I'm Sold, but I still don't get it!

Even if you use the product or service you sell, that doesn't mean you know what it's like to be a customer. The reason, is that most business owners or execs don't go through the buying process.

For example, General Motors executives who drive company cars. They didn't research the car online, they didn't shop around and talk to several dealers about it. They didn't have to trade off something else in their budget to afford the car and figure out how to finance it.

Furthermore, they don't have to worry about day-to-day ownership issues such as paying for maintenance or gas. In other words, our hypothetical executive might know what it's like to use a Cadillac, but he might not know what it's like to buy and own a Cadillac.

And that is why small business owners should:

1. Research your product or service online, just as your prospect would.
2. Go into a retail store and discuss the pros and cons with a salesperson.
3. Place an order online to see how soon it arrives, how the packaging looks and whether anyone from your company follows up.

The Point: You need to experience the entire process around buying it [whatever you're selling] to really understand your customers.

Your ROI's Sick? Don't Blame the Downturn!

Jon Miller wrote an interesting article for MarketingProfs last summer that deserves a second look. Its title: "The Definitive Guide to B2B Marketing in a Recession." ('Nuff said?) One point that stands out in the article is this: a downturn is no time to be faint of heart. Instead, Miller says, experience shows that those B2B firms that fare the best in queasy times are those that take specific initiatives. Among his suggestions:

Boost your lead-gen efforts. "Implementing even simple automated lead-nurturing programs can yield a 400% improvement in the conversion of qualified prospects into sales opportunities over time. "Companies that can do a better job of … developing early-stage prospects into sales-ready leads will be in the best position to thrive in a downturn."

Focus on your house list. "Activities that can help you get the most out of your existing relationships include conducting lead-nurturing campaigns, creating new content to offer to existing prospects, and cleaning and augmenting your marketing lead database with progressive profiling," he advises.

Focus your content on solid prospects. "Focus your offers on content that will appeal to someone who's actually looking for a solution," Miller says. "Examples … can include 'Top 5 Questions to Ask a Potential Vendor' whitepapers, buyers guides and checklists, [or] analyst evaluations."

The Point: Be brave, and go for it. Use tips like these to help focus your initiatives and keep your ROI healthy during the downturn.

Contact your Small Business Marketing Consultant today 678.495.6090 or visit our website: www.omgatlanta.com

Do-It-Yourself Email Marketing Tips for the Small Biz Owner

Most mom-and-pop businesses can't do much with email marketing advice that concentrates on sophisticated topics like multivariate testing, dynamic content development and data integration. For those who need entry-level advice, here are a few Do-It-Yourself Primers in plain English.

Be yourself. People frequent your establishment because they enjoy the environment, the way they are treated, the quality of your product, whatever the reason may be; your recipients need to feel the same emotion when they open your email messages. Your tone and word choice, for instance, will seem more authentic if they're similar to those your customers hear in person.

Use what you know. Appealing to the recipient by leveraging information you know about them extends that relationship to the inbox.

Offer an incentive. Because of the relationship most small business owners have with their customer base, the incentive tends to be perceived as a 'thank you' to a good customer and not just a ploy to get an email address or more business. But beware, the cost of list-building giveaways can add up.

The Point: You can do this yourself. One of the joys of email marketing is the fact that, by paying heed to a few insider tips like these, small business owners can see solid results.
Need help getting started with an Email Marketing Campaign? Contact us at 678.495.6090 or join our mailing list to receive more helpful tips right in your inbox.

How's Your Customer Service???

It looks like companies may talk the talk of customer service, but not that many walk the walk. As reported by Internet Retailer, the study's results show that, "Despite overwhelming agreement on the importance of the customer experience and subsequent word-of-mouth, senior marketers admit their companies are failing to take decisive, companywide action to integrate feedback from customers and their experiences into key business and marketing processes."

The study, "Giving Customer Voice More Volume," conducted along with Satmetrix, reveals that 38% of the execs surveyed say their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word-of-mouth among customers. Plus, only 29% rate highly their ability to handle and resolve customer problems or complaints. Wow!

So, what's a good company to do? Here are a few ways to show you care:

1. Put a formal program into place to monitor and measure the "voice of the customer."

2. Develop an efficient system to collect, analyze and distribute customer feedback. In real time, if you can manage it.

3. Track your word-of-mouth on the Internet. Do it!

"Companies must become more sophisticated and committed to both leveraging customer experience as a key business metric and instituting companywide processes that drive improvement," concludes Laura Brooks, VP of research at Satmetrix.

The Point: Take better care of your customers. Remember: if they aren't talking with you, they may well be talking about you—across the Internet.

To hire an Outsource Marketing Group Consultant for Sales & Marketing and/or Customer Service coaching & training, contact us at 678.495.6090.

www.omgatlanta.com

Brand 'Em, and Let 'Em Roam Free

We are exposed to people interacting with their favorite brands every day—for instance, commuters drinking bottled water. Might these glimpses of others using common brands influence our own brand choices? This new research says yes.

These researchers asked consumers to focus on the faces of people in a "study" of a series of photographs. The photos showed people engaged in everyday activities like waiting for a bus. In some photos, however, the "focal person" was holding a bottle of a familiar brand of water. At the end of the "test," participants were offered a free bottle of water as a thank-you, and were given the choice of four popular brands.

Turns out, the participants who saw a high number of photos with a person holding a branded water bottle chose that brand from the four offered. But these researchers also pointed up some interesting additional facts:

1. The branding effect worked only when participants were not aware of having seen the branded bottles in the photos.


2. The branding effect failed when participants were shown too many photos with the branded bottles.

Conclusion: brand exposure works, but too much of it can backfire.

Randomness played an important role here, too: Exposure to others' brand choices influenced a consumer's choice when those others were "not associated with any particular group," the researchers said.

The Point: Brand away! Let a wide range of consumers interact with your well-labeled products. This may be your best form of brand marketing.

Source: "The Power of Strangers: The Effect of Incidental Consumer Brand Encounters on Brand Choice," by Rosellina Ferraro, James R. Bettman and Tanya L. Chartrand. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009.

For assistance with Branding your company, creating a logo or Advertising materials, contact an Outsource Marketing Group representative at 678.495.6090.

http://www.omgatlanta.com/

"Come Fly With Me!"

Here's a few great Email Marketing tips for small business owners.

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It's refreshing when a company seems to get it right, and DJ Waldow uses a post at the Bronto blog to explain why email messages from US Airways impress him on a regular basis. Why, it's like they're singing "Come Fly With Me!"

Here's what sets them apart, according to Waldow:

A healthy mix of "boring" and "fun" subject lines. Some messages come with an informational subject line like Earn more miles; others—for instance, We're bringing back free drinks—grab the reader's attention with a more lighthearted tone.

An irregular broadcast schedule. Waldow's permission-based subscriptions generate, on average, a few messages each week. There is, however, no predictable pattern. He sees this takeaway: "Vary your frequency and cadence of emails—as appropriate—to keep your readers interested."

A helpful level of personalization. Every message from the airline's Dividends program includes his member number. "This is critical to me as I never ever remember it," he says, while noting, "Who does?"

A header with links that point to correct landing pages. "In other words," he notes, "the 'Upgrades' link points to the Upgrades page." If this sounds like a no-brainer, Waldow says a surprising number of email links go to a homepage, regardless of their label.

Give your messages wings. Following a few reader-friendly practices like these may make your email campaigns—take off!

Contact The Outsource Marketing Group for more tips & info on Email Marketing, 678.495.6090.

Entrepreneurs take note; Give away the GOOD stuff!

"If you want to create something very good," says Tom Peters, "it takes time, energy, and sometimes money." That, he argues, is exactly why you should give away your finest know-how for free. Before you beg to differ, consider his ten-point business case, which includes reasons like these:

1. It increases your reach. The marketplace is flooded with mediocre ideas that don't merit discussion. Excellence, therefore, stands out and takes on a viral quality. "Giving away good stuff for free may be the fastest way to reach a lot of people," says Peters.

2. It improves future projects. When smart people notice your ideas, he notes, "They may comment on your work, enhance your work, and maybe even, challenge your work." It's the equivalent of a kitchen cabinet making pro bono intellectual contributions. It lowers the cost of sale.

If companies decide to act on the ideas you present, there's a good chance some will turn to your product or service during the implementation process.

Your Marketing Inspiration, and Peters' number-one reason to give away the best you have to offer: "They don't have to guess the quality of your work anymore," says Peters, "so they will be more open to paying a premium for additional work."

These are great tips for small business owners and entrepreneurs alike.
If you need assistance with self-promotion or sales & marketing support, contact an Outsource Marketing Group Consultant at 678-495-6090.

What Do We Do Now?

Article posted: 2/12/09

"Given the lackluster sales that most B-to-B catalogers are experiencing, many are wondering just how happy, or sad, 2009 will be," Terence Jukes writes in an article at Catalog Success.

They seem to be in denial about how dire things really are. Jukes quickly sets the record straight: "What you see now will continue for 2009 and most of 2010, at least."
So what do we do now? One thing is for sure, Jukes says: "The way you did things in the past won't be what you need to do in the future."

He offers some actionable tips:

1. Outsource. He puts it bluntly: "You no longer can afford to perform activities that outside service bureaus can do better and cheaper."
2. Manage your risk. Questions you simply must ask yourself: "What will happen if sales fall 5, 10, or 15 percent? Where are the 'shock points' that could put you under?"
3. Focus on the "must-haves," not the "wants." "Go through your product offerings, and promote the items your customers must have to keep operating, not the discretionary items," he advises. Then reposition your offers with quick paybacks or lower prices.
   

On a positive note, he also encourages companies to look for acquisition offers, and for the "bright spots" that are sure to come with the new administration's initiatives.

It's time to take stock. Assess your position in the current downturn, then take action. "Start thinking radical adjustments if you haven't already," Jukes advises.

When Enough Is More Than Enough

You've just read the first draft of a press release and you can already see where you want to make a few edits. The lede needs more punch. Your audience might not recognize that industry-specific term. You've noticed that your third paragraph fell victim to the passive voice. Once you fix those, you start to see other problems—and pretty soon you're agonizing over relatively inconsequential issues, like whether to use an em-dash or a semicolon to join a pair of sentences.

According to Dave Fleet, this dogged pursuit of perfection can become counterproductive. "With each subsequent round of editing," he notes, "the return on your time investment will likely get incrementally smaller. At some point you need to make the call to stop; to accept that it's just not worth making more edits."

So how can you tell when enough is enough? Fleet offers this checklist:

1. Your copy starts to resemble earlier versions.
2. It seems like someone's been using a thesaurus.
3. You're fine-tuning minor wording deep in the text.
4. A rising word count includes new material of questionable relevance.

Whether you're working alone or with a team, it's important to recognize when changes are being made for the sake of change. If further edits don't improve the press release, says Fleet, "It might be time to put the writing to bed and move on."

Don't Look Phishy

Great Email advertising tips for my small business owners & entrepreneurs!

You know you're on the up-and-up, and that your email messages contain legitimate offers for actual products or services. Unfortunately, though, you're often sharing inbox space with fraudulent messages that claim to come from popular retailers and banks. Those emails are, in fact, nothing more than phishing scams designed to obtain the personal information crooks need for identity theft. Making everything more complicated, phishers have become more sophisticated over the last few years, swiping graphics taken from actual websites and spoofing URLs that appear legitimate.

Because your more savvy customers will regard any out-of-the-ordinary message with added skepticism, it's important to avoid anything that might raise a red flag in their minds. Microsoft's primer on phishing is a great way to identify elements that will make them nervous: Requests for the verification of personal information.

Alerts that an account will be closed unless a customer responds within a certain timeframe.
Salutations like Dear Valued Customer. "Phishing e-mail messages are usually sent out in bulk and often do not contain [a] first or last name," notes Microsoft.

Copy like "Click the link below to gain access to your account", particularly if placing the pointer on a link reveals a different address than the one displayed.

What's the point? Be trustworthy. Learn what puts your customers on guard, and use that information to design emails that heighten their trust.

Contact an O. Marketing Group representative for help designing your next Email Ad campaign. 678.495.6090 or chat live online: http://www.omgatlanta.com/

So You Wanna Be a Swan?

Here's an awesome article for entrepreneurs, freelancers, small business owners and NEW business owners alike. Something to think about, enjoy!

"We're duped into believing that the pretty, the pristine, and the perfect get all the perks, all the breaks, all the glory," says Vicki Kunkel in her book Instant Appeal. In many cases, she argues, the opposite is actually true. Obvious imperfections have their benefits—whether in your personal or corporate brands.

To make her point, she showed a diverse group of survey participants a series of split-screen images—each with one attractive person and one homely person—and asked questions like:
To which of these two individuals would you feel more comfortable giving the keys to your house?

If you loaned each of these people $50, which one do you feel would be more likely to pay you back?

She found that 67 percent would give their keys to the less attractive person; a whopping 82 percent, meanwhile, considered the homely group more credit-worthy. "Apparently we trust the average-looking among us more than the swans to be moral, helpful and honest."
According to Kunkel, the same principle applies to various aspects of corporate branding. A CEO who includes some dirty laundry in a speech will seem honest; an ugly Web site like craigslist or eBay will seem straightforward. In other words, ugly can work in your favor.

What's the point?: "We're most appealing when we're being ourselves," says Kunkel, "warts (or moles or gapped teeth or dorkiness or oratorical clumsiness) and all. There is real power and panache in knowing and embracing our shortcomings, our flaws, and ourselves."

"Courting" Your Customer

Some email marketing practices should always be avoided. "There are a hundred ways to skulk around, to collect email addresses, to write clever privacy policies or to argue about whether opt-out ('you can always unsubscribe!') is a valid way to build a brand," says Seth Godin at his eponymous blog. "None of those schemes work."

To illustrate his point, Godin contrasts some email messages he received in a single week:
Paul McGowan of PS Audio, sent a highly anticipated newsletter filled with information, reviews and storytelling. "Because I signed up for the newsletter," notes Godin, "I open it. Because he never abuses my trust, I trust him … When it's time to buy the sort of thing he sells, I won't look around much, because I'm already sold." McGowan's approach might not generate instant sales, but he'll see a long-term payoff.

Another audio company, however, sent a single unsolicited offer twice under different subject lines. Godin suspects the company harvested his address from a source like an old business card. "I get a lot of spam from non-reputable companies," he says, "but it was surprising to get this html ad via email from a company that used to have a good reputation." This is not the impression any business wants to create.

The Point: The second company probably had a ready argument for the legality of its email campaign, but that isn't good enough. "Consumers now have rights too," says Godin. "The right to ignore, to distrust and to choose someone else when it comes time to spend money."


Contact an Outsource Marketing Group Consultant for great tips on creating an effective email marketing campaign. Free advice available via our online chat service.

678.495.6090

Get Sober!

When you have a great idea—a true light-bulb moment—you don't want to be bothered with pesky marketing research that tells you it won't work.

"People who really, really want to believe, will believe," says Steve Cuno in an article at MarketingProfs, "regardless of where the evidence points." But to avoid potentially costly mistakes, he has this advice:

Conduct a valid predictive test. "The trick is to quit asking people to tell you their behavior," says Kuno, "and discreetly watch it instead." Send out a pair of identical offers that differ only in their headline, for instance, to see which works best; then retest to validate your findings. "If you get the same results, the evidence is that you're on solid ground."

Make unemotional decisions. "Your objective is to sell widgets, not to bolster your ego," he notes. "As you design a valid test, resolve in advance to accept the results, even if they fail to support your hunches."

Maintain control groups as a matter of policy. Without a representative selection of customers who haven't been exposed to a particular campaign, there's no way to know whether a spike in sales was driven by the offer or coincidence.

Finally, resist the urge to jump to conclusions. Even after a valid test, you might want to read the data in a way that favors the result you wanted. Don't guide the evidence; let it guide you.

The Point: "The more you train yourself to eschew unwarranted leaps and instead approach marketing from a sober, rational standpoint, the more you will find yourself creating and refining campaigns that are demonstrably and measurably successful."

Contact us to speak with a Marketing Consultant or visit our website for live chat!: www.omgatlanta.com

To the Entrepreneur...Plan Your Marketing Now!

There are two good times for marketing planning: yesterday and now. We have no control over yesterday, but we do control "now."

Many people wait until the end of the year to plan marketing for the following year. Many put it off until the actual year starts. Regardless of your situation, the time to plan your marketing is right now. Let it begin with this column.

Since blank sheets of paper, especially for plan development, tend to be intimidating, I offer the following, worksheet-based, fill-in-the-blanks template.

Think through your answers. You can write quick answers the first time around but think them through as thoroughly as possible during subsequent reviews. Remember, this is the basis of your marketing for the year. The more thorough you are with your answers, the more effective your planning--and therefore marketing--will be.


Marketing Planning Questions

1. What marketing worked well in 2007?

2. What marketing worked partially well in 2007?

3. What marketing didn't work well or at all in 2007?

4. Are there any standout reasons for No 1. or No. 3?

5. Define your current target markets.

6. Did your 2007 customers fit your current target market definition?

7. What new markets will you target in 2008 for the following areas:
a. Geography?
b. Product-oriented users?
c. Income and demographics?

8. Revise your target market definitions based on No. 7.

9. What are the following message components for your target markets:
a. Headlines?
b. Benefits?
c. Offers?
d. Calls to action?
e. Other?
10. What message components need to be enhanced, concentrated and revised?

11. What new messaging will you use in 2008 marketing?

12. Based on message delivery and the markets targeted, what marketing vehicles will you use in 2008?
a. Repeat of 2007 marketing vehicles?
b. New marketing vehicles for 2008?

13. What's the desired frequency for each vehicle and campaign?

14. Based on No. 12 and frequency, what is your budget for 2008?
a. Per vehicle?
b. Per target market?
c. Per period of time?

15. After analyzing total costs and desired frequency, what's the adjusted marketing vehicle use, including ad size, designs and printing configurations?

Given all of the above, lay out the marketing initiatives (X) on a timeline (Y) using a simple spreadsheet. You'll be well on your way to a productive year of marketing in 2008.


We hope this helps but if you require assistance with your marketing plan, feel free to contact an O.M. Group Consultant at 678.495.6090 or info@omgatlanta.com





Source: Entrepreneur Magazine. Article written by: Al Lautenslager, Guerilla Marketing Coach and Direct mail promotion specialist.

This time, it's personal

Everyone likes personalized attention, and it seems that a handwritten note might be worth the time it takes to write. When researchers sent a survey to busy doctors with three different cover letters, and each produced a dramatically different result:

-A printed letter generated a response rate of 36 percent.
-A printed letter with a handwritten message boosted this by one third to 48 percent.
-A printed letter with a handwritten message on a Post-it note pushed the response rate to 75 percent.

"It seems that what is causing the boost is a 'reciprocity' effect," notes Neuromarketing. "The recipient recognizes that the sender apparently put some personal effort into the mailing, and is more likely to reciprocate with some effort of his own."

Interestingly, the blog notes, responses to the survey with the personalized Post-it note were also more thorough and prompt.

The Point: The effects of personalization and apparent effort on the part of the sender have to be weighed against the desired action. But making even difficult requests in a more personal manner can't hurt.

Source: Neuromarketing

Top Ten Small Business Trends for 2009!

It's prediction season and we've prepared our annual top 10 small business trends list. The economy is obviously the key issue facing small business in 2009. With the global recession and economic turmoil as our back drop, here is our list:
Economic Trends

1. The Recession Drives Small Business Innovation: With the economy mired in a deep recession, small businesses will focus on cash flow, cost containment, customer retention and survival. But economic stress will also lead to a wave of small business innovation. Driven by the need to improve productivity and increase customer value, small businesses will re-evaluate, re-design and refine their products, processes and business models. Despite the adverse economic climate, innovation will create new opportunities for many small businesses.

2. Government Plays an Increasing Role in the Economy: Economic turmoil, corporate malfeasance and regulatory failure are leading to much greater government intervention in the economy. While we believe that the long term, global trend towards market capitalism continues to be strong, governments around the world will take a more active role in managing and regulating their economies. Small businesses will need to be aware of federal, state and local government policy and program changes and their impacts.

3. Global Infrastructure Spend: President-elect Obama and his transition team are preparing a massive, $850 billion economic recovery package. China, Japan, the EU and other countries are also developing large infrastructure spending programs. In the US bridges and roads, alternative energy, transportation, clean tech and education will likely see substantial federal spending increases with the impacts likely being felt in the second half of 2009. Small businesses will benefit directly through government contracting programs targeted at them and indirectly through providing goods and services to larger firms.

4. The Number of Small Businesses Will Increase in 2009: With job losses high and traditional employment options limited, many will turn to self-employment and small business in 2009. The prior three recessions have seen small business formation rates increase. And with it easier and cheaper than ever to start small or personal businesses, we expect a strong year for small business formation – especially personal businesses. Failure rates will also increase, but not enough to offset the number of new small and personal businesses.

5. Small Business Globalization Will Temporarily Slow: While we believe the long- term trend towards small business globalization is still strong, we expect small business globalization to slow in 2009. The primary reasons are the global economic slump, turmoil in currency markets and small businesses focusing on local markets. We expect small business exports to pick up in late 2009 as the global economy starts to recover.

Demographic Trends

6. Baby Boomer Retirement Problems Will Lead to Increased Interest in Small Business: We’ve long forecasted that baby boomers will stay in the workforce past the traditional retirement age. Current economic turmoil makes this trend even stronger. Baby boomer retirement has taken a series of major blows. The value of their homes, retirement savings and inheritances has all declined substantially. Many have lost or will lose their jobs. Boomers will have to extend their working years and small and personal businesses will be their best, and in many cases, only option.

7. Generation Y Will Turn to Small Business: Gen Y will continue to be be more entrepreneurial than youth in recent generations. The economic slump will make this trend stronger as many Gen Yers face limited traditional employment opportunities. With their risks and opportunity costs relatively low, many Gen Yers will choose to start or work for small or personal businesses.

Technology Trends

8. Mobile Computing Continues Strong Growth: On our list last year, mobile computing is entering the US mainstream. Notebooks outsold desktop PC’s in the second half of 2008, smart phones sales continued their rapid growth and millions of netbooks (very small personal computers designed primary for mobile internet access) were sold. Adding the continued rapid growth of navigation systems, location-based services and mobile search results in mobile computing having a major impact on small businesses in 2009.

9. Cloud Computing Continues Strong Growth: Another trend that was on our 2008 key technology trends list. Cloud computing offers too many small business benefits not to continue its strong growth in 2009. In particular cloud computing lowers capital costs and turns fixed costs into variable costs – two powerful attributes that are very attractive in a down economy.

10. Small Businesses Will Expand Their Use of Online Marketing Tools: Despite the economic downturn, we expect the small business sector to increase its use of online marketing tools and methods in 2009. Online marketing is cheaper and often more effective than traditional approaches. And although online marketing can be complex, many tools and methods are accessible to DIY small business marketers. With small businesses focused on customer acquisition and re-defining their business methods, we expect their use of online marketing to grow in 2009.