February
24
2009
On Thursday, Bob DeStafano will present a seminar on “How to Make Your B-to-B Website a Lead Generation Machine”. As a premium subscriber on MarketingProfs I like to cheat a little by taking a peak at the slide deck prior to the seminar. I usually base my decision to attend the seminar purely on the content of the slides. I’d wager a bet I’m not alone here. In this case, I’m out. Mr DeStefano loaded 30 slides with some very obvious advice. He also neglects my 10/20/30 rule. Ten slides, 20 pt. font, and 30 minutes to deliver.
What can we surmise from his fully-loaded slide deck? He’s going to speak to the importance of SEO to SEM. If you can get inside your target audience’s head, you’ll use keywords they would use to find you. Most likely these would be based on their real or perceived needs, pain points and solutions. He states, “Make Your Website Customer-Focused”. I hope that’s not news to anyone in the B-to-B space.
Next Mr DeStefano takes us through the importance of converting your web presence into a lead generation machine. We agree. He suggest the use of targeted microsites to drive lead generation. Again, we agree. He speaks to the importance of measuring the impact of your online efforts. Yeah, we agree. Prepare your team to quickly follow-up on the leads generated. Yep, he’s got it.
The real meat of this seminar seems to kick in around slide twenty, so you can roll in a little late on this one and still get good value. If you are not a Premium subscriber to MarketingProfs, keep your money in your pocket and get someone to slip you the slide deck Thursday afternoon. Hint, hint.
February
22
2009
Want to know what the U.S. Postal Service is doing with all those rate hikes? Self-promotion.
It’s not all bad. I found a little gem written by Steve Cuno for the online version of the Postal Service’s Deliver magazine. Here’s a quick summary of his piece on re-branding.
Mr Cuno takes exception with the term re-branding and instead favors morphing a brand. Pepsi is a great example. The company’s recent “re-brand” does look remarkably like the old Pepsi logo. The product didn’t change. The distribution channels didn’t change. The colors on the box and a simplified mark have morphed the brand to target a market–not sure which one.
Unfortunately, the article fails in its attempt to tie re-branding, or morphing, to direct marketing. Mr Cuno states, “No logo or tagline can save a company without the substance to back them.” This is true. Perhaps the best conclusion we can draw from his article is that in direct marketing you strive for action, purchase, revenue, or movement. The brand alone won’t deliver; it’s the substance.
February
20
2009
Our team attended the Addys en masse to check out the local ad scene, drink some free wine, and soak up the architecture of the Old Red Courthouse in Dallas. It turned into art show with three agencies dominating the awards with thematic work that would sweep entire categories. With your rear end starting to dose off the show picked up a little with a viral video campaign for Dibs. The effort was backed by some good campaign metrics. Those that work with VLG know we can’t imagine a campaign that didn’t put metrics and revenue front and center.
There was, however, a mild letdown this morning as I rushed out to watch the winning video again, but the campaign is now nothing but a dead link. Bummer. It must have been fun while it lasted. All in all would I recommend dropping $90 a head to sit through the Addys? Nope, not this morning, but the good news is whether you win or lose the parking was validated. Yeah, free parking.
February
13
2009
Marketing departments are still, sadly, cost centers. In a down economy, if it doesn’t make money it takes money and nobody like that. Our plea to all marketers is to turn your department/division/group into a revenue center. Reinvent yourself as “the” revenue engine in your organization. We build this clever Dialog Engine solutions, so called because these solutions enable sales.
As a marketing and advertising firm, we see firsthand shifts in marketing spend. They are a little scary. We’re a small, niche player that provides a very specific, revenue-centric solution. Cuts in marketing spend affect even the most sales-focused marketing organizations. Does that make sense? Nope. Together we can reinvent marketing. Find less expensive ways to reach more households. Find ways to get more our of your spend. Find ways to objectively measure marketing’s impact on the bottom line.
It’s not as scary as it sounds. We find new ways to do this everyday.
November
26
2008
I am a 30 year old married female who works full time, has two children (both boys, if you must know that too), a dog, a master’’s degree and I own my own house and car. I live in the suburbs and enjoy exercising, reading and photography.
Segmentation by way of demographics, psychographics and the like still exist as the lazy way to attempt to lump me into categories based on traditional market research and I have to say it offends me and you must have realized by now its not working for you. Though I live in the suburbs and have two children, I do not have a desire to drive a minivan or SUV. If you must know, I drive a beefy mustang and yes, my children fit in the back seat and there aren”t stale fries under my seats. When they were small I was not in the market to child proof my home in plastic and vinyl. I have strong values about education, but don”t fall into the “listening to classical music with improve their math skills” hype, so stop sending me invitations to children’’s book clubs and educational DVD memberships.
Though I”m 30, married, live in the suburbs and enjoy photography, I do not sit at home and scrap book, watch Lifetime television or spend my weekends making my home sparkle for my family’’s health and well being. I expect my husband to not “help”, but simply do his part around the house. He lives there too! I prefer to watch car shows like Top Gear and Spongebob Squarepants and I still like to go out to a dance club with friends once in a while, the latter of which my mother still disapproves of (because married women with children DO NOT behave that way).
While I know I am probably more of an exception, a one off case to be set aside in favor of the segmented group as a whole, you must realize that in this day and age of iphones, ipods, ichat, ilike and others, its not about reaching the right group. Its increasingly about “i” - reaching the right individual - or as Joseph Jaffe calls it in his book “Join the Conversation”, generation “i”. Now if you”ll excuse me, I”m late to get my car washed and meet my girlfriends for a night out.
April
26
2008
Something happens every four years that brings the world's population together for three short weeks.
The Summer Olympics, of course.
While it brings to mind those days of old when my playmates and I would don swimsuits and make up synchronized swimming routines in the deep end of the pool, it also brings to the forefront the idea of the Olympiad as a marketing indicator. Past studies have focused on the impact of ambush marketing - the act of insinuating an association with an event while not an official sponsor.
This summer at the XXIX Olympiad, NBC will take it step further by tracking more than just their ratings.
It will be interesting to see what they find. Our money is on high interactivity and users interested in streaming content. And I”ll be dusting off that swimsuit for a return to the pool.