Ever wonder why you see so many national or regional brands show up in Google searches for local businesses? In short, it’s because they want to, and they can. They don’t just show up in Google, but they construct buildings, rent offices and put up big signs in their targeted local markets.

The Sharks

Large, national businesses have the funds to dominate multiple local markets in the paid search results, and sometimes even the organic results. The search algorithms are focused on simply delivering the best answers to the search queries. If a national brand earns more organic local ranking authority than the small local companies, it’s probably because they have invested more money in that market, obviously including advertising.

Local companies that still dominate their markets have strategically known brands and understand they must compete with giants every day. That’s what I see separating the well-established, enterprising small business owners from the rest who rely only on word of mouth.

The Minnows

With the exception of retailers (who tend to get it), small business owners too often dread the need to spend on advertising, having had a bad experience with it in the past. Okay sure, you tried it for a few months one time and nothing happened. What if you invested strategically in advertising for a year and achieved record growth and profits the following year?

The Barracuda

The fact is local small businesses have the same opportunities as big enterprise businesses to compete and win in their local markets. They even have strong advantages to leverage.

Your local connections will already have some built in loyalty for doing business with you and helping you succeed. Additionally, you, can be more precise in your digital targeting, having a deeper knowledge of the local territory, the people, and the hot spots.

If you’d like to learn more about how to advertise effectively in your local market, feel free to contact us. We’ll offer you our best recommendations for winning the kind of market share your brand deserves.

The post Regional Brands Going Local appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Technology enables more businesses to deliver services nationally over the internet or ship products across the country rapidly and affordably. Here’s a valuable online marketing tip for small business owners.

Many today who have the ability to sell nationally think they can compete nationally with dominating giants in their industries. These giants have purchased as well as earned organic ranking authority in the search engines and pay handsomely to keep it.

It can be frustrating to attempt to penetrate an already competitive market with thousands when your top 2 or 3 national competitors are probably spending millions in Pay Per Click advertising and SEO campaigns.

Leveling the SEO & SEM Playing Field

A local market is very different, just by the math. The playing field is leveled when you concentrate your advertising spending within a small geographic footprint such as a county, state or tri-state region – ideally your home turf. That way, your ad concentration can match or exceed what the big boys are spending there. Of course, this is the market where your name is already more likely to be recognized!

The Winning Strategy

If you own a small business and want to improve your advertising results, start locally or regionally with your ad campaign’s initial launch. Then analyze the results before your pour money across the vast, fruited plain only to be as visible in most markets as a needle in a haystack.

If your local campaign generates a successful result, roll the campaign out further and further as sales increase. Keep dialing in your messaging based on the acquired data and enjoy your growing success!

The post Online Marketing Tip for Small Business Owners appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

I’m following up a recent popular blog post that received more positive feedback than usual.

Let’s listen to a nice local example of radio advertising. Here is a classic case of choosing something trendy and safe over something unexpected, funny and memorable. I trust my own opinions on this stuff but I’ll let you be the judge.

First, consider the irrelevant silliness and fantasy worlds portrayed in some of the major insurance brand ads like Liberty Mutual’s. That frivolous, whimsical style is trending and resonates with certain demographics.

A local packing & shipping company recently chose between two concepts. One ad is cute, unexpected and funny while the other follows a more recognizable and pedestrian style.

Have a listen:

Recommended Radio Ad

Approved Radio Ad

The ad runs mostly in rural Vermont and central New Hampshire, so consider the audience demographics.

In the recommended spot, the transparency of an obvious non-rapper producing a rap tune is hilarious and therefore memorable. The word choices work well to reinforce what the company does, followed by the “straight man” owner summing it all up.

In the approved spot, the trending style of fantasy, super heroes and puns was considered the safer way to go. That’s perfectly understandable but for me, after hearing it once or twice, I’ve had enough. The rap version still makes me smile after playing it dozens of times.

Be Different and Better!

As a consumer of terrestrial radio, I’ve been moved many times to try products or hire services over the years by the convincing power of relevant, on-target and sometimes funny advertising. Many of the best campaigns have been locally homegrown, being very creative and memorable.

There’s no need to hold back fun, creative and effective work, especially in times like these! Think outside the box for a change. Avoid the same, lame, me-too advertising game and make your messages more memorable in your market!

The post Make Ads Memorable, not Maniacal appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

The national and global brand advertising agencies have allowed a whole legion of inexperienced and perhaps marginally talented career people into their creative departments over the past decade, and it’s showing! There are of course notable exceptions, but all you need to do is watch or listen to ads produced by the major insurance brands like Liberty Mutual, Progressive, Geico, Farmers, State Farm… They seem to be racing to the bottom of creative quality.

Piling on Creative Trends

The style and tone of these big brand campaigns are the same – weird, chaotic, hyper-exaggerated attempts at grabbing attention or trying to be funny. Does any of it relate to your personal (and emotional) needs for insurance? You be the judge.

A fine exception is the Allstate “Mayhem” campaign. It makes sense and cuts to the heart of why we need to be insured. Personifying the stark side of reality is indeed a clever and humorous way to wake people up to the fact that insurance matters in their lives! Compare Mayhem’s relevancy and creative quality to that of “Doug and Emu” (Liberty Mutual). There is no comparison.

Raising the creative quality standards in advertising starts with giving audiences respect for having intelligence and creative thought of their own. If I were running a large national or global agency, my message for creative professionals would be this. There’s no need to scream for attention with outrageous fantasy and folly. Try instead to captivate us with great ideas and compel us to action with emotion-driven messages relevant to what matters in our lives.

The post Let’s Raise Creative Quality Standards appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Storytelling is a lot more than a marketing buzzword. Stories have mind-attracting power and are like personal guides leading readers and listeners to the prize of knowledge, the satisfaction of curiosity and the fulfillment of desires. Marketers who effectively apply storytelling have real-life success stories of their own to tell.

Every Brand Tells a Story

According to the book, “Building a Story Brand” by Donald Miller, almost every customer success story consists of about 5 common elements:

1. The main character (customer)
2. A problem
3. A hero, leader or guide (the brand)
4. A plan to solve the problem (product/service offer)
5. The call to action that if taken solves the problem and avoids failure (purchase and acquisition)

Let’s take a familiar brand example and narrate its success story.

It’s the year 2005. Lola, a book lover, is one who can spend hours in a bookstore. She has an uncommon reading list that’s difficult to fill and has shopped the same two bookstores in her city for years. When her book choices aren’t in stock, the stores do their best to special order them but some titles have been out of print for years and can be “impossible” to find. Lola becomes frustrated that she’s missing out on the wonderful reading adventures she knows are out there for her somewhere!

Lola has been hearing and seeing ads pop up all over the place about some company called “Amazon.” She’s aware they have something to do with books and CDs and then learns its a website that sells books & music and other stuff online. Out of curiosity, she logs on to a computer at the library and looks up Amazon on the internet. Lola quickly sees the website’s main call to action; you can search for your own titles and authors from around the world!

She types in the title of a cherished volume she’s been unable to find and up come 5 various copies of the book for sale in either new or used condition. Lola has never ordered online but that cherished book is right in front of her on the screen inviting her to buy it. She takes a small leap of faith and pulls out her credit card, trusting that the book will be delivered at a surprisingly fair price as promised. Within 3 days, Lola is curled up on her couch, 8 chapters into her new reading odyssey.

Here’s how this “Story Brand” breaks down.

• Lola the book lover is the main character.
• Her problem is not finding the books she wants.
• A hero-leader in the form of Amazon advertising and its website offer a plan to solve the problem. “Maybe I can find the books I want without the bookstore’s limits.”
• Then Lola answers the call to action – search for and find books on the Amazon website!

Conclusion: Mutual brand and customer success!

Would it be fair to say this specific brand story worked very well?

Every brand tells a story. If you can simplify yours and demonstrate happy endings as Amazon did decades ago, your marketing communications will be easier to implement and much more effective!

What’s your story? Who is the main character? Why and how are you the hero?

If you find writing your brand story to be a challenge, contact us for a no-cost branding and writing consultation. Phone calls are welcomed at (603) 345-7223.

The post The Story Behind Brand Storytelling appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

A “conversion” in marketing terms is any action a consumer does as a result of receiving your message. So if your message fails to generate conversions, your target audience may as well be you and your dog. And if your dog, like most, hasn’t the ability to make purchases, you’re out of business!

You could reach a thousand or a million members of your primary target audience and still fail to generate a single sale if your message isn’t clear and relevant. Your message must have value in it; a reward associated with taking a converting action like clicking a link, sending a text or picking up the phone. The value can be as little as satisfying a curiosity or as big as finding hidden treasure.

In sales, put the cart before the horse!

Who says a horse can’t be harnessed to push a cart full of goods instead of pull it? Before you spend too much money and time on developing the best media execution plan (the horse), make sure that the message delivered to your audience is deliciously enticing (the cart – full of perceived value). Push the cart yourself if you need to. It’s your message that converts people into believing they should “buy now, download or learn more.” Focus on what’s in the cart while you continually push, steer and course correct your trusted media workhorses.

What’s My Message?

Find out from every good customer what brought them to you. What first made them tune in and think, “I think this is the right fit?” What tipped the scale in your favor? What is it about your performance and delivery that keeps them with you? Do you enjoy doing your best work? Why?

The Media of Neighborhood

I was struck by the story of one business owner’s largest sale which catapulted him to “set-for-life” success. He received a call from the uncle of a teenage boy who used to wash his car. The kid happened to ask him what he did for work and the man took the time to engage the youth in a careful explanation of the exact nature of his business, even though he was running a bit late for an appointment. Thinking nothing of it, a few days later he got a call from the boy’s uncle who explained how his nephew described this man’s business as exactly the kind of service he had been searching for and couldn’t find until now. There was no media involved here, just a brief conversation with the car wash kid for the biggest sale ever!

Internalize Your Message to Externalize It

What about your company is truly world-class, i.e. best-in-class? Understand this deeply! Ours happens to be brand-directed content writing and creative production. Every sale I’ve made resulted from my message being understood by one person at a time. A few of my best clients are referrals from non-clients; people who read or heard my message and recommended me without knowing much about me or my background. They just liked what they heard and how it was presented, so they told someone.

Take the time to get your message straight and great! A great business message has the power to convert complete strangers into your best customers.

When ready, ramp up the horsepower!

When you have great messages that are proven to convert, by all means, develop a solid media plan to make a few good prospects aware of your value. And if some kid happens to be curious about your work, fully satisfy that curiosity and thank him for being interested.

The post Media channels don’t convert. Messages do! appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Furnish Facts and Photos!

If you want your campaigns and promotions to succeed, furnish the two things every marketing team or agency needs to do a bang-up job. Facts and Photos. That includes video. Of course, money can make the second thing happen but the facts (differentiated customer benefits) in most cases are contained in your head and in the experiences of your customers. It’s crucially important to articulate the factual or authentic benefit statements that set your brand apart from others.

“A picture is worth a thousand words” and so true! To learn what’s even more important about pictures when it comes to your brand, hop over to my article on LinkedIn to discover the plain truth about your marketing images.

The post Furnish Two Primary Marketing Assets! appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

So, why is there so much reluctance among some businesses to develop and maintain an effective advertising campaign?

Jumping into paid advertising, especially in an untried medium, is a scary proposition to a lot of small business owners who must dig into their own back pockets to help fund an effective campaign. Aren’t you reluctant to spend a significant sum on a service whose success relies on the whims of other people, in other words, isn’t predictable? That’s what advertising is but thankfully, those whims can be effectively harnessed into buying action if you play your technology, data, messaging and media cards right.

Your return on investment depends on a few simple factors – reach, frequency and relevance. These are the crucial elements of a campaign and if you put effort into all three, you should see a positive ROI.

After some experience, you’ll have the confidence to invest more as you begin to measure the results based on actual response rates. The great thing with digital is that results get better and better as you dial in your data-driven campaign to more qualified prospects!

When do you advertise?

Ask yourself a couple of questions.

• Have traditional business channels like word-of-mouth, networking and direct sales taken a pause or lagged in bringing in enough new business?
• Are you unable to devote sufficient amounts of time to develop your sales & marketing channels due to other business priorities?

These are key questions that should lead you in the direction of at least a test marketing campaign with a sufficient advertising budget to move the needle in revenues. Determining the campaign scope and duration depends largely on your sales cycle. The goal is always a profitable return on investment and you can accurately calculate the cost per lead and cost per sale in real dollars & cents.

How do you measure success?

Let’s say your average new customer takes about one month from an initial inquiry to placing an order. In as little as 60 days from a campaign launch, you should be closing on some new business and have a bevy of leads in your sales pipeline. Unfortunately, there’s no surefire way to forecast your actual advertising ROI until you have sufficient data gathered from the digitally tracked campaign. But you can begin to make educated calculations within the first 90 days in most cases.

Hitting Paydirt

After a few months of dialing in your messaging and target market based on specific interests, you will begin to have a throttle-like ability to manage business growth and it can be very profitable!

Digital advertising campaigns using Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and other platforms work fast because they actively find the people you’re looking for while those people are happy to see your ad pop up, answering their current need.

Campaign effectiveness and tracking accuracy are the two reasons so many corporate marketing budgets are moving out of traditional print and broadcast, which are expensive and hard to measure, to digital which can predictively deliver results when it’s professionally managed. That’s how advertising works in the 21st Century!

The post Knowing When to Advertise appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Stop demanding leads!

Every business owner and salesperson wants qualified new business leads that they can close, add to the client list and so build their business empire. If they could reduce their time spent prospecting and just focus on closing more deals, business would be sooooo much better! But is that realistic? Probably not.

There are all kinds of lead generation programs out there that vary in firepower and sophistication. Most of them utilize a combination of digital platforms that, when integrated, allow you to target demographic and interest-specific audiences, and follow them around on the web and with emails. They include various levels of personalization, even to the point of feeling creepy and intrusive.

The B2B Marketing Reality

You can definitely increase your website traffic and generate inbound “leads” with a well-programmed campaign. Up to a point. There’s a point at which message saturation occurs and no amount of great marketing will deliver new customers when there aren’t a bevy of needy prospects in your market during your campaign. This is the reality of most B2B marketing!

You hit up the same finite universe of potential buyers with a drip campaign hoping some will just peel away from their current business relationships, open an account and place an order with you. But the real qualified leads are few and far between, so what can you do?

The Crux of Business Growth

Unless your messages are relevant to their thinking and well-timed to their needs, prospective business customers couldn’t care less about your drips and drabs following them around in browsers and delivered in emails. But when they’re ready for change, you need to have readied them to think of your brand first. So the question becomes, how do you maximize your current market share and position your company as the category leader when the market expands?

You build trusted relationships based on an authentic brand. And these relationships can begin with simple awareness and grow from there. Yes, it’s about branding again!

What do you do better than most if not all of your competition? Figure out how to make that fact resonate in every company message. Make it the foundation of your sales, marketing and PR. Don’t stray!

As your prospects notice the consistency in your value proposition and hear about your work in media or word of mouth, they might actually become excited about the chance to do business with you when the time comes. You may be unaware of any relationship brewing with your prospects as they are mindfully starting to develop a relationship with you. Then your phone rings and it’s them!

The B2B Marketing Bonus

Each new relationship offers additional marketing and sales momentum!

While B2B marketing may seem a bit humdrum compared with consumer or lifestyle campaigns, business clients tend to be much higher stakes customers who depend heavily on your services. The relationship is important because they are trusting some part of their business to your care, and as they grow to enjoy working with you and your team, your best form of advertising comes free; a testimonial, a kind word… a referral and another new client.

When you’ve been at this game a while, you realize that without a brand name – one that people in your market have reasons to talk about – your sales will remain flat. But if your company works hard on consistent brand awareness, sales growth becomes less of a challenge and more of a fulfillment – an answer to your market’s call.

The post Lead Generation or Seed Germination? appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.

Gillette blew it in my opinion. Their marketing group projected their own cultural and political bias onto their target audience and many of us are turned off by their overt condemnation of all masculinity as “toxic.”

The message of respect and kindness itself is good but the thrust of the ad presupposes that disciplined respect by men is a new, progressive idea and that men need to clean up their act, never mind our unshaven faces. If there’s a positive side for Gillette, the brand will gain additional support from the market segment in which the message resonates, but that would be a hard segment to measure.

The Marketing Risks

I believe the risks for Gillette are twofold. 1) They have annoyed a sizable portion of their customer base because the ad’s tone implies that most men have been jerks all along but things are different now and they better get with the times! 2) The ad’s video news clip collage panders to progressive political leanings and the #MeToo movement. It will be seen as an insincere play on promoting social justice.

As a longtime Gillette customer, I’m very annoyed! Why did this corporation jump headlong for no apparent reason into a politically charged cultural movement, attempting to shame men and correct their behavior?

The only behavior of mine that Gillette has any business in whatsoever is my grooming behavior.

As for social behavior, I will look to my Church, family, friends, neighbors and colleagues for feedback and correction, and so should the rest of Gillette’s audience in my opinion. There are no moral and spiritual leaders in the marketing team at Gillette or all of Proctor and Gamble and they have no business assuming moral authority in their advertising campaigns.

Here’s the Marketing Kicker

My advice is to keep all of your business messages on point. Attempting to use your company’s platform to influence the culture will only divert your attention and resources away from your primary business purpose – serving your customers.

I believe the best marketing is sincere marketing. So far, my best shaves have been with Gillette razors. They make excellent shaving products and that’s the only message I want to hear from a razor company that profits from my continued patronage.

The post Stick to your business and stay out of the pulpit. appeared first on Chuck Sink Link.