Is the quest for search engine optimization making your brand “generic?”

By Steve Fodor

Is it more important for your brand to be found by search engines, or to portray your brand in a way that makes it stand out? The answer, of course, is both. But the quest for writing SEO-friendly headlines and content may be diminishing your brand’s unique position and point of view.

The foundation of successful marketing communications is telling a compelling story about your brand based on information about the consumer. It’s about understanding the emotional experience the consumer or end-user is seeking, and then crafting a story about how your brand delivers an experience that no other competing brand can match.

In today’s data-driven, online media environment, storytelling and consumer information is often interpreted as meaning “cookie data” rather than understanding and responding to the emotional experience a consumer is seeking. Copywriters and content creators are challenged with creating headlines and content comprised of SEO-powered words, often at the expense of creative storytelling.

No one knew how to tell a brand story based on emotional appeal better than advertising legend David Ogilvy, in my humble opinion. Consider some of his more exceptional brand storytelling efforts. “At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.” With that headline, Rolls-Royce owned the experience of “uncompromising luxury and quality” without having to pound a list of SEO-powered benefit words into the readers’ heads. The readers reach the conclusion about the brand themselves. For SEO purposes, that ad for Rolls-Royce might need to say, “Luxury cars, exceptional quality from Rolls-Royce.” That might make the message more SEO-friendly, but the story loses a lot of its appeal. Or take Dove Soap. “Darling, I’m having the most extraordinary experience” was the headline of a Dove soap ad from Ogilvy. That tells an emotionally-driven, experiential brand story in a much more interesting way than, “Germ-free, moisturizing soap for sensitive skin,” which is probably how someone would do an online search.

Some in the business of marketing content creation believe the “art” of crafting a brand message has been lost because of today’s online, data-driven media environment. The quest for search engine optimization has forced developers of marketing messages to focus on keywords and cookie data rather than creative storytelling, often portraying brands in more “generic” ways. Perhaps. But the true art of branding and storytelling is balancing creativity and consumer-based content creation with the rules of being found online. A task that’s much easier said than done. After all, if it doesn’t sell, it ain’t creative.

Advertising Creative Credit:David Ogilvy

The New Four “Ps” of Marketing

By Brad Smith

Remember from Marketing 101 the basics of the marketing craft – the Four Ps?

Product, Price, Promotion and Place (distribution)? I hope they still teach this. They’re as relevant today as they ever were.

But time marches on. Enter the age of technology and its impact on the third P. (That’s Promotion for those of you keeping score at home). With the almighty website as the hub of all things promotional, a whole new set of four Ps is taking shape.

Platforms – PC, Phone and Pad

What technologies will prospects and customers use to access your website in the future? While no one knows when, it’s pretty clear that there are two new emerging platforms that are likely to outpace the Personal Computer in the not too distant future – the Phone and the Pad.

Some reports say that over half of the Internet access will be from smart phones by 2015. Some say 2013. Some people say next year. Then there are the new pads, or tablet computers, a new space all of the major computer manufacturers are jumping into fast.

So what’s the savvy company to do? Invest now in the reconstruction of the crown jewel of their marketing ─ their website ─ to maximize visitor experience in all three major platforms. Why wait? Every visitor to your website who can’t read it on their Droid or iPhone is a lost prospect. They’ve branded you as “old” and they probably won’t be back.

For starters, make sure your site can resize for smaller screens by using “Cascading Style Sheets” (CSS) programming. Depending on the platform, the CSS will resize elements within your site and display your page accordingly. Things you want easily seen, like your navigation buttons, are automatically resized to maximize navigation legibility and functionality on all three platforms.

If your platform of choice has an “i” in front of it, as in iPad or IPhone, forget about picking up Flash technology. Reason enough not to use it on your website. Programming and code can replace much of the wow-factor of Flash (as well as some other alternatives).

There’s much more to consider (isn’t there always?). But the whole point is to prepare your marketing efforts now to work well for you for the longest time period possible.

Don’t Procrastinate. Be a Player in your industry. Envision the Possiblities that new technologies can give your company. All by all means, Profit from the new 4Ps.

Flickr Photo Credit: issyeyre

Integrated Communications Still Vital for B2B Marketers.

By Steve Fodor

Business-to-business companies are dedicating more and more marketing funds to online marketing, SEO strategies and social mediums like Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube. Some in the industrial marketing sector have even coined the term “SMO” (social media optimization) which refers to the integration of social media and search engine optimization.

But even though the media landscape has changed dramatically in just a few short years, should B2B industrial companies put all or even most of their marketing efforts into just SEO or SMO strategies? There’s no doubt that investments in SEO, SMO and content development strategies will help more customers and prospects find your Web site, but consider these media usage statistics before you put all of your eggs in the online basket.

More than 50 percent of companies today are blocking access to social media in the workplace. Why? It has to do with productivity. A recent study showed that up to two hours per day per employee are lost due to social media, and 87 percent of employees said they had “no clear business reason” for using social media in the workplace.

A 2010 study from Palo Alto Networks, a network security firm, revealed that at least 88 percent of traffic on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn comes from users simply reading their own personal pages. That’s a lot of checking to see if anyone has “liked” my latest status update.

Please don’t get me wrong here. I am all for B2B industrial marketers utilizing online video and social media marketing to develop thought leadership positioning and for raising search engine rankings. But, I also believe that the usage habits and true role of social media marketing is still being defined for B2B marketers. I still have yet to see a bona fide case study with a measureable ROI for social media marketing in the B2B space.

Social media, online marketing and content development strategies most definitely have their place in the marketing mix for B2B industrial companies. But it’s estimated that 75 to 80 percent of people find Web sites through “other” marketing mediums like print, direct mail, and personal contact (i.e. – trade shows). No matter how much things change, an integrated marketing communications strategy is still vital.

Flickr Photo Credit: ivanpw

Boosting Online Presence for B2B Marketers on a Budget.

By Steve Fodor.

I don’t pretend to know everything, but I know one thing to be true: B2B marketers today need to boost their online presence with less funds, fewer people and in an ever-increasingly cluttered online environment.

What’s the point of having invested in a Web site if it does not get found? Or if it doesn’t sell? Content development strategies continue to grow as a way for increasing SEO and telling a brand story. And it’s a great strategy, if you have the time, people and resources to do it. A recent study points out that 60% of B2B companies have no marketing staff dedicated to content development, and 24% of companies have only one person dedicated to the task.

So what to do? A colleague of mine and I were discussing this dilemma the other day. The problem we’re trying to solve is: how can we create greater online presence for a client with minimal funds and not enough resources to really implement a content development strategy? Here’s some food for thought.

Give your Web site a “call to action.” - So many Web sites are basically, well, online brochures. If I come to the site once, I’ve seen about everything there is to see. Your Web site…regardless of industry… must first and foremost sell your products or services. Call-to-action specials, sweepstakes, promotions and “new” items that are available should be seen in a big and bold way. It’s easy and relatively inexpensive to frequently feature new items and promotions with calls to action on your home page.

Better yet, create micro sites for specific promotions. – Adding micro sites to support specific product or service specials and/or new promotions puts new content out there to be found, and can be created at a fraction of the cost of a new Web site.

Expand your presence through promotion on third-party e-newsletters. – Third party e-newsletters are often overlooked when developing online media strategies. But, just about every industry has online newsletters authored by credible industry experts. They usually are opt-in (meaning people actually request the content) and present promotional opportunities at a fraction of the cost of other more “mainstream” venues. In our experience, we’ve actually seen some online newsletters perform better than established publication Web sites.

These are a few ideas a B2B marketer can do today and on a relatively small budget to boost online presence. We call making the most of available marketing funds our Industrial-Strength Marketing® approach. Having been in business since 1985 and working exclusively with B2B marketers, we know that just throwing money at a marketing problem is not always possible (or advisable). We have a few more Industrial-Strength ideas to share. If you’ve got a few, let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit:28 misguided souls

The need for content is driving marketing.

By Steve Fodor.

“The biggest challenge is the mentality shift within marketing organizations. Marketing execs are always in the mind set of selling product. But we need to think and act like magazine editors. This type of thinking and approach is new.”

That’s not a quote from me, although I agree with it 100 percent. It’s a quote from an article titled, “Content needs drive organizational changes.”

Developing content that customers and prospects are seeking has become the new lifeblood of marketing. The need for content development is the result of the changing paradigm of sales. It used to be that the media controlled information and sales took the form of “going out and hunting.” Now, marketers can control information, bypass the media and invite prospects in through SEO strategies.

Sounds, easy, right? Well, apparently not.

Over the last few months, I’ve seen, heard and read about two very BIG NEEDS in the marketing world. First is the need for tighter alignment between sales and marketing. One source cited that only eight percent of companies feel that marketing departments are in touch with customers. Second is the need for developing relevant content that meets the unmet information needs of customers and prospects. Personally, I think these two needs are really one in the same.

Developing content in the form of Web site copy, blogs, videos and white papers takes time, talent and, most of all, people dedicated to the task. Companies typically look for content development insights by monitoring key words and search phrases and through Web analytics. But, here’s another suggested method for determining the direction of your content development strategy: know thy customer. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned field research where marketing people actually went out into the field, talked to end-users and the distribution channel and asked questions? Or (and don’t make a gasping sound here) actually interviewed field sales and customer service for content development topics? After all, sales and customer service are on the front lines. And, judging by the two biggest marketing needs I keep hearing over and over again, I would suggest it’s a sensible place to start.

We call our roll-up-your-sleeves process of getting out into the field to identify unmet information needs and then creating and delivering desired content “Sales Diagnostics.”

What’s your strategy for developing content?

Flickr Photo Credit: MatthewRad

Politics and Media.

By Steve Fodor

I’m writing this at 9:45 a.m. on April 7, 2011. Other than getting up for coffee, I haven’t left my desk.

As usual per my morning routine, I checked on some news sources via the internet. I also reviewed my professional groups on LinkedIn and a few trade publications.

This morning, I’ve come to the conclusion that politics and the changing media environment are alike. Why’s that? Because both so-called “new” and “old” marketing mediums are desperately vying for attention and legitimacy the way politicians do.

As I’m writing this, we are one day away from the federal government shutting down because of budget disagreements. I’ve seen and heard all the politicians shift blame and proclaim there is no viable solution or point of view other than “their own.”

I’ve also read the following this morning regarding marketing and media:

Traditional, interruption-based marketing is dead (pro “new” media)

Print advertising is still relevant (pro “old” media)

Spending on inbound marketing should be three times as much as outbound marketing (pro “new” media)

Nine out of 10 adults average 43 minutes reading the publication of their choice (pro “old” media)

The average budget spent on social media and company blogs has doubled from 2008 to 2011 (pro “new” media)

Can anyone provide a real case history with a real ROI on marketing via social media (pro “old” media)

It seems like the back and forth battle of “I’m right, you’re wrong” among politicians is similar to the back and forth battle for relevancy among marketing mediums. Both politicians and marketing mediums are working very hard these days to confirm their relevancy and imply that they provide the “best” solution.

Politics and media are alike. What you hear from any one of them is usually slanted and based on furthering their particular agenda. We have a two-party system in this county because there is no one “best” solution. Integrated points of view benefit society as a whole. And just as we have a two-party system to create integration, a sound marketing and media strategy is most often based on an integrated approach, as well.

Do you agree?

Flickr Photo Credit: DWallis

You’re still right, David Ogilvy.

By Steve Fodor.

I decided to go into advertising when I was introduced to David Ogilvy. Not literally introduced. I read his book, Ogilvy On Advertising, during my younger, more impressionable years.

Now, though I say David Ogilvy created quite an impression on me, I don’t really have much in common with the man. He was suave and referred to as a “gentleman with brains.” I’m, well, not referred to in that way. I don’t smoke a pipe or drive a Rolls Royce or own a chateau in France, either.

How would David Ogilvy, a man who arguably knew more about crafting and creating brand appeal than any other adman to don a grey flannel suit, fair in today’s world? Would his principles and techniques for creating “advertising that sells” persuade today’s information-intensive buyers?

Consider these two thoughts from Mr. Ogilvy…

“I run the risk of being denounced by the idiots who hold that any advertising technique which has been in use for more than two years is ipso facto obsolete.” David Ogilvy uttered this quote in 1953 when TV was changing how society lives and interacts with media. I interpret David Ogilvy as implying that it’s the message, not the medium or the communication tactics, that sell. Without a well-crafted message that connects with the audience you’re trying to persuade, the medium is, well, irrelevant.

“Body copy is seldom read by more than 10 percent of the people. But that 10 percent consists of prospects – people interested enough in what you’re selling to take the trouble to read about it. Don’t be afraid to write long copy. It actually attracts more readers than short copy.” I recently had a discussion with someone who insisted that today’s viewers of Web sites, blogs and social media don’t take the time to read long copy. This person insisted that today’s consumer will only read “short, bullet-point” text. I would contend that today’s viewers of Web sites, blogs and social media are actually seeking even more information, and long copy (provided it is of relevance to the reader) will be appreciated and read more than “bullet points” that don’t really tell a story.

Media will keep changing. How we communicate with one another will keep evolving. But we’re still in the business of trying to persuade human beings through well-crafted messages. I think you’re still right, Mr. Ogilvy.

Photo Credit: www.advertisinghalloffame.org

Another case for direct mail.

By Steve Fodor

Pick up any trade magazine from the marketing world and you’ll read about how social media is the “latest and greatest,” even in the B2B world. A recent conversation on LinkedIn even asked, “Is social media overtaking marketing?” No doubt, social media presents B2B and B2C marketers with dynamic venues for optimizing search results and developing conversations with customers.

But, even in the new media world, “old” and proven communications venues still have their place. I’ve always been a fan of direct mail…done right. I’m not of fan of postcards and letters that are not personalized or do not have a relevant offering (I’m also not a fan of push email, either, for the same reasons). Direct mail, when done right, is engaging. Human beings are tactile creatures and direct mail can involve the senses. Direct mail can be read in a more passive environment, which is especially advantageous if you’re selling a technical or information-intensive product or service. Direct mail can (and should be) entertaining and visually interesting. And, with creative use of different paper stocks and printing techniques (remember printing?), direct mail can create brand ambience.

I opened my mailbox the other night and found a nice direct mail piece from a financial planning organization. Actually, the mailing was addressed to my wife, but I was so intrigued by a three-dimensional direct mail piece that I had to open it to see what it was. It’s engaging. It’s interactive. It presents information in a way that’s easy to understand and makes good use of a three-dimensional visual device (the spinning wheel). All in all, it delivers an effective and informative marketing message that got my attention.

Another good use of direct mail is something we did for one of our B2B clients (see photo above). It’s for a new kind of slip -resistant flooring that’s applicable in the trucking industry, as well as many other industries. The marketing challenge is that the product is “alien,” according to the marketing manager. With our help, we put together a targeted mailing list, an engaging three-dimensional mailer that tells the story, and these are being mailed to select prospects with a follow-up call for a personal visit.

We see social media continuing to evolve in the B2B marketing world. It’s a big part of what we do and we’re working with clients to expand how they use and think about social media to tell their brand stories. But, don’t overlook the power of so-called “old school” mediums. The right tool used in the right situation will still work wonders, no matter how old it is.

Photo Credit: Badertscher Communications

Just what do marketing people really do?

By Steve Fodor

Do a Google search on “bringing marketing and sales together” and you’ll get a plethora of content. Sales and marketing working in sync seems to be on the minds of a lot of folks these days, begging the question, just what do marketing people really do?

Forrester Research conducted a study of B2B companies recently and found that only eight percent reported “tight alignment” between sales and marketing. Forrester Research noted that “too often, marketing does not have a deep enough understanding of the buyer’s needs because they don’t have enough interaction with buyers themselves.”

Having spent most of the past 20 years of my life in the agency business working for clients looking to create stronger brand connections with customers, I have to say these findings about sales and marketing do not surprise me. I have on a number of occasions tried to get insights into why customers buy or don’t buy by going through marketing only to hear, “we’re too busy to get out in the field and learn about our customers.” On another occasion, when working as a district sales manager for a safety products company and attending a sales meeting, I was flabbergasted when the marketing director said during her presentation that she “wasn’t aware” of a new marketing communications campaign that was launched by a primary competitor (at that moment, I could see the gap between sales and marketing getting even bigger).

I’ve always been of the opinion that marketing starts with understanding the customer. If marketing people are not out in the field talking with customers about how they get information, how they would like to get information, and what type of information they find most useful, what’s the point of marketing? We call the process of understanding how B2B customers make purchasing decisions and how they would like and need to be communicated with Sales Diagnostics ^TM. There’s nothing “magical” about it. Sales Diagnostics is the process of getting out into the field to meet with end-users and channel members to uncover their needs, and then develop sales and communications strategies to meet those needs. Yet, apparently, from all the recent uproar over the disconnect between sales and marketing, it sounds as though a lot of marketing departments are not partaking in this seemingly simple task. It seems more like a lot of marketing people are staying busy in meetings talking about everything except customers’ needs.

Agree? Have a different point of view on how to bring sales and marketing together? Let us know.

Flickr Photo Credit: HIRAOKA, Yasunobu

An “education” in developing a marketing message.

By Steve Fodor

In a posting about a year ago, I said that I don’t believe in focus groups as a research methodology for developing a marketing message strategy. And I still don’t. Focus groups are great for learning about opinions, but are often of little value for finding that emotional “hook” for a message that will connect with your target audience.

For finding and developing a message strategy that will connect with customers, we utilize a technique we call Benefit Galvanizing ^TM. It takes place in a one-on-one setting where a subject is presented with various benefit “statements” that cover a gamut of topics and potential message approaches. Respondents are asked to “react” to each statement (an emotional response) and then rank each statement from most favorable to least favorable (a rational processing of information). That’s precisely how the brain processes information, and it’s why the most effective and memorable marketing messages connect first on an emotional level and then present rational reasons (support).

Recently, we got to practice what we preach. Our local United Way in Marion County, Ohio came to us for help in developing a marketing message to promote education in our community. Though we specialize in business-to-business marketing communications, we’ve been more than glad to help the United Way of Marion County on many occasions over our 25 years in business. Developing a marketing message to promote education is kind of a broad and ambiguous challenge. We needed to find that emotional “hook” that would make a marketing campaign get noticed and connect with students and parents on an emotional level. We’ve always heard things like, “If you don’t work hard at school, you’ll never get a good job.” Or, “If you want a big house and a cool car, you need to work hard in school.”

To some degree, there’s truth in these things we’ve always been told about education. Why, then, don’t more students and parents listen to this seemingly sage advice? Because they’re tuning it out. It’s not connecting. It’s lacking that emotional “hook.” What we found through our Benefit Galvanizing message research is that students and parents really see education as a possession that will provide value over the course of their lives. An education is something no one can ever take away. Education represents hope in an ever-increasingly uncertain world. It’s so much more than just getting “a good job” or obtaining personal possessions. Really, education is something that’s yours. For life.

We’re about to launch this campaign in Marion, Ohio. As far as we know, Marion, Ohio is the only community to combine both programmatic and marketing strategies to help improve educational performance. This is an incredibly worthy cause, and we’re proud to be associated with it.

Education. Yours. For Life. is copyright and logo is registered trademark of Badertscher Communications, Inc.

Marketing technical products is not necessarily “rocket science.”

By Steve Fodor

“You only have one chance to make a first impression.” I don’t know who originally said that, but it’s one of my favorite quotes because it’s true in life…and in marketing. Especially when marketing highly technical products.

As a marketing communications and public relations firm specializing in business-to-business message and content development, we work with clients who make and market highly technical products. Sometimes we have to “push back” a little when our clients get too wrapped up in their own products’ technological features. Will technological features alone really capture the attention of an engineer or buyer of technological products?

It is true that engineers will use three-or four-word long tail phrases when searching online for a product solution. Engineers (as a breed, if you will) are information junkies. They usually have a precise set of criteria in mind when they conduct a search. But, just because engineers are information junkies doesn’t mean they’re not people, too, with emotions like humor, empathy and intrigue. The temptation when creating content for marketing technical products is to create content that reads like a technical “white paper.” That may make you, the marketer, “feel good,” but not necessarily the buyer. Your first impression on a potential buyer is what they will remember and be captivated by, be it content presented in a blog, an online ad, online video or via social media. If you don’t captivate your audience with a memorable and interesting message presentation, all that technical data you’ve worked to create in the “technical library section” of your Web site may not even get seen by the engineering audience you’re trying to reach and motivate.

Even though the mediums for marketing communications have dramatically evolved and changed, the classic selling model for business-to-business marketing still holds true: interest from a buyer leads to a quest for more information, ultimately resulting in a feeling of trust which leads to a sale. Unfortunately, far too many marketers overlook that first and most critical step: create interest. If you don’t make an interesting and memorable first impression on your Web site or in any of your other content development and marketing communications strategies, you may never get to that second step with a buyer: the quest for more information. You do only have one chance to make a first impression when marketing technical products to engineers. Make it an interesting and memorable one.

Flickr PhotoCredit:cliff1066

It’s the Message, Not the Media. (Don’t Let Social Media Take Undue Credit)

by Brad Smith

Recent headline: “Egyptian Revolution takes just 18 days thanks to social media.”

True, but not entirely. If you take this at face value, you’re missing the big picture. Communication, not the conduit, is what’s to thank. The message delivered, not the media channel, is what made it all possible.

By way of example, think about the message that galvanized the American Revolution. It took years to come to fruition at a time when messages were passed on by word of mouth or printed on pamphlets (on scarce printing presses) and delivered by riders on horseback up and down the east coast…over and over again, for years on end. Imagine what Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Thomas Paine could have accomplished in short order if they’d been able to take their message to the majority of the colonists almost instantaneously. Imagine if their words, thoughts and ideas had been pushed out to friends and passed along on Facebook and Twitter. We’d have booted King George in weeks, not years. Because of the message, not the media.

Point is, it’s not social media that’s solely changing the world as we know it. Behind this new stardom is the real power – the power of communication. The power of capturing with clarity a compelling idea(s) and delivering it to a mass audience with the intent of spurring them on to action. Social media may get the message out a whole lot faster, but if the message isn’t poignant, it’s as moving as what Lady Gaga had for breakfast this morning.

But wait just a minute. Isn’t that message thing the essence of branding? Isn’t that what I’ve been doing my entire career? Isn’t that what I’ve been calling “marketing communications” all of these years?

So the essence of marketing really hasn’t changed. When you’re thinking about your own marcomm efforts, think message first, and media second. Or to paraphrase using today’s parlance, it’s the content that counts.

I used to think of “mass communications” as TV, radio and newspaper. Now it’s time to add one more. The new shining star in mass communications is called “social media.”

Feel free to use it – it’s practically free. But don’t forget the message – it’s more important than the media, no matter what the price.

Flickr Photo Credit: colindunn

Snow & Steady

By Steve Badertscher

While driving, um… make that “sliding” into work today, I was thinking “arrive alive” on more than one occasion. Today’s icy road conditions had me convinced I was actually auditioning for a role in an upcoming episode of Ice Road Truckers instead of making the commute to the office. While scanning through radio channels in an effort to catch a weather report, I heard an interesting statement. I’ll get back to that statement shortly.

But first, let me say driving in snow is something we Ohioans learn to do at an early age. We also learn to shovel sidewalks, scrape ice off of windshields, shovel driveways, etc. Don’t get me wrong, snow also provides us with the opportunity to learn how to do fun things such as building snow men, sled riding, snow skiing, etc. Depending on your outlook, and skill level, driving falls somewhere in the middle between pain and pleasure.

Learning to drive in snow takes patience and practice. There is plenty of practical advice available that is helpful, too. But it takes time to learn and memorize a set of detailed instructions that need to become second nature in quick order if you plan to spend winters driving in the Buckeye state.

For example, I found the following detailed information in an article titled “Driving in Snow and Ice” from The Weather Channel site, www.weather.com

Driving safely on icy roads

1. Decrease your speed and leave yourself plenty of room to stop. You should allow at least three times more space than usual between you and the car in front of you.
2. Brake gently to avoid skidding. If your wheels start to lock up, ease off the brake.
3. Turn on your lights to increase your visibility to other motorists.
4. Keep your lights and windshield clean.
5. Use low gears to keep traction, especially on hills.
6. Don't use cruise control or overdrive on icy roads.
7. Be especially careful on bridges, overpasses and infrequently traveled roads, which will freeze first. Even at temperatures above freezing, if the conditions are wet, you might encounter ice in shady areas or on exposed roadways like bridges.
8. Don't pass snow plows and sanding trucks. The drivers have limited visibility, and you're likely to find the road in front of them worse than the road behind.
9. Don't assume your vehicle can handle all conditions. Even four-wheel and front-wheel drive vehicles can encounter trouble on winter roads.

If your rear wheels skid...

1. Take your foot off the accelerator.
2. Steer in the direction you want the front wheels to go. If your rear wheels are sliding left, steer left. If they're sliding right, steer right.
3. If your rear wheels start sliding the other way as you recover, ease the steering wheel toward that side. You might have to steer left and right a few times to get your vehicle completely under control.
4. If you have standard brakes, pump them gently.
5. If you have anti-lock brakes (ABS), do not pump the brakes. Apply steady pressure to the brakes. You will feel the brakes pulse — this is normal.

If your front wheels skid...

1. Take your foot off the gas and shift to neutral, but don't try to steer immediately.
2. As the wheels skid sideways, they will slow the vehicle and traction will return. As it does, steer in the direction you want to go. Then put the transmission in "drive" or release the clutch, and accelerate gently.

Some very good detailed advice indeed! Every point made is a good one. However, if I’m an inexperienced driver attempting to navigate through snow for the very first time, this check list might seem a bit overwhelming.

This brings me back to the statement I heard on the radio. It summed up the 16 detailed points made above in one memorable concept. It communicated all of that information in one sentence. And here it is:

“Drive like you have a cup of coffee sitting on your dashboard.”

Simple? Yes! More importantly, memorable? Absolutely!

It’s also a great example of the way you should look at your advertising messages. We still see way too many B2B marketers trying to list every detailed bullet point in their advertising at the expense of having their key message or selling proposition being missed or overlooked.

So sit back with a nice steaming hot cup ‘o joe today and think about how you might boil your complex advertising messages down into one simple, memorable concept. And if you need a hand in that, I’ll gladly put down the snow shovel to assist you!

Flickr Photo Credit: Melissa Gray

Why a blog strategy for vertical, business-to-business marketing?

by Steve Fodor

“Our markets are vertical. We know most of the prospect companies by name. Why should we bother with a blog strategy?”

As a marketing communications firm that specializes in business-to-business marketing, search engine optimization and public relations, we sometimes hear comments like these. Why, if you’re marketing to a well-defined, vertical segment, would you undertake a blog strategy? Three reasons come to mind.

First, for search engine optimization. Just because your market segment(s) may be relatively small does not mean you should discount the importance of search engine page rankings. Blogs help perform the critical function of improving organic page rankings. Blogs in tandem with other mediums and targeted user groups (like those found through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) add even more to search engine optimization.

Second, blogs provide a thought leadership position for your brand. Industrial marketers need to think like publishers and generate content (in written as well as video format) that customers and prospects are seeking. If requests from customers and prospects usually start with “give us a price bid,” you’re probably missing opportunities to explain through a blog strategy the true value you offer: intelligence about your product or category that makes your customers look like heroes.

And third, to become a curator of information for your market segment(s). The Internet continues to be populated with more and more content. So much content, in fact, that finding exactly what’s needed through a simple Google search can sometimes produce an overwhelming amount of information. Wouldn’t it be better for customers and prospects to think of your brand as the only place they need to go to get the answers they’re seeking?

Yet another reason for a implementing a blog strategy crosses over to direct sales. Do your sales efforts consist of continually following up with prospects while nurturing them from prospects to customers? If so, salespeople can e-mail prospects the links to relevant blogs as a way to continue the nurturing process and reinforce a thought leadership position.

If you’re marketing to vertical, business-to-business market segments, a blogging strategy presents a targeted, cost-efficient way to improve search engine optimization, nurture selling efforts and elevate the perceived value of your brand above just a “product offering at a price.” Of course, developing relevant content for a blogging strategy takes time and resources, some research, and an understanding of the unmet information needs of your target audience. And that’s exactly how we are helping business-to-business marketers today.

Flickr Photo Credit:digitalrob70

Web Sites and Reese's Cups

by Steve Fodor

Remember the old jingle for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? “Two great things that go great together.”

We’ve embarked on a new client relationship here at Badertscher Communications that has made that jingle run through my head (aside from making me crave the taste of peanut butter and chocolate together).

We have an assignment to develop a new Web site for a new client. So what, you may say. Well, the reason this assignment is particularly sweet is because we’re working in seamless collaboration with the client’s network administrator. It’s almost like he’s a part of our staff on this new assignment. We’re able to do what we do best – create and promote a new Web site design and brand presence for a client. And the client’s network administrator can do what he does best – build a Web site platform with the latest content management tools. The result will be a new Web site that allows our client to be a curator of information and content…with the benefits of cost and time savings.

The reason we’re so jazzed about this relationship is because we see it as a prime example of the way client-agency relationships are evolving for the better. Agencies are content developers. Or, said another way, agencies are expert at bringing a brand story to life with words, pictures, sounds and designs. Though most full-services agencies (ourselves included) have Web developers on staff, an agency’s culture is usually driven by creativity and content development. Many clients, on the other hand, have invested in information technology and in people that can manage all the technological “back end” stuff of Web sites and content management. When an agency can marry its talents and expertise with the talents and expertise of the client’s people, a working arrangement develops where brand stories can be developed and told with more creative excitement.

Economically, times are still tough. Many companies have put off updating their online presence or have deferred new content development strategies because of costs. But, when an agency and client can work closely together and focus on doing what each does best, something pretty sweet can develop. Actually, that’s exactly the way we like to work here.

Flickr Photo Credit: kimberlykv