Marketing

We are all watching our marketing budgets carefully. We want to make sure we get the most value from our marketing initiatives and efforts.  That can be difficult to do when you don't know how to quantify your marketing and really measure what's working and what's not.

Understanding not only the importance of quantifying your marketing efforts, but how to determine the success of a marketing campaign, will equip you with the knowledge that you need to turn your marketing around. This information gives you the knowledge to gain a higher return-on-investment (ROI) and a lower cost-per-lead (CPL) that your marketing yields.

In today's economy it is extremely important  to measure your marketing efforts. I want to share with you a few formulas that will provide you with the basic information that you need to measure your marketing efforts and decide if  a marketing campaign or event is effective for your business.

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Customer service is the key to turning a prospective buyer into a customer. Often, people think that the buying choice is made via price, but nothing could be further from the truth.

When you provide exceptional customer service a customer is willing to pay more for that service.

Take for example BMW, the BMW vehicle is an amazing car and let me put a disclaimer here - yes I own one. Now, with the disclaimer out there let me explain to you why I bought a BMW. It is true I went and test drove the car because of the amazing reviews, but I purchased the car because of the service. When I go to my local BMW dealership to have service done, I pull the car into the service garage, they take the key and I am escorted into the service area where I am greeted promptly. Everyone in that dealership smiles and says hello. They always take care of me and my car and they never return my car back to me dirty.

I could have purchased a car that was a lot less expensive than a BMW, but I bought the BMW experience and this is my second one and I have no regrets.

That's just one example of how great customer service can sell a consumer on your product or service and make the price a secondary thought rather than the primary.

How is your customer service? Are you creating loyal customers or pushing them into the arms of your competitor?

Learn what makes customer service great and start turning those prospects into customers today.

Related: What is Customer Service? | Tips to Improve Customer Service | 10 Commandments to Great Customer Service | What Role Does Customer Service Play in Marketing?

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Your Turn: Share Your Customer Service Tips

There are times that a company seeks to outsource their marketing efforts. Often, when a company does this they seek out marketing consultants. A marketing consultant works with companies to create and implement marketing strategies. A great marketing consultant will be able to not only think creatively but analytically.

The most successful marketing consultants often specialize in specific areas in marketing such as:

• Online Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Nonprofit Marketing
• Copywriting
• Online Marketing
• Direct Response Marketing

Outsourcing to a marketing consultant allows a company to put more focus on product development and overall operations. A marketing consultant can help to bring in specialized skills and expertise as well as provide an external perspective and view point.

With that being said selecting the right marketing consultant is crucial. A consultant must understand your business, your marketing requirements and understand your growth goals. They need to be able to share with you notable achievements and successes that correlate with the goals you are trying to achieve.

I've selected 5 of the top marketing consultants to profile and asked them to share with you how they became a marketing consultant, what their typical day is like and provide tips to those that are seeking out becoming a marketing consultant. I've selected these consultants because they have been in the business for a while, have a strong track record and each has their own specialized service. You will gain great insight by reading their profiles and hopefully walk away knowing what you should look for in your own marketing consultant if you are looking to outsource.

Top 5 Marketing Consultants

• Chris Brogan - Social Media Marketing Consultant
• John Jantsch - Small Business Marketing Consultant
• Mack Collier - Social Media Marketing Consultant
• Deb Micek - Online Marketing Consultant
• Beth Kanter - Nonprofit Marketing Consultant
• Ann Evanston - Leadership Marketing Consultant

Are you a marketing consultant? Take a few moments and create your own marketing consultant profile.

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You've seen them, those technical looking badges that are appearing everywhere. They are called QR codes, QR stands for "quick response."  More than likely you are seeing at least one daily, perhaps in a magazine, on a billboard, flyer, business card or a sticker on a window.

One thing is true, QR codes are growing in adoption. We've seen daily scans go from 1500 per day to over 25,000 per day.

The audience is there, but who is the audience? How do you know if QR codes are right for your business? Great questions and one every business should answer before implementing QR technology.

Learn the best practices of QR codes and who represents the target market of the technology. This will help you in understanding whether or not QR codes are right for you business. If they are, I'll show you best practices that you'll want to implement to ensure your QR code campaign is not only efficient but effective.

Here is what you need to know -  QR Codes - Best Practices and How to Make Your Campaign a Success

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As consumers we love great deals, but do the social coupon offers  make sense for small businesses?

For most businesses they are tempted to buy into social coupon sites like Groupon and Living Social. I've seen so many small businesses walk away after they have bought into the "social coupon craze" realizing they may have not only lost money, but diluted their brand.

The promise behind introducing new customers to your businesses and gaining regulars that are willing to pay full price is a wonderful fantasy for business struggling to make it in today's market. The unfortunate thing is that's not the outcome majority of businesses see.

Social media coupons site attract bargain shoppers that are looking for the greatest deal and they do not build loyalty. If you were to ask 10 businesses that participated in social coupons if it was worth it, 7 of them would tell you no.

Social media coupons often don't make financial business sense and I'll show you why in Social Coupons - Good for the Small Business?

Your Turn: What's your experience with social coupon offers?  Share your story.

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Many businesses are trying to figure out how to use social media to grow their business and increase their revenue. The industries of restaurants and entertainment is no different.

I'm always surprised at how many of these businesses are not using social media marketing, but for most, it boils down to the lack of knowledge on how to use this new medium to create commerce in their businesses. Commerce won't come overnight; that I can guarantee you, but by getting involved and adopting social media as a way to engage and interact with your customers and patrons you will find that commerce will come sooner than later.

Social media works best in this industry because, as a society we attend restaurants and entertainment districts to be social and interact. Those who enjoy these venues also find enjoyment in social media. They will often look for you in these social venues and if they don't find you it can come as a disappointment; after all they'd love it if they had an easy way of finding out what was going on, want new menu times you are introducing or what events are coming up.

I understand your hesitation which is why I want to share with you ten way to use social media to market your restaurant or entertainment district.

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Are you using content to market your business?

Content is king. I know, you've heard it and if you haven't I'm afraid you've had your head in the sand and it's time to dig it out. It's true content is very important when it comes to marketing and I'm going to show you why.

I know that the majority of people hate to write and I have to be honest when we mention to clients that content is important they often look at us with a look that could kill. I understand, honest. We are all wearing different hats, we are all busy beyond belief and now I just added one more thing to you plate. I love to write, I know that's not everyone's passion - believe me I get it. However, with that being said I think when you understand the value in content you'll want to start writing immediately or at least outsource it so you can begin using content to market your business.

Content has the ability to leave a longer impression than any other type of marketing method. Do you know why?

If the content is relevant and valuable to the reader and it keeps their attention, it's non-interrupted marketing. It means you have their attention, and they are listening.

Consider the last article you read that held you captive, more than likely if the content was doing its job you wanted to learn more about the writer. What company did they work for? What was their experience? Where could you find more information?

Can you think of an article that made you feel that way and think that way? If so, you were just sucked into content marketing.

Like all areas of marketing there is a strategy to effective content marketing and if you don't do it right you could fail miserable leaving consumers with a bad taste for you company in their mouth. Take a few moments and learn the why and how of content marketing, you'll be glad you did.

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Are you frustrated with the results that you are seeing from social media marketing? Did you ever stop to consider that maybe you are doing it wrong?

Over the last few years I've seen companies sign up for a Facebook account, a Twitter account, put their profile on LinkedIn and sign up for Google+ and they can't figure out why the sales are not pouring in.

Social media takes work, it takes a strategy and it takes the distribution of value. Look at your last few posts, are you sharing value? Do your customers and potential prospects find your social media information valuable? Can they just not live without it? I know those are the tough questions, but they are the questions I have to ask.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to speak to some very smart business owners and before sharing my presentation with them, which is the information I'm about to share with you - I made them repeat the following after me:

"Social media works, but it won't happen overnight."

They all looked at me, but after my presentations, they got it. Social media takes a commitment, an investment and consistency - if you aren't willing put that into your social media strategy you will find yourself frustrated.

There is value in social media, isn't it about time you started seeing it? Learn how to build a successful social media strategy that will bring value to your business.   Social Media Marketing - 5 Steps That Will Give You a Winning Social Media Strategy

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Are you ready for Google to bring Your World to your search results?

I hope so, because that's what they announced today. Your World marks the third major move toward social search. Google's goal is to transform the search engine into a tool that not only understand content, understands people and relationships.

The last two major moves made by Google included:

• Search results catered to individuals based on their search and browsing history.
• Search results include integration of profiles of those with similar interests.

Your World will include Google+ pages that are related to search terms you use in your queries. Google believes that this will put those pages in your reach easily. While Google continually reviews and asses social metrics and enhanced search, this move will make search engine results even more unique to users.

The introduction of Your World has caused major controversy, even with search engine marketing experts like Danny Sullivan.

"Until now we have not had the mixture of our personal information with our Web search results, and that makes even me a bit nervous," said Danny Sullivan, editor of Search Engine Land.

Your World could also have major drawbacks for Facebook and Twitter, who feel that Google+ will be favored and displayed in Google's search results. Want to avoid participating in Your World? You'll have to opt out.

This is just beginning, as a marketer my question is how will this affect businesses and their search marketing efforts? More to come.

What are your thoughts? Let's put the privacy issue aside for a moment, is Google making it harder for you to get in front of consumers that are not aware of you?

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There are many things that go into a marketing campaign and it's important to make sure you have done your due diligence to ensure the campaign's success.

That due diligence includes identifying your target, conducting market research, and determining the best way to reach your target. In today's world planning a productive and successful promotional campaign is crucial, especially with the cut in marketing dollars that many of us are experiencing.

Success comes from the following components:

• Identifying Your Target
• Market Research
• Marketing Message Development
• Pricing Strategy

If you have all of these things in order you've increased the odds of your campaign's success. You can follow this marketing campaign checklist to ensure you haven't missed anything.

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