Direct mail has been bashed by many and they claim survey results prove their position. And most that claim direct mail doesn't work are trying to convert your direct response marketing budget to all on-line and email efforts because that is all they do. Don't listen to the nay Sayers because direct mail can be as effective as it was 15 years ago when it is done correctly.
Read MoreTopics: Advertising, Inbound Marketing, Direct Mail
Are you using social media to promote your business successfully? Or are you still watching unsure of the advantage your company will gain? I only advise social media when a company has their other advertising plans working well. That includes that their website is built well and has optimized SEO and PPC marketing efforts.
I am going to make a statement you rarely, if ever, will hear. Social media may not be right for you, for your business, because you can get greater ROI elsewhere and/or you aren’t prepared to execute it regularly.
Social media success depends on regularly posting to the networks that your customers are on and developing a loyal following. In all honesty, it is not quick or easy though in theory it is simple. Determine which social media has the biggest audience of your customers and engage them there. Sounds easy but it can use a lot of time with difficulty in measuring results. Measuring results is more than how many people saw your post.
Coca Cola was one of the first brands to embrace and use Facebook and other social platforms to market their brands. 2 years ago they evaluated their efforts and Ad Age published that Coca Cola found the social media attributed to “0” sales. That’s correct. Their big efforts on Facebook did not achieve any sales of their product. They were ok with that because their efforts on Facebook and other social media sites is to increase brand visibility and engagement.
Please continue reading because you have to define the results you want from social media before interviewing consultants. If they tell you they can show results quickly it may not be the results you expect.
Read MoreTopics: Online Marketing, Social Media, Inbound Marketing
I believe you need to continually evaluate marketing results and be willing to change on the fly when results are clearly indicating that need. We all do an annual review at the end of our fiscal year. For many that is at the end of the calendar year.
Topics: Inbound Marketing, Direct Mail, Mobile Marketing
Lead generation is the life-blood of any business, but you know better than anyone else that not every lead is worth chasing. In fact, most of them are not ready to be a paying customer right away. That's why you need to qualify your leads before you start pitching the potential clients.
According to a study by Ascend2, rather than concentrating on the volume of the leads, companies are shifting towards focusing on the quality of their leads.
Read MoreTopics: Inbound Marketing
Chances are you've heard all about how inbound marketing strategies can put the Internet to work for you and get you more leads and sales. You've probably heard about how 34% of all business leads generated in 2013 resulted from the use of inbound marketing tools; how marketers dedicated 34% of their budgets to inbound marketing strategies, but only 11% to outbound tactics; and how 48% of marketers planned to spend more on inbound marketing strategies in 2013.
But no one has probably ever explained to you how an inbound marketing strategy works. Let's change that.
Read MoreTopics: Inbound Marketing