Data Mining

January 12, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Direct Marketing Leads 

Data mining is a minefield and social networking sites are still replete with veins of consumer-insight gold.

Marketers should extract that treasure, but carefully some tips on how to get the most form data mining social networks.

Respect privacy, even if their profiles are publicly visible. Opt in or double opt in is always best.

Social networkers are often so honest in their profiles because they have an expectation of a certain level of privacy. While the information disclosure benefits marketers, marketers should interact with people they know or use information without names and identifying features to create pictures of their ideal customers.

Use the data to create prospect profiles. Marketers should collect aggregated, anonymized data to understand what consumers like or dislike about a particular product or service. Employ a list from a data solutions firm with good penetration at the individual level, this can help marketers leverage what they learn online where they formulate strategies and get an idea of what the typical person looks like and where they are.

While the main source of data mining may come from Facebook, YouTube viewers and video uploaders can find plenty of data by simply clicking on the “views” button and expanding it.

Append social media data to house files. Lewis says there’s always the possibility that marketers take Facebook’s advice and invite their friends—by uploading their e-mail lists, no more than 500 addresses at a time.

With the new data mining techniques direct marketers can take their in-house customer relations management data and reverse append it. What he does is “reverse append it to a Web-based location, using the up to 50 different social platforms—from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, all these interesting areas that have open social graph data.

Know the quality of followers, friends and connections. and always befriend influencers. Once marketers figure out which fans of their brand are influencers—those with the highest number of Twitter followers, YouTube subscribers, LinkedIn connections, Facebook friends, etc.—marketers should get to know these VIPs, Lewis says.

EXPERTISE

  • Ability to perform all list brokerage duties for clients, including providing thorough list research and recommendations
  • Back-end analysis, marketing metrics Google Analytics, Market Samuria generates revenue & interest via email marketing, SEO, SEM and social media
  • Can target local business landing pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google Places, Google AdWords and other social networks and track results from coupon offers
  • Accelerates sales by tying email campaign and website tracking to CRM system data
  • Creates and executes marketing strategies that support business goals
  • Lead generation and capture and marketing plan development

LIST BROKER

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  • Big Cycles, Big Data: The Next Generation of Computing | CSDiary – 9 Comments. Yahoo! and CMU Join Forces | CSDiary December 12, 2007 @ 12:28 pm. […] couple of weeks ago I wrote about “next-generation computing” — computing structures, algorithms, and applications on very large …

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  • Data mining techeniques – Selecting important attributes – So you might be thinking now that are there any methods for attribute selection in

Email Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

January 3, 2012 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Email Lists 

Testing is essential in direct marketing and you should always be testing something new.

Everyone says that testing is important, but most marketers avoid tests until some later date but testing should be done every time you plan a new campaign.

Email marketing makes testing super simple, accurate and fast. Results come back in 24 hours. Avoid these mistakes that many email marketers make when testing. Here are six of them:

When you change more than one item in one version of an email and test it against your control, you won’t learn much.

If you have two versions of an email are completely different in terms of layout, promotions, copy and even products.

Any one change might have helped or hurt response, but by putting them all together you can’t tell what was doing what. One change might have helped the open rate increase, while another change in the same email might have reduced clicks. The rule is to test only one element at a time.Looking only at conversions.

the subject line so they open the message can have a large impact on open rates; they like the way the salutation greets them when they open; the copy is interesting and the offer stimulates them; and they click on a couple of links and finally order a product.

A weak subject line, bad salutation, uninspiring offer, faulty link, poor product or pricing, or confusing order form can make your email fail at any time. Which of these elements was responsible for the low conversion rate? You may never know if you look at the conversion rate by itself.

Test each element separately. First, select a subject line that works better than others. Then get your best salutation. Now you’re ready to try different versions of copy. You also need to test pricing and your order form. Nobody ever said testing was easy, particularly if you neglect testing elements separately.

Direct marketers have tested direct mail pieces that offer readers two or more choices against a mail piece that offers only one possible answer. One choice always beats two or more choices. This becomes too confusing to determine a true winner.

Let me use my researched methods that have been proven to work, implementation know-how, and optimization expertise to boost your company’s marketing ROI and sales performance.

EXPERTISE

  • Ability to perform all list brokerage duties for clients, including providing thorough list research and recommendations
  • Back-end analysis, marketing metrics Google Analytics, Market Samuria generates revenue & interest via email marketing, SEO, SEM and social media
  • Can target local business landing pages on Twitter, Facebook, Google Places, Google AdWords and other social networks and track results from coupon offers
  • Accelerates sales by tying email campaign and website tracking to CRM system data
  • Creates and executes marketing strategies that support business goals
  • Lead generation and capture and marketing plan development

LIST BROKER

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Local and Mobile Direct Marketing

December 28, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Direct Marketing Strategy 

With more than 300 million mobile phone users across the US

They access their mobile web from their devices and this creates a new opportunity for marketers this is bigger than SEO, Google or Facebook since the growth is even faster.

If you are looking to leverage your advertising dollars across new mediums. Whether the mission is sell more products, increase brand awareness or beef up an existing customer database, mobile marketing is proving itself as a viable option for companies of all sizes and across all industries.

Many companies are still trying to figure out the Internet while their competitors are stealing market share.

Few have a focused plan when marketing cell phones and many marketers are missing the boat – text messaging is the foundation of mobile marketing, but it’s certainly not the only option.

Few companies can afford to ignore these new technologies and they include:

Mobile Marketing: Incorporate a call to action or brand banner ad into a mobile application and you’re using mobile advertising. Develop a mobile website along with your regular make a compelling offer to get them to like you call or email.Many marketers have tested that these perform about five times better than Internet ad placements do, making them especially attractive for companies looking for better response rates from their mobile efforts.

Location-Based Mobile Foursquare is one of several companies that are making inroads in the location-based mobile media field. Foursquare allows users to collect points, prize “badges” and coupons for going about their everyday business and for letting other people know exactly what they’re up to. Users link those activities to Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, but location-based mobile is also applicable for businesses.

Companies use the service to offer promotions, build brand awareness, attract new customers and reward their top clients.

Real estate firms are using QR codes to advertise their for-sale listings and retailers are using them to offer mobile coupons. Home Shopping Network (HSN) recently started using this mobile marketing technique by placing QR codes in the corner of the television screen during its sales pitches.

Customers who used their phones to scan the codes were delivered to a product page on HSN’s mobile website, and were able to link to a checkout page, enter their credit card numbers and close the deal.

Google Adwords Marketing: When you type in keywords into your mobile web browser and generated a pop-up ad from a local car dealership along with the search results, then you’ve been exposed to the concept of proximity marketing.

Proximity marketing works well for marketers looking to target current, past and prospective customers in specific geographical locations.

One of the newer mobile marketing options, proximity marketing relies on transmitters that are installed in select public locations and target the exact spot where the customer is standing.

Sent to the user’s phone, the marketing message includes a request for permission for content to be delivered to the device. A longtime entry on every marketer’s “wish list,” proximity marketing is expected to gain ground over the next few years as users become accustomed to being marketed to via cell phone and mobile device.
As mobile marketing continues to mature, expect to see more ideas and approaches proliferating. Considered affordable and fairly easy to implement, mobile marketing serves as yet another viable option for companies looking to squeeze the most ROI from their advertising dollars.

Local and Mobile

Mobile Marketing

December 24, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Marketing Strategy 

Mobile marketing has benefits, but is new and growing faster than any other type of direct marketing.

Despite the growth in the use of smartphones and tablets, most businesses are still missing the mark with mobile marketing. They lack an understanding on the intensive planning, costs and complexity requirements.

See more on mobile marketing here

Marketers don’t know whether they should invest in a mobile website or mobile app, or how to use text messages or QR codes. While larger companies can afford to test-drive several tactics to see what sticks, 2011 remained slow on the mobile front for the majority of marketers.

But fear not, mass adoption still awaits.

More Articles on Mobile Marketing

Facebook Testing Coupons

December 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Direct Marketing Strategy 

Facebook is joining the direct marketing wagon by testing coupons in their display ad starting December 15.

The Facebook ad unit will enable consumers to click to receive a coupon via email that can later be redeemed online. Companies will be able to attach coupons to posts on their Facebook business listings and followers will be able to share the coupons with friends and family.

Users who see the ad or the page post can click “Get Coupon.” This action can be posted to a user’s Wall. Users then receive an email from Facebook with the coupon and an option to share it with friends. Facebook tells us that pages who are part of this limited test can offer discounts that customers can redeem in-store or online.

This type of coupon promotion differs from Facebook Check-In Deals, which is a self-serve promotion tool that allows businesses to offer coupons to people who visit a location and check in with Facebook. Facebook Check-In Deals are only available through mobile.

This test is complementary to the other products we offer businesses and we hope to learn more about how this might work for both merchants and customers,” Facebook says.

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Mobile Advertising 2012

December 6, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing Strategy 

2012 is not going to be the year that consumers say screw the coins and wallets when they leave home and just swipe their smartphones, it is going to be the year that major players like Google and MasterCard will actively roll out their cashless initiatives* around the world.

For consumers, the initial lure will be convenience, but eventually mobile payments will create an entirely new data-driven advertising of rewards, purchase history, deals and so on never seen before.See more here

These devices incorporate NFC (Near Field Communication), which allows for encrypted data exchange between two devices in close proximity to each other.

For instance: a reader located next to a retail cash register. Shoppers who have their credit card information stored in their NFC smartphones can pay for purchases by waving their smartphones near or tapping them on the reader, rather than using an actual credit card.

Just a few of the CASH-LESS initiatives to keep an eye on in 2012:

In October 2011

Google’s free, NFC-enabled mobile payment system Google Wallet became operational at a selection of retail chains across the US. Licensing MasterCard’s PayPass technology, shoppers simply tap their mobile device on special terminals at points-of-sale to pay instantly. In participating stores, they can also redeem special coupons, participate in sales promotions or gain loyalty points, simply by choosing to pay with Google Wallet.

In June 2011, US online payments processor PayPal demonstrated a mobile payments application for Android devices. Users install the app and activate the PayPal widget, and can then request to send or receive funds from another individual with a smartphone and PayPal account. Using NFC, the two users can then hold their devices together in order to instantly transfer funds. Also read article on Local Marketing.

Square is an electronic payments service which enables users to accept credit card payments by using a card-reading portable device connected to their iPhone, iPad or Android device. Both the Square card-reader and app are free, although there is a 2.75% charge for each payment made. Once the system has been set up, users can accept payments immediately.

In November 2011, Richard Branson and Visa became investors in the venture. In the same month, Square updated the app, allowing for a completely hands-free payment experience by simply saying your name.
Launched in Sweden in June 2011, iZettle is a device that enables consumers to accept credit card payments while on the go. The portable chip and pin reader plugs into iPhones or iPads and uses an iZettle app, meaning that card transactions can take place instantly. Bills can also be paid or money transferred using the device. There’s a facility to tag transactions with images, notes or location data, which users can post to Facebook and Twitter to share their purchases with friends.

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Top 10 Apps

November 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Direct Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized 

The top 10 Apps was submitted by Molly Cunningham my guest blooger..

I included a YouTube demonstration since the Editors at CNET rate Evernote as the app of the year in 2009 “Evernote goes beyond its architecture and is also interesting. It’s a true three-platform play: it works very well, and somewhat differently, on desktop computers, mobile phones, and over the Web.”

Top 10 Apps for Marketing Professionals

1. Surveyor – Although there are many market research and survey apps out there, this one is constantly rated as one of the best. You can create a survey from a number of different formats. Participants access the survey with a 4-digit participation code from wherever they are, which means that you’re more likely to receive responses. You can view the results in real time and filter them by date or person. Although the app is free, you must purchase credits to administer a survey. (Free)

2. EverNote – Although this app is not specifically designed for business professionals, it will change how you do business. Record notes in text, audio, or photo formats in an instant so that you don’t forget a new contact name or notes from a meeting. Evernote syncs your information up with your computer so that you can access it when you get back to the office. (Free)

3. Encamp – Those who are familiar with the Basecamp software will find this app to be a breeze. It does all the same things as a Basecamp account – you can create accounts for employees, assign tasks, and manage all aspects of a project. This app is generally preferred over other Basecamp apps because of its similarity to the original software. ($9.99)

4. Hootsuite – Monitor all of your company’s social media outlets with this management tool. Update profiles or statuses, track stats, and search keywords so that you can stay on top of your social network.

5. Mindjet – This app is perfect for visual thinkers. Map out your ideas, tasks, and notes into visual maps to help you organize and manage all of your marketing priorities. Your maps can even be synchronized to DropBox so that you can access them from anywhere. (Free)

6. Analytics Pro – If you already work with Google Analytics, this app allows you to review accounts, reports, statistics and graphs while you’re on the go. Data is presented in a useful way so that you can quickly find the information that you need. ($5.99)

7. Creative Whack Pack – We all have those moments when we struggle for inspiration. This app provides 84 creativity strategies based on Roger van Oech’s bestselling card deck of the same name. Stimulate your brain by thinking about what you’re doing in a new way. From finding new information to generating new ideas, this app will help you put ideas into action. ($1.99)

8. Things – Organize all those To-Do lists you have in one easy app. You can organize tasks by priority and due date, as well as group tasks related to a single project. The app even keeps track of your old To-Dos in case you need to access them later. ($9.99)

9. Dragon Dictation – This app is a favorite among busy professionals. It uses sophisticated voice recognition software to turn what you say into text or email messages. You can even speak updates for Facebook and Twitter. It claims to be up to five times faster than typing, which will certainly save you time in your busy schedule. (Free)

10. Keynote – Make elegant presentations right from your mobile device. This is perfect for making last-minute edits or reviewing your presentation before a meeting. Keynote easily integrates with PowerPoint software so that you can import presentations you create on a computer. ($9.99)

Author Profile

This article was submitted by Molly Cunningham. She has been in business her whole life and owns the site Business Administration Degree.

More Top 10 Apps For Marketing Professionals

Local Marketing

November 21, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Direct Marketing Strategy 

Can your customers find you online?

When was the last time you looked up a business on the Yellow Pages?

Today, more than ever, people are on their smart phones (Droid and iPhone) when they want to make a Christmas purchase or research a purchase and you need to be found where they are looking.

The reality is that the Yellow Pages are rapidly dying as an advertising medium.

Their revenue has fallen dramatically whin the last ten years and it continues to fall.
People have come to see the printed Yellow Pages as a waste and there is even a website were you can now opt out of receiving the Yellow Pages.

People today

use the search engines to find what they are looking for and with the advent of smartphones and tablets.

Google has created over 50 MILLION business “Place Pages” and posted them on the web. Since only 10% of these pages have been claimed by business owners, chances are your business has a page and you don’t even know it !

The New Mobile Local Movement

Tim Little-Direct Marketing Consultant


My professional direct marketing experience began in magazine circulation management from this I honed my skills in list purchasing, testing, and analyzing.

I learned the importance of direct response planning and budget forecasting and most importantly, providing a follow-up with back-end analysis, fulfillment of orders and inquiries. I also gained some valuable job experience with Jackson National Life Insurance as Marketing Database/Direct Mail area.

Allow me to help you implement your next strategic marketing plan focused on your niche. I will make the most of what you already have by analyzing your biggest strengths and exploiting your competition.

Timothy Little – Direct Marketing Consultant

Tim Little
1 (888) 889-0552

More Articles on Local Marketing

Marketing Consulting Services

November 16, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing Strategy 

I recently was involved in Direct Marketing strategic project that was a little bit over my head since it covered a very small universe of debtors in all states with different ages and types of debt.

What they we’re doing isn’t considered direct marketing but instead collecting massive amounts of debt any way that would gross the largest return on investment.

I decided to take the project on since I was hungry for work and had no other clients in retainer and I was offered a very nice salary in return for my direct marketing strategy improvements. This client was arrogant, insecure and managed a group of programmers testing predictive modeling models with SAS.

I should have figured from the start that my client would micro-manage the project and throw me in the ditch when things went south and the takeaway from this is..when being a reputable provider of strategic marketing consulting services and when trying to establish myself as the direct marketing industry never take on projects that are doomed for failure.

Project Management Meeting

Matching marketing strategy with interim marketing expertise. My practice is known for its unparalleled expertise in program management, research and analytics, brand management, marketing communications, promotions and events marketing, and web-based marketing.

Taking into account the differing needs of different clients, this highly-reputed provider of strategic marketing consulting services offers its clients several different packages:

Project-based consultancy:

This option involves marketing experts with specific functional and industry expertise. Such projects are billed on an hourly and project basis.

Remote experts: This option involves the use of expert marketing consultants who would conduct some or all of their work offsite. This can also reduce your costs greatly since you’re not paying for lodging, meals and travel.

Expert specialists: This option involves the use of professionals within R&D, finance, packaging, and change management who specialise in supporting marketing programs. The billing for such projects is done on an hourly or project basis.

Onsite consulting:

These are managed programs involving full responsibility for managing ongoing business requirements and can include management and staff. Such programs are conducted on a contractual basis. This will cost your more since travel, lodging and meals are included in the hourly rates.

The current recession makes it crucial for businesses to review their marketing strategies and adapt them to suit these turbulent times. However, by focusing on execution without revisiting strategy, they risk making investments go backwards.

If your business is looking to work for this reputed strategic marketing consulting firm will help you review your marketing communication practices in light of exponential changes in online and social networking for B2B.

Tim Little-Direct Marketing Consultant


My professional direct marketing experience began in magazine circulation management from this I honed my skills in list purchasing, testing, and analyzing.

I learned the importance of direct response planning and budget forecasting and most importantly, providing a follow-up with back-end analysis, fulfillment of orders and inquiries. I also gained some valuable job experience with Jackson National Life Insurance as Marketing Database/Direct Mail area.

Allow me to help you implement your next strategic marketing plan focused on your niche. I will make the most of what you already have by analyzing your biggest strengths and exploiting your competition.

Timothy Little – Direct Marketing Consultant

Tim Little
1 (888) 889-0552

For more information on a superior strategic marketing consulting firm, visit TheExpertsBench.

Local Marketing

November 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Marketing Strategy 

Google recently announced…

that 20% of all the searches going through its engine are local and that percentage jumps to 40% when a mobile device is involved.

Direct Marketers can fuse local with universal without spending a lot of time or money on the efforts. Even if you are small in scale you can get a huge reach by just by focusing on Google Places.

Make it simple stupid

Something as simple as tagging a video posted on YouTube with both local and more traditional search terms is going to boost search rankings, make sure you’ve created a Google Places profile that includes pertinent information, such as address, phone number and hours of operation; adding content such as a photograph of your building or products is a good strategy as well. One big mistake people make is having incomplete or conflicting submissions, you need to be very consistent in your postings.

Focus regionally

How you target customers may be completely different in different markets, she said. Be creative and do things with weather, traffic and recruitment that’s very local.

Work with partners and distributors.

Partners doing your work locally should have a highly localized search strategy that also takes into account universal search. They might have videos that show their locations or other customers in a particular city and be purchasing local search terms.

About The Author

Tim G. Little has a BS in Business Administration, and has worked in the magazine publication and circulation management for the past 20 years. I will help you develop your business locally for Free with Google Places, Bing and Yahoo call for details about local search strategies. ps: I would like to recommend a tool to you to help find Boost Sales… Gain Market Share.. . With Focused List Selection,