Marketing Dollars Have to Deliver ROI in Economic Downturn

In times of economic uncertainty, business owners close their checkbooks and marketers scratch their heads. In order to create the proverbial "win-win", marketers must accept the mandate for accountability for every marketing dollar spent. Marketing strategies must be trackable, measurable, and most importantly, successful.

At Edge Media, we have committed to really pushing the envelope and have turned over every rock imaginable, looking at media channels, technology, and most importantly, strategy. Every marketing dollar has to be backed by strategy - what is the goal? What is the process? How do we move from A to B to C? Are we capturing the data? What are we doing with the data once captured? What are we learning about the data? How can we improve?

We are working with new and exciting media channels, including social media optimization which has already increased traffic eight-fold for one website, and are busy integrating mobile marketing (text or SMS) into our clients' campaigns. Why new media in times of economic uncertainty? We have chosen to utilize the media channels that our clients' customers utilize, which is why social media sites and text messaging make perfect sense in the marketing mix.

The basics do not go away because new media is being used, they are integrated into the planning. Consider using radio that has a text in response message. The text message response then includes a link to a website. Capture the data on the landing page of the website. Create an e-mail marketing campaign with the captured data. It is a beautiful thing to move through the process in a measurable way with solid results to deliver for clients.

For more on the use of mobile marketing, join our October online webinar. Click here to RSVP.
http://community.icontact.com/p/edgemedia/newsletters/september08/posts/leads-delivered-before-noon

Talk to you soon!

Wishing you the best,

Vickie Isaac
President/Owner
Edge Media

http://www.edgemedia.biz

Edge Media - The Marketing Edge

     For years marketers have been striving to develop relationships with potential customers. The internet has revolutionized marketing, and continues to revolutionize it so fast that most marketers can barely keep their eyes from glazing over and their heads from spinning around.  While the changes have been enough to make even great marketers scratch their heads, the introduction and instant success of social networking sites have provided the marketer the very tool they have been needing for decades.

When used appropriately, social network optimization is personal and creates a platform for relationship and immediate feedback.  With advertisers pledging to spend $1.4 BILLION dollars in this space in 2008 (eMarketer 2008), it is time we paid attention and figured out the strategy. The basics don't change - content is still king, and tracking results remains paramount.  

The secret to success lies in an integrated strategy - build the PLAN, don't just take up space.  Each step needs to have a purpose, and then it needs to be measured to see if it accomplishes that purpose.  A group on MySpace for the sake of the warm fuzzies is nice, but the questions must be asked, "What are you accomplishing?  What are you learning about your consumer?".   Find ways to be interactive, and provide incentives for people to take the action that you want them to take.   Move them off of the social network site to YOUR site.  And then ask the question, "Now what???"   What do you want them to do?   What is the action?  Capture the data, and continue to build the relationship, and your brand.

Create the flow before you take up the space, and you will see measurable results that justify the time spent interacting on these sites.   If the demo you are targeting is 25-54, then consider taking the strategy and creating a mobile site as well, make it seamless, and don't lose leads.   Consider integrating mobile chat onto the site, and capturing cell numbers for text messaging. The key here is communicating with the consumer on THEIR terms, not yours, with valid content that meets a genuine need.  If you put yourself in their shoes, you can create a strategy that leads to success - a satisfied customer and a growing customer base.   For more information on mobile marketing, go to http://www.edgemedia.biz/index-7.html  

Good luck out there!

Vickie Isaac, M.Ed.

President

Edge Media

http://www.edgemedia.biz

602-943-2030

info@edgemedia.biz