Posts Tagged ‘Marketing Your Business’
Advertising Do’s and Don’ts
Tuesday, August 12th, 2008
If you’re looking to create an advertising campaign for your business, you need to make sure you approach it correctly if you want it to make an impact. This is regardless of what form your advertising will take - online, print, television or radio. After all, you’re probably spending quite a bit on the advertising costs, so you need to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
Here’s a list of do’s and don’ts when developing your campaign:
Keeping it Clean
Do use simple ideas: Focus your campaign on one image, slogan, or concept.
Don’t have 4-5 images vying for attention: your ad will likely confuse readers into just turning the page.
Do keep it short: Give them 2-3 benefits and enough interest to make them want to find out more.
Don’t clutter the page with too much information: Again, don’t confuse people with information overload. Save all the extraneous information for your brochure, catalog, or advertorial piece.
Do keep it relevant: Think of your target audience and give them only the offers or benefits relevant to them. You’ll get a much better response rate.
Don’t just throw everything you have out there: If you have several different product lines, you don’t want to talk about all of them in one ad. Relevance is key!
It’s All in the Headline
Do make your headline short and impactful: a website has less than 10 seconds to grab your attention when you land on it. An advertisement has even less, so you need to grab your intended audience from the word “Go!” This means that your headline needs to be snappy, sharp and effective.
Don’t have a long-winded headline: The more your audience has to read, the more bored they’ll become. Get to the point!
Do compare where necessary: consumers want to know why they should buy from you and not your competitors - give them benefits.
Don’t go on too much about your company: you’ll just put your audience off altogether. Offer them something instead - anything that shows what’s in it for them.
Stand Out Visually
Do grab attention with your logo or a graphic: Think about the slogan for clothes designer FCUK - at first glance, you have to look twice to make sure you haven’t misread. This is the kind of attention you want - a catchy slogan and one that stays in your mind after you’ve seen it. If you can afford to, have a professional designer come up with some examples for you.
Don’t be too clever: The last thing you want is for your ad to be so clever that your audience has to think too long to get it. Remember, 10 seconds…
Tags: advertising, advice, danny brown, Marketing, marketing campaign, Marketing Your Business, tips
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Humanizing Your Website
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
One of the biggest problems online marketers face is grabbing the attention of surfers. The second is building instant trust between the surfer and the website. The latter sounds practically impossible but new technology has once again prevailed and brought us one step closer to the goal.
Perhaps you’ve seen it and perhaps you haven’t. Regardless, it’s making a splash in the online advertising/marketing community. What is it? (drum roll please…)
Moving media.
The principle is to place a "live host" on your website that will greet your customers and personally introduce your site and company. The humanized video makes for a far more personalized feel to your site and establishes a sense of trust worthiness and credibility. Many large companies are jumping on the bandwagon and from everything I’ve heard, people seem to think it’s a pretty cool thing.
Two companies appear to have the market cornered on creating and delivering this service. Rovion and Webouts offer the same things essentially however, Webouts appears to be different in that their video person can enter from any direction on your website while Rovion’s are apparently stationary.
The companies allow you to produce your own creative but also have their own teams that can work with you to produce the desired result. The clips can be up to 30 seconds long and Rovion’s starting price for a small campaign is $2,500.
Check out Rovion and Webouts for examples and more information.
Tags: advertising, E-Commerce and E-Business, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, moving media, online marketing, Rebecca Button, websites
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Viral Marketing Gone Right…on accident…sort of.
Monday, July 7th, 2008
This video has had 3.5 million+ hits in the past month.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SqJz0NgnnE
The ad was designed to be a part of a viral marketing campaign for Gatorade. The ad was pulled however when Gatorade decided it wanted to pursue a different direction with it’s marketing campaign but somehow the video still leaked out and to Gatorade’s great fortune, they got to see just how successful the campaign might have been.
Granted, Gatorade has millions of dollars it can spend on stunt girls and fancy video editing but no amount of money can buy the phenomenal reach their video has had online. It goes to show that if your video is worth watching, people will watch it and spread it around whether they know what it’s for or not. This is the "word of mouth " marketer’s dream come true. I bet the folks at Gatorade are kicking themselves now for not attaching a bigger logo to the end of the clip!
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, Rebecca Button, viral marketing, viral video, word of mouth, word of mouth marketing
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Avoid these 7 mistakes when rebranding your company
Tuesday, July 1st, 2008
The one thing that enduring companies have in common is that they change. Not only can their products vary but also the image they project as well. Rebranding is common in the business world and quite often vital in order to succeed. Take McDonalds for example. You wouldn’t have thought that this global company would have to work too hard to sell any hamburgers but take a look at this commercial from 1985:
Now check out this one from 2003:
So as you can see, McDonalds has changed their approach from a more childlike appeal in the first commercial to actually trying to appeal to many different types of people and lifestyles. This certainly reflects the size of the company at each moment in time as well as the different markets they are trying to reach.
If you are considering rebranding here are the top mistakes marketers make according to Jessica Seid of CNNMoney.com :
1. Clinging to history. Successful rebranding means staying relevant. Remember that assumptions made when the brand was established may no longer hold true. Explore various opportunities for brand expansion, such as online advertising.
2. Thinking the brand is limited to the logo, stationery and corporate colors. Brands encompass everything from customer perception and experience to quality, look and feel, customer care, retail and web environments, the tone and voice of communications, and more.
3. Navigating without a plan. Effective rebrands rely on a creative brief to keep everyone focused as the project progresses. Include sections for an analysis, objectives, target markets, budget, timeframe, point person and methods for assessing results.
4. Not leveraging existing brand equity and goodwill. Dismissing brand equity when rebranding alienates established customers, while unnecessary overhauls can irreparably damage a brand’s perception. Consider the needs and mindset of the target market carefully before diving into the process.
5. Not walking in your customer’s shoes. Simply calling your own 800-number or receptionist may reveal challenges customers face and inform your rebranding strategy. Take the time to navigate your own website, buy your products and return something. Better yet, ask a friend or family member to do so and learn from their experiences.
6. Believing rebranding costs too much. Good thinking doesn’t have to come with a multi-million dollar payout. You can get good thinking and solid strategy from small and talented branding agencies, consultants and in-house talent. Consider university students or small firms for cost-effective results.
7. Bypassing the basics. The value of perfecting your physical environment, marketing materials, website, etc., is decreased if your customers languish on hold for inordinate amounts of time. If your invoices and contracts are written in seven-point legal jargon, the brand experience declines. Keep all customer touchpoints in mind when rebranding.
Tags: advertising, branding, logo, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, Rebecca Button, rebranding, trademark
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Be a Marketing Rock Star
Monday, June 16th, 2008
When was the last time you read a business book? Last month? Last week? Yesterday? Now? (Wow, if you’re reading a book now AND reading this blog I’m personally inviting you to my house for tea and crumpets so you can teach me how to simultaneously read two things at once!) Here’s a better question. When was the last time you read a business book that was as easy as reading the latest Harry Potter? Probably can’t even remember huh?
Well my friends, I present to you one of the easiest and rewarding books out there today. It is called "Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking" and it’s written by one of marketing’s biggest rock stars, Andy Sernovitz .
It’s written in an incredibly conversational tone and offers seemingly "no brainer" advice on how to build your company through the sheer power of word of mouth marketing . I think the biggest word I ran into was "obfuscation" (it means to confuse, FYI). Andy combines his 18 years of experience with changes that are happening currently with the internet to paint an astonishingly simple picture of the right way to market your business.
The book is a mere 184 pages including a foreword by fellow marketing/internet compatriots Seth Godin and an afterward by Guy Kawasaki. If you don’t want to miss out on lots of free marketing for your business, be sure to check it out .
Tags: books, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, online marketing, Rebecca Button, Reviews, word of mouth marketing
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Build Your Brand the Right Way
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
I’m sure you’ve seen those cheesy commercials that crowd your late night television viewing. You know the ones promising extraordinary results and benefits that basically scream in your ear to BUY IT! Well, I suppose those work to some degree because otherwise they would have fizzled out long ago. But the average business owner needs a different approach. A very different approach.
Be conscientious of what your copy sounds like. If it sounds like one of those late night "razzle-dazzle" quick-sell commercials, you’re on the wrong track. Here are some ways to figure out if it falls into that category (from Marketingprofs.com ):
Exclamation points. Use them judiciously—if at all—and only when a statement truly merits the added excitement.
Numbers. Headlines like "10 Powerful Secrets for [Fill in the Blank]" will undoubtedly pique a potential customer’s interest; but they also sound like copy that will lead to an impulse buy, not a long-term business relationship.
Hyperbolic claims. Does an image-conscious company really offer something extra for acting now, or suggest that the big secret will be revealed for the low, low price of $199.99?
The idea is not only to sell your product but to form a lasting relationship with the customer so they will keep coming back time and time again. Read more about how to build your brand here .
Tags: advertising, advice, branding, copywriting, Generating More Sales, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, Rebecca Button, tips, writing copy
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Using the Web to Draw in Customers
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
Many brick and mortar stores have learned by now that they need to have a website in order to compete in today’s internet driven consumer marketplace. What many of them haven’t figured out yet is that there is much more to using the internet to draw in customers than simply having a website with store hours and information on it.
It is becoming increasingly important for businesses to make themselves available for customer reviews. Sites such as Amazon.com use the customer review system to sell products. Yelp.com uses the same concept but allows consumers to review actual businesses. This type of instant feedback is valuable to the business as well as potential customers. Studies show that consumers trust peer reviews 83% of the time while experts are trusted only 63% of the time.
If you put your business out there for customer reviews expect both good and bad. Take the time to contact all reviewers if you can. This will likely improve your overall rating and bring in a considerable amount of extra business from people who check these sites frequently and write reviews themselves.
Tags: customer service, Generating More Sales, Growing Your Business, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, peer reviews, Rebecca Button, yelp
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Breaking E-Mail Marketing News: CAN-SPAM Act Update
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
The Federal Trade Commission announced in a press release today that it will soon be publishing clarifications to the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. The following topics are to be addressed:
(1) an e-mail recipient cannot be required to pay a fee, provide information other than his or her e-mail address and opt-out preferences, or take any steps other than sending a reply e-mail message or visiting a single Internet Web page to opt out of receiving future e-mail from a sender.
(2) the definition of “sender” was modified to make it easier to determine which of multiple parties advertising in a single e-mail message is responsible for complying with the Act’s opt-out requirements.
(3) a “sender” of commercial e-mail can include an accurately-registered post office box or private mailbox established under United States Postal Service regulations to satisfy the Act’s requirement that a commercial e-mail display a “valid physical postal address.”
(4) a definition of the term “person” was added to clarify that CAN-SPAM’s obligations are not limited to natural persons.
Keep your eyes peeled for it. The good news is that if you are already conducting an ethical email marketing campaign, these specifications should not affect you one way or another. If not, you may want to revise your strategy. For some guidance, check out Keeping Your E-Mail Campaigns Legal .
Tags: CAN-SPAM, E-Commerce and E-Business, email marketing, law, legal, legislation, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, news, Rebecca Button
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Good News For Organic Product Marketers
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
A recent study conducted by Mindset Media and Nielson Online reports that consumers that regularly purchase organic products are 153% more open to new experiences. This information is useful because it means that marketers no longer need to be as concerned with marketing their products strictly through niche channels (yoga or green magazines for example) and can now look to expand their efforts across multiple networks. The key being to appeal to these consumers’ mentality. These marketing efforts will reach a much wider audience that are perhaps not "classic" organic consumers (based on participation in yoga or other traditional wellness activities marketers use to target their products through) but rather a new brand of organic consumers-ones you can appeal to through a specific way of thinking.
The study also revealed that organic buyers come from all different levels of income. This is because buying organic is a mindset. People who are organic consumers believe that no matter what the expense, they are going to reap the benefits of their purchase and in some cases, might be getting more (healthier, more durable, better for the environment, etc.) for their money. So catering a marketing strategy to this attitude should be relatively straightforward.
Tags: consumer, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, organic, Rebecca Button, shopper, survey
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Word Of Mouth Marketing
Friday, May 9th, 2008
When you see how effective word of mouth advertising can be, you should begin to look for more people to tell about your business.
The more people you tell, the better your chance of having a successful business. But there are things to do, and there are things not to do.
Don’t Plug Where You Aren’t Supposed to
When you’re online in a chat room, notice that no one is saying anything about their business. You may think, “what can a small plug here hurt?”, so you say something about your company.
This can be harmful because it is called spam - and on most sites, spam is illegal. It is important to note that if you even put a small plug in about your business on an unauthorized site, you are spamming and can be kicked off the website.
Do not do what some do and be tempted to have others posting for you. Getting your staff or hiring an outside source to present your business on sites that do not want it is also spamming.
Don’t Be Dishonest
If you get people to talk about your products that don’t really use them, that is being dishonest. You are lying to the people. When you see an advertisement for a certain product, you want to know the person really uses the product they are advertising. If it works for them, other people will try it.
Getting people - especially celebrities - to lie about a product they don’t use is wrong an unethical.
The best way to run a business is to be honest. Be honest about where you advertise. Before you place an ad or chat about your business in a chat room, be sure that it is welcome on that site, or don’t do it.
Be honest about who you have advertising for you. Make sure they are doing everything legal. In addition, be honest about who you get to say testimonials from. Make sure they really do use the products - or don’t use them in your advertising.
Do Tell the Truth
Honesty is always the best policy. If you lie, you will eventually be exposed.
Eventually, when everyone finds out that you have been lying, you will lose customers and most likely your business. By being honest, you will gain customers and you will be successful in your business adventures in the long run.
Do Put Yourself in Your Customer’s Shoes
Think about how you would like to be treated if you were a customer. Now let’s say you found out that the owner of a business you were dealing with was lying and wasn’t really doing what they said they were doing.
Let’s go further and say that the celebrity that is doing commercials for the company never used the company’s products. How would that make you feel?
The bottom line is that honesty is the best policy, as well as only offering information about your business where that information is welcome.
Tags: advice, Leeia Ladipoh, Marketing, Marketing Your Business, strategy, tips, womm, word of mouth marketing
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