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It's all the buzz these days, what is the ROI of social media? What's the return? How much money can I make off this social media stuff? What's the investment? How much time and money is this going to take? You've heard it all, right? We know conversation with our customers is the right thing to

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I think Seth Godin outlined marketing's Catch 22 best in his book The Purple (and I am paraphrasing When times are tough the tendancy is to conserve capital vs. when times are good the tendancy is to not be As marketers we are so often faced with the dilemma of having to cut advertising in times

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We all know that in challenging economic times, consumers are less brand loyal than ever. They'll drop their favorite brands and seek out lower priced alternatives. But what happens when consumer trust is violated due to safety concerns? Or when expectations are not met due to a real or perceived loss of quality? We know that

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I recently began to wonder how many of the airlines and hotel chains have really considered "Customer Lifetime Value" in the creation of today's largely calendar-driven loyalty programs. Beyond the motivation to examine year-over-year performance, how was it decided that one year is an adequate period over which to "judge" and reward a customer's How do

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Stop everything you are doing and listen to this podcast! Seriously, if you have never met or had the opportunity to listen to Avinash , you must hear this podcast .... I guarantee you will learn Sometimes you meet someone so passionate about something that it's contagious and if you listen closely you can hear me

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Leading companies do not subscribe to the notion that marketing is a discretionary expense. They know that there is business opportunity during economic downturns, and marketing can lead the way.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: Writing

Can asking a question in an ad increase sales? Some will argue vehemently that the use of a question is a non-starter, a pre-ordained copywriting disaster. Craig Huey, founder and president of the award-winning Creative Direct Marketing Group, froths at the idea of a question in sales copy. Nevertheless, a question is a tool. And as with any tool, any copywriting strategy or tactic, if a question is not formulated and handled with proper caution it could indeed do immeasurably more harm than good. Well, let me correct that: If you're a direct marketer who tests, you can measure precisely how much harm a poorly phrased question will do... or how well a good one will convert.

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It's a fact of list life: You're always going to lose a chunk of your email list to bounces, unsubscribes, and spam complaints. In the past, you might have just shrugged off this loss—typically 30 percent or more annually—because you were able to acquire new subscribers at a much higher rate than what you lost. But your ability to do so might be getting tougher now. With consumers getting pickier about whom they want to receive email from, along with the growing constraint caused by consumer and business spending cutbacks and the prospect of tightened marketing budgets, it's more important than ever to focus on retaining your subscribers and customers. These three strategies can help you reduce list churn and, subsequently, boost list performance.

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Ongoing economic uncertainty has made aspirational luxury customers more selective about what they purchase than ever. "Aspirationals" are aggressively prioritizing discretionary spending, purchasing a select few emotionally charged luxury items but buying everything else at mass or "masstige" outlets. Companies that want to continue to profit from aspirational customers must make their brands accessible and relevant to them by taking their lifestyles into consideration and meeting them half way. Here are seven tips to draw out aspirationals, just in time for the holidays.

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White socks are great. They go with everything, wear forever, and are excellent value for the price. And for those who love this argument, you can't measure On the downside, white socks are vanilla to the bosses and not always welcome in the Board Room. Furthermore, they represent discretionary spending and if ROI can't be measured,

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This is a sequel to my most recent post dealing with company Today, I answer the question, "Should a company have one person as its 'voice' in the market via various social media The simple Companies should have at least one person participating in the ongoing conversation that's taking place across a broad spectrum of social

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How would you like to drive sales and achieve an all-time company high in product sales? And at the same time, create word of mouth about your product and make customers feel a connection with your brand? Sound too good to be The video below is part of a marketing campaign called "Inspired Season" implemented by

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There's been a lot of around the social media release (SMR) lately and since it's an upheaval and departure from a 100-year old tradition, I thought I'd share my experience with utilizing an SMR (or a variation of one) sprinkled with a few opinions for good The SMR made its back in May 2006 and yet,

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I've had a few questions sent my way thus far, including "Should a company blog be written by one person, or several, or by a faceless 'voice?' Should a company have one person as it's 'voice' in the market via various social media Allow me to respond to the first in this post followed by a

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An interesting new concept is cropping up these days, according the Wall Street . In a large consumer product companies are looking for the inventive ideas many small business owners and entrepreneurs have–in order to gain an edge. Let's face in increasingly competitive, slowing markets where a continual pipeline of new products is called for, this

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A year that's looming larger each day for social media. Or is Times are tough. Many people may be looking forward to four years of hope and change, but the realities of a slumping global economy are upon us today. As we conclude budgeting season - or some procrastinating companies are just beginning - social media

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Frankly, I'm overwhelmed by all the options available for media marketing. That's why it's refreshing to see something simple that About a week ago I got an email from my favorite record store. Inside, there was just four lines of text. No images. No flash. No links. No HTML wizardry. No articles on topics of But

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I have a Dell laptop. It's not a particularly impressive machine, in fact you could say it's pretty boring. But I already know that my next laptop is also going to be a Dell. And the reason why I've already made that choice has nothing to do with the product, and everything to do with the

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Social network (SNA) is helping companies map and understand the links, associations and possibly behaviors of customers and employees. In the following hypothetical situation, we'll explore the ramifications of using social network analysis in marketing processes and attempt to discern if SNA is "hype" or a valuable Suppose you are a marketer at a wireless telecommunications

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Here's a case study from the Media Convergence via Liz Cahill, VP of Marketing and Communications of Lee Thirteen years ago Lee recognized women were the top consumers of their jeans. And at the same time cause marketing was starting to take hold. Lee studied the causes that women really identified with and breast cancer was