Like cans of gasoline in the hands of that “one uncle,” using automation to help spread your word can have unforeseen consequences. I don’t think automated marketing systems are necessarily a good thing, especially in some implementations. While there are great tools for helping to automate your marketing, great marketing still starts from a passion about your product or service. Period.
Now, do I use automated marketing tools? You betcha! You might be one of thousands of people who get my Monday Marketing newsletter delivered conveniently to your inbox through a mailing program. If not, you can remedy that here. I believe that community service can be a an effective component of a marketing strategy. I think it's good to go out in the community and work with others for a variety of reasons including making your place a better place to live but also as a networking tool. But, just like with beer or ice cream, too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. For whatever reason community service organizations such as local service clubs and such are really having a difficult time getting new members. While the current membership gets older, there aren't a lot of new people jumping in to join the ranks. Facebook Groups can be a powerful and free tool that can be part of a great marketing plan. But Groups can also actually help you run your business and more.
Facebook has stated that they are assigning less priority to Business Pages from an organic standpoint. The simple reason they’re doing so is that there are so many Business Pages it’s impossible to assign them the priority they used to. Well, and they also want to earn your advertising dollars. Is there value in being involved in your community? Does it make sense to go to things like Chamber mixers, to volunteer for stuff or be involved in activities around the community? How much marketing value is there, really in these sorts of things? You can actually volunteer all your time away. In fact, some big companies have positions that are nothing but community involvement. Why would they do this? There’s an expression, “out of the mouths of babes.” It basically points to the fact that children will use all the creativity and observation skills they have without the limitations we place on them as they grow up. What limitations are you placing on yourself with the title or job description that you have? How many times have you heard someone say “that’s not my job” as an excuse to let something slide? Fortunately Richard Montañez, an immigrant from Mexico, didn’t see those limitations. One of my favorite activities for relaxation is hooking up our travel trailer and finding a great place to camp. Like most human beings, often times we find favorites and go back over and over again. In this case, our favorite go-to place is Clear Lake Campground on the south end of Clear Lake, believed to be the second-oldest lake in the world and the largest natural fresh water lake entirely within California. When you find a favorite place I’ve usually found that it’s because there are layers of experiences that make it special. Going to your favorite restaurant and having a favorite server or going to Disneyland or whatever, your favorite in any category is isn’t just one specific thing, but a combination of factors that make that experience special. Video marketing: you’ve got the idea, you’ve got the content but how do you create great videos? It’s actually pretty easy. Depending. I try to be very platform agnostic when it comes to making recommendations but this week that’s not going to be the case at all as everything I’m about to recommend comes from one company: Apple. I realize I just lost a lot of you here but the fact is, Apple makes fantastic video editing tools. Last week I shared that video could definitely be the way to go with marketing for so many businesses. But I bet a lot of readers saw that and said “naw, I don’t have anything I can video.” That’s not likely true. Almost every business has those questions that customers are always asking. I’ve written about these repeat questions in my What Time is the Midnight Buffet post. There are so many things you can do video about and one of those things is taking your frequently asked questions and posting them on your website as videos. Should you be using video in your marketing? Is bad video good marketing? The answer could very well be a resounding yes - video may be a great resource for your marketing. But how good does it have to be - and how difficult is video? For a variety of reasons video has really come into its own for marketing. First of all, it’s almost free to create video nowadays and, thanks to the popularity of YouTube, there is a big opportunity as well. First the opportunity. This guy was a master of giving out business cards. At a recent chamber of commerce mixer that I attended he approached me twice with an offer for a free business card. Maybe he read my article about working a Chamber of Commerce mixer? Either way he might have been sent by his company with a goal of giving out as many business cards as he could and he was certainly effective at his job. Perhaps he had a special deal with a print shop. But I noticed that, after the room had cleared following a fantastic presentation, most of the cards he had given out were still sitting on the table where people had been seated and now were just being thrown away by those who were tidying up the room. |
Tony BarthelTony Barthel is passionate about great marketing for small businesses Get Free Weekly Marketing TipsCategories
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