My New Strategy: Pair Up Prime Time TV Ads with Targeted Local Internet Ads

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Sam Martin
Simultaneously advertising on prime time TV and on internet sites may be a solid new strategy to touch consumers according to my analysis of The Nielsen Company's recently released 2010 Q1 Three Screen Report  entitled, "What Consumers Watch: Technology Enhances the Video Experience." 

The report provides information and data about households and their video viewing behaviors when using HDTV, timeshifting (DVR or OnDemand) devices, broadband internet, and smartphones.  The findings are interesting for local advertising buyers for franchise marketing efforts, and they suggest a new strategy may be in order.

The report finds that DVR usage and penetration into homes has increased 14% to more than nine and a half hours per month.  Interestingly, while DVR usage increases, the rate of commercial viewing during playback remains steady—good news for advertisers. According to the report, on average, "45% of commercials are viewed during [DVR] playback in Q1 2010 compared with 43% in Q1 2009." 

Also interesting is that 58.7% of people are using TV and the internet simultaneously.  This number astounds me and got the wheels turning.  Perhaps, integrating a local internet marketing campaign along with a prime time TV schedule could be an effective way to target my audience and reach them where they are currently absorbing a majority of their advertisements.  It may seem obvious, but paying attention to the data and placing advertising in multiple mediums where consumers are most receptive, in an integrated fashion, is a critical component to advertising success and is one of the Balihoo media team's strengths.

Whether you work in advertising or are on the other end as a consumer, I encourage you to check out the report.



Local Online Marketing Works - Take it from Groupon

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Betsie Richardson
Being in the business of local advertising, we at Balihoo are often asked by our small business owner clients about how to utilize local internet marketing. They hear buzz that their customers are overwhelmingly adopting online media. But the internet appears to our business owners as, well, the world wide web - rather daunting, and they don't know where to start.

Our retail store owners in particular spent much of their local marketing efforts in the past few decades hanging coupons on doors and running inserts in the local newspaper. This method simply doesn't cut it in today's fragmented consumer marketplace.

Online advertising is a great way to market on a tight budget and reach a targeted demographic. Google Paid Search (pay-per-click) and SEO efforts should be top on any local business marketer's list. Then consider what your local media outlets offer on their online properties.

Groupon's online display campaign in the NYTimes.com illustrates a great example of local targeting through online news sites. Admittedly, I was reading an article about Snooki, but my shame aside, Groupon's ad on "Boise's Best / Up to 90% Off / Get Today's Special" caught my eye, and I found myself adding to their click through rate. The special today happens to be laser hair removal at a high end spa in Boise. Well targeted at me - a young female professional reading the Fashion & Style section of the NYTimes.com.

Groupon is averaging 500,000 new subscribers a week. After they ran an $11 million promo for Gap, they gained 750,000 subscribers (see Advertising Age's article).

What to learn from Groupon's online marketing:
  • Identify your target demographic and only buy top-rated pages against that audience
  • Keep your message concise and easy to read (the less words the better)
  • Focus the message on the call-to-action
  • Leverage the measurability of online advertising - track your results closely and optimize as you see upward/downward trends
Are you a franchise owner looking for guidance with local store marketing? Check out Balihoo's white paper.

Let Us Organize Your Skittles

Friday, August 20, 2010 by Paul Price
Imagine a big jar filled with Skittles.  The Skittles are randomly distributed throughout the jar; a jumbled mishmash of red, green, yellow, purple and orange. The jar is on a machine that shakes it vigorously.  Now, imagine that this shaking action is captured on a video and played in reverse. There is no way that you can tell the video is being played in reverse.   When the video is played backward, the candies bounce just as they would when played forward.  You have no way to know if the video is playing forward or in reverse.

Now, record a new video in your mind.  This time, start with a jar where the Skittles are arranged in colored layers.  Moving from the bottom to the top, you have red, green, yellow, purple and finally a orange layer.  As the machine shakes the jar, the candies bounce and collide until they are again randomly distributed. 

In this video, you can easily distinguish a forward playing recording from one that plays in reverse.  This experiment illustrates the effect of entropy known as the arrow of time.  The basic principle of this model is that without the help of an external exertion of energy, a system tends to become less ordered over time.  Interestingly, this is the only physical property that seems to define the flow of time from past to future.

I got to thinking about this principle as I was mowing, weeding and maintaining my yard yesterday afternoon.  Everything in life follows this principle: yards, cars, homes, computer systems, roads and even business strategies including your local advertising strategy. It will slowly fall apart and become less effective over time if you don't continually test, measure and refine it.  For example, if local internet marketing was not a part of your strategy a few years ago, it may not have hurt your sales.  But, today, if you aren't investing in local internet marketing, then you are almost certainly losing opportunities.

Even if you are executing a successful local pay-per-click campaign today, it is almost guaranteed to be less successful in the future if you don't continually test, measure and refine your approach.  The same goes for all other mediums, strategies, tactics and local marketing ideas.  You have to stay up-to-date on the new tools and techniques or your competitors who do keep up will leave you behind.

As a national brand, local affiliate, reseller or independent small business owner, you have a lot to worry about, and probably don't have time to get into the nuts and bolts of fighting local advertising entropy.  That is where Balihoo comes in. We do that work for you; from ad builder software to email campaign automation, microsites and local media buying.  Click here to take a look at some of our whitepapers and case studies.  If you are a franchisee or product reseller, then direct your national brands to Balihoo, so that we can help them and you to get your skittles (aka: local store marketing strategy) to look more like this:



Facebook or Email? Where does your target consumer turn first?

Thursday, August 12, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison
"What is the first thing you do online on a typical day?"

ExactTarget posed this question during a recent research project developed to provide insight into how consumers interact with brands online. 

The study concluded with some interesting findings, including:
  • 42% of U.S. internet users use Facebook daily (69% of which are FANS of one or more companies on Facebook)
  • 88% of U.S internet users use email everyday (95% use it at least monthly)
  • 93% of U.S internet users are subscribers (i.e. they have opted-in to receive permission-based emails) 
  • 58% of online consumers check their email first
  • 11% start their day by checking FacebookExactTarget - Subscribers, Fans and Followers Pg. 7
Looking deeper, it turns out that how and where internet users start their online day can reveal a lot about how they typically interact with brands online - and what they ultimately want from those online interactions. 

TO SUMMARIZE:

Facebook-first consumers:
  1. Tend to share more information online
  2. Prefer that brands maintain a solid distinction between how they communicate via email vs. Facebook
  3. Engage with brands for entertainment or to be 'in-the-know' regarding brands' activities
  4. Tend to be younger - 43% of high school aged teens begin their day on Facebook (compared to 22% who start with email)
Email-first consumers:
  1. Tend to more task-oriented online
  2. Are more readily engaged through the use of deals, promotions or new product announcements
  3. Less interested in providing feedback to brands on their products and services without an incentive to do so
  4. Tend to be older
So what does this mean to you? Well, several things:

Skilled Coordination Marketers need to coordinate their Facebook and email strategies to ensure that they're maximizing their communication with their target audience. 

Messaging and Communication Balance:  Brands need to carefully balance their tone, engagement level and message to deliver their target audience with the savings, information, entertainment, deals etc. that appeal to them.

Both are "Keepers":  With 93% of online consumers 'subscribers' and 38% 'Likers' of brands on Facebook, both email and Facebook are powerful tools for connecting your brand to your target consumer.


Ultimately, national brands' (and their dealers, distributors and affiliates) have local advertising needs that could greatly benefit from carefully planned and researched integrated marketing plans.  Balihoo's local marketing automation and services solution (which includes Facebook and email - as well as TV, Direct Mail, POP, Radio, Display, Outdoor, Newspaper, Magazine, etc.) AND co-op functionality AND a professional media team can streamline the efforts of virtually any local business owner, product distributor, dealer, etc.

Optimizing your facebook and email effort is just the tip of the iceberg! Explore the possibilities by scheduling a demo today!

The Basics Of Pay-Per-Click

Friday, August 6, 2010 by Sam Martin
One of my responsibilities at Balihoo is managing pay-per-click campaigns for several local franchisees.  A couple years ago I knew absolutely nothing about pay-per-click advertising, but since then I have tried to learn as much as I possibly can, not only my personal satisfaction but to better serve our clients local store marketing efforts.

The one thing I have found about pay-per-click is that on the surface is it pretty straight forward but the minute you dive in a little deeper it gets fairly complicated.  There are a lot of dials to turn and buttons to push in order to make a campaign perform at its best.  The complexity of PPC creates a challenge when trying to describe how it all works to clients that have never been engaged with local internet marketing.  To hopefully help in this area, I recently built a slide deck that gives a brief overview of what PPC is and how it can benefit local store marketing.

The purpose of this deck was to provide a resource for our clients to reference and gain a better understanding of PPC at a high level.  I also wanted to address a few of the questions that I get on a regular basis from clients who are just starting with PPC - Why isn't my ad showing or Why is my competitors ad above mine?

So, if you want to learn some basics of pay-per-click advertising, check out the presentation and don't forget to download our whitepaper to find out more about Balihoo.





Local Internet Marketing: Ready for Back-to-School?

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

As a local business owner or distributor with local advertising needs, you’re probably more than a little familiar with circulars (i.e. those advertising inserts that are always falling out of your newspaper).  If you've used circular advertising in the past, you've probably wondered how many of your own ads are falling out of the papers - only to go unseen by your target consumer... 

What if your circular was digitally buzzing around the internet's most popular social networks and landing in front of your local customers? 

Today, with the newspaper industry struggling to attract ad dollars and our society's flat-out addiction to the internet, it's fitting that new circular-specific applications are hitting social networks. ShopLocal just launched (yesterday) a new set of applications that enable retailers with local advertising needs to add circulars and ads to Facebook pages (already being implemented by JCPenny, Office Depot, CVS, etc.). In addition, on Monday Microsft Advertising introduced a new localized interactive circulars experience (added to MSN Local Edition) that allows past and potential customers to "grab" savings as they need them.

Perfect timing considering a recent Burst Media survey indicates that the internet will be a key shopping tool for back-to-school shoppers.  With just under half (48.9%) of survey takers reporting that they'll go online to research a product/service for the school year and 47.1% of them acknowledging that they're influenced by online ads geared toward the back-to-school season - it's a pivotal time to make sure that your products/services are easy to find online (assuming your target audience falls in this bucket). 

While ShopLocal and Microsoft's new tools are currently being utilized primarily by retailers, there is no reason that such functionality couldn't and shouldn't also be provided to a brand's distributors and resellers and/or to a chain's franchisees. While we wait for this application to appear....(*glances hopefully at the Balihoo product/development team (who have already developed some awesome social networking functionality)*) you can get ready by getting your Facebook page setup and connecting with your past or potential local customers.

Broadcast your current sale to local customers! Offer a unique discount to Fans! Just get involved with your local customers online by providing them with value (savings, information, entertainment, etc.) - you won't be sorry!

Got great customer service? Flaunt it!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 by Kallen Hayes
A few days ago I encountered what struck me as a very unique online banner ad for Zappos.com.  It was an image of a charming customer service representative with a speech bubble that read 'Happy to help 24/7".  How interesting, I thought, that the message of the advertisement was focused not on Zappos' wonderful selection of shoes, their speedy (free!) delivery, or even their multitude of other clothing and home goods offered for sale on their website, but rather on their customer service!  I figured it was not just a standalone banner ad that I had stumbled upon.  I knew there had to be a good sized campaign going on with more of these charming puppets promoting Zappos famous customer service and quirky (er... charismatic) employees.

Zappos Online AdPerhaps I've been living in a cave for the last few months to not have already seen this retail marketing campaign on any other media outlets.  After just a little bit of investigating, I learned the campaign, developed by Mullen, currently spans TV, print, and online video, and has already garnered quite a bit of attention for its trailblazing focus on the company's customer service department.  The ads center around phone calls made by Mullen employees posing as actual customers making unusual (and rather hilarious) requests.  The puppets fielding the phone calls are modeled off of real-life Zappos employees.  Their responses to the requests are authentic -- the employees didn't know the calls were pranks.  (I can't help but make a comical comparison to the Crank Yankers episodes).
 
The campaign is clearly taking the lead in a recent trend to bring customer service out from the dark cubicles of off-shore office buildings and onto the center stage of integrated marketing plans.  Customer service has for too long been considered a cost center for companies, and hasn't received the attention and promotion it deserves.  As service departments improve, it makes sense that this aspect of a business would naturally become a bragging point to attract new customers.  Ann All supports this idea in her article, Customer Service: a Selling Point for Those That Get It Right.  She says customer service as subject matter for sales and marketing is smart because great customer service is an excellent differentiator from the masses of other companies who've neglected that department.  

As more customer interactions move to the online platform, companies are beginning to realize that their online presence --be it their website, their online chat services or their local internet marketing-- must convey the empathy and personalities of the people behind the technology.  For Zappos, even their tagline 'Powered by Service' aims to draw the attention away from their highly advanced warehousing and shipping technology to the actual people manning their phones, executing orders, and happily on call to serve their customers.   

I know for a fact that our company, Balihoo, is making great strides to reach out to our current and prospective customers to understand their wants and needs in order to continue moving forward as a customer-centric company.  We want to design our local marketing software as an easy to use self-service portal while at the same time providing fantastic customer service to our end users seeking technical support or professional help with their media planning strategy.
 
Kudos to Zappos for being one of the first companies to embrace the new age of customer service and to step out with a memorable and entertaining campaign that rightfully gives tribute to its valued customer service agents.  From the ads' featured customer interactions it's clear that the contagious energy and joyful attitude of the Zappos employees is easily perceived through every phone call and live chat conversation with their customers.  As the bar for customer service continues to rise, I think Zappos is a clear front runner in the game.  

New Advertising Services - We're Listening

Friday, July 30, 2010 by Betsie Richardson
When Nobel Biocare asked Balihoo to partner with them to provide local consumer advertising for their dental implant clinician clients, we jumped at the opportunity. We initially rolled out a subscription service that provides clinicians with a soup-to-nuts advertising campaign. We are excited to announce that we have added two new subscriptions to our service offerings. We have our clients to thank for communicating what they want, and we listened!

In the initial "Platinum" Subscription, we start by diving into the market to develop a cross-medium annual strategy with budget allocation, detailed tactics and demographic research. The service also includes a suite of creative material that includes TV, radio, print, direct mail, online, internet paid search - the full gamut. We load this material into our proprietary co-op marketing software where clinicians can customize it to their brand and objectives. Finally, we perform local media buying and post-buy analysis.

Having consulted with hundreds of dental implant clinicians over the past year, we have learned a lot about what they want in an advertising campaign. Importantly, we learned many clinicians are not ready to dive into a mass media advertising campaign, the cost barrier aside. They are simply not ready to see their name on TV or a billboard. This puts them in a defensive position with their GP referral base that they may not be ready to manage. They are, however, very comfortable with Internet marketing and hosting free patient education seminars through their local newspaper.

These learnings combined, we came up with the Gold and Silver Subscriptions.

Gold includes:
  • Print (newspaper & direct mail)
  • Online (Google AdWords bidding & E-mail)
  • Microsite (w/customizable offers that update immediately)
  • Media Buying
  • Account Management
Silver includes:
  • Online (Google AdWords bidding & E-mail)
  • Microsite (w/customizable offers that update immediately)
The Gold subscription includes material focused on marketing patient education seminars. Silver will eventually include microsites that market dental services other than implants (i.e. wisdom teeth, veneers, crowns and bridges, etc.) We will continue to deliver services as our clients ask for them and always welcome new ideas!
Are you a Nobel Biocare customer? Are you interested in local marketing ideas to grow your dental implant business? Go to www.dentalmarketing.balihoo.com to learn more or download our whitepaper here.

FACEBOOKISTAN

Friday, July 23, 2010 by Alex Fascilla
In 2004, I remember Facebook emerging (seemingly) from nowhere as a new social networking site intended solely for college students (going so far as to require a .edu email address to even sign up).  It was very blue, and very simple--example: remember the days before the News Feed?  The days when the 'Poke' finger took up like half your welcome page?  It was 'social networking' at its best...   if Mark Zuckerberg intended social networking to be a platform for co-eds to pepper each other with Status Updates like "dude, I got soooooo blaaaasted last nite" and maintain Interests like "Being Drunk".  Nice, Zuck.

Fast forward to 2007, and we see a donnybrook begin to form. FB starts to throw its weight around by opening up service to high school students and suddenly you're either a MySpacer or a Facebooker.  Those that preferred clean lines, a simple interface, and legitimate friend requests choose Bookface.  Those that didn't mind a clunky interface, albeit full customization possibilities, and loads of fraudulent friend requests sided with MySpace.

Now recall Facebook circa 2008-09 (shouldn't be too hard, 2009 was like, less than a year ago).  As FB opened up to the whole of humanity, youth everywhere were able to painfully recount their story of hovering over the "Ignore" button before frustratingly clicking "Accept" after receiving the dreaded Parental-Unit Friend Request--to me, when this occurred, the party was over. The lights were flipped on, the beer was dumped out.
(Hey, the after-party still rages on Twitt...  ughh, forget it).

Enlarged To Show Texture

Present day? As Media Life Magazine recently reported, Facebook just hit 500 million users.  When I got my own P-UFR, around the summer of 2009, there were half as many users. In that article, Media Life astutely notes that if Facebook were a nation, it would be the earth's 3rd most populous.  500 million? That's a full 1/14th of the world's population.  What does this mean?  Well, it basically means that Facebook IS the internet.  I challenge anyone to visit 3 different websites on the internet that don't mention Facebook or feature a tiny Facebook icon. 

So what does it mean for the local marketer?  Glad you asked, considering that's the business Balihoo is in.  It means that just as you're clamoring for Search Engine Optimization and optimized Google AdWords performance, you should also be for a Facebook account.  Seriously, integrate this, right now, into your local internet marketing strategy if you haven't already.  You can set up a Business page (as opposed to the more personal pages I describe above) and customers, or, potential customers, can become fans of that page.  Next, commit to doing these things:
  • Spend at least 2-3 hours a week tending your page.  Conversely, limit your tending to 168 hours per week.
  • Share photos, videos, and blog about what you do, how you do it, or why you do what it is you do.  If you don't know why it is you do what you do, wow, I don't know what to tell you.  That's definitely not a good thing.
  • Respond to those that comment on your posts or Wall
  • Share links to news on your business or industry trends.  Links to funny YouTube videos are appreciated but probably a bad idea.  Unless you have a Facebook page, Break.com, then you should keep doing that.
  • Have fun (I just wanted 5 bullet points and "have fun" seemed like an easy way to get the fifth. A lot of people use that tactic.)
Moral of the local advertising story: if you're not on Facebook, your competitor probably already is--so sign up and get to postin'!  BONUS moral: a business page is much different than a personal page: the party doesn't have to end when you're sent a friend request from your parent company.  I apologize, that was a really terrible joke.   

Lessons from Old Spice

Monday, July 19, 2010 by Kelly Mason
You know the best thing about the new social media phenomenon?  Anyone can do it.  In the days of old, advertising was only for those with seemingly endless pockets.  The small local business owner could advertise, but he or she could hardly expect to make a dent, even in the local market, before the local advertising budget ran out.

These days, all you need is a little good old fashioned creativity and an internet connection - or just use the connection down at your local Starbucks.  Okay, so creativity is easier said than done, but every day you can find new examples of companies putting these cheap and effective local marketing ideas to good use.  And I'm sure every time you, as the small business owner thinks, I wish I had thought of that.

The small business publication, Entrepreneur, writes about yet another example of one of those I-Wish-I-Woulda-Done-That-enducing campaigns:  the Old Spice videos.  Who knew Old Spice, your dad's cologne, would come back with such a cool, hip, not-your-dad's-cologne online marketing campaign? 

I will caveat, as the publication does, that Old Spice works with one of those companies with the seemingly endless pockets, but the article redeems itself with a very detailed and achievable step-by-step list of how to follow Old Spice's social media lead in your own local internet marketing.  

So roll up your sleeves, watch the Old Spice videos for inspiration (or, if you're already inspired, the attractive man doesn't hurt) and advertise like the endless-pocket'ers through social media and local internet marketing.



Arrested Development Alumni Go Viral

Monday, July 12, 2010 by Phil Bear
I'm a big fan of the too-soon-canceled Arrested Development. Not the music group either. It is funny. It references pop culture. It is post modern. It is a family show that brought together families, and helps remind people what life is about. Sound familiar?

Thanks for checking out my secret text, by hovering your mouse over this picture.
 
 It's basically like Little House on the Prairie, is what I'm getting at.
 
So when I heard through the grapevine (old fashioned term for reading something on the internet) that a couple of the besties from Arrested Development were creating their very own viral marketing company, I was pretty excited



I've probably watched this video like 100 times. But the question that the fellas from DumbDumb  (and ulitmately Orbit in this case) have to ask themselves, is it effective in terms of marketing. 

It seems that in order for a brand to market themselves effectively in modern times, they have to pull out all the stops. Gone are the days of relying on print and radio alone. In the above example, Orbit has gone way past standard marketing strategies of "the olden days" to reach their audience.

Balihoo has created local marketing automation tool for this exact reason. We know that in order to reach the largest audience, brands and franchisees need a local marketing strategy that encompasses media of all types. Our platform currently encompasses over 12 mediums, where local dealers and franchisees can access, customize, and execute local media planning from one easy to use place.

I'm curious, of the viral marketing that our readers have seen, can you recall the product they were promoting?

Come on!




The Frenchman: Word of Mouth Advertising

Thursday, July 1, 2010 by Betsie Richardson
Working for Balihoo, a company that focuses on local advertising, we look for signs of success all around us in our little town of Boise, Idaho. Let me tell a short story about word of mouth advertising performed by a certain Frenchman.

On a lovely blue sky evening in this fine downtown, after consuming some locally brewed fair at The Falcon, I happened upon a middle-aged man sitting at a table with mouth-wateringly delicious baked something-er-others displayed in front of him. I then noticed the cash box and realized these brilliant edible charmers were for sale. And then he spoke.

The eloquence that left that man's tongue still rings in my ear. "Mademoiselle, would you care for a sweet baked roll? I would love for you to enjoy this. Two dollars if you please." The man has hair to his waist, a neatly trimmed beard and donned a chef's jacket and hat. Was he pulling my leg? An Idaho-born actor with a knack for European accents? Questions aside, I had emotionally committed to the sweet roll before realizing I had only 20 cents on me. That Frenchman offered it up anyway with a huge smile on his face, asking only that I let others know of his product.

As it goes with Balihoo culture, we enjoy sharing such stories. Nico, one of our internet advertising designers, is hosting an art show at a coffee shop downtown tonight. I emailed the company asking that everyone not only attend her show, but visit my long-haired, French-accent bearing pastry chef. This sponned an email chain between people across the company - some admitting sitings of the Frenchman, others claiming he bakes in a top Italian kitchen after hours, others simply wanting his location and hours of operation.

Looking for more local marketing ideas to help your franchise or franchisees? Download Balihoo's white paper on Local Marketing Automation.

The Power of Word-of-Mouth Advertising: How to Generate it?

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

There is no question that word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing tactics can generate interest, store traffic and sales. Hearing about a product or brand from a real person is simply viewed as being more powerful - and in many cases, more "trustworthy" that hearing about it from the brand or manufacturer.

Today, one of the best places to generate WOM is on the internet. At a time when seemingly "everyone" maintains at least one social network presence - the internet is more influential than ever and provides brands with a platform to spark WOM (the not so easy part: WOM success requires solid concepting, precise timing and proper execution).

According to this study, the internet encourages brand-related conversations (thereby influencing our purchasing decision and brand preferences) and generates WOM more successfully than TV. While only 7% of all brand-WOM conversations occur online, 38% of people have brand-WOM conversations offline that are influenced by the internet (Yahoo estimates this 38% to be about 74 million people). Also of interest, apparently 15% of our conversations involve subjects, products or brands that we discuss (or back up) with information found online.

This discussion brings up two things:

1) If you are still dragging your feet when it comes to diving into local internet marketing - WHY!? Your customers are online and in your absence your competitors are getting all the glory.

2) Obviously not all WOM is GOOD - but if you aren't a part of it and/or ready to address it (good or bad) that's far worse! Get ahead of the game by planning an online campaign with the goal of sparking WOM buzz. With FREE tools like Twitter and Facebook - all you need is a clever concept, an appealing offer, intelligently planned timing and a targeted audience.

So, is your brand generating lucrative WOM action with its local internet marketing strategy? At Balihoo, our media team has a blast researching and developing unique, affordable, non-conventional advertising tactics for our clients' local marketing and media plans - who knows what they could do for your brand.

 

Time for Local Out of Home Advertising to Go Digital

Monday, June 28, 2010 by Ian Mundorff
Long before there was the internet, cable or broadcast television, even print, there was out-of-home advertising.  Almost elegant in its simplicity, it's tended to be static, 2 dimensional, and downright polite in its lack of intrusiveness.  In recognition of those features, us media planners have rewarded its contribution to advertising by paying comparatively low rates for your highway billboard and bus bench...a fault that the outdoor advertising industry has somehow spun into a virtue.

Ah, but then it occurred to them to plug in the billboards.  Digital Out of Home (whose acronym gets a second 'O,' robbing us of the pleasure of a D'OH) consists of the Times Square "Spectaculars" pictured above and the LED billboards on the side of the highway, but also includes the closed-loop TV screen you see in your local coffee shop, pharmacy, and super market. 

It's also one of those few media that has continued rapid acceleration in the face of the past few years' economics.  Leading U.S. DOOH network, Adcentricity, recently published it's 2010 Outlook white-paper, and sees revenues jumping from $3B U.S. this year to $4.5B by 2013, an enviable growth curve in a sluggish economy.

So why are those of us charged with allocating your advertising media dollars flocking to this emerging media?  Here are a few good reasons:
  • Reach: While it pales in comparison to the nearly half-million billboards that line America's highways (sigh), DOOH now exceeds 150k screens nation-wide, and reaches 2/3rds of the population.
  • Location, Location, Location: Only 150k screens? Yes, but many of those are in places where we're better able to distinguish the audience's mindset.  At the gym?  Perhaps you'd like a sports drink?  At the doctors?  You might like some aspirin.
  • Interactivity: Remember that part about OOH being static?  So much for that.  DOOH's pictures are not only moving, but interactive.  As dated as it is, this brilliant example from Nike through agency R/GA still gets me excited about the potential of a huge glowing wall.
What's this have to do with you and your local marketing efforts?  I'd like to tell you we'll be recommending a giant interactive billboard in Time Square with every media plan, but let's take this one step at a time.  DOOH is a great local advertising tool, allowing you to select from multiple venues, and, unlike broadcast, allows you to choose a relatively precise geographic footprint for your ads.  Speaking of which, even if you don't have a 90 foot electronic billboard loaded in our ad builder software, we can work with your existing television and OOH creative to find new and more select audiences.

If you'd like to talk about the future of what local DOOH can do for you and you're one of our co-op or franchise marketing partners, check out how Balihoo can help with your local media planning.  If you're still looking for a Local Marketing Automation solution, make sure to check out our demo.

Local Store Marketing 101: Location-Based

Thursday, June 24, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

Location-based service (LBS) providers have been receiving a lot of buzz lately. If you have any remaining doubt regarding the future success of LBS providers, consider the following:

  1. Consumers' growing demand for real-time, on-demand access to info while making purchasing decisions
  2. Skyrocketing ownership of internet and GPS-enabled smartphones
  3. Significant and widespread improvements in wireless carriers' network infrastructures
  4. Explosion of consumer adoption in mobile social media platforms
Intrigued? - Check out this iMediaConnection article to take a look at the major players in the field and receive some tips on how to incorporate location-based marketing into your marketing and media planning strategy.  

On another note - these kind of topics always make it interesting to look back at earlier predictions (below). With a bit more time - perhaps 6 to 12 months?) we might have to reconsider the "mobile at the local level as more sizzle than steak" statement - but those will be our 2011 predictions ;)  

Spend hours on Facebook? How's your wallet?

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Marcie Blagden-Ellison

With new research indicating that heavy Facebook and Twitter users tend to spend more money on the web than non-users, having a social network presence has never been more valuable for your overall media planning strategy. And the vast majority of online retailers have apparently recognized it - 9 out of 10 are planning on having a Facebook presence by the end of 2010 (Source).

This comScore study, indicates that the more time a person spends on Facebook, the more money he or she also spends online. Twitter users also tend to spend more dollars online (but not in direct correlation with their level of use).

Appealing to a huge number of Gen Y and Xers with their disposable incomes (see this post for more information on this demographic) and increasingly gaining older users, social networking is no longer dominated by tweens and teens with less power over their financial purchases.

For business owners with local store marketing needs, maintaining a Facebook presence can help build brand awareness, distribute information, build a sense of community, offer additional customer support and boost sales (both in-house and online). Now there's something to consider while contemplating your local internet marketing strategy.



 

Cabo Deals

Friday, June 4, 2010 by Leah Laskarris
I stumbled across a great deal in Cabo.  Los Cabos Guide is the most comprehensive directory available with detailed listings of hotels, resorts, restaurants and stores it's indispensable. Outdoor activities such as golf, fishing, horseback riding, water sports, ATV riding, SCUBA diving, snorkeling and beaches are regularly covered in editorial features. The program works like this: agencies that advertise in the publication do not pay them with money. Instead they pay by giving the publisher coupons (vouchers if you will) for their service, be it a restaurant, fishing company, whatever.  The publisher uses local advertising and then sells the coupons to people like us at a significant discount, 35-50%.

A couple we met recently bought (for an upcoming trip) $955 worth of restaurant and cruise dollars for $605.  A pretty significant savings! Here is the nice part... if you don't use them you simply return them and get your money back.  They have no expiration date so you can save extras if you want for your next trip.  Also, when you are down in Cabo, if you want more you simply go or call their office in Cabo or call the one in San Diego and they will have the coupons delivered to your hotel.

The coupons work like cash, but have no cash value, i.e. you cannot get cash back when paying your bill so always be sure your bill is the amount of coupons you have.  You cannot use them for tips either.  You simply order by saying, "I would like $100 at the La Golondrina restaurant."  If they have that available then you get it for $65.00.  If for example they only had $50 available then you would get that for $32.50.  Some restaurants and activities are 50% off.  I want to go to this Greek restaurant in San Jose which had a deal for 50% off.  So I will go there and imbibe $100 worth of food and drink for $50.  Not bad.... 

This new franchise marketing company utilizes co-op advertising, local advertising and local internet marketing which turns out to be a good deal for all involved.  They are adding new participants to their list as the popularity grows.  There are restaurants, activities, golf, a few hotels, car rental company, and some shopping stores.

So, the next time you are headed to Cabo, be sure to visit the site http://www.loscabosguide.com/discount.htm.


Big Outdoor Advertising Ideas

Thursday, June 3, 2010 by Tiffany Schrenk
When researching media vehicles for an advertising media plan here at Balihoo we make certain to cover all of our bases, from television to newspaper advertising and everything in between.  Inevitably we end up requesting local advertising information about out-of-home (which comes in many forms: traditional billboard, vehicle wraps, bus shelters, etc). Out-of-home can be a very efficient media type for clients whose initiative is to drive brand or promotional awareness at the local level.  It's one of the oldest forms of advertising that remains one of the most effective.  I recently heard about two very established global brands who have turned their attention to out-of-home for upcoming promotions. They are taking out-of-home to entirely new and creative level.

Universal Studios Hollywood is making a real "footprint" in the marketplace on the promotion of a new attraction opening this Summer; King Kong 360 3-D. Check out the attached article to see where King Kong has been sighted and the damage he's doing in places like Dodger stadium. 

www.slashfilm.com/2010/06/03/cool-stuff-king-kong-attacks-dodger-stadium-and-santa-monica-beach/


JELL-O another global brand with a very strong following is once again teaming up with Bill Cosby (after a 10 year hiatus) this summer traveling around the country with the "Give it a Giggle Tour". Participants at 22 different locations across the US enter a traveling recording studio to voice their best giggle.  The winner will be selected by Cosby himself and aired within a national television spot. Click below to read more. 

www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/17/bill-cosby-jell-o-togethe_n_578592.html

During a time when most advertisers are relying on Internet and interactive media as primary advertising tools it's refreshing to see large well known brands implementing out-of-home into their marketing plans.  I encourage those responsible for local marketing strategy to reexamine this medium and integrate it once again in local marketing and media plans. Out-of-home that stands out from the crowd does require creativity and reinvention but it's not a lost art. Advertisers will be pleased with the amount of consumers that receive their message and how far the reach will extend.  


 

The Economist Praises the Deserving City of Boise

Thursday, May 27, 2010 by Kallen Hayes
 As an economics graduate, I've always been a fan of the highly regarded magazine, The Economist.  With articles covering topics from across the globe and a circulation to match, it does a remarkable job satisfying the thirst for international business and political knowledge.  Each weekly edition has a number of regular sections covering various areas of the world.  The United States claims a proportionally high number of pages reporting on national stories that appeal to the publication's global audience.  You can imagine my excitement when I learned Boise was going to be featured in one of my favorite U.S. columns, the Lexington.  And as if that was not enough, our very own company, Balihoo, was selected for the article to represent the tech companies of Boise.

In the article, In Praise of Boise, Balihoo serves as an example of a software company that is located in a relatively rural setting (by software company standards).  The article discusses how the internet and communication technologies have opened doors for techy people to live and work in environments outside the densely populated and expensive metropolitan areas that are typically called home by the technology sector.  In the article's opening lines, Balihoo's office is aptly described as decorated with bikes and populated with outdoor enthusiasts.  A large percentage of our employees, or as The Economist calls us, 'brain workers', found their way to Boise for the exact reasons the article offers: high-tech career opportunities, a low cost of living, and ample outdoor activities.

While I would have loved to see a bit more of a marketing plug for Balihoo, (perhaps we could have been described as a 'local marketing automation software company' instead of just a 'software firm') I speak on behalf of everyone here at Balihoo that we are elated to be featured in such an esteemed publication.  Besides, the high marks Boise received are the highlights of the article.  And as Boise residents, we all agree the praise is well-earned and we're in full support of the implied invitation to bring more 'brain workers' to our city, and perhaps also to join our team here at the bicycle-lined offices of Balihoo.

Facebook and Security: Does it REALLY matter?

Wednesday, May 26, 2010 by Matt Borud
As conferences filled with software engineers and developers saw, Facebook's recent f8 conference ended with a fervor of questions and controversy. Is user security protection at all a priority for Facebook? Does Mark Zuckerberg fundamentally (and mockingly) disagree with the idea of "privacy"? And does anyone, besides a few on the fringe, really even care?

As a college educated, tech-sector employed, target demographic, GEN Y Facebook user, I'd argue that when the chips are down no one really cares about their Facebook privacy as much as those in the TechCrunch/GigaOM sphere want you to believe. We've become so dependent on Facebook as our social lifeline and interaction vehicle that we're not going to be deterred by having to decipher a few (ok, ok a ridiculous amount) labyrinth-like privacy settings to hide your Mexico fishing trip pics from your wife so you can see what your 7th grade girlfriend is doing this weekend. Sure, we like to think when we delete a picture it's been removed from the annals of existence. And of course no one is entirely comfortable knowing that 3rd party marketers have access to the information we're conversing about over email and Facebook. But the reality is we're the ones that have agreed, whether implicitly or directly, to share that information.

We take web security for granted and really have no understanding of the measures in place to protect our information. As much as we pay lip service for better security options, we still pay our bills, buy and sell freely and analyze our finances all by entering our credit card, debit card and bank account information in countless sites across the internet without hesitation nearly every day. We still upload our pictures, update our status, and give our location data away on a daily - sometimes hourly - basis. And we're only going to continue to give more and more information away. We're used to third party ads littering our Gmail messages and spam messages with special offers from sites we've never visited. It's a part of the online experience we've allowed to happen. Pressing Facebook NOW to do more isn't going to change the direction we've already taken.

My friends and I used to joke when someone couldn't come up with a piece information they were looking for that if only there was a medium where information could be found, stored, and exchanged immediately. The internet has provided us with nearly all the world's information at our disposal in real time - so much so that it's difficult to remember what it was like to not know something without being able to pop open my laptop and look it up. Encyclopedias, I guess. It began with general information and has now taken off into our personal information and it's all because we've been more than willing to share nearly all aspects of our life online.

As someone at Balihoo who's tasked daily with providing small business owners (specifically those in the dental marketing industry) with local marketing ideas - how to use Facebook effectively is a topic that comes up often. Everyone is interested in leveraging local internet marketing to better reach their target demographic and connect with users in ways more traditional advertising doesn't allow. I've learned these kinds of concerns don't resonate with the causal Facebook user or advertiser. We're all interested in better connecting with our friends, patients, customers and interests, and regardless of privacy concerns, Facebook still allows you to do that better than any other service available.