L&S Unscripted

Search engine behavior research (a.k.a. keyword research) has been used to feed pay-per-click and search engine optimization efforts for some time; however the reach of this intelligence is virtually untapped. Recently, one of our clients wanted to enter a new geographic market in a very short time frame. We always approach new markets with sufficient research to ensure successful messaging and placements; therefore found ourselves trying to schedule roundtable focus groups in this market which wasn’t feasible due to the short time frame and limited budget. So, we decided to study online behavior and apply the findings to the entire campaign effort. First, we performed extensive keyword research to learn about search engine behavior relating to their offering. Second, we launched a 2-week PPC campaign in the market to derive user behavior and interest judged by response to varying ad copy.

Searchers are telling us how, when, where and why to communicate with them. If a web surfer is looking for a product/service, the first thing they’ll do is approach Google with a specific search term. These search terms actually form descriptions (that come directly from the consumer in an unsolicited environment) that are invaluable as we begin to develop a marketing campaign. We also learn about day parts – when are users typing these terms? During the day at work or at night? The answer to this question will lead to very different media buys. The way that users in different geographic locations search for a product/service differentiates perceptions among different audiences.

Great messaging power lies in the studying search behavior. Prepare yourself for a new data addiction because once you start analyzing search behavior, it’s hard to stop. Learn from the very best – your future clients.

Ambitiously analyzing,

Robin

I’m the first to admit that I am not “green.”  With the recent Earth Day celebrations all around me, I have experienced many sheepish feelings this past week.  I like to drink soda that’s individually packaged in cans or plastic bottles, I like my plastic bags from the grocery store (I use them for other things around my house), and in general, I like being a consumer.  What’s so bad about the way I live? The answers are obvious, I know.

This week, our agency held a kick-off event for sustainability and is making a concerted effort to be more conscious about the waste we create. The L&S Green Committee is taking action around the building. Quoted from our internal blog site, “We encourage everyone to brainstorm about green ideas for L&S because we are not just going green for Earth Day. It takes time to adjust life-long habits, but sustaining our environment is worth the effort.”

Green water bottles, reusable shopping bags, notes and tips are posted in the bathroom and on the paper copiers – it’s everywhere.  So I’ve been thinking – this won’t be as hard as I thought.  I can make some small changes that can have a great impact. 

Here’s my green commitment:

• No more water from individual plastic water bottles while at work or home;
• For a majority of my groceries, I will use a reusable cloth bag;
• I will recycle white office paper;
• And the most difficult one for me – I will not print documents only to make reading easier.

The last one is hard, I am a researcher after all. I have a tendency to print, read, and then toss, instead of just reading from my screen. 

So this is my commitment. What are your ideas and suggestions to make this a better world, or even just a better community?  Join me in my personal green evolution.

Gaily going green,

Billie Jo

Quality of Life, Quality of Work and Quality of Operations. The agency has an internal mantra that speaks to a well-balanced life. Being a new employee and wanting to embrace all that is 5280, I have put it to the test this week. My family has been a bit under the weather over the past 10 days. It started with a double ear infection for my 5-month old son and now my 22-month old daughter has Influenza B. My husband Clint and I have used excessive volumes of sanitizing wipes and hand gel to keep the germs at bay. This is also the week that I have started back on my quest to be more fit by running on our treadmill in the basement of our house. Reading this, you may be thinking – what is she doing? Is she crazy? Working, family, treadmills – is all worth it? Yes, and it’s because I love my life and I love my job.

Last week I spent time discussing full circle marketing, and this week it’s about a “full circle” life. The agency is built by the hard work and dedication of a great team, or teams, of people. People who have personal lives that need to be balanced with the work we do each day. Our teams are willing to take on new challenges each day – finding innovative ideas for campaigns, embracing new technology, or submitting revision number 20 for a client. And in return for this dedication, for the hard work, the agency returns the favor in a meaningful way, aka through support of my personal challenges and allowing me to use resources such as remote access

I’ll continue to have days of sick kids or struggle with finding time to work out, but in the end, I know that I’m supported in all that I do, work-related or not, because of the people I interact with each day. This passion, our shared motivation, makes it easy for me to enjoy my life at L&S. Even though I have personal commitments, I am also committed to my team, which includes our many clients.

Passionately posting,

Billie Jo

In a meeting yesterday, I had an ah-ha moment. As we’ve tried to help our clients make the leap to social media, too many times social media brainstorming is limited to banner ads on Myspace or Facebook. As marketers, we know that this is only the tip of the iceberg, so I say: take social media out of the list of marketing tactics… it doesn’t belong there. Really, it’s a paradigm shift in that the social nature of messaging is infused in everything we do online.

Virtually every type of digital marketing has or could have a social component changing each medium from a one-way form of communication to two-way communication stream. For example, we must understand online user behavior to be able to join the conversation. Going in blind simply doesn’t work. This act of online listening can be defined as participating in social media. Cross-linking is social media. Reading and writing blogs, ratings and reviews is social media. Digital PR is social media. I’ve even known certain e-mail campaigns to generate dialogue. And of course, we can build web applications that have social nature and application.

Don’t place Social Media as a line item within your marketing plan – that’s too limiting. Think big. It’s not a new phenomenon, it’s simply the online world in which we live and play. Dive in.

Steadily socializing,

Robin

I’m starting week eight here at Lawrence and Schiller and I’m thinking about our agency buzzwords. Specifically: Full Service Marketing. What does it mean?

I recently responded to a caller who wanted our assistance in one stand-alone effort – the purchase of a zip-code targeted mailing list. Could we have done it? Sure. Did we agree to do it? No.

Why not? Because our mission is to help our clients succeed through comprehensive marketing efforts that support business goals rather than single marketing tactics. In my time here, it’s been interesting to watch how we approach new clients or try to help existing clients. In a company like ours, I never thought we would turn away from any potential sale – but marketing is more than just a website, or a newspaper ad placement. Successful marketing is about thoughtfully planning a strategy that will positively influence the business goals – whether its customer growth, product sales, or creating brand awareness. Designing cool websites and well-designed ads are things we do, but not without a clear strategy and success metrics. To be meaningful, our work must integrate well into the client’s goals and priorities. The question we ask: what is it that we’re trying to accomplish through this effort and how does it support the client’s overall goals?

The four phases of our 5280 approach: Strategy, the Plan, Execution, and Analysis, are important in any effort – not just marketing. We work with clients throughout the entire process and in the end, we stand back, evaluate, adjust and continually improve.

In the end, and in evaluation of our own work, we can always say that our best work, the work we hold up and take pride in, utilized our full foundation of resources and expertise. We understood the end goals, we understood how it was going to be measured, and we had an integrated approach.

What I’m writing about today isn’t rocket science, but it does take commitment. We as an agency are committed to building market leaders. It is a sales approach, sure, but it’s also an internal philosophy that we are committed to. As a reader, potential client, existing client or friend, I’m sharing this philosophy in hopes that you get to know our agency better.

Passionately posting,

Billie Jo

Sales calls and data mining? What do these two topics have in common? Interesting that you should ask. Any good sales person digs for information about their prospect before making a call, right? You know how it works: you make the call to find the right contact, and you ask probing questions to find out how the prospect business relates to your product or service.

What if you had the inside scoop? What if someone already “qualified” that lead for you and you knew you had the perfect product for their business need? It would make your job so much easier, well wouldn’t it?

Qualifying your prospect is the same as using database mining or other Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to better understand your customer. Spending time up front to know your customer, or at least capturing some data related to the customer or their behaviors, will help your business better understand how to align your products and services to their needs.

Let’s look at a real-world example. Say you were trying to sell a pair of shoes to our agency president, Scott Lawrence. On the surface of his agency page, he seems passionate and aggressive in his approach to life, right? So if you were selling him shoes, you might talk about the shoe’s high-quality Italian leather, the functionality of the sole, or the firmness of its last … and you might make the sale.

But what if you knew that he loves Michael Douglas, loves the movie Wall Street and listens to his iPod each day. A little data mining would help you in your sales presentation. With this customer data, you would point out the fact that the shoes in question were similar to the ones worn by Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street and that your customer, Scott, could walk around the office quite a few times each day with his iPod, in any weather, without worry. You would definitely sell the shoes.

Customer data drives the sale. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the collection and management of customer data, measurement of customer sales, and using tools to understand consumer buying patterns. With this information, you can better target your marketing efforts and see greater return on those investments in the end. In the next few weeks, we will be discussing various aspects of knowing your customer through a CRM strategy: data collection, database management, profiling, segmentation, and niche marketing. By implementing a customer-centric strategy to your marketing approach, you can target and deliver your message to your best clients and win in the end.

Passionately posting,

Billie Jo