Time again for the Simple round-up up of this weeks most useful links to small business marketing resources and one fun link to inspire your creative marketing imaginations. Have a great weekend!
Big business is finding out what small business owners have always known: great customer service means more money in your pocket. This MediaPost article reveals the numbers behind that truth. With social media outlets and good old-fashioned interactions, like how you communicate with customers on the phone and in your shop, you have more opportunities than ever to offer excellent customer service - and make more cash.
(Source: MediaPost)
(Source: MediaPost)
If you're a business-to-business entrepreneur than this free webinar sponsored by the national chapter of SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives) could be an hour well spent toward getting more sales in the door. Led by Jeanne Rossomme (MBA Wharton, 20 years industry marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies) the webinar will cover networking with a purpose and effective networking online. Registration is free and easy; webinar is scheduled for Thursday 12, May at 1:00pm.
(Source: SCORE)
(Source: SCORE)
You might not believe this, but if you have an intriguing enough business offering and you announce it in the right way, people will rush to get involved with it, even before its ready to go live. This Mashable article looks at four start-up companies that are using social media marketing to do it and might inspire some good ideas for how your own small businesses can gain new followers.
(Source: Mashable)
Want to know what your customers are thinking? Ask them. Last month Facebook made its polling funcaitonality more robust and there are several services available for polling on social media. This Open Forum article shows you not only how to do polling, but how to do it in a strategic way that results in data you really can use to help build better relationships with your customers.
(Source: AmEx Open Forum)
(Source: AmEx Open Forum)
The key thing about social media isn't that its just a new way to reach customers - its a new way to communicate with customers. Not just tell them about your company - but learn more about them and, as a result, create lasting relationships that turn followers into loyal customers. This article offers five "conversation starters" that you may want to try for your small business social media. Just remember: base your conversations on your own branding/marketing strategy.
(Source: AmEx Open Forum)
(Source: AmEx Open Forum)
And now for the fun one:
Can Advertising Be Art?
Way back in 2005, Sony hired ad agency Fallon London to create a spot that would launch their new BRAVIA LCD televisions. The resulting ad was unique for many reasons - it's debut airing ran 2 minutes 30 seconds long, an entire commercial viewing segment, and it literally shows the launch of 250,000 rubber bouncy balls down a San Francisco street. But perhaps the most notable thing about it is it's staying power.
Today, six years after it's initial launch, the ad is often found on Best Ads of the Decade type awards lists and you can find links to dozens of versions on YouTube with tens of thousands of views for each entry. Personally, I tend to re-watch it every month or so and oddly, when my two-year old was having a particularily nasty meltdown the other day, I happened to bring it up on the iPad. It immediatly calmed her down and she watched it twice.
So, we're wondering - can something as seemingly crass as advertising transcend its medium and become something more? Why not take a look in the post below and tell us?
