Good article in Fast Company on why people like round numbers and why you shouldn’t be on the wrong side of them, numbers that is not Fast Company.

“lumping things into round-number groups and viewing everything outside them as inferior. So the difference between items ranked No. 10 and No. 11 feels enormous and significant, even if it’s actually quite minimal or unknown.”

The following paragraph is particularly useful to know

“In another experiment, Isaac and Schindler found that when test participants were exposed to a sharp¹-numbered list–like a Top 19–their perceived gap between 10 and 11 diminished. The business lessons for the Number 11s of the world is pretty clear: crack the Top 10 at whatever the cost or change the reference point to Top 12.”

¹ Not ending in 0 or 5

Marketing used to be about companies pushing their ads in front of people in order to sell; now it’s about engagement with the audience. There has always been competition in business but with such a plethora of options these days, companies must stand out in a very positive way, they almost have to seduce potential clients like a new sweetheart.

Less than a decade ago, few people thought of social media as a useful channel for online marketing, now small businesses are embracing it and are reaping the benefits with increased customer engagement and sales. From Facebook to Twitter and Instagram to LinkedIn, some of the savviest businesses are establishing a presence on social media and capitalising on the massive exposure available from it.

Whichever social media platform you choose will depend on your individual preferences of course, but to some extent the nature of your business can determine the most suitable for your purposes. LinkedIn for example is the platform of choice for some professionals because of the more formal nature of their business services, whereas Facebook and Twitter are less formal, and reflect more of an individual’s or company’s personality, while still providing opportunities to promote the business. Twitter gives valuable exposure to small businesses and Pinterest is highly visual, which businesses can benefit from using the impact of images to attract interest.

Once we’ve identified the best platform(s) for our business we cannot rest on our laurels. Continued interaction is important in keeping people interested and they will, in turn, reward us with their loyalty, and their custom.

Content can go out-of-date very quickly and if we are not updating it, our followers may just head off somewhere else. Also, we can get insights into what is being said before it ever becomes a problem. The best performing businesses constantly monitor and measure activity and responses and adapt their strategies accordingly.

Social media is a stage upon which we can stand, view the landscape and make a judgement about where we need to be heading to effectively market and promote our business. It reaches the ears of so many more potential opportunities than was ever possible before its invention. It does the hard work connecting us to the people that matter to our business and we reap the rewards.

As you may know from previous posts, the Rather Inventive team is virtual. We all work remotely. But every now and then it’s nice to meet up with the  rest of the team and some of our clients for some fun. Our most recent social event  saw us at Wharton Court Food Centre near Leominster where we had a fab session with photographer Jay Watson of All  Seeing Eye Images in Hereford. (more…)

I recently required the services of an out-of-hours GP (yes, I know, silly me) only to be put through to the new NHS 111 service. My answers to the operator’s questions were duly guided through a computerised diagnostic tool and a paramedic dispatched to treat the cardiac arrest I wasn’t having. I don’t even want to contemplate what this cost the NHS but I’m guessing the difference between a paramedic being sent out to a rural area versus the patient ably making their way to a surgery to see an out-of-hours GP is quite extensive. (more…)

We use WordPress to build our websites. We use it because we think it’s the best web content management system out there. (more…)

This video shows that the “lone nut” who starts a trend is important, but if the trend is to get going it takes a few brave souls to join in. These first brave souls are known as first followers. They’re vital if a trend is to become important because they give it credibility and show “the masses” that it’s OK to join in.

If you were one of the first people to sign up to Twitter or use Pinterest to market your business, you can give yourself a pat on the back. You were a first follower. You helped to make them the business tools they are today. You were also one of the first to take advantage of what they could offer your business. But aside from spotting something that will help your business before anyone else catches on to it, where else can we apply the first follower principle in an online context? And how does it help?Let’s take one example. In an environment such as LinkedIn you can be one of the first to answer people’s questions in forums, fill out surveys or offer an opinion. This raises your profile by showing people you’re an industry commentator and a “go to” expert. It also shows the person you’re answering that you’re supportive and interested in what they have to say – and we all love to think that! And you’ll often find that other people who join in after you will often refer back to your comment, raising your profile still further and giving you more credibility.

We might not all be switched on enough to spot the new Twitter or Pinterest. But we can all show our support for smaller things in smaller ways. And doing that can be just as important and give your business results that are just as important.

If you want to get the real story on the behaviour of your customers, readers, etc., don’t rely on self-reported data. While such data can be fine for simple facts, like, “Did you eat breakfast today?” it will rarely answer questions like, “Why do you prefer Grey Goose vodka?” (more…)

I’m not a big watcher of YouTube videos but there are some themes that just captivate me. Well these videos do just that (much to my wife’s annoyance).

“Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae or rather the numerous covers found on YouTube, which propelled the original’s success, demonstrate the explosive effect of social media and the awsome creative tools many of us have available – From the geeky Star Wars to my favourite by from the Cookie Monster (above) or even a poorly shot but funny effort from a Harvard Baseball team.

What does all this mean? It just shows how people are driven to do some great (or just plain funny) things when they want to be part of something greater than themselves

Seth writes

‘Smart marketers in this circle acknowledge that their product or service isn’t for everyone, but bend over backwards to be sure that some people will be able to fall in love with it.’

This resonds with me but it’s not easy. He goes on to say.

‘When the thing you sell has communication built in, when it is remarkable and worth talking about, when it changes the game–marketing seems a lot easier. Of course, that’s because you did the marketing when you invented the thing, saving you the expense and trouble of yelling about it.’

If you can do this you have something special.

Seth Godin on Reconsidering decisions

“Jay Levinson used to say that you should keep your ad campaign even after your best customers, your wife and your partner get bored with it. Change it when the accountant says it’s time.”

 

Clients often tell me how they don’t like the design anymore, or it’s time for a change. Sometimes it’s better to just wait and move onto more important things.

In my last post, we looked at how to create a sitemap for your website. Now we’re going to review some of the ways to make the content of the site customer-focused and useful. (more…)

When thinking about your sitemap, there are two things you  need to bear in mind. What do your customers need? and then what do search engines need? Answer both questions with your sitemap and you’ve made a good start on a great site. (more…)

While parking in Chepstow for our team meet-up I was short 30p for the pay and display. I bounded over to the Tourist Information office in the hope they might break a note for me – The kind woman that greeted me was unable to change my note but instead gave me the 30p I needed. Thank you, who ever you were.

To further brighten my day the cafe we had decided to meet in had the best breakfast sandwich I have ever seen. See the picture below, it was the sour dough club if you’re interested. It really was amazing!

Here are the last five suggestions for using internet marketing to promote your business on a budget. (You can read the first five here.) (more…)

The web offers a wealth of tools that can help you market your business on a shoestring. In this post and the next one, I’ll take a look at ten ways the internet can help promote your business. Spend 10% of your marketing time on each one and you can build your business on a budget. Here goes … (more…)

You may have heard of “features and benefits” when talking about marketing your business. Here´s a quick guide to what they are and how they help your business. (more…)

Every one of your customers has individual characteristics  that make them who they are. But those customers will often share certain  characteristics. Understanding what those common characteristics are will make your marketing more effective. And whether you’re marketing on a shoestring or not, that can only be a good thing.

How can understanding your customer make your marketing more effective?

Because you can:

• show that you understand their challenges and –  more importantly – how you can help them to meet them
• know they need what you’re offering – focusing your  marketing on the prospects you know will be interested means a better  conversion rate than if you focus on prospects that might be interested
• choose the medium that suits them best – if you’re  marketing to travelling sales people, local radio might be a good option; if  you’re dealing with marketing professional, email might be a better bet.

In short, you’re making your customers more likely to buy from you.

So how do you understand who your customers are?

You draw up customer profiles for five of your best  customers. Think about:

Who they are

• Name
  • Industry
  • Role
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Interests
  • Education
• What is important to them
  • What are their needs?
  • What keeps them awake?
  • What stops their company growing?
  • What wastes their time?

So for one of our customers you might end up with:

Sally runs her own  accounting practice which has grown quickly over the 2 last years. She is in  her early 30s has a young family and is a West Brom supporter. She has little  time to promote the company and is concerned the website looks outdated but is  worried she wouldn´t find time for any clients she did win.

From this we can understand that Sally is a busy person with  drive and ambition. Marketing to customers like her will need to reflect that  drive but also get straight to the point. Because she´s got so little time we  need to demonstrate that as professionals she can trust us to get on with the  job while she gets on with hers. We also need to remind her that an out-of-date  website reflects badly on a business she´s worked hard to build up so investing  now would protect her business – and even offer the capacity to take it to the  next level.

1. Know your audience/reader Create an email they will want to open and act on.

2. Interesting or challenging subject line A clear and honest subject line that tells the reader exactly what your email contains.

3. Personalise Often personalised content can increase open rates rather than a one size fits all approach.

4. Interesting and useful content Give the benefits to the reader, make it worth their time reading your email.

5. Ask for action Don´t leave them hanging ask the reader to take the next step, read more, or sign up.

6. Provide a quick and easy way to unsubscribe It shows you respect their data and it´s a legal requirement.

7. Recognisable From address If you can use a named email rather than a generic one this can increase open rates.

8. Run campaigns in plain text and HTML Many email programs only use plain text for their email preview. Effective use can improve open rates.

9. Be consistent Choose a frequency of sending that works for you and your readers, then stick to it to build familiarity.

10. Run experiments Don´t be afraid to test out different subject lines or content to find out what works best.