Last weekend I was at a craft show – an annual outing where I sell beaded jewelry that I design and “dabble at” throughout the year. Unlike previous shows, this year I sold hardly any ear rings, usually a high demand item both because of their uniqueness and low price I think (I have to be honest with myself!). This year I sold Continue reading “What Do Your Customers Want?”
Blog: Strategy Matters!
Travelers’ Branding Campaign Works
Travelers’ well-known logo – a red umbrella – remains a key element of its new branding campaign which launched last year. I first learned of the campaign recently when friends told me about some wonderful commercials with a dog that was intent on protecting its bone from real and imagined risks. The message: Continue reading “Travelers’ Branding Campaign Works”
It’s Not Always About Location
Location. Location. Location.
Traditional marketing wisdom would lead one to believe that where a business is located makes a difference. And that makes logical sense, most of the time. A recent experience, though, suggests that location can be trumped by other things – Continue reading “It’s Not Always About Location”
Little Touches Leave Lasting Impression
Our water heater went out recently and my husband researched and ordered a part online from – www.plumbingsupply.com. Not the kind of company that one might, necessarily, expect anything special from, right? After all, a plumbing part is a plumbing part.
But the day the part was delivered – I heard my husband exclaim first: Continue reading “Little Touches Leave Lasting Impression”
No Web Site? No Customers?
We’re in the process of planning a trip to Florida and my husband has been researching restaurants. The other night he was sharing the results of his research and said: “I’ve found a few good ones – there were a couple of others I wanted to check out, but they don’t have a web site, so forget it.” Continue reading “No Web Site? No Customers?”
Should You Be Using Social Media?
This is a question that is on the minds of many these days. You can’t turn on the television or radio, open a newspaper or talk to a colleague, friend or family member without *someone* talking about “social media” – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Not surprisingly, these discussions lead to thoughts of: “Am I missing out?” “Is my business missing out? Well, maybe. But… Continue reading “Should You Be Using Social Media?”
Social Media as a Process Improvement Tool?
While Facebook can be fun and Twitter seems to have captured the interest of the masses who are all tweeting in 140-character mini-blogs about everything from what they had for breakfast to the emerging news event they just saw outside their window, many still point to these tools as more of a diversion than a legitimate business tool.
Until recently. Continue reading “Social Media as a Process Improvement Tool?”
Spread the word! It’s all about word of mouth.
When it comes to making an impact on consumer buying decisions, word-of-mouth (WOM) matters. In fact, a recent study demonstrated just how much it matters. BIGresearch’s “Simultaneous Media Usage Study” (SIMM12), explored how U.S. consumers believed word-of-mouth influenced their purchases in various product categories.
While some categories were reported as being more highly impacted than others, the lowest Continue reading “Spread the word! It’s all about word of mouth.”
Yes, Price Matters – Duh!
You can talk all you want about the “value proposition” and about how consumers don’t *really* make purchase decisions based on price, but when it gets right down to it, guess what – they do. Don’t you?
All else being equal (ALL ELSE BEING EQUAL in the opinion of the consumer, whose opinion is the only opinion that counts), price matters. Of course it does. Why would Continue reading “Yes, Price Matters – Duh!”
Who Really Participates in Social Media?
As I join more and more LinkedIn groups I’ve been interested in exactly who participates in these groups and, more to the point of this blog, who doesn’t.
For instance, I recently joined the Health Care Executive Network which has 3421 members. I immediately started looking for some of the health care executives I’ve worked with – both as director of corporate communications within a large health care system, and as a consultant/journalist who has interviewed and interacted with many health care executives.
I didn’t find any of them among the members. So I began to search for health care professionals who were more at my level in the organization – directors. Nope, not there. My first reaction was: “Wow, I’m obviously more ‘with it’ than they are – I’m on social media and they’re not.” But, that thought was rapidly followed by a more realistic one: “Maybe these executives just don’t think social media matters Continue reading “Who Really Participates in Social Media?”