Posted by Rainier Sky on May 10, 2011
Inbound marketing is getting all the buzz these days. Done well it can be quite efficient and effective at achieving measurable results for all kinds of organizations, but let’s not rule out traditional or outbound marketing altogether.
First, let’s make sure we are all on the same page. There have been different definitions for inbound and outbound marketing over the years, but there is general consensus for the contemporary meanings. Inbound marketing is the act of making it easier for a brand or product to be found by customers who are already seeking it, whereas outbound marketing is making your customers aware of a product they may not know they need. So, when and why would you use one instead of the other? Here’s my take on the subject.
Inbound Marketing
There is an intrinsic advantage to marketing to customers who have already identified a need and are seeking a solution. Theoretically, all you have to do is make it easy for the customer to find your product or service. This typically involves leveraging a website, blog and various other online resources that can all be managed for much less cost than traditional or outbound marketing vehicles. Our modern definition focuses on three key tactics that typically produce synergistic results when employed simultaneously.
Brian Halligan, Darmesh Shah and David Meerman Scott combined to write one of the best-selling books on inbound marketing.
- Content Generation – The first thing you need to be visible on the Web is a lot of content. Search engines prefer sites that offer a lot of information, particularly if its recent or fresh. Using software known as crawlers that visit and read sites regularly giving more credit to sites that are updated frequently. Content also comes in many forms, including blogs posts, images, videos, whitepapers and e-books. The top search engines allow users to search for each type of content individually, so it’s best to use a mix of all.
- Search Engine Optimization – SEO is the act of increasing the visibility of your content so your customers find it near the top of organic or unpaid search results. This requires content written and/or edited to increase its relevance to specific keywords, editing Website code to removing barriers that can limit a search engine’s ability to index or reading the site, and increasing the content’s credibility or authority by generating backlinks to it from other websites.
- Social Media – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and other social media can all be leveraged to promote your content. Search engines assess your site’s authority by the number of related sites that link to it. If someone else in your industry thinks that what you have to say is important, then so will the search engines. Of course, no one is going to see your links on social media if you don’t have any friends or followers so you also have to make the effort to develop and maintain them.
By leveraging online resources we avoid much of the expense of traditional media and achieve much greater efficiency. So why not just focus on inbound marketing, well that brings us to the other half of this article.
Outbound Marketing
The challenge with inbound marketing is that you can’t expect customers to seek something they do not know they need. Most products and services require some of form of outbound marketing to build awareness. Organizations also should not overlook the long-term return on investment that outbound marketing can generate.
This report from Nielsen Analytic Consulting may be a bit dated, but contains some valuable data on how to gauge your marketing success. Click on the image above to download your copy.
According to studies by Nielsen Analytic Consulting, the average short-term return on marketing investment is a meager $1.09 for every dollar invested. Broken down by medium, online ads (which have a greater tendency towards direct response) returned an average of $2.18, magazine ads $1.12, public relations $1.05, television $.94 and newspaper ads a paltry $24. With such low responses it’s easy to see why inbound marketing is getting so much attention, but the numbers look a lot better when you consider the response on a longer term. The return on marketing investment for magazine ads jumps to $1.57, public relations up to $1.90 and television advertising up to $2.16. According to Nielsen, marketers can generally expect around 1.5 times higher long-term ROI compared to the short-term return. Why you may may ask? The reason is that these and other outbound tactics are more effective at building long-term brand loyalty which leads to repeat business, higher perception of value, greater customer satisfaction and the holy grail of all marketing – word of mouth advocacy.
Of course marketing should be both effective and efficient, and many outbound tactics are dependent on a level of volume and high dollar sales that don’t apply to every situation. Consider a television ad targeting a high income individual with significant disposable wealth. such as a spot you may have seen recently from Ameriprise, Charles Schwab or Edward Jones. These broad targeted spots may reach only a very small percentage of qualified prospects, but smart companies like these recognize a small volume can still be profitable for high ticket items like financial services. Major consumer products companies like Clorox, General Mills, Proctor & Gamble and others see value from the perspective of repeat sales that might extend over the course of an entire lifetime.
Direct marketing is another outbound discipline typically requires high volume to be efficient. Its high upfront costs also prevent many organizations from implementing programs at volumes that produce statistically valid results, so they end up learning nothing from their efforts. The average response rate with a purchased prospect list is just 1.38 percent according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and a quality list can cost you $400 to $700 per thousand (CPM) with a minimum purchase of 5,000 addresses. Sound targeting and segmentation can significantly improve results, but organizations may have to test several list before finding a source that performs well. Having the communications piece professionally designed and written can also improve results, but it too adds to the cost. So, you can imagine the kind of long-term return on investment that direct marketing requires.
A better approach for smaller organizations is to simply do their own direct marketing. It might not be as efficient, but it can still be effective. With a basic data base or, preferably, contact management software a small organization can build its own list with resources they may just find online or at their local library. Coupled with a valuable call to action and personalized follow-up, the DMA reports the response rate on such “house” lists improves more than double up to an average 3.42 percent.
The moral here is that no one marketing strategy is right for every organization. Give us a call. We can help.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations
Posted by Rainier Sky on April 30, 2011
Writing is therapeutic for someone like me. It allows me to express my thoughts in an organized and, sometimes, fun way. Today my therapy involves a little venting about some of my social media pet peeves.
Of course, I am not perfect. I, too, commit a few of these sins now and then and, of course, I look the other way when somebody I like commits one of these grievous acts. Then again, I also have been known to hide, un-follow or de-link those who commit these errors more than I can tolerate.
I also look for look these things before I make new connections. You may have noticed that I don’t have a huge following on Twitter (739) and that’s on purpose. I suppose I would have a lot more if I simply followed everyone who followed me, but I just don’t see the value in it. I want connections that have meaning and purpose. There are also a lot of people who have many more Facebook friends than me (280). Frankly, I have enough trouble keeping up with the ones I have. So, now and then, I have been known to glean my list of friends and followers.
So, let’s get to the list.
- The automater – I try to follow anyone who uses any type of automated feed for their profile.
I also hate people who hire others to manage their account. No one can share meaningful information several times an hour around the clock without help. There are some exceptions, of course, such as a few industry experts (cough..@GuyKawasaki…cough) whose opinions bear such weight that I still follow them. Let’s get real, though, no one can come up with meaningful information to post at exact five minute intervals without software or a staff. It’s disingenuous.
- No personality – It’s called “social” media for a reason. I like authentic people who are not afraid to show a little personality. There’s nothing more boring that someone who is all business all the time. Speaking of which…
- The braggart – I may be guilty of this one now and then especially when I am sharing news about my children, but I try to balance it with a little humility. It’s O.K. to let people know you are human and share a laugh when you make a mistake. As long as no one gets hurt, it makes you more endearing.
- The moaner – Everybody has a bad day now and then, but losing sight of the good things in life can also lose you friends.
- Do business on your page – I friend people on Facebook because that is what they are to me. If I want to hear about the wonderful weight loss product you are now offering to a limited number of friends, share it on your business page.
- TURN OFF ALL CAPS – DID YOUR EYES JUMP DOWN TO THIS LINE BEFORE YOU READ THE OTHERS. THAT’S BECAUSE ALL CAPS IS THE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING. IT’S AN OBNOXIOUS CRY FOR ATTENTION AND I CANNOT STAND IT.
- The salesman – This is for all the real estate agents, multi-level marketers and others who use Twitter to post classified ads. Nobody is reading them. The sad part is that most of the people doing this have no idea how bad this looks. They might as well put a stamp on their forehead that says “I don’t understand social media.”
- The unknown maiden – A few years back I went on a mission to try and re-connect with a lot of my old high school friends to promote our upcoming reunion. As a result, a lot of people also started to find me. Most of them I recognized right away, but there quite a few – women in particular – whom I could not identify. So if you have changed your name as a result of a marriage, you might want to include both your maiden and married name(s) on your profile.
- The critic – Someone who thinks they are a writer should be able to use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling every time. Right? Well, sorry, I am just not that perfect. I occasionally make errors. In fact, my smartphone is a constant challenge to my fat thumbs. I don’t mind laughing at myself when I make a humorous mistake, but don’t point out errors just to show how smart you are. It’s arrogant.
- Keep it civil –
I connect with and follow a lot of different types of people and subjects on social media and I am constantly surprised and put off by people who think it’s cool to swear. Get a clue. It makes you look stupid.
- The separator – Studies show time and again that people do business with those whom they like. So, if you want to do business with me, don’t decline my Facebook invitation.
- Re-post if you ____ – I have never put a bumper sticker on any car, I delete all chain mail and I rarely, if ever, forward any funny emails. I prefer original thought. So even though I have wonderful kids, I support our troops and I am thankful for every teacher I have had, I don’t want others to have to read the same post one more time.
- Lose the quotes – I already have several books on my reference shelf. I don’t need you to remind me people smarter than me have already said – which leads me to the next one.
- Jesus is not on Facebook – I have nothing against spirituality and I really don’t mind if my friends want to tell me about the wonderful people they met at church. Just don’t quote me verses from the Bible. I have one of those somewhere, too.
Well, I hope I have not offended too many of you.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations
Posted by Rainier Sky on March 19, 2011
The popularity of smart phones, tablets and other GPS enabled mobile devices has a lot of marketers re-thinking geosocial networking. Individuals use these networks and other location-based services to share their location with friends, search for goods and services nearby and check the reviews and ratings of unfamiliar places. Organizations can use these networks as a form of permission-based marketing to reach potential customers with special promotions at opportune moments.
Foursquare on a Smartphone
The overall number of people using geosocial networking remains small, but is growing at an incredibly rapid pace. Just how big is the opportunity? There are more than 60 million smart phones in the United States and some sources expect that they will become the predominant means of surfing the Web within the next year or two. Nielsen projects that smartphones will comprise the majority of all mobile phones by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the number of Foursquare members grew by 3400 percent in 2010. With Facebook now moving aggressively into the space, the growth potential is staggering.
Meanwhile, a battle for dominance in the geosocial space is raging among major players that include Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Gowalla, Yelp and others. Each competitor keeps adding newfeatures and capabilities that are generating a lot of buzz and presenting new opportunities for organizations of all types and sizes.
So, is the time right for your organization to start using geosocial networking? The answer might depend on your type of business and the technological sophistication of the people it serves. Right now the possibilities look pretty good for organizations in the hospitality, tourism and retail sectors, particularly those that cater to individuals exploring unfamiliar surroundings. Yet organizations of all type can can use geosocial networking for creative promotions, such as rewards for loyal customers who “unlock” a special offer after so many visits or “check ins”.
Here’s a few more examples of how geosocial networks are being used today:
- You are walking through the mall when you pull out your smart phone and you fire up Facebook Places to help your family decide where to meet later. As the GPS on your phone pulls up a list of various locations, you notice that your favorite bookstore is offering an extra 20 percent off to the next 10 customers to check in. Well, you might want to tell the family you will need a little more time.
- You are traveling on business and you just arrive at your hotel. You pull out your iPad while the clerk looks up your reservation and you fire up Yelp to look up the nearest ATM machine. You see that your bank has one right across the street. Now you can avoid the high fees charged by the third-party ATM there in the lobby.
- You and your spouse decide on a whim to stop and check out the hot, new restaurant in town. The waiting list is too long, so you decide just to have a glass a wine in the bar. You pull out your Android phone and when you check in on Foursquare you discover your good friends are already there. One of them also has a smart phone set to alert them a friend checks in nearby and the friend comes over and invites you to join them at their table.
- You are looking for an attorney to look over a real estate opportunity, but no one you know can offer a recommendation. So you pull up your favorite search engine and two law firms nearby with Google Places listings under the keyword ”real estate attorney”. You check them out and one of them has a recommendation from your dentist with whom you have an upcoming appointment. She’s always trying to talk to you while her hands are in your mouth, so why not make it worth while and ask about her experience?
Can you imagine your organization fitting in any of these scenarios? Like most social media, geosocial networking is user friendly and relatively easy to get started. Your greatest expense – unless you go crazy with promotional offers – will likely be the time you invest setting up and managing it.
Want to give it a try? If so, here’s a few tips on how to get started.
Get Yourself a Smartphone
It’s not an absolute must for everything, but you will need a GPS-enabled device for some tasks and it sure can make managing it a lot easier. I’m also a big believer that using such a device is the only way to really keep up with this rapidly changing technology. Besides, what better way to see how other organizations are using geosocial networking to their benefit.
Claim Your Locations
Rainier Sky on Facebook Places
If you do nothing else, I recommend that every organization register their locations with every geosocial network and location-based services. Not only will it give visitors one more way to find you, but its the only way to take control of your online identity. Adding a few extra back links with each profile will also enhance your search engine optimization (geosocial sites rank pretty well these days), and most services notify you so you can respond quickly when someone posts a review.
The easiest way to claim and manage your locations is with your GPS-enable wireless device. Each network is a bit different, but the overall process is relatively the same. Just download the application for one or more geosocial network from your devices online market or app store. Enable your device’s GPS feature and fire up the app. Search for locations or places nearby and add yours. Your location may already be registered with one or more service, but they all have procedures in place to help legitimate representatives assume control of their location and correct any basic information. Other businesses can also show up at your address if your business is relatively new to its location or if it resides within a multi-story building.
Test a few Promotions
Whether you call it a promotion, offer or deal, most organizations will have to offer some incentive to encourage their patrons to check in at their location. It might take the form of a discount, free merchandise with a minimum purchase or even a branded chotchkie like a sticker, button or keyring. Who knows, you might even have a few items somewhere in a back room you could use for a quick experiment.
Offers on Google Places
Do you need something different for each network? There are two schools of thought. On one hand, offering unique promotions on each network is the easiest way to measure whether your customers prefer one network vs. another. It may also the only reason why an individual would connect with your organization on more than one network. On the other hand, why would you want to limit yourself if the promotion is profitable? Then again, each network likes to differentiate itself so you may have to customize your promotions for each network whether you want to or not.
Consider the following examples.
Facebook Places
Facebook uses a program for promotions on its network that it calls “Deals” and they are categorized into four basic types:
- Individual deals are one-time offers.
- Loyalty deals allow you to reward frequent customers.
- Friend deals offer incentives for users to share your promotion with their friends.
- Charity deals help develop deeper bonds through rewards that benefit the charity of your choice.
Facebook has a couple short videos that explain how Deals work for customers and how a business can make a Deal available through Places. You can also read more by downloading a copy of Facebook’s Deals Guide for Business. Deal sponsors must claim their place of business and all deals are subject to review that can take up to 48 hours. Facebook Places can also be merged with your Facebook Page to add additional capabilities and features to both. Of course, you first have to officially add and claim your Place.
Foursquare
Foursquare allows a business to set up various promotions that network members “unlock” by fulfilling specific criteria you set up in advance. The only conditions are that your promotions offer some economic value and are unique to their members. Examples include the following:
- Newbie promotions reward first-time visitors to your business.
- Flash Sales reward customers who check in on a first-come, first served basis during a limited time.
- Friend rewards encourage members to patronize your business with a group of their network friends.
- Swarm sales reward any group of customers when a minimum number of check in.
- Loyalty rewards encourage customers to be frequent customers.
- Mayors are rewarded for being the most frequent visitor during the previous 60 days.
Foursquare also allow you to share administration of a location, which can help you be more responsive and provide better service.
Google Places
Rainier Sky on Google Places
Location-based promotions through Google are the most basic. The new “Tags” program allow you to place information about an offer or coupon next to your highlighted Google Places listing that appears both in normal search and Google Maps results. Just select the locations where the offer is available, write a few lines of text and set up an expiration. Google ran a free trial of Tags for registered Google Places accounts, but it has since expired. Regardless of whether you use tags, every organization should create their free Google Places listing.
Promote Your Profiles
Check In Here
If you are going to invest the time to be active on any social networks, you want to make sure your customers know about it. Promote your participation on your website and post about on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. You can mention it on print materials and inside your business on a blackboard or a sign at the cash register. You could even place a computer, television or even a digital photo frame in a key location to promote your participation or even acknowledge guest check-ins as they arrive. Just be aware of any limitations that may apply when using the network trademarks.
Educate Your Employees
You also have to make sure your employees know how to honor your promotions or your customers might just have a bad experience or even give you a poor review. It might just be as simple as letting your employees know how to input the promotional code in your cash register, but they will need to know how to make it work with your systems.
Of course, yous might also want to set some expectations for your employees who might just be using geosocial networks themselves. Are they eligible for the same promotions when they check in? Do you really want them to become the Foursquare mayor of your location (It’s easy to relinquish, but they will have to sign in to their account and do it themselves.).
Finally, one last thought…
Thank your guests
Geosocial networking can also present organizations with the opportunity to extend a thank you to their patrons. A quick note to ensure they had a good experience can go a long way, and may even help uncover problems that might otherwise go unreported.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations
Posted by Rainier Sky on February 17, 2011
A good friend of mine stopped by the other day and we started talking about how we use the Internet to find information. One of his hobbies is restoring classic cars and he shared a story about finding a trick he learned online that saved him several hundred dollars. He was working on one of the cars when he decided to drove it to a nearby auto parts store. He got back in the car after making his purchase, but he could not put the car in reverse to back out of his parking space. So, he walked home, fired up his laptop and diagnosed the problem. (The brake sensor was not working, so he just put on the parking brake and started the car in neutral.)
Then I shared my story about fixing my son’s Playstation 3. As an early adopter of technology, I had bought one of the first 20-gigabyte PS3s when they first came out. We use it regularly as both a game and entertainment system and I am a huge fan. It stopped working a while back, so I searched the Internet found that others with similar symptoms had diagnosed it as a problem with the Blueray drive – a component you could buy online for roughly $90. Sony wanted $75 just to look at it, and parts would be extra if I wanted them to fix it. So, I bought the part online and replaced it myself with help of several amateur videos I found on YouTube that walked me through the process step-by-step.
My friend was surprised. He thought YouTube was just for watching videos of goofy kids do crazy stunts and half-clothed pop stars that dance better than they sing. On the contrary, I told him, I visit YouTube regularly for professional development — another revelation.
YouTube is a great source of information on just about any subject. In fact, its the second largest search engine on the Internet based on the overall volume of queries. I subscribe to several channels to help me keep pace with the constantly changing world of eMarketing. Here are some of my favorite channels:
The Google Business Channel on YouTube
This channel features videos that teach you how to take full advantage of all the free tools available to help you advertise online with Google search and its display network. Check out the video titled “Getting Started with AdWords“.
It can be a powerful tool showing you how your Website performs in any number of ways, but first you have to know how to use it. While you might have to sift through some of the videos, like the the Q&A series with Vinash Kaushik & Nick Mihailovski, I have found many golden nuggets of information. Start with “Beginning Analytics: Interpreting and Acting on Your Data“.
Want to know how to make better use of your website? This channel features videos that teach you how increase organic search traffic by correcting crawling, indexing and other common errors and improving its overall performance. The video titled “Google Webmaster Tools” offers a good overview.
The Official Facebook Channel covers a variety of topics of interest to users, page masters and developers. Want to know more about deals, sponsored stories or even the latest security features. Take a peek at “Building Your Brand with Facebook.”
This is probably one of the weaker channels on my list. LinkedIn has yet to fully take advantage of YouTube for teaching company profile managers and advertisers how to make better use of its service. The few videos that are here, however, do have some good tips on how to network on LinkedIn. I like the example featuring Darrell Rheah, CEO of Cheskin, titled “LinkedIn Users – Consulting Agency.
This channel covers a lot more than marketing, but any business leader who has ever picked up a copy of Harvard Business review will find value in this Channel. While most of it is tied to content and events related to the publication, you will find playlists that cover managing people, leadership, strategy, innovation and more. I like the video titled “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy.”
No list of marketing videos would be complete without a nod to Common Craft, a Seattle-based company that produces simple videos to explain complex subjects in ways that elementary school students can understand. Some of their videos are commissioned and owned by various clients, but this channel features several to which I refer folks all the time. One of my favorites is “Social Media in Plain English“.
To what channels do you subscribe? Let me know by placing your choices in the comments. You can also follow this topic on Quora.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations
Posted by Rainier Sky on February 10, 2011
I had a conversation with a prospective client yesterday who was interested, but not convinced, that his small business could benefit from social media. I advised him, as I do everyone, that social media does not work for every business. So, I offered to type up a few questions to help him make his decision and thought I would share them here as well. The answers to these questions will also help determine which strategy and tactics to use if you do proceed.
What do you want to accomplish?
Social media can do many things. It can help generate sales, improve customer service and provide a forum to demonstrate thought leadership. Sales may be the most important of these examples, but many businesses will find value in other benefits as well.
How open is your organization’s culture?
Certain businesses are prone to closed cultures, such as those in heavily regulated industries related to insurance, banking and health. Others are run by control freaks afraid to give up any control. Assuming your business is more transparent, you should start by setting expectations with a reasonable social media policy that allows employees to act with transparency and authenticity when engaging customers on their employer’s behalf.
How are your customers currently using social media?
You may just have a lot of customers using various social networks, but are they using them for business? I still run into people in my own profession who restrict their Facebook accounts to their personal lives and use LinkedIn or other professional networks for business. Most social networks offer potential advertisers free audience research tools that might just tell you whether and how your customers are using each social network.
What resources does your organization have to invest?
Some organizations are late to the social media game for the undeniable reason that they have no one on staff with the interest to explore it. Perhaps, no one on staff uses social media or the ones who do have little or no influence within the organization. If so, who is going to manage it? I usually don’t advocate that my clients farm out their social media, simply because it’s rarely as effective as programs managed internally. Social media should be managed by someone with intimate knowledge of your product or service, the creative and communications ability to generate a continuous stream of content, the autonomy to represent your organization publicly, and the authority to take appropriate action in a responsive manner. Who is this person in your organization?
Are your customers willing to discuss their use of your products or service?
I am not just talking about personal consumer products. I worked with one product development firm whose clients preferred that no one know about their work. We had to focus on generalities that limited credibility and made it more challenging to demonstrate thought leadership. Social media focuses on relationships that you cannot develop if your customers will not engage.
What is the current condition of your organization’s online assets?
When was the last time you updated your website? Is your Facebook page up to par? How about your company’s LinkedIn page? Do you have a effective template for landing pages? It’s one thing to generate traffic, but where are you going to send it? Don’t overlook the importance of driving it where it will do the most good.
At the very least, your answers to these questions will help you get a head start on a solid social media plan that takes advantage of your strengths and accounts for any weakness.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin Bush, Principal & CEO
Rainier Sky Marketing & Public Relations
