Balihoo

Companies using ROI Metrics Outgrow the Competition

Susan Tormollen — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:59:17 +0000

CMOs are under more pressure than ever to prove marketing’s contribution to company growth. But finding consistent metrics to put in place for all marketing activities can be difficult. Even more difficult is having the organizational discipline to consistently use the metrics year after year. Yet all marketers know that measuring improvement and changes over time is more important than looking at near-term result. Trends in ROI Metrics Use In the past six years, the number of marketers using profitability metrics, such as ROI, to measure some or all of their campaign tactics has grown over 50%.

In 2005, 18% calculated ROI or another profitability metric
In 2011, 28% calculated ROI or another profitability metric

Most importantly, ROI metric users are more likely to be outgrowing their competition, with a combined 64% of ROI metric users indicating greater growth vs. 51% for traditional-metric-using companies. (Source: Lenskold Group Marketing ROI & Measurement Study, 2005 and 2011) Selecting and Implementing the Right Metrics CMOs and marketing managers need to select the metrics which make the most sense for their company. Typically there will be both financial metrics for sharing with the executive board and marketing-specific metrics which are useful for the teams planning and executing marketing campaigns. A couple resources I have personally found helpful include:

The book, Marketing Metrics: 50+ Metrics Every Executive Should Know
Gartner's Marketing Essentials Paper: Three Strategic Metrics Every CMO Should Master

As you select the right metrics for your company, or as you evaluate additional metrics to add in to the measurement mix, you will most likely identify some new metrics for measuring and planning, specifically related to social media and local marketing. Introducing the Local Marketing ROI Calculator

At Balihoo, our clients are tasked with strategically balancing their national brand and marketing objectives with local sales objectives. To help make the planning a little easier, we recently launched the Local Marketing ROI Calculator. This early-stage planning tool helps marketers decide what percentage of the national marketing budget to allocate to local marketing. Click here to try out the Local Marketing ROI Calculator And, don’t worry if you don’t yet have baselines or benchmarks for national and local marketing ROI. The benchmarks we frequently use when working with our customers and partners are provided. You can then adjust the scenarios to meet your needs.

Marketers Must be Technologists

Susan Tormollen — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:27:23 +0000

In a recent webinar, Balihoo CMO Shane Vaughan stated, “Marketers must be technologists.” This statement is truer than ever.

As a 25-year marketing veteran, Shane’s statement really struck a chord with me. Not only has the landscape for how the consumer investigates and purchases brands changed, but the tools (read: technologies) we have at our disposal keep multiplying. No longer is it enough to be great at positioning, messaging, branding, media (traditional and digital), research, campaign integration and forecasting market trends, but we now need to know which technologies to use, when to use them, how to integrate them and most importantly, how to interpret all the data which we can hopefully now access.

(Whew. And a huge “Oh, my.”)

I recently found some interesting papers and a resource which helped me frame the broad spectrum of available marketing technologies and the role technology plays today and in the immediate future for marketing professionals.

1. First, Gartner’s September 2, 2011 paper Balance Customer Experience with Marketing Productivity in Marketing Automation Initiatives explains, “Marketing technology value comes from productivity and its impact on the customer experience. Marketers should evaluate each existing and future marketing technology based on a balance of company needs (“what’s in it for us”) and customer needs (“what’s in it for them”).” I found the Gartner Marketing Technology Value Matrix to be especially helpful in thinking through the many technologies now available to marketers.

2. BTB Marketing Insider article “Marketing Tools and Technology – How Does a Marketer Decide?” poses the question to five industry experts. The key takeaways from these experts include: Have a solid process, clear goals, a culture of testing and innovation, and listen to customer needs. To these recommendations, I might also add: Use your network of colleagues, analysts, partners and vendors to learn best practices.

3. Lastly, I found Scott Brinker’s blog, “Chief Marketing Technologist” quite informative and it contains many interesting posts about the role of the marketing technologist. The recently posted three-minute video “Why Marketing Technologists Now” provides a nice overview.
The value of marketing technology cannot be ignored. When used properly, it is a relationship-building tool that improves customer experience and ultimately contributes to bottom-line growth.
And, it appears there are many experts and resources to help us all make sense out of the plethora of technologies available to us. That’s a good thing because according to Gartner’s Jan 3, 2012 High Tech Tuesday Webinar, “By 2012 the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO.”

(Wow!)

Although the influx of available marketing technologies can be overwhelming at times, the exciting thing is that it will help us all be better and more efficient marketers, and there are plenty of resources to guide us on this constantly evolving path.

Local Marketing Research: Is your brand getting the data?

Susan Tormollen — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Most national brands do extensive consumer research related to consumer needs and desires, offerings (current and future ) and customer satisfaction. This information is usually shared regularly with channel partners and affiliates.

But, how can information flow the other direction, from the local affiliate back to the national brand? It requires education, tools, and possibly incentives.

Education. National brands should educate their local affiliates and channel partners on simple ways to conduct local market research: easy-to-implement methods for post-purchase follow-up, survey questions on local websites/microsite/blogs, 1:1 interviews, and even “how did you hear about us” inquiries.

Although this example from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center of Iowa is a little long, it does a good job educating about the importance of market research, it is industry-specific and it chronicles a case study throughout the piece. It also provides sample questions and lots of “how to” tips.

Tools. Provide research tools to your channel partners. This can be as simple as a questionnaire template they can repurpose. Or perhaps access to online survey tools, like SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang. Share the questions you ask in national research or develop specific tools for your local researchers.

Interestingly, though not surprising, the below 4 questions are the most frequently asked customer feedback questions, according to data from Survey Monkey. Although quite obvious to corporate marketers, these types of questions may not be top-of-mind for your very busy local affiliates.

Overall, are you satisfied with your experience using <our product | service>, neither satisfied or dissatisfied with it, or dissatisfied with it?
What do you like <most | least> about <our product | service>?
What changes would most improve <our product | service>?
How likely are you to recommend our <our company | product | service> to people you know?

Findings and Incentives. Develop a process or mechanism for local affiliates to share results with the national brand and with other local affiliates. Consider offering an incentive for the most research shared or the best customer quote. Also, showcase local affiliates who participate at annual meetings or on affiliate portals.

PS: Here at Balihoo, we will be trying out some new research tactics in 2012, including user-generated content on our blog. We’ll keep you posted on what we are doing and how it is working.

Part II – Five Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites

Amber Daley — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:32:00 +0000

Earlier this week, we discussed the importance of localized marketing and the early stages of local website implementation (click here for the blog post: Part I – Five Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites). But once local websites are in place, what comes next? How do you, the national brand, leverage them?

Tip #4: Put Your Local Websites to Work

First, local websites should be integrated into all local marketing programs. This means existing programs should be revised to leverage local websites. We suggest beginning here:

Email marketing – Campaigns should now be sent either jointly with the local affiliate or solely on their behalf. Consumers will need detailed information that guides them to the next stage in the sales cycle. Think: offers, how-to guides, local customer reviews or quotes. Remember to include the location, contact information and map for the local business.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Campaigns – Because consumers respond more favorably to locally oriented PPC ads, tailored messages that click through to local websites are high performers.

Social media – It should come as no surprise that 7 out of 10 consumers are more likely to use a local business if it has information available on a social media site (Source: ComScore Networks/TMP Directional Marketing). Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google Plus, online communities allow your consumers to have personal interactions with your national brand.

Consider a strategy in which your national brand can put an infrastructure, processes and guidelines in place—but then allows for local management. Your affiliates should have good content at their disposal and your local websites should have social media icons and plug-ins so prospects can life, follow or share.

Traditional Local Media: Make sure that your existing materials (print, broadcast, newspapers, out-of-home) include a call-to-action that directs consumers to your local websites.

Tip #5: Build Sophistication with Automation

The Source CMO reports states that 33% of marketers have embraced local marketing automation solutions and 27% are actively evaluating local marketing platforms, resources or technologies. This is an incredibly valuable management tool, saving you time and money and enabling your affiliates to have sophisticated marketing programs at their disposal.

A comprehensive local marketing automation solution enables you to execute digital campaigns on behalf of your local affiliates and direct leads to the specific dealer in that market. With automation, it is possible to update all of your local websites simultaneously as well as provide traditional—but customizable—media to affiliates.

By taking these steps, you can expect your local websites to increase brand awareness and leads at a local level. To view the whitepaper in its entirety, click here: 5 Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites.

Part I – Five Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites

Amber Daley — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:16:00 +0000

Ask any of Balihoo's enterprise clients: A marketing strategy is only as successful as their affiliates’ presence in local markets. National brand marketers know that localized marketing is not just a passing trend. In fact, according to BIA/Kelsey, 49 percent of marketers believe localized marketing is essential to business growth.

Local websites, smaller variations of a corporate website, are a crucial element in the local marketing mix as they serve as the centerpiece for all tactics, including directing search engines to the right place at the right time. But once implemented, local websites need to continue working for you. In today’s blog post, we highlight the importance of metrics, launching and communication. For more in-depth information, download the whitepaper 5 Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites.

Tip #1: Plan Ahead to Reap Metrics Magic

Local websites enable you to track campaign and media effectiveness in specific local markets—or across all of your markets (which as we all know, is hard to do from the national brand level). But early on, you’ll want to set clearly defined goals and decide which parameters to measure. By monitoring impressions, phone leads and conversions, you’ll be able to make better decisions about which programs to keep—and which to eliminate.

Tip #2: Launch Like You Mean It

A good rule of thumb when launching local websites to your affiliates: The more interaction the better.

This means educating them as to how this effort will improve their bottom line. Affiliates will also need to understand their role in the process and any action they’ll need to take. Conducting hands-on training (by means of webinars, recorded presentations and marketing portals) is also a good idea.

Tip #3: Keep up the Communication (A.K.A. “The Best Surprise is No Surprise”)

Even after local websites are rolled out, affiliates should always be prepared for upcoming promotions. Keep them in the loop by publishing a calendar of content updates and key dates. Send reminder emails about how they will be impacted by such information and if they must take further action.

When national brands take the above steps, the early rollout of local websites is sure to be successful. For steps 4-5 (implementation and automation), stay tuned for Part II – Five Tips for Making the Most of Local Websites.

What Google "Search Plus Your World" Means for Your National Brand's Local Internet ...

Shane Vaughan — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:54:47 +0000

Certainly by now you've heard about Google's "Search Plus Your World" initiative to more completely integrate social/personal data in their search results. You can read the official announcement from Google, made on January 10, here.

The question I hope to answer in this blog is, "What does this mean to the local internet marketing efforts managed or executed by my national brand?"

SPOILER ALERT: It doesn't mean that all of your local stores/affiliates/resellers/franchisees should rush out and create a Google+ business page.

To be fair, it also doesn't mean that your local affiliates shouldn't be engaged in Google+ either. No, the intention of this blog post is instead to cover the implications this will have on your long-term local internet marketing strategy.

The major impact this announcement, and the resulting changes to Google's search results, will have on your local internet marketing efforts will be from a local SEO standpoint. Your first step is to determine if you care about local SEO. Your knee-jerk reaction will be "Of course I care about local SEO!" However, if you haven't yet launched co-branded local websites for all of your local stores/affiliates/resellers/franchisees, that should be your first priority. If this is the case, then you should start with these resources:

Assuming you already have these assets in place, then the issue of local SEO should be of significant importance to you - you naturally want traffic (especially free traffic) to these sites.

The significance of the "Search Plus Your World" announcement is how deeply Google is integrating social search results into the SERP (search engine results page). It's interesting to think of the progression of the big changes to the SERP:

First, it was just natural search
Then, it became natural results plus paid results
The last several years have seen the significant rise of local results
Now Google is heavily integrating social results

For the time being, this integration is just happening with content primarily from Google+, their proprietary social network, and there has been significant backlash to Google for limiting the data to their own network. And, the fact is, that this will change. Google has built their brand and their product on the idea of "relevancy" and regardless of how hard they want to push Google+ as a social network, they will not let that shortsightedness impact their core brand values (at least in the long-term).

So - what does this mean for your local websites and local internet marketing efforts? At a basic level it means social will now have play a much more significant role in your efforts. If it's going to play more significant role in the search results - it will impact clicks/traffic to your local sites - and hence impact revenue.

If you haven't yet already started integrating social into all of your local marketing efforts, this should be the clear sign that it's time. Get those Facebook/Twitter/G+ buttons onto your local websites (pointed at either the national brand's presence or the local presence). Incent your distributed marketers to begin engaging in social, to begin caring about it.

Ultimately - search engines are how customers find your local businesses - and we are seeing the first signs that social engagement is going to dramatically impact those search results. It's time to get on this bus before it's too late.

The Local Web - Making Your Brand Relevant

Amber Daley — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:55:00 +0000

The local advertising marketplace is changing—and fast. While national brands typical own the front end of the customer lifecycle, revenue is often lost during what Balihoo defines as “the last mile of marketing.” Research shows that 54 percent of Americans have completely substituted phone books with the Internet and local search. So where does your brand or product fit in on the local level?

Listen as Shane Vaughan, Balihoo’s VP of Marketing, explains the Local Web and why it’s essential for national brands to embrace this segment of the advertising marketplace.

The Year Ahead - Our Predictions

Amber Daley — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:12:00 +0000

We at Balihoo believe great things are in store for 2012.

Primarily, national brands can expect Local Marketing Automation to go mainstream. Is your brand poised to capitalize on these emerging trends and position itself as your industry’s leader?
This year is already proving to be an eventful one—both for Balihoo and across the entire local marketing landscape. In addition to a substantial funding announcement (click here to read the press release), VP of Marketing Shane Vaughan and Susan Tormollen, Director of Marketing, discussed 10 Local Marketing Predictions for 2012 in this year’s first webinar. The majority of participants rated the information “valuable” or “highly valuable,” illustrating the importance for national brands to strategically focus on local marketing.

If you missed the webinar, click here for a PDF download of the slides.

To read our initial blog posts on the 10 Predictions, see below:

Prediction #1: Local Marketing Automation Goes Mainstream
Prediction #2: CMOs Demand ROI Reporting on Local Co-op Programs
Prediction #3: Continued Dramatic Increase in Localization of Media Channels
Prediction #4: Content Marketing Moves Downstream to Local Businesses
Prediction #5: National Brands Demand Integrated Local Marketing Analytics
Prediction #6: National Brands Invest Heavily in Local Websites
Prediction #7: Local Marketers and Businesses Increase Video Use
Prediction #8: SMBs Get on the Call Tracking Bandwagon
Prediction #9: Traditional and Digital Media Lines Blur
Prediction #10: Local Businesses Embrace Mobile Marketing

The Local Web - an Image

Susan Tormollen — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:13:00 +0000

A decade ago, purchases were primarily made—and consumer loyalty built—via traditional print and media ads, and the yellow pages.

But all of that is quickly changing.

While traditional forms of advertising are still relevant, today’s dollars are spent and customers are captured by means of digital marketing, including social media. In fact, in 2011, over $1 trillion in retail sales could be attributed to web-influenced purchases, according to a study conducted by GroupM Search and Kantar Media Compete. And the Local Web, an ever-growing ecosystem of online media channels, is the single largest influencer of this shift in consumer behavior.

Is your national brand poised to reach your local audience?

Balihoo, the industry leader in Local Marketing Automation, believes a well-executed local marketing plan is essential. Click here to download our infographic to learn more about why a localized marketing strategy is a national brand’s single largest opportunity to increase ROI and follow our five-step process to build your local marketing plan.

Balihoo Secures $5 Million in New Funding

Susan Tormollen — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:53:49 +0000

This week, Balihoo, the leader in Local Marketing Automation technology and services, announced it secured $5 million in new funding. This investment will mean further momentum for Balihoo, which has already experienced triple-digit revenue growth for the past three years.

Click here to read the press release.

Join us for 10 Local Marketing Predictions Webcast.

Susan Tormollen — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:36:47 +0000

Please join us for the "10 Local Marketing Predictions for 2012" webcast on Tuesday, January 10 at 12 Eastern Time (11 CST, 10 Mountain Time, 9 Pacific Time).
We'll review the 10 predictions, share statistics and research, and most importantly, discuss how national brands can capitalize on these trends in 2012 to improve overall marketing results and sales.
REGISTER here.

PS: Let us know if you have pre-webcast questions about any of predictions:
Prediction #1: Local marketing automation goes mainstream in 2012Prediction #2: CMO's demand ROI reporting on local co-op programsPrediction #3: Continued dramatic increase in localization of media channelsPrediction #4: Content marketing moves downstream to local businessesPrediction #5: National brands demand integrated local marketing analyticsPrediction #6: National brands invest heavily in local websitesPrediction #7: Local marketers and businesses increase video use in 2012Prediction #8: SMBs get on the call tracking bandwagonPrediction #9: Traditional and digital media lines blurPrediction #10: Local businesses embrace mobile marketing (50% plan to engage in mobile marketing in 2012!)

Goodbye 2011 Hello 2012

Pete Gombert — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:32:58 +0000

2011 is behind us now and I for one have mixed emotions.

On a positive note. There is something refreshing about a new year that helps people to re-align, gain perspective and gear up for a whole new year.

On the negative side I am a little sad to see 2011 go simply because Balihoo accomplished so much this past year and in nearly every regard it was a breakout year for the company.

2011 saw Balihoo grow at an impressive rate for a fourth year in a row (80% year over year) and add some tremendous new clients to our already impressive roster. We pushed our clients to think more about local digital and introduced the concept of the Local Web to the world.

2012 is set to be another explosive year of growth for Balihoo and we have some extremely interesting new features and concepts we will be releasing so make sure to follow us, like us or sign up for our resource center to stay on top of the latest developments with Balihoo and local marketing.

The local marketing landscape is changing at an unprecedented pace and only time will tell where 2012 will take us, I for one am looking forward to a very big year.

Prediction #1: Local Marketing Automation goes Mainstream in 2012

Susan Tormollen — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:23:00 +0000

As content continues to digitize, consumers and media channels continue to fragment. The good news is this enables marketers to better target consumers and to reach consumers where and when the consumer wants the brand’s message. The bad news is that executing campaigns which take advantage of all these new media and social channels is really complicated, especially when the campaigns move from the national brand level to the local markets. (Check out Pete Gombert, CEO, as he explains the evolving landscape: Changing Local Marketing Landscape Video).

Local Marketing Automation enables brands to take advantage of local marketing opportunities by providing the technology required to expand traditional and digital marketing efforts to hundreds, and even thousands, of local markets. Based on the changing marketing landscape and the expanded use of marketing technology by national brands, we predict Local Marketing Automation will become a mainstream marketing tool by the end of 2012.

According to the recently released 2011 CMO Council Report, Localize to Optimize, brand usage of local marketing automation platforms is expected to nearly double in 2012:

30% of marketers have embraced local marketing automation software platforms
27% of marketers are currently evaluating local marketing automation software

And, according to survey respondents, the top benefit identified from a local marketing automation software platform is “greater customer relevance, response and return (67%).”

Kick off the new marketing year and join us on Tuesday, January 10th to learn how national brands will capitalize on the evolving local marketing landscape. Register for the webcast.

Prediction #2: CMO’s Demand ROI Reporting on Local Co-op Programs

Shane Vaughan — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:38:00 +0000

Co-op advertising programs provide incentive dollars from a national brand to a local outlet for marketing their products. Historically these programs have funded everything from local golf tournaments to regional mass-media efforts and are seen as a “benefit” to the local outlet. However, as marketing has become more digital and technologically sophisticated there is now the ability to truly measure the ROI of these expenditures at a granular level as opposed to broad sell-to or sell-through numbers.

In addition, CMO’s at national brands are now receiving dramatically increased pressure to justify the marketing expenditures coming out of their own organizations. It’s expected that every dollar spent is associated with a measurable ROI to determine success and ultimately future investments.

Measurement and analysis were cited as the biggest internal bottlenecks by marketers in The State of Marketing annual survey from Unica.

o 57% of marketers named measurement and analysis as one of their top three issues.

o Marketers said their top two priorities are “turning data into actions” and “attributing success to marketing”*

48% of CMOs feel pressure to deliver ROI on marketing spend (this tied for first with “need to deliver quality sales” when CMOs were asked to choose “Top 3 Pressures”) in an Aberdeen study**

These two trends will collide in 2012 – no longer will the CMO or the Board of Directors have the luxury to look at the co-op budget as an expense line-item. Instead, both marketing and sales will be pushed into using the latest technology at the local level to justify the significant budgets passed down to local outlets.

Kick off the new marketing year and join us on Tuesday, January 10th to learn how national brands will capitalize on the evolving local marketing landscape. Register for the webcast.

*Mentioned on CMO.com

** Aberdeen Group, Aberdeen Group, Sept 2011

Prediction #3: Continued Dramatic Increase in Localization of Media Channels

Shane Vaughan — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

Localization of media channels, particularly on the digital front, will continue a rapid escalation in 2012. Search, social and content providers will continue to use geography as a key filter to provide highly relevant information to increasingly digital consumers.

Localization increased dramatically in 2011:

·         Google, which launched a major local search redesign in late 2010, continued this escalation with ongoing changes and testing designed to give locally relevant information more visibility in the search results. (Catalyst Marketing)

·         According to the Local Search Association’s “State of Local Search” study, 77.1 million mobile subscribers accessed local business content as of January 2011, up an astonishing 34% from a year ago.

·         Twitter launched Local Trends in over 100 specific geographic locations.

·         ESPNNewYork.com launched in April 2009, and the five ESPN local sites averaged more than 5.1 million visitors and 31.8 million total minutes per month (ESPN)

National media properties view local information not only as a method to capture relevance and interest by their customers, but also as a mechanism to drive higher CPM’s among their advertisers. As these media properties continue their shift from traditional to digital revenues, it will be critical that they focus on local as a key growth area.

Kick off the new marketing year and join us on Tuesday, January 10th to learn how national brands will capitalize on the evolving local marketing landscape. Register for the webcast.