Better Ideas Blog

Spirit Airlines recently ran an ad that features a woman sunning herself on a sandy white beach, holding a green and yellow lotion bottle with the words Best Protection. The caption reads, “Check out the oil on our beaches: Ft. Lauderdale.”

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In an effort to boost the recent decline of tourism in Ft. Lauderdale; the airlines hoped making satire out of this devastating situation may bring light and positivity to the natural disaster. But after receiving less than positive feedback from consumers, Spirit decided to pull the marketing campaign.

The ads are promoting a $50 discount on travel to the carrier’s coastal destinations. The slide show, found on the Spirit’s website, features destinations in Cancun, Mexico; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Atlantic City, New Jersey, culminates in a closeup of two green-and-yellow bottles of “Best Protection” 50 SPF sunscreen, with B and P highlighted to stand out.

After reviewing the ad and sympathizing with the oil spill crisis, I was left with the lingering question: Was this a classic example of insensitive marketing, or was I just looking too deep into something that was intended to be lighthearted and comical.

A few news organizations posted articles about the ad, calling it “ill-conceived” and saying the spot “mocked” the spill. Spirit claims their advertisement was “misunderstood.”

Needless to say; within 24 hours, the ad was pulled from Spirit’s site and the airline responded to criticism with a semi-apologetic press release.

The ad campaign prompted outcry from news media to Twitter, with people calling it “offensive,” “tasteless,” and “a remarkable poor … choice.”

What are your thoughts? Did Spirit Airlines go too far, or are they just making the best of a bad situation?

My Best,
Christina Gurtowsky
Market Insights, LLC

Small business owner techonology specialicist, web developer and author, Sara Morgan conducted an experiment on the efficiency of advertising through LinkedIn, as opposed to the performance of advertising through an identical Google AdWords ad. Morgan’s conclusion: “The LinkedIn ad wasn’t worth the time, or the money.”

Morgan explains: “I am scientist at heart, so when I received an e-mail from LinkedIn offering me a $50 credit towards creating a direct ad, I decided to conduct a little experiment. I have had precious little luck using Google AdWords and I wondered whether a LinkedIn ad would give me better results.” “To determine which ad performed better, I ran identical text-based ads at the same time, for a total of three days, explained Morgan,” I had initially planned on running the ads for an entire week, but when I noticed that the LinkedIn ad had exceeded my $50 allowance after only three days and resulted in no sales, I decided to end the experiment a little earlier than expected.”

The visual differences Morgan observed between the ads was that the LinkedIn Ad allowed her to include a company logo image, and target a specific audience. After reading the FAQ on the LinkedIn page, she went with the $3.00 minimum and a $10.00 daily budget. The LinkedIn FAQ was as follows: “Your daily budget is the amount of money you are willing to spend on a specific advertisement each day. DirectAds will attempt to show your advertisement until your daily budget is reached in a given day. Once your daily budget has been reached, your advertisement will stop showing for that day.” Starting off a hopeful consumer, Morgan’s feelings quickly changed after checking her stats on the third day. “At that point, neither ad had resulted in a sale on my website. The thing that disturbed me the most was that my bill for the LinkedIn ad had already hit $59.57,” she said. According to a three day budget, the math did not equal out correctly. “Ten times for three days does not equal $59.57,” stated Morgan. According to the LinkedIn Ad stats, her ad produced 4 clicks and 19856 impressions. This averaged a cost per $14.89 per click—which proved to be far over Morgan’s original budget.

Morgan’s Conclusion: “As I stated earlier, neither ad produced a sale, so I consider them both to be failures.” “I have decided not to use either Google AdWords or LinkedIn Direct ads. Instead, I am just going to continue my efforts towards social marketing and creating quality content.”

At Market Insights we have tried similar experiments with facebook ads, linkedin and google ad words. We have found our best results also come from creating quality content that people want to read. We love to hear what works for you.

Our Best,
Christina Gurtowsky
Media Consultant
Market Insights. LLC

Creating a Facebook account can work wonders for your image when it comes to networking for your local business. Facebook can serve as a multilevel media platform when it comes to gaining new contacts, staying in touch with current contacts, advertising of current and upcoming promotions, and gaining traffic to your website.

With all of these benefits in mind, it’s important to still keep in mind the complications that may arise with maintaining a ‘professional’ Facebook profile; specifically in regards to the healhy balance of displaying both your professional, and personal life. The dangers of maintaining this equilibrium go beyond the obvious examples of posting photos depicting excessive alcohol consumption, offensive language, risqué clothing, and any other type of inappropriate behavior. To be taken professionally, be very, very careful what you share with the world on Facebook/My Space (reminds me of the story ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes’). People seem to forget that everyone can see what you’re really not wearing.

Here are a few suggestions when creating a Facebook profile for professional business networking:

• Choose your Friends wisely. Remember your Friends can see information about your other Friends in your Profile.
• If you decide to use Facebook for professional networking, take a close look at your Profile and decide what you want business contacts or prospective employers to see – and what you don’t.
• Create a simple profile (or clean up with your existing one) with minimal graphics and widgets.
• Limit the photos you post.
• Watch your tone. It’s important to keep a measured and polite tone while on social networks. This is important especially on mainstream social networking sites, such as facebook. Post things you’d feel comfortable saying in person, and avoid inside jokes that only a few of your contacts would understand.
• Keep in mind, within most social networks; you can set up private groups where those kinds of exchanges will not only be more appropriate. Always keep in mind: “It’s better to be clear than clever.” “Don’t expect people to get it. Be very explicit.”
• Sarcastic humor and anger can be dangerous in social network postings, just as they are in e-mail messages. Always think twice before sharing!
• Post content relevant to your job search or career.
• Use Facebook email to build relationships with your Friends.
• Daily Posts. Post content that highlights your personal interests and your professional areas of expertise. As a real estate agent, you may want to post tips on moving, local points of interest, tips on selecting an agent, etc. Posting personal picture slideshows is fine — again, within reason. You clearly want to avoid the pitfall of displaying shots of wild revelry. But for all the agony about what’s acceptable and what’s not, remember that offering contacts a decent glimpse into what makes you can have business benefits. It strengthens relationships. It really helps establish connections. People like to do business with people they know.
• It is OK to de-friend someone. Be selective when you are asked to be someone’s friend. Don’t feel that you have to accept every friend request that comes to you. You may also want to “clean up” your friends list from time to time. While many trivial actions do prompt Facebook to post an alert to all your friends – such as, adding a photo, or changing your relationship status.

We’ll keep you posted with our suggestions on maintaining a professional Facebook profile. But until then, make sure you have fun with the website! It should be an enjoyable experience socializing. Just remember what happens on Facebook stays on Facebook. Enjoy!

My Best,
Christina Gurtowsky
Media Consultant
Market Insights, LLC.

Blogging. This internet craze is sweeping the business community. More and more companies are finding ‘business blogging’ as an excellent method to build additional web traffic and connect with potential customers.

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What’s a blog?
You are reading a blog….A blog is a daily pulpit. A political soapbox, collaborative space, breaking-news outlet. Your memos to the world: What do you think people need to know about you, or your business?
In simple terms, a blog is a web site you make a daily, or weekly commitment to updating. Your new entries will show up at the top so that your readers can read what’s new. From there, they comment on it or link to it or email you.

A blog is whatever YOU want it to be. When it comes to business blogging, there are rules of etiquette you probably want to follow. But in more general terms of a ‘blog’- there are literally MILLIONS of types… in all shapes… sizes… colors… and there are no real rules.

Why blog for your business?
It’s a form of marketing that companies crave, and money alone can’t buy. Business blogs attract search engines, showcase your company’s personality, and encourage customer participation. Readers may start to read your blog every day and pass the word around that your blog is great resource for learning about (fill in the blank). The goal of blogging is to create a trust factor with your readers by offering them insightful and helpful information. After trust is achieved, readers may venture to other parts of your website and, eventually, they may buy something from your business.

And the benefits of blogging don’t stop there. Since fresh and relevant content is a metric that search engine crawlers look for, your search engine rankings are also more likely to improve with every daily blog posts.

A good blogger doesn’t turn out over night.
Every individual has to walk his own path and learn the ropes on his own. I think the best way to get ‘good’ at blogging is repetition and constant learning. “Practice makes perfect,” this way you can easily adopt the habit of blogging. You can also read other’s blogs, and see how they write. Make a commitment to blog! Commit to blogging every Tuesday and Thursday morning after your weekly sales meeting.
Make it fun! Throw a little satire into your blog entries. That way, it’ll be more enjoyable for you to write, and others to read.

All companies, large or small, should have a blog on their website. If you own a business, then you are very passionate about what you do or sell, right? Okay… so blog about it! It’s that easy!

My Best,
Christina Gurtowsky
Media Consultant
Market Insights, LLC

If you are in the field of marketing and haven’t heard of or used web-based email marketing program,’ Constant Contact’, it’s time to get with the program! This service is a must for business professionals who wish to promote permission based, effective email campaigns. It’s simple to understand, and great for those who need to reach a lot of people, but don’t have a lot of time, or money to spend on the entire process.

Constant Contact is a Web-based email marketing service that’s ideal for anyone who looking to get immediate feedback when sending out mass emails. This tool is an ideal solution that lets you create professional email communications, build a permission-based email database of your customers, and manage your email campaign. The reports are the best thing about this program. You get to see who actually opened the email, clicked through to a link or forwarded it to a friend. You can also manage bounces and incorrect emails from this super easy platform.

Whether you’re interested in sending out promotional emails with special offers or informational newsletters, the program offers a wide selection of ready-to-use templates to choose from.

You can also build code into your web site and it allows visitors to sign up for any lists you may have. For example I manage multiple lists and guests can choose to sign up for my e newsletter, Trenton events and coupons, Festival information, Rotary information and much more. When they sign up, it automatically is added to your account, no need to retype or collect in any other manner.

Constant Contact offers a free 60 day trial to give new users a chance to explore the benefits of their service, while working on building a list from their website or email campaign. We can refer a link and you get an additional $30 credit to your account! Let me know if you’d like one kane@marketinsights.us.

They even have a Facebook page if you want to check what others are saying. http://www.facebook.com/constantcontact

My Best,
Kathy Kane
Market Insights, LLC

Do you want to get the best results out of Twitter when marketing for your local business? In order to achieve success through every tweet, it is essential one examine and fully understand the following:

-What are competitors saying about your product and company?
-What do customers and prospects have to say about your product and company?
-What your competitor’s customers are saying about their own product?

If you want to rise above your competition and receive rad reviews from your customers, it’s essential you place customer satisfaction at the top of your list of priorities! No one wants to buy from a company with unhappy customers. The best way to build brand awareness is through excellent reviews and happy current customers; it’s critical to study and be able to identify what exactly your customers are saying.
When building brand awareness, it’s imperative one NEVER ignore a customer complaints. If there are issues, it’s critical they be recognized and addressed head on, immediately.

Moving forward, here are some positive ways of handling a negative situation:

Establish an immediate way of communication channel with the customer where the comment originated. Social media is not the forum to work through specific customer issues. Use this as an opportunity to express your concerns and encourage the customer to communicate off line. Customers want to be heard; so make sure you making it clear that as a company you are indeed listening.

Many top notch, successful companies have appointed individuals or an entire department to specifically monitor Twitter for the faintest mention of customer dissatisfaction, so that these concerns are addressed immediately. Many companies would rather take extreme measures to ensure customer satisfaction, than run the risk of degradation of our brand and hesitation in purchase intent.

My Best,
Christina Gurtowsky, Sales Coordinator
Market Insights, LLC

So what exactly is niche marketing? And what exactly does this term mean? Niche Marketing is about developing products or services that are directly fulfilling the needs and wants of a specific, narrow group.

Most solo business owners share a common struggle with the idea of niche marketing. But it works and heres why. Marketing experts state the narrower the niche; the stronger your business will be. This applies just as long as you choose a niche that is accurate and reflects an authentic need.

By narrowing down your market, you will get way more referrals because people will know exactly what your specialty is and who to send to you. Research has shown it is much more profitable to market to a narrower group. It is all about fully understanding the needs and wants of this group and then providing a variety of products and services to offer value to them.

In addition, your clients will be able to tell their friends about your company, and perhaps even refer more people to your way. Niche marketing makes it possible for people to better view you as an expert in your field. By being the best, and most knowledgeable, it is more likely you will get asked to compose articles on your subject, and speak to groups at conferences or seminars.

When you know who are you are marketing to it’s easy to determine where your marketing energy and dollars should be spent.

It’s essential for your business’s success to master and focus on your niche market. Are you still experiencing trouble with identifying who your niche market is? If you answer “yes,” consider taking some time to ask yourself these following questions:

-How do I set myself apart from the competition?
-What is it that my current clients have in common?
-What is different about the services or products that I offer?
-What are the “extras” that I bring to the market?

Still experiencing trouble finding the answer? Contact us! Market Insights is specialized is helping local businesses uncover and reveal their most sought after talents. We will help you narrow it down, and then market it from there. Take advantage of our services that you may share a particular interest or expertise in, and see where that can lead you! By the way our “niche” happens to be the Downriver area, in Southeast Michigan, getting to know the Downriver market is unique so let us show you how they like to be marketed to!

My Best,
Christina Gurtowsky, Sales Coordinator
Market Insights, LLC

There is an old saying, “It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.” Being well connected to the right people, serves as a great advantage in the professional world.

There is traditional, in person networking. This involves strong introductions and handshakes. However, with larger group meetings, you must manage your involvement to network effectively. It also means to follow up on a handshake or pre-luding a handshake with a little on-line finesse.

E-mailing has also become a successful networking tool. It makes regular contact easy, without being as intrusive and pushy as telephone calls. Through means of email, you are able to exchange items of mutual interest, such as discussion of news items, photos, and websites. This may be a casual means of follow up after you meet at a business event.

Online networking has the multiplying viral effect, which sets it apart from the Internet. Beyond the value of Twitter and Facebook for social networking, online business networking communities such as Plaxo and Linkedin have become essential tools. After each networking event are you taking business cards you collected and seeing if these folks are on your social radar. If not, ask to become friends on-line!

Here are some dos and don’ts to help personal networking effectiveness:
-Do have plenty of business cards to hand out, and help people to remember you beyond just your business card.
-Don’t get stuck with someone who has nothing to offer. (“Excuse me, I see someone…”)
-Don’t fall into the rut of sticking with someone you know. Circulate to find new people and new ideas.
-Don’t ask for favors without offering something in return.
-Do follow-up quickly, and stay in touch to develop the contact. Follow up through adding them to your facebook, twitter, and linkedin.
-Do build relationship bridges, offering information of mutual interest to fuel the friendship.

Remember networking is by far one of the most rewarding activities in a professional can engage in. And we only get better with practice! So practice everyday becoming a regular networker, and make sure to count your connections. So often, relationships are critical to success. And it’s now a case of shared success – with what you can give being as important as what you get out of your networking success and use all the tools available to get networked where ever you are!

Our Best,
Kathy Kane & Christina Gurtowsky
Market Insights, LLC

Many of us have replaced the “coffee” in our vocabulary to, “Starbucks.” No longer are we grabbing a “coffee” during our lunch break; instead we are running out to grab our daily ‘Starbucks’ fix.

This multi-million dollar franchise not only sells coffee; it sells an experience. Essentially when you buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks, you’re buying status. The company has proven extremely successful in conveying its vision to customers. Time and time again, Starbucks convinces customers it’s acceptable to pay more for something you could buy for less somewhere else.

The marketing strategy for Starbucks is not one commonly seen in many businesses today. Did you ever realize that it’s a rarity for you to find a Starbucks ad in a newspaper, television commercial, ad space, or billboard; as compared to other popular coffee establishments often seen through these venues, like McDonalds or Tim Hortons?

Let’s explore the marketing techniques Starbucks has implemented over the years in order to create this global coffee phenomenon:

Starbucks is a “Third Place.” From the very beginning, their marketing strategy has focused on creating Starbucks as the “third place” to go to between home and work. Creating this relaxing and unique “experience” for people has been imperative for the company as they recognize this one of the most categorical concepts attached to the company.

Starbucks Sells the “Perfect Cup of Coffee.” According to their history, Starbucks has demonstrated a huge emphasis on product quality. Their coffee, even if priced slightly more expensive than expected, is known for attracting customers with its rich, delicious taste and aroma. From the time you step foot into the store; to your very last sip, it is a must that customers fully feel the uniqueness of enjoying their Starbucks coffee experience. Without a doubt, Starbucks Coffee Company knows the answer to the question, “Why is customer service important.”

The Marketing and Sales of Starbucks. Instead of marketing through big and flashy billboards and advertisements, Starbucks has gone with the more traditional route. If you pay attention to popular television shows, or movies, characters are often seen sipping on a Starbucks coffee. It’s a subtle, yet tactful way to grab their targeted audience’s attention.

Image advertising, such as these, is the company’s primary medium.

Starbucks has carried out their marketing strategy by moving distribution into department stores, grocery stores, movie theatres, businesses, airports, and college campuses.

Many brands and businesses can learn a great deal from the way Starbucks conducts their business. They excel in knowing their customer wants, needs, and most effective way to reach them.

With all of the company’s positive achievements, its evident the root of their success is effective communication with their customers.

Starbucks places communicating with their customers and potential customers at the top of their list for priorities. Can you say the same about your company?

By Christina Gurtowsky, Sales Coordinator and guest blogger
Market Insights, LLC