TBM Creates Custom Marketing Piece to Aid Economic Development

As kids go back to school, the mercury slowly begins to drop (Thank goodness DFW is out of its nearly month-long spell of triple-digit highs!), and another season of college football begins in just a few days, we’re back to blogging. To kick things off, we’re sharing one of our most recently completed projects. READ MORE

Measuring Your Print Pieces’ ROI

Whether you’re marketing through a custom magazine, direct mail, or other type of print piece, it’s essential to track your effectiveness.

Although it’s relatively simple to see increases in sales, leads, and new customers after launching a print piece, your investment’s soft returns—like increased awareness or improved perceptions—are more difficult to track. But as long as you quantify what results you’re seeking, measurements can be made.

Based on your company’s communication goals, you can work at measuring a variety of results—like changes in sales from existing or former customers, customer retention, leads, brand awareness, or purchase intent.

Unsure how to measure these results? Try a few of these methods.

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5 Advertising Lessons from Food Network Magazine

Recently selected as Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni’s launch of the year, Food Network Magazine has been generating buzz about its ballooning popularity with readers and advertisers alike. But the TV network’s magazine isn’t the only one doing things right. Many of its advertisers are breaking the traditional ad mold, improving the ads’ likely effectiveness.

Instead of simply showcasing their products, many of the advertisers are engaging readers. Although Food Network Magazine advertisers aren’t the only ones doing this, the magazine’s December 2009 issue is uncommonly full of examples of quality advertising, showcasing lessons marketers should note. Here are just a few of them.

Don’t assume that ads can’t contain content marketing.

Touted for its ability to engage readers with valuable info, content marketing is typically thought of as something you can practice through custom magazines, blogs, and other longer forms of advertising. (Note: Food Network Magazine itself is an example of effective content marketing. The entire magazine connects with readers, promotes the television network and its stars, and reinforces the brand’s authority.)

But that said, don’t rule out content marketing in a shorter form. You can practice it through an ad. You just have to determine what information will fit on a couple of pages while still being valuable to your customers. READ MORE