Q2 Marketing Blog» Q2 Marketing Blog – Technology Marketing, Public Relations, Brand Consulting

New eMarketer report on SEO and SEM Spending

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:34:32 +0000

Search is fundamental to customer acquisition. And search engine optimization (SEO) is projected to grow consistently, according to eMarketer’s Search Marketing Trends report.

Read the rest at blogs.aquent.com: http://blogs.aquent.com/aquentblog/author/kelly-boykin/2009/06/

DC Among the Top 5 Towns for Creative Professionals

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 04 May 2010 13:14:17 +0000

In a tight economy with a lot of competition comes welcome news to DC area creatives and businesses that need creative. According to DesignersCouch.com, one of my favorite creative communities, Washington D.C. is among the top five U.S. town for creative professionals.

According to the article, ”DC is a town whose design industry is about to boom in a major way.” The salaries here are on par with New York City.

Read the entire article here: http://designerscouch.org/show_article/234/top-5-us-cities-for-creative-professionals-in-2010.html.

Report: Online Ad Revenue Reaches Record High $6.3 Billion in Q4 ’09

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 19:46:40 +0000

The online ad marketing had it’s best quarter ever in Q4 09, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This record $6.3 billion in revenues speaks to the worst of the ad slump behind us, according to PwC’s David Silverman.

Other highlights of the report:

Search and display advertising is still the largest overall interactive advertising spend. Search revenues comprise 47% of the total spending.
Digital video in particular is strong, with an almost 39% increase from 2008 to 2009.
Based on data from PwC from 2005 to 2009 in tv, radio, newspapers, consumers magazines and Internet, the Internet’s share of combined ad revenue more than doubled from 8% to 17%.

Find out more at http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-040710

Social Media Use Doubles for Small Businesses

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:04:44 +0000

Small business use of social media is steeply on the rise in the U.S. The third wave of the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI), sponsored by Network Solutions® and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, reports that social media is being used by twice as many small businesses since last year.

How does your business measure up?

Read more and see the breakdown at http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-success-index-highlights/.

IT Spending to Rise 6.6% in 2010, Says Forrester

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:19:24 +0000

Forrester Research predicts IT spending will rise 6.6 percent in 2010. This is a stark contrast to 2009, where IT spending fell 8.2 percent in the U.S. and and 8.9 percent overall in international markets.

Hardware and software investments will drive the rise in spending, with software projected to rise 9.7 percent.

Read more from Nasdaq.com. Here’s to a strong tech marketing 2010!

Goverment Contractors, Is Your Brand Unique?

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:16:42 +0000

We’ve been focusing on a favorite topic of mine—branding for government contractors. I’ll be the first to tell you that revenue generating initiatives are of greater value in a down economy than branding efforts. But federal contractors are different. Generally speaking, they tend to lack the strong brand identity and recognition of their commercial sector counterparts. Only, unlike their commercial counterparts, successful government contractors, with a greater immunity to the recession, can afford to make the investment in brand building now.

But why should contractors turn their attention to branding now? Because the industry—which is already awash in tech firms, professional services firms and goods and service providers—is getting more and more competitive every day. New players are entering the fray by the minute. The contractors that have been there and done that need to raise their profile and build their brand if their long term goals include growing their business.

Let’s revisit our first of four principles from Branding in the federal sector: For a brand to be effective, it has to be unique.

This means the brand must be distinctive from the others in your playing field, which, unless you’ve carved out a very distinct niche, is probably pretty crowded. Occasionally we have clients approach Q2 Marketing to say they want to create in impression on the market that “we aren’t like all the other beltway bandits.” Bravo. We love those people because they get it and because it’s job security for us. And because it’s sound marketing strategy.

If, by contrast, your branding strategy is to find out what the best-known and most successful competitors say and look like, and emulate them, expect muted results. Yes, federal buyers are notoriously risk averse and make the safe choice. But you can communicate to your audience that you’re safe, while making a distinct and lasting impression.

So ask yourself, what’s unique and superior about my company? Hint: the answer is not your disadvantaged status. Trust me, you’re not the only 8a or woman-owned small business in town.

When you determine what those differentiators are, you are on your way to a value proposition. Now ask yourself how you’re communicating that to the marketplace at every step along the way in the sales cycle.

Join us soon for more on this hot topic and feel free to share your comments if you disagree. I know there are dissenters out there. I talk to them all the time….

Federal Sector Branding Basics

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 13:20:12 +0000

Building or maintaining a strong brand should be an important short and long term revenue goal for your company. Especially in a recession. But for many federal contractors, the time, attention (and money) dedicated to this initiative fall short. The reasons for this are many and range for too much emphasis on set-aside status, to a desire to make marketing materials look and sound like other industry players. For example, many small government contractors want their marketing materials to sound like Lockheed Martin or CSC, but of course don’t have the marketing budgets of the big boys.

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), a brand as a “name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.”

Often beginning with a Positioning Statement, a core objective of developing a strong brand is to clearly answer the following questions:

What is unique about my organization or brand in the context of the industry as a whole?
Which of these factors are most important to my clients and prospects?
Which of these factors are most difficult for your competitors to imitate?
Which of these factors can be most easily understood by my prospects?

There are four key rules of branding. These apply to companies serving both the commercial and federal sectors:

For the brand to be effective, it has to be unique.
For the brand to make an impact and be memorable, it has to be clear and compelling.
For the brand to generate revenue, it has to foster a sense of ownership by my clients, partners and employees.
For the brand to be credible, it must be believable.

Check back soon for more of what works and what doesn’t in branding for government contractors.

Building brand a loyalty a recession marketing must

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:01:47 +0000

Customer loyalty is another casualty of the recession. Buyers, including your customers, are aggressively hunting to spend only on what appears to be the absolute best decisions with their budgets. This is true in any economy, but at no time is it a greater reality than now. This poses a threat to pretty much everyone, and the tech sector is no exception.

We recently discussed two of the best ways to build brand loyalty:

1. Say thank you.

2. Remind your customers that you’re great

Let’s spend a little more time on number two. Reminding the buyer why they bought from you in the first place, and all of the virtues of your product or service is absolutely critical in this economy. The first and most important question is: does your company deliver exceptional products or services? If the answer is yes (and let’s hope it is!), how are you communicating that?

Down times are the absolute best times to both build brand loyalty and aggressively communicate the values of your brand. How do you do this?

It’s essential for you to communicate why your business is the superior choice to the many competitors you probably have. If your customers (or prospects) can find it cheaper, there’s a good chance they’re looking for it right now. How can your marketing messages head off that threat? Make sure you’re communicating why it’s a better investment to spend a little—or a lot more—and work with you.

Dropy by next week for a discussion on the best tools for carrying out this objective.

Best Ways to Build Brand Loyalty in Recession

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:57:33 +0000

As discussed last week, brand loyalty is another consequence of this recession. From grocery stores to enterprise solutions, buyers are tenuous with budgets and all too eager to swap out product and service providers to save a few dollars.

So, aside from providing awesome products and services and enviable customer service, what are you doing to boost brand loyalty and retain your customers? The first and most important step you can take is to tell your customers two very important things.

1. Say thank you. How are you thanking your customers for their loyalty? The answer can’t be that the sales representative checks in once a year to re-up the contract. That’s not saying “thanks.” That’s say, “where’s the money?” And customers see through it.

An option is to have your account managers or senior leadership pick up the phone and thank customers for their business. Of course, you always want more business and cross selling is important, but the purpose of these calls should not be to highlight a new offering or upsell a contract. The purpose is to say thank you.

If you’re in a high volume business with thousands of customers, that’s untenable. But you can at least call key customers. Emails and letters are alternatives for large customer bases. For your non-government customers, take them to lunch to show them you appreciate their business.

2. Remind them that you’re great. The purpose of thanking your customers is not to give the impression that sales are down or revenue is tight, if that’s your present reality. You’re not calling to beg them to continue on with you. Good, bad or neutral times, showing appreciation is always a good idea.

Selling and marketing don’t stop after the sale is made, unless you never want their business again. Once an organization joins your customer roster, you must periodically remind them that you’re the absolute best choice they could have made. Chances are they have other options for the products or services you provide. If you keep in front of them in a positive light, you’ll reduce the likelihood that they will want to shop around for alternatives. That’s why marketing is a recession is so critical.

Q2 Marketing Cited in Slideshare’s Content Marketing Predictions for 2009

Becky Sheetz-Runkle — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:22:08 +0000

Slideshare’s Content Marketing, Social Media and Marketing Predictions for 2009 cites research commentary from Q2 Marketing. Find the presentation, full of great resources, here:

http://www.slideshare.net/ambal/clickdocuments-content-marketing-cheat-sheet