The Power of Teaching

A former colleague asked me to look at his website a few weeks ago and I gave him a few suggestions for improvement. We then went through his ad budget and I recommended a small pay-per-click campaign. He was concerned that it would be expensive, but I showed him how can you start small and manage a budget on Google's Ad Words tool.

After some tweaking to his Google campaign, his website traffic doubled in two weeks and his business improved. We can never be sure it was entirely the changes, as the market has been getting better, but it had to help.

What's really exciting is he asked me to check the campaigns to see if they needed adjusting and told me he created his own campaign for a different product. The campaign has already paid for itself in specific results.

It goes back conventional wisdom - you can give someone fish or teach him how to fish. He now has ownership and can generate traffic/revenue as opportunities arise.

Digital Relevance

I attended an amazing free seminar yesterday on "Writing for the Web." I thought it was going to be about search engine optimization techniques for your copy. It was so much more.

The presenter shared a tremendous amount of research information about consumer habits online. They key focus of the presentation was making your site easy to understand and easy to use for the consumer. It's sound obvious, but many sites are cluttered and difficult to navigate. The bottom line is stay relevant to the consumer.

Why do we forget this? Why do advertisers hear "video on YouTube is hot," and conclude posting their TV spots is what consumers want to see? We should never forget about the customer. Instead of a :30 TV spot, I'd like to see a "how-to" video on using or buying the product. Tell me about your company, why I should buy from you, etc. As a consumer, that's what I care about. What about you?

ROI for Traditional Media - Take Another Look

As budgets continue to shift to Internet advertising, clients are relieved that they can quantify their ad spend with more metrics. While measurable results are certainly import, the key is to make sure you don't forget about the original objectives of a campaign.

Yes, you can measure click-thrus and conversion rates, but brand awareness and imaging goals? Not easy to do without using primary research for the specific campaign. That's a luxury most advertisers cannot afford.

Measurement is extremely important, but it must be kept in perspective. For example, many small businesses are using Twitter successfully. How do they know? Because business has improved.

Another example from personal experience is buying spot TV and holding stations accountable to their ratings. Several years ago, I bought paid programming from a new small station in a top 100 market, as well as a spot buy. The station never posted above 30%. The results were horrible - or maybe it was my ability to project a rating? Regardless, the station always ran a fair under-delivery schedule. What's interesting is my $50 paid programming creative that ran at 1 a.m. made the phone ring off the hook. With the direct response type spot creative I was running (on several stations), I knew the :30 lengths were also generating calls. (With a vanity number, we did not have the luxury to run different numbers on different stations). So, according to the ratings, my buy was not efficient. Yet, I know it was effective.

Isn't that what really matters?

New Markets - It's Surprising Where You Can Find Them

Instead of garages, the new entrepreneurs are working from their dorm rooms. This NYTimes article features several college students who have developed and marketed new products.

The product that fascinates me is the collapsible shoes. These two women walk around college in heels. Granted, they go to school in Manhattan, but heels? Yes, I went to a land grant college, but heels?

That being said, I love the product. I've had a few long days where this would have come in handy. I'm impressed that they conducted market research before they pursued it. Their PR strategy has certainly paid off - they have been covered in many news outlets and have a small following of fans on Facebook and Twitter.

Now, I just need to order my pair.

Maintaining Your Brand During A Recession

The way some high-end retailers are maintaining their brand strength is buying lowering prices, per USA Today.

It's an interesting approach because the retailer doesn't have to risk their reputation, but can still keep profit margins. The consumer doesn't have to trade "down" and can shop at the same stores. A win-win for all.

The companies that have been discounting, mainly Saks, have sullied their reputations.

Yet, customers still love a bargain... otherwise T.J. Maxx and Marshalls would not be tallying double digit increases.

My question is how come the prices can be lowered enough to be considered affordable and the company still makes a strong profit? Where's the "sweet spot" in this equation? Those who can figure this out will continue to do well once the economy rebounds.

Advertising Accountability - An Oxymoron?

Anyone who has studied advertising has heard, "I know half of my advertising is wasted, but I don't know which half." Ah, the days before online metrics.

Per Adweek, manufacturers are shifting more of their budgets online. The obvious reason is media habits shifting online. But what's more important is accountability.

Web site traffic lead conversions can be measured. What's still difficult, however, to measure is awareness. Advertising is both and art and a science. Science is becoming a bigger player, but it will never take over completely. There will always be a degree of unpredictability. That's what makes it fun.

I will never forget when someone cold-called me about buying signage at the local airport. Since I worked for a local retail automobile dealer group, I pointed out that half of the people seeing the ads don't live in the market, as they're traveling to town from somewhere else. They would not be likely to buy a car here. The salesperson pointed out the axiom about 50% of advertising is wasted and I would at least know which half was wasted.

Is Pay For Content the Answer For Newspapers?

Remember just a couple years ago when you had to pay to access much of the New York Times' Web site? No Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich or other columnists were available for free. Many of the main news articles were free, but when you clicked on something with the "Time Select" logo, you were denied access. Then, in 2007, the NYT opened their site to everyone. The rationale at the time was to increase advertising revenue and search engine optimization/continuity (if you found an article that went back any length of time, it was in the Times Select category).

Now, the industry in even more serious decline, Rupert Murdoch is going to a pay for content model. The Detroit Newspapers have also gone this route - even limiting the number of days their printed product is home-delivered. The Financial Times has been a paid site for years - here's the article about it in today's NYT.

I've always been a newspaper fan - I read the Detroit News every day from 7th grade (even through college) until I moved to Milwaukee in my late 20's. My daily media "diet" includes several papers. I was ready to pay for "Times Select" when they changed the model. Yes, I'm willing to pay for content - the right content, of course. But I would prefer a "network" of sites to have access to. To just pay for one seems like a luxury.

Am I, however, the norm? I doubt it.