Archive for October, 2009

October 31st, 2009

Will Miley Cyrus Re-Launch Her Twitter Account?

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Is Miley Cyrus a Twitter Trend Setter?

In what is easily the top news story of the year, if not the decade, Miley Cyrus announced recently that she had deleted her Twitter account. Cyrus, who is known for her Disney channel TV show, her albums and her movies, claims that she wants to regain her privacy. twitter-logo

Here’s a 60-second excerpt from a post on MTV’s website:

Miley Cyrus hasn’t been shy about her distaste for Twitter since leaving the site earlier this month. She cited her desire to regain her privacy as the main reason behind the decision, even as rumors spread that she left for her rumored beau and “The Last Song” co-star Liam Hemsworth. And after nearly a month Twitter-free, she’s hoping that more people will jump the micro-blogging boat.

“I think that everyone should leave Twitter,” she told Chicago’s B96 morning show during her tour stop in Chi-Town earlier this week. “I think Twitter should just be banned from this universe.”

Cyrus maintains that the Internet is a dangerous place.” ‘Cause honestly, people, want to know why? You’re unhealthy. You need to get out and do stuff and be in the world instead of being like this [hunched over and typing],” she explained. “All I did was lay in bed on my computer and sit there and eat ice cream late at night.”

The singer added, “You don’t end up living your life and you end up saying things that really is no one else’s business. And I’m not a big fan of the Internet anymore,” she added. “I don’t really go online.”

A recent study by Nielsen Research indicates that more than 50% of the users who sign up for Twitter abandon the service after only one month. That kind of churn may inhibit the long-term viability of the service, although for the time being, Twitter is still signing up new members at a furious pace.

CategoryTwitter | CommentNo Comments »

October 30th, 2009

7 Tips to Get and Keep Customers

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idea litebulbWithout customers, you’re not going to survive. And if you are always getting new customers, but not keeping the old, you’re not going to survive with any sort of success. Here are a few short ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

First, you need to get customers:

1) Buddy up with another business. Send out your brochures or emails and include the other business. Have them do the same. Leverage both lists that way.

2) Keep your ads brief. Call them underwear ads if you like. Short and sweet, and they get attention. Brief ads are much more likely to be read.

3) Sponsor a seminar. Charging gives the impression there’s value to the seminar. Be sure it’s an informative session, and not just a sales pitch. No one wants to pay to go to a sales pitch.

4) Attend, and speak at, industry conferences. This is a great way to get attention for your business. Have lots of business cards and informative brochures handy for distribution.

Now that you have them, keep them:

5) Offer a discount to customers immediately after they purchase. A second email, a postcard with a coupon, or a handwritten note offering thanks will increase your customer’s interest if they feel like they’re getting special discounts.

6) Keep current customers current. Use mailings or e-Newsletters to keep your business in your existing customers’ minds. They can keep up with what’s up with your business.

7) Keep customers interested. Change your promotions and campaigns once in a while. Too much of the same gets boring for both your customers and you.

Remember that once a customer buys from you, they are more likely to do so again. It’s well worth it to make the effort to keep ‘em once you’ve got ‘em.

CategoryGeneral Marketing, Marketing Techniques | Comment1 Comment »

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October 28th, 2009

Make a Profit with a SPIN: The SPIN Model of Selling

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By Ann Pruitt

handshakeNo matter what your business, you need to sell your products and services. Dentists, car salespeople, advertisers, and retailers alike rely on getting the right customers to buy. That’s obvious. What’s not so obvious is the way to go about getting the customer to commit to your product.

For example, as a marketer interested in selling your marketing services, you might assess the potential customer like this: They know you are a good marketer… but they also know there are other, cheaper marketers out there. You know you have a better product, and you know they would benefit greatly. What you need is a way to convince the customer that your company is the way to go. Or better yet – have them convince themselves.

The SPIN Selling model has been around since the late-80’s, and provides a way to do just that. It is a sales technique that focuses on asking just the right questions, and driving the potential customer to come to their own conclusion: They can’t go on without you.

Here are the major components of the SPIN Selling model. For more detail, you’ll want to get the book.

S: Situation Questions

Find out about the buyer’s current situation with questions like:

-How many employees do you have?

-How long have you been using your current system?

-What turnaround time are you getting now on your orders?

Only ask a few of these, especially of upper level buyers who don’t want to squander their time. If you can find out the information elsewhere ahead of time, you should, to avoid wasting everyone’s time. The point is to understand the wider context of their business.

P: Problem Questions

Ask about the buyer’s problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions that you could solve with your product.

-How satisfied are you with your current campaigns?

-What’s keeping your customers from returning?

-What concerns do you have with the firm you are currently working with?

Ask about their problems a lot, early on in the conversation. Think of your product as a way to solve their problems, instead of it as possessing a bunch of characteristics. That will help you ask the right questions to draw out the problems that you know your business could solve. Avoid telling them benefits of your product. Let them suffer a little more.

I:  Implication Questions

Ask the buyer about the effects or consequences of their problems, difficulties, and dissatisfactions.

-What effects does having a slow turnaround time on orders have on your competitive position?

-How are your current campaigns keeping you from promoting the image you want?

-How is your current partnership costing you money?

These are the most powerful, and most difficult, questions for helping your potential customer see how their pain is affecting their business. It helps them see how they are wrong when they tell you your solution isn’t worth the effort and cost. They’ll be begging for a solution.

N:  Need-payoff

Ask the buyer about the value or usefulness of the proposed solution.

-How would a faster order turnaround time help your company make more money?

-If we designed a good campaign, how much money would that save you?

-Why is it important to your company to have a “youthful” image?

These questions should end up with the buyer explaining to you about the value of your product. This provides a greater impact since they are discovering your value, while also making you sound less pushy.

Use the SPIN model as a broad sequence of questions, rather than a rigid formula, and you should be selling so much it’ll make your head SPIN!


CategoryMarketing Techniques | CommentNo Comments »

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October 27th, 2009

Strategic Planning for an Unchanged/Worse/Better Economy

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Time's a tickin'

Time's a tickin'

Have you thought ahead about your marketing plans for 2010? What’s that? You can’t because you don’t know where the economy is headed? Point taken. But yet, you can’t avoid thinking about your plans forever.

To help get you thinking in some sort of strategic direction, Business Week published an article last week that considers three economic scenarios. Read our synopsis here, or read the entire article here.

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The economy has been in decline for 22 months, and as we head into 2010 many pundits assume things are going to continue as they are—or maybe get even worse. Others figure 2010 can’t be anything but better than 2009 and recommend business leaders plan accordingly.

Here are three possible scenarios for 2010; consider how each might affect your company’s marketing strategy. Under all three scenarios you’ll have to manage limited resources and keep a tight rein on cash. And under all three you’ll need to keep an eye on market share, top-line growth, and bottom-line management (among other things). But each of the scenarios presents not only different challenges but also unique opportunities to those who think strategically.

Scenario 1: More of the Same

Under the first scenario, 2010 looks pretty much like 2009, with good news dulled by bad, ups offset by downs. Those who have managed to achieve some sort of new equilibrium in 2009 might be able to make further adjustments, while companies that haven’t will continue to grow weaker—some not surviving at all. That spells opportunity to those that remain.

Key marketing strategy: Focus on share. This scenario presents a continuing opportunity to realize share in market gains as your competitors go belly-up or continue to cut back on marketing (some going all the way to zero). They may also have suffered slippage in customer satisfaction, making their clients more open to considering new options. Market as aggressively as you can to generate trial. Focus internally on good service and quality control. Ensure that existing customers have no reason to go elsewhere and new customers have no reason to go back to your competitors.

Scenario 2: Things Get Worse

If the recession continues to deepen or world events cause some other discontinuity, your attention will have to turn almost exclusively to keeping your business alive. Some companies won’t be able to retreat further without critically compromising their core competencies, and under this scenario they’re not likely to survive. While additional cutbacks may be necessary, do everything you can to avoid ceasing marketing entirely.

Key marketing strategy: Cut back, don’t cut out. Recognize that the vehicles through which you promote your company will also be suffering and will be highly receptive to making deals for their continually expiring inventory. This scenario will present more of a buyer’s market than ever, and those who can continue to buy will buy cheap. You’ll look back on resources you invest in marketing today as time and money well spent.

Scenario 3: Rapid Recovery

While we all hope for healthy growth to return, this scenario is in some ways the most dangerous as companies stock up, staff up, and ramp up their growth engines. The faster the economy recovers, the more we could be in for hyperinflation. You’ll once again be hiring, but the best talent will quickly get snatched up (and their compensation bid up). You’ll want to expand your inventory to meet rising demand, but inflation and materials shortages may threaten your ability to do so. You’ll be ready to market more, but the cost of media will rise as your competitors try to seize the day as well. It will be easy to become undisciplined in a free-for-all chase for growth.

Key marketing strategy: Moderate demand through pricing and payment terms. The greatest danger will be in growing too fast and running out of cash as your receivables grow (collecting money from customers facing the same challenges won’t be easy). Quality control may also become an issue as you rush to meet demand. While the temptation after two lean years will be to grow the top line as quickly as possible, focus on quality growth and protecting your margins. You’ll likely need the money.

It’s no fun to think about continued economic stagnation (or worse), and it may seem unrealistic to prepare for a rapid recovery. But that’s where the discipline of running a good business comes in. Take some time now to imagine yourself facing the three scenarios above and consider what kind of decisions you’ll need to make under each. The bigger a head start you can get on each of these scenarios, the better off you’ll be once one of them comes to pass.

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Steve McKee is president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland Advertising, a firm that specializes in helping stalled companies rekindle growth.

CategoryGeneral Marketing | CommentNo Comments »

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October 25th, 2009

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Newest Social Networking Brainchild

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By Melissa Levine, BKV  Digital and Direct Response

iPhoneIt’s now not just mom and dad who want to check in and know your whereabouts.   Thanks to a new social networking tool called “Foursquare,” (www.foursquare.com) friends can trace your every step as well.  C’est la vie to days where you could brush off that annoying friend (we all have one) with an “I’m actually staying in…”  A combination of friend-finder, city guide and competitive bar game, Foursquare lets users “check in” by cell phone at a bar, restaurant or art gallery (or any other places users might frequent) alerting their friends to their current location so they can drop by and say hello.

Inventive? Yes.

Necessary? The verdict is still out.

Regardless, we now have yet another tool that enables us to tell the world, “Here I am, I have arrived,” every time we step out the door.  In my opinion, Facebook, Twitter and the host of other social networking sites are sufficient but if you feel like you need to ‘take it to the next level’ (and aren’t we always supposed to be striving to accomplish that?), this new tool does so by giving your exact location.   Your friends can now track your every move.  Better yet– if you frequent certain shops enough times, you have a chance to become the mayor of that place entitling you to possible coupons or free items; if you gather enough people to join you more prizes ensue.

Another purported bonus is the apparent intimacy of this tool (although I doubt it will remain so now that the New York Times has written about it…)  Foursquare is available only in 31 cities in the United States, including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston and Washington. The service is also operating in London, Amsterdam and three Canadian cities, but has many fewer members than other networking sites.

After reading about FourSquare I couldn’t help but wonder if the site will truly take off.  The NY Times article includes a quote from a happy user who notes, “At this point, I don’t even bother texting or calling my friends. I just check Foursquare to see if they’re nearby and go meet them.”  I can’t help but think—are we truly this lazy?  But more than that, I find it troubling that we now need ulterior motives to have fun, and enjoy the company of others.  As I noted above, it you frequent the same spot enough, you get points.  If you discover a new hangout, more points.

This new tool literalizes the phrase “the game of life” a little too intensely.  I say why can’t we just live in the moment, rather than always running off to find the next best place, best friend, and best time?

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Melissa Levine is our in-house Millennial, and offers the unique youthful insight to the non-Millennial views you usually get with Jamie and Ann.

CategorySocial Media | Comment2 Comments »

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October 23rd, 2009

Seven Ways to Get the Most from the 60 Second Marketer

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We’ve been very fortunate at the 60 Second Marketer. Since we launched a little over a year ago, we’ve grown dramatically and now have regular visitors from around the globe.SmilyFace

Every so often, we like to remind our readers of the best ways they can get the most from our site. After all, the 60 Second Marketer is more than just a web magazine — it’s a community of marketing professionals from around the globe who comment, contribute and conspire with one another on the best ways to get the most bang from their marketing dollar.

So, with that in mind, here are the top seven ways to get the most from the 60 Second Marketer:

  1. Comment on our blog: We respond to virtually every comment that’s made on our blog. So if you have a comment about one of our posts, we’ll follow-up on your comment by providing you additional information and insights. Give it a try. Seriously. We really do follow-up.
  2. Follow us on Twitter: If you’re interested in staying up-to-date on all the latest trends in marketing, you can follow us at 60SecondTweets. We’ll keep you posted on all the latest articles and information all day long. And occasionally, we’ll even say something witty and funny. But only if we’re in a witty or funny mood.
  3. Write an article: Writing an article for our blog or the website is a completely under-utilized way to generate buzz and awareness for your business. While we don’t allow articles that are too heavy on self-promotion, we do provide links to your website and your email address in the “author bio” section. (To see our writer’s guidelines, visit our Submit Content page.)
  4. Sign up for our free weekly eNewsletter: Each week, we send out a whole slew of “How To” articles designed to help you instantly improve your marketing program. If you want tips on social media, email marketing, blogging, direct response marketing or just about any other topic, then sign up for our weekly eNewsletter.
  5. Visit our QuickTips page: It includes a long list of tips that you can put to use instantly to get the most bang from your marketing dollar.
  6. Check out our Free Tools page: Our Free Tools page has 18 different free tools or information portals where you can download additional content or tools designed to help you grow your sales and revenue.
  7. Visit our Marketing Services page: Are you looking for a top-notch eCommerce shopping cart? How about a free web usability review? Or maybe you need a tool to deliver ads to your franchisees or your sales force online. If you’re looking for some of the best tools and services in the business, then check out our Marketing Services page.

Of course, all this assumes you’ve taken a deep dive into our free Articles and our free Videos, right? If you haven’t jumped into the fray on those pages, you should start there because they’re packed with great tools and tips on ways you can improve your marketing.

So there you have it. Seven ways to get the most from the 60 Second Marketer. Plus a few bonus tips.

Enjoy!

CategoryGeneral Marketing | CommentNo Comments »

October 22nd, 2009

7 Secrets for Choosing the Right Font for Your Webpage

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alphabet

There is quite a bit of debate on the web about what font is best for websites. It seems that every blogger has their preference. Some prefer Verdana, 10-point, and others prefer Arial, but only at 12-point. Times New Roman, while supposedly attractive, doesn’t appear to be easier to read. The most legible are considered to be Arial, Courier, Calibri, and Verdana.

There are only a few fonts to choose from that all computers can read. Verdana, Georgia and Trebuchet are installed on Apple and Windows operating systems, so are sure bets. Times New Roman (serif) and Arial (sans serif) are usually the default computer fonts when a certain font isn’t readable.

So what will you choose for your websites? Without getting too deep into the Great Font Fights, here are some tips to consider:

1) Choose Serif or Sans Serif: Serif fonts have those little lines at the points of the letters, like this. They make the eye flow easily from one letter to the next, especially in high resolution print. For low resolution, like most computer screens, sans serif is preferred. However, remember Times New Roman has a feeling of formality and establishment, and that can work in your favor on a website where reliability or trustworthiness is important.

2) Study the studies: Here’s an interesting study done in 2001 on readability of fonts online. Conclusion? Arial 12 pt, or Verdana 10 and 9 pt.    http://bit.ly/WilsonFontStudy

3) Decide what message you want to get across: Comic Sans is a fun typeface, as the name implies. A law firm doesn’t need a fun font. It needs a serious font, perhaps like Times New Roman. Don’t let the font distract from your overall message. And this from the web designer sitting near my workspace: “Never, ever, ever use Comic Sans unless you are sending a picture of a kitten to your grandmother.”

4) Test what the fonts will look like: Here are two very cool websites that allow you to try different fonts and sizes on sample text. Decide what looks best for your purpose.

http://bit.ly/TypeTester

http://bit.ly/JiggetyTest

5) Go for the quick read: As mentioned, Arial, Courier, Calibri, and Verdana are easily read. Verdana is generally considered best by designers.  Larger fonts can help, but too large makes it harder for the eye to capture a grouping of words, which makes it slower to read.

6) Consider the background: There’s a reason most print is black print on white background. White text with black background can be OK, too. But avoid ultra-contrast, such as red text on green background. Yikes. Be sure the font you’ve chosen is easily read on the background you’ve used.

7) Keep it simple: No more than three fonts per webpage, please. Don’t confuse your reader. Use Times New Roman for headlines, and Arial for the body, and your readers will thank you.

What are your favs? Have you had any lightbulbs go off with regards to fonts? Let us hear from you.

CategoryDesign | CommentNo Comments »

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October 22nd, 2009

Is Your Brand a Social Media Magnet? (If You’re Apple, Starbucks or Nike, the Answer is Yes.)

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Some of the gang from BKV are in the process of developing a social media campaign for one of their clients. (The 60 Second Marketer, as you may know, is a division of BKV, which is a digital and direct response agency.)

BKV has done social media campaigns for a variety of well-known clients including AT&T, the March of Dimes, Harrah’s and Equifax, so the BKV gang knows their stuff. But they called me in to help brainstorm some ideas on a new social media campaign for one of their clients.SocialMediaMagnetism.001

An interesting insight came out of the brainstorming session. It was so interesting, we gave it a name — Social Media Magnetism.

What is Social Media Magnetism?

Social Media Magnetism is when your brand is so powerful, that consumers will come to you to be part of your brand. In other words, they’ll go out of their way to be affiliated and associated with your company because it gives them a sense of cache.

How can you tell if your brand has enough cache to be a Social Media Magnet? There’s a test that’s deceptively simple, but it works every time — If your logo shows up on sweat shirts, bumper stickers or backpacks, then your brand qualifies as a Social Media Magnet.

Some good examples of brands with Social Media Magnetism include Apple, Starbucks and Nike, all of which have enough brand power that people will go out of their way to be affiliated with them.

But what if you’re not Apple, Starbucks or Nike? What happens for the other 99.9% of the brands without that kind of star power?

If that’s the case, then your brand has to go to the consumer. In other words, your brand has to use social media to reach out to the consumer in some way, shape or form.

How do you do that? You have to use the “What’s In It For Me?” formula. By that, we mean that a consumer must feel as though your social media campaign offers them something so unique or so valuable, that they’re willing to engage with you to acquire what you’re offering.

Remember, if your brand already has Social Media Magnetism, you don’t have to go to the consumer — they’ll come to you. For an example of this, check out MyStarbucksIdea.com. Starbucks has so much star power (sorry for the pun) that they can put up a website inviting people to submit their ideas to Starbucks.

But they’re Starbucks.

You’re not Starbucks.

(Unless you actually are Starbucks in which case we’d like to say “Hello, Starbucks!”)

Anyway, back to our point — if you’re a company that sells paper or pet supplies or printers, then you probably don’t have the cache that Apple, Starbucks or Nike has, so you’re going to have to reach out to the consumer to get them engaged with your social media campaign.

How can you do this?

By creating a campaign that gives the consumer something of value that they don’t currently have.

This can be a year’s worth of pet supplies. It can be an entry into a drawing for a vacation to Hawaii. Or it can be putting their name on a billboard in Times Square. But it has to be something of value, something beyond just being associated with your brand.

Again, if you’re Starbucks, you can put up the MyStarbucksIdea.com website and, yes, people will come to the site and engage with your brand.

But if you’re not Starbucks, then you’ll have to go to your customer, you’ll have to reach out to them, and you’ll have to give them something tangible in return for engaging with your brand.

Make sense?

So, with Social Media Magnetism in mind, here are several questions to ask yourself next time you’re developing a social media campaign:

  1. Does our brand have Social Media Magnetism? (Again, unless your brand has the star power of Apple, Starbucks or Nike, you’re probably not a Social Media Magnet. Sorry.)
  2. Assuming your company isn’t a Social Media Magnet, what offer are you going to provide your customers to encourage them to engage with your campaign?
  3. Does the offer have the “What’s In It For Me?” component? Does it offer something of value to the prospect? Does it sizzle?

If the answer to the questions in #3 is “no,” then you’ll have to go back to the drawing board and try to come up with some offer that makes engaging with your social media campaign worthwhile.

Good luck with your social media campaign. We hope you knock it out of the park. Can you keep us posted on your ideas? We’d love to hear how you do.

CategorySocial Media | Comment5 Comments »

October 21st, 2009

Give Me a Title!

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By Ann Pruitt

We have a dilemma here at 60 Second Marketer. I don’t really know what to call my job. Jamie Turner, the boss guy, is appropriately called “Chief Content Officer.” I, however, don’t really have a title.

As marketers, we all know that the packaging is a good part of the battle. We all also know that a title is important for the resume – not to mention as a way to describe to other people what you do at your job all day (and night, sometimes). So how do you package a job that entails writing content for a couple of websites, along with other responsibilities?

Laptop

Up until now, I’ve held the title “Associate,” mostly, I think, for its general generality. But it just doesn’t seem to capture the essence of what I do, not to mention that it sounds, well, junior. (I have enough years behind me that “junior” is a poor descriptor, thank-you-very-much.) We considered “Chief Training Officer,” but that sounded a little overblown to me, and didn’t include the writing that I do.

Blogging and related chores are a relatively new profession. There doesn’t yet seem to be a consensus on what to call the job. Perhaps that’s because there are so many iterations of it. I did a quick search, and yielded these for consideration:

Blogger

Content Curator

Content Developer

Content Management Product Manager

Online Content Writer

Social Content Manager

Web Content Administrator

Web Content Writer

Yet none of these seem to fit. I’m more than a Content Writer (or a Copy Writer), but less than a Chief Content Officer. I make my own decisions and have my own responsibilities, but go to Jamie when I need guidance. I sorta like Content Developer, but I’m not sure.

So I’m turning it over to you, our experienced marketing community. What title can you suggest for my job? Here’s what I do; I need a title that describes it and that I can add to my resume with pride. Now, do what you do and package me for market!

  • Research and write blogs and articles for two websites
  • Develop and deliver online training seminars
  • Develop and write eNewsletters
  • Manage contributing authors
  • Research competitors
  • “Other responsibilities as assigned”

Thanks,

Ann W. Pruitt

Associate, The 60 Second Marketer

CategoryGeneral Marketing | Comment2 Comments »

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October 21st, 2009

How to Launch a Product the Microsoft Way

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windowsWindows 7, the new operating system for Windows-based PCs, is being released this Thursday, October 22. The world is getting excited, given the good reviews and buzz circulating about the upgrade, especially given the poor performance of Windows Vista, the prior release.

How does Microsoft launch a product this important? CNET news posted an interview with Tami Reller, head of Microsoft Windows 7 Marketing. Let’s examine some of the key marketing strategies she shared. Your company may not have the resources available to you that MS has, but that doesn’t mean you can’t glean an idea or two and apply them to your business.

1) Think Global

  • Worldwide Launch Events: In Japan, Britain and New York.
  • “Lots of Coverage”: Without giving specifics, Reller stated that there will be TV interviews, and perhaps late-night TV appearances. “You’ll certainly see a lot of coverage from us that day, but no commitments on the exact venue.”

2) Think Local

  • Local Launch parties: Even you can host a launch party at your house, just like Microsoft’s employees do. You can set up your PC’s, or see the new features, give out prizes, or whatever theme you like.  http://houseparty.com/windows7usa

3) Find Symbolic Things to Do to Promote Your Launch

  • Open the Market: Microsoft will ring the opening bell on Nasdaq on Thursday.
  • Close the Market: Microsoft will join with its computer maker partners to end the day’s trading.

4) Employ Social Marketing

  • Facebook Windows 7 page: Microsoft is leveraging its Facebook page by including several interesting features, such as a “Windows 7 Personality quiz.” I was “highly defined.” http://www.facebook.com/Microsoft.Windows.7
  • Twitter “Windows 7 Sweepstakes”: Prizes for answering challenges from this Twitter page, plus the latest news on Windows 7. http://twitter.com/mswindows

5) Have a Spokesperson

  • A cute spokeswoman girl: Kylie the young’un demonstrates Windows 7. See her on TV, or on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssOq02DTTMU&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6adgIJE8YQ&feature=channel

6) Make an Offer They Can’t Refuse

  • Worldwide Discounts: “Part of October 22 is going to be all about some screaming deals,” says Reller.

7) Create Strong Product Enthusiasm

  • Leverage Early Product Reviews: With early releases and trials, Microsoft has found “end-user acceptance and enthusiasm for a product matter. And that’s why we’ve put so much emphasis on the last year, in making sure that we had strong, strong engagement from users broadly across many demographics.” In fact, a senior IT administrator I know speaks well of Windows 7. He supports it, saying it is more stable, has a quicker install, runs everything that Vista will run, and provides a windows XP mode, among other features.

8) Start Something Unexpected

  • 1st retail store, ever, to open: The opening of the very first Microsoft retail store in Arizona coincides with the Windows 7 release.

Granted, Microsoft is a huge company with huge dollars to spend on marketing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t think huge within the budget you have. By using these techniques, even a small budget can get big results.

CategoryAdvertising, Microsoft | Comment5 Comments »

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October 20th, 2009

Are Your Favorite Sites in the Top 50?

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httpWebsite Magazine recently featured their pick of the Top 50 Websites, based on “popularity among Web professionals, the business community and consumers.”* It’s an interesting mix of sites, including search engines, professional publishing support, social networking, and sites for content and article publishing, among others. Whether you need to increase brand engagement or visibility, or improve traffic to your website, there’s an eclectic mix on the list of sites to choose from. Here are the top 25, or visit the full article to get all 50. Be sure to check out the sites you haven’t visited yet.

  1. Google.com
  2. Yahoo.com
  3. Facebook.com
  4. YouTube.com
  5. MySpace.com
  6. eBay.com
  7. Bing.com
  8. AOL.com
  9. WordPress.com
  10. Ask.com
  11. Blogger.com
  12. Twitter.com
  13. Adobe.com
  14. Photobucket.com
  15. Answers.com
  16. LinkedIn.com
  17. Digg.com
  18. EzineArticles.com
  19. Metacafe.com
  20. Ning.com
  21. Yelp.com
  22. Tagged.com
  23. Alibaba.com
  24. Scribd.com
  25. PayPal.com

*”Website Magazine’sTop 50 rankings are a measure of a website’s popularity. Ranks are calculated using a proprietary method that focuses on average daily unique visitors and page views over a specified period of time as reported by multiple data sources.”

CategoryInteractive, Internet, Social Media | CommentNo Comments »

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October 19th, 2009

Can You Be Sure Your Direct Marketing is Making a Profit?

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calculatorYou can send out all the direct marketing pieces you want, but if you aren’t taking advantage of the math that goes with it, you are wasting your time. You’ll never know whether the mailer or email ad does indeed incite some action from your consumers.

Following are the basic formulas you need to determine whether your direct marketing campaign is contributing to your bottom line.

Raw Cost-per-Response =   Cost-per-package /  Response Rate

  • If you have a package that costs $.489 per unit and a response rate of 2.78%, what’s the cost-per-response?
  • $.489 / .0278 = $17.59

Loaded Cost-per-Response =   (Cost-per-package  /  Response Rate) + Fulfillment + Telemarketing

  • Using the above example, let’s assume the fulfillment cost is $3.75 and telemarketing averages $4.5 per call.
  • $17.59 + $3.75 + $4.50 = $25.84

Cost-per-Sale =   Cost-per-Lead  /  Closing Rate

  • If this was a two step sale, $25.84 would be your loaded cost-per-lead (from above). Say we have a closing rate of 22%.
  • $25.84  /  .22 = $117.45.

Response Rate =   Cost-per-Package /   Cost-per-Response

  • There are times when you need to know what response rate you need to hit break-even.
  • Let’s assume that a package costs $.654 each and the raw cost-per-response target was $25.
  • $.654  /  $25.00  =  2.62%

Package Cost =   Cost-per-Response x  Response Rate

  • Let’s assume we anticipate that a specific offer will generate a response rate of 1.5% to 2.0% and that the target cost-per-response is $48.00. Using the worst case scenario (1.5%), how much can we afford to spend on the package in the mail?
  • $48.00  x  .015  =  $.720 each

CategoryDirect Marketing | Comment3 Comments »

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October 15th, 2009

6 Tips for Leveraging a Social Media Campaign

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Looking for ways to leverage your social media campaigns? Priscilla of Boston, a bridal retail business, has a new twist. Here is the news from DMNews on how Pricilla’s is getting their bridal customers involved and excited about their product -  as well as having customers further expand the social media campaign.

We’ve divided the story from DMNews into steps you can take with your business.

pric banner

1. Run a Campaign That Invites User Action: Bridal retailer  is running a social media campaign with the Brickfish social networking Web site. The effort, which launched October 12, runs through November 16 and is called “How does Priscilla of Boston inspire you?”

2. Have a Clear Goal in Mind: Priscilla’s goal is to build awareness of its line of wedding gowns to young women that are members of the social network. The company’s customer demographic is women from their teens to their 30s.

3. Involve Your Customers’ Creativity: Users can enter contests and communicate about various retailers and brands on the social network. This initiative calls young women to create photo collages of gowns that inspire them, along with stories about why they do, for the Priscilla of Boston Web site.

4. Offer a Prize: The grand prize winner will receive a trip to New York to attend the Priscilla of Boston April Runway Show. The runner-up will win a free bridal accessory.

5. Encourage Spreading the Word: The “Most Viral” winner, who shares her entry with the highest number of other consumers, will win a dress.

6. Offer More Free Prizes: Priscilla of Boston is also calling consumers to listen to its bridal show on October 17 on www.brides.com/pob. The show calls listeners to enter a drawing to win additional prizes.

CategorySocial Media | CommentNo Comments »

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October 14th, 2009

Want Fries With That Brand? How Burger King Confuses Me.

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Which of these means Burger King to you?bk king

  • Free paper crowns.
  • The scary king commercials.
  • The Whopper Bar.
  • ‘Have it Your Way’ campaign.
  • The Subservient Chicken.
  • The BKlounge on Twitter.

If you answered all of these, you’re right. Now, add one more:

  • The new futuristic redesign of its stores.

bk redesign

Burger King is planning a world-wide change in its current store model. The new restaurant design features flat screen TV menus, red flame chandeliers floating overhead, brick, and corrugated metal. “I’d call it more contemporary, edgy, futuristic,” Chairman and CEO John Chidsey told The Associated Press. “It feels so much more like an upscale restaurant.”

So far, remodeled restaurants have seen sales climb about 12 to 15 percent, Chidsey said. Restaurants that are torn down and completely rebuilt at the same location have seen sales climb by as much as 30 percent.

Russ Klein, President, Global Marketing Strategy and Innovation for Burger King, has been rebranding the company since 2004. He brought back the “Have It Your Way” campaign, in fact. Integral to the rebranding process are four principles that “most branding experts would agree make up a brand,” said Klein.

  • Relevance. How the brand fits into the consumer’s life.bk whopper bar
  • Differentiation. The brand’s point of difference.
  • Esteem. How well the brand is regarded.
  • Knowledge. An intimate consumer understanding of the brand.

Am I right to be confused by their campaign(s)? It seems there are so many variants in the Burger King brand, that I’m not sure exactly what it is that I’m supposed to think about it. To me, Burger King is a fast food Whopper, so here’s what I think:

  • Relevance. BK’s relevant to me since I eat there once in a while when traveling.
  • Differentiation. It’s different from other fast food because, well…it isn’t, really, is it?
  • Esteem. I regard Burger King as a plain old fast food chain.
  • Knowledge. I’m really confused about what the brand is supposed to be other than a fast food chain.

I do understand a company like Geico, that started with a caveman, moved into the gecko, and then to the money-you-could-be-saving. One moved smoothly into the other, so each had its own distinct image in my mind. But BK seems to have ALL of their campaign running at the same time. Maybe I don’t watch TV enough and I’m missing all the ads that are supposed to be telling me these things. Or maybe I’ll have to go to one of the redesigned stores to get a new feel for the place, and the campaign(s) will all come together. If I had it my way, there’d only be one distinct message. We’ll see.

bk whopper

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October 13th, 2009

What Are the Top Twitter Clients?

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twitter_bird_profile_biggerTwitter “clients” are other applications besides Twitter which can send and receive Twitter.

Website Magazine shares the following from their August 21 online post about where Tweets are coming from:

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A study from Rapleaf on the popularity of Twitter clients has revealed some interesting information – namely that 65% of all tweets are sent from computers on the official Twitter site and about 20% of tweets are sent from mobile devices.

- Two-thirds of tweets are updated using a computer connected to the Web
- Mobile phone texting is the second most popular client but only account for 1/10 as many tweets
- The top five clients account for 82% of tweets; the top 10 account for over 90% of tweets
- Tweets are sent from over 1900 Twitter clients

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In the November 2009 magazine issue, Website Magazine found the following to be the Top 10 Popular Twitter Clients:

Ranking

Client

% of Users

1

 TweetDeck

13.07

2

 Tweetie

7.47

3

 HootSuite

2.46

4

 Twhirl

2.42

5

 Twitterfon

1.98

6

 Seesmic

1.82

7

 Ping.fm

1.75

8

 UberTwitter

1.28

9

 Twitterrific

1.20

10

 TwitterFox

1.18

CategoryTwitter, Uncategorized | CommentNo Comments »

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