Archive for June, 2008
June 30th, 2008
We’re in the midst of those dog days of summer which sometimes leads to slower sales for many organizations. It also can mean a lull in marketing efforts. But it can also be a perfect time to look at what your business is doing and planning for the second half of this year and first half of next.
Take a summer marketing “retreat,” which can be at the luxury of your own desk, to review what you’ve done during the past six months and how it matched up with your objectives set at the beginning of the year. (Reminder: this is why it’s important to make those measurable objectives.) Determine if you’re meeting those goals, or, if the industry or economic conditions make it necessary to revise them. Better to determine that now than after six more months of ineffective marketing efforts.
Also, now is the time to establish if your products or services are highly requested during the holiday season. Get in front of the long-lead publications, such as the major trade and consumer magazines, which work on stories up to six months in advance, and develop specific marketing initiatives for the holiday season now.
An in-house marketing retreat can lead to some dynamic differences – and put you ahead of the competition – for the rest of the year.
June 27th, 2008
Remember the phrase “a picture’s worth one thousand words?” Never under-estimate that phrase when thinking about how to get your story covered. When planning a news conference, story pitch, etc., don’t leave out the visuals. Giving the media the opportunity to get good b-roll or action photos means your story will be told in an even better way.
Here are some quick tips that are easy to remember and implement -
- When you have a news conference, make sure your speakers are not just standing in front of a boring white wall at a boring old podium in a boring white, empty room. Give the TV stations and newspapers something to get video and photos of - try planning your news conference outdoors, or in a lobby in front of an interesting piece of artwork, or in front of your company logo. If you have to have the news conference in a boring room, try to put up some easels of large photos that the media can get on film. And don’t forget to pack the room! A room full of people is much more interesting for video than just your speakers standing in a line at the podium.
- Photo opportunities can be stories in themselves. What does that mean? Sometimes the news you’re announcing can be easily seen by the public; such as a construction project, a marathon, etc. Be sure to let the media know when something is going to be visible to the public so they have the chance to report on it, and the public isn’t driving by thinking, “what’s that?”
- Other quick, easy tips include giving a DVD of b-roll (about 5 minutes worth of video footage) that can be used for your story or a CD of high-resolution photos. And don’t forget to post those up onto the web onto sites such as Flickr, Facebook, Myspace, etc.
If a picture is really worth a thousand words, hopefully a few of those words will get out in the media about your business if you remember to give the media a chance to catch it.
June 26th, 2008
Whether your customer or client base is only a few or a few thousand, don’t underestimate the value of remaining in contact with them.
Remaining in good graces with your customers can be as easy as occasional – but consistent – reminders of how important they are to you.
For example, it’s inexpensive and easy to set up a monthly e-newsletter or e-blast through companies like Constant Contact or iContact that give you great visibility. Simple courtesies like a holiday or birthday card can add a great personal touch.
In fact, anything you can do as reminder to your customers you are there for them is never a bad thing.
You want your customer to remember you when competitors come knocking.
Your customers are vital to your existence – why not make them feel special.
June 25th, 2008
Aside from being a way for customers and public to identify your company, logos are also an expensive investment. To make the most out of your investment your logo should serve several purposes. It should be recognizable and portray a positive impression upon your organization, product or cause. It should also have a uniqueness that separates it from other logos, especially your competitors. Some of the most analyzed logos today are those designed for political campaigns. Obama’s campaign just received some negative criticism for his new logo that very closely resembled the Presidential Seal. His campaign stated that they would not use the logo again, which likely resulted in a lot of wasted money and time.
Choose a logo that ages well and translates faithfully across different media. Your logo will have to maintain its integrity whether it is on a business card or billboard. Also, when thinking about how many colors you want to incorporate into your logo, consider how that will impact your printing costs. You want your logo to be recognizable if it has to be printed in black and white; something more difficult for multiple color logos.
June 18th, 2008
Your company’s brand can be an important asset.
While the brand itself is intangible, its value is very real. By some accounts, Coca-Cola’s brand name (not including any physical items or even the recipe for Coke) is worth over $60 billion.
The whole idea of a brand, which has its humble roots in burning a recognizable symbol in the hind end of cattle, is about how current and prospective customers see you.
Take for instance the following three companies: Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, and McDonalds. Which one is focused on serving you great coffee?
The answer is all three. Yet Starbucks probably was the first to pop into your mind. Here’s an easier one, which one sells coffee for double the price of the other two?
See our point?
There’s a lot that can be said about building a brand.
Just keep in mind that when developing a marketing plan for your company, be sure to reinforce your brand. What is recognizable about your company? What do you want to be recognizable about your company?
Your brand should be a promise to your customers. Don’t forget to deliver on that promise.
June 17th, 2008
One of the greatest responsibilities you have as a PR professional is to provide the media and public with accurate and credible information. Disseminating false or inaccurate information is a quick and easy way to tarnish your reputation and lose the trust of the public and news editors. Research is one of the best ways to confirm and validate your information, but there are some red flags you should watch out for.
When determining the credibility of the research information, you want to be aware of the authority of the author. Does the person have expertise in the subject, and what is their reputation or qualifications? Also pay attention to the researcher’s coverage of certain topics. How in-depth is it? If the research is only one-sided, you may run into objectivity issues. Another objectivity red flag is if there are advertisements in the research publication.
For increased accuracy, verify your facts with multiple resources. Aside from being a tool to improve the accuracy of your information, research also helps you scan your environment and be proactive about issues and opportunities for your organization.
June 16th, 2008
When it comes to marketing, the ability to measure the effectiveness of an initiative – or Return on Investment (ROI) – can be tough.
In very basic terms, we view ROI as whatever ties into a company’s business goals and meets or exceeds the effort, resources or dollars an organization puts into it. For example, if you pay $100 for an advertisement which drives in $200 worth of revenue, you’ve obviously gained an exceptional ROI for that effort. Or if you’ve held a special promotion from 5 – 7 p.m. at your retail shop and also increased the number of employees working that evening, you need to determine if the additional staff costs overcame the hard dollars of promoting it.
But, how can you tell if an advertisement drives in customers or an article raises awareness for your company or product?
Here are some initial ideas that you might be able integrate into your organization to better assess your marketing efforts:
• Encourage employees to ask where customers heard about your organization or product. For example, how many new customers came because they read your company in the newspaper?
• Include discount coupons and track how many are redeemed over a specified amount of time. How much was the total purchased with individuals redeeming coupons? Would these people have otherwise frequented your establishment? Would they have hit your web site?
• Measure attendance or increase in revenue for special promotions by comparing week-over-week, day-over-day or year-over-year numbers.
Determine your measuable goals, let your staff know about them, and share why it’s important to garner this information. Let them be part of the process - and part of your success.
June 13th, 2008
While recently browsing around the PRSA site we came across a rather startling article - the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer went overboard to test the success of advertising in their print and online publications. They ran fake ads for a made-up airline called Derrie-Air (ha ha!), a company that promises green flight practices based on the weight of the passengers. As Editor & Publisher Magazine reported Monday, a story in the Inquirer revealed that the ads for “Derrie-Air” drew a higher-than-usual response, with a 1.25-percent “click-through rate” for the online version, compared to a national click-through average of just 0.05 percent.
A little astounding? The reason the click-thru rates were so high was not only because of the power of print and online advertising - it was the message. If you name an airline “Derrie-Air,” people are going to look twice, which still shows how important messaging is in the industry.
Our issue with this is that a newspaper’s job is to inform its public with the facts - and even an advertising department needs to follow some ethics along those lines. Shouldn’t they be able to prove their success with their existing clients? Don’t they have to provide a return-on-investment for the costly price of advertising? If they want to sell ads they should be able to provide true statistics, not ones they had to create with a fake company.
In the end, it goes back to the core of public relations and marketing know-how - if you have the right message, people are going to listen, and maybe even get off of their “derrie-airs” and do something about it.
June 11th, 2008
This week, Steve Jobs announced the second generation of the iPhone and love him or hate him, those folks at Apple get it.
Despite the huge cool factor that surrounded the first iPhone, the complaints about it (too expensive, too slow on the network, battery) seemed to steal the show, especially when you consider all of that hype that led up to it.
One of the first rules of marketing is to listen to your customer and Apple listened last year when the first iPhone was released. Many of the complaints about the first iPhone became Jobs’ shopping list to the engineers for the new phone coming in July.
As a marketer, paying attention to your customers is as important as anything you can do. A complaint about your product or service isn’t all bad: it is your call to step into action to make it that much better.
Consumers will sometimes tell you exactly what they want. It’s your job to listen.
June 10th, 2008
Media kits remain to be an effective tool to communicate to consumers through the media. They can communicate your organization’s message while also introducing or reinforcing a relationship with the media. While the design aesthetics are an important component of media kits, its internal contents will be responsible for achieving your organization’s goal of increased media attention and awareness.
Media kits can contain the following:
• News releases. You can include basic and special event releases.
• Backgrounder (or one-page fact sheet) about event, company or both.
• Biographies of key people in the organization.
• Organization’s brochure or catalog.
• Survey, study or report that is relevant to your organization and its mission.
• Photos
• Electronic versions of press materials and images
All materials should be available via email and on your organization’s Web site as some media prefer to receive information electronically. Be cautious about sending samples of your product, as many media personnel have strict ethical rules about accepting free gifts. Assembling and sending media kits can be very costly so make the most out of your investment and follow up with the media to confirm the receipt of the kit and see if they have any outstanding questions or interest in your product or organization.
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