NMC Report header
February 9, 2010  
Greetings!

Nancy MarshallWelcome to another information-packed edition of The NMC Report and Happy Valentine's Week!  Last week we had a booth at the Governor's Conference on Tourism and we were thrilled to see many of you there. Thanks for stopping by. It's always better to see our friends in person than online but the online method is a good way to tide us over in between personal meetings.
 
In our last newsletter edition, we asked a survey question, "Have trade shows been useful to you as a means of getting new customers?"  I wanted to show how survey questions are a good way to engage readers in an electronic newsletter such as ours. But I also wanted to share the responses with you. Fourteen percent of you said "not useful at all,"  twenty-nine percent said "somewhat useful," and  fifty-seven percent said "very useful."  So here's a hint as to how to make your trade shows more useful.  Gather email addresses and give away a prize to one lucky winner.
 
We used a monitor on our trade show table as a way of gathering e-mail addresses for The NMC Report with the offer of a free iPod as a giveaway. One person commented that he liked the way we had a sign-up form right there, as opposed to collecting business cards then manually entering them in a database. We used Constant Contact to create the form. As we would say here in Maine, it was a 'wicked good' way of generating new readers for our newsletter and generating some excitement at our booth!
 
And congratulations to Tina Hewett of The Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport who was the lucky winner of our iPod giveaway! You go, Tina...enjoy the tunes!
 
I hope you enjoy this issue and as always, we welcome your feedback. Respond with a comment and give us your snail mail address and we will send you one of our ever-popular "Things to Do" pads.

Best,

Jay Sig B&W
www.marshallpr.com




A Communications Audit Enables Better
Marketing Results

By Jennifer Boes, NMC Special Projects Coordinator

Jen is the author of our renowned Marshall Plans, and an accomplished marketing communications strategist. She has worked with NMC since 2004 and previously handled PR for the State of Delaware in economic development and tourism, as well as working on the agency side handling food, nonprofit, travel and tourism accounts.

Jen Boes of Nancy Marshall CommunicationsYou've got a brochure and a Web site. You issue press releases. You advertise. So you are on top of your marketing game, right? Not necessarily. In order to maximize impact and build strong brand recognition, all the tools in your marketing arsenal must work together to convey the same concept.

Conducting a communications audit is the best way to determine if your marketing program measures up. If you have worked with us on a Marshall Plan, you'll remember this is the first step in the process. Here are five things we look for:

1. Consistent look and feel
If you lay all your marketing pieces out side by side, it should be clear each represents the same entity. Uniform colors, design elements and fonts are good indicators.

2. Consistent messaging
Repeating the same key messages over and over again, across all mediums, is critical. Marketing tools that bear conflicting messages confuse those you are trying to influence.
 
3. Accurate reflection of the brand
Consider this example: Marden's positions itself as a no-frills shopping experience where Mainers can find amazing bargains. Imagine Paris Hilton as the new Marden's Lady. That would not be good branding.
 
4. Communicating so your audience will listen
If you are targeting chemical engineers, use the same vernacular they use. Marketing to the Millennium Generation would require an entirely different style of communicating.
 
5. A comprehensive strategy
Integrating marketing, Web, media relations, and advertising into a cohesive whole ensures all these initiatives are working in unison toward a common goal. Target audiences receive a highly consistent message repeatedly and regularly via a variety of mediums.

A communications audit is key to highly effective marketing, whether you are in the early stages of brand building or a veteran marketer. To learn more about the process and the Marshall Plan, visit http://www.marshallpr.com/marshall-plan.php.


Your Weekly Plan for Constant Website Improvement
 
By Eric Reynolds


Jay Sig B&WIf you want constant website improvement, follow advice from a pioneer of self improvement from the mid twentieth century.

Earl Nightingale, creator of the audio program, "Lead the Field", had a simple, but powerful tip. Each day, sit down with a pen in front of a blank note pad. Think of how you can better serve your clients, customers, or patients. Now, fill the note pad with ideas. As many as you can think of in 15 minutes.

Sure, you'll get some bad ideas. Read your list. Sift through them all and you're certain to find some gems. As Earl called them, the hidden "acres of diamonds" lying at your feet.

Use the same advice for your website. You don't have to be as aggressive. Begin with one day a week. Sit down in front of your website...and...just...think...

Think of how to better serve the people using your website. Think with empathy.

Now write. Let your ideas flow and continue writing until your ideas are gone. Use the following list as a guide.

Step 1 - Look and Feel
  • Your design should reflect your brand image, core values, and service reputation.
  • Look for colors that complement each other, images with high quality, and a font  that's easy to read.
  • Most important, keep your look and feel consistent throughout your entire website.
Step 2 - Navigation
  • Your menu should be easy to use. It should work. You'd be surprised how many are broken. Pay close attention to your menu text. Use words familiar to your customer.
  • Make sure the visitor can get to any page from their current page.
  • Keep the menu consistent on each page.
Step 3 - Purpose
  • You will serve your customers best by leading them to an action.
  • A most wanted response action; buy, call, inquire.
  • A secondary wanted response action: subscribe, request, vote, or rate.
  • What do you expect from a visitor? Be specific.
Focus on those three aspects of your website and use them as the core of your constant website improvement plan.

You'll find that once you begin the process you'll build momentum rapidly, especially when you can use analytics to track progress. But, that's another lesson.

For now, take 15 minutes for the next four weeks. Sit down in front of your website with a pen and a pad of paper and write your ideas for website improvement.

Soon, as Mr. Nightingale advised, you will find gems in those acres of diamonds hiding beneath your website.


Another Web site Launched by NMC
 
This week we celebrated with a champagne toast for the launch of a new Web site created by NMC for Northeast Charter & Tour. Locally owned and operated by Scott A. Riccio in Lewiston, Maine, Northeast Charter & Tour offers great group transportation using their full fleet of motorcoaches, charter buses, shuttle vehicles and passenger vans.
 
Northeast Charter & Tour has built on a strong reputation based on providing extraordinary group transportation with great customer service. Northeast Charter & Tour recently celebrated their 10th anniversary and continues to lead the way in efforts to "Go Green" and protect the environment. The company recently unveiled its latest 29-passenger hybrid coach that features clean-burn technology, that generates cleaner air into the environment.
 
The Green MachineIn addition to providing transportation for the Portland Sea Dogs and Lewiston Maineiacs, Northeast Charter & Tour also specializes in transportation to local casinos, 24-hour airport service, wedding transportation, business outings and more.
 
Congrats to the NMC team of Greg Glynn and Eric Reynolds for leading the team on the development of this new site. To find out more about Northeast Charter & Tour, we invite you to check out their new site at northeastchartertour.com.