Archive for January, 2011

January 31st, 2011

Pepsi Chooses Social Media Over Super Bowl

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Running a commercial on the Super Bowl can be expensive, just ask companies like Budweiser, GoDaddy and Coca-Cola. But when you’re reaching more than 100 million viewers, the expense often pays for itself.

Not according to Pepsi.

Last year, PepsiCo walked away from spending $20 million on television spots and put the money into online social media contest instead. It was the first time in 23 years that Pepsi decided to walk away from running ads on the Super Bowl. But the company says it was a huge success and has decided to do it again.

Pepsi has decided to by-pass the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. Costs for a 30-second spot continue to rise. (Source: Wikipedia)

According to The New York Times, more than $20 million in grants, ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 has been distributed to about 400 winners of Pepsi’s online contests. Some of these grants include $25,000 for new uniforms for the Cedar Park High School Band and another $25,000 for a new playground that opened in Las Vegas last week.

“This was using brand dollars with the belief that when you use these brand dollars to have consumers share ideas to change the world, the consumers will win, the brand will win, and the community will win. That was a big bet. No one has done it on this scale before,” Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo told The New York Times.

The paper continues by saying, “As Pepsi had hoped, competitors have turned to their personal networks on Facebook and Twitter to gain support for their ideas, extending the Pepsi brand and its do-good message. Nearly 19 percent of the 77 million votes have been cast through Facebook. On Twitter, participants were urged to use the hashtag ‘#PepsiRefresh,’ and they did.”

A recent study by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services found that figuring out how to translate social media efforts into sales and customers — and how to measure overall effectiveness — was cited as a top concern of many companies looking to expand their efforts to reach consumers using social media. More than 79% of the 2,100 companies participating in the survey said they either currently use social media channels or are preparing to start social media initiatives.

(Shameless plug: Anyone reading this article who is interested in finding the answer to the question “How can I measure the ROI of my social media campaign?” will find the answer in my book, How to Make Money with Social Media, available at fine bookstores [and a few not-so-fine bookstores] everywhere.)

What Pepsi’s No-Super-Bowl-Approach Means for You:

Is Pepsi doing the right thing here? Are Super Bowl commercials a thing of the past?

In a nutshell, both approaches can and do work. But if you’re like most businesses, you probably can’t afford to spend $3 million to run a single TV spot. So, you might consider seeing if you can get some bang for your buck by spreading the dollars around on a social media and cause-related marketing program.

That said, here are three things to consider:

  1. Cause-related marketing programs require more than just a donation to the cause. They require campaigns to make people aware of the cause-related donation. Those campaigns aren’t free. And they can backfire if not handled properly.
  2. Social media isn’t free. Despite what you may have heard, social media does require a financial investment. Some of this investment needs to be in hard, cold cash (e.g., YouTube video production, Landing Page development, etc.). There are soft-dollar investments in social media, too, such as the time and labor needed to run and manage the campaign.
  3. Don’t forget mobile media. Mobile media can be used to enhance a cause-related or social media campaign. There are six ways businesses are using mobile media to build awareness for their brands: SMS, Location-based marketing, mobile website, mobile apps, 2D codes and mobile websites. Explore each of them as your developing your program.

There are lot of different approaches you can use the Super Bowl to grow your sales and revenue. Good luck with whatever you’re doing  — be it running a TV spot, running a social media campaign or simply running to the fridge for an extra beer.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryGeneral Marketing, Pepsi | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
January 29th, 2011

A Step-by-Step Guide on Taking the Mobile Media Plunge

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

We know how you feel, you just got done spending a ton of time, money and effort into figuring out how social media works and how best to incorporate it into your businesses’ marketing and communications efforts and frankly, you’re exhausted.

Let us be the first to congratulate you on a hard fought victory.  But now is not the time to get complacent and rest on our laurels.  Now is the “year of mobile.”  A lot of forward thinking companies, ad agencies and technophiles are already out there using mobile media to attract attention to their companies, grow their customer bases and just plain generate revenue.

These are the primary mobile media operating systems used by consumers around the globe.

Getting Started with Mobile Media

Over the next couple of months, our team will walk you through what you need to know to stay ahead of (okay, maybe just with) the curve on this new technology and how you can use mobile media to your advantage.

You’re most likely very much aware of the fact that the big topic (technology) on the lips of businesspeople, bloggers, baristas and basketball players alike, is mobile media.  Its’ everywhere!  And that’s true because each year, more and more people are carrying mobile phones.

A report from eMarketer, predicts that by the end of 2011, 80% of the U.S. population will own at least one mobile phone. That’s a ton of people who are always connected and can always be reached no matter where they are.  The problem being that since mobile is such a new technology the rules are constantly being written, over written and rewritten on a daily basis.  So where to start?  That’s where we come in.

We are going to start you off today with

  • Some definitions of the basic types of mobile communications
  • Tips on how you can start to familiarize yourself with how mobile works

Types of Mobile Media Communications

The simplest and most basic form of mobile media is the text message, formally known as Short Message Service (SMS).  Because any mobile phone, smartphone or otherwise, can receive and send text messages, this is the most commonly used form of media when it comes to mobile advertising and it currently accounts for the largest potion of mobile ad spending.  It provides the greatest reach to the most users and its simple to create.

Moving down the ladder one rung to the second highest category of mobile ad spending we arrive at Mobile Banner Ads. Although, due to the rising popularity of smartphones and predicted advances in mobile browsers and networks, some marketing professionals think that Mobile Ads will overtake SMS in total ad spend in the next year or two.  Just like online banner ads, mobile display ads are sold on the basis of a cost per click (CPC), cost per acquisition (CPA) or cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and takes a mobile user who clicks on the banner to that advertiser’s mobile website.

Which brings us to our next type of mobile media: Mobile Websites.  Mobile websites differ from their desktop counterparts in that they have been specifically designed for the smaller screens of mobile devices and are more streamlined.  CNN is a good example of a company with a great mobile website that we at the 60 Second Marketer like a lot and visit on a regular basis.  Their mobile site is easy to navigate and it loads very quickly; the two must-haves for a company considering going down the path of developing a mobile website for their business.

Mobile Search is recognized by advertising professionals as one of the most popular mobile internet activities amongst all mobile users.  Searches can be performed on your phone through a number of providers like Google, Yahoo, Bing!  Your mobile phone might even have a search function/program built into its operating system.  Mobile search works in pretty much the same way as desktop Search Engine Marketing (SEM), where advertisers bid for certain keywords in an auction-based marketplace for their search ad to appear in a desired rank order.  This is a very simple type of mobile marketing that, at its most basic, can be set up and launched in a matter of a couple of hours.

Anyone out there that is carrying an iPhone, Blackberry, Android or other type of smartphone should know what a Smartphone Application is at this point.  Mobile apps can provide direct access to information in the form of directions, entertainment via a game (we wished we invented Angry Birds or Farmville) or can be a mobile social media application, like Facebook or Foursquare.  Bank of America’s mobile banking app that allows you to check your account balances and transfer funds as needed is an excellent example of a branded smartphone app that is not only useful but also serves to drive brand awareness with each use.

The last type of mobile media we want to introduce you to today is Mobile Video. According to industry reports, video is currently receiving the lowest percentage of mobile ad spending, but this relatively new mobile advertising medium, like mobile banners, will become more prevalent as mobile devices and networks continue to improve.   Mobile video ads are typically ten seconds long and are automatically played prior to (called, pre-roll) the video you selected to watch on your device.  This works much the same way as the advertising you see on Hulu.com before you view the video selected.  Advertisers like mobile video because, although your device has lots of functionality, you can’t multi-task while watching a video on your iPhone.

5 Tips on How You Can Get Familiar With Mobile

We know you’ve read a lot here today when probably all you really wanted to read were our tips on how you can familiarize yourself with the basic types of mobile media.  So, without further ado, here’s your “homework assignment” for next time.  Feel free to pick three or four from this list, the more the merrier:

  1. Send a text message to Google. How you ask? Send a text as simple as this, “Starbucks. 30326″ to the number 466453 (that’s Google spelled out on your keypad).  Wait about 5 seconds and you should receive a text message back from Google with the address for the two or three closest Starbucks locations to the zip code 30326.  The text is billed to your account like a regular text message and doesn’t cost anything extra.  Got unlimited texts? Even better!
  2. If you have a smartphone go to a mobile website that you visit often on your computer. We like the mobile versions of CNN.com and ESPN.com.  Once the page loads fully (and hopefully quickly) scroll around and find a mobile banner ad.  Take a look at who’s ad it is, what it says and what it looks like.  Click it and see what happens.  Again, this doesn’t cost you anything.  Where does the mobile banner take you?  Do this on a couple of different mobile banners you come across and compare user experiences.
  3. Point your mobile browser to a website that you often visit on your home computer. Compare it side by side to the full version of the website on your computer screen.  Notice the content that has been included on, or more importantly excluded from, the mobile version of the site.  Do this with a couple of different types of sites.  Remember, the shorter the load time the better.
  4. Already on Facebook? Only use Google to search online?  Have an account on Padora? Well guess what.  All of these sites have great mobile applications that you can download for free and use on your mobile device.  Again, compare the functionality of these mobile apps against their full sized counterparts on your computer.  The best mobile applications are very simple and have a couple of core functions.  With the Facebook app you can update your status wherever you go and the Pandora app lets you listen to the Bon Jovi station you secretly love but are embarrassed tell your friends you created.
  5. Getting familiar with mobile video may require a bit of patience depending on how fast your device can load and play videos, so consider this homework assignment extra credit. Go back to CNN.com on your mobile and scroll down until you see links for some of their videos.  Find one that interests you and click through on the links to play it.  Take note of the video that should play pre-roll to the video you’ve selected.

That’s all for today.  Class dismissed!  We here at the 60 Second Marketer would like to leave you with a brief parting thought — The quickest way to figure out how to properly utilize mobile media in your company’s communication efforts is to start using it yourself as much as you can.  To borrow a quote from Mark Twain, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

Stay tuned here for more information about trends in mobile media, mobile marketing best practices, companies who are using mobile in creative and effective ways and much more.

Posted by Matt Luber, Mobile Media Analyst, the 60 Second Markter, and graduate student at Emory University.

CategoryMobile Marketing, Mobile Media | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
January 28th, 2011

QR Code Generator: How to Create a QR Code for Your Business

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Generating a QR Code for your business is a surprisingly easy process. There are a number of terrific sites on the web that make this possible, including right here at the 60 Second Marketer.

On the bottom right hand side of this page, you’ll see a box that says “Generate Your Own QR Code Now.” All you have to do is type in the URL that you want someone to land on and … poof! … your QR Code is generated automatically. (Special thanks to the folks at Mobile-Barcodes.com for creating the QR Code Widget.)

Interested in taking part in the QR Code experience? Download a QR Code reader to your smart phone by visiting BeeTagg.com. Then scan this code and see where it takes you.

Interested in reading about new and innovative ways to use QR Codes to promote your business? You can check out an article I wrote on Mashable by clicking  The Ten Commandments of Using 2D Codes for Business. Or, you can read How to Use QR Codes to Grow Your Business on the 60 Second Marketer website.

Here’s an excerpt on how to use QR Codes from the 60 Second Marketer post mentioned above:

  1. Business cards — Put a QR Code on the back of your business card. The recipient scans the code to import your contact information.
  2. Website — Add a QR code to the contact page on your website so users can instantly download your contact information.
  3. Product packaging — If you sell a product that requires installation, include a QR code on the box to drive users to online instructional videos.
  4. Outdoor board — Great for a teaser campaign for a new movie or TV show. Scan the code to watch the trailer, sneak preview or teaser episode from your mobile phone.
  5. Name tags — You know those red “Hello, My Name Is…” tags that people wear at conferences? Create and add your 2D code to your name badge to make it easy for conference attendees to get your contact information.
  6. Home for sale signs — Add a scan code that launches a video or photo tour of the house.
  7. Historical site markers — Ditto. A scan code can enhance the experience of the people visiting the site.
  8. Restaurant menu — Scan the code for recipes to your favorite dishes.
  9. Press release — Include scan codes in press releases to provide recipients with additional information.
  10. Grocery shopping cart — Users can scan the code in to get special discounts at the grocery store. The scan code doesn’t change, but the offer rolls over with a new one every week.
  11. Link to iTunes App store — The Wall Street Journal included a scan code in one of their ads that instantly drove the visitor to the iTunes App store, where they could download the iPhone App for that product.
  12. In the Mens’ Urinals — Dan Smigrod’s company Great! proposed and implemented the first interactive urinal communicator for CMT Outlaws. “Don’t miss Outlaws on CMT. You seem to miss everything else!”
  13. YouTube video — Add a 2D Code to the end of a YouTube video to take you to a related video, thereby keeping the user engaged.

If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking here. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking here.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile.” He is also a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.

Category2D Codes, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Media, QR Codes | Comment39 Comments »

Tags:
January 28th, 2011

How People Make Buying Decisions

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

The most important purchase you get from a customer is the second purchase.

Why?

Because a two-time buyer is at least twice as likely to return and buy again as a one-time buyer.

So then the question becomes, “How do I get a one-time buyer to become a two-time buyer?”

Typically, that involves a combination of good customer service and the good sense of value.

People make buying decisions in one of three ways: With their gut, with their heart or with their head.

A good sense of value is achieved when a customer feels as though they’re getting more of your product or service than they paid for.

For example, a Mercedes Benz is typically twice as expensive as a Volkswagen. Given that, you might assume that Mercedes Benz’ market share would be significantly less than Volkswagen’s, but it’s not. They’re almost equal (1.9% for Mercedes Benz vs 2.2% for Volkswagen).

Why?

Because while a Mercedes Benz is twice as expensive, the perceived value is 2.5 to 3 times greater than a Volkswagen’s.

Customers who pay twice as much for a Mercedes Benz feel as though they’re getting 2.5 to 3 times more value for their purchase.

See how that works?

How all This Relates to You
When you’re thinking about how to sell more of your products and services, you can start by understanding how people make buying decisions.

Remember, most people make buying decisions in one of three ways:
1.    With their gut
2.    With their heart
3.    With their mind

People who make decisions with their gut are intuitive, non-linear thinkers. They don’t analyze a purchase in a structured “A…B…C” way as much as they analyze a purchase in a less-structured “A…Q…Z…Y…C…oh, look, there’s a bird outside my window” way.

People who make decisions with their heart are driven by emotion. If your target market is driven by emotion, you’ll want to work extra hard on establishing a strong, meaningful brand.

People who make decisions with their mind are logical, linear thinkers. It that’s your target market, you’ll want a feature-oriented, benefits-based marketing campaign.

Key Points to Remember

  • The most important purchase is the second purchase because those customers are twice as likely to purchase again
  • Customer service and perceived value are two of the key drivers for repeat purchases
  • Most people make buying decisions in one of three ways: their gut, their heart or their mind

Join a Discussion on Our LinkedIn Group:

On a semi-unrelated note, please feel free to join the discussion happening now on our LinkedIn Group: What’s Your Favorite New Mobile Phone App?

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryConsumer Behavior, General Marketing | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
January 26th, 2011

Hey, Taco Bell. Where’s the Beef?

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Breaking News: Taco Bell responded to the lawsuit mentioned in this post by running a full-page ad in the New York Times. I’ve included excerpts from the ad in italics below.

I’m not a huge fan of law suits, because I think some people use them for the wrong reasons. But every once in a while, there’s a lawsuit that gets my attention.

That’s what happened this week when a law firm claimed that Taco Bell is using false advertising when it refers to using “seasoned ground beef” or “seasoned beef” in its products.

Do you know your advertising law? Read these case studies to see how savvy you are.

According to the law suit, the meat mixture sold by Taco Bell restaurants contains binders and extenders and allegedly do not meet the minimum requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to be labeled as “beef.”

Attorney Dee Miles said they had Taco Bell’s “meat mixture” tested and found it contained less that 35 percent beef. The lawsuit does not seek monetary damages, but asks the court to order Taco Bell to be honest in its advertising.

Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell spokesman Rob Poetsch said the company denies that its advertising is misleading. “Taco Bell prides itself on serving high quality Mexican inspired food with great value. We’re happy that the millions of customers we serve every week agree,” Poetsch said. He said the company would “vigorously defend the suit.”

In a full page ad in the New York Times, Taco Bell said, “The claims against Taco Bell and our seasoned beef are absolutely false. Our beef is 100% USDA inspected, just like the quality beef you buy in a supermarket and prepare in your home … In case you’re curious, here’s our not-so-secret recipe. We start with USDA-inspected quality beef (88%). Then add water to keep it juicy and moist (3%). Mix in Mexican spices and flavors … (4%). Combine a little oats, caramelized sugar, yeast … (5%).

Based on Taco Bell’s response, the people filing the law suit have some ‘spaining to do.

More Advertising Law Case Studies

Not long ago, Jon Andersen with the Andersen Law Firm wrote an article for the 60 Second Marketer about advertising law.

Here’s what Jon wrote:

In a recent reported matter before the Nation Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus was an objection to some press releases released by the company, PrintsMadeEasy, Inc. Among other things, the press releases announced that the Business Cards Association of America had given its “annual” award for “Top Business Card Provider” to PrintsMadeEasy.com.

The award was issued by a “blue ribbon panel” that ranks business card providers on their service. The release then went on in some detail about the reasons PrintsMadeEasy.com was selected for the award (as well as a few disparaging remarks about competitor VistaPrint).

As you have probably already guessed, there is no “Business Cards Association of America”! There was absolutely no truth to the claim that any award was issued by such an association, let alone an “annual” award, nor was there a “blue ribbon panel” which ranked business card providers on their service.

Squirming in the face of the enormous falsehoods, PrintsMadeEasy tried to duck by saying that the press releases were really not advertising and furthermore, they (PrintsMadeEasy) did not control the content of the press releases which were prepared and distributed by an outside public relations firm.

Needless to say, NAD wasn’t buying any of that bit of guff and determined that the press release was nothing short of a paid commercial message by the advertiser. No joke! Advertising practices such as this should be hammered, and hammered hard. Here both the company and the PR firm were completely dishonest and deserve any suffering that may have resulted from this activity.

Probably no business is more competitive than food. From white tablecloth restaurants to supermarkets to farmer’s markets, the variety of offerings is mind boggling. So, making a product stand out is no easy task. In the recent past, the move on the part of the large consumer packaged food marketers, the thrust of the pitch seems to have been to involve health benefits.

For a while, the products seemed to focus on their “lack” of bad ingredients, i.e. no fat, low sodium, reduced sugar, etc. If we eat the advertised product, we will reduce our risk of the adverse health effect associated with the product in an unaltered state. And the advertising followed suit, with headline claims on how to lower your cholesterol by simply using the advertised product and, oh by the way, also following a low fat diet. And so it went.

Now, the trend has shifted from what is removed from the product to what has been added for our benefit. It is a world of additives, the “vitamin enriched” products, such as orange juice and even water. And vitamins everyone thought they understood. There is even a chart on most products detailing your daily recommended vitamin level, and the percent of that level a serving of the product delivers.

Then Dannon struck gold with its Activia yogurt. And a new advertising theme was created, “biotics.” Probiotics! Prebiotics! And the theme now is how these ingredients, work with your body’s natural systems (digestive, immune, etc.) to provide health benefits greater than ever.

Of course, advertising, spreading the word on these new ingredients and the health benefits jumps in with both feet, citing clinical studies, test results, statistics and other supportive “scientific” evidence. Many of the claims border on the claims made for products that most reasonable consumers know are not true, the “lose 30 pounds in two weeks with X-Loss” sort of thing. But these are “big-league” companies. So the question is real benefits or just marketing hype? How do we tell?

Ah, a California (where else) law firm is seeking to have a jury tell us. Representing a female named Patricia Wiener (and seeking to have the case expanded to a class action, mostly because there is not much money to be made in one plaintiff), a lawsuit has been filed against Dannon alleging that Ms. Weiner has been damaged because of the deceptive advertising for its DanActive, which duped her into buying the product. The law firm takes great issue with Dannon’s claims of “clinically proven” results.

Lesson: Is your claims substantiation evidence court-worthy?

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryAdvertising | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
January 25th, 2011

InMaps: A New Tool from LinkedIn That Helps You Visualize Your Network

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

LinkedIn just announced the release of a new tool designed to help people visualize their network. It’s called InMaps and here’s a brief excerpt from their announcement:

LinkedIn's new InMaps help people visualize their networks. Click here to see Jamie Turner's color-coded connections.

“InMaps is a great way to understand the relationships between you and your entire set of LinkedIn connections. With it you can better leverage your professional network to help pass along job opportunities, seek professional advice, gather insights, and more.

Here’s how it works: your map is color-coded to represent different affiliations or groups from your professional career, such as your previous employer, college classmates, or industries you’ve worked in. In my InMap, my LinkedIn colleagues are blue, while my former colleagues at Yahoo Analytics are pink and other at Yahoo are green and my Carnegie Mellon classmates are orange and tangerine.

Bigger names represent people who are the most connected within that specific cluster or group. When you click on a contact within a circle you’ll see their profile pop up on the right, as well as lines highlighting how they’re connected to your connections.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Your map is actually a view into how your professional world has been created over time. To get a sense of how that’s true, label each cluster (color) and explore your connections to see who are the major bridges on your map. You can use those insights to measure your own impact or influence, or create opportunities for someone else. So, you might see two distinct groups that you could introduce to become one. Or, you might leverage one person to connect them to someone else. See an area that doesn’t look like it is representative of your professional world? Fix it by adding the necessary connections.”

I took a spin through the InMap process and it’s neat device to visualize where your key connections have been made. It’s also a great way to see where you can strengthen your connections.

To see my InMap, just click Jamie Turner’s InMap and it’ll take you to a graphic outlining all my connections. You’ll also see a link so you can create your own InMap.

Enjoy!

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryLinkedIn | Comment5 Comments »

Tags:
January 24th, 2011

Are You Using Customer Segmentation and Predictive Modeling to Improve the Results of Your Marketing Campaigns?

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

There’s an important concept in marketing that you’re probably already familiar with called Customer Segmentation.

Here’s why it’s important:

  • The more you segment your target market, the more you can customize your marketing materials;
  • The more you customize your marketing materials, the more meaningful they become to your prospects;
  • The more meaningful they become to your prospects, the more stuff you’ll sell.

    The more you know about Customer Segmentation and Predictive Modeling, the more stuff you'll sell. And that would be a good thing.

The bottom line — Customer Segmentation is an important concept for marketers because it can help you sell more stuff to more people. And that would be a good thing.

What are the different kinds of Customer Segmentation? Glad you asked. Here’s a summary of how Dr. George Belch and Dr. Michael Belch break things down in Advertising and Promotion.

Demographic Segmentation:

This is pretty straightforward and something you’re probably doing already. Essentially, it’s dividing your target market on the basis of demographic variables such as age, sex, family size, education, income and social class.

As a marketer, you’ll want to focus attention on the specific demographic groups that drive large chunks of your revenue. For example, when Ikea found out that 70% of their shoppers were women, they enhanced their store environment to be more “women friendly.” The results speak for themselves.

Psychographic Segmentation:

Dividing your target market on the basis of personality and/or lifestyles is called psychographic segmentation. There is some disagreement as to whether a personality is a useful basis for segmentation, but lifestyle has been used effectively by the majority of sophisticated marketers.

The determination of lifestyles is usually based on an analysis of the activities, interests and opinions of consumers. These lifestyles are then correlated with the consumers’ product, brand and/or media usage.

For many products or services, lifestyles may be the best discriminator between use and non-use, accounting for differences in food, clothing and car selections among numerous other consumer behaviors.

Behavioral Segmentation:

Dividing customers into groups according to their usage, loyalties or buying responses to a product is called behavioral segmentation. For example, product or brand usage, degree of use (heavy vs. light), and/or brand loyalty are combined with demographic and/or psychographic criteria to develop profiles of market segments.

In the case of usage, the marketer assumes that non-purchasers of a brand or product who have the same characteristics as purchasers hold greater potential for adoption than non-users with different characteristics.

Benefit Segmentation:

In purchasing products, consumers are generally trying to satisfy specific needs and/or wants. They’re looking for products that provide specific benefits to satisfy these needs. The grouping of consumers on the basis of attributes sought in a product is known as benefit segmentation.

Consider the purchase of a wristwatch. While you might buy a watch for particular benefits such as accuracy and water resistance, others may see a different set of benefits relating to style and prestige. Those different customer groups would be broken out using benefit segmentation.

Going Deeper with Predictive Modeling

Not long ago, I was in a meeting with Brent Kuhn from BKV Digital and Direct Response. Brent mentioned that Customer Segmentation was just the starting point for marketing analytics. (His exact words were that it was like cutting a steak with a butter knife.)

His point was this — Demographic, Psychographic, Behavioral and Benefit Segmentation are important foundations, but they’re just the beginning. If you’re really going to get deep into this kind of stuff, you’ll want to get into Predictive Modeling.

Predictive Modeling is used to describe the likelihood that a customer will take a particular action, usually in the form of a purchase. For example, a large telecommunications company will have a set of predictive models for product cross-selling, product deep-selling and churn.

BKV worked on a predictive model for a large, well-known brand that went 400 data points deep. In other words, BKV used 400 different criteria to analyze and predict how certain customer segments would respond to the marketing initiatives.

Jim Head, BKV’s Director of Analytics, told me, “Customer segmentation and Predictive Modeling aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, they’re two important pieces of the same process.”

The starting point might be to use Segmentation to develop your overall strategy and to use Predictive Modeling as a way to analyze transactional and other data to predict the likelihood that customer segments will respond to marketing messages.

Action Steps for You:

  • At a minimum, you should have a good grasp of your different customer segments
  • You should also be customizing your marketing materials based on which customer segments will be receiving them
  • Ideally, you’ll also use sophisticated techniques like Predictive Modeling to super-charge your efforts and to improve the efficiencies of your marketing programs

If you’d like to hear more about Customer Segmentation and Predictive Modeling — and you’re spending more than $2 million a year on advertising — feel free to give me a call at 404-233-0332 and I’ll walk you through one-on-one how these techniques can be used to grow revenues and reduce marketing costs.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryAdvertising, Direct Marketing, Direct Response, Predictive Modeling | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
January 20th, 2011

What’s Your Advertising to Sales Ratio?

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

There are two primary ways companies can calculate their advertising budgets. The first is through a straight percentage of sales and looks like this:

Total dollar sales: $100,000,000

Straight percentage of sales at 10%: $10,000,000

Advertising budget: $10,000,000

The second way to calculate your advertising budget is through a percentage of unit cost and it looks like this:

Cost per unit to manufacture: $4.00

Unit cost allocated to advertising: $1.00

Forecast sales: 1,000,000 units

Advertising budget: $1,000,000

You can use either of those two methods to calculate your advertising budget. Alternatively, you could base your budget on industry norms, some of which are listed here (all figures given as a percentage of sales):

  • Advertising Agencies: 0.3% of sales (oh, the irony!)
  • Amusement Parks: 7%
  • Apparel and Accessory Stores: 4.5%
  • Beverages: 7.3%
  • Business Services: 0.4%
  • Cigarettes: 2.2%
  • Commercial Printing: 7.4%
  • Computer and Office Equipment: 0.7%
  • Dairy Products: 1.4%
  • Distilled Liquor: 15.6%
  • Drug Stores: 0.7%
  • Department Stores: 4.7%
  • Restaurants: 3.1%
  • Family Clothing Stores: 2%
  • Furniture Stores: 8.5%
  • Grocery Stores: 0.9%
  • Household Appliances: 2.4%
  • Life Insurance: 1.2%
  • Motion Picture Theatres: 0.7%
  • Perfume: 13.7%
  • Retail Stores: 3.7%
  • Software: 2.9%
  • Shoe Stores: 2.1 %
  • Watches: 9.3%
  • Wine: 3.6%

(Source: Advertising Ratios and Budgets, Schonfeld & Associates)

Where does your budget come in as compared to your competitors? If you want to grow market share, you’ll need to be above your competition. If you want to maintain market share, you’ll need to match your competitors.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryAdvertising | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
January 19th, 2011

How to Avoid the Great Social Media Crash of 2011

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Yesterday, I completed a webinar for the Direct Marketing Association called “How to Avoid the Great Social Media Crash of 2011.”

In the webinar, I pointed out that businesses using social media are setting themselves up for a big crash this year if they don’t measure the success of their campaigns on an ROI basis.

Click here to download the slides from Jamie Turner's presentation called "How to Avoid the Great Social Media Crash of 2011."

I also discussed a direct response formula used by many marketers called Customer Lifetime Value. This formula, in a very basic sense, is the amount of revenue a typical customer will generate for your business during the time that they’re engaged with your product or service.

I took a deep dive into this formula in an article I wrote for Mashable called “How to Calculate the ROI of a Social Media Campaign.”

Here’s an excerpt from the article on Mashable:

If you’re a lawn care company and you know that a typical customer spends $80 per month with you and that the average customer stays with your company for 3 years, then your Customer Lifetime Value would be $80 x 12 months x 3 years = $2,880.

Once you now your CLV, you can decide how much you’d like to invest to acquire a customer. This is called your Allowable Cost Per Sale. Many people use 10% of their CLV as a starting point for their Allowable Cost Per Sale. In the example above, your CLV is $2,880 and 10% of your CLV is $288, so your Allowable Cost Per Sale is that number: $288.

Putting Customer Lifetime Value to Work in Social Media

To keep things straightforward, let’s assume that the lawn care company relies exclusively on direct mail to acquire new customers.  Since a typical response rate for a direct mail piece in the lawn care industry is 0.5%, and since it costs about $1.44 to create and mail a direct mail piece, you know that you have to send out 200 direct mail pieces to acquire a new customer.

Here’s how the math works out:

Number of pieces sent: 200

Cost for printing and postage: $1.44

Total cost to send 200 pieces: $288

Response rate: 0.5%

Customers acquired: 200 pieces mailed x 0.5% response rate = 1 new customer

See how that works? For every $288 spent, the lawn care company gets 1 new customer.

Let’s take it a step further. If you’re a large, national lawn care company, you might spend $2.8 million on your annual direct mail campaign. By using the math above, you know that every year, you’ll gain about 10,000 new customers from your $2.8 million direct mail campaign.

Now, let’s assume that your CFO (or your CEO or CMO) wants to test the validity of a social media campaign. In order to do the test, you might slice off 10% of your $2.8 million direct mail budget and use that for a social media campaign. If you know that your $2.8 million direct mail campaign generates 10,000 new customers, then you also know that 10% of that (or $280,000) should generate about 1,000 new customers via direct mail.

That’s the pivotal number: 1,000 customers. After all, now that you know the math around your direct mail campaign, then you know that your social media campaign has to match that in order to be considered a success.

In other words, you have $288,000 to set up, launch and run a social media campaign that needs to generate 1,000 new customers a year.

How to Avoid the Great Social Media Crash of 2011

Once you understand the calculations above, you’re ready to start measuring your social media campaign on an ROI basis. (For an in-depth, step-by-step guide on how to set up a metrics-based social media campaign, you can read my book,  How to Make Money with Social Media).

All that said, if you’re interested in downloading a copy of the webinar I conducted for the Direct Marketing Association called “How to Avoid the Great Social Media Crash of 2011″ you can do so by clicking the link.

The slides should give you a sense of some of the tools and techniques used by marketers who are interested in setting up their social media campaigns on an ROI basis.

Enjoy!

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryDirect Marketing, Direct Response, General Marketing | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
January 18th, 2011

Direct Response Techniques Every Marketer Should Know

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

The science of direct response marketing isn’t just for direct response marketers. After all, every marketing director should be able to measure the success (or failure) of their marketing campaigns on an ROI basis.

I’ve talked about direct response techniques in several previous posts, including The 13 Most Important Emotional Triggers for Marketers and The 14 Most Powerful and Effective Words in Marketing.

What follows below is a 60 Second Marketer video that I created a short while ago. It outlines 7 techniques you can use to increase your sales tomorrow.

Many of the techniques are drawn from Bob Stone’s classic Successful Direct Marketing Methods (Amazon Affiliate Link). This book is packed with useful and relevant information that would help any marketer understand how to calculate the value of their marketing programs.

Seven of Mr. Stone’s techniques are outlined in the video below. Enjoy!

CategoryDirect Marketing, Direct Response | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
January 17th, 2011

Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave of Absence

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

Steve Jobs is one of the most brilliant business people ever. He’s the only person I know who has become a billionaire on three separate occasions — with Apple in the 1980s, with Pixar in the 1990s and with Apple again in the 2000s.

As you can tell, I’m a huge fan.

Which is why this announcement, sent out to Apple staff today, is so distressing:

“Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve”

We all wish Steve and his family well. He’s an exceptional human being who, hopefully, will bounce back from this health setback soon.

CategoryApple | CommentNo Comments »

January 14th, 2011

Harvard Business Review Social Media Article Snapshot

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

One of the key ideas behind BKV’s 60 Second Marketer is that we do some of the hard work for you.

By that, I mean that we read and analyze lengthy articles and white papers, then distill them down to 60-second summaries on your behalf. That way, you can get in, get out, and get back to work.

With that in mind, here’s a 60-second summary of an article from Harvard Business Review called Social Media and the New Rules of Branding.

The key idea behind the 60 Second Marketer is that we read lengthy articles for you, then distill them down to 60-second blog posts.

Key Take-Away:

Consumer behavior models are evolving. Today, consumers engage with brands after purchase almost as much as they engage with brands before purchase. Brands that understand this can use these third-party endorsements to grow market share and improve their marketing ROI.

Fascinating Factiod:

More than 60% of consumers of facial skin care products conduct online research after their purchase. This is a touch-point entirely missing from the classic consumer behavior models.

60 Second Article Summary:

  • The old consumer behavior models were based on a process where consumers evaluated many products, considered a handful and then purchased one
  • The old model puts too much emphasis on the consideration and the purchase phases
  • New research shows that consumers have an extended evaluation phase where they continuously add and subtract brands from their considered set of alternatives
  • Most importantly, consumers can become valuable advocates for your brand post-purchase, thereby becoming an important third-party component of your sales and marketing process
  • Most brands under-leverage this phase of their purchase cycle

The Bottom Line:

Consumers purchase products by first going through Consideration, Evaluation and then Buying phases. After purchase consumers Enjoy, Advocate and Bond with products. You can use the Enjoy, Advocate and Bond phases to help grow your market share via third-party endorsements.

Action Steps for You:

  • What are you doing to actively connect with your customers post-purchase?
  • What are you doing to reward customers for their endorsement of your product?
  • How are these post-purchase engagement programs integrated into your overall marketing plan?

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategorySocial Media | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
January 12th, 2011

How to Differentiate Your Brand with Humor

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

My lovely wife says I’m not funny.

This kind of bums me out.

“You’re laughable,” she tells me. “But that’s very different from being funny.”

This is my doorbell at home. Why do I do stuff like this? Because research indicates that people connect with others via humor. Plus, I thought it was just plain funny.

So goes my life at home.

But at work, I feel like I have a little more success. (Saying I have more success with humor at work is arguable, but that’s my story and I’m sticking with it.)

I’m a big believer in using humor at work. In fact, I try to incorporate little bits of that humor into what we do here at the 60 Second Marketer.

We do this for two reasons:

  1. Research indicates that people who connect emotionally with your brand are more likely to come back for more. One of the best ways to create an emotional connection with someone is to make them laugh or cry. When people laugh or cry, the bond that ties them to your brand is strengthened. (Hopefully, you do more laughing than crying when you visit the 60 Second Marketer.)
  2. Research also indicates that brands with strong differentiators are more successful than brands with weak differentiators. No matter what business you’re in, you’re probably interested in getting more customers (or visitors). The problem is that there are plenty of other companies trying to the same thing. Your goal, then, is to stand out. At the 60 Second Marketer, we try to stand out by incorporating little bits of levity to the site.

By the way, when I say we add levity to the site, I don’t mean that we’re putting humor in front of content. Quite the contrary. It’s more like we’re putting content first, and second, and third. And then humor comes in about 99th.

The result is that you might get an occasional chuckle when you’re reading something on the 60 Second Marketer. For example, you could be reading an information-packed, forward-to-a-friend-worthy post and come across the little piggy on our e-newsletter sign up page, or our famous picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a hula skirt.

The point is, if you can reward people for stopping by your website (or your store), you just might encourage them to come back for more.

Or not.

Here’s the bottom line: When a customer or prospect visits your store or website, you have an opportunity to connect with them. If you can make them laugh (or cry), you’ve created an emotional bond with them. When you have an emotional bond with them, they’re more likely to buy your product or service.

So … what are you doing to add emotion to your brand’s story? How are you differentiating your product or service? And how are you using your differentiator to bring people back for more?

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media a book packed with scintillating content and a few lines of humor now and then.

CategoryGeneral Marketing | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
January 10th, 2011

28 Secondary Research Sites for Marketers

Share on TwitterSubmit to StumbleUpon

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for websites with data so I can do secondary research on the economy, business trends and other things.

The other day, I came across a list of websites that are packed with interesting data and information. I thought I’d pass them along to you in the hopes you’ll find them helpful.

Enjoy! And let us know if there are any other websites that you think should be added to the list.

CNN Student News: www.cnnfyi.com

U.S. and World news multimedia site tailored to the needs of students.

Conversion Tables: www.convert-me.com
Convert length, area, speed, temperature, etc., into different units and systems.

eLibrary Research: www.elibrary.com
Search any topic using a database of current newspapers, magazines, books and more.

Encyclopedia Britannica: www.britannica.com
Online version of one of the world’s most trusted sources of information on every topic imaginable.

Fact Monster: www.factmonster.com
Designed for kids of all ages, this site offers an amazing array of facts and figures in addition to homework help, an almanac, dictionary and much more.

Gallup Organization: www.gallup.com
Search thousands of poll results, special reports, societal trends and social audits.

Information Please Almanac: www.infoplease.com
Online almanac offering millions of interesting and useful facts on a wide variety of subjects.

Internet Public Library: www.ipl.org
An exhaustive collection of over 20,000 titles.

iTools Research: www.itools.com
Collection of online research tools including dictionaries, translations, quotations and more.

Library of Congress: www.loc.gov
Easy to use reference catalog for accessing the collections of the Library of Congress.

National Archives: www.archives.gov
National Archives online director of U.S. Federal records.

Smithsonian Institution: www.si.edu
User-friendly site from the world’s largest museum complex and research organization.

U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov
A wealth of basic information about the U.S., broken down on a national, state and local level.

U.S. Department of Labor: http://stats.bls.gov
Bureau of Labor statistics site containing current labor statistics and links to hundreds of state and Federal agencies.

U.S. Federal Government: www.fedstats.gov
Statistical information from over 100 federal agencies.

Here’s another list I compiled a few years ago. It includes some additional resources that may be of help:

Competitive Intelligence

  • Forrester Research (www.Forrester.com): One of the best resources for the latest trends and predictions in the technology industry.
  • Hoovers Online (www.Hoovers.com): Competitive intelligence on almost all publicly traded companies.  Paid subscription necessary for in-depth research.
  • The List (www.TheListInc.com): A top-notch contact database with names, addresses, phone numbers and even e-mail addresses of key employees.  Paid subscription necessary.
  • Securities and Exchange Commission (www.SEC.gov): Visit this site for annual reports and, more importantly, 10K filings, which provide threat and opportunity analyses for publicly traded companies.
  • Standard & Poor’s (www.StandardandPoors.com): Analysts reports on industry trends as well as corporate profiles.
  • Plunkett Research (http://www.plunkettresearch.com/): Another source for industry trends.

Demographics and Marketing Research

  • MarketResearch.com (www.MarketResearch.com): A resource for research into a multitude of industries.  Costs range from several hundred to several thousand dollars, but a good resource for solid, credible marketing research.
  • Trend Watching (www.TrendWatching.com): A web site devoted to consumer trends.
  • Google/Uncle Sam (www.Google.com/unclesam): This site searches government documents from federal and state websites.  Good for demographic and census data.

Marketing Related Sites

  • MarketinProfs.com, MarketingSherpa.com:  Websites dedicated to sharing marketing knowledge from marketing experts.  Excellent resources for recent thoughts and research in the field of marketing.
  • Ad Forum (www.AdForum.com): The best commercials from around the world.
  • Peppers & Rogers Group (www.1to1.com): The web site from one of the leaders in the world of CRM.
  • World Advertising Research Center (www.warc.com): Valuable research on the effectiveness of marketing, advertising, creativity, etc.  Subscription necessary.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

CategoryResearch | Comment1 Comment »

Tags:
« Older Entries

The 60 Second Marketer is a free online magazine brought to you by BKV Interactive and Direct Response. We try to provide quick updates on the newest tools, tips and techniques in marketing. We also try to accomplish that with a dose of humor or levity. As it turns out, we're pretty good at providing tools, tips and techniques, but we're not actually all that funny. Which would explain why people don't call us "funny" as much as they call us "laughable." Bummer. Our offices, for those of you who are interested, are located in Atlanta (404-233-0332) and Kansas City (913-648-8333). We also have offices on Bora Bora, but they don't have the phones installed yet.

© 60 Second Marketer, a division of BKV, Inc.