The world is changing around the clock and the Internet had proven to be the fastest and cheapest way to communicate on a local, national and global level.

While direct marketing had proven to be a focused, trackable and measurable way to connect with consumers, e-mail marketing brought the advantage of being less expensive while providing an instantaneous message delivery to prospects and clients.  Straight-forward and affordable, e-mail marketing is a tool allowing businesses to contact customers directly and with a purpose.

While helping businesses build a relationship with their customers, e-mail marketing concentrates the company’s efforts on keeping in touch with clients and continuously reminding them of their services and products.  While providing a relatively lower cost for global reach, messages through e-mail marketing can be interactive through the use of graphics, music and/or whatever is necessary to engage the recipient and capture prospects’ attention.  Adding a personalized touch to the e-mail message would help create a special connection with the clients.

E-mail marketing can take different forms including newsletters, announcements and promotions.  And while newsletters are periodical containing news and information, promotional emails are occasionally used to increase sales.  Depending on the business, one or all of these could be beneficial.

Through e-mail marketing, businesses can announce special offers encouraging recipients to take action by making a purchase or signing-up for a service. In addition, businesses can aim at developing a long-term relationship with their readers by adding value and including content informing and benefiting the recipient.  Have a purpose in mind before developing the e-mail marketing piece and define the target before sending it out.

When planning to send out an e-mail message, take scheduling into consideration.  Blast emailing on a Friday evening, for example, might not be a good idea.  Recipients might not check their email over the weekend and those who do and become intrigued by a call-to-action will unlikely be able to reach a business over the weekend.  Businesses usually get one chance to reach prospects and get them to respond. Make the best out of it!

While it is cheaper and instantaneous to send an e-mail message to thousands of clients and prospects, getting the recipient to read and respond to the message is a challenge by itself.  Furthermore, keep in mind that e-mail marketing is permission based otherwise the recipient of the email may consider the message a spam – and categorizing a message as a spam is a major setback with major circumstances of negatively affecting a company’s reputation and image.

Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.

At The MarCom Network, we offer marketing and creative services assisting our clients in reaching their target customers and increasing exposure through a spectrum of services including advertising planning, branding, creative collateral designs, and web presence. For more information, please contact us at 949-596-4903 or visit us at www.TheMarComNetwork.com

Dark Marketing is slowly making its way into the advertising lexicon, and for good reason. Rock bands like Nine Inch Nails and burger giant McDonalds have unleashed its brand engagement and reinforcement capabilities with results marketing chiefs can cheer.

But, for many in the industry, the term is still more likely to conjure an image of Darth Vader opening a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos instead of what the concept delivers: legions of brand enthusiasts actively participating in an artfully designed and carefully executed brand marketing campaign that spans countries and continents.

It’s powerful stuff.

Here’s a brief primer, and, for brands that can, a “how-to-market darkly” checklist.

Let there be Light

Dark Marketing isn’t sinister, but it borders on covert. At its core is the alternative reality game (ARG), a complex, creative and purposeful scenario that brings brands to life.

ARGs are interactive narratives that comprise fiction and nonfiction, mystery and detection and scripted and unscripted activities that invite participation. The games unfold on (and are made possible by) multiple forms of traditional and online media. ARGs may use telephones, e-mail, outdoor signage, t-shirts, television, social networks, music, blogs and more to introduce an engaging storyline, motivate behavior, reveal game clues and advance the narrative in ways that hold player interest.

Take, for example, Microsoft’s “I Love Bees” campaign used to promote the launch of Halo 2, a hit video game. It’s a great illustration of how ARGs go under the radar of traditional marketing to rally consumers to the brand.

Microsoft launched the game by FedEx-ing jars of honey to several Halo players. A few days later, the promotional trailer for Halo 2 referenced a Web site, ilovebees.com/xbox.com. The Web site provided lists of pay phone numbers, GPS coordinates for the phones and times when each listed number would be called, driving the curious to find the phones and answer the calls. The calls delivered additional clues that advanced the ARG, promoted Halo 2 and reinforced the brand.

From the start of the game until its conclusion (with players earning a preview experience of the Halo 2 game), players and observers visited the I Love Bees Web site for updates on the narrative and new clues about the game. Independent Web sites and forums sprang up, generating game theories, conspiracies, storylines and, of course, marketing buzz.

Not for Everyone

ARGs work best for brands with target markets that enjoy the aspects of interactive, social games with online components. Commenting on why “I Love Bees” was so successful for Microsoft, James Hilton, creative director for AKQA, the agency that developed the ARG, said, “It worked well for Xbox because its audience is inclined to investigate further, hack into sites and solve problems.” There must be a good fit between the brand, the meaning the brand wishes to communicate, the target market and the story and plot that anchor the ARG.

After determining fit, roll up your sleeves. ARGs demand substantial work — from initial conception through planning and execution. Further, because the storyline can change depending on response from players, ARGs require agility, quick writing and responsiveness from game architects (known as puppet masters) through the game’s conclusion.

Additionally, if player response takes ARGs in unintended directions, marketers charged with tightly controlling brand meaning may find themselves taking unwanted risks.

Finally, compared to some marketing options, an ARG’s reach can be small. For example, measures of Audi’s success with an ARG referred to reaching 500,000 people. A display ad on the MySpace homepage, for example, could have reached millions. Of course, the attention and involvement components are entirely different for these two examples, and it is important to consider the entire range of benefits and disadvantages associated ARGs and other marketing activities.

Getting to the Dark Side

ARGs engage brand enthusiasts, drive publicity and create buzz. They allow brands to tell their stories creatively, interactively and virally. If you’re ready to give one a shot, follow these guidelines:

Have a story to tell. ARGs are first and foremost an interactive story that should be captivating, dynamic and inviting. Ensure that there is a clear match between the brand, the target audience and the notion of an interactive game. Plan, plan, and plan more. Begin by assessing how the ARG can facilitate accomplishment of the brand’s marketing goals. Then figure out the back story (the pregame narrative), the primary narrative, and the forward story. Perplex City (http://seasonone.perplexcitystories.com/story.html) offers a detailed overview of its architects’ planning process. Reveal the story narrative over time using obscure clues and messages that will require player interaction to decipher the scenes. Include plot lines that are nonlinear and can be revealed sporadically. The development of the narrative must not be predictable and must not rely on a linear unfolding of events to make sense. Design a story that will enhance the sense of reality in the story. Players should not be reminded of the game but should be invited to make the game part of their reality. Utilize a variety of media, and carefully design game elements to leverage the characteristics of the delivery medium. Past ARGs have utilized code on T-shirts and posters, Web sites identified in video trailers, posts to blogs, e-mail, text messages and mass media advertising. Be prepared to change the direction of the narrative in response to player input and response to past clues and events. Commit to the ARG and its management. ARGs take time and continued involvement and management as the story unfolds. Consider an agency with ARG experience, including 42 Entertainment, Mind Candy and McKinney & Silver. Measure the effectiveness of the ARG based on the objectives for the promotional campaign, not just according to game participation.

As TIVO, iPods and the Internet continue squeezing traditional advertising methods, dark marketing strategies will become a bigger part of the mix.

And for marketers that get it right, this dark side promises plenty of sun. 

©2008 Dr. Tracy L. Tuten

In network marketing the key to success is building relationships.  Most people miss the most important ingredient to this mix.  It’s the follow up.  Then they wonder why they aren’t having success.

Talking to people, building relationships and finding out what others are involved in is very important when you are building your business.  Why build relationships if you don’t have any intention of speaking with them again!  This is something most people miss altogether.  This is how you can stand out from the crowd.

By following up with your prospect this will put you above 95% of your peers.  It’s the key to success in any field you are in.  Making sure you made a good impression or that you were able to provide the information they were seeking is so important.  

No matter what type of setting you met someone in, wait between twelve and twenty-four hours before you follow up with them.  Send them an email or give them a call just to say hello that it was nice meeting them.  Let them know that you are there to be of service if there is anything you may be able to help them with.  Never be pushy!

Here are some tips that may help:

*   Put their information in your database and set your calendar to remind you to follow up with them again in another month.  Just to keep in touch to let them know you are still here.

*   It’s crucial that you remember that you are there to help them and not the other way around.  Give them a reason to stay in touch.

*   During your contact, be sure to share something of interest with them; perhaps some humor or shared interests.

*   If a commitment was made, be sure you reaffirm that.

*   Be brief and to the point.

*   If emailing or writing a note, always address them by their first name.  It’s a wonderful personal touch if you can use them both.

*   If you two met in person, immediately mail them a thank you note expressing your appreciation for their time.

*   If you were introduced to your prospect through an acquaintance, be sure to thank them as well and be sure to let them know how the conversation went as well.

*   Always express your gratitude

If you start today by making follow up a habit, you will have much more success and a much greater outcome.  When you implement this into your life, remembering people’s names and them trying to remember yours will be a thing of the past.