Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Think Like a Millennial

This is a re-post from the blog:

Have a Big Event Coming Up?  For Successful Promotion, Think Like a Millennial




Young people these days…always submerged in their smartphones, tablets and laptops for hours on end – never taking time to appreciate the world and all it has to offer. Well, not only are these young people (“Millennials”) accessing more content and learning more information than ever before, it turns out they have something to teach us about marketing and publicity. Thinking like a Millennial can actually help promote your business’ next event or outing.
Here are some tips to harness the marketing power of the Millennial:
1.)  Millennials like short and sweet messages
The reason so many younger people are flocking towards Twitter and away from Facebook is because the platform offers concise content with less clutter. Millennials know how to tweet something catchy and bold in 140 characters with smart hashtags to emphasize their message.
Use Twitter to build excitement around your next event and engage your community. Create a hashtag for the event that people will begin to recognize and repeat. Smart, short tweets with clever hashtags will intrigue your target audience and create a buzz around your event.
2.)  Millennials are anywhere and everywhere online
So why shouldn’t your business be, too?  Millennials have shown us that using one social media platform to get out a message only covers a small portion of the audience and restricts the type of content they can post.
If you have the means to do so, use different types of social media to promote your next event. Post pictures, messages, hashtags and links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc.  If the Ice Bucket Challenge has shown us anything, it is that video content is a great way to get attention and support.  Post a short video about your event and business to show your audience what it’s all about!
3.)   “But First, Let Me Take a Selfie.”
We all know of the obsession younger people have with taking selfies, but let’s be honest, you’ve probably taken some too.
During your event, take pictures of what’s going on and post it to social media. Even commission one of your employees to go around and take pictures of themselves or other people doing various things at the event. A live stream of activity will encourage more people to come and check it out.
The bottom line here is to be engaged in and passionate about your event. People will notice your enthusiasm if you post correctly. It will increase community engagement and heighten curiosity about your business and the event.  Be smart.  Be clever.  Be excited.  And embrace your inner Millennial!
Citation: DiRoma, CJ.  “Why You Should Think Like a Millennial to Promote Your Next Event.”  17 Aug. 2014.  <http://smallbiztrends.com/2014/08/millennial-promote-your-event-online.html>.

About Tracey Willmott

Digital Marketing Consultant tracey@savelocalnow.com From a small town in Western New York, Tracey knows how to keep things local. If she's not eating, she's usually doing something outdoorsy or teaching spin class....or binging Netflix. Most importantly, she loves being a member of the engagement team, helping $LN businesses and chambers thrive! #shoplocal


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

I've Been Flocked!


Ran home at lunch only to discover these interesting plastic birds perched along my driveway.

First thought: Who did my husband tick off now?

Second thought: What are Kim and Patrick up to now? (see this post to understand what they did to me in December)

Third thought: Is this what kids do these days instead of toilet-papering?

I was wrong on all three guesses.
There was a bright pink letter around one of the flamingo's necks that read:

YOU HAVE BEEN FLOCKED!

These flamingos have chosen to nest here to help raise money for the Newark High School After Prom Celebration!

For a small donation ($15) they will migrate to a different nesting spot. You may choose to protect yourself from any future invasion of these pink pests by purchasing "Pink Flamingo Insurance" for $5.

To have them fly to another residence please contact one of the following bird handlers: xxxxxxxxxxxx

Please feel free to designate the flock's next nesting place!

Please make checks payable to NHS After Prom. Thank you!!
I must admit, it is a pretty good way to raise some money.
Wonder where I will send them next????
- Posted by Cheri

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Excellent Marketing on Facebook

Check out how this company used Facebook to promote their store. Incredible creativity:




Found it over at Matt's place.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Real Thing - Brilliant Marketing


Just finished watching the special on Coca-Cola. Very interesting. For those who know me well, you know that Coke is my drink of choice, no matter what time of the day it is.

Check out this data:


  • Coca-Cola is 123 years old

  • Over 100 million gallons are purchased every day

  • In 1886 is was the original energy drink

  • There are 160 plants in the Continent of Africa alone

So what is it about Coke that has made it the biggest beverage company in the world? Brilliant marketing. Around half of the purchases are made on impulse within the first five seconds in an isle at the store. Brilliant marketing inspires emotion. Brilliant marketing makes it more than a consumer product; it is something that makes the product become a part of the consumers' daily lives.


Check out this new kind of 'pop machine':











Thursday, March 5, 2009

Seth Godin

Cultural Offering has a great post on an interview with Seth Godin.

I couldn't help but to think about our Community Capitalism effort when I listened to him describe why you should have a Tribe.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Social Networking/Marketing

For the past couple of months I have been on the hunt to learn more about social networking/marketing and how it can help our members. As I was reading a post last night called Why Should Anyone Read Your Blog?, I stumbled across a new site on social media business strategy and more. I am impressed. I can tell I will be spending a lot of time there.

I also love good music. It can really change the mood I am in. As I was reading the November postings from this new site, there was one that promoted good music from Chris Blake. I didn't even know there was music on MySpace - shows why I need to become more educated on this social networking/marketing stuff. Anyway, I now own the Wave album (thanks to iTunes) and can't wait to listen to it today.

This is why social networking/marketing/blogging, etc. is so exciting to me. I set out to learn why no one reads this blog and ended up finding another great site and have a new album. What could be better than that??

UPDATE: GREAT MUSIC. ENJOY:

Friday, October 31, 2008

Guest Blogger - Marketing In A Recession

When I created this blog, I wanted to have some guest bloggers now and then. Well, today I am happy to present to you our first guest post by Linda Linham:

Marketing In A Recession

Dozens of scary words have been used to describe the economic outlook for the rest of the year and into 2009. The signs of a recession are all around us. The spillover from the mortgage crisis seems to be weakening both consumer confidence and the consumer spending--much of it on credit--that has been floating our economy. The proposed bailout is a temporary "band aid" to the current economic situation, or, to use jargon I’ve recently heard, it puts “lipstick on a pig”. We can expect continued pressure for Federal and State tax rate increases; consumers will feel poorer and be more conservative and cautious in their spending. This creates a great opportunity to reassure consumers and also means reassuring the consumer is a vital ingredient of successful marketing during a recession.

Business owners and marketers should fasten their seat belts for a bumpy ride in 2009, but consideration of these factors when making marketing plans for the coming year could mean a much smoother ride:

1. Maintain marketing spending. This is definitely not the time to cut your marketing budget. Experience tells us that brands that increase their marketing during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times. Uncertain consumers need the reassurance of known businesses although you may need to consider new, less expensive methods or tactics. Try to negotiate lower advertising rates and lock them in for several years. If you have to cut marketing spending, try to maintain the frequency of your advertising by shifting from 30-to-15 second spots, substituting radio for television advertising, or increasing the use of direct marketing, which gives more immediate sales impact and is usually more effective and efficient for small business owners.

2. Research customers. You will need to know more than ever how customers are redefining value and responding to the recession. Consumers take more time searching for products and services. They are more willing to postpone purchases, trade down, or buy less. Must-have features of yesterday are today's can-live-withouts. Brands, products and services that are known and trusted are highly valued. Volume buying to save money becomes more prevalent. Getting back to the basics will help here—if you have not asked your customers what they value, try simple surveys, customer profiles, experience mapping or simple personal phone calls to key customers.

3. Focus on family. In economic hard times, we tend to retreat to our comfort zones. Cozy hearth-and-home family scenes in advertising may replace images of extreme sports and adventure, as uncertainty prompts us to stay at home and also stay connected with family and friends.

4. Rationalize product/service offerings. Optimize the way your company delivers your product and service so it can be absolutely the best it can be. Reforecast demand for each item in the product/service lines since consumers may trade down to those that stress good value, with fewer options. Tough times favor multi-purpose goods over specialized products. Unprofitable and low sales product lines should be trimmed. In grocery-products categories, good-quality own-brands gain at the expense of national brands. Industrial customers prefer to see products and services unbundled and priced separately. Gimmicks are out; reliability, durability, safety and performance are in. New products, especially those that address the new consumer reality and thereby put pressure on competitors, should still be introduced but advertising should stress superior price performance, not corporate image. Now is also the time to spot trends for product development and make plans to act on them in 2010 and 2011.

5. Consider pricing tactics. Customers will be shopping around for the best deals. Avoid cutting list prices but you may need to offer more temporary price promotions, reduce minimums for quantity discounts, extend credit to long-standing key customers and price smaller sizes more aggressively. In tough times, price cuts attract more consumer response than promotions such as sweepstakes and mail-in offers.

6. Emphasize market share. Most companies are battling for survival or market share. Knowing your cost structure can ensure that any cuts or consolidation initiatives will save the most money with minimum customer impact. Taking the time to know your net margin on each product and service you offer will be time well spent. Companies, with the most productive cost structures in their industries, can expect to gain market share. Other companies with healthy balance sheets can gain market share by acquiring weak competitors.

7. Focus on core values. Although some companies will have to cut back on employees, others can cement the loyalty of those who remain by assuring employees that the company has survived difficult times before, maintaining quality rather than cutting corners and servicing existing customers rather than trying to be all things to all people. Business owners who spend more time with customers and employees will benefit.

During my corporate career, in economically challenged times—which was continual it seemed--I spent a great deal of time running interference between the heightened importance of the finance director's balance sheet over the sales and marketing management’s income statement. Managing working capital always attempts to dominate managing customer relationships. Whether large company or small company, the lesson I learned was always the same: successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.


Linda M. Linham is an entrepreneurial coach, consultant and founder of Successful Ventures LLC