Free Customer Touchpoint Audit

Are you displaying consistent branding, offers, calls to action and educational information to your customers and prospects?

Are you doing it across all relevant touchpoints?

Think about your:

• Web site
• Billing and estimate documents
• Voicemail and autoresponders
• Facebook, Linked-In and other social interactions online
• Trade show messaging,
• PowerPoints
• Lobby
• Landing pages
• Blogs

If you’re dropping the ball here, you could be losing lots of cash due to missed opportunities for upselling, add-ons, new leads and referrals.

We can help. QualityWriter is now offering a free Touchpoint Audit to the first five companies that respond to this message.

Show us your three most important touchpoints – these could be documents, videos, demos, sound files, ads, AdWords ads, Facebook ads, etc. – and we’ll evaluate them with a fresh outsider’s eye.

We’ll get into your ideal prospect’s mindset and then offer five free improvement ideas for each of the three pieces.

If you like our reports, we ask that you simply consider hiring us for a content development or editing project.

This is a great way to review your work without getting bogged down in internal meetings and wasted creative cycles. Or maybe you just want to make sure your ad agency is staying on their toes. Either way, we can help.

Reach out to 949-244-9440 or service@qualitywriter.com to schedule your audit.

P.S. Call or email soon. These fill up quickly when we announce the offer.

This is a solid article on SEO myths from ninebyblue.com.

My favorite part:

“I said outbound links were fine, great even! And then talked a bit about how it’s a bad idea to build pages for nuances in the search engine algorithms anyway, as hundreds of signals exist and they’re changing all the time. Oh, he said. We’ve been talking about implementing the canonical tag. We probably shouldn’t do that then. And I realized, how would a developer know that the canonical tag is awesome and the meta keywords tag isn’t? That you shouldn’t worry about keyword density but you should put important keywords in your title tag?”

I’ve been testing some new advertising concepts with Facebook Ads (actually, full-blow marketing campaigns that start with targeted research.. a topic for another post).

Here’s something I noticed that can help you keep down your CPC spend. Don’t include sexy photos if you want to limit clicks to highly targeted audiences.

Seems obvious, I know.

But let me explain my predicament.

My initial ads were for trade show exhibitors. So, I tried to think of some images associated with trade shows, and *bing* a classic idea pops into my head – booth babes.

So I searched for some uncopyrighted photos and picked a few. None of them were risqué or beyond the pale.. but there may have been some plaid skirts and temptress looking poses.

I found that the click throughs were unusually high when I included them. I’m talking 250% higher when the same ad ran with a diagram of a trade show booth. (Hey, that’s a lot of unqualified click-$, I thought.)

Something about the common Inter-web practice of clicking on hot ladies was the downfall of the campaign, I suppose. For the record: there was no larger picture of the ladies on my landing page (I probably disappointed a lot of clickers).

I’m guessing that cleaner, more qualified leads clicked on the more “dull” ads.

What’s your experience? Do you have any metrics to support the idea that sexy images coupled with value ads are useful? Not useful? Is there a fine line to walk? Best practices?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have TIVO for your browser?

That way you could save articles later so they don’t interrupt your busy day and distract you from what needs to get done.

This is a great GTD or Getting Things Done tip (David Allen’s system, in case you haven’t come across it because you’ve been slumbering or just too dang good at tasks to bother with improvement).

There is such a way. Tivo, of course, allows you to save TV shows for later consumption. Back in the good old days (when there was Tivo and ReplayTV), the boxes would even strip out commercials.

It’s the reason I used to *love* my ReplayTV. The unit would “sense” the breaks between commercial outro and into and jump completely across the advertising content. It drove the advertisers crazy and was bullied out of the product.

Anyway, those early DVRs effectively stripped out advertising (it wasn’t perfect, but 70-75% was freakin fantastic).

Now there’s a way to do this to the articles you consume on the Web. You know the ones – those tabs that stack up because your curious intentions motivate you to read every cool thing known to your favorite online rag, mag, newspaper or Twitter (or Facebook) leader.

Here’s how it works.

First, check out this nifty little service: Read Later

Read Later (or Instapaper) allows you to click a bookmark/script and save articles for later on your Instapaper.com account.

You can then close out the tabs immediately, knowing that they’re waiting for you later.

At a time of your choosing, you can come back to Instapaper and select the “Text” link in your article list. The program formats the text as beautiful, clean, advertising-free, seriphed black text on a clean white background (perfect formatting if you’re familiar with research on eyestrain, comprehension  and retention). The article contains a subtle link back to the original article, in case you want to Tweet it, Ping.fm it, or “Share on Facebook.”

There’s another tool you can use to do the same text clean-up trick immediately. It’s called Readability. The slick app allows you to choose the font, point size and format of your text to be read. The buttons on the side allow you to easily and quickly get back to the original article (for Tweeting, sharing or Facebooking purposes, for example).

Both of these are cool. And they help me “get clear” and get back to work.

Have you tried either? What do you think? Please share your thoughts below.

P.S. The two solutions go great with RSS feed readers, too. Good way to filter articles and read later in a clean, consistent format.

Would you consider yourself a difficult person to market to?

Do you research high-end products thoroughly before you purchase? Does it take lots of pressure to get you to move from one trusted brand or consumer product to another?

Me too. Especially when it comes to consumer goods like razor blades.

For years, I’ve happily used Gillette Good News razors. They’re simple, do the job and are inexpensive.

Until . . one day. . queue the bass drums. . I bought a package of Good News that included a free sample of the multi-blade Fusion product.

Now – I’ve tried these before. In fact – way back in the 1980’s I even had a power 2-blade razor that buzzes like the Gilette Power Fusion. I liked the concept and the shave back then.

But somehow I ended back up with the basic Good News razors. It was probably during a “simplicity” or economizing phase.

Anyway, I tried the Fusion sample and liked it a lot. The beard grew out less in a day, it seemed. That was a good deal for me.

So I ordered the Power Fusion product. And I’m waiting to get it from Alice.com. Mind you: this is after years and years of using the Gillette Good News razors.

The lesson? Persistent suggestions in your marketing materials (which were the actual product in my case) are CRITICAL!!! Never give up on this idea. Gillette sure doesn’t.

Offer samples, suggest up-sells, show the customer new ideas. IT WORKS.

It even worked on me – one of the more skeptical, difficult to motivate and move consumers I know.

Do you have any examples of how persistent messaging, product offerings or samples have motivated you to engage a company or switch products?

Please comment below.

We had Friday pizza day yesterday at the office, and a totally remarkable situation arose.

Stephanie, who was ordering the pizza and salads, asked,”Do you eat anything? Or do you have things you can’t eat?”

The rest of us – two dudes – said no, we were cool with anything she might order. Truly remarkable!

Now, I understand that lots of people have legitimate food allergies. That’s not what I’m addressing here.

I started to wonder if all the crazy food marketing of the past few decades has been teaching us to be overly-selective, finicky, obnoxious, high maintenance eaters.

Think about it. Never before have we been subjected to some much information and marketing on food packages. Heck, even vegetables are now packaged in plastic and cardboard that are oozing with subtle and not so subtle messages. Stickers are everywhere, too.

Check out your local Target when you get a chance. They’re getting into the food biz in a big way, and they’re selling produce that’s entirely pre-packaged.

Interesting stuff, ay?

What do you think? Are we training ourselves to be annoying?

My wife recently remarked that the malls are full. “How could we be in a recession?” she said.

It got me thinking. Personal spending is obviously way down, but people still want to have a mall experience. They want to window shop, buy some small things, taste candy, play with pets, jump through fountains, see cool fashions and maybe dream a little.

The thing that *really* gets me. . in a recession. . is this. People go by the hoards to a place where the finest marketing minds in the world (from the most talented ad agencies known to man) are working their magic. Everything from the display windows and signage, to the cashier talk and uniforms, to the music and temperature, to the promos and tagging… is designed by the best of the best.

This may not be true of every store in every mall. The malls I usually witness are Fashion Island in Newport Beach CA, and South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. But it’s certainly relevant to most of the national chains and high-end designers.

The point is that these people are voluntarily exposing themselves to a situation designed to suck money out of their pockets.

They want to be pitched, sold, persuaded and wow’ed! They want that, deep down.

And what do we complain about in marketing? Let me count the ways: Traditional advertising is dying. There’s too much noise out there. People are shutting out our messages. People are fed up with consumer-driven behavior. The market is resisting our messaging.

Yet, the malls still bring em in.

I realize that malls are “opt-in.” Maybe that’s something to ponder, too. Is there a way you can make your business and partner businesses more like a mall?

Something to think about. Enjoy your weekend. And please comment below to add your observations.

Ok.. shouldn’t there be a way to buy gift certificates online that generate a one-time bar code (to be printed or emailed or whatever’d)?

For example, “Here’s a coffee for you, here’s a beer for you.” Just like when you offer your ticket to the NHL/NFL/MLB/NBA game turnstile guy, and your ticket is good for one entry?

We need this. Techies get on it.

Retailers need this bigtime (think massage, cappuccino, 5-hour energy drink from AM/PM, flowers, sake, medical marijuana (kidding hippies – good name for a band, btw), root beer float, yoga lesson, helicopter ride, pack of gum, etc..).

Am I missing something? Does it already exist? I’ve got a freakin barcode scanner on my phone for chrissakes.

A lot of people talk about email inbox distress, “inbox zero” and other related phenomena. Yes, too much email blows, and there’s no end in sight. You can filter conversations and contacts via Facebook, Twitter, IM, Gist and the like, but business people still rely heavily on email to track projects and keep in touch.

But.. I’ve got another problem that I’m sure you’re familiar with.

I call it Tabbed Browsing Hell for lack of a better name. This is the scenario where you’re so engrossed in research or just plain media consumption that you open tons of tabs. Eventually, you become burdened by them. They have psychic energy that can drain and distract you.

So what’s a boy (or girl) to do?

I found a nifty way to clear things up (at least for a while). It’s akin to stuffing papers into file folders in order to get a clean desk.

But it’s pretty slick to boot.

First, check out this nifty little service: Read Later

Read Later allows you to click a bookmark/script and save articles for later on your Instapaper.com account.

But wait, there’s more! (not steak knives or a slotted spoon)

When you want to back and read the articles you’ve gathered in Read Later, you can use another bookmark/script to force them into a clean, standardized format for consumption (you choose the font size and format). It’s called Readability. The buttons on the side allow you to easily and quickly get back to the original article (for Tweeting, sharing or Facebooking purposes, for example).

I think it’s pretty cool. And it helps me “get clear” and get back to work.

Have you tried it? What do you think? Please share your thoughts below.

P.S. The two solutions go great with RSS feed readers, too. Good way to filter articles and read later in a clean, consistent format.

Trade show season is headed your way. Hungry sales, marketing, biz dev and product enthusiasts will soon be heading to convention centers everywhere to try to “move the needle” in this gooey economy.

So how can you stand out? How can you put on a more remarkable presentation and turn heads? Here are my 11 thoughts:

1. Adjust and edit your marketing documents with the show’s context in mind. Companies, speakers and marketing materials that are relevant in context are much more compelling than boilerplate, “we use these at every show” materials. With today’s POD and rapid-PDF layout capabilities, you have no excuse for not revising content for specific events. The best way to stand out in a crowd is to be immediately relevant in context. If you do this one thing, you’ll sucker punch your competition before the show even begins.
2. Infuse your communications with authenticity and the company’s personality. We’ve all been discussing the dilemma of marketing and advertising “noise” for quite some time now. Trade shows tend to produce even more noise. How do you cut through the chaos? Be relevant in context (like #1 above), and use your company’s purpose, vision, personality and authentic positioning to stand out. Aim high and try to be that booth that the journalists and bloggers are buzzing about because the personalities, communication pieces, and vibe are irresistible. You can do this without looking stupid. You can do this by focusing on your solutions and getting excited about them. It’s a matter of digging deep into the real value of your company and products/services. You can do it.
3. Focus on the audience. Now is the time to start surveying show attendees. If you’re 2, 3 or 4 months away from the show, you need to start asking what their expectations, fears, pains, dreams, and desires are about the particular event. Why are them coming? What would be a great experience? What do they want to learn? Which kinds of keynotes do they hate? What are their all time favorite presentations? Gather information like this and you can position for a much better show experience. You’ll also have specific topics to discuss with real people at the show.
4. Edit with one-to-one or one-to-many in mind. A lot of marketing folks debate 2nd person and 1st person writing perspectives. To me, it’s simple. If you’re editing a trade show script, you need to pay attention to group dynamics and position your ideas with the multitude experience in mind. You can include one-on-one interactions in the presentation, but, for the most part, your conversation is with the collective audience. A white paper or special report requires a different positioning. Here’s where you want to speak directly to the reader. Address them directly and use “you” often. They are in a silent conversation with you, so your best bet is to be conversational.
5. Educate. Give to get. Then give some more. When you connect with prospects on their terms, in their worlds, with stories and cast studies that are relevant to their experiences, you stand out. You also build trust before any selling process begins. They can raise their hand on their own when they’re ready to discuss specific products and solutions. In the mean time, hang back and educate. Be soft like water.
6. Be more creative. Are you giving out thumb drives? T-shirts? Are they boring? How can you make them more interesting and creative? Are you allowed to be provocative? Think about who’s coming by your booth. What devices do they carry, and how could you interact with them in more original ways? My thoughts are just forming here, but I’ve got some ideas that include Google Goggles, Google Maps and your post show parties and events. . How about integrating a FourSquare, Facebook Places, or Gowalla activity that showcases your company? How about using the bar-code scanner app (Android or iPhone) to show prospects the super secret locale of your executive private round table and whiskey tasting event? Get creative now.. and hurry.
7. Take away more in order to show more. Go through all your brochures, presentations and hand outs with an eye for elimination. Take away excessive words, extraneous concepts and fluff. You’ll end up showing more of what makes you good. Try making your short pieces about only one thing. Try making your longer presentations and white papers about a maximum of three concepts. These two strategies are so valuable. Give em a shot.
8. Include frequent calls to action (CTAs). Have you ever seen a knock-out presentation that fails to provide a final, compelling CTA? It sucks. People fidget in their seats wondering what they should do next. Give them something fun, interesting, or important to do – immediately – and they’ll thank you for it.
9. Focus on your 3 most important “touchpoints.” Where are you hitting attendees first? With a personal, one-to-one handshake? With a hand out on a street corner? With a keynote? With a product demo? Figure out the first three places most people will encounter your company and make sure these are spectacular experiences. First impressions are everything, right?
10. Make your materials social. Community matters now more than ever. It provides that “stickiness” needed to get people buzzing about your solutions and engaging with your story. When you socialize your marketing materials (which include speaking events, casual gatherings and hard collateral) you give yourself a chance to be viral. If you do it well, you can create a buzz storm.
11. Perform an outside document and script review audit with a qualified technology marketing specialist. “Another pair of eyes” is always a good idea. When you present your materials to outsiders before the show starts, you can gain priceless insights. If I understand your industry and solutions to a reasonable degree, there’s a chance I can help (email me or call 949-244-9440).  If not, I can direct you to someone who knows your particular niche. I’ve been writing in-depth content for software, hardware, telecom and enterprise solution providers for the past 15 years. And I have an extensive network of techie marketers.

Thanks for reading, and good luck at your show. If I can help out in any way, please let me know.

Also… what else should I include on this list? Any suggestions? Please comment below, and I’ll do some research and elaborate for you.