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Beat the Summertime Marketing Blues

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By July, we will be knee-deep in BBQ’s and afternoon siestas! It happens every year, warmer weather means people are spending more time at the beach and less time making heavy buying decisions.  Also, some small business owners become lethargic in their marketing activities. Here are some ways to combat and tackle the quiet summer marketing months:

Go to camp: The same way camps inspired and changed you as a child, summer can change you as an adult. If the summer months are typically slower, invest some of that time elsewhere and in other actions that will help you to grow your business. Learn a new skill, take a class, immerse yourself in your industry, form and strengthen your ties to your industry, etc. The knowledge and connections you gain during these months will make you stronger and more powerful once the cooler weather hits and things pick up again. Can’t make a physical camp, try virtual ones. A number of industry or trade associations offer free webinars to attend – where the only cost is your time.

Create cross promotion incentives: Unless your business is summer-oriented, things typically slow down for everyone during the warmer months. This makes it the perfect time to band together with complementary local businesses and find ways to cross promote. Create new partnerships that will allow you to trade services and share referrals to create new incentives for customers. If you’re a bakery, find a local sporting arena or community theater and ask them to sell your cupcakes at their concession and offer to give coupons or notices about their events in return. If you’re a landscaper and your business is booming, hand out flyers for winter service companies to get people thinking early.

Do something crazy: When things get you slow, you have the best reason to experiment and try things you normally wouldn’t have had time to risk. You know that marketing strategy you wanted to try in December but you didn’t have time? Or that product you’ve been waiting to test? The local seminar you wanted to try and organize for your community? Now is the time to do that. Right now you have the time to brainstorm and implement things you won’t necessarily be able to fit in a few months from now. Use it.

Get more social with your brand: Similar to doing some crazy, now’s the perfect time to start experimenting with social media and to create your social media business strategy. Set up that Twitter account, create the Facebook Fan pages, and film those customer retention YouTube videos, etc. If things are getting slow, occupy that time with new activities that could strengthen your company in the long haul. We all have whiteboards of things we can’t wait to do if only we had time…now you have that time.

Research new forms of marketing: Break out of your current promotional bubble and look for new opportunities. Keep an eye out for new speaking opportunities, write articles to appear in industry publications, start making new connections with local media, and get a little bit aggressive with your promotional tactics. The media has a tendency to get a little “soft” in the summer months, help give them content to stand out among all the fluff pieces about summer festivals and events. They’re hungry for it and if you can pitch them a great story about your company, they’ll very likely take it. These types of activities will also help build your place as an expert long after the leaves begin to change colors again.

Don’t let your marketing spirits die due to the summer slump. Instead, use this time to try out new strategies, create new relationships and build momentum that will take you clear into the Fall.

Article inserts from Lisa Barone, Marketing tips

What is Content Marketing?

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Content Advertising

Useful content should be at the core of your marketing. Consumers have shut off the traditional world of marketing. They own a DVR to skip television advertising, often ignore magazine advertising, and now have become so adept at online “surfing” that

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.”

Content marketing’s purpose is to attract and retain customers by consistently creating and curating relevant and valuable content with the intention of changing or enhancing consumer behavior. It is an ongoing process that is best integrated into your overall marketing strategy, and it focuses on owning media, not renting it.

Basically, content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent. The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if we, as businesses, deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, they ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

Content marketing is highly successful. It is being used by some of the largest marketing companies in the world, including P&G, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and John Deere. It’s has also, become a valuable marketing tool for small businesses and one-person shops. 

Insert from Content Marketing Insititue Article

Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2014

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By Sharon Geltner, a marketing teacher and small business counselor at Palm Beach State College 

2014 Marketing Predictions
2014 Marketing Predictions

“The small businesses I work with know that social media has a lot of marketing potential,” she says. “I think in 2014 we’ll see new social media tools revealed and smarter strategies from small business owners.” 

These are noted predictions from Sharon Geltner:

Linkedin to be social media powerhouse in 20141. LinkedIn will become the go-to social media site

 Linkedin is making big strides to earn you attention, Geltner says. The site, known among Geltner’s clients as “Facebook for grownups,” has attracted a lot of new users with business-centered features like endorsement tools and the ability to join groups. 

“LinkedIn will become a social media powerhouse in 2014,” she says. “More business owners are realizing the treasure trove of information that potential clients list on profiles.”

Geltner expects business owners to search LinkedIn for potential clients and use the information offered online to do research before cold calling a prospective customer.

YouTub will continue to grow in 20142. YouTube channels will grow

Geltner predicts more businesses will turn to video to spice up marketing campaigns in 2014. With YouTube channels growing in popularity and video equipment becoming cheap and easy to use, Geltner says more emails and social media posts will contain videos rather than lengthy paragraphs.

“People click on videos,” Geltner says. “If your business can pack information into an informative and

, online retail store, Zappos, says 250,000 visitors were driven to its website by YouTube in 2012.

3. Small businesses will get selective about social media

Every small business struggles to balance time, money and resources. While many small businesses gravitate towards all social media platforms because of their free marketing potential, Geltner expects businesses to be more efficient and selective in 2014.

“The novelty of social media is starting to wear off,” she says. “Business owners don’t need a presence on every social media site that exists.”

She believes small businesses will focus on one or two platforms rather than offer a meager presence on every site. A shift towards quality over quantity is also expected.

“Small businesses have enough experience with social media to realize that they don’t have to post every 30 minutes, but when they do, the content should be worthwhile to readers,” she says.

While Geltner says social media tools are an affordable way for small businesses to generate leads and promote a brand, she reminds owners not to forget about traditional media. Geltner says social media isn’t a silver bullet and advises every small business to combine its social media marketing with traditional marketing tools like email marketing to have the most successful year.

2014 Marketing Trends to Note

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2014 Marketing TrendsMarketing campaigns continue to evolve from traditional print media to online digital means. Businesses are finding more success with content and original publishing channels online rather than with advertisements within content. Marketing tactics should include magnifying brand recognition and taking advantage of audience growth.

2014 Marketing Trends to take note of:

• Content marketing will be a huge industry in 2014. Companies advertise and gain consumer trust by creating valuable content through different channels. A company can build rapport with its demographic market and create a loyal following, by using information with greater insight and entertainment to audiences. Using content marketing in on websites, social media, blogs, as comments, in emails and videos will offer opportunities for company to build higher brand recognition.

• Social media networks will continue to dominate in 2014. New social media (sm) sites are popping up all the time. If a company is not listed on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter or other popular sm network, their audience will more than likely dwindle.  It will be wise to diversify your marketing efforts by using social media to build audiences across different platforms.

• Content must be easily and quickly recognizable. When looking at social media sites or any other content use images. Successful blog posts that receive the most audience participation have well-placed pictures to break up content and emphasize products and services. Use infographics that combine images with a bit of text to explain a topic or give statistical information.

• Simple is better; less is more. Simplistic marketing messages and recognizable logos are the key to online marketing. Consumers today want to look at what you have in about ten seconds and move on to something else.

• Online marketing must be mobile. The growing use of smartphones requires that you have apps and online marketing adaptable to smartphone and tablet use. By 2017, it is predicted that 87% of cellular phone use will be via smartphones.

• SEO (search engine optimization) will continue to be used in online marketing and play a very important role in search ranking in 2014. Providing users with the best and most relevant content is what makes Google run. Share good, targeted content, and the higher ranked a website will be. Also keep in mind that top ranking search results often connect to social shares.

Anatomy of a Successful Brochure

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imgBrochuresBrochures are a marketing mainstay because they’re highly effective in multiple applications. Leave-behinds, point-of-sales, and sales support are all names for different types of brochures that take different approaches to achieve the same end– more sales. Listed below are some key components for successful brochures:

Headline and offer

A bold, compelling headline is the first thing most people notice. When well written, brochure headlines captivate your audience and reel prospects in to read the rest of your message. Powerful headlines play into your audience’s emotions. They solve a problem, fulfill a desire or avoid a fear. Often, the most powerful headlines combine the element of emotion with the presentation of your offer: “Stop paying too much for Product XYZ. Save 15 percent or more when you call us today!”

As mentioned, the offer is integral to brochure success. Make sure your offer is front-and-center – if it’s not in your headline, make sure it’s in your first paragraph of body copy. A good offer has value to your target audience, so try to imagine what it would take for you to take the next step in the purchasing process so you can find ways to trigger your customers’ motivators.

Features and benefits

Features and benefits make up your brochure body copy. Remember that a feature refers to a static fact about a product, service or company; while a benefit refers to how a particular feature will make life easier, better or more secure for your audience. Successful brochures also include supporting evidence to back up performance claims. This can come in the form of testimonials, call-out boxes, quotes, statistics, charts, graphs and other devices.

Offer recap and call to action

The end of your brochure should always include an offer recap to remind your audience that a great deal is on the table, and a call to action that motivates immediate response. Provide several response channels, including e-mail, telephone, website or physical location, so your prospects can respond within their respective comfort zones. Put a deadline on your offer for a more powerful call to action.

Stunning visuals

Great design lends a core theme to successful brochures and funnels readers through the key points and on to the offer recap and call to action. Invigorating images that evoke complementary emotions should be used throughout your brochure; and from a bird’s eye view every brochure should play a role in branding your company.

Quality printing

No brochure is complete with out professional finishing. Successful brochures are printed on high-quality gloss or matte paper stocks; using vivid inks on state-of-the-art printing presses; and have crisp, clean folds. With high quality and professional printing, your designs brim with brilliance and your brochures feel sound and comfortable in your prospects’ hands.

Republished Article: Marketing Ideas

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