Quirks Marketing Research Review recently wrote an article about how to increase survey respondents satisfaction. Surveys can help to give the smart marketer a heads up on what your client and prospect really want and need. Surveys can be used to gather all sorts of market data such as customer demographics, likes and dislikes, customer satisfaction and much more. I highly recommend that if you are not using surveys in some form or another (digital, hand-written or by phone) you are missing out on information that can take your business to a new level fo success.
Here are the 10 tips Quirks shared:
1. Make surveys engaging and convenient
2. Avoid complex questions
3. Limit questions to 50 words or less
4. Avoid long lists of rating questions
5, Avoid open-ended questions
6. Avoid repetitive questions
7. Advertise accurate survey times
8. pay incentives (prizes) promptly
10. Pre-test surveys thoroughly
11. Get feedback on surveys
I would only disagree with number 5. Sometimes a person needs the option to expand on a response and having an open ended question makes that possible. You might have an open ended question but make it an option to reply thereby not annoying those really want to offer feedback but who don’t have or want to spend a long time doing so.
About accurate survey times, the article states that respondents don’t mind taking longer surveys as long as they know how much time they will take. This is good to know when you need more in-depth replies.
You can read this and other articles online at http://www.quirks.com/. While there, you can also request a FREE subscription (if you qualify).
While you’re at it you can grab a FREE copy of eMarketing ~ 300 page textbook aimed at tertiary education students, business owners and marketers who want to get ahead in online marketing. It has everything from the facts to case studies and study questions around each eMarketing tactic. Go to http://www.quirk.biz/emarketingtextbook/download.
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– Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is called Fête Nationale (“National Celebration”) the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. (Source Wikipedia).
Today is Bastille Day
In honor of Bastille Day I thought it would be fun to showcase an event the *American Cancer Society hosts ever year called Jail & Bail.
Jail & Bail is an annual fundraising event that brings together community leaders and ordinary citizens for a common cause… to help fight Cancer!
Jo Walters, David Singer, Sabrina Singer and Marilee Maddox
For many years I was an active participant in Jail & Bail, serving as a Parole Board Member AND a Jailbird!
This year, the American Cancer Society’s annual Jail and Bail event, held recently at the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel in Dania Beach, raised more than $150,000.
Here’s how it works: The fundraiser has community members “arrested” by local law enforcement officers and brought to the mock jail. While in custody, these “jailbirds” have unlimited use of a telephone to call friends, relatives, co-workers, business associates, etc…, to raise the bail in pledges to the American Cancer Society. The bail is determined by a “judge” at the “jail”. And, all donations are fully tax deductible contributions to the American Cancer Society.
The local ACS sends media releases with Parole board members names and companies and also provides volunteers with their own press release Template to send out to their own media contacts. This is also a great way to stay top of mind in the media when they are looking for a story or resource.
One of my good friends David Singer (an attorney in Hollywood, Florida) has been the local Jail & Bail chairperson for years. And he and his law firm have received prestigious placement in all the major media outlets in the tri-county area including print, radio AND TV. He works tirelessly to recruit Parole Board members who in turn find people to “arrest.”
And it’s a fun event.
What does Jail & Bail have to do with Marketing? It’s called Cause-related marketing. Whenever businesses support a cause that has potential to reach a lot of people in the community, it helps them not only create goodwill in the community, it often will gain incredible media attention. And that’s the kind of attention most businesses want. Because we don’t have to pay for it and we can feel good about giving back. As a “sponsor” you get visibility on marketing materials, mentioned during planning meetings and in media releases and much more. As a participant you get to work closely with other like-minded volunteers AND maybe even see YOUR name in the media.
Here are 5 tips to help you plan and execute a successful Cause-related Marketing Campaign:
1. Find a cause you can get your arms around. Something that feeds your soul AND does good in the community. You will find it more worthwhile and you will be able to relate better to the people who also believe in the cause – the volunteers, staff and supporters. Organizations are also looking for partners with similar agendas, those who can achieve their goals by partnering with the right businesses and individuals in the first place.
2. Set realistic, measurable goals for your program. Like any other marketing plan, you need to know what outcomes you hope to get from your participation. Include how you will achieve those goals.
3. Create a “partnership agreement” that both parties understand and agree to. A clearly defined agreement will include both “partners” obligations, rights and expectations. Remember this is like any other partnership and if you can add a little formality to it, then the chances of success increase and it creates a sense of comfort knowing in black and white what each partners responsibilities include.
4. Be an ambassador for your Cause. Let everyone in your own circle know what and how you are supporting the organization. You will be pleasantly surprised by how many people will give you a thumbs up and also will want to “help you in your cause.”
5. When all is said and done, do a thorough review to make sure the campaign met your goals, your needs and the expectations of all concerned. Remember that while you want to support a cause you believe in, the bottom line is your support should create awareness of, interest in and customers for your company.
*The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem—by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer— through research, education, advocacy and service.
In the last post I talked about the importance of Content, creating a Community and Building a Directory to get your blog noticed, read and followed. Here are 3 more tips to Get Your Blog On:
#4 ~ Add photos. Photos add “life” to a blog, personalize it and make it more interesting. That does not mean EVERY post should have a photo it just means that readers will appreciate if you “mix it up a bit.” Share bits of you.
Let readers into your life by showing your personal side. On my blog Success and then Some, I often post pictures of me networking. Not only does it get people to “see you” in person it also makes you more real. More human. And if they see you as a real person, they are more likely to follow you.
Some great place for Royalty FREE photos include: Fotolia, Fotosearch and Dreamstime. There are also a whole host of free sites from which you can grab photos. A great list of free sites such as Flickr can be found at http://pstutorialsblog.com/44/free-stock-photos/. You can also “google” the photos you are looking for to get some great photos. Be sure you check the licensing from any of these FREE sites before using the photos.
Tip #5 ~ Add Videos to your blog posts. Some of the most popular posts on blogs are the ones that include a video. But don’t just post a video, be sure you also post a commentary about the video. And the video doesn’t even have to be one you created. It can be one you found on YouTube or other video-sharing site. The people who post videos to these sites appreciate the added “publicity” when bloggers refer to their videos and share them with their readers. You can also create your own videos to post to sites such as YouTube, Google Video and Blip.
I created a video about flowers, using Powerpoint, music and Camtasia Studios. You can see it at my blog Tulips Talk.
My good friend and mentor Terry Brock regularly posts videos to YouTube and in fact has one called Marketing with YouTube ~ How to do it.
Robin Goode has a great list of tools you can use to automatically post your videos at the top video sites athttp://tinyurl.com/6bhlre.
Tip #6 ~ Promote your blog on social networking sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. And niche social networking sites that cater to your target audience. I belong to several other social networking groups such asBoomer Diva Nationwe help one another promote our “stuff” all the time. For instance we have our own Twitter Tuesdays and every Tuesday we help one another spread the word about our blog posts, events, products and services and more. There are tools and plug ins for most social networking sites that allow you to automatically post your blog articles as they happen. For instance, use Tweetfeed to post to your twitter account. And you can update your profile with videos from YouTube on Facebook, LinkedIn and more.
These tips and others will help you draw more attention to your site and increase the chances of others becoming loyal followers. Stay tuned for my next post when I talk about blog design, connecting with other users and checking stats to increase blog followers.
If you have a website (of course you do) then you may have already experienced the power of digital coupons to drive business to your site and even to your brick and mortar locale.
Even if you don’t have a website, chances are good that you have downloaded a digital coupon once or twice, or dozens of times if you are my daughters. In fact, when my girls have to go shopping for anything that costs more than $10 they first go online to see what coupons are available. When they eat out, they look to their favorite restaurants for coupons offers. They check out the shoe store, the technology stores, department stores, specialty stores and more. They never leave home without at least a handful of coupons to use on their shopping “sprees.”
According to a marketing research study conducted by ICOM Research, coupon redemption rates rise when prices and unemployment go up. Knowing that and the fact that 67 percent of US shoppers say they are more likely to use coupons during a recession, it may just make sense to have a coupon program in place on your website.
The study goes on to say that digital coupons tend to have a much higher usage rate than traditional paper coupons. It sited that 58% of consumers responding said their coupon use would increse if they could download it from the internet to an electronically swiped frequent shopper card.
My newly designed retail website ~ Eden Florist ~ has a mechanism in place when anyone becomes a new customer they get a coupon as a thank you. They can use the coupon on their current purchase online or at a later date.
And lets not forget mobile coupons that you can download to you mobile device. Hundreds of merchants around the globe are already offering these to their clients and customers. Mobile coupons are a great way to gain new customers, offer specials to current customers, and grow your existing database. Mobile coupons are also a great way to reach prospects because they have instant access to them and don’t have to download or cut out coupons. They just carry them around on their cell phone or PDA to use when they need them.
Coupons also make a good incentive to purchase early and avoid the rush. What kind of coupon could you offer your customers to encourage them to buy now instead of later? Digital coupons can make sense to small business especially with the high costs of being in business, doing business and living today.
Here’s a couple of sites with digital coupons offered by hundreds/thousands of merchants around the country: DealWorker.com and RetailMeNot. Check them out for ideas and of course to save money!
On one of the social networks to which I belong, the question was asked:
Do you or does anyone else use or have recommendations for other affiliate programs? And if you offer affiliate commissions on your products and services I would love to know about your programs as well.
Here’s my reply:
What a great topic and one I have been doing lots of research on. I am most interested in good affiliate programs that are highly respected and have a decent payoff (at least 15% commission) because if I am going to market the product or service to my list, it needs to bring in a good ROE ~ return on effort.
I love Linkshare and Commission Junction for finding good programs to sign up for. For small business owners however, sometimes this is challenge as they have certain criteria such as number of hits, etc. So even though there are really good programs to sign up for, sometimes the companies that offer affiliate programs don’t approve the companies because they don’t meet the minimum standards they have established.
The other thing is that the programs you promote need to make sense to your audience. I just interviewed Tom Antion ~ The Internet Marketing Multi-Millionaire and he had a lot to say about affiliate programs. He told my listeners that he makes between 70,000 to 200,000 month after month from those affiliate products he offers that other people market for him on their sites. That means the products he sells have a built-in audience of interested buyers.
I used to be an affiliate for AMAZON but have never made any money with them so joined the Barnes and Noble program. We are making a small commission with them. If you refer books to your audience, I highly recommend you join Borders, Barnes and Noble, Alibris or another good online bookstore (if you know of any) to send your readers to.
BTW, if you click on any of the links I mentioned above, you will notice we are affiliates of those programs and if you buy something would make a small commission. Of course, we don’t make any money unless you buy something. But it is good to show the programs our click-through rates. So please do click through and check them out.
In continuation of part one and two of gathering marketing research with surveys, I did want to mention that whenever the words FSA are used, replace them with your company name and take the ideas and run with it. Many, if not all of these suggestions can be uses in most business situations.
Here is Jim’s reply to the survey:
Without prior knowledge of how we currently “market” the Florida Speakers Association, what do you think are the most effective ways to spread the word about our organization? It depends on who we’re marketing FSA to, and why. If it’s to people who hire speakers, the website is probably the best marketing tool we have. It could be improved by adding articles of interest to those who hire speakers — “how to hire a speaker”, “why a professional speaker?”, “why use a local speaker?”, “how to get the most benefit from your money”, etc. Also by adding search engine-friendly meta-tags. The new “professional member showcase” will also help.
If we’re marketing to the local community to get them to join, we should have a “statement of benefits” that declares all the benefits of belonging to FSA. And we should trumpet those benefits at every opportunity — at meetings, via the newsletter, in ‘new member’ packets, etc.
If we’re marketing to the local community to get them to come to our events (but not necessarily get them to join FSA), we need to have a “statement of benefits” that states specifically what people will get out of coming to the meeting. And then trumpet those benefits through press releases, flyers, and our on-line newsletter.
For example, a lead paragraph in the current newsletter about Bob Pike says “The purpose of a presentation is for the audience to leave impressed with themselves, not intimidated by the speaker. In this session you’ll learn audience involvement techniques that you can apply to groups of 5 or 5,000 – whether you are delivering a 45-minute keynote, a 90-minute breakout session, or an all-day workshop. ”
Now compare that to “Have you ever given a presentation that was a dismal flop? Do you give great sales presentations, but nobody buys? Do you wonder why audiences aren’t demanding that you come back to speak to them again and again and again? Bob Pike is a master at audience involvement and in this presentation he will……”
To put it in a nutshell, effective marketing is emotion-driven. Compare the emotional level in those two paragraphs. That’s why we get such good responses at our meetings — when we “sell” from the platform, we have a lot of emotion.
Who do you suggest we contact (media) to “spread the word?” There is a South Florida Media Guide that is published yearly. (published by the South Florida Chapter of Women in Communciations.) We should buy that; that would be a good start.
Two more excellent resources to jump start your marketing research!
Many small business owners update and maintain their own websites. Sometimes the job falls to the wayside as you run your day to day operations. This is particularly true if you have a brick and mortar business with a website presence. You may not depend entirely on your website for your income. So you might neglect one of the most important ways new customers find and research your company. Your WEBSITE.
If your website is dated, or looks as though it has not been attended to in quite some time, you could be loosing credibility and worse CUSTOMERS! B to B Online Magazine suggests the following strategies to make your site more credible:
1. Update your site. Review it often to see what is out of date. Is the copyright info at the bottom current? Do you have old or missing links? Just like an older home looks new with a new coat a paint so can a website with more updated colors and graphics. Does the site look old-school? Of course if old-school is the impression you are trying to create then just updating a few things could solve your problem.
2. Do you have reviews and 3rd party endorsements (testimonials) and media coverage on your site? If not, start asking for testimonials from current clients and start seeking media coverage by implementing a media campaign to get attention to your website.
3. Have you won any awards lately? If so, they should be clearly visible either with a link to an awards or “news” or “buzz” page or with clickable graphics that take the visitor to a page with more information about the award.
4. How are your search engine rankings? Are you listed in search engines with your company name and keywords? If not, time to start an SEO/SEM campaign. Same with Page Ranks.
Investing a few dollars and time will help you build more credibility for your site in the eyes of customers and prospect.
Need help with Search Engine Optimization and Marketing? Give Redhead Marketing a try. We guarantee improved results! Call 954-625-6606 or email heidi@redheadmarketingblog.com today!
According to a study done by MarketingSherpa.com an online research firm, putting a graphic image in customer e-mails increases readership. The study found that including a single piece of art (that loads quickly) along with engaging copy, and clearly states the “offer” or message and response instructions prompts people to not only read the message, it increases the response rate of the message.
How to Use CLASSIFIED Advertising to Sell Your Products and Services
The internet may be the dominant advertising medium these days, but newspaper and magazine classified advertising is still a very powerful advertising medium that can reap big rewards. Classified ads are much more cost effective than other forms of advertising, it is easy to target your niche, and the ads are simple to prepare and submit. Think about it. If someone picks up a paper or magazine or better yet has it delivered to them, the likelihood of them reading your ad has greatly increased. With online advertising it is much more challenging to pull them into the ad space. And those ads only get one shot if that, since most people click by the ad as opposed to clicking on the ad. If you are using any type of advertising campaign at all, consider classified advertisingI discovered classified advertising years ago when my first book Rose Marketing on a Daisy Budget came out. I was reading the latest issue of Flowers & Magazine and was perusing the classifieds when I noticed someone selling books! I thought here’s another great way to see how the potential for marketing Rose Marketing to a highly targeted industry ~ florists will pan out. So I called the advertising dept. to inquire about the cost (I think it was around $40 for a 3 line ad – which is higher today), designed the ad and sent it in. Two things you should know – the ad I created was not terribly impressive and I didn’t test more than one ad to compare results. I simply sent it in. From that ad I received 11 orders (at $19.95 each) and added another 40 + florists to our newsletter database. Had I done some of the things outlined below, I am sure that number would have been significantly higher.
The second time I tried classified advertising was in 2003 for the launch of the Women’s eCommerce Association, International. I did several things such as pay for placement in online newsletters at $10 to $25 per issue (spending a total of about $200) and posted several ads on free advertising sites as well as surfed the net for free advertising in exchange for space in our newsletter. The results were better than expected. We received 537 leads from the ads, most of which joined at the BASIC level (which is FREE), and surprisingly 15 women and 1 man upgraded to paying members.
Since that time, I have traded advertising space with other non-competing women’s groups, online calendars and newsletter publishers who cater to women who do business on the WEB each with positive results. I have also posted classified ads in two smaller women’s magazines with moderate results. Sometimes the trade is a one-time deal and others it is ongoing. The point is – Classified Advertising WORKS and I recommend you research your market to see if it could work for you. The first place I would check out is Craig’s List.
I have also put together a small list of sites that accept FREE classified ads which will be in the resource section.
Keep two things in mind when putting classified advertising into your marketing mix. Writing a classified ad to sell your product begins with the copy. Effective copywriting strategies begin with research.
Here are a dozen more tips to get you started:
1 Start studying the classified ad sections in magazines and publications (online and offline) that reach your target audience – the more targeted the publication, website or ezine, the better.
2. Study how other advertisers are writing their ad copy. You can start with the ads in newspapers, magazines and newsletters to which you already subscribe.
3. Surf the WEB for free classified ad sites and study the ads listed on those sites. Respond to those ads to see what else they do to market their products. (Note: set up a free email account just for this purpose).
4. Use each of the above as “models” for designing your own ads. Test your ad in those same FREE Classified Ad Sites before placing paid ads in paid publications.
5. Find out which category fits your niche. Look for categories with lots of ads. When you see lots of ads selling the same kinds of products that generally means the ads are working and these kinds of products sell well.
6. Advertise in the right places. Before placing your ads, study the publications you have identified that reach your target market.
7. Use the two-step method to sell expensive items from a small classified ad. A two-step method could look like this: send the reader to your website for free information they must register for – when you have captured their info, begin an auto response campaign to send more details that includes longer ad copy to effectively sell your product/service.Keep in mind, the higher the ticket item, the more steps you may need to close the sale.
8. Cast a wide net – Place ads in more than one publication, each with either a unique phone number, URL or other identifying tracking device so you know which ones are getting the most action. Advertising is a numbers game and in order to see results, you must spread the word far and wide.
9. If the copy isn’t working, change it. Effective advertising is all about Testing. Testing headlines, length of ad, wording, and which details you focus on. For instance, in one ad you might focus on a number metric to get results such as 101 people Use ___________, or 2703 People Can’t be Wrong!” Numbers can be very effective in ad copy. Two words of advice here – BE Honest. Use real numbers not made-up ones. And don’t round out the numbers. It is much more effective to use 11193 than it is to say More than Eleven Thousand. The question readers will than ask is “how many more?”
10. Keep records of everyone who responds to your ads. This is where a good auto-respond program such as Constant Contact or aWeber comes in handy. You can then follow-up withappropriate messages about your product. The beauty is that these email management programs have opt-out options built in so you don’t have to manually remove anyone who makes that request.
12. Read the fine-print. Some sites will require a link back so you must decide if the extra traffic is worth potentially loosing the traffic to other sites (and competition). Other require you to subscribe which can mean hundreds of newsletters in your inbox you don’t have time to read.
If your ads fail, don’t get discouraged and don’t give up. Sometimes all it takes is changing a few words in the copy, the headline or even the advertising medium. Classified ads are inexpensive and can be very effective. In order to really see results you have to keep at it awhile. Create a budget you can afford, in a medium that hits your target and run the ad for a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks. If using newspapers as your medium find out which days are considered prime and run your ad in those days only (for newspapers its generally Wednesdays and Sundays. You may pay a little more, but the results will be better because more people will see the ad, read it and if the copy is working will respond.
How are you influencing your current customers and growing your business? And would it make sense to tap into or better communicate with the affluent market? If you’d like to learn more about how to tap into the Luxury Market here are two really good resources I discovered:
Winsperinc.com has a free White Paper – “The 6P’s of Luxury Marketing,” A New Model for Considering Consumers’ Buying Behavior for Luxury Brands. (http://www.winsperinc.com/6Ps/) which I highly recommend you read. Those six P’s include:
People buy from People, The Six Key Characteristics of Product, Passion (Connoisseurship shared in real and virtual communities), Pleasure (Luxury is experiential), Purpose (Luxury may have an element of superfluity but it can also be practical), and Price (the rise of fractional ownership).
BTW, the Luxury Marketing Council event I mentioned on the 17th was held at the fabulous Four Seasons Hotel in Miami. They are the masters at luxury marketing! From the moment I pulled into the valet, walked through the lobby and found the meeting room, it was an experience. There is such pride in the hotel staff, in fact it is more than pride. Each person I came in contact with made me understand why Four Seasons is a world class luxury hotel. As I walked through the lobby (apparently looking lost) the lady behind the valet desk asked if I needed assistance and gave me perfect directions to the meeting.
Once in the meeting room, servers pleasantly held out their trays for us to partake of coconut shrimp and more. I asked one server if I really wanted some shrimp but that I needed to put my things down. She waited a moment for me to get settled and showed up with the tray in hand! And then Ricardo Acevedo, GM of the Four Seasons addressed the group and I realized that great service really does start at the top.
All the best in your marketing endeavors! If you are looking for a marketing coach to help you plan a campaign or work WEB 2.0 strategies into your marketing mix, give me a call!
– Bastille Day is the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year. In France, it is called Fête Nationale (“National Celebration”) the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation, and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. (Source 
