Friday, March 26, 2010

Branding and Search Advertising



Branding and direct response are integrally related, but they're often positioned against each other.

Search engine marketers are often focused on a basic direct-marketing objective: conversion and outcome. They measure their search advertising by direct-response metrics. Google and other search engines measure conversion. They haven't taken the time to do any research on what happened to the people who saw the company listing but didn't click on it. Most of the people buying search are buying clicks. So they haven't measured the brand at all.

Some online marketers forget branding's importance as a search engine marketing component. When they regard search advertising as direct-response marketing, they believe they save money by paying only for conversions. They don't realize how much greater click-through and conversion rates would be if their brands were recognized and trusted by that same search audience.

These search marketers believe simply being in front of a motivated buyer, at the moment they're considering a buying decision, is enough to help them achieve success. That's often not nearly enough.

Many search marketers believe they can pop in front of a prospect, screaming, "Offer! Offer!" A wiser strategy may be, "Brand, brand, brand, offer!"

Successful marketers know they must brand before they offer.

Branding occurs every time your brand is placed in the path of prospective customers, preferably when they're somewhwere along the buying cycle. You cannot expect a lot of prospects to come to your web site in order to be sold. You have to sell them around the periphery -- with print media ads, PR, at trade shows, with email blasts and ad banners. Not just online.

Ever notice how the number of prospects who query your brand name increases immediately after you publish a PR or article? How many more search click-throughs your site receives during and after an ad campaign?

Evidence of brand lift? Definitely.

If a prospective buyer hasn't heard of you until he's ready to make a purchase, you're not perceived as very different from your competitors. You're probably already losing.

If you can increase brand awareness, recognition, favorability and favorable brand associations, you will be able to increase the quantity and quality of click-throughs from existing paid keyword ads.

Reach your audience several times. Allow them to get to know you before you present an offer.


Friday, March 19, 2010

You don't have the time. You don't have a system.



I recently came across these statistics abut how frequently sales people follow up with their prospects. Frankly, the statistics are depressing.


48% of sales people never follow up with their prospects.
25% of sales people make a second contact with their prospect and then stop.
12% of sales people make three contacts with their prospects and then stop.
Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts with their prospects.

Reading further:

2% of sales are made on the first contact with a prospect.
3% of sales are made on the second contact with a prospect.
5% of sales are made on the third contact with a prospect.
10% of sales are made on the fourth contact with a prospect.
80% of sales are made between the fifth and twelfth contact with a prospect.

If you (or your dealers and resellers) are a part of the 90% who are not adequately staying in touch with prospects, you probably have a myriad of reasons why you are unable to do so. And those reasons are probably not because you don't know that you should. You're probably not following up with prospects because:

You don't have the time. You don't have a system.

As more-and-more marketers now measure ROI for their advertising investment, you may want to find the time and a system to improve your sales follow-up. Doing so over time, it will likely lead to a higher ROI.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

It's all in the content!



Billboard marketing is fine on Route 66, but it’s all wrong
on the information superhighway.


Your job as a marketer is to make it easy for your buyers to buy from you. But making it easy for them may be hard for you, unless you can execute an effective content marketing strategy.

Content marketing is the art of understanding exactly what buyers need to know and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way. This extends way beyond product information into the realm of best practices, case studies, success stories, and more.

Why? All the rules have changed. You will need to relearn the marketing game with a brand new marketing mindset. Those that can adapt will flourish. Those that don’t…well… think of the fate of the dinosaurs.

Buyer behavior has changed dramatically in the past decade. Your buyers are busy on the Internet becoming more knowledgeable about everything they want to buy. They aren’t wandering around aimlessly hoping to be influenced by marketing messages that arrive out of the blue. And they are not sitting around waiting to hear from you. They have no time to waste–and resent the onslaught of unwanted advertising messages. In short, buyers don’t want to be sold. They want to make up their own minds based on their own information gathering.

Understanding the New Breed of Buyer is Essential

Buyers today make their own informed decisions about what they want to buy and whom they want to buy from. Technology advancements, particularly the pervasive use of the Internet as a buying tool, have put the buyer in control. They can learn most of what they need to know about a company and its products before they ever contact vendors they will consider. By the time they are ready to talk to you, they will be armed with information about your company, its people, and its products. Whether you are selling Mazdas or industrial equipment, you need to use traditional media to build brand awareness, to invite inquisitiveness…to then drive buyers to relevant content within your web site.

This is actually great news if you take an enlightened approach to these newly empowered buyers. The even better news is that your company is empowered too–thanks to seamless and integrated technology that enables you to talk with prospects in more and different ways than had ever been possible.

Benefit from this new buyer behavior by executing an effective content marketing strategy

You know that prospective buyers will have done serious homework before they contact you. This presents a great opportunity.

Educate them about your industry, about possible solution choices, about best practices, and about the right questions to ask. Do this before they ever call you. In this way, you have already begun a relationship that will make it easier for them to buy. That’s what content marketing is all about.


By delivering content that is vital and relevant to your target market you will begin to take on an important role in their lives.

How do you deliver great online content that will attract and retain loyal customers?
That’s easy. Simply start thinking like a publisher.

What does it mean to think like a publisher?

When you boil it down, publishing is simple to explain:
• First, define a critical group of buyers.
• Second, determine what information they really need and how they want to receive it.
• Third, deliver that critical info to that core group of buyers in the way they want it.
• Fourth, make sure that your content is both relevant and compelling.
• Fifth, continually measure how well you’re doing and adjust as you go

For a marketer who begins to think like a publisher, success means attracting and retaining lots of customers.

Is selling to a consumer different than selling to a company?

Should you develop ads that are different and compelling to stand out among all the bland ads in their targeted trade publications…or ads with the typical copy points and photos?

Time to Debunk

This is a common occurrence that happens in conference rooms across the country every day. It's not that there's anything inherently wrong with copy points and product shots, but there seems to be a powerful gravitational pull towards the bland in business-to-business advertising. The reasons, I believe, are because of a handful of persistent myths that permeate the industry's thinking. Here are a few:

B2B is different. This is probably the most common misunderstanding—that somehow the rules of everyday marketing don't apply in a business-to-business context. Sure, selling to a company is different than selling to a consumer. But it's no more different than selling toothpaste is to selling paint, or even than selling wine is to selling beer. In each case, you're trying to win over a unique group of people with an existing array of preconceptions and a distinct set of needs. No two marketing assignments are alike, yet every marketing assignment is subject to the same fundamental and unchanging principles (see below).

Information trumps emotion. Anybody who has spent time working in business-to-business advertising will hear this refrain (or some variation of it): "Make the product the hero," or "Get right to the point," or "Just make sure it has a strong call to action." It's as if the people who read B2B ads don't buy Nike shoes, attend Cirque du Soleil, or shop at Target on the weekends. Or if they do, they somehow disengage the right sides of their brains Monday through Friday.

That's not to say that information isn't important, and especially so when you're dealing with purchases that can run into the thousands or millions of dollars. But the bigger the purchase (typically), the longer the sales cycle. This affects the role that an ad can be expected to play.

In most advertising—consumer as well as B2B—it's the job of the ad to open the sale, not close it. And just because you want your prospects to know something doesn't mean they want to hear it. At least not at first. There's a saying that people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care, and there's truth to that even in advertising. First you must demonstrate that you understand the challenging world in which your prospects live, and then perhaps they will be willing to listen.

Creativity isn't important. This myth is less likely to be articulated but still widely held. It's why ads in trade magazines tend to be riddled with bullet points. There's nothing wrong with making advertising for even the most mundane products tasteful and aesthetically appealing. Even people who wear pocket protectors enjoy a good wine, a well-crafted movie, or a beautiful piece of art. The prospect isn't a robot; he is your neighbor.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

"You don't know who I am."

McGraw-Hill Publishing created the following two commentaries way back in 1958. They still apply today. I've just modernized them with new illustrations and fresh endings.









You don’t know my title.
You don’t know where I work.
You don’t know what I do.
You don’t call on me.
You don’t even know that I exist.
But – I can make or break your sale.”

MORAL: You make more friends than you know – with print media advertising.

"I don't know who you are."








"I don’t know your company.
I don’t know your company’s product.
I don’t know what your company stands for.
I don’t know your company’s customers.
I don’t know your company’s record.
I don’t know your company’s reputation.

Now, you want me to click on your link with my Google keyword search…
or link to your company web site?”


MORAL: Selling starts before the Internet – with print media advertising.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

WINNING TIPS FOR TOP ADVERTISING PERFORMANCE

Casual data reveals ad response is quite variable. Some companies report good to excellent results. Yet others say their advertising is consistently disappointing. Poor results often follow from the same basic mistakes.

If you're wasting money on ads, you can turn that around and make space ads work hard for you.

How well do you relate to the "sad ad" story?

Let's say, as an example, you're buying ads in a B2B magazine. You can pick from optional sizes and features. Perhaps you're buying a bigger ad or premium placement. You hope for at least the average response, though past performance makes you skeptical. But after the issue gets published, you don't get any phone calls and your web site traffic perks up only a little bit. You may feel disappointed or angry about wasting your advertising budget. You then ask, "Is there a way to win the ad game? Do space ads work for anyone? How can I get a decent return on my investment.

Winning the ad game.

What you really need is a way to distinguish your ad, to make your message more powerful. The way your ad is written makes all the difference. Great copy makes a visually plain ad more appealing and effective. It's the sales message that entices prospects to make a phone call or visit your web site. Visuals surely matter, but they usually can't deliver a persuasive sales message all alone. Take visuals out of an ad that has powerful copy and it still sells. To power up your ads, make sure the copy sells effectively.

Take a close look at any ads you've run, or planned, with a critical view. For each ad, ask key questions:

What is the selling message and how is it stated?

If you were a prospect, would this ad motivate further research about your product?

Do you see a corny cliche, slogan, or empty claim, but no real selling?

Does the message rely on hype or exagggeration?

Does the ad try to be funny but ends up silly, stupid and insulting?

Is there now selling copy at all?

Ask, "So what?" to every statement in the ad. Is the copy relevant to your prospects?

You'll soon see patterns of wretched ads for yourself. Often an ad is dominated by a company name and logo, when actually your prosects couldn't care less. They have a problem. They seek a solution. They don't care about you. Unless you're running a brand awarness campaign, ads should sell product, not market brand. An ad can only do one thing and do it well.

MY OBJECTIVE:

To share common sense lessons learned with 40-plus years experience in marketing, sales and as a B2B publisher.

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