Marketing your personal brand

Your identity is becoming far more important when it comes to doing business. This is partly down to the explosion of social media on the Internet, but also applies just as much to your “offline” activity.

You’ll already have contacts in your trade who know you either as a supplier or customer, but is it just simply about being yourself or should you really have a personal marketing plan?

It’s not as shameless as it sounds.  Your strategy for offline “personal” promotion will be about the way you deal with people, maybe how you write about your subject area or speak on your subject.  These are opportunities to be an ambassador for your business at the same time as a respected expert on your field.

Online, content has become so important, as search engines consume new articles, blogs, website pages, news at an incredible rate. Then social networks are inviting you to join and participate in online discussions, forums, and surveys and make friends with people you might never have met otherwise.  So a plan starts to make sense.  Here are our top tips for creating and managing your personal brand:

Offline

• At networking events make sure you represent your business in the best light, bring business cards, and any other appropriate literature, never criticise the competition (you never know when that will come back to haunt you and it’s not good form).
• Offer to speak at seminars and meetings to show that you are an expert in your subject area – this builds your brand very powerfully.
• Think about your face-to-face and telephone customer service?  Have you got it right and are you portraying a professional organisation?

Online

• Join a professional business social network.  LinkedIn is probably the best and apart from raising your personal profile and that of your business, the possibility of making some amazing connections.
• Can you write a blog?  These are best when written by individuals and builds great credibility if you can write.
• If you have a Facebook account, you can use this to position yourself, and you can also set up a Facebook business page.
• Do you tweet?  Twitter is the 3rd most visited website in the UK and is an easy to use social network where you can tell people what you’re up to in 140 characters or less. 

There are two big advantages to getting into social media online – one is that they’re normally all free to join and the other is that by default they will all link back to your website.  Excellent for your business and all of these combined should portray the image that is right for your business.

Top five SEO tips for your online marketing plan

Your marketing plan should have a section relating to online marketing – if it hasn’t yet, start with a list of key online marketing channels as a starting point. 

Main areas should include:

• Your website
• Email marketing
• Online advertising (Google Adwords, advertising on others’ websites)
• Social media (including blogs, YouTube and other popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Pinterest)
• Online PR

And last but definitely not least, search engine optimisation (SEO).

Your website is top of my list for a good reason; all of the other marketing activity you do online leads visitors and search engines back to your website.  Making sure that your website is both visitor and search engine friendly should be a marketing priority.

But you already know this!  So what would I recommend today as the top five SEO tips for your website?
 
1. Define your best keywords.  Whilst SEO constantly evolves, some of the basics remain the same and this is one of them.  You should know which words your customers/potential customers are likely to use to find your products or services.  Start with these then use the Google keyword tool  to see what the volume of search is and view suggested synonyms.  Well worth doing and will help to formulate your content plan.
2. Content, content and more content.  Not just creating website pages once but updating copy regularly, blogging, providing added value information and content on your website.  Give other websites a reason to link to you.
3. If you’re a location-based business, make sure you’ve got a listing on Google Places (now also appearing in Google+ but at the moment you have to continue to manage a Google Places account separately.) www.google.co.uk/places/.  Doing this means you can appear at the top of search results for local search terms:



4. Social media.  Even if you’re B2B social media has a place, think about your target audience and where they might engage with your business.  LinkedIn is a must for most of us, but Facebook brand pages, YouTube and Pinterest can work really well.  Google is beginning to look at social media activity and remember those valuable links back to your website.
5. Measure and test.  Use Google Analytics to see which keywords bring traffic to your site, where your traffic comes from (referrals and sources) and seriously consider Google content experiments, used to be Google website optimiser (now in Google Analytics.)  This means testing different pages and seeing what the results are.

If I had to pick one of these as the absolute essential for today, it would be content, that’s the one to give some serious thought to you in your marketing plan.


Karen McNulty

Some dos and don’ts for using social media in business

Whether you’ve already started using social media as a business or if you are ready to take your first steps, the thought of “sharing” all can be quite daunting.

Used well, social media can be a great marketing tool for us and we shouldn’t be put off by its open nature.  Before you start it helps to have a few ideas of what you’re trying to achieve and who and how you will do it.

For example, which social media do my customers and potential customers use – is it Facebook, Twitter, YouTube?  Maybe it’s something more specific to your sector and LinkedIn is the most appropriate place to start.

Once you know where your audience is, it makes the next bit simpler.  How will you use this medium to communicate?  Examples include:

• News and events
• Marketing promotions
• Customer service
• Exclusive discounts and offers
• Market research
• Sharing content/expertise

Some businesses find it easier to define this early on so that it’s clear which purpose each channel has.  For example:

• Twitter – we’ll use this exclusively to share discounts and offers
• Facebook – we’ll share events and exclusive content
• Blog – we’ll provide insight and comment into developments and successes in our sector

After that it’s usually more straightforward to decide who will write the blog, look after Twitter and update Facebook.

Whichever social media you choose:

Do

• Research first.  Sign up and get an account if you need to but spend at least a couple of weeks seeing how your competitors use these media before you start tweeting, posting or blogging.  Doing this means you can see what makes good or bad content and decide how to position your business.
• Have a social media policy, particularly if you employ people to do this.  The nature of social media is so instant that mistakes are out there immediately.  Having a policy and guidelines means that everyone is clear on what they can and can’t say.
• Keep going.  Once you start using social media it’s really important to keep it up to date.  Out of date and poorly maintained profiles reflect badly on your brand and it’s another good reason to spend time researching and looking before you begin.

Don’t

• Ask somebody to do it for you and never check it!  Even with a policy you need to make sure that the messages are appropriate and in line with your marketing plan.
• Delete negative comments unless they are inappropriate.  Social media can be great way to demonstrate customer service.  Deal with negative comments by responding politely and then follow up off-line by telephone or email if necessary.  Dealing with customers well sends positive PR about your brand.
• Start using social media unless you’re prepared to stick with it.  If you’re really not sure, carry out the research phase for longer before making a decision.  Social networks don’t all work for every business so you need to be sure your target audience is using the media you choose and will respond.

Once you're underway you may be surprised at how successful you can be.  Social media brings us the opportunity to engage with our audiences in a much closer way than ever before, good luck!

Karen McNulty

Using recommendations and referrals to win more business

The best free marketing you can ask for is when somebody recommends or refers you to somebody else. It’s usually free (which is great) but most importantly you’re getting a qualified lead that already trusts you because their contact has endorsed what you do.

We spend a lot of time getting our marketing message right, anxious to make sure that people believe what we’re telling them because we know how good our products and services are. But you know that advertising is never as powerful as somebody recommending a business to do business with.

Five reasons why referrals are good:

1. They’re usually free

2. Referred customers often spend more than those who come to you by other means (you’ve got the “trust” established from the off, so no time wasted)

3. You can ask for them confidently and easily if you know you’ve done a good job/sold an excellent product

4. Referrals give your business credibility

5. You can turn them into testimonials (always ask first) which you can add to your website, other marketing literature and newsletters.

The growth of social media has seen user-generated content become more important than the copy that marketers publish. Now when people have an opinion they can publish it online instantly and we believe reviews because there’s usually no hidden agenda (unlike the marketing copy written to make you buy their product). This means that we have to be prepared to be more open and share and likewise, accept that others will say what they think.

Many e-commerce websites now include reviews and comments on products they sell and there are lots of websites specifically devoted to reviews like TripAdviser or TopTable. This is especially relevant if you target consumers (the general public) and The Yellow Pages is even now inviting and publishing reviews for location-based businesses.

Then there’s LinkedIn – you can invite recommendations and usually people who have worked with you or used your services are happy to provide them.

How do you make sure you get people to recommend you?

Some businesses literally grow on referral marketing alone. Think of solicitors and accountants, alternative therapists and hairdressers. Without recommendations they would have to market much harder because these are all areas that are sensitive to the individual and require some element of trust for us to spend our money. These are our top tips on how to get referrals:

• Ask for them! You’d be surprised how many satisfied customers really don’t mind recommending you to somebody else. We’re all looking for excellent service and a positive buying experience so just a bit of encouragement to pass it on is all that’s needed. On LinkedIn for example this is quite easy to do as you can ask for a recommendation.
• Offer an incentive. For example a 20% discount on their next purchase or cash back (have you noticed the banks doing this if you recommend a friend?)
• Follow up your clients after a purchase for feedback and then ask if you can use either a testimonial or if they will refer you to somebody else (whichever you feel is more appropriate)
• Use your marketing literature. When you pass out a business card, give them several so they can pass them on, or if you send out an email newsletter make sure you’ve got a “forward to a friend” button.
• Consider adding review functionality to your website or using a third party system like “Revoo”. Alternatively be brave with social media and allow people to leave comments and interact with your brand on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

Whilst getting good reviews is a real positive, it’s important not to forget to monitor mentions of your products and your business (quite easy online with Google Alerts and saved searches). Reviews can of course be bad too and you need to be aware when this happens so that you can respond.

Think now about how many of your customers would recommend you – we bet there are a few. Time to put a plan into action!

Ten Email Marketing Dos and Don’ts

As a marketing method, email marketing is excellent and it’s easy to see why so many of us have adopted it as part of our marketing mix. But because it’s so easy and low cost to set up and run, it’s also easy to make mistakes so we’ve chosen our top five dos and don’ts to share.

If you haven’t tried it yet, have a look at some of the popular online email services that you may have already heard of, such as Constant Contact, Mail Chimp and AWeber. Most of these ask for a monthly subscription to store your email lists (contacts) and send your emails usually dependent on the size of your contact list.

Email Marketing Dos

1. Do tailor your emails to different target audiences. Most email marketing software will let you manage more than one list so you can send one email to potential customers for example and a different message to existing customers. Or different messages based on what they’ve bought before. Either way, segmenting is really important and the more bespoke a message is, the more likely your customer is likely to take action.
2. Do read the stats. Once you’ve sent a promotional email to your list you should see reporting on who opened it and more importantly who clicked through onto any website links that you put in the email. If they clicked they are a potential lead and should be followed up.
3. Do use email marketing to sell. Email newsletters and bulletins are ideal to promote special offers, price incentives, new products and services. This is acceptable as your target list has opted in (see tip number 5) and email is a quick way for them to hear about your products and services.
4. Do test your email format every time. Email message layouts are just like web pages and should be tested to see what gets a better conversion rate. An example would be, if you have a total list of 1000 contacts, prepare two versions of your email newsletter. Before you send to the whole list, email one version to a sample of 50 from your whole list and the second version to another 50. Measure the results and the one that wins, usually based on a good conversion rate (to sale or maybe to click through to view a product or service on your website) is the one that goes to the rest of the list.
5. Do make sure your target lists have all opted in. If they’ve purchased from you previously there’s an automatic opt-in unless they tell you otherwise. If somebody makes an enquiry there is an implied interest but it’s always best to ask them if they would like to receive your emails as data protection is quite strict, particularly if your target audience is members of the general public. Otherwise you can also add a “sign up” box to your website available with most email marketing programmes so interested parties can choose to be added to your list.

Email Marketing Don’ts

1. Don’t send promotional emails out to your contacts using standard email office software like Outlook. If you send anything in bulk from office programmes they are likely to be treated as spam by the recipient servers. This is because the server you will use to send from will not be a recognised authenticated system for email marketing. Email services like the ones we mentioned at the beginning use “white-listed” servers so they can send large quantities of emails without being blocked as spam. If you are blocked you may find that all of your emails form then are blocked from some systems which can cause a real headache. It also doesn’t look very professional!
2. Don’t use a service that doesn’t allow you to have an “unsubscribe” link on the bottom of your emails. Nothing upsets people more than receiving emails they don’t want that they can’t stop.
3. Don’t just use images, as most email clients will not display them automatically. You should also have text only version available if this is likely to cause your recipients problems or the option to view the email online if it won’t display correctly in their email browser. Here's a good example of what can happen:

How the email should look:

This is how the email arrived in my Inbox:

4. Don’t forget to personalise but get it right! Email marketing gives you the opportunity to use the name of your recipients very easily so if you have them, it makes the message much more likely to be opened. Have a look at this how not to do email marketing example from Tesco.
5. Don’t think that email marketing is the marketing answer to everything! We receive lots of these in our Inboxes so yours should always be professional and useful. Sometimes the personal telephone call or face-to-face meeting is exactly what’s required.

Should you advertise?

Advertising is an interesting topic and it's still one of the main things that people think marketers do, probably because it's an easy area of marketing to understand. That's not all we do of course, but it's still an important element of the marketing mix. There are some other facts we think we know about advertising:

• It's expensive
• Big companies do it
• You mostly see advertising on posters, TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, and on the Internet.

All of the above are correct as far as they go, but it's surprising to learn that traditional advertising, like we see on the TV and in magazines has become more accessible as these media fight to compete with more cost effective advertising options on the internet. The other reason the costs have come down is that many of them are losing readership as consumers move online so have to compete harder for your advertising business.

As part of a marketing campaign or long term awareness raising, traditional advertising can still work. What doesn't usually work are one-off advertisements, especially in newspapers but this also applies online with banner advertising as once or twice is not enough time to establish your message with the reader or visitor.

Today, our customers are likely to consume information online as well as via traditional media so like most other marketing a mix is a good idea. Here are our favourite tips to prepare for advertising:

1. Ask yourself how can you measure it? Traditional advertising may mean you need a code on the advert to track its success, or a use a unique phone number so you know the advert generated that enquiry, not another medium. If you use online advertising you can also measure conversion rates using visitor statisticss and tracking an "action" like completing a sale or signing up for a newsletter.
   
2. Before you decide whether to advertise or not, find out where your customers are. If they're Daily Mail readers at least you know your advert will be seen by the right people if you advertise with the Daily Mail.
3. Off-line, negotiate. Most printed media, radio and TV are desperate to bring in more advertising revenue. Online, look at low cost bids and long-tailed search terms to get more clicks for your budget, although bear in mind that longer search terms tend to get less volume, which is why you pay more for the short, popular ones.
   
4. Whichever medium you choose, have more than one advertisement over a period of time and make sure your adverts are seen/shown regularly.
5. Never say yes to a one-off advert in anything, no matter how cheap it sounds! If you're tempted, spend that money on another form of marketing where you get longer exposure.
6. Have a clear call to action. What do you want the person who sees or hears your advert to do next? Telephone you, visit your website or do something else? This also helps you to tack the success of your advert.
7. Seriously consider trying online advertising methods such as pay per click on search engines like Google or in social networks like Facebook. If your customers are looking in these media. It's a way of getting straight to them when they login or search. The biggest advantage of nearly all online advertising is control. You can control budgets instantly and have constant access to performance stats and conversion rates.

The Internet has made it easier for small businesses to dip their toes in the water with advertising as it's not only affordable but highly measurable. As always, it still has to meet your criteria for spending marketing budget and guarantee you a return that you're happy with.

Karen McNulty
www.MarketingPlanWiz.co.uk and www.BusinessPlanwiz.com

How to write a social media plan

Yes, there's a plan for everything! If you create a marketing plan it's likely that you'll include a section on Internet marketing anyway, but social media as an area of internet marketing is big enough to warrant its own strategy.

We're defining "social media" here as online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, social bookmarking websites such as Delicious and Technorati, YouTube and other video sharing networks, picture sharing sites such as Flickr, also blogs and podcasts.

One of the reasons for writing a social media plan is that it's so easy to start using these media, because they're quick to set up and before you know it you've lost momentum or direction. Social media is like any other marketing, a set of marketing tools to help you achieve your objectives but there's a lot of choice so a strategy is advisable. This becomes critical when more than one of your team is using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn to promote your brand.

A social media plan will also enable you to establish how you will measure the effectiveness of your social marketing activity. Measuring social networking is quite possible but using different sets of criteria to traditional marketing, such as "engagement".

Here are our tips on how to put together a social media plan (our version, so please feel free to add your thoughts and experiences by commenting):

1. Where you are now, a brief analysis of what you're already doing (if anything) with social media, and successes/failures using stats if you have them. This not only helps to set the scene for anyone using the plan but makes it clearer in your mind where to start from.
2. Social media objectives. This is valuable and helps to define why you're using social media as a marketing tool. Typical objectives can include: Engaging with your customers, reaching potential customers (raising awareness), positioning your business as expert in an area, enabling customers to talk to each other, a platform for enabling or encouraging reviews, building brand awareness and credibility.
3. The approach. How will you adopt social media, what will the tone of voice be, core messages and policies?
4. Positioning. Define how your online social marketing activity will sit compared to competitors. The key here is to differentiate yourself if you can. For example, the business arm of Dell chose to set up a social media forum on Facebook for small businesses to help each other rather than use it as a direct selling platform. And the Compare the Market "Meerkat" social media campaign engaged a phenomenal number of followers. Sometimes a bit of lateral thinking will provide a much richer method of engaging with your customers.
5. Specify the social media that you will use. By this point you'll have a fair idea of what's available that will fit with your objectives, approach and positioning. Here is where you can define the list of media such as a blog, Facebook page, YouTube channel and so on. Under each medium, outline how you will use it such as the theme, topics, direction.
6. Listening. I make a point of including this because engaging with social media properly means you have to listen as well as post. How will you monitor what others are saying about your brand in the social networks? Also listen to find out what's trending as this could provide good foundations for your next blog, and think about commenting on other blogs and social networks - engagement should always be a two-way process.
7. Dealing with comments and feedback. Outline a procedure for doing this, especially important if there are several people in the business involved with social media. Drafting a policy is useful if this is the case so that you can be consistent and avoid PR disasters. Above all, do plan to respond to comments and questions on your own social pages as they should never be left unanswered as that sends out the wrong customer service message.
   
8. Timing and regularity. Now that you know which media you will adopt, it's time to decide how often and who. Using Twitter for example should be at least daily, preferably several times a day whereas blogging might be once a week.
   
9. Measurement and evaluation. Include the methods you will use to track the success of your social media activity. There are a variety of ways to do this such as engagement - how many followers/fans/comments; traffic statistics using Google Analytics on the blog so you can see where traffic is coming from (referrals); tracking mentions using feedback from Google Alerts can also provide a picture of the reach of your activity.
   
10. To Do List. I find this useful at the end of any marketing plan. After you have decided on the strategy, what are the priorities, who is doing them and when by? You can add costs here too if appropriate.

You can find more tips on putting together internet marketing plans on one of our previous blogs, "10 reasons to put together an Internet marketing plan".

Happy planning!

Karen McNulty
MarketingPlanWiz and BusinessPlanWiz