Once a Day Marketing: November 2012

Friday, November 30, 2012

Future Trend: Mobile Visual Search-MVS (Digital Friday/Physical Evidence)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday when I often like to introduce you to trends on the digital horizon. The trend we will be discussing now is called Mobile Visual Search or MVS.

I am sure you are already familiar with Quick Response (QR) codes. Those are the two dimensional, square black and white bar codes that you may see on an advertisement in a magazine or perhaps in a store window. When scanned with a smart phone they will provide information or take you to the advertiser website.

QR codes are not a solution for all needs and there have been concerns with them. It has been reported that unexpected items embedded in a QR code can forward users to the wrong place and/or result in security issues.

The new trend emerging in the market right now is something called MVS – Mobile Visual Search. Using new technology, it allows a user to take a photo with their smart phone camera of practically anything and recognition software and other intelligence is utilized to send back interesting content related to item photographed.

There is also an image recognition application called Google Goggles that allows a smart phone user to snap a photo of a landmark or a book to obtain additional information.

In the future you will be able to leverage this technology to obtain information about practically anything. It might be the face of a friend, the store front of a shop you are going into or a product that you like. The applications will be sophisticated enough to take that input, whatever it may be, and provide remarkable content linked to whatever it is that you photographed.

As a marketing and branding guy I find this absolutely fascinating. I think we are going to see huge amounts of MVS in the future. I want you to begin thinking about it. Is there an application that you can deploy to enable your customers to photograph your product to obtain all sorts of wonderful content about it? It’s on the horizon, if you begin developing your strategy now you may get a jump on your competition.

That concludes Digital Friday. Do your best to join us next week. If you need any branding or marketing support, please contact us to discuss an online or onsite service engagement. You can always find that information at the end of this video. I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we will see you next time.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Selecting an Advertising Agency (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are continuing our series looking at outsourcing marketing support for your company and today we are focusing on Advertising Agencies.

Not everyone has had personal experience with an advertising agency so let me talk a little bit about what advertising agencies do for your company. They will begin by creating your branding and marketing and may act as your media buyer. Through branding they are creating your brand positioning and developing target audiences. Under the marketing umbrella the agency will develop your message, design ads and may even produce the TV commercial or radio spot.

The agency will also implement the marketing campaign for you. That means that they will place your ad on television or on the radio (that is the media buying) and in the current environment expect that they will suggest adding social media marketing as well.

Once you have made the decision to seek out an advertising agency there are numerous aspects to consider in selecting one that is a good fit for your company. Some agencies are large and some small. Look at their experience; review their portfolio to ensure you like their work. Meet the individuals that are part of the organization. Find out how connected they are to the community and to the media outlets such as local papers, television stations and radio stations.

Other elements to review are the approach they will take to mount your advertising campaign and the associated costs. The agency should let you know the metrics they will provide to measure the success of the advertising campaign.

Then you want to discuss fees. Every agency will be different; they may be project based, hourly or retainer. Lastly, make sure agency you chose has media buying clout. If they are going to represent you to place your ads on television, in print or on the radio you want to know that they have the ability to obtain the most favorable pricing.

Another important consideration of utilizing an advertising agency is that you are going to be committing financial resources to them sufficient to design and implement an effective marketing campaign on your behalf.

Additionally, once you begin using an advertising agency to push your content and message out into the market place you are now branding. The ad campaign is creating an image of your brand in the mind of potential customers. It’s up to you to make sure that what the agency does on your behalf meets your goals and expectations.

That concludes Recon Thursday. Join us tomorrow for Digital Friday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Taking Action: Getting That One Thing Done (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we are going to have you review your marketing action plan and finally tackle that one item you know you should finish that isn’t completed yet.

If you are a regular follower of Once a Day Marketing™ you know I am a big fan of creating marketing action plans and prioritizing tasks to execute that will improve your marketing and branding. I also know as we get closer to the end of the year there are a few items on that list that aren’t completed. There are a few items on my list as well.

Take a moment to congratulate yourself for the marketing plan milestones you have accomplished. Then determine which one of the outstanding items is the one you should follow through on to really improve your business. Perhaps you want to revamp your website or create a demonstration video to show off your product. Were you planning to enhance customer service or revise your pricing strategy?

Your task for Action Wednesday is to identify that one item and then ensure it is completed.

Start on the task you want to finish right now and target the end of the year to have it completed. It is going to put your business in a good position for next year and will give you a sense of accomplishment. Then you will be ready to create a whole new list of tasks for next year.

That concludes Action Wednesday. Join us tomorrow for Recon Thursday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Is Your Brand a Cash Cow? (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and today is Strategic Tuesday. Have you ever heard the term Cash Cow? We are going to discuss the Boston Consulting Group model where that term originated and how you can use it as a strategic tool.

The Boston Consulting Group created this model quite a while ago but it’s still an effective tool. The vertical axis depicts market growth. That will range from 0% to however fast your business unit (or brand) is growing. The horizontal axis represents your market share relative to your competition. You may be 10 times greater than your competition in the market or you might be one tenth the size of your competition. This tool will enable you to map where a business unit stands with respect to growth and relative market share.

There are four quadrants on the matrix and one of these is where the term Cash Cow comes from. Cash Cow is a business unit that isn’t growing rapidly at the moment but it does have good market share compared to the competition. Another category is called Stars. That is a business unit where there is quite a bit of growth and also a good position in market share compared to the competition.

The third section is labeled Question Mark (?). A business unit falls into this quadrant when there is growth but relative market share is not very large compared to the competition. The last category is Dogs. A business unit will fall into this section when there is little growth and little relative market share.

Determine whether you have a Cash Cow or a Star or a Question Mark or possible a Dog. Then evaluate the strategic options to move forward. You can build it up, maintain it as it is, harvest resources or divest.

Building up a business unit requires input of additional resources to grow and increase market share. On the other end of the continuum is divestiture where you would move resources out of one unit to put into your Stars and Question Marks. Leverage the growth share matrix to make a strategic decision as to how you are going to respond to your businesses placement.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday. Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. If you need any branding or marketing support, please contact me to discuss an online or onsite service engagement. You can always find that information at the end of this video. I'm Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we will see you next time.

Monday, November 26, 2012

What Makes a Good Ad (Smart Monday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we are looking at three components that comprise a good advertisement.

I recently led a branding seminar with Jan Zimmerman, author of Internet Marketing for Dummies. In her presentation she talked about foundational elements of a good advertisement, something I call the 40/40/20 Rule.

The 40/40/20 Rule is very straight forward. 40% of your ad should be about your target audience, 40% describe your offer and the remaining 20% focused on the creative. Next we will discuss each segment.

Know who your audience is or your message isn't going to be relevant and it isn't going to resonate. When you are developing your ad spend a good amount of time ensuring you are targeting the right potential customers and your message is aligned to that group.

Next is the offer. Provide an offer that your customers care about. Design a promotion that will inspire potential customers to be interested in purchasing your product, and has a call to action.

Lastly is the creative. One of the 7Ps of Marketing is physical evidence; your ad has to look good as well as contain the other core components. When all of these items come together, you should have an ad that will drive traffic and benefit your business.

As you are producing your next ad, think about the 40/40/20 Rule and keep those elements in mind. Don't get caught in the trap and go straight to the creative. People often say it has to look good but the reality is it has to be targeting the right audience with the right message and then you make it look good.

That concludes Smart Monday. Join us tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Impact of Long-term Blogging (Digital Friday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are looking at a recent study by HubSpot on the impact of long term blogging.

HubSpot completed a study involving 7,000 of their customers who answered questions about inbound marketing. They found some very eye-opening statistics that may cause you to re-evaluate blogging for your company.

Here are the five findings related to blogging that I thought were most interesting:

-          15 blogs or more per month generate five times more inbound traffic than not blogging at all
-         Increasing blogging from 3-5x a month to 6-8x a month results in nearly double the lead flow
-          B2B blogs of 1-2 times a month will still generate 70% more leads than those who don’t blog
-          B2C companies increasing their available blogs from 100 to 200 saw a 59% increase in traffic
-          Companies with blog count over 200 have 5x more leads than those with 10 blogs or fewer

You may not experience the same lift that the 7,000 companies in the HubSpot study enjoyed. However, the point is blogging does work. When you have a small number of blog you generate less attention than when you have a large number of blogs. I am still recommending that you consider blogging. If you aren’t blogging, your competition is and they are the ones seeing that increase in traffic flow.

That concludes Digital Friday. Join us next week for Smart Monday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Selecting Your Branding Consultant (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. It’s Recon Thursday and we are continuing our series on understanding how to outsource branding and marketing support for your company. Today we are discussing Branding Consultants.

In last week’s blog I asked you to consider whether or not your marketing was working and if you should keep it in house or bring in an outside consultant. If you have decided to hire a branding consultant, there are four areas to focus on when you are in discussions with an individual or company to do the work.

First is rapport. Do you feel you have established a relationship and will get along with this individual or company? You will be trenches with them so it is very important that you get along well. Number two; review examples of their past work and make sure you like it. Don’t assume that just because they are talented they will be able to provide what you want.

Next look at their approach, the steps will they take to complete the scope of work. Fourth, call/review references, look at the age of the references and if they are not recent, request newer contacts.

Once you engage a consultant clearly define the scope of work. Discuss fees; every company is different, they may bill you on an hourly basis, a project basis or retainer. Decide what will work the best for your budget.

Establish a timeline. I recommend that you consider a phased delivery. Don’t encompass all the work into one milestone to be delivered at the end of the project. Rather, establish a number of smaller milestones. Review and approve one milestone at a time and then move on to the next. Lastly, be very clear on the deliverable or deliverables the consultant will turn over to you when the work is complete.

Your branding consultant should get you excited about your brand and branding in the future. They will assist you to create brand positioning, identify target customers and develop a marketing action plan that will move execution forward. Again, review each milestone and ensure it meets your expectation before you move on to the next.

The last thing to remember is that you are the client, you have to decide whether or not to implement the recommendations that the consultant makes to you.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

New Markets Create New Opportunities (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we are discussing introducing your existing products to new markets.

You’ve been working hard to refine your product and penetrate existing markets. In previous blogs I’ve talked about growth vectors and in particular the market development strategy of launching an existing product in a new market.

For Action Wednesday I want you to consider where you may be able to take your product into a new market. You can research demographics; age, gender, income or education or psychographics pointing to consumer interests.

For example, let’s assume you have developed a rugged, stylish outdoor shoe for mountain climbing. Customer feedback tells you people also like to wear it as a fashion statement. Targeting customers interested in style rather than outdoor enthusiasts could be a whole new market.

Another approach might be location. For instance, you may find that a product you have developed for the US market is also attracting the interest of the Chinese market.

The most appealing element of this market development strategy is that you don’t have to change your product. You are only focused on repositioning the product in the minds of new customers.

Consider how you can take your product to a place that you have never taken it before. Once you identify these potential markets you are also going to find new opportunities.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Earning Customer Loyalty (Strategic Tuesday/People)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and today is Strategic Tuesday. I recently saw a Hyundai automobile company online advertisement that made me think about customer loyalty.

There is an expression “loyalty can’t always be explained, but it explains a lot”. Loyalty means your customers are very devoted to your brand. We don’t always understand why, they just go out of their way to seek your brand and become your brand lovers.

What prompted this discussion is the fact that J.D. Power and Associates ranked Hyundai number one in customer loyalty this year. Capitalizing on that, Hyundai created an advertising campaign targeted at college football fans called Show Your Loyalty Sweepstakes. Fans show off how they are loyal to their team for a chance to win a car or trip to a football game from Hyundai.

In this clever campaign Hyundai is matching the fact that they are the car company with the most loyal customers with fans loyal to their college teams. That is a nice integration and a great idea.

The strategic question is what can you do to increase the loyalty of your customers? The simple answer is that you give them what they want. However, to achieve true loyalty you must create brand expectations and deliver on that promise. Then customers will begin recognizing what your company is all about, they will gravitate toward your brand and use your product. Over time they will become loyal if they like what you are delivering.

Monday, November 19, 2012

The Product Life Cycle and Your Marketing (Smart Monday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we are going to take a look at the classic product life cycle and how that impacts your marketing.

It's interesting to note that products evolve a lot like people. They are born, grow, mature, age and then pass on. There are four stages to the classic product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

Introduction is when an idea is transformed into a product and introduced into the market place. Production and marketing costs are initially high and profits may be low at the outset.

Next is growth. Sales are climbing, consumers are adopting the product and the company is beginning to make a profit.

In the maturity phase the product has been on the market for a while. Sales are still climbing but profits are declining because competition has now entered the market. Other companies like the original product so they are emulating it and taking away market share. This is the point in time before the product starts going into decline and marketers have to consider how they are going to remarket this product.

During the decline stage when sales and profits are falling off, a business has to decided whether they want to reinvent the product or if they want to retire it and bring a new innovation into the market place.

The product life cycle requires that you take a long-term look at introduction through decline for your product. It's important to know that you can alter your marketing anywhere in the process based on the marketing mix that is required at that time. At introduction perhaps you employ more promotion strategies and later on move into leveraging pricing strategies.

It is crucial to understand that the product life cycle for every product is different. Some may rapidly go up and then decline and others might take longer so you have to be the expert in analyzing your own product life cycle to determine the marketing strategies that you will use.

That concludes Smart Monday. Please join us tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Friday, November 16, 2012

Be Selective with Your Social Media Campaign (Digital Friday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are discussing why it’s so important to be very choosy when you start your first social media campaign.

Social media is growing fast, which makes it difficult to keep up with all the potential sites available as an outlet for your marketing message. I know from my own experience with Once a Day Marketing™ that you want to be everywhere but you really can’t.

A fellow consultant, Jan Zimmerman, says when it comes to social media it’s either your money or your life. Meaning that you spend a lot of your money to launch a social media strategy or you spend a lot of your time to make it happen.

I highly recommend that you do have a social media presence for your business. If you are considering moving into this channel, it’s important to determine which social media site is the best fit for your business and reaches the audience you want to target. Research the various choices, talk to colleagues, read blogs and look at what similar businesses are doing. Select the best option, then design and launch your campaign.

Start with one or two social media sites to begin with. This approach will get you started and allow you to learn the process. Leveraging social media will also enhance your search engine optimization. Lastly, I recommend that you really perfect your involvement with one social media site before you move on to the next.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Managing Your Marketing: In-House or Out-Sourced? (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are starting a new series around assessing your own branding and marketing efforts to determine whether or not you are doing a good job or if it may be time to seek outside support.

I know branding and marketing but I certainly don’t know automobile repair. When it comes to my own marketing and branding I do that. But if my car breaks down I certainly don’t fix it myself, it’s just not my core competency.

Now that you are beginning to understand what branding and marketing is, you should evaluate the results of your recent branding and marketing activities and determine if you are achieving your goals and attaining the desired results.

Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering whether or not you should be doing your own marketing or having it out-sourced:

-          Do you have a marketing plan in place?
-          Are you implementing that plan?
-          Are you being consistent with that implementation?
-          Do your target customers now have a clear understanding of your brand?
-          Are you satisfied with your creative material (website, ad copy, brochures)?
-          Are your customers responding by calling, buying your product, visiting your website, etc.?

If you are honest in your assessment, then you know if your in-house branding and marketing is working or whether you should bring in a professional to support your efforts. If you decide to hire outside assistance who should that be? When should you bring them in? What should you have them do?

Stay tuned for my future blogs in this series where we will discuss the different type of professional support and answer those questions for you so that you will have enough information to make informed decisions.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Make Your Product Easy to Buy (Action Wednesday/Place)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we’re taking a look at what you can do to make it easier for your customers to buy your product.

It’s nearing year-end, the economy seems to be turning around a bit and the holidays are approaching. Now is a great time to consider what you can do to bolster sales. One item to focus on is making your product easy for your customers to find.

There are a few things I want you to do for Action Wednesday. First look at where your products are being distributed now. Are you able to increase their presence in those distribution channels? Are there new channels you can implement in the fourth quarter?

If you are retailing your product online, determine how to display it on your website so it is very easy for customers to buy. If you are selling through retailers and distributors, consider how you can assist them to enhance the placement of your product.

When your customers have finally decided to buy a product and, in particular your product, you want to make sure it’s very easy for them to find. If they have to look very hard they may accidentally discover your competitor’s products and might just buy that instead.

Ensure your product is very visible. Make that purchase easy for your customers and enjoy the enhanced sales you will have by the end of the year.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Targeting the Hispanic Market (Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday. An article I read recently in the New York Times is prompting the discussion of whether or not you are targeting the Hispanic market as part of your marketing strategy.

There is a growing trend right now to target the Hispanic market in mainstream advertising. Let’s look at the latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Daniel Craig as James Bond graces the cover; however, on the back cover you will see an entirely different Rolling Stone. Latino artist Pitbull is featured and all the text is in Spanish. A special section includes 15 pages of articles that are in English and Spanish, even advertisers are getting involved, targeting the Hispanic market.

In the past you would find Spanish ads almost exclusively on Spanish radio stations, in a Spanish newspaper or on a Spanish television station. Now advertising in Spanish is going main stream. Rolling Stone magazine is a prime example. 17% of their readers are Hispanic.

What you will see in this special edition are articles that are in Spanish and English as well as ads that are in both languages. In particular Proctor & Gamble with products such as Charmin, Gain and Bounty is advertising in both languages. P&G says that the growth of some of its brands is directly attributed to the Hispanic market.

Use of the dual-language advertising is a reflection of the fact that acculturated Latinos are speaking both English and Spanish at home and outside of the home.

The strategic question for you today is to consider what you are or should be, doing to ensure that your product or services are properly aligned to target this market.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday. Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday. To discuss an online or onsite service engagement and enhance the marketing and branding for your organization, contact James Glover: (505) 501-1330 or onceadaymarketing@gmail.com. I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™ and we’ll see you next time.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Time of Consumer Adoption of Innovations (Smart Monday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we're going to take a look at Everett Roger’s diffusion of innovation model and how it will assist you to understand your customer’s adoption patterns for new product innovations.

An innovation is any new product, service or idea perceived by your customers as new. According to Roger’s diffusion of innovation model, the length of time it takes consumers to adopt a new product is represented by a bell shaped curve. This tells us that people differ in their desires to try new things and the length of time it takes them to buy a new product varies widely.

The model breaks consumers into five groups. Innovators, who comprise 2.5% of consumers, are adventuresome; they like and seek out risk and are the first to buy new products. Early adoptors, 13.5% of consumers, are opinion leaders and once they make a decision to buy typically others will follow suit.

The largest group is the early majority who make up 34% of consumers. This group is very deliberate but they chose to follow the early adoptors when making purchases. Next, the late majority also at 34%, tend to be skeptical. When they see other consumer getting on board, they will also seek out a new product.

Finally we have the laggards who comprise about 16% of consumers at the tail end of the curve. This segment is very traditional and they need to know that a product is well proven before they will buy.

Understanding adoption patters for your customers is important to accurately target your advertising. Once you categorize your customers into the various groups of adoptors you will be able to leverage demographics and psychographics to determine media characteristics and create a compelling advertising message for each group that will resonate specifically with them.

For instance, when marketing to innovators you may use a line such as “be the first”. This will generate excitement with that group when there is a new product available.

In contrast, addressing the laggard group you might say “a proven product withstanding the test of time”. Increasing their comfort level with your product.

Friday, November 9, 2012

A Typical Day on the Internet (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are going to take a look at statistics that mbaonline.com pulled together about a day in the life of the internet.

I have frequently stressed the importance of the internet and the fact that so many people are using the internet all over the world. The statistics are mind-boggling and mbaonline.com put together some very interesting ones that I am going to share.

On a daily basis:

-          The amount of information sought would require about 168 million dvds to store
-          294 billon e-mails are sent via the internet
-          2 million blogs are uploaded; thank you for tuning in to mine
-          250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook
-          There are 532 million status updates
-          22 million hours of television programming and movies are watched on Netflix
-          864,000 videos are uploaded to you tube
-          35 million apps are downloaded

So why is all this data important? It clearly demonstrates the tremendous number of people using the internet. There is an old adage that says you should fish where the fish are. Chances are your customers and your potential customers are already using the internet. What are you doing to make sure your brand is online so they can find you in whatever way they happen to be looking?

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Are You #1 in the Minds of Your Customers (Recon Thursday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and since it’s football season and everybody is wondering who is the number one college team in America will be this week; I thought we’d talk about your business being #1 in the minds of your customers.

There is a restaurant here in Santa Fe named Maria’s. If you ask people why they go to Maria’s they will tell you it is for the fajitas. Conversely, when you ask someone in Santa Fe the best restaurant for fajitas, again they would say Maria’s. That establishment definitely has top of mind with local residents and the associated market share as well.

It’s important for you to know what makes your business number one in the minds of your customers. Remember, you are not trying to be number one to all people; you are only trying to be number one to that group of customers who really want your product.

For Recon Thursday I want you to consider what makes your product or company number one in the minds of your customers. Also list why your competitors may be number one in the minds of their customers. Perhaps you have customers in common. Once you have completed your research, evaluate where you stand; are you clearly differentiated compared to your competition?

With this information in hand now you can continue developing strategy for next year around creating compelling and consistent messaging that will reinforce what makes you number one in the minds of your customers. Don’t forget, once customers have that expectation you are going to have to deliver on your promise all year long.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Add Pizzazz to Your PowerPoints (Action Wednesday/Physical Evidence)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Action Wednesday and we are talking about how to add pizzazz to the powerpoint presentations you use when you are speaking in a public setting.

Powerpoint presentations are still a very popular way to share information about your company, brand, products or services. However, not all presentations are created equal. I’ve seen many that are bland. It’s very important from a branding perspective for you (or someone in your organization) to enhance your presentation because it is a visual queue and a reflection on your brand.

Here are a few ideas I recommend you consider when you are preparing your next set of powerpoint slides. First take into account who your audience is and create compelling content that aligns with their interests. Next, don’t fill your slides with text. Express your topic in a few words, then share the rest of the information verbally.

Content should be visually appealing. It’s not just about what you are saying but also what your audience is seeing. If necessary, engage a graphic artist to create compelling images. Consider enhancing the physical presentation through animation. Powerpoint contains powerful tools that allow you to move objects around. Don’t use this feature for the sake of moving those objects around, do use it to enhance a point you want to emphasize with the audience.

Lastly, integrate such things as audio, video or links to the internet. All of these elements will make your presentation much more engaging for your audience.

Benefits associated with adding a little bit of pizzazz to your powerpoint include audience appreciation, positive reflection on your brand and creation of favorable impressions in the minds of the audience. It may result in more speaking engagements if that is your goal. You will also have a good deliverable to share on slideshare.net or other sites to create brand awareness, allow potential customers to find you and potentially obtain new leads.