Marketing Archives - Page 4 Of 4

The World Runs on Word of Mouth

by admin | Jan 5, 2017 | Influencer Marketing, Marketing

About 3 years ago my friend started telling me about this new motorcycle (KTM Duke) that was coming into our country pretty soon. At first I didn’t read much into it, but after a little while I was curious so I started checking it out and took it for a test ride and the next thing I know I was walking out of the showroom with the keys to my new bike. I know for a fact that I have done more than my fair share of Word of Mouth marketing for my motorcycle’s manufacturer without them even prompting me to do so or even knowing about it.

Word of mouth is one of the oldest, simplest and most effective means of marketing communication – Tweet that. It requires little more than the physical presence of two or more like-minded people.

Why is word of mouth important?

Word of mouth is an easy way for your customers to be positive about your product or service. If you think about how the majority of people make their purchases it’s usually because of a recommendation from a friend or family member.

Is word of mouth effective?

Any customer who is satisfied with your services or products is going to tell their friends and family members about it. They are likely to try it out for themselves and if they are pleased will, in turn, tell other people about it. It’s a little like a chain reaction.

My company and its products/services might simply not come up in conversations between people, what then?

Word of mouth marketing is not restricted to solely oral communication. As all good things do it has evolved to be used across various platforms and modes of communication and mass media. There are, for example, entire channels on video streaming platforms dedicated to trying out products and reviewing them. In some cases even blatantly promoting said product/s.

Alright, I’m convinced that it’s viable, but how do I get into the domain of word of mouth marketing?

To begin with, make sure that you are giving your customers a quality experience/product. Consumers that are happy with their purchases and or experiences are almost certain to want to tell people about it. The promotion aspect takes care of itself in a few ways. Think back to when you were a kid and you bought a toy and you really enjoyed it. The first thing you wanted to do was tell your friends about it.

Will it help my company get the recognition that big ad campaigns offer?

Word of mouth has a way of being very cost effective, in that you don’t have to pay people to do it – Tweet that. Big ad campaigns take a large amount of capital and are not always effective and in some rare cases can even backfire. The only immediate downside to word of mouth marketing is that one customer or a user may have a bad experience and may offer bad reviews or negative word of mouth. This is fixed if the issue or problem that customer faced is addressed in earnest.

“A customer talking about their experience with you is worth ten times that which you write or say about yourself.” ― David J. Greer

What Makes an Interesting Business Card

by Dhanya J | Jan 5, 2017 | Design, Marketing

A business card is the first marketing collateral that you hand out in the business world and invariably creates the first impression about your business and yourself!

As an entrepreneur, how much time does one spend on getting a business card designed & printed? Would you think it through and design with care or do you delegate it to the junior most person on your team?

It gets handed out so frequently that it is easy for yours to get lost in the sheer number. Let us look at aspects that will make it an important marketing tool for your business.

The good old 3×2 business card

There are advantages to the traditional rectangular cards that we are so used to, they are easy to carry, store and locate.

Using bold colours or simple contrasts will help your ‘traditional’ card get noticed and make it stick out in someone’s memory. It is important to place your logo boldly and prominently position your contact details and website address on the front with a list of services on the back.

Have a signature style

There are myriad options you can choose from to make your business card interesting. You can let your imagination run wild with some of the suggestions listed below:

Do you own a café?

Shape your card to look like a coaster or add a customer review at the back of the card

Do you sell spices?

Print your best recipe on the back

Do you like to make a bold statement?

Print your card in Black

Are you a creative person?

Use recycled paper or handmade paper

While making the card interesting, it helps to keep in mind how practical it is. You can’t carry a stack of “business cards” the size of a Billboard around to hand out, odd shaped or large designs are conversation starters for sure but they are difficult to store.

Simple design

Some people may argue that a card with nothing more than a logo or even just a motto or a color scheme is bold and makes a statement. These cards have a mysterious appeal to them. They certainly pique the interest of whoever receives it.

It is good to dazzle at the same time we need to remember that the business card is used to generate business but will forget which company it’s from or who gave it to them after a while.

Whatever you do, make sure to

Whichever route you decide to take though the rule of thumb is to keep the information in one place. Do not overcrowd the card with a barrage of text or images. This can make finding a phone number or the email id a tedious job.

Someone may want to write a note on the card and having no space to do so is problematic. Take care to ensure you use quality printing paper, skimping out on the quality is a mistake many people make.

A well designed business card can keep you connected. While it is important to stand out, it should not happen at the cost of practical use the card is meant for, which is to get you business.

Marketing Media Effect – How to use Paid, Owned and Earned Media

by Mangal Karnad | Jan 5, 2017 | Influencer Marketing, Marketing

Frequently used terms in marketing with regard to media – Paid, Owned & Earned. While each kind is required to create brand awareness, a combination of the 3 works best.

Paid Media

A straightforward explanation is where the media is paid for by the brand, whether traditional or digital advertisements, a sponsorship for an event, hoardings etc. These tools while expensive are in the control of the brand in terms of frequency, content and tone are concerned. The brand can decide to air the TV advertisement as many times as it sees fit, based on the budget.

Owned media

These are tools which are created and maintained by the brand. Some of the examples are brochure, website, email campaigns and social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. The cost of creating and maintaining these tools are moderate and the control is with the Brand. The Brand can be at its creative best to reach its targeted audiences through these.

Earned Media

This is probably the kind which needs most concerted effort and consistency while it is not very predictable. The best example of Earned media is customer speak, media mentions and WoM. Though it is referred to as ‘earned’ there is a cost involved, which is in terms of:

Careful identification of the various influencers viz. media, bloggers, analysts, customers etc.
The time & effort invested to build relations with them
The effort invested to educate them by creating and seeding relevant and meaningful content
Customer service to fulfil the promise made in the paid and owned media and also during the sales pitch.
Ensuring consistent brand experiences across customer touch points

While earned media is the most important and effective kind it needs a concerted effort, patience and careful implementation of the paid & owned media. The underlying principle is the foundation of Influencer marketing and involves a deep understanding of what is relevant to one’s brand.

In most small businesses the CEO also takes the ownership of marketing and due to stretched schedules, marketing takes a back seat. Having a fractional CMO will ensure consistency and focus, which will bring in best results.

However it is important to understand that CMO’s are not one man miracle workers, they will work with your marketing team, directing their efforts to get things done.

Fractional CMO – Less is More

by admin | Jan 5, 2017 | Marketing

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Fractional CMO’s – what they do, why they matter and what advantages your business can reap from having one in your organization.
For the uninitiated, let’s start by understanding what a CMO does and why businesses need them.
A CMO is a Chief Marketing Officer and they have a vast array of strategic services to offer. They can monitor and create everything from branding and positioning tactics, up to ensuring the viability of marketing investments and making sure that there will be visibility and brand awareness. Now most businesses that have been around for a while will have a full-time CMO, the “right-hand man” of the CEO.

CMO’s help increases qualified lead flow, co-create and support integrated sales and marketing processes, and help shorten the sales cycle by identifying and removing possible friction in customer acquisition efforts. So it is established that CMO’s are vital to any organization, especially for SMB’s considering how important brand positioning, marketing, sales and support are for an up and coming organization.

However, a seasoned CMO can be expensive and might cost well beyond the limited budget of an SMB. Most startups and SMB’s do not have the kind of budgets and service requirements that a CMO can work with full time. Not every startup can afford a veteran who has truckloads of experience and insight on how things should be run. So how is a small business or startup that wants the expertise and experience of a seasoned CMO supposed to afford one?

Introducing the concept of a Fractional CMO. Fractional CMO’s can offer their services on a part-time or task-to-task basis. SMB’s and startups can now acquire the services of an experienced CMO without having to bear the brunt of the price tag that comes with a full-time CMO. A fractional CMO can help you increase qualified lead flow, build integrated sales and marketing processes, and win business faster.

To sum it up, a fractional CMO can help your organisation:

Save Money

Will not cost as much as a full-time CMO.

Bring in Best Practices

It will identify and fix gaps in the marketing plan and help create a rich pipeline of prospects.

Bring in Knowledge and focus

Consistent, relevant & targeted efforts on offline and online mediums in the right mix will get you better results.

However it is important to understand that CMO’s are not one man miracle workers, they will work with your marketing team, directing their efforts to get things done.

How to make a Business Marketing Plan

by Mangal Karnad | Sep 7, 2016 | Marketing

What do you prioritize in your business marketing plan? Sales or Marketing?

The dilemma faced by small and medium businesses is to prioritize between sales and marketing. Without marketing no one will even know that your business exists, nor what is it about. On the other hand without sales, marketing cannot be sustained – classic chicken and egg situation.

Sales and marketing are like the 2 sides of a coin, needing equal attention; the actual transaction of selling needs a prospect, who has been identified, connected and softened by marketing.

Putting together a Simple Marketing Plan

So here is where Strategic marketing comes into play –

clear articulation of the product or service
identification of the prospect
the right pricing

Your ability to communicate to your prospects improves with your understanding of the prospect – the language they use, the channels which they use and the frequency of the message.

Does a marketing plan include a budget?

Yes, it does. You will have to earmark a budget for the marketing activity. Most often the business owner will be the main sales person or the brightest technical brain, with limited understanding of the marketing function. In such cases, the marketing budgets can get hit, as the general tendency is to use every rupee on the sales effort. While sales is a one-to-one effort, marketing can amplify your message and reach it to a sizable number of your target audience, taking you one step closer to a sale.

Once the budget is decided, identifying the marketing tools comes into the picture.

What tools will a good marketing plan include?

Website details: In today’s digitally connected world, a website becomes the focal point of all your marketing efforts. A natural tendency of a prospect is to the first search for a website as soon as he or she hears about a company. A well designed and informative website is just a matter of hygiene.

Branding and Collaterals: a logo with a meaningful tagline, product packaging, a well-designed business card, brochures and a product demo if relevant, can take the marketing efforts a long way.

Digital Marketing: A combination of SEO, social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing

Offline Marketing: inside sales, events & forums, public relations and customer relationship marketing.

When it comes to Social media marketing, Facebook marketing has gained popularity, while Twitter and LinkedIn are not far behind. These are highly interactive platforms and careful thought and sensitivity need to be used while deploying these tools.

While Email marketing is a popular choice for many small businesses due to its cost-effectiveness, over the use of the tool can be damaging. Proper segmenting of the prospect base and tweaking the emails to meet the needs of each segment can improve the results of email marketing dramatically.

While there are various theories about content marketing, it is one of the best methods to prove your authority on the subject. It will also help your organic search ranking.

Events and forums help in establishing the subject matter expertise and help in establishing you as the thought leader in your industry. I have used active networking to my advantage in my career as a marketer.

PR trumps when approached with maturity and with the view to educate your target audiences. Media relations can be cultivated over a time and trust needs to be built. I know small business owners who have received great media coverage by carefully cultivating journalists from prime or mainline publications. The journalist treats the business owner as a subject matter expert and returns the favour by seeking him or her in interviews. This is a win-win situation for both.

A small business will do very well by bringing in a process to plan, implement, review and course correct the marketing function. Consistency and perseverance go a long way in building visibility for your business!

Once your marketing function is in place and the sales effectiveness has kicked in, fulfilling the promise made in the marketing & sales pitch is of very high importance for Word of mouth to spread!

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