The art of art --- in driving traffic, revenues and donations

Would you ever imagine that the law library at the headquarters of a Fortune 500 company would be completely emptied of all its contents just so people can PAINT?

Would you ever imagine that a retail store would hire a rock band and buy a custom T-Shirt press just to promote their grand opening?

These examples and many, many more depict the viability of art as a tactic to drive awareness, traffic, revenues and (for nonprofits) donations.

Art is universal. Art is affordable. Art is an outlet for experssion. Art is an outlet for individualism. Art is defined in the eye of the beholder. Art is messy. Art is loud. Art is FUN!

The next time you consider ways in which to ramp-up your business's traffic, revenue, exposure, etc. - you may want to try a little art. E-mail marketingdrivethru@gmail.com for ideas on how to integrate art into your marketing efforts.

How do you measure social media's ROI (as a marketing strategy/tactic?)

I came upon this article via Google Alerts:

http://lcolm.net/2009/08/02/zocalo-group-unveils-digital-footprint-index-to-help-brands-better-understand-measure-and-accelerate-earned-social-media-engagement/

A Chicago-based agency has created a process for measuring the effectiveness of social media as a marketing strategy and tactic. It's called the DFI - Digital Footprint Index. Here's an excerpt:

Unlike other social media measurement tools that focus only on quantity and sentiment, the DFI, developed in conjunction with the Department of Marketing at DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, is a multi-dimensional measurement methodology that makes it easy for marketers to:

— Pinpoint where and how consumers engage and interact with the brand;— Identify the social media channels consumers use to interact with the brand;
— Determine how well consumers understand and share the brand’s message;
— Gauge the impact social media marketing efforts have on the growth ofearned conversation;— Understand how a brand compares to key competitors using social media;and,
— Track progress over time.

A brand’s DFI is a single benchmark score that is tracked over time to measure the effectiveness of a brand’s social media efforts, as well as its success relative to competitors. The Index measures three dimensions of a brand’s earned online presence:

— Height: the quantity of conversation and content about a brand acrossall social media channels, including blogs, forums, social networks,microblogs, picture sharing sites, video sharing sites, document sharingsites and bookmarking sites
— Width: the level of consumer engagement, interaction and sharing acrossall channels
— Depth: the level of message saturation and sentiment/tone

I'll let you decide if this jives with your vision for measuring social media. FYI there are other, easy, quantitative metrics to use in evaluating the impact of social media marketing.

Examples and Suggestions:

• Number of Facebook “Friends” created before and after a given marketing campaign
• Number of Twitter “Followers” created before and after a given marketing campaign
• Number of LinkedIn Connections created before and after a given marketing campaign
• Event Attendance by Source Type (RSVPs from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Page Traffic for Microsites/Splash Pages created for social media driven campaign
• Donations raised via social media driven campaigns (for nonprofits, cause marketing)
• Number of surveys taken by Facebook users on your profile/event/cause page(s)
• Results of surveys taken by Facebook users on your profile/event/cause page(s)
• Number of petitions created by your Facebook profile/event/cause page(s)
• Number of petition signatures captured by your Facebook profile/event/cause page(s)
• Etc. (Literally - there are certainly other program-specific ways to track social media ROI!)

Reemember - send questions to marketingdrivethru@gmail.com. We're here to help (and we're not the government!)

Hungry for IDEAS? At NO COST? What?!?

Yes it's true.

This blog was created to offer free marketing advice. No cost. Nada. Zip.

No - hell has not frozen over, and no - the Chicago Cubs have not won the World Series.

Times are tough for everyone. So here's a little help --- free advice on ideas for:

• General marketing
• Graphic design
• Web Site Design
• Web Site Navigation
• Web Marketing (SEO, SEM, PPC, AdWords, Affiliate Programs, etc.)
• E-mail/Mobile Marketing (e-mail campaigns/capture, SMS campaigns/capture, etc.)
• Social Media Marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs, etc.)
• Event Marketing (how to do it effectively, affordably, consistently, and measurably)
• Cause Marketing (businesses and nonprofits marketing together for mutual benefit)
• Other Marketing TBD

How it works and things to remember:

1. E-mail your name, title, company name, company URL, industry, and questions to marketingdrivethru@gmail.com.
   
   
2. We will read your questions within 48 hours of receipt and post the answer on the blog.
3. You can then e-mail us follow-up questions - same process as the original inquiry.
4. The advice will be honest, genuine and as accurate as possible.
5. The advice will be top-line and likely need more support to actually implement.
6. The advice is our best effort - if you think you know more than us - start your own free marketing blog.
7. The advice offers no guarantee of success.
8. The advice will always require execution and accountability - all ideas do (even bad ones.)
9. The advice will be posted publicly but your identity will remain anonymous - no plugs.
10. The advice is FREE - so be courteous and appreciative at all times to all questions and comments.

As an opening "sample" (actual responses will be more specific than these little nuggets...):

• We define a BRAND as a PROMISE, and MARKETING as the DELIVERY of that promise.

• WHO vs. HOW: same letters; a means to an end --- to know HOW to market, you need to truly know WHO you are speaking to…

• No matter what state the economy may find itself in --- consumer purchasing decisions are based on three basic pretenses: Need, Want, And Support.

• “It cannot be ‘bought’ until it is ‘built’…” --- no market research, 2.0 strategies, events, partnerships, etc. will ever truly work if marketing fundamentals are not securely in place…

So let's go (in the words of the Great Superspy and Stylist Zohan!) Let the free marketing advice...BEGIN!

(Note we've kept the drive-through/fast food/value references to a minimum, too!)