Marketing Experts News

Great Sales Leads: Are They An Endangered Species?

GREAT SALES LEADS:  ARE THEY AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?

Whenever the subject of leads is brought up these days most lead buyers will talk about how bad the leads are getting, how hard they are to find, and how expensive that they are to buy. In addition to these challenges, the companies that have traditionally supplied leads are dropping like flies. This is because the methods used to generate leads are disappearing fast such which includes email marketing, telemarketing, and fax broadcasts.

What is the ultimate lead and how can one possibly find them these days? The ultimate sales lead has the following characteristics:

The prospect is ready to buy right now

• The prospects IS the decision maker
• The prospect has the money to buy now
• The prospect has already seen your offer and
• Has made the decision to buy from you
• The prospect is not being talked to by a large number of your competitors

Does this sound like the perfect lead? Of course it does. Is there some magical potion to produce such a lead? Actually there is, but only if you set the program up correctly. What is this program? Search engine marketing, otherwise known as paid search advertising coupled with a carefully designed lead generation site.

Google is considered by many to be the major player involved in the search engine field. Their service is very effective if the campaign is set up correctly. That is a big if though. It has been found that over 50% of all companies that attempt to use Google fail in their efforts.

One can use a firm like InTouch Marketing (www.intouchmarketing.us), a company that was awarded the highest expert level bestowed by Google, to correctly set up one’s campaign. There are independent consultants who promote a certain level of expertise, but whose qualifications are unverifiable. If someone claims that they can set up a campaign overnight one should be very wary. It is simply not possible to establish a proper and successful search engine campaign without several weeks’ worth of detailed research and testing.

The other key to lead generation is the use of a proper web presence that is designed to create leads. Many web sites are simply designed to graphically impress a visitor, yet produces nothing in terms of leads. A good lead generation site or page educates the prospect and then gives them specific action to do..

By having the right web site presence and driving traffic to the site, through paid search ads, one can truly create the ultimate lead. Remember that people who are searching for something on the internet have already made a buying decision. The key is how economically one can push prospects to a web site and then whether the site is effective or not. The prospects are certainly out there on the internet looking.

On a typical day at the end of 2004, some 70 million American adults logged onto the Internet to use email, get news, access government information, check out health and medical information, participate in auctions, book travel reservations, research their genealogy, gamble, seek out romantic partners, and engage in countless other activities. That represents a 37 percent increase from the 51 million Americans who were online on an average day in 2000 when the Pew Internet & American Life Project began its study of online life. This trend is ONLY going up.

Another Pew study identified that fact that over 50% of all online purchases are now PRECEDED by an internet search. 36% of all internet users under the age of 30 say that they could not live without internet search engines. This illustrates what many in ad agency executives now take for granted—that people, in higher and higher numbers, are using internet information, not mainstream media related advertising, to make buying decisions. Every day, more and more people are turning on computers versus the TV set for information and entertainment.

The lesson to be learned here is that one has to control one’s own lead generation. Companies can no longer depend on third party lead providers as a sole source for their new prospects. The ultimate lead can be found. They are all over the internet searching right now.

Bruce Prokopets
Executive Editor
Press Direct International
In Touch Media Group

Marketing Hit: Soul Stealer could be the next Watchmen

By now you've hopefully heard about the "next big thing": graphic novels being made into feature films. With '09's forthcoming sure-to-be-blockbuster Watchmen, Hollywood is no doubt rabidly on the prowl for the next graphic novel hit, and Michael Easton's Soul Stealer may be just what the doctor ordered.

This dark, romantic, gothic tale has it all: heroes, villans, past lives, future lives, magic, action, drama, suspense and yes, it was written by a soap star.

Proving unequivocally that he is much more than a "pretty face", Michael Easton has created a thriilling gothic masterpiece of suspense, intrigue and mystery nestled in the ever popular theme: eternal love (literally). This story (and its forthcoming highly anticpated sequel) has everything it needs to be the next Watchmen.

Watch for it. No doubt, Hollywood is.

Do Not Buy Vista!

According to Google there are currently over 500,000 web pages with the phrase "Vista Sucks" in them. Believe it.

I can't even make the above link target blank because the Vista "update" I did won't let me scroll properly in menus!

I cannot say it enough times - DO NOT BUY VISTA! Do not buy a computer with Vista, Do not "upgrade" to Vista (it's a DOWNGRADE).

Vista is currently a disaster. The only people who seem to "like" it are people who are computer builders and tinkerers and people who only do word processing & email.

If you have a ton of time to mess with your computer and configure this & that then maybe you'll be okay with it.

If you ONLY use email & word processing and some general web surfing such as shopping, then you'll probably be "okay".

But if you actually use your computer for your work like design or lots of programs, games, etc., then FORGET VISTA, because it is horrid. I just "updated" my system & it got WORSE (if that was even possible).

If you are planning to buy a new computer then INSIST on XP ONLY or DON'T BUY A NEW COMPUTER.

If you absolutely must buy a new computer, then consider converting to a MAC because Vista is THAT AWFUL.

You will spend less time learning the Mac than you will fussing with Vista.

Maybe some Apple employees infiltrated Microsoft to develop Vista! :)

Anyway, don't get it, whatever you do.

New In Game Advertising Patent Filing

Inventor of the Seamless "In Game" Ad Files for Patent Protection

CLEARWATER, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- July 31, 2006 -- Nightlife Interactive LLC, inventor of the Seamless Ad, a significant breakthrough in video game advertising, has filed for patent protection. The company (www.nightlifeinteractive.net) feels that its invention will provide video "in game" advertisers with the accountability that many feel is missing from the current impression-based pricing model. "After the Internet bubble burst in 2000, companies like Overture saved the day with pay-per-click advertising," stated Bob Cefail, CEO of Nightlife Interactive. "We are confident that the pay-per- transaction functionality of the Seamless Ad will accelerate the growth of in-game advertising."

The Seamless Ad was designed to allow for effective product promotion that does not disturb or interfere with "in progress" game play. Video games can now be constructed using realistic product integration that allows a player to click on any item within a game when they are interested in the product itself. After the player clicks on the product residing within the game, he or she can continue to seamlessly play the game. The Seamless Ad platform identifies the interested consumer and then delivers the appropriate promotion to the user's email box.

By serving ads in this manner, an advertiser will be able to pay for an ad on a per-transaction basis. "Most advertisers would prefer a pay-as-you-go plan rather than a pay-per-impression model," explained Cefail. "Our system offers true accountability in terms of ad placement and results."

Nightlife Interactive is currently building its first game that includes the Seamless Ad. The game revolves around the world of music, entertainment, and the nightclub scene. Set in five major cities and 25 nightclubs, the game features such real-world products as cars, consumer electronics, clothing, and music. "No present time game would be realistic without such product integration," said Cefail.

The game, titled "Nightscape," involves massive multi-player role-playing and social networking. "We consider the game to be a cross between MySpace, Second Life and Match.com," remarked Cefail. "This is a game where adults can enjoy great music, top DJs, all while meeting new people."

Nightlife Interactive is being assisted in the development of "Nightscape" by In Touch Media Group (OTCBB: ITOU), an online marketing, Web development, and Internet PR firm that specializes in generating website visitors through various search engine technologies and viral marketing techniques. In Touch Media Group conducted seven stages of market research involving over 7,000 participants in order to establish the ideal game for adults ranging from 18 to 45 years in age. In Touch CEO, Laura Betterly, states, "This truly is an example of market research being used at all stages to ensure that consumers and advertisers both get exactly what they want from this game."

"Video game players seek out game immersion," stated Cefail, "which is why we developed the Seamless Ad -- to provide advertising results yet not disrupt game play."

The game is scheduled to be released in the late summer of 2007, and advertising placement and registration will start on August 4, 2006. Advertisers who wish to have their products placed in the game must allow for the "build in" of their offerings within the game, which starts in November 2006.

About Nightlife Interactive LLC

Nightlife Interactive is a video game development, marketing and management company specializing in present day video games that serve subscribers who are over the age of 18. The company also provides advertisers with the opportunity to showcase their products within Nightlife interactive games using the company's patent-pending technology known as the Seamless Ad.

About In Touch Media Group

In Touch Media Group (OTCBB: ITOU) is an online marketing and PR firm that specializes in generating website visitors and customers for its business clients using a combination of effective systems, including search engine advertising, publicity and other marketing services. The company employs online market research to dramatically increase the effectiveness of search engine advertising, targeted publicity, and strategically placed website advertising.

This announcement contains "forward-looking statements." Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and other similar expressions as they relate to the Company and its management are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although the Company and its management believe that the statements contained in this announcement are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such statements will prove correct. Factors that could affect the occurrence of events or results discussed herein are included with those mentioned in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

---

For more information:

Nightlife Interactive LLC
Bob Cefail
CEO
(727) 465-0925
www.nightlifeinteractive.net

For Media Inquiries:

In Touch Media Group, Inc.
Laura Betterly
CEO
(727) 465-0925

SOURCE:  In Touch Media Group

Are You Marketing Like A Man or a Woman? by Toli Cefail

Are you marketing like a Man or a Woman? By Toli Cefail

So many clients come to me and they want to get “sales right now”. They often have no ramp up plan, no preliminary service and no free introductory service. In short, they are marketing like men. “Give it to me right now because I don’t want to wait.” No seduction, no courtship and as a result – little or no business.

What they need (and what we teach them) is how to market like a woman; how to “seduce” their prospective customers with free introductory offers and trials. Getting your prospects to fill out a lead form for something free with a high perceived value will go further than trying to sell them everything you’ve got out of the gate.

Build a mailing list with an effective lead generation site. Then take your time telling your customers why they should buy with newsletters, promotions, special offers and educational articles. Make yourself appealing to your prospects first, like a woman does, then tell them what you want them to do and you’ll get more interested prospects who actually want to hear what you have to say.

Large companies who use ad agencies do this all the time with public relations through contests, product testing events and more. When your budget is smaller you have to be more creative. Here are some ideas on how to “market like a woman” on a smaller budget:

1. Produce a lead generation page that contains a free offer your prospects will treasure. Get them to give you their names, email addresses and phone numbers (if useful to you) in exchange for receiving the free offer;
2. Create a series of brief but informational articles that educate your prospects about your products, the needs it fulfills and the problems it solves. These articles should not be sales pitches but are more educational and informative. Think “if they knew what I know about the product, they’d buy it”, then write what you know;
3. Mail the articles to the prospects who respond to your lead generation page in a series on a regular basis such as once per week. Invite recipients to ask questions. Respond with brief but useful answers;
4. Find local events in your community that you can sponsor. Look for those that give you an opportunity to showcase your product or promote your web site;
5. Contests make great low cost promotions. Create a contest that gives away some of your product. Press release it and promote it through complimentary channels such as stores and web sites.

Those are just a few ideas on how to implement “Marketing Like A Woman” on a limited budget. For more information on this, please see my prior post “Is Your Marketing A One Night Stand or is it the Real Thing” and as always, feel free to contact me at the email link on the right side of this page. J

What Your Web Site Should Be Doing. HINT: It's NOT Leads! by Toli Cefail

What Your Web Site Should Be Doing? HINT: It’s not for generating leads!

I’ve had a number of prospective clients come to me asking for a web site because their current web site is not “selling their product” or “generating enough leads”. My answer to every one of them is “no”. Why? Because contrary to popular belief, a web site is not supposed to do your selling (unless the site is an online store).

Now I may have just shattered a ton of misconceptions and I may be severely upbraided for making such a bold statement – your web site is not supposed to sell unless it is an online store. But this statement is born out of years of experience in online marketing and is based on the fact that my own company employs the strategy I recommend and has not made a single cold call since its inception.

My company receives hundreds of warm, qualified and interested leads every single month and has NEVER MADE A SINGLE COLD CALL. That’s a fact. So grimace if you want but few marketers of any sort can make that kind of claim, especially in a service business.

Your web site should act as a sales tool. It is intended for your sales people to use during the sales process. It should inform, educate and position your company as knowledgeable and competent. It should have information readily available that your sales staff can show prospective customers. Information such as testimonials, case studies, service descriptions, service presentations, corporate biographical info and other sales tools as may be useful in demonstrating your product or service.

In short, your web site is an organized, electronic, global repository for anything and everything that can be used to showcase your company, products and services and present them in a favorable light. It can also serve as a customer service tool for your existing customers to use in getting help with, receiving and/or continuing their service. It is your presence on the world wide web.

But what about the selling?

Please don’t misinterpret this to mean that web pages are not for selling. Or that you cannot have a web “site” that sells anything. You can.

This is done with what are generally called “landing pages” or “lead generation pages”.

A landing page is a page (or micro-web-site) that specifically features a single product or service and targeted toward a particular category of customer. For example: if you’re selling cars you would not promote to mothers the same as you would to 21 year old young men. These two distinct consumers would require two different landing pages with design and copy geared toward each.

The landing page for mothers might discuss how safe your cars were with pictures of mini-vans and SUV interiors.

The landing page for the 21 year old young men might discuss how great you’re going to look in this hot car with pictures of sporty looking cars with pretty girls fawning over them.

You could add a couple of extra pages perhaps with specifications or other targeted information for the given campaign. But basically the main page that your prospect lands on is geared toward a specific type of consumer and product.

Additionally, the page should align with the advertising medium that brought the prospect to the page.

Tactics

You can execute pay-per-click campaigns geared toward specific types of consumers that arrive at focused landing pages. You can also build focused landing pages that are search engine optimized for specific keywords. (This works for online stores too!)

In any case, the key governing factor is precision, targeted promotion. People searching the internet are looking for specific things. If your landing pages deliver on what they’re searching for, those searchers will become leads for you.

4 years of no cold calling can’t be wrong!

--- Toli Cefail

Toli Cefail is a veteran professional marketer and entrepreneur. As a co-founder of the leading internet marketing firm In Touch Media Group, she consults the firms clients and works in oversight of their internet marketing campaigns. In Touch Media Group is a Google Certified Company and a Yahoo Ambassador.

Is Your Marketing Just A One Night Stand? Or is it the REAL THING?

If you’re looking for instant gratification, online marketing, and in fact marketing of ANY kind, is NOT for you.

Many times, I’ve seen business executives begin an online marketing project with unbridled enthusiasm and stars in their eyes.

They salivate over the “millions of people” they will reach for “minimal cost” and fantasize about the thousands of customers they will get “instantly”.

They’re delusional.

Marketing, whether online or off, is a PROCESS. Instant gratification is RARE. It takes TIME to develop a successful marketing procedure and even longer to perfect it.

The so called “internet gurus” that you see who have these online marketing “systems” took YEARS to develop and perfect them. They may have spent only months developing their software for the system, but they also spent 20 years learning to write ad copy, 15 years learning marketing, and an equal amount of time learning about their market.

They are also continually modifying, testing and updating these systems to keep them working if at all. This is because the internet is constantly changing. There are more savvy internet users than ever and they don’t go for the “guru hype” that was so successful just 6 or 7 years ago.

In short – to repeat – marketing is a PROCESS.

Think of it like dating. If you want someone to fall in love with you, you can’t expect that to happen on the first date. Sometimes you may get lucky and it happens. But this is rare.

The reality more often than not is that you have to woo the person. You have to get to know each other. You have to learn each other’s likes & dislikes, how each other responds to different types of communication and environments. You learn how to make each other happy. You learn what NOT to say and who not to invite to their birthday party. You try different approaches. You make mistakes. You make some hits too.

All of this takes TIME. But eventually, through knowledge, trial, experience and persistence you get it right and perhaps fall madly in love with each other.

And then, AFTER you fall in love, you have to work to MAINTAIN and IMPROVE the relationship. You can't take anything for granted or you'll end up DIVORCED.

And so it is with your prospective customers. It is a PROCESS, not for the impatient or the lazy and definitely not for the faint of heart.

When you have a product or service that you want to market online (or offline) there are several things you will need to find out in order to market it successfully:

1. What is your product REALLY? – You need to clearly, cleanly and simply know exactly what your product is, what it does and what need(s) it fulfills. These answers should be easy to communicate to anyone in plain English.


2. What type of person wants your product and what type of person needs your product? These are not always the same. You also may have many different types of people who want or need your product. Each type of person may need to be marketed to differently as each responds differently to certain types of communication. For example what appeals to a 19 year old young man doesn’t necessarily appeal to a 45 year old woman yet they both need & use toothpaste. You would nevertheless, market to each differently.


3. What do the people who would buy your product or service want from it? What would they expect or require from your product? The answer to this should be known and if it is not known, market research should be done to get the answer. It can be as simple as asking a few people up to conducting comprehensive market research.  Once you know the answer, be sure that any marketing done CLEARLY demonstrates that your product or service delivers “it”.


4. What type of promotion will your products public respond to? E-mail, banners, pop-ups, TV, radio, contests, word-of-mouth? What image appeals to your public? Conservative, hip & trendy, traditional, wholesome? Different people respond to different types of promotion, styles and images. Find out the answer and design your marketing campaigns accordingly.


5. And last but definitely not least – TEST, TEST, TEST and RE-TEST. Testing is the key to developing any successful marketing campaign. From the above answers, you will get bright ideas on how to market your product. Try them. Test different wording, different marketing vehicles, different publications, web sites, etc. Eventually, something will work. Tweak what works until it works well. Repeat these steps with each tested idea. Eventually you’ll have a number of things that work and there you have your system!

Sounds simple right? Well for some people it is and for some it isn’t. If you have a knack for marketing and plenty of time, you can do this and succeed relatively easily. If not, you may want to study marketing books and materials or hire professionals to help you.

Whatever you decide, be prepared to invest time and other resources in developing this “relationship” so that it is rewarding, long lasting and meaningful and not just a one night stand.

_________________________

Toli Cefail is a founding partner at In Touch Media Group and has been a marketing professional for over 20 years. Her experience, both online and off, spans all manner of products, industries and venues including, communications, fashion, corporate services, marketing services, food & beverage, music and more.

1. What is your product REALLY? – You need to clearly, cleanly and simply know exactly what your product is, what it does and what need(s) it fulfills. These answers should be easy to communicate to anyone in plain English.


2. What type of person wants your product and what type of person needs your product? These are not always the same. You also may have many different types of people who want or need your product. Each type of person may need to be marketed to differently as each responds differently to certain types of communication. For example what appeals to a 19 year old young man doesn’t necessarily appeal to a 45 year old woman yet they both need & use toothpaste. You would nevertheless, market to each differently.


3. What do the people who would buy your product or service want from it? What would they expect or require from your product? The answer to this should be known and if it is not known, market research should be done to get the answer. It can be as simple as asking a few people up to conducting comprehensive market research.  Once you know the answer, be sure that any marketing done CLEARLY demonstrates that your product or service delivers “it”.


4. What type of promotion will your products public respond to? E-mail, banners, pop-ups, TV, radio, contests, word-of-mouth? What image appeals to your public? Conservative, hip & trendy, traditional, wholesome? Different people respond to different types of promotion, styles and images. Find out the answer and design your marketing campaigns accordingly.


5. And last but definitely not least – TEST, TEST, TEST and RE-TEST. Testing is the key to developing any successful marketing campaign. From the above answers, you will get bright ideas on how to market your product. Try them. Test different wording, different marketing vehicles, different publications, web sites, etc. Eventually, something will work. Tweak what works until it works well. Repeat these steps with each tested idea. Eventually you’ll have a number of things that work and there you have your system!

New Coke “Mastermind” Takes Job With Star Wars Galaxies by Toli Cefail

Star Wars Galaxies – the once fantastic online role playing game where players could live in the Star Wars universe and pursue a myriad of goals much as one does in real life – has been invaded by what appears to be the ‘genius’ behind the creation of the New Coke formula.

If you play the game and have played lately, you’ve probably realized that the party is now basically over. What was once a fun & life-like game where one was free to choose one’s own destiny has become a boxed-in, restrictive, and limited “experience” that is destined for a short playing time.

For those of you who may be too young to remember, or may have forgotten, the New Coke fiasco, I’ll describe it here. Coca Cola, the world’s favorite beverage for about ONE HUDRED YEARS, decided some time ago to change its flavor. Not only did they change the flavor, but they eliminated the original flavor from all store shelves world wide. The only flavor you could buy was the New Coke flavor. Needless to say it was a colossal disaster.

No one liked the new flavor. People were going crazy trying to find the old flavor. Coca Cola was flooded with complaints and inquiries from consumers, distributors & stores. It was a mess. So soon after this blunder, they reintroduced the original flavor with the face saving label “Coca Cola Classic” which, of course, outsold New Coke by leaps and bounds. This is why your coke cans say “Classic” today.

No doubt some “marketing whiz” told the Coke executives, “you’ve got to be ‘fresh’ to keep up with Pepsi!”, “Out with the old. In with the new!”, “We’ve got to do something major!”. I can see the meeting now where this Madison Avenue “whiz kid” pitched this lunacy.

And so it is with Star Wars Galaxies. If you’ve been playing you know now that the entire game has changed. You’re now forced to choose only one of a limited number of professions; your single path is dictated by the game creators; and don’t even get me started on the mouse control changes. (I’m still getting over my headache).

The only good thing about the SWG changes is the new quests and new abilities.

I’ll never understand this obsession to change everything instead of just changing a few things. I will also never understand the tendency of companies to make sweeping decisions that affect their customers (and profits) without first surveying those customers to see what they want exactly.

I’m sure there were some complaints about the time it took to achieve certain game perks and abilities. But did rectifying that require a radical and complete game change? Did that necessitate eliminating skills and abilities players had worked weeks and even months to acquire? I’m certain no.

Hopefully the “new” SWG changes will go the way of New Coke and their “mastermind” will again be looking for work.

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Toli Cefail is a veteran professional marketer for over 20 years, a gamer & party girl :-)

Marketing Mysteries Solved - How To Find Out What Your Customers Are Thinking by Toli Cefail

To be sure you're reaching your target audience with any marekting effort and internet marketing in particular. It is important to have certain elements in place.

First and foremost is to know who your public is.

Second is to know what they want from your product or service.

Third is to deliver what they want from your advertising all the way through your product or service itself.

How do you know who your public is and what they want from your product or service?

The answer is survey.

Ask your public (customers and prospects) what they want with properly conducted market research in the form of surveys.

While there are many firms that perform market research and customer surveys it is important that the survey you conduct accomplish certain key objectives in order for the information to be practically useful when creating your marketing campaigns and collateral.

1. The survey must acertain what type of people are most likely to want and buy your product. If your product has a dual public, such as with children's products, you must survey both publics (e.g. children and parents).

2. The survey must find out what these people would expect your product to do for them - benefits they expect.

3. The survey must get them to tell you how best to present your product to them. This is a tricky one because your questions have to cut through a person's social acceptance mechanisms to get to what really makes them want a product. This is accomplished through careful question construction and is best done by marketers experienced in writing questions that cut through an individual's social veneer.

4. The survey should also ask questions about such things as pricing, packaging, color and name.

5. And finally, the survey should ask questions that tell you how to position your product so that consumers will find it appealing.

Even if you conduct focus groups and product testing, doing these types of surveys early on in the product development and marketing development stages can save a great deal of time and money. At the very least it will give you a direction to go in which will save many hit and miss attempts at getting your marketing right. ---- Toli Cefail

Toli Cefail is a veteran marketing executive and entrepreneur with more than 20 years experience in marketing both online and off. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer at the leading online marketing firm In Touch Media Group (ITOU.OB) - www.InTouchMediaGroup.com.

Are You SURE Your Target Audience Likes Your Marketing?