http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adnotes A blog from Duncan McCall about marketing, advertising, and other somewhat relevant observations. en info@duncanmccall.com Copyright 2010 2010-07-30T13:32:57+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/online_press_releases/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/online_press_releases/#When:13:32:57Z Like most pieces of the marketing world, the press release has certainly evolved with the Internet. These days you can create a multimedia masterpiece and distribute it around the globe in moments. And instead of hoping that it’s picked up by a business journal or trade magazine, you can see it spread and multiply on websites, blogs, Twitter, and beyond. To help you generate the buzz you need, here are seven things you need to include in your online press release… 2010-07-30T13:32:57+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/ready_for_the_recovery/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/ready_for_the_recovery/#When:21:20:26Z If the recent economic numbers have got you daydreaming about all the new customers and orders you’ll soon be enjoying, you’re not alone. Business owners and marketing managers around the country have been waiting a long time to hear the recent news: that jobs, prices, and even profits, are finally coming back. 2010-05-10T21:20:26+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/save_money_on_ppc/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/save_money_on_ppc/#When:21:44:55Z If we could find a way to measure such a thing, I’d venture an estimate that it takes somewhere around ten minutes for the average business owner or online marketer to find out that pay-per-click advertising can be a lot of fun… and about five minutes more to discover that it can be really expensive. And therein lies the problem: one of the easiest and most straightforward ways to bring visitors and shoppers to your website also carries a potentially heavy price tag. With the current bids for some keywords on Google, Yahoo, and Bing running five and ten times what they did a few years ago, how can savvy marketers make any money? The answer, as always, isn’t in spending more, but spending better. Here are four sure-fire ways to cut your PPC costs without messing up the bottom line: 2010-04-30T21:44:55+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/web_design_checklist/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/web_design_checklist/#When:22:52:22Z A successful web site is as much about the details as it is about the big idea. Many small factors contribute to a site’s effectiveness or lack thereof. To help you get started thinking about it, we’ve put together a checklist of factors to keep in mind. Details will vary from site to site, but this general list will apply to most small business web sites. Download Checklist PDF 2010-01-14T22:52:22+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/direct_mail_works/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/direct_mail_works/#When:15:48:20Z Last week I received a very nice marketing piece in the mail promoting Yahoo’s online advertising services that got me thinking about this. Direct mail has been grouped into the list of media that will be going away because of everything online. While the death of all traditional media has been greatly exaggerated, direct mail is definitely doing well. There are good reasons why one of the world’s largest online advertising providers is using direct mail in their business development strategy. 2009-12-08T15:48:20+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/the_goal/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/the_goal/#When:15:35:05Z Over the years I’ve heard variations on comments expressing trepidation working with “creative” people. (Some) clients don’t want to hurt our feelings by critiquing our work or our ideas, because they perceive us to be so attached to our creative ideas. While there are people in the business who are that attached to their work, most of us understand our goal is to make you more money. We enjoy the creative aspects of the business, but we’ll create oil paintings or play bagpipes if we need a creative outlet… 2009-12-04T15:35:05+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/click-through-rate-study/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/click-through-rate-study/#When:18:26:16Z The results of an update to research conducted by comScore, Starcom USA and Tacoda, indicate that the 8% of internet users account for 85% of all display ad clicks, and only about 16% of users click on an ad at least once a month. Linda Anderson, author of the study, concludes that “...marketers who attempt to optimize their advertising campaigns solely around the click are assigning no value to the 84% of Internet users who don’t click on an ad…” However, their research has also shown that online display ads generate significant lift in other ways. Read the article at www.mediapost.com. 2009-11-10T18:26:16+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/traditional_media_is_not_dead/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/traditional_media_is_not_dead/#When:14:32:15Z Much has been written lately about the imminent demise of traditional media-newspaper, TV, and radio. While it’s true these industries are suffering, I’m not ready to recommend that all of our clients’ marketing budgets be shifted to Facebook campaigns just yet. The business of marketing is changing fast, but right now, in the trenches, there is still no better way to consistently reach large numbers of potential customers than advertising in traditional media, particularly for local advertisers. 2009-09-03T14:32:15+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/reputation_monitoring/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/reputation_monitoring/#When:20:35:58Z Even if your business is not heavy into online marketing, Facebook, or Twitter, people may still be talking about you online. Here are a few tips and links to free tools to get you started in online reputation monitoring and management. 2009-09-02T20:35:58+00:00 http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/media_buying_dyi/ http://www.duncanmccall.com/index/adpost/media_buying_dyi/#When:01:33:05Z After placing a radio buy recently, I received a call from a sales rep asking why her station was not included. While I don’t feel the need to defend our work, I do always try to maintain a good relationship with media reps since I am representing our clients. In any case, I shared with her my rationale for the station choices. This rep was motivated and soon I received an email from her telling me I was making a mistake… 2009-09-02T01:33:05+00:00