Zero To Sixty Marketing LLC

Do You Understand Customer Life-Cycles?

Susan Hamilton — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:14 +0000

Most people would agree, they want their customers (most of them anyway!) to return. Learn their habits and you’ll improve the odds.

Engagement and relationship are words so overused, it’s difficult for me to say them. There are no other words. They matter, they work, and in today’s marketing environments they must be mastered. Your business is always a service, and you’re always serving people and your community with it.

If you’re not, people will know and not come back and share their experiences with others because they have mastered relationship and engagement!

There is a clear line in the sand. It’s simply not efficient for selling to be your number one goal right now. You must sell to make more money, but to do that and truly serve your market you need to be very aware of their needs and share that everywhere while they develop a trust with your company.

This is the best use of social media there is. Google notices it, too. If you’re engaging regularly and people are talking about you online, it’s very good.

Lead generation tools (email lists or other sign up forms) are the next thing you should be developing.

Not everyone will buy from you right now, but if you offer a way to stay in touch with them, they might buy in the future. That’s an excellent investment of time, especially in an ever-changing online environment. Your email list has chosen to hear from you.

Your email list is more valuable over the years because when its managed, it becomes the best tool to gauge interest in new releases, product demos, and customer service. You need this to grow your business soundly.

After the sale, what is your customer most likely to do? Tell everyone they’re thrilled? Where would they do that?

Hmmm… nope, if you’re scared of social media, you’re missing something very important.

What are you doing to stay in front of and in touch with your customers? Tell us about it, and encourage another business owner with your progress! (Then share this post on Facebook, we love that!)

Research Proves Heavy Smartphone Shopping

Susan Hamilton — Tue, 15 May 2012 09:00:38 +0000

Listen and share instead?

Here’s where data really gets interesting to me.

When it comes to researching the products, 66% of consumers are using tablets while 57% research on their smartphones. Reviews? 56% read reviews on tablets and 45% on smartphones. Details, as I’ve told you before, make tablet shopping an ideal environment for browsers who really want to take in the experience. Thing is, the smartphone numbers are pretty high, too!

Business owners have to take this stuff into consideration when they’re trying to figure out why the phone isn’t ringing. Websites have to be precise, clear, and informative to make navigation easy on consumers who are in ‘ready-to-buy’ phase. What do you need to know? Ask us in the comments section, or on our Facebook page, we’ll help you get the right information.

Be certain your business listing in Google is accurate. We all know Google Maps has its issues, but most maps pull from their data making it very important to regularly check your Google Places account.

This is going to be a great year. Get ready for the waves of change to come, because changes are happening very frequently now and will continue to do so in the future. I talked about consumer / mobile / tablet relationships earlier this year in the Inside Line, and referred to a 2011 fourth quarter survey. Make sure you read the related reading I share with you at the end of this post. These dramatic increases in such a short time can’t be ignored.

Have you developed a mobile website? What kind of response are you getting?

What Are Consumers Doing With Their Tablets and Smartphones?

Susan Hamilton — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:00:57 +0000

(And why does that matter to you?)

Click here to listen instead.

People are spending big money and using their tablets and smartphones to do it. They’re easy to use, and businesses that pay attention are bringing in the profits.

Smartphones make finding locations simple, and convenience is the reason why 73% of people using them find you with their smartphones vs 43% of tablet users. Neither number is anything to sneeze at. If this is how people find you, how important is it to represent your business conveniently for them, too?

When they’re out specifically to purchase, 62% are using their smartphones and 52% are using their tablets to make price comparisons. Is your product information that accessible? If not, you’re missing this traffic.

Are you making changes to accommodate local traffic? Have they been helpful? Tell us what’s working for you.

If you have questions, but not sure how to ask them or how to go forward, please share them here. Your responses help others frame their questions and encourage them to ask, too!

Let’s get ready for mobile marketing together! Share your responses on Facebook and Twitter using #learnmobile.

Growing Your Business is All About The Follow Through

Susan Hamilton — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:00:53 +0000

Listen instead?

Baseball and basketball players – even golfers – know that the shot won’t be made unless your follow through is perfect. It’s no different in business, except that this is not a game. This is your livelihood and your ability to impact change in your community, church, home and school. When you own your own business, there’s not much separation between life and work! That’s why it’s so important that you make the shot.

You’ve been working on finishing a goal this week that you’ve been putting off, a goal that if you accomplished it, should be a major cog in your wheel. If you didn’t, don’t give up! Just dust yourself off and make more realistic steps to advance on it.

See, that’s the point. You needed to start somewhere. Now you have a baseline.

If you made it, YAAY! Leave us your comments and encourage someone whose been struggling with a goal, maybe only a choice surrounding that goal, but something that became too big to step out on. Not many people take positive steps and incorporate real changes into their work environments, but that’s what it takes to morph into the company you’ve been envisioning.

What did you learn on your journey? Did you give up part way through?

Find out what your halting point was, and go smaller. But keep moving forward.

Did you recognize areas where you learned you needed more education? Great! Did you make steps to get that education, and carve out time to learn what you need to know?

How about your time frame? Was it realistic? Could you have finished with just a little more time? Well, unless you’re dead, you need to keep going until you’re done.

I think timing is the most significant thing to consider when you already have a busy company, but want to grow it beyond its limitations. You can’t afford to NOT do your day-to-day activities.

Unless, of course, that’s exactly what you need to figure out. Sometimes the changes that have to be implemented are the ones that take us out of a task someone else could be doing better. Yes, I said it. There may be someone in your organization who can do a better job at something you’ve been doing for years.

Your next step is what will make the shot. Here’s to a great follow through!

Leave us your comments below, and then click the Twitter and Facebook buttons on the right! By the way, have you subscribed to the Inside Line on Getting More Business? Our sign up form was down for a while, we apologize, but now its functioning so try again!

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