[Webtrends] analyzed the website traffic of Fortune 100 websites based on ‘unique visits.’ The study revealed that 68% of the top 100 companies were experiencing a negative growth in unique visits over the past year, with an average drop of 23%.

To ascertain if Facebook had a part to play in this decline, unique visits to a brand’s website were compared with unique visits to its Facebook page (obtained using fan count as a proxy) within a three- to five-month period. In a sample of 44 companies, 40% exhibited higher traffic to their Facebook page compared to their website.

Based on these statistics alone, one can glean that social media as a whole is increasingly pertinent to a company’s overall marketing and communications campaign. Company websites will continue to lose ground as additional web traffic is divided among various social media platforms such as Twitter, Google+, etc. With that being said, companies must make themselves accessible on every social media platform in order capture the web traffic of their clients or customers. Social media continues to expand its reach, which provides new opportunities for companies to reach audiences that may never have visited their company website directly in the past. The data presented above tells a compelling story; social media is a viable communication strategy, and it’s time to build an integrated campaign to take advantage of the opportunities that social media presents.

Determining the appropriate communication mix is the ultimate challenge for many businesses. Domus, Inc. can provide a tailored assessment of your brand in order to develop targeted strategies that fit your company’s situation.

Follow Domus, Inc. on Facebook and Twitter through the following:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/DomusInc

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/domusinc

Greg Smore is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Here is what I have recently witnessed within the industry. The lines between public relations and social media are blurring. Account managers need to be well-versed in analyzing technical data, interpreting those results and translating those results into strategic recommendations. Media professionals need to understand the brand strategy and all of the media options available today including social, online and mobile campaigns as well as established channels like broadcast and print. Likewise, creative and production teams are learning new technology and software programs in order to keep pace as well as how to translate TV or print concepts to online and mobile. And everyone needs to have in-depth expertise within a client’s business.

At a recent Ad Club Second Annual Media Innovation Day, attendees were polled about how the fluctuating advertising environment is impacting their profession. The outcome indicated that media professionals, in particular, are increasingly working with other departments within their companies. When asked which departments they work with “very often,” 31% included their brand planning department and a quarter cited their creative departments. Over half described the use of other departments within their company to develop client campaigns as “very important.” And 32% use their analytics departments to measure every client campaign.

Some other interesting statistics are that Americans have access to:

• 1 trillion web pages
• 65,000 iPhone apps
• 10,500 radio stations
• 5,500 magazines
• 200+ cable TV networks

At Domus we take a holistic view of our clients’ business objectives, including their target audience and how they consume media, react to all forms of advertising and what their brand preferences are.  Our strategic planning approach allows us to understand the extraordinarily complex dynamics of the marketplace from the very start of a project to better equip ourselves and our clients to make decisions about how to connect with customers across all the available platforms. In this way they can achieve the greatest results and analyze the outcomes in qualitative and quantitative terms.

Joanne Michael is an Executive Vice President at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805

Why Sign Up?

Why NOT sign up? Get on there and check it out. For the most part, people are going to sign up – after all it’s Google. People like Google, people are familiar with Google, Google has a lot of money and a lot of expertise, and Google+ is already growing…rapidly.

Gaining Momentum

While 50 million users is a far cry from Facebook’s 1.8 billion users, it’s still 50 MILLION users (and growing) since its launch in August, making Google+ the fastest growing platform EVER. This presents a small problem in that Facebook users are used to Facebook’s features and activities. Facebook has set the precedent, but user activities on Facebook don’t necessarily correlate to similar activities on Google+. This can be a bit confusing. For example and in general terms, if you “Like” a company page on Facebook, you then become a subscriber to the page’s status updates. On Google+, you can “+1” a page; however, in order to subscribe you must add the page to your “Circles.”  This difference may be minor, but it can pose an issue for members’ ease of use.

Differences with Facebook

Interestingly, one of the first things a user will realize is that a company’s Google+ page and Facebook page don’t seem any different. If your audience is already on Facebook and your Google+ page isn’t bringing users anything new, why would they create a Google+ page just to view your brand when everything they need is already on Facebook? Logically speaking, they wouldn’t, but a ComScore survey estimates that 22% of U.S. adults will be on Google+ by August 2012. Hopefully, Google execs are active Google+ members by then. All joking aside, can you or your business afford to ignore 22% of the United States’ young, affluent, early-adopter audience? Or even if you could, why would you?

A big feature within Google+ is the “Hangout,” which is being pegged as something ideal for businesses. Essentially, it’s a chat room which users can visit whenever they want. It allows users and companies an opportunity to interact with one another, and may be a great relationship-building tool. Current limitations do not permit participation in a hangout on a mobile device. Ouch…really Google? But I assume that it’s just a matter of time until mobile capabilities for the hangout feature become available.

Bottom Line

Sign up. I know, I know – ANOTHER page to update?! Between Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Foursquare (and so on), you have enough to manage. You might think you’ve got all your audiences covered – and you just may – but you don’t want to be the only company that’s NOT there. It’s obvious, or should be obvious, that managing your company’s social media effort is a full time job. If it’s not, you’re just not engaging as effectively as you could (and should) be. Might as well cover all your bases and add one more to the mix.

Saving the best for last…

With Google analytics finally within the social media mix, Google+ could (maybe, possibly, HOPEFULLY) offer businesses some hard data on the holy grail of social media: social media metrics and ROI.  Halleluiah! It’s a holiday miracle!

Kate Toy is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Take social media, for example. Consumers are increasingly relying upon social media for their information – going to a company’s Facebook page, for example, before visiting a company’s website. And consumers demonstrate their brand preferences (and loyalty) by following and liking their brands of choice on Twitter and Facebook. In fact, a recent Nielsen report states that 53% of active online adult social networkers follow a brand, that social networking and blogging now account for nearly a quarter of total time spent on the Internet and that Americans spend more time on Facebook than they do on any other U.S. website. Pretty compelling statistics…and pretty valid reasons why public relations professionals need to include social media as part of their overall communications tactics.

Naysayers may dismiss these statistics, but I recall a similar conversation about the World Wide Web nearly 20 years ago. Enough said.

But beyond B2C communications lies the evolution of “media.” Media is ever-increasingly an online vehicle as printed media – printed news media, most especially – fades away. Writers and editors rely on social media platforms to magnify their voice and reach in the hope that it will (1) increase their reach and (2) drive traffic back to their articles/website, thereby increasing their readership and the value of their advertising.

Even what we consider “media” sometimes comes into question: are bloggers considered media, for example? In my opinion, creating online content does not a member of the media make; however, those with the forum and the voice may not be afraid to use it. So we as public relations professionals must manage these relationships just as we must consider social media platforms as media relations tools – platforms for engaging with the media and platforms for communicating with our various publics.

Does your company need assistance navigating the evolving world of social media? Do you have the tools necessary to harness the power of social media in order to communicate your messaging in a cohesive and an articulate manner? Domus does! Put our expertise in public relations and social media to work for you. Visit www.domusinc.com today and be an active part of the conversation that’s taking place in the world of social media.

For more on this topic, see “Public Relations in a Social World” posted on COMPREHENSION – PRSA’s blog: http://comprehension.prsa.org/?p=3557.

Amy Whilldin is an Account Director at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

It’s so important that some people will do anything they can to increase their followers. But there is a right and wrong way to attract followers. Politicians have taken to Twitter to spread their campaign messages (some have ulterior motives, but we won’t name names in this blog). In the early stages of the GOP nomination process, Newt Gingrich boasted that he had 1,325,842 followers, whereas Mitt Romney and Michele Bachman have not even cracked the 100,000 mark. However, it was later learned that more than 80 percent of Gingrich’s followers were dummy accounts and were obtained by an agency that is paid to bolster Twitter followers for a fee http://gawker.com/5826645. As you can see, this is the wrong way to attract Twitter followers.

There are numerous ways to legitimately increase followers. Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com, discusses 10 ways to increase followers in the following TechCrunch article: http://techcrunch.com/2009/01/25/kevin-rose-10-ways-to-increase-your-twitter-followers/. Here is one excerpt that specifically caught my eye:

“Start a contest. @jasoncalacanis offered a free macbook air if he reached the #1 most followed spot. That never happened, but Jason added thousands of followers…brilliant.”

Domus has developed and implemented numerous Twitter contests for its clients. A recent Dacor contest included various product giveaways and successfully increased the company’s followers from under 700 to 3,366.

The most important aspect of attracting followers is that a company’s Tweets should fulfill some need. Dacor’s Twitter feed is populated by useful information regarding the company’s products, money-saving deals, recipes and the occasional contest/giveaway. Contact Domus to learn more about our Twitter strategies and how we can help your company.

Greg Smore is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Experiential marketing, especially one-on-one interaction with customers, can create a branded and memorable experience to help strengthen your marketing campaign. This experiential marketing has the ability to appeal to all five senses, giving customers the opportunity to engage personally with your products and your brand. According to a recent online survey of 2,574 consumers ages 13-65, in the top 25 U.S. markets, the results confirm that this increasingly important marketing medium resonates strongly across demographics and product categories. In fact, 72% of 18- to 23-year-old consumers say experiential marketing would make them more receptive to the brand/product advertising; 59% say it would lead to a quicker purchase.

This study also indicated that live marketing experiences were shown to be a valuable way to increase marketing ROI:  75% of consumers say that participating in a live marketing experience would make them more receptive to the product/brand’s advertising; 75% of consumers said they would be extremely likely to tell others after participating in a live marketing event, extending impact through word-of-mouth.

Domus has had great success with live marketing experiences for the Pennsylvania Lottery to help launch its new instant ticket games. Each event utilized a creative overlay that reinforced the traditional advertising program of television, radio, print and outdoor. The theme was brought to life through a state-wide bus tour including live activities with audience participation, street teams, signage and ticket giveaways. Each tour garnered pre- and post-event press coverage as well as a multitude of attendees. The results? Another record-breaking year of ticket sales for the Pennsylvania Lottery!

Joanne Michael is an Executive Vice President at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805

With a discount offer, the business is probably appealing to customers that purchase on price. It is unlikely customers will come back to the business in the future to purchase products and services at full value. In a column on AdAge.com, Al Ries, the famous marketing consultant, states:

“Presumably, all those consumers who bought products and services for 50% off are going to be happy to return to their local retailers and return to buy those same products and services at full prices. That’s not going to happen. What is going to happen is that those same consumers are going to go back to Groupon and wait for the next 50%-off sale.”

I’m sure many of you have used Groupon, Living Social or one of the other local daily deal sites. Of those of you who have, how many of you have returned to that business to purchase the same product or service at full price? My guess is not many.

The trouble with only focusing on new customers is that it costs much more to the business to market to new customers than to sell to current customers. A business is also sacrificing its profitability on sales to new customers using a Groupon offer since the business splits about 50% of the revenue with the company.

Filippo Caffari, owner of The Butcher Store, a restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was quoted in BusinessWeek saying that when using Groupon “A lot of people just come for the deal, and very few become repeat customers.”

In The Wall Street Journal, David Wachs, president of Cellit, a marketing firm that has collaborated with small businesses on Groupon deals, argues that small companies need “ongoing conversations” with customers, not coupon offers. Groupon is best used “to drive new customers in their door.” He’s right about the necessity of ongoing conversations with customers. In order to be a worthwhile marketing tool, business owners need to capitalize on the Groupon or other deal tool. Ask customers to leave their email address when they redeem their deal and contact them with additional coupons, invite them to follow the company’s Facebook or Twitter, and share news about new products and services that would be of interest to them.

With Groupon and other deal sites, a business is reducing profitability as it markets to new customers and by using the deal alone, they are unable to build a relationship with these new customers for repeat business. When considering Groupon as a marketing tool, a business should first evaluate the effect on its profitability, brand and relationship with customers before joining in the daily deal trend.

Ed Samide is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

1. Have a point of difference: Yes, this is Marketing 101, but it’s surprising how many brands, seemingly in a panic over retaining old customers and gaining new ones, slowly, but surely, are moving away from this key basic. Having a point of difference means understanding your market needs, knowing what perceptual space each of your competitors has claimed and then (based on your brand’s core competencies) differentiating your market-relevant message so that it resounds and grabs the minds and hearts of your target audience.

2. Be consistent: Again, a basic that we were all taught in “packaged goods school.”  But, now consistency is what you need to convey not only in your paid advertising, but also in your social media, public relations, promotions, event marketing and especially in your customer service and employee communications.  If your customer service reps or employees can’t describe what your company and brand(s) stand for, you’re missing a great opportunity for the most natural viral campaign. Now, everyone is a star on Facebook – and they talk about their lives, including their work – make sure they are ambassadors, not complainers or destroyers of your positioning.

3. Measure, adjust, measure, adjust, measure, adjust: Well, you get the picture. This approach is common now in online advertising, BUT it needs to be applied to every facet of your brand’s marketing mix. Gone are the days when you implemented an “Annual Planning” cycle and re-wrote the next calendar or fiscal year’s plan to launch on a certain date.  The “measure, adjust, measure, adjust” approach must be built into each program.  When you are developing a promotion, from the onset, you need to know what the monthly, weekly and, dare I say it, daily success hurdles are that your brand needs to clear.  And, they must be actively managed on an ongoing basis to reallocate, increase support or pull the plug.

It’s back to school time (let’s face it, that feeling never goes away) and that can mean back to branding basics. If you want to learn specific examples of how these three easy steps for better ROI worked for marquise brands, visit the Success Stories section at www.domusinc.com If you want to chat online, leave a comment on this post. If you want to chat in person as to how Domus can help your brand, call or e-mail me directly at 215-772-2805 Or betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com.

Betty Tuppeny is the CEO and founder of Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact Betty directly at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

This week, Coca-Cola announced that it will be making a $4 billion investment in China over the next three years. Coca-Cola’s sales in China grew 24% in the most recent quarter; in addition, China is Coke’s third largest market. Coke CEO Muhtar Kent stated, “We don’t see China only as a great growth market. We see China as a future market for further innovation that will benefit our business globally.”

Proctor & Gamble is also looking to emerging markets including Africa, Brazil and India to grow its business. This year, Proctor & Gamble plans to enter Brazil with products like Oral B toothpaste and Olay skin cream. According to the Wall Street Journal, “In Brazil, P&G employees pore over maps that document demographic trends and pinpoint stores that don’t yet sell the company’s products.”

Pepsi has taken the strategy of growing its business internationally through acquisitions. In April 2011, Pepsi announced it was purchasing dairy products and fruit-juice maker OAO Wimm-Bill-Dann for $5.4 billion. The acquisition makes Russia the largest market for Pepsi outside of the United States.

Even ad agencies are capitalizing on emerging markets. Ogilvy & Mather launched a division in its New York City office to help Chinese companies with marketing and public relations in the United States. Ogilvy has plans over the next few years to expand this service to Africa, Brazil and India.

If it is right for their business model, U.S. companies should strongly consider growing their business internationally as a way to balance the slow growth predicted for the domestic economy.

Ed Samide is a Senior Account Manager at Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact CEO and founder of Domus, Inc. Betty Tuppeny at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Everything in the advertising/marketing industry has changed dramatically, yet, I believe, has stayed completely the same.  Recent research shows that consumers and businesses have shifted spending to brands that create, maintain and strengthen their relationships while delivering both value and values.  This reflects the principles of a classic marketing approach – listen to your target and speak with them, not at them.

The internet has created (even forced) a new, transparent, immediate, measureable and wide-reaching, yet specific means of relating.  This approach is a far cry from early messaging, during the onset of the ad industry, when brands talked at, not with, their audience.

What has not changed is that in each medium – traditional PR, advertising, events, social media, digital messaging and on every brand’s web site, what you are saying must be based on the customer’s needs.  They want to be friends with the brands that are high quality, great value, connected to their lives and to their communities.  This means using internet presence management to listen to customers and to strategize your brand’s conversation based on the ‘voice of the cusomer.’  A myriad of online products and services to measure what your customers are saying exists now and needs to be a mandatory part of a brand’s marketing mix.

Go to www.domusinc.com to learn more about how Domus’ branding products and services offering can help you hear your customers better or contact her directly at 215-772-2805 and betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com to qualify for a brand assessment analysis utilizing the proven Domus Voice of Customer Tracker (DVCT®)

Betty Tuppeny is the CEO and Founder of Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia.

According to the recent J. D. Power and Associates Inaugural Cross-Industry Report on Best Practices in Customer Service, during the past decade, average satisfaction scores for service-oriented industries have remained flat, unlike in product-based industries, for which satisfaction has improved steadily. In addition, across all service industries measured by J.D. Power, gaps in satisfaction between the highest- and lowest-performing brands have increased considerably between 2003 and 2010.  This is a sad state of affairs for the “service” industry.

In this same report, J. D. Powers recognized Customer Service Champions (the top 5 percent of 800 companies evaluated) representing a variety of different industries, from financial services and insurance to automotive and travel.  All had one thing in common: they do more than deliver on their customers’ expectations – they exceed them.  Which makes good business sense.  Brands that excel in providing customer service often enjoy higher rates of customer retention, pricing advantages and reduced costs to acquire new customers, compared with companies that have lower levels of customer service satisfaction.  Among customers of brands designated as J.D. Power Customer Service Champions, 62 percent said they “definitely would” recommend the brand to family and friends, while just 23 percent of customers of other companies included in the report said the same.  Additionally, 58 percent of customers of J.D. Power Customer Service Champions said they “definitely would” repurchase products or services from those brands, compared with just 36 percent of customers of other brands included in the report.

So how does Domus delight its clients?  It’s by constantly asking clients about their business and proactively providing business building ideas.  It’s presenting in person when it’s much easier to send an email.  It’s responding immediately to their requests.  It’s telling a client that we’ll have the project complete in five  days and then delivering it in four days.  It’s providing a recommendation, when the client only asked that you research an opportunity.  It’s not only securing an interview with the L.A. Business Journal that’s been our client’s wish list, but getting them the Orange Country Business Journal as well.  It’s developing and executing a virtual press event that generated 30 top industry media in attendance while saving the client thousands of dollars vs. a traditional media event.  It’s offering to do a brainstorming session with a client on a new product launch as a value add service rather than charging a fee.  It’s making their lives easier.

So don’t settle for satisfying your clients – delight them!

This is just one of the benefits of having your brand present on social networking sites. Another big advantage of being in the social realm is the interaction with your clients. We’re getting lazier (or smarter!), and we would prefer to have things in the fastest, most convenient way possible. With the advances in technologies and everyone having BlackBerries, Androids, Windows and iPhones, people are getting used to doing everything with the touch of a finger using the same tool. The point is that you and I would rather have everything in one place than having it at a hundred different places. For the same reason, it’s easier for a customer to give feedback to a company using a tool that he uses (already) to connect with his family and friends, rather than filling out a feedback form on the company’s website. It’s also a great way to inform people about the latest news and reviews about the brand’s products, share offers and deals, or engage in a general conversation about the brand or the industry.

A lot of companies are embracing social media consistently. And if you’re reading this but you continue to shy away from the social web, there couldn’t have been a better time for you to get started. NOW is the time. It’s quite possible that your clients are already on the social web and are using the F-FACTOR to their advantage. The F-factor, as coined by trendwatching.com, refers to Friends, Fans & Followers and how they can greatly influence consumers’ purchasing decisions in ever-more sophisticated ways. If you’re still not convinced, here are a few stats that would, or rather should, surprise you:

• There are over 500 million active users spending over 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook. (Source: Facebook, April 2011)
• Every month, more than 250 million people engage with Facebook across more than 2.5 million external websites, demonstrating that the impact is beyond Facebook – and can be a good source of increased traffic on your website. (Source: Facebook, April 2011)
• The average user clicks the ‘Like’ button 9 times each month. (Facebook, 2010)
• Three quarters of Facebook users have ‘Liked’ a brand. (Source: AdAge/ Ipsos, February 2011)
• Juicy Couture found that their product purchase conversion rate increased by 160% after installing social sharing features (Source: CreateTheGroup, February 2011)
• Incipio Technologies, a gadget accessory retailer, found that referrals from Facebook had a conversion rate that doubled their previous average (Source: Business Insider, March 2011)

Hopefully, you’re now convinced that having a social presence for your brand is nothing less than mandatory, but you should keep in mind that it’s also important to make that presence effective. There are a few bottlenecks that you may come across when you’re first introduced to the social web, or may be currently facing, or even struggling with, if you already have a presence on the social realm. We, at Domus Inc. have helped our various clients through consultation and implementation of several strategies and ideas to achieve a breakthrough in their social media campaigns. Here are a few things that you may need help with:

Getting Friends, Followers & Fans

Remember the F-FACTOR that I just mentioned. Well, in order to get the full benefits of the F-Factor, you have to get a good amount of the ‘F’, i.e. Friends, Followers and Fans. Once you have created a final draft of your brand page on a social networking site, it would be a good idea to send out an email to your company’s current distribution lists highlighting a few benefits (announcing exclusive offers would be even better) that you may be offering on the social platforms. Including the social media icons on your website’s home page is a no brainer – if you’re on the sites, tell people about that! Some other strategies such as sweepstakes, giveaways, and special deals can lure more fans, while things like Facebook ads, Google ads, etc. directing viewers to your social pages can garner a decent number of fans and followers. Domus Inc., has helped one of its clients in the luxury kitchen appliances industry to increase its fans nearly tenfold through specially designed social media campaigns.

Interacting with your followers, and getting them to interact with you

Getting fans and followers is one thing, and getting them to interact and give feedback is another. A social networking page that has interesting, relevant and engaging content is more successful than the one that is just there for the brand to have a presence on the site. Ideally, the social page should be one of your company’s primary sources to inform followers/fans about new developments such as product launches, events, special deals etc. It’s also a good idea to engage in dialogue with fans and followers on events/occasions close to them such as the holiday season, the super bowl etc. This creates a fun experience and more personal experience for the users. It’s also a good idea to respond to user feedback and questions from time to time so that they have a feeling that their social interaction is not going unheard. Domus Inc. maintains social content for some of its clients and has had excellent results in terms of user interaction and responding to feedback.

Getting the fans to get you more fans

Now that you have a good enough active fan base, it is time to spread the word of mouth. Usually interesting and interactive content is a good source to get new fans from existing fans since most social networking sites are designed to publish all the interaction of a user on to their profiles, which, in turn, their connections see, and (ideally) notice your brand’s presence. Running occasional competitions and referral awards to your current fan base can prove to be a good resource for adding to your own social media “popularity.”

Keeping an eye on the competition

You should not be surprised to find your brand’s competitors on the same social networking site as you are on. Chances are that they are already there and engaging with potential customers while you read this blog post. Social networking sites are a good tool to monitor the latest and greatest activities of your competitors while giving you an opportunity to deliver something better. Engaging in dialogue on a common platform is also suggestion. For example, a company making mp3 players should interact with users on a page related to music, where other mp3 companies may also share their posts. This will mark your presence on the platform and will put your brand in a potential customer’s line of vision.

So, are you ready to embrace Social Media and use its pace to get ahead in the marketing race?

Getting on the social web is a necessity and soon enough, every person who is on a social networking site should expect to see their favorite brand on their favorite site. And, as any marketer knows, it’s not a good practice to disappoint a customer or a potential customer, and not give him what he would expect.

I think it’s a good idea to have some expert consultation and advice if you are new to social networking sites or are struggling to achieve desired results. We, at Domus Inc. are Social Media experts, and our various clients are benefiting from our experience and expertise. If you would like Domus to help you in building your business on the Social Realm, please feel free to contact our CEO directly at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or by calling 215-772-2805.

The first roadblock of social media is not being fully ready to be “out there.” You’re exposing your company to the public’s opinion. You need to be ready for their honesty. Take negative comments as constructive criticism. Defend your brand well, but be respectful of your audience’s opinions and issues. Once you’ve made the leap, there’s no turning back so make sure you’re company is ready for that type of exposure.

One of the biggest mistakes companies make in their social media efforts is being too self-promotional in their posts to fans and followers. If a potential customer wants to find out about your products or services, they’ll go to your website. If they want to engage with you, they’ll go to your social media site. A little self promotion is okay, but in general, self-serving posts drive your audience away, so keep them to a minimum.  Keep your fans and followers interested with valuable, useful content that will make them think of you as a knowledgeable and useful source for information.

Where do you get this valuable content? That’s roadblock #2. Or at least that’s what many companies think.  Most companies are uncovering valuable content all the time – they just don’t realize it. Did your company just finish a cool project or help a client solve a problem? Share it – there’s a good possibility your audience will find the information useful.  That industry-related article that you read on your train ride to work? If you thought it was interesting and useful, chances are your audience will too. Are you unsure about some of the points made in the article? Even better – post it and ask you followers for their thoughts. Engage your social media audience whenever possible.

Which brings me to the next roadblock… If a fan or follower posts a question or a comment that requires some attention, they need to be answered. And answered quickly. Demonstrating that you’re actively responding to your audience shows that you care about them. You wouldn’t ignore a customer’s question in a store, so don’t ignore it online. Make their concerns, your concerns and you’ll come out looking like a company with a real handle on customer service.

One of the best examples I ever saw of this was while I was researching hotels for a vacation. One hotel received poor reviews repeatedly on TripAdvisor.com; however EVERY SINGLE REVIEW was answered directly by the guest relations manager from the hotel. She responded with an apology and her contact information to assist with the reviewers’ issues personally.  Shortly after I learned that the hotel had given their customer service operations a full overhaul and this was the result; an aggressive response plan that actually makes them look extremely caring and proactive. A negative review or comment does not need to ruin a social media post – it gives you the opportunity to demonstrate how quickly and efficiently your company will solve the problem.

When first starting a social media campaign, it’s important to be prepared for the roadblocks outlined above. If you’re ready and able to take them on, then you’re probably ready to be fully invested in a social media campaign. So get out there and join the conversation – it’s about time your company was part of it.

At Domus, we believe in a collaborative team effort. This includes complete immersion in our clients’ business. Our responsibility is to constantly evaluate market dynamics as well as client data and translate that understanding into strategies and recommendations that builds our clients’ business.

We think like you, work like you, and take your marketing objectives as seriously as you do. When clients and agencies partner in this manner it leads to overall marketing success. This team approach is the essence of what we do every day for the life of our relationship with our clients.

Domus, Inc. is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

For those of you who don’t know, KBIS aka the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, is the premier event for those in the kitchen and bath industry; designers, manufacturers, architects, dealers – they’re all there. This year’s event took place April 26^th – 28^th in Las Vegas, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Everything is very high high-end and high quality. The best of the best go to KBIS, and I was proud to be there with Dacor.

For a PR person, the actual trade show only takes up a small portion of the work and effort we put in. We usually begin about 3 – 4 weeks ahead of time by hitting the phones to schedule booth appointments with editors. We then worry about the press releases and press kits. (Dacor’s press kits were 4gig USB drives made to look like miniature cooktops. Very cool.)  From there, we finally get onsite at the actual event and our job is to make our client’s day go as smoothly as possible.  As with most things, it’s much easier said than done. However, Dacor runs their marcomm efforts like a well-oiled machine and, along with the Marketing Manager and VP of Marketing, we successfully fielded over 25 media appointments, three video shoots, one radio broadcast, and countless other inquiries. Not too shabby.

While quite important, trade shows are not just about the media. Dacor had a steady stream of customers visiting their booth, and to give something back to those who stopped by, every visitor received a blue Dacor pin. If the visitor was seen on the show floor wearing the pin by Dacor’s mystery spotter they won a set of cookware.  One of the winners even offered to have Dacor use his home as a case study! Sometimes a worthy case study can be hard to come by. It’s a great opportunity for Dacor to document a customer’s experience with their products – and it fell right in our lap.

Some companies elect to save their new product announcements for trade shows, others hold a press conference to release company news, while some have an event that’s more about fun with some company messaging weaved in. Dacor chose the latter, and it was an overwhelming success. They commissioned Jeff Lewis, reality TV star on Bravo’s “Flipping Out,” to come to the booth for a two hour meet and greet with show attendees and a customer cocktail event at the end of the day. Visitors were lined up around the booth the entire two hours waiting for their chance to chat with Jeff and snap a photo or two. The response was so positive that Jeff even stayed a bit longer and came to the afternoon event early so he could greet even more guests.  The late afternoon cocktail event was also extremely well received, with over 100 guests who noshed, drank, and mingled until the very end.

Events like this are a ton of work but the results are well worth it. Dacor instantly saw a spike in media coverage on the days surrounding KBIS and they now have coverage lined up for the next couple of months. More than coverage and media hits, Dacor made an impact on customers and media, which created a lasting impression that will continue to serve and benefit the brand long after the trade show is over.

But, in this TV show, the definition of what an ad agency delivers is crystal clear, and to me, always has been. In this seductive reenactment of the early days of the industry, Don Draper’s agency’s role is to understand a client’s business, develop the compelling point of difference for the brand, conceptualize the main campaign idea and then use mass media to turn up the noise level in the market.

It’s still the same today, only now agencies, on behalf of their clients’ brands, have a myriad of traditional and electronic avenues beyond mass media with which to build clients’ brands while keeping an ongoing conversation with their prospects, customers and referrers.

So, the answer to Advertising Age’s April 25, 2011 cover story, “Why Does it Seem Like Agency has become a Dirty Word?” is simple to me. It’s semantics – no matter what you call my company, Domus, Inc., we still have always taken the same approach, both before and since internet marketing became an option: 1) Define the market need, strategically position the client against that need (considering their core competencies and where their competitors are positioned) to create a compelling point of difference; 2) know their target audience(s) demographics, psychographics and media habits; 3) develop the creative concept that breaks through and has “legs” for promotion and longevity; 4) consistently implement a cohesive message; and 5) measure, measure, measure – and adjust accordingly to maximize our clients’ ROI on building not just their brands but, importantly, their businesses.

On the cover of the same issue, Advertising Age also points out that agencies are “ …starting venture funds, buying brands and developing products.” I don’t think this has as much to do with the industry’s identity crisis as much as it has to do with the fact that they need new accounts and revenue streams to survive and thrive, and they are finding more self-reliant, innovative means of accomplishing this objective. Kudos – entrepreneurial approaches helps the agencies as well as their clients and make for a more vibrant industry.

So I can’t resist the notion that, somewhere in a room, a group is brainstorming our industry bible, Advertising Age’s potential new name: some options are: We Brand for you but Can’t Brand Ourselves Age; Former Admen Turned Entrepreneurs Age; First We were an Ad Agency then a Digital Agency and Now a 360 Agency, and my favorite, We Don’t Know Who We Are Age. I suggest it remains Advertising Age and we stop talking to and about ourselves and focus on the clients’ needs in our ever-changing communications world. When marketing decision makers on the client side need help introducing, growing or saving a brand they say either “What does the ‘Agency” think? or “Do we need an new/different ‘Agency” to help us get this done?

If you want to learn about Domus, Inc., visit www.domusinc.com or call me directly at 215-772-2805. We know who we are and can deliver what you need.

Survey question: Marketing Directors, how do you define what your agency’s role? Do you still use the term agency?”

Web 3D is a technology that enables 3D graphics to be displayed on a website. This technology is becoming more popular and is rapidly developing. This article will explain the recent technology trend of Web 3D and how to prepare for a 3D advertising future.

Figure 1. Web3D Body Explorer by Google

History of 3D advertising

Table 1.Chronicles of Web 3D

3D advertising was born during the 2^nd generation of Web 3D. Wildtangent and Viewpoint created several experimental advertisements for Nike, Coke, Ford, and Toyota[4]. However, there was no standard for 3D graphics, so companies created their own format using ActiveX control. ActiveX control often irritated users due to features such as installing additional toolbars in a users’ browser or monitoring users’ information without their knowledge[5]. It was unfortunate that the success of these early 3D advertisements was limited due to being built black hat and without a standard. Also, at the time, another factor limiting the success of 3D advertising was that most computers didn’t have enough computing power to run 3D graphics in a browser.

Figure 2.Viewpoint Hyperview Banner Ad.

Recent Trends

Microsoft announced their new web browser IE9 on March 14, 2011. This is Microsoft’s first browser partially supporting the HTML5 standard. Recently, Microsoft has also announced their new IE10 preview 1 at a MIX 2011 event just a month after launching IE9.[6] One of the major updates for IE10 is faster GPU acceleration. GPU acceleration handles most graphic effects including 3D rendering (but, Microsoft doesn’t include the WebGL context, yet.) Microsoft also announced Silverlight 5, a rich media platform (even richer than HTML5[7]), which now has a 3D API derived from XNA, Microsoft’s game framework.[8] It is clear Microsoft is joining the Web 3D race.

Adobe has announced “Molehill” which is code name for a new 3D API that will be a subset of the Adobe Flash platform. This API allows rendering of 3D graphics and shaders using GPU. Molehill will be published to a new version of Flash player. Since 99% of internet-enabled desktop users have flash player, you can expect almost all desktop users will have Molehill.[9] HTML5 is changing the rules of the entire web world, but did you know that Web 3D is one of the major changes in HTML5? On March 3, 2011, Khronos group, an open standards consortium, released a final WebGL 1.0 Specification.[10] WebGL is a web standard for a low-level 3D graphics API based on OpenGL ES 2.0, exposed through the HTML5 Canvas element as Document Object Model interfaces.[11] Currently, recent versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari support WebGL, and eventually Internet Explorer will support it. The iPhone and iPad, don’t support WebGL for now, but the devices will in the future due to Apple’s strategy of supporting HTML5.[12]

Comparing  Web 3D technologies

Comparing Web 3D technologies could be confusing for advertising agencies since the offerings have different specs and support from various web browsers across different platforms. Right now, it is hard to predict who will become the leader in 3D advertising.

Table 2. Comparison of Web 3D technologies

WebGL

WebGL is now a web standard and will dominate the 3D advertising world, but not in the near future. If you think about HTML5 as an advertising platform, you might consider including WebGL in your long term plan. Microsoft has not announced their support of WebGL officially yet, so Microsoft’s plans could be a decision point for you.

In mobile, few devices such as Nokia N900[17] support WebGL, but HTML5 is becoming a major platform for mobile advertising[18] rather than Adobe Flash, and it’s highly possible that WebGL will be added to a current mobile advertising platform such as Apple’s iAd.

Silverlight5

Silverlight is becoming popular in the RIA (Rich Internet Application) platform and WMV streaming container. Silverlight’s new 3D feature will extend the UX (User Experience) and interactivity of advertising. However, Silverlight doesn’t have many benefits compared to the Web Standard WebGL and Flash which is everywhere. Silverlight is a poorer choice than Flash in mobile devices since Silverlight only works on WP7 (Windows Phone 7) devices.

Silverlight is useful though for creating an advertising campaign around an RIA app that requires heavy UX and high performance such as face detection or augmented reality.

Molehill from Adobe Flash

Needless to say, Flash is still the number one solution for rich media advertising. Once Adobe expands 3D capabilities to Flash, a creation pipeline could be smoothly transitioned to handle 3D assets and animations.

Backup plan for unsupported systems

Although recent systems can handle cool technologies like Web 3D, there are still many computers that only run IE6. In most cases, a page can detect whether a browser supports Web 3D using JavaScript, and switch content to a compatible substitution. WebGL context could be switched to 2D context, which will handle 2D graphics within the same <canvas> container. 2D context profile is supported by most recent browsers including Android and iOS devices. Silverlight is a plug-in, so you can put backup content in <embed> and <object> tags. In Flash, you can run a 3D API check ActionScript, which detects if the current version of Flash supports 3D API.

The Future of 3D Advertising

If you are still unsure about the future of 3D advertising, here is a summary of why 3D matters.

• 3D is more interactive than 2D, especially rendered video reel. Characters and objects are dynamic and react based on your action.
• 3D leads new interaction. Smartphones have new sensors that detect motion, rotation, and your face, and 3D advertising is ready to react.
• 3D content could work with 3D TVs – a fast growing segment that will probably become mainstream.[19]
  • Importantly, advertisers can easily repurpose 3D TV content for Web 3D – since the content is already made 3D for television little additional work would be needed to use the same content on the web
• One Source Multi-use – Disney could repurpose their 3D character assets for 3D advertising; Hyundai could repurpose the 3D models of their cars so users could explore their vehicles in a 3D environment
• Augmented Reality (AR) requires 3D. AR is a fast growing advertising platform.[20]

In business, building solid personal relationships is key to success.  Personal interaction promotes effective and collaborative teamwork and builds strong relationships, which keeps clients happy.  Domus credits much of its success to building personal relationships with its clients; relationships that have, in some cases, led to friendships, on top of successful business partnerships.  In addition to regular phone and face-to-face contact, we have gone as far as setting up a permanent office in our clients’ offices in locales across the country  in order to provide constant face-to-face interaction.  It doesn’t get much more hands on than that. Sure, we could save money by virtual communication; but nothing has more value than an on-site presence.  It simply makes good business sense.  When you’re visible, your client will look to you first.

Domus is a leading edge internet marketing agency that brings its full range of classic marketing expertise to its hi-tech digital capabilities. For more information on how Domus can help you accurately analyze your internet presence and develop effective strategies to further your brand, visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Worth a read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/18/technology/18mobile.html?_r=1&nl=technology&emc=techupdateema1

Anger issues? A few.

Genius? Depends on how you look at it.

Regardless of what term you use to describe Charlie Sheen and his latest antics, you can’t deny that he’s absolutely everywhere.  Catch phrases like “Winning,” “Tiger blood,” “Rock Star from Mars,” and “Violent torpedo of death” have become household terms and nearly everything Sheen has posted online has become viral overnight.  Aside from receiving $1.25 million per episode of Two and a Half Men, Sheen was also the first person to gain one million Twitter followers over the course of an evening, which also scored him a Guinness World Record.

Remember Joaquin Phoenix, the actor who faked his retirement to pursue a career as a hip hop star in the music industry?  Phoenix appeared on David Letterman’s Late Show in February of 2009 and appeared to have stayed in his “new” character throughout the interview, appearing to be on the verge of a mental breakdown.  Rumors say that Phoenix was using the publicity stunt as a way to boost exposure to his spoof independent film about a hip hop artist, but that was never confirmed (nor denied).   So what from that situation relates to Sheen?  Ah, right.. Phoenix is an actor.  After watching many video streams and interviews in which Charlie Sheen can be considered crazy or nearing mental breakdown, I’ve come to the conclusion that his team of writers have taken the CBS curveball and hit it out of the park.  Sheen simply isn’t getting lucky by achieving added exposure, sold out “comedy stints,” and t-shirts selling like hotcakes.  He’s earning it!

So just what exactly has Charlie Sheen done to be considered a self-promotional, marketing guru?  Let’s take a look.

Staying in the conversation.  As stated before no matter where you look, whether it be your favorite news outlet online or on television, Charlie Sheen is there.  Regardless of how much the product is flawed, he’s benefiting and profiting from all of the added attention he, and his team, have generated.

Execute something big before the real marketing takes place.  This should go without saying to anyone in the marketing/advertising field.  Before kicking off any campaign, there is usually something generated to spark interest or create conversation.  In terms of Sheen, his interviews and/or tirades immediately following his departure from CBS spawned everything.  His rants and use of wordplay began the catch phrases that are currently in the process of being trademarked.

Create something catchy.  Here it is, my Rebecca Black tie-in.  No matter how absolutely horrendous Black’s song “Friday” may be, it’s been etched in the heads of millions upon millions around the world.  Something does not have to be brilliant to be catchy, it can also be brilliantly bad.  Case in point?  Those Charlie Sheen catch phrases.  For weeks on end, those catch phrases were some of the hottest trends on Twitter, being retweeted and incorporated by users around the world.  Charlie Sheen created an internet meme himself, instead of being turned into a meme by the users.  Brilliant.  Oh, he’s laughing all the way to the bank thanks to those phrases.  Bi-brilliant!

Being transparent.  Absolutely everything that Charlie Sheen has done since his outbursts have been either made public via social media, interviews, or his UStream features, which are growing rapidly.  Sheen has been successfully utilizing these accounts all while making sure everyone can see his every move.  In fact, Charlie Sheen (smartly) recorded himself handing his children over to LAPD under judge orders stating that they should be returned to Brooke Mueller.  Smart move, Charlie…invite the world to see the fatherly figure you are, leaving the catch phrases and anger for other outlets all while gaining sympathy support.

Create something tangible.  What did Conan O’Brien do after being removed from NBC in early 2010?  He turned to social media, created viral support, and went on tour!  What did Charlie Sheen do?  He created a cult following and debuted the Violent Torpedo of Death Tour.  Let’s be honest, this tour would have not sold out had it have been for all of the publicity, erm.. proper marketing techniques, being deployed by Sheen and his team.  What’s the payoff?  A 21 date tour (all sold out) which is generating Charlie between $250,000 and $275,000 per show.  After merchandising and after-party appearances, Charlie is on par to earn $7 million per month.  Not a bad ROI considering this all stemmed from some outbursts that were sent viral.

Leaving personal views aside while looking at the current state of Charlie Sheen, one should admire how he’s handled himself and built his name to be a household term as well as a selling feature.  He’s currently looking for social media interns, which highly suggests that he is far from giving up on this endeavor that he and his team have embarked on.  This all happened incredibly fast and in-the-moment for the Sheen Team.. hey, that’s what Social Media is, right?  Creating a viral buzz and riding the wave.

It doesn’t hurt that Charlie has now generated over 3 million followers on Twitter and an extra 1 million fans on Facebook.  He also just opened up the CharlieSheen.com webstore to shove into the faces of his new cult following.  Crazy or crazy-rich? You do the math.

That’s called winning.

Remember that clients are people too and getting to know them on a personal level helps to build trust.  Take the time to get to know your client by going out for lunch or a quick cup of coffee.  Clients tend to be more relaxed under these circumstances and may talk about business in a way you wouldn’t hear in a formal meeting which will benefit your business relationship as well.

As the CEO of an ad agency that merges classic strategic marketing with state-of-the-art digital Public Relations, Advertising and entertainment solutions I am also a relatively new Jeopardy viewer.

I’d learned within one minute on normal shows (the time it takes to feed my cat), Alex Trebek is asking the first question.

Last night after seven minutes of background, new game guidelines and several promotional cutaways, I wondered if the Jeopardy franchise hadn’t jeopardized its own established brand by selling or giving its co-branding rights to IBM.

Strategic alliance programs are Domus, Inc.’s forte (ConAgra, Fisher-Price, Caesars Entertainment) but NOT if they dilute brand power. They must be carefully developed to be a WIN-WIN-WIN (i.e. equal wins for each brand, in this case Jeopardy and IBM and the third win is a synergistic path for the viewer).

As a marketer, I give kudos to IBM but as a Jeopardy viewer, I felt ripped off. It was like I was watching an innovative infomercial. (Should it have been marked “Paid-Programming” to warn the viewers?)

A brand is valuable. Successful co-promotions must add to the value of the brand while simultaneously maintaining the brand’s individuality.

That’s elementary, my Dear Watson and in this case my dear Alex.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree?

Betty Tuppeny is the CEO and founder of Domus, Inc., a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit http://www.domusinc.com. For new business inquiries, please contact Betty directly at betty.tuppeny@domusinc.com or 215-772-2805.

Consider the following statistics from Sirius Decisions:

Only 20% of leads are followed up on

• 70% of leads are disqualified due to budget, lack of timing, etc
• 80% of “bad leads” do go on to buy within 24 months
• 73% of companies have no process for requalifying leads
• 80% of sales occur after the 5^th contact

Where most companies focus on lead generation, or, generating leads into the “top of the funnel,” most companies do not have an adequate system to handle non-sales ready leads. With the emphasis on new sales-ready leads, those leads that are deemed “not-qualified” now can very easily be qualified within 6 months to 2 years provided they are nurtured through their individual buying cycles.  By nurturing, we mean communicating problem-solving content on an ongoing basis through email and or social media channels.  When prospects engage with a vendor by downloading content or viewing webinars, for example, they inch closer to their buying decisions and their “lead score” increases.  Once the lead score reaches a defined threshold, those leads are sent to sales for closing, because they are deemed sales-ready.  Without nurturing, leads leave the funnel, and those leads engage with competitors who provide value and content consistently.

What is described above is the concept of Marketing Automation, a “software as a service” platform that manages the entire leads-to-sales funnel.  Visitors are attracted to a website or landing page because of their needs or research (pay-per-click, SEO, internet ads, blogs, social media content). Once there, landing pages need to be optimized for lead capture (ideally a web form so emails and relevant data are captured). Once the initial email is received, those leads are sent relevant emails that link to additional content.  Email campaigns are customized based on lead activity and engagement, then scored, then sent to sales.  The entire process is measured for success or improvement.

The benefits of lead nurturing are:

• Increase in qualified leads
• Decrease in sales cycle
• Decrease in cost of sales
• Improved conversion rate
• Increase transaction size
• Increase marketing ROI

A fairly new technology, Marketing Automation systems are not just being utilized by fortune 500 companies, but can be used effectively by smaller and mid-size companies as well. There is a pre-conceived notion that marketing automation is overly expensive, but that is not the case.  There are many systems that are quite moderate in pricing, yet still perform well.

The main benefit for replacing manual lead generating processes with marketing automation is that it allows companies to reach out to potential customers in a timely, more efficient, manner.

Here’s a more detailed look at how marketing automation works:

• A sound advertising and social media strategy is developed, and tactics like SEO and valuable content bring visitors to your website.
• The website or landing page offers strong benefit copy and valuable content, and visitors fill out forms to become leads.
• Based on the questions asked on the “contact us” web form AND website behavior (downloads, pages viewed), leads are automatically scored (a model defined before the system is in place).
• Leads are segmented based on their score and enter various tracks for follow-up.  Following up with leads through email is called lead nurturing and includes links to additional valuable content such as white papers and webinars. Nurturing allows increased engagement of potential customers.  The more engaged they are, the more likely they will become customers.
• Higher quality leads are turned over to sales immediately.  Lower quality leads remain in the system until additional engagement occurs.  In essence, salespeople receive less total leads, as they only receive the quality leads. When they can spend more time with quality leads, their time is spent more efficiently, they close more deals, and the revenue per deal increases, thus overall ROI increase.
• By integrating with Salesforce and other CRMs, salespeople report their deals and win values, which then are reported within the marketing automation system, which in turn allows us to evaluate what media sources, messages, events or other tactics generate the most efficient quality leads and sales, thus an analysis of “cost-per-deal” can be done.

Marketing Automation is more than a glorified email program.  By tracking website behavior of prospects and putting them into lead nurturing sequences, you can truly provide them with unique messages based on their behavior. When messages are relevant, increased engagement occurs and the likelihood of sales increases.

The key reasons to adopt marketing automation into your business are plain and simple:

• You have a need to increase new customer revenue
• You have an opportunity to resell/upsell existing customers
• You have the ability to engage with prospects with relevant marketing messages

Marketing automation won’t work properly if you don’t take these steps to make sure you’re ready:

• Have an ideal customer profile
• Know what the customers’ needs and issues are
• Have a content strategy that maps out messages toward all levels of your prospect’s buying cycle
• Understand the customer buying process
• Map the content towards a “drip process” whereby the content is distributed throughout various touch points and delivery channels in a timely, ongoing manner
• Ensure your current database is cleaned and optimized for the newer system
• Have a specific editorial calendar grouped for each audience segment
• Have a pipeline of content ready for implementation- white papers, case studies, webinars, newsletters, surveys, etc.  all written and designed.
• Assignment of roles to those responsible for the activities- managing the platform, the content, and the measurement.

Does your company wish to stay in the past, or move into the future, and utilize your website as “another salesperson” designed to engage, nurture, and close prospects who visit your site because of what you have to offer and the trust you build?

Contact us for more information on marketing automation- what the systems are, what they cost, what the preparation is, and how it could help your business.

Companies are becoming their own media

With social media sites, companies can report their own news articles, distribute their own white papers and conduct interviews with their own personnel to share with the public.  While a little guidance and finessing is necessary (that’s where the communications agency comes in) businesses themselves can supply valuable news and content on a daily basis.  The key is making sure your audience is aware and tuned into your efforts (again, an agency’s job) but once they are – get out there!  You may need to decide the best ways for your company to invest in social media efforts in 2011, (Do you have how-to videos already developed?  Create a YouTube channel.  Want to share industry news as it happens?  Set up a Twitter account.) but with the correct strategy, you can spread your message and take part in the conversation.

Brand to Customer: “You talkin’ to me?”

No.  The customers are talking to each other.  Never before has word-of-mouth marketing been so prevalent.  Social media users can post a question on anything – restaurants, computers, cell phones and fellow users will weigh in instantly.  It seems odd that people will trust the experiences of a total stranger over a reputable brand, but that’s the reality.  It’s up to the brand owner to remedy any negatives, promote all of the positives, and be actively engaged in social media to see what your customers and potential customers are saying to each other.

Reach me on my mobile

We’re not suggesting that you call your customers.  That would be time consuming.  And expensive.  What we are suggesting is that you invest in your company’s mobile friendly website.  What’s that?   You don’t have one?  WHAT?!  Domus Dish has stressed this many times – companies NEED to be mobile-friendly.  A mobile version of your website along with mobile applications will keep your business ahead of or, at the very least, in line with the competition in 2011.

Still on the fence about going mobile?  Check out some key mobile statistics here.

Marketing = Digital Marketing

By this point digital marketing and traditional marketing are one in the same.  One campaign cannot exist effectively without the other.  You need both.  Your customers want to see both.  And you want what your customers want, right?  Right.  Start small by checking out what your competition is doing on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.  If they’re not doing anything (and the chances of that are SMALL) then you’re in luck.  If they are – use 2011 as the starting off point to your digital marketing campaign.  And make it aggressive.

Domus Digital is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusdigital.com.

As a consumer who spends 95% of his non-professional internet time using a mobile device, this experience left me wondering why all companies don’t have mobile sites. Many of the sites I visit are rich with images, animation, and heavy text and are difficult to navigate resulting in a less than desirable experience.

Over the past several years, smartphone usage has exploded. There are more than 49 million smartphone users currently in the US (according to ComScore) and that number is only going to rise. According to Morgan Stanley research, mobile users will outnumber desktop users within five years.

So why haven’t more companies taken this step? The cost is minimal in comparison to developing a full-scale site and the benefits far outweigh the financial investment. By having a mobile website, you’re providing your audience with a faster and easier way to access the content they are seeking while they’re on the go.

Feel free to check out a video we just put together regarding this information: www.domusdigital.com/getmobileready

Domus Digital is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusdigital.com.

Beyond traditional media to promote these holiday ticket sales, is there more that state lotteries can do to creatively promote tickets as gifts?  One idea is to create holiday cards pre-inserted with an instant lottery ticket allowing consumers to kill two birds with one stone.  It’s all about convenience and one-stop shopping at this time of the year.  Another idea is to create a stocking or a special holiday-themed foil pouch stuffed with multiple lottery tickets for that lucky person who deserves a little extra.  And lastly, lottery tickets make great employee incentives.  Domus worked with the Pennsylvania Lottery to develop the Golden Opportunities Challenge Program, an unprecedented program encouraging the Commonwealths’ 350,000+ businesses to use lottery tickets as rewards and incentives.

The promotional program encouraged businesses to purchase packs of lottery tickets as employee incentives to boost productivity.  Many of Pennsylvania’s leading companies put the power of Pennsylvania Lottery tickets to work for them. In fact, one company purchased $17,000 in tickets over a one year period!

But why limit lottery tickets as gifts just during the holidays?  They make great gifts all year long for any holiday or special occasion.  By promoting and communicating this message to consumers, state lotteries can benefit from increased sales throughout the year.

Domus Digital is an integrated digital and traditional marketing communications agency that delivers unconventional thinking and out-of-the-box strategies that help our clients sustain growth and demand brand awareness.  For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusdigital.com.

Commodity retailers aren’t feeling the pinch as much as retailers of higher-priced, considered purchases such as automobiles and luxury appliances.  These retailers face an uphill climb as the battle for the almighty dollar persists, and consumers continue to settle for less expensive options versus status.  Some retail brands saw the writing on the wall more than a year ago and made the decision to develop what we’ll call a “2^nd tier” product line (fewer bells and whistles and less expensive) that could be marketed to a wider range of consumers – AKA lower household income.  The trick here is to develop this new product line and market it to the masses without losing your brand cache and, ultimately, the consumers who’ve been willing to pay top dollar for that cache.  BMW has done this successfully with its 1-Series, launched in March of 2008.  They’ve managed to capture a younger, less affluent audience while still maintaining their core, wealthy consumer.

In the luxury appliance category, Dacor has done this successfully with the launch of its Distinctive™ Series – a new, more affordable line of appliances that offers fewer high-end features while maintaining the core style and innovation for which Dacor is so well known.  The Distinctive Series includes a Range and Rangetop, Single and Double Wall Ovens, a Dishwasher and a Cooktop.  The new line launched at the beginning of 2009 and is currently being sold through Dacor’s traditional, independent retailers as well as Sears.  The partnership with Sears is a first for Dacor.  And what better way to reach the masses with a premium appliance line than through a partnership with the leading mass merchant in the country. The bonus is that while only the Distinctive Series is on display at Sears stores, consumers have access to all Dacor appliances through the retailer.  As a result, Dacor has seen significant revenue through Sears from both its Distinctive and its non-Distinctive, higher-end appliances.

To sum it up…Dacor did it right.  The company did not choose to simply slash prices or offer deep discounts in an attempt to win the battle against its luxury appliance competitors.  We know – again by watching the car industry – that this strategy does not work.  Instead, Dacor did its due diligence and spent the R&D money to develop a line of appliances that would appeal – in performance, style and cost – to a new group of consumers.  Bravo, Dacor.  Nicely played.

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Now, “Kinect” is actually a good name for the product, and the device has the potential to be incredibly successful, but that’s not the point of this blog post. Rather, I’d like to muse about the strategy to use one name for the many months leading up to the actual launch, and then change the name just before the launch. Microsoft has always done that with its operating systems. For example, Windows Server 2008 was referred to as “Codename Longhorn” from early 2005 through August, 2007, when Bill Gates announced its official name in anticipation of its February, 2008 release.

Although that might be fine with operating systems, especially those designed for the corporate server market, Project Natal – er, uh, Kinect – is different. It is a consumer product, not a corporate one. And 2010 is not 2005. When Microsoft announced Project Natal in 2009, it released a video showcasing its capabilities. That video has been on the Top 10 viral video charts every month since then. It has received millions of views, and virtually every gamer has heard about it. Moreover, forums and social media sites have been abuzz over it non-stop.

In other words, social media is the name of the game in 2009/2010, for those companies who know how to use it well. Microsoft certainly did use it well this past year, getting the whole gaming world knowing about and discussing their upcoming product. But they didn’t hit a home run because of their naming tactic. Some of that branding value will now disappear because the word “Natal” no longer exists for Microsoft. They absolutely can – and will – spend lots of money to imprint the new name in people’s minds, but a more nimble and cost-conscious company might have come up with the final brand name a year ago. Then they could have gotten their branding done for them without a massive advertising campaign (allowing that money to be used more effectively elsewhere).

Domus is a marketing communications agency specializing in integrating social media, digital, and traditional advertising and PR into effective brand strategies. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

Successful brands are those that are singularly focused on delivering the best products and services in markets consumers demand. Consider companies like Apple. On top of their other successes, their iPad is on target to being the fastest product in history to reach the $1 billion mark. Although Apple invests in marketing (principally advertising and minimally in social media), it own’s the public’s perception as a company that delivers the most innovative and desirable devices. Apple is focused on product and customer first, which then enables effective communication options.

On the other hand, companies that cannot consistently meet and exceed their customers’ expectations will faulter no matter how much attention is paid to the remainder of the marketing mix. Their focus should instead be on their products and service. Once those are on the right track, companies can once again employ communication tools to regain growth.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia, focusing on fundamental marketing strategies that employ wide ranges of communications media and delivery. For more information, please visit us at http://www.domusinc.com.

First VW started their “Fun Theory” campaign. This includes a number of experiential locations that entice people to choose a fun option that also coincides with useful behavior (walking stairs instead of an escalator, throwing trash in receptacles instead of littering, etc.). These locations have, in turn, become the basis of much local and worldwide PR. Moreover, videos of people experiencing the VW locations have been the basis of viral internet videos and other social media sites.

Finally, VW has complemented its “Fun Theory” campaign with its ubiquitous “Punch Dub” television advertising. Look at one of those commercials and one of the first words that comes to one’s mind is “fun”.

VW is successfully marrying a broad array of communication outlets with its one common brand positioning goal. They’re a textbook case study for how it should be done.

Domus is a marketing communications agency based in Philadelphia. For more information, visit our web site at http://www.domusinc.com.