Visit Our Improved Blog

For those of you that have been following us on this blog, we thank you. The response to our content has been wonderful. In fact, it has been so positive that we have upgraded our blog. As part of our upgrade we have moved to a new site that will improve the type of content we can deliver and added new information. Please visit our new blog at http://www.allegramarketingaz.com/blog

Direct Marketing with Social Media

For many marketing professionals the concept of cross media marketing is evolving. This definition no longer includes just print, email, and personalized URL’s. With the expanded adoption of social media, many marketers are looking for ways to include social media like blogs, LinkedIn, and Twitter in their marketing efforts.

As with any cross media campaign you can easily engage prospects, and gather information by using print, email, and pURL’s ( personalized URL’s ). At Allegra Print & Imaging we are seeing an increased demand to help marketers build an online community. One innovative approach is to tie together a multi-channel approach the gives respondents an opportunity to connect with social media.

One example is a recent campaign that was launched for the Girl Scouts. A multi-channel campaign was developed that included variable data post cards, email, and a pURL ( personalized URL ). The theme of the campaign was “Support the Sash”. This email and direct mail components drove respondents to a pURL ( personalized URL )where they were asked if they were interested in donating or joining a Facebook cause page. In additional to significantly improving the average donation, the campaign also engaged respondents in the online community. More than 45% of the responders joined the Facebook cause page.

By creating an online community this important non-profit organization has the ability to continually nurture this group of alumni. Over time this ongoing sense of community will create a more active alumni base and ultimately drive incremental donations that they would not otherwise been captured.

Allegra Arizona “Best of Arizona Business 2009”

Allegra Print & Imaging was recently recognized as a “Best of Arizona Business 2009” by Ranking Arizona. This honor is a result of the largest business opinion poll in the state. This year Allegra Arizona was graciously selected as one of the top companies in multiple categories. Allegra was awarded second place in both the Advertising and Marketing, and Business Services categories.

When asked about the recognition Allegra’s President Eileen Rogers commented “We are excited that the marketplace has recognized our increased focus on enhancing the client experience. We hope that with our continued focus on delivering business results for our clients we will receive the honor again in 2010”

Selection of the 2010 Best in Business is available online now at Ranking Arizona Allegra Print & Imaging can be found in two categories again this year. To vote simple choose to browse by category.

Advertising & Marketing → Commercial Printers

Business Services → Copy, Duplicating, & Printing

Use Direct Mail for Lead Generation

Direct mail marketing is a highly effective way to develop a lead generation system. Success in direct mail marketing can be impacted by dozens of factors, but there are three key areas that are critical to address. We have outlined the most important areas to focus on in the development of your direct mail campaign.

The List – In any direct mail effort you will need a mailing list. This may be an internal “house list”, or may be a purchased list. The foundation for success is that you have accurate data. Allegra Print & Imaging can help support you by either sourcing a mailing list for you, or cleaning your existing data. The Allegra mail department has robust software that integrates with the USPS. This software allows us to clean your list by removing bad addresses, and updating records that have a mail forwarding on file.

The Creative – After cleaning your data you can be assured that your mail piece will arrive at the recipients home or place of business. Getting there is only part of the battle. Once the mail has arrived, you must get the receipient to pay attention to your piece rather than the other fifty items in the mail box. A good design will help you accomplish this. The best designs are clean, and engaging. Trying to do too much on a single mail piece is a common mistake. Keep the message clear, and do not try to accomplish anything more than getting the recipient to respond.

The Offer – If you want to drive results make sure you have a strong offer. Every day people are bombarded with thousands of marketing messages. If you want them to respond to yours you have to give them a good reason. Offers may include things like a free trial, special gift, or discount. The stronger your offer the better your response. The right offer sent to the right person at the right time will never be considered “junk mail”. Your job as a marketer is to ensure that you have followed these simple principles to achieve success.

A more comprehensive marketing guide is available for free download at AllegraDownload.com

Client Campaign Highlighted by PODI

Allegra Print & Imaging Arizona has worked hard to support clients in achieving their organizational goals. We were recently recognized by PODI (Print on Demand Initiative) for our results with a fund raising campaign. The campaign was developed to support AZCA (Arizona’s Children Association) an Arizona based non-profit.

PODI publishes a handful of case studies each year that highlight some of the greatest successes in the digital print / cross media industry. Allegra Print & Imaging was recognized for one of our multi-channel campaigns that included email, direct mail, and variable data print marketing. This multi-channel approached significantly improved the results of the AZCA annual appeal.

What made this campaign so successful? By working with our client we were able to clearly identify a targeted group of potential donors. We then spent the time to understand what motivated those potential donors to give. By creating a highly relevant appeal and delivering the message through multiple channels, donations grew more than 2 ½ times over previous campaigns. Learn more about how email, direct mail, and personalized URL’s (PURL’s) helped drive this campaign by downloading the PODI case study.

Avoid the Top 10 Mistakes in PURL / Cross Media Campaigns

Cross media campaigns and PURL (personalized URL) technology are becoming more common, but having any old purl doesn’t mean you will drive ROI…. With experience in hundreds of campaigns we’ve developed a great sense of the mistakes made and what attributes you’ll need for a successful campaign!

Mistake #1 - Don’t start with the business result in mind. Before you start any campaign details define the outcomes. Is it lead generation, cross selling, customer loyalty? Put specific metrics to what a successful campaign would be.

Mistake #2 – Don’t segment your audience. With the power of variable data printing and personalized URL’s you can easily deliver a different message to each client segment. Use the power of the technology to drive results.

Mistake #3 – Don’t clearly identify your call to action? With every customer communication that you send put yourself in the recipient’s shoes and ask yourself “what do you want me to do?” Make sure that you clearly state your call to action. Log on now. Click Here to Register. Download Here

Mistake #4 – Using cheap data. If you use bad data you will get poor results. Be sure your internal lists are clean, or use a data complier that consistently updates their information. If you purchase cheap list you will pay to print, mail, and email prospects that will never get the message.

Mistake #5 – Ineffective print media. Many cross media campaigns start with an outbound direct mail piece. If the recipient never looks at the piece the whole campaign breaks down. Have your direct mail professionally designed and copy written to ensure success.

Mistake #6 – Ineffective outbound email. Make sure that your outbound email is optimized for the most common email systems. Avoid designs that can’t be seen without “downloading Images”. Also, be sure that your message will not get caught in spam filters.

Mistake #7 – Overly complex personalized URL’s (pURL’s). Remember that the goal of a pURL is to engage customers, gather information, and measure results. By putting long flash intros, or an excessive number of links the respondent will not know what action to take. Keep it simple!

Mistake #8 – Asking too many survey questions. If you want to keep respondents engaged keep your survey to less than five questions. We recommend keeping it to three questions. Ask only the most important pieces of information. If you are respectful of the respondent’s time you will be allowed to ask more questions in the future.

Mistake #9– Don’t engage your sales team. The most common result of cross media purl campaigns is that it generates interest in your product or service. Once the recipient has logged on it is essential that the leads are sent to your sales team. Studies show that conversion rates are significantly higher when a lead is contacted within 4 hours.

Mistake #10 – Expecting results with a single touch. The most effective campaigns are those campaigns that use multiple channels to communicate, and they have a series of touches. We recommend a minimum of three direct mail touches and two email contacts.

Learn more about direct marketing and personalized URL's by visiting Allegra Arizona at http://www.allegraaz.com/

Search Engine Optimization 101

What is Search Engine Optimization

or SEO?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a process marketers and web developers use to create or upgrade websites, making them attractive to popular search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN. The goal of search engine optimization is to produce a high-ranking site in the “organic” (also called “natural” or “algorithmic”) search results produced by search engines. For example, when you type in a search term in Google, the organic results are those that occur below the sponsored links and local business results in the main body of the search results page (SERP).

How Do Search Engines Rank Websites?
Search engines use website crawlers (also called robots or spiders) to find and rank pages that match their unique set of algorithmic values. These values are defined by each individual search engine and can change at any time.

When search engines crawl your website, it should contain all of the key algorithmic values for which they are searching. What are search engines looking for? Well, search engine algorithms are one of the best-kept secrets in the industry - no one knows with absolute certainty what is contained in the algorithms. We do, however, know that search engines rank websites based on two main categories: on-page factors and off-page factors.

What are On-page Factors?
On-page factors include anything on a web page that can be manipulated to include keywords, such as the title, meta description, meta keywords, H1 heading tags, image file names and ‘alt’ tags, body copy, anchor link text, and multimedia file attributes. Optimizing on-page factors starts with researching and identifying the keywords that will attract your target market. By including those keywords (also called optimization) in the on-page factors of your website, you will increase your chances of appearing high above your competitors in the search engine results pages, or SERPs. These days, we tend to optimize for one to two keywords per page given how competitive it is to rank for a given term.

What are Off-page Factors?
Off-page factors are those such the number and quality of incoming links, overall ‘buzz’ on the web, and overall web footprint. These are external factors that you have less control over, but still play a large role in your website’s ranking. The quality of incoming links to your website is probably one of the most important criterion used to determine your site’s ranking. Inbound links using anchor text that contain your target keywords are considered high quality links, along with incoming links that come from long-established, authoritative sites that cover a similar topic and have a high Page Rank.

Which Are More Important? On-page or Off-page Factors?
On-page factors used to be the most important values used to determine rankings. Many websites who built and optimized their sites a few years ago using only on-page factors are now finding that they do not rank as highly as they once did. This is because of the frequent changes search engines make to their algorithms. In recent months, the importance of off-page factors has taken a significant lead over on-page factors, particularly with Google, which has more than 72% of the online market share of searches worldwide.
When optimizing your site, however, you must keep in mind that both on-page and off-page factors are critical – you won’t have a high-ranking site for long if you don’t do both well!

About Sheila Kloefkorn
Sheila Kloefkorn is President of KEO Marketing a Tempe, AZ based agency. As President, Sheila is responsible for developing comprehensive online solutions for businesses of all sizes across the United States, and more than 100 countries around the world. Some of the companies that Sheila has provided online strategy for include: General Motors, FedEx, Profiles International, Esselte Corporation, i/o Data Centers and many more. Prior to founding KEO Marketing, she was Vice President of New York based YouthStream Media Networks, which helped Fortune 1000 clients, including brands like L'Oreal, Helene Curtis, Motorola, Best Buy, and Disney, and others, reach 18-25 year olds through innovative traditional and online programs. She also held a senior position with iCrossing, a leading search and digital marketing agency, served as President of the Phoenix Chapter of the American Marketing Association and was the founding Co-Chair of SEMPO AZ (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization AZ).
About KEO Marketing

KEO Marketing specializes in search engine marketing and optimization, online advertising, social networking, and affiliate marketing. KEO Marketing is dedicated to building an effective online strategy that is both search informed and built around your existing and future offline marketing initiatives.

KEO Marketing delivers innovative marketing solutions designed to help your business achieve tangible results. Specializing in online marketing strategy and solutions, KEO Marketing has helped Fortune 1000 companies as well as small and medium sized businesses achieve their marketing and sales goals.

We start by understanding your business and your marketing plans. We build on that with research to identify how your customers find your products and services. Then we tailor a strategy for you based on proven experience and a thorough understanding of the online marketplace. We believe it's more than having a beautiful website. It's about making that website work for you.

It's our business to make heads or tails of new media, Web 2.0, social networking, search engine optimization, search marketing, email marketing, demand generation, blogging, podcasting, and more.

We take that knowledge and put it to work for your unique business situation and environment.