Marketing 2k10

2010 brings us to a new frontier of marketing strategies and philosophies.  Many businesses have survived and some have even prospered.  However, all are riddled by the turbulent economic conditions of 2009 and asking, “How do I communicate better with my customers?”

Once upon a time, businesses could simply set up shop, open the doors and let people in.  Ahhh… the American dream realized.  But, in today’s extremely competitive marketplace – achieving the American dream takes more to accomplish than ever.  No longer can you rely on customers to come pounding down your door by simply putting a “Sale” sign in your window.  These days you need a sign, a guy on the corner dancing around with balloons, ads on television, radio and in the paper, a postcard mailer, a website, an email blast, a press release, etc…  Shall I go on?

Can you even afford to discount your products or services after incurring the expense of promoting your business?

Let’s face it – many of these resources aren’t even that effective anymore.  So, the question still remains, “How do you communicate with your customers in today’s marketplace?”  Let’s assess the situation:

• Signs in the Window – Didn’t see it while I was walking/driving by because I was busy on the phone, texting or driving 60mph honking at the guy in front of me.
• Guy on the Corner – I wonder what the balloons are for? I hope he doesn’t file a police report because I almost ran him over…
• Television Ads – Missed it because I was channel surfing during the commercials.
• Radio Ads – I don’t get those on my iPod…
• Newspaper Ads – Are there any newspapers left?  I haven’t read one in ages!
• Postcard Mailer – Hmmmm…  Junk mail.
• Website – You’ve got one, but has it been updated?  Is it being used effectively?
• Email Blast – Again, junk mail.  It went to the spam or junk folder.
• Press Release – What are the odds of your business being the featured story on the 10 o’ clock news?  Unlikely at best – unless your giving away a widget to those less fortunate.

So, where is everybody?  The answer is simple – where are you?

• Facebook – Addicted.  Along with 350,000,000 others.
• Google – I use it 9×1000000¹⁰ per day.  Are you “Google-able”?
• Linkedin – Yep, I’m on there with more than 50,000,000 of my closest friends.
• CNN.com, MSN.com or other news-related websites – That’s how I get my news…  Along with everybody else.
• Twitter – I keep hearing about that.  But who wants to know when I do every stupid little thing?  Over 50,000,000 registered users – that’s who!
• Any of the other freely available, highly-trafficked social media networks – Sure!  Those are my peeps!  All 1,000,000,000+ of them…

Remember at the dawn of the millennium when the big hype was focused on how much the internet was going to change the face of business and if you didn’t get a website, you were “missing the boat”?  Remember how we all frantically raced to establish an online presence in hopes that our business would magically double, triple or more!  Only to find that in the end, we were simply one more listing online for another product or service that nobody was ready to order online…  So much for being unique, just like everybody else.

Now, take a moment and think about the most recent major news stories and how you heard about them.  Was it in the paper, on televion or radio?  Or, was it online?  I can think of 100 recent news stories that I learned of via social media networks before they even hit news-related sites!  For instance, the death of Michael Jackson, the “Bubble Boy” incident, the Haitian earthquake…

The speed at which information is now broadcast via the internet has undoubtedly surpassed that of television, radio and newspaper.  Welcome to 2k10.  Are you ready?

Well, now they are ready!  What are you doing to let them know that you’re here?

With the growing popularity of social media networks and consumer confidence in e-commerce – the time (and opportunity) to distinguish your business from the competition has arrived.  When was the last time that your average small business owner had the ability to reach millions of people within moments?  Never – that is, until NOW!

“But I don’t have the time to sit around and constantly update my Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, WordPress, (insert other social media network membership here) and website!  I need to get to work…”

Marketing IS work!  However, effective marketing is GOOD work!

The great news is that with the huge increase in social media usage, there are a variety of platforms designed specifically to broadcast your message across all of your social networks.  Better yet – almost all of them are FREE!  By leveraging this technology, you can now spread your message to the masses with the simplicity of 140 keystrokes and a mouse-click.  All you need is a place to initiate your message (such as a blog or a place to post new articles or promotions on your website) with an RSS feed and, VOILÁ!  Automatic updates to every social media network that you’ve registered with.

Check out these useful resources:

• www.twitterfeed.com
• www.ping.fm

Additionally, networks suck as Facebook, Twitter, WordPress & Linkedin allow the user to broadcast across their respective networks via widgets or tools readily available on their sites.  When you connect all of these networks together, you end up with a very effective toll to reach your customers (and even get new ones!)

Tips & tricks to keep your customers coming back…

Keep in mind that your customers are constantly being barraged by advertising from your competitors.  So, keep them interested and engaged with your content.  The internet has made us all smarter consumers that have access to huge amounts of information at our fingertips.  So, don’t try to “pull the wool” over your customer’s eyes – treat them with the respect and dignity that they deserve, offer them fair deals and excellent service.  Remember, they are the reason you stay in business and the same old principle that “One disgruntled customer will tell 100 people about how bad their experience was, but one satisfied customer will only tell 10 how good it was” still rings true.  As a matter of fact, in the new web-based communication era, the results can be ten-fold.

Here are a few ways to keep them coming back and spreading the “good word” about you and your products or services:

• Update your website content regularly.
• Know your customer – provide them with useful information – NOT random garbage.
• Offer perks or specials for people that register for your newsletters or become fans, followers, etc.
• Don’t inundate them with too much information.  Keep it brief, concise and interesting.
• Let them know what’s new or coming soon.
• Provide incentives for good referrals.
• Let them know that you value their business.
• Allow them the opportunity to post comments about their experience with you/your company.

If you’d like more information or would like assistance with establishing your personal or business network, please feel free to send me a message.

Good luck and happy networking!