The Buying Cycle (in a nutshell)

You can also think about the buying cycle as

1. The customer realizes they have a problem
2. They set out to gather information about their problem
3. They start evaluating the solutions that might solve their problem
4. They choose a product/service
5. They implement their chosen solution and are satisfied or begin the process again

Marketers who shape their content to deliver answers to their customers at each stage, have a far higher conversion rate than those who ignore human logic.

Create, Curate or Syndicate?

It's all about content.
Content is King.
Generating enough content is the top issue on our little business brains, according to any statistics you'd ever like to quote.
Grrrrrrrr.

I define content as the stories your company shares with it's various audiences, to help them understand what makes you unique and why they should spend their time and money supporting your brand.  Content is not a substitute for marketing, but it is the information you supply, to form an emotional connection with your customers - it gets them involved.

There are really only 3 ways to go.

1. You create fresh, original content

This is by far the hardest and most time consuming route, but as with anything in life, all that effort can lead to maximum returns if done well. Content creation puts you in control, lets you add your own personality and project images and stories that resonate with your distinct groups. You have the ideas, you produce a post/article/whitepaper and you share it.
See Red Bull content marketing.

2. You summarize and curate the content that's already out there

The time poor consumer is happy to do their own research, but anyone who can shorten their decision making process is a friend.  Companies who pull together the best content available, be that blog posts, articles, infographics, podcasts etc. around a particular industry/market/topic to share with their audience, immediately add value by saving them the trouble of finding these gems themselves.
IBM have a great curation example on tumblr.

3. You find key allies and syndicate content

Syndication is about getting your content in front of different audiences, often creating new revenue sources along the way.  You can either join forces with those already making a noise in the markets you want to reach and find a way to work with them, (guest blog, co-produced white paper etc.) or distribute third party information, usually be quoting links back to the original work, (or paying to republish as necessary). Newspapers are a great example of syndication, with several different journalists, puzzle makers, cartoonists etc contributing to the final product.
Take a look at the following sites to see more on this model
Social Media Today
Sustainable Business Forum
My Venture Pad

I suspect that the day is near when we won't even talk about content as a separate subject, since social media has now put the consumer firmly in control of the stories behind each brand.  Let coca-cola's content 2020 program lead the way .......

Why Content Needs To Be Authentic

I recently discovered the fabulous blog 1000 Awesome things by Neil Pasricha and it reminded me how often we overlook the simple, wonderful things right before our eyes, in our pursuit to create great marketing content.

The enormous success of Neil's blog is testament to how much we humans love to relate to one another.  His blog is a series of anecdotes. - they're observations.  Small stories, which make us nod our heads in empathy and think back to the last time we experienced the same feelings, first hand.

All marketing needs honesty if it's to connect with its audience.  

We want to think that every company is a person and understands us.  

We're interested in the reasons why a company does what it does rather than the products they produce.  

We buy into the emotion and the story of a brand and that shapes our perception and ultimately our purchase decisions.

We want content that confirms our view of the world, helping us to immediately feel part of a wider community.

If you stripped back the industry jargon, business speak and hype around your company, what would you have left to say?  It just might be what your customers want to hear.

9 Marketing Lessons from Disney

I've recently returned from a family holiday in tropical storm soaked Florida. I kept my promise to stay offline during those two fun filled weeks, but my marketing brain couldn't help itself.  Here are my observations from countless hours in the Magic Kingdom, on what makes Disney one of the worlds most successful marketing machines.  How many of them could you apply to your business?

1. Make your internal marketing as strong as you external marketing

When is an employee not an employee?  When they're a Disney “cast member”.  Oh yes, from the moment a person decides they want to work for the dream maker, they understand that their job is a performance.  Disney runs auditions rather than interviews. There's a Disney university to make sure staff not only know the brand, but can be the brand, in each and every circumstance.  Disney knows that its brand reputation relies on the 60,000+ cast members it employs and just like good actors, they need to know the script.

2. Understand that the journey is as important as the destination

People go to Disney World to be entertained, but with more visitors than rides, inevitably that entertainment is traded against long queues.  Having captured your attention to actually join the wait, Disney rewards your patience with numerous props and distractions, to keep the spirits high and take your mind off the snaking, (so you never know exactly how many people are in front of you), line ahead.  Often we rush to sell our products or services and all but ignore the journey the consumer takes to get to that point.  As a marketer, the more deeply you understand your customers motivation and their decision making journey, the more effectively you can sell your offering.

3. Choreograph the buying cycle

Talk about upsell/cross sell,  Disney never misses an opportunity to raid your wallet. Every ride ends in a gift shop, with merchandise directly related to the experience you've just had.  Rather than feeling mugged, you're grateful for the chance of instant retail gratification and bouyed by the buzz of the ride, you give no thought to how that 4 foot stuffed toy will ever fit on the plane home.  Retailers know the impulse buys to stock by the tills, what could you be doing to make your customer spend just that little bit more in the rush of their initial sale?

4. Mass market individuals

Throughout the park, visitors queue to have their picture taken with the Disney characters and somehow, despite the crowds of other people waiting to tick that box, when you finally get your turn, the experience is all about you - not rushed or processed, just as authentic as any meeting with a grown up in an animal costume can be.  We all crave personal service.  We want to be served and feel valued.  Today, brands need to act like people and be accountable to their audiences.  One size no longer fits all.

5. Move with the times

Disney know their audiences and realise that there are a whole new generation of users waiting to don those mouse ears.  There are now a host of apps to help you navigate your day, (useful when the rain has turned your paper map to pulp).  While an app might not be right for your business, your future customers are likely to be digital natives who expect the brands they endorse to keep up with the evolving market.

7. Fairytale customer service

I spent 20 minutes stuck on what should have been a 4 minute ride and was instantly given a queue jump ticket to make sure I got to try it again or move on to something new. Grumbles were turned to grins before myself and my fellow hostages had made it through the gift shop.  Customer service is all about turning dissatisfied consumers to their original state of trust in a brand, and ideally making them feel even more loyal with a great story to tell their friends.  In this social media age where companies can gain insight to the thoughts, feelings and reactions that result from our experiences, there's no excuse for poor customer service.

8. Build communities

First visit, birthday, wedding day, anniversary - Disney has a badge for every occasion and will encourage you to wear it with pride so that each cast member can acknowledge how special you, (and several thousand other people wearing the same badge), really are.  Belonging is a trait of human nature which is often overlooked by marketing departments, but sharing commonalities encourages us to be more open to possibilities because we feel safe in our tribe.

9. Keep in touch

Returning home I found two emails from Disney - one sharing photographs taken in the park and the other asking for feedback on my experience. They know that as my tan fades, I can relive the memories and once again feel the happy glow of the brand.  This follow up is not designed to sell, but rather to keep me engaged.  It's back to that personal relationship thing, which helps me believe that Disney cares about my input.  Customers love to give opinions and these shape the perception of your brand in the minds of others. Influence or be influenced.

I wonder if I'm too old to apply for that internship ......

Ghosts of Social Media Future (Guest Post by Eileen MacCallum)

For the next few weeks, my blog is going to feel unloved, as I pack my bags and head for a wifi free zone, but since it's always good to end on a high, this week's post is a real treat by my guest, the copywriting star that is Eileen MacCallum.  You can read more about her at www.aweebirdie.com.  Enjoy!

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One of my favourite pastimes is to imagine which hot SM gizmo currently enthralling us all will be mocked by my kids in twenty – no, make that ten – years time.

Those of us aged 40-plus have witnessed such a massive leap forward in communication methods during our lifetimes.  The giant black-screen-green-text computer monitor I used in my first-ever job (in the 90s) made such a loud humming noise that whenever I called my Dad from work, he knew it was me before I spoke.  These days it’d go straight back to the (online) shop.

The 24/7 me-me-me hail of social media commentary bouncing off our heads wherever we go has taken time to get used to.  The kids have grown up with it; it’s like breathing to them. Many folk from generations older than ours simply refuse.  Never having worked with it, they know they’ll never truly understand it. It’s an add-on they don’t feel they really need.

So which of our Twitter, Facebook or Instagram (and the rest) addictions will be joked about and which remembered fondly? As fondly as the boxy plastic phones of our childhood homes and student flats, dragged into bedrooms in a desperate bid for privacy, cord straining at the socket? It’s almost unthinkable now for us to have to share phones.  Or be unreachable – in a practical rather than, uh, emotional sense obviously.

Back in 2000 I felt quite edgy about getting my first mobile phone because it meant I’d always be contactable.  (My 15 year-old niece once asked me why I call it a mobile. To her it’s just a phone – they’ve always been mobile.) But at the time, I’d just broken up with an overly possessive boyfriend and the horrors of that kind of relationship PLUS constant contact were not to be contemplated. 

But I relented because I’d gone freelance and it was ‘for work’.  Ha. Hahahaha. Everyone knows mobile phones are FOR LIFE. Luckily I didn’t repeat my romantic car crash.

So. What shall I hear? “Oooooh God Mum, you must be the LAST person on earth still tweeting away to yourself!” *Nudges sibling, rolls eyes, pats maternal shoulder pityingly* #loserparent

Thoughts?

How to grab attention and make your audience care

We are the audience. Our mantra is “make us care and do it quickly”. I'd say this Central American boutique has nailed it.

Assuming your customers/legal departments have more of an issue with privacy than those showcased, how can you cut through the noise?

Create content that works for your audience.

1. Make a story worth sharing.
This might mean being controversial, going that extra mile or simply finding a new way to be remarkable (think Seth Godin's purple cow).  Worth sharing should also be teamed with easy to share.  In this wonderful world of social media, you have no excuses - include the icons, wherever and whenever you communicate with your audience.

2. Address the audience your audience already look to for advice.
Influencing the influencers is a sure fire way to get attention.  If you're not sure who the influencers are, search the blogs, google keywords and see who's mentioned most.

3. Be where your audience are.
This means not changing their behaviour, but helping them to find you in the places they already go and from the people they already relate to.  Your content should be so in tune with your market, that it appears wherever they are.

4. Is consistent.
Your style, your voice, your personality needs to be recognizable, so even if the brand logo is covered over, it's unmistakable to your audience.  Erika Napoletano is a great example of this.

5. Remember, above all, you're trying to reach fellow humans.
For each piece of content you produce, ask yourself ‘so what?’ Is this message worth interrupting someones day for?  Would I read this and if I did, how would it make me feel? If more companies asked these questions before posting, (virtually or physically) my recycle bins would be easier to close.

We care about brands and content that reaches us on an emotional level. Brands that connect, create loyal fans and make money.  Those who don't, don't.

How to tell your SEO from your PPC?

Today I've decided to decipher some marketing speak, with a simple comparison table.  

For those who don't know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation or how visible your website is to the rest of the world.  Since the holy grail for companies is to appear on the first page of any Google search (and ideally in the top 5 results on that page), SEO is a term that keeps marketers awake at night.

PPC, Pay Per Click is a way of directing traffic to your website, by letting you, the frenzied marketer, buy your way onto that elusive Google search front page.

Ideally you want to use both tools to complement your outreach, but understanding the basics is always a good start.

SEO	PPC
Organic search	Paid search
Keywords are embedded into your web content.  The search engine brings back results based on visitors search query. Fingers crossed they type your keywords	Visitors search query triggers an advert associated with a designated keyword, paid for by each company
Long term tool.  Keyword rich content must gradually climb the search charts.  This can take weeks or months to achieve	Faster for drawing customer attention.  Good short-term tool.  Ideally for those in the market to buy right now and for informing potential new customers
Uses location specific keywords but tends to be less attuned to geographic location especially when the searcher hasn't specified a geographic term in the search	Uses location specific keywords.  More effective at targetting local areas because you can designate where your advert  appears in certain geographic locations
Keywords must be used in the test or HTML headers of the page, which makes writing for search and readers challenging.  Overuse of keywords can actually make a site or page, drop in search engine rankings	You can designate multiple keywords in your PPC adverts without having to actually include them in the text of the advert
If your content isn't displayed on the first page of results, users may never see it	Adverts are positioned prominently at the top or right hand side of search results
Achieves highest potential when used to build brand recognition over a long period	Not every click is a conversion.  You pay for the click but they may bounce from your landing page or ignore the CTA
	You might be outbid by a company with larger finances pushing your advert lower down the page or onto the next one
	Make sure you have a landing page that matches your advert, showing they are exactly in the right place, with a clear call to action tested on different browsers

My best advice to SMEs is to get some professional help with this area. Customers need to know you're out there before the sales can start rolling in and many a great company has been lost in the noise of the internet because no-one could find them.