Writing for the Web - 3

In this ExcitingWriting Advisory, I present a vision for how on-and-off-web marketing programs can work in synergy to give companies a competitive advantage. Assisting me once again is Andrew Szabo, principle "conductor" of Marketing Symphony, a results-oriented, full-service integrated marketing agency. He is also "The Marketing Chef," author, speaker, strategist and commentator.

The key thought this month: Most companies' on and off-line marketing efforts are not integrated; if they were, those companies could significantly improve their return on marketing. Other thoughts we'll be covering: There is a "bifurcation" going on that is limiting productivity. (More about that later. Listen up, Twitter fans!) And this: Many companies are in a rut when it comes to their marketing activities. (More about that later, too.)

Let's begin: Relatively few companies are tapping into the business-building synergies of integrated on- and off-line marketing instruments.

Andrew has found that the way people respond to traditional media is in a state of flux. This is supported by a Direct Marketing Association study, which found that when people receive direct mail (letters, brochures, mailers, etc.), 42 percent now prefer to respond online. Organizations must be prepared to communicate effectively through this channel and not pass these leads off to generic websites.

Here is an integrated approach Andrew has had success with (and it's based on the results of that DMA study): Prospects receive a postcard, letter or email that asks them to go to a "personalized URL," a web address that contains their name along with the campaign name.

When recipients enter in their PURLs, they are presented with an eight- to 20- second video that brings the static direct marketing piece to life. The "look," theme and creative approach is unified, from the teaser direct mail piece through to the landing page and beyond. The landing page contains specific and relevant offers, discounts or coupons which entice prospects to participate in a short opinion poll that takes no more than twenty seconds to fill out. They next read a message that is dynamically altered according to their survey responses. The final step is an immediate trigger email back to the respondent that again is dynamically driven based on the survey responses.

This approach gives a high-technology twist to an old-fashioned, off-line approach (direct mail), and integrates it with on-line techniques for added success. Using personalized URLs often double response rates, as users are intrigued to interact with what appears to be a personalized website. And thanks to the PURL, the company can immediately identify who the respondent is.

A 2008 MIT Sloan School of Management study found that when a salesperson or call center agent telephones a respondent within five minutes of that person visiting your web page, it improves the chance of that agent helping the customer or selling something by 100 percent over waiting thirty minutes to make that phone call.

Of course it's not only about booking sales. Selling it is also about giving service. When an agent calls within five minutes, that person is in a position to engage and be far more helpful—because the prospect is engaged and the WOW factor cannot be underestimated.

So, imagine going on line to your PURL, receiving a coupon, submitting answers to a simple three-question survey, and then, within a matter of minutes, receiving a phone call from the company. Again you have old technology (a call center) enhanced with new technology, automatically generated e-mails that trigger agents to call customers when they are more likely to purchase. It works.

This is what we mean by integrating on- and off-line techniques. Corporations with B2B models can use the same approach. Within five minutes of someone downloading a white paper or a software sample, the person could receive a phone call from customer service. The agent has an opportunity to be helpful. Perhaps a new customer relationship is born!

How often is on- and off-line integrated marketing being used by companies today? It's rare. But integration can improve bottom-line results. Don't ignore the opportunity!

A few related observations:

There seems to be a "bifurcation" going on today: Some companies are effective online but forget to experiment with old-fashioned marketing models. Others give a nod to the web (with a website) but are stuck in traditional marketing techniques, and show no great interest in using online marketing tools or social networking media for branding and marketing purposes.

Despite what some say, social networking is providing some companies with powerful business platforms:

Dell is raking in $2 million in additional business due to special twitter-only offers via @DellOutlet. It currently has 888,000 followers. Read more. (LINK: http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/06/twitter-isn't-making-money-but-delltwitter-is.html)
The return on investment is tremendous; the company is hardly spending an additional penny to mount the campaign. Interestingly, Dell has users going from Twitter to FaceBook to actually pick up coupons.

JetBlue has also had early success on Twitter with @JetBlueCheeps. More than 10,000 people are "followers" and get the Twitter-only airline specials.

Social networking is also giving companies opportunities to field surveys and polls in new ways via LinkedIn and Twitter. Of course, there is still a place for traditional quantitative studies and focus groups.

Despite these successes and opportunities, most companies stick to doing whatever's working.

Andrew has created a list of 166 possible "marketing instruments." The list includes everything from outdoor billboards to social media such as Twitter and FaceBook. Just drop an email to 160plus@TheMarketingChef.com and Andrew will give you the full list plus a method to select and prioritize those that are best for your business. The point is not to use all 166; rather that most companies stick to a few proven marketing instruments, which they have a modicum of success with. They don't experiment because, as Andrew is fond of saying, "the good is ever the enemy of the great." (The more success most people have, the less adventurous they typically are about trying new things.)

Out of the 166 possible marketing "instruments," how many has your company ever used? How many are you testing? Do you have a process in place to test new approaches? Try it!