3 Most Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make With Their Video Marketing

For those of you exploring video marketing, Nina Froriep
Visual Storyteller at Clock Wise Productions talks about the 3 tops mistakes to avoid.

Can social media really produce results for a small business? A case study.

Can social media really produce results for a small business? Here’s a case study that says resoundingly, “Yes!”

A struggling cupcake store had paltry 398 followers on Facebook after three years in business. To boost fans and engagement we developed a three-prong Facebook strategy:

1. Regular postings of products (photos of yummy looking cupcakes, cookies, coffee, tea, and specials) and promotion of newly-created birthday party packages for kids.

2. Development and promotion of cupcake decorating classes. Posts generated interest thanks to photos of the irresistible final product attendees would be creating in class. After the class, we posted photos of attendees enjoying the experience.

3. Creation of a Test Kitchen concept. The owners of this business are a husband and wife team. The husband loves being in the kitchen and creating new baked delicacies. We used that passion as their brand differentiator to create the Test Kitchen. The concept was simply that twice each month the husband would go into the kitchen and create something new. They would post pictures of him in the kitchen, covered with flour or elbow deep in batter to provoke curiosity. The following day, Thursday, was Test Kitchen day. Anyone who visited the store would be given a free Test Kitchen card (10 Test Kitchen visits got you a $5 gift certificate. Emails were required to receive the card, shoring up their database) and a free sample of the new concoction. Visitors were then asked to rate the new product as a Flip (Flip your lid over it) or a Flop. The owners posted the results on Friday. They were totally honest about customer reaction – even if it wasn’t great. It was totally authentic and people loved it!

Results over the course of just 30 days:

1. They posted a coconut macaroon special that was seen by someone who ordered 8000 coconut cookies – a huge order for a store that size.

2. Follower base grew from 398 to 600 (within months it grew to 1250).

3. Engagement from fans grew as high as over 100 likes for certain posts.

4. They began booking birthday parties, posting photos and “mom” testimonials which generated even more bookings.

5. Decorating classes began filling to capacity, adding yet another revenue stream and creating a whole new loyal fan base.

Total cost: $0

8 ways to romance your customers on Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day can be a gold mine for retail and restaurants.  While traditional fine dining and romantic gifts still rank high, there are opportunities to generate sales for every type of business.  Plan now to get your fair share.

1.  Valentine’s Day bonus or contest
Put together a bundle of products or services with your shopping center neighbors. It could be dinner, movie tickets, a massage and flowers. You can all offer the same bundle at a discount or create a lead generating contest and award the package to one lucky winner.

2.  Love yourself
Eleven percent of Valentine’s consumers are showing love by buying something special for themselves. Market directly to this segment with a “show yourself some love” promotion that encourages them to gift themselves this Valentine’s.

3.  Show your customers  love and appreciation
Valentine’s Day is a great time to express your love and appreciation for your customers. Consider a special party or discount for VIP customers. Perhaps a free drink or champagne toast during Valentine’s week – no strings attached.  Or a box of candy as a gift with purchase.

4.  Galentine’s Day

The official date of this unofficial holiday is February 13th and the intent is for women to celebrate their female friendships. Every type of business can host a Galentine’s day party! Group makeovers at a salons, cooking classes at restaurants, girls workout event or even a “how-to” event at a craft store. Encourage women to bring their friends and provide special touches they can enjoy. Be sure to stock up on the rose’

5.  Just say no
For as many people who love Valentine’s Day, there’s a group that pretty much hates the holiday and everything it stands for. Have fun with this market segment by hosting an anti-Valentine’s party could include everything from black balloons, a free viewing of the movie Love Stinks and cookies with anti-love sentiments written on them. Restaurants can offer a “fries before guys” special along with a signature Stupid Cupid cocktail. While this may seem a little dour, it can be great fun and will be appreciated by many.

6.  Pets
No matter what a person’s relationship status, their love of pets is a constant and powerful force in life. People do buy their pets presents on Valentine’s

On Valentine's Day, those ages 25 to 34 are expected to spend $12.70 each on pet presents! Just because you don’t own a pet store doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the benefits of pet love. Host a “love your pet” event that can include anything from a photo station for people/pet photos, a pet adoption event or even a pet/owner look alike contest.  Consider giving a portion of all proceeds raised during the event to a pet adoption organization as an added attraction.

7.  Social Media

Invite your social media followers to post their love stories or a photo of them and their significant others. The post with the most likes wins a romantic prize.

8.  Think red
February is also Heart Health Month and offers a great tie-in for Valentine’s.  You can do something as simple as offering a donation to the American Heart Association for everyone who wears red to your business on a certain day or posts of photo of themselves in red on your social media with a specific hash tag. It’s an easy way to get people engaged and make a contribution to the awareness of heart health.

Whichever promotion you choose, be sure to promote in-store, via email and social media and on your website. Decorate your store or restaurant and provide those extra décor touches that express your intention to show the love!

Until next time remember,
You can do this!

The four B’s of Social Media

Be Authentic
Let your personality shine on social media. If you’re quick witted or clever, caring and nurturing, a born teacher or a social activist, use that personality to engage your social media audience.

Be Present
Post on a consistent schedule. You can’t be in one day and out the next. Your fans and followers need to know you’re as committed to the platform as they are. You also need to be responsive. Thank new followers. Ask them questions. Reward their dedication.

Be Prepared: The Potential Backlash

People are free to post whatever they like.  Usually it’s a question, a comment or a compliment. Sometimes, it’s not so nice. A disgruntled customer can really set your universe on its ear – even if the negative comments are unfounded. Understand that at some point, this is going to happen to you and it won’t be fun.

Have a policy prepared as to how you are going to handle this type of disruption. Address the problem quickly – and publicly – online. If the customer still isn’t satisfied, try to take the conversation off line via private messaging, phone or email. The objective isn’t to be right; it’s to let your followers know you’re aware of the issue. If the vitriol spreads and encourages multiple negative comments, you need to examine the legitimacy of the problem, resolve it on your end and make a public announcement as to how you solved it. Act quickly and decisively. 

Be Creative

Consider your social media posting as entertainment, it’s not all about selling. Delight your fans and followers with interesting posts and photos that make them think, make them feel good, make them laugh or teach them something new.  Solicit their opinion. By doing this, you make them appreciate your brand even more.

Until next time remember,
You can do this!

Asking for a bad review

You know how positive online reviews build credibility and trust with prospects. Hopefully you’ve trained your staff to remind customers to post words of praise on the review site of their choice.

But what about bad reviews? What do you do about the slightly or extremely disgruntled customer? Do you just let them walk and hope they don’t spew venom online?  

Here’s a better strategy for controlling negative reviews: ask for them!

If you sense a customer is having an issue, ask them to tell you about it. Solve the problem privately before it becomes public. But in the event the disappointment comes later (at delivery, for example) use one of these clever tactics to steer the negative feedback away from the review sites and directly to you!

Here are two great examples of this strategy.

Greek Eats Restaurant

This restaurant attaches a card to each order, asking for “notes” about your order. It’s a polite and subtle suggestion to voice your opinion and they make it easy for the customer to contact them directly should they have a problem.

Modani Furniture

This company sends an email after purchase (in fact, they send it out multiple times). It’s a much bolder approach that asks, “Would you recommend us?” then offers two links. The first leads to Google reviews. The second asks point blank, “Your experience not so great?” with a link to contact them directly. It’s a brilliant way to steer customers to privately voice their concerns.

Of course, if someone sends you negative feedback directly, be sure to resolve the problem quickly so it doesn’t escalate into a public and negative review.

Don’t be afraid of criticism. Ask for it! It will help you create a better, more customer service- oriented business and keep issues private rather than on a public forum for all to see.

Until next time remember…
You can do this!
Angel

Want more information on how to better manage and use Yelp and other online review platforms? Click here to get instant access to my free cheatsheet, Yelp Help!

How to Increase Gift Card Sales During the Holiday Season

Gift cards have been the most popular gift for the past 5 years. That’s a pretty great reason to put a plan in place to accelerate your gift card sales this holiday season, no matter what type of business you own!

7 Compelling Facts About Gift Card Sales:

Need more reasons why gift cards are a great way to boost holiday sales? Here are seven compelling facts that will help convince you.

• Gift cards sales were projected to increase by 6% in 2016 and will account for over 18% of holiday sales!
• Two-thirds of consumers have purchased at least one gift card.
• Retailers who switch from paper to plastic cards typically see a 50-100% increase in sales.
• The average amount loaded on a digital gift card is 10-15% more than a plastic gift card.
• 61% of gift card holders spend more than the amount of their gift card and 75% of those who overspend spend 60% more than the value of their card.
• Gift cards are most popular with teenagers.
• 40% of gift card recipients do not use the total value of the card.

As you can see, gift cards can significantly increase your bottom line in December and beyond so their promotion and sale are well worth your attention.

4 Tips for Boosting Gift Card Sales

Here are a few tips for selling more cards:

Start with plenty of in-store promotion.

• Signage - interior, window and sandwich boards
• Flyers with purchase
• Train employees to ask for the sale. For example, "Would you like to purchase a gift card for a friend or family member?"

Create incentives for gift card purchase.

For example, customers can get a $20 gift certificate for themselves with the purchase of a $100 card. 

Hint: If your average sale is about $150, then the incentive should be given on gift card sale of $200 – increasing your average sale!

Capture the late shoppers.

More than one in every four digital or online cards sold in December are sold between December 21st and 24th. Email daily during week before Christmas.

Make it easy to purchase.

Even if you don't sell online, create a link to pay for gift cards through a Paypal account to use in your email and on your website and social media. 

Set a goal for gift card sales this holiday season and create a strategy to achieve it. 
Gift cards can not only help you make this a more profitable holiday, they can give you momentum going into the new year!

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