In today’s economy, it’s virtually impossible to run a business without some kind of marketing. This is especially true of consumer packaged goods (CPGs), whose marketing budgets often exceed 20 percent of sales revenue.

So where are the Twinkies TV commercials? The Twinkie banner ads?  The compelling web content? Here are five strategies that could ensure a brighter future for Twinkie and Hostess:

1. Get social.
CPGs make up a large portion of Facebook’s top 50 branded pages. But Hostess is nowhere to be found. As of this writing, it has a single Facebook page dedicated to 12 Hostess brands. But how many people know that Twinkies, HoHos, Ding-Dongs or SnoBalls are made by Hostess?The company would do better to have a Facebook presence for each of its brands, with brand-specific promotions on each page. This would also help them reach the 22,000+ people who are currently fans of squatter pages.

2. Target bloggers.
A 2011 BlogHer study found bloggers to be nearly twice as influential as celebrity sponsorships. For a cash-strapped company, targeting bloggers can be a cheap and effective way to expand reach and generate sales.

A quick Pinterest search reveals that bloggers have already embraced Twinkies by turning them into mummies, minions and even Halloween costumes. Hostess can capitalize on this trend by sending out free products and sponsoring blog-based promotions, then showcasing the resulting coverage on its own Twinkie-based blog.

3.  Embrace nostalgia.
Hostess reintroduced Twinkie the Kid in 2011, but his modern facelift left him looking more “SpongeBob” than “snack cake.” This may have alienated old-school fans who grew up seeing Twinkie on the Howdy Doody Show.

According to branding expert Martin Lindstrom, companies using retro marketing “are not only triggering our nostalgia for that time; they’re creating an association in our brains between our rosy memories of the era and their product.” By embracing nostalgic imagery, Hostess could capitalize on Twinkie’s long history and generate interest among the baby boomer crowd.

4.   Increase partnerships.
Nutella Twinkies. Sounds good, right? By creating partnerships with other well-known brands, Hostess would not only capitalize on additional brand equity, but create new product offerings that trigger impulse buys.

You might already know what Twinkies taste like. But see limited-edition Oreo cheesecake Twinkies on the shelf, and you’re curious. This curiosity can add up to additional sales.

5.   Plan for long-term media buys.
It takes money to make money, and high-profile advertising comes at a cost. But if Hostess wants to compete with other CPGs, it needs a long-term media strategy.

Years ago, Hostess had a great ad campaign that had everyone asking, “Where’s the cream filling?” (Remember the fat lady in an inner tube, who was mistaken for a Hostess cupcake?)  But the world has heard little from Hostess since then – other than news of its bankruptcy. Remaining top of mind for consumers requires long-term exposure, not just a flash in the pan.

What ideas do you have for low-cost, long-term marketing strategies? Leave them in the comments section below.

The holidays inspire a wide-eyed sense of wonder. Possibilities abound. Cynicism, callousness and gloom retreat. In spite of all the commercialization, the feelings in our hearts are simple and true. We only want to brighten the darkness, connect with others and believe that miracles can occur.

The feeling is appealing. Engaging. Captivating, even. It’s all the things we want in our marketing communications. This is a good time to reflect on how we can capture that magic and use it throughout the year.

It comes down to two words: authenticity and innocence.

Three steps to bring magic to marketing

Number one, be truthful. Your product or service needs a clear differentiator that appeals to your target audience. Not a clever trick of language or an exaggerated claim, but a believable benefit that sets you apart from your competitors. If you can’t identify it, you’d better go back to the drawing board and take a closer look at either your product or your positioning.

Secondly, speak with an authentic voice. Your marketing communications – whether print, digital, broadcast or outdoors – should speak to your audience in simple, understandable terms. There’s no need to gild the lily… people will see right through it and you’ll do your brand more harm than good.

Finally, appeal to the child in your target. Is there an emotional benefit that connects them to feelings of childhood? Can your product or service make them feel more secure? Can you help them overcome fear? Connect with those they love? You must tread carefully here, and proceed with humility. You’re not offering Love Potion #9 or the cloak of invisibility. The appeal must be gentle and true, but still strike that deep emotional chord.

Communicating a sense of wonder isn’t right for every brand. But when integrated into a well-conceived, strategically driven campaign, you can build an aura around your brand that draws customers in. And they may not even know why.

What’s your opinion? Can we capture this sense of wonder and use it to cast a glow on our brands throughout the year?

Wishing you all the best of the holiday season, and a New Year filled with happiness and health.

As we move through the fourth quarter, many businesses are planning for 2012. Typically, that planning includes an analysis of the past year’s performance.

Maybe your organization is doing pretty well. Not great, but not awful. Just kind of moving along at the same pace. Could be worse, right? I mean, there are plenty of companies who would give anything to be doing “ok” in these tough economic times.

So the obvious, safe path is to not mess with it. Keep things how they are. Don’t stir the pot. The temptation is there to simply carry the same plan into next year.

We come across this mindset fairly often when talking to prospective new clients – “Things seem to be working pretty well. No need to change right now.”

And, that way of thinking makes a lot of sense. When things are working, or at least not doing damage, it’s difficult to justify change.

But just because things are going fairly well, it doesn’t mean it’s time to put marketing on cruise control and let it ride.

Never Stop Learning

When your business is doing “ok,” it’s the perfect time to take stock of your marketing. Step back and do some simple analysis.

Are there marketing tactics that are working better than others? Maybe your digital marketing campaign has really started to drive some traffic. Or maybe you are seeing more and more white papers downloaded from your website.

On the flipside, what ISN’T working? Has your company been spending a ton on trade shows, with very little to show for it? Or maybe you’ve noticed that website traffic is on the decline.

Dig a little deeper and see what you find.

When you build a marketing communications program today, you have the ability to measure every element and determine not only what is working and what isn’t, but also WHY.

Why are more white papers getting downloaded? What has changed at the trade shows that has resulted in a declining return on investment? Answer those questions, and you are on the path to improvement.

Make the Right Changes

Once you’ve completed the analysis, you’ll be armed with the insights needed to make the right decisions. These insights can certainly help you improve your communications efforts. They may also impact other marketing decisions, including product development and the way you service customers.

Change isn’t nearly as scary when it can be supported with hard facts. And, the best part is, you are only fixing the parts that need to be fixed. You aren’t scrapping the whole approach on a whim. You’re making justified improvements.  Simply put, you will do more of the things that work, and less of those that don’t.

Give this approach a try when you’re finalizing your 2012 plans. I think you’ll find that small improvements can be made, and your marketing will be more effective.

Normally, we write in language that’s familiar to our targets. We want them to feel comfortable with our copy. It’s a subtle way of communicating our understanding of their world.

If you’re involved in B2B marketing like I am, you need to connect with a variety of targets. Some of them are highly educated: doctors, lawyers, engineers, executives, educators and scientists.

Trying to emulate the tone and voice of these educated professionals can be dangerous. Just because they’re capable of reading complex, technical copy doesn’t mean they want to. Especially if we’re trying to persuade them to think, act or purchase differently.

They’re busy. They’re tired. They’re distracted. And we want them to read and process our marketing messages. Our job is to make it easy. To remove barriers to communication.

At the end of a long day, when our targets pick up a trade pub or sort through their email or search the web, they don’t want to work hard to understand our message. There’s a time and place for technical information, and it’s usually at the end of a PDF link.

These targets need to understand the benefits of our products and services simply and directly, without much effort. They’re really no different from other consumers. They want to know quickly and clearly why they should invest their precious time with us.

Here’s a tip

When you finish your first draft, run spell check. Click on “Options,” and then select “Show readability statistics.” At the end of the spell check, you’ll see some numbers. Focus on the ones at the bottom:

• Passive sentences should be close to zero;
• Reading ease should be greater than 50 (this is a function of word length and sentence length);
• Grade level should be 9 or less.

According to readability expert Ann Wylie, these guidelines make your copy more readable for everyone, including professionals. Remember, just because they can read at a 14^th grade level, doesn’t mean they want to.

Make it simple, make it easy, make it clear. Professor Strunk would be proud.

This raises some important questions: Do we really need another social network, or does Google need us to need one? And why is Google so fascinated with entering the social media space? After all, isn’t Google a search company?

Here are some answers.

Relevancy

Google’s goal has always been to provide the most relevant search results. Initially, Google used metadata, then onsite content and eventually link popularity to achieve this goal. Now with the advent of Google+ and the +1 button, Google is relying on the power of crowdsourcing and social media to improve relevancy. What better way to improve relevancy than to have people actually vote for what they find relevant?

Is every “vote” equal? No. The more followers you have the more your vote counts, especially if your followers are following you because they consider you an expert in your field and the item you are +1’ing.

Personalization

By understanding what you like, Google can provide a more personalized search experience. What ranks number one for you may be totally different for someone else based on your interests and the people in your Google+ Circles. The personal data Google collects helps improve the relevancy of every search.

For example, based on the search engine optimization articles that I +1 and the other search engine marketers that are in my Circles, when I search for “SEO”, I will receive results related to search engine optimization. However, someone who is an environmental consultant and who has a completely different set of Circles may search for “SEO” and receive results for sewage enforcement officers.

Improved advertising targeting

Better relevancy equals better search results. Better search results equals more searches. More searches means more exposure to Google’s advertising. And more advertising exposure means more money for Google.

Starting to make sense now?

As a search marketer, one thing that I’m really excited about is the level of targeting we’ll have in the future. Beyond targeting search keywords and geographic location, we’ll have the ability to target individuals based on their demographics and behaviors. Targeting that was once reserved for social networks like Facebook can now be applied to Google’s search results.

Product Integration

Google+ will allow its users to communicate and share information via other Google products. You will have the ability to share and collaborate on Google documents, share screens via Screensharing and post photos from Picasa. You’ll be able to schedule events through Google Calendar, receive email notifications via Gmail, broadcast live events from YouTube, review or check into a Google Place and have a face-to-face conversation via Hangout from your Google Android mobile phone.

Mobility

What’s your life without your smart phone? The mobile application for Google+ is another way that Google can be with you everywhere you go. Google will be readily accessible to help you search for products and places on the go. And once you find what you’re looking for, you’ll be able to share it with your followers and the world via Google+. You’ll also be able to search for reviews and recommendations from your friends before you buy, making local search advertising even more important.

Google+ Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Google is aiming to make search an integral part of our everyday life. People will search more if they have access to relevant, personal results wherever they are. What better way to do this than to develop a social network? Now you can see why Google is fascinated with the social experience and why they’re hoping Google+ is the answer.

Find Joe on Google+.

Take it easy, PR professionals. I know that statement makes you crazy.

Yes, it’s a bold comment, but honestly, when I went looking for a PR partner for JPL, I wanted a firm with that kind of philosophy.

I found it in Abel Communications, a PR firm that isn’t afraid of tying public relations to business objectives like leads generated and/or sales.

Data is Power

In JPL’s Accountable Campaign℠ model, we use sales and marketing data to evaluate the success of each element in an integrated program. We track campaign performance using rich, granular information. We know what’s working and what isn’t. We trend data historically, and we analyze and form insights that help us adjust the campaign and plan for future efforts – all with a focus on driving leads and affecting sales.

For marketers, the web changed our game years ago. We’re able to show our worth in dollars and cents.

In my world of working with clients, data is power, and tangible results are everything.

No question, building brand awareness is still a critical element of the integrated campaigns we’re developing, but awareness is the starting point, not the end game.

We can’t stand before a business decision maker and talk only about sentiment, impressions and mentions. Yes, those things help build awareness. But we have to talk about them in the context of how they help our clients grow their businesses.

As we evaluated potential PR partners, I became very much aware of the debate about whether or not PR can or should contribute to things like lead generation and sales.

Earlier in my career, I worked in a corporate public relations department. At that time, we didn’t talk about growth and retention metrics as part of our PR work.

Today, it’s not an option.

It’s a Beautiful Thing

When we build an integrated campaign, public relations must be held accountable to the same objectives as marketing communications.

Getting articles in the media is our strategy, it’s not the objective.

Within an integrated campaign, we set PR objectives that align with critical campaign goals like lead generation, lead conversion, sales, thought leadership, web traffic and brand awareness.

We measure PR success against those goals. We can still measure and report on the quality and strategic value of exposures. We can use “share of discussion” metrics to demonstrate our PR successes versus competitors. And, we certainly want to demonstrate targeted reach by reporting “impressions,” from print to unique web visits.

But those metrics must be aligned to show how PR is helping us meet our client’s business objectives.

As we develop and execute marketing campaigns today, our goal is to fully integrate public relations. We tie PR activities to financial gains, and when we do that, it’s a beautiful thing. We see the powerful, tangible, business impact of public relations.

Today, LinkedIn announced its new feature for company pages called “Status Updates.”

It is what it sounds like. A place for the administrators of a company LinkedIn page to share company announcements, product releases, promotions and other news.

Prior to this addition, the only way to promote company news on LinkedIn was to ask employees to share company status updates on their personal LinkedIn pages. That’s still a must-do, of course, because you increase the chances your news is seen when it’s shared by numerous employees to their networks.

The Benefits of Company Status Updates

The addition of the LinkedIn Company “Status Updates” finally gives companies a voice and a way to interact with its followers. Company posts can be seen on the company’s overview tab by any LinkedIn member. Anyone who follows the company will see the posts directly on their LinkedIn homepage and in LinkedIn email updates. All LinkedIn members have the ability to view posts, click on embedded links or view videos. They can also comment, like, or share a post.

This short video from LinkedIn explains how “Status Updates” work. You’ll also see that LinkedIn gives you an easy tool to measure the interactions on your updates and look at the overall metrics on your company page.

The addition of LinkedIn Company “Status Updates” is much like Facebook’s recent move to allow company pages to “like” another company page and interact with other brands. Businesses, not just people, continue to get a true voice in social media and a way to interact with their targets in a meaningful way.

Facebook Changes: Timeline, Ticker, the Open Graph and Graph Rank

Timeline

Timeline is the new Facebook profile page. It allows users to tell their life story on a single page. It’s a collection of top photos, posts and apps that help you tell your story. Content appears in chronological order and special moments can be added anywhere along the way.

The further back you go, the more Facebook summarizes and collapses your content. Timeline can be sorted according to the type of content such as videos or photos. With the integration of Timeline and new social applications, users can share a complete picture of who they are and what they enjoy, the music they listen to, the places they’ve visited and the movies they watch.

Ticker

If you’ve logged into Facebook within the past two weeks, you’ve noticed a scrolling status update frame in the upper right hand corner. This is called Ticker, and it’s Facebook’s answer to Twitter. Ticker provides real-time actions of your friends and the Pages you follow. This replaces “Recent Stories” and allows Facebook to display all user actions while ranking the most important posts and actions as Top Stories in the News Feed.

The Social Graph becomes Open with New Applications

With the Open Graph, Facebook is expanding its social app capability, from music and TV to news and lifestyle apps. You can now read an article on Yahoo! News, watch a movie from Netflix and listen to a song on Spotify while never leaving Facebook.

The Open Graph may be the most significant update to the Facebook Platform since it launched in 2007. This will create opportunities for marketers and application developers to add unique actions to a user’s updates based on brand interaction and engagement.

The Graph Rank News Feed Algorithm

Why do certain stories rise to the top of your News Feed? Why doesn’t your Page update show on all of your fans’ News Feeds? The answer is Facebook’s News Feed algorithm. With the new Open Graph system, Facebook introduces Graph Rank.

Graph Rank manages the News Feed, Ticker and Timeline. It’s designed to give more prominence to highly engaging content. Graph Rank is personalized based on your actions with your friends and your favorite brands.

What the New Facebook Means for Marketers

These updates will have a powerful impact on the way users interact with a brand and its Facebook Pages. Here are a few things that marketers need to consider:

• Updating Your Pages: With the new Timeline, Facebook will likely update brand Pages to reflect this change. With updated Pages, brands will be able to showcase their history, their products and their services in more detail. Facebook has always valued consistency, so marketers need to be ready to make the change to their Pages when it’s announced.
• More Engaging Posts: Based on the Open Graph algorithm, users won’t see brand updates as often unless the user is actively liking, commenting and posting to the brand’s page. Instead, these updates will appear in the Ticker. Brands and marketers are going to need to work harder to have their posts be more interesting and interactive to rise through the clutter.
• Brands Will Spend More on Facebook Advertising: To encourage this interaction, brands will need to market their Page through Facebook social ads or develop custom applications.
• The Importance of Apps: Custom application development is going to become more important as users further integrate Facebook into their web activities. Apps will be the way brands connect with their fans and a unique way for users to show their loyalty to a brand on their Timeline.
• Analytics: Facebook will provide additional metrics for marketers to measure the success of their campaigns and applications. Marketers will have the ability to filter detailed metrics by demographics, impression distribution, likes, clicks, engagement actions, objects, and time.
• Improved Targeting: With the new Timeline profile page and the additional information Facebook collects from outside applications, marketers will be able to target message to actions and behaviors, not just demographics.

What’s your opinion of the new Facebook? What impact do you expect these changes will have on your brand Page?

Target Audience

Knowing our target is crucial to developing compelling work. Now let’s walk through the process, using a sample client. This fictitious client sells benefit services to companies. So we begin with the basics:

Target Audience

• Human Resource Directors
• Work for companies with 300-500 employees
• Typically female, aged 25-44

Ok, that’s a solid start. Now we know something about this audience. But is there more? There better be, because this doesn’t give us nearly enough information to develop work that will connect with the audience. Another important piece of information is the role the target plays in decision making for the products/services being offered.

Role in decision making

• Serve as key decision makers for the following employee benefits:
  • Health benefits
  • 401k plans
• Serve as influencers on the following:
  • Disability benefits
  • Tuition reimbursement

It’s starting to come together. Now we know who they are, and their role in decision making. What else might be helpful? How about an understanding of what they do every day? What keeps them up at night? What are the areas where they need help?

Pain points/Challenges/Needs

• Balancing a full range of responsibilities, including, but not limited to, the benefit products we offer
• Stretched to the limit, and in need of a turnkey benefits solution so they can focus on their other responsibilities
• Looking for ways to better communicate with their employees regarding benefits

Cha-ching. There it is. We have some insights that can help us do better work. We know what buttons need to be pushed. We know how our differentiation points align with their needs. We know how we can connect with them and help them with their challenges. Now we have a target audience definition.

This example includes just a few ideas on how to deepen your target definition. There are many other options to consider.

I have never, EVER had a creative director tell me that I provided too much information on the target. I have, however, been asked to provide additional information.

When you develop marketing for your company, what does your target definition look like? How much do you know about them? And how much are you communicating to those who need to develop strategies and tactics to reach your audience, and compel the target to take action?

If your definition is still limited to the first few lines in this document, it’s time to take another look. Conduct research, talk to your frontline teammates, and learn everything you can about your audience. It WILL lead to more effective, efficient and powerful marketing.

Video on the web is an important marketing tool that can help you build awareness, create engagement and deepen your relationship with your customers or prospects. And it can do this even if your video is not the next “Dancing Babies.” (FYI, watching videos online is the most internet activity online- even more popular than using social media).  Let’s look at why video on the web is a strong marketing tool even if it doesn’t “go viral.”

Let’s start with your objectives- chances are they are quite different than Old Spice or Evian. These global consumer brands use video on the web to gain awareness, which they hope will translate into sales. Your goals might be to:

• Show how to use one of your products
• Position your organization as a thought leader
• Build excitement around a recent meeting or event
• Support advertising with more in depth messaging
• Deliver customer testimonials

Delivering Value

Video on the web can help you meet your goals even if your videos do not receive thousands of views. The key is to deliver real value to viewers. This sounds obvious, but it’s easy to forget. What has value? Here are a few examples.

• Industry knowledge: Tap some of the expertise that exists on your team. Have one of your engineers talk about innovation or have a researcher share trends.
• Detailed information about how to use your products or services: How many features of the products we own do we really use? Just a fraction. When you educate your customers you are helping them and thereby strengthening your connection with them.
• Customer testimonials: These deliver value because they assist prospects who are trying to decide if your product or service is right for them. This is real value.
• Views from a tradeshow or conference: Go to your yearly industry conference and document trends by interviewing attendees- not just at your booth but throughout the event. Then present your view of these trends and how your products fit in. This delivers knowledge- and therefore value- to viewers and positions your brand as an industry leader.

Using YouTube

Once you have videos that deliver real value, post them on YouTube. Here are some keys to using YouTube effectively.

• Create a custom YouTube Channel. This enables you to create a graphic presentation that is consistent with your brand.  It also enables viewers to interact in a more robust way by subscribing to your channel and receiving updates when you post new videos.
• Makes sure the videos you post are highly visible by including a transcript, a title, a detailed description and tags.
• Use annotations within your videos to create calls to action. For example, in the final frames of your video, you can include a link to your website for more information. You can also include a phone number to generate sales leads.
• Link your YouTube videos to relevant pages on your website. This enables viewers at both places to benefit from your videos.
• Promote your new videos to your community via social media. Twitter, for example, is a good way to drive traffic to your videos.
• Regularly check the traffic reports that come with your YouTube Channel to learn about activity around your videos- how many viewers, which videos, and viewer demographics. Use this data to adjust your strategy.

Now don’t get me wrong, if you can produce a viral sensation, do it. But meanwhile, remember that video on the web can do more than build broad awareness; it can also engage prospects and create the kind of deep connections that lead to sales. Want to learn more? Try searching on YouTube.