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Marketing Tip of the Week: Create a Clear Identity

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A term commonly tossed around any marketing department is “branding.” In a nutshell, branding is the image, or identity, by which your business is known to the public. This can refer to a logo, and often logos are part of branding, but it is by no means limited to a logo. Branding is an overall concept. For example, when I say “KFC” what comes to mind? Did you immediately think of chicken? I bet you did. Even if you attached other images as well, such as the man in a white suit, you ultimately associated it with chicken. That’s branding.

Contrary to popular belief, branding is not limited to large national chains. Every business in every city in the country has a brand, a way in which you are viewed by the community at large. The question then becomes, are you aware of it?

Discover Your Existing Identity
Marketing Tip

As a business owner, you like to think that you excel at everything, but the truth is that everyone who patrons your store sees your business as having one particular quality that separates it from all the others. Interestingly enough, most of these people will see the same thing, but it may not be what you think. So how do you find out how your customers identify your business? Ask!

The best way to determine how people view your business is to ask them. Hand customers a card that asks them to identify the most important thing they considered when choosing to patron your store, and offer them a % discount on an item when they bring it back or on their current purchase if they fill it out immediately. Polling your customers for a month will give you a good idea of your identity, and that knowledge will allow you to begin marketing to your strength!

Create a Clear Identity

So what happens if you perform the poll and discover that the responses are all across the board? Does that mean you are good at everything? Unfortunately, no. It means you do everything at least passably well, but you excel at nothing. This, in turn, means that you’re not getting all the business that you should be receiving. You need to focus on one aspect of your business that you wish to be known for and communicate that to your employees. Then formulate a plan to make that quality stand out while maintaining your performance in all other areas.

For example, if you are a gift shop, perhaps you want to be the shining example of customer service. First you need to define what that means. For more detailed information on how to define customer service for your business, check out my previous marketing tip on customer service here. Once you know what customer service means, communicate that to your employees and then hold contests to see who can do the best job of implementing it.

If you identify customer service as knowing and calling each customer by name, hold a contest to see who can use customer’s names the most without having to ask them first. This will both motivate your employees to learn your customer’s names and get them comfortable with using them! Internal contests are a great way to introduce new activities for just this reason. Your employees will be able to help alleviate any fear or apprehension they feel about the new changes in the roaring fires of inner-store competition.

Market Your Identity

Now that you know how customer’s already see you, or you’ve chosen to take the reins and showcase a particular aspect that you want them to notice, it’s time to market Continue reading “Marketing Tip of the Week: Create a Clear Identity” »

How To Get Word Of Mouth Exposure – Part 1: What’s The Buzz?

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How To Get Word Of Mouth Exposure is a 5 part series that details
how you can create a buzz-worthy business.

As a small business, you are looking for all the exposure you can get to help bring in new customers and get them to return.

We’re not talking about print ads or airtime but something that has been around much longer and has an impressive track record when it comes to bringing in customers. Word of mouth advertising!

So before you shell out for a commercial or lament because you don’t have the budget for even a simple 30 second spot, take stock of your word of mouth approach. It may be the oldest form of advertising but it is guaranteed to get you new customers.

Who Uses Word of Mouth Marketing Strategies?

When I was living in Los Angeles, I briefly worked at an incredible theater called Arclight. At that time, there was only one Arclight theater and it was widely considered the best in a city of 3.8 million people. There were many reasons for this.

They own and screen films in the original Cinerama Dome which was the predecessor to IMAX. All of their 14 screens are state of the art and all seating is assigned so customers can actually pick the best seat in the house. This is the farthest thing away from the typical generic multiplex that Americans pack into each weekend. And guess what? Their ticket prices were also the highest.

You would think that advertising for this company would be key, right?  They would need huge billboards and print ads that touted their comfortable seats, their impressive choice to show NO commercials before the films and their gourmet concession stands that offered fresh-made caramel corn.

They would need to shout about their company from the roof tops all these reasons they were simply the best place to see the newest blockbuster that just happens to be screening everywhere else in the county with a cheaper ticket price.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that it was company policy to not advertise at all. No radio spots, no fliers, no web ads, no glossy magazine pages. No TV commercials during prime time or anytime! Their one and only marketing strategy was word of mouth.

What Word of Mouth Marketing Can Do

Years have passed and Arclight has done very well in a very competitive city. Still considered the best place to experience a film in Los Angeles, Arclight now has 5 Continue reading “How To Get Word Of Mouth Exposure – Part 1: What’s The Buzz?” »

Marketing Tip of the Week: Under-Promise and Over-Deliver

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In many ways, marketing is about WOW-ing your customer. You have to impress them enough to get them in the door, impress them once they’ve arrived and impress them again as they leave. Promotions work for the first and customer service for the second, but what about that last option? What can you do to ensure that your customer is impressed every time they leave your store?

Under-Promise
Marketing Tip

What do I mean? Well, probably the most famous example of this I can think of comes from the original Star Trek television series. Whenever the ship was having a problem and Captain Kirk had to call down to engineering, he’d always hear Mr. Scott explain to him all the reasons that he couldn’t have what he wanted in the time frame he wanted it. Invariably, Mr. Scott WOULD be able to perform the requested action and could do it in even less time than the captain required. Once this feat had been accomplished, Kirk would always say, “Mr. Scott, you’re a genius.”

That’s a little over the top for a successful business model, but the idea is sound. If you own a production business, regardless of what you’re producing, and a customer asks when you can have their product ready, give yourself a bit of lee time or under-promise. This isn’t just to make an impressive display of delivering before they expect, but it gives you the chance to deal with any unexpected problems that may arise. If there are no unexpected problems, your customer gets their product early and are thrilled with your swift turnaround time.

Over-Deliver

The baker’s dozen concept works off the same premise. Instead of twelve donuts, the customer would receive thirteen. Does that mean they paid for twelve? Well, they paid what the baker told them twelve would cost, but since the baker was fully aware he was going to provide thirteen, perhaps the price reflected as much. Similarly, when customer’s spend money in your store, you might offer a free gift. This wouldn’t be something you advertise, but rather something you offer to Continue reading “Marketing Tip of the Week: Under-Promise and Over-Deliver” »

Merchandising: More Than Just a Display

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According to the American Marketing Association, merchandising includes the “planning involved in marketing the right merchandise or service at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price.”

Creating the “Right” Atmosphere for Your Customers

Mannquins
Mannquins
Full Steam Marketing & Design, a marketing company, takes a look at the “Psyche of a Shopper.” They have come to the understanding that consumers are faced with too many options and not enough time to make decisions.

I’ve been there, I have an idea of what I want but, having several choices can be so overwhelming that I walk out the door without purchasing anything. In this case, the “right” for me (the customer) has not been accomplished. So where did the store go wrong? It all comes back to the right merchandise, at the right place, at the right time. If customers are bombarded with too many choices, they become overwhelmed. This negative feeling leads to customer shut-down which in turn leads to shopping abandonment instead of a purchase.

Merchandising Can Overcome Shopping Abandonment

Merchandising helps catch your consumer’s eye and is critical for your business to stand out. Merchandising helps customers remember you. More importantly, merchandising helps focus the customer thus creating a more enjoyable and relaxing shopping experience. When customers feel relaxed, they tend to spend more time in a store. The more time they spend in a store the more likely they will make a purchase.

Using the Five Senses to Create the “Right” Shopping Environment

Fashion Display
Fashion Display
Not only is sight important, the other four senses help your customer relish their shopping experience, too. A potent dead pot of flowers can be unbearable, but a sweet fragrance will lure you customers in and give the feel of freshness throughout the store.

Sounds can bring back memories for your clients and can soothe them into taking in the beauty of the visuals you have set up. If you have food in your store, try having a “Sample Day,” where you open up some of your items for customers to taste test. Don’t forget about the sense of touch. With fingers having the most nerve endings on our body that can send messages to the brain, it’s important to make available items your customers can hold, take off the shelf, pull from the flower cooler… you get the picture.

I believe a sixth sense could be added to this list, and that is the ability to create a personal relationship with your customer. What does the relationship have to do with merchandising, you ask? The customer’s experience. That’s why we involved all of the senses.

The way you make your customer feel when they enter your store is just as important as what they see, touch, hear, smell, and possibly taste. So, do you make an extra effort to go above and beyond for your customers? Do they know they can rely on you? When they walk in, do you begin to establish that rapport and acknowledge that they came in at all? At the end of the day, most customers will always go back to their relationship with you. Making that relationship is a top priority in your business and is ultimately what will keep your customers coming back. Remember, always think like the customer.

So let’s face it, your customer’s experience is a crucial, deciding factor when it comes to purchases and customer loyalty. Retailers should have the mindset of keeping the customer for life, to establish that personal relationship and loyalty. With such a need for merchandising, there are many website resources and companies who specialize in marketing that can help create your perfect atmosphere. Taking those extra steps to ensure their experience is an opportunity you can’t afford to lose!

Planning Your Christmas In July

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It’s never too early to be planning for the biggest shopping season of the year! With ONLY 22 weeks until Black Friday kicks off the 2013 holiday shopping season and plenty of customers shopping before that, do you have a good retail holiday strategy?

With slow but steady improvements to the economy, holiday retail sales are predicted to be up this year. With a little savvy planning for your business, you can take the stress out of the holiday rush. Here are some vendors with fantastic and festive items you can add to your list.

Bottomley Evergreens and Farms – is a family business that has grown into one of the largest shippers and suppliers of Christmas trees and Christmas greens in America. There is nothing that compares to fresh cut greenery and by offering these beautiful boughs in your store means you have great quick sale items AND an aromatic atmosphere as well! And while these items will be delivered fresh once winter gets here, you can place your orders in advance to save time and hassle.

 

Burton and Burton – the TOTAL gift experience is provided by this company, offering amazing selection with retailer reviews that make them a clear choice for seasonal gifts. Order early so you can get a jump on the seasonal shipping rush. You’ll have fun Christmas decor and gifts on the shelves as soon as customers start thinking in green and red!

Blossom Bucket, Inc. – With unique selections for decorations and presents alike, don’t miss any of the holiday categories here! With so many funny and whimsical novelties, you won’t have any bah humbug in your aisles!

 

 Need some business tips for planning ahead for the holidays?
This FGMarket guide is for you!

Market with Customer Service

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Bottle Tree from Junkyard Crafts
Market with Customer Service
Customer service is a form of marketing? Why yes, yes it is. It’s no less a marketing tool than the end caps on your aisles and the displays around your register. Customer service is marketing that happens once the customer has already made contact; that makes it invaluable to not only ensure you get that customer’s business on the front end but keep it on the back-end. And we all know it’s just as important, if not more so, to keep the customers you have as it is to attract new ones.

  1. Training – Customer service is not something that most of your employees are going to be proficient with when they walk in the door unless they have previous experience and sometimes not even then.
  2. Clear Expectations – Make it clear to your employees what you want from them in regards to customer service.
  3. Supervision – All the training and expectations in the world mean nothing if you’re not randomly listening to customer interactions. It’s important to hear how your employees treat customers, not because you distrust them but because it’s your job to ensure that your customers are receiving the absolute best care you can provide.

Customer service is an important tool for any business, and can be the difference between success or failure. Read More About Customer Service
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Marketing Tip


Website Marketing
Effective marketing isn’t just about the tools you use, it’s knowing how to use them! You may have a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter profile but merely possessing them is not enough. In order for them to be effective marketing tools, they must be both active and relevant. Read More
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The Finger Fork, The Artful Penguin, LLC
Flavored Sugars, Faerie’s Finest

Coffee Mug, Swanson Christian Products
Greeting Cards, Bonair Daydreams
Balloons, Bargain Balloons
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Bright Ideas From Bright Side Crafts
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Peace Spa Products: Something to Get Excited About!
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Dog Boss Gear – Your New Best Friend
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Joyful Tidings: Inspirational Note Cards, Note Pads, and More!
Do you want to drop a note to a friend? Just send a text or email. It’s fast, slick, and effortless. But sometimes that’s the problem. There’s nothing special about it, nothing in the doing of it to make the recipient feel special for having received it. Read More About Joyful Tidings
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Flavors You’ll Crave by KC Innovations
If you are looking for fast-selling products and items that keep your customers returning again and again, KC Innovations has a line of tantalizing dips and sauces that will become instant favorites in your store. Read More About KC Innovations

Marketing Tip of the Week: Social Media (Facebook)

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The past two weeks we’ve covered website content and website SEO. This week we’re going to shuck and jive our way out onto the Social Media dance floor with some basic tips for operating on Facebook.

Content is King

Just like with your website, the content you generate will be the driving force behind traffic to your page. However, the difference here is that you have to be cautious about how often you post. With your website, the more you update the better. Facebook is a bit different.

Marketing Tip
Marketing Tip

On Facebook, anyone who has “Liked” your page will see anything that you post on their news feed. If you post too much, they will become annoyed with the constant bombardment and “Unlike” your page. You don’t want that. People who have liked your page are potential outlets for free advertising. Any post has the potential to be liked and shared by them, thereby causing it to show up on their friends news feed. It’s a viral form of marketing that has the potential to go very far afield.

Remember to use the medium effectively. Much like a standard website, Facebook lends itself to photos and graphics as well as text posts. There is room to say whatever you need to say, but ensure that it pops visually to get the reader’s attention. It’s also okay to talk about things that may pertain to but are not specifically about your business. Find out what’s trending and see if you can use it!

Promotions

How do you get people to share your posts? That’s easy. Just run promotions! One day you may choose to offer a coupon to anyone who has liked your page. The people who have already liked you will share the post so that their friends can benefit from the coupon as well. Those people will navigate to, and like, your page. If your page is interesting and well designed, they may take some time to read over who you are and what you offer.

If your particular business model does not lend itself to coupons, do not fret! You can always run a “Fan of the Week” or similar promotion. Encourage people to interact with your page by hosting a weekly contest. Maybe they send in a photo of themselves enjoying your product or write a post declaring their excitement. You select one of these posts as the winner, and give that picture or the fan’s profile picture some face time in the corner of your banner. You’ll generate a lot of traffic at no actual cost to you!

Culture

It’s important to understand, and promote, the culture of your followers. You will discover what this is through interactions with them. You may cater to a certain age Continue reading “Marketing Tip of the Week: Social Media (Facebook)” »

Marketing Tip of the Week – Website Marketing (Part 2) SEO Basics

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Last week we talked about content as it relates to the customer. This week we’ll discuss how the content you generate is viewed by the search engines that direct people to your page.

What is SEO?

Optimizing your page to be attractive to search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo causes your site to be generated closer to the top of their search lists. This practice is commonly called SEO or Search Engine Optimization. It’s not as complicated as you might think.

Marketing Tips

Often, it very simply employs the judicious use of common sense. This is because search engines are meant to discover pages with a natural layout. They will penalize sites attempting to game the system, but there are a few ways to increase your standing in the eyes of a search engine that fall well within the rules.

We’re only going to cover a few basics over which you, as the generator of content for your site, have direct control. There are plenty of other parts to SEO that fall under the auspices of the company providing your page, but if you use a reputable company, such as the good people here at FGmarket, they are already taking care of those things for you.

  • Quality Content – All the content information I provided last week is also important for SEO. If you are giving your customer content they take the time to either read or look at, search engines will track it and grade you accordingly. For example: You just posted the site for your cake decorating business, but you haven’t had the time to put up any interesting content. A customer arrives after having been directed here by a search engine, but not being interested in what they see on the splash page, they quickly leave. The search engine translates this fast departure as if your site is irrelevant to whatever search the customer performed. This, in turn, causes your page to be downgraded in regards to their search query. On the contrary, if the customer is entertained or enthralled by the beautiful pictures of elegantly designed cakes and stays to check them out, the site is then viewed as relevant and is subsequently upgraded. Quality content is very important! For more information on how to make your content quality, check out last weeks post.
  • Keywords – This one may require some small bit of research, but it’s completely worth your time to do it; fortunately, the metrics are out there. You just have to find them. It’s important to know what key words YOUR customer uses to find you. Once you’ve identified what they are, make sure you use them! We’re not talking about spamming a keyword or phrase over and over, (It has to be readable remember?) but rather, we are talking about using the keywords you previously discovered in your current writing and headings naturally. It’s not as hard as it sounds. For example: You’re a florist. Instead of typing “flowers for a funeral” as your heading, you would simply type “funeral flowers.” Why? Because when a customer is looking for flowers for a funeral, the words they type into the search engine will most often be “funeral flowers.” This will prompt the search engine to pull your page because it matches their search exactly. Keywords are very important, but again, don’t let them make your content unreadable. It does you no good for a customer to be directed to your site if they aren’t willing to stay long enough to get the information you’re trying to provide.
  • Keep it Fresh – Search engines perform an activity called “crawl” on a daily basis wherein they access every page on the web and scan it. If a page has not been updated for a long time, the engine begins to regard it as irrelevant. Keeping content revolving is a plus, but that’s not enough in and of itself. Continue reading “Marketing Tip of the Week – Website Marketing (Part 2) SEO Basics” »

Build the Right Partnerships

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Fresh Florals from Esprit Miami, Inc.
Reach a New Audience with Partnerships
Are you wanting to reach a new target market? There are multiple ways you can achieve this and one way is building the right partnerships. Here are a few tips on how to build great relationships to gain a new audience.

  1. Where are your future client’s fans already at? Where is your target market already at? Take a look at where they’re currently and consider joining forces with that business.
  2. Search out a partnership with the same values. It’s important to find a business with the same core values as you. Having a partnership reflects on you.
  3. Create a rewards program. How does this work with a partnership? One way is that you can let your clients work towards getting a coupon, discount or even a freebie in your store, as well as your partner’s store. It benefits both of you by hopefully gaining new clients.

Can your store use a partnership to gain new customers? Are these ways that can be effectively implemented into your store? Building the right partnership can truly be beneficial to both parties. So, find the right one for your company today. Read More About Building the Right Partnerships.
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Stand Out & Be Noticed
When creating and building your online presence, it’s important that you get noticed and you’re remembered. Read More

Marketing Tip

checklist
checklist

Create a Strong Direct Mail Strategy
There are many forms of marketing that you may be using to promote your business. However, it’s smart to use only the strategies that are working for you. Read More
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Show Your Best Colors with Natural Botanicals
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Get Creative with FunFoldables
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Experience Tru Fragrance and Beauty
If you carry a unique scent line, like those offered by Tru Fragrance and Beauty, you ensure that your customers return to you for their favorite fragrance experience. Read More About Tru Fragrance and Beauty
Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth with Sensational Sweets/Creative Cookie, Etc.
Their combinations of sweets and salty and sweet and tart] are unsurpassed in the industry. They truly provide a winning combination of quality and deliciously unique flavors. Read More About Sensational Sweets/Creative Cookie, Etc.

Marketing Tip of the Week – Website Marketing (Part 1)

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Effective marketing isn’t just about the tools you use, it’s knowing how to use them! You may have a website, a Facebook page and a Twitter profile but merely possessing them is not enough. In order for them to be effective marketing tools, they must be both active and relevant.

“Well that’s great, but what does that actually mean for me?” I’m thrilled you asked! I am going to be doing a series over the next few weeks that will break these concepts down across multiple media platforms and help you to implement them in your business.

Website Content
Marketing Tips
Marketing Tips

Let’s talk about websites! In this increasingly technological world, a website is an invaluable tool for growing your business. It is highly effective in that it offers large potential return on a relatively low-cost, and that’s always a plus.

So, how do you tap into that potential? The first step is content. Yes, you read that right, not traffic but content. It does you no good to have a ton of people coming to your site if what greets them is so off-putting that they click away in disgust. You want someone who visits your site to be intrigued, interested and above all, engaged.

This is achieved through a few simple steps:

  • Break Up Your Text – Even novelists know that nothing is more intimidating to a reader than a wall of text. Break your passages down into short paragraphs and maybe use a graphic or two. Use headers to separate ideas, and don’t be afraid to increase your font size. You don’t want to make your reader squint! The goal is to reduce that impenetrable wall into easily handled bricks!
  • Write How You Speak – You’re probably not Earnest Hemingway, and that’s okay; nobody expects you to be. That doesn’t mean you should toss spelling and grammar out the proverbial window, but you don’t have to be formal either. Write to your customer as you would speak to them. Be conversational.
  • Keep it Fresh – You don’t have to change all the text and photos on your site constantly. Who has that kind of time? But you do want to keep your customers informed of the new and exciting things happening in your business! Did you get a new product? Do some show and tell! Do you have a gallery of your work? Continue reading “Marketing Tip of the Week – Website Marketing (Part 1)” »