Digital Strategy on a Shoestring

Digital strategy on a shoestring

1. Category research tools

2. Competitive audit tools

3. Consumer research tools

4. Name things tools

5. Measuring success

6. Wrap up

1. Mkt research guide inc http://www.inc.com/guides/marketing/24018.html

With effective market research, you can determine the need for your service, a product's likelihood to sell, target-market demographics, and desirable store locations. There are numerous ways to uncover this information—from online research to focus groups to counting customers. To help you meet your target market's needs, we've put together a collection of our best market-research articles and resources. 133 SHARES

Advertisement Research Primer

What's market research? And why must you do it? Here are two articles that offer a general overview on the topic.

Sources and Techniques for Your Strategic Planning Efforts Perform the market and competitive studies that are necessary to equip your team with the information it needs to make good decisions. New to the Market

Research plays a key part in knowing which of your new business ideas will fly in the marketplace. Hitting the Market To be successful, you have to know your potential customers inside out. One entrepreneur reflects on the essentials of market research. Introducing New Products Increase the odds of a successful launch for your product. High Concept: Tapping a New Market Will new features and pumped-up distribution enable a niche product to reach the masses? Bootstrapping

You don't need big bucks to do a little research. Swipe these strategies from successful CEOs and marketing experts.

Market Research on the Cheap Using students to determine whether to launch a new product was a cheap and effective form of research for this bootstrapping entrepreneur. I'm starting a business but have no market research budget. What are some inexpensive techniques? Guerrilla marketer Jay Conrad Levinson offers on- and offline methods. How can I find an affordable market research service? There are a number of ways to acquire both quantitative and qualitative primary research for less. Feedback

Want to know if your next product will fly? Ask existing customers and recruit prospective ones to let you know.

A Do-It-Yourself Customer Panel Do you want to put some bang into your market research without spending the big bucks? Try conducting your own customer panel. Will They Bite? Here's how Bite Shoes uses Web-based focus groups to help market its new products. Every Click They Make Glean customer data from your Web site using server logs, questionnaires, E-mail discussion lists, and bulletin boards. Demographics

Target your market with a thorough knowledge of whom it comprises.

Grist: Don't Read the Business Pages You can learn a lot about consumers by reading the newspaper. The Six Costliest Mistakes You Can Make in Marketing to Women The reality is that women are the primary consumers in the United States. Are you doing all you can to reach this market? Getting the Dirt on Your Market New location? Get market information, including population density, demographics, and the number and type of local businesses. Competitive Intelligence

Snoop around competitor's sites, stores, and customers to help develop your edge.

Competitive Intelligence on a Shoestring You can learn a lot by researching online and targeting the right people. The Dirtbag Demographic Douglas Canning, cofounder of, SanFranciso-based Dirtbag Clothing, used competitor's Web sites to research retail locations that he could pitch to carry his Dirtbag Clothing line. Spies Like Us Staples CEO Tom Stemberg acts as a mystery shopper at his competitors' stores and his own. This Q&A reveals how he gets the most out of his visits -- and what he's has learned. Get a Local Look at Your Competition Shop at competitors' stores, count their customers, and talk to owners of similar businesses in noncompetitive areas Research Woes

Learn from the mistakes other CEOs have made when it comes to market research.

Grandma Got Run Over by Bad Research Flawed market research did in this retail-clothing store. John J. Kilcullen: My Biggest Mistake The creator of the Dummies series of how-to books discusses the importance of collecting relevant customer data. Carlos Alvarez: My Biggest Mistake The chairman and CEO of the Gambrinus Co. -- an importer of beer -- reveals his biggest business mistake: overconfidence in his brand's ability

. o List 5 category insights Create a list of 5 quick observations for Reddit that explains the current category of online publishing. Experiment with as many of the tools from the first lecture to draw your observations. These observations should include common things competitors are practicing, emerging technology or fresh uses of technology you see and the different types of players in the category. See my example of how to use each of the tools and 5 insights here using Oscar Mayer as an example. o example. o Free tools from lecture #1 Here are the tools we covered in the lecture. Experiment with as many as you like. 1. Google Trends: shows trends in how consumers search for things online. Super useful for finding interest and correlations in topics over time, such as flight sales and christmas. 2. Google Insights 3. MixRank: shows exactly where competitors buy ad space and the copy that performs the best across google display network publishers. Super useful for tweaking words, images and sources that increase click-through rates. 4. Peter Kim's Wiki: 1,000+ examples of social media campaigns. Here you'll find examples to inspire creativity. 5. Digital Buzz Blog: provides insights by showing the best in creative camapigns, new technology, social media and research, daily. 6. PSFK: cultural and technology trends and examples of cutting-edge campaigns. 7. Pew Internet: reports on how the internet impacts life - family, work, home, education and health care. 8. Tech Crunch 9. Webby Awards 10. IAB MIxx Awards Lecture 2- competitive audit Social and digital audits provide a quick overview of the marketing activities your competitors conduct. Checkout my own digital and social audit in the project section using Oscar Mayer as an example. See my lecture notes attached below. . o Find 5 insights on Reddit's competitors Conduct a social & digital audit on 1 of Reddit's competitors. I'd suggest using Buzzfeed as a competitior.

 o Buzzfeed as a competitior. o Tools from lecture #2 Here are the tools we discussed in lecture #2. Use as many that are useful for your audit 1. Compete: tracks website traffic to give approximate monthly hits, referral sources and top keywords from competitor sites. 2. Quantcast: provides demographic data on competitor audiences 3. Open Facebook page analytics: basic location and demographic data on competitors Facebok fans. 4. Open Site Explorer 5. Social Mention: search engine that pulls user-generated content from blogs, comments, bookmarks and events. 6. Google Blog Search: shows blog sources that curate and create content about competitors. Lecture 3 Customer research tools

o User personas are written like a fictitious character complete with a name and photo. They highlight the most important tension points and interests of the audience as they relate to the brand. They are not generic, aspirational targets. When researching user personas look out for specific attributes, needs, consumptions patterns, sources and celebrities they are influenced by and online habits. Here are some interesting reads on developing user personas. Bit.ly provides some good questions to ask yourself/your audience Build an audience persona

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Michelle Krasniak

Use an old product management trick to bring your audience to life: build an audience persona. If you ask any marketing manager what their ideal customer looks like, chances are you’ll be asked to have a seat while they dim the lights and flash a PowerPoint presentation. After all, this manager knows that unless she has a clear picture of exactly who is buying the product or service she’s marketing, she’s driving blind, and all of her time and resources are potentially wasted marketing to the completely wrong customer group.

Now ask a content manager what their target audience looks like. Very few invitations to have a seat this time around, right? Why is that? It’s because many content managers don’t realize the importance of knowing their audience inside and out. Sure, they may know that it’s mostly people from the U.S. who use PCs to access content during lunchtime and late nights, and that information is a great place to start. But it’s only a start. Just as it’s important for marketing managers to know who is a likely customer, it’s vital for content managers to know exactly who their audience is. Without that information, you’ll never be able to maximize the benefits of your content. You’ll be driving blind, and it’ll only be a matter of time until you—and your content—hit a wall. So how do you get started putting together this audience persona? All it takes is the right tool. And remember, that tool should be able to not only tell you about site visitors, but also content you share on social media that doesn’t point back to your site. Here are some questions that tool should enable you to answer: Location

 Are people consuming your content mostly in the U.S., or are they spread all over the world?

 Do you notice any large clusters of viewers in a particular location?

 Are these clusters showing up at regular or irregular intervals?

 If regular, do they coincide with a particular day of the week?

 If irregular, do they coincide with a particular event, such as a holiday, or a newsworthy event like an election or natural disaster? Referring site

 How is your audience reaching your content? Are they direct visitors who clicked on a link you provided, or did they reach you via another site or social network they were visiting?

 What is the subject matter of the referral sites—does it relate to your content, or is it completely different? Is this a recurring referral or a one-time thing? General click behavior

 What other sites has your audience been visiting? When they’re not engaged with your content, do they visit fashion websites, news aggregators, or some other category of websites? You’d be surprised what Bitly Enterprise can tell you about this one! Share behavior

 What content of yours is your audience sharing? What types of content from other sources are they sharing? Is there any overlap between what you share and what your audience shares?  Is there any way to repurpose the content your audience shares the most so it fits into your content strategy?

 Is there a pattern in the types of content they’re sharing? Do they prefer one theme to another? How can you capitalize on that to keep your own content creation process going? Figuring out the answers to the questions above may be a bit overwhelming at first. (Bitly Enterprise customers have the information they need to answer these questions at their fingertips.) If utilized to its full potential, this information will give you a comprehensive picture of your current audience so that you can build a great content strategy, or improve upon your existing one.

Image: iStockphoto.com

Bitly Enterprise provides you with the insight you need to build an audience persona. Check out our product sheets to learn more, and sign up for a free consultation to talk to one of our experts about your content creation and social media goals.

Some examples of user personas and to suggest | audience persona | ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: MORE INFORMATION : __ Creating a Profile (worksheet) Audience Persona {read handout pdf __ Chapter Reading When writing audience personas think of it as a glimpse into their life for a day, we __ Write a winning presentation should feel like we know them after reading it and we should understand/connect to their motive for using/viewing your project/product. A persona is a brief profile of a typical users that outlines specific personality attributes, desires, needs, habits and capabilities. Often fictional, a persona can be a composite, or representative of a typical users (rather than an actual realworld user. General Tips for Audience Persona Make it personal. The persona (profile) should not be a list of random facts but more of a story about this person. Write it in paragraph form. Begin to visualize who this person is and what they would look like. Include age, sex, where they live, where they shop (dillions vs the merc), borders vs raven... what magazines or books to they read, what do they eat.... You want to make their needs and wants clear. Why would they need your product or service? What makes them an ideal audience? ------E X A M P L E S ------audience persona: Tina is a 20-year-old college student that just moved away from home. She lives in an apartment with two other girls in Texas where she attends the University of Texas. Tina owns a Pontiac Sunfire which she drives to class everyday at the University of Texas. When Tina was a young girl, she played with barbies and dolls. As she grew up, she started to become more interested in technology and how it worked. In junior high Tina was always taking apart her younger brother’s electronic toys to see how they worked. She would then try to put them back together. For her high school science project, she demonstrated the difference between the chemical makeup of different types of name brand cosmetics. Now Tina is studying to become an mechanical engineer and is in her second year in the engineering program. During the week Tina has three lecture classes and two labs. Even though she has a good scholarship, Tina still has a hard time paying her bills. When she’s not in class, Tina is working part time at Wal-Mart to help pay for tuition, car payments, and occasional shopping trips with her girlfriends. She saves every penny she can for new clothes and sometimes shoes. ------audience persona: Barbara is a 36 year old stay at home mother of two routy twins, Sam and Jon. Tried of the tv being on all day and the video games constantly running, Barbara wants a new way for her children to play. Barbara stumbles upon a link in her Oprah magazine that shows easy crafts for children. Barbara sits her two sons on her lap in front of the computer and together they check out the link. Scrolling through the craft project ideas the boys show an interest in “Paper Adventures”. They open the link and Barbara immediately realizes that this is a craft her boys can handle and she doesn’t have to go out and buy special supplies like the make your own play-doh or your own slime. Sam chooses a paper hat and Jon a paper airplane. Together in front of the computer they follow the basic step-by-step directions and each boy ends up with a new toy that keeps them occupied for the rest of the afternoon. ------audience persona: Alice is a 52 year old retired teacher who lives in Jackson, Wyoming. Her husband is an accountant and is gone during the day, leaving Alice to herself and her dog. Alice occupies her time with television shows such as The View, Rachel Ray, Oprah and anything that involves ‘do it yourself’ make overs. She considers herself a handy woman, fixing the broken clock, or making the kids Halloween costumes, but she’s a very step-by-step lady. She doesn’t have the courage or confidence to take on her own projects without a talk show host telling her what to do, or an instructional manual. It’s getting around to the Holiday season and Alice remembers last year at the Annual Accountants Ball there was a stack of gorgeously wrapped presents under the tree. Since then, she has been inspired to create unique wrapping jobs to not only impress the people around her but to amuse herself during the long, slow days before Christmas. ------audience persona: Lucy Blue is an 9 year old girl in the third grade. She loves being outside during recess but tends to not be as active as most of her classmates. She likes to sit and enjoy nature, but finds herself apprehensive to group games like dodgeball and foursquare. Lucy, a big fan of “I spy” games on long car trips with her parents, wants to find something similar to participate in during recess. Her mother and her are surfing the internet one day when they run across a like for bird-watching. Something that is similar to her favorite game, and something she can do by herself or even with friends, they clean on the “learn how to” tutorial. The charming and classic design of the tutorial has both mom and daughter interested so they continue on. After learning about the leisure and entertainment bird-watching provides, you can find Lucy Blue and her friends with a pair of binoculars searching for some new friends amongst the trees. o Find 5 insights about Reddit users Using as many tools as you wish from the third lecture, find insights that would guide the development of persona of a typical Reddit user. This exercise will help you to create a more targeted idea as you will develop an intimate knowledge of your target audience, rather than relying on basic demographic information. o , rather than relying on basic demographic information. o Tools from lecture #3 Free tools from lecture #3 Here are the tools we looked at during the third lecture. 1. Quora: cultural tensions and points of curiosity 2. Ask Reddit: cultural tensions. Great for male insights 3. Topsy: influencers and real time discourse analysis, crafting language 4. Open status search: discourse analysis from Facebook 5. Twitter advanced search: sentiment, tone of what is shared, social pattern 6. Facebook Ad Creator: pool of similar interests 4. naming things

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/21774

What's in a name? A lot, when it comes to small-business success. The right name can make your company the talk of the town. The wrong one can doom it to obscurity and failure. Ideally, your name should convey the expertise, value and uniqueness of the product or service you have developed.

Some experts believe that the best names are abstract, a blank slate upon which to create an image. Others think that names should be informative so customers know immediately what your business is. Some believe that coined names (that come from made-up words) are more memorable than names that use real words. Others think they're forgettable.

In reality, any name can be effective if it's backed by the appropriate marketing strategy. Here's what you'll need to consider in order to give your small business the most appropriate and effective name. Related

Start Your Own Business By Entrepreneur Staff Enlist Expert Help to Start Coming up with a good business name can be a complicated process. You might consider consulting an expert, especially if you're in a field in which your company name may influence the success of your business. Naming firms have elaborate systems for creating new names and they know their way around the trademark laws. They can advise you against bad name choices and explain why others are good.

The downside is cost. A professional naming firm may charge as much as $80,000 to develop a name. That generally includes other identity work and graphic design as part of the package, according to Laurel Sutton, a principal with Catchword Brand Name Development. Naming services that charge as little as $50 do exist, but spending a reasonable amount of money early for quality expert advice can save you money in the long term. What's in a Name? Start by deciding what you want your name to communicate. It should reinforce the key elements of your business. Your work in developing a niche and a mission statement will help you pinpoint the elements you want to emphasize in your name.

The more your name communicates to consumers about your business, the less effort you must exert to explain it. According to naming experts, entrepreneurs should give priority to real words or combinations of words over fabricated words. People prefer words they can relate to and understand. That's why professional namers universally condemn strings of numbers or initials as a bad choice.

On the other hand, it is possible for a name to be too meaningful. Common pitfalls are geographic or generic names. A hypothetical example is "San Pablo Disk Drives." What if the company wants to expand beyond the city of San Pablo, California? What meaning will that name have for consumers in Chicago or Pittsburgh? And what if the company diversifies beyond disk drives into software or computer instruction manuals?

How can a name be both meaningful and broad? Descriptive names tell something concrete about a business -- what it does, where it's located and so on. Suggestive names are more abstract. They focus on what the business is about.

Consider "Italiatour," a name that was developed by one naming company to help promote package tours to Italy. Though it's not a real word, the name is meaningful and customers can recognize immediately what's being offered. Even better, "Italiatour" evokes the excitement of foreign travel.

When choosing a business name, keep the following tips in mind:

 Choose a name that appeals not only to you but also to the kind of customers you are trying to attract.

 Choose a comforting or familiar name that conjures up pleasant memories so customers respond to your business on an emotional level.

 Don't pick a name that is long or confusing.

 Stay away from cute puns that only you understand.

 Don't use the word “Inc.” after your name unless your company is actually incorporated. Get Creative At a time when almost every existing word in the language has been trademarked, the option of coining a name is becoming more popular. Some examples are Acura and Compaq, which were developed by naming firm NameLab.

Coined names can be more meaningful than existing words, says NameLab president Michael Barr. For example, "Acura" has no dictionary definition but the word suggests precision engineering, just as the company intended. NameLab's team created the name Acura from "Acu," a word segment that means "precise" in many languages. By working with meaningful word segments (what linguists call morphemes) like "Acu," Barr says the company produces new words that are both meaningful and unique.

Barr admits, however, that made-up words aren't the right solution for every situation. New words are complex and may create a perception that the product, service or company is complex, which may not be true. Plus, naming beginners might find this sort of coining beyond their capabilities.

An easier solution is to use new forms or spellings of existing words. For instance, NameLab created the name Compaq when a new computer company came to them touting its new portable computer. The team thought about the word "compact" and came up with Compaq, which they believed would be less generic and more noticeable. Test Your Name After you've narrowed the field to four or five names that are memorable and expressive, you are ready to do a trademark search. Not every business name needs to be trademarked, as long as your state government gives you the go-ahead and you aren't infringing on anyone else's trade name. But you should consider hiring a trademark attorney or at least a trademark search firm before to make sure your new name doesn't infringe on another business's trademark.

To illustrate the risk you run if you step on an existing trademark, consider this: You own a new manufacturing business that is about to ship its first orders when an obscure company in Ogunquit, Maine, considers the name of your business an infringement on their trademark. It engages you in a legal battle that bankrupts your business. This could have been avoided if sought out expert help. The extra money you spend now could save you countless hassles and expenses further down the road. Final Analysis If you're lucky, you'll end up with three to five names that pass all your tests. Now, how do you make your final decision?

Recall all your initial criteria. Which name best fits your objectives? Which name most accurately describes the company you have in mind? Some entrepreneurs arrive at a final decision by going with their gut or by doing consumer research or testing with focus groups to see how the names are perceived. You can doodle an idea of what each name will look like on a sign or on business stationery. Read each name aloud, paying attention to the way it sounds if you foresee radio advertising or telemarketing in your future. Use any or all of these criteria.

Keep in mind that professional naming firms devote anywhere from six weeks to six months to the naming process. You probably won't have that much time, but plan to spend at least a few weeks on selecting a name.

Once your decision is made, start building your enthusiasm for the new name immediately. Your name is your first step toward building a strong company identity, one that should last as long as you're in business.

This article is an edited excerpt from "Start Your Own Business, Fifth Edition", published by Entrepreneur Press.

o This deviates away slightly from the rest of the unit formats. Pretend in this unit that you are naming a new mobile app that helps Reddit users navigate SubReddits easier. This app is used on long journeys or commuting. It suggests SubReddits for you. The user inputs how long the journey is and the type of friends they are with, then the app pushes content through. This would give the user ideas for conversation for long journeys while at the same time familiarizing redditors with subreddits. o for your idea This deviates away slightly from the rest of the unit formats. Pretend in this unit that you are naming a new mobile app that helps Reddit users navigate SubReddits easier. This app is used on long journeys or commuting. It suggests SubReddits for you. The user inputs how long the journey is and the type of friends they are with, then the app pushes content through. This would give the user ideas for conversation for long journeys while at the same time familiarizing redditors with subreddits. o 10 tools to create great names 1. Wordnik 2. Urban Dictionary 3. Visual Thesaurus 4. The Free Dictionary 5. Pun Generator 6. Name Thingy 7. Werd Merge 8. WikiRhymer 9. Uber Suggest 10. Name Chk Lesson 5 measuring success

o Create an analytics framework to measure success These blogs provide are up to date musings about analytics. They are really helpful to consult when setting the KPIs and metrics to best suit a project; making search informed decisions; and getting the best out of Google Analytics. 1. Occam's Razor: Avinash Kausik is a Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google and blogs about marketing, content and measuring frameworks. This one is particularly useful for templates and success frameworks. 2. Luna Metrics: Useful for SEO decisions and what makes a good and lame metrics. Very Google Analytics heavy in this blog's coverage. 3. KISS Metrics: Another one on marketing analytics but this one has some real gems on social media analytics. 4. SEO Moz: This is the holy grail for search-related analytics. Even if you don't dabble much in search marketing this blog is great for explaining the difference in SEO terms so you can speak to search questions confidentially with clients. 5. Reve News: This one is social media and SEM heavy but provides some good readings on mobile and video analysis. 6. Anil Batra's Website Analytics: Readings on behavioral targeting and testing for website optimizations. Has some good 'how to' articles for multivariate testing. 7. Google Benchmarks: industry benchmarks for banner ad engagement and click-through rates.