Multi-Channel Marketing
December 22, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
Many organizations struggle to optimize online and offline marketing campaigns across an ever increasing number of new marketing channels. Silos of information reside in separate channel-centric technologies, and distributed marketing efforts, from both internal groups and external relationships, add organizational challenges to managing multichannel marketing efforts. Most of all, the proliferation of sales and marketing channels has made multichannel campaign performance difficult to track and monitor.
According to a new study published by Aberdeen, Best-in-Class companies are 1.5-times more likely to address these challenges by utilizing next-generation solutions that enable cross-channel optimization across an enterprise.
The report reveals how top performing companies currently execute multichannel campaigns to extract maximum value from their marketing investments. By combining organizational capabilities and marketing technologies, Best-in-Class companies are able to positively affect return on marketing investments and customer profitability.
“Traditional multichannel marketing is largely a function of delivering multiple separate campaigns across multiple channels,” explains Ian Michiels, Research Director at Aberdeen. “Best-in-Class companies are executing structured, collaborative cross-channel campaigns, and they are deriving extraordinary results from these tactics.” The top challenges organizations face when implementing a multichannel marketing campaign are data integration problems created by disparate systems, the lack of technology to centralize multichannel management, and the organizational challenges associated with department silos. “The challenge of executing, measuring, and optimizing multichannel marketing has far reaching implications that affect marketing performance, measurement, and customer retention and acquisition.”
Take Aim at Your Audience
December 18, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
A phrase I hear countless companies say in regard to advertising is, “I know I am wasting half of my marketing budget, the problem is that I don’t know which half!” This is a common dilemma that is directly related to where, when and how you are distributing your brand.
A research report was just released by Advertising Age that revealed that the automotive industry would be much better served by transitioning away from television towards radio. This case study is key in understanding domain expertise. If automakers migrate away from television to radio they could be able to dramatically cut their collective marketing budgets while still hitting their target audience; thus increasing their advertising ROI.
If you feel that your marketing dollars are being wasted on the wrong mediums, don’t get frustrated… GET FOCUSED!
Reputation Management
December 10, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
Let me introduce you to your best friend and sometimes worst enemy: social media marketing. You have heard the success stories of companies driving powerful consumer awareness via a viral video on Youtube or attaining expert credentials through relevant blog postings. However I want to talk about what happens when social media marketing gets ugly. If you purchase advertisements through an online ad network, there is a strong possibility that you do not know where your brand its being displayed. This has two negative components:
- Your business could be placed next to brand harming content
- Your banner ads could be simply filling in remnant inventory, which means you are practically guaranteed to lose your return on marketing investment
So what can you do to protect your brand’s reputation in the marketplace? Focus first and foremost on where your ads will be shown. This is where traditional advertising had it right. Companies paid based on placement, not solely on impressions. Secondly, experiment and choose innovative advertising mechanisms. If your marketing strategy has little to no risk, then you will produce little to no results. Good examples of fresh advertising placements are:
- Sponsored blog posts
- Video advertising
- Mobile marketing
Social media marketing can be your best friend, but only if you have a well thought out plan and clear objectives.
The Right Way to Make Your Brand Disruptive
December 8, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
The most common question I’m asked by clients is: where should I be marketing my business to drive results? The funny thing is that the answer is never the same for that particular question. Your tactical advertising plan needs to be in line with your product strong suits. A good rule of thumb is:
If your advertisements are annoying to their audience, they are being distributed on the wrong medium.
For example, if you are running social networking ads that constantly get complaints, you probably shouldn’t be placing your banner ads on sites like Facebook or Myspace. Every business has its sweet spot, the key is being able to recognize how to become ‘disruptive’ without becoming annoying.
Let’s compare two ‘disruptive’ advertising mechanisms: Product Samples vs. Internet Pop Ups. Both of these marketing tools ‘disrupt’ the user experience, the key difference is that giving away product samples help to establish brand loyalty while pop up ads simply annoy viewers and many times drive them to competing companies.
Every business sector has a specific medium in which their advertisements should be placed, below are some of the best pairings I’ve witnessed with clients:
- Car Dealerships – Newspaper and TV
- Legal Counsel – Yellowpages
- Consumer Electronics – Search Engine Marketing
- Movie Studios – Online Video Pre-Roll Commercials
- Business to Business Enterprises – Blogging
So remember to keep on disrupting your audience (it’s the only way to get their attention), however make sure that you are building strong and positive relationships with consumers as opposed to simply throwing an ad in front of their face.
SwingAway Launches Blog and Online Academy
December 4, 2008 by OA Group · 1 Comment
PRESS RELEASE
SwingAway Sports Products announces the launch of the Free SwingAway On-Line Hitting Academy and The new SwingAway Instructional Blog site.
The SwingAway Hitting System is the Premier Batting Station training aid in the baseball and softball hitting marketplace. This Patented product is used and supported by all 30 Major League Baseball Teams, the Olympic Softball Team plus 100’s of top tier college and high schools programs throughout the nation.
SwingAway® Sports Products has announced and launched two new Free web-based resources to help both baseball and softball players become better hitters and players.
- Free On-Line Hitting Academy for players of all ages and skill levels featuring Free video instruction and drills developed by the very best hitting coaches in the game of baseball and softball. The Hitting Academy can be found on SwingAway’s website, www.swingaway.com.
- SwingAway Instructional Blog, www.swingawayblog.com. This blog site features baseball and softball instructional articles that include all physical and mental aspects of the game. The blog is not limited to solely hitting instruction and written by the foremost authorities of the game.
“SwingAway is a different kind of Baseball and Softball Training Products Company,” says John J Flading- President and CEO, “We do not just sell world class Hitting Machines and Training Aids, and we deliver solutions to our customers. Our customers are serious Baseball and Softball Players that are determined to become better ball players, they do not just own our products; they invest in themselves though hard work and by getting the tools necessary to achieve their dreams! SwingAway as a company is also very serious about hitting. We feel strongly that it is our responsibility to offer our customers every resource to assist them to become better Hitters. If our customers are going to invest in a SwingAway then we are going to continue to invest in them until they reach their goals.”
The powerful combination of regularly Training on the SwingAway Hitting System with the wealth of resources found on these two new sites, the SwingAway Customer will quickly reach their Maximum Hitting Potential and Get Real Good, Real Fast.
How to Thrive During a Challenging Holiday Season
December 1, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
Ahhh, the holiday season is here. From the exuberant faces packed into the malls during ‘Black Friday’ to the hopefulness of New Years, this is traditionally the best time of year for brands and retailers. However the current market uncertainty has frightened the everyday consumer, and scared shoppers into frugal individuals. Essentially every major research agency is projecting the worst retail season in years, and these reports will most likely come to fruition. So am I saying to pack it in? Of course not.
Even though the season may offer several obstacles not seen in previous years, there is still plenty of opportunity for brands to emerge victorious over the next thirty days. Below are my three tips for having a successful holiday marketing campaign:
- Take a lesson in logic and live by Occam’s Razor, which states that the simplest answer to a problem is usually the best option. In other words, do not try to take drastic branding action over the Holidays in order to drive consumer awareness. When considering where and how your advertisements will be shown, live by the phrase: keep it simple stupid.
- If you have an established presence in the marketplace, continue to build deeper relationships with preexisting clients. Strong market research has shown that it is ten times as expensive to capture a new customer as to retain a previous client. So RIGHT NOW is the time to start hitting your email list, you very well may have a goldmine at your disposal of new sales from old clients.
- Cut all unnecessary spending and reevaluate all existing vendor relationships. You may be paying four services that have cheap of even free alternatives. A good example of this principle in action is CRM software. I have worked with organizations that pay thousands of dollars on services like Salesforce when web applications such as Zoho are completely free for small businesses and extremely cost effective for large enterprises.
It may not be easy, but if you stay smart this Holiday season your business can still flourish.
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