• One-third of all online activity consists of watching videos.
• 6 BILLION hours of video is watched each month on YouTube. (300 hours is uploaded each minute.)
• When viewers read text they retain 10%– when watched on video, the retention rate increases to 95%.
• A webpage containing a video is 53% more likely to appear on the first page of Google search.
• In the next 5 years, more than 30% of online ad spend will be in online videos.

Videos capture attention and add energy to an otherwise less than engaging message. 

So the questions are. Do you have a video on your home page? Are you using videos to attract your IDEAL BUYING Customers?

Here are some quick, easy and inexpensive video creation resources to get your message out AND drive SEO.

Creating an engaging video is just so darn easy! You don’t even need to do any recording. 5 to 10 good photos, 4 or 5 brief key messages and $39 is all that’s required for www.animoto.com. The theme, music and super-cool mash up is all provided. You can make as many videos as you want over an entire month. If you don’t mind the logo, sign up for the free trial.

Perhaps tapping into the animation trend is more to your liking. Characters, line drawings, white board animations are really popular and generate VIEWS! Sure you can pay $1,800 – $10,000 a minute to have a skookum custom whiteboard animation produced by www.whiteboardanimation.com. Or, pay only $39 – $250 a month and do-it-yourself with a platform like http://goanimate.com ($79 without the logo watermark).

Here’s the video I created for only $79 to promote my marketing campaign training program THE BASICS—Campaign Planning in 3-Steps. Sure, it took several hours to figure it out and create, but totally worth it to have a visual representation of our offering. And anyone can do it.

Drive SEO traffic with your video marketing. 

That’s why it’s called video marketing. It’s not just about creating a sales tool, it’s about getting search engine rankings that will drive traffic. Once the video is created, use it as a traffic generator. Here are some tips to get rankings:

• First, make sure it’s up on YouTube with a keyword rich title and description.
• Put your main keywords into the title. Be sure to put your webpage link right up front on the description. Add your top keywords in the tags.
• Post the link on your social media platforms, embed it on your home page and/or landing page,
• make certain you get it up on your Google+ accounts (Google owns Youtube and favor their own in rankings).
• Write a keyword rich blog around each video. No need to write from scratch. You can transcribe the video, or bits of it, and use the text verbatim in the blog post.

All of these ideas will help get your creation and sales tool higher up in the rankings so your customers can find you.

Now … go get at er,

Charlene Brisson, MAPC
3-Step Marketing Pro
Helping marketers succeed one-step-at-a-time.

PS … this blog post is an exerpt from Charlene Brisson’s soon to be released book … 51 Marketing Solutions: to rock your campaigns from weak to winning. Check out the pre-order page here.

Sources:
http://www.whiteboardanimation.com
http://goanimate.com
Statistic Sources: emarketer.com, insivia.com, Social Media Examiner, Borrell Associates, Forrester Research, Youtube.com

This direct mail piece was difficult “not” to open.

Direct mail (DM) campaigns continue to be used in MASSIVE numbers across North America as a valuable tool for customer acquisition and upsell. In fact, $44.5 (US) billion was spent on DM efforts in 2014 in the U.S. with a median ROI rate of 15-17%.

It remains an extremely viable sales tool. In fact, the 2015 Direct Marketing Association Response Rate Report ranks direct mail at the top of the direct media response rate charts at an average of 3.7% (up from 3.4% in 2012 – and only second to telephone’s 8-9%) when mailing “house lists” of current and past customers and 1% for “prospect lists”. Use an oversized envelope and up your response rate average to 5%. In comparison, mobile comes in at .2%, email, Social Media and paid search all average .1% response rates.

None of these direct mail stats matter, if you can’t get your envelope opened. 

It’s shocking how much time companies spend on crafting the offer inside their direct mail package. When in fact, if the envelope doesn’t get opened, the entire campaign is a bust. Here’s a simple checklist that will help you to focus on getting the envelope opened so that your business will be on the upside of the stats. Keep in mind that the higher the open rate, the higher the response rate.

1. Name it. Without the recipients’ name you are already knocking double-digit percentage points off of your open rate. Addressing the piece to the actual person (and spelling it correctly) is step one in sparking an “interest” in opening the envelope. Of course, for many reasons, it’s not always possible to get the recipient’s name. You can see the example shown at top of this article is addressed to the “current resident.” In this case, the sender used several factors from this checklist to counteract “sales mail distrust” in an attempt to boost getting their message read.

2. Handwrite the “to and from” address. Hands-down, this is THE most effective way to get direct mail opened. To most of us, a handwritten envelope says “I’m your FRIEND and I have something ‘IMPORTANT’ to share with you OR invite you to.”  The recipient simply cannot help themselves from wanting to KNOW who it’s from and what’s inside. And, if it has their name on the envelope, it WILL get opened. 

If your business simply cannot handwrite thousands of envelopes, which is totally understandable, here’s a couple of online tools to check out:

a) www.SendOutCards.com provides a terrific service to easily design a custom card or postcard using your own graphics or a personalized message in your very own printing with your very own signature. Create a template and use it again and again. The entire process is completed online. Choose a template, design your own, or a little bit of both. Add the messaging, input or upload the recipient’s contact details, then press send. SendoutCards prints out the high-quality card and envelope addressed from your business, slaps a real stamp on it and out it goes. For Canadian customers and Canadian customer bound cards they truck the cards across the border to be mailed with a Canadian stamp. Impressive. I challenge you to create a free card at https://www.sendoutcards.com Send it to a client and see if it gets opened.

b) For purists with a budget wanting to get a near 99% open rate, service companies exist that will actually handwrite the envelope and/or contents, fold, stuff, lick the real stamp and mail from your postal jurisdiction. You can even choose the handwriting style that best matches your business. Yes, it is true. Literally, hundreds of real people are handwriting your letters. My favorite company is https://maillift.com/ . Mail Lift will produce one letter or an entire campaign. At the rate of $3 – $10 per letter, it appears costly, yet at a near 99% open rate, it will be worth the investment to achieve the desired results. Visit the site and have one sent to you for free. You’ll be sold!

3. Use a real stamp. Nothing screams “I’m trying to sell you” like a bulk mailing machine stamp. Certainly bulk mailing (over 1000 pieces) will save budget  – but the bulk mailing stamp is a BIG RED “junk mail” flag and will ensure that your open rate plummets. So ask yourself – do we want to secure a new customer – that we can potentially upsell again and again – OR – do we want to save money on this mailing?

4. Use an “odd” size envelope. The standard #10 envelope is typical of direct mailing campaigns and are often overlooked or passed up on by recipients as “sales mail”. The 2015 DMA survey reports oversized envelopes with a higher average response rate of 5% vs 3.7%.

1. Use provocative messaging on the envelope that speaks to your IDEAL BUYING Customer – OR – no messaging at all. If you are able to handwrite the envelopes – DO NOT use messaging, not even the name of your company should be included with the return address. The overall idea of using handwriting or a blank envelope is to provide an element of mystery so that the recipient is sooooo curious that they’ll have to open it up to see who sent what.

To get optimum open rates, envelope messaging must be enticing to the recipient and ideally, should promise a solution to the problem that your product or service provides.

1. Color it up! White envelopes are ever so … yawn … boring. Bright colored envelopes attract attention and generate energy – so use them! If white envelopes are your choice, whenever possible – use full color, or at least, spot color printing.

1. Use a current list – dead mail NEVER gets opened. People move, they divorce and pass away, addresses are input incorrectly. A list older than 6 months is considered an old list and will have significant undeliverable pieces.

The best lists that deliver the highest response rates are house lists which pull 5x higher response rates. That means the most important job you have next to closing sales is always to be collecting and updating data on your customers and prospects. This is the goldmine of nearly every business. Strategically, direct mail can be an excellent tact to reactivate a lapsed customer and/or to upsell an existing one.

When renting prospect lists, try to get list of “paid subscribers” to traditional magazine or online content that is of interest to your IDEAL BUYING Customer. Typically these lists have above average response rates because they’re a) up-to-date and current and b) if a subscriber is interested enough to put money up to get more information on the topic, and it’s your topic, then they’ll very likely to be interested enough to open your piece.

As mentioned at the beginning of this posting, always integrate marketing efforts to drive up response rates! It’s been my personal experience that a follow up phone call will as much as quadruple a DM response rate. Direct mail warms up the target so that they have already had at least one exposure of your product or service.

Test, test and test again. NEVER change your entire process all at once. Do one test at a time … envelope size, color, messaging, handwriting, labels. It’s called A-B split testing. Place a different tracking code on the response mechanism – one for the A group and one for the B group. That way, you can easily track the response rates for each.

Surprise. The cleverly labeled, oversize, color envelope direct mail piece is from DirectTV.

Now … go get at er!

Charlene Brisson, MAPC

3-Step Marketing Pro @ www.3-StepMarketing.com

PS … Forty percent of consumers say that they have tried a new business after receiving direct mail, and 70% have renewed relationships with businesses that they had previously ceased using.

Sources

http://www.statista.com/statistics/289174/direct-mail-marketing-spending-us/

https://www.multi-craft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2014-Direct-Mail-Stats.pdf

http://www.marketingcharts.com/traditional/direct-media-response-rate-cpa-and-roi-benchmarks-53645/

http://www.iwco.com/blog/2015/04/14/dma-response-rate-report-and-direct-mail/

OK – if you live in one of those fabulously sunny all-year round locations, this marketing tactic may not be new to you – but for this Canadian – it sure rocks my boat.

Yes, I’ve seen the old fashion skywriting, usually performed by a single plane which is pretty cool. Yet, more often than not the writing is difficult to read with the first letters trailing off before the word is completed. Of course there’s also the difficulty in writing anything longer than 5-8 characters. The single engine plane simply can’t maneuver fast enough through the loops to keep up. But the Geico Skytypers have it down to a fine art operating on an entirely different model. Five or six planes fly in a V formation at 250 ft apart dropping the smoke (likely to be eco-friendly vapor) at timed intervals to create the letters which become words. Messages can be as long as 8 miles (12.8 kilometers). WAAAAAY more effective. And it’s ALL done on a wireless digital network.

Check this out … 19 characters and 6 dots! The letters are super LARGE and so simple to read. What better way is there to get your message to a targeted crowd of beach goers, to an outdoor concert or festival. Brilliant!

And what’s even better about the Geico Skytypers is that they’ve put another spin on this marketing tactic for the insurance megabrand. Geico doesn’t just DO Skytyping, they sponsor Skytyping – another marketing tactic to leverage the brand.

Checkout the Geico Skytypers Airshow Team. They’re a flight squadron of six vintage WWII aircraft that do precision maneuvers at airshows. I’m going to guess that Geico simply sponsors a group of veteran Skytypers for brand awareness without the hassle of management and aircraft maintenance. Typically in these deals, in exchange for a large sum of money, the sponsor slaps their logo on virtually everything including the planes in this case and melds into the name … Geico + Skytypers. Heavy social media and online presence is managed by the Skytypers. Likely included in this arrangement is also a schedule of messaging for Geico wherever the unit performs. Works great for Geico that has a massive budget for image advertising. And win-win for the Skytypers who with a solid sponsor can do their thing at airshows and also give some of their efforts to charity.

When to use Skytyping:

• To geographically target large outdoor events or densely populated areas.
• For product being sold at the event being targeted.
• For a low-sell short message.

Pros of Skytyping:

• Skytyping is captivating, noticeable, eye-catching.
• Very unusual so people notice.
• Easy to geographically target.
• People look up when they hear a plane.
• The message can change frequently unlike aerial banners.
• Can include hashtag # to get some social media traction.

Cons of Skytyping:

• Skytping is weather dependent.
• 8 miles of message is still pretty short when it’s in the sky.
• More difficult to demographically target.

Skytyping Resources:

http://www.geicoskytypers.com

https://www.facebook.com/GEICOSkytypers

http://www.skytypers.com

http://www.airsign.com/skywriting.php

http://nationalskyads.com/skywriting.html

As I continue my travels around the United States, I’ve had a number of marketing experiences and observances that I love to share with other business owners and marketing professionals. In this episode of 3-Step Marketing on the Go I share an incident with “poor” customer service and “fabulous” customer service and to  recognize how important CS is to your marketing strategy.  In addition, I talk about apps, radio sponsorship and a couple of other areas that we should all be thinking about for our marketing success.

I love to get feedback – so if you have some, please share.

All the best to your marketing success. Now go get at er!

Charlene Brisson, http://www.3-StepMarketingPro.com

What is it that your customers want, need and where are they in their decision making process? If you haven’t done the “customer roll play” lately, you could be missing out on important clues to delivering the right messaging and accomodations that will deliver more sales.  In this episode of Marketing on the Go, I relate my travels to the right timing of your message, the importance of COMPETENT directional signage for a pleasant customer experience which ultimately leads to postive interaction with your company – AND return business!  PLUS … how pillow talk is being used by (some) smart hotels that are listening to their customers.

Enjoy!

In marketing, these tactics are called ethical bribes – when a prospect gives you their contact information (usually name and email) and YOU give them an information product of value in return (for free) – often a free report, white paper, newsletter, high-profile interview, assessment, ebook or a series of tips.

But how can it be ethical if your prospect never has time to read what you’re sending – or it’s not “viewed” as being of value??  Afterall, they’re helping you build your opt-in list of targeted prospects. On-going targeted list building creates a potential gold mine of future sales for your business.

So here’s a business marketing idea … only create a sign-up (ethical bribe) for something that you, yourself would take the time to read or watch – otherwise, you’re not doing yourself or others any service.

You only get one chance to make an impression – so if that impression sucks, chances are VERY high that all the rest of your emails or messages, no matter how clever and valuable, will be ignored … forever.

To ensure that your marketing bribe is ethical AND delivers results …

1. Put a value proposition in the title (what value will they get from it). Using numbers is always effective … 12 ways to XX; 9 major mistakes XX make and how to avoid them; etc.
2. Always deliver the value you promise – PLUS more. If it’s a list, give a bonus 13^th or 10^th; add in a few resource links, etc.
3. Is it easy to read? Lots of whitespace and adding a few professional graphics is important for print/electronic layouts. Use standard fonts – no swirly, kiddy or colorful text – it makes you look unprofessional. Arial, Helvetica or Times are safe bets.
4. Keep videos SHORT and to the point – people don’t have TIME.
5. If it’s a series of tips – make sure the FIRST ONE is your BEST … so they’re excited to get the next one.
6. Use an autoresponder like www.getresponse.com,www.constantcontact.com,  or www.aweber.com to deliver the information product immediately and looking professional. Set up a series of emails to be sent automatically after they receive their free info product (bribe) … a couple with more value to build relationship and then send the sell email
7. Autoresponders have webforms (sign up form box) that you can easily put on your website, in emails and on your social media sites like your FB official biz page (formerly: fan page).  Only asking for name and email will get you a higher response rate – you can get more info about the prospect at a later date if you want.
8. If emailing a sign-up email to a new list, use a powerful and catchy subject line. Controversy; adding a sense of urgency; including keyword phrases; or including those numbers again will get you a higher open AND sign-up rate.  DON’T use a trick – like one I received “your order has been processed”. You’ll get a high open rate, but totally lose credibility and few sign-ups.
9. Be unique. Don’t do what everyone else does, but keep in mind, not everyone may enjoy your flavor. And that’s ok – those aren’t your IDEAL BUYING customers.
10. Have fun.

As a marketing speaker, offering an ethical bribe for list building is a ”must” have of the business marketing ideas I share with business audiences regularly when talking about the 3-Step Marketing Model.

Now go get at er and make your marketing bribes ethical – your prospects will appreciate the value you have to offer.

PS … sign up for my ethical bribe at http://www.3-StepMarketingMinute.com for lots of fabulous marketing tips delivered twice weekly in a fun and SHORT video format!

Here’s a quick video I recorded on a recent road trip as part of my 3-Step Marketing on the Go series where a Buc-ees billboard campaign really caught my eye and provides some valuable business marketing ideas!

All the best to your marketing success. Now … go get at er!

Charlene Brisson, www.3-StepMarketingPro.com

Unless you get your hands on an incredibly spectacular promo item, chances are the money you spend on that branded pen, flashlight, calculator, drink cosy, letter opener, water bottle or __________ (fill in the blank) will go right into the bottom of a drawer or file 13 with the rest of the promo items your prospect has received in the last year. WHAT A WASTE! And forget tracking ROI – impossible.

There is a way to make your branded swag (promotional items) investment dollars work for you. Leverage them to generate leads … which in turn will deliver measurable results (ROI) … AND prospects which you can then convert into customers. With the holy grail of successful marketing being a responsive qualified list, it’s critical to use every possible opportunity … and one such opportunity can come from your swag.

Watch my latest Marketing on the Go episode here to find out how you can generate ROI from your marketing dollars …

It’s my new rule … don’t proceed if you can’t get a lead. Make it yours and watch your list grow.

All the best to your marketing success. Now … go get at er!

What makes a bad billboard?

On a recent trip from San Diego to Houston I was bombarded with useless signage that displayed

• unreadable font styles and colors
• text that’s much too small to be read
• too much text
• and my personal favorite – confusing messaging – leaving viewers who may care bewildered and uncaring

So, what makes a great outdoor ad?

On the other hand, there are some truly effective marketers entertaining us out on the road and those providing a valuable service by giving us their message in an effective and easy to process manner. Drivers are looking for products and services – so make it easy for them.

Here are some tips …

• Keep it short – in fact try to keep the message to 5 words – 8 at most!
• Be clear and concise – you can still be confusing using only a few words – so make sure people can INSTANTLY understand what you’re trying to say – 80 MPH is pretty fast and doesn’t leave a lot of time to process. The more simple the concept, the
• greater the impact.
• Simple and BOLD fonts – san serif is best.
• Capital letters are hard to read – stick to lower case.
• Yellow makes a great accent – but a terrible font color – stick to primary colors with depth – red is always safe
• Frequency is critical. One billboard along a 100 mile stretch is like 1 drop of water in the local swimming pool.
• Humor can be effective, but can also backfire – so be cautious.
• Think outside the box and add something to your design like an add-on – there are some fabulous ones out there. I particularly like the spicy chickens and of course, the success (and 911 calls) from the man maneequin and bear sitting on the BMW billboard will be case studied for years to come (see photo below).
• Save marketing budget or get twice the frequency by partnering up with another relevant business. And, if you sell major brands (online or offline), you may be able to access “co-op” dollars from them to appear on your billboard.
• Include a “call to action.” What do you want them to do – call, text, visit your website or exit now? What are they likely to have access to in the car?
• Follow the 3-Step Marketing Model – (Step One) Identify your IDEAL BUYING customer, (Step Two) Craft a Message that Speaks to your IDEAL BUYING Customer and (Step Three) use this effective tactic ONLY if it reaches your IDEAL BUYING Customer – otherwise, use these same best practices for other platforms.

Here are some of my favorite examples of the good and the bad which just may provide you with some business marketing ideas …

Short and great humor gets big marks for an effective billboard campaign.

Don’t think that everyone has your same sense of humor. Is it worth it to eliminate 51% of potential customers – unless, of course, you’re not going after women at all.

This is really thinking outside the billboard advertising box!

Terrific add-on to this already cleverly written billboard.

Exit NOW … not Exit Here, Exit in 2 miles or just plain Exit … Exit NOW!

Could just be me – but this one takes WAY too long to get. Confusing and ineffective.

Keep in mind that ALL of these billboard advertising tips also work as best practices for most ad campaigns using a variety of platforms – radio, tv, print, online display, emails, etc.!  I’d LOVE to see any of your favorites – so please, send them my way!

All the best to your marketing success.  Now … go get at er!