About Redirect
Redirect brings together technology, strategies and services to support a broad range of digital and direct marketing initiatives.
Redirect creates digital and direct marketing campaigns that help our clients increase lead and customer acquisitions, accelerate sales conversion, and maximize customer value.
Job Description
Our ideal full-time Interactive Designer candidate is creative, energetic, deeply knowledgeable about the latest web technologies, and has a passion for demonstrating skill and precision in his/her work.
The Interactive Designer works with internal creative and external application development teams to develop web sites, landing pages, email, email templates, banner campaigns, digital sales support materials and other digital marketing assets.
As such, this candidate should excel in all components of web development, from concept to in-market maintenance. The candidate should be experienced with Flash development and integration with a open source CMS solutions such as Joomla, Wordpress and Drupal.
The candidate for this position is expected to be able to drive the development of a new website, banner ad, email campaign, and other online products, or enhancements to the existing assets from prototype, wire frames, comps, or other high-concept documents to a finished product.
Job Requirements
Core competency:
* Working experience in Flash
* Fluent in HTML
* Fluent in InDesign, PhotoShop and Illustrator
* Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design or Interactive Arts and Media
* 2+ years experience as an Interactive Designer
* Solid understanding of web site and interface design
* Interactive or Advertising Agency experience
* Must be able to independently take projects from concept to finish
* Work well under pressure and able to meet aggressive deadlines; Able to switch rapidly between different projects in a fast-paced environment
* Content Management System experience
Other competencies:
* Ability to understand a dynamic database environment and willingness to learn new technologies.
* Project Management.
* Position includes limited client contact.
* Strong Communication and Organizational Skills.
* Daily usage of online communication tools such as Skype, Twitter, IM, social networks, web conferencing, etc.
To Apply Send Your Resume and Portfolio to jobs@redirectnow.com
Friday, July 23, 2010
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Many Companies Simply Checking the Box on Social Media
"Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu
We've spent a lot of time the last couple of months consulting with clients and giving presentations on social media and the important role it plays in the multi-channel communications mix. As a part of that process, we've examined the social media strategies and tactics being deployed by dozens of companies in a wide range of industries. To be sure, there are some great things happening out there with custom Facebook apps, user-generated content campaigns on YouTube and Flickr, and the use of articles and micro-blogging to build awareness and drive traffic.
We're also seeing a lot of companies simply checking the social media box (thinking tactically about social media) as opposed to developing a social media strategy that fits with their multi-channel efforts and makes sense in the context of their marketing objectives.
Here are a few things many companies could do to improve their social media initiatives.
1) Listen - the collaborative and viral nature of social networks, blogs, user-generated content sites and micro-blogs has given marketers an unmatched opportunity to listen and learn from their customers, fans and detractors. If you're company isn't listening, monitoring and analyzing this online dialogue - you should start.
2) Think - Just because your company exists and Facebook exists doesn't necessarily mean that there is a compelling social media strategy for your company on Facebook - ditto Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. Marketers should think about social media channels just like they think about traditional media channels, and then use the socials media channels that make sense given their audience, their product/service, and their message.
3) Be Relevant - In today's cluttered communications environment communicating in a relevant way with your customers and prospects is more important than ever. Social media has made it easier to communicate with people, and with that ease comes a responsibiity - make sure every communication is relevant.
4) Be Measured - Your social media communications need to be relevant, and they should also be wanted. Just because you can push a button and reach thousands of people on Facebook or Twitter with a promotional message, doesn't mean you should. Social networks should be used less like a megaphone (screaming the same message at lots of people) and more like a telephone (communicating relevant, wanted, and compelling messages in a one-to-one environment).
5) Integrate - Finally, a lot of companies are bolting on their social media strategies as opposed to building them into their overall multi-chanel initiatives. You wouldn't entrust your general sales and marketing initiatives with an intern, and you shouldn't with your social media initiatives.
The bottom line -- your customers and prospects are spending more and more time collaborating on social networks and posting content in the cloud. How you manage your social media assets and your online customer conversations is becoming increasingly important.
Think strategically about your social media initiatives, and remember that every communication should be wanted and relevant.
We've spent a lot of time the last couple of months consulting with clients and giving presentations on social media and the important role it plays in the multi-channel communications mix. As a part of that process, we've examined the social media strategies and tactics being deployed by dozens of companies in a wide range of industries. To be sure, there are some great things happening out there with custom Facebook apps, user-generated content campaigns on YouTube and Flickr, and the use of articles and micro-blogging to build awareness and drive traffic.
We're also seeing a lot of companies simply checking the social media box (thinking tactically about social media) as opposed to developing a social media strategy that fits with their multi-channel efforts and makes sense in the context of their marketing objectives.
Here are a few things many companies could do to improve their social media initiatives.
1) Listen - the collaborative and viral nature of social networks, blogs, user-generated content sites and micro-blogs has given marketers an unmatched opportunity to listen and learn from their customers, fans and detractors. If you're company isn't listening, monitoring and analyzing this online dialogue - you should start.
2) Think - Just because your company exists and Facebook exists doesn't necessarily mean that there is a compelling social media strategy for your company on Facebook - ditto Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc. Marketers should think about social media channels just like they think about traditional media channels, and then use the socials media channels that make sense given their audience, their product/service, and their message.
3) Be Relevant - In today's cluttered communications environment communicating in a relevant way with your customers and prospects is more important than ever. Social media has made it easier to communicate with people, and with that ease comes a responsibiity - make sure every communication is relevant.
4) Be Measured - Your social media communications need to be relevant, and they should also be wanted. Just because you can push a button and reach thousands of people on Facebook or Twitter with a promotional message, doesn't mean you should. Social networks should be used less like a megaphone (screaming the same message at lots of people) and more like a telephone (communicating relevant, wanted, and compelling messages in a one-to-one environment).
5) Integrate - Finally, a lot of companies are bolting on their social media strategies as opposed to building them into their overall multi-chanel initiatives. You wouldn't entrust your general sales and marketing initiatives with an intern, and you shouldn't with your social media initiatives.
The bottom line -- your customers and prospects are spending more and more time collaborating on social networks and posting content in the cloud. How you manage your social media assets and your online customer conversations is becoming increasingly important.
Think strategically about your social media initiatives, and remember that every communication should be wanted and relevant.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Solid Customer Retention Strategies
In the absence of a solid customer retention strategy, most marketers are forced to spend more and more money chasing after a shrinking pool of new customers.
A few years back, Seth Godin wrote a book entitled Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers. The premise of this book is simple: most advertisers spend the largest percentage of their advertising budget interrupting prospective customers with unwanted messages, rather than taking the time and making the effort to develop a constructive dialogue with current customers. His theory is that if marketers spent more time, energy and money building relationships with their current customers it would create greater lifetime value, more revenue and increased profits for their businesses.
Online marketers adopted these principals early on. Amazon, Apple, Overstock, Netflix and others quickly realized that they could gain a competitive advantage over their more established competitors by using technology and information to build stronger relationships with their customers.
In the last year, we’ve seen many offline marketers successfully shift their focus to customer retention. One notable example is Best Buy’s “customer centricity” initiative; where they identified five customer segments they believed represent the most significant growth opportunities. They then modified their store sets to appeal to one of these dominant customer segments, and launched a training program to teach their employees to focus on specific customer profiles as opposed to product orientation. The result was a 7% increase in sales compared to stores that were not involved in the initiative.
Given the research and new tools available, it’s surprising to see many marketers on a local and regional basis still doing business the old fashioned way. In the old days, if you wanted to increase sales for a weekend, you had a radio remote. If you needed to move product off the floor, you filled the newspapers and television with discounts and promotions. If you ran out of other ideas, you blew up a giant purple gorilla and erected it on the sidewalk in front of your store.
All of these tactics are based on the idea that you can build your business by screaming louder than your competitors at the same pool of customers. While to some extent all of these tactics work (in the absence of a good strategy - the execution of any tactic is likely to generate marginal results) simply spending more money attempting to get new customers is a recipe for disaster. Over time, all customers get sick of the screaming and tune everyone out.
Which is why today’s smart marketers have learned to focus on relationships. Most companies realize 70% or more of their revenue from current customers. It costs eight to fourteen times more to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. Current customers are the best source of referrals and cross-sell opportunities. So why spend most of your advertising budget trying to acquire increasingly elusive new customers?
If AT&T had asked themselves that question in 1993 maybe they’d still be an industry leader today. Ditto, TWA, TCI and ZCMI. Bottom-line, if you don’t focus your energy and budget on customer retention today, you’ll be spending your money re-acquiring less loyal customers at an 800% premium tomorrow.
Here are a few questions every smart marketer should be able to answer:
Marketing success is no longer defined as being the biggest, the loudest, or spending the most money. Today it’s all about creating profitable relationships, and long-term success. A solid customer retention strategy isn’t just the best way to achieve that goal – it’s the only way. You can find out more at Redirect Relationship Marketing.
A few years back, Seth Godin wrote a book entitled Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends and Friends Into Customers. The premise of this book is simple: most advertisers spend the largest percentage of their advertising budget interrupting prospective customers with unwanted messages, rather than taking the time and making the effort to develop a constructive dialogue with current customers. His theory is that if marketers spent more time, energy and money building relationships with their current customers it would create greater lifetime value, more revenue and increased profits for their businesses.
Online marketers adopted these principals early on. Amazon, Apple, Overstock, Netflix and others quickly realized that they could gain a competitive advantage over their more established competitors by using technology and information to build stronger relationships with their customers.
In the last year, we’ve seen many offline marketers successfully shift their focus to customer retention. One notable example is Best Buy’s “customer centricity” initiative; where they identified five customer segments they believed represent the most significant growth opportunities. They then modified their store sets to appeal to one of these dominant customer segments, and launched a training program to teach their employees to focus on specific customer profiles as opposed to product orientation. The result was a 7% increase in sales compared to stores that were not involved in the initiative.
Given the research and new tools available, it’s surprising to see many marketers on a local and regional basis still doing business the old fashioned way. In the old days, if you wanted to increase sales for a weekend, you had a radio remote. If you needed to move product off the floor, you filled the newspapers and television with discounts and promotions. If you ran out of other ideas, you blew up a giant purple gorilla and erected it on the sidewalk in front of your store.
All of these tactics are based on the idea that you can build your business by screaming louder than your competitors at the same pool of customers. While to some extent all of these tactics work (in the absence of a good strategy - the execution of any tactic is likely to generate marginal results) simply spending more money attempting to get new customers is a recipe for disaster. Over time, all customers get sick of the screaming and tune everyone out.
Which is why today’s smart marketers have learned to focus on relationships. Most companies realize 70% or more of their revenue from current customers. It costs eight to fourteen times more to get a new customer than to keep an existing one. Current customers are the best source of referrals and cross-sell opportunities. So why spend most of your advertising budget trying to acquire increasingly elusive new customers?
If AT&T had asked themselves that question in 1993 maybe they’d still be an industry leader today. Ditto, TWA, TCI and ZCMI. Bottom-line, if you don’t focus your energy and budget on customer retention today, you’ll be spending your money re-acquiring less loyal customers at an 800% premium tomorrow.
Here are a few questions every smart marketer should be able to answer:
- Do you know who your most valuable customers are?
- Do you know how your most valuable customers and your least valuable customers differ? Do you know what they have in common?
- Do you know what percentage of revenue and profits your most valuable customers contribute to your business? How about your least valuable customers?
- Do you know what percentage of your revenue and profits “truly” new customers generate?
- Do you have a strategy in place to build and maintain relationships with your most valuable customers?
- Do you have a strategy to move your least valuable or lesser valuable customers into a more valued status?
- Are you spending an adequate amount of your marketing budget on customer retention?
Marketing success is no longer defined as being the biggest, the loudest, or spending the most money. Today it’s all about creating profitable relationships, and long-term success. A solid customer retention strategy isn’t just the best way to achieve that goal – it’s the only way. You can find out more at Redirect Relationship Marketing.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Why online advertising needs to be a part of your overall marketing mix
Online advertising is becoming an important part of the overall media mix. Last year, advertisers spent more than $10 billion on Internet advertising. That’s more than they spent on local radio, outdoor, or national newspapers. This year, Internet advertising expenditures are expected to increase by 15% –- a growth rate three times higher than any other advertising medium. In fact, many traditional advertising media like newspaper and print are experiencing a decrease in spending.
This increase can be attributed to several factors:
The more important implication, though, is the impact of this shift on small and medium sized businesses in local and regional markets. Internet advertising expenditures have historically been driven by online marketers like Amazon and Ebay and by Fortune 2000 companies with large and sophisticated marketing programs. The marked increases in the last few years would indicate the entry of new forces in the segment. We can assume that more small and medium sized businesses are dedicating a larger percentage of their budget to Internet advertising.
All of this information adds up to one important fact: If your business hasn’t already incorporated Internet advertising into its overall marketing mix, you’re likely losing prospective and existing customers to your competition. It’s not too late to rework your plan for 2007 to ensure that you have the greatest competitive edge, First you need to evaluate what your online objectives are. Depending on what kind of business you’re in your online objectives might be drastically different. Generally speaking online marketing objectives can fall into three fairly broad categories:
Once you’ve determined your objectives, you need to develop strategies and decide whether you can implement these strategies internally or if you need external assistance. The reach of online advertising today is vast, from online ads and banners to email newsletters and blogs to paid search and search engine optimization. To a large extent your strategies and tactics will be dictated by your budget, the size and experience of your in-house marketing department, and your objectives. But keep in mind that as with most marketing activities, you’ll be much better off by executing one or two online initiatives effectively and with enthusiasm.
So as you’re reviewing your plan for the upcoming year, see what percentage your budget is comprised of online (it should be somewhere between 10 and 25 percent or even higher if most of your business is conducted online), and then pick some new online initiatives to start building your business and beating your competition. Now is the time to add a dynamic and effective Internet advertising plan to your overall marketing mix. You can find out more at Redirect Relationship Marketing.
This increase can be attributed to several factors:
- Maturity of the medium – The Internet has finally evolved into an advertising medium that makes sense for a majority of advertisers.
- Accessibility – Companies like Google, Overture and ValueClick have made advertising on the Internet an easier alternative.
- Killer Apps – Companies like Utah’s Omniture and Salesforce have made information gathered from web marketing campaigns easier to track and use for remarketing efforts.
The more important implication, though, is the impact of this shift on small and medium sized businesses in local and regional markets. Internet advertising expenditures have historically been driven by online marketers like Amazon and Ebay and by Fortune 2000 companies with large and sophisticated marketing programs. The marked increases in the last few years would indicate the entry of new forces in the segment. We can assume that more small and medium sized businesses are dedicating a larger percentage of their budget to Internet advertising.
All of this information adds up to one important fact: If your business hasn’t already incorporated Internet advertising into its overall marketing mix, you’re likely losing prospective and existing customers to your competition. It’s not too late to rework your plan for 2007 to ensure that you have the greatest competitive edge, First you need to evaluate what your online objectives are. Depending on what kind of business you’re in your online objectives might be drastically different. Generally speaking online marketing objectives can fall into three fairly broad categories:
- Generating leads –- This applies to your company if you sell primarily offline products or services, or if the products and services you sell would fall into the category of a considered purchase.
- Conducting online commerce –- This applies to your company if you’re already selling products online, or if your products are easily transferable to an online environment.
- Supporting customers and prospective customers – This applies to your company if you can provide customers and prospective customers with information about your product and services online in an easy and efficient manner. As an added benefit, if your online efforts are effective they will also support and enhance your brand building efforts.
Once you’ve determined your objectives, you need to develop strategies and decide whether you can implement these strategies internally or if you need external assistance. The reach of online advertising today is vast, from online ads and banners to email newsletters and blogs to paid search and search engine optimization. To a large extent your strategies and tactics will be dictated by your budget, the size and experience of your in-house marketing department, and your objectives. But keep in mind that as with most marketing activities, you’ll be much better off by executing one or two online initiatives effectively and with enthusiasm.
So as you’re reviewing your plan for the upcoming year, see what percentage your budget is comprised of online (it should be somewhere between 10 and 25 percent or even higher if most of your business is conducted online), and then pick some new online initiatives to start building your business and beating your competition. Now is the time to add a dynamic and effective Internet advertising plan to your overall marketing mix. You can find out more at Redirect Relationship Marketing.
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