CGI recently teamed up with TopSprout, a Silicon Valley marketing start-up, to support their product launch marketing efforts for CA. Both of our agencies work with CA — CGI creating the interactive media and TopSprout providing the integral strategic pieces. Help TopSprout celebrate their 1 year anniversary by visiting their blog: http://topsprout.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Miguel!

We all love the videos. Those YouTube clips that make us laugh, that we share with our friends, and then quickly forget about. With the immense amount of information we gather daily, it is hard to make something stand out unless it is supported by multiple platforms and  ideas.

Mark Earls, marketing guru, recently spoke at the 4As conference on the “Big Idea” concept. Too frequently, as marketers, we become caught up with our most recent “Big Idea.” We want something flashy, but forget that it is not just a single idea that creates long term brand awareness and, ultimately, loyal customers. Instead Mark suggests a lot of little ideas, building on each other, all to support a larger goal. This could also include cross-channel marketing techniques to carry your idea across multiple platforms that support the initiative.

Check out a clip of his speech here.

By integrating a succession of ideas, potential customers become familiarized with your product and brand instead of simply laughing and leaving. Implement a long-term process of projects that support each other across multiple platforms to build a strong, structural marketing plan.

When I was twenty years old I decided to head to Cape Cod in order to waitress for the summer. There are hundreds of restaurants on Cape Cod. However, there are hundreds of college kids heading down there for the summer. I applied to tons of different places, but my resume got lost in stacks, so I started calling. What happened, they were shocked. Digging through the resumes they had gotten they would pull mine up and thank me for calling. As a result, I got multiple jobs while some of my other friends headed down hoping their resume would be found in the stack and they would get the call.

I have not been in sales too long. I only graduated two years ago. Much of what I have learned about business success can be related back to very basic principles. The follow up is one of them.

People today are bombarded with information. Between emails, phone calls, and the information they are gathering online, it is easy for your company to get lost in the shuffle. Prospects might mean to get back to you, but the email sent yesterday won’t be seen today.

Here are some tips for “The Follow up”:

Be Brief: Although they may have missed your previous email, you don’t want to be repetitive in what you are offering. By simply referring to the previous contact it will let them know that you are invested in connecting with them and the company, while not being long winded.

Be consistent: It is easy to remember to follow up with prospects if you keep a consistent schedule of circling back. I personally allot two days to following up from either a voice mail or email. This allows the prospect time to consider your offering, is not too intrusive or too long of a lead that they forget you ever contacted them initially. By setting a generic time line, following up becomes part of a daily routine.

Offer Something New: Whether or not they have opened the previous email, they now have it within their possession and can always refer back. Instead of reiterating your previous email, offer something a little new. With my follow ups I usually send CGI’s Good Earth Link. The site is well done, interesting, and does not hard sell a product. However, its design also gives insight into CGI’s capabilities and services.

It might seem pretty basic, but too often we get pulled in different directions and forget to follow up. Although we would like to think that we have them at “hello,” sometimes a simple reminder can go a long way to starting a solid business relationship.