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07.20.2009
The Role of Social Media in Today’s Networking Landscape
Social media is a very hot topic nowadays and it plays a very important role into today’s networking landscape. Let me preface by saying that NOTHING should replace networking in person.
You can build stronger relationships by looking the other party in the eye and shake their hands, by being attentive to what they say: listen to their stories and be present…
On the other hand, my recommendation would go towards using social media as a tool to supplement your in-person networking and to stay connected with other. As a matter of fact, I believe that using tools such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and so forth helps us breakthrough the networking barriers and facilitate the process of networking and connecting with others.
Plan on using social media as a marketing tool that will basically facilitate the process by helping you achieve your branding and marketing goals.
Keep in mind that through social media you can build your image and brand, increase visibility, and encourage feedback. Use it as a tool to build and tighten your relationship with connections, followers and fans.
Blogging or using Twitter and Facebook for example helps you build credibility and reputation. You can come through as a source of knowledge based on the type of information you provide to your connections.
Use social media in a way to strengthen your relationships and create additional buzz about your successes. On the other hand, learn from your connections through social media. Build on your education. Participate in forums, comment on blogs…
We all know how difficult it is to stay continuously up-to-date with the latest of every single person to whom you are connected to. Use social media to facilitate this process for you. And if one of your connections shares a success story by announcing it on their Facebook for example, comment on that… Congratulate them. On the other hand, if someone generates a discussion on LinkedIn, contribute by adding your insight and comments.
Another great way to use social media is to be able to check who your connections are connected to. LinkedIn for example provides a detailed six levels of connections. Use that tool wisely and if you are interested in connecting with someone who is three degrees away from you, send an email to your first connection requesting an introduction email in order to facilitate the process!
Whatever tool you decide to you is all based on a personal preference. Set your marketing goals and taylor strategies that will help you achieve and accomplish what you have in mind.
A word of caution though… the Internet is public and whatever information you post in there, is going to be out there for a long time reflecting on your brand and image. Be careful with what you post and think ahead before you click the submit button. If you are not comfortable sharing a personal story with everyone for example, it means it should not be on your Facebook page.
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
06.24.2009
Networking Online One Step at a Time
When it comes to networking online through social websites, there are different types and resources. The best option would be for you to research the different tools, come up with a marketing strategy, set a goal and figure out why you want to be online and how you want to leverage relationships online. Use social networking online as a tool to supplement your in-person networking experience.
Many are still skeptical about how powerful social media could be. Let’s put it this way then: social media is a tool to help you achieve your branding and marketing goals. Use it to build your image while increasing your visibility. Some of us are still resisting stepping out of the comfort zone and tackling social media.
Therefore, allow me to show you that it is doable by sharing some of the concerns that are creating a barrier between us and this powerful medium:
Fear of Unknown - Some of us worry about the unknown and social media is still unknown to many. This might have to do with the fact that we do not like to step out of our comfort zone and we would rather deal with what we know best. Although it could be overwhelming, social media is easy to learn and with the power of the Internet, you can probably tackle it on your own. If not, reach out to your connections. Chances are one of them is already using social media and can give you advice on how to do and where to start.
Loss of Privacy - When you are online, you are the boss… You are in control. You get to decide what kind of information you want to share or not. So, your privacy is in your hands. After all, you are building your presence and image online; so if someone looks you up, your posts and messages will come up in the search results. So be the boss, and decide what kind of information you want to share with the whole world.
What to say? – We all have expertise and skill sets that differentiate us from others. So why not share that knowledge with others? Add value to your connections’ day by sharing your experience and what you learned over the years. The Internet is a casual environment so you can post your comments your way! But again, these comments are reflecting on you and your brand. They should be professional while offering added-value to the reader.
On a final note, social media requires a huge time commitment. It takes a lot of time to research which tools work best for you, decide on your marketing goals, and do the initial set up. After that, it is in your hands to decide how much time you want to spend online or who to hire to help so you can concentrate on what you do best!
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
02.24.2009
E-mail Marketing - Tips and More
The world is changing around the clock and the Internet had proven to be the fastest and cheapest way to communicate on a local, national and global level.
While direct marketing had proven to be a focused, trackable and measurable way to connect with consumers, e-mail marketing brought the advantage of being less expensive while providing an instantaneous message delivery to prospects and clients.
Straight-forward and affordable, e-mail marketing is a tool allowing businesses to contact customers directly and with a purpose.
While helping businesses build a relationship with their customers, e-mail marketing concentrates the company’s efforts on keeping in touch with clients and continuously reminding them of their services and products. While providing a relatively lower cost for global reach, messages through e-mail marketing can be interactive through the use of graphics, music and/or whatever is necessary to engage the recipient and capture prospects’ attention. Adding a personalized touch to the e-mail message would help create a special connection with the clients.
E-mail marketing can take different forms including newsletters, announcements and promotions. And while newsletters are periodical containing news and information, promotional emails are occasionally used to increase sales. Depending on the business, one or all of these could be beneficial.
Through e-mail marketing, businesses can announce special offers encouraging recipients to take action by making a purchase or signing-up for a service. In addition, businesses can aim at developing a long-term relationship with their readers by adding value and including content informing and benefiting the recipient. Have a purpose in mind before developing the e-mail marketing piece and define the target before sending it out.
When planning to send out an e-mail message, take scheduling into consideration. Blast emailing on a Friday evening, for example, might not be a good idea. Recipients might not check their email over the weekend and those who do and become intrigued by a call-to-action will unlikely be able to reach a business over the weekend. Businesses usually get one chance to reach prospects and get them to respond. Make the best out of it!
While it is cheaper and instantaneous to send an e-mail message to thousands of clients and prospects, getting the recipient to read and respond to the message is a challenge by itself. Furthermore, keep in mind that e-mail marketing is permission based otherwise the recipient of the email may consider the message a spam – and categorizing a message as a spam is a major setback with major circumstances of negatively affecting a company’s reputation and image.
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
02.11.2009
Is Your Advertising Selling?
The main goal behind planning and executing an advertisement is to increase exposure and sales. It is crucial to keep in mind while putting an advertisement together that there is a difference between one ad and another, which can critically affect the outcome of your campaign.
As a matter of fact, while a winner advertisement can drastically help increase your sales, wrong advertising can quickly bring your sales down. The myth that all advertising increases sales one way or another is not true!
When planning to put an advertisement together, concentrate on doing your homework or hire an expert to help you get to the bottom line. In order to implement successful advertising, it is a requirement to learn as much as you can about the product. And when you are done learning, learn some more, and maybe a little bit more! The more you know about your product, the closer you bring yourself to putting together the big idea that would actually generate a successful campaign increasing your sales. On the other hand, never hesitate to check out the competition - find out what kind of advertising they have been doing and take into consideration the level of success of their campaigns as well. Furthermore, keep in mind that part of doing your homework includes conducting consumers’ research. Study how consumers perceive the product, how they feel about it, why it is/isn’t important to them, and mainly what unique attribute they associate with the product.
The next step involves positioning your product. I have elaborated in my previous article, titled Positioning - How you can win the battle to your customers’ mind, dated 01.20.09, about what positioning is and how you would go about positioning. On a side note though, David Ogilvy, often called The Father of Advertising, simply defines positioning as “what the product does, and who it is for.”
On the other hand, have a clear specific answer to “what image do you want your product to reflect?” Believe it or not, products, like us, have personalities based on a combination of elements including name, look, feel, and advertising. A brand image is a major factor that affects the success or failure of a product in the market place. So while developing your advertisement, make sure that, while it reflects a consistent brand image, it offers an additional element to enhance your product’s image.
Finally, it is time to come up with the big idea – this is what will get you noticed and get consumers to respond to your call-to-action and buy your product. Make your product the center of your advertising. State what is good and unique about your product. Run the advertisement and if it is a winner, keep running it over and over again!
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
01.27.2009
Turn Your Brand into a Powerful MessageWhen we talk branding, we are going beyond a name, a symbol, or a creative logo. A brand is a combination of all these elements. The purpose behind it is to identify your products and services while differentiating them from the competition.
Being an important asset to your company, a brand is the image and reputation that helps you secure success by increasing your customer base and most importantly securing your customers’ loyalty. If managed the right way, your brand can help you generate added value to what you offer.
The power of a brand relies in the fact that it can strongly and permanently affect how we perceive things.
Branding is not only for big companies anymore. With the Internet, it became a necessity for companies, at all levels and sizes, to brand their names in order to reach their target audience. A solid branding strategy is important for all business. It is also a requirement to implement as part of all marketing efforts – online and offline. Your branding strategy will show effective results through the number of times you are able to make an impression by reaching your target audience.
A well recognized brand can add to your company’s reputation through creating enormous recognition. Think about it this way: your brand is your tool to reach new markets, make impressions on consumers, and reminding your customers of the benefits of using your products and services. It demonstrates your strength and uniqueness that differentiate you from the competition.
A brand has an identity that is based on what it offers, how it is perceived, and the way it communicates the message. It adds value to your company because it could be influential, inspiring, and powerful. It protects you by reminding consumers why they selected your products and services in the first place. It offers you the opportunity to safely reposition yourself and realign your services!
Marketing experts suggest that in order to plan a cost effective branding strategy you need to get through the clutter first and reach the inside of the customer’s mind. When researching your target market, you learn good information about your customers’ demographics - but that is hardly enough! You need to dig deeply inside your consumers’ mind to find out what would encourage them to act and then you need to tailor your message accordingly. Basically, your call-to-action message needs to include the right incentive to propel your target market to act!
Furthermore, word-of-mouth marketing is a cheap and successful tool to get the word out about your services and product. Do your research - or hire someone to help - and figure out the key to get your customers to talk about your brand; therefore, turning every customer into a brand ambassador!
Public relations could be another resource to help you create a positioning that works wonders for your brand.
No matter who or what you use to make your brand successful, make sure to continuously stay loyal to your brand and what it stands for by always delivering what you promise – provide great service and quality products; and always keep tabs on your customers making sure they are satisfied with your offerings.
Remember that your brand is your powerful message that states who you are. It simply personalizes your products and services!
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
01.20.2009
Positioning - How you can win the battle to your customers’ mindHave you ever questioned why we refer to a whole category by using a specific brand name – so instead of asking for a tissue, we request a Kleenex – or instead of ordering a soda, we simply demand a Coke? The secret lies in the hidden elements of positioning.
As consumers, we are unconsciously training our brains to organize brands and products in different categories. So when referring to the tissue category, we simply think Kleenex – same with soda and Coke. Such a behavior is the result of some genius advertising strategic planning that was implemented decades ago starting with a well-defined and targeted positioning statement. So what is positioning and what are its elements?
Positioning is taking over a specific spot in your prospects’ mind while identify your products, services and brands. So, while putting together your marketing elements, concentrate on planning your positioning and come through with a solid statement. When you define the positioning of your products or services, you simply determine how you want your target market to perceive you. This has nothing to do with how they see you now, but how you want them to perceive your products and services. In essence, then, a positioning statement should clearly offer the benefits that will be provided to your prospects when using your products or services. Defining your target market would give a good indication of the benefits that are desired by this specific market, and would also specify the gaps that could be filled by what your product has to offer.
How do you go about positioning? I can go over tactics and strategies on how to tackle the positioning process, but it all comes down to few major steps involving your products features and benefits in addition to the consumers’ perception of your products. Keep in mind that although positioning a product is very similar to positioning a service, the latter lacks the physical attributes of a product – meaning that we cannot feel or touch a service the same way we do with a product.
Basically a complete positioning statement includes four sections defining the target market, the most important benefits to that market, the direct and indirect competitors, and the key element that makes your prospects perceive you as their first choice.
A good place to start would be to define your target market and who your prospects are. Then clearly identify the features and benefits of your product – what kind of added value does your product offer? Why is it unique? Why would I, as a customer, choose your brand versus the XYZ brand? Furthermore, determine how the target market feels about your product; hold focus groups and collect information about consumers’ perception. Such information would facilitate how you determine one of the main objectives of advertising: your product’s share of mind – define the level of your consumer awareness towards your product.
The process mentioned above boils down to simply figuring out how your target market perceives you in comparison to your competitors. A good positioning statement would define what makes you unique while concentrating on the kind of added value you offer consumers – a value that differentiates you and makes you better than the competition. Remember, with all the clutter out there, positioning helps you stand out and get through to your prospects.
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
01.08.2009
The name of the game is changing. . . It is all about NETWORKING
In order to be successful in your job search, you can no longer spend tens of hours hiding behind your computer, emailing your resume and responding to countless job postings online. Now, it is all about getting out there, becoming recognized, building relationships, growing your network… It is all about NETWORKING!
The concept by itself is simple. It is defined as establishing a surrounding of contacts, connecting with them and keeping in touch with them. But keep in mind that networking involves a lot more. It goes beyond collecting and exchanging business cards. The deep meaning of the networking idea resides in the fact that it is a process that should be performed constantly not on as needed basis. While networking, you are creating your own luck!
Before you get involved in the networking process, you need to be clear on who you are, what you do, and how you can add value. Be aware of your weaknesses. Know exactly what you have to offer. Be clear on what you are looking for. Basically, learn how to market yourself. Prepare an efficient, short and clear message that promotes who you are while making you memorable to your listener.
When you start building relationships, your contacts start putting together your name along with your face, along with your experience. Show interest in what your listener is saying, offer advice and support to your circle of network, and go the extra mile… the bottom line here is to become well-known and recognized. The more you do so, the more your contacts will think of you unconsciously and start sending your way referrals and opportunities that might end up being your next dream job.
Most of your networking should be in person. Check out different organizations which may attend to your needs, experience, and industry. Before joining, test the waters; attend a couple of their events to find out if this is the crowd you want to rub shoulders with. Is this the environment you want to be associated with? Have a clear goal before attending mixers and know exactly your purpose for attending those events. And once you decide on few organizations, become a member, and get involved all the way by joining committees, for example.
Keep in mind though that you still need to have an online presence as well. Use the Internet to your advantage. Get online and sign up with one or more social and business networking websites. Choose the ones that best fit your needs and help you meet your goals faster by keeping tabs and staying in touch with your contacts. Be selective about what kind of information you share through your e-networking. The Internet is a public unsecure world!
It is crucial to understand that networking is a numbers game. You need to build your network one contact at a time. Be selective about who you want to belong to your network. Know enough about your connections and learn more about what they do. And keep in mind that networking starts when the event is finished!
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
01.05.2009.
Advertising tips to survive the new economy
In today’s new economy, most businesses are cutting back on advertising and that is simply a big NO!
As a paid public, persuasive and sponsored message, advertising concentrates on getting the word out to promote your products and services. It concentrates on building strategies including reach, placement and frequency. It also includes choosing and purchasing media spots in one or more outlets such as newspapers, television, radio, internet, billboards, and more.
In a cluttered market such as ours, you need to keep the word out about your products and services. While consumers are being bombarded on a daily basis by thousands of promotional messages, you need to make sure that your brand is out there as well leading the clutter and standing out. You need to continuously remind consumers of your existence so when it is time they need a service or a product such as yours, you come to mind first.
In order to increase the success of your campaign, do not hesitate to take the necessary steps to develop and implement a successful advertising strategy.
As a rule of thumb: Identify and define your target market. Find all the possible categories that your brand could fill. Your message needs to focus on what and who you are. On the other hand, do not ignore the power of the competition. Define your real direct and indirect competitors. Do not hesitate to explore their offerings and find out how they are perceived in the marketplace.
In addition, figure out how your brand is positioned in the market. Research how consumers perceive and evaluate your products and the competition’s as well. Find the gaps in the market and try to find the feature in your services and/or products that would help fill the gap by meeting consumers’ needs.
Once the position is decided upon, market your product by clearly informing consumers about your whereabouts – where it is, how much it costs, what is unique about it and how to get it. Simply reinforce the product’s position in the mind of your consumers.
The last and most important step would be to monitor the results of your advertising campaign. Evaluate your plan by studying the feedback from the campaign and adjusting goals based on the market and consumers’ needs.
Courtesy of Manal Richa, The MarCom Network – offering Communications, Branding and Advertising solutions.
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