Fairway Adds First Digital Billboard Just North of Raleigh

I just finished reading an interesting press release on dBusinessNews (Triangle) – The Triangle Region Receives its First Digital Billboard. This is something that I might need to make a drive out to Wake Forest to see!

The most compelling sales features of a digital billboard like this is that advertisers can change up their promotional offerings in a digital format, instead of waiting weeks or even months to change the billboard display. Restaurants can now target breakfast consumers in the early morning hours and run lunch-time, dinner, or late-night advertisements at relevant times of day, too.

Non-Profits Take Note!
“As a good corporate citizen, Fairway is utilizing its digital capabilities to help promote local non-profits by providing no cost advertising on the new digital display. Some of the public service announcements will benefit the following non-profits: The Salvation Army, N.C. GreenPower, Franklin County Humane Society and Meals on Wheels of Wake County.”

I checked out Fairway’s website and didn’t immediately notice any calls to join its non-profit program or to submit your organization for consideration, but it would only take a few minutes to email the organization or give them a call to inquire.

I’m sure the display won’t show video or other types of truly attention-commanding media, as driver safety is likely a major consideration when getting local approval for a billboard display of this nature, but simply having a different advertisement displayed each time a driver passes (or showing 3 or 4 while the driver is stopped at a red light), means lots of promotional opportunity within one finite amount of space.

I do have to wonder why Fairway chose to place their first billboard of this kind outside of Raleigh in a more suburban/rural location, but my first suspicion is that it may have to do with local zoning.

Have you seen the new billboard yet? Tell me about it in the comments!

PS – Merry belated Christmas! I hope the holiday weekend was good to you all! Tank and Delta are sitting home now in front of the window watching the snow from this past weekend’s North Carolina blizzard fall from the trees.

Cheers,
Lisa

Free Advice: Don’t Abuse Your Email List!

Four of the five local retailers that emailed me yesterday, on Thanksgiving, about their Black Friday and holiday weekend sales and promotions sent me the same email again today. That’s eight emails, from the same four retailers, within 24 hours.

Now, that may not seem like a whole lot, but when I deleted 50 more emails that had arrived from non-local retailers between midnight last night and 10am this morning, you can see how the competition for my attention as a consumer gets fierce!

I’m email savvy enough to use a dedicated email address for my lists subscriptions. One that I don’t require myself to check once per day and one that is certainly not connected to my Blackberry. Most consumers are not this dedicated, however. So when their email inbox becomes overwhelming, they start clicking on “unsubscribe”. And once they’re gone, they’re likely not coming back!

I’m going to just put this out there. Email publishers who email frequently, about the same topic, almost always see an uptick in unsubscribes when they took a quick look at their email marketing statistics. Oh no! That’s exactly the opposite of what they want to see happen – and quite unfortunate, too.

So remember the golden rules of email marketing: make it relevant, keep it valuable, and don’t overdo it! I also recommend analyzing your past email marketing campaigns to find out what really works for your audience. Think Tuesday is the best day of the week to send email marketing out to customers or email list subscribers? Think again!

Just because Tuesday at 10:00am seems to be the popular “buzz time” for email distribution among marketing types, I have personally audited many of my clients’ email marketing campaigns and found that each have their own personalities. And many times, the emails they’ve sent on other days of the week have significantly higher open rates. Why could that be? Again, you’re competing for your audience’s attention. Plus, your target demographic may have unique behavioral characteristics. (Teachers work from 7:00am until 4:00pm, bartenders work from 6:00pm until 3:00am… do you think they will be checking their email at the same time?)

If everyone sends emails on the same day, you better have the best subject line among the bunch. And that, is a whole ‘nother topic of discussion!

Want to discuss the analytic side of email marketing? Drop me a note and let’s talk shop! Not using an email service provider so that you can analyze your email marketing performance? Stop what you’re doing right now and send me an email. We have got to get you on the path to making your email marketing work for you! 😉

How are YOU Capitalizing on the Latest Sports Marketing Trends?

Fantasy football is one of my current favorites because the people who are into it… are REALLY into it! Some play in several leagues, some just play in one hardcore league with a lot of cash in the pot for the season winner.

Here lies a great opportunity for restaurants, bars, and even retailers to cash in on this consumer trend for several reasons.

1 – If you’re a restaurant or a bar that caters to sports fans, you’re a great option for a host venue!
No messy cleanup, no need to worry about bringing a cooler of having enough space in the host’s fridge… a restaurant or bar makes it a no-brainer for draft party attendees to show up, have fun, and then head home. This option requires the least effort on the part of the attendee or fantasy league commissioner. When you’re marketing primarily to men… this is a major selling point, in my humble opinion.

2 – If you’re a restaurant or a bar that offers carryout or catering orders for draft party favorites like wings, bar-b-q, etc., you’re a great option for party attendees who don’t cook!
Not all leagues are going to opt for the option to host their party at your bar or restaurant… and that’s ok, just make sure they still have the opportunity to spend money with you! My other half’s league had their party in our home last night and of the 10+ attendees, only three of us (that I was aware of) cooked their offerings at home prior to the party. (Truth be told, even though I did cook most of what we offered at home, I did send Nick out to our neighborhood Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar-B-Q(R) for bar-b-q, sweet tea, and hush-puppies… “because it’s just not a tailgate without the bar-b-q”!)

3 – If you’re a retailer – what draft party supplies can you carry or special order for your customers leading up to the big event?
Nick ordered his team’s draft board and supplies (stickers, rosters, etc.) online, but I’m sure I could have convinced him to Shop Local had someone been touting their merchandise offerings for draft party must-haves to local leagues. But alas, I’m not aware of any local retailers targeting this niche market.

4 – Work the concept for a different market!
When my gal pal Denise and I were hanging out yesterday, she mentioned that a local radio show host (Kentucky Kristin on G105) had been talking on-air about the Emmy’s Draft Party that she and her girlfriends had recently had a lot of fun participating in. The girls created their event around pairing Hollywood’s hottest with designers they were likely to be wearing. During the red carpet premiere, attendees scored points for correctly pairing Emmy attendee with the correct designer they were wearing! How fun? If you’re a bar or trendy restaurant, this sounds like a great opportunity to upsell girly cocktails, show the celebrity-studded event on your televisions, and attract vendors and sponsors wanting to target this in-demand niche with great giveaways, swag bags, and more.

So, how are you planning to capitalize on this sports marketing trend next year?

Can’t wait ’til next year? Target teams who have already drafted (pre-season games end this week) to come in and see how their teams shape up on a weekly basis in your bar or restaurant! The good news is that you haven’t completely missed your opportunity as this is an on-going promotion that gets more exciting by the week for fantasy league faithfuls.

You can read more about how national chains like Buffalo Wild Wings (and local restaurants like Garner’s Cleveland Draft House) are putting this trend to work for their businesses from the News & Observer online at http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/04/663556/chains-score-with-fantasy-football.html.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Link Shorteners

I posted this update to my twitter/facebook profiles this morning, but thought it was relevant enough for a blog post.

Pet Peeve: Email & other publications using shortened links. It’s fine for twitter, but otherwise, I want to know where you’re sending me.

Here are my views on using link shorteners/url shorteners in your marcoms (marketing communications).

The Good: URL shortening is used to reduce the number of characters in any web link – most commonly used to fit a link and its related commentary/description within Twitter’s 140 character limit. TweetDeck, a popular desktop Twitter application previews the link’s actual destination when clicked. TinyURL (a free url shortening service) offers a preview so you can decide whether to continue to the link’s destination or not (although it does require enabling and the use of cookies).

The Bad: Bit.ly, another popular link shortener, does not appear to have a prominent preview tool. From a professional standpoint, it does look appealing though because you can create an account and track the number of clicks your links get, etc.

The Ugly: The smart computer user needs to know where they are being directed on the internet! A lot of nasty viruses and malware are running around out there – and no one wants to deal with that.

While I appreciate the value of link shortening for twitter updates, I prefer not to see them on facebook, in emails, and even more so in online publications, blog posts, and articles. If not for the safety factor, there’s the other reason that when I’m reading real estate updates or marketing updates, I’ve probably already read the article on Realtor.org or Mashable.com that you are linking to. There’s no reason for me to click though to something I’ve already read!

So please – don’t waste my time or leave me exposed to security risks when you’re publishing links online 🙂

If anyone has any tips on best practices you’ve experienced for using and sharing web links using link shortening, please pass them along! I’d love to share them here.

FYI for Bloggers and Brands

Unless you’ve been hiding from media headlines since October, there’s a good chance to heard something about how the FTC (Federal Trade Commission – whose job is to “(work) for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them”) is changing how bloggers and brands can represent each other online.

To read the full news release from the FTC, visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.

The changes actually affect all testimonial advertising, bloggers, AND celebrity endorsements. But let’s just assume you’re not a celebrity, or hiring a celebrity, for a moment 😉

So how does this affect you?

The short and sweet is that when a review is given with non-typical results, typical results must be clearly outlined. The other point is that the connection between the consumer and brand must be disclosed. ie: The posting blogger must disclose that he/she was contacted by the brand and what the terms were, if it’s a brand they’re personally representing, doing it for a family member, etc., etc.

And for Heaven’s sake, never create misleading content. It’s a big no-no in advertising and blogging crosses into that territory.

Of course, this blog post in no means constitute any sort of legal advice and you should always, ALWAYS read the rules for yourself and consult your own legal counsel if you have any questions about how to interpret any guidelines.

Visit http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm and look under “related items” to download the latest guidelines for endorsements. (These are always subject to updating and revisions, so I’m not posting a link to the current document – instead, I’m telling you where you can find the most recent version.)

But Target, I Didn’t Buy Anything… I Swear!

I thought it was fairly interesting that I received an email from Target.com this morning with the subject line, “Thoughts on what you bought? Write a review.”

I thought to myself, “When did you buy something online?” (Because I haven’t.)

And then I thought to myself, “Are they now emailing me after I buy in store?” (And then I realized they don’t have any sort of loyalty tracking cards (like Best Buy’s Reward Zone), and I don’t have a Target credit card, so that couldn’t be it, either.

Inside the email there was a graphic encouraging me to write a review and a list below of some of my “latest buys”. Unfortunately, it was blank… because I said before, I haven’t made any online purchases.

While I think this is a GREAT email campaign to send a few weeks after an online purchase (giving the customer time to receive and use their purchased items), it really isn’t effective when there is no purchase made to back it up.

I, as a review-reading consumer, definitely don’t want customers writing review for products that they haven’t given any thoughtful use to personally – and I can’t imagine Target does either if they value the quality of their peer review system.

But What Do I Know?: The "Local" Concept

Maybe it’s just the OCD in me that gets me irritated when I see campaigns that don’t really drive the message home from start to finish… I don’t really know. But whatever it is, IT’S ALWAYS ON and “I can’t turn this thing off” (attributed to a few of my college friends who used that statement for everything, often leading to very funny results).

Here’s this week’s “but what do I know?” feature (enter sarcasim here): I noticed on my daily drive this week that Citgo is running a new billboard campaign emphasizing locally owned stations with something along the lines of “Local. Loyal. (the way it should be)”.

Maybe it’s just me, but I think that campaign would have a little more “umph” behind it if it featured a local owner standing in front of his local station. I know, I know… there’s more work and possibly a little more cost involved in running different prints instead of one same print everywhere, but we’re talking effectiveness here. Citgo’s probably shelling out millions in monthly marketing expenses – might as well make it good, right?

(Plus, I’m sure there are tons of local owners who’d be glad to have their station pictured on a billboard. Maybe even right below it or across the street? I know they’d do it for free and I sure don’t think they’d even need to help contribute to the cost, but I’m sure some would.)

I’ve always been very cynical of the fuel industry and its marketing (we have some great family friends who own a few stations and they make the majority of their money… you guessed it… in the store itself and not on gasoline), but if you’re going to try and tap into the local movement, at least put some crediblity behind it, ok? Pretty please? Thanks.

The Next Post Won’t Be About Twitter…

…promise!

But this one will be, simply because one of my recent “tweets” (posts on twitter) garnered a lot of attention and feedback.

My Initial Posts:
ncsulilwolf: 60% of Twitter users don’t hang around. http://bit.ly/BlmhL
ncsulilwolf: The original report about Twitter Quitters is here: http://bit.ly/hs7Rb

Tagged Responses:
DeirdreReid: Here’s my take on that – http://bit.ly/14WjWQ RT @ncsulilwolf: 60% of Twitter users don’t hang around. http://bit.ly/BlmhL

CommunityMGR: RT @ncsulilwolf: The original report about Twitter Quitters is here: http://bit.ly/hs7Rb

zacktm: RT @ncsulilwolf 60% of Twitter users don’t hang around. http://bit.ly/BlmhL

flipfloplisa: I bet the didn’t follow cool people like I do- RT @ncsulilwolf: The original report about Twitter Quitters is here: http://bit.ly/hs7Rb

Deirdre’s blog is a great read. IMHO (in my humble opinion), a 40% adoption rate is not cause to abandon twitter. In fact, in the internet world… I’d say that’s pretty darn successful.

Why?

Twitter is not for everyone. Neither is facebook. Or email. It doesn’t mean they can’t be valuable tools though that can contribute added value as part of an integrated marketing communications plan.

(Plus, I’d like to think that one day, the spammers and non-value adding twitter-users will make up a good portion of that 60% that end up jumping ship.)