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Archive for January, 2009

AMA event notes: Designing and Implementing Marketing Analytics Programs for the Multi-Channel Opportunity

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Disclaimer: These are notes, designed to refresh attendees’ memories or to give an idea of what you missed.
This is not in any way final copy.

Designing and Implementing Marketing Analytics Programs for the Multi-Channel Opportunity
Produced by the Boston Chapter of the American Marketing Association, Jan 20, 2009

My first AMA event, this sold-out evening provided lots of networking (hard not to chat it up when the room is really crowded), a FANTASTIC artisanal cheese display, and a fairly advanced topic. Many of the attendees were engaged in marketing analytics programs themselves. Luckily, the panelists did a good job is speaking in grasp-able terms.

AMA writeup @ analyizethis.eventbrite.com
“As more marketing goes digital, we’re flooded with potentially valuable
data. Historically, this data has been used to optimize campaigns and
associated investments within single channels. Today marketers
increasingly are using this data to move beyond single-channel
optimization toward a multi-channel perspective.”

“This shift creates the need for new metrics, tools for measuring and
managing them, and processes for developing and deploying them that
span organizational boundaries in sometimes challenging ways.”

“On
January 20, 2008, AMA Boston will host a panel discussion featuring
senior executives from leading local firms. They’ll share how they
approach these larger, inherently strategic and organizational issues
and synthesize their experiences into lessons you can apply as well.”

Participants included
• Chris Madaus – VP of Marketing, Staples Delivery
• Adrian Sosa – Director, Market Intelligence, CVS
• Manu Mathew – CEO, VisualIQ

Which channels?
PR focus: display search, email. the campaigns aren’t always integrated from the planning point of view, but measured as a whole. When there are two separate agencies doing different campaigns, hard to distinguish where money should be put.

Cross-channel synergy?

Staples: Still retains silos; hard to break away from old retail ways to better way on the web.
Social media: integrated social channel. What’s the impact of this platform that I cannot control?

CVS: Targeted web display, yahoo personal circular and sales for the week.
more opportunistic, do we want to play in social media space? Not very high risk, is economical.

How are organizations working more effectively across channels?

CVS: Traditional retail “stack it, let it fly” isn’t going to work anymore, even if things aren’t budgeted, need to be able to move swiftly and leverage. Which pots to put the money? This is decided at most senior level.

Rick from Hubspot small/mid b2b focus: The conversation is happening, so need to find economical way to engage in it.

Staples: Whatever we do costs hundreds of thousands; is it worth spending that much for something that could be low impact?

CVS: Have “a drawerful of ideas, not enough manpower, management time, plus money to chase experiments. … We’re chasing whales, tuna would be great, but we’re chasing whales.”

Next week’s posts:

  • Boston Downtown Womens Club’s “Perfecting your 30 Second Pitch”
  • Nonprofit Consultants’ Network “Capacity, Sustainability, and Assessing Outcomes
  • “Developing a Successful Online Strategy” at Everycompanycounts.com

Posted in Boston American Marketing Association | 3 Comments »

SEMNE event: Google AdWords Best Practices With Malinda Gagnon of Google

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Google Adwords Best Practices
When: January 27, 2009; from 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: Newton Marriott, Newton, MA
Speaker: Malinda Gagnon, Google Inc.


SEMNE welcomes new members, but beware that if you’re new to this world, there’s quite a learning curve. That’s another reason to go, eh? Excellent networking and snacks with full bar (and drink coupons). Jonathan Hochman does a great job and is a valuable resource!


Google AdWords highlights from Malinda Gagnon


In this era we need to

Give clients something to make campaigns perform better Companies are looking to do more with less

Clients relying on us more

Measurable results, use marketing dollars more wisely

Do what we’ve always done that much better


Go back to core competencies: search best practices, content best practices

Search Best Practices

Connect audience with the info the audience is seeking: Reach right audience with the right message at the right time

Adgroup best practices
Have your targeted audience see youHas to be tightly targeted

Keywords, fairly targeted, related to the ad and the service offered

When trying to determine themes, keep in mind

Differentiate products or services you offer
Different levels of services, specify among each
Same product with various phrases or synonyms used

Keyword best practices

Reflect what users are searching for
Create relevant themes of keywords to relate back to specific ad text

Keep in mind

Users who are familiar with what you’re selling
then think about those who are not experts
Avoid the middle of the road (paying for unyielding clicks)

Accurately reflect the services being offered

Use keyword variations to maximize exposure
Use broad, phrase and exact match, as well as negative keywords to weed out unqualifieds

Adtext best practices

Give customers a very clear call to action: They should immediately know what to do next
Reflect your keywords in ad text: Make ads unique so they stand out, see what else is out there and what competitors are doing
Test multiple ad text variations: change word order, diff phrases


Content Best Practices


Content marketing plans: When designing content campaign

Targeting options
CPC vs CPM

Before you start, you should know

Precise audience
Who: age, gender, household, life like, income
Where: do they spend time online
How: can I reach them online
Contextual, placement or category targeted
Message: How do I want my message portrayed
Think about what would grab their attention

Contextual keywords best practices

Duplication across ad themes is good
Use keywords you expect to see on the page
15 keywords are enough to build on that theme
Use negative keywords
Avoid misspellings
Use keywords URLs
Select and relay ad group theme


Best practices for ad copy

Target browsing mentality of the user
Spark interest with asking questions, gimmicky works well: ask questions
Accurately describe what you’re advertising
Explain how your product relates
Interested in investing? Think about an IRA, on an investment site
Test special offers, test emotional messages: 50% vs $50 off


Choose landing page that immediate addresses what they’re interested in

Posted in Search Engine Marketing New England | 317 Comments »

What’s Stopping You? How to Find and Close Business in a Troubled Economy with Carl Harvey

Tuesday, January 27th, 2009

Society
of Professional Consultants’ Monthly Dinner Meeting

Monday, January 26, 2009, 5:30pm – 9:00pm • Hilton Garden Inn • Waltham, MA

http://www.spconsultants.org/notices/DinnerMeeting/2009/dinner-JAN-2009.html

Carl Harvey www.successandself-esteem.com

class=”style1″>About 20 people made for an excellent networking event, find out a little about each attendee,  conduct personalized exercise, get feedback.

Carl spoke about cold calling as the way to be proactive and take control of your business development. Can’t just sit around waiting for referrals and speaking engagements!

Here are some highlights:

Have to figure out ways to make calls warmer
Call ppl who’ve attended your speaking engagements
Are there any issues that you’re seeing in the topics I presented?
Can you talk about them or tell them someone who could talk to me?

Associations or Chambers
Get the member list, ID the company’s you might want to target
Call them up!

Call Linked-In people

When you get them on the phone, your goal is to get a meeting. Don’t dip into your spiel, ask questions.

For the prospect to meet with me, prospect has:
1.    Problem that I can solve
2.    Urgency to fix the prob
3.    Current solution hasn’t been working
4.    Clients don’t know what they don’t know

Determine those above criteria by asking questions.

Look for urgency
What happens if don’t fix it?
How make you feel?
How long going on?
If been living w it for long time? Why fix itnow?
When money comes up, ask if it’s a lot of money, don’t presume
If money isn’t the issue, what’s changed?
Asking questions, will lead to the real problem.

A compelling presentation and an extremely congenial group to network with.

Tonight’s event: Google Adwords Best Practices, Newton

http://www.semne.org/meetings/google-adwords-best-practices/



Posted in Boston networking | 41 Comments »

Grow Your Client Base …Professional Services Firm Executives Share Their Insights event

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Highlights from last night’s IMCNE dinner meeting and panel in rough note form.
Disclaimer: This isn’t an indication of FINAL copy!

IMCNE is the premier association for professional management consultants.

http://imcne.org/events/2009/jan2209.html

Hollis Chase is President of Boston based Chase & Associates (www.hollischaseassociates.com)
Rob Siegrist is Senior Vice President, Marketing Director at Cambridge Trust Company (www.cambridgetrust.com)
Alice Sloan of Grant Thornton (www.grantthornton.com)
Mara Stefan is President of Emerge Public Relations (www.emergepr.com)

What does biz dev mean to you?
Where can we tweak and reinvent?

Siegrist Honor your brand, make tweaks not overhauls.
Sloan   Uses cold calls to develop business, over time
Stefan  All about relationships

Are you relevant, listening to what they say, what truly drives the customer

Small group mtgs: 10 ppl bfast, engage in and appreciate relationship

Have to show what your skillset is as a company

Consider self a thought leader: take that and customize, bring in ppl, bring along your colleagues and sell their contributions

Have specialists write white papers, be timely and ahead of the curve.

Have to help clients, anything else is just noise

Relationship brokering: Help people meet people, even if you don’t get the biz

Let people know they can share your ideas, even if don’t get the job

Find what you’re best at; find where people are talking about that

Technorati: read top blog, them comment on it

Don’t try to do anything you don’t know anything about

Pick between and choose who you can bring value to

Know where your profitability and how you structure it.

Ppl don’t want products and svs, they want a relationship and what’s in your head

Focus on ppl who need your svs the most. Be someone who ppl want to work with

Awareness that you exist, where are ppl having conversations about topics in which I can contribute; how can I reach them in a cost-effective manner.

Take-away: start building and sharing knowledge base via blog

Posted in Boston networking | No Comments »

Glancing at the path behind

Thursday, January 22nd, 2009

It seems like it’s been forever to get here, but then again some people never make it!

Often on the trade show circuit, people are curious about the origin of Designated Editor. Here we are in brief, but if you want the big-picture view, check out my love-to-travel-but-have-to-work blog:
designatedtraveler.blog4yourbiz.com

Working my way up the New England newspaper food chain, I landed at The Boston Globe after surviving crazy shifts like midnight to 8 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. to noon. I spent six years at The Globe, aiming to join the Travel section, a dream since oh, say, high school. But doesn’t everyone want to work for The Globe Travel section?! Life works in strange ways, and when I realized that in the time it would take to be senior enough to join Travel, I would be laid off.

So I took a buyout in June 2008. And there’s another going on right now. I’m interested to see what the terms are going to be. Either way, I took the summer off to clear my head and then launched Designated Editor.

It dawned on me about four years ago that perhaps my newspaper dream career was dimming. So, I requested admission and was allowed to audit (read: free) Entrepreneurship, an MBA-level class at UMass-Boston. The night after my first class, I was working out at the Globe’s gym and found out a colleague with whom I worked closely had killed himself. It was another shocking death of a newsroom colleague, and the one that convinced me the toll newspapers extract from its workers is just too great and will only worsen with the industry’s decline.

As the mood at The Globe grew increasingly bleak, I was busy taking classes (Accounting, Marketing, Sales), reading 50 books a year, trying to learn everything I could while biding my time and hoping for a buyout. With all this prep behind me and a year of paid benefits (health insurance being key) I took the leap.

The weak link in my prep work was not being to able to really get out and talk to people about what the needs are. The demand for copy editors had always
been high (why they’re paid more than any other newsroom job category),
did businesses really see the need?

Before the Internet, most businesses probably didn’t require copy editing, but as practitioners of “pubic relations” and “consummate professional service providers” can tell you, businesses need copy editing now more than ever!

I’m now concentrating on merging the principles of SEO (search engine optimization) and quality content.

Subsequent posts will center on further development of Designated Editor and the accelerated evolution of SEO.

Thanks for following along!

Posted in Designated Editor's perspective | No Comments »