Drive Click-Through Rates with Video

The numbers are almost meaningless… ≈ 170M unique web viewers/month, 14B streams/month, time per viewer up nearly 60%.  The bottom line is that the growth of online video has exploded and will continue to grow ‑ becoming as ubiquitous as text on the web.  Don’t believe this?  Ask any IT manager responsible for data storage and content delivery.

The explosion of video has been driven by user generated content; commercial content distribution; and web-based video/multimedia, much of it supporting promotional campaigns.  The naysayers point out that for promotional campaigns, overall advertising click-through rates are disappointingly low.  Point taken.  But, those websites and marketing campaigns that customize ads and multimedia content to fit individual customer interests have demonstrated markedly higher click-through rates.  Two of the most well know examples of successfully tailoring content to the interest of their users are Apple, with the iTunes Store, and Amazon.com.

 As video has become an accepted part of the web experience, marketers are looking for ways to exploit the engaging qualities of video.  Video has the unique ability to convey a story through sound and motion – creating a more powerful emotional response among users.  Results of recent studies by DoubleClick show that when used for direct-response online advertising –the click-through rate– online video ads perform extremely well.  The data shows online video ads deliver click-through rates ranging from 0.4 to 0.74 percent depending on the online video format.  By comparison, click-through rates for plain GIF or JPG image ads ranges between 0.1 and 0.2 percent.  Given these data, it’s no wonder that in the troubled economic climate of the past year, marketers have rushed headlong to enrich their websites, direct mail campaigns, press releases, and corporate communications with various forms of digital multimedia.

 A recent industry report from StrongMail Systems highlights the trend.  As reported in BtoB Online, Kristin Hersant, StrongMail’s director of corporate marketing, the “2010 Marketing Trends” survey finds that online marketing spending will be up in the coming year, with video a key driver.  “We also think that marketers will be able to increase relevancy by using video in e-mail,” Hersant said.  “Video is going to make it a lot easier to promote the things that their customers are interested in, such as webinars, training, and product education.”

A report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC released US results for the first half of 2009, showing that online ad spending continues to experience robust growth, increasing 38% from the same period a year ago.  As online advertising continues to draw spending away from other forms of traditional advertising, spending for online video is projected to reach nearly $500M in the US during the first half of 2010.  In a similar report from Forrester Research, video advertising will grow to account for one-fifth of European online display ad spending – nearly €1 billion in 2012.  Forrester Research also issued their US Interactive Marketing Forecast 2009 – 2014, showing 60% of marketers plan to shift marketing dollars away from traditional channels in favor of interactive marketing initiatives.

This move to interactive multimedia-supported marketing is not the sole province of big companies.  In Chapel Hill, NC a local wine, coffee, and tea merchant is taking advantage of the click-through promotional power of video.  3CUPS is a business dedicated to bringing high quality products to their customers while stimulating them to learn more about what they sell… the really good stuff.  They recently began adding video promotions as an element to their email marketing and on their website home page.  “Using video allows us to show what it’s like to come into our store and learn about our business,” says Badi Bradley a partner at 3CUPS.  The first promotion to include a video element delivered 600 views in the first several days.  Following the success of the first video, 3CUPS has released three more videos and has five projects underway.  Lex Alexander, owner of 3CUPS, believes video offers a unique way to differentiate the business.  “Video allows us to entice customers with a story that demonstrates we are very knowledgeable about the items we sell.  People don’t read as much these days; they’ve become accustomed to TV.  It helps us personalize the business.”  The video was produced in HD by Jim Fink of New Century Digital Media and shot and directed by Ken Peterson, SilverLight Productions.  The HD Flash video is hosted by NCDM.  According to Fink, “We support the concept of a full television experience that people have become used to in their home.”  Fink provides clients with more than just production and hosting, he also provides access to stats on the performance of each video.  “Clients have direct access to a lot of data about their videos.  It allows them to better manage the use of video as part of their overall marketing activities.

 For a business like 3CUPS, customizing the content of promotional video as part of their direct mail advertising has proven effective.  The high engagement factor of video, combined with better customer targeting and improved Internet tracking capabilities, offers advertisers a highly accountable way to improve response rates and deliver bottom line results. 

Marketing to the C-Suite

Everyone in marketing and sales wants in to the C-Suite executive.  Marketing and selling at the executive level has long been a favored business strategy.  But as marketing communicators, how well do we assist sales with messaging that truly resonates at the C-level?

Marketing deliverables must support sales initiatives at multiple stages of the customer buying cycle.  That’s why we create ads, glossy brochures, webcasts, white papers, and all the tactical deliverables required to move a prospect over to the sold column.  But what about messaging for the C-level?

In the book, Selling to the C-Suite, co-authors Stephen Bistritz and Nicholas Read address the issue from the point of view of sales strategy.  For those of us in marketing, the book is a valuable guide on how to support sales in their efforts to sell at the highest levels.  The heart of the issue is that C-level executives have different priorities from others in their organization.  For any proposed spending, C-level executives have multiple options.  They can choose to buy your product or service; they could buy from your competitor; maybe they could achieve similar financial results by hiring more sales people or increasing staff training.  The C-level perspective is not about the widget or servicing the widget, it about how for a given investment, the organization can derive most benefit – and often in the shortest amount of time.

People who make a career in sales understand this.  As marketers, support for C-level engagements must be less about the widget, and more about return on investment.  Next time you are asked to develop marketing support for C-level engagement, stay focused on quantifiable business impact.  It’s the “elevator speech.”  Hold subject matter experts responsible for laser-like focus on the issue of bottom line business impact.  Far too often content-gathering conversations start here, but quickly devolve into performance details, technical specifications, and the standard Features & Benefits information that can be found on any organization’s website.

For a moment, think of yourself as having the big corner office – maybe it’s your favorite chair in a corner of the kitchen.  If you receive a profit-sharing bonus, a tax refund, or a Nigerian email scam actually sends you money (OK, the last item may be a stretch), as family CEO what do you do with the available funds?  You could pay bills, make some home improvements, put money down on a car, or buy a vacation… you get the idea.  Business leaders make similar decisions about projects to fund or activities to support.

Make it Effective:

• Focus less on product/service and more on value
• Don’t use jargon, messages should focus on outcome level
• Enable sales to personalize the assets to individual C-level executives
• Content must be relevant, engaging, and, focused on the industry sector
• Create conversation starters: interesting data about industry trends, success stories, etc.

Such a strategy proved effective for business analytics software leader SAS.  Last year, a series of thought leader events was held in about a dozen cities across North America.  The events featured analytics consultant, author, and educator Tom Davenport, and focused on how companies can use analytics to drive business results.  Tactical marketing support included print, an online presence, advertising, and live event support.  All of the tactical deliverables focused on business outcome and value.  For the SAS sales staff, the events were a great way to engage prospects and customers while building stronger relationships.

Your marketing support activities may only get one chance to assist sales in making an impact at the C-level.  Keep the messaging focused on what your organization offers that can help a senior executive deliver results demanded by the board of directors.  This will help establish your sales team as trusted advisors to your customers and open new opportunities for your business.

Twittering Away

To tweet or not to tweet ‑ dats d Q: Whether ’tis nobler to twitter away… and be all my tweets remembered.  With apologies to the “Bard of Avon,” I read with interest one of this year’s many yearend lists.  The Global Language Monitor has announced that Twitter was the top word of 2009 in its annual global survey of the English language.  “In a year dominated by world-shaking political events, a pandemic, the after effects of a financial tsunami and the death of a revered pop icon, the word Twitter stands above all the other words,” said Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor.  Enjoy the list.

Top Words of 2009
1.  Twitter
2.  Obama
3.  H1N1
4.  Stimulus
5.  Vampire
6.  2.0  (my take on Web 2.0)
7.  Deficit
8.  Hadron
9.  Healthcare
10.  Transparency
11.  Outrage
12.  Bonus
13.  Unemployed
14.  Foreclosure
15.  Cartel 

Top Phrases of 2009
1.  King of Pop
2.  Obama-mania
3.  Climate Change
4.  Swine Flu
5.  Too Large to Fail
6.  Cloud Computing
7.  Public Option
8.  Jai Ho!
9.  Mayan Calendar
10.  God Particle

Thought Leadership and the Buying Cycle

Organizations claim it. Industry gurus boast their credentials. Marketers include it as a key element of their overall strategy. Everyone wants it; few have it – thought leadership.

At a recent marketing meet-up, thought leadership was a hot topic of conversation. Amidst the canapés, glasses of white wine, and the exchange of business cards, talk of thought leadership came up frequently. What struck me was the level of interest for including thought leadership as a key marketing tactic. Some of those gathered worked for organizations on the cutting edge of emerging technology. Others were marketers working for established companies in mature industries. Regardless, most of the marketers I spoke with planned to include thought leadership in their 2010 marketing plans. Those with a clear understanding of how thought leadership fits into the buying cycle have the opportunity to succeed. The others will soon be in search of the next bandwagon upon which to jump.

Marketing consulting firms, professors, and authors all publish models of the customer sales cycle. Whatever model you subscribe to, most have certain elements in common. However, what’s often undervalued in these models is the issue of market maturity. Industries transition through phases: from radical new concept; through paradigm differentiation; to the point an established market develops and offerings are seen as commodities. An analysis of the environment in which the business operates is central to delivery of an effective thought leadership program. Whether the subject is cloud computing or cloud-soft tissues, thought leadership can help differentiate a business from the competition. The key is identifying an approach that sets an organization apart from competitors while building a stronger bond in the supplier-customer relationship.

As a “pull” tactic, thought leadership or knowledge leadership is most applicable early in the sales cycle when building awareness. It also plays a role in helping organizations maintain customer loyalty. Thought leadership marketing is about conveying the image of market leadership. It should take a strong position on where markets, technology, or regulatory requirements are heading. It’s not necessary that the organization be the market sales leader. Rather, it’s about exhibiting a depth of understanding and generously offering original insight.

As a marketing tactic, thought leadership must be inexorably tied to an organization’s competence and how it plans to differentiate itself from the competition. A solid thought-leadership program has a number of essential characteristics.
• Unique Voice – Take a stand with a clearly defined message. Demonstrate you are the leader and expert in a given field. Break new ground with ideas that challenge the status quo, creating opportunity for prospects and customers to take a new look at your organization.
• Extend Your Reach – Take on public speaking opportunities, start a newsletter, author a blog, get published. True independent thought leadership is not about publishing ideas exclusively on your company website. It’s about creating a uniquely defined, forceful, and compelling vision so your ideas are sought out and published on someone else’s website.
• Inform, Don’t Sell – While thought leadership must support an organization’s overall marketing direction, it should generously provide insights from which others can benefit. Challenge your audience to think outside the box by presenting useful information. Invite others into the conversation. Be willing to test your ideas and assumptions, especially by extending your reach through social media.
• Long Term View – As a marketing tactic, thought leadership is not about filling the sales funnel for the upcoming quarter. It’s about building relationships and moving from being seen as only a supplier, to being seen as a trusted advisor. Thought leadership is not a form of marketing collateral. It’s a long-term strategy whose results are best measured over time.

As a marketing tactic, thought leadership can be applied in both B2B and B2C marketing. But, thought leadership is not for every organization. Taking a unique stand and openly sharing intellectual property goes against some organization’s culture. However, for those organizations seeking an effective pull tactic to balance the marketing investment in standard push marketing techniques, a thought-leadership program offers a unique longer-term return on investment.

Beautiful Smile – Nice Promotion

Every business needs some amount of promotion.  Heck, even the CIA promotes itself with a presence on the World Wide Web.  But for a small business, promotional expenses can take a bite out of the bottom line.  One small business has found a unique way to promote itself and make people smile… while making an impression.

 Every morning on my way into work I drive past a shopping center and parked in the last row, nearest the street, is this rolling billboard for Village Dental.  I don’t know the dentist or anything about his practice.  What I know is that at least half a dozen people I work with have commented about the VW bus and mentioned the promotion.

 There are several Laws of Small Business Advertising, and Village Dental successfully makes it works.  First, Create Curiosity.  The rolling billboard grabs people’s attention and gets noticed.  Second, Be Easy to Contact.  There’s a phone number, a web address, and the office is located just across the parking lot from the van.  What more do you need?  Third, Use One Message.  Smile, it couldn’t be more focused than that.

 I’ve a dentist with whom I am very happy.  But if I needed a dentist, I’d be sure to check our Village Dental.

Marketing and Communication in the Network Era

Finish first and people notice. Take the top position twice in a row and people get curious. I did, when looking at results of a recent report from the Association of National Advertisers. A member poll reported that creating an integrated marketing communications program was the member’s top concern for a second consecutive year. Why the sudden interest in integrated communications? As marketers, the rules have changed. In the past, traditional marketing and communication was about getting people to do things. In today’s Network Era, the emphasis has shifted from controlling every interaction to influencing outcomes.

It all used to be so simple. Prior to the 1990’s, call it the Golden Age of Marketing, represented a time of one-way communication, where marketers were in total control of the message and how the message was distributed. Marketers “owned” the brand and created awareness through mass communications in the form of TV, print, radio, and sponsorships. For example, the Women’s Tennis Association tour gained significant visibility through sponsorship of The Virginia Slims Circuit – a successful sponsorship promotion for women’s tennis, as well as Phillip Morris tobacco.

By the mid-90’s two-way communications ushered in the Age of Internet Marketing. New broadband technology, coupled with faster computers and better software, enabled marketers to solicit input and feedback from customers in ways never before possible. Massive amounts of data were collected to help improve offers and build loyalty across profitable customer segments. Launched only months apart in 1985, Amazon and eBay were companies born of the Internet age.

The explosion of Web 2.0 technology has brought about a new challenge for marketers, the Network Era. The dynamic between customers and marketers has shifted once again. Marketers must recognize it’s impossible to totally control the relationship. Influencing key stakeholders and facilitating the customer experience is the best that can be hoped for. In a customer-centric world, the old push marketing model no longer works. Customers are telling companies what they want and don’t want. The days of companies telling customers what they are going to get are over. In today’s networked word, brands need to engage stakeholders in new ways. Marketers no longer “own the brand,” they must embrace services that add value and participate in the conversation in an open, transparent, and authentic way.

Unfortunately, too many marketers still operate from the old paradigm. They have forgotten a critical lesson: people hate to be sold to, but they love to buy. In the Network Era marketers have powerful new tools that too often disrupt, interrupt, and annoy. But consumers have grown more sophisticated and capable of filtering out the distractions. Consumers have developed their personal “ignore filter,” after being inundated by the onslaught of too many email messages, direct mail promotions, and the latest scourge of marketing promotion, the unwanted text message. Marketers need to understand, it’s not that consumers don’t like a company’s product or service; it’s about consumer fatigue from the constant selling.

In a recent conversation I had with the Marketing Director for a telecommunications company, the discussion turned to the issue of customer contact. As a telecom company, access to customer data was not an issue. The company has complete profiles of each customer. The company has used this information in deciding how and when to contact a customer. If a customer is always three days late in paying their bill, the data shows this. For reasons of customer satisfaction, the company has chosen to take no action. In other cases, they may send an SMS message rather than a more formal warning notice if payment is not received on time. The electronic message is less expensive and improves the customer’s overall experience with their service provider.

In the Network Era, marketers have access to new tools and new ways to communicate. Successful marketers will be those who realized that today, more than ever before, delivering the right message, to the right customer, at the right time is their top concern.

No “R” in Social Media

Even without use of spell checker, I know there isn’t an “R” in social media. But, Marketing Communications professionals need to understand the return, and how they will evaluate the return, on investments in social media.

Measuring ROI for social media is part of the job. Social media is about more than just engagement and awareness. While social media is at the top of the sales funnel, there are still many ways to track and evaluate the return on investment. The process should begin with an agreement on how the organization will define the “R” in ROI – is it awareness, leads, conversions, sales? Evaluation of social media is less about what can be done than what should be done. Identify the evaluation criteria, and then secure agreement with sales enablement and business executives on how social media will be evaluated. At this point in our understanding of social media, the criteria will be different from other activities such as advertising, trade shows, or speaking engagements. But, establish some criteria and process for assessing the payoff on investments in social media.

Many organizations use applications such as Google Analytics or SAS® Customer Intelligence to monitor web traffic and gain valuable business insights. For organizations without such capabilities, there are still many ways to track and measure the business value of social media. Regardless of the channel, a strong call to action can drive traffic back to where engagement can be turned into leads and sales. In some cases it might be a unique 800 number, hotlink, promotional code, or email address that delivers prospects to where tracking and conversions can be done – a call center or company website. These simple techniques, some would call them old school, have long proven effective. Regardless of whether the engagement begins on a syndicated blog, Facebook, or Twitter, prospects can be engaged in a way that can provide meaningful information.

Things can get murky when it comes to “soft metrics,” such as measuring views on YouTube, comments on blogs, brand mentions, or tweets. Activity that happens beyond an organization’s website is more difficult to quantify. An agreement on how these will be evaluated is important. Construct strategies that help drive traffic into an environment where you have more sophisticated capabilities to engage and convert online actions into sales. For example, a video posted to YouTube can include a unique URL providing content that supplements the video. Hits to the web page can the tracked and offers for items such as white papers can be converted to sales leads.

One company engaging prospects in a new way is Best Buy, the world’s largest electronic retailer. A team of 500 employees, working at local stores and at the company headquarters, will soon (July 19) begin searching Twitter posts to find people seeking information about the products they sell. The “Twelpforce” will be part of the customer-service team according to Chief Marketing Officer, Barry Judge. “The old paradigm is you open your doors and hope someone comes in. In the new world, you can go out and find people that are talking about technology and what they are interested in buying, and be generous with your knowledge. And hopefully if you’re generous and knowledgeable, people will come in and buy.” In a tough environment for electronic retailers, Best Buy is fighting for every customer.

Measurement of traditional and new media strategies does not have to be so very different. The critical issue is coming to agreement on how social media will be evaluated. It’s not about measuring everything that you can, what’s more important is measuring what you should.

Don’t Forget Traditional Media

Social media, new media, rich media, interactive channels… Open any marketing publication (OK, visit their website, read a blog post in your feed reader, etc) and it’s easy to come away with the impression that all communication messaging has moved to the net-based world. It’s true that companies are continuing to shift an increasing percentage of ad dollars away from newspapers, radio, magazines, yellow pages, direct mail and even TV to interactive channels. But, don’t lose sight of the role for traditional media in any marketing communication campaign.

Last year Starbucks faced a new challenger when McDonalds took on the coffee giant with expansion of their line of McCafe premium beverages. Despite a drop in sales because of the economic downturn, Starbucks ramped up a $28M advertising campaign. It began its first concerted branding campaign with a series of newspaper ads. The campaign made the Starbucks’ case for its prices, including health care for its employees, relationships with coffee farmers, and its dedication to sustainability. Starbucks CMO, Terry Devenport, addressed the print strategy in an interview with Advertising Age Magazine. “One of the things [we did] was to find a way to get our stories out there in a way that both our existing customers would recognize and that would speak to the employees and partners and give them a sense of pride, and that’s clearly happened. We’re exceedingly pleased with it to date. We’ve had a huge return on that investment.”

In addition to the traditional print campaign, Starbucks began running one-time TV ads in high-profile shows such as “Saturday Night Live,” or quick hits on news networks such as CNN, which then drive traffic online. Furthering their traditional media presence, last week Starbucks announced a title sponsorship of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” A natural partnership, Mr. Davenport said, it will include occasional references to the chain’s environmental activism or efforts in volunteerism.

Radio can play an important part in promotional campaigns as well. When Smirnoff, the makers of America’s most popular vodka, made plans to introduce its first line of ready-to-drink products in the United States, radio played a key role in creating a high level of buzz. Unique radio and on-site promotions included on-air DJ product-tasting parties, bar and club events, and customer testimonials. The success of the initial campaign triggered an immediate nationwide rollout of Smirnoff Ice. The campaign generated sales of 300% above projections in test markets, resulting in one of the most successful new spirit introductions in the United States.

And let’s not forget traditional broadcast television. This year’s Super Bowl provided a big score for online video giant Hulu. In a last minute decision, company CEO Jason Kilar bought a spot during the fourth quarter of what proved to be the most-watched Super Bowl in history with an average U.S. audience of 98.7 million viewers, and the second-most-watched U.S. television program of any kind. The promotional strategy worked. According to Kilar, Hulu’s Super Bowl ad was directly responsible for increasing the online video portal’s business by 49%.

Hulu Super Bowl Ad Scores Big

The battle for the minds and wallets of consumers will continue to be waged on many fronts. Spending for online media will continue to increase as a percentage of overall promotional spending. As communicators we’re largely leading that charge. But, let’s never lose sight of the impact traditional media can have within the context of a well planned promotional campaign.

Branding is for Big Companies… Right?

Branding is a topic we associate with organizations often referred to as an enterprise.  It’s one of those sophisticated marketing strategies used only by big companies.  Right?  Wrong.  Branding is equally important for small organizations.  It’s my belief that branding is even more important for small businesses than for the large enterprise.

Branding is all about increasing a product or service’s perceived value to the customer and thereby increase brand equity.  For a large business, the brand becomes a complex issue with brand valuation tracked as a critical business asset.  For a small organization the perception of a business can be more important – determining whether one stays in business or goes out of business.

Large companies occasionally suffer enormous blows to their brand image.  A case in point is Union Carbide.  The Bhopal India chemical disaster in 1984 was a tremendous blow to the company’s reputation as well as to their bottom line.  However, the company retained enough value to be acquired by Dow Chemical Company in 2001.  Compare that with the fact the only one third of small business ever turn a profit.  Statistics show that half of all newly started small businesses fail within the first four years.

For a small business to succeed, it must offer something that truly differentiates the business from its competitors.  Barry’s Café in Raleigh, North Carolina is such a business.  The business had operated in the red for two years when a community emergency redefined the business in the minds of local people.  This short video tells the story of a truly remarkable business.

Barry Doyle’s nonprofit Feed the Firefighters Foundation, has served some 35,000 meals.  The efforts have earned Barry’s Café the 2008 Best of Raleigh Award in the Restaurant Category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).  The owner set out to do something good for his community.  In the process he established his business as a local landmark; clearly differentiated from the competition.  Barry may not think of his efforts as brand building, but the success of his business, and the foundation, make a strong case for the critical importance of brand recognition for small business.

Social Network Marketing – It Ain’t Your Granddad’s Relationship Selling

My mom is 85 and does not have Facebook page, doesn’t tweet, in fact she does not have a computer.  But, she has taught me everything I need to know about the value of social networks to an integrated marketing communications program.

 Even though the cost is a penny of two more, my mom fills up her car at the same service station every week.  She knows the owner and rewards the relationship with her business.  People and businesses do the same.  If everything is equal (price, quality, etc.) or nearly equal, we do business with those whom we have a connection.

 With social networking taking center stage in any discussion of relationship selling, we’ve entered a new era of marketing through social media.  But how effective is it?  I was in an online chat about social networks and someone mentioned a 2008 Forrester Report citing that less than half of survey respondents indicated Forums, Online Communities, and Social Networks as being an information source impacting the decision making process.  Does that mean the buzz about social network marketing is just that, buzz and nothing more?

 In taking a look at the report I come to a different conclusion.  With a title only an unabashed academic could love, The Social Technographics® Of Business Buyers, a key finding reports that four of the top six influencers on technology purchase decisions involve people-to-people contact.  Social network marketing is about building those inter-personal relationships.

 Here’s the list:

• Peers and colleagues – 84%
• Vendor, industry and trade Web sites – 69%
• Your direct vendor salesperson – 69%
• Technology or business magazines – 66%
• Consultants, VARs and SIs – 65%
• Industry trade shows or conferences (in person) – 59%
• Forums, online communities and social networks – 45%
• Industry analyst firms – 45%
• E-mail or electronic newsletters – 41%
• Web events or virtual trade shows – 40%
• Interactive media: podcasts, video, online demos – 30%
• Blogs – 24%

 Dell Computers is the now well known business case example of integrating social media within a marketing program.  Following a much publicized customer service problem, Dell embraced social media by launching a community site, numerous blogs, multiple Twitter IDs, and a Facebook account.  In a public statement, Dell has acknowledged they’ve earned $1M in revenue from the use of Twitter alerts.  At Dell, the use of social network marketing is a central element of their integrated marketing campaign.

 And take a look at one of the latest promotional campaigns launched by McDonald’s to build brand association.  The video shot at London’s Piccadilly Circus is moving up the ad charts that track viral videos.  Does it sell burgers?  Not directly.  But building positive brand awareness through viral social networking will certainly move the brand scorecard in a positive direction.

Social networking provides capabilities for people to discover new ways of connecting with each other.  Social network marketing offers B2B and B2C marketers the opportunity to establish those same connections.  As I’ve learned from my mom, we buy from people we like.