Author Archives: Dominique

About Dominique

Dominique is the VP of Product Development. When she's not managing Dukky's press and social media outreach she can be found in any of NOLA's many watering holes. She is however perhaps best known for her role as the office's self-appointed Copy Editing fiend. Follow her on Twitter @dominiqueellis

What’s the Value of Social Media in B2B Marketing?

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So, you have a business and you’ve gotten your budding empire signed up for a Twitter account and a Facebook page (and perhaps a Google+ Business profile in the future too?). Go you! You’re part of the social media revolution. Cake and champagne for everyone!

Fast forward a few months and you may find yourself asking what’s this actually doing for me? What’s the value of social media? How can I get a ROI out of it? It’s a popular question on a lot of professional minds these days, especially in the case of B2B marketing. “Ok,” you say, “I got on board this train, where’s it taking me?”

Ensuring your business has a presence in the virtual world is an essential part of any successful marketing plan. With that said, it’s easy to get lost in social media. Between looking up relevant industry articles to load up the Tweetdeck and responding to comments on your Facebook page you can start to feel like you’re spending a lot of valuable time and resources keeping up a presence that isn’t necessarily turning into dollars.

Or is it?

I like to think of social media as a networking tool. I know, that sounds rather obvious but if you take a look you’ll see a lot of businesses aren’t utilizing it the way they should. Effective networking leads to sales, especially in the B2B market. Social media can be a great B2B sales tool, particularly Twitter, you just have to change the way you approach networking and sales.

Ever see a business you’d like to pitch your product or service to but had no inside connection? As any salesperson worth their salt will tell you, pitching to someone you’ve built a relationship with is easier, and usually much more successful, than cold calling. You just need a way to get a foot in the door, to get in their good graces, to endear yourself to them, and then the sale will follow. That’s how it happened in the brick and mortar days of sales, right? Well, Twitter can be the tool that gets those lines of communications flowing. The key is to pace yourself and to not be…..sales-y.

It’s important to remember that there are just as many spammers and cold tweeting annoyances out there as there are telemarketers. No one wants to talk with them. So sending a tweet to a new business you’d like to sell yourself to 5 minutes after you start following them isn’t going to hack it. You’ll be written off. Lines of communication will go cold.

Twitter isn’t about broadcasting, although a lot of people seem to think otherwise. It’s about listening. It’s about conversations. It’s about building a relationship. Take your time. See what sort of things they tweet. Retweet the ones that are pertinent to your business and add a short encouraging message in front of it. For example, “Talk about a dog day afternoon! RT @ChicDesigns It’s bring your dog to work day at the office!” Continue reading →

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Welcome to the August 10th edition of “What We’re Reading”, a weekly series where we report on stories that get our marketing, social media and workaholic brainwaves going. What’s on this week’s docket of must reads? Well, small business owners can be confusing, cubicles suck, an office should be like a dinner party and the Twitter world rallies to help clean up jolly old London. So grab that morning coffee and read on!

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64% of Small Businesses Think Social Media is Unnecessary [Study]

Apparently an overwhelming majority of small business owners in the U.S. don’t think social media is vital to their marketing. According to a study by small business insurance provider Hiscox, many SMB owners say they don’t see the value in being active on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Oddly though, the same group of business owners polled said they relied heavily on word of mouth marketing. Um, what’s this? What’s the word we’re looking for here? Oh yeah, conundrum. Read the fully confusing stats here.

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The Rise of the Mobile Workforce [Infographic]

It’s infographic time! And who doesn’t love infographics? Today’s design covers the rise of the mobile workforce. Team Dukky is all too aware (and we’re sure you are too) that the days of the 9 to 5 job is over and working from a mobile device is taking a greater hold. Who needs a cubicle when you have an iPad and a smartphone, am I right? Check out the stats compiled by Cisco here.

 

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The Joy of Dirty Dishes (and Passion People)

I don’t know about you, but sometimes a blog post comes along and makes you take a moment to lean back in your chair and say “yes”. That’s what I did when I read this particularly refreshing post by Amy Taylor on the Brains on Fire blog. In it, she compares a dinner party to the workplace and asks us all to take a moment and remember that real life happens offline. Would you attend a dinner party thrown by your company? Something to ponder.

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London Riots: Social Media Mobilizes Riot Clean-up

We got to hand it to the good people of London. They’ve dealt with a fair amount of terror and craziness the last few days. But as we’ve continued to see in the wake of social revolutions in the Middle East, natural disasters the world over and now on the streets of London, people are using social media for good. Using Twitter to organize their movements, the Britons came out in droves with brooms, bags, gloves and smiles to show the shop keepers and home owners that were looted that the city has not forgotten them. So let’s hear it for the socially minded, digitally connected good people of old London town. Say it with me – hip, hip, hooray! Read some of the inspiring tweets here.

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5 Examples of Great Microsites

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Recently, I wrote an article for Social Media Today on the Top 5 Causes of Customer Drop-off in Microsite Marketing. As the article outlined, microsites are a vital tool in the marketer’s arsenal, providing a funnel that serves as a doorway to trackable data on customers entering your promotion. Though it was well received, I have since gotten in a few requests for examples that illustrate what makes a microsite have a low customer drop-off rate. So Team Dukky has compiled a list of our 5 favorite microsites we’ve had the pleasure of working on and why they work. Enjoy!

Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

This microsite was launched for a handful of Ruth’s Chris franchise owners. Clean, tasteful and to the point, the site was in keeping with the nationally recognized restaurant chain’s branding and image. More importantly, it had a great offer – two offers in fact. For filling out the form all customers enjoyed a complimentary appetizer (with the purchase of an entree) through a printable coupon. Customers were then encouraged to share the offer with their friends via email, social networks and SMS for a chance to win free steak for a year. In total the campaign allowed the franchise owners to add 3,419 new customers to their databases. Their response rate was a mind blowing 33.88%. And of course we all know why. Who doesn’t want free steak for a year?

 

NewEgg.com

NewEgg is a very popular, highly recognizable website for purchasing all things technology related. This campaign was a huge slam dunk, bringing in a total response of over 870,000 hits. There are 2 reasons for this level of success. First, their offer rocks. Just in time for March Madness, the company offered the chance to win the Ultimate Man Cave which included everything from a massive flat screen TV and surround sound to a grill, XBOX and a computer. What guy doesn’t dream of owning that? The second factor was how they marketed their promotion. Combining email marketing, ads on their website, ESPN.com, CBSsports.com and Turner Sports with national and satellite radio mentions from Howard Stern and Dan Patrick as well as a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter, the campaign was unstoppable. Nearly a quarter of the people who hit the site input their information and shared, bringing NewEgg over 208,000 customers into their database. The campaign was recognized as the winner of AdWeek’s Media Plan of the Year for integrated campaigns.

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Dukky Direct Mail Campaign Featured in Deliver Magazine

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Recently, Dukky campaigns have been generating a lot of buzz and we couldn’t be happier! From our slam-dunk live presentation at the Sir Speedy, PIP and Signal Graphics Annual International Convention last week in Las Vegas where we built-out and launched a campaign for Designer Social  (click here to enter yourself) to our microsites being featured in clients’ broadcast commercials, we’re popping up all over the place.

Our most recent coverage, and perhaps greatest of late, was a feature in the current edition of the USPS Deliver Magazine which covered the successful direct mail campaign of a local fast food franchise in the Greater New Orleans Area. Click the image below to read the full article.

 

Want a brilliant marketing strategy? Take that weight off first.

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Writer’s block. Dead end ideas. The feeling your message is getting lost despite all your best efforts. It happens to the best of us and it can strike at any time. This holds true when it comes to crafting a good marketing campaign as well. You get so bogged down in making things cutting edge and new that you forget what your message and purpose was in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, marketing that pushes the envelope or that makes you do a double take is all fine and well and it has its place. But there comes a point when you just can’t see your way out of a path you’ve gone down and you need something to pull you out of it.

As most writers and marketers can attest to it, this happens more often than we’d like. I was feeling this way when I sat down to write this blog last night. I’d bookmarked dozens of articles on the latest and greatest in the marketing world. Emailed myself links to campaigns I wanted to touch on. I’d even sent screenshots of the things I wanted to highlight and break down the strategies behind them. I was so prepared.

So, I sat down. I opened it all up. I stared. I thought about how to tie it all together. These campaigns were smart. They were edgy. They surely had thousands of marketing dollars sunk into their creation and promotion. They were bright and shiny and oh, so professional. I stared some more. I felt nothing. Cue the mire.

At times like these I, like most people, reach for something comforting and familiar, something I know will incite an emotional response and put me at ease. Last night, that was a trusty glass of sauvignon blanc and The Last Waltz in the DVD player. (For those of you who aren’t familiar, The Last Waltz is Martin Scorsese’s personal, joyous and at time heart breaking documentary of The Band’s farewell concert. To see its brilliance go here.) The DVD was given to me by a dear friend who sent it my way when I was at a low point in my career and couldn’t find my way out. Watch it he told me, and you’ll see something new. He was right.

So, I sat. I watched. I sipped. I listened. My head cleared and I began to feel. The ideas started to flow again. Wham-o, inspiration. And you know why? There’s comfort in the familiar. A simple piece of media can bring forth memories of dear friends and good times and ways you’d like to see your life. In essence, it does what every advertisement should do – it makes you feel. And after all, isn’t that what good marketing is all about? What good are bells and whistles when you can’t relate to the fanfare?

It’s important to remember this fact when crafting your marketing strategies. With the ever-increasing reach and impact of social media, we can harness these mediums to bring customers back to a place of familiarity and comfort and in turn it endears your product to them. They remember you.

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Warning: Social media overload may lead to brain meltage

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When it comes to managing your company’s social media presence how much is too much?

It may be time to get cutthroat.

 

I had a chat with a coworker today about an all too familiar topic shared by marketers – overload. I’m overloaded with social media accounts and profiles. In fact, at a recent family dinner my phone went off with notifications from four different social media networks, some with multiple updates, all in the course of an hour. This led to another rousing rendition of one of my family’s favorite pastimes in which I am ridiculed for being a workaholic who is overly involved online. They actually made me sit there and count the number of profiles and accounts for which I act as administrator. To be honest, when I stopped and thought about it I was slightly horrified.

I have administrator access to 21 social media/sharing accounts. How did it get to this point?

Between Facebook profiles and multiple pages, Twitter accounts, blogs, Tumblr accounts, foursquare, Flickr, and LinkedIn I’m swamped – accounts for my personal use, accounts for Dukky, accounts for my freelance clients (who also are on MySpace, uvumi, iLike and more) I’m at capacity. In the words of the aforementioned coworker, “it’s enough to make your brain melt.”

Overload can be a common problem for any marketer, not just one with multiple clients. When it comes to getting your company or brand out there on the social networks how much is too much? Sure, having a blog and a presence on Facebook and Twitter (the heavy hitters that everyone who’s anyone is on) makes good marketing sense, but does having a presence online also mean you have to have your company on LinkedIn and foursquare? In my opinion, the answer is simple – yes and no.

Yes, to effectively market your brand today one must have a presence on social media networks. Is it necessary to jump on every network that’s out there though? Absolutely not.

Many companies, especially small-to-medium businesses, see social media as a cheap and effective way to build brand awareness and reach more customers. And they’re right, it is. Social media is changing the way business owners and marketers can reach their target audiences in ways that are revolutionizing the industry. The problem lies with two common issues – lack of manpower and the leap-before-you-think syndrome. Continue reading →

Dukky Hearts the New Orleans Hornets “I’m In” Campaign

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Whether you’re a New Orleanian or a fan of the NBA, you may have heard of the recent problems plaguing the New Orleans Hornets. In a town where football reigns supreme, especially after the Super Bowl win two seasons ago, the relatively young NBA team was having trouble getting its ticket sales up this season and generate a greater community interest in the team. Enter the “I’m In” campaign.

This thing is everywhere. And you know what? It’s working. Launching a full impact, multi-channel release, the campaign touches New Orleanians on all fronts – print, tv, radio, web, interactive and social media. I live in New Orleans and when I say this campaign is everywhere, I mean it. It’s on stickers in my coffee shop’s windows. It’s on my radio station. It’s on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. The kids down the street are wearing “I’m In” t-shirts while they practice their 3 pointers in the driveway. It’s on signs posted in my neighbor’s yards. It’s on car stickers. It’s EVERYWHERE.

As an avid black-and-gold wearing, “Who Dat!” screaming football fan, I have never been one to watch much basketball. But, as you may have noticed in the past few years, NOLA people are a little fanatical about supporting their own. It’s been no different with the Hornets since this campaign has come out. And why? Cause the campaign hit at the very core of what NOLA cares about – our traditions, our underdog status, our heritage and uniqueness. Here, we rally to protect our own.

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Bring out your dead! (marketing tactics, that is)

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Finally, someone explained it. Listen up world, as we tell the sad, sad story of the last advertising agency on earth – courtesy of FITC, which is, oddly, an advertising agency.

Why this video? Well, currently we are hard at work putting our new SMB platform to the test and each member of Team Dukky has a part to play. My main duties have been in assisting new small business clients to draft out their campaigns and put them into action. Small business owners on a whole are a pleasure to work with. Most are eager to dive into the social media integration and live analytics feed our product provides. However, from time to time I’ve been hit with one particular question – why should I have my campaign set up as a share-to-win promotion? Will social media help me at all?

While the answer seemed obvious to me, I have come to realize that many small business owners are operating under the rules of the old guard of advertising. This, my friends, is a mistake. Television and print ads alone are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Consumers are tired of having marketing messages dictated to them. They’re tired of having no control over what sort of messages they’re bombarded with. With the growth of internet capabilities, smart phones and the ever expanding reach of social media into every aspect of our lives it’s no wonder that traditional marketing tactics are failing to work. Think about it. How many people do you know that sit and watch cable television anymore? They don’t. They have Tivo and DVR. They record their shows, watch them on their schedules and, if you’re like me, relish in the fact that they can fast forward through the commercials. That’s right, I work in marketing technology and I hate television commercials. In fact, I don’t even have cable. Why pay $60 a month when I can snuggle in bed with my beloved Hulu? Sure, there are commercials (count em, 3 per episode) on Hulu shows. BUT they allow me to tell them if the commercials are relevant to me or not and then customizes what ads pop up during my shows. Most are even interactive. Hulu listens. Hulu learns. Hulu, is my new best friend.

Consumers do not want to be pandered to. Our lives are too busy these days. We need smarter marketing. This is where digital and social media, with their ability to take traditional marketing further, have taken hold. When I log onto Facebook I don’t see ads for arthritis pills, Dora the Explorer or hockey gear. Why? Because those things aren’t relevant to me or my life. It would be a waste of money for a company to pay to put those ads in front of me. I’m never going to buy Scott Turf Builder. I let the landlord worry about the lawn. Facebook and other social media sites allow advertisers to filter the people their ads are visible to based off their searches, likes, posts, tweets and comments. So when I login to Facebook I see ads for local New Orleans music performances, my beloved Saints (Who Dat!),  sales at Anthropologie and discounts at Starbucks (yep, I’m that girl).
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Dukky Launches Platform to Take Automotive Direct Mail Marketing Viral

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New technology turns direct mail into qualified 1st party leads, increased showroom traffic and new Facebook fans.

New Orleans, LA (PRWEB) March 24, 2011

Dukky is proud to announce the recent success of their marketing platform for automotive dealerships. As direct mail is such a large portion of automotive dealerships’ budgets, Dukky recognized the importance of offering these dealers the ability to integrate social media and real time analytics into their campaigns to move the industry’s marketing tactics forward. As such, Dukky has customized its technology specifically for the automotive industry, equipping dealers’ campaigns with its SaaS.

Dukky technology enhances the traditional direct mail alternative by integrating personalized URLs (PURLs), lead scoring, CRM integration, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) and live agent transfers and also allows dealerships to build up their Facebook fan page likes. All of this while monitoring each campaign in a live streaming, real time analytics dashboard.

Dukky, which has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine for its efforts to take direct mail viral, decided that the automotive industry was an untapped market ripe for innovation. Through beta testing, which ended this month, more than 500 dealers have used Dukky technology to launch campaigns – delivering over 12 million direct mail pieces equipped with Dukky PURLs and IVR technology. The average campaign response has exceeded 6%, well above industry standards in the beta testing period.

“We wanted to have a large enough test sample so we could perfect the system and really set the expectations for deliverables as we prepared to roll the program out nationally,” said Shawn Burst, Founder and Vice President of Sales at Dukky.

By overlaying Dukky’s technology onto their current direct mail marketing campaigns, dealerships across the country have gained thousands of first-party leads. The use of personalization, landing pages, polls, lead scoring and social media has proven to be a winning combination. Now dealers are able to not only generate immediate floor traffic and sales but also build a pipeline of future customers.

“We’ve seen a huge increase in converting prospects into sales,” Angel Cortes, the owner of Overdrive Direct Marketing in Orlando, FL said after using Dukky in his latest marketing campaigns for several client dealerships.

“In the auto market leads require a call back within 10 minutes to solidify the action just taken and make the sale. With Dukky we’re able to track who is calling the dealership in real time and act immediately to convert that lead into a sale,” said Cortes.

To become an authorized reseller or learn more about how Dukky’s automotive platform can help your dealership email your information to info@dukky.com.

About Dukky:
Dukky is a custom landing page and analytics software platform built specifically for direct marketers that’s proven to dramatically increase response, engagement and ROI. No maintenance, no installation, no worries. Simply put, we’ll help you increase campaign response and ROI, while decreasing the resources necessary to implement them. Simple. Secure. Scalable.

To learn more about Dukky check out our new video on our website: http://dukky.com/what-is-dukky/

Dukky takes a break to bring you the latest & greatest!

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Hey there Dukky followers!

Team Dukky is hard at work putting the finishing touches on our amazing new product for Small-to-Medium Businesses! We can’t wait till its launch! In the meantime, we’re shutting ourselves away and working night and day on it. Hence, there will be no blogs until the SMB release.

In the meantime be sure to visit our News Page to see what other people are saying about the amazing success Dukky has brought to their campaigns.

See you on the flipside!

- Team Dukky