Archive for August, 2013

Goodbye to Traditional Marketing? Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Tuesday, August 27th, 2013

In the old, old days, cavepeople drew pictures on the sides of their caves to share information. Eventually the printing press was invented and the world of communication changed significantly–“Extra, extra read all about it” became the cry as stories broke and consumers on street corners learned the news. From there, of course, radio emerged, then TV and–ultimately–the World Wide Web. The rest, as they tend to say, is history.

But, with the exception perhaps of the cave drawings, as each new communication methodology emerged, the others didn’t go away as was often predicted. Instead, (more…)

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Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing and Branding | No Comments »

Using Google Analytics Effectively

Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

We recently received a question from a reader asking if we had any advice on how to use Google Analytics effectively. We do! Google Analytics is a very powerful tool for determining how effectively your web site is both reaching, and engaging, your target audience. Each month we analyze our own web traffic, as well as the traffic of our clients. We’ve seen some common trends and have gained some interesting insights through this analysis. (more…)

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Posted in Analytics, Internet Marketing | No Comments »

Tweet, Tweet and Retweet — Your Audience is Fleeting so Hit Them Multiple Times!

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

I’ve long had the feeling that much of what I (and others) tweet about is like the old saw about a tree falling in the forest. Is anybody there when I tweet and, even if they are, are they paying attention? Well, research done by Sysomos indicates that 71 percent of the 1.2 billion tweets they reviewed over a two-month period produced no replies or re-tweets. Further, the study indicated that when a retweet does occur, it’s most likely to occur in the first hour after someone initially published the tweet.

(more…)

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Some “Silly” – But True! – Advertising Rules You Shouldn’t Overlook!

Tuesday, August 20th, 2013

The field of advertising is traditionally known as a haven for “creative types.” And those types often come up with some pretty creative “rules” for doing business. Some of the rules may seem pretty silly, but they work. And there’s nothing silly about that. For instance: (more…)

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Why Marketers Often Fail to Sufficiently Narrow Their Target Audience

Thursday, August 15th, 2013

One of the most common missteps made by businesses large and small, in both the for-profit and not-for-profit arenas is a failure to clearly identify the desired target market. Why? In my experience, I see this happen for a variety of reasons: (more…)

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Posted in Business Development, Marketing and Branding, Marketing Communication | 2 Comments »

#1 Marketing Tip

Tuesday, August 13th, 2013
  • What does it take to be an effective healthcare marketer?
  • What does it take to be an effective B2B marketer?
  • What does it take to be an effective retail marketers?

Regardless of the audience asking, or the way the question is posed, my #1 recommendation is always a two-part recommendation and it’s one that I convey to clients and students communicating in both internal and external settings. (more…)

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Which Drives Better Response? Email marketing or social media?

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

Here’s a comment I read recently in an online forum:

“Other marketing channels, such as email, still prove to be better at driving conversions than social. Despite this, companies are still spending a lot of time and effort on their social campaigns – why?”

My first reaction was: (more…)

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Mass Media, Timing and Mosquitos

Thursday, August 1st, 2013

I’m not often a big proponent of mass media advertising, particularly in an environment of highly segmented media outlets and opportunities. Most of the time it doesn’t make sense to spend money attempting to appeal to the masses when you can more narrowly target an audience through more effective communication channels that often, these days, don’t involve paid advertising.

But a personal experience related pointed to the value that mass media can still provide for certain types of products and services. (more…)

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