Super Tracking Your Competition (Recon Thursday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’s Recon Thursday and before we begin I want to talk a little bit about one of my favorite movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  In one scene, Butch and Sundance blow up a train and suddenly a Super Posse jumps out of another train and starts tracking them across the southwest.  No matter what they do they can’t elude the posse.  They learn that the posse has the very best tracker, in fact they call him Super Tracker.

Today we are going to discuss how you can super track your competition using social media.

We have already discussed how social media inbound marketing is a great tool to develop your brand, seek out business relationships and to generate new business.  It can also be leveraged as a method to identify what your competition is doing.

Through their social media campaigns competitors are sharing strategy and tactics as to target customers, messaging, products and offers.  Tracking your competition through social media will provide a good idea of what they are doing and enable you to develop strategies around that.

There are numerous benefits of tracking your competition’s social media efforts.  First you will learn exactly where they are creating a social media presence.  You will be able to identify their target customer and whether they are utilizing physcographics of peoples’ interests or demographics of peoples’ age, marital status, education, etc.

Read the details of competitors’ content to determine their positioning in the market and brand promises to their customers.  Also take note of specific offers and promotions they are running.

The best attribute of super tracking using social media is that it is in real time.  If you sign up for a competitor’s blog, Facebook site or tweets you will to be instantly informed of the changes your competition is making in the marketplace.

If you take the time to follow the social media efforts of your competition you are going to gain a lot of knowledge that you can use to be smarter in the marketplace.  However, you have probably already guessed that social media is a two edged sword.  Your competitors are able to follow your social media and learn more about your marketing and branding as well.  You just have to be smarter than they are and use the knowledge to a greater advantage.

That concludes Recon Thursday 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.

Fulfilling Your Brand Promise (Action Wednesday/Positioning)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Action Wednesday and we’re going to discuss fulfilling on brand promises.

To determine whether or not you are fulfilling your brand promise, compare the expectations your customers have of your brand to their actual experience.  With respect to Once a Day Marketing, I hope you expect knowledge, strategy and inspiration to market every day.  If I am delivering that then you are a happy customer.

Look at your own company, brand and product.  Are you delivering?  Are you exceeding the expectations of your customers?  Are they having a great experience?  If not, determine why not and make the appropriate changes.

When you are meeting or exceeding your brand promise you should have many happy customers and lots of repeat business as well.  If you are noticing disgruntled or unhappy customers, it could be that you are not delivering on your promise.  Are you noticing that business is starting to fall off?

If you are seeing these symptoms, start doing some exploration.  That is your action item for today.  Do quick self assessment first.  Are you sensing any of these changes taking place?  Do you know that you are not fulfilling your brand promise?

Ask your employees.  They are in the trenches dealing with your customers and getting feedback.  Lastly, ask your customers how you are doing.  Take that answer to heart and then work to deliver consistently on that brand promise.

Let’s visit our taco stand on the plaza for an example.  The taco stand’s brand promise is that they deliver authentic food that is inexpensive and fast.  Imagine if you go there and you stand in line forever, or prices have gone up or he is now serving Chinese food.  Is he delivering on the brand promise? If the taco stand owner is not delivering on the promise customers will go somewhere else next time.

Rest assured that I will continue to work hard to fulfill my promise to deliver knowledge, strategy and inspiration to help you market every day.

That concludes Action Wednesday.  Stop by 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.

DurangoSpace: A Winning Idea (Strategic Tuesday/Product)

Jim Glover visited with Jasper Welch, owner of DurangoSpace, a unique coworking facility located in Durango, CO.  This is their interview.

Jim: Hello there, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, with Once a Day Marketing.  And today we are in Durango, CO at DurangoSpace which is an exciting coworking facility.  I’m here with Jasper Welch.  And Jasper, welcome.

Jasper: Welcome.  And welcome to you too. 

Jim: And the first question I have for you is what is the DurangoSpace.

Jasper: DurangoSpace is coworking and we have individuals, professionals, artists and all different kinds of people who come to work by the day or by the month.   

Jim: Like an executive suite?

Jasper: A little bit different.  We have a community of coworkers, you’ve seen a lot of them today, and they have different lines of work and rather than staying at home, being alone, or being on the road without any community, they have a community here.

Ben Hancock (testimonial insert): What I love about DurangoSpace, every time I come in here it’s a welcoming environment.  People are here to socialize, be cooperative, and help each other be more productive.

Jim: So is that the unique differentiator for the DurangoSpace that somebody working out of their home or perhaps used to be in an office environment can come in and get more camaraderie.

Jasper: Right.  And also we have all the support that they might need to do their work like high-speed internet, coffee.  All the things you’d expect at an office but maybe you don’t work in a corporation or you work by yourself or you work as a telecommuter.

Jim: What is the most unique thing about your facility would you say?

Jasper: Probably the flexibility.  All the tables and chairs are on wheels.  We can flex the space anyway our members need. 

Jim: And then as a benefit, what is the top benefit a customer might gain by being here at DurangoSpace?

Jasper: I think productivity because they can get so much done.  Sometimes they get more done than maybe they would on the road or at home.  It’s just a great productive work environment.

Jim: Thanks for being on Once A Day Marketing.  I am Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, and we’ll see you next time.

Durango, CO: A Winning Brand (Smart Monday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing. Today we are in Durango, Colorado.  Smithsonian Magazine recently selected Durango as one of the top 20 best small communities in the United States.  The strategic question is what makes Durango so special.

Think about branding from the perspective of the 7Ps.  First is product, Durango is a gorgeous, historic town in the San Juan Mountains next to the Animas River.  It has blocks of restored store fronts, a four year college, a ski resort and it’s an outdoor adventure community.

Price - you can find condos in Durango from $149,000 to homes for $2 Million.  There is quite a diverse range of housing prices.

Promotion – Durango advertises a consistent message that it offers a great quality of life, higher education and numerous outdoor adventures.

Place – Durango is situated in the southwest corner of Colorado, close to New Mexico and the Four Corners region.  Mesa Verde national park is nearby.  It is ideally situated and has great four season weather.

There are great people in Durango as well.  Everyone seems to be an outdoor enthusiast.  They want to make sure that you have a good time and they are here to have a good time themselves.

Physical evidence - As you look around town it is evident that merchants take great pride in the facades of their storefronts and make them inviting to you the customer to come on in.

Process - I heard a wonderful story yesterday.  There was a restaurant fire on Main Avenue, and within one day a former mayor had coordinated raising $30,000 to assist the displaced waiters/waitresses through the time it would take to reopen the restaurant.

Positioning - Durango has staked a claim on being one of the best small towns in all of America.  It provides great quality of life, they understand the 7Ps and constantly work to ensure people outside the community know it’s a great place to live, to work and to play.

Like any product, it’s important for a community to have a brand as well.  Durango’s brand is exemplary.

That concludes our Smart Monday.  Be sure and stop by 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.

5 Social Media Predictions (Digital Friday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  Today is Digital Friday and I’m going to pull out my crystal ball and give you a few predictions as to where I think the world of social media marketing is headed.

It’s taken a few years but one can’t argue that social media is here to stay.  It is being driven by the ever increasing capability of technology used to access social media content.  Consumers crave all types of content and companies are finding success creating that content and sharing it with customers in interesting/innovative ways.  Technology, demand and supply have come together, creating benefits for business and customers.

Here are my five social media predictions.  Don’t hold me to them, however, I’m fairly confident that they are going to happen sometime in the near term.

Number One is the proliferation of social media channels and apps.  We see that every day.  More and more are coming online.

Number two, with this proliferation there’s going to be a lot more content.  If you think what we have available today is a lot just wait until tomorrow.  It’s interesting to note that in 2011 there were one trillion views on YouTube.  Customers out there are seeking content.

Number three is choosing the right channel to distribute your content.  You can’t be in all places at all times.  You will have to determine how you position your digital content and which social channel you use.

All this content is going to create more clutter.  We’ll be bombarded daily, hourly, practically every minute with more and more social media content.  In the future there is going to be ways to filter this content so it actually reaches the desired customer.  That’s number four.

And the last prediction, Number 5, is that there is going to be real-time response to customers by businesses.  Now that we have the ability to interact with customers in a social media capacity they’re going to want information and we have the ability and the obligation to get back to them ASAP or even faster than that…immediately.

Leveraging social media for your business is no longer a question of if but when.  You absolutely have to be embracing social media to be successful in the market place today.  If you are not, start now.  If you are already using social media channels the next step is to determine how to be very targeted in the delivery of your social media content.  You must have engaging content, consistent delivery and a way to cut through the clutter.  If you can do that you will find a market out there following your content.

That concludes Digital Friday.  Try to stop by next week.  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.

Consistent Messaging Inside and Out (Action Wednesday/Process)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It’s Action Wednesday and before we begin I would like to remind you to please send me your comments, like our Facebook page, retweet, and share your thoughts.  The more you share the more we can enhance your Once a Day Marketing experience. 

Today we will discuss consistent messaging inside your company and out.

Every day we talk about branding and marketing.  It’s important for you to develop a branding and marketing campaign.  I know you’ve been working on it or have already implemented.  You’re identifying target customers, creating a compelling message and you’re trying to be consistent and repetitive with that message so that people hear it over and over again.  It takes time to have your company be top of mind when it comes to buying your product.

Once the message has been created, what are doing to make sure everyone inside your organization is on the same page regarding that messaging?

Remember, everybody in your company is a brand ambassador.  It’s critical for them to be on the same page with you with respect to the messaging you’re sharing with the public.  When customers comes in, phone or email, they should be sharing the same compelling, consistent message that you are.

For example, a small community is sharing a message that they are a tourism destination and there are many things to do in town.  If a tourist comes to town, sits down in a restaurant and asks the waiter what is there to do in town and the waiter answers “There’s nothing to do in this town.”  All the marketing and branding goes out the window.  It’s vital to ensure that the messaging you’re sharing with your audience is also understood by the people inside your organization or in this case the town.

That concludes Action Wednesday.  Stop by 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.

Ad Throwdown: Flo vs Gecko vs Mayhem (Recon Thursday/Promotion)

Hello, I’m Jim Glover, That Branding Guy, for Once a Day Marketing.  It is Recon Thursday and we are going to have some fun looking at how several companies are working to achieve recognition and recall.

Before we begin I want you to think about insurance companies and the ads you’ve seen on television.  What’s coming to mind?

The three insurance companies I immediately think of are Progressive, Geico and Allstate.  They are all competing for recognition and recall and are top of mind for me personally.

What those companies most want is that when I need insurance I will seek a quote from them.  None of them have brand dominance in my opinion, there is not one I think of to the exclusion of the others.  All are competing in the same product class and are doing a good job as a result of their advertising.

The following describes how these three companies have positioned themselves in recent television advertising.  For Progressive, Flo comes to mind.  She is dressed in white, in a very clean computer software store and she’s selling insurance packages.

Next, Geico.  When I think of Geico I do think of the Gecko and picture him and his Australian accent.  Geico also runs other campaigns including the recent insurance “taste test” and Maxwell the Pig who squeals in the back of a car.

And then you have Allstate who has been running ads around various situations involving Mayhem.  Mayhem is depicted as a bruised and battered man a result of some recent mishap.  The message: thank goodness for insurance that covers Mayhem.

Are these advertising campaigns doing a good job?  As I mentioned earlier, they’re all top of mind for me.  I thought of all of them as potential insurance companies for future business.  They’ve met their objective there.

Wondering if people would actually seek these commercials out on their own rather than only viewing them via television, I took a look at YouTube.

Progressive and Flo had as many as 300,000 views for one commercial.  Geico can boast 600,000 views for the gecko.  But the winner by far is Mayhem with 1.9 million views for one video.  People have taken time out of their life to actually go watch a commercial on YouTube.  I think that’s pretty impressive.

That concludes Recon Thursday 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.