Marketers have long struggled with presenting clients with hard and fast results on the campaigns they develop. There is no scientific formula; instead successful campaigns develop over time and through a series of tweaks. Is the goal to build a reputation that leads to future sales or to trigger immediate action?

If the goal is the former, then the fact of the matter is your results can’t accurately be measured. You are building brand equity and hoping for increased loyalty over a long period of time. Results will (hopefully) emerge, but to  determine exactly how is difficult. The primary objective is to achieve consistent messaging and build awareness.

If the goal is the latter, then you have to make it as easy as possible for your audience to respond. Is the immediate action to make a purchase? Then push online advertising with a direct link and incentive to purchase through a website. Or offer a free gift if consumers rush to your store in the next 24 hours. If the desired action is to pass along a newsworthy story, then create something of entertainment of newsworthy value that people are inclined to send to a friend or colleague.

Know your goal clearly and treat your campaign accordingly. Building a brand is very different than triggering action. While both often work simultaneously, there should always be a clear priority in your mind.

On June 3rd, all the Savages gathered together on the patio of Ninfa’s on Navigation to enjoy delicious fajitas and celebrate Bethany Haley’s 10 year anniversary with Savage. Bethany is the President of Savage so it was fitting, given the most recent election, to design her card in the now infamous Shepard Fairey style.

Tags: 10 Year Anniversary, Bethany Haley, Celebration

One interesting aspect of the Online Marketing Summit is that it travels from city to city – this is not just a single conference but rather a series of localized conversations. Having attended the Houston conference a few weeks ago, I can say that there is a large and vibrant community of marketers here. Over 300 people packed the hotel, and many of them fellow AMA Houston members. Just take a look at the blog to see what the conversations were here and elsewhere.

Here are a few of the themes (and some solid advice) that seemed to surface during the day in regards to your online marketing approach.

• Your goal should be trust and loyalty
  Share knowledge and advice – be generous – and your audience will thank you for this. Not only will you be considered a “thought leader” (which is important!) you will also gain new customers and grow your network.
   
• Serve, don’t sell
  The minute you start thinking about some of these newer channels, especially social media, as another form of advertising is the minute it will stop working for you. 

• Think democracy, not dictatorship
  None of your online marketing should be thought of as one-way communication. It’s a conversation in which your employees and your customers have a say in what you do. Engage them now. 

• Don’t stick your head in the sand
  Now is the time to get ahead while your competitors are trying to wait things out. Get out there and start using the tools to your advantage and accelerate your online marketing.

And let’s not forget about your brand in all of this. As Steve Woods of Eloqua said at the panel which closed they day, “the carrier of brands is conversation.” In order to build your brand online, you should be an active participant in those online conversations. The sessions that day showed us that there are many proven examples now of companies doing this successfully, which is information you can use to convince those who need this help to increase their online marketing to solve many of the challenges facing them now.

Below is a copy of the presentation I gave on “Online Strategies for Though Leadership Marketing.” I welcome your comments!

Tags: b2bmarketing, oms, onlinemarketing, thoughtleadership, webmarketing

The marketing landscape is changing by the millisecond, and we have more information on consumer trends than ever before. As a result, the role of marketers is changing. With access to information from sites like Google Analytics, Hitwise, Compete and Comscore, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the data and to lose site of basic human intuition. What has once been a subjective industry is now converting into as much science as art. The difficulty is striking the perfect balance between the quantitative and qualitative aspects of marketing.

Like anything, both are good in moderation and are key to the development of any good marketer. Grasping the analytics help define user tendencies, segment trends, and establish processes that can add to efficiency and effectiveness. However, marketing will always be somewhat based on intuition and on thinking one step ahead. The key is to utilize the analytics to drive your intuition, not to define your intuition.

Travelocity CMO Victoria Treygor exemplifies the ability to utilize analytics to drive strategy, as explained in a recent Brandweek.com article on the Evolving CMO. Treygor learned through Google search results that after the market crash consumers were shifting away from search terms related to long-distance air travel and were instead searching for road trips and weekend getaways. As a result, Treygor shifted the focus of advertisements from showcasing airplanes to highlighting cars and quick escapes to nearby towns. User searches used geotargeting to highlight day trips and area hotels. As a result, Travelocity picked up sales that would have otherwise passed them by.

In order to succeed in today’s marketplace, it’s imperative to uncover that gray area between statistical information gathering and the timeless art of creative thought. With the information available and the quick shifts in user trends, the best way to keep your business ahead of the curve is to identify the information that matters most based on your needs and to take the time to think about how that affects your market.

Tags: CMO, marketing data

Beer flowing from kegs, streaking, a purported game of strip poker…and that was just within the first six hours. No, I’m not talking about a fraternity/sorority mixer or a scene from the 1979 movie, Meatballs, I’m talking about Design Ranch 2009. Held at Camp Waldemar outside Kerrville on the banks of the Guadalupe River, Design Ranch is a bi-annual design conference that is more “hands on” than “listen up.” Instead of lectures or presentations, the conference is a series of workshops taught by industry creatives to get you to experience art and design beyond the limitations of bandwidth or technology – you (gasp!) actually use your hands. Despite some of the previously mentioned after hours shenanigans, watercolor painting, knot tying, ship building, screen printing and diorama making were just some of this year’s workshop activities. Due to the small size of the conference, attendees get to know each other very well and evenings were spent eating (amazing food), drinking (see previously mentioned kegs), and dancing (live music both nights).

My favorite part of Design Ranch this year? The workshop led by Thomas Allen. Thomas is a trained photographer who uses old paperback novel covers to construct new stories and images, and then photographs them. After showing all of us the techniques he uses, we were asked to create our own piece in the same style. This is a photograph of mine combined with the work of a couple of other attendees. Design Ranch is a fantastic conference, really bringing you back to your youth, working by hand, without limits. Not only do you come back to the real world fresh and inspired, but you return with rich memories, new friends…and a tighter waistband.

Tags: Design Inspiration, Design Ranch, Doug Hebert