d.trio’s blog

Is comfort good?

August 26th, 2010

I spent the weekend at an event that took me out of my comfort zones, and it made me think about the role comfort plays in our business and personal lives. During this event, I talked to a woman who wants her business to be at the top of her industry, but doesn’t want to venture into new territory to do it. Nor does she want to spend money on search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to help other businesses find her.

She was smart, articulate, clearly had plans and was undoubtedly comfortable with her company as it is – somewhere between the status quo and real success.

Just as author, Jim Collins, says in his book “Good to Great” that “Good is the enemy of great,” comfort is the enemy of success in business. Comfort is lounging on a soft couch in sweat pants, feeding on junk food. Fine for a weekend but bad as a lifestyle. In business, comfort means not challenging the status quo or taking risks. It means doing same things day after day without questioning whether they are the best decisions for your business, product or service to be successful into the future.

If you apply that inertia to your marketing decisions, it’s even worse. You can’t market yourself well unless you find fresh ways to get your name, products or services out there. Different marketing channels can work together to improve how people can find you and you can move the needle toward your goals.

There are many marketing channels that produce results and many that work together to increase business success through increased visibility. Maybe you haven’t changed your marketing programs for a while, or you need help figuring out the steps to take to move that needle in the right direction – that’s what we’re here for. Send us your questions or tell us how you’re doing, here or on our Facebook page.

Coincidentally, I just read a good blog that ties in with this, about getting out of your comfort zones and striving for excellence. I hope it helps motivate you. http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/08/six_keys_to.html

Tags: advice, business, d.trio, dtrio, future of marketing, marketing, SEO, social media, technology, visibility
Posted in General, Thoughts | No Comments »

Eye tracking basics. Guest blogger: Alexandra Franzen

July 27th, 2010

What do your customers really see when they read your website pages? Read on for illumination from Alexandra, our guest blogger extraordinaire who has an eye for interesting and pertinent information.

When a customer visits your company’s website, what do they really see?

The truth? A big fat “F.”

Don’t take it personally — it’s not a report card. The human eye literally scans in the shape of the letter “F” — picking up hot zones in the header region, jumping down to the sub-header line, and then skimming straight down the page.

Sophisticated eye tracking tests performed by the Nielsen Norman Group, the Poynter Institute, the Estlow Center for Journalism and New Media and Eyetools provide new insights (no pun intended) into how we interpret webpages.

In addition to unveiling the distinctive F-shape pattern, eye tracking experts have highlighted a few additional techniques for effective web copywriting.

The Whisper Effect.
Ever notice how college professors speak softly to command their students’ attention? Sometimes, small text equals closer reading. As Steve Outing and Laura Ruel of the Eyetrack III project explain, “Smaller type encourages focused viewing behavior (that is, reading the words), while larger type promotes lighter scanning.”

Short & Sweet.
Copywriters instinctively know that short, concise paragraphs work better — both online and offline. Long blocks of dense text often get ignored, because they feel too daunting. As Dean Rieck of Direct Creative notes, “Big blocks of type look imposing and difficult, like reading a Faulkner novel.”

Words for Facts. Images for Stories.
Factual information — like names, numbers and locations — are best expressed through words. But high-concept processes, systems and stories are better conveyed through multi-media methods: graphs, images, illustrations and videos.

1-800-Got-Junk does an excellent job of illustrating their business model in this animated movie, while Rice to Riches — a luxury rice pudding restaurant in New York City — has a fantastic “brand storytelling” intro video on their website.

For more eye scanning insights, check out Eye Tracking, Inc. — a company that measures website usability, and Eye Tracking Update, an aggregate site that pools together the latest findings in the field.

Alexandra Franzen is a writer + editor + organization freak who freelances for d.trio marketing as a copywriter. You can find her blogging at Unicorns for Socialism and tweeting up a storm at @Alex_Franzen.

F-pattern eye scan images via Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox

Tags: advice, branding, copywriting, d.trio, dtrio, eye tracking, graphic design, marketing, technology, visibility
Posted in General, Thoughts | 1 Comment »

Get your messages chosen.

July 7th, 2010

There’s too much stuff in my head today. It’s as cluttered as my desk and email inbox. I’m not alone, but that’s little consolation to a marketer whose job it is to cut through the clutter. Yet, I got an email from a blogger I follow, Joe Grant, http://jjgrant.wordpress.com/ and it made me sit up and take notice. Why? Because there’s always something in his blog for me.

As marketers we have to accept and address a general lack of focus and propensity to distraction or we should just give up and go golfing. And, by the way, how and why are people able to concentrate on a golf game for more than 4 hours and yet can’t get to the 1-minute (or less) task of reading our marketing messages?

Interest and relevance.

It all boils down to that, interest and relevance. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and ask yourself (or better yet ask them):

What do customers want and need to know that you can provide them?
What are the different ways that they access information and what is their preference in receiving it?

We all have to live with the distractions of day and moment, but if your messages and content are more compelling and more relevant than the next guy’s, your customers will take notice and choose to open yours over your competition.

This isn’t about shouting, it’s about whispering – getting customers to lean in to hear more. It’s about presenting thoughtful interesting information, in an easy to read format and making it look good. Leave them wanting more, looking forward to your next communiqué. And give them options (email, snail mail, blog, social, mobile etc.) that they can choose between to receive your communications. It’s about giving your customers choices while meeting their needs. Sounds simple doesn’t it?

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and go for a stroll. Take some time to think about what you can provide that is relevant, interesting and/or fun. Then next time your customers will sit up and take notice of what you have to say.

We’d love to hear what your experience has been with your cutting through the clutter, here or at http://www.facebook.com/dtrio – tell us what you think.

Tags: advice, d.trio, direct marketing, dtrio, engagement, marketing, Minneapolis, multi-channel marketing, relevance
Posted in General, Thoughts | 1 Comment »

Are you engaged in social marketing?

June 2nd, 2010

In previous blogs I’ve talked about customer engagement. It’s a crucial part of new marketing and particularly social marketing. There are different ways of accomplishing engagement but it has to be interesting, sincere and fun.

Engage people
Whether you market to consumers or other businesses, you are still dealing with people, so consider your audience and what is meaningful to them. You can do this in many ways – as a retailer, you can offer product, product discounts or an exclusive say or insight into the next iteration of a product. If you are in education you can offer information (blogs or white papers), school discounts or other things of value such as links to scholarships and grants. Financial services companies can create forums for people to learn tips for saving and share successes or ask financial advice, as well as develop white papers regarding subjects of interest, such as saving enough money for retirement.

Offer value
The key is to offer something of value to your customers and make sure they have a say. The social media realm is different from push marketing where you try to influence a group of homogeneous people with offers you think or know they will like. With social marketing you put your brand out there for interaction, buy-in and influence. You reach your audience by offering information or other things of value.

One way we have reached out at d.trio is by hosting a contest we called “Turf Wars” to engage customers and prospects. We mailed out a small container of grass seed and challenged recipients to grow the grass and submit photos of creative entries. We announced progress through email, Twitter, our Facebook page and LinkedIn. Tying into the spring theme, we offered Home Depot gift cards for the top two vote-getters and a gift card for a randomly chosen registered voter.

Measure response
We had a great response – 10% participation and over 260,000 votes from many different IP addresses (multiple votes were ok). We had a huge spike in traffic to our website http://www.dtrio.com/turfwars/, and our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/dtrio as we provided information and updates. The response to the promotion was really positive and people had fun with the competition. It was fun, interactive, competitive and engaging.

How do you engage your customers and prospects?

We’d love to hear what your experience has been with your social marketing or contests, here or at http://www.facebook.com/dtrio – tell us what you think.

Tags: advice, business, customer relationships, engagement, marketing, media mix, Minneapolis, social media, visibility
Posted in General, Thoughts | No Comments »

The aftermath of recession marketing:

May 14th, 2010

How low can you go? I’m not talking the Limbo here. No – I’m talking about marketing campaigns (digital, direct, email and emerging media) that were created, launched and sent out in 2009, internationally. From what I’ve seen recently the answer is – very.

I just spent the week judging entries to the International ECHO Awards, the DMA’s highly respected marketing awards. Unfortunately, it was a dismal reflection of, and reminder of how hard the recession has been on marketing in general.

Six years of judging top marketing campaigns from all over the world has spoiled me. The groundbreaking campaigns that use new and traditional marketing channels brilliantly are inspiring. Spending days perusing the best and the brightest charges me up and gives me energy to go back and kick up the creativity in my job.

But this year was different.

Marketing is not dead, but it didn’t flourish in 2009. There were bright spots, sure and we reveled in them. And I know there were cuts. But budgets don’t dictate smart thinking. The recession not only knocked-out budgets, but apparently creativity, risk-taking and pride-in-work were also down for the count.

Bring back great marketing ideas.

As we move toward the middle of 2010, I hope you’ll strive to help the world turn marketing into the smart, creative pursuit it needs to be. Generate new ideas, try new things, test what you are doing, ask for feedback and get away from the “we did it last year so it must be ok” thinking. If you need a reason, here’s some food for thought:

· Big ideas help cut through the clutter of 5,000 messages we receive every day

· Me-too marketing dooms you to looking like your competitors

· Creativity tied to smart strategies is the antidote to me-too marketing

In the end we judged and approved enough entries that could be winners. And, some of the entries that were very creative and willing to take a chance did inspire me. But I want to get the word out, and please help me spread it – this year, 2010, we all need to make a pact not to let fear keep us from doing our best work. Are you with me?

What break-through trends do you see in marketing? Share with us your insights and creative thoughts – we’d love to hear what your experience has been, here or at our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/dtrio

New York in the spring time

Tags: 2010, d.trio, direct marketing, dtrio, future of marketing, graphic design, marketing, marketing media, media mix, recession, visibility
Posted in General, Thoughts | No Comments »

10 Reasons to Embrace Change:

April 19th, 2010

Change is good. It has to be because business is always in flux. So we’re better off embracing it, not fighting it.

We exist, here at d.trio, in the agency world where everything changes and time is accelerated like dog years – so we’re happy to look back on 10 successful years. We’ve learned a lot. And, no year has been the same as the last one.

So what is the point? The point is I’ve been thinking a lot about business and how change has affected our choices. As a result, I’ve come up with the top 10 reasons change is good:

1. Change keeps your ideas fresh – and we’re only as good as our ideas in business.

2. Change makes you keep learning – short term this keeps our strategies relevant and leading edge; long term we fight Alzheimer’s!

3. Change makes every day different – it fights boredom and give us a reason to look forward to tomorrow.

4. Change keeps you on your toes and thinking sharply.

5. Change is the enemy of hubris, which is the enemy of long-term success.

6. You learn more from change, such as failing at something, than you do from unfettered success.

7. A change of view can help keep the important things in perspective.

8. Change is responsible for inspiration (and inspiration can also create change).

9. Without change, there wouldn’t be game changing technologies like the personal computer, the iPhone and maybe the iPad http://www.garysky.net/ipad-review-by-cnet.html (time will tell) – things that make people think differently.

10. Change is required to take a leap of faith – as we did 10 years ago to start d.trio!

So go embrace change today. Share with us how change has affected your life – we’d love to hear what your experience has been here or at our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/dtrio

Tags: advice, business, change, d.trio, economy, future of marketing, marketing, relevance
Posted in General, Thoughts | No Comments »

2010 resolution follow-up #5 – What do customers think?

March 22nd, 2010

What do your customers really think? If your company has changed in the last year (and most have), it’s a good time to look at your relationship with your customers. Learn what they really think about your company and the products and services that you offer.

Obviously what your clients think of your company is critical to your success. This isn’t a situation where what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But it’s tricky, because clients sometimes will not tell the whole truth – it’s hard to tell someone they work with every day that something is not working. And they are probably nice people who don’t want to hurt your feelings. In Minnesota, there’s a culture of being nice to a fault, where we might not be able to tell by talking to clients day to day that there’s something wrong.

But it’s our (the company, vendor, agency, consultant, internal vendor, etc.) responsibility to know what is going on. So ask. And, you might want to hire someone to help you get the full story. We did, and we learned a lot:

Customers know mostly just what you do for them day in and out
Although you may do a good job at one thing, they will not necessarily make the leap that you can do something related
Perceptions about what you do best may be different from customer to customer
History is history, what happens most recently is what people remember (what have you done for me lately?)

If you’re like us, we thought that as we changed our clients automatically understood the changes we had made (and benefit). Things move so fast that in a daily business that a “what’s new” discussion may not always happen.

So make a point of pulling your customers aside periodically and updating them on what you do. Pretend they only know about the services or products that they use or buy on a regular basis. Just because they are familiar, doesn’t mean they won’t appreciate a well thought out recommendation or customized presentation. Especially if they have the opportunity to learn something in the process.

And connect with your customers in other ways – Facebook, Twitter, your Website – there are many ways to connect and find out what they want. The more you know, the more you can react to, fix and be proactive the next time.

We’d love to hear what your experience has been in getting feedback from your clients or customers here or at http://www.facebook.com/dtrio – tell us what you think.

Tags: 2010, advice, customer relationships, d.trio, dtrio, marketing media, media mix, resolutions, visibility
Posted in General | No Comments »

2010 resolution follow-up #4 – Is it time to tweak your brand?

March 2nd, 2010

Are you responsible for your company’s brand? When you look at it, do you see it – I mean really see it? Most of us see what we want to see or expect to see. If you’ve been living with the same branding for a while, yet your company has changed, you may need an update.

Everything has a time and a place – think big hair and short basketball shorts – we thought they looked good then…So how do you know if it’s time for a refresh or a redo? Take a look at your logo, materials, Web site etc. and ask some questions.

Does your logo look older or reflect a previous era in colors or font type? You may love your company’s brand, and why shouldn’t you, it got your company to where it is today. However, if your look is steeped in another, earlier age, before social media, mobile apps, iPhones and perhaps heavy, knowledgeable Web usage, it’s time for a tweak if not a total overhaul.
Look at what Caribou Coffee has done to their logo and branding to reflect “optimism and an optimistic outlook on life.” http://bit.ly/ac2Epy
Have you broadened your offering or shifted your company focus? Here’s another reason to take a hard look at your brand. Old collateral and identity (whether it’s offline or online) will cause you to lose opportunities in today’s world. Are you still talking about your business, products and/or services in the same way you always have? If your business has changed your brand may need a refresh. Continuity is key.
Hilton Hotel Corp. changed to Hilton Worldwide, to take advantage of the global economy: http://bit.ly/1f4m9s
How does your logo and color palette look online? Do they work for electronic media? Come across on a mobile app? How your brand shows up electronically is crucial in today’s world. It needs to shine in Web, mobile, and other online marketing tools.
Does your brand have social accessibility? Consumers want to help form brands and brand personalities. If you are participating in social media, or get feedback on your Web site, find out what people say about your brand and learn. Lowes has taken a very customer-centric approach in their advertising: http://nyti.ms/ahKUIb

A well-designed logo can be simple and carry the brand with one letter. Here are a few to get you inspired: http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/single-letter-logos/

If you can’t be objective about your brand then ask somebody you trust to look at it, or hire someone to do an evaluation for you. How you position your company brand and personality will determine whether you stand out or fade away in the new economy. Please tell us how it goes – here or at Facebook.com/dtrio – we’d love to hear about it.

Tags: 2010, advice, branding, direct marketing, marketing, marketing media, media mix, multi-channel marketing, social media, visibility
Posted in General | No Comments »

2010 Resolution follow-up #3 – Get out of the one or two channel rut

February 17th, 2010

One-channel marketing is dead. If you are stuck on using only one or two channels, you are missing opportunities in today’s market. Marketing strategies to incorporate and maximize all of the new channels are moving at the speed of light. So it’s time to get educated and get on board.

Ask yourself, how do your customers really prefer to be communicated to? What are they comfortable with? This is ever changing because you can’t count on any group to be completely homogeneous anymore – the baby boomers have changed that forever. But what you can count on is people will select the ways they want to be communicated with if you allow them to.

So, if you are thinking of adding a new medium to the mix, choose one and start learning. Let’s take Facebook as an example. There are some interesting insights into Facebook demographics that you may not know. In a 2009 survey by iStrategy Labs (http://bit.ly/jvY0G) it showed:

With a 276.4% growth rate over 6 months, the 35-54 year old demographic group is growing fastest.
The 55+ segment grew at a rate of 194% over 6 months.
Although the largest group is still 18-24, they only represent 40.8% of the users now (down from 53.8% the previous 6 months).

So, even if you specialize in something geared toward the older demographic, it would be good for your company to have a presence on Facebook. Engaging customers and starting a conversation is going to be the focus of new marketing. Consumers are educated users of media and they want to manage where brands go. Brands are no longer defining themselves without input from customers. If they are, they run the risk of alienating their best customers who want to be more engaged with the brands they like.

Setting up a Facebook page does take time, planning and dedication. You can’t go on social media and scream your product promotions or company line. You need to make the site a place where people want to go and congregate, where they can get content that’s interesting, informative and fun – and share ideas. There are many good sites out there to look at. Here are a few:

http://www.facebook.com/frye

http://www.facebook.com/target

http://www.facebook.com/BuffaloWildWings

The best way to learn is by getting out there and doing it. Check out our Facebook page – join in and tell us how you’re doing!

http://www.facebook.com/dtrio

Tags: 2010, advice, future of marketing, marketing, marketing media, media mix, Minneapolis, multi-channel marketing, social media, technology, visibility
Posted in General | No Comments »

2010 Resolution follow up #2 – Try something new

February 12th, 2010

Does your marketing plan looking like it did 2 years ago, or have you added some new strategies? Is the year 2010 the year you embrace change? There are so many exciting, new things happening with new media. If you don’t understand what is out there (and why), then first you need to educate yourself. Fortunately, there are many great sources of information available.

Blogs and white papers are full of information and instruction. Social media sites are a great way to keep in touch with friends, trends and attitudes – hear directly what people are saying, thinking and feeling. It takes some time, so set aside a half hour every day and soon you’ll be feeling more connected, engaged and gain an understanding of the what’s happening.

Get on Twitter and try following a few people. You can start with me (I’ll follow you back): @megand3 and dtrio is @dtrio. This link also has a lot of good, topical information: http://twitter.com/mashable

This one has an ad agency bent but it offers a lot of links and ideas on new business generation: http://twitter.com/michaelgass

If you want to keep up with breaking news try: http://twitter.com/nytimes

Don’t throw out a medium or new idea because you think it doesn’t work for you or you personally don’t see the value. As they say, you are an “audience of one” and if you are not exactly like the consumer or business you are after then your personal beliefs are irrelevant. You can get in the way of your own great marketing opportunities.

As before, here are some Web site resources to help you: For new marketing media - http://www.marketingsherpa.com/ and for a mix of traditional and new media – http://www.the-dma.org/index.php

Try something new this week. We love this stuff so let us know what you’ve learned. And join our Facebook page for more food for thought: http://www.facebook.com/dtrio

Tags: 2010, advice, direct marketing, dtrio, marketing, marketing media, Minneapolis, multi-channel marketing, resolutions, social media, technology, visibility
Posted in General | No Comments »

d.trio’s blog

Eye tracking basics. Guest blogger: Alexandra Franzen

Get your messages chosen.

The aftermath of recession marketing:

10 Reasons to Embrace Change:

2010 resolution follow-up #5 – What do customers think?

Links

Tools

Archives

Recent Posts

Author biographies

d.trio’s Twitter Feed