BizCoachDeb's BizBuzz -

Posts Tagged ‘marketing’

Even though Twitter has recently enabled updates that can include your location, it’s pretty clear that applications like Gowalla, Brightkite and Foursquare are burning paths to your customers cell and smartphones. No longer are your customers tethered to their laptops, they are taking their purchasing power on the road – and letting their friends know more quickly than ever before.

And why should you care?

With mobile applications comes mobile decisions, remarks, feedback and more importantly, instant pack mentality.

Consider this: I’m going into Boulder on this sunshiney day to enjoy a margarita on the deck of one of my favorite watering holes. When I arrive,  my Blackberry updates me to tell me of a couple of my buddies who are already here.  My other friends that aren’t even there yet see an update saying that me, Mark and Chris are all at said watering hole, and guess what? We’ve just encouraged a couple friends who were at another place to come join us. Influence is one thing, but what used to take a few phone calls to orchestrate now just takes one “checkin”. The checkin can come to my phone and be sent to multiple social media touchpoints instantly. A social empire is emerging whether you’re using it or not.   The rest of the story...

Spurred by the annoyance of several notable brands (and some virtual unknowns) and their poor use of Twitter, this post has finally bubbled to the top of my consciousness. It’s my shortlist of things I view as pitfalls of Twitter usage. I know, I know, “It’s too young, there are no standards.” But let’s just assume for the sake of conversation that you are a brand (big or small) and you decide to dip your toe into the Twitter pool; whether you know it or not, much like every day conversation, there are some preconceived expectations of the audience you hope to enthrall. After all, you are using it to get customers to beat a path to your door, right? At least that’s what your wunderkind social media marketing guru must have told you: “Customers are on Twitter, we have to set up an account Pronto!” “James, that’s brilliant. I’ve heard about that Twitter thing on CNN.”

So, if have one iota of marketing or customer service sense, please listen up:   The rest of the story...

Talking with a local merchant today, I asked, “Are you on Twitter?” She blushed a little, then replied, “No, me and my business partner are just too busy running this place to keep up with stuff like that. But we do other marketing, like sending out emails.” On the counter, certainly out of eye-shot of the usual customer, was an “email sign up sheet”, curled pages and all. Even the general observer would be able to tell this thing was, (1)not being shared with every potential customer, (2)was not being databased, and (3)was not being used. (You see, my entry from 4 months ago was still there and I’ve yet to receive an email from them.) At that point, I was struck with the realization that while I might be a good geeky juggler, some business owners are more than a little bugged out with the thought of adding a new marketing task to their otherwise nutso day. I get it – but then again, I don’t get it. These same entrepreneurs waste time every day on tasks that bring them no closer to their customers, and some tasks that should be abandoned altogether. Their service is strong, but their outreach is weak.  They’ll spend money on ads and junk mail, (what I consider very passive, shallow marketing) but not put a little sweat equity into new media? Plus, they’re not taking advantage of some really amazing tools on the web today.   The rest of the story...

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:   The rest of the story...

I’m the mother of a teen and trust me when I say she enjoys shopping. Maybe she enjoys shopping just a little too much, but that’s another topic 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?

While the power of teenage shopping is nothing new, there appears to be a drastic shift from the label-addicted shopping that occurred when I was growing up. Sure, they’ll look for the cool label, but when pitted against that or keeping more money in their pockets, today’s teens go for the latter strategy.   The rest of the story...