Mad 4 Blog

Yesterday, car manufacturer and longtime advertiser General Motors hit reverse and pulled out of its advertising contract with Facebook. The company announced that this decision was due to poor performance and low ROI. This decision also followed closely on the heels of an MSNBC report showing that Facebook users don’t really trust the paid promotion of products and services through their go-to social networking site.

Thanks to Facebook’s free business pages, companies are able to create their own space on the website and promote it without cost. They’re able to monitor and analyze people’s interaction with this page and communicate directly with those who view it, “like” it or comment on its Wall. So why pay extra for small, non-interactive banner? Well, one reason is simply for the promotion of brand awareness – getting your logo out there and keeping it top-of-mind on a site where people spend an average of 16 hours of viewing time each month in the U.S.

If you’re currently advertising directly through Facebook, you may want to analyze the results and cost efficiency for doing this rather than activating and maintaining a business page. If you’re active enough with your contacts, you can still get your brand out there in the social media sphere, but in a much more impactful way. If you already have a business page as well, there may be ways to invest marginal fees and more page management time to get greater – and more measurable – results. Then you, too, may find it best to stop paying for advertising. On the other hand, your company may be better suited to the Facebook audience than automobile brands.

Chrysler and Ford continue to buy advertisements with the popular social media network, which stands to launch its public stock offerings this Friday, May 18.

On May 2, Yahoo debuted a Marketing Dashboard for small businesses. This interface allows managers of small businesses to localize all of their website promotions and social networking strategies so that it’s easier to access and oversee all from one place. Clearly, Yahoo is hoping to be that place.

The dashboard offers such features as:

• Campaign tracking, with a focus on SEO and SEM
• Search engine optimization reports, showing where your business really stands with sites like Yahoo, Google and more
• Live online feedback aggregated from Facebook, Twitter and other sources
• Technical support 24 hours a day, with free and paid options
• Traffic analytics reports showing how a company’s website is performing
• News from across the World Wide Web that’s regularly updated and specific to the needs of small businesses

Yahoo hopes to provide those in charge of interactive marketing with a clear-cut, easy-to-understand platform by which they can monitor and analyze all of their online advertising in one central location.

Some may say that Yahoo is a little behind the curve with launching new systems for collecting website and social marketing data – most preexisting companies have, hopefully, already established a way to monitor their marketing by now. But hopefully Yahoo can introduce new formulas and improve upon existing platforms after looking at what’s popular or what doesn’t seem to work for other, similar dashboards. By directly facing the competition with more established options, like Google Analytics, they may be forced to step up to the plate with a system that’s truly a viable and rewarding options for those in charge of small business marketing on the Web.

What do you think? Will this help Yahoo stay relevant in a fast-changing field that’s dominated by such social media titans as Google? Or is it just a desperate bid to keep up with the status quo?

Last week we discussed the fact that consumers are increasingly using websites and mobile apps to research gifts or directly fulfill their holiday shopping needs. It became clear that marketers will want to put more money and consideration than usual into online advertisements. But what if you’re an online retailer – or e-tailer – looking to capitalize on this increase in online spending? After all, there are numerous sites to compete with once a consumer has broadened his or her sites to the entirety of the Internet. Simply having the lowest prices or flash deals isn’t enough by itself anymore. Below are some tips on designing your e-commerce website to draw in the shoppers this holiday season.

• Recommend users to items they might like based on what they’ve browsed and bought in the past.

• Store shoppers’ profile and purchasing information to make it easy to checkout with multiple purchases and multiple visits.

• Your search function should operate quickly and intuitively to help users narrow down a wide array of items based on parameters they select.

• As always, strong menus are important to help website visitors quickly locate the items they’re seeking on your pages.

• You also need easy-to-use tools and procedures for clicking through pages – this is especially true of your checkout process.

• Recently, consumers have responded well to e-commerce websites with reviews and rankings from other shoppers who have previously purchases the item they’re considering.

• Last but not least, attractive pictures and plenty of useful stats and specs on items help shoppers make informed choices.

These suggestions operate like virtual sales associates who can help simplify and allow them to comparison shop. After all, the reason most people are shifting their shopping to the Internet is for increased convenience – so it only makes sense to indulge them through layouts and technological additions that will make shopping easy and cheap.

When managing a blog, whether it’s independently operated or hosted on your company’s website, one of the responsibilities is handling the comments that visitors leave. As a casual blog reader, you probably didn’t think too much about the behind-the-scenes process when you browsed comments or left your own. But when it comes time for you to be in charge of your own blog, knowing the consequences of your comment management choices can actually do a world of good for your website marketing.

The first decision you need to make is whether or not you’ll allow comments. Most blog servers offer this option (along with a few others covered below). If you decide not to let visitors comment, the responsibility is taken off your shoulders. But it can be a downfall for two primary reasons:

• First, it dissuades activity. Your blog’s readers may not feel as engaged with your content. They might not form an attachment with your website that makes them want to come back. On the other hand, if they’re able to read comments and leave their own, they might return to follow a conversation or simply because they feel involved and like you want to hear their feedback.

• Second, you’ll wind up with a static webpage that only generates new material whenever you post a blog (let’s say once a week). But when you let readers leave comments, new text is often added to the site. This not only entreats visitors to come back to the same blog post more than once, but also boosts your ranking with search engines that give credit to sites that are often updated. (This is why you also want to ask questions and invite guests to leave comments in your post.)

If you do want to allow comments, the biggest downfall is that you then have to moderate them. You can set up some flags so that sexually explicit or otherwise offensive comments are automatically taken down. But you may also have to read through and manually delete certain comments. You can have the blog set up so that it asks your permission to approve or deny every single comment that’s submitted before it goes live on your site. But some visitors don’t like to wait to see their comment posted, and it’s also more labor-intensive for you.

There are other quality control options that you can choose from most standard comment settings. One choice is to only let members of the website leave comments. Sometimes this means joining your site by creating a specific ID, but other times this can mean logging in via Gmail or Facebook. In this case, anonymous commenting is often not allowed and people may feel more restricted to voice opinions. Another option is asking potential commentators to pass a word verification check, which is designed to deter spambots (computer-generated spam robots) and confirm that you’re a human visitor.

Need advice on how to set up a blog – and then make it work hard to promote your business? Mad 4 Marketing knows the tips and tricks to boost your traffic and search engine rankings. Don’t hesitate to Contact Us.

In an ongoing conversation about how your business can and should integrate social media marketing into your complete campaign, this week we continuing discussing the ways to discern how and why to select your social media methodology. Last week, we talked about identifying your goals and assigning a budget. Now that you know what you’re seeking and how much you can spend, you’re ready to select the content:

Consider your media. On the Internet, you have an array of options when it comes to the format of your social media advertising; you are not restricted to stagnant banners and links. Are you interested in principally creating a dialogue with interested individuals? This can be done via discussion forums or posts that invite comments. Or would you rather post a video on the Web to entertain and intrigue viewers, who may also be inclined to share it elsewhere? You may wish to initiate sweepstakes or contests that generate video content as well as conversation and viral success. Different options require differing amounts of work, time and financial commitment on your end, and there’s no single solution that’s best for every business. So be sure to consider your unique needs and availability for operations once the campaign is launched.

Know your audience. Social media marketing is practically expected by a certain demographic; but it may not be for everyone. For example, will patients choose a doctor based on his or her tweets? You need to determine if your target audience will make purchasing decisions based on a strong viral campaign. Or are they more likely to react to a well-placed television commercial or billboard on their commute to work?

Test the waters. Although Mad 4 Marketing believes in integrating diverse campaign tactics to approach prospective buyers from all angles, sometimes you can actually miss the mark by spreading your budget into unfamiliar territory that won’t provide the highest ROI. Accurate, tested, pinpoint marketing is also always valuable. We recommend:

• Have a website up, no matter what
• Get your blog started and encourage visitors to comment
• Track your traffic and the activity of users on your page
• Survey your key demographic to see how social media fits into decision-making
• Start with one effort that you can focus on; if your Facebook Fan Page can get a certain number of “likes,” like 5,000, this may mean you’re ready to expand

Ready to learn more and discuss the best social media marketing for your business? Clearly you already found us on the Web, so Mad 4 Marketing must be doing something right! You’re just a few clicks away, so now all you need to do is Contact Us.

When it comes to advertising, what’s more important: long, descriptive, informative copy — or a short and evocative tagline? What about no words at all … just enticing visual creative?

Naturally, there’s not one simple answer. Depending on the client and the product, more information may be needed to provide an accurate and alluring snapshot of a product or service. In other cases, a simple gimmick may invite prospective buyers in to learn more at their leisure.

Here are a few points to consider:

* A commercial showing hot, gooey pizza with a little logo in the corner can make you head to the suggested bistro without a second thought. It doesn’t matter if the TV is on mute.
* When you see an enticing image online, you might click on that box to be taken to a website where you know you’ll be provided with further information. There’s no need to overload your interactive banners with too much text.
* Even in print, it’s easy to simply provide a short and memorable URL. Don’t worry, your audience knows how to use the Web; and honestly, the ones who are truly likely to become clients or customers are the ones willing to go the extra clicks to find out more.
* But then, if you’re trying to describe a deal with a lot of small print involved (restrictions, expiration dates), you may want to define these limitations in order to eke out truly interested parties — and avoid misrepresentation.
* Sometimes, long copy can make an endorsement stand out. Our senses are bombarded by ads — and we’re desensitized enough to ignore or forget half the ads we’ve seen or heard. Long copy can make someone pause and wonder what all the fuss is about. You may not want a lot of text on a billboard next to the 55 mph highway, but you may want it in the magazine sitting in the doctor’s waiting room.

Many times, it simply comes down to a judgment call. You may want to run some trials to determine what your audience is more likely to respond to. Or you may wish to only look at what your competition is already doing, and try to stand apart from their brand.

Mad 4 Marketing can help you determine your best copy vs. creative marketing strategy. We can evaluate the pros and cons of each type of ad, determining your best market and media type — and even come up with sample long-copy, short-copy or no-copy ads to best place and promote your business and brand. Want to learn more? Contact us.

We have previously mentioned the importance of being transparent when advertising on the Web. As page viewers become increasingly frustrated by pop-ups, covert ads and run-arounds, they reciprocally appreciate websites that are up-front about what elements are sponsored–as well as those that tailor advertising to most accurately reflect products and topics that readers may actually want. When distrust brews toward online advertising, the entire framework of interactive marketing–and how it can positively impact and support websites and businesses–is compromised. Earlier this year, popular review site Yelp.com came under fire for practices that walked too close to the fine line between acceptable and deplorable ethical behavior.

Yelp is a website that features every kind of business (from restaurants to dental practices) and allows anyone to sign in and post a review about that business–good or bad. That way, interested parties can get an unbiased, comprehensive overview of that company. Yelp offers free listings as well as paid memberships which come with additional features such as enhanced content control, videos and photo slide-shows. Paid accounts may also add sponsored posts–which means that their business page can come up first in a search for chosen key words, or an ad can even show up on a competitor’s page. Cost may depend on impressions or clicks, according to individual account terms.

Problems began to arise when it seemed like Yelp was ‘selling’ positive reviews to paid members through ‘Favorite Reviews.’ This feature pushed better reviews to the top of the page, and confused the matter of what were reviews and what could be constituted as advertisements. Even when these were genuine reviews–that is to say, not written by a company exec–the confusion and doubt that page visitors experienced when they saw positive reviews highlighted was enough to draw ire and attention to the site’s other questionable policies.

Another practice that bore review was Yelp’s filter, which automatically removed some reviews according to a quality control algorithm. Because only paying members had the filter in place, which most often managed to weed out negative reviews, this device made business pages seem even more like ads in disguise. For example, when soliciting paid accounts from businesses that were currently listed for free, Yelp made offers that essentially said negative reviews could disappear…for the right price. Many of the businesses that were contacted found the offer extortive, and some went so far as to contact authorities. The wording seemed to take advantage of a not-quite-illegal loophole–but one that could still be considered immoral.

In the spirit of total transparency, Yelp now offers readers the option to view every single review written, regardless of relevance or content–but only through a special, segregated link. Some critics have frowned upon this compromise. They believe that all posts should be shown at all times–or that the filter removal should be more prominently feature on the site (it is currently tucked into the bottom of review pages). However, having this option—and other changes that Yelp has made in recent months—have thus far been enough to satisfy contemporary ethical guidelines for transparency on the Internet.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Viral Marketing for Websites. But viral marketing, the art of using word-of-mouth buzz to spread your brand, can be used for more than interactive marketing; in fact, it has endless possibilities in the world of business. Here are a few popular examples you can use to inspire your own viral marketing strategies:

Movies:
• Blair Witch Project – This 1999 movie was produced on an extremely low budget. To get the most from their marketing investment, moviemakers hyped the film as footage from a real event. The intrigue caused by this theory, and the consequential debate over its authenticity, skyrocketed its popularity both before the movie came out and while it was in theaters.
• Cloverfield – In 2008, this scary movie showed teasers in its ambiguous trailer, which did not state the movie’s title or plot. This mystery instigated hype and drove curious throngs to the movie’s website for more information. Characters in the film each had their own social networking profiles, and companies mentioned in the film were also given their own websites, so that fans could investigate further.

Television
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 – When this show originally aired in the 1980s, fans had limited access to live viewings. However, at the end of each episode, they were encouraged to make videotape copies and pass them along to friends. The closing credits told viewers explicitly to “Keep circulating the tapes!” This encouraged hand-to-hand marketing and conversation about the show.

Web
• The Big Word Project – This project invited participants to submit their websites and blogs as entries in a “new” dictionary. Each entry linked a word to one definitive web page, which encouraged web participation via free promotion.
• The Mike O’Meara Show – Podcasters participated in an extensive viral campaign on Facebook, encouraging fans to visit their website to download and share radiocasts of the show. A click-through link made the message accessible.

Business
• The Pyramid Scheme – This widely used business technique spans many industries. Participants “higher” in the pyramid directly benefit from the success of those “lower” in the pyramid, which encourages members to recruit new candidates and allows incentives to flow seamlessly throughout the system as a reward for each person’s continued success in the viral marketing effort.
• Burger King – After a popular television commercial aired showing a man making a chicken do various outrageous activities, a website was launched where visitors could make a man in a chicken suit perform various actions, such as dancing and cartwheeling. This interactive campaign was so popular, it ran from 2004-2007. The tag line stated “Chicken the way you like it.”
• Blendtec – The speed and strength of this line of blenders is demonstrated by YouTube videos in which founder Tom Dickson blends various ordinary items. Viewers can comment on the results and share these videos with friends.

Chris Madsen, CEO of Mad 4 Marketing, was named to the Junior Achievement 2010 Business Hall of Fame at a ceremony held March 3 at the JA World Huizenga Center at Broward College in Coconut Creek. Madsen was honored along with fellow laureates David Fee of Lotspeich Company, Michael J. Grimme of AMC Liquidators and AMC Furniture Outlet, and Wayne Huizenga, Jr. of Huizenga Holdings, Inc. The Business Hall of Fame honorees share a high level of achievement in business and have demonstrated business excellence, vision and innovation, and community responsibility.

Madsen, who founded Mad 4 Marketing in 1992, built the Fort Lauderdale based marketing and advertising firm into a full-service agency with annual billings in excess of $7.5 million. The award-winning agency has met with success for clients in the public and private sectors through a variety of traditional and non-traditional advertising campaigns encompassing interactive marketing, branding and innovative strategies.

“My experience with Junior Achievement touches every aspect of what I do today as a business owner,” said Madsen. “Years ago I led a group of Junior Achievement students. Guiding them through the process of bringing a product to market was phenomenal and helped me make the decision to be an entrepreneur.”
Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization which ensures every child in America has a fundamental understanding of the Free Enterprise System through a series of business, economics and life-skills programs that enhance the education of young people. Junior Achievement reaches more than 50,000 kindergarten through twelfth-grade students in South Florida annually.

Community service is important to Madsen, who is well known for her commitment to the South Florida community through her work with a host of organizations. Her civic involvement includes positions on the boards of directors of the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Governor’s Council for Sustainable Florida, Leadership Broward Foundation, The Commonwealth Institute, Women’s History Coalition, Nova Southeastern University and the Urban League of Broward County. Madsen is also the past president of the Florida Women’s Alliance and the Stranahan House, serves as an Executive Committee member of Broward Workshop and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, and is on the Advisory Committee of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Her long list of awards and accolades includes the South Florida Good to Great award, Women’s Connections Woman of the Year Award, South Florida Business Journal Woman of the Year Award, March of Dimes Women of Distinction, and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Small Business Leader of the Year Award, to name a few.

Every fashionista worth her Balenciaga bag knows that the September issue of her glossy magazine is the most critical issue of the year, complementing the hype from New York City’s Fashion Week with cold-weather ensemble suggestions featuring the newest fall styles. The September issue traditionally expands from approximately 300 pages to somewhere over 700 pages (or 840 pages, according to the most recent record set by Vogue in 2007). Naturally, the September issue of any fashion magazine is the one that sells the most copies, and correspondingly sells the most interior magazine ads. It is these print ads which largely finance the continued production of the magazine.

Which is exactly why it’s such a grave concern that the past two years have shown a steady decline in magazine ad sales, which culminated in the dramatically dangerous dip in sales this year. Many magazines showed up to a 22% decrease in ad sales from recent years, including a loss in the double digits for some of the most well-known fashion and beauty magazines. This year, Anna Wintour oversaw a quick-fix brainstorm where funds were spent encasing the slimmer-than-usual September issue of Vogue in wrappings with a chic leather handle and buckle-clasp, proclaiming, “CAUTION (still) HEAVY.” Tongue-in-cheek, it was a clever sales gimmick–but only a temporary band-aid on the much more permanent (and far more solemn) problem of decreased ad sales.

And it’s not just fashion magazines that are suffering. From National Geographic to Scientific American, all magazines are feeling the drought. In fact, all print ad sales have dropped an average of 30% since last year. In an economy where newspapers across the country are closing down on a regular basis, the magazine industry must be apprehensive about its own future. Advertising experts caution that magazines should take heed of their recent losses. Magazines are advised not to cut their losses and bury their heads in the sand, blaming the economy and waiting for the slump to pass. One of the more likely culprits is the world’s increased wariness about its investments; caution has moved investors to examine new and alternative advertising options in pursuit of more aggressive and traceable ROI–such as web and mobile marketing.

This may also be why digital revenue for magazines is on the rise, with income from non-static sources doubling between 2006 and 2007 alone (presumably in direct proportion to a greater overall effort by magazines to modernize). And it’s advised that magazines continue seeking cutting-edge alternatives for their marketing strategies. Through interactive marketing, magazines will be able to rebuild relationships with their audiences in a new, modern way-before the chance is lost for good. In the past year, newsstand magazine sales have decreased by an estimated 12%. Better-than-ever subscription costs simply haven’t been enough to salvage proceeds in this economy. With competition from online blogs, newsletters and, well, digital magazines, it seems like print magazines are going to have to sharply redirect their focus and funds if they hope to survive.

Hopefully, they will embrace digital solutions and come up with smart, strategic plans to save print magazines from extinction. Because tech-savvy as readers are today, it’s still just not as easy or rewarding to flip through a laptop from a cabana chair on the beach.