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

How will marketing shape up in 2010?  Grant Johnson’s predictions were published in The Big Fat Marketing Blog this morning and we invite you to take a look.

Anthony Piwarun
eMarketing
anthony.piwarun@johnsondirect.com

Bad copy is bad copy; great copy is great copy. What’s the secret? Relevance. Regardless of old or new media, if the copy, offer and messaging resonate with the intended segment(s), success will be yours.

What’s the key to relevancy? Usually it’s the offers/messaging you make/use.

My experience in not either/or, it’s using the right channel with the right message and usually involves adjusting such to each segment based on THEIR channel preference, not mine as a marketer.

Both old and new media need to apply correct testing — sadly that’s still done infrequently.

Grant A. Johnson

Sagging sales and weak response rates amid economic gloom means the time to deploy tests is now. Here are the new rules to live by. During rough economic times, it’s easy for those who control the budget to say that if response rates are down, they don’t want to invest in testing-”You can’t spend money if you’re not making money.” To certain executives, this actually makes sense. But others, the wise ones, know that the time to spend more marketing dollars is when sales are down.

FIND OUT WHAT TO TEST. 

While Flash (a vector-based graphic presentation that can present things in a continuous movie format) isn’t a search engine friendly web design choice, it is a method for drawing attention to information. Our web designers recognize strategic opportunities for Flash use, when its use will purposefully persuade the audience to act and get us closer to meeting the site’s objectives.

Milwaukee Electric Tool uses Flash in the same way …
… drawing attention to new products, offers or content that is fresh and meaningful to its serious tool users. Johnson Direct recently partnered with Milwaukee Electric Tool to launch a number of new Flash components:

1. Sawzall.com
A new micro site launched October 28 to promote its Sawzall-branded tools, blades and Test Team.  The “walk around” Flash piece features 8 Sawzall products. Whether you choose to have the entire piece auto-play or you decide to interact with it, you’ll find information, photos and videos that promote the benefits for each product’s key features.

See it at www.sawzall.com.

2. New Products & Offers
About twice a month, Milwaukee Electric Tool updates its special promotions. Johnson Direct calls attention to these attractive offers with a Flash piece that enables the visitor to navigate through the promo selections (3 to 6 tabs) and click through to see a bit more detail. To redeem an offer, the visitor simply downloads the offer’s PDF form.

Check out the latest promo: http://www.milwaukeetool.com/NewProductsAndOffers.aspx

3. Test & Measurement
Milwaukee Electric Tool’s website is undergoing constant enhancements including the launch of an entire category for its Test & Measurement products. Launched November 1, the T&M category features a Flash piece that highlights 10 of its hottest products.

Give it a look: http://www.milwaukeetool.com/SubCategorySpotlight.aspx?CategoryName=Test+And+Measurement

Measure Visitor Usage of Flash
Each of these Flash components is tied directly to a web analytics system. We can see how visitors interact with the Flash presentations, where they click and much more. Because these Flash pieces are supplementing HTML content, Flash-haters and no-nonsense visitors aren’t put-off  because they can simply choose to bypass them. However, what Milwaukee Tool has found is that even its practical, all-business website users enjoy interacting with the benefit-driven, user-friendly Flash pieces.

You can partner with Johnson Direct, too!
We’ll help you integrate interactivity into your website strategically and sensibly. Our web team creates websites that achieve serious business and marketing objectives. These sites perform beyond expectations, and look great. Contact the Johnson Direct eMarketing Team today!

Denise B. Hearden
800.710.2750, x139
denise.hearden@johnsondirect.com

CHIEF MARKETER Feature Story: October/November 2009 (DMA 09 Issue)
Author: Grant A. Johnson, Johnson Direct

We’re a good half-decade into the age of advertising accountability and most marketers are still struggling to quantify their spends.

The ever-evolving media landscape, from billboard and brand advertising to trade shows and web/podcast events, social media and even traditional media like direct mail, ads and mass media have made both media buys and accurate measurement about as easy as running a 4-minute mile.

Marketer’s increased workload, combined with tighter budget constraints, a plethora of media options and generally shrinking marketing departments, makes “accountability” a seemingly impossible feat. Especially since marketing credibility has become an issue among many upper executives, the task of making your advertising/marketing more ROI-centric has become even more difficult.

The shift in marketing dollars to social media adds fuel to the firestorm, as social media outlets are very hard, sometimes nearly impossible, to quantify and measure. Yes, they are often inexpensive, but money spent without a ROMI payback model is money wasted.

Read Make the C-Suite BELIEVE. Written by Grant A. Johnson; published by Chief Marketer.

Your friends at Johnson Direct

A: With the recession prompting many executives to rethink their spending priorities, marketing budgets are already looking pretty lean. So one might wonder how to trim even more fat from expenditures as fiscal planning for 2010 gains steam. “Straight Line” posed this question to leading direct marketers, who shared the following tips for conserving much-needed resources in a tough economy. See how Grant A. Johnson, Johnson Direct, and other experts answered this question.

This Question and Answer are just one feature covered in the latest issue of Johnson Direct’s Marketing that’s Measurable eNewsletter. If you didn’t receive your copy, please subscribe to ensure you don’t miss a future issue. In the meantime, catch up on the hot topics covered in the July/August issue.

Denise B. Hearden
eMarketing Director
Johnson Direct

Feature Story in July BtoB magazine:  With the recession prompting many executives to rethink their spending priorities, marketing budgets are already looking pretty lean. So one might wonder how to trim even more fat from expenditures as fiscal planning for 2010 gains steam.

“Straight Line” posed this question to leading direct marketers, who shared the following tips for conserving much-needed resources in a tough economy. See how Grant A. Johnson, Johnson Direct, and other experts answered this question.

Would you support the ban of water bottles in your community? The New South Wales Southern Highlands town of Bundanoon hopes their decision to ban the sale of bottled water will encourage you to say “Ban the bottle!” 

“Huge amounts of resources are used to extract, bottle and transport that bottled water, and much of the package ends up as litter or landfill,” said environmentalist Jon Dee from activist group Do Something. “Environmentally, it makes no sense and… what we are trying to do in Bundanoon is show that a community can live without single-use bottled water.”

Learn more at http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/07/09/2620882.htm?section=justin

The water bottle ban news is reminiscent of San Francisco’s attempt to ban large grocery stores and pharmacies from distributing disposable plastic bags in March 2007. Of course, the plastics industry put a stop to that. The news reports since then show that when communities try to put the kibosh on bags they’re met with fierce opposition by the paper and plastic industries. Communities are then forced to adopt voluntary recycling programs or form committees to investigate recycling programs.

Do you choose Paper or Plastic? Which is the better choice?  Reusable cloth bags is the best choice, but if you’re caught in the store without one, should you choose paper or plastic? This interactive look at the environmental impact of your bag habits will guide your decision making: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23358591/

Will this latest news make you think twice about your personal use of water bottles and paper/plastic bags? Let me know!

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

Here’s our latest Johnson Direct Newsletter for June, 2009.

I hope it helps lift your marketing results.

Grant A. Johnson