"Engaging" customers is a popular buzzword now. We don't want to market to customers; we want to connect with them and get them excited. But to do that, we need to know our customers, whether they come in a store or on a website. We need to keep our eyes and ears open--and plan accordingly. Truthfully, many of us barrel into campaigns without fully planning ahead, sometimes because the research is hard to find or we don't know where to look. Hopefully, these articles will help eliminate that hurdle. Read on to learn about planning marketing in general, how to recognize and woo online customers, and pitfalls to avoid in social media. Put it all together, and you'll have a better plan for engaging your own customer.

Scott Hersh
Director of Sales and Strategic Alliances

You could win a free booth at Imaging USA 2011!

You're going to be at the Imaging EXPO...why not share the love with your best customers? Do so with the Free EXPO passes, and you'll be on your way to winning a great prize!

What's in it for you?

• Bring more qualified traffic to your booth.
• Gain more customer love--who doesn't like getting freebies?
• Win prizes for bringing in the most customers with those Free EXPO passes.

How it works
It's easier than ever to invite others to the Imaging EXPO (and get closer to those prizes), thanks to the unique link we've created for you:

• Go to www.ImagingUSA.org/exhibitor2010/#expopass to get your custom link.
• Share your personal link with everyone you would like to see at the show--e-mail it, tweet it, blog it, post it on your website, and even print it if you like.
• We track click-throughs from all the links and find the three companies that bring in the most Free EXPO traffic--it's that simple.

What can you win?

• First Place:  One free 10' x 10' booth at Imaging USA 2011
• Second Place:  $1,000 credit toward any Imaging USA 2011 sponsorship package
• Third Place:  A Bronze Corporate Membership

Ideas to consider
To help you get started, we have created graphics, sample promotional copy, even a customizable html e-mail template--just visit www.ImagingUSA.org/exhibitor2010/#expopass to download. And here are some additional ways to distribute your Free EXPO passes:

1. Do you have a company fan page on Facebook? Create an event at your booth and post the Free EXPO pass link in the invitation. Remember to send the invite to all your fans.
2. Are you on Twitter? Tweet about your upcoming visit to Imaging USA, and invite your followers to meet you on the EXPO floor. Use the #ImagingUSA hashtag and your tweets will also appear on the homepage of www.ImagingUSA.org. 
3. Blog it. Talk about your upcoming trip to Imaging USA, new products you will have on display, and any show specials you are running. Mention your booth number, and be sure to include the Free EXPO pass link.
4. Are you on LinkedIn? Update the "What are you working on" section of your profile with news about your Imaging USA exhibit.
5. Add one of the EXPO pass graphics to your website.
6. Add your unique link to your personal e-mail signature. You could say, "See me at booth #XXX at Imaging USA. Get your free EXPO pass here: LINK."
7. Include the link in your e-mail newsletters.
8. Design a simple EXPO invitation that you can include in your outgoing orders and invoices.

What are you waiting for? Start inviting your customers today!

"A Dynamic Strategy for Wooing Online Consumers"
Know thy online customer, says Chris Marriott, vice president and global managing director for Acxiom Digital. Use the cyber "ears" (Web clickstream data) available to you to truly listen to every customer's preferences. "We've long had the capability to record what a consumer clicks on in an e-mail and what he or she does subsequently on a website," says Marriott, citing data that shows that marketers who use Web clickstream data enjoy a four-fold boost in performance.
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/24010.asp

"8 Social Media Sins to Avoid"
In a nutshell it's worth the time to crack open: Good strategy results in viral, but viral is not a strategy • What someone says about you is more important than what you say about yourself • What's in it for the customer? • Money isn't the best social currency; relationships and knowledge are • PR is great for news and launches, but social media creates the ongoing and sustained interest between news and launches • Buying advertising space on social media sites doesn't return a quarter of the value you could be getting • Social media is a strategic amplifier for your campaign, not the entire campaign. The authors of this nourishing nutmeat are Chris Aarons and Geoff Nelson, cofounders of Ivy Worldwide, nee Buzz Corps.

http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/23906.asp

"Marketing in a Recession: What do the Stories Really Tell Us?"
The conventional wisdom: The companies that come out of a global recession on top are the ones who keep throwing money into their marketing efforts, while their competitors are slashing their advertising budgets. Well, Christian Shea, principal of the marketing agency P4MV, got to wondering, who says so, when did they say it, and is that still or always the case? Skip over the labored details of his search for enlightenment and the grad-student white-paper source-citing, until you get to Shea's well-reasoned answers.

http://www.marketingprofs.com/9/marketing-in-recession-what-do-studies-really-say-shea.asp?adref=znnpbsc4369