Prediction One

 
Prediction Two
Email is here to STAY. While many consider email old school, it still does one WHALE of a job communicating. It may not be bleeding-edge, but it’s a tried and true marketing communication channel. When all is said and done, email still produces positive, cost-effective results, giving marketers an efficient way to connect with customers and prospects.

Prediction Three
With marketing channels growing in number and complexity, tracking results will become more important than ever. Your investments, both in technology and marketing, require you to gain a better understanding of which areas of your marketing mix are more effective than others. To get a sense in the coming year, and in subsequent years, you must set goals and put in place strategies that are aligned.

To ensure that your marketing efforts are more predictable, we suggest no matter which media channels work best for you, remember to always make sure your marketing message is clear, to the point and always includes the best way you can be reached.

Best of Days to You,

Audrey Ferrante

What REALLY causes double digit response rates are strong messaging, great execution, and a well defined target market. The pURLs are only the enabler for the response from the initial outbound effort, whether it is using email or variable data print (VDP). The added value of the pURL is that it provides for the “real time” feedback on how the campaign is progressing, what the reaction is of the responder, and when you combine it with a response outbound such as email, it is a powerful tool for marketer to use to satisfy their customers’ goals for the campaign.

A cross-media campaign that includes print, email, pURLs, and social media can be a VERY powerful campaign…PROVIDED the messaging, execution, and market segment definition is well defined. Most people forget that it is NOT the media that makes the message, but it is the message that makes the success! Don’t be one of those who forget this.

By remembering these fundamentals, you can develop strategies and cross-media campaigns that can succeed beyond your wildest expectations.

Best of Days to You,

Audrey Ferrante

First and foremost, it is important to understand that people have a certain bias towards, or against, the various media. Many people today will completely ignore any of the advertisements that are placed in the traditional print media, such as newspapers or magazines. Additionally, there are recent studies that indicate that banner ads are losing their impact. There was a study published in 2004 by “The Chartered Institute of Marketing” that determined that we are exposed to over 1,500 advertising messages every day. Is there any reason for us to assume that number is lower today? We think not! We have all developed a mental screening of these ads now and their effectiveness is declining accordingly. Determining how to be the “One” that gets through is the tricky part.

There are two key elements in any integrated marketing strategy: 1) Recognize that the goal is now to develop a “pull’ strategy instead of a “push” strategy. This means that it is important to incent the consumer to WANT to interact with you and not just shove the message into their face from every direction for the goal of developing brand awareness. This is where social media is becoming increasingly used; 2) Develop a workflow that makes it easy and quick for the consumer to interact and communicate during the response phase of the process. These two strategies recognize that people don’t have enough time, or attention span, and different people will use different media in the process. Some like email, others will only interact using the telephone, and still others will only use the internet as their response mechanism of choice. Therefore, your strategy should be developed using multiple media for both deploying the message and the response to the call to action. You must make the messaging more relevant to the individual to incent them to take the time. Once you include these elements in your strategy, you have a much better chance of succeeding at your goals.

Remember, recognize that people have many options to choose from when communicating and that their time is valuable, so the communications must be relevant and add value to their lives. The options have become almost endless, but a careful evaluation and definition of how your target market communicates will increase the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and help you meet the goals that you set…You do set goals, don’t you? But, that is a discussion for another day!

Best of Days to You,

Audrey Ferrante

Print is still a viable solution for many marketing requirements, but we all have to think differently when we consider using it. A workflow, or shall we say strategy, that many use today is based on a more database driven implementation for both the print and web components. You probably have heard about personalized urls (pURLs), but you may not have leveraged this technology yet. Just to recap, a pURl is a microsite that is connected to a database and allows for the web pages to be dynamically reconfigured based on what is in the database or how the responder interacts with the microsite. Therefore, many campaigns are using variable data print (VDP) that includes a pURL for the recipient to go to as a response mechanism.  The internet will provide the responder the “immediate” interaction that a printed product can’t provide. According to the DMA, over 30% of people respond to direct mail by going online. And I could argue that this number will increase as more people use an integrated marketing strategy.

Bottom line is that direct mail is still viable and becomes a stronger solution when integrated with the internet. Both are here to stay, we just need understand the best way to use them together and how  consumers ultimately want to get their information and interact with your company. The two provide more value when used together than each can when they are used by themselves. I leave you with this thought…”Integrated marketing strategies are the ONLY strategies to use to grow your business opportunities!” To use any media as a standalone solution is short sighted and will limit your opportunities. It all becomes very simple when you start thinking like this. So, go forth, integrate and grow!

Best of Days to You,

Audrey Ferrante

Weston, July 14, 2010 - Audrey Ferrante, President of Ferrante & Associates, and Rick Littrell, President/CMO of Magicomm, LLC will join host Denis Vaughan, on this Friday’s (July 16, 2010) “Money Matters Afternoon Edition” at 5:00 PM EDT.  These experienced and award-winning marketers will discuss the expansion and trends of marketing channels and their impact on the return on investment.  Key highlights will include individualized messaging, marketing automation, social media, and the future of marketing communications.

“Money Matters Afternoon Edition with Denis Vaughan” is part of the highly rated Money Matters Radio Network.  It is broadcast Monday through Friday from 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM on WBNW AM 1120, WESO 970 and WPLM AM 1390 in Boston.  In addition a live audio and video stream is available at http://www.moneymattersboston.com and you can call in questions on +1 888-205-2263 if you want to join the conversation.

About Ferrante & Associates, Inc.

Established in 1988, Ferrante & Associates, Inc. is an integrated marketing communications service provider that delivers marketing strategy, creative services, integrated production services and response tracking. The Ferrante & Associates teams are a network of skilled marketing, communica­tions and production professionals who are known for exacting project coordination, absolute accountability and a single point-of-contact approach.  Specialties are turnkey high level marketing strategies and implementation across multi channels for medium to large companies, integrating traditional and web-enabled programs that add value, reduce costs and increase efficiencies for clients.  For more information please visit http://ferranteassoc.com or call 1-781-891-4328.

About Magicomm, LLC

Founded in 2004, Magicomm, LLC is an innovative and award winning marketing services firm based in Amesbury, MA.  Magicomm, LLC began partnering with Ferrante & Associates in 2009.  Magicomm, LLC provides integrated marketing communications solutions, including variable data print, customized emails, variable video, personalized urls (pURLs), social media, and web development, through a high level strategy of personalization and cross media implementation. Their core expertise expands to the ability to offer document and communications workflow consulting that delivers solutions for web enabled information production automation.   For more information please

Contact:  Ferrante & Associates
Audrey Ferrante
1-781-891-4328
info@ferranteassoc.com