AMA Pittsburgh Blog

AMA Pittsburgh Names This Years' Distinguished Educator

2010-11-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

Dr. Dawn Edmiston, assistant professor of marketing in the Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics, and Government at Saint Vincent College, has been named the 2010 American Marketing Association (AMA) of Pittsburgh Distinguished Educator.

Nominated by AMA Pittsburgh member Zac Parkhill, an associate at KPMG and former student, commented, “Dr. Edmiston’s unmatched dedication to students, passion for marketing, and energetic personality combine to create a learning environment that challenges students to expand their horizons and follow their dreams. I know that I am not alone when I say that Dr. Edmiston's tireless efforts transformed my college experience and professional career."

Read more about Distinguished Educator, Dr. Edmiston of Saint Vincent College.

Registration is now open for The Fourth Annual Marketer of the Year Awards. Join us on Dec. 9th, 2010 at the LeMont Restaurant for Pittsburgh's premiere results-based marketing competition. Learn more about the AMA Pittsburgh's Marketer of the Year Celebration.

Shoppers eyeing companies' causes, not just their products

2010-11-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Whether they're shopping for groceries, fashions or a financial institution to take care of their investments, consumers these days want much more information than what their purchase will cost or how much service they can expect. They need to know what the retailer or bank is doing to improve the environment and whether the company contributes to charities.

A New York marketing guru brought that message to Pittsburgh at what was billed as the First Annual Cause Branding Summit.

Chatham University Marketing Association Excels as Collegiate Chapter of the Pittsburgh AMA

2010-04-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

The Pittsburgh AMA Professional Chapter is extremely proud of the Chatham University Marketing Association (CMA) for capturing a total of five awards, including overall chapter excellence, team performance, and individual accomplishments, at the International Collegiate Conference held in New Orleans, Louisiana from April 8-10.

Since 2008, the CMA has been one of many affiliated collegiate chapters of the National American Marketing Association, supported locally by the Pittsburgh AMA Professional Chapter. Collegiate AMA members gain a variety of educational and networking opportunities that help support their education and move toward a professional career. The CMA has stood out through their participation and involvement with the Pittsburgh AMA Professional Chapter because of their regular attendance at AMA events and luncheons as well as their participation in monthly collegiate forums and national events such as the International Collegiate Conference.

The Collegiate Chapters Council of the American Marketing Association annually holds an International Collegiate Conference and Case Competition open to all undergraduate teams whose schools have a registered AMA Collegiate Chapter. The case competition poses a marketing challenge submitted by a sponsoring organization to provide students with the opportunity to work together on a real-life marketing issue. Sponsored this year by UNICEF’s Tap Project, the CMA case team won Third Place in the final round of the International Case Competition.

Chatham University was also honored with a variety of awards at the International Collegiate Conference regarding their overall success as a chapter. CMA’s excellence was recognized with an Outstanding Small School award and a Distinguished Collegiate Chapter award. Deborah DeLong, Ph.D., assistant professor of marketing at Chatham, scored the Hugo G. Wales award for Outstanding Faculty Advisor, which is awarded to two advisors out of the 200 collegiate chapters each year. Finally, Ashley Paterra, CMA President, won Honorable Mention Student Marketer of the Year, which is awarded to 3-4 student marketers each year out of the 1300+ students that attend the annual conference.

Front row: Alex Kemerer, Debbie DeLong, Jesse Brant, Ashley Paterra
Second row: Christina Casciato, Lauren Gelli
Back row: Jordan Pro, Alex Reinhardt, Jenna Ammer

The Pittsburgh AMA Professional Chapter applauds the Chatham University Marketing Association for their enthusiasm since they go above and beyond as Collegiate AMA members. Congratulations again to the CMA for their success and continued dedication to the American Marketing Association.

A Quick Guide to Mobile Marketing

2010-02-05T06:47:00.000-08:00

By Justin Mastrangelo

There’s no doubt the cell phone will continue to become a more important part of a marketing in 2010. Big consumer brands across the US have already had great success with their early mobile marketing efforts. If you haven’t started targeting your audience on their phone yet here are some of the key technologies, and a few things to consider about each.

Text Messaging (SMS) – This is the mostly widely used mobile technology, and not just by teenagers anymore. Only 25-30% of mobile phone subscribers in the US have a smartphone but over 80% of mobile phone users have text messaging capability, and 50% of all cell phone owners are active text messaging users. When considering a text messaging campaign keep in mind the method for gathering opt-ins. Traditional media (TV, radio, print, and outdoor) is an excellent opportunity to engage an audience on their phone while they are away from their PC. Having the audience text-in for an instant coupon or a chance to win something has generated great results by many different brands in the US. Because of texting’s very high read rate (97%) recipients will expect to see value with every message or they will opt-out quickly.

Mobile Websites – Creating a stripped-down mobile version of your website is an easy way to cater to your mobile audience. Users who attempt to visit your site on a smartphone can be automatically redirected to a mobile-friendly version. Keep the graphics to a minimum and focus on simple layout and navigation. Using less technology means compatibility with more phones. Reformatting the main site into a mobile format is a good start, but focusing on features that are especially beneficial to someone on a phone is even better. Measure the audience and the phones they’re using to access your site. If you haven’t launched an app yet this data will be invaluable for picking the right platform.

Mobile Apps - Apps can be a great way of creating an engaging experience not possible on the mobile web. If you’re going to develop an app it should be more than just another version of your mobile website. Not only are mobile apps more expensive to develop than a mobile website, they can also be more difficult to promote. The iPhone is king when it comes to apps, but it may not be tops with your audience. In the second quarter of 2009 the Blackberry Curve was the most popular selling smartphone, beating the iPhone. The iPhone makes up only 4% of all cell phones in use right now in the US. Depending on your audience you may need to develop at least two or three versions of your app just to reach a significant portion of smartphone users.

Mobile Advertising – Always introduce your current audience to your mobile website or app first, before approaching a new audience on the phone. If the reviews of your mobile campaign have been positive it only makes sense to use this as a competitive advantage. Your ads can be placed on other mobile websites or inside mobile apps. Just as you would with web advertising, start with a small budget and always target a specific audience as much as possible.

Justin Mastrangelo is President of JA Interactive, a web and mobile marketing company in the South Side of Pittsburgh. He is also one of the writers for his company’s text message marketing blog.

Social Media: Are You Plugged In?

2010-02-05T06:40:00.000-08:00

It’s a new year…a clean slate ahead of you at work and new marketing opportunities waiting in the wings. What will 2010 have in store for you? If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become more social media savvy, then I hope you find this article informative and useful to you in your future marketing endeavors.

Yes—You CAN!

So, maybe you’ve tested the “social media waters” in 2009 but still not sold on the whole social media idea and even if it’s something your company should attempt. Or, maybe you know the value and importance of social media, but you don’t know the right tactics to use to best fit your company. Well, now’s a better time than ever to embark on a social media campaign for your company. I write this article with the intention to inspire you to dive right in and have fun with the variety of social marketing tools available. With the numerous platforms out there, you can help your company establish a name for it, or bolster your company’s existing marketing campaign into high gear. One point I’d like to emphasize— while most social media tools are free, you may need to factor additional staff hours into your budget to get your campaign up and running.

Me, Myself and I

As the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s (PDP) e-Marketing and social media go-to gal, I’ve done my fair share of research on the various social media tools available. I also participate in countless social media webinars, many of which are free and quite informative. In less than one year, I now manage two PDP Facebook fan pages, along with a Twitter and Flickr account, and helped create a blog for Downtown’s historic Market Square. Most recently, I joined the Communications Committee within the American Marketing Association (AMA) Pittsburgh Chapter to update our Facebook fan page, blog and other marketing-related projects – I love a challenge!

Mavens, Gurus and Experts─Come Again?

Ok, so I’m not going to tout myself as some social media “guru”, simply because I’m not. However, I do consider myself an expert when it comes to writing and talking about my organization. So, now you’re armed with great material about your company and you want to spread the good word using social media—what are your next steps? Well, there’s an art to using social media correctly. I’ve assembled a short list of tips/tricks that I’ve found to be quite valuable to share with you to use throughout your social media journey:

· Information overload! If you try to learn too many social media platforms at once, you’ll go insane! Instead, take baby steps. Pick one outlet, perfect it and OWN it. Remember, you’re the voice of your organization. Try doing simple searches of your company or industry to see where your potential online audience is and what they’re talking about and start there. Once you’ve mastered the ins and outs of Facebook, give Twitter a whirl, or try your hand at blogging. It’s not how much you’re doing—it’s how effective you are at what you’re doing.

· Don’t go there! If you don’t have time to keep your blog or Facebook page updated with fresh, interesting content, worthy of comments from your readers, it’s not going to do your company any good. Readers will lose interest in your page and you’ll lose your readers loyalty to your brand/company. Just remember: why would anyone want to visit a Website with stale, uninteresting information? The same thing applies to your social media pages. If you need a quick update and don’t have a lot of time, try asking a simple question from your audience like, “What are you doing this weekend?” This keeps the content fresh and engages your fans.

· Play nice! Sure, readers want to hear what’s new with your company/product, but it’s a good rule of thumb to share others’ blog posts, etc. People will deem you a more “valuable” resource by sharing others’ ‘added’ information. It’s not always about you. And, make sure to use tact when responding to readers’ comments, especially if they have something negative to say about your company/brand. The goal is to create a lasting relationship with your readers.

· Create some buzz! A fun and highly effective element to creating a successful social media campaign is to implement various contests or trivia questions into your plan. It’s a known fact that readers thrive on interaction and love to participate in trivia games, photo hunts (think TwitPic), etc. And, when there’s an incentive offered to the winner, you’ll receive an even greater response! Think about offering a small token that promotes your brand, or award a gift certificate to a venue in your city. If you utilize Twitter, visit search.twitter.com and type #contest in the search area to see how other companies are using the contest tactic to engage their followers.

· Analyze this! Your boss is likely to ask about the progress of your company’s social media campaign and how well it’s being received. Have no fear! There are plenty of free and easy-to-use analytics tools available to track your progress, including: Insights for Facebook fan pages, Twitter Analyzer and Google Analytics for blogs. Plus, keeping track of how many followers, fans, and comments you have is also another great way to gauge your progress. If your budget allows, you might want to consider hiring a social media professional who specializes in tailoring social media campaigns to meet the needs of your organization.

· Follow the leader! There are literally hundreds of social media professionals out there with amazing blogs and helpful tips. Here’s a short list of my favorite social media experts:

o www.mashable.com; The Social Media “Bible” - @Mashable on Twitter

o www.marismith.com; Social Media Business Coach - @MariSmith on Twitter

o www.twistimage.com/blog; Mitch Joel, dubbed by Marketing Magazine as the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” - @MitchJoel on Twitter

o www.socialmediatoday.com; World's Best Bloggers on Social Media and Web 2.0 - @socialmedia2day on Twitter

Make New Marketing Goals…But Keep the Old

While I’m a proponent of using social media to promote your business/brand, I believe your company should also continue to use the “tried and true” methods of marketing, such as print, e-mail marketing, radio/TV ads, etc. By incorporating social media, businesses both large and small have the opportunity market their brand and create additional awareness without going over their marketing budget. And, when used effectively, it’s a win-win situation for your company!

The AMA’s Connected!

Don’t forget to become a fan of the AMA Pittsburgh Chapter on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/AMAPittsburg h, and be sure to subscribe to our blog at http://pghama.blogspot.com. We’ll be updating the AMA Blog and Facebook fan page in the coming weeks and we invite you to check out our pages and let us know what you think! We welcome your feedback and suggestions on how to make your online experience with us even better! Feel free to write to me with questions or comments at bfornalczyk@downtownpittsburgh.com.

Cheers to a happy, healthy and social media-inspired New Year!

Brooke M. Fornalczyk

Manager of e-Marketing & Promotions, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership
American Marketing Association Pittsburgh Chapter - Communications Team

Upcoming New Member Breakfast

2009-10-21T13:41:00.000-07:00

AMA Pittsburgh welcomes you to join your fellow marketers and the American Marketing Association Pittsburgh Chapter Board at our Fall Orientation.

Who Should Attend:

New Members interested in learning more about the benefits and uses of their AMA membership.
Current Members looking to become more active in their membership
Non-Members looking to find out what the AMA is all about.

Details
Date: November 4, 2009
Time: 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Location: BNY Mellon Client Service Center, 500 Ross Street, Visitor’s Center, Second Floor, Room 214

Click here for more information and to RSVP!

Trend Spotting and Setting Summit

2009-10-02T12:05:00.000-07:00

Join the AMA Pittsburgh for the Trend Spotting and Setting Summit on October 8 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh.

Follow the evolution of marketing trends: how trends get started, the psychology behind why people follow trends, its impact on market research and what trends are on the horizon. A complimentary edition of the book, "2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade" by Richard Laermer, will be provided to every attendee including a book signing opportunity.

Speakers
Richard Laermer, CEO, RLM Public Relations
As CEO of RLM, Laermer's client list includes Obopay, HotChalk, FlypMedia, Reed Business CEO Tad Smith, Scitable, Epic Advertising and Yodlee. Following "2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade", Laermer released the recessionary paperback "Punk Marketing" from HarperCollins and also co-hosted TLC's business makeover show Taking Care of Business.

Yvonne Campos, CEO, Campos Inc.
Yvonne is an active member of the Pittsburgh business community and has been recognized locally, regionally and nationally for her entrepreneurial spirit and community involvement. She has led her company to become the premier research company in this market by introducing new and innovative research techniques and unparalleled customer service.

Lindsay Zaltman, Managing Director, Olson Zaltman Associates
Lindsay is co-author of the book "Marketing Metaphoria" by the Harvard Business Press. He has been published or cited in numerous publications including The Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Fast Company Magazine and The Journal of Business Research. He has lectured extensively at various companies and conferences around the globe.

Dee Schlotter, Brand Manager, Color, Pittsburgh Paints
Dee brings more than 6 years of color marketing experience and 12 years of paint experience to The Voice of Color program. Dee also launched the Pure Performance line of environmental paints. She continues to work closely with the Rachel Carson Homestead foundation and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater that require environmentally-sound paints and authentic color palettes.

Event Details
What: Trend Spotting and Setting Summit
When: October 8, 2009, 7:30AM - 11:30 AM
Where: DoubleTree Hotel, Downtown Pittsburgh

Please join us for this don't-miss event! Click here for details and to register.

Big League Marketing

2009-05-04T13:44:00.000-07:00

Join Lou DePaoli CMO of the Pittsburgh Pirates for "Big League Marketing in Challenging Times". It is the AMA Pittsburgh luncheon event for May at the Doubletree on May7th.

WHEN
Thursday, May 7, 2009 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM

WHERE
DoubleTree Hotel
One Bigelow Square
Pittsburgh, PA

About Lou DePaoli
Lou DePaoli joined the Pirates as their Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer on 9/26/08. In his position, he oversees the club’s marketing, ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, and communications efforts for the Pirates.

DePaoli previously worked for the Atlanta Spirit organization, where he held the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association, Atlanta Thrashers of the National Hockey League, and Phillips Arena. In this position he was responsible for all marketing, ticket sales, corporate sponsorship sales, communications, and community development efforts for the organization.

Prior to joining the Atlanta Spirit in May of 2005, DePaoli was the National Basketball Association’s Vice President of Team Marketing and Business Development in the NBA’s Team Marketing and Business Operations department. There, Lou worked with the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association and National Basketball Development League senior management on all business initiatives, including ticket sales, sponsor sales and service, marketing, advertising and promotions. DePaoli, who started in the NBA League Office in December of 2000, worked closely with the NBA clubs to improve their business operations and to implement the industry’s best practices.

DePaoli also worked for the Florida Marlins from 1996 to 2000, serving first as the Director of Ticket Sales and then as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for the club. With the Marlins, DePaoli’s duties included overseeing ticket sales, sponsorship sales, marketing and customer service. During tenure with the Marlins, the club won a World Series title in 1997. While with the Marlins, DePaoli was also the subject of the Sports Illustrated article "Fishing For Marlins Fans” written by acclaimed columnist Rick Reilly in the March 9, 1998 issue.

Prior to joining the Marlins in 1996, DePaoli was Vice President of Sales for the Worcester IceCats Hockey Club of the American Hockey League (AHL) from the inaugural 1994-95 season through the beginning of the 1996-97 season.

Graduate of the University of Massachusetts where he earned his BA in Management of Professional Sports Organizations.

Register for this event here.

Career Expo Event

2009-04-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

The AMA Pittsburgh Job Hunting Support Group was notified about a career expo event being held next week:

Showcase Career Expo 11:00am to 3:00pm Tuesday, May 12 Mall at Robinson

ThePittsburghJobBoard.com has hundreds of Pittsburgh area jobs – at companies hiring now! Post your resume in minutes so employers can find you. On May 12th you will have the opportunity o interview with Pittsburgh’s best companies at Showcase Career Expos – http://www.thepittsburghjobboard.com/

The group meets once a month to share ideas and assist others in finding jobs. You do not have to be an AMA member to attend. This space will keep you up to date on upcoming group events.

Two Upcoming Networking Events

2009-04-28T11:02:00.001-07:00

AMA Pittsburgh will hold its monthly happy hour for April on Thurs. 30th (Just got it in this month). This month's Happy Hour will be held at Eleven in the Strip (1150 Smallman St.) Come network with fellow marketing professionals from 5:30 -7:30PM and enjoy appetizers courtesy of AMA Pittsburgh. Cash Bar. This event is free so there is no need to register.

PRSA Pittsburgh's Speed Networking Bailout Event

Only $5 (at the door) with complimentary appetizers and cash bar. PRSA Pittsburgh wants to bail you out! Please join us for a speed networking event where we'll be taking out the step of approaching others with quick, organized sessions where you will be paired with others to network. Who knows who you'll meet and what opportunities lay ahead? Don't forget your business cards and have your "elevator speech" ready!RSVP by sending your name, organization/school and how many people will be attending by Wednesday, May 6 to Connie George at cgeorge@pittsburghzoo.org

Check the AMA Pittsburgh website for more upcoming events, including "Big League Marketing in Challenging Times" on May 7th.

AMA Pgh Job Hunt Support Group Meeting Notes April 15

2009-04-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

AMA Pgh Job Hunt Support Group

Highlights from April 15 meeting

Here are the notes and ideas from the April 15 meeting. Thanks all for contributing.

Next meeting scheduled for May 14 8:00 am at BNY Mellon Client Service Center downtown. This will be a different format, combining our usual twice-yearly New Member Orientation with the Job group, to promote attendance and networking for both groups. You must RSVP to Mike Kaulakis by May 11 to be admitted to this event.

The national membership drive. Is now running. There is a $50 savings for new members. If you have no other reason to join, it will give you access to the 38,000+ AMA members across the country.

Suggestions/questions from the group:

Word FM Job Fair April 23 11 AM – 3 PM at Sheraton Station Square

4/22: Career Fair sponsored by KDKA-TV and Pittsburgh's CW at Heinz History Center Pittsburgh. Looking for a career or looking for workers, CBS TV Pittsburgh KDKA/WPCW is holding a career fair 4/22 10a-4pm. Companies looking to hire, contact tlivolsi@kdka.com for more info on how you can participate.

The Career Development Center has a networking event April 30. More info at:
http://www.careerdevelopmentcenter.org/

Career coaching at Lifelong Leadership was recommended:
http://www.lifelongleadership.com/

The Pgh Tech Council has a good online job bank at:
http://pghcareerconnector.com/

The new Rivers Casino has a job fair April 29: http://www.riverscasinoteam.com/

There are many opportunities for marketing volunteers to help the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. Contact me for more info or follow this link for some examples:
www.amapittsburgh.org/bva.asp

Green Marketing Summit Thursday

2009-04-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the first Green Marketing Summit. National and local speakers will be on hand this Thursday, April 9th from 8:30 to 12:30 to discuss sustainable marketing ideas and give their insight.

All the details are available on the AMA Pittsburgh website. Register today. There is also a special workshop in the afternoon limited to 25 participants.

AMA Job Support Group Meeting Notes

2009-03-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

In an effort to share more of what is happening around AMA Pittsburgh, Mike Kaulakis suggested that we share meeting notes from Wednesday's Job Hunting Support Group in this space. The Job Hunting Support Group invites those seeking a job and those that wish to help job seekers to meet once a month. It is people helping people and it is open to all members and non members of AMA Pittsburgh.

Thanks to Mike for preparing these meeting notes:

Good turnout - 15 or so and a good mix of job-seekers and job-helpers

Next meeting is scheduled for April 15 11:00 AM at Panera Blvd. of the Allies in Oakland.

Meeting notes will be available on AMA Pittsburgh blog for access to all interested.

Suggestions/Questions from Group

Anyone familiar with Papen? Local weekly job group meetings North/South split. $10 contribution. More info at www.papen.us
Kiran Shetty has a lead on medical product marketing positions in eastern PA - Contact Mike if interested.
Attended Diversity Job Fair Tues Mar. 24th - a waste (Anyone know of any job fairs that would be of interest to more experienced job seekers?)
Attended Pink Slip Party @ Mullaney's. Got lead on George Swanik III - Action Mode.com career development
Leukemia Society organized party w/$10 donation. Contact Megan.nemecal@lls.org 412-697-2863
Pittsburgh Business Times has a free SmartReader Strategies Seminar on April 3 from 8:30-10:00 AM
Westvac career event April 22nd (If you have more details on this event, please leave them as a comment to this post)
Volunteer opportunities posted to AMA Pittsburgh site for board.net and Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
TIE.org Pittsburgh Chapter has a Power Roundtable scheduled for April 8th. Free for TIE member/$30 for others
Innovation Works was mentioned as a source for events but none listed on site for 2009 (If anyone has more details, please let us know)
Dave Roberts will research upcoming job fairs, etc. from his former employer (Thanks Dave!)
Business Leads Exchange meets monthly for lunch - $15
Vista Print is a source for free business cards

If you have any topics or comments, please feel free to submit them to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Don't forget the Hyde Park Happy Hour networking event is tonight.

Upcoming:

Apr 9 - Green Marketing Summit

Apr 15 - Job Hunting Support Group

Upcoming AMA Events

2009-03-19T16:14:00.000-07:00

Next week features two free events from the American Marketing Association Pittsburgh Chapter:

Wednesday, March 25: Job Hunting Support Group

The new Job Hunting Support Group will meet at 8AM at Panera Bread in Oakland (Blvd of the Allies). The group's mission is to help each other in difficult economic times. All are welcome to participate and feel free to pass this invite along to others that may be interested. RSVP to Mike Kaulakis mkaulakis@aol.com by March 24, 2009.

Thursday, March 26: Happy Hour at Hyde Park

Join us at the March AMA Pittsburgh happy hour. Network with your peers and socialize. 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Free appetizers, cash bar. No reservations needed - this event is free. Hyde Park is at 247 North Shore Drive (Next to PNC Park).

Don't forget to mark your calendars for April 9th for the first Green Marketing Summit. Details on the AMA Pittsburgh website.

Unsubscribe Reasons

2009-03-18T08:43:00.000-07:00

This week's chart comes from Marketing Sherpa. The survey details the reasons for unsubscribing from an email list.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments.

Obama's Winning Lessons

2009-03-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Join the AMA Pittsburgh for a luncheon on Thursday, March 12th.

Mar 12 Luncheon: Winning Business Lessons of the
Obama Campaign, Featuring Barry Libert, author of Barack, Inc.

Barry Libert is a business executive, author, and speaker based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has more than 25 years of executive leadership and entrepreneurial experience, and has been instrumental in advancing the awareness and use of Web 2.0 and social technologies within the business world.

You can register for this event here.

Integrating Social Media

2009-03-05T15:18:00.001-08:00

This weeks chart comes from Marketing Sherpa. Marketers were asked how they are integrating social media with other marketing programs. Most are integrating with online programs only. Let us know how you are currently integrating social media into your marketing mix.
Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

The Process of Finding Work

2009-03-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow the AMA Pittsburgh Job Hunting Support Group will meet at 8AM at Big Dog Coffee at 2717 Sarah Street in the South Side. The event will focus on brainstorming. You are welcome to come out and share a cup of coffee and ideas on how to find a job in this economy.

Keeping with this subject, I have asked Neal Griebling of Future Design Studio to guest post in this space on the process of finding work in recessionary times.

From Neal:

It’s my experience that we, as Americans, are an impatient lot. We seek immediate satisfaction, gratification, and results. Moreover, we not only seek these things, we expect them. When our expectations are not met, we give up and walk away.

George Leonard in his wonderful book, entitled Mastery, writes with great eloquence about how certain types of individuals react to the challenges of mastering any skill. He focuses on the martial arts, but his analysis and insightful suggestions could apply to learning any skill. He counsels patience, discipline, and focusing on process.

The search for work is filled with stress and anxiety. We are impatient; we want results today, or if not today, then tomorrow. What we must realize is how little control we have over results. Will the HR specialist read our resume, will our friends seek leads on our behalf, will the interviewer recognize our skills and talents? All of these situations are not within our control.

What, then, is within our control? It’s our behavior, our action that we bring to bear upon our job search. When we focus on process rather than results, we are able to give our undivided attention to the task in hand, be it refining our resume, scheduling our networking appointments, or immersing ourselves in researching the job marketplace.

When impatience or anxiety arises, concentrate on what you can control — your process. If you are diligent about mastering your process, the results will, in time, take care of themselves.

AMA Job Support Group

2009-02-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

The inaugural meeting of the AMA Pittsburgh Job Hunting Support Group will take place on Tuesday, March 3rd at 8AM. The event will be held at Big Dog Coffee at 2717 Sarah Street in the South Side. On-site parking is available. The event will focus on brainstorming and ideas for the new group. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Mike at mkaulakis@aol.com by Monday, March 1st.

Hope to see you there to help this new group hit the ground running.

Networking Event on Thursday

2009-02-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

Join your marketing peers for an AMA Pittsburgh happy hour event this Thursday, February 19th. The event starts at 5:30 PM and will be held at Backstage Bar - Theater Square Downtown Pittsburgh (655 Penn Ave.). Come meet your fellow members for drinks and networking opportunities. If you are not a current member, this is an excellent opportunity to learn more about AMA Pittsburgh in an informal environment.

There is no need to register for this event and there is no cost other than what you wish to drink. See you there.

Chart of the Week

2009-02-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

This week's chart comes from Marketing Sherpa. Sherpa surveyed and found that the most effective tools are the hardest to measure. In looking at this chart, I must say I am a bit confused. How do you know it is effective if you don't measure it? I'd love to hear your opinions. Feel free to comment.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments or topics.

Marketing Masters Tomorrow

2009-02-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

Feb 12 Luncheon: Marketing Masters Panel
at the Doubletree Hotel
Featuring Grand Marketer of the Year winner Carnegie Mellon University and finalists Event Committee Pittsburgh, F.A.C.T, and Verizon. Panelists from each organization will present their winning campaigns and answer questions from the audience.

Marilyn Kail, Assistant VP Marketing Communications – Representing: GRAND Marketer of the Year Winner Carnegie Mellon University for “Randy Pausch and the Last Lecture”
Richard Schonbachler, Group Mananger - Representing: Verizon, winner of the Technology category for “FIOS Campaign”
Steve Wayhart, President, Brandmill - Representing: F.A.C.T (Friends Against Counterproductive Taxation) winner in Sports/Entertainment/Hospitality the category for “StopDrinkTax.com”
Bill Flanagan - Executive Vice President, Allegheny Conference on community development - Representing: Event Committee Pittsburgh, 1st runner-up - in the Non Profit category for “Pittsburgh, Imagine What You Can Do Here”

Register Online Now

Feb 19 Happy Hour: Cabaret at Theater Square Backstage Bar
Join fellow marketers of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Marketing Association for networking, free food and a cash bar. We'll be there from 5:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
You do not need to register, this event is free! (655 Penn Ave.)

The Hidden Job Market

2009-02-09T17:07:00.000-08:00

Today's post comes from Neal Griebling of Future Design Studio. Neal's topic is word of mouth referrals and the importance of networking. His advice is directly related to career searches, but can the theory can be applied to any business building activity.

Neal Griebling:

It’s a commonly accepted fact: 80 percent of the jobs in the United States are never advertised. This phenomenon is what is known as The Hidden Job Market. How do you penetrate that market?

Informational interviewing combined with mastering the art and science of work-of-mouth referral (WOMR) networking. These two strategies are absolutely necessary in finding work in a recessionary economy. Today let’s look at why you should adopt these strategies.

The current recession is impacting the entire economy. Many companies today are simply not hiring; actually, they are laying off workers. They are retrenching and not taking job applications.

Yet business leaders have problems and issues they must grapple with if they are to survive and prosper. There will always be a need for people who can solve problems, design new products, cut costs, and increase efficiencies within a company. Business leaders do not want meet job seekers; they may, under the right circumstances, consent to informational interviews with people who are referred to them by people they know and trust. And this is where you must employ your word-of-mouth referral networking strategy to create openings for yourself.

Be a part of the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments. Did you see the spread in Friday's Pittsburgh Business Times? What were your thoughts?

Barriers to Social Media

2009-02-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

This week's chart comes from Marketing Sherpa. This space is often utilized to report on digital marketing trends. This chart fits right in with the barriers cited as reasons not to adopt social media. Lack of knowledge is right at the top.

AMA Pittsburgh can be a resource as you seek to gain knowledge with a variety of resources. Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments or topics.

Upcoming AMA Events

2009-02-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

AMA Pittsburgh has an ambitious winter/spring calendar planned. Information on any event is available on the AMA Pittsburgh website. Here is a look at some of the events planned:

Feb. 12th - First Annual Marketing Masters Series - Features speakers from the AMA Pittsburgh Marketer of the Year awards, including Grand Marketer of the Year, Carnegie Mellon.

Look for a happy hour announcement for Feb. as well.

April 9th - Green Marketing Summit - A half day program chocked full of information on green marketing.

May 7th - Lou DePaoli of the Pittsburgh Pirates - Mr. DePaoli will present "Big League Marketing in Challenging Times"

Keep an eye out for additional Marketing Mixer events as well. We will report them in this space as soon as details become available.

Chart of The Week

2009-01-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

Our chart this week comes from Marketing Sherpa and details consumer company priorities for 2009. Email, SEO and paid search have the highest ranking. Display ads take the hit this year.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments. See you at the Winter Mixer tomorrow.

Recognizing What We Can Control

2009-01-27T08:31:00.000-08:00

More bad news today regarding the economy. The unemployment ranks grew once again. You may be sitting at your desk worried about your own fate. Today's post comes to us from Neal Griebling of Future Design Studio and the topic is dealing with your fears.

These are extraordinary times and even the so-called economic gurus admit they are not sure how things will play out. It is natural to feel stress, anxiety, and fear in such an environment. Our fear also generates paralysis and resistance to taking any sort of action. We are prone to hunker down, do nothing and wait for conditions to improve. However, we cannot allow our fears and resistance to drive our career bus.

The first step we need to take is to Recognize what we can control and what is outside our control. Face it, most things are outside of our control: what will happen in the housing and credit markets, how global competition will erode American trade performance, how your company is positioned to withstand the loss of key customers. Well, what can we control? I would suggest it’s our attitudes and our behavior. We can choose to forget about past mistakes and refuse to indulge in doomsday scenarios of the future. Remaining grounded in the present allows us to focus all of our internal and external resources on what’s in front of us.

Neal Griebling
Future Design Studio
www.futuredesignstudio.com

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments or topics.

Don't Forget - Winter Marketing Mixer

2009-01-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

Pittsburgh may be back in the deep freeze, but that is no reason to come warm up at the AMA Pittsburgh Winter Mixer. It is this Thursday and starts at 5:30 at McCormick and Schmicks, 301 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. $20 gets you 2 drinks, food, entertainment and an evening with your marketing colleagues. Register in advance at http://www.amapittsburgh.org/. See you there.

Priorities for B-B Marketers

2009-01-22T14:21:00.000-08:00

It is time for our first chart of 2009. This one comes from Marketing Sherpa. Sherpa surveyed top B-B firms to determine priorities for 2009 and then mapped these against complexity.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Submit your comments or topics.

Jazz It Up at the First AMA Mixer 2009

2009-01-20T09:37:00.000-08:00

Please join us at our first AMA Pittsburgh Marketing Mixer of 2009
sponsored by Port Authority.

A $20 ticket gets you two drink tickets, food, live jazz piano, and an evening of networking and fun with your peers! Members, prospective members, and guests are welcome to attend.

Thanks to Our Sponsors:

HJ Heinz Company
Pipitone Group
PPG

Thanks to Our In Kind Sponsors:

JA Interactive
Hughies Audio-Video
Pittsburgh Business Times
proSource

For more information visit our website http://www.amapittsburgh.com/

WHEN
Thursday, January 29, 2009 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

WHERE
McCormick & Schmicks
301 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

A Word on the Transition to Digital Marketing

2009-01-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Saw this in WOMMA today and boy did it stick in my head:

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has warned that advertising agencies face growth of just 1.2% a year by 2016 if the industry fails to tackle the changes to the media created by sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. The IPA warned that not enough agencies are adjusting to the online world. In its worst-case scenario, the resulting decline in paid-for advertising space could see $23 million of revenues lost by the industry by 2016, if agencies fail to create new products and services to cater to the social media world.

Join the discussion by submitting your comments or topics to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Early 2009 Trends in Web Marketing

2009-01-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Some interesting web marketing trends are emerging early in 2009. The economy has influenced several. Another factor in the development has been the continued shift to digital marketing. In fact, it seems to be on every one’s minds. The American Marketing Association have two webinars scheduled for later this month on the subject.

Trend: Shift to Pay for Play

There is a rumble out there that online publishers will again search for a pay to play model as advertising curtails. This is not a new model, but the prevailing attitude on the web is content should be free. Due to economic issues, publishers must now search for additional revenue and pay per play if accepted is a sustainable model. Also related to this trend, is the emergence of micropayments once again. Micropayments allow a small charge for content.

Trend: Emergence of Alternative Media

This trend is partially influenced by the emergence of digital media and partially by the economy taking its toll on traditional media outlets. Several newspapers are struggling for survival and experts predict that more will fall victim to the slow economy. Newspapers have failed to create a digital revenue stream other than advertising. This has lead to the trimming of staffs and that means less news reported. Blogs and other online media outlets are going strong. As they gain more credibility, PR will shift focus to these alternative outlets.

Trend: B to B Looks to Blogs

Businesses are starting to discover blogs. Industrial brands have begun to look to blogs as their second foray into web marketing. Their first was SEO which may or may not have included some pay per click. These brands have begun to realize the benefits of distributing content via blogs and the added SEO benefits.

Trend: Twitter Marketing Campaigns

Twitter is still looking for their own sustainability and revenue streams. However, the service is about to become inundated by marketing campaigns. First it was My Space and then Facebook took some thunder by doing it better. Now Twitter is poised to be the marketing flavor of choice.

5 Potential Popular Online Marketing Themes

2009-01-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Some potential themes that should be popular in online marketing during 2009.

1. Sustainability - Green marketing has been en vogue for several years. Sustainability takes it to the next level. Searchers will look to find more information on how they can be more green, but also save money in the process. 2009 will see them support companies that do the same and/or help them achieve this goal.

2. Financial Planning - This one is obvious after the events in 2008. 2009 will prove to be challenging as well. Can your brand fit with ways, tips, improvements, etc. for financial topics.

3. Career Tips - There will be many more people hitting the job boards and alternate sites in search of jobs or other career tips. Planning ahead can help these future seekers. Tips on networking, alternative education, certifications, and job seeking tips will be in demand. Can your brand engage with these people.

4. Games - Did you notice that games did not take a dip? In fact, GameStop reported great numbers. There is a common thread to human nature, we all like to be diverted from the real world. I expect this thread will be pulled often in 2009. Games are a favorite diversion. Can your brand get mind share by offering a game?

5. Entertainment - Same theory as #4. If your brand can fit (And you will be surprised that most can) with forms of entertainment, then you can use these vehicles to keep mind share. Online videos that entertain will continue to be popular on free outlets. Growth will continue in 2009, as I expect other avenues may decline such as pay tv.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics and comments.

Twitter Comes of Age

2009-01-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Interesting piece of news today. Twitter has grown up and by an interesting yardstick. Twitter has reached a critical mass, catching the attention of spammers. It is a shame that we have to measure viability by this measure, but you have not made it until you attract this kind of attention. Just ask My Space and Facebook.

Marketing Vox reports that users receive a direct message from a follower, bearing this or similar bait: “hey! check out this funny blog about you…”, followed by a link to a webpage.

After clicking on the link, victims are presented with a false Twitter login page. Usernames and passwords entered on the page become vehicles for spammers to distribute similar messages. A second scam jijacked some high profile accounts such as President-Elect Obama.

Twitter is tightening its security in response to the hackers. Users that fell victim to the phishing scheme can reset their password on Twitter.

Ratings for Websites

2008-12-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

The UK follows Australia in a call for ratings systems for websites. The Telegraph reported on Sat., a call by the UK's Cultural Minister for a ratings system similar to cinema for websites. The UK is reported to be interested in working with the US to develop the first of the kind standards for English language websites.

The standards would likely include a time limit for sites to take down questionable content when it is brought to their attention. This standard would be targeted at sites like YouTube and Facebook that are dominated by user generated content.

"If you look back at the people who created the Internet they talked very deliberately about creating a space that governments couldn't reach," Andy Burnham told The Telegraph. "I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now."

As a marketer, what are your thoughts about ratings? Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments or topics.

Looking at the Year in Online

2008-12-19T08:41:00.001-08:00

Online and new media had another year of growth in preliminary numbers reported:

Time Spent Online ................ +8%
Online Video Views................ +40%
Blogs....................................... +20%
Online Advertising................ +17% (Through the first 3 quarters, expect it to be lower when 4Q is reported)
ECommerce........................... +17% (Smaller than previous years, but still respectable growth)

Online is now the 3rd largest advertising medium.

What is Viral Good For?

2008-12-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Following up from last week's post on tools for viral marketing, comes a new chart this week from Marketing Sherpa detailing what marketing activities viral is good at. Survey respondents ranked brand building the highest:

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Viral Statistics from New Study

2008-12-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

From Marketing Sherpa's new online video benchmark survey, comes their first chart detailing what respondents state are the best ways to go viral. The survey is very mixed, which leads me to the take away that there is no magic pill and testing and trial will determine what is best for you:

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topic or comment.

Online Video Growing

2008-12-09T07:35:00.000-08:00

From Forester Research and Marketing Profs, this survey shows online video as the single largest increase among marketers:

Join the discussion by submitting your comment or topic to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Social Media Consolidations Around the Corner?

2008-12-04T05:51:00.000-08:00

Most industries go through consolidation where smaller companies merge with others to get bigger or bigger gobble up smaller to expand. Web pioneers went through consolidation to form more sustainable enterprises. Sometimes consolidations did not work out so well in the long term. AOL comes to mind as an example.

It is inevitable that Web 2.0 will have similar consolidations.

Web 2.0 is in its infancy still in my opinion, but there are some large players with cash. My Space has the Fox bank behind it. Google is in position to be a player. Facebook has some power as well.

The current state of the economy could accelerate this trend. My Space was bold enough to state that those knocking on its door have cheaper asking prices. Yahoo is of course in play. Facebook was recently courting Twitter.

As cash will be tight for many start ups in the future with investments being closely monitored and advertising dollars in decline by cash strapped brands.

One thing is for certain social media will be interesting to watch and work with in the next year.

Recession Impacts on Marketing

2008-12-02T07:26:00.001-08:00

It is Tuesday so it is time to share a chart from Marketing Sherpa. This is a very timely survey as news came out yesterday that the US has been in recession since December of last year. The survey shows spending cuts from marketing organizations with travel, vendors and staff taking the biggest hits.

Join the discussion by submitting your comment or topic to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Texting Demographics

2008-11-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

From Marketing Charts:

Adults in the US who use the text-messaging feature on their cell phone are 49% more likely than the average American to be between age 18-24, 14% more likely to be Hispanic and 24% more likely to be African American, according to (pdf) a survey from Scarborough Research.

The study also found that El Paso, Texas is the top US city for text messaging, with 57% of all adult cell-phone subscribers (age 18+) there reporting they use the text-messaging feature on their cell phone, compared with 48% of adult subscribers nationally.

Pittsburgh makes the top half of the list:

Other key characteristics of texters:

They are among the country’s highest spenders on cellular services. On average, they spend $87 on their monthly cellular bill. In contrast, all cellular subscribers spend an average of $75 monthly.
They are 46% more likely than all cellular subscribers to typically spend $150 or more on cellular service monthly and are 12% more likely to plan to switch services.
They use a wide variety of phone features - such as picture messaging, streaming video and email -at a rate higher than that of the average cell user.
They are avid technology shoppers and are more likely than the average cell-phone subscriber to live in a household that owns - or plans to buy - a wide variety of hi-tech items, from HDTVs to MP3 players to video game systems.
They most often shop at Best Buy for audio-video purchases: 39% of Texters live in a household that shopped this retailer during the past year vs. 27% of all consumers nationally.
Other leading stores for Texter households include Wal-Mart and Target. 35% of Texters live in a household that shopped Wal-Mart for tech items during the past year, while 20% shopped Target.
They are leading online spenders. One-fifth (20%) of Texters spend more than $1,000 online annually, vs, 17% of all cellular users.
Internet applications permeate all aspects of their lives, from household tasks (such as bill paying) to entertainment (such as downloading movies or TV programs) to interaction (such as blogging and downloading a wide variety of content).
Texters are active, on-the-go consumers. They are 37% more likely than all cellular subscribers to have played basketball (as a leisure activity) during the past year; 29% more likely to have gone jogging/running; 29% more likely to have played tennis, and 23% more likely to have practiced yoga.
Texters are 12% more likely to have attended a professional sports event, and 57% more likely to have gone to an R&B, rap or hip-hop concert during the past year.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Value of Marketing in a Recession

2008-11-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post today with a link to an article for further reading. I know many of you are facing marketing cuts or struggling with strategies in a slowing economy. I found this article interesting on the value of marketing in a recession:

http://www.gtms-inc.com/tip_marketingrecession.htm

Happy reading. Remember to submit your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Newsletter Writing Tips

2008-11-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

The following comes from author David Gruttadaurio of http://www.NewslettersMadeForYou.com. You can visit the site for additional tools for newsletter marketing.

7 Newsletter Writing Secrets That Will Retain More Clients for Life

According to the Harvard Business Review, 91% of small businesses do absolutely nothing to retain their existing clients. That means only 9% of small business owners ‘get’ these facts:

• The average American business loses 50% of its customer base every 5 years.
• An existing customer spends an average of 67% more than new customers.
• It costs 7 to 9 times more to acquire a new customer than it does to retain an old one.

Mailing a monthly newsletter can eliminate all of these problems -- if you do it correctly.

A successful newsletter doesn’t just ‘happen’. It’s composed of very specific elements. Without them, you might as well be sending your clients a comic book.

7 Elements Your Newsletter Must Have If You Want to Retain More Clients

1. Content that IS NOT all about you. Many businesses feel compelled to tell everyone how wonderful they are. Forget it. People don’t like braggers. Instead, feature content that is interesting and useful. When you've engaged your reader with articles they actually want to read, you’ll have earned their trust and respect. This will lead to more sales.

2. Exciting, new and original content. Your readers should look forward to your newsletters each month. If your articles are boring, people will stop reading -- and you won't get any of the benefits that sending a regular newsletter can bring.

3. Sense of professionalism. Your newsletter is an extension of your businesses. You pride yourself on providing personal, professional service or selling quality products. Your newsletters must match your reputation. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes. Write appealing articles. Have an attractive layout design. Print your newsletter on high-quality paper. If it looks like it was published by your 7th grader, you’ve wasted your time and money.

4. Personal touch. Continue the initial connection you made with your client by revealing a little about yourself in your newsletter. A personal touch will get your newsletter remembered and enhance your image as an expert. Some people choose to reveal something about their personal lives (maybe they play golf or went on a vacation) or share tidbits about their families.

5. Offers and calls to action. You should give people a reason to act NOW. If they wait, they’ll probably do nothing. So make a special offer available only for your clients. And place a deadline on it, for example, for one month only. Changing your offer each month will also help you track the effectiveness of your newsletter -- you'll easily see who buys and who buys consistently.

6. Consistency. Many businesses try to save money and send their newsletters quarterly or even semiannually. Don’t bother, if that’s you. You’re wasting your time and money. Sending your newsletter out every month just like your clients favorite magazines will help make your newsletter part of your client’s daily lives.

7. Print it. Yeah, yeah, yeah… printed newsletters are more expensive. But think about this: How many companies are willing to do this? Your clients aren’t stupid. They understand the value of receiving a great newsletter every month. Plus, printed newsletters are more effective than email newsletters because:

They don't get caught in spam filters

Everyone is sick of being bombarded by content online.

Printed newsletters have a physical presence in someone's home. This means they are likely to be kept, acted upon in the future and will probably get passed on to others because they are viewed as literature.

So put an end to your dwindling client base. Save tons of dollars by marketing to proven buyers. Capture and keep customers that would love to spend their money with you forever.

Just send your clients a proven marketing tool: A well-written monthly client newsletter.

Join the discussion by submtting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Proofing Tips

2008-11-19T08:15:00.001-08:00

From our friends at GACC Printing comes suggestions on how to proof your printed piece:

Reviewing Color Proofs

Great Piece Color can have a tremendous impact on your print design, but to achieve great color, you have to know it will print the way you visualize it. The printer's contract proof provides a preview of the finished piece to confirm that it will match your visual intent and expectations. With the complexity of today's creative applications, it becomes imperative to have an accurate, hard-copy proof to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical.

Review Proofs In Neutral Light

Natural light is preferable to fluorescent light in most instances. If your piece will primarily be viewed in a specific lighting environment, you might want to confirm that it looks acceptable under these conditions as well.

What To Watch For

Here are the most important factors to consider when reviewing a proof:

Is it in registration, i.e. are all of the register marks on the edge of the proof aligned?
Do the various color elements, be they text, line art, or images, register correctly in relation to each other?
Are all color items represented in the correct color? Are all of the tints used the correct shade?
Do flesh tones look real? Do any other items that contain familiar "memory" colors look real?
Does the main subject of each image pop the way you want it to? Put another way, is there enough contrast?
Are all the bleeds pulled past the trim edge?
Is the proof 100% of the size you specified enabling you to correctly judge color, placement, size, etc.?
Is all the type legible? Are any characters or words broken, missing, the wrong color, etc.?
Is your text free of misspelled words? Are there any grammatical errors?

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Digital Marketing Adding

2008-11-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

Marketing Sherpa published a new survey result today featuring the shift from traditional to online:

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Recession Proof Your Business

2008-11-12T16:23:00.000-08:00

This article was sent to us from Eric Gruber:

Recession Proof Your Business – How to Avoid Business Failure & Increase Sales in a Lagging Economy

When you’re a small business owner there’s no “Golden Parachute”, no Massive Severance Package or Stock Options to cash in on and there are definitely no bailouts. The success or failure of your small business is all on your shoulders!

Here’s Are 5 Things to Do If You Want Your Business to Fail During a Recession

1. Don’t Do Anything

2. Don’t Do Enough

3. Don’t Encourage Referrals From Other Clients

4. Don’t Create a “WOW” Experience

5. Don’t Take Massive Action Now

Now, if you want to build your small business, there’s good news.

You don’t have to sit back and become a victim of the times. Right now there are businesses and market segments that are making record profits. US Steel just posted record profits for the second quarter after losing huge orders from the auto industry.

Here’s How US Steel Achieved Record Making Profits – And So Can You:

They found new markets at higher prices
They were open to new opportunities
They were pro-active

Here Are 10 Quick and Easy Strategies to Increase Sales and Profits During a Recession

1. Implement systems that measure and track the results of ALL of your marketing, advertising and publicity efforts

2. Look for new ways to re-position products or services you provide to attract a new market segment. Example: Re-position Yoga as “Fall Prevention Strategies for Seniors

3. Find new distribution channels for your products whether it’s through the Internet or other retailers who are selling complimentary products or services.

4. Create Joint Venture Arrangements with other complimentary, not competing Businesses. For example an accounting firm could go to their legal firm and offer to hold a seminar on “Tax Reduction Strategies” for the their (legal firms) clients as a special bonus. The accounting company may get new clients and the only cost is their time. One stipulation, the accounting firm must offer a special seminar to their clients on “How To Structure Tax Shelters for Estate Management”. Both companies benefit.

5. Have a “Rewards Referral Program “ for your existing customers and let them experience how it will work.

6. Know the numbers in your business. Find out what products and services make the most profits and which ones make the least. Start promoting or up-selling those first. Do you know the average transaction value which is the average amount each consumer pays you at the point of purchase? Go find that out now and then ask yourself the question “How can I increase that amount by 10% by adding or bundling in extra value?

7. Position yourself as the “Knowledgeable Expert” in Your Field and write articles for the newspaper, or trade journals and radio interviews. You can even write and submit articles online using www.IWantMoreProspects.com. The print and online media is always hungry for information to provide their readership. They are always on the lookout for new information that solves people’s problems or helps them save them time or money.

8. Differentiate yourself from the competition and give the consumer the “Reason Why” they should do Business with you versus your competitors.

9. Join a Mastermind Group or Coaching Program to improve your skills as a Marketer. Tiger Woods has a golf coach to help him. Professional baseball teams have hitting and pitching coaches. And you should have a business and marketing coach to stop the downhill slide before it becomes uncontrollable.

10. Build a stronger relationship with your customer base through frequent contact, special offers, and newsletters. Survey your existing customers to see what they want and then sell it to them.

This is just a short list on the many things that are possible. Now the question is, do you want to recession proof your business and achieve massive results or do you want to lay down and play dead and hope things get better? It’s you choice!

About the Author:

By revealing missed profit opportunities, Marketing and Sales Expert Ron Romano increased the sales and profits for more than 10,000 small and medium sized businesses, entrepreneurs and independent sales agents. Now, you can use his FREE MARKETING AUDIT at: http://www.InstantMarketingReview.com to magically uncover all the hidden profit-making opportunities you’ve been missing out on. What you may find out might just change your life forever.

Join the discussion, submit your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Do It Yourself SEO

2008-11-10T15:29:00.000-08:00

This product release was provided to us from Vizad, Inc.:

About Lotus Jump

Lotus Jump was designed specifically for individuals who have no prior SEO experience, enabling them to effectively optimize their websites in-house rather than outsourcing to an expensive SEO firm.

For companies looking to cut their marketing budget without sacrificing quality, Andrew Pincock, COO at Vizad says, “Have one of your employees who knows how to use the internet spend 15-30 minutes a day on LotusJump and you’ll be able to optimize your site as effectively as if you had hired an SEO firm to do it for you.”

Based on the information provided during registration, LotusJump creates a queue of customized SEO tasks relevant to the client’s site and selected search terms. Each task includes detailed step-by-step instructions, simplifying the notoriously complex task of SEO. The more tasks a client completes, the more effectively they can increase their site’s rankings and generate more traffic.

If you are interested in learning more about LotusJump visit www.lotusjump.com for more details.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topic or comment.

Social Media and the Election

2008-11-06T13:38:00.000-08:00

Articles flooded the web and blogs all over the world echoed this sentiment. The Democrats used SMS, social networks, and viral video to raise money, get out the vote, and drum up support. In fact, they used it like a well oiled marketing campaign would and sometimes more effectively than corporations have had to date.

To say it tipped the election in their favor would go to far. However, the Republicans have not fully embraced new media as part of their major campaigns as of yet. I look back on Howard Dean’s advisers as pioneers in political new media and Barack Obama’s advisers built upon this foundation. Third party candidates also showed adoption of new media, but to lesser success. The next election cycle could truly be one that social media plays a leading role.

More importantly in my eyes, the election made a huge impact on social media. It was a large stage in which social media was showcased as an effective marketing tool. One that can be measurable and deliver results. I believe as marketers watched this election they gained a new respect for this new medium. A respect that will be its own foundation for future campaigns and exciting developments in social media.

Call for Marketer of The Year Nominations

2008-11-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

The American Marketing Association of Pittsburgh is hosting its Second Annual Marketer of the Year Celebration Thursday, December 11, 2008 at LeMont on Mount Washington. The Marketer of the Year competition, Pittsburgh’s only results-based marketing competition, is open to any company, agency, not-for-profit, individual or government organization that developed implemented and sufficiently completed a marketing program in western Pennsylvania in 2008.

Finalists in 14 potential industries will be recognized and awarded and one overall winner will be deemed Marketer of the Year for 2008. Categories include: Consumer Products/Services, Education, Financial Services, Industrial & Manufacturing, Media & Marketing Services, Medical & Healthcare, Minority & Women Owned Businesses, Nonprofits, Professional Services, Public Relations & Advertising Firm, Real Estate & Construction, Retail, Sports/Entertainment/Hospitality, and Technology.

To submit your nomination or for more information, visit http://www.amapittsburgh.com/moy_about.asp

LinkedIn Adds Apps

2008-10-29T07:59:00.000-07:00

First of all, wanted to say welcome to all the new members of the AMA Pittsburgh Chapter LinkedIn group. If you are a current member you can join by going to http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/95541.

If you signed on to LinkedIn this morning then you noticed some changes. There is now an applications tab and you will see some apps highlighted on the right hand side as well. The new applications are from organizations such as Google and Amazon and further expand LinkedIn into everyday business life.

Members now have the ability to share files, presentations, reading lists, blogs, and travel schedules with colleagues. The changes are designed to expand on the job hunting and networking functions inherent in LinkedIn.

An application from Box.net lets users share and manage documents through a LinkedIn profile page, while Huddle.net's program offers co-workers a secure online "workspace" to swap ideas, and team up on projects. Other new applications include a Google service where users can embed presentations on their profile page, and Amazon's reading list feature, which displays what members and other people in their industry are reading.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Is Now The Time To Be Agressive?

2008-10-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

The economy is on our minds and on the candidate's lips. Recession predictions are abundant and even GM and Chrysler have approached the government for a hand out. During slower times, the first impulse is to cut marketing budgets. In fact a recent Marketing Sherpa survey show that larger organizations have already begun are looking to cut expenditures.

In tough times, an organization that can be fluid and dynamic has the potential to build brand, trust, and ultimately take market share from competitors. As the chart shows, smaller organizations have been slower to make cuts and if funds are spent wisely, these organizations can position themselves against their larger competitors.

Areas that an organization can focus on are increasing service levels, shifting to direct or online marketing tactics, and programs that are brand building in nature.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

The Geeks to Inherit the Earth

2008-10-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

From a recent Reuters story:

The Internet is not just changing the way people live but altering the way our brains work with a neuroscientist arguing this is an evolutionary change which will put the tech-savvy at the top of the new social order.

Gary Small, a neuroscientist at UCLA in California who specializes in brain function, has found through studies that Internet searching and text messaging has made brains more adept at filtering information and making snap decisions.

But while technology can accelerate learning and boost creativity it can have drawbacks as it can create Internet addicts whose only friends are virtual and has sparked a dramatic rise in Attention Deficit Disorder diagnoses.

Small, however, argues that the people who will come out on top in the next generation will be those with a mixture of technological and social skills.

"We're seeing an evolutionary change. The people in the next generation who are really going to have the edge are the ones who master the technological skills and also face-to-face skills," Small told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Marketers Say Don't Cut Email

2008-10-21T07:11:00.001-07:00

According to the Email Benchmark Survey from Marketing Sherpa, email marketing should not be part of the cost cuts inherent in a challenging economy. Respondents were surveyed based on the effectiveness of email marketing as a tool. The results are below:

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Contexual Ad Basics

2008-10-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Contextual ads are a bit different than your search ads. So we are on the same page, contextual ads are ads that are served based on the content of a website. For example, a website devoted to photography would carry ads for cameras.

So what makes these ads different from your search ads? After all, are they not served up based on the criteria and keywords that you created? The main difference is the tone of the ad. A search on a search engine constitutes the need for information. A contextual ad on a website is more suited to advertising philosophy.

Since the mind set for a search ad is informational, your search ad should be descriptive in nature with appropriate links to information. Contextual ads instead are interrupters - an ad that is not expected, but may make sense for a browser. This ad should have stronger sales language to encourage a browser to leave the site and visit yours.

Contextual ads have expanded recently to go beyond websites and into videos and games. As such, there are more opportunities to utilize contextual ads to deliver your message to a focused or niche audience. This is in line with Web 2.0 benefits of engaging a person rather than a mass market.

Some tips for creating your contextual ad:

Make Your Ad for Me - I am on this site, watching this video, or playing this game for a reason. Make sure your ad reflects this and fits in appropriate with the content and the audience.

Make Me Look at Your Ad - If I am to take my focus away from what I chose to do, make sure there is something in your ad that will catch my attention like features and benefits.

Call Me to Action - I am not going to leave what I am doing without an incentive. “Save 20%!” “Free Shipping!” “Free trial” “ETC!”

Take Me Right to The Spot - With a search ad, I should go to the appropriate information. With a contextual ad, I should go right to the offer. If more info needs to be communicated, give me the option to click on it. As such, your landing page may need to be designed differently for contextual ads.

DRM - The Power of Testing

2008-10-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

This article comes to us from our friends at GACC Printing:

The Power of Testing

Why Test? You test to identify the approaches, content and techniques that produce the most response and profit for your particular product or service. Testing can confirm your intuition, identify what works, what doesn't and what is irrelevant, and provide you with the information you need to optimize your marketing.

What price point generates the highest profit (margin times response rate)?
What type of offer provides the greatest number of inquiries?
What topics are the readers of my newsletter most interested in?
What appeal provides our non-profit with the most donor responses? The highest average donation?

These are just a few of the questions you might use testing to answer. Testing has traditionally been used to increase an organization's insight over time into what approaches work best for their particular products/services. However, with today's faster turn-arounds and lower production costs, some forward-thinking marketers are building tests into individual mailings by staggering drop dates.

Take the example of this association whose goal was to maximize registration for a trade show conference. The customer planned an overall mailing of 60,000 pieces, but randomly selected 10,000 contacts for a preliminary test. With a fairly simple test design, the customer tested a control (their best guess of what worked) against two additional offers, two additional formats, and two additional headlines/teasers. The results determined that an optimized combination could produced 42% higher response than the control, which was then used to determine the final piece mailed to the 50,000 remaining addresses.

A Case for Long Tail Keywords

2008-10-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

I have read a lot of info recently that said Long Tail Keywords were dead. IT seems that experts like to kill concepts quickly these days. Yesterday, I came upon this chart from Marketing Sherpa that proves that this strategy is still viable for SEO.

First page on the search engine is still preferable and the higher the better obviously with a full 53% stopping there. However, the strong number of those that go beyond two pages deep indicates that users will look for specific information that they need.

Optimizing for longer search phrases and terms that refine a search will capture these searchers and send more qualified traffic to your website.

Marketing in a Challenging Economy

2008-10-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

The current uneasiness in the current economy has shown some signs of reducing marketing budgets. The old adage goes that marketing is the first to experience budget cuts. Metrics that show results will be important in this environment.

A recent survey of marketers showed these programs gaining resources:

Online Tactics
Email Marketing
SEO
Paid Search
Telemarketing

Direct mail showed continued strength with just minor cuts.

Programs losing resources:

Print
Radio
TV

Marketers also reported reducing event expenditures with a focus on niche events. Brand programs were seeing funding shifted to more direct and one to one programs as well.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topic or comment.

Tactis for Boosting Online Ad Response

2008-09-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Marketing Sherpa has been publishing a weekly series on online advertising. This is part three of the four part series and it addresses best tactics to boost ad click through:

These three take aways were also provided from Marketing Sherpa:

The results fall into three general categories:

Emotional

Our brains are hardwired to pick up volumes of information from the subtle nuances in facial expressions. That could be why adding a picture of a person is the single most effective way to communicate brand information.It’s no accident that some charities seeking donations feature pictures of suffering children. Words on a page simply can’t convey emotional messages, such as suffering, joy, or frustration.

Utilitarian

Adding drivers, such as more data-entry fields, tends to flatten the purchase funnel. Adding a video allows advertisers to pack more information into an ad. Such drivers ease the journey from product ignorance to product purchase, with the least amount of work possible.

Efficient

Adding drivers, such as more dynamic text, helps match relevant messages to more exposed individuals, reducing wasted media.

Join the discussion by adding your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Friendly Fridays - How to Participate

2008-09-18T12:20:00.001-07:00

In one of my favorite recent Broadway shows, a shaggy haired puppet sings “The Internet is for Porn”. Well that may have been true, the recent news announcement made me sing a different tune.

It’s official social sites have taken down the king of the Internet and are now the most used sites. Turns out that we all want to be social after all. So raise a glass and salute the new champion. I hope it is a long run.

Which in around about way leads me back to Friendly Fridays in this space. Each Friday we would like to feature an AMA Pittsburgh member. So how do you participate?

It's simple. Answer these questions and send your profile to amapgh@universalwit.com:

Name:

What is your current company, job title and responsibilities?

What does your company do?

How long have you worked for them?

What experience do you have in marketing?

What is your education background?

What are your favorite things about marketing?

When and why did you join the AMA Pittsburgh Chapter?

Tell us about your family, hobbies or any other interesting items about you:

Piece of cake. Lets be more social. We look forward to featuring you in this space and to getting to know you better.

Gender Gap

2008-09-18T12:20:00.000-07:00

The following article was sent in by GACC printing for interest to our readers:

A number of researchers from a variety of disciplines have concluded that in aggregate, men and women react differently to colors, images, topic matter and even the style of copy. Empowered with that knowledge, should direct response marketers take into consideration these differences when designing direct mail and broadcast email campaigns? Will doing so improve overall campaign response rates? That's the topic we are going to explore. When we talk about response rates, we are referring to readers who respond to your piece's call to action, which is typically the one action you are looking to get the reader to take. Before you even get to the message, though, the subject of a broadcast email is akin to the direct mail envelope. The call-to-action for both is: Open Me!

Gender versioning attempts to identify design and/or copy components of a direct response campaign that can be modified to reflect general differences in visual preferences among the sexes with the specific purpose of closing a gender gap. To take a simple example, several researchers have concluded that men as a whole respond better to simpler and darker color schemes, in contrast to women who, in aggregate, favor brighter and more complex color schemes. So, if you produce two versions of a mailer with color selections made to reflect these preferences, will it do better than one version with one color scheme sent to your entire list?

Of course, the product or service you are selling, or the topic matter you select, may have absolutely no gender response gap. Our guess is that there are many factors, including the nature of the subject matter, that influence response rates for women vs. men. This provides a nice segue into the four questions you should probably answer: . Is this relevant?. Is this important?. If so, what should I test?. How do I evaluate the results?

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments.

Banner Size Envy

2008-09-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

Do bigger banners get better results in online advertising? Marketing Sherpa published their report on click through by size of banner:

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments.

Online Advertising Tests

2008-09-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

From Marketing Sherpa, comes suggestions for testing your online advertising from messages, to pre live, and after live. Sherpa recommends balancing your testing against ROI to pick the appropriate test measures for your campaign.

New Microsoft Commercial Clowning Fails to Hit Mark

2008-09-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

Microsoft unleashed its first tv commercial in a $300 million marketing campaign. The commercial stars founder Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. The company's attempt at humor likely in response to the well received Mac commercials did make a lot of news over the weekend. None of it positive, however.

The buzz on the blogs and podcasts have resounded with negative responses. The over whelming response was 'What were they thinking?'. Bloggers have blasted the attempt at humor and no one seems to know what the commercial was meant to advertise.

Is this Microsoft's attempt to make a kinder, gentler brand? If so, they might have a bigger hole to fill after their attempt at clowning around.

Outdoor Advertising Metrics

2008-09-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

Online advertising has two measurments: # of impressions and # of click throughs. Since the 1930s outdoor advertising has only had one: The amount of eyes that pass by the advertisement. Those eyes will now be measured as part of a movement to an increasingly accurate measurement system proposed by a consortium of advertising agencies and other outdoor advertising interested parties.

The new system has been dubbed the 'Eyes on Metric System'. The system employs highly sensitive cameras to track how much time a person looks at an outdoor advertisement. Before you think big brother is watching you from behind a Burma Shave sign, the system is employed only to a statistical sample of 900 people.

This group is then analyzed and applied to the traditional number of potential views. The new number is then generated for 'delivery'. This new metric is being adopted as a more accurate to price and buy outdoor advertising, which has seen renewed growth over the past several years as an effective marketing tool.

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Blogging Tips

2008-09-03T05:50:00.000-07:00

Blogs continue to grow as a marketing tool. Most corporate blogs start fast, but often fade just as fast. In today's post, we bring you tips from Marketing Sherpa to make your blog a success.

Tips

1. Genuine, heartfelt content

A main reason that blogs are popular reading is that they stand out in contrast to the massaged language of corporate marketing and PR materials. Like sitting next to an expert on a plane, the best blogs provide highly useful information in a brief and informal setting.

2. Regular updates

Many if not most corporate blogs start strong but fade after the initial rush of ideas evaporates. Some companies have created internal quotas for bloggers; others have hired or assigned specific staff. A few have been successful using social networking to attract amateurs interested in the topic. The bottom line: Your blog needs to be active to be successful.

3. Focus

In many industries, blogging is common. Technology and marketing have been early adopters, and the field is crowded. To be successful, new blogs need to provide an innovative lens on their content – usually by being highly focused on an under-reported aspect of their industry. If you are in an industry that is late to blogging, you may be able to provide a generalist’s view.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topics or comments.

Friendly Fridays - Meet John Higgins

2008-08-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

It is time again for Friendly Fridays on the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Meet John Higgins. John is the Cvent Administrator on AMA Pittsburgh's communications leadership team. John helps make reservations for AMA Pittsburgh events smoothe and easy.

John is currently the Webmaster at Getronics, and manages all online marketing, including web site design and maintenance for the company. Getronics offers many IT & Consulting Services. John has worked for the company for 3 1/2 years.

John's background in marketing spans all aspects, but he has spent the last 7 as a Webmaster. Joh has a Bachelor's degree from Penn State University and received his MBA from Duquesne University. John also obtained Webmaster Certification from University of Pittsburgh's Computer Learning Center.

John enjoys marketing, especially developing strategy, and then being able to use multiple techniques to achieve goals. He originally joined AMA Pittsburgh approximately 10 years ago because he wanted to meet more people after school. "After a couple of years, I let my membership lapse," said John. "I rejoined about 5 years ago, but have only now been more involved with the organization."

John enjoys spending time with his family, and occasionally finds time to go golfing. He is also a big movie buff, and enjoys the local sports teams, both professional and college.

Be a part of AMA Pittsburgh's Friendly Friday blog posts by submitting your profile.

New Features for LinkedIn Group

2008-08-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week, LinkeIn notified group managers that additional features will be added to the Group module on the network. These new features offer a significant improvement over past services including:

Discussion forums: Simple discussion spaces for you and your members. (You can turn discussions off in your management control panel if you like.)

Enhanced roster: Searchable list of group members.

Digest emails: Daily or weekly digests of new discussion topics which your members may choose to receive. (We will be turning digests on for all current group members soon, and prompting them to set to their own preference.)

Group home page: A private space for your members on LinkedIn.

New features will be available on Friday August 29th.

You can join the AMA Pittsburgh LinkedIn Group at http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/95541. You must be a current member of AMA Pittsburgh to join. If you are interested in becoming a member, more information is available at www.amapittsburgh.org

PR & SEO - A Match

2008-08-25T11:31:00.001-07:00

Link building is a term that is often used in search engine optimization. The practice is to create inbound links to content on your site from other sites. The key is to make sure you are not just placing links, but linking from valuable content to valuable content.

Press releases are a perfect match for link building. By including links in your press release, you are linking from content to your site. Write your press release with engaging content that attracts journalists and you can create a multitude of relevant inbound links from your PR.

If you use a service to release, your PR is automatically transformed into a web page with your inbound links intact.

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Incentive Ideas

2008-08-21T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from an article written by Kristin Zhivago for Marketing Profs on how to incentivize customers to buy, particularly at a time when customers may delay their purchases as long as possible.

10 Great Incentive Ideas

1. Offer financing or leasing

Finance the purchase, with low interest. This changes the budget impact, and helps make it possible for the champion to justify the expenditure to Finance and management.

2. Throw in additional services or products if they buy by a certain date.

This type of incentive is working well right now. Additional services or products are anything they would normally pay for that "goes with" your product or service.

3. Make a promise related to after-the-sale activity

As I mentioned before, you can guarantee that the company will be "up and running" by a certain date, or they will get a special deal as compensation. Make sure that you and the customer agree on what "up and running" really means. Or, offer VIP, 24/7 service, and priority support.

4. Use free trials or pilots to help them absorb the product or service in small bites

If the "whole thing at once" is too much for them to bite off, break it down into smaller pieces. This is another incentive that eases the budget burden.

5. Offer services for a reduced price or for free, during the times when your people aren't fully utilized

If your sales tend to drop off during a particular time of year, rather than having your service people trying to look busy, encourage the customer to buy during the slower period—and give him a nice discount on those services.

6. Pre-stock the "supply cabinet" when they buy the first time, but only charge them for your products when they use them

You sell 100 laser printers to a company. They will also need cartridges. Offer to sell them a year's supply, at a set discount price, but don't actually bill them for each new cartridge until it is taken from your "supply cabinet."

It doesn't matter if you have a real supply cabinet on site, if your rep refills a supply cabinet each week at their site, or if you get them dropped shipped from another vendor—the point is, they are going to get cartridges from you for the next year, and you won't charge them until they actually place an order for a new cartridge. This helps them get the volume discount without paying in advance for inventory and ensures that you will get their cartridge business for the next year.

7. Quantity discounts

This seems obvious if you're selling a product, but you might want to consider it when selling services as well.

8. Lock the price

Let's say you're selling something that is prone to price increases, because the costs you have to pay keeps going up (such as fuel costs, material costs, etc.). Offer to lock in the price for a given period of time if they make the initial purchase now.

9. Offer to pay for an associated product

"Buy this car now, we'll pay for the next three years of your gas."

10. Create a rewards or points program

Keep it as simple as possible, with as few conditions as possible. "Fly 16 times, get one flight free," is more compelling than "Earn a certain number of miles with each trip, apply those miles to other trips, depending on where those trips are going to or from, and except during blackout dates."

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh Blog.

A Look at Marketing Metrics

2008-08-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

All marketers know that marketing metrics are the key to success and also to convincing upper management of the value of a program. Marketing Sherpa takes a look at how to match your metrics with your audience for maximum effectiveness in their chart of the week.

Some other key findings from the Sherpa:

Target reach percent: Using composition data from a service, such as comScore, determine how many impressions out of total served went to target, then divide by target reached by total target population.
Increase in searches for a brand: Major search engines can provide this data.o Increase in all site traffic: Site analytics can provide this data.o Control survey increase: Ad effectiveness study simultaneously gathers and compares unexposed to ad-exposed audience to determine increase.
Increase in any blog mentions (buzz): Nielsen Buzzmetrics, or another monitoring service, can determine the general level of brand-specific online chatter.
Viral pass-along: Using pixel tracking on distributed media, or by using internally hosted content, determines how many impressions beyond bought impressions can be attributed to consumers passing marketing to others.
Leads generated: Number of leads attributable to ads.
Interaction rates: Rate of interactions with interactive ads to all ads served. May want to determine unique interaction rate by dividing by unique individuals reached instead of all ads served.
Increase in product review page traffic: a simple tracking tag or bought button on an external product review page can show increases; alternatively, just ask review site for data.
Increase in opt-in/subscription rates: Number of opt-ins attributable to ads.
Increase in positive blog mentions (buzz): Buzz monitoring service can determine the general level of brand-specific online chatter, and filter out negative comments.o Strong website event: For brick and mortar store, events like printing directions to a local store would count. Will differ depending on website.
Contact requested: Number of contact requests attributable to ad.
eCoupon printed: Number of ecoupons printed; if possible, number redeemed.
Purchase/Conversion: Number of purchases or conversions attributable to ad.
Quality/Amount: Qualitative metrics such as dollar amount purchased help determine where most valuable audience is coming from. Important for sellers with very different products.
Repeat Purchase/Conversion: Number of repeat conversions.o Lifetime Quality/Amount: Lifetime value of customers.
Share of Wallet: $$ spent on your product vs. $$ spent on competitors’ products.
Recommendation: Similar to viral pass-along, but limited to existing customers.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Not a member yet? Interested in finding out more? In addition to the website, there is a new member breakfast coming up on Sept. 11th from 8-9AM at the Mellon Center downtown. Contact AMA Pittsburgh for more details.

10 Tips for Success in Business

2008-08-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

Lesley Mattos is Owner of Adesso Albums, Inc. and creator of the original instant photo guest book that combines retro, funky and fun Polaroid instant photos with hand written sentiments from guests. She left a high profile job with Cisco to form the company.

After a trip to Italy, far away from friends and family and immersed in a culture that lives in the moment, she realized what she’d lost sight of. That’s where the idea for Adesso Albums was born. Six years later, Adesso Albums is an international company with more than a million dollars in annual revenue.

So how did she do it?

Leslie shares her 10 tips for Success in Business – Based on her Personal Experience:

1. Embrace change. It’s an inevitable part of running a business. Rather than fighting it, wasting valuable time and eventually losing, you’re better off anticipating, planning for, and embracing change. As a small business owner you should be nimble and react quickly in a variety of ways. If you look at change as an opportunity to grow, you will!

2. Use technology. Do more with less by automating routine processes with web-based applications. These applications increase productivity and free you, your staff and your resources to focus on more important tasks. And, these applications can be accessed from anywhere

3. Keep your eye on the ball. It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day minutia of running a business. Constantly ask yourself if your daily activities get you closer to your overall goals for the company. It will keep you on track and stop you from spending time on the wrong things.

4. Know your differentiators. Compare your products and services to the real, as well as the perceived competition. A competing concept can be even more threatening than an actual product. Unless you have thought about what differentiates your product or service from everything that’s out there, your marketing efforts will fall short.

5. Lead by example. Peers and subordinates alike will learn from your example. They “listen” with their eyes more than with their ears. Your actions mean more than what you say to them. Make sure your processes and actions both inside and outside the office are things you want emulated.

6. Give the illusion of participation. Everyone likes to feel like they are part of the decision process, so let them! Then do what you think you ought to do anyway. It’s not necessary, and often actually a hindrance in a small business environment to employ the decision by a committee process.

7. Control timing. We often miss opportunities because we think we have to respond immediately to stimuli such as phone calls or emails. Just because the phone is ringing or an email comes in, it doesn’t mean you have to react. Your day shouldn’t be a series of interruptions. The more you control your distractions, the more effective you’ll be.

8. Know what you don’t know. It’s inconceivable that you could have an in depth knowledge of every aspect of your business. Acknowledge your weak areas and surround yourself with competent resources and trusted partners and learn from them.

9. Stay organized. It is critical to update, edit, add and delete from your list of to-do’s on a daily basis. Nothing feels better than crossing things off. And, with a well-maintained list for you and your team, everyone will stay on track and your chances for success are enhanced.

10. Plan for success. Formalize your processes as you go. Plan for and build infrastructure ahead of your growth. So when your growth spurt comes, you’re ready for it. And don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way. Stop and pat yourself and your team on the back as milestones are achieved.

Friendly Fridays - Meet Jessica Romano

2008-08-15T11:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a bumpy start to Friendly Fridays on the AMA Pittsburgh blog. After the success of last night's final summer mixer, I feel we may have turned the corner. Today, we'd like you to meet Jessica Romano.

Jessica is the communication coordinator for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. Her responsibilities include public and media relations, visitor newsletters and publications, plus she edits Phipps members' magazine—her favorite duty.

Phipps is a non-profit premier horticultural display conservatory, featuring a beautiful Victorian glasshouse and botanical gardens. Phipps offers adult and children's education programs as well as many family activities and events. Jessica has been there for a year and a half.

Before joining Phipps' marketing staff, Jessica spent six years at WPXI-TV in the promotions/ creative services department. As a writer/producer, she produced video promotions for the newscasts and special programming (She spent many hours a day in an edit suite!). Her work also included press releases, on-air talent biographies and website promotion. Jessica holds a B.A. in film and video from Penn State University, with a minor in anthropology.

Her favorite things about marketing: “I truly enjoy writing and getting people excited about events, opportunities, the city-- anything that connects people. It's a great field for those who love to work with people and communicate in a creative, fun way.”

Jessica joined AMA in 2008 after being introduced by her friend and current chapter president, Justin Mastrangelo. “The Phipps marketing team was fortunate to win the AMA Pittsburgh's Marketer of the Year Award in 2007, and after the awards luncheon I found myself asking questions about how I could be part of the organization,” said Romano. “The chapter is full of fantastic marketers in various fields, and it's been a great experience.”

Jessica is married and she and her husband grew up here in Pittsburgh and feel fortunate to be able to live and work in this city. “It has so much to offer! As a ballet dancer, museum-junky and theater-goer, I appreciate Pittsburgh's cultural opportunities and destinations,” said Romano. She is also actively involved in the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America's local chapter, serving as a volunteer and camp counselor.

Be a part of Friendly Fridays. Send us information about yourself and we will get to meet you in this space.

Are Social Networks Taking a Bite Out of Email Marketing?

2008-08-13T10:03:00.000-07:00

MediaBuyer Planner Daily reports that social networks dampen effectiveness of email marketing in a recent report from JupiterResearch:

Better than email?

The popularity of social media networks, texting and cell phone use are having an impact on the effectiveness of email marketing, according to a new report from JupiterResearch.

22 percent of email users now say they use social networking sites instead of email for their communications, writes BtoB.

Email is still one of the most effective forms of direct marketing: 44 percent of internet users said email had inspired at least one online purchase, and 41 percent said email marketing had inspired an offline purchase. Those numbers, however, are down from last year, when 51 percent said email had led to an online purchase and 47 percent said it had led to an offline purchase.

Join the discussion by submitting your topic or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. See you tomorrow at the final Summer Mixer at Olive or Twist.

Investing in Email

2008-08-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

Email is often viewed as a cheap marketing tool. As we get closer to budget time, Marketing Sherpa provides a survey on marketer's view towards email. Would an increase in budget for email bring greater reach?

Almost one-third of responding organizations view email as a strategic tool; they invest enough to ‘stay on top of the medium.’ That leaves the rest in some version of maintenance mode, spending little more than enough to keep pace with inflation.

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Google Announces Insights for Search

2008-08-11T07:16:00.001-07:00

Google is giving you a glimpse inside the “database of intentions”. This is the mysterious inner sanctum that stores the secrets of Google. Insights for Search is a new service released by Google, that allows a marketer to compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. This service builds on the Google Trends application release a couple years ago.

Insights will be particularly helpful in better defining long tail keywords, search terms that combine multiple keywords and phrases. By researching a keyword by category, you will be able to tell search volume for these types of combinations. For example, Remote Control: Toys and Remote Control: Industrial.

Geography is another advantage. This feature allows for analysis of search volume distributed across a region or city. Many regional businesses struggle with search engine optimization because of geographical requirements. Utilizing this data, should aid in planning and adjusting SEO strategies.

The final feature is seasonality. If you monitor the buzz index, you know that keywords can often spike at certain times of years as well as due to popular events. Right now, back to school and Olympics are very popular searches. In a short time this activity will diminish. Insights will let you track these traffic patterns inherent in seasonality, allowing you to make good decisions on optimization and potentially SEM (Pay per click).

Google is providing example searchers to help you get familiar with the new service. You can access the information at http://www.google.com/insights/search.

Last Networking Opportunity of the Summer

2008-08-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

We are one week away from the third and final summer mixer. Join us on Thursday, August 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Olive or Twist on 6th street. Your $20 ticket includes food, two drinks, and as much mingling as you can handle. Door prizes & a DJ

Register here.

Email Marketing Hitting The Spam Folder?

2008-08-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

It is so much easier these days for a recipient to send an email into the Spam folder. Sometimes, it is just a click of a button and even your 'legitimate' email can end up on the wrong side of the email tracks.

Marketing Sherpa conducted a study to find out why recipients will categorize an email as Spam even when it is from a recognized source. The below chart illustrates the findings:

Some key points:

Content is key. Make sure you are sending something of interest
Be careful with frequency. Might be a good idea to conduct a quick survey of your audience to determine how much is enough and what will constitute too much

Join the discussion by submitting your comments or topics to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Offline Email Bounce

2008-08-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

Do you collect emails or now maybe cell numbers for SMS at an offline location? Then you might be experiencing bounce. Bounce is when the info you collected leads to a non-deliverable address.

This can be caused by illegible writing, wrong info heard, mistakes during transfer, etc. So how do you collect database information offline that is usable. You use online methods.

This may seem odd. After all, you are collecting the information offline. Studies have shown that using an incentive that is generated at the offline site can have a high conversion rate of customers that go online to fulfill.

This way you get your information accurately and electronically. Make sure you give an incentive that will encourage fulfillment and you can reduce the bounce.

Online Video Study

2008-08-04T09:28:00.000-07:00

I came across an excellent study regarding online video. Some great take aways like keep your programs short (3 minutes or less) and make them funny, music oriented or user generated content for max appeal. This article came from Marketing Charts.

The top 5 categories of videos watched online are all short-form - comedy, music videos, videos shot and uploaded by consumers, news stories and movie previews - according to a Frank N. Magid Associates survey conducted for Metacafe.

Moreover, 28% of those who watch online videos report watching less TV as a result, according to the national online survey of 2,000 people age 12-64. Among the other findings of the Metacafe survey:

50% of all respondents watch online video weekly.
11% of all respondents watch online video daily.
19% of those who watch online videos report regularly sharing a link to a video with someone else.

The top-five most commonly viewed types of online video content, based on respondents reporting that they watch regularly, are as follows:

Comedy/jokes/bloopers (37%)
Music videos (36%)
Videos shot and uploaded by consumers (33%)
News stories (31%)
Movie previews (28%)

Christmas in July Post

2008-07-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

The holidays are right around the corner. Now is a good time to check your strategies, especially if your company looks to this season for a good deal of its sales. There are some external factors to be aware of this year, including a presidential election, stalling economy, and higher gas prices.

Marketing Sherpa provides these dos and don'ts as helpful tips to consider:

Without question, testing new tactics and retesting older ones is a sure-fire way to achieve greater sales. Strong pieces of advice can also come in handy. Here are four intriguing dos and don’ts from marketers that are based on what they learned during last holiday season:

Do #1. Watch your price points in this economic downturn

"The overriding theme is going to be frugality," says Michael Cramer, Co-Founder, Adagio Teas. "Online shoppers will be thinking, 'How can I check out without spending too much money?' So, we are looking to appeal more with value propositions." Furthermore, Cramer and his team plan on setting their merchandising system to push products that are priced between $19 and $49. In addition, the five cross-sell items that appear on their products details pages will fall in that price range.

Do #2. Use incentives to push traffic towards Website

Use incentives to direct customers to the Website rather than the call center – especially if you are sending out a catalog. It will take some heat off your busy CRM reps and cut down your operations cost. Since employing this tactic, for instance, Legendary Whitetails has successfully transitioned 10% more sales to online that used to be offline.

Don't #1. Drop your print catalog the week of the presidential election

Wait until America becomes refocused on everyday life after the election. Your big-time efforts are going to get lost in the political hysteria and produce small-time results. Need proof? In 2004, Legendary Whitetails dropped the catalog right "on top of the election," says Mark Kaiser, VP Marketing. "And it wasn't a good drop. You need to let the criers cry and the yeahers yeah before they'll get back to doing regular things."

Don't #2. Focus too much on Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Those days are important, but not to the point where you lose out on other marketing opportunities, says Neil Kugelman, CEO, Goldspeed.com. "From what we've seen, ecommerce customers' big days are the last six days before Christmas. The last-minute orders are really huge."

Join the discussion by submitting topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Say Hello to Cuil (Cool)

2008-07-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

On Sunday night, former members of Google announced the release of www.cuil.com (Pronounced Cool). Cuil is a brand new search engine that claims to be able index the most pages across the web.

The search engine seeks to provide more relevant results by indexing on keywords as well as the meaning behind the search of those keywords. The company is not selling paid search or advertising at this time, but may in the future.

The site strives to help the user search by providing helpful hints on how to narrow their searches to find the sites that they are seeking. The results produced are then categorized and the engine is currently returning results that are different from Google right now.

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Banner Advertising Tips

2008-07-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

Banner advertising is starting to peak and may soon level off according to some sources. IF you are employing banner advertising as part of your marketing programs, make sure to get the most effectiveness with tips from Marketing Sherpa:

The Sherpa also recommends 3 steps to improve performance:

In the first issue, almost 80% of newsletter readers scan some part of the ad in the left-hand column. By the second issue, that number is cut in half, and then halved again in the third viewing – bottoming out at 20%. It’s a dramatic illustration of ‘banner blindness’ – the process by which we are able to identify page geography by what’s familiar vs. strange and what’s relevant or not.

1. Change the landscape
The most powerful way to combat banner blindness is probably to vary the page template itself. By moving landmarks, you encourage the eye to conduct a more complete scan of the page. This is easiest in the email world, where creating and scheduling similar, but not identical, templates won’t send the Web team into paroxysms.

2. Change the look and feel of ads
If you can’t change the position of ads, think about changing ad sizes or the way they look. In our study, for instance, we swapped in a text list where a graphical ad had been positioned and saw a jump in attention. The eye tracks changes to a familiar landscape.

3. Increase ad rotation
The easiest way to combat blindness is to change ads frequently. For publishers, that’s easy. That’s not the case with sponsored placements or in-house advertising; these can sit static for long periods.Publish Post

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your topic or comment.

Online Developments Update

2008-07-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer for announcements and last week was no exception. Here are some of the recent developments to keep an eye on:

Google is said to be close to buying Digg. The Google empire has been acquiring complementary pieces at a rapid rate. Besides Digg, Google announced Knol a Wikipedia type entry and Lively a Second Life competitor. Add those to the partnership with Yahoo on search.

MySpace will begin selling music and concert tickets from its site. MySpace had already become a large music sharing network and this is a natural extension for the social network site. Amazon will handle the fulfillment for the new service.

Facebook will take advantage of its connection to Microsoft by incorporating Live Search on its network. This development has ramifications for your SEO efforts. You may not want to ignore MSN anymore as Facebook continues to grow in important demographics.

Speaking of SEO, Adobe announced that Flash and rich media applications will now be indexed by Google and others. There is a flurry of questions as to the ramifications. No one is sure what weight will be given and techniques for SEO within Flash have yet to evolve. One thing seems to be agreed upon, if you gained an advantage in rank because of a competitor’s flash rich site - that may be coming to an end.

A recent study by Borrell Associates, a Williamsburg, Va.-based market research firm, uncovered three major trends:

Spending on online display ads (web page banners, pop-ups, etc.) have been flat the past two years and are expected to top out at $12.6 billion in 2008, then decline more than 50 percent by 2012.
Paid search advertising will peak at $16.9 billion by 2009 and start declining.
Online promotions generated about $8 billion in 2007. This category will nearly triple by 2013 to $22.8 billion, exceeding all other online advertising categories, including paid search, banners, email and online audio/video advertising.

Join the discussion by submitting your topics or comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Price vs Service

2008-07-23T06:21:00.001-07:00

Marketing Sherpa recently conducts a survey that compares a company and customer perspectives to ending a business relationship. Not surprisingly, companies still believe price is the number one driving factor. Customers on the other hand report that service is the number one reason.

Below is the Sherpa chart detailing the results:

Join the discussion by submitting your comment or topic to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Join Your Fellow Members on LinkedIn

2008-07-22T07:02:00.001-07:00

Link up with fellow AMA Pittsburgh members on LinkedIn. AMA Pittsburgh has their own group on the site to aid in connecting member to member. As long as you are a current member, you can join the group at http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/95541/754D223CCBBE

If you are not a current member, you can join the AMA Pittsburgh chapter via the website at http://www.amapittsburgh.org. Now is a great time to join or renew your membership. August has the final summer mixer at Olive or Twist complete with drinks, food, a DJ, and I am told a few surprises as well.

There are great events planned for September and October, leading up to the Marketer of the Year Awards in December. More information on the fall events can be found in this space or on the website in the near future.

Neilsen Numbers

2008-07-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Online video continues to chisel into to normal tv watching habits. According to the venerable reporting agency Neilsen, Some 162 million went online in May. Video posted some strong numbers with 119 million unique viewers and 7.5 billion video streams viewed in May 2008.

Join the discussion, submit your comments or topics to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Friendly Fridays

2008-07-18T06:04:00.000-07:00

We invite you to the third and final summer mixer:

Thursday August 14th, 2008
@ Olive or Twist
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 by Wednesday August 13th, 2008

Long Tail Buzz

2008-07-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Chris Anderson set the world on fire with his book ‘The Long Tail’ (I recommend it for reading). Now it seems the Long Tail has been applied to strategy all over the marketing universe from product to SEO.

I won’t pretend to explain Long Tail as it was enough to fill an entire book. The basic concept is that if you look at your sales, you will see a tail that starts with the highest sales down to the smaller sales. This graph from Wikipedia will help to explain:

From the chart you can see that a small number of products, services or customers can account for the largest amount of sales (Often referred to as 80/20 rule). However, Anderson realized that by offering a larger number of products and selling less of more without a major increase in cost, certain Internet companies such as ITunes, Amazon, and EBay were successful against the more established brick and mortar veterans.

Since this time the Long Tail has been applied in many places, often successfully. I still believe there are several industries where a long tail business model could make an impact, but that is a story for another time.

The term Long Tail seems to have its own long tail. Marketers are looking for Long Tail marketing programs that can deliver increased results. The major area that the Long Tail buzz has gotten its fuel is with SEO.

Research shows that a few keywords drive the largest percentage of traffic to your site. The issue many marketers face is that is becoming harder and likely more expensive to own these words whether organically or paid, especially if you are just starting out.

The long tail of SEO is the words or phrases beyond the nost popular for your company. The question is does it make sense to invest time and resources into these less popular keywords or devote to the few that drive the traffic.

Join the discussion by submitting your comments or topics to the AMA Pittsburgh blog.

Webinar Tips

2008-07-16T07:10:00.000-07:00

Webinars have become an integral part of marketing programs. With a rise in gas prices, webinars are poised for growth as audiences turn to the web rather than travel for events. With more and more online events popping up each day, Marketing Sherpa surveyed audiences to find out what will cause an attendee to leave a webinar.

The key finding was be sure your event stands up to how you advertise it. The single largest factor for leaving a webinar was events that over promised and under delivered. The Sherpa chart below illustrates common reasons for quitting a webinar.

Join the discussion by submitting your comment or topic to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Mark your calendars for the final summer mixer on August 14th. Details to come soon.

You Already Have a Mobile Marketing Program

2008-07-15T06:17:00.000-07:00

One million was the key phrase yesterday. The US announced that it had one million names on its Anti-terrorism list. The bigger news was that Apple sold one million of its latest version IPhone. The company announced 10 million downloads from its apps store as well. This means that you as a marketer are already in the mobile marketing platform.

I know what you are saying to yourself. I don’t have mobile apps, widgets, or even a SMS/text marketing program. I am not doing mobile marketing. You might also be saying I am not a consumer brand or my demographic is not 13-25 so I don’t need mobile marketing.

Whether you are industrial, b-b, small, medium or large, you are now in the mobile marketing game. The fact that there are now one million more devices on top of the other communications equipment in the world that also have web access as integral to their services means that you have no choice but to be mobile marketing.

In fact you have 2 mobile marketing programs likely at your company right now. The first and primary is your current web site. This marketing tool can now be accessed by one million more people from their mobile device. The second is your email marketing programs.
Now that you have one million more potential prospects to view your website and email, you might want to review the accessibility of your site. Accessibility can refer to how easily accessed the information on your site is to the visually impaired, search engines, and now mobile devices.

If your site is heavily designed in programs such as Flash then that information will be lost to mobile device users. Make sure your site is designed to interact with these devices and use the fancier programming and design as an enhancement instead of the main architecture. Functionality will be key as you are accessed by your new mobile prospects.

Another item that you might want to review is how up to date is your information on the site. Keep your information fresh and relevant to encourage all of your visitors to use your website as a tool.

Once you have the basics fixed then you can look at all of the new ways that you can put mobile marketing to work for you. I personally know that many construction contractors carry Blackberrys now. That’s important to remember when you think that mobile marketing is just for consumer brands.

Here’s hoping that mobile marketing can make you one million more of what’s most important to you.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by submitting your comments.

Direct Mail Tactics

2008-07-14T06:50:00.000-07:00

Dean Rieck, a leading direct copyriter prepared an excllent list of direct marketing tactics for Marketing Vox:

One of the primary advantages of using direct mail is the ability to divide and conquer: Your letter delivers a personal message and makes an offer. Your brochure demonstrates features and dramatizes benefits. Your order form calls for action and eases response.

Each piece performs a specific function and, because each is dedicated to that function, does a better job than a mailer that attempts to do everything simultaneously. With that in mind, consider testing an appropriate insert or involvement device that can boost response enough to offset the additional cost. Here are eight ideas:

1. Encourage involvement with a quiz or checklist. Is the offer relevant to your prospect? Prove that it is by including a simple quiz: "Do you qualify for our 80 percent discount on life insurance? Take this quiz and find out." Or a checklist: "25 ways our investment course can make you a millionaire in 10 years."

2. Make the offer tangible with a check or coupon. If you’re offering $25.00 off, enclose a coupon or simulated check worth $25.00 and instructions for returning it with an order. If you can, offer a real check that provides an instant reward or even activates a service when cashed. A check can be personalized and show through an envelope window.

3. Dramatize an offer with stamps or stickers. If you have several offers, configurations, or options, you can print each on a stamp and ask recipients to affix one to the order form. Stamps and stickers are highly involving and make it clear that action is required.

4. Answer objections or highlight a benefit with a lift letter. The lift letter is the dean of all inserts. It is usually a short message signed by someone of higher authority than the letter signer. It presents a second point of view, meets objections, adds credibility, highlights benefits, etc.

5. Increase credibility with a testimonial. Testimonials work best when you print them as a stand-alone piece, which increases the "bandwagon" effect. You can also have a benefit headline to introduce them, such as "Over 3 million satisfied customers agree, a Wahoo Widget lasts so long, it's the last widget you'll ever have to buy."

6. Prove your superiority with a sample. Let's say you're selling a coat or jacket to outdoor enthusiasts. You claim it will withstand all manner of torture because it's waterproof, fireproof, rip proof, and stain proof. Enclose a one-inch square of the fabric that is attached to a small card with instructions for testing its durability. This way, your prospect can see firsthand that your product is everything you say it is.

7. Emphasize exclusivity with a membership card. People like to belong. If you can structure your offer as joining a club or organization, you can send a membership card printed on plastic or heavy paper. You can even personalize it, provide contact information and list benefits.

8. Reinforce your guarantee with a merchandise return label. It's one thing to say a dissatisfied customer can return a product; it's another to actually provide a prepaid return label in advance. This shows how confident you are in your product and lowers perceived risk. One way to do this is to combine a label with a lift note that explains the return process and how there's no risk or obligation for responding.

You can sign up with Marketing Vox to receive their enewsletter on marketing topics. Mr. Rieck also offers the Direct Repsones Newsletter as well as a blog.

Join the discussion by submitting your comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Spread the word and share the blog with your colleagues. Don't forget we want your profile for Friendly Fridays AMA Members.

Google Announces New Virtual Experience

2008-07-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

Google announce a new virtual experience 3d website called "Lively". The new site is a competitor to Linden Labs Second Life, which was launched 5 years ago. Lively will feature avatars and other features similar to virtual experiences.

"If you enter a Lively room embedded on your favorite blog or website, you can immediately get a sense of the room creator's interests, just by looking at the furniture and environment they chose," Niniane Wang, engineering manager, who oversaw Lively's creation, said on Google's official blog.

Lively also allows for playing YouTube videos in virtual TVs and showing photos in virtual picture frames inside the rooms, Wang said.

Join the discussion by submitting your comments to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. We are always in search of AMA Pittsburgh member profiles for Friendly Fridays in this space.

See you tonight at the second AMA Pittsburgh Summer Mixer at Firehouse Lounge in the Strip.

SEO Myths

2008-07-09T06:23:00.000-07:00

SEO seems to have a magical quality to it, call it Google Mystique. Some think of it as a game. Some think of it as an impossible task. In this article, we look at some common SEO myths.

Michael Estrin a regular contributor to IMedia Connection wrote an excellent article titled ‘10 SEO Myths Debunked’. I’d like to share and discuss some of those myths.

Myth: Secret Tactics

Many believe you need to fool the search engines or try some out of the ordinary measures in order to gain position in search engine rankings. Before you try the next big hit tool, go back and read the SEO basics. Start with the basics and look to see if your site is optimized properly. If you do the basics well, we guarantee you that you will see results. Once you have the basics down then take a look at some other strategies and see what makes sense for you.

Myth: Optimize Only For Google

Yes, optimize for Google, but remember there are many other engines out there that people still use. Don’t forget the other guys.

Myth: SEO is Free

Paid search has now been classified as SEM (Search Engine Marketing). So if you are not payine then SEO is free. It is not free. Even if you do it yourself, there is still the cost of your time. How much is that worth? A SEO consultant has a cost. So do many of the tools that were in yesterday’s post that can help you with optimization.

Myth: SEO is a One Time Event

We have all seen this. You have just redesigned your website so its time for SEO. SEO is an ongoing program that should be measured, tweaked and integrated into marketing programs.

Myth: SEO Will Take Years to Show Results

Even though SEO is an ongoing program, most experts (and so do I) agree that you can see measurable results in 30-60 days.

Myth: Accessibility Doesn’t Matter

Usually, accessibility is the first thing I notice is a problem when I am asked to review a site for SEO. SEO and update ability of a site are the first thing that is sacrificed for design. I am all in favor of pleasing and forward thinking design, but you must balance design with functionality.
With the advent of mobile devices like the IPhone that gives users the chance to view the web, accessibility is even more important. Flash heavy sites choke IPhone users. They also throw off search engines. Build your site’s architecture for accessibility and use Flash where appropriate to enhance a site.

Join the discussion on the AMA Pittsburgh blog by leaving your comments. Feel free to submit topics for this blog and don't forget to send us your profile for Friendly Fridays.

SEO Metrics

2008-07-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Search Engine Optimization has the ability to be measured in a variety of ways just like other marketing programs. Marketing Sherpa conducted a survey in January 2008 of marketers as what they saw as the most under utilized metrics for SEO. Take a lookf or your self and see how you can optimize your programs through better metrics in the face of rising SEM costs.

Join the discussion by leaving a comment to the AMA Pittsburgh blog. Feel free to submit topics of interests and don't forget that if you are an AMA Pittsburgh member that we want to meet you during Friendly Fridays in this space.

Let's Mix It Up Again

2008-07-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

Join us on Thursday, July 10, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Firehouse Lounge on the Deck in the Strip. Your $20 ticket includes food, two drinks, and as much mingling as you can handle. Door prizes & a DJ.

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

“I AM A… Marketer!”

Register online

WHEN
Thursday, July 10, 2008 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM

WHERE
Firehouse Lounge
On the Deck in the Strip
Pittsburgh, PA

SEO Tips Part 2

2008-07-03T07:25:00.000-07:00

In Part 2 we continue with Marketing Sherpa’s ‘Special Report: Online Keyword Research Guide: 5 Tips & 9 Useful Tools’. Today comes the 9 tools that you can use to help you with Search Engine Optimization.

The Sherpa has broken down 9 online tools to aid you in search engine optimization, including size, services, and pricing.

Compete.com Search Analytics
http://searchanalytics.compete.com/site_referrals/
Database size: 19 million terms, 3 million sites.
Update frequency:
DailyResearch tools:
- Site-referral tool that shows most popular terms driving traffic to a given site or an industry category.
- Keyword-destination tool that shows which sites receive the most traffic from a specific search term.- Site comparison to show which of two sites has the traffic and engagement advantage for specific keywords.
Analytics:
• Top referring keywords for specific sites
• Site’s share of total referrals for keyword
• Keyword engagement (average amount of time people spent on the site after searching on the keyword)
• Keyword effectiveness (combination of total number of people and time spent on site)• Site ranking for key terms
• Average monthly search referralsPrice: Free registration, but viewing complete reports cost one or two site credits. Credit packages range from $20 - $500.
Best use: Competitive research.

Google AdWords Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Database size: Unavailable.
Update frequency: Unavailable.
Research tools:
- Keyword generator that displays list of relevant and related keywords to word or phrase entered.
- Keyword list generation based on website content for URL added.
- Keyword cost estimates for PPC campaigns.
Analytics:
• Advertiser competition for keywords
• Previous month search volume
• Average search volume
• Search volume trends
• Month in which highest search volume occurs
• Estimated ad position
• Average CPC
• Estimated traffic volume for list
• Sort by match type (broad, phrase, exact, negative)
Price: Free
Best use: New keyword generation; keyword list augmentation; pricing guidance for AdWords campaigns; integrating keyword lists into AdWords campaigns.

Keyword Discovery
http://www.keyworddiscovery.com/index.html
Database size: 36 billion searches from 200 search engines worldwide.
Update frequency: Monthly.
Research tools:
- Top phrases that include search term.
- Related terms.
- Common misspellings.
- Top searches for particular industry.
- Domain researcher that identifies available domain names that contain keywords and phrases.
Analytics:
• Search volume
• Occurrence of term on sites
• Keyword Effectiveness Index
• Predicted daily volume
• Keyword density on your site or competitors’ sites
• Seasonal trends from previous 12 months
Price: Standard subscription, $69.95 monthly/$599.40 annually. Enterprise subscription, $495 monthly/$4455 annually.
Best use: Keyword list building; keyword list augmentation; global search campaign planning; competitive research.

KeywordSpy
http://www.keywordspy.com
Database size: 1 billion keywords.
Update frequency: Every two weeks.
Research tools:
- Keyword search shows top sites ranked on a given term for paid search and organic results.
- Domain search shows top keywords bid on by that domain, along with ad variations and landing page URLs being used.
- Keyword and domain search by specific market (United States, UK, Canada, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, India, Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa).
Analytics:
• Total keywords by site listed
• Ad position for keywords
• Approximate price per click on keyword
• Average clicks per day on a keyword
• Estimated ROI for keywords
• Number of competitors bidding on keywords
• Geographic breakdown of competition and keyword usage
• Historical trends for keyword usage
• Position of a given domain in organic search results
• Number of competitors using a keyword in SEO
Price: Free level limited to 20 search results per query; complete results for $89.95 monthly.
Best use: Competitive research; international campaign planning; directional data for keyword advertising selection.

Microsoft adCenter Add-in for Excel 2007
http://advertising.microsoft.com/advertising/adcenter_addin
Database size: Unavailable.
Update frequency: Unavailable.
Research tools:
- Keyword suggestion shows terms related to a submitted keyword list.
- Keyword extraction shows popular terms contained in a submitted URL.
Analytics:
• Relevancy scores for suggested keywords
• Relevant terms contained in past search queries
• Campaign association (terms that have been bid on in adCenter)
• Top frequent keywords
• Top “spiky” keywords demonstrating recent and sudden popularity
• Suggested keyword categories
• Monthly or daily traffic forecasts
• Geographic search data
• Demographic search data (gender and age group)
• Monetization Key Performance Indicators (clicks, impressions, position, CTR, match type)
• Monetization metrics within industry verticals
Price: Free download for users with Excel 2007 and an AdCenter account.
Best use: Keyword list development and pricing guidance for MSN campaigns. Data can be extrapolated to estimate search traffic on Google and Yahoo.
Price: Free for adCenter account holders (must have Excel 2007). Still in beta.

SEO Digger
http://seodigger.com/
Database size: 60 Million English keywords in Google; 44 million English keywords in MSN, 11 million Russian keywords in Google.
Update frequency: Approximately every two weeks.
Research tools:
- Domain search shows all the key phrases for which a given site achieves a top-20 Google ranking.
Analytics:
• Site position on search engine results page
• Keyword popularity from Wordtracker
• Keyword popularity from Overture• Keyword popularity from Google
Price: Free. Unregistered users limited to 5 queries per hour, and can only see results for the specific link entered. Registered users can check entire domains (including internal pages), and can conduct 1,000 queries per hour, and 10 complete domain searches per hour.
Best use: Analysis of own site’s high-ranking terms; competitive research; ideas for search phrase semantics.

SpyFu
http://www.spyfu.com
Database size: 13 million domains, 2.5 million keywords.
Update frequency: Monthly.
Research tools:
- Keyword search shows which sites and advertisers rank highly for a given term.
- Domain search shows statistics on a site’s advertising budget, top organic positions, top ad placement, and top competitors.
- Pre-assembled lists illustrate searching and advertising trends, including Top 500 Advertisers, Top 500 Organically Ranked Domains, Top 500 Most Clicked Terms, Top 1000 Most Expensive Keywords.
-SpyFu UK, which offers domain and keyword data for the UK market.
Analytics:
• Keyword cost per click
• Keyword clicks per day
• Keyword cost per day
• Number of advertisers bidding on a keyword
• Total keyword search results
• Historical trends in keyword average cost per click and clicks per day
• Top ads for a keyword
• Top search results for a keyword
• Domain advertising budget
• Domain total clicks per day
• Domain average cost per click
• Domain average clicks per day
• Domain average ad position
• Domain average number of ad competitors
• Domain average ad percentile
Price: Free registration for basic research functions. Subscription packages for full additional features — expanded lists of domain top organic positions and ad placements — range from $6.75 for a three-day trial; $38.50 monthly (auto renewal); $45 monthly (manual renewal); $296 annually (auto-renewal); $308 annually (manual renewal).Best use: Competitive research, directional data for keyword advertising selection.

Wordtracker
http://www.Wordtracker.com
Database: 330 million search terms.
Update Frequency: Daily.
Research tools:
- Keyword Universe displays popular related terms to a keyword or phrase, and how those terms are used in longer search phrases.
- Keyword Researcher allows you to import a list of up to 500 existing terms to find how those terms are used in exact searches, which terms are most popular, and how they can be re-ordered for additional coverage.
Analytics:
• Count (number of times the term appears in searches)
• Prediction of number of times the search term will appear in next 24 hours
• Keyword Effectiveness Index
• Estimated competition for keywords
Price: Free tool generates list of up to 100 related keywords. Full functionality with subscription for $59 monthly, $329 annually.
Best use: Keyword list building; keyword list augmentation.

Wordze
http://www.wordze.com
Database size: 552 million keywords, 68 million unique search terms.
Update frequency: Monthly.
Research tools:
- Related keyword search for terms entered.
- Analysis of competing sites for a specific term.
- Download lists of top weekly or monthly search phrases.
Analytics:
• Total number of keywords found
• Estimated search volume
• Keyword Effectiveness Index
• Historical keyword data
• Keyword difficulty (Top domains for each keyword, with average links per month, total links, length at that position and other features to analyze how long it would take to rank in top 10 for a given term)
• Searcher demographics for keywords
Price: $7.95 one-day trial, $35 monthly.
Best use: Keyword list building; keyword list augmentation; SEO keyword strategies.

SEO Tips

2008-07-02T10:17:00.000-07:00

I’d like to share this report from Marketing Sherpa titled ‘Special Report: Online Keyword Research Guide: 5 Tips & 9 Useful Tools’. I broke it up into 2 parts with the 5 tips coming first.

Takeaway #1. Tools can’t replace your own research

You can’t build a search campaign solely on the terms generated by a keyword research tool. Your competitors are probably using the same tools as you are using, and can find the same terms.

Instead, you need to use those tools to augment the proprietary keyword research you’re performing for your company or clients:

- Look carefully at your own product names, popular terms used in your website copy and page titles, and internal site search queries terms.
- Study existing marketing materials, press releases and other content for important industry terms.
- Conduct your own online research on user forums, blogs and social media sites for terms and topics that users are talking about.
- Perform your own competitive analysis of how other companies are positioning their sites and search ads.

After completing your research, use a keyword research tool for the following tasks in generating your overall list:

- Starting a keyword list for a new product or new ad campaign.
- Seeing additional, related terms to supplement your internally generated lists when you’ve exhausted your own creativity.
- Checking your existing list for estimates of search volume and competition for PPC and organic placement.
- Gaining insight into unusual search syntax based on historical queries, which can help you generate new search phrases.

Takeaway #2. Data isn’t 100% accurate

The reliability of data is the most common caveat we heard from marketers who use online keyword-research tools.

The data these tools generate is typically only a snapshot of overall search activity, which depends on:

Sample size
Source of the data (one search engine vs. several; ISP data vs. proprietary Web scraping tools, etc.)
Frequency of update of data

“Volume estimates should always be taken with a grain of salt,” says Greg Hayes, Online Marketing Specialist, G.A.P Adventures. “They could be low or high depending on the day they were collected.”

Data accuracy can be a bigger issue as your search criteria become more granular. For example:

- Niche terms and long-tail keywords that have lower search volume may be less well represented in keyword databases. That was an issue for Bill Shaughnessy, Director, Online Marketing, EDGAR Online, as he conducted keyword research for long-tail financial search queries.

“The challenge I faced was with some of those less popular, less searched terms that an equity analyst might use, such as ‘derivative’ or ‘derivative models,’” says Shaughnessy. “I thought that [the tools] were lacking, because they kind of led you back to broader-based terms that I already had.”

- City-specific or regional data for geotargeting might not be well represented in keyword databases due to the lower volume of that search activity captured by the tools.

“There’s not enough data to make it statistically relevant,” says Melissa Mackey, Online Marketing Manager, Fluency Media.

Takeaway #3. Search advertising cost estimates are directional at best

Several tools will give you estimates for the average cost per click companies are paying on top keywords. But that data can’t tell you exactly how much you can expect to spend on a particular ad campaign.

For starters, many cost-estimating features only provide a cost index, showing whether the term in question typically commands a high, medium or low cost per click. Tools that provide actual price estimates typically display results in a range — for example, $0.50-$4.50 — that can lead to a wide variation in your potential budgeting needs.

Don’t look to tools for hard and fast CPC spending guidelines. Use them to create estimated costs for new keyword lists or develop an hypothesis on how keyword changes might impact your budget.

Takeaway #4. Use multiple tools for best results

Each tool uses different databases and analytics. So, their results will differ. But you can use those differences to your advantage by compiling data from several tools.

“I don’t think there is any one source that can do the job for you,” says Stuart Meyler, Principal, Stinson Partners. “We look at three or four of them to come up with a baseline.”
Paul Elliot, Partner, Acquisition Marketing, Brulant Inc., had his team create special algorithms that reconcile data from multiple research tools.

The more you experiment with different tools, the more you’ll find features and data sets that are most relevant to your business. You may trust one tool’s volume scores, but find better-related keyword suggestions elsewhere. Another might be particularly good at researching competitors’ search marketing activities. Use them all to enhance your strategy.

Takeaway #5. Always test the keywords in your own campaigns

Even the most accurate aggregate data is no match for live test results. Whenever you use an external tool to create a new keyword list, conduct a test of those terms as part of your research strategy.

“We always test a keyword list for 30 days to see if we have a realistic baseline or benchmark for where we should be moving forward,” says Kent Lewis, President, Anvil Media.

Interesting Survey Numbers

2008-07-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

You may be feeling uneasy about adapting new media as part of your marketing programs. Sure, the stats show us that traditional marketing is declining and new media is growing. However, we know that there is still uneasiness over a customer base that is empowered and a communications explosion.

A recent study of CMOs shows that you are not alone.

The following information was reported by Ted Mininni in his blog.

Marketing Daily recently conducted an interview with The CMO Council’s Donovan Neale-May, who divulged some starting information. It appears that in a survey conducted by The CMO Council and the Boston Consulting Group of 1000 senior marketing execs, only 6% of respondents felt that their “go to market” capabilities were “very good.”

The opening paragraph shocked Mininni - “Marketers are not taking advantage of all-or even many-of the tools available to them to create effective sales and marketing platforms. What’s more, they know it-and they’re not doing much about it.”

The study and article disclosed that “despite their acknowledged deficiencies, the majority of executives are unwilling to stray outside of their comfort zone.”

* 66% of respondents reported that they remain focused on traditional marketing, branding and promotional communications.
* Only 26% reported making inroads in better understanding their consumer targets was a priority.
* Only 14% cited retail and service execution was a priority.

Neale-May observed that the “same old” proven marketing strategies might be effective, it’s also important to embrace “innovative new approaches.”

Many of the marketers surveyed recognized a need for the following:

* 52% are modifying sales and marketing strategies for better results.
* 32% need to hire new talent.
* Yet these two areas are not a fiscal priority-58% cited these two initiatives would have to be financed from current budgets.

The survey found that a healthy 48% of executives surveyed stated they had “insufficient resources as a barrier to implementing successful programs”. 48% said they had “talent issues” and 35% cited “a gap between current and desired capabilities.”

As to the future focus for the marketers surveyed?

* 56% are focused on ‘talent management and performance’-85% reported that they are rating the success of their marketing programs via revenue growth. And 53% reported that customer acquisition and retention were employed as marketing measures.
* 52% are focusing on ‘business strategy’
* Only 14% are focusing on investing in new metrics
* Only 12% are focusing on technology and IT
* Only 20% are focusing on productivity
* Only 10% are focusing on channel development

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IDK MY BFF Marketing

2008-06-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

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.

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.