Archive for the ‘marketing’ tag
E-mailmarketing voor startende marketeers
E-mailmarketing, werkt dat anno 2013 nog? Lezen ontvangers bedrijfsmails nog wel, of verdwijnen deze mails automatisch in de spambak of ‘verwijderde items’? Auteur Jordie van Rijn legt in…
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Storytelling: video draagt je organisatieverhalen
Storytelling. Het is een term die je steeds vaker hoort en die te pas en te onpas wordt gebruikt. Maar wat is storytelling eigenlijk? Is het oude wijn in nieuwe zakken of betekent het dat bedrijven…
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I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for a Personal Branding Lesson and Celebrity Apprentice Ice Cream
I’m a big fan of ice cream. I’m a big fan of the TV show All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. I also am a frequent Walgreens shopper. Imagine my jubilation when all three came together to make the perfect combination of sweet treats, celebrities, and branding.
For those of you that are not familiar, All-Star Celebrity Apprentice is the brainchild of Donald Trump. The reality show features celebrities from past seasons competing against one another in various marketing-related tasks with the goal of winning the coveted “all-star” title. The creative planning, development, and execution that went into each and every task made me feel like a kid at Christmas! From a marketing standpoint, I was thrilled to watch each team take on the role of a mini advertising agency, creating their best integrated campaigns in hopes of wooing the brand representatives and winning money for their charity.
Ice Cream & Walgreens
The finale of the show took place this week, and as expected, they pulled out all the stops to make it a star-studded experience. Country superstar Trace Adkins and one half of the dynamic duo Penn & Teller, Penn Jillette, were the two finalists. The final task involved not only coming up with a new flavor of ice cream for the Walgreens brand deLish, but also developing a commercial and hosting a fundraising event to debut the product. Wayne Newton and Tim Tebow were just a few of the famous faces on hand to show support for both sides.
Spoiler alert (in case you live under a rock and haven’t heard by now): Trace Adkins won! Both newly created ice cream flavors—Penn’s vanilla & chocolate magic swirtle and Trace’s maple macadamia mash-up—were available in Walgreens stores the day after the show’s finale. I rushed right out to my local Walgreens and bought them both and both are absolutely delish! The cashier and I had a lively discussion about the show, the celebs & the ice cream flavors; WOM (word of mouth marketing) at its finest folks.
A Lesson from Celebrity Apprentice
Now maybe your brand is no Walgreens and partnering with Donald Trump and Celebrity Apprentice is not an option for you. Understandable. That doesn’t mean your brand can’t learn a thing or two from the show.
The two finalists each created a commercial for the Walgreens brand while remaining true to their own personal brand.
Penn was quite overt in his brand representation, using the word “magic” in the name of his ice cream flavor. His 60-second commercial incorporated his magician partner, Teller; Vegas showgirls; and of course, a magic trick—all things Penn!
Trace created a maple macadamia mash-up ice cream flavor that was reflective of his personal brand as well—simple, sweet, and a little nutty! He remained true to his country music roots by using music and humor, with a cameo by the infamous Gary Busey, in his commercial.
What Non-Celebrities Can Do
The idea of crowdsourcing promotional and advertising efforts is nothing new; however, it is important to tie it all together in a unique way while staying true to your brand. Getting the most out of your partnerships and the talent of creative individuals all working together to support your brand is something you can do without deep pockets. Despite the fact that Celebrity Apprentice was comprised of just that—celebrities—it did not matter. Both teams had the same information to work with. No team won because they were more famous than the other. The playing field was level for each and every task throughout the show.
The winning team was the team with the most creative ideas that pulled off a multifaceted campaign that met the objectives of brand messaging, positioning, etc., in each weekly task. You don’t have to be Penn Jillette, Trace Adkins, or even Donald Trump to be able to do any of that. Channel your inner awesome using the resources you have at your disposal.
Unilever: Geen optimaal bereik zonder multiscreen advertising
“Als we alle consumenten in een week willen bereiken, moeten we adverteren op meer dan een scherm”. Geoff Seeley van Unilever Global ziet de rol van zijn bedrijf in de communicatieketen fundamenteel veranderen, vertelt hij op het Europese IAB-congres Interact.
“Het digitale landschap stelt ons voor een reeks uitdagingen om als mondiaal opererend merk ons verhaal uit te dragen. Er komen steeds meer schermen, de consument is always on en wij hebben de plicht om regelmatig met die mensen te praten”, aldus het hoofd Global Communications Planning.
“Als we in Amerika iedereen in een week willen bereiken, moeten we meerdere schermen inzetten. Het probleem is dat je niet dezelfde content op al die schermen kunt gebruiken. Het verhaal verandert zodanig, dat we ons hebben ontwikkeld van adverteerder tot uitgever en media owner en – in essentie – tot de dirigent van een orkest van mediakanalen en -boodschappen.”
Seeley was vanochtend in het IAB-congres in Barcelona een van de sprekers op de ‘Advertiser Summit’. Uit zijn woorden blijkt dat Unilevert scherp alle digitale ontwikkelingen volgt en multiscreen advertising veelvuldig toepast.
“Voor een bedrijf van onze omvang is het belangrijk om het verhaal van de merken levend te houden. Daar zijn we erg alert op naarmate je het digitale media-aanbod ziet versplinteren. Schermen zijn een game changer voor ons.” Een paar jaar geleden was ‘internet’ alleen de pc, tegenwoordig omvat dat ook tablets, televisie, smartphones en feature phones (op bijvoorbeeld de rurale markten in India). “Twee miljard mensen gebruiken onze producten ieder jaar. Het is op deze schaal een constante uitdaging om hen allemaal te kunnen bereiken met de best passende middelen.”
Een mediaplan bestaat bij Unilever niet meer uit een spreadsheet waarop staat welke boodschap wanneer via welk medium wordt gecommuniceerd. De media-inzet en interactie is continu gaande. Wereldwijd. “Onze boodschappen moeten naadloos kunnen overgaan van het ene naar het andere scherm.”
Dat multimediaal produceren moeilijk hoeft te zijn, laat hij zien met een aantal how to video’s op YouTube. Die laten zien hoe vrouwen hun haar kunnen verzorgen en stileren met producten van Unilever. “Vergis je niet. In het eerste kwartaal van dit jaar werd er op YouTube 1,9 miljard keer gezocht naar haarverzorgingstips, 0,8 miljard keer naar make-uptips en 0,7 miljard keer naar tips voor huidverzorging. We hebben onze instructievideo’s gemaakt met de fotomodellen die we voor printreclame gebruiken. De video-opnames worden direct na de fotoshoots gedaan. De extra productiekosten vallen zo reuze mee.”
Jef Vandercruys van bierbrouwer AB Inbev vult aan: “Merken nemen inderdaad steeds meer de uitgeversrol op zich. Er komt een onderlinge ‘battle of content’. Een van de lastigste aspecten daarbij is, nog steeds, om de digitale media-investeringen te relateren aan verkopen. Welke uitingen hebben waar in de customer journey welke en hoeveel impact?”
Seeley noch Vandercruys benoemde in deze discussie CRM als relevant thema, al is in de wandelgangen van Interact wel te horen dat het bouwen van directe relaties tussen producent en consument, buiten de media om, steeds hoger op de strategische agenda komt te staan.
When pricing is public, when pricing shouldn’t be public
Ellen Butler asked:
“Do you post your project, hourly, or starting rates on your website?”
The answer depends on what pricing model you’re using. If what you’re selling is a commodity, then pricing can be public. Most people who are in service-based businesses are selling hours of their time, which they treat as a commodity, just like apples, iron, gold, Apple’s stock, rice, and corn. That pricing model also makes it easy for buyers to do apples-to-apples comparisons. John Doe’s pricing is $50 an hour, while Jane Doe’s pricing is $40 an hour. If all you care about as a buyer is price, then the decision should be easy.
If what you’re selling is not a commodity, then pricing can’t be public because there is no standardized pricing. What’s the price of surgery? Well, it depends on what you need to have done, which doctor you’re going to have do the work, what hospital you’re going to have the work done at, how urgent the need is, who your healthcare insurance provider is… you get the idea. Surgery isn’t a commodity (yet).
What determines whether or not you are selling a commodity is customization. If what you do offers no significant benefits over what anyone else does – or if your buyers and customers don’t understand the difference between what you do and what others do – then you’re selling a commodity and you’re forced into a price war. If what you do is so unique and so customized that you’re a market of one, then you can price to what the market will bear. There’s a reason that Apple, when it releases a new product line, can price whatever the heck it wants – usually there are few to no competitors. Think back to when the first iPad came out. There was nothing else like it. Or the iPhone. Or the iPod. They were unique enough that they were their own markets for quite a while. Now, unless they continue to innovate, their spaces have become commoditized.
If you want more details on pricing, I recommend this older post on setting consulting billing rates for some additional ideas.
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Ophef over doorverkopen pingegevens banken
Het plan van het Utrechtse bedrijf Equens om pingegevens van mensen door te verkopen, leidt tot felle kritiek. Equens regelt het betalingsverkeer in Nederland en heeft dus informatie over wie waar pint en hoeveel.
SimpleRelevance raises $1M for tech that gives emails a personal touch
Impersonal, mass emails are easy to dislike and ignore, which is why SimpleRelevance has raised $1 million.
SimpleRelevance’s platform gathers customer data and then personalized emails to specifically target individuals. The technology looks at information like past purchase behavior and combines it with geographic, social, and demographic’ data to send highly targeted emails. The goal is to make emails ‘smarter’ so the right message is automatically delivered at the right time, with custom subject line, content, and delivery times.
The company claims that this degree of customization can increase conversion rates by 51 percent, increase open rates by 21 percent, and increase click rates by 29 percent. It also said that companies integrating the technology into their marketing have seen revenue increases ranging from 40 to 400 percent, as well as better customer engagement.
The solutions are comparable to those provided by Sailthru, another digital marketing company that raised $19 million in February for its Smart Data platform that personalizes communications through targeted emails, onsite and in-app recommendations, and text messages.
SimpleRelevance is a newer, smaller company that recently graduated from TechStar’s Chicago’s inaugural 2013 class. Hydpe Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners led this round with participation from i2A Fund and additional angels. The funding will be used for recruiting and hiring, and to expand its enterprise-level solutions.
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Content Club Kick-off: 3 inspirerende #Contentmarketing cases van Nederlandse bodem
Op de kletsnatte en door files geteisterde donderdagavond van 16 mei vond in de ConQuaestor Arena de aftrap plaats van de Content Club . Thema voor deze avond: Brand publishing: het hoe en waarom merken uitgevers worden. De coaches van de Content Club, Cor Hospes en Mark de Lange, brachten een zeer interessante opstelling binnen de lijnen:
1. Ronald Fabbro, marketing manager van adviesbureau ConQuaestor.
2. Tamara Rijnen, MarCom adviseur van de Triodos Bank en Arne Rozendaal, content manager van de Triodos Bank.
3. Albert Jan Huisman, content marketing specialist, internationaal spreker en Marketing Director van advocatenkantoor Kennedy Van der Laan.
Voor zo’n 85 Content Club supporters deelden de sprekers hun boeiende ervaringen over brand publishing, content marketingaanpak, mislukkingen en successen. Waarin duidelijk werd hoe zij voorop lopen door creatief te denken als uitgever en met succes. Kortom: Waardevolle lesson’s learned.
Lees Meer over: Content Club Kick-off: 3 inspirerende #Contentmarketing cases van Nederlandse bodem.
Are You Tracking Metrics That Mean Nothing?
Spend more than 20 minutes with a B2B marketer and you will inevitably end up speaking about metrics. Marketers are constantly looking to measure the impact of their craft and gain a better understanding of overall performance.
While we certainly should take the steps to measure marketing performance, many of the metrics being tracked today are meaningless. Why? Because there is simply no context behind them and metrics on their own provide no insights to the business. As marketers continue to improve and mature, we must analyze the right metrics to better inform us and enable better decision-making.
If you are currently tracking the following metrics, think about what insights they provide, and consider that—without the proper context—metrics are meaningless.
Cost per Lead
Many marketers have become obsessed with trying to drive down their overall cost per qualified lead. (Keep in mind that a lead is not a name that has been received via
web form.) However, the cost per lead should always be compared to the average sales price.
One organization that I worked with was concerned that they were paying close to $300 per qualified lead. However, their concern was unfounded after some analysis showed that they had a 6-9 month sales cycle and an Average Sales Price of $75,000. Spending $300 to get a truly qualified lead to sales was a bargain. The company had a 35% close rate—meaning that for every $900 spent on generating three qualified leads, they were realizing $75k for a 830% ROI. Not bad!
If you are going to measure the cost per lead for your organization, be sure to do it with the backdrop of average sales price and length of sales cycle. Then you will be able to properly benchmark and have the necessary information to determine if you really are paying too much.
Number of Dials
I met with a director of an Inside Lead Development team that was discussing his team’s efficiency. His proof point was the number of dials made per day to responses via inbound marketing. However, when a closer look was applied, the metrics showed less than 1% of these responses were converting to sales opportunities. Quite the disconnect in proving effectiveness!
While telemarketing continues to be a very viable tactic to engage potential buyers, be sure you are focusing and compensating on the right thing. The number of dials made by a telemarketer means nothing; talk time and rate of connection can show faulty metrics. The more appropriate metric would be number of accepted leads and leads converted to opportunities after a call happens. If you want a true read on how effective your tele-lead qualification team is, shift your metrics and compensation accordingly. Dials are not the right metrics to measure.
Number of Leads Generated
This one is sure to get me burned at the stake for heresy! Every marketer should be measuring the number of leads generated—that is one of the biggest goals of marketing year in and year out, right? Well, sort of… but stay with me here.
Too many marketing departments set off on a path of generating leads without a clear vision of how many qualified leads they need to generate to help sales achieve or overachieve quota. This understanding is crucial. Without it, marketing does not understand the real goal or have any the ability to know if they are being successful.
The key is to develop a lead planning process whereby marketing and sales work collaboratively to determine what the targets should be. Beginning with the revenue targets, you should be working backwards to determine the number of deals needed (knowing the ASP and Sales Win Rate is also vital to this exercise), number of Sales Qualified Leads, Sales Accepted, Qualified Leads and Valid Responses. This not only provides targets at each stage, it allows marketing and sales to measure against this number and align around a single goal. Having this process in place is the only way to provide meaning to the number of leads generated.
Number of Impressions, Clicks and Opens
These three metrics are every email marketer’s staple—the holy grail of metrics! Even now organizations run reports on clicks and opens and impressions or web visits. While those can be a top line indicator of engagement, without a deeper look into if those that are clicking are the right buyers these metrics mean nothing.
If you are simply measuring these baseline metrics, be sure to tie them back to opportunities to determine if you are engaging the right audience. You must also look downstream to see if all your top-line activity is contributing to pipeline. If it is not, you need to readjust your focus as impressions, clicks and opens aren’t indicating anything other than engagement.
Database Size
During one of the most contentious sales presentations I have ever given, a vice president of Marketing sat back and asked quite aggressively, “Do you even understand just how many contacts we generate each and every month?” Knowing that I could risk losing the deal answering this, I responded, “I’m sure there is a whole lot, but do you know if these are the right contacts?”
This conversation then led into a great discussion about the need for data segmentation and understanding your buyer. We discussed the potential of actually decreasing the size of their database due to the fact that many of the names that they had were never going to buy from them and were not the right targets.
When discussing the database, size does matter, but bigger does not always mean better. Be sure you have done the work to segment your data based on your ideal account and buyer profiles/personas, and be very targeted . You will get much better results.
As marketers, we are told every day that we are what we measure. There is some truth in that statement. However, the metrics have to count, too. Make sure you provide the right context to your measurements, so they give a view into the business and produce the value and insights you need. Otherwise, you have meaningless metrics… and those don’t help drive revenue!
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Staggering Stats And The New Reality
Have you seen the CTRL ALT Delete experience yet?
My latest book, CTRL ALT Delete, came out two days ago. In an attempt to create attention and interest, the team at Twist Image put together a very compelling story about business today. So far, the experience has been getting some rave reviews in places like Twitter and Facebook, but – for the most part – people are still misunderstanding what this all means. When you put things into context, provide the data to back it and present it as a story, you would think that the information would wake people up.
It rarely does.
It turns out that people still – wrongly – think that CTRL ALT Delete is a book about social media (it isn’t). It turns out that people still – wrongly – think that CTRL ALT Delete is a book about marketing (it isn’t). CTRL ALT Delete is a book about business life. We see facts, stats and data points all day long. We ‘re exposed to information, like we live in a world where more people have a mobile subscription than access to safe drinking water. We live in a world where Google‘s advertising revenue is greater than that of the entire print industry. But, beyond trying to catch our jaws as they hit the floor, what are we doing about it? We all struggle – deeply – to highlight companies that are handling this moment of business purgatory (as I call it) well. We can’t simple rattle them off. There are not a lot of great case studies (or simply not enough of them). Worse, each and every one of us struggles to figure our how to evolve professionally and bring the best "you" to work everyday. Will the company accept my new way of thinking? What will my clients and peers think? Is this too radical for our industry to handle?
What choice do we have?
In 2009, I published my first book, Six Pixels of Separation. It was a book that I wrote to demonstrate how technology, media our new inter-connected changes the very fabric of what it means to be a brand, create marketing and the relationship between consumers and these brands. It was a book that exposed the strategies we used at Twist Image to grow our business from a handful of employees and clients, to our current state of one hundred-plus full-time employees in two cities and working with some of the most iconic brands (we are one of the largest independent digital marketing agencies in North America). I don’t write this to brag, but rather as social proof that there was (and still is) alternatives to how to grow and market any business. In CTRL ALT Delete we have entered a world where the very fabric of business has changed forever (I break these out into five major movements in the business book), but brands are still not doing much about it. It didn’t end there. I felt that it would be unfair to write about these five movements without also spending a healthy chunk of time discussing us – the individuals – who are now entrusted to thrive in this new business environment.
Go through the CTRL ALT Delete story.
I encourage you to spend a few minutes going through the CTRL ALT Delete digital experience (you can do it online, on your tablet or smartphone). Keep a notepad nearby, answer the three questions that are a part of the experience and then think about two things:
- Your business.
- Your life.
Ready for a reboot?
What’s your take? How well-prepared is your business for this world that is not only constantly changing, but that has changed (dramatically)? How well-prepared are you, personally and professionally, for a world where we’ll no longer change jobs 4-5 times throughout our careers, but one where we will change careers 4-5 times throughout our lifetime? It’s funny, all of the staggering stats about the new reality in our world still triggers fear and anxiety. In reality, the feeling should be excitement and anticipation of a world that offers up a whole new layer of opportunity, wonder and amazement.
Do you still perceive this reboot to be something negative? You should not.
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