Clients and prospects will interact and remember a dimensional direct mail piece for months, even years after they receive it. For instance, last year several hundred financial prospects received a corked bottle in the mail - without any packaging! The mailing label on the bottle didn't have a return address or any indication of who it was from.

If you ask business owners where they get most of their new customers, they’ll usually say word-of-mouth. A parent at a kid’s baseball game tells you about a great product she found, or friends invite you to a cool restaurant they discovered. It’s also the part of marketing that businesses feel they have the least control over.

Marketing is most effective when it takes consumers by surprise, makes a memorable impression, and pops up where people least expect it. With a little creativity you can add some fun and personality to your brand by incorporating your message into the everyday landscape in a unique way. Take a look at these ideas.

Visual images are like duct tape, they stick to you long after words are forgotten. Video takes visual memory to the ultimate level, integrating two of our most prominent senses – sight and sound – to deliver messages with staying power. According to national research conducted by the Wharton School of Business, consumers are 72% more likely to purchase an online product when video is used.

You’ve likely seen them, these technical looking blocks that are appearing on everything from direct mail and billboards, to Real Estate signs. They are called QR codes, or Quick Response codes and their use is exploding. But are they right for your business?

Once in a while we come across great articles that offer practical suggestions you can use right away. Here is one of those. Click on the link to this Social Media Examiner article by Mari Smith on "21 Creative Ways To Increase Your Facebook Fanbase".

The cornerstone of most Facebook marketing efforts is centered around growing the number of fans for your page. After all, you need followers in order to have any impact. Experience shows that simple action-oriented offers which provide users benefits (what’s in it for them) from clicking "Like", pay off with faster fan growth.

What are the primary social media platforms used for the most? LinkedIn is primarily used for lead generation and web traffic. Businesses use Twitter for short and concise promotions and social buzz.

When you get in front of a client, what do you want to accomplish? What are your strategic objectives?  Think strategically… Would you like to be respected? Trusted? Get referrals?

In the past year, many online lead generation companies have released statistics and reports detailing how adding product or testimonial videos can increase conversion rates, customer interaction, and overall ROI. Here’s a look as some of the numbers: In early 2010, TriMark added a click-to-play customer testimonials video to all Window World PPC landing pages. Within a month, they began to see lead conversion increases of 20% from those specific sites.

For years, Th!nkCreative has been successful at producing sales videos to help companies promote their products and services. Our clients have included Honeywell, Deluxe, Medica, Buhler and many more. But we know the biggest driver to online success is content.

There are over 10 social media sites that give you access from one million people to over 800 million people online. These are sites that require a relatively small investment in order to spread the message about your product or service. And if you are connected to them properly they can increase your search engine rankings by over 400%.

Th!nkCreative introduces our new education program that teaches business owners how to be more successful in online marketing. We educate companies on the 5 biggest mistakes in online and social marketing, teach them how to avoid them, and give them tools to generate consistent ROI. Here’s what we do.

"Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking." - Albert Einstein We can read all the books on how to do marketing, but ultimately it comes down to doing. Developing a solid strategic plan and making it work. Books can help you avoid mistakes, but the biggest mistake is in not trying.