1. Customers are using the internet to search for solutions, products and services.

a. 80% of internet traffic begins at the search engines.
b. 68% of the search market share belongs to Google.
c. Website pages need to be optimized so they can be picked up by Google and displayed in the search results. Optimization involves page Meta Data, text on the site pages and back links to your site.
d. Sponsored search (pay-per-click) provides geographical targeting of ads, content targeted ads and 100% control of the ad message.

2. Customers compare information from multiple locations.

a. Company and competitors websites.
b. Independent product/services review websites. Ex. Cruise Critic or Consumer Reports
c. Blogs
d. Price Brokers. Ex: Travelocity or Hotel.com

3. Customers love video…a lot.

a. 73.7 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video in March 2008.
b. 139 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 83 videos per viewer in March 2008.

4. Once customers find the information they are looking for, they don’t want to have to search for it again.

a. 36% of internet users say they have a customizable web page, such as iGoogle or My Yahoo.
b. Subscribe to eNewsletters or email alerts
c. Use aggregators such as iGoogle to receive RSS feeds for news and information in a single place. Information that can educate and influence purchase.

5. Customers have cell phones and are texting (SMS).

a. 84 % of Americans have cell phones.
b. 74% of all mobile phone users are active SMS (Text) users.

6. Customer trust their friends and family when it comes to purchase advise.

a. Consumers trusted recommendations from consumers 78% more than they did any other forms of advertising.
b. They are using social networks such as Facebook and MySpace to communicate with people they trust and ask for purchase advice.
c. A marketer’s job is to engage with social networks to listen, learn and correct what communities say about your product and services.

Summary: Customers are interacting with the internet at multiple points and with different tools. Customers are seeking information form various channels to help them make the best purchase decision. Not one single channel provides all the information the customer is looking for in order to purchase. Loop Consulting Group helps marketers determine which channels need to be developed in order to achieve effective integrated multiple-channel marketing communications focused on increasing sales and brand awareness.

According to a study done by the Association of National Advertisers, “achieving effective IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) campaigns is a marketer’s primary concern.”

Bob Liodice, President of the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), goes on to say, “Although 74% of firms we’ve surveyed say they are using IMC approaches for most or all of their brands, only 25% rated the quality of their IMC programs “excellent” or “very good” — underscoring the need to identify best practices and address the barriers that can impede IMC efforts.”

The ANA and Mr. Liodice label the barriers to IMC as:

1. Strategic Consistency

“An IMC campaign should start with a compelling consumer insight that can be translated into a strong, differentiated marketing strategy. This leads to the development of a creative “brand idea” that drives each discipline’s tactics.”

Simply put, this means that the message must be consistent across all customer touch points.

2. Common Measurement Process

“Although organizations have become more skilled in crunching numbers, there is no single, consistent set of metrics that transcends discipline-centric measurements.”

This is true for now; all metrics, whether they’re email open rates or website sale conversions, are being gathered by separate sets of systems. What we do at Loop is manually gather the data of the campaigns and organize it in a dashboard format for the client to see. Soon, metric companies will start to design applications that organize all marketing data into one integrated dashboard, but for the time being, we have to make do with manual gathering.

3. Functional Silos

“For too long, marketing functions have been vertically organized by media type. This “silo” approach is mirrored on the agency side, with rewards based on discipline-specific P&L models.”

What Bob is saying is that marketing spending has traditionally been arranged by the type of media to be purchased. Instead of taking an overall look at what the message is meant to say to all customers, we design the message based on the type of media in the budget. For example, if we need to talk about four product features, a TV or email message can mention them all; conversely, you can only fit so much onto an outdoor sign, so the message is altered in exchange for the type of media purchased.

4. Professional Skills

“Achieving strategic integration requires a top-to-bottom reinvention of the marketing organization. This transformation must be led by “renaissance marketers” — a new breed of holistic professionals who are system thinkers, customer-centric believers, innovators, and dreamers.”

I think top-to-bottom reinvention can be a little drastic, but I do agree with an organizational change in marketing philosophy. In order for a company to truly achieve an integrated message, the company and all its directors must view the message from the customer’s perspective, and then tailor the distribution of the message based on an overall view of all customer touch-points.

We know the future of online marketing agencies lies in the ability for the agency to understand, produce and harness online communications technology and merge the technology with creative and targeted results oriented marketing.

Loop recognizes that the new challenges for marketers within corporations will be technical awareness of communications solutions and the ability to use and integrate them in their overall marketing objectives.

The marketing consulting agency of the future will have to have a mix of talent that can develop and understand software design and integration with marketing knowhow in order to provide the solutions that will send brands apart from their competitors.

Loop Consulting Group is positioned in the market to help Chief Marketing Officers understand, evaluate and execute their online marketing efforts into a sustainable, value driven, accountable and integrated brand and product position.

Marcos J. Menendez
President
Loop Consulting Group
www.loopconsulting.com

I was recently interviewed by Décor Magazine, the oldest and most prestigious national print publication for the art gallery and framing industry. Décor asked me about internet marketing and how it can help its core readers, which are mostly high-end art gallery owners.

Below you will find my answers to Décor’s interview and an audio podcast of the interview.

1) Tell me as much about your background as you’re comfortable with– family, education, professional life, and how you got into online marketing and communications.

A. I was imported from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, FL by the software giant Oracle Corp. to launch the Internet Sales Division for Latin America and the Caribbean. This was during the pre-internet bubble days, or 1999, when times where great for technology, big salaries, and big budgets. While I was with Oracle, I was introduced to the world of online marketing and communications. Soon enough, I realized that eNewsletters were our best performing marketing tool and I thought that perhaps there was an opportunity to show other companies how to use them. So I gathered my courage and left Oracle to start Loop.

2) Tell me about Loop Consulting Group and the extent of your duties as President. What exactly is the company and what does it do?

A. Loop Consulting Group helps organizations use the Internet to achieve their online marketing, communications, and revenue goals. We specialize in the use and integration of online communications tools like websites and search engine optimization, eNewsletters, business blogs, and online video production and distribution.

3) What unique challenges face small, independently owned businesses in trying to get their marketing messages out? Obviously, smaller budgets, but what else? How can they overcome these challenges?

A. I think one of the biggest challenges is choosing the right marketing vehicle, or marketing tools options. There are dozens of ways for a business to get their message out. Businesses can use tools to increase website visibility, they can set up a “pay-per-click” program, add an eNewsletter, a blog, or an online video. They can also use podcasting, writing articles for trade publications, adding sponsor sites, banner ads and so on. The best way to overcome the communication vehicle selection process is to define, as specifically as possible, who the target audience is and then determine where they are online. Once this is established, then select the best tool to reach them. For example, if your target audience is tourists that come by your gallery, find out what they read or where they go online to find information about your city’s art galleries; this could be a good place to position your message or sponsor.

4) What are the biggest misperceptions that businesses have about online marketing? Why do they have these misperceptions? How do you cure them of said misperceptions?

A. It’s a mix between traditional marketing, the way things have always been done, and a new online channel. People tend to think that because they don’t personally use the web, email, or search engines, then no one else does either. There are approximately 6 billion humans on earth, and from that number, 1.3 billion connect to the web in some way or another. I remember when the internet was called a trend, and now it’s they way things get done.

5) What are the biggest mistakes that uninformed companies make when starting their own online marketing efforts? What are some pitfalls to avoid?

I think assuming that by having only a website, you are covered. A website is a home base for information; the next step is to tell others what you are doing.

Ways of getting your message out to your audience are eNewsletters, properly designed websites for search engine visibility, and publishing or updating the website with new content.

In terms of pitfalls, I always stress that online marketing involves persistence and focus on objectives and measurement. There is no quick, get-it-now solution to increase sales; there’s only reasonable judgment, execution, and measurement of efforts.

So beware of offers that promise to get you first place in Google for 20 bucks a month. If this was true, it would be like controlling search results, and I think Google would agree with me on this.

6) What are the most crucial tips you can give people who’d like to achieve successful online marketing programs?

The beauty of the web is in its ability to launch products, services, and information in real-time, and then test it for results. No other medium lets you actually test the message with the actual audience in its fully functional environment. The web allows you to track all the activity and monitor results in real-time. This allows you to measure your success or potential right away; if you like what you see, keep building it–if you don’t, fix it, retry, or delete. But you must try new channels!

7) The art and framing industry is one with very visually-oriented products and services. With that in mind, do you have any ideas for specific things people in this industry should include in their online marketing efforts?

High-resolution images and professionally-taken pictures or video of your product is absolutely essential. Not only is the product displayed in all its beauty, but high-quality images communicate to web viewers that the company is a credible and serious source. Ask yourself if you would make a purchase online from website that was unorganized, with missing pages and small, grainy product pictures. That’s why many successful online retailers allow you to enlarge pictures of their products. Also, these pictures or video can be included in your website, eNewsletters, email campaigns, Facebook, etc. Once the product is properly captured, you can reposition the same media in as many channels as you think will be effective.

Tell me more about the 80/20 rule. Are there any instances where a company can get away with in
cluding more than 20% advertising in a newsletter/article? Why are 80 and 20 the magic numbers?

The 80/20 rule is just a rule of thumb or an easy to remember tip. It comes from the old marketing saying that 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers, so you should focus most of your marketing efforts on that 20%, since they generate the most revenue. When it comes to content, the 80/20 rule helps give the writers a guideline so they focus the message on what matters most to the reader; that should be 80% of your content. The remaining 20% you may use for advertising and promotion, and this applies to every tool–websites, emails, etc.

9) What has been your greatest success in online marketing?

Marketing is a work in progress, part art and part science. A campaign that is successful today may not be successful tomorrow. By using different online tools, we’ve created very successful campaigns for the following clients:

Pet Supermarket- a large chain of stores that carries pet food and related products. We created an eNewsletter called “PetScoop” following the 80/20 rule. (80% content on advice about pet care and 20% on advertising and promotional.)

Results: By using the survey tool at the bottom of each issue, we’ve found that 60% of the readers find the advice “useful”, so they keep opening the eNewsletter issue after issue. With an engaged audience, you see results such as 50% of the readers requesting the special saving coupon. That coupon costs the company nearly nothing to send, and absolutely nothing to print. These savings coupons are then taken to the store, and this means sales. “PetScoop” current issue…

The Latin Builders Association is South Florida’s most influential professional association for the advocacy of real estate development. We create and produce an online video channel called LBATV.

Results: The response from the members has been overwhelming, and the response from the organization’s sponsors has been even better. All the member companies want to sponsor an episode, and that means revenue for the organization. But what I like most about LBATV is the ability to use video to raise the image of the organization within the community and region. Video allows people to “see” what kind of work the organization does, whether it is to bring 1,800 brand new bicycles to underprivileged kids or set the stage for interaction between political leaders and business leaders. LBATV video archive…

10) How much do e-mail monitoring and spam filter-penetrating services cost? Are they worth it for small businesses? Why or why not?

Prices range depending on the sophistication of the software and your network needs. Most small businesses already receive some kind of anti-spam protection at their PC level or ISP level.

But they’re worth it from an efficiency standpoint, because they protect the small business from wasting time and resources that could be best used in other tasks instead of inbox cleaning or spam deleting. So I would recommend that businesses purchase these services at the highest level that they can afford.

As always, we are here to help. If you are interested in enhancing your online marketing communications efforts, contact us.

Marcos J. Menendez
President Loop Consulting Group, LLC
www.loopconsulting.com
mmenendez (at)loopconsulting (dot)com

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Congratulations!

Apex Logistics Corp. is an industry-leading custom logistics planning and freight forwarding company. With the help of Loop Consulting Group, they have successfully launched their brand online. LCG designed the new brand image and delivered it online through the creation of a new website supported by an automated freight quoting system and a strong search engine optimization program. We included the latest website analytics technology designed to measure and quantify the amount of total visitors that turn into new sales.

View their inaugural website.