eBook - ePub
30 Days to Online PR & Marketing Success
The 30 Day Results Guide to Making the Most of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blogging to Grab Headlines and Get Clients
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- 192 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
30 Days to Online PR & Marketing Success
The 30 Day Results Guide to Making the Most of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Blogging to Grab Headlines and Get Clients
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About This Book
Google and the Internet have changed how the PR game is playedâand created an explosion of blogs, Websites, and social media platforms with an insatiable need for news. Small companies can create global visibility for their products on a pennies-a-day budget with online PR and Internet marketingâIf they know the tricks of the trade.Using a unique Rule of 30â˘approach, 30 Days to Online PR and Marketing Success helps busy business owners see results fast. Thirty short chapters are packed with real-world tips and proven techniques to create online PR and marketing campaigns that drive traffic to your site and buyers to your products.You'll quickly and easily learn how to:
- Use online PR and keywords to climb to the top of search-engine rankings
- Reach reporters and consumers with hot news and information
- Blend online PR and Internet marketing to reach millions of targeted prospects on a small budgetLooking for rapid online marketing results on a shoestring budget? 30 Days to Online PR & Marketing Success is for you.
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1 Why Most PR and Marketing Fails
Marketing horror stories. Youâve probably heard them. You may have one yourself. These are the stories about how someone tried a marketing technique, sent out a press release, or ran an ad, and âit didnât work.â
Iâve heard plenty of these stories. And as with most urban legends, thereâs usually more to the story than meets the eye. If youâre reading this book, youâre a coach, consultant, speaker, author, or owner of a small business, and you want more from your marketing than youâre currently getting. You may not be marketing at all because your business is new, or because youâre afraid to fail. Or it may be that your marketing is chugging along with mediocre returns or muddled measurement.
Take heart. Marketing isnât mysterious, and once you understand how the pieces fit together, youâll be in a better position to market your own company or to oversee someone to handle marketing for you. Letâs start by looking at the seven most common reasons that marketing plans fail.
1. No planning. Many marketing efforts fail because there is no link between the marketing actions and the bottom-line business plan goals that drive revenue. Decision makers get caught up with a vivid, creative idea that isnât accountable to the bottom line, or because they take a âgreat dealâ offered by a salesperson for a media buy. Marketing without a plan is a disaster waiting to happen.
2. Inappropriate actions. If there is no plan, then marketing actions may conflict with each other. Itâs unlikely that scatter-shot actions will support a business plan goal. Disappointing results come about because of a âready, fire, aimâ approach where actions arenât anchored to business objectives and target audiences. Attempts to copy what a successful competitor is doing without understanding why (or whether) the action is working for them is also a dangerous approach.
3. Lack of clarity about the target market. Blasting out marketing without a clear target is wasteful and unsuccessful. You canât hit a target if you havenât identified it. There is a âsweet spotâ of potential customers who could become your ideal clients. Youâll need to get to know them to win them.
4. Lack of clear goals. Not only do your marketing actions need to be linked to specific business goals, but each marketing action should be measurable. Build in measurability up front so expectations are clear.
5. Unreasonable expectations. Many people become disillusioned with marketing because they donât understand the benchmarks for successful programs. For example, most direct mail professionals are thrilled to get a 1-percent response rate. One percent! Yet many small businesses send out a postcard mailing and quit in disgust, expecting a response of 20 percent, 30 percent or more. Itâs important to have realistic expectations so you recognize success when you see it.
6. Unclear on how marketing works. For many people, marketing is a lot like a DVD player. They donât know (and donât care) how it works. Your odds of creating successful marketing are slim without some knowledge of how the pieces function and the process required to pull the pieces together. On the Internet, new tools are emerging almost daily. Understanding what makes marketing tick is essential whether youâre doing it yourself or delegating it to someone else.
7. Lack of patience. Did you know that marketing research shows that it takes between seven to 30 âtouchesâ to make a sale? Customers wonât buy until they have an urgent need. Until then, all you can do is create name recognition and a good reputation. Thatâs the value of the Rule of 30. Marketing has a lot in common with farming. You wouldnât plant seeds one day and go out the next and dig them up in disgust because full grown plants hadnât sprouted overnight. Seeds take time to sprout. Marketing seeds also take time to grow.
Putting the 30 Day Guide to Use
Marketing success begins with RESULTS. The RESULTS approach stands for:
Recommit to marketing.
Expect success.
Seek partners.
Understand your audience.
Look for win-win scenarios.
Take strategic action.
Stay visible.
In the next 30 days, you can see your social media marketing go from zero to zoom by applying the RESULTS formula.
Recommit to set aside at least 30 minutes each day to developing your social media marketing strategy for the next 30 days. (Thirty minutes is a minimum. Once you get started, youâll want to spend an hour, so block out the time now.)
Expect success by throwing yourself whole-heartedly into this 30-day commitment. If the little voice in the back of your head keeps saying, âThis is ridiculous. This isnât going to work,â you are programming yourself for failure. Program yourself for success by writing down 30 things you would like to achieve from your online marketing and PR strategy. Some ideas include:
~ Reach new ideal prospects who may not know about your product/service and give them an incentive to learn more.
~ Gain visibility in local, regional, national and professional media.
~ Position your company as the expert and leader in its field.
Considering these three examples, come up with your own list of 30 Success Expectations and keep them handy to check back on.
Seek partners. Success in the online world is just as dependent on partnership and collaboration as in the ârealâ world. These partners might be trusted vendors on whom you rely for your online marketing tools, ecommerce applications, or PR distribution. They might also be companies in non-competing fields that serve the same customer base with whom you can create products and joint ventures.
Understand your audience in more profitable detail than ever before with the exercises in Chapter 3. Make a list of 30 things you wished you knew about your best customersâand create 30 questions you can use for quizzes, surveys and online discussions.
Look for win-win scenarios. When you select among online PR opportunities, be sure the sites you pick are frequently used by reporters, bloggers, and others in the media.
Take strategic action by putting what you learn in this book to work for you. Be sure to do the exercises at the end of each chapter. Complete all 30 chapter exercises in the next 30 days and watch your online marketing and PR soar!
Stay visible by keeping your name in the press through online PR. Create a list of 30 upcoming events, newsworthy items or announcements you could promote with online PR.
Most people put off doing marketing because they think itâs too difficult or too time-consuming. By using the principles in this book, youâll do more in 30 minutes a day for 30 days than most business owners do all year. Thatâs the âGet Resultsâ secret weaponâstrategic, consistent effort in pursuit of clear, measurable results.
2 The Most Powerful Online PR and Marketing Tool: The Business Plan
If the idea of creating a business plan makes your eyes glaze over, donât worry. This chapter isnât about the kind of detailed business plan youâd need to get a loan from a bank or money from a venture capitalist. In fact, the kind of business plan Iâm going to show you just might be the most dynamic document youâve ever created, and it is likely to be the most profitable.
If youâve already written a business plan, dust it off and take a look at it. If itâs more than two years old, its shelf life has expired. Why? Consumer expectations are constantly changing in response to economic conditions, new technology, and lifestyle shifts. So be prepared to make some changes in your approach to assure that itâs up to date.
If youâve never written a business plan, youâre about to find out how to make it your most powerful marketing tool. Pull out a pad of paper and a pen and letâs get started.
Define Success in Your Own Terms
Start off by defining what you mean by âsuccessâ for the next 12 months. Success can mean different things to different people. Your definition should be what will satisfy you, and itâs likely to evolve through time. But unless you know what your success target is for the immediate future, you wonât know when youâve hit the mark.
Here are some ways to define business success for any given year:
~ Profit.
~ Market share.
~ New product penetration.
~ Media coverage and endorsements.
~ National distribution channels.
~ Percent gain in product sales.
~ Industry credibilityâspeaking engagements, interviews, board or committee roles.
You may think of a few more possibilities. Success is more than just money, although for most companies and solo professionals, there is a target amount of money involved.
Ready, AimâŚ
Now write down your top three business goals for next year. Be sure to prioritize them. Do they match your definition of success?
One of the reasons marketing often fails for small businesses and solo professionals is that the marketing is not aligned with the prioritized business plan goals. Overwhelmed business owners take whatever marketing opportunities cross their paths, or buy into âdealsâ offered to them by persuasive media salespeople. They donât know how to say yes with confidence and no without guilt, because they donât have any standard to judge the opportunities.
Your business plan sets that standard. Next to each of your prioritized business goals, write down who the target audience is for that goal. The more precisely you can narrow down the target audience (instead of âeveryoneâ it would be better to say âcollege-educated men between the ages of 18â30â), the more precisely youâll be able to target your marketing. You may have more than one target audience for each goal (for now), or you may have the same target audience for all of your goals. Thatâs okay. Weâll look at your audiences in more detail in the next chapter.
âŚFire! Or Aim Again
Once youâve matched an audience with a prioritized goal, make a list of all your current marketing efforts. List everything: Website, banner ads, Facebook ads, online marketing efforts, direct mail, print or radio ads, signage, social media, e-mail newsletters, speaking appearances, online and traditional press release distribution, etc.
Now that youâve made a comprehensive list, match each marketing effort to the target audience it reaches, and to the business goal it supports. Do you see any disconnects?
Usually at this point, business owners notice that they have marketing that arenât communicating a message that supports the business goal that is now linked to that audience. Sometimes, business owners discover âorphanâ marketing efforts that donât seem to connect with any prioritized business goal. Orphan marketing efforts might exist out of habit, or because they met an old need, or because thereâs an emotional connection to the action or to the person who sold it to you. But if itâs not advancing a business goal, itâs an âorphanâ because there is no reason to keep on doing it. They might also find marketing that is communicating the right message for a goal, but to the wrong audience.
Getting the message in sync with the best target audience in support of the right prioritized goal is the first step to marketing success. Online marketing and PR will be most successful if the content or offer are linked to the right goal and audience, and youâll get a multiplier effect on all of your marketing activities if they are all in sync. Good online marketing and PR not only help to raise your companyâs visibility, they also drive prospective clients to your Website and develop brand recognition. If those marketing actions arenât tied to the right goals and audiences, your prospect will get a muddled, ineffective message that will cost you sales.
Look for Gaps
Now itâs time to go âgap hunting.â Here are questions to ask yourself when you gap hunt:
~ Are there any goals/audiences without any supporting marketing efforts?
~ Are all the marketing efforts bunched up around one goal?
~ Is most of your marketing effort supporting your top prioritized goal?
~ Are you putting most of your effort into goals youâve ranked as second or third in importance?
~ Do you have target audiences who arenât the focus of any marketing?
~ Is one target audience getting all the marketing messages?
~ Are second- or third-goal audiences getting more marketing messages than your top goal audience?
Make a list of these marketing gaps, because youâll need to address them in your strategy, and youâll want to look for ways online marketing and PR can help you plug the holes.
Defining Your Transformative Val...
Table of contents
- Cover Page
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Authorâs Note
- Foreword
- 1. Why Most PR and Marketing Fails
- 2. The Most Powerful Online PR and Marketing Tool: The Business Plan
- 3. Digging Into the Business Plan for a PR and Marketing Payoff
- 4. Mining PR and Marketing Gems From the Business Plan
- 5. Creating a PR and Marketing Action Plan
- 6. Finding Your Real Story and True Voice
- 7. Touches to Transactions
- 8. The Power of Online PR
- 9. Effective PR and Marketing in the Age of Google
- 10. Writing the Online Press Release
- 11. Great Reasons Not to Target Mass Media (and Where You Can Focus Instead)
- 12. The Magic of Multi-Media Media Releases and Online Ads
- 13. Keywords Are King
- 14. Creating the Magic Media List for Your Topic
- 15. Your Online Press Kit
- 16. Distributing Your Release Online
- 17. The Multiplyer Magic of Autoresponder Marketing
- 18. Rule the âAirwavesâ With Internet Radio and Podcasts, Virtual Video, and Web TV
- 19. Rock the World With Affiliate Marketing
- 20. PR and Marketing Gold With Professional and Industry Media
- 21. Social Media and Online PR and Marketing
- 22. Online Marketing and the âNewâ Media Revolution
- 23. The Power of âLocalâ Online Media
- 24. Online Newsletters
- 25. Using Teleseminars and Webinars
- 26. Online Events for Speakers and Authors
- 27. Basic E-Commerce Ties Promotion to Payoff
- 28. Hybrid Online Tools Bring the Pieces Together
- 29. SEO Basics for Online PR and Marketing
- 30. Where Do I Go From Here?
- Afterword
- Recommended Websites
- Index
- About the Author