Designing a Marketing Strategy: DIY or Hire the Experts?

For many small business owners, developing a well-planned marketing strategy places them firmly ahead of the competition. However, many businesses fail to establish a fully realized strategy, preferring instead to generate a few well-intentioned ideas they hope will magically come together. Unfortunately, hoping to “fake it until you make it” rarely turns out well, especially if your small business has limited marketing resources.

Applying careful consideration and foresight when developing your small business marketing plan can provide a strategic advantage against your less organized competition.  But, even the best initial marketing strategies typically have one thing in common: They’re not very good.

Finishing a first draft never leaves you with a perfected version of what you’re hoping to create. Sherlock Holmes was originally named Sherrinford Hope in the first draft of Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective series, who was then accompanied on his adventures by the good Dr. Ormond Sacker. (Hope and Sacker sounds like a real estate law firm, especially when compared to the iconic Holmes and Watson.)

Point is, the first draft of your marketing strategy will rarely be perfect. Creating a successful strategy requires taking a step back, identifying your most glaring mistakes and patching those areas to create a more comprehensive plan that actually meets your small business marketing needs.

Here’s what to keep in mind.

Work From Facts, Not Assumptions

In most cases, your initial small business marketing plan will be based on assumptions. While some of these assumptions may be based on experience or even some data, the vast majority of them will be based on what you believe correct rather than concrete information on what will actually benefit your business or its target audience. For example, you might think your customers will like a certain type of campaign (witty, educational, informative or downright crazy) because YOU like that type of thing.

Step outside your bubble!  Don’t assume your potential customers will like something just because you do.  If you’re basing the majority of your marketing plan on pure speculation, rather than data or intuition based on years of experience, your foundation for success becomes highly questionable.

Stay Open to Change

Staying too ridged to your initial marketing plan is a major hurdle many small businesses need to overcome when creating a successful strategy. It’s easy to fall into the trap of placing too much faith in the work you’ve already done and not fully consider what alternative strategies might offer a better return on investment.

Successful small business marketing strategies require constant testing, and a willingness to make changes and optimize wherever possible. While there will be times where the first draft of your marketing campaign will prove successful, don’t be complacent. There’s always room for improvement.

Accept Your Limitations

If you have no experience in the creation or implementation of a marketing strategy, you’re going to have little idea of whether your strategy is actually working. If you did, you wouldn’t be working off the first draft of a marketing strategy. You’d have previous experience to draw upon and data to work with. How can you minimize failure? You have two options: Learn by trial and error or hire a team like SK Consulting to handle your marketing strategy. We have the knowledge and know-how needed to help create, plan and execute a marketing strategy that will enable your business to better connect with your target audience and increase sales.

However, if you’re ready for the challenge and the steep learning curve that comes with creating your own small business marketing campaign, we can walk you through the steps.

SK Consulting wants you to have control of your marketing.  We teach our clients how to develop and implement a strategic, effective marketing plan.  If you need help conceptualizing and promoting your brand, contact us today!

The Who, What, When, Where and Whys of Social Media

While it can be exciting to have a ton of "likes" on Facebook or see millions of views on a YouTube video, if your business' goal is not solely building brand awareness or driving traffic, a social media following may not be a top priority for you.  If it is, then take the necessary steps to make sure your social media strategy works for you!

1. Choose Your Social Network Wisely

First things first, understand that just because there is a social network, doesn’t mean you need to be marketing on it. You need to understand what the platform really does, how people use it, and determine whether it makes sense for your business to have a presence.

Which social media platforms do your potential customers truly use? Your brand should live where they live so you have a better chance to connect and engage with them. Having great content on Twitter and a highly-active presence means nothing if they aren’t hanging out there.

Facebook

Facebook is still the social media powerhouse with nearly 80% of all internet users (68% of U.S. users) engaging with the platform.  But, the fastest growing demographic on the platform is not the Millennials that started it, but rather their Baby Boomer parents.

Of those aged 65 or older, 62% use Facebook. So, if you’re a wealth management firm marketing to people approaching and starting retirement, Facebook is the place you will want to be.

If your audience is not using Facebook in a work capacity, statistics prove that they are most likely still using the platform -- possibly as a distraction during work.

Creating an ad that speaks directly to your target audience, whether B2C or B2B, will encourage them to click and engage with you.

YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine with more than 3 billion searches a month. With video continuing to surge as a preferred form of content, it’s no surprise that YouTube is the third most-visited site on the web. Do you have “how to” information or tutorials you can show? Create a video and share on YouTube!

YouTube’s popularity has only increased with its inclusion in both Google’s web and video search (the platform is owned by Google). Having an active channel on this platform can only help you acquire followers and traffic to your site.

Twitter

One of the fascinating things about Twitter is its real-time appeal and international reach.

The platform supports 40 languages and more than 2/3 of accounts are based outside of the United States. Global brands can take advantage of this to create excitement about upcoming product or service launches.

LinkedIn

“Social media for professionals.” That’s how most people describe LinkedIn. Talk about a B2B marketer’s dream.

You can connect with people in your target industries (even as specific as to target companies you want to work with) and market to them directly. Or, as you’re looking to grow your business, you can use LinkedIn to recruit quality talent to hire on at your company.

Though these are the four most prominent, there are plenty of other social media platforms you can consider for marketing your business as well, including Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram and more. Just make sure to do your research and the ones you use are where your ideal prospects are. Choosing the right social network is the first step to building a strong presence and following there.

2. Complete Your Profiles (...Yes, Your Personal Ones Too!)

Now that you’ve determined where to build your profiles, do so. This seems like a trivial point to make but having complete profiles is necessary when trying to attract a good following.

Every social media platform has a summary area, profile picture, and cover photo where you can enter and showcase information about your business. Give users sneak peeks into what your company provides, but make sure to keep your branding (visuals and voice) consistent with who you are and what you provide.

3. Analyze Your Competitors

Something you should consistently be doing in marketing is analyzing your competitors. What networks are they active on? What kind of content are they sharing? How often are they sharing?

Understanding your competitor's social media engagement will help you establish a roadmap of what you should be doing as well.

4. Connect with Thought Leaders & Influencers

Connecting with industry influencers is a huge tactic in social media strategy. These companies or individuals are the thought leaders in your industry that your customers and target audience are following. Tap into the resource!

Follow industry professionals from content that you read or watch and share with your audience. Chances are, your followers have the same interest as you.

Do you attend annual events or conferences? Look up the speakers and connect with them on LinkedIn and Twitter. Start having virtual conversations about the event or tweet that you’re excited to be learning from them. If the speaker engages with you (which he or she should), then you may be mentioned in a post that reaches all of their followers as well.

5. Share Awesome Content

Sharing quality content for your audience members will help establish your company -- and personal brand -- as a thought leader within your own industry.

What to Share

The obvious thing to share is your own content. However, many companies get in the habit of only sharing their content, which can actually hurt you in the long-run. When it comes to sharing on social media, there are two very important points to make:

1. Be creative with your content:

Add images, gifs, videos and more to your posts to make them more enticing. People want to see more than just text and need something visually appealing to catch their eye. Including images on the following platforms can increase your engagement by up to 200% depending on the platform.

Connect with your audience in real time by utilizing live video.  Take advantage of this emerging trend and speak directly to your followers!

2. Don’t be a content snob:

Follow the 70-20-10 rule. In this practice, the content you are sharing should be adding value and building your brand 70% of the time, should be others’ posts and ideas 20% of the time and should only promote yourself or your business 10% of the time.

Yes, only 10% of your content on social media should be self-promotional. Why? Because this enables you to build trust with your followers and provide them with truly valuable content and information. Would you follow a company that only blasts you with promo offers all the time? Probably not.

When to Share

There are some general rules you can use when first getting started. Research shows that engagement rates are higher 18% of the time when posting to Facebook on Thursdays and Fridays.

Each of your platforms provides you with insights and analytics that you should be measuring over time. Create a sharing schedule for each platform and see when your posts receive the most engagement.

You can determine the day, time, and type of post to share to best reach your audience. The more they engage with your posts, the more your content will appear in other newsfeeds -- expanding your reach.

6. Utilize Paid Advertising

Now that you’re up and running on social networks, it’s time to take things one step further. Organic views in social media are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Why? Because the platforms are smart and want you to pay to play. Social media advertising is one of the most cost-effective ways to engage with a new, targeted audience.

Facebook Advertising

Because of the number of people using Facebook, you have a good chance of reaching users whether you are trying to target internationally or to a smaller, local region. And you can control who you target.

Facebook’s advertising goes beyond targeting the common factors like gender, location, age, and job titles. You can get as specific as targeting people based on their life events (like those who have children, pets, etc.), finances, politics, purchasing behaviors and more.

Facebook allows you to take into consideration an endless amount of targeting capabilities within a user’s demographics, interests and behaviors.

LinkedIn Advertising

LinkedIn is the go-to social media platform for B2B marketers. Though you don’t have as many factors as Facebook, LinkedIn advertising can get pretty specific when building a target audience.

One feature that LinkedIn recently rolled out is Sponsored InMail. This allows you to send personalized messages to prospects to help reach members when they are most engaged. Your message is delivered to a specified target audience you build and sent only to members that are actively engaged on LinkedIn. Choose to send an introductory message about your business, a recently published resource or offer a free trial to your product or service.

7. Engage With Your Audience

Following the above steps will certainly help you build a strong social media following. Once you build your audience, you need to engage with them. Like posts you’re mentioned in, answer questions when asked and reply to comments made about your content. Social media is meant to be social!

Continue to engage with users and chances are you’ll not only see an increase in followers, but in customers too.

Need help developing a social media brand and plan?  Contact SK Consulting today!

Hey Job Seekers! Know Your Brand!

The first and foremost thing to remember while looking for a job is branding. How you brand yourself, determines your possibility of landing an interview and eventually a job.  Your brand is your why - your authentic, genuine and real purpose and value.  If you don’t truly understand your why, potential employers won’t either.  They will know if you are wanting their job for the paycheck or because your goals and mission are in alignment to theirs.

Searching for a job is an art.  Not everyone is adept in the art. Often people with the right qualifications and experience fall short of getting a job despite fitting the criteria perfectly.  Why?  Because he/she inevitably makes one of a few mistakes in their job search process. 

Here are some common mistakes that can hinder your chances of landing a job or even getting an interview:

1. Branding: Many job seekers don't brand themselves. Your resume and LinkedIn profile is not just a summary of your academic and work experience. It is where you lay the ground work for your brand. Your resume should reflect what you have done in the past and where you are headed. Employers look for an employee who has a clear idea of where they are headed.

2. Relevance: Most job seekers end up making resume in a way which just provides a summary of their academics and work experience. Instead of just listing out your achievement, you need to optimize your resume for the job applying for. Do not just list out your professional achievements but also mention how these will help you in the role you are applying for.

3. Value: Most of the times, job seekers do not know their own value and end up in roles not justified to their talent and qualification. Do your research well and re-brand yourself according to the market trends. As a job seeker, you should know your own worth and what value you can bring to an organization.

4. Network: Most job seekers when they begin searching for a job neglect their own network. As a job seeker, you can benefit from every connection you have. Channel out, let people know you are looking for a job and you might end up not just with information about job openings but also with possible referrals. Go to as many networking events as possible.  Ask friends to invite you as a guest to theirs.  You will show that you are a determined individual who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

5. Research Employer: Most job seekers, if they happen to land an interview, commit the mistake of not researching about their employer beforehand. Before an interview, you must research about your prospective employer. Learn about what they do and what they provide to a customer. Also learn about the role you are being interviewed for and what are the expectations attached with the said role. 

Understanding the role you are being interviewed to fill gives you the opportunity to understand whether or not your brand is a good fit with the company.  If it is, be armed with examples of how your personal brand and your professional experiences can benefit their organization.

If you are struggling to find your WHY or to understand and promote your brand, we can help!  Contact SK Consulting today! 

You Can’t Build a Brand Without TRUST

Building trust online is a gradual process. No matter what industry your business is a part of, trust is always a prerequisite. In fact, the importance of building trust online cannot be emphasized enough if you want your business to be a success. It can be the one factor that differentiates you from your closest competitor.

There are several ways to build trust in the online world. While some ways are more conscious, other elements impact people without them realizing its significance in the moment. For example, a prospective customer might go online to know the review of your product. However, if he reads in the reviews that the product of your competitor has better features than your product, it will more than likely affect his buying decision.

A decade ago, brands built trust by relying on their customers’ word of mouth. One satisfied customer would tell another potential customer about his user experience and that person would tell a third individual. However, in the online world, brands need to focus on building visibility if they want to establish a relationship of trust with their customers. When online users are repeatedly exposed to your brand's name and start viewing it as a reputable source of information, they are likely to make a purchase from you when the time is right for them since the trust is already in place.

Trust isn't something that you're entitled to. It has to be cultivated over a period of time. If you know how to reach out to your consumers intelligently and thoughtfully, you won't have a difficult time establishing trust. Trust is the main reason why branding is so important to all organizations. Brand awareness usually translates into trust, which converts into sales.

Today, brand awareness is built through social media, your website, emailers, and so much more. Brands need to understand that not every user experience is going to be a pleasant one. So when dissatisfied customers reach out to them on the above mentioned channels, they need to provide excellent customer service to keep the trust sustained.

People are more likely to recommend a brand they trust to their close family and friends. In the digital age, one doesn't need to call their loved ones to recommend a brand they love. A simple re-tweet or comment on Facebook can spread the word of your positive interaction with a customer to your followers as well as their friends. When people see that a user trusts you, they are bound to give your brand a try. Since trust is so important to customers, it should be important for brands by default.

Asking your users for online reviews, for example, can generate some negative feedback that might not be a thorough reflection of your brand. However, if your online reviews are a mix of positive as well as negative feedback, customers will appreciate the fact that the reviews aren't paid, which builds trust in the long run.

Trust is one aspect of your business that can rake in a lot of money if you build it correctly. Take the time and efforts to develop an honest connection with your audience and see how it positively affects your brand in the years to come.

If your business is struggling with the trust factor, contact SK Consulting today!  We can help you build on your strengths and develop the right messaging to reach your target audience. 

Branding: Planting an Idea, Growing a Business

Your small business doesn’t need to be a world-famous household name in order to have a strong brand.  But it does need to be nurtured so that it grows properly, in the direction and to the size expected.

There’s more to your brand than just your logo and a snappy slogan. It is the entire sum of what your company does, what you excel at and the experience your customers have with you. It determines whether customers join your loyalty club and refer you to friends — or don’t bother with you again.

If you don’t know what you do or why you do it, nobody else will.  Below are some guidelines to ensure that your brand is planted the right way and flourishes every day!

Know Specifically Why You’re in Business

In today’s competitive marketplace, you don’t want to be a “jack of all trades, master of none.” While it may be tempting to offer clients a wide menu of products and services, it’s important to keep your brand focused.

Specializing in one thing allows your small business to stand out in the market. Being an expert in what you do, and doing it better than anyone else, helps the marketplace see you as the #1 source. Your customers have specific needs, wants, values and characteristics. Ensure your brand lets them know you understand them, and can provide what they desire.

Clearly Define Your Brand Promise

Your brand promise is powerful. It’s the statement you make to your customers and target audience that lets them know what to expect every time they interact with you and your employees, products and services. It is based in reality, and it’s something you can prove. Your brand promise is why they can’t do without you and would never go anywhere else.

Need help? Complete this sentence: “My customers buy from us because we’re the only one that…” The more specific the answer, the clearer your brand promise will be.

Target Whom You Want to Serve

Your small business can’t do everything; likewise, it probably can’t serve everyone.

Your customers may skew toward certain demographic or socioeconomic groups. They may share a particular problem, interest or need. Your brand needs to connect with these people. They’re your target audience, the consumers you specifically aim to serve.

Be Honest and Authentic About Who You Are

Your brand has to talk the talk and walk the walk. Otherwise, you’ll present yourself inconsistently and confuse the marketplace. If you’ve clearly defined your audience and what sets you apart, authenticity should come easily. When it comes to your brand, be consistent and genuine. That will make it easier to build trust with your customers, connect with them and do repeat business.

Differentiate Yourself from the Competition

Knowing what you do best and being able to convey that to your target audience means knowing what you’re up against.

With that in mind, you must be aware of your strengths and your weaknesses. Learn how to accentuate the former and how to address the latter — or, even turn those weaknesses into positives. And don’t forget to add a bit of your personality or your desired culture into your brand.

Keep Your Messaging and Visual Identity Professional and Consistent

From business cards and logo to email newsletters and brick-and-mortar signage, all of your printed communications and sales materials should look, feel and sound like they come from the same source. Put your company slogan or tagline on everything — it’s your brand promise boiled down to a catchy, memorable phrase.

Ideally, your brand’s visual appearance and messaging:

• Reflect your brand’s personality and voice.
• Set you apart from the competition.
• Appeal to your target audience.
• Command attention.

Create a Dialogue with Your Customers

Sure, you talk to customers when they come in, call or email. That’s a conversation. But conversations end. Dialogues are ongoing.

How can you be interacting with customers even when they’re not doing business with you?

• Post video demos of your products or services to your Web site, Facebook page or YouTube.
• Put a poll on Facebook. It doesn’t need to be related to your business (e.g., ask them what movie they’re going to see this weekend).
• Solicit product reviews on your Web site and on Web sites where your products are sold.
• Respond proactively and professionally to any reviews you receive, especially the negative ones.
• Hold customer appreciation events; people love to know they matter.
• Share useful information; don’t just send advertisements.
• Share testimonials of satisfied customers.
• Use customer satisfaction surveys.

Give Customers a Great Experience at Every Point of Contact

In our digital age, it’s both easier and harder than ever to reach your customers. They’re only a click away. They may never meet you face to face. Make customer service a core value at all levels of your business. Become known as a brand that delivers a terrific experience. Your customers will reward you.

Think of everything you do in terms of customer service, even if you’re not directly dealing with customers. 

Consider the impressions they get when they:

• See your ad, mailing, Facebook page, newsletter or Web site for the first time.
• Walk into your place of business.
• Call you.
• Place an order over the phone or Web.
• Send you an email inquiry.
• Sign up for your mailing list.
• Return to make another purchase.

While it may seem like extra work, these extra touches do matter. More than 50 percent of consumers recommend a company to others because of great customer service.

These tips may seem to take a lot of effort. If you need help developing and promoting your brand, contact SK Consulting.  From Concept to Creation to Implementation, we’re there with you every step of the way! 

Product-Focused Business? A Picture is Worth 1,000 Likes!

The power of social media marketing for promotional products distributors, and any product-based business, should be obvious. Not only does it allow instant access to a vast and diverse network, the ease and quality of image sharing makes it the perfect way to display all of the beautiful products you offer. The persistent question with social media marketing though, is how do you get the most from your efforts? Here are several ways for product-centric businesses, like promotional products distributors, to get the most from their social media marketing.

Focus On The Best Options

With more than a dozen options to choose from, how do you choose which media outlets to focus on? The most popular sites are well known and should be included in any marketing campaign. Spend some time creating an account and getting to know the features of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ before you branch out to others. For promotional products, Instagram, Pinterest and other image-focused sites could also be useful.

Nurture Your Network

One of the strengths of social media marketing is the ability to regularly touch base with your contacts. Commit to two to three posts per week to stay “top-of-mind” and in touch with everyone on your contact list. By posting regularly, you provide opportunities for new contacts to start following your feeds. But be mindful of the balance; you don’t want to overwhelm your community with excessive posting!

Vary Your Posts

If you are posting regularly to your social media sites, you don’t want to bore your audience, right? Keep it fresh by posting on different topics. The goal is to engage your audience, so posting about current events, local issues, or personal anecdotes that appeal to a wide audience is a great way to keep it fresh. Of course, it’s ok to throw in some posts about the products and services you offer but if you keep it diverse, more people will stay interested and connected.

Engage With Your Audience

The best part of social media is the ability to engage with your audience and elicit engagement from them. Along with your commitment to a number of posts per week, you also want to spend time visiting the pages of your contacts to interact there. Not only are you creating better relationships with your contacts, you are becoming visible to their contacts which can lead to a larger audience. Polls, surveys and posting questions on your pages are also great ways to prompt engagement.

Use Images Wisely

Again, the great strength of social media for product-centric businesses is the ease of using high-quality images to show off your products. Explore your editing tools to create appealing, properly sized images you can easily use in social media posts. Once you have the images ready, you can post pictures of products in use, at trade shows or at interesting locations abroad or on vacation. So much of social media is image driven.  Using these features can be very powerful – and it’s definitely more fun than reading a bunch of text!  

With the power of social media, all small businesses have the ability reach a vast network of former and potential customers. If you nurture those relationships and engage with your audience in a way that is substantive, relevant and creative, your community becomes a rich environment that draws customers back to you and gives you credibility with potential customers.

Are you relevant on social media?  If you don’t know the answer, contact SK Consulting today!

It’s Your Brand, It’s Their Choice

It is common when talking about building a business to hear a lot about branding or building your brand. Great, but what does that mean? The first thing you probably think of is creating a great logo. Your logo is a big part of branding, but there is so much more to building your business than just having a cool logo. Branding is about making your business and its products stand out in significant and personal ways.

A great brand considers the following:

Branding is your passion

A major part of branding is being able to answer the question, “why did you create your business?” In other words, what is the story behind your product? By sharing your passion, you are building a brand that is honest and forthcoming. That is a great way to show your audience who you are and why your business deserves their business.

Take the time to think about why you started your business. What motivated you to create your product? Are you solving a problem, or did you create something new that you wanted to share? Once you know the answer, share it.

Branding is about creating emotional connections. By sharing the passion behind your business, you are drawing customers in and creating those connections. Your passion is what will set you apart from bigger companies with bigger brands.

Branding is your purpose

Now that your customers know why you started your business, it is time to answer the question, “what are you trying to accomplish?” A great way to help customers understand your purpose, or end goal, is to come up with a mission statement that states exactly what you are trying to achieve.

Start thinking of your own statement, your anchor statement. Don’t rush this step. It is vital to your business and your ability to connect with your customers. Think hard about what your product or service offers. What qualities do you want people to think of when they hear your business name? This aspect of branding can have the power to deter customers or make them fiercely loyal to your brand. The entire essence of your brand will be summed up in one or two sentences, so make it count.

Branding is your connection to your customers

The most important part of building your brand is connecting with your customers. In order to build a strong brand, you need to create strong relationships with your target market. This means giving them exactly what they expect from your business. Don’t promise great quality or great customer service if you do not have it. If you say you have great customer service, you better have great customer service.

Make the effort to get to know your target market. The more you learn about them, the more you can cater your business to them and their needs. The better your relationship with your customers the more likely they are to endorse you, which will only help build your brand credibility. 

Branding is your logo

While it is true that branding is about more than your logo, it is still very important to have a good one. You can build your brand all you want, but if it is not recognizable at a glance, you still have some work to do. Top-quality brands are instantly known by their logo alone. Just looking at Nike’s swoosh evokes feelings of determination and athleticism.

Designing an impressive, thought-provoking logo is very important to branding and shouldn’t be skimped on. When beginning your design, keep in mind that your logo will go on every piece of paper, every account, and every card that represents your business. Spend a little extra money to hire a designer to create the perfect logo that embodies your business and what you stand for. Well-thought-out logos create emotion that resonates with your target market and draws it to your business.

Branding is your company culture

A good brand should go beyond just dealing with customers. Your passion and purpose should all be a part of your company culture. You want an environment that personifies your products and mission. If someone walks into your office, he or she should immediately see your brand everywhere. He or she should feel it when interacting with one of your employees.

When growing your business, hire those who will represent your brand in the best way. Every employee should know your brand values and your mission statement. You and your employees are your brand’s biggest advocate, so take it seriously.

Conclusion

Your brand can be the most important tool when it comes to helping your business grow. Don’t be discouraged if your brand doesn’t take off at first. Building a brand takes time and effort. It could be months before you see the results of your labor. The important thing is to continually develop your brand. If you do this, the results will come and your business will grow.

If you need help building, re-framing or growing your brand, contact the experts at SK Consulting.