September
16
2011
Jeff Ogden of Find New Customers, a B2B consultancy, recently drafted a post entitled, “Why’s B2B Marketing So Boring?” He makes the argument that it, B2B marketing, doesn’t have to be boring. Bravo! Here’s a snippet. His post is filled with a multi-media barrage of reasons B2B marketing should take off the tie.
Understand your buyers and make it fun. Make them laugh or make them cry, tell them a story or surprise them with insights. They will respond, engage with you and turn into the quality sales leads your salespeople so badly need.
For truly entertaining and informative B2B marketing programs look no further than VLG. We’re so committed to building very un-boring campaigns on behalf of our customers. Also, check out the latest milestone reached by VLG.
August
30
2011
While most advertising agencies experienced negative growth and layoffs over the past three years, we grew revenue 42% and had a 43% increase in new hires. That’s not bad for a company that never took a penny from investors, but even more impressive because it was done during the worst recession in a generation.
See boys and girls, hard work does pay off and good guys and gals do finish first. Well, in this case we finished 334 among ad agencies and 94 among Dallas businesses in our debut appearance on Inc. magazine’s prestigous list. We’re finding it hard to contain our excitement.
However, it’s a humbling experience when you realize you’re no longer a start up. You’ve cleared a hurdle and built a company that provides a quality service at a fair price.
If it weren’t for a stellar client roster VLG wouldn’t have made the list. We appreciate every single one of you and will continue to deliver very un-boring marketing programs for you now and in the future. Although we can’t name all our customers, visit this website for a partial list.
There is a lot of fist bumping at the VLG office today as we celebrate this achievement. This isn’t the last you’ve heard of VLG. We continue to innovate to secure our place on the list next year, but we will pause, reflect and enjoy this moment. Again, thanks to all for helping make this dream come true.
Read more about the list and get quotable nuggets from our team here.
Oh, and don’t forget to check out our latest invention, JumpSpark.
August
16
2011
Much has been made the last few days about the similarity between Google+ and Facebook when it comes to user interface. Using special equipment, EyeTrackShop analyzed how individual users’ eyes bounced around the applications. The results indicate which areas on the web page get the most traffic and in what order the user navigates the page.
The results are telling. Both Facebook and the built-much-later Google+ share almost identical eye tracking patterns. While this may look bad for Google–unless it’s a coincidence–the results couldn’t be better for JumpSpark. Check out the visualization patterns and fixation patterns for Google+ and Facebook.
JumpSpark, an online digital content library application now allows team members to post content to Facebook walls. That means any digital content you share from JumpSpark will appear in Area 1 of the image below. Your eye will go around the page before arriving on the Sponsored Links (Advertisements).
So, would you rather use JumpSpark to get your impressions and clicks on the Wall, or would you rather waste your money buying Facebook advertisements that go overlooked in the number five spot on the page. There is prime real estate on the Facebook page. JumpSpark puts your marketing content front and center. See below. Sign up here and give it a try.
August
9
2011
Great story shared with VLG today related to our 5th Anniversary T-shirt and…we can’t make this stuff up. (Edited to protect the guilty party.)
“So………I recently went to [a warm place with sandy beaches] . When in the airport I was approached by an employee at [a major airline] who said “That shirt is awesome. Where did you get it??”. I was wearing my [VLG] GimmeKnucks shirt [See the shirt]. I told her where I got it and she went on and on about how cool it was. I half joked – “I’ll give it to you if you can upgrade me to first class” to which she said “I’ll be right back!”. To make a long story short – my family of four got upgraded to first class and now your shirt is advertising somewhere in the [a major metropolitan] area!!”
Our thanks go out to S.D. for sharing a great story. Don’t worry a replacement T-shirt is in the mail.
If we get enough requests we’ll do another batch run. Send an email [knucks@wefightboredom.com] if you’re interested.
August
8
2011
What is content marketing? It’s a catchall for methods used to develop and share marketing content to current and prospective customers. Back in the old days we used to call that…wait for it…marketing!
How is this different? The biggest difference is access to information. Yesterday companies metered content, unleashing a trickle of information to be absorbed by the masses or better still a specific target audience. You’d do this to avoid inundating your audience with material. Today your audience is already inundated. We’ve gone beyond saturation. It’s a flood.
There are easy ways to overcome saturation and get your message to customers or prospects. VLG continues to advocate a personalized, dialogue marketing approach that leverages direct marketing and interactive awesomeness. It’s kind of pricey, but well worth it. Your audience will talk about one of these dialogue marketing programs for years, seriously, no kidding.
For those budget constrained we built JumpSpark. Ever find yourself in a crowded, noisy room full of people. You’re chatting it up with the person next to you, but the environment is too distracting. So, the two of you step out into the quiet hallway and finish your conversation. That’s JumpSpark. It’s a tool that helps you grab your customer/prospect and carry on a conversation away from the flood and noise.
The graphic below speaks to the growing impact of content marketing. Content is expensive to generate, so it’s important your company and ours start planning on ways to survive the flood.
JumpSpark is the ultimate content marketing tool! Leverage digital assets and give sales collateral needed to open doors an close deals. It’s about $25/month. No contract. 30-days free. Try it today.
August
5
2011
In our not-to-distant memory, we at VLG remember a seemingly global freeze on marketing spend from December 2008 to May 2009. During this nightmarish period our revenue fell off the shelf as we battened the hatches and waited out the storm. Ironically, the byproduct of our idle time is our recently launched and rapidly growing JumpSpark software application, a product we built to help us communicate and track down those most likely to buy during the “dark ages” of 2009-10.
The subsequent four quarters were the highest in VLG history. It was a turnaround of monstrous proportions. However, 2011 saw stagnant marketing spend for the first two quarters. Not unlike 2009, year-end marketing spend looks poised for a rebound.
VLG just experienced the company’s single biggest revenue month in the history. The floodgates of B2B marketing spend opened as companies ramp up to hammer Q3 and Q4 hard with aggressive lead generation campaigns. You’ll get now complaints here. We love the work and the challenge, but it begs the question.
With uncertainty in global markets was July just a flash in the pan. Should we expect a 2010-esque marketing bomb to finish out 2011, or will companies once again hunker down (that’s how we say it in Texas).
Only time will tell.
July
20
2011
JumpSpark’s latest feature is a trackable link you can share anywhere–grab it and go. We started with email, which still gives user the most in-depth tracking feature, generating real-time email alerts. Next we empowered users with the ability to post and track clicks in Facebook and Twitter. Finally, we’ve created the ability to copy and paste a trackable link anywhere on the web.
New feature means global sharing now an option
We believe new JumpSpark features must do one of two things:
1. Help organize a library of digital content online, which is great for backing up files and searching for content.
2. Encourage users to share content on a one-to-one basis, or disseminate information to their tribes, social circles, colleagues and mass audiences.
If you have a suggestion, please let us hear you at http://help.jumpspark.com. Don’t forget to sign up.
June
20
2011
We’ve always been critical of marketing spend on trade shows in this blog. Why go to a trade show?
*We’ve always gone to this trade show.
*It’s the industry’s biggest.
*Our competition will be there so we need a presence.
*Forget happy hour, how about happy week.
Trade shows are painful. They eat up tons of time before, during and after the show. Your team’s attention is diverted away from other projects that are much more likely to generate a better ROI and at the end of the day you have little to show for it save a full inbox and a week’s worth of playing catch up.
However, mobile marketing is the new hot topic in marketing this year. Mobile has the potential to meld the trade show floor with the digital space. Want to do some instant polling during a panel discussion? Done. Run a moderated SMS feed on the convention floor? No problem. Want to use Gowalla or Four Square to reward passersby that visit your booth? Yep.
The opportunities are fresh, new and inviting. Invest more of your time on mobile marketing, get a smaller booth and divert the remainder of your marketing spend to lead capture, nurture and conversion. We might just be experiencing the rebirth of the trade show (seminar, retreat, or training session).
