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Posts from the ‘Advertising’ Category

Jan 30

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Online ad spending to surpass magazine and newspaper advertising combined

U.S. online ad spending is projected to grow well above 20% this year to reach $39.5 billion. This will mark the first year that online spending will surpass the total ad dollars spent on print magazines and newspapers, which are expected to total $33.8 billion in 2012. As you can see from the charts, eMarketer expects online ad spending to experience double-digit growth through 2014, when it will hit $52.8 billion.

While that outpaces other media, the variance comes more from the dramatic increase in online spending rather than large decreases in magazine and newspaper ad sales. Those numbers hold surprisingly steady. This may indicate a flattening trend and an understanding of the importance an integrated media mix brings to effective advertising outreach. This is especially true when you consider that television ad spending appears unaffected by online growth. With $67.8 billion in anticipated ad revenue for 2014, television is expected to take the greatest share of ad dollars for the foreseeable future.

Oct 27

Integrate your content marketing strategy across channels for maximum results

What I find interesting about HiveFire’s new B2B Marketing Trends Report isn’t just how much content marketing has grown in importance, but how a well-integrated content marketing strategy can support other marketing efforts. The new study reports that 82 percent of B2B marketers are now relying on content marketing as a strategy in their marketing programs. This is ahead of search engine marketing, which ranked at 70 percent, events at 68 percent, public relations at 64 percent and far ahead of print/TV/radio advertising at 32 percent. While it’s true that content marketing may compete in terms of budget allocation across channels, I see it less as competition than as a supporting player. When it works in tandem with other marketing efforts, businesses are able to drive and capture more qualified leads, elevate their brands and maintain more cost-effective customer relationships.

What is content marketing? It’s a company’s blog postings, newsletters, white papers, case studies, webinars, ebooks, videos and other online content that is designed to attract and engage customers. When it’s done well, content is relevant to customers and positions the brand as a thought leader. When it’s done poorly, it comes across as a sales pitch.

A content marketing strategy can including content curation, but original content is best for reflecting your true brand. So can a business rely solely on content marketing or should it be incorporated into a more comprehensive marketing approach?

I looked up several B2B keywords, including web conferencing software and email marketing. Paid search still delivers the highest rankings, and there is no shortage of results. Organically, those sites that included blogs and webinars ranked highest. While this was not a complete survey, we do know that relevant, keyword-rich content improves SEO. Once those site visitors arrive; however, it’s important to convert them into customers. Sites that offered white papers, newsletters and case studies through a simple registration process made the best use of content marketing by capturing leads and providing an opportunity to develop those relationships over less expensive channels. Blogs also encourage prospects to maintain contact, which is crucial for businesses that have a long sales cycle or simply want to maintain relationships for repeat business and referrals.

Rather than replacing paid and earned media, which certainly has its role for generating leads and raising brand awareness, content marketing should strengthen these communications. The HiveFire survey revealed that the main objective of a content marketing program for 82 percent of respondents was engaging customers and prospects. This was followed by a secondary objective of driving sales at 55 percent. Obviously, the two are complementary as are the marketing channels when used in a strategic, well-designed approach.

Oct 8

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Media Strategy & Buying

Whether your reach is local, regional or national, we have the experience to help you engage and influence your markets. We keep your business top of mind through media strategies that integrate traditional channels with new media opportunities.

  • Media strategy and negotiation
  • Placement across TV, radio, online, print, mobile  and out-of-home media
  • Integration with social media networks for cross-marketing
  • Added value and sponsorship opportunities to maximize budgets
  • Campaign monitoring

Jul 10

Rules of the Game: How to get your customers motivated

When I was quite a bit younger, I remember digging deep into the box of Cracker Jack for the toy prize. Now that I think about it, the sticky snack of popcorn and peanuts was actually a better treat than the cheap token ring or paper tattoo sunk deep within the box. Who doesn’t like to be rewarded, though? Just buy nine sandwiches to get the tenth one free. Sure! I’ve got a wallet full of loyalty cards from my favorite businesses. I’m earning discounts and frequent flier miles with every credit card purchase. I enjoy my perks from earning select shopper status and admit to playing a few rounds of McDonald’s Monopoly to win more than free fries. It’s all just a game, but smart businesses know these incentives work on consumers. If they can make it fun and engaging in the process, then even better.

Now that our massive social framework is in place, gaming has the potential for even greater influence. Look no further than Farmville, which at 80 million active monthly users and 30 million daily, has more active users than Twitter. That’s a lot of pig. Game designer Seth Priebatsch discusses this growing game dynamic and its value to businesses at a Boston TED conference. He says that the game dynamic is more prevalent in the world around us than we may realize. Consider happy hour, a long reliable traffic driver for bars and restaurants and one of my favorite times of day. Priebatsch calls this the “appointment dynamic” as it requires people, or players, to be at a predefined place at a certain time. Show up at the right time and place and receive a reward. Farmville uses this same gaming technique. If players don’t show up at a certain time, their crops wilt. A powerful driver considering the magnitude of people arriving at their computers each day. Other gaming principles we may also be taking for granted include:

1) The progression dynamic: This requires players to progress through various steps to reach a goal. Consider your LinkedIn profile progress bar, or loyalty cards that draw customers repeatedly back to a business to earn and unlock rewards.

2) Influence and status dynamic: Consider the bragging rights of reaching level 30 on World of Warcraft, becoming Mayor on Foursquare, or reaching for your American Express Black card. The motivators here are status and influence.

3) Communal discovery: This dynamic truly leverages the power of social networks by relying on communities to solve problems. Digg is a great example of crowdsourcing to identify the most interesting news. This dynamic is also ideal for adding legs to promotional campaigns. Businesses can encourage customers to reach out to their networks to vote for consumer-submitted videos, win game challenges and support causes.

As this gaming framework is taking shape alongside our social networks, how can we leverage it for good? It’s more than fun and games — it’s a powerful influencer.

Apr 22

Targeting marketing messages to purchasers and influencers

I appreciated a recent MediaPost article about targeting an anti-snoring product to the real person who suffers because of it — the spouse who is kept up every night by the noisy airflow. Eric Trowe, the VP and account strategy director at Brunner, summed it up well by saying, “When considering a target audience…challenge yourself to identify not just the afflicted but also the affected. Those who are impacted by a spouse or child with a condition may just be the one with the greatest motivation to find a solution.”

Trowe makes a good point that the target market for a product or service may not be the actual end user. The old saying “Mother knows best” takes on new meaning when you consider that women account for more then 85% of all consumer purchases and influence more than 95% of total goods and services.* Women also purchase at least 50% of traditional “male” categories such as automobiles, consumer electronics and PCs. Walk into any Apple Store and you’ll see the majority of sales support is still male, but their customers are as diverse in gender and age as the colors in their spinning beach ball. If you haven’t beefed up your customer service, added reviews and consumer information to your website, or capitalized on referral marketing tools, then you’re missing opportunities to market to this powerful group of female consumers.

And yet, it could be that a 12-year-old child is driving sales for your product. The point is that all audiences should be considered in your marketing, whether it’s primary purchasers, potential referrals and influencers, and even opportunities for publicity and word-of-mouth. Consider both your primary and secondary audiences when planning your messages and marketing. Do you know who is driving the sales of your product or services? Your primary audience is comprised of those that are the most affected, the most motivated and have the greatest influence. Your secondary audience may influence your primary audience and could have some recognized benefit, but they are not your main target.

Del Webb lifestyle communities serve up a great example. The marketing and advertising campaigns we developed for Del Webb in Texas were primarily focused on active adults, but we never lost sight of an important secondary market — their children. Many adult children could appreciate having their older parents at a Del Webb community, not far from where they lived and maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle. While their children were not the ones making the final purchasing decisions, they certainly were able to influence. The best marketing captures a complete customer profile to target compelling products and messages not just to the end user, but to those making the actual purchasing decisions. The next step increases your scope to address the entire circle of influencers that help your customers reach those buying decisions.

* Competitive Edge Magazine

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