June 17, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
The most important stage of advertising is not the Message creation as many think; rather it is the art of message distribution. The basic tenet of advertising is you cant sell a bad product with good advertising. Having said that, it is also true that even if the advertising message is good and the product is all quite competitive, yet poor media planning can cause severe damage to the product or brand being advertised. So crucial are effective Media planning services for a business.
A Media planning agency is an agency that creates a media plan for a particular advertisement campaign based upon the observation of the universe group and the target group of consumers of a particular product or service in a region, their media usage habits as well as the number of media platforms available to disseminate the advertising message. Careful and well researched observations are made with the help of various Media planning tools which give detailed description of target group and how media platforms can be used to influence their buying decisions. The main aim of a Media planning agency is to provide such media planning services to the client that maximum media impact is created for the product with minimum advertising budget.
Media planning needs objectives
Effective Media planning can only be achieved if the media objectives are well defined. The business or brand which is initiating advertising, should communicate unambiguously, their advertising objectives to the Advertising Media planning agencies. These objectives may be communicated to the Media planning agencies in the form of advertising market reach achieved, brand or product acceptability increased or quantum of sales increased. These objectives need to be in figures so that they can be matched against the outcome of the Media planning services provided by the Media planning agencies.
Common Media platforms
Newspapers and magazines
Television & Radio
Social Media
Outdoor billboards
Search engine marketing
Identifying the Target universe group
Once a Media planning agency is made aware of its media objectives, it sets out to identify the target group for whom the Media planning services have to be focused. For identifying the target consumer group, the media planning agency has put to use many Media planning tools which basically tell them the exact demography of the target group as well as their media usage habits. The number of households or individuals which use one or the other kind of media in a particular location is considered the reach of the media. The target consumer group may be scattered around different media platforms. So a Media planning agency must furnish exact data with the help of available Media planning tools regarding the reach and penetration of various media platforms in a target consumer region.
Factors that define choice of media
Percentage of total population exposed to media.
Which media platform has maximum reach?
Media mix or media concentration?
What should be the frequency of advertisement?
Budget availability
Creating a Media mix
A media mix is combination of various available media platforms in a given region and how they are used for achieving maximum product or brand advertising impact with minimum spending. If money or budget was no constraint, Media planning agencies would have simply bombarded an advertising campaign on all media platforms. But naturally, funds are always a handicap and so the main task of Media planning services is to create a Media-mix that achieves a desired impact by scattering the advertising message across a number of media platforms. For example, Two 10 seconds Ads on three local TV channels daily, five 20 seconds Ads on local FM radio, Daily insertion of advertisement in four local newspapers and multiple billboards across the region.
Advertisement frequency
Another crucial function of Advertising media planning is to determine as to what should be the frequency of advertising in each media platform. The figure is reached at by carefully analyzing the data made available by various media planning tools which disclose the general media usage habits and trends of a given consumer group and then these results are matched against the media objectives set in advance. The frequency of an advertisement campaign is the number of repetitions of an Ad that are required to be visible at least once to the target group in a given period.
Media buying
Once the major tasks of Media planning services are achieved by an Advertising media planning company, the thus prepared Media plan is communicated to the company which needs advertising. On the basis of this media plan and media strategies, a Media buying agency is hired to operationalize the Media plan. Media buying agencies and Media buying Companies are agencies which specialize in buying various media platforms. They have good connections with various Media houses and are wiz at negotiations.
The main task of a Media buying agencies is to buy maximum visibility with minimum spending. In electronic media, Media buying companies try to get best time slots for their clients at the minimum tariffs. In newspapers and other publications bigger space or more prominent space is bought at best discounted rates. Apart from this, a Media buying agency tries to extract as many add-on deals with the media houses which include additional airtime at same cost, Big-events time-slots at no extra cost or free proxy advertising etc.
June 17, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
Breaking into the market isn’t the simplest of choices for any business. A business must analyse several factors, and every aspect is essential in determining the plan to be undertaken for acquiring market share. Choices such as when, where, and at what level of cost, all play a definitive role in the possible success or failure of any business.
The key to this understanding is that when making a move for market share, strive to be in the limelight – so everyone, potential customers and competitors alike, can’t avoid your presence even if they tried. You should be aggressive in your approach, which can easily be measured by the time, money and effort put into your advertising, sales promotion, publicity and public relations, introductory offers and discounts, etc. The businesses which are able to differentiate themselves from their competitors are the real champions of their industry, and they are, without doubt, the market leaders. They get focused customer attention and unique privileges over all others in their market.
The following activities can be initiated by a business to make their presence felt in the market:
– Differentiated Products and Services – The products or services offered by a business should be differentiated from those offered by others. It might be in the area of technology, design, packaging, the look or just about anything else, but the product or service should have a special and unique image in the thoughts of the customers.
– Customer Focused Advertising – Advertising is an important and effective means of reaching out to your potential customers. Television, radio, internet, mobile phones and print media are the common advertising tools used in today’s world. This advertising should be customer and market targeted. The intensity of this advertising and how many people it will reach usually depends entirely upon the budget allocated.
– Customer Relationship – Customers are the most important aspect of any business, and the aim of all businesses is to reach out to these customers in the most effective manner – as efficiently as possible. The fundamental point of marketing is to create long term relationships with as many customers as possible, and with improved presale and after sales service, a business can deliver quality assistance to the pursuits of every customer, thereby guaranteeing long term relationships and regular custom.
– Introductory Offers and Schemes – It’s very important at the time of entering a market that a business should use introductory offers, rebates, discounts and schemes to stimulate customers toward purchasing products and services.
– Extensive Warranties and Guarantees – Almost every customer will prefer a product that carries some kind of warranty or guarantee. If a new product has some form of extensive warranty or guarantee, most customers will consider that the company is being responsible for their product, and therefore, it’s seen as an “intelligent buy”.
Copyright (c) 2009 Alan Gillies
June 13, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
We are a unique breed.
Talk of bounce rates, A/B split testing, conversions, affiliate marketing and page impressions gets us excited (maybe a bit TOO excited).
In our free-time, pulling out a Seth Godin book, re-reading training material from Ryan Deiss, or checking out the latest post on Mashable sounds about as good as it gets.
We are hard-core. Do you have what it takes?
If youre not sure whether youre TRULY an internet marketing superstar, Id encourage you to take this short quiz and see how you do (answers below).
Define the following online marketing acronyms:
CTR ________________________
CPM ________________________
SEO_________________________
PPC_________________________
CPA _________________________
SEM_________________________
B2B__________________________
B2C__________________________
CPL __________________________
CPC __________________________
CPS__________________________
CR___________________________
PPI___________________________
PPS__________________________
KPI__________________________
SERP_________________________
URL__________________________
ASV__________________________
CTR = Click Through Rate. Number of clicks on an ad divided by the number of times the ad was shown. Eg: 100 clicks / 10000 impressions = 1% CTR
CPM = Cost per 1000 Impressions. Cost expressed in dollars of an ad per 1000 impressions or pageviews. Eg: $5.00 CPM = $5.00 for every 1000 impressions.
SEO = Search Engine Optimization. Improving the ranking of a website through the use of organic techniques.
PPC = Pay-per-Click. Method of online advertising where the advertiser pays based on how many click throughs there are to their website.
CPA = Cost per Action. Method of online advertising where the advertiser pays based on how many of a particular action is taken (eg. Subscriptions, leads, sales, etc.)
SEM = Search Engine Marketing. Increasing traffic to a website through the use of organic and paid online advertising.
B2B = Business to Business (marketing). Marketing exclusively to other businesses.
B2C = Business to Consumer (marketing). Marketing exclusively to the consumer.
CPL = Cost per Lead. Amount advertiser pays for each lead generated by ad (registrations, subscriptions, etc.).
CPC = Cost per Click. Amount advertiser pays for each click generated by ad.
CPS = Cost per Sale. Amount advertiser pays for each sale generated by ad.
CR = Conversion Rate. Number of conversions an ad or website gets divided by total number of visits. Eg: 100 sales / 10000 visits = 1% CR
PPI = Pay per Impression. Advertiser pays based for each ad impression.
PPS = Pay per Sale. Advertiser pays for each sale generated through the ad.
KPI = Key Performance Indicator. Way of measuring progress towards specific goals. KPIs are decided on within an organization and then tracked to ensure company is meeting its goals.
SERP = Search Engine Results Page. The list of sites a search engine returns when you request a search.
URL = Uniform Resource Locator. Address of a website on the web.
ASV = Average Subscriber Value. On average, the cash value generated by each email or website subscriber.
So, how did you do? Are you an internet marketing superstar?
Weve even written about some of these acronyms
Facebook Advertising: CPC vs CPM for my Facebook Ads?
10 Tips for an Effective Facebook PPC Campaign
5 SEO Tips for Your Facebook Fan Page
June 12, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
It goes against corporate and human nature to admit a problem. For years, the power of positive thinking has been drummed into us and “think positive” has been the subject of endless books and articles.
So it may come as a surprise to you that one of the most effective ways to get into a prospects mind is to be candid and first admit a negative, then twist it into a positive.
Avis is only No 2 in rent cars.
With a name like Smuckers it has to be good.
Whats going on here? Why does a dose of honesty work so well in the marketing process?
First and foremost, candor is very disarming. Every negative statement you make about yourself is instantly accepted as truth. Positive statements, on the other hand, are looked at as dubious at best especially in an advertisement.
You have to prove a positive statement to the prospects satisfaction. No proof is needed for a negative statement.
“With a name like Smuckers it has to be good.” Most companies, especially family companies, would never make fun of their name. Yet the Smucker family did, which is one reason why Smuckers is the No 1 brand of jams and jellies. If your name is bad, you have two choices: change the name or make fun of it.
Avis is only No 2 in rent cars so why go with them? They must try harder. Everybody knew that Avis was second in rent cars.
So why go with the obvious? Marketing is often a search for the obvious. Since you cant change a mind once it is made up, your marketing efforts have to be devoted to using ideas and concepts already installed in the brain. You have to use your marketing programs to “rub it in.” No program did this as brilliantly as the Avis No 2 program.
The explosive growth of communications in our society has made people defensive and cautious about companies trying to sell them anything. Admitting a problem is something that very few companies do.
When a company starts a message by admitting a problem, people tend to, almost instinctively, open their minds. Think about the times that someone came to you with a problem and how quickly you got involved and wanted to help. Now think about people starting a conversation about some wonderful things they are doing. You probably were a lot less interested.
Now with that mind open, you are in a position to drive in the positive, which is our selling idea. Some years ago, Scope entered the mouthwash market with a good tasting mouthwash thus exploiting Listerines truly terrible taste.
What should Listerine do? It certainly could not tell people that Listerines taste was not all that bad. That would raise a red flag that would reinforce a negative perception. Things could get worse. Instead, Listerine brilliantly invoked the law of candor: “The taste you hate twice a day.”
Not only did the company admit the product tasted bad, it admitted that people actually hated it (now thats honesty). This admission setup the selling idea that Listerine “kills a lot of germs.”
The prospect figured that anything that tastes like disinfectant must indeed be a germ killer. A crisis passed with help of a heavy dose of candor.
One final note: The law of candor must be used carefully and with great skill. First, your negative must be widely perceived as a negative. It has to trigger an instant agreement with your prospects mind. If the negative does not register quickly, your prospect will be confused and will wonder, “What is this all about?”
Next you have to shift quickly to the positive. The purpose of candor is not to apologize. The purpose of candor is to setup a benefit that will convince your prospect.
This law only proves the old maxim: Honesty is the best policy.
Marketing is a battle of ideas. If you are to succeed, you must have a unique attribute to focus and describe your value. Without one, you had better have a low price; a very low price.
It takes a while but many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn the Law of Candor. They learn to identify their target market, focus on promoting products that will appeal and add value to their target market.
To accomplish this, they use various methods, tools, and follow a traffic formula to build relationships with their leads and customers. They build websites that create trust. They collect name and email addresses using an Optin form on a Landing Page. They use email systems with both auto-responders and broadcast capabilities in order to send messages to their leads and customers. These email messages frequently send information, provide knowledge, and occasionally promote an offering. Many Internet Marketing entrepreneurs learn that leads and customers do not like to be sold to however they will browse and shop. Over an extended period of time, skilled Internet Marketers are able to use hypnotic writing skills, in their marketing campaigns, to get leads and customers to take the action they want. This is how they learn to identify a target market, stay focused, and add value to their target market. They learn to leverage the equity in their list and be successful in the world that includes the Law of Candor.
It looks easy but marketing is not a game for amateurs. Marketing is not a battle of products. It is all about the strategy you use to benefit from the Law of Candor when you admit a negative, the prospect will give you a positive.
You can find out more about Internet Marketing and home-based businesses by reading updates that will be posted at my blog over the next few weeks.
Also, a great book to read is “The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” by Ries & Trout. It is the source of some of the material provided in this article.
In closing, be sure to meet me at my website, WhoIsMikeFarrell, learn some tips about being No 1 on Google at aspenIbiz My Go-To-Market Partners, and learn how to be savvy with your money like the insiders at aspenIbiz The Conspiracy For Your Money Blog.
Finally, I would like to provide Best Wishes for a Prosperous New Year!
June 5, 2016 / como / 0 Comments
Companies nowadays have a lot of ways to reach out to their target market especially with the continuous advancement of technology. Among all these options, one way that has been proven effective and used for a long time is brochure printing.
Before discussing this further, let us first define the word brochure. Brochures are also known as pamphlets or leaflets. It is a tool for advertisement where brief and important facts about the companys products or services are written. These informative materials are then distributed by mail, displayed on rack stands, or handed out personally by representatives to potential product end-users or consumers.
Brochure printing can be very effective because of the following reasons: Easy to read: In a fast-paced world that we are living in today, companies who need to advertise their product or service must relay their message in the easiest and simplest way possible, since some people no longer have the time to stop and divert their attention to things that they do not normally do, like, reading advertisements or write-ups that do not catch their attention. Especially if you are selling a new product, you need to at least have the opportunity to grab a little time of your prospects and gain their interest, the fastest way. Brochure printing can be a perfect way to attain this goal. Your reader can easily grasp the message that you want to convey, since the information written are kept short and simple.
Portable guide: When you are advertising, the main purpose of doing so is to introduce your product and to make it known to as many people as possible. Since brochures are handy, you can easily distribute them to the people strolling in malls, or the professionals walking along the busy streets. If your product or service catches their interest, they can readily pass it on, or lend it to, someone whom they want to share the information with. Also, brochures do not only contain the direct information regarding your product or service, you can also include your companys address, email address, and contact numbers. This can serve as an alternative for calling cards which a client can bring whenever they want to purchase your product or avail your services.
Access to those who do not own a ready internet connection: Although, in todays world, a lot of advertisements are posted on social networking sites or web pages, we need to consider that not everyone has the opportunity to readily access the internet in their homes. Especially if you are marketing products that can be used by people from all walks of life, i.e. personal necessities, you have a wider scope of buyers to cater. This is when hard copies or tangible materials like brochures step in. By giving out hard copies of advertisements, the company can also reach out not only to those who are computer-literate or internet savvy, but also to those computer-illiterate ones, or even those people who are temporarily or permanently internet-deprived.