How Response Marketing Can Help Your Business

Think about the last time you decided to contact a business because of an advertisement.

It could be an email, a billboard, a radio or television ad, a direct mail piece, or maybe just a link inside a web search. However you responded, you made a choice to connect with that business to satisfy your need.

Your response brought you to talk on the phone or chat or email or talk in person, or review the company’s website. You found enough information, or frustration, to send you on your way. Maybe you made a purchase. Maybe you just got distracted and moved on. What could that business have done to keep you in their mind?

What if, instead of potential new customers browsing and leaving, you had a way to continue the conversation after they’ve left your store? What kind of additional information, offers or discounts could you bring to them to keep them interested in doing business with you?

AdSymetrix Smart Marketing Services provide what we call Response Marketing Products that can help your business grow its connection to your potential customers.

We already capture every response to any ad you place, online or off. What we can also do is create a multi-faceted campaign that lets your business re-connect to your potential customer through Website Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Dynamic Direct Marketing and Email Marketing.

Here’s an example:

You’re looking for a new car. You go online to do some research, finding just the model you’re interested at a local dealership’s website. At the site, you chat with a dealer who answers some of your questions and suggests you come in for a test drive. Later that day, you’re at the dealership. You take the car for a drive and want to go home to think about it for a few days, to make sure that this is something that you really want. The dealer thanks you for coming in and looks forward to your next visit.

The next day, in your mail, you get a post card from the dealership. It has a picture of the car that you test drove, contact information for the sales person you were talking with, a URL that links directly to a webpage about your car, and a thank you for considering using that dealership.

Excited about your new car, and the way that the dealership was so responsive to your potential business, you make your decision to buy.

Response Marketing means that the marketer - you - is responding to the actions of your potential customers. When you respond to your potential customers, they know that you matter to them, and you can focus your sales efforts into creating longer, more lucrative relationships.

Strategies for Small Business : Talking Facebook with Rick Rochon

AdSymetrix own Rick Rochon offers his insight and expertise to Rochelle Paul of The Examiner as they talk about Facebook and other Social Media networks.
Good advice, and information, that you can you in your business today.

Proctor and Gamble Gets Social Media

Soap Operas are called Soap Operas because of Proctor and Gamble. In the early days of broadcasting, P&G was a sponsor of the on-air serial dramas. When P&G gets behind media, that media is legitimized.

Tide sponsored a NASCAR team because the VP in charge of the brand raced cars in his youth. He loved cars, he saw an opportunity to expand his marketing to hit an untapped market. When P&G sponsored the Tide Car, they legitimized NASCAR in the eyes of other advertisers.

This week, P&G called a Social Media Summit in Cincinnati. Attendees - like Peter Kim - learned that P&G not only understood the opportunity, but engaged in an interesting test to prove the value of Social Media.

Attendees were split into 4 teams. Each team had 4 hours, from 5 pm until 9pm, and $1,000.00 to sell as many t-shirts as they could using only the web. All the proceeds would go to charity. Using various social media networks, websites and connections, the teams collected more than $50,000.00. (And Pete’s team won. congrats Pete).

What does this mean for your business? Social Media is quickly becoming a place for business - your business. If a handful of people can pull together $50,000.00 in sales in 4 hours, what can you do when you and your employees activate your connections?

Google Ads Go Behavioral

Google is famous for being a leader in the online advertising space. Mostly, because they have the largest audience across their network of advertising sites. When Google releases a new way to advertise, businesses take notice.
Google has announced that they are getting into the even-more-targeted advertising business: Google Ads Go Behavioral. The hope is that ads will be delivered to your browser not only based on the site you’re visiting currently, but on the sites you’ve been visiting lately. So that the kind of overarching information search you’re exploring feeds you ads that fit your needs.

It’s a good idea. Provide relevant advertising to an audience that’s already in the hunt for similar information. Targeting advertising is always a good idea. You don’t have to go the route Google’s going. The more you now about your customers, and your potential customers, the more you can refine and perfect your marketing and media plans to reach out to just the perfect audience.

When Viral Marketing Bites Back - Astroturfing Message Boards

File this under “Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should”.

The Consumerist points out the story of the Royal Caribbean Champions - an online group of commentators who troll through popular cruise-centric communities placing good reviews of Royal Caribbean Cruises. The Champions are a team organized by Consumer Insight Group, a marketing company that rewards these commentators with perks ranging from “special access to free cruises”.

When news broke - surprisingly through a press release from the CIG - that this group was active, all heck broke loose. In a reputation economy - one where the value of the network is directly related to the value of what the network members have to contribute - false advertising brings ruin. Not only does this lessen the value of the brand - Royal Caribbean in this case - but also the value of any other comments made at the site.

In politics it’s called Astroturfing. The idea comes from grassroots politicking, where non-political people stand up behind a particular issue. They write letters to the editor, they organize on their own, they promote or deride their particular political idea. If it happens organically, it’s grassroots. If there’s actually an organization behind it - say a marketing firm that’s submitting the same letters to the editor in hundreds of newspapers around the country, but using different names - it’s Astroturf. And once an issue is realized as Astroturf, it’s a short fall to being discredited and ignored.

Make sure, when you’re talking about your business, you’re upfront about it. Don’t send in anonymous reviews for yourself, in the hopes that people will think your business is worthwhile. Eventually, you’ll be found out, and your reputation will suffer.

Cheap Ways to Promote Your Business

The ongoing economic slowdown means that you need to keep your eyes open for the best, most economical and most efficient ways to promote your business. Knowing what works is important. When you know what works, you can focus only on what works and stop wasting money on the activities, advertisements or events that don’t increase your sales.

• Social Media - Do you have a page on Facebook? Does your business? With 160 Million People, Facebook has become the first (and sometimes, only) place people go online. You can set up your pages for free, or get some inexpensive help,  and start connecting your customers (and their friends) to your business. The same can be said for LinkedIn, Twitter, and StumbleUpon. Give customers, future and past, an opportunity to connect with you.
• Blog Writing - Every business with a website (every business) should have a blog. It’s a simple, more direct way, to connect with your customers. You don’t need to talk about your lunch, but you can offer suggestions on how to use your products. You can offer promotions, you can talk about your customers, and how they’ve benefited by using your business. You can show people how to work with you, so that they know  that they can do business with you.
• Look For Partnerships - Do you know of any similar businesses in your area that you can partner with to your mutual benefit? Everyone is hurting. If you can find another business who serves a similar need, the two of you can join forces to provide combined products. They can promote you, you can promote them and in the end, the customer will have a full-featured solution on their hands.
• Get Out Of The Office - There’s only so much you can do while waiting for the phone to ring. You need to be out in the community, talking, listening, engaging with the kinds of people who want to do business with you. As the movie says, Always Be Closing, and the more you talk about your business to potential customers, the more likely you are to turn them in to new customers.
• Prioritize Your Marketing - When it’s all said and done, you need to know that the money you spend on your marketing is going to become new revenue for your business. That means you have to know what works. Measuring the effectiveness of your marketing is key. AdSymetrix provides total response measurement. Our system will allow you to track the responses to any ad placed anywhere, online or off.

There are ways to get through this mess. AdSymetrix can help you know what works so that you’re spending less to make more.

How, Where, What and Why of Social Media Marketing

Social Media has hit the mainstream. Over 160 Million people are on Facebook, additional millions are on Twitter. Business colleagues reconnect on Linkedin. Students crib their book reports from Wikipedia. Someone you know is looking for a couch on Craigslist.

That feeling in your stomach is telling you that your business needs to find a way to use Social Media. The question is how? Well, AdSymetrix has some answers:

Social Media Planning is not too different than Traditional Media Planning: If anything, it’s another layer of communication that you can place around your business. The basic ideas are all the same. You need to know how to talk to your audience, where to talk to them, what to talk to them about and why you want to talk to them in the first place.

How To Talk to Your Audience :

You need to use social media. Set up accounts on the major Social Media Networks (or actually use the accounts you already have). With a little bit of time, you’ll find that the systems are easy to understand, and that you’ll be able to communicate with people quickly. Remember that Social Media is like a cocktail party - you don’t want to hard-sell. You want to create relationships and foster new connections. The more people who know you and know your business, the more valuable your reputation becomes. The more valuable the  reputation, the more sales you can generate.

Where To Talk To Your Audience

Once you understand how people use these networks, your business will need its own set of pages. We’ve been helping businesses set up these accounts and find that having a presence on the network can be incredibly valuable. We’ll help you understand the ways that your business will need to talk to your audience through the creation of groups, fan pages and business specific custom pages. Your Tweets, Facebook Updates and ongoing back-and-forth with your network will keep your relationships active.

What To Talk To Your Audience About:

As you become more comfortable using Social Media, you’ll find that different reactions come from different kinds of communication. Tweeting about your lunch may not be as interesting to your audience as tweeting about a new event you’re promoting, but each hold their own value. Social Media, in part, allows for a humanizing of the communication between your business and your customers. That being said, you need to keep in mind what you are trying to get your audience to do. In any kind of marketing, you need to have some kind of call to action. You need to have some activity that you’re asking your audience to do, or you’re just wasting the time and money it took to put the ad together. Identify what you want them to do, and talk to them in a way that nudges them to do it.

Why You Want To Talk To Your Audience:

Most importantly, know why you’re using Social Media marketing. Actually, you need to know why you’re marketing. Does your business need more customers? Do you need to manage your relationships with your customers better? What do you want to tell your customers, and what do you want them to do for you?

Social Media Marketing is another great tool you can use to grow your business. AdSymetrix can help. We can provide total response measurement and track any response from any ad you place anywhere. We can help you set up your network and use the tools of Social Media Marketing to spend less and sell more.

How To Grow Your Business, By Ignoring The Bad News

People need to eat. Those people are both your customers and your employees. You, as the business owner, marketing professional, or generally responsible businessperson, have a role to play to ensure that you and those around you continue to eat. The question, though, is how can you continue your business when everywhere you look you see bad economic news.

Ignore it.

Ok, not entirely. Don’t pretend that you’re sales are rising by 50% a quarter when they aren’t. You need to be centered in reality. But ignore the fear. Ignore the question of whether the economy will overcome your business. Instead, focus on what you can do to embrace the economic news and keep your business healthy. Here are some tips:

1. Know Why Your Customers Come To you

Everyone who calls your office, comes through your door or visits your website is looking for some kind of answer. They want to do business with either you or your competitors. Take some time to talk with your customers. Talk to some of your most loyal customers, find out what make them come back. If you know what they like, you can refine and focus your business to reflect those desires. You can make it easier to work with you than anyone else in your business.

2. Adjust Your Business To Fit Your Customers’ Needs

If you’re losing business because of price, lower your price. If you’re losing your business because of service, up your service. If your customers are going through tough times, find ways to redefine your products or services to fit into their lives. Show your customers how much they matter to you by focusing your products in ways that make sense to them.

3. Give Customers Permission to Do Business With You

Every ad you place, every mailer you send, every person you talk to about your business reminds your potential customers that you’re still in business. Give them permission to work with you. Let them know, in your messaging, that you understand that times are tough, but that you’re still here, ready to help them with their problems. When you advertise, you’re letting people know that you’re around and available.

4. Prioritize Your Markeing - Know What Works

Not every ad is worth its money. You need to know what works. You need to measure, track, monitor and capture every response made by any ad you place. When you know how your ads perform, you can make educated decisions about which ads you should place. By prioritizing your marketing, you can focus only on the useful, while throwing away the wasteful. AdSymetrix has been developed for exactly this purpose. We can track the responses from any ad you place, anywhere, online or off.

5. Keep Smiling

Don’t let the bad times overwhelm you. If you’re concerned about your business, you can find ways to work smarter to keep your business viable. Let the customers complain about their concerns with the economy, your role is to show them that their decision to work with you is the first, best decision in this terrible economic time.