Squeezing Blood from the DR Turnip!

Well, hello there!
I haven't been blogging since 11/10 because I became a farmer - a direct response farmer to be exact. Due to a terrible 2010 in our "1-800" industry (for those who dare admit it) I had to start tilling the land and learning how to make new crops grow so I could look forward to a bountiful harvest in 2011. The turnip threatened to go dry for many of my clients in the B to C world. What I am talking about is the economy, consumer reaction to the economy, highs and lows in sales that threaten companies, diluted audience numbers, higher costs of goods, etc. All these things made the DR business hard to harvest. So, like many of my DR counterparts I had to acquire new "seeds", plant new ideas, and tend to a different type of garden. Didn't we all?

Here are a few things that I've been trying in the last few months to reinvigorate marketing campaigns.

1. Offers $$ - To charge more or less for your product in hard economic times?
When fewer people are calling in they are actually buying more - so CHARGE MORE. This seemed like the opposite thing to do but it proved very successful for many of my clients. We discovered that people who "call-in" will spend money. During this recession folks are looking for deals and discounts but they are still looking to buy hope and happiness. Who can put a price on these two things? We tried raising per bottle prices $5; we tried increasing the product cost and giving away free shipping; we also decreased payment plans, trial offers, and single unit orders. This all translated into more dollars spent during the ad campaign.

2. Testimonials - Stop being afraid of using testimonials to sell your product!
Due to many FTC and FDA laws over the past few years many marketers have be come wary about using testimonials in their ads. Learn how to leverage your testimonials legally and pack your creative full of them. People want to see/feel the product in action. Again, people are looking for hope and happiness and credible testimonials can provide this. We spent a lot of time generating testimonials for our clients by calling their customers and asking for testimonials; asking for testimonial commentary in our ad creatives, and setting up easy ways for people to provide their comments (SKYPE, Facebook, Twitter, Phone Surveys). Many of my clients saw a 20% lift in response just by adding in 4 new testimonials into old creative!

3. Revamp your website - are you converting 22% or better on your website?
22% or better should be the minimum you expect from your website if you are running a marketing campaign. Have you updated your website to include all the new social media outlets? Have you updated your website to reflect any PR? Have you updated your website so it can compete with your competition's website? Is your pricing offer on the right page? All of these things lead to this 22% or better standard.

4. Re-Focus Your USP - solve 1-2 problems with your product to a niche audience!
Go against traditional methods that say "cast the widest net" and simplify your product's unique selling propositions. Does your product appeal to any one group of people more than others? Can it help with one problem more than others? Don't be afraid to change the problem your product is solving into a smaller sub group. Test different ad types to see if the refined messaging rings truer (spot radio, print, long form radio, TV, online). We took many of our client's core product benefits and narrowed the focus and actually increased response by 15%. The moral of the story is that niche markets spend the same or more than "widest net" markets.

At Synergixx we brought many of the services our clients needed the most in-house in order to save them money, such as:

web development and strategic planning
radio production and editing - terrestrial and online
product sourcing and manufacturing
graphic design and print production

By changing our product offerings we were able to provide streamlined costs to our clients with strict management to keep campaigns running and profitable.

Call me to discuss how your campaign can benefit from these new farming practices!

BIG CHANGE AT SYNERGIXX!!

Perhaps it is fitting that on voting day I announce a very important appointment at Synergixx.  Today we inagurated Synergixx's new President.  I am proud and excited to have, Scott Swanson, one of the most outstanding members of our industry and my long term friend, accept this position.  Effective today he is the new President for our growing company.  Below is the press release we have sent out!



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


November 2, 2010

CONTACT:
Scott Swanson, President
Synergixx LLC
Synergixx LLC introduces Scott Swanson as President of Synergixx

Sewell, NJ – Synergixx LLC, a leading company that provides high quality, results-orientated campaign development and sales driven inbound telemarketing to the direct response industry has announced the promotion of Scott Swanson as President of Synergixx.

Charlie Fusco, CEO of Synergixx, said about the promotion, “Synergixx is going through an expansion phase both in its campaign development and in-house sales center and we feel Scott’s operational background will help direct and implement this growth. Scott has the experience, knowledge and the ability to take Synergixx into new areas of business while maintaining our company’s ‘clients’ satisfaction’ emphasis. I couldn’t ask for anyone better to take on this very important challenge.”
As President, Scott’s primary focus is to strategically maximize Synergixx’s revenue while enhancing customer experience.
You can reach Mr. Swanson at scott@synergixx.com or at 800-951-9032.

Congratulations Scott!

Insider Radio Tip!

If you haven't been combining radio and web marketing NOW IS THE TIME!

Check this out!

The percentage of U.S. adults that have visited a radio station’s website in the past month rose to 17.7% in 2010, up from 12.8% in 2006, according to the Media Audit. The study of 80 markets also finds that nearly three-quarters of radio website visitors are considered heavy or moderate listeners, listening to radio for almost three hours per day on average.

The findings demonstrate the sales value of station website advertising when bundled with on-air audiences. According to the study, 88% of monthly radio website visitors have made one or more e-commerce purchases in the past year, compared to 63.1% of heavy radio listeners. What’s more, 36.7% of radio website visitors make twelve or more online purchases in a typical year — 61% higher than heavy radio listeners. “Advertisers looking to bolster awareness, online transactions and website traffic could do well by combining radio spots with radio website ads, rather than advertising on radio alone,” the study concludes.

The adult alternative format indexes the highest among monthly station website visitors – 33.8% of adult alternative listeners have visited a radio station website in the past month, followed by alternative (31.6%), sports, (29.4%), news/talk (27.1%), rock (26.9%), public radio (25.8%), hot AC (25.8%), classic rock (25.7%), contemporary Christian (25%) and dance CHR (24.4%).

Ask me how to make Web-Radio work for you!

Where Did All My TV Calls Go? (and where has Charlie been?)

Hello again!  I've been gone a while because the direct response industry has been one wild ride this year and every spare moment has been dedicated to helping my clients maximize sales dollars.  My job is certainly not done yet - this year promises to hold more ups and downs!  But for this moment let's talk TV...

The last two weeks in TV land (last week especially) have delivered SOFT, SOFT results for TV infomercials.  October, affectionately known as Red October, historically delivers up and down results. This year my industry counterparts agree that results are about 20% lower than even past Octobers.  People are not calling as much and those who are calling are not as easy to sell.  We can blame the TV infomercial ads, media rates, politcal races, the "recession" and several other contributing factors except that blame doesn't add to our ROI.

The real focus needs to be on how to ride out SOFT results without leaving money on the table.  Here are a few tips/tricks that may help your campaign get out of the "red zone" and into the "green zone".

1. Creative - change it up!  Slight tweaks in your CTA and product offer can help drive in the extra calls you need to weather lower response times.  There are ways to test tweaked creative without adding to your production and dubbing costs too much.  Similarly, make sure you choose the right media to test your tweaks.  TWEAKS: try FREE SHIPPING, an EXTRA BONUS GIFT, HARD offer to SOFT OFFER, BOGO, add in your 800# more frequently.  Or be daring and cut your half hour show down to 3 or 5 minutes and expose your core message to a new audience with a better CPM!

2. PUMP Your Agents Up - your profit model may not support higher sales commissions to sales agents long term, however, they could keep your continuity pipeline filled short term.  A call center SPIFF per order goes a long way to self-motivate agents to go that extra mile.  A well thought out SPIFF can temporarily boost close rates 3%-5%.  Work with your sales manager to develop a SPIFF program that works to fill in the CPC, CPO, or ROI deficits you're experiencing.  A poorly executed SPIFF can actually work against you so plan it well.

3.  Same Day Recovery - if you're using a Live Agent center check into their ability to do Recovery Calls in real time.  If they can dedicate the agents to this program quickly draft a Recovery Script.  They should target customers within an hour of their initial inquiry.  The script should have two parts:  a new attempt to close the initial sale and a drop down option that makes the decision to purchase easier for the customer (ex. pay plans, trial offer, reduced order size, sample sizes).  Adding an effective Same Day Recovery program to you inbound center can add another 5%-12% to your daily orders.

4. 24-Hour Outbound Calls - if you are not set-up with an outbound center that can call your customers back within 24 hours - you need to be.  Sales are made on inpulse.  Time kills desire.  Your outbound phone script can imitate your Sales Recovery script.  Make sure the customer list that is passed to the outbound center is scrubbed for Same Day Recovery connects.  Again, expect to capture another 2-3% in orders from a well run outbound campaign.  If you think you do not have enough daily leads to support an outbound campaign - think again.  There are centers that specialize in limited-lead base campaigns.

5. Micromanage Your Web Hits - you should be converting between 10%-22% on your average website driven by TV traffic (even more on some offers).   The easiest way to maximize sales on your website is to make email capture your first priority to allow for remarketing.  Check the legal regulations on email remarketing.  But aside from email captures there are several "technical" tricks your web specialist can add to your page that keep your customers engaged initially and even afer they leave your page.

Bottomline, don't leave money on the table no matter what time of year!

Cheers for now... let's talk soon!

How Do You Socialize?

I recently came across this article on "10 Small Business Social Media Marketing Tips".
http://mashable.com/2009/10/28/small-business-marketing/

Check it out!  This article breaks down how to get started using social marketing methods to drive your business.  Good stuff!

However, it does not really cover two important points about social marketing.  In order to get the results you desire when "socializing" you have to master technique and have tenacity.  Here are two points I would ad to the great information in the article above.

1. Accountability!  How do you decide if the time put in equals revenue recieved back?  To determine if you are increasing your business, client base, or revenue stream you will need to track and chart your social makreting efforts just like you would a TV, Print or Radio campaign.  Come up with a number that represents how much you have invested in the social marketing campaign (hourly rate, % of a salaried employees time, cash outlay to hire a pro).  Then come up with a charting mechanism to log followers, comments, downloads, views, or even better phone calls from your social marketing efforts.  Track the activity that is generated from your tweets, posts, blogs and be sure to set a time for a review of the data.  You should anticipate about 30% of a full work week to be spent driving a social media campaign.  You should allow for 3-6 weeks before deciding how the campaign works for your business.  A big mistake many make is to judge their social media results too quickly.  The trap is thinking the internet is instant - remember that the internet is driven by people.  By tracking the response to your efforts you will be able to determine your Revenue Over Ivestment (ROI) and understand what drives your customer base better.

2. Content!  You must be able to generate creative, compelling and constant content to be successful.   Social media is about engaging the virtual audience and this requires material that is worth their virtual time.  Are you engaging through text, images, videos, interactive games, blogging, discussion boards, contests, ect?  Are you posting material that is both entertaining but effective at linking to your key messaging?  Are you able to seed the virtual world with enough content that it spreads virally and quickly?  In order to manage a social media campaign as a meaningful way to drive more cutomers to your business you must have a very creative person/s that can spend a large part of their time "socializing"

Read the article.  Consider these two points.  Then do something social... follow this blog, make a friend on Facebook, log in to your LinkedIn account, or watch and comment on a video on YouTube.  If you want social marketing to work for you then you have to work to be social.

Let's chat again soon somewhere in Cyberspace...

The Reality Revolution!

Thanks to one of my producers for stumbling across this article on reality shows and passing it along!

The Reality Revolution
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/93740179.html
It's a quick read and filled with thought-provoking ideas.

I generally mock 90% of the reality shows and actually have called them a "fad".  Yet, I must admit that their popularity (and influence) cannot be denied.  It feels like a new reality show is popping up everyday.  My big take-away... viewers are desperate for seemingly 'authentic' content.  Gone are the days of laugh tracks and formula-based sitcoms and soaps.  Just as Facebook, Twitter and other social sites have revolutionized our world by providing unlimited, customized and 'authentic' content at the click of a button, reality shows are doing the same.  We have an evolving appetite for 'authentic' entertainment and while some might argue reality shows to be the "cheap all-you can eat buffet meal" - America is gobbling it up.

SIDE NOTE: 'Authentic' - I feel needs to be in constant quotes because I wonder if it really exists anymore.  


Keep a close eye on how reality shows evolve over the next 8 months because they will have a great impact on how we market to consumers and maintain healthy brands in a culture that seems less and less loyal to any brand.

Currently, I'm working on a reality show,  I'm creating the content and the machine.  Will it be the groundbreaking show that I envision?  I hope and then again... most shows can be fixed with big hair, tanned abs and a little yelling so we can always make it work, right?

Stay tuned.

5 Things I Found Interesting In Our Changing Advertising World!

Thoughts I had on things I read...

THING #1: JellyBelly Jelly Beans (one of my favorites) have joined the anti-aging revolution!  In 2008, Superfruits were identified as one of the Top 10 Global Consumer Trends, according to DataMonitor.  Beverage companies, cereal manufacturers and most certainly supplement manufactuers have driven this trend successfully - and now so have Jelly Beans!  Now you can get the "power of antioxidants" in a jelly bean with 100% natural flavors like Acai, Blueberry, and Pomegranate.  While I don't really believe these tatsy treats will help with my anti-aging crusade I'm definitely looking forward to sampling!  And why not - if I have to eat sugar why not let it be "healthy for me"?  The point is that we cannot ignore consumer trends EVEN if they come and go because just like FAD DIETS there is a large segment of your consumer group that responds to trends feverishly.  What other trends were started in 2008 that could help you boost sales in 2010:

• Go Green! - how can your campaign or product save the planet?
• Go Social! - how have you incorporated Twitter, Facebook and other social media into your marketing?
• Go Mobile! - how can text messaging and Apps increase your customer loyalty?
• Online Video! - have you made your product or service accessible online in :60 video clips to drive sales?
• Sell  Services! - have you tried turning your product into a service rather than a widget?

I can help you strategize new ways to revitalize your product if you are willing to try something different next quarter.

THING# 2: Chocolate is always in style!  According to Nielsen, dietetic chocolate sold in 2009 showed a 3.6% increase with a $172 milion in sales.  What does this say to us marketers?  Embrace niche marketing!  As DR marketers we are taught to cast the widest net possible.  However, the increase in dietetic chocolate shows that people who are restricted tend to respond more intensely.   If you've been selling a product or service that addresses the masses try testing a niche campaign where you solve a specific problem.  My favorite niche markets right now include: bladder control, Mom nutrition, discounted shopping opportunities, hunting, and religious products and services.  My insider information says these are catagories to watch this year!  How can you customize your product or service to increase sales in new areas?  Let's brainstorm together!

THING #3:  People need to laugh.  Laughter is the best medicine.  In difficult economic times people will more easily release their hold on spending dollars if they are entertained.  This has been proven through the wildfire spread of certain online videos.  The more entertaining a video, the faster it spreads  across the internet reaching consumers that would otherwise never be exposed to your product or service.  Perhaps it is the lower production costs required on the internet that makes some marketers bold enough to enagage in customized online video campaigns when they will not spend money testing humorous concepts on traditional radio and TV campaigns.  Look at campaigns like FreeCreditReport.com for an example of a comedy driven DRTV campaign that really drives response. Can you "make fun of" your product or service without damaging the brand.  Check out www.iclicknation/2008/11/rules-for-spoofing/ for rules for making a Spoof video of your own.  The other trick is finding terrestrial advertsing methods that allow you to test new concepts under the radar.  By way of example check out www.emailsbycrazypeople.com as a place to buy online ads - the longer they read the more chance they'll click!

THING #4: Life Coaches... does everyone have one but me?  www.lifecoach.com When I first went to this site I was amazed as it really never occured to me that people would pay to have someone else tell them what to do with their life.  I became curious about the Life Coach industry after discovering that 4 of my friends had become Life Coaches themselves and are actually making some decent money at it.  Upon further investigation I predict this newest phenomenon to be the next big product marketing roller coaster since the Self Help Book revolution started.  Mark my words:  Life Coaches are the in-thing and have the potential to be as highly profitable as any multi-level marketing company ever was!

THING #5: Consumers want their 15-minutes of Snookie-Fame.  For those of you following the Jersey Show Reality Show you will automatically understand the Snookie reference.  And for those who have never seen it (like me) you must know about this woman who is all over the news and in magazines.  She is proof that consumers are craving new and authentic content.  The amount of product placements that have surfaced around this fast-tracked reality star show marketers that consumers are willing to accept a new kind of celebrity endorsement.  This is great news for marketers!  Consumers are being groomed to believe they have what it takes to be a 15-minute celebrity and they crave it.  YouTube contests, Facebook contests, testimonial collections, and sampling events can all be used to provide consmers an opportunity for their own 15-minutes of Snookie-Fame. Use this to your advantage!  Look to guerilla marketing and a clever promotion to help you accumulate priceless footage of your product being used 'reality show style' and build a stable of believable testimonials too!  Make sure you take advantage of radio and TV stations as they are dying for great content and can help you in many ways.

More to come...

You Need More Than Just a "Great Offer" These Days...

It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to write anything in this blog universe... been swamped trying to sell products in a time when "buying" is the last thing on the consumer agenda.  It's a daily grind: managing media, pushing close rates, perfecting productions, driving web hits, and analyzing the details of it all takes more focus than ever.  Oh boy- all this sparked a new kind creativity in developing sales methods... so here's a few notes on different things we are doing to make sure that our advertising is more than just "Great Offers".

1. Re-Write your call center script!  In the past three weeks I have re-written half a dozen inbound and outbound sales scripts.  The goal?  Higher sales conversion and higher AOV.  The method?  Encourage larger orders by speaking to the customer's sense of values and bargins in our current economical environment.  The script has to be delivered conversationally.  The script has to be peppered with "check-ins" to make sure that skeptical buyers stay focused on making a buying decision rather than being aloud to think about how much they are spending.  The key? K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Short!  A script re-write is good for a 3-5% increase in sales!

2. Real Time Outbound!  With close rates down across the industry Outbound Call Centers have plenty of leads coming their way.  Time is of the essense.  Try calling your customers back within an hour or less of the first time they called in.  Not only will you see a higher close rate on outbound calling but you will see full sized orders more often than reduced priced orders.

3. Change Up Your Offer!  Now more than ever consumers have a definite opinion on what a "Great Offer" really is.  If you are running a Risk Free Trial - try testing a Buy One Get One Free offer.  If you are giving away a Free Gift - try giving away a Big Discount and a Free Gift.  If you are promising a 30-Day money back guarantee -try a double your money back guarantee.  If you rely on soft offers - switch to a hard offer.  Try the same advertising with three different offers.  Many of my advertisers are seeing that some markets respond better to one offer than the other.  Figuring out what you can "give up" on the front end of your advertising is easy when you model out how it looks on the back end of the advertising.  Currently, I have 3 campaigns running with a minimum of 4 Offers each.  This will make your call center work harder and your media buyer buy smarter.  But it's worth about a 5% lift!

4. Change how you buy media.  Traditionally, advertisers go for the most cost-effective media (or the best CPM's).  I have been looking at media schedules from a completely different perspective lately.  Where are the most people located that will BUY from me as opposed to just CALL me?  Looking at it this way, I am purchasing media that is less cost effective on a CPM basis but is out performing lower cost media for two reasons: 1) I am reaching a more "buyer-ready" market 2) I am playing to the call center's strengths so calls come in when the call centers have the best sales staff available.  Customers are more motivated to buy and sales reps are more motivated to sell.

5. Stop buying traditional media without  "non-traditional" add-ons!  These days we are forcing our radio stations to include podcasting, short forms spots, web links and other value added elements to enhance the traditional media.  This can be done in print and TV as well.  Online video placement, audio streaming, endorsed-web campaigns, social media optimization... you need to incorporate these mediums into your campaigns.

6. Stop making commercials and start making entertaining content.  Consumers are tired.  Consumers are stressed.  Consumers would rather laugh than listen.  This lack of listening is why many advertisers are seeing a decline in their respose rates.  I am working on several campaigns to cusotmize their sales message into entertaining and content driven programming.  Invent a spokesperson, create a social following, encourage consumers to talk about your product, and feel free to feature your product in very different ways.  Traditional advertising laws DO NOT APPLY!

If you are looking for a quick way to spark your sales- call me for a quick chat and I'll give you some more tips.

The Duke and The Doctor Are In The House!

SYNERGIXX BRINGS YOU A NEW ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY!!!
Synergixx has just secured an exclusive relationship with the fantastic Hosts of America's #1 Health Talk Show - Duke and the Doctor!  This radio advertising package combines their strengths of educating the audience and getting them excited about your products with Synergixx expertise in converting calls to orders and using radio to insure TV success!

If you have a health related product and want to see how it works in a 1/2 radio format, Live Endorsement format and customized radio placement format - all for one low price - with value-added bonuses - then call me today and see if this is the right fit for your product!

Natural Products/Housewares/Response Expo - See You There!

Fisrt Quarter Proves Time Does Fly! 

For those of us in the direct response world 1st Quarter is an important time in our business.  It's sets the pace for our year in more ways than one.  So, if Jan/Feb are any indication of the 2010's pace - hold on to your seats!

Between launching new shows, testing new media, reacting to new legislation in the merchant processing world and attending a Mega Event in New Orleans we DR Marketers have been busy.  And while many believe 1st Quarter to be weaker than in the past others are buzzing about the new opportunities.

At Synergixx we have amazing opportunities for our clients and are always creating new ways to sell your products so be sure to check in with us for more information if your're looking for a way to pump up your 1st Quarter Sales!

Get ready now to meet with Synergixx at some amazing industry events!

In terms of New Opportunities I encourage everyone to check out http://www.expowest.com/! I'll be at this show for 2 days on the 11th and 12th of March looking for the latest and greatest in products, spokespeople and new revenue opportunities.  I'll also be catching up with current clients and industry experts getting the real scoop on what's really makng money on the world of Natural Products - and it is more than just pills and potions I assure you!  I'm a 13 year veteran of this show and can honestly say you will be glad you visited.  If you want to "talk shop" in Anahiem give me a shout and we can chat over wheat grass or whatever the newest health craze tonic is...

For those of you headed to the Windy City on March 14th for Housewares - make sure you say hello to Scott Swanson who will be in town.  There is so much happening at Synergixx that can help your business so find him in the halls!

Mark your calendars now!  Response Expo in San Deigo is coming up in May.  Not only is this show being held on my birthday but it'll also mark Synergixx's 10 Year Birthday too!  It's great networking.  Keep an eye out for an invite to Synergixx's Birthday Bash invitation!

See you soon!

Remember Sales Basics When Managing Your Call Center Script!

Here are a few notes to remind us all of what we already know is true!

Many of you send calls to a call center where you hope that Live agents answer the phone and "Nail-the-Sale".  You hope this because generally a Live agent can sell MORE per call than an Interactive Voice Response System (IVR)- and that's what you want - MORE REVENUE PER CALL.  So, let's look at some basic selling techniques we all know - but may have forgotten.


We know that personality will improve your sales performance: People like to do business with people they like. DOES your sales script have personality?  DO your phone reps like your product.  There are a few tricks to make both of these answers YES.

You've heard the terms 'expectant attitudes achieve excellent results'. 'Think positive.'  'Expect to make the sale.'  'Weasel words are a waste. Don't beg (weasel) for a sale!'  DID you know that many front-end offers set your telemarketer up to BEG for a sale from your customers.  The LIVE agent may read the script verbatim but will lose out on the sale most of the time IF the offer sets up the BEG!  Begging offsets great call response many times.

'Consistent calls create consistent cash: Take and make more calls. Stay in your seat longer.'  Many marketers send too few calls to a call center when testing LIVE agents and settle for less than optimized performance at the IVR level because they are afraid to lose money on agents that aren't up to par.  Building a sales team extension of your company may "hurt a little" the first few weeks but a little stamina on your part should lead to "Consistent calls create consistent cash!"  Try not too spend more testing media on your product and less on your LIVE agent center.


'Making decisions makes dough.' Decisions are emotional, so sometimes it is tough for your customers to make the decision to buy your products or services. Remember that a LIVE agent can do what an IVR cannot - think on their feet!  Use this aspect of the LIVE agent and make sure you don't give away all the goodies in your commercial.  Customers are calling in because they had an emotional response to your ad.  Give your LIVE agent one surprise bonus that the can use in the sales script to keep that emotion going on the sales call - this pushes average close rate numbers over the top!

Have you heard the phrase: 'Three times scores three points!'  In a LIVE agent sales center you can put this phrase to good use - especially in boutique shops.  The initial call in to the LIVE agent (1X) with you ideal script pitch, a manager's special for No Sale customers to be pitched within 1/2 hour of the initial pitch (2X) and a Free Sample / Catalog / Video that can be use to set-up an outbound call shortly after (3X).  More and more I am seeing marketers capture only an email address and then later send their NO SALES customers an email.  In my opinion, you didn't use your Inbound Sales Script to the fullest in this case.

If you have a sales script that is 'floundering' call me at Synergixx and I'll show you how to reel in sales gold with it!

Check Out This Narly Video! And Join Me in NOLA!

On February 1st the Electronic Retailing Association descends on New Orleans and hundreds of direct marketers from all over the world will spread like a virus through the city.  On the 3rd at 4:30p many savvy direct marketers will gather in one room to hear a discussion called    Viral Marketing: Real World Word-of-Mouth Tactics (http://www.eragreatideas.org/content/education.php#viral) at which I will moderate a great panel of experts.  The purpose?  How do we sell more product using viral marketing techniques?

While I won't ruin the surprises we have in store for those attending I will share an example of viral marketing that provides insight into the topics we will cover.  Please watch this video for a 1:38 and then read below: Guy Has Glasses Tattooed On His Face
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH1tTlq5-Qk

I'm sure watching the video was no where near as painful as getting that tattoo but I winced the whole way through anyway.  This video is only one of RayBan, as in the popular brand of sunglasses, newest video releases.  Some might say that with 4.5 million views on YouTube alone it is the most successful to date for RayBan.  Even though not all of RayBan’s videos were this big of a hit; “The Kiss”, “Human Zoo” and “Streaker” for example, RayBan is text book example of how online video can reach millions.

Did they sell any sunglasses?  No one has the real answer because without an 800# or unique URL the effect is sales are hard to pinpoint.  But I'd be willing to bet they sold at least 5 pairs of $100 RayBan sunglasses.  (Conservatively:  4,500,000 views X .001 click to video rate X .001 purchase rate).  And we haven't considered yet that the video was uploaded to more video portals than just YouTube so my conservative math is just way too conservative.

1. Did the video increase the brand recognition?
2. Did the video have the same effect as a :30 or :60 second TV video?
3. Did the video reach an entirely new audience that traditional advertising would never hit?
4. What is the life-span of the effect, if any, this video had on RayBan customers, existing or potential? 

Here is what we do know!  RayBan online video viral marketing has a sort-of-WTF feel to it.  So, you know you have to pass this type of video onto at least 3 of your friends, if not post to your Facebook page.  You know they will make the same faces you did while watching the video so how can you resist passing this along?  Go ahead, pass this viral video along - I'll wait...

...Then join me in New Orleans for answers to the questions I just posed.  And as a free bonus, if you're sitting in the audience you'll get a special tool that "cures out of control viral marketing".

See you there!

23% Open Rate on SPAM???

Below is an email I sent to 200 people.  The subject line of the email read: Test Print Now!

I sent the email out on Monday of this week.  As of this posting I have recieved 46 emails from people asking the same question (slight variations): "I tried to print it, it worked. Now what?" or "I opened this so I guess the test was successful?"  Of course they are referring to the obvious and then realized the content... but they engaged!

After reading the email the Subject Line makes more sense.  But how many people open an email that says Information on Print Advertising?  Just a little electronic experiment I thought I would share with you all.... After all a 23% open rate on an email (SPAM really...) is pretty decent, doncha think?

Yes, My Name Is Charlie - And I'm A Victim of Viral Marketing!

YouTube- "I don't have an account but boy do I still get to watch videos all day!"

Below is a list of videos that have been passed to me via email, Facebook, or text message at least 5X each in the last 2 weeks.  This is a prime example of Viral Marketing used for entertainment purposes only.  People think it is funny to send me video links to things with my name in the title (I find it flattering).  What I think is interesting are all the revisions each of these videos go through once released in the world.

Charlie Bit Me is a good example.  The Original version has a large amounts of views but the AutoTune Remix version, released roughly a year later, is quickly catching up.  When you watch these two videos the important thing to recognize is the AutoTune portion.  Watch it and then type in AutoTune into YouTube and see what you get- this is a new way- ONE TO WATCH- to deliver information.

Charlie Bit My Finger 140,941,980 views

Charlie Bit Me - AutoTune 846,719 views

Now, Charlie The Unicorn is a very weird cartoon, which I have never fully understood and don't find funny.  (Am I the only one?)  Many of the variations on this show are very twisted!  However, it is continuously circulated through the internet with a cult-like intensity.

Charlie The Unicorn 43,178,644 views

Charlie The Unicorn Remade 8,147 views

The Charlie Perfume videos are many in number.  The Original 1970's commercial with the woman in the red dress (whom I was named after) has been "remade" using many different people in our pop-culture world, most recently Cindy Crawford.  These videos and their variations give you a good glimpse into how Brands can use humor and pop-culture to circulate their message into nooks and crannys they would not ordinarily consider.  The trick is how to get the viewers to order.  Watch several of these Charlie Perfume commercials and see how long it takes you to get to an order page. This is where traditional brand messaging is not so disimilar to YouTube - you have to ask for the sale- which neither do very well- YET!

1993 Charlie Perfume Remake - Little Richard and Cindy Crawford 6,672 views 

1970's Charlie Perfume Commercial 13,586 views

And this leads me to another example of the strangeness that is Viral Marketing.  Vince Offer sold a lot of Slap Chops on TV using a very clever 2 minute video.  This video was viewed 615K times on YouTube (as of today).  I'm sure this translated into retail sales- although the tracking is tricky.  But when the Slap Chop Rap hit YouTube almost 8 million people were exposed to this product- those are Oprah numbers.  These are people (many under 25) who would have never seen or taken seriously the TV spot.  These are people that surely saw Slap Chop in a CVS or Walmart and picked it up due to this rap spoof.  Isn't humor one of the main reasons Chia Pets are such a big seller every year at Christmas? Again, the trackability is tricky at this level.  However, if you were to look at the media dollars spent, BEFORE and AFTER, the spoof became a viral marketing phenomenon, I bet you'd be surprised to see the REAL LIFT at the cash register.

Original Slap Chop TV Commercial - Vince Offner 615,600 views

Slap Chop Rap - Spoof 7,584,308 views

In the upcoming months the challenge for all marketers will be to understand what the buzz about viral is all about.  It is as easy as having an name like Charlie and yet as complex as not knowing how many people actually bought your product when 8 million people have seen it.

Coming soon... Should You Leave Comments on YouTube Videos?  The Hansel and Gretel Theory!

Social Networking - What Do We Really Know About "Our Friends"?

Do you FB?  Do you Tweet?  YouTube Junkie?  Cyber Date at all?  DVR much?  Or do you just hang out with your APPS?

December 2009 - Fortune Small Business Magazine  Pg. 88 -

13.9 BILIION  = minutes Facebook users spent on the site in April - a 700% increase from April 2008.
     WWCS? - I am a very active FB user and have probably contributed to this amazing increase.  Last April I could barely use my toaster correctly. This year I judge my coolness factor based on the number of FB friends I interact with daily (not really but maybe...).  Facebook lead me to Twitter- Twitter to YouTube- and I have APPS for all 3.  As I finish up an article on Facebook Is What Cheers Used To Be (coming soon) I pose the question:  How many of those 13.9 billion minutes were productive versus neutral entertainment?

According to Fortune, out of 2,000 random Tweets analyzed- 38% were conversational and 43% were deemed babble!
     WWCS? - If Tweets are 140 character babbles, is Facebook a more extensive, audio/video populated version of babble/chit chat?  Why are we spending so much time on Facebook doing something that is as effective/ineffective as chatting in the local bar with strangers?  Especially, when you consider that 87% of adults say they prefer dealing with others in person instead of via computers or smartphones.  Is non-memorable chit-chat better accepted in bytes then over a bite?

There must be something to all this YouTube exchange and Tweeting because 95% of business decision makers worldwide use social networks to some extent.

I get asked all the time, "How do I make money using a social network or blog or Facebook?"  When looking at the above polling numbers it might seem as though no real money can be made in this fickle medium which offers little more focus than an hour at Chili's on a Friday night. However, there is money to be made when harnessing these emerging, and warp-speed growing, mediums correctly. 

So, the next time you are using your APP to log on to Twitter and post a '140 word quip' ask yourself this question: "Is what I am about to say pop-culture relevent,  antagonistically interesting, freakishly Cultish, or funny to the masses under 25?"  If the answer is yes then you are closer than ever to making some moula in cyber-space.

I'll be posting more on this topic in the next few weeks as I prepare to Moderate this Hot Topic in New Orleans at ERA in February.  http://www.eragreatideas.org/

By the way, what's the appropriate sign of in the Internet world?

TTYL?
Charlie

Newspaper Dips / Online Print Rises - $$$ STILL BIG!

Here are some snapshots from an article written by a great friend of mine, Marsha Friedman.  It talks about the status of print and online print and its ability to generate good results in this tight economy.  I found her article RIGHT ON!  I've extracted a few sections that I think you'll find as interesting.




The Value of Web-Based Press Shines As Newspaper Readership Declines   by Marsha Friedman
If you’re an old newspaper hound, it’s not a pretty sight.
The Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), the standard-bearer of newspaper and print publication circulation reporting, just reported a couple of weeks ago that newspaper circulation for the six months ending Sept. 30 dropped 10.6 percent from the same period in 2008, with a 7.5 percent dip on Sundays.

SNAPSHOTS:
Oct. 1, 2008-Mar. 31, 2009: down 7.1 percent on weekdays, down 5.3 percent on Sundays.
Apr. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2008: down 4.6 percent on weekdays, down 4.9 percent on Sunday.
Oct. 1, 2007-Mar. 31, 2008: down 3.5 percent on weekdays, down 4.5 percent on Sundays.


Conversely, as newspaper circulations take a nose dive, online readership of newspaper Web sites is on the rise. Newspaper Web sites attracted more than 74 million monthly unique visitors on average in the third quarter of 2009, more than one-third (38 percent) of all Internet users, according to a custom analysis provided by Nielsen Online for the Newspaper Association of America. The sites collectively tallied more than 3.5 billion page views during the quarter, with users spending 2.7 billion minutes browsing the sites over more than 596 million total sessions.  This is a 17 percent increase over the 62 million unique visitors the same sites drew in 2007. In fact, for the first time in history, the stats now show that more people are getting their daily news online, and not from their daily printed newspaper.

While 74 million is a good number of unique visitors, the news-based Web sites are growing in influence and prestige, as well. At the end of the day, print and Web combined means more eyeballs for your story.


Charlie Says: The irony is more people overall are consuming the news than ever before.

Charlie Says: Your product should be in print/online - especially during these tough economic times.  TV/Radio can be accidental.  Print/Online is purposeful!  People buy on purpose! 

Charlie Says: At Synergixx our print budgets have only gone UP this year - even with the newspaper decline- because those that look for news are very qualified buyers!

Who is integrating your traditional print ads with online print ads?  At Synergixx we do it daily... ask us how!

What's In An Offer? Besides My Free Bonus?

It's 4th quarter again!  And this means everyone is rushing to test new shows for 1st quarter!  Hurry.  Hurry.  Test. Test.  But have we considered if we have anything to really OFFER?

We all know what's up with our economy, the world, the war, politics, real estate, stock prices, gas, prices, internet fraud and diet failures... same stuff as always just more compacted and in our face this year.  And what we also know is that selling products is becoming more difficult because our audience is more savvy and less tolerant than ever before in history.  In the last two weeks I have reviewed over 13 different commercials trying to make the 4th quarter test cycle and while most of the products are really GREAT - I'm not sure why I should CALL NOW - aside from collecting some free gifts.  9 of the OFFERS were Just Pay Shipping + 2 Free Gifts.  This is not good as it is a form of "training our consumer to tune out".

What's in an OFFER?  (ALOT)

While reading the 25 OFFERS below, think about any OFFERS you have out in the world.  These can be product offers, service offer, branding offers, lead generation offers, TV/Radio offers, web offers, and so on.  

• Can any of them be tweaked, twisted, altered, trashed, revamped, super-loaded or "pimped out"?  
• Can you identify the OFFERS below that are working and that are flat-lining?
• Can you figure out which OFFERS are being used in TV, Radio, Print, and Online?
  

 Here we go:

1. Call us today for a free report on debt management.
2. To get started log on and type keyword: No Tummy.
3. Learn how this amazing program can save you time and money.
4. Save an animal's life for less than the cost of a cup of coffee.
5. Get a free consultation on the e-diet that's right for you.
6. Enroll in our online classes and increase your earning potential.
7. Call us today at 888-8888 and ask for our Web discount.
8. Subscribe now for free tips for doing your own taxes.
9. Log on and read how to drop a full dress size by Thanksgiving.
10. Hurry Up. Reserving your free laptop is just a click away.
11. Watch this video on how you can stop smoking within 4 hours- and forever!
12. Does your child suffer from ADD? Take this simple test.
13. Buy this product today and start losing weight tomorrow. (Or in 7 - 10 days with the super saver delivery.)
14. Get an excerpt of this self-hypnosis audio CD emailed to you in the next 5 minutes.
15. Call now for a free 30-minute consultation.
16. Take our Identity Theft Security quiz.
17. Learn how you can afford a bigger home than you thought!
18. What factors should I consider before starting my own business?  We'll tell you for free!
    
19. Call today and find out what the I.R.S. doesn't want you to know.
20. What are the telltale signs of anxiety for children and teenagers- it's all in this free online report?
21. Buy a Discount Pass and never pay full price again!
22. How can a new air purifier pay for itself in six months?
23. Use our online calculator and see how much you can save using our system.
24. Add to cart.
25. Buy now! 

You'll notice that none of these offers mentioned price, extra free gifts or trial offers. They may be a part of the OFFER but the point is that your OFFER MUST BE MORE that just free trials and bonus gifts. What are you promising the consumer? How are you affecting their life NOW? Why is your product and your free gifts any more trust worthy or relevant than the one the consumer saw five minutes ago? There is a safety net in testing products with tried-and-true OFFERS but in a year when 1 in 30 new product launches are actually making it into roll-out we must stop being safe and go back to being innovative.

Check out websites I think have it going on - and OFFERS to match!

https://carexpresstrial.com/ (OFFER: Save 50% on Health Care)
http://www.smartcruiser.com/ (OFFER: Stop Surfing. Start Cruising!)
http://winit.womansworldmag.com/ww/ (OFFER: Enter to Win!)
http://www.moneyfromhome.com/ (OFFER: Get PAID by check, direct deposit or PayPal- Scam Free!)

DO I endorse the websites?  No.  Are they doing something right in the marketing world?  Yes.

Don't get me wrong... tradition is tradition and we should hold on to our Trial Offers, Soft Offers, and Hard Offers.  Make these traditional offers part of an A/B test.  But let's get a little "unsafe" with our offers and see if we can reinvigorate our consumer's response rate.  Remember, 40-60% of your respondents go online BEFORE they call you... here is a hint:  your OFFER should trap and entice them both Online and Offline- even entangle them in between the two.

 Look for my next post on BACK-END OFFERS GONE AWRY!

Take Time To Shop! A New Online Store I Simply Love!

 KNOCK KNOCK 

Putting the Fun in Functional

http://www.knockknock.biz/office-stuff/


One of the best ways I find to stay creative at work and not loose my edge is to surround myself with meaningless crap that puts it all in perspective.  Enjoy!

Comedy, Cultural Marketing And Did You Know I Am Hispanic?

FACT: Multi-Cultural marketing is the IN thing- especially in direct response.
FACT: Across the world 1+1 is always 2.
FACT: Like words do not always have the same meaning from culture to culture.
FACT: Everyone likes to laugh.

Let's start here!  You go to a comedy club with a variety of comedians- White, Black, Hispanic, Chinese, Italian - pick your mix.  The comic tells a joke.  Half the audience is rolling on the floor while the other half pretends to be taking a sip of their drink because they are perplexed.  People at a comedy club want to laugh even when the joke is not that funny.  Yet sometimes the words themselves are simply not something people can relate to. Potentially they are even offensive.  Worse- they may leave people completely without an opinion.  The reaction of audiences to stand-up comics is just one way to appreciate how it is not language, but rather cultural connection, that can make or break the impact of a message.

Is Humor the Best Way To Bridge Cultural Barriers?  English advertising gurus, like Claude Hopkins in 1923, have always said, “People do not buy from clowns.” Fast forward to David Ogilvy in 1985, “I think this was true in Hopkins’ days and I have reason to believe that it remained true until recently, but the latest wave of factor-analysis reveals that humor can now sell.” Humor plays a vitally important role in consumers’ lives and, therefore, has an important role in the development of effective advertising. But we have to be careful. Let's look at recent advertising with a comedic twist like Shamwow, SlapChop, and Snuggie. These highly effective commercial spots used humor to develop powerful sales messages. But would this humor translate across all cultures without some "tweaking"?  Maybe or maybe not- that is where advertising test dollars are won and lost every year.

Now let's jump to Hispanic advertising.  If your message plays to an English audience can you simply translate the words into perfect Spanish and connect with your consumers?  Weight loss is weight loss in any country?  Credit protection is as important to any family regardless of race?  Everyone would love to have their own home-based business despite their zip code?  Converting English marketing campaigns to Spanish language should be easy by just exchanging words with the same meaning.  Not so.  Converting Hispanic audiences into credit cards orders is more about understanding cultural drivers and respecting cultural nuances than it is about being grammatically correct in your creative scripts and sales pitches. Language is but a tool. Culture is the element that puts that tool to work.

Switch your focus to what can effectively connect cross-cultures.  Take George Lopez’ new HBO Special, “Tall, Dark & Chicano.” If you watch it, you will laugh at some of his jokes guaranteed because they hold universal truths.  But unless you are culturally clued into the very specific Latino audience that he targets (Chicanos) you will find your self sipping your drink in silence.  For some, Chicano populates the mind with images of gangs and other such stereotypes.  But Lopez's unique understanding of this culture allows him to make fun of Chicanos, using a politically charged brand of humor, that leaves them feeling empowered and places like the San Antonio AT&T Center sold out.   Now consider Tommy Davidson, an Black comic, that uses great skill to "fry up" Latino's on their own television stations.  This non-Latino shoves his outside perpective down the audience's throat but in a way that clearly shows affection and respect.  Even though he doesn't speak the language or even belong to the cultural group, he has made a cultural connection.  When you can connect with a culture from the outside your message is very powerful.  And remember, people want to laugh, engage and understand so your attempts to send a message simply must have respect, affection and cultural nuance.



Here's is an example of a cultural nuance.  For Hispanic's, a commercial with people having a conversation gains more credibility if the people touch during conversation.  Hispanics have a very touchy-feely communication style and watching an advertisement that lacks this little nuance will steal away credibility.

Hispanic's like to laugh and react to humor that is personal.  In this way, creating a Hispanic advertising campaign using humor, like that found in a Shamwow commercial, may be a winner.  You must make sure that the humor resonates and is effective- this is another reason to bone up on nuances.

And let's not stop with Hispanic marketing.    Understanding cultural nuances is the key to all Multi-cultural marketing.  Vivian Chen, a manager for US Marketing for McDonald's, had this to say about McDonald's current marketing efforts in Asia.  "...I strongly believe in building long-term relationships with our consumers. We connect with our diverse consumers through their cultural heritage and passion points like music and sports for the African-American segment, entertainment and soccer for the Hispanic audience, and achievement and education opportunities for the Asian consumers. McDonald’s continues to reinforce its brand affinity through a comprehensive and integrated approach that includes traditional media, digital media, social media, events marketing, community outreach, and public relations — all of which bring together the various touch points to connect with the specific target audience."  You got to hand it to them - they sell a lot of Happy Meals!

Right now is the time to embrace multi-cultural marketing.  The U.S. is a melting pot and it is time our advertising budgets reflected this.  Many of you may not realize that I am Hispanic but I am very much so.  And while I may not photograph that way, I am heavily affected by cultural nuances when it comes to advertising.  I listen to Spanish radio and watch Spanish TV.  I have family in Mexico and regularly speak to members of my family who do not speak English.  I buy American products and send them to relatives in Mexico.  I am a decedent of the very cultural group many direct response marketers have pictured in their mind "as difficult to market to".  The stereotype most commonly heard is that the Hispanic market does not have credit cards or disposable income.  Another stereotype is that Hispanics produce lower average order values and a bigger need for COD.  I can tell you first hand that these stereotypes are keeping many marketers from making some series money.  There are many tips and tricks to maximizing this type of campaign.

"Multi-Cultural marketing is too niche!"  And to this I say, "Have you noticed how many cable channels there are now and have you seen how big the Internet is lately?  Niche is in!  Niche and Nuance go hand in hand.  Niche allows you to test cultural messaging cheaply.  Niche marketing makes it easier for more people to get your message and actually react to it in a favorable way.

Here are a few tips to consider when putting together a multi-cultural campaign.
1. It’s important to have a diverse team because they bring some of the insights of the
consumer naturally.  If your marketing staff is not diverse enough you have to find contributing members that fit the bill.  This may mean holding focus groups or hiring a media or creative company to consult.
2. Review advertising that has a long standing in a highly saturated cultural community.  This may be looking at billboards in neighborhoods, searching culturally driven community websites for the banner ads, or watching TV channels targeting the culture specifically.  Become familiar with the styles you see over and over.
3. Understand what makes a message authentic and credible in that culture. 
4. Test digitally when possible.  Research supports that multicultural audiences are using high-tech options to research, shop, and buy products. For example, of the 23 million Hispanics who have online access, 77 percent use the Internet to learn about products, while 70 percent use it to make a final buying decision.
4. Make sure that your cultural connection is not left out of your back-end marketing, such as your call center scripts.  If you have figured out the TV, radio or print messaging and it is generating a response you must follow-up the consumer's response with call center agents that have the same cultural connection.  In Hispanic marketing your call center campaign can be improved just by how the agents are trained or even understanding how different Hispanic accents affect ROI.

I would like to end this post with a really funny joke... but I am a terrible joke teller... I'll leave that to people like George Lopez!

Social Media: Retro Vs. Modern Marketing

50's Flasback!  Retro Marketing Meets Modern Media!

Friends of mine have been sending me photos of themselves transformed into different decades.  They urged me to go to http://www.yearbookyourself.com/ and do the same.  You can see the result above.  I came away from the social media pasttime with two thoughts. 

1) I am positive that the 50's were definitely not my best hair decade.

2) Traditional direct marketers have to take a lesson from social media marketers- a lesson in "touchpoints".

3) Let's not forget our traditional marketing methods no matter how "square" they make us feel.

Touchpoints - repeatedly making your product or service accesible to the consumer using more than one marketing medium.  In traditional direct response channels we consider touchpoints to be TV and radio commercials, call centers, catalogs, direct mail pieces, etc.  In the social media world touchpoints are endless and even better- strategically convienent.

While I was creating my 1950's image this website was quitely feeding me fun facts on fashion with links to online clothing and accessory stores.  The stores themselves had little to do with the 50's (Old Navy, Abercrombie Fitch, Urban Outfitters) but I remember thinking, "Oh, I wonder if these stores are carrying retro styles?"  It was enough to make me click to find out.  And it was a good thing I did because I saved 30% on an non-retro outfit and had it sent to me with free shipping... but I digress...

When you consider the response rates of our traditional touchpoints, like direct mail pieces, you can hope for a .8-3% response on the customer list.  And a response rate means that the customer will call your 800# or visit your website but it does not always result in a sale.  Our touchpoints are limited to our databases or the lists that we buy.  Our touchpoints can be interpreted by our customers as annoyances (outbound calls, junkk mail, spam).  Our touchpoints are limited.  In the social media world the consumer can be exposed to your product in an unlimited number of ways.  My discovery of online stores while using a silly Facebook App is just one example.  With the viral nature of the internet your customer database is never ending.    This means that even at .8% you are getting alot of people's attention.

As you gather your customers through proven methods such as TV, radio and print consider how your are remarketing to them to encourage future purchases.  Are you reaching out to them enough?  And when you reach them are they annoyed or are they having a casual and fun interaction?  Facebook, Twitter, blogs, online video are just some of the tools that social media marketers utilize to grab customers.  You should consider your product/service and how they fit into these online mediums but let's not abandon our roots!

Here are few ideas on how to take some retro marketing mediums and give them a modern day twist.

1. Run radio spot ads that drive directly to a website with an interactive game/survey/prize that links to your microsite.  Instead of telling listeners to call and order now ask them to click and have some fun.  While they are havig fun expose them to your product and convert them.  You may not convert as many customers as you would when they know they are calling to order but with the right interaction you could quadruple response and make it up in volume.  These spot ads are very cost effective.

2. Instead of sending out a traditional catalog or postcard to encourage reorders experiment with sending them an invitation to join your product's Fan page or Twitter feed. (this is easier if you have their email addresses)

3. Reconsider using a tradtional outbound call center to call your customer list and try a different approach when you dial.  Tell your customers that if they a) log on to your website within the next 2 hours they will get a free gift b) if they log on to the product's Fan page and download the brochure on a new product they will get a free bonus c) if they have a friend call back a special 800# they will get a major discount or bonus.  Be creative and make sure that no matter what the customer's response is on the phone they feel entertained not bothered.

When you consider the endless ways to take our retro marketing strategies and infuse them with new social media strategies the possibillities are endless.  BUT... and it's a big one...

According to an August 2009 survey by Mzinga and Babson Executive Education, 86% of professionals in a variety fields said that they have adopted social media in some way.  GREAT!  The survey also stated 84% of respondents said they don’t currently measure the ROI (return on investment) of their social media programs. Even less encouraging, more than 40% of respondents said they didn’t even know whether they could track ROI from their social tools. YIKES!  This makes us traditional direct response marketers cringe in our bobby socks...

Where I believe we can be more successful in the inevitable intergration of traditional and social media is that we live and die by the ROI.  We already know how to track this wihtout a doubt.  By setting up these touchpoint campaigns with measurment tools we will be able to see our touchpints translate into sales dollars much faster. So as you get more familr with social media make sure you don't abandon what has worked for decades because social media responses can be tracked by clicks, 800#s, and carefully structured media plans. 

So c'mon... let's have some fun figuring out how to get your customers excited about your product again.