The Evolving Marketng Ecosystem (Recon Thursday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Recon Thursday and I’m going to talk about the every evolving marketing ecosystem.

What is a marketing ecosystem?  It’s all the places where you can market your product or services.  In this dynamic, growing world there are new channels opening all the time.  As a marketer, the question you have to ask yourself is where should you be within the ecosystem?

There are at least nine different channels available to you in the marketplace today.  At the center are your customers.  You have to choose which spaces to distribute your marketing and advertising content that will provide the greatest reach to your target audience.

Print – we are all very familiar with print media

Audio & video – that avenue is growing so fast today.  It used to be only television but now you have YouTube and other video sites.

Public Relations – still a great option for you.  Magazines, TV shows, radio shows, newspaper are still always looking for a good story.

Direct marketing – if you can find the right list you can push content to potential customers

Online – it’s huge, it’s growing all the time and we talk a lot about the power of inbound marketing, something for you to consider.

Mobile devices – they are growing by leaps and bounds.  Applications for mobile devices are going to be able to market your product and services.

Play space marketing – where people gather, like work, to a school or a store.  They will have the opportunity to see your marketing content.

Then you have what I call “out and about” that is everywhere else that people are going in their daily lives, their travels, whether it be down a freeway, down a street or anywhere in between.

Lastly, there is experiential marketing.  This is where you provide the opportunity to allow your customers to experience your marketing message, experience your product.  As baby boomers age they are seeking out that experience more than any other group.  I think you will see this channel growing far faster than many of the others.

Investigate the different channels available.  Keep using the ones that are working for you but be sure to test the waters using some of the new channels that perhaps you haven’t tried before.

That concludes Recon Thursday.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face 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.

Asking Customers: How Can I Help You? (Action Wednesday/Positioning

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Action Wednesday and I’ve got a simple task for you today.

Before I get to the action item I am going to ask you a question.  Why are you in business?  Now you may think it’s for the profit and that is a great by-product, however, I think you are really in business because you believe your product or service adds value to your customers’ lives.

Today’s action item is:  Consider when you last asked your customers how you can help them.  Or, even better, when was the last time you asked them how you could help them today.

Asking that question really means a lot to your customers and I don’t think we ask it enough.  It shows that you are interested in the needs of your clients and customers.  When you deliver after asking them how you can help them, then you and your brand are really going to shine.  I can’t think of anything better to enhance your brand.

The action item is easy; delivering on it is a little more complicated.  Reach out today and ask your customers how you can help them.  It may be via phone, e-mail or something you add to your website.  If you are working on a new marketing piece determine how to integrate that into the content.

I’ll finish today by asking, how can Once a Day Marketing help you?  Let me know in a comment, in e-mail, or however you can.

Thank you joining us for Action Wednesday.  Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Recon Thursday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face 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.

Tell Your Customers How Good Your Product Makes Them (Strategic Tuesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Strategic Tuesday and I’m going to talk about how to avoid a common market mistake that many companies make.

In yesterday’s blog I talked about creating buzz and anticipation by your customers for a new product you are about to release.  The mistake often made is telling them how good the product is, rather than how good the product is going to make them.

Let me use my own Once a Day Marketing video advice to hone in on this point.  In the daily video I provide you with knowledge, strategy and inspiration.  Those are the features, the benefit of watching my videos is that you become better at marketing and branding and your business is more successful.  That is how Once a Day Marketing makes your business better.

Look at your product or service and make a list of how they make your customers feel, how it makes them better.  In your future promotions ensure you are emphasizing those points.  Now it’s also ok to talk about how good your product is, but only after you’ve shared with customers how good your product makes them.

That concludes Strategic Tuesday.  Join us tomorrow for Action Wednesday.  To discuss an online or face to face 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.

Buzz: Creating Customer Anticipation (Smart Monday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Smart Monday, and we are talking about creating buzz and interest in your product before you actually release it.

What is buzz?  It is creating excitement for your product before it ever hits the streets, before your customers have a chance to buy it.  Buzz is a powerful tool because it creates a strong desire/demand for your product in advance of its being available.  When you finally do release it people are already standing in line.

Let’s look at some good examples of buzz.  Right now the Olympics are going on and we’ve been anticipating the Olympics in London for a very long time.  You also have the masters of buzz, Apple.  Apple has been able to create such great buzz for products such as the iPad and iPhones before they are released that customers are literally camped out to be among the first to have one.  Recently we had the Facebook initial public offering.  We do know that the anticipation was there for people to want to buy the stock.  Whether it is going to be a good buy or not is another question.

Many companies wait until they have the produce before they market it.  Consider marketing your product before you actually have it ready to release to customers.

From my examples you can see that buzz really works.  Determine how you can create buzz for the introduction of your next product.  A very important strategic element to remember is not to allow a long lag between when you make the announcement that the product will be coming out and its availability.  If you create anticipation and then wait too long before you actually deliver the product you may be doing yourself more harm than good.

That concludes Smart Monday.  Join us tomorrow for Strategic Tuesday.  To discuss an online or face to face 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.

Serving Your Global Customers (Digital Friday/Product)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Digital Friday and we’re going to talk about international customers.

What international customers, you ask?  Well, if you are marketing using social media or inbound marketing, you are in fact attracting international customers to your business.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Oregon in international business.  At that time there was something called an MNC which is a Multi National Corporation and there were only a few very large American companies serving customers all over the world.  Today that’s not case.  China and other markets have been opened up for trade.  The reality is your business is also participating in that same market.

When I started Once a Day Marketing at the beginning of the year I thought it was going to be a small marketing business focused on companies in New Mexico.  Following the launch on SantaFe.com, I started gaining viewers throughout the state of New Mexico and the rest of the United States as well.

To my surprise, currently 32% of all viewers are from international locations and I have followers from over 100 countries.  Ten percent of the participants in the new Once a Day Marketing LinkedIn Group are also international.  I am now an MNC, a Multi National Corporation, even though I didn’t start with that in mind.  However, that is what is going on in the world of social media and inbound marketing.

If you are starting to market using social media inbound marketing consider the global perspective.  You will have international customers and followers.  English will not be their primary language, they have different customers and cultures than you, they may not understand the expressions you use, especially slang.

I now think about my international audience and will be sure to position my content so all my viewers in the United States and the rest of the world can benefit from my advice.  I encourage you to think about your international market as well.

That concludes Digital Friday.  Join us next week for Smart Monday.  To discuss an online or face to face 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.

Making a Successful PR Pitch - Part II ( Recon Thursday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Recon Thursday and we are concluding our series on developing a successful PR pitch.  I encourage you to get a story about your business in your local newspaper, on the radio or on television.

Publicity, or PR, is one of the 7Ps of Marketing under promotion and it is often underutilized.  PR has the advantage of not being paid advertising, however, you have to do some work to get the coverage.  Additionally, the fact that the information comes from a source outside of your company may lend credibility or legitimacy to it for the customers and potential customers who read it.  That is why I ensure PR is always part of any marketing campaign that I create.

Now let’s look at the remaining five tips to create a successful PR pitch.  Number six is to develop the points you want to feature.  Consider the: who, what, when, where and why.  Identify the elements of the story that will excite the interest of the writer or reporter when they see your outline.

Next craft a short e-mail that includes all of the pertinent story information at the top.  Your goal is to intrigue the recipient with the opening remark.  Again, give them the facts that you want to feature.  You may also want to include company information or background.

Then develop a very concise verbal pitch.  Media representatives are going to call you and ask why your story warrants their attention.  You have to be very good at answering their questions and convincing them the story has merit.

Lastly, pick up the phone; this is where the execution happens. Call writers/reporters and talk about your story. Position it to be so compelling that they will think they are going to miss out if they don’t cover it.

If the media outlet doesn’t cover the story this time, you will still have the benefit of creating relationships; we’ve talked about the advantages of networking in the past,. The next time you talk to that writer or that reporter it’s going t be easier for you to pitch your idea.

Do your preparation, remember that is 98% of the effort, and then have fun with the last 2%, the execution.  You should be confident that your story has merit and that the particular channel you have chosen will be interested in covering your story.

That concludes Recon Thursday.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Digital Friday.  To discuss an online or face-to-face 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.

Making a Successful PR Pitch Part I (Action Wednesday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Action Wednesday and we are starting a two part series around how to make a successful PR pitch.

What drives publicity, or PR, is the fact that newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, etc. continuously seek out content.  Since they need content, your job is to share a story with them so they will profile your company.  Doing PR is really 98% preparation and only 2% execution.  Today and tomorrow we are going to discuss ten points to assist you in successfully pitching your story to the media.

Let’s take a look at the first five tips.  Number one is defining the main goal or why you want to share a story.  Don’t do it just for the sake of publicity, there should be a reason.  You may want to get a jump on your competition or share news regarding a new product or service. 

Two – identify the story you have to tell.  It should be something that is unique, compelling, humorous or interesting.  It could have a personal perspective about yourself or somebody in your company.

Next you want to select your target audience.  Who would be interested in reading, hearing or watching this story?

Number four, research the media outlets providing information to your target audience.  Consider local radio stations, newspapers or even a national magazine.

Lastly, develop your story angle taking into consideration why now and what makes this important.  Think like a reporter, create a story that’s going to entice, intrigue and interest the media outlet so they will respond favorable and talk with you further about an opportunity for them to write an article about your business.

Those five points were all about being prepared.  Tomorrow we are going to talk about three more points regarding preparation and two for execution.  The latter is where you get down to talking to the reporter, pitching your story, and hopefully getting it in the press.

Thank you joining us for Action Wednesday.  Be sure to tune in tomorrow for Recon Thursday and Part II of our series on making a successful PR pitch.  To discuss an online or face-to-face 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.