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Ten Reasons to Market your Business Frequently

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People have new wants and needs every day: Very few people have a need for any specific merchandise item on any given day. Frequent marketing reaches this “thin market” when they are ready to buy, not just when you are ready to sell.

Reaches your customers – regardless of media habits. Frequency builds awareness. Awareness builds familiarity and familiarity builds trust. Conventional wisdom says that your audience needs to be exposed to your ad 2.5 times to sink in and build awareness. Just like dieting, advertising gets the best results over time. Each ad builds on prior brand recognition.

Offers you the best rates. Most media today offer significant incentives for increasing frequency. Whether these incentives are for repeating an ad in a certain period, contracting to run a certain amount of space over time or investing a certain amount of money, media outlets recognize the need for frequency and encourage customers to use it.

Today’s ad may influence, but tomorrow’s will close the deal for a  luke warm prospect. Like pushing a ball up a hill, it is better to push slowly than to push quickly and run out of energy halfway up. However pushing the ball up hill in the wrong season may not give you the reward you desire. Remember a consumer needs to see your message at least three times before deciding to act.

Beat your competition. If you are not advertising as much as your competition does, who is more likely to reach the consumer who is ready to shop?

Every day You: Open your store. Keep your shelves stocked. Have your staff come to work. Shouldn’t you invite customers in by advertising frequently? Advertising is one of your smallest expenses. Yet, not using it often enough can kill your business. For the average business, the investment in advertising could be as low as 2-3 percent.
24-hour options: No longer must you wait for tomorrow’s paper to get your message out. You can now send targeted marketing messages almost instantly to customers that are in the market to buy. Deadlines are now when ever you would like them to be, so the excuse of missing deadlines just does not have to occur.
Build marketing campaigns on your schedule.

Higher than average results. A study by Information Resources Inc. in the 1990’s indicated that base sales and price elasticity change over time with the pressure of long-term advertising. Brand equity grows with increased advertising. Furthermore, the long-term effect of advertising led to a brand being less price-sensitive. This phenomenon has not change in the complex media environment we now live in. The more the consumer knows the brand the less scrutiny it will have when regards to price and quality.

Cut through the clutter: Mohammed Ali did not become heavyweight champion of the world by punching 20 people one time each. No, he became the champ by punching one guy 20 times. By applying frequency to the poor opponent’s head, Ali was able to bring his message home. In today’s media environments this is easier than ever, with analytics and targeting opportunities with Mobile, web, and direct mail targeting

People Forget: What are the statistics about how fast people forget? It used to be that something like 80% forgets a message in 24 hours. But, I forget.

Paying it forward in 2011

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 I have had several business colleagues in the last month talk with me about how important it is that we give back in our business community. How important it is that we add value to others in the process of building our business. Brett Simmons first introduced blogs to me and at that time told me the same thing. That if you want to be successful in building your personal brand on the Internet it is about what you give not what you sell.

Today I finally had a chance to pay it forward a bit and helped a friend get her own blog, twitter account and linkedin account. It felt good to help a fellow business owner get started in this exciting and sometimes confusing world of social media. I enjoyed the excitement again of starting this process. What design and image do they use? What content and connections do they have to offer? I remember my first days on the social media map and the apprehension that was mixed with excitement in the first hours and first posts.

I hope I get the chance to help others get started in 2011, and hope that this business will find success in her new ventures.

Marketing Cycles and your marketing plan for 2011

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Planning that 2011 marketing campaign? Do you build a marketing plan for each year? Does your marketing plan match your company goals?
As I sat with a marketing partner yesterday, these questions struck me as obvious for small business owners. However, I wondered how many don’t actually take the time annually to review their marketing plans and ask the tough questions.
As a media representative for the past 16 years I have had many conversations with business owners regarding marketing plans and how certain media fit those plans and goals. I am often surprised at what they purchase and how often it was not in line with their business goals or objectives, instead it was just a good deal or they liked the rep and wanted to give it a try.
In the next few posts I will break down media buying and marketing plans a little further in hopes that a small business owner which needs help can find a few answers that will help produce a better result in 2011.

Today lets focus on Media plans and the timing of your marketing.

Each business segment has a natural business cycle. Periods where business will peak and times where business will dip. Businesses have a couple methods in which they can approach this business cycle in marketing. In 2011 help your business maximize success by knowing what strategy works best for your company goals.

1. Brand Awareness Marketing. A level marketing plan for the entire year.
In the early ninety’s it was popular to discuss marketing and to believe we could be consistent with our marketing all year round and balance this natural business cycle. Ever heard the term TOMA (top of mind advertising), this media-marketing plan encouraged consistent frequency of simple branding messages that would increase the likeliness that when a customer was in the buying marketplace your business would be top of mind. Television, newspaper and radio all sold advertisers the ideas of this brand management strategy. For a company with a larger budget this program can be a great support-marketing plan. It will neither drive traffic this weekend nor will it make or break this years marketing growth plan. It will provide brand growth, especially in an economy where market share can be taken because of weaker competition.
2. Salvage Marketing. The method of only marketing when business is in dip and trying to pull customers into the store to support a diminishing bottom line.
Sadly I find that this method is used way too often. Usually by business owners that have no marketing plan or a marketing budget that is not adequate to reach its goals. They hope that by placing an ad this weekend that business will magically boom and the monthly bottom line will correct itself. Rarely happens, but at least they are trying. Many small businesses with out a full time marketing department fall into this method of marketing. They are reacting to market conditions and are often sold the next hot marketing sales program from various media.
3. Peak Marketing. This method suggests that only marketing around your natural peaks and guarantees your chance for optimal return on investment.
Of the three I like this method the most for local business owners with a solid marketing plan and set marketing budget. Marketing around your peak seasons (Each Business naturally will have three to five peaks in a year) will help drive peaks higher and often extend peak sales days during this period. For a business which is beyond its first several years in business and have built a good reputation and client base this form of marketing can allow them to increase customer base most efficiently when their best customers shop.
4. Event Marketing. There are various ways to run event marketing. Typically you are going to increase investment around an event and drive traffic for a short window of time.
With the onslaught of options available to a business in event marketing it is wise to find yourself a consultant figure in helping your complete the event effectively and according to your goals as a company. Event marketing itself can be the sole business model for marketing, but I do not recommend it as a single entity. Consumers will tire of the mentality and find value in your competitors quickly if al they are ever offered is an event.

The importance of knowing your media buying style and how it matches your business cycle should not be over looked. Your business will never reach its goals efficiently by just buying the next program that walks in the door. Take time to understand what your business cycle looks like and what your desired approach to marketing will be in 2011. A great source for industry cycles is Admall. Another way your business can determine your business cycles is through trade publications, suppliers, or last year’s revenue peaks.

If you are a small business and you just don’t know which is the best approach for you, get a consultant to help you out. Consultants often offer to give you a free hour to discuss what your goals and objectives are, and then will provide you with an organized and unbiased marketing plan that is focused on your goals. This will prevent you from just buying the next promotional plan your sales rep has for you. It will help you determine if what is being presented and pitched is in line with your marketing plan, theory and budget.

Remember the one factor we are assuming hear is that you have sent the time to formulate a marketing plan or goal for 2011. Plan to prosper in 2011, and work the plan.

Branding in 2011 – Top five vehicles

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As business owners peer into the New Year how will they measure their brand value in the coming year? How will they improve it in a culture that has limited stickiness to it in forms of loyalty? What vehicles of marketing will be most valuable in brand building in the coming years?

Here are my top five lists of Brand Building Vehicles for 2011.

1) A Viral Social Media platform – You cannot deny the massive movement in social media. Businesses large and small must invest and work on the viral effects of their social media. Contests, content, video, give-a-ways, consumer content… etc. If your company has not changed their hiring practices to either have a full time Social media talent on staff or have hired a professional to build and support these efforts in 2011 make this your first priority.
2) Community Branding – Attach your business to as many community functions as possible. In this economy consumers are going to be looking more and more to their community for family entertainment and feeling of a connectedness to their neighbors. Companies should update their brand marketing, Pens, calendars, t-shirts, etc… Plan to give out new (updated) products to customers and clients this year and freshen up your brand. Be a sponsor of a community event and pass out free items branded with your website and social media sites helping drive new traffic and increase brand awareness.
3) Mobile Web – The invasion of the Mobile App is contagious. Smart Phones will out number traditional phones 2 to 1 by the end of 2011. Consumers at this point don’t even know what they want to down load as an app. Consumers want a function that improves the quality of their lives all bundled up into the apps on their phones. Us this for your companies brand. The Mobile Web marketing engine has already changed from “you must be in the app store” to community based apps and web marketing. Local business must now have a functioning mobile web application that provides information, links, maps, special offers. Use the mobile web and app movement to build your brand loyalty and 1 to 1 marketing capabilities. Using a mobile app/Web platform to launch SMS text marketing campaigns and viral contests with new customers can become a complete marketing engine in 2011 that will provide not only brand loyalty but also brand growth.
4) Video Blog – A picture is worth a thousand words right? Well a video today is worth ten times that because if it has value to the consumer they will share it with the world. It is like word of mouth marketing on steroids. How many times in the last year has someone sent you a video from you-tube? Video Blogs can be added to most company websites and will create great results on search engines.
5) E-mail Marketing or Direct Mail Marketing – I am split here on this one because I believe there are two types of consumers that we need to be aware of here. The First is a “paper free believer” they want everything via electronic media. They are almost reposed to believe we still print newspapers and direct mail wasting our natural resources. The second is the “stop bugging me in my private space group” This group could be the traditional group that still has not embraced the technology, or the professional group that is still in the belief that people are wasting a lot of valuable time using the social media.
Whichever group you are targeting both media can be used to enhance all four above and can be effective ways of building up a base of consumers in 2011. Less competition has survived in the current economy that means your business has market share to capture. A good Direct Mail campaign can give you a fresh new group of consumers into the top of your marketing funnel.

Each of these Brand Building vehicles can be done on almost any marketing budget and be effective. In 2011 take action and start early, the greatest growth in market share will happen early in the cycle. Don’t let your business be caught on the sideline as your competitors steal the market. If you are not sure where to start check out a few of these sites for help: http://www.wcmobi.com ; http://www.copmanycasuals.com/valetbranding ; http://www.opvinc.com .

Customer service is still alive!

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I just returned from a morning date with my wife and just had to share this great customer service message.
After a find cup of coffee form Starbucks, Pepermint Mocha, we decided to head over to the local Game Stop Videon store to see if we could find that last minute gift for the children.
Have you ever noticed that when you get great customer service now a days that you kind of step back and don’t know how to handle it?
Well I have to give praise to Game Stop. These employees where in a great mood, and they seemed to know everything you could ever want to know about any game.
Made my wife, who is a huge customer service fanatic, tell me about how impressed she is with that company.
Just so you know that praise does not come often from her.

What ever happened to customer service in retail? Did WalMart and the giant box stores kill it?
Did consumers become so demanding that service is bogged down by dealing with those customers?
Anyhow, great job GameStop, You have hired properly for your niche and have reason to celebrate.