Still More Marketing Tips You Can Implement Today

These tips are published here with the consent of Debra Power of Get Power Marketing.  Her recent presentation through the LEDC regarding creating a marketing plan was very helpful and highly informative.  If you would like to contact Debra, her website is http://www.getmarketingpower.com/ and her phone number is 734-741-1134.

Encourage repeat business right from the start.  This can be done by in-store, email or Facebook only offers.  In services businesses, it's important to get to know your customers and help them to be familiar with all the ways you may be of service to them.

Train your staff to answer the phone with a friendly, marketing-specific message.  Be sure all of the people in the business who may answer the phone are informed and on board.

Remember: your best customers are your existing customers.  It takes six times the marketing dollars to convert a prospect to a customer compared with an exisitng customers.  If some one is already doing business with you, then it's probably safe to say that they like you and would probably buy from you again.  Make sure you do whatever you can to keep it that way.  Keep them happy.

Present demonstrations, workshops and consultations whenever possible.  People like to do business with people they view as knowledgible and experts at what they do.  Workshops can be an interactive way for your customers to become involved with your products or services.

Choose a charity and become an advocate.  This is good for the charity, good for your community, good for your personal well being and can be a PR asset.  The PR is in last place though, because the other benefits are so much more important.

Review you hours of operation and see if new hours might be more appealing to your prospects/customers.  Ask your customers for input.  Post the question on your Facebook page.  Depending on the type of business, after hours appointments may be appropriate.

In addition to today's marketing tips, I also wanted to mention the wealth of marketing information shared at today's Adrian in the AM.  The presenters from various marketing related businesses offered professional marketing insight.  The program concluded with a marketing tips lighting round among the morning's speakers.  Thanks for all the information and thanks Ann for the great Adrian in the AM topic. 

Among the upcoming announcements in the Adrian Area Chamber email newsletter you will find information on the next Marketing SIG Lunch and Learn.  It will be held on Friday April 22nd and promises to be another great marketing session.  Another thanks is due to Ann for giving me the opportunity to share some marketing thoughts and ideas with the Chamber Conversations blog readers.  Stay tuned to this blog for more useful and interesting marketing information.

Strategies for Email Marketing

People are so inundated with information everyday, it's hard to get their attention.  Consider how many emails you receive that you don't read.  These strategies will help prevent your email marketing from falling victim to the delete key.

At the top of the list is having permission to send email marketing to a recipient.  There are a variety of ways to build an email list.  In the email marketing we do for our business, the email service offers tips on growing your email list.  One idea is at your store, or when you meet people you would like to add to your list, simply ask them if it's okay to send them your email marketing.

Be familiar with the people on your list.  This gives you the opportunity to segment your list by interest or provide information that you know will be of interest to everyone on your list.  Requesting replies to your email also helps gauge what gets the attention of your recipients.  Monitor your in box for feed back and reply to comments and questions. 

Keep your email marketing personal by using the recipients' names.  It makes bulk email seem more personal.  The email marketing service we use does this for us.

Email marketing may not be as effective during holiday seasons.  People are distracted with other activities.  If you have a retail business and your recipients have opted to receive your emails, then shopping seasons are prime emailing marketing times for you.  Business to business service organizations may want to think about sending their email marketing early in the week for at work consumption.  Business to consumer business may want to email market closer to the weekend when more people have free time to take advantage of email offers.

Email subject lines should state an immediate benefit to the recipient.  Mention a discount or ask an interesting question.  It's a good idea to avoid $ and ! and "free" as these may trigger spam filters.  Our email subject line is the title of our newsletter, which includes our business name.

If you include a call to action, make it clear and easy to follow through.  If you want recipients to print a coupon, test it to make sure it works.  If you want them to click through to your website, make sure the link works.  If you want them to do something specific when they land on your website, make it easy to find and complete.

The email service we use provides us with a variety of statistics regarding our email newsletter.  We can learn who opened the newsletter and how many times.  Who opted in or out, who clicked through and more.  This is usefull information for the purpose of personal follow up and other business purposes.

Email marketing is inexpensive but has significant impact.  Our average open rate has been around 30%.  If you compare that with direct mail, which is ususally around 2% to 5% and much more expensive, you can see why we find email marketing appealing.  The Chamber has a very nice email newsletter and is a good example of how email marketing can be done well.  If you would like to see our Boulevard Financial newsletter, please send me an email at boulevardfinancial@comcast.net.

Presentable Presentations

While not all businesses employ presentations as part of their marketing.  For those that do, presentations may be very important to the business - prospect relationship.  Presentations, in that context are intended to inform in an interesting way and move the audience from prospect to client. 

To have an effective presentation it's important to be well informed about the audience.  What do they already know about the topic?  Why would the topic be of interest or of value?  What do you want them to do as a result of the presentation?  Why would they not want to do that?  The audience, for the presentation to be effective,  needs to know why they should think you are credible and qualified.  To augment the connection, building a rapport through common interests is a real asset.

The job of the presentation is to take the audience through the process of seeing the current situation and then understanding what could be.  Even if the audience has the information they need to make a decision and it's presented in an interesting, credible and persuasive way, without a call to action, the audience may not understand what the next step should be.  Some call to action tools, may be spelling out a time line for the next step.  Having appropriate paper work on hand and asking for the desired action is another way to go.  People with a sales background reading this will recognize this step.

Some nuts and bolts things to keep in mind include making sure that there isn't too much detail on one page.  The audience won't be able to take it in.  If possible, use photos or images to illustrate your message.  If you use a template or a logo on each page, observe that this takes up a large part of area that could be used for clean simple lettering and images.  The audience will comprehend the message better with less information per page and one clean sharp font used in a limited number of sizes. 

Before your presentation, go through it with someone you trust to give you an honest opinion.  Walk through it in your mind until you are comfortable with the flow and how it relates to the audience.  Hopefully these tips will help you create and deliver more effective presentations.

More Marketing Tips You Can Implement Today

These Marketing Tips You Can Implement Today are published here with the permission of Debra Power of Get Marketing Power.  Her resent presentation at LEDC was highly informative and very helpful.  You can learn more about Debra by going to her website GetMarketingPower.com or call 734-741-1134.  These are some of Debra's useful and clever tips.

Host a contest for something related to your business.  Keep in mind the expense of the prize and any collateral expenses versus the benefit.

Make your telephone on-hold message a marketing tool.  Keeping this fresh is a great idea.

Start a blog.  If you have email addresses for your customers, contact them and invite them to follow you.  Be sure to put your blog address in other promotional materials, including your business cards.

Review your pricing strategy and see if there are opportunities to improve.  It's not a bad idea to know what your competition is charging for the same or similar items.  Is it possible for you to afford a loss leader for a period of time to bring new people into the store?  If you offer a loss leader, it's important to advertise.  Your pricing may also need revising if there is something you offer that just isn't selling.  Remember that your customers may also have some insight for you on this topic. 

Keep quality a priority.  Customers are disappointed with shoddy merchandise.  If you have a service business, make sure that your entire team is on the quality band wagon.  Customers remember and share a good experiences with a business.  Customers remember and share not so good ones too.  For which would you prefer to be remembered?

All About Women

If your business could benefit from meeting your customers face to face, then "All About Women" could be just the event for you.  "All About Women" Women's Health Fair and EXPO is being held Saturday, April 16th at The Centre.  This event allows businesses to sell, show & demonstrate their products and services to a mostly female audience attending the event.  The cost to be a vendor is reasonable and an 8 foot skirted table is provided in each of the 10' X 7' display spaces. 

For most businesses, women are a highly desirable audience.  They tend to lead the way or have a lot of input on many decisions in their home.  Women also make up a large share of business owners.  Some vendors at the show may find women an attractive audience because their products are appealing to women. 

Women attend the EXPO because the price of admission includes health screenings, pampering services, workshops and more.  The featured speaker this year is America's Nutritionist, Zonya Foco.  If participating as a vendor isn't in your plans for one reason or another, coming out to attend promises to be loads of fun.  For more information on being a vendor or attending, contact the Chamber 265-2320.

Marketing Tips You Can Implement Today

The tips in this post are shared with the permission of Debra Power of Get Power Marketing.  Recently I attended a workshop at LEDC presented by Debra.  She is an exceptional speaker and her presentation was both informative and useful.  If you have an opportunity to hear her speak in the future, I would recommend it.  Just for reference, her web address is http://www.getmarketingpower.com/ and her phone number is 734-741-1134.  The title of her presentation was Your Path to Marketing Success and the core topic was developing a marketing plan.  Since wiser minds than I have recently addressed that topic, I'm simply going to pull out a few key tips for simple marketing steps you can take today.  These are drawn from the workshop booklet I received at the meeting.

Survey your customers.  They are a treasure trove of valuable information.

Create a customer database and use it.  It requires 6 times the marketing expenditure to gain a new customer compared with getting an existing customer to do business with you again.

Follow up with your customers after the sale.  They will be impressed that you care.

Use coupons, offer free samples or a free hour of consultation.  Consider the impact on your bottom line before implementing this tip.

Hand out free promotional gifts.  See above.

Re-examine your signage.  Look at your business inside and out, like you have never seen it before.  This can be a real eye opener.

Your Customers Are Calling

There is a marketing tool in every business that can be put to better use today.  It's your telephone.  How you answer your phone may be a new undiscovered asset to your marketing. 

To begin with basics, all your staff should answer the phone the same way.  Think about first impressions.  How do you want your staff to sound and what do you want the caller to think about your business as a result of the phone being answered?  There is one business I have called a couple of times recently where the person who usually answers the phone sounds like they dislike talking to customers.  Not a good first impression.  Consider that on the other end of the phone line is a potential or existing customer and you have the opportunity to communicate something about your business.  What will it be?

If you are having a sale or a special event,  a very brief description of the promotion may be a good way to start.  If you are unique in the market place and have a slogan that reflects that, saying your slogan as a part of phone answering protocol may be a good choice.  Using the fast food drive thru approach may be something to consider.  If you have a new product, ask the caller if they would like information about it.  Even if they aren't interested at that moment, they know about something else you have to offer.  This can also be used for product lines that you already have, but would like to emphasize.  If you have a recorded message on hold, update it to include new information you would like to communicate about your business. 

Remember to get everyone in your business who may be answering the phone on board with the kind of first impression you would like to give callers.  The caller has already sought you out, you have the opportunity to give them another reason to do business with you.

Adrian Area Chamber Shared Interest Groups

The Adrian Area Chamber of Commerce offers members a valuable resource through Shared Interest Groups (SIG).  Currently, there are two, Technology and Marketing. 

Tomorrow the Technology group will meet at the Chamber office for a Lunch 'n' Learn regarding smart phones, Blackberries and Android phones.  Mike McLemore is facilitating this conversation so those attending can make better use of their phones for practical and business purposes.  There are some really smart people involved with the Chamber.

On March 25, the Marketing SIG will have a Lunch 'n' Learn covering location based apps.  Details to be announced.  The Marketing SIG has been especially helpful to me personally.  I represent my organization's products and I am also responsible for the marketing.  I have a marketing background, but I certainly don't know all of the answers. 

Recently, I signed up to participate in the "All About Women" expo.  While I've attended and represented a business at an expo before, I've never planned a booth, materials etc.  I mentioned this at a Marketing SIG meeting and within a few minutes had lots of new ideas offered by members of the group.  Like I said, there are some really smart people involved with the Chamber.

The Marketing Lunch 'n' Learn meeting in February covered creating and executing a marketing plan.  It was presented by Gaynor Meilke who is Director of Corporate Relations at Siena Heights University.  There was a lot a very good feed back.  And no wonder, many businesses can benefit from information on planning marketing.

Each week the Adrian Chamber sends an email with information on upcoming events as well as some additional reminders during the week.  If you haven't had time to look these over, take a moment to check out the emails.  You may be pleasantly surprised at the learning opportunities that are available through the Chamber.

The Generous Ant

It’s nearly Spring!  Sometimes it’s hard to tell which season it is based on Michigan weather.  Soon we'll see green leaves, flowers and the inevitable insect life that goes with warmer weather.  This post deals with two of our insect friends, The Ant and The Grasshopper. 
  
Almost everyone is familiar with the fable about The Ant and The Grasshopper.  The Ant works hard all summer, planning ahead for the coming winter, while The Grasshopper plays his fiddle, dances and lounges in the sun. 
  
In researching this story, one finds that there are three different endings to this tale.  In one ending The Ant turns The Grasshopper away when he asks for help once cold weather comes.  In another, The Grasshopper's lack of planning proves fatal.  In the third, and probably the best ending, The Ant shares what he can with The Grasshopper. 
  
In all likelihood, if the story had originated in the USA, the tale would have the ending mentioned last.  Statistics have shown that Americans are some of the most generous people on earth because they understand that people end up in a circumstance of need for all kinds of reasons. 
  
With generosity, the recipient benefits, but so does the giver.  Studies have shown that people just feel better when they extend a helping hand to someone in need.  In a word, it's heartwarming.  Another possible benefit is a tax deduction for charitable contributions.  Your tax adviser can give you more information on how to claim a tax deduction for your charitable gift. 
  
For many people there is one organization or cause that is near and dear to them.  Because of that, some people will make a contribution to benefit the same group over and over.  If this is something you do, or would like to do, there may be a better way to go about that than writing an annual check.  Charitable giving can be planned through life insurance and annuities.  For more information on which is the right approach for you and how to proceed, please contact me, as this can be complicated.  I am licensed in Michigan.

If you are involved with a charitable organization and would like us to talk to your donors about setting up a contribution plan, please let us know.  Long term planned giving can be a real asset for a non-profit organization.  Thinking about what The Ant would do, he was such a good planner, very likely he would have a contribution plan in place for his favorite non-profit groups.  He would be The Generous Ant!

Adrian Area Chamber Marketing Benefits

The Adrian Area Chamber of Commerce offers its members a wide variety of marketing opportunities.  Some are networking, others are forms of advertising. 

Networking offers the opportunity to mingle with and get to know other local business people.  From the business point of view, the more people you know and the more relationships you form, the better chance you have of doing business.  Customers like to do business with people they know.  Potential business, of course, isn’t the only benefit of networking.  I’ve found that AACC members are a really nice group of people, very enjoyable to be around and really worth getting to know.  As Ann says “The Adrian Area Chamber of Commerce is a living, breathing social network”.

 With AACC, the potential for member networking occurs almost weekly.  There are shared interest groups in technology and marketing.  Chamber Ambassadors actively promote the Chamber and get to know members through a variety of activities.  Monthly breakfast meetings are a great way to get acquainted with other Chamber members.  The Chamber offers learning opportunities, expos, golf outings, Business After Hours and more.

AACC also has a variety of advertising opportunities available for Chamber members.  On the Chamber website, members receive their own business page and a link to their business website.  The Chamber will do email blast and offers Chamber email newsletter advertising.  The Chamber membership mailing list is available to members on request.  Members are also listed by name and category in the Chamber directory.  Members may also sponsor various Chamber events and offer literature at the Chamber Information Center.  There are also some group advertising opportunities through the year.  This is only a partial list. 

For more details on any of these networking, marketing and advertising opportunities, contact the Chamber office at 517-265-2320.

Audience, Message and "Pure Michigan"

The audience and message for the "Pure Michigan" campaign is as broad and vast as the state itself.  The tourism campaign is a "come one come all" invitation for visitors to enjoy the state and spend money.  But the campaign is anything but random.  With over ten television commercials and nearly 60 different radio ads, the campaign is highly segmented.  Some commercials address cultural attractions, other showcase beaches, family vacations, fishing and autumn colors.  Each message is designed to tell a receptive audience why a Michigan vacation is right for them.  When considering the complexity of the Michigan campaign it makes marketing one's businesses almost seem simple.

Let's start with a definition.  A target audience for a business, in essence means current and potential customers.  Your target audience is the focus of your marketing in order to sell your products or services.  Generally they already have an interest in what you have to offer.  A target audience can be subdivided by interests, income or demographics. 

Your current customers are tremendous information resource.  By talking with and surveying them a business owner can learn what need is being filled, what solution is being provided by your business.  Why do they do business with you?  What do they like and not like?  Based on your business there may be other key questions your current customers can answer.  When you are trying to attract birds of a feather, it's good to know why the birds you have are showing up in the first place.  Using that information in marketing means you are addressing the needs of potential as well as current customers.  Tell the audience you are the answer or solution to their need.  When you have a campaign in place, be sure to inform your employees so they can reinforce the message.

When one observes the "Pure Michigan" television or radio ads, it stands out that the pacing is gentle, but the message is informative.  This model is helpful in understanding that less is truly more in marketing.  If a message is crammed with information, the audience misses a great deal.  It seems that people today function with their minds running in several directions at the same time.  A simple marketing message is easier to understand and remember.  And of course, one of the purposes of marketing is to be remembered.

The next post will cover some of the marketing tools available exclusively to Adrian Area Chamber members.

Media and "Pure Michigan"

The "Pure Michigan" advertising campaign is carried out on television, radio, on-line and in print.  Having a combination of media helps to reach a broader cross section of the desired audience.  For most businesses, consistently using a limited number of paid media options is best.  Most advertising budgets only allow for doing one or two things well.  Knowing your audience and your message will help you determine which media is right for your business.

Radio is a good choice for business events and image marketing.  It's important for the advertiser to have a large enough budget to create the desired impact or consistency with radio.  Television also requires consistent repetition to have the desired effect.  Television and radio both are good at demographic targeting.  Television offers the advertiser the opportunity to show what they have to offer in an eye catching format.  The "Pure Michigan" marketing uses both television and radio for the ability to evoke emotion and build image.

The on-line portion of the "Pure Michigan" marketing includes a website, Facebook and YouTube.  A website can be done well and inexpensively but needs to be updated regularly.  To have an appropriate website designed it's best to know what the purpose of the site will be.  Facebook is free but requires a time commitment to to keep it fresh.  Facebook is great for customer interaction and Facebook only offers.  YouTube may not be right for all businesses.  Perhaps having a customer contest to create a YouTube video for your business could be fun and attract attention.

The print portion of the "Pure Michigan" campaign is the annual Michigan travel guide.  It provides details about attractions and events all over Michigan.  Most local businesses aren't likely to require a publication that large or detailed.  Print media is a good choice if you have a lot of information or images to share and the distribution area and audience meet your needs.  A good use for newspaper in particular is event marketing, as it allows the reader to keep a copy of the important ad.

Other marketing options to consider are direct mail and email marketing.  Both are great tools for customer loyalty marketing.  Email marketing also offers you the opportunity to provide information to your customers to potentially position your business as expert in your category.

The next post will cover audience.

Strategy, Planning and "Pure Michigan"

When the strategy behind the "Pure Michigan" campaign is analyzed, it is easy to see that there are many things that were done right.  A well done marketing campaign rarely happens by accident or chance.  It is well thought out from beginning to end.  The state of Michigan hired a top tier advertising agency to plan and execute their tourism campaign.

Although most small business people don’t have access to a high end advertising agency, there are high quality media people who have the knowledge and experience to be an asset when it comes to developing a marketing plan.  It would be helpful to identify creative and successful media people that you trust to help you with ideas and direction.

The common characteristics of a well designed marketing plan include a stated goal, a consistent theme and the commitment to carry out the plan on an on going basis.  If the goal of the marketing is defined, then the advertiser will know if it has been successful.  It’s important to plan the manner in which the campaign will be carried out, including budget and media, to be certain that consistency is attainable. 

There is one important step that comes before anything else.  In order to plan a campaign and set any goal, a business owner needs to understand what makes their store or company unique and why their customers choose to do business with them.  Those pieces of information will determine your goal, your theme and your media choice.  Knowing who you are and what you are doing right will help you decide what you want your next step to be.  Your theme is based on your identity and your goal.  Your media choice is, in large measure, determined by who you are trying to reach and what has worked for you in the past.

It’s evident from the quality and results of the “Pure Michigan” campaign that the agency behind it put a lot of time and effort into planning before writing a single script or buying any media time.  The energy spent on a marketing plan, know matter what size the business, is well worth it.

The next post will look at media.