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Defining Advertising Objectives for Small Business

Need Help Marketing — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 02:08:40 +0000

Defining Advertising Objectives for Small Business is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

When you advertise online you need to define what you want to achieve. In marketing this is referred to as a conversion. You can think of a conversion in terms of your customer making an order, calling your business, signing up for a newsletter, etc. These are the goals you have in mind when you start advertising either online or offline.

For small businesses, advertising can be perceived as an costly expense, but if you don’t measure your return (ROI) you have no way to judge either way. Some business owners will even ask how much their marketing or advertising budget should be. Then we have to go back and ask the fundamental question of what are you trying to achieve?.

Put another way, how much must you spend to achieve your goal, and what does a conversion mean to you in terms of dollars.

Step 1: Decide what you want to achieve?
What do you want to have happen if someone responds to your advertisement. Is it to order your catalog or make a purchase? Starting with this, you can then determine where you might want to advertise or how to word your ad.

Step 2: Are you Spending on Search Advertising?
Studies have shown that small business use search engines to get found online, so you are probably already spending money on search ads. And if you are, then are you over spending? Or should you be advertising somewhere else? Without understanding how much a conversion is costing you in terms of advertising spending you will not know if there is a cheaper alternative.

Step 3: Have you made the conversion easy to do?
After you have generated interest and someone has responded to your ad do you make it easy to make an order, or find your catalog request form? These are key questions to ask yourself. If you have an effective ad but do not have a landing page or any easy to follow process after they click or respond to the ad you will lose customers.

Step 4: If you are heavily spending on one medium have you tried another?
Lets say for instance you only print flyers or advertise in the local paper. If you haven’t tried another audience or another medium such as paid search advertising or sponsorships how will you know if your returns for money spent is expensive or not. You might see better or worse results but then you will know if you are spending too much for each conversion or where you might be able to improve.

Step 5: Branding
Some people may suggest that all advertising is good because it gives you exposure in terms of brand awareness. However for most small businesses advertising is something that needs to generate results through conversions. If you are not getting conversions than it really doesn’t matter how much brand awareness you have. Perhaps you are marketing to the wrong audience, or using the wrong message. And hopefully you have made it easy to convert for those that wish to buy from you.

Image Credit: City on Fire (via Flickr)

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Consider Timing as part of your Marketing

Need Help Marketing — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:29:47 +0000

Consider Timing as part of your Marketing is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

When you are about to send out a press release, or even publishing a new blog post you should definitely consider your timing too. Timing can be very important to maximize your announcement. Large companies tend to pick their announcement dates well in advance and they usually coincide with industry events or competitive announcements. But you too can use this technique to get more mileage out of your announcements.

Sometimes it is not enough just to have a great message, but you also need the right audience to capture their attention.

Perhaps some examples will help, imagine you are in the consumer electronics company and you have a new gadget that has been highly anticipated. What do you do? Well in the case of Apple they announced that in two weeks time there would be a big announcement. And for the two weeks that followed there was great anticipation and a lot of speculation of what it could mean. Exactly two weeks later they launched the iPad, a new product for the company and you were not even able to buy it yet.

Ok so you are not Apple and do not already have a cult following, but you could instead take advantage of recent news headlines. If you are selling cars you could take advantage of timing by speaking about product safety, since with the recent news of Toyota safety is once again taking over prime time news and television. Or if you have been watching the growing discussion about interest rates rising later on in 2010 you could use that opportunity to launch a new promotion.

In fact just today my mortgage company sent me an email asking me if I was thinking about the potential of rising interest rates and if I was interested in locking into a fixed mortgage before it happens. There it is, a perfect market timed marketing push.

What dates are key for your marketing messages?

Some key dates might center around conferences or trade events that you will be attending. If you release your announcement at these functions you can definitely make a splash and grab people’s attention. And if you’re lucky take attention away from your competition.

Watch the current news for ideas on what is going to get people talking today
Annual Awards where local businesses are recognized
Community Events
Holidays – Spring Break, Mother’s Day, etc.
Charity Events you might want to Sponsor or contribute a fund-raising prize

Image Credit: Redstamp (via Flickr)

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HubSpot Study: Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors

Need Help Marketing — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:34:05 +0000

HubSpot Study: Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

HubSpot just released a new study confirming that if Small Businesses have their own blog. Then their marketing efforts achieve better results.

We have often discussed the benefits of online blogging to keep fresh content on your website and an engaged customer base. And this most recent study confirms yet again how important blogging can be to your bottom line.

Key findings of the study concluded the average company that blogs has:

55% more website visitors
97% more inbound links (links to your website)
434% more indexed pages (Indexed pages appear in search engines)

Read the full study results

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How to get your Coupons to spread

Need Help Marketing — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:01 +0000

How to get your Coupons to spread is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

Using coupons can be very effective in a down economy. Remember an earlier post titled, Coupons can be used to accelerate sales in down economy and in fact it is one of our most popular posts too.

But how often have you printed a bunch of coupons for your promotion and been left with extras when the promotion was about to start? Or worse when the promotion has ended?
Did you print too many? More likely you did not have a way to distribute the coupons for maximum effectiveness.

In today’s post I wanted to describe a few ideas around how to get your coupons to go viral.

Display coupon offers in other Locations
If you have multiple locations is the promotion you are running going to be for all stores, or only specific stores on certain days.
Talk to local merchants on your street or block about promoting you
Another way to get word of mouth marketing is to distribute coupons to other vendors. This week I was buying take out Chinese food at our local restaurant, and while I was waiting I noticed a coupon sitting on the counter for free bowling. The coupon was certainly inviting since I was just waiting around for the food order to be ready. And two I had not hear of the new bowling location in my area.
Re-purpose the same offer on your website, or in your email newsletter
Get the word out online or by email, with a forward to a friend option could help. Make it easy to forward the email version of the coupon to others, meaning that you may not want to personalize each coupon code for instance.
Twitter or Facebook
A lot of companies are encouraging sign ups by promoting incentives. For example, this offer is only available to our fans or followers.
Encourage sharing to get the word out
Bring a friend with you when you redeem this coupon and you eat free. That type of thing. Or require a certain level of participants such as a group or 3 or more.
When giving out the coupons give out several to the same people
Having extra coupons people will try to share the discount or offer with their friends. On several occasions this has happened to me while waiting in line and the person in front of me used up the maximum coupons they could. And gave the extras to the guy standing behind him.
Send an SMS to mobile phones of your customers
Perhaps this strategy is newer and not everyone is trying it yet. But hey there is opportunity there then right.

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Does your business have a Tagline?

Need Help Marketing — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 18:26:56 +0000

Does your business have a Tagline? is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

Taglines are an easy way to convey what your business is all about. Tag lines can also resonate with your audience, and even build a loyal following. Who doesn’t remember the Nike slogan to “Just do it”. When you think about it, it was more of a mantra and a lifestyle choice.

So how do you go about capturing your essence in one phrase?

The key is to use your tagline or slogan to tell the world how you are different and unique. And what your business stands for. Your tagline might mention how you are eco-friendly, or are focused on customer service, etc. To create a tag line you should be looking for a phrase that captures your essence in 7-9 words or less. You want to keep it short so it is very memorable, and even more importantly meaningful.

Tips for crafting your Tagline or Slogan

a) Keep it easy to read and short
b) It should be positive, and long lasting. You want to reuse your tag line for years.
c) Keep it visual and on all of your marketing materials
d) Refrain from using your business name. Since you will most likely place your tagline underneath or around your logo and business name.

Do you need some inspiration? Here are some of the best examples.

Got Milk? (1993, California Milk Processor Board)
You’re in good hands with Allstate (1956, Allstate Insurance)
Don’t leave home without it (1975, American Express)
For everything else, there’s Mastercard (Mastercard)
We are a service company that happens to sell shoes (Zappos.com)
For life. (Volvo)

Your new slogan should convey what you are promising. Whether that be a better experience as in luxury products, or perhaps better customer service. If your positioning and marketing convey you are the best value. Then your slogan needs to convey that.

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Using Customer Testimonials to Add Credibility to your Business

Need Help Marketing — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 15:00:18 +0000

Using Customer Testimonials to Add Credibility to your Business is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

Freshbooks Example

Customer Testimonials are great at establishing credibility and authority, which are two key elements in a customer’s buying behavior. As long as the testimonial is genuine and can relate to the prospective buyer. As an example, if you see a local small business owner giving praise for your customer service or product support and you yourself are a small business owner looking for better customer service from your supplier this will resonate with your prospect. Even better yet if the testimonial is from a business in the same industry as your buyer, because that will help to tip the sale in your favor.

Testimonials are also perceived to be unbiased because they are from a third party, and can motivate your buyer to act.

Key points to remember when providing Testimonials:

1) Website Coverage
When adding testimonials to your website many companies place these on their homepage beside head shots of people to represent the customer. If you have a bunch of testimonials you could place them in a sidebar or even in a dedicated section on your website for testimonials.

2) Great for Sales Copy
Testimonials help to cut their the clutter of your sales brochure and help to show how your business helps your customers. From the voice of the customer directly. This is almost as good as a customer reference speaking to a prospective buyer directly.

3) Newsletters
You can add testimonials section to your newsletter for “what customers have to say”, to further convey what sets your business apart.

4) Email and Confirmation Messages
Adding testimonials in your order confirmation email, or shipping notice emails you could provide additional testimonials to remind customers why they are buying from you. Which will add that extra perceived satisfaction. Perhaps your testimonials talked about your return policy or fast shipping, the testimonials inserted in these communications will drive home that your business is easy to work with and stands by their claims.

5) Endorsements
Endorsements are actually the best kind of testimonial because they add credibility to your business. Industry leaders, public figures, writers or even bloggers if they are known in your industry and have an established following. You better use an endorsement to your advantage as they can be hard to get.

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Billy Mays the Unapologizing Direct Marketer

Need Help Marketing — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:32:39 +0000

Billy Mays the Unapologizing Direct Marketer is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

If you have ever been in the Direct Marketing business or even watched TV you have seen Billy Mays. He was one of the most entertaining pitchmen in modern direct marketing television.

What you should learn from Billy Mays

The Secret Behind Great Salesmanship is simply put, behind every great salesman is a great product. And Billy Mays understood that better than most.

We came across this fantastic blog post over on CopyBlogger: The Billy Mays 5-Step Guide to Easy Selling

According to Billy Mays… Your product needs these key traits.

1. It Must Solve a Problem
2. It Must have Mass Appeal
3. It Must be Unique
4. It Must offer Instant Gratification
5. It Must be demonstrable

For details around these key points visit: CopyBlogger: The Billy Mays 5-Step Guide to Easy Selling

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How to write better Press Releases

Need Help Marketing — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:45:51 +0000

How to write better Press Releases is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

When writing a press release, remember it is not about your business and your new product. It is part of the press release communication but with most things you need more sizzle. Press releases are one way to communicate new offerings but with so many press releases being created each and every day yours will need some attention catching content to get picked up much less noticed.

Here are some tips to help you write better press releases:

1. Remember the Title

Of course you will add a title, but the title will be critical in catching the reader’s attention. And probably deserves as much attention as the press release content itself.
In fact the shorter the title and the more meaningful words you can use at the beginning the better. Remember readers will be scanning the headlines. Try to keep the title to 70 characters, and watch the case of each word to make sure it reads correctly.

2. Include Links and URLs

Include relevant links in your content, including a link to your website, a case study, more information and online demo video that kind of thing. If you have the attention of your audience and they want to keep reading send them to your website to get more details and continue the dialog. Links are especially important if you are submitting your press release through online press release syndication such as PRWeb for example or adding to your website. Adding URLs is especially helpful in getting your content found in search engines and linked to from other websites to improve your search engine listings.

3. Description Summary

If you are going to submit your press release content through social media or encourage people to spread your news you will want to make sure you add a summary. Sharing the press release on LinkedIn or StumbleUpon will help to get noticed and will make it easier for your readers to share your news with their friends and colleagues. There is nothing better than free promotion.

4. Press Release Content

What you include in the press release is sometimes as important as what you don’t include. Try to include key phrases, and meaningful quotes where possible. If you are announcing a new product make sure you talk about the benefits and key applications such as where your product can be used. Show how your product solves problems, whether that is reducing costs or saving time.

5. Press Release Strategy

Publishing press releases is a strategy to get you noticed, and to keep your name/brand in front of your customers. Think about what you want to say. Frequency is important too, you do not want to publish press releases just for the sake of getting a release out. It has to be timed correctly as well for maximum effectiveness. For example if you are publishing a new book you may want to send out a release just after your book is on the bookshelf so customers can buy it. Or if you want to build some hype you could send the release out the week before it is available to build up demand. Again press releases should be treated as a strategic communication.

More Help:

OnlinePRNews has a new e-book, titled ‘The 7 Deadly Mistakes People Make When Submitting Press Releases – And How You Can Avoid Them,’ and is free to download at http://www.onlineprnews.com
How to Write a Great Press Release: A Sample Press Release Template – Publicity Insider
Help! I Have to Write a Press Release but I’m Not in PR – Articlebase

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Yahoo is launching a DIY AD System for Small Business

Need Help Marketing — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:57:59 +0000

Yahoo is launching a DIY AD System for Small Business is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

Yahoo is now launching a new do it yourself (DIY) system for small businesses to self create and participate with online display ads. Most would probably refer to these as banner ads instead.

Yahoo already has a relationship with small businesses through their web hosting and online promotion services. However display ads traditionally required you to have copywriters, marketing folks, and graphic designers to put a campaign together. Now with the new Yahoo My Display Ads as they are calling it, you can now design online banner banners in a self serve capacity.

Demand for online display ads has been decreasing as budgets are getting tightened, but this may provide a new opportunity to expand into the small business space. Bringing pre-designed banner ad templates and an extensive offering of networked sites in which to display these ads. For those business with a a budget greater than $2500 you can also get access to assistance in setting up your program. But the real intention is to allow small businesses to get their feet wet in this kind of advertising.

You can read more about this announcement in the Yahoo press release here: Yahoo My Display Ads

A recent study conducted by comScore OPA found that 1 in 5 that saw display ads conducted a search for that brand and 1 in 3 visit that brand’s website. This study reaffirms that display ads can have an impact on getting brand awareness, and getting your business noticed.

Also keep in mind that these display ads will not be displayed along side the search engine results. But instead these banner ads, will display on the websites that Yahoo either owns or is affiliate with.

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Reserve your place in the Microsoft Bing Local Business Listing

Need Help Marketing — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:18:41 +0000

Reserve your place in the Microsoft Bing Local Business Listing is a post from: Need Help Marketing?

Just last week Microsoft announced thier new search service called Bing. Not only that but they have also announced a massive advertising promotion to promote their new online search service. Microsoft appears so confident with this new search engine offering that they have even gone as far as referring to it as a search “decision” engine. That in itself is quite profound since most people would not associate using a search engine with making decisions beyond which search results look more interesting or relevant then others.

So what is so different about this new search engine?

The Bing site now offers more information right up front, instead of having to click on results to get more information and to find what you are looking for. How many times have you searched for a local business and had to click on the search results to find their contact details and decide on the retailer that specializes in the product you are looking for? Bing is different, searching for a business on Bing will actually display more information right up front. Including reviews, hours of operations, photos, average rating, average dollar amount if the listing is for a restaurant.

Here is an example of what your business might and could look like on Bing:

This new business listing and Bing “decision” engine as Microsoft is calling it; could make or break your business when it comes to local business search. If a prospective customer searches using Bing and sees results that have detailed information about that business they will stand out from their nearby businesses. And the first impression will already have been made in the mind of the buyer. We have already covered how important local business profiles are on search engines for getting found and improving foot traffic, in an earlier post about Searching for your local competition online.

So how do you get in on all the action?

Combined with both the current buzz and media attention being given to Bing, a lot of people will be evaluating the Bing search experience compared with their preferred search engine of choice. It is also important to keep in mind that recent reports are indicating that Bing website searches could very soon surpass Yahoo as the second most popular search engine after Google.

To get exposure and stand out from the rest of the crowd you should setup your business profile early. Head on over to the Bing Local Listing Center to update any business information already listed for your company or to add a new business listing.

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