All three gain full registration to the 4th Annual Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference at Duquesne University on November 12.   The Conference was created in 2005 to help small- to medium-sized businesses utilize the latest emarketing practices and information technology tools to drive sales, cut costs, expand outreach and build their brands. 

The lucky local business winners are:

• Denise Ramsey of The Cookie Connection where you can order delicious cookies online at http://www.yoursweetneeds.com/
• Keith Cassidy of Smart Cycling, which helps new motorcycle users select road bikes. Contact smart_cycling@hotmail.com
• Ralph Dadowski of online retailer Hard to Find Brands.  See http://www.hardtofindbrands.com/

To register for the conference ahead of time, click here.  You can also register the day of the conference onsite.   

Location:  All programs are being held on the Duquesne University Campus  at 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15282. Registration will be held in the Student Union Building (campus map and directions). Parking is available on campus at the Forbes Ave. garage.

Don’t miss the conference session that Ennect will be presenting:  Building Your e-IQ:  Affordable Ways to Track Trends, Engage Customers & Seize New Opportunities for Growth (10:05-11:20 am, Nov. 12)

Looking to uncover profitable new trends? Want to learn more about your customers’ needs and your prospects wants and build your competitive intelligence?  Learn how businesses today are tapping online resources and digital tools like surveys, research, social media and polls to drive sales, build connections and influence opinion.  Presenters: Carol Wolicki, Director of Marketing, Ennect, and Jeff Fortescue, Manager, Business and Reference, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Downtown and Business

Ennect and the SBDC conducted the survey in preparation for the 4th Annual Pennsylvania Business Technology Conference, scheduled for November 12th at Duquesne University. The Conference was created in 2005 to help small- to medium-sized businesses utilize the latest emarketing practices and information technology tools to drive sales, cut costs, expand outreach and build their brands. 

The SBDC survey measured the status of technology on regional organizations. According to its findings, only 42% of the region’s organizations have social media marketing strategies in place and only 9% plan a move into social media channels. This is in comparison with a recent Equation Research report that shows a small business social media adoption rate of 59% and a “planning to implement” rate of 28%. (A separate survey, conducted by Babson Executive Education and Mzinga across a variety of industries nationwide, reported that 86% have adopted social technologies.)

Of the 42% of Pennsylvania companies using social media, only 12% identified it as a “tremendous asset” with 21% indicating an impact on brand awareness, 16% reporting results in generating leads, 10% indicating increased sales, and 9% reducing marketing costs.  In contrast, the September 2009 McKinsey Quarterly Global Survey found 52% of respondents used Web 2.0 tools because of increased marketing effectiveness, 43% reported higher customer satisfaction, and 38% reduced marketing costs.

LinkedIn was the clear winner among regional organizations for promoting products and services with 22% maintaining a presence on the fast-growing professional social networking site, followed by Facebook (18%), and Twitter (12%). Interestingly, Twitter has grown to become the most adopted social media tool nationally, with 54% of Fortune 100 companies having a Twitter presence, according to a July 2009 Burson-Marsteller survey.

Also, despite the fact that online video sharing is exploding — with 144 million online viewers in the U.S. this year alone and projected growth to 154 million in 2010 — regional organizations appear to be less inclined to use sites like YouTube than their national counterparts. The McKinsey Quarterly Global Survey reported 48% of respondents felt that video sharing sites had customer-related benefits.  

Regional businesses do appear to be tracking national trends¹ in keeping investments flat in traditional marketing channels (print, radio, TV, direct mail, and even email marketing), while increasing – albeit slightly – investments in interactive online and search engine marketing. 

While increased globalization is driving adoption of videoconferencing elsewhere, the technology hasn’t seemed to penetrate Pennsylvania businesses.  Only 20% of respondents reported using audio-video teleconferencing, 24% use voice-only teleconferencing, and 34% have not adopted this technology.

Ironically, when asked about whether they were keeping up with changing technology, most survey respondents indicated they “felt like they were on track with keeping up with changing technology and online marketing.”

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¹ According to a Q2 2009 survey by Round2 and reported in eMarketer, print ads were chosen 39% of the time for cuts with direct mail following close behind with 36%.

Poke 'em in the eye with your Subject Line!

So, it shouldn’t be NEWS that the words you line up in your email Subject Line have to capture your addressees’ attention.  The subject line is to electronic mail what envelope graphics or multi-dimensional packaging are to postal mail.  Anything that creeps through a mail slot today or is waiting like a patient puppy on someone’s doorstep (because it didn’t fit into the mailbox) HAS to be oozing oddness or serendipitously personalized to get opened.  With ‘real’ mail there are a thousand possible ways to make something stand out.

It’s not that way with email.  The permutations of the Subject Line are what? Upper/lower case, length, character combinations, language, hmmmm?  There’s no color option. No graphics.  Just text. Hurray, you like a challenge. That’s why you’re in marketing.

Listen, the way to make your Subject Line work is to make your words so powerful they literally poke your reader in the eye.  Flex your keyboard fingers so that they tap out words that resonate, intrigue, bemuse, titillate or, otherwise, persuade your readers to PAY ATTENTION.  Line them up. Lay them down. Roll them around. Make them stand up and salute. But, yes, use those words to poke ‘em in the eye!

And be succinct, because study after study confirms the relationship between longer subject lines and lower open rates.  Technical limitations limit the number of characters some email engines display in the Subject Line. If your email list includes a combination of Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail users, you want to default to the lowest common denominator.  That leaves you with – Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! – around 40 characters to play with.  With increasing use of mobile devices for reading email, it’s more important than ever to be S&S: Short and Savvy. 

So, what’s a good marketer to do?  T-E-S-T.  And test some more.  More on that in a later post…

In the meantime, write SNAPPY and carry a heavy stick!

News stand image by Qfamily. Creative Commons license for commercial use.

Whether you’re just starting out or you already have an ongoing newsletter, that old rule of thumb for creating content for news releases can come in handy for creating an effective newsletter plan.  I’m talking about the “5Ws and an H” rule that professors drilled into our heads when we were in communications or journalism school or that we learned on the job.  Answering the “who, what, when, where, why and how” questions can be helpful in planning your newsletter program and can keep it on track. Let’s review how these six consonants can spell ‘success’ for you.

WHO?  In writing a news release, “who” refers to the people in the news.  In your newsletter plan, however, “who” requires you to look outward, not inward.  The “who” here is your target audience.  Before you start writing, you need to clearly identify who you’re writing for: employees, customers, prospects, partners, volunteers, association members, event attendees, or some other group.  Define as fully as possible who these people are by segment and, if possible, create a ‘persona’ description for your target group.  A ‘persona’ description might include things like: typical age, title, type of job they hold, where they shop, how they consume information, types of products they purchase, what they wear, typical mode of transportation, etc.  These provide queues about your targets’ interests and possible reading or information consumption habits. And remember: one newsletter per group, otherwise, you’ll be delivering information that doesn’t meet a portion of your readers’ needs.

WHAT? With the lens on your target audience, think about their specific information needs. What would they be most interested in hearing about? They may not care whether your company has published a new brochure or annual report, but they might be interested in knowing that your products will now be available via free overnight delivery. They might not be interested in knowing that your HR department won an award but they might like to know that your VP of engineering has been recognized as one of the world’s top ten Internet gurus.  We talked about how you can survey readers in a previous post to determine what interests them.  Research the “what” carefully because it will determine your open rates as well as how frequently your newsletters will be passed along.

WHEN? They say that half of success comes from just showing up.  But if you show up irregularly, it’s as if you weren’t there at all since no one will be anticipating your arrival.  When you publish is important.  You should outline when the best time is for your readers; if they are salespeople, stay away from end of month or end of quarter.  Plan your delivery schedule accordingly and make sure you can hold to it!

WHERE? This question actually has a lot of aspects. It not only applies to where you will distribute your newsletter – online, offline, both – it also applies to geographic location.  Are your readers in different countries for which translation is necessary? Will they have different content needs because of the areas in which they live or operate? These factors impact your content and your delivery plan.  Considering these issues ahead of time can help you develop a delivery schedule that is realistic.

WHY?  This is the most important question of all: why are you creating a newsletter in the first place? You should frame the answers to this question from both your company’s perspective and from the perspective of your reader:  why do you want to do this, what do you hope to achieve, as well as what does the reader get out of it, why would they want to receive this information? If you can’t define measurable goals for this exercise – both from your company’s viewpoint and from your readers’, maybe you should not do it.

HOW? Like the preceding question, “how” has numerous facets.  The big one is: how does your target audience want to receive information from you?  What is the most popular way for them to consume content: from online sources, from email, from printed documents, etc.   Also, ask yourself how you will actually deliver a targeted and well-written and designed newsletter to your readers on a regular basis.  Do you have resources inhouse who can do this or would you be better off using outside help?  If your analysis suggests an online newsletter, you may want to research an outside email service provider who can help you deliver on a consistent basis. If so – shameless plug – consider Ennect!