Event Sponsorships Can Be Tasty

by Mark Mathis. Published last month in One-Minute Marketer.

For most, an event sponsorship means you will get lost in a sea of logos or a laundry list of names. Having your name slapped on a poster, banner or brochure cover are not enough.

Today, event sponsorships need to be strategized just like a media buy. Sure, some sponorships are just contributions, but it time to optimize your investment. At a minimum you need to negotiate how you will presented as a sponsor of the organization.

I attended the Go Red for Women event in Cedar Rapids and I saw an event sponsor that got all the best flavor for this new era of sponsorships. Meth-Wick Community had a prominent position at every place setting. And even though some people ate the sponosorship logo, it was real positive engagement with nearly every person who attended. Best of all you could clearly read the logo and name. No confusion.

An event sponsorship is an investment, so make sure you optimize your sponsorship investment. Treat you sponsorship like a marketing media buy.

It’s A Vending “Giving” Machine

by Mark Mathis. Published last month in One-Minute Marketer.

It looks like a regular vending machine. But instead of getting chips and candy bars, you give to charities helping the community and around the world.

While traveling to Gilbert, Arizona for the holidays, I stumbled across The Giving Machine. When I first saw the machine, there was a line of people waiting to make a selection and a contribution. You can give baby supplies, holiday meals, winter boots, chickens, goats and pajamas.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsor the Giving Machine so that 100% of the money can go to the causes (and charities) people select.

Is it a new fundraising gimmick? Of course it is: It makes giving fun and more like buying a present. And anything that does this much good (in Salt Lake City the machine raising $500,000) can’t be all bad.

I love the concept–it might replace bell ringers–but the true secret is not the machine. It is the people who volunteered to stand at the machine and those who spread out around downtown Gilbert encouraging people to visit the Giving Machine. The sales people made the machine successful. Just like any great idea, if you build it and sell it, they will come.

You Will Not Read This Blog

by Mark Mathis. Published December 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

Sorry for the clickbait headline. However, you will not read this blog if I published it over the next few weeks. After doing more than 9 years of blogging, I know the lowest readership is during the last three weeks of December.

Unlike broadcast TV, I’m able to go dark when readership is at its lowest. So enjoy the holidays. If you really want to read some blogs, I have more than 900 in the history. They are each about a minute long. So it will take you 15 hours to read them all.

Happy holidays. See you in 2019.

Pop-up and Pop-downs

by Mark Mathis. Published December 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

We’re all amazed as Amazon ventures from online-only to brick-and-mortar stores. Even more surprising is that pop-up shops, the realm once dominated by flashing lighted T-shirts and cell phones, is becoming a prized brand tool.

Adweek declared pop-up shops a legitimate “experiential brand extension.” Typical pop-up shops were controlled by malls, airports and farmers markets, but now the pop-up store has been disrupted.

You can find pop-ups whenever and wherever people congregate. Large brands are using the new pop-up concept inside of existing stores or at events and attractions. Any brand needing a brand pump-up is finding pop-ups a way to recharge the social media discussion. It also helps brands actively reach out to people who may not be familiar with the brand or see it in their social media feeds.

It’s also a great way to have people engage with your brand in an authentic way, by providing research or involving people in the decision-making process.

You can put up an Instagram booth, but the new age of pop-ups is true street-level marketing that drives branding and experiential, personal marketing.

9th Year Blogging Anniversary

by Mark Mathis. Published December 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

This is my 9th year of blogging. You would think I would run out of things to say. But just wait …

Here’s what’s coming for Year 10:

Our digital team tells me that Facebook, Google and other new media are making weekly changes in how we utilize the media.
Video digital displays are getting lighter and more flexible. Soon you can wrap a post with a video screen.
Miniaturization of video equipment, video displays are disrupting the industry.
Digital billboards have not been optimized. Billboard companies still treat them like poster boards.
TV shows are going to be everywhere and produced by everyone. Netflix buying a production house is just the start.
Clutter is growing.
Storytelling is changing.
Independent manufacturing sales reps are disappearing.
Autonomous cars.
Digital stars like WebMD publish traditional magazines.
Nonprofits changing to digital orientation.

Yes, there is plenty enough for another year. Stay tuned.

Google is Scoring Your Digital Ad

by Mark Mathis. Published December 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

You may or may not know that Google is scoring your websites, landing pages and ads. I’ve written about Google’s Quality Scores and its importance to lower cost and higher engagement. Now there is a new score available for all to see.

In Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords), there is a new tool that scores your ad campaign’s optimization. It grades your ads on a percentage score from 1 to 100. The feature says it is in BETA, but it is now available to most users.

The score is calculated by bid strategy, keywords, targeting and a list of other issues and “trends in the ads ecosystem.” Google then offers recommendations so you can achieve your campaign’s highest score. You can accept Google’s recommendation and apply the recommendation to your buy. However, not all Google recommendations will completely optimize your buy and ads. One recommendation that might be shown is “Increase your budget.” Every media outlet would like to offer that recommendation.

The optimization score represents Google’s evaluation of your buy. Google is doing this because it wants your ads to perform at their full potential. This is just one more measure to help enhance your ads in the Google universe.

The New Belief-Driven Buyer

by Mark Mathis. Published December 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

In a study by YouGov, nearly 60% of U.S. internet users believe it’s important for brands to have a point of view on societal issues.

The New York PR firm Edelman calls consumers who “choose, switch or boycott brands based on where they stand on issues as belief-driven buyers.” You’ve watched how some brands are courting controversy to take a stand. In some cases it has caused social media kickback. But in the case of Nike, foot traffic to Nike stores spiked 17% after the Colin Kaepernick ad ran.

What this really means is that consumers want you to take a stand. Picking what you are going to stand on is the real issue. There are many controversial issues, but there are just as many non-controversial issues. The key is that “the stand” must fit your brand.

TOMS Shoes has carved out a nice brand position by donating shoes. It is not controversial, but it makes you feel really good, knowing your purchase is making another person happy, not just making the company happy. Now sock companies and others are donating products as well to people in need.

Take a stand. Consumers want it. But take a stand that fits your brand.

It’s Time for Great Video Production

by Mark Mathis. Published November 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

Video has expanded to a quarter of US digital ad spending. Of that, Facebook controls 25% of the total making Facebook the top social video ad platform. There are new platforms on the horizon that will make video even more important to marketers.

While in-feed video is becoming hugely successful, with all the video in-stream and on websites, it is time to think about quality. Here is a start of some simple digital video rules.

Sound is often taken for granted. It makes or breaks most videos.
Poor lighting. It is the first clue of an amateur product.
Avoid jump cuts. “But they do them in music videos.” Are you making a music video?
Obey the rule of thirds
Audio-video linkage
B-Roll needs to help tell the story
Watch your video without sound. If you don’t know what is going on, then 85% of your social media audience will not know what is going on.
The opening of your video is critical. The first impression either keeps people watching or scrolling on for more.
Right now, the optimum length for a digital video is 2 minutes.
Tell a good story

Marketing Extensions in the Digital Age

by Mark Mathis. Published November 2018 in One-Minute Marketer.

WebMD is the leading health authority in the US. More than 180 million unique visitors per month. It started in 1996 as Healthscape and has grown to 1,800 employees.

But what is an online behemoth to do to grow and extend its reach. For many, it is start a print magazine. Here are the top magazines in the country. It’s not surprising that the top magazines are from AARP, an organization and not a traditional publisher.

AARP Bulletin
AARP Magazine
Better Homes And Gardens
Game Informer Magazine
Good Housekeeping

Organizations and companies are experimenting with publishing magazines, instead of newsletters. Printing costs have come down and newsletters are too internally focused to accomplish marketing goals. By controlling distribution and targeting geographic even digital disruptors are publishing traditional magazines: WebMD, AirBnB and Uber are just three experimenting with the medium.

While magazines provide a nice tangible expression, I’m looking for the TV shows to begin–I’d tune into the The Google Show every week.

Charitable IRA Rollover Presents Opportunity in New Tax Legislation

by AMPERAGE. Published November 2018 in AMPERAGE Fundraising.

Here we are already, the end of the year push. It seems like just yesterday the new tax legislation was passed and hardly a day went by without some prediction of the impact on the nonprofit sector (including us). Once we move into 2019 and are able to look back and start dissecting giving data […]

Continue to Full Article →

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