I like gift cards, just not as a staple on my Christmas shopping list.
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to spend time thinking about what the friends and family members on my list would really like and then shopping for the ideal gift. Maybe the gift will be something I heard the person mention during the year. Or, maybe it’s something I know the person wants, but they weren’t willing to indulge themselves.
It gets even better when the presents are opened Christmas morning and I see that the recipient is truly surprised and delighted by my choice. They know I spent time thinking about what they might enjoy. That to me is the spirit of Christmas. more
My home’s halls haven’t quite been decked yet, but it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my email inbox. Here’s a quick look at some of the offers that have come my way this week. While none are particularly naughty, some are a lot nicer than others.
Bruegger’s drew me in with a subject line beginning “Free Bagel & Cream Cheese….” because, hey, who wouldn’t want a free bagel? Upon opening, I see that this is a special on Wednesday for folks who have joined their 2012 Bottomless Mug Club.
Working at home, I don’t grab my morning caffeine fix out enough for this to make sense for me to buy. But I was curious about how much it cost to join. Price isn’t mentioned in the email, so I click through to the website to find that it costs….well, I don’t know what it costs. I’d suspect that the price varies depending on the area of the country, and that the mug can only be purchased in-store, but some copy explaining that would be very helpful.
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Below were my 2011 marketing predictions. Let’s journey together and see if my crystal ball needs cleaning:
I can’t really claim these are anticipated, but here they are, my 2011 predictions advertising/marketing/communication specific to the New Year. For the record, my last few years’ predictions have been accurate. Use or dismiss this prose at your discretion.
Prediction #1: Video will play a keener role in website conversions, and marketing as a whole. It’s already happening and with YouTube the second most popular search engine (that’s right, only Google is bigger), it just makes sense. Zappos and other sites already know this, so test video on your site(s) and watch conversions skyrocket. As such, SEO/SEM will play a critical role in marketing effectiveness next year.
Video is being added to every new website that we now build and is being incorporated into old sites as well. YouTube continues to grow, so I would say this was spot-on. How often do you view video content on websites compared to one year ago?
Prediction #2: Consumer and Business purchasing decision-makers are changing their buying patterns because of advances in technology and the ubiquity of information that can be had on Google, YouTube, Yahoo, Bing, Rock Melt and the like. Thus, those who understand data – specifically how that data relates to transactional occurrences by each KEY target market segment – will rule the day. This applies to both customer and prospect segments. We have trained buyers to this fact: know intuitively who I am, what I am seeking and make it as easy as possible for me to do/continue to do business with you. Those companies that don’t understand this will be watching their bottom lines evaporate.
The web is blurring the lines between B2B and B2C marketing. Relevancy is the key to making me want to buy from you. Agree?
Prediction #3: Larger companies will hire more reputation mangers to make sure they can react swiftly to the chatter – specifically the negative chatter – that is so easy to post and even easier to go viral in 2011 and beyond. It’s a trend that will continue to grow and customers/prospects gain more powerful customer relation options thanks to the the web. more
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Related Topics: Interactive, Postal, Direct Marketing, Mobile, Search, Just for Fun, Opinons, Social Media, E-Commerce, Retail, Technology, Multichannel Marketing, Advertising/Media, Creative, Branding, Word of Mouth, Promotions, Metrics/ROI
Both Zynga, the online games company whose offerings include Farmville, Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker, and Groupon, the daily deal site, are dot-coms which deal primarily in virtual goods. They hold no physical inventory and rarely generate transactions that result in drop-shipped deliveries.
Despite this, the Zynga IPO, unlike the one presented by daily deal firm Groupon, doesn’t make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. The differences are rooted in how each company presents and markets itself. more
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Related Topics: Mobile, Social Media, Opinons, Just for Fun, Interactive, E-Commerce, Metrics/ROI, Advertising/Media, Database/CRM, Games & Sweepstakes, General
Is red the new white? Or is white the new Coke? Or is it really Diet Coke, but in disguise? Well, if you’re thoroughly confused, no need to worry, so too are die-hard Coke fans who made such a fuss over the cola-brand rolling out snow-white Coke cans for the holidays that it will add new seasonal red cans at retail so consumers can figure out what they’re drinking.
In trying to do a good deed, and for the first time, it had turned its iconic red cans white as part of a cause-marketing promotion to help conservation efforts for polar bears Arctic home. The white cans still carried the Coca-Cola script printed in red, but also showed a mother bear and her two cubs making their way through an all-white panorama. The goal was to donate portions of the sales to the World Wildlife Fund up to $3 million. more
A recent study from Indiana University said that overall charitable giving is inching back up but it may take quite a while to get back to the levels it reached before the economy went bad.
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