Animal Health Marketing: Trade Show Tips

Now that the new year is here, it is a new season for trade shows.  Over the past two months, I have attended several trade shows (Denver Market, Supply Side West in Las Vegas, etc.) and the results have been mixed at best.  During my ten years in the animal health marketing industry, I have attended nearly 100 trade shows and events.  Five years ago you would attend trade shows without hesitation and be quite successful.  In today’s economy, it isn’t that easy as you have to evaluate every penny spent.  Before making the decision to attend any trade show or event in 2010 one must evaluate it closely and plan accordingly.  The key to a successful show is what you do BEFORE the start of the show. It is imperative that you prepare for each show at least 30 days in advance. Here are a few tips in what you need to do before committing to a trade show:

NFR booth with Jolee Lautaret

- Get a list of all exhibitors – To beat your competition you need to know your competition. Make sure everyone in your booth knows everything possible of your competitors attending the show (products, pricing, distribution, differential advantages, etc.).
- B2B opportunities – By acquiring a list of exhibitors another function served is looking at possible B2B relationships you can establish. I typically accomplish more B2B deals than direct business transactions at trade shows.
- Contact key attendees – It depends on the type of show but contacting key attendees prior to the show is extremely important. Let the key attendees know where your booth is but more importantly why they MUST stop by your booth.  If this is distributor or market show, make sure you talk to the reps prior to the show.  Also, have them identify 3 to 4 of their top accounts who they will commit to bring to your booth.
- Call to action – This is particularly important. You need a reason for people to stop by your booth and make it big. The days of free shipping or 10% off doesn’t do it. You are at the show to get your product into people’s hand.
- Set goals – If you don’t set some goals prior to the show then how do you know if the show was a success? It is vital that everyone attending the show and running the booth clearly knows the goal for the show. I always have it written out and at the end of each day we review our goals and determine what percentage of each goal we have achieved.
- Know your ROI – Shows are not cheap so determine what type of revenue you need to generate to reach a breakeven point.
- End of show report – At the conclusion of the show, document the results from the show – pro’s and con’s. Record your sales, booth location, where you need your booth, etc. You can’t imagine how helpful this report will be when you are thinking about attending that same show next year.
- Follow-up – This is probably one of the most important activities but least completed by companies.  Follow-up always sounds good but rarely done.  Trade shows try to provide services (business card swipers, etc.) that make follow-up easier but it is still poorly executed.  For example, at the Supply Side West show I requested information from several companies.  As of today, only ONE company has gotten back to me and what they sent me was a standard package of information and they had my name spelled incorrectly.  I actually had to track down several companies through the trade show to get their contact information so I could follow-up with them.

These are just a few thoughts in how to have a successful trade show. If you follow this list the chances of having a successful show dramatically improve. Please provide comments in tactics you have used to experience a successful trade show.  To receive the latest blog entries from cheetahLink follow our RSS Feed or subscribe to our email service.  Both options are listed on the right side bar.

Animal Health Marketing: 2009 Animal Industry Financial Reports

Now that 2009 is in the books, animal health companies are releasing their year end financials and earnings.  Below is a snapshot of a wide range of different companies in the animal health industry with their financial results for 2009. 

• Pfizer Inc. reported financial results for the full year 2009. Animal Health revenues were $2,764 million, a decline of 2% compared to the prior year. Revenues included approximately 2 months of Fort Dodge legacy product revenues.
• MWI Veterinary Supply, Inc. announced financial results for its first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009. Total revenues were $236 million for the quarter, 2% higher than revenues for the same period in the prior fiscal year. Net income was $7.8 million, up 32% from net income of $5.9 million in the first fiscal quarter of 2008. 
• Animal Health International, Inc. reported its financial results for the company’s second fiscal quarter, which ended December 31, 2009. Net sales for the quarter were $171 million, compared to $185 million for the same period a year ago.  Net income was $1.2 million compared to $2.3 million in last year’s second quarter.
• Central Garden & Pet Company announced results for its first quarter ended December 26, 2009. Net sales for the Pet Products segment were $182 million, a decrease of two percent compared to $186 million in the year ago period.
• Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. reported results for its fiscal 2010 first quarter ended Dec. 27, 2009. The company reported sales that totaled $1.603 billion, down from $1.877 billion the year before. Pilgrim’s Pride reported net earnings of $33.6 million compared with a loss of ($229 million) in its fiscal 2009 first quarter.
• Lilly reported results for the full year 2009.  Sales for Elanco Animal Health increased 10% to $1.2 billion.  The increase was primarily attributable to Elanco’s acquisition of Posilac in October 2008.
• Novartis reported results for the full year 2009.  Sales for the animal health group were $1.1 billion, an increase of 4% in local currencies. 
• Virbac SA reported financial results for 2009.  Sales were EUR 467 million ($669 million), an increase of 5% compared to the prior year.  All regions have contributed to this performance.
• Vétoquinol reported results for the full year 2009.  Revenues totaled EUR 252 million ($361 million), an increase of 8% over the previous year. With exchange rates held constant, revenues increased by 10%.  The strength in sales is primarily due to acquisitions in Italy and India and by the resumption of organic growth, which held firm in the second half of 2009.
• IDEXX announced that revenues for the year ended December 31, 2009 increased 1% to $1.032 billion. Net income for the year increased 5% to $122 million. Companion Animal Group revenues for the year increased 1% to $843 million.
• Abaxis, Inc. reported financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009. Veterinary Market sales were $23.9 million, an increase of 33% compared to the comparable period in the prior year.
• Colgate-Palmolive Company reported results for the full year 2009.  Hill’s Pet Nutrition recorded net sales of $2.13 billion, a decline of 1% compared to the prior year.
• PetMed Express, Inc. announced its financial results for the third fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009. Net sales for the quarter were $48.4 million, an increase of 11% compared to the quarter ended December 31, 2008.  Net income was $5.6 million, a 14% increase compared to the comparable period in the prior year. 

A breakdown of the above 13 companies shows that eight companies, or 62%, showed a positive revenue stream in 2009 while five companies (32%) showed a decrease in revenues from 2008 to 2009.  The median was a 2% increase in revenue while the mean (average) was a 3.5% increase.  Inflation in 2009 was 2.7% so for most companies 2009 was a breakeven campaign.  In visiting with industry leaders who grew their business in 2009 they attributed the growth to either new products, price increases or international growth.  For those companies that showed a strong commitment to international growth they saw the greatest returns.  Price increases were met with mixed results but for several companies it was the only way to keep their head above water in 2009.  For those that launched new products in 2009 they reaped the benefits.  Unfortunately, new product development in 2009 and so far in 2010 has been slow.  Most companies stated the reason for the lack of new products entering the market is due to the decrease in R&D funding.

Overall, 2009 was a year of survival for most companies in the animal health industry.  To experience growth in 2010 companies will have to expand their business to include the ideas of international growth, new products and reaching customers in a more cost effective manner (i.e. online marketing).

About cheetahLink

Founded by Preston Munsch, cheetahLink is an online marketing and consulting firm that specializes in the animal health industry. The focus of cheetahLink is to increase sales, brand recognition, online visibility and website traffic through search engine optimization, website development, social media site marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and other online marketing services.  CheetahLink also provides consulting services for animal health companies including product development, business development, sales/distribution plans, contract manufacturing, and other services.  Munsch has spent the past 10 years in the animal health industry specializing in product development, animal health marketing, branding, sales, distribution and advertising.  Munsch has a Masters Degree in Business Administration along with a Bachelors Degree in Communication and Associates Degree in Graphic Design.

Traditional Marketing Losing Its Effect as Magazine Ad Pages Fall 19.2%

Due to this disturbing trend companies are switching from traditional marketing to online marketing to recapture consumer’s attention

According to MIN’s (Media Industry Newsletter) latest survey, magazines are reporting a near 20% decline in November ad pages.  MIN, a strategic research and analysis organization for the print industry, is reporting a bleak trend and future for traditional marketing.  Of 171 publications MIN reported on, 84% saw ad pages decline in November including 24.5% who saw a decline of 30% or more.   

This data demonstrates how traditional media forms (magazines, newspapers, etc.) continue to see a decline in advertisers and subscribers due to the growing use of the internet by both consumers and companies.  Look no further than the newspaper industry as some of the country’s most known and respected newspapers have folded in the last year (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Rocky Mountain News, etc.). 

In the article ‘Are These Newspapers Going Out of Business?’ Lee Bains talks about the recent transition of readers, and marketing dollars, going from traditional marketing to online marketing.  “Even back before the financial crisis struck, newspapers were struggling to maintain subscriptions and whatever advertising money they could as readers increasingly turned their attentions, and companies their dollars, to the Internet.” 

Despite the fact that traditional media forms are losing subscribers they continue to increase their rates.  Magazines and newspapers are now charging a premium for ad space to help recoup lost advertising dollars and subscription fees.  Hearst Magazines, who operates Good Housekeeping, Redbook and Cosmopolitan, announced it would be raising their advertising rates in 2010.  They also plan to decrease their circulation by printing two million fewer copies of its magazines each month.  These trends will carry on into 2010 as magazines and newspapers will continue to lose advertisers and subscribers to the online community.

Companies must face the reality that consumers are going online more than ever to read the latest news, to learn about the latest products/services and to shop.  Even for those who are not purchasing a product online, 78% of consumers search the internet before making a purchase offline.  These facts make a strong argument that companies, including animal health companies, must make a commitment to online marketing sooner rather than later.       

“It’s clear that traditional marketing has lost its luster.  Companies are not getting the type of return on their investment like they did five years ago,” said Preston Munsch, Owner of cheetahLink (www.cheetahlink.com) an online marketing and consulting firm specializing in the animal health industry. “There are several reasons for this including the fact that people want the latest information and traditional marketing simply can’t provide well-timed information.  On the other hand, online marketing allows a company to communicate with consumers twenty-four hours a day providing valuable and timely information utilizing blogs, social media sites like Twitter, RSS feeds and other online tools.”

Online Marketing Is Here To Stay

The animal health industry, especially the equine and livestock industries have relied heavily on traditional marketing the past five decades.  Simply flip through the latest issue of your favorite animal magazine and compare it to an issue from two years ago.  The numbers of advertisers are not only down but the sizes of the ads are down.  The good news is that leaders in the animal health industry are starting to make changes.

“The one positive thing that we have seen from this difficult economy is that companies are being smarter with their marketing dollars,” said Munsch.  “Certainly some companies have reduced their marketing budget but a lot of companies are using their marketing dollars more wisely including the investment in online marketing.”

The new year is here and for most companies it’s an extremely important year.  For some 2010 may be a make-or-break year.  As we begin the new year, companies must ask themselves a few critical questions. 

• Is our marketing campaign timely and providing information people are looking for today, not yesterday?
• Are we getting accurate and daily ROI reports on the success (or failure) of our marketing campaign(s)? 
• Do we have a marketing campaign that motivates consumers to buy, share and follow?

If you answered ‘yes’ to all three of these questions than you are well on your way to a successful 2010 and future.  If not, you may want to consider changing your approach in this ever fast changing economy.

About cheetahLink

Founded by Preston Munsch, cheetahLink is an online marketing and consulting firm that specializes in the animal health industry. The focus of cheetahLink is to increase sales, brand recognition and website traffic through search engine optimization, website development, social media site marketing (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) and other online marketing services.  CheetahLink also provides consulting services for animal health companies including product development, business development, sales/distribution plans, contract manufacturing, and other services.  Munsch has spent the past 10 years in the animal health industry specializing in product development, marketing, branding, sales, distribution and advertising.  Munsch has a Masters Degree in Business Administration along with a Bachelors Degree in Communication and Associates Degree in Graphic Design.

Local SEO Services | Ethical Local Internet Marketing

Without question, one of the most controversial parts of search engine optimization services is local SEO or local internet marketing.  Local internet marketing can be very beneficial for a business IF done correctly.  Unfortunately, there are a long list of internet marketing companies that provide unethical services.  These companies in fact can greatly hurt your search engine rankings with such practices.  Many of these companies will setup a local internet marketing campaign for you based upon a fake mailing addresses (that you don’t own), a ‘tracking’ phone number (that you don’t own) and a different domain name (that they own).  Thousands of companies have fallen victim to these practices.  When searching for an SEO company make sure they provide 100% ethical and genuine local SEO services.

A good local internet marketing company will include a number of marketing activities focused on increasing your online visibility to local customers.  The first step is to establish the client’s goal.  Is it to receive more visitors to their website? More phone calls?  Follow that with quick on-site SEO evaluation looking at your keywords, content, page title, page description, headings, etc.  It is important to establish the right keywords since they will be the foundation of all local SEO activities (local business listing, business description, reviews, etc.).  Also find out if they will conduct a competitor analysis as ‘you can’t beat your competitor unless you know them’.  A good local SEO campaign should also include optimizing your local listings on search engines, look at social media site options (Twitter is great for businesses like restaurants) and evaluate the company’s presence on review search engines (Yelp, CitySearch, etc.).

These are just a few tips and thoughts if you are considering local SEO services for your company.  If you need some help with your local SEO services, at cheetahLink we only provide true local SEO services as it is the only way to achieve both short-term and long-term goals.  We want your company to benefit from our services long after our services have expired.  To learn more about our local internet marketing services, drop us an email at pmunsch@cheetahlink.com or call us at 720.244.2034.

Keyword SEO | 7 Reasons Why Keywords Are Still Important

After being the focal point of website structure for years, keywords have lost their luster over the past year.  It is true most search engines do not use the keyword meta tag for search ranking purposes.  Google recently posted in their blog, “Our web search disregards keyword metatags completely.  They simply don’t have any effect in our search ranking at present.” 

But if you ignore keywords you are making a huge mistake.   If you want to increase your online visibility than keywords are still very mportant!

Most search engines may disregard the keyword metatag but establishing 6 to 10 keywords (per page) is extremely important.   The following is a list of why it is still important to spend plenty of time in determining your keywords for each landing page on your website.

1. Page title and description - Search engines certainly pay attention to your meta title and description so including keywords in your page title and description is vital.  Don’t go over board as you want to keep your page title to 70 characters or less (Google displays up to 66 characters).  Also, your page title is the hyperlink from the SERP (search engine results page) to your website so make sure it captives your audience.  The description is maybe the second most important element for search engine placement.  Again, try to include some of your keywords but avoid repeating what is in your title.   
2. Content- Keyword placement throughout your content is another good SEO strategy.  Most search engines give preference to the first 300 to 600 words of each page so make sure you include your keywords within these parameters.  Don’t go overboard but including a nice list of your keywords in your content is a good strategy.  To check the frequency of words on a page use this keyword frequency tool.
3. Headings – Similar to how newspapers and magazines use headings and sub-headings to help readers, websites can provide the same feature.  Headings not only help human readers read the content but they also help search engine spiders better identify and understand content on a page.  Because of their importance, including keywords in the headings is a good idea.  Don’t saturate your headings with keywords as you want to keep the headlines between 2 and 22 words for optimum visibility and search results.  Google results will only display the first 63 characters of each headline so keep that in mind.
4. Images – Images are certainly a great way to enhance a website but it is important to note that search engine crawlers cannot ‘see’ images.  If you have an image that contains important text, this content will not be seen by crawlers.  You can address this issue by using the ‘alt’ attribute.  The alt attribute allows web pages to assign text to the image.  This helps search engine crawlers identify the image.  The alt attribute is another opportunity to use a keyword or phrase.   
5. URL structure – The URL structure, along with your title tags and meta descriptions should all work together to help you with search engine visibility and rankings.  Just like your title tags and meta descriptions your URLs are also all going to be unique.  A URL such as www.example.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=34234 is an example of a poor URL structure.  Compare this to a URL of www.example.com/recipes/how-to-make-lasagna.com.  This URL is clean and targets specific keywords that are also included in the page content, headings and other important meta information.   
6. Viral marketing campaign – Establishing 6 to 10 keywords is vital not only for on-site purposes but off-site purposes as well.  Viral marketing, also known as word-of-mouth marketing, is the development of valuable content (new release, article, ebook, video, podcast, etc.) that is spread to others.  Using your keywords as the focus of your viral marketing campaign helps reinforce your relationship to those words and ranking within search engines.  Here is a blog post by fushionfoot.com on the Three Steps to Article Marketing.  The post talks about the importance of keywords in article marketing which is one form of viral marketing.  There are some other good tips as well.     
7. Social media sites/blogs – The right keywords are not only important for your website and a viral marketing campaign but they are important in the success of your social media marketing programs.  Search engines are increasingly indexing the social media tools such as blogs, micro-blogging sites like Twitter plus site profiles, discussions and forums.  The purpose of keywords in social networking is to gain the attention of fellow users on a topic which is of interest to them.  This is where your keyword analysis and structure comes into play with social media sites.  Social media expert Joel Comm talks about the importance of keywords in one of the most powerful social media sites – Twitter. 

To truly maximize your online visibility you need to establish 6 to 10 keywords (per landing page).  A good starting point is your home page as for most companies this will be your primary landing page.  As you grow and understand search engine optimization you can expand your landing pages which allows you to expand your total keywords.  So yes most search engines don’t regard the keyword metatag in search engine results but they certainly can have a major impact on all on-site and off-site activities. 

Please share your thoughts on the importance of keywords.  I am sure there are other applications and uses of keywords, both on-site and off-site, that I did not include.  I look forward to finding out from others additional ways to use keywords to increase online visibility.