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The Two Most Important Rules of Email Marketing

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Recently I received an email newsletter for a company that I never subscribed to, and had already unsubscribed from. So what did I do? I marked the email as spam.

Instead of potentially soliciting clients, email marketing tactics that send emails to users that have not explicitly opted-in, and not cleaning up databases for unsubscribes almost guarantee the opposite effect of losing that potential customer and annoying them. Don’t be surprised if they express their frustration with your company to others as well. Moreover, when they start marking your emails as spam or complaining to their Internet Service Providers, you end up hurting your brand and ability to market online in the future.

Here’s an article that talks more on the issue of email marketing - the status quo isn’t working.


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B2B Online Marketing Best Practices

Monday, June 21st, 2010

While many B2C (business-to-consumer) companies have recognized the value of investing in online marketing strategy, I’ve often found that many B2B (business-to-business) companies are slower to adapt unless pushed by competition. With this in mind we’ve put together some key online marketing best practices to help B2Bs understand steps they can take to help their businesses grow.

1. Know your audience
• Invest in gaining a better understanding of your customers’ needs and behaviours.
• Develop personas to embed your target audience as people within your organization and use them as a filter for new initiatives, products and services.

2. Create and offer real value
• Offer value added marketing and communications that will help clients run their businesses more effectively - through content, widgets, tools, exclusive access, etc.
• Develop approaches and methods to better understand what your customers really need. Create and take advantage of opportunities to ask them what they want through online and offline channels.

3. Make your website user and member friendly
• Design your website to be user friendly with easy access to resources, services and client log-in pages.
• Content is one of your key values – make it easy to navigate and access with intuitive menus, search functions and offer help through direct contact if users cannot find what they need.
• Ensure that eCommerce shopping and check-out processes are simple and quick.

4. Be mobile friendly
• More users, especially professional, are accessing information increasingly on their mobile devices so provide online content that is easily accessible to them and consider how mobile commerce affects your users.

5. Ensure transparency and authenticity
• Ensure that your organization’s vision and goals are transparent and upfront.
• The recession weeded out weak competitors and in 2010 consumers will continue to scrutinize the transparency of companies, the authenticity of brands and their claims.

6. Engage your audience
• Engage your customers in dialogues to know what they want and like. Consider using surveys, email and social media sites like LinkedIn to engage audiences in channels where they frequent and to spread awareness to their networks.
• Consider adding a social bookmarking tool to your website like AddThis to make it easy for users to share content with others. In addition, it provides analytics on the bookmarking and sharing activities.

7. Search – SEO and SEM
• Design your website with SEO (search engine optimization) in mind and use SEM (search engine marketing) to ensure prominence on Google and other search engines.
• Use social media to get more search engine visibility, optimize key phrases on your website, and avoid any mistakes which may incur penalties from Google.

8. Invest in your relationships and communicate with supporters on a regular basis
• Keep email communications personal, timely, consistent and action-oriented. Don’t be afraid to experiment with A/B testing while tracking metrics to determine what is and isn’t working.
• Consider how your customers will be accessing these emails and ensure that the communications are designed with mobiles and handheld devices in mind.

9. Set goals, metrics, measure and test
• Set goals for the online marketing plan, track with appropriate metrics and continue to optimize the plan based on analysis and results.
• Standardize metrics for comparisons, test different tactics and measure to best leverage your email database


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2010 Marketing Trends

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

2009 was a trying time for many marketers but with the changing seasons, things are starting to look up. With the year coming to an end, we’re looking toward the new year and have compiled a list of Marketing Trends for 2010.

1. Consumer expectations are growing and they want more value.
Consumers got more for less in 2009 and will continue to expect the same in 2010. Smart marketers will develop approaches and methods to identify and capitalize on unmet expectations.

2. Brand differentiation is brand value.
A brand’s ability to differentiate themselves from generic competitors as the recession recedes will continue to provide value in true ROI terms - sales and profitability.

3. Transparency and authenticity will continue to be critical for brands.
The recession weeded out weak competitors and in 2010 consumers will continue to scrutinize the transparency of companies, the authenticity of brands and their claims.

4. Consumers continue to shape brands online.
Online conversations and communities are alive and growing. Consumer reviews and comments can extend trust /distrust to brands if the communities are authentic. These conversations are happening everyday – with or without the brand’s involvement.

5. Consumer engagement has become table stakes.
For the past few years, companies have been told that best practices included engaging consumers in two-way dialogues. For 2010, consumer engagement has now become table stakes.

6. More companies will join in social media conversations.
Online brand dialogues outside of company controlled outlets will continue to increase. According to a recent study by Deloitte (Tribalization of Business) 94% of businesses will continue or increase their investment in online communities and social media. Look for more companies to use Facebook Connect, become members of LinkedIn and to send tweets on Twitter.

7. Whether or not 2010 is the year of the Mobile, wireless communications are becoming more important.
There were numerous discussions on how 2009 was supposed to be the year of Mobile for commerce and advertising, and then more discussions on whether that came true or not. Regardless, mobile is a channel that should not be ignored by marketers as consumers have already texted in their vote.

8. ROI will remain top of mind.
With signals that the economy has come out of the recession, previously slashed marketing budgets may receive more funding, but not without justification. Executives will keep their eyes on the bottom line and scrutiny will remain on ROI and the tracking and analysis of results.


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How to Establish a Social Media Strategy

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

Has your company embraced social media with Twitter, Facebook or YouTube profiles yet? Even if your marketing department hasn’t engaged audiences in social media channels, chances are your company’s name and brand are already out there in some form of user generated content by employees, customers, critics and/or fans. By now most marketers should understand that companies cannot exert full control over their brands, but what you can do is create a social media strategy to maximize opportunities and minimize risk to your brand.

Establish a Social Media Strategy

With all of the attention being paid to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, it is tempting to open profiles on all of the popular social networks, however it is important to think through a social media strategy first. It is also critical to keep in mind that you do not control the message. This is not a one-way form of communication and if an organization is not comfortable or equipped to deal with the possibility that people will manipulate and challenge their information and media, you need to think twice before jumping to social media channels.

1.  Research and think through your audience, objectives, tactics, tools and metrics. Who do you want to reach and why? How do you plan to engage them? How will you measure success?

2.  Investigate how your target audience is currently using social media channels. Are they being used for entertainment value, communicating with friends and families, researching employment opportunities, etc.? Is this the right channel to engage them? What are the best social networks to reach them on?

3.  Once you’ve determined your objectives for engaging in social media, figure out whether or not the branded messaging your company wants to communicate has any value to participants. Understand that with social media, organizations need to give value to participants before expecting anything in return.

4.  Create a social media map. Inventory the current social media groups/pages that your company is affiliated with and determine where the gaps are and who would be best to maintain responsibility for these groups. It is important to keep in mind that there is an organic, unrestricted nature to these groups, and mandating participation to reluctant parties will result in poor experiences.

5.  Allocate sufficient resources to manage and maintain a presence in these social media channels. There is no use in asking participants to follow you on Twitter or join a Facebook group if you cannot offer fresh content, respond to questions and engage in a dialogue with participants. Commit resources and time to be successful or you may end up harming the brand and risk alienating participants who have signed up to engage in a relationship with you.

6.  Track and measure the results of using social media. If you do not have the capabilities internally, look to an agency partner that can offer their expertise. Ensure the metrics roll up to objectives that are relevant to the social media channel.

7.  Create a social media policy for your company. It is prudent to outline a social media plan and policy to ensure that employees understands what is acceptable conduct and content to share when they are representing an affiliation with your brand.


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Point of View: Bing

Friday, June 19th, 2009

Overview

Microsoft recently relaunched their search platform under a new banner, Bing. The previous incarnation, Microsoft AdCenter, launched a few years ago and has never really challenged Google’s market share leadership. There are three key hurdles Microsoft faces in trying to gain a stronger foothold in the search market:

1. Microsoft has to compete with the familiarity of Google and overcome the habits people have established with it. With people often being creatures of habit, this isn’t easily accomplished.
2. They need to create a product that not only catches up to, but also surpasses the existing market leader with new bells and whistles that users wouldn’t otherwise have access to.
3. Microsoft’s brand is not as strong as Google’s and Google continues to carefully cultivated evangelism toward their brand.

Today’s Opinion

So far most influencers online are panning Bing, but they know that raising the search bar will only elevate everyone else’s game. Microsoft has positioned Bing as a decision making tool, alluding to the fact that this might be the long awaited foray into Web 3.0, also known as the Semantic Web. However, in its current state, Bing is not a product that is revolutionizing search. Microsoft is employing similar strategies they’ve used in the past to incentivize people to use their search platform, such as Club Bing.

There are still some black box features to Bing, but one known feature is the reverse IP look-up executed during a search query. What that enables Bing to do is identify the person’s geographic location and serve localized content and mix it within the results.

They have layered the interface with some nice roll over previewing functionality, added some dynamic global navigation against the search results and other minor bells and whistles; but again it’s basic functionality and results delivery aren’t yet gigantic leaps forward.

Microsoft is spending a lot of money to promote their newest search solution. The ad campaign looks good, but any buzz to date has been manufactured; so the real questions will be answered once the ad dollars cease beyond the launch phase and we’ll see if they maintain growth or even sustain the market share they acquire during the promotional launch period.

What Bing Means to Marketers

So far, Microsoft’s Bing still lags behind Google and Yahoo in market share. There’s no doubt they will gain more ground, which will likely come from setting Bing as the default page in their next Explorer release and embedding it’s search capabilities into Hotmail and other existing Microsoft platforms. For most marketers major changes to SEO and SEM strategies aren’t recommended at this point as it’s worth waiting for to see what adoption rates will look like.

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Email Marketing Best Practices

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

Offer relevant and value-based emails

Email marketing works but as consumers are inundated with messages and opting in for less emails, your email must be relevant and offer something of value - otherwise it is perceived as spam.

Landing pages are critical

Marketers often focus on the email, but don’t pay enough attention to the landing pages they link to. Don’t create another barrier to get the audience to where you want them – direct them to the desired page with relevant content.

Create mobile friendly emails

Focus on ‘Preview Pane’ optimization and mobile friendly emails.

Employ loyalty and advocacy email marketing programs

Leverage CRM methodologies and dynamic content to build on email communications with your opt-in audience to encourage brand loyalty and advocacy.

Set goals, metrics, test and measure again

Standardize metrics for comparisons, test different tactics and measure again to best leverage your email database.

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Search Engine Marketing - SEM 101

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

What is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Paid Search Advertising or Cost per Click (CPC), consists of placing ads for products or services on search engines and content sites across the internet. These ads are a small text link or image ad that link to the advertiser’s web content. The advertiser pays for click throughs from the ad.  Leading search engines include: Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

SEM is a measurable form of marketing and can be optimized based on testing and analysis of results.  SEM campaigns allow for a great deal of control and can be targeted for budgets, geographical and time restrictions.

How does Search Engine Marketing work?

When a searcher visits a search engine and enters a query - i.e. “plasma TVs” - the search engine will seek out search queries related to the selected keywords and display the results, which in this case may be links to web pages containing information about plasma TVs.

The search engine results page also displays paid ads that contain relevant keywords from the query. Paid search advertising results usually appear on the top or right side of the search engine results page.

SEM Quick Tips:

Set goals for your SEM campaign and choose success metrics to track accordingly.

Coordinate offline campaign efforts to better leverage the online SEM campaign.

Know your target audience and choose keywords based on how they will search for your product/services(s).

Expand into keyword phrases, two or three word phrases generally work best.

Group keywords into categories or AdGroups based on similar attributes to best identify results.

Write ads according to a single theme.

Have more than one text ad per ad group and search engine.

Include your campaign keyword terms.

Track and analyze results. Optimize throughout the campaign.

Test and refine; this applies to AdGroups, keywords and text ads.

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Marketing in a Recession – What should Marketers be doing?

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

Maintain and grow share of mind

Studies have shown that maintaining “share of mind” during an economic downturn directly relates to current and future sales, and costs less than rebuilding it after a period of marketing inactivity. Companies that invested more in marketing in a down market realize increases in their ROI versus companies that maintained or cut marketing spend.

Stop and Listen to your customers

Your customers are feeling the effects of the recession and as such their needs may have changed.  Stop and listen to your customers to determine what your brand, product(s) or service(s) can do to support customers living through the economic slowdown.

Know your customers

Knowing your customers is more important than ever.  Invest in gaining a better understanding of your customers’ desires, behaviours, etc. Devise, test, execute and track micro-targeting strategies. Once your understand your customers, develop personas to embed your customers as people within your organization.

Focus on building existing customer relationships

Shift the focus away from new acquisitions to targeting your highest value customers and advocacy groups.  Build stronger relationships with your most valuable customers to increase brand affinity, loyalty and word of mouth recommendations.

Offer increased value

Increase your brand affinity and visibility by offering value added marketing to consumers.  Use free content, widgets, tools, exclusive access, etc. to offer more value to consumers in their marketing interactions with the brand.

Leverage and integrate content across multiple channels and multiple audiences

For greater efficiency and synergy, it is critical to ensure that all marketing departments and channels are leveraging one another’s efforts and content.  For example, a promotion to high value customers may also be adapted as an employee incentive program.

Quality over Quantity

Panic leads to looking for lowest cost alternatives and suppliers, but don’t sacrifice quality for quantity – you get what you pay for.

Keep communicating with your consumers

Consumers who have opted in to receive communications with you have established a valuable relationship with the brand. Despite budgeting constraints, continue to communicate with them on a regular basis, or they may move on.

Employ a low cost and trusted form of advertising – your customers

An often overlooked low cost and trusted form of advertising is word of mouth from your customers.  Expand your marketing team to include customer advocates / influencers and support their role with the right knowledge, tools and incentives.

Stay authentic to your brand

During times of uncertainty, a stable and authentic brand can be more appealing to customers.  Customers will have higher expectations on those brands and products that are consistent, especially in times of change.

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2009 Marketing Trends

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

Greater Emphasis on ROI

With all budgets, including marketing budgets being more closely scrutinized, greater emphasis will be placed on ROI and marketing campaigns and channels with measurable metrics.

Focus Shifts to Customer Retention

As the economy is slowing down, companies will be shifting their marketing focus away from acquiring new customers in order to satisfy and retain their loyal and core customers.

More Value Added Advertising

Consumers are saturated with advertising messages and companies have realized that offering value-added advertising content is an effective way to engage consumers while breaking through the clutter.

Evolution of Social Media Continues

From collaboration through to User Generated Content, social media will continue to evolutionize marketing and communications.

More Mobile Marketing

From personalized and localized advertising to couponing and mobile wallets, the mobile device will become the screen of choice over the next few years.  Advertising will be tailored to mobiles to optimize viewer panes and moreover, offer branded content to attract consumers.

Leveraging Consumer Advocacy

There are more channels than ever to reach out to your consumer, but consumers are looking past mainstream media for trusted advertising. Consumers cite that recommendations from other consumers, above all other media, are the most trustworthy form of advertising.

‘Eco’-nomical Solutions

Companies and consumer have become more environmentally conscious than ever. With the slowdown in the economy, more attention will be paid toward ‘green’ solutions that also provide sustainable and economical benefits.

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