Adrienne Clark of Foulston & Siefkin (l) and Jordan Walker of Greteman Group (r) talking at an American Marketing Association Wichita luncheon where Walker was the keynote speaker were featured in today’s (Sept. 28) Out of Office segment in The Wichita Eagle.
As the fourth quarter approaches, marketers need to justify spend. And they may be planning for an even leaner year in 2018. Measurement serves as the best strategic weapon to preserve – and possibly boost – marketing budgets.
Greteman Group Digital Director Jordan Walker ensures data drives end-of-year agency reporting. Speaking at the Wichita chapter of the American Marketing Association’s September luncheon, Jordan explained why Google Analytics serves as one of the best resources for reporting on the year’s marketing effort. This free tool delivers 24/7 data on your company website, a key marketing tool.
She asked the sold-out crowd to consider: “How are my marketing tactics working? How is my website performing? Are customers taking the desired actions?”
“Websites can no longer just be glorified brochures,” she said. “They better deliver results.”
Identify Your Goals
Attendee Rachel Douglass, engagement director for the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce, posted on Twitter that she was most interested in defining what true success looks like. Jordan showed that that is indeed the first step. Before diving into Google Analytics and turning data points into measurement, you first must determine your measurement of success.
“Sales and marketing have to come together to create realistic goals,” Jordan said. “As marketers, we need to do the research and identify what actions throughout our customers’ buying journey indicate success.”
Those actions become your goals – anything from website traffic to form fills. Think about what actions lead to converting potential customers into actual ones. Then measure those.
Set Up Your Google Analytics
For Google Analytics to work for you, you have to have it set up on your website. You’d be surprised by how many companies don’t add this simple bit of code to their sites. You also have to tell Google what to measure and understand which of Google’s many data points matter to you.
Telling Google what to measure is simple. There’s a tool for that. The URL builder allows you to input the exact source, medium, campaign and content you needed to identify the corresponding data points in Google Analytics.
Knowing what to measure is more difficult. You’ve heard a high bounce rate is bad. And if you see lots of web visitors leaving after only one or two pages, you may have reason for concern. But, then again, maybe not.
Bounce rate measures single-page sessions – when a user arrives at your website, looks at one page, and then leaves. What if all the information your customer needs is on that one page? A high bounce rate doesn’t matter. What if your customer’s buying journey takes two clicks? Two pages per session might be just what you want – any higher, and your funnel might be an endless circle.
The sold-out crowd, robust Q&A and post-presentation comments confirm there’s a hunger for knowing how to better use metrics in general and Google Analytics in particular.
“I really appreciated the helpful tips Jordan shared that I’ll be able to implement when it comes to making better data-driven decisions,” said Adrienne Clark, market research and SEO specialist at Foulston & Siefkin.
Adrienne Clark (l) and Jordan Walker (r) at AMA Wichita’s monthly luncheon at Distillery 244 Old Town.
Taking Our Own Advice
Greteman Group recently launched a new website. When designing the site, we relied on Google Analytics to identify and mitigate any pain points. As a result, our new website offers a clear flow from entry to exit. A funnel for our customers that’s user-friendly, easy-to-follow and that delivers results. Check it out.
By Sonia Greteman, president and creative director at Greteman Group, a marketing communications agency based in Wichita, the Air Capital.
Brands need to evolve just like the organizations and companies they represent. Maybe your services have changed or you have new leadership. Maybe you need to move into new markets and connect with different audiences.
A first step is to take a good hard look at your company vision, mission and values. And, if necessary, develop new ones. I have peers whose eyes glaze over at the thought. Or even when faced with giving them a needed review. I’m the opposite. My eyes dance. I see this as an opportunity. To discover, create and, if necessary, evolve.
One of the Most-Liked and Respected Brands: Southwest
Just to ensure we’re on the same page with these terms, here’s what I mean when talking about vision, mission and values. Southwest Airlines offers great examples of each.
Things Change, So Should You
Our agency’s been in business for close to 30 years. In that time, we evolved through many messaging iterations. Brands should typically be refreshed every five to seven years. Most recently, we based our efforts on Gino Wickman’s Traction system. This highly practical approach breaks down any business to six key components: vision, people, data, issues, process and execution. Vision rightfully serves as the starting place. Wickman likens it to getting your team all rowing – and in the same direction.
To develop your vision, Wickman walks you through some commonsense questions. These force you to really look at your core values, focus, long-term and short-term goals, marketing strategy, issues and quarterly action items (which Wickman, borrowing from Stephen Covey, calls Rocks). This simple, focused process can lead to deep discussions and profound results.
You whittle down and funnel input as part of a purposeful journey. You do less meandering and arrive at your destination faster. Our five-member, agency Traction team did this in two dedicated, full-day sessions. You can download a free worksheet here and do the same yourself.
Value Your Values
One of our most enlightening exercises was in developing our values. Traction again led us through a series of paring down attributes. We started by listing three team members we think could best lead us to market domination. (Aim high, right?) Then we listed the qualities of those people. The list was long. We then edited those down. Combining similar traits. Circling the absolute, most-needed characteristics. We ended with less than seven. We then put them aside. A Traction member did some slight wordsmithing, then the full team reviewed the values a final time to ensure they rang true. They did.
Putting It All Together
Once developed, we take the vision, mission, values and wrap them up into a cohesive manifesto. Here’s ours.
The Greteman Group Manifesto
Give us a challenge. You don’t have to tell us what to do or how to do it. Our band of highly motivated, self-directed pros goes after it. We work independently and collaboratively, passionately and fearlessly, wrestling with ideas until we pin down the best.
We like to succeed, and often do, but how we get there matters. Grace and integrity walk our halls. Transparency generates open and honest conversations.
Each of us brings unique skills that, when combined, make us a powerhouse. Our lifelong learners find joy in their work. When you hear, “I work at Greteman Group,” it packs a punch. You know that person:
Listens loudly
Has your back
Takes no shortcuts
Shows grit and gusto
Imagines better ways
Gets results
Together, we help brands fly high.
Do the Time
Think about whether it’s time to dust off your vision, mission and values. They should uniquely represent your company, not just serve as generic platitudes like “excellent customer service.” Whether you use Traction as we did, just be sure you ask the right questions and that you carve out dedicated think and collaboration time. Set your expectations. Be disciplined. And remember. These messages are not something you simply write down and file. You live them. And they guide your path. You use them as a basis for hiring new team members, setting goals, evaluating performance and more. We used ours to shape a dynamic, new website for ourselves. Check it out to see whether you think we succeeded in following our own advice.
This column ran in the September 21 issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.
As a friend of the agency, you’ve probably seen GiGi, our alter ego. She brightens everything from our website and proposals to cards and emails. But you may not know much about her, or why she came into being. Let’s change that.
A Here-for-You Approach
GiGi represents a return to first-class service, to the golden age of travel. When customers came first. Go-go boots and a vintage Emilio Pucci uniform give a nod (and a wink) to the very beginnings of the jet set. They’re patterned after Mary Wells’ groundbreaking branding done for Braniff Airlines in the 1960s. Wells rethought not just Braniff’s advertising, but also its uniforms, aircraft liveries, interiors and more. Her campaign, “The End of the Plain Plane,” went deeper than style. Braniff was about more than getting you to your destination. It made the experience great.
Always Learning and Growing
GiGi lives to fly. Stretching her wings. Adding to her already-rich life experiences. She travels the world, hungry for the wisdom only travel brings.
A white scooter helps her zip through city streets. A rocket facilitates interplanetary exploration. She knows marketing from alpha to zulu, tip to tail, cockpit to cabin. GiGi kicks out the chocks, fills up the tanks and elevates brands in the marketplace stratosphere.
Doing What It Takes
GiGi’s propensity for decisive action stems from a bedrock conviction that success takes talent, effort and commitment. That correct beats sloppy. That both the big-picture strategy and supporting details matter. GiGi inspires us to do what it takes to ensure clients get what they want and what they need. On time and on budget. With regular touch bases throughout the process to keep clients always in the know. Always world class.
Let Us Play Among the Stars
We like to think there’s a bit of GiGi’s spirit in everything we do. Whether cool chic or hot happenings. Visit the agency and, while you won’t catch a glimpse of her, you will feel her presence. And, who knows? Together we might see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.
Junior Achievement will enshrine three more Wichita business professionals into its hall of fame.
The organization announced this week its 2018 laureates are Sonia Greteman, president and creative director of the Greteman Group; Steve Cox, CEO of Cox Machine Inc.; Robert Geist, chairman of RAGE Inc. and Rage Administrative & Marketing Services Inc.
Read Josh Heck’s full article here.
WICHITA, Kan. – Junior Achievement of Kansas announced its newest Wichita Business Hall of Fame Laureates at a luncheon today. The group will be honored at a tribute dinner in March 2018. It includes Sonia Greteman, president and creative director, Greteman Group; Steve Cox, owner, Cox Machine; and Bob Geist, owner, RAGE, Inc.
Laureates are chosen based on business excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, community impact, leadership style, local influence and enduring legacy. The announcement followed a luncheon attended by past laureates who welcomed the new class of honorees.
“I consider this induction a great honor,” says Greteman. “I hold these fellow entrepreneurs and business people in high esteem. Business builds and fuels community. It sees and realizes what others may miss. It takes guts to see ideas through.
“I was told early in my career, when working as a designer at Boeing Wichita, that I was like fuchsia silk in a gray-flannel world. I took that as a compliment and used my nonconformity to think and act differently. That included launching a woman-owned marketing agency that specialized in a male-dominated industry. Our base in the Air Capital helped make our aviation positioning work, which has allowed us to deepen our impact.”
Past Laureates include 2016 Ron Holt, Cindy Carnahan and Claude and Ron Mann; 2015 Paul Allen, Bill Livingston and Steve Martens; 2014 Jim Hattan, Ann Konecny and Sheryl Wolford; 2013 J.V. Lentell, Steve Clark and Patty Koehler; 2012 Robert Schaefer, William Moore, The DeVore Family and Joe Johnson; 2011 Dr. George J. Farha, Dr. S. Jim Farha, Phil Ruffin and Richard Smith; 2010 Anita Oberwortmann, David and Darrel Rolph and the Schwan Family; 2009 E.W. Pete Armstrong, Jeff Turner and Ted and Betty Vlamis; 2008 George Fahnestock, Helen Galloway and Al Higdon; 2006 Barry Downing and Bill Hanna.
The complete list dates back to 1986. For that inaugural event, business luminaries honored posthumously include Walter and Olive Ann Beech, Clyde Cessna, Jesse Chisholm, William Coleman, James Davidson, William Greiffenstein and Marshall Murdock.
“In short, our Hall of Fame Laureates include the who’s who of Wichita business,” says Marci Werne, Junior Achievement of Kansas district director. “Our goal is to inspire young people to follow in the laureates’ footsteps. They certainly inspire me.”
Greteman’s long list of personal achievements include a special governor’s appointment, American Advertising Federation lifetime-achievement award, American Marketing Association marketer of the year, Broadcast and Media Professionals hall of fame, Donna Sweet Humanitarian of the Year, Wichita Aero Club founding board member and more. She gives back by serving on multiple industry and community boards.
“Every community hopes to have a creative genius that builds in place, an organization of world renown,” says past Laureate Cindy Carnahan, president, The Carnahan Group. “Someone whose mark is recognized throughout an industry and thus giving distinction back to the place she calls home.”
Press images can be downloaded from https://www.gretemangroup.com/press/sonia-greteman-honored-by-junior-achievement/.
Coverage:
Wichita Business Journal
9.15.17
Call us spoiled. All kinds of products endure an ever-compressed race to market. Never mind the modern marvel of technology it may be. It still has to be absolutely right.
Our tolerance for failure is low. Back in 2013, James Surowiecki suggested in The New Yorker’s “Requiem for a Dreamliner?” that it wasn’t that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s initial issues were so bad. Especially when compared with the launch challenges of other historic aircraft. But it was that our standards have so radically changed. That dissonance between reality and expectations has only widened.
Expectation of Perfection
This zero tolerance for product refinement extends to services and customer communication, too. The bar keeps getting raised. And are we keeping up?
Customers today expect Amazon.com-like customization. Suggestions informed by past purchases. Record-keeping that facilitates interactions. Fill out a form once and you’re done. Click, order and a quality product soon lands on your doorstep.
If it’s not just what you wanted, slap on a preprinted return label and away it goes. And all along the way, receive updates on orders. Thank you’s for your business. Enjoy anytime-anywhere access to information. All on a first-name basis.
Our patience for businesses without this institutional memory and high level of execution is low. And dropping lower.
Automation to the Rescue
Technology got us here, and it’s our only way out. Automating your communications requires identifying customer engagement points, then coordinating and leveraging efforts to make those interactions as perfect and painless as possible.
Here’s a checklist of actions to take if you haven’t already.
Emphasize Long-term Over Quick Fixes
Take your best marketing practices and apply them to how you approach automating your marketing communications campaigns and digital customer touchpoints. Ramp up your speed of execution while reinforcing your commitment to the customer – and to getting it right. You can do it.
This column ran in the September 13th issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.
Jordan Walker of Greteman Group, left, talks with Erin Pieper of Polston Tax Resolution & Accounting at a Wichita Independent Business Associations Women’s Leadership Alliance luncheon on Tuesday at the Wichita Boathouse.
Photo courtesy of WIBA
What tax season is to accountants or Christmas is to North Pole elves, NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition has long been to Greteman Group. As the days tick off, the activity in our agency continues with a focused intensity. Deadlines that must be hit. Last-minute requests that need to be worked in. Production files to check and check again.
But I’m proud to say, we’re not working around the clock. After almost three decades in the business, we know the drill. And burning out your team accomplishes little. In fact, it’s counterproductive. The cockpit isn’t the only place where mistakes can be tracked to exhaustion. Crew resource management and human factors come into play at a marketing agency, too.
If you plan to be one of the 1,100-plus exhibitors at the 70th annual NBAA-BACE, here’s a simple preshow checklist that might be of help.
Once Your Checklist’s Complete, Smile
Nothing’s ever perfect. Nothing’s ever truly done. But that’s why deadlines are such a blessing. You’re forced to move forward. And, come October 10, at 7 a.m. the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center will open. And another not-to-be-missed NBAA-BACE will begin. See you there.
This article was published in the September 7th issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.