R.O. Why! Marketing

I had an igniting good time last night at the Know Theatre on Jackson Street.

It was the first event for Ignite Cincinnati, a hip approach combining a forum for networking, free exchange of ideas, rapid fire, 5-minute presentations and a backing band that covers The Police like no else in recent memory.

Terrific, diverse crowd of at least 125 for the opener, sharing backgrounds in financial services, sales, law, marketing, consumer products, technology, media and entrepreneurial ideas. Presentation topics – 15 seconds per slide, 20 slides, 5 total minutes – ranged from social media and blogging to urban living and becoming contestants on The Amazing Race.

Next Ignite Cincinnati is March 3, as part of Global Ignite taking place on six continents.

For more information on Ignite Cincinnati, check out http://www.ignitecincinnati.net/. If you’re not involved, you’re missing out.

See you on March 3.

Here’s an event that’s sure to ignite the creativity of plenty of Cincinnati professionals.

Ignite Cincinnati 1 will take place at 7:30 p.m. on January 20 at the Know Theatre on Jackson Street.

Here’s a short description from event organizers:

“We're pretty sure that if we gather some of the city's best and brightest people and give them a forum to talk with one another, some pretty cool things will happen. Maybe a new business idea, a job opportunity, a community resource you didn't know about, a date, or maybe even just a good laugh - it will happen at Ignite Cincinnati.”

Continuing…

“Ignite Cincinnati is a night of presentations with a twist. 14 presenters each get 5 minutes to talk about their subject. 20 slides that auto advance after 15 seconds. It is quick, fun, smart and fills the Know Theater. To sweeten the deal - we've added a musical act and the drinks will be flowing. Needless to say, cool event, right?”

At last check, there’s a dozen presentation ideas and more than 50 RSVPs. Still time for you to submit ideas, vote and make reservations.

For more info, go to http://www.ignitecincinnati.net/.

 

5.      What are some of the new and interesting ways Gold Star is using PR and marketing to interact with consumers?

CH: Although television, radio and billboard advertising remain an important part of our media mix for the reach and frequency that the provide, we are committing a much greater portion of our media budget to digital media (a more interactive Web site, on-line banner and rich media ad placement, e-mail marketing, mobile marketing and social media) to better facilitate 1:1 communication and word-of-mouth as well as to better target key segments of our  audience by day-part and personal interest.

6.      On a personal note, you’ve been in marketing for 30 plus years in a number of industries. What makes the food/restaurant business so different than other services and commodities in the lives of consumers?  

CH: One of the differences is that the restaurant business is so much more personal than most businesses. Our restaurant franchisees and operators welcome customers into their stores in the same manner that they would welcome them into their homes. As such, in so many of our stores, the relationship and mutual feeling is truly, neighbor-to-neighbor rather than proprietor-to-customer.

For more information on Gold Star Chili, visit www.goldstarchili.com.

3.      The current U.S. economy has come down hard on business, including restaurants. Has Gold Star seen a significant change in the dining out patterns of consumers? What have you been doing to address the issue?

CH: At least in the near term, consumers have become much more value conscious. Over the past year, we have tried to take a “neighbor-helping-neighbor” approach to value pricing; especially the $5 meal price point.  However, there is more to value than just low price, so in the year to come, we are looking for other ways to offer added value…new products, new customer service features and more 1:1 marketing communication contact with customers to make them Gold Star brand advocates.

4.      Another way consumers have become more conscious is in terms of personal health. How do you relay that Gold Star Chili is both good to eat and good for them? Have you had to readjust your branding and strategy to accomplish this? 

CH: As Cincinnati-style chili is our hometown dish and one of the defining characteristics of living in Greater Cincinnati, there is a built-in “crave factor.” Chili is our local comfort food, so many of our customers forgo other dining “treats” to enjoy Gold Star guilt-free.  Also, we have really great veggie chili; low calorie, low fat, high in protein, especially when ordered with extra beans and all of the distinctive spicy Gold Star chili flavor. It can be ordered in a bowl, as a two or three-way; or a veggie chili sandwich. Gold Star also has a full line of salads and a veggie burrito.

“Six Questions with…”is a monthly Q&A with industry experts. It presents an opportunity to hear other perspectives outside of the unique opinions and musing from R.O Why! Marketing on PR, marketing communications, advertising and like verticals.

Gold Star Chili has been a fixture in Cincinnati since the four Daoud brothers saved $1,200 and purchased their first restaurant in Mt. Washington in 1965. Included with the restaurant was a recipe for Cincinnati-style chili. After a good deal of tinkering and reformulating of the recipe, the Daoud brothers settled on what has become one of Cincinnati's classic tastes. The brothers renamed the restaurant Gold Star Chili and opened two additional restaurants within a year responding to the chili's popularity.

Today, Gold Star Chili has nearly 100 restaurants located throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana and operates concessions at Paul Brown Stadium, The Bank of Kentucky Center, Children's Hospital, and the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Customers can also purchase an extensive line of canned and frozen products in nearly all area grocery stores and products ordered at www.goldstarchili.com can be shipped anywhere in the country.

In 1999 Gold Star Chili, Inc was named Small Business of the Year by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce and in 1999, Cincinnati Magazine crowned Gold Star Chili the winner in an independent blind taste test conducted by five star chefs among Cincinnati style chili chains.

 

Charlie Howard has been Director of Marketing for Gold Star Chili since 2008 and a fixture in the Cincinnati advertising and marketing industry for 30 years. His experiences have included consumer, business-to-business and non-profit branding, marketing communication and marketing management experience.

An alum of both Miami and Xavier universities, Charlie is active with a number of professional organizations, including the Cincinnati American Marketing Association. He recently shared a number of thoughts on marketing in the chili-crazed city of Cincinnati.

1.      Cincinnati has two major chili standards: Gold Star Chili and Skyline Chili.  How do you strike the balance of staying true to your own identity, while keeping an eye on the competition in the never-ending push for more consumers and market share?  

Charlie Howard: One thing that everyone can agree on is that we Greater Cincinnatians love our local chili; this is Chilitown USA. That gives both chains an inherent advantage over other types of restaurants in town. In running all aspects of our business, rather than focusing on what the competition is doing, Gold Star strives to stay true to the five brand pillars that make our brand The Flavor of Cincinnati: Tradition, Pride, Passion, Value and Neighborhood. Our brand is built on this fact: the way people feel about our city and their neighborhood, those emotional connections, is the same way that they feel about Cincinnati-style chili. If we can stay true to those brand pillar traits, then we are confident that we will continue to attract brand fans and grow share.

2.      With two strong, well-known brands comprising the vast majority of the area Cincinnati-style chili restaurants in the area, how is Gold Star different than its major competitor? What makes the brand truly unique?

CH: Better flavor is a major component. Over the years, time after time, Gold Star wins blind taste tests over the other local chili brands. Our brand positioning, The Flavor of Cincinnati, addresses that aspect as well as the other aspect of the word Flavor: the nature of; the inherent characteristics of, etc. We are a neighborhood chili parlor, operating in neighborhoods all over the Greater Cincinnati area. We work hard to become a significant part of the “flavor” each of the neighborhoods in which we operate.

Another thing that makes us unique is that after 45 years, Gold Star Chili is still a family business. A while back, our main competitor sold out to corporate interests and unlike Gold Star Chili, the founding family is no longer involved in the ownership or the day-to-day running of the business. As such, there remains a family pride and direct involvement of Gold Star’s founding Daoud/David family. The secret recipe for unique spice mix that makes the flavor of Gold Star Chili so distinctive and preferred in blind taste tests is still retained and known only by founding family members.

Reflecting Gold Star Chili’s “The Flavor of Cincinnati” brand positioning, we welcome the comparisons to and the rivalry with our major competitor. When you think of some of the other inherent characteristics of the area; Eastside vs. Westside; Elder vs. St. X; UC vs. XU, the rivalry between our two brands is “so Cincinnati.”  When you think about it, our two brands are two of the most iconic brands in Cincinnati.  Some of the world’s most famous brands are headquartered right here in Cincinnati, but you won’t hear anyone passionately and emotionally debating the merits of Crest vs. Colgate in the same manner that Cincinnatians will debate the merits of their preferred Cincinnati chili brand. Therefore, part of our brand strategy is to be the number one cheerleader for the category of Cincinnati-style chili and embrace the rivalry while staying true to our previously articulated brand pillars.

Part II of the Q&A will be posted tomorrow.
 

Good Web site copywriting can be the difference in winning the SEO battle.

So how do come up with the words that rank well in the search engines and snag the right customers?

Here are six things to think about to when attempting to get the job done:

1. From your keyword list, pick a primary and a secondary keyword that you’ll want to rank well within the article.

2. Write the title of the article making sure that you include the primary keyword in the title. You can also try to fit in the secondary phrase, but only if it upholds proper English. Keep your title to 50 characters or less.

3. Write the description tag using both the primary and secondary keywords. This should describe what the article is about and should be around 200-250 characters long.

4. Write the first paragraph as a summary of the overall article and include both primary and secondary keywords. Think of a news article - journalists tend to summarize the story in the very first paragraph.

5. Next, map out the structure of the article, writing headings and subheadings that each contains keywords. In addition to writing good search engine copy, it will focus your mind on the important points, thus improving writing quality.

6. Decide on internal and external links to point people toward. The linking text should be keyword rich.

Building a better Web site begins with writing better copy. However, it doesn’t happen all at once. So be bold – get writing, get publishing, measure what happens – and then do it even better next time.

Death by PowerPoint has become all too familiar to us. But it doesn’t have to happen.

This past Friday, I spent an hour with social media and marketing expert David E. Bowman. His presentation at The Circuit, “Death by PowerPoint” was one of the best in recent memory. Amusing, informative and all too true, it spoke of the pitfall that has become the routine, boring method of using PowerPoint, when instead it can create a way of presenting to clients/potential clients, standing out from your competitors and making the sale.

David even broke it down with a PowerPoint song. Now that’s truly separating from the norm at an 8 a.m. business meeting:
 

Be sure to check out the complete version of the presentation and song lyrics, available at http://www.davidebowman.com/death-by-powerpoint.htm.

Building keyword rich inbound links is a must in driving Web traffic.

Ranking well on the main search engines (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Bing) comes from scoring well in both ‘on the page’ and ‘off the page’ factors. On the page factors are about what is on your own pages and therefore within your own control. Off the page factors are the links from external Web sites to your own and these are much more difficult to control.

Most external links use your URL. However, if instead these links use keyword rich linking text – also called anchor text – you can generate a significant search engine boost.

An external link of any kind from a third-party can be a large achievement. Persuading others to link to you with a specific keyword phrase(s) of your choice can be quite difficult. So how do you get keyword rich inbound links?

First, begin by choosing five to 10 of your most popular keywords that you’re going to use in your initial link building campaign. Now write variations of the links that you’d like to use. You’ll want to create a variety of inbound links using different variations of linking text.

Now deploy some simple steps to start getting keyword rich links, including:

1.      Ask. Write the html, make it available and ask people just to copy and paste the code into their own Web pages.

2.      Buy directory links or text ad that allows you to specify the linking text.

3.      Build contacts and relationships within your industry. Be generous in linking to useful external resources and others will do the same. If you’ve built a good relationship, people will be glad to use the linking text you suggest.

4.      Write newsworthy press releases and use online services to distribute them. For an additional fee, you can usually embed links into the body of your press release.

5.      Write and publish quality articles and blog posts on your own site. Make sure that you include important keywords in the titles of each article or post. People will generally use those titles when they link to you.

6.      Quality news and information sites in your industry will often accept well-written articles for publication. When they do, they’ll normally publish a signature box describing what you do and linking to your site in whatever way you specify.

The secret of writing great online copy hinges on finding the most relevant keywords.

 There are two main reasons:

1. Proper keywords for copy, page titles, descriptions and links results in scoring well in search engine results, driving more people to your site.

2. Using the same language as consumers increases the likelihood more people will buy from you.

So how do you find the best keywords? Most people either just guess or do cursory online research.

However, if you want to succeed online, partnering with a marketing communications firm that really understands Web and SEO is a must. Because they’ll need to spend enough time and energy discovering the words your customers really use when they search. You’ll need not just 20-30 keywords, you’ll need hundreds - and many of the most successful online companies will have thousands of keywords.

Here are the 3 major steps involved that your agency should know:

Step 1 - Start with a common word or phrase that is appropriate to your business.

Step 2 - Find words that are related to your original keyword.

Step 3 - Use the related words to generate many more relevant keywords.

The average person will do their keyword research once and then forget about it. But that is the way to get average results. Effective keyword research is an ongoing process. It’s why selecting the right agency relationship is crucial to get outstanding results.

So does your marketing communications firm:

·         Regularly check your keyword counts?

·         Continue to add more keywords over time?

·         Monitor how well your keywords do?

Using the agency that understands how to find the right mix of keywords is a critical component of gaining new online customers and driving real business via the Web.

‘Tis the season to rev-up those marketing engines.

Thanksgiving week brings the official/unofficial start to holiday shopping for many.

Black Friday. Hordes of pre-dawn shoppers lining up for hours in the dark. Doorbuster deals. Hard-to-believe mega offers on big-ticket items.

And limited quantities, questionable advertising and lots of fine print that have become almost as well-known as the sales themselves.

Poor retailing, such as not living up to a promise or the spirit of the promise, does not win customers over. It ultimately drives them away, sometimes even making an advocate into an opponent.

Big mistake.

Retail chains are not the only companies who fall into this trap.

So as you finalize budgets and evaluate spending for 2010, ask yourself, “How am I spending my marketing dollars?”

Are you providing value to your customers, making the best use of their time, money and resources? Better yet, can they locate you to purchase products and services? Or did you and your marketing agency fall short again in plans to enhance the company website, pump up the SEO and take on true online marketing.

If so, maybe it can be part of your New Year’s resolutions to underpromise and overdeliver. You can build a blog platform and add social media to your marketing mix to better communicate with the customer, thus increase your brand awareness and further it’s development.

This video is a couple of years old, but it’s still a dead-on look at the marketing behavior to avoid when the consumer wants the true 1:1 relationship.

 

Marketing yourself in a down economy, Part III: “Six Questions with”…Julie Bauke

5.      What is it like to be a career coach and is different than people might perceive it, such as being a form of HR?

JB: I don’t think Career Coaching is necessarily related to HR. For the most part, the HR clients I have had are no better at understanding career coaching or how to manage their careers than anyone else. In an economy where there is a lot of need for career help, the predictable happens: people pop up and call themselves career coaches. Some business coaches, therapists, life coaches, etc., think that if they call themselves a career coach, they are now one. It is a very specific set of skills.

I spent the first half of my career in HR. I knew nothing about career coaching. I just knew that I loved to talk to people about their careers and help them see their options in a different light. I joined Lee Hecht Harrison in 1997, and was trained by the very best in the business globally and coached thousands of execs, professional athletes and others using time tested, proven methods and strategies. It’s not about just talking to and counseling people.

The most common misperception is that a career coach, or anyone, can get you a job. No one, I repeat, no one can get you a job. Anytime anyone hints to the contrary, (or my fave, that they have access to a “hidden job market”) are probably getting ready to ask you for several thousand dollars. Run like crazy.

Good career coaches can teach you the methodology and tools to get your job, and support and counsel you as you go through the process. A career coach cannot motivate you. It’s all you.

6.      What is the best and worst career advice you ever followed?

JB: Best: someone told me years ago that if you can find something you are great at, that you love AND you can find someone to pay you for it, that is true bliss- and once you’ve had it, it’s hard to go back. So true.

Worst: You can be anything if you try hard enough. I know this applies when you are working in your “career sweet spot”, but trust me, I could try as hard as any human being can try, and I would be a really bad accountant, not to mention the misery I would inflict on myself and my loved ones from being constantly cranky from being outside of my core .

Julie Bauke can be reached at 513-314-3984 or info@congruitycareer.com. To purchase a copy of Julie’s book, Stop Peeing on Your Shoes: Avoiding the 7 Mistakes that Screw up Your Job Search, visit http://www.congruitycareer.com/apps/webstore/.

Marketing yourself in a down economy, Part II: “Six Questions with”…Julie Bauke

3.      What are some of the worst career moves people make, thinking all the time they are good decisions? And what should they be thinking of?

JB: I’d like to have a dollar for every person who took a job despite an abundance of red flags, things they saw but chose to ignore, whether it was lack of cultural fit, a bad boss, a job that isn’t a fit for their skills or interests. We convince ourselves that we can work with adapt and fit in and learn to be good at certain things. But it’s like wearing a pair of Size 10 shoes when you are clearly a Size 12. Soon you’re walking funny, then your hips are out of whack, then you’re grumpy because you are always in pain and your relationships suffer. You would have been better off in the long run holding out for the 12’s.

There is a long-term impact to all career decisions. I always ask clients, as they are considering an opportunity, to look ahead two years and pretend they are in the job market again and they are explaining their move to a potential employer. How will that sound? Will it make sense? Remember, when you go in to the market, you go in as “your last job”. Choose wisely.

4.      Talk briefly about your new book and how “Stop Peeing” is different from others of this genre?

JB: A Job search is filled with angst, self doubt, bad news and too much time outside of our comfort zone. My book is fun, upbeat, encouraging and filled with stories of people who did it well, and not so well. Face it, when you are in a not-so-good place, sometimes it makes you feel better to read that others have the same struggles.

For example, I tell the story of a client who got frustrated with the lack of response from a potential employer, so she decided that she was going to stop by the hiring manager’s house. Yes, that is over the top, so as a job seeker, it will give you a chuckle, followed by the thought that “I’d NEVER do that!” 

The rest of the interview with Julie will appear tomorrow.

Marketing yourself in a down economy: “Six Questions with…"Julie Bauke

This blog posting is the first in a new series from R.O. Why! Marketing.

“Six Questions with…”is a monthly Q&A with industry experts. It presents an opportunity to hear other perspectives outside of the unique opinions and musing from R.O Why! Marketing on PR, marketing communications, advertising and like verticals.

The continued struggles of our economy and high levels of unemployment made for an easy decision on our first interviewee – an expert in teaching others the skills of better self-marketing.

Julie Bauke has been a leader in career development and transition for more than 15 years.  As owner of Congruity Consulting, LLC, she offers executives and successful professionals the crucial "inside track" they need for career success.  In addition to one-on-one coaching, she offers training and speaks professionally, focusing primarily on strategic networking and career management knowledge and skills.

Before founding her firm, Julie held a variety of positions, including VP, Director of Consulting Services at Lee Hecht Harrison (LHH), a global leader in career transition and career management services.  During her tenure, she personally coached more than 2,000 executives and business people. Julie also has held key leadership roles in human resources for two Fortune 100 companies.

Julie is also a frequent guest speaker for major organizations and conferences and is regularly interviewed by media outlets across North American. She has just released her first book, Stop Peeing on Your Shoes: Avoiding the 7 Mistakes that Screw up Your Job Search.

1.      A job search is essentially about self-promotion, telling and selling your own personal story. What are the challenges in the current market – both obvious and hidden – and how can people move past survival and thrive?

Julie Bauke: A job search starts with self understanding and awareness, THEN self promotion. You can’t promote what you aren’t clear on- and unfortunately, that is what many people do, because the self awareness piece is hard- we prefer to skip it. A great search starts with an understanding of exactly who you are professionally- what your are good at, great at, ok at and not so good at, what you want to do more of, less of, never again, what your Perfect 10 is. Will you get it? Probably not. But I know for sure you increase your chances of getting close if you actually know how to recognize it when you see it. The mistake people make, especially in a tough market, is that they try to be all things, thinking that increases their odds of landing a job. It’s actually the opposite. Even in a tight market, the goal is the right job, or close to it.  

So take this opportunity to step back and do some serious self analysis. Where are you in your life? Have your life goals changed? Have your interests and values changed? Truly, this is something that we rarely, if ever do.

I don’t believe you can reasonably spend 50 hours a week on a search without burning out. So take time to spend on things that keep you happy and centered: exercise, reading, time with family. You will get a job and you will likely regret not doing some of those things. You’ll be back on the craziness treadmill.

2.      How can people truly take control of their careers? Where does it begin and how do they prepare?

JB: Remember that really annoying question, where do you want to be in 5 years or 10 years? Tough question when you’re 22, but it shouldn’t be so tough when you’re north of 22! Yet it is. We get so busy and we just keep marching, then we look up and 10, 20 years have passed and we realize that we’ve not been happy for years. Take time to ask yourself if you are where you want to be, and if not, what will it take to get there? Then develop a plan and take even baby steps to get there. Always have that vision of what’s next, regardless of your age or experience. The minute you feel like your career fate is in someone else’s hands, you’re on a dangerous path.

I love meeting people who really get this concept, who are committed to making it happen for themselves. My ideal clients are people who are employed, look ahead, and see themselves in a different place in the future, but know it doesn’t happen overnight and want a guide for their journey.

Making good financial decisions, so that you have choices, putting time and effort into yourself and your development, knowing what you are good at, or being willing to figure it out, and understanding that your boss/ company is not in charge of your career are all good places to start.

Part II will be posted tomorrow.

True ROI for your marketing dollars is not always easy to find from the client point-of-view. So let’s look at Part II – measurement principles

Three Top Measurement Principles

The following three principles can drive true measurement-driven performance in marketing:

1. Measurement must be relevant

2. Measurement must be visible

3. Measurement must drive improvement

Let’s look at each of these principles in more detail.

Measurement Must Be Relevant

The most highly sought-after financial outcomes may include increased shareholder value, revenue, or profit growth. Marketing must target both immediate performance objectives in order to deliver on financial targets and link other factors, such as customer satisfaction, cross-selling, or campaign response rates and the financial results it seeks to produce.

Measurement Must Be Visible

Essential to the continuing success of today’s marketing organization is its ability to determine and clearly communicate the impact of its actions. While it is clear that most companies have important benefits to gain from smart marketing measurement, it is hardly certain what the most relevant metrics of marketing performance might be from one company to another.

The level of resources that must be devoted to the measurement task will, of course, vary too. It will depend on industry dynamics, the size of marketing budgets overall, and each organization’s existing proficiency in measurement. Marketers must put their best effort into measuring the outcomes of their current activities and investments. This is the critical foundation on which marketing improvement, and, perhaps innovation will emerge. Marketers must measure to determine where they should invest, and where performance improvements are necessary.

Measurement Must Drive Improvement

Measurement is not simply about accountability. True, measures should enable us to better determine how investments have played out and assess whether we are addressing our objectives. More importantly, however, marketing measurements should drive new improvements and performance gains. Such measures can help us generate growth in customer value and take the actions necessary to ensure that the marketing organization is performing at peak levels.

Measures represent a powerful lever for organizations that are struggling to drive performance gains. Actions can be taken not as a response to the hunches or whims of powerful people, but because the measurement system is indicating that a change must be taken.

On the foundation of measurement, marketing leaders can take action to ensure they are maximizing the return on their marketing investments.

True ROI for your marketing dollars only occurs with the commitment to track quantitative results smacks against a worthwhile measurement system and leadership with the willingness and ability to change marketing habits that do not work. If you can master these areas, marketing communications can truly drive real business to new heights.

True ROI for your marketing dollars is not always easy to find from the client point-of-view. So let’s look at Part II – accountability

Marketing is a significant expense in many organizations and the implications of its actions are critical to performance overall.

Marketing can build credibility as both strategic and impactful. However, it’s more than just good accounting. The challenge in measuring marketing is settling on what to measure.

The functions of measurement go beyond explaining what has happened in the past; measurement also moves us forward toward appropriate actions and improvements.

Useful measurement requires appropriate reporting on the allocation of marketing resources and their investment return, but it also requires that we take action—and intervene— when key objectives are not being met. Measurement should guide us as we invest incrementally in programs that do meet or exceed their targets.

Marketers have all sorts of metrics and statistics available to them, of course; but too often, the data is useless or irrelevant and disconnected from the larger objectives of the enterprise.

Marketers tend to confuse measured data about specific campaigns, channels, media, events, and activities with a comprehensive analysis of marketing payoffs. Marketing tends to measure isolated silos of activity, but it fails to provide a wider and more rigorous perspective to guide marketing investment decisions. As a result, the most significant indicator of the size of one's annual marketing budget and the particulars of allocation is the previous year's budget. Rarely does a marketing organization rigorously reassess its investments.

It’s clear that, while we do have an array of sophisticated metrics, many companies still have no clear sense of whether their marketing dollars are being invested properly. Most companies do not even differentiate between necessary marketing expenditures that are a cost of doing business versus expenditures that are investments in the future with a longer term payoff.

It is not uncommon for companies to focus on the activities they can measure well. This piecemeal accumulation of metrics fails to provide a comprehensive picture that can drive smart management decisions.

However, true ROI can bridge this measurement gap.

This measurement must be central, not peripheral: it becomes part of one's role and set of responsibilities. It is an essential element of the marketing and management skill set.

Marketing is in a uniquely powerful position to drive innovation and improvement where it is most required, on the demand- side of business. But it can't accomplish this objective without facts, evidence, and actionable insight.

Okay, so how do you measure? There are three key measurement elements we’ll address in our next blog posting.

True ROI for your marketing dollars is not always easy to find from the client point-of-view.

It is a common, even a necessary question when meeting with a current or potential marketing communications agency: what is going to be our return on investment? What are you going to do for us with the money we spend on you?

The answers clients receive are not always definitive. They often stop short of offering proof of value, instead focusing on feelings, innuendo and market perceptions.

Truthfully, any agency that cannot provide the quantitative is doing itself and clients/potential clients an enormous disservice. Good marketing can indeed measure customer value and the impact on growth, profit and shareholder wealth.

As our name suggest, R.O.Why! Marketing is principled on returns for marketing investments. We believe to drive real business, you need measurements and performance-based results that are valid, clear and definable and show a true increase of company revenues. 

All marketing we do – and you should to – comes back to four main points: attract, cultivate, close and retain. Any and all marketing should support those four area, e.g. drive real business. If they don’t, then it’s not a good use of time, money and resources.

Not sure where to begin? Start with accountability.

More to come…

The market has changed. Have you?

That was the theme of an event I attended this morning (special thanks to Connie Wiedemann and The Circuit), presented by entrepreneur, consultant and newly-published author Paul D’Souza. It is also the same name as his first book, just now available.

Paul spoke of how changes in technology, financial markets, politics and demographics have created a new kind of customer, one who is creating a new assessment of value.

This new customers are

·         well informed and savvy

·         independent

·         unwilling to spend resources without just cause

·         looking to survive

·         gripped by same fears as everyone

·         connected

Paul’s advice is right on with what we have been seeing in marketing communications. No longer can you communicate with customers via mass advertising, dividing segments up into broad ranges.

Your customers now want individual attention: they want you to know their needs, desires and lifestyle. It’s why e-marketing and personalized direct mail are more effective than traditional mail. It’s why SEO and blogging platforms are crucial for Web branding – because customers want to find you via the search engines when they have time, not when you say so. And why customer prefer to receive a text or a social media ping about your latest offer, not a coupon book.

Quite profound, indeed.

If you’re interesting in learning more about Paul and his book “The Market Has Changed. Have You?”, visit http://www.pauldsouza.com/wordpress/.