tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-272724742024-03-05T04:41:51.204-06:00Social IMCNew technologies including trainable AI like ChatGPT are changing marketing. It produces an acceleration in the speed & complexity of your marketing programs. This blog is dedicated to showing you how its done & the strategies proving successfulRandy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-55916212147334917712023-05-13T12:35:00.000-05:002023-05-13T12:35:00.373-05:00 Igniting Customer Engagement: The Art of Push and Pull Marketing Strategies for CMOs<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">As a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or marketing manager, you understand the importance of customer engagement in driving business growth and success. In today's competitive landscape, it's crucial to leverage effective marketing strategies that can captivate your audience and create meaningful interactions. One such approach is the dynamic combination of push and pull marketing strategies. In this blog post, we'll explore the art of igniting customer engagement through the strategic use of push and pull marketing tactics.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Power of Push and Pull Marketing</span></h2><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Push and pull marketing strategies are like two sides of the same coin, each playing a vital role in attracting and retaining customers. While push marketing involves proactively pushing your products or services to potential customers, pull marketing focuses on creating an enticing environment that attracts customers to seek out your offerings. By combining these two strategies, CMOs can maximize customer engagement and drive business growth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Let's delve into the details of each strategy and how they can work together synergistically:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Push Marketing: Driving Immediate Awareness and Action</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Push marketing is all about taking a proactive approach to reach your target audience and generate immediate interest and action. It involves pushing your marketing messages and offerings directly to potential customers through various channels. Here are some key push marketing tactics:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Traditional Advertising: Utilize television, radio, print, and outdoor advertisements to create brand awareness and deliver compelling messages to a wide audience.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Email Marketing: Leverage targeted email campaigns to deliver personalized messages, promotions, and updates directly to your customers' inboxes.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Telemarketing: Engage with potential customers over the phone to present your offerings, address their queries, and generate sales leads.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sales Promotions: Offer time-limited discounts, special offers, or incentives to encourage immediate purchases and create a sense of urgency.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Direct Mail: Utilize well-crafted direct mail campaigns to deliver promotional materials, catalogs, or samples to potential customers' physical mailboxes.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Push marketing strategies are effective in creating awareness, driving sales, and ensuring your brand stays top of mind for potential customers. However, it's important to strike a balance and avoid overwhelming customers with excessive messaging, which could lead to disengagement or annoyance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pull Marketing: Creating a Magnetic Customer Experience</span></h3><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pull marketing focuses on creating an environment that entices customers to voluntarily seek out your brand, products, or services. It's about attracting customers by providing valuable content, addressing their needs, and establishing a strong brand presence. Here are some pull marketing strategies to consider:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Content Marketing: Create informative and engaging content such as blog posts, videos, and infographics that provide value to your target audience. Share this content through your website, social media platforms, and email newsletters.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimize your website and content to rank higher in search engine results, making it easier for customers to find you organically when they are actively searching for related information.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Social Media Engagement: Build a strong social media presence by sharing engaging content, interacting with your audience, and fostering meaningful conversations. Leverage social media platforms to create a community around your brand.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Influencer Collaborations: Partner with influencers or industry experts who align with your brand values to promote your products or services. Their endorsement can help generate trust and drive customer engagement.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;">Referral Programs: Encourage your satisfied customers to refer your brand to their network by offering incentives or rewards. Word-of-mouth referrals can be a powerful pull marketing tool.</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Pull marketing strategies focus on building long-term customer relationships and establishing your brand as a trusted authority in your industry. By providing value and engaging your customers, you can create a loyal customer base that actively seeks out your brand.</span></p>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-39589580470689054632011-11-15T09:30:00.001-06:002011-11-15T09:47:37.687-06:00Sometimes Its Easy to ForgetWith all of the day to day problems in the world, it is easy to forget the beauty of earth and the intricate ways we are connected to each other. As a social marketer, we deal with social communities and social networks as a way to building relationships with our customers and prospects. This video from the space station show just how connected we are in the world and how stunningly beautiful our world is. Take a minute to watch this great video <a href="http://bit.ly/tz7Y0Q" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/tz7Y0Q</a>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-62363863662174195012011-08-28T12:33:00.000-05:002011-08-28T12:33:43.285-05:00Social Media Week - Get Involved<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eyfCEoG8rQ5oo_4U7uvZS_vpF69ZKaUKVGzONcUa948Ypj8JsW7GRdamAAOTOp4uMRqXxTMdDYX29MWFAitm5OzcDUEWA6eBXj-36Zyl0g-DwW3KMsEgDCzbVQIAn0uPu8BI/s1600/social+media+week.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5eyfCEoG8rQ5oo_4U7uvZS_vpF69ZKaUKVGzONcUa948Ypj8JsW7GRdamAAOTOp4uMRqXxTMdDYX29MWFAitm5OzcDUEWA6eBXj-36Zyl0g-DwW3KMsEgDCzbVQIAn0uPu8BI/s200/social+media+week.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">On September 19 - September 23, 10 cities throughout the world will be celebrating Social Media Week. These cities will be hosting seminars, parties, major social events, educational sessions, parties and other events celebrating how social media is changing the way we interact, market, and develop relationships with other people.</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">As a member of the advisory board for Chicago's Social Media Week celebrations, I am impressed with the expertise hosting and developing the sessions. We have some of the best social and blog experts in the world who will be hosting FREE seminars and sessions. Our city is also hosting key seminars for different vertical industries and for educators. It is a week worth of events you should not miss!</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">If you are a marketer or interested in social networking, these are must see events. If you are not in the key cities, I know we are planning to live stream most of our events throughout the week. </div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">Here is the link to the main page of Social Media Week <a href="http://bit.ly/q1Cy2A">Social Media Week organization</a></div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">For my students at Northwestern's IMC program and other people interested in volunteering in Chicago, here is the <a href="http://bit.ly/mUVQCJ">volunteer link</a> In Chicago, you can volunteer to host a day, a session or assist in other ways for us to put on the event. We have sessions from the morning through to evening events every day so there is probably something you can do.</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">If you are in journalism or have professional camera equipment, we also are looking for people to help us live stream key events. If you are interested, go to the city site you desire and volunteer.</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_7sfzug="121">This is a great event. Don't miss it</div></div>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-25045040820132344152011-08-28T11:16:00.000-05:002011-08-28T11:16:45.646-05:00What type of Social do you Need? - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span closure_uid_llbxz8="524" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, there are two social networking strategies companies are using to grow their businesses. While both of these strategies use the social network to attract business or consumer individuals to the company, they are radially different ways to use social to brow your business. As I work with more and more companies to deploy a social marketing strategy, I find there is a great deal of confusion in how to best use social networking. In this blog entry, I will outline these two strategies and show how they are supports and developed by companies. If you are considering using social, you need to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of these two strategies to pick the best way to use the amazing power of social networking to profitably grow your business.</span></div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span closure_uid_llbxz8="526" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Socializing Strategy</strong></span></div><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go out to Facebook and look at the wall of </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/McDonalds?sk=wall"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">McDonalds</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, or </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/apps/application.php?id=225610717469095"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discover Card</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, or </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/pepsi?sk=wall"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pepsi</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and you will see companies who are building relationships with prospects and customers using social networking. Their approach is based on the premise that if you talk one-to-one with people and get them involved with your company, they will be more likely to consider you when the need or want a product. When I first talk to companies considering or doing social media, this is most likely their strategy of choice.</span></div><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Strategic Objectives</span></div><ul><li><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Goal of a Socializing strategy is to create conversations with individual's attracted to the company</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Generally, the company develops this strategy by building Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn sites and then promote to get individuals to these sites</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The measures of importance are the number of friends on each site, the number of postings or comments being made, number of new versus existing people on the site, and other similar measures</span></div></li>
<li><div class="separator" closure_uid_llbxz8="321" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In many of the companies I consult with, Socializing Strategies are managed by the PR department as they are talking directly to the people</span></div></li>
</ul><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Strengths of the Socializing Strategy</span></div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Socializing Strategy is the one most used by businesses today for the following reason:</span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Socializing strategy allows you to widely broadcast your specials and address topics which interest a wide variety of individuals</span></div></li>
<li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is relatively easy to deploy because you can hire young people skilled in social networks to interact with your "friends"</span></div></li>
<li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Entry costs are low and you need to do it because all of your competitors are there</span></div></li>
<li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It engages people to talk with you [and each other] through comments to your posts</span></div></li>
</ul><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weaknesses of the Socializing Strategy</span></div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While this strategy is useful for a company, it is difficult to "sell" to senior management because of the following weaknesses</span></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Untargeted - While you can create Facebook tabs and other elements to talk to unique markets, most companies engage all of their target markets on a single page. This is like attempting to write an advertisement or email letter to commicate to all types of people. It can't be done</span></div></li>
<li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span closure_uid_llbxz8="534" style="font-family: Arial;">Unmeasurable - While we can measure behaviors within each of these social networks, it is impossible to link activities on these sites to bottom-line purchases. This is especially true if your company requires multiple channels or uses a sales force to close the deal. While it is intuitive that talking with people will enhance their perceptions of you, it is difficult to justify growing expenditures in social marketing without a link to bottom-line sales.</span></div></li>
<li><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Untestable - In a traditional marketing strategy, we test communication strategies and offers to find the ones most responsive to the individual. We cannot do this with these social networks. This is because it is Untargeted - we don't know exactly who we are talking to.</span></div></li>
</ul><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summary of Part 1</span></div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><br />
</div><div closure_uid_llbxz8="125"><span closure_uid_llbxz8="537" style="font-family: Arial;">While companies should look to deploy a Socializing Strategy to talk to people, it is important to think of it as socializing and not marketing. The weaknesses of the Socializing Strategy are the exact strengths of a targeted marketering effort. To really grow in the markets of highest value to your company and build stronger relationships with your best customers, you need to use social networks in a different way...as a part of a <a href="http://www.msinetwork.com/showpage.asp?Page=31">Social IMC</a> Strategy. In the next installment, we will examine <a href="http://www.msinetwork.com/showpage.asp?Page=31">Social IMC</a> and see how it differs from a Socializing Strategy.</span></div></div>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-90586626233364472702011-06-03T21:44:00.000-05:002011-06-03T21:44:15.219-05:00In case your children don't wear seat belts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">My two daughters were driving with a friend yesterday. After an afternoon of mini golf and getting an ice cream cone, they were stopped at a stop light on a major 4 lane road. A kid came over the hill in his SUV, driving 40 - 50 MPH and not paying attention. Without even hitting his brakes [text messaging???] he hit our car. Here are the photos:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVjStSTWoiElBvZKByN_65h_bkqTuCcNeeR6QmyzXsZoOELuzAmmsPQlEUiXNZG2TjDlnyWxjn6c7XC4e5CcOG2Oticzd1rd4YzdHhQJu5DGPkKnBAIhIKZ5mgcxHJeXNK7sL/s1600/DSCN0341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIVjStSTWoiElBvZKByN_65h_bkqTuCcNeeR6QmyzXsZoOELuzAmmsPQlEUiXNZG2TjDlnyWxjn6c7XC4e5CcOG2Oticzd1rd4YzdHhQJu5DGPkKnBAIhIKZ5mgcxHJeXNK7sL/s320/DSCN0341.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SPb8UTApreQ9ulPf41sFJlHjDKmQJPPnU7m0q4ypAEX1cEBRo5mteJLI3Pu8oYRk1uZyEof0brxq1SzgnJ5EM3Ehs1nRJfT4FAZzwimZ5_N-M7AxmLsHY-czgE5K_POayIJ3/s1600/DSCN0343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8SPb8UTApreQ9ulPf41sFJlHjDKmQJPPnU7m0q4ypAEX1cEBRo5mteJLI3Pu8oYRk1uZyEof0brxq1SzgnJ5EM3Ehs1nRJfT4FAZzwimZ5_N-M7AxmLsHY-czgE5K_POayIJ3/s320/DSCN0343.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAZAjP33yMzT9gGvLfD9oM9imxSVGlvzr47awxLUKEQENPOIP03zNIlhTHlnlQyULFLqMsj4RyHmUdJDmWG1cR9veBKeOLg8La3BiBQ62TRrOPSKmQs5XupRRQLZNGo5LbcWj/s1600/DSCN0344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDAZAjP33yMzT9gGvLfD9oM9imxSVGlvzr47awxLUKEQENPOIP03zNIlhTHlnlQyULFLqMsj4RyHmUdJDmWG1cR9veBKeOLg8La3BiBQ62TRrOPSKmQs5XupRRQLZNGo5LbcWj/s320/DSCN0344.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
They took our youngest to the hospital with a concussion and she is doing well. It took another 20 minutes for fire fighters to use the jaws of life to extract our oldest. The key is:<br />
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1. ALL THREE WALKED AWAY FROM THE ACCIDENT AND ARE FINE!!!<br />
2. ALL THREE WERE WEARING SEAT BELTS<br />
3. FIRE FIGHTERS AND THE CAR EXPERTS TOLD US 2 - 3 WOULD HAVE DIED WITHOUT THE SEAT BELTS.<br />
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Show these images to your kids. It could have been them!<br />
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</div>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-61875703843296035542011-05-25T15:29:00.000-05:002011-05-25T15:29:36.585-05:00Six Things I Told Pawn Queens<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFFT_O0inwJb_nX4XO0MWwC_LIyDjaDNd7rSVZdqRlZzBQU-YA88kP6hjpyEB25QH2GlN3jENB3tdo6A5SrxMfKDf7Z5RvEuJ15z5IVPrQVs4e5pHFR7H5w_vL9-q8MWJFAWh/s1600/pawn+queens+team.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAFFT_O0inwJb_nX4XO0MWwC_LIyDjaDNd7rSVZdqRlZzBQU-YA88kP6hjpyEB25QH2GlN3jENB3tdo6A5SrxMfKDf7Z5RvEuJ15z5IVPrQVs4e5pHFR7H5w_vL9-q8MWJFAWh/s1600/pawn+queens+team.jpg" t8="true" /></a>I was recently asked to be the Marketing Expert on TLC's Pawn Queens show <a href="http://bit.ly/iAxpIu">Pawn Queens</a>. As a start-up, they wanted to know my recommendations on how they could increase brand awareness, grow market share, and build stronger relationships with their customers. To discuss their marketing needs, I identified five areas of focus. These areas are critical to most start-up so I thought you might be interested as well. They are:</div><ol><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Think Community -</strong> Today, you need to talk to communities of individuals who use social and web technologies to link together. To quickly reach a target market, you need to reach them in the communities where they "reside". Social community based marketing is the quickest way to grow your market share and your bottom line profits.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Think Relationships </strong>- Pawn Queens has visitors - web and in person - who come into their show and leave anonymously. Invite them to join your email program - even if it is just to learn about specials and special events. You "paid" to get them to your company so why "pay" to get to them again. Build relationships starting with the first visit.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Think Brand Essence</strong> - Who are you? What do you stand for? Pawn Queens wants to be known as a part of the Naperville community. They should build marketing programs to reinforce that brand essence and communicate it continually to solidify their brand position in the marketplace.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Think Networking</strong> - The new math of social marketing is 1 exceptional program + 1 individual = 100 visitors to your company. Companies - especially start ups - need to use social programs like we develop to quickly grow their prospect and customer bases. We advocate Social IMC which creates social marketing programs with a focus on bottom line results.</div></li>
<li><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><strong>Think Global</strong> - While Pawn Queens is targeting the Naperville markets, their brand essence and their products have the potential for global reach. They should think local but market global.</div></li>
</ol><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Discussing these points resulted in the development of a social marketing plan for Pawn Queens. I will discuss the plan in more detail in future articles.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">PS - The program is tonight <a href="http://bit.ly/mTrnK2">http://bit.ly/mTrnK2</a></div></div>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-83609161657579188042010-03-05T16:11:00.000-06:002010-03-05T16:11:19.629-06:00Building Better Web Communities and Social Media Programs using Persona SegmentationIn integrated marketing, we use past purchases and descriptive data to target prospects to move them to action. On the web, prospects already know what they want and are actively seeking solutions for their needs and they are willing to interact with us if we provide them with faster, more exact solutions. As marketers creating web communities and social media programs, we can use this willingness to interact to better understand what is driving visitors and to create communities and social media sites that provide them with the information, tools, and products they need. Given that we’re talking about social media, it may seem unnecessary to say this, but…I really should: The best way to find out what people want or what motivates them is to ask. Survey them. Here are some tips on what to ask, how to build, and how to use persona segments to improve your web, social and direct marketing programs.<br />
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<strong>Think Beyond RFM & P for Web & Social Marketing</strong> <br />
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To best define your web and social media prospects and customers, you need to better understand five dimensions of their personality which determine the nature & extent of their social interactions. They are:<br />
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• Drivers - the strength and sources of motivation that move you to action. Drivers are critical in determining the amount of effort an individual will use to address their needs and the way they interact with a web community (and the frequency of those interactions). What we want to discover about an individual’s motivational drivers are (1) are they internally or externally driven to action, (2) what is the source and (3) how strong is their drive. <br />
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Survey hint: Most people cannot tell you their drivers. Ask a series of opinion questions they can quickly respond to with a strongly agree to a strongly disagree [called a 5 or 7 level Likert scale question]. Example: “I eat out mainly for the speed and convenience” “The most important part of dining out is being with friends and family”. Because you want them to simply react to each statement, ask 20 to 30 questions - one after another. Then use factor analysis to determine the underlying drivers.<br />
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• Triggers – life and special events, occasions or stimuli that force, entice or encourage an individual to action. In most companies, trigger events or triggers combined with drivers are useful in determining what communities to build on your website or in your social media programs. <br />
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Survey hint: When asking trigger questions, give them specific questions about where they go for expertise and information. Include competitor sites, blogs, TV shows, social sites, magazines, etc. and be sure to give them ample space for “other”. The other comments are often key insights into how individuals search for solutions.<br />
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• Search Strategies – the media, channels, and tools we use to find the expertise to address our needs. In understanding search strategies, focus on all the media they might use to get expert opinions and information about your products and services. Ask questions about the media sources they use and then “drill down” on each one to learn the specific magazines, TV, websites, blogs, social, and other sources of expertise they like to use. <br />
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• The Purchase Experience – the process and methods we use to make a purchase – from initial impulse to final purchase and use. We have found it extremely useful to focus on the time from start of search to the purchase decision, where and how the purchase is made, and the frequency and amount of purchases in recent years. In developing the survey, we focus on understanding their last purchase as we have found it most relevant to predicting future actions. <br />
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• Household/Business Situation – information describing the individual and his/her household. If you develop your surveys using database customers or prospects or a national panel, you can overlay this data and avoid asking these ‘personal’ questions. <br />
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Survey hint: If you do ask about their income, family composition, etc…keep it short and relevant. We generally never ask more than 5 demographic or lifestyle questions. And we try to avoid them if possible in our surveys. <br />
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<strong>Executing the Survey</strong><br />
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Once your web survey is ready, consider surveying web and social visitors and database customers. Also, you might consider building a national panel and surveying its members. Web and social media visitors will give you the insights of the active searcher, your database customers will provide past purchase behaviors and valuation measures to the analysis and the national panel can show you markets you may be missing with your current marketing strategies. <br />
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Once the data is collected, your analytical team will develop the persona segments. A persona segment is a group of individuals with similar triggers, needs, and drive elements. Use the survey data and database purchase history to describe and value each segment. You are looking to see similarities and differences between the persona segments and understand their lifetime value. <br />
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<strong>Building Better Web Communities and Social Media Programs using Persona Segmentation</strong><br />
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Look for the “Persona Gaps” – Each persona segment has different information, product, and support needs. Examine your current web and social sites and evaluate their “fit” with the needs of your highest value persona segments. Where there are “gaps”, develop the information they need, invest in creating special tools to find the “best fit” products quickly, and tailor customer service to acknowledge the trigger event and respond accordingly. It is the “gaps” between your sites and their needs that drives visitors to competitors’ sites.<br />
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Create Communities for the Highest Value Persona Segments – Start with your highest value persona segment as a pilot project and create a special community site for these prospects. Examine their profile and determine their needs and wants which become the foundation for your persona-based web community. Add blogs, articles, special tools, special access to customer support, and even forums to promote interactions between the persona visitors and you. Then adjust your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay per Click (PPC), and banner marketing programs to take likely persona members directly to their community site.<br />
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Develop Touch Points to Gather Persona Information and Take Visitors to the Right Community – Most visitors are anonymous but, if you ask them, they will allow you to “classify them” if you give them something special in return. Review the driver, trigger, and social responses for each of your persona segments and develop 3 to 5 questions to obtain the information you need to classify them into the persona segments. Add these questions to your prospect profile pages and make them required to access the tools and information you created for each persona community. Visitors will answer the questions and give you their email addresses if they see a real and immediate benefit. When they give you the information, take them immediately to the best community to address their needs. <br />
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<strong>Summary</strong><br />
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In summary, knowing the drivers, triggers, search strategies, purchase experiences, and household situation gives you important knowledge to improve and better target your web and social media programs. Ask your web visitors about themselves and let them guide you to greater market share and improved profits.<br />
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Randy Hlavac is the CEO of Marketing Synergy, a web and database analytics firm in Naperville, IL.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-27514285459159704382010-01-06T14:19:00.000-06:002010-01-06T14:19:02.113-06:00Are you Mashable?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKjw1qLmdwgDXExvmVURJWDgDRiDcMICh7dvVzJWTcMEUb3Ud-vFA7uJNgWcubfzRYS8_XKlCQYkLxwDqcwuhbDvYvqLl8oUfkf_BfFGGOVBfVBKpGEidpPO0fypTiM3ACGsQ/s1600-h/mashable_logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQKjw1qLmdwgDXExvmVURJWDgDRiDcMICh7dvVzJWTcMEUb3Ud-vFA7uJNgWcubfzRYS8_XKlCQYkLxwDqcwuhbDvYvqLl8oUfkf_BfFGGOVBfVBKpGEidpPO0fypTiM3ACGsQ/s200/mashable_logo.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>If you are a marketer looking to get into social media, you need to become a frequent visitor to Mashable.com. This site is an effective 'how to' on how to develop twitter, facebook, and other social sites into sources of strategic advantage to your company. For example, go to the home page <a href="http://mashable.com/">here</a> and click on their facebook or twitter guidebooks. I'll bet you will find useful tips on how to make these two resources more valuable to your company.<br />
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In addition to tips, Mashable also has useful and factual articles on how companies are using social media. I find their examples are useful to learn how to make these resources more valuable and actionable for my company and my clients. <br />
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If you aren't visiting mashable, do it now. It will be worth you time and effort.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-22600391456113877032010-01-06T11:49:00.004-06:002010-01-06T13:52:54.058-06:00Targeting changes in Social and Web MarketsIn working with companies deep in a direct marketing tradition who are now struggling to use social media marketing and websites tailored to communities, one of the most difficult concepts for them to "come to terms with" is the differences in how to target these two very different market channels.<br />
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<b>Direct & Integrated Market Targeting</b><br />
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Direct and integrated marketers use email, direct mail, telemarketing and the traditional mass medias [TV, radio, etc.] to acquire and develop markets. When you examine direct and integrated marketing programs, their segmentation and targeting systems are built on one central concept - that an individual's past behaviors predict their future behaviors.<br />
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When an integrated marketer wants to target an offer, they select their targets using predictive models which examine past purchases and the demographic/psychographic characteristics of the individuals and households they are considering. In the direct marketing industry, this type of targeting is termed RFM & P. This term means the strength of your relationship to a company and your likelihood of response is determined by the R recency of last purchase, F frequency of total purchases, M monetary value of your purchases, and P products you purchased.<br />
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The key to understanding traditional integrated marketers is - <b><i>THE PAST PREDICTS THE FUTURE</i></b>. By looking at a past history and household characteristics, we can determine who is the best prospect for a future marketing effort.<br />
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<b>Social and Web Targeting</b><br />
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From our work in social media marketing, the targeting is much different. In social marketing, we want to understand elements more immediately concerning to the prospect. While their relationship with a company is important as is their demographic and lifestyle characteristics, the most important aspects to determine how they will react to a social media or web community site deals with the ways an individual uses social and web media and the communities they use.<br />
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While we will discuss specific characteristics in future blog entries, we generally want to know 1] what is triggering an individual to action, 2] what social and websites do they use to find experts to help them determine the best solution, 3] how long and how much are the investing in solving their problem, 4] what expertise to they have in the past, and 5] what are their individual / household characteristics.<br />
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<b>Why is this important?</b><br />
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As we will discuss further in future blogs, social and web marketing need to use web survey, focus groups and other primary research to determine the needs, value, and size of key markets. By understanding the triggers and drivers of the needs of specific markets, companies can focus their web, social, and integrated marketing efforts towards the markets of highest value. Knowing their drivers and needs as derived by primary research allows marketers to build marketing tools, apps, community collaboration sites, and products to best attract and retain web cruisers.<br />
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As we will show in our next blog entry, companies need to combine primary and secondary research to target their best markets. Today, while our past experiences play a role in our future relationships, our immediate triggers, needs, and wants are the most powerful motivators. Integrated marketers who ignore these critical dimensions run the risk of creating social media and websites with minimal value to their current and future customers.<br />
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See more about how we target social media markets by clicking <a href="http://www.msinetwork.com/showpage.asp?Page=8">here</a> to visit our websiteRandy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-27115494696143768532009-12-29T12:53:00.003-06:002009-12-29T13:13:54.983-06:0020 Most Popular Social Bookmarking Sites of 2009Top 20 Most Popular Social Bookmarking Websites | December 2009<br />
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You want web visitors to be able to easily bookmark your website to virally build your business. To accomplish this you need to allow them to link to these sites with bookmarks to communicate to others their use and approval of your website. From a recent article by eBizMBA, here are the 20 Largest Social bookmarking Websites in the US for 2009. The Websites were ranked by a combination of Inbound Links, Alexa Rank, and U.S. traffic data from Compete and Quantcast. Although no traffic metrics are completely accurate we do believe the data below to be useful for gauging relative audience size. <br />
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This ranking was compiled by: Top 20 Social Bookmarking Websites | Updated 12/2/2009 | eBizMBA<br />
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1 | twitter<br />
760,750,806 - Inbound Links | 23,579,044 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 28,000,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 13 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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2 | digg.com<br />
383,598,000 - Inbound Links | 33,433,760 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 11,400,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 183 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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3 | Yahoo! Buzz<br />
20,031,000 - Inbound Links | 8,119,906 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 3,600,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | NA - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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4 | tweetmeme.com<br />
422,863 - Inbound Links | 18,244,542 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 2,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 1,898 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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5 | StumbleUpon.com<br />
234,000,000 - Inbound Links | 4,418,609 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,100,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 362 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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6 | reddit.com<br />
161,685,000 - Inbound Links | 4,908,990 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 441 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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7 | Technorati.com<br />
175,287,000 - Inbound Links | 3,309,174 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 2,000,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 662 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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8 | del.icio.us<br />
427,665,000 - Inbound Links | 1,623,083 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 317,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 2,476 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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9 | kaboodle.com<br />
2,600,000 - Inbound Links | 3,941,212 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 2,500,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 1,694 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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10 | mixx.com<br />
16,005,000 - Inbound Links | 879,108 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 2,200,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 645 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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11 | Propeller.com<br />
5,725,000 - Inbound Links | 1,164,549 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 624,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 1,801 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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12 | newsvine.com<br />
71,708,775 - Inbound Links | 1,142,779 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 5,545 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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13 | Fark.com<br />
36,162,723 - Inbound Links | 652,762 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 1,300,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 4,119 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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14 | Slashdot.org<br />
37,566,035 - Inbound Links | 862,416 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 404,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 970 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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15 | twine.com<br />
343,090 - Inbound Links | 1,062,304 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 188,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 19,592 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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16 | clipmarks.com<br />
461,141 - Inbound Links | 379,354 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 507,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 6,330 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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17 | dzone.com<br />
3,867,009 - Inbound Links | 281,098 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 208,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 7,002 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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18 | faves.com<br />
1,437,453 - Inbound Links | 159,051 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 244,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 6,198 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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19 | blinklist.com<br />
51,912,576 - Inbound Links | 86,650 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 44,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 10,985 - Alexa Ranking.<br />
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20 | diigo.com<br />
8,933,453 - Inbound Links | 146,144 - Compete Monthly Visitors | 30,000 - Quantcast Monthly Visitors | 7,569 - Alexa Ranking.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-78335773717551463212008-06-28T20:35:00.010-05:002010-01-06T13:51:18.119-06:00What makes a GREAT social marketing program?This blog is developed to search for the best examples of social or community marketing and then examine what made them successful. In this post, I want to present one example and attempt to identify its elements of success. Your assignment...take a look at this site and identify what makes it a successful buzz marketing program.<br />
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<strong><em>Ever hear of the One Second Film?</em></strong><br />
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Located at http://www.the1secondfilm.com/. The One Second Film is a great example of using social community sites to raise money, awareness, and passion for a particular cause. Here is their story [from their site]<br />
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The 1 Second Film is a non-profit collaborative art project that anyone can be part of, from celebrities to great-grandmothers. As a global community, we're creating the World's Biggest Shortest Film.<br />
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The 1 Second Film began as a student project at California Institute of the Arts in 2001; a collaborative festival bought hundreds of people together to paint 12 large murals that collectively form one-second of animation. The project has since grown from the ground up by allowing anyone to become a Producer of the film by donating $1 or more. Producers will be listed in the film’s credits (in order of amount donated) and receive profiles on the1secondfilm.com, where they can participate more.<br />
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With thousands of Producers, our end credits will last over an hour; a feature-length making of documentary will play during the credits, detailing the collaborative process. All profits raised by the finished film will be donated to the Global Fund for Women.<br />
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The 1 Second Film is the flagship production of The Collaboration Foundation, a non-profit art organization with a 5 Phase Plan to bring people around the world together, using collaborative art to foster global community and social change.<br />
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The project is the brainchild of Nirvan Mullick, an award winning filmmaker who began the project while a student at CalArts. Nirvan began fundraising on the streets with a xerox flier; person by person the project continues to grow.<br />
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<strong><em>Take a look at their site:<br />
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</em></strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoC_uzcRAooPo4OtFRvINVamZg7F0K64Y0aar5vdU9o8HnL3-L8epfMjUaOajYBDDQG6FMdHwPDH059KUuAMqEzHZ2c3WQnEKdCndbFDS4cOJPLG3BsglicjCIoJ96XbooMTJv/s1600-h/onesecondfilmtop.jpg"><strong><em><img alt="" border="0" height="158" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217116492250936530" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoC_uzcRAooPo4OtFRvINVamZg7F0K64Y0aar5vdU9o8HnL3-L8epfMjUaOajYBDDQG6FMdHwPDH059KUuAMqEzHZ2c3WQnEKdCndbFDS4cOJPLG3BsglicjCIoJ96XbooMTJv/s320/onesecondfilmtop.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="248" /></em></strong></a>Their site is a great example of a social marketing site. They have a cause but, rather than make a traditional appeal, they decided to take a community oriented approach by 1] creating a way to get involved with the cause for a low cost, 2] making it possible to become a part of the solution and join the cause, and 3] made it easy to encourage others to join in the cause<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityC7WTb-mHU-cTZNqnakeegpG_f4R1HYG6tnVE5OyduGrEIZkTKXP4W1xJP2HvrZJZxYxfbtosTxScxzgYA2_Fq4XF6V_98mQ7z-7_k4LqACsmbyF2NRSHKZ8U0Y28bBnddAd/s1600-h/onesecondfilmbottom.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="111" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217120488437437314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityC7WTb-mHU-cTZNqnakeegpG_f4R1HYG6tnVE5OyduGrEIZkTKXP4W1xJP2HvrZJZxYxfbtosTxScxzgYA2_Fq4XF6V_98mQ7z-7_k4LqACsmbyF2NRSHKZ8U0Y28bBnddAd/s200/onesecondfilmbottom.jpg" style="cursor: hand; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" width="180" /></a>If you take a look at the bottom of their site, you will see they are saavy marketers in the way they show their contributors and allow them to be a part of the whole one second film experience. Notice how they provide links to all of the major social <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzD39PuFJwybWRoXCDxzy4e98LLwK59_UBu1Dw3p7taOGSaNdJgW8X6pw2-Uo1D4kSuQl7dINIDZ2bBXnCCMg8_Io5HU-AoxWYSPw9fkP0PlWD0kY6HOVHsNfHUCKHs6XBbsG/s1600-h/onesecondfilmbottom.jpg"></a>sites so you can ask others to join as well as steps you can take to support the one second film and their marketing activities [including an expedition to Oprah<br />
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Do you think this type of marketing works. Search for them on Google. You will find over 35 million references to this project. Also, check out the blog references. <strong>What makes it successful?</strong> There are several things <br />
<ol><li>Its a cause which is easy to support</li>
<li>Support is fun and intellectually engaging [it connect with you]</li>
<li>It is an approach which is fun to communicate with others [great buzz potential]</li>
<li>Their approach requires you to visit the site multiple times to see your progress</li>
<li>It allows you to become directly involved & can give you your 15 minutes of fame on the sites home page [which keeps you involved]</li>
<li>It is a program with a number of legs - making the film, other contributors, expedition to Oprah, celebrity tie-ins. It keeps you in contact with the program.</li>
</ol>Take a look at their site and tell me what you think makes it work.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-66273571647223681402007-06-14T23:28:00.000-05:002007-08-16T16:25:32.204-05:00Interstates & Highways<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8D7wz-FaPyyyvFthXZjxcdFlBIPyyZhgJDu49B5LLeUF7_YzTy-Ig-p8ihRoiZngeti5dUrtdKkLJw2bEmpeGrV8E4n7hbtj6H3JrZ1jJPqJzKlzvR7xQuR2oBZZ323IcJr5/s1600-h/mapimage1.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076143946277892146" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 250px; height: 132px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit8D7wz-FaPyyyvFthXZjxcdFlBIPyyZhgJDu49B5LLeUF7_YzTy-Ig-p8ihRoiZngeti5dUrtdKkLJw2bEmpeGrV8E4n7hbtj6H3JrZ1jJPqJzKlzvR7xQuR2oBZZ323IcJr5/s320/mapimage1.png" border="0" /></a>What is the difference between Interstates and highways? Interstates are designed to [in theory at least] move people from place to another as directly & quickly as possible. They avoid cities & towns to allow a traveler to quickly get from point "A" to point "B". Developed in the 1960's, they are the travel route "of choice" for most drivers traveling the country.<br /><br />Highways, on the other hand, come from a different era...a time when travel was less of a "sure thing". When I was young [yes...it was a long time ago], travel by car had the potential for breakdowns and the need to service your car. For example, on one family trip we traveled to Arizona by car & blew out 4 tires over the course of the trip! Because automotive travel was not a "sure thing" & cars overheated, broke down, or had problems, travel required drivers to "sprint" from one town to the next. As a result, highways are built to seek out towns & cities as "way points" between point "A" and "B". They leisurely move through the countryside ... slowing for every town on the way ... so you can stop to eat, maintenance your car, and just see the sights along the way. <br /><br />By Interstate, the destination is the key ... by highway, the journey is the experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What does this mean in a web world?</span><br /><br />When originally developed, most websites were built on a "highway" philosophy. We were looked at as surfers who were visiting companies to see what they offered. Web developers talked in terms of home pages, sticky sites, and assumed people were visiting to "see the sights along the way" as they attempted to find the items they wanted.<br /><br />Look at most site maps. They start with a single home page with the assumption that one message - one position is right for every possible visitor coming to the site. They then have a deep structure of product, services, about us, and other places to visit as you cruise their company highway. The assumption is you will take the time to leisurely move through layer after layer of information and visit lots of pages to find what you need.<br /><br />While this worked in a highway world...consumers & businesses are moving at Interstate speeds.<br /><br />Today, people want websites which quickly get them the information they want. This means they expect the company to structure their web experience to quickly get them where they need to go. How quickly, in our research, we have found people seldom want a web experience to be longer than three pages. Page one positions the company and shows its expertise, page two can present products or tools to determine what they want. Page three shows details and starts the order.<br /><br />If you agree with this approach, ask yourself the following questions:<br /><ol><li>Does your website force most of the people to visit a home page first?</li><li>Does your PPC [pay per click] and SEO [search engine optimization] strategy also focus on the home page? <br /></li><li>Are all of your search terms the same for all pages?<br /></li><li>Do you drive all PPC searches to one page?</li><li>Can you identify unique markets or communities who visit their site?</li><li>Do these communities have different needs or purchase patterns?</li><li>Can a web visitor identify their community of interest and can you move them to a unique page developed just for them?</li><li>Can you identify unique communities on search engines and PPC to drive them to these pages</li><li>Can you tailor your community landing pages to move from information to order in three steps?</li><li>Does this make sense to you?</li></ol>As consumers - both B-2-B and B-2-C - time is our most precious commodity. Today, we want to visit sites which know our specific needs & quickly produce the information & products which meet our needs. <br /><br />In considering your website and marketing programs, think Interstate not highways.<br /></div>Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-4066621970380361722007-06-09T15:55:00.000-05:002007-09-03T22:24:14.031-05:00The Surfing Myth & Its Impact on Web Design<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIhHQgKK0Fi1-i9ePlgpFgI40q56y7MUmrrJH6xRC91JXXHNRHYCahCh2oP0Wu2Vqgu8p2eCDxIdsMtueQ93cNkiYBgYoFgm538Kx_rkhsh5MnJ1qpGXc8MZuHN2XP7qqyaV_L/s1600-h/surfer.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIhHQgKK0Fi1-i9ePlgpFgI40q56y7MUmrrJH6xRC91JXXHNRHYCahCh2oP0Wu2Vqgu8p2eCDxIdsMtueQ93cNkiYBgYoFgm538Kx_rkhsh5MnJ1qpGXc8MZuHN2XP7qqyaV_L/s320/surfer.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106180306712507154" border="0" /></a><br />When we discuss prospects moving on the web, we often use the term "surfing the web". However, when you hear that term, what comes to mind? For many people, surfing conjures up an image of a person moving effortlessly across a wave. As they surf, they move from one portion of the same wave to another. While this is an interesting image, is it really a useful metaphor for the behaviors prospects use as they attempt to find a company with the products and services to meet their needs?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaUFGElmKmzrq-BQq1Nu-0vuERrLSaN-0QTsBdScS8mz6lKrk55HtzHjnGB9QMYSyvx5Z6m48pAnmsSvGsmVqozAmPwsr4-G3W1WSvExyZNCJIQkKwgFcVkxoHcCBPsyrQdtT/s1600-h/bobber.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaUFGElmKmzrq-BQq1Nu-0vuERrLSaN-0QTsBdScS8mz6lKrk55HtzHjnGB9QMYSyvx5Z6m48pAnmsSvGsmVqozAmPwsr4-G3W1WSvExyZNCJIQkKwgFcVkxoHcCBPsyrQdtT/s320/bobber.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106181427698971426" border="0" /></a>For most companies, the answer to this question can be found by analyzing your web logs. Companies with a traditional, home page structured website will find that most visitors will visit one to three pages on the site and, if they don't find what they are looking for, they will leave your site to return to their search results for another site. In other words, they will not be surfing seamlessly through your site but hit your site, "bob down" to a couple of pages to see if you have the "right stuff" to meet their needs, and then will abandon your site to find a more suitable partner to meet their needs.<br /><br />If this analogy reflects the types of cruising patterns you see on your site, there are several web and marketing items you need to consider. They are:<br /><ol><li>If an average web visitor will only stay on your site long enough to "bob" to three pages, how can you make every visitor find that they need in three pages or less? At MSI, we have found it is possible to accomplish this objective if you remove the home page from most visitor cruising patterns. How? By identifying the unique communities that frequent your site and building mini-sites which start with a landing page tailored to the community interests. If this becomes the first page they see, then page 2 is for a specific product and page 3 is to complete the order. Three steps. Look at your site and see if this three "bob" rule occurs and, if it does, you need to find a way to make the "trip" three steps or less.</li><li>How can you get communities to a mini-site? To shorten the trip, we have found using your PPC and organic search terms to go directly to a community page works effectively. In addition, you PR and new product announcements and other market media must also move the individual directly to the mini-site most suited to their needs. In doing so, you will see an improvement in final results with longer but still three step cruising patterns.</li><li>What about visitors that find you directly? The key is to quickly inform them about your mini-sites and encourage them to move to the one which best meets their needs. If you do so, you will find they are more attracted to your company.<br /></li></ol>The key is to show a visitor you understand their needs and wants within their community and have the information, products, tools, & services tailored to address their needs. By understanding the communities, you can turn bobbers into short term surfers culminating with the purchase page on your site. Think about it, look at your web logs, and - if you see this pattern - consider developing community mini-sites. If you want, we can help.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27272474.post-47645171298301471002007-06-07T13:46:00.000-05:002007-09-03T23:04:27.098-05:00Target Markets versus Communities<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioO7oNghpze-v8i_s2rDxsN4WFI8YD1NRce6AFYpswS9Kifa02C-eZBSP-WWjqN5mgPfz3V8MJdVi9O7UEqbf3VMOYJT7eerV57UAoxnv3EQKjPqfFu3lAukWpCx5sWHZYwQSM/s1600-h/target_market.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioO7oNghpze-v8i_s2rDxsN4WFI8YD1NRce6AFYpswS9Kifa02C-eZBSP-WWjqN5mgPfz3V8MJdVi9O7UEqbf3VMOYJT7eerV57UAoxnv3EQKjPqfFu3lAukWpCx5sWHZYwQSM/s320/target_market.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106185688306529074" border="0" /></a>I was trained to be a target marketer. When I started in business, the internet did not exist and the primary way we grew market share was through direct marketing. Direct marketing involved "pushing" a message to a target market using a marketing channel like direct mail, telemarketing, magazine advertising, etc. When done right, this type of marketing attracted some members of the target market to respond to our offer thus allowing us to analyze who responded and who didn't to improve future marketing campaigns.<br /><br />From a marketing perspective, the key to success was our ability to identify a target market. To do this, a direct marketer has several "tools" they could use to develop a likely target market for any B-2-C or B-2-B offer. The tools were:<br /><ul><li>Behavioral data - In a push marketing campaign, direct marketers generally look for list which are likely to hold the same type of prospects they will want for their effort. For example, womens fashion catalogs often swap their lists because they know if a woman purchases from catalog "A" they have all of the desirable behaviors to purchase from catalog "B". What are these desirable behaviors? Direct marketers use the term <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">RFM & P</span> to define them. They are:</li><ul><li>R - Recency A person who recently purchased from catalog "A" they will be "in the market" and likely to consider other similar offers. This is why you frequently receive a number of offers from companies shortly after you purchase from one. Because you are a recent purchaser, they know you will be more likely to read & purchase from another company ... as opposed to an individual with less recency.</li><li>F - Frequency If you are a multi-time purchaser, you are more likely to purchase again for a similar product.<br /></li><li>M - Monetary value - If you have purchased in high dollar amounts you are likely to be better than another individual who purchases in less dollar amounts.</li><li>P - Product If you purchased a product which is like mine, you are more likely to purchase from me. This means a womens catalog purchaser is better for another womens catalog compared to a mens catalog<br /></li></ul></ul><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Demographic </span>- In addition to RFM-P variables, direct marketers also used demographic data which described the household and its members. Important variables include age of the head of household, age of both adults by gender, number of children, age of oldest child, income of the household, geographic region, types of autos owned, etc. They describe the household.</li></ul><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xmj3fynAYhLubvAp4W3E5SrUGFoaFoCZqspoPJFbSOcNAiIYTPezOlLeQ0ldLpaj4yTEyA4UJrw1s6VOefDeKgYqUmpqPgiEgVSO9TAbq38hylL0DNemDeD5PKQU9QLwhFyt/s1600-h/women_bowler.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Xmj3fynAYhLubvAp4W3E5SrUGFoaFoCZqspoPJFbSOcNAiIYTPezOlLeQ0ldLpaj4yTEyA4UJrw1s6VOefDeKgYqUmpqPgiEgVSO9TAbq38hylL0DNemDeD5PKQU9QLwhFyt/s320/women_bowler.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5106189244539450178" border="0" /></a><br />Which brings us to another topic. My wife - the bowler. My wife is a member of a bowling league here in Naperville, IL. If you were a direct marketer who had a bowling magazine or bowling catalog, would you target my wife. Let's look at the "facts"<br /><br /><br />If you consider RFM-P let's see how she looks. <br /><ul><li>She is a bowler so she has the "P" covered. <br /></li><li>She has just started her current bowling league season so her recency is strong. She has just exhibited a desired behavior - she is bowling - and she is doing it now!</li><li>If you look at her history, she has bowled in this league over the past 7 years and, of the 4 bowling seasons each year, the league bowls during 3 of them. So from a "F" perspective, she is extremely strong.</li><li>From a "M" monetary perspective, she spends a fair amount on bowling with league and lane fees, lunches after each weekly match, travel, etc. She has her own ball, bag, shoes, and other required accessories.</li></ul>From a demographic perspective, she is female, in her 40s, in one of the highest wealth areas in the country, upscale SUV [hybrid], family with children of college & high school age. Everything is right for a bowler who could purchase your bowling magazine and pay for the subscription.<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255); font-weight: bold;">HOWEVER, you would be wrong in targeting her.</span><br /><br />From a direct marketing perspective, my wife is the ideal target for a bowling product but the picture is incomplete. My wife is a terrible bowler. She rarely exceeds 100 and her team has found that the best prizes are given to the first place team - which they will never become - and the last place team [which they can easily win]. But they don't place last because they simply want to be bad. They do it for another ... much more important ... reason.<br /><br />She doesn't bowl because she loves bowling...she does it to be in the "loop" on gossip on the Naperville / Lisle communities. The bowling league contains all of the "whos who" of our area and, if you want to find out what is happening in area politics, social groups, school districts, etc, you need to be in the league. This is where the information is distributed throughout the community and where key issues are discussed and action plans evaluated. It is the hub of our local neighborhood social structure.<br /><br />My wife bowls poorly because, if you are wasting time aiming your bowling ball, you might miss something. She and her team often just grab a ball, roll it, and quickly return to the discussion. If they do it quickly enough, they don't miss anything.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Target Markets versus Communities</span></span><br /><br />The difference between target markets and communities is that target market describe a household based on descriptive elements as well as recently completed behaviors. It is always looking back in terms of behaviors and looking at broad demographic data. Even the most exacting demographic / behavioral data is never really describing any one household but a collection of thousands of households.<br /><br />Communities are different. The community my wife belongs to is not a bowling community but a "gossip" community. Her bowling is defined by the other activities which attract her ... not the bowling activity. It is just an "excuse" to meet each week with other women to discuss key issues. Essentially, the bowling league in Naperville is a far better marketplace for local politicians than it would be for bowling vendors. Essentially, if you want anything done within Naperville / Lisle, you need one or more groups of people within the bowling league to support your endeavor. It is that powerful a group and that cohesive of a community. That is why it has existed for so long and is so strong.<br /><br />The key is that communities are defined by the members and are self-forming and self-regulating. Each season, the women reform their community and simply "pick up" where they left off. The key is they know the bowling league is not for bowling but to exchange information important to the community. They would tell you that if you asked them about the league. They know ... and will tell you if you asked them.<br /><br />Target markets, on the other hand, are defined by marketers using past behaviors and descriptive data to predict future purchases. It does not really know or consider the attitudes and exact needs of any individual. <br /><br />While we exist in target markets, knowing our community involvement and understanding the community is a much more powerful tool for marketers. In future blogs, I will give you some specific actions you can take to both identify communities and determine how to ID them when they visit your website.Randy Hlavachttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16149448213840522768noreply@blogger.com2