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If you have consistent events to promote your business, you know that it can be challenging to get people to attend.  Here are some tips on how you can successfully promote your next business event:

1. Create an online Event Page–  this page will be the central hub for the information about your event.  The event page will include the details of the event including date, time, location, RSVP ability, etc.  A great tool to use to create an event landing page is Constant Constant’s Essential Toolkit which includes the online event creation tool (used to be EventSpot).  Learn more…
2. Send an event email to your email list-  Evites are great because they are easy and convenient.  You should send between 3 to 4 emails before the actual event.  The first email should be a “save the date” email, the second email should be the actually event invitation, the third should be a reminder email, and the fourth one should be a “don’t miss out email”. I recommend starting this series of emails four weeks before the event.  You can also use the Constant Constant’s Essential Toolkit to send event emails to your email list.
3. Send an old-fashioned invitation in the mail–  People receive so many emails that sometimes an e-vite can get lost in the shuffle.  Sending an actual invitation in the mail can be more costly (card, envelope, stamp, etc), but it is almost a guaranteed way to make sure people actually see your invitation.  A great tool to use to automate the sending of cards is SendOutCards.  SendOutCards is an online greeting card and gifts company.  The system allows you to upload the information for your contacts, select an invitation from their card gallery, or create a card from scratch, customize and even personalize the card, and then it will be printed, stuffed, and mailed out to your contacts for you.  Learn more…
4. Create an event on Facebook–  Facebook is a great social network to promote events.  When you create an event within Facebook, it makes it easy to invite people via Facebook, and also makes it easy to promote the event via Facebook.  You can include a link to your actual event page on the Facebook page, so everyone is directed to one event page.
5. Create an event hashtag (#Event)–  Using an event hashtag helps to create a buzz for your event.  This especially works on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram, but can also work well on other social networks like Facebook.  It makes it easy for people to search for comments or pictures regarding the event, and is also a great way for people to start conversations about the event and make connections before, during, and after the event.
6. Promote your event on several social networks–  Although Facebook is one of the largest social networks, you can get a lot of success by promoting your event on various social networks where your target audience may exist like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, etc.  A great tool to use to automate your social media posts is hootsuite.  You can load all of your event posts in the system and schedule them to go out over an extended period of time on various social networks.  Learn more….
7. Offer special event promotions-  another great way to get more people to your event is to offer a special incentive.  This incentive could be anything from a swag bag, to a special drawing, to a discount, etc.  People always like to know that they are getting something for FREE or they are getting a great deal.

What techniques do you use to promote your business events?  What other tools would you suggest that helps to promote events?

When it comes to growing your business, it is important to have consistent events to showcase your product or service.  There are many types of events that you can have to increase brand awareness both online and offline.

Here are 7 types of events that can help to grow your business:

1. Tele-seminars–  Tele-seminars may not be considered a typical business event, but it is a great way to grow your business and your email list.  The great thing about tele-seminars is that they are fairly easy to implement.  All you really need is a telephone and a conference line!  There are tons of conference call companies that can host hundreds of people on the line at one time.  Tele-seminars give you an opportunity to educate individuals on your particular product, service, or industry.  They are also a great way for you to introduce your program, product or service as a solution within the marketplace.  Some conference call tools include:
   • FreeConferenceCall.com
   • UberConference.com
     
2. Webinars–  Webinars are online events that are great to increase your brand awareness and provide value to your community.  Webinars are a little more technical than tele-seminars because of the need to show the visuals via a website, but with so many easy to use webinar tools it’s not difficult to host a webinar for your business.  Webinars are a great way to educate your community and provide value while promoting your business, service or product.  Some webinar tools include:
   • StartMeeting.com
   • FreeScreenSharing.com
   • AnyMeeting.com
   • MeetingBurner.com
   • GoToWebinar.com
   • InstantTeleseminar.com
     
3. Grand Opening Events–  If you have a physical store front, or an office that is open to the public, having a grand opening event is a great way to announce yourself to your local community.  Most chambers of commerce offer grand opening ceremonies for local businesses that are new to the area and are members of the chamber.  The grand opening event is a great opportunity to showcase your business, products, or services to the local community.
4. Launch Parties–  If you are launching a new website or new product line, why not have a party to let everyone know about your new product or service?  Launch parties are a great way for people to learn more about your product or service and also create a buzz about your business.
5. Customer Appreciation Events–  Showing your customers how much you appreciate their business by having a special event to thank your customers is a great way to get repeat and referral business.
6. Workshops/Seminars–  No matter what type of industry your business may be in, hosting an educational workshop or seminar and giving good tips, tools, and techniques on how people can use your product or service can be very beneficial for a company.
7. Conferences/Expos–  Hosting a large conference can be a lot of work, but it is definitely a way for you to grow your business.  Every industry has annual conferences and expos, and people are always looking for ways to learn more and to network within their industry, so creating a conference or expo is a great way to grow your business.

Are you consistently having events to promote your business?  If so, what events are you having?  What other types of events would you add to the list?

According to dictionary.com, Relationship Marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company seeks to build long-term relationships with its customers by providing consistent satisfaction.  There are several ways that a company can provide consistent satisfaction by using Relationship Marketing tactics.

Here are 7 ways to implement relationship marketing tactics in your business:

1. Offer EXCELLENT customer service.  When a customer purchases a product or service from you, you should go above and beyond to make sure that the customer is happy with your service.
2. FOLLOW-UP after the purchase–  Many companies do not do this, so it will put you way above the rest if you decide to do this.  Depending on the product or service you offer, be sure to follow-up with the customer a couple of weeks after the purchase to ask them how they are enjoying the product and to see if they have any questions.  This is a great opportunity for you to build up trust and loyalty with your customer.  Some people don’t want to do this in case the customer has a compliant about the product or service.  However, I think this is  a great way to reach out to them and solve the issue if they do have one.
3. Send a customer satisfaction SURVEY–  In addition to a follow-up phone call or email, sending a customer satisfaction survey to get feedback on how they felt your company’s customer service was is a great tool for you to show that you care about the type of service being offered, and to get valuable feedback and shed light on areas in your service that may need improvement.
4. Send a “Thank You for Your Business” Card–  This may seem old-fashioned, but it is a way for your company to really stand out by sending each customer a “Thank You for Your Business” card in the mail.  It shows your gratitude for their business and solidifies the new relationship.
5. Send an “Anniversary” card or email–  This is  a great way for you to stay top of mind.  Send your client an email or card that marks the anniversary date of when they used your service or purchased your product.  An anniversary card or email is also a great way to send a special offer that encourages repeat business (i.e. $10 off your next purchase, 20% off, etc.)
6. Send a Birthday card-  This is a nice way for you to stand out.  Most people no longer receive cards in the mail for their birthday, so receiving a card from your company is a nice way to stand out and stay top of mind with your customer.
7. Send a Holiday card and/or email–  There are several holidays that many people celebrate throughout the year.  Sending a special email or card to your customers on the holidays is a great way to stay top of mind.  Adding a special holiday offer (i.e. $10 off your next purchase, 20% off, etc.) can be a nice touch.

Do you use relationship marketing in your business?  If so, what other strategies do you use to implement your relationship marketing?

You may have heard that all small businesses should have a marketing plan, but did you know that very few actually take the time out to create one.  The task of creating a marketing plan may seem daunting and intimidating, but you can create a simple and effective marketing plan by answering the following 8 key questions about your business:

1. Who is your target market?
   

   You’ve probably heard this before, but it is VERY important to understand exactly who your target market is for your product or service.  When it comes to understanding your target market, it is not limited to just knowing the demographics like the age range, gender, geographical location, income level, etc., but also knowing the psychographics of your target market.  This includes items such as belief system, personality traits, attitude, etc.

   Once you understand the demographics and psychographics of your target market, then your marketing effort becomes much easier!

2. What is the problem that your target market has (as it relates to your product or service)?

   List specific problems that your target market has as it relates to your product or service. žImagine how these problems make your target market feel stressed out, overwhelmed, uncertain, etc.

   Once you fully understand how your target market feels, you will be better able to communicate effectively to your target audience!

3. How does your product or service solve that problem? 

   Be sure to focus on how the benefits of your product or service solves their problems.  You can mention some product features, but the benefits are what people are interested in.  Benefits focus on the advantages i.e. your product makes a person look younger, become healthier, etc.  and features focus on the characteristics of your product or service i.e. over 10 years on the market, fast acting, etc.

   Your message should be 80% about the benefits of your product or service, and only 20% about the features!

4. Why should they buy from you and not your competitors?  žWhat is your unique selling proposition?

   
   These are the things that make you and/or your company different. Your customers want to know what makes you better than your competitors.

   The more able you are to effectively communicate why your company is the best solution, the better your marketing efforts will be. 

5. Where is your target market?
   

   You need to find out where your target market is located geographically and specific locations. This could include local (cities, counties, etc.), international (countries). žPlaces could include associations, festivals, groups, organizations, etc.

   Find out where your target market is in large quantities, so you can reach them in large quantities.

6. How do you reach your target market?

   Are you reaching out to your target offline through networking, advertising, media, or žonline through your website, social networks,blogging, etc.

   You should have several ways both online and offline to reach out to your target market.

7. When do you reach out to your target market?

   Create a marketing calendar. Plan out the next 90 days, 6 months, to a year of marketing activity.  Schedule your activity daily, monthly, quarterly, and stay organized.

   Plan out your marketing activity in advance in order to successful execute your marketing activities.

8. What do you say to your target market?

   How you communicate to your target market can make the difference between success and failure.  Use messaging that your target market can understand and relate to.

   Use appropriate messaging that your target market can relate to.  žKnow the best keywords and buzz words to use in your content.

When it comes to marketing, most people know it is an important part of business, but not everyone takes the time to fully understand and implement their marketing activities.  Therefore, they practice what I have heard referred to as “Random Acts of Marketing” (RAM).  This is when you try this marketing activity and see if it works, then try that marketing activity, and so forth, and so on.  This is the worst type of marketing effort, in fact, it reminds me of the saying when you fail to plan, you plan to fail and that is why having a Marketing Plan and someone who will keep you accountable to execute that plan is very important for a small business owner.

The first step to stop RAM in your business is to create a Marketing Plan.  When I casually talk to various business owners at networking events, I ask them if they have a written marketing plan and most of the time people do not have a written plan.  It’s good to have an idea of what you want to do for your marketing, but a written marketing plan will help you to get clarity in several key areas of your marketing including your target market, the solution that your product or service offers your specific target market, and how you can successfully reach and convert members of your target market into paying customers.  When you have clarity on your marketing, then you have clarity in your business, so let’s look at each section in more detail:

KNOW YOUR TARGET MARKET IN DETAIL

The biggest thing I hear a lot of business owners say is,  “anyone could use my product or service”, but “anyone” is not a specific market that you can reach out to and create a strategic marketing campaign.  The smarter thing to do would be to pick a specific group or groups of individuals who are looking for a solution to a specific problem that your product or service offers a solution for.  Get to know that market inside and out.  Not just the typical demographics of age, gender, income level, etc., but know the psycho-graphics, what they tend to believe, what hobbies they tend to like, the places they like to go, etc.  This is smart marketing and helps a company to achieve better results.

KNOW WHY YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE IS THE “IDEAL” SOLUTION

Once you full understand the needs of your target market, the next step is to let your target market know why your product or service is the ideal solution.  Unless you live in a bubble, there are probably other people out there who do what you do, so you have to be very clear on what makes you different and ultimately what makes you better, which will encourage people to use your products or services instead of your competitors

KNOW WHERE YOUR TARGET MARKET “HANGS OUT”

Now that you know your target market, you know what their problems are and you know why your company is the ideal solution, now you need to let them know you are available to help!  The best way to do this is to find places where your target market hangs out in large quantities and to stand out as the ideal solution for their needs.  This can be done in both online and offline.

KNOW THE NECESSARY TERMINOLOGY TO CONVERT YOUR PROSPECTS TO CLIENTS

A lot of marketing involves psychology.  It involves getting in the mind of your target audience, understanding their needs, desires, fears, etc. and showing up as a solution through varies marketing activities and using the appropriate terminology to attract your prospects to your business, product or service.  It’s one thing to be at the right place at the right time, but it’s a whole other thing to be at the right place, at the right time, saying the right things!

The second step to stop RAM in your business is to have accountability.  When I say accountability, I mean someone either internally or externally that is responsible for making sure that your marketing plan is executed successfully.  In most medium to large companies a Vice President of Marketing, Chief Marketing Officer, or Marketing Director is the person that is held accountability for the marketing activity of the company, but for smaller businesses that don’t have various departments or the person who is a Entrepreneur or a one man show, he or she tends to add the role of Marketing to the many additional titles and roles that need to be done in the company.  The problem with this is that it can be overwhelming at times to manage all the marketing activity and the day to day management and operation of the business, and sometimes the marketing activity falls to the side.  That’s why outsourcing some marketing activity to individuals who can assist you can be useful.  This could include getting help for some of the strategic marketing planning from marketing experts, and outsourcing some of the marketing activities to individuals who can assist you including:

HIRING A MARKETING COACH

A marketing coach can help you go through the necessary steps you need to take to write your marketing plan and help you to put together a marketing calendar to make sure you schedule out your marketing activity.  A coach can also help you to get clear on who you really  need to be targeting since most people feel they should be targeting everyone (WRONG!).

HIRING A MARKETING CONSULTANT

A marketing consultant can assist you with looking at your overall business and determining the best type of marketing strategies, systems, and support you will need to accomplish the goals that you would like to achieve.

HIRING A MARKETING ASSISTANT

A marketing assistant can help with getting those marketing activities done.  Let’s face it there are only a certain number of hours in the day and having someone available to accomplish those necessary daily, weekly or monthly tasks needed to execute your marketing can be very useful.

So in conclusion, in order to stop practicing Random Acts of Marketing (RAM) you must put together a marketing plan and execute your plan!  If you are unable to execute all aspects of your marketing it may be a good idea to get some help from a coach, consultant or assistant.

How do make sure that your company is not practicing RAM?

When it comes to keeping up with managing and measuring your business social media networks it can be overwhelming at times, that is why a social media management tool is essential to keep your social media activity organized, scheduled and current.

Here is a look at three of the most popular social media management tools:

HootSuite

HootSuite is a social media management system for businesses and organizations to collaboratively execute campaigns across multiple social networks from one secure, web-based dashboard. This tools allows you to schedule messages and tweets, launch marketing campaigns, identify and grow audiences, and distribute targeted messages using HootSuite’s unique social media dashboard.

You can also streamline team workflow with scheduling and assignment tools and reach audiences with geo-targeting functionality. You can also invite multiple collaborators to manage social networks securely, plus provide custom reports using the comprehensive social analytics tools for measurement.

Key social network integrations include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+ Pages
• Foursquare
• WordPress
• And more…

In addition, HootSuite offers a suite of social content apps for:

• YouTube
• Flickr
• Tumblr
• And more…

COST-  HootSuite has a FREE account and paid packages with additional features start as low as $8.99/month

Sprout Social

Sprout Social is a social media management software for business.  It’s a management and engagement platform for social businesses.  This tool allows you to engage, publish, analyze, and monitor across several social networks.

Sprout Social allows you to reach your audience across networks and promptly reply to your customers.  It makes it easy for teams to keep tabs on conversations and effectively engage at all times.

Key social network integrations include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google+ Pages

COST-  Sprout Social offers a 30-day FREE trial and the lowest paid package is $39/month after the trial period.

Social Oomph

SocialOomph.com is a service that provides free and paid productivity enhancement services for social media users. Easily schedule updates, find quality people to follow, and monitor social media activity.

Key social network integrations include:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• RSS feeds
• Blogs
• Plurk
• App.net

COST–  Social Oomph has a FREE account, and offers a FREE 7-day Social Oomph Professional trial, paid packages start at $17.97/bi-weekly

The key to finding the best social media management tool for you is to understand exactly what  you are looking to do on your social networks and identify which management system will allow you to automate and simplify these tasks.

Are you using a social media management tool to manage your social networks?