prosar, Author at PROSAR Inbound Inc.

18 November 2015

Planning for 2016: Inbound Trends & Patterns Worth Noticing

As 2015 rushes toward its close, it’s time to start planning for next year. Any business that hopes to succeed will include a marketing plan in their business strategy, but it’s not enough to just pay lip service to it. That marketing plan should be actionable, measurable, and focused on Inbound Marketing practices.

graph paper with rising bar graph and pie chart with 'plan' written on it — Photo credit: Violka08 / Thinkstock / 527478745

Not sure exactly what “Inbound Marketing” really means? HubSpot, the company who coined the term in 2006, refers to it as “the art and science of drawing visitors to your company on their own terms versus obtrusively pushing your messages onto them… [It] is the superset of quality content and other ‘magnetic’ tactics.” And their annual ‘State of Inbound’ Report is rather like the State of the Nation and the Farmer’s Almanac of marketing, combined. The 2015 report identifies trends and patterns worth noticing as you build your business plan for 2016, providing insights that are aimed at helping businesses improve top-line performance.

While I strongly encourage you to download and read the whole document, the State of Inbound 2015 Report has 54 information-packed pages, so allow me to give you a brief taste of a few key ingredients for your 2016 marketing success recipe:

“Getting found” is priority #1 (and #2 and #3) for high performers

When conducting its survey and analyzing the results, HubSpot focused on the segment of inbound marketers who generated positive ROI. They looked at these high performers to see if their priorities were different than those of low performers.

Pattern: They found that high performers focused on programs aimed at getting their content (and thus their company) found. Specifically, their top priorities, in order, were: Blogging, organic search, and content amplification. “Blogging appears to have the most substantial impact on performance.”

Inbound Marketing has become an important, cost-effective source of leads

Trend: In 2015, more than twice as many respondents cited inbound (45%) as their primary source of leads versus outbound (22%).

Trend: 84% of inbound marketers cite organic, “top of funnel” lead sources (social media, blogs, SEO, and email marketing) as rising in importance over the last six months. And the Sales team agrees that these four have become the most important, although they place a relatively higher importance on email marketing, whereas Marketing prioritizes blogs and social media.

Related patterns:

Organizations that source more leads through inbound tend to enjoy an ROI advantage.
Marketers who have prioritized blogging are 13x more likely to enjoy positive ROI
While cost per lead was difficult to quantify, it was found that leads sourced through inbound programs were consistently less expensive than outbound leads. This held true regardless of company size.

Inbound is on the rise

Trend: The number of marketers who state they are practicing inbound rose from 60% last year to 85% this year, while the percentage of marketers who concede they don’t run inbound was nearly halved to 13%.

Trend: Inbound is not limited to Marketing. Sales, services, and other departments are starting to use inbound practices. Fostering an inbound approach outside the marketing department has the potential to be a big competitive advantage.

Measurement is essential

Measurement is “the first step in developing a plan and the last step in determining results. This is why data is such a central component of the inbound machine.”

Trend: Alignment between leadership and marketers has increased. This is likely due to an increase in the use of measurement and metrics to collect unbiased, objective data that can be used to drive informed decisions and set appropriate priorities.

Pattern: Marketers that measure inbound Return on Investment (ROI) are 17 times more likely to see the same or higher ROI compared to the prior year. While this data may be skewed by the fact that high performing marketers are more likely to measure results, “there’s a strong correlation between simply measuring ROI and achieving it.”

Pattern: Proven ROI has a significant positive influence on the size of the marketing budget. In fact, “past success with inbound” had a greater impact on budget than any other single factor.

Putting it all together to create a solid plan for 2016

It seems clear from the results analyzed in HubSpot’s State of Inbound 2015 that Inbound is an essential part of the marketing strategy and overall business plan for any organization. It has been proven to generate leads, lower the average cost per lead, and increase ROI. So, how do you put it into practice?

Include inbound programs in your marketing plan and earmark resources for them.
Focus on Content Marketing as a key component of Inbound Marketing. Useful, compelling content is necessary to drive Inbound success. “Content is the lifeblood of Inbound.”
Establish key metrics, and measure as you go.
Identify the projects, activities that are providing the highest return.

And above all, stay nimble. “Inbound is about constantly reallocating your resources based on performance.”

Does your organization “do” Inbound? Have you noticed any other trends or patterns?

12 November 2015

Who’s Your “Amy”?

three women with shopping bags — Photo credit: ThinkstockPhotos-454296797

Last week the Globe and Mail published an article by Marina Strauss on Sears Canada’s marketing focus (New Sears Canada president’s mission: Win over ‘Amy’) — spoiler alert, it’s all about Amy. Amy is “40 years old and has one child and another on the way. She’s time-starved and looking for reasonably priced fashions.” And she doesn’t exist as an actual person, she is a representative of the ideal customer that they believe will help Sears regain some of its lost market share in Canada. And, for the foreseeable future, most of their marketing decisions and service implementation will take Amy into account.

Defining your ideal client, even to the point of naming her or him, shouldn’t seem odd in this time of avatars and online profiles. In fact, determining your target market and understanding your customer is nothing new. However, the structure and detail applied in the current trend does seem to be adding an additional dimension to the practice. And, that’s a good thing. It is driven, in part, by the rise in content generation and inbound marketing tactics. It’s important to understand who you are writing content for and how best to attract their attention and online loyalty.

Sears realizes, of course, that they can’t ignore the existing customers who remain loyal shoppers. Have you met Linda? She’s an “over-50 customer with two grown children and an ingrained Sears shopping habit.” (Maybe Amy and Linda will go shopping together, and Amy can help Linda post her purchases on Instagram.)

Under the savvy stewardship of new President Carrie Kirkman Sears Canada is applying a disciplined marketing strategy. It sounds obvious, and you might assume that all companies employ this type of strategy, but most don’t. In fact, many SMEs don’t truly implement any structured marketing strategy. (Yes, they probably have some form of strategic plan, but they often don’t have a workable implementation plan, so it never becomes part of the day-to-day consideration.) And that’s the real strength of what Sears Canada is doing. This strategy is pervasive and lends itself to implementation at all levels — not easily, it will take real commitment. But making it more tangible (Would Amy use that product, notice that display, appreciate this service…) It’s easier to understand directives and more motivating to care about how they are fulfilled when you’re “doing it for Amy.”

In addition to facilitating implementation, here are some other advantages to a successful buyer persona directed marketing strategy:

Coherent Communication: For any organization, and especially large corporations, communication (both internal and external) can be rather confusing. Concentrating on buyer personas provides a simple and engaging storyline internally, and coordinates clear external messaging.

Resource Deployment: Having such a laser focus reduces waste as you more effectively direct spending and staff.

Staff Morale: Understanding who you are working for and why can be a rallying force for staff. If everyone understands their targeted demographic is, if everyone knows Amy, then the entire organization can understand what they are doing and why. Retail, and virtually every organization, is reliant on service; isn’t it easier to care of a friend?

Satisfied Clientele: Not trying to please everyone allows your organization to hone in on satisfying your targeted market — improving both ROI and customers’ experience.

Regardless of the type of organization, you will benefit from articulating your ideal client/customer/member/donor/patron, and focusing your strategy on that buyer persona. Any business is not necessarily good business, so determine who you should be catering to, and set out to rock their world.

5 November 2015

Ladies Who Lead: Inspiring Stories of Successful Women in Marketing

[Part 3 in a 3-part series on women in marketing]

There’s a lot to love about the award-winning show Mad Men – especially if you’re in the marketing, communication or advertising industries yourself. However, if you’re a woman and a believer in equal rights, much of the show can be hard to swallow. This is what makes Peggy Olson, as a character, so fascinating.

Peggy comes a long, long way from her humble beginnings as Don Draper’s nervous young secretary in the first season – eventually climbing her way to the highest ranks at her New York advertising company as a head copywriter. The industry is dominated entirely by men of course as the show is set in the late 1960s before the second or third waves of feminism hit corporate America. Peggy faces incredible sexism and discrimination, making her journey to the top as a young woman especially compelling.

While the sexism never completely disappears, Peggy’s skin thickens as the series progresses. In the final episode ofMad Men, she’s a whole new woman it seems – negotiating huge client deals, spearheading million dollar campaigns, and fearlessly drinking and smoking among the ‘old boys club’ after hours.

Peggy may have been a fictional character, but her struggle resonates being that workplace sexism is an unfortunate reality for countless women in marketing since the industry’s inception. As we’ve explored in the previous two blogs in this series, discrimination is still prevalent for many women in our field and still has a stubborn tendency to hinder our success.

That being said, there are an increasing number of women stepping up, breaking this infamous ‘glass ceiling’ and carving new paths for the women that follow. As women in marketing, we can certainly take solace in the great strides we’ve made since the era Mad Men took place in.

Today, more and more women are making their mark on the industry, we should both celebrate and expect that. Here are a few Canadian examples of marketing leadership:

Image credit: ismagilov/iStock

Sharon MacLeod – @SharonMacLeod

Vice-President of Marketing at Unilever Canada

When it comes to Canadian corporate marketing, Sharon MacLeod is a woman who stands out for more reasons than one. She’s tough, and refuses to stand for inequality.

Growing up on a farm with three older brothers, Sharon MacLeod was expected to “do everything the boys did.” There were no boys’ tasks or girls’ tasks, just work that needed to be done. Having been raised with these values, it was eye-opening when she walked into her first meeting as a director at Unilever to discover she was the only woman in the room. She recalls this moment as a defining one which motivated her to become a champion for women’s advancement at Unilever and beyond. Ms. MacLeod has been credited by many with being an “engine for change,” vigorously supporting the growth and promoting the importance of a diverse and inclusive workplace.

As a member of the Unilever Canada leadership team, Sharon MacLeod has been a big part of programs such as the Dove Self-Esteem project, Becel’s healthy heart initiative and Hellmann’s Real Food Movement, as well as the opening of the first-ever Pleasure pop-up store with Magnum ice cream. Her marketing work with Unilever has been recognized by consumers and industry peers alike. Among her many accolades are two Grand Prix awards at the Cannes Advertising Awards and Brand of the Decade for Dove by Strategy. MacLeod is a founder of the renowned women’s leadership program, Chocolate Villa. She is a global diversity champion at Unilever and a great supporter of the company’s sustainable living plan.

Sources:
http://www.catalyst.org/who-we-are/our-people/sharon-macleod
http://business.financialpost.com/women-in-power/women-in-power-canadas-100-most-powerful-women

Marie-Josée Lamothe – @MJLamothe

Managing Director of Branding and Director for Quebec at Google Canada

Marie-Josée Lamothe has the kind of skills and talent that get noticed – which is probably why she’s working in marketing for the one of the leading digital companies in the world.

A 20-year veteran of the beauty and luxury marketing worlds, Marie-Josée Lamothe has experienced numerous successes on an international level. In spearheading many innovative and award-winning projects, she has helped L’Oréal Canada become the country’s top digital beauty marketer. Lamothe has recognized as Strategy Canada’s Marketer of the Year and, under her direction, L’Oréal Canada earned a spot on the list of Top Marketing Companies by Marketing.

Lamothe sits on various industry boards, and she is an advocate of education. In 2014, Lamothe moved to Google Canada where she now sells marketers on how Google can play a bigger role in their communication with customers.

Sources:
http://business.financialpost.com/women-in-power/women-in-power-canadas-100-most-powerful-women
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/googles-new-hire-to-sell-digital-as-central-to-advertising/article18472951/

Michele McKenzie

Interim CEO of Tourism Nova Scotia Corporation

Michele McKenzie’s award-winning career has taken her across the country and back. When it comes to women in marketing, she is certainly worth paying attention to.

With some 30 years of experience working in Canada’s tourism sector, Michele McKenzie has become an internationally recognized expert in hospitality, tourism and marketing. Since being appointed to her current role with the Canadian Tourism Commission in 2004, she has helped it evolve into a respected and competitive brand marketing organization.

Under her leadership, the CTC earned the Marketer of the Year title from Marketing in 2009 and contributed to Canada’s No. 1 position on FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index. The recipient of several awards for management excellence, McKenzie recently accepted the 2013 Leading Management Change Award from Canadian Government Executive. Before joining the CTC, McKenzie was Nova Scotia’s deputy minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. She holds a designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors and an honorary degree from Humber College in Toronto.

Since stepping down as CEO of the CTC, McKenzie has moved into a temporary role as interim CEO of Tourism Nova Scotia Corporation.

Sources:
http://business.financialpost.com/women-in-power/women-in-power-canadas-100-most-powerful-women
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1302354-taylor-mckenzie-plans-to-make-the-most-of-tourism-n.s.-stint

3 November 2015

Do-It-Yourself Online: Yes or No?

They say that a little bit of knowledge is dangerous. In the case of building on the Internet, this is particularly true. What used to be infinitely complex to create is now made simple by a myriad of software platforms that allow almost anyone to build stuff online. For an online business, doing it all yourself can be dangerous.

Websites, e-commerce, and social media business pages are possible for any business, regardless of technical skill, to create, publish and update. Content management systems such as WordPress, e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, and social media for business platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook are inexpensive and easy-to-use for any commercial enterprise. Even the elements of design are handled through the availability of numerous templates where you literally fill in the blanks.

The question is; just because you can do-it-yourself, should you actually do it?

Thinkstock / iStock

The answer lies not in the technical execution, but in the effectiveness of your efforts. A website or online store that does a better job of turning people away rather than selling your products and services is perhaps worse than not having anything online at all.

Much of it boils down to the writing.

Writing for the web is both easy and hard. Let’s review both sides for some context:

The Easy

In some ways, writing for the web is easier than writing a lot of other business stuff, especially stuff for print. The difference is in the way people read online vs. the way people read offline.

Online reading is more like scanning. People are after something specifically when online, searching for information. Decisions need to be made as to whether the online reader is in the right place or not.

Because of this the writing should be simple and brief. Short sentences and paragraphs. Don’t make the reader work to figure things out. There is no shortage of alternative websites and online stores if your reader should they choose to leave you.

Most lay people overwrite when writing for the web. Maybe it’s not so easy.

The Hard

You would think the messages you are trying to convey online would be easy, but it’s not. It can be very difficult to get right.

The challenge is in writing for your readers and not yourself.

Your readers should be personified as “your ideal customer”. The more real you make this persona the more targeted and effective your writing will be. Describe them in detail; demographics, wants, and problems they are trying to solve.

Another difficulty is in leaning towards what you like to talk about (and write) instead of what your web visitor wants to read. Business people love to talk about their accomplishments and their perceptions of their businesses, like proud parents.

The writing perspective needs to be that of the reader and what’s in it for them. The reader is interested in themselves, their needs and problems. In reality, they are not interested in your company or the fancy features of your products.

Should you do-it-yourself?

This depends on how focused you are on your online message, your target audience and the behavior of online shoppers. You know your business, no doubt, but this does not guarantee success in building a website or an online store.

Anyone can get something up using WordPress or Shopify but there is much to consider in what you say and how you say it through these platforms. You needn’t be a journalist or a novelist to be effective — just convey the right message from the right perspective.

If effective online writing seems daunting, you likely need some help. Don’t risk being misunderstood. Prospective customers are too precious. Seek help from a specialist.

29 October 2015

The 3 A’s to Business Networking Online

Recently, I have been looking up different ways to maximize online strategies to connect with potential partners and networks. I mostly found that articles don’t explore as much the idea of social media as a networking environment and focus mainly on reaching the end-user. Now, when I say networking, I mean mainly to interact and connect with other businesses and services that will help you promote, distribute and eventually, generate sales. To help you remember what you need to consider when thinking of such a strategy, check out my 3 A’s to Business Networking Online.

Achievement

Every good strategy has a goal or an objective. This is what I call an achievement. Although, you have not yet achieved it, this is what you want at the end of your networking efforts.

Important to note, contrary to a B2C approach, you will not be speaking directly to the end user. You will be connecting with like-minded partners, peers and other parts of your industry. So what do you want to achieve at the end of it all? Here are a few examples of achievements you should work towards:

– Position yourself, or your organization, as an expert in your field

– Find partners that are willing to work with you to push your message or cause

– Generate leads to grow your distribution channels

Like any worthy destination, these achievements will take some time and effort to reach. Which also means your networking strategy needs to be on a longer timeline than a simple social media campaign to promote a new product or make a quick sale. Best to set achievement goals that will push you to connect, network and create relationships over both the short and long term, but remember that time will be required to gain significant traction. To find inspiration, and check out what other businesses might consider a priority, check out Scott’s article on a recent HubSpot survey: Only 8% of Sales Leaders Prioritize Social Sales.

Audience

When thinking about the audience you want to reach, remember that every company has individual people in it. This being said, your message needs to be focused to achieve your goal, but accessible enough to be noticed by a broader audience. Typically, it will be be an employee, community manager, or even a CEO, looking on social media for like-minded partners that will find you and initiate the conversation.

To start that process, you will need to decide, what part of your industry you want to network with and why. If we adopt the three goals listed above, this is what could be considered:

– Position your company in the industry: you will want to connect with researchers, experts, other companies that are pushing the development of your industry.

– Find like-minded partners: you will be connecting with potential competitors, associations, organisations, partners in other countries, companies that can collaborate or recommend you.

– Generate leads and grow your distribution channels: you will connect with other parts of your supply chain, partners in new markets you want to reach, prospective customers.

Creating a dialogue with these people and nurturing relationships builds a network for referrals, feedback, advice and industry/competitive information. In many cases, these contacts become more intimate than in typical B2C social networks, where the relationship can be more generic.

Avenue

Here, I am referring to the different channels, platforms and media that are available to you. From a social standpoint, the main ones to include are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Now within each of those platforms, here are certain avenues to consider for your networking efforts:

Facebook: Does your industry have any specific Facebook groups you should be apart of? If not, maybe you should be the one to create it.

Twitter: Are your industry experts, researchers and partners online? Do they participate in certain Twitter chats? Are they on certain lists? If not, you should perhaps host a chat to regroup your like-minded partners.

LinkedIn: What groups should you be in? What kind of messages are your peers posting? What kind of knowledge do they want to receive? Can you contribute in any way?

Forums: Does your industry have its own topic? If so, than find those forums and see what the conversation is all about. Can your company help find solutions in any way? How can you get involved?

And let’s not forget the offline avenues! Lasting connections can be initiated and nurtured online but often offline conversations will reinforce those relationships and help you generate leads or references. Here are a few avenues to consider:

Events: What events can you go to? Can you be a guest speaker or host a workshop?

Publications: What publications should you be in and how can you contribute a piece of information instead of a simple ad?

Direct Contact: What companies can you meet face-to-face with and how can you connect with them directly?

These suggestions based on the 3 As (Achievement, Audience and Avenue) are meant to serve as pillars when building your online networking strategy. To start your journey and add the right elements into your plan, include these considerations!

22 October 2015

Grrrr….My Competitor Shows Up When I Search My Company Name!!!

Has this happened to you? Did it make your blood boil? Well, you’re not alone. This does happen, and it’s definitely a very aggravating thing to experience. You are, however, not powerless: you can take action.

Although it’s rare, it can happen in the organic search results. Organic refers to the non-paid listings on the main part of the search-results page as opposed to the advertising listings seen at the top or side.

You might find your competitor’s website showing up in the organic listings for your company name if they write about your company, and their website has some SEO heft behind it. Perhaps a competitor has produced a side-by-side comparison of your product versus theirs (biased of course), or perhaps they’ve taken advantage of some unlucky bad press you’ve received by writing a blog article about it.

When It Happens In The Organic Search Results:

Good news – there’s something you can do about it. Assuming what they’ve written about you isn’t legally actionable, such as being slanderous, your best course of action is to take full control of the first page search results for your company name. To do this, you’ll need to develop a SEO plan geared for this purpose – a plan that involves specific strategies such as:

Make your website’s search result as big as possible by encouraging sitelinks.
In addition to your website, ensure all your other web properties are present, such as your social media pages.
Promote the pages of other websites that are favorable to your brand, such as positive press and reviews.

When It Happens In The Advertising Search Results:

If another company is using one of your trademarked terms in their AdWords advertising, that is an infringement of your rights, and it’s prohibited by Google’s AdWords policy. Google recommends you reach out to the other company in an effort to resolve the issue. If that doesn’t work, Google will accept complaints and action them.

Before you start this process, ask yourself “Are they really infringing on my trademark?” If their ad is showing up in the paid search results for a search on your company name, it may be because there are words in your company name, other than your unique identifier, that are triggering the ad. For example, a search for “Superstar Ottawa Plumbing” will trigger ads for companies bidding on the term “Ottawa plumbing”. In this case, these companies aren’t doing anything wrong.

Blatant Shenanigans?

In some cases, however, your competitor’s AdWords ad actually names your company in the title of the ad. This is enough to make anyone angry, but consider the following before you declare all-out war. This seems like blatant shenanigans, and it might be, but more often than not it’s a Google-system-generated misunderstanding. Let me explain. There’s a feature within AdWords that, when set up by the AdWords user, will automatically place the phrase used by the searcher within the ad title. For example, a search for “Superstar Ottawa Plumbing” triggers an ad for a company bidding on the term “Ottawa plumbing” and, because of their AdWords configuration, “Superstar Ottawa Plumbing” is placed in the title of their ad. Presumably this is unintentional. The AdWords user probably wanted this in place for terms such as “faucet plumbing Ottawa” and “toilet plumbing Ottawa” without going through the effort of individually targeting all the possible terms with uniquely written ads. In this case, a friendly letter to the competitor requesting that your unique identifier, “Superstar”, be added as a ‘negative keyword’ would solve the problem, assuming they take the time to do it.

13 October 2015

Only 8% of Sales Leaders Prioritize Social Sales [New Data]

For seven years now, HubSpot has been polling business to get a sense of where is the State of Inbound: how prevalent is Inbound Marketing, how is business implementing it, what challenges are they facing, and how well is it working for them. Last year, HubSpot added salespeople to the survey in order to get a fuller picture of Inbound’s affect on both marketing and sales. This not only provides greater detail into the use and relevance of Inbound, it makes the report especially valuable with insight into the implementation and ROI of such tactics. One of the greatest impacts that I have witnessed in the process of assisting firms with integrating inbound tactics is the alignment of marketing and sales and ensuing collaboration between these (often divided) departments.

Overall, Inbound Marketing is gaining tremendous speed as more organizations (small, large and even non-profits) successfully adopt such a strategy. The survey found that three out of four marketers, from around the globe, have more faith in an inbound approach than outbound tactics. In fact, Inbound tactics are three times more likely to generate higher ROI. None of this is surprising to any experienced marketer who has been working with both inbound and traditional marketing tactics.

However, one of the findings that I found surprising is that social sales is still a relatively low priority for companies in 2015. For years we’ve witnessed the continued explosion of social media for private use, and how many companies (large and small) have leveraged social media networks to position or build their brand, extend their reach, engage with key markets and even grow trials and sales for products. With this track record I expected small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to start embracing social media and put more effort and resources into its development.

I certainly appreciate that closing more sales and developing an efficient sales funnel are top priorities, they are after all the lifeblood of any organization. But, if prospecting continues to be an issue for companies, sourcing more leads via social selling and using the networks to nurture these leads must be part of the -solution. (For some insight into effective use of social media on an ongoing basis, check out this article by Dave Auten: Social Media Marketing – How Much Time Per Day?)

Perhaps it is an indication that we are still in relatively early years of businesses’ strategic use of social media and other inbound tactics. HubSpot was one of the pioneers and now is a leader in the field, but new tools and marketing automation software are still being introduced at a rapid pace and adoption rates are just starting to catch up. So it is natural that, despite their wish list, organizations must prioritize their needs. There are fundamental and structural requirements that need to addressed first, before some of the implementation and prospecting processes can be refined.

Interestingly, when the State of Inbound 2015 survey probed deeper, all levels of the organization were not totally in alignment. This graph shows how Executive and VP/Director levels placed a higher priority on social selling than middle management and salespeople. This could symbolize that those at the top are starting to understand the potential value of social selling, and that some top-down influence may initiate more organizational involvement in social media. Perhaps next year’s report will shed some light on that trend and its effectiveness.

State of Inbound 2015 Survey — Quick Facts:

Conducted in June and July 2015
3,957 respondents (only one-third have an affiliation with HubSpot)
B2B, B2C and non-profits represented
52% earn less than $1M and approx 4% earn over $500M
48% have fewer than 10 employees and 6% have more than 1,000
Over 150 countries represented

9 October 2015

Do I Have to Say it 100 Times? The Importance of Repetition.

They say a young child needs to be exposed to a new food between 10 and 30 times to develop a taste for it. Ten to thirty times! And every parent of a toddler out there knows that Do’s and Don’ts – especially Don’ts – will be need to be repeated much more often than that before you have a hope of anything sinking in.

two toddlers using a tin can telephone — Image Credit: Alexander Shalamov / iStock / Thinkstock

“Don’t you dare throw that toy train! It’s not a ball! It’s too hard and heavy to throw!”

Again and again, until your patience is thinner than a Nano chip. “Do I have to say it a hundred times?! No throwing toys!”

But eventually, somewhere around the two-hundred-and-first time – or maybe the three-hundred-and-first; it’s unpredictable, and that’s all part of the fun – something happens… Your toddler picks up the toy train and looks like he’s winding up for a little league worthy pitch. You say it again as he grips it, at the ready, and… he stops. He looks at you. He says: “Heavy! No throw!” And he puts the train down gently on the carpet.

Your prospects (hopefully) don’t behave like stubborn two-year-olds, but they still need a little – maybe more than a little – repetition thrown their way before a marketing message will sink in. Even a brilliantly clever message. It will almost certainly surprise you to see how many times you need broadcast your message in order to truly engage your audience. So borrow a page from the parenting handbook, and say it one, two, twenty, or maybe even a hundred times.

Now, I’m not advising you to be boring or annoying. You will need to mix it up a little. Not the core message – that should remain consistent and faithful to your key value proposition. Just the style or way of conveying the message, the visuals that accompany it, and the media and means used for delivering it. The same fundamental message and benefits can be conveyed and repeated through:

– Blog posts

– Social media

– White papers and how-to guides

– Articles in relevant trade publications

– Ads (online and print)

– Email marketing and drip campaigns

– Direct mail

– Trade show displays and promotional give-aways

– PowerPoint presentations

– And perhaps most importantly, the central hub of all your marketing efforts: your website

Be sure to adapt your central message to each format or media. Blog posts, ads, and trade show displays need to be brief an on-point, whereas articles, white papers, and even presentation give you room to elaborate on the benefits and value you offer.

It is also recommended to tailor your key message to each target audience. While the same essential message may be applicable to all of your audiences, they may have different priorities. Different benefits and relevant examples will resonate better than a generic message. But I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: a good message bears repeating. It truly is the best way to drive it home.

So if you feel like you’ve been repeating yourself endlessly and no one is listening, make sure you’re varying the elements mentioned above, and then hang in there. Keep going. Because just when you’ve convinced yourself you must be talking to a wall, you might hear a surprising sound: Your phone ringing. Your email or Twitter notifications chiming. Your message being repeated back to you in the form of a question at a networking event. Break out your best, strongest, tailored version of your message and go answer that call. Your future success is waiting.

7 October 2015

Traditional Tweeting: The Merging of Traditional and SocialChannels

Marketers have long known advertising is no longer a one-way street. The social world has meshed with the so-called “real world,” with text conversations acting as bridges between in person meetings. However, in advertising, we still treat “social” and “traditional” as two separate channels.

Recent data indicates that the bridge between traditional and social has spread— at least when Twitter and TV is concerned. This means content strategies might be changing in the very near future to reflect consumers’ multiple screen habits.

In a world where personal video recorders, Netflix, and streaming are commonplace, it can be easy to think that TV is on rocky ground. However, there’s still nothing quite like watching an event the day it airs and talking about it with your friends. Twitter makes these conversations easy and real time, providing brands with a unique opportunity to engage with an influential audience.

Hashtag integration with live shows is slowly becoming commonplace. This season of So You Think You Can Dancedecided to give Twitter the power to save two dancers out of the bottom six, with the judges saving another two.Face Off, a competition reality show based around special effects makeup, has Twitter handles for the contestants. TLC often airs repeats of their programs with added Twitter commentary to show viewers’ reactions.

So what does this mean for brands? A lot, actually.

According to Adweek, 19% of people will consider trying a brand that engaged with them around a TV program. On top of this, 4 of 5 users active during primetime hours mention brands in their tweets.

Instead of simply having to rely on catchy commercials and jingles to gain traction, brands can now have genuine engagement between viewers around TV shows. Social media allows for unprecedented interaction, and conversations no longer have to rely around branded messages.

Facebook is catching on this trend, too. They’ve recently offered viewers three new ways to interact with their favourite TV shows, trying to compete with Twitter as being the go-to television social media. Whether or not these features pan out for companies is yet to be seen, but it could potentially further integrate traditional and social media into a single, indistinguishable whole.

Other media is almost certainly going to follow suit, with the availability of sharing and contributing to news articles online and augmented reality continuing to make strides. Marketers should think less in terms of “traditional” and “social,” instead viewing all media tools as complimentary tactics. The social world is here to stay and continues reinventing how we interact with the world around us. Those who ignore the shift will almost certainly be left behind.

1 October 2015

More Women Equals Better Business

[Part 2 of a 3-part series on women in marketing. You can read the previous instalment in this series here]

Research proves that equal gender representation translates to a more lucrative and robust discourse in politics, government, media, and private sector business – including marketing. As UN Women indicates, empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieving internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improving the quality of life for women, men, families and communities.

Despite this reality, women are still severely underrepresented. I would argue against any assumption that women aren’t trying to find work. By and large, women are better qualified, harder working, and inject a highly positive influence and alternative perspective in business. Of course, we go after the jobs we want (I know I do).

So why aren’t we getting hired? And just as importantly, why are so few of us being retained for longer periods in business?

Former Director of Policy Planning in the White House and Dean at Princeton, Anne-Marie Slaughter is a force to be reckoned with. Unlike some women, she’s managed to raise a family and foster an incredibly successful career as well. Most recently, she has also spoken out against the Western business culture that does not favour women’s success.

In Slaughter’s provocative 2012 piece for the Atlantic, which became the magazine’s most-read article ever, she dismantled the popular notion that women who fail to ‘have it all’ lack the ambition to do so. Instead, she argues that women are up against a very different, very complex array of systemic barriers that work against us.

Slaughter notes that she still strongly believes women can in fact have it all, but not with the way America’s economy and society are currently structured. Of her most poignant arguments is her conclusion: “If women are ever to achieve real equality as leaders, then we have to stop accepting male behavior and male choices as the default and the ideal. We must insist on changing social policies and bending career tracks to accommodate our choices, too.”

Clearly, motherhood can feel like a burden on any woman’s career (and vice versa) – particularly when women are far more statistically inclined to find themselves saddled with the majority of housework and childcare.

Then again, family life does not account for the discrepancy of dynamic, capable young women in the infancy of their careers, who’ve yet to start a family, or are perhaps are not planning to have one at all. Why are they still left out to dry in marketing industries and elsewhere?

As all women are different, and circumstances vary, there is no one answer to this question. It is reassuring to see a myriad of events and organizations working tirelessly to close the gap and foster a richer, more gender-inclusive business culture in Canada and beyond.

Here’s just a sample of some great organizations in the Ottawa region working to celebrate, mentor and support more women in marketing and business: