Getting the Word Out: A Lesson in Marketing

Having a business can be rewarding and a lot of work but consumers can only buy your product or services if they know your business exists! You might have the best product or service on the market but no one can buy it if they don't know it exists!

Putting together a marketing plan for a business is essential and necessity to promote your products and services. Consumers have to know your product is available in order to purchase it and leaving this out of your plan could help slow down your growth. Having a marketing plan that is creative, outgoing and well thought out can help provide the growth you will need to sustain and be successful.

One example of how this has been done well in recent times is what the American Hockey League's Lake Erie Monsters have done to market themselves to fans in Cleveland. The Monsters are a minor league team in what many call a major league city and the team had to almost start out from scratch. The previous team in the market, the American Hockey League Cleveland Barons, played to an empty Quicken Loans arena for several seasons from 2001-2006. The Barons weren't very big on marketing and almost never advertised at all in the market. As a result, the team took a hit at the gate and many in Cleveland didn't even know the team existed.

After the Barons left town to move to Worecester, MA, Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert brought in the Lake Erie Monsters and he and the executives hired to run the team put a huge emphasis on marketing. The team was not only utilizing traditional methods of purchasing ad space in newspapers, television and radio but hired salespeople who previously contacted those who purchased tickets to Cleveland Barons games and Cleveland Lumberjacks games (the Lumberjacks were a minor league team in Cleveland before the Barons). These salespeople found out that many people were unaware that minor league hockey existed in Cleveland but those phone calls along with the ads in the paper and on radio and television helped get the word out. It took time to put in those phone calls but the person on the other end of the phone lines learned a little something when they received that call or saw the ads elsewhere.

In addition to traditional forms of marketing, the Monsters have a functioning web-site, have utilized Twitter and Facebook and have had players make public appearances at local rinks and schools. As a result, this has helped build the brand name of the Monsters and become more familiar to people in Northeast Ohio. The Monsters are also cross promoted at Cavaliers basketball games and this and the other marketing efforts have helped fans become more familiar with the team and get them through the gate.

In these times, it's not always easy to have a big budget for advertising and marketing but there are cost efficient ways to promote your business. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter cost almost nothing but time to the business owners and many have been able to grow by utilizing this as part of a marketing strategy. Networking at different functions can help put you in touch with people who may need your products or services and blogs have also become useful in getting the word out. Being able to get in front of people utilizing the growing forms of social media and networking can help put you in front of potential customers and make consumers aware your business exists.

Putting together a good product or service is vital to a business but making others aware it exists is crucial to growth. Marketing does take time and can be expensive but can also be done in ways that can help promote your business and grow your sales.

Are You in Tune with YouTube?

Since being launched, YouTube has grown into one of the most powerful entertainment and search mediums in the world. With more and more videos being uploaded each day, YouTube has grown in visitors and popularity. YouTube has become one of the most effective ways to find information and to build a brand.

Whenever I mention YouTube in normal conversation, I am often asked how YouTube can be beneficial to a business. Here are the main reasons I typically give whenever I am asked this question:

1) YouTube's Growth Has Turned It From Being a Form of Social Media to a Search Engine- As more and more videos are uploaded each day, YouTube has become one of the best ways to find information on the Internet. Since being purchased by Google, finding content on YouTube is easy and can be optimized for these searches. The titles and descriptions of your videos on YouTube can be optimized to be search engine friendly and easier for YouTube users to find.

2) YouTube Can Help Build Your Audience and Your Brand- A consistent and steady line of YouTube videos can help you reach different audiences and build your brand name to thousands upon thousands of people. Creating a YouTube channel will allow followers to get updates on new videos and develop your brand name and following. Followers can typically subscribe to your YouTube channel and follow your business closely.

3) YouTube Videos Can Appear on Other Sites- YouTube videos can be shared on Facebook pages, Twitter tweets, blogs, and other places on the Internet. Your YouTube videos can be shared with other people who are no on YouTube and spread your message even further. The more people that come across your YouTube video, the better chance you have of building up your brand to its highest level

4) You Never Know Who Is Watching- Some of the biggest YouTube success stories have come from videos that were widely viewed by others and in some cases, decision makers at big companies. For example, the a capella singing group Straight No Chaser went from being an unknown group to YouTube sensation when one of their members uploaded a version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" onto YouTube. One of the viewers happened to be one of the top executives at Atlantic Records and the group ended up getting signed not too long after that. Stories like this don't happen all the time with YouTube but it's at least worth taking a shot.

Frequently Asked Concerns About Twitter

"Why do I need to tell someone I am at the gas station?"

"Why would I want to tell people where I am at during the day?"

"Why would I want to inform people I am having a bad day?"

Questions like these always come up whenever I bring up Twitter to someone. No matter what, these questions are always asked whenever I mention that I am on Twitter and use it on a regular basis.

The questions listed above are understandable and those who ask them bring up valid points. Not everyone needs to know the personal or exact details of your life but that is not necessarily what Twitter can be used for.

Twitter is a great way for people who have blogs, businesses, events, special interest groups, etc. to promote their cause to a wide range of people. Twitter is immediate, quick and your message can reach thousands and thousands of people. Business have been able to promote events, specials, coupons and other happenings through Twitter and have grown as a result.

Twitter is also good for customer service. Business owners can simply search tweets to find out what people are saying about their business and respond directly to that feedback. This has helped businesses from losing customers, address concerns and in some cases, has brought in new business! Sometimes a business will look at what someone is tweeting about a competitor and can offer a discount or coupon for trying their business. There have been stories of service businesses using this approach and growing as a result of this technique.

Twitpic, which is a subdivision of Twitter, has been used by businesses to share photos to user over the Internet. Sports teams will sometimes use Twitpic to post and tweet links to photos of teams at practice, warm ups and even the game! This has been proven to create interest in that particular team and builds the brand name even further!

Contesting is also popular with Twitter as businesses will sometimes tweet a trivia question to create interest and build brand awareness. These questions are geared towards generating responses, researching the company and allowing users to send answers back for a prize. This technique is efficient, effective and a great method for creating interest in your business.

Tweeting personal points of your life isn't always necessary but using Twitter for a business can help you grow.