http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/NewsletArch/newsletter05_22_08.htm

Hello Folks -

While the US economy is not officially in a recession, most customers are becoming more cost-conscious as prices in key areas increase. Their needs are changing, but as a marketer how do you know what, exactly, has changed? My “Marketing Strategy for a Tough Economy” explains a method for projecting and integrating change into the marketing mix. Matthew Parente takes it a step further, addressing how to continually create new value ― no matter what the economy ― in “Turning a Down Economy into Opportunity.”

Other keys to thriving in a weak economy involve: (a) keeping the customers happy (so they’ll not only become repeat customers but will also spread the word about your products and services), (b) effectively getting in front of customers on their terms, and (c) interacting with customers through research.

“Everything You Need To Know About Word of Mouth Marketing” from Andy Sernovitz, “Social Media Content Creation Process” from Geoff Livingston, and “Qualitative Market Research - Attract Quality Respondents With The Four W’s” by Mark Goodin address these, respectively.

Enjoy!
Bobette Kyle

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/NewsletArch/newsletter03_25_08.htm

Hello Folks -

This issue is all about attracting the right people for your product or service. Each of today’s articles addresses how to attract customers using a different marketing method.

Currently, the hottest methods involve interacting with potential customers and fans directly through social networking. Approaching this like advertising won’t cut it. People in social networks are looking for genuine interaction and interest in them. 18-year-old Country music star Taylor Swift, for example, is a phenomenal example of how social networks can prove wildly successful. Taylor’s career exposure began on the Internet as she diligently cultivated a growing fan base through her MySpace page. According to CMT News, “She said she closely supervises her MySpace page, even going so far as to personally write her biography in first person for it.” Taylor also says she spends an hour each day personally answering comments and emails. A look at her blog and MySpace page (myspace.com/taylorswift) quickly reveals another aspect of her networking success: the imagery and her writing style appeal to her online fans, predominantly teenage girls like her. “I have beautiful friends. Be one,” she quips. And they all love her ― 661,458 of them. Social networking success will look a little different for each of us ― because each of us appeal to a different type of person ― but the underlying constant is connecting individually with your customers. For more tips about social networking online, take a look at Nancy Marmolejo’s “7 Tips to Build Your Visibility and Credibility with Social Networking.”

As long as there are search engines and Websites, SEO will be a source for new business. For those who benefit from attracting search customers from specific geographic locations, Marsha Yudkin discusses specific on-site methods for improving geographically focused search rankings. If you are thinking about outsourcing local search optimization, read Scott Buresh’s analysis of Sams Club’s local SEO service.

Having your work published in print publications can bring attention to your business as well. In “Why Don’t Magazine Editors Like My Article Ideas?” Marcia explains ten common barriers to becoming published in print and how to overcome them. She discusses magazines specifically, but you can apply the general techniques to publishers in any medium ― print, digital, audio, or visual.

Publicity and press releases are another media-driven source of attention. In her third article this issue Marcia Yudkin explains how media releases can help attract customers when releasing a new product.

Enjoy!

Bobette Kyle

Hello Folks -

This is a special Super Bowl follow-up edition of the WebSiteMarketingPlan.com news. Last month, I invited you to identify trends in Super Bowl XLII advertising and promotional methods, then think of ways you can incorporate them into your own marketing plans. Did you get a chance to do it? I did. Take a look at my new “Super Bowl XLII Advertising and Marketing” article for some ideas:

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/marketing_management/superbowl7.htm

Super Bowl XLII Advertising and Marketing

by Bobette Kyle

Earlier this year, I invited you to try to identify trends in Super Bowl XLII advertising and promotional methods, then think of ways you can incorporate them into your own marketing plans. Did you get a chance to do it? I did. My post-Super Bowl observations and thoughts follow.

Texting Messaging

The number one promotional trend I noticed this year was viewer interaction through text messaging. Texting is hot and text message marketing is coming into it’s own over the last couple of years. This can be a win for everyone when the customer prefers to communicate this way. Some examples from Super Bowl advertisers:

Team of the Decade. (Survey sponsored by Cadillac)

Throughout Super Bowl Sunday, Fox Sports aired segments highlighting the best team from each of last five decades (1960s: Green Bay Packers, 1970s: Pittsburgh Steelers, 1980s: San Francisco 49ers, 1990s: Dallas Cowboys, and 2000s: New England Patriots). After each segment, fans were invited to vote for their favorite by sending a text message or voting online.

Call the Play. (Presented by Samsung)

This is actually an ongoing game available for most of the NFL games throughout the season (AirPlay). As you watch the game, predict the next play - players, the play, and defense — through your cell phone or the Internet.

United Way Donations

United Way ran a fundraising spot with Tom Brady inviting viewers to text in a $5 donation. Viewers could also donate through the Website.

How can we use the concept in our own businesses? Think of activities your customers may prefer to conduct through text messaging and give them a choice. The Super Bowl advertisers gave customers the options of voting, game playing, and donating by texting. There are other approaches as well. Think about where in your own business you can apply this form of communication. Customer service? Ordering? Shipment notifications? The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Website Interaction

By now, integrating Websites into advertising campaigns old hat. The easy lesson here is to communicate your Website address at every opportunity. For the most part, Super Bowl advertisers did just that. A majority of the commercials invited you to visit the site or flashed a URL across the screen at some point. There were, however, a couple of twists on this old technique:

Advertising a Commercial

GoDaddy.com aired a commercial advertising another commercial. As in several recent years, the first commercial the company submitted to the network was supposedly rejected as too risqué. This year, the whole point of the commercial that actually aired was to pull people to the Website to view the “rejected” ad. Horny men, apparently, are a major purchaser of domain names.

Customer Fame

Tide-To-Go has invited us to “get famous” by creating a talking stain ad and entering it in a contest at mytalkingstain.com. The winner’s ad will air during a prime time TV show.

Both the Tide and GoDaddy ads gave viewers a compelling reason to visit the companys’ Websites. As a marketer, the critical result is to convert that action into increased purchasing behavior. This could happen in a variety of ways: by converting them to purchasers at the time of the visit, moving them further along in the buying process, or increasing brand awareness (i.e. increasing the chance of a future purchase). When developing your own promotional campaigns that are only tangentially related to your product, specifically address how the campaign will increase purchasing behavior in your target customers.

Branding through logo recognition.

Some advertising creates an immediate sales increase, but this isn’t the only feasible advertising goal. Commercials can also be a means for long-term branding. The Under Armour Prototype commercial is an example. Notice how many times the logo shows up during the course of the ad. My guess is the primary goal of this commercial is to increase brand recognition, as Nike has done over the years. How many athletes instantly think “Nike” at the site of that checkmark logo? Almost 100%, I would imagine. The lesson here is to consider brand equity in your marketing programs. Some marketing benefits build long-term, rather than hit immediately.

So, those were my Super Bowl XLII marketing observations. Were they different from yours?

http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/NewsletArch/newsletter01_15_08.htm
Hello Folks -