MarketR

Social Media - Listening Pt.2

2009-11-24T13:52:00.000-08:00

In the previous post we talked about Google Alerts and how it can be used as a tool for listening online.

Google alerts is great for listening to news stories, blog posts, discussion boards and forums. Unfortunately it is not so good for listening to Twitter.

The good news is, there's an app for that! (I know cheesy, but i couldn't resist)

HootSuite - Developed by Vancouver based company, Invoke media, Hootsuite is a powerful web-based* Twitter client.

*Web-based = No need to download anything

HootSuite Screen Shot

HootSuite allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts, send tweets, compress links, monitor statistics, and, of course, listen.

By setting HootSuite to what keywords you want to listen to you, you can segment conversations that involve those keywords. For example, our client, the Gastown Business Improvement Association, cares about people talking about "Gastown." We can tell HootSuite to track all conversations involving "Gastown" and we can monitor these in real-time.

This allows us to find any information about what is going on in the community. As well as engaging in conversation when relevant to the GBIA.

You can sign-up to Hootsuite here hootsuite.com/

Social Media - Listening

2009-11-19T14:59:00.001-08:00

As mentioned, step 1 in any social media strategy is listen. The question is how?

With so much information flying around the blogosphere and twitosphere how can you listen to all of it? The answer is you don't!

Over the past year there has been an influx of programs that allow you to segment the millions of comments, blog posts, and tweets going on in social media. With these programs you can segment the content so that you only listen to what is relevant to your brand.

Google Alerts -

Google Alerts is a fully customizable notification tool. All you have to do is tell Google what keywords you care most about. (Tip: make sure your keywords are specific or you will get thousands of alerts a day)

For example: I only want to know about the keyword "Gastown Restaurants" Now, whenever someone posts an article on their blog with the keyword "Gastown Restaurants" Google will notify me of that article.

You can customize this to just blogs, news articles, videos, etc. You can also make this an RSS feed so that you can read it on an RSS dashboard. This means you can have multiple feeds on a dashboard such as Google Reader and see in real-time new content relating to your keywords.

You can now:
-Listen to conversations about your brand
-Read blog posts about brand you carry
-Conduct market research about a new product you are thinking of carrying
-Keep an eye on what your competitors are up to
-Find content that your blog readers might be interested in

And the list goes on.

Keep posted to the MarketR Blog for other tools that allow you to listen online.

*Currently the MarketR team is advising clients on how to use online marketing channels during the 2010 Winter Olympics. If you are interested in sitting down with the MarketR team for a free one hour consultation, send us an email today.

info[at]marketing-revolution[dot]com

Vancouver 2010 - Social Media

2009-11-15T17:10:00.001-08:00

I was recently at a marketing workshop in Vancouver and the hot topic was social media and the 2010 Winter Olympics. This is a very interesting topic, because Vancouver will be the first Olympic event were social media will be a key communication tool. (Unfortunately, China could have had this title, but chose to continue to control internet in China. )

It was apparent that the moderator of the event had very little experience using social media, when he asked the question "How do we control social media during the 2010 Winter Olympics?"

This is a question that many large companies ask. And this is the reason why many large companies do a horrible job using social media.

Social media can not be controlled.

There is no on/off switch for social media. You can not say this week I would like people to talk about my brand but not next week. You can't say nobody can talk about my brand in a negative manner. Because social media happens.

The question is, will you listen? Or will you bury your head in the sand and hope that social media goes away.

Step one in all social media strategies is listen. The question the moderator should have been asking was "How can we use social media to listen to everyone during the 2010 Winter Olympics?"

The following posts this week will talk about ways to use social media to listen. Only after listening can you engage in the conversation.

*Currently the MarketR team is advising clients on how to use online marketing channels during the 2010 Winter Olympics. If you are interested in sitting down with the MarketR team for a free one hour consultation, send us an email today.

info[at]marketing-revolution[dot]com

Guerrilla Online Marketing

2009-11-04T14:48:00.000-08:00

In September, the MarketR team was asked to put on an event for Toni&Guy Vancouver to promote their latest hair collection.

The MarketR team designed a very successful Online Guerilla Marketing campaign that brought Toni&Guy Vancouver significant exposure, new clients and community engagement.

The concept was to allow people to pay what they want for a new collection haircut. All the donations would be given to the David Suzuki foundation. The event would last one day and it would be on a first come first served basis.

The event was promoted primarily online with a few ads being placed in the university newspaper and the 24 Hours. The company raised $1,200 for the David Suzuki foundation and had over 30 people lined up outside the salon waiting for a haircut.

*Note: Toni&Guy was able to raise more money for charity than what they spent on marketing. Unfortunately this is not always the case for many fundraiser events.

The event was covered by the 24 Hours, Miss 604, HummingBird604, Vancouver is Awesome, MartiniBoys, Vancouver Magazine and MallVibes. The event was also talked about on Twitter and Facebook.

Market Research:
All attendees to the event were asked how they heard about the event. Out of the 30+ attendees only 2 had seen the ads in the 24 Hours and University Newspaper. Most attendees stated that they saw posters on the street, paired with Facebook ads and people talking about it on their online social networks. Others said they saw it on popular online blogs.

Remember:
Toni&Guy spent over 75% of their marketing budget on traditonal marketing. In the end it only brought in 2 new clients. The other less than 25% was spent on posters and online marketing that brought in roughly 30 new clients.

Yes, traditional reaches a very large audience. But online reaches the people you care most about. When done right, online is focused and targeted and reaches only those individuals in your target market.

Offline/Online Integration

2009-09-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

How do you integrate online applications into an offline community event?

This is the question the the Gastown Business Improvement Society asked the MarketR team when they were planning the 1st Annual Gastown Blues and Chili Festival.

The event would bring together 20 Gastown Restaurants to compete for the Best Chili in Gastown award. The main voting would be done by a panel of celebrity judges; however, there would also be a people's choice award.

The MarketR team decided to integrate the people's choice award with Twitter. This allowed people on the day to use Twitter to vote for their favourite chili.

A large LCD screen was set-up to display, in real-time, the number of votes for each restaurant. Participants could vote online or at the People's Choice Award booth.

The live-voting was a huge success with participating restaurants checking the screen and encouraging people to vote. The live-chart could be viewed online allowing attendees to check who won when they got home. Over 100 people voted for their favorite chili and the Gastown Business Improvement Society is looking at using the live Twitter voting at other Gastown event.

Contact MarketR to see how you can integrate online applications at your offline event.

Leverage - VFS District 9

2009-08-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Online marketing allows small-medium sized business to leverage events, awards, training programs, and more without breaking the bank.

Read more posts about online marketing and leverage

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a sci-fi movie called District 9. The movie has received one of the highest ratings on IMDB.com and has received rave reviews from movie critics. Even more surprising is that there are no A list actors in the movie and the director has only directed 2 low budget movies.

How do you leverage the fact that the movie director, Neill Blomkamp, graduated from your school's film program?

This was the question that VFS had to ask themselves. Most large companies, who tend not to think outside the box, would send out a generic press release to traditional media. This strategy would work for about 3 days. The problem with this is that it is short-term, and VFS's target audience spend more time reading blogs and on Twitter than reading newspapers.

So VFS decided to create their own microsite highlighting all the VFS graduates who worked on the district 9 movie.

"Neill Blomkamp, director of this summer's must-see sci-fi thriller District 9, got his start at Vancouver Film School. That's not all: much of the talent behind District 9 originates at VFS, including co-writer Terri Tatchell, Visual Effects Executive Producer Shawn Walsh, and 40 other members of District 9's visual effects team."

The microsite is filled with facts about the movie and video on the behind the scenes of District 9. The site also incorporates the VFS twitter and Facebook page, encouraging viewers to follow and become a fan of VFS.

From the microsite viewers can learn more about VFS and the programs they provide. There is even a competition for visitors to input their email for a chance to win District 9 merchandise.

Why this strategy works?
This strategy provides VFS with long term leverage of the District 9 movie. The site will always be on the Internet and can be viewed by potential students from all over the world. Technology, and movie blogs picked up the site and promoted it on their sites to viewers that fit perfectly with VFS's target market. The strategy can be measured easily. VFS can see how many visitors go to the microsite and from there how many visitors view more info about VFS. They can measure engagement through the sign-up form, Twitter and Facebook page.

Is your business doing great things in the local community? Do you have a training program superior to your competition? Have your employees accomplished outstanding feats in their industry?

Make sure you leverage by using online marketing tools. To learn more contact MarketR

If you thought social media was a fad. Think again.

2009-08-14T14:17:00.001-07:00

Twitter 101 - For Business

2009-07-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Twitter has recently announced a new website specifically for business owners. The Twitter 101 site walks you through how to set up a Twitter account, the Twitter lingo and case studies of companies using Twitter.

Twitter has been a great tool for companies to communicate and listen to their customers. However sometimes brands get it all wrong. Take Best Buys Chief Marketing Officer for example.

Below is the conversation the CMO of Best Buy had with a prominent blogger. The conversation has been seen by millions and has tarnished any marketing done by Best Buy to promote how friendly and supportive their staff are.

(Click the image to view the conversation)

Future Marketing Trends – By The Numbers

2009-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are still not convinced that online marketing is the way forward, see the statistics below.

Courtesy of TheFutureBuzz.com

Marketing spends

$55 billion - number of dollars marketers will spend on interactive (display, mobile, email, social, search) channels by 2014

21% – percentage of all marketing spends that the 55 billion figure will represent

7.8 billion - amount marketers will spend on display advertising in 2009

$15.3 billion – amount marketers will spend on search marketing in 2009

$716 million – amount marketers will spend on social media marketing in 2009

4% – percentage of budget allocated to social media as compared to search in 2009

9% – amount this number will grow to by 2014

(source)

$585 million amount in 2008 marketers spent on MySpace ads

$210 million amount marketers spent in 2008 on Facebook ads

9% - amount Facebook’s ad revenue will grow in 2009

15% – amount MySpace’s ad revenue will fall in 2009

(source)

Twitter by the numbers

21% – number of Twitter accounts that are empty placeholders

94% – number of Twitter accounts with less than 100 followers

5% – percentage of users who make up a staggering 3/4 of all Twitter activity (participation inequality)

Tuesday – the most popular day on Twitter (not a number but still an interesting fact)

62% – percentage of Twitter users from the US

(source)

2.56 billion – number of Tweets at the time of posting this (source)

22.99 million - number of unique visitors to Twitter.com in June of 2009 (source)

Facebook by the numbers

200 million – updated number of active Facebook users

30 million -number of those active users who access Facebook via mobile device

100 million - number of Facebook users who log in daily

66% – percentage of Facebook users who are outside of college

120 – average number of friends per user

900 million – average number of photos uploaded to the site monthly

10 million - number of videos uploaded each month

1 billion – number of pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week

2.5 million - number of events created monthly

70% – number of Facebook users who live outside the US

950,000 – number of developers and entrepreneurs leveraging the Facebook platform

100 – number of applications that have more than 1 million active users

10,000 – number of websites using Facebook connect

(source)

Twitter Pt.2 - Listen and You Will be Heard

2009-07-22T14:43:00.000-07:00

So I was at a "Social Media Workshop" on Monday night and the presenter said "I use Twitter but I don't get why, and how to use it." This is when I knew I had to update my blog with "Why and How to use Twitter."

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If you have not read twitter,tweets,twestival,tweetheart pt1 read it first!!
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Ok lets start with some fun Twitter jargon.

twitterlooing: twittering from a bathroom.

Visit Twitterspeak page on Mashable for more.

So why is there so much hype about Twitter and how can companies leverage it's success?

Remember when you wanted to find out what people were saying about a particular product. You would look for online message boards, or forums and ask your friends what they thought about a particular product.

You trusted these opinions because there was no incentive for people to lie. These were honest experiences that people had when using a particular product or service. It was great, you didn't have to worry about spending a ton of money on a car, or a hotel because you had these testimonials.

However, there was one problem with the online message boards and forums, there were so many and some were full of spam and others didn't seem like they really knew what they were talking about and just seemed like one big online argument.

Then along came Twitter.

People talk on Twitter. They talk about everything and anything. The movie they just saw. The girl they just passed. Even the doctors appointment they just went to. It is the largest message board in the world. And even better, it is real-time. Want to know what is going on right now in the world? All you have to do is check what words are trending on Twitter.

Visit www.whatthetrend.com to see what terms are trending on Twitter and why.

For example, I just looked what terms are trending as I am writing this post and this is what I found.

Tim Burtons Alice: Tim Burton is remaking the classic ALICE IN WONDERLAND movie, set to release on March 5, 2010.

IranElection: A large percentage of the Iranian population disputes the election of President Ahmedinejad, believing the election rigged, a "Sea of Green" took to the streets to protest. Tweeters are trying to raise awareness of the situation, because news networks won't.

TED: TEDGlobal 2009 is happening this week with lots of high-profiled speakers

Pretty cool stuff. Especially the IranElection tweets. In fact the reason why the uprising in Iran has been so powerful is because of Twitter.
So what are the implications for brands?

Twitter is an amazing communication tool. You can reach thousands of people. Letting them know about your latest promotion, or review in a popular magazine. You can voice your opinions about a particular event or news story. And you can definitely push any new content that you have recently put up on your blog. (Which I will be doing as soon as I publish this post, @raykanani)

But that isn't why Twitter is so great for brands.
Unfortunately brands are so used to talking that they can not see that listening is what makes Twitter such a powerful tool. search.twitter.com allows you to search what people are talking about in regards to a particular keyword, geographic region, or even attitude.

The MarketR team is constantly listening to what people are talking about on Twitter and engaging in a conversation when we feel the topic is related to the client's brand.

For example we noticed that an individual in Vancouver was complaining on Twitter because she was having a bad hair day. One of our clients is an internationally recognized hair salon. On behalf of the client we engaged in a conversation. We recognized that she had over one thousand people following her on Twitter so we offered a discount to the salon. She was ecstatic at the offer and made sure to share her excitement to her followers. Even better when she came into the salon she made sure to write about her amazing experience to all of her followers.

Some other examples of listening on Twitter.

Malaysian Airlines.

Wells Fargo

By listening you can understand how your brand is being perceived. If you keep hearing that brand x's prices are so high, then maybe it is time to do a price promotion. Or maybe you keep hearing that service is so poor at brand y. Well maybe it is time to focus on customer service training.

By listening you can attract individuals who are experiencing the customer pain that your brand is designed to solve.

By listening you can show your customers and potential customers that you care.

Listen and you will be heard

Facebook.com/yournamehere - Vanity URL

2009-06-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

We know we said the next few posts would be all about Twitter, but we felt this could not wait.

Facebook has announced that it will be issuing vanity URLs for Facebook accounts.

You may be asking, what is a vanity URL? It is your chance to claim your very own piece of Facebook.

In the past Facebook URLs would be made up of what looks like random numbers. This was very inconvenient for brands who wanted to promote their Facebook page offline, because who would remember "www.Faceboook.com/profile.php?id=123456789" ?

So Facebook has finally followed Twitter, and MySpace and offered a personalized "vanity url" that can now look like this www.facebook.com/brandname

Because nobody can have the same Facebook URL this space is going to go quick, this means you need to move fast. If you have an existing Facebook page, log-in to Facebook and visit the Facebook.com/username website. From there you are given suggestions for your custom Facebook URL. Click the more option to input your own choice. Note: This also works for Facebook brand pages, however you must have over 1000 fans.

If you do not already have a Facebook page for yourself or brand, you are out of luck. New Facebook accounts are not eligible.

Now for my rant.

For brands who have recognized the potential for social media, the new vanity URL is great news. For brands who thought it would be a fad, the news is irrelevant because these brands are not eligible for a custom Facebook URL. Which means by the time they get 1000 Facebook fans, the URL they want will not be available.

Let this be a lesson to those brands still on the social media sidelines. Get out and play! Because if you don't you might never get a chance to.

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*Note: You may have noticed the blog has not been updated regularly. The MarketR team is currently in Europe facilitating online marketing workshops for brands wanting to play the social media game.

The team will be back on June 22nd.

Twitter, Tweets, Twestival, Tweetheart... pt1

2009-05-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

Everyone is using and talking about Twitter. From talk show host Ellen, to dictators in North Korea. Twitter is an amazing communication tool with endless possibilities, however brands are still unsure how to use Twitter effectively.

The next few posts will be all about how your company can use Twitter to build relationships with potential and existing customers.

*For a list of Twitter terms as seen in the title of this post visit the Twitterspeak page on Mashable.

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Definition of Tweetheart: that special tweeter who makes your heart skip a beat.
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Step 1: People don't enjoy talking or listening to robots.
Example: From the youngrepublicans.tv twitter account (I apologize for using a political website as an example, however it was the best example of how not to use twitter.)

"CIA Deputy Chief Visits Yemen for Talks on Fighting Terrorism: Steven Kappes made an unannounced visit to the co.. http://bit.ly/12TJh4"

If you visit the youngrepublicans twitter account you will notice every message includes a link to a website they want you to visit. There are no thoughts, emotions, or questions in any of the messages. There is no indication that there is a real person behind these messages. Even worse it seems the youngrepublicans have a serious problem interacting with other Twitter users.

How can the youngrepublicans use twitter more effectively?

Set-up twitter accounts as an actual human being representing the youngrepublicans brand.

Example:
Twitter name: John Doe
website: youngrepublicans.tv
Bio: Senior Director for youngrepublicans.tv...

Now John Doe can express how he feels about anything going on in regards to the youngrepublicans brand.

Posts can now read like this:

"Just read a great article on the CIA Deputy Chief's Visit to Yemen where he talks about fighting terrorism. http://bit.ly/12TJh4. Let me know what you think."

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Take away: When researching online marketing you will hear a lot of people using terms such as engagement, interaction, and transparency.

What do these words mean?

It means consumers want relationships and they can't have relationships with brands that act like robots.

Twitter robot characteristics.
-All talk and no listening
-Never engaging in conversations with other Twitter users
-Automated messages when you receive followers.
-No human attached to the Twitter account
-Generic posts with no opinion, or emotion

The next post will talk about how you can use tools such as Twitter Search and #tags to listen to your existing and potential customers.

Follow me on Twitter @ray kanani

Leverage Local

2009-05-19T18:21:00.000-07:00

If you are visiting this site, chances are you found use through the local listings on Google. MarketR ranks high on many important and very expensive search terms such as online marketing and marketing agency.

Thanks to local listings we don't have to bid on these keywords using Google AdWords and in return save thousands of dollars a year.

We receive a lot of inquiries about search engine optimization and questions on how to increase a websites ranking on Google. The problem is SEO takes time and clients usually want immediate results.

What is the solution? - Dominate the local search.
You may have noticed when you search geographically targeted search term such as "Hair Salons in Vancouver" a local map shows up at the top of the Google page. This area is essential for any business serious about increasing it's online presence and growing the customer base. I am sure I do not have to convince you that people actually click on the local search area quite often, as you most likely clicked on it to get here.

Every client we have worked with has signed up for the local search package. And every client we have worked with has noticed a significant increase in web traffic and customers.

MarketR has put together a new search marketing package for small-medium sized businesses. We set you up with local listings and optimize for the most popular local search terms. We also integrate your website with tracking software so that you understand how your customers are finding you and where you can improve. Finally we set up Google AdWords so that you can bid on keyword that will drive potential customers to your website.

Inquire today about the search marketing package for small-medium sized business.

info@marketing-revoultion.com
or ask for Ray at 604 728 4979

YouTube Ad Competition

2009-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Some of us at the MarketR team recently entered the Young Lions YouTube Ad Competition.

Let us know what you think and check out some of the other entries. Young Lions 2009 - Ridiculous Vancouver

Why do we buy?

2009-05-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we updated the MarketR blog. It is ironic because the past 3 weeks we have been working with clients on developing strategies for keeping online content up to date.

Marketing 101: Consumers don't buy features, they buy benefits.

Why do we buy?

Why do we buy those $140 Nike shoes? Or that $1,000 Hugo Boss suit? Some may say because they are comfortable, or that the fit is better than anything else. That person does not understand why they buy.

Luxury good manufacturers don't sell shoes, suits, or even jewelery, they sell confidence, strength, and beauty. That is why we buy the $140 Nike shoes, or the $1,000 Hugo Boss suit. Not for the fit or for the comfort; instead, for the association of strength, confidence and beauty.

As the marketplace becomes increasingly more competitive, products become more and more generic. Take for example the bottled water industry. There are numerous companies selling bottled water, and they are all selling the exact same product. (Some may disagree, but when researchers did blind taste tests participants could not differentiate bottled water from tap water.) Bottled water companies can't promote their convenience because all there competitors are just as convenient. They can't promote their price because water is free. Because of this they have to create an association with an admirable human character trait. For example, Evian is perceived as being classy, and sophisticated. When consumers purchase Evian water they are not purchasing it for the convenience, or for the taste, they are purchasing it to be associated with class and sophistication. (There is a popular joke when talking about Evian water. Just read the word Evian backwards.)

What does this all mean?
It actually means a lot. It means that multi-million dollar corporations only have one thing that separates them from small-medium sized businesses, a multi-million dollar marketing budget. With this budget they are able to manipulate consumers into believing that purchasing overpriced shoes will result in admirable character traits such as confidence, strength and beauty.

Stop selling your product. Start selling your brand!
What does your company stand for? It isn't goods, or services. It is the desire to give back to the local community, it is your love for the environment, it is your dedication to volunteering. Consumers don't buy Nike shoes, they buy everything that Nike stands for.

MarketR allows you to promote what your company stands for without the multi-million dollar marketing budget.

PR 2.0 - Crazy Haired Eggs and the Power of Twitter

2009-04-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

MarketR and Toni&Guy Vancouver teamed up to deliver one of the most exciting egg hunts Vancouver has seen.
Toni&Guy Vancouver is one of MarketR's largest clients. This means almost all marketing, events, promotions, and PR is handled by the MarketR team.

After the success of the Toni&Guy Declares W.A.R. event, we were very excited to come up with another affair that was going to attract a lot of buzz.

After taking a look at the Calendar we immediately saw an opportunity during Easter. Egg hunts have been around for many years, but over time have become dull and are mostly geared towards young children.

The MarketR team came up with a way Toni&Guy could rejuvenate the Easter egg hunt in a way that was unique to Toni&Guy.

The 1st Annual Crazy Hair Toni&Guy Egg Hunt.

The Objective
Raising brand awareness while building upon the existing branding that Toni&Guy is a fun, and creative salon that is constantly thinking outside the box.

The Campaign
Over 40 plastic eggs were decorated with crazy hair by the Toni&Guy team and placed around the city. Inside each egg was chocolate and a Toni&Guy gift card valued at up to $100. (Values ranged from $5-$100).

Samples of the eggs:

Visit the Toni&Guy Egg Hunt FlickR page for pictures of all the eggs.

Results:
The Toni&Guy Crazy Hair Egg Hunt created large amounts of buzz for the salon.

People were talking about the egg hunt over Twitter.

(Twitter Screenshot)

The egg hunt was featured on multiple local blogs.

MartiniBoys.com

TinyBites.ca

"This was the coolest egg hunt I’ve heard about this year! 40 coiffed Easter eggs will be hidden all over Kitsilano and downtown Vancouver. Each contains the requisite chocolate plus a T&G gift card ranging in value from $5 - $100.

To join in on the scavenger hunt, follow the clues that will be tossed out Friday afternoon and Saturday morning on the Tony & Guy blog and their Twitter account."

FashionMagazine.com
Miss604.com
TheStyleSpy.com
People who found the eggs started posting pictures online.

The Toni&Guy Vancouver website doubled in traffic and the Toni&Guy Twitter account acquired 70 new followers. Because of the websites dynamic content, traffic continues to grow everyday.

(The first spike in traffic was when the campaign launched. Twitter, and Facebook messages drove traffic to the site. The second spike was organic traffic from referring sites talking about the campaign. The third spike was when the egg hunt actually happened. Community involvement such as conversations on twitter and users posting pictures of their egg finds drove traffic to the website.)

Take Aways:
-If you want your brand to be perceived as fun and creative, make sure your events and promotions are fun and creative. (Sounds simple, but so many companies don't follow this rule)

-Utilize your staff: We were able to harness the talent of the Toni&Guy team to decorate the eggs. Instead of paying a street team to promote the event on Robson St, we used the Toni&Guy staff who were already enthusiastic about the event and loved showing off the eggs they decorated.

-Do not underestimate the power of Twitter: All communications to local bloggers was done through Twitter. Once the event was covered by one popular blog the event was quickly covered by many others. By engaging Twitter users, conversations about the event grew organically both before and after the event.

Pushing VS Pulling

2009-04-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

In marketing there are two common techniques, pushing and pulling.

Pushing means your marketing material is geared towards pushing your product onto the customer. This means offering incentives for employees or sales representatives to push your product or placing your product in areas were customers impulsively buy. Promotions are a form of push marketing, or advertisments that end with "buy now."

For example: Energy drinks love to use push marketing. You will see numerous street teams handing out products and promotions to potential customers. A lot of perks are given to retail stores to carry specific energy drinks, such as free tickets to events, price breaks, and merchandising material.

Pull, means your marketing strategy inspires consumers to demand your product. This technique requires you to use your head rather than your wallet. You need to come up with ways to relate with and engage your target market. Tools often used are sponsorship, product placement, PR stunts, and word of mouth.

For example: Apple Computers very rarely pushes. Instead they use product placement, PR and innovative advertisements to create consumer demand for their products. If you look at Apple computer advertising you'll notice that they never end with quotes such as "buy now" or "available at the following locations." The ads are never trying to push the product, instead the message is "this is who we are, this is our product, and this is what it does."

An energy drink company that focuses on pull marketing is Red Bull. By sponsoring events such as the soap box derby, concerts and Formula 1, Red Bull has created an image that is relatable to its target market.

Both Apple and Red Bull offer no price breaks to retail stores, and almost no perks for selling their product. However thanks to their powerful pull marketing strategies they offer something that other brands can't, guaranteed consumer demand. Stores like London Drugs know that although Apple and Red Bull products are priced higher and have smaller margins, the product is demanded by their customers. Because of this stores are forced to stock these brands.

So why don't all companies use pull marketing?
-It takes time to see results
-Consistency is key
-Coming up with creative ideas takes too much time and energy

These are the three biggest reasons small-medium sized companies don't use pull marketing.

Contact MarketR to learn how we can help you develop cost effective pull marketing strategies.

Did You Know - The Online Revolution

2009-04-03T09:04:00.000-07:00

MarketR was formed because the Internet is in the process of revolutionizing the marketing industry. The Internet allows you to communicate with your target customers quickly, and cost effectively. Unfortunately many marketing agencies in Vancouver are struggling to understand how to use the internet effectively. Even worse is when agencies feel they should charge clients the same ridiculous fees as offline marketing.

Visit the MarketR - Main Page to learn how you can use the Internet to grow your business.

The Internet is growing at an incredibly rate. If your company is not harnessing the power of the Internet you will get left behind.

"It's Only a Mistake If You Do It Twice"

2009-03-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I can not take credit for this quote, however it is one of my favorites.

The internet is a relatively new tool for marketers. This means no one person is an expert. Of course some people are more proficient then others, but nobody can say I am the best online marketer. If you hear someone say this, I advice you not to believe much that comes out of his or her mouth.

One thing does separate great online marketers from not so great online marketers. That one thing is the ability to test and refine. Great online marketers are not afraid to take controlled risks, keyword controlled, in order to develop new more effective online marketing techniques.

Example: The MarketR team just finished implementing a Google AdWords strategy for the Sauder School of Business at UBC. The strategy focused on 3 geographic regions, China, India and Canada. We had no idea what keywords and ad variations would deliver results, so we tested and refined.
Step 1:
Using tools such as Google's keyword selector and Google Insights, we were able to develop a large list of potential keywords that were both generic and geographically specific. Our team of search marketing creatives developed a variety of ad variations for each geographic region.
Step 2:
We tested. We segmented each campaign so that we could easily see which keywords and ad variations were delivering the best results. We ran the campaign and continuously monitored the performance.
Step 3:
We analyzed. This is an important step that poor marketers and business owners miss often. Always reflect on everything you do, this is the driving force towards improvement. Unfortunately poor marketers are afraid to reflect because they are scared of what they might find. This forces them to implement the same flawed strategies over and over again.
Step 4:
We refined. We looked for keywords and ad variations that were doing well and we removed the ones that were not. We were able to see trends in each region that we could never have anticipated before testing. We leveraged these trends by increasing our budget around these high performing keywords.

Now our client has a focused, well refined and effective AdWords strategy that will deliver outstanding results for approximately one month. It might seem surprising that we only expect it to deliver great results for one month. However at MarketR we understand that the internet is continuously evolving, meaning you have to continuously test and refine new strategies to deliver exceptional results.

Remember:
Don't be afraid to try new things. If it doesn't deliver results, stop doing it. If it does, continue doing it, and test ways to make it even better. Always reflect on how successful your marketing strategies are. Or risk throwing your money away.

MarketR Main Page

2009-03-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Everyone needs a main page, even MarketR. Today we are excited to announce the soft launch of the MarketR Main Website.

Check it out and let us know what you think. www.marketing-revolution.com

Social Media - Join The Party

2009-03-09T17:45:00.000-07:00

Social media is like a big party. People are catching up with old friends, or friends they just saw that day. People are sharing stories, getting to know new people with similar interests, and being introduced to people by their friends.

Everything that is talked about at a party is talked about using social media.
-How good the movie was that just came out.
-Who went out on a date with Kate.
-What happened in the hockey game that just ended.

Why does this information matter?
The reason why most social media marketing fails is because marketers fail to realize why people use Twitter, and Facebook.

Twitter is a party for people who are too busy to stay for long and just want to keep updated.
Imagine someone shows up to the party and doesn't stop talking. This person doesn't listen to what other are saying. Instead he keeps talking about how cool he is and why people should be friends with him. Guess what? He is quickly kicked out of the party. Now imagine someone shows up pretending to be someone they are not. Check out the post on Brittney Spears and Twitter. We all know what happens then.

Facebook is a party for people who have too much time on their hands and want to know everything about everyone.

The problem is that if your not interesting then nobody cares to get to know you. Meaning if your content is not updated daily with video, pictures and conversations with others nobody cares if you are at the party or not. Another big problem related to Facebook is that the older generation are starting to show up to the party. Imagine peoples relatives and even worse, parents showing up. It will be interesting to see if the younger core group of Facebook users will start to find a party somewhere else.

Don't be the party crasher. Listen to what people are talking about and engage in the conversation. Keep your content fresh and genuine. If your brand is aimed at the younger generation use Facebook. If not, find something else. Remember that social media is a two-way conversation. It is not about talking, it is about listening and engaging.

Remix Manifesto

2009-03-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the Vancouver screening of "Remix Manifesto" a documentary about the copyright laws.

The internet allows anyone to collaborate with people from all over the world. The creative content that has been developed thanks to the internet is incredible. Just look at Wikipedia, one of the most popular websites in the world with content generated by people all over the world. In order to fund Wikipedia they asked for donations and were able to raise millions of dollars through small donations.

Unfortunately there are some corporations that don't like the empowerment the internet brings. Mostly because controlling what people can and can't do is how these companies make money.

Check out the trailer for the documentary. Playing March 8th 7pm at Vancity Theater. Also the film is part of opensource cinema. Meaning all video clips were posted online and anyone could collaborate in putting in the background music and clipping the film together.

Leverage = Doing More With Less

2009-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

MarketR was featured once again on a popular PR blog. Check out the post about leveraging social media.

Again this shows why the internet is so powerful. When done right, publicity about your company can spread like wild fire.

When we developed the marketing strategy for Toni&Guy's W.A.R. show, we knew it was going to be a huge success. We had no idea about the publicity MarketR would get.

The key is to leverage everything. Turn something small that your company does, into something big.

I just had a meeting with a client who donates to local charities on a regular basis. I asked who knew about their donations? The client replied, the company's staff know about the donations and clients when they come visit the store. This is great initiative, as it builds company moral and clients feel great about patronizing a store that gives back to the community.
The internet allows you to take it one step further. By posting the annual donations on a company's twitter account, blog and e-mail newsletter you take it to the next level. Now thousands of people know about your great contributions. Potential clients are more likely to patronize your store and individuals looking for a job in a company that values giving back are likely to give you a call.

Where it gets really good, is when other bloggers and twitter users start talking about your contribution. Now thousands more people are talking about your company's donations and thousand more potential clients know why your company is different from others.

You never know what is going to be picked up by people on the internet, but there is only one way to find out. Remember to leverage everything!

Knowledge is Power

2009-02-23T21:05:00.001-08:00

The internet is the most powerful communication tool in the world. You can communicate to a very large audience for a very small amount of money. With new tools to create and share great content, your audience is getting bigger and bigger every day.

MarketR works with developers to create great content worth sharing. Call today to see how your company's message can be shared to the world.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A video is worth a million.

This is a great video that demonstrates how the internet can be used for incredible communication. But remember simplicity is key, Jonathan Jarvis does a great job of delivering simple images that communicate a complex message. Although the internet allows you to have a large audience, if your message is not simple and credible nobody will listen.

If you have ever wondered how we got into this economic mess, this is a must watch video. Remember, knowledge is power. You must understand the problem, before you can create solutions.

The Smart Money

2009-02-21T18:12:00.000-08:00

Someone once asked me, "how did you get so smart?" Of course I was flattered but I responded, "I am not smart, I just listen to smart people and repeat what they are saying."

Seth Godin is one of the most insightful marketers in the world. You can read Seth's Blog here.
I read his blog every day, and after reading his posts my brain goes crazy with new marketing ideas.

One of his posts called "Do ads work?" is incredibly insightful and really sums up why online marketing is so powerful.

He asks, "If a bank was selling one dollar bills for 90 cents, how many dollar bills would you buy?"

Hopefully your answer is, "as many dollar bills as I can possibly have."

So why do you have an advertising budget? If your ads bring in more money then they cost, why not buy as many ads as you can? And if they are not profitable why are you running them?

There is a simple answer to this questions. "I can't tell which ads are profitable and which ads are not." For traditional advertising this is absolutely true.

Online marketing is different. You can find out how much money your search marketing is making you. You can see who opened your email blast and visited your store because of it. You can see how many visitors to your website/blog looked at your contact information in order to visit your store.

With Search Marketing, E-Mail Marketing and Web Analytics your able pay 90 cents for a dollar.

There is a famous saying in marketing, "50% of my marketing budget is wasted money. The problem is, I don't know which 50% it is."

With MarketR you no longer have to worry about wasting money.

MarketR News

2009-02-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

2009 has been a very exciting year for MarketR and it is only 2 months in. We are about to launch a brand new MarketR main website next week, and it looks amazing. The MarketR team is working with a number of new clients to establish online marketing tools such as blogs, websites, social media initiatives, email newsletters and of course search marketing.

We are very excited to launch a new MarketR initiative called PassTheBuddha. Look out for more information coming soon.

Other news:
MarketR featured on PR Couture.com for the incredible Toni&Guy PR 2.0 campaign.

Twestival & Generation G

2009-02-16T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last week was Twesitival, a initiative to raise money for charity: water. The initiative leveraged the power of Twitter, and encouraged Twitter users to hold local fund raisers on February 12 2009.

charity: water for Twestival

Twesitival was a huge success, and Vancouver had its very own event called yvrtwestival. Vancouver raised $4,000 by holding an event at the Opus hotel, with a raffle and silent auction. No money was spent on traditional marketing. Instead they focused on Twitter, blogs, social media and PR, which of course was all free.

Generation G

An interesting report from friends over at trendwatching.com talks about a growing trend towards giving. This is a big reason why Twestival was so successful and more importantly a great marketing tool for small-medium sized businesses.

The current economic situation has caused huge changes in consumer preferences. Reports show that consumers blame the huge losses in the stock market, jobs and pension funds on big business. Companies such as General Motors, and Citi Bank have lost huge amounts of consumer trust.

Some (U.S.) stats from Reputation Garage:
-As few as 13% of American consumers place their trust in big business.
-Only 39% of employees said they trust senior leadership
-Three quarters of consumers feel that companies don't tell the truth in advertising
-Three quarters of employees in big companies observed violations of the law or company standards in a 12 month period.

Consumers want to support local, small-medium sized businesses that are dedicated to giving back.

Tips:
-Support a local charity that is related to the industry you are in.
-Let customers and potential customers know how much give back.
-Giving doesn't have to be about money. Volunteer your time and services.
-Don't give the impression that you are a big business. Keep it local.

Innovate or Die

2009-02-11T20:23:00.001-08:00

I am constantly writing about how the internet has revolutionized so many things. From electoral campaigns to the way we communicate with others. The internet has changed the game in every aspect of our lives.

Unfortunately some people decide to fight this revolution, and it becomes quite obvious that they are fighting a losing battle. Usually the reason they fight the internet, is because they don't know how to use it. They are scared of losing control and the negative affects it may bring their brand. The problem is that by fighting the internet, your brand receives more negative attention then if you had embraced it.

For Example: If you read the Vancouver Metro newspaper today, you would have read that a BC Transit bus driver was fired for having a blog. The blog chronicled his daily activities of being a bus driver in Vancouver. He said he started the blog because his family was interested in what an average day was like for him. Eventually his blog started to get more traffic, as more and more people were interested in the same topic. His blog was even linked to from the official BC Transit blog.

*Note: His blog was rarely negative towards BC Transit. In fact he often empathized with the company in when it came to poor bus service during bad weather.

How cool is that. Your employee takes the time to write a blog about working for your company. There are so many ways BC Transit could have utilized this blog.
Here are a few.
-Free advertising for hiring bus drivers
-A great feedback mechanism for ways to improve and to recognize what they are doing well
-Free advertising for the joys of taking the bus
-Build company moral

But instead they chose to fight it.
This is a perfect example of a company who is scared. They are scared of losing control and having proactive employees market the company. After all this employee is not paid to be a marketer, he is not restrained by any contract saying he can't say and do certain things, he is free to write whatever he likes. This is why personal blogs are so affective! People trust them.

When MarketR sets up Twitter accounts for companies, we make sure to set up a company account and personal accounts. Guess which accounts are more successful. Who wants to listen to the candy coated jargon a company spits out?

I love public transit. I think it is our responsibility to take public transit whenever possible. I do not like the company BC Transit.

The strategy to fight the internet has caused many more people to dislike BC Transit. Check out this forum about the incident. Now BC Transit has got people on other sites, that they have no control over, talking about how wrong the company is. They have got forums discussing the topic and how it was wrongful dismissal. Even worse they had over 100,000 people reading a front page story about the event.

Now they have something to fear. Why would anyone want to work for a company that mistreats their employees.

If you fight the internet, or put your head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist, you will lose! I have seen it happen so many times, and it is not pretty.

If you have trouble embracing change, don't call MarketR, because we are change. Instead read the book, Who Moved My Cheese.

PR 2.0

2009-02-07T12:06:00.000-08:00

As noted in a previous post, MarketR worked with Toni&Guy Vancouver to deliver an incredibly successful Fashion event on Thursday February 5th 2009. This post will explain why the event was so successful and how you can achieve the same success at your next event.

Step 1: Develop A Strong Theme
The reason for the show was that Toni&Guy had been in Vancouver for 10 years. Toni&Guy wanted to celebrate with a fashion show. This did not mean the theme of the show had to be about the 10 years in Vancouver. Instead, the MarketR team and Toni&Guy felt it would be more exciting to highlight fashion from revolutionary times in history. The show would highlight periods involving industrial, sexual and art revolutions. To end the show Toni&Guy Vancouver would show off their creative skills by delivering a collection inspired by the revolution happening right now. The show was named W.A.R. - WorldArtRevolution.

The theme was controversial, it got peoples attention and more importantly it was inspiring.

Step 2: Continuity
MarketR made sure that everything about the show revolved around the theme.

-Posters, tickets, flyers,

-The Venue: The Penthouse Night Club was chosen as the venue for the show. This venue was chosen because of the historical significance to Vancouver and it fitted perfectly with the theme of the show. The MarketR team decided to add a touch of Toni&Guy to the venue: Toni&Guy videos were projected onto the building, a red carpet and planters were set up at the main entrance, all inappropriate pictures were removed or covered with Toni&Guy images and a runway was set up.
-The Media and Press Packs

To fit the theme of the show all media and press packs were hand delivered in document envelopes marked "Top Secret." Envelopes were personally addressed and labeled with a return address and a Toni&Guy stamp. Inside the envelopes was a press-release, a personal letter inviting them to the show + a guest, a letter indicating that a donation in their name had been made to Beauty Night for the enclosed tickets and a mini poster to put up in his/her office.

Step 3: Use The Most Powerful Tool Your Company Has, The Internet.
Because Toni&Guy Vancouver has been a client for some time now, MarketR was able to leverage the blog, email newsletter, twitter account, Facebook marketing, and online contacts to take the fashion show one level above the rest.

-The Blog
MarketR set up a blog for Toni&Guy almost a year ago. Toni&Guy Vancouver Hair Salon Blog. The blog has been incredibly successful and is growing at an incredible rate.

MarketR constantly updated viewers with small bits of information as the event was being planned. When the team secured the venue or found a new act for the show, readers were the first to know. MarketR also developed a mini-site widget for the blog in order to create buzz. We gave away VIP tickets on the blog and had live picture updates on the day of the event.

-E-Mail Newsletter
MarketR has developed initiatives in order to build a strong client email list for Toni&Guy.

Updates regarding the show were sent on a weekly basis through email to a large client list. Chances to win VIP tickets, buzz about what would be in the gift bags and behind the scenes pictures created a feeling of engagement for clients before the event even started.

-Twitter
MarketR recently launched a twitter page for Toni&Guy and it has blown away expectations. We get reports daily about new people following the twitter page.

The twitter account kept followers updated about new blog posts. It was kept personal with updates such as "WHAT, one of the models is sick and is bailing out of the show!" When new door prizes were secured the twitter followers were first to know. Conversations with the Beauty Night were open for Twitter followers to see.

-Facebook
A Facebook page was created by Toni&Guy staff. This allowed viewers to see the Facebook page as a behind the scenes look of the show. Candid pictures and personal messages were posted here. MarketR stepped up the Facebook advertising during the run up to the show. This resulted in an increase of 40% in viewers to the blog site.

-Online Contacts
Probably the most important strategy in this whole campaign. MarketR built relationships with local blog writers and sent them invitations to the event. This started a chain reaction of blog posts about the show. Combined with all of the strategies above, the buzz began to grow quickly.

Vancouver.com
Style.by.fire.com
Miss 604
vancouver magazine
hummingbird604
Mall Vibes
canadianblogs.com
cosmetology association
Canada.com/North Shore News
and the list goes on...

The Result: Not only did the event raise $3,000 for the charity Beauty Night, but it created an incredible amount of buzz for Toni&Guy Vancouver.

By leveraging the power of the internet we were able to create a buzz before the event even started. Individuals were able to see the behind the scenes of the show and feel engaged in the event planning process. The internet was the reason why the event was so successful.

Look out for pictures, video and reviews to pop-up about the show next week, as MarketR circulates press packs about the shows success around the internet.

Call MarketR to plan your next event and see the result immediately.

The Power Of The Internet

2009-02-06T10:09:00.001-08:00

So you may have noticed that this week there were not as many posts as usual. This was because the MarketR team was busy putting together one of the most successful fashion shows Vancouver has ever seen. Our client Toni&Guy Vancouver worked hard with the MarketR team to deliver a fun, and exciting 10 year anniversary fashion show, codenamed W.A.R.

Not only did the event raise a lot of money for an incredible organization called Beauty Night it also created a huge amount of buzz for Toni&Guy Vancouver. Check out the search term "Toni&Guy Vancouver war" on Google to see what kind of buzz we are talking about.

Keep posted to the blog for how we did it and how you can make your next event a huge buzz marketing success.

Sports and Business

2009-02-01T19:37:00.000-08:00

Sunday was a big day in sports. However, instead of talking about those overpriced 30 second advertisements, and giving another way for agencies to justify spending $2.5 million, I will talk about my favorite sport, tennis.

What can we learn from business and sport?
While watching the epic battle between Nadal and Federer, I was able to observe the same flaw in Federer's game as that in big business.

Federer at one point was the best tennis player in the world. He had perfected his game in such a way that no one could beat him. He went on to win 13 grand slams and was ranked number one in the world for 237 consecutive weeks.

Unfortunately, for Federer, tennis is dynamic and the space is constantly changing. Competitors began to pop-up who played the game differently. The most notable competitor was Rafael Nadal. This young tennis player dressed in short pants, had the body of a weight lifter and played with an aggressive style unlike anyone else on the tennis circuit. Did I mention he played left handed, even though he is right handed?

He revolutionized the game.

What does this have to do with business?
There is no doubt that Federer is a good player. Just like there is no doubt that General Motors is a good company. However they are both playing the game as if nothing has changed.

Watching Federer play, it was clear that he was getting frustrated by the fact that he was losing. However instead of understanding that the game has changed, he continued to play the game how he had played in the past. The problem is that Federer had tremendous success with his old way of playing. Now his strategy is always based on past successes, however this will always fail because the game has changed.

Look at General Motors. They were also getting frustrated because they were losing market share in the automobile industry. Instead of understand that the industry had changed they continued to play the game how they did in the past. The problem was that General Motors had tremendous success selling big cars with huge marketing budgets. Their strategy was based on past successes. However, like tennis, the game had changed. Consumers no longer wanted big cars, they were interested in hybrid cars, and traditional marketing no longer had the same pull.

Don't Be Scared Of Big Business.
When I am talking to small-medium sized business owners, who's competitors are big business, they are usually quite scared of the massive budgets and economies of scale that big business has. Small-medium sized business has something that no big business has.

Agility. Small business can adapt to the changing marketplace quickly and relatively easily.

Big business will always have some old guys in high powered positions. These guys will never agree to a company blog, twitter account, or Facebook page. They will never agree to non-traditional forms of marketing. Why? Because they are scared of what they don't understand. Even worse, if they decide to use new online tools to gain a competitive advantage, they will never do as good a job as small-medium sized business and it will take them a very long time to implement.

Don't be scared of big business.
The worst situation for a small-medium sized business, is when it acts like a big business. It is slow to take advantage of trends, it is scared of new technologies and marketing strategies. Do not be scared of what you don't know. Instead keep posted to this blog and many others like it to keep up to date on the latest successful business trends.

Call MarketR to expand your knowledge and uttilize your company's biggest advantage. Agility.

Oops She Did It Again

2009-01-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

It seems there is no stopping social media and the power of the internet. Twitter is continuing to grow at a phenomenal rate. Facebook is developing innovative ways to integrate the social network into other websites and even TV.

Because of this, more and more brands are jumping onto the social media bandwagon. It seems like a no-brainer for a brand to have a twitter account or page on Facebook, however if done incorrectly it can go horribly wrong.

Take the case of Brittany Spears. When it was announced that Brittany would be using Twitter, there was a huge buzz and many people started to follow her. It soon became obvious that this was not Brittany using Twitter, instead it was her PR people. This is a big no no in the social media scene. Especially automated direct Twitter messages. Brittany was quickly shunned by hardcore Twitter fans , and was even the victim of a Twitter hack attack. The plan to use Twitter as a means of creating buzz and publicity quickly backfired for the Brittany camp.

So what can we learn from Brittany's mistakes?

Say who you really are. Instead of trying to convince people that it was Brittany Spears using Twitter, just say you are Lauren Kozak, Brittany's social media manager. Would it have created as much media buzz? Probably not. Would it have got as many followers? Probably.

Keep it personal. Having a brand Twitter account is affective, however having a personal Twitter account is 10 times more affective. You can still be affiliated with a brand and promote what the brand is doing in a personal account. The most popular Twitter accounts are personal accounts, however the writers are constantly talking about their website or what their company is doing.

Transparency = Trust. Companies that try to hide things from consumers will almost always get burned. I am constantly reading about companies cutting costs by having automated social media accounts. This is not what Web 2.0 is all about. Trust is easily lost and increasingly difficult to earn. If you use social media the right way your brand can be one of the most recognized and successful in the world. Use it the wrong way and suffer the consequences.

Define Success

2009-01-27T12:36:00.000-08:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This post relates to an older post on the MarketR blog "Do I Really Need An Online Strategy?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
How do I measure the ROI of my website, if I am not selling anything?

This seems to be the big question in terms of online marketing. It basically means, how do I know that my online marketing strategy is making me money?

If you run an e-commerce site it is relatively easy. You can measure where your customers are coming from and how much they are spending. With this information you will have a very good understanding about how much money your online marketing is making you.

Example: On average you receive 200 clicks from Google Adwords and these clicks spend $100. You know you are paying Google $20 a day, therefor your Google advertising is making you $80.
*Note: This is a very simplified explanation.

Unfortunately most of us are not selling anything online, therefore it is a lot harder to find out if our website is making us money. New ways to measure ROI are constantly being discussed. Here are some of my favorites.

Online Bookings:
Allow customers to book their appointments online. This is a great way to grow your business and a great way to measure ROI. You can now track how your customer found your website and how many booked an appointment.

How To Find Us:
If someone looks up how to find your business, chances are they will be visiting your store. Make sure your site has a designated page with a map , address, phone number, etc. Make it easy to find on your main page, but do not put it directly on your main page. I have seen this done so many times. It is almost impossible to measure how many people showed an interest in visiting your offline store if you put your location information on your main page.

Unique Contact Information:
This one is mostly for medium sized businesses. Use a different phone number for inquiries coming from your website. Instead of listing the same phone number everywhere, list a unique number on your website.

Online Coupons:
If you have read my previous posts you would know that online coupons are on the rise. Use them to track the effectiveness of your website.

Ask:
Easier said then done, I know. However it is sometimes the best way. Ask your customer how they heard of your business and if they visited your website. If the answer is no, chances are they will visit it when they get home. If the answer is yes, then you know your website is working for you.

Goals Goals Goals
One of my mentors said, "If you go ahead and run with something without establishing your goals, its basically like saying Fire, without the Ready Aim." If you go ahead and establish a website and online marketing campaign without first deciding what you want to get out of it, you are going to be spending huge amounts of money in the long run redesigning your website.

Consult with MarketR when designing your website and online marketing strategy.

Get Noticed

2009-01-22T21:10:00.000-08:00

"My company is the best, why do I need to pay for marketing?"

This is why.

A study done by the Washington Post asked, "can one of the greatest musicians in North America get noticed in Washington D.C?"

The experimenters recruited Joshua Bell, the most famous living violinists in the world. They put him in regular street clothes and a baseball cap, and placed him in a D.C. metro station during rush hour. They also gave him one of the best violins in the world, valued at over a million dollars. Joshua Bell was asked to play some of the finest classical pieces ever written.

This is what happened.

Over 43 minutes of world class music and only a few people stopped to listen. The most surprising result, was when people were asked what they thought of the music after they passed through the hall, most people didn't even notice the violinist.

Without proper communication, even the most talented violinist in the world can't get noticed. How is your company going to do it?

I guarantee the response to Joshua Bell would have been far greater if there was a sign next to him explaining who Joshua Bell was and that he had just played for the president the night before. The response would have been greater if he was dressed like a world famous violinist.

Marketing is your company's clothes and signage. Marketing is how you communicate to your potential and existing clients. If you know you are the best at something, make sure everyone knows it. Don't wait for people to find out themselves.

Try this: If you know you are the best in your industry geographically, type in Google "The best (your industry) in (your geographic region)."

For example, "The best tennis club in Vancouver"

Does your company come up on the first page?

If not, then your company has no signage and is wearing street clothes and a baseball hat online.

Be the best. Call MarketR

The Internet Now and Then

2009-01-21T20:54:00.000-08:00

I know some of you may be sick of it, but I can't help but talk about Obama one more time.

I was discussing with a UBC commerce professor about how the internet has changed since the .com bubble in 2000. I found these two image and they explain the change perfectly.

The White House Website Now. Obama Style.
*Note: The blog, easy search feature, dynamic content, large pictures and video tour. The new White House website is dynamic with content being changed daily.

The White House Website Then. Bush Style.
*Note: No pictures, static content, and bland color theme. The old White House website fits perfectly with what websites used to look like. It is incredibly static, boring and uninviting.

If your website looks like the old White House website, I declare, in the words of Obama, it's time for change!

Need a dynamic web 2.0 website? Call MarketR

Obama Mania - The Power Of Listening and Engagement

2009-01-20T11:00:00.000-08:00

I was originally going to call this post "The Power Of Social Media." However, I don't want people to get the wrong idea about why brand Obama has been so successful.

When I meet with a client to discuss online marketing strategies, I am occasionally met with a very enthusiastic individual who says "we want a blog, Facebook page, twitter account, Myspace, and E-Mail newsletter."

This is great. The individual is definitely aware of the different communication mediums available online. However, I always ask "what's the plan once you get these established." Unfortunately I always get the same response. A blank face.

People who are used to traditional advertising, newspaper, tv, etc, have a tendency to set it and forget it. Meaning lets establish a really good looking Facebook page and wait for people to come visit.

Online marketing is powerful because you can listen to your audience and engage them. The Obama campaign is a perfect example of listening and engagement.

Facebook Obama.
-3,949,867 supporters
-554,711 Wall Posts

Facebook is one of the hardest communication outlets to utilize. Partly because Facebook users care more about what their friends are doing and talking about, rather than what brands are doing.

Instead of constantly saying Vote Obama, the Obama campaign focused more on just getting to know Obama. By doing this the votes came naturally.

How can you learn from Obama? The first step is to redefine your goals. Most companies will say my goal is to convert as many people on Facebook into customers to my business. Makes sense right? Not so fast. With this being your goal, you end up having a facebook page that looks more like a promo flyer.

How many of you have friends that are always trying to sell you stuff? Do you enjoy being around this person? Do you plan on being friends with this person for much longer? Exactly.

Your goal on Facebook should be to allow users to get to know your brand. Facebook pages are great for getting across the personality of your brand, what it stands for and what community events it has planned.

The Obama Facebook page did all of these.
Most politicians would never think of putting their favorite music, or videos on Facebook. Fortunately the Obama camp knew better.

Twitter Obama

-144,00 followers
-168,148 following

Twitter is also a hard tool to use because you need to commit time to it. Twitter is a communication tool and the potential for marketers is huge. However if you never update your twitter status, never check to see what others are talking about and never engage in any conversations, then there is no point using it.

*Note: Obama follows more people then follow him. Unfortunately or fortunately, Hillary Clinton didn't understand the importance of following others on Twitter, and inevitably her Twitter strategy was a big flop.

So remember, social media marketing is not about selling. Instead it is about building relationships. Letting people know that your business exists and this is what it stands for. If you do this successfully, sales will come naturally.

Marketing In An Economic Downturn (Continued)

2009-01-18T13:22:00.000-08:00

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If you have not read Marketing In An Economic Downturn Read it first!
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In my last post on marketing in an economic downturn I left you with a try it at home test. The test was to demonstrate how consumers find value by comparing.

Here it is again.

Try this! (Without cheating)

Without looking on wikipedia, answer the following questions.

a) The African continent has more or less than 18 countries?
b)How many countries does the African continent have?

Now here is the purpose.

Most people will answer the a) question as being more, now when answering b) most people answer in 20's. This is due to the fact that your reference point is 18, you would never consider the answer as being 47 because that's far too high compared to your reference point. *The correct answer is 47.

Now here is the fun part. Ask your friend this question.

a) The African continent has more or less than 60 countries?
b)How many countries does the African continent have?

Hopefully your friend's answer will prove my point.
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How can I use this to increase revenue for my business?

As I mentioned in my previous post, allow your customer to compare.

Another great strategy, especially for luxury brands, is to make your customer work for it. This again plays on the fact that your customer can find value in comparison. Run a promotion that is only valid on certain days. Example "Sunday Special, 25% off services." Offer discounts or free gifts when customers give you their email address, as mentioned in the big red button post.

By doing this you create value in 3 different ways.
-Value in comparison of price
-Value in the effort that had to be done by the customer
-The big one. Value in the fact that not everyone received this offer.
*If everyone had a diamond, how valuable would they be?

Remember the economic downturn can be a threat, but if you are creative and spend your money wisely it can be a huge opportunity.

Good luck and you know who to call if you get stuck.

The Big Red Button

2009-01-16T17:55:00.001-08:00

Imagine in your office you have a big red button. Whenever you push this button, customers suddenly start walking through your door. If you know from last year that your business is going to be quiet in February, you're no longer worried because you have your big red button.

You might be wondering what the catch is. There is only one catch and that is the big red button costs money. How much? Roughly $15 a push.

Excited yet? You should be.

E-Mail is your Big Red Button. E-Mail lists are essential in this economic climate. The cheapest and most effective form of communicating with existing customers is e-mail.

If you don't have an e-mail list start building one. Offer incentives for customers to give you their e-mail. Such as a coupon for 20% off next time they visit. Make sure you send the coupon to them through e-mail, and not hand it to them in the store. This ensures your customer checks your e-mail is not in the junk box, and it is a way to get him/her back into your store.

If you do have an e-mail list start using it. Create a bi-monthly email newsletter with info on the latest new stock, events and exclusive promotions. Not every e-mail has to be about a promotion. Customers love to be engaged with their favorite brands, include pictures from company retreats, the latest news about what staff members did over the winter break, etc. Don't, and this is a big don't, spam your customer. We all know what happens when we get too many e-mails from a company. We make sure the e-mails stop arriving.

Now here is the fun part. E-Mail vendors, such as ConstantContact and Vertical Response, allow you to see who opened your e-mail, and who no longer wishes to receive your e-mails. Do not take this personally, some people just don't like receiving e-mail. MarketR tests e-mail formats such as images and headlines and decides which e-mail format will receive the best open rate.

We just launched an e-mail promotion for one of our clients and they were blown away at the response it had. The company's quietest time is January-February. Thanks to the power of e-mail this year is going to be different. Try it out! What do you have to lose? $15

If you are still not convinced, I leave you with this survey result. Opt-in messaging is what your company's e-mail newsletter is categorized as.
Need help? Call MarketR

Listen To Your Audience

2009-01-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

Social Network Advertising is notorious for having a low click through rate.

[Click Through Rate: The number of clicks an ad receives in comparison to the number of times the ad is shown. Example, an ad shown 100 times receiving 10 clicks has a 10% click through rate.]

Facebook advertising has an average click through rate of 0.04% to put that in perspective for every 7,451 impressions your ad will receive 3 clicks

MarketR decided to do some market research, to understand what ads Facebook users in Vancouver remembered the most. Not surprisingly the answer was not many. A few random ads came up such as jewlerry stores in Vancouver and club events, however one consistent ad was Donald Trump. The ad was for a motivation seminar with one of the guests being Donald Trump. None of the respondents claimed they clicked on the ad, however they did remember the ad quite well.

For one of our larger clients we decided to do some test ads to see if we could increase the click through rate.

Test ad 1

Test ad 2

As you can see the biggest difference is the picture. The text stayed the same and the segmentation of viewers stayed the same.

Results: Test ad 1 received a click through rate of 0.07% in the first 3 days. Test ad 2 received a click through rate of 0.10% in the first 3 days. Pretty respectful for both ad tests. However after 3 days the Donald Trump ad went down to 0.05% and the test ad 1 stayed at 0.07%

Social Network Advertising is still being perfected. At MarketR we play around with Facebook Advertising, however we understand that the best use of social networks is to build relationships.

Insights Gone Wrong

2009-01-11T13:01:00.000-08:00

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If you have not read the previous post "Do online trends = offline trends" Read it first.
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This is an example of how online trend spotting can go wrong. Unfortunately this example involves me and my daily analysis of Google Insights.

Because one of our biggest clients is a large salon, I decided to see if there was a search trend for the term "Shampoo" and "Conditioner." This would help our client order large amounts of shampoo and conditioner at optimal times, and also help MarketR optimize the client's website.

Sure enough there was a trend. See image below.
The red line reflects "Conditioner" and the blue line reflects "Shampoo." According to Google Insights, people in Canada search for "Conditioner" the most during the months of May, June, July. The search term peaks in June.

This was an exciting finding!

Luckily I have learned the hard way not to jump to conclusions. I called the client up to to notify them of my potential finding. I asked why they thought this might be true? A few ideas came up, people travel and go swimming and they don't want their hair to be damaged, or that the heat can cause dryness so they need a good moisturizing conditioner.

These ideas sounded pretty good to me, but I wanted to be completely sure that this was a trend. I decided to look at news stories during the time of May, June, July. (The news can spur trends and also reflects trends.) Sure enough I found my answer. I only needed to see one news headline for the answer to hit me. "Air Conditioner sales are up."

Google Insights tracked all search terms including the word "Conditioner." Such as dog hair conditioner, pond conditioner and air conditioner. The results were completely skewed, and now it made complete sense why the search term "Conditioner," increases in the summer.

It wasn't all bad news though. We were able to refine our search terms and found an interesting trend for Shampoos and Conditioners. I advised our client to stock up on a certain type of shampoo and so far it has made them a lot of money.

Try This. Remember online insights, and all insights for that matter, have to be investigated. See if you can figure this one out. An application on Facebook called Lexicon allows you to analyze keywords Facebook users write about on their wall. The application is not nearly as sophisticated as Google Insights, but we believe once refined it will be incredibly valuable. When web gurus analyzed the keyword "sex" they saw a spike. See below
In May there was a huge spike in the keyword "Sex" on peoples walls. Were people having more sex during May? What was the cause of this spike? This left some of the smartest web analysts perplexed. Can you figure it out?

Advertising Next: 150 Winning Campaigns for the New Communications Age

2009-01-10T11:55:00.000-08:00

I was scanning the blogosphere this morning and ran into this book. What caught my attention is that the blurb on Amazon perfectly relates to MarketR's way of thinking. If you are still unsure why this blog exists, I believe this blurb sums it up.

"The days when branders could consult a stayed formula again and again to reach their consumer are over. In the digital communications age branders reluctant to embrace this new cultural landscape run the risk of becoming obsolete overnight. Big companies no longer dominate the public's consciousness by default; conversely small companies who think big now have the opportunity to be key players. " - Tom Himpe

The internet is big, moves fast and can be scary, however if controlled and embraced the internet is capable of amazing things. If your company wants to increase brand awareness, market share and profits the time is now. Don't be that company who sits on the sideline. Get out and play.

We usually fear what we don't know. If you fear the internet call MarketR and we will teach your team how to use one of the most sophisticated tools your company has to offer.

It's Not Business, It's Personal - Pt.1

2009-01-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

If you have not read "It's Not Business, It's Personal - Pt.0" do not pass GO! Read it first then come back to this post.

Whenever I am with a client talking about how we can open up lines of communication online, the first thing the client says is, "What about individuals who leave negative comments?" It is a valid concern. Negative comments can be harmful to a business. However negative comments can become a huge positive if dealt with correctly.

The first step is to listen. Fail to listen and negative comments can get out of control.

For example, before one of our clients found MarketR, the first website that came up for the brands search term was "[brand x] is a complete rip off." Suddenly more posts sprang up such as, "Yeah I never go to [brand x] I go here instead." What is worse is that this forum was at the number one spot of the brand's search term for almost 3 years. Think of how many potential customers saw this forum and were swayed to go elsewhere.
[We are happy to say that our client no longer has to worry about this forum. In fact our client has some of the best real estate on Google and receives a constant flow of new clients because of it.]

So How Do You Listen To What People Are Saying?
Well where do people talk?
-Google, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Yahoo Answers, Blogs and many others. Did I mention the internet is a big place?

-Listening to what people are saying on Google, is quite simple, type in your company name and see what pops ups. Remember to check different ways of spelling your company.

-Facebook and Myspace is much harder. You have to establish your own page and dedicate lots of time in order to establish a strong network and monitor what people are talking about.

-Twitter is simple. Check out the Twitter search page and see who is talking about you. Remember to use the advanced search tool, to segment to a specific location.

-Yahoo Answers usually gets picked up by Google. However, if you would like to make sure Google didn't miss anything visit Yahoo Answers and search your company.

-Finally for Blogs you can use Google's Blog Search. It won't pick up everything but it is pretty good.
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Sounds like a lot of work? Call or e-mail MarketR, we do this for a living.
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How Can You Turn A Negative Comment Into A Positive.
Take our client with the Google page claiming they are a complete rip off! Imagine if they had seen the comment before anyone replied. Instead, our client replied on the forum and said,

"I am sorry to hear that you feel our prices are expensive. To clarify we charge $45-$95 for our services. These prices include x, y and z. We justify our prices because of ..., however if you visit on our training nights we charge $25 and we still guarantee our service. For more information visit our website at www.brandx.com."

Now anyone concerned about how much our client charges has a better understanding of the price range and can make an informed decision.

Marketing In An Economic Downturn

2009-01-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

It pains me when I see so many brands destroying their brand equity in just a few weeks.

Walking down Robson Street I am bombarded with signs that say 80% OFF, 3 for 1 or even Everything Must Go - 75% Off

What this tells the consumer is, We Really Need To Shift This Stuff, Take As Much As You Can Because We Don't Want It

Retailers have to understand that people find value by comparison. We compare our clothes with what others are wearing, we compare our car with what others are driving and we compare our prices with what others are paying.

A good example of how we compare is that a year ago 80 cents/litre for gas was expensive, now 80cents/litre for gas is cheap. How did this happen? Did 80cents just become less valuable? What changed is our reference point. A year ago we were comparing 80cents to 65cents. Now we are comparing 80cents to $1.30.

Try it! Think of how you can find value without comparing. If you think you are buying because of function, you are mistaken. Your buying because what you had before did not have that function, you are comparing in order to give that function value.

If your whole store is 50% off, how is your customer going to find value? They now have no base to compare. How can a sweater be a great deal if a similar sweater next to it is reduced by the same amount.

I saw this happen in Macy's. Macy's reduced almost all of their stock, cutting prices by up to 75% off. Now to consumers the sale price was the regular price because they had nothing to compare it to. Barneys however did a better job, discounting select items and placing them around regular priced items. Now a sweater that is marked down by 50% is a good deal because the one next to it sells for regular price.

Allow your customers to compare. But don't expect to sell the item selling at regular price, therefore stock a minimal amount. Do expect to sell the item on sale!

(Look for part 2 of this post coming soon)

Try this! (Without cheating)

Without looking on wikipedia, answer the following questions.

a) The African continent has more or less than 18 countries?
b)How many countries does the African continent have?

The answer and purpose will be revealed in part 2 of this post.

Online Applications Offline

2009-01-07T21:04:00.000-08:00

The Web 2.0 revolution has brought us applications that we never knew were possible. The ability to customize just about anything, from our Google page to sneakers. Or the ability to read reviews about local restaurants written by every day people. The Wiki phenomena has empowered the end user with the ability to contribute and customize whenever, however and whatever they want.

Can this online phenomena be applied offline?

A group in London thought so when they opened Inamo. Every table in the restaurant is touch sensitive with a digital menu being projected onto the table Customers can customize the decore by selecting from different animated table clothes and sounds. While waiting for their meal customers can watch their meal being prepared via a live feed, play digital games, or find out what is going on in the neighborhood. If a date goes well customers can even use the table to call for a taxi.

Another great example of taking online offline is the VitaminWater space in London. The store is predominantly for meetings and training; however, the space also acts as a brand experience center where individuals can sample test flavors of the drink. The best part is that people can leave comments on the walls about the flavors they tested. Talk about free market research.

How has MarketR taken online offline?
To develop empathy towards homeless people living in Kitsilano, MarketR teamed up with a Kitsilano High School student to develop the Houseless Project. The team provided the tools for the homeless community to write poetry on the topic "what home means to them."
We were able to secure distribution of the poems in local bookstores and raised over $2500 for a local homeless shower program.

In order to promote the Houseless Project, MarketR posted the poems on large posters around the local community. Next to the posters we had a brief blurb about the project and a blank piece of paper with a pen attached. What happened next was phenomenal. A discussion started between residents of the local community about the project. Most thought the project was excellent a few thought otherwise. The conversation created engagement and people remembered and talked to others about the project. Sales of the poems skyrocketed and the project received a front page write up in the 24 hours newspaper. Who said comments were for online only?

How can you bring online applications offline?
-Don't just encourage positive reviews online, encourage them offline too.
-Allow your customers to customize their experience at your business. (Remembering who your loyal customers are and what they usually purchase is a good first step)

If you are interested in online applications offline for your business or marketing campaign, call the MarketR team.

Do online trends = offline trends

2009-01-06T13:08:00.000-08:00

I got this question a couple of days ago from one of our clients. The answer is, in regards to online search trends, a big YES.

Google recently made public that they were tracking certain keywords in order to predict flu outbreaks in the United States. The Google team has been able to create a batch of keywords such as "flu remedies" and "flu symptoms" in order to visualize where a flu outbreak is occurring.

Google is able to cross reference their predictions to a national database that uses flu test results recorded by doctors. The Google chart is incredibly accurate. So accurate that the national database uses it to see results two weeks ahead of their own.

Visit the official Google Flu Trends site to see the results for yourself.
To back it up even further, Hitwise has been able to predict the winner of numerous TV show competitions using seach data.

So, how can you use this in order to gain a competitive advantage?
Using Google Insights we were able to spot a trend that made one of our clients a lot of money.

When we searched "Hair Straighteners" in Vancouver we noticed a significant spike in search volume just before Christmas in 2007.

We immediately optimized the client's website to reflect this trend in search volume, and made sure that when potential customers searched "hair straighteners" our client's company was the top hit.

As you can see from the chart above we were able to correctly predict the trend for 2008, and our client was able to stock up on hair straighteners. More importantly our client's hair straightener sales surged in the run up to Christmas.

Do I Really Need An Online Strategy?

2009-01-05T12:05:00.000-08:00

I was at a small business conference a while back listening to a mediocre presentation by Yahoo Canada. After the presentation I turned to a gentleman sitting next to me who was the owner of a well established retailer in Vancouver. I asked him what online strategies his company has in place. To my surprised he looked at me blankly and said, "we don't sell things online, why should we have an online strategy?"

I hear this comment far too often. Small to medium sized business owners believing online strategies are only for companies selling widgets online.

Here are some statistics that show otherwise.

It is clear from these research studies that if you do not have an online marketing strategy your business will be left behind.

Every MarketR client has an online marketing strategy, and every strategy has delivered results beyond the clients expectations. Hopefully after seeing these statistics it doesn't seem crazy anymore that none of MarketR's clients sell anything online.

It's Not Business, It's Personal - Pt.0

2009-01-04T21:46:00.001-08:00

This is the first post, in a multi-post series about using social networks to promote your business.

It is clear that social networks are here to stay. Just look at the following search trend for Facebook in Canada.
And it looks even better worldwide.
Why can't my stock portfolio look like that? (Try Google Insights yourself using the terms Myspace vs Facebook.) Hopefully you can see why I am a big fan of Facebook.

Anyway back to the important stuff! As I was saying, these posts are designed to assist you in your online social marketing/networking. This post is probably the MOST IMPORTANT out of them all. Because if you don't remember this, everything you do to promote your business on social networks will fail.

If you remember only one thing about social marketing online, remember this. "It's not business, It's Personal."

Social Marketing Online is about being personal.
-Listen to what your potential and existing customers are saying about you, and more importantly show them that you are listening.
-Keep your posts relevant. Nobody wants to know about your sale on merchandise that you need to shift asap. People do want to hear about how they can look great this new years for a lot less then they thought.
-Remember that you are not pushing your business. Instead you are building relationships. As soon as you become pushy people will stop listening.

These 3 tips will help you in achieving a successful online social networking strategy.

Keep posted to the blog for "It's not business, It's Personal - Part 1," where we will answer the question. How do I listen to what people are saying about my business?

Online Coupons - On The Rise

2009-01-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at Hitwise point out that online coupon sites have risen in popularity year over year. However comparison shopping websites have declined in popularity by -15%.

Google Insights confirms this trend in Canada, showing substantial growth for the search term "coupons."
How is your company leveraging this trend?
This is a huge trend and a great way to counter the economic turmoil. How can your company use the fact that consumers are looking for steals and deals more then ever before?

How about giving them what they want?
I hope you are all using Google maps to promote your company to potential customers. If not DO IT NOW!
Using Google's local listings you can provide coupons to entice customers into your store.
See the example we did for Toni&Guy Vancouver

Websites such as Yelp, Facebook, and Twitter are great places to promote online coupons, and did I mention they are FREE.

Use your blog to promote your offers. Set your post's date to the date you wish the coupon to expire and your post will stay on the top spot of your blog until it expires.

E-mail lists, if you have not compiled a list of your customer's e-mails, what are you waiting for? E-mail is one of the best ways to communicate with your existing customers, and a great way of getting your customers back into your store when times are slow. For an example of a great e-mail newsletter, sign up for livestock's newsletter.

For those of you who don't mind paying to promote your great offers.
Check out VitaminDaily with a great female subscription base, VitaminDaily is one of the best ways to promote your services, just make sure you have a great offer.

One of the best ways to promote your online coupon is to use Google Adwords keep an eye on the blog for an upcoming tutorial on using Google Adwords to promote your business.

untraditional

2008-12-29T22:54:00.000-08:00