Why You Should Read Engagement Marketing |  |
- Why You Should Read Engagement Marketing
- Pointers on Hiring a Marketing Firm for Your Small Business
- Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking
| Why You Should Read Engagement Marketing Posted: 20 May 2012 07:11 PM PDT
I love the premise of this book because it is utterly realistic for small businesses. Engagement marketing, according to the book, is the art of “getting new customers through your existing customers, while driving more repeat sales at the same time.” It’s about serving your existing customers well, and deepening your relationship with them by engaging on social media and online. The outgrowth is a stronger customer bond and more satisfied customers. That leads to natural word-of-mouth — and more repeat business and sales to new customers who learned about you through existing customers. And in fact, referrals and word of mouth are how many small businesses get new business today. The second thing I like is the marketing blueprint that the book lays out. Chapter 1 starts with the “engagement marketing cycle” — a framework for growing sales with the help of social media. Think of it as a 3-step process:
“Developing this cycle until it’s a well-oiled machine,” says the book, is what will lead to more sales by increasing repeat sales and referrals. Everything in this book is practical, including a chapter on overcoming common obstacles. Obstacle #3, for example, will resonate with many business owners: “I don’t like imposing on people.” But as the author explains, one way to overcome that is to focus on creating great “enticement offers” such as a coupon or free report to persuade people to sign up for your email list or follow your Facebook account. Then you’re not imposing – you’re giving people something they want. There’s even a Quick Start Guide and a Glossary to help you get up to speed quickly on the sometimes baffling terms (like “hashtag’” or “plus one”) in social media. Most of the book concentrates on pointing out techniques to help you learn how to engage people through social media, email marketing, blogs, events and other activities. And that’s the third thing I like about Engagement Marketing. Intead of talking in generalities, the book explains what types of content to share on social networks, the types of activities to perform to engage with people on social media — and similar useful lessons. It can help you put the building blocks of a social media strategy and action plan in place. It answers the “why” and also the “how.” The book is filled with examples, including screenshots and images. Examples are ones that most small businesses could attempt on a small budget or with a small team (or even no team). The book avoids one of my pet peeves: using big-budget corporate marketing campaigns as case studies. While I appreciate that Ford may be doing brilliant things in social media, a Ford marketing campaign will be so out my company’s budget that we couldn’t hope to emulate it. Small business examples like the ones in Engagement Marketing are more useful. About the Author If you or your company are one of the hundreds of thousands of small businesses usiing Constant Contact, then the author’s name is likely familiar. Gail Goodman (@Gail_Goodman on Twitter) is the CEO of Constant Contact (an occasional advertiser on this site). Goodman architected her company’s expansion from an email marketing provider, to one that now includes tools for social media marketing, surveys, event marketing and mobile marketing. She brings vision and subject matter expertise to this book. Who Should Read Engagement Marketing This book is ideal for a small business or non-profit with anywhere from 0 to 100 employees, and even larger. I highly recommend reading Engagement Marketing if you:
From Small Business Trends |
| Pointers on Hiring a Marketing Firm for Your Small Business Posted: 20 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT I'm not here to tell you which marketing firm to use. Rather, I'd like to offer you some pointers on what to look for when hiring a marketing firm. I believe the search starts with you. Ask yourself some foundational questions to get a handle on what you are looking for.
Those questions include:
Now give some thought to what kind of marketing help you need. This can change as your business changes. You may start in one place and then realize you need other things. For example, starting with branding makes sense. Once you have your brand identity you may be ready for help with advertising or PR. So, what do you need right now? This is a critical question because not all marketing firms are created equal. Some specialize and some are generalists. Some excel in certain areas and others offer a combination of services:
Determine what you need right now. You may also want to think about your marketing needs along a continuum – what you need now, a few months from now, next year. This can help you when you are interviewing potential firms. One of the most critical parts of finding marketing help is doing your research. There are so many companies in this space. Finding the right one(s) takes a commitment of time and energy on your part. A good deal of marketing is subjective. They may be considered one of the greatest firms in town, but if you don't like their design or end product, they aren't right for you. Explore the following: 1. Type of firm: do you want a firm that specializes in the type of marketing help you need right now or would you prefer a firm that covers a variety of marketing methods? 2. Do you want a firm that has expertise in your industry or is that not an issue for you? 3. Does their location matter to you? Would you prefer a firm that is local? 4. What is your budget? Is it realistic for what you need? How does that limit the prospective marketing firm pool? 5. Method value: what is their viewpoint on the various marketing methods ? For example, if you want to gain national exposure and believe that gaining interviews on internet radio is a good marketing venue for you, does the firm you are looking at share your belief? AND, do they have that expertise? Now that you know what you are looking for it's time to interview potential candidates. Find 3-5 companies that look like they fit your needs. Develop a list of questions you can ask to divine whether they really are the right match for you. Those questions include asking for samples of their work, asking for links to sites they've created if you are looking for web design, and how they manage their clients. If you are looking for help with search engine optimization or search engine marketing, ask them how they handle this for their clients. You'll find some companies that haven't really gained a grip on how to help companies with today's page rankings. The more you know, the better off you'll be. Interview some of their clients. Ask about timeliness and follow through. How long have they been in business? How long have they been doing the kind of marketing you need? Remember that a lot of firms have had to adapt to the new landscape. Some have done this well and others, not so much. By asking specific, pointed questions you can find out how skilled they are, and therefore, how well they'll be able to deliver what you need. Example: I have an associate who needed an e-commerce website. She had very specific needs and was quite clear about what they were. She met a web designer at a networking event who told her they could do the job. She didn't take the time to ask her questions, or research the sites they'd done for other clients. She just hired them. Not only did they have trouble delivering the end product, but their communication was lacking. They didn't understand some of the basic things she asked for. By the time she realized they were the wrong firm, she'd invested months with them. Those were months she was without her e-commerce website. And by all means, trust your gut! If you don't feel like they are strong with their answers, or there's something about their work that just doesn't sit right with you, walk away. You don't have to be able to quantify the feeling. Just the fact that you have it is reason enough to look elsewhere. Finding the right marketing help is something that takes time, energy, and research. You have to learn some things about the industry so you can identify the good firms. Anyone can tell a good story and do a good sales job. What you want to know is how well can they deliver on what you need. Marketing is a field that is changing quickly. Marketing firms need to stay ahead of the curve, adapt to the new environment, and share their level of expertise honestly with their prospects. You, as the prospect, need to be able to discern who is doing that, and who isn't.
From Small Business Trends |
| Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking Posted: 20 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT
Enter Andy Sernovitz (@sernovitz) , the leader of SocialMedia.org, the community for social media leaders at the world's greatest brands and WordofMouth.org, where marketers and entrepreneurs learn to be great at word of mouth marketing. Andy taught word of mouth marketing at Northwestern University (home of the great marketing guru Philip Kotler for all you die-hard marketing enthusiasts) and he also taught internet entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of Business. Whew – that was a mouthful. To this mix, get ready to add Word of Mouth MarketingL How Smart Companies Get People Talking. I received an advanced review copy and couldn't wait to dig in because this is one of these books that I would buy without blinking an eye because it's also got a forward by Seth Godin (@ThisIsSethsBlog) and an Afterword by Guy Kawasaki (@guykawasaki). It's like getting three great marketing minds in one book! Who could resist? What makes Word of Mouth Marketing Worth Reading? Every time I receive a book (especially one on a topic I'm nuts about) I ask myself three questions:
Hopefully, my telling you this doesn't make my future reviews predictable, rather my intent is to let you know that I read all of these books with a critical eye for usefulness and practicality. With that in mind, let's get to answering these questions for you. What's Word of Mouth Marketing Got that other Word of Mouth Marketing Books Don't? For starters Word of Mouth Marketing is written by a subject matter expert who happens to be a great writer. This is a big plus in my book. Sernovitz has both practical and academic experience on the topic and does a brilliant job of balancing his knowledge and experience with good writing that you will understand and implement without too much effort. Rounded corners. I know this seems silly to bring out in a book review and might only be relevant to those of you who purchase the book in physical form. But the first thing I noticed is that it had rounded corners and a cover with texture. When you open the book, you'll notice that there are wonderfully engaging and interesting design elements sprinkled throughout the content. I'm mentioning this because it proves some of the philosophy in word of mouth marketing – give them something to talk about. Fresh ideas from the best word of mouth marketing campaigns. Don't underestimate the power of fresh inspiration. Because Sernovitz has been the CEO of GasPedal, a word of mouth marketing company and created the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, you can just imagine the connections and access that he has to the most successful word of mouth marketing programs and examples. My review copy didn't have an index in the back so I can't be sure that I'm correct on this – but I was THRILLED to see that Zappos and Apple and the several other over-used examples of great campaigns were NOT included in this book. Instead, you'll find examples of companies and campaigns that might surprise you such as Dell and Microsoft MVPs. Who Will Get the Most out of Word of Mouth Marketing? Entrepreneurs, solo-preneurs, and micro-business owners will get THE MOST out of this book. The biggest challenge for you guys is that the book will throw case studies and examples at you and YOU will have to work out the details to implement them. My recommendation is to keep a running list of ideas that you'd like to implement. Then when you're done with the book, go through the ideas and choose the top 3 that interest you the most. Then for each of those top three, take about an hour to plan exactly what you would do, what has to be done and who you will need to help you put the strategy in place. Once you've finished that, pick the one you can implement the quickest, easiest and cheapest way possible. If you just pick any of them and jump in – you will struggle or implement poorly and fail. That isn't the author's intention. Marketing and product managers at larger organizations will enjoy the ideas and case studies. But you guys might struggle with getting some of the ideas through the approval process. I think the weeding-out and strategizing process I describe above is a good exercise for you as well. Your management team or board of directors is open to great marketing, but you will have to map out the process, the strategies, the resources, costs and outcomes that you're going to track. What are YOU Going to Get Out of Word of Mouth Marketing That Will Make You Money? This book doesn't just have case studies and ideas – it has checklists and plan outlines that will help you get your thinking in order. Not only that, but I'd recommend that you check out the additional resource web sites that Sernovitz includes such as: Word Of Mouth and Damn I Wish. Both of these sites are loaded with the latest thinking and ideas on word of mouth marketing. What's Missing That Would Blow The Roof Off Your Experience? This isn't really one of my questions, but it's becoming something that I look for and notice when it's missing in a book or an article – what's missing that would blow the roof off my experience? Well, an index would be nice so that I can quickly find all the companies they listed and mentioned throughout the book. This is getting really picky on my part. But I'm being THIS picky because there is SO MUCH great stuff in here, I don't want anyone to fail at implementing any of these strategies. Maybe this would be a workbook or a course or something. I would love to have even MORE focus and hand holding on actually creating a word of mouth strategy. I'm thinking about getting people off of the LARGEST hump that they will encounter – getting started. I'm sure that when you read these ideas, you will get inspired and excited, but you won't know HOW to begin or WHAT to do first. That's what was missing for me. Grab This Book And Go! I don't know about you – but this is a book I'm going to hang on to and keep close at hand. My hardest decision right now is whether or not to grab the kindle/digital version to keep on my mobile devices in case I want to refer to it to generate new and creative ideas. If you're going to have a word of mouth marketing book for 2012 – this is the one to choose. From Small Business Trends |
Engagement Marketing: How Small Business Wins in a Socially Connected World
Great marketing strategies never go out of style for a reason – because they WORK. Word of mouth is one of those strategies. It doesn’t cost a fortune and it works like crazy. Then, when you add the latest social media tools, you have word-of-mouth marketing on steroids.| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business News, Tips, Advice - Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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