Fast Marketing Minute

Have an upset customer on your hands? If you’re not sure what to do, stay calm and stay tuned. 

No one wants an upset customer — it’s bad for business — unless you know how to turn the situation around. If you’re able to do that, you might actually build a stronger bond and build a stronger relationship. And, they may become a better customer and refer you more business.  

3 Marketing Tips to Defuse an Upset Customer

1. Create a direct route for complaints. There’s nothing worse than customers getting bounced around from department to department, that just gets the customer more angry. Smart business owners and managers designate at least one person with the authority to resolve a problem, especially once it’s escalated. The point is to make your customer feel heard and let them know that the company cares — even if they don’t get the answer they want. Have an online business? Give your customer the email address of someone in charge. Someone that will actually write back. 

2. Take the time to really listen. You might think it’s a no-brainer, but it’s not. Some staff have not taken what I’ll call ‘empathy training’. Customer service reps often think that the customer is the problem, not the issue at hand. There’s lots going on right now with the pandemic, and there’s added frustration on all levels. Talk with your team about being a bright spot in a customer’s day. What’s the phrase, it’s not what you say, it’s how you make people feel.

3. Let customers have a say. What about asking customers to provide feedback on how to make things better? It’s not possible in every situation and you might want to reserve the effort when there’s a certain gap in the quality of your product or a service mishap or explosion. Be upfront and sincere. Get the customers info so you can stay in touch and follow up. That means a lot to someone who’s steaming mad. Genuine counts too. You can spot a phony a mile away. On the phone, on a chat box — in person for sure. 

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Book a call to see if we’re the right fit!  RobinSamora.com/letstalk.  Talk soon! 

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Looking for some social media tools and resources? Here are some that I recommend to my clients.  

You can go crazy with all the social media apps and tools that are out there, but there are some that are better than others. Here are five that I’ve recommended to clients; some are free, others offer a premium version. 

5 Social Media Marketing Tools You May Not Know  

1. Buzzsumo. Here’s an amazing tool that I love! It’s called Buzzsumo and it allows you to see what’s trending, to research influencers and popular topics. Pop around their site to look at what information is available and how it can help you in your content marketing. 

2. Question DB. Need better blog ideas? Introducing Question DB. It’s not your typical keyword tool which means it’s valuable for writers and marketers looking to grow a blog. Choose the right words, and you’ll be rewarded with a large list of questions. 

3. Loom.  Loom is a video recording tool that helps you get your message across through instantly shareable videos. Want to add attention getting video to your sales and prospecting process? Loom may be just the thing. 

4. Mixit. With video as the most watched media, it’s time to up your game, if you haven’t already. With Mixkit, you can find awesome stock video clips, stock music, sound effects and video templates — all for free!  Take 10 minutes and see what Mixkit offers.

5. Similar Web. Want the skinny on your competitors? That’s where SimilarWeb comes in. It’s a website analytics and competitive traffic intelligence platform. You can scope out digital media intelligence, sales intelligence, research intelligence — even investor intelligence. Competitive insight is key to gaining market share.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Book a call to see if we’re the right fit!  RobinSamora.com/letstalk. Talk soon!  

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Looking to get some help on what you want? Let me share what has worked for me and thousands of other business owners who are clear about what they want.

Marketing Tip: 5 Steps to Manifest What You Want

1. Be clear about what you want, not what you think you can get. Take your time thinking about it. Clarity is key to manifesting.

2. Don’t Ask, Don’t Get. Visualize what you want stretching the boundaries of what’s possible.

3. Create a manifesting circle for personal and business. What does that look like? Draw a sun and rays stretching out and in your own handwriting, write what you want on the rays, being as specific as possible. And don’t forget to add feelings.

4. Sign your drawing or paper and date it. Save it in a notebook, put it on your desk, hang it on a wall. It’s there to refer to. When you’re writing, put yourself in a state of feeling “as if it happened” and be grateful for what’s on its way.

5. Expect the best. Bags of $50 dollar bills don’t just show up on your doorstep. But opportunities and people will. How things happen is not entirely up to you, and that’s what’s so exciting. Your job is to fuel your desire and take inspired action.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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If you’re not taking advantage of customer testimonials, you’re missing a giant marketing opportunity.

How to Market Your Business with Testimonials

1. Use your homepage to post reviews. Use testimonials to keep visitors on your site with the ultimate goal to get them in your sales funnel. And if you have a handful of testimonials that are awesome, include them on your landing pages, product pages, and contact pages to drive conversions. Just don’t add them to add them, make sure the placement is right.

2. Share testimonials on social media. Here’s the thing. If you’re using social media to promote your brand, use testimonials to promote your customer reviews. Find out where your audience is hanging out first, then the post reviews there.

3. Add case studies to your marketing mix. Case studies are a great sales tool in their own right, and adding testimonials makes you seem more real and human. People typically take time to read them, and stay on your site longer, too. So feature them on a dedicated page on your website.

4. Create a short-form video testimonial. Short-form videos, under two minutes, are easier than ever to create and publish. They offer brands an opportunity to showcase how enthusiastic their buyers and customers are and how customers interact with your product.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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No surprise video is rocking it. And so is short-form video. What are some of the best video trends to watch for? Listen in.

4 Short-form Video Marketing Trends for 2021

1. User-generated content is on the rise. Consumers love it. User-generated video or UGC influences customer’s buying decisions and promotes trust. And brands can publish videos that don’t break the bank.

2. Show people behind the brand. Audiences demand authenticity and transparency, and that’s not just with marketing. Feature your team behind the brand or your CEO on social media.  Engage your target audience and stay connected in a video that’s 2  minutes or less.

3. Focus on educational content. Explainer videos and DIY and how-to style videos are super popular. They provide added-value content for the end user and build stronger brand loyalty. Invest time and resources into these shorter videos and turn lookers into buyers.

4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). While it’s not exactly a trend, shooting FAQ videos is important for voice search. Write a list of your FAQs and create a video for each one. You can post the videos and transcripts on your website, on your Google My Business page, or upload to YouTube.

Short videos can be anywhere from 30-seconds to two minutes. And, the best thing is that you can create them on a budget, without all the production hoopla.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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Everyone has a personal brand. You might like yours or hate it. Either way, here’s why it’s important.

There are lots of benefits of a powerful personal brand. Let’s look at 5 benefits:

5 Ways a Strong Personal Brand Will Help Your Marketing 

1)         Build a steady stream of ideal clients. When you position yourself as authentic in everything you do, in person and online, you’ll attract prospects, referrals, even clients who want to give you business.

2)         Be open to rewarding partnerships. When you increase your visibility and social brand, others notice. It could be as simple as your consistent commenting on LinkedIn, sharing your blogs, or creating videos and posting on YouTube. Put yourself out there and watch what happens!

3)         Other leaders will take notice. Like attracts like and leaders in your industry and others will begin to notice you, if they haven’t already. That could mean speaking gigs, webinar opportunities, media projects, and of course, more business and bigger projects.

4)         You’ll get recognized in your niche. Your personal brand is all about you, what you believe in and what you stand for. That means, if you talk about marketing 24/7, you’ll gain credibility as a marketing expert. Be clear, consistent and careful with your brand. It really does matter.

5)         Improve your perceived value. Build a social media presence that’s unstoppable. Create and curate content that supports your brand and its value. Spend time developing your personal brand and share what’s important to your audience; WIFT, what’s in it for them not WIFY, what’s in it for you.

Create a personal brand that never sleeps. You’ll gain credibility, prestige and recognition. Jump on the brand wagon and keep it going.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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Want to create a ripple effect by leveraging your press? Here’s how.

If you’re like any business owner, you know how important it is to get the biggest bang for your buck. And, that includes leveraging all the free publicity you worked so hard for.

5 Ways to Leverage Free PR and Get More Visibility

1. Showcase press on your website. One way to do that is by sharing the logos where you’ve been published. Create a homepage banner on your website which makes it easy for visitors to see. This may be static or rotate.

2. Create a media or newsroom page. This requires a bit more work as they’re additional pages to your website, but you can provide the press link to the outside source, which is also great for organic SEO and for backlinks to the media.

3. Add quotes on your About page. The About page is often the most visited page on a website, so if there are quotes from others you’d like to share that promote your brand and your expertise, go for it!

4. Include mention in your blog or newsletter. Third party endorsement and media coverage not only give you visibility, but add to your expert authority. Your audience wants to know that they’re working or considering to work with an expert, so don’t hold back. If you don’t toot your horn, no one will.

5. Don’t forget about your email signature. How many emails do you get a day? How many do you respond to? If you’re like me, tons! Use this opportunity to add a soft sell. Include a short quote, or as featured in, plus a logo. Looks impressive!

Share your success with others who want to be part of your success. Have investors? Definitely share the news to keep them abreast of what you’re doing and the wise investment they made.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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Ever notice that your logo and colors look different online. The colors aren’t right, the logo isn’t the most current or it just looks off? Here’s an easy way to fix that.

Consistency in marketing is everything, right? Well it should be with your brand, the image of your business, who you are and what you do. How your visual brand looks online and offline is key to people recognizing you in a crowded marketplace rather than your competitor.

Easy Simple Brand Guidelines for Marketing

There’s certain visual branding you can’t fool around with.  And that includes the colors and fonts of your logo. Let’s face it, your logo represents your brand, whether that’s you or your company. And if you’re online, your brand is working 24/7.  You never want to miss a chance to bring in business.

We don’t live in an all-print world any more. When print dominated marketing, it was fairly easy to identify colors with the Pantone’s color chart or PMS colors.  Without the chart, red might be a fire engine red, warm red or cool red.  And, a printed piece from any press might look different if you didn’t use PMS colors.

It’s a digital world and HEX colors rule. A HEX color is a six-digit combination of numbers and letters, a mix of red, green and blue. Basically, it’s shorthand for RGB or red, green, and blue values – probably a bit more than you need to know, but still something you should know.

Brand guidelines and a color brief create branding consistency. They outline your exact colors, fonts and logo styles in various sizes, shapes and formats so you’ll never go wrong – or forget what you’re using.

If you’ve invested in a logo, ask your designer or VA to create brand guidelines. Or, do it yourself.

Who wants a call from the brand police?

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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Looking for publicity? It’s a free way to gain visibility – but what’s the real reason you want press?

To start, free PR and publicity will help build your online reputation, credibility, and increase your expert authority. Plus, you’ll be perceived as an expert. All are key factors in marketing.

6 Reasons You Need Publicity in Your Marketing Plan

1.  PR plays an important role in your marketing plan. Think of PR and marketing like best friends. One gets press and earned media, the other targets your audience in more direct ways. Together, they work toward a common goal.

2. Publicity raises your social brand. It also uplevels your profile and professional standing. That helps you feel more confident and own your expertise.

3. Free PR allows you to showcase your brand. It’s earned media from a third party and you don’t pay for it, so it appears more credible.

4. Marketing and PR build like, know, trust and believability. Both set the stage to build interest, a following, and ultimately sales.

5. Publicity distinguishes you from the competition. Chances are your competition doesn’t have the time or the know-how to get free press and publicity. That gives you a big advantage.

6. Free PR opens doors to new opportunities. Your clients, customers, partners and vendors see that you’re up to something big. They want to do business with people who are making things happen.

7. Getting mentioned in the news feels great. It puts a zip in your step, and acknowledges that you really do know what you’re doing. You knew it already, but it feels good to hear it from someone else.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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Think reputation is just what people think of you when you work together?  Time to think again.

4 Marketing Tips to Build a Strong Online Reputation

1. First impressions are everything. In a digital world, you need to be a control freak! In control of what your prospects and customers find out about you online. And that includes search results from Google, listings and directories, social media, and reviews.

2. Claim your Google My Business listing. Google My Business lets people find you and it’s also one of the best publicity tools out there. You can upload images, blogs, articles, press releases, videos, plus — post and answer your own frequently asked questions.

3. Create a consistent NAP. A NAP is your business name, address and phone number, and they should appear everywhere online the same. If there are any inconsistencies or mistakes, you run the risk of confusing customers and potentially damaging your credibility and position in search results.

4. Design a strategy for getting reviews. The easiest way to get online reviews is to ask for them. If you feel funny, don’t. Just be honest about why you’re asking – you want to build your business. People want to help others who have done a good job. Still on the fence? There are other tools that can help you. Business cards, post cards, and flyers give details on how to give a review. Email works wonders, too.

Nobody likes a bad comment. But if you get one, it’s best to be upfront and work to take the conversation offline. Have a positive comment? Be the first to say thank you and acknowledge the feedback.

I’m Robin Samora with the Fast Marketing Minute. My passion is low-cost marketing to help you grow your business and get more visibility. Check out my website at RobinSamora.com.  Talk soon!

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