Updating Classic Business Solutions: Newism

Updating Classic Business Solutions: Newism
Target Twitter Promotions With Interest Targeting
Content Marketing Throughout the Sales Funnel
Project Management For Profit

Posted: 09 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT

New means new. It has to be something that has never existed before or something that has never existed in a specific market catering to a specific clientele — not before this moment.

old is new

In the July/August 2012 Trending Brief by TrendWatching, ”newism” is highlighted as the latest shopper desire. In fact, TrendWatching refers to it as the "consumers lust after the new" and these desires are fed by the awareness that:

"The entire world, from emerging to mature economies, is now creating new products, services and experiences on a daily, if not hourly basis."

Something new happens everyday.

But Does Your Product Have To Be New?

I mean new-new, in order to keep and gain clients? No. It doesn't.

According to TrendWatching, there are 6 forces behind newism, but what stands out to me is my gnawing need to be relevant (and I represent a market of people who feel as I do).

I mean, down to the core, I want to know that what I buy is what I need, that the experiences that I'm going after is what I truly want, and that I don't waste time or energy on things that fail to maintain value. There's a group of us that are looking for a classic benefit for ourselves and our businesses.

I see newism like a certain woman's closet. She has the latest in there, and you will find some breath-taking pieces (some things you wish you had), but you'll also find many unused items with year old price tags or items that were only worn once. And you know what she also has?

A little black dress.

There Is And Will Always Be A Market For The Classic Solution

There are multiple ways to update a classic — to make it fresh. Take marketing for example. It's still the same old thing in terms of a name that means something, brand recognition, relevant tagline, bite-sized mission statements — but there are new ways to get that message out. You can use email marketing (which in terms of the Internet is a classic option, even if it is new to you). But you can also tweet your message and mass text it to your subscribers. You can even pin it.

The delivery methods continue to innovate; and you may finally add a social media strategy to your business. But the fact that all effective marketing begins with a core message that says something that matters to a specific market is classic — and there's still a audience for that. As TrendWatching states at the bottom of their brief:

"There will still be endless value in heritage brands, known to deliver constant, trusted quality and provenance."

In other words, if you have:

a product or service that keeps it's promises,
a marketing story that connects,
a system for beneficial and consistent updates.

There's room for you to stay and room for you to grow your market (as long as you respect the fact that classic doesn't mean lazy or rundown).

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Target Twitter Promotions With Interest Targeting

Posted: 09 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT

Twitter is known for its simplicity, but for brands, simple advertising options aren't always the most effective. That's why the microblogging site continues to add more advertising options for brands to build their network and attract new customers. Twitter recently announced that it would add interest targeting features to make Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts more relevant to the users who see them.

Twitter Interest Targeting

This new addition to Twitter's advertising repertoire means that brands can choose from a selection of set of topical interests so that they can reach Twitter users who aren't necessarily connected to current followers, but who have a greater chance of interacting with your tweets.

Using a real-time interest graph, Twitter can automatically send promoted tweets to users who best fit in with a company's targeting requirements.

Advertisers have two options for interest targeting:

The First

Choose from a predetermined list of 350 general interest topics such as sports, style and fashion, and movies and television. Companies can select multiple topics based on what they are trying to promote.

So for example, if you were trying to promote a documentary about a local high school football team, you could target users interested in documentary films, sports, and education.

The Second

This option allows brands to specify certain usernames that are relevant to the product, service, or event they're trying to promote. This feature doesn't actually let you target that user's followers, but it does let you reach other users who share similar interests to the username you selected.

So for example, if a band is trying to promote their new album, they can select other bands with similar styles so that they can reach users who have similar tastes in music.

Advertisers on Twitter have been able to target users based on similarities and connections to the brand's current followers. But brands were not able to specifically target users who tweet about certain topics or other brands or Twitter users until now.

Twitter is hopeful that this new targeting option will lead to increased engagement and results for brands who choose to advertise on the site.

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Content Marketing Throughout the Sales Funnel

Posted: 09 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT

I think it's safe to say that readers on Small Business Trends are typically a fairly savvy, ambitious bunch. We know that it takes hard work and smart strategy to make things happen. On occasion, we'll begrudgingly admit that there's even an element of luck to it all – "the right place at the right time," we'll say.

That being the case, you already know that to do anything well, you have to have follow-through. And that rule most certainly applies to content marketing. However, many ambitious small business owners end up dropping the "content marketing ball" at various places throughout the sales funnel.

I'd like to cover the four major ways in which many of us are slipping up:

Aiming for the wrong target.
Forgetting about gamification.
Failing to create brand advocates.
Disregarding the value of repeat customers.

A Lesson in Target Practice

Unfortunately, many businesses are screwing up from the get-go by aiming for the wrong target. Remember, content marketing is about having a conversation. If you aren't positioning yourself in the places where potential customers are talking, then there's no way your efforts will be effective.

For some businesses, Twitter is king. Others might rely heavily on Pinterest. Figure out where your clients are.

Gamification Really Does Work

So why have you forgotten about it? The principles of gamification are simple, and incredibly easy to employ in your content marketing strategy. You're already sharing your own content in blog posts and guides, through Tweets and Facebook posts. Why not incentivize the re-sharing of your content?

Give discounts, promotional codes, and freebies to those who share your stuff. Not only are they helping you self-promote, but they're also more likely to be your repeat customers.

Remember: gamification is typically useful only to those businesses that are already established. This isn't a strategy for companies that are new to the races.

Where Are Your Brand Advocates?

If you're making sales, especially if you're making repeat sales, then you clearly have something good going for you. So, why aren't you encouraging customers to become advocates for your brand? Start using your social media profiles to encourage your customers to share your brand with friends. While gamification can help, you can't rely on this technique solely.

Encourage customers to create their own content about your brand. Sound scary? It shouldn't be.

According to the above graphic from BzzAgent, brand advocates are twice as likely to create online content about your brand than the average web user. Also, they are usually genuine and free communicators. Get these people on board.

Coca-Cola has some pretty amazing brand advocates. Coca-Cola CMO, Joe Tripodi, wrote in April 2011:

"We estimate on YouTube there are about 146 million views of content related to Coca-Cola. However, only 26 million views were of content that we created. The other 120 million views were of content created by others."

Talk about advocacy!

Where Are Your Repeat Customers?

If you think your business doesn't lend itself well to repeat customers, think again. You've already used content marketing to go through all the hard work of earning first-time customers. It only takes a little more work to make them repeat customers.

Depending on the nature of your business, some customers may drop off the map after the sale, but that doesn't give you the excuse to drop the ball. Use an effective email marketing strategy that targets your different types of customers. Keep tabs on how long it's been since a customer has purchased from you, and know what their needs are one week later, one month later, one year later, etc.

Without being obnoxious, make sure that you're emailing them offers and information on how you can meet those needs. Also try implementing a loyalty program. This is a great way to encourage customers who might not otherwise be inclined to do repeat business.

Stop Dropping the Ball!

These are just four of the big areas where I see clients slipping up. Of course, pitfalls are everywhere.

What areas do you consider to be the risky disaster zones where we can lose all of our hard work in the blink of an eye?

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Project Management For Profit

Posted: 09 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT

The book Project Management For Profit: A Failsafe Guide to Keeping Projects On Track and On Budget is making a timely appearance in business culture today.

Moreover, authors Joe Knight, Roger Thomas, and Brad Angus know it, as they note that the future has arrived and why projects are the result:

"One reason is the amazing proliferation of project-based companies in today's economy. Construction firms, software companies, architectural and engineering firms, marketing and public relations and consulting businesses, designers, machine builders, event managers, IT systems companies… it seems as if the whole world is getting more project based, since people can now collaborate easily over large geographic distances."

Project Management for Profit offers a methodology that clearly speaks to that world. It notes what should and should not happen to get a project off the ground, all with a style fitting for those seeking metrics for progress but not necessarily a specialist enough to know exactly where to start.

I discovered it through a book selection with Harvard Business Review press, and felt the author's approach matched up for what small business need in seeking a project manager.

Three sections cover the basics for promoting the metrics and methods involved with the system:

Laying the Foundation mostly explains how the system came to be, fueled by a small company's struggle to reconcile project cost in its accounting. Later chapters in the segment focus more on how to apply the system.

Putting The System to Work covers useable metrics and approaches, particularly on managing expenses and time.

Getting The Most Bang For Your Buck gets into establishing scorecards and metrics for monitor progress.

The title's mention of failsafe can cause thoughts of those "get rich" hackjobs at first glance, but from page one you'll find that the authors' instincts are the real McCoy for profitability.

Knight, Thomas, and Angus note that project management is a mindset "that turns up in every corner of the business world." And the principles are crafted with a straightforward honesty, no used-car salesman spin, such as principle one, which reads:

"Project Managers are responsible for planning, initiating, executing, and profiting from their projects. They should know exactly where a project stands at any given time throughout the course of the venture."

The second principle addresses today's hyperactive economy, seeking timely information to make key decisions. These principles are pretty straightforward. Yet Project Management for Profit also provides ideas on how to implement each principle.

A chapter notes how materials cost can overrun, giving a project manager the very way to monitor his or her actions outlined in principle one. Measuring percent completion and gross profit per hour is also explained, as well as introducing other useful metrics such as efficiency percentage. Each chapter explains the pitfalls without overdoing the effort.

There's also those aforementioned what-not-to-dos, such as blobs. Here's how the authors define it:

"A blob is a large task or series of tasks required for the project, but with details that are poorly defined and hence poorly understood."

Another project killer is target fixation:

"People don't die from target fixation in business, but projects and companies crash and burn all the time because of it. People get focused on one goal—one target—to the exclusion of all else."

The book is a brief solid guide, with tips and insights readable for those on the go and distracted by a million things needed for their project. The book reads as it’s advertised, meant to help people who need a system but are not technically savvy at standard project management technique. It can fit a small team together in one locale or a team spread across the globe.

Regardless of your team's composition, they will certainly be well managed.

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