Recently I read Brian Hernandez’s blog about ADVERTAINMENT, (Where advertising and entertainment collide” http://mashable.com/2013/05/14/advertainment.  It’s a great article and one that spells out the challenge for most marketers, both traditional and digital….creating advertising that is a welcome part of the consumer’s content.

Let’s face it, no matter what the message, marketers  are constantly challenged with grabbing the attention of time crunched consumers that don’t want to be advertised to, they want to be told something interesting, be captivated by an event, told something funny.

So how do you create something that the consumer really wants to watch or read?  Well, remember Red Bull’s Strato Space jump, the Mike & Ike break up trailer, Ford’s Focus Bob series on YouTube? If not, go check them out… It’s a subtle integration of products within entertainment.

In our business, Social Media plays a large role in how these campaigns are viewed and engaged with. Platforms are changing to allow a freedom of creative expression and brand engagement. This trend will only grow as consumer’s attention spans shrink. So how are you at Advertainment?  Are you interesting, captivating, funny and is your audience engaged? If not we’re happy to help.

We all  know what it’s like to have a bad day. Some days it may be because of the weather; other days it may be because of a bad customer service experience. Nowadays, when people are mad about something, they take it online. Negative Facebook comments can both hurt and help business, depending on how you handle them. Below are some facts that will help you address negative comments on Facebook.

1)      Don’t delete a negative comment unless it is filled with inappropriate language or is otherwise offensive to readers.

2)      Don’t ignore the comment but don’t spend too much time apologizing or trying to make everyone happy.

3)      Do not get into comment wars with potential trolls (separate actual customers from those who are there just to bother).

4)      Invite anyone with a complaint to take it to a private message or off your wall.

5)      Try to help the customer in the private message by offering them some sort of deal.

6)      Only apologize if you are certain you cannot rectify the situation. Apology should be in a new status update and not in the comments.

Keep in mind this question: “What customer service do I myself expect?” We are all costumers in some way. Keep it consistent from the store to online.

What’s the draw of the gumball? Instant Gratification. A reward you can see right now for an action you take. Waiving the magic wand and giving me exactly what I want right now.

In theory, instant gratification is exciting, but the desire for it in marketing is one of the biggest mistakes business owners can make.

Instead of spreading your money around town at every gumball (or marketing opportunity) that calls your name, invest in a solution that will have a long term impact on your business. One that not only helps build growth without wearing out, but also one that can help you sustain that growth over the horizon.

So next time you’re tempted to feed that gum ball machine or jump on some low priced, “instant results” marketing campaign, remember that shiny new things wear out quickly. Instead spend your marketing dollars in something that will help growth your business in the long term with a planned out strategy.

Most websites I look at are missing the boat on the marketing machine their website could be! Long lists of what a business does, the history and the not so flattering photos of your employees isn’t what I am visiting your site for.

Instead of the paragraph form explanations beef up your content game and intrigue me to go further into your site.  Within 10 seconds of someone visiting your site they will decide whether they are clicking further or clicking back out of your site.

“Content is the meat in the marketing sandwich across all media platforms”

So pull me in with an interesting picture, one that may show what you do, relevant to your industry, or even the personality of the business owner (don’t be shy). Try to relate to your customers at a more human level.

Pictures are great but the content is ultimately the most important. Content is the meat in the marketing sandwich across all media platforms. Websites started out replacing the yellow book ad and has only recently been transforming into a marketing tool.

After you’ve got the consumers attention what do you want them to do from there? Think about your sales process and what is the next step after hello?

Calls to action are key in funneling them deeper into the site. Whether it is a free estimate form, sign up here, take the tour or anything else that would bring your future customer to the next step of your sales process is great. Your website can be the salesperson to a degree, tweaking and improving the salesperson comes from analyzing the data consistently and making the changes accordingly.

Add great content and develop a strategy to funnel people deeper into your site and the website will turn into a marketing machine!

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Ron Giordan
@rongiordan
ron.giordan@midwestdigitalmarketing.com

Digital Marketers Joining with SCDH

Turning “Maddening” dreams into digital reality

(MADISON)        Mid-West Digital Marketing is proud to announce a partnership with MAD MEN Sterling Cooper Draper Harris (@madmenSCDH). The partnership will provide clients of both firms an entire team of marketing giants in all forms of new and old media.

“This is truly a great concept as the digital marketing world is truly taking over all forms of advertising,” Mid-West Digital Marketing CEO Joe Daguanno said. “The top writers, artists, thinkers and account executives in the industry are at SCDH and MDM.  We will, together, be able to serve client needs.

“My mother always said, ‘be careful what you wish for because then you’ll get it and people will get jealous and try to take it away from you’”, SCDH Partner Roger Sterling said.

Mid-West Digital Marketing, based out of Madison, Wisconsin, creates web strategy for businesses through SEO, SEM, Social Media Marketing and PPC Advertising as well as Website Design and Development. Mad Men Sterling Cooper Draper and Harris, a New York City Advertising Agency continues to grow its client list since a shake-up a few years ago and death of partner Lane Pryce.  It is led, primarily, by the genius mind of Donald Draper – an advertising guru who is “living like there’s no tomorrow because there isn’t one.”

Be sure to follow this partnership via twitter @midwestdigital1, @dondraper_NY, @madmenSCDH, and @rogersterlingSC.

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