Patterson/Bach Communications, Inc.

When is the last time you wrote a letter to a friend, a service provider or a prospective customer? Chances are it’s been a while. And of course, in today’s world of instant communications, why bother with the time, expense (and icky stamp-glue-on-the -tongue) of snail mail?

Here at the agency, though, we’re seeing the value of a good, old-fashioned letter in a new business initiative we recently launched. That’s right, we’re sending out personalized letters along with other materials to prospective clients—and so far, the results are encouraging. We’ve actually lined up a few meetings along with some “keep in touch” invitations, and in most cases the prospects have called us, a sign that our message is getting through. We’re also dusting off another old-school sales tool a.k.a. the White Paper. We’re starting to send these out via e-blasts, as part of an industry-specific new business initiative. I’m eager to see the results, and I’m betting we’ll get some.

I’m sharing this as a reminder that, as we embrace all the new media out there, we shouldn’t entirely junk the old. Sure, it generally costs more to  send a letter, direct mail, etc. However, used judiciously, these mediums can garner attention and pull results. It may be—irony of ironies—that Dinosaur Age communications appear all the more novel and attention-getting in today’s jungle of electronic media. I don’t know. But I do believe that old-school communications has a place in our new media world—and used properly, the old can be worth gold to smart marketers.

Internet, cable, and phone. Flight, hotel, and car rental. Whopper, fries, and a drink. What do these products and services have in common? They are all among the most recognized examples of product bundling.

What is Product Bundling?

In marketing, bundling is commonly defined as a selling strategy where two or more products are sold at one price, often at a discount to the customer.

For example, a communications company may choose to offer a cable TV bundle that allows the subscriber to enjoy cable television, local telephone service, and Internet access as a single product offering, rather than having to purchase three different services at a cumulative higher rate.

Benefits of Bundling

Product bundling can save your customers time and money. Rather than having to deal with multiple vendors in order to have access to multiple products, the customer has one central vendor for all his or her needs. This concept of one-stop shopping means the client spends less time keeping up with various vendors, and has one central pipeline when there is a need for customer support.

Companies also benefit from providing various types of bundled packages to their clients. In many cases, the cost and convenience created by product bundling go a long way toward promoting customer loyalty. This makes the client less likely to switch to another company for any of the products or services, especially if the price for the bundle is competitive. Product bundling also gives you more latitude when it comes to pricing. Anytime you eliminate pricing by line item, people can’t shop your price as easily.

How to Bundle

What are some of the considerations that go into developing a product bundling strategy? First, look at unique ways to bundle complementary products. Then, identify customers that would be good candidates, determine product configurations and set a pricing strategy. Also, think about how to advertise the bundling program. Get your sales staff involved and consult your advertising agency early on.

After developing a pricing strategy, you should test it on a sample group to determine whether it has appeal for a wide range of customers.

A company that can provide its customers with hard-to-resist ‘package deals’ will move more product, bring in more money, and attract loyal customers. Contact us today to build your own bundling strategy.

For decades, the only way to spread the news about our products and services was through advertising and public relations. But now our organizations have a tremendous opportunity to publish great content online—content that people want to consume and that they are eager to share with their friends, family, and colleagues.

Whatever you call it—viral, buzz, word-of-mouse, or word-of-blog marketing—having other people tell your story drives action. One person sends it to another, then that person sends it to yet another, and on and on.

The formula for success includes a combination of some great—and cost effective—Web content (a video, blog entry, or interactive tool) that provides valuable information (or is groundbreaking or amazing or hilarious or involves a celebrity), plus a network of people to light the fire and links that make your content very easy to share.

How to launch your own viral marketing campaign using videos and interactive tools:

Tips for Producing & Sharing Video
Ready to try out your production skills and post some hopefully buzz-generating content on YouTube? Here are some things to keep in mind:
• Your video should be no more than three minutes (preferably shorter)
• Go with homemade-quality video to help bring out your personality
• Make it easy for people to share your video with friends, colleagues and family
• Give the video a descriptive and unique title
• Create an accurate and interesting text blurb with keywords and language that people will use when searching for videos like yours
• Try a series of similar videos to build interest (Example: Will It Blend?)
• Develop a contest in which users submit their own video

Tips for Developing Interactive Tools
Widgets Rock! And if you can come up with one that will help people calculate something useful, or makes their lives a little better, or simply entertain them, then you’re on your way. Here are some guidelines that you can apply to your industry-related tools:
• Interactive tools must always be FREE
• Consider building an interactive tool around a specific holiday or promotion
• Allow people to share your widget with others
• Avoid excessive exposure of your company name, product or brand as this may be a turnoff to those viewers who try to avoid advertisements

Tips for Building an Audience
It takes time to build an audience. Here are some tips to speed up the process:
• Create links to your video or interactive tool from your home page, product pages, e-mail or online media room
• Send bloggers a link to the video or interactive tool
• Post comments on other people’s blogs, including a link to your video (make sure you’re on topic and genuinely contributing to the conversation in addition to linking to your video or interactive tool)
• Get your partners to post a link from their existing Web sites or e-newsletters.
• Make the link available on all your active social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.

Bottom line, successful viral marketing campaigns, along with traditional advertising, can help sell your ideas in a creative way that people want to share with their friends, colleagues, and family members. If you’d like to receive more tips on launching a viral campaign that resonates, please contact us.

Mobile phone use for services beyond voice is at the tipping point of exponential growth in the Unites States. What does this mean for the mobile marketing framework?

The reality is that mobile marketing is not a one-hit wonder, but rather a robust pyramid comprised of several layers that individually and collectively can elevate a brand’s awareness and drive positive consumer action.

SMS Text Messaging
According to CTIA, more than 160 million people in the U.S. are on a text plan and the average age of a “texter” is 38. Taking these numbers into account it should surprise no one to discover that SMS gives brands the greatest reach and taps into the behaviors and interests of millions, all through a simple 160-character message. SMS is a proven mobile-marketing weapon that is driving brand awareness right now.

Mobile Web/WAP Sites
There are more than a billion web sites on the Internet, but only a small percentage has been optimized for viewing on a mobile phone with wireless access protocol (WAP). With more than 172 million phones now capable of browsing the Web, it’s easy to see the value WAP sites bring to your brand. Some of the more popular WAP mobile web sites include USA Today, The Weather Channel, and Yahoo. WAP sites typically focus on news highlights, calendar events, and the like.

Social Networking on a Mobile Phone
Did you know that in one-month alone, comScore reported more than 27 million people accessed a social networking site from their mobile phone? By creating a branded Facebook page or Twitter account, companies can connect with this audience, giving them a chance to engage with the brands they care about, all from their mobile phone.

Mobile Banner Ads
The banner ad has been a core component of online advertising campaigns for years and now is making its mark in the mobile world. Verizon found its mobile banner ad click-though rates to be 2 percent, compared to the .3 percent achieved from the online counterparts.

Mobile Applications (Apps)
Mobile applications will continue to become more pervasive and influential in 2010. As the iPhone App Store continues to grow, others will follow suit. With the BlackBerry App Store, the Google Android Application Store and the upcoming release of the Windows Marketplace for Mobile, mobile applications will have the ability to reach more than the average iPhone user.

Whether your brand taps into one layer or all layers, the opportunities exist to drive your brand to new heights through mobile marketing.

Give us a call and take advantage of our own value-added offer: a free marketing consultation, coffee and bagels on us. Call Tim Bach at 407-645-1880.

Back to enewsletter…

Some believe that the beginning of a great marketing campaign begins with design. Some think it is a great strategy. Others think it is a great offer. I believe that all of these can be part of a truly successful marketing campaign. But one thing I know for sure, without measurable goals and a testing plan, all these beliefs will just be good guesses.

Why should I Test My Marketing Campaigns?

The primary reason for testing is to determine the effectiveness of a campaign. The more you understand what your target audience is responding to, and acting on, the better you will be in developing effective campaigns. However there are many variables that can change what your target audience will react to, therefore ongoing testing is recommended to help predict and develop campaigns that will yield greater results.

How do I test my Marketing Campaigns?

There are many ways to test your marketing campaign from focus groups, keyword based ads to unique URL’s, landing pages and 800 numbers. This should be determined during the development of your marketing strategy and goals.

Example 1 – E-mail Campaign

You are running an e-mail campaign. Split your e-mail list in half and send the same e-mail with two different subject lines, or two different offers, or two different calls-to-action. After a few days look at the data and figure out which subject line, offer, or call-to-action produced the best results. In the next e-mail, split your list again and try two variations of the version that won the last time.

Example 2 – Pay-Per-Click Campaign

You are running a pay-per-click campaign. Each keyword you’re bidding on should have at least two different ad variations going at all times. Get creative and once you see that one of your variations is getting more clicks, turn off the other one and add a new one that varies on the better performing version.

Example 3 – Online Banner Ads

You are running a banner campaign. The campaign will consist of multiple banner designs, on multiple sites, in multiple sections of each site. Tag each banner with a unique ID, drive them to a specific landing page, and measure the click performance all the way through to the goal.

What Type of Marketing Campaigns Should I Test?

With the current tools and technologies you can test just about every type of traditional or non-traditional marketing campaign to determine the effectiveness and return on your investment. The following is a list of some campaign types you can test:

TV Ads

Print Ads

Radio Ads

Direct Mail

Online (PPC/Banners/E-mail)

Coupons

Videos

Web sites

Billboards

Give Patterson/Bach a Test

If you would like improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaign, contact Patterson/Bach.