Believe it or not, you may be a SuperTron – a technology enthusiast considered part of the early adopters phenomenon.   

In his book "Click: What Millions of People Are Doing Online and Why It Matters", author Bill Tancer emphasizes the critical role that SuperTrons play. Specifically, the author analyzes the new generation of consumerism in a way no other has before, showing how we use the Internet, and how those trends provide a wealth of market research nearly as vast as the Internet itself in attracting and using SuperTrons as a defined segment to market to. 

Why does this all matter? 

The insight into the new media habits of an early adopter consumer will be valuable for media companies, tech firms and cable and satellite operations that want to reach this segment but also tap mainstream as well.   

An excellent example of a web site that resonates with early adopters is the recent launch of “Nat Geo” music service. National Geographic tapped the behavior that drives SuperTrons to ‘get the word out’ thereby pushing their web site to the mainstream.

Resources

Early Adopters - Defined

National Geographic Music Site

Buy Bill Tancer's Book

Whether you are a well-known non-profit or a highly regarded ivy-league college, fundraising is a dubious task. Simply tapping into a focused, well affluent rolodex or connecting via the university’s alumni simply is not enough. With economic barriers commonplace, asking and getting monies for your organization is going to be tough, if not down-right impossible. 

Here are a few quick ideas that may work – offering less barriers, longer shelf-life and definitely measurement for future initiatives. 

You’re Not Alone – Joint Fundraising:   

Joint fundraising can offer many advantages. From more comprehensive, coordinated efforts to increasing organizational credibility, joint fundraising can give funders ‘more bang for the buck’ offering double the value in leads, monies captured and visibility. Joint fundraising should include both online initiatives and event fundraising. 

Reach a Broader Audience – Online Fundraising Auctions: 

With the help of the Internet, online auctions break the barriers of time and geography and allow organizations to reach a broader audience and increase their fundraising potential. Online auctions offer a more reputable and quantifiable value to donors and sponsors. They also dramatically expand the marketing reach for organizations as a whole, creating a greater awareness of the cause and a greater fundraising capability. 

Use Name Recognition – Online Mall: 

The great thing about creating an online mall is that shoppers are actually shopping directly at the site owned by the store of their choice so they know their experience is safe and secure. Big name brands like Target and Nike have fundraising programs that are quite lucrative and offer visitors numerous choices. The online mall can work independently or in unison with other fundraising initiatives. 

Lastly, fundraising requires a well branded web presence – here are a few great examples: 

• Fundraising using celebrity and a great themed-cause: "Make It Right Nola"  
• Fundraising using great online tactics and themed-cause: "Nothing But Nets" 
• Great Non-profit: "Idealist"
• Great University – UW-Madison using great brand for fundraising efforts: Great people.Great place. Fundraising Initiative Built Around Campus’s Top Priorities   

Before starting your fundraising initiative, consider the following valuable resource: 

• Complete listing of Fundraising Books, Periodicals and White Papers located at UW-Madison, WI

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Before Web 2.0, organizations would take old brochure copy, poor graphics, a couple of cheesy widgets and off they go to build a web site in bad html code. With today’s user expectations, web sites have to be a bit more sophisticated, offering the best-of-breed in user experience and delivery.

To truly build a great web site presence, compete on a level playing field and convert customers, organizations must do a bit of homework before developing their web site.

Review competitors – in order to compete, organizations need to see how they fare against the competition. A comprehensive competitor’s analysis will allow the organization to provide a similar interactive experience when vying for customers to their products or services.

Know your audience – most web sites try to cater to a broad-base audience using a ‘hit or miss’ approach. With today’s web savvy user, web sites need to address exactly who their customers are. In most cases, audiences are looking to be entertained, informed or persuaded - but knowing specific industry focus, generational disposition and online behavior will go a long way in getting your audience to engage, drill down and act.

Create relevant content – with the growth of social communities, blogs and rich video media, content can be served up in many formats. Key to the use of these great Web 2.0 applications is providing relevant content to users.  Similar to ‘knowing your audience’, organizations must segment content based upon visitor types.

Enhance the experience – the visitor experience relates to ease of use, access to relevant content and tools that will help engage, connect and convert customers. Reviewing appropriate navigation, Flash or graphics, web tools or gadgets as well as call-to-action scenarios will enhance the experience and have the visitor coming back for more.

Integrate online and offline strategies – successful organizations have realized that integrating online and offline marketing strategies is the best way to tap into a large customer base and get customers to spend more. Moreover, when an integrated strategic plan is executed for online and offline simultaneously, customers get a single, unified message from the organization that reflects a cohesive brand.

Best

Denice MacDonald 

I recently joined a professional social media networking group and I am very impressed with their latest blog regarding the future of social media. They say, basicially, that we need to watch the evolution of social media very carefully, looking for trends, what’s coming next, what’s likely to bubble up. In reality, they believe that social media is in its infancy. 

In his latest blog, Jim Tobin of Ignite Social Media, provides 5 predictions on the future of social media, ranked from shortest time horizon to longest.

1. Ratings will become an expectation.

2. Content aggregation will boom.

3. New tools will replace some of the first movers.

4. Social networks become portable.

5. Virtual worlds gain traction.

What is the next big push for social media?  My opinion is mobile technology as we become more portable. Likewise, there will need to be greater synergy between networks so that I don't have to recreate profiles or refriend over and over again. Lastly, it will be a challenge to create ongoing engagement and relevancy making content aggregation a top priority.

Resources:

Join Social Media Today - the World's Greatest Thinkers on Social Media and Web 2.0

Ignite Social Media - the Original Social Media Agency

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Recent video metrics are showing that visitors or users of YouTube are no longer geeks, nerds or techno’s.  In fact, recent statistics are showing that YouTube video downloads are being viewed by varying demographics, including an older crowd and business professionals. 

How can you tell who's watching your videos? YouTube now offers a free tool (YouTube Insight) that enables anyone with a YouTube account to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload.  

For example, uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time.

You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.  For now, you can find currently available metrics by clicking under the "About this Video" button under My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos.

YouTube Resources:

Businesses are now realizing the potential of social networking sites like YouTube in using digital formats to engage prospects and customers and elevate recruitment efforts. 

Learn more at these links below. 

• How to get yourself on YouTube, for business or pleasure
• Cisco pumps out some emerging tech products: YouTube for business 
• View YouTube Video: Cisco: The Business Solutions Provider
• YouTube Example Recruitment Video - Recruiting at Aerotek

The OMMA Awards celebrate the year's most innovative and brilliant online advertising creative, campaigns and Web sites across 35 categories within these three disciplines.  

The OMMA Awards for Online Advertising Creativity were created in 2006 to honor the brand marketers, agencies and content providers who continue to push the potential of online advertising creative. This year they've added two new categories: The OMMA Awards for Integrated Online Campaigns and the OMMA Awards for Web Site Excellence.

The online medium is the most fertile canvas for innovation and creativity, and the OMMA Awards salute the stars that shine brilliantly among us.

See web site for details and entry form.

View last year's winners here.

Good luck,

Denice MacDonald

You were just notified from your department head or the CFO that you budget for fourth quarter 2008 has been reduced – or worse yet, eliminated. What do you do now?

Like most organizations I consult with, marketing budgets are defined by reactionary initiatives. What can you do to safeguard your marketing initiatives and still get results?

The Power of Three

It is always advisable to do any type of marketing initiative that will yield three defined uses (create it once, pay for it once, use many ways). That is, if you do a direct marketing piece, you may consider an on-line version and an e-mail version to select recipients. If you’re doing a trade show (money already appropriated), consider some type of interaction at the show that will draw visitors to your online presence and a creative way in which to follow-up with trade show leads. 

Maximize Alternatives and Options

In the case of advertising dollars, some media outlets will allow you to ‘refine’ your budget so that you can reallocate resources to other initiatives – in lieu of one costly ad space, consider spreading your advertising dollars to smaller focused banner ads or thru the media outlet's e-mail/direct mail efforts. Staying connected over time and with more frequency will yield a higher return on investment against budget dollars. (Hint: reconsider costly yellow page ads that can't be tracked and are overpriced!)

Get Others to Pay for It

Lastly, collaborate with all departments and determine what channel partners, associations, or vendors you may have that may garner visibility for your organization. Online reciprocal links, shared webinars, speakerships, collaborative user groups and even shared web pages will multiply your efforts and the bottom-line without incurring any additional budget dollars.  You’d be surprised how many organizations within your network are in the same boat and would welcome a joint campaign to elevate marketing efforts.

Best,

Denice MacDonald 

Many organizations are obsessed with volume – measuring success by how many web pages were viewed or how many people visited the site. In many cases, this type of information is meaningless as it is not directly linked to a web plan or strategy.

Whether its web site traffic analysis, search engine optimization or tracking business success metrics, you need to develop a web strategy ‘up front’ to support measurement objectives. This thought process seems so fundamental but rarely exercised. 

Why? A strategic plan for evaluating your website will help you:

1. Collect only the data you need to make informed, strategic decisions
2. Identify priority “action areas” for improvement, measure the impact of those actions; and keep your customers coming back
3. Determine benchmarks and performance goals you should aspire to, and the extent to which you’re achieving them
4. Determine whether you’re getting a return on the investment you’ve made to build, operate and maintain your web site(s)
5. Evaluate how well your web site is performing relative to competitors, your company's brand, mission statement or hiring criteria

How? Develop a plan – a strategy – and review and adjust it regularly by asking these questions:

• What do you need to measure?
• What are your requirements?
• How will you measure it?
• What tools will you use?
• What methodologies are needed to gather the data you need?
• What will you do with the results?
• How will the results help meet the goals for your web site and your company's mission?
• How does the plan fit with your company's overall strategic and performance plan?

Once armed with this process and validation, you will find that your ROI exceeds expectations!

Great Resources:

Coremetrics Web Metrics
Get powerful web site metrics with the leading provider

Web Measurement Data Fast
ClickTracks web measurement shows behavior, conversion, groups, SEO

WebTrends Analytics
Marketing Intelligence Solutions, leading analytic & metrics software

Web Analytics
Compare web analytics products and get a free report sample from CMS Watch

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Colleagues of mine talked so much during a recent presentation that they 'bought back the sale' - that is, the project was theirs for the taking, but insistent conversation and over confidence about their deliverables turned the prospect off.  Within minutes of the presentation, my colleagues received a declination e-mail saying the prospect went with another vendor. They asked me what went wrong. 

I’ve been both a marketing and sales professional with more sales calls under my belt than I would like to admit. I’ve had the rare opportunity to manage all types of sales professionals – engaging each based on their various ‘sales’ gifts. One type is very technical – having the ability to talk forever on the technical aspects of a product or service feature. Another is highly sociable – providing anecdotes and keen insight on the latest sports conundrum or talking freely about the latest stock market debacle. What years of wisdom and street-smarts can I provide to these professionals (and my colleagues above) – who on many levels ‘think they are doing it right’? 

It’s really this simple, stupid! 

Embrace the warm-up – Often times we delve too quickly into a conversation, meeting or presentation without some type of warm-up.  It’s imperative that you do your homework and find some key nugget about everyone in the room. Engaging everyone in the room in the first five minutes will dictate if you get the next hour with them. Check out their web site – great information on the company and the employees can be found in their blog, careers or community section. Remember, it's all about them - not you. 

Start listening – It's the key to any relationship. Trust me, this has been a hard one for me as I can in every case ‘already see the end product or service’ in play.  It’s imperative that you ask open ended questions to engage prospects and customers regardless of whether you know the answer. Bottom-line, you actually come across more intelligent when you let others do the talking. 

Ditch the word ‘should’ – Most customers are trying hard to do the right thing – oftentimes they themselves make bad choices or worse, don’t know what they’re buying. We don’t need to remind them that they ‘should do this’ or ‘should do that’. The key to a great sale is giving the customer what they want, not what we think they need. You can always explore options later once the relationship has matured. 

Laugh out loud – If you enter into a sales situation that is uptight, predictable or contrived, you will fail. Enjoy the meeting, enjoy the moment. Customers who see your excitement will trust that you are confident and value the task/project/product at hand and they in turn will feel more comfortable with handing you the reins (ummm…the sale). 

Lastly, don't assume that any sale is truly sold. You will need to qualify and redefine the relationship on an ongoing basis. Find mechanisms to stay connected to your clients so that they won't be snatched up by someone else because you forgot to pay attention.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Because of its portability, mobile phones are now the personal connection to a rapidly transitioning digital world. 

In the last year, mobile technology has become ‘front and center’ relative to advertising, brand messaging and raw effectiveness in campaigns and initiatives. To get our arms around this growing technology, let’s review some of the features and great resources: 

Messaging (SMS, MMS) – often referred to as ‘short messaging’ is just what it is - short text messages to a recipients mobile phone.  Similar to text e-mails, SMS allows businesses to alert, inform or engage mobile users.  Text messaging is permission-granted and therefore is communication that mobile users want/expect. For more insight into SMS gateway/provider services, consult MobileCrunch.  

WAP (Web Sites, Search and Banner Ads) – also known as wireless application protocol is technology designed to format and filter content for use in mobile devices. Basically, WAP technology brings the Internet to mobile users.  Users can search, browse and access mobile web sites and view creative advertising. For great examples, view the 2008 top mobile phone web sites by HitWise. 

Downloadable Applications (Games, Video, Music) – mobile technology allows you to download all types of applications including games, video, music and podcasts.  Mobile technology now combines voice, data and entertainment into one device. Check out this great web site for game downloads or Google/YouTube to access millions of videos.

More Resources:

Mobile Technology Weblog – convergence of gadgets, trends, communities and mobile services.

Mobile Magazine – covering news and reviews on the latest mobile technology.

TechWeb – mobile and wireless resources, white papers and articles.

MobileCrunch – a companion site to TechCrunch dedicated to Mobile Technology.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

You've spent a lot of time building up your reputation and image both online and off, so it's important to make sure that someone or something has not jeopardized your brand.

One of the simplest and easiest ways to track your reputation is to use Google Alerts. With this free service, you can search either all of Google's properties, or you can specify that only News, Blogs, Web, Video, or Groups is searched. You can then configure the Alerts results to be emailed to you either as it happens, once a day, or once a week. There is also a page where you can edit the alerts once they are created or delete them when they are no longer in use. 

If making a good name for yourself online is a priority, it's time to take a proactive approach to getting your name out there the way you want.  

BUSINESS SOCIAL NETWORKS – Complete your profile in its entirety and connect with key professionals in your network.

BLOGS – Consider a business blog and one that you contribute to – showing you are a thought leader will aid in elevating you or your products in your industry. Likewise, use blogs to amend or respond to bad hype.

WEB 2.0 PR – Get news interviews, podcasts, webinars with clients 'live' online. Third party testimonials by key constituents regarding your products and services will go a long way in building brand reputation.

LINKING – If you have a web site, consider carefully where and how inbound and outbound links are connected – bad links will reflect poorly on your brand.

SUB-DOMAINS - Add a sub-domain for careers, corporate and/or product info for little or no cost.  Not only will sub-domains elevate your search results but add depth to your reputation.

PPC/ONLINE ADVERTISING – This can only help protect your brand and will help influence visitors to see who is the real website that should be visited.

SEARCH - Take control of the visible results of any search related to your brand. By taking a coordinated approach to search engine optimization, you take greater control of the other nine slots.  

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Writing copy for the Web that grabs attention and gets the results you want takes special skill and attention.

Oftentimes, companies will forgo writing web copy and repurpose brochure copy. Writing copy for the web is remarkably different than writing copy for print. Here are a few tips to make sure your web content is spectacular and resonates with site visitors.

Before any web copy is written, the following information should be available to the web copywriter(s).

1. SEO/SEM Report or Findings – the web copywriter will use the report as a guide to segue words or phrases that will help ‘optimize’ the content web page.
2. Persona or Voice of Customer - understanding the attributes of customers that you want to engage at your content web page will help dictate the impact statements or ‘headings and sub heads’ for the section (different and distinct from navigation or menu).
3. Functional Web Page Elements – understanding what other functionality will appear on the page will help the web copywriter(s) craft content that will work collaboratively with feature boxes, call to action scenarios or other promotional items.  Having a layout or ‘wireframe’ of what will appear on the page will work well here.

Now that the web copywriter has a clear vision of the type of customer, how the customer gets to the page and what the customer will likely experience, they are ready to begin writing.

1. Headings and Sub Heads - On the web, you can ‘make or break’ interaction to your web pages with headings. A good one makes it easier for readers to understand the significance of the content and will likely get them to read more. Headings and sub heads should be short, clear and concise ranging from 7 – 10 words.
2. Amount of Content – Begin by envisioning a ‘picture paragraph’ – that is, content that is solid and clear enough to get the point across and fall ‘above the fold’ (fits within the visitor window). Remember that shorter is better – paragraph length should be no more than 50-60 words.
3. Editing – It is always advisable from both a quality assurance perspective and from a visitor’s view to have someone review and edit web copy.  Reason simply, diverse users to the web content may not interpret or understand what has been written and may need some ‘dumbing down’ for the content to resonate. 

Whether you're trying to sell products or services at a business or commercial site or if you just want to let people know the latest at your personal site, content is just as important as any of the other elements that constitute the overall brand strategy for your web site – chose wisely.

Resources:

Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy by Nick Usborne

Content is King! Evaluating Content Management Systems

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Viral marketing, also referred to as word-of-mouth, is defined as a strategy or set of initiatives that encourages individuals to pass on, communicate or influence market messages and brand to others.

In the old days, you either had to buy expensive advertising or entice the media to tell your story. Unfortunately, many organizations create viral marketing campaigns based on the old rules. The best viral marketing efforts promote your organization and its products and services by delivering great online content (video, a great blog post, discussion forums, an interesting photo or graphic) that is directly tied to your products, services, and company brand. Successful viral marketing campaigns sell your ideas in a creative way that people want to share with their friends, colleagues, and family members.  

According to David Meerman Scott, this isn’t the same old marketing and PR you’ve tried before. 

DON'T:

>Obsess about being “on message.”

>Break the bank with expensive advertising.

>Beg mainstream media to write about you. 

DO:

>Tell your story directly to an interested market.

>Make it easy for people to share your content with their friends, colleagues, and family members. 

Viral marketing can also be applied to recruiting efforts and employee communication.  Reason simply, it’s great to hear about an organization through individuals who have direct experience to share. 

Viral Marketing Resources: 

The New Rules of Viral Marketing by David Meerman Scott 

Six Principles of Viral Marketing Copyright © 2000, 2005, Ralph F. Wilson, E-Mail Marketing and Online Marketing editor, Web Marketing Today.

Best,

Denice MacDonald

Tradeshows are no longer simply ‘meet and greet’ events. 

Tradeshows offer a tremendous opportunity for businesses to increase market share with existing customers, introduce new products and services while creating and converting new leads.

Leveraging the Marketing Mix - It is imperative that your marketing efforts include pre-show, at-show and post-show activity. 

Before the show, consider direct or e-mail marketing.  Reason simply, mail lists are typically included with the exhibitor fee and offer a low-budget way to attract leads to your booth.  In some cases, the list can be vetted to include leads more aligned with your offerings.  Don’t forget to include customers in your mailing and/or offer ‘free passes’.

The mailing/announcement could include an incentive or giveaway to your booth. Developing a dynamite giveaway takes thought and creativity. Consider what your target audience wants and what will help them do their job better.

 At the event, use the booth as an effective marketing tool by making a strong statement about who your company is, what you do and how you do it (great signage, large graphics etc.). The purpose of your exhibit is to attract visitors so that you can achieve your marketing objectives. In addition to it being an open, welcoming and friendly space, there needs to be a focal point and a strong key message that communicates a significant benefit to your prospect. Plenty of literature and business cards will help to entice visitors to your offerings. Blogging, onsite kiosks and video imagery will also enhance visitor engagement.
.
Lastly, your people are your ambassadors and are key to visitor engagement. They represent everything your company stands for, so choose them well. Brief them beforehand and make sure that they know: why you are exhibiting; what you are exhibiting and what you expect from them.

Post the event, the key to your tradeshow success is wrapped up in the lead-management process. The longer leads are left unattended, the colder they become. Establish a process by reviewing and vetting leads, set time lines for follow-up including scripting, custom communication and web page, use a database for tracking, make sales representatives accountable for leads given to them, and then measure your results.

Need a great booth?

Contact: Chuck Hill, Director of Marketing and Sales at Creative Works, Inc.

Best to everyone this 4th of July!

Denice MacDonald

“Web Content Management Systems (CMS) are software toolkits that automate the rapid deployment from multiple sources.  Web content management systems (CMS) are collections of application programs and middleware that automatically organize the content for your website according to rules you set up.”
Tony Freeman at DeepBridge Technologies 

Stay true to the rationale

The benefits for a CMS that is the right fit for your organization can improve brand position, elevate the user experience, aid in customer conversion while providing content that is timely and relevant.

Most times, organizations will agree to a CMS as they think it will reduce the need for IT services and/or eliminate full-time positions.  On the contrary, the use of a CMS will actually require dedicated resources and several defined skill sets.  Moreover, if the wrong CMS is deployed, financial risks can be high.  Be aware that it's not software you're introducing to your company, but change.

What kind of software do you really need?

Defining the exact nature of your CMS requirements can be daunting but a necessary business process.  Sites often termed brochureware will migrate to a CMS that is strictly content-based whereas sites with e-commerce, digital assets, sophisticated collaboration (CRM) or enterprise integration will require a hardier CMS with more functionality. 

Start by drafting your CMS requirements and creating a formal RFP. This should be a project in and of itself, with the appropriate resources and relevant stakeholders allocated to make sure that it is done well. The RFP should include suggested infrastructure and technologies and offer vendors an opportunity to suggest alternatives as long as the suggestions are accompanied with a detailed explanation and justification.

Careful scrutiny should be given to vendors that provide training, yearly licensing and version upgrades, maintenance and support – bundled or unbundled in the fee negotiation. 

If you do your homework correctly, your CMS will have a five to ten year shelf-life and provide the organization with a defined return on investment.

Best Resources:

• CMS Watch Report
• CMS Matrix

My Pics:

Ektron CMS

Sitecore CMS 
 

Best,
Denice MacDonald

As a marketing consultant, I am exposed to diverse organizations with differing goals and strategies.  The one constant I urge them to do is the review and evaluation of client engagement.  Engagement can mean a lot of things to different organizations based on market reach and industry focus.  

In simple terms, client engagement is defined as how the organization involves, interacts and influences clients to act (buy, sell, refer, recommend and so on). 

To begin the process of determining an organization’s client engagement, I suggest we detail the marketing funnel (aka sales cycle) as a function of engagement.  Moving a client from suspect to prospect to client through engagement is the key to shortening the sales cycle resulting in conversion and sales.

Suspects (unknown buyers):  This group requires education on your organizations products and services and reflects the longest selling cycle.  They are motivated by initiatives or communications that readily let them know who you are, what you sell and that the organization is highly credible/knowledgeable.  

Prospects (qualified leads): This group reflects individuals or organizations that are predisposed to your organization and offerings.  They know who you are, what you sell but are not totally convinced. They are motivated by virally generated initiatives, social media and similar client work. 

Clients (includes actual buyers, employees and stakeholders):  Clients require one-on-one relationship management, high level of servicing and ongoing evaluation of needs. Over time, clients can become suspects or prospects depending on the rapid changes within their organization and will require similar initiatives outlined for suspects and prospects. 

Once the three segments above are delineated, it will become clear what initiatives will support engagement to move diverse buyers down the funnel.  

I recently completed a project for a client that was a wrap-around before delving into a full blown web site revamp.  What did we do?  We customized several on-going e-mail campaigns to target customers based on product selection - cross-selling where appropriate.

Oftentimes, large manufacturers are hesitant to revamp their sites as the content inventory and collaboration between departments seems too daunting. (See recent blog: Who Owns the Web Site.)   Therefore, e-mail marketing is still very attractive to large organizations - especially if their client list is vast and diverse. It is a quick way to stay connected while measuring feedback and interaction within the campaign that will quantify and qualify strategy for the site revamp. 

Where to start: