Crumbs from the Scone
Marketers don’t always agree on the best way to achieve results, and Michael Antman takes the contrarian view of a strategy popular with many of his colleagues. “[S]ome businesses, especially on the B2B side, rely far too heavily on organic word-of-mouth strategies and, specifically, on acquiring new customers primarily through referrals,” he says in an article at MarketingProfs. Here are some reasons for his rationale:
Recommendations are subjective and uncontrollable. Antman argues that a referral gets you nothing more than a foot in the door. And that’s assuming your product or service receives accurate representation. “Well-intentioned recommenders may still get your message entirely wrong or characterize you so narrowly that a potential client won’t consider you for an enterprisewide solution.”
Word-of-mouth is limited in reach and easily subverted. The strength of a recommendation weakens with the degree of separation. Further, without a formal way to combat negative word-of-mouth, competitors can diss your company with impunity.
The Po!nt: Antman believes there is no substitute for case studies, sophisticated sales-support tools and mass communications vehicles such as advertising, public relations and print and electronic collateral. “[R]elying on organic word-of-mouth is practically a guaranteed way for a small or medium-sized business to stay small or medium-sized.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Cheers, Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
“In these stressful economic times, it is more important than ever to build messages that resonate with your audience,” says Winston Bowden in an article at MarketingProfs. “Like retailers, nonprofits should be thinking about how they can tell their story and leverage the holiday season.” Here’s some of his advice for a nonprofit holiday “retail” approach to fundraising:
Offer a gift membership. You’ll not only generate additional income, you’ll gain valuable exposure to the likeminded friends of your members. Engage your email audience with a professionally designed message that presents a compelling gift offer. And don’t worry if you don’t have an existing method for processing online payments; a service like PayPal can handle everything for a small fee.
Appeal to the bargain hunter. Create an offer with a discounted membership. It doesn’t have to be drastic—just enough to make people feel like they’re getting a good deal. Also, highlight your tax-deductible status, and make documentation easily available.
Don’t forget to tug at those heartstrings. Include these tried-and-true nonprofit elements in every email, regardless of how retail-oriented it is: Choose stories about the people you’re helping that members can relate to, and include pictures. Show how the money donors are giving furthers your cause.
The Po!nt: Write that nonprofit holiday retail email today! “Don’t count on email as a last-minute channel to bolster support,” says Bowden. “Instead, make it a tactic with thoughtful planning and execution.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Cheers, Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
When Tate Linden of Stokefire began to see a number of obscure blog posts touting a heretofore unknown competitor as the world’s “first naming company,” he thought he should check them out. And in a post at the Thingnamer blog, he concludes that the company had likely paid for the “editorial” coverage and their coveted links. “Even if no money changed hands,” he says, “something must have happened to get this mini-avalanche of blog postings to occur.”
Ethics aside, the strategy has an inherent problem. It relies on subterfuge to succeed, and can do enormous damage to a company’s public image if it isn’t sneaky enough. According to Linden, Stokefire has a “mantra” that goes something like this: If you wouldn’t talk about it on our homepage, you shouldn’t do it. “That includes taking on questionable projects, working for questionable clients, or undertaking questionable advertising practices.”
You might scoff at a company that buys links from random bloggers, but the concept of not-entirely-kosher practices raises an interesting question for Linden. Would any aspect of your marketing plan cause embarrassment if you didn’t keep it on the QT? “If so, why?” he asks.
“Remember,” says Linden, “your brand is who you are when you think no one is looking.” We think the thoughtful reminder is an excellent piece of Marketing Inspiration.
Source: MarketingProfs newsletter 10/27/08
Cheers, Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
We never tire of good writing advice, and Anna Goldsmith of The Hired Pens recommends an interesting editing process that begins with taking a break. “We all know that when we’re too close to things, we don’t see them clearly,” she says. So after writing your first draft, go for a walk, drink a cup of coffee or run an errand—anything that will put some mental distance between you and your copy. Then follow these four steps:
Pretend you are not you. Get into the mind of your audience by reading the draft from their perspective. Does it make sense? Does it hold your interest? Does it include the information you need to take action?
Cut, cut and cut some more. If a sentence is more than 25 words, eliminate unneeded words or break it into two shorter sentences. Replace long words and awkward phrases with more simple variants. “Why say ascertain the location of when you can just say find?” asks Goldsmith.
Channel your inner English teacher. You may use contractions and an informal tone if it’s appropriate to your copy. But banish the dreaded passive voice, all grammatical errors and any incorrect formatting.
Revise, print it out and read aloud. Your ear will probably catch anything your eye missed.
The Po!nt: “In a perfect world, you’d never have to edit your own work, but well, you know the drill,” says Goldsmith. “The world’s not perfect, life’s not fair, yada yada.” Investing a little time upfront can save you the hassle of explaining an embarrassing typo to your boss—or yourself.
Source: An article submitted by The Hired Pens to MarketingProfs.
Cheers, Skip
Crumbs from the Scone
Yeah okay so it’s not exactly a direct quote from The Who but it made you look!
Today I want to talk a little about video and audio pod casting. It can be tough and costly to win sympathetic ears for your life-changing service. But the Net—and a wildfire proliferation of iPods—have conceived a powerful ally for you: the podcast. A full 18.5 million US users listened to podcasts last year—a figure that might hit 65 million by 2012, says eMarketer. And Podtrac and TNS claim podcast advertising is three times as effective as “traditional” online ads.
There’s no mystique to using podcasting to benefit your brand. You’ll need patience, well-planned material (try scripts out on your apathetic spouse!)—and a bit of time. The trick is doing it effectively. Don’t start a podcast series before realizing what commitment it requires. Leaving it to die on the vine might do more harm than good. Some tips:
Plan a schedule. Will you broadcast monthly, weekly? Canvas topics beforehand; don’t scramble for material the night before. Thankfully, podcasts don’t have to be long (3-4 minutes).
Spend on-air time wisely. Avoid hard-sells. Entertaining and informing are the priority, but consistently mention your brand at the end. You can also try incorporating it in a randomly playful way. (Retro fun: bring back the jingle!)
Launch a microsite where fans can commune, contact you and read transcripts or blogs. (Think of the SEO benefits!) Don’t forget to analyze progress: Feedburner’s good for measuring unique subscribers per show; Podtrac and Volomedia lend demographic insight.
Ready to start? Try these services: Garageband (great for Mac-heads), Gcast, ClickCaster or Audacity.
Cast off! Podcasting reaps major brand recognition for minor effort. Try it—but plan for the long-term!
source:MarketingProfs newsletter
Crumbs from the Scone
With the latest seismic shifts in the U.S. economy, it seemed a good time to check back to Jon Miller’s “definitive guide to B2B marketing during a downturn,” first presented last June in his Modern B2B Marketing blog. Here are seven of Miller’s smart tips.
1. Use lead management to maximize the value of each lead. When prospects are fearful, Miller says, “you need lead scoring to identify which leads are highly engaged, and lead nurturing to develop relationships.”
2. Focus on your house list. Spend more time marketing to (and building relationships with) the people you already know.
3. Build and optimize landing pages. Jon Miller wisely informs us that “a dedicated landing page is the single most effective way to turn a click into a prospect.”
4. Develop content for later in the buying cycle. Stick to the surer thing: “focus your offers on content that will appeal to someone who’s actually looking for a solution.”
5. Appeal to the nervous buyer. Says Miller: “[Include] customer references, reviews, expert opinions, awards, and other validation as part of your marketing.”
6. Align sales and marketing. Both teams should work together to create a single revenue pipeline.
7. Don’t be a cost center. “[M]arketing investments must be justified with a rigorous business case and should be amortized over the entire ‘useful life’ of the investment,” says Miller.
Tough times can be toughed out. Tips like these can help ensure you stay on top during a downturn.
source:Modern B2B Marketing.
