Google Adwords with Lead Gen forms

It looks like it is old news, reported back at 2010 by Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Land*. But it is the first time I came across.   And I like it!

*http://searchengineland.com/google-adwords-testing-lead-capture-forms-contact-form-extensions-32971

Putting a cause behind a landscaping service

After we bought our house, the first thing my husband did was hire a landscaping company to cut our grass. There was not too much thought that went into this. A guy who was doing our next door neighbour was hired on the spot without any question to come and do the work every other week. We have been using them more than a year. Good service. No problem. Everybody happy….until couple days ago.

I got a postcard of a local landscaping company in the mail. College Fund Landscaping offers its services at a competitive price. Their postcard got my attention because they offered things that their competitors did not.

They provide yearly scholarships to local students. Their tag line is “Cutting Grass To Send Local Kids To Class” I think this is an amazingly creative way of differentiating yourself from your competitors . On top of that, they offer online billing…should I switch?

Going green with O2O Catalog Strategy

Like many organizations, SystemID Warehouse has been successful utlizing catalog as their lead and sales tool for years. However I took the opoortunity to create a conversation piece that would link our print catalog to our website. The print catalog will create awareness, online catalog will create interest and desire and our website will close the deal..action. Here is from offline to online catalog strategy.

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Social Media replacing email marketing for lead generation and nurturing

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Since more and more people prefer to receive messages from brands via “on demand” sources such as Facebook, Twitter and even YouTube, do you think you should put your resources into email marketing for lead generation and nurturing?

The best subject line, the boldest design, the most intriguing message… We already know these are not enough. Timing and relevance is everything. If I order a product, I am on the lookout for the confirmation email. When I see XYZ company sends me an email with shipping information, I know I need to keep it. If I receive a reminder to re-order my label, I am pleasantly surprised. I like relevant and timely emails and I pay attention to them.

However it is different story when it comes to the majority of the emails I receive. Even if I had the best intentions and signed up to these newsletters, I never get the chance to read them. The full-inbox alert beats me to it. So I delete them before I can read. The cycle is keep going…

Expert Interview Series By ReachLocal

I came across Expert Interview series by ReachLocal.  There had a great format that not only gives you intro and insight into the topics they cover, but I loved the section about the examples they shared.

CC Chapman from cc-chapman.com, talked about Goruck.com- sells more than backpacks. Thru Content Marketing, the organization created a culture and loyal followers around their product. his book: Content Rules.

Jason Falls  from socialmediaexplorer.com, mentioned  Miss. Shirley’s Cafe. They used Foursquare and over 3 month period, they drive  427% more traffic to their cafe. ”If you come in here on Sunday and you are the mayor of the location, then  you don’t need to wait for your table.”   

Scandinavian Airlines Campaign: Couple Up to Buckle Up

Almost 3 years ago in the middle of the night, I read about this code that you can take picture of with your phone and it will take you to this amazing online experience. I am IMed our CTO at Thru, LLC. I was excited. I wanted to share this cool concept with a techy. A couple of months later, I am working for SystemID Warehouse, barcoding hardware and solution provider. Now, I had the people who knew all about this cool 2D barcode – QR Code.

Then I started seeing it  everywhere. Every magazine I read  had an ad with a QR code. Every collateral I touched  had a QR code.  I was excited to see it until I scanned it. The main purpose to use a QR code in your marketing collateral is to bridge the gap between the print and online experience. However, the post scan experience is disappointing the majority of the time and there is an on-going discussion about the effectiveness of QR code usage in marketing campaigns.

I hear a lot of ummm and arrr, but when it is done right, QR codes play an important role in your campaign. Recently I came across “Couple Up to Buckle Up”, a campaign for Scandinavian Airlines. This is an amazing email campaign that uses QR codes that offer a creative post scan experience.

How social media, web and mobile tell the story of the Nativity.

I know it is not Christmas ….But I couldn’t just not share this. …It is Christmas story told through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google, Wikipedia, Google Maps, GMail, Foursquare, Amazon…by Excentric. It is a great example of video marketing, viral marketing.