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Can I Just Do It Myself? Sometimes.

More than once I have been asked if a client would do well to save on investing in a custom-built website and instead could just DIY it with one of the available online site builders.

For a small business or a startup carefully counting dollars spent, an online website building tool may be either very practical or may be seductive, but in a bad way. We are realists at K2M Creative Media. If you come to us to discuss website creation we’ll tell you the truth.

The truth is, it depends.

What are your goals and needs? That is the crux of the decision to be made. In the beginning of our website creation process we try to eek out this vital information.

What is your company’s goal for your website? Are you trying to attract customers from a new segment? Do you need it as a tool for brand awareness? Do you need to generate leads? Are you offering up a source of information and resources to a particular constituency?

What do you need your website to do for you? Do you need an ecommerce store? Do you need different calls to action on the site? Do you need data collection on the site? There are countless questions.

You may not know all of the answers to these questions when you begin. Especially if you are just starting a new business. But if you don’t clearly understand the goals of your site, it may be difficult for you to create one that is actually helpful to your business.

If you think there is a chance you will need to make changes to your site after it is built, either option may have benefits. If you use an online tool, you can make the changes yourself whenever you need to without any worry about dollars spent or calls to designers. But, if the changes you need are not easy to create or are not available in the pre-fab tool you have chosen, you may end up at a roadblock.

Additionally, there are certain conventions that the search engines prefer over others. Some DIY sites are better at setting you up in the right direction and some are worse. A custom built site, by knowledgeable creators, will set you in good stead. It would be good to know that your Google requirements are met and your SEO is properly set up right out of the gate.

Honestly, there are benefits to both models and it depends on your goals, needs, knowledge base and budget. If you want to talk about options, be in touch!

Color Me Beautiful and Make My Logo Gorgeous

We often talk about the content, concepts and methods of marketing. What about the look? Something as simple as color has such an impact. How do you choose the right colors for your product, event, logo or website?

Are you old enough to remember color wheels? Or to remember your mom having makeup consultations based on the season? “Color Me Beautiful” was a hit book about seasonal color analysis in the 1980’s. The idea was a simplified version of a previous publication and was based in research and writing from the early half of the 18th century having to do with chemistry and dyeing fabrics–the idea of a color wheel was born then.

So, how do you navigate the color wheel? It’s arguably more complicated now, with the addition of tones between colors, light and dark, the appeal of contrasting or opposite colors, the idea of monochromatic choices, and on and on. There is way more than, “I have Autumn hair with a Spring undertone to my skin.”

People always want their logos and promotional material to stand out. What is the perfect combination that will draw the eye of buyers? My advice on how to choose important colors in your business is twofold.

1) Use your gut. Unless you are colorblind, and I do have some good friends in this category, you probably know what you like and what doesn’t speak to you. Go with it. There aren’t such hard fast rules today that you cannot veer from. I mean, the first make up color wheels were in the 70’s….seriously? Have you seen those pictures???

2) My second piece of advice is to consult an expert. Your gut instinct and your personal taste can take you far. However, it’s possible that it can only take you “so” far. Knowing what to pair with a pair of black pants isn’t the same as knowing what colors will draw attention from consumers, which will work well with the back-light of a computer monitor and which will be most visible and attractive on particular types of packaging. I have been amazed countless times at how my talented graphic designers have developed an idea that I thought was already fully formed! Graphic designers have a lot of time invested learning about color. Not only about the color wheel, but about how colors translate digitally, in print and in different types of presentation.

When your foot hurts, you see a podiatrist. Tooth ache? Dentist. Color choices? Color professional. Aka, graphic designer. Personally, I think it works best when the designer is also working in consort with your marketing team and not in a bubble and…yes…that’s what we do. Want to know if you’re a Summer, Fall, Winter or Spring? Be in touch and we’ll do our best to figure it out with you. Should be fun—I love makeup.

Marketing – Smoke and Mirrors

In several recent meetings, potential clients have shared their experiences with pitches from competitors or from online solicitations from marketing companies.

Smoke and Mirrors don’t belong in a relationship between a marketing agency and a client.

Marketing companies have called and promised top Google page listings for either an unrealistically low amount of money or an exorbitant amount of money. Marketing companies have come in to present out of touch proposals with no research done about the target market, the client’s needs or desires.

There is a certain amount of mystery that marketing companies have historically. I understand why; much of the work of a marketing agency is creative and intellectual capital. It is the kind of work that is hard to quantify to people. You cannot see it, feel it, touch it. And yet, out of it remarkable things get produced. However, this type of work is easy to mark up in price. Unfortunately, some companies charge a lot of money for very little real work production with a lot of noise about their secret process. Smaller firms and businesses can easily be taken for a ride in this sort of situation.

The marketing companies that call to offer online miracles are easy to weed through. Some companies do honest quality work. I get these calls too and like to ask a lot of questions. I learn about my competition, what’s out there and have made some nice connections that way. I have found a few questions usually clear through the mess quickly. Some of my favorites are:

How much of my payment goes to Pay Per Click ad words versus to your company?
What do you mean by backlinks? Where do you get them? Or how do you make them?
Can you explain what SEO is to me please?

I have actually had more than one marketing solicitor hang up on me after one of these questions. I have also ended up teaching more than one person over the phone—“no, not all of the money goes to Google Pay Per Click because then your company wouldn’t be making any money” or, “SEO…no I don’t think you are correct that it is the same as what I pay for Google Ad Words, that is the Pay Per Click.” But so many people do not understand this wild wild west of marketing and the internet, it is easy to be taken advantage of. Especially if those calling are themselves uneducated but talk a good talk.

It is the client’s right to know what their money is being spent on. Even in a situation where the client is paying for that intellectual and creative work. A marketing company worth their salt is willing to explain what the money is for. I don’t mean that salary breakdowns need to be shared, but to explain that creative capital is expensive because it is valuable is a fair statement. To explain what SEO is and how hard and time consuming it is to achieve is also fair.

For my company, I even believe that with smaller clients on a tight budget it is helpful to explain what parts of SEO and marketing in general they may wish to do on their own to save money. We can work together that way and everyone feels good about the process. My goal is to do what is best for their bottom line and what fits their needs, which is never smoke and mirrors.

Marketing to Moms – We’re on the Phone!

shutterstock_266982734 Successful marketing requires you to identify, find, and interact with your target market. If the demographic you seek is the “mom-market,” where can you make a connection? As a busy mom myself, I can tell you exactly where you’ll find us – on our phones!

In May 2017, Edison Research did a survey on “Moms and Media.” These highlights from that survey confirm what every mom already knows, but what might be surprising to some business owners.

Nearly every Mom owns a cell phone in 2017
In 2017, more than 9 in 10 moms use social media
Moms spend an average of 3.5 hours using the Internet every day
55% access the Internet most using their cell phone
84% of Moms use Facebook

The study outlines the mindset of today’s mom as a consumer.

She lives in the mobile space
Her mobile lifestyle dictates how she adopts other behaviors
She drives social media; checking in multiple times daily
She doesn’t shy away from new media or technology
She is a heavy media consumer

So, here’s the bare minimum you need to interact successfully (and profitably) with the “mom-market.”

A well-designed website that looks good and works well on all devices – especially smart phones. “Responsive” website design is a must.
An intriguing and engaging social media presence. Start with Facebook – that’s where the moms are!
Online advertising that drops you right in front of your target audience. Think Facebook ads, “boosted” Facebook posts and sponsored posts on Facebook.

If you want to tell us about your product or service, you’ll have to have that conversation in the space where we spend our time. We’re way too busy to go searching for you.

Party Etiquette: Does Your “Push Marketing” Need To Be Pulled?

Until recently, most marketing was “push” marketing. Advertised sales and special promotions pushed consumers to act; telling us when, what, and where to buy. Products and services were pushed into the marketplace with the goal of an immediate boost in sales. Branding was based on product lines, not on the company culture. In the last few decades, the internet has fueled the rise of “pull” marketing; a subtler conversation with consumers that invites us in as friends, rather than demanding our attention.

Here’s why “pull marketing” should be a major part of your marketing strategy.

Be interesting…

Sit in a room full of puppies or children and shout, “come over here, come over here, come over here.” Odds are, they will ignore you, or even run away. But if you do something interesting, entertaining or otherwise engaging, those pups or kids will naturally gather around you – and they will stay as long as you continue to pique their interest.

Target is a prime example of a retailer committed to pull marketing. Their commercials are bright and colorful – lots of movement and music and fun. Target is promising just the sort of experience that room full of puppies or children would run toward.

Build a rapport…

With Millennials (now the largest generation) and Gen Z flooding the consumer market, “pull marketing” becomes even more important. These digital natives can instantly learn everything about your product – and do a price/feature comparison between your brand and others in seconds. They already know how to buy, where to buy and what it will cost. You don’t need to tell them that. All you can influence is “when” to buy, “why” to buy, and “what” to buy – and you do this by using your marketing to build a rapport that pulls them in and builds a relationship.

Be genuinely social…

One huge mistake business owners make is ignoring the “social” in social media. They feel that the purpose of social media is strictly to get their own message out – to talk at people. Who is the person you avoid at a party? Is it the one who seems interested in you, the one who entertains you and makes you laugh – or the one who talks only about herself all evening?

Case in point: Wendy’s sassy Twitter exchange with a consumer who accused them of using frozen meat – complete with a mic drop ending – went viral last January and instantly turned Wendy’s Twitter feed into a “must-read” experience.

If you blast out posts that are the equivalent of standing at a party yelling “look at ME, look at ME,” you’ve written yourself out of the conversation.

Social media marketers follow various ratio rules, such as the 80/20 rule. Twenty percent of your posts can be persuasive call-to- action pitches for your services and products, but eighty percent should be informative, entertaining, and sharable content. That’s how you build your brand, extend your reach and keep the attention of your audience. In Forbes.com, May 15, 2017 article “12 Of The Worst Social Media Mistakes And How To Avoid Them” the Forbes Communication Council wrote, “think of promoting your business as a “commercial break” among other content that provides value.” Yes, that’s a lot of work, but that’s how you get results. If your audience wanders off to talk to someone else at the party, you’ve lost your ability to talk to them at all.

Marketing has generally become more conversational and personal. Today’s consumers have high expectations and short attention spans. That calls for a fresh approach to your marketing strategy.

Cheers…and a Laugh!

shutterstock_510691372 A recent experience got us thinking about the concept of giving “something for nothing” and the impact that philosophy has, both on your business and on your clients.

One of our associates was planning a Saturday evening out with her husband. She happened to find a local comedy club that was offering FREE tickets to that night’s show, with no catch other than being told that there was an $18 drink minimum per person. This drink minimum was explained over the phone and was also printed on the tickets. While this couple usually opted for dinner and a movie or a play, they decided to give the comedy club a try.

As it turned out, the two-hour comedy show was very enjoyable. Over the duration of the show, our associate and her husband each enjoyed two drinks, with each beverage costing an average of $12. They left the theatre that evening feeling entertained and refreshed.

On the way home, they talked about the “gimmick” that the theatre used to draw them to the show that evening. “Would we have gone to a comedy club that we had never been to before if they weren’t offering ‘free’ tickets,” they wondered. What if the club had, instead, sold tickets for $18 per person to the show, but included a free drink (or two) with each ticket. The couple admitted that they would have been much LESS likely to try something new if this had been the offer, and would have most likely opted for their usual date-night dinner and a movie combo.

The psychology that the comedy club (which was completely full on that Saturday night, by the way, filled with “free” ticket holders) utilized was very clever. The concept they used is this:

People gravitate to and are more willing to pay for something that is known. In this scenario, the unknown was the comedy show. The couple had never been to this club, didn’t have friends who had gone there, and weren’t sure if they wanted to spend the money to try something different on their date night. The comedy club removed (at least psychologically) the “risk” of not enjoying the show by offering the tickets for free. “Well,” a “free” ticket-holder could conclude, “even if we don’t like the comedians, we didn’t pay for the tickets, so no great loss.”

And the $18 drink minimum? This ensures that the club makes money that evening, and probably makes more than the minimum because once people start drinking and enjoying themselves, they tend to continue. People are psychologically more prepared to spend $18 on drinks, which they are familiar with, than the SAME $18 on a show that they are unsure of. Net result for the company is the same.

The “free” tickets also ensure a greater likelihood of a full house, which tends to create a better atmosphere at a comedy show . The better the atmosphere, the more fun people have, the more they drink, the more money they spend, you get the thinking.

In the end, everyone won – the club, which packed the house and made money from the high-margin cocktails, the comedians, whose jokes will always sound better to a full audience, and, of course, the customers, who enjoy a few drinks while taking in a good show in an energized atmosphere, and the feeling that customers enjoy most of all – that they got a great deal.

Are You Who You Think You Are?

todo-list-297195_640-2 We recently experienced something new. A client, whose name is known to us locally has a business name that is similar to another recognizable business name in another city far away. We discovered it by observing a really diverse group of likes to the client’s Facebook page, a group so diverse and so far away geographically that something didn’t add up. Only after investigating the Facebook pages of the likes did we discover that many of these “likers” had erroneously happened upon our client’s page, thinking it was associated with that other business.

Product and business confusion aren’t new. Do you remember the diet/appetite suppressant candy called “AYDS”? They were successfully touted on the inside cover of Parade magazine and sold like hotcakes. But the discovery and naming of the AIDS virus was the death knell for the AYDS candy. They tried to change their name to Diet AYDS, but it didn’t work, and eventually the product was pulled from the market.

So, how do you avoid product or business confusion and what do you do when it occurs?

Be very clear in all of your Facebook and website home pages what you do and where you are located.
Be aware of other products with similar names as years so you can handle confusing correspondence, hits or likes when they occur.
Cull your likes. We know that people want to amass large numbers of likes, but people who have liked you accidentally are “unlikely” (pun intended) to become your customers, especially if they are based in, let’s say, Tashkent. It’s easy to remove people gently from your Facebook likes without creating fuss and without adding more confusion.

This lesson brought home to us the possibilities of identity confusion for all those one and two person physicians, lawyers and other service professionals. Often just advertising or marketing your business with just your name can allow for confusion later. So John Smith, MD would be better off to incorporate as “West Side Dermatology” even if he is a solo practitioner.

It may not be easy or advisable to change a business name, but purchasing other domain names that draw traffic to your more confusion-possible name may be a good solution.

Managing Change in the Marketing World

change-948008_1280 (2) The one thing we know for sure is that change is inevitable.

Those practices and companies that can adapt to, rather than be fearful of change, will be the ones that can stay stronger longer.

Thinking through the past 20 years, consider how these changes have affected your personal life and the daily functioning of your business or practice:

Finding information in the palm of their hands. The personal computer is now quite old, but having it in your purse or pocket is not quite as old. If your business is not findable on a mobile-friendly site, you are losing daily possibilities of contact with future customers, patients and clients.
Facebook algorithms. First there was Facebook in its infancy, just for college kids to connect names to faces. Now you can find anybody, but more than that, ideas, events videos, jokes, good and bad news are all instantly shared. Many companies use their Facebook page to stay visible and relevant. Advertising on Facebook is still affordable, but Facebook is still tweaking how their advertising works and particularly how they adjust the “stream”, which means the posts that show up on your daily feed. So, just posting regularly is key, but the content of the posts really matters, too.
Evaluating new platforms and understanding their use. Do you Snapchat? Tweet? Utilize Instagram? Tumblr? Pinterest? How about your customer/client/patient base? Which platform is an appropriate platform for you? How do you master its use and utilize it to your best advantage?
What has happened to TV advertising? Everything and nothing. Having a great ad at the end of the NBA Finals, like Nike did, still can be an iconic moment and captures on high viewing events. But counting on TV watching in real time with ads is changing so rapidly that the Nielsen rating, advertisers and networks are still trying to come to terms with it. There are some fire sales out there and some good buys occasionally. Continue to watch the Youtube ad revenue increase and also keep an eye on advertising changes on streaming services like Netflix and Hulu.
How has Google searching changed? A lot for high income/highly educated searchers. Google searching has always been a moving target as everybody competes to be be found above their competitors. In addition, lots of small businesses and practices found a small Google adwords campaign to be an affordable way to get to the top of listings. However, many savvy customers now ignore the top listing, as they are onto the fact that the top hits in a Google search are not “organically” the top searches.
Adblockers are game changers too. Apple and Android users can now use adblocker aps that effectively block all sorts of paid ads, and only let through their paid ads. This means that your well placed ad on a website may become invisible, requiring two ad purchases: the original ad and an ad with the Adblocker service. Oy!

Understanding change helps your manage it. Your marketing team needs to understand how people arrive at your doorstep, literally and metaphorically. They need to understand how you operate and how you wish to communicate your core values. A good marketing team understands the opportunities that change provides, along with the pitfalls.

What has not changed is the power of word of mouth. For this reason, the best marketing plan still includes being excellent at what you do and making every interaction with customers, clients and patients as positive as possible. People have infinite choices when choosing all sorts of professionals and vendors. They will remember whose office was organized and polite, who answered their phones, who made them wait too long. And then they will tell their friends and family. And they might use different means to share their information.

What Makes Us Loyal Customers?

cheers From the brand of pop you drink to your choice of an attorney, how do you decide to be a loyal customer? For most people, these are the elements that drive people to choose the same store, professional service, brand of food or drink and restaurant:

Ease of attachment. This can mean anything from being conveniently located to being easy to get in and out. This changes with demographics. Younger people might prefer malls to boutiques because of the browsing capabilities. Older people consider parking and even safety. But ease of attachment can also mean availability and the ease with which you can attend to your tasks whether it’s shopping, being seen by the doctor or getting a prescription refilled.
Feelings of belonging. Going to your “regular”grocery store means you know where things are located, nothing is unexpected. Going into your favorite restaurant is made more special when you are greeted as if you are a regular. At the doctor’s office, hearing your name pronounced incorrectly is an instant turnoff. (Note to pediatricians: don’t call the mothers “Mom”; you aren’t our child.)
Feeling a balance of expectations met and stimulation by new things, too. You want your lawyér’s office to be familiar, but interesting new artwork is also ok. Receiving an email from your old realtor doesn’t bother you, but it’s more important that she knows you by name at the neighborhood block party.
Sense of pride in brand loyalty: Yes, you drink Diet Coke for breakfast and yes, that’s the place you get your glasses. You’re proud of both and able to tell why.
Shared loyalty with people you trust and admire: When others also tell you about their good experience at your cardiologist or the new restaurant you’ve discovered, it corroborates your good decision making. You feel even a little more popular and in the “in crowd”.

So, if those things drive you to be loyal to a brand, ask yourself this:

How easy it is for people to attach to my small business?
How do I make customers, clients, patients feel a sense of belonging?
How do I ensure consistency and innovation at the same time?
What is the word of mouth about me and my small business? What can I do to to encourage that?
Who are people who are the most loyal to me? Ask them why and ask them if they are willing to help you with a testimonial on a website or social media post? Get a picture of them at your establishment (unless HIPAA forbids it!)

One of the most difficult thinking tasks is to look at our own enterprises from the outside in and ask ourselves about the experience of a new person walking in the door or landing at our website or seeing our post. Taking the time to consider what makes us loyal allows us to examine our businesses through a very important lens.

More Impediments to Online Advertising

The internet landscape is constantly changing. What seemed like a given even two years ago is now passe.

The latest source of angst for marketing professionals is internet advertising. What has happened and is still evolving? People are becoming more savvy and are less interested in clicking on advertisements. In addition, technological upgrades have been developed to help the general public pass by paid advertising.

In the same way that television advertisers panicked with the arrival of the DVD and then the DVR (people could fast forward through ads) and now streaming content, the advertising and marketing world is having paroxysms over these developments:

Google Adwords: The traditional Google Adword campaign allowed a small business to choose which words to run a campaign with (like “Southfield” and “lawyer” or “real estate” and “Huntington Woods”). Google would charge the purchaser of the ad each time a web surfer clicked on that link (pay per click or PPC) which could be as much as $50/click. At its onset, Google Adwords really brought people to your site. When they searched, your site came up in the first three searches and looked ultra-legitimate. But times have changed. Experienced web surfers know that the top results on Google searches are paid positions and they are less and less likely to click on those, hunting for the top searches that come up unpaid or what we call organically. As a result, the Google Adwords have begun to skew demographically older, less technologically savvy and some wood argue, poorer.

Banner ads: You know those sponsorships at the top of webpages? The advertisers pay a lot for that position, but guess what they don’t get? Not much “click-through”. In fact, less than .1% of web surfers actually click on a banner ad…intentionally.

Facebook advertising: Facebook advertising is much more affordable than other ads and still seems to be working. Facebook users are somewhat skeptical of clicking on ads but still can’t resist reading the rest of the post. But this scheme too is skewing older as younger consumers prefer Snapchat and Instagram to Facebook.

Ad Blockers by various internet search engines. Apple’s IOS9 is offering a suite of Adblockers on its products. Opera, a newer web surfing product, is also touting its ad-blocking software. The result will be a dearth of pop-up ads or banner ads, except….those that have paid money to Apple or Opera for the purpose of breaking through. So, ads purchased on websites will have far less reach, depending on the number of users of these ad blockers. And we expect that Opera and Apple will extract a pretty penny for their ads.

So, what’s the answer? The answer is to stay educated, keep doing what works, move away from what doesn’t work. In addition, culling data about every new patient, client or customer and how they found you is the best offense. They will tell you whether they found you through Yelp, through the Blue Cross physician list, through your Facebook page, your website, a Google search or your enticing storefront. Keeping track of their responses will guide you in future marketing decisions, including internet advertising.