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Trying to Compete without Marketing is like Playing Football without a Quarterback

To say that Pittsburgh is a heavy-duty sports town is so far of an understatement to be laughable.  I suspect that one could hear the collective Steel Town gasp as far away as Kansas City when it was announced that both Steeler quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch were potentially out for next Sunday night’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.  As it turns out, Big Ben WILL play, despite suffering “concussion symptoms” in last week’s loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Charlie Batch, though, didn’t fare as well.  He’s out for the next six weeks.

Which got me to thinking…

What happens to your sales game when YOUR best marketing talent or your most dedicated staff is down and out?  Are you lucky enough to have a Tyler Palko in the wings or do you just ‘wing it’ with whomever and whatever you have on hand? I imagine that most companies do, but think of the consequences for the Steelers if they ended up with NO quarterback!  Sure, the sideline coaches could call the plays, but someone’s got to handle the ball.

Marketing isn’t much different, I think.  Even with sharp plans, tidy budgets, and pre-set plays, it’s still often a scramble. The world of commerce and competition – much like the gridiron field – is never static. Plays and players change. Rules get broken or modified.  And referees – if there are any – are always running after the plays, not before.

© 2009 photobucket inc.

© 2009 photobucket inc.

So, with Thanksgiving not far away, I’d like to remind companies, large and small, about the contribution made by their quarterbacks — the guys and gals who are out there maneuvering against the competition with broken up teams and out-of-date playbooks!  As the economy starts to turn around, I’d beseech financial and C-level executives who’ve whittled down already-threadbare marketing budgets to re-invest in their marketing programs for next year.  
You want to win against the competition?  Support your hard-working players!  Give thanks for loyal employees.  Cheer on your teams!  Then, go get ‘em!

In the meantime, have a good, safe, and happy Thanksgiving.

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By Carol Wolicki – November 24, 2009

Is Twitter Use Really Declining?

When I first read today’s eMarketer article, “Data on Twitter Decline Stacks Up,” my first reaction was, “Yeah, well, duh!”  twitter_logo_header

After all these months of frenetic activity to attract and capture the ‘hyper-active lead’ (Great term! Thank you, Michael Paradiso, CA Inc.), it seemed that passion had finally been replaced with common sense (or maybe just fatigue).  But the article didn’t offer as much reflection on why stats might be dropping as it did a defense of Twitter and a rebuttal of how Nielsen’s stat counting could possibly be off base.  Which got me to thinking…

Maybe, just maybe, Nielsen wasn’t right.  As much as I’d like to see a return to less emphasis on Twitter as the ONE SINGLE panacea to all marketing woes, I figured there should be an easy way to see whether tweets were declining overall.  So, I did a little digging…and came across this site: http://popacular.com/gigatweet/ which tracks tweets in real time and also offers historical stat tracking: http://popacular.com/gigatweet/analytics.php. 

If these Twitter stats are accurate, the dealth knell for Twitter is waaaaay pre-mature.  And any marketer who secretly – or publicly – hopes for its demise had better get in synch with the times.   Twitter is here now.  It may be here for quite some time.  It will, no doubt, morph. It may someday be replaced (ala Second Life and MySpace) as a key channel, but for now, it’s another tool in the bag.  Not the ONLY tool, but one that should be integrated seriously into a carefully planned marketing program that includes other tactics like PR, email marketing, advertising, tradeshows, events, and search marketing.   

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By Carol Wolicki – November 20, 2009

eMarketing Session Slides Available for Download

We met a fun crowd at last week’s Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference on Duquesne University’s campus.  Plus, we announced the winner of our prize give-away: one of the new Apple® iPod® nanos.  Congratulations to Linda D’Angelo of Advanced Administrative Services, LLC, who took home the prize. 

Slideshowcover

Ennect joined with a representative from Carnegie Library’s downtown business branch to talk about how small businesses can access online resources to do effective research to help grow their businesses. 

“Building Your e-IQ:  Affordable Ways to Track Trends, Engage Customers & Seize New Opportunities for Growth” discussed ways to uncover profitable new trends, learn more about customers’ needs and wants, and build competitive intelligence — all through online resources, many of them free.  

Ennect’s slides from the session are available for download here.  Or click on the image above.

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By Carol Wolicki – November 17, 2009

Last Chance to Register for Hands-On Email Marketing Workshop

There ’s still time to register for Wednesday’s Hands-On Email Marketing Workshop!  As an attendee, you will learn email marketing fundamentals as well as gain hands-on experience using an email service provider.  These two elements combined will help you create effective email marketing campaigns that will produce REAL results for your business or organization. 

Bonus Free Trial:
All students who attend this class will receive FREE access to Ennect’s Web-based email marketing software that allows you to send visually rich emails and analyze results.  
 
When:    Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Time:     8:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Edinboro University in Meadville
              Bessemer Center, Room 111
              789 Bessemer Street
              Meadville, PA 16335
Learn More

Email marketing is an essential part of your marketing strategy.  It is one of the most cost-efficient and effective ways in which to send targeted, measurable communications to your customers, constituents and donors in order to warm up leads and prospects, build relationships with constituents and generate a substantial return on investment.  You can’t afford to miss this workshop!  Register today. 

This workshop is hosted in partnership with Edinboro University and Ennect.

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By Carol Wolicki – November 10, 2009

Survey Winners Announced; Win Full Registration to Nov. 12th Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference

Congratulations to the three winners of First Annual Pennsylvania Technology Use Survey sponsored by Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and Ennect. 

All three gain full registration to the 4th Annual Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference at Duquesne University on November 12.   The Conference was created in 2005 to help small- to medium-sized businesses utilize the latest emarketing practices and information technology tools to drive sales, cut costs, expand outreach and build their brands. 

The lucky local business winners are:

To register for the conference ahead of time, click here.  You can also register the day of the conference onsite.   

Location:  All programs are being held on the Duquesne University Campus  at 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282. Registration will be held in the Student Union Building (campus map and directions). Parking is available on campus at the Forbes Ave. garage.

Don’t miss the conference session that Ennect will be presenting:  Building Your e-IQ:  Affordable Ways to Track Trends, Engage Customers & Seize New Opportunities for Growth (10:05-11:20 am, Nov. 12)

Looking to uncover profitable new trends? Want to learn more about your customers’ needs and your prospects wants and build your competitive intelligence?  Learn how businesses today are tapping online resources and digital tools like surveys, research, social media and polls to drive sales, build connections and influence opinion.  Presenters: Carol Wolicki, Director of Marketing, Ennect, and Jeff Fortescue, Manager, Business and Reference, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Downtown and Business

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By Carol Wolicki – November 6, 2009

Ennect and Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center Conduct Survey on PA Business Technology Use

Pennsylvania businesses appear slow to adopt new emarketing technologies according to a survey sponsored by Ennect and Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC).

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Ennect and the SBDC conducted the survey in preparation for the 4th Annual Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference, scheduled for November 12th at Duquesne University. The Conference was created in 2005 to help small- to medium-sized businesses utilize the latest emarketing practices and information technology tools to drive sales, cut costs, expand outreach and build their brands. 

The SBDC survey measured the status of technology on regional organizations. According to its findings, only 42% of the region’s organizations have social media marketing strategies in place and only 9% plan a move into social media channels. This is in comparison with a recent Equation Research report that shows a small business social media adoption rate of 59% and a “planning to implement” rate of 28%. (A separate survey, conducted by Babson Executive Education and Mzinga across a variety of industries nationwide, reported that 86% have adopted social technologies.)

Of the 42% of Pennsylvania companies using social media, only 12% identified it as a “tremendous asset” with 21% indicating an impact on brand awareness, 16% reporting results in generating leads, 10% indicating increased sales, and 9% reducing marketing costs.  In contrast, the September 2009 McKinsey Quarterly Global Survey found 52% of respondents used Web 2.0 tools because of increased marketing effectiveness, 43% reported higher customer satisfaction, and 38% reduced marketing costs.

LinkedIn was the clear winner among regional organizations for promoting products and services with 22% maintaining a presence on the fast-growing professional social networking site, followed by Facebook (18%), and Twitter (12%). Interestingly, Twitter has grown to become the most adopted social media tool nationally, with 54% of Fortune 100 companies having a Twitter presence, according to a July 2009 Burson-Marsteller survey.

Also, despite the fact that online video sharing is exploding — with 144 million online viewers in the U.S. this year alone and projected growth to 154 million in 2010 — regional organizations appear to be less inclined to use sites like YouTube than their national counterparts. The McKinsey Quarterly Global Survey reported 48% of respondents felt that video sharing sites had customer-related benefits.  

Regional businesses do appear to be tracking national trends1 in keeping investments flat in traditional marketing channels (print, radio, TV, direct mail, and even email marketing), while increasing – albeit slightly – investments in interactive online and search engine marketing. 

While increased globalization is driving adoption of videoconferencing elsewhere, the technology hasn’t seemed to penetrate Pennsylvania businesses.  Only 20% of respondents reported using audio-video teleconferencing, 24% use voice-only teleconferencing, and 34% have not adopted this technology.

Ironically, when asked about whether they were keeping up with changing technology, most survey respondents indicated they “felt like they were on track with keeping up with changing technology and online marketing.”

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1 According to a Q2 2009 survey by Round2 and reported in eMarketer, print ads were chosen 39% of the time for cuts with direct mail following close behind with 36%.

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By Carol Wolicki – November 4, 2009

If the Subject Line Doesn’t Poke ‘Em in the Eye, Maybe You Need a Better Stick

Words, by themselves, are meaningless. It’s how you rack them that counts. 

Poke 'em in the eye with your Subject Line!

Poke 'em in the eye with your Subject Line!

So, it shouldn’t be NEWS that the words you line up in your email Subject Line have to capture your addressees’ attention.  The subject line is to electronic mail what envelope graphics or multi-dimensional packaging are to postal mail.  Anything that creeps through a mail slot today or is waiting like a patient puppy on someone’s doorstep (because it didn’t fit into the mailbox) HAS to be oozing oddness or serendipitously personalized to get opened.  With ‘real’ mail there are a thousand possible ways to make something stand out.

It’s not that way with email.  The permutations of the Subject Line are what? Upper/lower case, length, character combinations, language, hmmmm?  There’s no color option. No graphics.  Just text. Hurray, you like a challenge. That’s why you’re in marketing.

Listen, the way to make your Subject Line work is to make your words so powerful they literally poke your reader in the eye.  Flex your keyboard fingers so that they tap out words that resonate, intrigue, bemuse, titillate or, otherwise, persuade your readers to PAY ATTENTION.  Line them up. Lay them down. Roll them around. Make them stand up and salute. But, yes, use those words to poke ‘em in the eye!

And be succinct, because study after study confirms the relationship between longer subject lines and lower open rates.  Technical limitations limit the number of characters some email engines display in the Subject Line. If your email list includes a combination of Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail users, you want to default to the lowest common denominator.  That leaves you with – Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! – around 40 characters to play with.  With increasing use of mobile devices for reading email, it’s more important than ever to be S&S: Short and Savvy. 

So, what’s a good marketer to do?  T-E-S-T.  And test some more.  More on that in a later post…

In the meantime, write SNAPPY and carry a heavy stick!

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By Carol Wolicki – October 20, 2009

Planning Your Newsletter: How 5Ws + H = SUCCESS!

News stand image by Qfamily. Creative Commons license for commercial use.

News stand image by Qfamily. Creative Commons license for commercial use.

Whether you’re just starting out or you already have an ongoing newsletter, that old rule of thumb for creating content for news releases can come in handy for creating an effective newsletter plan.  I’m talking about the “5Ws and an H” rule that professors drilled into our heads when we were in communications or journalism school or that we learned on the job.  Answering the “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions can be helpful in planning your newsletter program and can keep it on track. Let’s review how these six consonants can spell ‘success’ for you.

WHO?  In writing a news release, “who” refers to the people in the news.  In your newsletter plan, however, “who” requires you to look outward, not inward.  The “who” here is your target audience.  Before you start writing, you need to clearly identify who you’re writing for: employees, customers, prospects, partners, volunteers, association members, event attendees, or some other group.  Define as fully as possible who these people are by segment and, if possible, create a ‘persona’ description for your target group.  A ‘persona’ description might include things like: typical age, title, type of job they hold, where they shop, how they consume information, types of products they purchase, what they wear, typical mode of transportation, etc.  These provide queues about your targets’ interests and possible reading or information consumption habits. And remember: one newsletter per group, otherwise, you’ll be delivering information that doesn’t meet a portion of your readers’ needs.

WHAT? With the lens on your target audience, think about their specific information needs. What would they be most interested in hearing about? They may not care whether your company has published a new brochure or annual report, but they might be interested in knowing that your products will now be available via free overnight delivery. They might not be interested in knowing that your HR department won an award but they might like to know that your VP of engineering has been recognized as one of the world’s top ten Internet gurus.  We talked about how you can survey readers in a previous post to determine what interests them.  Research the “what” carefully because it will determine your open rates as well as how frequently your newsletters will be passed along.

WHEN? They say that half of success comes from just showing up.  But if you show up irregularly, it’s as if you weren’t there at all since no one will be anticipating your arrival.  When you publish is important.  You should outline when the best time is for your readers; if they are salespeople, stay away from end of month or end of quarter.  Plan your delivery schedule accordingly and make sure you can hold to it!

WHERE? This question actually has a lot of aspects. It not only applies to where you will distribute your newsletter – online, offline, both – it also applies to geographic location.  Are your readers in different countries for which translation is necessary? Will they have different content needs because of the areas in which they live or operate? These factors impact your content and your delivery plan.  Considering these issues ahead of time can help you develop a delivery schedule that is realistic.

WHY?  This is the most important question of all: why are you creating a newsletter in the first place? You should frame the answers to this question from both your company’s perspective and from the perspective of your reader:  why do you want to do this, what do you hope to achieve, as well as what does the reader get out of it, why would they want to receive this information? If you can’t define measurable goals for this exercise – both from your company’s viewpoint and from your readers’, maybe you should not do it.

HOW? Like the preceding question, “how” has numerous facets.  The big one is: how does your target audience want to receive information from you?  What is the most popular way for them to consume content: from online sources, from email, from printed documents, etc.   Also, ask yourself how you will actually deliver a targeted and well-written and designed newsletter to your readers on a regular basis.  Do you have resources inhouse who can do this or would you be better off using outside help?  If your analysis suggests an online newsletter, you may want to research an outside email service provider who can help you deliver on a consistent basis. If so – shameless plug – consider Ennect!

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By Carol Wolicki – October 13, 2009

Email Templates Are Not Print Graphics

You would not believe the number of calls we get in Ennect Customer support from new users who cannot figure out why their PDF and/or print graphics are not translating well into email templates. It’s simply because email templates are based on HTML, and HTML layout is not the same as print layout.

template-codeNow, don’t get me wrong.  Your final HTML email template can be rendered to look like your print graphics, but such a creation requires careful planning and some amount of knowledge of HTML layout, differences between e-mail client programs, and the limitations of graphics – this planning and implementation of knowledge can either be done by the person sending the email or by a service that creates templates for the email user.  Ennect is one such service (we will create templates for you for a fee); if another person/service does this for you, that HTML can be pasted into Ennect Mail.

Let me detail a couple of things to be aware of in creating such templates:

  1. Know your audience: are you sending to recipients using enterprise email clients such as Outlook 2007 or Lotus Notes, or do they use browser-based email clients such as Yahoo!, Google’s Gmail, or AOL?  Each of these handle HTML email in different ways, and all of them may block the initial viewing of images (images are how you know if someone has opened an email and often present much of your message).
  2. Know the difference between a Word Processor and an email-specific HTML template: Word Processors create specialized HTML that’s designed for the Word Processor itself.  Inserting text from your Word Processor into an email HTML template can break either how the email template works before sending, or after recipients receive it.  Paste cleansed text or face the consequences.
  3. Know your graphics:  are you using your graphics to present the bulk of your message (text built into the image), or are the graphics merely accents to enhance your message?  If text is in the images, and an email client blocks images, then part or all of your message is not getting through.  Similarly, if your template assumes the use of background images, then recipients with email programs that don’t allow background images will not get the same experience as others.

If you are not able (due to time, money or inclination) to internalize these details for creating email templates, then identify a resource that can implement them for you… but take care that your resource knows email/HTML layout and graphics in addition to print layout and graphics.

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By Alex – October 9, 2009

Why Do We Call Them NEWSletters?

We’re about to begin a weekly series on newsletters — a request from our customers who want to know how to either start up an online newsletter or raise the standards of their already-established enews publications.  When I thought about where to start, a question popped into my head: Why do we call them NEWSletters when there’s rarely any news in them anymore?

How do you create newsletters that your readers don't leave behind?

How do you create newsletters that your readers don't leave behind?

Today everything is about instant information delivery.  News streams are constant and instantaneous.  An event occurs and – depending on its potential popularity – stories, photos, and videos are often published across the Internet HOURS before the mainstream media can cover them. Even company news travels quickly these days via blogs, tweets, and personal email.

But many company newsletters are written on a monthly basis.  That often means there’s really not a lot of NEWS in the typical company NEWSletter these days.  And with today’s overstrapped marketing departments, many monthly newsletters simply include rehashed information that was published previously.  Why do companies bother?  Because they want to ”stay in touch” with their customers.

This may not be the best strategy. If your open rates are decreasing and your opt-out rates increasing, it’s probably a clear sign that it’s time to rethink your NEWSletter creation practices.  If you really want to stay in touch with your customers, then you have to give them something they will read. 

So, here’s our first newsletter tip: go find out what your customers want to hear about from you. 

  1. Pull a random list of 5-to-10 customers who have actually read your last two or three newsletters and call them to find out why they opened them and what they found interesting about them…or what they didn’t.
  2. Pull a list of customers who have NOT read the newsletter and another list of those who have opted out. Contact them as well.
  3. Create a subset list of customers who opened your last two newsletters and send them a survey to investigate what they most want to hear about. 
  4. Once you’ve done these things review them with your staff.  Create a list of what you’ve learned about how to improve your newsletter and build a list of story topics or types.

This exercise can be done over time if you can’t do it all at once because of staffing issues.  But do it.  You will learn more about how you can increase readership as you go along.  And both your company and your readers will be happier because of it.

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By Carol Wolicki – October 9, 2009