Achieving and demonstrating ROI in social media marketing

Social media marketing can be defined as “seeking to influence social behaviours, not to benefit the marketer but to benefit the target audience and the general society”. Doesn’t really stand up to the board though does it? If you’ve embraced the world of social media, you’re likely to have been asked “but what do we get out of it?” “how can it possibly help our business?”.

There is a constant need to assess every element of expenditure, and as with any marketing tactic, it’s important to measure the return on investment (ROI) of social media marketing. This blog posting will provide a step-by-step guide on how to get the most out of your social media programme, and how to demonstrate its value at a time when the pressure is on.

There’s no denying that embracing social media requires a shift in thinking, but put the legwork in early on and you’ll have a wealth of information available to you to demonstrate to the people within your organisation that social media marketing is worth doing, and worth doing well.

  1. Create an outline plan of action
    The execution of a social media campaign will be different to a traditional marketing campaign, but the same principles apply, and planning comes first! Many social media tools are free to use – Twitter and LinkedIn for example – but not all are going to be relevant to you and your business. Spend time researching which tools you should use, and how you can get the most out of them.

    Once you have decided which tools to explore, check to see whether your username of choice is available – having a unified username is very important as it can help build trust from your online community. Using the same username on all social media networks will help to build brand awareness as people will become familiar with you. Sites like www.knowem.com enable you to search a vast array of social media networks to check to see if your desired username is available. If you’re pushed for time, you can also use this site to register the profiles for you on your behalf!

    Another important part of the planning phase is to define who you are. What is your story? What is your company known for currently and what would you like your company to be known for? This will form part of your success metrics (which we’ll go on to talk about later). If you would like to support existing public perception of your company, or attempt to change this perception, then be clear about the messages you need to communicate to achieve this.

    With social media it is all about relationships and conversations. The strongest relationships in any form take time and effort to develop and sustain. When looking at ROI with social media, think about the amount of effort you have put in and compare this to the value you expect to achieve.

  2. Identify your success metrics and how they can work for you
    It’s essential to understand where the ROI will come from before spending time, money and effort putting together your social media strategy. The returns you get will depend on the objectives you wish to address through social media, i.e. what will you and your organisation define as success? Establishing your success metrics at the planning stage will help you to identify the value social media may be able to offer your business. Once your programme is up and running, these metrics will not only help you to measure its success for your wider marketing strategy, but will also enable you to demonstrate the benefits of the activity to your organisation.

    The areas where online communities can contribute to business objectives are vast, but it is important to have a clear understanding of what it is you’re measuring and why. This process isn’t the same for everyone, and there’s no simple answer to how you should measure the success of your own social media strategy, but you certainly need to take a combined approach. Overall, engagement is the key thing to consider, as the point of social media marketing is to engage your target audience and begin to influence opinion. Forrester Research identified the “Four I’s” of engagement – involvement, interaction, intimacy and influence. Look at how involved the community is that you are engaging, the number of interactions you are achieving and how intimate people are becoming with your brand, for example do they provide ratings on your products or services? Finally how much influence are your efforts having on your overall strategy?

    As with any marketing activity, it is not enough to just hope for the best. There are many ways to measure the “Four I’s” and it’s worth drawing up a formal list of metrics to
    measure your programme against – both quantitative and qualitative; read on to find out more.

  3. Take a qualitative approach
    The benefits of social media are generally qualitative in nature. Social media has many different qualitative attributes, and so it’s impossible to measure the value in just one way. Breaking down the qualitative attributes of social media into understandable metrics you can translate into a business context is essential.

    Looking at the level of engagement you are achieving with your target audiences, the conversations that you are partaking in, and whether you are being talked about by your competitors is also a good starting point. Another area to measure is the level of market intelligence you gain, and specifically feedback from your target audience, that you may not have obtained otherwise. You can then use this intelligence for more effective reputation management – on and offline. Social media can be highly useful for enhancing brand awareness and image. Insight into why people like or dislike your brand and organisation is needed to help change, or indeed support, your audience’s
    perceptions.

    Also consider the level of engagement and retention you are achieving with existing customers. Just because they are already customers, doesn’t mean they won’t look online for reassurance that they have made the right decision by choosing you versus one of your competitors. You may also find out what they really think about your business, and obtain feedback you may not have obtained otherwise. This demonstrates how exploring social media broadens your means of communicating with your audiences – adding new channels of communication, which in itself is a success metric.

    When looking at qualitative metrics, it is important to measure an improvement. For example, through these online conversations are you building better relationships with your audiences? Are the comments getting more positive? Do you now have a voice in an area where you previously did not? It is difficult to attribute these sorts of elements to any one facet of a campaign, but that is where the more quantitative metrics come in…..

  4. Define your quantitative metrics
    Statistics-based metrics are maybe deemed to be the easier and most effective way to gain approval and backing from key people within your organisation, as well as to reassure you that your social media strategy actually works. The most obvious metrics include search engine ranking, website traffic, number of leads or enquiries, and of course direct sales. The perhaps less obvious metrics to consider are things like how many people follow your blog or join your social network, as well as the click-through rate to the specific product or service pages on your website. They are all tangible, and as long as you benchmark before you start, you will have an effective way to demonstrate that social media is worth investing in.

    Quantitative metrics will also enable you tolook at the effect of very specific activity – such as the number of people following you on Twitter, or the number of people subscribing to your blog, or making comments about a post, whereas qualitative metrics take into account the effects of the social media strategy as a whole, and should be measured over the long-term. There are some perhaps less obvious metrics to consider if you really want to demonstrate its value, things like the cost-savings made on being able to manage a customer relationship online, instead of having to meet face-to-face. There’s also the potential reduction in call centre expenditure, by answering queries or complaints via an online network. You could even save on recruitment agency fees – yes seriously – as portraying a positive image about your business might prompt a like-minded person to get in touch about employment opportunities.

    Some of the most important metrics – improved customer relationships, influencing perception of your brand – aren’t as easy to measure as the quantitative metrics discussed here, but they shouldn’t be ignored. That is why we recommend taking an integrated approach and giving an equal weighting to qualitative and quantitative metrics – even when the pressure is on todrive new business and you’re being asked if your programme has generated any new leads yet!

  5. Include your colleagues in your strategy
    Preparing for social media may require a shift in corporate mindset, and successful social media marketers start looking at changing the culture early on, to avoid issues further down the line. As you compile your social media strategy, sit down with your colleagues and get them involved – it is one of the few platforms that gives everyone an opportunity to have a voice. People are now on the internet more than ever, and undoubtedly some of your colleagues will be active in the social networking world already, even just on a personal level. Capitalise on what your colleagues are already doing on sites like Twitter or Facebook to support what you and your company are trying to do.

    It is of course important to get a policy in place so that employees are clear on what is ok and not ok to say about your organisation online, and so that you all take a unified approach to the messages you wish to get across. There needs to be someone, with the support of a team, who is in charge of championing your programme – speaking to your colleagues about how they can get involved, but at the same time covering off company policies. The very nature of social media means that you will need to invest time in researching and planning, before eventually implementing, which also takes time! You will come up against your critics, who will ask why you’re bothering, and what exactly it does to generate new business, but this is where your metrics come in. If you can clearly outline what you’re measuring the success of your social media against, and how frequently you will assess its performance, then you aremore likely to build confidence and enable yourself to crack on with your programme in peace.

    Overall, by getting your colleagues on board, involved and up to speed on what you’re doing, they’re going to be more bought in to the reasoning behind your strategy, and less likely to put up resistance. You could always run an internal competition to peak people’s interest too – ask them to come up with new tools or ideas for the social media strategy and give prizes to the best ones.

  6. Use it to complement traditional marketing channels
    Social media and traditional marketing activity are both designed to draw attention from prospective clients, as well as helping to retain existing ones, and they should fuel each other. The difference with social media however, and the reason why it makes some people a bit cautious, is that it gives your audiences a voice. People can give their true feelings about your organisation and your products and services online. The great thing about this is that it enables you to obtain invaluable market feedback and enter into direct conversation with your audiences to address any complaints or queries they may have. This is something you will never achieve with a direct mail or advertising campaign for example. This two-way conversation means that you are engaging your audiences and can treat each one individually, to make sure that their specific needs are looked after.

    A key advantage to social media over traditional marketing is that if your organisation and its products and services are well respected, your clients will actually be promoting your brand for you – free of charge! They can feel in control, and what helps to promote your organisation better than testimonials from happy clients? Traditional marketing follows a more one way method of communication. You tell your audiences what you want to say, in the hope they will listen. Consequently it is more difficult for them to give their feedback. The process of giving feedback to a direct mail piece for example, is not straightforward – it takes time, and hassle and the individual must go out of their way to voice their opinion. This may result in them moving on to the next brand, where they may find the experience a lot more fulfilling.

    So, what we’re really saying is that you should be doing both social media and more traditional marketing, each has its own strengths that work to achieve different objectives – as well giving you a better chance of meeting the needs of a wider audience. It is important to ensure your messages are consistent however. The way you communicate and the tone you use for traditional marketing is going to be different to that used for social media which is more informal, but the core messages that you’re looking to get across should be the same. Next time your prospects receive a direct mail piece from you they will be more likely to take notice if they’ve been conversing with you online and have had some of their queries answered already.

  7. Stay ahead of the game
    To really get the best out of your social media programme, it’s essential to keep updated with new developments and tools that may enhance what you’re already doing. With so many tools out there, it can get a little overwhelming, but there are many websitesthat are here to help. Keeping up to date on what’s going on in the world of social media can be a simple process – subscribe to newsfeeds and receive news to your inbox, for minimal effort.Automate what you can to make the process of keeping your social network updated as easy as possible. There are even websites that manage your social networking tools for you – streamlining the organisation and management of your profiles – for example www.ping.fm, a free service that allows you to “ping” a message to any of your social media profiles. If you’re short of time this is invaluable as you then don’t need to spend time posting the same messages on each site individually.

    Once content is online it adapts easily into different platforms, enabling you to extend the reach of your social media to new platforms, without impacting on your budget. As new tools and techniques arrive, or existing tools expand their applications, you are able to react quickly to capitalise on the new space available online. If your goal is to boost the reach of your brand message, then think about creating content that can be easily distributed by your audiences. This does mean you need to be comfortable with the release of content, images and videos that can be used by your followers and distributed throughout their networks. Pre-empt this by getting relevant copyrights for all material that you wish to distribute. Also key is making content “tearable” so that it can be easily taken from your pages, copied, pasted and used by your audiences in their own social media environments.

    For your social media marketing to be effective, you must adopt the mindset of releasing content rather than controlling it – and your business has to be fully prepared for any type of reaction. It could seem daunting to some, but it is this authenticity that gives social media its value.

  8. Track, analyse, tweak and feedback
    As your social media programme unfolds, you will need to dedicate time to testing and tracking its success. Get an appropriate analytics programme in place, e.g. Google Analytics, so that you are able to measure some of the quantitative metrics we discussed earlier – number of visitors, click-through-rates to your website etc. The specific tools you are using will give you guidelines on how to implement the tracking correctly, and will also enable you to easily output statistics, as and when you need them.

    Once you have the raw information on how your social media programme is performing against the metrics you have set, integrate these into an all-encompassing report each
    month to keep as a record of improvement. These reports will also be a great way to feedback to your colleagues about the results you’re getting. It is vital to set new or revised goals so that you can refine and improve your strategy – and the information you obtain from your reporting is so powerful. Each month you should set new targets and objectives to ensure you see a continual improvement. When it comes to tweaking your social media programme based on your findings, you can look to incorporate multivariate testing (A/B testing) to assess what messages or method of approach is most effective in generating quality connections, engagement, enquiriesand increasing comments to blog posts. You can then filter out messages, posts, and activities that display better results from those that do not deliver good results.

    Continually tweaking your social media programme is important, but make sure you give it time to deliver results. Focus on refining and renewing the campaign and feeding back
    on the success, rather than drastically altering your approach after a short space of time. Having put the effort into planning and setting success metrics early on, tweaking is all that should be needed once the programme has commenced.

  9. Be patient and give it time, but get creative with your content
    Once you have invested the time and effort in getting your social media programme up and running, you will need to give it time to live. Having spent time planning it out, refining your metrics and getting everyone on board, you must then invest time in growing the content and your online community. It does take time to see results but as discussed earlier on, if you do it well the benefits can be seen across your business. In taking this “widescreen” approach you will be able to assess the bigger picture, and measure the overall impact of your activity – which is what you’re really interested in – rather than looking at the performance of one area of your social media strategy in isolation.

    Saying this, there are certain tactics that can be employed to deliver results more quickly. The key thing with any social media campaign is the content itself. Do your research to find out what the hot topics are in your area of interest and find a unique angle to these topics, so that you’re not just reiterating what someone else has already said. People follow people with similar interests, so keep your submissions tightly focused and you’ll stand more chance of keeping your readers on board. Getting your colleagues’ ideas on new and fresh content is a great way to offer your readers a new perspective on one of your hot topics, and could open up a whole newconversation.

    So how long will it take to see results? There is no definitive answer to this question as it depends on a number of things such as the level of interest in your brand, and how topical your subject matter is. Also, some of your success metrics are more slow-burning than others. For example, you will see changes in the number of people signing up to your blog,
    or following you on Twitter more immediately than you will be able to measure the level of engagement you are achieving with your target audiences. Being upfront with
    stakeholders about the time frame for seeing results and keeping them updated on your progress will not only make them feel more confident that you know what you’re doing, but will enable you to get on with the implementation, rather than having to constantly justify your approach.

  10. Convert conversations into action
    What is pretty much agreed across the board is that if done well, social media marketing will help to put a tick next to your name when the need arises for your product or service. We have looked at how to get the most out of your social media programme to stand the best possible chance of success, as well as how to measure the performance of your activity and demonstrate ROI.

    When it comes to encouraging your audience to take action, make it as easy as possible for your followers to engage with you and your brand. As we’ve discussed, creating compelling content is a great place to start, but another area that should not be overlooked is making it clear what you want your audience to do, and make it easy for them to do it. If you want them to give feedback, provide a simple feedback mechanism. Once you have this feedback, don’t ignore it – act on it. All your hard work could go to waste if you don’t. If you want people to share the information you have provided with their own online network, give them the appropriate tools to be able to do it quickly and with minimal effort. Tip seven discussed other tactics to consider when it comes to remaining one step ahead, which is vital in the world of social media.

    Although smart marketers create content that sparks interest and comment, the ideal scenario is for the conversation to continue without your involvement. You will obviously
    want to dip in now and again to add comment and obtain feedback, but the idea is for you to have a facilitative presence, rather than to monopolise the conversation. On the more practical side of things, enable people to get in touch with you via different means if they so wish, as they may be ready to speak to you on the telephone or face-to-face. Provide your telephone number and link to your specific service or product enquiry web pages. And of course make sure you have the appropriate tracking process in place to identify the source of the enquiry!

    Social media helps to open up doors to people that may not have been found had you only used traditional marketing methods. It does take persistence, and patience, but once you are in the social media space the opportunities are endless. Good luck!

Posted on November 23, 2009 at 1:23 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: social media marketing · Tagged with: , ,

Back to basics – Lead generation tips to boost your bottom line

They say the economy is starting to show signs of fresh shoots, but for most businesses the focus still remains on obtaining immediate revenue. When budgets are tight, the biggest proportion of the pot needs to be focused on your lead generation strategy.

This week’s blog takes you through some vital marketing approaches that can be adopted to help generate valuable leads for your business. Some you can put into practice right now, with little or no budget required at all.

  1. Concentrate on the people most likely to buy from you
    Begin by defining your perfect prospect profile. This will ensure you’re spending your entire budget on the people or businesses that are most likely to buy from you. Other segments may still be relevant but this is all about focusing on those who will have the shortest sales cycle.

    If you’re selling B2B, then your segment profile can include everything about the kind of business that you can best immediately service. Consider desired locations, size, spending power, industry sector etc. You may have more than one target segment, in which case define each one clearly, ensuring you can justify your choices.

    Then, revisit your database and honestly review how many fit this profile. When you have a clear indication of figures you can start creating realistic strike-rates and pipeline projections. Remember; if your resources and time are low don’t waste them on slow-burning business or more ambient marketing strategies. While brand awareness is important, now is the time to invest in more short-term returns.

  2. Be able to move quickly when the new business bell rings
    How much time, budget and effort do you and your marketing department put into generating one fully qualified lead? The disappointment can arise when the potential customer comes to contact you – maybe by phone or email – as so often is the case that the internal sales team and its systems do not support the expectations of the prospect.

    Once you have the lead, don’t let it fall through your fingers. Make sure that you have the resources, training and systems in place to facilitate a fluid sales process. The more efficient you are – the more likely you are to win good business and quickly. Also bear in mind that if they choose to go somewhere else it will cost you more to win them back next time.

    Make sure your sales team know your prospect profile inside out. This way they will know how to fully qualify a lead and make the most of one when they appear to tick all the
    boxes. Support this with key response service levels/targets so that staff are clear on what they need to deliver on.

  3. Diversify to multiply
    From a more strategic level, there may be further options for your organisation to pursue in order to develop new business revenue.

    The current market environment may in fact offer new opportunities and business ideas that may be viable if you already have the relevant resources in-house. For example, can you quickly and easily target any new markets with the experience, knowledge and resources you already own? Are there other products you can launch to your existing market that better service your target segments based on their current needs?

    Launching new products or new ventures may sound a bit steep when there is limited budget to go around, but if you already have the capabilities ready and waiting then why not capitalise on them? It may be your way of quickly tapping into a new revenue stream which could make all the difference.

  4. Telemarketing works, so use it!
    Good telemarketing is a finely-tuned skill that many may steer away from, but when done properly, it is the glue that will hold your lead generation programme together.

    You’re not concerned at this point in making the sale – quite the opposite. Telemarketing activity enables your business to generate appointments and meetings with people who are ready to buy. They may already know your brand, or have received some direct mail from you, so by picking up the call you’re opening up a two-way communication. It is at this point you really start to move the process forward.

    Telemarketing also helps to keep your data lists in good shape. A few months neglect can mean data slowly becomes inaccurate, which will only hinder any lead generation
    programme you have in place.

    If you are using an external agency, make sure they have a very tight brief. You’ll need to ensure the question list you provide genuinely supports your sales process, and provides the key information your sales team need to know. You only have a small window for discussion so make the most of it, and rest assured that this approach will deliver.

  5. Advertising works, but don’t make it your No.1 for lead generation
    Email marketing and targeted direct mail are always the better options when it comes to direct lead generation. If your strategy is brand awareness then advertising campaigns can do wonders, but if your focus is boosting your immediate bottom line then take a direct approach.

    Emails talk directly with the people you need to contact most, and the best part about it is that you can monitor who reads them, and what they click. This is a really valuable insight into the needs of each prospect – especially if you’re going to follow your email up with a call.

    Just make sure that when your budget is limited that you don’t waste it on generating messages that many never get read by those who you most want to target. You never know for certain if someone will open your mail but the odds are dramatically increased when compared to press advertising.

  6. Make the most from those who already buy from you
    Attracting potential customers away from their existing partner or supplier requires a significant amount of effort, as well as great timing! Concentrating your efforts and marketing budget on generating new business, rather than fully developing your loyal client base, could mean that you are missing out on excellent cross-sellingopportunities. Keep in regular contact with your existing customers, and make sure that they are fully aware of your organisation’s range of products or services. When you speak to your existing customers, you may be surprised how many of them do not realise how else your business may be able to assist them.

    Saying this, existing customers are only ever going to consider using you for additional products or services if they are satisfied with what you are already doing for them. Spend time getting to know your customers, and what they value, and then spend time explaining the benefits different areas of your business could bring.

  7. Ensure your website is ready to take orders and enquiries
    If prospects make the effort to click on a link from one of your emails, or type your name into one of the search engines, it’s likely that they are in the information seeking phase of the buying process. It is in your interest to make sure that they are able to find what they are looking for and quickly. It is vital that the pages visitors are presented with on your website are relevant to the keyword being typed in, so ensure the information they are given is targeted to their needs.

    Once you have that all important prospect on your website, the aim is of course to take them to the next phase in the buying process. Make it as straightforward as possible for your visitors – provide them with an enquiry form that they can complete quickly and easily, or give them your telephone number upfront so they can call if they’d prefer. Make sure that enquiries are centralised and followed-up swiftly and consistently. After all, there is no point in spending thousands on developing a website that generates leads, if they are not acted on appropriately.

  8. Make sure your proposition is really persuasive
    With all the emphasis on getting your message out to your target audience – through email marketing, direct mail, advertising, blogging etc – don’t forget to invest time in developing the right messages for your business. There is little point in going to market listing the benefits of your business, without really getting to grips with how you can differentiate yourselves from your competitors. To really stand out, spend time and efforts defining your proposition in a way that will make your prospects desire your services, or products, over those of your competition.

    So how do you go about defining a strong and defendable proposition? The idea is to uncover the core value that your business offers, rather than just develop a long list of
    benefits. The best place to start is to analyse your core competencies and internal capabilities. Then move on to evaluate your customer base, and what problems you are able to solve for them, as well as studying the competition and how your proposition would stand up against theirs.

    The resulting proposition statement should then be used to develop positioning messages for your individual products, or services for use in your communications material. Finally, it is a good idea to test your final proposition statement with current customers to guarantee that it resonates with your target audience.

  9. Network at industry seminars and events
    Seminars and events not only provide you and your colleagues with valuable information regarding the industry you operate in, but they are a great way to create new contacts that could potentially lead on to new business for your company. Select your events carefully, and check out the attendee lists to give you the best possible chance of mixing with your target audience. There is nothing more powerful than being face-to-face with a prospect and really putting your selling skills to the test.

    For smaller businesses, seminars can also open up opportunities to meet like-minded people, and gain insight and perspective on areas such as how the current economic climate has affected their business. Think carefully about whom from your organisation is most appropriate to attend seminars and events. If there are likely to be existing customers in attendance, it is worthwhile sending the relevant contact along as part of a relationship building exercise. It does no harm to demonstrate to your customers that you are keeping in touch with what’s happening within your industry, and it is a great cross-selling opportunity too.

  10. Make full use of your in-house knowledge, and pass it on
    Take an integrated approach to communicating with your customers and prospects. Rather than just focusing on self-promotional emails, try sending useful articles, hints and tips or even whitepapers (the idea is to send information that they will find helpful). Not only will your database be delighted that you are sharing your knowledge with them, but this type of communication will also help to build your credibility and position you as an authoritative voice within the market, as well as support lead generation.

    Communicating the importance of knowledge sharing within your organisation can also directly assist your new business drive. If account managers or fee earners are protective of key account information, then cross-selling opportunities could potentially go undiscovered. Encourage your people to spend time educating customers on your full offering, and then feed this information back to the relevant colleagues. Avoid a potentially embarrassing situation by making sure that everyone is aware of who your customers are and the nature of work being conducted for them, and be sure to remove them from your target prospect mailing list if necessary. Likewise, sharing information about client success stories can save time and resource – so why reinvent the wheel? If something works for one customer, then the chances are it can work for another. When time is precious, and it’s all about generating new business, then take the winning model and replicate it again and again.

Posted on November 9, 2009 at 4:35 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized

All you need to know about blogging – what, why and how

What is a blog? A weblog, or blog as they are now more commonly termed, is a hierarchy of text, images, media objects and data, arranged chronologically, that can be viewed via the web. Some marketing trends end up being a fad, others are worth investing in. So, what’s the point of blogging? Where do I start? Will people really be interested in what I have to say?

If you’re asking these questions then you’re not alone. This month’s mbite should shed some light on what can be a bit of a daunting subject. No jargon, just facts.

Posted on November 2, 2009 at 4:07 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Influence & Persuasion: The art of letting them have your way

Today, people are far more likely to answer with ‘why do you want me to do that?’ rather than ask ‘what do you want me to do next?’

The twin abilities of being able to influence and persuade others to embark on a course of action, adopt a new way of working or to simply use your services for the first time, are essential – not just in business, but in life. Have you ever seen the small sprinkling of boyfriends/husbands at the cinema pensively watching this summer’s ultimate ‘chick-flick’? This is the art in true motion.

This blog entry delves into the topic of influence and persuasion – providing top tips on how to sharpen your own indispensable weapons of success.

Posted on October 26, 2009 at 4:07 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: ,

Beyond the business card – get more out of your networking

Networking – don’t you just love it? – No – and neither does anyone else…

A full day in the office, then out to some venue to put on a badge, grab a glass of vino, a plate of nibbles and wander round exchanging pleasantries with total strangers whilst trying desperately to be interested and interesting.

Whether we like it or not networking is an essential part of developing business and while most of us find it a little uncomfortable, we do, however, manage to at least exchange business cards with the people we meet.

But that’s often where the problems really begin: what on earth do you do with that card? Should you phone, email, write, invite to a seminar or send a brochure?  Coffee or lunch, their place, yours or Starbies?  And when?  A day later, perhaps three or maybe a week: is two too long to leave it?  What to say when you do meet?  You don’t want to appear too pushy but at the same time it’s not just a social, so what do you talk about and how do you move it on to the subject of business and how utterly wonderful your firm is?

When faced with this barrage of questions it is little wonder that many of us in business simply file away the business card and forget about it.

So, here are M’s top tips for making things a tad easier:

  1. Relax - not everyone you meet at a networking event will be a potential client. Developing business is a process, not an event, and you are going to meet loads of people you get on with but that’s as far as it goes.
  2. Do not pitch or attempt to close whilst networking: it’s pushy and we don’t like it. If you feel the urge to get commitment on the day then go and sell conservatories or time-shares in Bulgaria.
  3. If you get on with someone and reckon there is a chance that what you do could be of use to them, then finish off your conversation like this:
    “It’d be great to meet you and hear about what you do. There are a few other people I really need to catch up with this evening but maybe we could continue this conversation over a coffee or spot of lunch sometime?”
  4. Understand that no one from the UK is ever going to say “No” to your face in response to the last question. (They will do that later and via email but that’s OK.)
  5. When they say “Yes, that would be great” tell them that you will call before the end of the week/following week. You do this for two reasons:
    a) Human beings like to know what’s going to happen next.  So when you phone they are expecting it.
    b) Selling to people means establishing credibility first and one of the big waysyou can do that is by doing what you said you’d do.  So if you have told them you will get in touch before the end of the week you demonstrate you are someone who can be relied upon when you do call.
  6. After the event make sure you write on their card, the time, place, date and the venue at which you met them, along with personal information you learned during your chat – kids’ names, football team, where they are going on holidays, what they are doing at the weekend, etc. Do this in order that you can remember who they are and so that you have a topic of conversation to kick off with when you next meet.
  7. Call them. If you get voicemail then always leave one – they have to know that you called just like you said you would.  Leave a short message and tell them you will call them back BUT leave your number as well (if they ring you back, that’s what sales people call a ‘buying sign’ – a massive one!)Call again – just like you told them you would. If it’s voicemail, then leave another message.
  8. If they haven’t rung you back within a week then now’s the time for email. Email is sometimes easier to reply to than a voicemail and, more importantly, it makes it easier for them to say “No”.  You do not want to pressure this person.  Selling is about making it easy for people to buy.  You want to make them feel comfortable turning you down.
  9. Two things about getting a “No”.“No” does not mean “Never”. It just means “Not at the moment”.
  10. Getting a “No” at this point is good news if they are not really interested because it means you don’t waste time sitting having a coffee with someone who doesn’t really want to buy from you.
  11. If when you phone or email you get a “Yes”, then you need to arrange a time and a date to meet. A very effective way of doing this is to use something sales people refer to as ‘the alternative close’ and it’s a little cracker at helping you secure meetings.It goes like this:You:
    “Sarah, are you still up for having a chat over a coffee about the issue we discussed at the networking event?”
    Sarah: “Sure, that would be really useful.”
    You: “Ok, does Monday or Tuesday of next week suit?”(as opposed to “When will we meet?”)
    Sarah: “Tuesday’s better for me.”
    You: “Morning or afternoon?”
    Sarah: “Morning.”
    You: “Shall we go for either 10.30 or 11.30?”

Getting a decision from someone is miles easier if you give them a choice of two. Making a decision about what to drink if someone offers you either red or white wine is so much easier than if you’re asked “What would you like to drink?”, because the possibilities are enormous and you have to actually think about it.

Posted on October 19, 2009 at 1:29 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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How to create something from nothing: Effective brainstorming techniques

Let’s have…an ‘idea’s shower’…a ‘creative thinking meeting’… a ‘thought-sharing exercise’.

Since its conception in the 1940s, ‘brainstorming’ has come a long way. It’s now a recognised technique that many of us rely on to generate that ‘new way forward’ or discover a solution to a complex problem. It’s probably not been that long since you were participating in a session yourself.

But how do you really get the most out of that valuable time and make sure you produce tangible evidence of what has taken place? How do you manage the people and the ideas that fly across the room in a sometimes heated debate?

Here we provide details on how and why you should run regular brainstorming sessions and what you need to do to get the results you need, first time round.

Posted on October 12, 2009 at 11:53 am by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Marketing through the downturn

As times toughen, marketing needs to become ever more relevant and cost-effective. Good, focused, targeted marketing can make all the difference when striving to survive the economic downturn. So how do you compete in a world where everyone else is just as determined to make their business succeed and stand out from the crowd during troubled times? This is the time to push forward – as times get harder, market harder. This blog provides you with our top ten tips on marketing through the downturn, to help your business survive and prosper.

  1. Plan to survive
    The businesses that are successful will be those that recognise the changes in the economic market and respond accordingly by developing a strong and robust plan to survive. With a well thought out, targeted marketing plan you can be ready to fight off the competition. Ensure you have firm objectives and tactics, and if you’ve already got a plan then revisit it and make sure it will stand up in the current economic climate.

  2. Create competitive advantage
    Now is the time to create competitor advantage. Knowing who your competition is, and importantly what makes you different from them, is vital. Having a competitive edge means possessing an advantage over your competition, and this can be achieved by knowing their strengths and weaknesses and what makes them attractive to current and potential customers. Assessing this information is crucial in developing a competitive edge.

  3. Focus on your key messages
    Concentrate on what you and your business do best and the values you stand for. Don’t attempt to be all things to all people and be clear on what differentiates you from your competitors. Clear and distinct messages that demonstrate how your service or product will benefit customers through the difficulties they may face is crucial. After all, how are your customers or clients expected to know what makes you special if you don’t know yourself?

  4. Be topical and relevant
    Staying abreast of current and topical subjects that affect your clients’ businesses and the industries in which they operate will help develop great credibility and trust at a time when you most want your clients and the media to stay loyal.

  5. Communicate, communicate, communicate
    Effective communication is key to surviving. Communicate with your existing clients and prospects to ensure your brand, proposition and key messages are at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Make sure that you communicate effectively what your company does, the products and services it offers and how you can add value. And don’t forget the value of good internal communication – your staff can be the best ambassadors for your brand if they are aware of and on board with your messages.

  6. Be consistent
    The strength of your brand and corporate identity – not just your logo – are assets in competitive times. If you invest in developing a strong brand identity and reputation, embed it into everything your business does, and deliver your messages clearly, you will build trust and credibility with your audiences.

  7. Tailor your website content
    By tailoring the content of your website and making it relevant and applicable to catch the attention of your valuable target market you’re sure to beat off the close competition.
    Revisit your website and make sure it is up-to-date and that the most recent news articles, news releases and logos are used. Your website is your shop window so needs to be attractive, current, easy to navigate and informative. Recent research shows that 25 per cent of people change their mind over a purchasing decision once they visit a potential supplier’s website – you don’t want your potential client to be one of them. Remember to include strong and clear calls to action on the pages to ensure the visitor is left with no doubt about how to get in touch and employ your services.

  8. Know your keywords
    Effective Search Engine Marketing (SEM) can be one of the most powerful, cost-effective and measurable marketing tools around. Knowing the relevance and importance of your keywords is essential to take advantage of the opportunities Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can offer. This process of editing and organising the content of your website to incorporate your keywords can be extremely effective in increasing the volume of targeted traffic. And remember, it works 24/7!
  9. Network
    Look for additional marketing tools that won’t eat into your marketing budget. Go to relevant networking events, conferences, seminars and speaking engagements and take advantage of any opportunity to promote your business and the services you provide.

  10. And finally, don’t forget your existing clients
    As times get hard you will probably be focusing on how to win new clients and customers. This is essential if you want your business to grow, however you must not neglect the clients you already have. The saying that it is ten times more expensive to acquire new clients or customers than it is to retain an existing one is true. You need to continue to provide an excellent service, reward customer loyalty and never forget that you need these existing clients to not only survive but prosper through any downturn.

Remember, no business opportunity is ever lost. If you fumble it, your competitor will find it. So when the going gets tough, you need to get going!

Of course, putting your trust and faith into a good marketing and PR agency that can contribute to the success of your business, and help you stand out from the crowd, can be a safe way to survive and market through the downturn. Contact us a www.mconsulting.co.uk

Posted on October 12, 2009 at 9:28 am by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Spotlight on 123Aquatics

Another site I am currently working on for one of our clients is 123 Aquatics online pond and aqaurium shop.

I have to say I am impressed with the ease of use for Google Shopping: we organised an export of the product database, formatted it to Google’s requirements, and within an hour their products were showing up in the Google product search for 123 Aquatics. Once again – Google get’s it very right!

Posted on October 10, 2009 at 5:11 pm by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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Spotlight on Focus Solutions

Focus Solutions have now relaunched their site which we are proud to have helped with – hence the announcement on this very blog.

They are currently working on their search engine placement: their current target is to get found for the search term Focus Solutions: financial services software for the financial services industry.

Working on this site has been – and will be – fascinating.  Their target audience is acutally very small when you think about it: there cannot be that many people who are in charge of purchasing large financial services software – particularly those that have the power to approve such a large purchase.  I can see one of the challenges will be to ensure that the site answers the questions of the target audience and does not have an inward focus to the needs of Focus themselves.

Posted on October 6, 2009 at 11:27 am by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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How to develop great media relations

Practical tips to get the basics right

Journalists are busy, they’re continually driven by deadlines and your one news release could easily be part of a pile 200 high. So how do you get your business noticed? And how do you get consistent results in a world where everyone else is busily trying to claim the same level of priority and respect as you?

Knowing how to deal with journalists is in itself a finely honed skill. The rules and etiquette of media relations are naturally expected from professionals dealing with the media, but where do you go to learn these valuable rules if you’re not a specialist?

This month’s mbite from M Consulting provides you with our top ten tips on how to work effectively with the media, with practical tips that should stand you in good stead as you build relationships with journalists. Take note, these rules are unlikely to go out of fashion.

The ‘official’ top five things that drive journalists nuts:

  1. Calls asking if they have received your email/news release or being told you’re about to send it
  2. No contact details submitted on a news release, or they use the number but can’t track you down
  3. Unreturned phone calls
  4. Uninformed pitches where the person clearly doesn’t read the publication, let alone understand the reporter’s beat
  5. People who cannot answer their basic questions

Of course, the best way to negotiate this maze of dos and don’ts is to get yourself a good PR agency who can handle the media on your behalf – such as M Consulting.

Posted on October 5, 2009 at 11:17 am by admin · Permalink · Leave a comment
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