As social media becomes more popular across the US, companies have begun merging different social media facets into their marketing strategies.  While some obvious choices of platforms, there are some that many people still question.  As a social media user myself, I am aware of the ability to reach a magnitude of people--including potential clients.  However, when I first hear of Twitter and the way it works, I was a little skeptical.  How could it possibly be that effective when you can only write a message with limited characters?

What I failed to realize was that Twitter has over a million users that post over three million posts a day!!! Talk about reaching a magnitude of people.  As people respond to different areas of their everyday life, they may include a company's name or theory for everyone to see.  They may say good things or bad things--but wouldn't you want to know either way?

As word-of-mouth continues to grow and those consumers listening and entrusting others opinions on products/services grows as well, having a company name in a Twitter post is right where I would want it to be.  Even a short message can be used as a promotion for a product or service, customer service, or even a place where a brand can become characterized. 

In addition, because Twitter messages are seen by so many consumers, it is the perfect place to begin a buzz marketing or word-of-mouth marketing campaign for many start-ups or small businesses.  Rather than spending a ton of money to get your business out there using traditional marketing strategies, a company could use outlets like Twitter to educate consumers and further develop their brand. 

So before you question the magnitude to how much social media can help market your company, remember just how many people will see your company's name daily--good or bad!

 Last night I had the privilege of seeing Gary Kunath, founder and CEO of the Summit Group speak at Miami University.  While Gary is like a father figure to me, it was extremely impressive and motivational to see him up in front of a large crowd. 

Gary spoke about being marketable.  About how experience and interaction among consumers is what is driving business these days.  Rather than enticing people through advertisements and creating a brand through traditional marketing strategies, it is time for us to switch gears and build our brands based on experience. 

For small business marketing, this is especially true.  To gain the repeat customers you desire, it is important that companies create a strong in-store or online experience.  By offering interactive marketing where consumers can not only see the product or service, but can use the product/service, or talk to the employees and other consumers, consumers tend to become brand loyal.  In addition, having pages out there on MySpace and Facebook that allow consumers to engage actively in a company's interactive marketing, makes it easier for consumers to talk to one another about the product, trust one another about the benefits of the product, and it also allows them to be reminded each day that the product/service is out there and ready for them.

The same hold true with the employees within the business.  The more they interact and have fun with those they can relate to their colleagues, the more loyal they become as well.  So, as you begin to build your company's marketing strategy remember that is important to have fun, be yourself, and entertain the consumer through positive interaction and communication. 

After just over a month, I think I'm finally settling in.  I've begun to learn enough of the marketing strategies to begin venturing out on my own now.  Rather than having to be helped every other minute, I am finally feeling more confident in my abilities and the work that I am producing.  In fact, even client phone calls are becoming less intimidating and more fun.  I feel as though my learning curve is beginning to subside and I can finally use my learned marketing knowledge in my extra marketing activities outside of the office.  I am able to apply concepts from the office to websites that I have created and now feel more confident in measuring the success they are producing.  While I still have a lot to learn about small business marketing and different interactive marketing, email marketing, and event marketing strategies, I at least feel as though I am not in the dark as much when we do sit down with clients.

Phew! I thought this might have been a long, rough road, but the reality of the matter is, when you put your mind to it...I guess it is achievable. 

While getting ready to come to work this morning, I had the news on in the background and couldn't help but overhear a news story about a new interactive marketing strategy.  Since most conventional marketing strategies are becoming obsolete and marketers are having to turn to new progressive measures, companies such as Reactrix are setting the bar high. 

Reactrix has come up with an interactive display within malls and specific stores that allow consumers to participate in a number of video games.  These displays are made up of a digital pad on the floor playing advertisements within a video-game realm.  Rather  than just playing advertisements that consumers often block-out, Reactrix is making their advertisements come to life.  This interactive marketing not only grabs consumers' attention from afar, but is longer lasting among consumers as well.  The more fun the game that the advertising is allowing consumers to play, the longer consumers remember the brand, and the more awareness that brand receives.

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Interactive digital signage and interactive marketing does not stop there.  The company GestureTek is using similar approaches among the gesture-based digital signage.  Rather than only sharing advertisements through games on the floor, GestureTek is using table tops, wall mounts, and interactive decorations.  They also branch out from the interactive games and provide consumers with interactive visual displays of all different effects.  Click here for more information.

Due to the lessening popularity of traditional marketing strategies, more companies are going to be engaging in more consumer interactive advertisements and several other forms of interactive marketing.  Companies that are already ahead of the ball like Reactrix and GestureTek,  have definitely closed this gap of the future!

Blogging...It certainly is an interesting marketing tool.  Effective...yes.  Yet, not taught often enough.

Throughout college, I learned about both traditional and nontraditional ways of marketing.  I even learned about many of the new strategies within social media tools, but yet, blogging and the importance behind it were left out of the curriculum.  Sure  professors taught students the definition of a blog and where we can find them, but they left out a lot of pertinent information about their ability to strengthen businesses. 

In the last week and a half, I have been working a lot with this concept of blogging for business.  I find the marvels behind the importance of blogs to be mind-blowing.  It is amazing to think that these small writing times allow for interactive marketing between business and consumers and to help companies with their search engine optimization. Had I known all of the benefits of blogs, I would have suggested them within small business marketing plans I have developed for the other employers I have worked for.

Blogging not only allows businesses to get a step up in internet marketing, but they allow bloggers to throw around ideas with others interested in the same areas.  This alone has the potential to create an area where new marketing ideas, concepts, or strategies can develop further.  They serve as a great way to get feedback or suggestions. And they certainly are a way to get what is in your head out on paper (figuratively speaking anyways).

Had I known what I know now about Blogs, I probably would have created one a lot sooner and I certainly would have informed other small business owners about their ability to help businesses grow.  I also, for the sake of future business owners or motivated employees, will be contacting several University professors and reminding them of the importance of a Blog.  I believe that more time should be spent teaching students about these new nontraditional and social media strategies since the wave of the future lies within technology and the importance of being unique and buying unique items within consumers.

Several months ago I took the plunge and signed up on Twitter.  Unsure of what to expect, I started sharing what was going on at R.O. Why! Marketing, some of the email marketing, interactive marketing and blogging for business efforts we're delivering for clients.  At first, very similar to blogging for business, it feels like you're simply talking to yourself.  Few followers, not many replies, but I found that after some effort and a focus on sharing valuable information (vs. the all to common 'I'm eating a sandwich' Twitter updates,) the followers started to come in droves.  I'm several months into it now and with over 100 followers I can say that my tiny little universe seems actively engaged.

I also have a couple of very tangible benefits to share.  My efforts on Twitter have delivered big for R.O. Why! Marketing, connecting me with a contact that has since become a new client in Chicago called KeenHire (a company that does some amazing things with behavioral interviewing, assessments & targeted selection,) - thanks to CincyRecruiter & smheadhunter for the connections - and in addition, this small Cincinnati advertising agency has just found its newest employee.

A few things I've learned that are worth sharing:

-  Twitter is for business too. Think smaller & Get creative.
-  If you're going to tweet, respect the audience & deliver valuable updates.
-  Save the 'I'm in Cincinnati' updates for SMS messages for Brightkite.
-  Engage those people you'd like to attract as followers.  Read & comment on their blogs, etc.
-  Avoid the temptation to follow everyone that follows you.  It's not required, nor is it always recommended.  Make sure those you follow add value.
-  Share more than you feel comfortable sharing.  Invite the universe in & build a relationship.

Just like other social networks, you reap what you sow.  So far I have found Twitter to be a worthwhile investment of a small amount of time, and given it's recent payoffs, I think I'll keep tweeting.

Have an experience to share?

I'm excited this morning to welcome Kaitlyn Kurtz to R.O. Why! Marketing as account coordinator.  Kaitlyn comes to us from Honeytree Stables in Oxford, Ohio, where she developed marketing and public relations campaigns, including the company's website, various market research projects and print advertising.  Kaitlyn also recently completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing at Miami University in Ohio, where she also served as Marketing Director of her Laws, Hall & Associates team that developed an advertising campaign for Foot Locker.  After presenting to the CEO of FootLocker, her campaign was chosen to be launched into 5 major European markets and voted the best due to its through the line consistency and overall creativity.

Kaitlyn has a big job ahead of her here at R.O.Why! Marketing.  As account coordinator, she will focus on managing client projects ranging from email marketing, interactive marketing, search engine optimization and our blogging for business solution.

Please join me in welcoming Kaitlyn to the team!

I subscribe to a free service that let's me know what stories and sources reporters are looking for.  It's called Help a Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com)  You should check it out.

So this morning I get an email about a contest that an online resource for those going through divorce is holding, and they're asking for promotion ideas.  The winner receives a Kindle.  Although I think the Kindle is super cool and of course I'd like to have one, I also get totally jazzed about coming up with interactive marketing ideas.  Companies today are looking beyond email marketing, search engine optimization and other brand development strategies toward more interactive marketing approaches to involve their audiences.  No, I'm not the first to suggest a viral video marketing strategy, but I believe that this approach has a lot of merit if building word of mouth is important to you.

Here's the idea I submitted:
(Remember, this is for a website that provides resources for those who have gone through a divorce, so the strategy needs to fit.)

Potential titles:

The ‘Dear John, It’s Over’ Video Contest
The ‘I never meant to hurt you’ Video Contest
The ‘It’s Over!’ Video Contest
The ‘I’m Starting Over…I Need a Makeover!’ Video Contest
The ‘I’ve got to get something off my chest’ Video Contest

Potential promotional copy:

Hey, divorce is a difficult thing to go through, and through these tough times we could all use a little laugh, right?  [Contest sponsor] announces the ‘I never meant to hurt you’ video contest.

Is it time for a divorce?  Time to tell your significant other to take a hike?  Need to come clean about seeing ‘someone’ else?

• Have you  been burned by your PC too many times?
• Cheated on your PC with a Mac?
• Had a Miller Lite while your Bud wasn’t looking?
• Has Windows Vista taken you for granted one too many times?
• Time to say goodbye to your 3 year old’s binky when it no longer quiets your little hellion like it promised to?

Confess to your ‘significant other’ about it in a short, funny, 2 minute original video.  What counts is  humor, originality, video production quality, and the tangible metric – YouTube views.  Videos must be sent to [the contest sponsor's website] where they will be screened (for inappropriate content) and uploaded to the contest channel on YouTube.  [The contest sponsor] embeds the YouTube video code into the site and builds a quick polling feature to allow visitors to vote, and the highest combination of website visitor votes + YouTube views wins.

Here’s an example of a script for a video:  Telling your SUV that you’ve been seeing a perky little hybrid.

“Hi honey, we need to talk.  We’ve been together for a long time.  We’ve had some tough times and some really great ones too.  But over the years I feel that I’m the only one putting the effort into this relationship.  I take care of you, keep you looking great, and I will say that you’ve been pretty reliable.  But the world around us has changed.  Gas prices are skyrocketing and frankly, people think we’re unsafe.  They just look at us differently now, and as hard as I have tried to remain content, this relationship just takes everything out of me.  I fill you up with my love every week, but then I have nothing left.  No passion, no excitement, and no money.  It costs so much more now to keep this relationship going than it ever used to.  I feel taken advantage of, and I….I’m so sorry…I just can’t do this anymore.  I need to tell you that there’s someone else.  For the last few months I…God I can’t believe I’m telling you this….I’ve been seeing a hybrid.  No, it’s not someone from work, and I really wasn’t looking.  It just kind of happened.  I’m so sorry.  I never meant to hurt you, but I need to go this direction in my life right now.  It’s what I need to feel like myself again.  And you’re going to be fine, really!  I think we’ve both been pulling each other down.  You’re a smart, good looking, enormous SUV with a strong personality and a command for the road.  There are other people out there that would appreciate you, give you all the gas you need and not feel guilty about it.  You know, the wealthy elite.  I just can’t afford to give you what you need anymore.  I’m so sorry.”

We'll see if the idea wins the contest, and I'll of course post it here, but let me know what you think.  Have any viral video ideas or examples you'd like to share?

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine recently about the data that one of our clients, Health Force, has been collecting on its website.  Health Force is a national travel nursing and allied health staffing company.  R.O.Why! Marketing, your friendly neighborhood Cincinnati marketing firm, has been working with Health Force for over 4 years, delivering a range of interactive marketing solutions, including a new website earlier this year.

The website displays travel assignments that are available across the country, and allows visitors to search these jobs, apply online, and also register with their skill sets to receive automatic job notifications in their area of expertise.

We're now 6 months into the new site, and they've collected a lot of data.  Names, email addresses, disciplines, specialties, etc., and also data like the time they last visited and logged in.  Programmers and tech folks think about databases and architectures and linking tables, and how complicated it can be to get it all out.  Marketers, on the other hand, think about what they can do with this data.

With the data we now have available, we can send email marketing messages that invite people back to the site based on the date of their last visit.  Health Force can call them to talk about jobs they've seen on the site and that they qualify for.  We can also understand what jobs get the most searches and inquiries, and provide that data back to the company to better target future job opportunities.

The site looks beautiful and does a great job of brand development, but how about we build the brand at the cash register too?  Let's talk with visitors as individuals, using what we know to deliver custom experiences.

The creative is important to be sure, but a website should talk to you on a personal level at every opportunity.  The technology has been around for years to deliver 1:1 marketing quite well, but it all starts with the data.  Collecting it is important.  Knowing what you'll do with it and mapping out a deliberate plan is something entirely different.

I was inspired today by a great blog post by Seth Godin.  In it, he compares marketers to lawyers, charged not necessarily with telling the truth, but with arguing for the client, their product, their practices, etc.  We're paid to claim that our client's products are the best, even if they are not.  Clients hire us to build email marketing campaigns, event marketing programs, interactive marketing strategies, and other marketing strategy efforts to sell the product or the service, even if it's not the best; even if the customer would be better off with nothing at all, or heaven forbid, a competitor's product.

What about when a client hires a Cincinnati advertising agency like R.O.Why! Marketing?  They want email marketing tips and ROI marketing programs that grow their business.  They need a newsletter and they know that what they need is a newsletter.  But what if they don't?  What if they're wrong?  What if they really need something else?  What if R.O.Why! Marketing isn't right for them?

It's happened before, on each end of the spectrum.  Just this week we landed a client who felt that email marketing was what they needed.  While email marketing does need to be a part of the mix, we believed it was not the right time.  After we considered the ultimate marketing results they were looking for, their culture, the budgets and timeframes, we felt strongly that blogging for business was best for them.  We could have just sold them an email marketing program for more money and more profit.  It would have been easier, but it wasn't right.  Their audience expects more and while we were hired to serve the client, I believe we were really hired to serve their customer.

We've also had to walk away from business because the product couldn't live up to the marketing claims.  The company needed to make dramatic changes to the product itself in order to make it competitive, and good for customers, and worth buying. 

As Seth says "...marketers still have the chance to be believed. But trust belongs to statesmen, not lawyers."

Ever have one of those moments when all of the clutter seemed to just fade away and you became laser focused on what was truly important?  I am enjoying a morning full of that type of focus today.

As I prepare for an upcoming vacation in a couple weeks, I spent some time this morning working through my list of priorities.  Client needs come first.

• What ROI marketing projects need to be completed before I leave and/or return?
• What loose ends can we handle now?
• What email marketing campaigns are scheduled for that week?
• Does each client understand what our next steps are and are the deliverables abundantly clear?
• What items do I NOT want to see on my list when I return?
• What search engine optimization, pay-per-click, email marketing performance, interactive marketing and blog analytics reports need to be delivered?

Then came the business development and administration side. 

• Are the bills paid?
• Are invoices current?
• What reports do I need?
• How many proposals are still out for companies looking for a Cincinnati advertising agency?
• Are any proposals due before I return?
• How many can be closed before I leave?  Wow - at least 3 can!
• Can we decide on the new hire before I leave?
• What about the office location search?

If you're like me, you often wish you could work like it's your last week (or day!) before vacation.  Isn't it amazing how quickly the clutter falls to the side and you focus all of your talents and efforts on those things that are the most important?

All of these things I'll be working on for the next 10 days or so are focused on what matters - RESULTS.  Marketing results and ROI for clients, meeting deadlines, keeping promises, delivering, delivering, delivering.

As marketers, we can learn from this and apply the same rigor to the campaigns we're running and the work we do each day.  How many of the things that are on your plate today, this week or next are truly focused on delivering results?  How many of these 'projects' are truly necessary?  How many meetings don't you need to have? 

What would happen if you got rid of all the junk that doesn't matter for just 2 weeks?

If you reduced everything you spend your time on to a bulleted list of the most important things, how much of your daily work would survive the cut?

Marketers, get focused!  Improve your email marketing campaign now.  Stop himming and hawing about the brand development efforts and the strategy.  Make a decision, act, and make some progress this week.  Cut the fluff from the ad campaign, focus on why the reader/viewer/recipient should care and create some results.

You know what's great about this?  Except for client requests, if it's not on the list, I won't be spending time on it for the next two weeks.  Like the boxes that have been in my basement since we built the house 5 years ago, if it won't get my attention in the near term, will it ever really make it back on my priority list?  Was it really important at all to begin with?

What do you love?

Hate?

Think?

Believe?

Feel?

Wish?

Really interesting project going on right now that's cataloging what people think about.  Culling through thousands of Tweets, Twistori is unearthing what's in our hearts and minds.  What we dream about, yearn for, what we would like more of.  What keeps us up at night.

What about our customers?  Do they really care about blogging for business?  Are their hearts on fire for their brand?  Is event marketing really what makes them tick?  Do they really need more email marketing tips?  Each day, are they incessantly hunting for a new Cincinnati advertising agency?

What do they yearn for?  What keeps them up at night?  How much do we really know about what our customers truly want? 

At the end of the day, I don't think our customers here at R.O.Why! Marketing really care about any of that.  They're not out there trying to buy internet marketing consulting services.  They're not looking for another marketing firm, a print advertising campaign that wins an award (for their agency) or the next great interactive marketing campaign.

Here's what they do want:

1.  More sales
2.  Higher profits
3.  Better service
4.  Fewer hassles
5.  Less bull
6.  Someone (dare it be their agency?) to take their hand and lead them

What's fun about my job is cutting through all the crap, thinking like a business owner for our clients, and leading them to efficient, profitable business growth.  But to do that, you have to know what your customers really care about.  You need a Twistori that reveals your customers' hopes, dreams and fears. 

Alternatively, you could just set your agenda aside and listen to them.

The concept and even some great applications of 1:1 Marketing have been around for some time.  Sending not only personalized communications, but highly targeted content to your target market maximizes relevance and has been proven to significantly grow response rates.  The challenge that many face is not as much the strategy surrounding such campaigns, but how to effectively execute them.

Your Data is Key
In order to move beyond simple personalization to highly relevant, customized communications, it is critical that your database contain significant information on your target market.  You need to move beyond demographics to include psychographic and behavioral data.  One of the best ways to accomplish this is in the effective integration of CRM and web analytics systems.

ExactTarget is R.O.Why! Marketing's email services technology partner.  We use this platform to deliver interactive marketing communications for our clients and the primary reason we chose them was the strides they've made in connecting the dots of the customer communication lifecycle.  From the standpoint of understanding the variables of effective customer communications, they just get it.  In addition, ExactTarget has put the tools in place to help marketers leverage their data to communicate effectively via email, SMS, and voice broadcast.  They have developed the APIs to allow for easy integration with third party systems, and they have truly put the marketer in control of the customer relationship.

Using the tools available today, marketers can truly take their communications to 1:1.  Some examples include triggered email marketing communications that leverage behavioral data to drive the process.  These tools allow marketing firms and their clients initiate communications not only based on what they currently know, but on what their customers do next, and to leverage a platform to efficiently develop and deliver content that is more relevant than anything they've used before.

For example:

• Webinar registrants get follow up communications about a series of whitepapers or case studies
• Downloading a piece triggers an email with content specific to what was downloaded
• Action on the custom content drives a printed direct mail follow up with a PURL and custom landing page
• Action on the landing page triggers a phone call follow up with a custom set of solutions presented

Again, what's critical in making this work is the data.  What do you know about your customer now, and what data must you collect at each point of interaction to better customize each follow up communication?

Step 1?  Get the database ready.

I've been thinking lately on how much technology has changed the way we communicate, particularly email, and how as a result, our customer relationships have changed.  In some ways, I might say that they are even in danger.

What happened to the phone?
In a day & age when communication is so critical, it is amazing to me how many people prefer to use email vs. the phone.  We call it multitasking, or the need to 'document a conversation', but by doing so, aren't you really saying to a customer 'Gee, I really don't feel like talking to you.  It's so much easier for me to whip off this email to you, put the ball in your court, and move on to my next (more valuable) customers.'

We'd rather shoot off 100 emails a day, barely moving the communication along a step or two, when we could just pick up the phone, talk with our customers, and settle the issue at hand, close the deal, or resolve the support issue immediately.  Then there is the issue that email, no matter how well crafted, cannot deliver the proper tone.  An email sent in a hurry can come off as terse.  Capital letters to some mean that you're screaming.  Sales-related questions come off as empty pitches instead of a thought-filled desire to ask engaging questions and learn.

I think customers are craving more personal communication.  Instead we invest in fancy email marketing software that allows us to personalize the email as if it really was written just for them.  We invest in interactive marketing programs and 'one-to-one' direct marketing using PURL technology to mimic what used to take place between two people.

But we need these tools!
Yes, we do, and I'm not suggesting that they don't have their place.  However, I do think our customers are crying out for us to just pick up the phone and call once in a while.  I'm an avid emailer, and every once in a while I catch myself typing up an email and convincing myself that what I really ought to do is call.  So I call, and I'm quickly reminded of how much that small effort makes a difference.

It would have been easier for me to send a recent proposal to the prospective client in an email, based on the requirements discussed a week ago.  Instead I called, talked through the components, shared some pricing, and found out that there were a few other things the client wanted included.  In a 15 minute phone call, I learned that event marketing now needed to be part of the proposal, that a blogging platform might be necessary, and that the budget the client had in mind may not accommodate all of this.  Instead of emailing my proposal, waiting a week, learning that it needed more despite a limited budget, and then redrafting the document, we settled it all in 15 minutes.  That phone call saved days and I connected with the client in a way an email never would.

A few scenarios when the phone is better than email:

1. When you're delivering price information for the first time.  Never let the first time your customer sees price be in an email.  Discuss it with them first & get initial buy in or correction.
2. When delivering bad news of any kind.  You need the customer to hear the empathy in your voice.  An email can't do that.
3. When delivering good news.  This is your chance to shine!
4. Whenever you must disagree with something.  Most of us are passionate about our beliefs and in an email, that passion can come across as arrogance and an unwillingness to listen to all sides.

When in doubt, pick up the phone.

In general, it takes many more words to communicate a message and the intended tone in an email than it does on the phone or in person.  And think of how much you'll stand out?  Your competitors are filling customer inboxes with email.  Call your customers and stand out!

I stumbled upon this website (www.reactee.com) again and was reminded of what a fantastic one-to-one interactive marketing opportunity this is.  I love the fact that it gets attention, creates a reaction, and as marketers we can deliver a highly relevant message back.  Think about the possibilities for this in event marketing. 

Hand out tradeshow-specific shirts and deliver a custom message with an invite to visit a website, check out your blog, follow you on Twitter, or sign up for a webinar or case study download.  These would be great for street teams wanting to create a viral  marketing movement.  Imagine outfitting retail store employees with these shirts.  Text a code, receive a coupon on the spot.  Take your phone to the cash register to redeem it.

In a world where people look at what you wear, t-shirts have for a long time been used as a communication channel.  The problem is that message couldn't change.  Now it can.  I really like the possibilities with this.

Breaking down big revenue goals into actionable steps & aligning with sales

I keep running into sales & marketing alignment 'opportunities' and felt compelled to expand on my thoughts from a few posts ago...

If you're like most marketers, you struggle with how to champion your company's brand, set forth marketing programs that drive revenue and profit objectives, and to align your activities with the efforts of the sales team.  Add the responsibility of conducting ROI marketing and that's a big job!

Often times we see marketing communications strategies that 'swing for the fences'.  After all, that's what heavy hitters do, right?  But in baseball, the most successful players aren't always the home run kings; often they are those that get on base the most.  They hit singles and doubles consistently.

Marketing should do the same.

Now I'm not saying that we should take our eye off our financial targets, or broader brand development objectives, but by breaking down the big goals into smaller, easier-to-achieve milestones, I believe we stand a better chance of scoring big.

When it comes to email marketing, event marketing, interactive marketing, or other such lead-generation programs, focus your marketing communications on the sales cycle.  Focus your marketing strategies on the sales cycle  What steps does your sales team follow today?  I contend that every business has to do 4 things very well:

   1. Attract
   2. Cultivate
   3. Close
   4. Retain

Every sales organization has variations of these basic steps.  For some it's 5 steps, or even 10 or more, but the main objectives are the same.

Next, in which steps of your sales process is the team lacking?  Perhaps you're creating tons of highly qualified sales leads, but failing to cultivate the opportunity.  You might be finding great leads and cultivating well, but fall short at the close.  Proper marketing strategy can play a big role here.  Consider implementing a series of communications designed to mirror these steps in the sales process.

Attract:  Use your Cincinnati advertising agency for brand development and broad market awareness, and search engine optimization and blogging as attraction methods.  Cast a wide net

Cultivate:  Email marketing is built for building and maintaining relationships.  So are event marketing programs and interactive marketing endeavors.  Build an educational video series for your blog, or a strategic customer event to get in front of your market.  Use these opportunities to build a solid understanding of those you serve.

Close:  Of course, nothing happens if you don't make the sale.  Document your past successes and leverage case study programs and customer testimonials.  Deliver 3rd party content and proof of concept.  Demonstrate the use case and ROI.

Retain:  The worst thing you could do to a customer is leave them all alone.  Using the above methods and channels, deliver value added content.  Your email campaigns turn to a nurture marketing approach, offering tips, resources, and ideas on how to get more value.  Your blog is an obvious channel to deliver content from your product managers, engineers and manufacturing staff.  Leverage these channels to constantly collect customer feedback and new use cases.  Let your customers know you're listening and use their insight to improve the product or service, or to even build and entirely new one.

If there's one common mistake we see in small business marketing and that within larger enterprises, it's the fact that marketing communications programs are tasked with too much.  With such big expectations of any one effort, it's tough to deliver and even more difficult to measure.

Break down the big goals.  Create small wins.  Measure success in inches, not miles.  Focus on hitting lots of singles.  It's easier to win and make corrections when you're not swinging for the fences.

I don't think there's a company we've spoken to that didn't want a better return on their marketing investments.  Everyone understands the concept of demanding a tangible ROI from marketing.  The challenge lies in helping clients understand that in order to effectively monetize marketing results, you must break down the initiative into smaller, digestible parts.

Swinging for the Fences
When we evaluate marketing programs, the most common mistake we see, whether it be an interactive marketing program, an event marketing strategy, an email marketing newsletter, or even a brand development effort, is that the promotion itself is trying to accomplish too much.  If we understand the buying process, and embrace all of the steps necessary to take a someone from cold prospect to loyal customer, we can start to shed some light on this.  With the exception of pure impulse buys, how many times has one ad, one email, one promotion causes you to make a major purchase?  We shouldn't expect the same from our customers.

In my experience the best approach is to break down the overall goal of increased revenue into digestible steps that mirror the buying process.  At the simplest level, we need to attract, cultivate, close, and retain.  Now, what should your next print advertisement, tradeshow or customer event marketing program, or email marketing campaign be designed to accomplish?  I might argue that it should be one clearly-defined step in your sales process or the customer's buying process.

For example, if I do a great job of getting people to sign up for a webinar, attend it, download a whitepaper afterward, participate in a demo after that, and discuss their particular requirements with me following the demo, I stand a great chance of developing a solution that meets their needs and closing the sale.  My communications around each of these should focus on accomplishing just that one step.  My goal is to achieve multiple small commitments from a prospective customer that are likely to lead to a signature on the proposal. 

By separating my communications and properly aligning my expectations with the achievement of these small steps in the buying cycle, I stand a much better chance of measuring my success and marketing ROI on each endeavor, and monetizing the results along the entire spectrum of marketing programs.  That's how you build an effective ROI marketing strategy.

In my trip around the internet this morning I stumbled across a great tool for creating custom tag clouds for your website.  As you know, a tag cloud is a means of visually representing information of any kind.  It could be the contents of a website, a song, a speech, a whitepaper, whatever.  It gives you a visual representation of word frequencies within any piece of content.

Here's a tag cloud with terms related to Web 2.0


There are lots of applications for this:

• As a means to visually measure keyword density for a search engine optimization campaign
• As topic summaries for a business plan or interactive marketing strategy
• An 'at a glance' resume
• As brand clouds to give companies a view of how the world sees them before launching a brand development effort
• A means for political figures to visually measure popularity
• A research tool before you make your next hire, or before you choose your next Cincinnati advertising agency
  

The list goes on!

Want to have some fun?  Plug in your website, your advertisement, email campaign text or press release into the tool at http://www.tagcrowd.com/.  You can even get the code to place your very own tag cloud on your website. 

I just read a piece on virtual brand ambassadorsthat discussed Gonzaga University's unleashing of Spike, the mascot online avatar being used to communicate with the school's online community.

There's no doubt that the interactive marketing technology that was once reserved for gaming communities has some interesting applications in other sectors.  Gonzaga's website now allows them to bring the mascot to 'life' in some way and create an interactive dialogue on the site. 

I think what I'm challenged with is the first part of a comment from the article:

"As a university, we need to foster warm, life-long relations with our alumni, parents, and friends," says Joe Poss, Gonzaga's director of development for university relations.

I'm supposed to build a warm, life-long relationship with your university by talking to a database of pre-written answers to common questions?  Isn't this really just a character culling through a complex series of FAQs and reading me the answer?  Ugh.

People develop relationships with brands, no doubt, but we truly relate to people.  I just fear that too much of the personal side of brands is getting replaced with avatars, auto attendants, email marketing auto responders and other technologies.

It's the second part of Mr. Poss's comment that I am more inclined to identify with:

"We were looking for an effective, creative experience for the website, with an emphasis on creative, when we came across the idea for Spike."

Definitely a creative approach to brand development that brings some personality and more of an interactive marketing mechanism to the website.

As you embark upon selecting an advertising or marketing agency, is their physical location important?  As a marketing agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, we serve clients across the country, in addition to many here locally.  There are definitely some cases where I would say that location is important, but as communication and technology evolve, for many the location of their ad agencies doesn't matter much.

We just began work for two firms based in Atlanta, and they definitely were not looking for a Cincinnati ad agency.  What they were looking for was the right mix of marketing strategy experience, creative talent, business acumen, and knowledge of their industry.  For both clients, R.O.Why! Marketing fit the bill very well.  We've delivered branding, email marketing, search engine optimization, event marketing, advertising and other interactive marketing programs for companies in their industries.  We were familiar with the challenges they're facing, so location was much less of an issue.  In fact, we even offered to visit one of them for the project kickoff meeting and the client didn't feel it was necessary.  They work very well on the phone and over the web.

A great tool for addressing the issue of location of our marketing firm has been online marketing project management and client collaboration software.  We use a great produce called Basecamp from 37 Signals.  It's fast, easy to use, and our clients love it.  The product centralizes communication, files, milestones, and tasks in one place and has dramatically cut down on the email clutter & confusion.

My advice for companies selecting an ad agency in Ohio or anywhere else:  Find the marketing firm that can competently address your challenges with creative marketing solutions.  With great communication and strong marketing results, location becomes much less of an issue.