The following is an interview with a representative from a local Rochester company, Innovative Solutions. The questions were formulated and interview was performed by Andrew Bona and Lea Khavari.
Innovative Solutions Podcast
Transcript:
Lea: This is Lea Khavari sitting down with a marketing specialist, Pam, who works at Innovative Solutions, a local Rochester company. Hi Pam, how are you?
Pam: I’m doing well. How are you today?
Lea: Good thanks. Pam, could you tell us about your company, Innovative Solutions and what role you play?
Pam: Innovative offers a pretty wide range of solutions. We do internet marketing, website design, IT outsourcing and network. I work as an Internet Marketing Specialist, and I’m in charge of not only marketing Innovative, but also making sure that my clients, pretty much outside businesses, have great traction on the internet.
Lea: You’ve explained that you do marketing for outside businesses, but how does Innovative Solutions promote themselves?
Pam: Innovative attends various networking events, puts out press releases to local newspapers and journals, but most of our marketing is web based. We have a Google AdWords campaign running at all times, we stay on top of our search ranking within the 3 most popular search engines, and maintain a blog, Twitter feed and a series of technical podcasts.
Lea: That sounds like you cover all bases. What’s your background in the marketing field?
Pam: I have a bachelors in Business Administration from Rochester Institute of Technology, and my major was marketing. I’m also a current member of the Rochester chapter of the American Marketing Association.
Lea: That’s great that you stay involved with your local marketing community as well. What drew you specifically to Internet Marketing?
Pam: I took a class with Neil Hair on Internet Marketing because it seemed interesting at the time. I immediately fell in love with the concepts and began learning more on my own time.
Lea: For Innovative Solutions, what marketing tools do you commonly use for your clients?
Pam: Well, as a Google fanatic, we regularly use Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Webmaster tools. We also use heat mapping tools such as CrazyEgg and clickdensity, as well as social marketing tools such as blogs, podcasts, Facebook, and Twitter.
Lea: So what is this CrazyEgg?
Pam: CrazyEgg is a heat mapping tool which allows you to track visitors on your websites, where they click on the website, and also where they’re pointing their mouse and clicking where you may not have an action. It basically allows you to see how visitors are interacting with your website and what changes you may need to make to make it more user friendly.
Lea: Sounds like a great way to see how you’re going to get a return on investment.
Pam: Definitely.
Lea: Have you seen an increase in companies interested in using internet marketing tools?
Pam: Absolutely. It seems that every week, a current or prospective client is coming in and asking what they can do and how they can do it better.
Lea: That’s exciting, because I’m taking this internet marketing class, and I’m glad I’m using tools that companies are interested in using. What kind of campaigns are you currently working on?
Pam: Currently, I’m working on quite a few AdWords accounts, as well as a large number of analytics accounts. Along with those, I sort of serve as a “free-lance” consultant, only with my company, for a number of our clients where they pull me in when they need help with a specific project, such as blog setup or an email marketing campaign.
Lea: Have any of the campaigns that you’ve worked on created negative feedback? If so, how did you handle it?
Pam: Most of the time, there are no negatives in regards to the campaigns that I work with. The one place I run into trouble is when the accounting people start asking for a solid RLI number in order to continue on with a project. But that’s accountants for you.
Lea: Absolutely. Us marketers know that it’s not that simple. What techniques are used for search engine placement?
Pam: Well, because we focus a lot on our web design and internet marketing portions, when we design sites, we specifically utilize good practices for organic search engine rankings. After about a month, we’ll check the rankings and if they are not where you want them to be, we’ll try other ways to get higher; such as a blog, better linking, or paid placement (Google Adwords for example). I work with my clients on a pretty regular basis to ensure that they get great results and are where they want to be.
Lea: That’s a great way to keep your business going. Which target markets are you focusing on the most at Innovative Solutions?
Pam: Because of the nature of our business, we target quite a few markets. In my line of work, internet marketing, I love doing business with e-commerce, but most notably, manufactures because I’ve seen great results. We also will try to encourage not-for-profits to sign with us, as we do offer lower rates and fantastic service, and there are so many great internet marketing options out there for them now.
Lea: Do you find that any marketers are easier to connect with in terms of internet marketing?
Pam: Definitely. Non-profits have a ton of spunk and are so eager to get things accomplished. Internet marketing can be a great cost effective way for them to get the word out. And we found that there’s a lot of women in non-profit marketing which allows us to connect with them a little bit more as well… or at least for me.
Lea: Well that’s good. We definitely want to help the non-profits out there. They do a lot of great work. I noticed on your company’s website that you do email marketing. Could you describe what that means?
Pam: Essentially, we will create a template for you based on your current branding and website. I’ll set you up in my email marketing program; I use iContact, which is a paid subscriber email marketing program. And if you send me your subscriber list, I’ll send out your monthly, quarterly or yearly newsletter once they’ve opted in. What I mean by opted in is that the list that I send your email to, is going to need to click on a button in order to make sure that they want that list, so you’re not being marked as spam, and we are not being marked as spam either.
Lea: That’s a great point. I considered that this would be just like spam. Have you ever had any ethical issues arise during your marketing experience?
Pam: We regularly have to check in with current clients to ensure that working with another similar business is not a conflict, and that they won’t be competing for rankings. I think that that’s the most important ethical issue that we encounter on a regular basis.
Lea: That’s great thanks. How do you think internet marketing benefits companies over using traditional media?
Pam: It’s all about visibility. Traditional media impressions are sliding. No one looks in the YellowPages anymore. How often do you remember an ad that you saw 5 minutes ago on the TV? Internet marketing ensures that your name is out there and that people are seeing it. Sixty-seven percent of users use Google Mail, which is helpful in getting your search engine rankings and using paid placement through their source.
Lea: Wow, so companies definitely should start using internet marketing over traditional medias. In your opinion, what does the future have in store for internet markering?
Pam: I think that as we become even more digitized, there will be even more tools out there; new ways to connect and new ways to get noticed. It will evolve and, eventually, the things that are hot right now won’t be. But it will be the companies that start now that will be truly great in the long run.
Lea: That is some great advice. Are there any companies that use internet marketing especially well at the current time?
Pam: In my clientele, I can tell you that Transcat does an exceptional job at internet marketing. They are a large scale distributer here in Rochester and are actually in the top 100 of Fortune’s “Small Business”. Simon Business School is also very on top of the game, although RIT probably won’t be too happy to hear it.
Lea: Well, maybe RIT will take some tips from them. Speaking of tips, do you have any for people that are trying to break into the internet marketing industry?
Pam: Other than taking Dr. Hair’s class? Read as much industry information as you can. Keep up to date. I read blogs as it is the most up to date that you can get. Innovative paid for me to become AdWord certified, but it would be well worth the cost, just fifty dollars, even on your own. I try to keep as up to date as possible, and that’s really the key in this industry. Otherwise, something could pass you by and you wouldn’t even know it.
Lea: Well maybe I’ll have to get my certification. Thanks for the tip. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Pam: Not right now, but if you have any questions, you can always visit me at my blog on InnovativeSolution.blogspot.com.
Lea: Thanks Pam. Thanks for all your time. This is Lea Khavari with Pam from Innovative Solutions. Thanks for listening.