Making Time Through Smarter Marketing

July 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you run a business you know that there is no such thing as free time. There’s always something that needs to be done or at least something you should be doing. At this point we’ve learned to accept this to be one of the fair prices you pay when becoming an entrepreneur or taking a leadership role. Accepting it, however, doesn’t mean that we can’t do something about it.

Marketing is one of the biggest time-suckers in business. If you can find ways to be more efficient without sacrificing any of your effectiveness you will become a hero to business people all over the world. Luckily I put together a list of things that helped me redirect some of my marketing time into other important areas of my business.

#1. Pay Attention

Analyze everything you do so you can figure out what works and what doesn’t. This especially true when it comes to any content you’re sharing with your customers, whether it be via e-mail or social media. Look closely at the content and the media that your following are engaging with most and make an effort to focus on that moving forward.

#2. Divide and Conquer

Instead of blocking out a huge chunk on time for marketing try working in 15-minute chunks. This works for brainstorming your projects and publishing content. Use this short chunk of time to focus on one task like engaging on Twitter or coming up with ideas for your next newsletter.

#3. Don’t Talk To Walls

You don’t need to be using EVERY social network. Do a little hands-on research to find out which social media channels are popular with your customers and focus your efforts there. You will save a lot of time and yield much better results by focusing on the channels that matter.

#4.  Recruit Your Fans

Develop campaigns that encourage your customers and fans to talk about your business in the social space. Don’t make it seem like an attempt to buy your customers help, but instead make your offers and campaigns worthy of their attention. If you can do that they will want to share you with all of their friends.

Read more here.

Where do you save time in your business? Share your tips in the comment box below or connect with me on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Marketing Advice, Saving Time Tagged With: , , , , ,

Breaking The Marketing Mold

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In a recent article in Success Magazine marketing legend Seth Godin answers some of the most important marketing questions most organizations have right now. There is no doubt that things in business, especially in marketing, are changing quickly. Almost too quickly for us to keep up with. That’s why it’s great to get insight from people who have their fingers on the pulse of change. Here are some of my favorite questions and answers from the article.

Q: Where would you invest your marketing budget if you were starting a new business now, and why?

Unless you are already the market leader, there’s no question that 80 percent of your marketing budget should go into making a significantly better product or offering a better service than you do now. I know that you think you already make a great product. I’m guessing you already make a very good product. It’s probable your service is just fine, or better than just fine.

Just fine or even very good isn’t going to work, and no reasonable amount of marketing spending is going to fix that. What would you do if you had to deliver something more than fine? Something remarkable? Something that your customers couldn’t resist talking about? Go ahead and spend the money it takes to do that. Once you do, you’ll discover you need far fewer marketing dollars.

Examples: Zappos, Harley-Davidson, Porsche, The Shake Shack and The New Yorker.

Q: How many social media sites should you use, and what are the most important sites you should be using?

Hey, who let this guy in here? This is a dangerous question, because it escalates the medium (social) above the purpose (communicating with permission). No one asks how many hours you ought to spend answering the phone or what the receptionist’s desk should be made out of. Use the tools that help you achieve your purpose. Too often we get confused about who we’re trying to please and end up pleasing no one.

Seth Godin is the author of 14 best-selling books that have been translated into 36 languages. He’s the founder of Squidoo.com, one of the largest and fastest-growing websites in the United States. Godin was vice president of direct marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne. 

More marketing advice from Seth Godin here. 

What marketing questions are currently boggling your mind? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: How to Be More Innovative, Innovation Tips, Marketing Advice, Success Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

5 Rules For Building An Epic Brand

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

“Branding” is one of those magic marketing buzzwords that everyone is talking about but no one ever explains very well. A brand is essentially an identity and personality. Whatever people think of when they hear a brand’s name is a part of that brand. So how to you get a brand?  Most of the brands people are talking about are large businesses that have already proven to be successful, but what about the new brands?  What about all the new business or smaller companies trying to make a name for themselves in the massive universe of the brands?  Start with a good foundation and the rest will follow. Here are 5 rules to help get you on your way to brand stardom.

1. Follow Your Passion – If you are about to start a business or are running a business that you’re not passionate about, GET OUT NOW!  Figure out what you love and what you’re passionate about and start moving in that direction. It will make everything else a lot easier.

2. Baby Steps – Start with something you can handle, don’t try to jump ahead 10 years. Business takes time and so does branding. Start with one product and do everything right instead of trying to put out too much and missing several important marks.

3. Trust Your Gut – Starting off you might not have the resources to invest in a lot of research so you need to rely on your gut. That doesn’t mean to act impulsively, but to instead use your logic and experience to figure things out.

4. Team Up To Keep Growing – You may hit a point where you don’t have the resources to keep growing as you would like. When that happens, find someone who does have those resources and work out a deal.

5. Don’t Stop Paying Attention…EVER – As your company grows and your responsibilities change, the one thing you should never lose sight of is your brand. You created it and you know exactly what it should be so don’t let anyone else take over for you.

More branding tips here.

What have you done to build your brand? Share in the comment box below or on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Branding, Building A Brand Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Branding Now vs. Branding Again… And Again

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Your brand is the most important asset your company has. It’s what people think of when they hear your name, what people feel when they see your product and what they say when they are talking about your company. Your brand is also one of the morst permanent aspects of your company. Don’t get me wrong, your brand can survive change, but it shouldn’t change often. Here are a few good reasons why you should put more time into your brand upfront instead of continually changing it down the road.

1. Brand loyalty is hard to earn and harder to earn again and again – Once you do your job of giving the customer something they want that they can depend on and a relationship they value you will earn their loyalty. Once you have that, it’s easier for them to come back and do business with you again. If you rebrand, you have to prove yourself again by starting from scratch and under higher scrutiny.

2. Re-branding loses the attention of the general public – Unless you have the resources to buy enough advertising to let the world and all of your customers know about the rebrand, you are going to lose the ones wh don’t have time to pay attention. They may be used to seeing a certain color box on the shelf or going to a certain website, and when it’s not there they might just move on to the next best thing.

3. The “almost-customers” will forget about you – There is this magic marketing tool you may have heard of called “Word Of Mouth”. This means that your current customers are happy enough to tell other people about your company, your product and/or your service. If you do something drastic like a name change all of that praise will have fallen on deaf ears. They may have heard their friends talk about “Acme Company” thousands of times but never “Acme Supreme”. If it’s not what there friends told them to buy, they have no reason to buy it.

Don’t forget to connect with me on Facebook and  Twitter or share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Filed Under: Branding, Rebranding Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The New Media Mix

August 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

I love social media.  I have been all over the place with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and obviously here on my blog, and it’s a lot of fun.  My company, Ergo Office Seating, has been seeing some great results from using social media as well, but this isn’t an “I Love Social Media” post.  Traditional media isn’t gone, it’s just used differently.  Even though many people may be watching more Netflix and Hulu and less cable, more people are still watching TV.  While most cars have a cd or even mp3 player hookup, people still listen to the radio.  And even though there is an unlimited amount of information online, people still read the newspaper and their favorite magazines.

People may be relying less on traditional media but they are still using it, and I don’t that that will change anytime soon.  Instead of trying to replace traditional forms of media we need to be integrated the new and the old.  You can’t build an online/social presence without people knowing about you.  Traditional media is still key in letting people know you’re there and you have something to offer.  You can incorporate things like QR codes and social media icons into your print ads to help catch all of the social media addicts that may come across your add. You can also mention your online presence on any TV or radio spot you run.

Social media gives you a chance to be in constant communication with your fans, so you can’t afford to miss out.  Traditional media helps bring in new fans and customers, so you can’t afford to miss out on that.  The most successful campaigns I have seen to date have used a clever integration of a variety of media.  Keep this in mind when you are planning your next campaign.  Just because the buzz has been all about social media, it doesn’t mean you should leave traditional media behind.

 

Your recipe for success:

1/2 cup social media

1/2 cup traditional media

1/4 cup market research

1/3 cup good planning

2 TBS. Clever Design

4 TBS. Great Ideas

4 cups great product/service

 

Mix together and then bake until you can taste success.

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