What does social networking mean for your company? It changes how people can and will talk about your brand. It changes how you can and hopefully will create community and value around your brand.
Is this important? Review the report below and decide for yourself…
Why do you do what you do? Somewhere in your business is a story that connects to that reason. And somewhere within your story, perhaps dormant, is your emotion.
The emotion behind your business is powerful. It cuts through advertising hype. It bypasses people’s natural skepticism that you are trying to sell them something. It’s a story so pure that when people hear it - they get it and they want to experience it for themselves.
Your website let’s you tell your story. It’s a medium that can convey emotion, move people, connect them to the energy and benefit of your business. Each day, the web is evolving in ways that allow you to share the emotion behind your business, faster, better, cheaper. You just need to start using it. Here’s an example. It’s a very worthwhile 6 minutes:
Marketing Potential
RSS is emerging to be one of the most cost effective and powerful marketing channels available for small business. Imagine being able to automatically and easily build automated in-house marketing lists, measure the actions of your subscriber base, increase your search engine visibility, help your customers refer your business to multiple people with the click of a button… This is only scratching the surface of the strategic applications of RSS for small business.
Are You Missing Out?
If your website does not use RSS feeds as part of an integrated marketing strategy you are missing out on a significant opportunity. First, try subscribing to an RSS feed yourself. (Refer back to the video for exact instructions) You can download Google Reader Here (Which in my opinion is the best RSS reader for business owners)
Start Getting Up To Speed
Start exploring RSS options for your business. A simple way to start putting RSS to work for your company today is by publishing a blog.
This video provides a glimpse into how social networking, search engines, tagging, widgets, blogs, wikis, video, audio and other forms of new media will revolutionize how we communicate and do business.
Here’s an innovative marketing idea a personal fitness trainer uses to get noticed.
His business card is actually a piece of fitness equipment.
Not only does the texture of the card incite you to pull it apart to read it - when you do, you get a taste of the actual experience behind using the fitness trainer’s services. Brilliant!
A website could transition the reader’s attention from the novelty of the card to the action of becoming a client quickly.
Interest Diminished
Instead, the reader of the card is forced to use the phone.
This more than likely leads to a "We’ll get back to you message" that diminishes the reader’s motivation for the services.
Untapped Potential
What if the reader of the card is directed to a strong website with solid copy and design?
Chances are it will turn the spark of interest the card stimulated into a flame of purchase motivation.
By: Curt Conrad
President, BrightCite Inc.
Warning. Slight rant below…
Is your small business prepared for the arrival of the virtual marketplace? For years I’ve been telling all who would listen how strategic use of the web is a critical small business asset. I’ve been met with many glazed eyes and blank stares from small business people who just don’t get it.
Too bad - because the clock is ticking for the small business person who is web-illiterate and who still thinks about and uses a website as only an online brochure.
It’s going to be a rough road ahead for small businesses not actively seeking to build online assets and who lack a basic understanding of how business works on the web.
On the flip side, proactive small business owners who see the Internet as an opportunity for a business building investment will be rewarded with an exceptional rate of return on time, money and resources.
Are you actively educating, positioning and preparing yourself and business to profit from the power of the Internet? Where do you stand?
Quick Audit
Answering yes to the questions below indicates you are positioning yourself to build online assets that will serve you and your business well in the years ahead:
The more questions you answered "no" to, the less prepared you are for the rapidly approaching future. On the other hand - there has never been a better time to start increasing your online business knowledge and skills.
The picture below represents a visitor to your website. She’s your potential customer. She is the same person, yet a different age in each picture. How does her age shape how she perceives your company? At one age she may be your customer. At another she may purchase your products or services for her children. What is her lifetime value to your company? How many people will she refer to you? How can you keep her loyal to your business for life? I suggest the place to start is making your company the same yet different for her.
How To Become the Same Yet Different
1. Define your brand promise. What is the essence of your brand? How do you define its value in words? Walmart is Low Price, Always. Disney is Happiest Place On Earth. What’s yours? This is what will always remain the same.
2. Create customer segments around consumption similarities. How do customers consume your brand? Create different segments using their needs, frustrations and preferences as a guide. For instance you can group segments by:
3. Define the Needs, Frustrations and Preferences of each segment. How does your product, service and company need to be positioned to accommodate the main customer differences that represent each segment? This is how your company becomes different for the customer.
A health club can provide the SAME cleanliness, high quality instruction and convenient hours of operation for members YET DIFFERENT results, programs and music for membership segments.
A museum can offer the SAME diversity of exhibits, effective layout and design, YET DIFFERENT audio tours, tour guide presentation approaches and length of tours based on their visitor segments.
A Plantscaper can provide the SAME streamlined service, invoicing and money back guarantee for their maintenance services YET DIFFERENT methods of client service interaction using, e-mail, phone, fax, in-person based on their customer segments.
What would happen if you applied these same yet different insights to the design and content of your website?
Distance your business from competitors. Increase qualified leads and make more profit per customer by creating a web presence designed to be the same, yet different for visitors. Contact BrightCite™ to learn how.
