Jaki Gaudet

Jaki Gaudet, Assistant Marketing Manager at The Allied Group
jgaudet@thealliedgrp.com | 401.946.6100 x3112

Blunt and to the point. I have to be because process coupled with creativity encompass my work days and if you fit into either of those buckets then you might understand how juggling both can make me feel a bit like a bad guy at times. But really, I'm just misunderstood. "Honest" marketing is my passion and I feel my very best when I work on a campaign that sends the right products and services to the right people in a creative way and on budget, because to me, there isn't anything better about my job than watching that response rate climb.

We know putting the cart before the horse is no good, well the same goes with printing a direct mail piece before it's approved to mail.

Designing direct marketing postcards and other pieces is a challenge these days. The USPS has been struggling with lower mail volumes and increased costs. As a result, they are forced to change the way they operate to help cut costs.

It's important to work with a designer and marketing communications company that has postal knowledge and a process in place that has their work reviewed by experts prior to it going to press. If that isn’t happening it could cost you thousands of dollars and require you to re-design, re-print, or even pay more than you intended to on postage.  

Our print fulfillment department noticed several hiccups regarding mailing guidelines and requirements. Some of these were as a result of the USPS regulation changes, and others came from outside vendors who made decisions on paper weights and sizes without understanding how the postage of the piece would be impacted. Here are some issues we had to resolve:

Postal regulations changed. One customer had to spend an additional $1,200 to send welcome cards that did not meet the USPS’s aspect ratio requirements.

Paper weight. One client had an outside vendor design their piece and select the paper weight. The weight caused them to spend thousands of dollars more in postage than they had budgeted for,

Layout. One client came to us with a piece designed backward (by the USPS’s standards) causing them to pay first class rates. Luckily, we were not only mailing but also printing this piece for them and notified them that with a simple flip of one panel, we could send it presorted first class, and save them thousands of dollars.

When our team begins the concept phase of any design we show it to our in-house fulfillment and mail experts. This gives them the chance to indicate areas of the piece that will either increase postage rates, not be mailable as is, or to point out ways in which we could change it to decrease postage. 

So avoid putting the design before the printing/mailing step. If you're currently having a direct mail campaign designed, then ask the design team what steps they take to ensure you have a unique piece, and one that can mail and at the postage you are expecting to pay. 

To make our money stretch further, we are taking staycations, clipping coupons, shopping around for a better cell phone plan, and even switching to Geiko! A "savers" mentality can go a long way. But what about businesses? They are also doing things differently to offset the financial burden.

Businesses have a set of key components to make the New Normal more comfortable. The key components I’ve noticed colleagues and partners focus on are communication, sales, and product:

Communication: The past decade has paved the way for new methods of engaging clients and prospects in a way that can also give us unfiltered feedback and instant communication. We, as business professionals, need to find the right balance and medium and continue spreading our message. It could be through Facebook, Twitter, Web development, Blogs, Google or Yahoo Groups, an integrated marketing communications campaign, or all of the above.
 

Sales: A solid and working sales method must contain a team of strong advocates. Sales teams need to understand how the landscape has changed and be given tools to increase local lead generation and ultimately, success. We also can’t forget about the retention process that must occur after the sale is made; companies are recognizing this and we’re seeing a new title and position because of it -- Client Success Manager.

Product: You must believe in your product and be willing to use it yourself. Take a good look at what you are offering and see what services need to be tweaked or replaced to give your company an advantage.

The ”new normal” is how we should be thinking and operating our business no matter how good or bad the market is. Some of us may have lost sight of our key components for awhile and although yours might vary, be sure to make the adjustments as needed for continued success.

What is your company, or family, doing differently to save and improve success?

You write a letter, an email, or a postcard to prospects in order to boost your sales. The most important component you include is a reason and a way for the reader to respond.

There is the tried and true phone number and business reply card that is as old and reliable as the sweater your grandmother knit for you when you were a tot. These are still excellent channels to offer, but what about a website, a personalized one at that! Personalized websites (pURL) are also a popular response mechanism used to increase local lead generation.

pURL’s are unique web sites that require passwords to enter and they usually contain the prospects name. An example of what one might look like is below:

www.thealliedgrp.com/purl/BrianSmith
Password: 123456

* The link above is for demonstration purposes only. It will take you to our website but not a pURL.

pURL’s can contain variable information for a true one to one communication experience and they're used in all verticals, but frequently in higher education. pURL’s are used for marketing to college students because the demographics of a college student compliment today’s most popular web surfer.

A pURL will give the prospect more information, more insight, answer questions they may have, and perhaps even a way to create a personalized brochure.

What happens after someone visits the pURL? These people are leads and should be treated the same as those who responded via phone or snail mail. Add them to your CRM tool, and have your sales staff treat them like any other hot lead.

All of man kind has their preferred method to respond. The more ways we give them to respond the higher the overall response rate for our campaign will be.

Today's IMU Class: Social Media & Building Community, conducted by Chris Brogan.

A community is a place where fans, clients, employees, prospects gather in support of a product/service that empowers them. Social media has relocated these communities from physical to online.

1. It is NOT about you, your product, or anything related to your goals. The community you build is all about the people in it.

2. If others outside of your company are creating a community for you, then consider that a gift and engage them and let them know you are listening.

3. Point out when you are working on correcting problems that your community might be experiencing.

4. Listen to what your community is saying and then take action. Acknowledge it when a community member participates.

5. A community is simply people who gather. We just see the hype around new social vehicles, but we can't ignore our community, no matter where they are.

6. You community wants to succeed and they look to you to help them (if you are lucky). Give them tips, trends, articles, advice, anything that they can learn from.

7. Give your community the feeling that it is all about them and praise success stories.

8. A good community will help a sales cycle with lead generation methods, and providing post-sales education.  Look at ROI as a Return on Influence. If you make people feel good, they're more apt to work with you.  

9. A community can NOT be outsourced. Don't hand them over to an outside company or an intern. They are you 2nd most important group next to your staff.

Building a community for our new england marketing company was my focus in 2010. I dedicated time to it each day and I began to see the results. Set a goal for how many people you want to follow you by a certain date, and keep track. The more relevant posts you include the quicker you are to get to your goal.

My reading material was Building Social Media Groups for Business Growth. It was an in-depth read about the things covered in the webinar.

Next class: Business Uses for Facebook and LinkedIn.

The SEO fundamentals are Keywords, Search Friendly, Link Building.

- Keywords (KW). KWs, such as 'marketing services company', 'communications marketing company' are words a company wants to be associated with. They're used in title tags (most important), headings, paragraph titles, body copy, anchor text in links, URL, image alt text, meta description tag.  Create KWs by getting in the mind of your customer. What KWs might they use for you? Do your research to come up with a solid list and then create a glossary.
The title tag (tt) is the most important KW location. It can be compared to that of chapters in a book, each one unique and relevant. Tt's are usually around 65 characters and shouldn't just be KWs broken by commas or the company name! Use a compelling sentence and be sure each page is unique.

- Search friendly. Your site should be easy to find, crawlable, give incentive to revisit, and have good architecture. A crawlable site will have quality inbound links, text links in the navigation and between pages with relevant content, and html and xml site maps. Avoid  complex urls & session IDs, multiple url's to duplicate content, temporary redirects, site navigation w/ Ajax, Flash, Java. 

- Links. Important signals that drive traffic and infer meaning. Always use KWs in link text, don't ever just say 'click here'. Use links in social media, with marketing partners, and cross link internally. 

My reading material was How to Implement SEO to Improve Traffic. I found this to be very clear and informative. A good read for anyone in need of the basics. I actually prefered this over this video, which I had a hard time following at times.

If you're interested in this class, then view the video below.

Next class: Social Media & Building Community

SEO Crash Course to Get Found (GF102)

Well, I'm a new student at Inbound Marketing University. For anyone who hasn’t heard of it yet, it is training and certification for Internet marketing professionals. The program includes 16 one-hour classes, 10 reading assignments, and optional homework assignments for each class to walk you through each step of inbound marketing.

Because my company is a b2b that provides corporate marketing services, this training will be a great tool for both me and our clients.

So I'm going to take you along the journey with me by blogging about each class and provide you with notes so we can both learn together. Feel free to ask me any questions along the way.

Today’s class: How to Blog Effectively for Business, by Ann Handley and Mack Collier.

A major benefit of a blog is that it lets you create and publish content quick and receive feedback. It is also great for SEO because Google loves how the content of a blog is constantly changing, versus a static website.
 
If your company has chosen not to blog, then when people search for your company they are going to see all of the conversations others are having about you and you won’t have much of a say.

Blog components

The post – Don’t make this an advertisement for your company. Your blog should give your readers information. Just make the information related to your industry and you’ll be inadvertently promoting yourself.

Feedback – Readers enjoy interacting. Make sure you respond to them, and address them by their first name, it’s just more welcoming that way.

Sidebar – Leverage your sidebar by including your Twitter feed, poll questions, Flickr pics, videos, links, subscription option, meet the blog staff, blogroll (resource to other blogs your readers will find value in).

Headers – This area sets the tone for the blog and has links to information for readers. It’s important to think about it both visually and functionally.

Another important idea they touched on was that of not blogging. You heard it right. If you don’t have the time and resources to dedicate to it, then you might want to choose to put your energy elsewhere. There is nothing worse than seeing a blog that hasn’t been posted to in a month.

My reading material was River Pools and Spas: Blogging for Sustainable Business Growth. This case study talks about how one company decreased its focus and dollars on traditional marketing and focused on blogging. They touch on how River Pools found success in using long-tail keywords and diverse keyword descriptions to help appear in searches.

If you’re interested in this class, then view the video below.

Alright, stay tuned. The next class is SEO Crash Course to Get Found.
 

Data. It can be such a beautiful thing. All it takes is someone to care enough to collect it, and then cultivate, and you’ve got an ROI you can be proud of.  If we all make smart assumptions based on what our data tells us and then target contacts, then customers are more likely to respond and buy.

If it truly is that easy, then why isn’t it happening 100% of the time? Unrealistic deadlines, over inflated egos, it’s someone else's job! If this doesn’t relate to your company because you have been doing it right for years, then I am sure you are on the receiving end of this.

I read an article in Direct Marketing about Live Nation, an event company. Live Nation’s email opt-out rate was increasing because they were sending notices about Slayer’s tour to the guy who just saw Phish. If you know anything about music, you know that that just doesn’t make sense.  

Live Nation started studying music algorithms thanks to last.fm. to understand what bands we’re likely favored by fans based on concerts they had attended. They knew that the person who listens to Phish likely listens to The Disco Biscuits, String Cheese, and Widespread Panic. So, if Widespread Panic was on tour, the Phish fan would be blasted an email about it. As a result their conversion rate of actual orders per click increased 35%. No more wasted emails. More happy customers and an integrated marketing communications program that worked.

Get creative and have fun with your data, then build a creative design marketing campaign around what you find. Let us not do something just for the sake of doing it! Let’s do it because it makes sense.


- I took this photo at Phish (day 2) Red Rocks, Colorado 2009.

Reaching customers and prospects through email is quick, convenient and trackable. But like other marketing communication strategies there are basic rules that when followed will improve your results and make you smile!

Make Your Mantra “List, List, List!” We all know how important location is in real-estate, and for email marketing it’s the list! Just know that each time you send an email campaign out you’re guaranteed two things: bounce backs, and opt-outs. As soon as you get the bounce backs, be sure to remove that person from your email list, and avoid violating the CAN-SPAM Act by immediatly removing those who don’t want to receive your mail. If you are in need of purchasing emails, check out www.jigsaw.com.

Strong Subject Line. Keep your subject short, under 60 characters, and put the most important details first and personalize it by including the recipient's name when possible. Then there is the message, try to follow these techniques.

Emphasize the benefit: John, you CAN write effective subject lines, we’ll tell you how.

Give news: Allied provides clients with top notch email strategies.

Spark curiosity: Discover the secrets to email marketing.

The Perfect Moment. The best time to send an email is Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I personally like getting email blasts on Thursday at 10 a.m. It’s nearing the end of the work week so a little time is freed up, and the time is good because most people have gotten through all the morning emails and are usually still at their desk.

HTML vs. Plain Text? I’ve been finding lately that plain text emails are becoming very effective and widely used. It looks less ‘sales like’ and more human. There is always a good time to use HTML as well though, and in my opinion that is when they are already a client of yours. If you’re targeting prospects then try using plain text, or better yet, test both options and see which one gets a better response.

Why test? All products/services and their audiences are different. If your marketing for higher education or third party fulfillment then your audience is dramatically different, no one audience is alike so why would they respond the same?

When to test? If you find yourself saying 'I think' often.
 

Aside from the obvious (Google, Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook), these are sites that I have in my ‘favorites’ folder. They can help inspire creativy and also strengthen your marketing communication strategies. You’re bound to benefit from one (or all) of these sites.

1. www.marketingprofs.com: A site with a plethora of in-depth articles, case studies, seminars, how-to’s, marketing tools and more! It's a rich and trusted resource that offers actionable know-how to help you market strategically. They also have a newsletter series called “Get to the po!nt” which offers bite-sized advice and tactics on topics like Email and Direct Marketing, B2B Marketing, and much more.

2. www.stumbleupon.com: – Channel surf the Internet with StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon lets you discover and share great websites. They deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences and recommended by your friends or one of 8 million+ other's with interests similar to you. If you select your preferences properly then the site can inspire creativity which is useful if you need to redesign websites, or give your branding a fresh look.

3. www.monitter.com: Obtain leads from Twitter using Monitter. Monitter lets you enter a zipcode, a radius, and plug in 3 keywords. Within seconds you get live streaming Tweets from people who have used those keywords. It's a good local lead generation method.

4. www.tinyurl.com: Need your url shortened to fit on Twitter, or any direct marketing postcards you're mailing? Tinyurl is a site that lets you cut the characters on any url down to a manageable length making it easy for people to remember and enter.

Before (51 characters): http://www.thealliedgrp.com/supply/fulfillment.html
After (25 characters): http://tinyurl.com/tag3pl

5. www.websitegrader.com: – How well is your website doing? Does it have SEO problems? Is it generating leads? How popular is it within social media? Website Grader will give you these answers for free. So, if you don’t have the budget to properly have your site optimized on a regular basis, then you should be using this site. Just enter your website URL and click ‘Generate Report’.