Category Archives: Marketing & Advertising

Marketing and advertising ideas and thoughts.

Social Media for small business

Posted on by
Reply

One of the areas most small business owners ask me about is Social Media. Everybody wants to know if social media is worth it? How much time does it take a week? How quickly will they see the results (paying customers)?

The truth is that social media is a multi-headed beast. Not all platforms will be useful for every business. Most businesses will see a benefit from utilising wisely 2 or 3 platforms. Though, in rare cases some business will see little to no benefit from using Social Media if for example the customers are all Octogenarians.

Before making the leap into the world of social media it is important to know ‘why’ you are getting online. Being trendy and innovative is not a reason to invest your time and brand into social media (unless they are some of your core values- in which case you have already missed the boat). Think like a business person, are you there to communicate with existing clients, to share testimonials, to build relationships and strategic allegiances, to take complaints, to make your customer service easier for clients, to create an online catalogue?

Social Media can do more harm than good is used poorly. For example creating a Facebook page for your business will do more harm than good if there is nothing on it or it is not regularly updated. Instead of coming across accessible and professional you look sloppy, unprofessional and dated.

So before you leap, take some time to think about what you want to achieve online. When you have distilled down your goals then look at the various platforms and select 2 or 3 that will help you achieve your goals. Create the pages, or hire someone to brand them for you  (I know a guy that can help you out there). Set yourself a limit of 20 minutes, or an hour a business day to invest in social media and stick to that limit. Social Media is surprisingly addictive.

With all social media remember you are there to build relationships not sell to customers. So don’t be discouraged if there aren’t people beating down your door straight away. Instead measure your strategy’s effectiveness against your goals.

What’s Market Orientation?

Posted on by
Reply

In business it is fundamentally important to know the answers to these three factors:

  1. What you do and why.
  2. What your customer’s want or need.
  3. What your competitors are doing and why.

A business that only looks to one of these factors is doomed to fail in the medium to long term and the reasons are simple:

Failure to know what and why you do what you do lead to a lack of direction. This in turn leads to issues such as Borders faced, ie focusing too strongly on real estate investments when its core business was the provision of books. This lack of a focus on core competencies (what you do well) results in sub-standard goods/services being offered.

A failure to know your customer and that he/she needs or wants results in disconnection and a failure to be able to meet expectations. A consistant failing in this will ultimately lead to customers seeking alternatives to your business. The best businesses know there customers so well they can deliver what the customers will want in the not too distant future, an example being Apple.

Not knowing your competitors ultimately leads to your competition out maneuvering you strategically. If you are not able to predict there choices you will fail to meet and counter their offerings to the market, possibly leaving your business in a position of having to play catch up.

Market Orientation is the marketing strategy concept of incorporating these three elements into the very fibre of your business. It is not just a tool for planning but it must become an integral part of the way you do business if you are to grow and succeed.

A business consultant can assist you in formulating systems to assist you in keeping your attention on these three elements. The next time you have a coffee, take the opportunity to have a think about the three elements of market orientation.

The iPad: A game changer

Posted on by
Reply

Every so often technology changes the way we experience the world. The iPad is one of those monumental shifts.

I know a lot of people who still claim to “Not get it” or to argue about the value of a tablet, saying that they would prefer a laptop/netbook which has more “power”. These, mind you, are often the same people who have not actually used an iPad for any prolonged period of time.

The iPad is a game changer because it changes the user experience so drastically. It enables the user to overcome the limitations and preconceived notions that computers are “tools to do a job”. Its form factor, operating system and tightly controlled user experience allow users to lose themselves in a completely different reality, one where you are not bound by deadlines or other commitments.

iPads can do a lot for businesses too. They can allow customers to interact with products and catalogs in a completely new and less mentally cluttered way. They allow for tangibility in oft intangible products like business plans or financial advice.

Consider adding an iPad app to your marketing material, it may well be worth the effort.

Source: What the iPad’s success says about us | iPad Atlas – CNET Reviews.

The right tool for the job

Posted on by
Reply

“Do I need to get coffee cups with my store’s name on it?” Anna asked me as I was paying for my coffee. “That depends on what you want to achieve” I said. She had hoped for  simple yes or no, she wanted me, as a “marketing guy”, to simply tell her what to do about advertising.

Anna runs a small and growing coffee shop & bookstore in Cronulla. When she first asked me this question she worked 7 days a week from 6am to 7pm at the store and employed 5 par-time staff to assist her. Anna was burning out.

I asked her if she wanted to have a chat about her business and so we set a date. This was really the first time that Anna had thought about her business in the two years that she had been running it. She’d been too bussy working in it to work on it.

At our meeting we worked through her goals & her objectives. In the end Anna realised that advertising on her coffee cups was not the most important thing she could do to grow.

We worked on an action plan, obtained some missing data and were able to make some sound decisions which have freed Anna up to continue to grow and to spend time on her business rather than in it.

Anna didn’t need advertising and media buying advise, she needed someone to help her to see the big picture.

I HATE bad advertsing

Posted on by
Reply

I love great advertising. I really do. It has the power to move us, to inspire us, sometimes even to make us want to buy something (if that’s what its job is). But I really HATE poorly conceived, badly executed, irritating adverts whose sole goal is to annoy you into remembering the message!

The advert below aired during on Channel 10′s Master Chef program. It is the most recent example of irritating advertising that I can think off. Be warned: it’s BAD!

On the flip side, here is a beautiful advert from the marketing genius that is Apple (TBWA\Media Arts Lab):

Where would you rather shop? Apple or Coles?