Whether you’re embarking on a new marketing campaign, improving your web presence, or simply sending a sales letter to a group of customers, every marketing move you make should fall under the umbrella of your marketing strategy.

Here are a few tips to help make your strategy as effective as possible.

Know the Market

The first thing your strategy should consider is your market. Who are your customers? What do they want? What do they want for free, what are they willing to pay for, and how much will they pay for it?

When you are rolling out a new product, you should have a picture in your mind of precisely who is going to buy it. If you don’t, then you should be doing a lot more research ahead of time.

Find your Niche

Every product and service on the market should be there as an answer to some need or problem. Moreover, what differentiates your product from your competitors’, and why should your potential customers choose you. Your marketing strategy should attempt to answer these questions.

Define your Goals

This is perhaps the most significant part of your marketing strategy. When you’ve identified who you are going to sell to, and on which basis you’re going to promote your product, you need to define a plan to move people from conviction to action.

In other words, convincing your potential customers that your product is the best product on the market is one thing, but how are you actually going to get them to open up their wallets and buy your product?

There are a number of ways that you can do this, including directing customers to your website, or getting them on the phone so that you can drive them to action personally. Whatever option you choose, it needs to be defined in detail beforehand. All the advertising in the world won’t get you anywhere if it doesn’t leave people with a definite channel through which they can buy your product.

Test your Results

Testing is the final key to any marketing strategy. You will never get everything perfect ahead of time. Your marketing roadmap should ideally be in a constant state of flux. As you implement new marketing campaigns, you should be testing what works and what doesn’t work. Improve on the good, and get rid of the bad.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

Social Media Optimisation (SMO) is the new SEO and it can do wonders for your business in terms of generating more leads and increasing awareness of your brand – so how can you optimise your corporate social media accounts to get the most out of them in 2012?

Well, there are two basic components to any good SMO campaign. Firstly, you need to link your social media sites to your website and blog content through the likes of social media share buttons. By adding a Facebook “like” button, a “Tweet This” button or Google Plus’ “+1” button to your content your audience can easily share your content with others and give recommendation to your work, which any visitors to your site will be able to see through the number of likes and shares each your posts or pages have had.

The second component to a successful SMO campaign comes from the contributions you make yourself – by providing high quality content which continuously engages your audience, then sharing this to all of your social media platforms yourself so that all of your followers have regular updates to keep them interested.

It is also very important when creating improved SMO for your business that either you yourself, your marketing team or your company as a defined brand itself interacts with your audience directly, through posting comments on your own sites, interacting with your followers and engaging in discussion and debate on other relevant blogs and forums. Simply plastering your content all over your social media platforms is not enough – you need to engage your audience and interact with them in a way which drives discussion and sparks further interest.

In basic terms, in order to be successful with SMO your content needs to be engaging and up-to-date, and it needs to be made easy for your audience to share this content across as many social media platforms as possible.

SMO is just as important for your business as SEO has been, as not only can it drive traffic to your sites, creating increased lead generation and in turn boost your sales, but it is also aimed at increasing your direct contact with your current followers – which in turn will push your online reach out across your targeted markets and allow you to engage with more and more potential clients.

The main downfall with pursuing an SMO campaign is that it can be very time consuming, and if you don’t have a dedicated team to push SMO it can be very difficult to maintain a strong online presence for your business – so look out for future posts about some great online tools which can help streamline your social media efforts and increase SMO in one foul swoop.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert – Motivational Speaker

Engage your Customers

Some products generate enough interest to create word of mouth and marketing buzz on their own. For the other 99% of products, you’ll have to do a bit of work to get the buzz started.

The best way to get word of mouth started is by maintaining an open dialogue with your customers. Ask them what they think of your business, what they like, and what you could improve. If your customers like one thing about your business, and your marketing materials are advertising something else, then you need to change your marketing focus.

Get Them Talking

A lot of times, there are word of mouth promotion channels that your customers may not even be thinking about, although they would probably be more than happy to promote your business.

For example, if you own a restaurant, and you know that a customer particularly enjoyed his meal, then ask him to write a review on Yelp! Your customers appreciate the hard work that you put into providing a quality product, and I think you’ll be surprised to find how willing they are to write a glowing review for you.

Throw them a Holiday Surprise

Few things stick in a person’s memory longer than an unsolicited act of kindness. Get your customers talking about you by doing something for them this holiday season. Send some of your best customers a coupon for a discount on their next purchase.

Integrate with Social Media

I know I started this post by taking a cheap potshot at social networking, but sites like Facebook and Twitter are actually just a modern take on word of mouth advertising. Specifically, they give you the ability to see which customers are spreading the good word about your business, and too see exactly what they are saying about you.

Don’t underestimate this impressive opportunity. Social media has given you the ability to know exactly what your customers are talking about. Reward your best customers, and the ones who are saying great things about you. And tailor your marketing materials to get them more in line with the good things that people are saying about you.

There are a million and a half ways that you can try to reach your customers today. But even with all the recent advances in marketing technology, the best way to reach them is still by winning over their friends. Make word of mouth advertising start working for you today!

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

(Image by Stuart Miles)

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

All Work, No Play

I personally know a lot of small business owners and freelance contractors out there who are working day and night, producing excellent products and services, but they simply don’t have much to show for it. This is because they are not communicating with clients effectively enough.

There is an ancient Chinese proverb, that “he who rises before the sun 360 days per year cannot fail to make his family rich.” Yet many small business owners are in violation of this proverb, simply because they don’t know how to advertise themselves.

Leverage Social Media

Fortunately, the rise of social media provides small business everywhere with a way to advertise, (almost) totally free of charge. It would be a crime not to take advantage of this opportunity.

Actually putting together a social media campaign goes way beyond the scope of a simple blog post. My purpose here is just to get you started on your way.

If you haven’t already, set up a Twitter account, a Facebook page, get LinkedIn, and create an account on YouTube. Then start engaging. Engage with thought leaders in your industry. Learn from them, and re-share their information.

Then start sharing information of your own. Just remember that the key is looking at things from your customer’s point of view. Only engage them with information that you think will benefit them, and information that you think they will want to re-share.

For instance, don’t just put up a YouTube video that talks about how great your product is. If I wanted to see another dull advertisement, I would turn on the television. Make a video which is humourous, informative, or both. Maybe mention your product briefly, maybe just use it to promote you name. But definitely don’t just upload 5 minutes of satisfied customers talking about your product.

The best thing about social media is that fakers get weeded out fairly quickly. When you are communicating with your customers on a daily basis, it is much more difficult to pretend that you know what you’re talking about.

On the other hand, though, if you’re confident that you provide the best service in your industry, then a social media marketing campaign will make this shine through, and new customers will come flocking to you.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker 

Which begs the questions, how do you build trust? You build it by offering value-add, by providing valuable products and services to your customers. You also build trust by managing relationships. In the hustle and bustle of today’s world, it is often the second part that suffers.

Making Promises

Everybody make promises that they never really follow through on. From the simplest of things, like mentioning to a friend that you found a recipe online that you think she’d like, to the much more complex, like promising to help a colleague design their website. We all make promises that we fully intend on following through with, but then the world gets in the way, we forget, and the promises go undone.

If you give your word to someone and then don’t follow through, it damages your trust with them, and it damages your relationship. Nowhere is this more true than with your customers.

One Simple Trick

Start by taking a small notebook. This can be a physical notebook, or it can be a note on your iPad or cell phone.

Now, every time you make a promise to someone, every time that you give them your word that you will do something, write it down in your notebook. Then set aside a time each week, say Saturday afternoons, when you’ll go through that notebook and follow through on all the promises that you made over the week.

This applies to everything. Whether you mentioned in passing that you would send an interesting article to a colleague, or you told your son you would go play a game of basketball with him over the weekend. Follow through on every single promise that you made over the previous week.

The best part about this is that since most people forget to follow through on their promises, you will look especially good, and people will stop and take notice of the fact that your word is your bond.
Start with your personal relationships, and once you get in the habit, it will automatically follow you into your business relationships.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert – Motivational Speaker

Video Branding

A video allows you to create a multi-media presentation that explains your company’s mission and basis for success.  In sixty seconds, you can show customers what you have to offer and how you put their needs ahead of your own.  For a general marketing video you may want to spend more time generating a script and creating different graphic images for inclusion, rather than a talking head, but the low quality of many online videos can help you keep costs down.

Relationship Building with a Video Presentation

Physical retail locations have an automatic advantage over online retailers.  Consumers can hold products in their hands and discuss the merits directly with a sales person.  Consumers can build relationships and learn trust for different sales people, so they come back again and again.  Building those same types of relationships online is difficult, but not impossible.  A video allows you to give them the same one-on-one attention they receive in store.  Make your video presentation broad, but with specific examples of products or services you offer to help consumers.  Explain your overall business plan, and how you expect to continue to create innovation that will improve consumer’s lives.

Establish your Expertise

With many client based businesses, it is your expertise that will drive sales.  If you do not establish your unquestionable ability in your industry, you will lose clients to those that have.  The best way to establish your expertise is to create content that is unique, informative and helpful for your website.  How-to videos are a great way to show off what you know in a way that is helpful to consumers.  Some examples would include a makeup artist performing a look, a home repair service walking through the steps on a simple home repair, an accountant explaining how to keep a daily ledger, and much more.

If you include video marketing, you have an opportunity to increase your sales potential exponentially.  People respond more quickly and deeply to video advertising than any other medium.  Plan out several video releases, to best display your company and products.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

In today’s economy, it is becoming more difficult to tell where to put your marketing dollars.  The fact is, there are more businesses competing for fewer dollars than ever before.  This makes marketing more critical, but also less effective.  Consumers are flooded with information about thousands of companies every day, so how do you make your company stand out?  What methods are effective and which are simply a waste of money?  The first thing that any small business should do is identify their market and current client base.

Identify

Put together a current client/customer list and determine what they have in common.  Keep in mind, that current customers are the foundation of your profit base, which you build upon over time.  Treat them like the precious commodity they are and they can become your single best marketing strategy.  Most of your sales are going to come from repeat business.  Yes, it is nice to imagine thousands of new customers pouring through the doors, but that is an unrealistic expectation.  Most sales will come from existing clients and referrals.

Leverage

By providing excellent customer service to current clients and customers, you can leverage additional sales.  Offering current customers referral bonuses and discounts for bringing in new clients is a great way to leverage your existing clientele.  Word of mouth provides free advertising and marketing opportunities.  The next time you are considering spending money on a large marketing campaign, start by contacting current customers.  They are a resource that can be used to generate additional sales.

Expand

As current clients bring in friends and family, you get the opportunity to add to your client base.  These customers can rapidly become a permanent addition to your clientele.  The cycled can be expanded infinitely. So the key to growing a customer base really is your current clientele.  The best marketing strategy is a satisfied customer.  They provide testimonials and advertising that costs your company nothing, and the expansion potential is unlimited.

Keeping in touch with current customers is necessary to expand business opportunities for the lowest expenditure.  By identifying your current clientele, leveraging satisfied customers and growing your referrals, you create endless opportunities it improve sales numbers.  Offline businesses need to maintain that personal client connection to create the best possible framework for expansion and profits.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

One of the most effective, yet least expensive ways to promote your company is through the creation of company brochures. Yes, it is possible to hire someone else to write it and design it and it is recommended that you have them printed professionally. Before getting your brochure to the printer, it might be wise to take matters into your own hands and create your own brochure. Making your own brochure is a good way to save money, while increasing the potential to earn money.

Start with the Message

Be sure you know what it is you want to say to your potential clients. How is it that you want your products described? Some ways to go about this are to think about what you would say to friends or family to get them excited about your product or service, what would make you want to buy something from someone else and who you want to target with your product or service. “Everyone” is not an option for this last concept because not everything will appeal to everyone- a specific group or target audience should be considered before creating, let alone promoting an item.

Create Content

Catch the reader’s eye. Make sure that the headline is a strong one meant to capture an audience’s attention. Be sure the headline does not include jargon or other marketing language; it needs to be relatable in order to get people interested and turn them into customers. It is often helpful to break up the main content into subheadings as well. These should be just as compelling because it is common that people will only read headlines or subheadings to make a purchasing decision; often skipping the main content altogether.

Do Not Neglect Design and Layout

Content is the priority in putting out a company brochure, however, it is still important to make sure that the pamphlet is visually appealing. The best ones are made up of clean lines with pictures and logos as ornamentation, not as the main attraction. It is also important to note that a brochure can be done nicely without a lot of colour and that there should be no more than three font types per brochure.

Putting together an effective marketing message begins with having a variety of marketing materials and the printed brochure cannot be neglected. It is a very handy way to share information with readers and can be placed in many locations like coffee shops, doctor’s offices and community centres. There may be plenty of competition, however, so make sure the brochure has a clean, attractive design and compelling copywriting that will catch a person’s eye.

Happy marketing!

Sean

Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

There was a time in the distant past when loyalty marketing was one of the primary methods of gaining and retaining business.  Some of the earliest incarnations of such marketing could be seen in the tokens given out by businesses to be later spent at the store, pulling customers back, or in the cigarette cards found in packs of tobacco.  As the technique evolved direct marketers began implementing it as well, including subscription cards in magazines to encourage current customers to re-subscribe and offering perks like discounts and gifts in exchange for continued patronage.

The techniques used in modern loyalty marketing are much the same as they have been in years past. Most hotel chains offer complimentary membership programs that earn room upgrades.  Nearly every airline has a frequent flyer program to keep customers flying with them.  Yet it is difficult to see just how effective such campaigns can be in smaller settings that do not feature national or multinational business coverage.  In light of the age and questionable effectiveness of such techniques, how can loyalty marketing be used to creating lasting business today, or should it even be used at all?

The answer to the latter part of that question is far easier than the former.  Yes, loyalty marketing should still be used today, and it can be extremely effective when used correctly.  Unfortunately, host people completely misinterpret the way in which such campaigns work.  For example, the success of frequent flyer miles is only partially due to the perks active customers get.  While free flights and complimentary upgrades go far in keeping current customers coming, the real focus of such campaigns is to get new flyers on board through word of mouth advertising by those happy current customers.  Every time someone gets upgraded to business class and tells his or her friends, loyalty marketing is doing its job.

Yet how can such techniques be applicable in other situations?  It is easy for a giant multinational with millions of dollars in resources to offer perks and rewards, but how can it apply small-scale, localised operations?  It’s quite simple, really – earn loyalty from future customers by gaining loyalty from current customers.

It is unquestionable that loyalty marketing has changed since its inception, but only in the purpose of its implementation.  Loyalty marketing is no longer directed at keeping customers coming – that is simply an added bonus.  Instead, getting new customers in the door through the favourable words of happy customers is the focus.  Surprises are a great way to get customers talking.  If they expect an upgrade when renting a car they are not necessarily that likely to brag about it, but if they show up in a sporty convertible after expecting a compact they’re likely to sing about it from the mountaintops.

Loyalty marketing still matters – finding the angle is the tricky part.

Sean
Sean McPheat

Marketing Consultant – Sales Expert - Motivational Speaker

The TOP 100 List Of The Best Global Brands 2010 is now out!

Please have a look at the full list at: Best Global Brands 2010

1. Coca-Cola
2. IBM
3. Microsoft
4. Google
5. GE

The surprising thing is that Apple is #20!

Anyhow go on over to the list and take a look.

Sean

Sean McPheat
Marketing Consultant - Sales Expert - Internet Marketing Consultant