Make hay whilst the sun shines - Summer Marketing Tips!

Summer is traditionally a quiet time for most businesses, everyone is away on holiday and trying to get decisions made or projects moved forward can be difficult. In the current climate it can be unnerving and we should take this time to catch up on some of those valuable marketing activities that in busier times have slipped to the bottom of the list: So whilst the sun shines why not:

1. Create a mini-plan: If you don’t already have a marketing plan in place, make one now. We are only a little more than half-way through the year, which is plenty of time to put together a focused, effective plan to guide your efforts for the rest of the year. Include some low-cost or no-cost activities, like e-marketing campaigns or web site updates.
   
   
2. Try social networking: Not on Facebook yet? Not yet tweeting on Twitter? If not, this may be the perfect time to give it a try! Although accounts on sites like Facebook and Twitter are free to set up, they will cost you some time each week to interact with the people in your network, plus the time it takes to integrate your accounts to work well together. If you are not comfortable with setting this up then get some help i.e Twitter workshops. The long-term benefits will outweigh the upfront costs to get going with this new marketing trend.
   
   
3. Send an e-survey: One of the best ways to refresh interest in your business and show customers that you are listening to their needs is to send out an e-survey. You can use one of the many low-cost online services such as Vertical Response or Constant Contact to create an email survey asking for feedback about your products and services. Consider giving respondents a money-saving coupon or free gift as a thank you for participating in the survey.
   
   
4. Write an article: Take advantage of the slower pace of summer and write an article or two. Don’t use any sales-y language or marketing fluff; instead, give readers truly useful information that showcases your expertise and experience. “How-to” articles or “Top-10” lists are good examples of useful articles that are popular with readers. Post the article on your blog, use it as new content on your web site and include it in your monthly newsletter.
   
   
5. Have a summer e-sale: Create a special offer or sale on something you haven’t promoted in a while, or offer something unexpected, and send it as an email campaign. Make sure the offer has a beginning and ending date to create urgency, and be as creative as you can when promoting it.
   

Just because summer may be a slower time for your business doesn’t mean that it is impossible to pick up the pace! By taking steps to boost your marketing this summer, you may discover new ways to get your customers’ attention and improve your revenue all year long!

Need help with any of the above - please contact me: june@tef.me.uk

How to use Twitter better as a Marketing tool?

Everyone is talking about it and businesses are considering if they should be using it. But is Twitter just about following your favorite Radio 1 DJ or about incorporating it into your overall marketing strategy? The answer is both, but for it to be an effective marketing tool you need to consider the follow:

Decide on and find the people you want to communicate with. You should build a group of followers that are interested in your tweets i.e. if you work specifically in the Home Counties then these are the people that should be following you. Therefore you need to recruit them smartly.

• Look at Twitter applications such as Tweepsearch and try to find out via keywords who are other twitterers that could be part of your target group
• Use other online media where you know your target group is and highlight the option of following you on twitter and what type of content you will be tweeting
• If someone looks like they could be part of your network then follow them for a bit – if not you can always un-follow – they will not be offended!
• Check out other peoples followers and Re-Tweets – they may be in the same target market
• Register with Twitter Business Directories like Twibs, Twellow, Twtbiz
  

Be Consistent in what you Tweet and the way you say it. Maintain an Image / Brand

• Decide if it is about strategy, marketing, interesting products or just personal information and fun
• Only Tweet when you have something useful / relevant to say.
• Ensure your target group is not getting the same information from a different source – be inventive and original.
• It is also about the art of listening and responding to other peoples Tweets – it is a form of communication and building a community around your business.

Integrate it with your other online marketing

• You are limited to 140 characters so make sure you have other online media you can use to communicate the rest of the message. Links to blogs / websites / associate organisations.
• Use url shortening services like bit.ly and tiny.url which will help you to integrate long web addresses into your tweets.
• Tweets are public so think beyond the tweet to other forms of communicating once the relationship has been established – Direct Tweets are not public and of course Email.

Monitor the results of your Twittering – it may be free but your time is valuable

• Have you achieved your original goal – reaching your target market
• Have you increased traffic to your website?
• Found new associates / suppliers?
• Had more subscribers? Votes? Bookings
  

If you consider Twitter as part of your overall strategy with the same planning and execution as you would any campaign then you should see it helping to generate a group of interested followers that may recommend you to others or ultimately become a valued client.

Happy Tweeting.

Taken from my Social Media Marketing Workshop I am running on two dates 6th and 13th July.