The Quartz Effect http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com quartzmarketing.co.uk official blog - peace, love and marketing posterous.com Fri, 07 Oct 2011 01:51:09 -0700 We have moved http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/we-have-moved http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/we-have-moved
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You may have noticed that your favourite Blog is now sporting a new look and this is because we have finally migrated over to the popular blogging platform, WordPress.

With a strong ecosystem around WordPress, this is exciting news because there are so many more themes, widgets, plug-ins and overall community support available.

The more we learn about WordPress, the more we like it, and the more we want to tweak the various settings for a personalized experience. One thing has become quite clear in all of this, namely, if we want total control of the Blog (i.e. super-admin rights), we really needed to host the Blog on our own domain and thus we have decided to launch: TheQuartzEffect.

The move has been exciting and no doubt a learning experience, but one we highly recommend if you are serious about Blogging, and frankly you should be. I hope you follow us along as we continue to share our marketing experiences and update you on what’s going on within this wonderful industry.

Remember to Bookmark us and subscribe to our marketing updates

www.thequartzeffect.com

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Mon, 12 Sep 2011 23:59:32 -0700 #Branding Basics For Every #Zimbabwean #Business http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/branding-basics-for-every-zimbabwean-business http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/branding-basics-for-every-zimbabwean-business

Thank you for visiting our blog, if it’s your first time please subscribe to our blog page to learn how to maximise your online visibility and how to promote your business effectively online:  RSS feed.

It’s been a hectic summer and we have found ourselves distracted by some high value activities and events we have been caught up with, like the very successful Zimfest which we have been part of the last few years. It was fantastic to meet and mingle with most of you on the day. However we do apologise for not updating our blog but we are back refreshed and looking forward to the winter and giving you a lot more marketing tips like we have always done.

Zimfest has always brought out the best in us. It’s such an emotional journey and it’s always fantastic to see so many Zimbos in one place, however the one place that’s always of great interest to me is the Business Tent where a lot of UK based Zimbo business showcase and exhibit their services/products. I met so many businesses and made some observations in there which is what this blog post is about, some branding mistakes that I saw on the day and some simple tweaks and resolutions that you can use to improve the most important aspect of your business.

Imagine what it would be like if you can control other people’s minds—and you have the power to motivate, influence consumer buying behaviour and persuade people to agree to practically anything you propose. If you have the power to shape someone’s reality?

The Truth Is... You Can!

It all boils down to perception. You wouldn’t show up to an important business meeting wearing mismatched socks and a shirt full of holes—you wouldn’t look very professional or competent. So don’t do it to your business. Quite simply, the image you create of your business for prospects is their reality.

The following three components should form a launching point for developing your small business branding and marketing direction for your Zimbabwean small business.

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A Bullet-Proof Business Logo

In the blink of an eye, your sale can be made or lost because of the credibility and professionalism of your small business logo. A professional marketing firm can help you identify the core beliefs and mission of your business, and translate those intangibles into a compelling visual service mark. Resulting in a logo that effectively plays upon the subconscious to create positive mental associations and persuade people to see your business the way you want them to see it.

Matching Marketing Collateral Material

Imagine trying to play poker with a deck of cards where each card had its own completely different suit... it’s impossible! The consistency of your sales message is vital to promoting a strong, healthy, unified business image. The look and feel of your business cards, letterhead, envelopes, product packaging, brochures and website should all maintain a standard look, as dictated by your brand, website brand and logo. That means visual elements such as fonts, colours and layouts should be standardized. If you laid out each of the above pieces on a table, visually, each piece should complement each other.

A High-Impact Website

You simply can’t afford not to have a website for your business. With over one-billion people now using the internet, it’s too big of an opportunity to pass up. Even the smallest businesses can effectively use the internet to promote their products and services, attract new business, tap into new markets, and compete with the big dogs. With such widespread adoption of the internet, to many customers, you simply aren’t real to them if you don’t have a website. They expect to find you online! And if you do have a website, but it's dying a slow, painful death, now's the time to consider a website redesign.

Your overall, business image, or brand, speaks volumes about your level of commitment, dependability, quality of service, and overall value. That’s why it is absolutely mission critical your logo, marketing collateral and website send the right message about you and your business. Your customers will repay you in additional sales and loyalty, thanks to the confidence and comfort they receive from a consistent and carefully scripted brand image.

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Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:07:43 -0700 Primary keys to using social media http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/primary-keys-to-using-social-media http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/primary-keys-to-using-social-media
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A lot of Small Businesses have stepped up their marketing initiatives in 2011 with free social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. A lot of them are even hiring part time staff to help them keep up with the social sites.  After all, social media is no longer a fad; it’s a mainstream way of communication – for building both business as well as personal relationships. Proving further that social media is not a passing trend; Facebook celebrated moving into 2011, with more traffic than Google.

A lot of our own clients have been asking the question of how they can best improve their social media presence. So we’ve put together a quick list of primary keys to using social media to market yourself and your services:

1.    Never directly try to sell your product.

If you do, people will “unfriend” and “unfollow” you quickly. Instead, use social media to post interesting and useful content around your product. For example provide valuable updates and share links to information that your targeted audience would be interested in and that shows you have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry.

2.    Get Personal.

Using social media to market your business is also about building trust. And trust comes from people knowing who you really are. So, in addition to the great tips and advice you may provide, share a little about yourself. After all, your customers are not only buying your products and services, they are buying you.

3.    Don’t be Boring.

Never, ever post what you had for breakfast. Instead post fun, interesting things that people are more likely to not only read and react to, but also re-tweet or share with their networks. Try posting different types of content to see what gets the best reaction with your target audience.

4.    Listen.

Remember that social media is a conversation. Login often and comment on other people’s posts and share other people’s ideas. It not only shows that you are listening, but also makes them more likely to react and share your information as well.

5.    Consider time of day.

Social media happens in real time. And as you use the different social networks, you’ll notice that the time of day you make your post can have a dramatic response on the comments you get back. Consider the target audience you are trying to reach and post accordingly. For example, working mothers are most often on social networks after 9pm, when the children are asleep. So posting Twitter updates during this time, is more likely to catch their attention.

What are you doing to build your influence in the social media space? I’d like to hear about it.  Share your ideas and thoughts here.

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Tue, 14 Jun 2011 03:21:41 -0700 Welcome to the new Zimbabwean.co.uk http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/welcome-to-the-new-zimbabweancouk http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/welcome-to-the-new-zimbabweancouk

Exciting times ahead as The Zimbabwean launches a great new looking interface. Please do take a look. And please register! Many thanks to all concerned. Check it out www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

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Thu, 09 Jun 2011 02:14:48 -0700 A Stronger Voice - Wilf Mbanga http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/a-stronger-voice-wilf-mbanga http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/a-stronger-voice-wilf-mbanga

The Zimbabwean Online has been re-designed

Dear Colleague

On Tuesday 14 June 2011 our new online news platform will be launched. At the same URL (www.thezimbabwean.co.uk) but with a brand new user interface, it will present a new richness of content. Easy to navigate, the new interface will bring The Zimbabwean’s content to its reader in a way that is clear and fresh.

The new website also represents a refreshed editorial structure with greater content associations and cross-referencing for a more in-depth and diverse news experience. It will encourage increased appreciation and exploration of the site’s rich content.

Our goal is to present news in a manner that better reflects the high standard of journalism for which we constantly strive. Through a new and distinct typographic design and a considered, clearly sign-posted structure we will uphold the values of The Zimbabwean and build on the publication’s established reputation for professionalism and accuracy.

A Voice for the Voiceless

Since its inception in 2005 The Zimbabwean has been A Voice for the Voiceless, dedicated to Truth, Justice, Hope and our country, Zimbabwe. It has diligently reported on the situation in our homeland, its culture and its people as well as on international affairs as they relate to Zimbabwe.

As time and technology change it is important that those who strive to report the facts keep pace. Over the last six months we have carried out an in-depth review of The Zimbabwean’s editorial structure and its content, to pave the way for this major upgrade.

We want to build on The Zimbabwean’s reputation as a courageous, authoritative and content-rich news service. And to do so in ways that keep it relevant, accessible and effective.

International Respect

The result of our commitment is respect. The Zimbabwean is held in high regard as a fair and reliable source of insight by its readership and also many other international news platforms.

Add to that the enormous body of support that has sustained the newspaper financially and encouraged it practically - support that is testament to the quality of journalism found within its pages.

International Support

Since its launch, The Zimbabwean has received the support of many international figures and organisations.

In 2009, with the global advertising agency TBWA, The Zimbabwean launched The Trillion Dollar Campaign to bring attention to both the publication and the Zimbabwean situation. The campaign won a record number of prestigious awards and brought the newspaper to the attention of many new readers. In 2010, a follow-up campaign – The Voiceless – was launched to tell the stories of Zimbabweans to the world.

Continuing our Promise

The promise we made when The Zimbabwean was first launched remains as strong now as it did when it was first made:

The Zimbabwean will be an authoritative and accurate newspaper of record and a reliable source of information to all those individuals, agencies and governments with an interest in Zimbabwe. A news blackout is dangerous for any society.

We will ensure that our coverage is accurate, fair and balanced. We will be accountable to our readers. We will endeavour to give all viewpoints and everyone will have the right of reply. In short, we will do everything the government newspapers in Zimbabwe are not allowed to do.

We hope you find the new Zimbabwean delivers an informative, well-balanced and accurate view. If you would like to find out more about The Zimbabwean, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

For a preview of the new Zimbabwean, download the PDF Press Release.

 

 

Wilf Mbanga

Editor

The Zimbabwean

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Wed, 08 Jun 2011 09:53:51 -0700 #Social media: Power in the hands of the people by Dianne Bayley http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/social-media-power-in-the-hands-of-the-people http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/social-media-power-in-the-hands-of-the-people

Among other things, it’s been called a “fad” and a “waste of time”, but social media is a phenomenon that isn’t going away, says Dianne Bayley, founder of infORM.

It’s the Marmite syndrome: You either love it or hate it. For the most part, those who “hate” social media have never tried it – or are trying to find ways to monetise it, and it isn’t working.

While figures are changing so rapidly it’s hard to keep up, it is said that Facebook now has around 600 million users, while Twitter has some 75 million. YouTube – the site that enables user-generated videos to be shared with the world - has millions of hits every day and has even scared the governments of China, Turkey and Thailand into blocking viewership by their citizens at various stages.

In August 2009, Erik Qualman, a writer for Socialnomics.net, asked: “Is social media a fad or the biggest shift since the industrial revolution?” Truth is, it’s big. And if it’s a fad, it doesn’t seem to be losing growth momentum. The power of the “spoken word” has been put firmly into the hands of the people . . . and they’re not letting go.

Business dilemma

As more and more businesses set up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts, many do so without much consideration of how the medium works. Others refuse to get into the space, for fear of bad news about their company or brand being available to millions in mere seconds.

So, what’s the solution? Having a social media presence is not about selling product to the masses. In fact, businesses should heed the warning that trying to do a “hard sell” is not well accepted by users of the medium. When you think social media, think “word of mouth” marketing. Think “listening” instead of speaking. That’s all it is. Just as in “real life”, if your service is lousy, your press is lousy. But the social media platforms – managed properly – can turn a bad user experience into a positive for your company.

A 2009 Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 internet consumers from 50 countries showed that recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising; with 90% of consumers surveyed noting that they trust recommendations from people they know, and 70% saying they “trusted consumer opinions posted online”.

So, what of the comments that aren’t complementary? Here’s where reputation management is key; and anyone who implements a social media strategy without having an experienced manager monitoring site activity is either looking for trouble – or not maximising the opportunities online affords them to be seen to have the customer’s best interest at heart.

Consider this: You’re irritated with service from your bank. You go onto the bank’s Facebook page and tell the 3 000 other users what happened. Within minutes, you have mail in your inbox from a customer service representative, offering to sort out the issue. More importantly, the smart monitor is going to respond to your post, on the site, in full view of everyone who has read your complaint. That’s management. The days of ignoring customer complaints are over. Deleting a negative post is a huge blunder you don’t want to suffer the consequences of. But the opportunity to regenerate goodwill by acting smart and fast can be invaluable.

Socialnomics says that 80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices; updated anywhere, anytime. Imagine, it says, what that means for bad customer experiences? Well, it means they’ll be shared the minute an unhappy customer walks out of your store and – if you’re not monitoring the various social media platforms - you may only know about it through a drop off in sales or subscriptions.

Should you have a social media presence? As part of your broader marketing initiatives, yes. Should you have a presence that isn’t being constantly updated and monitored? You’d be asking for trouble.

Contact infORM at http://www.facebook.com/infORMonline

Years to Reach 50 million Users: Radio - 38 Years; TV - 13 Years; internet - 4 Years; iPod - 3 Years . . . Facebook added 100 million users in less than 9 months… iPhone applications hit 1 billion in 9 months ~ Socialnomics.net

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Sun, 05 Jun 2011 23:53:52 -0700 June Promotion – 100 bespoke A5 brochures designed and printed for just £500* http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/june-promotion-100-bespoke-a5-brochures-desig http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/june-promotion-100-bespoke-a5-brochures-desig
Brochures

Quartz Marketing June promotion is 100 bespoke, 8 paged brochures, creatively designed and printed for just £500*

Quartz Marketing can help you set yourself apart from your competitors with these bespoke, full colour, A5 brochures .

    Promotion includes...

        Bespoke creative design perfectly aligned to your company's brand identity

        100 printed A5 brochures on 170gsm silk, full colour throughout, folded, collated, stapled and trimmed

…Get in touch today and take advantage of this fantastic promotion…

    info@quartzmarketing.co.uk

    08443 510395

    Follow this link to complete a simple form and we will get in touch with you

* Terms and conditions apply.

Terms and conditions

1) Offer includes unlimited revisions until totally satisfied

2) All copy, images and brand identity must be supplied

3) Quartz Marketing Ltd have the right to refuse service

4) Offer only available until 30th June 2011

5) Payment terms - 75% of the cost must be paid before work commences and the remaining 25% upon delivery of brochures.

6) Service level agreements will be agreed upon instruction

 

 

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Thu, 02 Jun 2011 14:03:32 -0700 Building "Windows 8" - Video #1 http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/building-windows-8-video-1 http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/building-windows-8-video-1

A first look at the new "Windows 8" user interface

 

 

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Thu, 02 Jun 2011 04:49:32 -0700 #Zimbabwe start up launches Dariro.com, a local pages platform http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/zimbabwe-start-up-launches-darirocom-a-local http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/zimbabwe-start-up-launches-darirocom-a-local
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Zimbabwe Internet entrepreneur, Richwell Phinias and friends recently launched a platform on the internet where Zimbabwean business organizations, educational institutions and various sectors from the country can interface first among themselves and then with the world.

The internet is becoming a major part of communication for people considering how infrastructure, access and skills in the field are generally improving. Only two years ago people in Zimbabwe could not access the internet from their mobile devices but in recent months two of the giant mobile networks in the country have introduced data services to their subscribers with smart phones, GPRS and 3G capable phones.

More and more internet service providers are coming into play introducing better services for the people. In line with this, the next development will be content. As people go through the internet, they are mostly limited to being consumers of information. The basics generally are sending/receiving email, using facebook.com, researching educational information, scouting for business and jobs over the world.

But the founders of the internet platform www.dariro.com believe that it is high time that people start sharing, networking and doing business online. People do not have to move out of Africa to know about Africa. A culture of telling Africa’s story by Africans is the case in point. The internet allows that.

To create websites, it is a cost that most people will not find justified besides people in the various sections of life do not have to start new careers as website developers and internet marketers to be able to close the digital content divide.

The Dariro.com platform therefore allows people to add their information seamlessly, the same way they open and use their new email addresses with free email providers is the same way Dariro.com is built. It takes less than five minutes to register and it is free. Once a user is registered they can then chose to create a website and allocate it a category that best suits what they do. All this can take a few minutes and your organization is online.

The platform is suitable for small to medium scale businesses, churches, schools, colleges, non-governmental organizations.  Most people who have tried websites for their companies are worried about who will visit their websites. Well with Dariro.com, your website is created in a networked community where there are already active visitors, so from day one you can even start receiving visitors and potential business partners after creating your website on Dariro.com.

Considering that there is much that people can use the internet for, Dariro.com is opening up its platform to programmers and website developers to develop applications for the website that could potentially benefit internet users from academic, education, health to the various sectors of society.

By default the dariro.com programmers launched the beta version of the website with four applications. The first one is a Provisional Driver’s License Practice quiz, this application allows learner drivers to practice questions and learn from guides how to tackle theory questions they are likely to encounter when they go for their Learner’s Driver’s theory tests. Given that people spend most of their times with interacting with computers or phones connected to the internet either at work or home, this also makes out for an interesting learning environment turning a difficult exercise into an exciting one, all for free.

The second application is an e-learning platform where academics from ordinary level, undergrad, post grad and professional students exchange notes and study guides in soft copies among Zimbabwe over the world. Zimbabweans in educational institutions across the world have access to fast broadband connections and therefore do have large amounts of free educational resources that can benefit their brothers and sisters locally. So the platform allows them to upload and share this content with others at home, making learning accessible for all.

The other application is a chat program where users on the site can interact in real time. The next application called ZimLyrics is a collection of Zimbabwe music lyrics uploaded and edited by users, it is a platform that is going to help many Zimbabwe music lovers appreciate more the meaning of Zimbabwe music as the can now access the words in the music.

More and more valuable applications and directories are coming on as more programmers join the Dariro.com vision.

Dariro.com e-Marketing executives and application developers will be sharing revenue from advertising on their applications with Dariro.com creating avenues for Zimbabwe programmers to make money online.

Pages created on the Dariro.com platform are integrated with many components of the more than 700million member social networking platform Facebook.com. So likes and comments on your Dariro.com Pages will be accessible to friends of your users creating a butterfly effect for the publicity of your Dariro.com Pages.

Ultimately, for organizations seeking marketing opportunities on the platform; Dariro.com is introducing a new concept even across the globe. The concept of integrated marketing message creation and distribution channels, the Dariro.com founder, Richwell Phinias calls the system, technology or way of doing marketing DIGITAL SUPPLEMENT.

DIGITAL SUPPLEMENT: Digital supplements involve integrated online marketing message packaging and distribution channels – Richwell Phinias, Dariro.com

The Dariro.com founders believe the internet is going to define Africa’s moment in the famed age of African Renaissance

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Tue, 31 May 2011 04:07:09 -0700 Website Maintenance Is All About Keeping The Website Fresh! http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/website-maintenance-is-all-about-keeping-the http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/website-maintenance-is-all-about-keeping-the
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Having a website with professional design with all other elements in place is surely good thing in itself, but unlike other things like TV, air conditioner, computers, etc websites also demand maintenance at regular time interval. To make it going strong and attractive a site's look is very essential. This would keep your visitors and search engines keep coming back to your site again and again and ensure its smooth functioning.

Keeping the web content fresh and updating it at regular time interval is necessary to keep-up the interest of clients alive, and they would visit your site often for new information. If your site contains same old content for too long, search engines spider would find same old content as a result would ignore your web pages leading to lower search engine ranking.

Most of the time website owners don't know when the right time to update their site with changes or additions is. Sometimes a site also undergoes some internal changes like new accreditation, adding of newer skills, product addition or subtraction, service modification, customer friendly offers, etc. You have to intimate your customers about such changes and refer them in your website. It is also a part of website maintenance.

When your company successfully finishes any project, showcase it in the portfolio section which eventually brings value addition. Some web pages of a website that needs regular updating are testimonial section, news updates, latest happenings and so on. Such type of content value addition provides better exposure to your website and holds in your existing customers as well.

Keeping new content to your site is just like adding refreshment to the existing database leading to more and more people preferring to read your site content for knowledge or information purpose. Addition of newer articles can be done on daily, weekly or monthly basis whichever is needed to keep your site at higher ranking. Many times articles are written with a purpose of imparting education to readers and add to their knowledge for business promotion purpose. Articles are written with targeted keywords/key phrases so that it gets listed in top search engine rankings.

Apart from articles section news and press release section needs regular modifications and changes. These pages are important with respect to latest company announcements and news related to them. You can hire professional service providers who manage your website and handle all content related matters.

 

 

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Tue, 24 May 2011 06:45:50 -0700 African Digital Renaissance - No business left behind by Anesu Michael Maposa http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/african-digital-renaissance-no-business-left http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/african-digital-renaissance-no-business-left

With the digital renaissance dawn upon Africa and in these tough economic tough, every penny counts so whatever you decide to invest your hard earned cash in your business, it’s not rocket science that you would want a positive return. The higher Return On Investment you realise, the more satisfied you are. An investment in a company website in this digital era in Africa is surely one of the ways to increase your businesses’ sales revenue.

Long gone are the days when only the big corporates were the only players who could afford investing in a company website. With the current competition in the website design market, you can get your business, whatever size you are a website from as low as $150.  

So before you get yourself a website the important question you pose to yourself always is: “How am I going to boost my business’s online sales revenue in line with the current internet boom in Zimbabwe and the rest of the world?” An enormous number of businesses with websites are in the pursuit of increasing their Return On Investment and some rely heavily on highly targeted website traffic. Improving a website’s search engine visibility has proved to be the most common and popular way.

But before we go into depth with the following strategies you have to make sure that your website is optimised for mobile phones. With the current rise of mobile phone internet use in Zimbabwe and the rest of the motherland, it doesn’t need a rocket scientist to figure out that for your business to reach a wide scope of potential clients; your website has to be compatible for viewing on mobile phones. There are more people in Zimbabwe browsing the internet on their mobile phones than using the traditional desktop computer. Investing in a mobile website is only a plausible investment decision. A simple search on the internet will give you results for mobile websites designers.

Now I am going to delve into the 3 strategies you can use to help you harness the power on the internet using your business website. The 3 strategies are Pay Per Click advertising, Organic Search Traffic and Targeting your Local Market.

Pay Per Click Campaign Advertising


Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is defined by Wikipedia is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the hosting service when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market. Content sites commonly charge a fixed price per click rather than use a bidding system. PPC is a major attribute for page search engine results. Therefore, it is very important to try by all means to attain the best possible exposure without breaking your bank. Times are hard.


Any winning paid search strategy has its foundations in sound amplified and or optimised campaigns. Care should be taken and avoid the gut reaction of uselessly burning resources on Google AdWords and other similar campaigns. You can increase your ROI and stretch your budget to an extra mile by using the right targeted keywords on your target market or niche market; this includes more precise geographical locations and most profitable periods.

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), Wikipedia defines it as the method of creating an experience for a website or landing page visitor with the goal of increasing the percentage of visitors that convert into customers, therefore, is an opportunity worth looking into. Let’s assume that you are getting website traffic but you are not converting it into sales, there surely is a serious issue that needs to be taken care of. If you thoroughly analyse your landing pages, website forms and checkouts, you will surely find out areas which are lacking and needs improving. Running live checks is important to establish the relative value of making the changes. The ideal final outcome ought to be the increase in the Conversion Rates and Sales Revenue of your website.

Organic Search Traffic


Organic Search Traffic is the traffic to your website from search engine results pages that appear because of their relevance to the search terms, as opposed to their being advertisements. Your website can be seen on search engine results pages by using Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). SEO aids increasing your website rankings in the organic results by targeting specific keywords of your choice aligned to your website. Implementing SEO greatly assists your website and aligns it with the search engines standards.

SEO is a valuable system to improve visitors to your website pages, and this in turn assist you positively increase your Return On Investment. With this in mind, free business articles on Ngoda Business can get your internet marketing off the ground and will help your website generate more sales revenue.

Target Local Market


Concentrated energy is put into better use and achieves more results effectively and efficiently. You should strive to appear in your local searches, it  is very important and should not be sidelined from your internet marketing strategy in working towards increasing your ROI. Running besides Search Engine Optimisation, local search services will help you attain supreme visibility in your area.

Maintaining a dominant presence for your website in Google Places Yahoo Local or Bing Local will aid direct traffic or hot leads with the intention to buy to your website. This should in return direct business and inevitably home visits ought to increase, helping your business increase its brand awareness and present a respectable Return On Investment.

A simple search for “company Harare” on Google places will come up with the following results.

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On the left side of the image above you will notice that there is a list of companies who have signed up for Google Places in Harare, and they have shown up in the results. Now the major advantage of this are:

1.      Prospective clients will see your contact details on first glance without visiting your website, giving you more chances of them contacting you.

2.      On the right side there is a map showing your business physical location, corresponding with letter marked reddish bubble. This adds an intangible value to your business that you are actually in “existence”

3.      You business name is hyperlinked to your website. If a visitor goes on that link it takes them to your linked website page.

4.      There is a Place page besides your business name. Google give s you an option to create a place page which is more like a one page website on which you can upload your logo, business pictures and you can list your products and services.

5.      On the Place page, customers can review your business, giving you aiding that “word of mouth” advertising.

So what are you waiting for? Go on and create yourself a Place page, for whatever City you are in. The best things in life are free. Even after you sign up for Google Places, Big Brother G will even send you advertising credits for Google AdWords, though I haven’t confirmed this to be the case in Africa.

What fellow entrepreneurs out there need to focus on now is this opportunity to come up with a system of facilitating people to buy and pay for goods and services online. One to come up with such a solution will surely be carrying the pot of gold home. But in the mean time you can be creative and depending on your situation, come up with a solution for a check out system if you sell goods and services online. You can have people to reserve goods online and pay in your shop or offices, since a lot of people in Zimbabwe do not have credit cards and Visa cards to pay online.

Don’t let your business get left behind, jump on the digital bandwagon and rip the “digital benefits”, expand your market share, increase your sales revenue and your Return On Investments, it’s not yet water under the bridge.

For more tips and articles like this please visit Ngoda Business, a free business article portal aimed at helping fellow striving Zimbabwean Entrepreneurs by Zimbabwean Entrepreneurs on www.ngoda.info . Anesu Maposa is a founding member of Ngoda Business.

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Fri, 20 May 2011 06:17:27 -0700 There is an issue of principle here. #Zimfest http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/there-is-an-issue-of-principle-here-zimfest http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/there-is-an-issue-of-principle-here-zimfest

Not long ago there was an article circulating in Zimbo circles about the lack of vision and innovation among Zimbabwean entrepreneurs. That of course is debatable as Zim has produced a number of stellar businessmen and women who have broken down barriers and performed very well in very difficult circumstances.

 

The thrust of the article was that there are too many people who see someone successful in a area and immediately copy their concept hoping to find similar success. This of course does not happen as the market quickly become fragmented driving down potential earnings and resulting in limited earnings for everyone in the sector. Economics 101. This is not to say that no one should try to do anything has been done before. The right level of competition is always healthy and can have a positive impact on prices and quality of service.

 

At Zimfest has recently fallen become victims of this and not only have we seen similar events being launched we have had people simply use not just our name but even our brand material without so much as an emailed enquiry for permission to do this. The irony is that it is the philosophy of the organisation to Celebrate Zimbabwe and to open the doors to as many Zimbos as possible to participate in this. While this is the case it would be very irresponsible to allow this to happen without taking steps to protect the brand and what it has come to mean.

 

Beyond this there is an issue of principle here. If you decide you want to set up a telecommunications company you do not just call it Econet. If you want to set up a bakery you do not just call it Lobels. These companies have spent a lot of time and effort building up their reputations and brands and only someone who has no respect for the hard work these people have put in to this would even consider trying to use their name or brand without their permission.

 

Starting out on any project of this nature requires a level of confidence and determination to put in the work required to make it a success that would mean that you do not need to do this. that you have the ability to build your own brand and the follow through to see this become a reality. At Zimfest we would like to see more Zimbabweans embark on new and innovative projects and to see them become successful but would like to hope that this is done the right way, in a way that would leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that the success was earned and deserved.

 

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We welcome competition as in order for us to be successful in what we do we have to have confidence in our product and in our ability to deliver it but if anyone would like to work with us in helping enhance the reputation of Zimbabweans and Zimbabwe through Zimfest please, talk to us you will be pleasantly surprised at what can be achieved.

Zimfest is an event that Quartz works on, we are pleased to announce that we will be helping out again this year. For more on Zimfest please follow this link.

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Mon, 16 May 2011 02:21:48 -0700 Towards Greater Accountability Marketing Communication http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/towards-greater-accountability-marketing-comm http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/towards-greater-accountability-marketing-comm

Advertising is just one of many brand-building initiatives. The ultimate goal of any advertising campaign is to first generate awareness about a product or service, resulting in sales and ultimately a positive contribution to the brand’s bottom-line.

If the ultimate goal behind investing in any ad campaign is to guarantee sales and consequently profit, then the conventional media eyeball measurements of advertising exposure will no longer suffice as satisfactory bench-marks for measuring and evaluating the success of campaigns.

As a matter of fact, with the onset of advances in the field of campaign evaluation and media tracking, engagement metrics are gradually starting to replace those traditional audience reach and frequency metrics as standard tools for the measurement of advertising ROI.

Another critical factor is the increased emphasis being placed on the delivery of clearly measurable results and figures by agencies as far as marketing communication campaigns are concerned. This is where the issue of the limitations of advertising as a tool for influencing desired consumer action set in. Traditional advertising has been likened to waving at an audience from a distance. Brands therefore essentially desire a way to get in closer contact with their publics/targets and embrace them, as it were, particularly at a more optimal cost such that resources are not literally thrown down the drain.

Equally importantly, it has been observed that BTL (Below-the-line) encourages the ‘less-is-more’ approach, in the sense that it enables brands to define and specifically target marketing tactics at specific segments and channels, with a higher potential to drive consumer demand/action. These can be taken through a multiplicity of channels which range between experiential, retail, POS (Point-of-Sale), Digital, Mobile, One-to-one marketing, e-mail and so on.

As against applying a strictly traditional approach that’s characterized by a campaign hinging off an array of separate visual (Television), Audio (Radio) and print executions, an unconventional BTL strategy may incorporate tactics such as flying a hot air balloon over targeted geographic areas, offering consumers instant gratification via an in-store retail promotion, the creation of an animated poster or production of engaging content that spreads virally using the consumers themselves as the media…..the through-the-line shopping list is virtually endless and relatively economical. The objectives of a particular campaign will however have to be clearly outlined and taken into consideration as they will inform the type of strategy which will be employed to drive the campaign.

While TV, radio and print will remain particularly important media, particularly where mass awareness is required to support marketing and also for the ‘entertainment’ value they add to the art of advertising, the future of advertising is about consumer relationships, conversations and influence.

This is why Below-the-line has started to and will increasingly take larger portions of campaign budgets and enjoy greater recognition for efficiently delivering integrated campaigns that create tangible value for all stakeholders – brand, client and the consumer.

Tomi Ogunlesi, a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) is a strategic planner at Bates Cossé, Lagos.

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Mon, 09 May 2011 02:42:51 -0700 Making the most of your Facebook fan page http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/making-the-most-of-your-facebook-fan-page http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/making-the-most-of-your-facebook-fan-page
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I have helped plenty of businesses in recent months to design and set up their presence on Facebook. But the problem always remains of how to keep your fans interested.

So you’ve got a Facebook business page created, you’ve started to gather fans but what should you post?

One of the nicest things about Facebook is that you can keep in touch with your fans on a daily basis (I wouldn’t recommend more than once a day).  This gives you a unique way to enhance your brand, to establish yourself as a customer and to converse with your customers and fans.

Trying to find content for your page however can seem like an impossible task, so I thought I would share with you some of the tricks that I use to keep my page populated.

1. Google Alerts:  Google alerts is a free subscription service.  You can choose words or phrases as your ‘alerts’ and Google will send you daily or weekly emails listing web, news and blog results containing those phrases.  When they hit your mail box in the morning scan through them for stories that would be of interest to your customers and that will help enhance your brand.

For example, for African Marketing News I have a Google alert for ‘Marketing News Africa, occasionally there will be a great story, posted in a newspaper or a blog,  the sort of story that not only would be of interest to my fans and customers but which is also relevant to my brand.  When I find one of these gems I share it on my Facebook page. Priceless

2. Import your blog: Importing your blog into Facebook means that your page will automatically update whenever you post a new blog entry.   The simplest way to do this is to use the notes function:

  • Click the ‘edit page’ link under your company logo.
  • Click on the pencil next to the ‘Notes’ application.
  • Choose ‘edit’ from the drop-down menu, you will be brought to the notes page.
  • On the right hand side of the screen click the link ‘import blog’ and follow instructions to feed your blog into your fan page.

There is also a lot of blog functionality and apps that Facebook uses today like Networkedblogs and more, take advantage of those.

3. Ask a question: This is always great as it makes your page interactive, and if you ask questions that are of serious interest to your fans they are obliged to respond by posting on your fan wall.

4. Have a competition: Offer a small prize in return for a short story, a caption, a name for a product.  Spread the word about the competition through your mailing list, twitter, your blog, and your other social networks as well as through your Facebook page.  You will find that this brings you plenty of new fans too.

5. Company news and promotions: You will soon loose fans if you constantly directly promote your business but that doesn’t mean you can never do it.  As long as you are providing value to your fans through other interesting content it can be beneficial to add company news and special offers to your news feed.

If you need help with your Facebook fan page drop us an email and ask a question.  We’d also love to hear your Facebook fan page success stories. Don’t forget to ‘like’ our page as well.

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Sat, 07 May 2011 07:18:00 -0700 Brands and Politics http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/as-i-see-it-brands-and-politics http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/as-i-see-it-brands-and-politics

Robert-mugabe1

Brands and Politics

We are always engaged in brand management. Whether it is on the conscious or subconscious level we are always trying to project an image of the person we would like people to think we are. The way we walk, the way we talk, the colours we wear, by commission or by omission we influence the way people see us and we in other words influence perception of our personal or corporate brand.
 
The explosion of internet and mobile data use has amplified this and the potential impact we could have has multiplied to levels many of us would even begin to comprehend. While it could be argued that this is only relevant to people in the public the truth is very little is private anymore. The concept of "privacy" can only be considered in terms of extent and context and with employers, business partners and even friends able gather information on you with astonishing immediacy online branding has become relevant to us all.

Not being online is not an option either. That choice simply hands the advantage to the competition in almost every respect and effectively surrenders control over the way you are perceived. Individual and organisations are no longer assessed based only upon how they present themselves but also by the things people say about you if anything is being said about you at all and having nothing at all said about you is probably the worst position to be in for the brand conscious.

The ease with which people can comment about your or your brand has left us all exposed and vulnerable. At the click of a button misrepresentations of the truth are exposed, quality defects in your product broadcasted, and that which used to be so easy to conceal is brought instantly into the spotlight. Few have any other option but to e aware and vigilant about their brand online.
 
A few weeks ago pop artist Sean Kingston put on an underwhelming performance in Harare leaving the crowds that paid $100 to see the show disappointed. In a vain attempt to enhance his personal brand he claimed, on his Facebook page, to have thrown $3000 into the crowd. This backfired spectacularly and within minutes comments from irate Zimbabweans flooded his page refuting this claim and accusing the artist of being patronising and condescending. The post was removed from his page but not before a screenshot was taken and re-distributed around the web. With a few ill advised strokes on a keyboard Sean Kingston permanently damaged his brand in not only in Zimbabwe but around the world and it will be very difficult for him to recover.

In America would be presidential candidate Donald Trump set social media alight by claiming credit for forcing President Barack Obama to present his birth certificate publicly for the first time. The incident immediately drew parallels to the times when people of colour were forced to present identification documents at the behest of pretty much any white person. In the eyes of many Trump was immediately branded racist rendering his purported presidential campaign unlikely unless he performs a miraculous recovery. That said his brand association with superfluous TV shows, bankruptcies, the glamorous life had already made any meaningful campaign unlikely.
 
The political arena has been impacted more heavily than any. Barack Obama literally tore his opponents to shreds in his presidential campaign because of his campaigns mastery of new media. His image was spun into iconic posters, t-shirts, posters and other election paraphernalia inundating web. Where his image was presented the words "Hope" and "Yes we can" were never far away and brand Obama came to represent the aspirations of a tech generation fatigued with the same old politics. In contrast his opponents seemed to stand for nothing, had very little online visibility and their increasingly desperate attempts to counter this rapid advance seemed leaden footed, simplistic and pandering.

Long before the Obama phenomenon a new political force was sweeping onto the stage in Zimbabwe. It too carried clean and simple imagery, an open palm symbolising peace and transparency. It also carried a simple and clear message, "Change” that captured the imagination of a generation that had trudged through over 20 years of political musical and the stagnation that comes with broken promises and misappropriated resources. This force was the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and it has emerged become the most popular political party in Zimbabwe.  The MDC had a simple brand and a clear message.

In contrast the party in power at the time, Zanu PF's had moved from it’s simple crowing cock and communist/one party state image and message to a mish mash of images and messages adopted more out of expediency than calculation or belief. The single clear image that had come to represent the brand had become the face of Robert Mugabe. The effect of this has been for Brand Mugabe to represent Brand Zanu PF and the party has found it impossible to even consider replacing him and with concerns over his age and health the party is in a very precarious position. Beyond this the brand has come to be associated with violence and negativity characteristics that while being intimidating are hardly inspiring..
 
Since its early successes the MDC has not fared much better. Their brand has come to represent stagnation as the need to provide some stability took home in Zimbabwe necessitating their entry into the Government of National Unity. The split of the party into two separate entities and subsequent wrangle for ownership of the brand name has culminated in the personalisation of the brand with MDC T representing the Morgan Tsvangirai faction and MDC M representing that faction’s erstwhile leader Arthur Mutambara. This has further diluted the brand and added an element of confusion in terms of policy and therefore message leaving the majority of Zimbabweans uncertain about what the party stands for now beyond opposition to Mugabe and Zanu PF.
 
This lack of clarity in respect of what the Zimbabwean political brands has left the political landscape practically feudal with the parties themselves floundering under internal pressure caused by fragmentation. Online Brand presence is very weak and where this does exist it frankly will not hold the attention of the average internet user for more than a few passing seconds.
 
As the country embrace of new media continues to rise at a remarkable rate a new front has opened for the two main political forces. The party that does the best job of managing its brand online will be the party that wins the hearts and minds of a new tech savvy and globalised generation. Frog-marching people into feigning support for your policies will not make any party dominant in the psyche of this generation and therefore not claim their loyalty. Both parties can be said to have surrendered control of their brands in both the physical and virtual worlds.

Hilton Mendelsohn is a founder member and Trustee of WEZIMBABWE, partner at Quartz Marketing and a columnist with The Zimbabwean,  www.hiltonmendelsohn.com

 

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Thu, 05 May 2011 13:29:07 -0700 Monitoring your brand/name online http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/monitoring-your-brandname-online http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/monitoring-your-brandname-online

Knowing what is being published online specially in the social media space about your brand or your name is very important. It is safe to say that a big portion of your customers/clients use or belong to some sort of online social network.

If you are concerned about preserving your brand or your name it is imperative to monitor the social space for anything negative. But with so many social networks out there, how does one monitor everything?

There are many services out there that allow you to monitor the social space, some of these platforms are user friendly and free, some are not so friendly and cost money. So here is the list of some of the most popular ones and a few that we use on daily basis.

TweetDeck

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TweetDeck allows you to set up multiple social media channels on one screen that consistently monitor keywords that you need monitored. Think of it as your personal browser for staying up to date with what’s happing in the social space.

HootSuite

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HootSuite is a social media dashboard that has grown to be very popular in the last year. We personally and professionally use this service and love it! HootSuite allows you to setup columns with multiple social profiles and will monitor each social space based on your keywords.

MyWeboo

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MyWeboo was established in 2009 and launched in June of 2010. This platform allows you to monitor multiple social portals. From Facebook to Twitter and from Yahoo News to CNN, this tool will help you stay on top of news, videos, photos, and social network conversations pertaining to your brand

Google Alerts

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Google Alerts is a free service from the folks at Google. This service allows you to setup a list of keywords that you want to monitor, Google will then monitor these keywords as they appear on the web and will notify you by email when it catches anything. You can set how often you want these emails sent and which email address to send it to. We use this tool to monitor our Public Relations customer’s brands.

SocialMention

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SocialMention – Ohh how we love this tool, think Google Alerts but for social media! This service lets you aggregate content that is streaming through Social Media sites into a single and very detailed page. SocialMention also allows you to setup daily email alerts for your brand.

Addict-O-Matic

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Addict-O-Matic lets you “inhale the web” by creating a page with results from searching websites, blog posts, videos and images for the latest buzz on any subject. It is addicting, we tried it, liked it and then had to take some time to come off of it!

Want to add some more social media monitoring platforms to this list? Just drop us a line in the comments section below!

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Thu, 05 May 2011 00:43:00 -0700 Spread the Word! http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/spread-the-word http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/spread-the-word
    So we have decided to open up our Facebook presence www.facebook.com/Zimfest to any Zimbabweans and friends of Zim out there who would like to spread the word about any new music, events, artists, campaigns, products and services ou

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Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:24:08 -0700 What your business can learn from the Royal Wedding.. http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/what-your-business-can-learn-from-the-royal-w http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/what-your-business-can-learn-from-the-royal-w
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Nothing can really beat the excitement of a big wedding and they don’t come bigger than a Royal one. The big day is upon us. Today, billions of televisions around the world will be tuned into the wedding of the future King of England, Price William of Wales, to his fiancée Kate Middleton.

Regardless of what you think of the Royals (or marriage for that matter) there is no mistaking that this is likely to be one of the biggest events of the year (unless you are a fan of Zimfest ;)). And big events with big audiences mean big opportunities for smart marketers.

I have been following the build-up since the wedding was announced and have watched with great interest how businesses have taken advantage of the mood and excitement. With this in mind, here are some marketing lessons from the Royal Wedding – it's not too late to use some in your business.


Become an expert

With the media desperate for any sort of content in the lead-up to the wedding, an army of business people – from fashion designers right down to humble bridal shop managers – have emerged to give their expertise on everything from bridal dresses, wedding cars, wedding cakes and even cutlery. In most cases, these people aren't privy to the actual details of the wedding, but that doesn't matter – they are "experts" in their field and therefore have a platform.


Back it up with social media

Any event with a big television audience is almost guaranteed to create huge social media traffic and the royal wedding is no different. With this in mind, any promotion or marketing must be supported by an appropriate social media campaign – something the Royal Family itself is doing well with a steady stream of Tweets from its account @ClarenceHouse.

One of the best examples of a specific social media campaign comes from Schweppes, which is itself an official supplier to the Royal Family. The company, which is selling a special range of Royal Wedding-branded bottles, has created a virtual giant wedding card on Facebook for users to sign.



Control the flow of information

The Royal Family have given marketers a master class in how to control the information around a big event. While Clarence House can't control the experts weighing in on potential wedding dress designs, they have been able to set the official agenda around the wedding by releasing a steady stream of information, including selected members of the guest list (which killed off speculation around this) details of flower arrangements and seating plans and photos of rehearsals and other events.


Tailor your content

Getting some wedding-related content out to your customers or potential customers in a timely matter is crucial if you want to get even a small slice of the interest around the big event. It might be a blog on how your industry is involved in the wedding or it might be a special wedding-related event or promotion.


Build anticipation

The wedding itself may only take a few hours, but clever marketers have been working at building anticipation for months. It's a great lesson that business owners can use in the lead up to a big event – count down clocks and marketing messages saying there are "two weeks to go" allow you to stretch out the marketing impact.


Sentiment sells

While modern marketing tends to concentrate on the smart, slick, innovative and satirical, there is a decidedly old-fashioned lesson in the Royal Wedding – sentiment still sells. While many consumers in the UK think the monarchy is a rather out-dated institution, there is no getting around the fact that everyone loves a wedding and a bit of romance.


Beware the backlash

The Royal Wedding has received its fair share of bad press. Concerns about the cost of security and the amount British taxpayers stump up each year to keep the Royals in the manner they have become accustomed are inevitable around an event like this. Saw it recently with the Zim Achievers Awards where there was a lot of negativity but the organisers dealt with that brilliantly. If your event is controversial or has its critics, be prepared to address any negativity.


Have fun

Everyone knows that getting excited about the Royal Wedding is a bit silly, but marketers shouldn't be afraid to get caught up in the spirit of whole thing and have a bit of fun – particularly if this is part of your brand values.

 

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Wed, 27 Apr 2011 00:02:42 -0700 Using your blog and social media to build your business http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/using-your-blog-and-social-media-to-build-you http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/using-your-blog-and-social-media-to-build-you
Blogging

If you’ve been learning about how to increase your online presence for your business, then you know about the importance of having an active blog with fresh content.  You also know that you need to have a presence on popular social networks, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  You may, however, be confused about how to intertwine your blog with your social network interactions.


 

Here’s how you should look at the relationship between your blog and your social network profiles: your blog should serve as your “primary home” while your social networks should be your “holiday homes.”


 

This means that you need to spend most of you time building out and developing your blog – which means you need to be constantly adding value-add content to it as well as ways to capture the information of people who are visiting your site – and supplement your blog activity with engagements on your social networks.


 

The process should look like this:


 

Step 1: Create an attractive blog that is prepared to capture leads (e.g. create lead capture forms with an e-mail marketing platform, such as Constant Contact, and make it easy for people to connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn)


 

Step 2: Create a “content schedule” of topics that you (or someone else) will write about; publish this content to your blog according to the schedule.


 

Step 3: Jump on your social networks and drive your friends and followers back to your blog through compelling offers, comments, and questions.


 

Step 4: If you offer good incentives and intriguing content on your blog, you’ll be able to capture the contact information of the people who visit your site.


 

Step 5: Market to the leads that you generate through your e-mail marketing and social networks.

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Mon, 18 Apr 2011 03:05:30 -0700 Building a case for co-creativity in Marketing Communication: for the good of the Brand..... Tomi Ogunlesi http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/building-a-case-for-co-creativity-in-marketin http://thequartzeffect.posterous.com/building-a-case-for-co-creativity-in-marketin

Building a case for co-creativity in Marketing Communication: for the good of the Brand

Tomi Ogunlesi, Senior Strategic Planner
Bates Cosse

Building a case for co-creativity in Marketing Communication: For the good of the Brand
 
Recent trends indicate that Consumers have become wary and increasingly suspicious as far as the entire concept of ‘marketing' is concerned. This stems from the perception that advertisers/marketers are only out to exploitatively ‘brain-wash' potential targets towards meeting their own selfish commercial ends, at the expense of the ‘unsuspecting' consumer's wallet, by subtle and calculated manipulation of their (consumers') psyche.


Today's reality is that we're struggling to reach skeptical audiences that have become largely jaded by our traditional brand communications. Our targets are trust-starved and are erecting and fortifying their psychological defenses against commercial ‘onslaughts'.


Contemporary marketing strategy clearly necessitates a departure from many of the marketing industry's current ideas, perceptions and techniques which have for long held sway.


It is ironic, however, to note that Coca-Cola's high-profile ex-marketing arrowhead, Sergio Zyman (who authored the treatise ‘The End of Marketing, As we know it") is notoriously recorded to have warned, at some point, that, in his words, "Leaving things up to the consumers' imagination is something you never want to do. Customers are dangerous, and if you leave them to decide how they want to be satisfied, you're going to have a terrible time living up to their dreams. It's better if you can control both the promise and the delivery."
Well, this may actually have been tenable in time past, but engaging Mr. Zyman's position, in the light of the realities of contemporary market and consumer trends, reveals that such disposition is little short of suicidal for any brand desirous of meaningful impact in an environment where the typical consumer is more discerning, enlightened and empowered. Remarkably humorous, though very instructive, is former Nike and Starbucks marketing point-man, Scott Bedbury's take on what a brand is "The sum total of the good, the bad, the ugly and the off-strategy!"


While it still holds that branding is the most critical element of commercial success, some fundamental laws and pillars that have been relentlessly preached for ages are presently being called to question, such as one that preaches "Create advertising around an aspirational image associated with the brand." Now, these traditional and conventional big bang promotional methods still work for many products and services, but the clearly emerging truth is that in order for a brand to ‘stick' i.e. to have a real impact on culture, it has to collaborate with its users, its constituency.


In many instances, misguided (in retrospect!) attempts to exert and enforce control over brands and consumers' reaction to them have been noted to have backfired in quite a number of scenarios.


One intriguing realization, when put into the proper perspective is that consumers themselves have actually become important brand-builders. They build a perception or an image of the brand just exactly the same way birds build nests from scraps and straw which they chance upon, according to Jeremy Bullmore.


As brand managers and custodians, the implication is that we need to let go of the fallacy that the brands in our care belong to us - A brand belongs to the market, of which the consumer is a key determinant. At this juncture, it must again be stressed that Co-creation is very key, and ideally, the brand is co-created and shaped via meaningful collaboration with consumers. One fundamental challenge that constantly comes to the fore, which many people saddled with the task of managing brands have repeatedly confessed to be faced with is that of seeing and approaching their brands from the perspective of consumers.


Such successful co-creative initiatives that have gone on to strengthen brand equity abound world over. Consumer-generated media is no passing fad. Many of the world's most successful brands are progressing beyond the centuries-old model of driving awareness through mass-marketing, choosing instead to engage consumers.


"Co-creativity" is a form of the creative process that involves more than one person. In a co-creative process, many people come together, interacting with one another, sharing ideas and experiences, and affecting the growth and insight and ideas of everybody else in the group.


Co-creativity involves listening, dialogue, mutual respect, and careful attunement with the ideas and intentions of other people in the venture. Co-creativity can be understood in different ways, depending on the understanding among parties involved. As a co-creative group gains in resonance and understanding, the group may wish to refine an "agreement" among its members, to clarify ways in which the group has decided to address issues and questions that may arise.


Marketers are inviting their customers to take part in the creative process Commercials, print ads, tag-lines and a lot more communication elements are being produced by the very audience they're intended for and, at first glance, it somewhat appears that many functions within the larger marketing community are becoming rapidly obsolete.


In the past, the technical skills and distribution capacity (budget inclusive) required to create and deliver an impactful marketing campaign were significant and far beyond the means of any one individual. With the proliferation of personal technology, social media and the rise of interactive networks, the entry barriers have become almost completely obliterated.


Against this contemporary backdrop, the ‘advertising' agency can not expect to be a sole repository of strategic or creative input by any standards whatsoever. Whoever says the winning idea can not emanate from the client, or even more interestingly, from the ‘bloody' consumer?


As someone put it succinctly, ‘Every consumer with an idea and an iMac is a potential visionary, willing and eager to step into the vital role of brand ambassador."


What this essentially translates into is that you're just as likely to find the next great creative director in an uninspiring and obscure university dorm room as in the hallowed studios of any of our highly revered advertising agencies.
Now, where does all of this leave that apprehensive brand/marketing manager who will find himself constantly haunted by the morbid fear of having his precious brand ‘hijacked' by ‘fickle and dangerous' consumers?


Interestingly, you'll find that you're still running the show effectively You conceive, create and manage the brand, with just a little (but immensely invaluable!) help from your customers. You, it is who gets to choose the form and specificity of content you're asking for, and also to decide whether you want it circulated or internalized as the case may require. If anything, all of this puts you in a more vantage position to better manage your brand than ever before, because your consumers are offering their valuable insights and help.


As brand custodian, you're ceding some control. But in reality, you have little to give compared to a whole lot more in benefits... So, loosen up and watch your brand take a turn for the better!
 
Tomi Ogunlesi, a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) is an account planner in Strategy and Business Development at BatesCosse, Lagos.

 

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