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NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
If you are a smoker and would love to quit for health, family and/or financial reasons, don't forget about a great resource for smokers that live in the state of Illinois. The Illinois Tobacco Quitline is ready to help you quit smoking once and for all. The number to call is 866-Quit-Yes. The ITQL is operated by the American Lung Association in Illinois in partnership with the Illinois Department of Public Health. The ITQL is a free service provided by funding through the State of Illinois Master Tobacco Settlement Fund.
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KEY REFERRAL! |
Do you know a Business Owner or Marketing Director that would be open to new strategies and ideas to reach your customers through an everchanging media landscape? If so, please forward our newsletter to them. Many of our clients have come to us through your kind introductions to your friends and business associates. In return, please let us know how we can help in terms of referring business back to you! roger@marketingkeys.com. |
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Greetings!
Happy New Year! Welcome to the January issue of Key Notes - Marketing Keys' monthly newsletter. Please enjoy our first newsletter of the new year. Our goal is for you to be informed and entertained with the latest media and marketing happenings quickly and efficiently. |
Marketing Predictions for 2012
2011 was the year of social media in the marketing world, and it doesn't show any sign of slowing down in 2012. In 2012, we will begin to see more information on the ROI of social & increased focus on the benefits of being involved with social media.
With the number of smartphone users on the rise in 2012, there will be a shift to mobile optimized sites. Mobile optimized sites are designed to be used and viewed on a 4-inch screen; they strip out the extras and get straight to the point with easy to use interfaces. Mashable predicts by 2012 mobile web usage should surpass desktop web usage. therefore, 2012 is the time to get your mobile optimized web site going.
Quick Response or QR codes have been popping up all over the place from billboards to business cards. Many marketers seemed to jump on the QR bandwagon without any clear objectives or instructions. In 2012, marketers will begin to understand the ins and outs of these powerful tags. Consumers need to be rewarded for their scanning efforts. We will begin to see QR codes used in more effective and efficient ways for both marketers and consumers. 2012 will definitely be an exciting year in the Marketing world!
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2011 was the year of Mobile
 Mobile was the big story this year. Smartphone and tablet use accelerated rapidly and Google saw a 440% increase in traffic from tablets on its AdMob network from Dec 2010 - Nov. 2011. We also saw an improvement in technology available for consumers using their smartphones and tablets, including HTML5 and MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions). Here are some impressive stats and facts from 2011. - 500,000+ businesses running click-to-call ads on mobile devices
- 2 New Google advertising preference managers were launched in 2011 to enable users to control the ads they see (for mobile; and for search & Gmail)
- 48% lift in aided brand recall when an ad is seen across TV, PC, mobile and tablet, compared to same number of ads seen only on TV
- It only takes 5 minutes for a small business to launch an AdWords Express campaign
- 1,400,000 U.S. locations were put on the map via AdWords location extensions.
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Cheat Sheet for Marketers: Do's & Don'ts |
Here is a list of some Do's and Don'ts that will help to propel your marketing efforts in 2012.
Do:
Segment by behavior
Create behavior profiles of your customers to determine their interests. You can do this by tracking when people open your emails, click on certain links, visit certain pages of your site, and more. By segmenting your list you can send more relevant communications to small, targeted lists instead of the worn-out ineffective "batch and blast" method. With behavioral profiles of your customers you can communicate with them on a more personal and relevant level.
Create a more personal connection
Marketing communication is lacking personal connection. Be a little more authentic; don't be afraid to be raw or unpolished. Creating a personal connection from your product to the consumer is key in growing your business and creating loyal customers. Always keep the customer in mind when your write. If you write with one customer in mind, you'll create the personal connection you need.
Look to mobile for lead capture
A trend we continue to see and reiterate is that the mobile market is exploding. Integrate QR codes into your direct mail or outdoor advertising. Also, start utilizing text messaging. Give customers the option to request more information, coupons, or bonus offers if they text in your keyword to a short code. You're missing out on an opportunity if your customers can't engage with your company on their phone.
Don't:
Don't forget about direct mail
Direct mail, when utilized within an online marketing campaign, can reinforce your message and further the connection you have with your customers. Don't shy away because of the cost. Make sure you only target customers with direct mail that have responded to your other marketing efforts. This way you are keying in on the customers that are most likely to continue buying from you.
Have a static website
Solely having a website is not enough. Remember you need to draw traffic to your site. Simply blogging about topics of interest to your target market can help increase traffic flow to your website. Search engines love sites that are actively adding valuable content. Learn some basic SEO principles and turn your static site into a thriving sales force.
Do stuff without tracking
Everything can be tracked these days. Marketing still requires some guesswork and a lot of testing. Because of tracking, you should be able to know what's working and what's not within
a very short time frame so you can more efficiently adjust your efforts to something more effective.
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The Evolution of Advertising | The world of advertising is always changing and evolving. Check out this condensed timeline of the history of Advertising from 2000 BC to 2011.
2000 BC: The Egyptians invent outdoor advertising, carvi ng public notices in steel.
1776: Political ads appeared, encouraging enlistment in the American Revolution,
1835: With the birth of the automobile, we see the rise of billboard ads in the U.S.
1892: The first electric sign is lit in New York's Time Square
1920: KDKA, the world's first commercial radio station, is started in a garage near Pittsburgh.
1941: The first official TV commercial runs for Bulova Watches
1981: MTV launches, a cable network advertising music artists 24/7.
1995: The first keyword ad, "Golf", is created by Yahoo!
2000: Google launches AdWords, a pay-per-click service. AdWords now accounts for more than 95% of Google's revenue.
2006: Twitter's real-time, global community makes viral marketing/advertising fast and free.
2007: Facebook introduces the concept of behavior-based advertising
2011: Online advertising becomes No. 2 in budget priority of advertising worldwide. |
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Tech Trends to Watch in 2012  The Micro-Payment Economy: Many destinations have been popping up online to help the aspiring entrepreneur. Sites like Lulu where you can self-publish books; RedBubble which allows an artist to upload content and from there RedBubble will make the T-Shirt with your art, sell it for you, manage the distribution and, of course, collect payment. We will continue to see a variety of sites helping you sell almost anything you can imagine and making you money - one micro payment at a time. The UltraBook: 2011 was the year of the tablet, but that doesn't mean the PC is dead. Ultrabooks are exquisitely thin and light, yet powerful laptops. Ultrabooks add a full-sized keyboard to a tablet and are designed to get real work done. Ultrabooks don't yet have touch screens or apps but that's changing too, expect to see a lot more of these compact powerful laptops in 2012. Social/Digital Exhaustion: Facebook will hit the 1 billion-user mark in 2012; however, its numbers have plateaued in the U.S. Twitter has as many as 450 million users; it is hard to say how many are really active users. Google+ is still far behind Facebook & Twitter, and many people seem to be reevaluating their social and digital existence. Things like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) may make 2012 a year where we possibly rewrite the rules of content, copyright and social interactions. Mobile Chip Wars: Currently Intel, the dominant system CPU manufacturer, has no presence in the mobile space; it's a situation the company promises to change in 2012. ARM-based CPU is in almost all of today's tablets and handsets and Intel wants to introduce Medfield to the game. Pacific Rim manufacturers have also begun to produce new mobile CPUs for phones and tablets. However, these efforts don't mean much unless companies like Motorola, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm show interest in switching from ARM to a new or once-established platform. |
Tweet of the Month.
| MarketingKeys Roger Keys
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Until next month, may all of your marketing dreams and goals
come true! And - if they don't - we are here to help.
Sincerely,
ROGER KEYS
MARKETING KEYS
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