Don’t rely on social media to build your companies word of mouth.
Everyone thinks that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. In fact, many companies have made money solely via word of mouth referrals. However, putting all of ones eggs in the word of mouth basket is not wise.
In business you need to make sure that you are constantly exposing new customers to your business on a consistent basis. You do this by implementing the proper marketing techniques in the right, targeted, advertising mediums. When you combine these efforts to generate new business with strategic programs designed to grow word of mouth revenue you will not suffer as many lows in your revenue stream and will enjoy a steadier cash flow.
If you think Social Media is the best answer think again.
It is important to increase your social media efforts to keep your brand and message in front of your targeted market however a New Jersey based research firm the Keller Fay Group, surveyed over 32,000 participants and found that 91 percent of respondents’ information about brands came as a result of in person conversations or over the phone.
BUT only seven percent of word-of-mouth conversations about brands occur online.
I know you thought it was more. Everyone does. But think about it. In your Facebook or twitter stream how many of your friends actually say “go check out this company they’re great!”? Not many. How many times do you do it yourself? Once a month maybe? So in reality a small 7 percent are learning about your company on social media. But that is something to grow on.
So what can you do online to create some buzz?
Make sure you do things on-line that allows people to take the conversation off-line. (And make sure everyone in your company is in the customer retention business.) You could create an interesting video and place it on YouTube. You could create a survey that can be shared on-line and discussed off-line. Make interesting images that can be printed with your product in use. Whatever you come up with the most important part is to make sure that people with influence see your efforts.
As always your comments are welcome and appreciated.
How to Market To Business Owners?
Are you a company that sells B to B (Business to Business)? Looking for marketing advice on how to market to business owners? The tips below will show you how to market to business owners.
Make sure before you implement any techniques, when marketing to business owners, you have a fantastic website that will convert prospects into customers! All marketing techniques and strategies should incorporate your website address.
When marketing to business owners try some of these suggestions.
Here are some tips for How to market To Business Owners?
Create a Professional Company Brand
Did you know that people will remember a branded company approximately 20% more then one that is not branded? That percentage should not be overlooked. Your company needs a corporate brand which would include a professional logo, correct color choices, branded image elements, etc. This brand trickles down to every marketing piece your produce from your business cards to your website.
Get a Professionally Designed Company Website
All of your marketing and advertising is supported by your website. In today’s economy not having a website is like not having a business card. Many people look for your company on line to research you before they decide to do business with you. Your website should include everything required to make a sale. From contact forms to call to action buttons, videos, webinars, free reports, email sign ups and more.
Search Engine Pay Per Click (PPC)
Once you have a GREAT website sign up for Google AdWords and create online advertising triggered by keywords that point to your website. All the large search engines have PPC opportunities.
Direct Mail
Think of it. All those mail persons out there becoming your sales force! With a properly designed mailing piece directed to a target market you can get the attention of your prospects. You can use postcards or letters or product samples, etc. If you are using letters a great technique is to hand address them to ensure they get opened. When was the last time you threw out a hand addressed letter? Keep in mind that any direct mail campaign must be tested and done frequently. If you are going to do it only once then you are probably wasting your time. An average undeliverable rate is 10 – 12 percent.
Direct Email
Just like direct mail you can secure opt-in emails via a list broker. The great thing about email marketing is you can track how many people opened the email, if and where they clicked through to your website and if was actually delivered, etc. Then you could produce reports and resend emails to those who opened or clicked through. Email marketing is great for reconnaissance and follow up.
Cold Calling (Telephone)
After you have implemented a direct mail campaign call the business owners on the list and ask then if they are interested in the information you provided and set up appointments with them. If this is your first time doing this record your voice (not the callers) so you can go back and tweak your pitch.
Cold Calling (Foot Work)
When you are on an appointment check your list and see if any of your prospects are near by. If they are stop in and say hello. Make sure you have information to leave with them.
Join Networking Groups
Networking is a great way to get in front of business owners. The best way to utilize them is to make sure you go to every event. Networking is just like advertising the more you do the more likely they are to remember you. Have plenty of professional business cards on hand. One technique is to actually tell your fellow networkers that you pay for leads that close.
Friends and Family
You would be surprised to know that many of your friends and family members are wither business owners or know people that are business owners. Ask them to introduce you.
LinkedIn is a great place to find business owners. Start by developing your network and see where who they lead you to.
These are just some of the many ways to market to business owners. If you would like to know more ways on how to market to business owners just contact us at 732-818-0080 and we will go over all of the possibilities and advanced strategies designed to get your cash register ringing!
Choose the right keywords for your Search Engine Optimization
Here is a quick Search Engine Optimization tip.
When you are looking to tweak your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on your blog posts and web pages one major thing to remember is to make sure you are actually using search terms that your CUSTOMERS would use to find answers. Also, only use COMMON industry terminology that your customers might have been exposed to in a competitors pitch.
Does your company use Social Proof in its marketing?
From Wikipedia
Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation. This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.
You can use Social Proof in your marketing.
When you’re advertising your goods and services it’s important to use Social Proof in your copy and images. A quick easy way to accomplish this is to use testimonials throughout your copy as well as video testimonials on your website. When prospects are close to a decision they will look to others to help them decide if buying from you is the right choice.
Also, if you are trying to sell a certain product and have successfully sold it too many others let everyone know by saying “Hundreds of Housewives have purchased…” (Notice I used a specific group “Housewives” if your main customer base is “Couples” use “Couples”. Etc.) Think of it as a way to push them off the fence and into your yard.
You can also use Social Proof in imagery in your marketing. By knowing your best customers you can incorporate people that fit the same visual profile. Social Proof is also very helpful when you are using social media to promote your company. Encouraging people to “like” an image of your product or statement and then following up with those people will help your bottom line but you must be fast. Be careful not to do too much Sales Bitching (thanks Starr Hall) in your social media.
So you don’t think it will work?
Everyday you are exposed to Social Proof. For example when is the last time you watched a TV show with canned laugh track and found yourself laughing a bit too hard for something that wasn’t that funny? You can try a Social experiment. Go to the mall, stand on the side and look up. Have someone off to the side record how many people in 5 minutes that also look up. Then do the same thing with five of your friends, all looking up. You will notice that now you have everyone looking up that passes your group by, you might even draw a crowd.
Let me know how you use Social Proof in your marketing.
There are many other ways to use Social Proof in your marketing. If you would like to talk about how Social Proof can help your business give me a call at 732- 818- 0080. We have helped hundreds of businesses and we can help you too.
As always your comments are appreciated and welcomed.
Building an email list is easy for any retailer if you do it right and offer a strong incentive.
Have you recently been at a retailers check out when the clerk asks you to give your email address but does not tell you why they want it or what you can get if you give it? Because of this not many give it. This happens to me 99% of the time. Now that’s a terrible percentage for the retailers as it proves that their employees are not trained sufficiently and are not supervised with penalty (yes, I said it). This can cost the retailer thousands of dollars in lost future revenue.
Here are some free tips to help you.
- Collect emails from customers all year.
- Have an employee tell people that are in the store to get ready to give their email address at checkout and how they will benefit from giving it.
- Have a poster, or a hand out, with the reasons to give your email address.
- Make sure you have a STRONG OFFER which will incentivize them to give their email to you. (Tip: Give them a percentage off of the sale right away and another valuable offer that is sent to them at their email address for a future purchase.)
- Tell them you will keep their email private and will never sell their information. (Only if it’s true.)
- Tell them that anytime they wish they can unsubscribe to future emails.
- When collecting their email associate the email with the purchase in your database. Then you sort and offer coupons for similar and up sell items in the follow up email.
- If they will not give their email address, believe it or not they might not have one, ask them for their snail mail address so you can also send them the offers.
- And the most important thing I only saw happen 10% of the time is to DON’T FORGET TO SAY THANK YOU!
Do you have any other ways you collect emails?
If you want to learn how to incorporate a system for doing this just contact us and we will be happy to discuss it with you at no charge.
As always thanks in advance for your comments.
Make money by offering your services as a bonus.
Do you want a great idea to make money by offering your services as a bonus and market your company without incurring any marketing or advertising costs? Find a company that sells to customers that are similar to your client base. Then ask them if they want to offer a bonus of your consultation to their customers. Let’s say you’re an electrician and you team up with an appliance store, you could put together a 15-30 minute electrical inspection for customers who purchase a new washer and dryer. (Make sure you tell them the value of the offer. Ex. 30 Minute Electrical inspection a $99.00 value.)
This example gives the appliance store the ability to offer a very valuable bonus to their customers and it gives you the ability to get in front of new customers. Even if you only get a few sales right away from other things they need, it will help you build a HOT prospect list for your future marketing. And keep in mind you could do the same for them.
As always your comments are appreciated.
Same Old Ad Equals Same Poor Results.
If you are going to advertise your company in any publication it’s important to remember that when you get your ad designed by the people who are working for the publication, in most cases, the ad will look similar to all the other companies in that publication. BIG PROBLEM! We see it all the time. Logo first, poor headline, some text that is confusing, no call to actions, phone number same font size as the main copy text, etc, etc. FAIL!
If you are going to spend the money to advertise then DO IT RIGHT! For a bit more you can have a professionally designed, strategic ad created that is designed to generate interest in your company by appealing to your customers demographics and psychographics. In most cases the publication can give agencies like us a discount for doing the ad. Sometimes the discount you get pays for the professionally designed ad! Remember you also save that amount Month after month.
Don’t turn your employees into a bunch of Grinch’s! Tired employees equals poor customer service.
If you are a business owner and are going to stay open extended hours during the holiday season it’s important to remember that your employees will be working more hours than usual and will become less “enthusiastic” when it comes to customer service. Now I understand that we are all only human but if you spent money on advertising and marketing to bring new customers into your location it is imperative that your employees are treating those customers right so don’t over work them and bring on seasonal help if necessary. The customer relationship is so fragile in its beginning stages that this cannot be overlooked.
Customer service is paramount!
Happy Holidays!
A quick warning about email marketing
We have been hearing many radio commercials extolling the benefits of a certain email service. They go on to infer that just by signing up with them your business will increase. We want to make sure everyone that is in business knows that is NOT true.
For a email campaign to be a success many strategic things need to be addressed way before you send any emails.
For example:
- Audience
- Message
- Email Design
- Website tracking
- Landing Pages Website design.
- Offer Tracking
- Email Tracking
These are only a few of the things that need to be considered.
It’s not just sign up, send and the checks come rolling in.
Make sure you get professional references.
I know that you come to my blog to get website design and marketing advice but today I want to bring to your attention something I that is gnawing at me. Last week I was on an appointment and the client was very unhappy because the service a “professional” was giving them was sub par. So maybe this little bit of counsel can help.
Unfortunately the field of marketing is easy to get into, almost as easy as getting into sales, and because it’s so easy there are many people out there that are in it to defraud people or there knowledge is limited or is in an industry that is not related to yours. So it is VERY IMPORTANT that before you hire any person to perform ANY marketing task for your company you get PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES! Now when I say get professional references I don’t mean “personal” references (get them too).
Get at least 5 – 10 or more clients that this EXACT MARKETING PERSON, NOT JUST THE COMPANY THEY WORK FOR has worked with to a SUCCESSFUL GOAL COMPLETION not older then a year old. So if a marketing (or any person for that matter) person comes to you that you want to do business with make absolutely sure they have a track record and will provide you with a list of WINS before you sign a contract or give him a deposit! Remember that a win for another company is not necessarily a win for you so make sure you are comparing apples to apples. Also, if there is anything in a contract that makes you go hummm then have your attorney look it over! Just because they have a website and might be advertising on the radio, etc does NOT mean they can get the job done. Have them prove it and you will sleep much better at night.
As always your comments are appreciated.
