AMA-PDX Marketing Pulse Newsletter

Frazier & Co.’s goal throughout a client project is to increase the client's marketing ROI backed by marketplace analysis mixed with applied creativity.

In the consulting phase of the client relationship, Mr. Frazier and his team collaborate with clients to understand their business, marketing and project strategies From these insights, Frazier & Co. researches products and develops recommendations to attain project goals. In some cases unique, client centric “branding premiums” are deployed. Depending on the endeavor, Frazier & Co. may recommend a customizable premium from it’s huge data base or be asked to do everything from graphic design through fulfillment. Effectively, Frazier & Co. becomes an extension of their client's Marketing Department for a brief time.

Frazier & Co.’s clients readily support the fact that a tchotchke is not a “branding premium” as the latter typically brings a physical representation to their brand which can be combined with a host of delivery and direct response options like direct mail, trade show redemption, website or executive seminar/educational/employee gift programs. Bringing creativity, branding premiums and delivery together creates a powerful synergy for increased marketing ROI.

A good example of a recent Frazier & Co. success can be seen in a project involving a executive placement firm that was taking part in a very large event attended by many top business leaders. The organization, quite naturally, wanted to make a big splash, so Frazier & Co. worked with them to develop a rich leather card case laser engraved with their logo. Inside the case was the business card of the search firm’s president. A case was set on the banquet table in front of each executive’s place setting. The card cases, and their method of distribution, were a huge success at the conference and are still talked about today.

Kim has been a member of both the Puget Sound AMA and the Oregon AMA for --- six years. For two of those years, he served as Board member and Director of Programming in the Puget Sound chapter. Mr. Frazier chooses to be an AMA sponsor because he feels that it is important to support the Northwest marketing community and also because of the high quality programs and services offered by the AMA. Kim also sees a variety of benefits from being a high-level AMA sponsor. Among these is the expansion of product offerings to a targeted group of prospects, enhancing his company's own marketing education and those of its peers, enjoying great personal and professional friendships, as well as positive brand recognition for Frazier & Co. LLC.

The Summit will kick off with a Rally, encouraging girls to believe that everyone has a right to meaningful work. The day’s inspirational speakers and workshops will introduce girls to traditional and non-traditional careers in education, technology, social services, law enforcement, business, arts, and more. According to a report released last year by the American Association of University Women, despite the fact that women have made remarkable advancements in education in the past 30 years, they still make only 80 percent of what their male colleagues make one year after they graduate from college. And, 10 years after graduation, women’s wages decrease to 69 percent of what men earn. Statistics such as this, and many others, inspired Girls Inc. to focus the 2008 United Girls Summit on the future of girls.

“The girls we serve face numerous challenges in addition to those they will face as they enter the workforce,” said Klinefelter. “This summit will expose them to dynamic women who have overcome similar challenges to rise to the top of their professions. We hope the experience inspires them to believe that through hard work and dedication, there is truly no ceiling for them—glass or otherwise”

The AMA project team, led by Cyndi Johnson, will be responsible for increasing sponsorship for this event as well generating the best media coverage possible. Our first important task will be to help as many disadvantaged girls as possible attend the event. We encourage all AMA members to show their support by contributing to a scholarship fund. For a donation of just $30, you can send one girl to the Summit and help inspire her to dream a strong, smart, and bold future. To donate, please call 503.230.0054 or visit http://www.girlsincnworegon.org/donate2.html

4-Keys to Maximizing the Use & Effectiveness of Your Content (cont.)

#1: Write FOR your audience

It’s not enough (or in some cases not as effective) to just write good English when you are developing content for marketing campaigns or sales support. Before you write your next white paper or send your next direct mail piece take a moment to think about your audience. Are you marketing to the owner of a small business, an IT director or a CEO? How and when are they involved in the buying process? Knowing the answers to these questions can provide some extremely valuable insight. It will enable you to begin tailoring the type of content you provide based on the individual's profile. Knowing where your audience is involved in the buying process tells you the type of content they may be interested in receiving. You will probably find that earlier in the buying process content like sales sheets, data sheets and informational webinars are effective in educating the potential customer on your product or service. However, later in the buying process, case studies, customer references, and ROI focused content are normally more effective. For some additional information on the custom buying process take a look at one of my more recent blog postings at www.b2bmarketingevolved.blogspot.com.

If you want people to take action after reading your content, that content must be compelling, give your audience a reason to respond and provide them with a clear direction on what you want them to do. There is too much marketing content out there that does a very poor job of this. If you outsource copywriting, take a look at the variety of content (sales sheets, script writing, case study, etc) your writer (or agency) has provided to their other clients. You need to make sure they have some experience in your industry doing what it is you want to accomplish (i.e. generate leads, investor communications, or education on a specific product or solution). One website I think is pretty good for finding tips on writing compelling content is www.bly.com. You should find some great resources there.

#3: Know what’s working

Just as with any other marketing campaign, you should be able to identify how well your content is accomplishing its objective. I realize this does have a subjective component to it. Nevertheless, you should not overlook the importance of tracking what people are downloading, why they may be downloading the specific content asset and where exactly they are in the buying process when they download it. It’s also important to track how well certain pieces perform as offers in campaigns vs. general information made available online to be downloaded at a person’s leisure. The more valuable the content, the more you should ask of the person before giving them access to it. For example a 100+ page analytics report might require that ten questions be answered before giving access, where a sales sheet might require only an e-mail address. You should also take a look at the customer's buying process and where they are using certain content assets. Knowing how well things are working will enable you to better understand what you need more of and more importantly what pieces are just creating clutter.

#4: Leverage multiple channels

With all the time, money and resources involved in developing quality content, it’s very important you find ways to leverage it using multiple channels. Start by deciding what message or result you wish to accomplish by developing the specific content you intend to create. Then decide how many different channels you can use it in. I recommend always include at least three channels. Once you’ve decided on a topic, begin thinking through how you might use the content. For example, a white paper can be turned into 3-20 minute podcasts and used over the course of a three touch campaign. You can then take that content and post it to a blog or develop a 1-hour webinar. I realize you may need to revise your content some across the different channels. By leveraging your content this way, you will get far more out of the multi-channel approach than possible just developing a white paper and moving onto the next project.

The key when developing any content asset is to find additional ways to use it that is both effective and efficient. By looking at your content assets in this way you are sure to get much more out of the time and energy you spend creating them!

Robert J. Moreau is a seasoned sales and marketing executive with experience in the development and execution of lead generation, marketing and direct response advertising campaigns for some of the countries largest brands. He was Executive Vice President-Sales and Marketing for Inside Prospects USA prior to founding RJM Direct, a full service direct response and interactive advertising firm. Robert has spoken at over 30 conferences and seminars as well as authoring many articles on sales lead generation and marketing excellence. He's a past President of the American Marketing Associations Oregon Chapter and hold degrees in both Business Management and Marketing from Portland State University.