Preparing Your Business List, Checking it Twice: Looking Ahead to 2011

Happy New Year -- 2011

Here's a short checklist for what has to get done before year-end:

-- Closely manage marketing/sales opportunities and close all pending deals
-- Correctly invoice completed work and progress billing
-- Collect ALL receivables
-- Keep an eye on revenue bookings; now is the time for gamesmanship
-- Tie rewards to results, not how hard people worked
-- Send clients thank you notes and call your top clients
-- Complete 2011 operating/marketing plans and budgets
-- Establish, quantify and assign 2011 marketing objectives to all leaders
-- Finalize and communicate the 2011 sales compensation plan
-- Verify vacation schedules, coverage and contact information
-- Thank your team for all their hard work and dedication
-- Don't forget to thank your team's significant others
-- Review winter weather and holiday celebration policies
-- Ensure everyone's ready to drive results starting Monday, January 3, 2011
-- Consult with NM Marketing Communications: 847.657.6011

We all know how busy people get this time of year! It's your job to maintain focus and ensure the important things get done.

Close out the year with the proper balance of intensity and good cheer!

PR Push Could Have Prevented Recent TSA Uproar

Here's a bit of encouraging news from the Transportation Security Administration: body cavity searches are not yet in the cards.

As the nation gripes about aggressive airport pat-downs and embarrassing full body scans, TSA Administrator John Pistole told reporters last week at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting there are no plans for body cavity searches. A sigh of relief rose from the audience.

The media though are delighting over reports of kids and nuns being groped by screeners. Slow news week, indeed?

The TSA did a lousy PR job in informing airline passengers about impending aggressive security measures, which are a response to last year's attempted Christmas Day bombing of a plane over Detroit. The Administration should have kicked off a national educational campaign to warn travelers of the prospect of pat-downs well before the full body scanners went into use.

Bankrolled by federal stimulus money, the scanners are now in place at 68 airports up from 19 last January. Many more are coming.

Pistole is all over the media map these days, explaining the need for security. While he admitted that pat-downs and scans are very uncomfortable and invasive, he calls them necessary security measures.

On CNN's "State of the Union," Pistole said: "If we are to detect terrorists, who have again proven innovative and creative in their design and implementation of bombs that are going to blow up airplanes and kill people, then we have to do something that prevents that."

The administrator also says a tiny handful of the traveling public get the pat-down treatment. That's not what we see on TV.

As for the scanners that produce a naked image, Pistole should have made the PR pitch that screeners reviewing the image sit at another location. They see neither the face of the person being screened nor are told of his/her identity.

Pistole's media tour is welcome, but it should have happened months ago to avoid the perfect storm of holiday travel and widespread screening.

Even Non-Profits Require Effective Media & Marketing Promotions!

If you’re operating a not-for-profit organization without any planned marketing or media promotions, it’s only a matter of time before you’ll be packing up and closing your doors. At the beginning of any new enterprise, the temporary fanfare gives the illusion of a long and successful future. But, as soon as the novelty wears off and no additional attempts are made to keep prospects focused on your organization, it’s quite easy for potential customers to lose interest. That’s why it is critical for not-for-profits of every industry to devote time and effort toward developing a sustainable marketing and media program.

Basic Not-for-Profit Marketing & Media Initiatives

1. Advertising. Opportunities for advertising today are most diverse. You always have the time-tested print ad that can promote your member services not only in your own trade publication, but also in newspapers and other relevant periodicals. To immediately reach even more markets, online advertising is another strong choice. Banner ads and links on affiliate sites are two additional options.

2. Press Releases. Keeping your not-for-profit top of mind is best achieved through the consistent flow of information covering your latest newsworthy events. Promote your organization’s or association’s latest developments or achievements through a continual stream of press releases. Had a recent new hire? Offering a new service? Hosting an upcoming event? Anything and everything should be issued in press release form to the appropriate local or national news agencies in an attempt to catch an editor’s attention who will contact you for a full right-up in their publication.

3. Direct Mail. A long-used medium for maintaining a consistent awareness program for any not-for-profit organization is direct mail. The primary direct mail vehicles include post cards, brochures, newsletters, catalogs, letters, and self-mailers. Used together over the course of a predetermined timeframe these can create and maintain a successful awareness advantage over competing for profit organizations.

4. Op-Ed Pieces. For greater exposure and name recognition for your association, consider developing and submitting an op-ed column to the appropriate local business newspaper, industry newspaper or magazine. As an expert in your field, editors will be more likely to value your opinion as one coming from an authoritative source and thereby be more inclined to feature your viewpoint.

5. White Papers. Another method of creating awareness for your not-for-profit organization is to write and publish white papers. A white paper will present your solution to a problem that potentially faces many of your current or prospective members. Providing such information will establish you as the go-to source for further problem solving. Select from current topics within your industry that would generate most interest. White papers can easily be posted online where your audience can quickly download and retain your information. Naturally, you want to feature your organization’s name and benefits as they relate to your white paper’s subject matter.

Outsourcing can increase your ROI

If developing an effective full-scale marketing and media program for your not-for-profit organization is continually postponed due to a lack of personnel or time, considering the services of an outside marketing communications agency could be your best return on investment. Contracting with a professional source gives you the opportunity to stay focused on your business goals. While you manage your daily responsibilities, your marketing program can be developing simultaneously by a team of marketing communications professionals.

This approach is certain to save you time and cost while it completely reduces any stress connected with having to develop marketing programs in-house. Whatever your decision – in-house or outside marketing firm – the importance of maintaining an ongoing program of media promotions should be on the front burner of all not-for-profit organizations. If you want the publicity and notoriety that ran delirious with your opening fanfare to endure for years to come, it’s only possible with an effective, ongoing marketing and media program.

BRANDING -- It's All About the Emotional Business Connection

Entrepreneurs don't always take the time to find out what their customers truly want, which is to simply feel good about the product or service they're purchasing. It's one thing to provide a product that's in demand or a service that gets the job done. But it's an entirely different proposition to make someone feel good about committing to make a purchase.

How Emotional Branding Works

Emotional branding is the public relations art of making your customer feel good about doing business with you. If your business is an online store, for example, do you take the extra time to send a "thank you" email to your customers? Do you make your website easy for your customers to navigate? Is your website easy to follow -- from first hit to "check out?" Take the extra time to do the little things for your customers, and they'll be more likely to feel good about what you're selling to them.

Emotional branding has been around since the beginning of sales. It's about establishing an intimate relationship with your customers where you understand what your customers want and your customers understand you.

Three Questions To Ask Yourself About Branding

To best understand your customers and to best create an intimate emotional connection with them, you should ask yourself three questions about your business.

First, what's important to the people whom you want to attract to your business?

Second, what are the main concerns of the people you want your business to attract? If you sell car tires, your customers are concerned about their quality, how long they'll last, and that you'll install them properly. If you can reassure your customers that you can do these things, you will create an emotional branding connection with them and are more likely to make the sale.

Lastly, what do you do to address the concerns of the people you want your business to attract? Do you make sure you only buy tires from reputable suppliers? Do you only offer new tires? Do you only hire certified mechanics to install the tires on customers' cars? These are all things that you can do to calm customers' fears and create an emotional branding connection with them.

Keep Change In Mind

Customer needs change over time. To maintain an emotional connection with your customers, you must change with your customers' needs. Find out what is important to them, and offer those products and services. Prove you're a company that meets your customers' needs and you will connect intimately with them. Customers will keep your brand in mind and feel confident about buying from you. They'll be there for you as long as you're there for them.

Stir Clear of GREEN-washed Messaging

Before you jump on the GREEN bandwagon, do your homework to make sure your GREEN messaging is true and accurate. If you don’t, you could easily be accused of “GreenWashing” by stretching the truth. You need to conduct detailed environmental and social-impact assessments on each GREEN-related promotion you roll out. Anything less could lead to eco-friendly claims that ring hollow falling far short of the results you were anticipating.

Make it a practice to tout third party GREEN product certifications when possible for more credibility. Avoid quoting potentially biased sources that could lead to blatant green-washed claims. Applying similar protocols can help ensure the integrity of your company’s GREEN messages.

For example, Give Something Back Business Products out of San Francisco - www.givesomethingback.com - makes sure its GREEN marketing messages adhere to a 4-point checklist. GSB’s director of sustainability, Stephanie Schlecht, says that each green promotion must

• Be as specific as possible. All claims must be made in the context of the company’s wider sustainability program.

• Be as transparent as possible. The company openly promotes its green goals and shares stories about how it does or doesn’t achieve those goals.

• Be as relevant as possible. Any claims must accurately relate to a product’s connection to specific environmental issues throughout the product’s entire life cycle.

• Be a resource. The company considers outreach and education an integral part of its value proposition, so sustainability messages must reflect that standard.

Following such guidelines will keep your company’s GREEN messaging up front and credible and far from any potentially unprofitable GreenWashed promotions.

Websites Create Sea Change in Business Strategy

There’s no question that if you are running a business today, no matter how small or large it is, you need to have an online presence. This is true whether you are selling consumer products that can be purchased directly online, or are in the business-to-business arena utilizing a sales force or distributors.

While there are many reasons to have a website in today’s digital environment, there are two basic reasons. First, it adds credibility to your business. It wasn’t too long ago that the Internet was considered a transient form of communication. The prevailing attitude among many businesses and their customers was that you needed print brochures, catalogs and other physical materials to show you were a real company. Now, people question the existence of your business if they can’t find you on the web. Also, your website can be a non-stop promotional tool. Websites are visible 24/7, and they don’t ask for vacation or take a sick day.

Beyond these very elementary reasons for having a website, B2B companies have another compelling motivation to make sure they have a strong web presence. The Internet has brought about a sea change in buyer/seller relationships. The availability of information and greater pricing transparency has shifted power to the buyer. At the same time, the Internet has created new methods for marketers to have one-to-one dialogue with customers rather than relying on mass marketing methods. These changes have transformed the way B2B companies target customers and communicate with them, as well as often altering the role and approach of your sales force.

There’s a report on our website that you can link to here that discusses this new paradigm for sales and marketing relationships. This shift is one of the many reasons to give careful thought to how you create, design and maintain your website. I’ll discuss some of the reasons, along with examples of the website success achieved by some of our B2B clients, in a future blog.

Turning Skinflints Into Buyers

At the risk of overstating the obvious, we’re in a tough sales environment these days. It seems like a lot of people are following the philosophy of former Chicago Bears football coach George Halas, who supposedly threw nickels around like they were manhole covers.

In the old days, this sort of person was called a skinflint. You probably know the type. They turn out the lights to save on electricity, often before everyone has left the room, or they try to squeeze every last mile out of a gallon of gas. They see saving money as a game.

Even people who aren’t skinflints by nature are more carefully guarding their dollars in today’s economy. So what motivates these people to buy, whether it’s something for their personal use or from the corporate budget? Usually they’ll splurge for something they really want. That might be a new suit or a cruise for their own use, or something that solves a business problem in their corporate lives.

Making a skinflint buy something requires a better understanding of their reasons for buying … not your reasons for wanting to sell them something. That means uncovering what the prospect is trying to overcome, improve or eliminate by buying from you. However, if you focus too soon on features and benefits it sets up a dynamic that makes it easy for the prospect to compare you with their current vendor or other competitors. And then they may decide that everyone’s product is about the same, so price becomes the deciding factor.

You can break this cycle by understanding the prospect’s problems and the negative effects that are already costing them time, energy and money by not using your product or service. Then you can turn skinflints into buyers.

Sports Marketing: Effective Business Branding

One of the most effective branding tools available today is a good sports marketing strategy. Sports marketing is the art of transferring the passion fans have for a sport to your brand name. It's not always easy, but it can work for you if you follow some general rules.

Affiliate Your Company With A Sport Or Team

An effective branding campaign means more than printing t-shirts for your employees to wear at sporting events. And it's not just about buying advertising space on billboards at your local ballpark. An effective campaign is one that truly causes fans to feel passion toward your product or service. Your marketing goal is to trigger something inside consumers to make them feel like they have no choice but to do business with you, because they actually feel passion toward your business.

The best branding efforts are ones that closely link your brand name with a particular sports team or a sport in general. Why? True sports fans passionately love their teams and will do anything to show it. They believe they are part of the team and that they can actually will their team to win.

You want your brand to be mentioned right along side the team every chance you get to grab some of this passion and fan ownership.

Sports Marketing Techniques

Depending on your marketing budget, you can buy your way into having your product or service mentioned along side your local sports teams. Sponsorship costs often depend on the team's popularity. For example, the Chicago Cubs cost more to sponsor than its minor league affiliate in Peoria, Illinois.

The larger the fan base and the more passion the fans have, the more effective a marketing campaign can be. One effective branding strategy is to find the team or sport with the fan base you want to target for potential customers and to invest your company's dollars into advertising with that organization. The goal is to have your company name or brand seen right alongside their name every chance you get-on TV commercials, radio ads, billboards, t-shirts, ball caps and event programs. You want the fans to closely affiliate their passion for their team with their passion for your company. Take note of the Adidas brand name prominently displayed on the uniforms worn by the lady track stars pictured at the 2010 Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.

Post-Game Marketing Opportunities

Another effective branding technique is to convince the fans to shop with your company immediately following a game. Some companies place advertisements on the backside of ticket stubs. For example, if the local team wins or scores a certain number of points, the advertisement encourages fans to come to their store and get something for free or at a sizable discount. However, if you are considering this tactic, just make sure your company can handle an increase of business in the couple hours following a game.

With planning, advertising dollars, and follow-through, sports marketing can be a very effective tool. If you carefully consider the target audience and choose promotions that complement your firm's products and services, you can use sports marketing to capture an untapped, loyal customer base.

Business Evolution or Extinction?

The website 24/7 Wall St., a financial news and opinion operation, recently ran their annual list of brands that will disappear in 2011. The list included Readers Digest, Dollar Thrifty, Blockbuster, BP plc and RadioShack.

While I can’t vouch for the accuracy of their predictions, the article served as a good reminder that businesses are constantly evolving. No doubt some of these names will disappear through mergers, bankruptcy or simply because the market has found new and better ways to provide what they offer. For example, Readers Digest was the original aggregator of stories and articles from different sources, a function now performed by a multitude of websites, RSS feeds and the like. On the other hand, the BP brand may disappear through bankruptcy, but that will more likely be a financial maneuver to protect assets in the wake of the Gulf oil spill rather than a discontinuation of the company’s main business.

Interestingly, the article also named some of the brands from previous lists that 24/7 Wall St. expected to disappear, but that are still around. One of these is Motorola, a proud and long-standing brand headquartered in the Chicago area. While Motorola has had its share of missteps in recent years, particularly in the fickle consumer mobile phone business, it seems positioned to survive by splitting the company into two parts: a consumer business focused on mobile phones and accessories, and a B2B segment concentrating on a variety of communications solutions, such as police and fire radio networks.

What’s especially notable about Motorola’s current re-invention of its business is that this isn’t the first time it’s gone through this sort of seismic shift. The company, started in 1928 by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin as the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, originally manufactured battery eliminators. These electronic devices enabled battery-powered home radios to operate on household electric current. But the 1929 stock market crash devastated the U.S. economy and the battery eliminator was becoming obsolete.

Needing a new product for their small business to survive, the Galvins partnered with a radio parts company located in the same factory and began experimenting with a radio that could be installed in automobiles. Overcoming a variety of technical hurdles, the team completed a working model just days before the Radio Manufacturers Association Convention in June 1930.

Even though Galvin wasn’t registered for the show, didn’t have a display booth or any appointments with prospective customers, he drove his Studebaker from Chicago to Atlantic City to demonstrate the new radio. In what may be one of the first examples of guerilla marketing, Galvin parked his car at the entrance to the Atlantic City pier and boosted the radio's volume with loudspeakers to attract attention. He encouraged show attendees to take a look, and when visitor traffic was slow, he went inside the hall to convince people to come outside for a demonstration. Galvin returned to Chicago with enough orders to ensure that the company would not only survive, but eventually change its name to Motorola and become one of the largest companies in America.

The lesson in all this is that companies with a good idea and a willingness to adapt can avoid extinction. But it takes perseverance and a dose of smart marketing.

Think Before You Speak

PR gaffes have been front page news these days … or first screen news if you’re part of the digital generation. BP CEO Tony Hayward is becoming a case study in what not to say and do during a crisis, and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has been relieved of his command following a profile in Rolling Stone that painted an unflattering portrait of some members of the Obama administration.

Hayward’s missteps started right after the Gulf oil rig explosion, when he tried to deflect blame by saying, "The drilling rig was a Transocean drilling rig. It was their rig and their equipment that failed, run by their people and their processes." His problems escalated from there, when he explained that the impact would be minimized because, "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean.” I could go, but you get the picture.

As for McChrystal, you could parse the profile and conclude that he didn’t say anything that was too damaging. But any number of unnamed “aides” and anonymous sources made critical comments about government leaders and diplomats. His biggest mistake was probably agreeing to do the profile in the first place, especially with an edgy, counter-culture publication. Granted, Rolling Stone’s approach has matured over the last 40 years, but he still couldn’t (or shouldn’t) have thought they were going to write a “puff piece.”

While most of us will never face problems like stopping an oil leak of unprecedented proportions or running a war in a distant land, these recent PR blunders offer lessons to businesses of any size. We live in an environment where the 24-hour news cycle of printed media has been replaced by the 60-second news cycle of constant website updates, blogs, tweets and YouTube videos.

That means you must have a plan for the media and PR impact of everything from a full-blown crisis to negative reaction to something that you’ve done with the best of intentions. Everyone seems to be demanding transparency but it has become a two-edged sword. Two examples from BP highlight the dilemma.

Accused of hiding the damage from the oil leak, BP decided to provide a live video feed from the seabed to show the efforts they were taking to quell the oil flow. Some critics then turned around and used the video as a constant reminder that the oil was still spouting. And when the company began to aggressively advertise the steps they were taking to solve the problem, President Obama criticized them for spending the money on communications rather than the cleanup. It calls to mind the old saying, “You’re damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”

There’s no perfect solution in some of these situations, but if you’d like some advice on your communications options, give me a call. PR is not just about blasting your story to the world. Sometimes, knowing what not to say is equally important.

Changing into a Winner

With the Chicago Blackhawks winning the 2010 Stanley Cup, it’s intriguing to think about where they were just a few short years ago. I think one of the toughest jobs in marketing is convincing fans it's worth their entertainment dollar to come out to the stadium and cheer for a bad team. And the 2007 Blackhawks were a pretty bad team. They finished in 13th place in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League and were having trouble giving away tickets to games.

So what changed to make them so successful on the ice and in the stands? There was a fortunate convergence of a new management philosophy, better sports marketing and an improved product … along with a little luck. Rocky Wirtz took over as chairman and brought in John McDonough, who successfully sold hope to Chicago Cubs fans for more than 20 years, to help run the club. They put the team back on local TV, rebuilt bridges with past stars and courted fans with a summer convention.

The product on the ice also began to improve in 2007 when the Blackhawks won the draft lottery to get the first pick ahead of the Philadelphia Flyers, who had a worse record. That pick was used on Patrick Kane, who turned into a star player, and the rapidly improving team became more attractive to numerous free agents.

There are similar parallels in the business world. Hyundai is a good example in the automotive segment. They entered the USA market in 1986 with an undistinguished compact and stayed under the radar for many years. They made some steady progress, but the company’s cars really took off in 2009, one of the worst year’s for U.S auto sales, with an innovative marketing program.

The Hyundai Assurance Program, developed by then-marketing chief Joel Ewanick, offered a return guarantee for customers who lost their jobs. Hyundai improved its market share and has continued it momentum today. Meanwhile, Ewanick parlayed his marketing success into a job at GM, where he’ll see if he can work the same marketing magic on that struggling automaker.

The lesson from all of this is that whether you’re in the sports arena or business, bold steps can turn a loser into a winner. For more insights on the marketing innovation side of that equation, give me a call at 847.657.6011.

The Search for Results

Marketers are always searching for results. And in today’s Internet dominated environment, that search is both literal and figurative as search engine tactics play an increasingly important role in marketing plans.

This was driven home as I recently read a report from The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO). The group’s sixth annual State of Search Engine Marketing Report estimates that the North American search engine marketing industry will grow 14% from $14.6 billion in 2009 to $16.6 billion by the end of 2010.

Yet despite the increase in spending, the 1,500 client-side marketers and agency respondents noted that measuring the return on investment (ROI) from search engine marketing is still their biggest challenge. Of the three key search tactics covered in the survey - search engine optimization (SEO), paid search and social media marketing – social media is clearly the toughest to measure. Measuring the impact of social media was identified by 63% of the respondents as their toughest task.

So what does all of this mean for marketers? Like most other marketing issues, you need to establish your business objectives for search engine marketing and allocate resources according to your priorities. For instance, SEO is becoming more refined and the right tweaks to your website can produce big results. We recently enhanced the content for one of our client’s sites and it shot up near the top of the search engine rankings in its category.

If you’re conducting a paid search program using Google AdWords or similar tactics, take a careful look at the cost of keywords. The survey indicated that Google keywords have become more expensive over the last year, while fewer respondents noted an increase in Yahoo and Bing keyword costs.

Finally, don’t jump into social media just because everybody else is doing it. B2B applications for social media are increasing, as I noted in a previous blog, but you need to define your objectives and expectations before you start.

SEMPO’s State of Search Engine Marketing Report 2010 can be purchased at http://econsultancy.com/reports/state-of-search. However, if you’d like a free initial consultation on how NM Marketing Communications can help you improve your search engine marketing, give me a call at 847.657.6011.

What’s an Idea Worth?

The old saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” is equally applicable to communications programs by substituting the word “value” for “beauty.” While there are many metrics to measure the ultimate results of an advertising, marketing or public relations campaign, there is often a gray area at the start of any client agency/relationship when discussing appropriate compensation for the creation of the program.

Often, this occurs because it’s hard to figure out what an idea is worth. A marketing campaign deals with abstract concepts, nuanced claims and creative impressions. The genius of a good marketing program is blending these elements in a way that attracts the customer’s attention and effectively communicates your solution to a problem. The end result may only be an arresting headline, striking visual and a few lines of crisp copy.

This may lead some purchasers of marketing services to jump to the wrong conclusion about the cost of creative marketing elements. The purchaser may think, “How long could it take to write a few words for a headline and a paragraph of copy.” Manufacturing organizations are probably more prone to this reasoning because they deal with specific units of production and can accurately track costs of materials, labor and machine operating expenses.

Some similar elements are present in the final development of an ad, brochure, website or similar materials. You can measure the amount of time it takes to find or create artwork, lay out the design and complete production.

What can’t be measured is the industry knowledge, intellectual capital and imagination that helps clients achieve marketing success. These factors are the most important considerations when choosing a marketing partner and putting a value on their work. Establishing a business relationship that capitalizes on the intangible skills of the marketing communications company will be rewarding for both the client and the agency.

To learn more about our industry experience and the ideas we bring to B2B clients, call us at 847.657.6011 or e-mail us.

The Risks and Rewards of Social Media for B2B

Using social media for B2B marketing is a hot topic these days. It seems that everyone is talking about creating a strategy to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn for their business. Meanwhile, just as many business leaders question the value of these new communications tools.

Last week’s Business Marketing Association Chicago chapter luncheon on social media provided some interesting perspectives on this topic. More importantly, I was struck by how certain basic marketing principles are critical, no matter how new or hot the communications method.

First, marketers need to evaluate social media in terms of what business problem they’re trying to solve. According to one of the speakers, Paul Gillin, a columnist for BtoB magazine, too many marketers are skipping this step in their eagerness to make sure they’re on the cutting edge. Second, marketers should remember that regardless of the product or service, or the specifications and benefits, they are not selling to a “business.” Ultimately, they’re still selling to people; individuals who want solutions to their problems.

Reconciling these two ideas can help harness the power of social media as an effective marketing tool.

To help decide if social media are pertinent, find out if customers are using them. You can also track competitors or similar products and look for results, such as viewing numbers on YouTube. If content similar to yours is being ignored, then social media may not be the best strategy. But if customers are engaging in social media, then it’s time for you to join the conversation.

Because social media helps people connect, it fulfills the marketing element of people selling to people. Social media are extremely effective in creating a persona for your organization that builds confidence among your customers in your product or service.

Once you decide to engage in social media, you need to be aware that traditional media still play a role in making content visible to your key audiences. YouTube claims that 20 hours of video are uploaded on the site every minute. So for every waterskiing squirrel that “goes viral” there are thousands of seldom-watched clips languishing on the site.

That’s why many companies promote their social media through ads in key social media outlets, links from corporate websites or PR efforts to create news and blogging buzz about their initiatives. Companies that are serious about using social media are even creating their own channels on YouTube, which simplifies finding their content. Siemens is a good example of a B2B company using this tactic, with their channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/siemens.

Sure, there’s some risk in engaging in social media, but many companies are finding the rewards are far more compelling. If you’d like to explore both sides of the social media question, call us at 847-657-6011 or e-mail us.

Event Marketing Creates Lasting Bonds With Business Customers

Spring is a time for big events, especially in the world of sports. We’ve just concluded March Madness, with the Duke University Blue Devils emerging as the NCAA men’s basketball champions and they’ll be teeing it up at the Masters this weekend. And in Chicago, hope springs eternal as the Cubs and White Sox prepare for new seasons. Will 2010 finally be the Cubs' year?

Fans invest a lot of energy and emotion in these events. Wise businesses can capture some of that same interest through effective event marketing. Event marketing can take many forms, from simple to complex. At one end of the scale, your event could be an open-house, sponsorship of a fund raiser or a product demonstration at your facility. On a more elaborate level, the event could be a major trade show display or a rolling exhibit housed in a semi-trailer like golf equipment manufacturers use at major tournaments. Budgeting for celebrity speakers adds yet another program dimension when it comes to event marketing.

Whatever format you choose, event marketing has multiple benefits in building bonds with your customers, helping short-term sales and building brand value over time. These benefits are confirmed by the results of an Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) study, conducted in partnership with Gallup & Robinson and Exhibit Surveys.

According to the researchers, “The unique value of event marketing is its ability to foster positive attitudes via a focused combination of marketing, relationship building and event experience."

The researchers also found that B2B marketers should focus on capturing measures of emotional and "engagement-rich" activities that create awareness and attract people to events. A good example of capturing both emotion and engagement is a "Cinco De Mayo" trade show we conducted for a wholesale distributor of Mexican and ethnic foods.

The Mexican theme with a red, white and green color scheme, vocalists and a Mariachi band created a festive atmosphere that reinforced the emotional elements of the holiday and the client's role in the celebration. Exhibit booths with product samples provided actual business engagement for the hundreds of customers and buyers who attended the first-time show.

This is just one way you can use event marketing as part of your overall communications strategy. To learn other ways, call us at 847.657.6011 or e-mail us.

AFS White Papers Create Hundreds of Leads

Do you need to reach a tough audience?
The American Foundry Society (AFS) faced the challenge of communicating with engineers, product designers and purchasing influencers who typically ignore promotional hype.
The solution? A series of white papers NM Marketing Communications developed for AFS, which has led to hundreds of leads.
White papers originally started as government policy documents, defining a specific position or policy. Today, they have become powerful marketing tools used to show customers or other decision-makers how to find solutions to their problems.
White papers are most often used by technology or industrial companies, but the concept is applicable to almost any market segment. The key to success with a white paper is identifying a problem or concern faced by your audience, then showing them in a factual way how your product or service provides the solution.
For example, the AFS white papers have concentrated on some of the unique technical aspects of using various metal casting methods to solve industrial design problems or improve manufacturing efficiency. In addition to generating inquiries from engineers about casting technologies provided by AFS members, the white papers have reinforced AFS’ position as the leader in metal casting information.
To learn more about how to develop and use white papers as part of your marketing mix, call us at 847.657.6011 or send us an email: info@nmmarketingbiz.com.