JOHNA BURKE: Hello, this is Johna Burke with BurrellesLuce, and I’m here at the Bulldog Media Relations Summit. I’m here with Jennifer.
Jennifer, will you please introduce yourself?
JENNIFER HA: Hi. I’m Jennifer Ha, executive director of digital media at New York Public Radio. And I’m here at the conference and I’d love to tell you how you can get in touch with us at New York Public Radio. So the best way is through email, and we do read our emails.
And also know who you’re trying to reach and what they cover because it’s really important to target your pitches and understand what’s important to the person that you’re pitching to. Also, please do not use red exclamation points, please, please, please. That means emergency to me. Because if you do use one, I’ll put you in our spam filter. Sorry.
BURKE: Excellent tip. And especially if, you know, you’re trying to represent your client or your organization, you know, it’s just as important to know what not to do as to know what to do. Jennifer, thanks so much. Where can people find you in social media?
HA: We’re on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube. You name it, we’re on it.
Retargeting – when online targeted advertising is delivered to consumers based on previous Internet actions that did not result in a past conversion – has become more importunate (persistent) as we continue to increasingly use the Internet to shop, order food, book travel, monitor the news or for pretty much anything you want to do without leaving the house.
It is also becoming more widely used within the advertising arena. With so many similar brands in the market it is hard to differentiation yourself from the other guy, and this form of remarketing can help to successfully convert those lost opportunities.
Oddly enough, after reading Learmonth’s post I was having dinner with my friend Nancy who was “weirded out” by a similiar experience. Ever since she booked a room at Loews Hotel ads for the hotel began appearing on every website that she visited. She is a sales trader so PPC (pay-per-click), Twitter, retargeting, and cookies are not really in her vocabulary. So I thought it would be interesting to research if retargeting is as effective as marketing and advertising professionals believe and how it actually works.
According to Criteo, a company that specializes in scalable personalized retargeting, more than 90 percent of website visitors leave before converting (i.e., making a purchase, downloading a white paper, etc.) Other research has shown that it can take at least seven follow-up emails or phone calls with prospects to actual convert them to a sale. If we are only tracking those visitors that convert on our physical websites, we are simply losing out on a possible sale down the road. Websites these days are optimized for search and have the technology to place cookies on each visitor’s computers to measure the site’s true audience size, but that is only capturing IP addresses most of the time. Then they have us, until we remove all our cookies and empty our cache.
So how do these retargeting customized ads work? When a prospect/client browses your website they become tagged with a snippet of code, which tracks which products they have shown interest in. When they leave the website and begin visiting other pages that’s when the retargeting begins. Banner ads customized to their search on your site start appearing on sites all over the web, from news, social networks, blogs, etc.
Companies that are using retargeting firms, such as Fetchback, in their marketing strategy have seen a 592 percent increase in ROI and conversions up by 94 percent. There are many other benefits to this form of behavioral marketing. It helps streamline all of your campaigns and the frequency of the ads helps keep your brand on the top of prospects minds. (Most services have an integrated feature that allows you to place a limit on the frequency at which the ads appear, so you don’t bomb your potential clients and “creep” them out because everywhere they go they see you.)
Plus, your ads are not static on a particular site related to your industry, which usually does not yield a lot of traffic because that market is already saturated and are either already your clients or know who you are. With retargeting your ads you are only reengaging with new prospects that have already shown interest in your brand; you can focus on what their needs are and manage your ROI.
In short, retargeting helps build your brand and online presence, while increasing the chances of reengaging your audience. It is not going to convert all on its own and has to be used with traditional marketing tactics to be effective. So don’t eliminate your current strategies. It is also important to measure the effectiveness of your retargeting campaigns, ensuring it is worth the investment and that your conversion rates are higher.
This article from Inc. Magazine highlights a retargeting success story involving Scottevest and its partnership with firm AdRoll.
There is one downside to the growing popularity for converting leads more efficiently via retargeting and that is the possibility that people may have the choice to opt-out (a do not call list for the Internet) of all behavioral targeting ads. What does that do for brands that are following the rules and not hunting down prospects on the web? We lose the opportunity to generate qualified leads for our sales team and revenue for the company. If you do use retargeting make sure you limit your reach frequency because when people begin to feel harassed and stalked by brands they will opt-out; I would.
Is your organization taking on the strategy of retargeting advertising? If so, how successful have you been with campaigns and reengaging lost prospects? Do you think we should have the right to opt-out of all behavioral targeting ad campaigns or just the irritating ones? Please share your thoughts and ideas with me and the BurrellesLuceFresh Ideas readers.
I recently joined the Droid world. I LOVE my Droid Incredible. The coverage is amazing, the clear picture and fast processor allow me to view websites and videos on the go, access Adobe files with crisp clarity and truly work “in the cloud.” And of course the tool that every public relations professional needs at all times – a camera. The Droid comes with a 8 mega pixel camera for all your photo needs. But my real Droid joy comes from the many apps I now have at my fingertips.
I don’t know how many apps are too many or too few. After reviewing the app marketplace I downloaded, tested, and kept the following free apps to help organize and maximize my mobile experience:
AndroNews: Provides fast links to major news sources: CNN, USA Today, WSJ.com and BBC to name a few.
Evernote: My most-used, must-have app for organizing notes on all of my devices. The “cloud” at its finest.
Facebook: Full-featured Facebook interface.
FourSquare: Not totally sure why, but I continue to “check-in” from time to time.
Google Goggles: Snap a picture and launch an automatic Google search of whatever you’ve scanned. *CAUTION people searches yield XXX results
Magic8Ball: To help with my really tough day-to-day decisions.
Scanlife: Allows me to engage and maximize the QR Code experience.
TMZ: Celebrity gossip. A supplement to my subscription to People!
Touiteur: My Twitter app of choice. I tried several apps, including the Twitter app and found Touiteur to be the best, most feature-rich.
UrbanSpoon: Scouting new restaurants either at home or on the road.
Where: Provides easy-access reviews and allows local vendors to send me coupons when I’m in proximity of their location.
All of the apps I share here are free. I don’t mind paying for an app if it’s good, but there are so many great free apps you don’t necessarily have to invest to maximize your mobile experience. Though I caution you before settling on any apps; thoroughly read the reviews. Don’t be fooled by the overall rating. Upon digging deeper into the reviews I realized many of the reviewers who provided detailed feedback actually ranked the app lower than the overall rating. Those higher ratings were primarily just the rating with a very brief “It’s excellent” or some mundane response.
I know we have a lot of Blackberry, iPhone and Droid users who follow the BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas blog so I ask you to please share: What are your go-to apps? How do you use them to stay organized and be more efficient? If you are in PR or media relations have you helped create an app for your brand or client’s initiative? Can you give examples of successful app marketing campaigns?
Early on in my career I received a phone call from a client who began the conversation with, “Hey Valerie, I want to introduce you to a friend of mine…”
I very much enjoyed and respected this client and was thrilled that he wanted to introduce me to his friend. In my mind I fantasized about his intentions. Perhaps we would all go out for dinner, or maybe he was setting me up on a date… my thoughts were interrupted by the words “director of corporate communications” and “in charge of media monitoring.” My heart began to pound as I realized what was happening. I was getting my first referral!
Today I regularly receive such phone calls, but the thrill has yet to go away. While referrals add up to quantitative results of your efforts to build relationships, they also offer bona fide proof that your relationship is one of trust and confidence (Cue Sally Fields, “They like me, they really like me!!!)
In order to earn new business, you’ll need to invest both time and resources and maximize your opportunities in the most efficient manner. Below are 5 steps to help you become more strategic in your relationship building and increase the number of referrals you receive:
1. Perform a SWOT analysis. Identify your own strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and thenclearly identify the organizations you are targeting. As you consider different prospects and prospect categories, evaluate the customer needs against your analysis. Brad Douglas, vice president of sales and marketing with Shipley Associates, offers some excellent considerations to help you better assess your opportunities for targeting the right customers.
2. Determine the influencers you need to reach. As mentioned in this post from the Harvard Business Review, you may think you know the decision maker, “the one that is described in the RFP or articulated by those who actively participate in the formal decision-making process.” However, there are often key influencers within the organization who carry informal power as it relates to your opportunity. Take the time to uncover and develop those relationships.
3. Utilize ALL of your current relationships. While most organizations have a sales team or business development group, I am a firm believer that everyone in an organization, regardless of title or department, should consider themselves a member of the sales team. If you are proud of your organization and even if you are not (though you may want to ask yourself why are you working there?), it is your responsibility to help your company grow. Communication and collaboration between the sales team and other departments is essential. Beyond your organization, consider your vendors, partners and affiliates, clients, industry contacts, and even personal networks. If you aren’t actively using LinkedIn it is a great place to start organizing and expanding your network.
4. Ask for the referral! It is interesting that many people shy away from asking for a referral when they need/want it. Consider what’s stopping you. Are you afraid of creating an uncomfortable or potentially annoying situation? If yes, then that is good because it means you are thinking about and potentially being considerate of the person you wish to ask. And that is what distinguishes a “pushy salesman” from a friend you want to help. So be professional to and respectful of the person you are asking, their relationship, and their reputation. But don’t let that stop you from asking. After all, if you have real relationships, qualified targets, and a product/service you believe in, the person you’re asking should have no issue referring you and the person you’re introduced to will soon be thanking your friend for making the introduction.
5. Beyond ABC’s… ABH. While I certainly understand and appreciate the need to “Always Be Closing,” my personal philosophy is to “Always Be Helping.” In sales, and perhaps maybe in life, your reputation is everything. So be the person you want to be perceived to be – whether or not it meets an immediate business goal. In this case, that person is one who is helpful and informative and acutely aware of the needs and goals of his/her clients, prospects, colleagues, friends and family. In other words, take every opportunity to add real value and help them achieve their goals.
How are you making the most of one of your most precious resources – your relationship with others? Do you find it easy to ask for referrals and network when needed? What tips would you add to the list? If you are having trouble, what do you think is holding you back? Please share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.
PR Takeaway: Be succinct. Understand your message and be able to share it in a compelling manner with a few key bullet points.
2. Slow is now faster. Stories break on Twitter live as events unfold. Getting a story right is challenged by an increase pressure to get it out.
PR Takeaway: Anticipate journalists’ needs and serve as a valuable resource. Maintain an accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive online newsroom or press center. A quick responses and immediate follow up is essential.
3. There is a need to be more resourceful with resources. Cuts in newsroom operations means that journalists are working longer hours, with heavier workloads and a heightened sense of concern regarding job security.
PR Takeaway: Passing along tips and information that will benefit the journalist (publication and readers), whether or not it is for a specific client, will be appreciated and help to build a strong relationship. Likewise, those who are able to help journalists save time by bringing together multiple resources have a distinct advantage. For this reason I am very intrigued with the concept behind Heather Whaling’s Pitch with me!
4. The brand of a journalist is not always limited to the publication. Many journalists now have Twitter handles, Facebook pages, and personal blogs.
PR Takeaway: There are now numerous opportunities to listen, engage, and build stronger relationships with influential journalists.
5. Competition is more competitive. Social media has also increased the challenge of being the first to break a story or add a new and unique angle.
PR Takeaway: Exclusives are more valuable than ever. When you can’t offer an exclusive, consider whether you have a special angle or resource to pitch. What value can you offer the journalist to help him or her provide unique value to readers?
What other changes have you noticed in the field of journalism and how do they impact those who practice PR?
brands in the market it is hard to differentiation yourself from the other guy, and this form of remarketing can help to successfully convert those lost opportunities.
referrals add up to quantitative results of your efforts to build relationships, they also offer bona fide proof that your relationship is one of trust and confidence (Cue Sally Fields, “They like me, they really like me!!!)
