Alberta Business Marketing

In my third of four posts about which channels work best to reach and engage influencers, I take a look at the new kid on the block: social media.

Marketers are sometimes torn between doing what has worked most effectively in the past and testing out new technologies and channels that have the potential to be real game-changers in the future.

The bright shiny object of the last few years is, of course, social media, a channel that’s still not completely understood but that has, in theory, the potential to radically change the way we market.

Why? Well, to start with, based on our research, influencers are spending 7 hours per week in the US and 9 in Canada on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and blogs. That’s already impressive but when you add to that the finding that influencers are connected, on average, to 108 (US) and 137 (Canada) people in their own social media network, that’s something that gets the attention of marketers – as it should.

While social media shares ease of use with the email channel, it’s this community or network that may hold the key to the channel’s true potential. These individuals have chosen to be connected based on an affinity for a particular community, and are actively engaged with others in it and outside that community too.

Bill McCloskey at ClickZ offers some fascinating examples about the potential power of social media, including this one:

“…look at Marvel Comics, which is one of the top performing ‘advertisers’ in the Twitter space. As of right now, Marvel has around 44,000 followers [63,000+ as I write this post]. But over the last few weeks, it sent out 151 Twitter offers. But more than that: 246 ‘influencers’ have directly rebroadcast that message to their followers. Add it all up and Marvel has exposed its offer to over 66 million eyeballs over the past few weeks!”

Those are some impressive numbers and just a hint of the potential opportunities social media offers marketers. However we do need to distinguish the difference between influencers: some will talk; others will pass along information (as per above) and of utmost value are those that truly influence others – by eliciting action. So whether on social media sites or via email or on the phone, you must understand what you are trying to achieve and ensure that you have designed appropriately.

One more thing bares repeating from my last two posts: even if some channels are better than others to reach particular consumers in particular ways, the fact is these channels work best for marketers when they work together.

For instance, email messages that offer a social-sharing option (like Twitter and Facebook) generate a 30% higher click-through rate than emails without it, according to a new study by email marketing company Get Response. And if the email includes three or more social-sharing options, that click-through rate jumps to 55%.

The bottom line? Social media offers a unique and advantageous opportunity to find, reach, engage and have a continuous dialogue with individuals – both within their social media communities and in their network at large. Just needs to be done right!

In the fourth and final part of this series, I’ll blog about the true answer to the question – which channel is most effective at finding, reaching, engaging and motivating influencers?

Gillian MacPherson

Tags: Branding, Customer Experience, Direct Marketing, Integration, PR, Research, social media, Strategy
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Part 2 of a 4 part series

Which channel is most effective at finding, reaching, engaging and motivating influencers to spread the word about your product? In this second of four posts, I take a look at email.

In part 1, I blogged about some of the reasons marketers still consider direct mail an effective way to reach influencers, but the truth is that was only part of the story. Because while DM still has a role to play in engaging influencers to spread the word about your brand, email is also a powerful channel and one that’s becoming more so all the time.

There are, of course, the obvious reasons email is so effective: it’s easy for consumers to forward – a sort of digital word of mouth – and, especially these days, it’s easily accessible whether you’re on your BlackBerry, iPhone, Mac or PC, at home, at work or on the run.

An email campaign may also be cheaper and less labour-intensive to launch: although these days consumers report opening up less of the vast amount of emails received so perhaps cheaper is an illusion. But we do know that recent technology has made targeting, tracking and offer redemption much easier than in the past.

Perhaps where email marketing can be most successful at reaching consumers and convincing influencers is in its interactivity. You can include a url link to your website or blog or Facebook page in which the consumer can immediately connect. And of course you can design an email to offer a level of animation to engage the senses.

Plus, based on a study we just conducted, people have very specific reasons why they like to be marketed via email, including:

• Speed: It’s in your inbox – or in your trash – in a flash
• Convenience: You can read it at work, at home, or anywhere in between
• Environmental: Unless you want to print it out to save or share, trees and our environment get a break

That said, the truth is DM and email can live with each other because they both have an important role to play, as ClickSquared’s Dan Smith explains:

Not all customers respond to communications in the same way… In certain industries – charities come to mind – direct mail remains the primary method for new donor acquisition. Email is used primarily to solicit renewals from existing donors – and in the absence of a response, is often followed by yet another direct mail piece.

The circle of life – marketing style.

In part 3 of this series, I’ll focus on the new kid on the block – social media.

Thoughts?

Gillian MacPhersen

Tags: Customer Experience, Digital, Direct Marketing, Integration, Research
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Not many things surprise me after so many years in this business, but I have to admit, this did:

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-does-not-use-keywords-meta-tag.html

Since starting my own creative consultancy two years ago, I've written many websites for clients who think that key words actually matter. So you can imagine my surprise when I learned that Google doesn't use the "keywords" meta tag in their web search ranking. Obviously this isn't as earth-shattering as learning that cigarettes are bad for you or that Balloon Boy was a hoax, but it does raise an eyebrow given that Google hasn't exactly advertised this news. Thoughts?

Tags: Customer Experience, Digital, eCommerce, Get it off your chest, Integration, This and That, Viral
Posted in Advertising, B2B | | Comments Off

Canada’s Emergence as a Marketing Leader

Canada has produced many award-winning marketing strategies recently that are being duplicated else where. Moving forward, Canadian marketers will have an opportunity to be innovative and creative as US markets become increasingly conservative.

Although the Canadian market is relatively mature with slow growth rates, experts believe that the recent economic turmoil created as a result of the global credit crisis will force US marketing departments to act more conservatively, thus giving global brands the opportunity to innovate and lead new marketing initiatives (through testing and metrics) in Canada. For example, BBDO worked with Frito Lay to develop the ‘Doritos Guru’ campaign, which involved the brand working with consumers to generate a name for the new flavour of Doritos as well as product marketing communications for the flavour. This brand-consumer partnership (co-creation) was launched in Canada but is now being used by other brands around the world.

As marketing programs become increasingly complex and integrated, the Canadian marketplace offers brands more simplistic measurement capabilities, compared to the larger population and logistical challenges posed by such a large geographic scope in the US. Canada also has the opportunity to own ‘green marketing’ by creating strong branding/communications models thus getting the attention of the US.

There has been a new found respect for Canada, as one executive in a recent recessionary marketing roundtable stated “we haven’t screwed things up badly”, referring to our relatively strong banking system. Five years ago there was a lot of negativity surrounding ‘Canadian’ branding, but recently there has been a shift. Focus groups conducted by RBC in the US found that American consumers wanted to have the company Canadian-branded.

Overall, American marketers are beginning to understand that there are significant differences that impact consumer behaviour in Canadian and American markets, thus beginning to buy-into the belief that Canadian markets require unique marketing programs.

What are your thoughts on the topic of Canadian marketing leadership?

Tags: Integration
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As mentioned with our last post, Brand Matters conducted research on the topic marketing in a recession; what does it take to win. This is the second installment sharing our findings with theme #2, Marketing Innovation.

As companies tighten marketing budgets, marketers are increasingly expected to do more with less. The value proposition remains at the core of a brand’s offering; however, marketers are taking an innovation angle rather than price cutting.

Experts agree, in times of economic downturn brands must continue to invest in marketing. There is increased competition with value brands growing, premium brands lowering prices, and private label brands beginning to advertise. As a result, marketers are faced with the challenge of finding more innovative/compelling strategies to break through the clutter and effectively reach consumers. Marketers need to find fresh, cost-efficient ways to not only communicate with consumers, but also attract new customers as competitors eat into market share. If competitors do slash prices, this is when brands must be innovative in order to sustain their competitive value offering.

No longer are agencies providing the ‘big idea’, instead, innovation is appearing in the form of smaller, more practical tactics – for example, digital media and community building are being used to better serve the needs of a more targeted group of high-value customers. As Brenda Truant says, “With less resources, you [marketers] must work smarter not harder."

Examples of resourceful marketing tactics include:

(1) Co-creation with consumers - the Doritos Guru campaign successfully accomplished by achieve over 1.5 million exposures),
(2) Brand partnership – seeking out potential brands to partner with who share the same customers or have a similar brand character. For example, BMW.
(3) Gain deeper consumer insights – analyze user generated content to identify consumer insights and refine marketing communication tactics. As the insight analytics business continues to grow, there is an opportunity to review this consumer-generated content to truly understand their branding needs and identify the most appropriate marketing communications tactics.

Organizations lacking cross-functional internal alignment and trust, especially between marketing and finance, will find it more challenging to gain buy-in and support for new marketing communications initiatives.

Although new marketing communications initiatives are often tests, experts agree that they should not be referred to as ‘tests’ internally – instead they should be folded into an integrated marketing communications plan with more traditional tactics. These tests are important as they will help develop the marketing communications innovation pipeline which will result in future marketing communications programs. Marketing must own testing, as stated by one participant, “without experiments [tests] there is only measuring and tracking.”

Do you have more to add with examples of successful Innovation Tactics that have been developed by your organization?

Tags: Integration
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