Direct Marketing Blog

Filling in some more cross media blanks

  

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Last time we met – email, direct mail and QR codes were the soup du jour. Today we take a look at SMS text messages, social media and special events.  These 3 marketing channels are constantly evolving and should not be ignored.

SMS Text Messages

As the sister component to QR codes as it relates to mobile marketing, text messaging has great possibilities.  Like QR codes, they allow for on the spot interaction, great coupon offers and new drip marketing techniques.

Let’s say you have paper table tents set up inside your make believe coffee shop.  You could add a number on there, ask folks to text “Hit Me Up” to that number and start them on your special offer drip marketing program. Now you’ve got an audience waiting for you to talk to them on the medium they prefer. I don’t have the stats on hand but the average response time to a text vs. an email is considerably faster which we can all relate to. 

So if you snag new customers when and where they want to be snagged, you can open doors to brand new marketing methods.  Those table tenters could become part of an “SMS Only” group that gets to receive offers not available anywhere else.  If Tuesday afternoon is your slow time, set up a text program that gives this special audience a time sensitive coupon – “Come to the store between 1 and 4 and receive a free cookie with your coffee”.  Get rid of the slow day and watch the customers flock!

Social Media

So many opportunities, so little time. Social media is really a marketing program unto itself, depending on what your company does and how big your marketing department is.  But if you’ve yet to put your toe in this pool and are unsure where to begin, the best advice is strip down and dive in! If you don’t have the resources to keep up with this new avenue as part of your marketing program, there are companies that can handle it for you (like SVO, just sayin’).

The big 3 are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Each has its own strengths and unique points but we’re not going there today.  Typically, a marketing program will utilize Facebook and Twitter in a B2C setup.  A B2B approach may have more merit with a LinkedIn strategy. In either case, it’s important to test what’s working.  You can hold contests, post videos, advertise and a host of other possibilities.    But if you think of it as another marketing channel, then remember you need to determine its effectiveness with your audience.

The simple method is to track what brings in the most traffic to your marketing campaign.  Like A/B testing in the traditional sense, you can create an A/B set of messaging.  What are your fans interested in?  Do they want to enter a contest or do they want information and educational updates?  Not to beat a dead horse, but you need to test this channel along with all the others we’ve discussed to determine if it’s working.

Special Events

This could be a trade show, street fair, conference or any other event your company will be attending, exhibiting at or both.  Most companies have a handful of these that are attended each year.  But most companies do not have a strategy in place to maximize their return on investment.  Trade shows, especially, can have high costs attached.  Are you getting your money's worth?

Certainly you can just show up and hope that folks will come a knockin' on your booth, just itching to learn more about your company.  Unless you're giving away a bag of cash, this is unlikely.  Let's be proactive and pull these people to us, give them a reason to be there.  If you're attending just to hang out, great, no need for a plan. But if you want to come home with a bag full of leads, you need to prep.

A quick example is running an integrated marketing campaign in the weeks and months leading up to the event. If you have the list of attendees, perhaps you implement an email and direct mail component.  Certainly social media is a valid add on.  If you can get a hold of some cell numbers using an integrated camapign, you can send text reminders during event. "Stop by the booth in the next 20 minutes for a free ice cream cone!"  There are a multitude of other approaches, but you get the idea.

This will wrap up our journey along the roadmap of a marketing strategy. Though it really only scratches the surface, it’s a good place to start.  There are plenty of other ways to approach all this and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us for a FREE consultation!