OWN Your Business Marketing

by Debbie Burgin - 

I recently found myself doing some marketing research on a large company, of their current marketing strategy/systems. What I found wasn’t what I’d call ‘disturbing’ per se, but it totally made me scratch my head.

In perusing their current social media accounts, I found what some might call ‘bare bones’ posts on both Twitter AND Instagram. By ‘bare bones’ I mean, only the information that a ‘layman’ might convey was there. So the simplest tools that someone who works in the marketing arena would use, weren’t even being implemented.

In addition, on the company website, I there were some MAJOR red flags; things that one working in marketing would immediately notice, but more importantly, site visitors, would NOT. Meaning that those things that you want your site visitors to notice were not present on this website…AT ALL.

There was no way to provide content to bring in new customers, nor to bring current customers back to the business/website.

There was also no noticeable way to capture visitor information (if I didn’t go looking for it, I never would have seen it), etc. And when I did find it, it was tucked away in a corner of the company website.

Third red flag; the company’s current marketing strategy was simply concerned with marketing of their own product/service. There were no ‘niche’ extensions, meaning that anything else that their company could/would ‘touch’ wasn’t included in the sparse marketing that they were doing.

When we spoke, it sounded as though they were more concerned with the ‘design’ of their website (which was good) than anything else.

Now…don’t misunderstand me; this isn’t a small company.

I cringe thinking about it.

If you haven’t implemented ways to get prospective customers to your website, why are you so concerned about what it looks like? Worse, if a prospective customer ‘trips’ over your website by accident, there’s no way to get them to come back.

Shame.

There are approximately 140,000 new sites being added to the web each and every month. If you don’t create ways to bring new customers to your website/business, guess what? It’s highly likely that your potential customer isn’t going to have a clue that you and your business even exist. You know where those customers will go? They’ll go to the website of a business that provides them with the information that they’re looking for, either by way of content that brings them to the site (or some extension of the site, like a blog), or by reaching out with that information (email via newsletter, etc.).

Don’t let your new customers go to your competition, simply because you failed to see your business/website through their eyes.

What IS 'Data'?

by Debbie Burgin - 

Collecting customer data is literally creating a way to increase sales at the click of a button.

But what is data?

I mean…we hear the word all the time, and it conjures up an image of giant computers in some dark dank corporate room, buzzing, whirring, flashing and beeping, spitting out long narrow sheets of nonsense type that can only be read by other computers, or someone with 7 university degrees in reading the stuff.

Isn’t that what you think when you hear the word “data”?

The dictionary defines “data” as “facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis”.

“Facts and statistics?” Ugh!

Wikipedia defines “data” as “individual pieces of information”, and this definition makes more sense to the layman, so for the purpose of this article, it’s the definition that I’ll be referring to.

When I tell clients that they should be collecting ‘data’ from their customers in order to successfully tailor their marketing efforts (digital and otherwise), they often look at me with a frown and tilt their heads to one side, totally imagining this ‘data’ to be the image that I mentioned in the beginning of this piece. I then have to use the Wikipedia definition to help clarify that misconception.

The data that we refer to is just basic pieces of personal information. It’s that simple. Nothing major; a first name and email address will generally suffice. And if you don’t want to get that complex, you can drop the first name.

The less information you ask your customer to provide, the more likely it is that you’ll actually get what you do ask for. No one wants to spend twenty minutes filling out a form as a customer in any business setting, let alone in an establishment where part of the general premise is to relax (ie; restaurant, hair salon, etc.)

So now you ask; “Why am I collecting this ‘data’ on my customers? Like I don’t have enough to do?”

That’s a great question.

Collecting customer data doesn’t have to be a huge chore. Back in the day, it was common to see a fish bowl on the front desk of a restaurant, for customers to leave a business card with some kind of potential ‘reward’ for doing so. Someone in the restaurant would then pull ONE card a week (or month) out of that bowl for some kind of freebie. But this is 2016, and you’d better be using every one of those cards in your marketing strategy.

The old school fish bowl has its advantages; you get a truck load of information with what is probably the least amount of effort from your customer or client (fantastic for restaurants and salon type businesses). And once you have that precious information, you can bring that customer (and his/her friends and acquaintances) back into your business with the click of a button, knowing that he/she has actually come in with the intention of spending money, and it works for just about any type of business.

Cool right?

If you’re not already collecting customer data in some way, you’re leaving money on the table…period. You probably already have in your possession, a kick ass way to collect simple customer data (like a fish bowl, for Pete’s sake), but might be baffled as to how you should go about implementing it, or what to do with the information once you have it.

If that’s the case, shoot me an email! I’d love to show you how to dramatically increase sales with the simple click of a button J

“WHY DOES MY BUSINESS NEED A BLOG?”

If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked this question, I’d be able to buy those gorgeous black Louboutins that I've had my eye on. 

A lot of business owners reason that having a blog for their business is simply a pain-in-the-ass addition to all of the things that they've already got going on, and for a select few, that might be true (and in that case, just hire someone to do it for you…*wink*). But for most, having a company blog for the purpose of business transparency can be beneficial, and profitable (which yes…would fall under the “beneficial” umbrella).

Okay…let me preface the rest of this piece by saying that just like social media, blogging isn't necessarily for every type of business.

Blogging for your business should serve a few purposes; it ‘shows’ your customers/clients that you’re more than just a name on a sign, and it makes those customers/clients feel like they can trust you. In short, your blog, along with your social media efforts should make you feel like more of a friend to your clients, than some faceless font on a window/sign. Your website (on the other hand) should be all business, but that’s another post.

For instance, most of my clients take a peek at either this blog, or other pieces that I’ve written online, to get a feel for who I am, before actually hiring me. I have a tendency to write in much the same way that I speak (I’ll let you decide whether or not that’s a good thing), so they’re generally not surprised when they finally speak to me. They know who they’re dealing with long before they ever contact me.

Your blog works in very much the same way. It won’t have the same kind of material that this blog does (obviously…duh), but you get the idea, right?

If your customers/clients are going to get a ‘feel’ for who you are in order to trust you, don’t just post about “Today’s Specials” or your upcoming new product line. Don’t get me wrong, I'm not saying that you shouldn't post about that stuff, but don’t let those things be the only things you post. Few things are more boring. It’s like asking customers to come to your store so that you can bore them to death with ads that you think are “cleverly disguised”. People (for the most part) aren't stupid. We can spot an ad a mile away. Ads typically ‘out themselves’ with a lingering bad taste, and sometimes an odour as well (metaphorically speaking…but you got that too…right?).

Don’t pay attention to the one rule above, and your clients will ‘bust’ you. You know how? They’ll simply stop paying attention. And once you’re busted by your potential customers, they ain't comin' back. You know what they say, “You only get one chance to make a good first impression”.

So why risk it?

Your posts should have a ‘personal’ feel. For the most part, share what you want to share…whatever comes fairly easy. Don’t share anything that you don’t want to share.

It’s not brain surgery.

If you feel like you can’t get a handle on the whole ‘blogging thing’ (no shame there…lots of people don’t), shoot us an email! We’d be happy to help out