Marena Studios » Media Placement

Interactive to Play Bigger Role in 2010 Local Media Markets

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:47:06 +0000

The local media market has long been owned by local TV stations, newspapers and Yellow Pages. While the recession definitely slowed this market, the recovery, paired with marketer interest in new forms of media, means the industry is looking at big changes in 2010. BIA/Kelsey analysts value this market at $140 billion. Neal Polachek, president at BIA/Kelsey predicts, “as the economy inches toward recovery and digital media continue to gain ground aided by mobile and social momentum, 2010 will certainly be a pivotal year to track.”

Here’s what the research shop sees happening in the local media market in 2010.

Search Market Recovery – The increased activity in the market will mean higher costs for advertisers active in paid search.

Yellow Pages – These publishers will seek to diversify their products and may move into mobile search.

Local Broadcasters – These business will operate from a position of strength with their expertise in local brands, content and sales forces.

Vertical Ad Networks – This rapidly changing channel may find money in hyper-local sites and local lifestyle networks.

Twitter/Facebook – Analysts expect social media outlets to monetize their models by offering geo-targeted audiences.

It’s too soon to tell which of these predictions will prove most accurate. But businesses looking for new ways to reach customers in local marketers have no shortage of options to try.

[Source: BIA/Kelsey Analysts Identify Key Local Media Trends to Watch in 2010, Company release, January 2010]

How to integrate email, social for better results

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:54:37 +0000

Recently two casinos began integration campaigns using Lyris HQ’s platform with social and mobile marketing efforts. Both Reno casinos, the Eldorado Hotel Casino and the Silver Legacy Resort Casino, improved reach and engagement levels as well as customer experience. The two casinos also doubled mobile opt-in lists and conversion rates.
“The high customer acquisition and revenue that we have achieved by integrating email with social and mobile marketing has far exceeded our expectations,” said Chad Hallert, director of e-commerce, Eldorado Hotel Casino and Silver Legacy Resort Casino. “As we continue to build out our marketing efforts, we want to maximize exposure and relevancy, while better understanding which mediums or campaigns are succeeding and which are not. Lyris HQ’s embedded Web analytics enables us to see which campaigns are working so we can architect every customer experience for optimal relevance, timeliness and results.”
The casinos integrated email messages with mobile alerts and social network profile updates to promote hosted events and upcoming shows. Offline ad spaces were also used.
“Realigning marketing strategy to accommodate an increasingly social and mobile customer is critical to success. Eldorado and Silver Legacy have proven that integrating email with other marketing channels fuels sales and increases marketing ROI,” said Blaine Mathieu, CMO, Lyris.
Using a platform such as Lyris HQ, marketers are able to synchronize entire campaigns so that messages, alerts and postings are published or made available in order and at the right time. This helps to improve the consistency and relevancy of the messages. The integration of email and mobile, social or offline methods also reinforces the brand’s message. Rather than a consumer skimming over an email message and forgetting it, the message will be reinforced with Twitter or Facebook updates or even a mobile offer to make a purchase or sign up for more information.

Two execs predict 2010 trends

admin — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:51:40 +0000

Marc Krigsman, CEO of Cross MediaWorks, and Larry Rubin, Chief Operating Officer agree that advertising spending will be one area that will improve in the New Year, although spending levels will not reach pre-downturn levels. Also, television ad spending will continue to be the larger spend for advertisers because that is still where the majority of viewers lie.
Although most marketers want a financial windfall to make up for lost profits, slower and steadier growth can be a better option. Slower growth is more likely to be continued growth whereas a fast, skyrocketing growth could be an indicator of an even bigger economic harbinger in the future.
Along with more spending there will likely be more measurement in the New Year as marketers look performance rather than simple clicks.
When it comes to content, more and better content will be a must for publishers and content developers as consumers demand more.
“Smartphones like the iPhone will continue to pave the way for content platforms to emerge that will drive more users to mobile sites. However, what is considered a valuable mobile ad will remain undefined until that happens,” say Kingsman and Rubin.
By the way, consumers are likely going to want more than words on a screen. Beginning in 2010 marketers will need to incorporate video, flash and other multimedia options along with static content to engage the consumer – and push ad revenues. When it comes to video, Kingsman and Rubin agree that online video will likely have to move to a subscription model to remain viable.
“Media comes at a cost,” they say. “In the television’s early days, for example, entire programs were paid for by an advertiser like ‘Texaco Star Theater’.”
Video isn’t the only online platform looking at subscription models. Newspapers are researching subscription models to help their revenue and consumers have indicated a willingness to pay for new, relevant content on the Internet.

Postling.com – Post All Over The Social Web Easily

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:22:00 +0000

Twitter, Facebook, Blogger… there are so many services currently available where you could post your content that going over them one by one will actually lead to heavy eyelids and thoughts of counting sheep . The thing is, absolutely every person who uses one employs another at the very least. No blogger has no presence on Twitter, and viceversa. And absolutely everybody is on Facebook, for the simple reason that the connections which can be made that way are endless.

Obviously, updating all of these accounts manually would take more time than it is healthy, and that is why services like Postling are available. They enable users to publish everywhere in a single instance. Moreover, the provided platform allows you to read and respond to the comments left by readers, no matter where they left them – Twitter, Flickr, a blog…

This service is provided at a cost which is described on the site, and there is a free trial for you to give this social tool a spin until you figure out if it is what you need or not for getting things done.

30 Useful Small Business Email Marketing Apps

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:06:26 +0000

Email marketing is one of the dominant ways that a small business reaches out to customers and prospects. Email marketing is about relationships — and successful relationship marketing involves a lot more thought than simply firing off a newsletter via email.

According to MarketingSherpa’s 2010 Email Marketing Benchmark Report (free PDF excerpt here), email marketing is one of two marketing budget items that saw an increase in 2009. The other is social media.

But where many have claimed that “email is dead,” MarketingSherpa has proven otherwise in its studies. In fact, they show that email is quite social. A recent survey asked users how they share information they find on the internet: 78% responded that email is how they do it. 22% use social media sites.

Here are 30 small business email marketing applications to grow customer relationships — and your business (in no particular order):

Emma
Emma is a Web-based service that combines do-it-yourself with personal assistance when you need it (for an additional charge). They have strong tracking and analytics components that allow you to learn what works, or doesn’t, with your audience.

Constant Contact
They offer a free 60-day trial. They have been around a long time and have a strong arsenal of email marketing tools from HTML newsletter templates to personal coaching on how to get your email campaigns done right. They have added event management so you can handle online registration, as well as online survey tools to gather info from customers and prospects.

AWeber
AWeber grew very popular because it focused on auto-response emails. They made it very simple and elegant to create a form a prospect would fill out. The service then auto-responded to that information with whatever message you had set up. They offer a robust set of tools including email newsletters, emails to RSS, and, of course, autoresponders. First month is $1, and then pay-as-you-go based on subscriber count. You don’t pay per email with them.

MailChimp
MailChimp was one of the first email marketing providers to offer a “forever free” plan. Small business users I know love this plan as it gives you up to 500 subscribers and 3,000 emails for free each month. After that, it has pay-as-you-go pricing. On top of the email newsletter and database list management, they offer an integration with online event registrations and ticket sales via Eventbrite.

iContact
iContact offers all of the same features as the others, but they focus attention on their deliverability rates – often talked about as whitelist agreements. While it may not seem like a big deal at first glance, if your email provider isn’t doing things right, your email may not get through. iContact partners with a third party, Pivotal Veracity, to score emails to help improve how many get through to recipients. They offer a free trial, no credit card to get started, and a good educational resource section.

Vertical Response
In addition to email, Vertical Response is probably one of the more integrated services out there, with integration to Intuit and Salesforce. They offer postal mail options, too, so you can send a postcard to a prospect or customer to add another touch beyond email. Great educational materials also.

EmailBrain
I liked that they had a “no credit card” free trial signup. More importantly, I really appreciated that they offer an industry-focus approach with 20+ industry examples and case studies. You could dig in and see what someone else like you was doing — a good way to get a jumpstart on your email marketing.

eConnect
eConnect Email’s claim to fame is their the first provider to offer a tagging system for email. Look at it as a meta-organizing system where you can see what your customers and prospects find interesting and are clicking on. You can tag items in a specific email, in a campaign, and across multiple campaigns. That information is then available on a subscriber level, so you can see the top five tags your customer is interested in.

FuseMail
FuseMail offers email hosting as well as campaign management. They have a 14-day free trial. The big area that stood out for me was they have an SMTP Direct service (which is an email gateway) where you can use your existing email newsletter program and gain the advantages of their email servers. The advantage of this is that you don’t have to get everyone on your existing mail list to “opt-in” to your newsletter again, which is almost always a requirement when signing on with a new service. FuseMail doesn’t have this requirement with their SMTP Direct service. Pretty unique.

SimplyCast
SimplyCast, owned by Mailworkz (offers 300 emails a month “free forever” account, similar to MailChimp). Some of the key features that SimplyCast offers are worth considering: Image hosting (so you can easily have your image render properly), easy to include attachments, forward-to-a-friend options from within the email (great for viral stuff), and dozens of template categories.

JangoMail
Many providers tag your emails with “Powered by ABC Email…” and you probably don’t particularly want to see this sort of branding on your email messages to customers. JangoMail promises “your emails are your emails, not ours.” Even though they are a web-based email provider, they allow for you to manage your messaging through Outlook or Thunderbird, and other web-based apps like Gmail and Yahoo, too. Free trial allows for 50 test emails.

GetResponse
GetResponse appears to be very social media savvy. They offer video email and social media tools. Your email subscribers, for example, can easily receive your Twitter updates via the GetResponse service. They also have a split-testing feature so that you can test one email against another to see which one pulls better results.

Contact29
Contact29 is an email marketing provider focused primarily on the real estate and mortgage industries. If you are in those industries, they are worth a look.

SendLabs
SendLabs has created a tool to help you see what your email will look like in the recipients inbox. With a single click, this feature within the SendLabs Summer ‘09 release will send a copy of your email to all of the major email programs (Outlook, Lotus Notes, Yahoo!, Gmail, etc.) and provide a screen shot report on how well your email will render for everybody.

Campaigner
Campaigner offers a nifty workflow tool that allows you to determine when and what actions trigger an email to be sent to your customer or prospect. It is similar to an autoresponder (which sends an email when a customer fills in a form on a website usually), but a bit more advanced. With their workflow tool, you can trigger a specific response based on what a customer does within the email. If they click a certain link, for example, they might receive an email 1 hour later. Free trial, of course.

EasyContact
I liked the very simple 3-step plan that EasyContact presents to first time visitors. You get a clear sense that they have thought about how to make it as easy as possible. They also offer a free forever plan and low-cost pay-as-you-go options.

Big Response
The other services may have similar offers, but Big Response has a couple of things worth mentioning: First, they highlight that you can collect an unlimited number of subscribers – meaning you don’t pay to store contacts and only pay for emails sent. Second, that you get unlimited phone and email support from their experts. I didn’t see that one mentioned elsewhere, so that made me think about doing a trial.

Benchmark Email
Their competitor comparison chart reveals a lot about what they offer that others don’t. You can tie into your Google Analytics account. You can view all of your subscriber opens within a map within the reporting feature. You can segment out all of your email lists easily – which is handy as you get to know your customers better.

StreamSend
The big differentiator for StreamSend is they offer every customer a private IP address, which helps you keep your reputation intact. You are not judged by the email provider you use, but by your email quality.

myNewsletterBuilder
myNewsletterBuilder stands out in the crowd of email marketers by providing pre-written content that you can use in your newsletters and emails, by industry segment. They also partnered with eVoiceSpot, which is a multimedia rich presentation service that you can embed into your email or newsletter.

YesMail
YesMail has one major awards and recognition for its platform and service. They have a specific small business offering called YesMail Direct. This link goes direct to that page. They are connected to InfoUSA, so if you need to build a mailing list you can do it all under one roof.

Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi is a simple email marketing system. One of the nice features is it comes with free design assistance. It also has a limited edition that is completely free and includes good sharing functions like Forward to a Friend, among many other standard features.

PoMMo
PoMMo is a free open-source program that bills itself as “mass mailing” software. It is a no-frills program. It’s is 100% free. However, like many open source apps, remember there’s always a cost — it costs you time. You are pretty much on your own when it comes to installing it and troubleshooting issues. There is no customer support to call.

CRM EMAIL

Many companies don’t like their email efforts separated from their customer data. Keeping it all together is a lot of work. Customer relationship management software companies have listened, but these five web-based offerings are aimed at the small business owner. If you want to enable customized emails to your customers, with full tracking and opportunities to create new campaigns from your customer data, then you should look closely at these companies:

Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is a popular CRM solution with automated email marketing as a central concept. As you make contact with customers via email, or via interactions on your website or online shopping cart, Infusionsoft tracks those contact points. You can then use those interactions to send targeted and relevant communications. Your salespeople can access this info and understand what communications the customer has seen, or where they’ve gone on your site, and have a more intelligent conversation. (Note: Infusionsoft is a sponsor of this site’s Internet radio show.)

ZohoCRM
Zoho is an online application suite like OpenOffice or Google Documents, but with a lot more applications and options for managing your business. Their ZohoCRM tool recently introduced the email within CRM option. The email add-on is $5 a month additional.

Highrise HQ
Highrise HQ is a web-based CRM from 37 Signals (owner of Basecamp, a popular project management tool). Like most CRM solutions, they allow you to track who you talk to and so forth, but the ability to see all of your email efforts and dialogue with a customer on one page is fairly useful.

Leopard CRM
Integrating your email into your CRM efforts always looks daunting, but Leopard CRM simply says — call our support team and we’ll walk you through it.

SalesBoom
SalesBoom is an online CRM application that offers an email campaign management tool. With it, a user can capture leads via a simple web form and then send individual emails, or manage entire drip marketing campaigns where you email customers or prospects a series of emails over a period of time.

SalesJunction
SalesJunction offers one of the lowest monthly costs for a web-based CRM that I’ve found. The basic edition has a 15 day trial.

Lyris HQ
Lyris HQ used to be known as Email Labs. It integrates with Salesforce.com, which is the industry-leading online CRM solution, so that’s a plus for the many business owners using Salesforce. I could not find pricing on their website, which is a downside in my opinion. Small business owners are too busy to talk to sales reps or sit through web demos just to discover pricing.

SOCIAL EMAIL

There’s loads of proof that social networks have changed how we communicate. They increase transparency, build trust, and give people (customers and prospects) the choice to opt-in to our messages.

With social media you can communicate directly to your customers without the traditional email hurdles and miss the inbox altogether. For example, your company can send messages to people in a Facebook or LinkedIn Group today. Twitter does not offer a group feature where you can message a group of people privately, but a third party app called Tweetworks does. You could accomplish something similar by addressing a group with a hashtag — although it wouldn’t remain private. The goal with a private message is to avoid bothering others that would not be interested in the offer or message.

by TJ McCue

Social Media Influences Consumers’ Choice of Real Estate Services

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:04:23 +0000

Nearly one in eight higher income consumers said social media influenced their choice of real estate services, the highest of all media types, according to the Summer 2009 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.

Of online, social, and traditional media, online media had the most influence across all demographics. Real estate agency Web sites were the most influential online media. The lucrative 25-to-34 age group was noticeably more influenced by video than other age groups.

Fees are the most important factor for consumers selecting real estate services, followed by real estate office and real estate agent reputation.

“Relationships and reputations – both online and offline – are so crucial in real estate,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Agents who may be ignoring social media need to realize it’s a great way to establish their name and build relationships in the marketplace, and especially with these higher income consumers,” Smith said.

Other key findings:

Newspapers and television were the most influential traditional media
Convenience was important for 18-to-24 year olds: online listings and office location were the top factors
Positive comments influenced 12.2% of 25 to 34 year olds
The Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey is conducted throughout the year by Ad-ology Research to study online, traditional, and social media influence on buying decisions.

“Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Real Estate,” conducted by Ad-ology Research, November 4, 2009. Website: www.ad-ology.com.

Ad-ology: Social media enhances real estate online presence

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:04:20 +0000

Social media has a role to play in real estate, according to Ad-ology’s Summer 2009 Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey, particularly among higher income earning groups.

Real estate agencies should be enhancing their online presence with social and other online media. Ad-ology’s latest survey found that, across all demographics, online media had the most influence on the choice of real estate agent.
Agents that provided video were better able to influence the coveted 25-34 age group. This age group also proved to be particularly influenced by positive comments/feedback.
While selling fees remained a major consideration when choosing a real estate agent, reputation, location and convenience also played their parts.
“Relationships and reputations – both online and offline – are so crucial in real estate,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Agents who may be ignoring social media need to realize it’s a great way to establish their name and build relationships in the marketplace, and especially with these higher income consumers.”

-Helen Leggatt

Online Media Top Influencer on Restaurant Choice, Traditional Media Still Best for Pizza Delivery

admin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:01:24 +0000

Traditional media influenced more than 30% of recently surveyed pizza consumers, while online media like restaurant Web sites were the most influential for restaurant-goers. The Ad-ology Research study also found 61% of U.S. consumers surveyed said they had visited “a restaurant they had not visited before” in the last year.

Of traditional media types, direct mail had the most influence on pizza ordering/delivery, with nearly 28% of consumers overall and more than 36% of 35 to 44 year olds influenced by direct mail. Quality ingredients and fast delivery time were the biggest factor in pizza delivery.

Online media influenced 40% of recent restaurant visitors, with restaurant Web sites having the most influence. Traditional media proved more effective than social media for these consumers. Twenty-seven percent were influenced by newspaper, and 25.4% said the same for direct mail.

“People are still eating out and ordering out, but want to make sure they’re spending their money wisely,” said C. Lee Smith, president and CEO of Ad-ology Research. “Restaurant Web sites can really drive traffic by providing menus and prices, plus details like hours and location so consumers feel like they have all the information they need,” Smith said.

Other key findings:

14% of restaurant visitors said they were influenced by search results
Half of consumers over 55 said senior discount programs are important as they chose a restaurant
Cleanliness was the most important overall factor in restaurant choice; quality of ingredients was most important in pizza delivery choice
The Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey is conducted throughout the year by Ad-ology Research to study online, traditional, and social media influence on buying decisions.

“Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Restaurants,” and “Media Influence on Consumer Choice: Pizza Delivery,” conducted by Ad-ology Research, October 27, 2009. Each report includes 24 data charts, consumer-spending estimates by market, and additional marketing insights. Website: www.ad-ology.com.

-Shannon Bryant

NY Times Key Magazine- Oct 25th Issue

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:08:52 +0000

THE PERFECT SHOWCASE FOR YOUR PROPERTIES
Key Magazine, the New York Times Real Estate Magazine, is a twice-yearly publication
contained within The New York Times Magazine that appeals to property seekers and
real estate enthusiasts alike. Its editorial content highlights the latest trends, hottest
developments and showcase properties in the real estate market from around the United
States and around the world.
Showcase your properties in the latest edition of Key Magazine, publishing Oct 25, 2009

DEADLINES
Reservation Close September 25
Color Material Close October 2
B/W Material Close October 2

Contact MARENA STUDIOS for rates, creative and placement

NY Times – 30th Anniversary of Luxury Homes & Estates. This special section is included within KEY, on October 25th

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 01:06:48 +0000

THE PERFECT SHOWCASE FOR THE CREAM OF THE CROP
2009 marks the 30-year anniversary of Luxury Homes & Estates in The New York Times
Magazine. Over the past three decades, Luxury Homes & Estates has showcased highend
homes from across the United States. Twice yearly, readers enjoy The Best of
Luxury Homes & Estates, which features the most luxurious homes, condos, vacation
homes and rentals from across the nation. Don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of Best
of Luxury Homes & Estates appearing in KEY Magazine on October 25.

DEADLINES
Edit Mention September 9
Reservation Close September 16
Color Material Close September 26
B/W Material Close September 26

Contact MARENA STUDIOS for rates, creative and placement