Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Seaport Hotel, Boston (directions)

Moderator: Dan Green, President, The Green Internet Group

Panelists: Durand Duin, AdWords Manager, Google; Leighann Farrelly, Community Manager, Yelp; William McAdoo, Publisher, Bostonfoodie.com

Keeping the focus on marketing and branding, the 2010 Industry Summit will take a closer look at social media, mobile marketing and other emerging technology. Moderator Dan Green, President of The Green Internet Group, will pick the minds of an expert panel to answer the questions: what is social media, and what does it mean to your business?  Green and his panel of experts will help you learn how to increase your web presence. Green will also explain how to evaluate, manage and improve your online reputation and measure return on investment from social media and new media campaigns. Full of actionable information, attendees will learn how to create an effective social media plan for their businesses.

The panel discussion is part of a full day program presented by The Massachusetts Restaurant Association. Registration information

Paper or plastic? That’s what you’re asking your customers if you offer gift cards and coupons. Don’t be surprised if you hear your customers answer “neither, barcode please!” It’s just a matter of time before you do.

Through a strategic partnership with CaptureCode, The Green Internet Group can help you create exciting digital promotions, gift card and loyalty programs, using state of the art technology that replaces traditional plastic gift cards, paper coupons and loyalty keychain fobs with a single barcode. The platform offers a centralized systems solution to the creation, delivery and tracking of all these programs, giving businesses a greater degree of targeting, personalization, delivery options and performance measurements than any paper or plastic solution.

The Capture Code system integrates email and mobile marketing into a single application, so businesses can create targeted 2-D barcode driven promotions that are distributed through multiple media types. The barcodes can also be used in print collateral and store signage, making Capture Code ideal for multi-channel marketing campaigns. 2-D barcodes are read using low-cost wireless readers or via a new iPhone app. The email and mobile marketing functionality may also be used for other no-barcode communications or promotions like HTML emails and e-newsletters or text message campaigns.

Reloadable digital gift card capability is unique to the Capture Code system. Barcodes are fully reloadable, secure and 100% fraud preventable, eliminating the need for plastic gift cards. Businesses no longer have to worry about the printing and shipping costs associated with traditional cards—instant digital delivery eliminates the need for shipping or mailing gift cards. Business can extend their holiday sales season without worrying about whether customers will receive their orders on time. You can also target customers with unused balances with promotions geared toward getting them to come back in.

The Capture Code solution includes:

• Low-cost wireless readers able to read from any media including mobile phone screens
• An intelligent reading application allowing for “customized promotion” and offline redemption if needed
• Flexible rules engine to configure and send targeted promotions
• State-of-the art analytics and reporting which can be integrated with point of sale
• A secure system that is compliant with leading standards

Now it is easy to:

• Reward loyal customers based on frequency or spending
• Target incentives by customer behavior
• Run mobile and email marketing promotions and accurately redemption
• Create and track real-time or limited time only offers
• Create an exciting, cost-effective gift card program
• Go green by eliminating paper and plastic

All from a single interface.

For more information call us at 866.506.1923 or submit a request online.

When the economy slowed down, a majority of companies slashed their marketing budgets, despite the fact that those who weather recessions are the ones who market through them-but market smartly. Now more confident, many companies have begun to market again. If you are looking at picking up marketing using the same plan and strategy you were using 18-24 months ago, you could be in for a costly surprise.

Marketing has changed. It is very likely your previous marketing strategy just won’t cut it anymore.

We’ve seen substantial changes in how search engines decide how websites rank. Competition and changes in pricing plans have contributed to widespread adoption of mobile devices, a few months ago Facebook beat out Google and became the most visited site on the web, and the number of customers flocking to social media sites to read, or write, about companies increases daily, postage rates have increased-again, the economy has customers placing more emphasis on value than ever before.

Before establishing your next marketing budget, ask yourself these questions.

• How does our online presence compare to our competitors?
• Are we fully aware of what people are saying about us online?
• How is mobile affecting our business?
• How are visitors interacting with our website?
• Are we ranking well for the right search terms?
• Are we satisfied with the amount of traffic to your website?
• Is our email marketing as relevant and targeted as it needs to be?
• What portion of our budget, if any, should we plan for social media engagement?
• Do our online and offline marketing campaigns reinforce each other?

Even Google recommends businesses not rely solely on search to drive website traffic. To remain competitive, businesses need an integrated multi-channel marketing strategy, with clear, measurable goals.

We can help you take the guesswork out of making more effective web marketing decisions. The first step is to get started by calling to schedule an online marketing analysis. The analysis includes a consultation to review all the findings and help you identify your company’s strengths and weaknesses.

The second step is to take action! We believe all the information in the world is useless unless you do something with it. We can also provide ongoing support in the form of consulting, implementation and in-house training to build your team’s skill set.

Call 866.506.1923 today to learn more, or submit your request online. Get the information you need to realize the true potential of a strategic online marketing plan.

Another resume for a “Social Media Marketing Expert”  landed on my desk. Every month, I see several of these. But for some reason, this one grabbed my attention. I didn’t examine the curious sense of importance I subconsciously attached to this particular resume but I think I knew why–I’m looking for the moron who was Twittering at the movies the other night so I can waterboard him.

Okay, I can’t be sure he was Twittering. But despite 50 feet of Technicolor straight ahead of me, once the glare of his Blackberry seared my retina, this jerk became the focus of all my attention. Attempting to count his thumb strokes, I determined that his manic bursts never exceeded 140 characters. Aha! Must be Twitter. Besides, he reekked of self-involvement that seemed clearly at odds with his lack of self-consciousness. I bet those were his best sweatpants-nice choice.

Looking at the resume again, I decided to set up a phone appointment to see why the candidate so freely used the term “expert.” To me, that implies some track record of success and I wanted to find out more about how he defined a successful social media campaign. I suppose to protect his real world reputation we should give him a name. Let’s call him Earl. I made the call.

After the introductions and diversionary pleasantries I began the interrogation. “So Earl, tell me about your most successful social media initiative”.“Well, what do you mean by success” he asked. “No, Earl, that’s the point” I said in a tone that masked my premature frustration. But I knew where this was going. “What do YOU mean by success?”

“For Company X, I used Twitter to talk about my client’s company. I watched for trends and made direct contacts with some who looked like good potential customers. We ended up with over 350 followers for this thread and got a lot of traffic to the company website. I also found blogs that looked like they might be read by prospective customers and I participated in those. I linked to some videos on YouTube, then …” With visions of water pouring over Earl’s hooded head I interrupted. I couldn’t take it anymore, not another one of these guys.

“Hold on a second Earl. I was at the movies the other night and swear I saw a guy a couple of rows in front of me doing pretty much the same thing. The clients I answer to might want some details. You know, pesky things like what was the total investment? How much incremental revenue was attributable to marketing ? What was the return on marketing ? What was the estimated value of media exposures achieved? What was the media exposure return on marketing investment and how was that calculated? Given current economic conditions, marketers are being held accountable for performance. How to you quantify success? ” I knew I was being tough. If only he hadn’t said he was an expert. Or if he owned up to being the guy in the theater.

There was a pause. I could hear him thinking Wow, that’s cool. I didn’t know you could measure that stuff. Finally Earl explained his concept of success. “I create buzz by starting conversations. I get people to my clients’ website without their having to buy media or pay for clicks. Social media is about transparency.”

“Excuse me Earl, but you did all this for free? And you represented yourself as a marketer for Company X”?

We talked for another minute or two and that was that. Earl never confessed to assaulting me with his Blackberry. Even if he was the guy in the theater, I don’t think he had the capacity to understand that he did anything wrong. After all, he was a social media marketer on the job. Maybe he is right. After all, the movie was Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood. I confess that had some degree of influence. But be advised. Social marketers without success metrics better stay off my lawn.