What I learned most from 6 Sigma Training and Social Media Immersion
October 12, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
- Image via Wikipedia
When I got done with my 6 Sigma Black Belt training the question looming in the back of my brain was, “Why did we only spend about 1 day of 20 talking about change management and the corporate culture aspects of deploying 6 sigma as a business tool?” My gut told me that culture and inertia are the hardest things to overcome. So here we were handed a new tool kit but but only 1/20th of our training was spent explaining how to beat the house odds.
So it goes in the land of social media or new media engagement tools. So many “experts” and coaches engage clients and give them the tools…while the client says, “Just give this stuff to Jennie in Marketing…she just graduated and is in tune with “The Facebook” and that “Tweeter”. Not good.
While there is no perfect formula and I don’t advocate the “Wait until all conditions are perfect before deploying” model…I do think it’s wise to work with your client to assess and plan for the inevitable difficulty of who will drive these new marketing avenues when the cool factor declines. Are you embracing these tools as a key part of strategy or simply doing it ‘because’? Are you looking for clear and measurable results? Or…are you just dipping your toes in the water to if your strategy will reveal itself? I don’t think any of these strategies are wrong. But, they all depend on the most change resistant element in the mix…the human.
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Your Web Strategy? Do it Yesterday
January 19, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
I just did a guest post on my friend Kelly Moore’s PR/Marketing blog called, “This Ain’t No Spin Class”. Kelly is the PR super whiz who’s part of our high powered mega team. (It’s kind of like when the super heros all join up to make the mega-mega super hero that can defeat even the most demonic devil spawn.)
Well, I’m honored to contribute and I believe you’ll get something out of the brief piece…especially if you’re wondering where to spend your marketing bucks in 2009.
Click here to read the post and thanks being a part of our family.
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Doug Mitchell has a new job title at create WOW media: Marketing Technopologist
December 19, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 1 Comment
There’s a great piece on the Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) called “The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World”. While much of the article shares some pretty common themes over the last few years (in our circles at least), I was floored by the next to the last paragraph. The article recommends that businesses find and hire a:
marketing technopologist
I’ll let a quote from the piece explain:
So who should direct a company’s forays into Web 2.0 marketing? A number of managers identified an ideal set of skills for an executive that go beyond those of a typical M.B.A. holder or tech expert. We coined the term marketing technopologist for a person who brings together strengths in marketing, technology and social interaction. A manager said, “I’d want to see someone with the usual M.B.A. consultant’s background, strong interest in psychology and sociology, and good social-networking skills throughout the organization.”
I’m pretty sure this is what I do every day.
Hi I’m Doug and I’m a Marketing Technopologist.
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Maximizing email newsletter subscribers with aweber.com
December 16, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
So if you’ve visited us for the first time, you probably were confronted within 5 seconds with an “email subscribe” box and a grayed out site. This is a nifty feature in the email marketing system from aweber. (we are an affiliate and this is an affiliate link because we believe strongly in this product and recommend it heavily). Some people probably find this “insta-pop” annoying. We understand. We’re assuming that you have limited time so we’re giving you a quick out, in exchange for permission to market to you. Straight forward we think.
The proof is in the pudding. Email subscriptions up 500%. We hope you’ll subscribe too. There’s a box down by the comments of this post if you’d care to join our little small and medium sized business online branding revolution.
Leveraging an email marketing system is a MUST if you’re planning to amplify your brand. Aweber goes a long way to helping companies do this in a non-technical/non-threatening way.
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Marketing Departments Under Pressure to Demonstrate ROI Turning to Web
December 16, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 1 Comment
There’s a great article from Manage Smarter talking about the pressure today’s CMO’s are under to prove ROI. Problem is that nasty little issue about not having any good data or technology to measure and report effectively.
We’ve been saying that for sometime and in fact, that pressure to find marketing methods that meet muster has resulted in substantial growth in our business.
This quote blows me away:
Despite years of conversation about ROI, the tactic of actually measuring marketing investments is still in its infancy, per the Conference Board. Thirty-seven percent of respondents claim to have been tracking ROI for less than a year. Less than a quarter have been doing it for more than three years. One third doesn’t bother at all.
Exactly! In non-web marketing applications, it’s very difficult to figure out what’s effective and driving business. On the web however, it’s a given.
I know many companies personally that have this down to a simple science of spend $xx,xxx/month online and we acquire $xxx,xxx in business. They simple change variables and have a very predictable result with a margin of error. What’s the ROI of a yellow pages ad or a 1 page ad in a magazine? Who knows?
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Why create WOW media is growing when the economy is contracting
December 9, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 3 Comments
create WOW media is sought out by more and more companies these days. Why?
- We offer a “Increased Internet Findability“ not “a new website”
- We offer high value to clients by explaining to them how they can pay us less and become independent of us.
- We offer a products that have a high visual impact (WOW factor) and moderate investment.
- We offer products that have a highly trackable ROI. “I got 10 new clients because of product A and service B.”
- When choosing where to spend money on marketing/promotion these days, the web is viewed as a cost-effective and measurable medium by small/medium sized companies.
- Just about everyone agrees that 98 of 100 people surveyed say they search Google first when looking for a product or service vs. phone book, etc.
- We demystify search engine optimization which to normal people means “showing up when someone searches for their company’s category/city”.
We thank you for your business and you have our commitment that we’ll continue to refine and enhance our offerings.
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