How-To Marketing Archive
Three Steps to Toughen up Your Loyalty Offensive
Many programs have fallen into the “best practice” trap of copying others, focusing on pragmatic value and discount-based rewards. This tendency has created a commoditization of loyalty programs, which increasingly look alike to consumers. In fact, according to a new Colloquy white paper, when asked whether “it pays to be loyal to your favorite brands,” only 12% of U.S. consumers “strongly agreed.” For companies to win this battle for consumer hearts and minds, there are three tactical initiatives to deploy:...
Calculating Accurate ROI for Marketing Success
Return on investment. These three little words have never packed such a big, powerful punch as they do in today’s marketing environment. How much of a punch? IBM's recent chief marketing officer study found almost two-thirds of CMOs think ROI will be the primary measure of their marketing effectiveness by 2015. With ROI in the driver’s seat as the definitive measure of success in marketing, the pressure is on marketing leaders to make sure it’s measured accurately. What are the best ways of doing so? While ROI calculations can be as unique and diverse as the companies that use them, generally speaking there are a couple of options: basic and advanced....
Workarounds for Clean Store Policies
Target is part of a growing movement among retailers who want to protect and grow their own brands and differentiate themselves from among competitors by limiting and controlling manufacturers marketing in their stores. Retailers often want control over color, design, placement and creative look and feel. Brands and agencies have taken up the challenge....
5 Steps to Improve Your Loyalty Program
We all know that the cost to acquire a new customer is five to seven times greater than the cost to keep an existing one. It’s Business 101. Yet, a mistake that many companies often make is not actively engaging and rewarding their current customers. Here are five simple steps to keep those programs humming....
Marketing: From Money Pit to Money Maker
Top executives regularly invest in marketing to boost their company's bottom line, but too many of them don't actually believe their expenditures pay off. Why? Because while marketers are adept at telling stories that sell their company's products or services, they often fail to tell stories about how their efforts are critical to improving sales and customer retention, and about how much money they generate for their organizations....
5 Tips to Reach Hispanics with Health Messages
To reach Latinos with health-education messages, social marketers first must understand how culture shapes beliefs and behaviors. Culture is at the heart of successful Latino-targeted health-communications campaigns. Here are five tips to communicating health messages to Latinos: ...
Marketing Ops 101: Evolving Marketing From a Cost to a Profit Center
Chief marketing officers are under considerable pressure to systematize demand generation, justify spending, and provide leadership in innovation in a rapidly changing and complex world. These pressures increase tensions among functional peers and cascade to subordinates who must do more with less staff. Meanwhile, a lack of perceived results are likely to shorten a CMO's tenure. ...
Variety Could Be the Spice of Your Merchandising Plan
A lot of marketers feel consumers are overwhelmed by choices and are seeking simplified offerings. These observers point out that thousands of new consumer products are introduced onto grocery shelves each year, but only a handful will survive....
The Right Answers: What to Expect From Your SEO Partner
In my last column, Searching for SEO: How to Find the Right Partner, I discussed what questions you should ask any potential search vendor. The best responses aren't black and white...
Searching for SEO: How to Find the Right Partner
By now, everyone knows that they need to practice the art of search engine optimization. But you can't always do it on your own. What should you look for in an SEO partner? Read 20 questions you'd want to ask a prospective service provider...
