In a story released today by Reauters (link here) Nike is quoted as saying that their ecommerce online sales are increasing due to “cost-conscious shoppers conserving gasoline”. Nike is reporting a 9% increase in online sales. That is incredible. I personally think that this increase is relative to the gas price in 2008. With gas prices coming back down, but the economy continuing to struggle, does this mean that Nike will see an even bigger increase in 2009? Not sure. I would think that the economy would have a much greater impact on their brand that the gas prices. If I am a consumer, I want to save money, and Nike is not known for their shoes as being sold at a low price point. They are known for quality and comfort and as long as their consumers continue to buy for quality and comfort, they may see a rise online, as the consumer will still get what they want and love but for a little less gas.

How does this impact your company? You really need to think about your products and services and how the economy is impacting them. Can you utilize the web more than you already are? As a business owner or marketing manager who is responsible for your website, you really need to analyze how you can benefit from the changing habits of your consumers.

The team at Central Mass Web Design is happy to announce the release of www.insuranceinmass.net. Markham Priest Insurance came to us asking for an eye catching, innovative website for their clients. They wanted to incorporate interactive tools, for their clients ease of use. The CMWD team was able to do all of this and more! From the payment center, to the communications center, Markham Priest Insurance clients now have the ability to handle every aspect of their insurance needs via web.

In bad economic times, many companies will hide in their office and avoid marketing. To them, there is no reason good enough to spend money on marketing. While customers may stop calling, emailing and buying during a recession… they do not stop listening, watching and looking. Websites are being viewed, newsletters are being read, and direct mail is being opened. You need to look at why you advertise in the first place. You do it to generate more business! When your competitors start withdrawing their marketing budgets and scaling back their advertising costs, you should take every opportunity to pounce! What happens if you cut your budget but your competitors do not? They get your clients!

Let us look at the findings of a few studies completed over many years on this topic:

McGraw-Hill’s Research study of over 600 Businesses stated that “In 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following 3 years. By 1985, sales of the businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during that recession actually increased sales 256% over those that had cut back on advertising. Aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2.5 times the average for all businesses in the post-recession.”

An American Business Press (ABP) and Meldrum & Fewsmith study showed that “sales and profits can be maintained and increased in recession years and [in the years] immediately following by those who are willing to maintain an aggressive marketing posture, while others adopt the philosophy of cutting back on promotional efforts when sales appear to be harder to get.”

The ABP/Meldurm & Fewsmith 1979 study covering 1974/1975 and its post-recession years found that “Companies which did not cut marketing expenditures experienced higher sales and net income during those two years and the two years following than those companies which cut in either or both recession years.”

RESEARCH HAS SHOWN TIME AND TIME AGAIN COMPANIES THAT ADVERTISE CONSISTENTLY, EVEN WHILE IN A RECESSION, HAVE INCREASED PROFIT IN THE LONG RUN.

How do you accomplish this?

1.) Develop messaging that explains how your product is needed during these harsh times.
2.) Build a message of value. Focus on the bang for your buck.
3.) Target the right clients.
4.) Maximize word of mouth and free advertising.
5.) Advertise on the internet, build a web presence, and make sure your website has new innovative content that is SEO friendly.
6.) Develop an email Newsletter, very low cost way to keep your clients informed of new products or specials.
7.) Increase your advertising.
8.) Spend time creating effective ad designs.
9.) Build your brand.

There is no doubt about it. Even though people are afraid to use the word recession, it is out there. With major corporations cutting back and laying off, it makes it even scarier. During this time you can establish a web presence that will stand the test of time, and be there when it is needed. You do not want to be the one trying to build your marketing campaign while everyone else that stayed with it, is now building their client base.

The good news is, this will all come to an end. The economy will turn around, and sales will increase. Keeping a positive attitude is essential! Then ask yourself…. When this turns around where do I want my company to be??

Kimberly Veautour

Acknowledgments:
“How Advertising in Recession Periods Affects Sales,” American Business Press, Inc., 1979
ABP/Meldrum & Fewsmith study, 1979
McGraw-Hill Research Laboratory of Advertising Performance Report 5262 New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986.
Forbes.com
knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu

The number one thing you can do to improve your website is add content. Content is the key to driving traffic to your site. Your content needs to be page specific. What I mean by this is that each page should have very detailed information regarding that page title. If your page title is Boston Based Widgets, then you content needs to contain those terms. Keep in mind that as you write your content you don’t just want to copy this term over and over again, that will get you banned from the search engines. Instead, construct reasonable sentences that will make sense to your reader. But also pay attention and utilize things like bullets. Most users won’t read this content you are writing, but they will read the bullets or other call to action items on your page. Write a good amount of content that will attract your prospect. Your prospective customer will find your site because Google, Yahoo, and MSN will crawl your site and index all the content, making it available as a search result. The more content you have on this particular topic, the more likely you are to be found. When addressing content, you have to think about the law of averages here. The more tickets you have for the lottery, the more likely you are to win it. However if you don’t even have one ticket, you have no chance in winning the lottery; therefore you must create your “tickets”, to get entered into the lottery.

Another year has passed. Often when times are tough, it is hard to see the good that went along with it. 2008 was a year of many ups and downs throughout the United States. I thought for my first official blog for Central Mass Web Design I would lead you through a recap of my most memorable moments of 2008, as well as a brief look at some of the website and design clients we happily serviced.

There are many clients and websites that we released that stand out in my mind, but with all jobs, you have some that become your favorites. Some stand out because of the intricate design, work, and detail that go into them while others because of the personal relationship established with each of our customers. The first website that comes to mind is Mar-Lee Companies.

Mar-Lee Companies needed a website that was as innovative as the industry they were in. We combined a new website with an updated logo and brochure to match.

We try with each website to incorporate the feel of each company. We try to establish their core values in an easy to understand format. Father and Son Moving wanted to convey the many years they had been in business. They wanted their customers to immediately get a feel of “old New England” charm. Our designers were able to join the 2 and design a website that shows tradition, and a company rooted in New England.

Some of my Personal favorites include The Animal Superstore, Barnes Building, LLC, Sunrooms By Brady, and Good Eats 2 U.

The employees at Central Mass Web Design got together and decided that maintaining Toys for Tots websites was not enough. During these tough times, we felt we needed to give back to the community, so we established the first ever Central Mass Web Design Toys for Tots “Stuff the Bus” event. Our employees donated their time to be there, and with the help of many family volunteers we were able to raise over 250 toys for needy families in Central Massachusetts.

Braving the cold and rain on “black Friday” employees and friends stood at the event for 7 hours to gather as many toys as we possibly could. This is an event all of us enjoyed and plan on doing next year again!

We survived the Ice Storm of 2008. Our offices had to close, but all of our employees were able to remain working to some degree from one place or another. Company President Matt Ward was able to keep all of us focused, and make sure we were all safe, while staying with relatives in another town. Senior Project Manager Kimberly Veautour went all the way to Rhode Island, and worked to keep our clients informed sending out email newsletters to our clients of our status and reinforcing to our clients our dedication. General Manager, Mark Smith, who was affected the worst of us all, stayed in constant contact with the employees to ensure we were all safe. He even offered to go by and check on our houses if we had evacuated. In one way this was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen, and yet the most destruction I have ever seen.

I guess 2008 had its ups and downs. No matter what your political affiliation, this was a historical election year. The pomp and circumstance surrounding it made it truly an event to behold! The weather still plagues us, and will continue to dump inches of snow on us through February and most of March.

I, as well as every employee at Central Mass Web Design, wish you the very best of New Years. May 2009 be what all of us hopes it will be!

-Kimberly Veautour

You can edit your existing content to improve your rankings on search engines. Once you know where you rank and where your competition ranks then you can formulate a plan. Review your competitor’s website to determine what they might be doing to be ranked well on a particular search engine. Read their content, look over their site. Never copy their content that is against the law. However you can create your own content by learning what they have done. Simply begin editing the content on your site to reflect more of what you have learned from your competitors. Don’t be afraid to learn new things from other sites, and don’t be afraid to try things on your site. Consider including some call to action graphics that will get noticed by your visitors. Make these graphics clickable and deliver the user to a form page to complete when they click the graphic. Keep that form small so that the prospect will complete it.

Godaddy ran a commercial last year on the super bowl broadcast, and because the fine folks at Fox Broadcasting would not approve their racy ad, Godaddy directed the audience to visit their website to see the ending of the ad. Godaddy received over 1.5 Million hits to their site BEFORE the end of the game.

People actually didn’t wait until the game ended (although many did), they wanted to see the ad so bad, they had to visit their website. So, you wonder, how does this affect me? Well this is where you need to think out of the box with your marketing and the overall goal of your marketing. Use your website to complete the ad….then put the first part of the ad on youtube and send it out to your customer base via an email. Track the results after you put the word out and make sure that you are getting traffic to your site.

Why Carol Bartz? Yahoo has just announced Carol Bartz as the long awaited CEO Successor to Jerry Yang the current CEO at Yahoo. Jerry Yang will step down in November and Carol Bartz is now set to take the lead. While Bartz does have some experience running larger companies, her most recent post was at Autodesk, where they employ about 7000 people. I am not so sure that she has the background necessary to run and Internet company. She certainly is qualified to handle a company the size of Yahoo, but does she have enough technology in her background? My guess is that they are tapping her, to reposition the company for sale, and it looks like I am not the only one who thinks so. Just google the news and you will see similar sources telling you the same thing.

Yahoo seems to be focused on selling and Carol has probably been tasked to make that happen, only time will tell.