by Denise McVey, president, S3 Public Relations
What does Twitter mean to your retail business? Look at this growing social media form as an opportunity to bond with customers and drive business.
Step 1: Get a Twitter account (free at Twitter.com). You’ll need an e-mail address to get this started. I suggest having your Twitter account name be the name of your store if at all possible for maximum recognition factor.
Step 2: Populate your Twitter account with frequent updates. THIS is your big chance to connect with customers who want to know more. How much more? Whatever information you can provide that is of value to them. Just marked down last season’s styles? Tweet all about it. New shipment arriving this afternoon? Share the news. Having an industry expert or respected designer in to talk? This event is Twitter worthy. Create an inner circle your followers want to be part of. Steer away from overt hawking of goods – again, the Tweet needs to represent value to those who are following you. Their response (“Retweeting” so others hear about it, showing up, buying...) is the value you hope to derive, thanks to the creation of a relationship between you and your “followers” (those following your updates on Twitter).
Step 3: Follow and be followed. Twitter users have the opportunity to follow and be followed by other Twitter users. This is what allows all the hyper-connectivity. Don’t be afraid to follow others, but try to weed out Tweeters whom you expressly don’t want to be associated with. If you sell toddler toys, for example, and adult entertainment expert may not be someone to follow. (You can even block followers you identify who may harm your brand.) All this following and being followed gets your message out in front of others, every time you Tweet.
With the recent massive growth of Twitter, don’t be surprised if more people than the population of a small country end up following you. No, they won’t all personally purchase anything from you. But if you’re doing it right, among that mass there will be individuals who transact with you – or who influence someone else to do so. The true potential of Twitter lies within you: recognize how it best applies to you. Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find it’s pretty easy – and it offers excellent ROI for a minimal time investment. Just be sure to keep the momentum going, because you’re only as good as your last Tweet.
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Safety First: Marketing To Moms
by Mark Vance, chief marketing officer, Rainsoft Water Treatment Systems
For veterans in the juvenile market, the concept of mom-centric marketing is nothing new. Moms are a key demographic in marketing plans for products from diapers and juice boxes to vacuum cleaners and laundry detergent. But now, there’s an added twist – after digging deeper into the mind of the mom to determine what really drives her purchase decisions, researchers are finding that it all boils down to moms’ basic drive to keep their families safe from harm.
More than anything, moms want to have more control over their home environments. There’s always something to worry about on the outside, from swine flu, to sex and violence on TV, or the economy. Mothers know they can’t control what goes on outside the home, but they take every possible step to make sure their families’ immediate environments are safe and secure.
I call this psychographic profile the “Protector Mom.”
Some of her traits:
- Young children (ages 0-7) in the home
- Concerned about keeping a clean, comfortable, germ-free home, but dislike housework
- Want to protect their families from harm both in and outside the home
- Busy schedules, looking for convenience and stress-free solutions
- Search for information about potential purchases online
Companies like Dodge, General Motors, Evenflo and Johnson & Johnson all have recently embarked upon marketing campaigns designed to woo moms who want to protect their families from harm both in and outside the home.
What does this mean for the juvenile market?
There’s more to it than just complying with increasingly stringent laws and regulations. This is great, but there’s also a market out there for products that actively help moms protect their families – e.g. child GPS tracking devices. You also have products that allow parents to filter what comes into their homes – like the V-Chip, which allows parents to block certain content from cable TV, or the product my company sells, which filters the water that families use to eat, drink and bathe.
Think about ways you can reach out to the Protector Mom.
Maybe it’s modifying your existing product to incorporate a helpful safety feature.
Or, tailoring your marketing plan to incorporate more of the channels the Protector Mom uses.
Most important, don’t forget to listen to her – you might be surprised at what she says. At RainSoft, conducting focus groups with Protector Moms helped us focus on new initiatives, refine our marketing strategy and implement new marketing tactics. In future posts, I hope to write about some things we’ve tried, and share some tips for marketing to moms.
For veterans in the juvenile market, the concept of mom-centric marketing is nothing new. Moms are a key demographic in marketing plans for products from diapers and juice boxes to vacuum cleaners and laundry detergent. But now, there’s an added twist – after digging deeper into the mind of the mom to determine what really drives her purchase decisions, researchers are finding that it all boils down to moms’ basic drive to keep their families safe from harm.
More than anything, moms want to have more control over their home environments. There’s always something to worry about on the outside, from swine flu, to sex and violence on TV, or the economy. Mothers know they can’t control what goes on outside the home, but they take every possible step to make sure their families’ immediate environments are safe and secure.
I call this psychographic profile the “Protector Mom.”
Some of her traits:
- Young children (ages 0-7) in the home
- Concerned about keeping a clean, comfortable, germ-free home, but dislike housework
- Want to protect their families from harm both in and outside the home
- Busy schedules, looking for convenience and stress-free solutions
- Search for information about potential purchases online
Companies like Dodge, General Motors, Evenflo and Johnson & Johnson all have recently embarked upon marketing campaigns designed to woo moms who want to protect their families from harm both in and outside the home.
What does this mean for the juvenile market?
There’s more to it than just complying with increasingly stringent laws and regulations. This is great, but there’s also a market out there for products that actively help moms protect their families – e.g. child GPS tracking devices. You also have products that allow parents to filter what comes into their homes – like the V-Chip, which allows parents to block certain content from cable TV, or the product my company sells, which filters the water that families use to eat, drink and bathe.
Think about ways you can reach out to the Protector Mom.
Maybe it’s modifying your existing product to incorporate a helpful safety feature.
Or, tailoring your marketing plan to incorporate more of the channels the Protector Mom uses.
Most important, don’t forget to listen to her – you might be surprised at what she says. At RainSoft, conducting focus groups with Protector Moms helped us focus on new initiatives, refine our marketing strategy and implement new marketing tactics. In future posts, I hope to write about some things we’ve tried, and share some tips for marketing to moms.
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