Roughly 30% of Australian businesses have a social media presence however; a very small number of these businesses are actually attempting to engage their customers. What most businesses don’t realise is that social media demands two way communication with consumers.  It is not enough to simply have a social media page and not actively monitor its activity. In fact – this can be more harmful that not having a social media presence all together. Before jumping in to social media for your business, consider whether you really have the time and resources to constantly monitor, respond and maintain your social media presence.  A small to medium size business can expect to spend between ½ hr – 2 hrs a day nurturing their social media presence.

In fact, the reason many people don’t join networking groups is because they don’t believe that they can do it. In a lot of cases, the fear of rejection is the only thing holding us back from significant business opportunities. Before attending my first networking event I read several articles written by ‘networking professionals’ in a frantic search for any advice I could find! There is a lot of advice out there, but based on my experience as a first timer I want to share my top 5 tips for rookie group networkers.

Tip one: If you are uncomfortable joining an unfamiliar group, take a colleague along the first time. This will provide you with the opportunity to meet a lot of people without feeling overwhelmed and intimidated having to walk into a room of complete strangers.

Tip two: Get involved. Ask the group leaders if there is anything you can do to help. It may be something small such as collecting name tags at the end of the session, but it will help you in your transition to joining the group.

Tip three: Start by building a single relationship. This person will become a face you can recognise in the crowd and someone you can comfortably approach on arrival. This person will also facilitate relationship building with other members of the group. If you focus on building one more relationship at each event, before you know it you will have a circle of acquaintances that you will look forward to seeing at each event.

Tip four: Ask questions, remember it’s not all about you. You will learn a lot of interesting things about a lot of different people and their businesses while building relationships along the way.

Tip five: Smile and be yourself – just as you would when meeting a new friend. Don’t think of everyone at the event as a prospective client. Initially, your focus should be on building sincere relationships. Good relationships will eventually lead to referrals for your business. Remember it’s not only the people in the network group who you can gain work from; your new acquaintances will recommend you to friends, family and colleagues when they encounter a need you can fill.

Coming from an experienced beginner: Trust me, it gets easier. After attending the group a few times you will become more comfortable and really start to realise the benefits of attending a networking group.

Faced with a maze of information (or should we say misinformation), many businesses are using trial and error to determine the most effective way to market their products or services.

After all, the internet is the easiest place to find what you want, when you want it. Forget regular business hours, people will try to find you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

So how do you make sure your website and social media platforms facilitate two-way communication and provide the right kind of information about your business? Read on for our 7 essential steps to optimising your online footprint….

1. Create a website that informs, engages and converts
You may have a great deal of information on your website, but does it also make sure visitors take the next step in contacting you or purchasing?

2. Get involved in social media
Make connections and be personable, but also make sure to include information about the business, products/services and a link to your website wherever possible.

3. Add ‘share’ buttons to your website and encourage visitors to use them
People are always on the hunt for items to like, tweet, email, pin, digg or otherwise recommend to their social networks, make it a simple process by adding the right buttons that allow them to do so quickly and easily.

4. Invest in Pay-Per-Click Advertising
With Google Adwords, Facebook and even LinkedIn offering pay per click advertising; there will be a vehicle that suits any audience available to you.

5. Remember Search Engines
Use search engine optimisation processes to ensure your business shows up in relevant online searches, otherwise visitors may assume you do not exist. You may need to hire the professionals on this one.

6. Build an email list
Collect email addresses from customers visiting your site by offering an enticement like a free ebook or similar download, so that you can contact them directly using a personalised email.

7. Promote yourself online, using offline
Include your website address on every piece of printed material or correspondence to enhance exposure.

The online world of today is extremely cutthroat, but with the potential to significantly improve your business’ performance, you need to make sure you can be found using any one of the ways your potential customers may use try to find you.

Have you had any success with any of the above methods for your business? Leave a comment below and let us know!

When the fireworks have cooled, will your resolutions last?

These are all admirable plans and we are in no way suggesting you back down from your ideas. But in our experience many people make promises to themselves early on without taking into account the impact of factors like their cash flow position or the natural ebb and flow of their industry.

So we are not suggesting you back away, but just be careful that the promises are highly achievable and not impacted by external pressures.The 6 marketing resolutions we have suggested do not cost much money or time (if any) and if you do achieve even one of them it will have a significant, positive impact to your business…

Resolution #1: Update Your Current Social Media Profiles Daily

You may have noticed some other social media channels creeping up in importance over the last year apart from the usual Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, such as Pinterest and Google+. These might sound so appealing and exciting to you that you feel drawn to set up yet another new social media profile.

DON’T!

That is, unless you are already on top of your current social media profiles. If you are already comfortably managing daily updates on social media then by all means create a new profile, populate it and grow your audience.

However if you are one of the many who has set up a profile on Twitter or Facebook only to update it once a week or less, then consider whether you really ‘need’ to join the bandwagon or if instead you are better off improving what you already have.

You probably agree with me when I say it is better to improve what you already have, so instead try focusing on daily updates to engage with and grow your audience this year. And a minimum of once a day for new updates is our basic recommendation. Any less frequent and you will fade into the background, in which case you may as well not be updating at all.

If you find managing daily updates a challenge, try putting it at the top of your to-do list for first thing in the morning. That way, you can’t avoid not doing it. Doing this also allows you to make productive use of your time getting ready in the morning or on your commute to work to devise your post. We often find that the first thing in the morning can be the perfect time for inspiring creativity, as your mind is focused on fairly mundane tasks and you have not yet been inundated by all the mental pressures of the day.

Resolution #2: Understand Your Customers Better

Make it a goal to find out a bit more about your customers this year.

With the needs, wants and demographics of your customers changes so rapidly that staying on top of this is crucial. You can’t afford to fall behind when it comes to understanding your customers.

You may need to undertake a formal and structured research program if you find there is a lot you don’t know or if you work off assumptions most of the time. You may also want to take a more casual approach with a chat over lunch or a phone call to your regular clients.

And for those of us who are B2B marketers, this should also include the consumers of your own customers. Even though they aren’t buying from you directly, you will be innately affected by their needs and wants.

Resolution #3: Update Your Website

Even if you don’t want the hassle or expense of a major website upgrade, the content needs to stay current. There is nothing worse than a website featuring old staff member profiles, incorrect addresses or discontinued products, which all has a negative effect the precarious balance of trust, which is so essential yet tricky to maintain.

Take a critical look at your site and update anything that is factually incorrect and also the parts that perhaps don’t reflect your business the way it is today as when it was written.

Don’t forget to add links to all your social profiles so that visitors can find out a bit more about you and easily follow you at the places online where you are perhaps more active than your website.

Resolution #4: Qualify Leads Better

You know the old story – in the push to make sales, all prospects are pursued with equal effort, or perhaps there is even a skew towards the ‘wrong’ kind of prospect. Time can be wasted and less than ideal clients slip into your roster.

Most of us are guilty of this at some point or another in the quest for sales, but this year try to put in place some measures that will better qualify your leads and save you a bit of time, heartache and ultimately money.

Getting prospects to answer a few questions at the enquiry stage, asking them about their own goals, values and budget, can help you to work out which prospects match the profile of your ‘ideal client’ so that your resources can be better allocated and your client list measures up to your dreams.

Resolution #5: Understand Your Website Traffic

If you don’t already monitor your website traffic through a program such as Google Analytics, in 2012 you must take advantage of this brilliant, free resource.

If it is not already installed on your website, it is a simple request of your website developer that should only take a couple of minutes to set up. Once you have access, you will be able to monitor where your website traffic comes from, the keywords driving search engine traffic to your pages, what pages are visited, the time spent on each page, and much, much more.

Without accurate data, you are simply guessing what is working on your website and what isn’t.

Resolution #6: Try Something Different

OK, we admit this one is a bit vague! But if you think you could be guilty of sticking to a tried and true formula for your marketing, over and over again, perhaps it’s time to shake it up!

We don’t recommend you stop doing what works, but try exploring other possibilities. Perhaps you could hold an event, do some video marketing, use QR codes, create a mobile app or run a promotion with an unusual or attention grabbing reward. You get the idea – do something a little outside of your usual comfort zone, which of course will vary wildly depending on the culture of your business.

But just make sure it is an educated, calculated risk that won’t have severe financial consequences if it flops. The point here is to extend your brand and put it in the faces of those who might not normally take notice, not to bankrupt your company or put it at risk of lawsuits!

Pick At Least One Marketing Resolution and Stick to It!

After just a bit of practice, your new tactics or new way of looking at the world will become habit and you will have changed the marketing of your business for good!

Relax, we have collated the most important consumer trends that you need to be aware of here…

Screen-ed

With the babies and toddlers of today growing up using tablet computers and smartphones so intuitively, tomorrow’s consumers will become so dependent on screens that printed material will be more difficult for them to grasp as a method of getting information. Don’t believe me? Check out this video:

And that’s not some sort of ‘superbaby’, specially gifted with a superior intellect, there are plenty more where that came from.

Consumer ADD

The old rule of thumb used to be that you had 7 seconds to get someone to read your headline and then consider whether the rest of the ad or article was worth reading. Due to the rapid advances in technology and explosion of information, you now have about half a second.

Half. A. Second. Gulp!

The key? Keep it short and sweet, and don’t be boring!

People do not have the time to read long brochures, booklets or websites anymore. So if you just have to have long, chunky content, keep it easy for users to find what they’re looking for with tabs, colour coding or search boxes.

No Cash Welcome

With Google and MasterCard both rolling out cashless initiatives in 2012, payments using mobile phones by waving them around a reader will become the next big thing. And with banks in Australia rolling out many other innovative and simple ways of using mobiles for payment, even credit cards seem old hat.

Mobile wave payments in action

The Mighty Chinese Consumer

Trendwatching has noted the number of services that have sprung up tailored specifically to Chinese travellers and tourists as the world has taken more notice of their mighty purchasing power. Hilton hotels have developed a program allowing for Chinese guests to check-in in their native language, provide Chinese tea and television channels in rooms, a Mandarin welcome letter and even Chinese menu options on the breakfast buffet such as congee, dim sum and fried noodles.

And locally, Australia has committed $30M over three years to market ourselves to wealthy Chinese tourists as a luxury hot spot. Tourism Australia certainly have their work cut out for themselves there!

eHealth

With so many apps dedicated to health and game consoles such as Xbox kinect and Wii offering so many fitness solutions, this already strong trend is only set to intensify. With apps for diagnosing the cause of backpain and prescribing the right exercises, apps that diagnose malaria by analysing a drop of blood, mole scanning apps and even apps that can show the damage done to a smoker’s own lungs, the DIY element is a natural extension of past information-based health apps.

While some healthcare experts may come out and declare these useless and even dangerous, there is no denying that people want to feel in control over their own healthcare.

If you can get on top of at least one of these trends by the end of 2012, we think you’ll be doing well. But it will take a lot of planning, so you’d better start now!

Australia was hooked on Season 1 of The Celebrity Apprentice

We took a particularly keen interest in watching winner Julia Morris and her contenders develop a marketing campaign in the final challenge. Developing an idea, TV commercial, brochures and point of sale material is a lot to take on even for those with some sort of marketing experience or qualification, let alone for a bunch of celebrities.

The show certainly confirmed a few of our beliefs about marketing in particular, and in no particular order we would like to share those with you…

1. You Can’t Do It All

Team members often needed to lean on the talents of their fellow celebrities – those who were entertainers in their day jobs would take on emceeing duties at functions and events, while those who were talented artistically would devise the concepts and creative elements of projects. Very rarely were both types of roles taken on by the one member and, when they were, it was usually a flop that resulted in someone getting fired.

Doing it all is simply a task too challenging for even the most hardworking, diligent, intelligent human beings. The field of marketing is an incredibly vast set of competencies that requires a multitude of skills and training. You need to be able to delegate aspects of your marketing to other team members or even outside agencies in order to be successful.

Doing this will also give you a very valuable resource: the time and energy to focus on what it is you do best. By allowing those with particular strengths to use them, for example copywriting, design or even admin, you will have time to focus on your own strength of, for example selling or building relationships.

Julia Morris and Jason Coleman focused on each other's strengths to win the final challenge

Leading on from point 1, personal networks were a critical ingredient to either winning or losing a challenge. Those who leveraged their networks, like the corporate contacts of the infamous Max Markson, came by donations (aka sales in the ‘real world’) much more effectively than those who didn’t draw upon their networks when needed, like Polly Porter and her thousands of Twitter followers.

In business, those who have developed a genuine network of contacts who act as a personal word of mouth army will be poised for greater success. With a large number of quality contacts you can turn to for advice, referrals or even sales, you will have a huge safety net to cushion you from the many bumps along the road towards business success.

3. Contact Details Are Everything
For failing to include a phone number on their marketing material, beauty queen Jesinta Campbell and AFL legend Shane Crawford were booted out of the Celebrity Apprentice finale. It might seem harsh punishment for a simple mistake, but without a way to contact a business; most consumers would throw their flyer in the rubbish.

As well as a phone number, we would add a website to the list of things that must be included on every single piece of marketing communication. Every ad, business card, email or sign must include a way for consumers to do what it is you want them to do most of all in the first place – contact you!

Thorough proofing and vigilant checking, rather than a cursory glance, from every person involved in the process is essential to avoid mistakes from slipping through the cracks. In real life you will usually have a chance to correct mistakes, but the cost in the meantime, either in additional production costs or lost opportunities, is something you can definitely do without.

You're Fired! The harsh world of business can be very unforgiving

What business tips or wisdom did you gain from The Celebrity Apprentice or other reality television program?

Unfortunately this can be a tough game for many wannabe prs.

Why does it often fail? Well for the simple fact that journalists often want more control of the story. They want to develop their own angle and might even fear their content is becoming overrun by the press releases they receive on a daily basis.

Yet to do their job effectively, they still need a reliable source to quote from or interview, which means they are reliant on publicists and direct sources for information.

The Source Bottle

One revolutionary way of getting around this issue has been uncovered by thesourcebottle.com . This website allows journalists and writers to post online when they need sources or articles supplied, including details of who, what and when they need it all supplied. No more guessing how you will provide a story angle that will fit within the busy journalist’s editorial schedule, this website allows you to browse the ‘call-outs’ and contact the journalist with your details so they can feature you.

All you need to do is sign up and monitor the alerts for a call out that matches your expertise or experiences. And with dozens posted every day there is bound to be something to suit you.

This is certainly the easier way to get PR!

However I do believe our readers are intelligent enough to see this for what it really is – an historical piece to learn from and nothing more. If we choose to acknowledge and learn from the ghosts of our past, we will be better able to choose the higher moral ground and even identify ways we are being marketed to today using techniques that are not so obvious but equally unscrupulous.

The insidious Doctors and Camels campaign

The reason this ad is so abhorrent is not that it promotes cigarettes, but the techniques it uses to do so. Doctors always have been well respected, enjoying a highly influential position in our community. By using and abusing this knowledge, Camel not only promoted cigarette use as enjoyable or relaxing (which is an unfortunate truth for many) they borrowed from the health credibility of doctors and created a perception that cigarettes could even be good for one’s health!

This is an ad that, unlike some of the sexist or discriminatory ads from our Advertising Nostalgia Series, truly creates that sick-to-the-stomach feeling. What’s worse is that in many unregulated third world countries the tobacco industry continues to market their products with a similar slant to men, women and especially children.

Hungry Jack's 'Makes it Better'

Hungry Jack’s reasoning for its decision is that the new tagline reflects the more widespread changes happening in the business, reflecting their new focus on health and their approach to sourcing the beef for their famous burgers. This is what a good tagline should do – articulate the point of difference in the business strategy while communicating a compelling consumer benefit.

It certainly couldn’t have been easy to let go of such an iconic and successful tagline, but indeed Hungry Jack’s may have been coerced in to the change due to the flood of competition in the Australian burger industry in the last 5 years. In the face of new competitors such as Grill’d and Burger Edge they can no longer realistically claim to have ‘better’ burgers anymore. In the past, everyone implicitly understood the ‘better’ referred to McDonald’s, and most would have agreed, but today the tagline feels like a lie.

While it may not seem like too much of a drastic change to some, the new tagline does in fact take the focus off their burgers, leaving them more open to a strategy that pursues other products as perhaps McDonald’s has done, with other options like McCafe going strong.

There comes a time for most businesses where they need to make a decision to retain or ditch that old logo, outdated tagline or even overhaul the brand name itself. This is never an easy decision and we often witness first-hand the angst that comes with redesigning the logo that was first drawn up by the founder’s daughter; rewriting the tagline that was the brainchild of their cousin’s neighbour’s son; or replacing the brand name that was first penned by the wife’s best friend’s brother-in-law’s…, well, you get the idea.

What I’m trying to emphasise here is the history and emotion that often goes with some business branding decisions, particularly for small businesses where marketing is the responsibility of the owner. Often the reason for holding on to a daggy logo or inappropriate brand name is no more than that history and emotion. They may be so ineffective in doing the job they are meant to (i.e. create a profitable point of differentiation for the business) they can even become the reason for repelling prospective customers, but many business owners will continue to hold on to them for often-perplexing but ego-related reasons.

Consider Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, who some would consider the most ego driven man in public life today. When Virgin Blue launched in Australia over 11 years ago now it became the game changer in the Australian market. Its brand name was appropriate at the time as an airline servicing the Australian market, with ‘blue’ a very ‘Australian’ term.

However with changes in strategy required to keep the business successful, including a focus on the corporate and government markets, a name change was announced with the launch of the Virgin Australia brand. Again a subtle change like Hungry Jack’s, but a huge one in terms of admitting the brand name was holding them back. Even Sir Richard Branson is capable of deferring his ego for the sake of business success.

From 'Virgin Blue' to 'Virgin Australia'

This is the difference between small and big businesses. The big guys usually know when to ditch the old and daggy elements of their brand, saving their brands from becoming outdated and irrelevant. This is often for commercial reasons of course, rather than ego driven ones, don’t forget the big guys have egos to match!

Small businesses, often with no shareholders or board to answer to, will often retain the same logo for 50 years, believing they do not need to change or that a new or revitalised logo, brand name or tagline will not benefit the business. But the potential advantages of  taking an objective look at their business, taking their ego down a notch and seeking genuine outside opinions from potential customers would be priceless. They would probably be quite shocked at what they found out.

Are you overdue for a brand overhaul?