Imagine building a house. Before you saw a single board or dig the footings for your foundation, you must first finalize your blueprints. Without plans telling you what your desired result should look like, you won’t be able to accomplish very much.

You also need to make sure you have the tools to accomplish the job. In construction, tools all have very defined purposes, and failing to listen to safety guidelines about using the tools can end up either hurting you or destroying your house.

Once you have your final plans and all the tools and materials you need, it’s time to get to work. Now is your opportunity to put all your knowledge to the test. The process might be slow, but as you go step by step, you start to see progress. Before you know it, the final result begins to take shape. The further you get, the more confidence you gain in your abilities.

Most of us will never build anything more elaborate than a bird house. That doesn’t mean, however, that the steps involved in building a house cannot teach us anything. Even just planning how one might begin to build a house can teach us something about how to succeed in marketing a company.

<strong>The planning</strong>

Before building a house, everyone involved in the process needs to know their role and desired outcome. Without a final goal, it would be impossible to create anything useful or of value.

The same holds true in marketing. Marketing is most successful when you have a final goal and vision in mind from the beginning. Understanding the end goal is the only way you’ll know where you’re going and what the final result should look like. This final vision will guide you as you develop your campaign message and plan for reaching the desired intended audience.

<strong>The tools</strong>

When building a house, you need to use a variety of tools that each serve a very distinct role. In marketing, you’ll also find various tools in your tool kit. From direct mail to Facebook ads to inbound marketing, a successful campaign involves understanding the purpose of each individual tool and how to successfully use them.

<strong>Perseverance</strong>

Building something as large as a house will require an incredible amount of perseverance. There will be times when you get discouraged or struggle to see progress, but you still must keep going.

The same lesson applies in marketing. When starting a new campaign, it can be hard to see tangible results right away. The results will come. You just need to keep pressing forward. You must be willing to put in some effort before you begin to receive any return.

Building a house is something most of us only imagine doing. Those who have had the opportunity to work on such a project, however, know what an educational experience it can be. Even if you only ever dream of building your own house, consider the steps you would take. You might be surprised at the tips you can learn about marketing your company. If you’re interested in making your dreams a reality and getting your marketing plan off the ground, contact us today. We’d be happy to help you get started.

Inspiration can come from many places. While it’s always important to look toward successful leaders to see what you can do to better yourself and your organization, you can also find tips in the most unlikely of places, including film and television. While certain fictional characters may seem like little more than “kids stuff” on the surface, entertainment is actually filled with budding entrepreneurs, successful businesspeople, and everyone in between.

<strong>1. Lex Luthor – Supervillain, Business Leader, Or Both?</strong>

If you’ve only known Lex Luthor as a “mad scientist” who will do whatever it takes to stop his arch rival, Superman, you haven’t been keeping up with the character for the last several decades. In the classic Richard Donner film, <em>Superman</em>, Luthor’s plot involves buying up thousands of acres of worthless Arizona desert that will eventually be transformed into a “new West coast” of high-priced real estate after he separates California from the rest of the U.S. by way of his dastardly plan.

Though Superman thankfully puts a stop to him before that can happen, the business lesson here is abundantly clear. Luthor recognized an opportunity in real estate (or, as he so eloquently put it, “the one thing they’re not making any more of”). He thought outside the box and was able to find a new way to penetrate an existing market, which is something all business owners should be doing on a daily basis. Even though his target market seemed impenetrable, he was able to put a bold new slant on an old idea just by embracing unique possibilities.

<strong>2. The Avengers – The Importance of Teamwork</strong>

One of the most amazing things about the 2012 film <em>The Avengers</em> is the important business lesson inside. From the moment these heroes get together, all they do is bicker. Instead of saving the world, much of the first part of the film involves them arguing with one another to the point where a villain is able to execute the vast majority of his master plan while no one’s even paying attention.

The business lesson from <em>The Avengers</em>, however, rests in the third act. Separately, each hero could not complete the mission before them. Only by properly teaming together and utilizing their complementary strengths were they able to form something much bigger than any one person. It’s the same thing you need to be doing in business on a daily basis. Your team members are there for a reason. Everyone is good at something. Recognizing those strengths is what drives success.

<strong>3. Wile E. Coyote – There Is No “Magic Bullet” In Business</strong>

Wile E. Coyote is known for many things, including being a textbook illustration of what not to do in the world of business. As Wile E. Coyote attempts to capture his arch rival, the roadrunner, he keeps trying to do so with a single solution. Sometimes that solution takes the form of an Acme rocket that explodes too early or an anvil placed in just the wrong location.

The business lesson here is startlingly simple and amazingly important at the same time. If you depend on one single “magic bullet” solution to achieve business success, you’re never going to get what you want. Such a solution doesn’t exist. Putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, isn’t the way to run a successful business. It’s gambling that will never quite pay off. You can’t expect any one single move to rocket your business into the stratosphere. Instead, you need to have backup plans for your backup plans and (most importantly) patience.

You really never know where inspiration might rear its head. One second you might think you’re only watching a diabolical villain trying to pull one over on the last surviving son of Krypton. But before you know it, you realize you’re actually watching a master businessman at play. Important business lessons can come from even the most unlikely places. You just have to make sure your eyes are always open and you know where to look.

Trust is essential to success in today’s business world. It’s not enough to offer a terrific product or service. You need to back that offering with the type of high-quality brand experience people won’t find anywhere else. Doing so doesn’t just create customers — it creates advocates. It creates a legion of followers who are willing to champion your brand to their friends and family members, extending your reach farther than you ever could on your own. In order to achieve this, however, you need to focus on two key qualities: transparency and authenticity, especially in your marketing message.

What is Transparency in Marketing?

At its core, transparency means being truthful about your business at all times. Far too many business leaders believe that acknowledging problems or mistakes is akin to showing signs of weakness. As they see it, letting people know your business may be going through a rough patch is proof that blood is in the water and the sharks will soon begin to circle.

In reality, transparency is one of the best ways to establish yourself as a trusted brand. If you make a mistake, don’t attempt to sweep it under the rug. Instead, lean into it, take the heat, and use the experience to better your organization. From that regard, transparency isn’t a weakness at all. It’s a way to show your organization is run by human beings who sometimes make mistakes but who always care about their customers above all else.

Consider the recent surge in data breaches that have affected some of the biggest companies on the planet. There are commonly two types of reactions to these events. Some companies try to pretend like a data breach didn’t happen for as long as possible. This never ends well and only damages their reputation. Others step up, take full responsibility, and go to great lengths to do right by their customers. These are the companies that survive the PR disaster that a data breach represents.

Authenticity is Key

Gabe Newell is the co-founder and managing director of the Valve Corporation, a highly successful video game development and distribution platform. When asked about the early days of Valve and the major success it had with digital distribution when so many other platforms were faltering, Newell said the key was simple. “One of the things we learned pretty early on is don’t ever, ever try to lie to the Internet,” he said. “They will catch you. They will de-construct your spin. They will remember everything you ever say for eternity.”

Newell understood what so many others failed to: authenticity is no longer a recommendation for business professionals. It’s a requirement.

Building a following for your business is always a challenge, especially as new competitors crop up with each passing day. Transparency and authenticity are two of the most important resources you have that will move you toward that goal.

Imagine planning a special meal. You start by thinking about the different dishes you want to serve and how well they’ll go together. You try to choose flavors that complement each other and fit well with the occasion. You hope to create a delicious feast people will love and remember for months to come. The same should be true of your marketing.

<strong>Understanding integrated marketing</strong>

Planning a successful integrated marketing campaign is a lot like planning a successful feast. Just as choosing various dishes that complement each other helps to create a memorable meal, using a variety of marketing platforms to create a single campaign will help to capture the story of your brand.

Too many companies try to create different marketing campaigns for each platform. The result is like a meal of random dishes that have absolutely nothing in common. Separately, each might taste good and draw compliments, but together they seem confusing and fail to provide the lasting impact you hoped to create.

<strong>The importance of audience</strong>

It’s also important to consider the desired audience for an integrated marketing campaign. When you plan a meal, you carefully think about the atmosphere and what people will expect. Similarly, when you plan the various aspects of your integrated marketing campaign, you need to consider who you want to reach. If your audience consists of largely retirees and empty nesters, focusing a large part of your campaign on Facebook might not be the best use of your time and money. The same way you think about the types of dishes people would expect and appreciate, you want to maximize the reach of your marketing campaign by thinking about where people are most likely to appreciate your message.

Planning a large meal requires careful preparation to ensure that each dish fits together well to accomplish the desired final effect. Similarly, your integrated marketing campaign must combine various marketing elements into a successful, incredible campaign that attracts the right attention.

Few aspects of running a business can be more frustrating — or more expected — than customer complaints. It’s impossible for even the most successful companies to please every customer every time. Knowing how to handle customer complaints effectively and professionally can improve brand reputation and turn a disgruntled customer around.

<strong>Listen and acknowledge the customer</strong>

It sounds basic, but a surprising number of businesses care more about defending their actions than listening to the customer. Remember that the vast majority of people who have a problem with your company won’t bother complaining to you. They’ll just complain to everyone else. Every customer who takes the time to complain directly to you should be thanked for the opportunity to make the situation right. This means listening carefully to everything the customer has to say about the experience and offering an apology for their discontent.

If you encounter a complaint online, reach out and publicly acknowledge the complaint online as well. Let the person know how disappointed you are that they were unhappy and ask for the opportunity to discuss the incident with them privately.

<strong>Discover the source of their frustration</strong>

If a customer complains that they can’t find something in your store, you might assume they’re asking you to reorganize your shelves. However, they might really be upset that no staff members noticed their frustration and stepped in to help before they started complaining.

<strong>Find out what the company can do to help</strong>

Sometimes all the customer really wants is an apology or information about how you’ll work to improve so you don’t make the same mistake again. In these situations, it’s easy to exceed customer expectations by offering coupons or a similar incentive in addition to meeting their request.

If the customer’s not sure how they’d like to be compensated or if they have demands you can’t reasonably meet, you should have a policy in place to help alleviate the customer’s concerns. Make a point of explaining what your company’s doing to improve in the area of the complaint, and thank them for their feedback.

<strong>Handle the publicity of social media</strong>

If a complaint originates on social media, take the solution back to social media once the situation’s resolved. Everything in social media is public, so once a customer posts a complaint, it can be seen by countless potential customers. Bringing the solution back to social media will help those who saw the original complaint see how well you did addressing it.

If someone complains to you through a blog post, ask them to either update the post so new readers know the situation was resolved or remove it altogether. If the complaint was made on Facebook or a similar platform, return to the original post and make an update yourself, such as, “I’m so glad we were able to work together to resolve this problem. We look forward to doing more business with you in the future.”

Customer complaints are an aspect of business no one enjoys but everyone has to know how to manage. Keeping the above guidelines in mind should help you successfully navigate this terrain, strengthen your company’s brand, and improve your reputation.

Email can be a powerful tool for reaching potential customers. After all, about 91 percent of customers have an email address they check at least one time per day. It’s a consistently reliable way for getting in touch with people who might be interested in what your company has to offer.

Unfortunately, often one of your biggest hurdles is simply convincing people to open your email in the first place. You have to battle against being perceived as spam and being overlooked to attract the attention of your intended audience. Here are some tried-and-true techniques you can use to boost your email open rates and find success with your next email campaign.

Personalization

Do you like to open emails that come from impersonal companies or unknown senders? Neither do your customers. Make sure the emails you send are personalized for your recipient. A personalized email will include a specific person at the company as the sender, such as Janet Smith from XYZ Marketing, instead of just XYZ Marketing.

You’ll also want to personalize the information within the email. Carefully store the information you have about your leads, then use that data to personalize your message and make it relevant to the recipient.

Segmentation

As you gather email addresses through your website and other interactions with potential customers, you’ll find there may be large differences between your leads. One person might be researching for their office but have very little decision-making power, while another might be CEO of his company. Segment your email list based on criteria such as location, job title, budget, or other important factors. Then tailor your messages to each of these groups you’re trying to reach.

Quality headlines

When convincing people to open your email, few areas matter more than your headline. Headlines that are excessively general, use too much punctuation, or otherwise look like spam are going to be ignored. Write headlines that capture the essence of your message and make your email look appealing. Pique your readers’ curiosity and offer them a small taste of the value they’ll receive when they open the email.

Value

Above all else, you want to make sure your email provides real value. Your message should offer your customers a clear return when they open it. Just like the rest of the content you create for your company website and marketing materials, your emails should provide useful information people can use, forward, and share with others.

When your emails clearly show their own value, you build your relationship with readers. People come to trust the emails they receive from your company even more. As a result, you’ll get better open and click-through rates. On the other hand, if your emails repeatedly show little value, customers will begin to disregard them, and your messages will be relegated to the ‘junk’ folder or trash.

Email can be a fantastic tool for communicating with potential customers and building relationships. The key is to use this method correctly. If you’re interested in boosting your ROI from your email lists, make sure you’ve implemented the above ideas. If you’re interested in beginning a new marketing campaign and have questions, contact us to get started.

Take a moment to think about the forms you ask your visitors to fill out and submit when they visit your website or come to your store. These forms help convert those individuals from anonymous visitors to active leads you can contact regularly. To make that happen, you want people to feel encouraged to leave you with their name and information so you can remember them.

Make the offer look enticing

Leads are the lifeblood of any organization. If you want people to provide you with their contact information, you need to give them a reason to do so. Make your sign-up forms appealing. First, make the offer something desirable. Then, make the actual screen look inviting.

Desirable offers

Developing a desirable offer means understanding the people with whom you’re speaking. Carefully analyze your buyer personas and consider the type of information and material that would appeal to them. Once you develop the information you want to put behind a sign-up wall, advertise it on the parts of your site where you know those specific buyers are likely to venture. For example, mention it at the bottom of relevant blog posts or alongside product information geared toward specific customer groups. As with all content, your primary goal should be to provide high-value information.

Appealing appearance

When visitors reach your landing page, you want to make sure the offer looks appealing on the screen. Add an image or two to help them connect with the offer. It doesn’t have to be an image of the real offer. A cartoon drawing with the name of your ebook, for example, will work just fine. Use a balanced layout and enticing language to encourage people to sign up.

Make the form itself manageable

Once you’ve attracted visitors to your sign-up page, the last thing you want to do is scare them off by making the process too drawn out or complicated. Make sure the form itself doesn’t look too intimidating. The amount of information requested should be comparable to the offer you’re providing. If it’s just a basic ebook, you should only ask for basic information. If you ask for too much, people will get turned off and click away.

If you’re interested in learning more about how to entice leads, contact us today. We’d love to help you with your marketing campaign.

Many factors go into the decision about where to attend college. While majors, location, and ranking undoubtedly hold a high place, the experience of other students and the school’s reputation also play a crucial role.

Schools must strike a careful balance between providing a rigorous academic environment, while at the same time offering an enjoyable experience that will make students talk about their school in a positive way to other prospective students.

Satisfied students can be the best brand ambassadors an institution can find. When students love their school, it emanates from everything they do.

• The students root for the home team during sports matches.
• School tour guides who speak about the university to groups of prospective students are enthusiastic and insightful.
• Successful professionals who have ‘made it’ in their respective fields eagerly voice their support for their alma mater.

Such enthusiasm builds a positive culture around the school and encourages new students to come and try it out. Building a strong brand around any organization entices people to want to belong to that particular select group and culture.

What colleges can teach us about building a winning culture

Most professionals realize that employees are important for keeping the company running smoothly. They know that turnover is bad because it wastes time and resources. They also know that high turnover can damage their reputation among potential hires.

What they don’t realize, though, is the importance of employee satisfaction when it comes to the customer experience.

Just like the college student who loves their school so much they broadcast it to anyone who asks their opinion, employees who feel respected and appreciated help to broadcast a positive image of the company and can increase customer satisfaction rates.

Think about it.

Employees are the face of your company. When they feel valued, they take the time to invest their energy into the company and their interactions with customers. They also strive to embrace a culture of success, which can help inspire their peers to improve their interactions with customers, too.

Employees and brand advertising

Employees can be wonderful sources for building up your brand. Just as happy college students take the love for their school to every facet of their life, satisfied employees tend to bring their jobs with them wherever they go.

Think about the last time you heard someone complain about the company where they work. How did those complaints impact your perception of the company? Chances are, that negative feedback made you feel worse about the brand in question — and less likely to turn to them when you need products or services in their industry.

An entirely different experience, however, comes when an employee is positive and upbeat about their employer. When they tell you enthusiastically that they can help you solve your problem, you become inclined to trust them.

Treating your employees well can help boost their satisfaction and improve how they represent your company to the general public. Remember that your employees are the face of your brand. That means you need to select them — and treat them — with that goal in mind. Cultivating a great employee culture is a wonderful way to improve your brand’s reputation from the inside out.

Few entities can inspire the kind of loyalty rock bands do. Think about performers like the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, and Phish, to name just a few. Groups like these have entertained generations of audiences and encouraged strong followings among their most devoted fans. Sure, their music plays a large part in building and maintaining a fan base, but so, too, does great marketing.

Bringing the content to the people

Most recording artists want to sell as many records as possible. That’s only natural, after all. So they focus on promoting albums and use concerts as a way to advertise their music.

The same idea is true in business, where companies often use their professional blogs and social media channels to promote their content and toot their own horn. They might provide occasional helpful information for followers, but their main purpose is selling, and their attitude reflects that.

Some of the more iconic bands, however, have taken the opposite tack. They place their primary focus on entertaining their fans. They want to provide an “experience” that encourages fans to spread their music and enjoy what they have to offer. Album sales grow naturally as the word spreads and more and more people are drawn to them.

That’s the same idea behind successful inbound marketing. It all starts with the experience. Great content draws customers to your sites and pages. Once there, you engage them, encourage them to spread your information, and watch your sales increase as your brand reach grows.

Staying dedicated to the goal

Success didn’t come overnight for most iconic bands. They had to tour constantly, often for years, spreading their music gradually from town to town and venue to venue. Their sound evolved naturally during that time, as they strove to meet their fans’ demands for entertainment. Eventually, they were able to reap the benefits of their dedication.

Once again, the same holds true with social marketing. When you begin using a digital marketing strategy, you have to be willing to give your efforts time before you begin to see a strong return. You have to regularly produce quality content that will bring people back and encourage them to become fans. You need to hone your voice and get to know your audience. Other websites need to find your content and begin linking to it. Search engines have to recognize your value as your popularity begins to rise. In time, you’ll begin to see positive returns for your effort, but only if you continuously produce high-quality, valuable content.

Creating your own voice

Of course, all the marketing in the world wouldn’t have helped these bands grow if they didn’t have something unique and worthwhile to share. They created incredible music that people love to listen to. For your marketing efforts to be successful, you have to be able to show your potential audience that you’re worth their attention, too. That means developing your own voice, creating new ideas, and building on your strengths within your niche. You want to stand out against the crowd and give people a reason to return to you again and again.

The next time you sit down to enjoy the music of your favorite artist or band, pause and consider the incredible marketing lessons these musicians have to share. If you’re ready to start taking your marketing campaign to the next level, let us know how we can help.

As managers, we all strive to develop an atmosphere of success and teamwork. When you can develop a culture that respects those in your office and encourages success, you’ll notice many immediate benefits.

• Workers will become more motivated.
• Employees will feel valued and know the role they play in the success of the greater organization.
• They’ll also feel more confident handling day-to-day situations and solving problems.
• You’ll be able to spend your time more productively, too, by not having to handle issues your employees now feel confident dealing with on their own.

When your employees feel valued and content, the impact can stretch far beyond the office walls. Happy employees present a more enthusiastic and helpful face for your brand to potential customers. Your company’s reputation for caring for its employees and its customers will spread. Referrals will grow, and your marketing efforts will have a greater impact. In short, this type of fantastic company culture can help the bottom line.

So how do you achieve this type of business-friendly dynamic in your office?

During hiring

Building a fantastic company culture begins during the hiring process. Make hires based on two main factors: skills and how well the candidate will fit with the culture you’ve created or are trying to create. Many companies focus solely on finding the person with the best qualifications, without taking into account how well that person will fit in with the rest of the team.

Ask questions during the interview that speak to the values you seek. When you’ve found a candidate that appears to work well, consider having them do a trial project with your team to see how well they get along.

Among current employees

Educate and empower your employees so they feel confident taking control of their interactions with customers. Teach them how to delight customers not by just telling them or giving presentations, but through examples and demonstrations. Build a culture that focuses on under-promising and then exceeding customers expectations at every turn. Teach employees to focus on solving problems for their customers. Develop concrete buyer personas that employees understand completely, so they can quickly gauge what customers seek when they speak with them.

At the same time, empower your employees. Let them know they’re trusted and responsible for solving problems and finding new ways to help their customers. Have clear guidelines about when employees should ask for help and when they need to come up with their own solutions. This will help employees better assist customers and solve their problems. Customers will be happier knowing they’re speaking with someone who can actually do something, rather than just relay messages.

Creating a positive culture and work environment does more than make your organization a great place to work. It can also help boost marketing efforts and improve the bottom line. By helping your employees, you’re improving the face of the brand your customers see. You might be amazed at the impact it can have on your efforts.