E-MARKETING: How to Keep Yours E-ffective.

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

There’s a growing uneasiness among some marketing “experts” that the halcyon days of e-marketing are in the rear view mirror. They fear that we’re tuning out due to the daily onslaught of e-solicitations, welcome or not, that find their way into our in-boxes. They opine that we’re turning instead to more social brand interaction alternatives, particularly Facebook “like” pages, for our communications.

While we at NOISE don’t disagree with those sentiments, we’re also clearly in the camp of the majority of marketers profiled in MarketingSherpa’s 2010 “Email Marketing Benchmark Report” who — by a three-to-one margin — remain convinced that the effectiveness of e-marketing continues to increase, rather than decrease.

However, we’d add a number of asterisks to our e-marketing cheerleading, which include:

* Your Message Better Be Branded. You spend a lot of money and energy to build your brand. So empower the architects of that brand — be they agency or in-house — to build your e-marketing campaigns, too. It doesn’t cost exponentially more to have a fully-integrated, cohesively-branded e-campaign. And the results in opens and clicks will far outweigh the production cost.

* Your Message Better Be Valuable. We’re not just talking about value-driven offers here. We’re talking about value-driven content of all kinds. The point is, whatever the editorial agenda of your e-campaign, make sure it provides the kind of interest value that will compel your consumers to open it, engage with it and act on it.

* Your Message Better Be Motivating. Obvious point? Perhaps. But the most effective e-marketing is the kind that provides multiple points of interaction for the consumer — a discount here, a value-added there, an opportunity to win here, an opportunity to share there.

Done right, e-marketing remains highly effective. Done wrong, e-marketing is a waste of money. How are you doing yours?

SOURCE: NOISE, MarketingSherpa

Tags: ADVERTISING, agency, brand, E-MARKETING, florida, fort myers, milwaukee, noise, online, sanibel, top, web, wisconsin

Web Development: Going From Click A to Click Z.

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

If one of your major initiatives this marketing year is launching a new web brand, NOISE Inter.Active would like to share our “NOISE 5.0 Process” that can help ensure your success:

NOISE 1.0: Begin at the End. The first question you need to ask is: what must my new web brand accomplish? Are we an experience and transaction site? An information and engagement site? An engagement and lead generation site? All of this? All of something else? Define your desired user experience and end results, and you’ve defined your goals.

NOISE 2.0: Set Your Site. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line; the same can be said for clicks. At NOISE Inter.Active, this is simply called the Site Architecture — a multi-leveled, content-, technology- and marketing-interface-specific flow chart of your site’s superstructure, and search engine optimization strategies and tactics.

NOISE 3.0: Bells and Whistles. What new, exciting, effective, engaging marketing and social media elements should be integrated into your site to help optimize your website, enhance customer engagement, generate the desired response and foster customer loyalty? Make sure to include this creative discussion as part of “NOISE 2.0″ above.

NOISE 4.0: Brand New, Brand True. For more and more businesses, your web brand is your front door. Make sure that every consumer walking through that front door is greeted with a smile and a welcome that reflects your brand and the many other consistently integrated elements of your brand campaign — while directing them to the next door they want to access.

NOISE 5.0: Kick the Tires. When your site is close to launch and ready for beta testing, invite a focus group of likely consumers in for a couple of hours of tire kicking. Watch as they leisurely and easily steer through your site, or careen out of control and crash into the bushes. How they intuitively interact and engage with your new web brand is the true measure of how successfully you’ve navigated Click A to Click Z.

SOURCE: NOISE Inter.Active

Tags: ADVERTISING, agency, award, brand, BRANDING, florida, fort myers, internet, marketing, milwaukee, naples, noise, online, sanibel, web, web development, WEB MARKETING, wisconsin

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

Tags: agency, award, coupon, ecoupon, florida, internet, marketing, milwaukee, noise, online, sanibel, winning, wisconsin

SOCIAL MEDIA: The CliffsNotes Version Revealed.

Saturday, May 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

For all of you trying to keep up with the changes that are sweeping the digital marketing landscape, fed by the phenomenon called social media, along comes an intelligent, abbreviated compendium of everything you need to know — at least, as of today.

It’s called the Social Media Manifesto and it’s authored by your friends at NOISE (in particular, Social Media Guru Alex Fernandez). In less than 25 pages, the Social Media Manifesto defines the terminology, the players, the apps, the goals, the strategies, the tactics and the ideal outcomes of today’s plethora of social media options available to marketers large or small.

If social media is or is going to be part of your marketing mix, and you’re interested in understanding it more and understanding it better, then NOISE’s cheat sheet is must reading. For your free copy, email us under your company signature at SocialMedia@Make-Noise.com. And be sure to check us out online, fan us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or link up on LinkedIn.

SOURCE: NOISE

Tags: facebook, florida, fort myers, internet, marketing, media, milwaukee, noise, online, sanibel, social, twitter, web, wisconsin

MEDIA: The Economy Is Up, At Least Online.

Monday, March 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Not everything is doom and gloom in the economy today. At least, not if you’re selling online advertising.

According to the Annual Marketing Survey conducted by analytics software provider Alterian, almost two-thirds of 1,500 companies polled intend to increase advertising spending on the Internet in 2009 — reinforcing (as almost every study does) the continually-growing importance and impact of digital strategies to successful, multi-channel marketing campaigns.

No surprise as well, online’s gain is offline’s loss — with only 38% of those same companies anticipating an increase in non-digital advertising, and one out of five actually cutting offline media spending.

While pouring more money into online marketing may inspire a “well, duh” reaction from many of you, here’s the “well, duh-est” finding of the entire study, at least as I see it: less than half (47%) of the 1,500 firms surveyed currently apply analytics to measure campaign effectiveness. In today’s highly trackable digital media world, that’s more than incredible. It’s incredibly stupid.

Where are more of your advertising dollars going in 2009? Insightful trendspotters are more than ever going digital.

SOURCE: Marketing News, NOISE

Tags: ADVERTISING, agency, brand, digital, florida, fort myers, internet, marketing, milwaukee, noise, online, sanibel, wisconsin