So Your Client Says They Want To Get On Twitter…

Twitter. They talk about it on the local news, they talk about it on ESPN… it’s mainstream. It’s almost a household name like YouTube, Facebook, or Johnson and Johnson. Businesses know that other businesses are using it, and they feel like they are potentially missing the boat on something big. Because it’s web related, they turn to us, their web designers, for guidance. What do we say?

“Sure, no problem”

The “getting on Twitter” part is trivial. It’s free to sign up and hardly takes any time at all. And the sooner the better, because like all services that require a username, the longer you wait the higher the chance is that the username you want is gone. This part is a no-brainer. It’s never going to hurt a business for having a Twitter account, it’s just not a golden ticket.

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What NOT to do during a recession

E-mail marketers are bombarded with advice about what they should be doing to navigate the tough waters of these difficult economic times, but few are given pearls of wisdom of what not to do in the current climate.

Don’t do business as usual. The traditional outlook is that e-mail is a cheap way to do business, and marketing managers only think about the next tactic they should take. In this market, managers need to think like a businessperson and look at the bigger picture.

By focusing on a company’s overall e-mail strategy instead of devising the next cool campaign, marketing managers should be able to demonstrate to upper management that they are focusing on return on investment, which is essential in today’s environment.

A handful of tips of what not to do right now:

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Hit the target- ensure tactics match goals.

Analyzing analytics 2.0

Imagine sitting at your desk with your company Web site up on the screen. What would you like to know at that moment? How about a scrolling list of companies visiting your site at that second, with the ability to find out which office location was browsing and maybe even get some information for a few leads to follow up on? ¶ If that kind of Web traffic tracking piques your interest, analytics vendor DemandBase Inc. has a new application that brings these kinds of slick tricks to life. And DemandBase is not alone.

Web analytics platforms are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Not only can they process more data and integrate Web stats into other corporate systems, they can incorporate such data feeds as social media and influence information. Just as important, the latest systems can present these metrics via intuitive interfaces that allow marketers to plot subsequent actions—often down to targeting an individual lead prospect.

Couple those new capabilities with increasing economic pressures to do more with less, and the Web analytics industry finds itself at the heart of how b-to-b companies are doing business in the downturn.

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Following five patterns of ‘doing more with less’

Based on observations from deep inside dozens of large marketing and finance organizations, there appear to be five patterns of how “doing more with less” works.

First, the best clearly define what “doing more with less” really means. The most common metric appears to be “marketing contribution efficiency”—an increase in the ratio of net marketing contribution per marketing dollar spent. This seems appropriate when budgets are falling (recognizing the need to monitor it over time, as it can be manipulated in the near term).

Second, they cut strategically. Most of us didn’t take budget cutting 101 in business school. After eliminating travel, and consultants and other easy stuff, bad decisions creep in under mounting political pressure. If you’ve made cuts across the board, or cut proportionately to a percentage of spending, you’ve been there. “Successful” cuts are smarter and in line with strategy for competing both today and tomorrow.

Third, they watch the risk factors. CFOs want to cut marketing spending to increase the likelihood of (aka decrease risks against) making short-term profit goals. Yet when marketers try to do more with less, risk exposure rises in ways never imagined—especially if it wasn’t clear which elements of the marketing mix were working before the cuts.

This is the “risk paradox.” If you want to make sure your “less” really has a chance of doing “more,” manage the new risks that have silently crept into the plans.

Fourth, they avoid the “ostrich effect.” Just because there’s enormous pressure today, the best don’t ignore the fact that tomorrow is right around the corner in the form of a 2010 plan. And when looking ahead, the only thing certain is that historical norms are no longer a reasonable guide. So the best are anticipating the key questions for their 2010 plan and working on getting some answers now. They’re committed to leading the process, not getting dragged behind it.

Finally, the best push their marketing business case competency further faster. The marketing skeptics and cynics have more political clout now. Untested assumptions, like ostriches, will not fly. Better business case discipline is the new currency of credibility.

How can an understanding of prospects’ Web activity help marketers better understand their audience and improve e-mail marketing?

Understanding the buyer is critical for today’s marketers. Understanding what they are interested in, where they are in their buying cycle and what information they would like to receive allows us as marketers to better target our messaging in order to be seen as a valuable source of information in the buying process. Doing this requires understanding the buyers’ Web activity—their “digital body language” —in context of how you are communicating with them. Here are a few tips on key things to look for and how you can respond:

1. Determine where the prospect is in the buying process. By looking at downloads, areas of interest, and search terms, you can understand whether they are in an education phase, selecting potential short-list vendors or validating a vendor choice. Once you understand this, you can tailor your e-mail marketing messages to match each buyer’s interest stage.
2. Establish the prospect’s level of interest. Research shows that many e-mail recipients will think of an e-mail as spam—even if they legitimately subscribed—if they are no longer interested in the company or its products or services. By watching recipients’ Web activity, you can determine their interest level and identify those who have “emotionally unsubscribed,” even if they have not explicitly clicked an unsubscribe link. Catering your messaging content and frequency to this awareness will keep you more engaged with your audience.
3. Ascertain the prospect’s area of interest. By understanding what product line, industry or type of information a prospective buyer finds interesting, you can match the content of your e-mail marketing to their interest area. Dynamic content capabilities are available in most leading e-mail and marketing automation platforms. By leveraging the insights available in a prospect’s Web activity, you can make dynamic content even more powerful.

Google announces new behaviorally targeted ad program.

Mountain View, Calif.—Google announced Wednesday it is launching an enhanced form of behavioral targeting for online display and text advertising that will appear on both its own sites and those of its advertising partners.

Google is calling the new program, which is being beta-tested on its partner sites and YouTube, “interest-based advertising.” Instead of simply displaying ads based on the content of the page being viewed, Google’s new program will display ads based on an individual’s Internet browsing history.

“This kind of tailored advertising does raise questions about user choice and privacy—questions the whole online ad industry has a responsibility to answer,” Susan Wojcicki, Google’s VP-product management, wrote in a blog announcing the new program. Google said that it will respect users’ privacy in part by enabling them to opt out of the program.

Brush up on email ROI – get em on the go. Optimizing for mobile is the latest trend turned table-stake.