Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’

How to win customers and influence loyalty: Part III of IV

By Donna Marrin

Use the first of six tips to attract customer loyalty to your business:

1. Get to know everything you can possibly learn about your customers. What are their likes? What are their dislikes? What are their major concerns and how can your products or services resolve them? Ask your customers to participate in helping you make your existing products or services better, as well as developing new ideas. People are happy to purchase goods touched by their contributions.

People like to feel needed. People like to be asked their opinions and they like to talk about themselves. The talk-show industry would have been history a long time ago if this wasn’t so. By asking your customers for input, you are letting them know that you really care what they think and at the same time, you are harnessing a great deal of market research—free. Making your customers feel valued enough to be involved in your business decisions buys you instant brand recognition and loyalty. In return, they will be happy to “spread the word” to friends and associates. You get a domino effect called “viral marketing”—there’s no better way to advertise without having to invest a dime!

clip_image002_thumb.jpgNeed an inventive way of harvesting customer feedback? Try creating your own “Customer Advisory Board.” Plan round-table lunch meetings on a quarterly basis (stick to no more than three or four meetings per year). Choose four or five of your best customers and invite them to become members of “the panel.” Find out what their issues are. Ask them to list all the ways in which your products or services help them solve their issues. What do they need to help improve current solutions? What are you doing that you should continue to do? What should you discontinue? What haven’t you done that you should start doing? When your panel provides the answers, work hard to give them what they want. You can bet that whatever these four or five customers want will mirror the rest of your target market. Replace your customer panel every year with new people to receive fresh ideas. The feedback that you get will be invaluable.

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2. People love a good story. Especially when it’s interesting and informative, even better when no strings are attached. Design a monthly or quarterly newsletter—it doesn’t have to be fancy—and fill it with interesting news and tips that relate to your products or services. Make it information-based, purely for the interest of your customers, but incorporate a section near the end to focus on your company details. Once in a while, include a coupon or an offer that would appeal to them. It doesn’t have to be costly: “Come by on Saturday, May 3rd and share a cup of coffee with us! Balloons for the kids!” The simplest things are often every bit as pleasing to customers.

3. Do your research and do it constantly. Study your competitors. What can you do for your customers that your competitors aren’t doing? What steps have you taken to make your target audience aware of this? If you run a landscaping business, is there one more thing you can do for your customers that not one other landscaper has offered to do? Perhaps the gift of a free window-box container of flowers, fully installed, at the beginning of the season, to every customer?

Make the effort to go one mile further than everyone else. It will be appreciated and remembered.

Visit tomorrow for Part IV of this four-part series, where I’ll share the last of six valuable tips for winning customers and influencing loyalty.

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on February 23rd, 2010

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How to win customers and influence loyalty: Part II of IV

By Donna Marrin

clip_image002As illustrated in Dale Carnegie’s Winning Friends and Influencing People, and Robert Fulghum’s All I Really Need To Know, I Learned In Kindergarten, there is a basic formula for dealing with people that guarantees positive results: the degree of effort we invest in relationship-building with potential customers dictates the degree of loyalty they will return. One plus two equals three. The formula comprises one part basic psychology and one part common sense, yet relationship-building is one of the first areas to be neglected when we become consumed with the many other levels of multi-tasking required for running a business.

So many business owners forget the fact that making a sale is a bonus, not the ultimate reward—if you look at the big picture. Winning customer loyalty by ensuring they will want to deal exclusively with your business is a victory well worth capturing.

Consider your own experiences as a customer in the marketplace. What will convince you to choose one particular supplier over all the other similar suppliers out there? When a new competitor appears with a better offer, what action has your favored supplier taken to establish your loyalty? What past examples of customer service have driven you to sing praises about a particular business to your friends and associates?

Think back to those businesses that stand out positively in your mind. What did they do that made them shine?

The methods that these businesses used to attract and capture your interest are the same techniques that you can use to attract customers to your business services or products and engage their loyalty for the long haul.

Human nature is such that all people desire courteous, genuine customer service that works hard to accommodate their needs when and where they decide to spend their hard-earned money. Studies have shown that people are even willing to pay more for a product or service in return for white-glove treatment. Every human being has a need to feel special.

Be creative in your presentation to your customers. Try to think of ideas that your competitors haven’t considered. What unique approaches can you come up with that will make your customers feel truly good about spending their money on your services or products?

Visit tomorrow for Part III of this four-part series, where I’ll share the first of six valuable tips for winning customers and influencing loyalty.

 

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on February 22nd, 2010

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BRAND-BUILDING

By: Sandy Salmon

When you start thinking about advertising your business and building your brand – be it product or service-based – you have to know what it is about your business that makes people keep coming back. What do you stand for? If you don’t know, I have to wonder how you’ve made it this far. But, let’s say you’re just not very self aware – start asking your customers. They’ll probably be only too happy to tell you. Then, once you know what makes you a GREAT business – sell it in every piece of communication that leaves your office – be it a business card, letterhead, invoice or e-mail! And then make sure you live that promise in everything you do.

If you don’t deliver on your promise, you’ll lose a customer. Remember it’s not unlike the things your mama told you – don’t try to be something you’re not – people can spot a phony a mile away. Okay maybe mama didn’t say it quite that way – but I think you catch my drift.

So what are the 5 Easy Steps to Start Building Your Brand:

1. Know what you stand for! If you don’t know, do some research – even if it’s just one-on-one conversations with your 20 Best Customers. Feeling a little shy, why not hold a contest. It’s simple – make up a little ballot for a chance to win ‘”one of your services or products’ and ask the question, ‘You keep coming to me because ‘fill in the blank’’.

2.Take the top 3-5 things your business brings to the table and brainstorm – you don’t need a high-price agency to come up with a tag line. Let’s say your customers come back with ‘quick’, ‘good value’, ‘great/fun personality’. And you’re a plumber. Leaks stopped quick – no ifs, ands or plumber’s butt! See – it’s easy and can be a lot of fun!

3. Hire a freelance designer to create a logo! Can’t afford one – approach a Graphics Design School to see if you can hire a student, or better yet, you might just get it for FREE if you offer up printed samples and an endorsement for the kid’s portfolio!

4. Put your new logo on everything!

5. Live your brand – and ensure that everyone you hire does too!

Have a GREAT tagline you’d like to share? We’d like to hear it – how about telling us how you came up with it and how you live it every day!

 

Sandy Salmon is the Director of Advertising for STAPLES Canada. Sandy has been with STAPLES for over 15 years and brings extensive brand experience. Previously Sandy has worked at CFTR/680 News and Saffer Advertising.

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on February 17th, 2010

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7 Simple steps for rounding up new customers

By Donna Marrinclip_image002

No matter how many tasks there are on your to-do list, if you want to maintain a successful business, you can never be too busy to seek out new customers on a routine basis. It’s like running a ranch—if you want the cattle to come home, you have to get ready to round them up.

Need some tips? Get on your chaps and grab the reins…

1. Offer incentives to your current customers as a reward for word-of-mouth referrals.

For example: a percentage off the next purchase; a complimentary service; one week/month fee-free; a free gadget.

2. Direct marketing—Hit your target market with a ‘time-sensitive, limited offer’ announcement. Distribute eye-catching flyers or postcards that feature an appealing offer: a percentage-off coupon that undercuts your competitor’s price or a complimentary first visit; or partner with another business that complements your own and present a hard-to-refuse combined offer.

3. Offer gift certificates. Did you know that approximately 20% of all gift certificates are never redeemed, 80% are redeemed for more than their value and 40% are redeemed for more than twice their value! You just can’t lose with gift certificates.

4. Throw an Open House event. Come up with a fun theme to celebrate. Advertise your event in the local media. Send out “bring a friend” invitations to all the customers in your database. Set up demos of interest to your visitors and have information ready for them to take away to read later. Set up a ballot box where visitors can drop their business cards to enter a draw to win one of your products, as well as be added to your mailing list. Offer simple refreshments and make sure every person leaves with your brochure/business card.

5. List your business in the Yellow Pages. Even in this electronic age, a lot of people still turn to the Yellow Pages when they’re looking for a particular local business, a phone number, or just more information about what exists in their area. Cover all your bases by listing your business in both the print and electronic versions.

6. Build a website and get the word out about it. Having a website is one of your best advertising tools. Draw attention to it: through the various social media channels discussed in previous posts; by spreading the word at networking events; by linking your site with other sites frequented by your target market; by going viral—telling anyone and everyone about it, and telling them to tell their friends.

7. Arrange to be interviewed by a local newspaper or magazine. Many community papers like to feature people in the community. What better way to advertise your business than to chat it up in a vehicle that circulates throughout all the neighborhoods in your region.

There are tons of new customers are out there. Just grab a lasso and round ‘em up!

Can you add any tips to the list? Let us know.

  

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Growing Your Biz on February 4th, 2010

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5 Myths Of Online Marketing – Part 2

By: Ryan Freeman

We’re back for part two of the list I began yesterday [link to first post], talking about our Top 5 Online Marketing Myths.

3. Search Engines Are Your Friend

clip_image002Myth: Search engines are the best thing to happen to business owners – cancel all other advertising!

Background: Many business owners think that search engines exist to promote the interests of website owners by providing a steady stream of traffic. They view search engines as the saviour of small businesses – a reliable source of endless free business leads.

Fact: A search engine’s only responsibility is to the user – not the website owner. As above, search engines live and die on their ability to provide the most relevant results to a user, thereby creating loyalty and trust in the user. If the results are not relevant, the user might switch to a different engine (just ask Yahoo! how that works).

Best Practice: Enjoy the traffic you get from the search engines, and keep working to maintain or increase the flow of leads. Seek to diversify your traffic sources. Remember that a search engine has no loyalty or responsibility to you, so the moment your competitors position themselves as being more relevant, they will get your traffic. Don’t become complacent or you will lose market share – and the search engines will offer no sympathy or comfort.

4. Meta Tags Are The Secret Sauce

Myth: If I cram the right keywords into meta tags often enough into the pages of my site, I will rank higher in the search results.clip_image004

Background: Like keyword density, this fable keeps hanging around, likely because it, too, offers a simple and easy solution to the complex problem of search rankings. A decade or more ago, search engines placed some weight on the values in the “keywords” and “description” meta tags on a Web page. The meta tags are not visible to users of the website, but provided some contextual information for the robots crawling the site. As you can imagine, this was quickly exploited – and quickly devalued.

Fact: Search engines ignore the “keywords” tag. So should you. Stuffing it full of off-topic, repeated permutations of your generic keywords won’t help you, but it might hurt if you’re flagged as a spammer. The “description” tag won’t help with rankings, but can certainly help attract clicks as this descriptive text is often used to form your listing in the search results.

Best Practice: Write short, inviting descriptions of two or three sentences, including the key phrases targeted so that your listing will appear more attractive to a search engine user. As with keyword density, if your software or search marketing consultant focus is on meta tags, it’s time to cut your losses and run.

5. A No. 1 Ranking Is The Key To Riches & Success 

clip_image006Myth: If I can rank number one for “lawyer,” my law firm will have customers lined up for eternity.

Background: It’s true that having a number-one ranking on a search engine will drive much more traffic than a lower ranking, but as search terms become increasingly longer, it’s more and more important to focus on ranking for specific and relevant terms, not just one-word generic queries. If you’re practicing real estate law, it won’t do you any good to have a stream of traffic looking for a good DUI attorney. Additionally, ranking for obscure terms is vanity if no one is searching for those phrases.

Fact: Keyword research is an essential first step in building a website. Before the design, before the content, you need to know what phrases are best for you to target. There are several free keyword research tools available online to help you build a suitable list.

Bonus Fact: No ethical search marketing firm will guarantee search engine rankings, simply because no one can guarantee the behaviour of a third party – in this case, the search engine. Often the firms that promote guaranteed rankings will also mandate that they get to select the keywords. This leads to money being wasted on irrelevant, low-competition keywords where ranking is more easily achieved but is of little value.

Best Practice: Research your targeted keyword phrases at the beginning of your project and continually expand and revise your list. Target more generic (but relevant!) terms on the top-level pages and more specific terms on sub-pages of your site. By siloing your content, you will paint a thematic picture for the search engines, rank for the appropriate terms and provide a better experience for the user – which leads to more conversions and a profitable business.

Truth be told, this topic could easily be expanded into a twenty-post series dealing with myth and misinformation, but it’s my hope that the points I’ve outlined here will help you avoid costly mistakes and the occasional snake oil salesman.

Got questions or disagreements? What are your favourite SEO myths? Post your responses in the comments below.

 

 

Ryan Freeman is a fifth-generation small business owner and the founder of Strider Inc., an online marketing firm providing SEO consulting and online marketing strategies for businesses and non-profit groups. You can contact Ryan through the Strider Inc. website, email or by phone at 800-314-8895.

Posted by Lynnette in Promoting Your Biz on January 28th, 2010

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5 Myths Of Online Marketing – Part 1

By: Ryan Freeman

In my line of work, I am blessed to encounter many businesses of all shapes, sizes and varieties. From Mom-n-Pop retailers to international manufacturers, there are some truths that invariably apply when it comes to online marketing. When it came time to pick a topic for this post, I thought: “Does the world really need another ‘Intro to Web Marketing’ post?” When barely half of all small businesses even have a website, I think the answer is clear.

There is much that can be said to explain what online marketing is, but for this post I want to talk about what is isn’t. And so, based on conversations with clients over the past fifteen years, here is my list of the Top 5 Web Marketing Myths.

1. Keyword Density

clip_image002Myth: It is essential to have “keyword density” on each page of X%.

Background: The myth of keyword density is one that just doesn’t seem to go away. No matter how many times it is discounted, keyword density keeps resurfacing in cheap ebooks and low-grade SEO tools. I think this particular myth has survived for as long as it has simply because it creates an easy and understandable metric for people new to SEO, regardless of its effectiveness.

Fact: Using Google as an example (because they do deliver up to 80% of North American Web search traffic), there are reportedly hundreds of factors, each weighted differently, with the weights being adjusted daily. If you spend your time trying to find the right trick for today’s algorithm, you’re just putting yourself further behind tomorrow, as your competition invests in proven long-term strategies. Also, content written with keyword density in mind does not have a natural flow and will usually appear awkward to readers.

Best Practice: Build relevant and topical content that engages users, on a site that is well structured and easily crawlable by the search engines. Even if keyword density was a reality, it’s no good to you if your site is blocked by flash, forms or bad coding. If you come across any SEO “gurus” or software packages that advise a target keyword density, ask for your money back and run.

2. Search Engines Are The Enemy

clip_image004Myth: Search engines are adversaries that must be deceived.

Background: It’s not uncommon to see business owners frustrated by what they perceive to be a lack of justice on the part of the search engines. Of course, to the business owner, the “injustice” is ranking a competitor higher in the search results. No matter that the competition has a professionally developed website with engaging content and links from authoritative sites, while the offended business relies on  a site built by the owner’s fourteen-year-old nephew who’s really good at video games.

Fact: Search engines live and die on relevance. They are not able to suggest which is the better business, but rather, they offer results in order of relevancy to the searchers’ query. For the most part, that relevance is determined based on what clues you offer up in your site’s content and structure, along with the references to your site in links on other sites.

Best Practice: Don’t try to fool the search engines by playing dirty tricks like stuffing keywords in the text, or hiding type on the page. Not only will you be creating a poor experience for your potential customers (and likely driving them to your competitor’s professionally crafted site), but you run the risk of being penalized or banned by the search engines for employing spamming tactics. Instead, make sure you have your Web pages grouped into themed “silos” of information and write in a way that matches the searcher’s terminology. The more you can appear naturally relevant, the higher you will be ranked by the search engines – without the potential downfalls.

Tune in tomorrow for the three remaining Online Marketing Myths. In the meantime, let me know what you think about the first two in the comments below.

 

Ryan Freeman is a fifth-generation small business owner and the founder of Strider Inc., an online marketing firm providing SEO consulting and online marketing strategies for businesses and non-profit groups. You can contact Ryan through the Strider Inc. website, email or by phone at 800-314-8895.

Posted by Lynnette in Promoting Your Biz on January 27th, 2010

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Take stock of yesterday and start fresh tomorrow – Part 2

By Donna Marrin

Yesterday, I supplied the first in a series of questions to help you assess the 2009 business year before determining your plan for the year ahead. Continue your assessment using the questions below and use the results to guide your 2010 plan.

7. Is there a local or online business network available where I can meet other entrepreneurs? Joining a group provides a valuable forum where individuals with similar interests and concerns can share news, advice and ideas. As well, the more contacts you make, the larger your potential client base.  

8. Are there certain tasks I feel ready to delegate to others? Do I have a training plan in mind for the person taking on these tasks? There is nothing more self-defeating than hanging onto tasks that could easily be delegated to someone else. Make it a goal to clear your desk of those duties that are preventing you from moving forward with more important initiatives.

9. Is my office equipment up to speed for the year ahead? Does any equipment need to be upgraded or replaced? Don’t wait for your office equipment to break down in the middle of an important project before you attend to it. Schedule regular servicing for your technical equipment and periodically check and replenish your supplies before you run out.

10.  Have I considered ways to retain and build loyalty with the clients I cultivated in 2009?  Ask your clients to participate in an online focus group. It’s a great way of getting genuine feedback while making your clients feel like stakeholders in your company. There are many ways to build loyalty: from simply using greeting cards to recognize birthdays and other milestones to offering a rewards program or referral discounts.

11. Do I have a solid plan for attracting new clients in 2010? It’s a good time to review your marketing strategy—what worked and didn’t work for you in 2009? Could there be a more effective way to spend your advertising dollars in the year ahead? If so, brainstorm a new list of potential marketing initiatives and determine which ones would work best for your business. Are you online yet with social media? If you’re not taking advantage of the different channels available to spread the word about your company, you’re missing out on a massive target market.

12. Do I need to build stress-relief into my life? It’s a fact that “life balance = better productivity.” You’re probably already aware of many ways to relieve stress—this year you need to make a plan to build some of them into your daily routine. If you know you would benefit from a walk around the block every afternoon, schedule it on your calendar just as you would an appointment, and then follow through.

Take stock—take shape—take action.

And here’s to a successful year ahead!

 

Donna Marrin is a freelance Senior Writer/Editor specializing in corporate communications and advertising. She also founded and runs the Markham Village Writers. You can visit their website at www.markhamvillagewriters.com

Posted by Lynnette in Uncategorized on December 30th, 2009

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