How to Make Your Marketing Sexy

    

                     

I did an article on how marketers have really left the idea of the marketing plan out of the messages that they have been sending these days.  All the techniques such as SEO, digital marketing, social media and even blogging are just pieces to the marketing plan.  But the marketing plan is not as "sexy" as all these topics.  Just read "How to Make Sure Your Marketing is Really Sexy".

By the way, if you join the VIP Marketing Academy within the next two weeks, you will get a bonus gift of which is yet to be named.  Check back here and find out what it is.

Advertisers already know who you are

I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) the other day.  They were interviewing a marketing professional who was talking about how in three or four years advertisers will be able to target their ads to individual homes while you watch TV.  That means that if my friend and I are looking at the same show (and we live in the same TV market), I will see one ad on my TV and she will see another on her TV based on the demographic data that has been collected on us by perhaps our cable provider.

I wasn't too amazed as that can be done on the internet right now. If you have ever been on the internet (and how many people haven't?) you know that certain advertising is following you.  Those ads have been targeted to you based on demographics, your internet habits and other things that the internet gods have determined.  Then they continue to follow you (re-marketing).

Until last year this type of "hyper" targeting was only available to Fortune 500 companies, who have been doing this for several years.  Everyone knows that advertising on the internet is very beneficial. But limiting small businesses to a paid link at the top of a search page is, well, limiting.


Jump Six, a company in Missouri, was one of the first to provide hyper targeting for smaller businesses with display digital advertising (just like in a newspaper or magazine) and place it on the internet.  It provides a way for advertisers to also gather leads through the system.

Jump Six purchases this valuable real estate on hundreds of sites and then places its clients on sites like national cable news station sites, sports, national blogs and others.  These sites sell national ads and also reserve regional and local space for smaller advertisers.  Just like TV.

If you want to go world-wide or national you can, but most of their clients hyper target people regionally or in certain cities and even zip codes along with other demographics.  Generally, you can buy as few as 50,000 impressions.  Advertisers can change their demographics or increase the impressions whenever they like or need to throughout the campaign length.  Jump Six provides detailed analytics of the campaigns so that advertisers always know how well they are doing.

With this type of hyper targeting, digital advertisers will be able to get a handle on their budgets, better target their products and services, and get a road map for future marketing endeavors.

Thanks to technology, you too can reach out and touch someone (everything old is new again).

Joint venturing to expand business

I got married last week -- to two guys.  It was strictly business.

It is to two associates of mine who own a successful website development company. They are quite successful at their business but what I noticed was they were just a website development company. The construction guys. They knew all about web design, algorithms and analytics -- all the things to make the site function properly.

I explained to them how I felt they were missing a huge marketing opportunity.  So, I asked them how they were marketing to keep customers coming back once they created a website. They both looked at me rather blankly. Other than hosting fees and the occasional updates their clients decided on, not much. They were always seeking new business.  And we all know that getting new business costs more than keeping business.

I explained to them the opportunity for marketing their own website business was to expand into content development.  They needed to develop content for their clients -- for the websites they built, digital advertising campaigns, downloadable e-books, etc. They also had an opportunity to show clients how offering those pieces on websites can increase web traffic.

"You see," I began, "you can create your own additional line of business. Also by creating your own e-newsletter that you send talking about the need to update websites, how to create mobile advertising, using video, etc... you keep your clients engaged with you.  You can also become the only source they need for their digital marketing."

I saw the light bulb go on.  "Oh," they said in unison.  My proposal had worked.  Since I do content and digital advertising "we" thought a partnership would be great.  In the business world it is called a joint venture.

So, the newsletter I developed for their over 300 clients that talked about our joint venture went out last week.  It provided information I created on how websites need to continue to be updated and how video on websites can drive more traffic. The newsletter worked.  They got two clients to call immediately (clients they had for over 10 years) to talk about updating their sites and perhaps adding video.

Beyond the content I provide for my new "partners",  I also am getting exposure for other services I provide to the 300 clients they have.  I embed my affiliate links in the e-newsletter, my own downloadable content and other opportunities to generate revenue for my business as well -- along with creating the content for his clients.

Soon, I am sure we will have more clients -- you can call them our children -- who will need all types of content.

What Is Your Branding Trying To Say?

I was out the other day and decided to stop into a new bakery that opened in my neighborhood.  I was particularly excited for the young owner.  I met her a couple of months ago at an event.  She was very enthusiastic about her business. So, when I went in to her shop I expected to see a lot of strong branding.

What I encountered was a drab offering.  Not only did she not have enough product( a few cupcakes and about a dozen cookies) but the furniture in the store looked like she had gotten it from someone's basement. There was no color on the walls, her logo was only on the window glass that faced to the street, and she had run out of business cards.  Her bakery cases had no decorations inside to entice me to buy. There was little that would make me want to return. There was no brand identity at all.  Or should I say her brand identity was not good.

A UCLA study proves that 85% of all decisions are made with our eyes. That's right: the visual you have has the most impact.  And particularly food needs to be appealing.  In a sense, you need to strongly brand your products or services.

I think there are three basic branding categories that business owners have to think about:

• Marketing materials -- brochures, business cards, website 
• Business decor -- wall colors, furniture, interior design
• The way employees look and present themselves -- uniforms, identifiers, customer service 

What do you want customers to think about you? What image of your company do you want to put out there? That is your brand -- good or bad.

If your brand is not professional and congruent, attractive and attracting you will be passed over - guaranteed. To be competitive, to have a greater influence on others, to attract more business and be more successful it's essential that you develop a well-thought-out  brand.

The Six Pitfalls of Starting a Business

So, you think you are an entrepreneur.

I have come across so many "entrepreneurs" who claim to be ready to start their business but when you tell them what it will require they balk at doing what is needed.

I tend to think of these people as over enthusiastic "hobbyists" and they end up spending a lot of money on useless tools with no return on their investment.  Of course, I realize that YOU are not one of them.  But let's look at some of the signs, shall we:

1. Have not determined what the product or service niche market is for their product or service. They are convinced that somebody will like what they are doing or selling, after all they do.  And there has been no evaluation of their competition.

2.  Didn't invest in a website because they don't understand how it works or just thinks it's a waste of time. OR...they get someone who doesn't know how to build websites to build theirs.

3.  They spend money on an office and letterhead, but won't think about using money to develop marketing materials or business processes.

4.  Won't network to get their name out there (which by the way is free).

5.  Won't spend time or won't ask how to use social media. This goes back to marketing, but I had to say it again since so many people get hung up on this.

6.  Won't seek out credible organizations that can provide information to help them get going.

So, if you are an entrepreneur, you have to develop a plan, follow the plan and evaluate the plan.  You also have to have resources that will help you along the way.  Get to know your business, product and service.  Then RESEARCH what others are doing and have done to get their business going.

WARNING: As an entrepreneur myself I can tell you, don't buy anything until you have researched the product or how it works.  I spent quite a few dollars on some things that were useless or did not provide what they said.

Here's a FREE resource. So click here for a free download of my Media Buying Guide.

How to get to your niche market through digital advertising

When it comes to niche marketing many people don't really take the time to understand the importance of researching and narrowing down their target market.  They just throw advertising dollars at the next "new" thing, hoping they will hit their niche.

A niche market is a specific group of people that share something in common. In the business world they are the groups of consumers that you should be focusing on because they are the ones that will most likely purchase your product or service. They are referred to as your target market.

When I was growing up, we had three television channels.  So, if you wanted to advertise on TV, you had to be on one of those channels.  It was called mass marketing.  But very few people subscribe to mass marketing these days because we have so many options to place advertising. We have cable TV -- with it's defined audiences -- radio, various print vehicles, and of course the internet.  

So how do you reach your market?  Well, as you know, more and more people are on the internet.  So, wouldn't you like to be on the internet?  That means that you can actually find the people more likely to purchase your service or product.  How? You can actually target your customers WHEN they are ready to buy. 

By using keywords your ad can pop up when people are searching for a product or service like yours.  Based on keywords, ads are placed on websites, blogs, or other niche websites your market is viewing. 

This year Google opened up display advertising real estate for small businesses. Before this, only Fortune 500 companies could develop display campaigns and place on sites like national news, entertainment, and blogs as well as heavily trafficked local sites.   Wouldn't it be great if your potential customer was on the ESPN site and your pizza parlor showed up on the site?  And because it is targeted to your geographic area, you don't waste money advertising to someone out of your marketing area.

Advanced targeting options like “remarketing” can bring interested prospects back to your website, increase conversions and profit, keeps your business top-of-mind and help these interested prospects complete a transaction.

Remarketing is the process of your ad “following” the person throughout the internet.  This technique boosts conversions by 48 – 50% or more. You are probably familiar with this.  Have you ever been to a shopping site online and then every time you go to another site you see the same product or a product “you might like” on a totally unrelated site?  That’s re-marketing.

This type of advertising can be tracked for effectiveness as well.  Google makes it so simple to track your conversions and sales all the way back to every keyword in your campaign. 

Create a dynamic online video with little or no money

Over the last five years, technology has made it very easy for entrepreneurs and small businesses to decrease the cost of  marketing their products and services. This is especially true about video. Now, with a little creativity and a few quick clicks of the mouse, you can create a  professional looking video that can be used in many venues and in many media outlets. Here are a few of my favorites:

Animoto 
Animoto is a subscription-based service The number of templates you can use is based on your basic or pro subscription. It's the easiest of the three programs listed here.  All you have to do is upload your favorite photographs.  The templates weave your photos through backgrounds -- from seasonal, romantic, business and techno.  There is a pretty extensive music library that you can use.  Or you can upload your own music.

Goanimate
Goanimate creates some really cool animated videos. It comes with ready-made templates or you can create your video from scratch. The program has a diverse number of characters. So many programs don't offer as many character options. A variety of backgrounds and extra "props" are also available to spice up the visual appeal.  It's a great program for a designer or marketing professional.

VideoMakerFX
I've done several videos using VideoMakerFX.  I have one on my website  It too, provides a sampling of templates but in animated slide presentation form.  Very limited on characters (although they will be adding more in the coming months), but you can mix and match slide templates, move them and re-color backgrounds and text. Much more fun than PowerPoint or Prezi.

Unlike the other two programs, no subscription is necessary -- just a one time very reasonable yearly fee that you can upgrade.  It only takes about an hour to learn and create a video.

While a good visual image always attracts attention, you still need to communicate to your niche with message development and good copywriting.  The combination of strong visuals and clear messaging will make your video awesome!

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