Sterling Advertising Blog

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2010-04-20T22:44:00.001-04:00

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Understanding Your Exit Traffic

2010-02-02T09:27:00.004-05:00

Just looked at the website analytics for the Media Association of Pittsburgh again. The Sterling Advertising website is, once again, the biggest referring site of traffic to this media peer group website. It's the third largest referrer over all (behind Google organic and direct hits), and beats Bing as a referrer.

The reason that this is interesting is in what it shows about the media industry and why visitors come to the Sterling Advertising website. People are looking for jobs, not ad agencies, when they search for my keywords. One of the best things I did to help understand the intent of visitors to my site was to put an 'Employment' link on the top navigation. Almost every visitor that came to my site after searching 'Pittsburgh Advertising Agencies' goes to that link. Until that point, I thought that these were visitors looking for a new advertising agency and that I wasn't converting them into customers. It was keeping me awake at night! However, knowing that these are searchers looking for local jobs has made me feel better, and dig deeper for keywords with a greater sense of intent for my intended goal (to hire a brilliant ad agency).

Where this exit traffic goes to is another sign to help me understand what the intent of these visitors was. Most people don't have the ability to see the hits to the sites that visitors leave their site to go to (we created the MAP website and ran it for the last three years), but there is a simple way to make this information visible in Google Analytics. (Click here to see how). Where your visitors exit to is another great way to understand why they came to visit in the first place.

Career Women Make Bad Mothers

2010-01-04T15:49:00.001-05:00

Gotta love this campaign. I have tested this with my own clients in their own ways, but it will really be interesting to see how much traffic this campaign drives to the target website.

Uh, unless it's all by people who read the press about it rather than see the ads (like me!).

http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/bulletin/mediaam/article/975428/?DCMP=EMC-MediaAMBulletin

Google Android Phone - Here's Why Google Is Doing It

2010-01-04T08:54:00.004-05:00

With the imminent release of the new Google branded and operated Nexus One phone, there has been a lot of speculation on why Google would bother with the hassle of running it's own phone instead of just using other operators and phone makers. Here's my take - Google understands that phones are no longer about telephone calls - they're about communication and entertainment. That's Google's arena - they understand that phones are replacing personal computers as the way that the world will connect to the internet, and Google wants to be right there at the forefront. Already the concept of NetBooks is outdated - why buy a specific device for using the internet when your phone can do it just as well?

There are rumors that they will be releasing an Operating System for PCs too - Google sees internet options being packaged with new PCs - when you buy your new PC you get 'suggestions' from the manufacturer about how to set your internet browser up - such as installing the Yahoo! toolbar. If these manufacturers are suggesting companies other than Google it could cause a loss in market share for Google. So, if Google runs the OS they can suggest Google products, plus set up PCs that will work perfectly with Google's suite of products, which include FREE document editing software, spreadsheet software, etc.

I'd say that Google is seeing a trend and making sure that they are ready to ride it.

The internet is now your local TV company

2009-09-25T09:00:00.001-04:00

This article from the BBC is not going to surprise many people who work in marketing or on the internet. The fact that consumers still want to watch lots of TV and to be entertained is already well-known, but the interesting part for advertisers is to work out where they are going to watch it. As this trend for the internet being the delivery service for your media continues, expect to see more ads and marketing around video-on-demand, and on the internet.

We watch our movies through an Xbox 360 hooked up to the internet and our Netflix account. We also watch Survivor and My Name is Earl and The Office over the internet the day after the show airs. Marketers need to find a way to advertise to a family like mine, who expect to watch TV when and where they feel like it and without any hassles or delays.

Great Marketing Example

2009-07-12T18:08:00.001-04:00

Last weekend at the Fourth of July celebrations in my neighborhood I saw a great, simple marketing example.

The Kettle Corn stand was selling three sizes of popcorn - a small paper bag for $2, a medium bag (about the right amount for two or three people comfortably) for $5 and a massive bag, as big and thick as a leg, for $7.

The beauty of it is in the gaps in the pricing. The small bag is just right for one person. The medium is good for a couple, but the huge bag looks like such a great deal by comparison that they sold more of that bag than any other bag during the 20 minutes I watched their stand, even though nobody needs that much kettle corn.

Add to that the fact that the bag was so big that it was really noticeable as purchasers carried it around, and you get a bonus advertising campaign!

Worth remembering - evenly spaced gaps in pricing are not always the right choice - the biggest ticket can actually close the deal because of it's price.

Claire
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Selling SEO Presentation

2009-06-29T07:11:00.003-04:00

I recently gave a presentation to the Pittsburgh SEO Group (in partnership with the local chapter of SEMPO), at Impaqt in Pittsburgh.

You can find a PDF of the presentation here, entitled 'Best Practices for Selling SEO'. Don't forget to click on the comments button on the top left of most slides so that you can get further clarification of the point of each slide.

The presentation was fun to do and the group was a lively and diverse group of smart web professionals and entrepreneurs. The group is hosted through Meetup at http://www.meetup.com/pittsburghwebdesign/.

Thanks to my good friend John LeDonne and everyone at Impaqt for arranging and hosting. Hope you join the group and look forward to meeting you.

Amazing Viral Video

2009-05-18T09:48:00.002-04:00

So, you're a little furniture company in North Carolina. You're competing with the big national chains and you need to get attention. One way is to do a funny viral commercial that is getting a lot of attention on YouTube. Good job, guys. Good job having the nerve to do it.

Red House Furniture

Why webmasters are great at SEO

2008-06-13T09:15:00.003-04:00

Big thanks to Hubspot for posting an awesomely inappropriate article on their blog that attacks webmasters, so that I have a nice, easy blog topic to write about today. Find it here: 7 Reasons Why Marketing Can't Trust the Webmaster with SEO.

All of the webmasters I work with are very keen to have an effective and wide-reaching website. They spend hours that go long past the ones they are paid for to build a website that is attractive, functional, enjoyable, and marketable. They devote their entire working life to tinkering with the mechanics of the site so that the visitor never sees 'behind the curtain' and only sees the perfect performance that was designed for them.

Why would they not be interested in SEO? SEO is all about bringing targeted visitors to their website, turning those visitors into customers and figuring out ways to bring more of them every day. The webmaster gets to have lots of visitors to test all of the amazing functions he or she has created and, perhaps more importantly, to enjoy the experience. Web design, and web administration, is an art form - and like any artist a webmaster wants to have their work be enjoyed and appreciated by their audience.

In a great relationship the fact that the webmaster reports to IT (assuming they do - in most cases that I work in they are part of the marketing function) should be a benefit - they are the bridge between operations and marketing. A good relationship leverages all of these elements and makes the whole operation greater than the sum of it's parts.

This matches the experience that I have had with Hubspot and my clients. Hubspot seems to be a company filled with rash and aggressive young men who think they have a much better product than they do. What they have is a good start. Attacking their core customer is probably not the best way to build loyalty or get to the next level that they're looking for.

By the way, if you really like what Hubspot does, one of my webmasters has solved a lot of the issues that they have and created a custom solution that we can probably help you implement.

2008-06-05T08:12:00.001-04:00

Top 10 Marketing Issues

(Essential Questions to Ask Yourself)

Think from the customer's point of view
- What solution are you providing to them?
- Why did they come into your store?
- What is it that you can do that will make them not walk out still needing it?
Talk benefits, not features
- What is the benefit of what you do?
- What does the customer need that for?
- What do you know that they don't that they will benefit from knowing?
Focus on getting the right customers
- Who is NOT a good customer for me?
- Who is my perfect customer?
- Where are they?
Decide on a budget and use it
- What is the industry standard for marketing budgets for your business?
- What will get you the most return per dollar?
Don't sell – help people buy
- What questions can I ask that are actually about allowing my customers to understand?
- What information am I giving out that is not relevant to solving a problem?
Have a cohesive message
- Is the customer getting the same message in your store that you gave them in your ads?
- Are your main benefits clear in every interaction with a customer?
Study your business
- What things are changing in your business?
- What is your competition doing well that you can emulate or do better?
Measure and react
- What happened the last time you advertised?
- What can you use that information for to make better choices next time?
Don't stop when it starts working
- How are you planning to continue marketing as you get busy with the effective marketing you have done?
- Are you going to grow your marketing budget as sales grow?
- Whose job will this be?
Don't ask customers to jump through hoops
- How many steps can you take out of your purchase process to make it easier?
- What are you making them do that you could do yourself?

How is your competition handling those same issues?

How to Buy Billboards Efficiently

2008-06-04T09:06:00.000-04:00

I can help you to understand how you should measure and assess billboards, and plan a good billboard campaign.

Billboards are valued by the number and demographics of traffic that pass by them each day, known as a DEC (daily estimated commute.) The total number of people is important, but so is the quality of the people that are in that number. If you are selling high end jewelery then 100 high income people have more value to your campaign than 1,000 blue collar workers. If you are a grocery store and selling something that everyone wants then you can take a look at straightforward numbers and just go for as many people as you can. This is where the quality part comes in.

The billboard companies have all of this information - they have the traffic count and they have the demographics of that audience. If you need a certain type of audience then pick the neighborhoods that you'll find that audience traveling through. If you want mass, then highway locations will be likely to be your best bet.

To be effective with billboard advertising you need to aim for a certain level of frequency. What frequency you need will depend on what the purchase cycle for your product or service is - for example, a cell phone is a quick purchase and a billboard with a strong offer could get you results within a few days, but a real estate company billboard needs to be up for months before you'll really be getting that information through to people who need your services.

The great thing about billboards is that if you're on someone's route to work they'll see your board every single day for it's lifespan. The bad thing about them is that if you're on a route that's used occasionally they will only see your board once or twice, which is not usually enough to motivate people.

There are different types of billboards too and different costs associated with producing them:

Really big ones, called bulletins - these take vinyl ads, which are more expensive to produce, but they are very durable, can stay up for a long time, and can be moved from location to location. The drawback of any expensive production is if you change any part of the offer then your investment in the vinyl is wasted.

The slightly smaller ones, called posters or 30-sheets. These take paper and are much cheaper to produce. However, the paper is not as durable and has a lifespan of about 3 months at the most. It also can't be reused or moved to another location.

Digital billboards - these are really cheap to produce because you don't print anything, and often come with a back-end system that allows you to change creative any time you feel like it, but these boards are usually the most expensive to buy. They also rotate your ad with multiple other advertisers, which means that there is a chance that a passer-by won't see your ad and it also means that you could have an undesirable neighbor.

You also have much smaller boards, which are even cheaper to produce but the smaller size means less noticability and may also impact a viewer's opinion of your business (that you're cheap, basically!)

Don't forget bus shelters too - they don't just reach bus travelers as bus stops are usually on widely traveled routes and everyone driving past them gets to see them. These can also get really creative.

My advice to anyone planning on doing this is to talk to as many providers as you can - get all of the options, from the big companies to the independents - they're full of information and knowledge and if you talk to a few you'll be able to 'triangulate' the information and find the common things that seem to be more truth and less selling.

You could also talk to an advertising agency - we have this knowledge already, we have tried and tested a lot of different campaigns so that you don't have to learn the hard way, we can produce the creative in a way that will look right (nothing as disappointing as seeing your ugly billboard proudly displayed!), and we can save you time and money by doing it the right and most efficient way.

Barter and Advertising

2008-01-02T20:51:00.001-05:00

Elliot DeBear of Active International, a media bartering firm, does a great job discussing barter and corporate trading on his blog, here: ANA Financial Procurement Panel

Corporate Trade is a financial transaction, the goal of which is to deliver to a client a higher value to non-performing assets than could otherwise be achieved in the open marketplace. Non-performing assets are defined as excess inventories, dated goods, real estate, capital equipment, debt and factory capacity to name some key ones.

It's an interesting subject, and well worth a read.

Claire
Sterling Advertising - A Pittsburgh Media Buying Service