Inbound marketing is a hit nowadays and with good reason. It basically defines a seismic change in ways that determine how buyers move through sales cycles. Gone are the days when companies had to beg, borrow or buy their way into their customers’ minds in order to figure out what makes their fluctuating buying preferences tick.

The internet introduced inbound marketing which has in turn revolutionized the way businesses promote themselves. They do so by providing useful content on the World Wide Web and have them show up on search engines. In other words, this type of marketing focuses on generating customers. Needless to say that such a marketing technique, with a fast and efficient web backing it up, makes for an ideal and inexpensive promotional tool.

In comparison, traditional marketing involves focusing advertising campaigns to a large number of people in the hopes that someone might be interested enough to glance their way. This is where inbound marketing proves to fill in the gap between the customer and the company. Think of it this way, companies use inbound marketing to allow customers a more hands on experience in relation to marketing a brand.

For example, every customer that stumbles upon your brand through one of your blog posts or via search engines is someone interested in your company’s services. Why would they be searching for info if they weren’t? Instead of hoping that someone might take a gander at your paid advertisements, you now have many who would be all too willing to if your marketing campaigns are available online.

For example, many companies use search engine optimization (SEO) techniques in order to get top rankings for certain keywords. The more searchable keywords that specify a company’s brand are the more grateful customers that will be all too willing to direct their patronage to such a convenient hub of information. NuVisions has amazing programs to fit any budget to make your SEO soar!

Inbound marketing also takes the term word-of-mouth to a whole new level. For instance, customers might be grateful if your company creates helpful tutorials for its website. There is also a chance that the tutorials could go viral which can in turn result in even more sales. This, in my most humble opinion, is the best type of word of mouth advertising.

With such a fast paced information hub as the World Wide Web at your disposal, you can be sure that your brand will be on every user’s lips faster than was ever possible before. This means that you will have millions of internet goers talking about, and hence promoting, your brand in minutes!

With the economy stuck in a seemingly permanent nosedive it is no wonder that many businesses are resorting to cheaper and more convenient ways of marketing their brands through online means such as inbound marketing. Think of it this way. Would you rather depend on traditional promotional campaigns that one would rather glance through? You won’t, right? This is because you know that customers would rather give the time of day to something that they had actually specifically searched for themselves. Therefore inbound marketing is an integral aspect for any company to enhance its reputation among consumers.

Let’s face it. You cannot expect your brand to keep its head above a ruthless and competitive market without having a clue on what your customers might expect from it. A company cannot be expected to thrive if its target audience and investors do not know what they will be in for if they grace such a company’s brand with their valuable patronage.

What is Analytics?

This is where the process of analytics comes in. What does it do you ask? Well, technically, analytics is defined as a science that deals with the process of analysis itself. It is basically used to come up with realistic decisions regarding certain matters. In other words, it is a collection of previous experiences extracted from single, or sometimes multiple sources, which can be added up. This collective data makes up an integral aspect in any decision making process.

This is also why the process of analytics is integral to the field of business which involves the data collected by the managers of any company. This collective data, accumulated via different data mining techniques and combined with a certain company’s performance history, is what goes into predictions about a certain market. This is usually done in comparison to an existing model of operations. Data can be in the form of graphs or sheer numbers alone.

What is Market Analytics?

If seen in the field of marketing alone, analytics becomes a process by which companies ascertain the efficiency and effectiveness of an advertising campaign. In other words, marketing analytics involves a framework where companies can analyze every level of their campaigns in order to determine what messages would work best on specific products or brands.

Data Mining verses Web Analytics

Companies usually use the following means to collect data –

Data Mining

Data mining has been called a lot of things in marketing circles. It is basically a process for analyzing data and includes the following steps –

• Formulating problem areas

• Transforming and selecting data

• Training models

• Analyzing models

• Launching models

• Monitoring the results

Predictive Analytics

This is basically an umbrella term that accommodates both predictive modeling and data mining as well other analytical techniques. It answers questions such as -

• Who is more than likely to react or respond to a campaign?

• Which types of customers are likely to default?

• What amount are first time purchasers likely to spend?

Predictive analysis also includes other analytics such as experimental design, operations research and text analytics.

Web Analytics

This is what separates the amateurs from the big boys. Almost every up and coming business depends on analytics to garner customer temperaments. This is where social media analytics leads the pack with social media sites like MySpace and Twitter serving as convenient vehicles for web campaigns. With smart phone technology being all the rage for trendy consumers everywhere, every business is now scrambling to get their brand name on the World Wide Web. This is also why many companies are now having their social media analysts focus on new media that can serve as a vehicle to promote its services or sell its brand to a consumer audience.

Almost no successful company depends entirely on traditional marketing means to promote their brand anymore. This is because online analytical means, such as web analytics, allow companies to get a more hands on view of customer preferences and in return have a global outreach to customers and consequently increase sales.

Nuvisions electronically receives and automatically stores all of the clippings you get from any source you choose. Your stored clippings are instantly available for viewing, printing, analyzing and sharing with others.

NuVisions is the best solution that empowers you to engage, monitor and analyze traditional media, bloggers and the world of social media

Analyze Your Online Reputation

It is undeniable that social media can have a dramatic impact on your organization. All it takes is a quick scan of today’s headlines to learn the effects of successful – and not so successful – social media campaigns.

NuVisions helps you analyze the impact of social media conversations on your brand and online reputation. With dozens of charts at your fingertips, you can easily analyze online conversations about your brand and compare them against your competitors.

In seconds, you can see if the discussions are positive or negative, know who among your competitors is being discussed the most and even analyze your brand’s reputation over time. You can also compare social media conversations with those occurring in influential blogs and traditional media.

NuVisions makes it easy to choose what to share—select all your news or an individual Tweet and quickly send to other stakeholders within your company.

Inbound Marketing & Public Relations Firm

Using our unique Public Relations and Inbound Marketing Software, Nuvisions can create a custom plan that can increase sales and donations by an average of 45%. In recent years, the role of public relations has begun to make a significant shift away from its intense focus on the media, thanks in large part to the Internet and the rise of the new media. Track media coverage and online conversations about your brand as they happen.

What makes a press release different than any newsworthy announcement is the fact that press releases follow a specific format that allows them to be readily picked up by various news agencies. As technology and broadcast potential have expanded, press release styles have stayed more or less the same, allowing for some variations for subject matter. For example, a product launch press release may differ in format from a medical release. Different industries may also make better use of certain elements, such as quotes.

One thing that is true for all press releases is that a truly successful release will include some sort of element that is interesting enough to share as a newsworthy event.  For this reason, a press release should tell not only the when, who, and why, but also how this news will impact future business and client relations, or future research.

Another element that is integral to the success of a press release is distribution. While there are many places online to release press releases for free, often you get what you pay for. Nothing. Without access to information on journalists, news organizations, speaking events, and media outlets, it can be difficult to get a release the kind of attention it requires to make an impact.

A well organized database of journalists is one necessity for a wide distribution. A database, such as that offered by NuVisions will be able to provide detailed information about journalists, including their recent publications, and preferred method of contact.  This comprehensive database is continuously checked and updated to ensure that all the information is accurate and current.

In addition to sending out press releases to the right journalists, a powerful database can also tap into the power of the web, by linking users with influential industry bloggers, website owners, and key social media users. Detailed pitching profiles allow PR leaders to directly look for the journalists and writers who will be most interested and inclined to share their content.

The expansive database NuVisions offers will also provide information on current editorial calendars, speaking opportunities around the globe, and includes an awards database. That means that with timely alerts and information, PR teams can make sure their information is at the forefront of their industry news consistently throughout the year. A database devoted to distributing news can ensure that there is no missed opportunity, or that no time is wasted pitching news to uninterested parties. Press releases can always land in just the right hands in a timely fashion.

To understand how social media can drive leads and brand recognition, it’s important to understand the strengths of social media sites. Social media works by providing a broadcast channel where one person may reach many at one time. In addition, as information is distributed to various networks within the social media platform, it can be shared virally from network to network.

To use a practical example, let’s assume that a company wishes to advertise an in-store promotion. They may post a coupon code in Facebook that can be redeemed in the store. The company will distribute their coupon to everyone on the list of the person sending it. A loyal customer may then share the coupon with all their friends, and several of those recipients may do the same. The end result may be that an ad sent out to 50 people reaches a million in the end. By sharing exclusive information online, many companies can drive sales by sparking the interest of old and new customers, or by attracting bargain hunters.

Social media may also play a large role in brand awareness, and reputation management. By putting a human face on a corporate entity, companies can connect on a more personal level with clients. Representatives of the company may give interested readers regular updates via a blog, or Twitter account. By remaining active in the social sphere their clients inhabit, companies can stay frequently on the minds of their customers. This is the cornerstone of brand awareness. Never allow a customer to forget about you.

The only caveat of using social media as a tool to drive sales is the fact that results are very hard to quantify. It can be very difficult for companies to find metrics for success, or to connect social media broadcast range with leads and sales. Few companies can truly place a figure on the return of social media work. That’s why for most companies who wish to use social media, the best approach is a consistent, low investment approach. Having an employee make a ‘Tweet’ once a day, or ensuring that all blog updates are shared to a Facebook fan page, Twitter, and LinkedIn are a good start. Another method of tracking the source of leads or sales is to place a promotion on a social media service that is available nowhere else. When customers take advantage of the promotion, the source will be very evident.

Until there are clear methods of making use of social media for sales purposes, the best use of this technology is in brand recognition and reputation management, because only through this channel is it possible to engage with the customer directly.

Public Media Database 

The NuVisions Premium Media Database is simply the most comprehensive media database in the industry. Our database is filled with detailed information about more than 1.4 million global and nearly 1 million US media contacts, media outlets, bloggers and analysts as well as publicity opportunities such as editorial calendars, awards, conferences and tradeshows… (Click the download above for complete details) or visit the public relations tab.

NuVisions News On Demand 

NuVisions News-On-Demand is the first electronic news monitoring service to be designed and offered as an integrated feature of a complete PR management system. Created and priced to meet the unique needs of organizations of all sizes, NuVisions News-On-Demand delivers breaking news from over 51,000 US and international print, broadcast, blogs and online news sources. NuVisions News-On-Demand monitors newspapers, magazines, newsletters, trade publications, television, wire services and Web content. And only NuVisions fully integrates news monitoring with the software tools you need to analyze and share news throughout your entire organization… (Click the download above for complete details)

Social Media

The prevalence of social media has not just grown but exploded. Millions of conversations are taking place online. Company reputations are being helped or harmed hourly…and all in 140 characters. As a PR professional, you can’t afford to let the conversations happen without you!

NuVisions is the only fully integrated PR software solution that empowers you to engage, monitor and analyze traditional media, bloggers and the world of social media… (Click the download above for complete details)

Email Campaigns 

Imagine how much more effective your PR campaigns could be if you could see which journalists opened and read your communications. Now you can— in real time! With NuVisions Email Campaigns, you can track recipient’s actions in real time so you know instantly who is reading your release and who is requesting information, helping you perform more effective outreach. NuVisions Email Campaigns enable you to make the most of your press releases by making it easy for recipients to request follow-up or download press kits, photos, bios, etc…(Click the download above for complete details)

Online Newsroom 

We hear it from customers all the time: a professional online newsroom generates more media coverage. How? By giving journalists automated 24/7 access to your breaking news, press releases, executive bios, photos and other corporate collateral. Your newsroom is a resource that journalists will come to rely on for current information about your organization… (Click the download above for complete details)

For 5 years this organization has given it’s all to the community. Recently, I’ve been in their offices when people off the streets have come in desperate for work, food or basic necessities and I’ve watched as the new non-paid volunteer Executive Director, who is in a wheel chair give his last dollar out of his own pocket to help someone out apologizing in the process for not being able to do more.

I’ve taken a look at their organization to see how I could help them raise funds as well as raise their public image  and found that most people were confused by what it is they are doing.  I took a look at their mission statement and found that it was a total mess. Very unclear and it rambled on and on about all the different things they wanted to do to help their community. They want to help in so many different ways that they put it all in their mission statement. A big mistake. You can have the best program out there but if a funder takes a look at your organization to see how you can fit into their funding options and cannot decide what it is you are all about then chances are they will go on to the next organization on their list. Many foundations look at your organizations mission statement as part of the grant requirements. I’ve seen it where that is all they look at to start with. If you don’t mesh with their types of funding they move on to the next.

Mission statements should be short, clear and concise. It should be a one to two sentence explanation of what your organization is all about. I’ve seen it time and time again; organizations thinking their mission statement has to be the all encompassing banner of the organization when in reality it needs to be the most straight forward part of the organization. Under a goals section you explain in more details the HOW of how your organization is going to fulfill the mission statement. This section can be as long as a page but should not read like a business plan.  :) You’re organization is not dull nor should your mission statement. Make it stand out among the crowd.

Mission statements should be revised according to the growth of an organization to make sure the over all goals are the same. Changing a mission statement to fit a growing organization is crucial to keeping your organization flowing in the right direction.

I suggest to all my clients to take a look at the mission statements of Google, Microsoft, and any other major company out there to see how they do it.  This is Googles mission statement. “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” It always amazes them to see how much shorter and easy to understand they are.

So for this weeks tip I want to press upon each organization to take a look at their mission statement. Sit down with our boards and key management team and go over your organizations goals for the next 3 months. Revise your mission statement to reflect changes in your organization but keep true to your organization at the same time. If you feel you don’t need to change the statement then maybe changing the goals is in order.

I’m here to give any help and advice when and if your organization needs it. You can contact me via email at erin@nuvisionscg.com

There are many different questions that can go through an organizations mind when they need an infusion of funding and it can make everything seem overwhelming. The best strategy would be to have a set strategic plan in place BEFORE your organization becomes desperate for funds. Strategic plans are fluid documents and should be updated often. You can use a strategic plan for every aspect of a organization or company. I recommend updating you Fund Development Strategic Plan after each major event or fundraising drive. Like the 20 Questions Game with each new question there can arise new alternatives to implementation. Updating your set of questions will help keep the process flowing smoothly. If you find that your organization does not have a strategic plan in place or that it is out of date some of the tips below will be helpful.

Deciding on the next step:
Where to go from here? Should you put together a full panel and map out a strategic plan? How many people can you spare to organize and run a fundraiser? Do you have a youth group or volunteers who would help? Should you sell a product to raise the funds desired? Will selling a product raise the funds we need? What has worked in the past? Will it work in the future? The is the market like in your area? These are some of the questions that need to be answered and should take time and careful consideration.

The most important 2 questions that need to be answered are:
How much money do we need to raise?

This question is the basis for the whole plan. Without knowing the amount that needs to be raised you wont get anywhere.   If you need to raise a small amount then you might want to look into small candy sales, door to door pop bottle drive and the like. If you need to raise amounts over say $5,000 then you will need to develop a larger donor base and or, create an amazing event. These are not the only options. There are thousands of options out there but you need to use one that will work for YOUR organization. What worked for one might not be a match for yours.

From there you need to decide:

How soon do we need these funds?

The question of how soon are funds needed should be done at least 6 months in advance. I don’t know how many times I’ve met with potential clients looking for a quick fix to their shortage of funds. By the time they get to me they are so desperate for funds because they haven’t done their homework that they can’t even afford to hire a fundraiser. Now my policy is not to turn anyone away due to lack of funds. It makes it more exhilarating to teach them the tools they need to succeed and sit back and watch them fly. It’s the best feeling in the world to watch the light go off in their eyes when they see the results of what I’ve taught them.

Again this is just the beginning. Mull over the first two questions and when you’ve gotten to a point where you can answer them completely move on to the next set of questions. If you would like a sample strategic planning questions guide or If you would like additional help developing the right strategic plan fill out the contact form above and I would love to sit down with you to go over options. This is a process. Don’t rush it. Like my mom always said, “If you did it right the first time you wouldn’t be in the spot you are now having to take more time to do it over.”

These days, it can seem increasingly challenging for nonprofit organizations to attract and maintain the attention of the public. Now more than ever, consumers are flooded with a variety of messages, from countless online and print ads, to promotions broadcast at full volume on the television and radio. Despite how difficult it may seem to effectively communicate to groups who are saturated with information, nonprofit organizations can raise awareness among their target audiences by using social marketing.

As a relatively new addition to the world of marketing and advertising, social marketing is one of the best tools a nonprofit organization can use to create and distribute a message regarding their cause. Knowing how to use social marketing to effect change begins with understanding its techniques and how best to apply them to your organization.

What is Social Marketing and how can it work for my organization?

Social marketing is a systematic approach to presenting your message to the public with the goal of inspiring certain behavioral changes among your target audience. Originating in the 1970s, social marketing uses many techniques and principles that traditional marketers of commercial goods and services have used successfully for decades. These concepts include creating a product with value that is offered at reasonable price, and which is advertised through channels that effectively reach a desired consumer group. In marketing terms these ideas are often are broken down into the terms product, price, places, and promote.

The key concept of social marketing is to influence people to act. Such desired change in behavior can be viewed as the product that your organization is looking to market. To achieve successful results, your nonprofit must craft a message that convinces your audience of the benefits of taking action, as well as the risks associated with failing to modify their behavior. These ideas can be viewed as the price of your product.

Raising awareness among your audience begins with understanding your target population, such as identifying their current views on a particular issue and knowing how they receive their information. With this data, your organization can advise your audience of how or where to apply their change in behavior (places) through a campaign that uses the most appropriate and effective methods of communication (promotion).

One example of how a nonprofit successfully used social marketing to raise awareness is a Southern California organization that wanted to increase the number of uninsured residents receiving annual screenings for preventative cancers. To help create an effective product, the group began by conducting surveys and focus groups that sought to identify the following important factors: the rate of people currently undergoing yearly screenings; the awareness among the target population about the importance of cancer prevention; and how this group receives their information regarding health and health care.

Based on these findings, the nonprofit organization created a language-sensitive message on Facebook that addressed the importance of cancer prevention through screenings, as well as information on how the key audience could schedule cancer screenings in their areas. This message was advertised in other mediums that were widely accessed by their key population and in areas considered to be high-traffic among their target audience, such as YouTube and MySpace.

The following year, this Southern California nonprofit reported an increase in the number of uninsured residents receiving screenings. Undoubtedly, the success of their campaign was due in large part to their use of a system of social marketing to create their product, establish and communicate its price, and to effectively reach their target audience.

There are over 150 channels to explore when starting a social marketing campaign.  Here at NuVisions we make sure your organization is on the ones that will benefit you the most. Contact us today to take advantage of our expertise. Social Marketing makes an excellent volunteer activity. Get your staff involved, and really bring your nonprofit into the public eye.