Posts Tagged ‘marketing planning’

Seasonal marketing, as we’ve discussed, requires a lot of preparation. But one point that often gets skipped is virtual preparation – Spring Cleaning if you will – no matter what time of year! Sprucing up your virtual sites can go a long way in making your company seem polished, organized, and ready to go for the seasonal market time of choice.

3 Savvy Virtual Seasonal Marketing Techniques to Consider

1. Spruce up Your Seasonal Marketing Materials Online - Do you use the same ad year after year? Are you sure it still resonates (if it ever did) with your clients? Do your graphic images match your seasonal campaign? Think about the message you are sending vs. the one you would like to appear and prepare to launch it in time with your seasonal campaign.

2. Specify Seasonal Keywords - When was the last time you fine-tuned your website to focus on certain keywords or phrases – especially holiday or seasonal related ones? Now is the time! Think about the words or phrases folks are likely to search and then add them to your mix.  Ta-dah! You just helped yourself move up the SEO food chain.

3. Spotlight Your Seasonal Promotion – Is your seasonal promotion front and center on your webpage, virtual media sites, or online shopping cart? Many folks forget to make their seasonal promotion prominent, which defeats the purpose of your seasonal marketing efforts. So let it shine! Give it the attention it so deserves.

Seasonal marketing can be a great chance to boost sales. Prepare now for profit later! Need help? Let us know! info@thecollectivesavvy.com.

Seasonal marketing is often tied to a cause marketing effort. We recently defined seasonal marketing, but cause marketing hasn’t been heavily discussed in this blog. Essentially cause marketing is the combined effort of a for-profit business and a non-profit cause to raise mutual awareness, brand affiliation, and money. I suspect you see where this is going now…

Taking integration to the “next” step, a savvy marketer will often marry their seasonal promotion activities to a cause to tug on people’s heart strings (and purse strings!). This cause may be one that the company has supported over an extended period of time – such as Wendy’s support of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, or it may be a cause that ties well to the season, such as companies that support Toys for Tots over the holidays.

3 Savvy Ways Companies Can Blend Seasonal + Cause Marketing

1. Percentage of Sales Donations – Pick a seasonal marketing timeframe. Then pick a percentage of proceeds from your seasonal sales to go to your charity of choice. For example, seasonal Back to School promotions may work with charities such as your local PTA or  Back to School Clothing Drive.

2. In-Kind Donations – Cash donations are great and often appreciated, but sometimes a company is able to garner more support and resources around an in-kind donation. In-kind donations vary from charity to charity, but examples include fans for Project Cool in San Antonio, where fans are collected and distributed to the elderly in order to handle the intense summer heat. Your company may give these gifts outright and tie it to a seasonal promotion;  it may make the amount donated dependent on sales during a seasonal promotion; or it may serve as a collection site.

3. Time – Sometimes a company may offer a donation of time – either by bringing employees in for a project or recruiting volunteers for a project to help their pet cause.  Ever see Extreme Home Makeover? Look at the companies that donate time to the building of homes on that show – often showing up in force!

One thing we recommend companies keep in mind is that don’t lose focus on the fact that cause involvement is still ultimately an element of your business plan. Its great to do it, but you couldn’t do it if your business wasn’t in place. So make sure you are vocal about it.  It will have multiple levels of impact – on your company, your cause, and the way people perceive both.  So don’t leave the information out of your seasonal marketing efforts – imagine the impact you could have if others take up your cause as well!

Seasonal Marketing…people either love it or hate it. Retail business tend to love it. The tie between a season or holiday is so strong that its often easy to sell hard goods to compliment the occasion. But if you sell a service, you may struggle with seasonal marketing.

Here are 5 savvy seasonal marketing tactics that help most businesses, regardless of whether you sell products or services:

1. Seasonal marketing must be relevant.

Whatever your promotion, ensure that the link to your business makes sense. If people can easily understand the link between your business and your promotion, they are more likely to respond to your marketing efforts. Giving money to charity? Talk about why that charity matters to your business!

2. Seasonal marketing must be timely.

Don’t launch your seasonal marketing too early – or too late. Timing is key, so take time to plan well in advance so that your marketing is maximized!

3. Seasonal marketing must be concise.

Keep your messaging simple. Keep your promotions simple. Make sure people know what is happening at a glance. It will make your life easier and help drive your sales higher!

4. Seasonal marketing must be promoted.

Sometimes businesses come up with a great promotion but then forget to promote their promotion. Whoops – what a missed opportunity! Make sure you get the word out to get the biggest bang for your buck.

5. Seasonal marketing must be integrated.

You know how we feel about integration! Make sure you integrate your seasonal marketing efforts into your marketing promotions and advertising venues. Talk about it online. Drop info into your newsletters. Post on your signage. Integrate, integrate, integrate!

Seasonal marketing can be a lot of fun. Make sure to sign up for The Savvy to get our June issue, full of tips and case studies on seasonal marketing!

This month we’ve been talking about integration and in today’s post I want to talk about simple integration tactics that often get skipped. These may sound too basic to be effective, but remember the last time you needed a company’s contact info and struggled to put your hands on it? It happens all the time! So here’s a quick checklist of things to get you going:

Savvy Integration Basics:

1. Signature lines -  Signature lines are pre-set deals. So put in ALL of your contact info in your signature line. I love being able to look at an email and find the phone, address, website, Facebook page, LinkedIn link, and more. I actually hate it when I get an email from a Blackberry or some other “business” phone and that info is not included.  So if you think it will help people connect with your business, list it all! After all,  you aren’t paying for it. Consider it free advertising space…

2. Business Cards - Same deal here. There is typically a lot of unused space on business cards. Put your contact info, your website, AND your social media accounts on there. You never know what appeals to the person who gets your card!

3. Print Collateral - Have you ever picked up a flyer and realized it didn’t have anything but a website listed, but you need to call the company? Or only a phone number is available, but no website? Or maybe all of the info is so buried in the document, you had trouble finding it at all? Think like a consumer! As you design your print material, what information would you want if you were your own customer? After all, you WANT people to contact you, right? Isn’t that how you make a sale?

4. Signage - There are a few key things I want to mention here. Make sure your content is large enough to read, in a font that is readable, and in a color that is visible! And always, always, always include one key way for your company to be contacted. Remember – keep it simple! Signage is typically viewed on the fly, so it needs to stand out and be memorable.

5. Cross Reference Your Sites – I have mentioned this in passing in a previous post, but it bears repeating. If you have multiple sites online, cross-reference them! Just because a customer comes across your website doesn’t mean that’s the way they prefer to receive their information. Make it easy for them to connect with you on their online touchpoint of choice! It helps them, which means it helps you. It’s worth the investment of time to make that happen.

These tactics are easy to implement and can make a world of difference in making your company appear accessible to your customers!

Have practical implementation questions? Like The Savvy Girls at www.facebook.com/thesavvygirls or follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesavvygirls!

Need help implementing these tactics? We’re happy to help!

This week we are tackling the broad overview of social media integration into your marketing efforts. Many people seem to see social media as its own thing and not a blended part of an overall marketing mix. <”ANH!” goes the buzzer.>

In order to be effective, social media needs to be a strategic, well-thought out part of your marketing efforts. Take the time to do the research, the planning and the implementation CORRECTLY and in the long run, you will save time, energy and drive more results. Ta-dah! Success!

Ok, ok, ok… maybe there is more to it than that. Integration strategy for social media has multiple levels of implementation. This week, we are focusing on an overall strategy and in the next few weeks we’ll tackle individual social media sites you can leverage.

5 Savvy Steps to Social Media Marketing Integration

1. Determine where social media fit into your overall marketing plan – Is it first priority? Secondary? Just a small line item in comparison to the rest of your efforts?

2. Determine what you want integrated and the messaging related to it – Is it overall brand awareness? A particular campaign? A sales only strategy? A cause marketing effort?

3. Determine how you want it integrated – Video? Messaging? Photos? Blog posts? What are you going to do to make sure your messaging comes across the way you want it and still be interesting and relevant?

4. Determine how you want the sites promoted – Does your print material refer to your social media sites? Do your sites cross reference one another or your “hard” stuff?

5. Determine how you will handle moving forward – Social media seems to change daily and when you are doing other things, it can be hard to keep up! How will you explore new options to integrate into “old” options? Designate time each week to research? Deal with it as you have time? Or plan for a monthly review?

We can help you with your marketing integration. But if you are looking for other resources to learn about it online, check out these great articles:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-integration-big-theme-for-2010/#more-1894

http://mashable.com/2010/01/11/social-media-integration/

Got questions about Facebook or other social media activities? Ask The Savvy Girls your marketing or social media questions! Those savvy ladies can be found at www.facebook.com/thesavvygirls or www.twitter.com/thesavvygirls.

Got a comment? Leave a comment! We love to get feedback.

Practical budget planning is a crucial part of your planning process.  In this economy, most companies have tightened the purse strings, so practical budget application is key – you want to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck!

Here are 5 savvy things to remember when analyzing your budget:

1. Repeat, repeat, repeat! Customers need to hear your message at least 7 times before their buying habits are influenced. So when you are considering what market to hit and how, remember you need to hit them over and over again and add that to your budget planning.
2. Variance! Switch up how you get your message to your customers. Afterall, don’t YOU hate seeing the same ad over and over again on TV? It’s a softer sell if you vary your marketing mix to reach the same customer a variety of ways.
3. Pack a punch! Make sure your advertising is effective. Can you think of an ad that is memorable…except that you can’t remember the brand? That’s all great and dandy that it makes someone laugh, but if it doesn’t make them buy its a wasted bunch of funds!
4. Know your customer! Make sure you identify the right market. Not sure how to do that? Check out some of our other posts or call us for a quick strategy session!
5. Maximize referrals! Make smart investments in your business by reselling to existing customers. Making an effort to sell to someone who has already given you a word-of-mouth benefit is another smart investment!

There are, of course, many other things to consider. So keep an eye on what works, how your money is being spent, and what gives you the biggest bang for your buck. Be open to other ideas, such as co-branding with other companies or leveraging non-profit partnerships. And if you can’t do something this year, make a note to drop it into the plan for next year!

Graphic design work is an essential part of the marketing process. Not sure about that? Think about websites, printed materials, or e-newsletters you’ve seen in the past. You know what “looked good” and what “didn’t” – right?

You know what I am talking about – websites that are so “old” that you forgot sites could even look that way. E-newsletters that are nothing but text and tiring on the eyes. Or printed materials that look like they were created in an old Word Doc template!

Part of planning for strong marketing integration is ensuring you have a great graphic design team in place. And almost equally as important, that you can provide direction on the design work. After all, contrary to popular belief, graphic designers are not mind readers!

Here are some things to think about when getting your graphic design planning in place:

1. What will be your process for getting graphic design work done in a timely and satisfactory fashion?

Do you have a designer on staff? Or on call? Or on contract? Or do you even have access to one at all?

Try to work with the same person/team on an ongoing basis. This allows for branding integration, image consistency, and allows you to develop a “system” that works for you!

2. How will idea sharing occur?

You have to provide direction to your graphic designer(s). This means you need to articulate your vision. How will you do this? Through a creative brief? Fill out a form? Have a meet-and-debate kind of approach?

Figure out a system to work with at the start of the process. This will ensure things are likely to go a bit more smoothly through the graphic design process if everyone understands how it will happen!

3. Have you thought about your integration process?

Clearly consistent, integrated branding must carry through all aspects of your marketing designs. That  is a no-brainer (or at least it should be!). But have you discussed with your designer what things may need to actually be designed?

Flyers, business cards, stationery – those are pretty standard. But what about profile images, twitter backgrounds, or Facebook Ads? Make sure your designer knows what the expectations are so that planning for sizes, looks, etc. can happen well in advance.

4. What is the review process?

The review process can be greatly reduced if your homework is done up front. But regardless, designs notoriously go through a variety of revisions depending on how well the vision is articulated, how the vision is “heard” and the variety of options produced by the designer.  Either way, everyone has to establish a review process.

Do you need to run designs past an approval team? Does the designer need a week or more lead time on changes? How are revision comments shared? These are all things that should be discussed well in advance.

5. Handle your designers with care!

Designers work hard. They often pick up the slack when projects are running behind. They have to put a visual to an idea. The images they produce help build your brand in the mind of your consumers.

So give them some love. And at a minimum, a huge thank you! Go ahead – they deserve it!

“Integration, integration, integration!”

If you’ve been following our posts, you know that we are strong believers in traditional marketing + social media integration (but only if the choice is right for your company!).  If you’ve been thinking through your own efforts, then you’ve also considered a lot of the elements of pre-planning for a social media marketing launch. Now it is time to double check your integration planning!

Five key considerations for any social media marketing manager:

Does your social media marketing plan pull from your current marketing goals and objectives?

The social media marketing plan is just one spoke in your marketing wheel. Therefore, it should feed into your overall marketing goals and objectives. Make sure the excitement of working in social media doesn’t cause you to lose your head and skip this important piece of integration!

Will the brand elements be consistent between traditional and social execution?

Note everything has to be matchy-matchy, but your brand elements do need to be consistent to continue to build your reputation in the mind of your consumers. So make sure your logo is apparent. Ensure people can find your website.  Carry over campaign elements. In other words: I-N-T-E-G-R-A-T-E!

Does your brand messaging match, even if execution varies?

Messaging contributes to the tone of your brand.  If your brand is sassy, sleek or goofy, make sure that personality shines through your messaging. Got a strong call to action? Make sure it shows through your integration efforts!

Are you reaching your target audience?

Make sure your social media integration choices will continue to reach  your target audience. Just because you are familiar with Facebook and Twitter doesn’t necessarily mean those are the social media venues to use. What if your audience is active on LinkedIn? Consider starting a LinkedIn group. And consider integrating in niche market social media activities – there are sites for artists, nurses, and more!

Can you measure impact in a meaningful way so you can compare your efforts to determine ROI?

Measuring ROI can be a challenge with social media, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. On the flip side, you may not want to judge your social media marketing efforts through traditional ROI lenses. Consider your long term plan and objectives, evaluate your execution efforts and then judge from there.  There are tons of great tips on the web on ways to measure ROI through social media (and we’ll be hitting on this topic later!).

So that being said, we go back to our theme for your traditional marketing + social media planning: “Integration, integration, integration!” It can save you a lot of headaches, build your brand, and promote sales. What can beat that?

So you’ve done your due diligence and considered the pros and cons of social media for your business.

And you’ve thought through who will be managing your social media efforts.

Now it’s time to start thinking about your company’s social media policy. Some companies jump into social media without a social media policy in place. Others establish a rigid set of rules. Whatever your company is considering, we believe this topic warrants discussion!

We operate under the belief that developing a social media policy will be a multi-step process: (1) a general overview of guiding policies, and (2) updating elements once you launch your social media marketing plan and know exactly what you are utilizing – and how! Clearly (2) will be something you tackle a little later in your social media process (and we’ll get to that a little later as well!). So backing it up to (1),  let’s make sure you hit the essentials in social media policy development!

Considerations:

• Think integration! I know – we say this a lot. But it applies here just as it applies elsewhere in your marketing efforts. Your social media policy should not require starting from scratch. It should build upon existing marketing/PR policies, as well as overall company policies, then be customized as needed.

• Don’t name names! In other words, consider not naming actual social media platforms in your social media policy. Given the pace at which social media mediums are launching, your social media policy could quickly outdate itself. Not comfortable with this option because of specific issues with a particular social media platform? Then ensure compliance by adding in verbiage that covers all current and future social media usage.

• Be prepared to be flexible! Your company or non-profit may currently block access to social media sites out of concern of abuse by working employees. But what if your events planner uses Facebook to send out requests to volunteers? Or your advertising department needs to load videos on YouTube? Stay abreast of changing trends in social media usage and be prepared to adapt to the changing social media times.

• Know how to speak! Really, we mean it. Determine the tone of your messages; what is and is not acceptable in regards to what can be said or portrayed through social media; and how to respond to both positive and negative comments. You are using a public forum, so ensure you have public relations considerations in place prior to launching!

• Set a schedule! Determine how you are going to handle postings. Do you blog once a week? Send e-newsletters monthly? Post on Facebook one time a day, but three times a day on Twitter? Figure out your posting schedule and stick to it – consistency is part of what branding is all about!

There are many other things you need to consider in a social media policy, but these key areas will help you get started. So while developing the policy may feel like a hindrance, in the long term it should be a huge help in developing your social brand. Good luck and happy social media planning!

Have other ideas about social media policies that should have been considered for this list? Drop us a comment!

“What is the difference between social media and social networking?”

“Should my company be doing it?”

“What does that mean for us?”

“Who should manage it?”

“Will it work? Or am I just wasting our money?”

These are just a few of the things that go through the mind of any business owner considering launching a social media marketing initiative for their company. But the issue is both broader and more narrow than the questions listed above. Really, the starting point should be: “Should social media be part of our marketing mix?” The next question should be “Can we support a social media effort?”

The answers to the two questions above are crucial. Not every company is prepared to launch a social media marketing initiative. Nor should every company launch one. While social media marketing can be an amazing and effective tool, the decision to launch a social media effort should be carefully considered. A social media marketing effort should be strategic and carefully planned, so as to maximize results and minimize any potential issues.

And trust us, any time you launch a new initiative – especially one in as public an arena as social media – problems can arise!

So before assuming that cheap exposure and easy maintenance are actually cheap or easy, do your homework. Talk with your marketing team, talk with your management team, and consider talking with us. Use the collective savvy around you to determine if social media is right for your organization. Once you have done that, you can begin to put a plan in place.

Need help moving to the next phase? Let us know and we’ll be happy to help you out!