Creative Marketing Channel

The best diplomat I know is a fully-loaded phaser bank – Montgomery “Scotty” Scott
A fully loaded digital marketing plan is a great diplomat too.  So great, actually, that nearly 75% of all businesses are increasing their digital marketing over the next 12 months, according to Adobe Systems (from Mediapost Research Brief, “Digital Marketing Planning”). Their goal – to enhance the customer’s experience. Optimizing websites using analytics data is this year’s most deployed tactic. This optimization comes in the form of geo-targeted site content, content marketing, blogging, and rich media.   Top predicted investments for 2011 include 3D visualization, multi-media product viewing and interactive experiences.  In addition, businesses crave creative design and branded social community pages.  Both Spock and Kirk would be proud.  Why? Because real digital marketing requires strategy, analysis, and creativity.

All she’s got isn’t good enough! - James T. Kirk
If you believe your digital marketing agency isn’t good enough, you’re not alone. The sorry truth is, “only 44% of marketers are truly happy with their primary agency…” and there are two chief reasons why: The agency isn’t creative and/or the agency isn’t strategic (from Mediapost Research Brief, “Primary Agencies in Jeopardy if Reviewed”). Many agencies lack both. Google’s Panda update (or algorithm change) was a big wake up call to businesses who now see anemic, unoriginal content and boilerplate design for what it is – ineffective.   Today, businesses require their agency to be a “strategic partner who can help their business versus just an ‘idea shop.’”

You know, back home we have a saying: “If you wanna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don’t leave your prized stallion in the stable. - Leonard “Bones”  McCoy
And your prized stallion is your media channel. Businesses no longer need to purchase expensive time and space on someone else’s channel. Instead, your business is media. Your website, mobile website, and blog are your marketing hub from which your agency shares all of your drilled down updates, videos, posts, whitepapers, webinars, enewsletters, coupons, mobile apps, etc. via branded social media.  If you haven’t become media yourself or have yet to fully leverage your media channels then you’re leaving your prized stallion in the stable.

Boldly go so your business can live long and prosper.
This is your voyage – your mission.  We are in the midst of a digital renaissance filled with new life and new civilizations.  Find a digital marketing agency with both Kirk and Spock in command and you too can break through the noise with relevant, amazing content and design. It’s no longer about perfection – it’s about experimentation.   A real digital marketing agency isn’t afraid to try numerous approaches, styles or tools.   Look for an agency that is flexible, strategic, and creative.  Businesses who do their due diligence experience the amazing ROI only digital marketing can give.

About The Creative Marketing Channel
The Creative Marketing Channel belongs to oz 2 designs LLC – a small, flexible, full service digital marketing agency.  Providing a broad range of interactive marketing services to U.S. businesses, oz 2 designs LLC is known for custom website and blog design, mobile website design, and compelling content (or social media) marketing. oz 2 designs LLC is pleased to feature an award winning animator known for excellence in 3D modeling, visualization, and animation as well as a nationally published content marketer.  To contact us email cl@oz2designs.com.

Small businesses know “… the current shift in geotargeting, mobile marketing, and online reputation management require small businesses to modify their plans and surpass competitors.”  – Susan Gunelius, Reuters. Companies on the losing side of digital are under great pressure to claim some online territory.  Yet, catching up to one’s competition takes months of time, precious budget dollars, and real skill.  Last month I published a two parts of a three part Digital Marketing Study Primer for C.E.O.s.  Part I explains the fundamentals of social media marketing and Part II teaches C.E.O.s how to vet a social media marketing agency. The bottom line, C.E.O.s cannot make smart digital marketing decisions if they don’t grasp the basics.

Part III:  What should you expect to pay for social media marketing? Here I defer to longtime social media expert Mac Collier who researched and wrote, “How much does Social Media cost companies in 2011?” Collier explains, “These figures come from rates shared with me by fellow consultants and agencies that specialize in social media marketing, in addition to my own research, as well as what I charge for similar services. ”

Here’s the prices:

Blog:

Launch a blog from the ground-up, outsource all content creation (including customer interaction, handling responses to comments, etc) – $1,000-$12,000 a month

Most Charge – $3,000 – $5,000 a month

Launch a blog from the ground-up, outsource some content creation – $1,000-$8,000 a month

Most Charge – $2,000-$3,500 a month

Restructure an existing blog to improve your efforts – $1,000-$5,000 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month for 3-6 months

Ghostwriting blog posts – $50-$500 per

Most Charge – $100-$250 per

Twitter:

Launch a new presence on Twitter and outsource all content creation and customer interaction – $1,000-$7,500 a month

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month

Launch a new presence on Twitter and then provide ongoing training for company – $1,000-$6,000 a month

Most Charge – $1,000-$3,000 a month

Restructure an existing Twitter presence to improve your efforts – $1,000-$4,000 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $1,000-$2,500 a month

Limited coaching to improve your existing efforts on Twitter – $1,000-$4,000 a month

Most Charge – $1,000-$2,500 a month

Facebook:

Launch a Facebook Page from the ground-up, outsourcing all content creation and customer interactions – $2,000-$9,000 a month

Most Charge – $2,500-$5,000 a month

Launch a Facebook Page from the ground-up, with limited ongoing training – $1,500-$7,500 a month for 3-6 months

Most Charge – $2,000-$4,000 a month

Social Media Strategy:

Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Creation, assuming outsourcing of all content creation through all channels(minimum 2) – $3,000-$20,000 a month

Most Charge – $4,000-$7,000 a month

Comprehensive Social Media Strategy Creation, assuming limited outsourcing of content creation and/or ongoing training –$3,000-$15,000 a month for 4-12 months

Most Charge – $3,000-$6,000 a month

Audit of existing Social Media Strategy Including Recommendations for Improvement – $2,000-$10,000

Most Charge – $2,000-$5,000

Social Media Consulting:

Hourly rates – $50-$500/Hr

Most Charge – $75-$200/Hr

Note: These prices are based on buying just one hour of a consultant’s time.  Many consultants also offer their consulting time in blocks of time.  These hours are usually offered at a discounted rate.  For example, a consultant might charge $100 for one hour of her time, but if you buy 5 hours of her time, she’ll give you a 25% discount to $375 for 5 hours.  Progressive discounts are sometimes offered as the volume of hours bought increases, with final discounts being as high as 33-50% off hourly rates.

On-Site Training/Workshops (All fees excluding travel expenses)

1-2 Hours – $500-$5,000

Most Charge – $500-$2,000

Half-Day (4 hours) - $1,000 – $10,000

Most Charge – $1,000 – $4,000

Full-Day (6-8 hours) – $2,000 – $50,000

Most Charge – $2,500-$5,000

Note: Keep in mind that consultants (at least the ones worth hiring) will invest several hours of prep time in assembling and customizing their training materials for you.  So while you might buy a full-day workshop, the total time investment for the consultant (including the workshop) could easily be 20-40 hours.  Plus they will likely lose at least a full day in travel to and from your company.

As with volume discounts on hourly consulting rates, many consultants will charge more at an hourly rate for workshops shorter than a full day.  For example, one consultant might charge $2,000 for a 2-hour workshop, and $5,000 for an 8-hour workshop.

A final word about prices: Don’t be afraid to negotiate.  If the quoted price is past your budget, ask for a break, especially if the project will be longer than 3 months.  A consultant might not be willing to give you a 15% discount on a 2-month project, but they might for a 6-month project.

To contact oz 2 designs LLC to handle your social media marketing email Catherine Lockey at cl@oz2designs.com.

Last week I published A Digital Marketing Primer for C.E.O.s Part I because C.E.O.s themselves must grasp the fundamentals of digital before they’re able to make wise digital marketing choices.  Companies on the losing side of digital who’ve recently assigned budget dollars to social media are under great pressure to claim some online territory.  C.E.O.s want to see their companies build both quality connections and brand advocates.  Yet, catching up to one’s competition takes months of time, precious budget dollars, and real skill.  Referrals from old media friends (who have no real digital presence of their own) are no longer useful.  With dollars, time, and even jobs at stake the answer to the burning question, “How do I vet a digital marketing agency?” is explored here.  Special Note:  Social media, content creation, design and SEO are inexorably linked and part of a good pull marketing strategy. All are under the digital marketing umbrella.

How do I vet a social media or digital marketing agency?

1. Search for them (online) using industry and geographic specific keywords. If they don’t show up on free search (unpaid search links) then your product/company won’t show up either.

2. Read their blog which should be filled with comments and replies.  Blogging is the heart and soul of social media. Run their blog through Blog Grader to check their grade and traffic score.  No blog?? No traffic?  No comments? No responses? No community? Blog not found in search? Move on.

3. Don’t assume they participate appropriately in social media. Instead, find out which social media platforms they participate in and evaluate what they’re doing.  Ask, are they building a community? Are they interacting with others? Do they understand reputation management? Are they responsive? Remember, social media marketing is about creating a community and inspiring that community to share your brand. Look for concrete evidence.

4.  Do a creativity check. Read their content and ask: “Is it creative?” “Is it educational?” “Is it inspiring?” “Does it show up in search?”

5.  Do a construction check. Do they use RSS? Is it easy for others to comment and share their posts on other social platforms?

6.  Find out how they use analytics and ask which analytics tools they prefer. Do they use them to evaluate and refine your campaign?  How often? Do they share your analytics with you? In what format? How often?

7.  Ask to see an SEO success story. They should have at least one client who ranks very well in Google’s natural search. Then, do a little legwork and search for this company on Google yourself.

8.  Listen to the questions they ask you. One size doesn’t fit all so they should be asking you what a successful social media campaign looks like to YOU.  They should ask you about your goals and be able to show you how success is determined and measured throughout your campaign. Expect to hear questions about your customers and your current social resources.

9.  If you’re considering a big agency, then vet the junior level staff person who will do your work. Ask this person to share his/her personal brand.  Check out her/his blog, social media accounts, and community.  Go through steps 1 – 8 above.

Many of my esteemed readers are competent digital marketers and I invite each of them to add to my list in the comments area below.  To contact oz 2 designs LLC about digital marketing for your company, email cl@oz2designs.com. Keep an eye out for upcoming post, ” A Digital Marketing Primer for C.E.O.s part III (Sherryl you were right – LOL !) which answers the question, “What should I expect to pay a social media agency?”

I recently gave the presentation “Digital Marketing 101: What is it and how do I implement it?” to attendees at the Gettysburg Adams Chamber of Commerce Expo. As promised, I published it below. The rapid shift from traditional to digital marketing has left many business owners behind. This presentation gets you up to speed with an explanation of the new media mindset as well as fundamentals of digital marketing. Read the rest of this entry »

I pronounce you FREE – free to update and add to your website anytime using a content management system! Wondering if a content management system (CMS) is right for your business? Then a quick review of the information here will allow you to make an educated decision. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know that 53.4 million people in the U.S. own a smartphone? Smartphones allow users to access data from the web almost anytime, anywhere.  This is exciting stuff!  The exchange of information has never been easier.  Because blogging is a guaranteed way to drive traffic to your business, don’t let your blog fall through the cracks; instead, make sure it’s set up to reach this fast growing mobile audience. Read the rest of this entry »

Various digital marketing strategies impact your visibility on search. One often misunderstood yet extremely important marketing strategy is link building. Every month there are 14 billion searches (yes I said billion). Even more interesting, 63.7% of all searches are done on Google, therefore; it’s imperative you understand how Google rates websites and how this rating affects your visibility. Here we demystify the backlink. Read the rest of this entry »

The heart and soul of social media and the foundation for influential business marketing is blogging. Don’t have a blog yet? Then you’re missing out on your chance to leave your indelible footprint in digital space.  A blog is your company’s media channel where your brand is created, expanded upon and recreated.  Every other form of social media points to a blog post somewhere.   Here’s what you need to do to launch a blog that inspires conversations, comments, and followers: Read the rest of this entry »