You have a large amount of control over that first impression but also some aspects you don't control, notably when the impression is going to be formed.

What can be done to maximize the potential for your business to make a stellar first impression?    

Episode discussions:

• How to use and leverage the myth of the first impression in your business
• The difference between contact and impression
• What aspects of first impressions can and can't be controlled
• The impact of authenticity and consistency on your marketing

[01:26] Understand how real and important first impression are

…and how quickly they're made.

• As Malcolm Gladwell points out in his book, “Blink”, decisions that people make are made rapidly and automatically with very little information.
• We've evolved over years to make rapid decisions.
• "Purchase decisions are based on emotion"
• Customers are bombarded and overwhelmed with choices, they as well need to make decisions almost instantly.

[03:22] Once a decision is made, people defend their viewpoint

• Once that first impression is made about your brand or business, customers will fight to justify their initial decision and cling to their initial reaction/impression.
• That's why forming first impression is crucial.

[04:10] Contact vs. Impression

• There’s no certainty in knowing when the first impression will occur or what element of your marketing pushed the customer to form the impression.

Everyone triggers differently.

First contact does not always mean the first impression (discussed)

"Most people will completely ignore your signage, your uniforms, your location, your pricing, your phone staff, even the smell of your lobby and will walk away with almost no recollection of what just happened."

 Seth Godin-"All marketers are liars"

Modern Marketing Meaning:

We see ads and messages all the time all around us but it’s only when something stands out or gets recognized by us that we form that ever important first impression.

[05:44] Everything in your brand, business, and story needs to be consistent and authentic because it is unknown which element is going to provide the first impression.

• We can control: our signage, uniform, location, pricing, design, appearance of store, product marketing
• We can’t control: which point of contact will form the first impression.

[06:59] Be authentic because it will make being consistent easier.

[07:29] The myth of the first impression recapped. 

Mentioned in this episode:

“All Marketers Are Liars"- Seth Godin

“Blink”- Malcolm Gladwell

Design is something you want to invest in because the rewards are significant.

Why is it so important to get it right?

Because no business can afford the consequences of bad design!

Episode discussions:

• 5 reasons why great marketing needs great design
• The consequences of using bad or inconsistent design
• Why to apply a minimalist concept
• When ugly designs get a green light
• How much better a business can do with better design

[02:33] 5 main reasons why great marketing needs great design

1. First impressions You only have a short period of time to make an initial connection with the customer, especially because people are subjected to thousands of advertising messages every day.

• People will form impressions and judge based on looks.

1. Lasting feelings When done right good design makes people feel better about you and about your company.

Bad design: in a best-case scenario, people forget it and it doesn’t have an impact

In a worst-case scenario: people automatically associate bad design with a bad company

[05:15]

1. Recognition

• enables you to get better results for less money
• even small local businesses can reap rewards of consistently good design across their marketing channels
• adds up to form lasting brand impressions

If you use bad design or inconsistent design, you're wasting money.

• Make sure your branding and design is aligned across all marketing channels

(website, social media platforms, printed)

• Show your logo, brand colors, similar font, sizes, and imagery

[06:53]

1. Easy to use, navigate, and understand

• Good design helps people move from point A to point B seamlessly, easily, and without pain or distraction
• Apply a minimalist concept
• Key to figuring out is what point B looks like. What action are you trying to get your customer to take?
• Try to get them there as quickly and easily as possible
• Do this with clean and easy to use design

[08:24]

1. Encourages social sharing.

• Create design worth sharing and interacting with

Being intentional about ugly designs.

• Can be a time and place where ugly designs do really well
• Test aesthetically pleasing designs before reverting to ugly designs
• Be strategic about testing and split testing in order to decide if the ugly design will perform better.
• Make sure it's tracked, analyzed, and intentional

Everybody has different tastes and preferences.

Be aware of your target market and what they find appealing.

Their opinions are what really matters.

[11:50] If you've been surviving with OK design, there's infinite potential for your business to do even better to connect with your customers, grow your revenue, and build brand awareness using really good and well-thought out design. 

One of the key things that separates digital marketing from traditional marketing is access to fast and efficient metrics that allow you to create high converting and effective marketing campaigns.

Digital marketing allows you to react and adjust on-the-fly which means better results, less money and less stress.

Episode discussions:

• The importance of metrics and analytics to your business
• Specific metric tools to use and when
• How the “curse of knowledge” can affect your bounce rate
• “CTR” and “LCV” explained!

[01:10]

5 tips on measuring your digital marketing analytics

1. Monitor your website visitors/traffic

• Easiest place to start
• Locate the sources that are sending you the most traffic and which pages are getting the most action.
• Helps maximize what's already working for you.

Tools:

• Google Analytics (Reference Episode #3 on free customer market research tools)
• SumoMe Heat Maps: find out how people are engaging with your content on your website and adjust accordingly

[06:19]  

1. Bounce rate. The number of people who visit your site and quickly leave or "bounce off".

• The longer visitors linger on your website, the greater your opportunity to convert them.
• Low bounce rates help with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings.
• If you have high bounce rates, look at your website objectively through the eyes of your prospective customer.
• Avoid the "curse of knowledge".

[08:00]

1. Number of Email Subscribers. Look for a steady increase of subscribers over time.

Everyone can benefit from using an email marketing strategy.

Key: Exchange something of value for visitor email addresses

Respect their email: nurture the lead, provide more value, and educate them on services and offers.

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR) Refers to how many people took action and clicked on your post or ad.

• Valuable metric to watch when creating an ad for social or search engine platforms.
• High CTR: Your ad is relevant enough for someone to want to click to learn more.

[10:00]

1. Lifetime Customer Value (LCV) How much a customer is worth to your business over their lifetime.

• Determines how much you're able to spend to acquire a new customer.
• Experiment with different marketing options in order to find one that enables you to acquire customers below cost.
• The most important metric of all in any marketing strategy.

[12:15] [Show recap]  

Content marketing is a strategy that produces serious results time and time again.

The backbone of this strategy is the commitment to consistently publish quality content.

There other aspects of successful content marketing that aren’t so obvious.

The information shared in this episode should save you time and prevent a lot of frustration.  

Episode discussions:

• Content and content marketing defined
• The benefits of content marketing and why they far outweigh the costs
• What they didn’t tell me about content marketing
• The two parts of an effective content marketing strategy
• How much time should be spent on creation and distribution
• The main goal of content
• How consistent content stands you out from your competitors

[02:28] What are the benefits of content marketing?

• Improved brand perception, brand awareness, thought leadership, improved search engine ranking, decreased marketing costs, higher website authority, decreased lead-to-customer time, happier and better informed customers, fewer customer service issues.

• There are two parts to a really effective content marketing strategy…

[03:27] Step #1: Content Creation

Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing:

"The strategy of creating and distributing valuable and relevant information to a specific target market with the end goal of driving profitable customer action."

• What is content? The delivery tool for your message which should focus on providing as much value as possible.

Be cognizant of what form of media your customers like to consume and match your brand and content.

[06:22] Step #2: Content Distribution

"If you build it, they will come does not apply here. If you build it, you've gotta go out there and show everybody what you've got to offer."

Distribute content through email list, social media platforms, paid advertising, SEO, direct mail, radio, TV, etc.

“You need to spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% of your time distributing that content."

 Derek Halpern from Social Triggers

• The vast majority of your effort should be on promoting the content and making sure it gets in front of your customer avatar.

(Familiarize yourself with customer avatars by listening to episode #2)

[08:35] Creation is only step 1, distribution is step 2 which is as, if not more important than content creation.

How much content do you need to be producing?

It depends on your market, industry and what you're trying to accomplish.

• Focus on quality over quantity
• Identify where your customers are spending their time online
• Longer and less frequent content over shorter and more frequent content (with a few exceptions)

Takeaway point: People, social media, and search engines tend to prefer longer form content.

Watch metrics, analytics and how people are engaging with your content.

[09:58] The main goal is to provide as much value as possible.

Your readers, customers, and clients expect you to be consistent.

Consistent content stands you out from your competitors 

[11:09] Show summary:

• What they didn't tell me about content marketing:

Distribution was as or more important than the content creation  

• Spend 20% of your time creating valuable content and 80% ensuring you're distributing it correctly.

Retargeting and remarketing are synonymous but no matter the label,

it’s one of the most exciting aspects of business available today.

Find out why this strategy is hugely beneficial and massively powerful and how to use and leverage it in your business.

Episode discussions:

• What is retargeting or remarketing?
• The potential and opportunities for using remarketing in your business
• How you can use it to grow and build high-value, long-term customer relationships
• How it enables you to convert cold leads into "hot traffic" and ultimately into repeat buyers
• Why it’s an incredibly profitable strategy

[02:17] What is remarketing or retargeting?

They’re essentially the same thing, it depends on what platform you use.

It’s an online marketing technique that enables advertisers to reach out to visitors who already visited your website with a tracking code or pixel.

Modern Marketing’s Opinion:

It's the most powerful advertising method available on Facebook and other platforms because it gives you the ability to advertise directly to people who already know you.

[03:03] What is a tracking code/pixel?

An invisible piece of code that goes on your website.

• Tracks your website visitor activity
• Each platform provides its own code that gets installed on your website
• Facebook's tracking pixel is the easiest and most effective.

[05:05] The benefits of retargeting and remarketing

1. allows you to maximize your ad spend
2. enables you to progress relationships
3. enables you to stay top-of-mind
4. enables you to test different offers (listen to episode #2 on customer avatars)
5. enables you to continue to offer value
6. boosts your revenue opportunity with the "97%"

[08:12] How to use retargeting to benefit your business

Start creating retargeting lists based on:

• Website visitors
• Email list
• Video viewers

[10:03] Think about how you would talk differently to people who already know who you are vs. people who have no idea who you are

Provide different offers, value, or incentives. Use what best resonates with your audience.

[11:29] The final step on how to use retargeting in your business

Continue to build the relationship.

Drive them back to your website by continuing to add more value with your content.  

 With your retargeting lists, you're able to effectively and cost-efficiently advertise and market to people who already know who you are. 

At a recently attended business growth seminar in Victoria, British Columbia,

Adam took notice of a topic that was repeatedly brought up:

How complicated online marketing strategy seemed to be.

It doesn't need to be complicated. The roots, strategies and underlying concepts of marketing are simple and have been used for decades.

In this episode:

• Facts on customer and client media engagement
• Ways to create an effective online marketing strategy
• The type of content that reaps the maximum reward possible

 [04:30] Facts

In North America, over half of internet activity is performed from a mobile device.

Action: Your website and online content needs to be mobile responsive.

The average Facebook user spends upwards of 40 minutes each day on the platform.

Action: Leverage the power of Facebook ads

YouTube reaches more 18-49-year-olds than any cable network in the U.S.

Action: Not having a YouTube channel or not putting out regular content is a missed opportunity.

97% of all consumers are searching for local biz online

Action: Have an effective online marketing strategy.

[05:37] 3 ways to create an effective online marketing strategy

1. Focus on making digital marketing a key component for your business

• allocate a sufficient number of hours each day or week
• dedicate a part of your budget toward digital marketing

1. Focus on the channels your customers are most active on.

• Your average customer's age gives you an idea of which platforms will provide results.
• Search Google by typing in customer's age, demographics, etc. to find out where you can find your customers online.

[08:28] 3. Start creating.

• Share other's content: (blogs, articles, things that are relevant to your customers and business). Associative benefits as a thought leader and provide value to your customers.
• Create your own content: reaps the maximum reward possible.
• Include video content: talk direct to your phone, use screen captures, animated videos, VSL's, or hire a professional videographer

[14:39] Next episode: Retargeting (remarketing) and how you can leverage it in your business and more specifically: How to leverage Facebook's retargeting!   

As important as marketing is, it's not given the full credit it deserves.

A solid marketing strategy should always form the foundation of any marketing decision, campaign, tactic or idea. 

This episode of the Modern Marketing podcast discusses

• Why marketing is the single most important element in business success
• 3 major marketing myths
• The difference between bad marketing and good marketing
• How to get incredible results using the right strategies  

[02:40] Why is marketing so important?

It doesn't matter how good your product or service is if nobody knows you exist. 

So why do so many businesses write off marketing as a waste of time and money?

The mistaken belief in 1 of 3 things:

1. It's too expensive
2. It doesn't work
3. It's too complicated

[04:04] Marketing Myth #1: It's Too Expensive

Bad marketing is an expense. 

Good marketing is an investment with a powerful return-on-investment,

increased market share, improved brand perception, and happier customers. 

Many online advertising options are currently 99% cheaper than traditional methods and reach the same number of people or more. 

Decide which resource you have more of to invest: time or money

Less expensive marketing options entail more of your own time making them work. 

Investing more money in your marketing saves you the time.

"Effectiveness should always take precedence over price.

Look for value and return on investment"

[06:38] Marketing Myth #2: It Doesn't Work

People form this impression as a result of a bad experience with marketing. 

Marketing doesn't work if it's poorly planned or lacks a strategy.

Good marketing works! 

• Connects business to customers, and customers to businesses.
• Answers: Does everyone who could buy from you know you exist?

It's not marketing that doesn't work but rather the individual tactics or strategies employed that didn't deliver your desired results.

"Marketing overall is really just communicating value to your customers"

It always works.

Create a winning marketing campaign by focusing on strategy first, tactics second. 

[08:18] Marketing Myth #3: It's Too Complicated 

Marketing is seemingly over-complicated largely in part by excitement over the latest fancy software, programs or systems. 

Reality:

 "A simple and strategic plan executed regularly will beat a poorly planned or inconsistently executed strategy all day, every day."

Really stick with the basics and with foundational marketing strategies and principles.

You can find more information on how to do this in Modern Marketing’s previous podcast episodes: 

Episode #2 talks about getting to know your target audience by building a customer avatar. This is the first step in designing a simple but consistent marketing strategy.

Episode #1 discusses how respecting the market enables you to choose the right marketing strategy for you, your business, and your message. 

Start with the basics by 

• identifying your customer
• finding out where they're spending their time online
• getting your message in front of them  

“Differentiation” and “positioning” are two of the most common marketing terms.

So how do they apply to your business?

This episode focuses on actionable and practical tips to help your business stand out from the crowd and away from the competition.  

• [02:02]

"In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible.”

 " - Seth Godin

Why are customers going to pick you over your competitors?

Being different in the right ways has spawned new ideas, new companies, and new industries.

• Being average is the mark of a dying company. The world needs your creativity, insight, and inspiration.

"If a product’s future is unlikely to be remarkable – if you can’t imagine a future in which people are once again fascinated by your product – it’s time to realize that the game has changed. Instead of investing in a dying product, take profits and reinvest them in building something new.” -Seth Godin

Modern Marketing Meaning:  If a products future is unlikely to be remarkable, you're better off doing something else.

If your customers are confused and uncertain of why to choose you over someone else, your odds of success go down dramatically.

• [04:33] How do you make sure your business is remarkable enough to be heard above all other businesses?

Positioning: An effort to influence consumer perception of a brand or product relative to the perception of competing brands or products. Its objective is to occupy a clear, unique, and advantageous position in the consumer's mind.

 Business Dictionary

Modern Marketing Meaning:  How the customer sees you.

Where do you sit in the customer’s mind when they think about a product or service that you offer?

It is crucial to be aware of your positioning and to know where you currently sit and where you'd like to sit.

This ensures you maintain consistency and you end up where you desire.

• [05:52] Differentiate to Dominate.

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”-JFK

This can be applied to business.

With 28 million small businesses in the U.S. alone, fitting in is not going to be a profitable and long-lasting strategy.  [Forbes.com]

• [06:55] When establishing a form of differentiation, there are two big traps that businesses fall into.

1. Deficient differentiation: Not being different at all.

Born out of fear, resistance to change, uncertainty in a business’s true value to its customers.

Find a way to clearly define the differences between yourself and your competitors or risk being seen as a commodity.

1. Defective differentiation: Being different in a way nobody actually cares about.

A common trap for businesses first trying to stand out from the masses.

Key point: See what customers value rather than finding something to be different about.

Identify what factors, traits, and benefits your target market values and shift your attention accordingly.

   "Being different is great, just make sure you’re being different in a way that actually matters to your customers."

• [10:58] The key to differentiation and to standing out in your market place is to first know where you stand in relation to your competitors in regards to price, quality, and value or "positioning".

Next: Focus on the one thing your customers care most about that best aligns with your business and then go about making that your businesses primary driver, differentiator, and unique selling proposition.

If you knew what your customers wanted before they asked for it, you’d have a collection of highly sought after products and services. 

In order to gain some insight into what it is they want, you’d need to know things like where to market, what offers to make and what keywords to use.

It all may sound a little intimidating but the #Modern Marketing Podcast exists to equip you with helpful tools to take your business marketing to the next level. 

This episode reveals #5 free online market research tools to uncover key insights into the minds of your customers.

[01:38] Why do market research?

It's getting harder and harder to know what customers want

In many industries, the sales aspect of business has been half phased out by social media, google, amazon and a variety of local review sites.

“Market research forms the foundation for all future marketing successes. “

[04:34] Free market research!

Billion-dollar data collection agencies provide free information.

[05:13] #Top 5 market research resources to use for new clients or projects

1. Google Trends. Valuable when determining current market trends.

Tracks keywords and provides suggestions for terms rising in search volume.

Shows you what the market is asking and searching for.

Allows you to align your business accordingly.

1. Google Keyword Planner: Reveals specific keywords that are being used within the Google search engine. Adwords account is required but sign-up is free.

Type in a keyword, get back the number of searches for that keyword and suggested keywords.

1. [08:21] Facebook insights. Facebook collects data on 1.8 billion users.

Post a variety of content to your business page.

Observe which posts get the most engagement and determine what type of content your audience is most interested in.

Create similar content around products, services and offers.

1. [09:21] Twitter Insights. Use to view what content and headlines engage and invoke your audience the most.

This information is indicative of how good an offer is and identifies what messages resonate with them.

Twitter Audiences allow you to hone in on the types of things your customers are interested in.

1. [10:57] Google Alerts: Monitors what's happening with customers in real time. Enter the keyword you want to track into the search bar and google will notify you when the keyword appears online.

Track your business name, your industry, your name, your competitors name, etc. and use it to engage and interact in real time.

Makes a valuable reputation management tool.

“Combine all 5 tools to create a compelling picture of customers wants, needs, and behaviors.”

What are customer avatars?

Listen in on why they’re important and beneficial to your marketing efforts and how to create a customer avatar that helps identify your most profitable potential customer.  

• [01:08] What is a customer avatar? All of your customers drilled down into one ideal customer.
• [03:00] Main benefits of having a customer avatar:

1. Allows you to create laser-type focus on who it is you're trying to reach
2. All of your future marketing messages become dialed in and the customer feels understood.

(For more on this topic, be sure to catch episode #1!)

1. Makes marketing more effective: If you know who you're trying to reach, you can start to discredit less effective marketing options.

• [05:40] How do you go about creating a customer avatar?

3 main target market research questions/areas to cover when creating an avatar:

1. demographic- identify variables: age, gender, income, profession, job title.

How we describe ourselves and others.

1. geographic - identify where they live: city, state, province, country, continent, neighborhood, street
2. psychographic - interests, attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, activities enjoyed, buying patterns

“Leverage this material to better connect with customers so you’re better able to target them.”

• [08:58] Gather all of your material and information to create one customer avatar.

If your business offers diverse products and services, you might need to create more than one custom avatar.

The key is to pick your highest margin or most valuable service and go down the trend from there.

• [10:00] How can new businesses gather information necessary to create a customer avatar?

Suggestions: research competitors, survey, interview your first initial customer

For those with a customer list, data mine: Take the top 10-20% of your overall customer list and look for common trends and themes.

Composite a customer avatar from the data and tailor all future marketing to attract more ideal customers.

• [12:07] Live life like them. Put yourself in their shoes.

What are hopes, dreams, fears, and pain points?

The better you understand your customers, the better your business and marketing is going to be.

Next episode: How to read your customers minds. Find out how to know what they're thinking and wanting before they know themselves…using free resources!