I can remember lots of years being really interested in seeing what the major brands were going to run. The Super Bowl is the one TV show I can think of where the advertising is not an unwelcome break in the action, but the ads had actually become a celebrated and necessary part of the experience. This year something weird happened … I noticed for me some of the excitement was gone.

I’ve been watching previews and reading PR stories online about new Super Bowl ads for several weeks leading up to the big game. Super Bowl ads aren’t just about the ads anymore. Now many of them also have integrated PR and social media campaigns leading up to the big game. I found for me this little side effect of the social media revolution has thrown a wet blanket on all the anticipation and excitement of seeing the new ads.

I think as marketers, we often believe more is more. This might be a case, where letting the anticipation build by doing actually doing less marketing ahead of the game could be a better way to go. 

What do you think? Do you agree without the buildup and anticipation that the ads are losing some of their impact or do you think the previews actually enhance your excitement – and the ads’ effectiveness during the game? You make the call.

Media companies rarely sell all of their available advertising space. This unsold space or time, referred to as remnant space, can be purchased by an advertiser at a cost often way below standard rates. But is that the best way to purchase advertising space? If you’re using remnant space as you’re primary strategy with your media buy, you may wish to proceed with caution.

The first drawback is that your media strategy and marketing program is on ‘stand-by’ each month. There’s never a guarantee that you’ll get remnant space in your preferred outlet, if at all. If there is remnant space available, media reps may give that opportunity to their bigger advertisers first – effectively bypassing you — or those that purchase ad space per the negotiated contract rates. Media reps do this to keep their top advertisers happy, for all the obvious reasons.

Another point to consider is that if you don’t have a well thought out media strategy or plan for your fiscal year (or even the next six months), then you’re not maintaining consistent brand awareness among your target audiences. This on and off again approach can be disruptive to your brand as it doesn’t allow you the frequency and reach needed to stay top of mind with your  audiences.  Also missing is the opportunity to align your product/brand message with editorial content – for example, if there’s editorial planned on forklift safety, then it’s a good time to run your forklift ad that touts its latest safety elements.

Remnant space is often better suited for those who seek an opportunity to “add-on” to an existing media plan wherein it further strengthens its media presence.

Sure, remnant advertising can be cheap and very cost-effective. You just have to be smart about how it’s used. It’s easy to get caught up in all the savings and discounts, especially at a time when all advertisers are looking for the best deal. Keep in mind that the best deal may not be what’s best for your brand.

I was reading an article on the success of streaming music sites, such as Pandora and Spotify. One of these companies’ main concerns is the need to grow their ad revenue at the same rate as their popularity.  From an advertiser’s standpoint, as we begin exploring these new placement options, it needs to be decided from which of our current budgets (assuming they can’t be increased) will we pull money from to incorporate this new investment? Should the medium be viewed as digital media, or should it be viewed as a replacement for traditional radio.

I believe the latter is the most logical. Granted, these streaming music outlets are technically online and digital in nature, they are being accessed more and more every day by users as supplements and even replacements to traditional radio. Pandora and Spotify (to name a couple) applications are being downloaded to smartphones and plugged into car stereos on the road; they are being listened to with headphones during a jogger’s run; even from 8 to 5, listeners tune-in from their work desks. 

To me, this seems to be a major amount of time that was traditionally dedicated to radio that is now shifting to streaming music sources.  We as advertisers have to move where the audience is. If the audience is shifting its listening patterns from radio to more streaming music sites, tell me, why wouldn’t advertiser dollars follow suit?

In bullet point No. 1: PR skills will move beyond media relations, an excerpt from the blog says:

While a press release does not necessarily need to be well-written, a PR professional must now be able to ghost author a blog in a CEO’s tone and style.

Really – that’s news to me. Obviously if I’m going to write a blog on behalf of the CEO, I’m going to make sure it’s well written. The CEO’s name is on there and that person is the face of the company. The act of writing a press release is also a reflection of the company. Why should one take precedence over the other? The answer is they shouldn’t. 

Another reason (among many) why you should focus on how your press releases are written is its targeted audience. If anyone can spot a poorly written press release it’s a journalist. And what do you think an editor or reporter is going to do if they receive a poorly written press release? Hmmm…I wonder…

The Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs conducted a study on 2012 B2B content marketing.

One area that they addressed was budgets. B2B marketers dedicated about 26 percent of their total budgets to content marketing initiatives last year. In 2012, that number is expected to increase with 60 percent of respondents indicating that they expect an uptick in spending. As more B2B companies are implementing content marketing and seeing its effectiveness, it allows marketers the ability and confidence to invest more dollars in this area.

Source: B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends

The other interesting point was that 62 percent of respondents outsourced at least a portion of their content marketing activities to consultants and agencies. Why? I think because it can be challenging for marketers and/or companies to dedicate the time to develop, distribute or maintain fresh content. We’ve seen this for some of our clients. If your company isn’t doing this, it may be something to consider. By having a dedicated team at the agency focused on your business, you can dedicate your efforts to other roles and responsibilities. For our clients, we ensure their target audiences remain engaged with ongoing content and results are reported back to the client to evaluate the ROI. 

Looks like 2012 will be another big year for content marketing, make sure you have your plan in place. Good luck!

We’ve been managing a Facebook campaign with one of our B2B clients for the past 18 months. Our goal was to make the page a destination for people to visit time and again by giving them not only product information, but industry-related news and links that are relevant to their profession. That strategy seems to be working as more than 3,100 fans now follow our client online; less than 10 were following them when we began.

Although fans are nice – getting them motivated to take action is better, and the Facebook campaign is doing just that. Earlier this year our client reported that its Facebook page was now the No. 1 referral source of people to its website. People are finding them on Facebook, the content is piquing their interest, and driving them to their website for more information – and that’s generating leads. Of course some of these people would have found our client through other marketing efforts, but the proof is the majority are now finding them via social media.  A properly managed social media campaign can deliver results, and that’s not a prediction, that’s fact.

The article does a good job of framing the business and marketing aspects of the competition between “mom-and-pop” tree sellers vs. the “big box” stores that sell fresh trees in their garden departments. What’s missing in the discussion is what may be mom and pop’s best advantage: tradition. No other time of year is so built on maintaining tradition like the Christmas season. We don’t even like most new Christmas songs, although we also complain that there are so few Christmas songs. Why? Tradition.

What buying a tree from a “big box” store offers in convenience, it lacks in the ability to reinforce good old heart-warming traditions. I’d hate to see mass retailers kill the Christmas tree tradition and I think this might be one case where emotion will win out over practical convenience.  Merry Christmas!

There is a great deal of discussion about social media’s place in B2B marketing. Although collecting a group of Facebook likes is nice, it is easy to wonder what they are truly worth. Companies are often quick to judge the success or failure of a social media campaign based on measureable ROI. While analytics such as likes, links, conversations and leads is relatively easy to measure on a social media campaign, placing a value on them is much more challenging.

The truth is, if your social media campaign is well managed, over time it can produce highly qualified leads. To accomplish this, your program needs to do two things: provide value and encourage feedback.

Value. Why should people follow and fan your company on platforms such as Twitter and Facebook? You have to ask yourself – what’s in it for them? If you’re just going to bombard your followers with promotional product information, they’ll quickly lose interest and not come back. Give them something to use – interesting articles, industry information, tools to grow their business, etc. Make your platforms inviting and engaging, and make it a destination site for them to visit often.  

Feedback. The whole idea behind social media is to engage in conversation – so make conversation. Pose questions to your followers; solicit their thoughts on related topics and create a dialogue. People are often all too eager to share their opinion on a topic that’s close to them. By creating conversations, you’re making your social media sites destinations that people will continue to visit. 

When your social media campaign accomplishes these two things, leads follow. This is what’s happening with LiteSteel Technologies, the manufacturer of LiteSteel beam (LSB), a product aimed at the residential and commercial building markets. We help LiteSteel fill its Facebook page with a mix of product and industry-related news aimed at builders, architects and remodelers. The site also poses to its fans questions about the industry to help generate discussion.

This ongoing discussion with LSB’s growing list of Facebook fans is leading to detailed, technical questions about LSB, i.e. applications, strength, installation tips, availability, etc. LiteSteel is answering those questions for others to see, and can then follow up directly with those folks to provide more detailed information.  Keep in mind, this isn’t just people saying they love LiteSteel beam, rather they’re asking questions that any salesperson would recognize as purchase interest.   

What social media is doing for LiteSteel is bringing forth leads that are pre-qualified and could easily turn into sales. It’s also become a leading source for online referrals. Of course, social media isn’t the end all to be all when it comes to marketing B2B or B2C – but when used correctly and properly managed, it can deliver leads – and that leads to good, measurable ROI.