Anderson Marketing Blog

You’ve done your due diligence.  Still, your direct marketing response rates are sagging like an old pair of stretch pants, or waning like voter turnout in a midterm election.  All eyes are on you. Just yesterday, your boss flashed you his infamous death stare when you passed in the hallway.  Your heartrate is up.  It’s panic time.

Immerse yourself in the marketing world long enough, and you’ll likely hear some pretty interesting terms and phrases.  For example, have you ever considered what the term “full-service marketing” means?

The experience was all too familiar:  I was well into developing a new brand identity for a large company.  Great ideas sprang forth like daisies—not just from me, but a surprising range of people across the organization.  Yet these were quickly trampled and discarded by an onslaught of naysayers or literalists who held enormous sway because of their position.  This went on for weeks, squandering untold hours, fraying nerves, disrupting productivity and costing the company a pretty penny.  

One of the very interesting things about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is that while most business professionals understand what it is, very few understand how it works. It’s kind of like a layperson talking about a nuclear reactor – they might know it generates energy, but if they had to explain how, they would be hard-pressed to do so.

How many fields should I have on my online form to increase form conversions? There's no right or wrong answer when it comes to online forms field limits. Based on the 2015 report in MECLABS Research Digest, elements to increase conversion are:

When traveling to a show, especially one as big as the DMA’s 2015 &Then conference, it is imperative you do your due diligence and come prepared. Even if you’re a tradeshow veteran or a DMA newcomer, seemingly minute items can sometimes fall through the cracks, presenting major problems. For both exhibitors and attendees, we have created a mini do’s & don’ts list to act as reminders for you as you prepare to travel to the &Then conference.

Is a picture really worth 1,000 words? One could argue yes in the digital marketing landscape today. As data bandwidth increases and the amount of information communicated to consumers daily continues to grow, the challenge marketers face more and more is how their target audience not only prefers content online, but also the speed in which they can process the information.

As a veteran marketer, you are typically more than comfortable receiving and reviewing creative layouts or proofs from your internal marketing team or external vendor. You know what to look for and what to double-check. As a new marketer or someone who has transitioned into a marketing role, these tasks can seem daunting. 

Back in the day, when direct marketing was new and giants like Les Wunderman and “Rocket” Ray Jutkins roamed the earth, you engaged audiences with proven performers like stickers, written checklists, tear-off coupons, membership cards and so forth.

With free tools available online, almost anyone can publish decent compositions of text and images seen by millions in minutes. But just as having a driver’s license doesn’t make you a Formula One racer, access to stock photography doesn’t always beget great creative.