When reviewing the templating process, one of the most important things that we always keep in mind is that the system’s end users, local small businesses, are not graphic designers or IT experts. With that said, I encourage the brand to guide their users each step of the way. Following some basic best practices is a good way to begin to develop easy-to-use, comprehensive templates.

Here are three of the best practice tips:

Less is more, keep it simple. The more blank fields a user is asked to fill out, the more cumbersome the process becomes. The less complicated the process, the simpler and more inviting it seems.

Do not mark too many fields as “required”.  Marking a field “required” means that the user will be forced to enter information before they can move forward. The only things that should be marked as required are the pieces of information that would upset the overall design if they were missing.

Use suggested text. Supplying suggested text for customizable fields gives the user helpful direction on what information should be used in that area. It also allows you to have better control of your brand by supplying the specific wording you would like used on the piece.

Remember, the beauty of using templates is that this offers a way to stay true to your brand while still allowing the user some (guided) creative freedom. Happy Templating!

Agile is an umbrella term of software development methodologies that at the heart of it relies and thrives on an iterative process with short time-boxed intervals. The idea is to allow teams to adapt to changing needs. It also allows the organization as a whole to adapt and course correct as often as needed and feasible.

Given the above, it is very likely that if Marketing and Development follow the same iterative cycle, their goals are more likely to align. The framework of agile by itself will allow for disconnects to surface and prevent the usually known heartaches.

How We Do It at SproutLoud

Here at SproutLoud, we were lucky enough to have the whole executive team buy into the concept of AGILE. This has allowed us to trickle the framework into every department. What we found that as a whole it aligned us better as a company and led to much fewer wasted resources. When marketing takes on a project, we talk about it in a planning meeting and explore the options together. Once a backlog item has been created by the stakeholders in marketing, the development team picks it up in their next sprint. Surprises are less as the developers/designers are already expecting the backlog item and have a good idea of what it means.

During the sprint cycle, there are constant meetings and updates from either side to avoid any surprises or disconnects. At the end, both parties are happy to deliver something that is aligned with the overall marketing goal. The retrospectives at the end of a sprint are key to avoid future mistakes and also highlight the good points so they can be preserved for future sprints.

Another good point of having AGILE has been that developers/designers have more of an appreciation of the ever changing marketing challenges/landscapes and marketing appreciates what it takes to get a concept to reality. The 2 weeks of a sprint act as a good vetting period of concepts and then allow us to continue or abandon ideas that don’t work.

Using local website automation software to create a network of locally relevant sites can help you in the land-grab play for local organic search listings.  These listings are free relative to the competitive PPC world. And with more than 20% of searches being local according to Google, this number will only be growing.

The reality is that most national brands are spending so much on their national SEM strategy that they are missing out on low-hanging fruit – particularly when their brand is being re-sold by small businesses at the local level.

If you are in charge of marketing for your national brand, see how you are faring by taking this simple test:

1. Type your Brand name and your product (Purina would be a brand, dog food would be a product = Purina Dog Food) into a search in Google and take a look at all the real estate served up in the Search Engine Response Page (SERP).  If you take up a good portion the SERP in paid and organic listing spaces, pat yourself on the back.

2. Now try the same thing without using your brand name (in this case, dog food)  so you are searching strictly from your generic product category. How are you doing? (This one is a bit more difficult)

Now this is where it gets interesting….

3.  Repeat 1.) but add your geographic location i.e. the city and state you are in.

4. Now try repeating 2.) but add your geographic location

Did your SERP change significantly? You bet. In both 3.) and 4.), many national brands will  find that clicking through the newly served links may lead you to:

1. Local resellers with websites that are under-optimized (meaning they will soon be replaced by better sites)

2. Local resellers featuring competitor products

3. Online resellers carrying heavy discounts

4. Competitor’s resellers or web properties leading your brand

So what does this all mean? Your national marketing strategy could be doing a fantastic job of ranking and driving demand, but without the use of an effective local marketing strategy, you marketing funnel has a very big hole and you’re missing opportunities.

Welcome to the world of Local Search

Recent studies show that aside from the missed opportunities, potential customers executing local searches are much further down the sales process with intent to make a purchase.  And when combined with mobile, these numbers are staggering.

In my next article, I’ll prove that localizing search is a huge strategic priority for search engines like Google – and give you some eye opening numbers why you need to have a dedicated local web strategy.

If you use any sort of distribution channel to sell your products or services, the answers can be quite elusive. When the end consumer contact is happening with local sales forces, or even independent retailers, feedback from the front line doesn’t always make it back up the chain to corporate marketing. So why not go to the source by directly asking your existing consumers and the local small businesses that sell to them what factors influence the purchase of your brand?

Surveys provide a fast, inexpensive way to get directly into the minds of your local consumers or sales channels, and can be used for a variety of reasons, including reseller feedback, end-buyer opinions, and product research. They also offer the ability to provide feedback to your local sales network insight on specific issues. You can also localize surveys by geography to suit the cultural or local nuances in the tastes and opinions of your target consumers.

There are lots of survey sites online that are easy to set up, use, and aggregate results, with an array of pricing ranging from free accounts to high volume plans.

 5 Fast Tips for Creating Surveys

1. Create a goal, not a list of questions.

Focus first on what you want to gain or accomplish with the data; the questions you ask will evolve from your objective.

2. Don’t ask a question, unless you really want the answer.

This includes information you don’t really care about as well as being prepared for negative responses.

3.  Avoid jargon

If you want good information, make sure your survey recipients understand what you’re asking.

4. Keep it short and easy to exit

Enough said.

5. Allow NA or Don’t Know as answers

Offering an opt-out of a question is better than receiving than a forced, and potentially inaccurate, response.

Top 4 Tips for Sending Your Survey

1. Introduce your objective immediately.

Explain what you’re asking for, why you want it, and how long the survey should take.

2. Offer an incentive.

They are already customers, so give them a reward for helping you out.

3.  Test  everything.

Make sure the survey makes sense and the page buttons work properly.

4. Say thank you.

Yes, this may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked.

Once all responses are collected, you can use this feedback to tailor your marketing efforts and marketing reseller support, and better equip your resellers with the tools they need. Ultimately, a well crafted survey will help you become more aware of what your company does well, what your local sales channels are doing, and where you could improve to help the sales efforts of your partners.

* Frederick F Reicheld (The Loyalty Effect, Harvard Business School Press, 1996 Chapter 2 – The Economics of Customer Loyalty)

From a corporate perspective, recognizing what your marketing team does best, and seeking outside assistance for additional skill sets when you need them can give your company a strategic advantage. It puts your employees’ marketing skills to their optimal use and streamlines the execution of other tasks that may not be in their range of managerial or functional expertise. As a result, corporate marketing gets the best input, and can produce the best output. This boost also translates to the local marketing activities you support and can give sales channels the best tools possible to help boost revenue.

While outsourcing marketing activities in which other companies specialize such as public relations, social media, or graphic design may seem like an expense rather than an investment, doing so ensures the things people were hired to do are being executed by the best people and in the best manner possible. There is a reason the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” exists. Wouldn’t you rather have a master working for your business? So would the partners in your local marketing.

The new millennium has ushered in an unprecedented number and variety of new media options.  And every time the latest and greatest takes the spotlight, it heralds the death of existing ones. Remember the predictions on direct mail, then email? How about MySpace? Each of these has had their popularity pendulum swing radically, yet they have all found their footing and place in the media mix, and that mix can change among different marketing channels.

The current media trend is that when something new comes out, everyone joins the bandwagon. And while the rush to be the first established  in any new media space may could be a competitive advantage,  the learning curve is bound to produce failures. However, the failure of a new medium to work for a campaign, product, or even a brand doesn’t render the medium itself a failure. It just means that the marketing industry needs to figure out what works in each channel, and what doesn’t. To quote Thomas Edison on the process, “I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.”

But that can be expensive. As well as discouraging, or even embarrassing.  So it’s easy to see why marketers are so quick to slough off a new media darling when their ROI is at stake. And so the pendulum swings wildly from marketing savior to media whipping boy, but over time settles and steadies . And the key to stabilization is that the marketing industry as a whole embraces change, and has a willingness to be creative, and to optimize channel marketing solutions.

As a result:

• Pinterest’s value will be harnessed by those who can capitalize on imagery and visual search
• QR codes will be seen on buildings with high foot traffic, and removed from billboards on highways
• Flash sales will find the right niches and deal flexibility

All of which cumulates in a drive toward using new media in ways that make more sense to the users.  And that’s what we’re all striving for in marketing.

So take a deep breath, relax, and don’t close your Pinterest account just yet. Instead, focus on finding the ways to experiment without too much risk, and be willing to be part of a collective solution that harnesses each medium’s best qualities. And recognize you work in an industry where you never have to be bored. Something new and interesting will be launching tomorrow.

The most successful designs are the simple ones. If you look at some of the biggest and most successful brands out there, it’s easy to see. From a design and production perspective, we embrace the KISS (keep it simple and straightforward) method to maximize your marketing efforts.

Simple designs get the message across quickly. In today’s internet-speed society, people want information now and don’t have time to digest complex, heavy advertising. Yet it seems like it’s everywhere you look: magazines, billboards, newspapers and bus shelters. Designs that often leave you guessing,  ”What are they selling?”, and,  “What is this ad about?”  It can become sensory overload, and most likely, leads to that person moving past the message. Think about how many ads catch your attention, or more pointedly, how much advertising noise you manage to screen out on a daily basis.

The KISS concept is especially important to design when local businesses become involved with branded marketing and advertising programs. Customizable design templates that are easy to use will result in higher adoption. People are more likely to participate in things that are simple and easy, not cumbersome and irritating. A direct mail postcard, email, or print ad that is easy to create and customize will increase its usage. That improves results not only for the local small business, but for your brand as well.

So remember, when it comes to focusing on your bottom line, the answer really is simple.

Well, duh, that’s seems pretty obvious, right?   I mean the first rule of marketing is to know your audience so you can craft a message that resonates.  So we thought we’d take a deep dive into Facebook Insights just to see how we’re doing in terms of engagement.  Hey, we write witty and interesting posts, right? This should be a home run.

Well.

It seems that the most shares, likes and comments are driven more by our “fun” content vs. our informative ones.  That’s right, the inspirational quotes and pictures of our pets are more popular than the painstakingly created (not really) newsletter articles and blog posts.

So is that because our informative content isn’t as good as we think it is?  Or do people prefer to see cute pictures?  I’d like to think the latter…but how to be sure?

The real ah-ha moment was in just conducting a quick review of the folks who follow us, and therefore had the greatest chance of seeing our posts.  Turns out that we have a lot that are friends and family. Bingo!  So while we were creating good, informative content, some of our current fans were more personal than business relationships.

The takeaway:  we’ll continue to create both informative and fun content, but we’ll also ramp up building our network with more business-related followers.

After much uproar, Spirit pulled the ad and replaced it with generic copy, but the damage was done. Or was it? Shock-value marketing is renowned for “cutting through the clutter” and getting attention. In Spirit’s case, it’s clearly working – just take a look at their financials.

But before you tread down this path, take a moment to consider whether shock-value marketing is right for your brand.  Spirit is a low-cost airline with limited hubs – they aren’t competing for the same customers as United or British Airways. If your brand is more serious or high-end, shock-value marketing may come at a huge cost. You may get more attention, but you risk losing consumer confidence or alienating long-term customers.

So how do you know if this type of marketing campaign is right for you?  It’s all about your audience.  Are these people who would appreciate a tongue-in-cheek, shocking campaign, or should you talk to them differently? Not sure how to identify your audience? Check out this article for some tips.

Color issues are frequently caused by the difference between computers and printing presses. Printing works with a 4 color process, CMYK (cyan blue, magenta, yellow, and black) while computer displays generate images using a 3 color process, RGB (red, green, and blue).  The result is what you see on a monitor isn’t always what the file will look like when it’s printed.

The most frequent culprit for problems is the color BLACK.

Black is the absence of all colors. It absorbs all light. And it’s the color of the Dark Side. Make sure your printing is used only for good by following these simple rules; translations are included for the non-desktop publishing world:

1.  Black text should be set to 100% black.
Black text should only use black ink to reduce the risk of blurring.

2.  Black text should be set up to overprint.
When you’re printing black text on a background color, make sure your file is set to print the black text OVER the other background color. If don’t put the background color behind the text, and paper shifts even the tiniest fraction as it runs through the printer, the color of your paper is going to show through around your black text.

3.  Use rich black for large coverage areas.
This means that instead of just using 100% of the color black like you do for text, you need to use a percentage of all the colors, ask your printer what mix gets them the best results. This gives your piece the right color saturation to make the black sections stand out properly on your collateral. The infographic below shows the difference nicely.

Don’t end up with blacks that look like that your favorite old concert tee!

Here Darth displays a beautiful rich black for all his fans. It’s ok to be the Bad Guy after all. 

4.  Watch out for different tones of blacks in your collateral elements.
When more than one element uses black in your piece, such as Darth’s black helmet blending with the black background on the left, you need to check the color mix for each individual element. Again, it may look like it matches on your RGB computer display, but the printing process will pick up the different shades of black. You can check this is by using an eyedropper tool to review the color mix or look at the piece by color separation so you can see just what the black print plate looks like.

Follow these rules, and may the printing forces be with you.