Generating targeted traffic and conducting website optimization are critical to increasing online sales. Ok, yeah, you already know that

But did you know that traffic generation and website optimization aren’t mutually exclusive? There are tactics that will help you accomplish both goals at the same time, and one FutureNow Partner recently spoke to me about a tactic that’s working well.

Our Partner is a software development firm that specializes in web-based applications and good old web development and design. They are currently gaining leads…

...continue to read "All Aces: Overlapping your Marketing Efforts for Better Results"

BusinessWeek’s Bruce Nussbaum asks: “Are Big Ad Agencies So Clueless That Corporations Should Avoid Them?”

It’s not this bad, is it?

(Video may not be work-safe… If you work in an ad agency.)

...continue to read "BusinessWeek: Are Big Ad Agencies Clueless?"

Kevin Hillstrom’s post “Give Me Someone To Believe In” provides an interesting analysis of some of the recent news on Dell, Best Buy & Circuit City.

I especially liked this part:

Each week, the punditocracy tells us who we should emulate, and why. All too often, their logic is flawed. We shouldn’t copy Dell and their direct-to-consumer model. We shouldn’t copy Circuit City and their “Buy Online, Pickup In Stores” program. We shouldn’t copy Best Buy and their “Customer Centric” approach.

Could it…

...continue to read "Monkey See, Monkey Do Marketing"

According to GoDaddy.com’s recent Super Bowl ad, “Everybody wants to work in marketing.”

Why’s that? At GoDaddy, marketing these days means parties, champagne, t-shirts, and… transparency. And so we say, “you’re welcome.” (I’ll explain later. In the meantime, we should congratulate GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons for getting his metrics straight. The Magic Kingdom awaits your arrival, sir.)

In a guest piece on AdFreak’s Super Bowl blog, Parsons responded to critics of GoDaddy’s not-so-shocking-for-the-00’s ad–replayed no less than three times, mind you–with some equally…

...continue to read "Touchdown! GoDaddy Discovers Online Conversion"

Scott Donaton’s latest article over at AdAge touches on something I wrote a while back, after the Agency.com fiasco.  He astutely writes (emphasis is added):

As with ads in any medium, those that work are those that start with an insight, show an understanding of their target audience, and have an authentic, relevant connection to the brand. Those that don’t smack of having been produced because someone wanted to do a viral video to please himself, his boss or his board. They’re the…

...continue to read "AdAge on Viral Campaigns…"

From USA Today "Product Placement – You Can’t Escape It"….

"Marketers are saying, ‘We must be more innovative — to zig when others zag,’ " says Richard Notarianni, executive creative director of media at ad firm Euro RSCG.

"The industry is desperate to find clever ways to reach people, whether or not it has any legitimate value. … When someone says, ‘Let’s put advertising in bathroom stalls,’ another says ‘That’s great. It’s a captive audience.’ "

More…

No space is too odd. US…

...continue to read "Utterings of the Truly Desperate"

No sooner than Jeffrey Eisenberg posts his rant about the state of consumer surveys do we get another authorative glimpse into the future of research from our brilliant strategic partner Michele Miller.  Check out what she writes over at Inc.

Companies like Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO), Pepsi (NYSE:PBG), and Best Buy (NYSE:BBY)  now realize the methods they used to mine  for information in the past were often unproductive and inefficient. The pressure-cooker atmosphere of a group of strangers in an unfamiliar setting, combined with…

...continue to read "The Future of Consumer Research"

We’re not usually big fans of marketing data collected from surveys. We’ve written about it several times. We often find the methodologies flawed, the questions suspect and the respondents even more suspect.

AdAge just published an article that confirms what we’ve been saying. Jack Neff wrote about it in “Consumers Rebel Against Marketers’ Endless Surveys: 30 Top Industry Execs Gather to Discuss ‘Opinion Fatigue’ Crisis“. The article is disturbing especially the following:

“VNU’s Nielsen Media Research has actually seen respondent rates rise…

...continue to read "Survey Takers: Do They Have An Agenda Or Just Too Much Time?"

Persuasion Architect Holly Buchanan wrote a post titled "Do We Need More Women and Minority Hiring in Advertising?" on her blog. She takes on the subject without regard to political correctness. I’ll give you an excerpt below. You decide if it is worth reading the rest.

"One – if you’re talented, you’re in advertising, and you’re a minority – go the big agency route if you want – but also look at the smaller shops that are doing amazing things and blowing…

...continue to read "Large Agencies Take It On The Chin"

Seth Godin took a couple of pictures that tell a bigger story about customer service, customer expectations and customer experience. Read his post and think about how you can improve your customer’s experience.

...continue to read "Is Your Service In The Toilet?"