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Location-Based Ads Boost Customer Loyalty
Posted by renee on August 16th, 2010Very often when you make a purchase in a store, the cashier asks the same question: “Do you have your card?”
The cashier’s not asking for your Visa or Mastercard. She’s talking about those ubiquitous reward cards that track how many times you might order a bagel, a latte, an ink cartridge refill, or whatever you happen to be purchasing at the time.
Buy 10 and get one free. Purchase six and get the next at half price. Promotions differ, but the concept remains the same: the store wants to inspire customer loyalty, and it’ll reward you for it.
Some people benefit from loyalty rewards and save money. Others find the cards annoying. Imagine if you could replace the process with something that suits your lifestyle better. Instead of having your card punched at the sandwich shop or scanned at the pharmacy, how would you feel if you received a mobile-based coupon on your smartphone?
Location-Based Ads: A Business Boon in the Making
Businesses are increasingly working to improve marketing ROI. A recent study by the Mobile Marketing Association shows that almost one in four adults use mobile location-based services. Nearly half of those shoppers who saw ads from location-based services took some sort of action.
Few metrics exist on location-based advertising and customer loyalty, but so far, results have been promising. Foursquare, one of the most popular mobile location tracking applications, gives its users the chance to become a location’s “mayor” by checking in frequently. Many restaurants, coffee shops and other locations give their “mayors” discounts and freebies as a reward for customer loyalty. Most recently GAP offered a 25% discount if you checked in on Foursquare. The idea was to encourage store exposure, as friends of those ‘checking in’ would see the deal and would, hopefully, also act on it.
The Proof is in the Numbers
Another great example, Starbucks, offered its “mayors” $1 off any size of Frappuccino. Since beginning the promotion, the coffee haven has experienced a 50% increase in check-ins. AJ Bombers, a burger spot in Milwaukee, reported a 30% increase in sales after offering free burgers to the “mayor” (plus free cookies to anyone who checked in.)
Not wanting to limit promotions to a select few, Foursquare lets businesses provide frequency-based specials to users who check in often. Pepsi has built upon this feature by using Foursquare to give points for each mobile coupon used. Loyal soda lovers can redeem the coupons for music downloads and other Pepsi Loot.
The promotion is designed to increase brand loyalty and also to generate valuable data about repeat customers – where they purchase Pepsi, how often they purchase and what they do before and after they make the purchase. In time, this data may help Pepsi and other businesses make location-based ads even more effective. (It’s all in the data)
Have you ever used location-based advertising to promote your business? If so, how did the marketing effort turn out? If not, do you find that location-based advertising increases your loyalty to other local businesses?
Posted in Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Social media for small business | 2 Comments »
Does Your Personality Type Affect Your Social Media Success?
Posted by renee on August 3rd, 2010We’ve all heard of people described as Type A or Type B personalities. Type A’s are said to be impatient, controlling, ambitious and aggressive. They take their work seriously and stop at almost nothing to get it done. Type B personalities are the opposite: relaxed, easy-going and laid back. (Type As might call them lazy or unmotivated.)
You’ve probably considered your personality type at some point. But have you considered how your personality type affects your social media success?
Type A on Social Media
Type A’s are intense and hard-working people, so they likely approach social media accounts the same way. They may log in at the same time each day to post something thought-out and edited to perfection. They may take a systematic approach to growing connections and networking, adding 15 new Facebook friends every week or responding to 10 Twitter messages each day.
Type A personalities thrive on social media because they take their success seriously. In a world where many social media accounts go abandoned for weeks or even months at a time, Type A’s have no problem putting in the effort to update accounts regularly.
They may be turned off by social media’s casual atmosphere, where not everyone takes time to spell-check their status updates or respond to messages. If Type A’s vocalize complaints, they risk becoming unpopular.
Type B on Social Media
The laid-back nature of Type B’s is both a blessing and a curse when it comes to social media. Type B personalities usually fit right into social media’s casual, conversational atmosphere – if casual conversation is going on. They may also have a hard time getting their message heard.
“It appears that the more aggressive and outspoken you get, the more attention you get,” Frank Reed writes on his blog Frank Thinking About Internet Marketing . “I call this the Rush Limbaugh factor. In today’s world of ‘everyone is right. The bigger the bluster, the bigger the splash.”
Of course, Type B’s may be so laid-back that they don’t care about being heard through the din. Depending on the agenda, that may be fine. But Type B’s should approach social media with some agenda in mind; otherwise, social media may be a waste of time.
The Bigger Picture
Of course, any type of categorization is based on stereotypes. Your own personality – and your social media experience – is probably far more complex than the two described here. Use these insights as a springboard to better understanding your own social media behavior, including what you’re doing well and where you may need to improve.
How has your personality type affected your experience with social media? Or has it?
Posted in Blog, Marketing | No Comments »
Using Your “Horse Sense” in Social Media
Posted by renee on July 14th, 2010“Common sense is not so common.” –Voltaire
For some people, using social media comes naturally. They seem to enter each new social network knowing exactly what to do and say, and they love the experience.
For many more people, though, social media savvy doesn’t come naturally. Just creating a new Facebook or Twitter account takes time, and it might even be frustrating. Users fill in the proper details and familiarize themselves with the settings. And before actually using the network, posting messages or creating connections, they need to understand how the community works.
No one wants to offend others inadvertently by posting the wrong kind of content or ignoring unwritten rules.
Sound tricky? It can be. While someone who has grown up using social media may say it requires nothing more than common sense, the reality is often far different. That may be why over 60 percent of new Twitter users abandon their accounts within the first month of use.
Mistakes People Make on Social Media
Account abandonment usually occurs for a few select reasons. Some people create social media accounts expecting automatic conversation. When that doesn’t happen, they’re disappointed. Rather than spending time starting conversations or joining other people’s conversations, they simply stop logging on and walk away.
Others view social media as an advertising platform, splattering their accounts with promotional or self-serving messages. This may seem like common sense to people experienced in traditional marketing, but for those not versed in those marketing messages, the promotion becomes a social media faux-pas.
Rather than generating new business, these people generate hostility – or worse, they’re blacklisted as spammers and forbidden access.
The Right Way to Social Media Mastery
Expecting everyone using social media to use common sense can lead to disappointment. It’s better to approach social media as a foreign country with foreign customs, no matter who you might be. What’s acceptable in one country may be taboo in another, so do the research. Read about the networks you’re joining and their codes of conduct. If you know a social media “native” or experienced user, ask that person for some orientation.
If you don’t have that mentor available, take some time to listen and observe what happens within the network. How do people communicate with each other? How does the community react to different attitudes and behaviors? What seems to be working for others, and what seems to impede progress?
By paying attention to the people around you, the right behaviors start to seem like common sense … and only you know what it took to make it look so easy.
What aspects of social media do you think are common sense? What took time to learn? Leave your response in the comments section below.
Tags: common sense, social media
Posted in Blog, Social media for small business | 7 Comments »
Thought on Tactic and Strategy
Posted by renee on May 8th, 2010My thoughts on using tactics while creating a strategy.
- Can pose as a test case
- Great for research
- But not to be implemented until full strategy is complete
Here is the audio: (Please excuse the lack of clarity. I was in the middle of making the bed when this thought came and I had to get it out)
tacticsandstrategy
—
Tags: proposal, social media, tactic and strategy
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
Your brand: Does it speak for itself?
Posted by renee on May 5th, 2010A successful brand is something that can stand the test of time. It is an icon, an image, colors and lines, that speaks for itself. It does not need an elevator pitch or a two minute shpeel to explain who it is, what it does, and why it dose it. It is an image, an experience and a culture that is recognized even by those it’s not targeting. It is constantly being challenged by competitors and imitators, but never duplicated. It represents something powerful, something that is or once was, and something that will last for many years. A successful brand is loved by many, hated my some but always recognizable.
Can your brand stand the test of time?
Posted in Blog, Marketing, Social media for small business, entrepreneur, small business, small business tips | No Comments »
The ACT Methodology
Posted by renee on May 3rd, 2010Successful online marketing, as coined and defined by Shama Hyder Kabani, in her book The Zen of Social Media Marketing, should follow the ACT methodology. The ACT methodology is a simple framework for marketing your business or product online. As we understand it today, social media is not a stand alone silo in marketing/promotions, rather it is a complimentary item to the bigger marketing picture.
Act Methodology defined:
A – Attract: Get attention. Get people to flock to your website as this is the primary landing site (and selling function) for any or all of your online initiatives.
C – Convert: Turning a stranger into a consumer or customer.
T – Transform: Combining both attract and convert into a magnetic force.
ATTRACT
A key ingredient to social media. Here you are attracting people to your website. If you can’t get their attention and get them to go to your site, you will not be successful. You need three things to attract people to your site:
- Brand: What is your brand?
- Outcome: What you do in one line. Sum it up.
- Differentiator: How are you really different from your competitors?
“The #1 reason people fail at social media marketing is that they don’t have a solid foundation” – Shama Hyder Kabani
CONVERT
Changing a consumer into a customer. There is a difference between the two. A consumer may take interest in your product or service by following you on Twitter, Facebook, and your blog, but may not necessarily buy from you. Whereas a customer is the ultimate converted consumer, they buy from you. The conversion formula: Consumption of valuable content + Time = Client
But remember, social media takes TIME! Clients often do not come right away, but they can. The thing is to not make this your goal.
The best conversion tool is your own website! Social media profiles help drive traffic to your site, but won’t make the sale for you.
TRANSFORM
After mastering both attract and convert, you now have to master transformation. “Social media is built on social proof”. There are two parts to this:
1. You always have to do a good job
2. You have to use your previous success to attract even more success.
Prove time and time again how good you are and more customers will transform. This is a good time and place to share stories, testimonials, case studies, video interviews, audio, and pictures.
Shama does a great job at explaining these principles in her book, but most of it speaks for itself. Get people to your site, convert them to customers, and keep them coming back by proving time and time again how great your company is.
Tags: ACT methodology, social media
Posted in Blog, Social media for small business, entrepreneur | 1 Comment »
Increase your site traffic (8 steps)
Posted by renee on April 9th, 2010KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.
Don’t frustrate visitors with a shmorgus board of unnecessary content. keep things clean and simple, but most importantly keep things easy to find.
1. Be memorable/make an impact
Provide deep, rich, exciting content that will continuously intrigue visitors. Ask influencer’s to be a guest blogger or even write a guest post. Interview people, write from the heart, the soul, and show your expertise.
2. Be up to date
There is nothing worse than coming across some ‘awesome’ blog to find out it hasn’t been updated for months. Keeping an active blog is necessary in order to keep search engines coming back to index your site.
3. Categorize your Site
Just like adding tags, categorizing your site helps to better define what your site is about, ultimately improving the quality of your site traffic.
4. Provide Contact Information
Make it simple for visitors to find ways they can reach out to you. Provide an email address, a form for their questions or a place they can simply write in, such as guestbook. Remember not to give out too much personal information.
5. Submit to Directories
Adding your site to Google and other search engines helps index it faster. Submitting this information will allow your site to be considered for future searches.
6. Describe that File
Use keywords when naming your image files that are being used by your site. Doing so will help you gain visitors when people search using Google Images. {Note: Photos are often an overlooked SEO opportunity. Remember to tag ALL photos with appropriate words, thus leading people who are image browsing back to your site]
7. Create Links
Linking to your site from other websites will help generate more traffic and improve your placement in search engines.
8. Tag your Site
Adding site tags can increase the number of times your site shows up in search results. To pick the right keywords, try putting yourself in the shoes of your visitors.
Tags: Marketing, SEO, social media, website tips
Posted in Blog, entrepreneur, small business, small business tips | No Comments »
Humber Presentation 2010
Posted by renee on March 1st, 2010Humber Presentation 2010
Posted in Blog, seminars | 1 Comment »
Measurable Memories
Posted by renee on January 25th, 2010It is known that our cherished memories are created with moments and not material items. Memories remind us of certain tastes, smells, jokes, songs, people, and conversations. Not material items. So if you are in the business of selling a product, you should also be creating a memorable experience. How would you do that if you:
- Own a boutique selling womens fashions?
- Sell photocopiers and fax machines?
- Sell protective cases for electronic devices?
Easy shmeezy. Well, kind of…
To make it memorable, you will have to first do the following:
1. Consistency
Make sure that your products are always available, that your shop is clean, your customer service bang on (more on this next), you deliver over-and-over-and-over consistent operations.
2. Customer Service
Every person that is associated with your brand needs to understand who you are, what you are doing, and how you want to be understood. From sales associates, vendors, mail delivery guys, neighbouring stores, etc… EVERY PERSON you (and your staff) talk to is potentially a customer of yours. Always smile, be happy, friendly, and helpful.
3. Hire the best
An ‘experienced’ employee isn’t always the best employee. Tasks and job duties can be taught, personality and cultural fit cannot. Make sure that the people you hire fit in the company culture, believe in the company, are friendly and courteous, and can pick up on the things they may not have ‘experienced’.
Those are the basics, now to get to the meat.
Memories and great experiences are created when companies go above and beyond expectations. Today, customers expect 24 hour availability, expect to be able to talk to upper management, get freebies, and value value value! In order to do this effectively, you must align the experience according to the product. For example, if you run a boutique womens fashion store, offer tea or coffee to people while waiting for others to try on clothes, grab their contact information after they made a purchase and send a PERSONAL email to them telling them how happy you are to have them as a customer, offer samples or discounts, and the list goes on.
Tid Bits:
- Always try to provide a take away such as a brochure, business card, or coupon when they leave. A happy customer is more likely to pass that material on to someone else.
- Smile and be fun and funny. Treat everyone that walks in the door as a king or queen, regardless of their age, gender, or clothing. People talk. So even if a couple people you wouldn’t consider as your target market or mistakenly came in, they will remember the experience regardless.
- Never be too busy to tend to your clients/customers. I personally hate the rules of many large retailers, the one that they must answer the phone within 3 rings regardless of who they are helping in store. Make sure you have a great voice mail set up for just this reason. And CALL THEM BACK within 30 mins.
- The customer isn’t always right, but you have to assume they are…in most cases. If something unfortunate happens ALWAYS apologize first, then seek to understand their problem. Don’t point the blame at someone else, unless you have concrete evidence that someone is responsible. Regardless of the issue, remember to be quick to respond. Whether it’s an email, text, phone call, or face-to-face conversation, always be sure to reply quickly. A simple “I apologize for this mistake, please allow me a moment of your time to see what went wrong.”
To get to the ‘measurable’ part of this conversation. To be memorable in providing a great experience is something you should strive for. Why? Because this produces results. It produces sales, loyalty, and happiness. If you create a good memory, you ultimately create results that can be measured.
Tags: measure, small business, Starting a small business
Posted in Blog | 2 Comments »
Glass ceiling? More like shattered ceiling.
Posted by renee on January 20th, 2010Mark Wolf, director of The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute says, “As a result of the increasing influence and business leadership of women small-business owners, the workplace of tomorrow will be far less hierarchical. [The approach of women business owners] strongly counteracts the top-down, command-and-control style of management long practiced by their male counterparts.”
John Krubski, futurist and research advisor to The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute agrees. He says, “This women-led management approach will have a profound impact on the employees and customers connected to these businesses. Women small-business owners will ultimately create more opportunities for employees to grow in their jobs and inspire others to start their own small business – all while providing customers with superior service.”
Most recently, due to certain economical and environmental factors, people have been asking “What would the world be like if women had control?” I can predict that it would be cleaner, safer, with less poverty and with more equal rights. Slavery would have never happened and people would be people, not a number or file code. In the business world though? Who knows. What do you think?
Posted in Blog | No Comments »
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