Purple Diamond Marketing Blog

Your company has embraced social media marketing and you now have leads coming in from your efforts and from your website, but you are not making sales….why? Most likely it is because you haven’t developed a process for handling the leads.  Businesses continue to struggle with how to convert internet leads and what is the “correct” way of approaching the contacts you have on social media sites because they fear the backlash of coming across as “too sales focused” and not “social” enough.  But, this has also kept them from doing what they have done naturally for years with leads that they have cultivated from networking events and referrals….RESPOND!

If you want to get sales from your efforts on the internet go back to the basic 4:

1.) Respond QUICKLY to requests for info & make a genuine connection!

2.) Create TIME each day to interact and develop a relationship with the people who follow you on social media or visit your website.

[ Consider adding a "LIVE HELP" feature as part of your website to attract questions from visitors to your site . Also, use the features on the social media sites to email directly to at least 5-10 followers/contacts a day with a personal message thanking them for connecting with you and offer to meet with them one-on-one or promote a phone meeting. It helps to have a message developed by your marketing team that will get attention and a response.]

3.) Develop creative content to post to your on-line sites that will increase your followers so that you are seen as an expert in your field.

[Selling to someone who is already “SOLD” on your expertise and has chosen to “follow” you is almost as great as having a client refer their friend for your services. The key is for you to RESPOND to them in a personal way.]

4.) Ask for the sale!

[Close…close…close…..if you are lacking skills in sales consider working with a coach or hiring a salesman to help your business, but the BEST way to get a sale is to ASK for one!]

All my best to your success ~ Charlene.

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

1.)  Maintain a customer data base and enter all customers and prospects in this system and continue to update with notes about their birthday, hobbies, family, their likes and dislikes, etc.

2.) Make a list of topics for future press releases to use during the year and go beyond sending them to just the newspaper.  Pitch them to a radio or TV station and self-promote them on-line with social media.

3.) Have regular brainstorm sessions on new products and services; advertising concepts; taglines; social campaigns for on-line marketing; contest ideas and sales promotions; and review of what your competitors are doing and what you offer that is different from them!           [note: if you do not have anyone to brainstorm with be sure to consider hiring a marketing coach like Purple Diamond!]

4.) Set-up strategic alliances and partnerships.

5.) Set stretch goals and action items to achieve them for each month, quarter, year, 5 year and beyond.  Be sure you create an overall marketing plan, but be organized and disciplined to have a weekly plan of meetings and action items written down prior to the start of your week! PLAN for success!

6.) Update website on a regular basis and maintain an on-line strong social media campaign to drive traffic to your site. Consider launching a thoughtful email marketing campaign that draws attention and offers useful information so that you have a greater open click rate.

7.) Be sure to THANK your customers and offer excellent customer support. Consider having a special customer service fun event to invite your clients and top prospects to as a way to show them that they are appreciated! If your budget is small and does not allow for this be sure to at least take the time to send a hand-written note thanking them for their business.

8.) Attend networking groups, join the local chamber and participate in charitable organizations that give back to the community that your business belongs to.

9.) Know your numbers, measure results and ASK other business owners what they have used that has had a significant impact on their business.

10.) Work with a Marketing Coach who understands your market and what challenges you face and how to get you the results you need today!

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

When was the last time you submitted a press release about your business that got published or a social media post or blog that got a large response, or delivered a 30 second elevator speech to a group of business owners that had people asking to know more? Your message must tell a compelling story or offer a message that attracts attention and stands out from the rest.  Message magic with your marketing will help you to jump ahead of your competition, but it does not require “magic” to get great results.

The key to having a marketing message that engages your audience and gets results for your business requires 3 things!  First, you have to know what 3 benefits your product or  service offers.  Having a clear understanding of what value you offer and what needs your business satisfies is essential.  Second, you must know who your true target audience is for this product or service and where to reach them to deliver your message.  Finally, the third component to creating a message that gets noticed is to have strong writing and communication skills or be willing to hire a professional writer or marketing professional who can help you in this area.

To have a magical message that stays with people is much like the 4C’s of Purple Diamond.  Clarity requires a clear message. The cut must be above the rest. The color is rare and equals great wealth and the carat weight is always up to you!  Contact Purple Diamond if you want to take your marketing to another level.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

If you own your own business and your marketing and sales efforts this year are just “OK”, do you want more? Seems like a silly question, but it might be the reason you are not getting the results today that you want for your business.  During tough economic times there is always a large percentage of companies that have no growth or fail, but there is also the ones that seem to gain large market share and thrive.   So why are some businesses doing well and others are living with “just OK”, much depends on attitude and the willingness to step out of their comfort zone and try new things. But sometimes it can be that the owner of the small to mid-size business is at a loss for knowing what else they can do. There is a blind spot that they do not even know exists and that blind spot has been created from working year after year in a better economy and never having to look for new ways and ideas to help grow their business.

Business owners who want more are getting help today for their business by hiring marketing coaches and business consultants who are able to bring a fresh view to what can bring your company from OK to great.  Purple Diamond has helped over 50 local businesses in the past couple of years with affordable and effective marketing coaching and services with the emphasis on “success”.   The coaching service was created after a year of hearing local business owners say that they were overwhelmed with the sluggish economy, decline in their business and the confusion of what really works for advertising today.  Most of these owners were sole proprietors who didn’t want to take their worry home to their family, but really needed someone to share their frustrations with and to brainstorm new and innovative ideas.  So, Purple Diamond created a marketing coaching service that allowed businesses to hire a coach for a couple hours a month.

If you are OK with “OK” or really don’t want to have better sales, then this solution is not the right one for you.  However, if you want your business to be better than good consider hiring a marketing coach or business consultant to work with you today!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Taglines and slogans are more than just catchy phrases, they are how businesses continue to stand out from their competition and remain in the minds of the consumer.  As an advertising agency and marketing coach Purple Diamond has created many taglines for their clients, but the biggest struggle is to help the business owner to understand that a tagline or slogan only works when used consistently in marketing material and verbally said when speaking about your business.  If you are not using your own tagline when talking about your company why should anyone else remember the phrase or identify it with your business?

So, how do you know if you are using your tagline effectively? First, check your website,

Purple Diamond Tagline

email signature, business cards, letterhead, creative ads, and all other marketing material and see which ones have your slogan or tagline.  Is the line listed 100% on all materials or is it MIA [missing-in-action]?  Next, when you are doing a 30 second elevator pitch do you end your pitch with the tagline for your business or slogan for the product you are promoting? This is another way of knowing how effective your tagline is. You should be comfortable saying the line and using it consistently.  Finally, do all your clients and many of your prospects know your tagline?  If not, you are missing one of the key ways to help your target market identify with your business with a simple phrase.

And, if you are still someone who is not sure of the importance of having a tagline for your company and wonder if it will have a great impact on marketing your business consider the lines you  have heard from local businesses and from national ad campaigns that use theirs consistently.  “Melts in your mouth, not in your hands” for M&M’s ,”Just do it” for Nike, “You’re in good hands with Allstate” for Allstate Insurance are just a couple of taglines that  I quickly remember.  My own tagline for Purple Diamond, “Success wears the Purple Diamond!”, tells my clients that our brand is “success” and that when they choose to work with Purple Diamond either as an advertising agency or marketing coach we are committed to helping their business achieve greater success!

All my best to your success!

Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

Purple Diamond Marketing Blog took a 4 month break from BLOGGING.  What prompted this action and did it have a negative impact on my business? Curiosity prompted my decision since I am often asked if people really need to BLOG and if BLOGGING is helping my business in the local market.  Guess what….the short answer to if taking 4 months off from BLOGGING  directly impacted the bottom line to my business is “no”.  New marketing projects and annual coaching client contracts continued and Purple Diamond was hired for 2 new social media campaigns and 2 paid speaking engagements! The time usually spent on BLOGGING was strategically used to work on client projects and creating new ways for my clients to increase their own profits which resulted in numerous new recommendations posted on my Linkedin profile about my work.

So, if everything still went forward in a positive way without BLOGGING why am I BLOGGING right now?  Well, the one area that did drop off was where my company is listed on search results on-line.  With a website that was created with FLASH for a more visual appeal, I knew that my site would not come up high on searches by itself.  So, my BLOGGING and my time spent on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin and now Google+ and listing a link on many free sites is my way of helping Purple Diamond to be found by local businesses via the internet.  So, to enhance my website with fresh new content which helps with searches I will continue to BLOG!

What is your reason for BLOGGING or not BLOGGING?

All my best to your success!

Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond”

Website, Google Ad Words, SEO Campaigns, Email Marketing, Video Messages,  Social Media Sites, Blogs, QR Codes, Smartphone Marketing & Apps, Cloud Computing, On-line Malls and the list goes on and on! If your business is at least 20 years old there is a good chance that you never used any of the marketing technology that businesses are being asked to consider as essential today when you started your business.  Are you embracing the new tools you have to promote your business and see it as a marketing dream or headache for your business?

Chances are the answer to that question is a little of both and as a marketing coach I think that is a wise answer.  Though we all want to help our businesses succeed and gain strong market share, the “doing something because everyone else is doing it” is not a sound marketing strategy for your small or mid size business.  Consider the cost and weigh out the effectiveness of the various on-line marketing trends to see what makes the most sense to capture your target audience.  If you are busy writing a blog each day and your stats are low for readership and it doesn’t seem to be getting your website noticed or phone ringing, then this time might be better used in a more productive way.  However, if you are in a technical field that draws your targeted audience with quality content on a blog or by publishing white papers, then using time to write on-line could be essential for your business. The key is to measure results and analyze what is working and what you can afford.  To spend heavily to come up high in rankings on search engines without closing sales or to over burden your staff with phone calls that are “tire kickers” and not real prospects is not helping your bottom line.  But, if you are a small store and you lack walk-in traffic on a rainy day and you find that an on-line presence using Facebook and Twitter has helped drive prospects to your shopping cart on your website, then this new on-line marketing strategy is a “dream”!

Dream or headache or maybe it is both! Technology in marketing continues to move at a rapid pace and often we want to jump in and use it before we have even questioned if it is something that will help our business.  Attend seminars, talk with other business owners in your area, research on-line and consult with marketing and advertising professionals to help you decide what is “hot” and what is “not” for your business.  Technology will help you in your marketing, but be sure you know what technology tools are the best for your business and avoid the urge to use something just because others are and it is new!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

For years I wrote and helped produce TV commercial campaigns and enjoyed the success that my clients got from using video for advertising that offered sight, sound and motion.  TV advertising offers an emotional impact for the viewer that radio and print advertising is not able to match.  Today, with the help of sites like YouTube and Blogs, small businesses are able to harness that same emotional message in their marketing campaigns with on-line videos! Companies  can generate trust, emotion, excitement and create images that powerfully brand your business to a targeted audience by sharing out their video on various internet sites at a fraction of the price to do a TV Ad campaign.  Viewership may be lower than what a popular TV show offers, but with on-line videos you can still reach a targeted group and measure exactly how often your video marketing message is viewed.

If your business is looking to create video for the internet be sure to work with a marketing professional who will help you to secure a qualified production company. You do not want your relative or friend who likes to shoot home movies or take pictures creating your marketing video message. This is not the time to hire an amateur for an important job.  You worked hard on building a business and one poorly produced video could ruin that quickly.  Look for a marketing professional that has worked in TV advertising or corporate videos because they will know most of the  producers in the area and can often negotiate a better rate so that you are always getting the best value for your money.

Since you will be uploading this video to  the internet make sure the video includes your URL , has your logo included for branding purposes, has a description added to sites that offer this as an option, has a strong title with keywords that are searched so that people notice the video and want to watch it,  and don’t leave out a “call to action” in the message and try to keep the video to be no more than 2 minutes in length.  The shorter and more concise your message the better. Consider the average TV commercial is 30 seconds long because studies have shown that this is the ideal length of time in which most viewers will sit and watch a message. Obviously, if you have a truly entertaining video or one with exceptional information, then you will be able to hold the viewer’s attention longer than 2 minutes.

Marketing your business today requires businesses to be more creative in delivering a message.  The days of displaying your products in a store window or showing a picture of the product on a website are over.  It is essential for you to actively engage your audience and leave them with a lasting impression of your business and your brand!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

How “social” is your Social Media Marketing Campaign? Do you understand how to actually get business from  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and your Blog? If you are using Facebook and other on-line sites solely to push marketing messages about your business you are missing a great opportunity to create an effective pull marketing campaign to your business with something as simple as being “social”.  Interacting with others on these sites is how you build a relationship of trust, but it doesn’t happen instantly. Much like a friendship that is developed over time and with shared experiences, so is your interactions on-line with these social sites like Facebook and Twitter and how you present yourself to the world in your Blog.

Years ago people had time to connect face to face, but with a competitive global market and a generation of people that grew up with fast food, automated services that focused on speed, and the internet that gave them information at their fingertips, the way we communicate has changed.  Friends are now meeting on Facebook to share that morning cup of coffee and chat instead of walking across the street to sit in a neighbor’s kitchen or driving to a local coffee shop to socialize with other people.  This means as a business owner you need to find a way to position your business to maximize the impact you have in the on-line social arena because this is where your potential clients are.  They are sitting at their computers or searching their smartphones for updates to Facebook and Twitter and reading blogs.   So, how do you connect with these people without being annoying by bombarding them with your need to sell your products or services?  The key is to create a genuine connection and relate to them as you would if you went to a party tonight and chatted with a group of people that you were just introduced to by a friend.  You do not start by selling your stuff or asking a list of questions that feels more like a job interview or an interrogation than a natural conversation.  Take the time to “listen” on-line which means read what others are posting about. Notice when it is someone’s birthday or anniversary and comment on photos and videos that are posted with a sincere remarks.  Show up daily and often to the social site and don’t be stingy with your own information or adding photos. When you are open to people they are open to you.  You are forming connections on-line so use common sense as to what you share on-line and remember to post only pictures that you would be fine with having people see in years to come.  Allow time to build real connections and do not be in a hurry to collect friends that you don’t even know.

It is an investment for your business to allow the process to take place and it requires effort and patience, but it is a great investment if you do it well and one that will help you to grow in the future with the on-line marketplace.

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”

New technology creates innovative ways for businesses to get their marketing message in the hands of their potential customers faster than ever.  We have seen tremendous growth with small businesses that jumped on board with social media marketing and have developed successful campaigns using Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Linkedin and Blogging, but now the talk is about applications for smart phones that will expedite your message or information and place it in the hands of your target market.  QR Codes which stands for “quick response” are those funny looking square black and white symbol you are seeing on products, websites , billboards, magazine ads, coupons,  direct mail campaigns and even T-shirts!  These bar codes are easy to create and as long as you download a free application to your smart phone a person can be scanning these symbols and getting direct information from the source who has created the code.

Is this just another marketing tool business owners are being asked to accept and add to what they are currently doing to remain competitive in their field?  It is if they want to be the early adopter to something that has great potential to help them lead in their market.  The downside of this is that not everyone has the application on their phone so the immediate gains from adding this to all your marketing material may not be seen today.  However, as more and more businesses are learning about this new marketing tool, downloading the free application to their smartphone, testing it and then brainstorming as to the various ways this could help their own business, the QR codes will populate quickly in advertisements and will become a tool that marketing departments  use daily.

If you are stuck in the past and slow to embracing technology, consider contacting a marketing coach or specialist who can help you get started on some exciting new tools for your business!

All my best to your success! ~ Charlene

“Success wears the Purple Diamond!”