Location, Location, Location

How often have we heard the old real estate adage that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. This adage can be used in business as well, and not just for the location of a brick and mortar store location, although that works as well, but in all aspect of marketing and branding. In today’s competitive markets location is defined as how well you are represented on social media sites and the location on these. A newer saying goes something like this “where is the best place to hide a dead body, on the second page of Google, no one will ever find it.”

If you have a marketing plan how old is it and when was the last time it was reviewed and updated? If you do not have a plan, try reading Marketing and Branding. The need to have an effective marketing effort is more important today than ever. What dominated marketing trends in 2015 were, among many things. “less is more marketing”, “personalization”, “multi-cultural marketing”, and “content.” What is trending in 2016 is audience “connection.” In other words, bonding with your customer. You need to create a customer experience. Much of this can be achieved through Video and Imagery Explosion. According to Forbes 80% of global internet traffic will be video by 2019. This does not mean just showing exploding cars, content remains king, it’s how you present your content that counts and to whom. Multi-Cultural Marketing is taking over generic marketing. In the United States 93% of the population growth is multi-cultural. Let us not forget that growing market segment “MILLENNIALS.” While there is wide discussion as to what a millennial is, the consensus is those born between 1977 to 1995.

Since millennials will outnumber baby boomers by 22 million by the year 2030 it not too soon to work on that marketing plan. Millennial’s look at life a little different then past generation. They look for authenticity and look for a more personal experience than their parents. They do much of their shopping on line and discuss openly all aspects of their life on social media.

It is important for today’s business owner to understand the ever-changing face of this new way of marketing and branding. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the new king of getting the message out. Do you have the right key words to attract the spiders as they respond to the customers (or potential customers) search? Do you understand buyer persona? Customer service is still in paly but is now headed as great customer experience. Are you prepared to provide a great customer experience with your online sales platforms? Waiting line theory is still used but now you must keep your customer online not just inline. Ask yourself how often you have had a bad experience while trying to make a purchase on line. How often have you wanted to contact a company but could not find a way to do it other than through email or an online chat. If you did find a number how long where you on hold. How often can you hear the same “we are experiencing unusually high call volume”. Your current customers have little patience for this and the new up and coming customer just don’t bother. If your competitors make it easier your customer will not come back.

This article is just an idea. I would like to thank Melina Sigal of The Sales and Marketing Connection for supply a lot of the information used here.  At JANUSThink we can help you with your marketing. Just give us a call at 703-314-2964 or contact us through our website at janusthink.com