Marketing Magic

Many years ago, marketing was all about signage and the Yellow Pages. Fast forward 50 years and though the ways perhaps have changed, the general concept of marketing has stayed the same - effectively get in touch with prospective customers concerning the value of your product or service. In this particular digital age, on the other hand, the number of ways to communicate has grown exponentially, leading marketers to operate complex and complicated campaigns both on and offline.

At least that’s what should be taking effect. At the mention of complex and complicated, you start to drop people. The funny thing is that people are complex and complicated. It’s human nature of having diversity in thoughts, feelings, memories, and beliefs. For a marketer to function, they must have an understanding of this psychology and build their campaigns around it, even if it is more work.

Prevent Tunnel Vision

Working on a single channel can result in certain failure. Maybe failure is an overstatement, but anticipating anything further than marginal success is ridiculous. The magic takes place when marketing evolves to suit the multi-touch world we are in. Every day you watch commercials, tune in to the radio, make an online purchase, use your cell phone, and do 50,000 other activities, most likely at the same time. People are no longer satiated carrying out just one thing. The new norm is to multitask so it only makes sense to try to get in touch with people in any and all means possible.

Uncover Jacks Of All Trades

This is when it gets complicated for marketers. To be effective involves an in-depth, and yet varied, understanding set that is less likely to exist in a single person. Not many people know enough about PPC tactics and printed collateral and social media and everything else to carry out multi-touch promotions flawlessly. The truth is, you must know enough to know that you don’t know everything. That’s when you hire someone (or begin to read every blog you can get your hands on) to fill up each gap.

Have A Plan

Once you’ve got the appropriate people, get the right plan in place. Think of your consumers and potential customers. More importantly, try to think like they think. Where would they go? What would they do? Who'd they speak to? Identify each channel that details your target market and build out campaigns, ensuring you’ve got the right imagery and messaging for each and every mode. 

Busy moms don’t have time to talk to a salesman for 10 minutes and senior citizens aren’t likely to be spending their days playing games on their mobile (unless it’s Words With Friends). Once you understand these doings and build campaigns to match them, the magic will begin.

Soon enough, you’ll seemingly be everywhere. Suddenly, they know your name, but they’re not really sure where they first heard about you. They’ve have a general thought of what your product or service is, they remember seeing something about you online and they’ve got a image in their head of what your logo is. You’ve reached them in every way that matters to them and it’s paid off. Now, let’s hope you’ve implemented multi-touch attribution at the same time.

Growing Your Business by Innovation

Obtaining Growth by Great Ideas

A primary source of progress is by product innovation or marketing ideas. Getting more people to purchase your product is achieved either by product innovation or fresh ideas to advertise your product. By their very nature, new ideas are creative. Offering ways to problems is important. They assist to fulfill the customer’s needs and gives differentiation from the competition.

Let's take a look at marketing and advertising a home builder through signage. At its core, signage carries a specific function - to communicate. When a sign works well, it allows the individual looking at the sign to make smart, profitable and helpful choices. Signs can be regarded as one of the following or all: Information, Direction, Identification, and Safe practices or Regulatory. However signage does not have to be boring. There are plenty of sign manufacturing companies available but deciding on who to employ to promote your product should not be a difficult method.

A number of sign companies are frightened to push the envelope. But in today’s competitive market, creativity and originality gives you the extra push in getting you noticed by nowadays smart buyers. Search for a sign company that not simply produces and installs your product but designs the product. They have to be able to pay attention to all your views and ideas so that they can really push the envelope. Don't be afraid of creativity and new ideas. 

Most great ideas originated from marketers who understand your product, have many years innovating and making award winning designs and are willing to take a risk. So there are opportunities to work with sign manufacturers that can push the overall aesthetic to an enhanced sign design that can bring more customers to your community.

So don't be afraid to look at different sign companies and come across a sign manufacturer that is capable to try out designs by experimenting with color, font, shape, texture and production. If it will cost you a bit more but the result sets you apart from another builder in the same community, isn't the extra cost worth every penny.

Choosing the Right Social Media for your Company

Currently there are billions of people today registered on the major social media sites. It’s good to create a presence on all the major social networking websites, but it’s more important to be active on the networks that are most appropriate to your business. There are a few differences between the major social media sites, and tapping into the suitable channels is the key to creating the most of your time and energy

To discover out which platform is perfect for your business, consider some of the following:

•           Facebook is the undisputed leader in sheer size. It draws in a diverse crowd which is made up of all people from students to professionals. Facebook works extremely well by nearly any business to tap into potential customers and fans, but it also has such a various and massive crowd that it takes effort and hard work to create your niche on Facebook.

•           LinkedIn is the only significant social media site which specializes in professional industries. The connections you develop on LinkedIn may be harder to find, but with the right circumstances they can be tremendously useful. There are also some features not present for LinkedIn company pages, such as ratings and reviews, which one can find on other networks.

•           Twitter makes social media dead simple, but additionally it reduces much of the features you find on other networking sites. Twitter is a beneficial tool for building a social media channel with minimal effort, and is incredibly famous. But it also lacks in brand definition and extra features that networks like Facebook provide. There's also specific segments of the population that aren’t pleased with the kind of connections that Twitter offers.

•           YouTube is among the more neglected yet most widely used social media sites. It's well known YouTube as a video sharing site, but it also lets people follow your updates and it enables businesses and professionals to build channels to feature their content. YouTube is an ideal platform for releasing catchy videos and resources that users might find useful. It can also help to gain more outstanding results in Google.

•           Google Plus has a massive number of users due to the integration with Google search and Google Accounts, but it also has restricted reach within many social groups. Local businesses will see it to be a great tool because it permits companies to integrate more tightly with Google search results and local search.

•           Pinterest is a completely unique social media site and that it revolves around photos. This is an great spot for businesses to build their brand and culture by posting exceptional and great images that individuals can share. Posting images of unique products utilized, prototype products or concepts can be a great way to get people speaking about your brand and passing easy to digest pictures around the web.

As pointed out, the effective way for any business to use social media marketing is to get involved on the appropriate level on all the major social networking sites. However for most small businesses, you must draw the line somewhere as you've restricted resources and time. By evaluating and deciding on the right social media networks to get involved in, you can increase your investment and make sure that your hard work pays off in the long run.

One Deadly Error to prevent in Change Management

Leading change is really a challenging process all the way up from the start to the end. In every single of the stages there are various things to be aware of in order not to turn into a real mess. The bigger the change, the higher the chances for the mess and worse is the outcome of it. This is even more true and possible with the changes which involve an enormous number of people or a big organization in whole. In cases as such professional change management is always welcome and highly recommended.

It is a tricky procedure and there are numerous aspects to pay attention to. However one of them particularly should not be ignored and must not turn wrong if we want to effectively apply the change. That's open two-way communication with all relevant stakeholders.

The change management method has other important aspects and elements like analyzing, planning, envisioning, equipping, leading, monitoring, empowering, determining objectives and quick wins, stakeholder management etc. But yet, communication is the most vital component of the entire process and this is why.

Communication is the aspect that moves us through successful management of the change process starting from the pre-change phase when everyone is sitting comfortable in their status-quo positions. 

Communication is necessary to relocate them from that position and out of their comfort zone without creating stress, stress and resistance. So for you to even start the change you need open two-way communication which will consist of all necessary information on the current situation, the desire for the change and the perspective of what the progress will bring. This part is crucial for successful and clean management of the process that comes after. If the initial communication turns wrong, then everything will most probably go wrong, also, or in best instance will need a lot more energy to solve it.

Basically, people today allow changes very personally. It is in human nature to be fearful of the unknown. Changes create a lot of worries which generates resistance and opposition. In this phase the excellent task would be to win people over, to reduce anxiety and inspire them to get involved in building the change. This is all down to proper change management based upon solid communication plan that can present open, continuous and consistent communication.

When the change process is on its way, communication could be used to envision, motivate and inspire but also to maintain all stakeholders informed concerning the status, what's been achieved and what’s next. Communication is also the foundation for organization, reporting and managing the change all through the process.

At the end of the process, communication could be used to sum up and celebrate the success. Both, though strictly connected to the respective change process, also benefit future change projects. In that particular direction, summing up provides valuable lessons learned that can be utilized in the future, while celebrating and acknowledging will lift the team spirit and prepare it for new obstacles.

Without proper communication, all process phases along with other aspects and elements will be in danger. The method itself will be a battle rather than a well managed project. So the # 1 dangerous mistake that can ruin your whole project is the insufficient proper on time open two-way communication.

Run Your Business -- Don't Let It Run You

Probably the most essential concepts of being a business owner is always to run your company; do not let it run you. To run your business is to establish a vision of what is attainable. a vision that is certainly greater than doing the day-to-day work associated with your ability or trade. To lead your company is to make a path based upon your strengths and to take inventory of your flaws for you to fill in the spaces.

To run your business is to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and to find the resources you'll need. To run your business is being aware of the limiting beliefs that you hold and replace all of them with beliefs that will push you forward, keep you motivated and encourage you. To run your business is to own a business and also a balanced life, not have the business run you.

Letting your business run you will mean that:

•           You are satisfied with exactly what is and ignore what can be.

•           You spend your time carrying out the daily tasks that you are familiar with and at ease doing.

•           You are the business that without your energy and time, the business is absolutely nothing.

To discover if you're operating your business or if it is running you, have a day to day activities checklist for one week. Every 30 to 60 minutes, momentarily end whatever you are accomplishing and create a note of the things you did during that period of time.

Make your notes brief - you don't need to write a novel and you don't wish to take more time writing your notes than having the work done. You should not judge the activities you are writing down, just simply write them down. You will evaluate your activities with your coach when you're finished picking up your notes for one week.

After seven days of writing down your activities, take a good look at everything you have written.

•           How are you spending your time?

•           Where is your focus going?

•           What do your activities say about precisely how you are leading your business?

Being a business owner means taking accountability for the business that you've developed. It's not hard to be resentful of all the time it takes to operate a business. Put one eye on the future and determine where you would like your business to be in 1 year, 5 years, ten years and 20 years. Then put your other eye on what is happening in the business right now. A business owner can all together hold the two existing reality and future possibilities.

You will be amazed to see the outcome of this exercise.

5 Thanksgiving Ideas for Brands

As families, friends and loved ones get together to celebrate Thanksgiving, marketers should consider looking at just what the meaning of this holiday might help them add meaning to their own connection.

You can feel the anticipation growing. Blissful discussions of dinner plans, heated debates concerning the best recipes for stuffing, some anxiety over travel prospects and bustling shoppers stressing out their most favorite grocery store: indeed, Thanksgiving is near. It is, again, this time of the year where we're willing to get in touch with loved ones and feel the urge to be pleased for good things in our lives.

While it’s easy to totally embrace the celebration on a personal level, I'm wondering how challenging it is to make the leap in our work. How do we show thanks towards the individuals who matter to us - our clients and customers? When was the last time we thanked them? And did we do it properly: was the appearance of our gratitude sufficient with what our clients really mean to us?

There's absolutely some motivation to be found in Thanksgiving, a celebration that completely encapsulates both sides of gratitude, feeling it, and acting on it. Here's 5 things about Thanksgiving that will motivate brands.

1. Thanksgiving started out as a tradition to celebrate the harvest of the year. The loyalty of a client is just what brands aspire to harvest over and over again. Creating innovative branding campaigns or elaborating wise promotions. So, as Thanksgiving nears, we have to ask: what do we should harvest? Sales, engagement, customer satisfaction - how have they been grown over the last year?

2. Having established what you harvested, no matter big or small, considers thankfulness. Doesn’t mean your customers who naturally will appreciate all the enjoyment you contributed into their daily lives. I’m talking about how you have expressed or show your gratitude for your customers’ loyalty. Be it ancient or nascent? What have you conducted these days to show you value their business?

3. In the era of data and ROI driven marketing and advertising, there's no excuse to not be grateful. Each and every move from customers is taken into account. Therefore, marketers can create something good to reward their behavior and express appreciation. Planting those little seeds of thankfulness will guarantee success of the next harvest.

4. Because Thanksgiving also is about giving back. Henry Van Dyke summed the idea wonderfully: “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” We construct a whole company around this mantra. We understand the price of small rewards that can nurture or change a relationship among brands and their customers. We call it generosity marketing.

5. Lastly, if food is that important on Thanksgiving, it’s mainly because dinner is a fantastic excuse to assemble around with friends and family and share a meal, experiences, emotions. Thanksgiving is indeed one of these times a year where we are eager of focusing again on emotions and connections. If the occasional family drama invites itself to dinner, this is also the best time to rebuild broken links. This is certainly something brands can very well relate to. In today’s economy and tough competitive environment, emotions are the one thing that keeps the bond between a brand and its users together. If you think yours is drained or you hope to strengthen it, we may help.

New Guidelines for Search Engine Traffic

Over the past few years, Google has changed exactly how people search for products and services on the Internet. If you desire your website to generate a great deal of visitors regularly, then you'll need to produce content that's alluring to search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Internet marketing experts used to depend upon keywords to enrich content and bring traffic. But things have changed and now there's much more to web content than merely a couple of keywords and some intriguing links.

Your Content Has To Be Relevant To Your Website

As soon as the search engine changes, Google warned website owners that their content has to have worth for visitors if it was going to help push a website up in to the first page of search results.

Originally, having pertinent content on your website wasn't a requirement so much as following formulas to game the system. Today, it really is one of many strictest rules marketing experts follow.

All of your current website content has to focus on your business and supply worth to your readers. If you have a website that sells shoes, then publishing recipes for cupcakes is not a good idea. That kind of content will not provide any value to your readers and it could get your website banned from Google results.

Your Content needs to have Good Grammar and Spelling

Back in the day of web content, website owners could obtain content cheap from overseas suppliers who barely speak English. So long as the keywords were in place, it did not matter if the remaining portion of the content even made sense at all or if website visitors stuck around, so long as they visited an ad or offer while they were there.

The rules have totally changed and now your posts really need fantastic grammar and spelling if you want to attract traffic.

Today, your content also has to be 100% original, too. This means that you should not cut and paste someone else’s article onto your website. These guidelines about content structure are incredibly essential for website owners to follow.

Keywords Have Changed

SEO marketing experts used to use one and two-word phrases to help attract visitors to a website. From the time Google started changing its algorithms, that concept has also passed by the wayside.

Today’s keywords are phrases and even partial sentences that can help the search engines to discover the best match for a user’s search request. Rather than short phrases, keyword searches are not four and five words long. These are known as long-tail search phrases and they're becoming the norm for all website content.

Links Should Be Natural

A website was once able to use just about any kind of backlink to draw in traffic and it is acceptable. But Google has clamped down on backlinks and it has changed the rules on what is suitable and what is not.

With regards to links in your website, you can’t purchase links. You have to go out and solicit deals with other website owners to trade links and make the linking more natural. And, the websites you link to should be reliable and related to what’s on your own website. Once again, Google is looking to create a focused search experience for the user by reducing undesirable links and poor websites.

Your website will benefit substantially from well-crafted content which deals with the needs and concerns of your readers. It’s important that your content, keywords and links are all appropriate to the theme of your website and offer value to your users.

If this may seems like a lot of work, it’s because it is! SEO can be quite a great long-term method to generate traffic, but it really does take time and a great deal of consistent energy.