Leslie McLellan and Sheila Scarborough of Tourism Currents presenting at Main Street Now 2019 conference. Photo by Becky McCray.

Sheila Scarborough and Leslie McLellan of Tourism Currents laid out a simple starting point for all your social media efforts. Good news: it’s as easy as filling in the blank.

Fill in the Blank

• (Our company) is where
• (our customers)
• find (the thing we offer)
• with (this benefit)

So all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

• Small Biz Survival is where
• rural business owners
• find practical information
• that helps their businesses prosper

Run it all together, and it looks like this:

• Small Biz Survival is where rural business owners find practical information that helps their businesses prosper.

I’m sure you can see how this helps with all your marketing, not just social media. Every piece of marketing should relate to what you just wrote.

Social Media Application

Because I have that clear understanding of what Small Biz Survival is, my social media strategy is easy. With every post on social media, I can address rural business owners with one of these four things:

• increasing their awareness of Small Biz Surivival and our articles,
• offering our free email newsletter so they can sign up,
• sharing a link to an item we have for sale that helps them,
• or sharing a link or information from another site that’s useful and practical.

And those, it just so happens, are the four types of social posts that Sheila and Leslie identified:

• Awareness
• Lead generation
• Sales
• Nurturing

Take your fill in the blank answers and then brainstorm examples of the four different types of posts. I can think of a dozen different ways to remind people that we have a newsletter. That’s lead generation because they give me their email address in order to sign up.

That might be enough for you. Maybe that’s all you need to think clearly about your social media marketing. That’s cool. But if you want to do more, hang in there with me.

Secret Power Tool: Your Calendar

Now that you know what you’re all about with the fill-in-the-blank answers, and you know some things you could be posting online, you’re ready to power up your calendar. And the best way to do that is to jump over to Tourism Currents for their story on Creating your social media content calendar: a planning process.

They’ll walk you through a super simple fill in the blanks calendaring approach that works for anyone.

Jump to Creating your social media content calendar: a planning process

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• Post your local hashtag where visitors will see it.

The Cathlamet Chamber of Commerce does an awesome local photo contest. Most of the photo submissions come from locals. They use these on their annual events calendar and other publications.

Cathlamet also has visitors, people who boat along the river from the big city and stay at the local marina. Some are taking photos and posting online, surely. But it’s not always easy to find those photos or posts. So let’s make it easier.

• Decide on a local hashtag.
• Work with a local artist to put the hashtag on a sign that suits your local style.
• Post it where visitors are.

Cathlamet is a town of 553 people, and I don’t think there is any other place named Cathlamet anywhere. So they can just use #cathlamet as a tag.

They have a casual rustic mountain town charm. They also have a vibrant artist community. A handpainted wooden sign suits them perfectly.

Visitors tend to come in through the marina. Let’s go post that sign right at the marina.

Then it will be just that much easier to find photos and posts from visitors. The chamber can reach out to these folks when its photo contest time and even throughout the year.

Simple.

When I first shared this article in my email newsletter, I heard back from Brandynn Stanford, in Dublin, Texas, where they have a hashtag sign right at the local airport. They chose three hashtags to include, based on what is already shared on Instagram. Brandynn said that #dublintx already had 2,274 posts, and #dublintexas had 1,856 posts. That’s pretty awesome!

Hashtag Sign-Dublin, Texas, Airport. Photo courtesy of Brandynn Stanford.

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Customers who buy handmade soap don’t just want to get clean. What do they want to be good at?

A few weeks ago, we talked about knowing your customers in order to help them answer questions they get asked. This week, get to know your customers better by thinking through what they want to be good at.

What do your customers want to be good at?

You help customers all the time. The question today is what are you helping them be good at? If you help someone be better at something important to them, they’re more likely to want to work with you.

Let’s look at 3 examples of local businesses and how they help people be better at something.

• If you run a tire store, you may be helping people be better drivers or be good at keeping their family safe on the road.
• If you are an accountant, you might be helping people be better at their small business or become good at their finances.
• If you craft handmade soaps, maybe your customers want to be good at reducing waste to protect the environment.

Think about your own business. What do your customers want to be better at? What things do you help them do well? Take a moment to jot some notes.

Share information they need to be better

Of course your product, service or business helps customers, but you can go another step by creating content or information that helps them.

• Answer customer questions
• Make recommendations based your own expertise
• Share examples from other customers with permission or by making them anonymous

Share this info in words, photos, illustrations or video. Use live video, create your own blog, post on social media. Use whatever channels help you reach your customers. This is content marketing.

The goal of sharing is more than just making customers better. It’s also about convincing them to work with you in particular. Entrepreneur Brian Clark said it this way:

“It becomes your job to show up early with valuable content that convinces the prospect that they’re more empowered with your guidance than they would be otherwise.”

Brian also suggested these questions to help you figure out how you are empowering customers to get better at something:

• Once a person becomes a customer or client, they are empowered to ______________.
• Their experience with us makes them feel ______________.
• When speaking of their experience with others, they say ______________.

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Photo (CC) by Peter Sejba, on Flickr

I am not a regular television watcher but happened to catch a “60 Minutes” episode recently (http://tinyurl.com/60Minutes-socialmedia). The episode focused on how influencers are marketing using social media.

Although I follow and use several social media platforms to help reach small-business owners, most of this information was new to me. But it was not surprising. Social media has great capacity to reach certain audiences. And it can do it quickly while ignoring conventional marketing practices.

So what does this mean for your marketing effort? Perhaps a lot or maybe something, or it could mean nothing at all.

The intent of this article is to help you get the greatest return from your marketing.

When looking for return, the first thing you must do is to define what that means to you. Is it simply the number of people who see your marketing or is it an increase in revenue?

Once you know what you are looking for, your next step is to know your audience or audiences.

• Who are they?
• What is their most pressing problem, desire or issue?
• Where are they getting their information, who are they following, and when and how are they accessing the information?
• What motivates them to take action?
• Whom do they trust?

This information can help you determine what marketing channels might be your most effective tool. Is it traditional channels, including print, radio, television, customer service and public relations, or something online, from a website to email use to videos?

But don’t assume this information is constant. We know that the boomers are rapidly moving online, so what worked today might fail tomorrow.

Your information also will give you an idea of who is “trusted” by each audience. For example, while the silent generation and baby boomers might trust certain key figures, the millennials look toward people like themselves.

Chances are, you will need to use several channels. I say this because you probably are looking to attract a diversity of people. Also, even within one group, you cannot assume they all are alike. I, for example, am much more into social media than is my spouse.

What is important, as you are deciding on marketing channels, is the three basic building blocks of marketing. These are yourself and your networking, your reputation/brand and your ambassadors, or those who are telling your story for you.

So as you plan your marketing, remember:

• Your audience should guide what you do.
• Keep measuring.
• Be ready to change.

By doing these three things, you will increase your chances of having effective marketing.

Photo (CC) by Alan Turkus, on Flickr

People complain about your business. 

It’s true. It happens but most of the time you never hear about them. On average for every one complaint you do hear, there are 26 other complaints that people have.

That’s a substantial number.  And while many of the complaints are perhaps minor in nature, they are something that the person who has the issue is upset with, upset enough that they may be out telling other people.

While telling other people in our face-to-face conversations has always been around, today we have social media which makes it easy to complain to our “friends” and beyond.

Before social media, the estimate was that someone with a complaint will tell 10-20 other people. Today those numbers have substantially grown. Just think if those 26 unheard complaints. If each person tells 20 people, you now have over 500 people forming an opinion about your company. And the numbers can just keep growing and growing if the complaint is a good story.

And the complaint process can happen anywhere and at any time. I no longer have to come to your store, I can just go online and voice my discontent.

So what’s the message? 

You need an easy to use, very visible complaint process.

In addition to having a process, it must be available for people who come into your store or who want to do it online. You must make sure that people know of your process. And you must take the time to respond to complaints. Not only must you respond, but I would encourage you to make your complaint metrics available. How many complaints have you received? How long did it take to respond on average? How many of the complaints were successfully resolved or, at least, the customer felt you listened and tried to do the best you could.

The complaint process not only helps you maintain good relationships with your customers, but it provides you with an important information tool. For many small-business owners, it provides key data on where changes need to be made.

And just one final thought. As I noted in the title of this blog, don’t label it a complaint process. This sets up a mindset for people. Instead call it feedback or some other similar word.  You want your customers to be able to say thanks as well.

It’s human nature that people will complain. Accept this fact and use it to your advantage.

Millennials, according to Megan, are the largest cohort and encompasses people born from 1980 to 2000. This generation is seen as “influencers,” changing the way business is done. What they want is having a ripple effect in what younger and older generations want as well.

When shopping, millennials are looking for experience and adventure. They want customization and desire, if possible, a connection with the source of their purchases.

Megan noted how important social media is to this generation. She encourages business owners to get involved by picking one platform and staying small.

Grab a cup of coffee and spend 15 minutes learning how to tap this large and influential generation.

Photo by Becky McCray.

What a great day. Your business is open. The wait is over. Instead of costs, costs, costs, you can now make some sales.

Some time passes and someone walks into your business. It’s the business owner from next door and she just wants to wish you good luck.

Some more time passes and some friends and neighbors drop by. Some of them bought something but you don’t really count that as a sale. No, they were just being polite.

Some more time passes and a stranger walks in, looks around some and leaves.

Some more time passes and a group of people walk in. They look around and then begin to ask questions about one of your products. They ask about a discount if they buy several of the same item. As they make the offer, you are mentally wondering just how to respond. You tell them you will get back to them on their offer.

Some more time passes. Another person comes in. He comments he didn’t know that your store was even here. He is from out of town. He had researched his opportunities, didn’t see what he wanted but had another reason to come over to your town and just happened to see your sign.  You have several items he wants and makes a purchase. YOUR FIRST SALE! You feel like your business is officially open.

The day continues. Sales are slow. At the end of the day, you look at what you sold and get a little discouraged.This isn’t what you expected.

Is this your story? I have certainly heard it from several owners.

What happened?

One answer might come from the small business myth, build it and they will come.” Successful business rarely, though, happen this way.

As the owner, long before ever opening the doors and not long after just getting the idea, you need to develop your marketing program. What do I mean?

1. Start with the basics. Who might buy this product or service? What do they want from it? What will they pay? Where do they live? How do they shop?
2. Develop some prototypes and have people test them. Then move on to some test batches and see how people respond.
3. Opening the doors are great but make an effort well before to let people know who you are, where you will be located, and what you have to offer. Line up a ribbon cutting and one or more articles for your local paper. Is your opening something that the media might cover? Get your signs out. Prepare your business cards and brochures. Now is the time to get your website up and operating. Getting the word out is key.
4. All of these efforts should be part of your marketing plan. The time to build that is also before the doors are open. Yes, it will change based on your results but unless you have it spelled out what will be done when and by whom, time will quickly pass and your marketing effort may be less than you want and later than planned. Think about the fact that for something like a yellow page ad, it might be nearly two years from when you place an ad to when it appears in print.
5. In your market plan, make sure you include traditional marketing as well as social media marketing. Mark your location and claim your bubble on services such as Google, Yelp, Yahoo, and others.

These are just a few reasons why marketing must happen from day one or before.

And this is just part of marketing.  A larger list might include pricing, packaging, store location, branding, community support, social media efforts, image, visual efforts, etc.

Remember also that marketing must be on-going. People forget. New products and services come out. The competition changes and changes tactics. The audience changes. Today we are thinking more and more about millennials. And the list goes on and on. Marketing must be consistent and focused on building and growing your brand.

So while sales are the lifeblood of a business, marketing is the heart that keeps things flowing.

Bottom line – The day you think of a business idea is the day you start your marketing efforts.

Photo (CC) by SEO, on Flickr

Recently, my wife and I decided to be a local tourist. We took a couple of days to go visit local historical sites that we had never seen before.

Our trip took us into some very small North Dakota towns where we decided to spend the evening. We found our lodging using a smartphone.

The next morning it was time for breakfast. Imagine our disappointment when the online results took us to a café that was being rebuilt. The next town did not show anything available but we took a chance that the gas station might have something. When we pulled into town, we noticed there was a grocery store/bakery. The sign on the door said it would open in about 10 minutes. So we waited. The result was some tasty baked goods, coffee, orange juice as well as the hot dogs, buns and potato chips we wanted for lunch.

We asked the owner why she wasn’t online. Time was one issue. The second issue was being accurately shown on the map. There was a listing for her store but, as the town did not have a zip code, the location was in another town 16 miles away. Her business was listed in a city website directory but it didn’t have any information about what was offered or hours of operation.

We used our smartphone two other times on the trip, both times for directions. The results were correct once and incorrect the second time.

So what’s my point?

Your business, whether large or small, must have an online presence. At a minimum, you must get on the map in the correct location. You should also ensure that someone can get some idea of what you offer and when you are open. All of these basic items can be done from a simple static website. Yes, this was a tourism situation but I think I am like many other people using my phone to search in my home community as well as when I am traveling. And younger people depend even more on mobile devices.

An alternative might be working with your community website to get that basic listing but, remember, you have no control over that site. Making changes can be difficult and if no one regularly maintains that site, your information can be out-of-date and of little use to the consumer.

The idea of developing an online presence can be a scary prospect. To help you understand why it is necessary as well as the language and basic elements you need, the Power of Business and a group of Extension educators have developed information to walk you through the process.  You can find three free resources here. While some of the information is industry-specific, most of it is generic and can help any business owner.

So what are you waiting for? Don’t let customer pass you by. Let them know you are there with your online presence.

Tools (CC) by Spinster Cardigan, on Flickr

Marketing makes many small-business owners nervous. They aren’t sure just how to approach it in terms of an overall focus. Nor do they know what to do when bombarded with a constant stream of articles touting the new “must-do” marketing approaches. (See Basic Marketing Tips)

The typical response of business owners when facing these issues is to go one of two directions. The first direction is to run some ads, contribute to local fundraising efforts and join local civic organizations.

The second approach is to try every new tool that comes along but often with no thought as to how each tool, or if each tool, fits into the marketing plan.

Two issues arise with both of these approaches. First, the business owner has no plan or goal for marketing. Second, without goals, trying to decide what tools to use becomes nearly impossible. The glitter and idea of new tools becomes the deciding factor instead of what each tool offers.

It’s knowing what you want to achieve that should drive your marketing effort. This means knowing who your potential customers are, where they are located and how to reach them. It is this information that should guide the selection of the best marketing tools to use.

Some of the traditional marketing tools such as meet and greet, business cards and signage or visual pull, offline and online, still are great tools.

And nothing can replace the brand ambassador, or that customer who shouts out how great a job you are doing. But on the flip side, nothing can hurt like the negative review that a dissatisfied customer offers.

Mentioning brand ambassadors or dissatisfied customers brings in the idea of the global marketplace and some of the shiny, new marketing tools available. Where once the dissatisfied customer told maybe 20 people, today the world is his or her stage through new tools such as online review sites or social media. Similarly, the ambassador is of great help. Today’s consumer puts a huge amount of trust in these online comments, even when coming from people they don’t know.

Online Tools (CC) by Greyweed, Flickr

E-commerce, mobile, location-based marketing and social media represent just some of the new marketing tools that small-business owners can use. Each tool may have a place in the marketing plan.

So what’s right in terms of shiny, new marketing tools or tried-and-true old standbys? It depends. The small-business owner’s knowledge of his or her customers, goals and capacity should be the deciding factor on what to use. Business owners shouldn’t select marketing tools based on what those tools have done for someone else or the promises made about their effectiveness.

Two final notes: First, even with a careful selection of tools, no results are guaranteed. That is why the owner constantly must evaluate what’s working and what’s not and make the appropriate adjustments. Second, more new tools always will be coming along and the customer also will change. Thus, what works today may not be the tool for tomorrow.

Effective marketing can pay big dividends. It demands a market understanding and a selection of the best tools to use, whether traditional or new and shiny. Each business owner needs to find his or her best path.

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