2010 The Year of Marketing Comebacks?

Do you think in 2010 we will see more money being invested in marketing?  The last couple of years have seen marketing budgets slashed to the bone by large and small businesses.  For some… it cost them their business and they are now gone.  Others have survived, mostly because they fine tuned their marketing and stuck with those things that got them the best results. 

I recently worked closely with one business that made a commitment to increase their marketing in the fourth quarter.  In October revenues were still considerably down from last year. November came in down as well. Then December was double the previous year’s business.  The marketing investment was ramped up gradually with a majority of the money being spent in December.  It was almost like you could feel the momentum building as the marketing increased. 

I was very pleased that ownership had the courage to stick with the plan even after the first 2 months did not go great.  Too often small business owners will get cold feet after just spending a little money on marketing and then they miss the big payoffs.  Word of advice… in 2010 invest in marketing and stick with it.  Now is a great time to take market share from those who are still hanging on and not marketing their business to its fullest.

Social Media Plays Role In Record Number of Fairgoers

Sell out crowd takes in rodeo event.

The 80th Vigo County Fair recently took place in Terre Haute, Indiana. This year’s fair drew a record number of attendees. The weather was near perfect for mid July in Indiana and there is no doubt it played a key part in drawing such large numbers to the historic Wabash Valley Fairgrounds. The fair boasted many improvements, new attractions and a variety packed Grandstand lineup.

The fair used a blend of media to help promote the fair dates and events. Outdoor billboards, radio, TV and print advertising were all included. In addition to the normal media mix Social Media was also added. The fairgrounds marketing firm Edge Marketing Inc. established a fan page on Facebook that quickly grew to several hundred fans. Twitter was also added and updates were integrated into the fair home page www.vigofair.com.

Facebook was used to promote sponsorship and commercial exhibitor space about two months prior to the actual start of the fair. A small advertising campaign was purchased on Facebook and both sponsorship sales and commercial exhibitor space sold out at a record pace. It is estimated that about twenty percent of the leads were generated from Facebook efforts.

The Facebook fan page was also used to build excitement for the start of the fair and promotional contests were held to promote interactivity with the fans. One promotion included fans posting past fair pictures for a chance to win Rodeo tickets. The week of the fair Facebook updates were provide to promote each days activities, carnival ride specials and sponsors. Twitter was also used to provide updates about key information and links.

The social media effort integrated well with other forms of traditional media too. Local internet advertising on the newspaper, TV and radio station’s sites linked to the fairs home page were people could sign up for the fan page on Facebook and Twitter updates. Social media can’t get all the credit for the fairs record breaking year but it is safe to say it enhanced traditional media and helped build a foundation of loyal fans online that is sure to grow for next year.

Interruption of the Conversation

I recently attended an Internet Seminar put on by a local TV station.  The seminar was conducted by a very good presenter.  He traveled to all the markets that the media company owned TV stations in to promote leveraging the internet to grow local business.  The ultimate goal was to educate local business owners on some internet basics and what is available to them for promoting their web site and business online.  Ok the “real” ultimate goal was to give these businesses information that would entice them to want more information on how they could advertise on the TV station’s website. 

I do similar seminars myself about the Internet, in particular Social Media, but I love hearing others and listening for new things that I can use with my own clients.  When the presenter got to the social media part of the presentation he made some interesting comments.  He stated the sites like www.facebook.com are a very good place to promote your business but only with a fan page.  He went on to state that the advertising campaigns on social media sites are really an “interruption of the conversation” that people are having and therefore not effective.  This made me wonder… are TV commercials not an interruption of a show that I want to watch?  Is the TV station’s pre-roll commercial that plays before their news story that I want to watch online an “interruption” to me getting the information I want to see?  A lot of traditional advertising is an “interruption”. 

I believe social media sites like facebook offer a less intrusive way of promoting a business.  Yes fan pages are good for a business but running a campaign on facebook can be very effective too.  The paid for advertising does not interfere with the conversation going on.  If the consumer sees something that is of interest to them they can choose to click on it or not.  Social media sites generally don’t require you to sit through an advertisement to get to where you want to go. 

I know this presenter wanted to discredit most all other media in order to paint a picture that put TV station websites at the top of the list for online advertising.  It really bothers me that people seeking to learn about social media get misinformed about how they can use it to grow their business.  I also believe TV, newspaper, radio stations, and other local media sites offer a great opportunity for local businesses to promote their own website but so do social media sites.

Three Fears Small Businesses Have About Social Media

I recently spent a lot of time with several different types of small businesses. All of them were very interested in Social Media and especially leveraging facebook to promote their business. I have noticed some common fears that these small businesses have about social media. Here are the top 3:

1. The fear of the unknown. Some of these small businesses owners are not a part of any social media site yet so they are unsure about what it even is but they know people are spending time on them. They have spouses, family members and friends that are members and they know some of their customers are embracing it also, but they are unsure about the medium for advertising their business or how it even works.

2. The fear of negativity. Small businesses are afraid they will be talked about negatively and their social media presence will result in complaints and information about bad experiences customers have had with their business.

3. The fear of stagnation. Small businesses usually have limited staff and they have a fear that their social media presence will become stagnate and non-engaging. Most are scared that they won’t have the time to update their information and fully leverage it as a tool to interact with customers and generate more leads.

All three concerns are well founded. I had to educate them on the fact that like it or not social media is here to stay and more of their customers and prospects will be signing up for membership in sites like facebook, myspace, youtube, etc… They are spending more time online shifting their viewing, listening and reading habits away from more traditional media. So the unknown needs to become known, you must get over the fear of negativity and turn those opportunities into positives, and if you don’t have time to keep up with it hire someone else to do it.  www.goedgemarketing.com

Social Media Launches New Radio Station

I recently had the opportunity to be a part of launching a new radio station format change using social media as the primary tool to convert old listeners and bring new ones to the station.  The scenario I was dealt included very little budget to market the change in the local community.  The Indiana based radio station, B102.7, needed to promote a format change from Hot Adult Contemporary music to a variety format. We turned to www.facebook.com to build momentum for the new station launch. 

 

The first step was to take the station’s old website and direct it to a fan page on Facebook for the old B102.7.  This page included station photos, discussions about the upcoming change and what everyone hoped the station would convert too musically.  Facebook members were never told what the format would be but they were encouraged to give their opinion and keep checking back for more clues about the change.  To gain more exposure in the local market, a fan page advertisement was created to geo-target everyone on Facebook that was in the station listening area.  Yes you can do that with ads on Facebook.  In less than a week hundreds viewed the site each day and engaged in posting on the site. 

 

Through Facebook, local business leaders were invited to stop by the studios for a free breakfast.  Email marketing to current and prospective customers was also used to invite business leaders to stop by on the morning of the new station format launch.  That morning over 150 local business owners and media buyers came to the station to see what was going on and enjoy breakfast. 

 

The friends on the old B 102.7 fan page were then asked to join the new fan page for the new station http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/1027-WBOW/52769402726?sid=20b22984ddbf515fd8e2ee4d0980dd4a&ref=s,  Over 75% converted to the new site and now new fans are joining daily.  This strategy worked very well for generating excitement for listeners and clients. The new station site www.wbowfm.com now promotes the new Facebook fan page prominently on the homepage.  There is no doubt that social media played a major roll in the launch of this new station format change.     

 

Where Small Business Should be Online

Should a hot tub store be on a social network?

Small businesses need to embrace social networking but where should you be?  The sites I feel that are key include; www.facebook.com, www.linkedin.com, http://www.plaxo.com and any local or niche networks related to a specific industry or market.  You don’t have to be everywhere but you need to be somewhere. 

You also need to be able to manage it.  Social networking has to become part of your sales and marketing plan.   This means you shouldn’t sign up for every free social network online if you can’t keep it updated and maintained frequently enough.  For most small businesses 3 to 4 of the social networking sites is enough. 

 

 

Babies Equal Good Economy

If you are into marketing or own a business I have some good news.  More babies were born in the United States in 2007 than in any other year in American history, according to preliminary data reported Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. The 4,317,000 births in 2007 just slightly edged out the figure for 1957, at the height of the baby boom.  Most predicted an eco-baby boom to be smaller than the original baby boom, but the result was a little different.  So what does this mean to marketers and business owners?

The immediate impact of this information is that those that market and sell baby products…get ready to cloth, feed and entertain the 4 million plus babies.  By the way they are turning 2 this year.  For everyone else it is time to think about how to capitalize on this boom. 

In your marketing plan can you change or modify what you are doing to appeal to new moms?  Keep in mind the report showed a slight rise in childbearing by women of all ages, including those in their 30s and 40s, and a record share of births to unmarried women.  Make sure you tailor your message for each age range of new moms. 

As the baby boomers have moved out of the peak spending times of their lives the economy has tanked.  The good news is that the next generation has arrived and it is bigger… so will go the economy. 

 

 

Handling Advertising Economy Objections

This is for those of you that sell advertising to small businesses.  Here is a typical list of client and prospect objections due to the downturn in the economy.  See if you can find a common theme:

 

1. I have to cut my advertising budget because of the economy. Let’s wait and see how I survive for awhile.
2. I am not spending any money right now on marketing because I am unsure about the economy and what people are doing right now.
3. I am not spending any money right now on advertising until my business starts improving and I can afford it again.
4. Sales have gone down so my advertising doesn’t seem to be working as well probably because of the economy so I will have to wait before spending any more money with you.
5. I am going to wait before doing more advertising.  I am going to stick with (whatever they are doing now) for right now.
6. I am going to wait until the economy turns around before investing anymore in advertising.
7. Wait for a month and comeback to see if things have improved.  Then we can talk about getting back on the air.
8. I have to wait to see what my accountant thinks I should do.
9. I am sure your prices will be going down since a lot of people have cut their advertising so I will wait for a little while to make sure I get the best rates.
10. Let’s wait until next quarter and see if things improve.  Come see me then.

The common theme is an attitude of “waiting”.  We all are hearing the use of the poor economy as an excuse to not buy advertising or do any marketing at all.  When a client uses one of these statements how do you respond?  How do you turn a negative business owner into an excited optimistic client?

 

The quick answer to the “wait” is OK I will come back and see you on X date and time.  What if instead we said; “Why wait to start growing your business again? Let’s put a plan together to get people in the door now.”  Prepare yourself with information about local businesses that are making it and even growing.  Share what these businesses are doing to be successful.  Now more than ever you have to get more prepared and ready to defend the medium you are selling and show examples of how great it can work.  Client testimonials are more valuable then ever. 

Sales Training More Important Than Ever

I recently had an opportunity to hear Brian Tracy speak.  If you don’t know who he is you probably don’t read any self improvement books.  He has written over 40 books in over 70 different languages that have sold millions of copies world wide.  He spoke about the importance of a commitment to continuous learning.  It made me think about how sales people are to furthering their education.  What I found is that most don’t spend any time trying to get better.  Then they wonder why their sales are flat or going down. 

 

Tracy believes that if a person in sales will just spend 1% of their day working on self improvement they will see dramatic results.  That is 14 minuets of time per day.  This could be done in a sales meeting.    Make a commitment to spend 14 minuets at each sales meeting on some type of sales training exercise.  Preach to your team that learners earn more.  They will thank you.

 

 

Everyone Wants A Deal

Companies are making cuts everywhere and looking for the best deals on all purchases they make including businesses selling to other businesses.  You needed someone to tell you that right.  Duh!  So what are you offering to the business owner to show them a “deal”?  How many deals are you offering your customers a month?  Do you have 2-fers, 3-fers, Buy one widget and get the second one for a dollar, or the second one is half price.  I could go on…but you get the idea.  I know you don’t want to “giveaway the farm” or “loose price integrity”, but how would you like to stay in business this year? 

When visiting with a client or prospect, be encouraged when they say “What kind of deal do you have?”.  This is a buying signal.  You just have to present them the right kind of “deal” and they will buy. 

Now let’s take this to a different level– brand the package.  Yes, give it a name, an identity, or something that adds a sense of value in the mind of the business owner.  I stole these from retail and changed them to fit business-to-business selling.  Names such as “the YOUR PRODUCT Best Deal”,  “the Smart Business Owners Choice”,  “The Offer you can’t refuse”, ” The Gambler’s Choice”,  “the Special Incentive Package”,  The Value Pack “Business Builder”, “Revenue Generator”, “the Business Accelerator Plan”, or “Our Signature YOUR PRODUCT Plan”.  Name it something you would want to buy.  Assign a value to everything in it and show it at a huge discount with some element being at no charge to the business.