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Thursday, April 28, 2011

Keeping Customers Engaged


In last month’s article on privacy concerns, we promised some ideas on keeping your customers engaged and ensuring they want to continue to receive your communications. In today’s information environment, marketers are tasked with the challenge of capturing the viewer’s attention while they are being bombarded with messages from all directions.

So, what can you do to be the firm that captures attention? Here are a few tips:


  1. First and foremost, ask permission to continue communications. If you are mailing information out, have a phone number or email address for them to contact if they wish to opt-out of receiving mail from you. An easy unsubscribe process is required for email. While it’s great to have a large mailing list, there is a dollar cost associated with each contact. If they are really not interested, you are wasting money and annoying the reader.

  2. Educate, don’t sell. Your goal is to provide value. Does that mean you can’t use a 20% off coupon for e-mail newsletter subscribers? Not at all! An occasional coupon does provide value—but there are so many other options.

  3. Look for ways to connect on a more personal level. This might be including an employee profile in a newsletter or posting photos of a recent community service project on Flickr and adding a link to view them to your e-mail.

  4. Make it easy for people to share. There are free social sharing buttons available. Use them!

  5. Provide the information you promise. It can be extremely annoying to see a message that says, “Like us on Facebook to receive special discount offers,” only to be bombarded with other messages that do not meet expectations.

  6. Vary style and content – within reason. I say “within reason” because you don’t want to go so far off track on the subject or style that you have loyal viewers unsubscribe. But you also don’t want them to drop off because they hear and see the same message over and over. Keep it interesting!

We hope these ideas help you to capture the attention of your clients and prospects and, ultimately, drive new business to your door. We'd love your feedback on how you keep customers engaged. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with us at info@vitalinkweb.com or call 919.850.0605.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Law Firm Vanity Number Available!

Attention attorneys...we have a great vanity number that is just being released for firms with injury clients. 1-855-GOT-HURT.

This number is great for marketing messages. 1-855-GOT-HURT? We'll help. OR Get Alex. OR Get Paid. Think how you can use it in your state.

Vanity numbers increase ad effectiveness and help use every second of your ad to convey a message. Contact us if you'd like to secure your state. State monthly rates start at $449/month.

1-800-HURT-NOW is now available for Massachusetts. Contact jeanne@vitalinkweb.com for more information.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

REACHing Out to Help Others


By Guest Blogger Mike Steele, Creative Director, vitalink


Over the past several years, I have done pro-bono creative and graphics work for a number of worthy causes. From a personal perspective, I truly enjoy volunteering with substance abuse programs—especially those that help teens. My most recent project was the design of a new logo for the REACH program in Cabell County, West Virginia. REACH is designed to give those in need of substance abuse treatment one place to go to start. The program is new and is expected to streamline the assistance process.



When I began to work on the design concept, I took into account my own personal experience. The main concept of the logo is to present an outstretched hand—a person reaching for help. The letters REACH as an arm with a handprint/heart at the end convey that help is available and there are those who care. I created both color and black and white options, some of which are shown here.


As a recovering alcoholic, I go back a couple years ago to the time when I hit ‘rock bottom’ and had to ask for help. Admitting we need help is one of the most difficult things for an addict to do. I remember being paralyzed with fear, feeling completely and utterly alone, even when surrounded by people, and feeling like I was the only one on earth who had ever felt this way. I was very skeptical and cynical about recovery programs because I didn’t believe there was hope for me. I chose the tagline, “You Are Not Alone,” to accompany the REACH initials.


While the heart is a “soft” symbol, the overall feel of the logo is a little ‘rough around the edges’ and has more of a ‘street’ feel to it. I wanted to present an image that these individuals could relate to—one that is more real in their world than the “sunset in the distance” concept that sometimes is used. The truth is when you are designing a logo, it does not have to “work” for everyone—it just has to resonate with the target audience.


About the Author


Mike Steele is the Creative Director/Graphic Designer for vitalink and has been with the company almost since the beginning. Most of the logos, newsletter templates, and creative design work that are produced by vitalink for its clients are the result of Mike’s talent and efforts.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Social Sharing During an Event

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Beginning a couple of years ago, I began seeing conference attendees using their laptops and smart phones during sessions. I figured they were just checking e-mail, but many of these folks were out on social sites like Twitter and Facebook posting real-time comments about the session itself. The first time I saw this happen, my initial thought was that it was really rude. But then I began to think about the implications. How can a speaker, moderator or host utilize this information?


This practice of sharing during an event has become commonplace. Many conferences and virtual events now provide instructions on how attendees can provide feedback or ask questions during a session. A common example is asking attendees to submit questions for the speaker using Twitter and a pre-defined hashtag. This does require that the speaker have a moderator who can monitor the real time feed and ask the questions. The moderator can also monitor the feed for comments and help direct the speaker if necessary. For example, if someone posts, “audio stinks-can’t hear this guy,” the moderator can intervene and address the problem right then.


We’d love to know what you think! Post your comments and let us know!

 

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