Spring Training for Your Team!

Last fall, the Giants won it all for the third time in five years! We are thrilled that our hearts (and the Diamond Certified radio announcements) have been with them every step of the way.

Spring is a season of renewal. In nature, new grasses grow, flowers bloom and birds nest. For consumers, moods brighten, house projects are planned and cars are serviced. For company managers, it’s a time to achieve performance numbers, optimize employee skills, satisfy customers and generate more referrals.

As Giants and A’s spring training gets underway, I couldn’t resist adding a couple of baseball photos because it occurs to me that even though these athletes have played ball most of their lives, spring training is always a time of renewal—a focused opportunity to work on perfecting the fundamentals. The same holds true for companies, and that’s why, if you qualify for Diamond Certified, I encourage you to take advantage of our Diamond Certified Spring Training. Most of your competitors haven’t earned Diamond Certified, so if you qualify, you’ll see why the award is so important to quality-seeking consumers. If you qualify for Diamond Certified, we’ll conduct a 30-minute Diamond Certified Spring Training session at your location and turbocharge you and your staff. Like it or not, business is very competitive, so to beat local competitors, your team must be well trained and on its game. So, if you qualify, it’s wise to maximize your team’s usage of Diamond Certified to differentiate your company as Highest in Quality, top rated for customer satisfaction and one that provides its customers with Helpful Expertise.

Now Printing the 2015 Diamond Certified Directory for April Delivery!
More than 820,000 of these popular directories will soon be mailed to homeowners with $100,000+ in household income, select local business owners, property and apartment managers, and insurance and real estate agents throughout the Greater Bay Area. All Diamond Certified companies in good standing are included in their county’s Directory.

NEW: Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Tips Section in Directory!
Our vision is that, in addition to being seen as top rated for quality, Diamond Certified companies will be widely known by consumers as the most helpful local experts in their fields. One of our first steps to add the meaning of “helpful expertise” to the Diamond Certified brand was to create the Diamond Certified Experts initiative in the latter part of 2013. Now, 220 Diamond Certified company owners and managers have contributed their expertise in the form of bylined expert articles, tip sheets, and video tips. Our next step is to include summarized Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Tips in a new section in the back of each Directory. Consumers really like these expert tips, and we expect this new section to increase consumer engagement with our directories and web traffic to our popular site because each tip includes a web address that tells consumers where to read the full article.

ALERT: New Marketing Partnership Triples Our Radio Reach!
I’m pleased to announce the signing of a new radio and digital marketing agreement with Cumulus Media, owners of KNBR, KGO and KSFO. Starting now and continuing for the next two years, we’ll run 15,662 Diamond Certified radio announcements on these three stations and their web streams. Including our Giants advertising, we except to reach more than 70,000 people a day and more than 1 million people a month, with incredibly high frequency!

Record Promotions for Diamond Certified in 2015!
We’re continuing to aggressively build Diamond Certified brand power by spending even more on media and all types of digital marketing. That means MORE radio, video pre-roll, Google AdWords, Facebook and targeted editorial content. Here are the highlights of our 2015 media campaign:

• TV = 4,797 spots on Comcast, AT&T U-verse, DISH, DirecTV, KTVU and KICU, generating 42 million impressions
• Radio = 7,831 spots on KNBR, KGO and KSFO, generating 175 million impressions
• Newspapers = 20 big ads in each major daily, generating 37 million impressions
• Google AdWords = search ads by industry category customized by major personality types of consumers, generating 19 million impressions
• Facebook ads = reaching friends of our fans, generating 35 million impressions
• Media websites = reaching local consumers, generating 111 million impressions
• Web video pre-roll & YouTube = local consumers, generating 2 million impressions
• Web remarketing = reaching consumers who have visited our website, generating 1 million impressions