Do you want to stand out from your competition? You have to develop a remarkable slogan. You are going to want to project mental images of your brand, something that is difficult to forget.

Why is it important to work on your brand? Because your brand can work for you or against you. If you don’t take the time to come up with something unique, you will not be remembered when a customer is ready to convert.

 

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

A few years ago I was in a seventh grade classroom where the students were studying the American West in the 1800s. A man dressed in chaps, boots and a 10-gallon hat brought his rope and a branding iron into his story. That was the first time I connected my marketing concept of branding with an earlier model.

I also realized that there is a difference between branding (an act) and a brand (an object). A company can have great branding, a great name, slogan, color scheme, but still not have a great brand.  Likewise some companies don’t have good names, may have ugly colors and horrible slogans, but they have great brands. The brand does a great job of communicating what this business does well.

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

Having achieved consistency in posting new material to your blog, Facebook Fan Page and Twitter, you might think that all your work is done.

If so, you are missing the four jobs you need to do to retain those followers.

In order to turn potential internet customers into the real thing you need to create two-way interactions. When you post a comment, trivia question or an invitation on Facebook, for example, people are going to respond. You need to be there to look for their responses as soon as you can. This is a golden window of opportunity for both of you to get to know each other. And in the process others who are watching may decide to join in because you are available.

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

[caption id="attachment_2961" align="alignleft" width="263" caption="Consistency"] [/caption]

Believe it or not, being consistent is an important part of your business. Just consider how many times people advised you to be consistent; to be consistent in the delivery of your products or services or to be consistent in the  quality of your products and services – all of this to keep customers coming back. And yes, you need to be consistently friendly to your clients, customers, and prospects…..

But did you know that you need to be consistent on the internet?

You want people to read your blogs, your Facebook postings and Twitter tweets.

So, how does consistency help you grow and keep an online following?

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

Fast Track to More Clients

Marketing Coaching Program

Are you ready to take your business and marketing to the next level? Have you set your goals for 2012 and now wonder how to achieve it? Then you are at the right place. The Fast Track to More Clients marketing coaching program will help you to achieve your marketing goals.

There are five main challenges in marketing a business:

1. Getting the attention of prospective clients.

2. Giving them enough information to interest them in exploring working with you.

3. Turning that interest into a commitment to work with you.

4. Negotiating the terms of doing business so that you make a decent profit

5. Serving clients so that they both return and send you referrals.

If you can do all of those things you don't need marketing coaching.

Topics: Marketing Syntax, Social Media

By Guest Blogger Ann Mullen

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Business-to-Business"][/caption]

The more I learn about marketing the less I understand. I just got my copy of “B2B Content Marketing--2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends” published by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, based on a survey of 1,092 marketers taken in August 2011. I learned quite a lot in a small space and found things I do not understand.

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="260" caption="What marketers see when a person "likes" a page"][/caption]

Here are some highlights from several articles of eMarketer.com Digital Intelligence that prove that many marketing agencies aren’t taking social media seriously. Businesses need to be vigilant in finding a firm that does.

 

"Marketers Analyze What It Means When Customers ‘Like’ Their Pages"

Customers expect exclusive content, discounts, promotions and updates from companies they “like”, but marketers see “liking” in a different way. Both groups were questioned in a study quoted in eMarketer.com article on December 21, 2011 at http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?-id=1008745&R=1008745.

The study conducted by the CMO Council and social CRM firm Lithium asked both groups what it meant when a customer “liked” a brand online. The customers were clear on what they expected.

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

What do you do if you are a huge business, you did not meet your 2011 revenue targets and you need to produce some revenue in the first quarter? What if your huge business is Facebook and you know a way to bring in that money using a little sleight of hand?

Topics: Social Media, Marketing Principles

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="250" caption="Turn it off during Focus hours"] [/caption]

From Andy Sernovitz’s “Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That” Blog

December 17, 2011

As usual, Sam Parker has some great advice for us on how to focus. Here’s his plan:

Focus hours: Twice each work day, I will hold focus hours. From 9 am – 11 am and from 2 pm – 4 pm, I will become unavailable to anything but true emergencies. My phones will be off to anything inbound (no calls, no texts… airport mode on my cell). It’s only two 2-hour blocks of time where I’m unavailable to others. When I think I can’t do it and that people need to reach me because I’m so very important, I’ll remember that I’m not as important as I think I am.

Topics: Social Media, Business Owner, Leadership

The other day I came upon a remark about Timeline. It said that there would probably be a Timeline layout coming along affecting Fan Page marketing, but no one at Facebook said anything definitive yet.

Well, Beth McCabe, vice president and Director of social marketing and technology at Digitas, made a few definite remarks in All Facebook, the Unofficial Facebook Resource (12.20.11), in an article called "How Timeline Changes Marketing On Facebook"(12.20.11).

Topics: marketing, Social Media