Email marketers: Keep your list clean

Who doesn't love spam email and the companies that spam us? Even those running legitimate email campaigns need to keep their lists clean. But how do you know if it's dirty? Mediapost.com is here to help. Here are some tips on how to spot problems with your list:

· Drab delivery rates. If successful deliveries regularly fall below 85%, your list smacks of mucky muck. It's probably time to open the hood and perform a tune up.

· ISPs flag you. Low deliveries go hand in hand with higher bounce numbers-and eventually ISPs will detect and label this as unsavory behavior and flag you. These flags jeopardize your ability to attain and maintain whitelist status.

· Caught in a spam trap. Of course you don't intend to spam, but dirty lists actually are breeding grounds for spam traps. Without proper bounce management your old outdated lists may contain invalid addresses, which ISPs can covertly reassign as spam traps. Be wary of this-it could cost you.

· You become a "marked domain." Sans whitelist status, ISPs may simply shun your domain. Here are a few pitfalls:

o Your large deliveries end up in the trash or blocked
o Spam traps tag you
o ISP bots restrict your email batch volume
o Before you know it your e-marketing program is in trouble
The gist: 'ouch' in the profits department!

Tips for working with your ad agency

Steve McKee of BusinessWeek offers some tips on working with your ad agency. This is our favorite and perhaps most important:

Give them your time. If your company was facing a multimillion-dollar lawsuit that could forever alter its ability to operate profitably, you'd make time for the lawyers. An ad campaign isn't a lawsuit, but the stakes are the same in terms of potential impact. Don't just hire an agency and expect it to perform magic. Be willing to do the heavy lifting from your end to ensure it's informed, prepared, and set up for success. Be open and honest with your agency, communicating your needs and goals clearly. Make time for the agency, answer all of its questions, and allow it to immerse itself in your business.

Wall St. Journal blogs

I'm not one to brag, but it's Friday and I'm excited. Remember I told you about the Wall St. Journal blogs? I just got another hit in there for Scientific American magazine. These blogs are great and easy to access.

Check them out, they would be very powerful exposure for your company.

Word of the Day: Japander

For my money, one of the most enjoyable time-wasters on the planet is watching major movie stars Japander. What does it mean to Japander, you ask? "Japander" combines the words "Japan" (the popular Asian nation known for their fresh fish and whacked-out television programs) and "Pander" (to sacrifice one's dignity and artistic integrity in a foreign land, hoping nobody at home will ever see it).

It seems that many of our A-list celebs carve out quite a lucrative side business by shilling products over in Japan. Unfortunately for them, the good folks at japander.com noticed, and built quite a collection of hilariously jarring ads starring luminaries like Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Michael Jackson (back when he was black and far less terrifying to people of all ages), George Lucas and even the great Rick Astley (I thought you said you were never gonna let me down, Rick).

Here's one of my favorites: Nicholas Cage belting out a little ditty about his favorite pachinko parlor. Although I'm not exactly sure what a pachinko parlor is, it must be a wondrous place to inspire such a profound musical tribute:

New ads and promotional launches

Mediapost.com has this week's new ad campaigns and promotional launches. Harrison Ford does Conservation International, Kenny Chesney is in Corona and there are details on numerous other campaigns including BMW X6 and bot Beverages.

Beware of too much creativity in ads

BusinessWeek's Steve McKee warns of shoe-horning a great idea into your ad despite it not doing much to develop your brand.

He offers some great examples, including Oprah's big 2004 car giveaway to her audience members. Anyone remember the brand of car? We didn't either. Great stunt, but what did it ultimately achieve for Pontiac?

In 2002, Vodafone sponsored two streakers to interrupt a rugby match. It got a lot of attention for sure, but did it help the Vodafone brand?

Quizno's "spongmonkey" ad campaign? An artist in London had developed quite a following for the creatures and the ad tested well. But, one store manager said their store's sales dropped 205-30% during the time that campaign ran.

We aren't sayings ads shouldn't be creative, not at all. But they should be creative in a way that helps and drives your brand.

My favorite example? When a friend says, "hey did you see that commercial with the guy and the thing and he gets hit in the head? Hilarious! Great commercial!" I always respond, "what was it for?" The answer nine times out of ten is: "I don't remember."

Well, that's a bad commercial then. Ads aren't there to entertain you, they are there to put a brand into your head and have it stick. Funny commercials are sure better for the consumer, but they aren't always better for the brand.

Better customer quotes

While customer testimonials are useful marketing tools, Lisa Lamotta of Forbes.com writes that a third-part case study is even better. The article says:

Rather than take the brief book-jacket approach to customer testimonials, try a full-blown case study, says Dianna Huff, principal of DH Communications, a Boston-based marketing consultancy and copywriting service. Huff says farming out this service can cost between $800 and $2,000 for a single study; done right, she insists, it's worth every penny.

"I generally recommend that a company hire [a third party] to do the case study, because it requires calling one of your clients and getting their version of the story," says Huff. "Sometimes those versions don't match up. It also gives the other party the ability to speak more freely than they would to someone at your company."

You want to be in the Wall St. Journal, but...

It's damn near impossible, we know. If your company's name isn't Blackstone or Microsoft, it's really difficult to get mentioned.

Well, here is a tip that can get you sort of in the WSJ. Check out their blogs. Blogs are much easier to get into and you are still reaching the WSJ audience. No, it's not the same as getting into their main newspaper, but it's much more achievable. The writers are all very accessible too, with an email address on each blog.

Peter King on publicists

Peter King talks about his job at Sports Illustrated with PRWeek. Here he discusses his relationship with PR people:


PRWeek: What's your interaction like with PR professionals? Do you get pitched?

King: A lot of times in the offseason, I will get sent story ideas that are legitimate, good stories ideas from very good PR people, and I listen and sometimes I do them. I'm in the process of doing one now, I'd rather not say what, but I think that PR people, especially ones that I've had a relationship with for a long time and I trust and [listen] when I say, ‘No, that's ridiculous. I have no interest in doing that.' That doesn't happen often, because they know not to give me that stuff.

I think PR people serve a great purpose especially if they know what I like. A lot of times PR guys will send me an e-mail and say this might be something we like for Monday Morning Quarterback, it's the sort of quirky thing we read there.

Free Advertising with Google Local

Here's a pretty cool trick (found on the great internet marketing blog Hubspot) that should help increase traffic to your site:

1. Go to Google Local.
2. Click the link on the lower left that says "Put your business on Google Maps" and follow the instructions.
3. Profits.

OK, I'm not necessarily sure about #3, but it certainly can't hurt your traffic and it's free.

PR for American Airlines

David Kiley of BusinessWeek has some advice for Weber-Shandwick, the PR counsel for American Airlines.

He thinks the airline desperately needs PR help and offers this:

Dear Client: Instead of instituting a fee for checked bags, which will be a lightning rod of bad publicity, please consider burying the cost of rising fuel in across-the-board ticket price increases. Consumers understand that many consumer prices are rising because of increasing fuel costs. What they don’t like, or understand, is when companies begin charging for items they have previously gotten for free—a single checked bag, a soda, a bag of chips, a WiFi connection, etc. The best solution to this problem is to stay out of the news, not to lean into it and ask for a pie in the face.

We agree with Kiley and add this: Airline prices come off as completely arbitrary and random to consumers anyway, just tweak your prices a bit. We'd never know.

Roy Williams: Four ad mistakes to avoid

Not the Roy Williams from the Dallas Cowboys that can't cover a table with a tablecloth. And not the Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions that just figured out you have to tip pizza delivery boys. This Roy Williams writes for Entrepreneur.com and offers four mistakes you shouldn't make with your ads (and we're fairly certain he tips his pizza boys).

Mistake No. 1: Demanding "polished and professional" ads
If you insist that your ads "sound right," you force them to be predictable. Predictable ads do not surprise Broca's area of the brain, which understands language. They don't open the door to conscious awareness. They fail to gain the attention of your prospective customer.

Mistake No. 2: Informing without persuading
Don't create ads that present information without:

* Substantiating their claims
Example: "Lowest prices guaranteed!" Or what, you'll apologize?
* Explaining the benefit to the customer
Example: "We use the Synchro-static method!" Which means what?
Example: "It's truck month at Ramsey Ford!" So, should I come to the party and bring my truck?

Mistake No. 3: Entertaining without persuading
Don't draft ads that deliver entertainment without:

* Delivering a clear message
Example: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Is this saying, "Dogs like our food, you will, too"?
* Causing the customer to imagine themselves taking action.
Example: "Yo quiero Taco Bell." Am I supposed to buy a taco for my Chihuahua?

The best ads cause customers to imagine themselves taking action. These ads deliver:

* Involvement--Watch a dancing silhouette ad for the iPod and mirror neurons in your brain will cause part of you to dance, as well. This is good advertising.
* Clarity--The white earphone cords leading into the ears of the dancing silhouette make it clear that the white iPod is a personal music machine.

Problem #4: Decorating without persuading
Graphic artists will often create a visual style and call it "branding." This is fine if your product is fashion, a fragrance, an attitude or a lifestyle, but God help you if you sell a service or a product that's meant to perform.

"Do you like the ad?" asks the graphic artist. "Yes, it's perfect," replies the client. "The colors create the right mood and the images feel exactly right. I think it represents us well." Sorry, but I disagree.

The important thing is getting your customers' attention and compelling them to take action. Worried about offending someone? Of the customers who hate your ads, 98.9 percent of them will still come to your store and buy from you when they need what you sell. These customers don't cost you money; they just complain to the cashier as they're handing over their cash.

Publicity tips from Joan Stewart

Joan Stewart of PublicityHound.com has a newsletter and website that are worth checking out. Not all of the tips are viable for you or you business, but she does get me thinking. Here are some of her ideas for things that your assistant can be doing to help you PR wise:

--Update your press kit.

--Arrange for reprints of articles you've written.

--Help you stay on top of your social networking pages at sites
like Facebook and LinkedIn. They can friend others, update your
profile and accept invitations.

--Write and post press releases.

--Create Google Alerts for topics you want to follow.

--Write and submit articles to online directories.

--Research podcasts and blogs.

--Help book speaking engagements and prepare handouts.

--Find ways to recycle publicity.

--Look for book reviewers and submit your books.

--Find content for your ezine and blog.

Evolution of newspapers

As you may have noticed, newspaper circulations have been steadily declining during this decade. Are people not reading the newspaper anymore? Yes and no. Less and less are reading the print newspaper, but they are still getting their content online.

A recent survey by Nielsen/NetRatings has shown that online newspaper readership is actually growing faster than online readership as a whole. Online newspaper readers during first quarter of 2007 are up 5.3% over 2006 during the same time period. Online as a whole? 2.7%.

We think online newspaper websites are a great way to reach your audience. Don't forget, the web is international, so you would be reaching people outside of your target locale as well. Sports marketers, especially, take note.

Let's say you have a product or service that is targeted towards Yankees fans. You could advertise in the NY Post and reach a lot of Yankees fans for sure. But, what about NYPost.com? Do you have any idea how many Yankees fans there are globally that have zero access to a print copy of the Post?

Also, the study points out that the average online reader has a higher annual income than the average print reader and shows a greater propensity to shop online. These are good things.

Tracking PR results

It's simply one of the toughest things to do in marketing: tie PR hits to your bottom line. So your product was in the "New Gear" section of a major men's magazine. How many units did you sell because of it?

Well, #1, you can't look at it quite like that or you will never have a successful PR program. While that hit may certainly move units and that's a great thing, a PR program is more about the totality of hits over a longer period of time. It's about branding and raising your awareness in the marketplace (wow, that was marketing speak and we hate that. Sorry, won't happen again).

But, we know of a way to tie PR hits to actual money and when we hear of a better one, we'll let you know. Until then, we love the idea of physically measuring a hit and comparing to ad rates.

For example, we got Anthony Gallo Acoustics Reference 3.1 speaker into Playboy magazine's Holiday Gift Guide. The speaker took up about 1/4 of the page. I looked up Playboy's ad rates in my media guides and it was about $100,000 for a full-page ad (these rates can vary drastically based on frequency and whatever you are able to negotiate. This is ballpark).

Now, as you may know, you get a better deal for buying bigger ads, so it's not $25,000 for a 1/4 page (unless you negotiated that, in which case, bravo). Let's conservatively estimate that it would cost you in the $33,000 range for 1/4 page.

PR does have more value than an advertisement, as there is an air of objectivity that comes with it. Most people don't know that someone like me called Playboy numerous times to try to get that product in the gift guide. Many assume that these media outlets find all of this stuff on their own.

In PR circles, they say that PR is worth 3x as much as advertisements as far as impact. So let's apply that, and now that Playboy hit is worth approximately $99,000.

Yes, these are estimates, but it's the best way we've heard to judge your PR results.

Starting a Small Business

Sticking with the list theme, here's a pretty handy checklist for starting a small business for all of you would-be entrepreneurs in our midst.

You can follow this carefully researched, well-thought-out list, or you can employ the strategy that we used four years ago -- save up just enough money to survive the first month (barely), quit your jobs and hope for the best.

Let's call our plan "Option B." Try the checklist first.

7 marketing tips

We love lists. Here is a list from Businessknowhow.com on atypical marketing techniques that you can use to boost your business. Tip #7? Start a blog. Wonder where they go that idea.

KFC using subliminal advertising?

Thanks to Mark for tipping us off on this one. Is KFC using subliminal messaging in their ads? Looks like they have mini images of money in their sandwiches. Does it work? We'd have to doubt it, but you never know.

I haven't been to KFC in a while so maybe this trick is a waste of time.

Wise words from Perry Marshall

Check out PerryMarshall.com, the guy always has some interesting information. Here is some useful info on Google ads, why you get 120 characters, and the best way to make use of those characters. He writes:

"Ever been frustrated at the size limit of those tiny Google ads?

25 characters for the headline and 35 characters for each
of the other three lines. Not enough room to say very much, is it?

120 characters, that's all you get.

But there's a story behind the size of that ad. Yahoo/Overture
originally had more room than that. Google tested a number
of sizes themselves... some of my customers were beta
testers for other sizes, including 200 character ads... but
Google eventually settled on 120.

Later, Yahoo settled on the exact same format. 120 characters.

Why is that?

Because experiments proved that 120 is the optimal size for
text message ads on the Internet. If you have something
good to say, that's enough space to say it - to say just enough
to get a person to go to the next step.

If you can't say it in 120 characters, you ain't got nuthin' to say.

Isn't it interesting, 120 characters is also about the same amount
of text that fits on a highway billboard?

Isn't it interesting, most classified ads in most newspapers and
magazines are about the same size?

The classified ad at the top of this email is about that size.

Isn't it interesting, cell phone text messages are 160 characters -
nearly the same size?

It's a good size. Plenty of room if you choose your words
carefully.

Now then... one of the things I talked about at my 80/20 Seminar
in Chicago is that 5 is a magic number. That if you want to
segment peoples' level of interest, multiples of 5 are a great
way to build your funnel.

Step 1: 120 characters in a Google ad
Step 2: 120 words on your landing page (1 word = 5 characters)
Step 3: 120 sentences (1 sentence = 5 words)
Step 4: 120 paragraphs (1 paragraph = 5 sentences)

...eventually you end up with a group of people who will read an
entire 120 page book... at each step you've got a smaller
number of incredibly interested people. Years go by and
you might end up with an even smaller number of devout
students who own 120 books on one topic.

To me, THIS is the answer to that old "long copy - short copy"
debate. You start with a little and you take people through the
steps until they're sold. Some drop out and there's nothing you
can do about that.

Once the interested ones are sold, some of 'em still want more.
Give them more... and more... and more...

...until they're satisfied.

The best customer is the one who keeps coming back and
wants more, more, more.

Design your business for THAT customer, scratch HER itch,
and she'll stick with you through thick and thin. You'll be immune
to the ups and downs of interest rates and economies and all
that surface level stuff.

Go deep - in multiples of 5."

The Drummer Has Been Located (Thank You Google)

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me about the Korean drummer - it's good to see I'm not the only one who enjoys his "Dave Grohl meets Nick the Lounge Singer" approach to percussion.

I did some digging (OK, I searched "Korean Drummer" on google for five seconds) and found an update on my new favorite musician on korea.net:

The energetic drummer...turns out to be Gwon Sun-geun...

According to Gwon, 67, who has since migrated to Toronto, Canada, the footage was originally part of a program on Korea recorded by Toronto MTV in August 1990 where Korean singer named Jeong Ae-ri and other two band members performed at Toronto MTV’s studio.

Gwon...moved to Toronto in 1975 with his wife and children. He now plays for the Korean community and teaches drum class in Toronto.

So here's to you, Gwon Sun-geun. The next time I take a thoroughly overzealous approach to an otherwise mundane task, it will be in your honor. Kudos sir.

Scientific American: Blogging is healthy for you

Good news for all you bloggers, an article on Sciam.com says that blogging is actually healthy for you. Check it out here.

Tracking print advertising

Internet ads are painfully easy to track. You put a banner ad somewhere. Someone clicked on it. Wonderful. You know where and when they did so.

But what about print ads? You advertise in two industry trade magazines, mainly because you know you have to but aren't necessarily sure why. What's it actually doing for me? People don't always say "hey, I saw your ad in such and such." Are people actually visiting my site because of these ads? There is no way to tell.

Not true.

Here is a great tip that you can use in your company's next meeting and people will think you really sat around and thought about it, when in truth you were on ESPN.com all day managing your fantasy baseball team that is currently ranked #9 out of 10 teams because you didn't know how to draft relievers.

Let's use our company's URL as an example, because I don't know your company's URL. Let's say we run ads in the Wall St. Journal and the NY Times. No seriously, let's pretend.

Instead of putting www.feverpitchmedia.com in both ads and having no clue who found us from what ad, use different URL's. Set up alternate URL's that take you to the same homepage. In the WSJ use www.feverpitchmediausa.com and in the Times use www.feverpitchmediaPR.com.

Only use those URL's in those specific ads and nowhere else. So when you track who came in from those URL's, you will know that they HAD to find you because of that advertisement.

You'll figure out really quickly whether or not you should continue advertising in those outlets.

How much traffic do websites get?

Ever wonder how popular a certain website is? Your company appeared on www.somewhateversite.com, but so what? How can you tell whether or not anyone visits that site?

Check out Alexa.com and install an Alexa toolbar on your browser. It will automatically give you a traffic rank of each and every site you visit. It's where that site is ranked on the entire web. The lower the number, the better. For example, Google and Yahoo are usually #1 and #2.

Another good traffic site is Compete.com, where you can type in URL's and directly compare the traffic of different sites.

These are not 100% accurate, that must be said. But they do give you an idea. If a site has a traffic rank of 100, that's no accident. There are millions of people visiting every day.

And just so you know, if the traffic rank on your site says "N/A," you might want to call someone. That means there isn't a single soul on your site and you may want to do something about that.

Mix it up a bit!

Here is a great piece about 10 marketing stunts. Definitely a must-read. Get creative, try something a little offbeat. These things don't always work, but you will never know unless you try. The Tour de France bicycling race? Started as a marketing stunt for a newspaper. Miss America pageant? A marketing stunt to get people to Atlantic City.

The first example is brilliant, where Taco Bell announces in an ad that it has purchased the Liberty Bell. TONS of media outlets picked it up. Too bad the ad ran on April Fool's Day. Take advantage of opportunities like April Fool's Day and get tons of free PR.

What is your marketing stunt?

So Google Can't Find Your Website...

It's amazing how many times people have contacted us and complained that their current website isn't showing up in Google results. It usually doesn't take very long to figure out why.

Now Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a service we happen to offer, is an extremely involved process. For many keywords and phrases, it requires a great deal of strategic code manipulation to get to the top, and constant adjustment to stay there. However, there are some basic rules to keep in mind when developing your site to ensure that Google has the best chance of finding you:

1. Use real text. You'd be amazed how many times companies bury the text of their sites within Flash animations or graphic files. These may look pretty, and you have more control over font selection and layout, but search engines cannot read them. Needless to say, that's a huge problem.

2. Keep it short and simple. Pick just a few keywords/phrases to optimize for on each page of your site (ideally one or two) and sprinkle those words as liberally as you can throughout your page copy and meta tags (see #3 below). If you try to optimize for 50 different words on a single page, you'll completely dilute your relevance when the search engines crawl the site.

3. Match your meta tags. Every page should have a title, keywords and description in the "head" content of the code. These are called meta tags, and they should match each other as closely as possible.

4. Upload an XML sitemap for every domain. A sitemap is simply a document that lists the pages on your site that are available for crawling. You can visit this site to easily create a sitemap based on your site, then submit them to Google and Yahoo! (you'll need accounts with both).

There you have it, four simple (and free) tools that will help to increase your visibility on the web and drive more traffic to your site. It certainly won't replace an SEO professional, but it's a pretty good start. Happy optimizing!

Adwords users better check homepage loading time

Using Google Adwords? Don't most of us? Well, to get a good grade from Google, you are best off with a quick-loading website.

According to Shelly Banjo of the Wall St. Journal (we haven't heard of that newspaper either, but we'll be trusting in this instance), your site's loading time will become a problem in June:

"In mid-June," she writes. "Slow load-time grades will begin to ding an advertiser’s “Quality Score,” the formula Google uses to determine how much to charge advertisers for their keywords to show ads."

Be All You Can Be (Or Something Like That)

OK, I'll freely admit that I'm primarily posting this video because I find this guy to be utterly hilarious. Since I don't want to veer dangerously off-topic on the very first day of our new blog, allow me to take a moment to somewhat relate this to marketing...

*scratching head*

*furrowing brow*

Let's try this: If you find yourself relegated to the background in life or in business, there's always a way to make yourself the center of attention.

That's the best I can do for now. So just sit back, relax and enjoy perhaps the greatest drummer/showman in the history of the planet. Give it about a minute for him to really get going. Believe me, it's worth it:

Advertise creatively with offbeat sports

Great article on a slightly different approach to advertising. Why not? It keeps you in the sports realm without having to pay NFL prices.

"There is definitely a growing trend in 'fringe' or 'secondary' sports," says Ray Artigue, executive director of the sports business MBA program at Arizona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business. "The level of competition or participation is really relative. It's still a sport, and it often captures our imagination."

15 sites to promote your business

Let's keep it going with Entrepreneur.com. I'm learning something today about Entrepreneur.com. I need to spend more time on Entrepreneur.com.

Here is a list of 15 websites that you can use to help promote your business. I admit some were new to me too, so I'm going to go check those out.

Five easy ways to "clean" your brand

John Williams from Entrepreneur.com offers five great tips for streamlining your brand and marketing materials.

It really isn't hard to keep your image looking clean and tight. Be consistent. This may sound basic and stupid, but I can't tell you how many companies I've seen with an ad that has one look, a logo doing something else and a website that looks like neither one.

When was the last time you reviewed your marketing/branding materials? It's not hard and it won't take much time.

Marketing in a Weak Economy

We've all heard it before as soon as the economy slows down (and boy, has it ever slowed down): "PR and marketing expenses are the first thing to go when we tighten our belt."

Well, a study by the Penn State College of Business doesn't think so, arguing instead that downtimes are an opportunity to grab market share and increase profits.