// BLOG
Are More Facebook Likes Better?
October 23, 2011
Recently a client asked what I thought about the businesses on Facebook who seem to be obsessed with boosting the number of “likes” of their business page… and here’s my two-cents:
Boosting your numbers and trying to prove how popular you are is just like old-school “blast and pray” advertising. You blast as much “stuff” into the universe as possible and pray something sticks and someone will buy. And we all know where old-school tactics got us; broke and customer-less, right? 
So here’s the thing: like ANY marketing, our goal is to attract the right people – people who are potential clients or can refer them, right? We don’t market to just anybody any more, we’re way beyond that. We’re smarter and have better tools. Do you want a million ‘anybodies’ to “like”, “follow”, “add” or “friend” you? Or fewer people who are genuine prospects who might actually buy from you?
Think about it: If you’re a company that sells Social Media Services to small business owners do you really want grandmas, teenagers and die-hard 9-5ers as your “fans”? Sure, a few of them may know “someone”… but is that really where you want to spend your time and resources? And do these people really want to read what you have to post? Probably not – and 99% of the will end up blocking or ignoring you. So why in the world would you want to campaign to attract a gazillion of the “wrong” people?
My thing is this: as with most things in life – and especially marketing – I’ll take quality over quantity any day. I want fans, friends, and followers who are actually interested in the content I post, and will engage with me – and maybe even buy something or refer someone to me some day – not block or ignore me.
So instead of measuring your success by the number of “likes” your page has, I’d measure engagement. How often do people comment on your posts? How many different people comment? Are they the types of people you’d like to do business with? If not, then it might be worthwhile to focus on attracting and recruiting those you want to do business with, rather than just anybody. (AnybodyWho is NOT a Target Market!)
Do you have a FaceBook story or tip you’d like to share? We’d love to hear them!
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Are You Networking Wrong?
October 9, 2011
We all know that word of mouth is the best marketing tool there is. Why? Because when someone tells a friend, family member, neighbor, or colleague how good you are, you’ve already overcome the biggest hurdle to making a sale – trust.
Networking is a great tool for building a referral network and increasing word of mouth business because it allows people to see you, hear you and watch you over time and that builds trust.
There are a ton of networking opportunities out there for business owners. Including Chamber of Commerce events, Business Networking Internatio
nal (BNI), LeTip, Successful Thinkers, and dozens of others. Then there are the professional and social groups and associations, Rotary, Kiwanis, Soroptomist, etc. If your goal is to meet people who will help your business grow, then not all groups are created equal and like any marketing tool, it is important to have a strategy and to choose wisely.
Here are 4 things to consider before joining any networking group or association:
- What is your goal – As a business owner I’ll admit my #1 goal is to meet people who can help me make my business a success. Whether they are are potential clients, people who have access to and can introduce me to potential clients, or successful business owners I can learn from. Every group I’m involved in – whether it’s networking, charity, Chambers, or a committee, I join with that goal in mind. Some of you might think this sounds selfish and self serving, but it isn’t. I was doing volunteer and charity work long before I became a business owner. The only difference is now instead of stuffing envelopes or volunteering at bake sales I’m on committees and boards of directors – places where I can meet the people who can help my business while I’m giving back to the community. All I’m saying is that as business owners we need to be mindful of where we invest our time.
- Who attends the group – This is huge. I am asked to attend networking events all the time, but my target market are 7 figure businesses – and if a networking groups consists mostly of start-ups and home based businesses, that isn’t’ the best use of my time and resources. Who is your target market? When considering a group or event ask yourself, is it going to help you get exposure to that target market? If not, you should probably pass.
- What is the cost of membership – I want to wipe out a common misconception and make one thing very clear here: NO NETWORKING GROUP IS FREE. Sure, maybe there are no membership dues but time is money and for most of us, our most precious commodity. So when considering the cost of membership I want you do this exercise:
a). Multiply your hourly rate or wage x (the number of hours at the meeting + the number of hours spent on follow up coffees, lunches, phone calls + travel time)
b). Add the cost of coffee, lunches, dinners, drinks, mileage, bridge tolls,
c). Add up any dues or fees paid
d). Now add the totals of a, b and c together – this is the total cost of membership.
e). Now I want you to divide the total cost of membership by your average sale amount to figure out how many clients you’d need to make this investment worthwhile. Think about the networking you’ve been doing, is it paying off? I bet you’re going to be surprised
4. Analyze the clients you’re getting: Ok, so speaking of your average sale amount – take a look at the clients you are getting from networking; calculate the average sale amount AND the profit margins, do they match up to average? Technically, both numbers should be higher than average if you’re networking in the right places, because they come to you pre-qualified and ready to buy because that trust hurdle has been overcome. If they aren’t you may be networking in the wrong places.
Remember no marketing tactic is going to give you the results you need if you don’t put some strategy behind it. Plan. Analyze. Think. Take a look at these 4 tips the next time you are thinking about going to another networking event or volunteering for another committee! Remember, time is money!
What do you think?Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
The Secret to Creating Raving Fans: Good Customer Service Isn’t Enough
September 19, 2011
I’m old school. I came up in a time when the customer was always right (even when they weren’t!). In my first job at Dunkin Donuts, I learned quickly what that meant. I was 14, given the job because my mother, who managed another store by the same owner decided I needed something to “keep me out of trouble” and I had an attitude. I was watched, scrutinized, and secret shop
ped and told again and again to watch my “snotty” attitude. Dunkin Donuts was huge on customer service – and so were the jobs I held for the next 10 years; sandwich maker, waitress, customer service rep – they all knocked the snotty right out of me and taught me how to politely smile and say yes ma’am, despite how rudely the customer treated me. Yes, I learned great customer service – and even earned awards for it later in my career.
Times have changed. I certainly don’t think the customer is always right, (See, “When to tell a Client to Take a Hike”) . But I also think that great customer service is becoming a lost art. When I walk into Starbucks and four twenty-somethings are behind the counter doing anything but waiting on me, I know times have changed. My Dunkin Donuts manager would have tapped me on the shoulder, pointed to the line at the counter and patronizingly snarled, “ you have customers” . Then, once they were served, pulled me aside to give me another “the customer always comes first” lecture.
As business owners, we constantly read and hear how we should be “wowing” customers: turning them into raving fans, creating armies of loyal followers, and creating “buzz”. But how do we do that? I haven’t really seen anyone explain how to go from “ok” customer service to “out of the park” customer service. So I wanted to share with you four examples of out-of-the-park service to give you some ideas of what it takes to wow customers and create raving fans.
The situation: I had a few dents and scrapes on my new-ish car that I wanted to get fixed. So, I went to some body shops for estimates.
OK customer service: – They could have looked at the damage and provided me a fair estimate.
What R&D Bodyworx did: While they were looking at my body damage they noticed my tires were in pretty bad shape. They actually told me they wouldn’t give me an estimate until I got new tires – they were “dangerous” they said. The following week I got a flat when one of my bald tires gave out and I had to replace all my tires. Guess who’s going to get all my body work for life!
______________________________________________The situation: I needed some information that had something to do with technology and/or vaguely related to my website. So I sent an email to my web builders at Safehouse Web asking them what they knew about the topic.
OK customer service: They could have told me where to go to get the info I needed and directed me to a few websites; which is really what I expected.
What SafeHouse Web did: Instead, he did the research for me and sent me an email answering all of my questions. I know he did the research for me, because he included the links and said if I wanted to read up on it more, here were his sources… Out of the park service!!!
____________________________________________The situation: I needed a banner – yesterday – and went to Front2Back Designs. I sent them all my artwork but my logo file was corrupted. They asked me to send a new file, I did, it was still corrupted.
OK customer service: They could have told me to go back to my designer and get another file – one they could use, which could have taken days.
What Front2BackDesigns did: Realizing I was in a hurry for the banner and had no time to be going back and forth with my designer, they proactively re-created my logo for me… getting my banner done on time and saving me lots of time and headaches! They “Wowed” me!!!
_____________________________________________The situation: I was setting up an event in Eventbrite and was having trouble with formatting. I emailed customer support and explained the problem.
OK customer service: Customer support could have come back and told me there was a problem in my html code that was creating the problem and told me how to adjust it to solve the formatting issue.
What Eventbrite did: They emailed me back and said the problem was my html code, AND they already made the corrections AND even formatted my event for me!! So by the time they responded to my email (which was very quickly) my event page was perfectly laid out! They created a Raving Fan!!!
___________________________________________________The bottom line is, with prices rising like crazy and consumers having more choices than ever we are looking for those things that set businesses apart (see: “Price Doesn’t Matter”). – And good customer service is NOT something that can set you apart – good service is an expectation – WOWing customers ; giving people something to rant and rave and tell their friends and neighbors about is what creating an amazing customer experience is all about!
Do you have any “Out-of-the-Park” customer service experiences you’d like to share??? Leave your comments here.
By the way, if you liked this post, I’d really appreciate your Retweet!!! Thank you.
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+Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company
- Carolyn Higgins, President of Fortune Marketing Company specializes in helping small to medium sized businesses get the customers they need to sell more, increase profits and achieve all of their business and personal goals. We do this by implementing and managing marketing systems based on data and strategy - there is no guess work. For more information visit us at: FortuneMarketingCompany.com. We'd be glad to help!
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