Here we go again or not? What is all this hype about Omnichannel? Is it any different than Integrated Marketing? Holistic Marketing? Multichannel Marketing? Cross-channel Marketing? Did I miss any? Probably, Depending on your preferred jargon name you could change at will any of these names, yes?
Before we jump to any foregone conclusions, although my mind is pretty well made up let’s take a quick review of these terms.
Integrated Marketing: Connecting your marketing channels to deliver a total customer experience in offers messaging etc, Letting you work campaigns over several channels and enabling each of these channels to support the other. In doing so you improve not just the impact of each channel but the performance or each giving a higher rate of response to your total “integrated” campaign.
Multichannel Marketing: Some of the so called marketing experts will say that the term multichannel marketing went and replaced integrated marketing just because then by only going and using more than 1 channel to market yourself you are in essence doing multichannel.
Cross Channel Marketing: In a similar vein while some marketing insiders consider cross channel marketing a synonym for multichannel marketing while I tend to believe that the term is an integration of marketing that uses multiple channels in a harmonic approach which might be similar to multichannel but not necessarily the same. Cross channel marketing has a sharing of data that works with hand helps enhance the performance of the others and the campaign overall.
Omnichannel Marketing: Marketers who go and consider multichannel marketing to be integrated marketing are totally perplexed by the very integration of various silos are now staring right at Ominchannel Marketing and wondering why a new name? Is ominchannel more than the other “kinds” of marketing or is it an old concept wrapped up in a new wrapper? Marketing and the technologies that are influencing and supporting it evolved over the years or dare I say months, weeks or even days? So a message needs to be like an octopus with many tentacles to reach out to the prospect. We are now more holistic, more deeply pressed into full integration across the multiplicity of channels that those prospect use to discover, research and find what they are looking for. We are at an age of total integration that can envelop into real-time marketing into responsive engagement marketing to bring a seamless message across the channels. So is this a new term for a new approach or a new term to the same old same old?
Larson Notes & Satire: Personally I hate the word and term Ominchannel. Couldn’t they have come up with something better? Omni reminds me of Omnibus of the 80’s and that sure did not catch on or do much of anything. In the next few blogs we will be looking at what the “Pros” are calling Omnichannel Marketing and you can tell me if it is anything different than what we have.
Need marketing help? Then go on and pick up the phone and call us. One call to 847-991-1294. We make the calls so you don’t have to.
Our Next Blog: Evolving Your Marketing In An Omnichannel Way.
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-1294
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
Showing posts with label multichannel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label multichannel. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Monday, August 27, 2012
Get The Telemarketing Bump
Say all you want about Direct Mail, speed, cost, etc. vs. email but it remains a fact that the response rate for mail is so much better.
According to a survey from the Direct Marketing Association the response rate for Direct Mail is 3.4% and email marketing is only giving a mere 0.12%.
The report was from an online survey of 481 respondents and was based off of data from 29billion emails and 2 billion online display ads.
Those are facts from real live programs run by people who know what they are doing.
Larson Notes & Satire: There you have it. The costs are up but the payout huge. If you want more mileage out of your list, mail wins hands down. Now, just think if you do a combo of Mail and Telemarketing.
Now nothing is for certain but when you put direct mail piece together with a telemarketing follow up I can almost guarantee you get a bump in your numbers by 5 to 8%. Now if Uncle Howard’s math in correct you could have a double digit program running. Put in some social media marketing into play and . . .
“We don’t sell lists, we find customers.”
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://www.linkedin.com/in/larsonassociates
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Is Your Direct Marketing a Disaster?
Do you settle for too little, talk about yourself too much or rely on outdated and inaccurate data?
1) Channels: Most companies and marketers rely way too much on standalone channels that aren't focused on demand, that are not asking for a call to action. As a direct marketer needs to be committed to a well disciplined, programmed, result oriented approach while building a multichannel marketing attack.
2) Results: What kind of results are you willing to accept? If you only accept a 1%-to-2% response rate because that is the industry average you are making a big mistake. NO really if you want to be like everyone else and just as good as everyone else, ok be happy, but think about it, in what other part of your business do you accept 98-99% waist? You need to be expecting, getting, and insisting on double-digit response rates for you program.
3) Social media: As a marketer you are probably spending too much time talking about yourself and not taking enough time engaging in conversation with your friends, fans, prospects and customers. The main point of social media is to be social to be able to create a dialogue with people quickly putting aside the self-serving side of marketing.
4) Segmentation: As a Marketers I doubt if you are getting down into your lists deeply enough. Unless you are using a large enough segment of people or prospects you don’t have enough hits to know if you are on or off in your attack. Then again the smaller the nitch or audience the more pointed the message. This can work to your advantage. It is harder to create content for any particular audience but you can start using your experience and jargon words and knowledge if you are narrow enough.
5) Content: Are you one of the guilty ones who’s arrogance sticks out like a sore thumb? Are you one to the one’s that when it comes to creating relevant content you get lost in your own rhetoric and press releases? You need to be more humble about yourself and a little more engaging towards customers so they can tell you what they consider to be relevant and important to them! Get rid of the I’s and Me’s.
6) Metrics: What do you measure? We should to be more focused on sales conversions, not lead creation. What good is a lead anyway? Try taking a lead to the bank? Lead creation is part of our job as a direct marketers but the real thing to be measuring is sales conversions.
7) Lead conversion: Marketers spend too much time focused on the wrong people. Here is where you need a sales person. A blood hound. The person who initially responds to you is more often not than not, NOT the buyer. But marketers go after them as if they were the VP of purchasing. Turn that lead over to your sale people they have a way to get to the heart of the matter quickly and fast. That is after all their job specialty.
8) Lead nurturing: The problem in more companies is a lack of focus. Marketers spend too much time and money on lead acquisition instead of nurturing existing customers. I have been told (I don’t remember from who) that 66% of your advertising budget should be directed at existing customers, who already know you and love you. Thank about it. Do you only get excited about your customers at the end of their contract? Customers will and should go with the company that has been good to them not just at signing time and sending a required Christmas card but all though the year.
9) Value: You need to improve how they demonstrate to the “Suites” in your company on the value of direct marketing. If you are the “Suite” take a step back from what you’re doing and ask yourself “Prove it!” Then using hard data write down the proofs and facts on paper. And you can only accomplish this with insight that can only come from hard data. Numbers don’t like.
Larson Notes & Satire: 9 things here and I know I left out lots of important things to really make your marketing hum. I guess you will just have to keep reading from time to time to find what I missed putting down.
Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
1) Channels: Most companies and marketers rely way too much on standalone channels that aren't focused on demand, that are not asking for a call to action. As a direct marketer needs to be committed to a well disciplined, programmed, result oriented approach while building a multichannel marketing attack.
2) Results: What kind of results are you willing to accept? If you only accept a 1%-to-2% response rate because that is the industry average you are making a big mistake. NO really if you want to be like everyone else and just as good as everyone else, ok be happy, but think about it, in what other part of your business do you accept 98-99% waist? You need to be expecting, getting, and insisting on double-digit response rates for you program.
3) Social media: As a marketer you are probably spending too much time talking about yourself and not taking enough time engaging in conversation with your friends, fans, prospects and customers. The main point of social media is to be social to be able to create a dialogue with people quickly putting aside the self-serving side of marketing.
4) Segmentation: As a Marketers I doubt if you are getting down into your lists deeply enough. Unless you are using a large enough segment of people or prospects you don’t have enough hits to know if you are on or off in your attack. Then again the smaller the nitch or audience the more pointed the message. This can work to your advantage. It is harder to create content for any particular audience but you can start using your experience and jargon words and knowledge if you are narrow enough.
5) Content: Are you one of the guilty ones who’s arrogance sticks out like a sore thumb? Are you one to the one’s that when it comes to creating relevant content you get lost in your own rhetoric and press releases? You need to be more humble about yourself and a little more engaging towards customers so they can tell you what they consider to be relevant and important to them! Get rid of the I’s and Me’s.
6) Metrics: What do you measure? We should to be more focused on sales conversions, not lead creation. What good is a lead anyway? Try taking a lead to the bank? Lead creation is part of our job as a direct marketers but the real thing to be measuring is sales conversions.
7) Lead conversion: Marketers spend too much time focused on the wrong people. Here is where you need a sales person. A blood hound. The person who initially responds to you is more often not than not, NOT the buyer. But marketers go after them as if they were the VP of purchasing. Turn that lead over to your sale people they have a way to get to the heart of the matter quickly and fast. That is after all their job specialty.
8) Lead nurturing: The problem in more companies is a lack of focus. Marketers spend too much time and money on lead acquisition instead of nurturing existing customers. I have been told (I don’t remember from who) that 66% of your advertising budget should be directed at existing customers, who already know you and love you. Thank about it. Do you only get excited about your customers at the end of their contract? Customers will and should go with the company that has been good to them not just at signing time and sending a required Christmas card but all though the year.
9) Value: You need to improve how they demonstrate to the “Suites” in your company on the value of direct marketing. If you are the “Suite” take a step back from what you’re doing and ask yourself “Prove it!” Then using hard data write down the proofs and facts on paper. And you can only accomplish this with insight that can only come from hard data. Numbers don’t like.
Larson Notes & Satire: 9 things here and I know I left out lots of important things to really make your marketing hum. I guess you will just have to keep reading from time to time to find what I missed putting down.
Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Lessons From The Social Media Trenches!
I am one of the lucky ones. I have been in some form of marketing and advertising all my life and did not let all that get in my way of grabbing hold of Social Media Marketing and doing it as if it were a traditional marketing/advertising channel. Not so easy. Many of my comrades-in-arms cannot make the leap from formal channel advertising to informal.
But it is here, Social Media Marketing and it is here as a major player in many companies, be it B2C or B2B, be a player of a bystander. More that even in traditional Marketing SM is dog-eat-dog out here and its tough eating dog!
Social Medial Marketing is a living entity; it’s alive and changing almost daily. Clubs, groups, organizations, fans, prospects, clients, people all listening and making comments and responding to more marketing stimuli that ever before.
In as much as SM is making us change something my father once told me still rings true, “you need to know the rules to know how to break them”. Yes, you heard me right, break them. So consider this, Social Media is in essence one big “Focus Group”. Here you can test to your heart’s desire, ideas, slogans, new products. Yes, test, test, test!
Message Testing: If social media is about conversation test your companies “conversations”. The major difference between traditional marketing and social marketing are really quite clearly drawn. Traditional marketing does not talk directly with the target person and it cannot talk back in real time. So for Social Media Marketing I suggest that you make a message map that outlines the “message” and then keeps track of the direct messages to that “message”. When on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Merchant Circle, keep careful track of the flow of conversation revolving around what you have floated out. If you get an increase in hits, likes, of feedback of any kind make a careful note pro and con. What should you be measuring?
a) Likes on Facebook
b) Retweets on twitter
c) Comments on your social network and/or blogs
d) fans/friends/followers grown in actual numbers or %
e) Average times spent on your blog site
Time Testing: When do you get the best results? Early am? Mid morning? Afternoon or evening or during the middle of the night? The experts will be telling you that am’s are best but they are not you nor do they represent your company. So, what is best for you and the kind of customers you want to attract? Again, test your posts! You might find out that 75% of your sales come on a Thursday. You might want to look or think about why? Are they getter ready for the weekend, or do they need to make a decision on a purchase before the end of the week? Why, why, why? Next consider time zones. If you sell to multiple time zones like I do, from the Eastern Time zone to the pacific, keep track of that as well. You could be surprised on who is buying from you and where which will lead to why.
Social Media Ads: It could be Facebook, LinkedIn or Merchant Circle, but there are proprietary advertising products that you can take advantage of. Depending on what your over all objects are doing a focused marketing could pay off in spades. If you have assembled your fans and friends with any kind of care. This is similar to a pay-for-click situation so there might be a cost.
Promotions, Contests, Surveys: These are ways to create a call for action. The idea again is to create a buzz around you and your company. Again test and measure and decide what you are trying to really achieve with each action. Be it an increase in your friend or fan size, feedback response, whatever? Just have a plan. See above (in Message Testing) for what you should be looking for.
Sales: Ya Sales. Sales are how we keep (real) score, isn’t it? At least that is how I keep score. If you’re not getting sales from your efforts change or go to something that starts to generate sales for your company. Different kinds of social media messaging drive sales. You can be blunt and straightforward in your buy requests of you can use the more subtle message. Either way it all comes down to needing, wanting people to buy something. Leads must lead to sales!
Larson Notes & Satire: Need help we are here to help you make money for your business all you need to do is call 847-991-0488.
In many ways social media marketing is the most extreme channel you can be using. On line, in your face marketing! I love it. (Ya, I’m an in your face kind of guy, what can I say.) Innovation abounds or can at every turn in your Social Media Marketing experience. Opportunity knocks and many times only once. When it does you need to be ready to spring into action, and that might require some old school tools like a business card and company brochure, and oh yes, we do those too.
Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
But it is here, Social Media Marketing and it is here as a major player in many companies, be it B2C or B2B, be a player of a bystander. More that even in traditional Marketing SM is dog-eat-dog out here and its tough eating dog!
Social Medial Marketing is a living entity; it’s alive and changing almost daily. Clubs, groups, organizations, fans, prospects, clients, people all listening and making comments and responding to more marketing stimuli that ever before.
In as much as SM is making us change something my father once told me still rings true, “you need to know the rules to know how to break them”. Yes, you heard me right, break them. So consider this, Social Media is in essence one big “Focus Group”. Here you can test to your heart’s desire, ideas, slogans, new products. Yes, test, test, test!
Message Testing: If social media is about conversation test your companies “conversations”. The major difference between traditional marketing and social marketing are really quite clearly drawn. Traditional marketing does not talk directly with the target person and it cannot talk back in real time. So for Social Media Marketing I suggest that you make a message map that outlines the “message” and then keeps track of the direct messages to that “message”. When on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Merchant Circle, keep careful track of the flow of conversation revolving around what you have floated out. If you get an increase in hits, likes, of feedback of any kind make a careful note pro and con. What should you be measuring?
a) Likes on Facebook
b) Retweets on twitter
c) Comments on your social network and/or blogs
d) fans/friends/followers grown in actual numbers or %
e) Average times spent on your blog site
Time Testing: When do you get the best results? Early am? Mid morning? Afternoon or evening or during the middle of the night? The experts will be telling you that am’s are best but they are not you nor do they represent your company. So, what is best for you and the kind of customers you want to attract? Again, test your posts! You might find out that 75% of your sales come on a Thursday. You might want to look or think about why? Are they getter ready for the weekend, or do they need to make a decision on a purchase before the end of the week? Why, why, why? Next consider time zones. If you sell to multiple time zones like I do, from the Eastern Time zone to the pacific, keep track of that as well. You could be surprised on who is buying from you and where which will lead to why.
Social Media Ads: It could be Facebook, LinkedIn or Merchant Circle, but there are proprietary advertising products that you can take advantage of. Depending on what your over all objects are doing a focused marketing could pay off in spades. If you have assembled your fans and friends with any kind of care. This is similar to a pay-for-click situation so there might be a cost.
Promotions, Contests, Surveys: These are ways to create a call for action. The idea again is to create a buzz around you and your company. Again test and measure and decide what you are trying to really achieve with each action. Be it an increase in your friend or fan size, feedback response, whatever? Just have a plan. See above (in Message Testing) for what you should be looking for.
Sales: Ya Sales. Sales are how we keep (real) score, isn’t it? At least that is how I keep score. If you’re not getting sales from your efforts change or go to something that starts to generate sales for your company. Different kinds of social media messaging drive sales. You can be blunt and straightforward in your buy requests of you can use the more subtle message. Either way it all comes down to needing, wanting people to buy something. Leads must lead to sales!
Larson Notes & Satire: Need help we are here to help you make money for your business all you need to do is call 847-991-0488.
In many ways social media marketing is the most extreme channel you can be using. On line, in your face marketing! I love it. (Ya, I’m an in your face kind of guy, what can I say.) Innovation abounds or can at every turn in your Social Media Marketing experience. Opportunity knocks and many times only once. When it does you need to be ready to spring into action, and that might require some old school tools like a business card and company brochure, and oh yes, we do those too.
Remember our 3 new programs for 2011
1st is our Virtual Sales Manager Program.
2nd our Sales Function Outsourcing Program
3rd our Virtual Business Consulting Program
Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
847-991-0488
howard@larsonassociates.ws
http://www.larsonassociates.ws/
http://larsonassociates.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/LarsonAndAssociatesFans
http://member.merchantcircle.com/larsonassociates
https://twitter.com/LarsonAssociate
P.S. We make telesales for small business affordable by offering programs down to only 15 hours a week. Maybe you could add telesales into your marketing mix call today and find out.
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