Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category

Stop whining and do something!

Thursday, May 10th, 2012

Warning:  This could sound like a political post. 

I’m not sure if I’m on the right or the left politically.  Sometimes I agree with one side.  And sometimes with the other.  But I laugh out loud when either side points the finger saying, “We’re right and you’re wrong.”

But one thing I know for sure is this:

There’s too much whining and complaining in America these days.  People in other countries live with dirt floors, no air conditioning and certainly no plasma tv’s.  But here in America, lately there’s a lot of talk about “fairness”.  A lot of talk about the rich beating up on the poor and holding them down.

But I still believe there is more opportunity in America than anywhere else in the world… if you’ll just do something!

Case in point.  Here’s a young man who lost his job.  He didn’t complain.  He didn’t blame the rich.  And he didn’t look for a handout.

Instead, he made an investment.  $300.  He invested in himself and took out a billboard with the words “Hire Me!” next to his photo.

And guess what?  He got a job!

Now how many people would make that kind of investment before asking the government (us… the taxpayers) to pay them to wait around for someone to offer them a job?  How many people are whining these days instead of doing something positive?  Too many in my opinion.

America was built by people who did something.  Let’s all take a lesson from a 22 year old and get this economy moving again.

3 ways to use direct mail effectively in the age of social media

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Although direct mail requires printing and postage, we still include it in our marketing plans because it can be effective if you do it right. Don’t discount the traditional methods.   MarketSmart has generated millions of dollars for clients with direct mail.

Combine online and offline channels.

Often it is best to combine direct mail with an Internet landing page. Drive respondents online for more information – then give them opportunities to convert into leads.

Be relevant and timely.

It’s all about THEM.  To improve your response rate, you must send highly targeted, relevant offers and information to your prospects. Otherwise, it’s just “junk mail”.

If you use your data to send the right person, the right offer, at the right time, direct mail will deliver an exponential return on your investment.

Finding the time to do it right may be difficult but the rewards are exponentially better.

For “nurturing efforts”…  Create some postcards in bulk

While small postcards are a form of direct mail, they are cheaper to produce and deliver than full-blown direct mail packages or sales letters, and they are great for generating leads.

You can use them to build awareness over time (with repetitive “drip” marketing”), drive traffic to your website or to promote a special offer.

Postcards are also a great way to stay in touch with your customers and prospects. We suggest you create 3-5 key messages emphasizing your unique selling points and competitive advantages. Then design and print them all at once to gain economies of scale and save money.  Next, drop them in the mail every few weeks or so.  Make sure your list is a good one that includes people you know want to hear from you such as: frequent customers, repeat visitors, loyal donors, etc.

That will build awareness and generate activity for you in a turnkey fashion. Create the plan once and just let it run all year long.

The basics of pay-per-click advertising.

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Since SEO requires so much work in order to get high rankings with search engines, you may want to find a better way to get to the first page immediately.  The good news is… you can do that!  The bad news is… you have to pay for it!

Google (and other search engines) make a fortune selling premium advertising space on the top and right-hand side of their search listings.
Business owners need to be careful. It’s tricky. You can go broke quick “paying for clicks” if you don’t know what you’re doing.  Pay per click marketing requires a very well designed web page that is built to convert clicks to telephone calls and emails (better known as leads).  And pay per click marketing should be monitored closely in order to optimize its conversion rate so you increase the number of quality leads you acquire while reducing your advertising costs over time.

It’s a good idea to employ an approach that closely reviews the results of every single lead you get.  Look at whether the lead was a good one or a bad one.  Examine how much revenue resulted from each sale – then back-track to see what keywords were originally used in the search bar by the consumer.

Test dozens or hundreds of keywords and keyword strings to see which get the most clicks with the greatest ROI.  Plus test tons of ads to see which of those get the most clicks with the greatest ROI as well.

Finally, take a look at the placement of the ads. Why pay a premium to be at the top spot (the “vanity spot”) if the ROI is the same when their ad is found on the bottom of the right side of the page?

Once you have a whole bunch of this kind of data, bid more on the keywords, ads and placements that deliver the most revenue.

Sound like too much work for you? If so, hire a reputable online advertising firm (we recommend MarketSmart of course) to help you. That way you can run your business while we run your marketing campaigns.

What is a QR code and how can you use one for marketing?

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

A QR code is a “quick response” code.  They are easy to create (there are dozens of free tools available online).  And they simply drive people to a website or landing page using a QR Reader (a simple app available on any smart phone).

www.imarketsmart.com QR code
MarketSmart’s QR code

Our QR code is to the right.  Of course we customized it a bit to include an element from our logo (we couldn’t resist).

So if you haven’t done so already…. pull out your phone, download the app (search for “QR code reader”) and focus on the image to the right.  You’ll see that your phone will instantly take you to the www.imarketsmart.com website.

But the big question is… how can you use this neat technology?  Hmm… let’s start listing some ways.

1- Museums could post them near artwork so you can go to a web page to get a complete historical reference about a particular work of art.

2- Train stations could use them so people could download train schedules.

3- Exhibitors with trade show booths at conferences could use them so attendees could quickly and easily download their informational brochures (instead of filling up those goofy bags with brochures that end up in the trash).

4- Advertisers (print, tv, billboards, etc.) could use them so respondents can get to a website or landing page easily.

5- Direct mailers could do the same.

The options are endless.

Plus, at MarketSmart, we like to tie QR codes to our unique personalized URL engine.  That way, we could create (for instance) 10,000 unique landing pages tied to 10,000 QR codes.  Then we could send out 10,000 unique, personalized direct mailers to 10,000 prospects.  And, as respondents use their codes, we’d be able to track precisely who is using the code to get to your landing page…. even if the respondent doesn’t fill out a form.  You’d get notified the moment the log off.  Neat, huh?

If you have more ideas for QR codes, let me know.  I love ‘em!