Search Our Marketing Resources

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

This is an important question. A tribe is a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea (Godin). I opened a conversation with direct response professionals in Philadelphia last week by summarizing three timeless imperatives for 1. Cash flow is a 2. Customers 3. Do more with We used to

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

While reading an article about Rupert Murdoch's take on the failure of traditional publishing to connect with their readers, my social media furnace almost blew a gasket. (Do furnaces even have gaskets? Probably not. I guess I should stick to social Anyway, I'm reading this article and I start to think about how many people I

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Marketing is the interface a company builds to interact with the marketplace and the customer base. The marketing group, combined with the sales force, is the point in the company where the market understanding resides. This should be the group that drives the company, that sells the marketing vision and message internally, and if that is

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Thinking about launching a company blog? Great, now if you want to avoid being that ," then here's the essential elements that you should incorporate into your 1 - A Why are you blogging? What are you attempting to do with your blog? Establish your company as an industry leader? Boost your brand awareness? Provide customer

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

The markets have crashed. Credit is scarce. Consumers are scared. Everywhere, there is fear, uncertainty and doubt. There's a new kind of media that's taking the world by storm, but investments are shrinking And marketers? Their heads are on the chopping Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But I'm not talking about 2008 -- I'm looking back to

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Where R U? In other words, where is your text message strategy? When will your organization begin using text messaging and other mobile messaging services in your marketing, customer care, and collections processes?

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

In the two weeks leading up to the November 4 election, email messages came fast and furious from the presidential campaigns of both John McCain and Barack Obama. In the last week, both supporters received at least two emails a day from both campaigns. In evaluating those email messages, I saw commonly held best-practices that should be emulated, practices that should be avoided by marketers, and a few new concepts that may inspire email marketers to take their programs to the next level. Despite the outcome of the election, lessons can be learned from both presidential candidates. Also, some practices simply do not cross over from the relationships that political candidates form with their constituents to the relationships that marketers develop with their customers.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Marketers navigating these tricky economic waters need to stay focused on profitable expansion rather than contraction. If you can grow, even in these times, you will emerge on the other side of the economic crisis ahead of the competition. Creativity, combined with on-demand marketing tools, will help. When budgets are tight is the best time to try new and less-costly techniques leveraging Web 2.0 technologies.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Good site design starts with an idea—not with a technology. In today's internet obsessed world, far too many people are becoming more focused on the latest and greatest Web 2.0 buzzwords than on the fundamental purpose of the Web site. Whether that purpose is to provide information or allow for the purchase of a product or service, there is a main purpose for the site and that needs to be identified.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

Will tomorrow be like today? In planning assumptions for budgeting and forecasting, most marketers believe that events of tomorrow, next week and next year will be much like this year, or years past with just slight deviation. However a review of the global and economic landscape (in a wild 2008) shows that this is a dangerous

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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.

CONTENT TYPE: Article | TOPIC: None

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,