You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Marketing Advice/Trends’ category.
We all have to do it right? You are your own sales person when it comes to your business, so sometimes a good way for prospects to find you is for you to be out and about, present and active in the professional community. But there are so many events to go to, and its difficult to squeeze them into an already busy schedule or to include all of them in your budget. So, how do you maximize the resources you have, get the most from the events you attend, and get a return on your investment? We’ve got 5 easy tips for a better networking experience.
6. Set Reasonable Goals: Until they perfect cloning and you can be in multiple places at once, let’s just accept the premise that you may not be able to make all the events that are available to you. So, maybe set a goal for how many events you want to attend in a month. Anywhere from 2-4 is a great start. Setting a goal will allow you to put time in your schedule, be selective with what events to attend, and plan ahead.
5. Set a Budget: Some events are free, but others require an out of pocket expense. While there might be a price tag involved, there could also be a good return on your investment based on the type of the event or the people attending. With this in mind, it’s a good idea to set a monthly budget and to choose events wisely. You can mix up your events between one or two that cost money and one or two that are free mixers/networking happy hours.
4. Play it Cool: Be more interested in conversation than making a sale. You’ll find that people will gravitate to you more if you just be yourself or pick a current interest topic to talk about. Sometimes people who introduce themselves and immediately want to sell themselves can push people away. Conversations, connections, and experiences are what attract people to become interested in who you are and what you do. Letting this unfold naturally over appetizers and a drink is the perfect way to put yourself out there and make a good impression.
3. Don’t Over Indulge: A networking event is generally not the time to make a mad dash for the food table or to go through a few rounds of drinks to the point where your judgement/response time is impaired. Eat and drink in moderation, and if you happen to connect really well with a couple other attendees, let the evening continue by inviting them out for a drink or food afterwards.
2. Keep in Touch: Don’t wait for someone to reach out to you after a networking event. If you really want to stay connected, get their business card after talking with them, and then follow up with them via email the next day. This is not an opportunity for you to sell directly to them, but more a way to say that it was good to meet them and you would like to connect with them again. Connect with them on LinkedIn to keep the lines of communication open. That way you stay in their news feed and they get updates about what you’re doing.
1. Know Where To Look: Events are occurring everywhere and some searching on your part can prove to be very beneficial. You can find these events by searching within your immediate circle of professional colleagues. You can also use sites such as meetup.com to be a part of groups and join events where people gather based on common interest (professional, personal, etc). You can also search eventbrite.com to find out what events are occuring locally in your area. And you can look up the events of professional organizations and media outlets (such as Baltimore Business Journal, SmartCEO, Urbanite Magazine, etc).
This winning combination of choosing the right events, making the most of your time at them, following up, and planning accordingly will greatly enhance your networking experience.
Businesses are always looking for ways to stay in the minds of their clients and target market. Many of us forget that our website or online presence is a living and breathing organism. Meaning that it needs to stay fresh and have new content in order to keep people coming back and to stay afloat in the market. However, from the standpoint of the busy business professional, sometimes updating anything online falls to the bottom of the list (if it makes it there at all). The following are 5 easy ways to build your brand online:
1. Use social media to your advantage: Everyone pushes Facebook and Twitter for ways to immerse yourself in social media. If these outlets are not for you, that’s okay. Many businesses are now using LinkedIn to create professional and meaningful business connections. There are several professional groups that you can join (ones that are relevant to your industry or relevant to your target market). You can sign up to receive notifications of the different discussions occurring within the group, or you can log in once a week to browse through what’s going on. Providing relevant comments and feedback (be genuine, no self promoting) is a great way to earn the attention and respect of your groups.
2. Update your site regularly: You want people to come back to your website, but if there is nothing new there, what’s the catch? This is exactly why several businesses are getting into blogging, because it allows them to provide new/relevant content without having to always update their website. This will also allow you to establish yourself as a leader in the industry, building trust and credentials. Trust us, your future prospects will take notice. If you’re commenting on industry blogs or posting your own articles on relevant topics, it will drive interested parties back to your website. Blogging can seem overwhelming because it’s something that needs to be updated consistently. But you can keep it under wraps by setting up a schedule that fits into your lifestyle and sticking to it. You can also keep it up by providing relevant feedback to industry events verses coming up with completely new content.
3. Submit your ideas/reviews to other sites/blogs: The more you put yourself out there the better. If you already have a professional opinion or advice on a particular topic, why not submit it to an industry blog or online magazine? Generally speaking, many of our clients see a boost in traffic to their website when they are featured on another site that links back to them. When readers find value in what you have to say, they generally want to find out more about you online. If you can lead them somewhere where they found out more about you and could sign up for your newsletter, even better.
4. Google Analytics is your friend: Seriously, why aren’t you doing this? Google Analytics is FREE and it’s easy for a web developer to insert it into the coding of your site. Within a few weeks you have hard core data about who is accessing your website. You know where your traffic is coming from, in terms of geographic location, as well as how people are getting to your site (through Google, Twitter, Facebook; what search terms are being used, etc). Knowing is half the battle. As you review the data, you’ll start to generate ideas about what your next steps are. It may be running an ad-words campaign based on how people are currently finding your site, or it may be expanding your reach to a new geographical location based on the number of visitors you get to your site from a certain area.
5. Interact with your customers: Super easy to do, but often overlooked. If you have your online social media accounts, make sure your clients/customers know about them. Include the icons in a highly visible area on your website. If you have an email signature consider adding the links to one or two of them in there, or at the very least saying “Find us on (insert social media option here).” Encourage your customers to find you online and to write you there too. Then stay on top of responding and interacting.
Have you ever found yourself lost on a website, confused by an advertisement, or wondering what a person is really offering when you look at their business card? It is our professional opinion that, at the present moment, we are on an information overload. Throughout the day you are exposed to advertisements everywhere you go, from your radio, television, drive to work, magazines in the checkout line, and the list goes on and on. In a world where advertisers and businesses are constantly competing for your attention, how do you stay in the mind of your customers? How do you make them look twice? How to you peek their curiosity and entice them to learn more?
Our philosophy when it comes to design, advertising, and target marketing is:
Less is More.
Here are the TOP 5 MISTAKES that small businesses make and how you can learn from them to stay in the game.
Overcrowded Business Cards: Do you really need to list all your products, services, mission statement, etc on your business cards? Good grief, by the time you get it all on there, the font is at 6pt and we need a magnifying glass just to read it! Business cards have about 2-5 seconds max of being in front of someone, before they make the split decision to hold on to it or place it in the recycling bin. Keep the information on your cards simple, be creative, and give just enough for someone to say “Really?” and ask you for more information.
Overcrowded Websites: So we go to your website, and a video starts playing or sound starts playing (if you’re a multi-tasker that has several browser windows open, finding out where the noise is coming from is not a fun game). In addition to the video, there’s things flashing, there’s text everywhere, and there’s multiple drop down menus. Good grief! How is anyone supposed to find what they need on your website? Consider the concept of less is more. Keep the most valuable information on your site, in a way where it is easy to find and navigate through. Consider a blog or a newsletter for your frequent updates so they don’t clutter your site. Give your viewers a reason to actually contact you for more information.
Multiple eNewsletters/Emails: This is absolutely ridiculous around the holiday season in particular, and can cause patrons to unsubscribe from your newsletter. Pick a schedule for your newsletters and stick to it to establish some consistency. Daily posts/updates are better for Facebook and Twitter, instead of for your newsletter.
Really Long eNewsletters/Emails: Some newsletters run on FOREVER and are not necessary. In many cases if a viewer sees as lot of text, it’s discouraging. That means they can’t read it immediately, and they put it aside for later (we’re sure many of you are aware that in some cases, “later” never comes). If you have a long article, provide a preview in your newsletter, link the rest to a blog post. Give your readers the power to choose, and allow all of the items in your newsletter to be seen.
Serial Social Media Posting: So your customer logs onto their Facebook page, and they see a post from your business page. Fabulous! They want to check out the link. But wait! They are immediately distracted because you’ve sent out 5 additional posts within a span of seconds/minutes! What do they click on? You do know that Facebook gives users the options to hide the postings from those who they are connected to, at their own discretion right? Space out those posts and give your fans a chance to actually digest what you’re putting out. Consider creating a running Word document with your posts if you are doing them all at once. Then you can copy and paste them into Facebook on a timed basis. Suddenly, you’re getting comments and feedback. Good for you!
As you go through your own marketing materials, or make plans for future campaigns, remember that simplicity is key and less is more.
The holidays are upon us! Tis the season for time spent with family and friends, giving more than you get, and being in good spirits. It’s also the time when your inbox, computer and television are overburdened with commercials and advertisements about savings and holiday specials! YIKES! How are you supposed to think, let alone be creative when you’ve got so much going on around you? Never fear, JWatson Creative is here!
Here are 5 Tips to Keep You Thinking Creatively Over the Holidaze:
- Shut it Down: Let’s face it folks, whether you’re checking emails, gearing up for prime time television, or checking out the latest magazines while waiting in line, you’re guaranteed to be bombarded with holiday advertisements. Why not limit your exposure to the outside world for a bit and instead curl up with a book you’ve been wanting to read or a movie/documentary you’ve been meaning to watch?
- Take it With You: Traveling over the holidays? No worries, you can leave your travel woes behind and escape into a world of creative inspiration by bringing along your MP3 player. Load it up with music that makes you smile and then drift off into another world. Music not only relaxes the mind and body, it also provides a great space to let your ideas flow. If you’re unable to use an MP3 player, take along some good reading instead.
- Carry it With You: Carrying around a giant notebook full of ideas may be asking for a bit much. After all, how will you juggle that with grocery bags and gifts? But a small pad that fits into your purse or back pocket is perfect. Find inspiration on the go, whether it be by temporarily relaxing your mind, or being in the store and having something catch your eye. Write these thoughts and ideas down as quick as they come, and then lay them to rest. Later on, when things are less hectic, you can explore them further in your own time and space.
- Go Out With It: Your house is full of relatives, there isn’t an empty room anywhere, and you’ve been entertaining guests for what seems like days! Who ate your leftover pumpkin pie?!?! Time for a break! Excuse yourself and take a drive or a walk around the neighborhood. Sometimes all you need is a moment of clarity. If you can’t find that within your current situation, excuse yourself and go out and create it!
- Catch it on Camera: You’ve got your camera on you already because you’re tasked with taking pictures of the family and the tree and the present opening traditions. Why not have some fun with it and take some different pictures too. Perhaps play with depth, angle and point of view. Or, change the subject line. Take pictures of unique objects in the house, take pictures of people when they’re not looking or posing, take extreme close ups of items so that people can guess what they are later. The camera is the ultimate tool for being creative and exploring. You have to use it anyway, so just take it up a notch and see what you come up with.
JWatson Creative would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday as well as a prosperous new year!
If you’re not thinking about 2011, you absolutely should be. As this year comes to a close fast in between changing leaves and holiday leftovers, now is as good a time as any to start thinking about your business goals for 2011. In order to be successful in reaching a goal, you must have a clear picture in your mind of what you want to achieve. The key to effectively growing your business is to take time to reflect, evaluate, monitor and change. In doing so, you must develop goals and milestones to ensure your success.
When contemplating your business goals for 2011, consider the SMART methodology, meaning Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound goals. Let’s dive in a little deeper. Specific goals are well defined, and clear to anyone that has basic knowledge or understanding of the project. Measureable goals are able to evaluated and monitored; you can calculate how far away completion is and know when they have been achieved. Attainable goals are reasonable and reachable. Relevant goals take into account availability or resources, knowledge and time. Time-bound goals have time limits to them as to when they should be achieved. Your goals for 2011 need to encompass all of the aforementioned components.
As you evaluate your business, we would like to provide you with 3 suggestions of SMART business goals for 2011. We want to see you thrive!
Business Growth: Let’s say your goal is to increase your sales by 10 percent over a 12 month period, or bring on 2 new clients each month. Adjust the time, numbers and percentages as you see fit for your business. Let’s break this down: What does it take to increase your sales or bring in new clients? How can we turn this goal into action? Maybe it means setting yourself up to attend 2 business networking events a month, or doing follow up phone calls/emails for the people you’ve already connected with. Develop a plan of action for your goal, and then set up a time (maybe every 3 months if your goal spans over the year) to check in and evaluate your progress. If things are not going the way you want, rethink, regroup and adjust where necessary.
Be More Efficient: Let’s say your goal is to free up some time from your schedule to focus more on other aspects of growing your business. How can you do that if you’re a small business, wearing the hat of the business bookkeeper as well as the marketing director? Take a week and just write out what your time goes to. Is it mostly social networking? Invoicing? Etc. What areas can you afford to streamline or delegate to someone else, so you can shift your focus back to the core of your business? Have you looked into automated systems that automatically take care of your billing for you (see Freshbooks)? What about a Google Voice number that will keep record of all your voicemails, type them up for you and send them as emails? What about hiring a virtual assistant to take care of your paperwork and confirm your appointments? In the business world how you spend your time is important. Make sure you are spending it wisely. If you notice hiccups in your system, rethink, regroup and adjust where necessary.
Get Organized: Where was that paper from last week? Oh goodness, where is that email where that client told you what they wanted? Let’s say your goal is to get your business organized, which also ties into being more efficient. Take a week where you simply write down things that are not organized within your business as you notice them. Notes like “it takes too long for me to find files,” or “my supply room is unorganized so I can’t locate the items I need.” These are real problems that can slow your business down. Once you realize where the speed bumps are, take some time to research cost-effective systems to solve these problems. It could be something as simple as purchasing color-coded folders to organize your file cabinets, to investing in a software system that organizes and sorts your digital files. These goals can be measured on a time system by re-checking how efficient your new system is (does it still take forever to find something or locate a file?). If the new system is not picking up the slack, rethink, regroup and adjust where necessary.
Setting SMART goals are crucial to your success. The more specific you can get with these goals, the better. Suddenly, wanting to bring in new business becomes wanting to bring in 2 clients a month from the local eco-friendly business industry by attending 2 networking events and following up on people you’ve connected with. Last but not least you need to take action towards your goals. Writing your goals down is a great start, but there is more to be done. Even if you come up with a fantastic SMART goal nothing happens if you don’t act on them.
You make these goals happen by taking action consistently. And guess what, you’ve got a whole year at your disposal for getting the job done.
There is a delicate balance when it comes to the relationship between a customer/client and you, the service/goods provider. And client preferences are different. Some of your clients will love your eNewsletter while others have already lost control over their inbox and would rather read about your updates in a blog. The question is, how do you find a pleasant way to stay in the minds of your clients without becoming that overbearing “give me your business!” supplier? This is a good question indeed. Here are some suggestions to help you achieve that balance.
The 3-6 Month Follow Up Program: Depending on your business, sometimes 3 months works for this strategy, and other times 4 or 6 month intervals work. Either way, at whatever time schedule works for you, you should set aside some time to run through your top clients list and touch base with them via email. Remember, this is no general email. You know your clients. You know what projects they were working on when you last communicated, and you may even know some of their hobbies and personal interests. Play that knowledge to your advantage and send an email out that talks directly to them. You never know what new projects have landed on their desks, or what new needs they may have.
Send Out a Monthly Newsletter: What customer doesn’t like free information, especially if it is relevant and something they can easily use. Newsletters are also an opportunity to highlight your business or offer discounts. If you don’t have the budget to invest in an eNewsletter solution, we recommend MailChimp, a service that will let you have a monthly newsletter for FREE as long as your mailing list is under 1,000 and your sending limit is under 6,000 a month. We say monthly because you want to give your clients a little time to miss you, or at least to thoroughly read all of the information you have to offer. Newsletters that come out a couple days a week or sometimes weekly end up not getting read, or lost in inbox clutter.
Follow Your Clients: No, not literally! But your clients probably have social networking profiles out on the web, through Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. They will be happy to have your support. Then, you get to hear about what they are doing in live time, and they in turn get to see what you’ve been up to. Show your support even further by actually commenting on some of their posts and updates. Now this is really strengthening the relationship and showing support.
Give The Gift of Your Logo: It’s really cost effective to invest in a promotional item that has your logo on it. Something like a pen or a post-it note pad; these items are sure to get some use and its an indirect visual reminder about your business. These little items can be included when you ship orders if your business makes a product. It can be sent with a final invoice if you’re in the service business. Or, the holidays are literally just around the corner (hint hint), you could slip a promo item in the envelope with your holiday card thanking your clients for another great year.
Think About Your Clients: “Just a little note to let you know I was thinking of you….” Okay, maybe it doesn’t have to be that sentimental! But you get the point. Your best clients and customers are the ones you know the most about. Is someone a sports fan? Well, send an email about how their team did in the playoffs last night. Is someone really into online marketing? Email them an article you found on some really ground-breaking online marketing techniques. You probably come across a lot of this information in your daily web surfing. Why not use it to your advantage.
Remember, you are responsible for making sure your business gets noticed and your clients know that you are there when they need you. The real question is, what are you going to do about it?
One of the best quotes about the importance of advertising is by Stuart Henderson Britt and goes like this: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.” If you want your advertising to resonate with prospective customers, it’s essential that you appeal to their emotions in some way. Fail to do this and you might as well be throwing money out the window….or winking in the dark.
As a small business more often than not, you may not have a budget set aside for marketing, or you may not have limited to work with. Maybe you’ve been sticking with the free advertising that’s available to you (like for example, your business has a blog, a twitter page, and a facebook fan page). Those are good outlets for promoting your business and you should definitely keep those up, we’ve put together some points below that will persuade you to consider making a monetary investment. A little bit of money in the right marketing campaign can go a long way. That’s exactly why you need to spend your advertising dollars wisely and be very strategic with your campaign. You need to ensure a return on your investment and you need to generate new or repeat business.
First things first, you should start off every campaign with a little research. What’s the message that you are trying to deliver? “We are the best at….” or “10% your order…” A clearly defined selling point is important. Perhaps even more important is Who are you selling to? And your answer shouldn’t be “anybody” or “everybody.” You should be targeting specifically your ideal or potential customers and clients.
Here are some more questions you need to answer to help further clarify your advertising options:
- How does my target customer/client receive information? If they are online a lot, targeted internet advertising might be money well spent. Do they read the paper or any local magazines?
- How old is my target customer/client? What attracts the baby boomer generation may be way over the heads of generation Y.
- What appeals to my customer/client? How can I connect with them? Are they looking for a sale, to support or care for a cause, maybe a human connection?
- What makes my business unique? What can you offer your ideal customer/client that no one else can? Price? Service? Something unique? These elements should be echoed throughout the overall packaging of your campaign.
- What am I trying to sell? There is nothing worse than a confusing message that doesn’t make sense to the end-user. That’s wasting money!
The answers to these questions may not come overnight and that’s okay. You are investing money into whatever direction you choose, so its important not to rush into a campaign, investing your money without thinking it out first. Once you have the answers and a clear direction, now its time to put your plan into action. As promised, below are some cost effective options for advertising your business.
Really Direct Mail: Maybe you don’t have the budget to do a mass mailing to a particular region. Goodness, some of those mailings NEVER get opened by your potential customer/client and go straight into the recycling bin. But what if you made a list of 10-50 potential customers/clients that you would love to do business with? Suddenly, you have drastically cut the cost of a massive mailing and are beginning to zone in on your target audience. Now what? You have a couple options. You could send out a postcard or a brochure, but it needs to be very clever and eye catchy to end up in the right hands and not in the bin. Or, you can abide by a very important rule of thumbs – you can send a package. It can be small, because what curious person doesn’t want to rip open a package and see what’s inside? Get creative with what you would send with your printed marketing piece. In addition to your brochure or selling point, can you send a free sample? Can you send a branded promo item that the end user would actually use?
Really Direct Marketing: This is to piggyback off of the above suggestion. If you know your target customers/clients read a particular local or trade magazine, consider running an ad in there. Does your target customer/client frequent a particular tradeshow or event? See what it costs to get a booth or table there. You don’t have to go to all the tradeshows as this may not be cost effective if you are on a budget, but if you can target one and then work within your budget for that, this could be effective.
Showing Love to Current Customers/Clients: Sometimes the best business is referral business and repeat customers. How do you show your current customers/clients that you are thinking about them? If its just an email newsletter then you could most definitely be doing more. What if you offered a discount for your current customer/client and then one to pass along to a friend? What if you included a personal note with someone’s order or tossed in a free promo item (something useful with your logo on it, of course). No matter what it is, in most cases, people are happy to receive something extra, and if they are really happy with your product, they will spread the word. Anything you can do to help make that “spreading the word” easier on their part would be very beneficial to you.
Speak Up!: Is there anywhere you can go to give a presentation? Not a selling presentation where you say “you should buy my product because…”, but how about an event where you can be the expert and speak from your knowledge and experience. With all the business expos, groups, networking events, seminars, and so forth and so on, there’s got to be somewhere that you can step into the lime light. And if you are a business in any particular field, you’ve got to have professional knowledge that will benefit others. Do a little research and see where that takes you. If you come up empty handed organize the lecture yourself, all you need is a venue and light refreshments, then advertise for it locally or online (EventBrite is a free event-organizing service you should check out if you decide to go this route). The costs are minimal for presentation materials. You could include a brochure, handouts, business cards, and a free item for your audience taking part in the presentation. After you talk, you can pass around a form where your audience members can volunteer their email addresses and contact information.
Get Behind A Good Cause: Sometimes having your business name and logo associated with a positive cause locally can go a long way. This may require a monetary donation or a donation of goods/services, but in return it yields brand recognition. Even better if you are present on the day of the event, visible and talking with participants, handing out your business cards. Depending on the organization, if they were not set up to provide you with your company name/logo listed as a supporter, there may be some wiggle room for offering it as a suggestion. Something along the lines of, “I would be happy to provide my services of [insert your amazing service here] in exchange for maybe my logo on your mailer and marketing material as a supporter of this cause/event.” The possibilities and arrangements here are endless and the cost is minimal.
The above suggestions should definitely put those wheels in motion and have you thinking about what else you can be doing to promote your business. If you have additional ideas feel free to comment on this article.
Resources:
We are always looking for exceptional design and we love the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics logo. This article below was originally featured on the Canadian Press website. We’re sharing this with you to give you the inside scoop behind the design.
The 2010 Winter Olympics will feature a unique design of an inukshuk, a traditional stone sculpture used by Canada’s Inuit people, as its official logo.
The winning logo, called Ilanaaq (el la nawk), was unveiled Saturday in Vancouver and was designed by local graphic designers Elena Rivera MacGregor and Gonzalo Alatorre.
Their emblem was selected by a nine-member panel and beat out over 1,600 other submissions.
The logo boasts five stone-like formations in green, two in blue, and one in red and yellow. Two pillars serve as the legs in support of the body, a horizontal shape acts as the arm and an eagle is where the head would normally be.
The form stands over the words “Vancouver 2010″ and the five Olympic rings.
The different colours represent different regions of the country: the green and blues symbolize coastal forests, mountain ranges and islands. The red represents Canada’s Maple Leaf and the yellow depicts the brilliant sunrises.
“There were only so many things that could represent the entire country,” said Rivera MacGregor. “We researched it and we concluded the inukshuk was in fact one character that could pretty much tell the whole story.
“The value of the style and components of it, the colours, that’s what took it over the top.”
Rivera MacGregor said her team used an inukshuk in Vancouver’s Stanley Park as their inspiration.
Even though the Vancouver Olympics are five years away, you can expect to see the logo on television, on signs, on clothes, and on global advertisements in the lead up to the 2010 Olympics.
“This is an emblem when you see it once you never forget it,” said John Furlong, chief executive officer for the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee. “That’s remarkable and important.”
The new logo also impressed Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee.
“I loved it immediately,” Rogge said in a videotaped interview shown to the crowd. “I smiled when I saw it.”
“It reminds me of a hockey goalie.”
Paul Okalik, premier of the territory of Nunavut, was pleased by the choice of an inukshuk as the Olympic symbol.
“We don’t have any Maple Leafs from where I come from,” said Okalik. “This is very special.
“It shows a strength. Our inukshuk has been around a very long time. To be shown off to the rest of the world is very special for us.”
With the rise of social media and online users being more eager to check their Facebook and Twitter than their email accounts, in terms of marketing strategy, one must ask, where do we go from here? Partitioning out your marketing budget used to include setting funds aside for an advertisement or two (print or web), and perhaps getting some promotional materials printed (whether it be brochures, mailers, etc). Now, it’s more like seeking out followers on Twitter that can be potential customers to you, and doing advertisements to get people to join your Facebook fan page. Are there any trends or current characteristics that we can point out to help guide us in the future of marketing as we dive deeper into the social media era?
Yes. In our research on the future of marketing we came across an article by Gareth Kay, the head of Planning for Modernista. Have you heard of the term Amara’s law? It simply states that a”we inevitably overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their long-term effects.” Sound familiar? Some of these social networks have literally sprouted up over night! At the same time, you shouldn’t rush into them without a plan of action. The rise of social media technology will have a lasting impact on our culture, especially with reference to how you reach your consumers. Kay had some great insights as to where the future of marketing might be headed. We are going to highlight them here and add our insight too.
Brands will be built on cultural and social missions, not commercial propositions.
So true! Kay says that “marketing historically has been obsessed with the concept of positioning – how you are different to your competitors in your category. Increasingly, great brands are realizing that people don’t see categories and don’t obsess about them.” What actually matters is your company’s point of view, your cultural mission. Your customers and potential customers are looking to connect with you and find something that you have in common. Take a look at the Dove “Campaign for Beauty” or USA networks “Characters wanted” campaign, or yet still the “Product (RED)” campaign that has united several brands under a common goal. The beliefs that your consumers have shape their lives, right down to the materials they buy. What can you do to connect with your customers on a more personal level?
Marketing will be about what you do, not what you say.
Absolutely. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Try to look at your business through the eyes of your consumer. Still lost? Ask your current customers or potential customers to look at your business and provide feedback. This can be through an online survey or simply a question and answer email after they check out your website. Your goal, as a business, is to make it natural for customers to come to you, and come back every time. You see your business through your own eyes, but what about the eyes of an outsider looking in. Are you reaching your customers? Some basic research into your own market can easily highlight common issues like “it’s hard to navigate through your website,” or “I can’t figure out what you’re trying to sell me.” Look at companies such as Zappos, who upgraded to overnight shipping, or how Amazon has one-click shopping. They are responding to the need of their customers who want things quickly. What do your customers need from you to make their experience delightful and how can you deliver to exceed their expectations?
Lots of little ideas, not one big idea.
According to Kay, “the future of marketing lies in breaking the tyranny of the big idea for two reasons. First, we must remember that while marketing (and brands) exist for a commercial purpose, they live in a cultural space.” And culture is far more richer, deeper, and complex. Marketing will be more culturally interesting if it is made up of lots of coherent ideas instead of constantly repeating one idea. “Second, given our inability to predict the future, it makes much more sense to start lots of fires to see what takes hold; to place lots of small bets, rather than putting everything on black 35.” Think about your marketing efforts. Do your research yes, but instead of picking one big idea and running with it, pick four small ideas and see where they take you. All your eggs are not in one basket, and you can monitor your results. Learn from them and then scale up behind the ideas that seem to be working. If you’re doing online advertising, there are plenty of ways to monitor whether or not an ad or article or website is working (see Google Analytics, or WordPress has a stats feature, and most websites track incoming traffic and will compile that data automatically for you). Think BIG. Start small.
People first.
Marketing will be about putting people first. Too often marketing efforts have centered around convincing people how great your company is rather than working out what people are interested in and working out how you might be able to add value. Kay sites Tate tracks, a campaign created by Fallon London for the Tate Modern Gallery. “They needed to increase the number of under-25s visiting the gallery and realized that their current marketing tactics were unlikely to change behavior. So instead they thought about what this target audience was passionate about – music – and created a campaign around art inspiring new, exclusive music.” So perhaps now is a good time to ask, what is your target audience interested in? Let’s get a clearer picture about who they are and what motivates them. Then, tap into their interests and find some way to relate them to your products and services.
To sum it up, when it comes to marketing, creating cultural value will create commercial value. The possibilities are endless.
Resource
The Future of Marketing on Talent Zoo by Gareth Kay
The new year is upon us! You’ve partied with friends or stayed in and celebrated with family. You toasted with champagne or kissed at midnight. And no doubt you’ve started to contemplate the possibilities of what is yet to come. There is no time like the present to start thinking about your business goals and what you hope to accomplish in 2010. Thinking about this now and setting some goals for yourself will help to further ensure your success in the future. In light of the new year, we have developed a list of 10 tips of what you absolutely have to do to make 2010 your year.
10. What is Your Brand? “Brands are defined by the customer. They exist as a feeling that extends beyond the product itself,” says T. Scott Gross, author of Microbranding. What do we say? We define a brand as the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your customers. Strong brands elicit thoughts, emotions, and sometimes physiological responses from customers. Think of your favorite brands and your response to them as they pass through your mind (for example…Apple, Starbucks, Nike, etc). What should your customers think or feel when they talk about or see your company? If you are drawing a blank, you should definitely take some time to think about this and write down what you want your customers to feel. Words like “happiness, quality, reliability” are all great adjectives to start with. Then, build your entire company around these core values. Remember, brands are not concrete; they are the thoughts, feelings, and psychological relationships between a business and its customer. And your brand is the foundation of all your marketing activities.
9. Your Mission Statement. According to the Center for Business Planning, your mission statement should be a clear and succinct representation of your company’s purpose for existence. It should incorporate socially meaningful and measurable criteria addressing concepts such as the moral/ethical position of the enterprise, public image, the target market, products/services, the geographic domain and expectations of growth and profitability. And, it should represent value. If you haven’t written your mission statement yet, now is the time! And when you are finished you can put it in your office or place it on the back of your business card as a constant reminder. Your mission statement can be broad or specific and shouldn’t be more than a couple sentences. If you have trouble getting started, we recommend researching the mission statements of some of your favorite brands. For example, 3M’s mission statement is “to solve unsolved problems innovatively,” Mary Kay Cosmetics’ mission is “to give unlimited opportunity to women,” and our personal favorite, Walt Disney’s mission is “to make people happy.”
8. Image is Everything. Have you been putting off getting your website professionally designed or getting a logo for yourself? Don’t make this mistake! Make this year your year! Start setting aside some funds so that you can have a budget to make this happen. When you are researching which creative company or freelancer to go with, remember that you get what you pay for. Websites that are offering to do your logo design for next to nothing may not give you the personal touch you deserve. Here are some components to consider in your search: Will you be able to call and talk one on one with the potential company about your needs? Will the company consult with you for free? Will they offer more than one option? What is the turn around time? How would they deliver the final files to you? Ultimately, you want a company that will take the time to understand the nature of your business and the industry that you are in, so that they can provide you with the highest quality of design. Still not sure where to start? We will evaluate your old website or logo for free. Simply fill out this contact form to get your FREE evaluation and we will be in touch!
7. Get Your Social Networking in Sync. This comes in two parts. (Part 1) Now is the time to get all of your social networking efforts together. Are still logging into Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn separately? You can save a lot of time by syncing up your social media efforts. For example, from your Facebook account you can link up to your Twitter account so your updates will appear from one to the other. Activate this application by clicking here. Log into LinkedIn and you’ll see that it has the option to post Twitter status updates too! Now logging into Twitter will update your status on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Do you have multiple Twitter accounts? Two great interfaces you should consider for managing them are HootSuite and Splitweet. Check out this very informative article on Mashable: The Social Media Guide for more options.
(Part 2) Does your website look one way, your Facebook page another way, and your Twitter page looks like something else? Consistency and repetition are very important when it comes to brand recognition. Make sure your customers and fans know its you by taking advantage of being able to have a custom Twitter background and upload images to your company’s fan page. An easy fix would be to make sure that your logo is clearly displayed on all forms of social media. There are also several sites that provide FREE Twitter backgrounds; if you go this route, double check to make sure the logo or name of the provider of the image you use isn’t so big and bold that it overpowers your logo and your message.
Want something more original? You can also get your Twitter background and icon custom designed to match the style of your website or your company. Our client, Footprints at 50, is an excellent example of having a unified professional design across the board. Be sure to check out her website, Twitter page, and blog. We’d be happy to take a look at your online presence and offer suggestions for FREE. Just fill out this contact form and we will be in touch!
6. SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It’s easy, it’s beneficial, and many people do not do it. Your website can be spectacular, but it’s not living up to its full potential if the right people aren’t seeing it. Optimizing your website makes it easy for search engines to go through your site and bring it up in relevant searches. Setting up your Meta Tags, site map and page descriptions is simple HTML that you may be able to do, or your designer or VA should definitely be able to do. If you are unsure about it, check with your service provider where you purchased your domain name and hosting package. They might have a search engine optimization plan that you can pay for to have it done. For example, if your site is through GoDaddy.com, they have a search engine visibility package, with the lowest option priced at $28.49 for 2 years. Check out this plan and other options by clicking here. And, as an added tip, submitting your website to most search engines is FREE.
5. Meet People. Hello, my name is… Many industries operate on a “it’s all who you know” basis. Be available. Check out your local business journal for networking events, but also keep in mind, they don’t always have to be networking events. Have you heard of Meetup.com? This site allows people to meet up and form groups based on similar interests. Search for groups in your area that meet your needs and interests (for example, Young Entrepreneurs, or Green Business Owners). Also search for groups that might be outside of your industry (if you are a boutique, you may get more potential customers amongst a mix of people rather than other boutique owners). By the way, as you’re headed out and about, it would be a good idea to have some business cards handy. Our portfolio is full of examples of business cards we’ve done for our satisfied clients. For example, check out Destiny Homes 4 You, Get Luba Fit, and Butterfly Effects.
4. Send Out An E-Newsletter! It’s a very cost effective way to stay in touch with your customers and clients. This is not something that you have to update every day. Set it up so it works with your schedule so you don’t overwhelm yourself looking for content. An eNewsletter is an excellent way to call attention to a new product or promotion and its a good way to collect contact information. Many service providers for eNewsletters (such as Constant Contact for example) offer free trial periods so you can get comfortable using their service. Mail Chimp offers free use of their services as long as your mailing list is under 500. Here’s some additional advice, choose quality over quantity when it comes to the content of your newsletter. It is okay to sign up for other newsletters from your industry just to see what they are talking about and how they structure their content.
3. Keep In Touch. Your customers/clients are what drives your business. Keep them happy and you will get additional business from referrals. Let your customers know that you appreciate them in a way that brings them back to you. After you complete a service for them, send them a note thanking them for their business, and you can also offer 10% off their next project. If it’s a product that you are selling, you can also include a note that says “Thank you for your business!” You can include a coupon for a percentage off of their next purchase. Or, you can include a company branded promotional item (a notepad, pen, bumper sticker, etc) as a freebie with their order. Everyone loves getting something for free, and it is even more of a surprise when it’s unexpected. These little tactics are sure to help you hold on to your current customers and attract new ones as well.
2. Take Time For You. This would be time away from the computer, away from the smart phone, away from all things work related. You are no good to your business or your clients/customers if you are stressed out or feel as if you are stretching yourself too thin! Whip out your planner and schedule some me time! It can be a few minutes to dive into a book you’ve been meaning to read, a walk in the park, dinner with friends, etc. Make a wish list if you have to. You schedule time to meet with clients, to give free consultations, and to work on your online marketing efforts, why not put yourself on the schedule too? Taking a few minutes or more a day will allow you to regroup, refocus, have a clear mindset, and be of even more value to your customers.
1. Grow. If you are a small business owner then it may seem like you are on the front line for your business. You are making the sales call, you are the customer service rep, you are the marketing guru. How can you continue to fuel the many facets of your business? You must look for ways to continue to grow on a personal and professional level. Make it a goal to once or twice a month do something that advances your knowledge and your skill-set. This might mean attending an online seminar, speaker series, lecture, class or a conference that relates to your trade (be sure you’re not signing up for “How to Make 6 Figures in 30 Days” or similar platforms, you want professional, concrete information as it relates to you). Set aside a small budget to make this happen. This is important. These growth sessions, whatever they may be, will help you to develop fresh ideas, gain a broader perspective, and learn from the experiences of others.
