L&S Unscripted

The workforce is constantly changing.   Today, we represent diversity, in many aspects, and as an agency and we need to ensure that we continually support those around us who offer different perspectives because one-size doesn’t fit all in this expanding world of new clients, new technology and new challenges.

At Lawrence and Schiller, our leadership encourages us to take control over our professional lives.  We are asked to step up and to develop our own futures here — if we see a need, find a solution and move it forward.  So a few weeks ago, a few of my female colleagues met after work for drinks, dinner and conversation.  In addition to the normal gossip of shoes, new restaurants or celebrity-itus, our conversations turned toward work life. How well do we know each other and how can we support each other’s careers within our agency?

An idea was formed and a peer-networking effort has started. This is a way for us with more experience to interact, support and learn from those just beginning marketing careers.  On the flip side, we also want to stay connected to issues that matter for young women in today’s fast-paced environment.

This effort may have started as a way to support other female colleagues’ success within this company. But after some initial research on similar efforts in other companies, I’ve found that this type of networking creates an internal reflective process that creates additional benefits for the agency — efficiency, knowledge transfer, collaboration and overall improved communication across disciplines and teams.

Progress is everyone’s business and I’m looking forward to connecting with others in the building. If anyone has great books or topics to help get this launched - please post them here. I’d love to hear your successes in similar efforts.

Billie Jo

Search engines (primarily Google and Yahoo) consistently refer 30-60% of our clients’ web traffic. People are searching for your product or service – the only question is: can they find you? Have you often wondered how to gain that highly sought-after position in the search engine results pages when people type a key phrase that’s applicable to your line of business? The path to success is search engine marketing and I’ll begin by defining the two sides of the equation:

• SEO: search engine optimization; work performed behind the scenes to best optimize your web site for top search engine positions (ranking). Example: the top organic (non-paid) positions on Google or Yahoo for a particular search term.
• PPC: pay-per-click marketing; paid text ads placed in the “sponsored listings” area on search engines. Normally the top 2-3 listings on the search results page and the right column of listings.

We hear the question all the time – if we’re working to optimize our web site for search engines (SEO), why do we need to invest in a pay-per-click marketing campaign? In most cases, we recommend both and our clients who aggressively pursue the online marketing landscape use both. I once heard an analogy that it’s similar to advertising in the yellow pages. There’s a huge advantage to acquiring both positions. Considerations:

Time:

• Short-term solution: PPC, the fastest way to drive traffic to your web site. You build the campaign, take it live and within an hour, you could be appearing at the top of the paid listings on Google, Yahoo or MSN for your selected keywords. PPC is also a great avenue to test keywords, ad copy response and landing page effectiveness.
• Long-term solution: SEO is a process, not a project. The time spent optimizing your web site copy, image tags and META data will have a positive long term result, but you have to be patient and often, even the best SEO work takes a couple months to show a true increase in rankings.

Cost:

• PPC is a great online advertising medium because you only pay for clicks that actually land on your web page. Therefore, if your web site is well built and guides the user to the desired conversion (sale, information request or particular web activity), it is a very effective way to gain new traffic to your web site. The best part is that PPC is entirely measurable – an exact ROI can be produced for every dollar spent.
• SEO is often referred to as “free” as once you gain a ranking, you don’t pay for clicks on the search engine listings. However, SEO as a process is not free. It requires constant effort, diligently keeping up with new tactics and modifying the web site code accordingly.

Bottom line:

Search engine marketing is a highly effective, efficient online marketing tactic and it consistently produces the lowest cost-per-lead for our clients when compared to other online marketing campaign components. Once you launch your search engine marketing campaign, you’ll want to assess both types of traffic, organic and paid, to identify the quality of both sources of web traffic and adjust your campaign accordingly.

Get in the game,

Robin

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Green Conference hosted by Ad Age in NYC. It was a treat to hear CMOs from majors including McDonald’s, Conservation International, Burt’s Bees and Patagonia share their perspective on environmental marketing. A few snippits:

- Don’t wait until you are doing all you could to share about your organization’s successes in green; Celebrate and communicate your small successes.

- Perfection is not the goal; it’s more about encouraging progress and improvement; Simple changes make a difference.

- “Responsible consumption” is a term or idea consumers seem to grasp and are not intimidated by;  Encourage quality vs. quantity, refills, upgrades, etc.

- Keep to your own brand’s style and personality when tackling environmental innovation and communication. i.e. McDonald’s ties in movies like Saigon Panda in their Happy Meals and web applications designed to show kids and families the importance of preservation and enviro-responsibility because they are about kids and families.

- “Green fatigue” is real these days- consumers have seen enough of the expected babies, earth and flower images; instead communicate primary benefits. i.e. Yes, the Toyota Prius is better for the earth, but the primary benefit is that it’s a quiet ride and provides fuel economy.

I have a thousand more notes and hope to share more at an upcoming Food for Thought lunch presentation. Hope to see you there.  Until then, Ad Age did a nice series on Green Marketing recently available here so check it out if you’re into it.  http://adage.com/greenmarketing08/

Dear Jane Sample came up with the Brand Timeline Portrait, but many bloggers are jumping on the bandwagon because it’s a cool idea. It’s basically a visual representation of the brands that you use, that you have a connection with and feel loyal about. This timeline can be helpful to Planners as it gives a snapshot of their target in a new way and it could have media implications.

As I looked at the various timelines posted by bloggers, I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s definitely a work in progress because even as I write I this I see brands that I forgot. For instance, as I look around my desk, there’s Kleenex, Papermate, Scotch etc. It starts to hurt my head. Luckily, there’s Tylenol in my drawer.

Each day I am amazed by the savvy technical skills of little kids. While I still much prefer my external mouse, when my 4-year old hops on the computer, it’s incredibly natural for him to maneuver the laptop mouse, keyboard and arrows. It stuns me. He has the lingo down, too. I’ll hear, “Mom, you got an e-mail” when my Outlook makes its distinct chime. And once he arrives on a web site, he navigates through without hesitation… the funny thing about kids is that they just keep clicking until they find what they want – they don’t get frustrated, unlike many adults.

You may be thinking, “Really – you let your 4-year old use the Internet?” I do, but with caution. We have an awesome toy plug-in that works with the Internet - Fischer-Price Easy-Link Launch Pad – it essentially locks all other computer activity and allows kids to play very specific games. It’s awesome. Alternatively, another favorite in my household is Playhouse Disney. 

Beyond games, kids are also exposed to various forms of online communication – when I’m on Instant Messenger or Facebook, my son’s curiosity is always piqued. He’ll ask, “Hey Mom, who are you talking to?” Fact: he says “talking,” even when I’m IMing or texting. Kids are growing up with an entirely different view of communication options… they know that it’s not just verbal. Social media has also arrived for kids: check out Disney’s Club Penguin and Webkinz.  

It scares and excites me to think about where technology will be when my 4-year old is in his 20’s. First came technology, then came social, and experiential is next. Get ready. Look at how experiential the Wii is – computer activity will follow suit.

Plugged-in and parenting,

Robin

Watch this video.

RU LOL?

I luv 2 txt.  4 those of u not well-versed in txtspk, I’ll use a combination of appropriately spelled words and SMS language in this pst.  Wait, I’ll b/u. SMS is short for Short Message Service.

y does txt or SMS matter?  According to CTIA-The Wireless Association®, 363 billion SMS messages were sent in 2007. Additionally, the Mobile Marketing Association reports that in the next few years, a majority of brands will use txt and multimedia messaging to reach their audiences.

Does this mean txt will rule the world?  No, but in 2day’s fast-paced market, we need to understand the evolution of an ever-changing communication system so that we can compete 2mro.  Just as e-mail mktng is not the only way to advertise or to reach every audience; SMS is just another tool we can use to deliver a message as prt of the marketing mix.

Here are just a few things to consider when engaging in mobile marketing:

• SMS has a lmt of 160 characters of txt.  It’s concise.  That’s its beauty. Use txt 2 gt straight to the point. No photos, logos, sound, just txt.  SMPL.
• Mobile devices r our BFFs.  I doubt that any of us will be giving up our bbs or cell phones anytime soon.  It’s always w/ me n I nvr lv hm w/o it.  
• Consumers r asking 4 it. Typically, as a paying wireless consumer, I’m opting in to receive txt msgs from my personally preferred vendors.  Asking permission makes it easy for u 2 knw ur rching a consumer who wants to hear from u. As a consumer, it’s a convenience for me to get up2dt info about products or services I use.

As you dv hd frst into mobile marketing, ask urslf, is my msg promotional, informational or just marketing?  In any case, it’s probably a good fit for a txt tst drv.

CU L8r

BJW

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

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