Indianapolis Marketing: Outsourcing versus In House

Every business is a marketing company to some degree. If you make widgets you have to find ways to bring it to market, improve on those methods and yes, even advertise. There are a million options, and when it comes down to it, sometimes it’s nice to have an expert help you determine the best route based on field experience.

Now I’d be lying if I didn’t think that outsourcing to an Indianapolis Marketing Company like redwall LIVE was a great choice, but that’s why we started a company. The truth is it is not always the ideal choice, other times it is by far more superior.

Gail McGovern on the Harvard Business School Working Knowledge website says:

The outsourcing of marketing activities is catching on; in fact, in a recent poll of marketing executives, 53 percent reported plans to outsource most of their marketing activities.

Where we have seen the most success is when mission and direction of the brand is an in house function, while campaign concepts and implementation are outsourced. This allows a company to use the disciplines they need to the extent they need them but still maintain a consistent brand and directives. Why commit to salaries simply for closer supervision of functions that are essentially not related to your business? I love how The Four Hour Work Week teaches that all functions not directly related to your field of expertise (manufacturing widgets) should be outsourced. It frees you and your team up to put an emphasis on your strengths.

A company should carefully choose the firm they work with for the simple fact that a Marketing Firm becomes an extension of the brand much like any full time employee. Can you achieve this with any company that is good at producing creative? Of course not, capabilities alone are not enough. Having a vision for the brand goes a long way. If you don’t have a firm or consulting team with vision, your messaging may lose some authenticity.

In terms of cost, this can go both ways as well. Certain functions may always be in house, but outsourcing lends to significant cost savings while tapping into a view that cannot be seen from the inside. For the cost of a full time employee you can have access to a full roster of disciplines. NBC’s Outsourced depicts removing the functions of a call center to another country simply for lower wages. Conversely, consulting companies charge higher wages for the access to their efficiency and expertise.  On the other hand, volume can change that for a company as well to a degree.

So where is the most value? In marketing focused teams with various disciplines and expertise in their field or in dedicated individuals that learn little outside of their market but a focus on the details of their company and products? What do you think is the best approach? All in, all out or partial?

Why I had a Hot Dog Instead of a Mexican Sandwich Today

I am not a big fan of hotdogs… let me correct that. I like a good chicago dog every once in a while but ultimately I don’t feel that I am convinced all the ingredients are things I would eat if I could see what they really were. I simply don’t know what Hot Dogs are made of, and if the name is any indication, than all the more. That being said, some times the crave is there.

I was convinced I was going to get a Mexican Sandwich (Las Tortas on Virginia and College, you really should go because it is Awesome!) at the local shop down the street from the redwall LIVE : Experiential Marketing office. Benjamin Herndon, our Technology Consultant from Orange Bench was here and mentioned that Erik Deckers said he was going to King David Dogs downtown Indianapolis. I decided I would forgo my first choice simply because Erik Deckers invited people via twitter and I was like “I like Erik, OK then”.

Now while I may not make such exceptions every day, I did today and we got two lesson out of this:

1. I got to experience a new restaurant that was a fantastic concept and food (as far as I know)

2. I got you to read about two restaurants that are being talked about by people around Indy by reading this blog

The other restaurant is called Las Tortas. People are talking about them like crazy around Indy. They have no online presence of their own, but people offline are talking. How it is irrelevant in the big picture. I’ll leave you with this. What are you doing to capture the attention of your customers? If Erik didn’t invite me, because of my preconceived notions I never would have went. I had a great time, so thanks Erik.

My point, there’s thousands of ways to market to NEW CUSTOMERS, but market to your EXISTING SUPPORTERS so they become evangelists.

Twitter is More Advanced than Facebook (Think #NewTwitter)

So over the course of the last few weeks I’ve been watching the beginning of the New Twitter web interface. I’ve determined that the social network is more advanced and more useful than facebook. Using #NewTwitter as the point of reference, the functionality and speed of their new web interface out performs not only the old interface but the current structure of facebook. While facebook has tremendous value to users, it is limited to itself… more on that in a moment.

Now let me lay a foundation by saying that this is a marketing blog and not a tech blog or social media blog. So from a marketing standpoint, twitter is extremely useful. Twitter has begun to explain their advertising model, which makes it a viable outlet for marketers all over the world. I’m confident they will continue to work out new ways of creating engaging advertising. In the mean time one of their best models is promoted tweets. These tweets are currently showing in trending lists and in feeds when relevant. The fact is according to their website they will make sure that ads are relevant and that resonate with the user. Twitter.com describes it this way:

We strongly believe that Promoted Tweets should be useful to you. We’ll attempt to measure whether the Tweets resonate with users and stop showing Promoted Tweets that don’t resonate.

The reason why this is key is because simply another ad may or may not get my attention, by when it is modeled for interaction it is meaningful. This model will continue to grow and change, but I think they are on a great path.

Why Twitter is More Advanced than Facebook: Facebook is a fantastic social networking tool, and they have done a great job of making the user interface into a brand. The “Like” button has become a recognized staple of many websites as they’ve integrated the portability of it. Facebook however is primarily limited to itself. Facebook is Facebook.com.

Discovery: Twitter allows you to discover new things and new people. Twitter is becoming a big player in search, and is even a relevant factor to google search rankings. This makes the value of twitter extend well beyond the platform itself. People are searching for many things, and conversations are part of that.

Open Source: Twitter has operated on open API for quite some time now, which has allowed apps like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Seesmic to make the tool more useful for social connection as well as other uses. Forget about the fact that the site and it’s functions run faster, the open API has allowed an open collaboration of people learning how to use the tool the way they want to. The open source model has essentially allowed third party apps to help shape what twitter is becoming.

Innovative and Personalized Use: At the redwall LIVE : Experiential Marketing office we have an account that is purely for internal communications. It is following and followed by our team only and mobile is turned on for this. What does this do for us? Well it’s very simple, if you have to tell the team anything: (On my way, going to be late, last minute client call, special memos about bathroom policies at the office) you simply for to your android phone, load up the hootsuite mobile app and send the tweet. Everyone gets it by text and the message is distributed. Let me simply state that this is not revolutionary, it is simply our team using the software to work for us. With an open source developer API, many many more advanced uses will be developed. Some already exist.

Marketing: Messed Up!

I recently had lunch and a conversation with Brian Shelton who does E-Commerce and Internet Marketing for Gilchrist and Soames (Great five Star Soap by the way). We had a discussion about marketing and being perfect from day one versus taking calculated risks and improving as you go. It was interesting because we both agreed that sometimes taking a little risk is valuable. Sometimes messing up a marketing campaign is a great way to gather data or like the satirical picture in this blog suggests – having an unexpected success [credit to Zazzle for the T-Shirts]. Let me apply some foundation for the discussion.

A big part of our discussion was in venturing into Social Media, Social Media Training, Social Media Marketing, Viral Marketing Campaigns and so on. The fact is, sometimes things don’t go as well as you want them to. Sometimes things just flat out flop (see marketing campaigns that flopped)! A customer once told me “I’m just glad that we are trying things that are interesting…” when we were discussing a particular project that didn’t get traction. This allowed us to keep moving forward and making minor adjustments to our efforts to continually achieve better results.

Failure is the Secret to Success as Robby Slaughter said in his recent book. I noticed google one day released a product that wasn’t quite ready for the public… Ok this has happened several times! They release things all the time to see how they do and occasionally scrap them like the recent Google Wave. The point is even Google has tried,… measured… and corrected within their budget. It seems that some of the largest organizations with the most marketing success take some calculated risks in marketing efforts (and other areas). If you take this route I suggest you scale your efforts to fit your budget. Please note that I am only talking about calculated risks and not poor and negligent planning.

So the question is – should your marketing campaign be fail safe before you move? Is it better to fail on occasion while working on your marketing efforts or is it better to hold off until you have no chance of failure (perhaps missing opportunity)?

Indianapolis Marketing vs Indianapolis Social Media

For all too many months I spoken with experts of all sorts, good ones, bad ones and those that fall between. When it comes to Indianapolis Social Media Marketing, I run into people all the time that say they are social media experts or even just social media consultants or maybe as simple as a social media guy. I am writing this post to say that I have my doubts about you.

I spend the majority of my time in Indianapolis, I live here and the majority of our clients are in Indianapolis so this makes it real easy to do. I meet people often that claim social media titles of various kinds. I even run into other marketing and design companies that say that they are adding “social media” as one of their services. Sometimes I think they are “legit” as they say. Other times I just don’t know that they really know what they are talking about.

Buyer beware – If marketing is not one of the core services than social media is just a buzz word. No single tactic is useful without coming from the approach of marketing a product based on a targeted demographic and good messaging. Marketing takes understanding how people react, creativity with the use of the chosen tools and some cooperation from the “non marketing” parts of the business. Social media happens to be a great tool to deliver a message IF there is a message to deliver. A Facebook Page is a great place to invite people IF it is a resource, If you have something to see, or read, or find out. Above all, these things work best when they are not isolated to themselves.

If I were writing this post 7 years ago, I would be talking about websites, or before that I might have been talking about email or direct mail. The fact is, all of the above are still today a valid tools for marketing a good product, but none of them are marketing. Marketing is a verb and in my opinion it is the appropriate use of tools to deliver message, interact and respond to those that might be influenced and / or influence others to purchase your product. Marketing is not in itself sneaky, it is necessary, if you are not “engaging” you are not dishonest, you are just missing out.

No matter what you do, put together a good plan for marketing your business. Consider the collection of tools and methods you will use and certainly consider those that are modern and help you to connect with your audience in real time. Just make sure for peat sake that you don’t expect a thousand tweets and a facebook page… or a website… or an email list… or direct mail… or whatever – to provide all your answer.

Experiential Marketing in high definition

Over years of generating habits and creating lifestyles, we learn to live a certain way. We make the daily choices that we make because we have become comfortable with it or used to it. We recently put together a marketing campaign here in Indianapolis area based around inviting people to step out of the ordinary and experience the extraordinary. Living life in High Definition. We see “in high def.” on a screen, but when do we see this well in real life? With as colorful as life is, wouldn’t you want to see it at it’s best? Wouldn’t you like to see if high definition?

This is something that we considered when designing a marketing campaign for RevolutionEYES. When creating a viral marketing campaign or contest, social media alone will not get people excited. We sought partnerships that would make for an exciting Experiential Marketing event! Allow me to expound:

The idea is this. iZon is a lense product that feature high definition vision! The technology allows the user to experience clearer vision, especially when in low lighting or bright sun, etc. They now have a children’s lens, so RevolutionEYES decided to make this contest the feature of their back to school bash. Parents enter their child for the opportunity to live in high definition! What does that mean? Well we partnered with Freedom Helicopters, the Indianapolis Zoo and Indiana ICE to give the winning child the VIP Experience of a lifetime! They will get to fly a helicopter, ride a zambonie, drop the first puck, go behind the scenes at the zoo… all to be captured on camera for the ‘live in high definition’ commercial.

Here’s what we like about this:

- It is an exciting experience for a kid!

- It gives people a compelling reason to talk about RevolutionEYES

- RevolutionEYES is maximizing their investment in a commercial

- Most importantly we are inviting people to step out of the ordinary.

So by offering people the opportunity to do something that for many is once in a lifetime, we are encouraging people to think outside of the limits of what we grow up with. You can already watch TV in High Def, but do you live in High Definition?

5 reasons why you need better marketing!

The Get Better Marketing Video

Here’s why you need better marketing. Because Indianapolis companies, or New York companies or companies from anywhere will gain on you because they are more dedicated to their customers than you. You may focus on transactions and they focus on relationships and communications. I’ve learned something as a business owner. I’ve learned that the further you get in your money making career, the more you think about the long term implications of your actions and investments (Note that marketing is an investment, by putting money into marketing you are essentially doing it with the intent of late withdrawing a greater amount, much like stocks, bond and other investments). The further your outlook, the higher quality your investments (and their yields) can be. This brings me to my first point well:

1. Better Marketing is a better long term investment. When you work a job you work this week for what you will make next week. When you own a small business you work this month for what you will make next month. When you own a successful growing product based business you work this year for returns you will see next year or in five years. When you own a bank, you work this year (IE Mortgages) for returns you expect to see in 30 years. The investments are greater and have more long term value. You can get a sale over night but you can’t rebuild your brand reputation in as little time. It takes years!

2. Better Marketing is about relationships. A transaction lasts one day, with credit cards it may be seconds in some businesses. Relationships that are good are a lifetime. Somewhere along the lines, someone decided that they like Pepsi better than Coke. Now I prefer water, coffee or a series of other beverages, but the person that chose Pepsi will likely never change. Pepsi earned a relationship with this single person. Now, one transaction will not likely accomplish that. One drink is a dollar and one  drink five days a week for 32 years is 8,320 dollars. Which do you prefer from your customers?

3. Better Marketing starts conversations. People like to talk about things that they like. People really like to talk about themselves, things they do, buy, etc. Sometimes that excitement has to be ignited. Good marketing doesn’t just say “Hey look at us!” it says “Hey look at you with us!” or “Hey look at us, what do you think?”. Social Media is one core way to make this possible. Social Media can be the best way to provide your customers with an invitation… that will be accepted.

4. Better Marketing Responds. People have one bad experience and they tell the whole world, not just Indianapolis or whichever home town, those days are over. Conversation has become viral. They post it on Facebook and they might have influenced an average of 120 people just in their own friends list. The fact is, it will happen to every company. The best way to combat that is to respond. Yelp, Twitter, Facebook, Email and many other platforms allow you to respond directly to customers.

5. If it’s not interesting, than I’m not interested. Basic traditional marketing is good, but everybody does traditional marketing. Do something creative, and do it creatively. Your unique brand deserves unique representation. Your fans will love it and they will share it too. Got a reason to market? Do it better!

How Blogging Makes Customers Happy

Many people look at a blog as a way to build credibility or as a tool to increase Organic Search benefits. It is considered part of a social media strategy or a form of advertising. And those that believe this are right on the money. But I’d like to highlight something more than just the utility of blogging. Let’s talk about what made the blog concept in the first place, giving something valuable to your customers, and those that influence your customers.

Nothing turns someone away from a website more than boring advertising content that doesn’t meet the needs of the visitor. People are truly interested in the personality of the brand they are looking into and good stories lead to customers that can relate to what you are representing.

Blogs are not merely clinical web tools but is a great relationship builder between brand and reader.

A blog is often a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life and what is happening on the Web, a kind of hybrid diary/guide site, although there are as many unique types of blogs as there are people. -Marketingterms.com

How do you make a customer happy with a blog? Well, by letting them gaze into the culture of your company. By allowing them to see the true philosophy of what you offer to your clients. By providing solutions to their needs. Most of all, sometimes it is good to have something that doesn’t sound like faceless marketing copy. When you read a brochure, it just doesn’t say “I am a real person and I care about the people that are reading this”. It says, grammar and sales material. Blogging allows you to be more honest and open regardless of the size of your company. In fact, HP Used blogging as a way to provide customer service and technical help to their customers. This eliminated some of the customer service calls that started as a search on the web anyway. This allowed customers to get the information they needed and even respond with comments and questions if they needed more.

Here are 3 Things you can do to use a blog to your companies advantage:

1. Allow Customers to Share Their Experiences. With the right market, this would be a great way to give key clients an experience by guest posting on your site, and telling their friends about it.
2. Tell about recent developments in your product or new projects you are working on. This will keep customers informed so that when they wonder why your product features are changing, it’s easy for them to find out why so they feel that is a good change instead of looking at any negatives.
3. Incorporate video and pictures including personal employees conducting their part in a new marketing initiative. This will take your marketing efforts full circle and show that your company is made up of real people that the reader can relate to.

If you’d like more ideas you can always leave a comment or contact us here at the redwall LIVE office: http://redwalllive.com/contact-live/ or 317-663-7605.

Ads are like throwing darts and Social Media can't be measured

So how do you decide where you’re going to put your money? It can often feel like the first time you ever put a dollar bill into that Pepsi machine that sucks in your dollar and spits out a can of cold soda – that is when I first did, I just didn’t know if it would just disappear or bring my desired return. Or like throwing darts, in that you have a target but no real solid knowledge of what you are going to hit.

Advertising has always been covered in debate as to if it is really trackable. Can you measure results? Now that fight has gone by the way side, and people have shifted their concerns to if social media can be measured. It is truly this big debate that fills many blogs and even only a year ago the traditional marketers were saying “you can’t measure social media” while the SM evangelists were saying “give me a break”. The fact is, it is easier to measure. When you place an ad in the newspaper, the best way to measure is when the paper comes out and you get flooded with calls, then it worked. But what if your sales cycle is much longer than that? What if you are like Murata Machinery and you have to be top of mind for a long time before it turns into a sale? How do you measure that?

The fact is, the relationship can be measured in many ways. The hardest one to measure is the one that yields the least results (not no results, just the least). There are many ways that you can measure. First, measure the the medium before you put money or time into it. Here are some questions I think you should ask:

Is your customer going to be exposed to your advertisement if it is placed here (such as a magazine that men read and your mens cologne)?

Are they engaged in this environment or more passive (Is it a browsing magazine or a more in depth educational magazine)?

How far are they between my ad and a call to response (such as an ad in the subway and our online store)?

How many people are there (such as the millions on facebook or the thousands watching the local news)?

Finally, can you afford the frequency needed to capture them as a customer? (like a long term social media plan or one month of radio ads).

What do you think?

Is Embedded Marketing Sneaky?

A client that we work with is particularly focused on being involved in marketing efforts where they can carry a strong influence for their brand. One particular example would be a local event. They want to be able to place their brand into the experience with product placement, or influencing the content of the event. Not hijacking the event, but a sponsorship that is more than hanging a banner. Another example is a local TV show that they would like to sponsor, but not by having commercials between the segments, but rather embedding their product into the content of the show.

We call this product placement in most cases. The idea is that when you watch 24 and you see Jack Baur hop into a Ford vehicle (with all the nice features, and he uses a Sprint Phone and CTU is equipped with the best Cisco network tools and so on, people are influenced by that placement. In most cases, it is tasteful and doesn’t change the script, but in all cases it is obvious to a marketer like myself that it is a commercial.

There is a mass amount of embedded marketing that we don’t notice, but it does influence our decisions. You are more likely to buy something if you have heard of the brand. Familiarity suggests better quality. Another benefit is that we are conditioned to being surrounded by advertisements. We generally learn to tune a certain amount out. Subconsciously we trust it less than say the recommendation from a friend. Product placement is everywhere. It is effective if done well. Is it honest or dishonest marketing?

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