CMA Brings Joy to Local Family

CMA partnered with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Community Health Promotion Program to bring joy to a local family in need.

CMA adopted a five-person family in need for the holidays. Employees donated a variety of gifts for children ages 16, 11 and eight years old, as well as gifts for each parent. The overwhelming support enabled the firm to provide more than 12 gifts to the family.

CMA’s president and CEO, Jeffrey Barnhart, commented, “Our employees continue to think of others, especially during the holidays, and how they can make their days a little brighter. We are honored to continue our partnership with such an outstanding organization.”

From left to right: Corie Eisenberg, Kelly McKelvey, Lindsay Piccolella, Kaitlin Friedmann, Elizabeth Roe, Kristin Couch, Meghan Higgins, Colleen Reasoner and Erin Higgins.

Happy Holidays from CMA

View our interactive signature card by clicking here.

Six Marketing Don’ts for 2011

Make it your New Year’s resolution to follow this simple list of marketing don’ts for 2011.

Don’t make the same mistakes you made last year. You’ve spent the time reviewing last year’s marketing plan (link to last post). Make sure you apply the lessons learned to next year’s strategy.

Don’t just tweak last year’s plan. Changing the dates to 2011 isn’t enough. The market has changed. Your potential clients might have changed. Taking a fresh approach and building on last year’s success is the key to continued growth in the New Year.

Don’t plan in a vacuum. Spend time talking with current clients and even prospective clients. Find out what their 2011 plans are so you can better communicate how your company can meet their needs.

Don’t get caught with a website that screams 1995. Just having an “online presence” is no longer good enough. Your company’s website is a reflection of your overall company image. A modern, up-to-date website lets your customers know your company is moving forward and growing.

Don’t forget to get social. With the three social media leaders, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, continuing to grow and more niche industry sites establishing themselves, chances are your target market is active online. Now is the time to learn how to use these tools to establish a two-way conversation with your prospects.

Don’t send mixed messages. Is your website copy and direct mail messages in sync? Has your newsletter gone and developed its own brand identity? Chances are overtime your branding has gotten off course as marketing was treated as a project, not a long term strategy. Get everything back in line and moving in the right direction.

What are your marketing do’s for 2011?

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Naughty or Nice – Did you meet your marketing goals for 2010?

Come December, we all will look back on the year to see if we reached our goals. Focusing this state-of-mind on your company’s marketing program will help you compare your marketing goals to the marketing reality.

Blow the dust off of your 2010 Marketing Plan. Hopefully, December isn’t the only time you’ve evaluated your marketing tactics this year. For many, this will be the first time the plan you spent weeks developing sees the light of day. Don’t let this misstep discourage you from fully evaluating your marketing from 2010 for 2011. Go through the plan line by line to see what dropped by the wayside and what was executed.

Define Success. Were you looking to add 20 new clients or grow revenue by 10%? Without knowing what you were aiming for you, you won’t be able to determine if you got there. If you crafted a solid marketing plan, that information should be laid out for you. If the goals weren’t clearly set, this isn’t an excuse to stop the review process. Putting together metrics after the fact isn’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

Determine the ROI. Once you’ve pulled together a list of what was executed in 2010, planned or otherwise, you can now calculate the return on your marketing investment. A good approach is to start with the big picture and determine the total ROI for marketing for the year and then break it down by project. Seeing where the ROI is the highest will help you prioritize marketing initiatives for next year.

Be Honest About the Results. You might be disappointed to know that the direct mail campaign your team labored over for months didn’t result in enough new clients, but it was the less exciting SEO project that saw results. While it might be tempting to gloss over the missteps of 2010, it’s necessary to really look at what worked and what didn’t.

Bring Together the Team. Go through the goals for 2010 and the ROI figures with the full team to keep everyone in the loop and to get their feedback. This is the time to look beyond the ROI numbers to see the factors that led to success and the challenges that led to failed programs.

Once you’ve gone through this process, make sure you put all this effort to work for you. Learn the lessons of 2010 and plan for success in 2011.

And in 2011, make sure you review your marketing plan regularly so you stay on target!

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

The CMA Holiday Card – Our Signature Creativity

For over 20 years, the CMA holiday card has symbolized the fun and creativity of our staff. The original concept was developed back in the early days of CMA, but the idea of featuring the smiling faces of our employees has remained a timeless favorite among our network of clients, vendors and friends.

Starting in 1992, when CMA was a mere five years old, the first holiday card to feature the likenesses of the agency staff was introduced using caricatures of each staff member instead of photos. The following year, the studio team and I continued this theme, but arranged for a photo shoot and positioned the staff photos to look like each member’s head was peeking out of a gift box—no easy feat in the days preceding Photoshop!

Since then, the CMA team has been seen climbing, perching, falling off of and dancing around various holiday-themed items including a snowman, a nutcracker, a toboggan and a penguin. CMA’s furry friends even got involved in 2008. Our pet-friendly office was at peak capacity with dogs, cats, bunnies and turtles during this famous photo shoot for our signature card—perhaps the one we received the most comments on ever!

Eighteen years after the first personalized CMA holiday card, this signature piece continues to be recognized with awards from industry organizations. It also continues to be a perennial favorite of our own team to create. Each member of the staff gets involved with selecting the theme, bringing in props and coming up with creative poses. By showcasing our downright goofy nature, we hope clients, prospects and vendors see the human side of their CMA contacts as well as the high level of our creative abilities.

How do you retain your business relationships? Let CMA help you determine how to leave your signature mark and strengthen your network of customers and prospects.

Dave Sherwood
Creative Director
dsherwood@cmasolutions.com

What Are You Thankful for this Thanksgiving?

Whether you’re having Thanksgiving at your house or traveling to a relative’s house, everyone will be joining together to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. To help get everyone in the spirit, CMA asked its employees to share what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving:

“I’m thankful for the hardworking team here at CMA who apply their passion for what they do every day.” – Jeffrey Barnhart, President and CEO

“I am thankful for the health of my family and the good will that we share with each other. Particularly as my sons begin to make their way in the world, I find my relationships with them evolving and growing stronger.” – Christian Horn, Vice President of Communications

“I am thankful for the health and happiness of my friends and family.” – Corie Eisenberg, Marketing Coordinator

“I’m thankful for celebrating 5 years with CMA!” – Erin Higgins, Director of Marketing Services

“I’m thankful I work with a really fun group of people who make it easier to be creative.” – Diane Webster, Senior Associate Creative Director

“I’m thankful for my wonderful family and friends who complete my life in every way!” – Lauren Ward, Marketing Coordinator

“I’m thankful that I work with such a fun, creative, intelligent group of people!” – Kaitlin Friedmann, Manager, Public Relations

“I am thankful to work in an environment that encourages creativity.” – Meghan Higgins, Public Relations Coordinator

“I am thankful that my family is healthy and happy!” – Melanie Kotsonis, Executive Assistant

Feel free to share with us what you are thankful for this Thanksgiving. Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Happy Thanksgiving!

FIN Turns to CMA to Apply Financial Industry Experience

Challenge: Raise product awareness for Financial Investment News (FIN) among investment management marketing and sales professionals and stand out from competing companies at industry events.

Solution: CMA developed a comprehensive product offering brochure designed to catch the attention of attendees of the Association of Investment Management Sales Executives (AIMSE) Annual Conference this fall. The design reflects a professional and modern feel in a well-organized manner. Using a unique shape, CMA created the piece to stand out among competing investment management industry service providers and publishers.

The brochure communicated the benefits, ease, and abilities of the company’s major product, FINsearches, while tying in information about the features and highlights of its FINdaily and Nonprofit News publications. As a piece that defines and incorporates the company’s products as well as publications, this brochure serves as a memorable “leave behind” after face-to-face contact.

Why CMA? Impressed by CMA’s knowledge of the financial industry, the resulting brochure received rave reviews from the client about what CMA was able to deliver.

CMA’s work with FIN is a perfect example of the results of good team work. FIN has worked with members of the PR team for years helping to promote the conferences of long-term CMA client PAICR (the Professional Association for Investment Communications Resources) through informative articles in their magazines. Over time, the FIN publishers began to see that CMA is more than just a PR firm and turned to CMA to more effectively market themselves.

Revisiting Your Brand

As we approach the end of 2010, it is important for business owners to revisit their company’s brand identity. Does your brand still represent your company’s mission and goals? Does it continue to effectively showcase your company’s products and services? Does it appeal to your target audience? Once you’ve determined how your brand measures up, it is important to evaluate whether your company’s marketing pieces reflect this direction. Consider these tips for evaluating your brand.

Strategy. When revisiting your brand, it is important to take the time to meet with the decision makers in your company to evaluate your company’s strategic direction and if it still holds true. Through CMA’s Marketecture™ process, we take clients through a strategic planning session to determine an appropriate direction for branding and marketing their company.

Logo. As your logo is an important element to your company’s brand identity, make sure to evaluate whether it continues to standout in the minds of current and prospective clients. Does your logo format, color and design represent your company and speak to your target audience? You ultimately want to ensure your brand is identifiable throughout your targeted market.

Sales brochure. Your company sales brochure is consistently utilized by your team during the sales process. Make sure you determine whether it effectively showcases your company and its products and services, as this is a main tool in helping to bring in new business. Also, evaluate whether the information in your brochure clearly explains to your target audience why they should select your company’s products and services to fulfill their needs.

Need help re-establishing your brand? Give us a call today.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

CMA Selected to Launch Energy Watch Blog

CMA was recently selected by marketing veteran, Bill Attardi, for the launch of the blog version of his popular Energy Watch newsletter.

For over a decade, electrical industry insiders have turned to Attardi for breaking news in lighting, distribution and other related business segments. Trusting in CMA’s understanding of the industry as well as our team’s rapid adoption of digital media, Attardi selected CMA to develop the structure and new look of the Energy Watch blog and maintain fresh content on a weekly basis. The blog retains popular features such as Attardi’s monthly commentary “Something to Think About,” provides critical news updates in a more accessible format and introduces a newly designed Energy Watch header, custom created by CMA’s design team.

Since September, the blog has developed a devoted following and CMA continues to work with Attardi to increase readership and interest in the new format.

CMA Director of Marketing Services Selected to NJ CAMA Board

CMA’s Director of Marketing Services, Erin Higgins, has been selected to the New Jersey Communications, Advertising and Marketing Association’s (NJ CAMA) Board.

Higgins will serve as Co-Chair of the organization’s ASTRA Awards, which honor the best creative, strategies and design work created by the communications, advertising and marketing community. In her role, Higgins will support the ASTRA Chair with award submissions, event content, scheduling, location selection, promotion as well as on-site coordination.

Bill Petzinger, President at NJ CAMA commented, "I am delighted to welcome Erin to the Board of Directors of NJ CAMA. She possesses the strategic ability and passion that our organization needs which will ultimately prove valuable in her role as ASTRA co-chair. We look forward to working with her."

Marketing Must Haves

Regardless of size or even budget, there are key marketing items that every business, big or small, needs. Below are the basic marketing items that can help build your company’s brand.

The Essentials

Strategy. Throwing marketing against the wall to see what sticks wastes both time and money. The rest of the marketing essentials fall into place once you have a strategy set.



Logo. A professional logo for print and online usage as well as black and white executions are the building blocks of your company’s brand identity.



Website. When prospective clients are looking for a product or service, their first step is usually Google. A well-designed and easy to navigate website can be developed on any budget.



E-blast template. More communication is done via e-mail than ever before. Make sure your company is not left behind with the typewriter and design a template that incorporates your logo and branding.



Business cards. An old school favorite that still has impact, this is truly an essential marketing item for in-person networking that shouldn’t be left to a fly-by-night printer/designer.



As with any list, there are going to be many of you who feel I missed an “obvious” essential (leave your thoughts in the comments section).

Marketing is a sum of its pieces and what is essential to one company might be an extra to another. CMA works with all of our clients to put together a customized marketing strategy for their unique needs.

Are you ready to put together your “essential” marketing pieces? Give us a call.

Jeffrey E. Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Humanizing Your Brand With Social Media

More and more businesses are breaking into the world of social media and are utilizing this medium as a way to promote their brand and products and services. Fully delving into social media and capitalizing on the world of two-way communication can be rewarding for any business, if done effectively.

Having a thought leader from your company act as the social media liaison truly helps humanize your brand. Customers and prospective customers will be more comfortable sharing feedback about your company and its products and services knowing they are speaking directly to someone from the company. Consider these tips for humanizing your brand with social media.

Be open. Since you are trying to create a comfortable atmosphere that will encourage participation and feedback, make sure you share information about yourself with your audience. The more they know about you, the more willing they will be to provide their thoughts on your brand and its products and services.

Provide stimulating content. When participating in any form of social media outlet, make sure the content is stimulating and valuable. Your goal is to effectively serve your customers and engage prospective customers. Providing content that won’t help them in any way will lead you further away from obtaining and keeping their business.

Keep readers engaged. Respond to comments and create an ongoing dialogue. Post as frequently as possible.

Need help charting a social media course for your business? E-mail us today.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Brandished Brands: How Yours Can Be a Household Name

A brand can be so strong, you don’t even use the general name for an item—“pass me a Kleenex,” “I’ll get you a Band-Aid,” “I owe you a Coke.” These are all excellent consumer success stories, but building a brand in the business-to-business space requires much more careful strategy to make sure you communicate your value well.

Whether you’re focusing on tapping new markets or maintaining existing ones, it’s important not to lose sight of how the right strategy and effective marketing tactics can position your brand as an easily identifiable entity. Even in complex B2B markets, keeping it simple sends a clear message. Cisco Systems, for example, has a vast product offering of network systems, collaboration/voice/video services and data center components, which can seem overwhelming to the prospective customer. But their brief, memorable taglines “see it, live it, share it” focus on the solutions they can provide businesses, automatically enhancing the perception of the brand.

In the business-to-consumer world, becoming a household name means you’ve created such awareness and positive perception that customers believe they have no other alternative. In the B2B world, your marketing approach is obviously more targeted to specific market segments. Often the most effective brand strategies are those that zero in on becoming the household name of a certain price class, geographic area or vertical market. The brand is brandished with creative key messages to instill certain beliefs in the customer.

For example, CMA recently worked with a 102 year old manufacturer of sound proof wall board made from recycled newspaper. With 4-5 other competitors vying for the loyalty of the same market segments, CMA advised the company to take the approach of being the “premium performance alternative for sound control.” This way, the company staked claim to the middle of the road price point and built brand loyalty among a specific clientele who would keep this in mind long term.

Let us help you become a leader or maintain your brand loyalty with fine-tuned strategies and tactics that communicate and resonate. Check out www.cmasolutions.com to learn more about our expertise.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

NJBiz Names CMA a Top Ad and PR Agency

Creative Marketing Alliance was listed as the #13 advertising agency and the #17 PR agency in NJBiz’s annual Top 50 in New Jersey!

CMA Completes Extensive Website Projects

CMA recently completed website projects for several new clients including Pasquito Builders, Windsor Dermatology, Interior Image and Super Chic.



For the Hopewell, New Jersey based Pasquito Builders CMA helped to increase the company’s regional visibility and strengthen its new project development efforts through the creation of its new website: www.PasquitoBuilders.com. The website features a comprehensive services section, testimonial section, newsroom and gallery of recent projects.



For the 25 year old medical dermatology practice in East Windsor, New Jersey, Windsor Dermatology, CMA determined through its proprietary Marketecture™ process that one of the best ways to achieve greater regional visibility and an expanded patient base would be with a newly-designed website: www.WindsorDermatology.com. CMA expanded and streamlined the content, created and enhanced graphic design, and added Flash photos to the homepage. In addition, CMA provided a completely new brand campaign including logos, brochures, advertising, public relations and social media.



Serving New Jersey, the greater Philadelphia and metropolitan New York areas, Interior Image provides custom interior design/build solutions. CMA designed their website www.YourInteriorImage.com to include website copy with keywords to grab target audience attention and enhance search engine optimization (SEO), news and testimonials sections, a photo gallery with navigation as well as a featured projects section on the homepage.



Sailing from Barnegat Light Yacht Basin, Barnegat Light, New Jersey, the Super Chic is a 56 foot charter boat providing participants with a memorable fishing experience. CMA created a new website for Super Chic: www.SuperChicCharters.com, which features information on dates and fees for various trip opportunities, a monthly “When to Fish Chart,” allowing customers to view the best times during the season to book their trips, and trip details written by the ship’s captain.

Let CMA utilize our cutting edge digital communications to enhance the visibility of your business in the marketplace.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Like a Well-Oiled Machine

There are so many teamwork clichés. “Two heads are better than one.” “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” The list goes on. But we take teamwork very seriously at CMA, especially since developing and executing a marketing plan, for instance, often entails a lot of moving parts. It’s extremely hard to be creative without different sounding boards to bounce ideas off of. For us, it’s three basic ideas that define our teamwork philosophy:

Brainstorming
Last week alone, CMA held multiple brainstorming sessions for different client projects. These sessions are often interdisciplinary, where it’s common for someone from the PR department to contribute to the development of an ad, or an event planner to sit in on a marketing strategy session. We look for fresh perspectives and draw on the experiences of one another regularly.

Quality Control
Every piece, whether it’s a press release, a capabilities brochure or website home page, is circulated to different members of the account team to ensure quality. Each team member takes time to review the material and add suggestions. With this process in place, a consensus is formed, quality is assured and the final product presented to a client is a collective team effort.

Responsiveness
People go on vacations, get sick and take business trips—it’s a part of life. But we never want a client to feel their needs have to wait until their main contacts are back in the office. Prior to any anticipated travel, CMA team members work out who will provide back-up coverage to assist with certain projects. These support people are brought into meetings and cross-trained on time-sensitive projects early on to ensure they can take the reins when needed.

Client service is a huge priority at CMA and the foundation for it is an organized game plan. After all, clichéd or not, TEAM really does spell out “Together Everyone Achieves More!”

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Keeping Things Fresh

It’s August and the summer is still in full swing, but that doesn’t mean you should stop thinking about ways to continuously keep your marketing efforts fresh. Now is the time to evaluate your company’s marketing vehicles, as they are the drivers for increasing your visibility in the marketplace and bringing in new customers. Consider looking at the following areas of your business, so that come September, you can put your best marketing foot forward.

Key messages. Examine your company’s key messages and make sure they continue to accurately represent your company’s brand and products and services. If this has changed, bring together an executive team to determine what has changed and how these need to be altered to help move the company forward. Many CMA clients have taken advantage of our strategic marketing process called Marketecture(TM), which helps companies focus on outside forces that may be affecting your customer base as well as determine key message alterations to communicate better.

An example of a recent logo update for Homasote, the 101 year old manufacturer of building and industrial packaging products made from 98 percent recycled materials, which was the result of a Marketecture session:



Website. Your company’s website is the main information source for your target audience and the destination for all things associated with your business. Do you have current case studies showcasing your products and services? Are there up-to-date testimonials from clients? Does your newsroom reflect all current media placements and press releases? Evaluate how current the information is on your website with an experienced marketing team that can help add any items that will enhance the visitor’s experience, including social media “widgets” and other new media tools.

An example of a website redesign that helped strengthen a client's brand with rotating images and a cleaner design:



Sales materials. Determine if your sales materials truly showcase your company’s products and services. These materials aid your team in the overall sales process and help your company stand out from the competition. A seasoned team like CMA can help you stay current and creative while still making sure your information and visual imagery accurately showcase your products and services’ capabilities.

An example of a suite of sales materials designed for ESI Lighting, a manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting technologies:



Need help keeping your company’s marketing efforts fresh? Send us an email today.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

What Summer Slowdown?

The summer months are certainly a fun time to be with friends and family and enjoy the warm weather. Contrary to popular opinion, I also believe it to be a productive time in the workplace. Here are some ways that small businesses in particular can keep their marketing messages moving during the summer months:

Webinars
In the summer, there are far fewer workshops, conferences and networking events being held. It’s the perfect time to launch your own webinar so that your customers can learn about your products, services or look to you for guidance on an industry trend completely at their own convenience.

Surveys
If your customer base does have some downtime, this could be the perfect timing to ask them for an update on their concerns or learn more about how the economy has affected them. Send out an email survey that takes no longer than five minutes to fill out and utilize that information to plan any marketing changes come September.

Social Networking
Are there some business contacts you’ve lost touch with? Maybe you finally have the opportunity this summer to start that LinkedIn Group you’ve been meaning to launch. Or, just take more time to learn about social networking sites—it’s a rapidly changing part of the way the world conducts business. Take some time to participate and strengthen your business network.

Don’t assume that all companies you work with have a “Summer Friday” policy. Reach out, keep marketing and communicating, and you’ll find the summer is more productive than you thought.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President & CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

CMA Takes Home 10 ASTRA Awards for Marketing, Advertising, PR and Web Communications

Steven L. Lubetkin Photo/Copyright ©2010. Used by Permission.

From left to right, CMA Director of Marketing Services, Erin Higgins, President and CEO, Jeff Barnhart and PR Manager, Kaitlin Friedmann celebrated 10 ASTRA wins at the annual awards ceremony.

CMA recently won 10 awards in 10 different categories at the 2010 New Jersey Communications, Advertising and Marketing Association’s (NJ CAMA) ASTRA Awards ceremony!

CMA received 10 awards for entries in marketing and public relations categories, showcasing the depth of the firm’s creative capabilities and marketing expertise. The judges honored the firm for its advocacy and public affairs work, creation of a comprehensive sales kit, multi-media business to business campaign and corporate logo as well as for the development and execution of a digital marketing and public relations campaign and this blog, CMA Central.

“Our staff continues to work together to create marketing pieces that truly communicate our clients’ messages and position them as leaders in their targeted market,” said Jeffrey Barnhart, President and CEO of CMA. “We are truly grateful to have received these awards and look forward to raising the bar next year.”

For 23 years, clients have relied on CMA for comprehensive strategic programs, high-impact creative communications and time-tested management solutions. The company’s innovative planning process, Marketecture, helps a variety of for-profit and non-profit organizations navigate industry trends and market forces to ensure continued success. For more information, visit www.cmasolutions.com

Continuing Your Marketing Momentum

So you’ve done the market research, determined your target audience and the tactics you believe will help your customers take action. But how do you continue the marketing momentum and effectively utilize this information to promote your company and its products and services, despite budget constraints and the effects of the current recession? Consider these tips.

Stay in the game. If your company reduces marketing to your current and potential customers and your main competitor maintains or increases marketing to your current and potential customers, which business is more likely to grow during and following a recession? On a less crowded playing field, those who stay in the game stand out and win business.

Market smarter. Make sure you consistently market your company and its products and services in some way. If you find yourself faced with a slashed marketing budget, turn to cost-effective tactics that are still market-effective. Consider utilizing public relations as a credible and cost-effective investment as well as case studies which enable you to highlight your expertise and success with specific clients. Both tactics can help boost your SEO, delivering results.

Do what others aren’t doing. Most people do not enjoy cold calling, but if conducted in conjunction with an ongoing direct mail or email campaign, the results can be rewarding. A call following two direct mail pieces to a prospect is not a cold call—it is a warm offer to continue a conversation.

Look for pockets of demand. In every economic downturn there are market segments that remain healthy, growing and which may even be bolstered by the economic turbulence. Maybe you have already served some of these markets, but have not focused on them lately. Revisit these areas as they may make for some great business opportunities.

Interested in learning how we can develop business-building marketing communications for your company? Call us today.

Jeff Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Who Are You?

Throughout the month of June, we’ll be tackling the topic of market research, an essential part of any strategic marketing initiative. Not many people are aware of the two main levels of market research needed to effectively gauge the behaviors and buying habits of your clients and customers. CMA uses primary and secondary research to glimpse into the target audience’s world and accurately assess the marketing tactics that will move them to action.

Secondary market research data, contrary to its name, is usually conducted first. This process of gathering target audience demographic information through existing data sources segments the market and dissects key pieces of information about who buys what, when and at what price.

Primary research confirms the positioning and key messaging determined through secondary research. Primary research is usually implemented via a survey that solicits needed information on the target audience. Surveys can be conducted through web-based services that provide accurate tracking of who responds, however some companies prefer to conduct in-person surveys or phone surveys to maximize effectiveness.

Once you have this data you have an accurate picture of who you are targeting and can use this information to personalize your sales pitch through various media. This is now even being done on social media websites such as Facebook. Users will find that shortly after they join a particular group or fan page, Facebook alters the ads displayed on the right hand side of the screen shot to their supposed “likes.” A user who might have become a fan of one comedian will be targeted in promotions for other comedy shows in their home town, for example.

In effective marketing, companies should aim to keep a continuous relationship with a customer, one that is poised to grow stronger over time. CMA is known for our strategic eye for marketing and can help you maintain these relationships. Give us a call or let us know your thoughts on building your marketing relationships.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

How Heavily Should You Rely on Social Media?

We’ve discussed social media strategies quite a bit since the inception of CMA Central, but it’s an ongoing conversation that needs to be had, as many organizations have come to rely on various social media to stay connected to key audiences.

But how much is too much reliance on social media?

In one of the most poignant speeches on creativity I’ve heard in a long time, Brian Crooks, a seasoned creative director and regional speaker, cautioned a crowd of New Jersey Communications Advertising and Marketing Association members to be careful about two particular things: 1) don’t proclaim anything “dead,” and 2) don’t put all of your eggs into the social media basket.

I tend to agree with Brian’s perspective, where social media should exist as just another medium to be considered. As creative professionals, it’s our challenge to create a plan where a website, traditional printed pieces, public relations and perhaps social media campaign interlock and complement each other in a way that resonates with the target audience. The tactics are a means to an end—a way to achieve the goal—and not necessarily the goal themselves.

CMA creates social media campaigns where it makes sense. Is your target audience on LinkedIn, for example? We won’t direct resources and energy in any area of social media until we are sure it’s the best medium to reach them. It helps to start to dip your toes into the waters of social media yourself, if you haven’t already. For the best information on new social media developments and guides, check out Mashable.com to learn more about social media’s capabilities for business applications. Or give us a call to learn more about the ways we can help you determine the path that’s right for you and your brand.

Jeff Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Planting Seeds on the Internet

Erin Higgins, CMA Director of Marketing Services, recently sat down with us to discuss digital marketing for a recent issue of CMA Market Buzz. Among other interesting facts, Higgins reported an increased client focus on digital marketing strategies, not only through websites, but email marketing and social media such as blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Below are some excerpts from the Q&A.

“More clients are working with CMA to deepen their web conversations with customers and prospects,” says Higgins, who guides clients through the development and rejuvenation of websites as well as other digital marketing mediums.

“With all businesses, developing a website is typically the keystone to their initial marketing effort once we’ve worked with them to discover and establish a strategic and branding direction,” she says. “Website development or redesign also dovetails well with a public relations effort, which helps drive target audiences to the site.”

Higgins observes that in the past, companies established basic ‘brochureware’ websites, then updated them with animation. “Now it’s more of a hybrid. Websites are cleaner, there’s less Flash, more white space and brief, top of mind content. Depending on the client and target audiences, video is also being integrated more frequently.”

CMA advises clients to continually update their websites, not only to keep content fresh but as part of their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. “Search spiders recognize and gravitate to updated content, resulting in a higher ranking for a company in search results,” she says.

Ask Erin yourself! Email her at ehiggins@cmasolutions.com and find out more about CMA’s web capabilities and how they can work for you!

Finding Your Social Media Identity

With social media evolving nearly everyday, it’s become tough for marketing experts to say what is the right and wrong way to strategize, execute and measure the effectiveness of your campaign. Every company, person and product has different goals, and social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter were designed to celebrate individuality. Here are some pointers to help you decide how to brand yourself and your company in the social media space.

Step 1: Start with yourself. What kind of social media user are you? An August article on CNN.com categorized “annoying types” of Facebook users, and there is truth to author Brandon Griggs’ complaints. For example, I classify myself as somewhere between a “Self Promoter” and a “Lurker,” as I am comfortable mixing my personal and professional worlds on Facebook, Twitter and this blog. My Facebook status might one day congratulate my sister on her new job or it could state how excited I am about a new client PR initiative. I believe that only through developing your own personal brand on social media can you truly understand how to utilize it to promote a company or product.

Step 2: Find a prototype. At this point, marketing and PR professionals are relying heavily on case studies and success stories of their peers to determine what works and what doesn’t. The good news is social media success is achievable whether you are a local dentist or a major airline.

Step 3: What’s Your Name? To promote a company, professional service or a product, there are a few things to determine right off the bat. First, what name will you use to identify yourself? For some social media sites, this is obvious—Acme Widget Company would naturally have a Facebook Fan page called Acme Widget Company. Twitter and other industry-specific social networking sites might prove to be more difficult to find something short and clearly identifiable.

Step 4: What do you want to say? In setting up this blog, CMA decided we would provide useful marketing information and showcase our in-house expertise in a conversational, but still professional tone.

It’s an exciting time for social media development. Check back on this blog for more information or email us with your questions. We’d be happy to help you determine how to approach this exciting new medium.

Kaitlin Friedmann
PR Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Do Your Research - Understanding the Green Market

According to a recent ImagePower Green Brands Survey, 80 percent of consumers believe it is important to buy from green companies, most responded they would spend more on green products. Word of mouth also leads as the way 50 percent of Americans learn about green products and services. Online search engines and television also remained popular channels for learning about green, according to a recent quarterly update from the Green Confidence Index.

Findings such as these provide valuable information to business owners when developing and executing a plan for marketing their eco-friendly products and services. Before rushing into executing your marketing ideas, it is important to take a step back and focus on the strategic direction of your efforts to ensure your message is reaching the correct target audience through the appropriate channel in a format they can easily understand.

Through our strategic analysis process, Marketecture™, we help clients identify and analyze relationships between marketplace competitors and the criteria used by target audiences in making buying decisions. Also through this process, we can provide primary and secondary research to help clients better understand their market, in this case, the green market, to gauge how their target audience feels about sustainable products and services.

Consider the benefits of conducting market research:

1. Understanding your current position in the marketplace
2. Identifying your main competition and analyzing how you stand up against them
3. Determining your products or services’ role in the strategic direction of your company
4. Analyzing your company’s strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities to grow your business
5. Evaluating market forces that influence your target audiences’ buying decisions, helping to determine how you can overcome these challenges and remain profitable

Conducting market research is an important element in the promotional process and will truly help you develop the best strategic marketing plan for your company, enabling you to effectively reach your target audience and produce the highest results.

Let CMA utilize our strategic marketing expertise to help point your marketing efforts in the right direction.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Are You Recycling Your Marketing Ideas?

With Earth Day upon us this week, you’ll be reminded once again of all the ways you can better serve our environment through reducing your consumption, reusing various items and, of course, recycling. But take a moment to consider recycling in another light—one that could be damaging your reputation among key target audiences.

Sometimes clients will tell us “that’s what we’ve always done” when referring to their marketing strategies. Sometimes this is a good thing. Often times, it’s not. Marketing is about innovation and keeping in touch with your audience’s needs and desires, so ask yourself how you can keep it fresh before you fall into the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” way of complacent thinking.

Here are some ways CMA can help keep your marketing messages and graphics fresh and enticing:

Just ask. When was the last time you conducted research on your target market? Have you ever sent a survey to them? Sometimes a simple e-mail survey can work wonders to help you pinpoint the right words and graphics that will resonate with key decision-makers.

Update your brand and/or campaign. One of the most successful advertising campaigns in history is Geico’s series of “caveman” spots. Sensing that their target audience had been oversaturated with these characters (remember when there was a sit-com based on them?), Geico changed the way the cavemen were portrayed in their commercials, often showing very little of their faces and limiting their dialogue. CMA’s veteran designers are in touch with cutting edge imagery as well as what still traditionally communicates to key audiences—maintain your identity, but be sure to review it periodically.

Keep an eye on your competitors. Through CMA’s Marketecture™ strategic process, we are able to help clients set aside time to analyze the competitive landscape, ultimately helping you think like your customer. Be sure to monitor what types of messages, images, and concepts are they being hit with by your competitors. When you know it’s time for a change, make sure you’re not duplicating an idea that’s been done well by your competitors—you don’t want to be pinned as a company that recycles others’ marketing ideas, but you need to be aware of what they are doing.

Avoid non industry-specific clichés. Flip through the pages of any magazine in virtually any industry and I guarantee you’ll spot an advertisement with a goldfish in a bowl. Unless you are a pet store, chances are your audience will miss the point because it doesn’t speak to what you do. Don’t get me wrong—even images that seem overused might be perfect for your industry. Just make sure you consult with professionals who can help you make the right match and communicate effectively.

Keep in mind—Earth Day is supposed to be a time to step back and look at the bigger environmental picture. Give us a call if you think the time is right to refresh your brand for a profitable, sustainable future.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

What does green really mean?

With Earth day almost upon us, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss the ever-popular topic of green marketing. While many of us in the marketing industry have been branding and positioning products that are biodegradable, energy-efficient and/or all-natural, for example, for many years, the environmental bandwagon now applies to nearly every industry imaginable. By following these simple tips, your company can effectively position these types of products and services all year round.

Choose the Right Words
Try actually refraining from using the word “green” to describe your company’s products and services if you feel your audience will be more receptive to specific language describing environmental benefits. Perhaps “biodegradable” or “all-natural” might resonate better. Many of your customers continue to be bombarded with these claims everyday, so using the word “green” may drive them away and position you as an unreliable source.

Know Your Audience
It is important to know your audience in order to help you better position your products and services in the marketplace. Take the time to research what phrases or keywords speak to your audience and drive them to take action.

Provide additional benefits to customers beyond going green
Knowing the product your customers are buying contains green qualities often makes people feel good about their purchases. But the ideal situation is to go the extra mile to provide an additional benefit—a health incentive, reduced maintenance or something that helps the customer save money in addition to a product’s low environmental impact.

Consider Appropriate Design Elements
When creating design elements associated with your company’s products or services, be sure to incorporate images that support your marketing messages, but also steer clear of clichéd images. Consider exploring earth tones instead of going right for the green, or use images that represent other aspects of the earth instead of the proverbial leaf image I can be viewed as overused.

In following these tips, you will find that the most interesting part of the green marketing phenomenon is its versatility. Give us a call and let us help you develop a green marketing plan that showcases your company’s environmental benefits and encompasses a strategy that is executed with sensitivity and integrity.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Linking In to Your Professional Network

Ask any business professional and they’ll agree—one of the most useful social networking sites for maintaining business connections is LinkedIn. Yes, there are countless success stories showing that Facebook has created new business opportunities. But LinkedIn can be used for different purposes than Facebook, and can expose you to new, qualified contacts endorsed by those you trust, among other valuable benefits.

LinkedIn has more than 50 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. LinkedIn users can simply maintain a profile or actively join and participate in “Groups” according to their line of business or interests. For example, Creative Marketing Alliance’s Group page is designed to keep our clients, past clients and other qualified prospects up to date on our activities and services.

The benefits of using LinkedIn are twofold. Not only can you do some reconnaissance work on prospective clients, current customers or those you’ve worked with in the past, you can also connect with them through introductions or referrals through your own network of professional contacts. LinkedIn also provides a way for you to track down contacts that have changed jobs, creating consistency when email addresses often change.

Discovering the relationships between your peers through LinkedIn might also allow you to tailor your sales pitch to that prospective client better. Through the involvement with various Groups, a LinkedIn user has the opportunity to position themselves as an expert on a given topic, whether it’s through your own Group or through your comments on another Group’s page.

The beauty of LinkedIn is that it’s a good place to get your feet wet if you’re unsure about how to use social media, as it does not require constant updating like Twitter or other social networking sites. Let our team help you determine a systematic approach to your social media initiatives to guarantee manageability and success.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President & CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Don’t Rely on Luck! Promote Your Web Presence

Now that St. Patrick’s Day has come and gone, it’s important for marketing executives to realize that really establishing a web presence is not accomplished with the luck of the Irish. It’s a combination of integrated marketing and public relations tools that help build a brand and keep the target audience engaged.

For example, a company with a blog that is maybe two or three months old that isn’t seeing any traffic is not providing people with the right avenues to get there. Remember the old saying “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, did it really make a sound?” Think of this when planning your strategy for social media.

It’s become more common for companies to add “Follow Us On…” notes on their e-mail signatures, websites, e-newsletters and any other area that it makes sense to let your audience know there is an additional way to learn about your products, services and company culture. Blogs also often receive some of the most foot traffic from links embedded in other social media postings. For example, an employee’s Tweet may link to your company website providing a whole new network of potential customers with access to your company’s bloggers.

Social media components such as blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook provide a customer with a less formal way to get to know who they are doing business with. Candid, transparent insights into that company’s business practices and how a client can benefit are easier to find on social media sites than in a corporate brochure or on a website. Both serve wonderful purposes to educate a customer, but think of social media as taking your mission and vision statements a step further in a literal and conversational sense.

It takes planning and the effort of dedicated individuals to run an effective social media campaign that is constantly kept fresh and new. Rushing to jump on the bandwagon can end up being an unlucky move in the end.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Furry Friends Give Local Marketing Firm a Creative Boost

For 23 years, the marketing professionals at CMA have abided by founder Jeff Barnhart’s motto emphasizing good client service—“our people are our product.” Now, Barnhart and the rest of the CMA team are welcoming more than just people through the doors of 191 Clarksville Road.

“I’m a dog lover and have been all my life. Allowing employees to bring pets in just felt like a natural extension of our ‘casual Fridays’ policy—employees should feel free to wear jeans and bring along their dog, hamster or turtle if they want,” said Barnhart, who is the President and CEO of CMA. “It provides stress relief and just makes for a fun atmosphere.”

According to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, millions of Americans believe pets on the job lower absenteeism and encourage workers to get along. The same survey stated that one in five companies currently allow pets at work.

Since the winter of 2008, CMA employees with pets have been able to bring their furry (and scaly) friends to work with them, as long as no client meetings are scheduled for that day. For somewhat of a test run of this concept, CMA staffers brought in all pets at once in November 2008 for a holiday card photo shoot, which many clients commented was one of the firm’s best. Since then, “baby” gates, chew toys and water dishes are common sights among the offices and cubicles at CMA.

“It’s been a challenging business environment for the past two years and while CMA has weathered the storm well, our employees have appreciated the extra thought we put into creating a relaxed, family-oriented work environment,” said Burt Lambert, CMA’s CFO.

Taking Control with Twitter

Sure, it’s got a funny name, but Twitter is becoming a main communications method and a way to instantaneously connect with target audiences. Some social media experts say that engaging in social media is about losing control in a good way, but what makes Twitter valuable is that it’s an added public relations opportunity that is often faster and more easily controlled than working through the media. Let’s learn from a few success stories.

For Transparency:

Popular film director, Kevin Smith, recently Tweeted a play-by-play account of his removal from a recent Southwest Airlines flight for being “too fat to fly.” Regardless of your thoughts on the rights of overweight Americans, the real winner in this scenario is Southwest (@SouthwestAir), whose Tweets included the following not long after the incident:

Our apology to @ThatKevinSmith and more details regarding the events from last night - http://cot.ag/96KHC7 #Southwest 3:14 PM Feb 14th via CoTweet

Our conversation with @ThatKevinSmith - http://cot.ag/derOe8 #Southwest

Just as quickly as posts can be used to expose a problem, companies like Southwest are utilizing Twitter to set the record straight and create a direct line of communication and transparency.

Also remember that the first step to Twitter is identifying if it is the right fit for you. Here are a few examples of how Twitter worked for several of our clients.

For Event Promotion:

It’s a tough time for some association members to get approval for travel to continuing education conferences, so the Association for Convention Operations Management (ACOM), a group of convention services managers working at hotels, convention centers and convention and visitors bureaus, began live Tweets from their recent Annual Conference in Dallas (@ACOMTweets). This worked well to keep active members who could not attend in the know. Volunteer “Tweeters,” with the support of the CMA team, linked to Conference session notes and Power Point presentations, and provided attendees on-site with valuable up-to-the-minute information on room changes and added events.

For Media Attention:

Flip to CNN any time of the day and no doubt you will see “follow us on Twitter” followed by an easy to remember screen name flashing across the bottom of the screen. In addition to coverage on a media outlet’s website, their Twitter page creates another medium for your target audience to become aware of your company, event, or initiative—instantaneously. When CMA announced the finalists for the Audio Publishers Association (APA)’s Audies awards in February, the list of audiobook titles were Tweeted by Publisher’s Weekly editor, Diane Robach, in addition to being included in their daily e-newsletter, PW Daily, posted on their website and included in their print edition.

For Blog Traffic:

With space for only a 140 character post, Twitter is often used as a way to redirect traffic to a company’s website or blog. The Twitter post becomes a “teaser” to pique the interests of your followers enough to make them click through your link. To drive traffic to this very blog, our PR Manager, Kaitlin Friedmann and other members of our social media team have continually Tweeted about new blog posts. As a result, traffic to the blog increased by over 30% in the span of two months.

Remember, Twitter is self-policing, meaning that your Followers will leave if you do not hold their interest. Like any marketing investment, engaging in Twitter is simply about the commitment of time and effort to develop a program the right way, instead of simply jumping on the bandwagon. Find out how CMA can help you develop a social media plan that works.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President & CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

The Future of Media

There’s no doubt about it, the newspaper industry is changing. According to an article from the Business Insider, 105 newspapers shuttered in 2009, while 10,000 newspaper jobs were lost in the same year. These numbers expose a scary reality, as individuals continue to evaluate how they prefer to receive news and information. Maybe it’s a generational preference. I know my parents still look forward to receiving the latest issue of their local newspaper at their doorstep every morning, while I prefer to read all the breaking news and feature articles online, giving me the ability to receive information quickly, specifically select what I’m interested in reading about and share those stories with others instantaneously.

No matter what your generational preference, newspapers and magazines are continuing to shift toward using a digital platform, as seen with The New York Times’ recent announcement that they will charge readers for access to certain sections of its website. The outlets in which we receive information are changing, and so should your public relations and marketing strategies.

Consider the changing rate of the press release. Many newspapers and magazines now enable you to simply post the news yourself on its websites, enabling your message to be picked up instantly on search engines. Still, create a press release headline that stands out and includes keywords that are of direct interest to customers. Our PR team has begun including links within the body of the press release that lead customers back to relevant website pages. All these seeds planted throughout this online network help boost search engine optimization (SEO), leading customers to take action.

Also consider incorporating social media into your public relations strategy. Think about targeting media contacts who utilize social networking sites including Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs that are appropriate to your target audience. This will help increase visibility for your client throughout a new outlet and further enhance their SEO.

The same digital shift holds true for advertising and marketing. According to senior analyst at eMarketer, Deborah Aho Williamson, advertising will not be the primary revenue driver in the years to come. She indicated that everything is going to become more social. This shift has already started to unfold with companies investing significant time in increasing their SEO and utilizing online advertising including banner ads and pay-per-click programs.

No matter what medium you choose, CMA’s marketing and communications staff can help you create a communication strategy appropriate to your targeted market and audience, helping to enhance your brand and position you ahead of your competition.

Give us a call to start the conversation.

Kaitlin Friedmann
PR Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Marketing Throwdown: Print vs. Digital Newsletters

Many business owners might agree with me that an external newsletter is an effective marketing tool for driving deeper brand recognition and awareness of a company’s expertise, verve for customer care and knowledge of industry trends.

However, if your company produces a printed newsletter, there may currently be an internal debate about switching to an electronic alternative. Digital communication is hands-down the timelier format for news, updates and announcements. It’s about access, speed and convenience. But it’s also about brevity—concise, cut-to-the-chase content—and the savings on printing and postage are obvious.

On the other hand, a printed newsletter provides opportunities for insight and depth—trend analysis, idea pieces and thought leader articles, which are great tools for building brand admiration and credibility. Your company’s e-newsletter hits your recipient’s in-box accompanied by a jumble of spam, other commercial email and inter-office exchanges—a volatile communications environment ruled by a trigger-happy Delete key. What’s more, due to the inherent immediacy of the medium, digital communications do not age well. A high-quality printed piece may sit on a person’s desk to be read or referred to over time, serving as a constant ambassador for your business.

An e-newsletter has true functional advantages over print. The digital ability to instantly link to your company’s website, as well as related information sites or articles of interest can enrich the reader’s experience and regard for your company and its communications.

What’s important to ask yourself is, why not both? A monthly or bi-monthly e-newsletter covering news, promotional programs or new products and services can dovetail effectively with a quarterly printed publication focused on trend analysis and think pieces which position your company as an industry expert by mining and sharing your company’s knowledge and know-how.

Whether it be print or electronic, give CMA a call and we can develop communications that elevate your company’s brand, products and services and position your business as an authority figure throughout your targeted market, ultimately helping to create new opportunities.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Show and Tell: Adapting to the New Video Culture

If you’ve still got the mind-set that YouTube and streaming video is a bunch of nonsense, 2010 will be sure to pass you by.

Yes, we’ve all seen videos of babies, cats, dogs, parakeets and more doing silly things over the last few years on You Tube. And yes, it’s true that the most viewed YouTube video of all time is still “Charlie Bit my Finger,” with over 150 million hits. But what can we learn from something as simple as two British toddlers complaining about a finger biting incident?

The lesson is that the best marketing strategies revolve around showing, not telling. CMA’s veteran copywriters will even agree—sometimes words alone can’t move your target audience to take action and when appropriate, it’s important to entertain as well as inform.

For example, in order to showcase the many energy-saving benefits associated with the introduction of an LED light bulb to the residential market, CMA created a video representation of the product’s revolutionary features. This video was to be previewed at a major lighting trade show and then streamed on the company’s website for archival use.

The video was designed to reflect the significant impact this product would have on the environment, on users’ wallets and on the industry itself. By appealing to the target market’s emotions, the video accomplished the mission of making the big splash needed to set the company’s product apart from other attempts in this technological space.

It used to be that TV commercials were the only means of communicating video, but sites like YouTube have created a more “do it yourself” culture that marketing teams should seriously consider, especially when it comes to appealing to a consumer audience.

Next time the opportunity presents itself, give us a call. CMA writes, coordinates and produces all aspects of video presentations, which can enhance sales and marketing efforts, and also hold possibilities for training and employee communications.

Erin Higgins
Client Services Manager
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Implementing new strategies: Where do we go from here?

Frequent readers of this blog and CMA’s newsletters have seen the word Marketecture(TM) used many times in relation to the development of a marketing strategy. Over the course of this analysis session, CMA clients play an integral role in identifying and analyzing the relationships between marketplace competitors and the criteria used by their target audiences in making buying decisions.

Where many marketing firms may fail to implement strategies discussed in these types of discovery sessions, CMA excels. Marketecture’s resulting tactical marketing plan creates a blueprint for the client’s marketing program and specifically spells out key messages and branding strategies as they relate to different key audience segments.

Our team frequently turns back to the report to keep brand consistency and guide a client through new initiatives, product launches and other types of company and/or market place changes. This is to be used as a guideline and working document as the plan may need to be amended as unforeseen developments occur.

It’s easy to become disillusioned in the current business climate and many companies may feel they have lost their way. Acting on disjointed directions, holding on to out-dated traditions or maintaining the status quo can be dangerous to a company that faces fierce competitors.

It’s hard to tell what lies ahead this year, but while it’s still early on in the first quarter, take some time to look inward to your brand, measure your ability to adapt to outside forces and move forward with tactics that work.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

SEO: A PR Change Agent

CMA's PR manager, Kaitlin Friedmann, recently became a guest blogger on e-Xplorations.com, a marketing blog designed to help business owners become more savvy to new trends. The excerpt below was posted this week...

You’ve seen the reports—2010 is shaping up to potentially be the year where all marketing and public relations departments truly step up their Web 2.0 budgets. This means increased time and energy devoted to blog development, social media marketing and other user-generated content overall, and all together, a new way of thinking about integrated marketing.

With all of these exciting interactive communication developments happening at once, perhaps the topic on most business owners’ and executives’ minds is search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is valuable to any promotional campaign because the very aim of this practice is to create awareness, raise interest and desire, and move a consumer to take action all in one place—the search engine.
In the public relations profession, SEO has been a major change agent. Gone are the PR strategies that ignore the power of online media and rely only on traditional print and broadcast outlets.

Most SEO seekers’ main objective is to drive traffic to a specific website—now also a common goal for the PR professional, whose usual directive “get ink,” has been fully transitioned to an equal or greater desire for website hits. While Business Wire, Marketwire, PrimeNewswire, PR Newswire and PRWeb have been valuable tools for press release distribution for decades, (to both media and directly to the consumer) PR professionals need to utilize these services to their fullest extent by providing more optimized and tailored content to make their announcement stand out.

To increase the chances of an announcement reaching the individual it was intended for, a few simple practices can be integrated during the writing of the press release:

1) Make headlines – Your headline is still your first opportunity to make a good impression on your target audience. Craft a headline chock full of keywords that speak to your audience’s main concerns and greatly increase your chances of them moving on to learn more.

2) Drop your anchor – Using targeted words for anchor text that links back to specific pages of the company’s website, or to other useful pages such as a company blog, can determine the ranking that the page will receive by search engines. Make sure your linked text is relevant to the landing page and include your actual URL in as many appropriate areas as possible—not just the boilerplate.

3) Use words from your customers’ mouths – In order to increase word of mouth among your target customers, wouldn’t it make sense to ask them what their needs are first? Compile a list of top search terms and key issues by putting in some extra time to survey your market or compile market research ahead of time. This will ensure you aren’t using misunderstood jargon or buzzwords they consider overused.

4) Do it yourself – Many online news outlets have areas where you can post press releases yourself. These areas offer an opportunity for you increase your SEO ranking by having your company or client’s name mentioned on websites other than your own.

A lot has changed about PR in the last five years, but one thing that will remain timeless is the value of good copywriting. A press release that is vague, too opinionated or just poorly written will get you nowhere—with or without SEO. By relying on your instincts and approaching SEO in an organized way, you can upgrade your PR approach and adapt appropriately without seeming like you’re rushing to jump on an SEO band wagon.

Kaitlin Friedmann
PR Manager
kfriedmann@cmasolutions.com

Don’t Fear the New Year

Let’s face it. 2009 has left many business owners reluctant to make any large investments in their business’s future—even if those investments are essential for long term growth. The financial crisis left a sense of unpredictability, and decision makers are still pulling back on planned marketing projects and strategies while the storm blows over.

Back in September, we discussed the paralysis of decision makers to move marketing initiatives forward. The consolidation of roles and possibly, the creation of new positions, have left businesses frozen by uncertainty.

While the emergence from the recession is expected to be slow this year, 2010 provides us with a fresh start. Stop feeling helpless by developing strategies that play on your business’s current strengths and position your brand for future successes.

Yes, there are outside forces you may be unable to control. CMA’s Marketecture™ process analyzes the best ways to position a company through marketing and advises company executives how to deal with outside forces such as technological advances, political/policy changes and socio-cultural implications. By focusing on these forces and how your company ranks among the competition—something most business owners are not able to devote time to on a regular basis—your business will once again become agile and ready to move forward into the year ahead.

Perhaps the new year holds new opportunities for your business. What needs will emerge out of the recession? While the economy strengthens, consider working with experts who know the ebb and flow of business cycles and can customize marketing strategies to fit your business.

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com