Archive for April, 2015

Tapping into Micro Markets and Pilot Markets

micromarketingThere will always be talk of markets.  In sales, a market is generally thought of as a sales territory. A rep goes into the area and makes sales. This is a throwback to the olden days when door to door salesmen pitched everything from vacuums to encyclopedias. Salespeople had to rely on intuition and guesswork to meet their quotas. Our digital age makes going door to door obsolete and hard numbers take the guesswork out of approaches.

Combine-Sift-Sort

A micro market is a smart way to tackle a sales area. Micro markets are niches and this awareness enables the seller to customize pitches. With SEO and internet marketing, you can research the data and see which areas could have a customized approach. With data, the numbers are ready to be interpreted for your business’s benefit.  You will be able to decipher what shifts in numbers mean, whether they are an encroaching competitor or evolving demands.

Next step

Once you have combined, sifted and sorted the next step will be action. You must take action once you have a clearer idea of how your micro market works. Keep in mind, however, that what you find with micro markets might not apply to macro markets. For example, South Florida includes Dade and Broward Counties. On the surface, they are similar, sun nightlife and commerce. Below the ocean waves, the two counties are vastly different. Broward is more American and subscribed to American societal norms. Dade is largely Latin and is a melting pot of societal norms that can come from Ecuador to Romania. A targeted approach for Dade County would make use of that information and adjust pitches to reflect the diversity.

New approach

Some markets have not be tapped yet and are divided into micro markets to make the task easier.  Think of all the potential out there in the world and figure out what works best for that target. Take into  consideration geographic locations and interests to tackle the challenge.  A new market simply means new opportunities. Just because something has not been done before does not mean it cannot be done now.

Pilot markets

A television show makes one episode called a pilot. In the pilot, they try to sell the storyline and characters. It is then shopped around to different television stations in the hopes of being picked up. An entire season or half season can then be ordered based on the pilot. Tweaks can be made to the cast or settings, but it is simple a dry run.

You can test out new products in pilot markets. Think of when you visit other states or countries and find new flavors from trusted brands. In Thailand, Pringles sells spicy prawn chips. Americans may not go for the taste, but this Asian segment does. Create a dry run for two new pilot markets and test them out before fully committing to a micro or macro market.

 

In life it is better to be brave than certain. With hard data, you can take the calculated risk and discover new ways to market your business. There is an opportunity in every market and in every time.  Invest your marketing funds where they will be the highest ROI. Set a structured budget and be flexible with fund allocation. Tap into micro markets and pilot markets with goals in mind.

 

Exit Rate versus Bounce Rate

bounce rateLet’s say you and a friend decide to see the latest movie. You purchase the tickets and find a good seat. No matter how compelling the story is, at some point you will leave the movie theater. Preferably, this will happen after the credit rolls, but some moviegoers might leave within the first ten minutes. This example might best describe the difference between a bounce rate and an exit rate. Leaving early means that watchers bounce out too early when the cinema would prefer that they exit after the show is done.

You can have a great webpage with warm traffic directed by SEO. However, there is no guarantee that people will see the whole thing. Your goal in creating the page for your business is to convert traffic into sales. If traffic glances at your home or landing page, this means you have a high bounce rate. There are a few things to consider when you want to improve your analytics.

  1. Make sure your website is user-friendly.

Are the colors garish and the content in an odd format? Design flow can turn off viewers. Make sure your site is as user-friendly as possible.

  1. Your content should add value.

Nothing is more annoying than being pitched to in an aggressive manner. Tone down the hard sell tactics. To make your browsers respond, make the content relevant to them. Give them an e-Book or really anything that makes it seem as if you are an expert in your field and they are in the know. It is always about them, not you.

  1. Select the best keywords

Keyword selection is the touchstone of SEO. If you chose keywords that do not represent your product or service, they you will not be trusted. People come to your website with expectations and if they are not met, they will consider you spam.

bounce rate calculator

You want viewers to go through all your pages. For example, if you have three pages, then you want the analytics to show that viewers left on the third page rather than the first page. Review your resources and study your numbers to improve your rates. Always have a CTA on your landing page to ensure smooth conversions.

Tips to Build Loyalty

queen beeWe live in a world that is so digital, we often overlook the value of human connection. Clients crave human connection that allows them to feel valued. When starting a new business, it is often overlooked how a business is  making their clients feel. Owners can get so consumed in selling themselves to stay afloat, they might forget how valuable clients’ feelings are in the whole process. All businesses, from content to lifestyle services, sell hope. The world can be a frightening place. With so many people feeling neglected or taking selfies for approval, it can be difficult to feel good enough. Your business can stand out by making clients feel appreciated, but more so acknowledged.

Think of your friendly neighborhood restaurant. When you say “the usual” to the server and she/he understands, it is a great feeling. This shorthand shows that your presence there commands attention and demands respect. Maybe the food isn’t that spectacular and they are stingy on the pickles, but you go for the feeling of being known. The drive to seek new customers will always be a temptation for businesses. After all, new customers can be interpreted as a sign of your business moving forward. However, it is preferable to have a customer base rather than constantly seeking new additions.

Here are some tips to allow loyalty.

  1. Always deliver

You must always deliver on what you say you will. People have already experienced through their parents, friends, or significant others the sting of failed expectations. Your business will be projected upon by customer’s personal negative experiences if you disappoint them. The best way to avoid this is not to set expectations that cannot be met. In the old days, businesses used to say best or lowest prices in town. This was way before Walmart and Target could make those claims obsolete. Make your claims manageable. If you will can have their car cleaned in thirty minutes, do not promise fifteen and then blame a faulty vacuum. Customers remember whether their expectations were met.

  1. Focus on experience

Most restaurants go all out for Valentine’s Day. They will fill their establishment with balloons and candles to make it a great experience for their patrons. Other businesses will at least put up decorations and perhaps even offer a special. The goal is to be included in life’s special occasions so the business will be associated with a positive experience. If your client feels that they will have a positive experience with your business, they will become loyal. Treat them well and your business will be rewarded with allegiance.

  1. Listen to needs

Targeting your client’s needs or price points is necessary for any business. The time to figure out who your audience should be is when drafting your business plan, not when your literal or figurative doors are open. The signs will be there for you to interpret, but most customers will not always be forthright with what they want you to know. Some products will not be purchased and add on services could be ignored if you do not learn how to take notes from your clients. Business owners have a tendency to go with what they think is best, not always what the customer will buy. For example, let’s say a salon owner offers their grandmother’s special hair treatment without regard that the customer’s don’t buy it. No matter what the business, if a product or service does not sell, it does not work. Your business can be chewed up by your ego if you do not learn how to listen to your customers.

  1. Loyalty builds loyalty

When I was a little girl in ballet class, our instructor told us the shop to go to for our shoes and recital costumes. This store had brisk business because of our loyalty to our teacher. If you can seek out the same for your business, then you will not have to worry about earning loyalty, as someone will have it already in spades for you. Take some time to figure out how your product or service can attract those with built-in loyalty. Consider that many restaurants comp meals for food critics or food bloggers and other businesses offer swag at events. If someone with influence declares your business one to trust, then you can focus on making the leader the one to focus upon rather than their followers. This does not mean taking followers for granted, after all, a queen bee must have helper bees in order to function. Instead, pay extra attention to the leader and fulfill their needs with extra care.

 

Loyalty is earned one customer at a time.

WOM

Word-of-mouth-----source-Idea-Sandbox

 

In high school, a rumor could make out break your reputation. As much as high school can be a fodder for great movies like Heathers it is also a precursor to the business world.  Your reputation is everything. A dissatisfied customer can spread untruths about your business and a satisfied customer can make you the prom queen or king. WOM stands for word of mouth marketing. In essence, this is what people say about your business to others when the conversation has not been started by you. WOM is the original social media platform. Think of how many times you heard from a colleague or friend mention that a restaurant or bar is great and you patronized it. You heard the advertising through praise and decided to experience it for yourself. This is the purest form of marketing.

All marketing is centered on connecting. However, with the competition on social media platforms, it has turned into collecting “fans” that might not have any real interest in the brand or its offerings.  It is quite a temptation to accrue as many numbers as possible.  This can actually backfire as real fans of your product/service will happily talk about it as long as they feel they have gotten to the party first. Real fans will start the conversations and even in some cases, take care of your problems. For example, if there is an envelope company that is having a shipping issue or a computer glitch, real fans will band together to help/listen those on outlets such as Facebook or Twitter  and make suggestions. Real fans create a community amongst themselves.

You want a community to surround your product/service. The best way is to let it happen organically. However, there are a few ways to speed up the process:

  1. Respond to your followers.

Be a part of the conversation. Let the conversation center on your brand.

  1. Know your customer base.

If you understand your clients’ pain points and what gets them excited, then you can deeply engage them.

  1. Value their input.

Let your customers name a new product or suggest a new menu item.

 

Get the conversation started and make it look as natural as possible for the most effective wom for your brand.

 

 

Repackage Your Content

 

You have a solid Twitter feed and great website copy. Perhaps you also have a company to run or a happy hour to attend to and cannot constantly keep new content flowing to help your ranking or just keep your readers entertained. There is quite a bit you can do with your old content. zebrahorse

  1. Add a video.

All you need is a camera and some lighting for this repackaging. Make you content come alive by offering a tutorial or giving behind the scenes advice.  Make sure that you are dressed appropriately and have practiced a few times before recording. If you fudge a few lines, start over. Once you are done, put the video on YouTube or Vimeo to attract new attention and clients.

  1. Add an image

Digital natives love photo sharing sites like Instagram to bring their message to life. Most of the time the message is, “Hey! I am eating this delicious plate of food” or “look at my shiny new significant other.” Target their preferences by adding images. A great website for this is quotery.com. Click on the following link for an example: http://www.quotery.com/quotes/this-wasnt-just-plain-terrible-this-was-fancy-terrible-this/

If you own a restaurant, ask your patrons to upload photos of their food to your social media outlets. It will serve a double purpose of getting patrons involved and making your repackaging easier.

 

  1. Make a podcast

Everyone has been bored in traffic and wondered how else they could use their time.  A podcast is perfect. You can read your content (please with some emotion though) and entertain your subscribers.

 

  1. Make an e-Book

An e-Book is a quality way to make you an expert in your field. Take your best posts, elaborate on them and format for Kindle. If you have trouble formatting, hire a freelancer to do this for you. The best part is once formatted you can recycle the technical aspects for future books. Just make sure you have a reliable editor so you will not come across as hokey.

Exploring Your Long Tail Options

SEO can be overwhelming especially when you do not understand the terminology. A keyword is, essentially, what you type into Google or any other search engine to find your desired result. There are two types of keywords: long tail and short tail. The best way to think of these types of keywords is that they are like a siren. The head (short tail) gets all the attention while the tail ( long tail) may only be noticed if it is split in two. Short tail keywords are generalized words to get the gist of the search. Long tail keywords are expanded or lesser used keywords crucial to your SEO. When a customer is close to the point of sale, they tend to get more specific. This means they already have done their research, know exactly what they want and are looking to buy. Long tails key words can help you get a sale instead of more traffic that short tails can bring.

The typical buying cycle for a customer is as follows:

  1. Potential client has become aware of a product or service.
  2. Potential client begins researching the product to see if it fits into their pain points.
  3. Potential client seeks alternatives within the product range such as pricing and features.
  4. Potential client begins to ready themselves to make a purchase and pulls out their debit or credit card.
  5. Potential client receives goods and decides whether to initiate a return.

Short tail keywords are priced higher due to the demand curve.  More businesses want to have the most popular search terms in their arsenal. Let’s say you have a small business offers content creation like Siren Publications does. If you were to have the short tail keywords of content, then you would be competing with content mills. You will have a harder sell if you are not more specific or use long tails.

Content writer SEO 6,910,000 results

Content writer 129,000,000 results

Miami content writer SEO 513,000 results

Miami content writer fashion 13,200,000 results

As you can see above the various keywords yield different results. The more specific your keywords are the better. You can use short tail keywords, but you would be going up to bat with the big boys. Now the great news is long tail keywords are cheaper than short tails. Long tails target your potential clients who are closer to the point of purchase alongside being easier to rank.

This all goes back to the idea of quality traffic. You may have more visitors with short tails, which does not always covert to sales. Long tails are highly targeted leading to buyers.  Another plus is that highly selective markets can turn into niches. Small sales from these communities can lead to big profits. To explore your long tail options go to http://www.wordstream.com/keywords and explore your options with long tails.

long tail

The Value of Proprietary Web Resources

OWNERSHIP2_cowsIf you are new to internet marketing, dozens of terms that are unknown. One of the most crucial terms is proprietary resources. These resources include websites, social media feeds, and map listings. Your brand belongs to you and it must be carefully cultivated. Any hesitation on your part equals control that your competitors will have over your message. They can control your reviews, social media and any information about your business on the web. When you do not participate in the internet, your brand suffers. Even if you have commercials and radio spots blasting on every station, warm leads are more likely to search the web than anywhere else.

The internet cannot be avoided. Even if traditional outbound marketing has served you well for decades, it is time to focus on inbound marketing. The concern here is market share which in simplified terms means the percentage of business your product or service garners over other companies over a specific time period. Coca-Cola has the market share of soft drinks over a seven-year period. Number wise Coke has 42% over the market share while Pepsi only has 28%. They have been battling it out for over a century and will continue to do so for decades to come.

Now in the cola wars, each has to stay on top of their brand or risk losing to their competitor. Coke spends more on marketing while Pepsi has to use defensive measures in their marketing. Pepsi targets younger customers while Coke utilizes options such as being in theme parks and hotels. The key is they own everything related to their brands from websites to social media feeds. Without it, the competition loses its edge and appeal.

Up your competitive edge by owning all potential resources.

Outbound and Inbound Marketing Simplified

tinkersoutbound marketing-advertisers start the conversations with potential customers

inbound marketing-customers actively seek out a brand for two- way communication

warm lead-internet traffic that has already expressed an interest in your product or service

 

Tinkers sold their wares all over Ireland. They had a bell that signaled their entry into local villages. Whatever they were selling, they advertised by shouting and talking to their potential customers. In essence, they went to their customers and then tried to sell as personally as possible. This happened all over Europe and early America before radio and television. As long as people have something to sell, there have been marketers. Once technology came into play marketers focused on starting  conversation personally through tradeshows, TV commercials and cold calls. Impersonal avenues include radio commercials and print advertisements such as newspaper ads, magazine ads, flyers, brochures, catalogs, cold calls, and email blasts.

Outbound marketing does not have the highest ROIs  in addition to being a challenge to track. The DNC or the federal do not call list hinders reaching potential customers on the phone. The advent of TiVo makes commercials near obsolete, spam filters make direct marketing emails invisible, and postcards became birdcage fodder. All these avenues can be high cost and low yield. According to statistics, 44% of direct mail sits unopened in landfills. 86% of people fast forward through commercials .84% of 25 to 34-year- olds, the prime targeted age demographic, have exited out of pop up ads.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is inbound marketing. Outbound marketing in this digital age comes across as yelling whereas inbound marketing sees the clients come to the brand. Potential clients use Google to find the brand from dish soap to teacup pig breeders seeking them out on avenues such as social media or webpages. These potential clients would be considered warm leads in which they have already expressed interest and can be swayed towards your brand with the right presence. Social media plays a key role with inbound marketing as your warm leads can have multiple exposures to your brand and perhaps interact with your brand as well.  The goal is to benefit warm leads and turn them into clients. You can do this by offerings white papers or relevant blog content.

Content is queen with inbound marketing. Your website should be relevant and provide two-way communication. As outbound marketing declines each day, inbound marketing is increasingly being viewed as the only way to go. Inbound is cheaper than outbound marketing and can yield higher revenues.

If you are uncertain about the advantages of inbound marketing, do some research on the topic. You just might leave outbound marketing in the last century where it belongs.

 

Make Your Social Media Take Off

NasaYou work on keeping Twitter feed relevant and regularly update your business Facebook page. Your website has fresh content, so what is the problem?  The good news is that everything is possible with persistence.  On the other hand, not every product or service is meant to take off. It may be hard to hear, but some products cannot find a large or niche audience.  There is the joke about the solar panel flashlight  or metal detecting sandals once being the net great thing. All products or services simply have to find the right customers. The singers on YouTube desperately want to be discovered. They are putting themselves out there and that at least moves them forward. The same should be true for any business out there that wants to gain traction in the marketplace. You must put yourself out there no matter the results for a sustainable length of time.

Ask yourself the following questions as truthfully as possible:

  1. Who is coming first, your clients or your ego?
  2. Are the pain points of your clients carefully considered and targeted?
  3. How much time are you really putting into your social media?

 

Who is coming first, your clients or your ego?

No one likes to be sold to. Consider how TiVo has made it easier to forward through commercials. If you are so in love with the idea of your product or service that everyone is a potential customer, then your ego has come first. If you understand that your audience has other competitors in their ear and you should stand out by best serving their needs, then your clients come first. Address their needs first and you can make all forms of social media relevant. One caveat, however, do not start your tweets or updates by asking a question.  This will come across as twee or trying too hard.

Are the pain points of your clients carefully considered and targeted?

Analyze what makes your clients tick. In my business, my clients want their content to be relevant and easily searchable. When I was doing restaurant financing SEO articles, I understood that the pain points of my clients included secure funding that would not use their houses as collateral. They want a loan that was easy to get and would not ruin their personal finances if their establishments did not work out as expected. All articles focused upon that need. Established restauranteurs would not be searching for this information, but the new ones would. The agency I worked for carefully targeted that audience to be one of the most successful campaigns in their history.  You can do the same with yours. Understand pain points and focus on a reasonable solution.

How much time are you really putting into your social media?

There is investing time in the online reputation of your business and then there is not taking it seriously. To properly invest in social media, you can put in time every day or have a social media day as some of my clients do.  This means composing tweets or having a writer do it, upload it to services such as hootsuit.com or any of several other services. Does this mean you are done? Not at all. You have to interact with your followers, send DMs,  and let others know you appreciate their acknowledgment.  You can buy some followers and have them slip away months later. In the process, this seems unsavory to your other followers.  Invest in getting to know who your visitors are and listen to what they have to say. Not everyone in the social media world is friendly.  Some are plain awful while others can be supportive. Don’t post and walk away. Interact.

Explaining Internet Marketing to Digital Immigrants
Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives

Digital Immigrants and Digital Natives

Digital Immigrants- those that did not grow up with the internet

Digital Natives-those that not only grew up with technology, but embrace all forms of it

 

Realizing the value of the web is an important step for many business owners especially ones that did not grow up with the internet better known as‘Digital Immigrants’. Conversely, ‘Digital Natives’ typically embrace any form of technology, mostly because they are not hindered by the idea that it just hasn’t been done before so it should not be done now. Walk outside any schoolyard and most students are more engrossed in their devices than each other. This is their new way of communicating. Instead of passing notes, they like each other’s Facebook statuses. Relationship are cemented through social media rather than in real life. In fact, so many now report a sense of isolation from too much time in the digital realm. Still, they have grown up around computer screens and the like. Nothing digital is frightening to them. As for Digital Immigrants, even those that grew up with chat rooms and the like may have a harder time processing information. They can still recall a time before cellphones and had more face-to-face interactions with their friends than today’s youth.

Digital immigrants need special consideration when being pitched to. They are not likely to announce their satisfaction with a product on Twitter or like a page on Facebook.  They would prefer calling a customer care number to vent rather than turn to a screen. Technology may not be foreign to them, but it can still take a varying period to adjust to any changes. For the majority of their lives, advertising was done on television or radio. Internet marketing can be newfangled to them. They may not understand that search engines are a library of information provided by the business owner and used by search websites to create a market place for business, social networking and many other facets of digital life.

If you or your business are challenged by explaining a search engine simplify it as a market place similar to a mall.  They are in a grand sense electronic billboards and store signs. The more time a sign is up, the greater chance the business will be seen as reputable. They can be at the entrance of the mall where the signage encourages potential clients to visit. On the internet, many will not know you exist unless a search engine brings them to your digital storefront. The longer an ad is up on the internet, the higher the ranking can be. Google works hard to prevent shady businesses from gaining traction on their site. Many fly by night businesses will buy websites and try to make them appear legitimate with bought ads. Google is aware and wary of this practice. In order to ensure a solid marketing mind frame, the ads/business with endurance will rise to the top. Keep in mind that is very difficult to get to the top of the search engine list, especially if your business arena is a packed one. For example, if you own a tanning salon in Miami, there could be hundreds of ads for a tanning salon. Be patient and willing to spend to reach the top of the list or even the first page.

Activity: Open up your laptop or phone. Type in Google and search for high gloss creme nail polish. On the left side of the screen will be different sites of information. On the right side of the screen are paid advertisements.  You can pay to have your business on the right side of the screen. This is internet marketing at work.