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Alex Bogusky
It is telling to read the thoughts and opinions of MDC Chief Miles Nadal, Fast Company, and other media and industry “experts” on the exit of super creative Alex Bogusky. Specifically of note is the fact that none of these consumed minds appear remotely capable of seeing the real and obvious reason for Mr. Bogusky’s departure – MDC would not embrace the core values and integrity that Mr. Bogusky held, put forth in his work, and made his work unique and valuable. They catered to the fears of their clients, and their fears of losing them instead of asserting the awesome results they were delivering and using that as a platform for new directions. They would not change!
So, as with all of life’s expressions, Mr. Bogusky will move on and find a way. And you can bet MDC’s fortunes will quickly align with those of every other ad biz in these challenging times.
Integrity and a willingness to change, to do what has not been done, will always lead and prevail – though resistance may make the journey longer.
Popularity: 1% [?]
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Most small business owners like to (and do) focus solely on daily business operations and serving existing customer/client demands. But it is critical to your success to focus on getting new business from both current and prospective customers in order to sustain and grow your business.
The selling process has six key steps. Virtually every sales interaction will follow these steps, whether it lasts several minutes or several months:
- Prospecting – Find Customers
- Attract – Making Initial Contact
- Inform – The Sales Presentation
- Engage – Overcoming Objections
- Close – Closing The Sale
- Follow-Up – Service and Support After The Sale
As you develop a sales process that is right for you and your business, here are some other pointers to keep in mind:
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Popularity: 2% [?]
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What is a database?
Email marketing systems use databases to storage, retrieve, and update data in the system. Everything the system does uses information (data) stored in the database, including email content, email design code, contact lists, scheduled sending, and performance statistics.
The databases in email marketing systems are called “relational databases,” because they recognize relations among stored items of information. For example which contacts belong to a list, or which statistics relate to a specific email.
Think Excel. Excel files are actually small databases. Databases consist of software-based “containers” or “fields” that are structured to collect, manage, and store information. Databases allow users to easily add, edit, or delete the information it stores. The structure of a database is tabular, consisting of columns (types of information with a given name); and rows (instances of information – commonly referred to as ‘records’).
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Popularity: 2% [?]
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I get asked sometimes “…why pay for an email marketing system when I can send mail using Outlook, or Yahoo Groups?” The answers vary according to needs, but generally there are some significant benefits. Here is a baseline primer on email marketing systems.
The term Email Marketing System refers to computer software that sends bulk email to target audiences. Effective uses of email marketing software include sending sales and promotions, customer service, and customer support email communications to opt-in lists of subscribers.
The software uses a database to store contact information, campaign statistics, and message history. The software interface has features necessary to manage email campaigns such as email setup and sending, adding or importing contacts to receive emails, reporting and tracking functions such as how many people opened an email, how many emails bounced back, and how many people actually clicked links in an email.
Email marketing software is sold as licensed software – to be owned and run on a server computer by the owner, or as a service – (Software-As-A-Service – SAAS) which is run on server computers and accessed via the Internet.
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Popularity: 2% [?]
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MarketingSherpa just published a case study on our email marketing campaign for the 2009 American Cancer Society (ACS) disparities conference, Health Equity: Through The Cancer Lens. Our client Linda Blount, MPH, ACS National Vice President of Health Disparities was also featured.
The CancerLens conference marketing campaign was very successful and the reasons for that success can be uniquely articulated in the statement – we didn’t do anything different, we just did things differently.
This simple statement is an important distillation of the campaigns key success factors. It also effectively communicates our unique approach and the virtues of our practices and methodologies. What came out in our interview for the MarketingSherpa Case Study was that every client and marketer knows about, and purports the importance of customer centricity and allowing the customer to drive the communications experience. But rarely do campaigns appear that do this effectively.
Here is a summary of the approach we use to get superior results from our campaigns. Try them.
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Popularity: 3% [?]
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Though professional email marketing practices require investment in time and resources, they use a holistic approach and offer key benefits:
Engagement
A professional campaign includes the creation of specific web pages and triggered autoresponder emails that provide relevant and current information on the subject matter, as well as the producers, partners, and stakeholders. This is important, as it delivers a turn-key experience that effectively promotes the subject matter, the parties involved, and heightened recipient engagement (ie: registration for updates, RSVP to events, etc.).
Measurable Results
Professional email campaigns make detailed performance metrics accessible including read/open rates, link click rates, and conversion rates. They also create databases of qualified opt-in recipients interested in the subject matter and the offerings of producers, partners, and stakeholders.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
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To promote an event using email I propose going beyond the notion of simply sending email and tracking reads and link clicks. Instead, consider setting-up a campaign that:
- Collects RSVP Responses
- Tracks Conversions (persons on your list(s) who actually attend)
- Grows Your Database
Email marketing is an amazing event promotions tool. Here’s what you need to setuip an effective event promotions campaign:
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Popularity: 3% [?]
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With customers rethinking spending decisions across the socio-economic spectrum, increasing customer share (the amount of business you do with existing customers) is an important strategic consideration. Acquiring new customers costs 5-10 times more than keeping existing customers. A strong base of satisfied customers generates referrals and favorable brand equity, which are both important competitive advantages – especially in tough economic times.
Price is not the leading factor in purchase decision making — trust and recognition are. People buy when they trust they’re going to get what they want. Customer service touches a spectrum of qualitative and emotive buttons that are important to your customers.
So, how do you grow customer share? With timely personalized service. Service is a key differentiator and value generator for businesses. Service excellence makes customers more likely to buy from you, buy repeatedly, and tell someone how great they think you are. Service is the ultimate relationship glue that binds customers to you. And it a powerful tool to turn around lagging sales.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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Self-improvement is big business, worth $11.6 billion last year, and expected to grow 6.2% per year from 2009 – 2012. If a small percentage of the people (like me) who consume self-help products were successful at whatever it is they wanted help with, the world would be a much more peaceful and harmonious place. But as the world has not changed much in those areas, it stands to reason that the majority of the stuff sold does not work. What a surprise!
In my quest to connect the dots between the spiritual understanding that all things and actions manifest evidence of their effectiveness and benefit, I purchased a new self-help book titled 59 Seconds: Think A Little. Change A Lot. by Richard Wiseman. I highly recommend it simply because it highlights what doesn’t work, and what does based on validated research. What that means is that the book contains really clear and concise things you can do in 59 seconds or less to be more decisive, imaginative, engaged, and happy.
That’s my take. Anyway, what’s one more book gonna hurt?
Popularity: 3% [?]
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Facing tough economic times and changing customer behaviors, businesses are forced to do better or fail. There are two keys to success – hiring great people and providing a simply exceptional experience.
Finding friendly, engaging, and intuitive people who will leave customers with favorable impressions is challenging at best. You cannot teach friendliness and intuition. And intuition (defined as the ability to make sound decisions with incomplete information) is a gift some people possess and others simply do not. So its imperative that businesses hone their ability to spot this “soft skill” during the interview process.
Delivering a superior experience, or the ability to consistently provide exceptional service, is a key competitive advantage and effective differentiator. Time magazine recently reported, “The No. 1 marketing strategy for businesses and organizations now and in the future will be directly related to the quality of that organization’s customer service.” 68 % of customers leave because of an attitude of indifference displayed toward the customer, according to a U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey.
Service is a critical success factor. It establishes and helps to build relationships and referrals. When customers and prospects are deciding weather to patronize your business they are judging you by three things:
- Are you trustworthy?
- Do you care about me?
- Are you committed to my satisfaction?
And you have a really simple and surefire way of knowing the truth of this claim: just ask yourself if these are the things you care about when you’re buying.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a growing practice with many new technologies that enable businesses to effectively implement strategic relationship development programs. What gets lost are basic underlying values that ensure substantive connections and successful relationship building. Below are some guidelines to successful customer relationship building:
- You do not sell to consumers. You sell to people. Develop and maintain a view of your customers as individual people with individual needs and wants.
- Setup your service interactions to ensure you treat every customer the way you would want to be treated.
- Develop ways to identify and address the unique and specific wants of your customers.
- Listen to your customers. Invite them to tell you what they think. Make it easy for them to do so. And pay attention to what they say.
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Popularity: 4% [?]
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