Use Social Media to Make an ‘Emotional Connection’ that Increases Brand Loyalty

Take a peek in your wallet. How many brand loyalty cards are you currently carrying?

It’s reckoned that the average UK household is signed up to 12 store/ retail loyalty schemes – everything from collecting points to save money on your supermarket shopping and cash-back on credit card spends, to getting a free cappuccino for every 10 purchases made at your favourite high street coffee shop.
It seems all our favourite brands are leveraging the power of brand loyalty – encouraging customers to shop with them more often.

Many of the top brands like Starbucks and Coca-Cola have long recognized the increasingly important part that social media plays in their customers’ lives and are using it to their competitive advantage.

Using established interactive social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to bring together fans of your brand makes perfect sense, because you will be harnessing the ‘share’ potential of the Internet.

But how do we define brand loyalty? And is it necessary to make the distinction between someone who will buy that 10th coffee from you just to get the freebie, and those who love your Java recipe so much, as well as the ambiance of your café bar, they’d never go anywhere else regardless?

If you belong to a Frequent Flier Programme, ask yourself whether you would still fly with that same airline if a competitor launched a significantly cheaper, but similar service in terms of standard and quality. And if you’re someone who checks price comparison sites regularly, as an increasing number of us do these days, then brand loyalty may not be something you’re driven by, as much as value for money.

As creatures of habit, many of us shop at the same places, at pretty much the same times, week on week, whether the retailers concerned have a loyalty scheme in place or not. These shopping ‘repurchases’ are justified through considerations such as convenience, price, service, or quality. You see, ‘repurchasing’ is not the same as loyalty.

True brand loyalty is achieved when our brand makes an emotional connection with its audience: We love it that Innocent smoothies are 100 per cent fresh fruit and no junk; that Apple computers are cool; that Lego has built a great online community we can be a part of; that Harley-Davidson represents the “adventure of a lifetime.”

And, as fans of brands, we love connecting with those brands via social media, because they reward us with something extra for our loyalty. There’s newsletters, competitions, giveaways, online interaction with fellow enthusiasts – all the extra stuff we get for free, just for signing up to their sites. And here’s the thing, we’re getting an exclusive deal other people are missing out on because they choose not to be a part of that community.

These socially-connected brands have established an emotional rapport with their followers that that goes way beyond ‘repurchasing’ and creates ‘fans for life’.

By using social media to engage and communicate with your target audience – and by offering exclusive deals to those who follow you – your brand could do the same. A recent study found that 37 per cent of Facebook users who have ‘friended’ a brand, cited ‘product discounts and special promotions’ as their main reason for doing so.

Consider how your brand might use Facebook Pages and other forms of social media to connect with more like-minded people who could become valued customers. What emotional message might your brand build its fan base around? And how will you reward your followers for their loyalty and thus create fans for life?

Creating exclusive offers for your online community is a proven way to establish a fan base and encourage more sign-ups. As well as making more sales, you will have a ready-made focus group that will help you with research into your current business, as well as ideas for developing and marketing new products and services.

Different Methods of Online Marketing

With so many different options for marketing online it is important that you choose the one that is right for your business. This short article outlines a few of the main types that you may like to consider.

There are a huge number of options available to you regarding the marketing of your business. To begin with you might like to try some of the free methods alongside the paying options to allow you to put your money into other areas of the business. Listed below are just some of the marketing options that are available to you along with a brief explanation of how these will work.

1.Article Marketing

With this method of marketing you need to write and then submit articles to various online web article directories. This allows you to talk about what it is you do and related areas that others may find interesting. Within the article you will often find a box allowing you to write a little about yourself in which you can also include a back link to your website. This allows you to promote your website and drive traffic to it quickly and easily as well as increasing your search engine ranking. The majority of sites are free to use although some may require payment.

2.Forum Marketing

Another great free method of marketing is using forums related to your line of business. These allow you to join in discussions, talk about what it is you do with like minded people and also promote your website. Be sure to integrate yourself into the community first to avoid alienating people. This can be a great way to generate traffic towards your website.

3.Pay Per Click Advertising

This type of marketing is a paid service in which you pay the service provider when your link is clicked. It has proved to be very popular and effective and there are a number of sites to choose from including Google and Yahoo.

4.Viral Marketing

With viral marketing you are required to have something useful or interesting that can be passed onto others via email. This could be something like an e-book or a piece of software; as long as it is something that others will want. By doing this it can help to spread links to your website as well as promoting your business with minimum effort.

5.Press Releases

This is a similar method of marketing to writing articles as you are required to create a press release to promote and inform others of your business. You can then submit them to one or more press release sites online, many of which are free to use. This can be a great way to really explain to potential customers what it is you do as well as promoting any offers you are running and creating back links to your website.

All of these can be time consuming and so it may be something you cold look to outsource to a business consultant to manage for you.

Small Business Marketing – The Advantages of Outsourcing

Thousands of small businesses are starting each year in the UK and if you are part of this crowd but want to get noticed, look into outsourcing your small business marketing. While you may have a great product or service and plenty of savvy, it takes a marketing professional to truly understand the nuances of your niche business to help you level the playing field. Outsourcing has its advantages including controlling costs, staying competitive and increasing market share. Keeping overhead down while competing for customers is important and if you try to do it all on your own, you will not be able to keep up.

Marketing Misunderstandings
Many new businesses are founded on a great idea or service but marketing isn't even on the owner's radar at start-up, but it should be. Preparing a business plan first is important because then you will see the importance and advantages of small business marketing. With marketing, it can be quite all-encompassing – design, production, packaging, public relations, promotions, customer service, sales, shipping and more. It is virtually impossible for a new business owner to be able to tackle all facets of this. Marketing should not be viewed as an afterthought but an important part of a profitable business plan.

Why Outsourcing?
Do you, as a new small business owner, have the marketing knowledge of your chosen industry? Do you know what your competition is doing? How about the latest trends or raising brand recognition? If you are scratching your head feeling befuddled, then you definitely need to outsource the marketing for your small business. Outsourced marketing professionals have the experience and expertise to help your small business be seen by the public and grow. They understand the industry marketplace, how to raise awareness of your product or service as well as develop name recognition for it.

Outsourcing allows your small business to address an important need without having to add anyone to your payroll. That means you get the expertise without the extra paperwork and expense of a new employee. Marketing is more than just throwing together a website and printing informational brochures and business cards. The first step to success is admitting that you do not have the know-how to design and implement a marketing plan. The second step to success is hiring an outside marketing consultant.

For your new business, it is important to keep costs low for the first few years while trying to get a foothold into your chosen industry. You can avoid costly mistakes from the get go by hiring a small business marketing consultant. With their help, you can effectively target the right customers.

Three Things a Small Business Marketing Consultant Can Teach You

As a small business owner, you need the right tools to succeed and the best way to get them is to hire a small business marketing consulting company. Sure, you may have some great ideas that got your business off the ground but you need the tools to float and eventually soar. As an owner, you have multiple responsibilities. You can remove one of them by hiring a consultant to keep your company's momentum going.

A Marketing Plan
Do you have a marketing plan actually written down with actionable steps and a timeline for completion? Many small business owners do not. Luckily, a marketing consultant can help with that. You have no hope of truly succeeding if you are flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to marketing your business. Eventually, something is going to fail because you did not have a real plan.

A marketing plan creates the foundation for actionable tasks. With a plan laid out in black and white, you will know the "whys" behind each action. Plus, if you bullet point or number the actions, the plan will not seem so daunting. You can take baby steps – one action at a time – or speed things up and accomplish several things at a time. And when business slows down, you will have a plan to revisit so that you can study which steps may be the problem so you can fix it.

Business Identification
So you hung out your shingle … does anyone know you are in business? Does the public even know what product or service you are offering? A small business marketing consultant can help you create a tagline and logo, part of the branding process, which will serve as your business identification to the public. By using your business's branding elements consistently, you can be easily identified within your industry's marketplace.

Targeting your Customers
Do you know how to get your business website to pop up at the top of the list when consumers go searching for a product like yours on an internet search engine? What about relaying key messages about your product or service? Can you do that effectively? Do you know how to create a sense of urgency or present calls to action in your advertising? How do you track your advertising and promotional efforts to determine whether they are even effective? As you can see, marketing is more than just putting up a website, handing our flyers or printing up business cards.

Marketing consultants can help you design your marketing plan and put it into action. They also will create a timeline and put an implementation plan into place so you can follow it. Hiring an outside small business marketing consultant with the knowledge and experience in your chosen industry is the key to a long and fruitful enterprise.

Small Business Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

Businesses need to work to get noticed by potential and existing customers, even if their business is a really small business. Waiting and hoping someone will notice you and buy from you just isn't enough. Even if you have a prime location, you can't just leave things to 'chance'. Think it's too expensive to make room for marketing initiatives in your already tight budget? Small business marketing can be done, even on a shoestring budget, especially when you use the internet to your advantage. Read on for a few of the things you can do with a small budget in terms of internet-based marketing.


Search Engine Optimisation

SEO, or search engine optimisation, doesn't cost much. A bit of effort and investment will help you get free traffic. Instead of paying for every click to your website through paid advert programmes, get listed for targeted keywords and phrases that people use to look for your product. Do this to send them to an optimised website and you can look forward to traffic streams that can result in sales both online and offline.

Search Engine Marketing

Pay per click advertising sounds expensive but if you research, prepare, and do it right, a small amount of money budgeted for PPC ads could net sales. Take half the profits from those sales and re-invest and you've turned a small investment into an income stream. Don't just jump into PPC advertising without taking the time to learn how it works. A marketing consultant could be great help in this area.


Lead Generation / Email Marketing

Are you treating every visitor to your site as a lead? Don't let that visitor leave without trying to capture their info. Consider adding an opt-in form and doing something to entice people to opt-in to receiving future contact from you. If you've optimised your site well, you should be getting the right sort of traffic and by getting info you can market to that person in the future through e-mail marketing.


The above methods are just a few of the ways you can inexpensively create a small business marketing strategy. As you see results you can increase your budget, knowing that you are likely to get great return on your investment. If you are having trouble, or doubts about, navigating the world of online advertising you can find small business consultants who can advise you and do a small campaign for you to help you gauge potential and then expand on it, should it be successful.

A Marketing Consultancy Plan is a Necessity For a Business to Succeed

A marketing consultancy plan will help to ensure that your business is moving forward toward meeting your goals. Such a plan will outline a step-by-step guide designed to get your business, and your brand, out in the forefront of the people's minds that are likely to follow through. These targeted people are those most likely to convert to sales for your product or service.

Your Marketing Plan Needs to be Assessed Frequently

There are a number of proven tactics that can be useful when you are trying to market your brand. It is best when your approach to promoting your business includes a number of angles that are designed to target your potential clients. A truly effective marketing strategy means taking stock constantly to determine which efforts are successful and which efforts need to be tweaked in order to help your business to meet the goals you have set for it.

By working with a marketing consultancy firm, you will be assured of having their expertise in business working to your advantage. Your entire marketing operation will be analysed to order to provide you with the best plan to garner your business more attention. You will be given a plan of recommendations that, when implemented, will net you an increase in traffic to your website and follow throughs on your calls to action.

A Full Service Marketing Plan for Your Businesses

Many companies who offer marketing recommendations understand that you might not have the time or knowledge to implement their suggestions. For this reason, a company might offer a package deal that includes suggestions to promote your business as well as some implementation of the services recommended. This arrangement would be a good choice for the busy owner of a small to medium sized business.

In fact, an arrangement of this nature ensures that you are able to concentrate on those aspects of your business that you know best while leaving the promotion of your business, and the implementation of those services that are specifically targeted to your clients, to the experts in that field.

When a marketing consultancy plan includes such items as fresh content for your website, email campaigns, and social media blitzes, you will likely not have the time to give these items the attention they need in order for your business to reap the full rewards. Indeed, attempting to market your business can almost seem to be a full time job in itself.

Marketing Consultants Represent Your Company

When working with marketing consultants it's important to remember that they represent your company. There are times when clients may come into contact with your marketing consultants, and you want your clients to have a positive experience when dealing with any of your extended workforce.

Choosing a consultant who knows how to market your business and help improve your company is just as important as choosing a consultant who know how to represent your company to clients. So how do you know which marketing consultant offers the best representation? By conducting interviews and discussing your business philosophy with different consultants, you can ensure that you work with a consultant that not only markets your business well but is a good face for your company.

The Right Type of Reflection

You want your consultants to reflect your business in a positive light. Most consultancy firms understand this and strive to provide service that markets your business and falls in line with your business philosophy. Remember that this person may take meetings with some of your clients in order to go over campaigns or ideas that directly affect your clients. If your company holds a certain standard of dress and professional attitude, you want to make sure that the consultancy holds to the same standards. You don't want someone showing up in jeans when everyone else is wearing a suit. The same is true if you're a more casual business. It works best to partner with a marketing firm that doesn't appear overly stuffy so your clients and employees don't feel uncomfortable when dealing with them directly.

Reflective Marketing Materials

Whilst you will probably approve most, if not all, marketing materials, there may be times where the marketing firm has free reign to design and implement their own marketing materials. Make sure that the consultants you work with understand your company image and the image you want to present to clients. You may require them to run all materials by you first.
With a clear understanding, you can rest assured that marketing materials created by the firm for your company will meet your standards and fit the image of your company.

It's also important that if any of your marketing staff give a presentation to clients or your employees that they take into consideration their audience. Public speaking isn't for everyone, not even those who make a living from helping people market their business. When hiring a firm, make sure the marketing consultants have the sorts of skills you need and request the one that you feel reflects your business model and objectives the best.

Let a Marketing Consultancy Help You Discover Your Brand

A marketing consultancy firm can help you discover your brand and get it out to your clients and potential clients. A brand is the way you represent yourself to the public. Celebrities and large corporations work hard to brand themselves and gain recognition. But you don't need to be a celebrity or work for a large corporation in order to create a personal brand that clients recognise. You simply need to know how to take advantage of the web, social networking and carry your brand over onto business cards, and other pen and paper type business products. A consultant can help you create, design, and analyze your brand to make it the most effective brand for your business.

Creating the Brand

This is the area where most professionals need the most help. Branding takes a little more work now than a few years ago. Branding has become more competitive and requires that you find a niche in order to make a noticeable brand. Whether you run an online business or work for a corporation, you can find a niche that covers your area of expertise. A marketing consultancy will be able to work with you to narrow down exactly what your area of expertise is and how to best brand it for your clients.

If you specialise in web design, your consultant can help you create a logo and a design that emphasises your web design niche and market it to clients. If you're a realtor who specialises in a certain kind of seller, your consultant can help you market your brand and logo. The same is true for any professional area of expertise. Once the brand is created, you will work to market it and get your name out there. Beyond marketing collateral, you'll want a specialist who helps you with messaging as well!

Portfolios and Online Networking

The invention of online networking sites has taken branding to a whole new level. Now you can create a hard copy portfolio of your previous work to show potential clients and an online portfolio to showcase to interested clients who find your website or professional profile online. Your marketing consultant can advise you on the best sites to join and how to best market your brand through blogs, profile updates, or a personal website.

Many professionals and entrepreneurs who are trying to brand themselves don't realise that everything they post online is available to potential clients with a quick search. This is where the watchful eye of a marketing consultant comes in handy, since they can perform a quick search and recommend steps to take to clean up a messy or potentially damaging online reputation. No matter how you choose to brand yourself, working with a marketing consultancy can help you improve your brand and gain clients.

Online Vs Offline Marketing - Should You Be Doing Both?

Are you interested in making a splash with your marketing efforts? Are you wondering where to concentrate your efforts between online marketing and offline marketing? It's important to do both online and offline campaigns. But your unique business model and your goals impact where you should concentrate the majority of your efforts and your advertising budget. The biggest 'bang' for your buck may happen online, though so don't discount the potential of the Internet. This all depends on your business.

How will you stack up against competitors? What will be required for you to grow your business/ Your strategy should depend on a number of factors and one of those should be your niche market and your geographical area. If you're a small local business in a rural part of the country, you may want to focus your efforts more locally, through print advertising, radio announcements, television, and direct mail. The web can be advantageous anyway. Sure, you'll grab attention through coupons and flyers but many people looking for whatever it is that you sell will probably look online to help them decide who to call / where to go, etc. This can be especially important when trying to grow or when trying to penetrate a market that's served by an established competitor.

One of the great things about online marketing is that you can quite easily measure total cost of ownership and return on investment. Traditional campaigns can take months to measure but internet campaigns can take little to no time to see how they're working out. The internet can have more longevity as well. Spending money on a campaign could pay dividends now and dividends on an ongoing basis where print marketing can have a much shorter shelf life.

As a business owner, you'll want to spread your efforts out over multiple mediums. Email marketing, print advertising, direct mail, search engine optimisation, article marketing, press releases, blogging, social marketing, and other areas can all contribute toward your success.

If you're not sure where to start or don't have the cycles to manage this on your own, consider seeking help of a consultant. Look to a marketing consultant who can help with both online and offline strategies.

Some consultants have expertise primarily offline but some consultants have expertise in both the web and the brick and mortar world. Be sure to work with someone who will listen to you and who can show you measurable return on your investment.

Top Tips to Try Before Hiring a Marketing Agency

If you have a small business that is just getting started, there are a few things you can do before you retain the services of a marketing agency to help you in the marketing arena. With a few right moves, you can get started on a positive note with a basic game plan set in place before turning to a professional firm for additional guidance.

Define your Customer and Communicate Effectively
Don't fall into the new business trap of not knowing who your customers are. It is important to identify your target market through effective due diligence such as market research and the ability to fulfil a particular need that may not be totally taken care of by your competitors. It is important that you find a way to stand out from your competitors such as superior customer service.

Brainstorm on paper to ensure you are projecting the right message to your potential customers. A marketing agency will often have new businesses do a SWOT analysis, evaluating their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threat factors that might impede business operations.

Spell Out Benefits and Features of your Products and Services
It is important that you present the most pleasing features of your products and services. However, it is equally important to support those features by advertising the benefits the customers will reap if they use your products over a competitor's. Why would your products and services be better?

Follow-through is an additional feature of promoting your business. Once you have attracted a potential customer to use your product or service, speak with them about their needs and how you can meet those needs. Even if you cannot close the sale immediately, it is important to follow-through by calling or emailing them. This action shows that you care about them as a customer and illustrates that by going with your company, customer service will be excellent. Follow-ups are the key to sales conversions down the line as well as positive word of mouth to new, potential clients.

Maintain Marketing Momentum
It is important to structure your marketing budget in such a way as to keep your company brand name in the public eye year round. Many new businesses have a huge marketing push only to run out of advertising dollars before year end and then experience stagnant sales. For this reason, internet marketing can be helpful through the use of blogging, banner ads, website-only specials and email marketing to existing customers about special sales.

While you can definitely succeed without the help of a marketing agency, it is important to allocate a portion of your budget to hiring one, even if it is to just check where you are in relation to promotions, advertising and industry placement. Having a marketing professional assess your business and present suggestions for improvement is important to your overall, long-term success.

What Will Marketing Consultancy Do For Your Business?

Every business needs to spend time and money on developing their presence and increasing customer awareness but few owners have the experience to do it as well as a marketing consultancy can.
You may have wondered if hiring an outside firm is worth the money involved. The first thing to consider is that no one person can be good at every aspect of business. You would not think about hiring anything less than a professional for your sales team or to manage operations, so why would you want to take over the marketing tasks yourself? A marketing consultancy provides a wealth of knowledge, guidance, and expertise that ensures results.

Market Analysis

A good consultant will begin with a thorough analysis of the overall industry market and the existing state of affairs within your company. They will examine the products or services you offer, how your operation stacks up against the competition, and where your pricing and quality standards fall on a continuum.

Spend Advertising Money Where It is Most Effective

This is a key benefit of using a consultant for marketing your business. As someone without any particular knowledge of marketing and advertising, many owners may throw their money out here and there hoping something will eventually stick. Obviously, this is not the most cost-efficient way to develop a market presence.
A marketing consultancy firm will first identify the demographics of your target market. From there they will develop a plan to reach these potential clients and place advertisements where they will produce the greatest amount of interest.

Develop a Marketing Message

What is it that your company wants to say and how should it be said? This is a key aspect of any effective marketing plan. In conjunction with pinpointing this message, a good marketing consultant can offer advice on creating a brand, and collateral which is appropriate to the identity.
Market position is another aspect of your company’s message. Where in the market should your company be placed based on your target audience and the message you wish to send them?

Utilise Marketing Tools

Of course no marketing plan is worthwhile without a way to ensure that the strategies are executed. Your marketing consultancy should include the provision for tools that you and your entire team can use to keep the sales coming and your name at the forefront of the customer’s mind. These tools address such tasks as generating leads, follow up on prospects, and the best way to pitch sales.
Obviously, a marketing consultancy firm has much to offer any type of business. Consider hiring an expert in the field in order to get the most return on your investment.

Beat The Recession – Invest In Consulting

The economic recession may be the best time to invest in consulting, if you do it the right way. Most people are not looking to spend additional money now, but if you hire a consultant who gets paid when you get results, you have absolutely nothing to lose. In fact, you could end up a winner, by creating a lean, mean business machine which can react quickly to new opportunities as they arise. Here are some of the ways in which investing in consulting can help you to ride out the recession.

Don't Flash The Cash
There's never been a better time to control your cash flow. Is the right amount of money coming in each month? Have your expenses spiralled out of control? Are your suppliers being less flexible than they were, putting the squeeze on your bottom line? Hiring a business expert who offers consulting services will help you to identify strengths and weaknesses. The consultant will review your business and will help you to see where you can improve. Even better, the consultant will give advice on how to make those improvements, making your business much more efficient.

Promote Yourself
When you hire a consulting service, you may learn new ways of promoting and marketing your business. The consultant has worked with many businesses and has picked up information on best practices. That means there's a shopping list of options for you to select. Perhaps there are networking events in your niche that you should be attending. Maybe you need to make contact with new suppliers or potential customers. It could be that your website and sales brochure need an overhaul. All of these are services that a consultant can provide. They will expand your market reach, boost your market presence and give you a new look that will appeal to your customers.

Plan Ahead
Perhaps your competitors are being short sighted in closing down some services. This could be a good time to snap up a bargain so you are ready for the upturn. One of the advantages of consulting is that it helps you to plan for the future, starting from where you are now. You will end up with a feasible plan for the development of your business which will make it stronger and more effective. There are always new opportunities around; your consultant can help you to identify the right ones so that you can gain the most value for your business.

Summary: Is the recession getting your down? Inject some new life into your business by investing in consulting services

Low Cost Marketing - How to increase sales

Many businesses are asking for help and business advice on how to improve sales and gain more customers. For most businesses at the moment it is about finding low cost and cost effective solutions to marketing their products and services. Some have told me that they have been talking to marketing and advertising agencies and finding that everything is possible at a price, a new logo or a new design for your brochure, you need to advertise, update your web site, you need to do a direct mail campaign etc etc. Does this sound familiar? And are you confident that all this will deliver a return for you? Marketing has changed. You don’t need to spend large sums of money in the hope that someone will see your message and more importantly act on your message- think about it- how many adverts do you respond to? When was the last time you rang the number on a glossy sales letter that came through the post? Wouldn’t it be great if you could get your product in front of a customer right at the time that they want to buy? This is where skilful use of the internet comes into use. This isn’t hard to do and doesn’t cost. All you need to do is to think a little creatively, with some simple steps: 1. How are my potential customers going to be looking for what I provide? 2. What messages will they want to see? Write an article about your product or service. Make it interesting to the reader and include keywords and phrases that you have considered in step 1 above. The use of keyword phrasing will be more beneficial. This is because as you have probably found that single and double word keywords are very competitive in search engine rankings. Once you have written your article you then need to get it published on the internet. There are many free Press Release web sites that allow you to easily submit your own articles. By following these two steps you could suddenly find that you are gaining the sales and new customers you want, all at very little cost. Does this work – Yes! Not so long ago I submitted an article through this web site and others for one of my clients, entitled ‘Got a problem floor.’ Within days the keywords ‘problem floor’ on Google came up with my article as the number one search and not surprising inquiries and sales for my client. The article has now dropped in ranking, but by continuing with fresh articles you can maintain an internet search presence that appears when your customers are looking to buy what you sell.