How do you integrate online applications into an offline community event?
This is the question the the Gastown Business Improvement Society asked the MarketR team when they were planning the 1st Annual Gastown Blues and Chili Festival.
The event would bring together 20 Gastown Restaurants to compete for the Best Chili in Gastown award. The main voting would be done by a panel of celebrity judges; however, there would also be a people's choice award.
The MarketR team decided to integrate the people's choice award with Twitter. This allowed people on the day to use Twitter to vote for their favourite chili.
A large LCD screen was set-up to display, in real-time, the number of votes for each restaurant. Participants could vote online or at the People's Choice Award booth.
The live-voting was a huge success with participating restaurants checking the screen and encouraging people to vote. The live-chart could be viewed online allowing attendees to check who won when they got home. Over 100 people voted for their favorite chili and the Gastown Business Improvement Society is looking at using the live Twitter voting at other Gastown event.
Contact MarketR to see how you can integrate online applications at your offline event.
Offline/Online Integration
Leverage - VFS District 9
Online marketing allows small-medium sized business to leverage events, awards, training programs, and more without breaking the bank.
Read more posts about online marketing and leverage
There has been a lot of buzz lately about a sci-fi movie called District 9. The movie has received one of the highest ratings on IMDB.com and has received rave reviews from movie critics. Even more surprising is that there are no A list actors in the movie and the director has only directed 2 low budget movies.
How do you leverage the fact that the movie director, Neill Blomkamp, graduated from your school's film program?
This was the question that VFS had to ask themselves. Most large companies, who tend not to think outside the box, would send out a generic press release to traditional media. This strategy would work for about 3 days. The problem with this is that it is short-term, and VFS's target audience spend more time reading blogs and on Twitter than reading newspapers.
So VFS decided to create their own microsite highlighting all the VFS graduates who worked on the district 9 movie.
"Neill Blomkamp, director of this summer's must-see sci-fi thriller District 9, got his start at Vancouver Film School. That's not all: much of the talent behind District 9 originates at VFS, including co-writer Terri Tatchell, Visual Effects Executive Producer Shawn Walsh, and 40 other members of District 9's visual effects team."
The microsite is filled with facts about the movie and video on the behind the scenes of District 9. The site also incorporates the VFS twitter and Facebook page, encouraging viewers to follow and become a fan of VFS.
From the microsite viewers can learn more about VFS and the programs they provide. There is even a competition for visitors to input their email for a chance to win District 9 merchandise.
Why this strategy works?
This strategy provides VFS with long term leverage of the District 9 movie. The site will always be on the Internet and can be viewed by potential students from all over the world. Technology, and movie blogs picked up the site and promoted it on their sites to viewers that fit perfectly with VFS's target market. The strategy can be measured easily. VFS can see how many visitors go to the microsite and from there how many visitors view more info about VFS. They can measure engagement through the sign-up form, Twitter and Facebook page.
Is your business doing great things in the local community? Do you have a training program superior to your competition? Have your employees accomplished outstanding feats in their industry?
Make sure you leverage by using online marketing tools. To learn more contact MarketR
Define Success
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This post relates to an older post on the MarketR blog "Do I Really Need An Online Strategy?"
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How do I measure the ROI of my website, if I am not selling anything?
This seems to be the big question in terms of online marketing. It basically means, how do I know that my online marketing strategy is making me money?
If you run an e-commerce site it is relatively easy. You can measure where your customers are coming from and how much they are spending. With this information you will have a very good understanding about how much money your online marketing is making you.
Example: On average you receive 200 clicks from Google Adwords and these clicks spend $100. You know you are paying Google $20 a day, therefor your Google advertising is making you $80.
*Note: This is a very simplified explanation.
Unfortunately most of us are not selling anything online, therefore it is a lot harder to find out if our website is making us money. New ways to measure ROI are constantly being discussed. Here are some of my favorites.
Online Bookings:
Allow customers to book their appointments online. This is a great way to grow your business and a great way to measure ROI. You can now track how your customer found your website and how many booked an appointment.
How To Find Us:
If someone looks up how to find your business, chances are they will be visiting your store. Make sure your site has a designated page with a map , address, phone number, etc. Make it easy to find on your main page, but do not put it directly on your main page. I have seen this done so many times. It is almost impossible to measure how many people showed an interest in visiting your offline store if you put your location information on your main page.
Unique Contact Information:
This one is mostly for medium sized businesses. Use a different phone number for inquiries coming from your website. Instead of listing the same phone number everywhere, list a unique number on your website.
Online Coupons:
If you have read my previous posts you would know that online coupons are on the rise. Use them to track the effectiveness of your website.
Ask:
Easier said then done, I know. However it is sometimes the best way. Ask your customer how they heard of your business and if they visited your website. If the answer is no, chances are they will visit it when they get home. If the answer is yes, then you know your website is working for you.
Goals Goals Goals
One of my mentors said, "If you go ahead and run with something without establishing your goals, its basically like saying Fire, without the Ready Aim." If you go ahead and establish a website and online marketing campaign without first deciding what you want to get out of it, you are going to be spending huge amounts of money in the long run redesigning your website.
Consult with MarketR when designing your website and online marketing strategy.
Get Noticed
"My company is the best, why do I need to pay for marketing?"
This is why.
A study done by the Washington Post asked, "can one of the greatest musicians in North America get noticed in Washington D.C?"
The experimenters recruited Joshua Bell, the most famous living violinists in the world. They put him in regular street clothes and a baseball cap, and placed him in a D.C. metro station during rush hour. They also gave him one of the best violins in the world, valued at over a million dollars. Joshua Bell was asked to play some of the finest classical pieces ever written.
This is what happened.
Over 43 minutes of world class music and only a few people stopped to listen. The most surprising result, was when people were asked what they thought of the music after they passed through the hall, most people didn't even notice the violinist.
Without proper communication, even the most talented violinist in the world can't get noticed. How is your company going to do it?
I guarantee the response to Joshua Bell would have been far greater if there was a sign next to him explaining who Joshua Bell was and that he had just played for the president the night before. The response would have been greater if he was dressed like a world famous violinist.
Marketing is your company's clothes and signage. Marketing is how you communicate to your potential and existing clients. If you know you are the best at something, make sure everyone knows it. Don't wait for people to find out themselves.
Try this: If you know you are the best in your industry geographically, type in Google "The best (your industry) in (your geographic region)."
For example, "The best tennis club in Vancouver"
Does your company come up on the first page?
If not, then your company has no signage and is wearing street clothes and a baseball hat online.
Be the best. Call MarketR
Do I Really Need An Online Strategy?
I was at a small business conference a while back listening to a mediocre presentation by Yahoo Canada. After the presentation I turned to a gentleman sitting next to me who was the owner of a well established retailer in Vancouver. I asked him what online strategies his company has in place. To my surprised he looked at me blankly and said, "we don't sell things online, why should we have an online strategy?"
I hear this comment far too often. Small to medium sized business owners believing online strategies are only for companies selling widgets online.
Here are some statistics that show otherwise.
It is clear from these research studies that if you do not have an online marketing strategy your business will be left behind.
Every MarketR client has an online marketing strategy, and every strategy has delivered results beyond the clients expectations. Hopefully after seeing these statistics it doesn't seem crazy anymore that none of MarketR's clients sell anything online.
