2009
Part of a new initiative I’ve embarked on this year is providing a workshop series for small business owners in my area. A portion of what we’re putting out there is some basic marketing training, both in traditional and non-traditional spaces. It’s certainly not the first time I’ve trained people in these areas, but in this recent forum, we were discussing Twitter – a very new topic for for some people. Many were very excited at the opportunity to embark on the journey, eager to learn how to manage and use it best. Others were less so, skeptically holding fast to a fear of their time being overrun by it. I understand both points of view, but pose today that like any form of marketing for your business, you either embrace it or you don’t, but be mindful that either way, it will carry on without you. For the small business owner still in a holding pattern, consider these points:
- According to a Nielsen study of more than 25,000 Internet users, 90% said they trust recommendations of online people they know and 70% trusted the opinions of people who commented online about previous purchases, even though they might not know them personally
- The respondents in the Society for New Communications Research study revealed that 59.1% use social media spaces to vent their complaints
- 69% of people do their homework online first before making a purchase offline
for another time. This summer, I had occasion to interview her and several of her teen friends, also avid shoppers. The girls are: Becca, 16; Lucy, 15; Sam, 16; and Cat, 16, all residents of Boulder County, Colorado. The feedback is revealing, but a little disappointing at the same time. The conclusion? Many merchants are missing out on the opportunity to create loyal customers by disregarding market competition and the power of the youth dollar. Another discovery is how cost-conscious these shoppers are; they look for deals more aggressively when they’re footing the bill and they have little tolerance for pushy store clerks. Retailers, are you listening?
