You’re seeing it everywhere … everyone is jumping on the “green” bandwagon. And it means something entirely different than when Kermit the Frog sang about it. I know that I feel a twinge of guilt when I throw something out that could possibly be recycled. So what do consumers think at this point?

The Center for Media Resarch has found that consumers are not fully embracing the concept as of yet. The messaging is definitely out there in the marketplace, and 37.1% of consumers admitted to frequently recalling what is now becoming known as “green messaging.” So rising awareness is good news, right?

Not so fast. Although the consumer awareness is there, the consumer’s trust is not. Only 12.1% claim to always believe green advertising claims. A whopping 65.3% say they sometimes believe the green claims. However, the consumer is definitely taking the green movement and incorporating it into their own life — 81.9% say they are doing something to make their life more green. Only 12.9% say they are “not green at all.” As far as going completely green, only 5.2% of respondents consider themselves in that bucket.

Not surprising, the number one reason for going green is because it’s good for the environment, and that’s the number one reason specified in this survey. What appeals most to these green groups? The top two are recycling information and healthy recipes. Also popular are alternative energy sources, natural remedies, eco-friendly cleaning products, outdoor recreation, tips for simple living and organic foods.

The majority of people who are trying to live green find their information on the Internet (79.6%). But they seem to be disappointed in what they’re finding. Only 41.6% of people said they would rate the information that they found as average, 20.8% rated the info found as fair, and 17.2% rated info found as poor.

This represents a huge opportunity for marketers if you’re wanting to reach a green or a green aspiring audience. It’s obvious that people are hungry for information and want to do the right thing. Consumers are looking for ways to incorporate “green” into their daily lives, so it is a perfect opportunity for companies to not just offer “green” information about their products/services, but go beyond to educate them.

Let’s face it, if your company is venturing into “greening” your products, you have done research that consumers might not have access to? Share it, with no “sales or marketing” expectations, then consumers will develop a relationship with your company, build trust and eventually will become loyal customers of your company.

Everything in the media, ads lately is about “green” and I believe there is going to be a backlash on “green” marketing. So be smart, educate, provide real information about how to instill a green living, don’t just use “green” as a marketing gimmick - you will be called out, and ignored. That will hurt your bottom line.

So I have recently been cornered by a couple of B2B guys who were getting sloshed over at some random industry party when they approached me with a question. Should we use content networks and are they effective drivers of traffic. My answer over my Hendricks & Tonic, was inequitably, “Yes”, however, I quickly added that it depends on 3 things:

• What is your campaign goal(s)
• What network you are using?
• How closely are you going to manage the network?

As just about any technology, advertisement or network, you MUST manage the heck out of it or it can, and must likely will, deliver data which is near to worthless depending on what you as a company or you as an agency are looking for.

Some of the other possible problems are that your ad might show up on a site which is offensive or your ad will deliver a huge amount of impressions, but no clicks to write home and tell your management or client about.

To over come these ill fated possibilities, you must first set aside time to take management/client over the benefits and drawback of several content networks based on that particular network historical data:

• Some are good for branding, impressions, some are good for clicks, others are inexpensive substitutions for banner networks, but all of them need to be managed as to ensure the clients goals are not only meat, but lessons learned are passed to all other marketing initiatives.
• Next ask the network representative to give you a list of sites and channels they feel would be effective based on like minded sites and where competitors are and are not running. Then take that list and run it through management/client and your team to “clean up” the list. You can also ask the representative for example creative and use multiple creatives with a couple of dynamic keyword insertion settings.
• Once you have the list of sites and they are live, you should optimize based on tracking placed in both the ad and website (the whole web site, not just the landing page and homepage) for any success matrix you want. Once you see certain sites or channels working and not working, start making adjustments accordingly.
• As the list gets smaller, test new sites and approach the effective sites with site specific buys. That is a good start =) BUT also check out other networks: we have been using collective-media.com as they are fairly picky about who and what they have in their network so it is not full of spammers and domain campers.
• Remember, a network is only as good as the quality of its sites and your ability to mange it.

Just a quick rant about prospecting blindly via e-mail. Why? I received one of the worst email solicitations in my career, just today. I would love to mention the sales rep and the company but alas…I’ll just use them as an example of what not to do. Oh, and can I say, “Why in the h***, Mr. Sales Director, are you not working with your marketing team to craft emails that will ultimately get you appointments? Why are you letting your team write and send emails that 1) have no message, no call to action, and no way to contact your company, 2) don’t address me by name and 3) have spelling and grammar errors?” Uh…hello, Mr. Sales Director, how much time is your team wasting on sending out emails that aren’t going to deliver? And why, Mr. Sales Director, are your team members sending out emails first? Didn’t you hire them to make phone calls?

Ok, enough picking on Mr. Sales Director…for now.

In my years working with sales and marketing teams, e-mail has become a very effective tool in lead generation. Here’s the thing…you have to do it right in order to be successful. If you have the prospect’s email address and you are actually going to send them something, don’t you want to get it right? What if they actually open it and read it?

If you are going to send a prospect an email and you’ve never contacted them before, there are a few things you should know, a few things you should include AND a few steps that you should take in order to be successful.

Okay, here they are:

1. Include the prospect’s name. If you’ve done your research, found out who to contact, actually acquired their email address…why wouldn’t you personalize the email?
2. Know your target. Are you reaching the right prospect? Don’t try to sell a hairbrush to a bald man.
3. Work with marketing. They’ve probably sent out hundreds of these and have monitored their response rates for effectiveness (I said probably…but this is for another blog post at another time). Okay, let’s say that they’ve monitored effectiveness. The marketing department would LOVE to write your email. They will add the correct call to action, the right buzz words and match the offer to the kind of prospect you are mining. Come on sales…why work so much when you don’t have to! Besides, if marketing knew you were sending out your own emails, they would flip out!
4. Spell check.
5. Grammar check.
6. Ask for the reader to take action. Ask for what you want. Do you want me to call you? Then write, “Please call me at your convenience at 555-5555.”
7. Create a signature. Don’t write: “Best Regards,” then let the email template take over. It looks lazy.
8. Make sure your email has a compelling subject line, is known to be a spam word
9. For more ideas on creative and formatting, check EmailLabs’ resources section which is very comprehensive

In the example I received today, the unnamed sales rep made many mistakes. As a long time high-tech marketer, I’ve been approached by many vendors in every way imaginable. This guy obviously didn’t do his homework. He sent me an offer that I would never be interested in. He didn’t use my first name in his copy, just a “Hello-“ when it’s clear what my name is, my email address is lisa (at) e-storm.com. He capitalized three words in the subject line that didn’t need capitalization. He never mentioned the name of his company in the copy of the email. He asked me to contact him but didn’t say why and there was no email address or phone number to contact him with. Finally, he says that his company can, “…help you teach your team to sell more by working smarter—not harder.”

Ugh.

Oh and one final note: This email came from an up and coming CRM software company!!

Want more information? please don’t hesitate to contact me, I have helped with hundreds of email campaigns before…..

She’s more complex than you might think, according to Advertising Age. She is probably married, educated, environmentally conscious, works full time, sleep deprived and short on time. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Marie Claire magazine surveyed 1,800 women ranging in age from 24 to 49 (with a concentration on those in their 30s) to determine what this person is really like. The result? Even though this demographic is time crunched, they are a smart value shopper. That might seem pretty cut and dry for a marketer, right? Not exactly. These women just don’t fit into one nice bucket. Here’s the top five priorities and issues that this demographic thinks about:

Society and politics. More than half are concerned about environmental issues, and 25% actively shop for and use eco-friendly products. For marketers, there is enormous opportunity to sell items that have eco-friendly packaging and recyclable plastics.

Health and wellness. Over 60% follow a healthy diet and lead an active lifestyle. It is important for them to set a good example for those around them. Half also make it a point to constantly learn about health and fitness news. For marketers, this means acknowledgement of the target’s health concerns without dropping the “let’s get serious” gavel — after all, we’re talking 30-somethings here. Even though there are best intentions, perfection is not necessary.

Career and finances. Fulfillment is extraordinarily important to this group. Over 75% want work that they find enjoyable; over two-thirds are looking to achieve career success and personal goals. A whopping 78% are planning for retirement and personal finance goals. 60% said that having a shortage of money is more challenging than not having enough time (noted by 30%). For marketers, this means knowing that the target is going to do a great deal of research prior to purchasing. This goes for you and your competitors. Don’t waste her time — give her what she needs and wants up front.

Family and emotional health. 85% believe that having time to recharge is very important. Finding that time to recharge can be elusive — 61% stated that the biggest challenge is to actually find the time to recharge. For marketers, this means providing your target with time saving measures. Again, give her what she wants up front.

Fashion and Beauty. Expect strong opinions in this category, right? Surprisingly, no. Only 36% stated that they enjoy learning about makeup and beauty trends. 31% like to keep up with the latest styles. Only 13% follow what celebrities are wearing. Where are they buying their products? Almost 60% are purchasing clothing and accessories on the Internet. For in-person purchases, department stores, specialty boutiques and discount department stores are getting their business. For marketers, this means knowing that your target likes to mix things up — inexpensive with expensive, high end brands at lower priced stores. One thing that trumps all: authenticity of the product.

And that is the multi-bucket profile of today’s 30-something woman.

Recently, I’ve seen much more talk about lead follow-up than lead generation. Where have y’all been??? For years I’ve been shocked at the fact that marketers have concerned themselves with generating leads yet couldn’t care less about where the leads go. What a waste of money and time! Most marketers admit that once the lead is generated, it goes into the black hole called their CRM system, never to be seen again.

Now I am aware of the centuries old feud between sales and marketing. The ol’ blame game. This doesn’t have to be. There can be peace and in fact, the relationship can improve immensely with just one small shift. Marketers, care about your leads and stop blaming the sales team. You worked hard to get those prospects interested in the product or service you provide. Why would you just throw them away?

Let’s take the webinar. You planned the topic, found a presenter, created the message, collaborated on the deck. You may have rented one list or more, partnered with an analyst or a publication (or both), advertised, contacted your in-house database, etc. You’ve received a phenomenal response rate knowing that 50% or so will attend. This has taken weeks if not months. The day arrives, you get a great turnout and several interested parties. Then you do the final step in the process, you dump the leads into your CRM system. Shhh… can you hear it? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. A bottomless pit.

There are several actions that are critical to your business that you must take once you have delivered a webinar, or all of your lead generation efforts are for naught. Remember, the attendees to your webinar have already expressed interest in your product or service. Not only have they opened your email or responded to a banner/text ad, but they have clicked through, signed up, AND attended. I’ve outlined 3 critical actions that must be taken in order to achieve a successful campaign, justify your ROI and ensure that you will get budget next year, quarter or the next round of reviews.

1)      For those who attended the webinar and asked questions, deliver these names directly to your sales force with the questions asked and the answers provided if any. These prospects should be responded to immediately, the same day, while the information is top of mind. Send an email and copy the sales team ASAP.

2)      For those who attended, a thank you email should be sent out immediately with a link to the archived recording AND a PDF of the slide deck so that they can forward this and/or use it to speak about your solution to others, perhaps the decision makers who have asked them to research your product or service. This prospect should also be contacted within 24 hours by your sales team as this prospect is ‘hot’.

3)      For those prospects who registered and didn’t attend: Send them a thank you email immediately following the webinar with a link to the archived event. You should also add these names to your ‘house list’ and use them for further marketing efforts as they were interested enough to register yet for some reason couldn’t attend. I recommend that your sales team follow up with these folks within 72 hours and remind them that the event is archived and invite them to view it. Don’t just take my word for it, check out this report that by the Artemis Group and Knowledgestorm (now TechTarget), The Fine Art of Lead Management and Follow-Up: What Research Shows About Lead Qualification and Nurturing, where they discuss why immediate personal contact is critical to closing leads.

Imagine this: You are selling a car. You meet the prospect on the lot and talk to them for an hour about all of the features of the car, and even take them for a test drive. They love the car and are ready to talk to you about the terms and write you a check. Then you walk away and leave them standing in the lot while you go and talk to someone else who has just arrived on the lot. Would you do this? No you wouldn’t. It’s crazy, isn’t it? But you are doing this if you don’t follow up on your leads. Now you might say, “But I’m not a salesperson. This is not my responsibility.” Websters Dictionary defines marketing as:

1)      the act of buying or selling in a market

2)      the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling

It IS your responsibility. If you are spending the money, building the strategy, and staging the execution of these programs…it is your responsibility. You are selling the product, as a marketer it is your job. Follow up with your prospects. Work closely with the sales team, folks, it is critical for your business. Not only with you see sales improve but your marketing ROI will increase and you will guarantee that budget for another round! Whew!