Like its competitors, Digicom Satellite built a retail Website a few years ago and loaded it with content that it needed to compete in the fast-growing dish TV market.

Products and services? Check.
Enticing offers? Check.
Contact information? Check.

Initially, the Website performed well by satisfying customer requests for information. Most sales were driven by newspaper ads anyway, so the Website was an extra sales tool that reinforced Digicom Satellite’s presence in the Southern California market it served.

But as economic downturn wore on, new customers became much harder to attract. They were not responding to Digicom Satellite’s print ads like they once did. Owner Jim Hastings and his team knew it was time to take a fresh look at his marketing, especially the Website.

A review of the most likely search terms told the story. Digicom Satellite showed up #1 on Google searches of its exact name, but was no higher than page 4 when more generic satellite TV searches were conducted. Often, it didn’t show up in the first 7+ pages. It was clear the site was not attracting new customers.

The Website was clean and did contain a lot of information that potential customers would want. But it looked just like its competitors’ sites and lacked some ingredients that would make it more search-engine friendly.

After reviewing the site, several changes were identified that could improve Digicom Satellite’s marketing position.

1. Rewrite the home page to include several keyword-rich phrases.
2. Add an About Us page to reinforce Digicom Satellite’s unique position as both a dish TV retailer and installer.
3. Add an FAQ page that would answer the most popular questions (and searches), while positioning the company as a solutions-oriented dish TV expert in Southern California. Search engines love “authority” sites that provide helpful information, so the content on this page would be crucial.

How will we know if these Website enhancements are impacting traffic, especially among new prospects who are the primary targets? We started by setting up Google analytics tracking to establish a baseline. We learned that site visits included lots of bots and spiders, but few organic searches. We now have a baseline.

Just this week we added the FAQ content under a page called “Dish Detective FAQ”. We’ll spend the next few weeks promoting the site and letting the search engines become familiar with it.

Will these changes work? Will traffic increase? Will Digicom Satellite’s page ranking rise on dish TV-related searches  conducted in Southern California?

Check back in December for an update. For now, feel free to visit the site and offer your feedback. Post your comments by clicking here. We’d love to know what you think.

Once again Apple tops this week’s tech news with the official launch of iCloud. The iCloud service further cements Apple’s monopoly on all things digital. By seamlessly integrating several high-use applications on multiple Apple gadgets, the company makes it easier for consumers to go “all Apple all the time”.

It’s a good thing Amazon and Google teamed up to launch the Kindle Fire last week. Otherwise, the Apple steamroller would dominate tech conversations 24/7.

If you haven’t already seen it, here’s Apple’s iCloud video. And here’s Apple’s marketing introduction on its Website, summarized below.

“iCloud is so much more than a hard drive in the sky. It makes it quick and effortless to access just about everything on the devices you use every day. iCloud automatically stores your content so it’s always available to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC. It gives you access to your music, apps, latest photos, and more from whichever device you happen to be using. And it keeps your email, contacts, and calendars up to date across all your devices. No syncing required. No management required. In fact, no anything required. iCloud does it all for you.”

The Website emphasizes how automatic iCloud service will be. Newly purchased Apple products will have it built-in, requiring just a few set-up steps. Users get 5 gigs of free storage, not including products purchased through Apple or Photo Stream storage. Hence, Apple-centric users of music, photos, email, books, video, and apps probably won’t need to purchase extra storage.

You have to give Apple’s marketing team credit for vision and execution. They continue to present products and services in a way that entices users to choose Apple as their default tech products vendor.

One irony of the iCloud is it could lead to consumers owning fewer tech products. With hard-drive storage needs severely reduced, it will be easier to consolidate gadgets. Some day I suspect we’ll all buy the “iTransformer”, a do-it-all device the size of an iPod that expands into a camera, phone, tablet and laptop.

I hope Steve Jobs included such a device in his legacy plan. If so, it’s going to be awesome.

Editor’s update: Yesterday’s death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is a dark day for tech fans worldwide. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jobs family.

The Apple brand and its family of products are nothing less than marketing royalty. Flaunting culture-changing Mac computers, iPods, iPhones, iPads, iTunes and more, Apple has left most competitors wrecked on the shoulder of the electronic super highway.

I have a feeling Apple’s dominance is about to subside. It won’t happen immediately because Apple simply has too many happy customers and tons of cachet.

So how will this happen and what does it mean for marketers?

Like every great dynasty, Apple has become a target the size of Washington state. Competitors of every size and shape are lusting for a slice of Apple’s pie.

With the iPad, Apple has pitched a nearly perfect game, besting dozens of would-be tablet makers with innovation and savvy marketing. Until now, they’ve pretty much owned the tablet market.

Last week Amazon introduced the Kindle Fire, a long-awaited tablet that will compete with the iPad on price, marketing and operating platform. But will this be enough to steal significant market share from Apple?

I think it will. Here’s why.

Marketplace equilibrium. Everyone loves a winner, but they also love an underdog – especially if that underdog is offered by a reliable provider. By using Google’s Android operating system, Amazon’s Kindle Fire leverages two highly trusted brands.

Marketplace freedom. The Intenet’s openness and flexibility have created an expectation that information should be shared freely and with little cost. Apple’s near monopoly in certain tech segments has allowed it to circumvent these expectations (think music and iTunes).

More recently, Apple has been rigid in its handling of publisher-created content for the iPad. Apple has declared that publishers must provide it with a 30% revenue royalty, adhere to Apple’s strict policies on subscriptions, and forego demographic data on who is buying publishers’ content.

It’s the last item that has publishers seething. Apple wants to “own” the buyer. Publishers hate that because it weakens their ability to develop brand loyalty and ongoing revenue. Many publishers will partner with Amazon simply to gain leverage with Apple.

Marketplace positioning. Now that Apple has skimmed the cream off the top of the tablet market, the battle will shift increasingly to cost. At $199, the Kindle Fire is less than half the cost of Apple’s cheapest iPad. Amazon’s other Kindles will attract buyers at even lower price points.

Amazon is counting on product purchases to generate revenue, not the Kindle Fire itself. Getting readers hooked on the Fire is akin to mobile phone companies giving away phones in order to generate huge monthly service fees. Amazon’s goal is to sell its vast inventory of books, DVDs and magazines.

Marketplace vision. The departure of Steve Jobs as Apple’s CEO should not be underestimated. When a franchise loses its star player, it’s rare that it can maintain superiority over its competitors. True, Jobs will remain Apple’s chairman, but visionaries like Jobs come around once in a company’s lifetime. With Jobs out as CEO, expect Apple’s mojo to suffer.

The release of the Fire is great news for marketers. Such strong competition will require Apple to respond with lower prices and products and services, more flexibility, and increased customer service.

So whether your company is provides content, buys ads, or offers related services, the Android-based Kindle Fire gives you new and cost effective marketing opportunities.

OK, so maybe you’ve avoided joining Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace and their imitators. I understand. Not everyone wants to go public with their lives. Until recently, you were in good company.

But the ranks of non-social (unsocial?) media users is dwindling. According to a new survey released by Pew Research, for the first time ever, 50% of all U.S. adults now participate in the social media.  The report indicates that two-thirds of adult Internet users now use a social networking sites, up from 61% last year.

Not surprisingly,  social media use among American online adults under age 30 is at 61%, and they frequent these sites nearly every day.

But the bigger trend is how Internet users ages 50-64 are using social media sites. Those in this age bracket who indicate they use social media sites on a typical day, grew by 60%, from 20% to 32%.  Nearly one-third of the “boomer” generation are hooked on social media.

Say it ain’t so – social media is getting grayer (or at least creatively dyed).  I saw the film “The Social Network” and no one in that movie was older than 25.  Is this the downfall of Facebook and the other social media sites?

Apparently not. According to a newly study released by eMarketer.com, Facebook’s advertising revenues are estimated to double to nearly $3.8 billion in 2011. Advertisers like what they see.

That’s staggering growth achieved in midst of a killer economy. Conversely, many traditional media owners continue to cut staff, frequency, volume, and even once-venerable titles.

For marketers, Facebook’s growth is a good thing. If you are a marketer and want to use social media to connect with specific segments of the population, it is now easier and more efficient.

Social media can be a highly effective “golden goose” to build awareness and fans for your company, products and services. But don’t get greedy and abuse it. Hard-core sales pitches or misleading posts will cause your followers/friends to drop you like a week-old rotting fish.

Make sure your posts provide value and and leave readers wanting more.

Bloggers are helping to change the face of media.

While print is not really dead, there was enough accuracy in this scene to send a cold shiver down the spines of  print media pros, especially for those who have fallen behind the digital curve.

So how much fact is there in the theory that print media is dead? Most everyone agrees print media is fading, but how about some fact-based perspective? Read this excellent article by Erik Sass of Mediapost summarizing media trends for the last 30 years.

Accurately measuring media platform vitality is difficult because digital media metrics have traditionally been easy to inflate. Just let the spiders and bots find your site enough times and your online traffic might look pretty good compared with other types of media. However, the MediaPost article focuses on advertising revenue, which at least shows us where advertisers are placing their media dollars.

If you are a staunch print media traditionalist, you might want to cover your eyes when you click the link. The trends are pretty ugly. But if you love the digital world, the forecast is sunny and 80 degrees for the forseeable future. Here’s a short snippet from “Winners and Losers: The Changing Media Ad Landscape, 1980-2011″.

“From 1997 to 2010, Internet advertising revenue soared 2,788% from $900 million to $26 billion, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau. In the last five years, revenues almost doubled from $3.8 billion in the first quarter of 2006 to $7.3 billion in the first quarter of 2011. This rapid growth has translated into a large increase in online advertising’s share of total ad spending, from less than 1% in 1997 to 16.7% in 2010. In just the last five years, the proportion more than doubled, from 9.2% in the first quarter of 2006 to 18.7% in the first quarter of 2011.”

In terms of advertising share of market growth, the Internet is really cleaning up. Its growth curve is leaving all other media segments in the dust. Following the Internet is Cable , Outdoor, Broadcast TV, Radio, Magazines, and Newspapers.

If your company is overly reliant on print media for its share of market, revenue, or brand reputation, act soon (i.e. leap into digital platforms now) or pay the consequences. Media brands have no choice but to follow advertising dollars, and those dollars clearly are heading into digital platforms.

The shift to digital ad spending is indeed contagious. Just watch the trends. Everyone, it seems, is pumping dollars into digital advertising.

Is it time to dump print?

No. Print is NOT dead. It remains highly trusted and valued by millions. Print just needs to be aggressively integrated into a robust media buffet that is served up fresh and restocked frequently. You need to serve your clients no matter how they prefer to approach the media table.

Start by killing your weakest print products and replace them with multiple digital products. Some will fail, but many will soar - and so will your company.

Not Myself Anymore released Sept. 13, 2011

I’ve learned a lot about marketing strategy by following the launch of music artist Jessa Anderson’s new CD, Not Myself Anymore. Mostly what I’ve learned is that every market requires unique tactics that cannot be ignored.

Let me start by disclosing that Jessa is my daughter and has been a performing artist for about four years. Thus, I’ve had a front-row seat to the marketing and PR efforts used to launch her career and CDs. I even helped provide some marketing assistance early on. It pains me to admit that I achieved only modest success. Here’s why:

*I focused on traditional PR news releases. I wrote press releases and sent them to regional newspapers where Jessa would be playing or had a connection. While a few of these were published, the effort was largely ignored and produced few results. Newspapers, for the most part, were the wrong platform to promote a new artist.

*I sent promotional emails to selected radio stations. From what I can tell, these were treated like SPAM and also ignored. While radio stations were the right platform, email PR was the wrong tactic.

*I helped create traditional press kits. These were successful when we sent them in response to an inquiry, but were largely unsuccessful when used in any type of cold calling/prospecting.

Bottom line is that my traditional marketing/PR largely fell short. Jessa and her husband Jordan succeeded anyway, thank goodness, but it was attributable to their talent and personal relationships, not old style marketing. The early marketing that did work well was their own use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (early, not so much now), fan email, blogs, and Websites.

Fast forward to 2011. After Jessa was signed by record label BEC Recordings, I saw an entirely new marketing dynamic. As insiders, the BEC marketing team used tactics that clicked within the music field. For one, they released and promoted one song at a time and made those focal points in their marketing. They created “song release events” that met the needs of the radio industry. Then they peppered radio stations with emails, phone calls, and interview requests.

BEC also focused on timing. They looked closely at release dates of similar artists and seasonal radio trends and timed Jessa’s song and CD releases to maximize potential pick up/air play. Specifically, they released the song Fireflies a month before releasing the new CD, thus doubling marketing buzz.  They then targeted radio station hosts by bundling convenient interview tours, both in person and by phone, for each release.

In addition, BEC created strong CD and artist “packaging” and partnered with a national radio broadcaster for the CD release. Overall, they leveraged their relationships and savvy marketing insights to provide what radio stations want.

Watching all this unfold has been illuminating. Here are my lessons learned:
*Make sure you use marketing strategies that are highly valued by your targets. Every market is unique. Don’t rely on past successful tactics as they may completely miss the mark.
*Timing is essential. Look at seasonality and competitive marketing. Get to know your targets’ schedules and time your marketing content to fill any voids.
*Create convenience for your targets. Supply marketing content that makes the job of the recipient easier, faster, simpler or more effective. You will become a valued source and your future marketing efforts will be given higher priority.

So you are ready to write that press release, catalog copy, or Web post. You know you need a hook, but the ideas just are not flowing.

As your brain idles, vapor lock ensues, and you see the minutes ticking away on your day. For your marketing strategy to come alive, you need to generate creative ideas.

This is the age-old challenge for marketers, public relations pros, admen and women, and writers. How do you jump-start the idea process? And when the ideas come, how do you turn them into content?

Each person has his or her unique ways to combat brain freeze. It’s critical you find techniques that stimulate your thoughts.

Here are some tricks I use to stimulate the creative writing process.

1. Get away from your keyboard. Staring at blank screen only increases the pressure to write something. This may result in weak content, or worse, complete mental engine stall. Before I start writing, I often do a lap – around the office, the house, or ideally, outdoors. Nature stimulates my thinking. The wonder of a sunrise, wooded trail, or flowing water relaxes me and I begin to form new thoughts.

2. Make notes and keep them where you can find them on short notice. I use my iPhone and enter ideas into the notes. When I’m out riding, running, or hiking, I often log modest epiphanies for later review. These ideas can be tweaked and recycled into creative content. True, I end up trashing many “out there” ideas, but even the craziest ones give me a starting place.

3. Focus on fun or inspiring copy before you get down to business. Features and benefits, facts and figures can be added after you set the tone. It’s important to engage the reader early.

4. Write multiple headlines and leads. I rarely use my first attempts. Most of the time, I’ve written a half dozen or more headlines/leads and end up using some combination of several.

5. Take some creative risks. Don’t be afraid to start with an extreme or slightly bizarre idea. These ideas get tamer as you rewrite and edit. Hopefully, the resulting content still has plenty of spunk.

6. Coffee, coffee, coffee.

7. Look for hot trends, buzzwords, and popular topics. If your product or service is a natural fit with a buzz-worthy theme, make that an incredient in your headline or lead. Show the reader how your product/service works with the hot topic, or even solves a problem that the hot topic presents.

When all else fails, I leave my half-written ideas, headlines, and leads on my desk and try again later – if the deadline allows. Tomorrow’s sunrise will bring new ideas, fresh thoughts, and a better chance of meshing my creative writing topics with my marketing strategy.

Since Apple released the iPad 14 months ago, it seems the world has gone app-crazy.  If you are a small- or medium-size company, do you need your own app? Do you risk becoming irrelevant if you don’t have an app? 

Apps can be time-consuming to develop and expensive to launch. Then there is the Apple approval process, which can take any where from a few weeks to months and could end in rejection. And apps need constant updating to respond to changing customer needs, technology updates, and competitive pressures.

Nonetheless, nearly all the marketing buzz seems to be about apps. According to Apple, there are more than 90,000 third-party apps for the iPad, an astounding figure for a devise that’s only been on the market for a year and a half. Total unit sales are estimated at 15 million+. 

The iPhone, which won’t turn five-years-old for a few more months, has an even more, a mind-boggling 425,000 apps and growing daily to serve about 90 million iPhone owners. Earlier this year, the Apple App Store recorded its 10 billionth download.

Despite Apple’s marketing prowess, it might end up being #2 in the app universe behind Google’s Android open-source platform. By erecting fewer proprietary barriers, working with more partners, and encouraging more free apps, Android apps are actually growing faster than Apple apps. Android apps number about 250,000 at this point.

 So you should definitely build your own apps, right? 

Maybe. First, ask yourself some gut-level questions. 

Do I want to launch an app to be part of the buzz, or do I have a strategic pan to grow  business by leveraging the app? 

Are my products and services suitable for the tablet crowd, the smart phone crowd, or both? 

Can I commit to not only building the app, but updating it frequently? 

If I launch an app, how will I market it so people will download it? 

And if they do download it, how often might they use it? 

Remember, you’ve got tremendous competition from hundreds of thousands of other apps, as well as the Internet, movies, games, social media and email. 

As far as tablet users are concerned, early adapters seem much more interested in having fun with their tablets than using them to conduct business (although that will surely grow). 

According to Seven, a Great Britain-based content-management company,  iPad users  are using their devices in this way: Accessing the Web (75% do so at least every other day), emailing (63%) and games (48%), social networking (41%), researching products and services (29%), reading books (25%), music (21%), shopping (19%), magazines (13%), work (13%), and watching TV (11%).  

My advice is to make sure your foundational marketing is operating well before plunging into an app. Ask yourself these questions.

Is your Website being updated frequently with quality content?

Have you positioned your content as educational, informative and helpful, or does it read like a sales pitch? 

Can you add white papers, case studies, third-party articles, and other less biased content? 

Have you linked to partners, vendors, customers, associations, certification groups, and independent resources? 

Have you maximized SEO by via keywords and back links? 

Are you collecting data on your customers and prospects? 

Are you emailing them useful information, driving them to your Website, at least once a month? 

If you’re doing these well, then an app may indeed be your next marketing step – aslong as your are committed to doing it well.

The Most Powerful Marketing Lead-Generation Tool Is…

Print advertising is known for its image- and awareness-building. Many surveys show that print advertising remains the most trusted form of advertising.

But what if you want to generate leads? Print isn’t the answer. According to a new research study conducted by Advertising.com, the most effective lead-gen marketing tool is pay per click campaigns.

Here’s how six different marketing options fared in the survey’s “most effective lead-gen” question:

• PPC campaigns – 35.9%
• Online display campaigns – 17.9%
• Other – 13.7%
• 3rd party opt-in email campaigns – 11.3%
• Tradeshows – 7.7%
• Direct mail – 6.5%
• Cold calling – 5.9%

If sales leads are a priority for your company, consider adding pay per click online advertising to your next campaign.

For additional survey results, visit: http://media.advertise.com/leadgensurvey/

Every so often, a gutsy marketing campaign captures the imagination of the masses and gets rave reviews. Sometimes those campaigns even sell the featured product.

One such breakthrough campaign is for the Chrysler 300. During the 2011 Super Bowl, stodgy old Chrysler Corp, the weakest of the “Big Three” domestic automakers, debuted a commercial that got everyone talking and actually buying these vehicles.

The commercial was filmed in Detroit and promoted the city as a great place to produce quality cars. And in a severe departure from past marketing campaigns, they used Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” rap song as the theme music. They added a gritty voice-over that reflected the Detroit area’s tough blue-collar sensibility. They included a daring tagline – “Imported from Detroit”. Then Eminem completed the commercial by personally endorsing the Motor City and its auto-building skills.

The result was brilliant.

In the two-minute debut commercial and the shorter ones that followed, Chrysler recast its image as a barely-viable automaker depending on government handouts to survive, to a progressive company that is producing hip and cool cars, built on the craftsmanship and hard work of its employees.

Think about the guts it took to approve this campaign. I can just imagine the initial reaction when the ad agency pitched Chrysler…

Ad Agency Pitch Person: …So that’s our presentation.

Chrysler Marketing Staff #1: So what you are saying is that you want to feature Detroit, which in case you did not know is bankrupt, scandal-ridden, crime-riddled, and looks like a war-zone in many places, as the setting for this commercial?

Chrysler Marketing Staff #2: And you want to use a controversial rap singer as our spokesperson and use his music as the theme?

Chrysler Marketing Staff #3: And you want to promote union employees as a key reason why the 300 is a quality-built car?

I give tremendous props to the Chrysler execs who had the sheer guts to approve this campaign. And the creative team at ad agency Wieden & Kennedy was simply brilliant.

Disruptive Marketing

It is extremely hard for organizations and individuals to take bold risks. We face push-back, if not outright derision, from our bosses and peers. A bad decision could be career-threatening.

And yet if we don’t embrace change with our communications, we’re taking an even bigger risk. Newspapers are a great example. These companies had all the tools to pioneer and dominate the new media landscape.

As observed in this blog by Alan D. Mutter, we usually need some new DNA to accomplish breakthroughs. We sometimes have to kill something good in order to create something better. We must look at the trending habits of our customers and give them what they desire in the form they want to receive it.

Is your company willing to take risks in order to connect with your customers on an entirely new level? It’s a brutal business climate right now, perhaps the very best time to be aggressive.