Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

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Sorting out complexity

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

In the spirit of Back-To-School, and the year being more than half way over, now’s a good time (as any) take inventory on the current situation–fall’s spring-cleaning, so to speak.

What is the current situation? “The current situation” is that it can always be better. What are the steps to transforming a situation so it is better?

1. Identify that the situation can be better – Are you noticing a bad trend?

2. Take steps to fix the trend. For Counterintuity it means we’re updating our current client list, sprucing up our home page, making it a point to follow up with clients (and vendors) etc.

3. Notice actions that create positive change. – Narrow the focus to hone in on that one specific thing that will make a noticeable difference.

4. Repeat the “thing” and tweak it as many times as it takes to perfect it and to create the ultimate positive change.

5. That thing is an idea or mindset that will be applicable to other aspects of similar nature, and then becomes the new “Rule” of running business more effectively.

6. Define that “Rule” and revisit it periodically to see if it’s working for you.

Sometimes the current situation can feel like it can be better. The good news is that it can be—though it might take some time to fiddle around and find the solution.

What’s your current situation and what steps are you taking to improve it? Do you have a different process?

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Posted in Change, Marketing, Strategy | No Comments »

Do ads enhance your life?

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Daily life consists of so many details that can be lumped into the category of “minutiae”.  All those little things you hardly notice but subconsciously take in.  More often than not, advertising falls into this category.  From television, to radio, internet banners, pop-ups, emails, billboards, and especially all of the social media we engage in – the average American is exposed to hundreds of commercial messages every day.  We all say we’d rather do without them.  Many people pay for services that remove them like XM Radio or Tivo.  But do we really hate them?

I personally think that people have a love affair with marketing.  Though, I’m aware my opinion might be slightly biased.  After reading this article, I realized that these messages reach far deeper than simply getting people to buy.  Even if you don’t notice it outright, you probably let media influence you in more ways than one.  Marketing can inform and entertain, break up your commute or just provide an endless amount of conversation.  Now it seems that commercialism may even help you like your favorite show better.

Some of it is good, a lot of it is mediocre, and (let’s face it) there are some downright ugly messages out there in the world of marketing.  When was the last time you laughed or cried at an ad? How about the last time you bought a product after seeing their media? Do you think those commercial breaks help you enjoy your favorite show more? Let us know what you think.

Posted in Culture, Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, Social Marketing, social media | No Comments »

Social media marketing is no business for teens

Friday, May 7th, 2010

Seems logical. When you can’t set your TIVO, you call your kid into the room. Twelve or twenty-two, he’ll have you watching last Sunday’s episode of Desperate Housewives in no-time. Can’t add a contact or download an application to your iPhone? Ditto. The younger generation just “gets it.” But do they?

We’ve encountered many firms that boast about their “genius” nineteen year-old social media hires. “They get this Facebook stuff,” we’ve heard. “They understand how to network through the Internet.” True. My older teen has hundreds of friends on social networks. He can easily find out the questions on the history test and where the best Saturday night party will be. He can connect girls to boys, not unlike traditional networking.

But what he can’t do—because he doesn’t have business training—is strategize, monitor and analyze a social media campaign. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and other social media platform use is a skill most teens and college grads have. But putting a tech-savvy teen in charge of your $30,000 website redesign and social media campaign is like asking my husband to do the laundry. He’ll gladly wash clothes, but they won’t be sorted, he’ll forget the fabric softener, and assuming they get folded, they’ll end up in the wrong person’s drawer.

A social media expert is much more than someone who knows how to use Facebook. We are like custom builders, creating a blueprint for your entire campaign. From audience analysis and content goals to editorial calendars and professional monitoring with ROI tracking, firms that specialize in social media have both the knowledge and expertise to make your online campaign successful.

Anyone can get your business pages followers and likes. The question is: Do they know how to attract the right people, and do they know what to do with them? Can they track real-time and trending results—and do they even know what that is?

Nothing against teens. I have a few myself.  And they are experts at socializing. But please, for the sake of your online reputation and your hard-earned dollars, leave your all-important social media marketing to the experts.

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Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Marketing, Strategy, Twitter, branding, social media | 2 Comments »

It’s all in how it’s packaged

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

With the regular mail bills moving to e-bills, paper newsletters moving to e-newsletters, newspapers becoming an extinct news source, and receiving e-cards rather than regular cards, it seems that “new” marketing is all on the internet. WRONG.

I loved typing that just now, and here’s why: the other day I received this envelope.
Untitled-2

What could it be? And who from?? (Lee hypothesized a secret admirer.) I guess I had to open it to find out! Oh the suspense! Oh the glee! It was my very own…marketing material from Staples sales rep Jairo. (Hi Jairo!) Definitely surprised, Jairo’s personally written introduction card made a positive impression on me. Soon after, Jairo followed up with an e-mail and phone call requesting the foot in the door sales pitch meeting that all sales reps would love to have. Granted.

Surprisingly, the next day, I received this other letter:
Untitled-7

I received this letter soon after receiving a call in which I notified them that we were not in need of their services. Not only was our business name blatantly misspelled (Counter-Ntuity), but their generic mail merge document was horribly written with many grammatical errors (and poor wording choices).

Obviously, I’m thinking of switching to Staples now. Jairo is creative, smart, and has what it takes to get me to be a Staples customer. My reasoning? Staples is going to make my job easier by saving me money (covered in the sales meeting), saving me time (notice how he saved his own time), and providing creative solutions to any needs we may have (demonstrated by the personalized print card solution, other marketing materials, and general creativeness in using snail-mail).

Posted in Business Etiquette, Customer Service, Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, branding | No Comments »

Don’t shoot the medium

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

photo by Gideon Tsang

photo by Gideon Tsang

This week, I read an article in the Wall Street Journal called Entrepreneurs Question Value of Social Media. The article’s subtitle is, “Marketing via Facebook, Twitter Yields Results for Some, Others Say It’s Overrated; ‘Hype Right Now Exceeds the Reality’.”

I understand the point the article is trying to make — Where are the results? I was promised if I engage in social media, I’ll be successful. Where’s my pot of gold?

Marketing and advertising are the means to gain awareness of you, your brand or your product. Yes, opinions are made on marketing alone but it’s highly unlikely that just marketing and advertising close sales. That’s the job of your website, sales people, store, phone reps, sales process.

You can have an incredible campaign (social media or otherwise) that drives traffic and grows awareness but if you can’t seal the deal, you’re out of business. If you’re using social media or email marketing get traffic from them, be sure to measure your results. What percentage of visitors are converting into customers?

What can you do to increase this rate? Look closely at your product, sales process, website, follow through. What can be improved? How do you share your benefit and value? Could your website landing page use some optimization? Does your online form look unwieldy? Are leads getting followed up on quickly enough.

If your traffic is growing but your sales aren’t, don’t shoot the marketing medium. Look in the mirror and see how you can take advantage of your traffic win.

How are you taking advantage of your social media marketing?

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Posted in Email marketing, Marketing, Sales, Social Marketing, branding, social media | No Comments »

Twitter followers and Facebook fans are more likely to buy from you

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

“New consumer research shows over 50% of Facebook fans and Twitter followers are more likely to buy, recommend than before they were engaged”

A February 2010 study by Chadwick Martin Bailey finds that if a consumer friends, follows or fans your brand, the odds are good that they will recommend you or buy from you.

Consumers expect brands to be participating in social media. My favorite quote is from a Female 50-54:

“It’s EXPECTED that a company have some digital face – whether it’s on FB or Twitter I don’t know – but they need a strong electronic presence or you doubt their relevance in today’s marketplace.”

What are you doing to engage in social media?
How is it working for you?
I’d love to hear about your experiences and wins.

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Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Marketing, Twitter, social media | No Comments »

Why you don’t want no stinking badges

Monday, February 1st, 2010

badges

Here’s an example of how design makes the difference.

The top badge is mine from our Get Connected! social media seminar.

The one on the bottom is from an event Amy and I attended last week. Nice design, huh?

The undesigned badge signals this: “We haven’t given this a lot of thought.” And that’s what the event was like: a little sloppy and a little lazy. When I arrived, this badge wasn’t even ready! Instead, they stuck an orange post-it dot on my lapel and asked me to come back to the registration desk in a few hours.

Every scheduled session started late.

Speakers weren’t introduced.

There were handouts and schwag — but no tote to put them in. (So everyone left it all behind on the floor.)

Good design says “We’ve thought about this.”

Posted in Design, Marketing, News, branding | No Comments »

Jack Black gives back at Renal Teen Prom-film at 11!

Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Counterintuity’s publicity department was honored to handle the PR and social media for the Renal Support Network’s 11th annual Renal Teen Prom.  In addition to several local news stations and newspapers covering the event, our wire press release was rated the #2 most viewed multimedia release on BusinessWire on 1/20/10, and received an astounding 8,770 unique impressions and 979 release views!  The evening was a home run for hundreds of teens suffering from renal disease, the Renal Support Network and Counterintuity! We were honored to be a part of it.

Posted in Fun, Marketing, News, Our Clients, Public Relations, social media | No Comments »

Click-through breakthrough

Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

When I left you last decade, I was talking about the purpose of an email blast…

An email blast’s purpose is NOT to sell. Counterintuitive, I know. Email attention span is too short. The goal of an email is to get the reader to click-through to your website.

Emails need to be as quick paced as today’s world. It would be fabulous if the reader wanted to act from just the email but that’s too much pressure on a poor, little, albeit well-designed email. The average email reader spends a second or two before clicking or hitting delete.

Your email blast needs to be the aroma of the tasty treat that awaits on your website. The click-through should go to a dedicated page on your website (called a landing page) where the reader can learn, read, sign up, listen, watch, play, buy.

How do you get the click-through? Keeping with the metaphor – you need to whet their appetite. Share enough to intrigue, make them want to bite (too far yet?). Your email should contain photos or images – something to grab the viewer’s attention.

Most importantly, you need a punchy call to action to get the click.

click here might work.

Click & Save $200 will probably work better.

Anyone can send out an email. The majority get deleted. Your email blast must engage and excite to stand out in an overcrowded inbox. Take the time to develop a dynamic message and call to action. Your effort will pay off.

Extra tip: Have your call to action multiple times. Avoid the temptation to only have it at the end of the email. Also, have the call as text links and image links, this overcomes the hurdle of images being turned off in an email client.

Posted in Email marketing, Marketing, Sales | 1 Comment »

Lee Wochner serves as guest columnist for National Arts Marketing Project

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

NewNAMPlogoArts organizations: The economic bust is over. Most of what was going to break, broke. And you survived.

Now’s the time to light your fuse and make the most of an improving economy. It’s time to get ready for the boom.

I know: If you’re like most arts organizations, you’re probably not over with that bust just yet. But if you believe that everyone would have been better off being better prepared, here’s your chance to get ready for the upside that will surely follow. The private sector knows this; last week, three of our largest clients rolled out significant expansion plans for 2010. Arts companies can – and should – grow in the boom too.

These five easy steps will help you reignite your company.  Read more>

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Posted in Economy, Marketing, News, Strategy, The Future | No Comments »

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