3 reasons to archive past newsletters on your website

1. Fresh content for the search engines. Posting your monthly or quarterly newsletters to your website is a great way to consistently add new content to your website. Chances are your newsletter is loaded with your industry specific keywords so each newsletter you post is content the search engines can find.

2. Show your visitors what they are signing up for. The archived newsletters show new potential subscribers exactly what they are signing up for. They can see the frequency of the newsletters and won’t be afraid they will get an email from you every day if they sign up. (Hint: make sure your opt in form is easily accessible from the archive to remind new subscribers to sign up!)

3. Reach a bigger audience. Your email newsletters have the opportunity to be viewed by more than just the people on your list. They can be seen by anyone who visits your site.

Do your marketing materials have a clear call to action?

Your call to action tells customers exactly what you want them to do.

A typical call to action could be:
- purchase a product (example: Buy Now)
- review a product
- subscribe to a newsletter
- request a more information or a demo
- call now – (Hint: if your goal is to have them pick up the phone, make sure your phone number is easy to find!)
- join our forum
- chat with a live agent
- create a wish list
- email item/article to a friend
- become our fan on Facebook

Remember:
You don’t always get what you ask for, but you never get what you don’t ask for… unless it’s contagious!
~ Franklyn Broude ~

Just Do It

Is there a person on the planet who doesn’t know this tagline?

Consider it Exhibit A for why Nike – and every brand, company and product – needs a good tagline.

A tagline is the identifier that distinguishes you from the crowd.

It’s the single simplest bit of communication that succinctly tells people who you are, what you do, and what benefit you provide for them.

It’s the touchstone that defines your business – both for customers and for your internal staff. And adhering to it can keep a company’s efforts focused and always on track.

With so much riding on a tagline, it’s important to get it right from the get-go. Otherwise, your best efforts can be like building a house without a solid foundation.

Many people think anyone can write a tagline. But to be honest, I’ve been a creative director in marketing for years, and I still don’t believe my position gives me the license to write taglines. I work with experts for this.

Taglines are a work of art based on client communications, research, competitive analysis, talent, creativity and trained writing skills.

Good taglines are carefully crafted to work on several levels.

Here are some of the questions clients and writers have to consider when evaluating their taglines:

• Does the tagline successfully communicate your brand’s positioning statement (corporate vision, brand promise)?
• Does your tagline add value to the brand?
• Is it persuasive?
• Is it memorable?
• Is it clear?
• Does it have an attitude?
• Does it differentiate your brand from the competition’s?

If you’re marketing a product or service, consider the strength and value of a good tagline.

And if you’re thinking about writing your own, ask yourself this question: Is it better to have a targeted, expertly crafted tagline which resonates with your target market, or risk creating confusion in an already over-crowded market?

With a business fundamental this essential, I always recommend working with a pro.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)

How to Use Google Alerts to Track Your Online Marketing

Google Alerts are a great tool for tracking your online marketing campaigns. They let you know what content Google is finding. Additionally, they can provide insight into what content is not being found (because you will not see this type of content in your Google Alerts) so you can adjust your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts accordingly.

What does a Google Alert track?
You can track content that Google has found including:
1. Blogs – Google should pick up posts from your own blog as well as posts from other bloggers who are talking about your company, products and services. (Tip: If Google is not picking up your blog posts you will need to optimize them for your keywords.)
2. Press Releases and News Stories – When you send out a press release, it can be picked up by news feeds all over the internet. Google alerts allow you to see the scope of the exposure you are getting. (Tip: If your press releases are not getting picked up by Google, make sure they are optimized for your keywords.)
3. Website Content – Whether you are optimizing pages of your own site for search engines or you are actively seeking in bound links to your site, Google will let you know when it finds new content.

What keywords should I track?
At a minimum, you should be tracking:
1. Your company name
2. Your product or service names
3. Your personal name (if relevant)
4. Your competitor company and/or product names

To sign up for Google Alerts, visit:
http://www.google.com/alerts

For more information on the types of Google Alerts available, visit:
http://www.google.com/support/alerts/bin/static.py?page=faq.html&hl=en

Dawn Chiu (DQ)

The Importance of Color in Branding and Advertising

Everyone knows The Golden Arches. My guess is that even folks in Zimbabwe recognize this descriptor for McDonald’s. But McDonald’s yellow (and red) branding was no accident. The fact is, there’s been much research to support the influence colors have on us, both emotionally and physically.

People naturally respond to color in three dimensions:
Hue: Pure spectrum colors, such as red, blue or yellow.
Saturation: The intensity of a hue (richness).
Value: Lightness and darkness.

Color is extremely complex and can also have many influences. How often have you questioned a color value only to run into a different opinion based on the surrounding environment? Is beige a warm color or a slight grey cool color when viewed under different lighting conditions?

Studies have shown that bright warm colors (red, orange and yellow) are known to stimulate excitement and generate activity. This is why kids toys are often packaged in these colors. In order to imply speed and efficiency, most fast-food branding consists of these bright colors as well.

Warm colors can also cause a different response based on the value.
Restaurants that want to convey comfort will choose deep warm colors, such as burgundy or burnt orange to increase longevity – which in turn increases the chance of ordering additional treats. Coffee, dessert anyone?

On to the cooler side of things, ever wonder why performers wait in a designated area called The Green Room? Light cool colors (green, blue) are known to have a calming effect.

We associate green to grass and the outdoors. Blues are representative of the sky and ocean. With these built-in instincts to understanding color, it’s no surprise that many health and beauty products apply these colors to their branding efforts.

These same cool colors displayed in a deeper value represent another meaning as well.
Subdued blues, for instance, are considered to be professional and trustworthy. Financial institutions often use blue for this reason. Many uniforms are also in a dark blue, such as those used by the police. Deeper greens are associated to wealth and quality; hence the color of money.

Given these implications, it’s important to understand that color plays a critical role in memory recall, which makes color consistency in branding a critical necessity.

The examples above only touch on the fundamentals of color and psychology. Every good designer should understand these basics and apply the best colors needed for their products and target markets.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)

How To Measure Your Website Traffic

Most web hosts today offer web traffic reports as part of your hosting package. Contact your host today if you don’t know where to find these reports. Web traffic reports are a critical part of every marketing campaign – both online and offline. In addition to telling you how many people visited your site, traffic reports can tell you how visitors found your site and how they are using it when they get there.

How many site visitors do you get in a month?

It is important to look at the number of visitors instead of the number of hits. The number of hits represents all files loaded by your website and includes pages, images and other files. The number of visitors will tell you how many people viewed your site. Most traffic reports will break this down further to tell you how many of these visitors were repeating visitors.

Monthly Web Traffic

You should also be able to see a graph of traffic over time. Most peaks in traffic will be credited to a marketing/advertising campaign you executed – whether it was an electronic newsletter that went out, a tradeshow/event you attended, a direct mail campaign that was sent out, an advertisement you ran in a magazine, etc.

Website Statistics

How are visitors finding your site?

Good web traffic reports will show you how visitors are finding your site. This information can be found in the “Referrers”, “Search Engines”, “Search Terms/Phrases” section of your report.

Referrers are other sites that link to your site. For example, Q2 Interactive Marketing and Design is a member of NAWBO Orange County and we have a listing in their member directory. When someone clicks on the link in our NAWBO listing to arrive at the Q2 website, it shows up as a referrer on our web traffic reports. This is a great tool for tracking the effectiveness of your directory listings.

There should also be a section in your traffic reports that tells you which search engines are sending you traffic. You can see if your traffic is mostly coming from Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL or any of the other search engines. In addition to the name of the search engine, you can see the actual search terms and phrases visitors are typing in to find your site.

How are visitors using your site when they get there?

The reports will show you which pages get the most views. Some reports will go further to show you exit pages (the last page someone viewed on your site) and paths visitors took through your site.

If your website is not generating business it is important to determine if you aren’t getting much traffic or if your website is just not converting visitors to customers. If you are getting a lot of traffic, but not a lot of customers from that traffic, it may indicate that visitors can’t find the information they are looking for or your call to action is not clear.

Dawn Chiu (DQ)

Can you identify your target market?

Lets say that you are a plastic surgeon and 90 percent of your business is generated from women ages 24-50. Would it be wise to spend marketing dollars on placing an ad in a men’s magazine? Unless the campaign is geared to encourage males to convince women to use this service, the chances of seeing a return on your investment are very slim.

Many organizations, when asked “who is your target audience?” will answer, “everyone.” Although we would all like to think that our products or services will be desired by all, it is unrealistic to try and target “everyone.” Fact is, targeting everyone isn’t targeting at all.

In the cases where your audience is vast, it’s usually best to create a campaign for each segment.

To define your target audience, start by answering these following points:

• Gender
• Age Range
• Income Level
• Education Level
• Marital Status
• Geographic Region

You will also want to establish the attitude of your audience toward your product or service:

1. Why do customers use your product or service?
2. What makes it different from your competitors?
3. What special features interest your target market?
4. Is your product or service a need or a luxury?
5. How will your target market find you?
6. Who or what influences your target market’s decisions?
7. What are the competitors offering?
8. How are your competitors positioned?

These are just a few of the elements that will help you target your audience and create a successful, cost-effective marketing/advertising campaign.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)

Marketing in a Recession: Making the most out of your marketing budget

Part 2 of 2
1. Focus on your target market.
You would not create and ad selling ice to Eskimos in Alaska, unless they were your target audience.
With smaller budgets to market, it is crucial that every dollar spent on advertising be well spent.

2. Manage your leads.
Many companies do well in acquiring leads but many do not maintain and nurture them.
Whether a lead is generated from a trade show event or an email newsletter, etc., it is wise to follow up immediately. Do not assume just because they are aware of your brand that your product or service will be top of mind.

3. Increase relationships with your existing clients.
It is a well known fact that it costs more money to market to new clients then to existing ones. Create more targeted campaigns. It can be as simple as starting out with a email campaign which includes a survey regarding your brand’s products or services.

4. Reinforce your brand’s attributes to existing and new clients.
Sales and marketing teams should be working together with one consistent message. It is important that all marketing and advertising have a cohesive look and feel as well as message. This applies to online communication as well as print medium. Integrated marketing is a key component to increasing brand awareness.

5. Build partnerships and alliances.
Since consumers are less willing to take risks during this period, it may be helpful to tap into your partners existing clients and cross-sell each others product or services. Many people also have less time to shop around and prefer to find one resource for all their needs.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)

Marketing in a Recession: An investment for the future

Part 1 of 2

In a day and age where people are spending less, companies must take the time to get their brand out into the marketplace.
This is the time where “build it and they shall come”, no longer applies.

In a study of U.S. recessions which included over 600 companies, McGraw-Hill Research found firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth, both during the recession and for the following three years, than those that eliminated or decreased advertising. By 1985, sales of companies that were aggressive recession advertisers had risen 256% over those that didn’t keep up their advertising.

A recession can actually create an opportunity, for any size company, to stand out, if smart marketing is continued aggressively, since there will be less competition overall.

In conclusion, the study of the 1990-91 recession reported by Penton Research Services, Coopers Lybrand, in conjunction with Business Science International stated it best, better performing businesses focused on a strong marketing program enabling them to solidify their customer base, take business away from less aggressive competitors, and position themselves for future growth during the recovery.

Look for Part 2 to be posted soon.

Jennie Quimbita (JQ)