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The Web has helped level the playing field for small and medium businesses to market and compete, especially as these companies continue to shift their spend and efforts to digital marketing. While targeted, automated e-mail marketing may have been out-of-reach for SMBs five years ago, it is one of the most-used marketing tactics by companies with fewer than 500 employees today. Mobile might have not made sense for most SMBs a few years ago, but it is now a growing part of the SMB marketing mix. Further, while a social media presence was experimental just two three years ago, it is now a necessary part of small and medium businesses’ marketing strategy, just as it is for enterprise marketers. Also like enterprise marketers, SMBs face challenges managing these different channels in an effective way, as well as keeping up with the lightning-fast face of evolution in digital marketing.

While these challenges persist, technology and service providers are devising solutions specifically targeted at SMBs to help them get a hold of their marketing efforts. With virtually limitless storage, widespread broadband availability, and robust capabilities delivered via a browser, similar tools that big brands use to manage and optimize their marketing efforts are available for SMBs at a fraction of the cost, enabling these companies to more effectively meet their marketing goals. InfoTrends recognized this trend when it first studied small and medium businesses’ marketing approaches in 2009. At the end of 2011, we conducted a follow-up study entitled Capturing the SMB Marketing Automation Opportunity to understand how SMBs’ marketing spend, strategy, and tactics are evolving by surveying over 2,000 small and medium businesses across 13 vertical industries.

One of the most striking developments over the past two years is the growth in the use of social media for marketing. Overall use has increased dramatically: in 2009, over half of respondents did not have any social media presence, but in 2011, just 3% reported not having a social media presence. Facebook was the most popular social network for marketing according to SMBs from our 2009 study, with 32% of use. In 2011, Facebook is table-stakes for SMBs: 90% of respondents reported having a Facebook presence in our most recent study. The use of LinkedIn and Twitter also grew substantially, from 19% and 17% in 2009 to 46% and 43% in 2011, respectively. As use has grown, so has budget allocation for social media initiatives; social media comprised almost 9% of SMBs’ marketing spend in 2011.

While social media is proliferating among small and medium businesses, they continue to face the same challenges they did two years ago: constrained resources related to cost, time, and skills. In fact, these issues were more pronounced in our 2011 study than they were in 2009, especially as it relates to understanding new marketing channels and having the skills to address them. SMBs report having a preference for managing all marketing channels through a centralized technology solution or centralized service provider. Whatever the choice, agility is key; as new channels or networks emerge, solutions or providers need to quickly adapt by providing capabilities and education to help their users be successful.

The SMB user is an important audience for a number of prominent companies today:

• Intuit has a long legacy of delivering products and services to small and medium businesses through its QuickBooks accounting software, website services, and payment services. Last month, it acquired vertically-focused SMB technology provider Demandforce for over $400 million. Demandforce gives Intuit robust technology that helps small and medium businesses manage their social media presence and automate marketing across multiple channels, addressing some of the key challenges SMBs face.
• Recently, Yahoo! launched its Marketing Dashboard toolset for small local businesses with features that help companies monitor and manage their online reputation and analyze traffic from websites and campaigns. Yahoo! has built a fairly successful offering for SMBs with its website hosting and eCommerce offerings, and its Marketing Dashboard makes its existing package a much more attractive offering for SMBs looking for a one-stop-shop.
• With Adobe’s recent release of Creative Suite 6 and the Creative Cloud, the company also launched subscription-based pricing plans starting at $50 per month to access the entire collection of applications instead of paying a large upgrade fee every 6 to 12 months. While it is yet to be proven in the market, this low-cost pricing model could open up Adobe’s tools to a much broader audience, including many SMBs. While almost 40% of SMBs in our 2011 study reported owning Photoshop, only 21% owned Illustrator and 17% owned InDesign. It will be interesting to see if this new plan spurs adoption among SMBs.

The SMB marketing mix is diversifying, exacerbating the challenges that already face  resource-strained businesses. In response, technology and service providers are empowering small and medium businesses with solutions that can help them become more efficient and effective with their marketing and communication efforts. As marketing dollars continue to flow to digital channels from organizations of all sizes, SMBs can harness the same tools their larger counterparts can, allowing them to engage with audiences they would have never been able to reach just a few years ago.

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I just read a case study that reminds us that soft leads matter, too. In this instance, the case study involved an email campaign, but how often have you heard vendors talk about the value of personalized URLs for capturing “warm” leads? The lessons apply to print, too.

The client was Dollar Thrifty (the chain of Dollar and Thrifty car rental locations) had too much inventory in Florida, so it devised a plan to boost rentals in that geographic area. To do that, it analyzed who had rented from those locations in the past, in which months, and identified people who had shopped rates on the company websites for specific dates but didn’t end up making a reservation.

(Click here to access the case study.)

With this information in hand, Dollar Thrifty created an email campaign offering specials to warm leads with targeted offers. The results were higher open and click-through rates, and ultimately an inventory problem solved.

The ability to capture warm leads is one of the benefits of personalized URLs, but as Dollar Thrifty found, there are other ways, as well. However you do it, the point is to capture them, because they just might come in handy when you need them. And while this case study involved email, there is no reason it can’t work with print.

Just another reason to engage your customers about marketing.

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In my blog on April 26^th I reflected on the WTT article In-Plants: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” by Barb Pellow.  In that blog I reflected primarily on the first part of the article on how the market is changing for In-Plants and how BPI can help adjust.  Now I want to discuss the second part of the article “What’s an In-Plant to Do?”   Barb lists six core values that have remained constant for In-Plants, and I look to how Business Process Improvement supports or enhances these values.

The first point is “Responsiveness to Customer Needs.” BPI supports this by focusing on reducing cycle times for business operations, thereby improving the turnaround for customer requests.

The second Value is “Automating Document Process.” Using process mapping tools, In-Plants can show their knowledge in a clear and easily understood graphic approach.  Process mapping will help in identifying key functional responsibilities as well as areas needing automation the most.

The next two Values In-Plants possess are the “Ability to Evolve Effectively Over Time” and “Developing New Areas of Expertise.” BPI is a tool which helps to clearly identify the current state of In-Plant operations and to build a picture of the future state in terms of new process and new capabilities.  BPI can then drive preparation of a roadmap of effort required to evolve to the future state.  By using BPI metrics, In-Plants can track and measure their progress in the evolution, and ROI on new capabilities.

The fifth Value In-Plants also do a superb job at is “Assessing New Technologies”, both in the impact a new technology will have on the business process and the costs and challenges to implement by using BPI.  Combining the knowledge of the technologies and the cross functional stakeholders’ roles, BPI helps the organization to smoothly introduce new technologies in the shortest time and with minimal cost.

In-Plants Value in “Educating Constituents on What You Can Do and What Can Be Done” is improved through the focus on process and cross functional co-operation.  This focus improves the relationships and openness of the constituents by showing the interdependencies of the various constituents.  BPI helps to establish a business culture more open to discussing capabilities and limitations in the operations.

In-Plants position within the organization gives them a full understanding of the corporate cultures and BPI provides a methodology to use that knowledge and unique position to optimize the value In-Plants have for document delivery.

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I’ve been reading tons of industry news lately about the foundational impact of mobile on consumer and business behavior.

First, EFI announced today that its PrintMe Mobile has been named winner of the 2012 Mobile Merit Award in the mobile services, enterprise products/services category. PrintMe Mobile enables direct Wi-Fi printing from iPads, iPhones and Android devices from within the application directly to any existing network printer regardless of brand. Enterprise printing from mobile devices? Didn’t that happen years ago?

Then I read how Facebook is struggling to explain to investors its inability to monetize its mobile application. This oversight has been called all sorts of things, including a “critical problem” and “the elephant in the pitch room.” I agree. With the lifestyle impact of mobile, that truly is mystery.

Then there is the study from Ipsos MediaCT (“Catching the Tablet Wave”) showing that penetration via mobile tablets is on the steady rise, especially among some very coveted consumer demographics. According to the study, overall tablet PC ownership increased from 10% in September 2011 to 16% in March 2012, and among individuals in households earning $100,000+ per year, it increased from 21% to 28%.

Tablet ownership matters so much because it is impacting every aspect of life from couponing to TV watching. ABC just announced that is using Yahoo’s IntoNow app to allow viewers to interact with its TV programming on their tablet devices — again. Viewers can use the app to talk about the show on social networks, get videos, enter sweepstakes, and participate in other interactive activities. This time, its ABC’s freshman drama “Revenge,” but the app has been used in a Republican presidential debate and by Pepsi during a Major League baseball game. Seems perfectly normal to me.

At I’m reading this influx of news stories, I’m simultaneously reading comments in one of the digital printing discussion forums on LinkedIn in which participants are arguing that QR Codes will fail as a response mechanism because they are ugly. Now there’s a jolting contrast for you!

It reminds me of when my husband, who is the facilities director for a private high school, gets on rants about managing this million-dollar capital investment project here, putting out fires on that half-million restroom renovation project there, dealing with the HR issues involved the major restructuring of his staff over there, and while all the pieces are swirling and everyone is ducking and weaving, he turns around because there is a teacher tugging on his shirt tail complaining, “My erasers aren’t clean! My erasers aren’t clean!”

Mobile (or lack of attention thereof) is impacting everything from enterprise printing to TV-watching behavior to the ability to launch one of the most famous IPOs in business history. Yet some people in the printing industry think QR Codes will fail because they’re ugly? Yes, and there are enough of them to spawn discussions that span over days.

People used to argue that digital printing wouldn’t take off either because it wasn’t as high quality as offset. But eventually, functionality won out, and even before digital achieved the near or full offset parity that it has achieved today, it had already become a disruptive technology.

So, too, with mobile 2d barcodes like QR Codes. I think the number of proprietary codes will first explode and then greatly diminish, but I think claims that their appearance and “intrusion” upon the graphic design are short sighted. Perhaps by printers or marketers who misunderstand or don’t fully understand how to use them.

Functionality will trump here, and if it doesn’t, then perhaps your marketing clients are not using 2d mobile barcodes the right way.

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Mark Rasch delivered the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DC). At the start of his presentation, Rasch posed a question to the audience. “A marketer’s job is to sell to customers. True or not true.” Everybody said true. Maybe it was a trick question, but Rasch surprised the audience when he said, “I disagree. A marketer’s job is to sell to people who aren’t customers.”

The same notion came out of an article in DMNews by Mediasmith founder David L. Smith, who described his marketing dream as “targeting those who intend to buy a product … those actively shopping … those who shopped but did not buy.”

Ready-to-buy marketing begins with a robust database, of course — which is why, on February 17, Groupon purchased Hyperpublic, a start-up that builds databases of local information. The following day, Groupon bought Kima Labs, manufacturer of two mobile apps, one that reads barcodes and one that facilitates mobile payments. Groupon apparently sees “on-the-spot” buying from ready-to-buy customers as the way of things to come.

Options for ready-now, local selling have moved beyond retail. In February, Zipcar, which provides a fleet of thousands of cars to its 673,000 members, became the lead investor in Wheelz, a California-based start-up in which students who own cars on campus loan out their cars to other drivers.

Apparently, Mark Rasch is right. As consumers increasingly embrace their smart phones, marketers are learning how to touch the not-yet-a-customer market in real time, at the right time, as never before.

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Alright, before I let you read this article, please let me state this: I recognize that many readers of the Digital Nirvana generate a lot of their business executing outbound marketing activities for their clients. And if you know me, you know that I believe in a multi-channel approach — one that incorporates traditional marketing channels through outbound efforts as well as newer marketing channels that primarily utilize inbound methods.

Below you will find the latest article in my 5-part series on how inbound marketing can help you — the print services provider — to generate more leads so that you can sell your services, which may include outbound and inbound marketing!

One of the cool things about inbound marketing is that it is inherently less expensive than outbound marketing. Even if you need to hire a ghostwriter to create content, it’s still likely to be leaps and bounds less costly than efforts through other channels. However, that does not mean that content creation is a process that can be skimped on.

Your Content Must Contain Solid, Helpful Tips

If you are going to publish content under your brand’s name, you do need to know your stuff (or your writer does), and you need to take the time to show others that you know your stuff. This is not the time to load your website up with fluff.

The reality is – people are looking for facts. They want answers. They want solutions. They have the power of the internet at their fingertips, whether that is on their computers, their tablets, or their smartphones. Lackluster information becomes obvious and it’s a turn-off.

Do Not Click “Publish” on the First Draft

As you develop content for your website, flesh out your topics.

Break them down into readable chunks. Too long and your reader will start to yawn. Too short and it may just lack substance.

By taking the time to review what you’ve typed up before you share it with the world, you will most likely identify simple changes that can greatly increase the effectiveness of your content.

Talk in a Human Voice About Relevant Topics

Make your content balanced; don’t get swayed by “shop talk” of creating content that is heavy on the keywords.

Yes, keywords are important — but if you overdo it, your content will not read well.

Your information needs to be relevant. It needs to be timely and helpful. You can do this while still getting those keywords in there.

Be Willing to Share Specifics

With inbound marketing, you are in control of how much or how little information you share.

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that providing “too much” information is akin to giving away your grandmother’s top secret cake recipe. Sure, you don’t want to give away the whole kit and caboodle of your business, but you want to be transparent.

You want to display your expertise. No customer will decide against doing business with you because you provided “too much” relevant information. But you can bet that many a potential customer is lost to the business that fails to provide adequate and transparent information.

Have a Strategy to Build Links

One of the pluses when you post great information is that it gets linked from other sources. Links are great. They provide yet another way to get internet users to come to your site. They are a subtle referral and nod to your expertise.

So, the more links to your site, the better. In addition, it will help with your search engine rankings, making you more visible in those keyword searches.

Using Content to Generate Sales

Content reigns supreme with inbound marketing, as it helps with search engine optimization and expertise display. When you provide relevant content you are becoming a resource that the reader can rely on. This empowers your reader to make the right decision – to work with you!  Of course, a visitor doesn’t immediately turn into a customer. You need to work that lead first. For five points about inbound marketing and lead generation, go here.

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This morning at drupa, Heidelberg announced its third Heidelberg ECO Printing Award, the only international environmental award for sustainable printing in the sheetfed offset sector. The award focuses on the usual —  sustainable use of resources and energy, climate protection, and environmentally aware management practices — all of which are really, really important. Awesome.

However, as I read about the award (entries can be submitted from May 8 to November 30, 2012 and the award be presented in June 2013), I once again felt a level of frustration with the focus on traditional offset. While it’s certainly true that offset deals with environmental issues in terms of process that digital does not (press chemicals and powders, higher levels of emissions), digital provides environmental benefits that traditional offset does not. Why don’t people talk about that more?

This is a drum I’ve been banging for years, and I’m going to continue to bang it. We think about “green” printing in terms of process — substrates, chemicals, alternative energy, and so on.  But how about things like volume reduction through targeting, cleaner databases, and page reduction through personalization? These have real, tangible environmental benefits, too.

When you target using a portion of your database, when you reduce the number of pages in a mailing to only those relevant to the recipient, when you clean and streamline your database to be more effective in your 1:1 efforts,  you are reducing your environmental impact through lower consumables use, lower energy use, and reduction in the use of fossil fuels in the process of transport and mailing at the same time.

As I’ve written in  Greening Print Marketing, these are real environmental benefits. They are immediate environmental benefits. We don’t measure their impact in how much less the environment is suffering down the road. We see it immediately in fewer consumables ordered, less gas purchased, less volume going into a landfill. And while we can certainly do higher volume targeting with sheetfed, these benefits are largely digital.

When will the environmental awards start to reward targeting and personalization as part of the larger move toward sustainability? Hey, Heidelberg! It’s not to late to tweak your criteria!

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On Tuesday, I posted about a very funny (but appropriate) response I recently saw to a question about the use SnapTags over QR Codes. (In case you missed it, you can see the post here.) But funny and thought-provoking comments aside, the issue itself still stands—which is better and why?

With the rise in number of proprietary 2d mobile barcodes being applied to everything from direct mail to posters, it’s a relevant question. Go with the open source code or the proprietary code that comes with more bells and whistles? Most of the issues related to SnapTag apply to other proprietary barcodes, as well, so let’s pick on SnapTags.

• SnapTag and other proprietary tags are just that — proprietary.  They require you to buy into someone else’s system and pay them to do it.
• Proprietary tags come with more upfront functionality than QR Codes, but while the code itself may be proprietary, the functionality isn’t. You can get all the same functionality with QR Codes (such as the ability to track in detail or encode personalized URLs) with a little programming that someone on your staff can probably figure out for free.
• That is, if you even need all that functionality in the first place. Most of the tracking you need may be gotten by using a URL shortener (which you probably want to do anyway) that tracks for you. Not everyone needs to track unique hits or embed personalized information.
• Proprietary tags still have the challenge of being recognized by the public as being a code readable on the user’s smartphone, except they have the additional barrier of requiring a proprietary reader. Viewers have a better chance of having a QR Code reader (any kind of QR Code reader) than they do the proprietary one. So you have an extra hurdle of requiring that extra step before they can view anything. (Hmmm . . . did your incentive cost just go up?)
• Plus, you still have to provide  scanning and download instructions just like a QR Code. There are far less people who recognize proprietary codes like SnapTag than QR Codes.
• Proprietary codes require URL redirection. This means that the URL you are generating is not your URL, but a SnapTag or other proprietary URL. This means that should the company turn off its servers, the code goes nowhere.  (Here’s one expert’s take on this — worth your while to take a look.)
• Plus, as a user, proprietary codes just creep me out. Maybe it’s because I write about these things too much, but proprietary codes just scream, “I’m tracking you!!!” while QR Codes may or may not be set up for that level of detail. I feel more anonymous with QR Codes, and when I’m responding to any kind of marketing schtick, I like it that way. Maybe that’s just me.

Granted, if you want an all-in-one-package that is just handed to you with little effort and your campaign is going to be completely over in a very short span of time and it’s worth it to your client to get in, get out, and get what they need quickly, proprietary codes offer a lot of ease of use and functionality. But taking the long-term view? As for me, I’m sticking with QR Codes.

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I was just reading a discussion on LinkedIn about SnapTags versus QR Codes and which format was better and why. As many of us do, one of the participants took the first available opportunity to throw in a little bit of self-promotion. There was a brief comment — just enough to lay claim to actually participating in the discussion — followed by, “I have a few ideas to take your QR campaigns to the next level.”

The response by the next thread participant was classic.

I totally agree with whatever is being said here about QR Codes so I don’t have to answer your question!

I also have amazing ideas for your campaigns even though I don’t know what they are yet!!

Better yet, I’ll let you into the QR Code secrets that NO ONE ELSE KNOWS and are GUARANTEED to make you money!!!*

Contact me at marketing.spam@yetanotherurlwithQRinit.com.

* Promise of results does not guarantee results. Full price of £1,999.99 payable up front.

I just busted out laughing, and I’m sure everyone else did, too. But it does raise a good question.

Are we doing the same thing without realizing it? Offering QR Codes as an all-purpose solution to clients’ desire to get into mobile marketing? Or are we really looking at the client’s marketing goals as a whole, then offering QR Codes as appropriate . . . and leaving them on the table if they aren’t (and being humble enough to acknowledge the difference)?

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This just in – RR Donnelley’s Annual report is a funky fold, not your standard bound booklet!

This weeks fold features an Asymmetrical Broadside Booklet Fold submitted by RR Donnelley. This broadside booklet fold gives you the feel of a bound book but opens up to reveal a variety of panels. Watch the video below for more details!

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