“Outbound marketing” is where a marketer pushes his message out far and wide hoping that it resonates with that needle in the haystack. Some examples include trade shows, seminar series, email blasts to purchased lists, internal cold calling, outsourced telemarketing and advertising.
Rather than do outbound marketing to the masses of people who are trying to block you out, let’s do “inbound marketing” where you help yourself “get found” by people already learning about and shopping in your industry. In order to do this, make your website a hub for your industry that attracts visitors naturally through the search engines, through blogs, and through social media sites.
I believe most marketers today spend 90% of their efforts on outbound marketing and 10% on inbound marketing. What if we flipped those efforts?
I enjoy Seth Godin’s writing…Â here’s an excerpt from one of his blog entries I want to share with you.
We say we want one thing, then we do another. We say we want to be successful but we sabotage the job interview. We say we want a product to come to market, but we sandbag the shipping schedule. We say we want to be thin but we eat too much. We say we want to be smart but we skip class or don’t read that book the boss lent us.
The contradictions never end. When someone shows up and acts without contradiction, we’re amazed. When an athlete just does the sport, or when a writer just writes the words, we can’t help but watch, astonished at the purity of their actions.
Why is it so difficult to do what we say we’re going to do?
The correct question to ask if you “need a promotion” is, “Are You Qualified for a Promotion?”
- Diligence in your workplace brings added responsibility.
- Added responsibility brings promotion.
- Promotion brings more cash flow to you.
- Cash flow to you brings more responsibility.
- Responsibility requires diligence & accountability.
If you truly deserve the “promotion” in your workplace, consider this:
- Don’t seek the title. Be great at what you do and the title will seek you.
- Make your position great. Your position won’t make you great.
- Let your title come as a result of your work.
If you’re like the majority of businesses (or salespeople), you think primarily about getting a new sale from a new customer.
Wait. The purpose of making a sale to a new customer should be to acquire a new customer—for the long-term. Is the sale you make today important? Sure it is. But how much more is that newly acquired customer worth to you in the long-term than just for today?
A sale is usually a one-time event with a one-time benefit. But if you are a wise, intelligent and savvy business owner, your focus will be on making the sale to acquire a long-term customer.
The service you provide today will determine if your new customer becomes a life-time customer.
Maybe you’re ready for a more professional presence on the world wide web?
If you want your website to work for you, here are some points to think about:
- Keep your website fresh.
- Monitor the effectiveness of your website.
- Collect analytics to see if you need to change what you’re doing.
- Re-evaluate your goals for your website.
- Listen to your customers that go to your website.
- Keep new products / services in front of your website visitors.
- Have your website re-designed by professionals.
It’s time. The new year is right around the corner.
Direct Mail takes the advertiser’s message directly to the consumer.
With targeted mailing lists, advertisers can send their message to specific groups.
Direct Mail puts the advertiser’s message in the hands of the consumer at home where they read all their mail.
Direct mail is not without its problems. Over the years, direct mail also became known by another name: junk mail. Some consumers were tired of receiving numerous ads in the mail each day. Many threw away the suspected ad-filled mail.
Since consumers may have a tendency to throw away mail associated with ads, marketers were challenged to ensure consumers were reading their ads.
That’s why at YourAdTeam, we specialize in producing top-notch over size postcards that don’t have to be “opened” to grab the recipients’ attention.
Now’s the best time ever to develop your direct mail campaign. Let’s talk.
When making a significant purchase, consumers are always seeking validation of their choices from others.  But this is hardly something new.
Prior to the advent of the social web, you would have had to rely on advice from knowledgeable friends, or consulted trade magazines. But now, social media allows consumers to tap into feedback from others who have already tried your offering.
This should send an important message to marketers: Don’t forget about the needs of your existing customers after they have purchased a product because they are influencing the decisions of others who are considering it.
So, why is it so easy to find reasons to gripe, complain and moan 364 days a year? Then Thanksgiving Day rolls around and we muster up our best attempt to spend a few hours thinking of things we are thankful for.
Thanksgiving Day is barely over and we’re standing in line at 3:00am on black Friday griping, complaining and moaning about the 87 people who pitched tents to be in line before you.
Instead of one day a year for Thanksgiving, I propose we turn one day a year into Gripe, Complain and Moan Day. That would give us 364 days to talk about everything we are thankful for, including what Thanksgiving Day actually symbolizes. Sounds like a good idea for a Facebook group.
How exactly do you spend your “one day of thanks?”
It’s really not enough to have a Search Engine Optimized website without developing a social media strategy. Here are a few tips that have the potential to add a high level of success to your SEO Website.
If you don’t have a social media platform for your company, create one! Start with the basics: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and a blog.
Gather up content that you already have, chop it up into small bites, then develop a publishing schedule. Add a little spice to your content to make it relevant and fun… things that your target audience would find interesting.
Your Facebook page is a microsite; your YouTube Channel is a video microsite; and your Twitter account is your micro-blog. Driving visits to these pages can drive engagement and create lifelong connections with consumers when they “friend” or “follow” you. Think of fans and friends as people opting into your database.
Post your YouTube channel’s videos and include them on your site.
Promote your social media assets like crazy. Post them on your site, drop press releases about them in the wire services, and link to them from your site and in e-mail signatures.
Track traffic and actions in general using Google Analytics.
I’ve often wondered why the people who sell information on infomercials about how to get rich in real estate aren’t using the information to actually make their own fortune in real estate. Oh yeah, the whole point is, they’re getting rich off people who fall for buying the information. (Don’t forget to read the fine print on the screen next time you’re about to pick up the phone and order that kit.)
I’m thinking this is the same scenario for social media.
Has anybody else noticed the social media ‘experts’ and the social media sites are the only ones making money on social media?
I’m not downplaying the effects social media has in our society. Facebook has made an undeniable impact on the way people interact. Twitter… well, it’s fun, but most people don’t really understand what use it has. LinkedIn is really helpful as a business connection tool.
Social media is an important piece of the pie in advertising… but remember, it’s just a small ‘piece’ of the pie, not the whole pie. Traditional advertising (direct mail, television, radio, newspaper, etc.) still works better than social media.
