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Holiday Marketing and Business Cycles

Published
by
Michelle
on December 10, 2009
in Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
. 0 Comments

Does your business have a very detectable cycle of business?  Many retail businesses have a definite up cycle prior to the December holidays … be it Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or Christmas - retail success hinges on the success of the 4th Quarter sales. However, if you’re paying attention, there may be other cycles in your business that you should recognize. Sure, we should optimize and create the highest possible conversions during the biggest retail selling season of the year, but don’t ignore glaring opportunities to improve sales at other times of the year, too.

If you have data from several years, consider aggregating it to identify dips and spikes in your business. In our e-commerce retail businesses we have several clearly identified seasons and we know we have to do “think ahead” marketing - the same way that big box retailers do. Laying out the seasonality on a calendar can help you plan “into” the seasons of your business.

NOTE: While the guidelines below are not set in stone,
they do help us with our specific plans for seasonality

The catch is with online e-commerce sites, you have to be a little more ahead of the curve.  You can’t start a Valentines Day promotion on February 13th.

You have to think ahead for the promotional portion and how it integrates into your total marketing calendar. (Don’t have a marketing calendar ? Tsk, tsk. You’ll need to work on that.)

  • For the Search Engines you should be working months ahead on your links and article writing.
  • For your Social Media portion you can pre-plan your promo spots and placement.
  • The Marketing emails you should be queued up weeks ahead of the release.
  • Have your graphics and website promotions ready to go at the launch of the promotion.

You have to plan ahead for the greatest success in the up season.

However, there is another side to this that entrepreneur’s often shrug off as un-fixable: The DOWN cycle.  If you can clearly identify your down cycle(s), is there a way you can get some bumps in there? Can you offer complementary (not free…but that complement) services that your clients need in the off season. Are there things you can do in your business to lessen the severity of the down times?

If you’re a lawn service, in the summer business is booming - but could you shovel snow in the winter? On rainy days could you work on your newsletter, email and flyers?

If your business thrives on the latest gadgets, is there an after market or accessories market that could supplement your inventory to prolong the life of the item?

Put your year-over-year data into some charts in Excel or Numbers (if you’re a Mac) and see where your dips, dip and your highs are high, and work to make them both better.

I’d love to continue the conversation with you … please add your comments and thoughts below.

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FPRA Jacksonville Chapter November Luncheon Slides & Video

Published
by
Michelle
on November 5, 2009
in Marketing
. 0 Comments
Incremental Marketing For Public Relations

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Split Testing - Sometimes Boring and Clear Wins

Published
by
Michelle
on September 16, 2009
in Marketing
. 2 Comments

I had the privilege of being a speaker at the Jacksonville AMA Conference The Keys to Online Marketing today. What a rush to see my name on the boards surrounded by other amazing marketing speakers.

My topic was Incremental Marketing on a Micro Budget … it is a coaching program that I have been doing this year one-on-one with several clients, and they have gotten amazing results. But honestly, the name really bugs me. It is not clever, it is not exciting and frankly, I think it is even a little boring. Today I was squeezing the concepts of my 13 week program into 40 minutes to a group of marketing professionals.

I was in a breakout room scheduled at the same time as Blogging 101 Tactics and Benefits of Mobile Development. And honestly was a bit worried that it might be me and the time keeper chatting. When the opening session broke though, I had a flood of folks enter my training room. They actually had to go and get extra chairs as the room couldn’t hold all the folks that were interested. So round one of testing, at least in this group the title got their attention.

Jacksonville AMA - Incremental Marketing on a Micro Budget

Honestly, I considered even changing the board in the hall to say Kick The Competition, because I thought it was “catchier.”

After my introduction and in my own self serving interests, I had to ask the room … would you have been as interested if this was called Kick The Competition? (which happens to be the domain name that I registered to promote my new group coaching webinar). The verdict was very clear - NOPE - today clarity trumped clever. Wholeheartedly this room of MARKETERS (to be clear) felt more compelled to attend a session called Incremental Marketing on a Micro Budget.

So there it is, a real life split test. Or is it? It’s a tough call. I was split testing them after they had already made the decision to go in the room.

How do you decide if a split test is being split with the right audience?

For me, for this day, my headline won round one of testing. After round one do you continue the testing? If you want to win at marketing you will.

Years ago at the very first Stomper Conference Perry Marshall talked about split testing with your Google Pay Per Click ads. He did a little exercise to show us Ad A then Ad B and would then ask the audience which ad performed better? The internet marketers in the Stomper audience was wrong about 80% of the time. So marketers don’t always get it right, either. Ultimately only the customer decides, and usually they vote with not just their clicks, but their wallets, too.

If you want to be sure, just test.

And if you want to help me test, just reply to this blog post below.

If you were picking a course to help you do more effective marketing, without learning a bunch of new stuff which name do you like better?

A) Incremental Marketing on a Micro Budget

or

B) Kick The Competition?   Just respond below and THANKS!

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7 Tips For A More Successful Website

Published
by
Michelle
on April 28, 2009
in Marketing and Search Engine Optimization
. 1 Comment

As a SEO Marketing Strategist, my clients are looking for success from their websites. They want ROI - Return on Investment and frankly, so do I. Here are 7 things that I work diligently to educate my clients about their web marketing experience.

1.) Do you know why you have a website?

Understand for yourself, why you are choosing to have a website - are you collecting leads, selling online, online brochure or just trying to outshine your brother-in-law’s website.

Was it designed to do the purpose you intended?

How well is it performing that purpose?

2.) It is not about traffic, it is about conversion.

Traffic tells us how many “hits” or “visitors” our websites have. Conversion tells us how many take our desired actions.

If your website receives 100 visitors a week and 2 visitors request more information your weekly conversion ratio is 2%

If your website receives 100 visitors a day and you sell 1 order per day, your daily conversion ratio is 1%

It is the number of actions that bring sales to your company - not the number of visitors.

In terms of Sales Revenue - 1,000 visitors who take ZERO action are probably worth less than 10 qualified visitors who take the DESIRED ACTION on your website.

In simple math: 1,000 x 0 = ZERO … 10 X 5 = $50 (assuming that action was worth only $5 to you)

3.) Know what you sell

As you are developing your site - you do need to know what it is you sell - and incorporate those products and services as keywords on your website. And be specific.

For example: If you are a Plumber, don’t just include the words plumbing and plumber, you will also want to include clogged drain repair, or toilet installation. If you are a financial advisor - perhaps your niche is retirement planning or 401K Rollovers.

4.) Know what your customer is buying

That seems simple, right? Not always. Many industries use cryptic abbreviations, industry terms and code words that ONLY other people in that industry understands. Treat your website as if you are explaining your services to 12 years olds. You are not trying to impress the customer with how smart you are, but how good you are at the products or services you offer. People buy promos and imprinted pens, not specialty advertising.

5.) Give them what they need

Create a flow that allows QUALIFIED customers the ability to decide to do business with you. Provide information, give great data, ask for their info, give them a way to CONTACT YOU. Make it simpler for them and they will give you more of their business.

(Side Note: If you currently have a 1% conversion ratio on the web - and can take that to 2% - you will DOUBLE your results). In other words if 2 people sign up out of 100 instead of the original 1 - that is twice as many opportunities for sales. ) A 100% increase - not a 1% increase.

Remove roadblocks that keep them from doing business with you.

6.) Answer their questions

This can be done in two ways - first, have great Frequently Asked Questions with answers on the site / service / product page and second and more importantly - when they call you or send you and email or fill out your online form - RESPOND FAST! The early bird gets the worm is in the past - now its the fastest bird.

7.) Build your website to attract and convert customers - not win design awards.

Don’t get me wrong - a website should look good, credible and reputable - but that should NEVER come at the expense of the ability to attract and convert customers - EVER. If it is beautiful and no one ever sees it, it really doesn’t matter that its there. If it has amazing colors and fantastic design elements that match perfectly with your letterhead - YAH - but if it does not drive customers / sales - it really is nothing more than a billboard at the North Pole.

Sometimes I butt heads with great designers on this, but sales and profits trump pretty and branding.

So that’s it - to me it is really that simple. Know what they want and build a website that attracts and convinces them to take the next step to do business with you. AND NO… this is not just about online retail. It works for Dentists, Lawyers, Restaurants, E-Commerce, Consultants, Plumbers, Marketing Agencies, all of them.

Want to know more ? I’d love to come and present this to your group, corporation or students. Lets continue the conversation - drop me an email at michelle [at] redhawkstrategies.com

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Direct Marketing - Old School Style

Published
by
Michelle
on April 19, 2009
in Marketing
. 0 Comments

I just wish I had a camera with me today, sadly, I didn’t. The kids on the corner had a “Lemonade Stand” - they weren’t selling lemonade, but the sentiment was still the sign. It was perfect, and of course I had to stop the car and buy.

The kids were all holding handwritten signs - and the message was very clear.

“If You’re Thirsty, Stop”

I was thirsty, so I stopped.

Is your message clear?

Do you tell your customers what to do?

Is the call to action actually doable?

Think about the message that your clients are receiving - in person, on the phone, in correspondence, in advertisements, collateral material, email ? The next time you create a campaign - of any kind - check yourself.

My attorney told me the other day that a contract was not written to be clear between the parties - it is written to be clear by the third party / judge / mediator who may eventually have to interpret it. The same message applies: BE CLEAR. Just because you and your team think its great - doesn’t mean the customer will.  Ask the customer - test the message - try it out.

Claude Hopkins’ amazing book Scientific Advertising, though written more than 70 years ago, is still relevant today. I found a public domain copy of Scientific Advertising that you can download. If you have not read it, you should.

In a time where seconds count, be clear, be concise and tell your customers what you want. Just remember, if you’re thirsty, stop.

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