At the start of 2009, and continually throughout the year, eLink Media management had laid "very clear" expectations while listening to what his employees believed to be the firm's strengths and weaknesses.
Then, along with other firm executives, we established a sense of accountability, a core expectation of "consistent delivery" and goals for the company, which included becoming highly competitive; delivering on "the promise of our name"; and starting to develop a more challenging mind-set.
Results: The most consistent atmosphere in company history and the best client roster we've ever had. Great job to all, and let's keep that consistency going!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
eLink Media & Marketing Mergers
With the ever-changing world of online marketing, mergers happen all the time. What will be the effect of the buyout of Zappos.com by Amazon http://tinyurl.com/m8p3eh ? Our stance is what it is always been: to give consistency in an inconsistent market. The players may change, the game may adapt, but we're committed to rolling right along with it.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
"The SalesMan"
Salesmen are a big problem to their bosses, customers, and wives, to credit managers, hotels, and sometimes to each other. Individually and collectively they are cussed and discussed in sales meetings, conventions, behind closed doors, in bathrooms, bar rooms, and under one's breath from many angles, and with much fervor.
They make more noise and more mistakes, create more cheer, correct more errors, adjust more grievances, pacify more belligerence, and waste more time under pressure, all without losing their temper, than any class we know - including ministers. They live in hotels, cabs and tents, on trains, buses, and park benches, eat all kinds of food, drink all kinds of liquid - good and bad - sleep before, during, and after business with no more schedule than the weather bureau, and with no sympathy from the office.
Yet salesmen are a power in society and in the public economy. In many ways they are a tribute unto themselves. They draw and spend more money with less effort, and with less return, than any other group in business. They come at the most inopportune time, under the slightest pretext, stay longer under more opposition, ask more personal questions, make more comments, put up with more inconveniences, and take more for granted under greater resistance than any group or body, including the U.S. Army. They introduce more new goods, dispose of more old goods, load or move more freight cars, unload more ships, build more factories, start more new businesses, and write more debits and credits in our ledgers than all the other people in America. With all their faults, they keep the wheels of commerce turning, and the currents of human emotions running. More cannot be said of any man. Be careful whom you call a salesman, lest you flatter them.
"The Salesman" was sent by a reader and it says a great deal about a particular profession.
They make more noise and more mistakes, create more cheer, correct more errors, adjust more grievances, pacify more belligerence, and waste more time under pressure, all without losing their temper, than any class we know - including ministers. They live in hotels, cabs and tents, on trains, buses, and park benches, eat all kinds of food, drink all kinds of liquid - good and bad - sleep before, during, and after business with no more schedule than the weather bureau, and with no sympathy from the office.
Yet salesmen are a power in society and in the public economy. In many ways they are a tribute unto themselves. They draw and spend more money with less effort, and with less return, than any other group in business. They come at the most inopportune time, under the slightest pretext, stay longer under more opposition, ask more personal questions, make more comments, put up with more inconveniences, and take more for granted under greater resistance than any group or body, including the U.S. Army. They introduce more new goods, dispose of more old goods, load or move more freight cars, unload more ships, build more factories, start more new businesses, and write more debits and credits in our ledgers than all the other people in America. With all their faults, they keep the wheels of commerce turning, and the currents of human emotions running. More cannot be said of any man. Be careful whom you call a salesman, lest you flatter them.
"The Salesman" was sent by a reader and it says a great deal about a particular profession.
Monday, July 20, 2009
eLink Media & AirTran Airways...the power of eMail Marketing realized!
AirTran Airways has found that e-mail is a helpful tool to help keep up communications with its frequent flier members. In fact, since the airline revamped its e-mail program, the brand has seen a 70% increase in click-through rates in its e-mails.
E-mail is central's strategy to the airline, because most of its bookings come from the Web, rather than the phone.
AirTran worked to incorporate a new design into its newsletter. The two also worked together to add personalization and triggered messages to the e-mails sent out to loyalty members.
E-mail is central's strategy to the airline, because most of its bookings come from the Web, rather than the phone.
AirTran worked to incorporate a new design into its newsletter. The two also worked together to add personalization and triggered messages to the e-mails sent out to loyalty members.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
eLink Media & The Value of eMail Marketing...
The following reinforcement of eMail Marketing comes directly from the Direct Marketing Association:
eMail Marketing is estimated to be worth around billions annually, but also demonstrated equally how important it is for companies to ensure they are using the right channels to promote their products or services.
Email marketing has particularly emerged in recent times as a major force in the sector, with experts often writing on blogs across the web about how cost-effective and useful the format can be.
A study by AOL recently also highlighted the potential market open to those who use the channel, with the online company's Email Addiction Survey revealing that around one in five people check their inboxes over ten times a day, with half of respondents also checking their messages at least four times in the same period.
However, it has also been claimed by some that email can be more successful for businesses that choose to use it in conjunction with other, non-digital formats, such as direct mail or tele-sales.
According to Paul Cross, Product and Marketing Manager for Thomson Local, integrating marketing channels such as email and direct mail can give companies "a much better chance of turning a lead into a sale".
He said that while email has overtaken direct mail in terms of the volume of promotions sent out, postal messages still have "a place in direct marketing activity".
"The most successful campaigns are those that use the full range of channels available to marketers. Often marketers will launch an email campaign and follow that up with a telemarketing or postal campaign," he explained.
Mr. Cross added that the use of email marketing can particularly provide consumers with the opportunity to interact immediately with communications, "whether that be with a call to action or viewing media rich content".
However, he also warned that businesses should view email campaigns as a "sustained dialogue" with consumers and not as one-off promotions.
"An email marketing campaign followed up by with a telemarketing campaign or direct mail campaign gives a much better chance of making a sale than using just an email marketing campaign on its own" he outlined.
eMail Marketing is estimated to be worth around billions annually, but also demonstrated equally how important it is for companies to ensure they are using the right channels to promote their products or services.
Email marketing has particularly emerged in recent times as a major force in the sector, with experts often writing on blogs across the web about how cost-effective and useful the format can be.
A study by AOL recently also highlighted the potential market open to those who use the channel, with the online company's Email Addiction Survey revealing that around one in five people check their inboxes over ten times a day, with half of respondents also checking their messages at least four times in the same period.
However, it has also been claimed by some that email can be more successful for businesses that choose to use it in conjunction with other, non-digital formats, such as direct mail or tele-sales.
According to Paul Cross, Product and Marketing Manager for Thomson Local, integrating marketing channels such as email and direct mail can give companies "a much better chance of turning a lead into a sale".
He said that while email has overtaken direct mail in terms of the volume of promotions sent out, postal messages still have "a place in direct marketing activity".
"The most successful campaigns are those that use the full range of channels available to marketers. Often marketers will launch an email campaign and follow that up with a telemarketing or postal campaign," he explained.
Mr. Cross added that the use of email marketing can particularly provide consumers with the opportunity to interact immediately with communications, "whether that be with a call to action or viewing media rich content".
However, he also warned that businesses should view email campaigns as a "sustained dialogue" with consumers and not as one-off promotions.
"An email marketing campaign followed up by with a telemarketing campaign or direct mail campaign gives a much better chance of making a sale than using just an email marketing campaign on its own" he outlined.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Online Marketing in a Sluggish Economy
At eLink Media, we reinforce the practice of understanding the marketplace and how to navigate through it, especially in these times. Clients who are reluctant to understand what they need to do should take a que from Hyundai North America.
When asked, "How important is marketing these days, and have your ad budgets done up or down?" The response was the following:
"Our overall marketing spending in 2009 is down maybe 10 percent from 2008, but the way we’re spending that money has changed dramatically. We’re relying less on newspapers and magazines and more on the Internet and a big bang approach. We had a very strong presence this year at the Super Bowl, and we dominated the Academy Awards as the sole automotive sponsor. We jumped in on that after GM decided not to pursue it. We’ve also moved a lot of advertising support down to the regional and dealer level because they can be more laser-focused than we can on a national level. We tell our dealers who want to cut back on advertising that they need to maintain a competitive place in the market or else they’ll not only lose volume but market share, and that’s awfully tough to recover."
That is some serious food for thought.
When asked, "How important is marketing these days, and have your ad budgets done up or down?" The response was the following:
"Our overall marketing spending in 2009 is down maybe 10 percent from 2008, but the way we’re spending that money has changed dramatically. We’re relying less on newspapers and magazines and more on the Internet and a big bang approach. We had a very strong presence this year at the Super Bowl, and we dominated the Academy Awards as the sole automotive sponsor. We jumped in on that after GM decided not to pursue it. We’ve also moved a lot of advertising support down to the regional and dealer level because they can be more laser-focused than we can on a national level. We tell our dealers who want to cut back on advertising that they need to maintain a competitive place in the market or else they’ll not only lose volume but market share, and that’s awfully tough to recover."
That is some serious food for thought.
Monday, July 6, 2009
New Media vs. Old Media vs. eLink Media
What is the key for the media industry and advertisers either getting into it, or getting more into it....adaptability. Being flexible and having the insight to understand where the market is going and having the ability to change on the fly is essential. If players want to attend conferences by Allen & Co.....http://tinyurl.com/ncr6py, they have to understand that firms like eLink provide them an essential touchpoint onto the consumer. Advertisers and agencies that are slow and not able to adapt will be left behind.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
eLink Media's Take on Technology & Communication
Technology has given most people the ability to communicate in so many different channels and methods. Instant Messenger, eMail, Voicemail, Tweets, etc. Has the drained our ability to physically communicate with our own voices? Technology is an amazing tool, but just a tool. It doesn't replace tone, inflection, message, and content. Whether it's dealing with client campaigns, marketing, troubleshooting hardware problems, or simply verbalizing new ideas, that human touch is what is really key.
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