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Traits of Awesome Marketers Part I: Innovation

Posted On: Category: Ideas & Inspiration, Marketing Insights, Shout-OutsPosted By:

Structural Graphics is kicking off a month of awesomeness with a series of posts to help marketers breakthrough the clutter of their competition with insightful posts about what makes marketers, well, awesome.

This week’s post is all about innovation. One of the most distinctive traits of an awesome marketer is the ability to be innovative. Innovation helps marketers set their businesses apart from the competition, gets people excited about the company or brand, and makes waves in the industry.

Let’s take a look at how some big companies are using innovation to keep their audiences engaged.

Awesome Marketers Skew Reality and Fantasy

Americans love to interact with their entertainment. It’s why 24.75 billion dollars went to the gaming industry in 2011 according to a 2012 Entertainment Software Association report, and the top selling game of 2011 was Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, a game that positions players as soldiers on extreme military missions.

With an increasing interest in entertainment that feels like real life, it’s not surprising that some of the best marketing campaigns are the ones that bring fantasy right to your doorstep, like HBO did a few weeks ago to promote the premier of Game of Thrones. In early March, New York Times readers opened up a weekday edition to find the shadow of a dragon flying overhead with accompanying fake articles inspired by the show’s plot. The ad got fans talking, creating a buzz on Twitter:

Similiarly, when ad agency, Leo Burnett Toronto created an zombie billboard at the Toronto Union Station for the premiere of Walking Dead fans got excited. The agency took it a step further by sawing off zombie fingers to countdown the mid-season premiere and sending them to fans who took pictures with the billboard and posted them on Twitter. This person even made a gif.

In both cases HBO and AMC created a buzz by cleverly interrupting our daily life with something fantastical, and it made people happy and eager to start watching their favorite shows again.

Awesome Markerters Personify Their Brand

Case in point: Allstate Insurance Company. Allstate has the right ingredients in its Mayhem TV ads featuring a smooth-talking, rugged, sneering guy destined to make your life hell. In some episodes he’s a deer, a bad GPS or a blown out water heater and in others he’s a torrential downpour standing over your car’s open sunroof with a garden house.

Allstate’s SVP of Marketing, Lisa Cochrane said in Adweek, “We’re talking about value in an entirely new way,” she says. “With so many advertising messages focusing on convenience and price, consumers had been lulled into thinking of insurance as a commodity. We had to disrupt the conversation but do it in a respectful way.”

That recipe has definitely increased Allstate’s consumer engagement; Mayhem’s Facebook page has garnered 1.5 million fans and Allstate now has over 6 million video views on YouTube.

Awesome Marketers Are One with the Times

Awesome marketers know that the industry is always changing, so they stay on top of trends and figure out new ways to connect with their audience.

The folks over at Volkswagon are well aware that many consumers record their favorite shows on DVR and fast forward through commercials. So in an attempt to reach as many viewers as possible the company developed a “slowmercial”, or TV ad that can be seen at both normal and fast speeds. Volkswagon estimates that the slowmercial will have 50% more impact than their traditional commericals. It’s currently only airing in Belgium, so we’ll have to wait and see how that works out for US audiences.

This innovative approach demonstrates the creativity of the company as well as it’s understanding of its audience.

Have you been blown away by any creative and innovative marketing campaigns lately? Share them with us in the comments below.

 

Which Social Network is Best for Your Biz?

Posted On: Category: Marketing Insights, TechnologyPosted By:

Maybe it’s Pinterest, or Facebook. Or both. The 2012 Social Media Report states that U.S. audiences are spending more time online each year, and social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn are big time consumers of their attention.

In the United States, over 170 million people use social media. It’s become something we all share. Savvy marketers are seeing the opportunity in this and incorporating social networking into their overall marketing strategies.

With so many networks to choose from, how do you figure out where your business needs to be? Below, are outlines of four of the biggest social networks with a brief summation of how these applications might be used for business.

Facebook – a storyteller
Businesses can leverage Facebook to tell their stories. This network is a great place to communicate personality, share behind-the-scenes details, as well as products and services. Through updates, photo albums and savvy use of Pages, businesses can build a stronger connection to their fanbase.

Disney Facebook Milestone
The image above shows an example of a business (Disney) using Facebook’s Milestone feature to highlight a key moment in its history. Milestones are large, highlighted updates that let businesses share significant moments like historical events and anniversaries with fans while adding visual diversity to the Page layout.

Features like these establish a very interactive and fun way for consumers to learn about businesses, often leading them to share with their friends.

Twitter – filtered tweets lend insight
Businesses eager to engage with their customers will find the realtime conversations on Twitter engaging and insightful. The ability to search through tweets based on specific keywords can offer lots of insights on your customers wants and needs.

Marketers curious to see what people are saying about a certain topic (including their company) can type a relevant term into the Twitter search bar and browse filtered results. Below is an example of a query for ‘print marketing’:

Filtered Twitter search

From this one search, you can learn what companies are using print marketing in creative ways, tips on how to use Google Analytics to enhance your print marketing, and an article explaining why major companies feel print marketing is important.

Filtered search makes it easier for businesses to find relevant information to share with their followers and more easily engage with them in topics that relate to their mission.

Pinterest – great tool for retail
The real benefit of Pinterest seems to be seen in the retail sector. The pinboard style of the website encourages its mostly-female demographic to create visual wishlists targeted towards items in the fashion, beauty and health industries. An added benefit to businesses is the built-in pricing capabilities.

According to a recent Pew study a smaller, older demographic of users – about 16% – are on Pinterest and over age 50.

Recent changes to the site include a sleeker, larger layout, the ability to drag images to boards, and suggestions for pins you might like.

Visual arts organizations and museums can also use the site’s visual focus to share artwork from exhibitions with followers.

Google+ – improving search 
According to the site, “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful“. Google+ supports this mission by giving Google users more diverse and authentic information in search.

Google+ integrates business page activity into search results, giving businesses more control over what populates in Google search and enabling customers to see and follow the latest news and information about their business.

Coca Cola Google Search

Google+ pages add depth to search queries; not only do users find out critical info about a business like location and contact information, but a particular status update might further encourage them to engage and support a business.

For instance the search results for Coca Cola, above, also dislpay a status update on their page with information about an upcoming hangout, or video chat, with a super fan.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is different from networks like Pinterest because it’s not the venue to post products and pricing to make sales. 79% of LinkedIn users are age 35 or older and they comprise a network of learners converging to discuss topics related to their industry and profession.

Businesses can benefit by setting up pages and sharing resources but what’s really valuable are LinkedIn groups, which give employees a chance to promote their business through group interactions. By answering questions and creating thoughtful topics that relate to target consumers, businesses can promote themselves while also getting a heads up on potential leads.

Marketers would do well to thoughtfully consider each network (and there are more out there) that can be used as a tool to enhance a business. Once you decide which network works best for your business, the biggest factors are whether you have the time and the staff to curate content and consistently share information with followers. A great approach to getting social is to pick just one or two networks to engage with and make those efforts successful before branching out.

How have you determined which social networks to use for your business? Share in the comments below.

 

Google Panda: A Brief Overview For Marketers

Posted On: Category: Marketing Insights, TechnologyPosted By:

pandaI recently stumbled across this article on Hubspot by Kieran Flanagan, and it got me thinking about Google’s Panda update. I wondered what exactly it was, what happened recently and why it was important to me as a marketer.

Over St. Patrick’s Day weekend, Google performed its latest update to Panda, an algorithm initiated in early 2011, that changed the way Google populated search results on its famous search engine. It’s not clear to me now how many searches were affected by this recent update, but a look at the updates initiated since last year show that the percentage of searches affected are decreasing– only 1.2% were affected this past January.

The Head of Google Webspam, Matt Cutts reported that further updates would not be announced since they will occur automatically with other updates.

So what’s Panda about?

The initial Panda update in early 2011 affected nearly 12% of Google queries. The algorithm benefited Google’s users by pushing low quality content to the bottom of search results. This is how Google described it on their blog at the time:

“Google depends on the high-quality content created by wonderful websites around the world, and we do have a responsibility to encourage a healthy web ecosystem. Therefore, it is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that’s exactly what this change does.”

These are the two most significant qualifiers for low quality content:

  • pages that rip-off content from other sites
  • pages without real value (full of purchased links and advertisements) with no real content

Why is this important to marketers?

Google’s Panda update affects marketers directly because it corresponds to how users find their business online. Marketing and PR professionals must encompass digital channels in their marketing plans to increase visibility and outreach to target markets.

By knowing what kind of content the internet’s most popular search engine (it recently took 67% of the market share) is looking to provide its users, marketers can strategize ways to gain the best visibility and grow their audience.

What to do now

The simplest and easiest solution is to provide rich, relevant information on your website. Here’s how:

  • add valuable information like statistics, examples and case studies
  • avoid duplicating information (in its entirety) from other websites
  • use applicable keywords; don’t thoughtlessly litter your web pages without having relevant content to support them

Google is a critical web tool to help internet users find your business. It truly is a sign of the times to see Google evolving its process to provide value to the user’s experience.

What actions have you taken to enhance your customer’s experience as a result of the Panda updates? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Read more about Google Panda and other updates on the Google blog.

6 Great Tweets From SXSW

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Design, Marketing Insights, TechnologyPosted By:

Yesterday concluded the five-day interactive portion of one of the biggest technology, film and music festivals of the year: SXSW in Austin, Texas. Twitter has been seriously buzzing with all kinds of awesome SXSW content, so naturally, this week’s post compiles some of the best tweets from business leaders, community managers, marketers, and designers who attended.

These lucky ducks spent the last week immersing themselves in workshops and events that will enhance and change our approach to marketing, design and technology. Here’s what they had to share:

 

 

Over the last couple weeks there has been a lot of talk about 3D printing technology, especially since Burlesque dancer, model and actress, Deeta Von Teese stepped out in a 3D printed dress at Ace Hotel in New York and Wobbleworks far surpassed their Kickstarter goal to fund the first-ever 3D pen.

Entrepreneurs and designers are experimenting with print technology in new ways, which has excited buyers and proved that print is still a medium that attracts response. The print industry is resurging and bringing with it some awesome new toys.

 

 

Some messages never get old, which is why Heather’s words resonate. Her message is simple: plan, plan, plan. Be organized, coordinate all your efforts thoughtfully, and get social.

 

 

Travis’ message addresses why many business owners are afraid to participate in social media: they might lose control. It’s true that by putting your brand out there you’re opening yourself up naysayers, but in reality, you’re actually gaining control because you can quickly respond to any negative feedback you might receive, thereby demonstrating your concern for your customer and the efficiency of your brand. Social engagement gives you a direct connection to your buyers, so you also open yourself up to more good feedback too.

 

 

Your advocates are loyal fans, customers, and employees who share your brand with their network. These people extend your audience and shed a positive light on your brand. They are authentic marketers who find value in your products or services and want to share them with their friends because they genuinely believe it will add more satisfaction to their lives. What’s better marketing than that?

 

 

Any marketing you put out there should get to the heart of what you do and who you are. It should go back to your brands’ mission statement, and the message you crafted when you created your marketing plan (you did do that, right?). That doesn’t mean that you can’t be clever, creative, or inventive, it just means that what you are saying should not be convoluted, and indiscernible to your buyers.

 

 

Good marketing involves some risk. Don’t expect perfection from every idea you have, instead look for ways to learn from your endeavors and to keep striving once you’ve reached a goal. Then, set bigger goals to keep yourself inspired.

Did you attend SXSW? Have you been listening to the discussions about it online? Tell us what you think is cool in the comments below.

Building Stories in Promotional Packaging

Posted On: Category: Custom Design & Printing, Direct Mail Marketing, Marketing InsightsPosted By:

As marketers, we have to know how to craft messages that can translate to many different mediums. Sure, we can advertise a particular product or service, but those ads have to resonate in some way to convert our audience into buyers.

A good story goes a long way. Promotional packaging is unique in that you can incorporate sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste to incite an experience that stays in your buyers’ mind. But remember, the message behind all those neat-o features has to be strong.

So what do you say when you’re rolling out a huge direct mail campaign? How do you tell a good story?

With a good opener

You need a way to get people’s attention, which is why you need a good opener. Good openers are short, set the tone of your piece, and evoke a sentiment or inquiry in your buyer.

With a reason for reaching out

Position your products or services in a way that will show your buyer that you are addressing a need they have. You are there to fill a gap, to make their life easier or better. Whatever products or services you are promoting should serve a purpose to your audience. Your marketing message should have characters or situations in it that your buyer will understand and relate to.

With a call to action

Know what you want your end result to be and make sure your message encourages the buyer to learn more about you, either by sending them to your social network, website, or urging them to speak with a company representative via phone or email.

Want more info? Check out this article below by Arnie Kuenn. His tips get into the nitty-gritty of content creation and can help you focus on refining your message to make the most of your mailers.

Have other tips on good stories? Share them in the comments below.

8 Storytelling Tips To Enhance Your Content Marketing

by Arnie Kuenn

Storytelling has been around long before recorded history, but the way stories are told has changed dramatically throughout the course of time.

We’ve evolved from painting the walls of caves to the written word, to plays and movies, to the present ability to tell stories online in the form of videos, blog posts and on social media sites. However, despite the many changes in storytelling, some of the fundamentals have remained the same.

…read more on marketingland.com.

Using Eccentricity to Spark Interest

Posted On: Category: Design, Marketing InsightsPosted By:

Pigpen Eccentricity can be your best weapon in the Marketing and Promotion War, which for you, is about being heard over the white noise of your competitors.

One of the best marketing books I’ve ever read, Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead by David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan has a chapter dedicated entirely to eccentricity. By embracing their own personal eccentricities (marathon jams, extended mid-show breaks, free recording access at shows), the Grateful Dead became unique among musicians of the time and more relatable to their fans. In fact by being different, the Grateful Dead encouraged their fans to embrace their own personal eccentricities which gave rise to a loyal culture of supporters spanning generations. And it’s still attracting people today.

David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan put it this way: “In a world of ‘me-too’ products, the businesses that cultivate a strategy of appealing to the tastes of outliers are generating success.”

If you’re a marketer pulling out your hair trying to find new ways to reach your audience, it might pay off to lift the veil and capitalize on the traits that make your company different. It’s scary I know, but if you think about it, those eccentricities are a part of your story and since marketing experts are always saying “build and tell stories” why not tell it like it is. Right? Right.

So this is all great advice, but how do we implement it?

Get to know your customer’s personality. 

“Smart companies understand eccentricities and create a market from them.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

Get to know your customer. It’s Marketing 101, but it’s easy to forget when you’re juggling a million things. So how exactly do you get to know your customer?

  • Work with your marketing team to gather research on your current customers. Start tracking these statistics to see if you can identify any patterns. Are they mostly male or female? Is there a particular geographic region that most come from? Are they in large or small businesses? A particular industry? Do they follow you on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn? Are they more active on one channel versus another?
  • Think about the personalities behind these traits. If most of your customers come from a particular geographic region, learn about that area. Are there any quirks you can incorporate into your marketing strategy that will help build a connection (i.e. is that area known for exceptionally tasty cheese? The best wings? Awesome coffee)?

Tell it like it is.

“Stop hiding your personality behind carefully scripted announcements, press releases, and events.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

If your marketing content is full of industry terms and jargon that the average person would have no business knowing than you are thwarting your ability to connect. Your message must be clear and the words you choose to deliver that message should be relatable, simple and action-oriented. Notice how “relatable” is a consistent theme here?

Try new things.

“Marketers today need to experiment in their craft in order to make big breakthroughs. Instead of seeing failure as something to be avoided, CEOs and management teams need to free their marketers to experiment, quickly learn from failure, and experiment again.”
– Marketing Lessons From the Grateful Dead

Amen. Steven Pressfield eloquently says in his book, The War of Art: “The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.” The same can be applied to your marketing tactics. It can be darn scary to try something different, and not really know whether it will connect with your audience. But how can you determine the best way to connect and build relationships with your customers if you stick to the same old thing? You can’t. So toughen up and follow that brilliant, scary idea you had. It could turn out to be the best breakthrough your company has ever seen. And if not? Try again.

 

Image: Pigpen & Jerry of Grateful Dead in Front of Egyptian Backdrop via dead.net.

B2C Marketing: What Are You Contributing to Your Audience?

Posted On: Category: Marketing InsightsPosted By:

image courtesy compass creativeAuthentic marketing is about giving something of value to your customer. As a B2C (business-to-community) marketer, have you thought about what your company is contributing to your audience? Are you giving them something they want?

Last weekend, I fought off cabin fever (thanks Storm Nemo and Blizzard Charlotte) with a dose of Marie TV. The star, Marie Forleo is an entrepreneur, life coach and marketing guru with a kick-butt attitude and down-to-earth personality. I stumbled upon her weekly YouTube series a couple months ago and now I’m hooked. She’s that awesome.

In one episode, Marie offered up some tips on succeeding with your business goals, one of which was giving back to your customer. It made me think about how Marie’s contributions to me have made me a loyal subscriber. Every week I can tune in and get really great advice on a range of topics relevant to my interests.

Paying attention to what you are giving your customer can really pay off in your marketing strategies. Here are a three ideas to consider:

  • Teach your customer something
    This is seriously one of the best ways to engage with your target audience. Build trust with potential customers by giving clarity on topics that confuse them. Prove to them that your company can make their life easier and better.
  • Give free resources
    Make your audience feel like insiders. Incorporate resources, tips and tricks in your direct mail and marketing campaigns.
  • Be a storyteller
    People love to know inside stories. How your company evolved and the people making things happen behind the scenes are all interesting ways to engage. The fact that Marie Forleo rocked it on MTV, is a Jersey girl who didn’t grow up with a lot of money, and knows a ton of 90’s R&B lyrics makes me respect her even more because I can relate to her experiences, and respect her ability to overcome hardships and obstacles.

Do you think giving adds depth to your brand? Have you incorporated this concept into your direct mail campaigns? Tell us about it in the comments below or share with us on Facebook.

 

Image courtesy Compass Creative.

Tips for Marketing to C-Level Executives and Everyone else!

Posted On: Category: Marketing InsightsPosted By:

You’ll find plenty of books, articles, seminars and guides on how to market to c-level executives. They are the elusive top-prize for most b-to-b marketers. However, they read mail, visit websites, check voicemail and respond to marketing just like the rest of us. The trick to reaching them really isn’t all that different from reaching any other consumer.

To get anyone’s attention you need to be relevant, engaging and impactful. That’s it. That formula works regardless of the title you are going after. If your marketing can combine all three of these components chances are you’re going to have a successful campaign.

Relevance: Is your message relevant to a c-level executive? Depending on the size of the company, buying decisions are often made below the c-level, so perhaps you’re making an assumption on who the right person to talk to is. You also have to take into account that many c-level execs have assistants. If an assistant doesn’t think what you have to say is relevant to their boss, chances are they won’t pass it on.

Engaging: So perhaps you have made it into a c-level executive’s office. Now what? How are you going to get he/she to notice your message? Engagement is all about getting the recipient to notice and spend time with your brand. Using personalization is a very effective way to engage your recipient. Taking that one step further, a PURL (personalized URL) holds their attention and allows you to capture more intelligence on your prospects. We’ve got more ways to make something engaging than you can shake a stick at! By the way, where the heck does that expression come from? Since I am a bit of a nerd I had to look it up.

Lastly, we have to be impactful. Our piece has to make a lasting impression. I have received a lot of flat mail in my day and the only one I can really recall is my Dunkin Donuts coupons. Impact can only be had when the piece speaks right to the recipients needs and causes a response. [blatant sales pitch warning] We know impact like nobody’s business. As LeVar Burton used to say, don’t take my word for it.

It’s sort of funny that entire books, lectures (and blog posts) have been dedicated to this subject. For me, there aren’t too many differences between getting the attention of a c-level exec and Joe Shmo. I admit, the gatekeepers that executives have tend to be much better than Joe’s, but even gatekeepers respond to clever marketing.

Marketing and Hannibal Lecter

Posted On: Category: Design, Marketing InsightsPosted By:

Hannibal Lecter: First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? What does he do, this man you seek?

Clarice Starling: He kills women…

Hannibal Lecter: No. That is incidental. What is the first and principal thing he does? What needs does he serve by killing?

Clarice Starling: Anger, um, social acceptance, and, huh, sexual frustrations, sir…

Hannibal Lecter: No! He covets. That is his nature. And how do we begin to covet, Clarice? Do we seek out things to covet? Make an effort to answer now.

Clarice Starling: No. We just…

Hannibal Lecter: No. We begin by coveting what we see every day. Don’t you feel eyes moving over your body, Clarice? And don’t your eyes seek out the things you want?

Is your target audience any different? Do they not also begin to covet what they see every day? Don’t their eyes seek out the things that they want?

If you want to know why people aren’t responding to your marketing, take a look at what you are saying, and how you are getting that message in front of them, and how often you are getting that message in front of them.

Your marketing has to be attractive to them.

The benefits have to be in front of them consistently enough for your targets to begin to connect with them.

How do you plan on making this happen?

Get Up In Their Faces

Posted On: Category: Marketing InsightsPosted By:

It’s simple. Marketing is about getting in front of prospects when they are ready to buy. That’s all well and good for lower cost items, like toasters and pants, but it doesn’t play out when marketing high ticket items that have complexity like B2B products and services. Let’s face it, most of these products lack the “wow” factor. They are utilitarian in nature, and any “wow” lies deep beneath the surface, no matter how “cool” of a name that the product has.

Why do people buy B2B products and services? Because they believe that those services will provide a specific benefit to them. The products must either save money for their organization, or they must offer the ability for the organization to be more productive (both, really).

In order for the B2B buyer to see the value in the product or service, they are going to need to understand some of the complexities involved. Those complexities are going to have to be explained, and that knowledge is going to have to sink in and resonate with the buyer.

In order for the seller to get an opportunity to help the buyer to understand these complexities, and prove the value of the product or service, the buyer will have to be interested enough in what the seller is offering to make some time for the salesperson to speak with them and present the offering.

What is the best and most efficient way to get those busy professionals, who are so mired in their work that they don’t have time to read the “blog” that you advertise on, who you think will benefit most from your B2B product or service to know who you are?

Well, the fact is that most people (myself included) need to be hit over the head, and more than once in order for them to pay attention to anything new, regardless of how good it is, especially if it’s not full of cool color and a touchscreen that does everything for you. TVs with great picture quality can sell themselves. People just need to see them working. B2B products and services can’t make that kind of splash on their own. They just sit there, waiting.

If all of the wonderful products and services were invited to a dance, B2Bs would be standing against the wall all night, while all of the B2Cs partied down on the dance floor, moonwalking and breakdancing the night away. Oh, sure…B2B’s are the good students, they work superhard and get great grades, but no one cares about that at the dance, do they?