Posted on Mon, Feb 21, 2011
Marketing to college students can prove to be extremely difficult. If your business could benefit from having 18-24 year olds as customers, you may be struggling to attract the youth market to the point of giving up. You’re not alone, but you can be a business that does something about it, and in turn control the college demographic in your market. Employing college brand ambassadors can be an effective marketing tool in reaching college students. Here are some ways college brand ambassadors can get you business.
College brand ambassadors are the target market.
When trying to reach a target market, why not get help from someone in that demographic? Talk to your college brand ambassador to come up with ideas on how you can effectively reach students. Often, marketing activities center around the ambassadors going out and interacting with students with your product in hand.
College brand ambassadors know everyone.
One of the most important things to look at when hiring a brand ambassador is their involvement on campus. The more groups and organizations they’re involved with, the more they’ll be in front of your target audience. The ambassadors can generate buzz just by talking about your products in these groups. Just make sure your brand ambassadors believe in your product or you’ll get nowhere.
College brand ambassadors are cost efficient.
Most college students are eager to get a job for the experience and will work for little pay. Additionally, most marketing ideas will either be viral, guerilla or social media based. These tactics are less expensive than more traditional marketing ideas, and will help you capitalize on a market that most businesses don’t know how to reach.
Posted on Mon, Feb 14, 2011
They love you, they love you not. It’s Valentine’s Day and last week we demonstrated how you can show your customers some love. Now you should explore ways to gauge customer satisfaction and determine if the work you’re putting into the relationship is yielding results. Here are some ways to get inside your customers’ heads.
Where’s this relationship going?
If you want to know how the relationship is going, just ask. Gauging customer satisfaction is as easy as sending out a survey. Your customer satisfaction survey can ask a range of questions from what your customers think of your customer service, a new product or what additional products or services they’d like to see. Make sure you have an objective of what results you want to collect. You don’t want to make it too long, as your customers are busy.
Once you’ve determined what you’re going to ask, you need to plan a distribution method. You could provide a survey with every transaction, mail a postcard or conduct an online survey. Whatever you do, make sure you’re actually using the results to improve your customer service.
Make your relationship public.
It’s a good chance a majority of your customers are on Facebook or other social media sites. If they are, you should be right there with them. Listening is the foundation to a solid relationship. Set up social media listening tools like Hootsuite to see what people are saying about your company. Don’t be afraid to engage in the conversation and correct any issues publicly to show that you care about your customers. The key is to be transparent and authentic. If you have time, you should listen to what people are saying about your competitors.
Share the love.
If your customers sing praises about your company, share it on your website. If you’ve made a customer happy, they’ll have no problem putting their name online for you. Customer testimonials are a great way to attract new customers. Determine how you will collect your testimonials. Maybe there’s an open-ended question on your survey or you can have an online form. Don’t be afraid to ask, but always make sure you do. Testimonials are a true testament of your love.
Posted on Mon, Feb 07, 2011
Love is in the air. There’s just something about this time of year. Valentine’s Day, for most, is a day to show those close to you that you truly care. You may not think of it in the same way, but your business has a relationship with your customers. How often do you show them some love? Use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to think about how you can give your customers the service they love every day of the year. Here are some great customer service tips.
Give them your attention
It doesn’t matter if you’re working with the customer for the first time or you’re in a long-term relationship. You need to give customers the attention they deserve. Make each customer feel as if they’re the most important customer you have, simply by making their needs a priority.
Keep your promises
If you tell a customer that their project will be done by a certain day and time, you better have it done or at least keep them abreast of any delays. Remember, talk is cheap. People want results. If you don’t deliver what you said you would, your customer will find someone who can.
Show some appreciation, please
Customers expect when you thank them at the point of sale. But have you considered remembering those customers one week or a few months after the sale? Talk about cultivating a relationship that can yield repeat business by simply sending a thank you note. Take a look at your customer list and contact some of those that haven’t done business in a while. Send them a note that you miss them and maybe give them an incentive to come back.
Posted on Mon, Jan 31, 2011
Social media websites keep popping up like wild flowers. Groupon emerged in recent years as a unique kind of social media concept. You get incentives to get your friends to set up accounts at Groupon.com. Each morning you receive an e-mail deal from Groupon, typically half off a product or service, based on your geographic location. Here’s the catch—in order for you to get the deal, enough people have to buy in so everyone can get it. So essentially Groupon gets friends talking on other social media sites, like Facebook, about products and services in their community.
LivingSocial is now on the scene utilizing a similar model. They’ve recently made a name for themselves partnering with Amazon. Here’s their story and what you, as a small business owner, can take from their recent success.
Partnering with popularity.
LivingSocial went to Amazon, part owner of LivingSocial, to make a daily deal for all markets—one day, $20 gift cards for $10, over 1.3 million sold. When you’re trying to make a name for yourself, it can be beneficial to partner with a more known and respected brand. What brands in your local market can you partner with to mutually boost your businesses?
Spending money to make money.
It is reported that LivingSocial purchased the Amazon gift cards at full price to make this deal. But now the company has 1.3 million people attached to the LivingSocial brand. Of course the gift card investment cost them, but now they’re banking on repeat customers to get a return on the marketing investment. As a small business owner, you have to think about the objectives of your marketing efforts and ensure that you can realize measurable results.
What works for your competitors…
Late last year, Groupon took in more than $11 million on a similar Gap campaign. LivingSocial decided to work with a bigger brand to get more customers. So, as a business owner, you need to keep an eye on your competitors. How are they marketing their business? How can you do it better?
Posted on Mon, Jan 24, 2011
When people think of marketing they often think of a television commercial, a magazine ad or a billboard. While these are certainly great ways to market your company, there is another—and maybe even more important—way to promote your business. Building a personal brand is an easy and inexpensive way to get your business in front of people. Here are a few tips to build your personal brand.
Assess Your Assets
What are others saying about you? It’s not what you say, but what others are saying about you. That’s what influences your reputation. So you need to get to know yourself and how you want to portray yourself—and your business—in the community.
See and be Seen
Get out there and show off your personal brand. Go to the events and places where people that you want to influence gather. Make sure you have your 15-30 second elevator pitch of what you do and how the people you meet can benefit from your business. Remember to have several versions of your pitch so you can tailor the message to the person you’re meeting.
Get Social
Your company probably has a Facebook and Twitter account but don’t forget to use your personal social media pages to talk about your expertise and your business. It’s probably more effective than your company page, because it’s a person talking to another person about topics that interest both parties.
Manage and Deliver
When you make a promise, deliver on it. That’s the most effective way to maintain your reputation and build your brand. Be true to who you are and continue to make investments in developing the person you want to be.
Posted on Mon, Jan 17, 2011
Companies swimming in cash can afford to take a business retreat to some exotic and tropical location. Imagine—golf, sipping Mai Tais and strolling the beaches at sunset. In order to be a successful company that could host such a business retreat, some work has to get done, right? While most of us can’t afford to take the company to faraway lands, we can host a retreat that produces results. Here are some tips for planning a successful business retreat.
Who should be invited?
Who gets to participate will depend largely on the goal of your retreat. You may only want the executive team to go if you are working on the big picture direction of the company. Or you may want to invite a certain department if the focus of the meeting will be on their area.
How long should you go?
A retreat can last from a half day to a couple of days. It really depends on your goals and what you want to get accomplished. Get the business done first thing in the morning and start getting creative later on. Be sure to mix up the agenda between business and brainstorming and throw in a few energizers to get the team through the midday slump.
Where should you go?
The point of a retreat is to get out of your routine so find a location away from your normal meeting rooms. If you have a budget for meetings, you can plan a trip to a nearby city and treat your employees to a nice dinner, a fun evening activity and overnight stay.
Retreats are valuable in getting your team excited about your company and the direction you’re heading. They promote team building by allowing employees some social time. Ultimately, retreats should give you a clear road map of a pathway to success for your company. And someday, your company can be poolside, Mai Tais in hand.
Posted on Mon, Jan 10, 2011
Take out the business cards that you’ve collected over the past few months, and include your own. You’ll notice that they’re all eerily similar. Lately, there have been a few that go against the common rectangular shape and size. If you have one of those among the cards you’ve collected, your eye will more than likely go to the unique card. Here are a few ideas on how to spice up your business card and make it memorable.
Put a face to the name.
Adding your photo to your business card makes it stand out, and there are benefits to this. Especially at events where you receive a lot of cards, you’ll get home and can’t remember who all these people are. Providing a photo ensures people won’t forget you and it gives your card a personality.
Out with the white. In with the bright.
If you’re holding ten business cards and nine are white and one is a different color, which one will you notice? So why would you make your business card so that is in the nine that aren’t noticed? Choose an interesting color that compliments your company’s brand and see how people respond to the difference.
Shape matters.
It used to be that the standard business card size was important because people would file them in their Rolodex. Today, there is no rule for what shape your business card must be. Circles, triangles, and squares are all ways to get away from the standard shape. Consider a shape that ties your card to your business or shows your personality.
There are many ways that your business card can stand out. As you think of unique ways to improve your business card, be sure you don’t stray from your company’s brand. The more interesting, the more people will want your business card. Your cards may just get passed on to their friends and that should equal more business.
Posted on Mon, Jan 03, 2011
In the last two years, trade shows took a hit. But 2011 looks promising as many companies pull themselves out of the recession. If you’re one of those companies that intend to spend some of your marketing budget on displaying at trade shows this year, look for these trends to help you attract more customers to your booth.
Technology is king.
These days, technology rules and tradeshow displays are no exception. Incorporate technology into your booth to attract attention. The good news is that technology is more durable than the plasma screens of yore. Touchscreens are one of the hottest trends and they give your visitors an interactive experience.
LED screens can also garner attention. At the Expo 2010 show in China, the State Grid Pavilion hosted a 49 x 46 foot LED display theatre named the “Magic Box.” Once people gathered in the box, the 112 LED panels morphed into one giant screen and attendees appeared to speed across the desert and leap onto Mount Everest. While the “Magic Box” is beyond budget for most, we can learn that creatively integrating technology could make your trade show booth the one everyone needs to see.
Green is here to stay.
For anyone who thought that going green was a fleeting fad, it’s still a trend in tradeshow displays. While having plants in your booth is a nice touch, people are expecting more from their companies. Visitors who are concerned for their carbon footprint will be looking for companies that share the same interest. Consider building an entire exhibit out of recycled materials or become a carbon-neutral company and promote your concern for the environment.
Pictures are stronger than words.
You have precious few seconds to capture the attention of a tradeshow attendee. Rather than litter your exhibit with all the words from your brochures, just show them through interesting displays. An exhibit designed by Triad Berlin Projektgesellschaft mbH, featured a ceiling-high cylinder swirling with water. On the cylinder were 40 faucets ranging in size to represent how much water a country such as China or America uses. Again, you may not be able to go to those lengths, but you can use interesting imaging to attract attention.
Posted on Mon, Dec 27, 2010
Michael Jackson has been dethroned by Justin Bieber—at least on Google where more people searched Bieber’s name than any other celebrity in 2010. Last year Jackson topped the list. Each year Google releases Zeitgeist, which literally translated means spirit of the times. It reveals what people searched for across the globe. If you’re into trends, you probably already know the list and probably contributed to the statistics. But for others, here’s what people searched on Google in 2010.
Global events of 2010 topping Google’s list were the World Cup of soccer, the Winter Olympics, the Haiti earthquake, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the ash cloud of Iceland. Google Zeitgeist let’s you see a month-by-month, country-by-country comparison of those searches. In all, Google Zeitgeist provides analysis of 55 countries.
In America, iPad topped the list overall while the oil spill was the top news search. Americans searched images for Jersey Shore, Kesha and Justin Bieber. They looked at maps for the World Cup, Eiffel Tower and Hearst Castle—Einstein Bros. Bagels came in fourth. Apparently, people needed air this year as the top product searches after the iPad were for air compressors and air conditioners. Canadians searched for iPad, World Cup and Vancouver 2010. Nicki Minaj topped the list for entertainers. Justin Bieber came in third after Glee.
What can small business owners take from Zeitgeist? Probably not as much as using the Google Adwords Tool (Google it) where you can enter keywords that you think pertains to your business and analyze how many users are searching those words. But Google Zeitgeist is certainly a spirit of our times. View the Google Zeitgeist video at http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2010/#review and have a Happy New Year.
Posted on Mon, Dec 20, 2010
Incorporating Facebook and Twitter into your small business marketing plan has become nearly a necessity in the past year. While some are still trying to figure out a successful approach to Facebook and Twitter use, entrepreneurs continue to add more online marketing tools to the mix. Here are a few more that you can check out and see if these sites can help your business in 2011.
Foursquare
Since launching at South by Southwest Interactive in March 2009, Foursquare reached over 4 million users by October 2010. Foursquare is a location-based, social network to make it easier to explore cities and find friends. Using the ever-ubiquitous smartphone, users check-in to a place when they’re there and alert friends through the Foursquare mobile application. If a user checks in to a location frequently they can become the coveted mayor of that location.
At a minimum, small business owners should claim their business. If you wish, you can provide special offers. In a way, it becomes a low-cost customer loyalty program that’s easy to administrate. Say you own a coffee shop. You can give the mayor their first drink free or give a free drink to customers for every five check-ins. Restaurants could offer a desert special. Retailers can place discounts on items they want to move off the shelves that day. These special offers can be changed instantly, so if you’re having a slow day, try to push some activity through Foursquare special offers. And don’t forget to promote on your Facebook and Twitter pages.
Groupon
Groupon—and other sites like it—have been spreading across the country this past year. Group buying sites typically promote a deal of the day from a local business. Discounts range from typically 50 to 90 percent off, but only if a number of customers set by the business opts into the deal. If there are enough customers, Groupon alerts them and the customers will print out a Groupon to take into the business or go to their online store to redeem.
Some businesses are using this tool to generate new customers. Your loyal customers will alert their friends through Facebook and Twitter because they want the discount and won’t get the deal unless enough customers sign up. Over 20 million Groupons have been purchased as of December 2010 and the site claims that 97 percent of businesses want to be featured again.
Goo.gl
In a world of 140 characters and more and more people adopt smartphones, it’s crucial to find ways to reach them. Google has entered the URL shortener market but have added an unique feature. Google Shortener not only gives you a short URL to place on Twitter, it also generates a QR code. Smartphone users know that when they see a QR, they’re just a scan away from more information about the services you’re advertising.