person using computer and phone to view social media

How Social Are You?

by BlogEdmiston Group
person using computer and phone to view social media

The key to growing your business is understanding your audience and who your prospective customers are.  With the recent workplace changes, zoom meetings, and virtual cups of coffee how are you connecting with that audience?  Are you reaching out via a newsletter to stay top of mind?  Do you regularly post on social media channels where your customers are?  Are you using postcards and/or snail mail to stay in touch?

Sharing relevant content on your social channels is a great way to keep your audience abreast of industry updates, new products, and/or accomplishments.  This type of information can come directly to your inbox by way of Google Alerts.  If you are unfamiliar with the term or the process to set up an alert, here is a quick how to link. 

Look for your customer’s pain points.   For example, if a prospect mentions a problem they’re having that you can address, a Google Alert can enable you to quickly get involved in the conversation with a helpful piece of content or insight. If a potential buyer’s company hires a new CEO, key personnel, or expands their business, you should comment on the alert’s trigger event as soon as possible to get on their radar.  Based on your need, these alerts can easily be adjusted.

As it pertains to LinkedIn, make sure your LinkedIn profile is optimized.  Identify the groups where your potential customers are members, follow and participate in discussions.  These discussions can often reveal the current pain points a customer is experiencing.

NURTURE DON’T SELL

When developing online relationships avoid the hard closing tactic and nurture your leads.  Understanding who your leads are is key to your sales process.  Social selling is the process of researching, connecting, and interacting with prospects and customers on social media networks — notably Twitter and LinkedIn, but others certainly fit the bill. Through commenting on, liking, and sharing prospects’ and customers’ posts, salespeople create relationships with buyers and boost their credibility by taking an interest in what they’re discussing.

As you share success stories from current customers, third party validation helps build your credibility with potential buyers and allows prospects to relate to your customers’ experiences.   If you have provided a solution to a problem a potential prospect may be more likely to envision the same solution solving their issue as well.

Likewise, are you monitoring customer satisfaction within your company’s service delivery and addressing any unresolved problems and issues?  How often before hiring a company or service, going to a restaurant, booking travel, etc. do you look at customer reviews?  As a consumer, do you have a better image of the company if they acknowledge the issue and make amends?  Let’s face it, we’re not going to please everyone 100% of the time, but if your company consistently has 2 or 3-star reviews it may be time to look internally.

IF YOU’RE NOT MEASURING YOU’RE NOT MARKETING

Measure your engagement in the form of likes, comments, and shares.  The higher the engagement the more likely the content resonated with your audience. By paying attention to what content gets the most engagement with your audience, you can see what content or conversation topics are of interest to your prospects.   This is a good indication that you should seek out and share more about that topic.

It boils down to this…

  • Know your target market
  • Provide relevant information and nurture prospective leads
  • Track your engagement and provide more like content
  • Develop social relationships that allow you to close the sale

If you are unsure of your audience, their pain points, or how to engage and track performance, contact the Edmiston Group or call 724-612-0755.

About the Author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior-level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long-term basis. Core areas of service are business development strategies, website creation and management, social media management, marketing, strategic planning, and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business.  Contact the Edmiston Group today to learn how we can bring fresh ideas to help grow your business.

Man with eight arms holding business tools

How Much Are You Willing to Invest?

by BlogEdmiston Group

You don’t always need to make huge changes in your business to grow. Sometimes, small pivots can be just as effective. Here are some tips to help you understand what it takes to adapt and make incremental adjustments.

Let your personality shine through.  As a business owner, are you involved with the local community or a nonprofit organization?  Have you created a company culture where employees enjoy coming to work and feel valued?  For years, many business owners have kept their personal and company brands separate. But your personal brand could be an asset to your business.

Build your management team.  As your business grows, a business owner can reach capacity.  We start off in business wearing all the hats, but there are only so many hours in a day.  As a business matures, owners must decide if they will begin to invest in key personnel – a good attorney, accountant, marketing support, IT staff, and HR.   Lack of this commitment to move forward will leave a business stuck.  Savvy business owners realize there may not be the budget to bring on senior staff as they outgrow the ability to do it all.  However, a fractional manager brought on as an outside consultant can be most effective. The fractional manager is laser-focused on their skill area and can quickly assess the situation while delivering results.

Invest in marketing. Building a brand requires investing time and resources into creating awareness.  I often hear “I’ve been in business for 4 years and people don’t know we’re here.”  To gain customer awareness, you have to invest in a website that becomes your business’s digital front door and in traditional and social media to communicate with potential customers where they get their information. Not having an internet presence is as bad as a retailer having a bad location and no outdoor signage. No one knows you are there to meet their needs.

Know your customer.  It is not enough to be out there in cyberspace, you have to be able to reach the right people. Being where they are is integral to pushing them along the buying continuum so they understand who you are, believe what you offer, and then try your product or services. Marketing is not a cost to a business, it is an investment. Without it, you have no chance to connect with those who you want to buy from you.

Review Your Email Marketing Strategy to be giving valuable information that people want to read.   Make sure to utilize a mobile-friendly template.  “Email marketing should address how you can make [the recipient’s] life better today, even if it is in a small way,” Dave Charest, director of content marketing at Constant Contact. “You can demonstrate urgency by positioning your products and services in a way that addresses new and changing customer needs, not by pushing discounts and products down their throat. Email marketing is all about sharing the information [the recipient] needs in the way they prefer it, which includes tone, length, and time of day.”

Are you ready to invest in your business?  To learn more about these and other marketing strategies, contact the Edmiston Group, or call 724-612-0755.

About the Author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior-level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long-term basis. Core areas of service are business development strategies, website creation and management, social media management, marketing, strategic planning, and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business.  Contact the Edmiston Group today to learn how we can bring fresh ideas to help grow your business.

Touch screen smartphone in hand

SHOW YOUR HUMAN SIDE

by BlogEdmiston Group

Are you bringing a human element into your email marketing program?  
Better yet, do you utilize an email program to stay in touch with colleagues, referral sources, employees, and more?

Email marketing is an effective, interactive, and measurable communications tool that allows businesses to reach a large number of customers efficiently. With specific links to areas on the website, calls to action, you can measure your results.  By looking at reports within the email platform, a business owner has effectively developed warm leads and knows who is interested in their company.

Yet, most small business owners and managers who have the best intentions to handle email marketing on their own fail to execute it consistently. They are missing opportunities to increase sales, remain top of mind for their customers, show a human side to the business, and announce new products or services.

List segmentation allows companies to target messaging to a particular area of their list, or reach out to all lists with general newsletter information.  It’s much easier to strategize who your target market is and create the segmented lists when developing a newsletter.  Although labor-intensive on the front end, by taking the time to step through this piece during setup, the email program will yield better results moving forward.

For example, we work with an eye doctor that has multiple offices.  His lists are segmented by office in the event we have a particular message for a given office.  A contractor segments his lists by business, engineering, land developers, and government.  A nonprofit organization has their lists segmented by sponsors, business, and donors.  Think about how your business touches others and the types of clients you serve.

Many companies choose to lean on the Edmiston Group, a company that provides a full suite of marketing services to include: content creation, professional email marketing as a service, strategic marketing guidance, advertising guidance, social media management, and website development services.

Some things to consider in your newsletter include:

  • Show your human side. Are you looking for employees?  A recent newsletter we produced featured a video highlighting an employee interview with the company’s owner as to why the employee liked the company.  We prepared a short video script and the business owner and his team executed.
  • Update company information. Did the company’s hours of operation change in light of the current business climate? Are plans for a customer appreciation sale in the works? Companies keep their customers informed of changes via email.
  • Savings. Special offers are popular content in an email newsletter. The offer could be a phone consultation, a discount, or other forms of a product bundle sale.  The email subject line should announce that the message contains a type of promotion.
  • New Product Offerings. Companies should not assume that loyal customers are keeping abreast of changes and additions to service offerings. Use the email newsletter to announce new products and services so that your customers know what’s available.
  • Relationships and Community Support. Many nonprofit organizations are shifting to virtual events, walks, and other forms of communication to continue to raise awareness for their cause. Be a champion for a nonprofit by utilizing email to spread the word about company partnerships with community organizations or support of charitable causes. The goodwill could inspire people to hire the company, encourage others to pitch in, or spark new opportunities or business relationships.

Email newsletters are shareable and measurable.  People can forward them to friends and family who might need the information. Savvy business owners and managers will take advantage of this communication tool. But they don’t need to do it alone; they can turn to the Edmiston Group for a myriad of marketing services. To learn more and email us or call 724-612-0755.

About the Author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior-level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long-term basis. Core areas of service are business development strategies, website creation and management, social media management, marketing, strategic planning, and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business.  Contact the Edmiston Group today to learn how we can bring fresh ideas to help grow your business.

focus red word and conceptual target

FOCUSED THINKING BRINGS ABOUT BREAKTHROUGH

by BlogCommunicationsEdmiston Group

The past few months have been challenging for business owners, yet some are thriving while others have given up.  What takes a business to a new level or a pivot in a business operation?  FOCUS and the ability to PIVOT your thinking to a new way of doing business.

Many businesses and organizations have shifted to virtual meetings, working remotely, and bringing about operational changes.  While one vertical line of business may not be as strong right now, other product lines are flourishing.

Manufacturing companies that have shifted to make protective equipment, are working multiple shifts to meet demand.  Distilleries and breweries that have pivoted their thought process to online sales and curbside pickups are busy.  Construction product suppliers that have picked up a PPE product line have an additional product to sell.  Clothing companies that shifted to making masks and fashion masks have developed new product lines.  The list goes on.

What do these types of businesses have in common?  They are open to new ideas and ways to grow.  By FOCUSING on the assets they have and PIVOTING their operations to utilize those assets to expand their services.   Those business owners are moving forward with renewed energy and resolve.

This challenging time has been compared to the Great Depression.  According to the Advertising Specialty Institute, those companies that continue to advertise when everyone else stops marketing are more likely to be noticed.  WHY?  Because there are fewer ads in the market.  “Firms that advertised during the recession increased in value and got more marketing bang for their buck…in some cases for up to three years after the recession had ended”.

Pulling financial support for your company’s brand can undermine revenue goals.  The better strategy is to go all in to understand customer needs and respond accordingly with tailored messaging across channels.  How do you do that?

Here are 5 tips to keep business growing:

  1. ASK

Layer these insights and information gained with the human element to get a deeper understanding of how target audiences will respond.  What is the value your company brings to the table to alleviate the pain point?  Do you even know where those pain points are?

  1. REDISCOVER YOUR BRAND

How are you different than the competition?  What new services can you offer or how can you shift your message based on the information you learn from your customers?  How can you position your brand to provide a sense of community while offering reassuring messages that demonstrate empathy?

  1. DEVELOP LOYALTY PROGRAMS

Reward consumers who purchase frequently and send targeted messaging to thank them for being a loyal customer.

  1. CONTINUE TO SHIFT AND INNOVATE

Embrace technology and commit to working ON your business instead of IN your business.  At a recent class I took, I was challenged to commit the first 30 minutes to 1 hour a day working on strategies to grow my business instead of working on other people’s businesses in their growth.  By blocking the time, I’m fresh in the morning to focus on how to grow my own business.

  1. MEASURE YOUR OUTCOMES

If you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing.  Know how people find you.  Advertise and be present where your potential customers are.  Be vigilant in your metrics tracking and reporting. Stay agile so you can adapt plans to reflect what you’re seeing. From there, brands can make messaging personal.

Keep a level head and commit to a long-term marketing strategy can help you flourish in the down cycle and be fully prepared to capitalize on the upswing.  Give people good things to talk about by continuing to have good products and great communication.

To quote Henry Ford…“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time.”

Let the Edmiston Group help you strategize how you can PIVOT and GROW your business.  Call 724-612-0755 or email Autumn Edmiston for a complimentary 30-minute phone consultation.

About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior-level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long-term basis. Core areas of service are business development strategies, website creation and management, social media management, marketing, strategic planning, and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business.

Creative power and Powerful ideas business innovation concept with a red glowing boxing glove shaped as a light bulb representing strong innovative new thinking and competitive imagination.

ARE YOU PREPARING FOR A BUSINESS COMEBACK?

by BlogCommunicationsEdmiston Group

Creative power and Powerful ideas – new thinking and competitive imagination.

When there is a business halt, are you preparing for a strong comeback or sitting paralyzed in the silence? Because business owners are fearful of what is to come next, we often will sit back and do nothing. A business may never return to the way it was and just like the businesses that failed to embrace social media, those that choose to stand still and do nothing will lose.

Savvy business owners are taking this time to think of the future and what new lines of business or target clients they want to reach out to. Should their sales pitch change and if so what would that look like? Will the presentation desk, social media channels or website need updating? How will these changes impact their sales staff and will they need retraining? Could staff training be done remotely while the sales force team is working at home?

Try to work down the line deals. Now is the time to negotiate. If your conference has been canceled, negotiate rates on a tentative date to rebook the conference in the future. Pass along the savings to your customers to relaunch a successful event. Instead of doing nothing, you’ve become a problem solver.

If your fundraiser was postponed, can you create a go-fund-me campaign or an online event? There is so much need, you want to be certain your mission stays top of mind.

Meet your customers where they are. Yoga studios and gyms are providing online classes with instructors via Zoom and staying connected to their tribe through private Facebook groups. Chambers of Commerce are offering free classes on how to use Zoom. Restaurants have shifted from dine-in to take out and brick and mortar stores have opened on-line stores. Think about it. They have provided a solution to our present-day situation that could result in an additional revenue stream in the month’s ahead post COVID-19.

Barbara Corcoran, self-made millionaire, real estate mogul, and ‘Shark Tank’ star believes there is great opportunity in every crisis. She has survived 9/11 as well as other critical times in her business. “But here’s what I’ve learned on all these crises through all the years, Corcoran recently shared on her Business Unusual podcast. When things go south, they come back like gangbusters.”

Are you ready to breathe in and move forward to polish up your business? Let’s chat – give me a call at 724-612-0755 or email [email protected].

About the author: Autumn Edmiston is the CEO and owner of the Edmiston Group. The Edmiston Group is a multifaceted Pittsburgh based marketing consulting firm providing senior-level marketing management services to businesses and non-profit organizations on a short or long-term basis. Core areas of service are business development strategies, website creation and management, social media management, marketing, strategic planning, and public relations. The Edmiston Group has consistently delivered and implemented real-world, proven business marketing ideas and strategies for business.