Once a Day Marketing: May 2013

Friday, May 31, 2013

Don't Let Social Media Overwhelm You (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Be Selective With Your Social Media

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are looking at the initial launch of a social media campaign.

In previous blogs we've discussed the importance of creating a social media campaign and how it affords you the opportunity to develop individual business relationships online. We refer to this as creating a market-of-one or people-to-people (P2P).

Because there are so many social media channels, you might be overwhelmed where to start. Don't be. I have a simple recommendation for you. Pick just one and start. To me it doesn't matter whether it's LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, etc. The goal is to learn how to develop your content and share it consistently online as well as cultivating the connections as they are made.

If you like to make videos, go with YouTube. If you enjoy writing, consider Blogger. If you have little time, perhaps Twitter is the direction to go. Also research who follows a particular social media channel. For instance, Once a Day Marketing is a business to business product so we've found LinkedIn to be our best social media tool as compared to Facebook.

Good luck with those social media efforts.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2013 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Using Signage to Enhance Customer Experience (Recon Thursday/Physical Evidence)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Enhancing Customer Experience Using Signage

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are looking at how business signage can dramatically enhance customer experience.

How many times have you been frustrated when a business doesn't have adequate signage to help you navigate their store or office? It might start with no sign or a hard-to-read sign on the outside of the building. Perhaps it is difficult to read the street number. Or once inside, it's challenging to locate the products you want, find the cashier, or even seek out the restroom.

Signage is part of physical evidence or what your customers see about you brand. Poor signage creates poor impressions and can diminish your brand.

Create a great brand experience by producing signage that's easy to read, well placed and informative. You're customers will love you for it.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Promoting Through Online Marketing (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Marketing Ecosystem: Online Marketing

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and we are discussing online marketing, another of the nine marketing channels to promote your brand.

With the growth of smart phones, iPads and wi-fi hot spots as well as cheaper high speed home connectivity, more and more people are going online and spending more time when they do. The goal of leveraging online marketing is to have a presence where your customers or potential customers tend to visit.

To increase your online visibility, try online advertising or gain attention through Google ad words. You can send information to potential customers via e-mail or offer automated access to your newsletter. Social networking is another good choice using such sites as Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

There are a numerous benefits associated with using online promotion and advertising as an integral part of your marketing portfolio. You are able to target consumers in ways never available before the advent of the Internet. You can purchase an advertising presence, or, if you are willing to spend the time, you can get your message out for a lower cost.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Mapping Your Marketing Strategy (Strategic Tuesday/Process)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Plan Your Work. Work Your Plan.

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are discussing the importance of mapping your marketing strategy.

You work hard to develop your product or service. Are you working just as hard to market it? With marketing resources often limited, it's very important to identify how and where to promote product benefits to target customers. This is your marketing action plan.

You should also identify the costs associated with the implementation of the plan. Using the marketing ecosystem we've discussed in our blogs, you'll find each channel (e.g. print, publicity, experiential, mobile, etc.) has different costs. The goal is to maximize the reach and frequency of messaging given the availability of marketing dollars.

Once the action plan is in place it's equally important to ensure you carry out the plan. Spend time every day to market and strengthen your brand and sales.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Using LinkedIn Notifications to Enhance Relationships (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: LinkedIn Notifications

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are discussing how to use LinkedIn's powerful notifications feature to enhance your business relationships.

As we have said many times, it is very important to cultivate relationships through social media channels. And as you expand your presence online and start contributing more content, it is sometimes challenging to follow up on all the responses you receive. LinkedIn has a great feature called Notifications that makes managing these relationships a lot faster and easier.

On the LinkedIn home page you will see a small black flag at the top, and a red number next to it. That flag/number indicates notifications of responses to your postings are available. These notifications come to you in real time. Notification may include a Like of one of your comments, a new comment on one of your posting or it may be that someone has accepted an invitation to join your network or your group.

The most exciting aspect is that now, in one place, there is a dropdown dialogue box informing you of all the recent interactions that you have had. The Notification feature from LinkedIn allows you to instantly know who is interacting with you and enables you to respond promptly. This is a great change for you to say hello, thank them for the Like, invite them to connect with you or start a conversation.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Strategic Brand Analysis of Your Company (Recon Thursday/Process)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Strategic Brand Analysis: Self Evaluation

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are concluding our three-part series on strategic brand analysis using David Aaker's model. In part 3we look at self-analysis.

There are five components to the self-analysis. First is existing brand image. How do customers perceive you and the benefits they receive from your product? Second is your brand heritage. Where did you come from, how did you originate, and why are you in business.

Third is strengths and weaknesses. What does your company do well and what do you want to improve on in the future? Fourth is the soul of your brand evidenced by the values of the brand and the vision you have for your company going forward.

Fifth and last are links to other brands within your company or organization. No brand is an island; each should have individual identity but all be working together to accomplish a common goal.

Understanding your customers, competition and your own company provides you with the knowledge to develop branding and marketing strategies and tactics to increase mindshare and capture market share.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Out of Home Marketing (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Marketing Ecosystem: Out of Home

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and we continuing our series profiling the nine marketing channels you can use to promote your brand.

Today we discuss Out of Home or what I refer to as "out and about". This relates to your marketing efforts to capture the attention of potential customers as they leave their homes and conduct their everyday lives.

Think about the possibilities. Each day potential customers drive to work, go shopping, take care of errands, pick up their kids, go to the gym, meets friends for a drink and dine out. As they travel about you have the opportunity to expose them to your brand through billboards, posters, signage, logo placement, etc.

Consider where your potential customers congregate and determine if you can devise a clever way get exposure for your brand, company and product. As you are out and about today, look around and see how other marketing companies are vying for your attention.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Differentiating Through Your Core Competency (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Understanding Your Core Competency

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are looking into how to differentiate your brand through core competency.

Core competency is the skill or production technique your business employs to deliver value to customers and is the central component of your company’s culture.

There are three aspects of core competency. First, your core competency should be such that competitors can’t readily imitate you. Second, it should be applied to all products and markets you enter. Third, it should contribute positively to the customer experience.

In essence, core competency is what your company is very good at doing. Many times brands try to be something they are not.

Your assignment for Strategic Tuesday is to analyze your company’s strengths and identify your core competency. Then develop strategies to strengthen it and, even better, use it in the marketplace to differentiate yourself from your competition.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

© 2013 Once a Day Marketing™. All rights reserved.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Inspiring Your Marketing Ideas (Smart Monday/Product)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Inspiring Your Marketing Ideas

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we are reminding you of the purpose of our daily blog and branding resources.

We launched Once a Day Marketing™ to assist you in marketing and branding your company and product every single day in order for you to be more successful. Once a Day Marketing™ provides knowledge, strategy, tactics; our brandline “inspiring ideas inside™” means we have inspiring ideas for you within the content of Once a Day Marketing™ and we are also inspiring you to develop your own ideas to pursue in your marketing direction and campaigns.

Once a Day Marketing™ provides great tools and resources. Content is organized into five daily themes; Smart Monday, Strategic Tuesday, Action Wednesday, Recon Thursday and Digital Friday, and relate to the 7Ps of Marketing enabling you to find answers to questions around pricing, product, promotion, etc., easily.

Our website (link info below) enables you to follow our daily blog, view our 250+ branding videos, ask your branding question, and sign up for our Once a Day Marketing™ LinkedIn Group to associate with other branding and marketing experts. If you select the RSS feed you will automatically receive our blog via email. Lastly, we have launched a new radio show called Ask Those Branding Guys™ where we put brands on the couch to make your cash register sing.

We're here every day to inspire the marketing ideas inside you. Good luck with your daily marketing.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. Contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. Listen to Ask Those Branding Guys™ every Monday at noon (MDT) streaming live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Can Your Video Go Viral? (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: The Value of Going Viral

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday and we are looking at videos that go viral.

This past week Chris Hadfield, a commander of the International Space Station, released his "Space Oddity" music video covering the classic David Bowie song from space. It's a great video, Hatfield has a nice voice, and the YouTube release is creating quite a following. As of the time of this blog, the "Space Oddity" video has captured over 12 million views.

The reason for the success: it's clever and fun to watch. You almost feel you are out in space with him.

I am a big believer in sharing videos on the internet. The more times you post videos, the more opportunities you have for the production to go viral. This can be a lot of free publicity for your brand should the video find a following.

You never know when a video will go viral but your chances are greatly increased if you create an interesting video that will inform and amuse your audience. Any video content won't do; well thought out content that keeps your targeted audience in mind has the best chance of viral success. Give that some thought today.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Strategic Brand Analysis of Your Competition (Recon Thursday/Process)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Strategic Brand Analysis: Competitors

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are continuing our three-part series on strategic brand analysis using David Aaker's model. Today in part 2 we look at competitors.

The two components of competitor analysis include brand image/positioning and brand strengths/vulnerabilities. It’s important to know where your competitors stand today and where you think they will be in the near future. Determine how your competitors are advertising. Where and what are they advertising? What is their message? Which consumers are they targeting? This is important knowledge to have when you build your strategic brand in the future.

Next determine what you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of your competition. As you develop strategy, you may want to avoid areas where a competitor is very strong. An aspect where they are weaker may provide an opportunity for you to exploit.

You can’t develop strategy to defend against your competition if you don’t know what they are up to. As you continue to learn about your competitors, groupings will emerge we call a brandscape. Make sure your positioning is unique and share that message with your customers.

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Making PR Your Marketing Friend (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Marketing Ecosystem: Public Relations

Today we are discussing public relations or PR, which is a powerful tool to share your brand story with potential customers. Public Relations is the process of generating brand awareness outside of the paid advertising environment. The objective is to allow customers to encounter your brand story through a third-party source such as local television news, newspaper or magazine article, or perhaps shared virally through a social media campaign.

The result derived from a PR campaign is referred to as earned media because you are not directly paying for the coverage you are receiving. There is still the cost of time devoted to creating the informational campaign; however, the earned media you may receive could be quite substantial.

Other aspects to consider: There is no guarantee a media outlet will print or cover your story at all. Occasionally they will take the story in a different direction from where you were trying to go. You have to be careful about.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Rebranding the Santa Fe Capitol Grill (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning)

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Rebranding Santa Fe Capitol Grill

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday and were discussing what it takes to rebrand a local restaurant.

On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we spoke with Patrick Torres, General Manager of Santa Fe Capitol Grill, an established restaurant located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Torres has been tasked by the owner to enhance the brand image of the restaurant and create greater mindshare with existing and new customers.

Torres discusses the strategy he is using to rebrand and attract new restaurant-goers. He explains that the experience is a key factor along with establishing a desirable dining environment. He is striving to make the establishment hip, cool and family-friendly. Santa Fe Capitol is targeting Gen Y (18 to 33 year olds) with a new DJ night on Tuesdays and also attracting Hispanic and Latinos, a large percentage of the Santa Fe population.

Also appearing on the show was Mark Smither, VP and Strategic Director at Paulsen Marketing, experts in agriculture and rural lifestyle marketing. Smither shared his insight around how to brand agriculture products and appeal to target markets. Kubota Tractor was highlighted, one of Paulsen long-standing clients. Smither also noted the importance of a brand being unique, compelling and believable.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Anything Can be Branded (Smart Monday/Positioning)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: You Can Brand Anything

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we are reminding you that anything can be branded.

Having a recognized brand is critical to your business success because customers buy products or services they know and trust. Confidence is earned through positive customer interactions and experience with your brand. Creating favorable impressions will result in potential customers considering your brand at time of purchase.

No matter what your product or service is, it can be branded by creating the right brand expectations in the minds of your target customers. Brand identity will be established through an ongoing effort to enhance your offerings and customer experiences while sharing a consistent, compelling message of product benefits.

The more you are able to differentiate your brand the more customers will understand your unique selling proposition and gravitate to your brand.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Webinars and Online Communication Tools (Digital Friday/Process)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Online Conference and Communication Tools

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Digital Friday and we are discussing webinars and online conferencing to easily reach your customers.

When information is digital there are no boarders, you are able to communicate your content with people all over the world.

Tools such as WebEx and GoToMeeting enable webinars and robust video conferences. Webinars are an easy and cost-effective way to communicate with your target audience. Online video conferencing allows you to engage customers and clients in face to face meetings wherever they are located.

The powerful features of these tools lets you chose the best way for you to personally interact with customers. Consider how you may be able to present your products and services to potential customers all over the world using these technologies. If you haven't sampled how easy it is to host a webinar, check out a site today.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Strategic Brand Analysis: Customers (Recon Thursday/Process)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Strategic Brand Analysis: Customers

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are launching a three-part series on strategic brand analysis using David Aaker's model.

According to marketing guru Aaker, it's important to track the market activity of consumers, competitors and your own company, which he calls self-analysis.

When it comes to consumers, Aaker identifies four categories to review. The first is trends; knowing what purchase activities are going on in the industry. Second is motivation; understanding what motivates customers to buy your product or service.

Third is segmentation; you should be able to categorize your customers by demographics or psychographics (i.e. interests and likes). The fourth component is un-met needs; perform an analysis centered on product or service voids in the market place

Performing Aaker's analysis on customers will identify opportunities for you to better brand and market your product or service in the future.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Leveraging Print Meida for Branding (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Print as a Marketing Channel

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and we starting a series profiling the nine marketing channels you can use to promote your brand.

Today we are discussing print media, which is still a great way to advertise your product or service. The goal is to ensure target customers are reading the print outlets you select to display your advertisement. The better you align the message to your target customers, the more relevant and resonate the ad will be.

Ensure the print ad has a stylish design and a compelling message; the quality of the ad is a reflection of your brand. Also, make sure there is enough frequency (how often the ad is placed) so your potential and existing customers have a chance to see it. Not everyone will see it the first time it runs.

Lastly, remember that print is just one node of the available marketing channels or ecosystem. An integrated campaign using multiple marketing channels such as online, out of home, audio/video, etc., will deliver more desired results.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Branding a Regional Beer (Strategic Tuesday/Positioning)

Listen to our featured Ask Those Branding Guys radio show podcast: Branding Santa Fe Brewing Company

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Strategic Tuesday and we are discussing what it takes to build the brand of a regional brewing company.

On our radio show Ask Those Branding Guys, we interviewed Brian Lock, owner of Santa Fe Brewing Company, a craft beer manufacturer based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe Brewing is famous for its Santa Fe Pale Ale but also is a product leader with the introduction of new beers ever year including its State Pen Porter and Kickin' Chickin' products.

Lock discusses the strategy he uses to build his brand. He explains that the consistent quality of his beer is critical to the success of his brand and also compelling marketing and messaging. He also talks about defending market share with product innovation such as using the latest technology in aluminum cans to protect the taste and life of his beer.

Co-host Dave Hayduk calls in from the Governors Tourism Conference and discusses what New Mexico is doing to market its New Mexico "True" brand and compete against neighboring states such as Utah, Colorado and Texas. Guest host Vera Hayduk and Glover discuss how radio is still a powerful channel to market your brand.

Once a Day Marketing™ positions brands to become #1 in the minds of target customers. Visit our website at www.onceadaymarketing.com. You may also contact James Glover at (505) 501-1330 or email glover@onceadaymarketing.com. You can listen to Ask Those Branding Guys every Monday at noon (MDT) as it streams live on SantaFe.com KVSF 101.5 FM.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Understanding the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) (Smart Monday/Positioning)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Smart Monday and we are reviewing one of the most important marketing principles ever identified: Unique Selling Proposition or USP.

Rosser Reeves explained USP back in 1960 and there are three basic components. First, you must make a proposition to your customers that when they buy your product they will get a specific benefit.

Second, your product must be truly unique and your competition does not offer the same product or service. Third, the proposition must be strong enough to motivate your customers to buy your product. Just because you can offer it doesn’t mean they will necessarily want to buy it.

If you can determine your USP you are going to have a distinct advantage over your competition. If not, branding and marketing your product or service will be a challenge. Take the time to review your USP.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Are Mobile Ads Part of Your Marketing Strategy? (Digital Friday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Marketing with Mobile Devices

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Digital Friday, and we are looking at using mobile ads for your business.

A recent WSJ article on the rise of Facebook's mobile boom is a strong reminder that advertisers are embracing mobile advertising. Facebook's mobile-ad sales jumped 22% from the prior quarter and now accounts for 30% of all its advertising revenue. In addition, the number of monthly users who now access Facebook on mobile devices jumped 54% to 751 million.

The takeaway here is that smart phones sales are on the rise and consumers are using these phones to immediately access information on the go from wherever they happen to be. As an advertiser you have to "fish where the fish are" and in this case the consumers are out and about using their smart phones.

If you haven't been thinking about mobile ads, I recommend you take a look.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Tracking Your Competition's Pricing (Recon Thursday/Price)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Pricing Your Competition

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing™. Today is Recon Thursday and we are talking about checking in on your competition's pricing.

Pricing is a major part of the 7Ps of Marketing and there many pricing strategies available to you to penetrate a market, introduce a new product or entice customers to purchase more of your product. Today you can't price in a vacuum. Consumers have the ability to instantly shop price on the Internet, therefore, you have to know the prices your competition is offering.

The good news is that you might be able to find a lot of product pricing information online. However, if you are a consultant or service provider you may have to be a little more creative to find out what prices prevail in the market for your industry.

The better you understanding pricing, the more prepared you will be to position your product against your competition. And remember, the more you can differentiate and brand your product the less significant pricing becomes (within reason).

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Build Brand Confidence with Guarantees (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Once a Day Marketing™ featured video blog: Build Brand Confidence with Guarantees

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today is Action Wednesday and we are talking about guarantees and how they can enhance your brand and customer confidence.

A guarantee is a formal promise that a certain condition will be fulfilled. A guarantee increases the confidence of your buyers by minimizing purchase risk. If a customer is undecided regarding a purchase, the guarantee expressing your confidence in your product may positively impact the consumer decision. Guarantees also enhance the brand, when you believe in your company and product, so will your customers.

If you truly believe in your company, product or service, why not offer a guarantee? Ensure the guarantee makes sense and instills confidence in buyers that you back your product.