MarketingMoment

OK, I admit it: I’m a Twitterholic. Since taking up the twitterer reins, I have spent the past two weeks or so merrily tweeting away with fellow Twitters and I’m having a ball.

Yes, there is a little banality, but I’ve been greeted each day with inspiring quotes, wonderful insights and links to fantastic tools…

I confess that the first time I took a look at the service, I just didn’t get it. But after reading an informative article on the microblogging concept, I gave Twitter a second look. And I’m really glad I did.

Lots of people said Twitter was a flash in the pan, but it’s growing in popularity every day. Some purport its use as a business tool. It certainly helps as part of the all-important KLT (Know-Like-Trust) factor. So I’m sticking with it for now. Besides, I’m having too much fun!

What about you? What are your experiences with Twitter? Good or bad, I’d love to know. Join in the discussion below…

And if you’re a fellow twitterer and you fancy hooking up, you’ll find me here:http://twitter.com/TraceyDooley

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The lead article in the latest issue of MediaMinister’s Communiqué for Success shows you how to capitalise on a fast, easy and economical way to promote just about ANY business.

To read the full article and gain *hidden links* to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. (That’s a good, by the way!) As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD that can dramatically improve sales simply for signing up and trying it out.

Subscribe here.

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• Be Profitable in a Slow Economy
• Why People Don’t Buy
• Can the X Factor Help Your Business?
• Be a Client Magnet
• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart from ‘Me-Too’ Competitors
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• How to Bolster Trust on Your Website
• Just How Believable Are You?
• …and much, much more that you really can’t afford to miss out on if you are serious about making it in business.

Subscribe here. 

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Let’s say you’ve just spent the best part of your month creating and fine-tuning your core marketing message. How do you REALLY know whether it is likely to be of any interest to your target market? The research you will have carried out (oh, you didn’t — OK, straight back to the start! Do not pass ‘Go’ and do not collect £200!) is inextricably linked, but so is testing. But there is another, much simpler way to gauge its success . . . just ask yourself: “Would it be possible for anyone to say the opposite of this?”

Here’s an example of what I am getting at:

* Your message: “We firmly believe in always putting our clients first.”

* The opposite: “We don’t firmly believe in always putting our clients first.”

* Conclusion: No one would say the opposite (unless they were intent on committing business suicide!). So this gives a fairly good indication that your message is no-goer. Apart from being meaningless, it isn’t going to rub well with your prospective clients.

OK, let’s try a different message:

* Your message: “Our support team is ready to help you at all times.” 

* The opposite: “Our help desk closes at 11pm.”

* Conclusion: You could certainly say that your help desk isn’t always open. Not everyone can provide a 24/7 service. So your message is worth trying out. 

Of course, the more specific you are, the better the message. And the more you show how you differ from the competition, the greater the chances of your marketing’s success.

Try it and see — and DO let me know of any successes!

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Holding a competition is a great marketing tool, giving you:

• brand recognition
• positioning in the marketplace
• goodwill in the community
• publicity
• the ability to fish for product name ideas
• leads
• new customers and/or sales

It needn’t be complicated or costly to set up, either.

If you’re looking to build your customer base, then a simple ’send-in-and-win’ tear-off reply coupon is sufficient. You can do the same via email (”Send the answer to the following question to contest@yourdomain.com”). 

You can also get ideas for a new product or service. For example one of my colleagues is giving away $1,000 (approx £550) for the person to come up with the best title for his forthcoming book. This is all being done via social media. 

If you’re a life coach with a local client base, you can ask your clients and prospects to choose their best restaurant, doctor, supermarket checkout assistant, bus driver, milkman or postman and give away six months of coaching to the winner. 

If you’re a gardener, hold a “name that tree” competition, and then donate a tree or two to the local park in both your names. You can do the same if you’re a carpenter, only donate a bench instead… 

The ideas are endless. You just need to get a bit creative. 

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I heard on the news (BBC) this morning that supermarkets are spending more on advertising and less on branding, in an attempt to lure shoppers and defeat the credit-crunch fallout.

Does this mean that you should follow suit?

Advertising – whether it’s advertising in magazines, newspapers, the trade press or online – CAN be yield a good return on business. But it’s generally more appropriate for larger brands with the advertising budget to match their size.

That said, advertising DOES work, and it can work for you . . . providing you advertise the right things to the right people in the right places and in the right way.  

If you do wish to dip your toe in the advertising arena, then I would suggest spending your budget very carefully to ensure you receive maximum returns for your expenditure.  

My step-by-step, lead-generation system High-Powered Ads that Generate Sales reveals where to place your ad – and where NOT to advertise – as well as how to triple the results of ANY ad you write . . . guaranteed! For more information, point your browser to: http://mediaminister.co.uk/products.htm#HPA 

But back to the question of whether you should ditch your branding efforts. I think not. Branding is crucial to any business – at any time and regardless of the state of the economy.

It can reinforce your image so that you stay in your existing customers mind, as well as grab the curiosity of potential new customers. 

Central to effective branding is the concept of consistency. No matter what you do, you absolutely MUST be consistent with your core marketing message. That’s because you want your business image and brand to be easily recognisable, and you want your prospects to conclude that your company is a confident, credible and stable one.

To really strengthen your brand image, as well as being consistent, you should be educating your potential customers about WHY they should buy your product or service (no one likes to be sold, right?). The use of case studies and testimonials is a great way to achieve this. You’ll find plenty of other ideas in posts here on MarketingMoment.

So what about you? How are you educating your customers to increase sales?

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The lead article in the latest issue of MediaMinister’s Communiqué for Success reveals that far from being the kind of lovely lady who rejoices in handing out cough drops while sipping chamomile tea, Aunty AIDA is more akin to Checkpoint Charlie in character.

AIDA is in fact one of the most useful formulas for keeping your creative thinking on tap. And it has the potential to substitute flagging sales with a roaring trade . . . BUT only if you pay attention.

To read the full article and gain hidden links to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD simply for signing up and trying it out. 

Subscribe here.

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• The Most Important Action You Can Take For Your Business This Year 

• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart From ‘Me-Too’ Competitors 
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• When Push Comes to Shove
• How to Bolster Trust on Your Website 
• Just How Believable Are You? 

Subscribe here. 

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“Brace yourselves: We’re heading for a recession…” says one paper. “We’ve never had it so good,” says another.

While pundits argue (and confuse us) about whether there is an official ‘recession’ on the horizon – or not – what matters to those of us who are self-employed is how are we supposed to survive the very real credit crunch ‘fallout’.  

Some solopreneurs and SMEs are cutting costs where they can. Unfortunately, this happens to be in the very area where no one interested in staying in business can ill afford to ‘downsize’: marketing.

Experts agree that now is NOT the time to wind down your marketing spend. On the contrary, you’d be wise to up the spend. For investment in marketing now will help shield against any future revenue losses.

As the study Turning Adversity into Advantage: Does Proactive Marketing During a Recession Pay Off?, shows organisations that a) value marketing, b) feature a corporate culture that rewards risk-taking, and c) are willing to up the ante on marketing efforts are those who come out on top.

“The firms that had all three characteristics did very well in a recession. But firms that are missing any one of them, they’re in trouble,” says As Dr Gary Lilien, one of the report’s authors. 

It’s true that when times are tough competitors often fall by the wayside. Any steps you can take to enhance your efforts to find new customers/clients, and to turn existing ones into loyal long-term buyers of your goods/services will help you come of any recession [whether real or imagined] really, really well.

So do yourself a favour: Be bold and rejuvenate your marketing. You’ll thank yourself in the long run – regardless of whether or not we slide into a full-scale recession.  

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