Integrated Marketing

When it comes to high volume email marketing, we tend to focus more on the content than how we present it most often. What needs to be considered is the fact that your email marketing campaigns are just one of the many elements in your marketing & communications mix and needs to be treated with the same professionalism that every other medium is treated.

For instance, have you considered integrating all your key messages and visual elements into your email campaign? With all other mediums of communication, you have a core brand identity, tone of voice, visual calling cards etc., so why not do this with your high volume email marketing campaigns as well?

The concept of integration is a vital concept in marketing and essentially means that you need to have a cohesive message across all your mediums and channels of communication, be in mainstream media, outdoor advertising or digital communication platforms. If you are telling your consumer the same thing and in the same way every time they encounter you, then chances are they will start to take you seriously and also remember your message, because they are engaging with it across the board.

World renowned marketing guru and author of multiple books and publications on Phillip Kotler defines integrated marketing as “a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines-for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations-and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact.”

This means you need to understand the role your high volume email marketing campaigns play in the bigger picture of your communications proposition. While you have one core message to give out, each specific medium needs to play separate roles in bringing the message to life. While a press ad will focus on saying very little, an email can be used to give all the finer details of the message and also help recipients visit your website and other pertinent messaging online. An email is also the easiest way to get a consumer to respond to a call to action since all they need to do is click on something you’ve added to your message.

Look at your marketing communications plan with bigger eyes and don’t ignore the power of email, and how it can contribute value to a cohesive, integrated marketing message. Ensure that the visual calling cards of your brand such as logos, mnemonics, colour palettes are maintained across the board – a solution like Maxmail for instance gives you simple drag and drop features that will bring your content to life and make it truly yours.

How to create a Winning Text Message

While there is no doubt that SMS marketing is one of the simplest, fastest and easiest tools to get messages across to various target audiences, it is also essential to know how to write one that will definitely get read. While the SMS marketing apps ensure that your message gets delivered, it is your skill that ensures the message is read.

Keep it Short

To begin, it’s essential to remember the core of what an SMS is all about – it’s a SHORT message, a concise & quick read unlike an email that has more comprehensive information. This means with an SMS, there is no room for unnecessary fluff. You have time and room to get ONE message across. Be simple, short & precise – you only have 160 characters. 

Make it Personal

The next thing to take note of – the words you use. If you want your text to be read, you need to ensure that you don’t sound like a marketing text. Avoid the obvious words like AMAZING or FREE that automatically tell the reader you are trying to sell them something. Don’t sound promotional, instead sound personal.

Avoid Texting Language

To ensure that your message is professional while being personal it’s essential to never use texting abbreviations such as CLD, WLD, U etc., unless you are specifically addressing an early or pre-teen audience. If you don’t adhere to this rule, chances are your audience will be irritated and confused, losing the entire purpose of the text message in the first place.

Add Some Value

If your text is not coming in from a friend, loved one or business associate and you still want your text message to be read, you need to ensure that each text has some level of value addition.  The best option is to ask for an immediate call to action –let them know what you want them to do and what they will ultimately get out of it.

Do It Now

Text message marketing works best if you are letting your readers know about something happening immediately – whether it is a sale in your store near them or a call back to win an instant prize. Keeping this real-time-reaction element to your texts will ensure action instead of being read and deleted.

Texting is personal, immediate and on-the-go, so try and fit all these basic principles into your next text marketing campaign and for very different results in no time. 

4 ways to make your home winter ready

Before the winter comes it is always good to check your home and fix things before it gets worse overtime. No matter whether you stay at home for the winter or go away for a sunny holiday, your home must be prepared to weather the winter. If your home is made according to the best home building tips maybe your living space is ready for the winter but unfortunately most of the time it is not the case. 

Some small fixings can go a long way and at the same time will make you and your family members warm and comfortable during the cold months.

1) Check the heating systems

Before things get worse at the last moment, have your whole household thoroughly examined by a heating professional. Try your best to get this done before the winter starts.  If you wait until the winter you will find it very difficult to get hold of a heating expert. And there are little things you can do yourself too. Vacuum the vents and other components to allow easy access for the heat. When you replace the furnace filter, do not forget to have  spare filter in hand. 

2) Seal all the cracks

Cracks in windows and doors are massively overlooked when you prepare your home for the winter. There is a tremendous amount of heat escaped through these cracks. Carefully check all the weather stripping of the house and replace where it is needed. After sealing all the cracks you will see a noticeable decrease in  your heating expenses. If you got a basement, do not forget to check the basement windows. If they are unsealed properly it is another area where heat can escape. 

3) Check the Roof

Are your roof shingles in place? If not get them fixed by a handyman. If the flashing around the chimney or vent pipes are not watertight he will fix them too. A leaking roof is the last thing you need during the winter. Also check the gutters and clean them. If there are tree limbs over your roof, trim them as well before the winter.

4) Winterise plumbing

Frozen water pipes can cause a disaster and also it will be a very expensive one. You can control the situation by using the heat tape to keep the pipes warm. Prepare all the outdoor faucets for the winter. Before the winter comes, drain water from the outdoor faucets and sprinklers.

The best way to prepare for the winter is to take the steps long before the winter starts. That way you will have enough time to prepare and it will be easy to find a handy man to get things fixed. 

Why hire a rubbish removal service?

Removing rubbish is a process that have to be handled with care. You cannot just take all your junk to a landfill and get rid of them. There are rules and regulations in place and you have to follow them when you dispose your rubbish. If you have a huge pile of rubbish you have accumulated overtime, do not worry. There are companies that handle rubbishremoval in Auckland who can help you. They are fully aware about the regulations as well as how to dispose respective category of rubbish in an environmentally friendly way.

Convenience

When you hire the services of a company they know exactly how to dispose each category of rubbish in an eco friendly and safe way. And they are well aware about the required regulations and the standards to be met. If you try to do it yourself it will be tedious and time consuming. You cannot just take all your rubbish to a landfill. You have to dispose different categories of rubbish accordingly.

Safety

Some waste items could be hazardous and have to be handled with care and disposed properly not to harm the environment. Especially items such as old lead paint, chemicals and other hazards need special care when removing. You cannot simply get rid of them. They have to be cleaned up before disposing them to the environment. When hiring a professional service you can be sure that your waste are disposed responsibly according to the environmental safety standards.

Moving home

When you are planning to move to a new home and start packing you will end up with a substantial amount of unwanted belongings that had piled up over the years. It could be damaged furniture, kitchen appliances, faulty toys and electronic items, broken figurines, books, magazines and the list goes on. Moving really gives you a chance to re-evaluate your belongings and separate the goods that are essential and useful. When you hire a removal service they will separate all your stuff to various categories and dispose them in a very environmentally friendly way.

No need to hassle with your rubbish when you can make your life much easier by hiring a professional rubbish removal service. Also you get the complete assurance that your items  will be either recycled or disposed in an eco friendly way. 

The right way to Text Marketing

With new and innovative mediums of advertising taking over the world, one advertising tool stands out as one of the most effective and efficient ways to get your message across. Text Marketing. It’s affordable, time saving and anyone can do it!

The only catch? You have to do it the RIGHT way! Over time, Text Marketing campaigns that have been conducted in an appropriate manner have resulted in high revenues, higher brand recognition and customer base. So keep reading for the do’s and don’ts of text marketing.

Get their consent

This is one of the most important things when it comes to text marketing. You must ensure that you have the consent of your customer before you send adverts to them.

Give your customers a way out

We all receive text messages advertising promotions, discounts offers etc. that interest us, but what if it didn’t? This is where the unsubscribe option comes to play. You MUST give your customers an easy opt out option so that they aren’t forced to receive messages they don’t want.

Tell them who you are

Make sure you include the complete return address for your company so that your customers know who you are.

Respect them

You know that company that keeps constantly texting you? Don’t be that guy. Make sure you don’t send out text messages too frequently as this will annoy your customers. Also remember to keep your messages short and concise and refrain from using lengthy paragraphs

Have a good Reason

Customers are most likely to react positively to text marketing messages if the message content contains a personal message or a practical benefit.

So there you have it. Seems simple enough right?

Get the best out of your e-mail marketing campaign

We all know it. E-mail marketing is here to stay. It’s fast, cost effective and lets you reach your customers within a few seconds. What’s not to like about it? I almost forgot, how about the high revenues, increased brand awareness and a high customer base.

So you brainstorm, think collectively and come up with an awesome campaign that will most definitely work on e-mail advertising. What’s the next step? Get your message across!

As with anything though, there are a few do’s and don’t’s you must adhere to when it comes to e-mail marketing. Failure to do so might result in your company reputation being damaged, a loss of revenue, fines and even jail terms. So how can one advertise in a legal and ethical manner you might ask? Keep reading.

The simple stuff

Do not use deceptive headlines. Headlines are the first thing a customer notices and if he/she opens up an e-mail based on a misleading headline that doesn’t relate to the content of the message the chances of them marking your e-mails as spam are higher. Instead, why not try using a subject that is accurate to the content of your e-mail?

Do not send sexual content in any of your e-mail adverts. This is a big NO.

E-mail advertising is favored by customers because they have the option of unsubscribing if they wish to. Please ensure that you don’t send out email content to the customers who have opted to unsubscribe from your mailing list.

The serious stuff

When it comes to e-mail marketing it is quite important to ensure that you get the consent of your customer or client. The three types of consent include explicit content, deemed consent and inferred consent. Research on what each type of consent represents before you begin your e-mail campaign.

Once you get the consent of your customer, you are good to go. Just remember to adhere to the rest of the rules and regulations of e-mail marketing and voila! You have an effective and efficient e-mail campaign.

New Subdivisions in Auckland

The opportunities and the limitations.

Property Subdivision in a nut shell is the process of dividing land or sections of it into smaller parts that make them easier to sell or carryout development work on. The land thus divided and worked upon is more often called a development, or project or sometimes even a gated community with a charming name. They are all subdivisions none the less.

Subdividing land works at various levels. A private land owner could decide that his or her land is big enough to be parcelled into smaller bits. The said land owner could then sell part or parts of it, build new premises on it or divide it up among the kids. Such New Home Subdivisions then become separate entities with their own title, address, unique access point, utility services and taxes.

Subdivisions happen on a far grander scale too. The Auckland Council’s recent report on available land for residential purposes states that there are just about 1900 vacant plots of land already subdivided and ready for building on right now. Subdividing can only take place when the city council has provided bulk utility supplies (clean water, waste water) to the border of the land. To develop the land the investor must have a subdivision plan that includes infrastructure development like roads, and water supply to individual lots. The Auckland Council reckons that it has enough Greenfield land ready to be subdivided into 15,000 new dwelling plots.

http://www.dbh.govt.nz/UserFiles/File/Publications/Sector/pdf/residential-land-available-in-auckland-report.pdf

For a city that foresees a need for 400,000 new dwellings over the next 30 years, these figures don’t add up. And for land owners this is indeed a great opportunity with demand set to sore to dizzy heights. However, what owners can do with their land will come under various restrictions depending on Auckland’s strict zoning parameters as well as the Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan.

Among Auckland’s various zoning restrictions is the Metropolitan Urban Limit (MUL). It defines the border between urban and rural Auckland. By some estimates, land just within the MUL is up to 10 times more expensive than just outside it (Grimes and Liang 2009). The Current price for the most desirable sized plots (350-650m2) within the established urban limit has more than tripled during the decade ending in 2012, A typical plot would go for something like NZ$ 325,000 or so. Land now accounts for around 60% of the cost of an Auckland house, compared to 40% in the rest of the country.

(http://www.productivity.govt.nz/sites/default/files/research-note-mar-13-auckland-mul.pdf)

Even a relatively small plot of land can be subdivided for a healthy sum. Enlist the services of a property subdivision company to find out if your land is feasible.

The rural zones of Auckland come with building restrictions too. New subdivisions in Auckland, especially in the rural regions, will have to comply with the Auckland Council’s Unitary Plan. The restrictions are basically about what kind of dwelling, how many, their size, height and intended population density. Rural Auckland is zoned into five distinct categories.

Rural Production Zone.

Most of Auckland’s rural production and industry is within this zone. With the focus on maintaining this productive capacity, the rural production zone will be the principal zone for donor and receiver sites for transferable rural site subdivisions. Together with boundary adjustments and relocations, this will form the basis of methods to be employed in rural subdivision.

Mixed Rural Zone

Similar to Rural Production Zones, Mixed Rural Zones are however smaller and more contained. These zones are expected to foster rural lifestyle, tourism and production practices on a small scale. Subdivision activities in these areas should focus on widening the diversity of rural uses.

Rural Coastal Zones

For their value to ecology and the beauty of the landscape, the Rural Coastal Zones will have certain restrictions on further development. However the opportunities lay in supporting the coastal environment through recreational activities. Appropriate rural activities are encouraged throughout this zone.

Countryside Living Zone

The principal receiver zone for transferable rural site subdivisions and the only receiving area for transfers created by the protection of ecologically significant or environmentally sensitive areas. Countryside living zones present rural residential lifestyle development opportunities and are typically situated close to urban Auckland or rural and coastal towns. The subdivision process may prove complicated in these areas because of the variety in topography, landscape character and the size of the sites.

Rural Conservation Zone

While this zone will encourage established rural activities, new developments are unlikely to find any support. These zones have been designed and designated to protect and maintain the unique characteristics of rural life. Land owners in these areas will find the scope for subdivision to be narrow and painful.
Apart from these restrictions, land owners would also want to consider limits to the type of activities permitted and building restrictions both for the number of dwelling per site as well as their size.

Refer http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/planspoliciesprojects/plansstrategies/unitaryplan/Documents/Key%20topics%20in%20detail/upkeytopicsrurallanduses.PDF  for the complete list.

Herein lie the opportunities as well as the limits. However it is plain that the property market in Auckland will maintain a healthy state of demand over the coming years. For people with land, a trip to the property subdivider’s office is well worth the trip.