All Posts Tagged With: "marketing"

Does Your Business Pass This Test?

All the creative marketing and clever public relations programs in the world won’t be successful long-term unless:

  • You offer a product or service for which there is a sustainable market because you solve a problem, satisfy a desire or meet a need.
  • You offer your product or service at a price that exceeds its perceived value to the customer.
  • You practice exceptional customer service.

Before embarking on expensive, time-consuming campaigns, make sure your business fit this profile.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Four Tips to Help Stretch Your Marketing Dollars

Ever since a caveman scrawled the first advertising slogan on rock wall, three factors have influenced the profitability of any marketing effort:

    The Right Message…
    To The Right Market…
    At The Right Time!

Unfortunately, many small businesses miss at least one of thse critifal factors. Heck, some overlook two or all three. The result is heaps of wasted money and squandered opportunities. Some businesses spend too much money on ego-feed image advertising, and not nearly enough on direct response offers, which are easy to track and evaluate. So, how you you change that?

Here are three ways to make the most of your marketing dollars:

    Keep image advertising to a minimum. Sure, it’s nice to see a clever half-page ad in Sports Illustrated or the NY Times. But you never really know how effective it is? Does it lead to inquiries? Sales?
    Test, test, test, especially direct response campaigns that are inexpensive. You can offer FREE stuff — reports, samples, coupons — or other response devices. Couple them with compelling copy that show you understand your target audience’s wants and needs. Connect with them, solve their most pressing problems and you’ll have a customer for life.
    When you find a successful direct response offer, stick with it. Use every tactic at your disposal — autoresponders, email newsletters, postcards, phone calls — to stay relevant to your loyal customers.
    Follow up is critical. Be persistent but respectful. If a potential customer tells you to back off, respect those wished. But don’t be shy about contacting leads if you have additional information that might help sway their decision.

A computerized system that methodically, repetitively and consistently follows up with your leads is the most cost-effective alternative. Otherwise, you might be spending too much time doing manual labor or, worse, wasting valuable leads.

Popularity: 30% [?]

Who’s Using Social Networking Sites?

Anderson Analytics recently released a study about who is using the most popular Social Networking sites: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. The data could be useful to marketers who target certain demographics.

Here are some of their more interesting observations, based on the study:

  • More than 110 million people – 60% of the online population – use social netowrking sites.
  • Twitter has passed LinkedIn in overall popularity.
  • MySpace draws the youngest audience (15-24); Facebook is next (18-34); Twitter is third (15-34) while LinkedIn is the most mature (18-44).
  • More than half of U.S. consumers who use social networks belong to more than one.
  • Social networks are not just for kids – nearly 30 percent of the 45-to-54-year-olds polled said they have a Facebook profile.
  • The average social networker logs in about four times a day, five days a week, and spends about an hour online.
  • Social networkers’ feelings about brands online are more fairly positive. Some 52% of social networkers had friended or become a fan of at least one brand. When asked by Anderson if they would like more communications from brands, 45% were neutral, while 20% said yes and 35% said no.
  • About 32 percent of social networkers are business users; 26 percent say they are fun-seekers; 22 percent consider themselves social media mavens; and 10 percent are casual followers.

The study tracked U.S. user behavior for 11 months. Anderson conducted the study online in June with 5,000 demographically representative respondents, and then went in-depth with 1,250 users, defined as anyone who had signed in to a social network account during the previous 30 days. The company also surveyed about 250 non-users.

After crunching the data, Anderson came up with observations about the typical social network user:

Twitterers: More interested than the others in many subjects but skew particularly high in all news categories, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance and religion. They also especially like pop culture, with music, movies, TV and reading. Buying habits mirror that. They’re more likely to buy books, movies, shoes and cosmetics online than the other groups. Twitterers are also entrepreneurial. They are more likely than others to use the service to promote their blogs or businesses. More likely to be employed part-time (16% vs. 11% average), have an average income of $58,000, and average 28 followers and 32 other Twitterers they’re following. They’re not particularly attached to the site, though — 43% said they could live without Twitter.

MySpacers: While MySpace users skew younger. They also said they’d used the site much less in the past six months. The 67 million who are still there are into having a good time. They’re more likely to have joined MySpace for fun and more likely to be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games. They’re less into exercise than any other social group but seek out parenting information more than any other. Their average income is the lowest, at $44,000, and they have an average of 131 connections. They’re more likely to be black (9%) or Hispanic (7%) than users of the other social sites. They are also more likely to be single (60%) and students (23%).

Facebookers: There are 77 million Facebook users. Out of 45 categories, only national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed even slightly higher than average, and then by only one or two percentage points. They are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of the other social networks. They have the second-highest average income ($61,000) and an average of 121 connections. Facebook users skew a bit older and are more likely to be late adopters of social media. But they are also extremely loyal to the site — 75% claim Facebook is their favorite site, and another 59% say they have increased their use of the site in the past six months.

LinkIners: All about business. More males than females (57% to 43%). Highest average income ($89,000). More likely to have joined the site for business or work, citing keeping in touch with business networks, job searching, business development and recruiting as top reasons. They like news, employment information, sports and politics. More likely to be into the gym, spas, yoga, golf and tennis.
Excluding video-game systems, they own more electronic gadgets than the other social networkers, including digital cameras, high-definition TVs, DVRs and Blu-ray players.

What does all this mean if you’re contemplating using social media for marketing? As is always the case, it starts with knowing your target audience and understanding their habits. Marketing to a younger audience via Twitter might be difficult; likewise, MySpace might now be a good choice for more mature consumers. Organizations really need to take a holistic approach to social media, one that reaches all potential consumers for the brand, and does so in a compelling and consistent way that builds awareness and equity for the brand. Not doing so will result in your brand failing to connect with your customer in a meaningful and viral way.

Popularity: 45% [?]

Persuasive Copy: Emphasize the Difference

(Fourth in a Series)

Consumers are bombarded by thousands of marketing messages every day. Everyone claims to have the best prices in town, the greatest customer service, the most satisfied customers. If you sound just like the other guy, chances are you won’t stand out from the crowd, no matter how good your product or service.

So, how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

Start by taking an honest look at what you have to offer and compare it to others in the same industry. You’ll probably see a lot of similarities but there will be differences. Is it your experience? Your use of technology? Your clients? Your results? Your customer service record? Your price?

Once you’ve identified what makes you different from the competition, craft your copy to emphasize the benefits of those differences. Tell your readers why it is to their advantage to use your product or service instead of the competition. Don’t be afraid to provide head-to-comparisons — assuming they come out in your favor.

(Next: Prove It!)

Popularity: 35% [?]

Persuasive Copy: How to Get Your Readers to React the Way You Want Them To

(First in a series)

Imagine the power of the written word. Simply be arranging nouns and verbs, with a few adjectives and adverbs judiciously sprinkled in, you can get people you’ve never met to do things you want them to do.

Pretty awesome tool, huh?

The problem is that most people don’t – or don’t know how to — make full use of this amazing power. Their marketing communications are a mish-mash of convoluted ideas, poorly constructed sentences, vague promises, and ill-conceived offers thrown together in a sales letter, web page or email. The unfortunate result is an well-intentioned campaign that falls flat.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll examine some of the key concepts that can quickly and easily turn your boring, ineffective copy into a money-making machine.

Step 1: Gain Attention

If you can’t gain attention in your marketing communications, the battle is lost before it even starts. With so many forms of media competing for your prospects’ attention, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. If people don’t notice you, they won’t ready your copy. If they don’t ready your copy, you don’t get a chance to mold their perceptions. If you don’t get a chance to mold their perceptions, you’ll never make the sale.

Being as specific as possible is a great place to start. Copywriter extraordinare Bob Bly uses a sales pitch promoting collection services to dental practices as a example of how being specific can help:

How we collected over $20 million in unpaid bills over the past two years for thousands of dentists nationwide

Note the specific items: $20, two years, dentists. They help create a credible, memorable message.

Ypu can also gain attention by making an offer that is free, low in price or unusually attractive. I’m sure you’ve noticed how some life insurance companies frame their offer: “Now…$1 week buys Guaranteed Term Life Insurance for Pennsylvanians 50 and older.” The $1 a week offer seems reasonable and the rest of the pitch is specific (Pennsylvanians over age 50).

Asking a provocative question is another effective way of gaining attention. “Do you want to lose 20 pounds WITHOUT going on a diet?” is sure to grab someone’s attention, in part because it seems so outlandish.

Creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity works, too. Giving your offer a defined time period and limited availability can make people take notice. “This offer expires in 10 days. Act Now!” or “This offer is limited to the first 10 people who call.”

Be careful about trying to be funny or topical. People may not get the pun or the cultural reference may be quickly outdated.

Next: Make sure your copy focuses on the customer

Popularity: 39% [?]