The desire to generate measurable, qualified leads varies by business marketer as some distribute them to sales personnel and track results, while others use lead generation as a way to simply measure initial campaign tactical performance.

Leads are expensive no matter how they’re generated, issued or closed.  It’s gratifying to learn when a tradeshow promotion, Adwords campaign or direct response advertisement generated an acceptable number of qualified leads, especially when they are directed to distributor sales reps or issued to the internal sales team to work.  And even more gratifying when those leads turn into sales, as tracked by a CRM system.  (more…)

Dean LePoidevin | Comments Off on Lead generation: a measurement or sales tool?

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The financial lifeblood of most magazines, consumer or trade, is advertising. Magazines need them to help pay the bills, and advertisers need them to communicate to their target audiences. But not all ads are made the same.

The goal of an effective ad is to relay a single message. If the message is received by the intended audience – the ad did its job. But if eye balls glance over it and the page is turned, then the advertiser just wasted its money. So what exactly goes into making a business-to-business avertisement effective, and thus prevent the page from being turned? Three things: a clear message, brevity and good photography. (more…)

Steve Staedler | Comments Off on Saying so long to bad ads – three keys to effective print advertising

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I was reading an article on AdWeek, The Jay-Z Brand Decoder, and I couldn’t help but think of the idea of individualism and how it much of a role it plays in a brand.  For instance, Shawn Carter (a.k.a. Jay-Z) began building his brand out of distrust for record companies – inability to trust their management of his image (as well as his earnings, I’m sure). 

This idea of managing someone’s image is important. We all have a feeling of ownership with regards to how we are represented in the public light. As businesses, we also have a major concern with whom and how we are being represented.  What Carter did back in 1995 when he began Roc-A-Fella Records was took control of his identity. This step was the first of many through which he was allowed to not only decide what he as an artist, as a public figure, was going to support and value, but also how he would do so. (more…)

admin | Comments Off on Individualism = brand

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I was talking with a client recently who made an interesting observation: he thought trade publications looked a bit fatter than usual. I’ve also noticed that in the past several months many of the industrial books in our target market seem to be gaining weight. And that’s definitely a good thing.

As advertising reps have been making their annual trek to our office to discuss 2012, all of them say that companies are putting more dollars back into advertising – and that seems to be reflected in the thickness of the books. More ads mean more pages, which leads to increased editorial opportunities. 

According to the Association of Magazine Media, ad pages and revenue increased in 2011 in comparison to last year. Although electronic advertising remains strong, there’s something to be said about the comeback of print. Is it because of a shift from electronic back to print, or an overall increase in advertising spending? What do you think? Nonetheless, print advertising is still effective way to deliver your messages to readers.

Steve Staedler | Comments Off on The comeback of print

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How much do you need to spend on advertising? It’s a common question. We often get asked by our clients and prospects.  In my experience, there is no one-size-fits all answer. The truth is it depends.  I did some research to see if I could come up with some rules of thumb.

BusinessWeek.com had some useful statistics (originally posted: February 10, 2009):

•  Automakers’ generally spend 2.5% to 3.5% of revenue on marketing

•  Liquor (5.5% to 7.5%)

•  Packaged goods (4% to 10%)

•  Services businesses (5% to 15%)

What you are going to need to spend will depend on a variety of factors, like: (more…)

admin | Comments Off on How much do I need to spend?

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