Photo (CC) by Michael Rhys, on Flickr

The numbers are daunting. Every 60 seconds,

• 347,000 tweets are shared.
• 510,000 Facebook comments are made.
• 5,100 Instagram photos are liked.
• 48 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube.

Now add information we get from other online information sources such as email, blogs and websites.

Then there is what might be called the traditional sources of marketing information via print, radio and television.

Finally, don’t forget the billboards, business signs, networking events, etc. etc.

And you want your small-business marketing message to be noticed. Is this realistic?

Don’t despair. It certainly is possible. Just remember:

1. Marketing is not a “one and done” effort. You need to keep your name in front of the audience. Research shows that our memory is short. After a month, we can recall only about 25% of the messages we saw.
2. Target your message. Know who would be the best market for your good or service and target that demographic. This means using the media and words that will attract potential customers
3. Make your message clear. Get people to do something – read more, click here, check us out, stop in, or buy are just some options.
4. Brand, brand, brand – From the promises you make to the colors and fonts you use to the experience people have, all of these are part of your brand. All must be consistent and repeated over and over.

And don’t forget that as a small-business owner, you are a significant part of your brand. You represent the company in what you do and say. Networking is crucial. Your personal message and actions are as much a part of the company as are the rest of your marketing efforts.

Getting seen is a crucial step in building a successful, sustainable business. You have to make it happen.

The following past Small Business Survival articles will also help you develop your marketing effort. Search the site for even more help.

Understanding Marketing and Branding

Small Business Branding – It’s Not “We”, It’s “Me”

Marketing: It Used to be so Easy

Good Marketing Answers the ‘Why’ Question

Photo (CC 2.0) blullana_miranda, on Flickr

Some marketing tools are good. Others are great.

Typically a great marketing tool is having others talking about your business. Not paid ads but your own brand ambassadors telling your story.

What makes it effective?

It is part of our nature to trust other people. That is why reviews on your home page or posted on the wall or review sites such as Trip Advisor or Yelp are so popular.

And if we know the person who gave the review, or even know a person who knows the person, the trust factor increases exponentially.

So, do you get people to talk about their experiences with your business.

The easiest and most effective way: Ask! Ask them to comments on their experience with your business.

To increase the response rate, make it easy. You can: hand them a comment card; tell them the online sites on which your store has ratings; and/or send them an email asking for their comments and providing a link where to go.

My wife and I, when visiting a favorite restaurant, were asked to send a postcard to a friend telling them about our experience and offering them a discount to come in and try it out.

Also make comments visible in the store (some stores have big bulletin boards) and online. Customers like knowing you listened. Remember, though, to offer them the opportunity to keep their comments anonymous. Maybe a guest book would work in your situation.

Some business owners ask if internal sites as opposed to third-party review sites are better. Each way has positives and negatives. People who have a negative experience may not share that on your bulletin board and, once they leave, you probably won’t get a comment.

Third-party sites, however, have had fake review issues. Plus, people are more likely to offer strong negative comments online. As the owner, you need to respond to all comments, especially negative ones.  Try to solve the problem, but if that doesn’t work, at least tell people what you tried to do.

Other steps to get more comments include:

• Set goals for yourself. This will encourage you to ask your customers to give a comment.
• Use email. It helps build your email list, but it also gives you another chance to engage with the customer.
• Be active in your local community. Having comments that include your work outside of the business is great. And just getting your name out there helps increase your search engine ranking.
• Give a discount or freebie for a comment. Be careful, though, because some people will view this as buying the vote.

Word-of-mouth advertising always will be a great marketing tool. Customer reviews, either online or in writing, are a great way to make that happen. Get your system in place today.

Photo (CC 2.0) by Kenjl Ross, on Flickr

Practically all of the guest blogs I write for Small Business Survival focus on tips to enhance the management or operational aspects of your business. This post, however, goes down a new road.

I would love your thoughts on what you consider acceptable ratings, both as a consumer and as a business owner, when viewing customer evaluations.

Here is the story. Over the weekend (and again this morning as I write this), I had a routine oil change. Everything went fine, work was done in a timely manner, and there were no issues or questions.

A couple of days later I receive an email from the service supervisor. It said I would soon be getting a questionnaire on how I rated the performance.  Still okay at this point.

However, the email went on to say that excellent ratings were expected in all categories. If I couldn’t give them, the company felt they hadn’t provided the best service possible and that problems may still be present. If I couldn’t do this, then let them know what the issues were. This is where I stop to wonder about reasonable expectations (This certainly isn’t the first time this has happened).

I have three issues with the process.

1. I don’t want to be told what my expected rating should be. Isn’t that my decision? Also, how are they using the information? If they are compiling it for a performance metric, then they are getting skewed data and, if they are publishing it, all we are doing is inflating the true rating of the company. By making such a request, I feel justified in not giving an excellent rating.  If you have to push me to say it then something is wrong.
2. I believe to get an excellent rating you must exceeded the expected. In my case, I had an expectation the job would be done right and done quickly. It was just what I expected.  Is that an excellent rating though? Now I am not sure what would be service beyond the expected in an oil change. They did replace my battery in my remote for no charge.  Is that exceptional? Other than that their performance was the like most of my other oil changes. So maybe it is very good, because of the battery change, instead of just average.
3. This issue comes from myself as a consumer. I depend on ratings to help me make decisions. If they are using these in their marketing, I am getting an artificial rating which will not help in the long run. Personally, I don’t shy away from companies with a less than perfect ratings. That is why I read the comments. I understand though how this may drop a company from being #1 to something lower which may have some impact (especially if it moves you from page 1 since many people don’t move to the next page).

Yet I also don’t want to hurt the service personnel in their own evaluations. Routinely, these individuals have told me anything less than an excellent is reflected on their evaluation. I don’t know if it is true but why should thoughts such as mine impact them?  I had a pleasant person to work with who got my job done as expected. That’s the kind of worker I would want to have around.

Am I being stubborn or just missing the point about my customer satisfaction rating standards?  I feel a “good” is fine. As a customer I am satisfied and walked away with expectations met. An “above average” shows some extra effort was put in (which is my situation as they also dealt with my dead battery in my remote for no charge). An excellent is possible but it certainly isn’t the routine. Maybe it is an issue with the categories – met expectations, did not meet expectations, exceeded expectations might this give a business owner better data.

I would love to hear your thoughts. You can post them in the comment section or email me at: glenn.muske@ndsu.edu.

Please let me know if you are a business owner. Also, give some indications as to how you view a less than excellent rating from a customer.

I look forward to the comments and discussion. I will share what I hear.