Georgia SBDC- Small Business Blog

Event Marketing for Small Business

On line media is continuing to grow everyday and the use by the small business owner seems to grow every day also.  It seems that more and more business owners want to have an understanding about social media, its uses, and more importantly how they can apply it to use in their business. Other forms of on line marketing are also important, such as email marketing, SEO, and advertising.

One thing that many small business owners are now doing is making events that their customers and clients can attend.  The traditional way of inviting people to these events was from the telephone or mail.  Now there are several programs such as eventbrite.com or even using Facebook to reach their contacts.  I was using Constant Contact the other day, and noticed that they also now have a function for creating events, inviting people, and collecting payment if that is what you need.  This is convenient for those business owners who use this program to reach their customers with email.  Customers can sign up for your event on line and it will keep track of all guests who are planning on attending.

The use of technology, if used correctly, can help give you a few more minutes in your already hectic day.  The above example is just one of many to help make you and your business more efficient.  Try to understand and use different programs that can help your business grow.

Twitter and Facebook, Now what?

As seen on the Marketing Blog

Okay, despite my greatest effort to avoid the issue, too many people are focused on Twitter and Facebook. How can you use these tools to build a business? I'm here to tell you to calm down, take a deep breath, and realize that social networking can certainly help you with your online marketing but isn't all it's cracked up to be.

What do I mean? We'll if you are trying to earn a million bucks using social networking sites, then I'm here to tell you that you are going to be disappointed. Personally I think Facebook is a great tool for spreading the work and creating awareness. In fact, I recently spoke to an individual who heads up social marketing for a packaged goods company.

His company uses Facebook to create groups around product themes and launch events. For example, developing a video contest where people use his product and submit videos.  By having a fan page, you can reach a large network of individuals and create something of interest. The tie back to product sales may be a little loose, but using Facebook to "spread the word" is really the essence of the social networking tool.

This is very similar to what Nike did years ago by giving athletes and jocks a free pair of Air Jordans. They were influencers and Nike understood that once an influencer puts something on, others want it. Think about Facebook this way and you should come up with some pretty innovative marketing ideas.

Twitter is taking the best part of Facebook (updates) and building a site around it. If you're popular enough to have hundreds of followers, indirectly mention a website or product you're using and you'll drive traffic.

How are you using social media?

Social Media: Fad or Trend?

Every now and then i find an article that I think is well written and thought provoking.  This one on Social Media did it for me.  It can be found here.  It is from the Blog of Guest Relations Marketing.

Enjoy!

We have heard many business professionals question the validity of social media in terms of its value to business communications.   “I don’t need to follow so and so … “ or “I don’t need any more friends.”   Like any media or contact point, social media sites have their own characteristics … and their own limitations.

But, social media is here to stay.   What is uncertain is what formats and sites will thrive and what new applications will take root.  But, the category is growing in acceptance and engagement.

There are some fundamental reasons why:  people have become increasingly skeptical of the credibility of conventional news sources, so they have sought their own.   Private “on the scene” videos of news events have peppered YouTube and rival the reach of conventional news outlets in certain cases.   People still seek the ideal of belonging to a community.  With social media, they can choose to engage with like interests in a manner of their choosing.   On demand.   We want it now.  Everything.   And, finally, connecting to beliefs, interests and other things that are held in passionate terms are now served up in social media.   You don’t need a publisher or agent to blog on a subject you are a Zealot about.

Here is why social media is even more valuable to businesses. As long as transparency and authenticity are practiced, businesses have a great opportunity to show its followers it has a heart, it has employees that are likeable, and it has a story to share.  In short, a chance to share the emotional side of its “brand.”  And, how ironic is that?  In a media that eschews overt selling, here’s the opportunity to make the emotional connection.  Through your story, through your employees, through your customers, and most certainly, through your Zealots.

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Guest Relations Marketing
Transforming Prospects to Guests, and Guests to Zealots

Social Networks bigger than Email?

This article is a little old as it was from March, but I just find it amazing.  The article below was written by Dave Kaminski.  He talks about the use of social networking and social media.  Social Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are used more than email is.  It is important to consider though that most social network platforms have a message component built in.  So this could be replacing regualr email.

The stat that was shocking though, is that 1 out of every 11 minutes one spends online is on Facebook.  WOW!  This is starting to prove what many others have known all along that social networks are being used by consumers, and they need to be paid attention to my companies, organizations, or anyone who wants to reach out to individuals. 

So try some of the new media, it may work for you or may not work for you.  It is time that you stop ignoring it though!

 

Social Networking Becomes More Popular Than Email

According to new market research released by Nielsen this week, more people now use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter…than they do email.

This puts social networking sites as the 4th most popular “tool” on the web, with 66.8 percent of Internet users visiting social networking sites in 2008 (up 5.4% from 2007).  By comparison, email use grew by only 2.7%, with 65.1 percent of users accessing it, landing it in 5th place.

Rounding out the top 3 user activities on the Internet were search engines at 85.9%, general interest portals at 85.2% and software sites at 73.4%.

But the most interesting statistic was the amount of time spent by user’s on social networking sites…where it grew at a rate of more than three times other sites.  Overall, total time spent on web sites grew by 18%…while the total time spent on social networking sites grew by 63%.

And of the social networking sites, Facebook was the runaway winner with a 566% increase in the amount of time user’s spent on-site.  Or to put it in more “real world” terms, social networking users now spend 1 out of every 11 minutes online…on Facebook.

In fact, while Facebook is just the ninth most popular “brand” on the Internet, it ranks 1st in user time spent on-site, with users spending an average of 3 hours and 10 minutes per month on Facebook.

So there’s your daily dose of web statistics.  Honestly, could there be a more compelling reason on why you should be using new media for your business?

Twitter for Business?

I have been getting a lot of questions about Twitter and how to use it to further your business.  People are even curious if Twitter even has a place in the  marketing mix.  So to answer like the true consultant that I am...  IT DEPENDS!!!

In my opinion, it works better in the B-to-B format where a company can mention what they are doing and the followers (if potential customers) can think, I could use that too.  I have not seen it as effective when marketing to consumers but that does not mean that it could not work. 

I have also noticed that it is a good way for people to stay in the news. The USA Today reported that Britney Spears is the "Queen of Twitter" due to her large amount of followers.  So this can be a great way for an already popular person to remain in the spotlight. 

For others, it is literally a way for friends to keep in touch with each other.  Every application of social media was not created for the particular purpose of solving the world's business problems.  It was probably created to be fun, make people's lives easier, and maybe even create a few extra dollars.  It is the marketers of the world that find a niche to further their business with it.  Again, there is nothing wrong with that, I am a marketer too.

So can Twitter fit into your marketing mix?  Sure!  Is it for everyone?  No!  Do what is right for your business but at least know what each medium is, and if it can benefit your business.  Do not be afraid to ask others if you don't understand how to implement it into your marketing.

Any Publicity Good Publicity?

I have heard it many times before, any publicity is good publicity.  Is this a true statement?  Can publicity that is given your way hurt your business?  Ask Dell Computers what they think about publicity and a certain website that was created just for them.  Ask Iams pet food the feelings they have about negative publicity (Amazingly, I am a customer of both companies). Negative public relations and publicity can damage your company that you have worked so long and hard to create.  It can be extremely costly in the long run.  Word of mouth is still one of the most influential ways for people to buy products and services.

Many companies monitor what is being said about them on the streets as well as on the internet.  Because of blogging, micro blogging such as Twitter, and other forms of online avenues, it is extremely easy to receive publicity good and bad.  Comcast actually has employees who do nothing but monitor what people say about them.

The point I want to make is not that you should monitor yourself, but you should.  I think it is more important that you follow up on the publicity that you receive.  This needs to be the case when you receive good and bad publicity or word of mouth.  If someone is talking nice about your company, thank them!  Tell them that you appreciate that they are trying to spread the word about your company.  Sometimes it can be difficult to track down the people spreading positive word of mouth about you.  If you find out that someone is spreading negative things about you and your company, find out who they are, and try to remedy the situation.  They already like to talk, give them something to talk about in how they originally had a problem, but your company went out of its way to help them.

Word of mouth can help and hurt your business at the same time.  It should also not be your sole means of marketing your company.  Make sure to monitor it, and follow up on all forms of it.  Make sure that in everything you are doing with your company; provide the highest levels of customer service and products and services at all times.  In today’s times, it is easy to be found if you don’t, and that could cost you!

 

 

So what is all this new stuff? 2.0? New Media?

I was sitting in a meeting the other day where the conversation was turning into how we contact with our customers.  We then discussed how this has changed drastically in the past few years and how people need to start getting on board now before they will be completely left off the bus.  Even though many people consider 2.0 to be extremely new, it is not.  I think that if you look at the curve of the cycle of users, it has finally started to hit the majority.  Social Media as well as other new forms of technology are tools that small business owners now use to reach their customers.  It is a combination of these tools as well as some of the older ones that we utilize to let our customers know who we are and what we do.

The discussion started to change though, does the average person want to know how to use all of the forms of media, or do they just want to understand them?  So many people ask the question what everything is, so they can just be informed of what is out there.  It seems to me that many people who complain about some of the new forms of marketing are the ones who either don’t understand them and/or don’t use them to their advantage.  I still commonly hear from business owners that the people who use these forms of technology are not their customers.  I will disagree with you as more people are using this technology every day.  The largest growth in users for people in viral media is people over the age of 65 and housewives.  This combined with the large majority of people under the age of 30 and others who have found its benefits makes up a large body of users.  Also, all of these people under the age of 30 will not always be below the age of 30.  This new form of marketing is going to be a norm in the way we reach customers.  Individual names of the companies that we use may change, but the general philosophy of what they do will not. 

The only way to truly understand the new forms of media and marketing is to use them.  Using them for one day is not going to do the trick either.  Notice, I did not mention to definitely use them for your company.  Try them out for yourself individually; you can start slow by just reading or participating in blogs or forums.  The key to understanding is to be engaged in what is going on.

These forms are not going to replace all of the old things that business owners have done over the years, it will just enhance the process of reaching customers.  Just think of what is going to come out next. Would you have ever even imagined that what we are doing now would ever be out there?  What do you think is going to be the next big thing for small businesses in the form of technology?

Are You Protecting Your Reputation?

Are you monitoring what others are saying about you on the Internet?  If you are not, you really should start thinking about it.  With all of the new technology on the Internet including social networks, blogs, Twitter and others, it is easy for individuals to write anything that they want to at any particular time.  Unfortunately, this can come at a price for a business.  For example, there were many people out shopping this past weekend and not every one of them was happy 100% of the time.  Do you think it could be at least possible that one of them may have complained or vented on the Internet out of frustration?  I think that is entirely possible as I have seen many instances of that first hand. Now seeing that most of the technology is viral based marketing, this could mean that 1 complaint could possibly be seen by thousands if not more people.  What if this was your company that was being complained about?  Is there a way that you can find out when people are talking about you on the Internet?  If so, how much will it cost?

Well, there is such a thing for you to monitor yourself on the Internet, and it does not cost a thing.  It is as simple as going to Google and setting for alerts.  Every time your company, name, or the topic that you select is mentioned online, it will send you an email with a list of where it was mentioned.  After you have the list, you can look through them to see what others are saying about you and your company.  This may be a way to solve customer problems, or see something that your customers really like about your company. 

You have a brand whether it is for your company or individually.  You need to make sure that you protect your image online as well as offline.  By signing up for Google Alerts, you can at least start monitoring what others are saying about you.

Social Media. Is it just for Millennials?

Not a day goes by that I do not hear a complaint either about working with younger generations, or trying to reach them.  The millennials as they are called are a section of “Generation Y” that are currently in the early stages of our workforce or about to leave school.  So many people talk about how they do not have an attention span, how they use cell phones a lot and play on the Internet more than they should.  We need to face it, this is a brand new form of generation that we have not seen before.  So many companies have talked about how their customers are not in this generation so they do not need to know how to reach them.  One thing to keep in mind though, these customers are getting older and will soon be part of your customer base.  There are also many people, not just millennials who are embracing the new forms of marketing and technology.

So what are all of these forms of new promotion?  With the all the new forms of technology there are many new ways to reach customers.  It all depends on who your market really is. One of the keys is to be creative and to diversify where you are sending it.  With the use of smart phones, restaurants are even marketing themselves with the use of GPS and how long the wait is at the restaurant.  Social Networks, blogs, smart phones, internet connected televisions and social media are ways that companies are now reaching their markets. The world is now connected online more than ever before. According to the Harvard Business Review’s Working Knowledge Blog, Of the 6.5 billion people in the world, about 1.5 billion have Internet access, more than 300 million have broadband access to the home, and 3 billion have cell phones, a growing number of which offer Internet access.  The interesting thing about mobile technology is that many people never let it get more than a couple of feet away from them.  I am one of those people.

I am not telling you to go out tomorrow and use social media and wireless technology to reach everyone out there; I just think that every business owner should start trying it.  It is definitely here to stay and people are using it.  The number of users is also growing every day.  Soon it will just not be to reach the millennials, it may be close to everyone.

If you need assistance implementing new strategies into your marketing mix, contact your local SBDC office.  They will be more than happy to help your business grow to the next level.

Election 2008: Who will win? Stories

The largest marketing campaign in the last 4 years is presently coming to an end.  And the winner?  Well, that will be decided when the polls start to close.  This campaign has been one of the largest in recent memory and we have seen more types of promotional methods used to reach the customer bases (voters).  Did it work?  Well, I think it did as in some areas over 40% of voters had already voted before the day of the election.  Some people were certainly doing something right.  

We did learn many new things from the election though, one of them is the importance of stories, and a credible one at that.  Seth Godin posted this on his blog and I wanted to add it:

Stories really matter. More than a billion dollars spent, two 'products' that have very different features, and yet, when people look back at the election they will remember mavericky winking. You can say that's trivial. I'll say that it's human nature. Your product doesn't have features that are more important than the 'features' being discussed in this election, yet, like most marketers, you're obsessed with them. Forget it. The story is what people respond to.

Stories are what drives marketing.  People respond to stories and the feelings that the stories brings out in people gives them the drive and motivation to go out and do what they do.  If you think about it, the stories from both parties this year were vivid and evoked some type of reaction on you.  If you did not feel the need to go and vote, the marketing did not work on you, or maybe it did adversely. 

As a business owner, look at what happened during the election.  The permission marketing, social media, and other new forms of marketing were the ones that starting making the difference.  Yet, some traditional methods were still seen or altered to be different.  Make sure that you are using all the marketing methods that you can to reach your customers.  All of the traditional methods are not as powerful as before, but still completely necessary.  Make sure to plan your marketing strategy accordingly.