North Coast Media, LLC

Tips for your call to action (CTA)

By Scott Gebler, Marketing Manager

The call to action (or “CTA”) might be the most important element of any marketing communication piece – and it doesn’t always get the attention and consideration it deserves.

Here are some tips to make sure your marketing pieces are getting the most out of their calls to action:

Determine what you’re really asking for.

This might sound simple, but there can often be a lot more to it than just asking your audience to buy, buy, buy.

The unique sales cycle of your product or service (along with the position of your audience within that sales cycle) is key in this regard. Lower costs and shorter sales cycles can be more direct in their calls to action – whereas big-ticket items with drawn-out sales cycles can’t.

In other words, if you’re trying to sell a $10,000 piece of equipment, it’s a pretty safe to say that it won’t happen with a “Buy Now!” button on an email. Your ultimate goal is still (obviously) to get them to buy – But the real question you need to ask yourself is what’s the goal of this communication if its not directly asking for the purchase?

Do you want them to visit your website for more info? Do you need them to get in touch with a sales rep? Is the marketing more about brand/authority building?

It can actually be counterproductive to hit your audience with extensive content and a drawn-out pitch up front (losing their interest in the process) when your real goal might be getting them to a landing page to capture their contact info, etc.

Benefits, not features.

It’s marketing 101 – “Sell the sizzle, not the steak!” – but try to work it into your call to action if possible. This might mean something as simple as turning a “Buy now” button into “Get results.” Anything that can make the message more about your audience’s benefits and less about your company/product/service’s features is helpful.

Make the call.

Once you’ve determined what you want your audience to do how to ask for it, don’t over-think it: Ask them in clear, concise language: Learn more. Improve (X). Act now! Download whitepaper. Call us. Get started. 1-Click registration. 30-Day free trial.

In print, make your call-to-action high-contrast, or use one of your secondary colors to make it pop. The same applies to web and email marketing – but especially so on buttons. Modern digital audiences are trained to recognize and respond to buttons directly adjacent to the primary content.

Call again.

There’s a line that you don’t want to cross and become too overt, but having multiple, varied calls-to-action is always good. In an email, for example, this could mean combining button ads, text links and linked images. Some of your audience might respond better to link in a well-written line of text, while others are drawn to the brightly-colored button.

Photo credit: Joe The Goat Farmer: joethegoatfarmer.com/

As the company’s marketing manager, Scott Gebler is responsible for advancing all of North Coast Media’s brands and their related products to both advertisers and end audiences. He has more than 10 years of experience in Cleveland-area corporate marketing departments and advertising agencies and is a 2004 graduate of Ohio University.

How to create compelling Facebook posts

By Diane Sofranec, Managing Editor

Launching a Facebook page is easy. Finding great information to post takes some effort.

But if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is correct when he said consumers in the United States spend an average of 40 minutes on Facebook each day, it’s well worth your time to create compelling content.

You want your customers and your potential customers to check out your Facebook page on a regular basis. Posting new content regularly will keep them coming back.

Consider sharing information your customers will find helpful or humorous, and remember to be yourself when you write your posts. Here are a few ideas on how to fill your Facebook page with interesting and engaging content.

Post content that showcases your company. Consider showing the evolution of your company logo through the years, taking a picture of your staff in action, or showing off your fleet of vehicles. Remember, anyone who shares a post with your company’s name or logo is helping you publicize your services.

Snap a selfie with your satisfied customer when you’re still on the jobsite, and post it on your Facebook page right away. This is a great way to spread the word that your customers love what you do for them. Ask nicely and chances are your customer not only will be happy to help but will share the post with their friends and family.

Post discounts and promotions that will retain current customers and attract new ones. Be sure to include a call to action (call us today at 800-555-1234) to make it easy for them to take advantage of your offer.

Celebrate the charitable work you and your employees do for your community. Take photos or video, and post them with a link to the organization you’re helping. It’s a great way to show you care and it spreads the word about charities that need a hand.

Share links to articles you think customers and potential customers would find of interest. If you own a pest management firm, for instance, perhaps the local news station reported on an outbreak of bed bugs or maybe a video of a pizza-loving rat has gone viral. Add stories like these to your Facebook page to boost likes and shares.

Include pictures and video with your text. You’re competing with hundreds of other posts, so you want to grab your customer’s attention. Use your smartphone to snap a photo or shoot video; the quality usually is fine for Facebook.

Encourage engagement by asking customers to post a photo. Request a snapshot of a squirrel or hornets nest, if you own a pest management firm for example. Or if the weather is bad, post your own photo and the ask them to show you what the weather is like where they live.

Show your Facebook followers what your company is up to. After all, the majority of people who post on Facebook write about themselves, so why should your company be different? Did you recently relocate or hire someone new? Are you just about to start your busy season? Are you restocking your truck or storage shelves? Snap a photo and share the news.

Every time you create a post on Facebook, you’re helping your business. Write posts with your loyal customers or potential customers in mind and you should begin to attract new followers.

Facebook Photo credit:

Photo credit: Spencer E Holtaway via Foter.com / CC BY-ND

Things to know when media planning

By Scott Gebler, Marketing Manager

Know Your Audience.

Before you can find the best channels to reach your audience, you have to know exactly who they are. Sit down internally (or with your client) and assess your audience down to the last detail. What are their demographics? Where are they physically located? If you’re B2B, what industry or industries are they in? What kinds of companies do they work for? What are their specific job titles?

Write everything down, condense it, and circulate it throughout the company for more input and ideas – a worksheet like this can be more helpful than you might think in determining what media channels you will need to look into.

…Know More About Your Audience.

Take it a step further – ask yourself:
•   What matters to my audience?
•   Why should they care about my product/service?
•   Why should they choose us over the competition?
•   What media are they really paying attention to?

You might end up discovering that the features/benefits you think are important don’t really matter to your audience – or that they’re not actually interested in the media channel you prefer.

A good media partner (like North Coast Media {ahem}) is probably already gathering this kind of information through audience surveys, polls, or third-party audits. Ask for it.

Know Your Budget.

“That’s all I have to say about that” – Forrest Gump

Know that Bigger isn’t Always Better.

A lot of times, the first instinct will be to lean towards the media with the largest audience number. While a lot of times that’s great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should ignore a channel with a smaller audience. That list might be half the size, but double the quality.

Again, ask the media provider if they have detailed audience insights.

Know Your Schedule.

Once you’ve set your media plan, make sure you’re prepared to follow through on it. Sure, you’ll know the space close and ad materials dates, but be sure to build in plenty of time for the design, production, review, revisions, re-review, re-revisions, re-design, etc. of your advertisement. Putting in all the time and effort on a well thought-out media plan… and then having to knock out a rush job ad in 2 days is not the way to go.

Know How You Performed.

There are a number of simple, inexpensive ways you can track the effectiveness of your advertising. Create a trackable vanity toll-free number for a particular ad or per channel (Dial800 and CallFire are two options). Direct your audience to a special landing page. Create special URLs. Use a trackable URL shortener (like Bitly). Provide unique coupon codes or quick response (QR) codes.

When the year – or whatever length of time your media was planned for – is over, these will be invaluable in helping to determine which ads and media channels worked best.

It’s also important to remember that these performance metrics aren’t perfect, though. If you prescribe to the theory that it takes between 6 and 13 marketing “touches” before you generate a sale or lead, there’s probably no way of knowing whether the ad you’re tracking is the first, sixth or thirteenth.

5 website mistakes to fix in the new year

By Diane Sofranec, Managing Editor

What is your New Year’s resolution? If it’s to have the best year ever, why not start by making your company’s website the best it can be? Your website gives the world a glimpse of your company; does it leave a good impression?

Take a long, hard look, and keep an eye open for mistakes. If you find any, be sure to correct them right away. Here are five common errors that may seem small, but could alter the perception the public has of your company.

1. Wrong copyright date.

On Jan. 1, be sure the copyright date on your website reflects the new year. Not only will the correct date protect you from visitors who think they can steal your content, it will give the impression that the information posted there is current and regularly updated.

2. Misspellings.

You probably have read the words on your homepage so many times you’ve practically memorized them. But that’s precisely why you may have overlooked a spelling error or two. Ask a trusted colleague to give it a once over. Be sure to pay particular attention to proper names and places, and correct whatever is wrong. An error-free website puts forth a professional appearance.

3. Outdated information.

Scan your website for such information as expired offers, reminders about events that have already taken place, and bios for staff that are no longer with the company. Pay particular attention to your “Contact Us” and “Events” pages, and watch out for phrases like “coming soon” or “register now.” Also, make sure your list of products and services is comprehensive, and add whatever is missing. Correct mistakes that give visitors the impression you never look at your own website.

4. Same old story.

If your “About Us” page has not been updated since your website went live, now is the time to make it current. If your company has since won an award, received good press, or relocated to a bigger office, add a sentence or two that shows how it is evolving and growing.

5. Nothing new.

When your homepage looks the same every day of the year, visitors may mistakenly believe your company is stuck in a rut. Start off the new year by showcasing something different. This time of year, many companies are reflecting on how their industry is changing and whether they are meeting their customers’ needs, so put this information to good use. A simple change now may give your business a boost.

Resolve to make your company’s website the best it can be. It’s a sure way to get the year off to a great start.

5 tips for event marketing

By Scott Gebler | Marketing Manager

1. Start early

It may sound simple, but promoting an event always seems to start later than intended. Way out in advance you might not have all the details — but as soon as the event’s date, time and place are set, it’s a good idea to get it on people’s agendas.

If your event is annual, this could (and probably should) mean promoting next year’s event this year. After all, your best and most loyal clients/customers will probably be right there in the booth, exhibit hall, presentation rooms and networking events.

If you’re the event host, there’s no harm having next year’s registration form on-hand at this year’s event. Some other ideas include:

Tiered, time-sensitive early-bird registration rates
“Frequent Flier” –style incentives for repeat attendees
Attendee-only discounts on your other products/services

2. Diversify your marketing.

For a number of years, I marketed an event with a registration charge close to $1,000 — a number that didn’t include hotel accommodations or airfare. Throw in the attendees’ indirect costs of time out-of-office and away from family/home, and you can really be asking a lot.

So how did that event’s very first registration come in? From a tweet.

They way people receive and process information is more diverse than ever, and your marketing plan should be too. It might otherwise be easy to discount the effectiveness of a tool like Twitter (or Facebook or LinkedIn or print or web ads, etc.) but it says here that they work when part of a comprehensive plan.

3. Remember what you’re asking for.

This really applies to all marketing in general, but it’s especially true in event marketing. Be mindful of exactly what each piece of your marketing communication is asking your audience to do, particularly your call-to-action. Do you ask them to register immediately — or should you direct them to the website for more info first? Or, is this a tougher sell that you want them to contact a rep?

And, as mentioned in #3, above, it’s also important to consider everything you’re asking of a potential event attendee. Registration fees are more obvious, but you might also be asking them to travel hundreds (if not thousands) of miles. You might be asking them to leave their family behind for a few days. You might be asking them to come to a new city that is completely unfamiliar. Acknowledging those things in both your marketing and your event plans can make a huge difference. You should address all these issues and provide solutions whenever possible.

4. Make hay while the sun shines.

While attending (or especially hosting) an event can be hectic, its important to take advantage of all the opportunities your face-time can present. Chances are, there will never be a better time for you to gather materials that can be invaluable in your advertisements and other promotions. Set up a video interview area. Go with a “man-on-the-street” approach. Hand out surveys to gather data and feedback. Bring a voice recorder. Take pictures. Efforts you make at the event could potentially provide you with a year’s worth of materials to use in marketing and advertising.

5. Don’t forget the follow-up.

From what I’ve seen, one of the easiest ways to NOT capitalize on your event is by forgetting the follow-up. Don’t forget about the return on your investment. Gather everything you can from colleagues and staff, compile it, and put it to work:

Compile all the lead information you can — especially the attendee list if you can get it — and enter everything into your CRM.
Keep up the communications, whether by email, mail, phone or on-site visits. Even something as simple as a “thank you” or “it was nice to see you” can be effective.
Encourage all staff members to take pictures and/or videos, then collect them all and store them centrally for future marketing.
Type up or transcribe all testimonials or quotes.