Posted by Maureen Condon on Tue, Mar 16, 2010 @ 08:00 AM
I was getting my hair cut on Saturday at Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio in Framingham, MA. During my visit, I sat next to the owner, Lisa, as she did a manicure on a brand new customer. Wisely, Lisa asked the customer, a recent transplant to the Metrowest area, how she found her studio.
"I looked online and saw 2 great reviews for your place," she replied. "So I came in." After she left, I asked Lisa if she knew where these reviews resided and she had no idea. I recommended to her that she find out and encourage more of them because just 2 reviews had yielded a new client!
After I got home, I was curious to see how this new customer had found Lisa's place, so i googled "nail salon Framingham" and got these results. Sure enough, there are "2 reviews" next to Merle Norman. Ironically, though, only one was about Lisa's studio - the other was about another Merle Norman studio at the mall. The reviews were courtesy of Insider Pages.
So what can Lisa do to get more customers through this type of social media marketing? And how can you apply it to your business? Here are some suggestions:
- Get email addresses for your clients.
- After they do business with you, send a thank you email with a link to Insider Pages asking them to post a review about your services. Since these reviews tend to be integrated with Google Search, they can help guide traffic to your door, as they did in Lisa's case. You can also direct them to your Facebook Fan page - I noticed Merle Norman has a corporate Facebook Fan page but that Lisa's individual studio does not - could be a good venue for her to set up her own Fan page.
- When customers post positive reviews, post your own comment thanking them. When they post their negative experiences, don't panic. Rather respond openly, validating their concerns and mentioning specific ways you will address the problem. By engaging honestly with your customers through social media channels you can build productive, profitable long term relationships.
Has an online review ever brought traffic to your door? We'd love to hear about it!
Posted by Susan LaPlante-Dube on Sat, Feb 20, 2010 @ 09:09 AM
As more and more of our customers have become active on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the question often comes up which url shortener to use. We have always recommended bit.ly as our standard and in 2009 Twitter announced that bit.ly would be their standard. There are a couple reasons why it has been top of our list:
- It is very easy and intuitive
- It creates a permanent (301) redirect to the full URL
I recently found a great summary article that compares a number of url shorteners that I wanted to share. But before I do let me explain a couple of important phrases for those readers not comfortable with some items above.
What is a URL Shortener?
If you have taken the plunge to tweet you know that you only have 140 characters to work with. If you want to announce your recent newsletter it is likely you will run out of space in your tweet because of the length of the link to your newsletter. Let me give you an example.
Today I tweeted about our February Newsletter on the 10 Marketing Metrics You Must Track. Here is a picture of the Tweet
As you can see i put an note that I think will get people to pay attention then inserted a link to our newsletter. BUT it is 18 characters too long. By going to bit.ly I can enter the long url you see here and it will give me back a shorter one that will still link to the newsletter - see below.
Notice how the link (url) is shorter and I still have 38 characters left if I had more to say? That is what a URL shortener does.
But won't I lose search engine credit since it does not use my web address?
That's where the 301 redirect comes in. Bit.ly (and other shorteners) permanently point their shortened url to your url so credit from the search engines is always passed.
Bit.ly does not require you to sign up for an account but if you do you can get metrics on how many times your link was clicked on.
Interested in learning which other shorteners rate well? Read on...I found this article very valuable in explaining other criteria to consider when selecting a tool to shorten your URL
http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204
Posted by Maureen Condon on Thu, Oct 29, 2009 @ 05:00 AM
Our newsletter this month, Questions Prospects Ask - and What You Can Learn from Them, is about how to anticipate, respond and learn from your prospect's questions.
Here are 3 reasons why it's so valuable to anticipate prospect questions and answer them proactively in your marketing and sales materials:
- It creates a connection between you and your prospect.
"Wow," says the prospect, when they see you talk about something that is important to them. "This company understands me and my needs."
- It demonstrates your skills and experience.
The more you can show in your marketing content that you've tackled certain challenges, you understand a particular industry, or you have created a proven process or system that serves clients well, the greater credibility you will establish with prospects.
- It helps you distinguish yourself from the competition.
While it's great to have prospects that are not comparing you with other firms before making a decision, in most cases, you'll have to answer questions about how you are a different and why a prospect should choose you over someone else.
Addressing these questions proactively shows that you're comfortable with how you measure up against the competition.
What are some questions that prospects have asked you during the sales process?
Posted by Maureen Condon on Tue, Oct 13, 2009 @ 07:00 AM
Recently I received a postcard from RatePoint, an email marketing provider. The postcard focused solely on getting customer to switch from Constant Contact, its biggest competitor.
Here are some excerpts from it:
- "I love you Constant Contact. But I'm moving on to RatePoint."
- "Here's the biggie you won't get with Constant Contact."
- "Compare the Advantages" (chart outlining differences between the two services).
- "Send us a copy of your Constant Contact invoice and charge you half the price..."
I had an uncomfortable reaction to the piece. It felt too aggressive, unfair in some way. If they didn't name Constant Contact directly, I think it would have felt better.
My business partner loved it! She thought it was smart, savvy and specific. Susan's biggest question was "How did they get Constant Contact's list of customers to send the piece to?"
Our different reactions - both valid - illustrate an important point. You can't please everyone with your marketing efforts. But it shouldn't stop you from maintaining a strong, consistent marketing program. In the end, you'll always will do better than if you'd done nothing.
What do you think of RatePoint's approach?
Posted by Maureen Condon on Fri, Oct 09, 2009 @ 07:00 AM
In yoga class the other day, my instructor guided us into the 5-point star position, or utthida tadasana for the purists. Once we were all standing in the pose, she said "The heart is the foundation of this pose, everything reaches out from there."
Because I had just finished my work day before I hit the yoga mat, my mind was still in "marketing mode," so of course I started thinking about how this pose could be applied to B2B marketing. As my head, two arms and two legs stretched up and out, here is what I came up with. It may be a stretch, but isn't that what yoga is all about?
(1) Your head is critical in your B2B marketing efforts because you have to stay smart and strategic when running and maintaining a marketing program. Setting goals, executing consistently, and tracking results with a clear head is a key component of your marketing.
(2) One arm reaching out represents the efforts that every business must make to get their message out to target audiences. In networking venues, sales meetings, marketing materials and social media channels, a business must constantly reach out with a strong, clear message.
(3) The other arm of this pose can represent the reaching out we all must do to our prospects and customers on a regular basis. Your current client base is a gold mine of possibilities for new business, as long as you stay in front of them. We have often had past clients get in touch with us for a new project because they have received one of our newsletters or seen us at a networking event. And nurturing your prospects by reaching out with valuable information - not just sales pitches - can also convert them to customers more quickly.
(4) One leg of the 5-pointed star represents the legwork that we all must do in our marketing. The best laid plans will stay just that - plans - if you do not commit to executing them step by step. (5) The other leg represents the forward motion that your marketing will make if you stretch yourself and leverage all the other pieces of this pose.
And of course, the heart is the center. Because if you're not passionate about what you're marketing, it just won't work.
Posted by Maureen Condon on Mon, Oct 05, 2009 @ 09:27 AM
We talk with our clients a lot at Precision Marketing Group about the important connection between sales and marketing. In B2B marketing, it's even more important than it is in the consumer space. Companies marketing consumer products and services rely heavily on advertising online and offline and word of mouth. The days of door-to-door sales people are over for the most part - thank goodness! - and a significant portion of consumer shopping is done online. Sure, there are still sales and service people staffing your favorite stores, but they serve a different role than the salespeople who are out selling to businesses.
The sales team in a B2B organization relies on Marketing to bring qualified leads to the door, while the marketing team relies on Sales to close the quailfied leads. Sounds like a perfect synergy, right? In a perfect world, sure. But anyone who works in sales has probably blamed "marketing" for a lack of leads, just as anyone who has worked in marketing has criticized "Sales" for not closing business.
It's a conflicted relationship in the real world, but it can work. Thanks this month to Shelley Hall of Catalytic Management, who asked me to do a guest column on the sales-marketing relationship in a B2B world.
Have you had any positive or negative experiences in the sales-marketing relationship? We'd love to hear about them!
Posted by Susan LaPlante-Dube on Wed, Sep 16, 2009 @ 10:11 AM
I just returned from a presentation by Karen Macumber of AMP Agency. She was speaking to the folks at NEWBOabout her experience selling her digital marketing agency (Fulgent) and tips she learned about marketing along the way. Energy in the room was terrific and some great questions were asked about positioning your firm to sell but I am going to leave that discussion for the business consultants that were in the room. instead I wanted to share 3 high level points Karen made about marketing your business at different stages of the business.
- During Start-Up your goal is to sell yourself. You need to be very clear about what you bring to the table and why someone should buy from you. At this point in your business you really are selling YOU so leverage your contacts and build trust.
- When you move into growing the business you shift from selling yourself to selling the firm. At this point you need to make a lot of noise. Get your firm out there, be visible, do PR, apply for awards. People need to know about your company.
- As you position yourself for acquisition and are looking for the right buyer you are selling all of your firms assets -- financial strength, client list, personnel, intellectual property...the list goes on and really depends on what someone is interested in buying. Know your assets and make sure your house is in order.
Karen also shared a recently published book -- we haven't read it yet but it is on the top of our business reading list so I will share it here with you now: Socialnomics by Erik Qualman. Here is the books description from Amazon:
Social Media.
Social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter are fundamentally changing the way businesses and consumers behave, connecting hundreds of millions of people to each other via instant communication. This is a massive socio-economic shift that is fundamentally changing the way consumers and companies communicate and interact with each other.
Welcome to the world of Socialnomics-where consumers and the societies they create online have a profound influence on our economy and the businesses that operate within it. Online word of mouth and the powerful influence of peer groups have already made many traditional marketing strategies obsolete. Today's best businesses and marketers are learning to profitably navigate this new landscape.
Brands can now be strengthened or destroyed by the use of social media. Advertising is less effective at influencing consumers than are the opinions of their peers, making direct-to-consumer marketing messages less valuable each day. But savvy companies are using online networking sites as massive focus groups and as an efficient means of communication with consumers. If social media isn't a part of your business strategy, you've already fallen behind the curve-and your competition.
In Socialnomics, Erik Qualman offers a fascinating look at the impact of social media on business to reveal what the future holds and how businesses can best take advantage of it. He explores how social media is changing the way businesses produce, market, and sell products; how it eliminates inefficient marketing tactics and middlemen; and how businesses are connecting directly with their customers through popular social media platforms.
Social media will continue to change the way businesses market products and how consumers and businesses interact with each other. If you're a marketer or business owner, the big question is whether you'll keep up with those changes. Socialnomics is an essential resource for anyone who wants to understand the implications of social media, and how to tap its power to increase sales, cut marketing costs, and communicate directly with consumers.
As I read it I will let you know what I think but if you get to it before me -- give me your impressions!
Posted by Maureen Condon on Sun, Sep 13, 2009 @ 07:26 PM
There was a great article in last week's Boston Sunday Globe about using LinkedIn for business.
I like it because it's practical and offers excellent tips such as making sure you give and receive recommendations, become a thought leader by responding to the site's Answers section, and keeping your profile and posts professional.
I also liked it because it reinforces a key marketing principle. Like your website, you can't follow the "build it and they will come" strategy. Posting a LinkedIn profile does not lead automatically to others connecting to you and sending you quality business referrals. Your LinkedIn profile - like your company website, your prospects, and your customers - requires constant, regular attention.
By keeping your profile and posts current and fresh, you accomplish several things:
- Improve the search engine rankings for both your name and your company
- Communicate that you are busy and important - even during a recession!
- Maintain visibility among your connections so you stay top of mind
Have you found LinkedIn to be valuable to your business? If so, why do you think it's working for you?
Posted by Maureen Condon on Mon, Aug 31, 2009 @ 07:00 AM
We've been approached by several firms in recent weeks who want to work with us but are not able to afford some of our key service offerings. Rather than turn these people away we have been offering pared down versions of our service packages, and most have taken us up on them. Turns out we're not alone.
In a recent Wall Street Journal special section, the article Smart Ways to Cut Prices discusses the various ways that firms are seeking to attract and retain cost-conscious customers in this recession. Getting creative with service offerings is just one of the marketing strategies companies are using with success.
While we always recommend being flexible in working arrangements with clients, we also are careful to draw the line when necessary. If someone cannot see the value you deliver, sometimes it's the best marketing strategy is to let them walk away.
Posted by Maureen Condon on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 @ 10:07 AM
It finally feels like summer in the Northeast, and there are only a few precious weeks left of it!
One of my favorite things about summer is the slower pace. I love it so much that I devoted my August business column in the Metrowest Daily News to the topic. Slowing down in print, in person and online can reap great rewards in your marketing - and in your life.
Have you ever made a marketing mistake simply because you were moving too fast? I guarantee you're not alone.