More Businesses Going Digital in 2010?

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Business Makeover

The next trend in corporate marketing is going to be relying less on traditional advertising and marketing agencies, according to the latest State of Marketing Report from the Chief Marketing Officer Council. Continuing to build online awareness and generating higher digital demand were the top initiatives reported for 2010 by the global affinity network of senior marketers.

Nearly half of the members surveyed (46%) reported that their companies are presently undergoing a “digital marketing makeover” or will be sometime in 2010. Fifty-eight percent said they were going to train and develop existing staff specifically in this area, and 36 percent expect to hire new talent with digital marketing skills. Forty percent of corporate marketers will be adding or expanding their support from agencies that specialize in digital marketing while an all-time low eight percent plan to conduct advertising agency reviews. Read more

Smart Business Owners are Marketing Online

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Online MarketingI’m currently reading a book entitled The New Rules of Marketing and PR that my friend and local business owner Brad Johnson of Lawn America loaned to me.  It’s quite good!  I came across a story about a company that we all know and can identify with, and I found it relevant to many of the business owners that I speak to every week.  So, I thought I’d share…

Century 21 Real Estate LLC is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, an industry giant comprising approx. 8,000 offices in 45 countries.  You’ve seen Century 21’s TV ads before, but you haven’t seen them lately.  In 2009, the company pulled its national TV advertising and invested those resources into online marketing.  That’s a huge move considering the amount of TV they were doing. Read more

The Power of the Online Review

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online reviewsHow important is someone reviewing your business or organization online?  I don’t know, because there is no way to put a number to it…but I’ll try.  I do know this:  I’ll listen to another consumer about a company rather than some form of one-directional advertising trying to get my business for the same company.  Not that I don’t pay attention to advertising, but is that just because I look at it to critique it and draw ideas from it?  Some advertising has turned into a form of entertainment, I think.

I look at it this way: the consumer was once in my shoes, performed a similar search for a local company that provided a service that they need(ed), and they made a decision.

How is their experience with that company captured?  How can we, the other consumers, learn from their decision to choose one company over another? Well, (drumroll…..), enter the online review. Read more

What is Your Money Doing for You?

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Clients ask me all the time how their money can best be spent among print, radio, television, internet, direct mail, etc. Since I find myself primarily staying busy doing web design and internet marketing, my answer is usually the same: stay away from print advertising in local newspapers and put the money to work for you on the web.

Why is this good advice? Because on average, for a decent print ad in a major newspaper, you are going to pay at least $400, and you may get to run the ad between 1 – 3 days. You don’t get to select who looks at the ad, how old they are, how much money they make, and the worse part of all, you have absolutely no fail-safe way of knowing if people even SAW your ad! Read more