Small Business Marketing
Employees play an important role in small business marketing– even when they aren’t in the marketing department. Customers’ impressions and beliefs about your business are largely built around interactions they have with your employees. So, it’s important that employees believe…
Read MoreA great campfire story compels the audience to listen, eager to hear what happens next. And they will remember the story, to share with others later. Wouldn’t you love for your marketing to capture some of that feeling? Unfortunately, small…
Read MoreHere’s a cautionary tale and follow-up to last week’s defense of marketing implementation. Be wary of implementing any marketing communication without an effective strategy. Marketing strategy is really important! Check out this startling example of bad marketing implementation I stumbled across…
Read MoreWhen a business doesn’t understand its customers or know what’s important to them, it’s tempting to “throw things at the wall to see what sticks.” The result is usually confusing and bland (what a combination!). Check out this supposed tagline on a newsletter…
Read MoreWhen marketing your small business, keep in mind that customers are naturally less interested in seeing your marketing messages than you are in sharing them. One simple way to make it easier for customers to engage with your marketing content is…
Read MoreAt lunch yesterday, one of my favorite diners, The Echo, proclaimed some pretty extreme excitement over its new brunch cocktails. As you can see, there are exclamation points galore (Except for the Irish Coffee. Apparently, it doesn’t deserve any enthusiasm).…
Read MoreSome marketing campaigns are so groan-worthy you have to share (and turn them into an object lesson). I received the following email from Microsoft, proclaiming, “You’re social, we’re social”: Object Lesson #1: Don’t Beg There are few things more pathetic than…
Read MoreThere’s a curious phenomenon at church potlucks, which anyone who has cooked for one has witnessed. Simply cooking a dish you know to be delicious is not enough to entice people to eat it. As my mom taught me, you have…
Read MoreMy colleague Joanne Glass recently shared an experience with me that all marketers can learn from. It starts with this excerpt from a deli’s marketing communication: During a quick glance at the menu, Joanne also spotted “Chichen Salad,” along with…
Read MoreA Reminder to Always Proofread Your Marketing Copy When a business makes mistakes in their marketing communications, there are several problems: The business looks stupid. The business looks careless. The business’s marketing communications strategy to address the mistake is inevitably…
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