Marketing Works! Pre-planning Gives Impetus to a Relocation Event
June 13, 2008 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
“And they say marketing doesn’t work!” Dallas Nessleroad looked proudly around the room. As director of design and production for EXHIB-IT! Trade Show Experts, Dallas takes responsibility for the success or failure of events and this one got high marks for success. Dallas, Marketing Director Audrey Anderson and all EXHIB-IT! employees collaborated on the event. It showed.
Business professionals, dignitaries and customers networked, munched and roamed in a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd proving against all odds, EXHIB-IT! conducted one of the best-attended re-grand openings of the month.
Lots of people repeated “Marketing works!” during the official ceremonies. Some of the things done well:
- E-marketing campaigns from EXHIB-IT! let customers know about the event.
- Announcements from alliance partners and sponsors were part of other newsletters as well.
- An ad event was posted on the front page of the EXHIB-IT! website.
- Sponsors received recognition at food and drink booths as well as in banners and pre-advertising materials.
- Early and frequent notices of the event got it on calendars.
- Personal phone calls followed email and further reminded participants to attend.
- Free food and entertainment served as a draw.
- Local Chamber of Commerce officials and ambassadors completed an official ribbon-cutting ceremony.
- The Congressional delegation sent representatives.
- State delegates were present.
- EXHIB-IT! customers sponsored activities.
- You could easily recognize EXHIB-IT! employees; not only did they wear matching lavender shirts, they sported new, flashing digital name tags.
- Local media representatives snapped pictures and jotted notes throughout the evening.
Marketing does work. It’s the result of everything you do and an event like this one only underscores that fact. EXHIB-IT! CEO D.J. Heckes earned the right to be proud. Congratulations, D.J.! Well done.
Paint by Number Marketing? Easy as 1-2-3
June 2, 2008 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Remember when you connected the dots and got a pretty picture for your trouble? Easy. Rewarding Uncomplicated.
What if marketing could be that simple? I wouldn’t put myself in the technophobe category, but I admit that my eyes glaze over sometimes when I must jump through hoops to accomplish a goal.
Take LinkedIn. Until now, I accepted invitations to link as they came my way; beyond that, I had no proactive strategy for this social medium, nor did I clearly understand how, or if, it enhanced my marketing.
Fortunately, Jason Alba, author of “I’m on LinkedIn – Now What?” painted the picture for me. He outlined a way to make LinkedIn work harder, beginning with profile completion. (Look at his profile and compare it to yours, for example.) As he explained, LinkedIn helps you do the following:
- Find others and be found
- Leave a positive impression
- Increase your networking
- Promote your website
- Use your new contacts off LinkedIn if you choose
- Make recommendations
- Gain recommendations
Just as the paint-by-number pictures of old came to life when you connected the dots, so did this. Jason highlighted the added value that LinkedIn can provide and made a clear case for ease of implementation. In just a few minutes, I put a number of his suggestions into action.
I now understand. Understanding creates belief and from belief comes strategy. I look forward to making LinkedIn an effective part of my online marketing strategy. Tell me, is it working for you?
A Contrarian Views Marketing Planning for 2008
December 3, 2007 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference.
–Robert Frost
Heads up for a contrarian blog post that offers 3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Use Social Media Marketing. Shama Hyder, After the Launch Marketing Expert for professional service businesses discusses common considerations that are basic and yet compelling, noting the following:
- Don’t market without a plan or you’ll waste time wandering online
- Don’t market if you’re not interested; it will show
- Don’t market if you’re only doing it because it’s trendy; long term commitment is required.
Those reasons might be applied to any marketing effort. Shama walks the social media marketing talk; her personal strategy includes one Facebook profile makeover per week.
In a more traditional medium, the Wall Street Journal this weekend took another contrarian view with a look at Market IQ, offering signs of a low market IQ as well as a method for raising that foundation. The article emphasized that consumer shopping behavior is becoming increasingly complex. Examples from the food marketing business supported the illustration. The same customer who shops at Costco, for example, might also shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods as well as another basic grocery store.
If your company doesn’t track the right kind of data across a variety of segments, then you might be at risk to act on incorrect market information. Three characteristics indicate a low Market IQ:
- A focus largely on current customers
- A tendency to base proprietary strategies on what is publicly known
- A reliance on qualitative research
- A pattern of taking a piecemeal approach
Once again the problem list might be applied to any marketing effort. Professional service businesses have similar challenges to product based ones when it comes to marketing. While I subscribe to the theory that any research is better than none, that is not true in this instance. The contrarian view forces one to reconsider.
Think about what you may have overlooked in your marketing plans for 2008.
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