by Shahla Hebets January 20th, 2011
 Welcome to 2011! And welcome back from your own holiday. Â During the holiday gift-giving season, I was reminded that the old marketing adage You Get What You Pay For is more applicable and accurate today than it ever has been. In these trying economic times, it might seem to make sense to look for the cheapest possible advertising solution, cross your fingers and hope that it produces sales. But the simple truth is that low-cost or free options produce little to no result.Â
When a media company offers you an advertising package that includes heavily discounted print pages, free online banner and e-newsletter ads, and a whole host of other “freebies,� it is likely that what sounds too good to be true is, in fact, too good to be true.
To prove my point, here is a real-world example:
Let’s presuppose that a media company reaches 21,000 unique visitors (a count of how many different people access a website) per month, and those 21,000 individuals are viewing, on average, roughly 2.5 pages of their site, for a total of 52,000 page views, or impressions.
This same company then offers banner ads on the site for free if you purchase a certain number of discounted print pages. Of course, if the company is offering this type of deal to you, you can rest assured that they are offering this same deal to others in the market. As such, we can presume that 20 other advertisers are receiving the same deal, and for the sake of argument, that each is getting roughly the same visibility on the site. If we look at 20 advertisements rotating through 52,000 monthly impressions, then each advertiser is effectively receiving 2,600 monthly impressions. To take this example one step further, suppose that your ad is getting a .4% click-through rate (higher than the industry average, and perhaps unrealistic, but simple from a calculation standpoint). This means that only 10 individuals are coming to your website each month, and your free exposure is essentially valueless. More specifically, this highly limited exposure will not drive sales, create effective brand awareness, and/or separate you from the competition.
As media professionals we have spent our careers advising clients on results-driven marketing/advertising strategies, and we know the unavoidable truth: you get what you pay for.Â
If you are seeking consultation on an advertising strategy that produces quantifiable and significant results, please contact one of our sales professionals.
We believe that when you succeed, we succeed.
Sincerely,
Related Topics: From the Publisher, General, You Get What You Pay For |
by Angie Gates January 19th, 2011
Early in my career, as a new sales rep, I was invited into critical business and marketing development discussions with my Publisher. I’m not sure why he decided to confide his strategic decisions to me, but I’m fortunate that he did. I learned more than a few fundamentals of business, and that former Publisher is now the President of one of Penton’s most successful divisions.
One topic that he keyed in on, and that I’m frequently reminded of, is the fundamental need to know your customer/audience. On the surface, this sounds quite straightforward. However, to truly know your customer, you have to invest the time, energy and resources into securing the necessary data, demographic and otherwise.
The first, and most crucial, step in learning about your customer is engaging a third-party research firm. That can be a difficult pill to swallow when budgets are tight, but every organization needs to question the assumptions that they are making about their customers, and the only way to do that objectively is to employ a neutral party. The more you know about the changing needs/wants of your customer, the greater the probability of successful product launches and extensions.
Of course, if your budget does not have research dollars allocated at present, and the likelihood of them appearing any time soon is poor, then you need to rely on a media partner for this type of information. As a result, it is vital that you align your company with media partners that continually invest and reinvest in audience or market research. It is, frankly, unacceptable for media companies to reference audience studies from 2008 or earlier and anticipate that advertisers will assume that nothing has changed in their audience, the market or their demographics. It is equally important that your media partners provide a source for the data. It’s not a matter of distrust, but instead, it is a matter of verifying that the audience demographics, buying power and future purchasing plans match up to your objectives.
Now back to the insights that I learned long ago: A media organization’s primary goal should be to help clients grow their business through valuable marketing efforts. This principle has guided my entire career, and it is the foundation of Penton Media.
When you succeed, we succeed.
Sincerely,
Shahla Hebets
Related Topics: From the Publisher, General |
by Angie Gates December 29th, 2010
Email is an effective medium for delivering messaging about new products and special offers, but make sure you follow these simple steps to increase your deliverability and response…
1) Use a compelling Subject Line and avoid using symbols, exclamation points and words that trigger SPAM filters. Here is a link to the most common words in spam email.
2) Design your creative so that it can be read by both image- and text-based email programs. Include text behind all images so the email can be viewed whether images are turned off or on.
3) Limit your email length to one screen.
4) Test your message. One reason is to see how it will render in various accounts and on different devices – send a test to various email accounts – work, a gmail or yahoo account, view the message on your phone, etc. The other reason, and this is a big one… test your linkage – make sure everything clicks through and that your landing pages load.
5) Include an opt out. This is important! CAN-SPAM requires that messages contain some method of opting out of receiving email from the sender.
Implement these best practices and you are sure to see your deliverability and click throughs improve!
Related Topics: Email, General |
by Angie Gates November 15th, 2010
“Email Subject Lines, Avoiding Spam Filters, Mobile Strategies and more….”
There is a series of classic tactics that are essential to any digital program. Here are those basic — yet critical — techniques.
Related Topics: Email, General, Mobile, Social Media, Website |
by Shahla Hebets November 2nd, 2010
In July, we hired Akel & Associates to perform an audio market study for Mix. We are certainly aware that the market is rapidly evolving, so we brought in a third-party research firm to potentially challenge some of our assumptions.
We were pleased to discover that many of our assumptions proved correct. We have known for some time that Mix’s unbiased reviews are critical to the purchasing/evaluating process, but we were interested to learn that a whopping 92% of Mix’s audience say it is “extremely important or important� to access independent, unbiased reviews and options of audio technologies, and specific vendors/equipment.
The studies provided other interesting takeaways. We learned that in today’s market there is more pressure and risk in deciding what gear to invest in, and as a result, Mix’s audience is now more likely to evaluate a broader range of vendors and options prior to purchasing in comparison to 3 to 4 years ago. Moreover, 97% of Mix’s audience is involved in the vendor selection process.Â
Of course, the research surprised us on some fronts as well. We discovered that a significant nine out of ten Mix audience members are actively managing for growth and success. The primary way that they are managing for success is by making necessary investments in audio technology.
We were encouraged to learn that over half of Mix readers are anticipating revenue increases in 2011. Clearly, the future is getting brighter!
If you’d like to hear more about the study and its findings, please contact your sales representative. Â
As always, we look forward to working on behalf of your success in 2011 and beyond.
Sincerely,
Shahla Hebets
Related Topics: From the Publisher, General |
by Angie Gates October 25th, 2010
 In an earlier post we let you know about an upcoming MIX webcast that was sponsored by Mackie. That live event took place on September 30th and to date has generated almost 3000 registrations! You can view the event here (with no registration page sign up).   We have another event coming up next week sponsored by Steinberg and to date there are over 1000 registrants signed up for this Tutorial event! The MIX and Emusician audiences are proving that they are interested in learning about new technologies and products through this interactive enviroment. Presentations are approximately 45 minutes long with the last 10 to 15 minutes reserved for live Q&A. In the case of Mackie there were hundreds of questions in the queue during the event so they worked to develop a FAQ .pdf post event and we deployed that with our follow up messaging – smart marketing! If you would like to learn more about how you can generate qualified leads and the different types of webcasts MIX and EMusician offers, contact your sales rep. Paul on the East Coast, Janis on the West Coast and Richard for Int’l accounts.
Related Topics: General, Lead Generation, Webcasts |
by Angie Gates October 22nd, 2010
Newsletters…are they still a valuable marketing medium, are people receiving them, are they reading the content? With this post I wanted to share some performance data and speak to how we continue to maintain our high open and click through rates. I am using two newsletters in this example, because these are the two flagship newsletters that we have continued to publish for 3+ years: Emusician xTra and MixLine. You will see the performance data has stayed very consistent over the past three years – number of deliveries down by only a few hundred from 2008 to 2010, open rates have stayed strong and the engagement measurement of content click throughs, indicates that not only are subscribers opening MIX and EM newsletters, they are consuming the content.
This steady open rate and click through performance is the result of a content strategy plan that requires our Editors continually evaluate what content is working and what is not. With every issue, they track what stories are pulling subscribers in and what content is no longer resonating with their audience. Our current newsletter line up of MIXLine, MIXLine LIVE, MIX Tech, EMusician xTRa and Robair Report has developed based on feedback we receive about how many newsletters subscribers want to receive and what content they value. The fact that our newsletter file sizes have declined only by a few hundred during this time frame speaks volumes not only to the retention of our newsletter subscribers but also to the investment we make in our circulation efforts so that you continue to receive a qualified, active list for your marketing efforts!
Related Topics: General, Newsletters |
by Angie Gates October 22nd, 2010
I was drawn to this headline and thought she made some really good points about web design strategy…who are you designing your website for? Consider what it is that they’re hoping to find first. Then, frame the design of your website around your prospects desired action paths. Also recommended: include your social media efforts as part of your site!
As in the dating world, websites that make terrible first impressions often don’t get a second chance. Consider these top causes of abandonment.
Related Topics: General |
by Shahla Hebets September 27th, 2010
Recently, I was reviewing the online traffic report for Electronic Musician’s website. We have seen a continual increase in unique visitors as well as page views in 2010, and the August report affirmed more of the same. In fact, Emusician.com’s monthly unique visitors have increased by an average of 41% over the last 3 months. That is a pretty outstanding accomplishment, and it confirms that our content is resonating with visitors and our on-going search engine optimization efforts are working.
So what does this mean to you? It means that the team at EM, knows how to build and maintain strong content-rich websites, and we can advise you on your company’s website build or relaunch. We realize that having a successful site takes years of constant attention, trial and error, and a dedicated full-time staff. In addition, it takes the proper allocation of resources, regular investment, and industry knowledge to know/provide exactly what your audience is seeking.
Of course, constructing a successful site represents only part of a winning marketing strategy. The next step is to align your company’s products and brand with respected and established sites in the Audio channel. Simply put, you don’t want to spend all of your marketing effort preaching to the devoted – those people that frequently visit your site – but rather, you need to reach new and emerging professionals that are entering the market as well.
That’s where we come in; advertising on the Emusician.com site allows your company to benefit from the fruits of our unrelenting labor. The prolonged success of the Emusician.com means that advertisers on our site are reaching new and existing Audio prospects/customers, creating effective brand awareness, and ultimately generating sales.
We look forward to working on behalf of your success.
Sincerely,
Shahla Hebets
Related Topics: From the Publisher, General, Website |
by Angie Gates September 27th, 2010
Consider sponsoring a Mix or EMusician webcast and generate qualified leads for your sales team or dealer network. MIX has a webcast coming up this week, here is a link where you can register to attend. MIX and EMusician webcasts are made up of a 45 minute presentation, followed by 15 minutes of live Q&A. If we can’t answer all of the questions in 15 minutes, don’t worry…we’ll help you prepare a follow up .pdf or you can email attendees personally and start to establish a relationship immediately post event. All sponsored webcasts include a marketing campaign that will drive registrations from our website, newsletters and email list and all webcasts are archived for a full 12 months! This strategically developed marketing campaign will deliver over 1,000,000 exposures in the promotion period – to an audience that is right on target for your products and services! Post event you will receive a summary of the webcast that will provide you with full business card leads as well as metrics for attendance and duration, questions submitted and even how your event compared to others we have produced.Â
Contact your sales rep to find out how MIX or EMusician can generate qualified leads through a webcast sponsorship today. Paul on the East Coast, Janis on the West Coast, Richard for Int’l and Corey for Inside Sales and Emerging Markets.
Related Topics: Lead Generation, Webcasts |
|
|
