Question: In a rapidly changing media landscape - let alone a brutal economy - how does a business owner know if their marketing program is effective? Answer: if you can’t afford to pay for measurement, it’s hard to know; but there are indicators.

Standard thinking is that a minimum of 4% of your gross revenue should be allotted for marketing. Let’s hope that you are monitoring that program on a quarterly basis. Now, more than ever, is the time to: 1) market yourself, 2) experiment. It has been said that a successful program combines advertising (radio, TV, print) and public relations. But now, in the 21^st century, with technology leading the way, an online presence is vital – if not necessary – for any program. That online presence can take the form of banner ads on websites, having a social media program (Facebook, Twitter – even YouTube) or email blasts. Smart operators are utilizing all these tools as traditional media outlets shrink in size and effectiveness. Crain’s New York Business recently noted that the New York Post’s circulation has declined by 20% since last year, the Daily News is down 14% and The New York Times and Newsday both down around 3%. We think they’ll survive – because they, too, will adapt. They’re all scrambling, but who isn’t?

Get Ears.

Measuring return on investment (ROI) is an exact science. Most small companies can’t afford measurement programs done by professional measurement firms that charge a minimum of $20,000 or more per year for that service. Therefore it’s imperative to have your frontline people – those who interact with your customers/clients – ask the all-important question, “How did you hear of us?” in order to track your marketing investment. And you may want to ask that question too if the call or customer comes to you directly. Coupons or “mention this ad” are always reliable but not necessarily in line with your concept. Sometimes a large piece of press – a feature article or review of a product or business – will have the phones ringing the moment it runs. When that happens, recognize it for what it is: powerful. Now the onus is on you as an operator to deliver. Online marketing also has its advantages: metrics are somewhat easily available to monitor a spike in engagement – whether it be increased fans to a Facebook page, or number of unique visitors to a website. As well, an increasingly recognized merit of Twitter is its search capability, enabling one to monitor one’s brand.

Take a Chance.

Now would be the time to stick a toe in the water of online marketing; it’s where marketing is headed because it’s relatively less expensive and it appears that customers are spending a lot of time online – whether it be at home, office or elsewhere. The other night, I was watching a ballgame that was broadcast from a small-market Midwestern city. As the cameras scanned the crowd, I noticed how many people were fiddling with their Blackberry’s or iPhones. Maybe they were checking their email, their Facebook page or checking out their favorite local website. I wonder what marketing messages were imparted to them in-between pitches?

Are you monitoring your marketing program? Have you embraced Internet technologies? Are you speaking regularly to your communication specialists? Do you feel the media . . . shift? What do you think? Comments welcome.

For those of you who missed it - I posted it immediately on my Facebook page and I Tweeted it - The New York Times announced this week that it was ceasing to publish two very important sections after May 17, 2009: the Escapes section and the Suburban Region section. If you recall, the Suburban Region section used to be called the Long Island section but a year or so ago they consolidated all regionals (Connecticut, Westchester, New Jersey and Long Island) to save money. The Times will save - according to the release - “several million dollars” by eliminating this coverage. The only local editorial that will survive will be restaurant reviews and arts listings, and they will now appear in a new incarnation in the Sunday section as yet unnamed.

This is sad news for all Long Islanders and this now eliminates an entire section that most of us held dear. Fleshed out articles about Freeport fishermen, Huntington non-profits, Brookhaven schools, East End artists, Riverhead development, and Islip political issues will not be covered now by The New York Times. This leaves Newsday(daily), and to an extent, Long Island Business News (weekly), LI Press (weekly) and LI Pulse (monthly) as the only reliable print news vehicles for Long Islanders to learn about what might be happening in other areas of Nassau and Suffolk. A major source of information is now gone. 

There are two issues for business leaders to address as a result of this news: 1) where will you reach that New York Times reader, and 2) How? It’s probably too much to assume that every New York Times reader is on Facebook or Twitter.  A portion of that readership is certainly one that keeps up with these new forms of exchange, in fact a 54 year old housewife from Manhasset commented to me on my Facebook page (after posting this news) that the Long Island section of the Times was the first section she read every weekend. That said, let’s note that the fastest growing segment of Facebook users are women 50 - 55; and that post proved it. 

To specifically reach that Long Island resident that you perceived to be a New York Times reader, you will have to purchase an ad in the Times’ metro section or tap local newspapers like The Long Islander, all the Anton Publications, Garden City Life, East and Southampton Press, Times-News Review, East Hampton Star, and the Port Times Record. Maybe that‘s how some of the print media will survive - a case of survival of the fittest! Out East, I’ve been receiving email news reports from 27east.com and hamptons.com via eNewsletters that come right to my email inbox – as news happens. I also receive The New York Times via email every morning. 

You tell me. How does the announcement of the closing of the Long Island section affect you and your marketing decisions? Is social media marketing now a more viable option? eBlasts? Ever consider a banner ad? Post your comment below and by all means call us to discuss specifics – that’s what we are here for!

For the last several months we’ve all witnessed – if not personally experienced – upheaval and change. We have downsized, made painful cuts, seen our savings account dwindle and made personal and professional sacrifices that we wouldn’t have imagined making a year or two ago. The actions we took were necessary for the survival and strength of our businesses. But now what to do? Do we simply hold on, try to ride out the storm, a storm that has no foreseeable abatement?

Perhaps.

But we cannot afford to congratulate ourselves, stand idle or even exhale. Because we have one other problem/situation (whatever you want to call it): the ever-changing forces of THE MARKET. Through this economic malaise, know this: the market changes ever day. The market – the all-encompassing word I’m using to describe your customers, trends, consumer patterns – is a pulsating organism that never dies, that lives and breathes, that makes decisions that affect us. It’s up to us to adapt – or die. Whenever there’s a push, there’s a pull; a cause, an effect. These market changes are rapidly taking place in the world of media.

Because The Media is Dying

In fact, it’s been dying. There are at least three market forces contributing to this funeral march:

1) The rapid advances in technology that has your customers tethered to laptops, iPhones and Blackberries. They no longer wait to get the morning paper, they log on. They no longer send letters, they email. They Google for information instead of using encyclopedias, and they use OpenTable to make restaurant reservations. They trust Zagat or TripAdvisor (both feature user generated content – NOT editorial) more than they trust Food + Wine or Conde Nast Traveler. They bookmark certain blogs. They want instant answers; they want convenience.

2) The tsunami called social media (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter). These online communities are just that – communities. And they are now sources where people get their information; it’s where they are influenced, where messages are sent and received – in many cases, marketing messages.

3) An imploding economy that has paralyzed print advertising spending, let alone newspaper and magazine sales, let alone increasing the costs of printing. Paper costs money. Printing a paper does too. Having desks and offices for editorial staff costs money as rents rise.

So how bad is it? Is the media really dying? On Long Island, Distinction Magazine, Long Island Weddings and Parents & Children have ceased publishing. Ditto Builder/Architect. Nationally Domino, Lipstick and dozens of smaller magazines have folded. The Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Newsday, New York Observer, Denver Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Newark Star Ledger have all cut staff and eliminated sections – so have scores of others.

It is the smart business owner – you who have already survived – that needs to now completely rethink your marketing approach. Is your ad buy really effective? How about your entire marketing program? The media may not be dead, but it sure as hell is changing. You, like them, must adapt – or die.

Have you adapted? Are you willing to adapt? Have you seen changes in yourself as per how you get your news or information? Does your company have a social media marketing plan yet?

Tell me what you think. Your comments are not only welcome, but necessary for this conversation.