Small Business Marketing Ideas from the Big Brands

As a marketer, do you dream of having a big brand and the budget that goes along with it? Well, you may be surprised how much you can take from major companies and their tactics to improve the results for your marketing at a small company.

To set the stage, the top trends for 2014 predicted by Forbes are:

• Content marketing continues to grow. Marketing to the masses through techniques like ads on TV or radio is becoming less effective. Producing valuable, engaging content designed for specific audiences yields better results.
• Diversity is important to social media marketing. New sites are introduced constantly. Brands have to operate on several to reach the most potential customers, increasing overall complexity.
• Images and visuals perform best. Many of the emerging social media sites are visual. Furthermore, most blog posts that are shared extensively incorporate arresting images. Infographics have become more common.
• Less is more. As a result of our hyper-connectivity and highly-digitized lives, consumers are craving simpler campaigns and messaging. The most successful ads and content are likely to be the ones that are easy to digest.

• 

  The newest Duracell commercial features Seattle Seahawks fullback Derrick Coleman, who triumphed over his hearing impairment

  Mobile-friendly content is essential. Forbes notes that “87 percent of connected devices sold by 2017 will be tablets and smartphones.” It is important to provide an acceptable experience to users on these devices.

• SEO and social work together. The goal of search engines is to provide the most relevant and high-quality content, so Google and others factor in the social shares that content gets when delivering organic search rankings. That is why many companies are including social share plugins and encouraging visitors to share content.

Considering the trends and priorities, there is some general advice small businesses should follow:

Marketing Resolutions for the New Year

As I get ready to take a few days off around the holidays, I was thinking about 2014 and what I want to do differently to continually challenge myself. Plus, I am in the process of welcoming a new team member and saying goodbye to one who has become a terrific asset and friend. So I created a list of marketing resolutions to capitalize on what has changed and developed in 2013.

• Enhance and leverage the brand. We used a strategy agency to help us hone our plans for the next three to five years in terms of new markets and services. Not every company has the resources to do this and it was a first for Affinity Express as well. But that means we have an excellent opportunity to make sure we are completely integrated. We can reorient everything we do around our brand and the promise it carries. As Marketing Thingy suggests, marketers should go beyond advertising to every communication piece, the structure of our offices, the forms we use and programs we develop. The point is to use the brand like a lens to view everything we do. Even if you didn’t revisit your strategy like we did, you can still focus on integrating your brand.
• Produce great content. We have been deep into content marketing for a while now but I’d like to broaden to more formats and increase visual marketing this year. There is a good rationale as nearly 40% of U.S. companies use blogs for marketing purposes and companies that blog have 55% more website visitors. On top of that, 90% of companies market with custom content today. Content marketing is less expensive and more effective than traditional mass marketing and it is more appropriate for the digital era. If you are seen as an expert on relevant topics, you will build a larger following. The components of a content marketing plan are:

Our Favorite Ads of This Holiday Season . . . So Far

Regardless of your industry, this time of the year is all about engaging your audiences with holiday greetings that connect with them and spread the joy of the season. It is a great opportunity to show the personality of your organization to customers. With that in mind, we looked for some ads that have brilliantly captured the holiday spirit, ranging from playful to magical.

Video ads:

Harvey Nichols: Sorry, I Spent It On Myself
The luxury department store, Harvey Nichols, designed a tongue-in-cheek ad. Rather than make viewers sentimental, they instead suggest we should think only of ourselves while shopping this season.

Small Business Holiday Greetings

According to a Constant Contact holiday survey, 31% of small businesses say winter is their busiest season, 65% expect 2013 revenues to exceed those of 2012 and 52% say holiday customers become repeat, loyal customers. With this data in mind, why wouldn’t you use holiday greetings to thank customers and prospects while building relationships, increasing sales and acquiring new customers?

The custom of sending greeting cards can be traced back to the ancient Chinese, who exchanged messages of good will for the new year, as noted by the Greeting Card Association. The early Egyptians shared greetings on papyrus scrolls. The first published Christmas cards appeared in London in 1843, when Sir Henry Cole hired the artist John Calcott Horsley to design a card that could be sent to friends.

Every year, Affinity Express selects a famous painting to interpret in embroidery and creates a small number of cards. For the 2012 card, we featured van Gogh’s “The Cafe Terrace on the Place du Forum” and won a Golden Needle Award from Stitches Magazine!

Holiday cards for businesses should include:

• Logo and slogan or tagline
• Contact information
• Social media profiles
• Website address

Your greeting should be generic to avoid offending anyone’s beliefs but you do want to stand out in the pile of messages your customers and prospects receive. Ruff Haus Design has some advice on crafting holiday sentiments:

1. Save time by ordering pre-printed cards. Standard greetings are okay, but sign cards and, if possible, address them by hand.
2. Tailor your approach. You should spend more time adding a personal note for the best customers.
3. Leverage email. It is acceptable to send email greetings, although it is better to make the salutation specific to the person rather than “Dear Customer”.

Some examples of wording that businesses can use are as follows:

• Thank you for being our valued customer. We wish you a beautiful holiday season and blissful year’s end.
• Sending you warm wishes of gratitude this holiday season for your ongoing business, support and referrals. Happy Holidays!
• Best wishes for a happy holiday season and our sincere thanks for your loyalty and goodwill throughout the year.

Facetivus is the offering from Iris Worldwide, which featured videos of staffers getting eggnog, pies and various other items thrown at their faces in the name of charity. For each video play racked up, the agency donated a dollar to Hurricane Sandy relief.

Holiday cards can be created cost effectively and professionally at these websites:

• 123print.com
• BusinesscardStar.com
• Moo.com
• Overnight Prints
• Deluxe.com
• DeGraeve.com (free)
• VistaPrint

This is one of the many options available from VistaPrint for printing.

Since the major cost in ordering cards is in the set-up, the Small Business Advisor notes that you will probably find that adding another 50 or 100 is a nominal cost, especially compared to placing a second new order later. And you never know when a card will break through and generate a sale.

During the holidays, you shouldn’t limit yourself to reaching customers through greeting cards. You can also write letters to give thanks for whatever your clients did for you in the past year, describe plans or aspirations for the next year, include some news about your company or the year’s activities and provide an invitation or other call to action (e.g., test a product, receive a free gift or sample, get new information, etc.).

It is even better to reach out in multiple ways to stay top-of-mind. Build on printed cards with:

• Ecards. Keep greetings brief (30 to 60 seconds at most) and engaging for best results. You could show images or video of your offices or stores and employees.

DraftFCB deserved some recognition for their innovative holiday greeting in 2011. If you typed your address into a snow globe, a picture of your house appeared. Then it would snow in front of your home!

• Enewsletters. Offer suggestions on how to use your products to solve problems or improve enjoyment of the holidays (e.g., wrapping tips, recipes, shipping deadlines, etc.). For example, if your products make great last-minute gifts, reinforce how stress is reduced by having them on-hand.
• Gifts. It is not critical to spend a lot on items as long as they are perceived as valuable to customers and/or tie in with your business. For example, if you are selling festive apparel for the holidays, an “emergency kit” of safety pins, bandages, stain remover and more that women can stash in their purses could work.
• Coupons/discounts. Along with your thank-you messages, send out encouragement for future purchases. If you distribute offers via email, be sure to share them on social media as well. You can encourage people to share the promotions with their family and friends.
• Social media greetings. Tweet and post on all your profiles. You can show a personal side with photos of employee holiday parties or customers using your products. If you can publish tips for the holidays, your will position yourself as a resource for customers.
• Mobile greetings. Happy holiday messages can be sent with last-minute gift ideas or solutions, as well as images of new product releases and special savings that can be redeemed using smartphones.

Western Carolina University created a long-form greeting that paints a wonderful picture of the culture and campus.

• In-store and invoices. Hand out greeting cards at the checkout with discounts for post-holiday shopping to show your gratitude for purchases. If you print and mail invoices, you can include cards and coupons in the same envelope.
• In-store events. Host a gathering for your customers. To make it even more attractive, offer babysitting and free gift-wrapping. Depending on the time of day, you can serve wine or hot cider and finger foods. A hair salon could offer discounts on products and reward points for booking hair and spa appointments for the future.

How do you thank customers and spread holiday cheer at this time of the year? How has this changed from print to digital or multichannel formats?

Affinity Express emails a digital card every year to express our gratitude while showing what we can do for clients.

Video for Small Business Marketing: Costs and Tools

Video is a powerful way to increase the visibility of your company and gain new customers. It is the fastest-growing segment of the internet and more than half of all web traffic is now video because people prefer viewing this kind of content to reading text online. In terms of numbers, there are 13 million Vine users on Twitter, social video platform Vimeo announced 14 million members, YouTube has a viewership in the billions and it is the second most used search engine. In fact, more than four billion hours of video are viewed each month.

But using video to promote your business is difficult, time consuming and expensive, right? Wrong! Video marketing is possible for every budget. You can improve your Google rank, turn your visitors into customers and increase the amount of sales from your marketing spend.

Type of Content

Because videos grab attention, people are more likely to click on them than to read text. Furthermore, they are more likely to share video on Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon and other social channels, leading to more views and potentially more revenue. The type of content that works well in video format is:

• A physical product or service so it can be shown or demonstrated. This allows you to illustrate benefits and skills. Video is especially effective if you have an interesting or novel product.
• Instructions on how to use or do something. These videos let customers make an immediate connection and see how your product helps them.
• Creative or funny topics. When you make viewers smile or laugh, it is more likely the association with your brand will be positive.
• More detail on a news story with statistics and information. If you add your own spin or angle, you build authority and credibility.
• Coverage of live events. This is a way to make your company more relevant.

But instead of creating video commercials, you should concentrate on providing value. For example, if you are a restaurant, think about sharing cooking tips or bringing signature recipes to life. This is a great way to educate your prospects and customers. You can also show a different side of your business, such as how products are made, how team members are trained or special features of stores. Testimonials are also more compelling in video format.

Tips

1. Focus on viewer needs. The best way to approach your videos is to consider your target audience, the main features that will interest them or questions they need answered, and the most effective way to convey that information.
2. Keep videos brief. The ideal length for a video is under four minutes. You have about 50 seconds to capture viewers before they are likely to skip a video. If you have an involved, detailed topic, consider a series of videos as an alternative to long and in-depth content.
3. Show your personality. Videos should spotlight your company’s culture and personality in a genuine way.
4. Tell a story. There should be a narrative curve to your videos, including climaxes and resolutions, even if you are selling products.
5. Use hotspots. Embed links to additional content, quizzes, contests or other interactive features for viewers. Just be careful not to overload your videos with these.
6. Choose your cover image wisely. No one will click on videos to watch if the images are boring or blurry.
7. Choose your video style and music carefully. Typically, upbeat music works best.
8. Add a call-to-action button. You message should be simple and direct.
9. Analyze what works and doesn’t work. Google Analytics, Salesforce and Optimizely highlight where in videos people stop watching, which sections are most effective eliciting responses and when people share videos.

Costs

According to the 2013 Advertisers Survey from placemedia (commissioned from uSAMP), when it comes to small businesses, 95 percent of advertising executives felt that video advertisements on cable or broadcast TV are highly effective, with 66 percent of the respondents stating they introduce products to people in the surrounding areas. Nearly half said video advertisements on cable or television make small businesses look as big as national brands, followed by 36 percent who said these advertisements provide a local call to action.

However, 97% of respondents believe the reasons keeping small businesses from buying video ads for broadcast or cable include cost (89 percent) and that videos are too difficult to produce (42 percent).

But it is now possible for small companies to create video that looks and sounds as great as what major brands produced for millions of dollars just a few years ago. High-quality cameras cost just a few hundred dollars and there are many free tools. You can use photos and screen captures of your website along with simple transitions to give your video an animated look. Depending on the effect you want, you can also use low-cost options for editing software, voice overs and hosting (see next section on tools).

If you don’t want to produce videos yourself, there are services available through publishers, local media and specialty providers at a range of costs. For example, your local cable TV station may produce videos for an additional fee if you buy air time. This article provides some good perspective on what you can expect to spend, depending on your requirements.

Tools

• YouTube. Take advantage of free uploading, extended video length options and powerful editing tools. By adding a keyword rich title and description, along with tags associated with the video content, videos can rank high in search results. An added benefit of YouTube videos is that Facebook converts them to they play inline right in the Facebook News Feed, so people are not getting bounced somewhere else to view. Videos can be embedded into websites and shared on other social media with YouTube tools. This is how to embed a YouTube video montage.
• Facebook Video. Facebook allows videos to play in the News Feed, offers free video hosting space and has easy social sharing tools. Videos can be embedded on websites and blogs. Plus, videos can drive high volumes of Likes, comments and shares to extend the reach and visibility of your company.
• Instagram. This mobile app has features for quick and easy video creation and sharing, offering up to 15 seconds of video recording on mobile devices, social media sharing and more. You can create videos anytime and anywhere because you use your mobile phone. The videos can be embedded on websites.
• Vine. This is another mobile app, which enables you to introduce products and demonstrate them. Videos are six seconds and automatically loop. This can be used to show your company culture, event excerpts, testimonials and more. Videos can be embedded on websites and shared on other social media.
• GoAnimate. This tool offers numerous templates, characters, backgrounds and music tracks. You can add special effects and the videos are hosted for you. Not only is it easy to learn to use GoAnimate, there is one-click publishing to YouTube. Pricing starts at $25 per month (billed annually).
• Animoto. Get high-quality background and motion formats. You can also drop in video and still images, select music from the library and produce professional videos. There is a free plan and a pro level for $39 per month.
• Screencast. Many companies use Screencast for tutorials and software demos because this simple format lets you create videos by taking screen shots and adding voice-overs. A free account provides 2 GB of storage and 2 GB monthly bandwidth.
• Camtasia. This screencasting tool lets you capture the action on your computer and will record your voice narration if you want. This can be helpful when you want to demonstrate software, share slides, or use photos or camera video. Rather than provide long manuals, conduct telephone training or host expensive in-person demonstrations, you can cost-effectively employ video. Camtasia enables you to edit the videos for polished final footage. You can also use themes, graphics, clickable links and other elements. It also integrates with YouTube for one-step uploads. The license is $299, but there is a free trial to test it out.
• Bravo. You can conveniently let customers record, review and send their videos to you. Then you approve and place them on your website, blog, YouTube or other channels. The starter plan is $24 per month and a free trial is available.
• VoiceBunny. You can get professional voice overs in a few ways. 1) Search the database of choices and book talent directly. 2) Post a casting call and evaluate the responses. 3) Let the system match you with an appropriate professional. A wide variety of voices and accents in more than 50 languages are available. Rates start from $.04 per minute and pricing is provided upfront.
• Wistia. You can host your video and customize it with social sharing buttons and clickable calls to actions. You can also collect viewers’ emails to add to your database. Flash and HTML5 versions are encoded automatically at multiple resolutions. The videos are Twitter-friendly and can be played within a tweet. The analytics package includes a heat map for every view, showing when individuals watched videos, what parts were skipped or repeated and what they previously viewed. There are a variety of packages including a basic free plan that includes hosting for up to three videos.

Here is some additional data to consider. EMarketer found that 64 percent of survey respondents said they planned to use more video content in marketing. ComScore found that people who view videos online are 64 percent more likely to complete purchases than other visitors. Stacksandstacks.com found that customers who viewed product videos were 144% more likely to add products to their carts than those who didn’t watch. Zappos discovered that products with videos outsell those without videos by 35 percent. As Forrester Research notes, “One minute of video is worth up to 1.8 million words.”

The final words of advice to small businesses: keep your videos short, engaging, searchable and sharable.

Are you inspired to start using video to market your company? What type of video content do you think would best engage customers and drive revenue?

Back-to-School Marketing Trends and Tips

When July rolls around, advertisers both large and small start preparing for the second biggest shopping period of the year. As parents gather their ever-expanding shopping lists and kids look forward to updating their wardrobes for the approaching session, this is a perfect opportunity for marketers to catch the attention of both generations.

The back-to-school shopping season offers a shopping window of about 12 weeks to consumers and businesses have to be ready with their marketing campaigns right about now. Here are 6 tips to stand out.

1. Target the decision makers:

There is no doubt that moms set the budget, are the major influencers and, many times, are the final decision makers in this shopping season. That is why gearing your messages to mothers makes good sense. A survey by Parenting.com/Women & Co. shows that moms’ highest back-to-school priority is their children’s clothing, with nine out of ten moms agreeing they spend more money on their children’s fall wardrobes than on their own. Some of the top criteria for busy mothers are: budget, quality and ease of shopping. This message “More school for your money” by Walmart caters to one of the main concerns of the target audience.

2. Follow buyers online:

As research prior to buying is increasing done online, it is mandatory to have an updated website. The growth in usage of social networking sites and mobile devices has significantly increased consumers buying clout. The internet is the constant companion to consumers and they are accessing it 24/7 to help them with their purchasing decisions. You can reach these customers with formats such as:

• Creating interactive apps that become utilities for buyers’ shopping experiences.
• Offering coupons and discounts for special needs or to encourage particular behavior.
• Sharing and updating digital catalogs as people like to browse to check out latest trends.
• Organizing your website by segregating items for different needs and age groups.

The Office Depot website is a great example as it has items organized by school grade with deals highlighted in each section.

3. Use email marketing for effective reach:

Emails are an excellent way to contact parents with kids of different age groups with custom messages for their distinct needs.

Experian Marketing Services provides some interesting trends and statistics from the 2012 back to school season:

• Offers in subject lines were present on 37% of back to school emails and generated 57% of total email revenue.
• Free shipping offers had the best transaction rates and the highest revenue per email.
• Teen apparel interest continued into the school year, especially over Labor Day weekend. Click rates for apparel emails were highest in September, meaning that consumers still engaged with apparel emails well into the school year.

4. Explore new channels:

If you are targeting teens then you should definitely consider the high smartphone and internet penetration among this age group. According to a report from Pew Research Center:

• 95% of teens use the internet.

• 78% of teens have a cell phone and almost half (47%) of them own smartphones—that translates into 37% of all teens having smartphones, up from just 23% in 2011.

• 23% of teens have a tablet computer, a level comparable to the general adult population.

To connect with youth, it is essential to share products in a way that is creative and innovative. Good photography and fun product descriptions can make their experiences interactive and interesting. Some ideas for teens are:

• Share product pictures, the latest promotions and ads on your Pinterest page.

• Tweet about hottest school supplies and accessories, interesting deals or latest back to school news

Staples has introduced a cool contest in which their viewers have to submit captions for pictures to earn chances to win tablet computers and savings passes.

• Run contests and ask social fans to upload their pictures to earn freebies.

• Upload customer in-store videos and testimonials on your YouTube page and share links across all your social media platforms.

The picture shared by Dark Beauty magazine about their upcoming issue on back-to-school fashion trends will have many young readers eager to buy the publication and the clothing!

5. Optimize your campaigns:

Learn from your previous campaigns before going ahead with plans for this year. Here are three ways to differentiate in a crowded marketplace:

Highlight product features: Campaigns that zones in on the product features which are high on buyers’ priority lists have better chances of getting noticed and will make messages irresistible.

Plan offers to make them feel special: The best kind of deal deals leave customers walking away feeling valued. Develop campaigns that make buyers want to spread their experience around.

In a back to school promotion by Apple, anyone buying a Mac got a free $100 App Store gift card in the U.S. or £70 in the U.K. Students purchasing an iPad or iPhone received a $50 gift card in the States or £30 card in Britain.

Spread the word about your non-profit initiatives: When a company uses its resources whether financial or non-financial, to help those in need, it sends out a strong message that stands out. Talk about your initiatives in all your offline and online interactions.

Last year, in a marketing campaign called Shine On, Gap shared stories about children who make the world a brighter place through their unique talents and community service. The campaign appeared in Gap stores in the United States and Canada, as well as online at Gap.com and on Gap’s social media properties.

6. Support a cause:

Many retailers try to form a connect with families with many cause marketing campaigns projected towards education, child development, bullying and various other related issues. The campaigns that get the best responses are the ones that support a genuine cause, strike a chord among the audience and provide real value to the affected group.

Office Depot is uniting with the boy band One Direction for a back-to-school campaign that will include an anti-bullying initiative carrying the theme “Live. Love. Move” that elaborates to say: “Live kind. Love everyone. Move together against bullying.” The brand has introduced an exclusive offering of back-to-school products in this campaign. The limited-edition collection is available at all Office Depot retail locations as well as their website. A percentage of the products’ sales will be donated to support anti-bullying education.

Every business is unique in its strengths and weaknesses. Each brand associates with its customers in a different way. So, it is good to know these tactics and use them to develop your own personal strategy to engage your existing and new back to school consumers.

Which trends have you discovered for this back-to-school season? How do you plan to draw crowds with offers this season?

Email Marketing to Drive Revenue in a Cross-Platform World

A recent study found small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) ($1-50 million and less than 1,000 employees) are spending the largest portion of their marketing budgets on email marketing, not traditional media like print, radio and TV, and not social media like Facebook or Twitter. At 15%, email marketing is ahead of events and trade shows, person-to-person contact, print ads and social media (Local Media Innovation Alliance, “Email Delivers Dollars . . . . and Data).

But it is important to remember that today’s email is different than the blanket campaigns of the past. It’s precision marketing, not blasting. “It’s a campaign to market products or to market your customers’ products. It’s email marketing. It’s about collecting data. It’s about making money immediately and it’s about driving the relevancy of your property to crazy busy people” (Ruth Presslaff, founder of Presslaff Interactive Revenue).

It is also a cross-platform world with mobile access to email on the rise. In March 2013, IDC surveyed over 1,000 iPhone and Android users between the ages of 18-44 and email ranked number one in use for 78 percent of respondents, ahead of browsing the web or Facebook. Presslaff commented, “When I want to sell a product, it’s email. When I want to reach a specific segment of my audience, it’s email.”

Sheryl Pattek, VP-principal analyst at Forrester Research said. “Smart marketers work to litter potential buyer’s paths with actionable data to help solve problems. Then they devise ways to contact them when they are most open to receiving marketing messages.”

Local media and other companies that provide marketing services to SMBs have an opportunity to provide email and list rental services to customers. For example, newspaper sales staff can offer print advertisers access to email addresses they don’t have, which come along with permission to send messages, demographic data and a high rate of opens and engagement. As reported in the Local Media Innovation Alliance report, “Email Delivers Dollars . . . and Data,” The Salisbury Post is a 20,000 circulation daily newspaper based in Rowan County, North Carolina. Their growing email lists can now fetch $125 per thousand addresses from small clients looking to reach these high-quality targets. They charge $750-1,500 to build a contest for a client, an effort which takes one person 15-20 minutes.

Considering the high SMB adoption rate, the evolution of the tactic and the opportunity for providers, here are some email marketing tips for advertisers, as well as publishers and marketing services companies looking to help them succeed (seven by Karen J. Bannan that appeared in B2B magazine were incorporated).

1. Use the right tools. Email marketing services such as Constant Contact, iContact and MailChimp automate delivery and provide templates to streamline the technical aspects of sending email. Pricing is simple and ranges from $15 per month for up to 500 addresses to $150 per month for 25,000 addresses.

Typically, publishers and marketing services companies interested in re-selling services can earn from 15 to 40 percent of the revenue generated by their customers and get free use of the mail services tools for themselves.

2. Build your lists. Consider every point of contact with your audience and try to solicit opt-ins. Your trade show booth, product warranty registrations, Contact Us forms, contests or contend offerings are all venues to ask for email addresses and contact details. Integrate mobile into your acquisition programs. You can launch a simple campaign where subscribers can text a short code with “subscribe” and their email addresses. Promote email sign-ups on your social media accounts as well. Add Facebook and Twitter buttons in your emails and ask subscribers to forward emails and share them with friends.

In general, you should make it simple for viewers to join your list. Don’t force them to fill out lengthy registration forms. You can capture more information later by providing a discount, free consultation or something else of value in return, says the California Small Business Development Center.

Newspapers can develop contests or giveaways that encourage readers to provide their email addresses and answer a few demographic questions in exchange for the opportunity to win valuable prizes.

3. Do a competitive analysis. One of the best tactics for SMBs to build lists is to look at the competition’s websites. See who their customers are and target them. Typically, there will be case studies or lists/logos of clients posted.

Newspapers have databases all over the place, including circulation lists, advertiser lists, registered story commentators, submitters of calendar and other news items, community contacts and story sources. They are compiled by audience development managers (circulation managers), digital sales managers and marketing directors.

4. Capture more data. The best way to boost engagement is to send more targeted information but you need as much data as possible about prospects to do this effectively. Consider merging Google or other web analytics data with email databases, adding fields that show products users may have researched. Or you can include geography, short-term goals, keywords search and comments.

Keep in mind, if data is king then content is queen. Data alone does not automatically guarantee relevant communications. Marketers need to pair data with context and content that is going to resonate with their audiences.

5. Think programs not individual messages. The objective is to create strong consumer communication experiences and build campaigns that tie together across messages to bring more depth to each and result in engaging experiences. Continuously nurture your customer relationships, helping them to covert and achieve brand loyalty. Rewarding customers with incentives and offers is just as important as winning back customers who are dormant or lapsed.

Newsrooms are getting into the act too and helping to deliver local content to readers who share their email addresses. Breaking news alerts are popular with sponsoring advertisers. There can be an element of fun as well, with “guess the date of the first snowfall contests” and more. Newspapers can ask readers for their birthdays and other special dates and sell a wide variety of local businesses the opportunity to target these diners, shoppers and travelers.

6. Use mobile wisely. It is important to design for mobile since consumers have the ability to open an email on one of almost 100 different screen sizes, according to Shawn Myers, VP of marketing for StrongMail. New approaches like responsive design help create templates that work with the dominant platforms used by consumers. Another recommendation is to prioritize and display only the relevant information and make it finger-friendly. You should also have optimized landing pages. You will drive better results from your campaigns if you remember that consumers value consistent experiences.

Simm Jenkins encourages us to be mobile marketers who just happen to be leveraging the email channel. He reports that K notice says the number of emails opened on a mobile device during the first half of 2012 overall rose to 36 percent. Ensure that mobile doesn’t just sit in the back of your head but greatly impacts all of your email markets.

7. Ask for referrals. Whenever you send emails, ask recipients for referrals. The most likely to provide them are customers who have used your product or service for a while. Anyone who recently purchased from you is also a good candidate. Give readers the option to share in various places, such as links and buttons in various places throughout the email.

8. Segment by profitability and look for similarities. Few people use their list of best customers to the fullest. Look at this segment as a whole and find commonalities. Is there a title, vertical market, geography in common? Have they performed the same action or responded to the same promotion? Once you find the common ground, you can search for other prospects that share the trait.

9. Append using social data. May social data appending services can look at the 100 most recent buyers, profile them and find patterns. If a majority of people who bought a product are members of the same LinkedIn group, you can try to join and promote to them or search for more people to target.

10. Use list verification services and platforms. It’s worth taking the time to run your database through services such as BriteVerify, FreshAdress and PowerData. More than three-quarters of deliverability challenges have to do with reputation. That’s why it is so important to keep your emails from bouncing, garnering complaints or hitting spam traps.

11. Send the right message to the right people at the right time. Create campaigns not only for each segment of your list (e.g., customer/sales lead, title, region, etc.), but also by how they interact with the content of your emails. For example, if someone clicks on a particular link X, they immediately receive Y communication. Provide value through your content and send e-newsletters, white papers, reports, surveys, product comparisons, how-to instructions, etc. Email at least once a month to stay visible. A newsletter is a good format for monthly distribution but you could send notices of sales or special offers bimonthly or even weekly.

12. Test and measure. Monitor which subject lines, content, design and frequency get the best results based on open rates, click-through rates and other measures.

Whether you conduct your own campaigns or provide the service to others, like all marketing tactics, email is not static. Marketers must continually evolve and advance strategies to stay on top of these trends and improve their results.

How have you changed your approach to email marketing? Do you have any great tips to add to the ones above?

Print and Digital Marketing Challenges for Retailers

The retail industry is in the midst of a revolution. Customer purchasing behavior is fundamentally changing due to the collision of the physical and virtual worlds. Experian found that 36 percent of U.S. organizations interact with customers and prospects across five or more channels. Despite this new reality, consumers want an integrated shopping experience and expect retailers to deliver. Failure puts retailers at the risk of becoming irrelevant, according to Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2013.

In April, Affinity Express commissioned industry research to better understand the challenges and goals of retailers because we serve this segment with our advertising production solutions. Our investigation included a series of in-depth interviews and a written survey with more than 80 respondents across a range of retail categories such as grocery, home improvement and sporting goods stores.

Respondents

The functions we targeted were print advertising, marketing, creative services and production services. In terms of level, 43 percent of the respondents were vice presidents or directors, 35 percent were manager level, 4 percent were CMOs and the rest fell into the “other” or C-level category. Thirty-eight percent of these contacts are given an advertising/marketing budget, 32 percent manage the budget, 11 percent set the budget and 10 percent influence it.

Budgets

For 64 percent of the retailers, print circulars and digital advertising are not part of the same marketing budget. The budget for print circulars is managed by the vice president of advertising 45% of the time and the director of advertising 22 percent. The vice president of marketing is responsible 20 percent of the time and the director of marketing 9 percent. When it comes to the digital advertising budget, it is managed by the vice president of digital marketing (31 percent) and the director of digital marketing (30 percent). The vice president of marketing is accountable for the digital ad budget in 19 percent of cases and the director of marketing 7 percent. The vice president of advertising and the director of advertising are responsible in 4 percent and 2 percent of the cases, respectively. With print and digital in separate budget silos and under different management, it is likely workflow is inefficient, assets are not being shared and costs are high, as 60% digital ads are being produced by outside ad agencies.

Publishers Use Special Sections to Drive More Revenue

Special sections can add significant revenue for publishers. When done well, they improve readership and appeal to new advertisers. They can also have a major impact on year-end profits. But building great special sections requires more than just a few articles and some ads. It takes strong material, preparation, sales planning and consistent effort to produce them.

Affinity Express provides the lay out or pagination for this publication. For more information, visit: http://goo.gl/2LQB2.

Healthcare in Iowa

Ted Borelli, senior advertising manager of sales for The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said, “Typically, when we create new sections, we create them based off of conversations we’ve had with advertisers. . . . We create sections based on information we get out in the real world.” Empower is a special section that spreads knowledge about health issues women could face at all stages of life and connects healthcare providers to women.

Editorial content-gathering starts about ten weeks before publishing. Written by a pool of about 35 freelance writers, the stories include local women and medical professionals as sources. To shape the editorial content, Special Sections Editor Maggy Dumas said the editors use medical websites to research potential stories, email freelancers describing the parameters of the publications and give them a choice of several topics.

The freelance writers are also responsible for providing photos, which Dumas said typically are obtained from the sources or are taken by the writers. Stock art is usually used on the cover of the tabloid. Dumas writes an introduction and edits the stories. Layout is completed by two of The Gazette’s graphic designers. The tabloid is printed in-house and distributed within the Sunday newspaper, which has a circulation of 70,273.

“The special sections I work on are considered ‘content with an agenda,’ content to sell advertising into,” she said. Advertising appeals to a variety of health care providers, including hospitals, dentists, OB-GYN specialists, chiropractors, spas and retirement communities, as well as some non-healthcare businesses. Selling ads in Empower is open to all The Gazette’s 15 sales reps and the publication brought in about $10,000 of advertising revenue in 2010.

Football in Illinois

Gridiron debuted in Rockford, Illinois, in August 2008 and has been published every football season since. The project brings in about $60,000 in advertising revenue each season for The Rockford Register Star, running every Friday for 13 weeks during the high school football season. The register covers about 55 high school teams with an emphasis on schools in proximity to Rockford.

According to Sports Editor Randy Ruef, “It’s a big project, but it’s not a heavy workload. . . . it’s just repackaging and reusing stuff.” For newspapers that don’t have large sports staffs, Ruef said putting together a publication like Gridirron can still work. “There are ways to get around having a small staff. Use the phone, use photos, use the help of part-timers and take advantage of schools, coaches and stringers to give you something.”

Ruef chalks up Gridiron’s success to focusing specifically on football instead of all high school sports, which sets it apart for advertisers and appeals to a specific audience. Auto dealers, sports, medicine and family entertainment businesses have all advertised. Ads on RRStar.com/gridiron are sold as bundled buy to advertisers. Each of the print ad positions of a quarter page or larger include online. The front-strip and back-page advertisers get the pre-roll and the mid-roll on the predictions video on the site. Ruef explained, “Advertisers love it. We don’t have a lot of positive news that advertisers can be associated with. This is positive.”

Motorcycles in Wisconsin

The Washington County Daily News created a Riders’ Guide for Harley-Davidson riders visiting southeastern Wisconsin for an anniversary celebration. “It was the most successful revenue-generating, free standing special section to date,” said Lois Evans, advertising director for the 9,200 circulation newspaper in West Bend.

Because of the expanded area of the publication’s audience, the Daily News was able to produce a more regional special section and gain advertisers in three counties outside its normal coverage area. “We had a huge selection of first-time advertisers that was above and beyond our readership,” Evans said.

The content was written in-house by four of the Daily News’ staff writers. Layout was completed in-house, but the Daily News did use an outside service to create the section’s various maps. Artwork came from Harley-Davidson’s 100^th and the Harley Owners Group’s 20^th anniversary celebration.

Advertisers were mostly restaurants and bars, but there were some tourist-type ads, such as boat tours and other attractions of interest to visitors. Local Harley0Davidson dealers also placed ads in the guide.

Parent company Conley Media encouraged sister newspapers the Waukesha Freeman and Ozaukee County News Graphic to sell ads for the special section. There were 12 or 13 reps selling ads for the section and the number of pages in the Riders’ Guide was determined by the amount of advertising sold. Evans noted, “It was a welcome new advertising venue for advertisers.”

Six Verticals for The Wall Street Journal

As these newspapers illustrate, when publishers print special sections about specific fields of business, the features can be very attractive for advertisers who jump at the chance to reach a narrow audience segments interested in these topics. The challenge for publishers is how to replicate that high value online. In February of 2013, The Wall Street Journal launched six new digital verticals to match the special sections that appear in the Journal’s print edition about 60 times a year: wealth management, retirement, energy, leadership, healthcare and small business.

According to Senior Editor Larry Rout, the idea is to ensure this content doesn’t sink as quickly when it goes online. To keep up the chatter around the special topics, the Journal asked a stable of thought leaders and public personalities to blog and offer opinions in a live stream. The site also hosting periodic “Google Hangouts” where business experts chatted and took questions from viewers.

The question is whether anyone will show up in the online verticals since there is already so much financial and business chatter and the Journal Reports may have a hard time differentiating. Rout says the Reports’ contents have done very well when published as individual stories on the WSJ website. Placing that content in dedicated verticals and combining it with marquee personalities and the WSJ brand may provide the necessary traction online.

Advice from the Experts

What can you do to ensure success with your special sections in print and online? Here are some tips from Publishers-Edge to help you plan special sections.

• Review the special sections from last year. If the same sections are dropping in the amount of space sold over time, it is a good idea to adjust the content or try some new ones.
• Take a look at the marketplace. What businesses have opened in the past couple of years in your area and are they advertising with your newspaper?
• Be informative. Don’t waste readers’ time. Provide content that they find useful.
• Feature local articles. Even if you use syndicated content, you should add paragraphs to some of the prewritten articles to localize them.
• Don’t use advertorials. While it is possible to build a special section using advertorial and news releases, you have to consider the readers if you want special sections that will achieve targets year after year. Readers depend on local newspapers to provide credible material that is not biased so, if you use advertorials, it should be clearly identified or labeled near the beginning of the articles.
• Determine who will buy advertising. Make a list of the categories and businesses and forecast revenue. When you consider this, you may discover that your special section should be an ROP page or two in the paper for a few consecutive weeks instead of a separate section because the list is short and the advertisers are small (and this alternative still generates revenue).
• Develop new business. Special sections are one of the primary tools to secure new advertisers.
• Pre-design the special section. Show advertisers the publication with actual articles and photos and blanks for advertising. This helps them select the ad space they want.
• Create packages in print. Add extra weeks to the package and you can significantly increase revenues. Instead of asking for a one-time run, you can design a package price for multiple weeks.
• Put special sections online. The internet is a resource for information on every topic and newspapers are beginning to use it as a means to publish topical information using their special sections.

What new special sections have driven revenue for your publication? How have you handled the workload of producing sections? Do you wish you could produce more each year to attract advertisers?

Read more about special sections production.

The SMB Marketing Opportunity for Mother’s Day

Last year, consumers spent an average of $140 each on Mother’s Day gifts for moms, wives, daughters, aunts and other special women. That was an increase of more than 10 percent over the previous year. As a publisher or marketing service provider, how do you drive more advertising revenue while helping your small- to medium-sized business customers capitalize on spending for the holiday? We have some great ideas. You might be able to try a few this year but have plenty of lead time to make the most of the holiday in 2014!

The overarching theme is that advertising has to do more than just tell people how great product and services are. It has to offer consumers something of value. When building marketing campaigns around Mother’s Day, there is an opportunity to thank mothers but also to give them discounts and other incentives. And don’t forget grandmothers—advertising can drive additional purchases for a second generation!

Here are some categories of advertisers for you to target that can tie in with Mother’s Day.

• Traditional Gifts and Cards: Encourage businesses in this category to count down to Mother’s Day, feature a variety of products and services and remind consumers to prepare for the holiday.
• Restaurants: Along the same lines, restaurants can use advertising to suggest people make reservations for the holiday. This is probably a good idea considering that approximately 80 million of the adults in the U.S. will be going out to eat on Sunday (about one third!).
• Salons/Spas: This category has really jumped on the Mother’s Day bandwagon. When advising local businesses, suggest they create “special experiences” for mothers. For example, package services that have never been bundled together before like a “mother-daughter” treatment or a massage, facial and pedicure for the ultimate pampering. Or they can provide discounts like “free $15 products with every treatment”.
• Dentists: Mothers’ might take advantage of specials on teeth whitening and free electronic toothbrushes when coming in for cleanings or even discounted Invisalign packages.
• Automotive: With the need to take kids to school, sports, conferences and doctor appointments, motherhood tends to involve a lot of driving. You can target mechanics or garages to offer discounted oil changes or tire rotations. It would also be appealing to provide free car washes with maintenance over a certain dollar amount spent.
• Optometrists: Tap eye care stores to offer mothers discount prices on name-brand frames that will help them feel good about themselves. With summer almost here, stores can also offer discounts on prescription sunglasses or buy one, get one deals.
• Chiropractors: Help chiropractic offices promote packages of treatments or discounts, free massages with treatments or sample packs of products such as homeopathic remedies and mothers will feel healthier for the tough job they have.
• Veterinarians: Most people think of pets as members of their family. Veterinarians might want to offer discounts to mothers who bring in their pets before Mother’s Day. If they offer accessories or other goods, they can provide free items when pets are brought in for their grooming or shots. Giving away bags of treats are also effective.
• Non-Traditional Gifts: Depending on the mother, some might love gift certificates for piercings, sets of power tools or briefcases. Advertising unexpected products’ suitability for Mother’s Day can open up a broad opportunity for new revenue and attract mothers who appreciate a fresh, un-stereotypical approach from your advertisers.
• Post-Holiday: Advertisers can reach any mothers who might feel forgotten or who didn’t get quite what they wanted, and invite them women to pamper themselves. And you have the opportunity to sell more ads by extending the holiday timeframe!

It’s not easy to come up with a new and effective approach to Mother’s Day, but PS Print has some ideas on how you can offer a unique perspective.

• Show Animal Moms and Babies: this works well, especially if you can include something related to the businesses featured in ads. If possible, try to go unusual rather than the standard kittens and puppies.
• Pathways. Mothers help their children overcome obstacles as they grow, so pathways work as a theme in Mother’s Day designs.
• Market to Sub-Segments: Mothers are a diverse group. Some cook, some are athletic and some are both. Identify target audiences as specifically as possible. If there are hobbies, professions, or pursuits shared by your advertisers’ audiences, then you can create designs to meet their needs. The more targeted the campaigns and the designs, the more revenue they will drive.
• Condolences: If you can tie your products into an understanding of how much mothers have to endure with as they raise their children, you can establish a humorous slant. In this ad, the same effect is achieved but directed toward the children buying the gifts.

Ultimately, on Mother’s Day the key to success for advertisers and their target audiences is to remember the holiday, according to Hotcards! That’s why there are three core points to stress in marketing copy:

1. Mothers are important and underappreciated
2. The day will be here before you know it
3. If you forget, the consequences will be highly unfavorable

Beyond remembering Mother’s Day, you can provide these recommendations from 365 Days of Marketing to your advertisers to help them successfully leverage the holiday.

1. Make sure you know what women want. Find out what the women in your target markets or the wives and mothers of your customers actually want. Survey customers about their favorite Mother’s Day gifts or what they plan to purchase for their own moms this year. Use social media to gather information. Use a poll to solicit customer and reader feedback but also to make specific Mother’s Day gift suggestions by listing ideas in the choices for poll questions.
2. Make it very, very easy for people to buy Mother’s Day gifts and easier to buy from you than anyone else. Use email newsletters to make gift suggestions with one-click ordering. Allow ordering ahead for store pickup or include wrapping, gift cards and delivery services. Make specific suggestions that would be appropriate for the different women in their lives (e.g., moms, daughters, aunts, etc.). Provide last-minute creative gift options. Pre-package gift baskets with themes, such as outdoor lovers, exercise lovers, food lovers, movie lovers, makeup or pampering products, etc.
3. Drive repeat business. Create Mother’s Day gifts that come with a good reason for the recipients or the buyers to come back to your business again soon. For example, a spa could offer a promotional price on a massage and a 20% discount for the next massage booked.
4. Take advantage of the opportunity. Use Mother’s Day to target customers who might not normally buy from you but need gifts for their wives, mothers, etc. Think about giving them an incentive to come back for Father’s Day or another sale or event. Ask them to subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on social media or add to your direct mail list to receive future promotions. Set up an online survey form and invite them to rate their experience. And you can extend special offers via landing pages on your website or emails thanking them for their business.
5. Conduct cooperative campaigns to reach the gift buyers. If you cater mostly to women, then your challenge is to get the word out to men about the great gifts you offer. Create strategic partnerships with businesses that target men, such as clubs at golf courses, recreational or outdoor sports facilities. For companies that target men, get them to swap: they promote your offering, while you promote theirs for Father’s Day. You can also conduct cooperative email or direct mail campaigns. Work with restaurants, bars or clubs that have high percentages of male patrons to place signage or table tents describing your products.

Have you seen any unusual and memorable Mother’s Day ads this season? What innovative approaches have you taken with  your advertisers and their products and services to set them apart during a cluttered advertising season?

Helping SMBs Market: the 12 Questions You Should Ask

Today, a diverse array of companies target small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to provide marketing services and take advantage of their large sales forces, existing retail locations or related products to drive sales. We see this trend among publishers, financial services companies, office supply stores, printers, shipping franchises and many other categories. For example, there is a trend in recent years for newspapers to offer print and digital services and take on the role of digital agency for their local advertisers.

One of the challenges to launching successful campaigns and generating results for SMBs is getting a clear understanding upfront of goals, products and budgets. Sales teams have to sell high volumes of SMBs and gather critical information quickly for designers, copywriters and others to execute. Plus, their SMBs contacts might have limited marketing knowledge.

With this in mind, we’ve created a list of the essential questions to ask SMBs so you can build comprehensive marketing services programs that will deliver.

1. What does your business do?

When you know the scope of the business, the marketing plan can be focused rather than too broad and inefficient, according to Alex Burke of Demand Media. This is a good opportunity to learn about important industry terms that best describe the business, which can be used as keywords in various marketing channels. Plus, if there any legal requirements for advertising and other marketing materials, this is the time to find out.

2. Describe your products or services and the problems they solve.

Talk about the products and their features and benefits with your client. It can also be helpful to discuss the size of the market for each product and the client’s current market share, says Ian Linton of Demand Media. And just because you have a client in an established category doesn’t mean you automatically know what they want to sell and what is profitable for them (e.g., a cosmetic surgeon may be more interested in selling non-surgical procedures like Botox because they are more profitable). You should also ask about the biggest benefits products provide.

3. Who are your customers and what are their most pressing issues and concerns?

It is impossible to build a campaign to reach everyone. That’s why the best marketing plans are built on a clear understanding of ideal buyer profile, whether that means focusing on an industry segment like real estate agents or demographics such as young, single career women in urban areas. Another consideration is the most important decision makers. There are the actual buyers and the influencers. Food products tend to focus on women in their mid-30s as the main decision makers, but a happy family is featured as the end result of buying the products, notes Entrepreneur Magazine.

4. How long is the sales cycle?

Different marketing approaches support different buying timeframes. Fast food relies on quick sale volume and aggressive techniques, but selling financial services is a gradual process of establishing reputation and building trust over time. This affects the media and the tactics used.

5. What are the buying triggers?

For some companies, purchases are seasonal (e.g., accountants and software during income tax season) or they could be everyday occurrences like groceries. The circumstances influence what consumers want in solutions. In other words, you have to consider if fast and cheap are the major concern or if the audience wants quality that will last. Entrepreneur Magazine indicates that, by identifying the circumstances and key buying criteria, you get a list of traits to emphasize in marketing materials.

6. What are the geographic targets for your business?

You want to help the client focus efforts where they can do the most good, rather than casting a wide net. Take the time to delve into the locations where the client is selling now and where can they ship. Find out if they are focused on expansion and if they can handle a high response rate (if not, you might want to recommend a phased campaign).

7. Who are your competitors and what makes your company different?

Knowing the competitors enables designers to research how, when and where they advertise, in addition to structuring the client’s plan to better capture the target audience. Discuss how strong your client’s competitive advantage is and how the products compare with those of competitors. If the client has proof that his or her business is better (e.g., testimonials, case studies, etc.), it can be incorporated into materials to strengthen them and build credibility.

8. What is your pricing strategy?

Messaging, images and tactics will change based on the pricing strategy. A high-end, expensive brand will focus more on image compared to the low-priced leader, who will sell based on cost and need to drive volume. See the comparison between these two ads for Neiman-Marcus and Dollar General.

9. What factors affect your industry?

There are seasonal peaks and valleys, along with holidays, that can affect marketing programs and the placement of ads. Mother’s Day promotions are in full swing right now and the ads for florists and spas, candy companies and restaurants are common. It’s also a high-visibility time for home improvement companies because of the spring planting season. For some businesses, offering incentives might be important when sales volumes are typically low.

10. What do you want to accomplish?

What are the marketing objectives of the client? You need to understand what he or she is trying to achieve, whether that is market leadership or entering a new market where the company is unknown, suggests Ian Linton. The client may want to launch a new product or increase sales of existing products to new customers. Wherever possible, it is helpful to quantify so that proof of return on investment becomes easier. Targeting 1,000 website visitors per day or getting 10,000 sign-ups to a newsletter is easier to measure than “brand recognition” and helps you ensure the plan is relevant and focused.

11.   How do you market today?

Learn about what has and has not worked for the client. You can also gauge where there are gaps in the marketing approach and create a plan to fill them with the services you offer. Be sure to inquire about printed marketing collateral, print ads, direct mail, websites, online ads, emails and e-newsletters, deals of the day and social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, FourSquare, etc.

12.   What is the budget and time frame for the marketing program?

It’s not the easiest question to ask but you have to know how much the client is willing to spend. Furthermore, the combination of the goals and the budget tells you whether the expectations are realistic (Allan Pollett). You can also provide guidance on what additional tactics fit into the budget or what would have to be spent to leverage other approaches.

If you serve SMBs with marketing services, what other questions do you ask your contacts? Which of these do you believe are the most critical to achieving success for clients? Do you have another means for gathering this kind of information?

What Makes Ads Successful?

When designing advertising campaigns, we often look for hooks that will attract our target audiences and drive home our messages. But today, consumers are inundated with the constant noise of commercial messages. As a result, they start filtering information by ignoring anything ordinary or unremarkable. With that in mind, how do you design your messages to get noticed? Our efforts to reach audiences are wasted unless our ads break through the clutter. Here are some important tips that will make a difference in the performance of your ads.

Simple messages:

Save the speeches for industry events, as potential customers have short attention spans. The first step in your ad designs is to stick to clear, concise headlines—the shorter, the better! Here are some ads that use brief and crisp headlines to get immediate attention and deliver the messages effectively.

Choose the right ad styles:

The right styles can prevent your ads from being skipped by your potential consumers. One of the most successful design techniques is contrast. This occurs when two elements in a design are different. Our brains are trained to categorize everything. That’s why we notice when “one of these things is not like the others.” For example, it could be different colors for the text and the background color. Or it could be a difference in font styles, between a large graphic and a small graphic or between a rough against a smooth texture. The main idea behind this approach is that our eye like contrast.

iPod ads use contrast effectively to focus the viewers’ attention on the music player. The iPod and earphones appear in white and stand out clearly against the silhouettes and colored backgrounds.

Offer incentives:

The next step in developing great ads is to offer incentives. Admit it, we all love and have fallen for them. A study by KN Dimestore and SocialVibe notes that incentivized advertising works to drive active attention to brand messages and significantly improved brand perception and purchase intent. According to the study, more than 90 percent of people pay attention to brand messages when interacting with incentivized engagements and brand perceptions rise to an average of 38 percent after completing engagements.

For example, regular football nights could become even better with pitchers of beer and snacks as offered in this ad:

A survey conducted by Luth Research confirmed that this tactic works in mobile ad formats as well. As a result, hitting consumers with offers that cater to their interests and for which they’ve opted in are far more effective than trying to find magical formulas for targeting them with unsolicited messages at the right place and time.

This Expedia ad presents an enticing price offer for travelers planning a trip to New York:

 

Use images as weapons:

Powerful images can add quite a punch to your ads by making them come alive. The right images create immediate impressions and generate connections to your company. Design with the aim of telling your story with images that reduce the need to explain in words. Images should work together with the headlines to provide clear understanding to prospective buyers about the kind of deal they are getting.

The image in this ad illustrates the extreme comfort experienced by those who wear Nike Air Socks such that they forget they are wearing any shoes at all.

AT&T has done a series of advertisements using interesting images of painted human hands to promote their brand in different countries.

Build curiosity:

Most of our actions are governed by the urge to learn more. When your ads provoke questions, they definitely engage the brain receptors of readers who want to know more. The tactic brings novelty into play as well. And, frankly, the more playful energy ads have, the more connection and involvement they can generate.

This ad by The Economist captures the essence of staying young by being curious:

Issue clear calls-to-action:

All the fun, action and drama would be a waste if your ads do not state clear calls to action for readers. If you are not showing a channel for the interested audience to reach you, then what is the point of interacting? Even if they are brand ads, never forget to provide your contact details or your website address. Be clear on your goals and make it obvious for readers how to reap maximum results from your ad campaigns.

This outdoor ad by Denver Water delivers the message with a simple design.

Here is another ad which playfully adds a sense of urgency among the readers.

Think big:

When you take risks, you are going to come closer to fresh perspectives or breakthrough ideas. You can always scale back a really big idea but it’s next to impossible to scale up a small idea. Many marketers who think of crazy concepts end up with some of the greatest ads!

Here is a clever way to find out how Hoover’s vacuum cleaners really work.

The Danish AIDS charity chose this campaign to use an air bubble to make society think about the prejudice toward people affected with AIDS and social isolation being one of the worst effects of this disease.

Megastar Media emphasized how a smaller screen can spoil your movie experience:

Do you think curiosity is the first step towards building interest and encouraging interaction that will finally result in sales? How do you design your campaigns to draw maximum attention and engagement? We’d love to see some of your favorite ads and designs.

16 Copywriting Tips to Improve Your Marketing

Affinity Express specializes in high volumes of quality marketing designs in fast turn times. That’s why we write often about how to create effective visuals for a wide range of industries, occasions and media. But design is only half the equation and we realize that strong copy is essential to successful marketing materials. But it is never as easy as the best copywriters make it look. Take it from the person at our company who spends hours pulling out her hair  while trying to writing everything from press releases and ads, to trade show brochures and sales presentations.

To help SMB marketers keep the hair on their heads, we compiled some general copywriting tips that will improve your advertising and other digital and print marketing materials.

1. Evoke feelings

According to research, mirror neurons in the brain activate when people observe something happening and then transfer some of the feeling to you or your products. This works best when you speak to a feeling that is already there versus forcing one on your viewers.

For example, when advertisers are selling beer, they often try to call up our memories of good times with friends over beer. This is the basis for the Miller Time concept that began in the 1970s and was recently re-launched to target millennial drinkers.

Easter Campaigns that Deliver

Every year, when I first hear the clucking of that bunny that brings Cadbury chocolate eggs, I have to smile. Typically, I can restrain myself from racing out to buy a half dozen or so, but I still really like the campaign. As we head into the holiday weekend, I got to thinking: what are the secrets to ads like this that stand the test of time and actually make consumers look forward to seeing them? Our team went through quite a few past and present Easter ads to give you some tips to help you develop strong holiday campaigns for your business.

By the way, beyond candy, the biggest categories of advertisers for Easter are retailers, especially grocery and supermarkets, travel companies, eCommerce sites and movies.

1. Use traditional symbols

Most Easter marketing features pastel colors, dyed eggs, the Easter bunny or, possibly, religious themes. These are all well-recognized symbols of Easter, which give you instant recognition for your promotions. The trick is to pull them off without looking just like everyone else. One way to do this might be to go bright and bold with the eggs or feature your logo in pastels so that your campaigns are distinctly different but equally effective.

For example, you might not think of going to the zoo on during the Easter holiday but Kolner Zoo created a campaign featuring eggs painted with pictures of their unexpected animal contents. It’s eye-catching, clever and attractive.

This imagery in this Pernod Ricard ad is extremely simple but it uses an Easter symbol in red and black rather than pastel.

2. Adapt your characters to embrace themes

On the flip side, you can take the character or mascots you use regularly and have them celebrate the holiday. M&Ms get dressed up in a bunny costume to spread some joy in this ad. The company takes it a step further with a mobile ad campaign that encourages viewers to access recipes that incorporate M&Ms.

3. Tie in unexpected products and services

It’s no surprise that M&M’s jump onto the Easter bandwagon since it is the second most important candy-eating occasion of the year for Americans (we consumed 7 billion pounds of candy in 2011) and M&M-Mars started offering pastel colors in the early 1980s. But you don’t necessarily associate Mercedes-Benz with this holiday. Nevertheless, the company used direct mail to send camouflage-decorated eggs to soldiers who test drove the latest G-Class model, which was very innovative and publicized the good things the auto manufacturer is doing.

4. Find unusual, holiday-related applications for products

Has the local store run out of those kits for dying eggs? No problem. Pick up some Kool-Aid. It never would have occurred to me that you could use the drink mix to color eggs but this is how the company drives up sales at a time of year when the product is not top-of-mind.

5. Be funny

One of the best ways to build positive associations with your brand is to make people laugh. We can all relate to this “chicken” who is exhausted by his work and needs a real holiday.

How about this Schick razor ad that has no copy other than a simple “Happy Easter”? Classic.

6. Talk about renewal

Easter is often considered a celebration of renewal and new beginnings, allowing a wide variety of products and services to develop marketing campaigns when the winter chill is transitioning to summer heat. Using this theme opens up possibilities for a wider variety of advertisers, such as spas, beauty products, diet and fitness categories, home and garden stores and more.

What other advice do you have for marketers looking to connect with consumers and stand out on Easter? How do you feel about the Cadbury bunny and are there any other Easter promotions that have stuck with you?

And just in case you were wondering, I’m in the “ears-first” camp!

Interesting Easter Candy Facts

• Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year. According to 76% of Americans, they should be eaten ears first, but 5% said feet first and 4% said tail first.
• In 1953, it took 27 hours to create a Marshmallow Peep. Today, it takes six minutes. Yellow Peeps are the most popular, followed by pink, lavender, blue and white.
• If all the Easter jellybeans were lined up end-to-end, they would circle the globe nearly three times. For kids aged six to 11, 70% say they prefer to eat jellybeans one at a time, while 23% report eating several at once. Boys were more apt to eat a handful than girls.
• Candy is a relatively recent Easter tradition. Chocolate eggs, the most popular Easter candy, were first made in Europe in the early 1800s.
• Pretzels were originally associated with Easter. The twists of a pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossed in prayer.

Selling Marketing Services to Small Businesses

Targeting small business is big business for many industries. That’s because there are 23 million small businesses in the U.S. and they account for 54% of all U.S. sales. Plus, they provide 55% of all jobs and occupy 30-50% of all commercial space, an estimated 20-34 billion square feet (Source: US Small Business Administration).

Small businesses also do a lot of marketing. A survey by Borrell Associates revealed that SMBs have a median spend target of $8,000 per year for marketing, with 34% to be spent on marketing services and 19% to be spent on online/digital. This means there is a target opportunity of $4,240 per SMB per year for marketing services providers.

When asked about the services they would like to buy, small businesses answered: website design and hosting 32%, social networking support 29%, lead generation 20%, email solutions support 18%, graphic design services 18% and video production 11%, among others (Borrell and Associates, 2013).

For newspaper publishers, creating an in-house digital ad agency to serve these local companies is perhaps the most promising new trend in the industry today, according to the Local Media Association (The Local Digital Ad Agency, 12/22/11). Early adopters are having success because they are diversifying their revenue streams and growing the digital side of their businesses.

There are also numerous companies in a range of industries—Deluxe, American Express, Staples and many more—that are trying to build on existing advertising or other offerings to create broader packages of services and leverage their sales teams to reach local small businesses with marketing products and services.

So we decided to build this infographic to give you more detail on small businesses and what you need to know about their marketing in 2013.

As the Local Media Association notes, the revenue potential of providing digital and print marketing to small businesses outweighs some of the other emerging opportunities such as mobile right now. For that reason, the organization recommended every local media company consider the addition of digital agency services.

Now that you’ve seen this infographic, what do you think of the small business opportunity? Are you offering advertising and marketing services to local business? If so, in which categories are you experiencing the most success?

Another Year of St. Patrick’s Day Ads

No, I do not wear green on St. Patrick’s Day, I do not drink green beer and I can’t stand boiled corned beef and cabbage. My mother thinks this is a betrayal of my heritage, but I wear my Irish all year long thanks to my name. And I do notice St. Patrick’s Day advertising, so I wanted to share some examples and tips that may get you in the mood to “go green!”

• Products. When it comes to advertising, it seems like a limited array of products and services tie in with the holiday. Beers and liquors are at the top of the list thanks to Guinness, Bass Ale, Yuengling and Jameson Whiskey. Bars and parties are also big. I thought it was very creative for Taxi Share Chicago to tie in, since they are a solution for all those who indulge too much. And there are a small number of food companies and restaurants that also promote special products,” such as McDonald’s with their shamrock shake.

In this ad for St. Patrick’s Day treats, the cookies and cupcakes blend together with the background in a riot of shamrocks—very festive! By the way, shamrocks have three leaves but clovers can have five to seven leaves (unless you get the odd four-leaf clover). The correct symbol for St. Patrick’s Day is a shamrock because the saint used it to explain the Holy Trinity.

• Colors. We all know that green is the dominant color of the day but it is often complemented by orange. You can see that approach represented in the ad below for a store selling flooring. The orange really makes the categories of products stand out, which is important when there are no product images featured.

In contrast, Guinness invites you to “paint the town black” because of their logo and in honor of the holiday, which they extend to an entire weekend. Great idea because that triples their opportunity to sell beer!

• Images. Again, no surprises here but shamrocks are all over everything that has to do with St. Patrick’s Day. But there are also leprechauns, horse shoes and pots of gold. Since many of the advertisers fall into the party, bar or alcohol categories, we also find quite a few voluptuous red-haired women!

All the standards are included in this ad for Saylor’s Market and the designer even threw in a rainbow for a splash of color that breaks up all the green.

• Fonts. Typefaces are often used to evoke the look and feel of the days of St. Patrick and tend to be Uncial, Insular Script, Carolingian, Blackletter, Gaelic and Celtic fonts. Although these are not necessarily the actual typefaces used during that period of time. You can see samples of these fonts here.

This is an attractive ad from a florist. I wouldn’t have thought about flowers for St. Patrick’s Day but I might order some now that I have seen this. The ad uses a variety of different greens effectively and the font for the headline resembles Blackletter.

• Nostalgia. If you have a story to tell about the history of your company or products, or you just want to make people yearn for simpler/better times, then you play on nostalgia. Jameson’s uses the foundation of its long history in Ireland to poke fun and suggest that the whiskey must be saved at all costs.

In contrast to these rules of thumb, we have this year’s ad for Party City. Now I realize that there aren’t many upbeat dance songs that come to mind when you think of St. Patrick’s Day but it boggles my mind why the company would opt for Mambo #5 for their ad this year. However, by going against the grain, they have gotten quite of bit of attention and it is almost impossible to get the song out of your head.

If you want more traditional design advice for your St. Patrick’s Day marketing campaigns, PrintRunner Blog offers some tips and examples of St. Patrick’s Day ads that you might find helpful.

• Focus on your identity and never lose sight of it. Yuengling identified itself with a city that has a storied history of its own, which allowed the company to maintain its brand.

• Be viral. The more engaging your ads more, especially in the age where social media has become a viable medium to market your business, the more chances people would want to join your festivities. Guinness does a great job with this ad: featuring a sheep dog.
• Acknowledge your history. People seem to put a lot of trust of brands that have stood the test of time.
• Be sensitive with the color scheme of your ad design. Green is the color of choice because of its association with the Irish celebration.
• Keep the design appropriate. Style your ads according to the kind of event you’re holding.
• Tie in with the holiday. Get extra visibility for your existing marketing campaigns by inserting images or linking in upcoming events.

For those of you who didn’t grow up having to eat soda bread when you preferred brownies, here are the top ten facts about St. Patrick.

Have you tied in with the St. Patrick’s Day holiday for your advertising? If so, what has helped you to stand out and what would you suggest for other companies looking to set themselves apart?

Marketing to Appeal to Women

March 8^th is International Women’s Day and, every year, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate their achievements, ranging from political rallies, business conferences and networking events to craft markets, performances, fashion shows and more.

What is different today than the first year of International Women’s Day in 1909 is that women are earning, spending and influencing at a greater rate than ever before. They account for $7 trillion in consumer and business spending in the U.S. and, over the next decade, will control two thirds of consumer wealth.

Furthermore, women make or influence 85% of all purchasing decisions and purchase more than 50% of traditional male products, including automobiles, home improvement products and consumer electronics. They also have most of the decision-making power when it comes to planning family vacations, according to the 2012 Women, Power & Money Study. But 91% of women say that advertisers don’t understand them.

When it comes to electronics, women accounted for $55 billion of the $96 billion spent, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Women are involved in 89% of all consumer electronics purchasing decisions. However, only 1% of women surveyed think manufacturers have them in mind when creating products. Is it any wonder when you read about CES booth babes?

“There is a fine line between marketing to women and talking down to women and I don’t think people have found what that is,” says Laura Heller, senior director of the trade publication DSN Retailing Today. A growing number of companies are starting to target their products toward female buyers, or at the very least, promote them in a more gender-neutral fashion. Retailers and manufacturers who get this are seeing impressive results.

It is not about changing the color of products to pink. Rather, it is critical to understand the consumers’ needs and complaints and come up with solutions.

This becomes even more important when you consider that women serve as broadcasters and amplifiers of ideas in the marketplace. Their purchasing decisions and word-of-mouth recommendations have wide-ranging implications for local, regional and national businesses that can’t be ignored. Women tend to share positive recommendations far more than negative ones. More than 33% of women surveyed recommended a product or service in the past six months, compared to 19% who recommended that someone not buy a particular product or service.

Here are three general tips for targeting women from Straight North Internet Marketing:

1. Connect emotionally. One of the most important differences between marketing to men and women is the need for an emotional connection between the brand and the potential customer. One of the most well-known brands that capitalizes on this is Dove. Female consumers who see Dove marketing recognize themselves in the images shared and this is the best way of getting women to connect with your brand.
2. Be useful. Even more than men, women love tips, advice and helpful information. They love to learn, find ways to make things better, more practical or more attractive. The more useful you can be in marketing, the more interest and sales you will eventually secure.
3. Complement, don’t complicate. Women want solutions and to have things straightened out. Products and services that make things easier, smoother and less turbulent are desired. For example, saying “10% off everything” works much better than “10% off in March on Revlon mascaras”.

When it is time to design your marketing materials, consider these attributes:

• Approach. There is no need to create gender-specific communications. You should be appealing to all audiences. Often when companies split their audiences into male and female categories, they end up generalizing and using stereotypes.
• Colors. Women are not little girls so it is a bad idea to go overboard with pink. Along the same lines, skip script fonts, Victorian ornaments, scalloped borders and rounded corners if you want to be taken seriously.
• Copy. You should be concise but persuasive to appeal to women rather than lengthy, dense and flowery. There should be clear calls to action and straightforward guidance, appealing to all users no matter the sex. However, women have been shown to respond to friendly, conversational copy more favorably than men, so ahead and add some personality into the copy.
• Humor. PHD Media interviewed 1,000 people and determined that both men (76%) and women (68%) ranked wit and humor as the number one attribute that makes Super Bowl ads enjoyable (and both sexes ranked cited the same two ads as their favorites!).
• Imagery. Feature women doing something other than the clichés of housework, mothering children or doing yoga. The number two attribute for women after humor is cute animals. At the same time, 69% of women 18-59 and 74% of women 18-34 said they like sexy imagery in ads.
• Subjects. eMarketer notes that Boomers spend more time and money online than any other demographic but these women are completely underrepresented in marketing. Instead of youthful women in their teens and twenties, show more mature women. But be sure you display them as independent versus seeming to rely on husbands (as many are divorced or widowed at this average age of 55). They should also be active because Boomers have reached the age where they have the freedom to start new businesses, go back to school, travel, try new hobbies, etc.

As AdPearance notes in 5 Myths About Designing for Women, ultimately you need create a good user experience for all that includes clear navigation, persuasive headlines, readable copy, strong calls to action and quality imagery before you start thinking about appealing specifically to women.

The best advice to businesses targeting women is to keep your offers clear and your processes honest. Make sure you provide feedback and respond to comments and requests on social media quickly and take criticism.

The 2012 Women, Power & Money Study concludes that “Today’s American woman has changed the game. She calls the shots and makes the decisions. Her leadership is expanding, not diminishing. Any marketer or advertiser who continues to pretend otherwise does so at their own peril.”

And if you want to see what not to do, check out The 9 Worst Ads for Women This Year from The Huffington Post.

What have you tried when targeting female consumers and has it been successful or has it bombed?

Advertising with a Spring Theme

After a long, drab spell of winter, we welcome spring with excitement and a craving for colors. Rainbows overtake shop windows, grocery stores, boutiques and other retail locations. And it is no surprise that the ads for the season are just as vibrant, with a wide variety of advertisers building on the theme.

This ad for spring activities in the town of Scugog includes pictures of people enjoying the outdoors. The bright colors invite readers into the ad. The photos encourage parents to sign up their kids and kids will look forward to all the fun they will have at these parks. Flowers and butterflies are recurring images in ads of the season.

Along with blossoming buds and warmer temperatures, spring is when families can start spending time together outside without their coats, hats and gloves.

Newspapers: the Answer is Not Print or Digital; it’s Integration!

At the third annual Mega-Conference, a collaborative effort between Local Media Association, Inland Press Association and SNPA, it was clear that becoming digital agencies for local advertisers is a priority for newspaper publishers but print is still very important to their business. The print audience is still solid, but it is clear that it will continue to shift with more digital choices. In fact, industry experts believe most publishers will have as much as 50% of their digital content consumed via mobile devices by 2015.

One such expert—Gordon Borrell—expects print ad revenues to stabilize or grow slightly at most papers, a trend he says will continue through 2017. But the results will be uneven, with small and mid-sized papers having the best growth prospects and metros still declining in the range of 4-6%. Digital ad growth for the papers he surveys, which are mostly small and mid-sized, will be 30% in 2013.

In his opinion, newspaper organizations will only succeed to the extent that they target two growing categories of digital advertising: video (growing 30% next year) and targeted display (growing 105%). In contrast, those who stick with run-of-site banners and classified or directory listings might see low single-digit growth next year at best.

Furthermore, Borrell sees digital services like reputation management, search engine optimization, app development and social media management as hot growth areas. His takeaway for small and mid-sized papers is that, if they are selling what the advertisers are buying most, they can expect 15% plus growth and a 15-20% share of digital in their local markets.

A Pew Research Center report covered a survey of 40 newspapers in early 2012 and showed they were losing $7 for every $1 gained in digital revenue. However, there was good news comes from the newspapers looking at new revenue streams:

1. Some are becoming digital service provider where advertisers can come for services like web design or search engine optimization.
2. Others are specializing and localization has become a favorite trend among newspapers that see this as an avenue to offer information only they can provide.
3. Reputation management of local businesses is another offering generating significant interest.

In a recent survey by InfoTrends, marketers confirmed that are planning to shift more dollars away from print and into digital media. In the next two years, print will still make up 30% of marketing spend but it is expected to decline by 6.2%. Online marketing is expected to increase 4.9% and mobile will experience the highest growth, with expenditures increasing by 8.8% (from 10.2 to 12%). Websites, social media and mobile apps are the top digital content to which customers are directed. According to Steve Adoniou, Director of InfoTrends’ Consulting Service, “Print is not disappearing, but its use is declining and its role is changing.”

In “What’s next for print in an increasingly mobile world,” the author notes that return on investment for print is actually increasing for marketers the world over. Marketers have moved away from the broad, general outbound marketing tactics of the past to a more targeted, data-driven and totally integrated approach. As a result, marketers have made print work harder by integrating it with their digital efforts.

This is reinforced by a survey by Oracle, which revealed that 70% of marketers currently use print to direct audiences to digital content. In addition, nearly half of marketers (46%) believe print is “vital” to driving interest in digital mobile content and campaigns. In an age of information overload, print has the power to cut through the clutter, but adding digital and mobile can attract many more eyeballs and offer an altogether more powerful proposition.

In the Newspaper Association of America’s 2011 “How America Shops and Spends” survey, two-thirds (66%) of the total sample of newspaper digital users responded to ads on computer, smartphone or table platforms in the previous 30 days and results are similar across groups, including the desirable younger demographic.

Past 30-Day Response to Newspaper Digital Ads

66%        Net any

56%        Net became aware of product, service, sale, needed item

47%        Net looked for more information by clicks, search, asking others

32%        Net visited store online or in person

30%        Net bought, decided to buy, where to buy

14%        Referred ad to someone else.

Past 30-Day Response to Newspaper Mobile Ads

Smartphone       Tablet

59%                        61%        Net any

46%                        50%        Net became aware of product, service, sale, needed item

40%                        43%        Net looked for more information by clicks, search, asking others

20%                        26%        Net visited store online or in person

27%                        33%        Net bought, decided to buy, where to buy

11%                        17%        Referred ad to someone else

An example of how well the integration of print and digital works is Tourism Australia. The advertiser got four times its investment in media value from a partnership with Fairfax Media on a campaign targeting New Zealand tourists.

Fairfax Media developed a four-phase Amazing Australia campaign, which combined advertising and co-created and user-generated content across multiple platforms: Sunday Star-Times, Stuff.co.nz, Escape, NZ House and Garden NZ Life & Leisure and Cuisine.

Readers were prompted to vote for their favorite travel experience as part of a competition to win their own Amazing Australia outing. Engagement far exceeded the target 20,000 entries and reached a total of more than 76,000 entries.

Research commissioned by Fairfax Media measured and reported on awareness and engagement levels. Each element delivered impressive results on its own but, when respondents were exposed to multiple elements, the effects were magnified. Key messages were more readily absorbed by readers: people who had seen the campaign in print and online agreed that Australia “offers a wide range of diverse experiences for travelers” (up 6.1%) and “has a lot to do for travelers outside the main cities” (up 11.6%) versus those who had not been exposed to the campaign.

For those who bought or read the newspaper, 87% of the target market saw the Amazing Australia booklet; 69% said as a result of reading the booklet, they were more likely to think about traveling outside Australia’s main centers.

Here’s another case study on the successful integration of print and digital in advertising campaigns. In 2012, the Integrated Solutions and National Automotive team at the Toronto Star had the opportunity to partner with Nissan Canada and its agencies (OMD and TBWA) to develop an innovative advertising program.

Common themes were developed for content, consistent technology was used for augmented reality and timing was coordinated across newspapers and out-of-home to achieve maximum impact.

In the Toronto Star, the program included:

• Four-week, pre-launch program with content integration, augmented reality, promotional contest and multi-platform media support (print, online, email, mobile).
• Launch day domination in the Toronto Star.
• First-ever die-cut wrap on all paid copies.
• Domination of all sections on launch day with front-of-section ads and “floating” DPS ad units in all five sections. Ad content was Layar-enabled to give readers the opportunity to interact with the printed page and the brand in a new way.

The result was award-winning. The launch campaign for the 2013 Nissan Altima won Best in Show in Canada’s 2012 Media Innovation Awards this past November. Over eight million readers viewed the campaign in one day, which led to more than 6,500 page views at a 42% click-through rate. Test drives for the Nissan Altima increased by 65% as a result of the interactive

So the ultimate answer to the question is that newspapers should focus on both print and digital to deliver maximum results for advertisers. Print will become an increasingly used, highly-strategic tool for many marketers who can integrate it with digital and mobile channels to bring both tangibility and credibility to their future campaigns.

As a marketer, have you integrated print and digital advertising and, if so, how did this impact your return on investment? If you are a publisher, how do you make it easy for your advertisers to create integrated campaigns across channels?

10 Tips for Supporting the Sales Team in Today’s Environment

The traditional role of marketing is to create awareness of the brand, company and products through various tactics such as advertising, trade shows, public relations, email and others. Marketing is also expected to generate inquiries and leads that sales can turn into prospects and, ultimately, clients.

But the way people buy has changed dramatically, as Todd Ebert details in this eBook, due to the prevalence of information and opinion online and in social media. Very often sales joins the conversation long after prospects have heard about an offering, researched it and solicited advice from others. With this in mind, how can SMB marketers support sales?

The good news is that, despite the changes, the core objectives for marketing remain the same: directing sales to the right opportunities, promoting the organization and offering, and providing tools and information to equip sales to close deals.

Affinity Express recently hired Rick Ashcroft and Brent Hoxsey, two retail industry veterans, to help grow our business in the segment. Working with them over the past couple of months has enabled me to develop the following checklist you can use to cover all the bases with your sales team.

Social Media Buying Cycle, CMS Wire, Rob McCarthy 1-17-12

1.       Build a target list

If you don’t tell sales what and who to sell, you can bet they will sell whatever they want. Instead, your first step should be to decide on the segments and accounts you want sales to target. Describe your ideal customer(s) and list the reasons why. How large are these clients in terms of revenue, number of employees or other criteria? Does your company do well at displacing competitors or selling early adopters? What kind of unmet needs should sales look for? You might not be able to build a perfect database but you should take the time to compile as much information as you can. There is no need to buy a prospect list anymore, since you can find names of companies online from various industry sites and publications, as well as on LinkedIn.

Once you have your target list, help sales prioritize based on the most promising opportunities. If you have more than one sales person on your team, assign accounts to ensure thorough coverage and avoid duplication of efforts.