Archive for the ‘Direct Response’ Category

Why Social Media Works for Direct Response Marketers Part 3 of 6

Monday, November 30th, 2009

By Jan Carroza

Results measurement is knit into the very fiber of DR as a requirement. The great speed of the results is important to the flexibility and micro-management of campaigns to massage the media selections for maximum return. Some results are within minutes of media airing while others require confirming which media actually ran, and often you can get those answers in a week. With that information, pruning is done, successful media is rebooked and the campaign expands or contracts based on results, media availability and media cost.

Social media campaigns work in some similar ways which include testing and expansion of efforts that work well. The reporting can be near instantaneous. The timing, however, can be slower due to the nature of the different soft-sell message treatment necessary in this new environment. To that exception, we’ve seen amazingly quick results (see OMG article) with super-targeting.

7 appealing aspects of social media:

1)    Campaigns can be conducted with NO out-of-pocket media costs. The cost is in labor to build, manage, report and expand.
2)    Customer relationships can be nurtured for greater continuity with discussions, promotions, and loyalty programs dealt where each customer prefers to be social.
3)    New relationships can be developed on a one-to-one basis by listening to needs, answering questions, nurturing and educating prospects.
4)    Customer retention issues can be ascertained with greatest speed. This purposeful reputation management capability provides the opportunity to show great response time and concern for customer satisfaction with services and products in a public environment.
5)    Use social media resources to ascertain the conversations of competition and participate with the opportunity to shine and win new customers.
6)    Take advantage of expanded platform presence and exposure. A Facebook Fan Page alone will give a company a ranking on the #2 website. Imagine a campaign on the 3 largest social media networks that can be expanded to 50-100 and then 100s of blogging, news, and bookmarking sites. The numbers of links to the client site will exponentially increase traffic and the client audience.
7)    Great formats like video placement on YouTube can demonstrate – a key component in the pitch of many DR products. That’s why video works so well. Syncing TV to social media campaigns escalates the reach and frequency of campaign results.

DR margins have been shrinking for years and are susceptible to weakness in consumer spending and confidence. So many DR products rely on a consumer impulse to buy.

Social media provides a new creative approach that is at once a 180 degree switch from DR’s hard sell, but has the potential to reap the increased rewards of greater consumer confidence, loyalty and market share.

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Why Social Media Works for Local Businesses – Referral Marketing – Part 2 of 6

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

By Sharon Hill

Referral Marketing is my term for passing along a service or product to a friend, co-worker or company.  Back in the day, this was done by speaking in person or over the phone.  “I have a leak, can you recommend a good plumber?”  Successful realtors are experts at Referral Marketing.

There is much written about viral marketing, what it is, where and when it originated, how it is used for good and not so good purposes.  Bottom line it is a planned campaign.  Referral marketing comes from people wanting to share experiences.  I seriously doubt that any businessperson would dispute the value of a referral regarding the reduction of time to close the business and dollar value of the business (i.e. less negotiation.)

How do social media tools (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs) achieve the same results as Referral Marketing?  Downside risks (certainly not all inclusive by any means) are included so that you can better understand the risk versus reward ratio.

linkedin-local-business

LinkedIn is all about recommending this person or recommending that company very publicly.  Going on the record and making a statement about services.  Local, regional, national or international does not matter to LinkedIn.  A referral is a referral.  So what does it cost to have a LinkedIn profile $0.00.  That’s right zero dollars.

Downside risk – none.  According to LinkedIn Q & A:

How can I view and manage recommendations I’ve received from other LinkedIn users?
You will have the option to accept and ‘Show this recommendation’, ‘Accept’ and ‘Hide the recommendation’, ‘Request a replacement’ or ‘Archive’.

You are in control – enough said

facebook-local-business

Facebook is a great place to form communities. You can start a “West side business community” or a “Downtown Business Community”.  Promote the area with the coordination of fellow businesses.  Decide on who will be the administrator(s).  Offer specials to customers who come to the area.  Use store signage or handouts to let customers know about the community on Facebook.

Create a Facebook page for your business.  Here you can offer tips and let customers interact.
Downside risk – some.  These pages will need to be monitored.  There are privacy settings that you can use.  The goal is for your page to be public so that it can be found and seen.  People can post comments to the page.  You can remove them. This requires the administrator(s) being proactive.

twitter-local-business

Remember when stores had Sign our guestbook to receive offers and mailings when you checked out?  Your customers can follow you if they know you are on Twitter.  Put up a sign.  Make your Twitter address something memorable (there is a limitation of 15 characters).  Don’t forget to tweet something of value such as a sale.  “Twitter 1 hour sale (12/15/09) today at 1 PM to 2 PM – 20% off!” or “Call in the next hour and receive….”  Limitation 140 characters.

Downside risk:  Carefully proof your tweets.  You would not want to send out a tweet stating your sale is from 1 PM to 2 AM.

blogging-local-business

Writing blogs can be fun, rewarding and tedious. Start by creating a list of subjects and then let circumstances and experiences fill in the rest. Your customers and employees will most likely provide you all the material you need.  Be the local Subject Matter Expert or SME (see our blog:  Local Subject Matter Expert Using Social Media) in your area of expertise.

Downside risk – Very little. You can update or delete a post and control the comments (Approve, Edit, Reply, Spam, Delete) before it ever becomes public. If you blog is copied and pasted into someone else’s blog site (which is considered bad form) changes and updates are not within your control.  Most often, an excerpt (which you write is posted) and then linked back your blog site.

comment-choices-wordpress

comments- wordpress

All of these vehicles become places for your current and potential customers to find you and learn about your business. How it becomes Referral Marketing is simple:

LinkedIn – Person A is connected to Person B and sees Person’s A recommendation for your business.  Since Person B knows Person A they trust their recommendation.

Facebook – With community page and/or a business page, customers can see what is happening in your area and at your location.  They can interact and let others know of the page.  They can easily pass along the fan page address to their friends.

Twitter – No guestbook to maintain, no costly mailings and they choose to follow you.  It does not matter whether you have 5 or 500 followers.  Each one is a customer. You can be retweeted by one of your customers to their followers and so on.

Blogging – I have never met a successful business owner that did not like to share their knowledge.  Blogs have their own search engine keywords known as tags.  Blogs are shared, linked and posted on other blogs.

Final thoughts:

If you truly have limited funds, be a do-it-yourselfer.  If you have some funds, hire an expert in social media marketing.  Ask a ton of questions and use the opportunity to learn so that you can possible take over some the activities yourself.

Take a new and long look at time and costs currently allocated to promote your business and attract new customers. Is it still effective for the money being spent?

Social Media Marketing will probably never be as inexpensive (FREE!) as it is right now.  What are you waiting for?

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Ecommerce, Email, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Real Estate, Social Media and Social Networking, Twitter, Websites | No Comments »

When You Send Email Are You Observing the CAN SPAM Act?

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

By Jan Carroza

Effective since January 1, 2004, the CAN SPAM1 Act, legislation at the Federal level, is meant to address email marketing of commercial messages. I continue to see emails that don’t comply. The stakes are nothing to ignore: up to $16,000 per violation and possible prosecution by the Dept. of Justice.

We have a long way to go to educate advertisers:
81% of email marketers are unaware of CAN-SPAM Act2

Advertisers have a long way to go to impress their consumers and not be reported as spammers:
80% of consumers use “Report Spam” button if they do not
recognize sender by viewing “From” or “Subject” line.3

Here are the highlights of what advertisers and email “push” partners need to tackle:

1. Identify email as an advertisement.
2. Identify “sender” and “initiator,” basically meaning the advertiser and the company originating or transmitting on the advertiser’s behalf.

This means:

a.”From” must be accurate and not mislead (From: AtoZ Company) with “sender’s” email address
b. Publish “sender” physical or PO Box address
c. No forged email headers

3. Subject line must be relevant and not misleading.
4. Provide a workable opt-out solution:

a. Unsubscribe or opt-out links MUST WORK and one for each advertiser and affiliate network where both are present
b. 10 days to remove from list and not receive further messages
c. Maintain and provide secured suppression list of those unsubscribers for use by email push distributors

5. Know how the servers that send email for your company are secured. Make sure that they cannot offer opportunities for 3rd parties to relay messages through them.
6. Know the origin of all lists you rent.

Here are the possible penalties for ignoring the Act:

1. Each separate violation can carry a fine up to $16,000 enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
2. Prosecution by the Dept. of Justice who may seek criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for commercial emailers who violate or conspire to violate this Act.

Enforcement has started to crack down on offending emailers. FTC Halts Illegal Spam Operation: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/05/atmglobal.shtm.

In the future, we may see that the FTC might create a “do-not-spam” list like the “do-not-call” list that affects telemarketing:

http://news.cnet.com/2010-1028-5119513.htm

For more details, read more at:
Legal Overview of CAN SPAM and FTC Compliance: http://bit.ly/gM79q
FTC Spam Summit/Next Generation of Threats and Solutions: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/spamsummit/presentations/Defining-the-Problem.pdf

The CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
____________

1 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act
2 WebSurveyor Corp (2006)
3 Email Sender and Provider Coalition Survey, Dec. 2006

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Posted in Articles, Direct Response, Email, Industry Specific, Websites | No Comments »

Why Social Media Works – Part 1 of 6

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

By Sharon Hill

Over the next week on a daily basis we will be posting a six part series.

Why Social Media Works – Part 1
Why Social Media Works For Local Business – Part 2
Why Social Media Works for Direct Response Marketers – Part 3
Why Social Media Works for Non-Profits – Part 4
Why Social Media Works for Recruiters – Part 5
Why Social Media Works for Communities – Part 6

Social media works because it works differently than media.  Wait a minute isn’t social media media?  As an advertising professional of many years, I would say no in the traditional sense or term.  When reading the definition of media it is to store, transmit, receive or deliver some form of communication.  Technically that description fits.  I can transmit a tweet, deliver it to my followers and receive a tweet from those I follow and store all of it.

So what about networking?  Definitions include an interconnected system of things or people and to communicate with and within a group.

So what makes social media different from traditional media?  Social media truly engages one-by-one. Traditional media (print/television/radio/magazines, etc.)  transmit their message and while it is delivered over the air or on your front porch and  therefore received, the biggest question has always been how many are paying attention?

I do subscribe to the local paper and I read it most everyday.  I only read certain sections or columns (ok the comics too). I don’t engage.  I don’t connect.  I don’t communicate.  This is still a one-sided relationship.  Sure I could write to the paper or go online and post a comment and many do. Newspaper is closer to social media than some of the other traditional media vehicles.

Radio talk shows have been around forever and maybe were the first forum for social networking.  Find a talk show host you like (or extremely dislike), listen and call in to be heard.  Some callers are first timers and others are daily or weekly folks.  Even closer to the concept of social media.

By now, I would assume you understand where I am taking you so we need not discuss television or magazines.

So how does social media work?  It is completely opposite to traditional media.  Traditional media defines targets: Adults 18-49, Households with incomes of certain amounts.  Households with pets.  These messages are then transmitted to these targets.  Social media starts with the target.  They decide to visit your Facebook fan page, they decide to follow you on Twitter, they decide to join certain groups on LinkedIn because they are interested in what you have to say.  They want to connect.  They want to be heard.  They put forth the effort.

Social media encompasses the best of old world one-on-one conversations and referrals with new technology to make it easier and wider spread.  Social media is the handshake that traditional media has been missing.  It is personal and intimate. This is what advertisers and marketers have dreamed about for decades.  We must think differently.  Rather than talk, we need to listen.  Provide the social media platforms for your company and then participate yourself.

That is Why Social Media Works.

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Email, Facebook, Industry Specific, LinkedIn, Local business, Non-profits, Real Estate, Recruitment, Social Media and Social Networking, Technical, Twitter, Video, Websites | No Comments »

Direct Response TV (DRTV) Interesting Times – Unique Opportunities in Social Media

Thursday, July 30th, 2009

By Jan Carroza

Marketing is going through interesting times all right. I think social media has turned it all upside down on its head. I also think that’s a good thing.

I hear a lot of talk in the industry about WHY to jump into social media. To me, as someone who has been measuring results from coupon codes in the ‘70s through DRTV (direct response television) on to Internet performance-based advertising, the reasons are clear. Once I heard that consumers were in social media talking about products and services, I was in. But the hit-my-palm-on-my forehead moment is the incredibly low cost – basically time! I’m dumbfounded that this point isn’t being screamed from the rafters.

Strike While The Price Is Hot (read: low)
I think of myself as a fairly early adopter. I like to learn new things and there is clearly a ton of variety to put together great social media strategies. It’s fascinating to me: part publicity, part customer service, relationship and trust building to yield WARM leads so you never have to work another cold lead. How cool is that!

Let’s step back for a little media history lesson at the risk of dating myself to make my point. I remember when the earliest infomercials were doing a 15:1 (mid to late ‘80s). In infomercial-speak, that’s getting $15 in sales for spending $1 in advertising. Infomercials were new and the audience wasn’t skeptical – yet! So I could spend $1000 on a half-hour of programming and yield $15,000 in revenues for my client. And we knew by the next day and certainly within a few days. We were into measurement and immediacy with constant refinement against those first benchmarks. Now that was something to write home about. Especially when you see that today, a winning infomercial is one doing 2:1. Yup, $2 back for $1 spent on media. Media and other campaign costs, like telemarketing, multiplied. This evolution of deterioration in returns took several years. So we were able to enjoy the tremendous profits of the earliest days for awhile.

The early adopters to infomercials were entrepreneurs. People willing to dump the habit of paying traditional advertising dollars out with no idea of what sold their products and services. (Granted, I started out as one of those.) When we added telemarketing to media and we could measure sales from every TV airing and voila! We had accountability and beaucoup bucks. But I’ll come back to these folks…

I also remember the early days of Google Adwords before buying keywords like “mortgage” went over $10 a click and made it impossible to convert. A click doesn’t mean a sale. A click doesn’t even mean a lead. It didn’t take long for folks to figure out that they had to bite the bullet to stay in the game and forget looking at short-term conversions. The time from keywords costing pennies a click to dollars a click was more like months than the years it took with the infomercial industry experience. The gaps of greatest prosperity have been closing rapidly.

It was also a crazy time in ‘99 when each month we were looking at a flurry of new formats from email to banners and pop-ups to co-registration. Kind of like social media, Internet marketing had different creative formats and they weren’t all right for every client. In the days before the CAN SPAM law, we also didn’t have the overwhelmed inboxes like we do today. Click-thru rates were higher. With time, the costs went up and the returns have gone down.

The Big Difference
Looking around, the media cost of social media can be as little as the time and effort put forth to make contact with customers. That looks like a pretty great business investment to me. A real no-brainer.

So here we are – in the early days of social media. Where things are changing at the speed of light. There is a lot to learn and that will keep on being the case. And we will learn as we go. Stumbling in the dark.

In lean times, training budgets go by the wayside. But the great thing about marketing with social media is the professionals from freelance copywriters to IT staff and marketing professionals are using it to SHARE and teach each other in open, joyful, comradishness. “Hey, we’re all in this together.” And there is so much to learn with not only the speed, but also the VOLUME of jigsaw pieces to put together, not just to make the picture, but to do them in the right order from the get-go.

Get out there and learn – some webinars will take an hour to get just one good tip – and if you find some great how-tos, I hope you will share – whether it’s a book, URL, webinar or University.

My Prediction and Strong Recommendation
It surprised me greatly how slowly it was for many direct marketers to embrace the Internet. It seemed like such a natural. It seemed like it took forever for the big players and early adopters of DRTV to get websites up, let alone great landing pages that converted well. You’d think they would have jumped on it. Clicks were cheap in the early days. Cost per sale/lead advertising was more prevalent and better converting early on. Email open rates, click-thru rates and closes were easier and results more cost efficient. So I wondered if it was comfortable to stay with what they knew. Some said they were swamped with their current business and had no more bandwidth to learn and allocate the resources. I’d say that’s a very different story today. They’ve learned, embraced and apply measurement to their Internet strategy. Shrinking profits will do that. But I’d say many missed the early days with the best efficiencies by waiting. So where am I going with all this?
Mark my words, the cost to use social media will go up. Some services have started to monetize their services with ads and premium services. The squeeze has started. It will never be any cheaper to use social media to make your point, find new leads, and sell more products. This is the time to get the best return for your time and any costs. Make hay while the sun shines!

Just the Beginning
So I hope you’ll follow us as we feel our way through the social networks. I’m sure we will see you there. I’ll include tips that worked for us and lessons learned along the way. You’ll hear some other voices here with viewpoints from technology, customer service but all with a common sense of getting results at the end of the day.

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Direct Response, Industry Specific, Social Media and Social Networking | No Comments »

Getting Started: Planning Your Social Media Strategy

Monday, July 27th, 2009

By Jan Carroza

Think about this process as developing your own Social Sphere of Influence. Take the aerial view of your business today and where you want it to go in the near future and in the long-term. What are your goals?

Not all elements may be appropriate for your business and you need not tackle every facet all at once. Even pros like Mari Smith, a renowned maven in Facebook, suggest that embracing manageable efforts in sequence might be best for many of us. Dani Babb on Fox Business suggested just getting started and that you may make mistakes along the way.

The idea is to do some planning. You may want to outsource your online business management at the beginning when the setup is more labor intensive and while you learn. Gradually you can take it over as you are able to accommodate the requirements of time and resources in your organization. Or you may decide to continue with outside guidance as the Social Sphere expands.  For example, I heard that Comcast has doubled their social media staff from about 7 to 14-15 in the last year. Prepare for success.

Speaking of success, you might like to know about some real results before we get started.  “The world’s most valuable brands. Who’s most engaged?,”  a study prepared by Wetpaint and Altimeter, demonstrated that revenues increased by 18% by using social media (http://www.engagementdb.com).

So let’s get started. Make a list of what you want and need your Social Sphere of Influence to do for you. What does that list look like?

Consumer connection  – Is that:

  • Retention
  • Finding new consumers
  • Education
  • Building relationships
  • Getting feedback from consumers
  • Increasing sales

Other Initiatives

  • Finding, talking to investors
  • Introducing new products, new services

What else do you need to do?

Some of the forms beyond your website that you can put in your Social Sphere might include:

  • Blogs
  • White papers, articles, newsletters
  • Social media: LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and an ever-growing list of large and niche networks

Each choice offers different opportunities. Each offers the possibilities to have different as well as several voices. Formats can be intriguing. Twitter’s short format can be challenging. Each has its own place and may or may not fit with your plan. Any and all can be viral. So a good consumer experience has an excellent chance of being shared.

Take blogs, for instance. Blogs can look like a website with the look and feel, navigation and sections for Services, About, Contact et al. The difference should be the immediacy of news that’s regularly updated from once a month to once a week. This is the Podium point-of-view. Your voice.  Representing your company’s voice.

But the blog can be opened up to receive comments from readers, consumers, and the entire Spheriverse. Now it becomes a two-way superhighway of discussion, feedback and response to that feedback. An ongoing conversation. This has the power to be exponentially expansive and rewarding – for both your business and your consumer.

Articles, white papers, press releases, and newsletters are also a way to put out your voice, your opinions, and your announcements. But your website and all the parts of your Social Sphere will bring conversation back to you. It’s your job to plan the management of receiving and responding to those messages.

The social media each have their own channel of audience to offer. LinkedIn has professionals and folks looking to hire and be hired. There are groups to join to begin conversations. You can seek out and make important connections with people looking for answers.

Consumers are everywhere in all the social spaces. Your approach to each will probably be a little different with each one. Certainly the confinement and environment of the formats and technologies of each will impact the messages that you design.

As time goes on, no doubt the Spheriverse will continue to expand at a rapid pace of cyberspeed. Choices will increase. But the concept of the two-way dialogue remains constant. The challenge is in managing the communications most effectively. Enjoy and grow with the movement.

@social_dynamics

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Posted in Articles, Blogging, Direct Response, Facebook, LinkedIn, Local business, Non-profits, Real Estate, Recruitment, Social Media and Social Networking, Technical, Twitter, Video, Websites | 3 Comments »