Over the weekend I was out on Long Island and in need of a home service provider, specifically an exterminator. I setup an appointment and quickly realized my problem was “wildlife” and not “vermin” and needed a new provider. I was told to check the “phone book” and look for a specific company that could deal with the raccoon who moved in.

I consulted all kinds of variations of Yellow Pages online, phone books, yellow business directories – you name it, and I searched it. I found plenty of providers, but all of them did not service my area. I wasted a ton of time and phone energy calling these places only to be told that my area was outside of where they would travel. I soon learned to check the service area first…

Fast forward to my Google search and I found a few paid SEM ads that all seemed relevant. A few calls later and I had two prospects and finalized on a totally qualified company.

I clicked a paid SEM ad, found a provider, and signed up for business.

This is an activity that happens all the time, but it was still light years ahead of the targeting, comprehension, and experience of using a traditional yellow pages, or other online business directory.

Paid search continues to deliver the right contextual message as long as there is enough intent. The rest was generated through geo-targeting, keyword broad matching, and budgeting.

Many people ask me about customer acquisition costs through banners, email marketing, and all other forms of advertising. My answer back is always to force them into a cost-per-customer model so they can track and document what it takes to get a new user and assign them a lifetime value.

For me, paid search continues to be what I recommend the most.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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Paid Search FTW

In the last few years the research behind sentiment analysis has ranged from thumbs up\thumbs down and emoticon faces to more advanced methods.

A few companies mentioned in the article above are trying to sort out the signal from the noise like Tweetfeel, twendz, and twitrratr and others like Trendrr (can I buy a vowel please alex). Each has their own way of parsing data, mainly Twitter data, to mine the conversations for sentiment.

In the larger universe of analytical tools you have companies like BuzzLogic, TechRigy, Radian6, Visible Technologies, Viral Heat, and a bunch of new startups all trying to solve this marketers puzzle.

At the low end these services cost $10.00-$20.00 per month and on the high end thousands. Depending on what you are tracking, how far back you want to go, and how hands on of a solution you need, someone is building a sentiment analysis tracker for your.

The goal here is to track beyond mentions. For example, if your brand is mentioned 2,654 times – how do you know what the sentiment of most\some\all of those messages are? Where are conversations happening about your brand in the first place? How can you respond back to solve problems, answer questions, and apologize where necessary?

In thinking about the sentiment analysis market, I am trying to frame thinking 5 years out when brands will themselves have more conduits to their customers. Will systems still exist that brands do not know about and are not tracking? Or will the convergence of connectivity mean a more aware corporate culture that does not need to use yet another tool in their arsenal. Perhaps 5 years is too short of a timeline, but certainly they will have a grasp on this in 10-20 years.

I am curious to know what tools I should be looking at and how people are solving brand tracking probelms today. Let me know if you have ideas in the comments below.

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Post from: Eric Friedman
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Sentiment Analysis

Silencio!!! by LuisVilla

When marketing began its relationship with technology over half a century ago, it didn’t take long for businesses to embrace technology as a medium of promotion and sales. Not long after radio, television became an integral piece of the marketing matrix and it could be argued, conceived the concept of “noise”. Possibly known as a different name to different people, noise can be loosely defined as the onslaught of marketing material one sees on a regular basis. Now decades later, new forms of media and new sources of communication seem to sprout faster than we can accept them into our daily lives. Marketing has matured from its prehistoric days of basic sales to a full on brand experience. Delivered once through a limited scope of media, we have countless sources today. As consumers, how much can we handle? As marketers, how do we continue to break through the noise when it seems to be louder, more frequent and more numerous than ever?

Consider that even before the internet turned the marketing world on its (cough) head, in any given day one could expect to find messaging via commercials on TV or radio, billboards, bus stops, magazines, newspapers, brochures, signage outside stores or even the ancient practice of telemarketing. Compound this with a maturing Web as well as mobile phones taking over as our primary means of sending and receiving information and it’s astonishing how we ever recollect a single marketing message.

The internet has created far more marketing avenues and more dialogue between business and customer which in turn have created more sources of noise. However, one shouldn’t discount what the net has afforded us in a far greater tailored marketing experience. The ability to opt in and out of personalized marking has let consumers filter through the market and increased communication between business and customer, prompting more value added dialogue. While these conversations are significant, the intra-customer chatter should be given just as much, if not more, weight.

Since breaking through noise means understanding all types of current and potential customers, one of the most worthwhile sources of data is the abundance of online discussion. Whether through review sites such as CNET for technology, Consumerist for an even wider range of products and especially social media sites, there is a massive flow of information. The paradox of course is that all of this feedback is essentially more noise, but for the first time is consumer driven.

Granted, busting through noise is like migrating through a labyrinth, however the clues you need as a business will always be found with your customer. Don’t look at new media as a hindrance to reach customers but as a tool. Market research has always been an ongoing process but is now an active two-way street where the customers who are looking for you can tell you a lot about how they were looking for you, their lifestyles, where else they can be found, etc. Since we no longer have to shout over everyone to get attention and can be more focused on a targeted consumer, maybe it can be a bit less noisy out there.

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Noisier Than Ever

When you have been working for any amount of time your previous experiences all contribute in some way to your current situation. Whether you have been working for 1 year or 10+ years, the foundation of your decision making, persona, and abilities are lifted by a lifetime of experience. I call this the lifetime lift.

An example most recently was hearing about a killer sales guy that was able to broker deals between parties yielding his consulting company serious revenue in a month. Without relationships, pitch meetings, deck building sessions, determination, personality, experience etc… NONE of this would be possible.

The lifetime lift can be explained by taking a look at what happens when you attack a problem. Previous experiences contribute to how to hold, shape, play, and ultimately solve that particular problem. Even experiences dating back to childhood have in some way influenced your behavior in that moment or scenario.

One of the ways I benefit from the lifetime lift is in my ability to explain and teach people. I spent a large part of my time in high school developing a consulting company which was basically a PC fixing and tutoring service. I helped my friends for free and ended up charging parents and their businesses an hourly rate – but that is another story. Now when I attack a situation, go into a sales meeting, or connect the dots in a business development situation, I benefit from the patience and understanding of people that came directly from that consulting experience.

One of my favorite examples of what I call the Lifetime Lift is from Guy Kawasaki in a presentation explaining the building and launch of Truemors.com

Just a simple slide with a number…

Followed by a lifetime of lift to explain how a marketing budget could possibly be $0.00

Full presentation which is worth your time.

I think everything you work on gives you some foundation for the future.

Deciding between jobs and what steps to take next can be a daunting task, but looking further down the road can provide some relief that your first or second step will ultimately lead to something greater and step 3 will benefit from what you did before.

Sometimes it is hard to see how something you are doing or working on today can help you in 1 month or 1 year, but thinking about things at a longer timeline can have a positive impact. It can help you plot out what you want to ultimately do and map out the stepping stones to get there.

I have been lucky in my career so far in having good mentors to bounce ideas off of, creating platforms to ask questions on (like this blog), and learning from doing. Each of my experiences has created a framework and outline for going after what is next and it is lifted by my lifetime (albeit short!) of experiences.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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The Lifetime lift

In it they describe 6 ways you can get new customers (as an ad agency) which really speak volumes about any organization whether you are an ad agency or a simply trying to sell a product.

1. Network Innovatively
2. Show your social media savvy
3. Adopt a recognizable platform
4. Be willing to contort
5. Write a book
6. Offer a direct line to the CEO

I do not agree with the definition of each by AdAge but the general gist it simple communicate. I provided my thoughts on each of these 6 below and how they may translate out to a larger group beyond simply ad agencies.

Networking is key, but doing it properly can mean the difference between being labeled a thought leader and a sales guy. I agree with what John Coleman does, and participate personally in these types of small innovative thinking sessions that are sparked by a single topic. This provides a non-invasive way of getting to know people without much pretense.

Showing your savvy and accepting one platform There are many ways to do this – but I think adopting multiple platforms is a great way to learn and understand a market. If your goal is to get clients, make sales, close business – than understanding what is out there and having an agnostic approach will serve you better than sticking to one platform. Showing your savvy will happen as your expertise develops across multiple platforms and you are able to make agile jumps to new things that come out. Nothing is worse than being pitched on a platform simply because there is no knowledge of other options.

Be able to contourt – this screams COMMUNICATION to me. As the world changes, so should your ability to adapt to customer needs. The cited example is building up an agency around a large brand (Dell). IMHO this should happen EVERY time there is a new brand brought in and account team formed. On a more realistic scaling front, this can be done in the form of listening to the needs of the potential customer and making sure you can meet them. (For those naysayers that state you cannot fit everyone into your business and stay strong against customizing all jobs – take this advice with a grain of salt as I know it will not work for everyone.)

Write a book Everyone jumps at the ambitiousness of this statement. It should read Write an E-Book its simple to do (.DOC to .PDF) low cost (Time) and free to publish (Ill let you publish it here if you want on Marketing.fm)

The work involved will be worth the effort even if nobody reads it (which will not be the case) as you will learn valuable lessons about your ideas and how they really look once they are structured in a publishable format.

Offer a direct line to the CEO Once again the genesis of this idea is communication. You should have open channels and folks that want to be concise, clear, and honest. Hopefully CEO contact will happen as a result of wanting to praise the work vs. move up the chain to be mad at a company. The overall point is that you should empower your employees to solve problems so that speaking to the CEO will be a nice bonus, but not a requirement for solving an issue.

If any agency, or individual wants to pursue one or more of these topics and needs a platform to do so (read: guest blog) feel free to reach out.

Post from: Eric Friedman
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How to get new customers: Communicate