I’ve met plenty of business owners who don’t like marketing … which is a shame, because we’re all in marketing whether we like it or not, just as we’re all in sales whether we like it or not. If you’re one of those people who dislike marketing, you have two options: pretend it doesn’t exist or [...]
"Business is a bit slow at the moment, so we'd love you to give us some money." Does that sound like a good marketing slogan to you? Obviously, it's terrible. But that's the message many small businesses send their customers in their marketing. Not directly, of course. But clearly enough for customers to understand. 'Give us [...]
Has a potential supplier ever sent you a marketing document or a proposal with typos? If so, how did it affect your impression of the business? Did it leave you with a better impression of that business … or a worse impression? That’s why it’s so important for you to proofread all your marketing documents and [...]
If you want to delight your customers, you need to think like a customer. But how? Well, one way is to remember that you are a customer every single day – with other businesses. Ask yourself what you like and dislike about their marketing. Ask yourself what you like and dislike about their customer service. Ask [...]
You need to give away your intellectual property in your content marketing. Because those secrets you think are secrets – they're actually not secrets. All the information in the world can already be accessed through the internet. So don't hoard all your intellectual property. Set it free. The more information you share with your customers, the [...]
How do you build trust with your customers? You do it one piece of content at a time. One blog or video on its own won’t do anything. But what will make an impact is a large and ongoing collection of content. The more times a potential customer sees your content, the more they’ll trust your [...]
Content marketing can be hard. So look for ways to make it easier. One way is to do your content in batches. Set aside some time each week where you do nothing but create content – from writing blogs and shooting videos to finding images and creating infographics. You can also use a scheduling tool like [...]
If you don’t give your customers what they need … your rivals will. Sad but true. That’s why it’s so important to produce marketing that’s focused on your customers, not your business. Your customers aren’t interested in your business; they’re interested in themselves. And if you don’t take the time to answer their questions and solve [...]
A common mistake small businesses make is they’ll receive a document from a client – and they won’t send a simple email in reply to acknowledge receipt. This is so annoying for customers, because they either feel worried the business hasn’t received their document or has received it and is ignoring them. Don’t be one of [...]
Boxers sometimes win fights with one big knockout punch to the jaw. Mostly, though, they slowly wear down their opponent with a succession of body shots over a succession of rounds. Marketing works the same way. You might get lucky with a post or a campaign that magically goes viral and delivers you a shower of [...]
