IDK MY BFF Marketing

Texting is growing rapidly as a form of communication in the US, which is catching up to Europe and Asia for the technology. Today's blog post gives a basic understanding of the new marketing tool as well as some interesting data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Text or SMS (Short Message Service) are small messages sent from wireless phone to wireless phone. The messages are a maximum of 160 characters (including spaces) in length. Nearly all wireless phones in use today have text messaging capability although not all users have the service enabled with their carrier.

Many users have unlimited, or a certain number of, free text messages per month on their wireless plan. Otherwise, sending and receiving text messages can cost around 10 cents per message.

Texting is also not just for kids anymore. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project 63% of Americans from ages 18 to 27 text message. Those teens are bringing texting to their parents — or are moving into the workforce and texting with older colleagues. Now 31% of cell phone owners ages 28 to 39 use text, and 18% of those 40 to 49 do.

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Google Launches 'Trends for Websites'

Google is looking to take on Alexa and Compete.com by launching their new Trends for Websites service, a spin-off of Google Trends. The new service builds comparitive charts of website traffic.

Google Trends allowed users to compare the popularity of keywords within the Google Search Engines. The new Trends will allow users to compare popularity of a website in comparison to industry rivals. The new service also provides data on other site commonly visited and related searches. This feature may uncover new keywords for pay per click campaigns.

Don't look for comparison data for Google, Orkut, or YouTube though. As part of Google policies, the company won't disclose its own traffic numbers.

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New Provisions for Email Marketing

Thank you to Diana Engelmeyer of ExactTarget for submitting this news of note regarding email marketing. On July 7, 2008, new CAN SPAM Act provisions, approved by the Federal Trade Commission, go into effect.

The new rule provisions address four topics:

1. Unsubscribe Requirements: In the new rules, the FTC states that an email recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her email address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply email message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future email from a sender. This will impact senders that currently require their subscribers to provide a password or visit more than one web page to unsubscribe. We recommend marketers utilize a One-Click Unsubscribe mechanism or link directly to their subscription center to manage this process.

2. Definition of "Sender": Under CAN-SPAM, a "sender" is defined as the entity whose goods or services are advertised in a commercial email message. The new rules provide a clearer definition of "sender", and make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single email message is responsible for complying withthe Act's opt-out requirements. Those mailing on behalf of other advertisers or including advertising in their messages should take note of these changes. Generally speaking, the new rules state that the sole sender appearing in the "from" line of the email becomes the designated sender of the message, and therefore must comply with all provisions of the Act (such as listing a physical postal address and providing an opt-out mechanism).

3. Post Office Box Allowed: A "sender" of commercial email can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox to satisfy the Act's requirement that a commercial email display a "valid physical postal address."

4. Liability Clarifications: The definition of the term"person" was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM's obligations are not limited to natural persons. The scope of the Act includes individuals, groups, unincorporated associations, corporations, and non-profits. There is no exemption from CAN-SPAM for any of these groups.

ExactTarget recommends consulting your own counsel to learn howthese changes specifically impact your email program. You can download ExactTarget's new CAN SPAM compliance whitepaper for more information.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Friendly Fridays - Meet Pam Peters

We made it to another Friday. In this edition of Friendly Fridays, we feature Pam Peters, President and CCO of MarketSpace Communications in Zelionople, PA.

As the creator and leader of MarketSpace Communications, Pam is involved in every project as a planner, strategic thinker, creative director, and energizer. She brings in-depth expertise to the table and knows how to apply it to each customer's business goals.

Before opening MarketSpace Communications in 2005, Pam's nearly 20 years of experience included both agency and in-house corporate marketing. From the management of integrated marketing programs to creating a one-of-kind design for a singularly sensational piece. From brand strategy to budget management, retail to b-to-b, print design to experience design. Radio. TV. Web. Interactive. She's done it all.

From that broad experience and her own unique view of the world, she created MarketSpace and brought to life that elusive creative environment in which staff and clients work seamlessly, blurring the lines between work space and play space, developing award-winning—and effective—marketing communications.

Pam is a member of the American Institute of Graphic Design, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the Pittsburgh Advertising Federation, and the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD). She is a graphic design mentor for AIGA Pittsburgh and a continuing education instructor for the Community College of Butler County. Pam is also a brand new member to AMA Pittsburgh. Her career began with a Visual Communications Degree from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Each Friday, the AMA Blog features an AMA Member in its space. Join us for Friendly Fridays by sending us a profile on you and introduce yourself to your AMA colleagues.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Search Engine Optimization Shows Good ROI

Marketing Sherpa reports that search marketing continues to show good ROI. The Sherpa surveyed marketers as to their opinions on both organic search engine optimization as well as paid search. Both activities were viewed as delivering positive returns.




According to the Sherpa chart, 1/5 of respondents called SEO their “strongest tactic” for ROI. Paid search saw a drop off from “strongest tactic”, but saw an increase in “good ROI”. Marketers seem to be analyzing their tactics in greater detail and continuously tweaking to maximize results.

The increase in blogging and social media activities could also have some responsibility for appreciation in natural search rankings.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Second Mixer Announced

The AMA Summer Mixer #2 invite should be showing up at your door soon and on AMAPittsburgh.org. However, I got the scoop to give to you:

Thursday July 10, 2008
@ Firehouse Lounge on the Deck in the Strip
5:30-7:30 p.m.

$20 per ticket, includes 2 drink tickets and food

Door Prizes & a DJ

RSVP online at www.amapittsburgh.org

PayPal vs Professional Online Shopping Carts

Last week, we discussed missed opportunities with email marketing. Today's post is similar as it deals with missed opportunities with online shopping carts. Today's information comes from Dan Janal and his article "How to Choose an Online Shopping Cart".

Five Things That PayPal Won’t Do That Professional Online Shopping Carts Will Do:

1. Recurring billing.

If you want to sell products or services on a recurring basis, PayPal will not help. PayPal cannot process recurring orders. So, if you are selling a coaching program and billing clients each month, PayPal can’t help. If you are selling vitamins or supplements on a monthly basis, PayPal can’t help. If you are selling anything on a recurring, subscription model, PayPal can’t help. You’d have to enter each order each month by hand. This takes valuable time away from activities that can make you more money.

That’s why I use MyEasyOnlineStore.com. This professional online shopping cart automatically processes recurring orders each month. So I don’t have enter information each time. It’s done for you each month, correctly!

2. Testing your ads.

PayPal will let you display one page to get your prospects to order a product. That’s okay.

But wouldn’t it be better if you could test another message to see if that new message would get a better response? Marketers call this an A/B split test.

If you have the right professional online shopping cart, you can test different messages, . By constantly testing, you can get better results and make more money!

3. Offering flexible payment options.

PayPal lets you make one offer at one price. That’s fine. But what happens when you offer a high-priced item and people balk at the price? Wouldn’t it be great to offer them a payment plan so they can pay in 2 or 3 installments?

4. Sending out customer service messages.

PayPal will send a message letting buyers know the sale was completed. That’s nice, but wouldn’t it better if you could send a message that offered additional information so people feel bonded to you? Wouldn’t it be great if you could send a series of emails that offered additional products for sale?

Professional online shopping carts like MyEasyOnlineStore.com include a marketing and auto-responder system that allows you to repeatedly contact prospects and clients but PayPal does not.

5. Offering additional products for sale.

Wouldn’t it be great if your shopping cart could show additional pages that offered additional products for sale? If you can offer more products for sale, more clients will buy more products so you will make more money. PayPal won’t do this! That’s why you need a professional online shopping cart..

If you invest in a professional shopping cart, you can make more sales, more easily than just by using PayPal alone. Best yet, MyEasyOnlineStore.com (my preferred online shopping cart choice) works with existing PayPal accounts so you can get the best of both worlds!

About the Author:
Serial Internet business entrepreneur, Dan Janal has built multiple six-figure income businesses using MyEasyOnlineStore.com. Now, for the first time ever, he’s revealing the hidden truth behind automating your business, making more money online &enjoying the entrepreneur’s lifestyle. Get his free special report, “How to Choose an Online Shopping Cart” now at: http://www.prleads.com/meos

Friendly Fridays - Meet Mat Simmons

This is the first edition of friendly fridays on the AMA blog. Each Friday, we would like to introduce you to a fellow AMA member. Today, we spotlight Mat Simmons President and Founder of Garett CMG. Mat is also the new VP of Communications on the AMA board.

Mat founded Garrett CMG in 2007 with the belief that there was a better way to serve clients' advertising and marketing needs. A belief that an agency should focus on building a brand as intently as driving sales because lets face it, if there is no brand, there are no sales. Following that belief has allowed Mat to lead Garrett into boardrooms and businesses of regionally respected brands in just the first year of operation. In keeping with his role as President, he constantly searches for ways to increase the agency's ability to have the most profound impact on our clients' businesses.

Before deciding to branch out on his own, Mat worked with both America Honda Motor Corp., and American Suzuki Motor Corp. as well as numerous regional and national dealership groups. Now Mat is on a mission to continually enhance the brand -building quality of work that Garrett creates for its clients, an effort that he hopes will redefine the way clients think about developing, enduring distinctive brands while generating immediate results as well as the agency client relationship. All to often businesses get lost in the shuffle of the large agencies day to day ritual.

Mat has a unique way of relaxing outside of Garrett. You can routinely see Mat jumping out of airplanes for fun, or soaring 80 feet in the air on his motorcycle. No one can say that Mat is not an adrenaline junky. When he is not spending time risking his life he is at home with his wife,Sarah, and their one year old chocolate lab, Parker. No children yet but they are coming!

We'd like to spotlight you. Send us your bio and introduce yourself to your fellow AMA members as part of our friendly fridays post. Have a good weekend.

The Importance of Networking

I thought this topic might be fitting for today. If you are an AMA Pittsburgh member then you shouldn't be reading this post - you should be doing this post at tonight's Summer Mixer #1 at 6 Penn Kithen (Starts at 5:30). If you are not a member, then you should first become a member at http://www.amapittsburgh.org/ and then you could be networking with your fellow peers tonight (or at the next event on July 10).

Anyways, the importance of networking should be something you carry with you just like your business cards (Tip #1 - Always carry enough business cards). As AksMen.com says, "In the business world, we need to constantly focus on expanding our network of contacts. Networking is not always about moving up the corporate ladder, although that is an important byproduct. It's about obtaining information and making contacts that could help you in your day-to-day business life. It's an essential tool in your professional life, even if you're not looking for a new job."

It is also a good way to find new ideas and participate in the community. There are many advantages of networking, yet some people do have an adversion to it. So, I turned back to AskMen.com and found the 22 Ways to Network Like a Pro. (I already let #1 out of the bag so there is only 21 left)

I will see you tonight so we can all practice our 22 tips.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Email Marketing - Missed Opportunities

Straight from The Marketing Sherpa comes an underutilized opportunity with great results for email marketing. When you ask most marketers what they are doing for email marketing – they tell you about their online newsletters or promotional materials. What they don’t usually tell you is how they are using transactional emails.

Transactional emails are things like shipping notices, receipts, statements, etc. They are read far more frequently than other email. Here’s the rub. Transactional email is typically not controlled by the marketing department.

The Sherpa also reports that a marketer must use caution when adding promotional messages to transactional emails. They suggest that the promotion be timely, helpful and relevant to the message being sent.

As you can see by the Sherpa chart, most consumers are comfortable with many types of email transactions. For more info, including recommended steps to a transactional email marketing program, visit Marketing Sherpa.

I look forward to seeing you at tomorrow's AMA Summer Mixer #1.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Drive Traffic to Your Site with User Generated Content

In most cases when you see a definition of Web 2.0, you see the words user generated content or UGC. UGC is the foundation of Web 2.0 as the output of the empowerment of formally passive web surfing and the tools that enhance interaction today.

As a marketer, you are likely tasked to continually increase traffic to your company’s website. UGC can help you rapidly accomplish this goal. In fact one company reported a 300%+ jump in traffic when they opened up their site for writers to post pertinent information.

Before opening your site up to UGC, it is important to study your audience and determine what type of content will be most relevant. It is also important to set the level of control over the content. You may think this might create an overload of material to sift through to keep control, but many companies have allowed their community to police content successfully.

Depending on your audience’s wants for content, you might open your site to outside writers or bloggers to provide expert opinions. You might allow access to your customers to make submissions, or even offer a contest of some sort to gain content.

Rewarding your contributors in some way via a prize, monetarily, or simply recognition will encourage submission. UGC has the inherent ability to attract more audience as it often becomes viral as your contributors talk about it in other places as well and tell their ‘friends’. UGC is also a great companion to social network initiatives for your company.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Getting to Viral

It may be the $20 million dollar trivia question right now – how do I make my campaign viral. Viral is the online version of word-of-mouth, compelling content that gets passed from one inbox to the next.

A recent CNN article detailed some of the general attributes that virals share at their root, bearing in mind that people online can tell an ad right away and shut it down quickly. Here are the categories of virals as defined in the article

· Controversial/Edgy – Controversy and advertising have always been linked. It makes sense that in viral it would be no different. Controversy can garner a lot of attention and if it touches the right nerve can be effective. When it doesn’t – you have Cartoon Network and a PR clean up.

Shock and Awe – Our never ending quest for the truth is tapped in this category. Videos that make us think and look for the truth. We will typically enlist help in this quest and that is why it is effective in viral.

Community Activism – Create a program for other like-minded people to share and recruit others and you have a viral winner. Not to mention bloggers like me will likely talk about it and encourage others to check it out.

Online Contests – The public always like to take a chance at something and it doesn’t always have to be a monetary or gift prize. Sometimes competing with fellows across the world at a task is enough. Contests also become more effective when combined with other viral roots.

Humor – How many emails do you get in your inbox each day that say check this out its hilarious. Laughing Out Loud or LOL in IM speak is basic human nature and humans like to share it.

Accidental or Sometimes Purposeful Nudity – No description necessary for this category.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

Marketing Trends Study Released

Eloqua Corporation recently conducted its 2008 “State of the Marketer” survey. Eloqua is a leading supplier of automated demand- generation technology and services, and has partnered with the American Marketing Association to produce webinars on how marketing can increase sales effectiveness.
Highlights of the survey as published by IMedia Connection include:

• Online advertising growth is more than expected with 40% of respondents saying they have radically increased spending in this area. This growth is expected to continue to increase over the next 3 years.
• Respondents expect to increase social media spend by 78%, direct email by 74%, and texting/SMS spend by 65% (Though marketers do not like to receive texts themselves)
• Traditional channels such as print advertising, direct mail, and broadcast spend has stayed the same, but is expected to decrease in the next 3 years
• 64% of marketers believe their marketing programs are more effective today than 3 years ago
• 64% also believe that direct mail still works
• 95% of those surveyed said they plan to maintain or increase marketing staff over the next 3 years
• 86% feel the pressure is growing for them to be accountable, while 68% are measuring marketing accountability to the bottom line

The survey also found that the marketing and sales divide has improved as well.

Enjoy your weekend and don’t forget to send us your member spotlights to be included in future friendly Friday posts.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

One Week...

Until we eat, drink and mix at the first AMA Pittsburgh event of the season. Summer Mixer #1 is only one week away.

Join us on Thursday, June 12, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at
Six Penn Kitchen
146 Sixth Street(in the Downtown Cultural District)

Your $20 ticket includes food, two drinks, and as much mingling as you can handle.

Enhanced mingling is courtesy of The Famous Grouse, Scotland’s oldest working distillery, whose reps will be on hand with samples of their exceptional single-malt whiskeys.

Special thanks to PPG, our sponsor for the AMA Pittsburgh summer events.

Questions?Kim Butler, AMA Pittsburgh Events Chairperson, can help answer them.Call her at (412) 234-0294 or e-mail kimberly.butler@bnymellon.com

Don’t be shy. Come on down and join your fellow Pittsburgh sales and marketing professionals in proudly proclaiming

“I AM A… Marketer!”

Register for the event conveniently online.

See you there!

Friendly Fridays Coming to AMA Blog

Last night the AMA Board and volunteers met to continue to improve the AMA Pittsburgh chapter for its membership. There were many great ideas that came out of the meeting, which you will begin to hear about in this space and others.

This blog is relatively new and we are always looking to improve upon the information and features it provides. You can submit your topics and insights for inclusion in the blog as was our mission from the start. We had an excellent suggestion last night for a new feature in this space as well.

We’d like to spotlight our members in this space. In fact, we’d like to make it a regular friendly Friday post. I don’t know if, we will get it up and running this week, but look for it to begin on Friday the 13th. Tell us why you are a marketer.

If you would like to be featured in the member spotlight, contact us through the blog or through the AMA leadership team. We look forward to getting to know the AMA membership.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

PodCamp Pittsburgh

The 3rd edition of PodCamp Pittsburgh returns in October '08.

PodCamp Pittsburgh is a FREE community UnConference, run by and for people who create, enjoy or are interested in learning more about:

• blogs
• vlogs (video podcasts)
• audio podcasts
• web video
• social and content networks
• new media monetization
• more!

It happens on October 18 and 19, 2008. Registration and more information can be found at PodCamp Pittsburgh.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.

You Ought to Be in Pictures

Want to bring a little Hollywood to your brand? Well, you might not have Old Spice’s budget to have Will Ferrell or another big star hold your product in a movies, but product placement opportunities still exist in video.

Story Bids, at storybids.com, is delivering product placement opportunities to viral video and webisode campaigns. They way the site works is that companies interested in supporting a creative project can review artist submissions and concepts on the site.

If a good match is found, then the company can bid on placing their product into the finished creative project. Pricing for placement varies depending on the concept and the prior success of the artist, but for most projects it is a minimum investment.

Viral video has seen its audience grow and a few websiodes have even made the jump into mass media outlets. Who know, you just may be a part of the next big thing to hit YouTube and that could position your brand on the cutting edge.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments. Feel free to submit topics and add your insights to marketing topics. Subscribe to the AMA Pittsburgh blog via the RSS feed.