Positioning

Today companies are all fighting for a share in market. New brands take their share stealing from existing brands. So what are brands all about? Does two brands from two different companies are any different from each other in product features or superiority? The answer is no, its just they are positioned differently. Ask any smoker who is loyal towards Malboro he will say Malboro is different. Is it really different to other cigarettes? It is not if we take a blind test the smoker wont be able to make out any difference. So why Malboro loyalist has to say its different, it is only because of Position that Malboro has created in prospects minds.

Situation Analysis (5 'C)

In order to profitably satisfy customer needs, the firm first must understand its external and internal situation, including the customer, the market environment, and the firm's own capabilities. Furthermore, it needs to forecast trends in the dynamic environment in which it operates.

A useful framework for performing a situation analysis is the 5 C Analysis. The 5C analysis is an environmental scan on five key areas especially applicable to marketing decisions. It covers the internal, the micro-environmental, and the macro-environmental situation. The 5 C analysis is an extension of the 3 C analysis (company, customers, and competitors), to which some marketers added the 4th C of collaborators. The further addition of a macro-environmental analysis (climate) results in a 5 C analysis, some aspects of which are outlined below.

Company

• Product line
• Image in the market
• Technology and experience
• Culture
• Goals

Collaborators

• Distributors
• Suppliers
• Alliances

Customers

• Market size and growth
• Market segments
• Benefits that consumer is seeking, tangible and intangible.
• Motivation behind purchase; value drivers, benefits vs. costs
• Decision maker or decision-making unit
• Retail channel - where does the consumer actually purchase the product?
• Consumer information sources - where does the customer obtain information about the product?
• Buying process; e.g. impulse or careful comparison
• Frequency of purchase, seasonal factors
• Quantity purchased at a time
• Trends - how consumer needs and preferences change over time

Competitors

• Actual or potential
• Direct or indirect
• Products
• Positioning
• Market shares
• Strengths and weaknesses of competitors

Climate (or context)

The climate or macro-environmental factors are:

• Political & regulatory environment - governmental policies and regulations that affect the market
• Economic environment - business cycle, inflation rate, interest rates, and other macroeconomic issues
• Social/Cultural environment - society's trends and fashions
• Technological environment - new knowledge that makes possible new ways of satisfying needs; the impact of technology on the demand for existing products.

The analysis of the these four external "climate" factors often is referred to as a PEST analysis.

Information Sources

Customer and competitor information specifically oriented toward marketing decisions can be found in market research reports, which provide a market analysis for a particular industry. For foreign markets, country reports can be used as a general information source for the macro-environment. By combining the regional and market analysis with knowledge of the firm's own capabilities and partnerships, the firm can identify and select the more favorable opportunities to provide value to the customer.

Top 6 Social Media Marketing Goals

To begin an effective social media marketing campaign, you need to set some achievable goals.  And you have to know what you’re aiming for in order to know if you’re hitting the mark, right?  So, here’s some common goals for social media marketing:

1. Increased Brand Awareness.  Creating brand awareness is one of the most common social media goals and an important step in marketing a new product or service.  Social media can be used to spread the word about your new product or service offering, and improve public perception of your brand.
2. Reputation Management.  Ensure that your brand is not being bashed, but in the most favorable light as possible.  One negative review or comment could be enough to be disqualified from an opportunity.  
3. Engagement.  Creating a dialog between you and your audience that is engaging while staying top of mind is key.  
4. Improved Search Engine Rankings.  Social media can improve your natural search engine ranking building brand awareness and support multiple brand exposures.
5. Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic.  Engaged visitors that are familiar with or know your brand are generally more valuable that those that are not. 
6. Improved online conversion performance.  Whether your website conversion is defined as a lead, transaction or new account, social media can contribute to improved conversion performance.

Digital Marketing by two big brands.

Big names, branded merchandise, action figures and A-listers spread across TV, print, and perhaps even the drive-through window at a local fast food restaurant.

But what about online? Below are two brands that implemented targeted and integrated digital strategies, using social media, mobile advertising, search engine marketing and online video.

TOY STORY 3 Promotion. To launch the third installment of their successful Toy Story franchise, Pixar used a combination of online channels to encourage viral sharing and ultimately produce big numbers at the box office. They utilized promoted trending topics on Twitter.com/Disney Pixar and Google video ads featuring the movie trailer which linked to the movie’s facebook page. Customers were also invited to purchase tickets directly through custom applications on mobile and social media platforms.

OLD SPICE Commercial. A non-traditional summer blockbuster has been the re-emergence of Old Spice and the “Old Spice Guy”, Isaiah Mustafa. This campaign illustrates the perfect mix of humor and seasonal messaging in a targeted online video experiment, resulting in tremendous viral awareness. Old Spice capitalized on the campaign’s popularity by filming real time video responses to questions and comments posted on facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

 Blockbuster Marketing Lessons You Can Apply Today:

   1. Make it easy to view and share your content online.Pixar’s multichannel approach placed movie trailers within search ads on Google, promoted tweets, and facebook creating a large footprint reaching their target audience in relevant places online. Old Spice utilized YouTube as their video platform to leverage the many sharing options and widespread familiarity of the site to make it easy for viewers to share each video.
   2. Have a call-to-action. Pixar’s ticketing facebook application was the perfect opportunity to test whether facebook users would engage in purchase behavior when prompted and presented with a unique and well-executed call-to-action. Old Spice’s call-to-action invited consumers to submit questions to the “Old Spice Guy” via twitter resulting in recorded responses being published via YouTube, fueling further sharing and brand engagement.
   3. Match your message to the online medium. Old Spice considered the benefits that social networking provided and capitalized on them to engage customers and create brand loyalty in a whole new way. Their online content, messaging, and calls-to-action were unique and effective; while avoiding the common mistake of simply re-purposing tradtionial creative.

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I don’t think I am an actress.

I don’t think I am an actress. I think I’ve created a brand and a business.
Pamela Anderson.

Brands worth more money than Products

According to the American Marketing Association, a Brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers. The word ‘brand’ comes from the Norwegian brandr meaning to burn, as in branding cattle.

                A product is something created by labour that can be marketed or sold as a commodity. A brand is created when you take that product and give it special meaning through names, logos or any form of identifi cation that separates one seller’s goods or services from their competition.
               Why do we create brands? Quite simply, we create them because brands are worth more money than products.

Role of Opinion leaders in making a Brand successful

A society will always have opinion leaders who are generally the fi rst to try new products, help set trends and be very valuable to brands trying to get established. Opinion leaders are often show-business idols, politicians
or sports stars. When Michael Jordan started wearing Nike, everyone started wearing Nike. 

                When Red Bull was fi rst introduced in the US, Red Bull refrigerators were taken to movie shoots and given away free to cast and crew for years before the fi rst consumer got the opportunity to have the energy drink. Once a generation of movie stars had adopted the beverage, there was no stopping Red Bull, the number one energy drink in America. 

              At the moment, the weight opinion leaders carry appears to be diminishing in the US (but certainly not disappearing). Consider fashion. What is in style today? The answer, probably for the fi rst time in history, is everything. Everything is in style right now. Whatever you want to wear is in style. Why? Because teens of today don’t feel the same overwhelming need to mimic others outside their peer group as they have in the past. Armed with YouTube and a host of ways to become famous themselves, these teens are confi dent enough in themselves to make their own rules and one of those rules is to not be manipulated by marketers or celebrities.

Price is the success factor for Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart: Price

Sam Walton went to work for the JC Penney company for $75 per month after graduating from college. After bouncing around the Midwest from retail job to retail job, he bought a small store in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton’s 5 & 10. By the end of his life in 1992, Wal-Mart would be the world’s largest retailer.

Single-minded focus on low prices

How did a simple man with vision go from being a low-level retail employee to one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world? By keeping a very single-minded focus on offering the lowest prices in every category he sold. The result? Approximately 80% of disposable diapers sold in the US go through Wal-Mart. About 60% of shampoo and conditioners are sold through Wal-Mart. Quite simply, Walton kept prices low and customers rewarded him with their loyalty.

     But how could Wal-Mart sell for less than their competitors at K-Mart and Target stores? Location. While other stores were locating in the centre of large cities, Sam Walton built his stores out in the country between two small towns. The land was cheaper and his Wal-Mart stores could draw customers from both small towns. The result? Walton had as many or more potential customers and did so at a much lower cost than his competitors. Those savings were passed along to customers in the form of some of the lowest prices offered anywhere. The result of this? Very few stores could successfully compete with Walton’s prices and all the family retailers that make up a small town began closing up as they lost their customers to Wal-Mart. 

      As scanners and UPC codes expanded, suddenly Wal-Mart controlled a tremendous amount of information about the sales of every brand they handled. They knew better than anyone exactly what was selling minute by minute, category by category. Soon, they were telling manufacturers how much they were willing to pay for products. Manufacturers were then left trying to fi gure out how they could make the goods for the price Wal-Mart were willing to pay. This spurred the growth of offshore manufacturing closing thousands of factories in the US and Europe in favour of shipping manufacturing to less expensive manufacturing countries such as India and China.

     Wal-Mart is a controversial company to say the least. It’s also stunningly successful. As Sam Walton famously said to his critics, if he wouldn’t have done this, someone else would have. For Wal-Mart it’s all about low prices.

 

Giving chocolate to others is an intimate form of communication, a sharing of deep, dark secrets.

Consider the difference between a box of Godiva chocolates and a Mars bar. Both are chocolate, right?
If you invite me to dinner at your home and I show up with a box of Godiva chocolates, you are likely to be very happy you invited me. If I show up with a Mars bar; you might not invite me back. What’s the difference?
Remember, they are both chocolate. Right? Actually no. A Mars bar is an ‘everyday’ treat, while a box of Godiva chocolates is a selection of ‘premium’ handmade chocolates. A Mars bar tells the recipient I’m cheap. The box of Godiva tells the recipient I’m very happy to be there, and that they are worth ‘the best’ I can give. So how do Godiva communicate all this?

10 THINGS A Marketer SHOULDN’T DO

• Run a nationwide ad campaign without testing it.

• Be less than IOO% truthfull with customers.

• Refie to fix a customer problem because of store policy.

• Pull an ad campaign while it still producing.

• Ignore customer mail and phone calls.

• Focus on only mass media.

• Spend a dollar without having a marketing plan.

• Hesitate when asked to describe her marketing position  in two sentences.

• Be afraid to fail

Ideas for Market: How to solve cases.

Ideas for Market: How to solve cases.pdf file click here

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How to solve cases.

 Download in pdf format

5 Whys

Quickly Getting to the Root of a Problem

Why use the tool?

The 5 Whys is a simple problem-solving technique that helps users to get to the root of the problem quickly. Made popular in the 1970s by the Toyota Production System, the 5 Whys strategy involves looking at any problem and asking: "Why?" and "What caused this problem?"

Very often, the answer to the first "why" will prompt another "why" and the answer to the second "why" will prompt another and so on; hence the name the 5 Whys strategy.

Benefits of the 5 Whys include:

• It helps to quickly determine the root cause of a problem
• It is easy to learn and apply

How to use the tool:

When looking to solve a problem, start at the end result and work backward (toward the root cause), continually asking: "Why?" This will need to be repeated over and over until the root cause of the problem becomes apparent.

Example:

Following is an example of the 5 Whys analysis as an effective problem-solving technique:

1. Why is our client, Hinson Corp., unhappy? Because we did not deliver our services when we said we would.
   
2. Why were we unable to meet the agreed-upon timeline or schedule for delivery? The job took much longer than we thought it would.
   
   
3. Why did it take so much longer? Because we underestimated the complexity of the job.
   
   
4. Why did we underestimate the complexity of the job? Because we made a quick estimate of the time needed to complete it, and did not list the individual stages needed to complete the project.
   
   
5. Why didn't we do this? Because we were running behind on other projects. We clearly need to review our time estimation and specification procedures.

Key Points:

The 5 Whys strategy is an easy and often-effective tool for uncovering the root of a problem. Because it is so elementary in nature, it can be adapted quickly and applied to most any problem. Bear in mind, however, that if it doesn't prompt an intuitive answer, other problem-solving techniques may need to be applied.

 

problem solving

Appreciation

Extracting Maximum Information from Facts

Appreciation is a very simple but powerful technique for extracting the maximum amount of information from a simple fact.

How to Use the Tool:

Starting with a fact, ask the question 'So what?' i.e. what are the implications of that fact? Keep on asking that question until you have drawn all possible inferences.

Example:

Appreciation is a technique used by military planners, so we will take a military example:

Fact: It rained heavily last night

So What?

– The ground will be wet

So What?

– It will turn into mud quickly

So What?

– If many troops and vehicles pass over the same ground, movement will be progressively slower and more difficult as the ground gets muddier and more difficult.

So What?

– Where possible, stick to paved roads. Otherwise expect movement to be much slower than normal.

While it would be possible to reach this conclusion without the use of a formal technique, Appreciation provides a framework within which you can extract information quickly, effectively and reliably.

Key points:

Asking 'so what?' repeatedly helps you to extract all important information implied by a fact.

 

 

What is Marketing Concept

Goal-oriented, integrated philosophy practiced by producers of goods and services that focuses on satisfying the needs of consumers over the needs of the producing company. The marketing concept holds that the desires and needs of the target market must be determined and satisfied in order to successfully achieve the goals of the producer.

1. Idea or strategy for marketing a product or service.

2. Philosophy of marketing a product or service that is benefit oriented rather than product oriented. For example, a successful marketing concept in the perfume industry is that the industry is in the business of selling dreams, sex, and romance-that is, the benefits to be derived from perfume, but not the perfume itself.

 

The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps - Understanding how to position your market offering

The Marketing Mix and 4 Ps - Understanding how to position your market offering

maximize response to Email Marketing

Four Email Must-Do Principles to Boost Response 

As email becomes ever more prominent in the typical marketing mix, we can expect a few slip-ups and oversights. According to Max Kalehoff—writing at the AttentionMax blog—telltale symptoms of lax email practices include an ignorance of basic etiquette and less-than-rigorous spam compliance.

"I'm not going to out anyone (including a prominent technology analyst firm that refused for six months to remove me from its email database)," he notes, "but I would like to remind everyone of four simple principles that all businesses should work very hard to follow." Here are Kalehoff's email-marketing rules to live by, to show your customers you care: 

1. Act as if an email address is a living, breathing human being. The reason? If you treat recipients like data on a spreadsheet, they're liable to treat your campaigns like spam.
2. Don't assume you have permission if you haven't asked for it. Do you want email messages from anyone who manages to get their hands on your address? Of course not. So send offers and newsletters only when you know they'll be welcome.
3. Make it easier for subscribers to opt out than to opt in. Kalehoff advocates a prominent, simple unsubscribe button. "It's not OK to hide your opt-out links with gray text on white background," he says, "or [to] require tedious click-throughs and confusing forms in order to opt out of an email marketing program."
4. If a subscriber wants off your list, let him or her go—for real. "I can't believe how many big, savvy companies violate this rule," says Kalehoff. "When recipients opt out, don't keep their email activated in your marketing program. [Honor] requests for opt-out immediately." 

The Po!nt: Treat them like they're special—regardless of their numbers. A little common courtesy goes a long way with email subscribers—and is sure to generate better ROI.

 

5S (methodology)

'5S' is the name of a workplace organization methodology that uses a list of five Japanese words which are seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. Transliterated or translated into English, they all start with the letter S. The list describes how items are stored and how the new order is maintained. The decision making process usually comes from a dialogue about standardization which builds a clear understanding among employees of how work should be done. It also instills ownership of the process in each employee.

Phases of 5S

There are 5 primary phases of 5S: sorting, straightening, systematic cleaning, standardizing, and sustaining. Additionally, there is an additional phase, safety, that is sometimes included.

Sorting

Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts, instructions. Go through all tools, materials, etc., in the plant and work area. Keep only essential items. Everything else is stored or discarded.

Straightening or Setting in Order

There should be a place for everything and everything should be in its place. The place for each item should be clearly labeled or demarcated. Items should be arranged in a manner that promotes efficient work flow. Workers should not have to repetitively bend to access materials. Each tool, part, supply, piece of equipment, etc. should be kept close to where it will be used (i.e. straighten the flow path). Seiton is one of the features that distinguishes 5S from "standardized cleanup". This phase can also be referred to as Simplifying

Sweeping or Shining or Cleanliness (Systematic Cleaning)

Keep the workplace tidy and organized. At the end of each shift, clean the work area and be sure everything is restored to its place. This makes it easy to know what goes where and ensures that everything is where it belongs. A key point is that maintaining cleanliness should be part of the daily work - not an occasional activity initiated when things get too messy.

Standardizing

Work practices should be consistent and standardized. Everyone should know exactly what his or her responsibilities are for adhering to the first 3 S's.

Sustaining the discipline

Maintain and review standards. Once the previous 4 S's have been established, they become the new way to operate. Maintain focus on this new way and do not allow a gradual decline back to the old ways. While thinking about the new way, also be thinking about yet better ways. When an issue arises such as a suggested improvement, a new way of working, a new tool or a new output requirement, review the first 4 S's and make changes as appropriate.

Safety

A sixth phase, "Safety", is sometimes added. It is reasonable to assume that a properly planned and executed 5S program will inherently improve workplace safety, but some argue that explicitly including this sixth S ensures that workplace safety is given primary consideration.'

It is important to have continuous education about maintaining standards. When there are changes that affect the 5S program such as new equipment, new products or new work rules, it is essential to make changes in the standards and provide training. Companies embracing 5S often use posters and signs as a way of educating employees and maintaining standards.

 

Twitter 101: Seven Tips for Effective Marketing

Millions of people are connecting through social media, so it's no wonder that advertisers and marketers are hustling to get in on the action. In the past year, we've seen many brands step into this new world only to fail miserably.
After one analyzes many of the marketing flops on Twitter, the underlying issue becomes apparent: To be an effective marketer on Twitter, you must first stop thinking like one.
Marketing on Twitter requires a shift in your mindset. Twitter is all about simple conversations; you can't use press releases, marketing copy, or other one-way communication tactics and expect results.
Customers want interaction—with you and with each other. Tweeting is one-to-one, with the benefit of being in a public space where other customers may read your conversation and interact with each other on your behalf.
Below are seven tips for brands looking to grow or establish a Twitter presence.

1. Know the rules: Get to know your neighbors
It's important to remember that Twitter is a community and that every community has its own set of rules. Before you jump into the conversation, spend some time watching and learning. You'll find that most people are very friendly and supportive, but it's best to understand the ground rules first.
The easiest way to jump in is to ask for help. That may seem strange, as brands are used to being in the driver's seat, typically telling consumers what to do. You may think asking for advice makes your brand vulnerable, but the fact is it's one of the things that makes social media great.
2. Connect person to person: People don't talk to brands, they talk to people
It doesn't matter how large your company is. On Twitter, people want to connect to a person. They are not interested in talking to your "brand." Make your updates personable and human, not scrubbed and polished like a press release. It's fine to be a little rough around the edges.
If you can, identify a real person to write the updates to give a face to your tweets. For example, Comcast's Twitter account @comcastcares is headed by Frank Eliason, director of Digital Care. Eliason even lists his direct email and personal website on his profile, which not only gives a human face to the company but also helps build trust in the conversation.
By using Twitter, Comcast is offering an alternative, less-corporate outlet for customers to receive support. Customers are able to ask questions and can be communicated with on their own turf—no more having to wait in long lines, no need to press 4 for more options!

3. Create a conversation: Twitter is a two-way street
Some companies might eye Twitter as another "channel" to conquer. That kind of thinking is dangerous with interactive marketing. Social media is not about building a channel; it's about creating a conversation. Your job should be to get people talking by posing questions, asking for input, and connecting them as a trusted third party.
Creating a conversation requires something that many marketers are not used to: actively listening to customers. That is what makes social media wonderful. Since consumers now have more choices and are able to jump from brand to brand in an instant, that relationship has become more crucial than ever.
4. Promote a dedicated ambassador: Make social media part of your plan
Social-media outlets such as Twitter work best when they are frequently updated. The most prolific companies on Twitter have tens of thousands of updates. That may seem like a lot of work, but it doesn't have to be; the updates tend to be short, quick, and off the cuff.
We find that it works best when our clients designate a single person internally to act as a social-media liaison, or ambassador. Doing so ensures that the updates occur more frequently and result in less clutter. The social-media ambassador can then begin to build relationships with key customers, and those customers are then able to act as brand ambassadors.
Be sure to also establish some "rules of engagement" for your ambassadors. They will need guidelines to help them decide which conversations they should participate in and which should get escalated within your organization.

5. Have something to offer: Give people a reason to follow you
People love to pass on information, and if people are following your brand they are already showing a proclivity to your message. So why not reward them? Offer inside information, special offers, or one-to-one conversations with customers who follow you through social media.
Once you have been using Twitter for a while, you'll notice key people who like to talk about your company (aka "Influencers"). They are worth more than you can imagine!
Encourage users by converting them into brand ambassadors: Invite them to your private product launches, let them contribute to new feature requests, and ask them how you can improve. Not only will you gain firsthand, unfiltered information on how your products are used in the real world, but you'll also activate a network of ambassadors to give you the best thing you could ask for: positive word-of-mouth.
6. Link Twitter to your website: Integrate your messaging
Twitter is a very flexible technology, which is what makes it so powerful. That Twitter can be set up to automatically update your followers every time you post a blog entry or that any RSS feed can be rebroadcast through your Twitter postings are examples of Twitter's strengths. However, be careful not to abuse those strengths: Too many automatically generated posts will make you lose that all-important human factor.

Another great option is the ability to add buttons, badges, and widgets to sections of your other sites (articles, pages, etc.) so that visitors are able to tweet your content. Each article or page can be linked with a button that allows customers to send an update to their followers with a quick blurb and a link to your page. Again, keep in mind that people generally tweet only interesting or compelling content, and a list of products or features may not be very intriguing to them.
(Find awesome add-ons here: http://twitter.com/badges and http://sharethis.com/.)

7. Track conversations: Listen and learn
By using the @reply feature, it's easy to discover people talking about your brand. The Twitter search function also allows you to search by your company or product name. Use those tools to discover the things being said about you in real time. Stay on top of what's being said about you by frequently checking your @replies; you might be surprised by what you find.
More-sophisticated tools allow you to graph conversation activity over time, as well as monitor positive and negative sentiment among users. Using those tools provides you with a more in-depth understanding about what people are saying; that, in turn, will help you develop more-relevant conversations.
Social media-focused agencies offer more robust monitoring tools that can provide a dashboard view of conversations around a brand.

5 reasons to add social sharing links to your email campaigns

Adding social media icons to your email campaigns with Emma’s new feature takes just a few seconds, but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?
If you’re new to this whole social networking thing — or if you know your way around Twitter and Facebook but just aren’t sure whether you want to try the Social Sharing feature — take a look at these reasons we think it’s worth doing. (And, of course, this new feature is free with your Emma account.)
+ To harness the reach of social media. A single share can be really powerful because of the number of followers that one email recipient can reach. How powerful could this be, you ask? Well, Facebook claims that the average user has 130 friends, so every 1,000 email subscribers represents a potential audience of 130,000 people! (Actually it’s exponentially more than that because shared content can be shared further once it’s in the network.)
+ To share the idea of, well, sharing. You may have readers who are already active on social networks and just haven’t considered how their followers and friends could benefit from your content. It’s a simple idea, but adding the icons to your emails helps connect those dots for your audience members who just haven’t thought to share your campaigns with their contacts.
+ To grow your email list. This may seem obvious, but when your content is shared on social networks, it’s typically being shared with a group of people who share common interests, so it’s already likely relevant. With that in mind, we’ve made it easy for them to sign up from the landing page if they’re interested in getting future emails from you. So not only might your email get shared … but you might also gain new subscribers.
+ To pave a road that’s already being traveled. Even if you haven’t seen it,  your recipients might already be sharing your content. The new Social Sharing icons simply give them a shortcut to doing it easily. For an interesting case study in measuring the additional traffic from shared email content, take a peek at the story of SmartBrief in this MarketingSherpa article.
+ To pinpoint your most loyal fans. Having your audience share your content is quite an honor, of course, so you may want to provide something special for folks who regularly share or help you spread an important message. With Emma’s enhanced reporting feature for Social Sharing, we’ve made creating that list of loyal fans simple for you.

Goggle top 1000 Sites in the world

Google owned Doubleclick has released a list of top 1000 sites in the world Facebook and Yahoo lead the list with 540 million and 490 million visitors respectively.The largest Indian site in this list is Rediff at 234 with 12 million Unique visitors per month. Interesting google has kept its own sites Gmail, Youtube etc out of the list. This is part of promotion of google ad planner which is the source for the list. Here are the top 10

You can find the complete list here

Social Networks in India: Statistics

Social Networks in India: Statistics

n an article about the fate of social networking in India mint has collated some interesting stats compiled from comscore and the sites themselves which makes for an interesting reading. Mint compiled numbers of Orkut and facebook from comscore while other numbers where directly from the site themselves. None of these sites commented upon their revenues figures but critically you can see that number of active users for most of these sites were nearly half of the number of registered users. Now If you have a good sales team and you have a base of more than 1 miilion users you can definately get some direct ad sales revenue but i am sceptical about these sites profitabilty when even Orkut and facebook themselves are loss making ventures. According to Internet market research firm comScore Inc. India had 34.6 million Internet users (who access the Web from their homes/offices) in June, of which at least 65%, or 22.61 million, accessed social networking sites. These figures have meant that people have kept launching new social sites in India fuelled by the hype but success is still far for them.

Getty Up Trigger

Getty Up Trigger

Are you running an email marketing rodeo or simply a one trick pony program? Many marketers run the latter as they look at the opt in to be a way to turn on the one way funnel similar to direct mail. Well this is not hitting a PO Box but hitting the inbox. The inbox is directly tied to this magical digital rodeo we call the internet which enables us to create actions based on actions. Have I lost you yet? I hope not.

Marketing online is taking a turn to marketing automation. There is not way using past techniques that we can always be there to know when someone is ready for A or B to happen. But using the new systems of marketing automation we are finally gaining ground to creating trigger based campaigns on actions, behavior and timing. It is something that has been a long time coming. I hope you are ready to take the bull by the horns and make the leap out of the chutes.

What are triggers in email marketing? Well they can be all of the following and more. Depending on what you are able to do I suggest you review these and saddle up with one or all of them.

1. Time based triggers. 

I typically refer to these as customer lifecycle. They can be in the welcome emails, thank you emails, and sales prospecting emails. When someone comes to your site and does something you can actually start a clock that sends out emails based upon a “day plus X” factor. Using time based triggers you can continue your conversations based on the path you want to take someone down. Now the trick with time based email campaigns is that you need to always be reviewing and adjusting them. Just because you want people in the first 30 days to see X/Y does not mean that the timing always lines up with the actions. If you are using time based campaigns from a subscription you should be constantly fine tuning the spread on the days to find the optimum times. There is not a magic formula I can give you as every one is different. But I have some ideas. I like to work in multiples of 3’s personally. By using a 3 day spread you can move them back and forth allowing the frequency to have enough room so as to not overwhelm your subscribers with so many emails that they unsubscribe faster than you can saddle up your horse. The goal is to hitch your wagon to the right team so that they can all pull together moving the subscriber down the golden road to engagementville.

2. Event Based Triggers. 

Someone comes to your site and because you are a cowpoke that has saddled up some automation magic you can actually reach out to them based on what they have viewed. Imagine someone comes to your site, looks at your services and does not do anything. If you have the systems in place you can actually have some flows set up that trigger a re-engagement email that gives them information based on those events or pages that they just looked at. The big benefit here is that you are providing content that is focused at the “event” or moment of what they were interested in. The trick here is not to come our of the chutes too fast. If you hit them immediately it can come off as a little big brother. Give event based triggers some time. Maybe an hour to a day. Longer than that risks them moving past the event in their minds and may not connect based upon what occurred.

3. Behavior Based Triggers. Lets say you came into an ecommerce site, looked at a shirt and a hat, compared some features, or read some product reviews. Armed with this knowledge you could send an email next that uses that product(s) placed in the email. Even staying simple like colors or categories can make an impact on tying relevant content to the campaign.

4. Conversion Based Triggers. 

 Similar to a event, conversions can be used based on goals set up in your analytics flows. Using a goal page to tie the visit to the subscriber you can start a series of emails based on the goal or conversion. Think about how a B2B company could use it for a white paper download. Now of course you are going to trigger the download email and thank you, but what about taking a delayed approach for 3-7 days later to ask them to review, rank or share a few other relevant studies with others they know. By using goal based results you can continue to provide focused content to that subscriber.

5. Transactional Based Triggers.

One of my personal favorites around email. Often these emails are light simply providing the transactional info from a sale. Now when you add in other variables like asking for a review, upselling like products, or even giving them an offer on their next purchase you are building a solid customer relationship. Other things that we see work well with these triggers are customer surveys 10-30 days after purchase to ask them how the product is working for them. Did it meet expectations? Would they recommend it to someone else? Do they have any feedback for you? Instead of simply focusing on the sale, focus on how to build that relationship and open up the opportunities to continue to connect in a meaningful way. People that purchase can be the greatest source of telling someone else about your product. These are the ones you want to keep engaged as it is easier to keep a happy customer as a repeat customer than it is to continue to always seek out the next customer.

We could go down the path to create more ideas around triggers, but cowboy these are some good places to start. If you can be good at these five ideas you can develop a strong trigger based email marketing and marketing automation engine that will take you to the next level.

The trick here with any of these is to not get stuck in mindset of once it is live it is done. These types of emails need to be continuously monitored, measured and changed up. If you get into the rut of just letting it go, eventually the impact will wear off.

 

Examples of Social Media in Email Marketing

Examples of Social Media in Email Marketing

In looking through some recent work our team has been busting out I wanted to share a few examples of how we have been using social media in email marketing. Now I know I have busted the chops of others lately, and I am sure that we have things to test and learn still as well, but here are three examples that I find to be well executed from our team.


Why not use it in a Welcome campaign? What an ideal point to introduce it. If social media is a prime part of your overall digital marketing you need to make sure it is out in front of them. And adding not forcing social media introductions in a welcome campaign work well. These touch points are going to be one of your highest performing campaigns EVER so choose your focus wisely. If you have other goals do not make social front and center, but do introduce it in.If you have read this blog for any time at all, seen me speak, or worked with me on your campaigns you know how important I find welcome emails to be in a program.
In looking at the Community site we built for Wacom (now 3 generations/versions in) for PenScrappers we made sure it was part of the email template in a way that stood out but did not steal the attention of the goals of getting started and exploring content. It is a light way to include it in the flow of the email and actually becomes a nice way to leave it as an expected element in future emails.


When working with Banfield they wanted to use email to introduce their subscribers to what they were doing in three social media channels. Now instead of just saying follow us/friend us they choose to add some value around what they were doing in these channels and showing a little of each in a way that reveals what is going on while leaving a little bit behind the curtain to help to engage the click. When you put some context and show what they might be interested in adding to the social tools their subscribers were already using, they actually help to build value and a story as to why it might be something or somewhere they would want to engage. People LOVE their pets and giving content that helps them with these relationships they cherish helps to solidify the approach.
                     With a new branded entertainment game show/interactive game we built for Starlicious this year (now don’t go losing yourself for the next 2 hours catching up with celebrity gossip and playing for prizes) we used a combination of the survey after we published a majority of the shows to then engage with the social channels. When introducing a new brand/property it is important to first build the relationship before asking them to take some steps that might not make sense. If you are to simply tell people to jump in and engage in these social channels without proving the value of your content you simply create a reason for churn. And the goal is not a constant battle for new points of engagement, but prolonged engagement that supports the building/continuing of relationships.
We also did something a little different by introducing one of their brand partners, Gain, as the channel for the Facebook relationship, as they have commitment to the channel and content to support it. Why bit off more than you can chew? It is better to focus on building and supporting one than to try to take on everything. Being fortunate to have a partner to not only promote but tie in and support benefits everyone with this method/approach.
So how are you tackling your company’s approach to integration, introduction, and value positioning by using email to support your social programs. There are many ways to do it, and I am not saying that we always do it right, but hopefully these are three examples that might help you think about how it might work for you and your email subscribers in a positive way. Happy Tweeting.

 

3 Ways to Promote Social Media and Email Marketing Together

1. Link to your social media pages in your email: your Facebook fansite, Twitter page, LinkedIn page, Myspace site, YouTube library, etc. Don’t just throw a Facebook or Twitter icon into your design; include a call-to-action and explain why they should join: “Become a fan on Facebook for exclusive discounts” or “Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news and specials” or “Check out user videos at our YouTube site.” Also, don’t link to it if you don’t have quality content there. If your YouTube library consists of a couple PR pieces and a CEO interview from 2008, maybe you need to wait to promote this until you’ve had a chance to beef up the content – better yet, start a contest and call for subscribers to submit videos!
2. Add SWYN (“Share With Your Network”) links in your messages This function allows your subscribers to broadcast that message to their friends and followers on those networks. Even better: if you use the Bronto SWYN feature, you can not only see how many share your message, but also how many of their friends click to check it out. This is a great way to measure the viral impact of your email marketing, as well as to discern whether it’s worth it to invest marketing resources on a brand presence on specific social media sites.
3. Promote email list growth via social media outlets by asking for opt-ins on your Facebook or other social media pages. There are a couple of ways to glean opt-ins from Facebook, ranging from the quick and dirty to the more sophisticated. At minimum, you can periodically throw a call-to-action and link to your site’s opt-in page in your Status or Wall. You can also create a new Tab specifically for opt-ins, or even embed a box onto your Wall (like Scrapbook.com) so that users don’t have to leave the Facebook experience to opt in.  On Twitter, try tweeting out a preview or teaser with a link to your opt-in page before your email newsletter or special promotion goes out the door (see cool examples from StreetSideAuto and OurStage).  This tactic not only helps build your email list, but also alerts existing subscribers to look for your upcoming message, hopefully boosting anticipation and therefore open rates.

If you’re already doing any of the above, do you have any success stories, lessons learned, or new ideas to share? Please do so in the comments below.
Julie Waite
Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto

 

Email Strategy Roundtable: Will An Unsubscribe Incentive Work?

Jordan Lane’s post Offer At Unsubscribe: Desperate or Brilliant? highlights an unsubscribe incentive by Personal Creations.com. As email marketing strategists, we all immediately found ourselves questioning this tactic. The enclosed discussions continue to raise the question Jordan puts forth – is this a smart approach or simply a bad idea?
Kristen Gregory: Interesting tactic. If this were me attempting to unsubscribe, I would do the following: 1) unsubscribe anyway or 2) go ahead and use the coupon and then unsubscribe. One negative consequence of this approach is that people can continuously feign unsubscribing in order to receive non-stop 25% off coupons – unless this is somehow set up as a one-time offer. At the end of the day, if the business has the margin to spare, this tactic could be worth a shot. Ultimately, I don’t see it as a clever way to keep someone on the list, but rather a clever way to potentially grab some last sales before someone jumps ship. It may also be worth reiterating/reminding subscribers of other reasons they should consider staying on the list as well (i.e. continue to receive special birthday reminders, how-to tips, etc).


Julie: I agree with Kristen. Subscribers are going to respond one of two ways: either use the code and unsubscribe later, or unsubscribe anyway. I think the latter is more likely because if they haven’t responded to any of your other offers or sales, why would this one be any different? And worst case scenario is that you train them to feign attrition in order to get a coupon.
What really alarms me about this is the verbiage on the page itself, as it is very confusing. They’ve got the huge coupon code and CLICK HERE button with tiny text underneath that says “or complete the form below to unsubscribe from our email specials list.” Below there is a field box to enter your email address, but underneath that it reads “Offer expires 3/28/10 or just Unsubscribe” (“Unsubscribe” is a button link). Combining the offer and unsubscribe language intertwined like that makes it hard to discern what I need to do as a consumer to either redeem or unsubscribe. Do I enter my email address to unsubscribe, or to take advantage of the offer? We know it is best practice to offer an unsubscribe with no login or multiple clicks required, but what of confusing unsubscribe page copy? This tactic can’t be good for the customer experience.
Jeff: It can be difficult to re-engage an individual who is already in the process of unsubscribing (i.e. already clicked on the unsubscribe button). In which case, this tactic may not yield a lengthened subscriber relationship, however could provide an incentive to convert a sale.
It’s important to recognize that while a person may wish not to receive emails; it does not necessarily disqualify them as a “money-spender” for your company. Often a person is simply unsubscribing due to an “overflowing inbox” (too many emails from too many sources) or are just trimming up their daily reading.
Other individuals may be unsubscribing because they feel unimportant (i.e. the company never asked WHAT I AM interested in). An additional tactic on this last-chance offer could be a survey on the unsubscribe page that asks the question, “Why are you unsubscribing?” You could present multiple choices (mail too frequently, offers not relevant, etc.) along with a text box for “other” typed in responses. The page header could read, “Tell us why you are leaving and receive 25% off today.” The results of this could be two-fold. 1. The person converts with a money savings discount, thus increasing company revenue, or 2. The person may get the warm & fuzzies and feel that the company cares about them as a customer, and just might defer their unsubscribe efforts. Either way, the survey feedback may be valuable for retaining other potential “unsubscribers.”
Kelly: I’m not sure how effective this tactic would be to keep contacts looking to unsubscribe. I have a few concerns about this unsubscribe page, which feed into my belief that this tactic may not be as effective as Personal Creations would like it to be:

• They provide the coupon code on the unsubscribe page so there is no incentive for the subscriber to stay subscribed the way the copy is written today.
• Beyond a quickie coupon, what other value are they providing the subscriber through the email campaign? Is it a personalized shopping experience that provides valuable and relevant content as Personal Creations touts on their website? If so, tell the subscriber!
• A quick peek at the current version of the unsubscribe page shows they haven’t changed the coupon code (yet it expires in two days??), which leaves ample opportunity for this code to get scalped and passed around.
• The way the offer is handled is a bit sneaky. I would bet the majority of people understand that an asterisk means “there are caveats”, but they hide the caveat at the bottom of the page.
• Personal Creations requires the subscriber to enter their email address in order to complete the unsubscribe. Make it easy, pre-populate with the data you have, or subscribers will complain.
• Beyond offering a coupon to shop again, there’s so much opportunity to provide options to opt-down, communicate with the company through other mediums or provide feedback. If you, Personal Creations, go this far, why not take it a step further to show how much you value your customers by providing them options?

It’d be interesting, since Personal Creations calls the subscriber a “valued customer”, if they could provide any past purchase data/cross-sells on this page as they should know who the subscriber is when they click through. It could be something as simple as “We want to keep you as our valued customer. We are extending you a 25% off coupon to repurchase the matching necklace for the Marquise Birthstone ring you purchased two months ago.” I would bet putting just a bit more elbow grease into this page would provide both a lift in sales with the coupon (because remember, “goodbye” to your email program does not always mean “goodbye” to the business relationship) and a higher retention rate of subscribers.

Kimberly Snyder
Team Lead Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto

Winning Facebook Tactics for Today's Search Marketer

Winning Facebook Tactics for Today's Search Marketer
Facebook has more than 400 million active users who collectively spend more time on the platform than on any other website in the world, sharing detailed information about their likes, dislikes, and preferences.
It's no wonder advertisers are salivating at the chance to reach Facebook users with precisely targeted ads. A recent survey of advertising executives by Myers Publishing LLC named Facebook the No. 1 website in providing "valuable targeted audiences" to advertisers, and marketers are expected to spend upward of $1 billion on Facebook advertising this year.
Despite the hype, Facebook advertising is still in its nascent stages compared with the paid-search market, which was worth nearly $14.6 billion in 2009—and is still rapidly growing.
Few organizations have figured out how to leverage Facebook Ads effectively. However, smart search marketers should have a leg up on the competition in getting results from Facebook.
On Facebook, advertisers target users based on their "likes" and "interests" as opposed to targeting ads to users' search queries. Yet most of the skills and techniques of a successful search marketer can be translated into the skills required to build winning campaigns on Facebook.
That's because, despite differences in targeting methodologies, Facebook and paid-search advertising share a common bond: Their ad platforms fundamentally rely on targeting specific user segments based on keywords.
With a large set of potential keywords to explore, Facebook marketers have to balance expanding their audience with refining their traffic quality, and they  do so with a keen eye to the impact that factors such as creative and landing pages have on conversion.
That plays to the search marketer's strengths: analyzing conversion rates and return on investment down to the creative level, building out multiple campaigns with similar targeting parameters, refining campaign targeting, testing ad-copy and landing-page effectiveness, bidding on audiences, and managing campaign quality.
You can leverage your current paid-search skills on Facebook in many ways, but how do you get started? Below are a few best-practices we've discovered from helping search-marketing clients jump into the world of Facebook Ads.
Repurpose keywords into Facebook "Likes" and "Interests"
Facebook targeting relies heavily on keywords to target users based on their Likes and Interests, and users have voluntarily identified millions of those things on Facebook, from Vietnamese food to Doritos to Mad Men to wakeboarding and beyond.
Identifying your highest-performing paid-search keywords will give you a head start in determining relevant keywords to use as Likes and Interests on Facebook.
When beginning with a set of search or content network keywords, focus on terms that represent topics and themes rather than extremely narrow, product-specific keywords (unless, of course, your product is well known enough to be "liked" by a significant number of people on Facebook).
For example, if you sell tents, consider Likes and Interests such as "backpacking," "trail running," "rock climbing," "s'mores," "campfires," and other related activities.
Images are more important than text
Paid-search marketers are immersed in the religion of text. Search ads are typically limited to a 25-character headline and a 75-character description, making testing and tweaking ad copy a snap. On Facebook, things are a little more complicated. You have more copy to play with, but—more important—you can use images in your ads.
Moreover, Facebook users scan images and text quickly, and they are inundated with updates and content, so your ads need to grab the viewer's attention.
The most successful ads include colorful, engaging images—and, of course, a relevant offer. Adding borders to your photos in colors such as orange or yellow, which contrast with Facebook's blue and white interface, is a simple way to pull the user's eyes your way.
Make sure to test early and often here, as the results will surprise you. We frequently find that winning images are not necessarily the most aesthetically pleasing; rather, they are the ones that grab the most attention.
Keep your ads fresh
Users spend an average of more than seven hours a month on Facebook, so they will be exposed to your ads much more frequently than to paid-search ads. Because a Facebook ad can be served to the same user multiple times, it doesn't take long for Facebook users to become "blind" to an advertisement.
In addition, if your ad has low click-through rates, Facebook may serve the ad less frequently than newer ads that have no performance history. As a result, continually updating ad images and copy is important to keep Facebook Ads fresh and quality scores high.
Draw insight from the performance data for each creative, but also recognize that there is no one answer: With display advertising, change is simply part of the equation.
In the end, advertising on Facebook, much like search-engine marketing, is an iterative process.
* * *
Advertisers that invest in Facebook early will build skill sets and institutional knowledge that result in higher returns over time. Paid-search marketers have a leg up in the race for social-marketing success, and by making the right adjustments they can easily expand their marketing programs to include a new and growing channel for acquisition.

What Should Small Advertisers Look For In An Ad Network?

What Should Small Advertisers Look For In An Ad Network?
If you are a small advertiser on a budget, but you still want to take advantage of an ad network for your web banner advertising there are several things that you should keep in mind to get your money’s worth. It is important that you thoroughly research all the networks that you are interested in before you decide on one. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Look for a Network that is CPA or CPC
The best bet for you as a small advertiser is to be charged for your banner advertising at a CPA or a CPC rate. That way you are only paying for an action or a click rather than traffic to a web site.
Specialized Networks
For small advertisers, a specialized ad network might end up being more profitable to you. This is basically a network that specializes in a certain type of site. This can work in your favor because they can sometimes get your advertising banner placed on a web site that is more directly related to your banner ad. While the web site might not get as much traffic, you may get more click throughs than a very general web site.
Placement of Ads
It is best to look for networks that require their ads to be placed in prime locations on web sites. We have learned in a previous post that the placement of advertisements on a page matter. So you want to select a network that will negotiate a good page placement for your advertising banner ads.
Quality Reporting
You want to make sure that the ad network you decide to work with to get your ad placed is reliable and accurate when reporting your internet banner advertisingstatistics. This way you will be able to see how well your ad is working for you.
Reputation
Since your advertising budget is probably small and it is increasingly expensive to advertise, you want to make sure that you are working with a quality company that has gained a trusted reputation from other advertisers and web sites. Do your research, keep your ear to the street and see what others have to say about the ad network you are considering for your banner ad advertising.
By: Lewesharleen

How to Find Advertisers for Your Website: The Ultimate Guide

Direct advertising sales is arguably the best method to monetize a website. Finding advertisers for your site and actually closing the deals, however, is not as straight forward. Over the past 6 months I had more than 10 high profile companies sponsoring Daily Blog Tips, and through out this article I will share what I have learned along the way.

The Pros

• More money: The first advantage of selling your own ads is the fact that you will cut the middlemen out, increasing your revenue potential. Suppose you sell text link ads on your sidebar through a certain company, and the text links sell for $50 monthly. Since you are using the company network to sell the ads, they will eat 50% of the price, and you will end up earning only $25 monthly for each text link. If someone is willing to pay $50 for a text link on your site, though, it means that they are getting $50 of value out of it. Why, then, should you share that with someone else?
• Independence: Sure, large advertising networks have access to a wider pool of advertisers, and they have more credibility to close the deals. But if you have all the requirements in place (see the section below) and spend some time looking at the right places, I am sure that you will be able to sell your own ads just as efficiently as the larger networks.
• Flexibility: The third advantage of selling direct advertising is that you will have much more control over where and how the ads will be displayed (i.e., you can avoid intrusive advertising). Google Adsense is nice, but unless you blend it with the content – annoying some of the readers – you will get terribly low click-through rates.
• Credibility: Finally, having sponsors and direct advertisers on your blog might help your credibility. Even small and poorly crafted blogs can stick some Adsense units here and there. Having established companies that are willing to partnership with your site, on other hand, can signal that your content has quality and that the site is somewhat professional.

The Cons

• Time consuming: While selling your own ads has many advantages, it is no panacea. The first drawback of this monetization option is the time that it will consume. This time will be spent optimizing your website for the ads, finding potential advertisers, negotiating with them, and handling the administrative matters (e.g., making payments, tracking statistics, delivering reports and so on).
• Many requirements: Selling direct adverting is not as easy as making money from Google Adsense. As you can see from the section below, you will need to have a popular blog, a professional looking design, special software and the like.
• Unstable: Unless you close deals for very long periods, which is unlikely, you will find your self looking for new advertisers or optimizing your website to attract new ones every other month. The opposite is true for most advertising networks, where you just need to plug some code and they will do the rest of the work. (If your site or blog is just a hobby, therefore, direct advertising might not be the best option)

What You Need to Have in Place

• A popular website: Before landing direct advertising deals you will need to have a good amount of traffic on your site. There is no “magical” number here, but a good rule of thumb would be 1000 daily unique visitors. If you are below that mark you should focus on building traffic instead of looking for advertisers. Other factors like Google Pagerank, RSS subscribers and Alexa rank might also help. (Notice that small websites might also be able to sell direct advertising, but usually the time spent on that will not justify the results)
• A clear focus: You might have the most popular site on the Internet (well, not as extreme as that, but you get the point), but unless your site also has a very clear niche and a defined audience, advertisers will not find it very attractive. This means that you should avoid rambling about 100 different topics on the website. Advertisers want to deliver a message to specific people, and the more specific the better.
• A professional looking design: If you are planning to monetize your website through sponsors, you probably should invest some money into a professional looking design. Advertisers will be associating their product or service with your website, and not too many of them would be willing to get mixed with an ugly, MySpace looking site.
• Give visibility to the sponsors: This point is connected to the previous one. Not all templates and themes will be suitable for selling direct advertising. Preferably you want to have an idea of what kind of advertising you will sell (e.g., 468×60 banners, 125×125 banners, text links) and design your website according to those objectives. Advertisers want visibility, so reserve a good spot for them.
• Adserver software: In order to serve your ads, rotate banners and track statistics you will need to install an Adserver. If you are looking for a simple solution you should try WP-Ads. This Wordpress plugin will serve ads for specific ad zones that you create. The only drawback is that it does not count clicks (only impressions). If you need a more sophisticated solution check OpenAds. You will need to spend some time learning how to use it, but it offers virtually all the features you will ever need.
• “Advertise Here” page: It is very important to have an “Advertise Here” page. On this page you want to give some details about the website, like audience, traffic and any other factor that might be of the interest of potential advertisers. Secondly, make sure that you have some link to that page on the navigation bar and if possible close to the zone where the ads will be displayed. You can see a perfect example of such layout on Copyblogger.com.
• Standard letter to approach advertisers: While some advertisers will contact you after reading your “Advertise Here” page, the rest of them will need to be directly approached by you. In that case, it is a good idea to create a standard letter to contact the advertisers. There is no “one size fits all” solution here, but you can follow some general guidelines: 1. Introduce yourself and quickly explain what the email is about
  2. Explain why you decided to contact them and what they have to gain
  3. Give details about your site (traffic, subscribers, topic, audience)
  4. Give details about the advertising options (location on the site, max number of advertisers, monthly price)
  That is it, after that information the advertisers should be able to decide if they are interested or not. If they reply, then you will fix the details. Bear in mind that all the info I mentioned should be contained in 2 or 3 paragraphs. If you send an essay to potential advertisers they will just skip it altogether.
• Accepting payments: You might have everything in place, but if you are not able to cash payments – or more importantly, if advertisers are not able to pay easily – you will end up losing deals. PayPal is the best option here. Notice, however, that a personal account will not suffice. You will need at least a premier account to be able to accept credit cards.

Where to Find the Advertisers

Once you have your direct advertising program established, you will start to receive inquiries from people. On the beginning, however, you will need to hunt advertisers down. Do not get discouraged if get turned down initially, provided you have all the aforementioned requirements, sooner or later you will find someone willing to take a shot on your site.

• People linking to your site or articles: If a company is willing to link to your articles or to add your website under its “Links” or “Resources” section, it is also probably willing to discuss about advertising on your site. Keep track of those incoming links.
• People leaving comments/e-mails: The same principle applies to people leaving comments on your blog or sending you e-mails. If among them you see an employee or the owner of a company that could be interested on your website, bingo! Contact him or her and get the conversation going.
• AdWords advertisers: Through out your search for advertisers you will notice that most of the established companies are not aware of the benefits of online advertising. If a certain company is already spending money on Google AdWords, however, it is very likely that it would also be open to other forms of online advertising. Think about some keywords that are related to your topic and Google them. Check the sponsored links that will appear and contact them. (You can also check the advertisers that appear on the Adsense units of related websites)
• Other advertising networks: While Google AdWords is by far the largest advertising network on the Internet, there are many others that could be useful. Check the companies that are spending money on AdBrite, Text-Link-Ads, BlogAds, SponsoredReviews and so on.
• Banner advertisers on similar sites: Check out popular websites on your niche and see what companies are advertising there. Provided you offer them an interesting deal (i.e., a reasonable price for your size), I am pretty sure they will be interested.
• Create a “Potential Sponsors” bookmark folder: This technique produced outstanding results for me. I have a bookmark folder on my browser called “Potential Sponsors.” Every time I come across a company or website that could be interested in sponsoring my website, I bookmark it. Currently I have over 100 bookmarked sites on that folder, and I have not approached half of them yet.

How Much to Charge

• You need to provide value: It is all about value. A potential sponsor or advertiser will want to see some returns for the money he will be spending on your site, and this can be seen as visibility (impressions) and leads (clicks and possible sales). Make sure, therefore, that your advertising deals will deliver.
• The numbers: Remember that there are some pretty cheap advertising options out there (e.g., Google AdWords), and you will need to be competitive. Provided you reserved a good spot for the sponsors (sidebar or header, preferably) you could start charging a $0,5 CPM (cost per 1000 impressions). If your blog is generating 100,000 monthly page views, therefore, a banner spot on your sidebar should cost around $50. Start low and build your way upwards. Popular blogs (e.g., TechCrunch) have a higher CPM, sometimes as high as $10, but you will need a huge credibility to arrive there.
• Cross-check: You can easily check if you are charging a suitable rate by using Adsense units on the places where you will sell direct advertising. Analyze how much you would gain with Adsense, and adjust your rates accordingly. Secondly, you can also check similar sites that are already selling direct ads.
• Be flexible regarding the terms: Flexibility is key. First of all make advertising agreements on a month-to-month basis. People don’t like to commit to something they are not completely sure about. If someone proposes you a longer deal, offer a discount in exchange.
• Offer test periods: Unless you have a very popular website, you will find potential advertisers reluctant to spend real money. If you are confident that the deal will create value for both parties, however, you can use that on your favor. Offer a free test period whenever needed. Some of the times the advertiser will turn you down after it, but other times they will confirm the deal. Either way you have nothing to lose.

Online Advertising / Web Advertising / Business Advertising

A powerful ad is one of the most important aspects of your success. The secret to a successful ad is your HEADLINE. You only have a split second to grab your targets attention. Your potential customer will most likely scan the ads and only read one if it catches their attention. Write your ads with passion, excitement, and benefits.

Use this powerful approach when creating your ad copy.

A	-Attention	-Grab your targets attention
I	-Interest	-Create curiosity
D	-Detail	-Provide details
A	-Action	-Call for action

Create an urgency to act now. Creating a successful ad will take a great deal of time and effort. You'll need to write it and re-write it over and over again before you come up with a great ad.

We all know the importance of a powerful headline. However, writing a great headline isn't as easy as it sounds.

An effective headline will literally force your potential customers to learn more. It will instantly ignite a certain emotion and intrigue them to read on.

In order to write an effective headline, you must learn how to use specific words to achieve a specific reaction.

Before writing your headline, you must first learn a little bit about the basic human motivators. According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, human behavior is always
the result of one or more of five basic needs. He listed these needs in a sequence that he refers to as "the hierarchy of human needs."

He believes that until a less important need is met there won't be any desire to pursue a more important need. Below are the five human motivators, beginning with the basic needs and continuing to the most important needs.

Physiological - Basic human needs include hunger, thirst, shelter, clothing and sex.
Safety (Security) - Human need for physical, emotional and financial security.
Social (Affiliation) - Human need for love, affection, companionship and acceptance.
Esteem (Self Esteem) - Human need for achievement, recognition, attention and respect.
Self-actualization - Human need to reach their full potential.

When you are aware of the basic human needs, you can incorporate these needs into your writing. A great headline will appeal to your potential customers' emotions. You must feel their needs, wants and desires and write your headlines with passion and emotion.

When writing your headlines, keep in mind, you only have a few seconds to grab your potential customers' attention. If your headline doesn't immediately catch their attention, they'll simply move on and never return. Below are several
different formulas used by professional copywriters to write compelling headlines.

How to

"How to Increase Your Sales Up to 500% by Using This One Simple Strategy"

Headlines beginning with 'how to' are very successful, as the Internet is all about information. Internet users have a strong desire to learn. A headline beginning with 'how to' immediately grabs your potential customers' attention and forces them to read on.

Question

"Are You Sick and Tired of Working For Someone Else?"

Headlines written in the form of a question are very effective, as they appeal to your potential customers' emotions. When they read a headline written as a question, they'll answer the question in their mind. If the question identifies a specific need, want or desire, they'll read on.

Command

"Double Your Income Within the Next 12 months -- Guaranteed!"

A command headline focuses on the most important benefit your product or service has to offer. It instantly demands your potential customers' attention and intrigues them to read on.

News

"Announcing a Brand New Breakthrough in E-Publishing"

News headlines are very effective and used to announce new products and services. They are written in the form of an announcement or introduction and create curiosity.

Testimonials

"Internet Marketing Exclusive is Pure Genius -- Our Sales Have Increased by 40%!"

Headlines written in the form of a testimonial are very effective, as they instantly begin building trust.

When writing your headlines, certain words, when combined together, will literally draw your readers' attention to your ad. Below are of few of these "Power Words" that consistently work.

Breakthrough Discover Discovery Easy Free Guaranteed Hidden Incredible Love Master Money New Powerful

Profits Proven Results Revealed Scientific Secret Shocked Shocking Ultimate Uncovered You Your

According to a Yale University study, the following words
are the most powerful words in the English language.

Money Discovery Save Easy New Love Health Proven You Results Guaranteed Safety

Just as certain words ignite different emotions, certain
subjects have a broader interest than others do. Some of
the most popular subjects include wealth, love, health
and safety.

Take your time and try the different formulas according to
your needs. Use a combination of the power words and write
a headline that sells. By learning the art of writing headlines
that focus on the basic human needs and emotions, you can
increase your sales considerably.

Testing and Tracking Your Strategies
Developing and implementing a strategic marketing plan is an essential part of your success. However, unless you're testing and tracking your strategies, you may be losing a great deal of time and money.

You can dramatically increase your sales simply by taking the time to test and track your results. Not only will it help you to determine what's working and what's not, but it will also enable you to focus your efforts on the strategies
that produce results.

When testing your marketing strategies, keep in mind, a strategy that produces results for one person may not produce results for you. There is no 'set in stone' strategy that works for everyone. You must develop your own style and technique and test your results to determine what works for you. Below are some ad tracking resources to assist you in your testing and tracking endeavors.

Ad Tracking CGI Scripts

Lnkinlite

If you're looking for a simple way to track clickthroughs, then LnkinLite may be your answer. This free script will enable you to easily keep track of the number of clicks a specific link receives. Instead of using your standard link within your advertising, you can use a link created by this script. It will track the number of clickthroughs and instantly redirect your visitors to your URL.

Willmaster's ProLinkz

This powerful script is a link creator, tracker, disguiser and manager all in one. It will enable you to create uniquely coded links that redirect to any URL you specify
and count all hits and referrers. Cost - $45.00

AdTrackZ

This script will enable you to set up an entire ad tracking campaign including statistical reports for referring URLs, what browsers your visitors have installed, what operating systems your visitors are using and much more. Cost - $47.00

Ad Tracking Services
LinkCounter

A free service that tracks the clickthrough rates of your links. In addition to tracking your links, LinkCounter hides the URL of the link destination. This will prevent users from removing or changing your affiliate ID when visiting an affiliate site through your link.

HyperTracker

The PRO version of HyperTracker contains a number of advanced features including: unlimited advertising campaigns, tracking of sales and actions, special scripts that let you promote your own website address in your campaigns and much more.

Adminder

An online tracking system that will enable you to track an entire advertising campaign. It will enable you to see how many visitors were generated by each of your ads, keep track of sales that were generated by each ad and calculates the
cost-per-click, cost-per-sale, and click-to-sale ratios for each ad.

If you'd rather not use any of the products and services listed above, you can use some alternative methods. Below are some example tracking methods you can use to track your response rates:

URL

You can track your ads simply by adding some special coding to your URL. To code your URL, add a question mark followed by a special tracking code to the end of your web address. Your coded link will still open your web page. Your code
should look something like this:

http://www.yourdomain.com/?ad1

The text after the question mark should identify a specific ad. You can code it however you'd like.

To view your results, you'll need to look at your log files. Your code will be displayed within your log files beside your URL.

Email

You can track your email responses to specific ads by using the email subject. Select a specific word to be placed within the email subject for each ad. Although you can request that a certain word be placed within the email subject, many times it won't be supplied. To avoid this problem, you can create a special email link that will automatically fill in the subject when clicked on. Your link should look something like this:

mailto:you@yourdomain.com?subject=ad1

Testing and tracking your strategies is an essential part of doing business. By concentrating your efforts on strategies that produce results, you can not only increase your sales, but you'll also save yourself a great deal of time and money.