Category: Marketing

In all my years
in new business development,
I have never been shown proof
that bus shelter ads
convert into sales
(yes, even with my stint
in the film business).
They may boost awareness
(a number very easy to manipulate
so I don’t have much faith in it)
but sales?
Nope.

So why do companies,
including the ones I’ve worked for,
advertise at bus shelters?

My theory is…
because executives like
bus shelter ads.
They’re big and glamorous
and high profile.

That’s fine if you’re a Fortune 500 company
with cash to burn.
Not so great if you’re a start up.

Don’t simply follow the marketing programs
of the big guys.
And when marketing companies pitch to you,
ask for SALES numbers,
not awareness.

I’m working right now on a business plan
for an online company.
What do the founders have
in their marketing budget?
Money for bus shelter ads,
print ads,
television spots,
everything other than online ads.

None of it will convert into traffic.

Why?

Because they are asking their marketing
to do two things.
First, they need to sell prospects
on going online.
THEN, they need to sell prospects
on going to their site.

It is damn difficult to get prospects
to do ONE thing.
Impossible to get them to do two.

There is a reason Coca-Cola’s slogan was
‘Within an arm’s reach of desire’
and that is because
advertising works best
when it is closest to the product.

If you are an online company,
advertise online.
If you’re a restaurant on a busy freeway,
buy a billboard on that freeway.
If you sell beverages to grocery stores,
put up a shelf talker
or take out a flyer ad.

Make it EASY for your marketing dollars
to work.

“Three major celebrities
dying in one week,”
the talking head gasped,
“that’s shocking.’

Ummm… no, it isn’t.
The names may have been shocking
but that three well known people
died in one week?
Not.

Why?

Because the number of celebrities
you and I know
is 100 times (or more)
the number of celebrities
our grandparents know.
That’s a by-product
of the information age.

Combine that
with boomers,
the demographic bulge,
getting older,
and celebrity deaths are bound
to be regular news reports.

The networks are counting on it.
You see, they have obituaries
and remembrance reels
already written for all the major celebrities.
They are prepared
and plan to profit from it.

There are opportunities
in EVERY situation,
no matter how morbid.

What do you do
if you have a show
with top ratings
earned in a way
inconsistent with your brand image?

If you’re TLC,
you shelve the show.

The official reason
for Jon & Kate Plus 8
going on hiatus
is not having enough footage
to create fresh installments.
Since the tabloids
have more than enough
fresh photos to sell papers,
that is difficult to believe.

What I DO think
is that someone high up
at TLC
had the balls
to stand up and say
‘this is not what this network
stands for.’

Good or bad decision,
only time will tell
but as a marketer,
I am applauding.

Perez Hilton made a headlines
yesterday
by claiming Black Eyed Peas’
Will.i.am assaulted him
at the MMVA’s.

I listened to 3 different radio stations.
All 3 covered the story
but all 3 followed it
with a story about
bad behavior by Perez Hilton
to not-as-famous MMVA attendees.
The interesting thing
is that EVERY story was different
and told with a personal connection
to the DJ telling it.

The result is,
true or not,
it is being dismissed as
a publicity stunt.

For sympathetic marketing to work,
the recipient has to be sympathetic.
TRULY sympathetic
because in the era
of everyone journalism
lies will be outed.

Is there such a thing
as viral direct mail?
Of course.

DEWALT Tools Canada
recently ran a very successful referral campaign.

Recipients of an opt-in direct marketing campaign
were given a coupon book
to hand out to friends.

Customers gained points
towards a prize
every time a friend redeemed a coupon.

Cosmo Mariano
from Lift
explains
“Once people recognized
we were tracking the coupons
they gave to their buddies,
they knew it was credible
and it went gangbusters.

We had over a 50 percent response rate
and thousands and thousands of referrals.

The viral component alone
generated more than enough revenue
to pay for the campaign.”

* Source: Canadian Business, March 30, 2009

Nearly a third of all children
(age 6 to 11)
have their own email addresses.

When you are 6,
you’re not emailing words,
you’re emailing pictures.

If it is a great picture
(great in the eyes of a 6 year old
or in my case
a 9 year old),
you email that image
to loved ones at least once a day
(sometimes five times a day).

Imagine if that picture
was of the latest kid’s movie
or the hottest new toy
or a Dairy Queen Blizzard.
Yes, VERY powerful.

When you’re sending an email
to a group of moms,
include a kid friendly photo
and suggest that their child may like it.

I went to a literary conference on Saturday.
I don’t normally go to these.
I stick to romance specific events.

At one workshop,
I didn’t understand
a third of the words
coming out of the speaker’s mouth.
I didn’t get his references
to other writers
(writers not found on any best sellers list).

This was great.
Not only because I learned a few things
but because it humbled me.
I didn’t know ‘everything.’
I knew nothing.

Accepting that you know nothing
is very powerful.
It forces you to ask questions,
to learn,
to fill the empty space.

Do something today
completely out of your comfort zone.
Watch a tv show in another language.
Eat at a restaurant
where you don’t recognize a single dish.
Visit an online forum
in an area outside your expertise.

Want to reach mothers
(the gatekeepers for kids)?
Head to MySpace.

In a presentation by Mitch Joel
yesterday,
he shared
that 40% of all mothers
in the U.S.
are on MySpace.
That is ALL mothers
(not simply online mothers).

If mothers (or kids via mothers)
is your target market,
why aren’t you there?

When I first set up my email for
http://businessromance.com/
I made a classic junior jammer mistake.
I used info@
Then I tested the address
by mailing from it
to a Yahoo! account.
The test failed.
Yahoo! automatically sends emails
from info@ accounts to trash.

I then set up another account
using kimber@
No problems.

At Forbes.com,
Gene Marks, owner of the Marks Group,
shares their top tips on getting emails read.
“First, avoid using generic addresses
like sales@ or info@ in the “from” line;
second, keep the “from” name consistent
and recognizable in all e-mails;
third, be clear and specific
as to what’s being offered in the subject line”