The Little Agency That Roars!

Get social with your new business efforts.

New business efforts have always been about creating awareness, making connections and capitalizing on referrals. 

Social media's very existence is based on referrals, connections and awareness.

Put the two together and you've made magic.

• We all want to work with people we know, trust and like. Social media is the quickest way to give new customers a feel for what we're like, what we stand for and what it would be like to work with us – all on their time, at their convenience.
   
• With social media you can now economically create awareness for your business well beyond your physical location. Small, local businesses can truly build a national awareness. (If that's what you're after. If not, use it to reinforce your neighborhood, city, metro-area awareness)
    
• Managing social networks is more efficient online than generating networks offline. Even though social media is very time intensive in the beginning, as you get up to speed. 
    
• With social media you're not constantly having to chase new business. Often it finds you.
    
• It’s hard to socialize with brick-and-mortars. Your store isn't making connections with your customers. It's your people – the voice on the phone, the person behind the counter, this is where connections are made. Social media is about people. It puts a face on your business.
    
• Social media allows local businesses to deeply differentiate themselves in ways your other new biz tools can never reach. 
    
• Social media isn’t brain surgery. The best way to figure it out is to jump in. Use common sense, your personality and your offline personal networking skills online.

 

The power of personalization. The problem with personalization.

One of the last bastions of direct mail is personalization. Look! There's my name. They're talking to me. They even spelled my name right! But when the list is wrong you'd be better off if your advertisement was addressed to "Occupant."

Ever address someone by the wrong name? I know an account executive who once asked a round woman when she was due. The problem with personalization is that it's very difficult to recover from when you get it wrong. 

At some point I'm going to proudly fly my "senior citizen" flag. But not now. (For the record, while I may drive like my mother, I'm 46 and I haven't received my AARP offer – yet) Today I want to be seen as anything but a senior. (Do seniors even like being called "senior citizens?")

So please make me an amazing offer. Call me out by name. But if you're going to make any other assumptions about me, make them so complimentary I'll accept them whether true or not.

Honest Abe the Ad Guy

“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what you will, is the greatest high-road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause.” 
- Abraham Lincoln

Sounds like our 16th President discovered the power of social media. Heart and mind. An unbeatable combination in advertising (and sales, and love and life).

You don't need more time.
You don't need more input.
You don't need more feedback.
You don't need more budget.
You don't need a second opinion.
You don't need to sleep on it.
You don't need to run it up the flagpole.
You don't need to meet on it.
And you definitely don't need a committee.

You just need to make a decision.

Do you Pay-Per-Click? You should.

If you have a website and a marketing budget, you need a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign. It's just that simple. PPC is the holy-grail for local retailers. 

It's measurable. You'll know exactly how many people acted on your advertisement.

It's cost-efficient. You set the amount you're willing to pay, per click, per day, per campaign. Then you ONLY pay when your ad works. Nothing is better at moving people quickly and directly to your web site or Facebook page. 

There is no other medium like PPC:

Reach customers who are ready to buy.

Drive traffic to your door (both your online and physical doors).

It's a cost-efficient way to compete with the the guy down the street as well as the big, national boys.

Increase online orders.

Warm up sales calls.

Grow your list of contacts.

Invite action on your web site.

Coordinates easily and smartly with your other marketing efforts.

Nimble. You can literally turn off the campaign, tweak your ads, and turn them on again at a moment's notice.

PPC ads are the quickest way to get your website on the first page of Google, Yahoo! and Bing's search pages (PPC ads show up on the top and right column of search engine pages).

Improve your organic search results (the "free" listings Google generates based on your search keywords). PPC ads direct traffic to your site which help improve your desirability to the search engines. 

PPC just plain works.