Small businesses live in their own world and ecosystem apart from the world of big business and corporations. The needs of a small business are much more “primal” than the needs of a big corporation. So what exactly are the “primal” needs of a small business in 2013? When designing and creating your digital presence, make sure you look at the whole picture to determine where you need to be versus where you can be on the digital front. Websites, mobile websites, social media, and compelling content are the “primal” digital needs. These factors all work together to create a user experience that can provide credibility and utility in the mind of the consumer.

Website

In this era of technology there is no question that every business absolutely must have a website, especially with the emphasis that consumers put on it. It is the foundation for your digital presence and everything you do digitally resonates from your website. However, it is not sufficient to just have a website. The website needs to be well designed, clean, and easy to navigate. The user experience is everything. The look and feel of your website should be consistent with your brand and portray your company in a professional manner. A great example of simple but effective design is the Dewey’s Pizza website, designed here at LeapFrog Interactive.

Mobile Website

In addition to a traditional website, small businesses need to have a presence in the mobile space. Mobile is one of the fastest growing industries. According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1 in 4 smartphone owners use their phone as the primary way of accessing the Internet. Mobile Internet is also expected to eclipse wired Internet by 2015 according to IDC. What does this mean for your small business website? It means that you need to have an optimized mobile website to create the best possible user experience.  Viewing a website that is designed for a standard computer monitor on a screen that is much smaller creates problems. Mobile website designs alleviate these problems by adapting the design and content to be clean and easy to navigate, prerequisites for an efficient user experience, on the small screens of smartphones and other devices. These sites can be relatively inexpensive and easy to make. An example of a simple an inexpensive mobile site is a site that JUMP! designed for the Louisville Airport.

Responsive Design

Responsive design is not listed as one of my “primal” needs at the beginning of this blog because it is actually a combination of my first two “primal” needs, websites and mobile websites. The basic premise of responsive design is that the website will adjust to the size of the screen on which it is being viewed. For a more in-depth look at responsive design, Christy Belden, VP Media + Marketing, explains it in her blog.

Compelling Content

Content is the driving force of the Internet. Why is this important? Obviously you do not want to spend all this time and effort on a website that is empty. The purpose of your site should be to inform customers and make an impression. Relevant and engaging content accomplishes both of these. However, if you don’t keep the content fresh, then consumers will have no reason to return and will have nothing to recommend to other users. Referrals are not only important for search engine marketing, but also for word-of-mouth marketing. These are among the most cost efficient and most effective forms of advertising. Steve Rubel, EVP/Global Strategy and Insights at Edelmen, gives some excellent insights into content generation and why it is necessary.

Social Media

When my small business clients hear the words social media, typically I see fear and confusion in their expressions, and for good reason. The social media scene is unbelievably vast, and if you do not know what you are doing it is very easy to get overwhelmed. The first task is to determine the social media outlets that will benefit your business, because not all outlets work for every business. In case you need some help, here is a crash course on popular social media from Mashable. The main purpose of these outlets is to communicate with your audience. This includes sharing the content that you generate from the section above as well as interacting with consumers when necessary.

Summary:

These needs are exactly as stated, they are must have elements for your business to succeed in the coming years. They work together in a very efficient and hyper connected system that provides potential consumers with the interaction and value that they desire. Utilizing these elements properly will benefit you, your business, and your consumer, which is great for all involved. Now it is up to you to make sure that your business is built to survive by implementing these “primal” digital marketing needs.

[Contributed by Sean Slattery, Jump! Account & Marketing Coordinator]

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Digital marketers are terrible when it comes to creating acronyms around our products, services, concepts, theories and strategies. SoLoMo is no different. The good news it is not a new channel or new widget. It is an extremely important, and effective, marketing strategy for businesses.

SoLoMo stands for:

             Social

             Local

             Mobile

SoLoMo is a three-prong approach to marketing your business in today’s digital space. This strategy is designed around execution and is a direct marketing initiative, not branding. Combining the ability to connect with an audience socially in a hyper-local way via the mobile phone, provides highly-targeted messages to be delivered to individuals regardless of time and place. The theory of SoLoMo achieves to connect with individuals in a much more personal level than any other medium, in particular traditional media.

A great example of SoLoMo application would be if you had a store location and you wanted to drive users into the store. You could offer an incentive – coupons, gift card, exclusive - for users to check-in to the store location, aka FourSquare, via their mobile phone. Users push social content to their networks – for your company.

With the advent of Google+ and Search Plus Your World, the recent conversion of Facebook to Timeline format, and Pinterest’s surge in just shy of a year, it is increasingly apparent that social media plays a factor in the organic search algorithms. So, from our lips to your ears, you NEED to be involved with social media to maximize your search results and potential customers engagement. Here are some social outlets that could play a part in your brand’s strategy.

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

YouTube

Google+

FourSquare

Tumblr

StumbleUpon

Flickr

Delicious

LinkedIn

Recently, Christy Belden, our VP of Media + Marketing, conducted a presentation titled Social Search Optimization (SSO): Maximizing Your Marketing Success.

In it, she discusses the noticeable change in how the search engines rank your pages based on social activities. Our clients who have incorporated a Search + Social Optimization (SSO) strategy have seen much larger gains of organic and referral traffic to their website than those only using traditional SEO practices.

We highly recommend a coordinated, concerted effort between both your Search and Social campaigns. It’s what will separate you from the good ole’ days of 2011.

Google+ was released a little over a year ago and, at first, had very quick adoption albeit by mostly technology early adopters and media. As all things in digital marketing, “the death of Google+”, “Google+ won’t last”, or “Google+ is a waste of time” rang from the mouth of industries experts ready to jump at its demise.

A year later, Google+ is still around – a feat in today’s churn and burn product launches. Google+ is not only still around, but it is also becoming more and more relevant. It was integrated into search results at the beginning of the year with Search Plus Your World and now has been integrated into local with Google+Local. Google+ has also added Hangout On Air – the ability to instantly communicate to masses via video without the need of web conferencing tools.

Although Google+ trails behind Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest in regards to buzz and engagement, it is picking up steam. Those who participate in the environment are exceedingly loyal and usually use Google+ for more than one service.

So if you haven’t given Google+ a try, here are 5 reasons you should.

• Search – Google+ appear very quickly in the search results. Your brand can make an impact in the search engines by having a Google+ page.
• Local – Now that Google+ is integrated with Google Places, Google+Local brings the best of search, peer reviews and discussion about your favorite places all into one place.  A local page in Google+ helps define your business beyond just location and hours of operation.
• Engagement – Engagement on Google+ is easier and a richer experience than most other networks. Google+ takes the best of both Twitter (the ability to aggregate content by hashtags) and Facebook (long content) and brings them together. This lends itself to more valuable storytelling because it can be found easily.
• Content Distribution – Where Facebook is the mass medium of content, Google+ is designed to selectively send content out to interested parties via Circles. A brand can segment their audience and send relevant content to particular parties. As consumers experience information burnout, Google+ can help disseminate information more appropriately.
• Did I mention Search? 

Google understands the broader context of engagement and is helping propel us into this world of immersion (see Google Glasses). Google+ is the next iteration of search – not just how a person can brag about their weekend online. If you want to compete not for today but tomorrow, Google+ needs to be a part of your marketing mix.

We’ve all heard (or used) the excuses to avoid social media

-       fear of the unknown

-       our customers don't use it

-       we don't know enough about it

-       there are no guaranteed results

-       I have no time for it

-       I’m nervous about feedback and the truth

and the list goes on and on.

The truth is, social media is here to stay.  We all need to be onboard.

Social media is certainly no magic pill to a huge ROI.  There are steps that need to be taken in order to provide the best opportunity for success. 

Best practices include:

Setting goals and objectives - these goals might be to increase sales and profits while reducing costs or to generate a 25% increase in web traffic.  Maybe your goal is to reduce customer service calls by 10%.

Create a plan - know what tools you will need to reach your goals (Facebook? Twitter? Blog?) and be sure to set benchmarks along the way.  Consider what (or who) it will take to execute this strategy for your organization.

Measure results - verify whether the plan is working by measuring against the goals that were set.  Check web analytics if you need to measure web traffic or evaluate customer service calls to see if your 10% reduction is being met.  Social media is really pretty easy to measure.

Stay committed - stick with the social media process.  It takes time.  Many companies "join" and expect people to just show up.  After a few months of trying, many companies quit because they don't see enough fans, activity, or followers.  At the very least, social media is an annual commitment that can help provide your organization results.

Enhancing your branding and awareness, protecting your brand reputation, extending your PR, and facilitating research and development are other things that social media can do for your business.  Enough of the excuses.  Social media is no longer a fledgling fad. It's time to use social media to help you effectively market your organization.  Many of your competitors are leveraging this valuable tool and you should be too.

In 2008, I happen to be at a bar during one of Michael Phelps races. The bar had the TV’s on during the Olympic coverage but it was more for background noise. Until the primetime coverage of the Phelps race came on. At that point the music stopped in the bar, the volumes on the TV went up and everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. We happened to be watching the race we just barely won – the place went crazy. Everyone was high fiving and hugging one another – just like in the movies.

A lot has changed in four years, including the rise of social media. We know from February’s Super Bowl how engaged people are with sports online. The Super Bowl averaged over 12,000 tweets per minute. With the whole world as the stage, the numbers could be staggering.

Therefore, if you have not thought how you could capitalize on the excitement of the Olympics, it is not to late to implement a digital strategy. For brands associated with apparel and sporting goods, it is paramount to begin exploring how you will, in the least, use social media and online public relations to promote your brand. As a small business or a product, which may not have a direct correlation to sports, you could carry a patriotic theme throughout most of the summer – a great way to maximize creative assets. Although ad inventory and keywords may be unavailable or too expensive, you can still use keywords and placements, which reach your target audience while using creative messaging invoking the Olympic spirit.

And if you need some Olympic motivation, the ad entitled Thank you, Mom from P&G will definitely get you in the mood.

We’re super happy to announce that another client has completed our L.E.A.P. process! Dant Clayton approached us late last year because they wanted a new website, and they decided to go for the full she-bang and go through the four-stage marketing strategy and planning process.

Before Dant Clayton’s website revamp, it wasn’t being used to its full potential. But now, the website is the number one step in their sales process – bringing in double the amount of leads, and they expect it will only increase when they add in search engine optimization and social media marketing tactics.

If you’re interested in learning more about the L.E.A.P. process, please contact Maury Hill, Vice President of Client Development at mhill@leapfroginteractive.com or 502-212-1369.

It’s no mystery that sales and new customer acquisition are integral parts of business growth. This being the case, we do what we can to drive sales through as many channels as possible. We tend to focus on two tactics, while all too often separating efforts without realizing the value they can offer each other.

 #1. We advertise. We get creative and throw out these marketing nets to catch as many potential customers as we can.

 #2. We actively sell. We put people in charge of finding new customers, generating leads by often buying lists and hammering on cold calls until we get a bite.

With an ever-increasing amount of our efforts being focused in the digital marketing world, marketing efforts can be tracked meticulously. You can look at the website traffic and separate which visitors are in which stage of the buying cycle, and there’s your lead list. No more purchasing what someone else has farmed.

On the other side of this, sales people talk to customers every day. They know what customers are saying. From this vantage point, it only makes sense that your sales people are some of your best sources for market information.

I’m not giving away industry secrets here. We know that marketing is meant to support the sales function, and sales can support the marketing function. To this end, I’ll introduce some of the top Marketing Automation Platforms that help to facilitate useful flow of information between the two. These platforms not only track website activity, they allow for automation of email marketing campaigns and assignment of prospects to salespeople in your CRM. This is, however, only the tip of the iceberg. See for yourself.

1. Pardot
2. Marketo
3. Marketing Pilot

Happy marketing!

(Contributed by Sean Matthis)

A while ago, we started offering the L.E.A.P. process as a service to our clients. This strategy and planning process takes clients through four stages – Listen, Engage, Act and Perform – to deliver an aligned brand message, effective and measurable digital marketing tactics, outstanding website creative and user-friendly technology architecture.

This service is ideal for a company who is going through restructuring, wants a new image, or just isn’t sure what they want to portray to the public. Our teams work directly with many people within your company to dig deep and make sure your brand direction, and messaging are what everyone wants before we start the Engage, Act and Perform sections.

If you’re interested in learning more about the L.E.A.P. process, please contact Maury Hill, Vice President of Client Development at mhill@leapfroginteractive.com or 502-212-1369.

My wife and I recently inherited some beautiful leather sofas for our living room. It just made sense to replace a faded love seat and an aging sofa — upon which our dog had spent one too many days sleeping — with something a little nicer. After making the switch, however, the room still felt clunky and unfinished. We soon realized it would take a little more than an upgrade to the focal point of the room to make it complete.

In many cases, companies make the same mistake with what is quite possibly their most important asset to bring in new customers — their website. The static, brochure website built over a decade ago might be gone but the new interactive site doesn't quite hit the mark either. Sure, it has improved design but is it SEO-friendly so that potential customers can find it? Is it easy to navigate? Does it appropriately represent the look, feel and character of the company? Does it speak to potential customers and allow for any meaningful conversions, or is it cluttered with jargon that is hard to understand?

Sometimes the tendency is to take shortcuts, especially as it relates to your digital marketing budget. But, why replace only the couch when the drapes are still shabby and the walls need a fresh coat of paint? Although it may cost a little more, finish the job with attention to detail. Your website needs to be a resource for potential customers. Because your website can leave a lasting first impression, make sure to speak the customer's language and make it easy to find and request additional information. Keep it simple and avoid using excessive images. An organized site with relevant content improves the sites SEO and gives you the best chance to connect with your customer.

After a little more work, I must say the living room is in order. The dog, however, still sleeps on the couch!

In college my professors told me how important brainstorming was — how it was essential that every idea was considered because somewhere in there was the best idea. It wasn’t until I became part of a digital marketing family that I was acutely aware of this being true. In my previous positions,  “brainstorming” occurred — but, in the end, it was always what the boss wanted to see happen rather than looking to others for the best way to market or present an idea. This is why I was never convinced brainstorming had any impact on marketing strategy.

At LeapFrog Interactive brainstorming is serious business. It involves multiple teams: from Media + Marketing to Business Development (for new & prospective clients) and Client Services (for current clients) to Creative. Because each team is an essential piece of any interactive marketing project at LFI, it is important for all teams to be involved in the creative process.

Brainstorming happens before an initial prospective client meeting to help generate an outpouring of innovative digital, traditional and out of the box marketing ideas. This initial step helps the prospective client see all the digital marketing concepts we can create for them as well as giving them an inside look into our creative process. For current clients, brainstorming is conducted as the first planning step for the upcoming year, as well as developing new ideas or suggestions we may have to increase their digital marketing campaigns.

Interactive marketing strategy builds through brainstorming. One thing I have learned since beginning my adventure at LFI is through successful, open brainstorming comes amazing, big ideas. I am continually surprised by how various marketing ideas — in varying marketing sectors including digital, traditional and event — can come together to form an incredible, unique marketing campaign and package for LFI clients.

(Contributed by Brittany Burdoine-Lewis, Marketing Coordinator)

In a previous blog, I discussed the benefits to business owners of hiring a digital marketing agency; the benefits of a digital agency extend to your marketing staff as well. Hiring a digital marketing agency not only allows the internal marketing staff more time to concentrate on improving and streamlining the marketing process, but it also gives them the opportunity to learn from experts, rather than trying to experiment what may or may not work to achieve long-term goals. Often, the learning curve to gaining digital exposure is lengthy and riddled with potentially costly mistakes. As time may not be readily available or the expertise level is simply lacking, it is time to let your digital agency help you with search engine marketing, display advertising, social media management, or even more specific drivers of e-commerce.

Understanding that the digital space is ever changing, your marketing staff can gain great perspective from working with a digital marketing agency. By keeping up with the latest trends and utilizing the most effective tools, the agency’s expertise provides a fresh perspective or new idea. Using the agency as a sounding board or for an objective outlook can be very valuable. A full service digital agency can also provide a one stop shopping experience when seeking knowledge and resources. Many marketing staffs work with multiple vendors, freelancers, or specialty agencies that lead to communication problems (or lack thereof) and inefficiency of time. Utilizing the experience of a digital agency leads to improved communication and efficient time management.

I certainly appreciate the do-it-yourself mentality. Depending on the circumstance, DIY can be a much more satisfying and definitely less expensive approach in the long run. However, on a personal note, I have come to the realization that some things are simply worth paying for, especially when your limited knowledge may keep you from doing it the right way. Oh sure, a loose screw or a bad light bulb — no problem. But, a meaningful project that requires more expertise than elbow grease and demands a little more time — bring on the professionals, please!

In the business world, owners are faced with having to make some of the same decisions as it relates to their web presence. Do I go with the DIY approach or hire a digital agency to take care of it? The digital world is constantly evolving and changing. How does that business owner devote the time and resources to stay abreast of the latest and most effective ways to create awareness, become more visible, gain more customers, and ultimately increase profit? Hiring a digital marketing agency allows access to expertise and resources — someone to bounce ideas off of, brainstorm, and execute more complex integrated marketing campaigns. Hiring a digital marketing agency to concentrate on interactive and web marketing allows business owners more time to concentrate on improving and streamlining the business itself.

Why finish the basement yourself when you can hire an expert and spend more time on those things that are most important to you?

Edelman Digital writer, Jim Kopeny, brought up a good point in a recent blog about Foursquare mayorships and how businesses need to evolve their Foursquare rewards strategy. The Foursquare mobile application is used by millions of people every single day but its users experience either an abundance of reward or virtually none at all.

Much like Kopeny, my experience shows most businesses offer perks only to the Mayor – “If you’re the Mayor of Smoothie Queen, receive a free medium smoothie!” Unfortunately, if you’re not a compulsive user or visitor of a place with special offers, you’re not going to ever reap the benefits of using Foursquare for that location.

When I was at the pique of my obsession with the Foursquare mobile application, I used a nifty little website called WhenWillIBeMayor.com – after syncing it to your account, you can see who the current mayor is and how many more check-ins you need to oust ‘em. My competitive drive was on overload for a couple of weeks.

Alas, there were some people I was just never going to beat out. As a user, my desires to build my check-ins quickly faded when the realization that I would never be mayor was finally clear. In essence, where the stores sought to build my customer loyalty, they actually hindered it.

Maybe because they were employees, as Kopeny points out, or maybe because I simply didn’t go there enough. In either case, Kopeny’s advice to mobile marketers about needing more strategic, thoughtful rewards programs is very well expressed. Here are other ways merchants can use Foursquare for mobile marketing:

• Frequency Specials: Receive a free appetizer (with purchase of entrée) on every 5th visit!
• Count Specials: Free tanning in bed of your choice for first-time clients!
• Venue Regulars Specials: During the month of October, check-in at Helga’s Haus of Brews 3 times and receive a free pint!
• Custom Specials: If 10 or more people are checked in to this store, receive 10% off any CD of your choice.

[Post contributed by Emily Carroll]

When I first heard Polaroid enlisted Mother Monster, Lady Gaga, as their creative director I grinned from ear-to-ear. As an avid fan of her music and her fashion, she’s a natural fit for a company looking to modernize and take rebranding to a new level. Yet, I don’t think I fully comprehended the magnitude of this move by Polaroid.

At the CES 2011 event earlier this month, Polaroid debuted Lady Gaga’s Grey Label of digital printing/camera products. Admittedly, I wanted them the minute I saw them, especially the GL20 camera-glasses. Not just because they’re an inspiration from the mind of Gaga but also because it’s a sincerely interesting product. No, they may not be practical for everyday use but to have glasses that you can take pictures with … fashion and functionality. GOLDEN!

Then, earlier this week, Intel announced their new director of creative innovation, Will.i.am. As I sifted through the mound of articles and commentaries on the subject, it became apparent to me that this might be a new wave in brand revitalization. What’s happening here surpasses the idea of celebrity sponsor or endorsement — Gaga and Will.i.am are employees of these companies.

As I discussed with my fellow Marketing + Media team members, we began wagering our own power couplings. Here are our (somewhat outlandish) predictions for 2011:

Emily Carroll: Jennifer Lopez & HP

Emily Van Winkle: Justin Bieber & Swatch

Christy Belden: Katy Perry & Microsoft

Brittany Burdoine-Lewis: Christina Aguilera & Juicy Couture

[Post Contributed by Emily Carroll]

We live in an instant society. From instant oatmeal to instant messaging, we are determined to do it quickly with immediate results. Remember when frozen pizza was a time saver? Now, 14-16 minutes at 375 degrees just isn’t fast enough. Technology has changed everything. Sometimes I actually get impatient reheating my coffee for thirty seconds.

With information and communication at our fingertips via Smartphones and computers, patience, in many cases, never has to be exercised. Why wait when you can share right away on Twitter or Facebook? Why wait to buy when you can purchase online now? As consumers, we now have the power of instant connections and are empowered to get what we want, when we want it.

Consumers are truly in control.

Yet, with control comes responsibility. Consumers are cognizant that technology should serve a specific purpose instead of consuming all of our time. They don’t necessarily want their phones or laptops to get in the way of a good conversation at the dinner table. Believe it or not, I’ve even told myself that my email can wait when it comes to kids’ events or family vacations. Sure, I feel naked without my phone, but I understand the value of unplugging to maintain a little balance.

It’s my belief that we will see a shift in our societal attitude toward technology soon. As marketers, we have to be aware that people take time away from their online lives for a little offline peace. If you want to stay visible in this “instant society,” my best advice is to (1) create marketing experiences that are relevant and functional and (2) execute integrated marketing strategies to reach audiences both offline and online.

Running an integrated marketing program mixing offline and online elements does involve more of an investment of resources than focusing solely on one side or the other.  The overall results of an integrated campaign, however, will be far better thanks to the building of brand awareness among your target audience as well as the added marketing impact that results when online and offline marketing elements are effectively combined. Vital to any effective integrated program are the cohesiveness between the marketing messages being delivered and the understanding that marketing is fundamentally a conversation between a brand and its prospective customer.  It is not one specific marketing campaign or press release.  Rather, it is how the blending and execution of such disciplines convey a message in a synergistic manner at every possible customer touch point. 

It is important for any brand to ensure that it does everything possible to reach consumers with this message at the precise moment when they are the most interested in the brand's value proposition.  This requires the integrated campaign's messaging to always be wherever these consumers are looking.   Consistent messaging is a very important part of an integrated campaign.  Wherever a potential customer sees your message, it should always be the same.  This will involve consistent branding from an ad in a newspaper to the text of an e-mail to the content on your brand's social media site.  The message being delivered needs to be consistent because if consumers are constantly encountering it in these different venues, a message that is not the same across all the marketing channels won't effectively connect with consumers. 

If the message comes across as a bunch of different looks and fonts and feels and meanings, these consumers are just not going to absorb it. Launching an integrated marketing effort enables any brand to spread its reach farther and make more contact with its target consumer base.  Speaking to these consumers in a variety of ways and places won't be effective, however, if the message being delivered is not echoed wherever it is being heard, online or off.  Maintaining consistency and cohesiveness reinforces a brands marketing message and helps make sure its intentions aren't lost on the consumer and the integrated campaign goals are achieved.

[Contributed by Emily Carroll]

Consumers are everywhere, and brands can direct their marketing messages to them in a variety of effective ways.  The online marketplace is a great way to reach these consumers but offline efforts, from print ads to signage to TV and radio spots, still can help a brand reach its intended audience.  Whether to use offline or online to reach a brand's intended audience, however, is not an either/or proposition. 

A successful marketing campaign cannot live solely in an offline or online marketing neighborhood. These two marketing venues should not be gated communities. Consumers should be able to connect the marketing dots between a brand's offline and online efforts. Not establishing this marketing integration leaves a brand vulnerable to lost conversions, from lead generation to outright sales. A consumer should be able to move between offline and online marketing. 

For example, any print ads or TV and radio spots should also drive consumers online so they need to include the URL for the brand's website or any microsite set up for a specific campaign. Online content, especially websites, need to enable consumers who might not want to make online purchases to be able to find any of the brand's brick and mortar locations. Properly integrated marketing campaigns will enable consumers to reach from one sphere to another with minimal effort.

The integration and mutual support of offline and online marketing efforts also needs to carry over to any branded materials included in the campaigns. If a consumer sees a banner ad from a brand online and then later sees one of its TV ads, he or she should be able to tell just from the design, creative, and messaging in both that the ads are from the same brand. This continuity helps build brand awareness and familiarity which will in turn better a brand's chances at getting these consumers to select the brand to satisfy their needs or wants. There is precedent for online and offline campaigns working together as part of a single-minded marketing effort. 

Research has found that two-thirds of online users will perform an online search about a brand after encountering the brand's offline advertising, with nearly 40% of these consumers eventually purchasing from the brand.  However, the continuity between the offline and the online marketing efforts was often not maintained.  Two-thirds of surveyed marketers did not use the same videos and imagery offline and online, and 76% of the offers made offline could not be acted upon online.  This lack of continuity between offline and online can detour consumers from what a brand is offering and send them off in other directions, possibly to competitors who have not neglected to integrate their offline and online marketing efforts.

 So the moral of the story is that offline and online and not separate but equal.  They need to be part of a shared marketing strategy with each putting the brand's messaging forward while also allowing consumers to follow their interest in a brand from offline to online or vice versa.  Offline and online are not competing against each other.  They need to be integrated effectively to ensure maximum return for a brand.

[Post contributed by Emily Carroll]