How to Make All Your Marketing More Effective

Pretty much every business is going to attempt marketing and advertising to some degree.  There are those businesses that survive just through referrals, and maybe that’s all they need. But lately I’ve been hearing more and more that what used to work for business development isn’t working as well anymore, regardless of the method.

 

Postcards, mailings, TV ads, newspaper – Traditional Media just isn’t cutting the mustard anymore.  So what does that mean for the future of business development?

 

First off, Traditional Media may not be as effective as it once was, but that doesn’t mean it should just be canned.  From a “holistic’ perspective, it does have its place in the overall scheme of things.  Traditional Media is great for creating awareness and driving interest about any topic.  But realize that, because of the Internet, consumers have a voice in the marketplace they didn’t have before.  This voice is expressed through blogs, comments, Facebook, etc., and is picked up by new potential customers with the help of a quick Google search, and serves to validate (or not) your marketing message. 

 

If a company is doing a bad job delivering what it promises, it is unlikely the world of social media will be very kind without first addressing that issue.  But that is an Operations matter and not the subject of today’s article.  Perhaps the next article.

 

So, potentially a business needs to continue their Traditional Media approach while also engaging in social media and online networking to ensure the consumer has enough information with which to make a decision: to purchase, or not to purchase?

 

Whether your business has been around for years or just got started, there is a way to increase the effectiveness of both Traditional (mass) and New Media (digital) efforts.  It’s very simple, but escapes the attention of many business owners. 

 

Take the blindfold off.

 

Yep.  It’s that simple.  Let’s look at this from the perspective of two gunmen at target practice.  They both have the same model gun, bullets and targets.  One of them, however, is blindfolded.  Assuming they have the same level of skill, which one of them is going to hit the targets more?  Obviously the one without the blindfold.

 

The way to remove the blindfold is to conduct market research.  But not just any kind of market research.  I mean emotional market research. 

 

Sometimes market research is conducted, but all that is obtained is facts and figures.  What you need are the “buttons” that when pushed, get an emotional reaction, and communicate directly to the heart of the consumer.

 

A fatal, fatal mistake is to assume that you know exactly what your customer needs and wants, and that you know how to communicate to them on an emotional level that will speak to their mind on the subject.  Did you ask them?  If not, you just might be off an inch or too. However, we are looking to hit a bull’s-eye, not just get kind of close.

 

Case in point:  One of our clients, a skilled and trustworthy attorney, had a 2-3% conversion rate for his Pay Per Click campaign before market research was conducted.  All of his marketing, both paper and online, spoke a very conservative message: “I am an attorney” 

 

Market research dug deep and  revealed his potential clients didn’t trust attorneys.  They also weren’t conservative about the issues they had, they were angry!  So the existing marketing efforts missed on two levels.  Potential customers couldn’t “see’ the advertisements because they couldn’t relate to them on an emotional level, and an attorney was the last person they would seek out to resolve their valid cases.

 

The solution was to re-brand the attorney as a “Consumer Advocate” and change the imagery in the advertisements to show angry and upset consumers.  Instant success!  Conversion rates rose as much as 8%!  

 

Market Research can save a business thousands and thousands of dollars if it’s done correctly, and the data is usually valid for at least 10 years.  How much more income would your business have if your existing marketing was 8% more effective? Take 10-20% of that figure and invest it in Market Research, and see your results soar accordingly.

 

Make every move an effective one.  Get market research done for immediate use, and use social media to create a permanent “feedback loop” so you always have up to date information (the good and the bad), and the door to success will open.  If you feel like you don’t know what to do, you just might not have enough information to make a decision.  Done properly, Market Research will give it to you.

Posted via email from Really Simple Social Media

The Secret to Social Media

Helping people design a useful Social Media Internet strategy to generate interest and reach for their business is what I’m all about.  And since most of my clients weren’t born with a smartphone in their hands, there are usually a few key points to clear up about Social Media right from the beginning.  After all, Social Media is a relatively new topic.  Or is it?

If you step back and take a look how information moves in Social Media, it’s quite different than “Traditional Media.”   Back in the day, most people got their information from newspapers or magazines.  The direction of information is from the few (the writer or publisher) down to the many.  We’ve all seen this in action in our daily lives, maybe to the point of not even noticing it anymore.  Got a favorite newspaper columnist or TV show host?   One single person communicating to possibly millions of people with little interaction between the communicator and the listeners.

As we step into the Social Media arena, the direction and flow of information is between the readers and the writers.  The interaction (thanks to the internet) tends to be instant and the ripple effect from this sharing of information can spread far and wide.  With the users of Social Media able to contribute news and information to anyone willing to listen, we now have a conversation.  Just like the conversations you are already having at the local coffeeshop or at work.

The recent buzzing and tittering by the media about Twitter and Social Media in general, it’s no wonder business owners may feel forced into using these internet-based communication tools, or perhaps miss sales opportunities their competition is getting instead of them.  Not being familiar with the landscape, many make that sometimes fatal error of confusing Social Media with traditional advertising.

But remember: traditional advertising is the few pushing out information to the many.   No matter how you dress it up, advertising never was and never will be the same thing as a conversation.  Advertising flows up and down, and conversations flow back and forth.  If you are blasting everyone you know on social media with your marketing or business message continuously, ask yourself:  who am I talking to?  If the answer is everyone at once, you might be advertising mode unintentionally. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s OK to let everyone know what you are doing in general.  You’ve gotten those letters at Christmas where a relative runs off a bunch of copies of the family “newsletter” and sends it to everyone?  I like reading those.  It’s just an update, a catch-up session.   But when 90% of the people connecting to me on Twitter are saying the same message (“Want to get 16,000 followers on Twitter?” sound familiar?), we’ve crossed over that thin line between conversing and advertising.

So what’s the secret to this Social Media thing?   It IS faster than mailing a letter or a postcard.  More interactive than TV.   Cheap to boot!  Seems like the perfect advertising tool.   But to use Social Media as just another advertising channel misses the hidden power of Social Media.  What is that hidden power?  It’s so painfully visible, so obvious.  It’s something I call “Commonality.”

 It’s where you and I share a common interest, or have similar background.   It’s liking the same funny movie, or both growing up in the South with fried chicken, or having visited the same restaurant in Europe.  It boils down to this:  if you and I have something in common (no matter what it is), we understand each other better to that degree.

If you have a pet dog, and I have a pet dog, we instantly understand each other that much more, and, to the degree that we understand each other, we are enabled to create a personal, lasting, and genuine friendship.  Social Networks facilitate this instant understanding because you can share so many aspects of yourself in a quick glance. 

Ever get a friend request on Facebook from someone that doesn’t even have their picture posted and hardly anything listed on their profile?  Little hard to cozy up to, isn’t it?   Kind of like getting a “friend” request from a statue.  Cold.

Social Media is a breeze, really.  Express who you are.  Make it personal (but not TOO personal!).  The more you describe yourself, or rather, profile yourself, on these social networks, the more aspects there are to resonate with for someone who doesn’t yet know you.  I know I prefer to do business with someone I like and trust.   Would you like and trust someone you’d never met before, but who showed up on your door with a slick advertising message?  Didn’t think so. 

Does all this seem hard?  It’s not, because if you have already been in business (and thus sales) in any capacity, you’ve already been using Social Media.  Ever strike up a conversation with someone at an after-hours party?  Did they eventually ask you what you do for a living?  If you have, you’ve already got practice in Social Media.  I’ll bet you’ve even gotten a few new customers that way.  Now it’s just a matter of moving that same conversation to an online platform like Facebook or MySpace. It’s the individual and friendly (another word for social) conversations that will forward your business message, because people will like you, and even more importantly, understand you on a level they aren’t even aware of themselves.  Powerful stuff.

Social Media Networks are a fun, useful way to share the individual that is you with the rest of the world.  The steps to participating are as follows:  Join, listen to the conversations  that are already happening, participate where you are interested or can be useful to others, give where you can, and be prepared to receive what others give you in return.   In this way you can organically build a genuine community of new friends, customers and goodwill that may last a lifetime, no matter what business you may find yourself in down the road.

 

Posted via email from Trevor's posterous