Ottawa Business Summit Clearing Muddy Waters

1. CLEARINGMUDDY WATERS
MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA

2. THE PANEL
MODERATOR
Kathryn SchwabPRceptive Communications
PANELISTS
Jim DonnellyOttawa Business Journal
Arash MahinvdoLIFE
Kneale MannYouIntegrate | CEPSM
Karen McNaughtonThe Marketing Hub
Clearing Muddy Waters: Marketing. Communications. Social Media
3. CLEARERWATERS
CROSS MEDIA MARKETING
TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING
EMAIL
CROSS MEDIA MARKETING
VIDEO
MEDIA COVERAGE
SOCIAL MEDIA
Interruption vs.Integration
4. ENSURE CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY ACROSS ALL CHANNELS
MKTG
COLLATERAL
PRINT
PUBLIC
RELATIONS
CUSTOMER
RADIO
/ TV
DIRECT
MAIL
TRADE
SHOWS
POS
ONLINE
5. Clearing Muddy Waters: Marketing. Communications. Social Media
6. TOP 10 MARKETING CHALLENGES
FOR SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES
Limited financial and human resources
Stronger competition
Crowded marketplace
Customer loyalty and volatility
Unclear message(s)/Market confusion
No internal champion/owner of strategy
Strong story to tell but nowhere to tell it
One-off marketing/advertising campaigns arent working
Trying to decide between all the new marketing tools
Where to start?
8. CASE STUDY:EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
CLIENT TYPE: Medical/Cosmetic Surgery Clinic
CLIENT NEED: Customer engagement/loyalty programs
PROPOSED SOLUTION: Integrated programs using website, email, direct mail, events, incentive/promotional program and case studies
TIMEFRAME: Engagement over12 months
APPROX. COST: Less than $1K/month
RESULT: Increased new business 15%, repeat business 20%
9. CASE STUDY:EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Consistent look & feel
First name personalization
Feedback form
Contact Us
Facebook link
11. CASE STUDY:VIDEO CAMPAIGN
CLIENT TYPE: TMP Worldwide - Advertising Agency
CLIENT NEED: Entice a digital call to action among viewers during a targeted ad campaign
PROPOSED SOLUTION: use a vdoSpokesperson.6 clips in rotation with targeted 5 second message
TIMEFRAME: 3 weeks
APPROX. COST: Confidential to client
RESULT: 4.96 million views; 35.9% click-thru
13. CASE STUDY:SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
CLIENT TYPE: Real Estate Team
CLIENT NEED: Increase sales and visibility. To determine what social media channels could best help their efforts.
PROPOSED SOLUTION: Create a revised business plan, outline roles and responsibilities, scrutinize budget, determine social media channels to best serve the companys objectives.
TIMEFRAME: Planning 2 months. Execution ongoing.
APPROX. COST: Confidential to client.
RESULT: Business Plan with roles and responsibilities has given the company a clearer vision of goals. They have increased sales-to-date, streamlined their database activity, established better processes and focused their social media activities.
15. CASE STUDY:TRADITIONAL/ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE
CLIENT TYPE: Software Security Company Startup
CLIENT NEED: To gain visibility with Technology and Business Media, and achieve consistent momentum in the US and Canada, post launch
PROPOSED SOLUTION: Launch the company ahead of a major IT Security Trade show held in the US.Offer sneak peaks to relevant media.Without customers or partners, keep the media interested in doing stories with Company experts.(company had a number of well known Security gurus inside).Proactive pitching to media for new angles related to eHealth, government, retail security and IT security breaches.Proactive pitching to business media about unique people and activities within the company. Press releases, when there was REAL news!
16. CASE STUDY:TRADITIONAL/ONLINE MEDIA COVERAGE
TIMEFRAME: First year in business (of a three year engagement)
APPROX. COST: First year $ 30,000, which ramped up significantly over the following two years as company acquired customers and partners
RESULT:First two months of companys existence coverage in Top IT Security magazines, business press, and top analyst firms.Through continued outreach, company became the de facto source for media to call upon for stories about security breaches, hackers, best practices in eHealth, government, IT infrastructure. Over 50 media hits and mentions in the first year.
19. TOP 8 THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN
PITCHING TO TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Is your story about? Why do people care? Does it have news value?
Figure out which medium makes the most sense for your story. What is your target audience? Does it jive with that of the outlet?
Determine whom to contact and address your email/call to them.
Write a succinct note no long paragraphs or generic language.
Follow up by phone within 24-48 hours.
The more you can offer, the better. Think of visual aspects of your story, suggest a supplementary interview along with context facts and figures.
Media people are busy people. Dont be pushy. But if you have yet to received a no the be persistent with respect.
Dont think your story is special, it because it is not. You want to go in to this process as if you are pitching to an investor. You have got to show them the money.
20. TOP 5 WAYS TO WORK WITH THE MEDIA
AS A SMALL-MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESS
Determine core strengths as a company and your people and, from that, what you can offer media types hungry for content
If you have a story that's worth telling, pitch it this is of course the most direct method of working with media
Offer up your expertise as a third-party source for stories though this isn't done by many SMEs, it is probably the #1 method of keeping your business in the media consistently
Pick up the phone and call a reporter/editor/producer/publisher, to establish a relationship
Invite media people to your events, but make sure the events are relevant to them
22. TOP 10 QUICK TAKEAWAYS FOR BUSINESSES
WITH A MARKETING BUDGET
Start with a Go-To-Market Plan (short term and long term)
Plan with your audience/customer in mind how do you create that dialogue?
Examine your human and financial resources
Consider shifting budget allocation past campaigns didnt give good results
Start collecting customer testimonials written, video, audio every little bit counts!
Basic formula= use SEO to attract, website to engage, email to nurture, CRM (database) to monitor/convert
Do not try to do EVERYTHING
Expect a wait time for new strategies and tactics, most results do not happen overnight!
Find your experts within your company (for ANYTHING) and offer them to the appropriate media as sources
Join Social Networks appropriate to your business and start participating
24. TOP 10 QUICK TAKEAWAYS FOR
BUSINESSES WITH NO OR LITTLE BUDGET
Plan along the way, get ready to spend marketing dollars later
Start building a database of customers think about who you can reach when youre ready
Start monitoring your competition online, replicate and differentiate
Start appearing at more free or low cost events
Start collecting customer testimonials written, video, audio every little bit counts!
Join online conversations Social Networks appropriate to your business
Reach out to media directly if you have content expertise and offer to be a source for a story
Become a thought leader in your space/market talk to who will listen
Offer a promotion/incentive at low cost to you/high value to your prospects/clients
Reward your evangelists
25. STAY OUT OF THE MUD
26. CLEARINGMUDDY WATERS
MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA
Kathryn Schwab prceptive.com
Jim Donnelly obj.ca
Arash Mahin vdolife.com
Kneale Mann onemann.blogspot.com
Karen McNaughton themarketinghub.ca
Photo Credits: Microsoft | Bill Pugliano |Getty Images | ArtistsWhoThrive