Media Planning for Small Businesses

I was about to cross the road last Sunday when this double decker bus stopped just before the traffic lights. On it was a picture of a beautiful model. About 10 seconds later, the bus sped off with me managing to catch a second glimpse of the picture belonging to a slimming advertisement. Then it suddenly dawned upon me that I did not know which slimming company the ad was for. I had totally lost out on the branding, the messaging, and more importantly, the call to action.

Anyone could argue that I was distracted by the beautiful model, but hey… like there was anything better on that ad to catch my attention.

I have been in the media business for about 10 years… selling… planning… consulting, I’ve done it all. But till date, I dare say that despite all the assurances I used to make my clients (and all the assurances the media owners used to make to me), I still can’t guarantee which media platform actually works, and which don’t. (Honestly, I don’t think my media colleagues can either) Then what more for clients? Well, at least the big guys have multi million dollar media tools to justify million dollar budgets to their management. And if the media strategy is half decent, you can’t go very wrong with the dailies or TV can you?

But how about you, the small business owner?

It’s $3,000 a spot on TV on average, and $5,000 for a half page b/w ad in ST. How many of these can you afford to buy in order to make strong impact?

The media scene in Singapore is well regulated (with no fraud), but if you are working on a shoestring budget, it makes a lot more sense to think a little deeper into the options available to you.

Target audience and quality of traffic

It’s déjà vu all over again because I’ve seem to have said this a thousand times before. You need to know your customers well; their needs, their habits, their motivation to buy. The more you know about them, the easier it is to sell. And so, the quality of traffic exposed to a particular media is of utmost importance. For e.g. the circulation of Straits times is 1.5million. Does it make sense then to buy an ad in ST? Well, that depends on how many of your customers read ST. Then there are the other factors to think about… like what size do you buy in ST? Is it more effective to buy a small ad in ST, or a bigger ad in TODAY, where circulation in lower? How many of your highest spending customers read TODAY? Which publication offers higher visibility and retention?

Environment

Consumers behave differently in different situations. You need to be able to identify how your customer is likely to react in a particular ad environment. Example 1: if you are selling baby’s clothes, is it more effective to advertise in ST (where readers are likely to speed read), or would your ad dollar be better spent in a magazine (where readers will probably read at a more leisurely pace)? Example 2: if you have a small store in a mall, would you run an ad on TV where customers would take a few days to ponder before finally going down? Or are you better off buying a billboard space within the mall, and to run a special promotion to encourage impulse buying.

Communication message

Again, different media platforms call for relevant communication strategies. Consider the consumer behavior at the point of contact. How much time do I have to view the ad before I turn the next page or walk away? What is the consumer take away from the ad that you want to achieve? How do you best deliver the takeaway. I’ve always loved what McDonald’s and OCBC do with their bus stop panels. They just put up an arrow, leading you to the closest outlet. Simple and effective. The outcome of this is that even before you step into a particular mall, the first brand that you have encountered would have already been McDonald’s and OCBC. This is especially effectively when a consumer is likely to be drowned in a sea of options the moment he/she steps in.

Return on investment

Most small businesses jump on the advertising bandwagon without even knowing what’s in it for them at the end of the day. As a young ad sales executive, I used to sell ad space by painting an absolutely beautiful picture on how a business can become a global brand by running a campaign. That’s absolute bullshit! Any half decent marketer will know that brands require years and millions of dollars to build. ‘Just do it’ didn’t suddenly become the next big thing overnight. More importantly, how does the result of branding ring the cash registers? No one’s going to love ‘I’m loving it’ if it doesn’t get burgers off the shelf. Before you embark on buying a media, also consider costs, versus what it means to you in terms of money back.

I have previously written a post on branding and selling for small businesses.

Objectives

Summarizing what’s been said above, you need to have a clear idea on what your objectives are when buying into a medium: 1) Is it short or long term? Do you have the means to see through the campaign? A sudden discontinuation will often result in a major loss for the advertiser. 2) Is the campaign tactical or are you just trying to build awareness? For awareness building, do not expect a sudden influx or traffic to your store. 3) How much are you expecting to earn from the campaign? 4) What actions do you want your customers to take after seeing the ad? Sign up for your Facebook page or take advantage of a promotion? Are you looking to change consumer perceptions? Is this the best media to achieve that?

And to end off, always talk to you sales rep about discounts. There’s no media owner who doesn’t set aside 15-30% for discounts, volume or not.

7 Tips To Help Connect You To Other Small Businesses Via Twitter

We are all aware that Twitter makes a great tool for driving online traffic to your website, Facebook page, etc. But not many of us actually know how to leverage on what Twitter was created to do in the 1st place, i.e. to build connections, and in the case of small businesses like ourselves, connect us to other small business owners. 

If you were wondering, there are probably gonna be dozens of ways to do this, but for the purpose of this post, I'm just going to offer you 7, which I think will start you off in the right direction to building meaningful online relationships.

• When you meet a business acquaintance for the first time, you try to break the ice by sharing something personal about yourself, e.g. a hobby or how many kids you have, etc. You do not try to hard sell your business at the 1st instance, right? Do the same on Twitter. Instead of just spamming your followers with product information, consider adding a personal touch to your tweets by sharing something interesting about the organization, like the new coffee maker you just bought. This allows you to connect with others on a more personal level. In the digital world, we often fail to realize that your recipients are often (not all the time though) just another person.
• Help others to solve their problems, even if it does not get your cash register ringing immediately. People like to tweet about personal stuff, and more often than not, these have very little commercial value to your business. However, when you offer advise to someone, you portray yourself as being real, and not just a spambot behind a keyboard. Others (which may include potential clients) may see the more personable and trustworthy side of you, which could lead to strong personal and business relationships being forged.
• Share your thoughts on your industry, business and other topics of interest. This is the surest way of helping portray you as the expert in your field. And people will only want to collaborate with the best of the best. And when you tweet content that is of value, there is a strong likelihood that your reputation (or the number of Twitter followers, at least) will grow exponentially through viral word-of-mouth.
• You could also consider Tweeting pictures of yourself (appropriate pictures, if I may add), your staff, your organization, and  your business events. As the saying goes, 'a picture speaks a thousand words' - and more so when people only recognize you as a @abcde on Twitter. Doing so will at least help put a face to your tweets, and would give other small business owners visual insights into what your business does, and what opportunities there are.
• Do not refrain from sharing other people's tweets, links, or articles. As business owners, I suppose we do not see the need as to why we should be helping another entity publicize their content. I am a strong advocate of a reciprocal working relationship. By helping someone, you are in fact, taking the 1st step to building a mutually beneficial partnership that starts on Twitter, but could lead to something a lot bigger.
• Participate in industry events, seminars, and conference. This will give you the opportunity to take the 1st step in sharing content with those who may not have had the luxury to attend. Again, you may ask the question of "why would I want to do that?" My answer remains... besides being able to position yourself as the expert in your field, sharing breeds reciprocal partnerships, especially so in the small business context.
• In order to diversify the viewpoints that others can view your company through, encourage your fellow co-workers to tweet under the company’s name. But do take note though, that regardless of the number of employees who are tweeting, your business should tweet as one voice. It's extremely important to appoint the appropriate staff as official tweeters. And just to side track a little, do ensure that they say the right things using the right accounts. Do not get caught off guard like 1 major media company we know of.

Hope to see you all on Twitter soon @smallbusinessSG. 

Happy tweeting!

Tips To Consider When Planning An Effective Direct Marketing Campaign

If you are just starting out your small business in Singapore, you may consider Direct Marketing as a cost effective channel to create awareness for your brand and to drive immediate sales for your products and services. However at this point, I would like to caution that as with all marketing campaigns, you should not expect to send out 100,000 promotional flyers and just sit back, hoping to hear the cash registers ringing.

Direct marketing is an art form that many marketers have tried to perfect, but I dare say that a 100% success rate is not achievable. With every success story, there is always a corresponding failure to tell. And with the numerous forms of Direct Marketing strategies available for you to consider, this could be a real nightmare for anyone who is just starting out. While you would probably need to undergo a process of trial and error, there are several pointers which may help you avoid certain pitfalls.

1. Conduct market research

You should always conduct sufficient tests before you launch an actual direct marketing campaign. This could be in the form of an online poll or survey. Market research is very important because it helps you find out more about the needs of your target market and potential customers. The Singapore consumer can be significantly different from say, Malaysia. This is something you will need to establish before, and not after the campaign.

2. Identify your campaign objectives

Never undertake a direct marketing campaign without a specific goal in mind. It's all too easy to say that you need to create brand awareness and drives sales. But then again, you will first need to answer questions like 'what brand positioning do I want to create?', 'what actions leading to sales do I want customers to take?', 'which particular product range do I wish to promote?'. All these questions are critical in order to help develop your communication message, and ultimately, your campaign strategy.

3. Understand your target audience

You can't sell effectively to your customers if you do not have enough information about them. For instance, if you are reaching out to a group of young PMEBs, an eDM campaign may yield better results than traditional mail. Similarly the tone and manner, messaging, and design of your direct mailer are all greatly affected by the profile of your target audience. Again, in-depth market research comes to great use here.

4. Knowing your competition

Consider your competition as well as players in your industry – it is one of the most effective ways to be one up against your rivals. You should keep up to date with what direct marketing campaigns they have launched, and how well these have fared. Besides avoiding the obvious slap-in-the-face of having done something which your competitor did 2 years ago, you will be well placed to better understand what worked and what did not.

5. Budgeting for your campaign

Be specific and realistic about your budget for a direct marketing campaign. Plan your budgets carefully and include buffers. One of the biggest mistakes made by small businesses is to underestimate costs. Unforeseen circumstances such as an increase in design and printing costs could have a significant impact on production. As a result, campaigns are then being forced to scale down. Such last minute marketing decisions are very likely to have a major effect on the success on the campaign.

7 Ways to Generate Content for Social Media

Ok, so now you are ready to embark on your exciting social media adventure.

Everyone's saying that content is king in the social media world, and so, you pick up a pen and start to write. But hey, where do you even start? 

You could write a whole book about your company vision, but who's even gonna 'share it'? What about your corporate culture? Sure, try seeing if you'll get any Twitter followers with that. Maybe a beautiful write up about your latest product range? Oooh exciting! (said with sarcasm). This is going to be a little than you think, isn't it.

So how do you actually start writing something which your customers may be interested to read? Simple. Just ask them. 

Forums

The 1st thing that you really need to do would be to eavesdrop on your customers' conversations. There are multiple online discussion forums around which may be specific to your product / services, and believe it or not, this is where your target audience hangs out. As a marketer, you need to be close to the ground - to be in the midst of all the conversation. I'm not saying 'protect your brand whenever a situation arises' but more importantly, be there when it happens. You need to know what they are talking about, when they are talking about it, and how they generally perceive your brand. Armed with this information, you may then develop articles or content that address these concerns.

Latest industry news

The popular buzz word is 'trending', i.e. you need to know which topics are 'hot' in your industry. There are many opportunities to be found in trends. As its name suggests, trends do not last an eternity so when it does, you need to be there before your competition. For example, if the most talked about topic is 'weight loss', can your restaurant develop organic dishes that are low in fat and healthy? How about creating an online recipe titled 'Eat healthy in 10 mins'? These are great reads that is sure to get people talking and sharing.

Crowdsourcing

This is a huge word which simply means 'asking your customers for help'. There will be tonnes of people out there who would be dying to receiving information from you. After all, they are your clients, or at very least, people who are interested in what you have to offer. So, the best way of giving them what they want, is to first ask them what they want. Online polls, feedback forms, surveys are the best ways to get them to tell you what interests them about your brand.

Make your employees a marketer

Your sales team, customer service department, telephone operators all have a critical part to play in the daily operations of the business. More often than not, these are the people who would have the most interaction with your customers. They will know the comments, questions, and arguments which are being raised regularly. More importantly, they will have a solution to these issues. Build a well of content around these people and provide FAQs which may benefit your customers. For example, if many of your customers have complaints about low handphone battery life, wouldn't it make sense to share an article titled 'How to make your battery life last longer'?

RSS

Here's a shortcut. RSS feeds basically notifies you whenever a new post is made in a particular website. Subscribe to a few prominent and popular websites in your industry. Learn about what they are saying and how they are saying it. I'm not condoning stealing of content here. I'm just saying that if these guys are touching on certain issues, you may wish to also address them in whichever way you deem appropriate, either as a response, or as an argument. Afterall, if the websites are prominent, people must be very interested in what they are saying right?

Google Keywords

Google has developed some awesome webmaster tools, but the one that stands out for me is the keyword tool. At the click of the button, you will be able to identity words or string of words that are being widely searched for locally, and globally. So taking the restaurant example above again, you may find that a very popular search word in Singapore is 'unique weddings'. In response, you could develop some write ups, and maybe add some interesting photos, that could help position your restaurant as a choice location for a memorable wedding.

Social tools

And finally, there are tonnes of online tools (some are free and some are not) which could help in your research as to the content that consumers are looking for. Some of these include technorati, hootsuite, Google reader... and the list goes on.

Start doing your research today and pretty soon, you will find that the 'writer's block' is just a myth.

Have fun!

Back with a shout!

Oh dear...

Has it really been 2 months already?

Well I'm back, and it's going to be even more exciting than before.

Just a short note to update everyone as to what I've been up to the last 2 months. I've moved from advertising to digital consulting so that's been really exciting. But the bigger story is that I've finally found time to set up my portal which allows me to work on my 2 biggest passions, I.e. Marketing strategies and Vietnam. Check it out and tell me what you think.

Www.justvietnamese.com

It covers just about everything about Vietnam - from language, to culture, to travel and all the great stuff in between. It's been quite hard work but it's all worth it especially since we now have 1,000+ followers on twitter in just over 1 month. Brilliant yeah? You can follow me too @learnviet_ for the latest info on our website and forum. Lotsa fun I tell ya.

Besides the portal, I've also been dabbling in some small business strategy and marketing, some social media strategy, and some other online stuff. A bit of everything. Haha.

Anyway, now that the portal is launched, I do have some time on my hands to get back to writing on my favorite blog. I've learnt quite a bit working with small business owners the last couple of months, experiences which I would like to share with all who is reading my blog. Apart from that, I'm still available to anyone who would like to have a chat about marketing or social media strategies.

I'll catch up with you very soon, but till then, have a great weekend ahead!