K.I.S.S. Hello to Mobile Device Marketing

Companies that have stunning websites often take their digital space marketing further with a tablet site or stand alone app.  But as more and more people do their Internet browsing on their mobile devices, this channel will need attention too.  

But unlike making a scaled-down tablet version of your original site, you will need to re-think your entire approach on mobile.  These handy tips will help you switch gears going into the mobile race:

First and foremost, Keep it Short and Sweet:  Your marketing on a mobile device won't have the luxury of lush graphics and oodles of creative copy.  You will need to pare down your message into the least amount of words you can possibly use to still be effective and communicate.  Here's where an old school agency copywriter can help you, especially if they've ever done classified ad writing to pull inquiries or sell products from the column inch.           

Secondly, make it easy to navigate:  Think big buttons and tiles, and large arrows to scroll. No one likes peering into a tiny screen, trying to finger his or her way around an even smaller site!  Your designers should have a good deal of experience setting up digital graphic interfaces.  If you make it easier for your customer navigate and use your mobile site, the more likely they will do business with you.

Thirdly, test it across different mobile platforms and devices:  What might look good and work well on one phone, may look horrible or have glitches on another.  Test. Test. And test some more.

Fourthly, tell people about it!  Mobile search strategy is fast becoming one of the hottest disciplines in the advertising world.  There are plenty of SEO and SEM  experts out there, but few of them are adept at mobile search.  So be sure ask around to find the right one who has mobile specific experience.

So there you have it.  Just when you thought you were finished upgrading your digital space marketing, now you have something else to do. 

Don't worry, Accelerator can help you out if you need.  Just contact us to get things started! 

Written by: Timo Matero CEO, Primary Founder, Accelerator Advertising, Inc. 

www.resultsdriven.info

7 Choice Funny Objections

In our business of providing marketing and advertising services, we hear perplexing and often humorous objections to engaging our firm.  Enjoy!

1. Creativity is over-rated.  Who cares if my materials are boring?

2. We have resources for that type of work.  Jeremy in shipping has a girlfriend who does tattoos, she said she would do our new logo for free.

3. Business is bad right now.  Why advertise?

4. I don't have any marketing needs at all... fully stocked up on business cards. 

5. The TV and radio stations and phone directory said they would do my ad for FREE.

6. I have all the business I can handle, and I am making enough money already, thank you very much.

7. I am not convinced advertising works.  I am going to stop advertising and see what happens. 

Well there you have it, seven choice objections for not hiring our firm.  But if you ARE interested (and you SHOULD be) here's three reasons to hire us.

1. We're expert at making you look good, saving you stress, and making you money. 

2. We will work our butts off for you.  We love what we do, and you will benefit from our addiction to coming up with creative ideas. Lucky you!

3. Our creativity shines through to the bottom line. Good ideas don't have to be expensive.  Our office is humble, our salaries miniscule, but our creative quotient is massive.  Let us estimate on a project and you'll be pleasantly surprised how cost effective we are.  Contact us today!

Written by: Timo Matero, CEO - Primary Founder Accelerator Advertising, Inc. 

The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

Normal Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Essential Survival Skills for the Way We Live Now!

What once was normal for marketers isn't anymore. Once you could write a press release and get your information out there the way you wanted. Now, everyone has a podium to discuss your products and your business and you have very little or no control over what they say. Once you could on seeing a lift from a running a flight on a particular broadcast channel, now your well-crafted and creative commercial gets DVR'd or Tivo'd.

Back when things were normal you could always count on the holiday season to make your year. Now you don't even try to make a year, just the quarter. Things have changed forever. People's buying habits. The way they communicate. How brands interact with their end users. And the economy.

Everything isn't normal, and it's never going to be again. So what's a marketer to-do? Well, if you can adapt, think quickly on your feet, and not be afraid of trying new things, then you will do fine.

But if you're hunkered down in survival mode, waiting for things to simmer down, or the other shoe to drop, you'll be missing out on a lot of markets hare and dollars. Sure there are too few spendable dollars floating around out there, that only means that it will be the smart marketer who can chase them will get them.

Here's how to survive the upcoming years of not normal.

1. Realize that Normal Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Normal has moved out of the house, and he's not coming back. Ever. So don't enshrine his things in his old room and be pining away on the couch for him. Don't leave the porch light on, and don't be jumping up looking out the window every time a car drives by. He's left you and is not coming back. Face it.

2. Get abnormal! Now that you have accepted the fact that things aren't normal, and never will be again, you can start thinking abnormally. Yes. You are now free to think differently, act differently, spend differently and be different. Liberating isn't it? Nothing else is normal, so why should you do the same things you've always done? That's nuts. Getting abnormal is the most rational thing you can do as a marketer right now.

3. Advertise and market your buns off! When the economy tanks, marketers and CFO's get jangled. They cut marketing and advertising budgets in some sort of pre-emptive strike against the bad indicators. But in reality, all they are really doing is setting the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy that portends poor sales and declining numbers. Well duh. You've just pulled back on your ad spends, people aren't hearing about you any more making you out of sight, out of mind, and out of luck. What a marketer needs to do in a down turn is advertise, advertise, and advertise some more. That way your brand becomes the loudest in the marketplace, you gain heaps of exposure, and then leap frog over stronger competitors because they, like the rest of the marketing lemmings, have bailed on advertising. The only cost that actually pays. Don't be like them. Don't be normal.

4. Hire Smart. Hiring smart means hiring people who are versatile, quick and eager to get on with things. There's no shortage of qualified, good talent to be had in just about every discipline. Now is the time to conduct a few search and rescue missions to secure the talent that you couldn't afford to hire a few years ago. They need the work, you get a good person. And when your sales begin to improve because you've advertised your buns off, you'll be glad they're on your team and can reward them for their dedication appropriately.

5. Stay on top of all the new tech and social media trends yourself. You. Yes you. Get a Twitter account. Follow a few people. Join Linked-IN and Facebook. Do all those new fangled things that your audience does. You personally need to learn them. Not a subordinate. You.

We hope that helps you understand the new normal! Watch for more tips on our next post. Stay abnormal!

Written by: Timo Matero, CEO - Primary Founder Accelerator Advertising, Inc. 

The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

Marketing and Advertising for the Way We Live Now™ *

Way back in January of this year, I was predicting a basically flat economy, stinky housing outlooks and $4.50 a gallon gas by summer. Summer's almost here and the indicators are right on track with my predictions.

It's not too hard to figure out by now, that THINGS ARE NEVER GOING TO GET BACK TO "NORMAL". Our current economy, our personal situations, and consumer behaviors are the way they are going to be for a very long time. There will be some incremental improvements to be sure. But these last few years have fundamentally changed industry, people, politics, investments, and our thinking forever.

Marketers will have to adjust their messages, offerings and mediums for the way their consumers live now. CFO's will have to adjust budgets, settle for less top line and more trim bottom lines. Retailers will have to raise prices; consumers will continue to be squeezed for their last few dollars. Even the retailer giant Walmart announced not too long ago that their customers were "running out of money".

Consumers are going to act differently moving forward. Hard times have a way of altering behaviors permanently. Folks who lived through the great depression were literally stuffing money in mattresses and burying coffee cans filled with coins in the back yard for the rest of their lives. They scrimped, saved, never wasted, re-used, did without, and lived well within their means. Just like most of us commoners now have to do today and probably will for decades to come.

So, my advice to you as a marketer is this: Don't wait for things to go back to normal. Don't settle for normal. Don't think, act, communicate, assume, promote, budget, and plan like you normally would have in the past. Normal doesn't live here anymore.

Be sure to read my upcoming blog, "These Guys Aren't Normal... Thank Goodness!" for the bright side of all this.

Author: Timo Matero, CEO, The Accelerator Companies

www.resultsdriven.info

*Not only is this headline a descriptive introduction to my latest TruthSerum post, it is Accelerator's new slogan!