Shakespeare was a master playwright who continues to entertain audiences centuries after his death. His mastery of the written word has been admired by people throughout the generations and around the world. While he may have never imagined anything like the Internet or modern marketing, there are still a number of lessons Shakespeare can teach us as we set out to master our own marketing techniques.

Becoming a master of words

Words are a major part of any marketing campaign. We all use words to reach our customers, to develop content that will interest them, and to explain why our products and services are superior. Shakespeare teaches us about the power words can have when they’re carefully thought out and used appropriately. People still enjoy reading and watching his plays hundreds of years after they were first performed. That’s because Shakespeare was a master at putting words together so they communicated the point to the audience and engaged them in the content.

Creating plots people can relate to and want to read

Shakespeare wrote for an audience that lived hundreds of years ago. Their life experiences were vastly different than our own. Yet, somehow Shakespeare’s writing appeals to us as much as it appealed to the people of his day. That’s because Shakespeare developed plots that people could relate to on the most intimate levels. His writings involved timeless themes, such as love and jealousy, which are still alive today. Shakespeare completely understood his audience and was able to use the difficulties people face to attract audiences, engage them, and convince them that he sympathized. By building this relationship with the audience, Shakespeare was able to build a loyal following to his brand.

We, too, must answer these same challenge from our own audiences (customers) today. Consumers want to know that companies understand and address their struggles. This helps to build the critical relationship that leads to customer loyalty and improved brand awareness.

Using multiple resources to develop content

No one develops their content in a vacuum. It’s estimated that of Shakespeare’s many plays, only a couple were actually completely original and developed by Shakespeare himself. This means he was frequently drawing inspiration and ideas from other sources of content. He would use these sources of inspiration to help get his own creative juices flowing. He would develop and embellish on the plots, characters, and themes until the works were completely his own, but still had parts that were drawn from other classics.

As content creators and marketers, we must also be willing to draw upon the experience and expertise of others. The marketing world continues to change, and we must all stay on top of the new methods if we want to remain competitive.

Looking at the successful work of others to draw inspiration can offer help with building our own content, too. As we read and see what others do in their marketing campaigns, we gain a better understanding of what we want to write and discuss with potential customers. Content development has become an increasingly important part of marketing. Listening and reading what others have to say can help any marketer start to develop their own voice, the same way Shakespeare found inspiration for his writing.

When you set out to develop your marketing campaign, you’ll likely spend a considerable amount of time reading modern marketing experts and trying to incorporate their wisdom into your own campaign. While these modern marketers will certainly impart a lot of wisdom, don’t discount what the wordsmiths of the past, like Shakespeare, can teach you as well. If you’re ready to jumpstart your marketing campaign, give us a call today.

Most industries today are teeming with competitors, each offering a slightly different take on their products and services. In this environment, it can be difficult to imagine how you’ll ever make your products, services, and company stand out against the chaos. It is, however, possible.

Construct your advertising wisely

Customers see thousands of ads every day in just about every aspect of their lives. Whether browsing online, commuting, watching TV, or listening to the radio, customers find companies vying for their attention all the time. In this environment, it’s easy to see how customers get in the habit of just tuning out all the noise. To be successful, you must find ways to overcome that tendency. So how do you do it?

1. Design ads that look nothing like those of your competitors. If your ads bear too much resemblance to other ads on the market, they’re much more likely to get overlooked.
2. Make sure you integrate your ads across all campaigns. Once customers see so many ads, they tend to only glance at them. If your campaigns don’t use the same colors and themes, customers will be less likely to put them together and pay attention to what they say. By integrating them, customers get a consistent message across all platforms, which will help them absorb the message.
3. Use a logo that’s visually appealing and represents your business well. Many companies, especially small businesses, tend to overlook the importance of their logos. However, logos tend to be one of the first things customers notice on advertising. A well-planned logo is excellent for branding. When the logo helps customers associate your business with your industry, they’ll start to form strong associations with your brand.

Tell customers what makes you different

We’ve all heard how important it is to find a niche within your industry and use what makes you unique to appeal to customers, but you should also take this a step further. Identify what makes you different. That might be where your products are made (made in the USA?), how they are made (fair trade? natural preservatives?), or how they can help customers solve a problem in their lives (increase sales?). Use that difference as a key point in your advertising.

Get out in the community

Companies that get out and involved in their communities will find their brand recognition soar, with sales following closely behind. There are numerous ways you can get involved in your community. You might sponsor a local kids’ sports team, a local charity run, or some similar event. You could set up a table at the yearly town picnic or sponsor a float in the town’s Memorial Day parade. All of these techniques will help you raise awareness within your community and show how much you care about the people you serve. The result: a better reputation and more chances to develop relationships with potential customers.

Your company might be competing within an oversaturated industry, but that doesn’t mean you have to be just another face in the crowd. Use the suggestions outlined above to get started building your own brand recognition and reputation. If you’re ready to get started with a new marketing campaign, give us a call or drop us an email today. We’d be happy to help you reach more customers.

Like so many other expectant couples, Sarah and Mark began researching baby products right away, as soon as they found out they were expecting baby number one. They listened to advice from friends and family, and they turned to the Internet to learn more about all the options and brands available to them.

Before long, they found themselves overwhelmed with choices: bouncy seats, swings, white noise machines, stuffed animals designed to mimic the mother’s heart rate. Who knew there could be so many different products dedicated to helping babies sleep?

As the couple began to wade through all the options, Sarah quickly began to realize the marketing genius behind it all. She worked in advertising and had seen this phenomenon countless times in successful ad campaigns. The makers of these various sleep products had completed the trifecta.

They had:

1. Identified a real problem
2. Tapped into their potential customers’ fears
3. Designed a product to fill that niche in a slightly unique way

The importance of these three marketing points applies not only to companies designing sleep aids for babies, but to everyone who wants to design a successful product.

The keys to successful marketing

Successful marketing is built around identifying and addressing a key need for consumers. If your product looks interesting or does something really interesting, but customers don’t see an immediate need for it, it probably won’t sell very well. The key is to show customers exactly how your product addresses a specific need, even if the need is one they don’t even know they have. Show customers how your product or service will make their lives easier, and they’ll be far more likely to buy from you.

Capitalizing on what’s different

When Sarah and Mark began researching baby products, they were amazed at the sheer number of products that were designed for sleeping. What perhaps is even more astounding, however, is that all the products were slightly different. No two products were exactly alike. Even if two white noise machines were standalone, plug-in devices, there were always some slight differences. Maybe one had an option to play a recording of a heartbeat, while another had more lullabies. Each manufacturer seemed to know exactly what made its product different from the competition, and that’s what they capitalized on. One might focus on the benefits of having a newborn hear a gentle heartbeat while trying to sleep. Another might talk about how lullabies have been used for generations to soothe.

Like these manufacturers, your company must be able to show customers exactly how your products are different than the competition and why those differences make your products better. It does no good to duplicate a competitor’s product, as that niche has already been filled. Think about what makes your product superior, and use that information to mold your marketing campaign.

Show the product providing the solution

Any product that’s supposed to help babies sleep will include pictures of peacefully sleeping newborns right on the box. Such imagery expertly taps into the fears of potential customers (having a baby who won’t sleep) and offers them a solution (use our product, and you’ll have a peacefully resting infant). Your marketing campaigns should make it obvious to customers exactly how the product you’re selling is going to help them.

Customers want to know exactly why they should do business with your company. Taking the time to develop a marketing plan that shows how your products address specific needs will pave the way to marketing success.

If you’re looking to get started reworking your campaigns, give us a call today.

One pervasive characteristic most people share is the desire to belong. Children in school often develop close-knit groups of friends as a way to satisfy this need. Even in our professional lives, the desire to be part of the crowd continues.

A major component of this desire is the tendency to follow the decisions made by group leaders. This explains why trends in fashion, music, and business can spread so quickly.

People come to trust certain brands based on the opinions of those they respect within their peer group. As a marketer, you can tap into this phenomenon to help your own products and services succeed. Here are just a few ways to make the most of people’s desire to follow the crowd.

Reviews

Product reviews are huge. An estimated 70 percent of Americans say they look at product reviews when considering items to purchase. Many of these people trust product reviews nearly as much as they would recommendations from people they know personally. Positive product reviews can help show customers that yours is a product worth their investment.

Start by asking customers to leave reviews after a sale. Then advertise those reviews on your website and marketing materials. If your company has positive ratings from organizations like the BBB or Angie’s List, make sure you present that information prominently, too.

Along similar lines, user-generated content, such as blog posts, testimonials, and YouTube reviews, can hold considerable weight with new customers. Try to spark new content by holding user-generated content contests, where winners receive coupons or a special promotion.

<strong>Social media mentions and shares</strong>

Given the penetration of social media, it makes sense that social media mentions and shares can attract lots of attention for your company and its brand. Use monitoring tools to track the number of times your products or services are mentioned online. Encourage people to share content you publish on their social media pages. Add social media sharing options at the bottom of blog posts, newsletter articles, product pages, and other key content areas of your website. All of these can be great ways to capitalize on this phenomenon.

Statistics

Statistics are a fantastic way to get a second look from potential customers. User statistics can show you how your products or services already appeal to the crowd. Track down and leverage whatever your most positive statistics may be. These could include anything from blog readership to how long you’ve been in business to customer retention rates. Any statistics that help to establish an air of legitimacy can (and should) be used to leverage the power of the crowd.

Humans are by nature social creatures. We tend to seek out social groups that make us feel like we’re part of something larger than ourselves. We also tend to follow the lead of those around us and trust the opinions of our peers. Keeping these dynamics in mind and finding ways to leverage their power is essential to effective product marketing.

The business world continues to adapt at an astonishing pace. Fifteen years ago, Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, and similar movie rental businesses dominated the market. Soon, however, Netflix arrived on the scene, and cable providers began offering on-demand movie options. The cost and inconvenience of having to stop at a store rather than just turning on the TV or computer meant that these once dominant businesses quickly began to lose ground. Now they’re all but obsolete.

What these major corporations can teach businesses of all sizes

There are two ways you could look at the fate of Blockbuster and similar companies. You could either worry yourself sick about your own place within your industry — or take action and learn from the mistakes these companies made. If you look closely at what happened to these corporations, it’s easy to see the importance of market research, innovation, and finding ways to make life easier for your customers.

Some companies thrive at adapting to new situations. Nokia went from being a paper company to one of the largest cellphone makers. Companies like Amazon.com managed to turn entire industries upside down. These companies were able to innovate, capitalize on what appealed to their customers, and become successful.

Lessons to take away

There are two main lessons to be learned here. The first is to never neglect the importance of market research. You probably already know the importance of market research before launching a new product, but don’t stop there. Market research is something you should do regularly throughout the year. Intelligent market research can help you get inside your customers’ heads and determine exactly what they want that you can provide. The better you can predict the wants and needs of your customers, the more likely you are to successfully remain an industry leader.

The second lesson is the importance of serving clients. Make it a priority to determine exactly how you can serve customers in a unique way. Customers like convenience and affordability, which is why companies like Netflix and Amazon.com thrive. Determining new ways to make your products and services accessible for customers is a wonderful way to market products and attract a following among new customers.

Before you begin any new marketing campaign, sit down and discuss how you can make your products or services more accessible for customers. Determining your unique niche is a great starting point for any marketing campaign.

Over the years, numerous companies have risen and fallen as technology and the marketplace continue to change. The companies that survive are the ones that can innovate and remain ahead of the curve in determining customer desires. Combining a customer-first attitude with ongoing market research is a fantastic way to take a strong step in the right direction. If you’re interested in learning more about how to make your marketing efforts successful, contact us today.

Customer service just might be one of the most neglected, yet important aspects of growing a business. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, it’s 6 to 7 times more costly to find a new customer than it is to retain an old one. When you consider that an estimated 89 percent of customers have stopped doing business with someone because they experienced poor customer service, it’s clear that customer service can have an enormous effect on your company’s bottom line.

Unfortunately, a shocking number of organizations are content to allow their customer service systems to remain unchecked, while devoting far more time and energy to finding new customers. As a business owner or leader, here’s what you should know about your customer service and how it affects your marketing campaigns.

The importance of quality customer service

Just about everyone has dealt with frustrating customer service at one time or another. Most of us have experienced the annoyance of being passed from representative to representative in an effort to find an answer to our questions. Often, by the time we hang up the phone, we’re so frustrated that it taints the rest of our experience with that company.

Studies show that customers who have had a negative experience are two times more likely to tell others about their experience than those who are satisfied. What’s more, for every negative experience a customer walks away with, you’ll need to provide about 12 good ones just to make up for the damage to the company reputation and potential profits. From a purely economic standpoint, it makes little sense not to take the time to develop good customer relations.

Quality customer service and marketing

When you set out to market your company, you’re interested in building a reputation for your organization. That’s what branding is all about. But the best branding in the world can come unraveled by a poor customer service experience. This is especially true for smaller organizations trying to build their clientele. Reputation is crucial to success, and a poor reputation can easily spread like wildfire. When that happens, all your efforts to earn the trust and goodwill of potential customers will be hurt and will require considerable time and effort to recover.

How to develop quality customer service

The most important part of developing a quality customer service experience is to encourage customer feedback. Customers will be able to tell you if they struggled to find the information they needed, if the representatives they spoke with were actually helpful, and if there were particular points in the process that stood out to them as being poorly handled. Focus on revising the key areas of the customer service experience that seem to matter most to customers. It will be nearly impossible to revise the entire customer experience at once, so focus on improving key areas and then work from there. Open communication with the customer is always key.

If you’re interested in growing your company, don’t overlook the help, or hindrance, customer service can provide. If your organization is seen positively, you’ll find your branding efforts complemented by your reputation. However, if you’re seen negatively, those negative experiences can derail your marketing. Taking the time to develop a strong customer service experience is an investment that will pay off in more ways than one.

From the time the x-ray was invented around the turn of the 20th century, people have been fascinated by the capacity of these rays to capture what lies beneath the skin. When the technology is used by doctors, it can help determine if bones are broken, detect disorders or illnesses, or see how well a broken bone is healing.

As business leaders, we must sometimes look at our own businesses with x-ray eyes: uncovering and treating problems beneath the surface before they get out of hand or cause permanent damage.

Uncovering problems

Few businesses run perfectly. As any company grows, it will experience bumps, bruises, and hiccups along the way. Part of running the business involves being able to lead the company through these times, so you can come out the other side stronger and better prepared for the future. Many times, this involves easy fixes. Perhaps a new employee is needed to handle greater demand or a policy might need to be tweaked to adapt to an evolving workflow.

Sometimes, however, problems are not so easy to fix. Take, for example, customer service. We’ve all experienced times (as customers) when we’ve felt like we’re being passed around from person to person, trying to find a simple answer to our question. By the time we get our answer, we’re so frustrated with the process that we end up completely annoyed with the company. This damages the company reputation and may even cause us to stop doing business with them.

As a business leader, you need to realize that these kinds of deep, penetrating problems cannot be fixed with simple, one-size-fits-all solutions. Sometimes, you need to look deeper and see where the ‘bone’ is broken — and how badly — before you can begin to treat the symptoms and heal your company. Only after you have a clearer picture of what’s really going on can you find the right way to fix the problem and make your company stronger for the long run.

Making the repair

If your company is facing a major problem that can’t be fixed easily, don’t be afraid to go back and start over in finding the solution. While it can certainly be intimidating to think about how long the process will take and how much potential revenue you might lose along the way, it’s important to remember that taking the time to complete these repairs properly will make your company stronger over the long haul. This, in turn, will help to boost revenue and make up for lost time. Companies that neglect to make difficult but necessary changes often find themselves losing money (and customers).

So how can you go about fixing tough problems? Start with these steps.

1. Sit down and plan out exactly what your end goal will be. Providing higher-quality customer service is one possible example.

2. Work backwards to generate ideas about how this goal can be reached. This will typically involve doing industry research and learning more about what the competition does to accomplish a similar aim.

3. Educate and retrain all members of the organization about the new methods and procedures, so everyone is on the same page, even those who aren’t directly involved with the affected areas.

4. Invite feedback from customers and employees to see how well the changes are working.

Growing a business sometimes means being willing to go back to the drawing board to see how a key part of the business can be changed and repaired to make it stronger in the future. Don’t be afraid to ‘x-ray’ your business and find ways to help it grow in the years to come.

At first glance, the various platforms used for delivering your marketing messages couldn’t look more different. From social media to bus ads to print or radio ads, each platform has a completely different feel and intended audience. Regardless of the differences, however, it’s critical that your campaigns maintain some key consistencies across every medium.

<strong>What’s the purpose of an integrated campaign and what does it look like?</strong>

An integrated campaign works to build an audience no matter where the advertisements are seen. The campaign is designed with a common message that’s then tweaked and sent out over a variety of platforms in an effort to attract the attention of customers wherever they’re found.

Integrated campaigns send customers toward a common sales funnel. This means that the social media and direct mail components will both point customers in a common direction (promoting an upcoming sale, for example).

Design consistency is also a must, so customers recognize your brand wherever they may see it. Customers see thousands of advertisements a day. It’s important that they make a quick connection between your ads and your brand, so your brand can become more memorable to them. To accomplish this, use similar colors and designs on bus ads, social media ads, and print ads. This consistency will help you stay in front of your intended audience while simultaneously making it easier for potential customers to interact with you.

<strong>So how can you start making more integrated campaigns?</strong>

Begin by identifying exactly who you’re targeting and where those people can be found. Develop a common, unifying message, then tailor it to each major platform you intend to include in your campaign. That way, no matter where the customer encounters your brand, they’ll have no trouble entering the sales funnel. This might mean using QR codes in print advertising and prominent, well-labeled links on websites.

One of the biggest challenges many companies run into is maintaining consistency across multiple teams. For example, you might have one team that specializes in print and radio ads, while another group focuses on social media and website advertising. Make sure all your marketing teams understand the common vision and can successfully work together to achieve a collective goal.

As your campaign gets underway, track each portion, so you can successfully gauge where new customers are coming from. This will provide key insights into how well each portion of the campaign is doing and let you know if certain aspects need to be modified or even abandoned altogether.

An integrated marketing campaign is crucial for growing a company and finding new customers in the modern market. Rather than thinking about your various platforms as separate entities, integrating them can lead to higher brand recognition and conversion rates. Keep this in mind and prepare to reach your customers on a much deeper level.

If you’re ready to get started building an integrated campaign, give us a call or drop us an email to see how we can help you move forward.

If you’ve ever eaten at a fast-food restaurant, surely you’ve been asked, “Would you like fries with that?” or “Would you like to supersize your meal?” Cross-selling involves presenting customers with complementary products or services to consider above and beyond their initial purchase. Here are a few tips on how to successfully cross-sell (or up-sell) your products to increase revenue:

• Use cross-selling as a way to help customers try to solve a problem, rather than just to sell more stuff. Educate them on products or services you have to offer that may meet their needs or new items that weren’t available before.
• Suggest relevant items that complement and make the initial purchase more valuable (such as selling a memory card, camera case, and batteries with a new camera). Also consider offering items that vary in price, such as an $8 case, a $15 case, and a $25 case. The least-expensive items will most commonly be added as impulse buys.
• Position products in lucrative places on your website to cross-sell complementary items, or direct customers to other items they may be interested in. For example, Amazon.com offers suggestions of items that are frequently bought together, as well as “Customers who bought this item also bought XYZ.”
• Promote bundled packages that provide a price break to purchase extra items together. For example, “Save $15 when you purchase our XYZ camera, case, and memory card value bundle.”
• Reinforce cross-selling efforts with customer testimonials or expert recommendations. Popularity sells, and people are more likely to follow suit when they see what others are doing.
• Timing is key when up-selling products. Don’t try to promote an extended warranty until after the decision has been made to purchase an item.

Done properly, cross-selling is an effective way to boost revenues, while at the same time helping customers get more value from their purchases.

Experts say it costs five times more to attract a new customer than to retain an existing one. Consequently, customer retention is critical to the success of your business. Here are a few tips to help you stay in front of your customers and increase your customer retention rates:

• Develop a customer loyalty program that offers special promotions and incentives for return customers, such as birthday discounts, a reward punch card, free shipping, monthly discounts, free upgrades, and the like.
• Offer surveys that ask customers what they think of your business and how you can improve.
• Encourage open communication with your customers. Request feedback and suggestions. Offer options such as email forms, surveys, a toll-free number, chat forums, and social media links.
• Consider creating a focus group with a couple loyal customers to provide their insight from a customer’s perspective. Be sure to reward them for their input.
• Utilize customer complaints and suggestions to improve your products or services.
• Create a referral program that encourages and rewards loyal customers to do the selling for you.
• Differentiate yourself from the competition. Offer value add-ons, educate your customers about industry trends, provide helpful tips, and have a live person answer your phones instead of a confusing automated system.
• Socialize with your customers. Attend trade shows, offer open houses, encourage customers to respond to blog posts, and communicate with your customers on social media sites.
• Mail personalized thank you cards showing your appreciation for recent purchases or for interest in your products and services.

If you have other ideas for keeping customers satisfied, please feel free to share them in the comments below.