Improving the Effectiveness of Social Media Efforts
No doubt about it. Social media is part of the marketing mix for any business today. But, managing it and getting results from it can be a challenge.
What is Account Based Marketing and Why Would You Use It?
I’m a huge proponent of target marketing – identifying specific vertical markets and creating marketing strategies and content for each one. Account Based Marketing takes this to a new level.
Account Based Marketing (ABM) is the antithesis to the more widely used marketing method of casting a wide net to appeal to as many companies as possible. ABM is a form of strategic business marketing where an organization takes an individual prospect or customer and treats it like its own market.
Key Strategies for a Successful Email Campaign
Email marketing is a great marketing tool because it can be targeted, it is measurable, it has a high return on investment and it has vast reach – email is ubiquitous in today’s world. However, it needs to be done right for it to be successful.
Universal Principles of Marketing
Articles about how to have better results with email marketing, social media, direct mail and assorted other media come across my desk all the time. Each one focuses on one type of marketing tactic.
One thread runs through all of them - content! Certain principles about content apply to all of them. Keep these in mind when developing any type of content and your results will be
better.
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It's not about you - it's about your customer, the reader. Don't start with what you do, that
will come later. Open with what your customer's issues are. Show empathy and understanding.
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Make it personal. Segment your messages so that each one speaks to a specific demographic in your
audience. You want people to feel like you are talking to them.
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Make it engaging. Talk about the things that are meaningful to your audience, such as how
a problem can be solved.
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Make it valuable. Give advise, make an offer.
- Make it brief. Short paragraphs and bullets will get your message across and hold the readers attention.
- Include images. Images act to immediately engage the recipient before they've read a single word.
By following these few principles you'll get more interest in what you have to offer whether you are posting on facebook or sending a direct mail piece.
Do's and Don'ts of Networking for Small Businesses
When I started my business 15 months ago, I was a novice at networking. Like many small business owners I spend a good amount of my time networking to meet other business owners with the goal of bringing in new prospects. The purpose of networking is not to necessarily meet people who need your services.