Print 4A Purpose

Lessons Learned in a Crisis

I had a key employee quit this morning. With a small business, I guess all employees are key. But this has put me in a serious bind and you would think I would have known better. A year or so ago, I had a key office person quit. But I've learned some lessons that I need to make sure are implemented before this happens again (and it will happen again).

In 2009, the person that left handled many key internal functions that no one else knew how to do. When she left, I really thought it could be the end of my business because we relied on her so heavily. I didn't let on to the rest of the staff, but I was scared to death. But I took on her responsibilities before hiring someone else and learned a great deal in a very short period of time.

The employee that quit today, while extremely valuable, many of her jobs can be outsourced. The most immediate problem is meeting deadlines with work in progress.

Lessons learned:

• Everybody can be replaced. No one is so valuable they can't be replaced. Be prepared so that one particular employee can't hold the business "hostage."
• Customer communication. If the relationship with the customer is deep enough, they will be more than understanding in crisis situations. But that foundation must be built long before the crisis.
• Cross-train. While I did do this to a minor extent, I did not stay on top of my "good intentions" and enforce the cross-training plan. A detailed plan and schedule should be in place for cross-training employees. I had the plan and dropped the ball on the schedule.
• Employee reviews. No matter how small the business or how much you feel like family, do regular employee reviews and document any performance issues.
• Have a network ready for outsourcing your work. This is useful not only in a crisis such as mine, but when you have a surge in business volume. You can outsource to meet timely deadlines instead of hiring. And if business volume remains high, then hire.

The easiest way to gain experience is to learn from the mistakes of others. I hope my procrastination on some of these issues will help others.

 

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported as managing partner of Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

 

Marketing Conversation: Who Are Your Raving Fans?

Krispy Kreme had a customer sleep in the parking lot and wait 14 hours for a donut.  Have you got customers like that?  Read the full story at NewsObserver.com.  

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew.  His habit is supported as managing partner of Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses. 

 Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore or Facebook:  www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

Marketing Conversations: Email Marketing and Small Business - Restaurant Example

We offer email marketing as part of the Business Partner program with Constant Contact.  They recently sat down with Tim Burke, owner of In A Pickle, a restaurant in Waltham, Mass., to discuss his keys to marketing success.  Listen to how he uses email marketing to build his customer base and stay in touch. 

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew.  His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses. 

 Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

 www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

Create the Ultimate Twitter Profile

Twitter is experienced as much as it is learned. I am constantly learning things from the Twitter "rock stars" as well as my own followers. But there are clearly those that just get it and do things the right way. One of those would be @thebrandbuilder (Olivier Blanchard). Today (5/26/10) @thebrandbuilder tweeted this:

This is typically a tweet you would see on #FollowFriday. But since it wasn't on #followfriday, it didn't get lost in the stream and got my attention. And because I had the time when I saw the tweet and the fact that I've learned to trust @thebrandbuilder suggestions, I decided to check out these people. I won't go through all of them but I wanted to point out what @kristofcreative has done. I think @kristofcreative is another who is doing it right and inspiring others to do so.

First of all, I decided to check out his twitter profile (@kristofcreative). I liked what I saw there. We have similar interests and he looked like someone I could learn from while following his tweets.

Then I clicked on his website link and hit the PAYLOAD. The link didn't take you to his homepage as I expect (and is so typical), but to a special page setup strictly as a Twitter landing page titled, Why I Twitter. Boy was I impressed. Drop what you're doing and get a glimpse of a Twitter stroke of genius. But not only is the IDEA of having a dedicated Twitter page genius, the thought process behind it and reasons listed are brilliant.

Read the reasons @kristofcreative lists to "follow" or "not follow" you. In those reasons are guidelines to Twitter success. And if you've been around long enough, you have experienced Twitter spam scum. While hard to avoid, @kristofcreative it taking proactive steps to avoid. I'm too lazy to screen as closely as he does.

I have started following @kristofcreative. And as I am planning a website redesign, you can bet that the profile page will have a new Twitter twist. And I'll look like a genius to others thanks to @kristofcreative.

Have you seen others do this?  Send me the links.

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported as managing partner of Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

B2B Mobile Marketing

Everyone seems to be talking about the benefits of mobile marketing to consumers. SMS (Short Message Service, commonly referred to as mobile texting) enables you to reach a wide audience in a matter of seconds knowing that most people are likely to respond to your message within an hour of receipt.

But while the primary focus of SMS mobile marketing has been on reaching consumers (B2C), businesses have been missing out on the opportunity to use mobile to market to other businesses (B2B). That's a problem, because now more than ever professionals are relying on their mobile phones to receive and respond to messages that are of value to them.

The fact is mobile marketing has established itself as a valuable component of successful integrated marketing programs providing another channel to reach both consumer and business audiences. With the rapid growth of the mobile market, it's time for B2B marketers to consider how to effectively integrate mobile marketing into the mix.

Mobile Use is Growing Rapidly

Mobile usage has garnered exceptional growth rates within North America and internationally, especially because mobile phone providers are concentrating on delivering a better user experience with more features and capabilities. According to Christina "CK" Kerley, "Forecasts call for 5.8 billion mobile subscribers worldwide by 2013, ballooning from the current 4.3 billion mobile subscribers, with revenue from mobile data expected to surpass fixed-voice revenue by as early as next year." Mobile phones have become a part of our lives, both personally and professionally. We use them to browse the Internet, send text messages, and read and respond to email messages.

Business professionals also rely on their mobile devices to stay informed about industry developments, and to make themselves easily accessible to their teams. Mobile helps to fulfill business needs that keep companies running at an optimal level. Because professionals are connected to their mobile devices as a quick response mechanism, they tend to be responsive to B2B mobile marketing messages as well.

Mobile & Email Marketing Working Together

Combining email and SMS is an exceptional marketing strategy due to the high usage of smartphones. Email and mobile marketing used together provide a cost-effective way to send personalized content that subscribers are looking for and that can return successful and measurable campaign results.

Using both communication channels allows you to cross market and give people more choices for how they want to receive information from you, and ultimately grow your lists. For example:

• Invite email subscribers to opt in to receive the mobile version and special offers.
• Include your mobile short code and keyword on all email marketing campaigns to allow subscribers to text for mobile updates. Use different opt-in keywords for each medium (i.e. email, search, print, etc.) so that you can easily track and measure the success of each.
• Allow SMS subscribers to update their preferences and include their email address in their profile so they don't miss any messages.

Leading Edge Leadership Potential

There are many opportunities for B2B marketers to adopt early and establish themselves as mobile leaders. Start by reviewing your competitors' marketing programs to find out what they are doing with mobile, and then implement how you can differentiate your marketing program from theirs by blending mobile marketing into the mix.

With B2B mobile marketing you can:

1. Create a dialogue with your business customers through SMS alerts that keep them up-to-date on information important to their jobs. Mobile has become the most personal communication channel available to bring you closer to your target market without interacting face-to-face.
2. Target quality subscribers. Since mobile marketing is permission based, meaning subscribers have to opt in before receiving messages, you'll be able to reach a targeted audience of interested subscribers who want to hear more about your company and offers.
3. Increase brand awareness and generate additional revenue. Most people are willing to provide their mobile phone numbers if they can be assured that they'll only receive messages on topics of interest to them. The same goes for business professionals. If you can demonstrate the benefits of opting in to your mobile program, they will be more open to receiving your marketing messages, which can increase brand awareness and start new discussions that can generate new revenue.

Measuring B2B Mobile Success and ROI

We're still learning about the mobile marketing industry and its standards, best practices and overall potential. The question many marketers have is how to track success and return on investment - what are the most meaningful metrics to track and how to report them. Fortunately there are many ways marketers can measure the effectiveness of mobile marketing initiatives. The metrics are dependent on your mobile objectives and what tools you use.

To measure how people interact and engage with your mobile content, you can monitor the same metrics used for email marketing: open and click-through rates, forwarding and sharing. It's also important to monitor of your mobile list growth rate, and track offer redemptions.

Using Web analytics, you can monitor Web site traffic driven by mobile campaigns including:

• Which marketing campaigns and landing pages generated the most mobile opt-ins
• Which mobile campaigns generated the most sales conversions
• What other Web site pages were visited and had the most views to determine their interests (or where they lost interest)
• How much time mobile visitors spend on your site compared to average visitors to assess how engaged they really are

Mobile marketing provides a lot of value by helping professionals stay up-to-date with the latest news, promotions and offers that benefit their business. They're no longer tied to their desktops. That's why it's more important than ever to create marketing content that can be accessed anywhere and on any device to ensure that your on-the-go B2B audience is receiving your messages.

(This article was originally posted at MarketingProfs)

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

8 Ways to Build Your Email Marketing List

There are a ton of ways to get people to sign up for your email marketing newsletter or specials. Here are just a few that you MUST be doing. These are all simple and easy to execute and will have immediate impact at little to no cost.

1. Put an offer on the back of your business cards to get people to sign up for your newsletter. Give something in exchange for the email.

2. Include a newsletter sign-up link in your signature of all of your personal emails.

3. Just ask. Send an opt-in email to those in your address book asking them to join your list where your information would be relevant.

4. Join your local chamber of commerce, email the member list (if it's opt-in) about your services with a link to sign up to your newsletter. In my town, the chamber has to send this out for you for a fee of a couple hundred dollars.

5. Give employees cash for obtaining email addresses.

6. Use freebies. But to get the FREE stuff, you have to opt-in to your email list.

7. Offer specials that are exclusive to those signed up to receive your emails. Make the offers bigger and better than others are eligible to receive.

8. Put a fishbowl on your counter or a local restaurant and do a weekly prize giveaway of your product - then announce it in the newsletter. Add everyone who puts their card in the fishbowl onto your newsletter list.

More ideas from our Business Partner: Constant Contact List Building for Success - Constant Contact

What's been the best method for you?

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

10 Reasons to Use Mobile Coupons

Mobile coupons offer an excellent opportunity for retailers to appeal to customers on the go, and to drive them in stores with special offers and discounts. Retailers such as Target are offering coupons which can be downloaded to their phones and scanned at the checkout.

Here are ten reasons why retailers should consider the use of mobile coupons in their marketing strategies...

Drive sales in store - Mobile coupons can be downloaded by customers on the move, and the lure of a discount or some other offer can be enough to tempt more customers into stores, where they may buy more than just what's offered on the coupon.

Saves printing - I've eaten pizza several times in the knowledge that I could have saved myself money if I'd printed a coupon out beforehand. Downloading and printing out coupons requires customers to plan ahead, but mobile couponing means that restaurants and retailers can appeal to customers' impulses more easily.

Mobile coupons remove all the fiddly work and the advance planning involved, and thus appeal to more customers.

Measurability - Coupons can be an effective add-on to any multichannel marketing campaign, and can allow retailers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Using bar-coded coupons, marketers can capture the identity of the customer making the purchase, the promotional code and the amount of the transaction.

Proximity marketing - Mobile coupons allow stores to appeal to customers who might be in the area, looking for something to buy. Having a coupon accessible via mobiles means that customers can find offers and act upon them immediately.

Apps allow customers to search for businesses offering discounts in their local area, and this provides an opportunity for retailers to attract more custom. These apps also allow smaller retailers to have some kind of presence on mobile without the need for extra investment.

Improve success of mobile marketing - Mobile coupons can provide a measurable outcome for any marketing campaigns that involve mobile, and can be a persuasive tool to drive sales.

Allows retailers to test mobile commerce - Issuing coupons via mobile is one way to test the water, and see how their target audience responds to mobile offers, what kinds of phones they are using, and so on.

Broad appeal - Let's face it, just about everyone has a mobile phone, and more and more have phones with internet access. This means that the potential target market for mobile coupons is massive and growing all the time.

Customers want coupons - Coupons and voucher codes are already very popular online, thanks in part to the recession, but also the fact that people love a bargain. For this reason alone, mobile coupons will become very popular with customers, and they will actively seek them more and more.

Recent Deloitte research suggests that US shoppers were actively looking to receive coupons via their mobiles, while another Compete survey found that smartphone users want to use coupons.

It is cost-effective - Unlike the alternatives of offering coupons in newspapers or by direct mail, with mobile coupons, retailers only pay for engagement.

Gain an advantage over competitors - If customers are using apps to search for discounts while they are out and about, then retailers offering mobile coupons can provide a more compelling offer to customers than their competitors.

(This article was originally posted by Graham Charlton on Econsultancy)

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

Advantages of Using a Supersized Postcard

I recieved a 6 x 11 supersized postcard in the mail.  Here I discuss some of the benefits of using a supersized card like this.

Direct Mail Campaign Basics

If you're new to direct mail, you might be thinking that all the details of a successful campaign are a bit overwhelming. There are a lot of things to consider in planning a successful promotion, but there's also plenty of help available when it comes to developing and executing a direct mailer. Some print & marketing companies offer all of the services a business needs to develop, design and execute campaigns all in one place. Whether you use all, some or none of these services, it's a good idea to understand the elements of a total campaign.

Introduction to Direct Mailing 101

• The List – (How to Order a Mailing List)

One of the basics of marketing is that it doesn't matter what your product is; what matters is who you're selling it to. With that in mind, the first step in developing a successful direct mail campaign is to define your mailing list. Knowing your target audience and understanding their needs, desires and expectations is one of the most important elements of your direct mail campaign and will certainly play a large role in the campaign's overall success (or lack thereof). Building a highly targeted business or consumer mailing list can prove tedious for small and medium businesses, which typically purchase a list from a qualified list broker. A good list broker will help you identify your target and generate a great list based on your customers' demographics, including ZIP code, age, gender, income and other relevant factors.

• The Offer

Great direct mailers include can't-miss offers that prospects will immediately want to jump on. The value of your offer has as much impact on your campaign success as your mailing list does, so be sure to make it something worthwhile that your customers will take advantage of. It could be a free gift, a coupon or a limited-time special. You can get creative with this and raffle tickets, host an event or even partner with another company in a money-saving and relevant cross-promotion.

To redeem the offer, prospects should have to respond in a measurable way. Again, this could be through coupons (exact count) or by measuring in-store traffic (less scientific, but a good general indicator for retail stores).

• The Copy & Design

Once you understand your prospects and have decided on an offer, it's time to design your promotional pieces. Direct mailers come in many formats, including brochures, postcards and letters with envelopes. The word "copy" refers to the text that prospects read, and "design" refers to the graphic design, photos, logos and layout of your promo pieces. All of these elements should work together to deliver a single message and enforce a "call to action," which is the motivator to get your prospects to take the next step.

• The Print and Mail

Once your design is complete, you need to have your direct mailers printed. The printer can help you decide what type of paper to use, most efficient size, fold, etc. Some printers have a mail house, or partner with mail houses, so you can send your promo pieces straight from the press to your prospects without having to handle it again. The printer or mail house will address your mailers, handle the postage requirements and send your bulk mailings to all the recipients on your mailing list.

• The Follow-up

Following up with your prospects is one of the most important things you can do, and a lot of sales are lost precisely because companies do not do this. Another mailer, a phone call, an e-mail or an in-person visit by one of your sales staff dramatically increases the chances that you'll convert prospects into customers. In fact, many campaigns incorporate two or three planned mailings to the same list — the first is a teaser, the second reveals enticing information, and the third delivers the offer and call to action. Remember: Sending three mailers to the same 10,000 people will always yield better results than sending one mailer to 30,000 people.

Be sure to keep track of everything associated with your campaign, including costs, offer, design, copy, mailing list parameters and, of course, response. Weighing these things against one another will help you fine-tune a successful campaign for increased return on investment, or will help you redefine an unsuccessful campaign so that your next one is profitable. Many companies send out several versions of a direct mailer at the same time in small quantities to test campaigns before full launch; if you have the budget, doing so can tremendously increase the overall effectiveness of your campaigns.

Related:

The Biggest Direct Mail Mistake

Direct Mail to the Masses

 

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me

 

What is a Mommy Card

For Mother's Day this year a great little "mommy gift" would be "business cards for kids". Better known as "mommy cards," these child safety cards are becoming increasingly popular with concerned parents. Many online print companies (see Google search for "Mommy Cards" ) are marketing this idea by providing "kid themed" designs for customers to add their child's information to.

Basically, "mommy cards" are business cards that display the child's name, photograph, family contact details, medical info (i.e. blood type), and other emergency information. Slipped into a child's backpack before they go to school, they could be a real "life saver" if (God forbid) a child were to get into an accident or got lost somewhere!

You may be a bit late, if you are thinking of making them for Mothers Day this year. However, they are a very practical gift at any time of the year for mom's and kids. This about having them made in time for the start of the next school year. There's nothing that a mommy appreciates more than to give them the gift of a little more "peace-of-mind" when it comes to their child's safety, and I bet young kids love to feel important by flashing around their very "grown-up" business cards to their peers.

 

*For the record, I promoted my online competitors here. And while I may or may not be able to compete with the big boys and their online pricing, I can custom design "mommy cards" for moms, grandparents, and kids.-David

David A Moore is a cross-media marketing junkie fueled by Mountain Dew. His habit is supported at Advantage Printing, a commercial print and marketing service provider serving churches, nonprofits and small businesses.

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidamoore

www.facebook.com/davidmoore.me