Three60 Marketing

The Power of Content

Nate Hirshberg — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 19:43:00 +0000

Think about the websites you visit on a daily basis. Most likely, a large percentage of them are sites that revolve around useful and/or entertaining content: YouTube, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN.com, Yahoo News, TechCrunch, TMZ, Huffington Post, etc. Even sites such as Facebook and Twitter fall into this category. Although these sites are the ones that you check every day and represent the majority of your time spent online, these types of sites make up a small percentage of the Internet overall. Most sites are sales oriented, either serving as an online presence for a physical business or trying to sell items directly online. If you’re in marketing, you most likely manage one of these types of websites. As such, your primary goal is to get more people to your site and to get them to spend more time there. The statements above should provide an obvious path to help you achieve this goal: add more content to your website!

Whether that content comes in the form of blog posts, news articles, whitepapers, podcasts or videos, the important thing is that you’re providing interesting, timely and relevant information. You want your website to become an online destination, especially for those in your target market.

Make your content good enough that it’s worth sharing. Look at your website and ask yourself: “If I stumbled across this site on my own, would it be worth sending the link to a friend?” If not, reconsider your strategy. What can you post that would elicit that reaction? What type of content would add more value? The better your content, the more significant the impact will be to your site’s traffic. To leverage the unparalleled networking capabilities of social media and online word-of-mouth, make sure to include “Like”, “Tweet”, “+1″ and other “share” buttons on your site. To further encourage this sharing behavior, offer site visitors an additional incentive to tell their friends about your content. You can do this by providing an exclusive offer, discount or free download when a visitor “Tweets” or “Likes” your site, or you can even make a charitable donation for everyone that shares your content – Be creative!

Not only will better content result in more word-of-mouth traffic, but you’ll begin ranking higher in search engines as well. The goal of a search engine is to deliver valuable results to their users, and they have developed various ways to tell which sites offer the most value. Good, frequently updated content is a sure-fire way to achieve this. Further, you will earn in-bound links from other related sites, garnering additional traffic from the linking websites. Since search engines heavily weight the importance of in-bound links when evaluating a website’s value, you will simultaneously be improving your search engine rankings just for having these links. You can increase the effect of these factors exponentially by proactively reaching out to blogs and other influential online resources that may have an interest in your content. You are able to use your proprietary content as “link bait” in order to increase your traffic and search engine ranking, resulting in a win-win for your business.

Of course, once you have a visitor on your website, it is critical to convert them into a customer. To accomplish this, make sure to include a call to action in your content (when appropriate), or at least make it simple and easy for the visitor to navigate to your website’s point of purchase. An added bonus of including useful content on your site is that it presents you as an expert in your field. This creates a level of trust between you and the potential customers visiting your site, making them feel more comfortable buying from you. Content can help with every step of the sales process, from drawing customers to your site to getting them to make a purchase.

Everything is Marketing – Leverage Your "Peripheral Marketing"

Nate Hirshberg — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:17:00 +0000

Your company’s marketing efforts are not confined to your marketing department. Any interaction with consumers should be considered part of your marketing, whether that’s your customer service, product packaging or even your order forms. Marketing is anything that affects a consumer’s perception of you.

When you think of “marketing collateral” you shouldn’t just be thinking of your flyers and brochures; you should be thinking of your employees, your operations, and most importantly, your overall customer experience. Most companies tend to treat operations and sales/marketing as two separate entities, often causing a rift between the two or at least a different set of priorities. This is a serious mistake. A marketing campaign may attract a ton of new business, but it doesn’t do much good if operations can’t keep up with demand, or if the product falls apart when the customer receives it, or if the instructions are too confusing to understand, or if the customer is put on hold for a half hour when they call with a question. Each of these aspects of your business contribute to your customers’ perception of you, thus making each one part of your overall marketing message. Let’s call these non-traditional factors “peripheral marketing”. Even aspects of your business that are primarily behind-the-scenes, such as supply chain management or your internal processes, may indirectly impact your customers’ experience and therefore be part of your peripheral marketing.

Any combination of these factors may persuade a consumer to purchase something from you. Although making the sale is a good start, providing that customer with a positive buying experience is priceless. This is where peripheral marketing is key. It includes anything that could encourage or discourage a customer from telling their friends about you, especially anything that could determine whether that message is positive or negative. Each sale you generate through traditional marketing efforts can turn into two, or three, or more sales thanks to peripheral marketing. Let your customers do the work for you by spreading the word within their own networks. Peripheral marketing is especially vital in the world of social media where this type of information can disseminate almost instantaneously. The value of such reach cannot be overstated. To fully take advantage of this opportunity, everything should be done to ensure that all contact with your company provides a positive experience. Each of these interactions should be considered part of your marketing.

The best thing about peripheral marketing? It doesn’t come out of your marketing budget! If your company has strong peripheral marketing, your job as marketer becomes much easier because all aspects of your business are reinforcing your initial message. You will maximize the effectiveness of your marketing by providing the full package. Peripheral marketing augments your overall marketing efforts by adding credibility to your sales pitch. It puts your money where your mouth is. If you make claims or promises in your marketing and then don’t follow through with your product, service or customer experience, you won’t be able to sustain your message for long. In this way, peripheral marketing makes the rest of your marketing efforts exponentially more effective, creating a synergy that could never be replicated by any combination of advertisements or sales collateral.

The Importance of Customer Service

Nate Hirshberg — Wed, 18 May 2011 01:40:00 +0000

Unhappy customers talk. All business owners know the pain that negative word of mouth can bring. But happy customers can talk too. Nothing is more valuable to a business owner than a solid referral. Consumers are used to condescending treatment, long hold times, mediocre resolutions, etc. It’s easy to do the bare minimum to keep your customers satisfied, to keep them from complaining. But that behavior isn’t going to do much for your customer loyalty, much less for positive word of mouth. Don’t just satisfy customers; “wow” them and turn them into brand ambassadors.

In this world of social networks and review sites such as Yelp and UrbanSpoon, bad reviews travel fast but so do good reviews. The power of word of mouth is increased exponentially in this environment. Don’t stand idly by, passively watching this conversation play out. Don’t be an observer. Go a step further: monitor your brand mentions among the social networks and respond to issues directly in the social sphere. Step in and change the direction of the conversation. Not only will you wow the customer with your proactive response but you can easily turn a customer’s negative experience into a positive one, all in a public forum, allowing others to see how adeptly you handled the situation. Not only will that provide some free publicity, but if the customer is truly wowed by your actions, you may even get an additional message of gratitude broadcasted to their social network; a post that can easily compensate for the negative message that may have originally triggered the intervention.

Zappos.com is a company that embodies the concept of over-the-top customer service. The website started as a simple online shoe retailer in 1999 and now generates over $1 billion a year selling shoes in addition to various other accessories. The company’s success can be attributed to the fact that their entire business model revolves around their customers. If you click on the “About” page on their website, you will read the following statement: “Customer Service Isn’t Just A Department! We’ve been asked by a lot of people how we’ve grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple… We’ve aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Internally, we call this our WOW philosophy.” This isn’t just lip service; the company takes their “WOW” philosophy very seriously, almost fanatically. Each new employee goes through a four-week training course dedicated to the company’s strategy and culture, particularly their obsession with customer satisfaction. At the conclusion of their training, the company offers each employee $2,000 (plus time worked) to quit. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh says that this is to weed out those who are going to jump ship anyway. Zappos wants employees who are dedicated to the company, their customers and their culture. The company is consistently ranked as one of the best places in the country to work (they were ranked #6 on Fortune Magazine’s 2011 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For”), so the new employees would be smart to reject the offer to quit. The company nurtures a tight-knit community among its employees and works to make them all feel part of “The Zappos Family”. These practices ensure that the company maintains a happy workforce which in turn projects this happiness towards their customers. They encourage employees to let their personality shine, especially on the phone. There are no scripts or time limits on calls; call center employees are free to say or do whatever it takes to make the customer happy. In fact, Zappos CEO Hsieh’s book is aptly titled “Delivering Happiness.”

The Ritz Carlton is another company that is world renowned for their exceptional service, an attribute that has earned them the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award two separate years (they are the only company in the service industry to win the award more than once). The company instills a culture of surpassing customers’ expectations. In addition to an overall culture of customer service, every employee undergoes comprehensive training focused on increasing customer satisfaction. In fact, they have been so successful with this that the company’s Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center now provides training for senior executives, managers and general staff in a wide range of unrelated industries. One of the most notable aspects of the hotel chain’s service is that they famously empower each of their employees to spend up to $2,000 per day to resolve a customer’s problem without needing any managerial approval. This employee empowerment should not be underestimated. It allows each customer to feel as though the employee is bending over backwards for them right then and there. It makes the guest feel as though they are important enough to warrant such a concession. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get an issue resolved when an employee needs to check with their manager for every small decision. So in addition to providing exceptional customer service to begin with, the Ritz-Carlton will go above and beyond the norm in order to resolve any issues that do arise. Personally, I find that a well handled problem often leaves a better impression than if I hadn’t had the problem to begin with. We have become accustomed to poor customer service, so to have an issue handled without hassle is so refreshing that it makes most people want to support that business further.

In fact, I recently had an experience that illustrates this point well. We had ordered 3,000 copies of a particular marketing brochure from one of our printers, a company called Print Runner. The order came in 3 boxes, one of which was damaged during shipping, destroying the brochures inside. Most companies would blame UPS for the problem, but I emailed Print Runner anyway, hoping there was something they could do. Without any questions asked, they offered to replace the damaged box at no charge. They even sent the replacement package via UPS 2-Day shipping so we would get the replacements as soon as possible. I cannot tell you how impressed I was by the way they handled the situation. They definitely earned our business for a long time to come. The little things, a personal touch, going the extra mile – this is what sets you apart. This is what will win over your customers.

Be Remarkable – Find the "Purple Cow" In Your Industry

Nate Hirshberg — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 01:21:00 +0000

I recently read “The Purple Cow“, Seth Godin’s insightful book on how to “transform your business by being remarkable.” The general theme of the book was that the best way to succeed in generating attention for your company is to build buzz the old fashioned way: by offering something worth talking about. Basically, the idea is to create and offer a product or service so unique that it markets itself. The simplicity of this concept is what makes it so brilliant.

There are very few, if any, industries where you can become the market leader by simply following the current leader. You’ll always be a step behind. You can try to brand yourself differently in order to appear that you are offering something unique, but most consumers will see through this facade. Instead, create a product or service that solves a new problem that doesn’t yet have a solution. Become the market leader from day one instead of chasing the top position.

Offer something different, something remarkable. It’s easy to copy someone else’s idea, but much more difficult to deliver a truly remarkable product. However, this doesn’t need to be a daunting task. Consider the problems your company or you personally face on a regular basis. Then determine what could be done to solve these problems. This exercise should provide you with a wide range of product ideas. Not every one is going to be the next iPod or Facebook, but I guarantee that if you reflect long enough, you’ll stumble upon an idea that could very well be the next craze.

At United Bank Card, we recently released a truly groundbreaking initiative that aligns perfectly with Seth Godin’s description of a “Purple Cow”. UBC is a nationwide provider of credit card processing and other merchant services, primarily serving small to mid-sized businesses. Our company’s Harbortouch division offers point of sale (POS) systems, the touch-screen checkout terminals you see at many national restaurant chains and large retail stores. The new program we released is a “Free POS System Program”. This initiative is sure to change the way that many restaurants and retail businesses think of POS systems. While POS systems offer countless time and money saving features for business owners, the significant cost is often prohibitive for small to mid-sized restaurants and retail stores. Previously, a POS system cost approximately $5,000-$7,000 per station; since a typical restaurant needs between 2-3 stations, this puts the total bill for an average restaurant somewhere in the $10,000-$21,000 range. Since POS systems were first introduced, they have been out of the budget for most mom-and-pop businesses. Our program changes that. Although they are being offered free of charge, Harbortouch POS systems feature top of the line hardware and software, providing the same features and functionality as competitors’ systems that are being sold for tens of thousands of dollars. In fact, Harbortouch systems are superior to more expensive POS systems in many ways. In short, this “Purple Cow” program now allows small and medium sized merchants to take advantage of the same benefits as the national restaurant chains and major retailers without the extravagant costs.

United Bank Card is no stranger to this type of groundbreaking program. In 2004, UBC launched the first free credit card terminal program, a model that has since become the industry standard. Before this initiative, credit card terminals cost merchants hundreds of dollars. In 2009, the company partnered with Casio to offer a free electronic cash register program, another substantial savings for business owners. In each of these cases, the job of marketer became much easier for the company because the market came to us. In fact, the free terminal program led to the company’s impressive 2005 debut on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in the nation at number 19. The following year, we were ranked #6, earning UBC the prestige of being the highest ranked company to ever appear on the list more than once. We followed up with three more consecutive appearances on the Inc. 500/5000 list. Although our previous efforts led to unprecedented growth, our most recent initiative promises to be even more powerful due to the value it delivers. The offering has already strongly resonated with our customer base and is earning us significant attention in the industry.

The moral of the story is that if we had followed the leader, we never would have seen the growth that we experienced. Our CEO identified a problem (the high cost of checkout equipment and the financial burden it created on small to mid-sized businesses) and solved it. By doing something new and different, UBC was able to surpass much of the entrenched competition. What is the “Purple Cow” opportunity in your industry?

Be A Rock Star – Market Like Your Favorite Band

Nate Hirshberg — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 14:44:00 +0000

Musicians and bands embody the perfect brand. People feel an emotional connection to their music, thus empowering the musicians who produce it. These musicians command the loyalty and devotion that every company wishes they could attain. This is why celebrity endorsements are so popular; companies try to latch on to the sense of admiration that consumers feel towards famous musicians, athletes and other celebrities. However, instead of trying to leverage someone’s interest in a particular celebrity, the brand should be trying to earn that loyalty and build that devotion on their own.

It’s not a coincidence that Facebook uses the term “fans” for a page’s supporters; that’s exactly what every company wants: fans. Likewise, Twitter “followers” are analogous to a band’s following. Maybe a company’s fans won’t rent a bus and follow their tour around the country, but they are interested enough in the brand to engage with it on a regular basis. Apple may be one of the best examples of a company creating true fans. Customers will wait in line for days to get the new iPhone or iPad. They watch Steve Jobs’ product announcements with a religious fervor. They speculate on new products and new product features months if not years before they are released. The question is how to turn a customer into a fan, part of your following. It all comes down to relationship building. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: invest the customer, not just financially but emotionally. You want the customer to feel a personal connection to your brand just like they do to their favorite bands.

Brands should tell a story; they should project a carefully crafted “brand image”. Look at Jeep, which has successfully aligned itself with the outdoor lifestyle for decades. Clothing companies are another prime example of this, aligning their brand with a particular market segment. The goal is to have your customers want to be identified with your brand. You want them to make it part of their own persona. Brands associated with a particular activity such as snowboarding or skateboarding are able to do this with ease because the activity is already something that the individual wants to broadcast as part of who they are. Companies like this enjoy the benefit of their customers wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts with their logo, and plastering stickers of their company’s logo all over their car, locker, etc. Their customers are proud to display their support of these companies in order to align themselves with the activity itself.

Even if your brand isn’t related to a particular activity or lifestyle, your company can still tell a story that a consumer wants to be a part of. Just like different genres of music, find a niche in your market and capitalize on it. Give your brand some personality and your customers will react positively. Your advertisements are the perfect place to start. Consider the success of the “Old Spice Guy”. Deodorant isn’t exactly the most interesting product to sell and it’s certainly not a product to which many people would say they have an especially strong affinity. Despite this, the “Old Spice Guy” ad campaign effectively created a persona for their brand that has enabled it to attract customers, and more importantly, fans. Sticking with deodorant, Axe body spray is another company which has been able to successfully stand out from the crowd in a previously undifferentiated industry. When it comes to crafting a story for a brand, Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man in the World” ad campaign is a prime example. Corona is another alcoholic beverage which tells a story in its advertisements; their ads intend to make you associate the beer with a tropical locale.

Your website is another ideal outlet to give your company some character. A corporate site doesn’t have to be filled with PR jargon; write conversationally and even throw in some humor. You’ll be surprised at how much of a difference this will make. Most people will find this refreshing and it will encourage them to engage with your company. For an excellent example of this approach, check out www.moosejaw.com. Every page of the site, every email newsletter they send, every page of their catalog, is overflowing with personality. Their witty and sometimes off-the-wall musings have earned the website a sizeable following. They have coupled this approach with a robust loyalty program (with generous bonus points awarded to their fans). The site does benefit from being aligned with the outdoor lifestyle, but by inserting their personalities into the brand they have taken this position and run with it much more successfully than many of their competitors.

A brand image should be created to lay out the general narrative of the company, but each customer should be encouraged to make it their own. This is another reason why people have such an affinity to particular musicians and bands: they have their own experiences and memories with the music. Allow your customers to create their own experiences with your brand and share these stories with friends. If possible, transform your customer base into a community, similar to Deadheads and other band-centric groups. A sense of community further reinforces your fans’ love for the brand, especially when they can share their experiences with other like-minded individuals. This is the reason why forums are so popular, it enables people to discuss their experiences with others. There are countless forums for technology companies (Apple, Droid, BlackBerry, etc.), auto companies (Corvette, BMW, Porsche, etc.), and many other industries in which the consumers have created a community to discuss their personal experiences with these brands. The “Wall” of your company’s Facebook Page offers a perfect outlet for this type of group interaction and is unique in that it allows you to actively join the conversation. Some company’s have even gone so far as to develop an entire social network for this purpose, such as Nickelodeon’s “Parents Connect”.

In virtually all industries there is already a generic brand. They may do well; in fact, they may even be the industry leader, but I guarantee that they don’t have many true fans. Take risks to differentiate yourself, to show your personality. Don’t try to compete with the generic brand by being equally as boring. Just like different people have unique tastes in music, your brand may not appeal to everyone. You need to be willing to sacrifice some of the casual listeners who may be turned off by this approach for the die-hard fans who will love you for it.

Marketing 2.0

Nate Hirshberg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Consumers see so many countless advertisements in a given day, in a given hour, in a given minute, that they have tuned out. Traditional advertisements no longer hold the power that they once did. Advertising used to be a very simple process: create a television or radio spot or a print ad and run it as much as your budget would allow. These days that’s a good way to waste your entire marketing budget without much return (at least in relation to the investment).

The effectiveness of these traditional media outlets has dwindled. Tivo and DVR have drastically reduced the value of television ads, satellite radio and iPods have decreased the number of people listening to radio, and the internet has significantly decreased magazine and newspaper readership. It is becoming increasingly easy for the general public to avoid traditional advertisements altogether. And other, more unavoidable ads such as billboards, product placement, etc. are often simply ignored by the tuned-out public. Even online banner ads, which briefly looked like the future of advertising, are generally seen as a nuisance and disregarded. If a consumer feels they are being sold, they will pay no attention to the proposition. “Salesperson” has become a dirty word. This has forced the marketing industry to develop new and more innovative methods of reaching potential customers.

Television, radio and print aren’t going anywhere for awhile, but these channels now have some new media counterparts that, if used correctly, are much more effective for maximizing a company’s return on their marketing investment. This is the advent of Marketing 2.0. Social media, search engine optimization and pay-per-click search engine advertising are just a few of the new outlets that marketing professionals are now utilizing with measurable success.

To stand out from the clutter, companies need to earn a consumer’s attention. You can’t force yourself into their world. The consumer needs to want to interact with your company. They don’t want their daily routine to be interrupted by ads; they want to choose when, where and how they interact with companies and which companies that they engage with at all. Your interactions with customers and potential customers need to be a mutual decision. Tactics like SEO and pay-per-click enable marketers to reach potential customers when they want to be reached, but the company must still offer something of interest. The goal of a marketer is to give potential customers a value proposition that makes them want to interact with your company. If they don’t want to interact with you, if the consumer doesn’t perceive some value in your offer, then your marketing message is already dead in the water.

Earning a customer’s attention is the hardest part. Once you’ve gotten a piece of their mind share, the sale should be easy. However, the sale should not be the end of your interaction with the customer. If it is, then it’s a lost opportunity.

A big part of Marketing 2.0 is relationship building. Let’s call it “relationship marketing”. Invest the customer, not just financially but emotionally. Forge a personal connection between your brand and the customer. If utilized correctly, social media is especially conducive to this type of arrangement. If someone follows your company’s Twitter account or becomes a fan of your Facebook page, they have opened the door for interaction. You are no longer a nuisance to them; they have given you permission to connect with them on their own turf. However, don’t abuse this position. Don’t flood their social networks with blatantly self-promotional posts and status updates. Although they have let you into their world, that privilege is tenuous. Don’t forget that this is a relationship, which means that your interaction with them should be a two-way street. You should continue to provide some value in order to earn your portion of their mind share. An incentive-based loyalty program is a perfect way to accomplish this, especially when you offer bonus loyalty points to your fans and followers. You can also supply them with exclusive coupons, inside info about your company, or sneak peeks at new products or services. These are your best customers, so treat them like the VIPs that they are.

Social media enables you to connect with your customers on a more frequent basis than other forms of communication; however, relationship marketing isn’t constrained to the online world. In fact, interactions with your customers in the real world are often vital to maintaining a lasting relationship. Although you may be able to stay in the forefront of your customers’ minds using social media, you must occasionally connect on some level in the real world in order to solidify your relationship with them. Offer discounts or special deals when customers check-in at your place of business on Foursquare or Facebook Places. You can also facilitate this in-person interaction by inviting your followers and fans to an exclusive event or giving them special “members-only” discounts at your store. When they come into your place of business, make sure that they receive the same VIP treatment you’ve been offering online. It’s all about nurturing your relationship with the customer. That is the only way to succeed in the world of Marketing 2.0.

Hello world!

Nate Hirshberg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:03:23 +0000

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!