The Times, They Are A' Changin': New Marketing Budgets

A really great article from Research Brief shows interesting trends for marketing budgets planned for 2011.  It's looking good for marketing next year -- at least half of businesses polled plan to increase their advertising budgets.  For the second year in a row, email marketing and social media marketing are expected to be the top targets for increased spending.  Here are the highlights from Strongmail's late November survey:

• 93% of businesses plan to increase or maintain marketing spend in 2010
• 41% of business cite lack of resources/staff as primary email marketing challenge in 2011; 41% data integration; 36% email deliverability
• 52% of businesses cite increasing subscriber engagement as top 2011 email marketing initiative; 49% improving segmentation/targeting; 43% integrating email and social media
• 65% of businesses plan to increase marketing budget for email; 57% social media; 41% search
• 71% of businesses plan to integrate email and social media in 2010

These numbers are very encouraging, indicating that email and social media marketing are still king in the marketing arena.  Another interesting stat claims respondents name lack of resources or staff to be the biggest marketing challenge in 2011 -- this opens up the job market for talented direct marketing individuals.

Strong goals for 2011 seem to be increasing subscriber engagement, improving segmentation and targeting, and integrating social media and email.  Social media may be the new kid on the block, but it's here to stay -- and interestingly enough, it's not knocking email marketing off its throne, either.  Business leaders know the two will have to play well together in 2011 for fully effective marketing.

You can read the survey and accompanying article in their entirety here on Mediapost.

Check In Before You Check Out: Social Media Meets Black Friday

With the social media explosion of the past year, everyone's getting in on the Black Friday action.  #BlackFriday has been a trending topic on Twitter for about a week, and scores of people are asking around the social media grapevine which retail outlets have what deals for the famed day of savings.

Gowalla, Facebook Places, and other social media giants have artfully begun their marketing for the shopping season.  Partnering with businesses like American Eagle and Radio Shack, they advertise extra savings just for checking in while you shop.  Target is a retailer that (wisely) invested in promoted tweets for Black Friday, guaranteeing their name stays atop the competition in your Twitter feed.

What do you think?  Is this all just hype, or are you excited by the idea of savings just for hitting a button on your smartphone?

Check out a great article about social media and Black Friday at Mashable, plus a list of participating businesses and their offered deals.

REJECTED: How Google Places Gets Aggressive

In June of 2010, Google Places amped up its algorithm by introducing a much more aggressive listing level spam review process.  What does this mean, exactly?  Well, as it often does in the world of SEO, it means the rules have changed again.  While your Google Places listing may have once been at the top, it can be buried by just tweaking your post a little -- or sometimes, for seemingly no reason at all.

This includes certain touchy rules such as not using the word "google" in a Places entry, allowing only up to 3 capital letters together (such as LLC or LTD), and various sexual words being banned from all listings.

In other words, Google Places means business.

If you'd like to read on and see what else these aggressive new changes entail and how to properly utilize them, see the original article here.

Twitter VS Facebook: Who's Winning the Click-Through Contest?

According to this article from Fast Company, Internet sharing trends have shifted dramatically.  While email still remains king with 55% of referrals, social networking sites saw a 10% jump.  But out of that arena, who's winning?  And how reliable is the source?

Simply put, Facebook is overwhelmingly the favorite for social network of choice with 78% of the market share.  Twitter only accounts for 5%.  Yet, the stats appear to lean towards Twitter rather than Facebook -- links shared through Facebook have a click-through rate of 287%, while Twitter boasts an astounding click-through rate of 1904%.

But what does this mean?

If the click-through rate is so high on Twitter, but it's not the social network of choice, how many clicks are really valuable?  And what about spambots or spyders checking these links -- does that have an effect on the rates?  And some savvy commenters argue that yes, the Twitter click-through rates will be inherently higher because that's all Twitter is.  Facebook has more content than just links, therefore the rates are lower.

What do you think?  Is there a simple answer for these statistics, or are the waters too muddied with other complications?

You can read the whole article and see the in-depth stats here.

Oops: New Gap Logo A Design Disaster

Due to steadily declining sales, clothing store The Gap decided to rebrand.  Put some new life in its veins.  Well... let's just say, they missed the mark.

The world has had all week to chew on the new logo since its release on Monday, and so far, most have spit it back out.  No one is quite sure what the new logo is trying to accomplish -- you can't exactly praise its simplicity, since the tried-and-true old version was a sparkling example of clean lines and space.  The square means... something, but what that is remains unclear.  The stark use of Helvetica is drawing many comparisons to a competitor's brand, American Apparel.

After their new branding efforts failed to capture the hearts of millions, Gap has switched tactics -- and is now launching a crowd-sourcing effort.  Meaning?  "Design our logo for us, if you hate the new one so much!"

Last resort, or genius viral marketing?  It could be that this whole fiasco was actually planned from the beginning, designed to generate buzz and then reap the benefits of a practically free new logo.  I'll admit one thing -- it's the first time I've even thought about Gap in years, much less had a conversation about them.

Read the whole story here, as well as an apology explanation from Gap's president Marka Hansen.

Sorry, Guys: There Is No Marketing Silver Bullet

As an agency (and you as a business owner or manager), we are constantly hit with a barrage of the newest, best, latest and greatest ideas to hit the advertising marketplace.  While there is probably a place for most of these ideas in someone's marketing plan, there is absolutely not one singular item that will solve all of your marketing woes.  Despite what you might hear, there is no silver bullet. I'm sorry. If there were, we'd give it to you, and be happy to do so!

Here's the thing, guys... integration is the only thing that works for all your needs.  Facebook and Twitter should never be your entire marketing effort. Their reach is just too limited, and there is no genuine proof that either will help improve your ROI.  When handled correctly, and within a larger plan, they can work for you. But if you are reaching out to consumers, you might still need some mass medium to tell people that you are on the blogosphere, and where they can find you.  

Likewise, you can't build a great website and hope people think about looking for you...you have to tell them it's out there and where to go look for it.  And as much as we love email marketing, without a decent website and a comprehensive branding approach to support it, sending just another boring email into the stratosphere will wind up killing your credibility.  Oh, and if your TV and radio ads aren't working like they used to, it's most likely because you either don't have a website or the one you have is ruining your reputation...and your lack of an SEO plan is probably sending people to your competition's websites because they are on page one of Google and you're on page 3. 

In short, you can't rely on only one approach to your marketing. You must integrate across as many channels as is feasible within your budget.  If you'd like to hear more about integration, join us for our upcoming seminars in Joplin and Pittsburg in October.

Or, if you'd like to meet with us to discuss your marketing plan and integration strategies, give Ron a call at 417-889-1658x102 or email him ron@redcrowmarketing.com.

Target Practice: Who & Where Are Your Customers?

Here is everybody.  Young, old, rich, poor, married, single, you name it.  Everybody is here.

Any given product or service does not appeal or apply to everybody equally.  So why advertise to those people who will not ever use your product or service?  That would be a waste of advertising money, right?  Small businesses do it all the time.

One of the most costly and overlooked planning staging is determining who you should be targeting as customers.  Too often this is not done very well, creating a “shotgun” blast of advertising that generates a lot of expense and little return.  Advertising to “everybody” is very, very expensive.

The idea here is to isolate your most profitable or best potential slice of the “everybody pie” and focus your advertising dollars on them.  Gaining market share in these groups whether their defined by demographics, psychographics or geographical boundaries will increase the odds your advertising will pay for itself.   Often you will still gain exposure to secondary target segments - but target the bigger returns first.

To reach qualified prospects with your advertising, you’ve got to have a clear idea of who they are.  This will help you select the right media, create the right message, as well as improving your closing ratio.

Tight Targets

Sometimes your target audience will be very “tight” or a specific segment of the public.  You may be trying to reach only nurses, or men who like to hunt deer, or retirees needing electric wheelchairs.  These simple characteristics make our target easier to reach with advertising.  Most of these groups have specialized magazines, publications, websites just for them.  Some of the even have specific cable shows   they like to watch.  It just takes a little research and common sense.

Loose Targets

Often, our targets are a wide group of people with different characteristics and interests.   For instance, an optometrist needs to promote himself to just about everybody: men and women, young and old.   In this case, it would be difficult (if not impossible) to find simply one publication or television show that will reach them all.  You might have to use a multi-media approach, and that will be more expensive than simply trying to reach only deer hunters.

Multi-Segment Targets

There is also the issue of more than one target for the same advertiser.  Take for instance, Sears or Wal-Mart.  They have items for just about everybody.  Both of these chains run “image” advertising that is designed to a) create an impression and b) remind you about them.  Again, advertising dedicated entirely to image is normally only for the privileged companies who have big financial resources.  This is because it does not generate the immediate return and price and product advertising required by small businesses.

Although they spend a lot of money in image advertising, most of the advertising the big guys and gals do is targeted campaigns; using different media and different messages to target specific buyer segments within their wide and diverse audience.  Sears will send a direct mail flyer to a database of men that might by Craftsman tools.  At the same time, they may have a Fall Fashion Clearance advertisement running nationally on television shows with large numbers of women viewers.  Here you have the same store trying to reach two different audiences, using different media with different creative approach in the ads.

No matter if you have tight targets or multi-segment targets, you should try to know them and define them as closely as you can.  You need to target “who it is” that you are trying to reach with your advertising.

Get Your House In Order: Fixing Bad Business Practices

Before you can hope for business improvement from your advertising, take a look around.  Is your house in order?  Is all this new business brought in by your marketing efforts going to be pleased with what they see?  You can't hope to keep new customers if you haven't fixed the fundamental problems with your business.

You have ONE chance to make a first impression.  Stop and look at your business from the position of the prospect on a first visit.  Is your appearance right?  Is your staff knowledgeable?  Is your product or service mix right?  Before you spend a dime on advertising to get more prospects, make sure you’re ready for them!

Ideally, advertising effectiveness should be measured by the number of qualified prospects it delivers, not the sales volumes.  Time after time I’ve sees advertising improve traffic flow for businesses who fail to convert the prospects into customers because of poor service, bad pricing, poor inventory, dirty store, and a variety of other reasons.  The slow sales were not the fault of the advertising; the problem was with the business itself.

For instance, I had one client who had a great advertising campaign that delivered qualified prospects.  They then opened a new store in an old warehouse where the only entrance was in the back (in an area enclosed by chain link fencing.)  I literally watched customers drive in and immediately drive back out because there were no signs telling them this is where they were supposed to come in.  They thought they were in a delivery or contractor only area - so they left.

Worse still, another client was not seeing sales generated because their sales person was rude and unhelpful (when the boss wasn’t there).  We had to send in secret shoppers to prove it to the client.

The point here is: 

Good advertising does not fix a poorly run business.

Marketing Educators Warned to Keep Up With Rapidly-Changing Advertising Trends

August 20, 2010--“The battlefield of business marketing has changed radically,” Ron Marshall, owner of Red Crow Marketing in Springfield, MO, warned educators at the 10th annual meeting of the Missouri Marketing and Cooperative Education Association. “When clients come to us, they are looking for innovative solutions to their marketing problems. In the current economy, businesses who want survive must find a way to gain more market share from a smaller buying pool. It’s tough going,” Marshall stated.

With social media, email marketing and mobile media adding to an already- fragmented message delivery system, businesses require far more complex marketing campaigns. According to Marshall, “marketers must change their approach. Technology has altered the way consumers search for and receive information. Businesses need to reach their existing customers and prospects across a wider contact and touch platform, so there needs to be a well-defined marketing plan in place.”

What does all this mean for marketing and advertising educators? “It is imperative for students and educators to understand the new fundamentals of marketing today. Trends in consumer usage mandate the marketing student be ahead of textbooks printed just two years ago,” Marshall advised. “Website design, search engine optimization (SEO), social media and email marketing have changed the landscape forever, and are still changing it almost daily. Educators need to try to stay ahead of these trends and pass their knowledge on to their students. The marketing textbooks are almost obsolete before they are printed.”

However, Marshall did remark that while traditional advertising channels are less popular, they are still a critical component of most marketing strategies. The uses of demographic and psychographic profiles are even more important in campaign planning because new media allow for pinpoint-marketing to very specific segments.

In today’s challenging economy, “branding is still important, but right now price is king”. Marshall continues, “It’s not just about mastering the way to get offers in front of consumers. Advertisers need to get serious about the offer. If the offer doesn’t compete or is not substantial, it doesn’t matter how you put it out there, consumers will not respond.” Students today must also understand the imperative need for new and innovative solutions that produce measurable results. Marshall encouraged the MCEA educators to arm students with a “Swiss army knife” education: knowledge to work across several media and the ability to independently research better solutions. "If they can't provide these skills to an employer, they'll have a hard time finding work."

“The business climate has changed, and marketing is changing every minute. Educators need to encourage their students to learn on the fly, research new trends thoroughly, and be prepared to master more than one skill,” Marshall emphasizes. “And when you’ve mastered one trend, get yourself prepared—there’s a new one coming around the corner at lightning speed.”

For further information, please contact Ron Marshall, owner of Red Crow Marketing at 417.889-1658, x. 102 or ron@redcrowmarketing.com. Red Crow Marketing, Inc. is a full-service marketing and advertising agency located inSpringfield, MO. Red Crow has been providing marketing and advertising assistance to clients since 2001, and its current client list includes Prime Trucking, Back Yard Burgers, Summer Fresh Supermarkets, and Mid-Missouri Bank.

Marketing From the Bleachers: Who's to Blame for KFC Meltdown?

This story was recently posted on MSN's business page, depicting the battle for marketing and advertising control within the KFC corporation. Local franchisees say the corporate "blue blazers" don't have a clue what goes on in individual stores and have lost sight of what made KFC famous...namely, the FRIED part of their moniker.

This is a truly fascinating example of what can happen when the guys in the ivory tower lose sight of their customer base. Take a gander, and let us know what your thoughts are. As an agency who works with a few local franchises, we can see both sides to the argument. Brand protection versus local control....what do you think?

Read the whole article from MSNBC here.

Guest Blog: Blow Up Your Marketing Department

Today's guest blog comes to us from Jim Arnold, who makes a bold statement - blow up your marketing department and start over.  This might sound scary, perhaps even dangerous, but it's a solid idea with a strong foundation.  Here's a sample, explaining why Arnold would suggest such a thing:

Social Media is changing everything related to Sales and Marketing.  The tactics we traditionally used to market things in the past have become obsolete and impotent in today's crowd influenced reputation-based marketplace.   If you think the only change you need to make is to hire a social media expert and put them on your staff, you've missed the point.  Social Media is driving such fundamental changes in the ways customers purchase that traditional marketing departments just do not have the structure, mind set and skills to be successful.  The brand leaders of tomorrow have already made sweeping changes and they are well on their way to stealing your customers and market share.  Are you willing to make the changes needed to catch up?

Read the rest of Jim's article here.

Mad Men: What Can An Ad Agency Do For Me?

AMC's hit show "Mad Men" presents ad agencies in the glamorous, often uncomfortable light of the 1960s.  Though entertaining, it can muddle the common man's opinion of what an ad agency can do for his business.  That brings the question to the table:  what CAN they do for you?

Whether you’re a big or small business, you can and should investigate working with a reputable ad agency or professional. The additional expense you’ll add will most often be minimal to the money you’ll lose making mistakes on your own. If it’s important enough, such as health, legal or accounting, you’ll seek professional help. Advertising is certainly important enough to seek professional help with.

Ad agencies come in all sizes, from working out of their spare bedroom to Madison Avenue high-rises. Although most tout themselves as a “full service agency”, most usually work in one of six primary areas:

• Graphic Design
• Audio/Video Production
• Media Planning
• Web Design & Development
• Consulting
• Public Relations

A true full-service agency does all of these service but they are far more rare. One big advantage of working with a full service agency is that they can offer better brand maintenance because it’s all handled in-house. This also gives you better cost efficiency than farming all the components out to individual production shops.

I think another advantage is that their clients get more honest and un-biased counseling because the agencies services are not limited to any single production they must sell to generate income, i.e., video, graphics, etc. The best solutions can be freely recommended because the full service agency will be paid either way.

The basic thing that an agency should for you is help you plan your program, assemble the creative and production, place the media and (sometimes) monitor the results.

Advertising agencies are paid several ways: retainer, hourly fees, by project, for media placement, etc. An agency can even be in-house, meaning they work exclusively for one firm.

Working with an advertising agency should be considered if your business’s advertising volume is substantial. Planning, adjusting and running large ongoing multimedia promotion can be very distracting from your normal business tasks, and should be left to the advertising professionals.

Red Crow Marketing covers every area mentioned above;  if you have any questions about what we can do for you as an advertising agency, please contact us at 417-889-1658 or info@RedCrowMarketing.com.

Guest Blog: SEO vs SEM - What's the Difference?

SEO and SEM are currently quagmires in the field of marketing and design.  Lines are often blurred between the two practices, guidelines are thrown out and invented daily, and it can seem that no one really knows what they're talking about.

This blog by KM Rashid breaks it down for the common man, describing the pros and cons of each.  It's a nice, brief overview of Search Engine Optimization vs Search Engine Marketing, and we wanted to share it with you.

Read Rashid's SEO vs SEM article here.

Get Real: Being Realistic About Expectations

Every business owner has to invest in their company. They use capital to purchase more inventories, buy company truck, hire more help, or any other way you would improve your company’s growth.

Typically, before they spend their money on any of these items, they would research first, then make a reasonable projection of what return they would get on their investment (ROI). Most managers don’t have as much difficulty in realistically assessing these.

Advertising is also an investment. However, when it comes to projecting the return, many new and inexperienced advertisers often set unrealistic expectations of what their advertising should return. They will commonly overestimate the income it will produce, bet the farm on it, and lose the farm.
Here are two rules that will help you from falling into that trap:

1. Do everything you can to set your business up to survive without relying on advertising. Give great service, make your store shine, give good value for your products or services. Let these carry you business as much as possible.

2. Remember that advertising is a long-term investment. View it more like a savings bond than a lottery ticket.

What Can Advertising Really Do?

Advertising Can:
· make prospects aware that you exist.
· inform and educate.
· create interest and desire.
· compel people to action.
· remind people about your products and services.
· brand you or create a unique position in prospects minds.

The degree of effectiveness for any advertising is predicated on several things. For example:
· Market demand for the product or service
· Your competition’s position and marketing/advertising programs
· Your understanding of your target demo
· Selection of the right media to reach the right target audience
· The noticeably, credibility, and compelling quality of the message
· The relevance of the offer
· The frequency of the message that is required to create a lasting and favorable impression on the audience


In this market, business owners must understand their limitations and expectations -- and be prepared to hand over the controls to folks like us, the marketing team at Red Crow.  You want to make money, and we want to make sure your brand is in the eyes of the public.  It's a win-win.

Most Businesses FAIL: The Importance of Marketing & Advertising

“If cash flow is the lifeblood of a business,
good marketing is the heart that keeps it pumping through the veins.”

Most businesses fail.  The primary reason they fail is poor cash flow.

This is typically because they underestimated their projected expenses, or just as commonly, they overstated their projected income.

This is because they didn’t have enough customers, or they didn’t have the type of customers they needed.

And this is often the result of bad marketing and advertising.

Who needs to advertise?  Simple - anybody who doesn’t get enough customers without it.  If you generate sales through referrals or if you have a great location with ample foot traffic, congratulations!  You may not need to advertise.  So, leave the money on the bottom line and retire sooner.

But for others, effective advertising is required to provide our need for new prospects, as well as compelling our previous customers to return again and more often.  Even businesses that have established major brands such as Toyota, Wal-Mart, Pepsi, McDonalds, need to continue to advertise like everybody else.  They know that if they stop, competitors will soon take their place in the public mind causing customers and cash to cease to flow.

Our audience, those potential customers or clients we are trying to reach, present a moving target.  All of their needs, opinions, and their perceptions are constantly undergoing change.  What do teenage girls wear today that they we’re wearing say, five years ago?  If you were going to buy a brand new car, would you expect to find cars that look like the one you drove eight years ago?  Do you read the same books or watch exactly the same television shows you did three years ago?  Probably not.

To stay on top of your game, you need to stay aware of changes in public or segment opinion and perception.  And it is often not easy to keep your eye on them, or predict where their preferences are headed.

This is why marketing and advertising is not an exact science.  There is no one way you should advertise or market you; if there was, we’d all look exactly alike.  In this arena, unique approaches are often rewarded simply because they are noticed more than what everyone else is doing.

In spite of all this unpredictable chaos, there are fundamental steps you can use to improve your odds of success in your advertising.  These steps involve research, planning, careful monitoring and adjustment. 

These are the things we at Red Crow Marketing perform on a daily basis.  If you need sales boosts and you're lost in the muddle of options, give us a call.  We'll help you sort it out and get your business back on track.

Low-Lying Fruit: Is Your Business Harvesting?

In the advertising and marketing world, you hear the phrase "low-lying fruit" pretty frequently. It refers to your existing client base, the people you know use your products or services, the ones you have in your company records as customers. All too often, when we are searching for the elusive bounty that is "profitable sales", we walk right past the low-lying fruit and go out of our way to struggle and strain to pick the one or two big apples off the top of the tree. We neglect the easy stuff because it's easy--heck, anybody can pick that fruit. But if we keep treating existing customers that way--walking right past in search of bigger, juicier fruit--anybody will pick that fruit, right off your tree.


If you want to be successful in your market, you simply must go out of your way to keep your customers happy and coming back for more. If you don't, someone else will come along and shake them out of your tree. Asking your existing customers to come back by offering them "thank you" gifts (like a coupon or a free month of service) will not only keep them happy, it will help you create referral business. Better yet, offer referral incentives to your current clients--"refer a friend, get a gift card." It helps retain and grow your current clients, builds brand awareness with potential new clients, and better yet, turns your customer base into a sales force you could never hope to compete with.


Feed, water, and nurture your customer tree, harvest the low-lying fruit, plant new trees from your existing fruit, and pretty soon, you'll have an orchard full of happy, profitable customers.
For information on how Red Crow Marketing and CORE can help you harvest your customers, email us today.