October 17 – LA2M Hosts Speaker From Campbell Ewald

On Wednesday, October 17th, LA2M will continue its series of lunchtime marketing presentations by hosting Dave Linabury, Director of Interactive at Campbell Ewald.

Dave has built an impressive resume – including former positions with General Motors and Disney, and a helping hand in developing WordPress – before joining Campbell Ewald in 2004. In his current role, Dave provides social media strategy and innovation for the agency, is a frequent guest on social media forums, and is a nationally prominent blogger whose work has been featured on Oprah and in The New York Times.

In his presentation, Dave plans to discuss how the touch screen has shaped our culture and what businesses can do to utilize touch screen technology from a business perspective, as well as discuss the possibility of life after touch screens.

Catch this dynamic speaker and network with other local online marketing professionals on Wednesday, October 17th from 11:45am – 1:00pm at Conor O’Neill’s in downtown Ann Arbor.

For more networking opportunities and educational marketing programs, please visit a MI marketing agency. Contact Clarity Quest today at 877-887-7611. Request a quote.

How to Incorporate Interactive and Telemarketing Efforts into your Campaign

Though telemarketing and interactive marketing are often overlooked in the creation of marketing campaigns, if used correctly they can be extremely viable marketing tactics that will help your campaign become more successful. Implementing telemarketing and interactive marketing efforts into your overall campaign can engage your target market and generate new business, better conversation, and increased revenue. The following tips will help your company learn to successful utilize telemarketing and interactive marketing efforts to enhance your marketing strategy.

1. Build a valuable target market list: In order to conduct telemarketing efforts that engage and entice customers, ensure that the customers you call will be interested in your business’s services. Create a list of existing customers, as well as those whose demographics match current customers, or the current customers of similar businesses. Having a list particular to your business is an extremely valuable resource that will help ensure the success of your telemarketing campaign.

2. Coordinate Telemarketing with Online Marketing Programs: Create engaging calling programs that go hand in hand with your online marketing efforts. Create an email marketing campaign and social media campaign that parallels your telemarketing efforts. You can also use telemarketing to do some preliminary research about customer needs, wants, and pain points before launching your interactive campaigns.  This is a great way for customers to better recall your business, and have a personal, one-on-one dialogue with your company that may lead to improved attitudes and opinions about your business. By developing a more personable connection.

3. Make Interactive Marketing Fun: Rather than spamming potential clients with banner and pop up ads, create fun and unique tactics that will break through the clutter and lead to more and longer page views. For example, implement online games that will engage visitors on your site and persuade them to spend more time looking around. Create quizzes and surveys that will entertain visitors, while also helping your company learn more about its market so it can better advertise to them. Conduct contests on your website and social media pages that will give visitors a reason to come to the site, and make them feel more apart of the company.

4. Create Visually Appealing Interactive Marketing: Ensure that all of your interactive marketing efforts pull potential customers to your site, rather than pushing them away. Intrigue them with visually appealing and educational infographics to display information, rather than bombarding them with long lists of data. Create aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate graphic design for your website, mobile, and software applications that will draw in your target market. Integrate video into your interactive marketing efforts to attract more visitors and persuade them to stay on your site longer.

For telemarketing and interactive marketing advice and services, contact a Michigan marketing company. Visit our blog, or contact Clarity Quest today at 877-887-7611. Request a quote.

The Best Time to Send Emails

Here’s a link to great infographic by Pure360 on the best times to send email blasts.

http://emailmarketing.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83452a5d869e2015434cf6844970c-pi

Note the best time for B2B offers is 5-7pm when folks are working late.   We’ll be testing this theory over the next few months and will post results here on this blog.

Google Places Takes On New Interface, Becomes Google+ Local

A few months ago, Google subtly transferred all Google Places profiles into Google+ Local business pages, integrating business listings with Google’s newest social networking platform. The transformation of Google Places to Google+ Local comes as an attempt to make local search a more social process. If you have a Google+ profile, Google will give preference to search results that include reviews and photos added by people in your circles.

Aside from the new social aspect of Google+ Local, these business pages remain a fundamentally important tactic in online marketing efforts. If you still have not dealt with this change, the time to do so is now.

While all of your business information should have seamlessly transferred from your old Places listing to the new Google+ Local platform, some issues occasionally arise. Everyone should take the time to search for their business’ profile and make sure all of the information is up-to-date, that the map shows the correct location of your business, and that all reviews have been transferred correctly.

The new Google+ Local page layout offers the ability to customize your page with more photos and videos, which can be prominently displayed at the top of the page. The old 5-star rating system has also been revamped, as a new 30-point Zagat rating scale has been implemented in its place.

Each time Google makes an unexpected change affecting its interface or usability, there are sure to be strong feelings on the matter, both positive and negative. Whatever your stance on these latest changes to Google Places, we strongly recommend that you spend a few minutes optimizing your new profile to ensure that your business is visible and attractive to local searchers. As the local search environment becomes increasingly social, Google+ Local will be a key component to your local marketing efforts. The few minutes it may take to ensure your page is in order may prove to be the difference in winning the business of local customers over your competitors.

To learn more about the latest in SEO best practices, consult a Michigan marketing firm. Visit our blog, or contact Clarity Quest today at 877-887-7611. Request a quote.

3 Benefits of Geolocation for Marketers

Marketers are constantly trying to figure out the best ways to target the right customers, at the right time, in the right location. With geolocation software, marketers can be assured that their marketing communications efforts are reaching the subset of consumers that is most likely to turn into paying customers. With geolocation software, marketers can:

Target consumers in relevant locations – By knowing the physical location of potential customers, marketers can more effectively reach out to local consumers. This assures that marketing messages are more strategically targeted to those who are in a position to make a purchase.Show different content to different people – If, for example, your business operates in multiple cities, geolocation software can assist your marketing efforts by displaying the appropriate messaging to people in each location. This helps to decrease the amount of wasted advertising shown to those outside your service areas.Even reach mobile users effectively – Due to slow connection speeds and data usage limitations, about 80% of mobile web users opt to connect their device to WiFi, meaning geolocation can accurately target mobile web traffic as well.

In addition to geolocation being a beneficial tool for marketers, consumers should also be excited about this developing technology. For consumers, geolocation means an increase in relevant advertisements and a reduction of spam, all while maintaining personal privacy.

When It Comes to Messaging – Plan First, Write Later

All too often companies, especially technology companies, dive right into writing copy for websites, collateral and press releases.  This very tactical approach often leads to numerous re-writes and inconsistent positioning because different writers emphasize different points, themes and value propositions.

I strongly recommend having a technology marketing agency create messaging for your company and all products and services.  The messaging document should contain:

25, 50 and 100-word overview statementsFull description (3-5 paragraphs)Role-based message based on the titles in companies you are targetingA press release boilerplate5-6 value propositions (we call them messaging pillars)Content for your website’s homepage & main landing pageMedia talking points

With the elements above, you’ll have a great foundation on which to base all marketing communication efforts.

ArborMetrix Trade Show Booth

ArborMetrix is a healthcare analytics and software firm in Ann Arbor Michigan specializing in measurement of hospital and specialty-based care.

Attending their first trade show ever, ArborMetrix approached Clarity Quest to design podium and banner stand graphics. We combined healthcare and data analytics visuals to create an engaging and informative backdrop for their booth space.