Our agency saw a dramatic increase in our online video production last year, and many clients have recognized that video offers and content often generate the strongest response to web and email programs. However, one company recently took the video concept too far when it emailed a news release to editors that consisted ONLY of a video! No text, nothing for the editor to review, revise, and edit. They expected the editor to listen to the video, type a transcript while listening to the audio, and create a new product news item. Sometimes marketers do the darndest things!
Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’
Video Taken Too Far
Wednesday, April 4th, 2012Marketing Is Often Driven by Nuances – and HubSpot
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012B-to-B marketers are paying more and more attention to the stats and data coming from HubSpot and other marketing automation tools. In fact, more of our clients are planning marketing automation reviews or implementations in 2012 than ever before, with most using or leaning toward HubSpot and Pardot.
Recently, one of our clients took some of the results of HubSpot’s A/B testing to heart on a basic question many of us face: What web button text is most likely to lead someone to click? Is it Submit? Register? Or does it even matter? HubSpot’s advice to us, based on their clients’ testing, is that Click Here generates the highest clicks and lead conversions. And, in one instance, it was true: one client boosted clicks on an offer by 31% in a month – just by changing the button text to Click Here.
Online or Offline? Customers Responding to a More Balanced Approach
Monday, September 12th, 2011The recession redefined many things during the past two years, and that included how we go to market. As with other downturns, print advertising spending was dramatically curtailed, as were investments in trade shows and some of the other more costly marketing programs.
Would spending in those areas return? Many were prepared to yet again write off traditional marketing channels as no longer relevant, that they would not return to be valued by customers in how they learn about products. Yet Goldstein Group research across a variety of clients are beginning to show that customers are relying on both digital and face-to-face methods of communication – particularly word of mouth and trade shows – as important elements of the buying process.
Even further, segmenting the data by age group is showing remarkably little difference in how customers find information about new products – and in what information sources they define as “most credible.”
One interesting side note is that social media appears at the bottom for every client survey we’ve done to date for “most credible” information channels. But there’s an interesting nugget in the data: for a small group, about 7% of respondents, they’re identifying social media as their single most credible method of learning about new companies and products. It’s a channel that clearly is in the early adopter stage, but one that marketers clearly shouldn’t neglect.
2011 Budget Survey Shows Marketers Show More Interest in Lead Quality, Search Engine Marketing
Wednesday, December 15th, 2010Steady budgeting and a priority on lead quality over quantity highlight the results of this year’s Marketing Budget Trends white paper, an annual study of business-to-business marketing trends conducted jointly by Goldstein Group Communications and Hearst Business Media.
Those are two of the trends identified in the study, conducted during November, 2010. Survey authors said the survey respondents pointed to fewer dramatic changes in their approach, and more to 2011 activities that seek to take advantage of the changes put in place during the recent economic upheaval.
“The past few years have seen once-in-a-career shifts brought on by the global economic collapse and the emergence of new tools such as social media,” said GGC President Joel Goldstein. “So it’s not surprising that prior surveys reflected rather significant changes in marketing against this backdrop of uncertainty and new media. Now, though, based on opinions from those who responded, 2011 may just be a year of steadied progress rather than wholesale re-configuration of marketing. From steadier budgets to more uniform responses to questions about future initiatives, marketers seem to be in a mood to implement recent decisions rather than searching for new answers.”
Survey highlights included a variety of key trends for 2011 marketers:
- B-to-b marketers expect consistency or improvements in budgets for 2011. When asked how spending would change next year, 44% reported no change to budgets, a full 11 points higher than a year ago. Continued recovery is still forecast by many, with 27% projecting an increase and just 6% pointing to budget decreases.
- The ratio of online-to-traditional spending settled in at 51% traditional to 49% online; two years ago, 60% of budgets were spent on traditional tactics such as literature/catalogs, direct mail, trade shows, print advertising, etc.
- Web development, online advertising and search engine marketing will consume 38% of budgets in 2011 and are the clear priority of decision-makers as they’re crafting spending plans for the coming year. “Marketers seem to recognize that Google, Yahoo and Bing have become the front door for purchase decisions today, and that search engine presence is a key driver to getting their company’s fair share of sales,” Goldstein noted.
- Even in the face of complaints marketers hear about email fatigue, spending on email is predicted to maintain the same share of budget (7%) in 2011 that it occupied in 2010; 21% of marketers even plan to increase email spending in 2011.
- Quality trumped lead quantity in this year’s survey, one of the more dramatic changes seen from last year. While last year the need for greater lead volume outpaced improvements in lead quality as a top priority, that order was reversed this year.
For a copy of the results on 2011 Marketing Budget Best Practices, with results of the complete survey, contact Joel Goldstein, Goldstein Group Communications, at jgoldstein@ggcomm.com, or at 216-509-3119, or visit www.ggcomm.com.
Trust Me. Your Reputation Really Matters.
Thursday, November 11th, 2010I attended a tremendous seminar on “Earning Trust” recently. Seminar speakers made the point that the past two years have been transformative for us as marketers, consumers and employees. The economic upheaval has certainly touched us all. But has it changed us?
In fact, I believe the past two years has presented us as marketers with what will become one of our biggest challenges – re-establishing and re-building trust. We’ve been hit with re-defining moments at every turn – the Great Recession, the Gulf oil spill, Wall Street financial/foreclosure crises, even the Cuyahoga County government scandals here at home. Are the cars we buy safe to drive? Is this new drug safe? Can I believe my CEO when he says our jobs are safe?
Simply put, trust is the front door for business. You can’t make a sale unless the consumer trusts your company and its products. And you can’t expect your employees to perform unless they trust the company to treat them right, and to treat their customers right.
While we intuitively feel that trust has taken a hit (we all have that sixth sense as effective marketers!), survey data bears this out. A study by Right Management in May, 2010 showed that only 20% of 4000 U. S. employees in the U. S. said they always trusted their managers to make the best decisions. Think about that. (The next time your CEO is about to give a speech to company employees, lean over and say, “Don’t be nervous. Remember, only one in five employees here today is likely to believe what you say!”)
Why does trust in the workplace matter? Forget soft concepts of altruism; let’s just look at financial payback. A 2010 survey of 211 companies by Interaction Associates found that companies in the top 10% of its Trust Index showed a price/earnings ratio 28.5% higher than those in the bottom 10%.
Going forward, this will be a time when employees and customers watch how companies and their leaders act as much as by what they say. And as marketers, it’s our charge, our mission, to lead this march. That’s tough duty, but since we’re the only ones at the table – not manufacturing, operations, finance, engineering — charged with the responsibility for listening, it’s our responsibility to make sure our executive leaders are truly hearing what customers and employees have to say. Honesty and authenticity will be key values driving business going forward, not just our usual value-proposition, features-and-benefits discussion. Is your organization up to those standards?
Search Tools and PR Drive Furniture Site Traffic
Monday, September 27th, 2010It’s a beautiful desk, built of fine hardwoods and a contemporary design that makes it a perfect fit for a den, home office or workplace. But even more compelling, its sophisticated design hides ugly tangles of wires and cables caused by all the wireless routers, monitors and workstations that crowd a typical workspace. So Goldstein Group was hired by Caretta to create a new brand for the young furniture manufacturer as it moved from development to full-scale production. With new messaging, literature, a series of PR announcements and a re-imagined web presence, Caretta traffic doubled every month during the first four months following the company’s brand launch. Strong PR announcements and aggressive search engine marketing drove ever-higher web visits with metrics that showed visitors remained on the site for remarkably long periods.
Bring Back the Good Editors
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010Anyone wishing for 2008 to return? For most companies, 2008 was a year of strong performance, and many of us are anxious for those marketing patterns and programs to return.
But they won’t. The financial collapse and global recession hasn’t been just a momentary pause in the way we do business – it’s led to a significant change in how companies operate. It’s certainly led to a change in how they go to market. The way we built marketing campaigns for business-to-business companies has changed structurally and permanently. Things will not get “back to normal.”
In response, it’s common for companies to migrate much if not all of their marketing spend to an online-only world. While we agree with the importance of the web and online marketing, we think an online-only approach is a mistake. Companies need a balanced program, and the role of print in branding is still important.
In fact, we’ve been talking with clients about how much of the move toward online, in particular toward “user-generated” content, is actually revealing a need for filtered content that only a good editor can provide. Here’s what we mean.
What is the engineer’s most precious commodity? I think we can all agree that it’s time. In light of that, engineers must turn to sources of information that will tell them what they need to know to do their jobs better, and to do so while consuming as little time as possible.
So while it’s great to rely on search and participate in user-driven forums, I think we all can also agree that much of what we find user forums, blog comments and other social media outlets is, politely, noise that’s not really worth our time. Engineers are coming to the conclusion that what they need is an answer to a question now, and they don’t have time to sort through noise to find it.
So the job of a magazine editor is once again becoming more critical. Magazine editors are trained to sift, evaluate and organize. A good editor can determine what’s critical for a reader to know, and present it in ways that are accessible, clear and convenient. It doesn’t matter whether it’s online, in print, face-to-face, and perhaps even in new user-generated forums that have some editing filter in front of it.
I believe that explains why some magazines have survived, such as Microwave Journal, and some have fallen by the wayside. Magazines in tune with their audience make good use of their readers’ time. It’s not an easy task, but as we all struggle with exploding levels of information overload, it’s a critical task that will become more central to how the engineer learns and finds information.
Marketing Roadmap: What Happens Next?
Monday, August 30th, 2010Six Drivers Shaping the Next Phase of B-to-B Marketing
Joel Goldstein, President
Goldstein Group Communications, Inc.
www.ggcomm.com
Anyone wishing for 2008 to return? For most companies, 2008 was a year of strong performance, and many of us are anxious for those marketing patterns and programs to return.
But they won’t. The financial collapse and global recession hasn’t been just a momentary pause in the way we do business – it’s led to a significant change in how companies operate. It’s certainly led to a change in how they go to market. The way we built marketing campaigns for business-to-business companies has changed structurally and permanently. Things will not get “back to normal.”
In developing an approach for marketing going forward, there are several structural factors we’d suggest applying to b-to-b and technology marketing:
- The idea that marketing is shifting from traditional to online methods is so well-documented now that it’s become an inadequate and even incomplete explanation for what’s taking place in marketing today. Online is here. It’s where engineers live. Embrace it in every way you can.
- The structure of trade media that has existed for 60+ years is irrevocably splintering. Once the dominant path to customer communications, it has now been replaced by more than a dozen other new avenues.
- The few media outlets that survive will be stronger, not weaker, and they will remain a viable partner for gaining access to customers and prospects, although in new ways.
- Marketing is math. The role of analytics and ROI performance tracking will assume a greater priority for the successful b-to-b marketer, and anything created will have metrics and analytics attached to it that measure its impact. Google is driving this movement, as the adoption of Google Analytics takes hold and spreads to dozens of other marketing automation and analysis platforms.
- The philosophy of mass lead generation and low cost-per-lead programs will be replaced by “engagement.” Companies will use technology more effectively to target and cultivate relationships with customers and prospects in ways that don’t generate a lead, but foster relationships and experiences with individuals. There will be some high-tech/high-touch moments connected to this, which explains the growth of video and face-to-face event marketing in the past 12-18 months. Content, particularly for technical companies, will be critical for creating meaningful engagements.
- The velocity of marketing will increase. It will be faster to build a brand, as well as easier to harm it. The risks in marketing for b-to-b companies have increased along with the greater transparency inside companies that new social media networks have created. (Example: Twitter post on 4-30-10 from rickyg_sco – “Woohoo no longer an Acme employee)
Search Tools and PR Drive Furniture Site Traffic
Monday, August 23rd, 2010It’s a beautiful desk, built of fine hardwoods and a contemporary design that makes it a perfect fit for a den, home office or workplace. But even more compelling, its sophisticated design hides ugly tangles of wires and cables caused by all the wireless routers, monitors and workstations that crowd a typical workspace. So Goldstein Group was hired by Caretta to create a new brand for the young furniture manufacturer as it moved from development to full-scale production. With new messaging, literature, a series of PR announcements and a re-imagined web presence, Caretta traffic doubled every month during the first four months following the company’s brand launch. Strong PR announcements and aggressive search engine marketing drove ever-higher web visits with metrics that showed visitors remained on the site for remarkably long periods.
Data Driven Insights
Wednesday, August 18th, 2010Marketing is all about nuances. The gap between a message that resonates with a customer and one that falls flat can be difficult to close, but is at the core of marketing success. When Avtron came to us with an idea for a new brochure for its Metals market segment, it was clear even to their marketing executives that the message was undefined. Do we focus on the core offering, motors and drives? Or do we have enough credibility to position the company as a broader system integrator? Because the question went to the heart of customer perception, Goldstein Group went to the source – Avtron customers – with a detailed customer interview process to measure perceptions, competitive strengths and probe for successful positioning platforms. The system integrator theme won out – but only after research analytics showed the market perception would support that position going forward.
