Jul/091
Consumer Trust in Advertising
Recently, Nielson released some very interesting insight regarding what types of advertising consumers trust the most.
Before I show you the numbers.. Let’s dive into the importance one might weigh on these findings.
When deploying any type of advertising, you choose the medium that you feel best suits your audience. So although these numbers give us a solid idea of how consumers as a whole trust specific mediums, let’s not forget that your only concern will be, does your audience trust the medium(s) you choose… Following me?
For example, if you’re marketing to the 25-40 demographic using online mediums, the fact that your 87-year old neighbor doesn’t trust online ads is completely irrelevant.
Okay, enough of the fluff… Here’s some numbers.
Recommendations from people known - 90%
Consumer opinions posted online - 70%
Brand websites - 70%
Editorial content (e.g. newspaper article) - 69%
Brand sponsorships - 64%
TV - 62%
Newspaper - 61%
Magazines - 59%
Billboards/Outdoor advertising - 55%
Radio - 55%
Email marketing - 54%
Ads before movies - 52%
Search engine result ads - 41%
Online video ads - 37%
Online banner ads - 33%
Text ads on mobile phones - 24%
In conclusion, although these numbers paint an excellent picture of the overall acceptance of many different types of advertising, I wouldn’t recommend going out and dumping your online banner ads for more newspaper ads… Definitely not!
Try and get a feel for what your prospects and audience want to see. That’s when you’ll truly start to benefit from you ad spending.
Jul/090
Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes
With email marketing being so widely used these days, we start to see an increasing number of people making very common, yet critical mistakes. Have a look at our Top 10 Email Marketing Mistakes below, and ensure you’re campaigns are performing at their best!
1. Lacking a strategy - Develop a strategy detailing why your recipients will find value in your campaign. Content, key messages and metrics expectations.
2. Outdated list - Develop a permission-based list of opt-in subscribers to increase open rates and reduce undeliverable e-mails. For customer lists, try and contact your customers to ensure you have an updated email address on file. Outdated lists will offer higher bounce rates, and lowe view/click rates.
3. Non-relevant content - Keep your message relevant. Your recipients should find your campaigns interesting and engaging. E-mails with the highest opt-in and open rates are most often thought-leadership topics or personal insights into industry trends.
4. No thought to layout - Keep in mind that your message may be viewed in a preview pane with images turned off or on an e-mail system or PDA that doesn’t support HTML content. Your top-line message must include a link to a Web-based version—just in case.
5. Sloppy design - Adding graphics improves visual appeal, but you need a balance of images versus text. Too much text can be overwhelming and your readers will quickly get bored. Get to the point.
6. Hard selling - If your readers feel they’re being pitched to, your message will not only get deleted but they may even unsubscribe from your mailings. Worse yet, they could report your e-mail as spam.
7. Lack of external links - Newsletters are best developed with stories pointing to an outside Web site. Include a portion of the story with a link to “read more” and have links relevant to specific Web site pages.
8. Poor testing - All e-mail systems will not display your message the same, so be sure to test your campaign across various applications. Format consistency is critical for HTML-based e-mails.
9. Sending at the wrong time - Think about recipients’ time zones and business hours. Recent data suggest higher open rates occur on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
10. Ignoring reporting - Metrics tell you whether your message was successful, or a flop. Analyzing your campaign reports allows you to develop better content, that will engage your recipients.
Mar/090
PTM Set to Release ‘Do-it-Yourself’ Email Marketing Application
March 24, 2009
Windsor, Ontario – Local email marketing experts Primary Target Media, a subsidiary of CDP Web Solutions, are all set to release the much anticipated ‘do-it-yourself’ version of their popular email marketing service.
Using the same technology which has helped Primary Target deliver over 10 million emails on behalf of their clients, will soon be available for businesses to create and deliver email campaigns of their own.
Primary Target is best known for their managed email marketing service, where they design, develop and deliver custom email campaigns for their clients. Using their experience in the email marketing field, they have been able to produce consistent, exceptional results for businesses of all types and sizes.
“The idea of email marketing is still in somewhat of an infancy stage in our area. A common misconception among many businesses is that all email marketing is both SPAM and ineffective”, states Joel Paterson of Primary Target Media. Paterson continues by adding that email marketing offers the highest ROI (return on investment), over any other form of advertising available today.
Primary Target’s decision to release a ‘do-it-yourself’ version of their application came about when discussing the topic with various colleagues throughout Windsor. “Some individuals are reluctant to pay a higher price for a managed service, however are certainly willing to try their hand at email marketing on their own. Our ‘do-it-yourself’ application will provide just that. Easy to use functionality at an affordable price” says Joel.
“Since the development of our first email marketing application five years ago, we’ve been working diligently on improving the system and its capabilities. Today, it offers some of the most robust reporting and analytic features available anywhere. Our clients are often extremely impressed with the comprehensive statistics and follow-up opportunities it offers”. Paterson adds.
Primary Target stresses the importance of customer loyalty and retention. Keeping in touch with current and past customers is what builds a strong foundation for any business. By developing effective email marketing communications, a business is able to keep in touch for as low as $0.02/contact… Far cheaper than the price tag of $0.60+ to deliver a letter or postcard.
Joel finishes by adding that email marketing can help most any business. With clients such as Car Dealers, Travel Agents, Garden Centres, Salons/Spa and more, the deployment of consistent, on-time communications doesn’t have to be intimidating or expensive.
For more information on email marketing, or any other of Primary Target Media’s services, contact 519-253-8885 or visit www.primarytargetmedia.com
Feb/090
Branding… Seeing the Importance
Many business owners fail to see the importance of branding their business. This costly mistake sends their marketing efforts into a constant counter clockwise motion… And that’s not a good thing.
Here’s what I mean. An inconsistent or non-existent brand puts your marketing efforts in a continuous ‘first impression’ stage, as there is never a sense of familiarity from your prospects and customers.
Let’s dig a little deeper… Drive down a city street and notice how quick you can pick the ‘golden arches’ out from a sea of other billboards, signs and buildings. This is the perfect example. If McDonald’s used different color ‘arches’ for each location, would you have notice their upcoming location just as easily? Most definetely not.
Branding is a consistent theme comprised of a well-design logo and color scheme. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, simply unique.
Let’s try a test… Skim through the mountain of business cards you have lying around and pick one. Visit the web site located on this card. A well-branded company will continue this color scheme from their business card, throughout their website. Doing this provides you with a sense of familiarity and reassures you that you’re indeed on the website you were looking for.
Now try this with another card… Perhaps this second company doesn’t carry a branding theme. How do you feel now? A little less certain perhaps. This is not a feeling a company wants you to have when researching them.
Branding impact may seem faint or somewhat unnecessary, however thats what makes branding so powerful… It often works without many of us seeing it.
If you have any questions on branding your business, don’t hesitate to contact our team here at Primary Target. We would be happy to help where we can.