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Wishing you a year of joy & good marketing
With the dawn of a new year, there is a lot of buzz about marketing in 2010. The “blogsphere” is flooded with questions like, “What will be the most effective marketing media in 2010,” “Will traditional media become obsolete,” and “Where are advertisers going to spend in 2010.”
This will be a pretty big one and some are even saying that the impact of mobile marketing will surpass that of social media. Be sure to pay attention to how this develops in the coming months and years.
2. Relationship marketing and customer service:
This necessity continues to grow as social media gives EVERY customer a louder voice and influence. Remember that your customers are people too, and not just any people, but the kings and queens of your business.
3. Experimentation:
When it comes to new technologies, sometimes experimentation is the best way to see if they work for your marketing. This doesn’t mean (of course) to blindly pursue new media with no clear goal, intent, strategy and system of measurement. But, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try something new. If you don’t begin experimenting, you will be left behind.
4. Social media and SEO:
We can’t forget about the meat and potatoes of online marketing. Social media and SEO have advanced past the point of being mere buzz words. Don’t expect these two to disappear.
5. Promotions in both new AND traditional media:
Whether businesses are offering incentives to gain friends and followers in social networks, customer loyalty programs, coupons, sales or charitable contributions – promotions are sure to be another 2010 trend. …Read more »
Are you ready for the holidays? Well, it is now October – Rapid City’s first snow has fallen. Yes, it is long-due time to start thinking about the holidays – and holiday advertising (see tips below).
With a well crafted message, promotion and placement, holiday advertising can be incredibly effective. Whether your business is retail or service oriented and regardless of your product’s gifting nature, the holidays are an opportune time to connect with people.
Reasons for holiday advertising:
People are in the buying/giving spirit and feeling nostalgic.
Your competition is surely advertising. If they’re not, you have a huge advantage!
TOMA (top of mind awareness). During the holidays, people have a number of things on their minds. Even if you’re not selling gifts, you don’t want them to forget about you.
People are looking for deals and gift ideas – paying attention to ads.
Increased sales numbers. We’ve seen clients experience a 50% sales increase (or more) from a holiday ad campaign!
There are plenty more. What are your reasons for advertising, or not, during the holidays?
Ok, but why so soon?
Honestly, the sooner the better – many companies even start planning in the summer. Locally, it is best to have your holiday campaigns planned and placed (or at least started) by mid-October! …Read more »
If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward.
Marketing in a recession can give you a competitive advantage.
Cut advertising, cut market share.
I want to take another look at the fourth point here, as marketing in a recession really does give you an advantage. In truth, marketing ANY time gives you an advantage. But when the economy is down and a lot of businesses are cutting their marketing budgets, your dollars can go even further because there are fewer or weaker messages out there to compete with. …Read more »
I recently tripped over a former high school classmate on Twitter. His user name looked really familiar so I checked his profile to see if it was, in fact, the person I was thinking of. After following his profile to his personal website, I found the proof I was looking for: a photo confirming my suspicions.
Cool! It’s always neat to run into tweeps you actually know outside of the twittersphere.
So after poking around his site, I find he’s also running a little side business with its own website. Being the curious cat (see: nosey) that I am, I checked out this side project. What I found was a one looooooooong page of a website making all sorts of extravagant claims and looking like an all around scam.
BUT.
Since I knew this person from a number of years ago, I found myself thinking, “Yeah, this might be something I would actually buy.” Full stop. What’s going on here? I’m presented with a totally unprofessional site that just screams “Nigerian email scam”, yet I am seriously considering opening up the wallet. Wow.
How much more do you believe the statement you’re reading when you trust (or in my case, vaguely know) the source? How much value does the source inherently bring to the table?
Your grandma makes her cookies from scratch. If Big Box Corporate Cookie Manufacturing Co. advertises their cookies are made from scratch, just like your grandma’s, would you believe them? Note: if your grandma is lead chef at Big Box Corporate Cookie Manufacturing Co., then my analogy fails. Oh well, I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles! (Oh come on, the joke wasn’t that bad…)
Moving right along: customer reviews and peer testimonials are immensely powerful forces in the purchasing process. Similar to the situation with my acquaintance and I, people will trust another person, even if a complete stranger, more readily than advertising (though advertising does have its place).
Think back to the last time you bought something online. Go ahead, I’ll wait. OK, did you read customer reviews before buying the item? Or did you at least Google it before buying? How much did your research sway your final decision? I’d be willing to bet it factored in quite a bit.
What people say about your brand experience is not easily ignored by others, and should be highly valued (pssst: you need to be paying attention to what your customers are saying, because they’re saying it whether you’re listening or not). It’s up to you to listen, interact or even facilitate the conversation on your own website by offering a rating or comment system for your product.
“But what if a customer posts something negative on my site? Won’t that diminish my product?” Not necessarily. Instead of seeing this as a liability, see it as an opportunity to interact and ultimately provide great customer service. If other users see you reply to a specific concern and address the issue head on (“I know you are, but what am I?” is not a valid response), it only increases your value to the customer and you gain a little bit more of their trust. Conversely, if you ignore the problem or, even worse, censor it, what message will you be sending? I’ll give you a hint: it starts with “B” and ends with “ad”.
We're not supposed to talk about how great we are. (photo by JSolomon)
Time to take a step back.
Time to take a good look at what we’re doing here at RSA. The economy is down – way down, and people are cutting advertising and marketing budgets, big time. Looks like 2009 is shaping up to be a “building year,” right?
Maybe not. The problem is, we’re still as busy as ever, and I guess that’s less of a problem and more a relief. Some might call it good luck; I call it hard work and a passion for what we do. And a passion for having food to eat, there’s also that.
And yet we have been building as well. Since late last year we’ve added new departments, new staff, and new teams. We’ve got a new website on deck, and are partnering with new clients weekly. …Read more »
There are multiple myths surrounding advertising (not to mention marketing as a whole) that rob good advertising of its worth and credibility in the minds of small business owners. Most of these illusions stem (of course) from cost. For instance, paying more for something does not necessarily make it better than the less expensive product. On the other hand, paying less for something does not make it a better deal. So what can you do? …Read more »
No. It is not so. *sighs of relief* The advertising world is changing, though – and rightly so.
Advertising is not dead; it just needs to be less of a one-sided conversation and become a more social dialogue with the consumer. (Sorry Kyle, I’ve got to say consumer to go along with her shirt.) As long as there is such a thing as competitive business, advertising and marketing will continue to live, ever flourishing in the perpetual evolutionary dance that is society…or something like that.
In the wake of our shifty-eyed economy, a healthy competitive edge is certainly NOT the LAST thing that businesses need. Many companies are cutting prices, cutting employees and (dare I say it) even cutting marketing budgets to stay ahead.
Wait a second! Which one of these is not like the others?
As a business, you have many options for delivering your message to your target market. Be it a billboard, newspaper ad, television spot or some dude in a chicken suit standing on the corner handing out flyers – each has specific techniques for maximizing its effectiveness. When incorporating your website as part of that message delivery system, it’s important to remember the web is its own medium and must be treated as such. All media types are unique and beautiful snowflakes… or something to that effect.
Many businesses are catching on, choosing to engage interactive social media sites and applications as marketing and PR tools. You are able to reap the benefits of networking for customer service value, staying up to date with industry conversation and public interest trends, and building RELATIONSHIPS with the PEOPLE gathered around these online watering holes. The key is to remain both Person and Business at the same time…but mostly person. …Read more »
Wishing you a year of joy & good marketing
