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Why Aren’t You Reaching Out to Customers?

Published August 19, 2011 Marketing Musings 3 Comments
Tags: brand loyalty, email marketing, marketing

There’s a trend I’ve been noticing lately with a few companies: dropping the opportunity to reach out to customers in favor of making them do some legwork in order to receive loyalty rewards. Now, I get that we live in an age where people are bombarded with emails, messages and even snail mail on a daily basis, but there is one instance in which I always want a company to reach out and get in touch with me. That instance is when I have a credit or “reward” to use!

Last week, I received an email from Old Navy:

In other words, this email is the last contact I should expect from the company regarding the rewards I have earned. From the date I received this email forward, if I want to cash in my earned $5 I will need to put in the legwork to look up if I have a reward and then print it out before shopping in the store.

The “best part” is, I don’t even log in to the Old Navy website in order to look up my rewards. I’ll need to go through my third-party financial institution and find their statement (since I don’t see the whole bill when I log in to just pay it) – a part of the process they even highlight in their email.

Missed opportunity? Absolutely.

While I’m pleased to see that Old Navy is reducing the number of snail mailings they send out to me in a given year (and all the accompanying paper that goes with those mailings), I don’t understand why – from a marketing perspective – they would want to make it more difficult for me to remember I’m an Old Navy customer. What benefit is a rewards system for the company if it’s not serving to remind customers that they enjoy shopping at your store and enticing them to come back in?

Not to mention, Old Navy in particular has a great potential up-sell opportunity that can be highlighted as a benefit in a quick email reminder (that can double as the coupon itself on customer’s cell phones). In this case, rewards are accepted at any of their “sister” stores as well – all of which are at a higher price-point than Old Navy itself. Meaning, if I take my reward and order a pair of shoes online at Piperlime, I’m definitely going to spend more with the company than I would if I just popped down to Old Navy and grabbed a t-shirt off the rack.

Without the reminders? Yeah, I’m less likely to use the coupon and save a few dollars at the store, but I’m also no longer reminded of a reason I should go into the store in the first place. In the case of ordering a new pair of shoes, I still might end up at Piperlime…or I might end up going to a competitor, particularly if a well-timed email from the competitor alerts me to some kind of credit I’ve earned with my loyalty.

Bottom line is this: Over-saturation of your message can definitely turn a once-loyal customer off, but so can radio silence. If you have reason to communicate with your customers, you should definitely take the time to reach out to them. After all, don’t we have enough on our minds without having to remember where we like to shop?

Jennifer Soloway [follow me on Twitter] // Senior Art Director // Strategic Insights

Never. Stop. Learning.

Published May 6, 2011 Marketing Musings Leave a Comment
Tags: client services, design, development, marketing, reading list

That’s my motto. I feel that we can never stop learning, in terms of as a society, and of course in terms of design, programming, and web development. Chris is even quoted ’round here as saying:

“Long gone are the days of the set-it-and-forget-it mentality for your online presence. Your web identity is a living, breathing entity and without regular maintenance, it can wither, atrophy and eventually die.“

The same can be said for continuous learning in a chosen area, even if it’s an area you are an “expert” in already.

With that said, there’s the start of an excellent collection happening right now on my Kindle in terms of books relevant to what we do here at Strategic Insights. Here’s what I can be caught reading around the office these days (when I’m not designing!):

The Art of Client Service, Revised and Updated Edition: 58 Things Every Advertising & Marketing Professional Should Know by Robert Solomon

Sadly, this is no longer available for the Kindle, so I was lucky to grab it when I did. I’m currently in the midst of reading The Art of Client Service, and I highly recommend it for anyone in the design industry. It is admittedly geared specifically for project and account managers however, we can all benefit from learning as much as we can to see things from the client perspective at every stage of the design process.

Instead of shrugging our shoulders when we get feedback that doesn’t quite make sense, we can start to understand where to backtrack to to help bring the client through the process with is. After all, we’re all in a project or campaign together.
Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik

A Kindle “freebie” at the time I downloaded it, this one immediately grabbed my interest as something up my alley. I’ve had an interest in “emotion-based” industries since college (thanks to an internship for a group of hospitals my sophomore year) and was immediately inspired when I saw this title to bring me back to my “roots” with a resource based entirely around creating empathy.
Marketing in the Moment: The Practical Guide to Using Web 3.0 Marketing to Reach Your Customers First by Michael Tasner

I also grabbed this one while it was free for the Kindle on Amazon, but am still intrigued by it. While I find the title to be cliched (I hate using terms like “Web 3.0 Marketing”), I’m hoping the book will contain either some new pieces of information on the increasingly expanding options available to our clients for spreading their message, or at least offer some nice refreshers and reminders on things to keep in mind.
Flexible Web Design: Creating Liquid and Elastic Layouts with CSS by Zoe Mickley Gillenwater

This is the newest book to make it on to my Kindle, and probably the one I am most excited to dive into. For those who don’t know, flexible web design is a not-so-new approach to building a site so that it will adapt and self-optimmize for a large variety of viewing options. In other words, it’s the attempt to design for any screen size, resolution or orientation that a user could choose to view your website on. While it does not replace specific-use situations (such as mobile devices) completely, it helps bring a more cohesive experience to a website by understanding that absolute pixel-perfection across all possible circumstances is not the ideal.

It’s about matching the experience, and not necessarily the layout, to provide the best presentation of information possible.

It’ll take me some time to get through all these, but I’m always on the lookout for more books to add to the list. How about you? Any books you’ve read or are excited to start reading? Share your inspired reading lists in the comments.

Jennifer Soloway [follow me on Twitter] // Senior Art Director // Strategic Insights

Leading the Digital Charge

Published March 16, 2011 Marketing Musings 1 Comment
Tags: Advertising, branding, marketing, new media, online advertising, Twitter, web design, web development, website

Over the past few weeks, the team here at Strategic Insights has been diligently putting our heads together and feverishly working on a new design for our agency’s website. After countless brainstorming sessions, sketches and wireframes, we have hit the ground running to develop a new site that’s not only visually appealing, but user-friendlier as well.

This process has made me start to look at fellow agency websites with a new perspective – not only as a fellow marketing professional, but also as a user. It made me wonder, on more than one occasion, how important is an agency’s web presence to its overall success?

It wasn’t THAT long ago that I was beginning my post-graduation job search in the Triangle, trying to find an agency that I felt represented what the public relations and marketing industries were doing; an agency that understood and embraced the upcoming digital age and was strongly practicing this “new media” (maybe it WAS that long ago…). I was surprised to see how many agencies in the area had websites that were, for lack of a better word, boring. There was nothing to lure me in, nothing to entice me to look any further, let alone apply for a job there; nothing new or exciting in their portfolios. No Twitter (did Twitter even exist then?), Facebook still only allowed college students to partake (ahhh, the good ol’ days…) and Skype wasn’t even a real word. Everything was traditional – nothing broke the mold. Compare my search four years ago to my search today, and it’s clear how much the game as changed.

These days, almost every company, whether a marketing agency or otherwise, has gone “digital” to some degree – whether it’s with a dynamic website, an online store or social media applications such as Twitter, Facebook or Skype, business owners understand the impact the Internet can have on their business. In many cases, it makes or breaks consumer interest and loyalty. And with roughly 75% of all Americans actively online in 2010, the Internet reaches audiences many companies could never dream of reaching ten years ago with traditional media – at a price they can afford, that is.

The need for an engaging, interactive and robust web presence is, in my opinion, even more important for those of us in the communications industry. Just because we create these digital resources, doesn’t mean that we should neglect to utilize them for our own benefit. It should mean we go above and beyond what other industries are doing. We should be trendsetters and lead the charge, showing current and potential clients what we do, how well we do it and how we can apply that to their business.

By incorporating interactive media, social media and Internet marketing into a traditional marketing portfolio, your agency becomes more attractive to clients looking for more than the status quo – you make yourself unique in a market that is filled with agencies both large and small, ready and willing to take your place.

What do you think? Do you think an agency’s web presence is a key consideration for potential clients? What are some weaknesses you see in some agency websites that you’ve perused lately (let’s play nice and not name names)? Share your thoughts!

Stay tuned over the next month as the SI team rolls out our new website! Also, keep checking our blog and Twitter accounts – we promise to keep it updated as much as we can with new project announcements, portfolio pieces, news updates and general marketing musings from the entire SI family.

Yellow-Bellied Pages

Published November 25, 2009 Marketing Musings Leave a Comment
Tags: digital, marketing, online, Yellow Pages

I remember a time, not too long ago, when I would dutifully replace my old Yellow Pages immediately upon the arrival of the new one. There’s even a dedicated kitchen drawer for it.

That drawer has not been accessed in months.

In this digital age, do the analog Yellow Pages still have something to offer? A directory that’s updated yearly? Well, it may surprise you, but I think it does. Apart from computer-literate blog readers like yourself, there are plenty of people who still look things up the old-fashioned way. They may even have rotary phones. And these people are still viable consumers, with actual money to spend.

The question is, how much of your audience do they comprise?

To hear the Yellow Pages tell it, they’re every bit as relevant as they were in 1992, and they’ve got the anecdotal evidence to back it up. And for some businesses, they remain The Only Game in Town. If you have only X$ to spend on marketing every year, isn’t your best bet to throw it all at the Business Bible?

If you’re selling rotary phones, yes. Otherwise, it’s time to reconsider.

My problem isn’t with the existence of the Yellow Pages–I think for certain clients, they remain a part of a well-balanced marketing mix. My problem is their attitude, which boils down to: “Advertise with us, or regret it. And by the way, we’re going to charge you five to six times what an average monthly home mortgage would be just for the privilege.”

Most advertisers work directly with a Yellow Pages rep, who has been schooled in the finer points of badgering, harassment and false negotiation. Recently a client showed me a proposal from their rep, which had them paying the same amount as the year before, but claimed to be deeply discounted. That’s because rates were going up! If you sign now, we can save you 30%!

Is this really how companies are helping businesses market themselves in 2010?

My other problem is that the Yellow Pages reps operate in a sanctimonious vacuum, maintaining their “only game in town” facade and barely acknowledging a client’s other marketing efforts. Consistency? Coordination? Not gonna happen–because their designers will provide the layout for free! It’s a value-add! A couple years ago, I opened up the Yellow Pages to my client’s ad (seeing it for the first time), and picked out five typos right off the bat. And, because the rep is willing to do/say anything to sign that lucrative contract, they’ll let the client load up the ad with whatever they want–usually about 60% more than anyone can be expected to absorb.

I put it to you, Yellow Pages–let’s work together. I’ll consider you if you’re right for my client and you pay me the same respect when you do an end-run and ambush my client directly. I’m trying to keep my client’s best interests in mind. Aren’t you?

Colony Tire’s new website is ready for prime time.

Published June 29, 2009 News & Press 1 Comment
Tags: Advertising, auto care, Colony Tire, marketing, north carolina, raleigh, rtp, Social Media, strategic insights, television commercials, tires, triangle, web 2.0, website

Since people have been buying tires for more than a century “offline,” one would think a website needn’t be a critical element of a tire dealer’s business model. However, more and more people are relying on the Internet to make purchase decisions, if not actual purchases. A business without a website—or an outdated website, which is sometimes worse—is at a distinct disadvantage in the credibility department.

Colony Tire, a regional tire retail chain based in Edenton, NC, with more than 40 locations in North Carolina and Virginia, approached Strategic Insights about developing an entirely new site from scratch. More than five years old, their previous site was nearing obsolescence, in both design and functionality.

David Ford, Strategic Insights’ Director of Web Services, worked directly with Ashley Aydlett, Colony Tire’s Marketing Manager, to improve the site’s look and performance. “They needed to be more competitive in search results, so we built the site to be extremely SEO-friendly,” commented Ford. “We also customized a light content management system for them so they could keep the content fresh in areas of the site that need to be updated frequently. Being able to change their Deal of the Week, and post news and customer testimonials will keep things interesting and keep their visitors coming back.”

The new site, featured prominently in Colony Tire’s recent TV campaign, offers rotating testimonials, instant e-quoting and a Google map widget showing local installer locations.

Social Media: Don’t Be Scurr’d

Published June 2, 2009 Marketing Musings 2 Comments
Tags: marketing, messaging, news, Social Media, Twitter, Viral Marketing

Social media is now ever-growing more mainstream with individuals, while companies have either tried and failed, or hopped on hoping their notoriety will carry them through.

Where does that leave the Average Joe’s in a world of GloboGyms?

A fantastic article was published Monday about a University of Texas professor embracing Twitter as a way to connect with her students to continue the discussion outside the classroom. She states:

“…it’s going to be messy but that doesn’t mean bad.”

A great attitude, and one that is realistic as we dive into yet another era that will change the face of how we interact with our clients and prospects.

Solving the Problem

The key strategy for the Average Joe’s should be to solve a problem. What is missing from your current interactions that could be enhanced through social media?

This is exactly the approach that Professor Monica Rankin used when deciding to expand the classroom onto Twitter. She found that students were taking to their Blackberries to post questions about certain topics on the platform, and consolidated them through the use of a hashtag. The questions are then addressed – either through Twitter, or the next time the class meets. The means is determined by how easily the question can be answered in 140 characters – or not.

Know What You Are Signing Up For

Like the web itself, social media is not something to be taken lightly. It is an ongoing conversation between your company and your clients, and needs to be managed properly. Though we are all learning as we go, we also know that the key is to commit to your goals, and to be involved.

Feedback is key when it comes to social media. It is important to know that all kinds of feedback will be come, and that you should be prepared. Our inspired professor found this feedback, and acted upon it. She turned confused students into proactive participants in the classroom by simply acknowledging and addressing their feedback.

Speak to Your Audience

While social media does seem to be the new, shiny thing many PR and marketing professionals are clamoring to be experts at, that doesn’t make it the best solution for everyone. It is vitally important to know your audience, and pick media that will effectively get the message to them. Don’t force your target market to sign on to Twitter if they are already using LinkedIN. Instead, find out exactly which social media platforms your target audienced is already using and make those a part of your game plan.

Just remember: social media is not nearly as scary is being hit with a dodgeball at 80 miles an hour

Jennifer Hoy [follow me on Twitter]
Art Director
Strategic Insights

Taglines, branding & tourism

Published May 12, 2009 Marketing Musings 3 Comments
Tags: branding, experience, Italy, marketing, positioning, promise, slogans, taglines, tourism

Don’t get me wrong–I love taglines. I’ve written more than my share through the years, for brands like McDonald’s, Heinz, Samsonite, Nintendo, Fidelity Bank and Builders Mutual. A few even survive to this day. But a tagline is not synonymous with a brand. Done well, a tagline encapsulates the brand’s essence, experience or benefit. Done poorly, it’s just another empty bumper sticker. One of my favorite tourism lines has always been: New Orleans–Come as You Are. Leave Different.

I just saw a commercial for Italy last night, the first one I can recall. The tagline? “Much more.” Maybe it sounds better in Italian. The commercials themselves are full of bad Quantum Leap-style “time travel” special effects. When it comes to tourism, there aren’t many more desirable brands than the country of Italy, and that’s the best they can do? I was expecting much more.

Meanwhile, other towns and countries are taking respective stabs at creating allure through new taglines. Calgary, Alberta has already spent $100K in consultants’ fees (not sure if that’s American or Canadian) merely exploring the idea of rebranding itself. The pricetag may eventually reach $1 million or more, like it did nine years ago when they settled on “Heart of the New West.”

When someone says “Providence, Rhode Island,” what’s the first set of words that comes to mind? If it’s “Creative Capital,” then the Nashville firm the city hired earned its $100K. Its previous slogan was “Renaissance City,” coined by the then-mayor, now serving 4 1/2 years for racketeering. Which do you prefer? Does it really matter?

Other recent tagline activity:

New Market, Virginia: The Crossroads of History, Heritage and Community (slogan contest winner, whose water bill was paid for one month)
Peoria, Arizona: Naturally Connected. ($80K, now scrapped)
Hibbing, Minnesota: We’re More than Ore. (cost unknown)
Wisconsin: Live Like You Mean It. ($50K, and currently the target of a trademark lawsuit)

Wisconsin state tourism secretary Kelli Trumble states, “When the going gets tough, the tough get marketing.” It postively warms the heart.

What I find disturbing is not that these towns are turning to taglines in times of crisis, it’s that they’re not getting their money’s worth. The above examples neither roll off the tongue nor express anything unique or compelling about the places they proclaim to promote.

Come to think of it, my own hometown of Raleigh doesn’t have a tagline. Not that anyone’s asking, but first I would write up a positioning statement that captures the essence of the Raleigh brand, from a resident’s and a tourist’s perspective (dual audience, dontcha know). Then I would distill it down to a catchy handful of words that conjured up that same image.

Then I would Xerox my water bill and submit my invoice.

Bill Cokas
Creative Director
Strategic Insights

Marketers Should “Earn” Their Media

Published April 9, 2009 New Media Alert , Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Advertising, branding, brands, business, Facebook, marketing, new media, online advertising, Social Media, Twitter

Today’s media campaign doesn’t have to be built on expensive TV and print placements. Instead, companies can “earn” their media with creativity (gasp!) and a unique use of technology. With the wide array of social media marketing tools available, companies can find meaningful (and less expensive) ways to reach their consumer. Venture Capitalist Fred Wilson provides commentary on media trends at Advertising Age’s Digital Conference.

View the whole article: Agencies Need to Think More Facebook, Twitter, Less TV

Your Social Media Personality

Published April 2, 2009 New Media Alert 2 Comments
Tags: Advertising, advice, branding, brands, marketing, new media, Social Media, Viral Marketing

Is your online personality compatible with your brand? Sarah Evans with Mashable shares the top dos and don’ts for businesses engaging in social media. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube, review these tips to make sure social media is working for your business.

View the whole article: Social Media for Business: The Dos and Don’ts of Sharing

Strategic Insights – We’ve Got Ideas

Posts Tagged 'marketing'

Why Aren’t You Reaching Out to Customers?

Never. Stop. Learning.

The Art of Client Service, Revised and Updated Edition: 58 Things Every Advertising & Marketing Professional Should Know by Robert Solomon

Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik

Marketing in the Moment: The Practical Guide to Using Web 3.0 Marketing to Reach Your Customers First by Michael Tasner

Flexible Web Design: Creating Liquid and Elastic Layouts with CSS by Zoe Mickley Gillenwater

Leading the Digital Charge

Yellow-Bellied Pages

Taglines, branding & tourism

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