So, why are some of us still reluctant to use PURLs as an ingredient in our direct marketing mix. Does it not generate higher response rates than GURLs or CURLs ? Is it not cost efficient? Implementation is difficult and time consuming? If you nodded and/or answered “yes” to any of these questions, you probably [...]
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I recently attended a day of events at Ad:Tech Singapore, mainly to get a feel of the general sentiment in the marketing community in Asia.
I have to say, much of the sentiment is the same. The main focus is still on the dollars and sense; basically measuring the performance of the various marketing mediums, finding cheaper/better ways to reach the user/customer and providing better user benefit.
A lot of talk was on digital marketing, and how it has to be connected with traditional media as well as social media on different ends of the spectrum.
In terms of marketing technology of the future, mobile seems to be the unanimous way to go. Although I still have my qualms about its unique ability to more deeply invade and distract the user and in some cases make them pay for it.
Incidently, Yahoo now has mobile advertising. See http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/mobile/
One of the main differences in Asia (apart from the less mature markets) is the distribution of online spend. As far of marketing budgets go, the online budget is almost about 1%, much less than the (>20%) average in US and Europe.
I heard the same complains from online advertising companies that 30% of your customers are online so shouldn’t 30% of your budget be allocated to online mediums. I still disagree with this thought process.
Simply because online marketing (when done right) provides a better ROI than a print ad in a popular publication/ tradeshows and especially TV ads. So while I agree that online budgets should increase, I do so for an entirely different reason, they work!
In the words of one of the panelist from Yahoo. Online marketing flattens the marketing ‘ecosystem’ - your prospects go from awareness to retention to acquistion almost immediately.
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Frequently, at L2, we hear about client concerns about the potential of TOO MUCH personalization, and “Creepy” possibilities in communication.
Recently, while looking on the web, I found this at TPM.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/the_fatal_attraction_method_of_debt_collection.php
But to say that this is over the line is an understatement. It is not only poor customer policy, it is poor human behavior, and borders on the sociopathic, what this company did to this customer. Her late payments, or failure to pay do not permit grey moral operations on the part of the company. One person’s wrongs do not sanctify detrimental action by another person, let alone a corporation.
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Ever watched an ant trail? After a close examination, most people would probably agree that it is one of the most efficient systems in the world. Despite its efficiency, the slightest disruption will paralyze all efforts. Think of what happens when an ant trail approaches an unexpected crack on the sidewalk or if a leaf falls in the middle of it. Efficiency immediately evolves into chaos and all efforts made will yield no results.
Ever wondered why some of your best marketing efforts did not achieve desired results? Basically, what you thought was the best marketing initiative was just an ant trail that got disrupted by a leaf or a crack on the sidewalk. There was an objective, a plan and an investment of sufficient resources, but there was propably no effort made to anticipate disruptions and a reaction plan. This is why we marketers should value the importance of a follow up plan and make it a part of every marketing initiative.
If the content appears to be too abstract, here is an example to better illustrate my point. With a newly purchased car, I was in the market for modification parts or anything that will put an extra shine on it. About two months ago, while going through my messages in my Outlook inbox, I received an email from Acura promoting OEM parts in my gmail account. At the point of contact I was excited to see what Acura has to offer, but I also had to finish replying to several important messages in Outlook. I saved the message and intended to return to it later that day. As I was finishing up replying to the never ending list of messages, I was summoned to a meeting by my boss, received a couple of phone calls, and got several RSS alerts. I forgot about the offer message from Acura after a series of distractions. I did not recall the message until just now, as I am writing this blog post.
Acura had a plan of targeting all new car owners and the message was appealing to their target, but there was no follow up plan. It has been over two months now and I, as a consumer, am not as excited or motivated to install modification parts on my car. As consumers, we occasionally experience sudden urges to make a purchase that we later realize we can live without. Acura did not anticipate the disruption, a series of distractions, as a barrier to their initiative. If I had received a follow up email shortly after receiving the first offer message, I would probably have some new rims on my new car by now.
Disruptions can be costly to marketing efforts and cannot always be anticipated. Fortunately, unlike ants, we marketers can learn from mistakes and past experiences. We may be startled by a leaf in our path the first time, but we should have a plan of going around it the next time we encounter it. Until we make an effort to anticipate disruptions and have a follow up plan in place. we will not be able to prevent our efforts from falling into cracks it may come upon.
Disruptions will and can occur in any part of your marketing cycle. Check out these links for more insights on follow up marketing initiatives:
Customer service, Customer Relations, & Networking
Just something to think about…
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I’ve seen a lot of stuff written on other marketing blogs about the US election. While most came off as fluff to me, Al ries makes some convincing points on his monthly post on Adage about what marketers can learn from Obama’s campaign.
Some good points Al made:
The average guy with the right message can take on large corporations (watch out Google!)
Sticking to the same message. Telling it often makes it stick.
Different is better than better in marketing
Simplicity, consistency and relevance in your campaigns!
Read more from his post at http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=132237
Rohit Bhagava included a visual analysis of Obama’s campaign.
Check out his post at the influential marketing blog
http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2008/11/how-obamas-bran.html
Saw this event on the Tornado Marketing Blog.
Join the trio in a call this friday 24th October. Sign up even if you cannot make the call and get the recording link.
Sign up here: http://www.authorteleseminars.com/tribes2.html
Here’s a description of the live call from the sign up page.
On Friday, October 24 at 1pm Eastern Time, meet NY Times bestselling author, Seth Godin, and learn why it’s more profitable, powerful and productive to be a leader rather than to sit back and do nothing. You’ll discover why you already have the skills you need to make an incredible difference and how you can start leading right now.
You’ll not only hear from Seth, but get to hear from two other inspiring leaders who know exactly what it means to effectively lead a tribe:
John Jantsch, bestselling author of Duct Tape Marketing and columnist for Entrepreneur magazine
Dave Lakhani, author of Persuasion, Power of an Hour and Subliminal Persuasion
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First saw this on BL Ochman’s blog. Couple of blog posts ago I wrote about the lack of marketing on Avril Lavigne’s hugely popular “Girlfriend” video.
See how Ben Walker adds relevant links to his blog, twitter account, mp3s and even a Twitter song shirt.
Talk about making it easier to “follow you”.
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That’s 100 million views on youtube for Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend music video. What’s a pity is that I don’t see a link anywhere to buy her latest CDs. No updates of when her new album is coming out. Nothing that immediately converts these staggering numbers into increased sales or even to pass useful information to her fans about an upcoming concert or performance (she just performed in Singapore 2 days ago).
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