Use Integrated Marketing to Deliver Results

If you’re looking to maximize the return on your marketing spend, than you need to develop an integrated marketing campaign. An integrated marketing campaign uses more than one medium to communicate a message to your audience.

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If you’re looking to maximize the return on your marketing spend, than you need to develop an integrated marketing campaign. An integrated marketing campaign uses more than one medium to communicate a message to your audience. Integrated marketing can also mean a marketing campaign that leverages the power of different media types to move a suspect through the process of becoming a customer.

The most successful marketing campaigns begin with the media type that particular prospects use regularly. For example, generation Y is very engaged with direct mail. Studies have shown that individuals who fall within this consumer segment spend a lot of time opening and reading their mail. That being the case, you want to make sure that your first contact with generation Y prospects is aligned with their messaging preference of direct marketing.

Once you’ve decided where to start, you need to think about other media regularly used by your target segment. Following the example above, let’s assume that the same individuals who read their mail also check email regularly. With at least two marketing mediums identified, you’re ready to begin planning your next integrated marketing campaign.

Begin with the end in mind. If you are looking to sell a product, you need to think about the audience, message, offer, and timing of your campaign. Having identified the proper marketing vehicles/media you’ll be using, develop marketing pieces in a consistent manner. You want the look, feel, and tone of your communications to be related across all media types if not identical. Most importantly, communicate your unique selling proposition throughout all marketing touch points.

To continue with the example above, let’s assume that we’re going to be selling widgets to a sub-segment of our generation Y audience. We will begin with a direct mail piece describing the needs of our audience and how our widgets are the only ones that come with a money-back guarantee. Recipients of the piece are asked to visit a special web page that provides a product demo. The same message is sent via email to the same audience – ensuring maximum exposure.

When visitors log on to our specialty web page, they enter a code to access the demo. At the conclusion of the demo, browsers are offered a discount if they place an order online and an inquiry form. Prospects wishing to delay their purchase can request additional information through the inquiry form provided.

For individuals who entered their code to access the demo but did not purchase, an email is generated with an even more aggressive offer – attempting to convert them. This can be accomplished through unique tracking URLs or codes that prospects need to be enter prior to viewing a demo. This is very similar to those marketing campaigns that take advantage of abandoned shopping carts! For those individuals requesting more information, a telesales representative would contact them, again stressing our key message points such as the money back guarantee.

This integrated campaign utilizes mail, email, a webpage, and phone. However, similar campaigns could use any additional media types that are appropriate (advertising, public relations, outdoor, etc.). The key is to produce an integrated marketing campaign with a consistent message.

Once you’ve completed your campaign, its time to quantify results and determine what generated your greatest response. Did your direct marketing piece generate visits to your webpage? Did those users convert? How about your email? This information will be helpful when doing similar marketing campaigns in the future, providing guidance to fine tune the media used, the messaging, and/or your offer.

It is again important to stress that integrated marketing should be driven by the communication preferences of your audience. Develop a deeper understanding of how your audience makes decisions and the types of media they use to gather and analyze product information. Then be sure to put these media types at the center of your marketing campaign. Never forget, “The Media Is the Message.”

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Vacation property owners using web pages to increase visibility.

During the last 5 years the number of vacation rental properties being advertised on the internet directly from owner has exploded to well over 50,000.

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During the last 5 years the number of vacation rental properties being advertised on the internet directly from owner has exploded to well over 50,000. The reason so many owners are taking on the task of managing their units is simple.

They can make considerably more money since they don’t have to give 50% (or more) of the gross rental to a management company. Even if they offer substantial discounts to the renter they still make more money (and the renter can save a significant amount as well). Owners typically advertise their properties on vacation rental sites. Most of these sites require the owner to answer several questions about their property and then the site advertises the property in a cookie cutter style format.

This is OK but it really does not allow an owner to advertise what is unique about his or her property. However, now most ISP (Internet Service Providers) allow their customers free web space for their own home page and the fact that creating attractive web pages requires very little skill these days more and more owners are creating a web page just for their property.

When an owner has their own web page they can design it in a manner which really highlights the key features of their property or the area that the property is in. In addition, an owner can put many photos on their own web page for virtually no cost. Many vacation rental sites limit the number of photos and/or charge an extra fee (which can add up to hundreds of dollars) for extra photos. For example, if you own a condo in the Disney World area you might want to have pictures of Disney World, Epcot, and Universal Studios. The same goes for owners whose properties are in the mountains of Colorado (or any resort for that matter).

They could have photos of skiing at the resorts in the area (e.g., Vail, Steamboat, Breckenridge, Keystone, etc.). Of course, if it is summer time, you would be wise to substitute the skiing photos with photos of golf, fishing, biking, and rafting in the mountains. If you really want to do it right, you can reserve a .com name for as little as $10 a year with the discount domain registrars that are out there.

If you decide to do this be sure to pick a name that describes the location of your condo. Some vacation rental sites allow you to have a link to your property web page from the page that is on their site that describes your property. This is very important and should be one of the criteria you use when selecting a vacation rental listing site.

In addition to allowing you to provide a link to your web page you should count how many clicks it takes to get to your listing from the vacation rental listing site. The FEWER the better. The reason this is so important is that the more links you have to your property AND the closer it is to a site home page (i.e., the fewer number of clicks required to get to it) the more likely search engines will pick it up and have it show up in search queries. Ideally you would like YOUR web page come up when people are searching. If people go directly to your web page then it is more likely they will book the unit.

However, that is just one small piece of how search engines do their job. If you are a property owner of a rental vacation property and don’t have your own personal web site you might consider getting one. It is inexpensive and does not require a great deal of effort. You might want to visit some vacation rental listing sites and compare the calendars of properties who do have a dedicated web page and those who don’t. You might be surprised at the results.

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It’s okay to be happy at workplace

Learn how a happy attitude can be extremely beneficial to you at workplace.

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Yes, it’s ok to allow yourself the luxury of being enthusiastic, light hearted, inspired, relaxed and happy at workplace. If you don’t do this, you are self-denying your true potential.

It’s unfortunate that many people think that a happy demeanor at office would appear ‘Strong’ and ‘out of place’ to other people including coworker, clients and employee. Often they wrongly assumed that if someone is looking happy, he/she must be satisfied with the status quo and, therefore, lacks the necessary motivation to excel in his/her work or to go to the extra mile. And s/he simple can’t compete in a competitive environment.

This sort of thinking creates huge amount of stress at workplace. Many employers are of the view that they should not allow their employees to be very happy as they may lose their edge.

It’s absolute non-sense to believe that a relaxed, happy person is necessarily lacking in motivation. In reality, happy people are almost always the ones who love what they do. It has been observed again and again that people who love what they do are highly motivated by their own enthusiasm and continue improving themselves and their performance. They are not only good listeners but also quick learner. Further, almost all of them are highly creative, charismatic, easy to go around and very good team players.

On the contrary if we consider unhappy people, we find that they often held back by their own misery or stress, which often distract them from success. Rigid and stressed out people are a drag to be around and difficult to work with, always adding negative vibes in the environment. They lack motivation owing to their being consumed with their own problem, lack of time and stress. Unhappy people often feel victimized by others & their working conditions. It’s difficult for them to be solution oriented as they see everything as someone else’s fault. In addition, they are usually poor team players because they are often self-centered and pre-occupied with their own issues. They are defensive and almost always poor listeners. Despite having o many negative traits, if they are successful, it is despite their unhappiness not because of it. If an unhappy, stressed out but successful person can learn to become happier, he or she will become even more successful.

So my dear friend! Please rest assured. It’s okay to be happy, kind, patient and more relaxed at workplace. It will be to your great advantage – both personally and professionally. You won’t lose your edge.

Just be happy and be natural with a positive frame of mind at your workplace. Dong this, you will not be uncaring or unmotivated. Rather you’ll feel more inspired, creative and driven to make an even greater contribution than you do right now. This habit will give you the ability to see the solutions and opportunities where others see problems. Similarly, rather than being discouraged by setbacks or failures, you’ll bounce back quickly and resiliently.

I one read in a book that if we start thinking positively and act happily, positive force of the nature start attracting towards us. Dare to be happy and your life will begin to change immediately. Your life and your work will take a greater significance and it’ll feel like an extraordinary adventure. Others’ll love you. Number of your friends will soar and that of your rivals/enemies will drop.

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What Is Brand Identity?

A strong brand identity can position a company above its competition all by itself. But having a brand that strong takes time, money and effort to develop. It’s not as simple as just redesigning a logo or rewriting a tagline. Brand identity is the reason you offer for your customer to choose you instead of your competition.

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Brand Identity is a promise. One given from business to customer to expect certain things. Whether that promise involves product quality, service, price or a million other things varies from brand to brand. But the one thing common among all brands is the need to be a strong brand.

Why is brand identity so critical?

A strong brand identity can position a company above its competition all by itself. But having a brand that strong takes time, money and effort to develop. It’s not as simple as just redesigning a logo or rewriting a tagline. Brand identity is the reason you offer for your customer to choose you instead of your competition.

How to rework your brand identity

Successful re-branding involves “evolution,” not “revolution.” You must impress upon your existing customers that your new brand is just a new and improved version of the same you. It’s important to not get too crazy with a re-branding effort because you could end up destroying fragile emotional ties and customer loyalty.

Brand identity is much more than marketing

Having a brand identity that resonates with your market is important, but not at the expense of the people within your company. They need to not only get it, but also be your brand’s most fervent ambassadors. Do your employees believe in your company? Do they feel like they have a vested stake in its success? Companies with solid brand identities can say yes to these questions. Can yours? If not, here’s some things you can do:

1. Get every aspect of your company on the same page: Easier said than done, right? Well, that doesn’t mean it’s not necessary. Get all your departments talking to each other and understanding each other.
2. Promote everyone to the position of brand ambassador: Give everyone a common understanding of the company, its mission and their part in it. They should feel like they have ownership—even if they don’t.
3. Reinforce brand values and behaviors: To do this, use the tools you have, such as internal communications…and like a good basketball coach, consistently promote these fundamentals until they’re second nature.

Your employees will ultimately determine your success or failure. That’s why it’s so important to have them buy into your company’s brand identity. However, that’s not something that can be forced. You, as leadership, must earn it. But once you do, you’ll have a company that is full of happy, motivated successful brand ambassadors.

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Multi-Channel Retail – Plan For Success

The maturation of multi-channel commerce

More and more retailers are realizing the benefits of multi-channel retailing. Leveraging brand equity in multiple touchpoints has been proven to drive loyalty and interaction among consumers. With trends clearly showing the Internet as the core component to pre-purchase research, brick and mortar brands can ill-afford to take a wait and see approach as it relates to core multi-channel offerings.

Three core enhancements must be e…

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The maturation of multi-channel commerce

More and more retailers are realizing the benefits of multi-channel retailing. Leveraging brand equity in multiple touchpoints has been proven to drive loyalty and interaction among consumers. With trends clearly showing the Internet as the core component to pre-purchase research, brick and mortar brands can ill-afford to take a wait and see approach as it relates to core multi-channel offerings.

Three core enhancements must be executed flawlessly to have true multi-channel integration:

• In-store associate kiosks

Leveraging the eCommerce store within an in-store environment solves fundamental out of stock situations, provides a new channel for up/cross selling, and maximizes profitability per square foot.

• In-store pickup

Incorporating buy online and pickup in-store functionality eliminates the barrier of shipping in the online sales equation. With shipping costs being the number one driver to why shoppers choose to not purchase online – this initiative help reduce key customer based purchase inhibitors while drive incremental sales in-store traffic. The solution also provides added convenience and satisfaction to the consumer, as they no longer have to wait to receive their merchandise.

• In-store returns

Returning products that were bought online, in-store, can bring many back-end technology bottlenecks to the radar screen. Forward thinking retailers must accurately map their order processing and inventory data to empower service associates with the data they need to reconcile and close the transaction efficiently at the POS.

Slow processing and a poor return experience will virtually erode a consumer relationship that was costly to start and maintain.

Getting your organization on board with change

Convincing company executives that these initiatives deliver ROI may be challenging, but that challenge pales in comparison to what is faced in your store network. The perspective change within the rank and file employees in your organization will prove to be your most daunting task as it relates to these initiatives.

Within all three of the solutions above, the web transaction integrates with the physical store. The store is the final piece of the puzzle in all three scenarios, making it the most crucial element to deliver a proper transaction. If your employees do not execute properly on this level, the result will be an un-utilized solution, or even worse, a customer perspective that your employees are incompetent.

The key is getting your employees aligned with multi-channel change. This happens by driving two key operational strategies in conjunction with a multi-channel technology solution.

• Training

Store managers must take the lead in understanding multi-channel solutions, while leading efforts to replicate this knowledge among customer-facing employees.

Prior to solution launch, be sure to communicate the internal and external value among the manager base, create a solution handbook for employee questions, and bring managers in to the home office for a Ѕ day workshop to become experts right before the solution goes live.

• Incentives

Employees must feel that the web-generated order still has some benefit to them. To drive accountability, some type of carrot must be given to ensure that employees have reason to treat the web-driven transaction seriously.

Because in-store employees receive bonuses for comp sales, create some type of awards program for efficiency as it relates to in-store multi-channel solutions. Or provide a piece of all web sales, distributed on a regional basis.

Understand the dynamics of your employees – how they work and what motivates them. By closing the gaps in training and incentives, multi-channel success becomes much closer to being reality.

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Need Help Setting Up Company?

So you’ve written all your plans, you’ve got any financing you need, and you’re all ready to set up your company. Uh, wait a minute… how do you do that?

The Basics.

A company is an entity, separate from you, that you need to create before you can do business. You decide what type of company it will be, you give it a name, and then you send off all the relevant papers to your government and pay any fees that need to be paid. Even for a one-person home business, it’s go…

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So you’ve written all your plans, you’ve got any financing you need, and you’re all ready to set up your company. Uh, wait a minute… how do you do that?

The Basics.

A company is an entity, separate from you, that you need to create before you can do business. You decide what type of company it will be, you give it a name, and then you send off all the relevant papers to your government and pay any fees that need to be paid. Even for a one-person home business, it’s good to form a company – it keeps the finances apart, and means that you can sell your company to someone else if you want to. Besides, it might be a legal requirement where you live anyway.

Before you do anything else, you should send off for the forms you need to start a company – in the US, for example, you would talk to the SBA (Small Business Administration), while in the UK you would need to get in touch with Companies House. If you’re not sure, your local Chamber of Commerce or your lawyer should be able to advise you.

Types of Company.

The chances are that you will want your company to be ‘limited’, which means that your own liability when it comes to debts and other legal issues is limited to a certain amount, usually the amount that you invested originally. While it is possible to start an ‘unlimited’ company, it offers no real benefit – it just means that you take far more legal risk.

The choice between ‘private’ and ‘public’ companies should be equally easy. A private company can be of any size, and is owned only by the people who started it. A public company, by contrast, is one that can be traded publicly, and may be listed on the stock market – there will be a high minimum share issue requirement for this type of company that will put it well out of your reach, and formal qualifications may also be required.

So the kind of company you need is very probably a limited liability company, usually abbreviated as ‘LLC’.

Legal Requirements.

Before you can start a company, there are a few legal requirements you need to fulfill. You generally need to be over 18 and otherwise permitted to enter into contracts. You must not have been disqualified from being the director of a company, and you also can’t be bankrupt.

So far so simple, right? One last sticking point is that you will usually require two people to act as the directors of your company, not just one – you might have to ask your partner or a lawyer to be another director, or to act as a ’secretary’.

Fee Time.

You’re likely to be hit for lots of different fees as you go through the process of setting up your company, but none of them should be too large. There will be a company registration fee, as well as a witnessing fee and perhaps some charges for stationery. You may be able to pay extra to have your company registered more quickly.

An Alternative.

If setting up a company sounds like hard work, you’ll be relieved to learn that almost all sorts of people offer comprehensive company registration services that don’t even cost all that much. Expect to pay about twice as much as the standard do-it-yourself fees, but it’s hardly going to break the bank anyway, and it can save you a lot of trouble both now and later on to get things done properly. If this is what you want to do, speak to a lawyer, an accountant, or even a specialised ‘company formation agent’.

Your Obligations.

Finally, be aware that from the moment you set up a company, you may have some obligations placed on you. The largest of these is tax reporting, where you will be required to send in a tax report every tax year. Forgetting to deal with tax issues could land you with a fine, so make sure you understand exactly what you’ve signed up for. You might also be required to do things like putting a small sign with your business’ name on the front of your business premises (your house), or to start writing your company registration number on business-related letters you send.

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Protect Your Business Card Investment

Business cards can cost upwards of $200 for a set of 1000 nicely printed cards. That price can be quickly increased with special shapes, rounded corners, raised foil lettering, metal or plastic cards and various other exciting new features.

With an expensive product comes the need to protect your investment. That is where a business card case comes into play. Business card cases are usually metal cases that protect your business cards from the daily wear and tear of being …

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Business cards can cost upwards of $200 for a set of 1000 nicely printed cards. That price can be quickly increased with special shapes, rounded corners, raised foil lettering, metal or plastic cards and various other exciting new features.

With an expensive product comes the need to protect your investment. That is where a business card case comes into play. Business card cases are usually metal cases that protect your business cards from the daily wear and tear of being in your pocket, in your car, or in your briefcase.

Business card cases come in one size, slightly larger than a business card and they usually snap shut. Most cases can hold between 25 and 50 regular sized business cards. Without a business card case, your business cards risk getting damaged on a regular basis.

If you are paying a considerable amount of money for your business cards, it only makes sense to protect them. Business card cases can be as inexpensive as $15 and can range up to $100 for a custom engraved business card case.

If you spent $200 on 1000 business cards, and that business card case saves your from trashing 100 cards per year, it has paid for itself after only a few months. However, a good business card case will last you a few years. I have had mine for 4 years now, it is a little worn down, but still serves its original purpose.

Business card cases can also be used a selling tool. You can have them custom engraved, so they can make a great business gift to a potential client. You could have this prospects name engraved on the business card case and send him a note that says, “Thank you for considering using our company for your computer networking needs”.

This gesture could be the tipping point for that prospect and close the deal.

Business card cases not only protect your business cards, but they also save you money by not having to buy business cards as often!

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