Small Business Marketing - Social Media Opportunity

Small business owners have a great opportunity with Social Media!

Becoming intentional, proactive and strategic in your social media efforts, you are able to successfully:

* Build a community of advocates of your product or service

* Dialogue directly with your target customers

* Improve the Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing for your companies website

In 2010, Fortune 500 companies are reporting to have moved 40% of their marketing budgets to Social Media Marketing.

Some stats:

* 90% of your customers TRUST their peer recommendations.

* 14% trust an ad

The opportunity - step away from your sales podium and off the stage to make your way down to the floor, where your customers are mingling. Join them in conversations! You will build trust and value; and when you listen, you will discover new, creative ways to speak with them. Building trust takes time, but when it occurs, you are sure to identify strong advocates for your products/services and they will be EAGER to share you within their circle of friends...thus growing your circle of friends.

Yes, there is HUGE value when you incorporate social media marketing into your overall marketing mix.

So....

Where to begin?

Stay tuned for details...

Social Media Marketing - The Bandwagon

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is definitely a topic of conversation in business today. After all, there are over 400 million people on Facebook, so I NEED A FACEBOOK PAGE - right?

Probably.

BUT, before a small business owner jumps onto the SMM bandwagon, you need to pause for moment and remember the basics:

* Who is my customer?

* Are they even ON Facebook? If so, what are they doing there? Where are they?

* Why do I even want to spend the energy to connect with them on Facebook?

* How do I tell them I am on Facebook?

Your jumping into SMM without a plan is similar to some companies I have seen purchase an exhibit booth space at a trade show and not let anyone at the show know they are there. They left the show defeated and upset that only a few people happened to stop by their booths.

You MUST have a plan.

You MUST tell them your there.

You MUST encourage them to visit you.

Your becoming intentional, proactive and strategic in your SMM thinking will move you ahead of the many other small business owners who have simply jumped into the social media channels and failed to bring their basic marketing life preserves with them.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Absent from blogging the past few months, I am thrilled to return with some incredible information, strategy, tactics for small business owners!

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

We have been hearing much about social media marketing for a couple of years. From my own recent experiences, I plan will begin to share pertinent information and suggestions regarding how your business can thrive within this social media world too.

I will be disclose real-life examples from my current work with my client partners and suggest how you may incorporate those tactics into social media areas of your business.

REMEMBER! Social media marketing is NOT the end all of your marketing. Yes, it can definitely impact your business. We must remember that social media marketing is simply one prong within your overall marketing mix that adds great value to provide you with your own online community focus group that shares the value of your product or service and encourages them to SHARE that value with their community of friends.

Closing this post, I share this cool result from a basic use of social media:

1. My client's Twitter channel had just under 100 followers

2. Thursday night, I posted an update that the brand was going to be featured on Fox's HANNITY

3. Within 20 minutes, 3 of the followers had ReTweeted the post to their list of friends.

3. Within 30 minutes, 7000 followers of followers had received the news!

To prove, social media marketing works WHEN you are intentional, proactive and when you enter the channel with a plan. I will discuss this in future posts.

Stay tuned for a newly invigorated MarketingBloc that will focus much effort to provide YOU information, statistics, and tactics to grow your company's product/service when you add social media marketing to your marketing mix.

talk soon :)

Small Business Marketing Tactic: E-Mail Markeing Campaign!

EMail marketing with newsletters that target your specific audience represents an affordable marketing tactic solution to any small business.

WHERE TO START?

1. Create a contest for your target market

2. Provide a high value (inexpensive) prize that appeals to your audience

3. CAPTURE EMAIL ADDRESSES from those who register to win noting the email newsletter will contain tips/advice for your target audience

4. Develop your own email newsletter and service it to your customers on a bi-weekly or monthly basis

be sure to include links back to your website/blog

IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER: Provide a way for people to unsubscribe to your newsletter.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: ONLINE ADVERTISING - banner ads can work!

Research released by Dynamic Logic reveals that banner advertising integrated into the content of the webpage are MOST effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase content. A three-year study discovered half banners and rectangles were more effective than the larger leaderboards and skyscrapers.

What does that mean?

Simply, once you have identified the key websites there that your target market is visiting, these ad sizes are proven to make a stronger impact in their minds simply because they appear to be a part of the webpage content and not the headline - "HERE I AM - SEE ME!":

Rectangle; 180 x 150

Half banner; 234 x 60

Medium Rectangle; 300 x 250

Large Rectangle; 336 x 280

REMEMBER, creative quality of the ads is EXTREMELY important. PLEASE do not simply throw together an ad to spec and post it, your target audience needs you to pursue them, inform them, educate them, entertain them. With today's technology, one could efficiently create a very nice rich media ad with video to approach your online audience. Consider adding your MESSAGE to every frame of the ad for best results.

Preview Examples

Ad Formats By Online Ad Awareness

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Virus Spreads Faster Than A Speeding Bullet!

Viral marketing is simply the process that encourages large numbers of people to spread details on your product or service to their family, friends and even the world!

A prime example, I regularly receive multiple email forwards of the SAME email from my mom, my sister & various friends. As a recipient of 100s of unsolicited email forwards, I understand my family and friends care for me. They want what's best for me. So, why do they send me some email that includes some cute cat dancing around and proclaiming "Life is Short...unless you have 9"? Who knows?

What I do know - something within the email triggers a need to send that email to EVERYONE. And, they do.

So, here's a thought:

If you can come up with something really special that has significant value, there is a HIGH probability that your target audience may just start spreading the news about you, your company, your product/service/sales event.

Applying that to my business:

- What does my target audience value?

- Are they looking for instructions on how to do something?

- Do they enjoy being inspired by a story, a poem, a dancing cat?

Once I know my target audience's dream receipt, I can create and send it onto them noting my contact info (name, website address, etc).

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Banner Advertising - To Be Or Not To Be!

MediaWeek's Mike Sheilds comments, "Whether traditional banner ads - skyscrapers or 350X200 rich media units, Web ads are eminently ignorable, or rarely move one to laugh or cry."

Eminently ignorable - yes, I agree.

Other than the ads I've created for my clients, I do not recall any banner advertising that caught my attention enough to encourage me to click the link. In all honesty, as a consumer, I often ignore website advertisements. My time is valuable. I refuse to make the time to click an ad - any ad!

Today is time that we need to rethink our investment of marketing dollars beyond simple BANNER ADVERTISING. We need to work harder to connect with our target markets in effective & efficient forms of new media.

Question: How?

Answer: They are OUR customers - talk to them!

1. Find out where they are online

2. Go there!

Example:

Rather than create a banner ad for your local newspapers home page, have you given any thought to the possibilities of simply offering your customers an incentive to add your FACEBOOK GROUP page to their profiles? I mean, if they are already your customer and already enjoy your products/services, it seems sensible enough to encourage them to support your business by simply clicking "Add to Group". Then, their friends see your GROUP on their profile, which adds a new level of social interaction that an ignorable banner ad NEVER can accomplish. Just a thought.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Advertise The Entertaining & Humor!

A recent poll of advertisers & consumers detailed:

~34% of consumers and 41% of

advertisers say entertaining ads are very effective.

~33% of consumers and 32% of

advertisers say funny ads are very effective.

~57% of consumers say they react well to

advertisements that include sales, coupons & discounts!

* LinkedIn Research Network/Harris Poll in June 2009.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Seriously Consider Including FACEBOOK Advertising To Your Mix!

The Nielsen Company reports time spent on social network and blogging sites account for 17% of all time spent on the Internet (August 2009), which is almost triple the percentage a year ago. As people continue to length the amount of time they have available to social networks, small business owners need to realistic start considering those key networks into their marketing mixes.

These industries have started to use FACEBOOK as a viable option in their advertising efforts:

- Automotive

- Business to Business

- Consumer Goods

- Health

- Public Services

- Retail Goods & Services

- Software

- Telecommunications

- Travel

- Web Media

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Educate Your Customers!

Life is an education process!

Research to find an interesting fact that relates to your business or industry and then incorporate it into a marketing tactic for your customers. The fun fact finding mission is sure to open your eyes and mind to a world of interests outside your four walls (yet within your business arena). Plus, if opens your customers' eyes to you and your business as you provide them with the helpful information as you share your interesting find and provide it to them as a simple FYI.

Announce it on your:

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Blog

- Post in your store

- Smaller print run on business cards (with link to blog, facebook, twitter, etc)

Encourage customers to forward their facts & finds as well (& recognize those submissions once you've confirmed them to be truth). The exercise is sure to generates word of mouth!

Small Business Marketing Tactic: 63% Of Consumers Look To Website For Information!

63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies!

It's TRUE! According to research from Webvisible and Nielsen, reported by Marketing Charts, though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online.

Give serious thought to providing your customers and potential customers with a website that they may:

- easily navigate

- access the detailed facts about your business offering

- quickly contact you via phone, email or status update using FACEBOOK (yes, seriously!)

Remember, you are not commissioned to be all things to all people. Keep your customers in mind as you create a simply, clean website that provides your customers with the information they need to keep coming back to you!

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Successful PR!

Successful public relations (PR) begins with your treating the local media contacts as a target market! Just as you have worked hard to identify your customers, you need to work to target your key media.

You have information you need to communicate to them. Your job is to ask them...

- WHAT THEY WANT

- HOW THEY WANT IT

- WHEN THEY WANT IT

- HOW BEST TO SUBMIT IT TO THEM

Get to know them and get them to trust you.

Where to start?

1. Create a list of your local newspaper, radio, television that your target market reads, listens to, & watches.

2. Identify the key people in the media outlets that might care about your field of business

3. Research to determine extra ways that those key contacts are communicating to your target audience (i.e. blog, reading the many articles he/she writes to figure out how you might eventually pitch them an idea in the future, etc)

4. Forward them relevant information based on the articles they write in your field (i.e. provide them with industry statistics from reliable sources, give them inside information to the industry-related announcements that may interest your community by tying in your expertise of business, etc)

5. After several communications with your media contact when you have developed a a relationship, you can pitch a story idea to them (or share some very IMPORTANT news with them that they can use to publish in an article.)

6. After some months, treat them to lunch.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: OFFER FREE SHIPPING to spike online sales!

YES! Offer FREE SHIPPING, and your consumer are more likely to make an online purchase!

According to a new survey from Experian CheetahMail, 70% of respondents from online companies had higher conversion rates on emails offering FREE SHIPPING than on other types of marketing emails. Of the 70% respondents,

- 78% saw increased transaction-to-click rates

- 47% had higher average order values

Of course, small businesses need to make sure the FREE SHIPPING offers are with products that consumers are actually interested in purchasing. Remember, your consumers are YOUR CONSUMERS...learn them, speak to them, service them.

Small Business Marketing Tactic: Social Networking Can Add Revenue!

According to a study by Sage Software and AMI-Partners, more than 260,000 small businesses in the US and Canada employ social networking tactics.

51% - Professional social networking (i.e. LinkedIn, etc)

44% - General social networking (i.e. Facebook, etc)

38% - Niche/industry-specific communities

37% - Job Sites

28% - Blogging/microblogging (i.e. Twitter)

The most widespread uses of social media were for responding to customer questions, networking, and reference and educational purposes.

64% - Responding to customer questions

57% - Networking

44% - Reference/Education

33% - Advertising/promotion of business

So, how do you incorporate social networking into your marketing mix, which can effectively generate additional REVENUE?

Here's an idea:

1. Create a conversation with your followers & keep them engaged

2. Provide a VERY DEEP DISCOUNT sales promotion just for them, sell some last-minute inventory

3. Record the sales BUT DO NOT STOP THERE....monitor your list of friends because there is sure to be a spike in the number of people adding you as friend just as soon as their friends let them know of the sales promotion you just offered exclusively to them through your social media friendship.

Social networking - it's a new revenue stream!