Ramp up your SEM efforts with "SONAR"

SEM -- the ability to leverage natural search -- is an important part of your online marketing plan.

In order to help maximize your website traffic and conversions, synchronization of your content distribution can potentially equate into an increased web presence, growth to your prospect database, and additional sales.

For instance, if you have article in your eLetter at the same time that article is published in your eLetter (and this is critical) repurpose it and distribute it via what I call, "The SONAR Content Distribution Model":

S = syndicate partners and syndication networks. For example, there are many websites that encourage article submission. There’s a financial site called seekingalpha.com or syndication networks such as Mochila.com. They welcome editorial from third-parties. Simply search the Web for “content syndication networks” and a list comes up more potential places to distribute your content.

O = online press releases. Everyday articles from your eLetter can be repurposed to have a press release feel. The most important element is that the release must be newsworthy -- latest research data, a forecast, a product breakthrough, contrarian viewpoint – anything that would be interested to readers and media. Sample low cost or free websites include: PRweb.com, PRbuzz.com, PRLeap.com, I-newswire.com and others.

N = network communities. Social networks user generated content sites have become a great way to syndicated content, create buzz, and drive traffic to your site. Communities like: Twitter, StumbleUpon, Digg, LinksMarker and more allow users to upload snippets or headlines of their content.

A = article directories. Sites such as Ezinearticles.com, ArticleDashboard.com and AritclesFactory.com allow users to upload articles. If you have a daily or weekly eLetter, you can upload articles to these sites. Good for SEO (search engine optimization), viral marketing, and syndicatation opportunities.

R = relevant posts to blogs, forums, and bulletin boards. Upload an excerpt or message from an article with a link to the article. You never know who in the blogsphere is reading posts, and someone may find the article interesting and publish it in it’s entirety on their website or blog. When uploading posts to blogs and forums make sure your post is relevant and not a blatant promotion. There needs to be some value in the message. You’ll get better results if you have an active presence in the forum prior to your post, lending more credibility to your comments. This “guerilla marketing tactic” needs to be done with finesse incorporating industry best practices and good business ethics.

In my expereince, implementing this powerful, yet simple technique -- while dovetailing your other -- Inernet marketing initiatives will show increased traffic results in no time.

"SONAR" Results In Action

My synchronized technique helped increase traffic ranking and visits to a new health website by 3,160% and 81.5% respectively, in only three months.

And in four months, traffic visits increased to a popular investing website by nearly 80% as well as an increase its traffic ranking by nearly 150 percent. Plus, this traffic was monetized for an ROI of 221%.

Getting the Most Bang for your Buck

Exclusive dedicated emails and enews sponsorships are effective ways to target a message to a specific group based on demographic profiling.

However, the down side of a dedicated email blast is the high CPM rate and limited frequency (one time email blast).

I suggest a more balanced online marketing mix that leverages the broad coverage and targeted segmentation of multiple platforms and includes formats such as banner ads, text links, eNews sponsorships, and polls.

This will allow for more frequent messages to build awareness and the CPM would be more cost effective to your ROI.

Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck With Online Media Buying
Tips To Know!

Tip #1: Watch What’s Happening in the Industry
Get subscriptions to free industry trade papers, such as DM News, Response Magazine, and Target Marketing, and as many free newsletters as you’d like.

I really like Clickz.com because it’s a leader in online marketing. Others to consider are mediabuyerplanner.com and DoubleClick.com (which provides some of the industry’s best practices, benchmarks, trends, and forecasts).

Tip #2: Research Which Ad Is A Higher Performer
If you’re looking at online ads, whether it’s a blog, website, or ad network, there’s many to choose from. Some popular ads include the following. For a complete list of banner ad sizes, visit :
· leader boards
· skyscrapers
· buttons
· micro banners
· large rectangles (LRECS)

However, not every banner is created equal. For instance, it has been my experience that leader boards (ads that run horizontally across the top of a Web page) or skyscrapers (ads that run vertically along the side of a Web page) get the least clicks and conversions.

I believe the best ad units and placements are typically LRECs - large rectangles, such as 300 x 250 or 250 x 250 IMUs (Internet Marketing Unit). These are generally located above the page fold and within or close to the surrounding article content. So as a reader is perusing an article, their eye can’t help but notice the ad next to it … especially if you have a strong headline or eye-catching graphic image.

An eye-tracking study by The Poynter Institute supported this observation, indicating that banner ads at the top left of the page, as well as ads close to the body of an article, received the most attention from readers.

Tip #3: Business Negotiations 101
In the process of putting together your media buy (or “insertion order” as the official agreement is referred to), you will be required to analyze many proposals from different website, blogs or ad networks.

You’ll need to ascertain if the rate you are being quoted is cost effective and comparable to industry rates.

This is where the “Media Tracking Matrix” spreadsheet comes in handy.
I recommend sorting this sheet by ad rate, lowest to highest. So you can see instantly which contenders are out of budget or not.

Keep in mind that when account executives start quoting you advertising rates, many drivers can influence that rate such as:
-Seasonality. Most Web traffic typically drops during summer months as well as major holidays. Use this knowledge to your advantage and try to get lower rates during these times. You can also pause your ad if it happens to be running during a holiday and have it turned back on after the holiday.

-Exclusivity. Find out if your ad is get 100% of the rotations or is sharing that ad space with other advertisers. For instance, one banner ad on a website may rotate and have 5 different messages each time you refresh. This is known as being “fixed ad placement” or “shared ad placement”. If you’re told you have shared placement, find out how many actual impressions YOU will receive.

-Site Targeting. Will your ad be ROS (run of site), by channel, by page? Typically, you can drill down your banner ad or advertising message down to a specific page. But the lower your drill the more you will pay for that targeting. The higher you go, the less you pay. ROS is the highest level, so it’s usually the cheapest. Next is usually ROC (run of channel), that is, running your ad within targeted sections of a site. Then there are also specific pages or demographic targeting. Your goals and budget will determine which placement is best for your needs.

-Remnant Space. Check with the account executive to see if they have any remnant space (space that they’re having difficulty selling for any reason) or last minute specials. With more popular and high traffic websites, you can get some great deals on remnant space. Make sure to find out the Terms and Conditions.

-Termination Right. Make sure your insertion order has a ‘termination right’ or ‘out clause’ (typically 24 - 48 hours). This way, if you see after a week your ad isn’t performing, and you tested other ads, you can end the campaign without penalty and only pay for impressions served.

Tip #4: Due Diligence.
If you’re looking at a banner ad, find out demographic information and website analytics. If you’re considering renting an email list from a third-party, find out the size of their e-mail list, how often the list gets mailed, the average unit sale per subscriber, and whether or not there will be lift note (simply, introduction memo/implied endorsement by the publisher). These variables will help establish the value of the list.

Tip#5: Real Time Reporting
Ask your account executive if you will have access to the OAS system (online ad server) or if he/she can email you daily performance reports. You want to look at impressions served, click thru and open rates. These metrics will illustrate to you the popularity of your ad and if it’s resonating with website visitors. Are they clicking the banner but not converting at landing page? Are they visiting page, but not clicking banner? Answers to these questions will determine where you need to tweak your advertising creative.

For instance:
High clicks (banner ad), low conversions (landing page). This is typically an indicator that something on the landing page is not attractive to readers. Common reasons are offer, guarantee (return policy), price, copy (copywriting that is not compelling and draws reader in), no clear “call to action (what you exactly want reader to do next).

Low clicks (banner ad or text ad). This is typically an indicator that your front end creative is not compelling or eye-catching. You only have a few seconds to grab the readers’ attention. Great copywriting skills and/or strong graphical images are most important here.

Tip #6: Test Ad Networks
If your goal is to reach the biggest, broadest audience possible, and you want to run an ad on a few different websites … consider an ad network.

Ad networks have arrangements with a variety of popular websites. Since ad networks typically buy their ad units in bulk from the publishing sites, the networks can pass the savings down to you. Some popular ad networks include Advertising.com and ValueClick.com. You can find a full list at iwebtool.com.

Important Note: Make sure you get proposals from more than one network when researching your rates. Some of the lesser-known networks like BurstMedia.com are extremely competitive with their rates and can really give the big guys a run for their money.

However, ask for a list of ‘sample sites’ and find out how many total sites are in their ad network universe. You see, many ad networks may only mention their 5 top sites and they may have a universe of 25 sites or more. So the remaining 20 sites are all Tier II or Tier III sites, otherwise known as ‘Micro sites’, with no real traffic or use to you. These are basically obscure sites on the fringe of the Internet. And they’re certainly not worth more than a $1/CPM.

Depending on how many impressions you buy and if you’re buying run of site or run of channel, your average cost for an LREC can range from $2 to $9. For blog ads and blog networks, you can often find CPMs lower than $1. My preferred blog ad network is BlogAds.com. You can create your plan a la carte or buy “hives” (package of similar type blogs). Rates are affordable and you can easily upload your creative’s and change as needed.

Tip #7: Don’t Just Talk The Talk, Walk The Walk
When buying online media, confidence is king. Armed with basic knowledge and the confidence to speak intelligently will go a long way. You will come across savvy to account executives … someone that is not likely to get the wool pulled over their eyes easily. And you need to be perceived that way. If you sound like you’re unsure of yourself or don’t know what you’re talking about, then don’t be surprised if the ad exec tries to take advantage of you and get you to pay ‘rate card’, which is their published rate.

Tip #8: Try To Get ‘Good Will’ Freebies For SEO
Whenever I do a media buy I always see if I can get a ‘courtesy’ back link from the site I’m buying from … especially if they have a ‘resource’ or ‘links’ page. It’s really no skin off their apple and it is mutually beneficial for SEO. And if the site you’re buying from has a really strong traffic rank, then it could be very advantageous for you to get this back-link. More than half the time I get it. The worst the account exec can say is no. So why not ask for it?

Tip #9: Buy More/Get More
If you happen to have a larger ad budget (more than $5K) then you have some leverage to ask for some add on’s. For instance, if you’re renting an email list of 100K names, see if the website will throw in a free banner ad or text ad for a week. Mention if it performs well, you’ll have a good reason to buy this ad unit in next media buy.

Media Cheat Sheet

When coordinating your insertion order (IO) with an online account executive, it’s important to be prepared for some of the questions you’ll be asked. Your response will determine the pricing and data being presented in your overall proposal. Typical questions you may be asked from account execs include:
-When you want to start the campaign and how long do you want it to be?
-What is the offer/goal (product sales, lead gen, other)?
-Do you have sample ad creative to send?
-What’s the budget?
-What’s your target audience (demographic, geographic, psychographic)?
-What kind of websites do you want your ad to run on (genre, category)
-What type of ad unit are you interested in (size, placement)?

The more information you can provide, the more accurate your proposal with costs will be. Other things to know that allow for leverage and leeway…

Budget. I always tell new account execs it’s a ‘test’ buy and the budget is small ($2,500 - $5,000). I tease them with an incentive, such as, “…if this buy works, I’ll roll out with bigger and more frequent buys.” And why wouldn’t I? If my ad makes money, it’s a win/win situation. This usually helps the network be more flexible with their account minimum spend.

Out clause. Many ad networks or websites won’t mention it. Be sure to insist on it. You want to be able to get out if the effort isn’t working and not pay any additional fees for doing so.
Payment terms. Most if not all websites and networks are going to try and get you to pay with a credit card up front. But I always like to ask for Net 30 days payment terms and pay after the campaign is completed.

Ad units. Let’s say you’re testing an LREC (large rectangle banner ad). And surprisingly, after 1 week, click thrus are mediocre. If you don’t have an alternate creative to run, see if the website or network can let you try the same creative, but in another ad unit, like text ad, or skyscraper.

Developing a Participation Matrix...

During a session of the ASAE Membership Marketing Conference, one of the presenters encouraged attendees to keep a close eye on the participation levels of their members. His argument was that membership was about participation, not about revenue. Although I understood his point, membership and subscriptions are about both revenue and participation.

Keeping this in mind, I would encourage marketing directors who are responsible for growing membership or subscriptions, to monitor the participation levels of their "members" (for our purposes in this post, I will use the word members, but please note this includes subscriber programs found at most performing arts organizations around the country). I am in the process of building a participation matrix that gives quarterly reports on the participation levels of members. That way, I will know, especially with our important donors and members, how active they are with our organization. Usually a member's participation level is a steady predictor on whether or not the member values their membership, and subsequently decides to renew. If I notice at the end of the first and second quarters that a certain portion of our membership isn't participating, that will give me enough time to find ways to engage that segmentation before they are asked to make the decision to renew their membership for the following year.

I would also suggest sending a participation report at the end of the year to each member along with a renewal solicitation. Something along the lines of --

Did you realize during the 2006-07:

• 30% of your employees participated in member's only listservs
• your organization saved $1,400 by using your membership discount through bookstore purchases and convention registrations.
• you attended 7 performances at the magnificent PLUG THE NAME IN HERE theatre, which received 5 critics picks and 3 RANDOM Awards during the year.
• you enjoyed an evening with acclaimed artistic director SOMEBODY FANTASTIC and the cast of AMAZING PRODUCTION #5.

Keep your members involved, and remind them of the value of their membership when you ask them to renew. Members who don't use their benefits or tickets aren't likely to renew--so catch them early, and find a way to get them active.

Living your Brand Promise...

For the past two days, I have been attending the ASAE Marketing & Membership conference in Baltimore, MD. I went to a session entitled "Brand Image vs. Brand Identity: What do your Members Experience?" The presenter defined Brand Identity as what the organization wants to project--the brand promise that the organization is making. The Brand Image on the other hand is what people actually experience and what they really think of your organization. So the presenter proposed a relatively simple, but very thought-provoking question--is everyone on your staff projecting and living your brand?

Now this session was in the morning, and I still had my mind on my experience with the Hyatt Regency Hotel that I stayed at the previous night. I was excited to arrive at my hotel, because I booked late and the only thing I could find was a room a the luxurious, four-star Hyatt Regency Baltimore. I was shocked that the room cost almost $350 but I figured it was a splurge that I rarely take.

When I think of a Hyatt Regency Hotel (my Brand Image), I think of fantastic service, luxury and an overall great experience. In fact, Hyatt's website lists its Brand Identity: "Hyatt Hotels have long been known for going beyond simple accommodations to create rewarding experiences for its guests. Through dramatic design, innovative cuisine, and attentive service, Hyatt approaches the hotel stay as an opportunity to inspire. Now, that philosophy known simply as The Hyatt Touch®."

I was expecting The Hyatt Touch. What I got:

1) a double bed instead of a king because they ran out of king rooms.

2) an environment where everything was "pay to play" -- parking: $32. Internet: $1 per minute in their business center, otherwise you had to pay the T-mobile charge for wireless.

3) a locked mini-bar, so I went in search of where I could purchase a diet coke. I found out that there were no vending machines or convenience stores in the hotel which sold diet coke, so I asked to have the mini-bar unlocked. After three phone calls (one in which I was on hold for four minutes) and fifty minutes later, a repair man showed up.

4) the repair man had to come back to fix the television because it was stuck on the menu (again it took three phone calls).

If this is the Hyatt Touch, I don't want it. Even my $100 per night Holiday Inn in Minneapolis had a working television, free Internet & parking, and vending machines with Diet Coke. In this case, it is obvious that their Brand Identity (the Hyatt Touch) and their Brand Image (what I experienced) are not the same. They aren't living their brand, and therefore I won't return.

You can produce thousands of brochures with your brand promise, but if you aren't living it, it doesn't make a difference.

Thinking of a new way to acquire names?

So, you’ve tried banner ads, you’ve tried text ads, you even tried sweepstakes. But you want to deploy a new and creative lead generation tactic.

Try online polls or surveys.

This is a great way to build your list and qualify potential prospects for cross-sell or up-sell opportunities (either immediately after taking the poll or later on).

First, it’s important to pick a question or topic that is timely. Something that is in the current events and that most Americans would be interested in … perhaps even slightly controversial. Now, develop your question. The question should provoke thought and prompt response. This will be your headline on your creative.

Second, think of your answer choices. You can certainly do a simple yes/no question, but I’d recommend a variety of choices that makes the prospect think and involves them in the question. It’s also helpful to include an "other comments" box. You’ll be surprised how many people want to give you their 2 cents – this element really makes the poll participatory.

Third, make sure you let prospects know that you will not sell or rent their email names. People hate spam and you want to clarify that their email address will not be comprised. You should also advise prospects that by taking the poll they will be opted in to your free newsletter (if you have one) which they can opt out at any time and that they will be notified via email of the poll results. Also offer them a free report as a token of appreciation for taking the poll. Follow up with a "welcome message" and introductory email series to start the bonding efforts immediately.

Fourth, think of a good graphic that encapsulates your headline. Something visually powerful. Noteable personalities or images that convey emotions work best (greed, fear, love, hate, etc.).

Fifth, have a clear call to action in your creative, such as "sound off now" or "take action now." Get people excited about the poll they are about to take. Your creative can be a banner ad, text ad, eNewsletter sponsorship, or even a dedicated email. Some formats may work better than others. So test them all.

Sixth, make sure your poll runs on websites that fit the subject matter of the poll. When you do your media buy, pick sites that the audience is going to respond to. If you’re poll headline is about the 2008 election, consider political sites, news sites (broadcast and cable), political or news blogs, etc.

Finally, make sure you have a good reporting system to capture the emails and segment by promotional effort and website ad appeared on (for analysis) as well as store poll results and chart answer choices via pie chart. And don’t forget to send the poll results to the prospects!

Adding polls to our online marketing mix will increase your chances of list growth.

List Building 101

Whether you have a non-profit website or consumer website, your goal is to build your subscriber list and bring traffic to your site -- which over time can be monetized into revenues.

In the last week, I mentioned several proven techniques to drive traffic to your site. Now, I’d like to address capturing email names, or what is known as lead generation (list building).

1. Offer a free report. This is a great way to get people to sign up for your content and give them a taste of what your site/company has to offer. Reports are also a great way to qualify your readers interest and later on upset them to a paid product or service.
2. Have a free ezine/eNewsletter. Offer website users free, unique content delivered on a timely basis (daily, weekly, monthly) to their inbox. The key is your newsletter should have unique, insightful commentary – something people would be willing to give up their email address for. Make sure you highlight the newsletters benefits or USP (unique selling proposition).
3. Send alerts. It may be appealing to your audience to sign up to learn the latest updates, upcoming events, book signings, new product launches, media appearances, or other time sensitive information on a daily/weekly basis. The "exclusivity" factor is the driving force here. Your "elite" group of subscribers should feel like they're "in the know." Part of a VIP group that gets first hand information before it's made public.
4. Email words of wisdom. Again, depending on your service and how well known you are in your industry, you may want to offer daily words of wisdom, inspiration, quotes, or other motivational messages to your subscribers.
5. Webinars/audios/videos. Post teaser photos of webinar and key messages from a webinar or video/audio seminar. Have testimonials of how great and informative it was. Mention to users that they can hear/watch the full video by simply typing their email now!
6. Polls. Conduct a survey or poll. Ask a question that is topical and tied into the news. Something that stirs emotion and affects the masses. Something that’s on people’s minds and they just want to sound off about. Give your user the ability to answer from choices and then have a "additional comments" box. You’ll find 8 out of 10 times people feel compelled to give their 2 cents. This helps make the poll participatory and gives satisfaction to the user. Also, make sure you tell users before they hit submit that by taking the poll, as a thank you they’ll get a special report emailed to them and/or auto-signed up (opted in) to your free newsletter that they can opt out at anytime. It’s also important to advise users that results will be posted on your website (helps site traffic!) as well as emailed to them. Poll questions can also be a great way to qualify users for future up-sell and cross-sell opportunities.
7. Most importantly, initiate a privacy policy. Make sure on your lead generation page you have a privacy policy or anit-SPAM notice posted (or link to it). Assure users that you hate SPAM just as much as them and it is your policy not to sell or rent their email address to any third-parties under any circumstances. If you’re not sure of the verbiage to use, just Google "privacy policy" and see samples of other site’s policies.
8. After you build your list. Know your audience and their threshold for email promotion frequency and price points. Remember, your ezine subs will be jumping from free to paid, so keep the price gap narrow.

How To Make Co-Registration Work For You

Co-Registration is a form of online marketing where your subscription offer appears on a webpage AFTER the primary transaction of the publisher whose site you’re advertising on.
For instance, if you sign up for, let’s say for MSN.com’s free enewsletters, after you submit a Thank You page may pop up with other publisher’s offers. The offers usually are an advertiser logo with small write up about their offer or company. This tactic of online marketing is usually used for lead generation purposes.

The key is to follow up with any leads that come in on a co-registration effort quickly. The names collected through this mechanism need to be segmented from the other names in your file since they’re "cold" leads. Meaning, they really don’t know your company at all. To get the most from these names and improve your conversion rate and potential life time value, you’ll need to bond with them and then hit them with your upsell offer. It’s usually best to have a series of introductory emails that try to accomplish this. You can also give this list some incentive, such as introductory offer (maybe 10% off you’re front-end product/service).

The average CPA (cost per acquisition) in co-reg agreements can range from $1.50 - $5.00 per name. Make sure this is "net" names – after any bad emails or duplicates (names you already have in your file) are removed.

It has worked for the movies...why not us?

The Royal National Theatre in Great Britain launched a YouTube channel recently to showcase trailers for its upcoming productions. We did something similar at Virginia Stage Company when I was there and it is much easier than it sounds. All you have to do is get a stock and standard digital video recorder, capture some video of a dress rehearsal, edit it using a easy to use editor like Adobe Premiere Elements, and tada--you have a trailer. Only warning I have here is that if you are a union house, make sure you are staying within the rules. If you aren't sure, I suggest contacting your bargaining representative or an attorney. Don't expect movie quality in your homemade trailers, but they will definitely be a good enough quality for YouTube and your patrons will love the sneak peak.

Site Targeting: Optimize Your PPC Efforts

If you’re finding the Yahoo, Google or MSN universe is too broad and vast for your niche products (or budget), consider a smaller PPC network such as Miva, Kanoodle, Quigo or AdBrite.

Each of these networks allow PPC site targeting as well as have specialized publishers/websites in their network. Their universe is much smaller than Google, and you may find yourself a big fish in a small pond – hopefully increasing your click thru and conversion rate.

Quigo, for instance, has some heavy-hitters in their network, like major cable and broadcast new channel websites. Since the universe is smaller, you may have less competition, thereby a lower bid price.

Overall, you may find you get more bang for your buck.

It's worth running a test: the same ad in Google vs. Quigo (or another network). You may be surprised by the results!

Leveraging Online Press Releases: Press for Pennies

Company achieved a milestone? Launching a new product? Uncovered interesting statistics from a survey?

These are great reasons to create and distribute an online press release and increase your online presence and drive traffic to your website.

Press releases are effective vehicles for creating buzz and assisting in your SEO (search engine optimization) efforts through syndication back links -- that is, links from other blogs and websites that picked up your release and republished it.

There are many free press distribution services on the World Wide Web to help get your word out. But there's a criteria to be followed if you want your release to get snatched up by media, bloggers and online news aggregators like Google News and Yahoo News.

Here are five easy ways to leverage online press release...

1. Although most free PR distribution services have a release template that you can upload your release through (as well as keyword selection tool), consider using a standard PR template as a guide. This will help ensure your release is constructed as a legitimate press release. Here's a great one I use: http://www.press-release-writing.com/press-release-template.htm.

2. It's important to make sure your press release is newsworthy, written well, and has value-oriented information. It shouldn't be self-serving (i.e. blatantly promoting yourself or your website) and is editorial in nature. It should also have a strong, keyword-rich headline, subhead, and lead (introductory paragraph). Since search engine spiders scan pages from top to bottom, your top 10 keywords, as far as density, should also be heaviest from top of the document to the bottom. Some helpful keyword search tools include: http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com/, http://www.google.com/sktool/, or https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal . These will help you identify keywords that have good search volume and fits your target audience.

3. Another PR basic but often gets overlooked is to make sure your release in written in the third-person and you include 1-3 quotes about the main person the release is built around. Don't forget to use spell check and proof your release. If there are spelling or grammatical errors, it will ruin your credibility. Remember to include only one or two links to your website at the bottom of the release, such as, "to read the full article or schedule interviews, contact at (add your web address)."

4. Recycle your enewsletter content through press releases. Take editorial content and repurpose it to be exciting, newsworthy, and consumer driven. You can often use the same copy with minor edits for flow and format.

5. If you use a PR Distribution service like PRWeb or Business Wire (for a nominal fee), in addition to online media your release will also be available to traditional media which includes major national and regional print publications. However, there's plenty of effective, free online services that I like to us such as www.PRlog.org, www.free-press-release.com, and www.i-newswire.com.

So don’t overlook the power of the press release. As I always say, if you’re a strategic and creative thinker, you’ll be able to increase your business objectives for practically pennies!~

10 "must ask" questions when doing a media buy

If you’re buying banner ads or other advertising spots on a website, it’s key to find out a few things before you sign your insertion order:


1. Competitive analysis. What’s the industry rates for that particular ad spot and placement?
2. Competitive analysis. What ad units typically get the best click thru rates?
3. Publisher placement. Will my ad be "run of site" (ROS), which is home page and sub pages and typically the most cost effective, on targeted subpages, or on the home page?
4. Ad targeting. Does the publisher allow day parting (running ad during specific time periods)?
5. Publisher placement. Will my ad position be fixed or rotated (shared) with anyone else’s ad?
6. Publisher placement. If shared, what percentage of impressions (or views) will I receive?
7. Dedicated email. Find out the size of the list you’re thinking of renting, the frequency the list goes out, and the average unit sale (AUS) per subscriber.
8. Dedicated email. Will there be a lift note (an introduction or implied endorsement)? Lift notes often help open and conversion rates.
9. Out clause. Does the agreement allow an out clause or termination right? Can I pause my ad during a "slow traffic time" (i.e. summer, holidays) as not to waste impressions?
10. Reporting. Will I be given daily/weekly reporting OR access to (the publishers) online ad serving system?

All of these factors will help determine the value of your ad space, and ultimately, the cost you’re willing to pay to access that audience.

PPC testing

Next time you have a concept or direct mail package you are about to launch, test it on PPC (Google, Yahoo, MSN) first. This is a great way to gauge general market sentiment that is cost effective and fast. Create your ads (if you already have headlines from a direct mail package, use 'em in PPC before your mail) and run them for about a 2-week period. You'll have an idea at the end of the testing period, based on clicks and conversions (or lack thereof), how your package may perform before it mails. Having this insight will help save you money and allow you to tweak copy, offer, landing page and other important conversion elements.

Targeted PPC Ads are as Easy as 1,2,3...

For targeted search marketing, consider using niche PPC networks like Adbrite.

Just as Google’s "site targeteing" allows you to pick where you would like your ad to be displayed, AdBrite has specialized sites/publishers that host text ads and banner ads on their site.

You simply create your ad, upload target URL, select your bid price (cost per click) and select which sites in the network you’d like your ad to run on.

Your bid price and click thru rate will affect your ad placement and frequency. This is a great way to target sites and test the same creative in multiple formats (ie. banner ads vs. text ads).

Have you ever taken a rental car to the car wash?

I just wrote a blog on my experiences at the recent TCG National Conference on the Americans for the Arts ArtsBlog. I figured you guys might be interested in it as well since it talks about our responsibilities for developing new audiences. Check it out HERE.

What happens when the packaging doesn't match the content?

I am in Minneapolis for the TCG National Conference and the host theater is the brand new Guthrie. Let me start off by saying that I don't want to rain on their parade. The new Guthrie Theater is absolutely amazing--it has three performance spaces including separate thrust, proscenium and black box theaters. It is situated right on the Mississippi and is a glorious example of modern architecture. Not to mention, they have been fantastic hosts. So what seems to be the problem?

As I approached the building, I thought to myself, "what a wonderful place for experimental, new edgy work. I bet it would be fantastic to work here." Then I entered the space and I was surprised to see that their two large productions in June were George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara and the musical 1776. Neither of which would I consider bastions of modern, edgy or experimental theatre. Future productions include Private Lives, Jane Eyre, King Lear, The Seagull, A Christmas Carol, and Peer Gynt. The edgy, modern, or experimental productions when produced are for the most part confined to the smallest of the three spaces.

I know that with the opening of a new, large theater comes an increase in expenses, which demands a relatively "safe" season. However, why choose to build a brand new theater that stands as a pillar of modern, experimental architecture and program it with standard fare that you could find at any regional theater in the nation?

The Only Thing to Fear, is Fear Itself

I am writing this blog from Minneapolis, where I am attending the Theater Communications Group National Conference which begins tomorrow. It seems that June is a very popular month for conferences. I just got back from the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, and when I return to DC, I am off to Baltimore for the ASAE Membership Marketing Conference. Keep an eye on the blog and I will share with you some of my thoughts from these various events.

Since I was working the Americans for the Arts Annual Convention, I unfortunately didn't get the opportunity to see most of the speakers (however, they are going to post audio and video of the keynote speaker and the six innovator speakers on their website and blog). I did get the chance to hear keynote speaker Lyn Heward from Cirque du Soleil. One of the things that Lyn addressed which has stayed with me over the past couple of days dealt with risk taking. She contended that one of the most dangerous things an organization could do was to remain stagnant and avoid risks for fear of failure. I couldn't agree more. Usually I see this problem with large organizations which rest on their past successes, and choose to stick with the status quo. However successful organizations are in a constant state of flux--always examining their market position and how to better serve the needs of their stakeholders.

I have been very fortunate to work for organizations which embraced calculated risk taking. I would encourage every marketing director to set aside a small portion of their budget for experimental marketing campaigns. Sometimes you will lose, and sometimes you will win, but it is part of doing business. Maybe some of these very large respectable theaters which have either closed lately or which are currently struggling at some point became comfortable and stagnant rather than remaining dynamic and addressing the needs of the current market place. Don't be afraid of failures. Embrace them. Learn from them. And move on. With that said, below is a list of some of my most brilliant failures, and quick successes:

Recent Brilliant Failures:

1. Hot Spot Marketing. A salesman from this company came to me to see if I would be interested in advertising on their new information kiosks that they were placing in hotels and destinations around Virginia Beach. It sounded very interesting. A tourist in their hotel would be able to go down to the kiosk, search for theater listings, see upcoming shows, and print out coupons and directions to the theater. Virginia Beach is a tourist hot spot and we were trying to tap into that market. So I used some of my experimental marketing funds and took a gamble. Total flop -- the tourist market in Virginia Beach is mostly over the summer and we stop producing in late May (not to mention, I don't think there were enough of these kiosks around to make a difference).

2. Concierge Guides. We created 150 concierge guides and invited several other arts organizations to send us information on their current offerings. Once compiled, we hand delivered them to the largest hotels in a 20 mile radius of our theater. At first it worked just fine, but quickly we discovered that we needed to update these guides several times a year to keep them current and if we didn't hand deliver updated information, it never made it to the concierge. It was costly and time consuming to drive to 150 hotels on a regular basis, which made it tough to keep up-to-date. Other companies were having the same problem. Soon these guides became out dated and were no longer being used.

3. Welcome Home Kits. We contracted with a national company which produced welcome home kits for new movers into our area. We would pay them a sum of money, and in return, they would insert a coupon for us into their welcome home kits. We soon found out that our coupons were being lost in the crowd, and that we could create our own welcome home kits and mail them at a cheaper cost. Lesson learned.

Recent Successes:

1. Necessity if the mother of invention. At Virginia Stage Company, we couldn't afford a ton of billboard advertising because it was controlled by one company which was very expensive. So I got to thinking how we could accomplish the same thing for a cheaper price. I worked with our master electrician, and for a $250 investment, we bought a Source 4 lighting instrument and created a custom gobo advertising our upcoming shows. We then mounted it on a building in downtown Norfolk, put the light on a timer, and beamed the image onto an adjacent building in the evening. We got permission from the owners of the buildings. It turned out great. And got a lot of attention from passersby and the press.

2. We noticed that our subscription audience was aging so we took some non-traditional methods to advertising subscriptions such as creating a DVD brochure instead of a print brochure, creating video and putting it on YouTube, etc. Over a period of two years, we had double digit growth in subscription income and over 2,000 new subscribers.

Take calculated risks. Expect and be prepared for failures, and welcome the successes. This is a part of doing business. The worst thing we can do is fear failture so much that we no longer take the creative risks that we so desperately need.