DaBrian Marketing Blog: News, Insights, and Digital Marketing

5 Tips to Jump Start Your Mobile Analytics

July 25, 2014 by Daniel Laws 1 Comment

Danny Laws, our principal owner, senior digital strategist, and chief dreadlocks connoisseur, covers his top tips to adopting mobile analytics*.

Learn to get your strategy in gear, your solutions configured, your reporting streamlined, and more!

Transcript

Hi, my name’s Danny Laws. I’m the principal owner of DaBrian Marketing Group. I’m also one of the co-chairs with Philadelphia Digital Analytics Association. I want speak to you today about mobile analytics. One of the things that we’re talking about mobile analytics right now in the space is that mobile search is on the rise, mobile usage is on the rise, whether it be a
tablet or a smartphone, and we want to talk about how to jump start your ability to collect that information and what you should be considering in order to get you moving down the path.

The first thing that we recommend here is connecting mobile analytics with business value. So what we talk about from a business perspective is, are we looking to increase brand awareness from a mobile perspective; are we looking to cut costs; are we looking to become more efficient. By walking down this endeavor of mobile analytics, is it going to help position the company better in the long run? Those are some of the things you need to be considering from a value perspective.

The next thing that we recommend is is aligning the mobile analytics with the overall strategy, so whether it be a lead generation audit, part of an auditing process, part of discovery or education for internal purposes, you want to align that back to the organization’s high-level goals and objectives to make sure that it’s part of the plan, and that it’s going to influence what’s happening within the plan.

So the next component would be implementation or to implement with best practices. There are number of analytical platforms as well as mobile analytics platforms you can leverage in order to capture the data. What I say to that is “Great, but at the same time we need to configure, we need to implement best practices.” We need to implement the appropriate filters, the appropriate segments and slice and dice the data, get the cleanest possible view that we can in order to better analyze that information.

So you want to make sure that you’re implementing with best practices regardless of whether or not it’s Google, Webtrends, SiteCatalyst, you name it. You want to make sure that everything is configured appropriately or to the best of its ability.

The next thing that I would say is to measure what matters to the mobile audience specifically, so that you can better impact what’s happening to those customers and for what they’re seeing, whether be resolution, whether it be device, whether it be operating system, you name it. You want to be measuring what matters to that audience, and when we speak to that we talk about the journey. So as an example, you might want to take into account the device, the behavior, the outcomes, and then analysis of the information that’s happening from your mobile audience and consider what’s happening, and take that into account.

The last component of this is to make decisions that impact customers. Ideally, user behaviors simplify the process, make it easier for them, make it a better process overall to help impact their ability to download information, to view information, to make a purchase, to fill out a form, whatever it might be.

Once you get to this process, it’s important that you continue to target, whether it be from a device perspective, whether it be from a platform perspective, you want to target and test what you can to improve and continue to impact customers in the way that they interact with your mobile site, with your site, whether be from an informational perspective or from an eCommerce perspective, to be able to impact those components.

With that being said, my final recommendation is just to do it. Pull yourself together, allocate some time, get the ball rolling, and seize the moment while search traffic is on the rise and people are continuously getting access to mobile. If you have any questions, any comments, don’t hesitate to comment on our blog, to hit us up on Twitter, or to reach out to us direct. Thank you very much, hope you have a good day. Good hunting.

A One-Two Punch Approach to Email Analytics

July 17, 2014 by Dabrian Marketing Group 4 Comments

You might think that video, animated gifs, or infographics are email marketing’s best friends. Let’s face it, email campaigns with all that rich content are bound to get you heaps and heaps of…results.

Okay, let’s stop there for a second.

The thing is, email is caught between two really important areas of marketing—technology and audience. On one hand, technology allows marketers to increase the functionality of an email, bringing it to life with animation and beautiful, cutting-edge designs. On the other, email is the marketing medium most susceptible to spam (and has the most universal consumer protection laws associated with it).

Today, many marketers are stuck with what is arguably a necessary marketing tool and the challenge of proving its effectiveness. I’m here to tell you that the amount of opens a campaign receives or the number of people who click through are no longer enough. These are metrics that you cannot directly tie to sales, goal achievement, or anything else that matters to you.

By the end of this post, though, you’ll have a much better idea of what to look for in the way of email analytics. For the purposes of this post, we’ll define analytics as the strategic use of data and measurement to make a certain marketing channel better. Consider what follows a checklist of the most important considerations when proving your email marketing’s worth.

Integration

As far as email marketing platforms go, you’ll be conducting your search among a sea of proprietary platforms. This definitely isn’t a bad thing, as custom solutions give you access to great support and consistent improvements and enhancements over time. The minor downside is these solutions’ inability to “play nice” with other platforms. In order to unlock the true potential of analytics, you’ll need to start by tying your sources of data together. Here’s an example:

Let’s say a mail-order, vegan pastry company decides to begin running email marketing campaigns to support their digital marketing, which predominantly takes place on social media. This company has a website which offers the ability for customers to place orders and process payments. In this case, we have separate sets of data in play:

Analytics data from website sessions (pageviews, bounce rate, etc.)
eCommerce data from the order system (transaction information, popular products, etc.)
Social media data (follower interactions, engagement, etc.)
Email campaign data (opens, bounces, click throughs, etc.)

As far as these platforms go, integrations are the only way to connect them to one another. Integrations most often take place natively or at the API level. With integrations between platforms, the vegan bakery in our example can differentiate email traffic to its website from social media traffic, understand how well a promotion targeted to its social media following performs in comparison to an email blast, or cater offers to past customers via subscription options during the checkout process. And that’s just with a few basic integrations.

With various platforms “playing nice” with one another, data will be more comprehensive, insights will be much more granular, and a clearer picture of your target audience will begin to develop. Once the data begins filtering in, you’ll need to be sure it’s leading you toward better decisions. That’s why the second step is…

Customization

Having readily-available, integrated data is one thing, but actually making it understandable is another entirely. Whether you’re showing progress to your internal team, your manager, or your client, raw numbers will get you nowhere fast. The task of turning numbers and graphs into insights and action can be an imposing one, but here are some quick tips to make the process easier:

Add context to your reporting

With your reports (in PDF format or otherwise), add text that ties the information back to a goal or objective.

Filter and segment data

Grab information that’s specific to a campaign or a particular audience segment. Be as granular as your solutions allow.

Strive for automation

Rather than repeat the same reporting process month after month, look to automate the process. Some solutions provide scheduled reports, shared assets, widget-based analytics, or some other way to access information in a streamlined way.

When in doubt, test and compare

This goes for subject-lines, template designs, and messaging. Once you find what works, do that consistently.

As you consider the email analytics options available to you, there are a few big factors to keep in mind. The first is limitation. No matter your final platform choice, regulations will always dictate the types of information that are accessible to you. But this doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to gather actionable insights into the return of email marketing as an investment.

Another item to keep in mind is that successful email marketing is about more than the platform you choose. You could pay hundreds per month, but without a strategy or an ongoing optimization process, it’s likely that you won’t be able to justify the cost. Understanding the “big picture” is vitally important with any digital marketing channel, particularly one as ubiquitous as email. You’d be doing your organization a great injustice if you didn’t decide to take advantage of the latest advancements in marketing tech. You just need the right data to back it up.

What’s your solution to the email ROI puzzle? Shout it out in the comments below!

The 5 Different Logo Types and Your Brand Identity

July 11, 2014 by Mark Mapp 17 Comments

Introduction

In my last blog on the basics of designing a logo, we covered principles to follow when designing one of the most important identity pieces for your business. We learned that a successful logo design should be simple, yet versatile enough to be placed on a variety of different media. Visually, its design should appear to be memorable and timeless, yet stay appropriate to its audience.

When working to develop a logo, one big consideration is the type of design you choose. There are wealth of resources out there that cover various logo styles, but in my experience, there are 5 that are most prevalent and also most important. Let’s get started!

1. Symbol / Icon

The symbol or icon logo benefits from being the least complicated style yet the most flexible of all the other logo types. Symbolic/Iconic logos should be able to stand on their own without the company name association. This type of logo should only be utilized by large or international companies where language could play a huge role in consumers not being able to recognize the brand.

According to a study administered by Tastyplacement.com, only 6% of the top 100 companies in the world implements this type of logo. In other words, startups and other new business ventures should likely stay away from relying on a simple image to define their brand. However, I believe that every business should gradually move towards developing a symbolic/iconic logo because to me it represents a level of awareness that comes with overall success.

2. Word Mark

The second type of logo is known as a word mark. Roughly 37% of the top 100 companies worldwide are represented by this type of logo (via Tastyplacement.com). These logos consist of a type font which is styled or manipulated to convey the identity of a business. Even without being styled or manipulated, fonts tend to give off their own impressions. For example:

● Italic – motion, change, timely, continuous

● Bold – strength, power, stability, security

● Script – formal, refined, elegance, prestige

● Hand Written – friendly, playful, happy, childish

Word mark logos are ideal for new startup businesses because it helps customers familiarize themselves with both the brand name and, ideally, a bit of the brand culture or personality.

3. Letter Mark

Letter mark logos are very similar to word mark logos in that they are created using typefaces; however, there is greater focus on just using first letter, initials, or an abbreviation of a company’s name to convey their brand identity. Unlike word marks that may contain a simple graphic for clarity, letter marks tend to be exclusively typographic.

This type of logo is best suited for companies with longer or hard to pronounce names. Companies with names that sound or appear generic can also benefit from letter mark logos as a means of differentiation. As an example, if a friend of yours told you that he was watching a show on “Home Box Office,” you probably wouldn’t have a clue what he was talking about. You may think he was speaking about some new cable network, but “Home Box Office” is none other than the vastly-popular cable channel HBO.

4. Combination Mark

Logos that integrates both a symbol/icon with text (word marks) are known as combination mark logos. According to Tastyplacement.com, 56% of the top 100 companies globally uses this type of logo style. A couple of benefits with developing a combination mark logo for your company are:

Having both a symbol and a word mark to represent your company gives you an additional level of flexibility on how your brand appears to customers. As your business grows and changes, parts of the mark can be altered, combined, or separated, but always retain a level of consistency. Many businesses today are following this trend.
Combination mark logos are also easier to register as a trademark than stand alone symbol/icon type logos. Many symbol/icon logos can appear similar without uniquely styled text (word marks) associated with them.

5. Emblem

Emblem logos can be considered combination marks to a degree. They are similar because they both include a symbol and text; however, unlike combination marks, emblem style logos are more integrated and enclosed to appear as one single graphic.

Because of this, emblem style logos cannot be presented as separate identity pieces like a combination mark logo, which gives them very little flexibility, especially in print applications or when resizing. This type of logo is very popular in the automobile industry as well as in the sporting world. Emblem style logos tend to resemble a badge or an official seal.

For the last example I decided to showcase DaBrian Marketing Group. Our logo would be classified as a combination mark because it consists of a word mark, a symbol, and a tagline. This type of logo is ideal for our company because we are a small and only made up of 9 employees. We are not well known outside of our coverage area therefore the combination mark logo serves us best.

Are you looking to design a new logo or take your current one in a new direction? Join the discussion in the comments!

It’s Called SOCIAL Media, People

July 2, 2014 by Dabrian Marketing Group Leave a Comment

Since the days of yore (back when MySpace reigned supreme), social media has been used as one thing above all else: a really great time waster. The reason social media exploded into being an integral part of our daily routines was because it entertained us. It allowed us to fill the gaps between our facetime by simulating it, and it was fun. Facebook came along as the MySpace reincarnate, and then Twitter gave us all the means to hear straight from the mouth of pop culture (I’m lookin’ at you, Bieber). Now, this isn’t to say that the “fun” social megdia platforms haven’t become more informational (see Facebook’s 2014 baby “What’s Trending”), so not every post or tweet needs to be witty or make your audience “LOL.”

But it still holds true that you’re more likely to scroll down to the video that “John and 3 other friends” shared of that cat pawing the keyboard (yes, almost 36 million of us watched this) than to read the mostly informative articles listed over there on the right hand side. So now my question is, why are so many brands struggling to grasp the very concept upon which social media was founded?

What Brands Are Doing

How is it possible to take a world-renowned brand of liquor coupled with a new flavor that resonates with a younger audience, and make it boring? Well, the folks behind Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey’s @JackHoney have found the answer. Instead of socializing with the fun-seeking young people who love their product, they have chosen to push a steady stream of advertisements driven by a less-than-stellar hashtag:

Listen, Jack. I respect you. I may even love you. But this incessant self-promotion misses the point. I beg you to take a look at Hootsuite’s all-powerful Rule of Thirds. Only ⅓ of your content should shamelessly promote your business. Throughout May 2014, that number was over 88% for @JackHoney. Not to mention, not a single tweet was sent as a direct interaction with your audience. You were tweeted at nearly 350 times in the month of May, yet you responded to none of those who took the time to try to connect with you.

If you’ve managed to pull yourself away from the feline-driven noise in the digital space, you’re probably aware that food and beverage conglomerate, Nestlé, has come under fire for their production tactics. This has led to some serious blowback from consumers through their social profiles.

When you receive interaction from your followers, you have two options. You can either respond, or you can ignore it. A Crisis Management Strategy (to handle situations like this) should always be on hand to aid in the formation of a response, but in Nestlé’s case, they have taken the opposite route. They have chosen to not respond at all, leaving consumers with nothing but a public forum to berate them, rightfully so or not. The criticism that has plagued their Facebook since February is showing no sign of cease-fire.

My point is, Nestlé, if you choose to continue to ignore these consumer complaints (as delicate as the situation may be), then you may wish to consider jumping ship and removing your social media profiles altogether. Social media is intended to initiate/facilitate a conversation, and if your profile resembles the likes of pissedconsumer.com with your refusal to join the conversation, then it’s time to call it quits. It’s called SOCIAL media, Nestle.

What Brands Should Be Doing

Taking Risks

Talking smack on an NFL team, particularly during the Super Bowl, certainly qualifies as a risk. But when handled with a brand-consistent message (and a little bit of playful humor), that risk becomes a reward pretty quickly:

Developing a Personality

Regardless of the nature of your brand’s personality (humorous, sincere, informative, etc.) it’s something that needs to be established. Perhaps the most prominent way of accomplishing this is to speak in first person. There may not be a more widespread consumer complaint in the 21st century than talking to a computer. Charmin is a prime example of how humanizing your brand (tastefully) with a consistent brand voice is a key to social success:

And (Shocker) Being SOCIAL

Similar to the class clown in high school, outlandish seems to resonate with us on social media. Just ask the folks at Skittles. They are widely praised for their use of social because of their unique witticism and their sarcastic interaction with consumers. Something as simple as retweeting them could warrant a response:

Perhaps the best lesson to learn from Skittles is that they don’t overcomplicate things. They promote their brand in multiple ways, but they also talk to people (what a concept!). Tell me that @Idk_ImMegan didn’t just become a Skittles fan for life. Bravo, Skittles.

Social media presents brands and consumers with the remarkable opportunity to interact with one another on a level we hadn’t experienced before. Once marketing teams understand that this interaction is a two-way street, their brand’s unique personality can shine through. And once that happens, their customers will definitely take notice. After all, it’s called SOCIAL media for a reason.

Have any other examples of great brand personality on social media? Let us know, or send a tweet our way

A Look into the Existence of an #AgencyLife Project Manager

June 25, 2014 by Dabrian Marketing Group 1 Comment

I love the #AgencyLife hashtag on Twitter. For those who are unfamiliar, it’s mostly comprised of snarky witticisms and love (okay, and the occasional picture showing a coffee obsession bordering on unhealthy). What could be better, right? Thanks to my time here at DMG, I’ve been fully initiated into all that #AgencyLife has to offer. With that said, I thought I’d shed some light on what it’s like to a project manager in the digital marketing space.

What is my typical #AgencyLife day like?

I recently saw a submission on Medium.com that was broken down by minutes of the day–brilliant! Now that’s how I keep track of my hours:

7:55am – Check email
8:03am – Comm for Project X
8:18am – Task meeting with Team Member Y
8:38am – Check email
9:02am – Have a meeting that turns into another meeting that only ends when someone has to pee

And so on, for at least 8 hours. The thing is, there isn’t really anything typical about it. As the project manager, I’m the main line of communication for our clients. If a client calls, I stop what I’m doing and take the call. “Clients come first” is my motto, and I stick by it.

I like to say that my days are “atypically typical.” Normally, there is nothing normal about them.

What are some [things] I can’t live without?

Definition: [things] – (n.) physical objects, apps, odd objects that live on my desk.

We all have them–[things] we really, really like having at our desks. I basically can’t survive without the following (some of which are pictured above):

A blender bottle
A regular coffee cup to accompany my Tervis Tumbler (seriously, they keep coffee hot for so long!)
A Moleskine notebook
A physical calendar to back up my Google calendar
A plethora of snacks
My trusty, dusty Galaxy S4
And some motivational words from two of my favorite companies: Quest and GNC

How do I keep an #AgencyLife/#RealLife balance?

The short answer is, I don’t.

Now, for the slightly longer answer. I tend to believe what is pointed out in this LinkedIn article about Work-Life Balance–namely that it doesn’t exist. You’re responsible for the choices you make, and you’ve got to deal with the consequences. Sometimes I’m working at 10pm to figure out an issue, and other times I take off an entire Tuesday and don’t even check my email (queue gasping).

This kind of voluntary devotion to #AgencyLife requires fully-integrated communication. I communicate with my team whenever possible. Most often, it’s as simple as “Hey guys, I have a doctor’s appointment later this week. I’ll set an email autoresponder, but text me if it’s critical.” I trust them to determine what’s critical vs. non-critical, and it works beautifully (one of the perks of having a great team to rely on!).

My #AgencyLife is a lot of things, including typically atypical days, several cups of coffee, and a tightrope of convincing myself not to check my email every 14 minutes on a Saturday. My favorite parts, though, are getting to work with an amazing group of people and creating some awesome work. Bossing my friends around is pretty fun, too.

Is #AgencyLife the life for you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Why Your Company Needs a Digital Analytics Framework

June 19, 2014 by Daniel Laws 2 Comments

Regardless of how big or small your organization is, you’ve got data (sales, financial, customer, CRM, etc.), and you need a structure to inform how you collect or report on the data. This reason needs to be logical and ultimately impact your bottom line as well as multiple departments or individuals within a company.

What is a Digital Analytics Framework?

According to Webster’s dictionary, a framework is the basic or conceptual structure of something. In the case of digital analytics, it is generally the basic structure of applying digital analytics or web analytics to business goals and objectives. This terminology is popular with digital analytics consulting companies and “enterprise businesses,” but severely lacking outside of the industry. Digital analytics consultants such as Semphonic, e-Nor, and Tatvic have clear examples of digital analytics frameworks.

Data and Big Data Aren't Magical

Simply put, data and big data require a “basic structure” to handle them (i.e. a framework). At some point, your business must apply the digital analytics framework within the business. If you’ve started or manage a business without planning, a competitive analysis, research, a structure, or people, then it’s likely that you’re missing a fundamental framework as well. The analytics framework acts as the guiding structure to data, big data, integration, people, and the results (proven by analytics, obviously!). If the information you capture and integrate, the applications or tools to use, and the personnel you hire aren’t based upon a framework, you don’t have a direction!

But Where’s the Value?

When you’ve got a boatload of data all over the place, but no freaking clue as to how or what to pull together, a framework’s value shines through. For many businesses, this is the equivalent of finding $5 in your pants or shirt pocket every morning. It doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up! Here are a few real examples:

Reduce Your cost per new customer, Lead or Sale by $5

With this goal, an analytics framework provides the structure to collect information on new customers, identify the source of each lead, and explore possible integrations to identify trends as well as opportunities to cut costs by $5 per new customer.

Increase lead generation, but with less marketing budget

If you don’t plan to collect the lead generation data, lead source, cost per lead, and have people to analyze the data, then it’s difficult to identify the tactics driving leads and at a lower cost than others.

So, how can you begin to incorporate a framework? Start by leveraging your existing assets. For example, I spoke with a Business to Business (B2B) company last week that has a purchase lead list, telemarketing services, and is tracking the leads in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. The scary part is that after the telemarketing department schedules a meeting and the sales reps follow-up, the leads enter a “black hole”! By employing this approach, so does their profitability and growth.

Do you remember the saying, “If I knew what I know now, I would have……?”. The value of a set framework is in cutting costs, identifying opportunities, capitalizing on competitive advantages, and adjusting to shifts in industry-wide trends.

But Data and Big Data Don't Apply to my Business

I’m going to put it in the simplest terms:

Overlooking data will result in a wasted marketing budget
Not evaluating competitors’ marketing efforts will give them the upper hand
Ignoring the industry will negatively impact your competitive position

Steps to Move Toward an Analytics Framework

I would recommend that you start by revisiting your company’s goals and objectives. Then, you should take inventory of all your data points across the company. For example, you should list the tools that you use for the following items: sales, CRM, QuickBooks, email marketing platforms, ecommerce platforms, digital analytics, etc. You should also compile examples of all of the reports that the business is using.

Identify 3-5 business related questions that will help you to achieve your goals and objectives that you don’t currently have insight into. You should review the latest industry privacy and legal requirements regarding data storage for your industry. The goal here is to acquire information, develop a strategy, and streamline the discovery process.

Finally, pick up the phone and call 3 digital analytics professionals for an estimate. In many cases, it will require more than one person to create the strategy, implement the technology, integrate reports, and identify insights. Don’t fall into the trap of asking a marketing professional to build an analytics framework. Think of it this way—you wouldn’t ask an electrician to build you a house!