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Added for You - Benchmarking Your Marketing - The Regular Review For Performance
I was sitting at my desk trying to get inspiration for an edition of a newsletter I write when grandson Tory, who hangs out with me a lot said, 'What's this Pop?' He'd been progressively going through the top drawer of my desk and it was about the 10th time I'd answered. It got me thinking about curiosity and how uncluttered minds remember.When we are three like Tory we are very curious about our physical world and the cornucopia of gadgets and animate beings that fill it. It's a period of rapid intellectual development, excitement at every turn, and discovery. My young companion constantly amazes me how he can recall days later, names he has heard once. (I can't even remember where I left my cordless phone half hour beforehand!)I encourage (and reward) Tory's curiosity by taking time out to demonstrate or discuss the things about which he is curious. For example, when he asked me what a staple puller was, I demonstrated by placing a staple in a sheet
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than other
Branding your online business maximizes your business development efforts without adding work to your day. Once you’ve branded your business, it becomes recognizable and people flock to your business to get what you offer, because HIGH QUALITY matters.1. Describe your product using three words.Exactly what is it you offer your customers? Do you sell soap? Candles? Services? What is it you offer?2. Write those words down.Put those three words on paper. Write them out and vary the lineup a bit. Change them around and look at them in different ways.3. Identify your style.Are you an initials person? Do you shrink Kentucky Fried Chicken to KFC? Do you just call it Fried Chicken? How do you identify products?4. Colorize your words.What colors go with your product? What color expresses best, the way you feel about what you do? Is it RED? Does it snap with flavor and zest? Or is it calming and relaxing? Blue?5.
As we approach mid-year and the summer lull, when vacations and good weather slow things down, it is a good time to step back and look at how your marketing plan is doing and make some adjustments. No matter how mature your company is it is likely you need to do this each quarter or at least twice a year.
In decades past companies spent 5% to 10% of revenue on marketing. Today in many industries this is more likely to be 20% to 30% of revenue especially when you include staff time. It used to be that advertising people could sell their wares based on “building image, awareness and brand”, some still try but even in consumer markets this is a disappearing phenomenon. Today each marketing expenditure should be tracked to actual sales as closely as possible. This does not mean that every sale can be traced to a single marketing expense. There are always some untraceable sales that are due to the cumulative effect of many things or because the customer can not remember where they heard about your business.
Here are some rules to live by when making marketing decisions today:
1. If You Can’t Track It Don’t Buy It - If you can’t measure a method then don’t spend money on it. This does not always mean precisely, as few things are 100% trackable but you must be able to see a boost in sales as a direct result. Use different landing pages, 800 numbers and other methods to insure at least relative measurement.
2. Repeat the Message to the Same People - It is almost always better to hit the same people 7 to 10 times than ten times as many people once. Generally exposures, or impressions, must get over five and ideally seven or more before people recognize and respond to your name or brand. This requires some real discipline as many people will quit too early and move on when response is slow at first. This just creates a never-ending cycle of low performance campaigns because none reach enough frequency to be effective.
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than others
How Translation Services Help You with Customer ServiceThere's a German saying that I love to quote: If I'm selling, I'll speak English, but if I'm buying, Sie mussen deutsch sprecken (you have to speak German). I like that sentence because it points out the one thing that American companies seem to get right domestically, but not internationally: customer service comes first.Here in the land of "the customer is always right," we tend to think that the customer always speaks English. And, a lot of the time, we're right. In Denmark, for example, English is taught from elementary school up. English is the most popular foreign language taught to grade schoolers in the EU and has quickly become a powerful language of commerce throughout all of Asia. But just because someone speaks a language doesn't mean that they speak it well or that you should expect them to. Your customers may speak English, but when it comes to strengthening your sales, is Engli
Here are some rules to live by when making marketing decisions today:
1. If You Can’t Track It Don’t Buy It - If you can’t measure a method then don’t spend money on it. This does not always mean precisely, as few things are 100% trackable but you must be able to see a boost in sales as a direct result. Use different landing pages, 800 numbers and other methods to insure at least relative measurement.
2. Repeat the Message to the Same People - It is almost always better to hit the same people 7 to 10 times than ten times as many people once. Generally exposures, or impressions, must get over five and ideally seven or more before people recognize and respond to your name or brand. This requires some real discipline as many people will quit too early and move on when response is slow at first. This just creates a never-ending cycle of low performance campaigns because none reach enough frequency to be effective.
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than other
Be knowledgeable about the company you would like to work for. Make an effort to familiarize yourself with everything the company involves itself in and the requirements the job you are competing for can include. It will also be very useful to know the products pr services the company offers as knowing these things will make you feel more confident when you are asked specific questions about the company.It is absolutely necessary to be carrying an up to date professional resume, documenting all things of interest to your future employer such as past work history and educational achievements.Eye contact can be very important as this shows that you have confidence in yourself and that you are focused on finding out whether you and this company are right for each other. Show some enthusiasm towards the firm you are trying to work for while also making sure that they understand you are looking for a position that suits you, not just any position at all.single marketing expense. There are always some untraceable sales that are due to the cumulative effect of many things or because the customer can not remember where they heard about your business.
Here are some rules to live by when making marketing decisions today:
1. If You Can’t Track It Don’t Buy It - If you can’t measure a method then don’t spend money on it. This does not always mean precisely, as few things are 100% trackable but you must be able to see a boost in sales as a direct result. Use different landing pages, 800 numbers and other methods to insure at least relative measurement.
2. Repeat the Message to the Same People - It is almost always better to hit the same people 7 to 10 times than ten times as many people once. Generally exposures, or impressions, must get over five and ideally seven or more before people recognize and respond to your name or brand. This requires some real discipline as many people will quit too early and move on when response is slow at first. This just creates a never-ending cycle of low performance campaigns because none reach enough frequency to be effective.
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than other
Nobody likes to be misled, especially by people they trust or have an expectation will do the right thing, whatever that is. Fraud and corruption can be a blow to the self-image of capable managers and their confidence in their ability to deter or detect a fraudulent scheme. More so, they can have a negative impact on an organisation’s brand, image and reputation, organisational morale and where the loss is large – significantly impact the bottom line.In a recent survey of fraud in Australian organisations, 84 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the proposition that fraud control is a governance issue.In Fiji, it is even more important, because the whole fabric of society is affected by the level of fraud and particularly corruption that exists. The World Bank on their website states that: “The Bank has identified corruption as among the greatest obstacles to economic and social development. It undermines development by distortin
2. Repeat the Message to the Same People - It is almost always better to hit the same people 7 to 10 times than ten times as many people once. Generally exposures, or impressions, must get over five and ideally seven or more before people recognize and respond to your name or brand. This requires some real discipline as many people will quit too early and move on when response is slow at first. This just creates a never-ending cycle of low performance campaigns because none reach enough frequency to be effective.
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than other
Despite how important fair pay is to most of us, effective salary negotiation is an often misunderstood and avoided topic. Current research indicates the average duration of a position today is 3.8 years. Over the lifespan of your career, how well you negotiate raises or starting pay will have an enormous cumulative effect on the quality of your life.So why does this skill remain elusive for many career professionals?Most of us do thorough research and prepare extensively for a job interview. We create the perfect resume, slave over cover letter drafts, and rehearse answers to anticipated interview questions. We make sure we’re dressed right, have references, and are on time. But all too often, only cursory attention is given to thinking through how, when, and why we’ll end up being happy with the terms of our pay.One problem is that cultural taboos in our society make talking about money a no-no. Many of us regard money negotiation as inherentl
3. Compare ROI Across Tactics - Look at the cost per thousand (CPM) impressions and cost per sale as comparisons across different tactics and media. Obviously some impressions (video) are worth more than others (small print ad) for many products and you are not comparing apples to apples but this at least gives you a baseline and intuitive sense of relative worth.
4. Target a Narrow Niche - Identify your best customer and be happy to narrow the target market based on the media and strategies you can use to concentrate your marketing spending against this group with a customized message.
5. Be Consistent - Make sure your message, brand and image is consistent to each target market and that whatever uniqueness (or unique selling proposition = USP) you have is a significant advantage for that group.
6. Benchmark and Measure Everything - Always have a benchmark and run this consistently, especially when you are trying new things. This will continue to generate your base level of business and help to compare the results of other trial expenditures. The overall market can have peaks and valleys. If you don’t have a benchmark for the same period you may throw out a good marketing approach just because it was put out there at the wrong time.
7. Leverage Outside Expertise - Always get outside help if you do not have someone with 10 plus years of marketing experience on your team. Even if you do just occasional reviews of your marketing plan this will generate results that exceed the cost. And by this I mean 10 years managing and designing the marketing campaigns, not writing copy or working as an assistant in the marketing department of some large firm.
8. Joint Venture - Look for joint venturing opportunities that are true win-win deals where you serve the same market and are not competitive but complimentary.
I know half of the money we spend on marketing is a total waste. -- I just don’t know which half.
What Does the Plan Look Like?
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