Content Marketing: An Age-Old Strategy that Still Works Today

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Content marketing has become one of the buzzwords in the business marketing world. Many claim this is a new way to market. That is not correct. Providing valuable content to lure prospects and visitors has been around for a while. The distribution channels for this content may have expanded recently, but the strategy has been around for many years.

One case in point involves a tiny electronics firm in Seattle. The company opened in 1954 as Magnolia Stationers and Camera Shop in the Magnolia Village shopping district of Seattle. The owner, Len Tweten, loved music, which eventually led him to move the business into the world of high-fidelity audio. This transition over time also prompted a business name change to Magnolia Hi-Fi.

High-quality products and commitment to service were just a part of the overall plan to grow the business. Being a small business with no real marketing plan or budget, Magnolia Hi-Fi decided the best way to differentiate itself was to educate prospects with valuable information about the Hi-Fi world. To do this, the company introduced stereo buyer’s guides (over 30 years ago), which provided educational content and answers to commonly asked questions on buying audio equipment.

The buyer’s guides set Magnolia Hi-Fi apart from the competition. They also positioned the company as leaders and experts in their field in the eyes of their audience.

Did this content marketing plan work?

The tiny store grew into a small chain, which was acquired by Best Buy in December of 2000… for $87 million! In 2004, the Magnolia brand was incorporated into Best Buy as a store-within-a-store, known as Magnolia Home Theatre.

Content marketing works. It works best when you use multiple channels to distribute and share your content (print and digital work in perfect tandem for this strategy). Creating valuable content your prospects are looking for takes some work and resources. But don’t overlook the rewards that can come from that work. It may not net you $87 million, but it can prove to be nearly as valuable.

You can read more of the details behind this remarkable story <a href=”http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2012/09/this-7-step-content-marketing-plan-earned-an-87-million-paycheck/” target=”_blank”>here</a>.

How to Make Marketing and Sales Work Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly

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Marketing is about telling your story. Sales is about having conversations.

From the point of view of marketing, every single business is unique. No two are exactly alike. The mistake occurs when everyone in the industry looks at what others are doing and copies it. The story is no longer unique.

To sell more and to make the job of sales easier, you need to position your marketing message in a unique way that resonates with and attracts the types of customers you’re looking for.

When you do this right, you will end up having conversations. Conversations that will ultimately lead to sales.

If you don’t tell your story, you can be sure that your competitors will tell the story for you. And that is not the story you want prospects to hear.

Stories and the Caveman

From the beginning of time, when early human beings drew paintings on cave walls, people have been telling stories. Stories are in our DNA. Stories connect one generation to the next. The human brain has a special soft spot for stories.

That’s why the most successful brands have a story wrapped up in everything they do. We’re bombarded with marketing messages every day. Why do we remember some brand messages and not others? Because those brands have planted a seed in our brains with their unique and interesting story.

No one forgets Coke and their story of a top secret recipe kept in a vault. Apple, Starbucks, and Virgin are among other brands that tell their story very well.

Why Do We Do It?

Your story should be not just about what you do or even how you do it. The story really should be about why you do it. That part of the story is what connects people with you and your business. That’s what becomes the story of your brand and business.

How Do We Do It?

This doesn’t have to be difficult to do. All you need is a pad of paper, a pen, and a quiet space to think. All you have to do is answer the question: “Why are we doing what we do?”

That’s a big, hairy topic, I know. But you have to tackle it and get it down on paper. If you can manage to answer it in an authentic way that captures the imagination of your prospects, you’ll make your marketing messages focused and much more effective. People may not remember you or your logo very well, but they will always remember your story.

In turn, that makes the job of sales much easier. It opens the door to conversations. Those conversations will lead to real sales. Your story will make it easier to reach prospects looking for what you do.

A unique marketing story told in an authentic way will make the job of selling much easier. That’s what successful marketing is all about.

The two go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Be a Real Partner

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Business used to be much simpler. The formula for success was to provide value, convenience, and great customer service, which in turn led to referrals that became new clients. This tried and true cycle kept the business world moving forward.

Somewhere along the way, however, the rules seem to have changed, and the apple cart has been upset.

To win business today, you must provide more than value and customer service.

Change is an inevitable part of life and must be dealt with. Change can lead to transformations in which we are active and willing participants, or change can occur despite our best efforts to stop it. In these cases, the outcomes are not necessarily in our power.

An important part of transformation and evolution is to learn from the past. This is a great time to review the past year and make decisions about changes that need to be made for a successful new year.

Reflections On the Past Year

Was 2012 a success for you? If not, where did things go wrong?

— Did you have enough sales opportunities?

— Were you presenting the right solutions for your prospects?

— Did you learn enough about your clients and their needs in order to implement the right solutions for your clients?

There are no right answers here, just honest introspection.

Resolutions For the New Year

To make changes for a successful 2013:

— Know what goals your clients have for their businesses.

— Help them achieve their goals with the solutions you have to offer.

To be as successful as you would like to be in the new year, you need to accomplish one important task: look for ways to make your clients achieve their goals. When you can do that, you have aligned their goals with yours. You have become a true partner in their success. This can go a long way in making your new year the best ever.

Please Give Me a Call

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With the recent explosion of marketing avenues available to businesses, it’s easy to forget some of the fundamental building blocks that go into making a company successful. Take, for instance, that telephone in your office. It may not be as sexy or new as social media, but it packs a much bigger and more immediate punch than tweeting or Facebook posts! Perhaps the most important method of communicating with your clients and prospects is still that little old telephone.

The phone connects your business with your audience in ways that email and social media can’t. The sound of the human voice and the interaction between two people on the phone can never be replicated or replaced by any other medium. That interaction can either increase or decrease your business in terms of traffic and revenue. Most callers will base their decision about whether or not to do business with your company on how they are treated on that phone call.

No amount of marketing and PR can overcome a negative experience on a phone call with your office. So before you move forward with any new marketing, make sure all that effort doesn’t go to waste when a prospect calls your business.

You can either pay someone or ask a friend to call your business and pose as a potential customer. Have the calls recorded. Review these recordings on a regular basis, and share both the positive and negative calls with your staff, along with items you find that need to be corrected. These are extremely valuable training times. It takes a little effort on your part, but the rewards will pay off for many years to come.

By making sure that all callers experience a positive event when calling your business, you have a strong pillar to continue building your successful business.

Your Print Marketing 3-Step Rule

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Every print marketing piece should have an end goal in mind. Depending on the type of marketing piece, these goals can range from simply building name recognition to creating curiosity and ultimately generating sales. The next time you find yourself struggling to create print marketing that will get noticed, remember these three steps to maximize your effectiveness:

Step 1: Grab attention.
Start by getting your reader’s attention. Remember this must happen from the initial glance at your promotional piece. Try using a bold headline, graphic, photo, or marketing claim. Choose something that encourages viewers to take a moment to read your marketing message.

Step 2: Create interest.
Provide teaser information that will engage prospects and entice them to learn more. Teaser information could include an announcement about exciting new products or features, a current or upcoming promotion, or anything else that will persuade customers to learn more.

Step 3: Engage the reader.
Provide a call to action for readers who have taken time to read your marketing message. This could vary from prospects who simply want more information to those who are ready to make a purchase. Provide a website address, phone number, directions, or other contact information that makes it easy for prospects to get in contact with you about your product or service. Consider creating a website landing page that is specific for the highlighted product or service. A landing page can not only make it easy to track interest generated from your promotional piece, but it can also make it easier for the reader to learn more without losing interest wading through an information-packed website.

Our creative team specializes in creating marketing pieces that will get noticed and remembered. Give us a call today if you need help or ideas for creating the perfect marketing piece that will increase awareness and boost sales.

No Apologies, Please

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In order to be successful in business, you must portray confidence. If you aren’t confident in your abilities or the quality of your products and services, why should a prospect or customer have confidence in you?

The words you choose in sales and marketing are very important and should portray a positive, confident image of your business. That’s why you should never start a marketing or sales pitch with an apology. If what you have to say is important, you should always say it confidently, with no apologies.

Starting a conversation with an apology (“I’m sorry to both you…”) suggests that what you have to say isn’t really important and may influence prospects or customers to think the same.

Rather than apologizing or downgrading your approach, try showing confidence by saying, “I have an exciting new product I’d like to share with you, and I need a few minutes of your time. Do you have a moment to discuss this now, or can I make an appointment with you at a later date?”

If you’re promoting a product or service of value, you should never apologize for getting in contact with prospects or customers to promote it. So, if your sales pitch isn’t important, don’t use it. If it is important, don’t apologize for using it.

Loyalty Marketing… or We HEART You!

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Customer loyalty programs are an easy and effective way to keep customers coming back to your business. Here are a few tips to help you create a loyalty program with a simple yet important goal: rewarding repeat customers.

  • Offer custom-printed punch cards or stamp cards for customers who frequent your business. A simple reward (such as “buy five car washes, get the sixth free”) may be enough to keep customers from visiting your competition down the street.
  • Utilize the back side of your loyalty-marketing promotions to advertise upcoming events, highlight exclusive offers, share helpful tips, and more.
  • Celebrate! Be sure to recognize customer birthdays, holidays, and even the date your customer joined your loyalty club.
  • Provide loyalty club members with special coupons for free upgrades, such as “upgrade to a premium deluxe XYZ for the same price as our standard XYZ.”
  • Reward customers who buy ahead. For example, if you own a repair shop, you might offer a year-long package of oil changes for a discounted rate. Not only will the customer be happy to save money, but you can ensure the customer will return to your business all year long.
  • Invite loyal customers to join a review panel group, and offer free products or services in exchange for their valuable feedback and input on how to improve your business.
  • Develop creative ways to show your company’s reciprocal loyalty to customers. Send “thank you” campaigns, for example, with exclusive discounts or promotions.

Give us a call if we can help you create loyalty program marketing materials your customers will love!

We Want Your Vote!

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With Election Day fast approaching, why not take advantage of the voting spirit by creating a few fun polls for your business? Here are some clever ways to gather opinions and reward your loyal customers in the process:

  • Ask customers to vote for their favorite products or services. Send a postcard campaign or statement stuffer with a web link to an online ballot. Distribute campaign flyers. Post information on your Facebook page, website, or other social media channels. And have a ballot box at the main desk of your business, where customers can vote by paper ballot if they prefer.
  • Encourage customers to learn more about your products by creating a game-like quest. Provide clues through various communication channels (email, direct mail, social media), and reward those who complete the quest.
  • Inspire participation by offering a grand prize drawing, as well as a guaranteed coupon or smaller thank-you to all who vote.
  • Create an “Election Day” sale to encourage extra traffic, and consider offering an additional discount to any customers who come from the polls wearing an “I voted” sticker.
  • If you’re creating an in-house promotion, remember that food is always a crowd pleaser. Consider offering cookies, cake, donuts, or simply coffee, hot chocolate, or cider.
  • Provide a follow-up marketing campaign to announce the winner, and consider running an exclusive special on that particular product or service following the election.
  • Maximize your promotions by offering combo specials that include your most popular products with lesser-known or newer products.

Our creative experts are here anytime you need help spreading the word about an upcoming sale or promotion. Give us a call today!

Why You Need to Use Pattern Interrupt in Your Marketing

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From the time you wake up until the moment you close your eyes, you’re bombarded with marketing messages. You may even have dreams of the ads running in your sleep!

Most of the messages you see during the day just blend together without much notice. Many are of the “me too” variety. Either the owner or the advertiser is practicing the lazy marketing technique of simply copying a competitor’s ad with very little real change. Maybe the original ad had some creativity to it, but now it’s lost in a sea of similarity.

For your ad to have any chance of succeeding, you must use “pattern interrupt marketing” as one component of your message.

What’s pattern interrupt marketing? As the name implies, it’s marketing that stops a prospect in their tracks and engages them. Your message must be able to capture a prospect’s attention if it’s to have any chance of being noticed.

Imagine you’re driving down a street looking for a place to eat lunch. The street is packed with similar looking eateries on both your left and right. The buildings all look the same and have signs with business names on them. The business owners have all copied each other in building design, colors, and layout so much that it’s very difficult to tell them apart. But one smart business owner has hired someone with a colorful costume and given them a professional-looking sign with delicious-looking food photos and a message that clearly states all the benefits of their restaurant; in addition, if you come in today, you’ll receive a great discount. The guy holding the sign interrupts your attention, and the offer lures you in to try the food.

That’s what pattern interrupt marketing is all about.

Now, you could try any number of gimmicks to grab a prospect’s attention, but there are only a few things that will truly capture their interest and hold it long enough for you to make an impression. Here are three steps to get you started:

  1. Make a list of problems your product or service can solve.
  2. Pick just one as the focal point for your marketing message.
  3. Think about the types of language and visual cues your customers would use to best understand this message.

With those elements in place, you can better plan your marketing.

Pattern interrupt marketing can be used in every type of business and in every type of marketing communication. Whether on a billboard, through direct mail, via email marketing, or even at a trade show, pattern interrupt marketing can be very effective. The goal is not only to capture the prospect’s attention by doing something different or unexpected but also to encourage them to take further steps with you once they’re engaged.

Pattern interrupt marketing is only the first step in a process, but in some ways, it’s the most important step. After all, if you can’t capture their attention, the rest won’t matter.

What Declining Sales Really Mean

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Many businesses are currently experiencing a decline in sales. Some owners and executives believe this is due to outside economic conditions. Although the economy may have some bearing, perhaps the real reasons for the decline are more fundamental issues that no one in the company wants to face. The economy has only masked the issues and helped sweep them under the rug.

Many in this predicament think, “If only we could increase sales, everything else would take care of itself.” Oftentimes, the declining sales pattern is not the real problem; it’s just a symptom of other underlying issues. Perhaps the issues are in management, staffing, or a lack of effective marketing and sales.

If your company is experiencing a sales slump, it may be time to do a little soul searching to find the real issues. If you decide to take this head on, here’s a four-step plan to help you lick the problems.

Step 1 — Assess your current situation. What strengths do you see? What weaknesses? Are there opportunities you might be missing? And what are your threats? The more honest you can be at this step, the better the foundation for the rest of the process.

Step 2 — Now that you have an outline of the problems, it’s time to make a diagnosis. What are the causes behind the problems and issues you’re facing? Look beyond the surface issues, and try to get to the root causes.

Step 3 — Now that you have the assessment and a diagnosis of the situation, it’s time to make a plan that addresses your diagnosis by taking advantage of the strengths you identified and establishing ways to correct the weaknesses.

Step 4 — This is where the rubber meets the road. All that analysis will lead to no good unless you follow up with action. It’s time to follow through and act on the plan by implementing the changes outlined in the previous step.

By following through on these four simple but powerful steps, you can not only turn around sagging sales but also position your company for long-term growth.