I had the opportunity this past week to introduce my four year old daughter to the magic of Disneyland. After a week long trip, we came home exhausted but very happy. Disneyland truly is one of the happiest places on earth, but what is it that really makes it so amazing?

Of course the creative and fun rides, cute decorations, costumed characters, and buckets of cotton candy are part of the equation, but the entire trip I couldn’t help but notice that it’s so much more than that.

My daughter summed up exactly what I was thinking when she said, “Everyone here is calling me princess. They’re all so nice to me mommy, I want to live here forever!”.

From the time I first called the reservation lines through our entire trip encounters with park customer service, ride operators, food sales and everyone in between, the way we were treated and the happy, helpful attitudes made me want to stay forever.

It was such a good reminder in the basics of great customer service and how important it really is in creating happy customers who feel valued and come back again and again.

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There are a number of different opinions surrounding outbound and inbound marketing and the roles these play in developing a marketing plan.

There are those who believe outbound marketing is passé and suggest focusing only on inbound tactics. Others have done a great job of building up their outbound channels, but have neglected to develop any inbound marketing strategies.

Can you have one without the other?

Sure.  But you’ll get a heck of a lot better results if you incorporate the two.  Together they deliver a one-two punch, pushing out your marketing message, sparking consumer interest, and then drawing them in to learn more as they go online to research more about your product or service.

Outbound marketing consists of the more traditional tactics we as marketers have implemented for years.  And although the internet is now a part of our everyday lives, these off-line avenues are still very important.  Print, radio and television ads, direct mail, email and tradeshows capture attention and spark interest.  These tactics provide a broad reach and offer far more brand impressions than inbound marketing alone.  Outbound campaigns help drive potential customers online to find out more and engage in your inbound avenues.

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I just bought a new camera.  But what’s interesting, is the process I went through in making the decision to purchase one and which to buy.  A sales flyer I received in the mail featuring the newest pocket sized cameras sparked my interest.  I have a very large heavy camera, but with an upcoming trip to Disneyland planned, a small camera seemed like just the thing.

I took the next step, turning to the internet to read reviews, search social media sites and read about the different cameras on the company websites.  After several days of conducting my own research, I settled on the perfect one.  I just received it in the mail in fact and so far, I’m a happy camper.

If I were to ask, most of you would probably say you make a lot of your purchase decisions in much the same way. Something sparks your interest in a product or service, maybe an ad in a magazine or an email you received, and then you head online to research it a bit further.

Outbound and inbound marketing.  Both of these marketing tactics played a significant roll in my camera purchasing decision.  Let’s take a look at the difference between the two.

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Unless you’ve been hiding away on a deserted tropical island, you have probably heard some talk recently about the “new” Old Spice Man.  The nightly television newscasters are talking about him, women are calling in to their local radio stations to find out how to meet him and he has been the topic of the day across many internet sites.  Why all this buzz about a brand, that until recently was, well… old?

Talk about the power of utilizing social media to drive word of mouth and help reinvent a brand.

Acting on an off-the-wall idea of creating instant buzz by responding in real time to consumers questions/comments with short videos, Procter & Gamble produced funny YouTube videos about Old Spice.  The team leveraged Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and blogs sending out invitations to ask questions of The Old Spice Man.

As people responded, their comments were pulled in and tracked and those who had interesting questions or were high-profile users on social networks were responded to directly in real time with a personalized short video featuring the dashing shirtless actor and former football player Isaiah Mustafa.  Over 200 videos were posted to YouTube over the course of two days and featured everything from a marriage proposal to messages to celebrities.

Check out this one which includes the real-life marriage proposal:

You can see all of the videos here.

It turned out to be a huge success.  Old Spice received over 83 million YouTube video views and grew their Facebook fan base by 616K all in the the course of two days.

I love it when a campaign goes viral.   But what, besides a touch of good luck, makes a campaign like this so successful?  When a campaign becomes an overnight sensation, it’s always beneficial to look back at what worked and why.  Here are a few take-aways and tips from this campaign that can be applied in making other social media campaigns a success:

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Every month I receive an email from one of my favorite local deli’s introducing their latest sandwich or salad. In each of these emails they include a link to their Facebook page, with the statement “Join us on Facebook”. Although I receive this email monthly and read it in its entirety, I’ve never clicked through to their Facebook page… until today. Why now?  Because this time next to their Facebook link was the statement “Join us on Facebook, the first 500 people to become a fan and post a comment will receive a free cookie”.  I love their cookies, how can I resist!?

I clicked through, signed up and made a comment about their wonderful wheat germ chocolate chip cookies and minutes later received a message with a certificate for a free cookie on my next visit.  Can’t wait! Not only am I a happy camper, but the deli gained a new Facebook fan (along with at least 499 others today) and another way to stay in touch and build a relationship with their customers.

The greatest reason by far that people friend a company on Facebook is to receive special offers and promotions, I am certainly one of those people.  According to eMarketer, almost two-thirds of those friending a brand are looking for promotions and special offers. Coupons remain a leading driver of brand interactions in social networks and learning about sales and new products is also a strong motivator for people to interact with companies in social media.

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I am a firm believer in the age old saying “Actions Speak Louder than Words”.   Words are wonderful, powerful, and communicate much, but without actions behind them, to back them up, they mean nothing.

In this era of on-line communication with platforms like Facebook, Twitter and email, it’s very easy to make verbal statements, put our marketing message out there and think it’s enough.  A wise marketing guru (the founder of our agency actually… do I get extra points??) likes to share the following analogy, and I’ve always found it to provide clarity…

Try placing a piece of string on the table and pushing it across to the other side. It bends and turns in many different directions, never quite getting there. But if you pull that string, it straightens out, moving in the exact direction you want it to go.  In much the same way, our words are the push, but our actions are the pull.  You can push your marketing message out there, but it takes pull to provide direction and assure your customers arrive and remain on your side of the table.

Nice words, a nice message, they will give your customers a sense of satisfaction, but it’s acting on those words that buys their loyalty.  Yes, you want a satisfied customer, but more than that, you want a loyal customer.  One that buys from you again and again and advocates for your brand by telling others and encouraging them to buy.

So how do you build loyalty?  By building trust. Through actions that consistently meet the needs and expectations of your customers, showing them they are valued much more than for just the immediate sale.  Whatever you promise, you must deliver.

In the 10^th Annual Edelman Trust Barometer survey, customer service and product quality outweighed all other business efforts in building trust. Participants in the study listed the following, from most to least impactful, as the things that matter most in building their trust in a company:

1. Service & product quality

2. Leadership can be trusted

3. Company treats its employees well

4. Provides value for the money

5. Stays within the spirit & letter of the law

6. Strong financial future

7. Frequent communication about the state of its business

8. Innovates new products, services or ideas

9. Creates & maintains local jobs

10. Gives time, money or resources to public good

11. Strong commitment to protect the environment

Don’t just tell customers how good your company is and that you understand their needs.  Prove it to them by finding and incorporating actionable ways of showing you mean what you say.  Make sure your customers really get what’s promised.  Keep the focus on providing great customer experience through excellent product and service quality. Remember loyalty and trust can’t be bought, they must be earned.  And earning is an action!

This weekend was all about gardening.  Pulling out the overgrown weeds and preparing the soil for planting.  I have been eagerly awaiting this time of year, so I can try my hand at planting some fruit trees.  We only have room in our yard for two trees, so I planned on planting two orange trees, assuring our house is stocked with plenty of oranges.

But when I got to the local nursery to pick out the trees, they said I’d have much better luck if I planted just one orange tree along with a lemon tree.  The pollen from one tree is delivered to the flower of the other type of tree, yielding much better results and yes, more fruit.  It’s called cross-pollination!

As I planted my fruit trees, I began to consider the concept of cross-pollination and how that idea can be applied to a company’s on-line marketing outreach as well. Particularly in maximizing brand exposure and increasing reach across each segment of the marketing mix.

Consumers engage in a number of online activities, and they have different preferences and tastes. It’s wise to provide several options for customers to be in communication with your company, but use each of these touch points as an opportunity to cross-pollinate and reinforce another aspect of your outreach. Get as much mileage as you can from every contact with a customer.

Marketing Profs provides a helpful list of  popular strategies that companies can use to maximize their digital-marketing mix.  As you read through the following list, consider how you might begin to incorporate a few of these:

- Use e-newsletters to announce new LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter feeds, directing readers to social-networking websites for   signup.

- Use Twitter to link followers to your latest blog post to fuel interest and re-tweets.

- Include an option to join the company’s social networks in the e-newsletter registration section.

- Use the sidebar on your e-newsletter to list all company social-networking profiles, and use those profiles to gather e-newsletter signups.

- Invite customers to participate in YouTube viral-marketing video contests that show real consumers using and enjoying your products or solutions.

- Read and respond to comments within social networks, developing newsletter or blog articles around topics readers discuss the most.

- Launch a regular Q&A section in your company’s e-newsletter that specifically addresses reader questions across all social-networking platforms.

- Include a link to your Help forum or YouTube video tutorial within purchase-confirmation emails.

- Include a social-bookmark console on product pages in case readers want to share your website or products with others.

- Join relevant LinkedIn and Facebook groups, assigning knowledgeable representatives within your company to answer questions, thus positioning your company as a valuable industry resource.

Think of all the different places you interact with customers and prospects and take every opportunity to cross-pollinate your marketing efforts.  Each of these actions builds your contact database, deepens the relationship with your prospects and brings them one step closer to the buying decision.  Your tree will be full of fruit, ripe for the picking!

I have been obsessed lately.  No, not with coffee or chocolate or the latest episode of Glee (ok well, just a little addicted to Glee)… but with fonts!  You know, the typeface that is all around us.  Signs, packaging, magazines, websites… it’s everywhere.  And lately, I can’t help but notice how it’s being used, effectively or not, to communicate and create emotion about a message.

Typeface can affect brand perception and create an instant emotional reaction among consumers. So, choosing a typeface for your brand that represents the positioning and personality of your company is absolutely essential. Whether used in a logo, advertisement, email or even for body copy, font choice is critical to the success of a brand.

Often the design of the typeface speaks louder than the words themselves, impacting the way the reader sees and feels about your brand or message. When used appropriately, it can convey a certain mood, attitude or tone about your products and services that reinforces your message to your customers.

The same set of words can create very different feelings and impact the reader just by font type alone.

Typefaces with big round O’s and tails are considered more friendly, whereas linear fonts evoke overtones of “rigidity, technology and coldness,” according to a study “The Psychology of Fonts” conducted by psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman. “With artistic flourishes such as a tail on a lowercase “a,” serif styles “conjure images of trustworthiness,” whereas uncluttered sans serif styles “carry less emotional baggage,” he says.

The SURL (Software Usability Research Laboratory) also conducted a comprehensive study on the perception of fonts.  It’s quite informative and if you have some time to read through it, you can see the entire study here.

It’s important that the fonts you use portray what it is that you want to say to your customers. Take time to understand your market and create a look using the appropriate typeface that speaks to them.

Can you recall the number of billboards you drove past today on your way to work?  How many times you were encouraged to buy a product or service while listening to your favorite radio station?

Consumers are exposed to hundreds of ads and marketing messages every day.  And with this ever increasing exposure there is a greater likelihood that they won’t pay much attention to any of them.

It’s more important than ever to find innovative ways of getting inside the minds of your customers and making your message stick.

One way to do this is by offering an element of surprise.  Things that are new or unexpected create surprise because they are different and require further investigation.  People are automatically conditioned to react to things that are surprising because we have to quickly decide how to respond.

I love this video of an experiment called The Fun Theory, sponsored by Volkswagen Sweden, because it clearly demonstrates how the power of a new and unexpected concept can change people’s mindset and behavior.  Take a look at what can happen with a little creativity and ingenuity:

Being new and unique requires hard work and creativity.  But developing experiences that are exciting, surprising, rewarding or fun can attract a large number of customers and will keep them coming back for more.