7/1/09 - Tip of the Week - RFM Analysis
Did you know that RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) analysis is a marketing technique used to determine quantitatively which customers are the best ones by examining how recently a customer has purchased (recency), how often they purchase (frequency), and how much the customer spends (monetary)? RFM analysis is based on the marketing axiom that "80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers."

For more than 30 years, direct mailing marketers for nonprofit organizations have used an informal RFM analysis to target their mailings to customers most likely to make donations. The reasoning behind RFM was simple: people who donated once were more likely to donate again. 

7/8/09 - Tip of the Week - RFM Analysis
With the advent of email marketing campaigns and customer relationship management software, RFM (recency, frequency, monetary) ratings have become an important tool. Using RFM analysis, customers are assigned a ranking number of 1,2,3,4, or 5 (with 5 being highest) for each RFM parameter. The three scores together are referred to as an RFM "cell." The database is sorted to determine which customers were "the best customers" in the past, with a cell ranking of "555" being ideal. Although RFM analysis is a useful tool, it does have its limitations. A company must be careful not to over-solicit customers with the highest rankings. Experts also caution marketers to remember that customers with low cell rankings should not be neglected, but instead should be cultivated to become better customers.

7/15/09 - Tip of the Week - CASS Certification
Did you know that CASS certification is a process that verifies mailing addresses to ensure that the addresses are physically deliverable? The process verifies only that the address does physically exist, and does not verify the recipient’s name. By running CASS certification on your data before mailing, you can test not only the quality of your data, but also the effectiveness of address-matching software packages that are typically used in-house to find address errors.  

7/22/09 - Tip of the Week - Building your brand with Twitter
How to build your brand through Twitter:

1. Engage in conversations with notable peers
Follow individuals that have influence and an audience in your industry. By engaging them in conversation, they might just @ reply you back, letting their thousands of followers know that you are a person worthy of their time.

2. Share valuable industry related news
By sharing valuable industry related news you will gain credibility within your network of followers.

3. Build your social networking audience
Build a social networking audience outside of Twitter through Facebook, LinkedIn, You Tube, Slide Share, ect. When interacting with individuals outside of Twitter make sure to let those individuals know you tweet as well.

4. Stay connected with collogues and industry peers outside of social media
Networking with individuals and telling them you are on Twitter is a great way to build your brand on the internet.

Source: http://mashable.com/2008/07/17/twitter-branding/           

8/6/09 - Tip of the Week - LinkedIn Company Profiles
Did you know that LinkedIn now has the ability for businesses to create custom company profiles? This new improvement allows business to build their brand on LinkedIn through better content, more visibility and additional modules, including current employees and key statistics modules. Another improvement that has been added to each group is the ability to display current job openings on a separate tab, allowing potential employees to find the information faster and with more ease.

8/19/09 - Tip of the Week - Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Integrated Marketing Communication is a process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated and measurable communication programs with a targeted audience. IMC strategically integrates advertising, direct marketing, internet marketing, sales promotion, public relations and personal sales rather than having each strategy operate autonomously. Through coordinating these marketing strategies, you will have more control over your message and present a consistent image to your target market. 

Tweet updates are displayed on the users’ profile page and delivered to others who have signed up to receive them. The sender can restrict delivery to those in his or her circle of friends, or can allow everyone to read them.

Benefits of twitter include the ability to provide information faster than other more traditional media sources and the ability to keep up on the buzz in your industry.  Many businesses use Twitter to provide product or service information to their followers.

9/4/09 - Tip of the Week - Marketing During a Recession 
In tough economic times companies are forced to make cutbacks on spending and traditionally one of the first things to go is marketing dollars.  Although this might seem sensible, there has been growing research that suggests that an increase in marketing efforts, or proactive marketing, during a recession is actually a more successful strategy.  Historical examples of successful proactive marketing campaigns would be Proctor and Gamble advertising Ivory soap during the Great Depression, Intel introducing “Intel Inside” during the 1990-1991 recession, and Wal-Mart starting their Everyday Low Price campaign in 2000-2001.

This strategy is not for everyone though.  Your firm needs to possess three important characteristics to be successful.  The first is that you need to already value marketing.  Firms without a marketing strategy already in place should avoid starting one in an economic down time.  Second, your company needs to have the nerve to do it.  Seeing how this can be a very risky move, companies need a strong entrepreneurial culture.  Finally, you need to have the capital.  Another term for this is slack resources, and if you have it a wise investment would be in a strategic marketing campaign.

Next week:  practical solutions and tips for marketing during a recession.

Sources:  http://www.smeal.psu.edu/news/latest-news/mar05/leverage.html/ and http://blogs.bnet.com/intercom/?p=1573

9/09/09 - B2E Tip of the Week - Tips for Marketing in a Recession
Did you know that companies who continue to market during tough economic times can actually grow their business? Recessions are not the time to cut marketing, but to revaluate it to see what is working and what is not. One easy and cheap option would be to utilize social networking and interactive media. Creating a Google Profile is a must for any business. All you need to create a Google profile is to have a Google account. This new feature will not only allow you to move up on the search list, but it will allow you to control what people see when they Google you or your company. 

Twitter is another way to easily strengthen your marketing. Twitter can help you find prospects by searching those in your industry or searching keywords or terms that represent your customers. Remember, Twitter is not just about plugging your product or service; it is also about maintaining relationships.  Also, Twitter’s new application, the Twitterfeed, can save you a lot of time by automatically updating your blogs and posts to Twitter.

For more great tips go to “Marketing During a Recession” available at: http://marketing.about.com/b/2009/03/01/marketing-during-a-recession.htm (source) 

9/16/09 - Tip of the Week - Quantifying Your Marketing Efforts
Another strategy to employ when marketing during a recession is to focus on quantifying your marketing efforts. This helps you to measure what you have done to see if it is working or not. Every campaign should try to identify quantitative and qualitative goals, a campaign budget, a fulfillment and response strategy, a follow-up strategy, and a testing and tracking criteria for your campaign. Some examples of objective goals are cost per sale, cost per qualified lead, and cost per visitor. More info can be found at: http://marketing.about.com/od/plantutorialsandsamples/a/quantify.htm.

Turning your attention to helping your sales force is yet another strategy. Stepping away from traditional marketing techniques and working more closely with your sales team can be very effective. Creating marketing materials that are loaded with brand terminology should be avoided in tough times. Instead, focus on materials that contain information that will help create sales and turn prospects into clients.

For more great tips go to “Marketing During a Recession” available at: http://marketing.about.com/b/2009/03/01/marketing-during-a-recession.htm (source)

9/23/09 - Tip of the Week - Partner Relationship Management
Partner relationship management (PRM), just like customer relationship management, is a vital component to any company’s marketing department. PRM is a “strategy for improving communication between companies and their channel partners.” By focusing on PRM, a company can strengthen customer relationships, optimize channels, reduce partner turnover, and increase productivity through the channel. One example of how this can help would be by making sure your channel partners can deliver the needed materials or products in time for your latest marketing campaign. Another benefit is keeping up with shifting market needs and customer preferences. The more in sync you and your suppliers are, the faster you can respond to your customer’s changing needs.

Some characteristics of a successful supply chain are: partnerships are entered voluntarily, partners perceive themselves to be equal in power and authority, partners have equal access to information and they share it, partners are seen as equally valuable, and partners look for opportunities to discover that they are wrong. There is a lot of software out there that can help a company manage their channels and many times it can be integrated into a CRM software program. Companies that provide PRM software solutions are Saleforce.com, Channeltivity, NetSuite, Oracle, and RelayWare, just to name a few.

Sources: http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0sid11_gci214321,00.html#

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_Jan_25/ai_58937933/?tag=content;col1 

http://www.partneringintelligence.com/documents/5.03_Partnership_Relationship_Management_WP.pd 

10/14/09 - Tip of the Week - Advertising Wear Out
One of the major problems a company faces when executing an advertising campaign is wear out. Wear out is when an ad loses its effectiveness due to overplay.  Showing a specific ad too much will not only fail to catch the interest of your customers, but it can even weaken your relationship with customers or clients due to bombardment of advisements. One of the most common mediums that are susceptible to wear out is TV commercials. Some simple suggestions to avoid advertising wear out is to monitor how much a certain ad is running or to use different marketing channels such as TV, print ad, internet, email, text, direct mail, or in store ads.

10/21/09 - Tip of the Week - Viral Marketing
Viral Marketing “describes any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message's exposure and influence.” This is basically the same thing as word of mouth marketing but specifically done on the internet. There are 6 vital elements that go into a successful viral marketing plan. 

1.        Give away valuable products or services – This can generate a wave of interest very quickly.

2.       Provide effortless transfer to others – Make it easy to share, though email, website, or download.

3.       Scales easily from small to very large – Make sure to build scalability into your plan so it can grow and not become too large to handle.

4.       Exploits common motivations and behaviors – Try to build a strategy that builds on common human motivations, the desire to fit in, be cool, or to be understood.

5.       Utilize existing communication networks – People have a network of 8-12 close friends and even more in broader networks, by tapping into networks people already have is the best way to do this. You can use email or social networking to accomplish this.

6.       Take advantage of other’s resources – Examples of this would be to give away free articles which can be places on other people’s web pages or being printed in papers or fliers.

Source: http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm

10/28/09 - Tip of the Week - Viral Marketing Techniques

Viral marketing can be a very effective tool for growing a business (see last week’s tip). There are different techniques to accomplish this, but here are a few offered by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson:

-Encourage Links to Your Site – You can do this by writing articles and encouraging others to post them for free, registering for search engines, set up an affiliate program to encourage links to your product, and send out news releases concerning a free product or service available on your site.

-Encourage Word of Mouth Recommendations – Make it easy to e-mail or fax your webpage to a friend and encourage people to forward your newsletter to a friend.

-Offer Desirable Products or Services that Spread Your Message - Offer a digital game or utility that carries your message or enable visitors to e-mail post cards or greeting cards from your website.

Source:

  http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-deploy.htm

 11/04/09 - Tip of the Week - Benefits of Direct/Database Marketing

Direct marketing is any communication a company sends directly to a consumer with the intent of stimulating an immediate response. These pieces include a clear “call to action” in which the company tells the prospect what they want them to do:  either try the product, visit the website, request a catalogue, or buy the product, just to name a few. Here are some of the benefits of direct marketing. 

 11/11/09 - Tip of the Week - Personalized URL Marketing

11/17/2009 - Tip of the Week - Social Network Marketing

Paul Chaney from the Marketing Professionals Daily Fix website provides 9 tips on how to market through social networks.

1. Pull, Don’t Push – Don’t push your products onto other community members, this will turn them away.  Instead let them find out about your offerings on their own.

2. Win the Right to be Heard – Participate in the conversation of the online community.

3. Content is STILL King – Nothing beats good content.

4. Authenticity and Transparency – these are cornerstones of social networks

5. You don’t have to be on every social network – It’s impossible to maintain an active presence on every network

6. Give and You Shall Receive – Give away free info with no strings attached in order to gain trust and credibility.

7. The Rules of Marketing Still Apply

8. Social Media is a Mindset, Not Just a Toolset – A new strategy needs to be developed

9. Be Yourself, Whoever You May Be – One suggestion would be to use your own picture for your profile image, people want to connect with other people, not brands.

Source: marketingprofs.com

11/24/2009 - Tip of the Week - Evaluating the Success of Your Marketing Plan

One of the most difficult steps of successfully creating a marketing plan is measuring its effectiveness.  Not all marketing or advertising efforts are quantifiable making it difficult to measure.  However, being able to test the plan is essential to see if it is working, what needs to be modified, and if your money is well spent.

MarketingPlan.com offers seven great suggestions on how to evaluate your marketing plan.  The first, and most obvious way, is to look at your sales or fee income.  If this is going up, then obviously something is working.  The second thing to do would be to ask your clients how they heard of you.  This is valuable because you can find out what channel and what medium they heard of you so you can focus more efforts on those channels and cut back on ones where your target market does receive or respond to.  The third thing to check would be to see if your advertising or promotional activity produces direct responses, which it should.  Some tips to improve this would be to use the right media to connect with potential customers, use a strong headline, and include a call to action letting people know what you want them to do (call today, for example).

The fourth thing to check is to make sure your networking activities are creating new opportunities for you.  The purpose of networking is to share, not tell.  Use this to spread the word.  The fifth thing is to make sure your marketing tactics make it easier to sell your services.  Your marketing materials should focus on attracting qualified leads, be easy to use, and focus on the client’s needs and your unique selling proposition.  The sixth suggestion is to check your sales conversion rate.  Look at historical rates to see if it is improving.  And finally, see if your plan has a positive return on investment.  Does the plan bring in new or repeat business that justifies the expenses?

Source:  http://www.websitemarketingplan.com/mplan/evaluateplan.htm

12/1/2009 - Tip of the Week - Product Positioning

Product positioning is the next step after a company has segmented it customers.  It involves “developing a product and marketing plan that will appeal to the selected market segment.”   After the intended target is identified in terms of demographic, geographic, and behavioral characteristics, the marketer must find out what product attributes are important to the consumer and then develop a strategic plan to catch the consumer’s attention.

Product positioning requires the marketer to create an image or perception of the product in the consumer’s mind.  This can be done through advertising or other promotional activities.  For example, Apple has tried to create the image that their Mac Book is trendy as well as safe, while a PC is old, stuffy, and virus ridden.  The important part is to find out what consumer’s perceptions are of your product and the competitor’s.  This can be done through market research and the use of a perceptional map.  A perceptional map has consumers rate different products based on two dimensions.  In the computer example, the dimensions could be ease of use and processing speed.  Then the consumers would place a mark on the chart where each company’s product lands (example:  easy to use, but low processing speed or hard to use and low processing speed…).

The other important factor to consider would be to find out the relative importance of each attribute for the consumer.  So if the consumer marks ‘hard to use’ but ‘fast processing speed’, that may be their top choice because they don’t care how easy the computer is to use.  After this info is gathered, you can either reevaluate how your current product is being positioned or position your new product based on what is already out there in the marketplace.

Source:  http://www.managementhelp.org/mrktng/position.htm

12/08/09 - Tip of the Week - How to Improve Your Link Popularity

Link popularity is the most important factor that plays into search engine optimization and appearing high on the results page. The fastest way to improve link popularity is find link exchange partners.   Michael Wong of Mikes-Marketing-Tools.com has a set of guidelines to achieve this. 

The first thing you need to do is to find websites with similar content to yours. You can look through website directories or perform searches on a search engine. Next, create a links or resources page and add it to your site. Then link it to your home page. Finally, contact the websites that you linked to and request a reciprocal link to your site. The more related your sites are, the better chance there is of mutual reciprocity. In addition, there are tools out there to help with this, such as Arelis.    

12/15/08 - Tip of the Week - Behavorial Targeting

Behavioral targeting (BT) is the process of gathering information about people’s web-browsing behavior and interests and then displaying them ads that they would more likely to respond to based on those findings.  Many advertisers believe that this is more effective than traditional banner ads because the information is more targeted and relevant.  One example is how Facebook offers the option to display ads to people based on the information they put in their profile and their interest section.

Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/3633086

12/28/2009 - Tip of the Week - Marketing using facebook Fan pages

 Since businesses can’t have their own profile, the next best thing is to create a fan page. You can target your fans and connect with them through updates and messages.  

One major benefit of this page is it is extremely easy and fast to update content, all you have to do is log on and update. With traditional websites you have to go through IT or a more complex software program in order to do so.  

Also, these pages are indexed with search engines so they are just as good as websites on that level. The Fan Page allows you to perform the following: plan events, upload pictures, videos, blogs, & contact information, create a wall to write on, and engage in conversations with friends/fans. 

Source: http://searchenginewatch.com/3635584

1/6/2010 - Tip of the Week - Search Engine Optimization Tips

Search engine optimization is important because if it is done effectively it can raise your rank in the search results and it can make you money by providing better targeted ads.  Here the first five of ten tips to help you with this.

1. Use Google AdWords’ keyword tool to find the most popular keywords related to your website – Use Google’s Search-based Keyword Tool to find out what keywords people are searching to find content similar to yours.

2. Use keywords and phrases in your HTML title tag – The content of the title tag carries the heaviest weight of any element when search engines rank pages, so put your key words there.

3. Write an engaging description tag for each page – Since Google uses this description to create a short blurb under the page’s title on its search engine result, it needs to be sharp in order to lure customers in.

4. Switch from AP style to “SEO style” on references in body copy – SEO style references are becoming more important than AP styled ones. 

5. Use Keywords in URLs whenever possible – Instead of using numbers or nonsense text when naming your directory path, use real word (keywords) because that can provide your site a boost on search engines.

Source: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/200905/1733/

1/13/2010 - Tip of the Week - The Importance of Client Testimonials 

Client testimonials placed on your website can be very important in giving your site credibility and gaining new customers. All you have to do to get testimonials is to ask. Satisfied clients will gladly provide you with them. 

You can gather testimonials in a number of ways, either through emails, formal letters of recommendation, or though sites like LinkedIn. You can send the client a form to fill out in order to gather important pieces of information or you could even have them create an audio or video testimonial which can be an attention grabber to potential clients. 

You can use testimonials in many different ways. You can put them on your website, either on its own page or throughout. You can use them to put at the bottom of your emails in the signature spot. 

Another use would be to have a page at the end of a proposal with testimonials. They can also go on marketing material that you send out. One final use would be for personal motivation.

Click on the following link to view examples of client testimonials:

http://www.bwbmarketing.com/Testimonials/tabid/216/Default.aspx 

Source: http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/06/16/how-to-get-use-testimonials/

1/22/2010 - Tip of the Week - Making a Community out of your customers

One of the most valuable things a marketer can do is to turn their customers into a community.  This is beneficial because people like to feel that they are part of something and if they do they are more likely to visit your site, provide feedback, and recommend your product.

The first step in achieving this would be to figure out what your customers like about you.  This can be done either through surveys or searching through your blog.  The goal is to define segments based on interests and not demographics. 

The next thing to do would be to find out where else your target audience hangs out online.  Then you can create content based on their interests and figure out how to reach them.  You can also create a custom social network using sites such as Ning.  The final step is to maintain your community.

Source: Adam Boyden, http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/3114/transforming-customers-into-a-community

 2/3/10 - Tip of the Week - Guerilla Marketing Techniques

Don’t have a big marketing budget? Don’t worry, employing one or several low cost guerilla marketing techniques can greatly improve your marketing success. Guerilla marketing is defined as unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. Some ideas include games and premiums, public service, direct mail, websites/social networking, and participation in trade shows.

Sources: http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing-advertising/internet-marketing/868-1.html
Keywordmktg.com/Glossary.aspx

2/11/10 - Tip of the Week - Essential Elements of a Marketing Plan

When preparing a marketing campaign, a marketing plan is essential to make as well.  The basic elements include:

-Situation Analysis – This includes a competitive analysis of both direct and indirect competition, a SWOT analysis, and a market analysis which includes a market forecast, segmentation, customer information, and market needs.

-Marketing Strategy –This includes a mission statement, objectives, market segment, and positioning

-Sales Forecast – Used to track sales by month vs. what was planned, as well as to track sales by product or region

-Expense Budget – Which includes all expenses that can be tracked month to month.

Source: http://articles.mplans.com/the-essential-contents-of-a-marketing-plan/

2/18/10 - Tip of the Week - Major Marketing Mistakes

The following are errors you need to avoid.

1.  Fixing what’s not broken – There is no need to switch a marketing/advertising campaign just because you are bored with it

2.  Trying to reinvent the wheel – It is important to be innovative when developing marketing strategies, but also keep in mind that what worked for other companies can work for you too. 

3.  Not targeting a Specific Market

4.  Focusing on Acquiring New Customers instead of Promoting to Current/Previous Customers

5.  Not Systematically Following Up On Leads

Source: http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/monstrous.htm

3/2/10 - Tip of the Week - Social Marketing Ideas (Part 2 of 2)

1. Write articles for sites.
2. Write blogs for other blog sites.
3. Get to know the bloggers that blog to your customer group.
4. Start a podcast.
5. Create a "Squidoo Lense"
6. Promote your site through flickr or other image communities.
7. Host an online event.
8. Participate in an online event.
9. Attend an online event.

Source: http://www.goodmarketingideas.com/internet-marketing-ideas.htm#viral-marketing-ideas

Tip of the Week - 3/9/10 - Blog Marketing

Tip of the Week - 3/25/10 - Search Engine Optimization (Part 2 of 2)

Here are the 5 remaining tips on search engine optimization.

1.  Never publish the same article under two or more URLs on your site – The quality of a website based on Google’s criteria is the number and quality of links to that page, so having duplicates dilutes it.

2.  Create standing pages as link-bait for popular ongoing stories and issues.

3.  Never retire or change page URLs without providing a 301 redirect.

4.  Use bit.ly or other URL shorteners that use 301 redirects and provide click stats when posting to Twitter.

5.  Link to other great, original content and invite other publishers to link to yours

Source: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/robert/200905/1733/

Tip of the Week - 4/1/10 - How to Forecast Your Sales

 Tip of the Week -  4/7/10 - Strategies for Online Events Marketing

Tip of the Week - 4/13/10 - Marketing Channel Strategy

 Tip of the Week - 4/20/10 - Customer Generation - Maximizing Your Lead

 Tip of the Week - 5/4/10 - Inexpensive Sources of Maarketing Research

Tip of the Week - 5/11/10 - Marketing to Gen Y

5/20/2010 -  Tip of the Week - Local Marketing Ideas

1. Advertise on a billboard. 

2. Sponsor a local event.

3. Host a BBQ.

4. Attend a Chamber of Commerce or another business meeting.

5. Get involved in local charities.

6. Volunteer to speak at local events.

7. Write an article for a local paper.

8. Hold open panel business forums in your community.

9. Make shirts with your logo on them and give them to people.

10. Offer your product as the prize for a local contest.

Source: http://www.goodmarketingideas.com/local-marketing-ideas.htm

6/16/2010 - Top Three Social Networking Sites Your Business Must Be On 

Any business should have a strong presence on these three sites:

 7/1/2010 - Contest Marketing

Creating a contest around your brand or product is a great way to build buzz and get people talking about you.  Contests are nice because they grab people’s attention and they are completely controlled by you.  Here are some things to keep in mind before  you create one.

2. Brainstorm ideas – Be creative, don’t copy another company’s contest because it won’t create a buzz.  Make the contest appropriate for your target market, like a video contest for more tech savvy customers.

3. Create buzz by having judges of the contest be well known people in the industry.

4. Make sure your image and content are the best ever, because this contest will attract attention from new prospects.

5. Keep in mind how you want to announce the winner.  Be creative here as well.

 7/26/2010 - Building Traffic for your blog