Message from Garcia

A call to action in a print ad is asking for the order, really

2010-03-06T06:13:00Z

One of the better definitions I’ve come across on selling is: "Saying the right thing, to the right person person at the right time”. After that happens a sale transpires.

We raise the buying temperature of prospective buyer, by saying the right thing, building up on earlier statements. As we sense the buyer’s temperature rising, we feel for the right time to make a close.

Yes, we have to make a close. We ask for the order. This can be done in several ways, from the straight, “Can I have your signature on this order?” to a choice like, “Which colour do you prefer, red or white?” and so on.

But, we have to ask for the order. There is no point in making statements which gets the buyer going and then just leaving it at that.

This post follows on my previous one, where I mentioned that it is a worthless exercise, if we don’t ask for the order.

In print advertising, we do this by a call to action, asking for a phone, asking the reader to email or go to a website and so on.

By the way, I had one client, remove the line “Why not give us a call NOW?”. He wanted to keep the copy short. As I was on deadline, I didn’t argue and left it that.

What a waste, after all one the better definitions I’ve come across for advertising is “selling in print”. Mind you the last word can now read any of the electronic media, including the web, TV, radio and so on.

The point I want to make is that the AIDA formula mentioned in my last post has the last point as ACTION. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. That’s how it works and dropping the last point, is like what I have propounded before, we need to ask for the order.

BTW, in the web, we may ask someone to click here. The presence of a hyperlink to an order page, contact page or other is usually enough.

Selling and advertising are similar and have pretty much the same objective. It's good to remember, when sometimes we just want to put up our selling points and forget to ask for the order.

Just a thought.

Running copy in print ads: this is still the way to go

2010-02-28T21:04:00Z

Last week, I redid an ad for an old client, whom I hadn’t done work for in over ten years. This was the first ad done for him in 12 years. (How I reconnected with the client, is a story by itself.) The gist of the thing is that the client wanted the text changed from running copy to point form.

I did the alterations as he wanted and when I saw him a few days later, I explained why I use prose, or running copy in the body of all my ads.

Well, let’s face it, when you read a newspaper, a book, a blog, or other stuff, you will find that the text is usually in prose, as running copy. That’s how you learned to read and that’s how things have been set out from eons back.

So, we are used to reading things in that way.

Now, I must admit a few things:
-    we are bombarded by hundreds of messages everyday
-    we are all busy, so reading copy, especially long copy may be hard to undertake because of lack of time
-    most of my clients are engineers and they like stuff set out in point form
-    some people tend to think in that way and want to see text set out similarly.

However, let me posit a rational for running prose.

Other than the fact we are used to reading stuff set this way, running prose allows the writer to do a few things:
-    present his story, as just that a story, a narrative
-    a narrative allows the writer to build up a case with one point building up on another
-    corollary to that is that this method of writing allows the author a means of following the AIDA principal: get Attention, build up Interest, create Desire and call to Action.

In contrast, a shopping list of points doesn’t build up interest, nor does it create desire. When you explain selling points, that build on one another, you bring up the reader’s interest, one point at a time, so that he/she gets not only more interested to know more, but then has the desire to do something (go on the internet to get more information, call the advertiser to get this information, or even better, order from the advertiser.)

Finally, a call to action is like asking for the order. You may have experienced this, as I have: a sales person give his spiel, gets your interest, builds up your buying temperature and leaves without asking for the order.

That would have a been a wasted exercise. When I write ads, I usually ask the reader to ask for more information. This way a reader, who has been piqued with interest, will call up and talk to someone in the advertiser’s office and allow the latter to follow-up with a personal call, other phone call, quotation or whatever.

And, to finish my story on the ad I was working on. In the end, he conceded that he should follow my suggestion, as an expert in my field. (This is that quip used by advertising agency creatives, “Why buy the dog and do the barking”, right?)

I rewrote the text as a narrative, but also included some bullet points in the body copy. It was a most satisfying exercise in the end, especially since the client acceded to following my suggestion because of my experience in the field.

Hopefully, the client is happy with the result.

Knowing our customers needs in today's market

2009-11-30T03:51:00Z

In a previous post, I noted "Don’t assume you know what your customers’ needs are."

So you’ve been in business a while and in the same industry for many years. you call on the same people everytime and you know the industry inside out. So, you know what your customers’ needs are, right?

Can you truthfully answer yes?

Calling on the same people doesn’t mean you know them well enough to know what they need. I don’t think that one can equate familiarity with individuals to familiarity with their needs.

Let’s throw the current economic uncertainty into the equation.

An article in Marketing Week recently held in Adelaide expounded on one of the speakers, Dr Peter Steidl of Mindshare, (Sourced from an article “Delivering resutls through the downturn”, in Direct September/October issue, pp 14-15) He said that economic recession is not driven by inability to spend, but by the uncertainty about the future. “In fact, during a recession, consumers have more discretionary spend, due to lower interest rates and lower petrol prices. But they are motivated to re-examine habitual purchases (which account for 85 percent of purchases) both in a consumer and a B2B environment.”

The article went further to say that the downturn is a “time of opportunity for marketers looking to expand their market share, because consumers are more receptive to messaging about innovation and difference.”

Steidl also noted that marketing was not innovating. He maintained that marketing practice was not changing.

He further noted that recessions were historically times when more number one brands went down to number three. He added that “This is the time for smaller, more agile brands to make their move.

“Speed and flexibility can beat scale”, he said.

Perhaps to highlight some of these points, Tim Cooper of Coopers Brewery who said that “In recessionary times when discretionary spending is being hit, people are happy to do it themselves and take up the hobby of home-brewing.”

Which makes you think, you can still your product, but it may be a different model, a different configuration or a variation on your normal offering. And, if that is what your customers want, why not give it to them.

Applied to the original theme of this post, do we really know what our customers’ need are, let’s consider what the current economic downturn does to his/her thinking. We can then tailor our communication to our customers, in light of how they would look at spending, when everyone is making his/her discretionary spend go further.

Guerrilla and Viral Marketing: another look

2009-10-30T04:34:00Z

Rummaging trough some old magazines, I came across an old copy of The Bulletin and flicked through until I came to an article on guerrilla and viral marketing. It’s a pet topic and something I haven’t given much thought in a while.

The Web 2.0 world, with the mushrooming of social media, makes it imperative that marketers think outside the box of traditional or more conventional media. Communication is not only done through print advertising, PR, the electronic media and so on.

First and foremost of the use of the web as a marketing communication medium is the website. Once up and running, this has to be freshened up with new content, a new look and so on. And, this should be done regularly.

BTW, I too fall on this aspect, so marketing communication consultants are not immune. Mind you this year has seen the most number of changes to my website, but I digress.

My favourite Web 2.0 medium still is blogging. This marcom method is now main stream. It’s not the realm of “nerd” types, but something more and more corporates are adopting.

If you’re still thinking about it, maybe it’s time to be more serious and jump in. Blogging allows you to reach your target market easily, in ways not available previously. As publsiher, you control content and can make yourself whatever you want your image to be.

It allows you to talk informally in super friendly terms. And, very importantly it allows you to get feedback in ways not previously possible.

Just think, it’s so easy to respond to a blog, in the surrounds of posts and other comments. It’s a lot harder to pick up the phone and complain. And, besides, let’s face it most people will not complain. They tend to just drop you altogether.

And, without feedback, you’d only notice when a customer’s leaving shows its effect on the bottom line. By then, it may be too late.

Blogging also allows other things I’ll cover in another post.

Going back to that issue of the Bulletin, on page 49 (February 20, 2007) there was list reprinted from “Marketing Work: Unlocking Big Company Strategies for Small Business” by Chris Lee and Danele Lima, Morgan James Publishing included. The list is reprinted in toto:

Ten Marketing No-Nos:
Don’t assume you know what your customers’ needs are.
Don’t underestimate the shortcomings of your business.
Don’t try to market your product to everyone.
Don’t take your customer’s for granted.
Don’t hire slick salespeople with poor listening skills.
Don’t design your marketing plan in a vacuum.
Don’t leave weaker areas of the business alone.
Don’t launch into expensive research every time.
Don’t dwell on poor performance.
Don’t stress out completely and lose your work-life balance.

Great ideas, worth considering. In fact, I plan to dedicate my next post/s to these points.

Learning to listen, espcially since the customer is always right

2009-10-04T21:19:00Z

Last week, a client’s email set-up was only partially receiving emails. Originally, I thought that this was because of the client’s inability to use Outlook. Allow me to explain what happened.

When the client’s website was finally uploaded live, it was setup at another hosting company. Some of the email address owners had difficulty setting up, which I attributed to the same reason.

I spent some time in front of one the client’s computers and set up his outlook. It worked and received a test email via outlook and via his yahoo email account. Problem solved. Or was it?

Late last week, the CEO sent me an email which read in part that the IP address (confirmed to be the ISP’s) was blacklisted. Referred this to the ISP, and kept on their backs to get a resolution.

The problem was that Spam and Open Relay Blocking System (SORBS) was blacklisting the IP address, which was blocking emails. The ISP terminated the account of the spammer concerned and informed SORBS, so hopefully that problem is solved.

Lesson learned. Actually two were learned. First of all, the customer is always right. This old adage is something that a marketer must not forget. I must admit that I did get to learn more about Outlook in the process. But, the customer is right.

If there is a complaint, one cannot just dismiss this off-hand. Not that I did. But, I should have given this more importance. In my defence, I did speak with web design colleagues and they agreed with me, with DNS transfer completed, email should work.

SORBS and IP blocking did not even come into the picture.

Second and more important lesson learned is listen to your customers. We cannot assume that we know what our customer’s needs are, what they’re thinking of at a point in time or why they need our help. Let’s face it, as a marketer, our raison d'être is to serve our customers. Full stop.

No customer, no us.

Listening is both an art and a science. Communication is two-way street. It starts with listening. If we communicate as part of our marketing effort, we should be prepared to listen, to get feedback.

While the points I’ve given here appear to be pretty basic. They should be noted and reconsidered. Sometimes we miss the forest for the trees, when we’re caught in the fast-paced world of today.

These lessons are applicable to anyone in business. And, they’re very valuable that we should not just brush them aside. After all, if we cannot communicate and listen to our customers and we don’t believe that they are always right, we will probably be out-of-business pretty quickly.

Worth a thought.

New SEO services for more structured approach now offered by JG Marketing

2009-07-31T03:31:00Z

I've been pushing blogging as a good method of marketing communication to help improve the search engine rankings for my clients' websites. Not only does blogging do that, but it is by itself a good tool to communicate with customers and potential customers, get feedback from sectors of the marketplace you would not normally hear from and so on. I've covered this in a number of previous posts on another blog.

Now, with my tie-up with Pulse Solutions, JG Marketing Services now offers SEO services in a more structured way. Pulse offers a lot of expertise and many years of experience in many aspects of the web.

They've shown me their successes and I was quite impressed.

A lot the skills they've picked up with all the work done, can be leveraged to offer Australian companies similar successes. After all, we don't want to waste all that acquired knowledge.

We have a number of off-the-shelf plans on offer. And we can offer tailored solutions for those with specialised requirements.

For more information, you can download a flyer explaining what's involved: click here to download the flyer

We are offering special deals to our first customers, so if you're interested let me know. I'll offer an extra discount to interested parties who mention this post.

The right logo creates a good first impression

2009-07-16T22:59:00Z

The money that goes into logo design and re-design must really be a lot. And, with what you see out there, makes you wonder. Consider the revamped Qantas logo. Whatever was paid, I image is nothing, compared to what will be spent on redoing planes and other assets in the new livery.

Wisely, Qantas went for a very subtle change, which is almost identical to the original. I believe that the change was kinda forced on the company by the purchase of the new A380 aircraft. Which goes to show you how things happen in business.

What about your logo? Is it doing the trick for you? Does it embody what your company stands for? Does it help set out your brand? Does it leave a good impression?

Anyone who sees your logo for the first time should be left with a good impression. Let's face it, first impressions count for a lot.

If you were to go for a job interview sloppily dressed, with hair unkempt, clothes dissheveled and looking like you not only need a bath but a shave as well, how do you expect to get that job you applied for. Even if you’re the most qualified, if the job is for an executive position, you should go to the interview dressed the part.

This is what I mean by leaving a first impression. It really should be a good one.

If your brochure, business card, logo or other communication piece looks like it was done in matter of minutes on your word processor, what does that say about your company?

With the resources available today, there is really no excuse to get the communication piece not done professionally. And, this doesn’t have to cost the earth. (If in doubt, ask us. We're very reasonably priced. Ok, no more commercials.)

Let’s take the logo specially as our point of discussioin. This visual communication piece is the first representation of your company. While literacy is not a problem like it was two centuries back, when logos (or trademarks) had to really be very recognisable, as many people could not read, the logo should at least be memorable.

By memorable, I mean this must have some impact on the reader. Impact here also means legibility, right use of colour, visual appeal and so on.

BTW, what is a logo? Logo is a term taken from logotype, a symbol, used as a trademark or brand for acompany or its products and services.Trademarks were, as the name implies, used by traders and merchants to identify themselves. Today, logos (trademarks) are used by all sorts of organisations, including governments, clubs, associations and of course, business enterprises. (And, this ranges from the sole traders, mom and pops to the really large conglomerates.

Logos and trademarks are not just mere words or symbols they are many things. This is specially a means ofi dentity for an organisation, product or service. It is a means of differentiating these from others especially in the same field and, of course, a communication piece.

Logos communicate information to the reader things like value, origin, quality and so on.

Logos, especially trademarks, add value to organisations, products and services. They are valuable assets that are legal property. As such,many organisations spend a lot of time and money to protect their use.

As a communication piece, it should first be legible. Secondly, it should be memorable and stand out from the crowd. A quick logo, done on a wordprocessor just won’t do.

Going back to the first impressions,what would a logo that looks quickly done and is not legible say to a prospective customer? Would you deal with someone from a company tha treally didn’t put too much thought into its logo? Does the logo appear like it was a backyard operation?

Wouldn’t you rather deal with a company that looked professional and smart? And, these are things that the logo will communicate to the reader.

So, if you’re considering updating your logo, why not get some professiona lhelp to get the job done right. At the very least, consider legibility, memorability, impact and remember this must make a good first impression to whoever reads this.

How a newsletter can help make more sales

2009-06-06T02:21:00Z

In a previous life as a sales representative, I remember missing our on extra sales because the person I was calling on did not know about a range of products offer by the company I worked for. Why? The customer did not associate those products with me, or my company.

There’s a good lesson there. It’s one I’ve used to get my clients to try newsletters. They’re a good communication method to tell existing and potential clients about the full range of products and services one has to offer.

Let’s face it, human nature being what it is, pigeon-holing is quite common. Jenny Bloggs from XYZ Distributors is the one to go to for ABC widgets. So, when she calls, the customer orders the widgets. But, XYZ now also carry a range of gizmos. They also hired a rep to push the range.

Now, with a long business relationship already established with Jenny, how would she feel if she found out that the customer just ordered a pallet of gizmos from another company. “But, we carry a rnag of gizmos that are as good if not better, and quite competitively priced,” she tells the customer.

“I would have ordered from you had I known,” the customer retorts.

Rewind a few days and let’s say Jenny calls on the same customer and drops off a newsletter. The lead article is an announcement of the new distributorship for a new range of gizmos.

A new conversation takes place. The customer says, “Oh you guys carry gizmos, we need some.” Jenny replies, “Sure, we can help you with that.” And, she leaves with an order for a pallet of gizmos.

Remember you have full control over the content of your newsletter. Newsletters can be printed or published in an electronic format (e.g., PDF). And, as publisher you can include any article you want, even feature your own ads.

You can include testimonials, case studies, new product listings and so on. You control content and you can distribute the newsletter via email, hold it on your website. It’s all up to you.

Of course, if you want to take the hassle out of publishing newsletters, you can always ,contact us. We do the whole thing for you. You, of course, have final approval.

Refreshing a website, should be done regularly

2009-05-24T01:11:00Z

A regular update to one's website is a given. One reason I suggest my clients have sections that can easily be updated, e.g., news, is that search engines like to go through new content. That's why they have robots regularly combing the web, in fact, its their raison d'être.

Now, what I am specifically referring to is the look of the website, hence, the home page. Having sections on the home page that require regular update is a good idea. While this does not change the look, this is very search engine friendly.

Recently, I found that my work website while updated only a few months ago, was not working for me. While certain things were covered in the inside pages, this information should really be available a lot more easily.

How? Well, it should be right there. How did I do this? Well, through flash.

The difficulty with flash is that not all browsers are able to read this. This may require a download from the Adobe website. A link to this site on the web page is a must, with directions to download Flash Reader.

There should also be the facility to skip Flash, for viewers not interested in waiting for the Flash to download. We should always keep in mind that on slow connections a big Flash file is a problem. (Mind you, this is not as a problem today, as it was only last year.

Well, my main intro on my website now has Flash. And, with this, the script tells the story and shows some examples on the home page of content that will require one or two clicks to find inside the website.

The new home page is up and running.

So, what to do you think. I'd appreciate some feedback. Thanks.

Makes you wonder: why are some marketers cutting their communication spend

2009-05-11T05:34:00Z

Speaking to a client, recently, I asked how their stand went in the recent DesignEx. He said that there were less exhibitors, possibly by as much as 50%. Wow, that's a lot of people cutting back on their spending on exhibitions.

Now, the answer to the next question was a real eye opener. How did you go at the show? Short answer: GREAT.

His explanation was that the same people who visited the show turned up, viz., specifiers like architects and so on. And, with less people exhibiting, they had more time to spend at his stand. Result, more enquiries and some really good leads. Yes, it was a good show.

Well, that goes to show you that trying to shy away from letting people know that your're still around and reminding them or your products and services is not a good idea in tough times. In fact, you have to make even more noises. After all, your competitors will probably call on your customers, if they cannot get any business out of their current customers.

It's plain common sense, if you stop your marketing communication spend, your customers will probably think that you're no longer around. Out of business.

Again, another reason to push harder during a downturn.

We should not forget that as things get quiet, people may find themselves in the situation that they have more time to look at alternative suppliers. Whilst, when times are busy and time was short, one tended to take the shortest path, use a current supplier. Now, with times being the way they are, looking for a better price, or a better product, is something one can do more easily.

Remember that old refrain still holds currency:

He who whispers down a well
About the goods he has to sell
Will never reap the golden dollars
As he who shows them round and hollers.

So, it's really something worth considering. Remind your customers that you're still around. Call on them, ring them up, advertise, write letters and make sure your goods (services) and holler.

Oh, just for the record the above photo was taken at my client's stand at the recent Collision Repair Expo. And, they had their most successful exhibition yet, with sales off-the-stand breaking all records. Makes you wonder.

Getting more out of your marketing communication: direct mail

2009-03-23T21:01:00Z

Did you notice just how much spam you get in in your email account? If it’s anything like mine, it must be heaps.

It is some time back, but when email was still new, receiving one is a treat. But, today, you find that you’re copied with your colleague’s every email, your friends send you jokes, relatives send invitaions and so on, your in-box gets filled up very quickly.

And, to get through all of your email takes longer and longer.

A very cost effective way of getting your marketing communication message across is email. Definitely. With no postage to worry about, you can do this your self for next to nothing or get a professional services outfit to do this for you. And, this can still be done quite cheaply.

As you may have noticed from the above headline, I’m suggesting direct mail (i.e., snail mail) as a great way of getting your message heard.

Why snail mail?

Well, simply put, to get above the clutter. While emailing may be quite inexpensive, you may find it hard to be noticed in an a full inbox. You may also end up in a spam folder and not get noticed at all. Or, you may be accidentally deleted when your intended reader clears a full inbox very quickly.

You get my drift. To be noticed, you have to stand out. With all the clutter, this is quite hard.

So, doing a direct mail campaign may be a better way to go. While this will cost more, you get a better chance to get noticed. To get your message read!

The usual fundamentals apply. Plan your effort, get or prepare a good list, design your letter and other content, time your execution and of course, do not forget follow-up.

I’ll cover the essentials of a mail campaign in another post. Until then.

Getting more out of your marketing communication in today’s climate: PR and Publicity

2009-03-23T03:31:00Z

You have to have been living in a cave to realise that times are really tough. And, if you subscribe to the thinking that it’s better to be out there reminding people that you are still around, rather than hide your head in the sand and hope that this whole financial crisis thing will go away.

But, since times are tough, how can you get the best value for money for your marketing communication dollar. Well, let’s look at some practical tips to help you get more bang for your advertising (communication) dollar.

The best marketing communication method out there for the B2B marketer is still publicity. Yes, good ol’ PR is hard to beat.

Why?

First of all let’s look at the positives. Believability. Yes, this is very important, as articles in the trade press are more believed than paid ads. One should note that advertising is taken with the proverbial grain of salt. And, allowance is made for puffery that this tends to contain.

Now, with an article, its another story. Even if the article was taken verbatim from your PR submission, this is believed, because it is taken as something the publisher/editor would have put together.

There’s a “halo effect” from the trust given to the publication that envelops what is contained therein.

And, there is the cost. Next to nothing compared to paid ads. (Here I’m looking at this as an exercise prepared by a professional communication consultant (as yours truly). Mind you some practitioner’s do charge a packet. But, depending on how the article is taken up by the trade press, this could still be great value.

Now, on the flip-side you only get one bite of the cherry. Whilst I have had client articles repeated by some publications, this tends to be more the exception rather than the rule. Corollary to this is the fact that you can send the article to several publications.

Now when you do this for an ad, you have to multiply the cost of insertion by each publication. This can add up to tidy sum depending on the publication and the size of the ad.

Another big plus, is the backlinks that you get with your PR article. The more backlinks you get from the web portals, web zines and the like, the more chances that your search engine rankings will improve. Publicity can be made to work with Web 2.0 as I explain here

And, with keyword rich text that you include in your PR article, all the more are the benefits for SEO. This is certainly another plus that cannot be ignored.

So, if you’re not doing PR, or haven’t done one for a while, this is something worth looking—especially during this tough times.

I'll look at another type of marketing communication on my next post. 'Til then.

Is your advertising message getting lost?

2009-03-22T21:38:00Z

Being a marketing communication specialist, I come across many marketing/selling messages throughout each working day, professionally and personally.

Again, I must profess disappointment at the quality of advertising in the trade press. I’m not saying that these ads are all produced sloppily in-house, many are professionally-prepared by ad agencies or other professional communication practitioners. (Yours truly being one of these practitioners.)

I personally make no excuses as I usually just follow client instructions, especially when clients supply the copy. And, my only input is by way of layout. Let me refer to the ad message and what is set out in the ad. (However, when I am asked to develop a concept, it's another story.)

Many ads feature the client logo on top, with ad copy being either a company mission statement or an enumeration of products and services offered—the classic tombstone ad, or "name, rank and serial number ad”.

These ads are of value only as subliminal reminders of an organisation’s presence in the marketplace—as a best case. Unfortunately, most times these are not only ignored, but could be a way of proving to the market that the staff of the company concerned is just too busy to take time to prepare the right message or really is not interested in getting more customers.

Am I being too critical?

Well, maybe. But consider this: when putting out a marketing communication, the point of view is not “I” or “we”, but should really be “you”. Yes, you the customer or prospective customer.

And, to really make an impact on the reader, the aspect certainly should be what’s in it for the reader. What advantage is there to be gained by even reading the ad?

It's something I've harped on in the past, the need of a promises. This is usually of one or more benefits the reader would get from buying or using the advertiser’s product or service.

When Dove sold its soap to the public, the company did not just offer a means of achieving personal hygiene, but one of “younger and smoother skin”. The emphasis was on the moisturiser in the soap.

The Volvo ads of some years back put the emphasis on safety. The focus was not on the car itself, but on the safety shell, built into each vehicle. Volvo now has another slant, but the “Staying Alive” message is still at the back of my mind because it was memorable. And more importantly, the promise was safety, not just the driver, but the driver’s family who are in the vehicle with him (her).

We note that the safety cell was not invented by Volvo, though the company would certainly be remembered for relating this with its cars. It was developed by Mercedes Benz, who did not patent the technology as the management wanted to share this with the rest of the world.

I digress, but you get my drift. The principal consideration is not that you as a marketer are there put a message across because you love your organisation or your job, it’s because you as a marketer exist because of your customers. No customers, no you.

Finally, your customer doesn’t care about your company, your mission statement, your product (or service) offering, but on what your company can do for him or her. Yes, what’s in it for me (the customer). This is something we just cannot ignore.

So, the slant and the message is a promise of something that must just be too good to pass up.

And, put simply the more enticing the message the greater the interest the reader will have to go beyond the headline, read through the body copy and then contact you for more details. Mission accomplished.

How often should I give my website a new look?

2009-01-03T02:29:00Z

Having had a long exposure to print advertising and printing, I could off-hand say that normally a brochure needs freshening up every 18 months to two years. Now, mind you, some brochures become obsolete in a short time (a few months), with product development, upgrades, obsolescence and so on.

And, I note that some out-of-date brochures are kept current long after their use-by date. The reasons for this can be anything from lack of time, laziness, indifference, cost-cutting or whatever.

But, what about one's website? I would dare to propound a similar time frame, with two to three years max.

With the paradigm set by a Web 2.0 world, this time frame could possibly be even shortened to 18 months to two years, similar to printed brochures.

Let's face it, we have to engage our site's visitors, with fresh content, visuals, offerings, downloads and the like. And, for some, if not many, who revisit sites regularly, a stagnant look may mean a turn-off. By this I mean that the site appears not to have anything new to offer.

Now, I know that I am putting myself up to scrutiny here. I set up my principal website, <www.gmarketing.com.au> in 1997. It was upgraded in 1998. This was after only six months or so.

And, then for any or all of the above reasons, the site was not upgraded for many years. To be fair, I personally redid the site in 2002/2003, but only got to dummy testing. I didn't like the look and just dumped it before it went live.

It took a few more years before the site was upgraded. That was some three years ago. And, I am happy to say that a new revision is now live. Yes, I know it has taken a while, but I always refer to that Spanish saying which roughly translates that "in the blacksmith's house, they use wooden knives."

Admittedly, it is hard for a physician to heal him/her self. If you do plan a website update, I promise immediate action, as I do with all my clients.

After all, if you check out my upgraded website, you will see that we are very heavily involved in website design. This section of the portfolio pages, shows just how many new sites we've been involved in the last few years.

So much for the lesson, with an added self-plug. Hope you like the new look.

Please drop me a line, with your comments.

How a blog helps your search engine rankings

2008-10-05T22:18:00Z

That you have to get a good ranking for your chosen keywords to get hits on your website is a given. If you want to get noitced in the web, you should have your desired landing page linked to keywords with search engines, preferrably on the first page.

And, not just the first page, but the top half (or first fold). Mind you, I have had an enquiry, which turned the contactor into a client, while my search engine ranking was on page two. But, this is more an exception that the rule, after all do you click through from searches found on page two or further?

Before going into generic links, I must note that you can get into the first page of a keyword search by paying for a sponsored link. By this I mean something like (Google's Adwords).

For the cost of a few cents to a few dollars, your site gets a link for paid keywords on the sponsored link section of each search. This is usually located on the top and/or the right hand side of the page.

Do note that these sponsored (paid for) links are also located not just on the first page of such searches, but on the second and succeeding pages. Search engines have a system of spreading your links in their own sites, as well as related sites and portals, which is governed by their policy and practices and the amount you pay for the sponsored link.

I'll cover sponsored links in another post. Let's talk about improved search engine rankings in the generic (naturally generated) search pages.

I approach my clients with a service of improving search engine rankings using blogs, but must let you know that there are other means. SEO (search engine optimisation) can be achieved using other means, including using the services practitioners of this arm of web consulting, the use of Web 2.0 social media, article marketing and so on.

SEO practitioners will do job of creating links back to your website, special landing pages and so on. Search engines in running the web robots (or crawlers) looking for content establish a relevance for your website and its different pages, by counting the number of links back to your site. And, not just counting the links but establishing a relevance and apportioning a ranking based on the perceived importance of the links to the keyword/s concerned.

Do note that I don't know exactly how this is done and am not privy to the workings of the logarithms used to rank such keywords. But, have learned how this works through studying their use in the web and practising the the principles learned myself and for my clients.

And, how does a blog do this?

Simply put, your blog sets out keywords in the text, which gives a certain ranking for the same by search engines. Then you set-up links in your blog back to your site. The use of these keywords and the backlinks help improve your search engine rankings.

The likes of Google look at the words and links and give you a higher relevance, after compaing to other websites, blogs and the like in the web. I proceed on the basis of the more keywords and links the better.

A recent blog I did for a client is a good example. After setting up a new website for the client, he commented that the new website had no ranking in search engines.

I explained that it was new site and I did not bother registring with search engines as they appear not to work from such effort.

I suggested a blog. And, using his name as a dot net (the dot com was already taken) set up the blog.

With each new post, I notified the search engines. (Yes, they do like this sort of thing and some even thank you for doing so.)

As a result his blog is now indexed and ranking in the first page of Google and more importantly his website has been indexed. Consequently, his website is now ranking in the first page of a number of keyords we have targetted.

This is something you can do yourself. Or, we can help you do this. And, this is an extremely cost-effective means of marketing communication, when compared to more traditional media.

Do you stop advertising when things get tough?

2008-10-05T20:43:00Z

Last week, one of my clients instructed me to cut back, actually to cancel all advertising. Wow! It made me pause to think.

What if all of my clients did this? Certainly that would mean I'd be a gonner. But, wait, what would happen to my clients, if they did stop advertising? Would cutting their advertising spending affect their businesses?

With the big turmoil in the US financial market, I suppose, it would only be a matter of time when the ripples of this tsunami would affect business in Australia, despite the different financial regulations and mortgage market we have here.

John A. Quelch, a professor at the Harvard Business School notes that a recession is not a good excuse to cut back on advertising. "It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return-on-investment at lower cost than during good economic times," he writes in a recent issue of "Working Knowledge," an e-mail newsletter of the Harvard Business School.

Other studies on advertising spending in recessions have shown that brands that cut back on advertising suffered loss of market share as Quelch notes. Those that continued or increased their marketing communication spend kept or increased their market share. Yes, but that's B2C marketing, right? Yes, and this will similarly apply to B2B marketing as well.

In B2B, we note that one reason that a marketer needs to advertise is because the competition does. Not the best reason, but I've observed clients cutting back on their marketing spend and had this reinstated, when rumours in the marketplace that the company has gone bust started to circulate.

Again, not the best reason, but one to consider.

When things get tough, let's face it, you (and your competition) will be working working harder to get more sales. Because, just as you may be cutting back on expenses, so will your customers.

So, should you stop spending on advertising? It's a definite NO.

Cutting back or getting more from your spending is the first approach. This applies to expenses throughout the enterprise, but let's stick to advertising and marketing communication.

In B2B companies, part of the marketing spending covers the direct sales calls. This is one area that has to be intensified. When the gonig gets tough, the more one has to be closer to one's customer. Before he/she cancels a purchase of one of your products, you can respond with an offer of something extra, improved delivery, or whatever, with a lower cost the last consideration.

Reviewing call rates, cost per call, frequency of calls, improving call efficiency, time spent per call and so on are part of this study. Also consider the area of prospecting. Whilst out calling on customers, prospecting should be part of that effort. What about getting referrals from your customers. If they're happy with your company, its service and products, surely they would be happy to recommend others to you.

With the competition also feeling the pinch, this is the time to get closer to your customers, so watch that you don't neglect your customers. When one has to fight for every sales dollar, you can bet your life your opposition is also trying to get more sales from every source--including your customers.

And, what about your spending on advertising?

Get more for your ad dollar. Getting more bang for your advertising buck means intensifying media that give the best results. Those that do not produce results can be cut back or just dropped. This depends on your specific circumstances.

It's good to note that the best bang for buck is still found in the web media. One area that can give good results for a little spend is in sponsored links in search engines. Spending a few cents to a few dollars per click through makes sense, especially considering the immediate results in web visits.

Of course, your landing pages should be set out to help the visitor get the best information and to contact you directly from the visit. (But, that's a topic for another post.)

Of course, generic searches should be optimised to take advantage of keywords used by searchers looking for information leading to your site. (Again, I'll cover this in another post.)

A review of costs, getting more for your spend and getting ahead of your competition should be some of the strategies you can adopt when times get tough. And, as to just stopping all spend, this comes at great risk. It's a bit like the proverbial ostrich hiding its head in the sand.

When times get tough, you have bit the bullet and put in the effort to get on top of the game. Not telling your customers (or prospetive customers) that you have something great for him to consider, or to remind them that you have great product he's interested in is like raising the white flag.

If you decide to surrender, be prepared for the consequences.

Is having a website enough in a Web 2.0 world?

2008-09-06T01:32:00Z

So, you’ve got a website, does that mean you’re using all the marketing communication capabilities offered by the worldwide web?

Before going into this in greater depth, let’s go through some definitions.

We turn to wikipedia for some insights: “Marketing communications (or marcom) are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Those who practice advertising, branding, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales promotion and online marketing are termed marketing communicators, marketing communication managers, or more briefly as marcom managers.”

And, as for the worldwide web: “The World Wide Web (commonly shortened to the Web) is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet. With a Web browser, a user views Web pages that may contain text, images, videos, and other multimedia and navigates between them using hyperlinks.”

Now, let’s add another paradigm into the mix: Web 2.0. This is a “term describing the trend in the use of World Wide Web technology and web design that aims to enhance creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration among users. These concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities and hosted services, such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies. The term became notable after the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.”

Web 2.0 is the current state of play of the worldwide web. Social marketing, greater involvement by users of the the web means that communicating with the people you want to connect with means more than just having a website. It means a rethink of your marketing communication objectives.

Consider that during Web 1.0, Britannica Onlinewas the encyclopedic source, while today, it's Wikipedia. And, remember that the latter is a open encyclopedia, which allows users to put up their own entries. Now that is collaboration.

It also means how you communicate with these people requires the use of other tools. The website is not enough.

By contrast, the state of the web before Web 2.0 (just some 10-15 years ago) was more staid, where merely having a website seemed enough. Once you had this indexed, you could easily get enquiries, especially since there were very few websites out there.

Mind you, websites were static and tended to the boring. This contrasts to the more interactive nature of today's websites. And, by this I don't just mean the use of flash. (Sorry, I digress.)

Back to Web 2.0, let's face it getting your website noticed is not just submitting the site to different search engines to get indexed. For your site to get a high search engine ranking means that you will have to have links into your site from other sources.

A very good way of getting these links is to use the social media provided by Web 2.0. My favourite is blogging.

Blogging, among other things, allows collaborative effort on the part of the readers--something that we accept as part and parcel of what Web 2.0 is all about. There are many other aspects about this which I'll cover in another post.

'Til then.

Web 2.0 Marketing Communications Based On Blogging Now Available

2008-08-28T04:00:00Z

Allow me a personal plug. I don't normally do this, but I thought why not use a blog to help me market my own services.

With B2B and industrial marketers now more comfortable with the use of the internet, a question arises: Is it enough to have a functioning website?

Like it or not we’re in what’s described as “Web 2.0”.
This in short is how the web has iterated in the last decade, especially with the dominance of Google. The internet is now more collaborative, friendly and interactive—compared to the more staid Web 1.0.

And, the thinking that helps your marketing communication come across is different to what you will find in most websites. As a marketer, you should be thinking more along the lines of social marketing.

At JG Marketing, we’ve found that the best way to do this is to put up a blog. What’s a blog? In short it’s a series of entries on a website (blog) more like a journal written in chronological and displayed in reverse chronological order. (Blog is really an acronym for Web Log).

Wikipedia notes that Blogs "provide a commentary or news on a particular subject…a typical blog combines text, images and links to other blogs, web pages and other media related to its topic.”

And, what does this mean for you. The links in your blog can be to your website. The use of this links also allows you to improve your Search Engine Rankings.

Did you ever consider as to why when you notified search engines like Google that you have a new website up and running, it may take months to have the site indexed (or spidered by their web robots). But, you tell them of a new blog and we’ve found from experience, the blog is spidered within 24 hours.

JG Marketing can help you leverage off this bias by the search engines for blogs, to not just improve your website’s rankings, but to help get your marketing message across. And, we’ve found it’s also a good means of getting feedback, which you will not encounter through other more expensive means.

This is not only part of the marketing services we offer, but now an integral part of how we use the web to market ourselves as well. And, the surprising thing is that the cost is very small, compared to the other marketing communication means you may now be employing.

Give us a call NOW to discuss your requirements.

Print advertising: good ol' reliable marketing communication

2008-01-07T06:04:00Z

The Internet is now a mainstream means of trying to sell products, services, or provide information for many marketers and businesses. However, as popular as the Internet is, it still may not be the most profitable way to advertise or sell.

In today's world of high-speed technology, many seem to forget that the tried and true method of marketing communication through print advertising can still prove to be an extremely profitable way to go about getting a sales message across.

Why? It's because basic human nature has not changed. Neither have human buying triggers. Having something tangible in one's hand that can be touched and felt is still trusted more than words or images thrown up on a computer screen.

In spite of the Internet's capability of reaching out to millions of email addresses or viewers in a matter of minutes, a printed flyer, brochure or print ad, in one's hand still holds more credibility. BTW, I am not suggesting no do I condone or suggest spamming as a an ethical communication means, when I refer to mass email efforts.

Consider that when you get a printed flyer, brochure or print ad that you can hold in your hand, you tend to look at it as something real that is produced by a real person whom you can identify with. You don't generally look at it as some unknown face or entity hiding behind a computer screen, who may be trying to scam you.

It really doesn't make sense that so many marketers are have forgotten this old proven method of advertising and selling. Printed forms of advertising and direct sale pieces have stood the test of time, and have proven themselves over and over again, against so many other means that have come and gone.

Consider this as well: Most people go online looking for information, not sales offers. And, with so much material out there in the net, what chances are there that you're offer will be found, if at all.

However, when a printed piece of marketing communicatioin is physically placed in the hands of people, they will make the effort to seek out the source of the offer. It doesn't matter if it's right up the street from them, or online--the printed marketing communication piece has a form of credibility that may not be found on net-based messages. BTW, there are means of developing this credibility on the net. (I will cover this in other posts.)

With direct sales, you don't have to worry about getting traffic to a web site, search engine optimization, black hat, white hat, or any of the other online techniques you see touted. People coming online to your web site after reading your printed direct sales piece are generally looking to buy the product or service offered.

The internet should really be used in combination with direct sales efforts and other communication, as an extension of one's advertising and sales efforts--not as the primary medium. More people who are ready to buy will find you through direct sales pieces, than they would just surfing the internet to see what's available amid the billions of web pages.

A printed advertising or direct sales piece is really much easier to produce than a web site...don't you think? And, All this has to do is make people aware of what is available, the cost, and where to get it. If the offer is located in a physical address, then give the address and times of operation. If it is located online, the give the web site address and other contact information. It's just that simple.

Most internet exclusive advertisers will likely see their sales efforts pay off in spades, by combining print advertising and direct sales with their online means. Once a printed direct sales piece establishes credibility, a web site would only need to highlight benefits and give access to the offer.

Now that you realize the benefits and advantages, why not do yourself and your business a favor, and make print advertising direct sales an important part of your business's well being.

A happy customer = your worst enemy?

2007-12-02T01:24:00Z

Have you ever considered that customers (clients) who are happy with what they have could be your worst enemy. "Why could that be?", you ask.

Like it or not, happy customers don't complain. Happy customers aren't looking for new solutions. And, happy clients will not spend their money on something they don't need. "So what?", you ask. And, isn’t client satisfaction is the foundation of my business? Right?

Yes, that’s quite right. Your client's complete satisfaction should be your ultimate goal. Here is the key question: If a client is satisfied with your product today, will your product meet their changing needs tomorrow?

We work on the premise that change is the only constant in the business world. Your customer's needs change every day and your challenge is to identify those needs that are causing dissatisfaction in their life. Finding and solving these elusive needs will lead to more sales for your business.

So, ask yourself: are you searching for new areas of client dissatisfaction for your product or service to solve? Are you focusing your marketing on their needs and desires? Are you positioning yourself as a solution to their problems?

Clients and prospects are always looking to improve their personal condition as they travel through life. It's a natural quality of the human condition. What they currently possess may satisfy them today but that is sure to change. Within this change resides opportunities for you and your business.

Your growth and prosperity will come from the unsatisfied and the needy. These are the people who may or may not know they need a solution. It is your job to uncover their hidden needs and supply the solution.

So you ask, 'If they are satisfied now, I need to create a new dissatisfaction?'

No, you are not necessarily creating the dissatisfaction but uncovering it for them to see. When you think about it, we all live in a state of ignorance throughout our daily lives. We don't realize that we need what we don't have. Simply put, you cannot satisfy a need until you know that you have one in the first place.

For example, not too long ago there was a time when personal computers did not exist. We were unaware of the influence and benefits that these machines would have on our daily lives. Yet we survived without them in blissful ignorance as we plodded through the workday. Today, you can't run a business without a computer on your desk!

The computer industry uncovered a whole host of reasons that we were all dissatisfied: streamlining document processing, efficiently transferring data, communicating instantaneously anywhere in the world, and having vast amounts of information available at the click of a mouse. Indeed, these needs always existed somewhat, but the marketplace didn't know it needed the productivity a computer offered.

The catalyst to discovering these unknown needs are imagination and innovation. You must find the dissatisfaction and creatively communicate your solution to the client. Until you make this discovery, happy customer are probably not interested in purchasing more from you. Your goal must be to find an offering that fills a need, solves a problem, or improves their condition.

Creating the products and services that put an end to their current dissatisfactions is the best way to insure continued business growth. After all you don’t just live for the next few months, or years, but for a long, long time into the future.