Ever been in a meeting with a senior executive who says, “So why is your budget this big? I thought we were relying on Twitter and Facebook and all that social media stuff more. And that’s free.” There’s a widespread myth out there that social media is free. It isn’t. For a social media marketing campaign you need people, time, and technology […]
6 Ways to Improve Email ROI
Got a great email marketing solution? Got a solid opt-in and scrubbed contact list? That’s half the battle to a great return on your email marketing investment. Here are six simple tips you can use to improve almost any email marketing effort. 1. Remember why it’s called a “message”. If you think of your email […]
CRM + Marketing Automation
Few organizations today could thrive if they relied solely on Rolodexes, paper lead sheets, or Outlook address books. Whether they use a SaaS solution like Zoho or Salesforce.com, or a robust customized CRM solution, most organizations are convinced that they’re getting an excellent result from their CRM investment. The question is, could they be getting […]
Basic Google+ Cheat Sheet
Less than a month after it launched in late June, Google+ had over 25 million registered users — a milestone that took Twitter 29 months, and Facebook 3 years to reach. Have you tried it yet? Or are you waiting to see whether it’s a useful tool for multi-channel marketing? If you haven’t made up your […]
Managing Complex Marketing Projects
Multichannel marketing is a given for most marketers. None of us can afford to bet our company’s success by trying to reach our customers through just one channel. In large, distributed marketing organizations where creative and brand management are handled at the corporate level and local or field sales and marketing organizations execute their own […]
Become a Marketing Legend
By Deb McAlister-Holland Once upon a time, there was a brave knight who rode into battle and (a) slew the dragon (b) rescued the princess and (c) earned fame and fortune, becoming a legend for his many deeds. At least that’s how the story goes. In real life, deeds of derring-do are rare but it’s […]
How Engaged Are Your Customers?
Jasmine is a mixed-breed dog adopted from the Las Vegas dog pound. She’s a great dog. That’s her in the photo — patiently enduring being posed with a catalog of high-end dog beds while wearing a pair of silly eye glasses. Most of the time, she did what she was asked, (which was to look directly at the […]
Four Marketing Lessons from The Grateful Dead
By Deb McAlister-Holland On April 15, 2010, IDC analysts Frank Gens and Amy Konary presented an executive briefing called The Maturing Cloud: What the Grateful Dead Can Teach Us About Cloud Economics. In addition to IDC’s usual carefully researched data, the webinar included a wealth of thought-provoking information that used analogies from the band’s storied history and […]
Writing Guaranteed Press Releases
by Deb McAlister-Holland Long ago, in an office less than three miles from the one I am in today, I wrote my first press release on an IBM Selectric typewriter. The goal was simple: to persuade a reporter (radio, TV, or print) to take one or more of the sentences in the press release and include it […]
Measuring Earned Media vs. Paid Media
The newest buzz word for engaging current and prospective customers through social media is earned media. It’s measured with the same metrics as traditional paid media (advertising, press releases, telemarketing, direct mail, and email marketing): impressions/audience size, lifts in brand awareness, message awareness, and purchase intent. Quantifying the value of earned media has moved up […]
Two Examples of Multi-channel Marketing Gone Wrong
Here’s this week’s round-up of news stories that we think offer insights or lessons that can help multi-channel distributed marketing organizations. Usually, we select five items, but this week, we’re focusing on just two because they seemed especially compelling. Court Approves Lawsuit Over Toyota Advertising Stunt In 2009, Saatchi and Saatchi (Toyota’s agency at the […]
Improving SEO Ranking: All Tools Are Not Equal
Everyone knows that optimizing your website, press releases, and blog posts for search engines make it easier for people to find your site and improve traffic. It’s less well known that search engines like Google and Bing change and update their algorithms regularly. If you’ve noticed a recent change in the visibility and ranking of […]