BROADcast – February 2009

The Payoff is in the Planning

Making your 2009 marketing dollars work hard for you is more important than ever, and we can help your chances of marketing success by developing an integrated marketing plan.

The key benefits of a well thought-out marketing plan include:

• creation of a long-range strategy to guide your marketing decisions
• delivery of an annual budget detailing projected monthly investments
• proposed techniques to measure effectiveness of efforts

A marketing plan is developed to meet your specific business goals, be they increasing overall brand awareness, driving consumers to your Web site or developing media relations that result in news articles. Your plan should identify your audiences, geographic reach, outlets (print, online, radio, direct mail) and objectives for your marketing activities. Projected ROI should also be included, as well as agreed upon methods of determining the success of your efforts.

A well-written plan will integrate your marketing or brand awareness initiatives through all outlets and offer strong guidance throughout the year. This is very helpful in that your careful planning will discourage ad-hoc marketing decisions that may not be in line with your business goals or target markets.

If you are interested in exploring the benefits of your own plan, please call Jan at 904.398.7279.

One of the important features of a BroadBased marketing plan is that we identify Cost Per Thousand (CPM). CPM is how much it costs to reach any 1,000 (M) people in your target. Knowing the the CPM can be of great assistance when determining if a particular outreach “costs too much.”

Mac Papers in the Vanguard for Sustainable Resources

Created by BroadBased for Mac Papers, Developing an  Environmental Paper Procurement Policy is an informative guide on how businesses of all sizes can join the worldwide effort to sustain and protect the environment through the use of certified paper.

The United States has recently banned the import, sale or trade of all illegally harvested wood and forest products. The legislation applies the same principles to wood and forest products as are maintained against import of live tropical species, elephant ivory and tiger skins.

Environmentally certified paper encompasses both recycled paper and virgin pulp harvested from certified forests, with many types of paper to choose from. “With so many options available, using a certified paper doesn’t have to cost any more than using a non-certified paper,” said David Bowers, Marketing Director for Mac Papers. “Copier paper, letterhead, brochures, catalogs and direct mail can all be printed on environmentally certified paper. You just have to request it.”

BroadBased, with the help of Mac Papers, has begun the steps toward developing our own internal environmental paper policy. To find out how your business can participate in a certified paper procurement program, see www.macpapers.com/advantagegreen.

A Fresh Face at BroadBased

A graduate of the University of North Florida with a BS in Communications, specifying in public relations, Lynsey Mullis is the most recent addition to team BroadBased.

During her college years, Lynsey gained a great deal of marketing and public relations experience from internships at local advertising agencies and corporations. Her hands-on experience working directly with clients has prepared her well for her new role supporting both the PR and Marketing departments at BroadBased. Welcome Lynsey!

BroadBased Public Relations Grabs the Headlines

Can you picture your company here?

The foundation of public relations at BroadBased Communications is Media Relations. “Good media relations rely on expert timing, strategic ‘placement’ and the right communicator,” says Maria Coppola, PR Director for BroadBased. From print journalists to TV and radio reporters, Maria knows how to tell a story to gain maximum exposure.

Dollar for Dollar, Specialty Advertising Packs the Biggest Punch

Thinking of cost-effective ways to punch up your advertising on a limited budget? Everything old is new again – try imprinted specialty items.

According to recent advertising research, those imprinted mugs, caps, bags and pens are more powerful advertising messengers than you might think, and they’re cheaper per impression than any other form of media.

Consider this: Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) data show that the average cost per impression of a specialty item is $0.004. Compare that figure to one for any other form of advertising (according to Nielsen Media data):

• National magazine ad $0.033
• Newspaper ad $0.0129
• Prime time TV ad $0.019
• Cable TV ad $0.007
• Spot radio ad $0.005

Not only are specialty items cheaper, but they have more staying power with recipients. The ASI’s recent survey showed that 84 percent of people remember the advertiser, 42 percent have a more favorable impression of the advertiser after receiving an item, and 62 percent have done repeat business with the advertiser after they received the item.

According to recipients, they’re most likely to hold on to (in order of magnitude) pens, shirts, caps and bags.

So call Joy at BroadBased to order up those key chains, pens and coffee mugs. They work hard to promote your business!