. Words like “Required fields” sounds harsh. How about turning that around and using “Optional” for those fields not required? You’ll be surprised how many people supply you with the optional information anyway.
3. Looks Count: Clean and uncluttered works best; WHITE or lightly colored backgrounds are far preferred over reverse type out of a dark color. If you want to include an image, people like looking at images of people. Smiling people… good looking people. Not a box shot or, a picture of the product – unless it’s being used by smiling, good looking people who are being more productive in their lives as a result.
4. Forget the Small Print: Don’t try and trick your user. Make sure they know exactly what they’re signing up for and reiterate the benefits of doing so. Trickery only makes people angry… and then they opt out at the first opportunity.
5. Don’t Ask if You Don’t Need To Know: If you have no plans to create a direct mail campaign, then why gather a mailing address at first contact? If you’re never going to call me, why ask for my phone number? And really, is my birthdate, marital status, eye color, or shoe size relevant to how you’re going to market to me? If so, then by all means ask away! But if not, why not try dating me first before asking for my vital statistics.
6. Forms Designed by Real Users: When designing forms, make sure users can jump to the next field by clicking on the “tab” key; ask for a phone number with 3 different boxes (the first box is for a 3-digit area code and, once completed with three keystrokes, it should jump the cursor to the next box automatically). I personally HATE having to input a phone number only to be told I didn’t follow the correct format for YOUR site (who had time to read your instructions??).
7. Confirm Our Relationship: Either create a pop up window (“Thanks for registering!”) and/or send me an email confirmation. Otherwise, I’m not sure you ever got my registration form. So I’m not sure if we’re dating… or not. Or if I need to fill out the form again. Confusion is NOT the way I should end our meeting.
8. Keep Those Divorce Papers Handy: Once registered, you have to nurture our relationship. Don’t keep knocking on my door every day (unless I agreed to your daily visits); the first time you email me after I register should be part of the “wow!” factor. Relevant to me and the information I just shared about me. Best offer. Best foot forward. It’s like arriving at my doorstep for our first post-meeting date and forgetting to put on a clean shirt.
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