Marketing plans can take many shapes. Depending on the company, targeted consumer, goals, and many other variables a plan takes on its own life and has its own set of actionable needs.
The beauty of social media has always been its flexability. You don’t have to burn down your old marketing plan to incorpoate social media successfully.
Things like relationship selling, media buying, and good person to person customer service can all be boosted and made more effective by the use of social media. They could also be the most effective outposts you have for reaching engaged customers to your new media points of focus.
Contests/giveaways, meet n’ greets, direct mail. All of these things can be helped and help a social media campaign.
We trust the expertise of business owners and entrapanuers. Going in and telling you to throw out everything you have been doing is counter productive and foolish. We love all the chances we have had to show businesses new ways to communicate with their customers and build their brand. New ways will be made and the old ways can be enhanced.
Now that most of the holiday chaos is behind us we can get back to business. This is part two of our topic that explores the relationship between the things you are talented at (and enjoy) with the ability to make money doing them. Be sure to read part one.
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field. -Niels Bohr
Somewhere a person is having trouble with an issue you could help them with. I guarantee it is happening right now. There is no reason why you can’t be the one to help and you can’t get financial gain for your expertise.
A lot of people have trouble putting value on their knowledge because it isn’t like ordering food. The cost of everything needed to make a meal and prepare it to be offered is quite exact but you can’t say the same for your knowledge. As a photographer this is something I still struggle with but one day someone put it in perspective for me. I was at an auto repair shop and a lady was upset because it took a very short amount of time and effort to fix her vehicle but the amount she owed them was still a decent chunk. The owner listened to her complaint and empathisized but she was still upset…he paused and said this…
“You are not paying to have a wrench turned 3 inches. You are paying for the work and time it took to know that to fix your car, a wrench needed to be turned 3 inches.”
Don’t undercut the value you can offer people in any field. Here are the main things you need to think about if you want to break down the walls and make money for yourself.
1. What knowledge do I have to offer?
2. How can I package this knowledge to sell?
3. Who needs my knowledge?
4. How do I connect with the people who need my knowledge?
Here is an example, if I woke up and had a lot of musical talent out of the blue I would try to find an angle from that talent. Everyone has a band or knows somebody in a band and everyone wants to be heard. I would help bands record. You could offer this service on a lot of different levels. It could be as simple as listening and consulting to doing the heavy lifting by actually doing the recording for a group. The more you can do to offer different packages to appeal to more people the better off you will be. There are a lot of ways to meet bands through the local music scene and you could start a website showing the quality of work you can produce for a price that is reasonable.
The 4 points are addressed. You are helping a person out while doing something you love and getting financial gain from it. That is a great feeling.
It is almost 2009. There is absolutely no reason to be doing something you hate. Get out there, meet people, show them what you offer has value, and make it happen.
Marketing efforts must stay strong during difficult times, otherwise how will customers find you when their pockets begin to fill again.
Kansas City born Duct Tape Marketing is representing team USA in the The Ryder Cup of Word of Mouth, Buzz and Viral. Does it get any better than using social media strategies to represent your own city and country?
I first heard about DT from Aaron and we were impressed with the paradigm for success John Jantsch has provided.
More about the list below…
Why not pit the top 36 bloggers from the USA that speak on the subject of word of mouth, viral, buzz, influence and the engaging brand against the top 36 international bloggers that muse on the same subject?
Unlike some of the social media- and tech dedicated marketing and media bloggers, these broad-minded bloggers and company heads (below) have distinguished themselves by helping visitors understand how ideas spread, online and offline, through a range of different strategies and tactics and each recognizes the importance of having brands getting noticed, talked about and advocated in a 2.0 world.
While in high school I became close friends with our school’s athletic director. Like most schools, sports were a pretty big deal and running that kind of operation was no easy task. So much of the director’s job was being able to react and deal with the concerns of students, parents, coaches, and administrators while representing the school and his department in a respectable manner.
One day I popped into his office to see what was going on.
“Oh, the same ol, Zach,” he said. “Just kissing babies and putting out fires.”
This popped into my head as I was thinking about some strategies we are trying to implement at Ideas and Angles.
One of the first things we advocate is listening to your customers and market before you start adding your own voice to the fray. There are a number of tools that monitor what people are saying about your company and its products\services over the internet.
The key is not to simply think about these situations as feedback but as opportunities for a good customer service situation. If someone writes about a tough experience they have with the company you represent on Twitter, it’s a perfect chance for you come in with a bucket of water and save the day. Offering to help in any way you can and then following up on that creates a great picture of your customer service for a few reasons.
- You solved their problem. At the very least you did everything in your power to assist them. Not all issues are solvable. Even if that is the case, showing you did everything in your power for that person means a lot.
- In a lot of cases they didn’t ask for the assistance you provided. What a pleasant surprise, right? This person didn’t even have to get on the phone and nag at someone over their issues. They were just venting and you turned that into a workable situation.
- The great customer service you are providing is in the open. Other people notice. If you go out of your way to provide a customer service situation in a brick-and-mortar store it is usually an experience only the customer has and you just hope they tell their friends. When you are proactive with these situations on the internet everyone can see these discussions in the open. People notice this kind of movement by a company.
It’s also important to be really nice to people. You have to project an open and friendly attitude. Hopefully this isn’t some huge stretch or anything, a lot of these skills should just apply to your life and not just your social media strategy.
Leave the sales and marketing speak behind, just be a real person. I remember sitting in a store when I was young and the receptionist answered the phone.
“It is a beautiful day at [insert business name], how may I help you?”
Even at a young age, that was off putting to me. I am all for putting a nice face on your business, but who talks like that?
This is where it helps to enjoy your job and services or products you offer. It is easier to encourage and share a passion for what you are representing when you feel the same way. Here are some other things to consider.
- Show appreciation to customers any chance you get. This could be as simple as a thanks to a user for following your Twitter account or throwing a free t-shirt to someone who uses and promotes your service a lot.
- Stay positive when dealing with a difficult user. A lot of times you are the front line of defense to a customer having a terrible experience. Do your best to empathize and help them out in any way you can. On the other hand there are people that just love to vent or are committed to being unhappy. It is easy to get caught in a back and forth on the Internet. Keep a professional face on things.
- Be accessible. You need to receive communication and respond in a time frame and manner that creates confidence on the end of the user.
- If you can’t help someone, connect them with someone who can. You can’t know everything. Be well versed with your company and products enough to know where to direct users within your business so they can get help.
- Let your personality come through. You are not a robot. People connect easier with someone they can relate to. Let your own personality come out within the framework of your company’s goals and the professionalism the job calls for.
Ok, maybe you won’t be going up ladders to fight blazing infernos or smooching any babies that aren’t yours. But I think my old friend was really on to something.
Listen. React. Relate.
Product – First things first, you need to know how to describe your product or service to your potential clients. Start by writing out a simple description and hand it to a few people that do not know your business to read. Then ask them if they have any questions remaining about what you do and what they are. Rewrite a second draft incorporating that additional information in and repeat the process until you have a solid description that anyone who reads it once will understand. A crucial point, keep it short enough so a person is not intimidated to read the description just because it seems to be too much to read. How many times do you get to a long blog post and read the first paragraph then just skim the bold or first sentences throughout the rest of the article. This is incredibly important for social media because people have to understand what it is you are offering before they will buy it. They are not seeing it in a physical store where they can pick it up and feel it. You are telling them about it through written word. This will allow you to gain interest in your product or service because people will know exactly what to expect when they purchase it.
Price – Understand the price of your product beyond just the price. Understand the demographic you are going after and the social media mediums to reach more of your population. This will also help when posting or communicating with potential clients by know the keywords you need to use. For instance, if you are selling a Rolex, a keyword would be luxury. People that buy expensive things like to think of them as luxury, not expensive. Many of your social media experiences you will need to hit these keywords in order to attract your potential customers. Make your self easier for them to find.
Place – The place where your product or service can be purchased is key. This may be the most important of all when it comes to the 4 P’s and social media. Ultimately you are always trying to lead your potential customers to where they can purchase your goods and services, or at least learn more about them. If you sell it online, constantly show your clients where and how easy it is to do so. If you have a brick and mortar store you want them to attend, use the next P, promotions, to attract clients. Keep in mind your place of business so you know to key in on social media outlets that allow you to search by location.
Promotion – This is where it gets fun. The most important thing about this is to HAVE FUN. Create really fun ways to engage customers. Remember to not always try to sell through promotions. This is also a great way to get very informative feedback. A really cool idea I thought of would be for a product sold at many different locations in the same general area and creating a scavenger hunt via social media outlets, such as Twitter, for clues. How cool would it be to go to 6 different shoe stores and fill out your Nike survey card at each and in order, to receive 50% off a pair of Nike shoes at the end?
