SmallFuel Marketing Blog

Marketing Essentials Part 4: Having a Website

2008-07-24T15:53:00-05:00

Do you think your business doesn't need a website? Do you believe that people in your town don't care about the Internet? Do you feel that selling locally absolves you of web presence?

You might want to think again.

According to eMarketer.com and Techweb.com, nearly 400 million North American residents had Internet connection in 2007. By 2008, over 67% of Canadians and 70% of Americans were plugged into the Internet. In early 2008, 7.8 million Canadians were online every day, and 172 million Americans were online as well.

Not too shabby.

What are these people doing online? They're surfing the web, culling information on what they want and need, from music to online education to telephone numbers to store hours. They're being entertained, they're getting informed, they're making decisions…

…and they're shopping.

No matter what type of business you have, from local to international, from small to mega-corporation, from car mechanic to sports equipment store to handcrafting artisan, you need to be online. Ignoring the Internet's existence translates to neglecting your business.

Not An Online Business? Not A Problem.

A website doesn’t mean you need to sell over the Internet or get into ecommerce. Web presence can be as simple as a single profile page and some contact information. Consider a website as an introduction to your business that gives consumers the information they need to know.

Web presence is a virtual 24/7 sales representative working hard for you all the time, every minute of every day. Having a website conveys credibility, helps reduce your workload by answering questions and encourages consumers to become customers.

Information, Please

A website is a great place to pitch your products or services, and it helps cut down your workload by giving people answers to their potential questions.

Include information most frequently requested by customers. List your products or services, indicate your location, post your store hours, add an FAQ page and have past client references. Make it easy for consumers to access your business and learn more about what you offer.

Contact information is crucial. If people can’t contact you, how can you sell to them? Clearly post your email address and/or a telephone number where people can reach you.

Low Cost, High Returns

The cost of having web presence is very low, but there are some expenses involved. They’re tax deductible as a business expense, though, and the potential for high return makes the cost worth it.

You’ll need web hosting (or a place to put your site in the virtual world), and that averages about $250 a year – or even lower. Choose a hosting service that offers good support and one that you can reach easily for help.

You may need to hire a designer to help build your site properly. Shop carefully and compare the quality of services, not the prices. Ask for samples and client references, and make sure you know what you’ll receive for your money.

There are also many do-it-yourself web presence options, too, if bootstrapping is a consideration. Do make sure that the DIY option you select offers quality design templates and options. Keep in mind that most free options are noticeable as such, and that clients may think you cheap for choosing free.

Before making a move to build a site or to have one built for you, consider branding and design carefully. Have a nice design that reflects your business brand and one that shows you’re serious, not skimping. Be consistent with your business colors and logo, too.

You’ll need content as well, and you can write your own or hire a skilled copywriter for your needs. Your content should clearly indicate who you are, why people should choose you and the benefits they’ll achieve from your products or services.

Little Details that Matter

Select a domain name that is the same name as your business (or a shorter version of it if your business name is long) or a name that is extremely representative of your business. Think carefully and choose a domain that is easy to say, type, and remember - being memorable gains you customers.

Choose a design that reflects your brand, your image and your business. Be consistent with your brand throughout all your marketing. Convey a good emotional impact, a clear message and the same image. Help people associate feelings with your business to reach them easily.

A website is built like a physical store. There is a door to enter (your landing page) and pages people can visit (your departments), as well as a general flow of traffic around displays (your navigation). Plan how you want people to arrive, what you want them to see first and where you want them to go after they arrive.

Using your Website as a Marketing Tool

Some people erroneously believe that slapping up a website instantly brings in customers and fortunes. That’s a myth. Today’s Internet is very crowded and competitive, and people won’t find your site unless you tell them about it..

Exposure doesn’t mean extra work for you. Add your website address to your business card. Put up a sign at your store. Tell friends and family; spread the word. Integrate your website address on your answering machine message and include it in your email signature.

Ask customers if they’ve seen your new site, too. Promote your website all the time. Give people a business card and point out your site address. Tell them to visit and give you feedback or indicate there’s more information about your business easily available.

You can also use email marketing to promote your new site launch. Email marketing lets you send out a message to people that tells them the big announcement.

The more that people see your business name – no matter where or how – the more exposure that brings you. Presence keeps you in the mind of the consumer, and the more they think of you, the more likely they are to buy.

One surefire way to maintain that presence is through the use of business cards – no, they haven’t gone out of style and yes, your business needs them, even if all your business is carried out online. In the next article of this series we’ll teach you about the types of cards that gets pocketed, when to give them out and where, and fast tips to get the most from a true marketing essential.

Marketing Essentials Part 3: Creating the Perfect Message

2008-07-22T14:47:00-05:00

Reaching consumers with your message is one of the top Marketing Essentials. If people don't hear what you're saying and see what you're showing them, why would they do business with you?

But what is your marketing message? What are you trying to get across to people? It's simple: You know their problem, you have the solution, and you are the best business to buy it from.

That's easier said than done, of course. It's difficult for many small business owners to figure out exactly how to market that they can solve problems. One of the most common mistakes is touting features or going on about being the best.

Everyone is the best these days. No one wants to hear it again. And yet, you need people to hear you, feel your message and believe it. How?

Creating a solid marketing message makes a difference in whether consumers pay attention to you, whether they trust you and whether they decide to buy. It combines specific elements to:

Grab people's attention and interest
Tell consumers how you solve their problem
Convey why people should trust you
Indicate why you're different or special
Show why people should choose you

By following just a few easy steps, you can compel interest and evoke the power of a message that people not only hear but feel as well.

Identify your target market

Every business has a target market, and no, it isn't everyone. Before anything else, you must know the consumer who will buy from you intimately.

What is this ideal customer like? What is his or her personality? What demographic does the individual belong to and do you know his or her realistic income? What kind of shopping preferences does the customer have?

Find your market's needs

Now that you know your ideal customer, identify this person's problems. Everyone suffers, whether it is mental, physical or emotional - and people want to ease suffering quickly. If they know you care, you have a better chance of making them a customer.

Know your customer's problem. Make sure that your message tells consumers that you understand their pain and that you empathize with their suffering. How do they hurt? What are they feeling?

Offering a solution

You've identified your target consumer. You know the person's pain and problem. Now give them the solution and present the cure to their suffering. Address the situation in a way that makes the consumer relive his or her pain so that it is clearly felt – and so that the person sees you can ease the hurting.

Benefits tie in closely at this point. The ways you change a person's life convince consumers that you offer what they need. Your benefits establish that you can remove the suffering and help consumers achieve their goals.

Minimize the risk

Remove as much risk as you can when presenting your solution. Consumers need to feel that the end of their anguish will happen quickly and easily. Banish the uncertainties and make your solution one they can implement right away, if possible.

Also, remove any barriers to taking action. People are increasingly busy and tired of jumping through hoops to get what they want. Make it easy for people to choose you. Keep in mind, too, that the more you do for them, the happier they'll be – because it's easier to pay someone to help us than to help ourselves.

Show them proof

People are funny creatures sometimes. No one likes to be the first to try something new or the only one standing in line. Consumers are more likely to buy if someone has already bought and had good results and a great experience. If it works for others, it'll work for them.

Show your target market that people in the very same situation with identical pain have had positive results. Present proof that what you sell works, that it eases suffering and offers the cure. Word of mouth referral is the best marketing.

This is where testimonials, before-and-after stories, case studies and statistics come into play -- the more measurable and credible the proof, the better. It makes your message more believable and backs up your promises.

Be different

You have competition out there, offering the same solutions that you do. What makes you different? Why is your solution better? Why should people choose you over someone else?

This doesn't mean bad-mouthing the competition or putting them down. It's often a better idea to avoid comparing your solutions to everyone else's to boost your reputation. All you need to do is know why you're different - and communicate those differences clearly.

A solid marketing message captures the elements of knowing your audience, their problems, and your solution. Communicate these elements to consumers in a credible, believable manner.

Use your message everywhere -- on fliers, in your website copy, on your business card -- and you'll quickly be on your way to small business success.

Next week we're going to have a can't-miss Marketing Essentials post about websites, so make sure you come back and check it out. Oh, and feel free to subscribe too.

So, What Do You Do?

2008-07-17T19:57:00-05:00

What do you do?

It's the most critical question you'll ever answer if you're a small business owner. You probably know the answer, too. You're a graphic designer, you sell baby toys or you own a bookkeeping service, for example.

But if you give that answer to people, you probably won't make them customers. Heck, they may not even understand you.

What you do has nothing to do with how you should market yourself. No one wants to know what you do, not really. People want to know what you can do for them. There's a difference.

A great message tells people how you can change their life. It lets your business shine. Your message needs to be out there, everywhere, making it easy for people to understand and love your company.

So Be the Best, Right?

Most businesses make a ton of mistakes when coming up with a marketing message. They choose generic concepts that don't carry much weight in consumer perception, like affordable, quality and best.

So what?

Telling people about how good your business is really does nothing to increase sales. Everyone is the best. Everyone sells quality. No one wants to hear it.

People want businesses to pay attention to them. They want to know someone is listening and that someone can solve their problems. They want to hear that your business understands and that you have the match to their wants and needs.

That's where marketing comes in. Your message, your brand and your slogan should be able to convey to consumers that you have exactly what they want.

Straight From the Heart

The best messages trigger emotional reactions. They speak to people's hearts and souls, stirring up a feeling.

In just a few words, you can make a consumer feel emotion that goes beyond the product or service. Your brand might invoke confidence, or reassurance, or happiness, or wealth, or the envy of all their friends.

Let's say that you own a used bookstore called ABC Books. You specialize in buying student textbooks after each semester and you resell the textbooks to people who can't afford tuition but who do want to learn.

Think about how you'd market those used books. What would you tell people? What's your message? What gets them excited?

You might say that the books are affordable or almost new. They're accessible to anyone. But think about it: Do any of those words make you feel anything? Probably not.

Try this message instead. ABC Books: Making you smarter than the rest.

All of a sudden, those used textbooks take on new meaning. They're going to make you smarter and better. People will look up to you. You'll feel more confident and be envied for your brains. You might land a new job or maybe impress your date. The slogan "making you smarter than the rest" taps right into your emotions.

Who can ask for more?

Think about these three companies and their marketing messages. Think about how you feel.

Nike: Just do it.
Timex: Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.
Harley-Davidson: Live to ride, ride to live.

Your message has to stick in the minds of consumers. People have to associate that message with your brand and your business each and every single time. They have to not only read it or hear it, but they have to feel it deep down.

A good message solidifies the association consumers make with your business. It taps right into the emotions. And it works.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Marketers

2008-07-15T17:51:00-05:00

For a small business, time isn’t just money – it is something that’s always in short supply. That’s why smart marketers make it a priority to get maximum results out of their marketing efforts every day. You’ve got to make sure you’re paying attention to the right things, at the right times … and in the right proportions.

Are you tackling your critical marketing activities effectively? Take a look at these 7 habits of highly effective marketers and find out.

#1 -- Understanding Your Customer

To make the most of your marketing time, you must develop a solid understanding of why customers buy from you. The way to accomplish that is to put yourself in their shoes, get inside their heads, and most importantly, learn to speak their language. It isn’t enough for you to know why your products and services are valuable – you need to have a firm grasp of how demographics and behavioral marketing influences how customers perceive them.

#2 -- Researching Upcoming Trends

Effective marketers keep their eyes open at all times and develop the ability to spot upcoming trends so that they can position their business to ride the upcoming wave of public interest. By using trend research tools and keeping in contact with customers and industry sources, you can do the same. When you can get ahead of a trend, you can leverage the efforts of other media sources to build up a strong sense of need within your target market – and position your product to satisfy that need.

#3 -- Optimizing Your Website

Search engine traffic is quite possibly the next-best thing to word-of-mouth referrals, because search engines deliver “hungry” traffic from customers who are actively looking for something to fulfill their needs. To make the most of this, you need to ensure that you are regularly optimizing your site’s content for keywords related to your products and services, so that the right kind of traffic comes to you when they are in a buying state of mind. Creating new content regularly ensures that the search engines revisit your content often, checking it for improvements.

#4 -- Offering Compelling Copy

Years ago, all it took was a basic company website or a simple mailing to get people’s attention and make sales. These days, effective marketers must master the ability to write compelling sales letters, engaging content and sales copy that draws prospects in and transforms them into paying customers. If you don’t know how to write copy that taps into prospects’ trigger events and impresses them instantly, then time invested in improving your copywriting skills (or finding a good copywriter) is time well spent.

#5 -- Testing Your Methods

Struggling marketers “keep busy” with marketing activities but don’t take the time to track and analyze the return on investment they are getting from their strategies. Smart marketers, on the other hand, take a different approach – they gather results and data and determine what’s working (and what’s not) on a regular basis. They know that the time they spend discovering what’s most effective will pay off with far greater returns than just throwing promotions out and hoping for the best. Don’t let the excuse of being strapped for time keep you from doing something which will save you time (and make you more money) in the long run.

#6 -- Following Up Periodically

Most prospects don’t buy the first time they are exposed to a message, so savvy business owners make sure that there is a follow-up pipeline to keep periodic contact with potential prospects as well as existing customers. Whether you make that happen through a physical mailing list, email newsletter, or phone calls, keeping contact with people helps to build a relationship before, during and after the sale. People enjoy doing business with companies that understand and care about them, and a follow-up process can make sure that happens for every one of your valuable contacts.

#7 -- Up-Selling and Cross-Selling

When a prospect becomes a customer, their mind shifts to “buying mode” and they are predisposed to make additional purchases if they are offered at the same time. Marketing just doesn’t get more effective than this – and smart marketers find ways to offer opportunities at each sales point. This can be done by offering attractive “buy now” discounts on related products or simply offering upgrades at a reduced price if purchased immediately. You can even use these strategies after the sale, giving you a boost in revenue without having to do a significant amount of work.

Effective marketing is the key to helping your small business sales increase year after year while keeping new customer costs under control. Invest the time to improve your company’s standing in each of these seven marketing skill sets, and watch your bottom line improve in a way that will make you as happy as the customers you are serving.

Marketing Essentials Part 2: Branding Your Business

2008-07-10T16:21:00-05:00

Building a foundation for your marketing starts with branding. Every marketing campaign, every piece of print promotion, every message your business delivers should start with a solid brand.

Branding is the collection of associations that people make when they think of your business. It’s the emotion they feel and the mental image that comes to mind when they hear your company name or think of your products or services. It creates a bond between your business and consumers. It enhances credibility, increases trust and improves reputation.

Branding creates a memory – and when people remember your business, you have a better chance of business success.

Read on for the essential information about branding a small business.

Branding the Mercedes Way

Every business, from small shop to international company, needs branding. The large companies do it very well. Think of Mercedes automobiles: they’re sleek, luxurious, and upper-class vehicles built for the wealthy.

Now think of the mental associations you just made when you thought of Mercedes. You probably imagined a shiny car, beautiful people, an extravagant lifestyle, happiness and confidence. Your mind told you that Mercedes cars are elite and desirable. You’d probably feel pretty good driving one around.

That’s branding. The Mercedes-Benz Company created mental and emotional associations for their cars. Consumers aren’t buying a car. They’re buying a feeling.

You can brand your small business too, just as Mercedes did. Whether you sell office supplies or offer virtual assistance, branding helps fuel your sales by creating important associations.

With the right branding, you’ll have a marketing essential that goes a long way to encourage sales.

Laying the Foundation for Branding

Building a strong brand involves a little bit of thinking about what your business represents and the benefits you offer consumers. You need to determine what feeling you want people to have when they think of your business.

Here are some questions to help you get started:

Know what you stand for. What are your personal values? What are your business values? What’s your business mission?

Define your unique selling proposition. What makes you different from the competition? Where do you stand out? Why should people buy from you?

Describe your ideal client. Whom are you targeting as a consumer? What person would be the perfect customer? Can you describe their personality and lifestyle?

Decide on the emotional connection. What feeling should people have when they think of you? Are you classy or cool? Professional or friendly? Expert or casual?

Figure out the emotional benefits. How will people feel if they buy what you sell? What do they feel after they go home? How will their life change?

Create the experience. What’s it like to buy from you? What do people feel when they work with you? Do they feel special? Reassured? Excited? Confident?

Branding has everything to do with psychology and perception. It creates impact on a mental level, not a physical one. The image rises above the sale and helps consumers recognize you – and want what you have to sell.

How to Use Branding Properly

Branding your business means giving it a look, a feeling and an image that you convey in every aspect and area possible, from your business card to your website, from your storefront sign to the way you answer the telephone.

A few key areas you should use branding as a marketing essential include:

Your visual image: Choose a logo design that creates visual impact and represents your business with the proper colors and image. A picture says a thousand words, after all.

Your message: The tone and style of the content used for print materials and website copywriting should reflect and enhance mental associations and the emotion of your brand.

Your personality: A good brand reflects the personality of your business (and your personality too.) Be consistent with your brand in your communications and dealings with customers.

Choose branding that feels comfortable to make it easy to follow through. Reflect your brand all the time, and help convey your brand’s emotional message.

You’ll feel good about your brand, confident in your dealings, and you’ll drive your image home with consumers.

Next week we’ll continue our Marketing Essentials series with an article about creating the perfect message and using it on all of your materials. Make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss it.

What (bad) Cigarettes Can Teach You About (good) Branding

2008-07-09T18:16:00-05:00

Most people have a difficult time understanding the concept of branding. Yet branding is the foundation for your business, the most crucial marketing aspect that lets you differentiate yourself from the competition.

Branding is the all-encompassing mental image that people perceive of your business. It collects the experiences and associations attached to your product or service. Branding creates the recognition, expectations and reactions of consumers to set your business apart.

Branding is very unique, too. Anyone can replicate your product or service – just look at your competitors. No one can identically reproduce your brand, though. If they could, they would be your business.

When considering what might make consumers lean towards one product or another, branding often plays into the equation. Proper branding can prompt a choice, increase conversion or sway people to provide word-of-mouth referrals. It can be the deciding factor between a sale and a loss.

Good branding creates demand, encouraging and enhancing the positive feelings and desirability of a product or service. Bad branding, or even no branding at all, can close businesses down.

Examining existing businesses and corporations lets us see the large role branding plays in reaching success. It's an integral element of business success and the foundation of essential marketing.

To show you just how important branding is to your small business, take a look at this success story.

The Biggest Cowboy Branding Success

Around 1955, Marlboro, a cigarette manufacturer, launched a branding campaign that became one of the biggest marketing success stories of the 20^th century. The company's popularity soared in just eight months, sales increasing by 5,000% - all from branding.

Ask anyone over 30 if they've heard of the Marlboro man. Chances are that the first mental image that pops into their mind is the rugged, independent Marlboro cowboy who embodied masculine spirit.

The Marlboro man was just a man. But he was the man, the straight-shooter that helped promote sales for the company simply by representing a concept and image of male confidence.

Men everywhere desired that image and bought the cigarettes hoping to enhance their own impression on people. Women enjoyed the Marlboro man's handsome face and were attracted to the campaign. They bought cigarettes too.

By the mid-80s, everyone knew who the Marlboro man was. He became an American icon, a widely recognized cultural symbol still familiar to millions of people today.

And the company's payoffs? Marlboro became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States and sold their product in over 180 countries around the world.

How Marlboro Pulled It Off

The Marlboro Company thought out their branding strategy very carefully. They brainstormed the campaign, the single-most focus on their target market: men. They concentrated on the ideal consumer they wanted to purchase their cigarettes.

To appeal to their target market, both smokers and non-smokers, Marlboro needed to create an extremely masculine association. They needed to create the perception that if you wanted to be a man, you smoked Marlboro cigarettes.

The most masculine symbol they could think of was the cowboy, and the Marlboro man was born.

The Marlboro man was everywhere. His face became a logo, and he featured on television ad campaigns. He was on posters and in magazine ads. Where Marlboro went, so did the Marlboro man.

The company chose reddish colors and brown clothing to tie the campaign together, and they gave it strong exposure. Boots, hats, western landscapes… the whole outdoorsman theme played into Marlboro's branding strategy.

Marlboro created every sensation possible to tie in that feeling of rugged western masculinity to their cigarettes. People thought they would be more confident, attract more women, get better jobs… all from smoking Marlboros.

Marlboro's branding built mental associations, pushed benefits (both tangible and intangible) and created a feeling. It enhanced consumer expectations and backed up its promises. Who wouldn't feel more confident, with this type of perception?

The company's branding sold the product and shot the Marlboro man to fame.

In fact, Marlboro's branding associations still live on today, despite laws against lighting up, campaigns to butt out and negative health effects caused by smoking.

Tomorrow we’ll be publishing the next article in our Marketing Essentials series, which will tell you how to create and benefit from a solid brand. Subscribe to make sure you don’t miss it.

Marketing Essentials: 5 Things Every Small Business Needs

2008-07-03T15:07:00-05:00

Small businesses are on the rise, and many economists wholeheartedly agree that opportunities are rife. The time is right. You can start a business, even if is just a small one.

Barriers to entry are dropping quickly and so are the startup costs. Poor economics, the rising costs of living and soaring gas prices aren’t discouraging people from launching a startup either. Quite the contrary.

Minority groups have fewer obstacles, and more people can make their dream a reality, online or offline. Consumers are looking for a more personal connection for their purchasing needs, and they're leaning towards B2B and one-man shops.

All people need is an idea, a product or service, the will and a way to reach consumers – it's that easy. A business is born.

Even more so, small business owners now have the power to blend offline and online marketing to reach customers, promote products or services and increase sales to create a successful venture.

But are people tapping into that potential? Are small businesses making the most of the low-cost marketing opportunities available? Are they being effective in their efforts, using every tool and resource possible to boost potential success?

The answer is, unfortunately, no.

The 5 Basic Markteing Essentials

So often, small business owners neglect the most basic marketing essentials that go a long way to help attract potential customers. These essentials create one package that no business should lack.

Does your business have each of these five marketing essentials?

A core message
A good brand image and logo
A website or blog
Business cards
Exposure

That’s it. That’s all it takes to have all the marketing you need to promote your business effectively, whether you're a freelancer, self-employed or a small- to mid-sized business.

The field or industry of your specialty doesn't matter. You could offer a product or service – it doesn't matter. If you have the proper marketing essentials and the right exposure, then your business has a solid fighting chance to do well.

The five basic marketing essentials work for your business to help you create opportunity. They're easy to procure, the cost is low and creating these marketing essentials can often be a lot of fun. It's exciting to build a business, after all.

So what’s holding people back from promoting their own business effectively? Here are a few reasons – maybe you’ll even recognize your own comments amongst these excuses:

“My business doesn’t need cards – I have a website!”
“I don’t need stationary or business cards; I work online.”
“I own a physical store, and my clients don't care if I have a website online.”
“My kind of business doesn’t use stationary or a website at all.”
“I don’t even know how to use a computer. And where would I pass out cards?”

These false assumptions and self-created obstacles hurt small businesses every day. Neglect costs sales. Poor marketing can even cause a to business fail.

We don’t want that to happen.

Our business is helping your business do better. That’s why we’re going to work on clearing up some basic marketing misconceptions while giving you the marketing essentials knowledge you need to promote your business effectively.

Over the next few posts, we’ll tell you about each crucial marketing essential in detail. We'll tell you why you need each one, what to look for to create impact, and how to use your marketing essentials as a whole promotion package…

… All on a small business budget.

The 3 Phases of Successful Marketing

2008-07-02T14:28:00-05:00

Expert marketers know that the true goal of their craft isn’t simply to land the initial sale; instead, it is to cultivate an ever-growing base of loyal repeat customers. But many people have a hard time getting the customer to feel satisfied and ready to do business with them again, never mind getting customers so satisfied they’ll spread the word about their offerings.

To make sure you don’t leave money on the table, you need to give your customers the attention and service they deserve at all three critical transaction points: Before, During and After the sale.

Read on to discover if you are doing all the right things that turn a one-time customer into a consistent stream of income for your business.

The First Stage: Before The Sale

When customers first discover you, they are looking for solutions to their important problems. They don’t want to have high-pressure sales tactics forced onto them. Instead, they want to feel that you understand them and are speaking their language. They want to know that you are more than capable of helping them deal with their need, and that they are dealing with someone with the experience and track record to deliver on their promises.

In short, they want to trust you. And the way to develop customer trust is to focus on understanding them rather than making them understand you. Take the time to provide them with all the information they need to make an educated choice about whatever it is that you’re selling. Help them see that you care about helping them make the right choice rather than reaching for their credit card.

Today’s consumer is jaded, skeptical, and less willing than ever to take you at your word. But actions speak louder than words, so make sure yours prove that you are interested in building a long-term relationship with your customers. Inform them. Enrich them. Give them something for free. Do this right, and the battle for the sale is all but done (without pressuring the customer at all).

The Second Stage: During The Sale

Unfortunately for many companies, a customer who was won over by effective marketing decides to abandon the transaction during the buying process. From a business perspective this is a tragedy – and an avoidable one at that. Don’t allow yourself to be one of those marketers who is so focused on capturing a sale that you lose sight of the customer’s experience when they are ready to buy.

Some customers leave because of “impersonal” buying issues. Perhaps you’re not making it easy to find the return policy or the satisfaction guarantee. Maybe your online shopping cart is awkward or your telephone order lines are busy. Or you may even lose customers due to lack of features, like overnight shipping or gift wrapping. As a savvy marketer who is dedicated to understanding your customers, you should recruit someone outside your business to test drive the buying experience to discover if there are any rough spots that need smoothing out.

Other times, the issues that cause customers to cancel a transaction are entirely personal. Perhaps when the order line is finally answered, your operators are less than friendly or unable/unwilling to answer the customer’s specific questions. This kind of painful first impression can lose you much more than the initial sale, as it will leave a bad taste in the customer’s mouth – and you can be sure the word will get around. This is the key reason why many marketers use “mystery shoppers” to test the customer’s buying experience (and you should, too). Make the buying process painless and enjoyable, and you’re well on your way to seeing repeat business and referrals in your future.

The Third Stage: After The Sale

When the sale is final, it is critical that your follow-up system makes the customer feel safe, secure, and valued. At the minimum they should receive confirmation emails after their order and upon shipping so that they have a sense of connection with the order and know you haven’t forgotten them once their credit card has cleared (incidentally, these emails are prime opportunities to also let them know about additional offerings, since your customers are still in the buying mood).

Beyond the order and delivery, few things match the marketing effectiveness of “check-in” follow-ups. Contact the customer to ask them whether they are satisfied with their purchase (and make things right if they aren’t). Offer them special deals in the future as a way to show appreciation for their purchase. Offer them free information on complementary services or help them learn about new ways to take advantage of what they have already purchased. Go the extra mile to show them you still want to help solve their problems, even when there isn’t a transaction attached to it, and enjoy the positive word of mouth advertising that flows from your efforts.

How Do You Measure Up?

When it comes to your business, are you just “pushing sales,” or are you truly trying to wow your customers and develop long-term relationships with them? Set aside some time this month and ask yourself how you are treating the customer in each of these three areas, and what you might need to do differently to increase the lifetime value of your customers. Then put the answers you come up with into practice, and enjoy the boost in sales that comes with making your customers feel valued before, during and after every sale.

Discovering Your Perfect Brand

2008-06-26T13:44:00-05:00

Creating an attractive corporate brand for your business is one of the most important marketing elements to help gain customers. A bland brand means no sales, and the wrong brand can make you lose sales.

With a great brand that fits your business image perfectly, your business can soar.

But what is a good brand? Is it a nice business card? Is it the level of quality you offer? Is it just a catchy name?

It’s all that and more. It’s everything from the logo on your business card (you do have a business card, right?) to the design of your website to the values your business conveys. Brand is the perceived value and quality of your business.

When you’ve branded well, you’ve created a remarkable and distinct business image. It’s memorable. It’s easy to recognize. People know exactly what they get if they buy from you – before they even decide to purchase.

Your brand should capture:

The emotion people feel when they think of your business
The feeling they’ll achieve if they buy from you
The overall impression that your business projects

How to find the right brand for you

Capturing all of these impressions can seem daunting at first, but there are few tricks that make finding your brand a little easier. By answering some questions, you can gain direction towards a perfect fit:

What feeling do you want people to have when they think of your business? (E.g. Professional, friendly, authoritative, welcoming, committed, reliable, calm, etc)
Fill in the blank: A consumer thinking of your business should say, “Wow, these guys seem really….” (E.g. Fast, smart, professional, friendly, fun, different, etc)
What type of personality do you have? (E.g. Fun, quiet, casual, dedicated, curious, whimsical, scientific, etc)
What values do you want your business to project? (E.g. Equitable, competitive, socially conscious, eco-friendly, etc)

The more you learn about what impressions you want to convey, what your business represents and who you are, the closer you come to building your brand.

A few examples...

Jessie wants to open a computer repair shop. She wants people to feel comfortable with her, not overwhelmed by technology. She believes in helping other people and keeping prices low for families on budgets. Jessie is a very friendly person, and she likes having fun on the job. Her friends think she has lots of pizzaz too. Jessie wants to convey that high energy and fun-loving attitude to customers.

Jessie’s brand is: Energized, helpful, friendly, and fun.

Here’s another example:

Martha wants to open a small restaurant in a small town. She’s a kind, warm, caring woman, and she’s always mothering people. She wants to provide nutritious meals with a home-cooked taste and a heartwarming comfort-food feeling. She decided to call her restaurant “Gramma’s Goodness,” and she’d love for people to feel right at home.

Martha’s brand is: Warm, comforting, welcoming and caring.

It’s all about emotion

Notice that much of building a brand has everything to do with emotion and very little to do with actual pricing. A good brand makes people feel something. It resonates with consumers on a deeper level beyond what they want to buy and the price they’re going to pay.

Think about some big-name brands, like Apple, Toyota, or Campbell’s. When you think of one of the large brand-name corporations, what kind of feeling do you get? What do you think they stand for? What emotions do they convey? Every brand tries to represent a certain lifestyle or personality to resonate with targeted consumers.

And it works.

Once you’ve figured out your business identity and image, you can start creating marketing materials like a logo, a business card, and a website… All properly branded so you can achieve maximum success.

Super Effective Sales Words: Myth or Magic?

2008-06-23T17:03:00-05:00

There is a long standing idea in the business world that using certain words will unlock sales, drive up profits, and generally make selling easier for you.

These special words, like “Free” and “Guaranteed”, are touted as being effective because they are based on scientific research and have a background in fields like NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming).

Supposedly, we are pretty much hard-wired to respond favorably when one or more of these words are used.

But is all of that just hoopla? Or do certain words actually make a huge difference?

Some words DO work better than others

When you get right down to it, some words really do work better than others. If you pick any given time frame, you can usually find a few of these “magic” words—words that are being used very effectively to market and sell things.

But there’s a big catch: the “magic” sales words are changing constantly.

As the general opinion of the populace changes, so to do the words that work best when selling. Your market is being bombarded with sales pitches and advertisements constantly, and their opinions and ideas are changing very rapidly as a result.

What is cool and trendy one week might suddenly be a big looser the next.

How to find the magic words (hint: it’s not worth it)

Finding the special words at any point in time isn’t very difficult in theory. In practice, doing this yourself will take a lot of time and probably yield mediocre results. Here’s how it is done:

Find a good source of sales data (Amazon.com works).
Select a category and sample the top 50 or so items
Graph the popularity of words used in ads for those items
Repeat for several data sets and correlate with time
Analyze the graphs and pick words that are trending up

As you can see, there is a lot of data collection and analysis involved. What makes it worse, this relatively simple analysis (there are more complicated ways to do this) uses existing products and ads as data points, so if you are trying to be seriously ahead of the curve, this isn’t the way to go.

In the end, finding the truly “magic” sales words can be very challenging. People pay marketing firms *ahem* good money for the service, and even with all of our resources it still isn’t easy.

For small business, sincerity is a better choice

Trying to stay ahead of the curve with sales letters and persuasive words is like running a marathon—you constantly have to research, adjust, and keep working. If you’re a small business, that time should probably be spent on more important things.

Instead of trying to find special words that will “unlock your sales potential” try basing your sales strategy entirely on sincerity.

One of the most attractive things about buying from a small business is the level of sincerity and personalized service. Most of us automatically assume that big businesses will cut corners wherever possible, and that they are really only in it for the money.

A small business that offers real sincerity and caring will out-compete even the most accurate and powerful “magic” words thrown around by the big businesses.

In a world filled with mistrust, sincerity is a very powerful thing. Don’t you agree?