Getting Online on Time

An active and accurate web presence is essential in today’s market place. CMA’s website development team recently worked with the International Vitamin Corporation (IVC), a global private label and contract manufacturing company producing vitamins, minerals and supplements, to get their website up and running quickly.

Formerly a nutritional supplement division of a larger company, IVC found itself without a website after the division was spun off on its own. The leadership at IVC turned to CMA to develop the design, content, and programming for their new website.

The site (http://www.ivcinc.com/) was developed for ease of navigation and new brand design. The contemporary design utilizes white-space accented by images of health, wellness and nature. The copy stresses the company’s comprehensive concept-to-commercialization capabilities including its true integrated supply chain of global partners supplying raw materials for IVC contract and private label projects for national pharmacy chains and big box home stores.

CMA worked within a tight deadline to get the website up and running. Both the design and content helped the newly independent company define itself in the industry.

The result was a website that the company’s sales team could use as a business development tool to grow the company.

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

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