Planning a marketing campaign is a lot more complex than it used to be, to say the least. In the not too distant past, there were limited options available, at least by today's standards. Now, there seem to be almost unlimited choices, with new channels appearing constantly. There's print, web, email, events and social media, with multiple iterations of each. So how do you decide what's right for your company as we approach the New Year?

If you’re a marketing professional, you’re likely tasked with providing quantifiable ROI from your advertising investments. At the same time, you need to keep your company’s brand front-of-mind. To accomplish both goals, you need an integrated plan of lead-generation programs combined with brand awareness.

For lead-gen, there are certain trends that have surfaced this year. Webinars have continued to gain in popularity. The events that we promote each generate hundreds of quality leads, sometimes more than a thousand. Companies that have the resources provide their own content and MWJ provides the promotion, driving registration. For others, MWJ provides the presenter, content and moderator and the sponsor receives the branding and leads. Both are effective. Whitepapers are another vehicle growing in popularity. MWJ posts these on our website and promotes them in multiple ways. Each download is a lead, and thousands of our readers are accessing these resources monthly. A B2B Whitepaper can take many forms, with content ranging from company/product background information to any document that raises a problem and provides a solution. You may already have content at your disposal that you don’t realize can be used for this purpose.

The use of custom newsletters has also increased. These consist of aggregated content focused on a particular technology or product, with multiple sponsor messages embedded in the email. It allows companies to drive traffic to different sections of their website and also acts as an effective branding mechanism.

Our new website provides channels for targeted content. These channels have begun to be sponsored by several companies, allowing “ownership” of specific technology and product content and providing both lead-gen and branding through multiple banner ads.

Magazine media is no longer strictly print, as the content is distributed in hard copy and in digital format. We have just launched the MWJ App, which works in conjunction with the print publication to expand our readers’ repertoire. Keep in mind that the majority of our subscribers prefer to read the print magazine and that print magazine ads drive traffic to the web more than any other source.

The MWJ sales staff is well-versed in the benefits of all of the marketing/advertising opportunities that are available, so I encourage you to consult with them to customize a program to fit your unique needs.

We’re working on our January issue, which is focused on “Radar and Antennas”, with bonus distribution at the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE) event. The deadline to reserve ad space is Wednesday, December 14th, with ad material due by the 18th.

We’re also working on the Jan/Feb issue of Microwave Journal China, which enters its second year of publication in 2013. Our first year was a great success, with strong support from advertisers looking to reach this growing market. The deadline to reserve ad space is December 20th, with ad material due by the 27th.

I’d like to extend wishes for a happy and healthy holiday season from the entire MWJ team to all of our valued clients and readers.

Regards,

Carl Sheffres

Publisher