Johnson Direct turned 11 yesterday and as part of our celebration we launched a landing page to showcase our expertise in one of the many services we offer: branding.

Branding is as much – if not more – a strategic and methodical process as it is a creative service. In fact, if you embark on a branding, or rebranding, initiative without the proper investment in Fact-Based Research and Strategic Planning, you’ll eventually learn that your focus on creativity and design has been wasted. And we all realize, in a down economy, a company’s shrinking marketing budget should be put to work – with measurable results and a positive ROI.

Our process, Direct Branding™, is an in-depth approach that guides organizations through “brand discovery” — taking your brand promise, products and services, values and methods under consideration. Over the past 11 years we’ve taken many clients through this process and the results have been tremendous. To view our brand identity showcase, visit DirectBrandIt.com.

Denise B. Hearden
eMarketing Director
denise.hearden@johnsondirect.com

This afternoon I was working with @denisebhearden on compiling results from a recent social media campaign we did on behalf of one of our long-standing clients when I noticed a link from a blog post in 2008 floating around the “twittersphere”. The article, originally posted on Ad Week in 2008, described how a TNS Media Intelligence/Cymphony poll showed that “agencies don’t get it”. Among the chief complaints was the agency treatment of outlets like blogs and social networks as traditional media. I hope that since social media has come such a long way in the past couple of years more agencies have come around to understanding the dynamics and power of social media. Has yours?

Johnson Direct has. We’ve produced measurable results over multiple channels for our clients, and that includes social media. If your in house team or agency is still struggling to define social media ROI , then it’s time to take control and realize that you are already behind. Playing catch-up with your competition is never an easy task and it’s about time to start looking into ways to increase your market share and in turn improve your bottom line. Johnson Direct has helped both B2B and B2C clients navigate the murky waters and make sense of social media so you can focus your resources on things that matter most to you: building and maintaining a dominant presence in your industry. After all, isn’t that why you hired an ad agency in the first place?

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

I recently was shopping for a research subscription and contacted a couple of industry leaders for a price quote. In both cases, membership levels and prices were not available in print or online. I had to provide my name and contact information and wait for a sales representative to contact me. A week later and I’ve only heard from one of the research providers. I’m sharing with you the shocking experience I had today with the more popular research company.

On January 15, I submitted my “urgent request” to hear from a new business developer via phone AND web/email. I waited six business days to before I received a phone call.

During this call, the rep asked some questions and explained the options. I expressed interest in the basic membership level and he offered to put me in touch with a senior-level rep who could talk to me about discounts and negotiated subscription rates. I was contacted by rep #2 later that same day. After hearing a typical sales pitch, and nothing I hadn’t heard from rep #1 that morning, I told him that I’m interested in the basic membership and ask him if there are discounts or variations of which I should be aware.

Rep #2 quickly announced that his company does not sell the basic membership without the mid-level membership (more than double the basic level price). Of course, I’m at a loss as to what the basic level membership is for, since the mid-level membership already includes the basic level benefits. I announced to rep #2 that I am surprised regarding this major discrepancy in membership options and frustrated by the fact that we had to wait a week to hear from a sales person that could provide pricing. Rep #2 chose not to explain my options further or to soften the blow. Instead, with an obligatory tone, he apologized for the misunderstanding and concluded the call immediately.

I sat for moment, mouth agape, bewildered by this brief sales call. It left me feeling bitter because at Johnson Direct, we fight very hard to retain our current clients and win new clients. Our philosophy is to go “above and beyond” whenever possible. Day in and day out, everything we do is aimed at supporting our clients AND prospects. After all, a prospect seeking a new marketing partner may not sign-on as a client today, BUT you never know when your paths may cross again in the future. Leaving them satisfied short-term may reap benefits long-term.

I can’t believe that a large, well-known company can afford to perform new business activities in this manner. If I’m treated like this before the contract is even signed, how can I expect my needs will be met responsively and respectfully as a paying customer?

Sound familiar? I hope not! But, if you’ve had an unfortunate experience in any way similar to this, share it with me!

Denise B. Hearden
eMarketing Director
denise.hearden@johnsondirect.com

Today’s BizTimes Milwaukee had an interesting story on a local non-profit leveraging social media networks to push it’s annual donation drive to younger donors.  The article, “Use Social Media to Build Your Tribe”, reports that the campaign was successful, bringing in $12,460 of new donations.  While the quantitative results of the campaign were positive, some organizations may look at the “small” number and think it’s not enough to cover the investment of time and resources.  Those companies are wrong…

Social media isn’t just about quantity.  It’s about starting the dialog with your audience.  My strong belief is that the true measure of ROI in social media isn’t quantitative in nature, its qualitative.  Engagement may very well be an overused, ill-defined buzzword, but the truth is that the number of followers you have, links you post or dollars you earn mean little unless you develop an ongoing relationship with those that show interest in your brand.  Conversing with your audience and providing useful, relevant information so it can be shared with others will benefit you more in the long run.

Fortunately, the United Way of Greater Milwaukee got it right.  The spokeswoman for the organization didn’t define success as the number of dollars raised, but said “the relationships we managed to build will be worth exponentially more in the future”.  Bravo!

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

Image courtesy of Twine

Over the course of the past few months, I’ve been getting asked about all the “weird” stuff I post to Facebook.  I know what you’re thinking, but no, I haven’t been using the web’s most popular social networking site to announce my quest to determine the speed of darkness.  Instead, I’ve been using URL shortening services like ow.ly and bit.ly to post content to Twitter and automatically update my other networks.  URL shorteners assign a shorter address to a website and redirect to another destination page, adding analytics along the way.

Like many other results-minded social media professionals, I use the shortening services to track clicks and mask Google analytics tags to gauge user engagement.  If you want to measure results of your marketing campaigns then these services are a necessity, but one may wonder if they are beneficial when the everyday social network user says “what the heck is that?!” every time you use them.

As if to answer this question and solve the problem once and for all, Facebook and Google announced last week the limited release of fb.me and goo.gl, respectively.  Not to be outdone, YouTube announced yesterday the development of YouTu.be, a URL service specific to videos uploaded to the world’s most popular video sharing site.  Each of the three services now pose a significant threat to bit.ly, arguably the most popular external shortening service, because of their strong user community and household brand recognition. The promotion of a service by a popular icon creates an awareness that cannot be matched by even the largest marketing campaign.  Remember Ashton Kutcher challenging CNN on getting to 1 million followers on Twitter?  You can ask around, but I doubt you will find anyone that disagrees with the notion that Ashton Kutcher played a role in Twitter’s 2009 popularity boom.

Mainstream use of URL shorteners will help online marketers by providing credibility to their online identities and positively impact the results of their campaigns.  If these services see mainstream use and users know what they are, then they will begin trusting links and make our content, products and services easier to market.  Widespread use of social networks focusing on short form communication is bringing forth innovative new ways to increase leads, sales and customer engagement in an era where fewer people are clicking on display ads.  Embracing these trends will not only help you stay afloat in a down economy, but also help you stay on top of the competition.

When all is said and done, will the popularity of Facebook, Google and YouTube make URL shorteners mainstream in 2010?  Only time will tell, but my guess is absolute.ly!

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

Integrate Social Media to Grow Your Online Presence

It seems that everywhere you go today companies are implementing social media campaigns to reach out to customers and increase name recognition.  Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube have all become household names, and even the Oxford dictionary added “unfriend”, a popular term for removing someone from your social network contact list, as the 2009 word of the year.  With all the hype and emergence of social media “gurus”, it is important to take a step back and stick with what matters the most: achieving measurable results.

Social media success can come in many forms. Whether it’s achieving greater brand awareness, improving marks on your customer relations scorecard or even increasing sales, social media provides a cost effective way to broaden your online presence.  While most social media networks are free to use, creating a winning strategy takes time, personnel and resources that you might otherwise allocate to another area of operations.  To justify the shift to social media, Johnson Direct works with clients to define and implement strategy using the below model to achieve a return on investment and ensure future success.

Identify Target Audience

The first step to creating your social media campaign is to define your target audience.  Who are you trying to reach?  Going through this process allows us to match target demographics to their most commonly used network.  For example, you might have a son or daughter that spends most of their time on Facebook leading you to believe that only teens use the site.  A July 2009 study by iStrategyLabs showed a 190% growth rate in the age bracket of 35-54 and a 513% increase in 55+ compared to a nominal 4.8% growth rate for users between 18 and 24 since the beginning of the year.  What does this mean for your brand?  Facebook isn’t just for kids anymore.

Define “Success”

In new media, success can mean positive feedback on goods and services, a higher amount of online sales or even a higher volume of “buzz” on your brand.  Social media services like Twitter and Facebook can be used to engage your customer and support them for the duration of the relationship.  An increasing number of companies are employing social networks as a method of client relationship management for sales or technical support.  A case in point is back in September I was looking for a car at a local dealership and felt uncomfortable with the amount of pressure I was receiving from the sales force.  I turned to my social network of choice, Twitter, and warned anyone that would listen of my experience.  Within three hours, I received a direct message from the car dealership apologizing for their actions and requesting a sit down to smooth things over.  At the time I vowed never again to go to that place, but after their unique (at the time) use of social media, I gave them another shot.

Launch, Integrate and Adapt

Planning is the key to success not only in social media but in your interactive strategy as a whole.  All of your research and analysis has led to the launch of your campaign- how will you announce it to your audience?  Johnson Direct recommends a “two way” relationship between your social media and traditional interactive campaigns.  Use your current interactive channels (web site, newsletter, email list, etc.) to launch the social campaign and use the social campaign to support your interactive efforts.    Integrating the various online channels is key to the success of both – social media cannot be used as a replacement to a traditional online presence.  We hear way too often about the company that cuts their interactive budget and opts to go the “free” social media route and ends up losing a big part of their customer base.

When your campaign is officially off the ground, it’s time to take a look at how you are performing week to week.  One thing to keep in mind is that seeing success, however you define it, takes time and patience.  With that being said, monitoring your campaign and adapting to current trends can make or break its success.  If you notice, for example, that the vast majority of your fans, followers or friends are in the 35-54 demographic, consider tailoring your content to the younger generation and testing the results.

Analysis

A campaign cannot be deemed a failure or success if there is no logical form of reasoning behind your analysis.  Traditional interactive channels have a large selection of analytical resources to measure your results, including Google Analytics for websites and ExactTarget for email distribution lists.  Since social media is still a relatively new phenomenon, and there is no current “industry standard” of measurement.  At Johnson Direct, we suggest not relying on just one analytics suite to measure, but utilizing a vast array of network specific features relevant to the medium most used by your target audience.  Blog platforms like WordPress and Blogger have “plug-ins” you can use that link to Google Analytics, and micro blogging platforms like Twitter have both third party enterprise software and link services.

Cornering your market online has changed in the last couple of years.  Simply throwing together a low budget website and expecting customers to find you is no longer common practice.  A multi-channel strategy is needed for the long term success of your brand or organization and Johnson Directs method of campaign creation and analysis will take you to the next level.  To read more about how Johnson Direct can help you deliver measurable results, visit johnsondirect.com today.

	twitter.com/apiwarun
	linkedin.com/in/apiwarun
	anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com