VWALLAH!: This Stuff Works.
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
What’s your opinion of social media? Are you an evangelist? A believer? A doubter? A nay-sayer? What if I told you that done strategically, creatively and professionally, social media can:
- Extend and Elevate Your Brand
- Create Brand Ambassadors of Your Loyal Consumers, and Create New Converts From Referred Consumers
- Help Mold and Improve Your Brand Via Dialogue and Feedback
- Be Measured, Quantified and ROIed
- Serve as an Outstanding Market Research or New Product or Service Development Resource
- Drive Traffic to Your Website (Sometimes Becoming a Top-Ranked Referral Source)
- Help SEO and SEM Your Website
- Help You Build Databases of Loyal Users
- Help You Better Understand Consumer Keyword Preferences, Making Your Online Marketing More Effective and Efficient
- Create a Community of Users Loyal To Your Brand Who Share Your Story Through Thoughts, Images, Even Videos
- Create Sales
- Create Profits
Done strategically, creatively and professionally, social media possesses the exciting potential to become a vital branding, marketing and sales tool for virtually any company or organization. It’s true. This stuff works.
Introducing Vwallah!, the exciting new social media marketing service from NOISE that’s rocking the worlds of innovative marketers across the United States in travel, tourism, destination, health care, retail, real estate, special needs and other industries.
These clients will tell you. It’s true. Done strategically, creatively and professionally, Vwallah! — this stuff works!
Interested in learning what’s up our sleeve? Contact Vwallah! Social Media Guru Alex Fernandez at 239.395.9555 or email him today at alexf@make-noise.com.
SOURCE: NOISE
SOCIAL MEDIA: What Can Indiana Jones Teach You?
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I was recently watching an “Indiana Jones” installment and found myself wrapping my head around one of Indy’s one-liners, about a half hour into the movie: “If you wanna be a good archaeologist, you’ve gotta get out of the library!” In my many conversations with clients and associates about social media marketing, it seems this quote would serve most people well.
You see, the number one question I’m asked in my position as Social Media Guru for Vwallah! is this: where do you learn this stuff? And the answer is: not just in the library.
If you truly want to learn how to leverage social media marketing, it takes real-world time. Social media has so many unspoken rules and so much informal etiquette, you need to learn how to do things the right way. Many business owners and marketing executives simply don’t have time for this. That’s one reason, I believe, why our new social media division has, in less than nine months, added significant clients across the country.
Second, limit your research and reading. There are millions of white papers and tutorials out there that attempt to encapsulate all of social media in a few paragraphs. You have likely read a couple. They have promising titles like, “10 Social Media Tools You Must Use” and “How to Measure ROI in Social Media,” and many of them offer helpful information. But who’s got the time? And by the time you’re done reading — because social media changes almost daily — the knowledge is outdated.
Finally, much like Indy stated, get out and start exploring! The best way to learn how social media works, is to get your hands dirty. It takes time, but if you don’t want to hire a social media services firm like Vwallah!, you’ll have to learn by doing. Jump in and play around with the different features on Facebook. Start tweeting on Twitter. Create a Linkedin account and join discussions. There are new social media websites created every day — each week, explore one that you haven’t tried out yet. And keep an eye out for what you perceive as “good” and “bad” uses of social media in the mean time.
Remember to treat social media like you treat anything else that is social:
- Explore and connect with new people and new communities.
- Interact and share with others, and then listen back to what they share with you.
- Work towards establishing relationships, and nurture those relationships over time.
SOURCE: NOISE (Alex Fernandez)
MARKETING: How To Factor Your E-Marketing Budget.
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
If you’re a smart marketer (and you are, because you’re reading Trendspottings), you’ve no doubt produced highly targeted, professionally executed and customer-centric E-marketing campaigns this year — and you’ve witnessed the benefits of The Almighty E-Mail to deliver outstanding clickthrough results and cost efficiencies for you.
So looking ahead to a wildly successful 2010 as we at NOISE are for our clients, how are you divvying up next year’s marketing spend?
Being the smart marketer that you are, you’re already budgeting more for E-marketing and social media — the only two marketing tactics to increase budget share in 2009. And to help you factor your E-marketing budget, NOISE presents this useful trending from MarketingSherpa that highlights the significant increase in E-marketing spend, across eight industries. (Note: simply click on the image to enlarge.)
Where will your 2010 E-marketing campaigns propell you? Hopefully, to greater success. And should you need a little propellent, well, rocket fuel is available here.
SOURCE: MarketingSherpa, NOISE
LEADERSHIP: What’s On Your Chalkboard?
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
At NOISE, we have a chalkboard near our front entrance to inform or remind employees each day of the week’s top goals. While client priorities change on a daily (or sometimes hourly) basis, our company’s core goals have remained the same over the past six months. They are:
1. Be exceptional!
2. Innovate!
3. Touch five new prospects a week!
I haven’t altered those goals recently for obvious reasons. And I’m very gratified to say, I believe those goals have helped us achieve this year, smack in the middle of one of the most economically challenging times in our country’s history, perhaps the most impressive record of creative excellence, new comprehensive services introductions (QwickClick VideoTours, Vwallah! Social Media, NOISE Inter.Active) and big name client acquisition in our 23 years in business.
Clearly, the lesson here isn’t that you write words on a chalkboard and you find success. The lesson is more, I believe, about how managers and leaders articulate — not just to their employees, but to themselves. In our case, we looked in the mirror and resolved to make a top-down corporate commitment to reach for the sky, even if the sky is full of dark clouds; we resolved to demand and expect only the brightest and best of employees, no excuses, within an environment that nurtures, molds, recognizes and rewards those efforts; and we resolved to make management accountable to its employees for growth (because actions do speak louder). Oh, and one more thing: we kept the faith.
I hope this doesn’t come across as self-serving. It’s not meant to be, because it’s a lesson we were gratified to have learned ourselves. And I’m sure if we stay open to it, we’ll learn more with every day.
How about your company? What words would you write on your chalkboard for success?
SOURCE: NOISE
CREATIVE: True Talent is Never Risk Taking.
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I think the profound economic challenges that we’ve all struggled through the past 18 months have created something of a “circle the wagons” mentality among most marketing professionals. That’s not a criticism. It’s sound strategy, common sense and frankly human nature to minimize risk taking when there’s little or no margin for error.
At the same time, it’s times like these that create “seize the moment” opportunities for the confident or courageous among us to do something bold — something that not only creates attention, but creates action.
Case in point is Pocahontas Fauss, a photographer in Southwest Florida aggressively seeking to launch her company (Red Daisy Photography) and expand her professional portfolio. Specializing in people (children and families) and personality (fun), Ms. Fauss approached NOISE client Friday’s Child with a win-win, value-added offer.
Now in robust economic times, Red Daisy Photography may not have made the offer — or the client may not have taken the risk on a “new” talent, opting instead to hire a shooter with more pages on her resume. But Ms. Fauss’s portfolio showed a great eye and, because money is an object today, Friday’s Child decided to bet on talent.
The result? A win-win delivered. For Friday’s Child, a fashion shoot of exceptional talent, skill, composition, creativity, quality and professionalism. For Red Daisy Photography, well-earned praise, promotion and publicity — as well as a ringing endorsement to hire her.
Lesson? In creative work, or any work really, you’re never taking a risk when you bet on true talent. True talent always shines.
SOURCE: NOISE
ONLINE MARKETING: More Consumers Saving More With E-Coupons.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
If price discounts or value-added promotions are part of your marketing mix, you’d be well advised to explore the potential online couponing can offer you — in flexibility, redemption and cost-effective delivery.
According to August, 2009 research from Scarborough and Burst Media, online couponing — comprised of e-mail, web-based and mobile offers — have grown to represent 16% of gross coupon redemption in the United States today.
While some statistics are obvious —over two-thirds of all coupons are redeemed by households of more than three persons — new trends are emerging, including:
• Almost 70% of all respondents would print and redeem an online coupon, up significantly from one year ago.
• Almost 50% of all respondents are more likely to redeem an online coupon than they were only six months ago.
• Today’s typical online coupon user tends to be younger, more affluent, more educated and (if possible) more female than the old-fashioned, printed coupon user.
• In addition, online coupon redemption can also be significantly influenced by geography (see chart).
Our recommendation? Think about how your target audience matches up with today’s online coupon clippers — then craft some attractive offers, test your campaigns and learn more if online couponing can help you gain consumers, sales and profits.
SOURCE: Marketing Profs, NOISE
INNOVATION: Giving Your Customers What They Want.
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Okay, you’ve probably just read this headline and scratched your head. After all, giving the customer what they want is about as old as dirt and simple as it gets.
Well, old it is. But simple it may not always be. That’s where the innovation part comes in.
Innovation as we all know can take many forms. Most innovation today manifests itself in new science and technology. But innovation can also be born when bold thinkers like you and me ask daring questions of the seemingly obvious like “why?” or “why not?”
It’s the simple questioning of the status quo, and the ability to look at something differently, that can just as effectively create fresh new ways of doing business, creating demand, satisfying customers and improving sales. Case in point is a new program launched this fall by NOISE client Fort HealthCare, an integrated, progressive health network that serves Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin and surrounding communities.
Through focus groups conducted by NOISE, Fort HealthCare learned that a source of frustration for new patients was the lack of empowerment they felt (in past experience elsewhere) in choosing a physician. So the innovative minds at Fort HealthCare marketing huddled together, enlisted a bunch of daring docs and launched a new Physician Interview Program called “Meet Your Match” — a free, 10-minute one-on-one interview with any or all participating providers.
Imagine that. Telling the doctor, basically, to open wide and say ahh.
Science? No. Technology? No. Common sense? Yes. Innovative? Yes yes.
Is there something about your operation or organization that would better satisfy your customers? Think about it. Then think about it differently.
SOURCE: NOISE
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: How to Share (If You Dare) With Facebook.
Monday, September 28th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
By now, only the most sheltered from the world of you have not been exposed to the marketing power of Facebook, to socially and positively extend a brand’s reputation, reach and results (caveat: when used correctly). But I’ll bet very few of you are aware of a free, traffic building and customer satisfaction enhancing application called Facebook Connect.
Facebook Connect is an API (application programming interface) that can serve as a click-to-use “forum” for your consumers to express and share their love of your product or service — in other words, a no-charge, user friendly, extremely social customer satisfaction section of your website.
Bonus for you: your consumers don’t have to be Facebook members to post their praise of you on your website, using Facebook Connect.
Bonus bonus for you: if your consumers are Facebook members, they can click-share their kudos about your product or service with all of their friends in the FB world.
Bonus bonus bonus for you: if said friends read Facebook Connect praise, a direct link back to your website automatically accompanies the posting — which, if you’ve done everything right and your consumer loves you, will drive new customers to your website to learn more.
NOISE client ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort has implemented Facebook Connect on its exciting new website (view here under “Raves and Reviews”). Since launch, an average of three comments per week have been posted and shared, expanding the resort’s reach, reputation and (hopefully) results.
But be forewarned: like any social media outlet, if you screw up, people will shout it from the mountaintop. Only with Facebook Connect, the mountaintop will be found right on your website. So rock your consumer’s world, and earn their praise. It’ll come back to you in spades.
To learn more, ask your agency. Your web developer. Or better yet, contact us at NOISE.
SOURCE: NOISE
HEALTH CARE: The Search Engine Will See You Now.
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
While the debate over America’s method of delivering health care carries on, the ground under the providers of health care is shifting — or so says a recent study of how consumers seek and obtain health information.
According to Manhattan Research, two out of three Americans begin their quest for health info that’s vital to them (or someone they love) not with a visit to their doctor, but a keyword search on their computer.
While this at first glance may seem like bad news for health care marketers, in fact it’s good news — because with smart marketing that embraces the Internet’s role, health care providers can lead consumers through the digital fact-finding and decision-making process. And ultimately, to their hospital’s or clinic’s front door.
So physicians and health care marketers, take these to marketing heart and call us in the morning:
• More U.S. adults use the Internet than they use doctors for obtaining health and medical information (so get on it!).
• Consumers are much more likely to begin their quest for health info with a search engine, versus going directly to a website (so optimize your website, initiate social media and do everything you can to up your search engine ranking).
• When consumers search, they’re much more likely to do so based on a specific condition or disease, versus a brand or name (so optimize your web presence with relevant content).
• The most common situation for search engine use is when a consumer, or someone they know, presents symptoms of a condition (so make sure your web marketing facilitates contacts and/or appointments).
SOURCE: American Marketing Association, MarketingVox.com, NOISE
INTEGRATED MARKETING: How to Really Involve Your Customers With Video.
Sunday, August 9th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Okay, so let’s assume you’re an innovative marketer who’s just created a social video for your product or service — and now you’re ready to hand it over to web programming.
Stop.
Online social video is perhaps the coolest, most effective new way to engage your customers, involve them (intellectually and emotionally) in your brand experience, and motivate them to action. But to paraphrase a certain movie cliche, it’s not like you can just edit it and they will come.
At NOISE, we’re building integrated marketing programs for our clients that leverage the power of online video across the gamut of marketing channels. Here are a few must-dos, as we see ‘em:
1. CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITIES. Social video isn’t like the old corporate video that packs everything you ever wanted to say in a five to seven minute novel. Social videos are your brand’s short stories — editorial, entertaining, fun, offbeat, quirky, informative, whatever you want them to be in ideally 120 or so seconds — but focused on a single element or experience of your brand. So inventory all your brand can offer a consumer, and you’ll have an idea of just how many interesting titles your online video library could contain.
2. YOU SHOOT, YOU SCORE. Assuming you’ve got the skill set in-house, or you’ve contracted with an expert social video producer (like QwickClick VideoTours) to create some really cool content, you’ll want to make sure you capitalize on all the ways video can drive traffic to your website by syndicating it throughout the world wide web. Sites like YouTube are obvious, but there are many more opportunities to put your video in front of potential consumers (from social media networks to industry-related websites and blogs). Asterisk: another advantage of utilizing a company like QwickClick for syndication is their ability to keyword tag your video for search engine optimization, and to provide important traffic data on your efforts.
3. HAPPY LANDINGS. Want to really create an integrated experience? Create unique landing pages (or microsites) for each social video. If you’re a hospital, that could be service offerings. If you’re a resort, that could be recreational opportunities. If you’re a retailer, that could be your sales, service or customer satisfaction divisions. If you’re a real estate company, that could be every listing. And with unique landing pages, you can track traffic specific to that page, thereby allowing you to better measure your efforts.
4. HERE A VIDEO, THERE A VIDEO. Now, examine your current marketing channels for opportunities to promote viewership of your online video. Print advertising? Direct mail? E-marketing (like the ‘Tween Waters Inn Island Resort example here)? Social media? Public relations? The possibilities are endless. The potential to excite consumers to clickthrough to your site is enormous.
So remember: for truly successful online video marketing, “the end” is just the beginning.
SOURCE: NOISE
SOURCE: NOISE
MARKETING: Reslicing Your Budget Pie.
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments
How are marketers investing their very valuable budgets today? According to a newly-released report from Forrester Research that studies First Quarter 2009 marketing budget allocations to First Quarter 2008, the pie is being sliced up quite differently than just a year ago. How does your budget compare?
Overall, the report noted that marketers have quickly and emphatically re-prioritized dollars toward strategies and tactics deemed most valuable to maintaining a competitive advantage. In simple speak, that basically means: adios traditional media, hola new media. Here’s a look at how the budget pie is being resliced:
- Social Media: 47% have increased budget
- Web Development: 44% have increased budget
- Online Advertising: 40% have increased budget
- E-Marketing: 38% have increased budget
- Marketing Technology: 27% have increased budget
- Loyalty Programs: 14% have increased budget
- Branding and Advertising: 11% have increased budget
- Direct Mail: 7% have increased budget
- Staff and Training: 5% have increased spending
- Traditional Media (TV, Radio, Print, Magazine): 4% have increased spending
Clearly, the trend would suggest that smart marketers will build their brand best by investing in areas that best enhance their customer’s brand experience — you know, marketing tactics that are interactive, directly communicative, social and measurable. To us at NOISE, that sounds like a smart strategy in any economic climate.
SOURCE: American Marketing Association, Forrester Research, NOISE
E-MARKETING: Nine Costly Mistakes (Are You Making Any of ‘Em?).
Saturday, August 1st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
As we all know, e-marketing can be an extremely effective and cost efficient sales strategy. As we all also know, consumers and technology are also becoming more e-savvy, meaning smart e-marketers should consistently review their campaigns — tracking opens, clickthroughs, opt-outs and spam reports — for any negative trends.
Should you come across any downward spirals, MarketingProfs presents nine ways you can screw up, and how you can fix ‘em:
1. USER AUTHENTICATION. Does the domain server you use for e-marketing support Sender ID and Sender Policy Framework (SPF)? If not, recipient ISPs may be blacklisting your emails as spam and not even delivering them. Ask.
2. CAN-SPAM. Are you CAN-SPAM compliant with a legit from line, accurate subject line, valid postal address and easy opt out? If not, get on it — every violation you would get nailed for will cost you $11,000.
3. OPT IN? HELLO? If you’re still incorrectly collecting e-data or using suspect e-lists, well, don’t bother reading on.
4. NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Does your e-blast or e-newsletter simply click back to one page (generally your home page) of your website? If so, you’re wasting opportunities to drive consumers directly to specific landing pages that can improve your sales (and ability to measure results).
5. SEE THE BIG PICTURE. If you’re using images, don’t make your offer entirely or predominantly image — 50% or more of all recipients won’t see the image, due to software suppression. Make sure you combine image with text.
6. KEEP IT SIMPLE, STUPID. The argument that brief, simple copy makes more effective e-marketing isn’t necessarily true. Studies show that if the subject is relevant to the consumer, longer copy works just as effectively.
7. THROWAWAY SUBJECT LINES. If you’re not investing brain cells in crafting an on-target subject line, you’re missing your biggest op to improve open rates.
8. IS YOUR EMAIL ON AN ISLAND? Like everything else, e-marketing should be integrated into a strategic marketing plan — and branded consistently to reflect your brand story and message. If not, shame on you.
9. TESTING, SHMESTING. How often do you test different subject lines, offers, graphic treatments of other e-marketing variables? If you haven’t yet, devise a campaign and put it to a variety of tests. Odds are, you’ll learn more about what makes your consumers tick and click.
SOURCE: Marketing Profs, NOISE
SOCIAL MEDIA: QwickClick More Customers to Your Web.
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
It’s been well documented here, there and virtually everywhere how the Internet has become the number one medium in the United States for video viewership — and how “social” or “web” videos, editorial in style and soft on sell, can dramatically drive awareness, buzz, traffic and sales in almost any industry.
Well, along comes a company to help innovative marketers everywhere sieze the moment and the opportunity.
It’s called QwickClick VideoTours, a creative group of video, post production, on-camera, Internet and social media marketing professionals. Serving clients throughout the U.S., QwickClick VideoTours — launched earlier this spring — works directly with clients or in association with their advertising agencies to create two- to four-minute “social videos” that can be embedded in the marketer’s website, search engine optimized, propagated throughout the Internet video world and otherwise alchemied, like gold, to a marketer’s overall web strategy.
The beauties of QwickClick are many and, unlike your sales manager wielding a home videocam, include: experienced, award-winning professional video production and edit teams working in High-Definition format; professional on-camera talent to open, close and “narrate” the video; rights to professional music underscores; complete on-location videography that follows a client-approved storyboard and script outline; and delivery of project for embedding into your website within three weeks of shoot date (all for an extremely cost-effective rate). Additional for-charge services include web programming, search engine optimization, e-marketing and other strategies and tactics, as well as location still photography.
Virtually any business-to-consumer, and most business-to-business marketers, would benefit with QwickClick VideoTours — particularly travel, hospitality, health care, real estate, entertainment and other industries where multiple stories will combine to weave a comprehensive brand story and brand experience.
Wanna learn and see more? Just QwickClick here.
SOURCE: NOISE
HEALTH CARE: A New Kind of Breast E-xam.
Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
Fort HealthCare is one of Wisconsin’s most progressive community health networks, serving a diverse population of both urban and rural families in a growing region between Madison and Milwaukee. The network consistently reinvests in the improved health of its community with services and technology that equal or, in many cases, exceed larger market health care providers.
Given this, it’s no surprise that one of Fort HealthCare’s primary initiatives is to identify and implement innovative ways to educate and motivate its patient base toward healthier lifestyles.
A recent mammography campaign is the latest example of this kind of marketing innovation. Working with the strategic and creative teams of its brand development agency (alert: NOISE), Fort HealthCare bypassed traditional media advertising — and instead executed a multi-channel, interactive campaign of e-marketing (internal and purchased target lists) and web marketing, supported by public relations, to reach 35 to 54 year old females.
Results? In the campaign lifespan, Fort HealthCare’s mammography microsite measured as the number one health information page on the network’s website (trailing only careers and employment in unique visitor traffic). Just as impressive, one out of every seven mammography patients (and there were more than 350 of them generated by the campaign) were new to the program.
It’s true that in today’s health care, technology can keep us healthy. Guess we’ll have to add e-marketing to that list.
SOURCE: NOISE
BRANDING: What’s Your Unique Buying Proposition?
Monday, June 29th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Once upon a time, marketers would preach and companies would promote their “unique selling proposition.” The argument, as you probably recall, was that what makes you different is what makes you better — and that’s the message you take to market.
Unfortunately, it ain’t as easy as that today.
The problems with this Little-House-on-the-Prairie-old-school line of thought, as we all know, are many. First, very few brands today can claim a genuinely unique selling proposition. Second, the USP focuses on your features — and hello, people don’t buy features, they buy benefits. Third and most important, your brand isn’t defined or remembered by some single unique element, but by the cumulative interactive experience that’s unique to every one of your customers.
To underscore this, along comes Newt Barrett — content marketing expert, publisher of ContentMarketingToday.com and NOISE Digital Marketing Officer — with the concept of the “unique buying proposition.” As Barrett so smartly points out in his outstanding weekly e-newsletter, the Unique Buying Proposition isn’t in any way about you — but rather, all about your buyer (i.e., customer-centric) and what your buyer will gain from entering a relationship with you (i.e., the benefits).
Put another way, your Unique Buying Proposition is the wind-up to your brand promise pitch. And to us at NOISE, your brand promise — which is defined and delivered by everything you do and everyone who does it for you — is truly what’s unique about you, and what makes you better.
SOURCE: Newt Barrett, ContentMarketingToday.com, NOISE
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What's your brand story? Do you even have one? NOISE's work in brand development, brand building, strategic planning, creative, production, promotion, partnerships, web, digital marketing, media and public relations has been honored by more than 500 awards in our career, for Fortune 500 clients to boutique start-ups throughout the United States.
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