The Marketing Automation Blog

Virtual Tours—A must-have marketing tool

2011-12-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

Virtual Tours are becoming a favorite among Real Estate marketers today

Many real estate brokers are resorting to Virtual Tours to showcase their listings. We now tell you why Virtual Tours are fast becoming a part of the marketing strategy of real estate brokers.

Increasing number of internet users: Research states that about 90% of property-buyers use the web extensively when looking for a new property. By creating Virtual Tours of your property and making them available online, you will be able to reach out to that 90% of the target market.

Exposure: Virtual Tour can provide your listing the kind of exposure that cannot be compared to any other medium. You can publish your listing’s virtual tour on the social media and thus share it will millions of people on the web.

Better Response: A Virtual Tour is a refreshing change from the mundane form of marketing materials such as brochures and property flyers. A virtual tour is more likely to capture prospect attention than regular 2 dimensional images as it is interactive and gives them a ‘real feel’ of what the property is like.

Flexibility: A Virtual Tour offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to showcasing the listing. You can focus on the areas in the property that you wish to highlight. You can even attach documents, links and images to a virtual tour using hotspotting tools.

Available 24X7: Virtual Tours provide the prospects with the convenience of being able to look at the property at anytime. Making the property available to the prospects for viewing 24X7 increases the chances of the property being sold.

Saves Time: A Virtual Tour saves time for both—buyer and the broker/seller. It allows the buyers to get a good view of the property without exposing them to the pressures of an open-house or physical property tour. Based on the virtual tour the buyer can decide which properties are worth a visit and which are not. It is also beneficial for the property owner/broker as it filters out a lot of prospects and only those who are genuinely interested in the listing are likely to pursue it further.

Virtual Tours can be a great addition to your marketing strategy in today’s highly competitive marketing environment. A well-crafted virtual tour can convince buyers to physically visit the property. You can make your virtual tour stand out by making them interactive. If you are using images make sure they are of good quality and high-definition, and if you are relying on a video, make sure it is tastefully shot so as to reflect the pizzazz of the property. You can make it more interesting by adding music or make it more informative by adding commentary or documents or links using hot-spotting tools. The ultimate aim of a virtual tour is same as that of any other marketing material—to close a deal and a well-designed virtual tour will be able to do just that.

8 Tips to Help You Blog Better

2011-10-28T05:39:00.000-07:00

Blogging is a great way to build your brand and strengthen your online presence

Blogging is fast becoming a popular marketing tool. Businesses today are encouraging their employees to blog actively on professional/business-related matters in order to build a greater following for the business and its brand in the market. And why not? Blogs are a great way to showcase the business’s knowledge and expertise. If you are thinking of starting a blog, or looking for ways to improve one that you already have, the following tips may help.

Consistency: Be consistent when it comes to blogging. If you blog once a week, then make it a point to have a new post every week, if it’s every month, then make sure you don’t miss a single month. It doesn’t matter if your blog-posts are short, make sure you post consistently. That way your readers look upon your blog as an ‘active’ one.

Concise: Remember that a blog is different from a whitepaper. While you may be tempted to show off your in-depth knowledge about a topic, refrain from doing so. Keep your blog posts short—ideally about 3 paragraphs long with introduction, the main body and a conclusion.

Spelling and Grammar: Pay attention to spelling and grammar. If you are not sure of something, make sure to double check or leave it out. Poor spellings reflect badly on your brand.

Be Sure: Be sure of what you are writing. Assumptions may sometimes go wrong and this will again count against your brand’s credibility.

Respond: Respond to the comments you receive—whether good or bad. Start and participate actively in decisions. Keep your readers engrossed and engaged.

Check out other blogs: Get in touch with other bloggers who blog on similar topics. Comment on their blogs, have a conversation with them, follow their blogs. This will enable you to get a fresh perspective on things, and widen your knowledge base. You could also provide links to these other blogs in your blog post, and vice-versa.

Spam: Blogs are often targeted by spammers. Make sure you identify spam comments and delete them. Having spam comments on your blog makes readers think that you don’t attend to reader comments, otherwise how would the spam comment still be live on your blog?

Share: Encourage your readers to share your post. Have ‘Share- bars’ that make sharing the post easy on popular Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Tell your readers what is acceptable in terms of content re-use. You can set different limits on content re-use such as permitting re-use only with permission, or permitting reuse with a reference to the original post or permitting only a line or two to be re-used verbatim. By allowing your readers to share your posts, you stand to gain a larger audience.

Five Ways to Improve your B2B Marketing

2011-09-30T01:11:00.000-07:00

The current B2B marketing environment is all about having an interactive dialogue with the prospect. But, the challenge lies in trying to hold prospect interest. Here are a few pointers on how you can keep your prospects engaged and interested in your content…

Identify what’s bothering them: Before you pitch to your prospects, it is essential to understand their pain-points. And, to be able to do this, you need to know your prospect well. For example, things that worry a CMO would be very different from the things that the VP of sales would be concerned about.

Hit the target: Now that you know the key areas that are of interest to your prospects the next thing to do is, ‘Get There’. Any conversation you have with your prospects should be geared towards how you can solve their challenges. They know there’s a problem… they want to listen to you only if you have a solution.

Personalize: Prospects today are looking for relevant information. No one has the time or interest for general content. Your goal should be to pass on relevant, value adding content to your prospects. Personalize your interaction to the highest degree possible, and get the maximum level of engagement from your buyers.

Learn from your relationships: The success of your B2B relationships depends on how you adapt your marketing strategies to your prospect’s behavior. Study the results of your marketing efforts and incorporate changes accordingly. For example, if some prospects constantly seem to ignore your e-mails, try sending them an information packet via snail mail.

Keep it short…keep it simple: Your prospects shouldn't have to wade through pages of text before they find something in your content that’s of use to them. So, keep your content unambiguous but short—so that it’s something they can recall when needed. You can send short whitepapers; provide links to relevant articles, or better still post short videos on topics that would be of interest to your prospects. Accomplishing all of the above can get a little overwhelming without the help of technology, in which case you might want to consider investing in a good marketing automation tool that can simplify your challenges.

5 Ways to Retain your Customers

2011-09-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can save as much as 20% by holding on to your existing customers and cross-selling and up-selling your products and services to them. Think about it. Your company spends quite a bit on demand generation and lead-follow ups. What happens after the leads close as the prospect becomes a customer? Do they vouch for your brand? Here are 5 simple steps that will help you stay on good terms with your customers...

Know them: Know your customers and their preferences. When your company launches a new product or service, this knowledge will come in handy. You can always score better with a prospect/customer when you know them.

Stay in touch: Keep in touch with your clients even after the sale. Send them e-mails occasionally inquiring about their experience with your product/service. Check in once in a while to see if you can help them use your services better.

Special treats: Make your customers feel special. For example: Give your customers a special discount or a sneak preview on your new products/services. Send them your greetings on holidays and special occasions.

Post-sales service: Don't forget your customers once the deal is done. Offer superior customer service and be there for your clients when they need you.

Feedback: Do ask your clients for feedback on your product/service. Not only that, you could also ask for feedback on your processes that have an impact on clients such as customer care, sales process etc

10 Great Content Ideas for Social Media

2011-08-03T22:13:00.000-07:00

So your brand is on Facebook and Twitter, but you are at loss for fresh content consistently? Here are 10 solutions to your problem:

New Blog Post: You updated the business blog with a new post. Go ahead and share the link on social media sites. Give a brief description, that hooks people's interests and makes them want to click on your blog link. You gather more followers for your blog this way, and your social media participation increases.
Customer Appreciation: One of your customers wrote back to you saying they loved your product/service? Go ahead announce it to the world! Better still if that customer is on your social network, thank them online and provide a link to their testimonial. A positive word from peer will go a long way in convincing your prospects.
Employee Appreciation: Someone walked an extra mile for your customers/business? Put that up on your Facebook account. Not only will it motivate your employees, but your prospects and customers will feel good to be doing business with a company whose staff cares for them
Special offers: Social media is a great platform to announce your company's special offers. With millions of people around the world interacting on social media, your special offer is likely to get a great response.
Events: The idea is similar to that in case of offers. Announce to the world where you will be and what you will be doing. Putting up a company booth at the weekend exhibition? Key-note speaker at an event? Spell out the details on Social media and see the response!
Links: Share content that you think will be value adding to your prospects. This may be a video, an article or a whitepaper. Give them something that will hold and interest and add value by teaching something new.
Website updates: Company websites may be revamped or new content may be added time and again. Update your social media site with that information. For example, provide the link to the new white-paper you added to your resources section, or to the newly updated product page.
Policy changes that concern customers: Changed your return policy? Modified your pricing? Use the social media platform to announce it.Your customers and prospects alike will appreciate your company's transparency.
Product help/New launch: Launching a new product or service? Announce it on Facebook & Twitter! Launch a complete marketing campaign on social media! Also, if you come across Frequently Asked Questions that customers have about your product or service, post them on your social media account.
Pictures: Post pictures of your last company picnic or celebration or of any event that you attended. This will help your customers and prospects see the human side of your business and help create a warm and approachable image of your company.

4 Ways to Keep Up with Your Prospects

2011-07-04T02:49:00.000-07:00

An article at Marketing Profs talks about a McKinsey Quarterly study that states that businesses are now in control of only one-third of the touch points in a buyer's evaluation process. So, how do you make the most of the one-third that you have some control over? Here are a few tips to doing that...

Content: Make sure your content is engaging. It should be fresh, simple and address the buyers pain-points. It should be value adding to the buyer. Buyers today don't have too much time or patience. Unless you get straight to the point, they are likely to move on.
Media: Buyers interact with businesses at various stages, through various channels. Make sure your marketing strategy reflects that. Use a healthy mix of different forms of marketing media such as videos, print, HTML e-mails, social media and so on.
Web presence: Buyers today do extensive web searches soliciting peer reviews and suggestions before making a purchase decision. Invest in good SEO practices to ensure that your business has a strong, positive web presence.
Track: Track the touch-points that you still have some control over. That includes your websites, digital marketing and sales collateral, e-mails, social media pages etc. Tracking the traffic and response to these touch-points will provide useful information that you can use to tweak your marketing and sales strategy.

You can read more about the study at ... http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1301/the-funnel-sprung-a-leak

Content Ideas for Social Media Marketing

2011-05-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

Social media is dynamic in nature and demands the same out of marketers who use it to promote their brands. As a result, businesses often struggle with content creation. Delivering fresh content, constantly is not easy. But, many businesses fail to tap into the rich content and content sources existing in-house. This blog-post lists out 5 rich content sources often overlooked by social media marketers.

Employees: Get your best employees on social media. Look for those who are most involved and are able to see the big picture. If you can get those employees who are in direct contact with customers, that would be even better!
Photos: Your company sponsored a charity event? Upload the pictures on Facebook with appropriate captions.
Press Releases: Did you staff attend advanced training? Did your business put up a stall at an exhibition, or did you senior manager speak at a renowned conference? Write a press release and post it online and provide links on your social media sites.
Customers: Get your prominent to join you on social media as guest administrators for a day or so. Allow them to create posts, add notes and update your page. When your customers do the talking about your brand, it is bound to have more impact than you.
Your Website: Your website is a major source of content for you. It talks about your products, services and the industry that you deal in. Use content chunks from your website and modify it to create new content.

So next time you are on a content creation spree, look inside the organization first. It will save you time, efforts and money.

7 Must Haves for Your Website

2011-04-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Your website represents your brand in the virtual world and is so a very important aspect of your business. Yet, we often find businesses struggling with it. "My website looks great, but I am not able to convert" or "I invested so much into creating my website, but I don't get substantial hits"...these are some common complaints that we come across often, especially from small business owners. This blogpost tells you 7 key areas that you should focus on, when creating your business website.

1. Content: Yes...content still rules the roost. Make sure your site has quite a bit of content and further ensure that the content is relevant, value adding and appeals to your target audience. Don't fill the site with words just for the sake of it.

2. Testimonials: Nothing has more impact on your prospects than hearing about your product/service from their peers. So make sure your site has testimonials from your customers.

3. Social Media Icons: Social Media is a great medium to enhance your brand presence online. Get on popular social media networks and tell your website visitors to join you there. That way they will hear more about you from your fans at the social network.

4. Contact Information: Tell your web visitors how to get in touch with you. They shouldn't have to search the entire site before knowing how to contact you. Provide your contact information/contact form very clearly for them to use.

5. Tracking: Incorporate a web-site tracker that helps you track the leads that come in from your website. You can use services such as Google Analytics that are free and provide you basic details such as number of hits, location, time spent on pages etc.

6. Loading Time: Web visitors today have little patience and lots of choices. So, it is important that you site loads quickly, lest they move on to the next search result.

7. SEO: Search engine optimization is a key factor in determinin the ROI of your website. Follow the basic rules of SEO so that you have decent web-ranking. For more on SEO best practices, watch this place, next month.

Top 5 Marketing Challenges Brokers Face

2011-03-27T23:15:00.000-07:00

Selling is fun, exciting and rewarding. You have a marketing team that provides you with leads, necessary collateral and all you have to do is go pitch. But what happens when you are the only one running the show? This blog-post looks into some of the most-often faced challenges of brokers, agents and salespersons.

Challenge#1: Time--Brokers and other salespersons seem to be perennially short of time. There are too many leads to follow-up, too many e-mails to respond to. There's just about enough time to perform the sales functions, and handling the marketing aspect becomes difficult.

Challenge#2: Technology--Most agents and brokers are not tech wizards. They don't have the time or inclination to work with complex design or marketing software programs. What they need is a simple marketing program based on push-button technology that will take care of all their marketing needs.

Challenge#3: Lead Tracking--Brokers get leads, but not many of them are able to track those leads and follow-up effectively with them. Reasons being lack of appropriate resources and knowledge. Time and budgetary constraints just add on to this problem. End result: delay in closing or poor closure rate.

Challenge#4: Marketing ROI Mystery--Many brokers have no idea about the returns on their marketing investments. Questions like 'How much revenue did the last e-mail campaign generate?' or 'How many leads came in as a result of the new landing page I made?' leave them grappling for answers. Without concrete facts and figures to support their marketing efforts, brokers resort to 'instincts' and often end up engaging in zero value marketing efforts.

Challenge#5: Growing Competition--With rampant competition, making sure their voice reaches the end customer, is a challenge. Brokers are looking for solutions that will help them stand-out in the crowd and make an impact.

Now create high-impact marketing materials on-demand! Very easy-to-use, intuitive 5-step process. Push-button Technology that helps you create Search Engine Optimized, Interactive Listing presentation Websites, flyers, Brochures and more! Breathe Life into Your Marketing Materials with Virtual Tours, Interactive Photo Gallery, Maps, Site Plans and Floor Plans. That's not all, disseminate your Marketing Collateral on the Social Networking and Classified Sites such as Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, VAST, OODLE, Trulia, Craigslist etc. in a few clicks! Know your leads...get details like the links they clicked on, the source they came from, their company AND location!...ALL THIS FOR LESS THAN A DOLLAR A DAY! Visit http://beta.newplans.com to know more...

8 Ways to Talk to Your On-line Prospects

2011-02-14T23:09:00.000-08:00

Your website is the door to your business online. Just as you would have your company's offices well designed to appeal to your customers, you need to ensure your company website is well crafted too. This blog-post provides a few tips that you can follow to great a great website that speaks to your prospects.

Think Customer: Think from the customer or prospect's point of view when designing the site. Every tab, every image, every bit of content you put into the site, must be critically appraised from the customer's point of view.
Benefits: Make sure your highlight the benefits that the prospect will get from using your product or service. Tell them how differently you can help the prospects from ten others who do the same thing.
Content: Provide your prospects with value adding content. Your site should not be all about sales, but should also help your prospects take a smart buying decision. The site should provide useful information to the prospects, slowly nudging them towards your business, when they are ready to make a purchase.
Free Trials: This age-old trick still has its charm. Offer the prospects a free trial of your product or service. Chances are, once they get used to the convenience, they will probably want to buy it.
Monitor: Monitor your prospects on-site activities. Which pages they visited? Which whitepapers they downloaded? How much time did they spend on particular pages? Answering these questions will help you understand your prospect better and...
Profile your Prospects: Once you understand your prospects, you can profile them, and then develop personalized content and offers. This will boost your on-line conversion rates and subsequently, revenue.
Design & Re-design: Also, once you profile and understand your prospects, you should critically look at the site and make necessary changes to suit the prospect profile.
So What? Justify everything you have on the site. Consider this on a site that sells a software program that allows you to create marketing collateral. If the site says, "This product is iPad compatible"...ask So what? "That means you can create marketing presentations on your smart phone, even as you are traveling". Now the latter makes more sense from the prospects perspective, than the former. Putting yourself in your prospects/customer's shoes may be a little hard at times, especially when you are closely connected with the product/web-site development and design. At such times, it makes sense to ask one question--"So What?".

How does Intelligent Prospecting Help?

2011-01-27T01:13:00.000-08:00

Prospecting is critical to ensure that the business generates sales and revenue...but what really is intelligent prospecting? Does your company need it? This blog-post answers these questions and more...

Intelligent prospecting is the process of studying a prospects' behavior and pursuing them accordingly. It involves tailoring the marketing process to complement prospect behavior. Technological progress has impacted the sales cycle. In fact, power in a B2B sales transaction has shifted towards the buyer to such an extent that experts are now referring to the sales cycle as the 'Buying process'. In this scenario, intelligent prospecting solutions provide the sellers with key prospect-data that can help them nurture leads effectively and close deals faster.

Intelligent prospecting solutions offer companies an insight into lead behavior. For example, by deploying an intelligent prospecting solution, the business would be able to track the online behavior and activities of the recipients of its marketing efforts. For example information such as Did prospect A receive an e-mail from the company? Did they open it? Which product did they search for in the company website?

Based on the prospect reaction and activities, the marketing and sales teams can optimize their strategies to suit prospect A. Thus intelligent prospecting allows businesses to engage in well-directed marketing and sales campaigns that are likely to boost sales and revenue.

6 Tips for Better E-Mail Marketing

2011-01-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

E-mail is a low-cost and fairly uncomplicated medium to connect with prospects. Here’s how to ensure you get maximum advantage from it.

Start on the right note: When a prospect signs up for your e-mails, send them an effective welcome message. This should be crisp, up-to-the point and convey clearly what the reader can expect in future, from your e-mails.

Go easy on images: Images do make e-mails look more interesting, however not all e-mail clients display images. Sometimes, e-mails with too many images are filtered as spam. Hence it’s advisable to have a good mix of rich content and some images to your e-mail.

Give valuable information: Prospects sign up for e-mails hoping to gain some value. If your e-mails are always about your business or products, the prospects eventually lose interest. Make sure that the e-mails are adding value to the readers by offering useful information. That way, if you occasionally send e-mails about a new product launch or upgrade, readers would be interested in knowing more.

Know when to send: One thing you need to make note of, as an e-mail marketer is that your recipients are not always into their inbox. Depending on who you are targeting, your prospects may be checking their e-mails twice a week. Tweak your e-mail marketing strategy to suit recipient behavior. An e-mail everyday can be frustrating if someone’s checking their mails on weekends.

Optimize for mobile devices: Android phones and tablets are changing e-mail marketing as well. With executives mostly checking their e-mails from their smart phones there’s a need for e-mail marketers to ensure that the e-mails are optimized for mobile devices as well.

Analytical data: It is essential to know the results of your e-mail marketing efforts. Even if it is just a monthly newsletter, you should know exactly how many recipients were targeted, how many received the e-mail, what is the bounce, unsubscribe and click-thru rate and so on. Such details will help you understand how the recipients perceive your e-mails

Personalization's Scaling New Heights!

2010-10-20T04:44:00.000-07:00

We all know that Personalization plays a key role in marketing. Studies have established it time and again that sharing a personal relationship with prospects has its share of benefits. This blog post takes a look at certain instances where businesses have gone a step beyond the conventional to bring a personal touch in its interaction with its prospects and customers.

Facebook: If you've just had a break-up, Facebook now shields you from additional heartbreak by not showing you the pictures of your good time together! Photo Memories appear in the top right corner of some Facebook. But, if you change your relationship status and no longer list your ex there, ex's photos won't show up in the memory box.

Google: Google always has a special doodle to commemorate the birthdays of famous persona. Now, it will feature a special doodle for your birthday too. If you sign into Google on your birthday, you'll be greeted with a Birthday Doodle!

Starbucks: Starbucks now offers free Wi-Fi to all its patrons. There's two-fold objective behind this:

a) To create a unique and enhanced customer experience
b) To learn more about the customers and what they do when they're at Starbucks

The icing on the cake is that, Starbucks Wi-Fi offers free access to premium and exclusive content like the ones on Wall Street Journal.

It's clear from the efforts these industry giants are taking that personalization plays a key role in building a positive customer-brand relationship.

7 Ways to Make Social Media Work for You

2010-09-27T05:58:00.001-07:00

So, you're on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Buzz but are not seeing any results? Or, are you simply overwhelmed by all these platforms and are not sure where you're heading? A quick read of this blogpost might be of help.

Automate: There are various software programs available online that allow you to send automated Tweets or post automatic status updates on the various social networking websites. If you don't have the time to personally update your social networking accounts, you can always use one of these programs. The advantage is, your account seems active even when you're not personally working on it. But...there's a flip-side to it. Your audiences are bound to know if they get too many automated messages. It takes the personal element out of social media and that can prove disastrous in the long run.
Personalize: Personalizing your messages on the social media delivers better results. The basics are the same...whether it's social media or any other method of marketing, customization scores over the generic stuff.
Relevance: While it's great to have a lot many fans and followers, don't just go adding everyone to your list. Target people who are of relevance to your business. Otherwise they'll see you and your messages as spam.
Encourage your staff: Encourage your employees to get on social media. Many of them would probably be using it for personal purposes. Add them to your company's list, let them be your brand ambassadors in the social media world! A word of caution though, make sure the guys you endorse are responsible, in the sense, they wouldn't indulge in anything that would mar your brand in the web world.
Respond: When people get in touch with you on the social media, make sure your respond. Talk to them, build a relationship. This is your chance!
Manage your pages: Being available on the various social media networks is great as it puts you in touch with so many prospects. The challenge is ensuring your brand image is untarnished on the web. Social media is viral and the bad word can spread fast as the good words. So it's essential to have a responsible administrator to manage your pages and keep track of your brand's 'online reputation'.
Multiple accounts: If your company offers multiple products and services, with each of them being a big-enough brand by themselves, then you might want to have multiple accounts, each catering to the major product/service. This especially makes sense when a company is into varied lines of services or offers a wide range of products, each range distinct from the other.

MindMatrix is a leading provider of marketing automation software programs and marketing support services including creation of marketing materials and Virtual Assistant services.

For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 4

Publish Post

12.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Top 5 Reasons to Adopt Marketing Automation

2010-09-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Marketing automation has been around for a while and there are many companies that have successfully opted for it. But, are your wondering whether Marketing Automation is right for your company? Then this blog might help you decide. We list out the top 5 reasons to adopt marketing automation.

You wish to save time: Marketing Automation helps save time. Your marketing team doesn't have to create similar marketing collateral several times a month. All repetitive tasks are taken care of by the Marketing Automation Program while your marketing team is free to focus on other important tasks.
You wish to increase efficiency of your Marketing staff: With Marketing Automation into the picture, your marketing team is likely to become more efficient. As mentioned in point #1, your team gets the time to concentrate on other important tasks--basically they get more work done in lesser time. This increases the overall efficiency of your company.
You have limited resources: In most companies, the marketing support to Salespersons ratio is highly skewed. Most salespersons complain of not getting enough, timely marketing support. With Marketing Automation, this problem can be fixed.
You want to know what works: Marketing Automation makes the process of marketing very scientific. If you wish to know what kind of response you got for your marketing efforts, then Marketing Automation helps. Marketing Automation software programs can tell you exactly how your marketing efforts fared.
You wish to personalize your marketing efforts: Personalized marketing has proven to have better results than mass-marketing. Personalizing your Marketing efforts is virtually impossible without Marketing Automation.

Simply put Marketing Automation helps you save time, money, resources and get a better return on your Marketing investments (ROI) and these reasons are compelling enough for any company, irrespective of its size to adopt Marketing Automation.

Your Brand, Your Identity

2010-08-09T00:36:00.000-07:00

Branding is an important concept in marketing. Generally people identify branding with advertisements, logos, corporate standards etc. Branding actually goes far beyond the visual aspects that we see. A Brand is the identity of the company. It is how the customers/prospects of the company relate to it. No matter how good its advertisement or how classy the logo, a brand is nowhere if the market doesn't associate it with something positive. This association of the market with the company is called Brand Image.

Brand image is basically the market's perception of the company. Various factors shape this perception. They include:

Quality: The quality of the product or service the business provides plays and important role in shaping its brand image. No matter how the business tries to position itself, if the quality of its services or products is not up to the mark, its brand image will take a beating.
Customer Service: Apart from the quality of its products, the kind of service it offers to its customers also shapes its brand image. Companies that go an extra mile for its customers are more likely to win the brand battle.
Positioning: The way the business has positioned itself in the market also plays a role in molding its brand. The market forms brand perceptions depending on the economic class the business caters to, the location of the business outlets, the look and feel of its offices/outlets, marketing materials etc.

One point worth noting from the above list is that, even though the brand image is formed by the market, the factors influencing this perception of brand image can, all be controlled by the business. Depending on how the business wishes itself to be perceived, it should work on its customer service, quality and positioning policies.
MindMatrix is a leading provider of marketing automation software programs and marketing support services including creation of marketing materials and Virtual Assistant services.
For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Five Steps to Smart Social Media Marketing

2010-07-01T00:28:00.000-07:00

The web and other media are flooded with information on how Social Media tools like Twitter and Facebook can enhance your marketing efforts. All this information can sometimes be overwhelming. Each article has something to add to the Social Media buzz and you are probably wondering if there's a simpler way. So, here it is! We have put together a five step plan that will help you indulge in Smart Social Media Marketing. Read on...

Don't spread yourself too thin: There are lot of Social Media sites out there. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Orkut, Meet The Boss, Ryze, Qapacity and the list can go on and on. When you are just starting out with Social Media Marketing, don't step into all of these. Instead select two or maximum, three Social Networking sites and focus on creating a strong network there.
Interact: Interact with your fans and members in the network. The aim is form a relationship and there can be no relationship without interaction and communication. Answer questions, offer to help whenever you can. Stay active in discussion threads and forums.
Be concise and clear: Don't post wordy sentences and status updates. One of the reasons Twitter's so popular is any update is limited to 140 characters. Social networking site is not the place to ramble on. Be crisp, and 'to-the-point' in all your exchanges.
Reuse content: Content creation takes time and effort. So, why under-utilize it by using it just once? Post your content across the various Social Media sites that you use. Reformat your content to suit the kind of Social Media that's in use. For example, you can extract the key pieces of a blog and make a presentation to be put up on SlideShare. Turn the presentation into a Video and add it on YouTube.
Use technology: Technology is the key to effectively managing Social Media Marketing. Smart use of technology will help you save time. For example, MindMatrix's marketing automation software programs are intelligent enough to link the file to its corresponding Social Media site. It automatically post videos on YouTube and presentations on SlideShare and Tweet about it as well! This means you can focus on more important things like content creation, while the mundane tasks are taken care of by technology.

Social Media Marketing is not difficult, but you need to you have a clear marketing strategy that accounts for the 5 above-mentioned areas, because they help you cut-out the noise and focus on marketing in the network.

Automating Your Marketing Efforts

2010-05-28T06:11:00.000-07:00

People who consider marketing automation merely as software are underestimating its capabilities. Marketing automation is not just an application; it’s a tool that simplifies all marketing efforts. A company that is constantly under pressure to deliver better can build its entire marketing strategy on a single marketing automation tool.

With marketing automation tool, a company can manage and segment prospective and current client databases, target promotions with a personalized approach, generate and maintain leads and measure campaigns results closely and accurately. In short, such tools encompass everything from contact and property management, to presentations, marketing mailers to e-mail campaigns, sales activity tracking and much more.

Marketing automation software enables a company to design and implement its marketing strategies. It helps to optimize and automate important marketing decisions and processes. Where too much time is spent on performing processes manually, marketing automation makes handling such complex processes more efficient and easy. Moreover, it introduces new techniques of marketing which otherwise would have been intricate.

Ways marketing automation can help you and your business –
• Helps ensure compliance with company standards and branding
• Helps increase effectiveness and reduce costs
• Helps achieve higher returns on marketing investments
• Enables greater flexibility
• Enables effortless customization and personalization

Regardless of the size of your company, marketing automation is the need of the hour. So if you’re ready to improve your sales and marketing efficiencies, contact us at MindMatrix.

MindMatrix is a leading provider of marketing automation software programs and marketing support services including creation of marketing materials and Virtual Assistant services.

For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 Pittsburg, PA 15203
Ph: 412.381.0230Fax: 412.774.1992E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net Web: www.mindmatrix.net

New Age Branding Requisites

2010-05-28T02:33:00.000-07:00

Are you looking to reposition your brand in the market…then here are a few things you could consider.

Customer is at the core
The economic turmoil of last few years has caused a transition on the branding side. Consumer expectations have heightened and lots of competitors are vying for business, many trying to regain their footing in the market post recession. Consumer’s faith in brands and brand-names has taken a hit as well. In this situation, you need to convey that you can deliver to match consumer expectations. Putting this message across through advertisements and marketing campaigns won’t be effective anymore. You need to adopt a customer centric approach to your way of doing business.

Add value
Look for areas where you can add value to your customers. Communicate to them that you are a value adding brand. And…the most important thing here is, to define value on customer’s terms. It is important that your customers see you as a value adding brand, because they are the ones who determine what’s value adding and what’s not.

Stay updated
Consumer behavior has changed a lot over the last few years. Today’s consumer is more informed and educated can ever before. It is not uncommon for consumers to get peer reviews before they check out your brand. The key is to stay updated with the client behavior and modify your branding strategies accordingly. For example, currently, social media is the big thing on consumer behavior front. Consumers discuss you and other brands online, and such discussions shape your brand image. You too should get your brand on social media sites and start connecting with customers there.

Be Consistent
With various new media coming into the picture, there has been an increase in the customer touch points. Make sure that you project a consistent brand image every time you connect with them. Your brand logo, communication style, template designs and color codes should be identical whether on Facebook or on e-mail.

Passion
And lastly, work towards your branding mission with passion. When you’re passionate about something, it shows. Let customers know that you are serious about providing them value and that when you say you place customers at the core of your business, you really mean it.
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MindMatrix is a leading provider of marketing automation software programs and marketing support services including creation of marketing materials and Virtual Assistant services.
For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Best Practices For Successful Marketing

2010-05-05T03:05:00.000-07:00

As a marketing professional you would want every possible advantage in marketing your properties as well as your business. You may be looking at marketing as a way of meeting all your clients’ requirements and at the same time getting value in return. But are you really equipped with the tools to give you that marketing edge that will help you cut through the massive competition?

There has been continuing problems in establishing and maintaining standard practices to improve sales and at the same time stay competitive. So how do you look for strategies that can be used and adapted to help you become more than a Sales Person i.e. become Better Marketers?

Simple – follow the 6 easy steps below for the successful execution of all your marketing initiatives.

1. Building a Successful Marketing Proposal

A good marketing proposal can be your best branding and sales tool. A marketing proposal should be appealing and catchy enough to grab the attention of your prospects. It should address the, who, what, where, when, and how much – questions about all marketing initiatives. In short, letting your clients know about all the things your business can provide to them.

- Create templates depending upon your target audience
- Develop the structure for the proposal and, if necessary, the proposal presentation.
- Your proposal represents you and your company, so pay attention to branding
- The proposal should have an executive summary and report body
- Develop a strategy to differentiate your company
- Prepare document in the appropriate format. If the client requires a particular structure, then use it.

2. Creating and Managing Property Database

A full-fledged property database not only helps in providing complete information to prospects but also adds value to your credibility. Store and update your property information and documents in one central location which should be easy to update and edit. This helps to easily merge property information with marketing templates to create database driven print or web materials.

- Target the type of properties in the particular location
- If you are planning to maintain the property database in a spreadsheet, determine the field names
- Search properties on local property listing exchanges such as Loopnet, Costar etc.
- Search for more location specific websites
- Prepare standard documents for data entry
- Input data into the spreadsheet
- Advertise your listings on Loopnet, Costar etc.
- Maintain data by updating them in a cycle of 30 days

3. Developing and Maintaining Contact Database

Names and addresses of prospects is merely a list unless it is coupled by additional information. By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting, which in turn will improve the productivity of your offers. You can group the database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer.

- Determine the Target market/city/state/country (Location)
- Determine the segmentation of contacts and list them down (Owner, Broker etc.)
- List down all the brokerage companies
- Find out all the news articles which lists down brokerage firms (easy source of companies)
- Start collecting contact data from each of these companies in a spreadsheet once you determine the fields
- Create standards
- Collect email addresses as a part of the process
- Once the data is ready, update contact details once in 6 months or 12 months based on the market situation

4. Building high impact marketing collateral

Rich, relevant and effective marketing materials are very imperative to develop your business. It is an effective way to introduce real estate business.

- Create powerful design templates for flyers, postcards, brochures, e-book presentation etc.
- Uniqueness is the key to success and this is accomplished by ‘Branding’
- Incorporate attractive images and well written content to encourage and gain clients
- Seek good marketing collateral print services. Online print services provide options on sizes, color, quantities.
- Make the marketing materials available to buyers to promote interest in your property

5. E-Mail Campaign

E-Mail marketing is now considered an excellent way to advertise properties. More and more companies are turning to email to conduct marketing initiatives as it is the most effective form of online promotion. It helps you to quantify the number of emails opened by your recipients and the number of times your embedded links were clicked. By enabling you to measure the level of your recipient’s interest, email campaigns help you to alter your strategies to boost the response rates.

- Create a list of your target customers
- Knowing their needs, wants and interests will be helpful to discover what encourages them to take actions
- To avoid spam make sure these customers have agreed to or, are loyal to receive the email
- Avoid purchasing contact lists from third party sources
- Based on the selected target audience, determine the kind of campaigns to be used: newsletters, press releases, event invitations, holiday or seasonal promotions, new product or service announcements etc.
- Determine the best time the target audience is most likely to open and read your email
- Midday delivery is better than mornings or evenings
- Determine the right day of the week to send out campaigns. Usually Tuesday and Wednesday bring better results as compared to other days
- If the target audience is diverse, carry out some testing to determine the right timing
- Get the report on the email campaign
- Analyze the results obtained and compare them to the previous email campaigns results. This will help you to determine whether the goals of current campaign were achieved
- Based on the results, outline strategy for new campaign

6. Company Website

A company without a website is like doing business without a visiting card. An impressive website helps create a killer impression about a company. Apart from the design the most vital element is to make sure that your website is search engine optimized. Search engine optimization is important to a business as 90% of all online traffic is achieved through the various search engines. Therefore, the key to success is to know how well you can properly market your company through search engine optimization.

- Evaluate your website to make sure it creates a killer impression about your company.
- If your website lacks content, start with that.
- Determine your brand image
- Always try to get a dedicated IP for your domain. Use a host company that is reputable
- Improve your websites search engine ranking by getting a variety of one-way links with keywords to your site
- Make sure that it’s easy for search engines to index your website
- The pages of your website should be search friendly
- Give unique title and meta tags for each page
- Incorporate keywords in the title, description and H1 tags
- Customize the way your listings appear in search engines
- Apply advanced techniques to get your difficult-to-index pages fully listed
- Simple text file will ensure more targeted Web page indexing
- If you weren't already blogging, set up a blog

Repeat the strategies that work best, the results will compound over time.

For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 Pittsburg, PA 15203
Ph: 412.381.0230Fax: 412.774.1992E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Blogging your way to marketing success

2010-04-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

Are you bored of conventional marketing techniques? Are you looking for a new way to market and communicate? Try Blogging. Though considered as the current vogue, blogging is here for keeps. Proactive marketers swear by it and millions are raving about the immense response and attention garnered through blogging.

Blogging has now become a fundamental part of marketing plan. Improved web traffic followed by new partnerships and contacts has made blogs a favorite among professionals and businessmen alike.

Why blog?
Are you asking yourself “Is blogging for me?” In fact ask yourself “why not?” Blogging is for everyone. People around the world have already jumped on this bandwagon. Imagine having a simple and effective tool to market and communicate your business on a large platform.

Blogs can help take your brand to the next level of worldwide exposure.
Blogging is a creative way of showcasing your business interests. You can simply share your expertise or write descriptive about the latest news in your line of business, promotions etc.
Blogging improves web traffic to your site.
Blogging serves the purpose of networking with wider sets of people.
Blogging broadens the chances of you getting recommended to clients.
Blogging is simple and inexpensive.

If you’re writing your first blog, then here are a few tips to get you started.
The main idea of a blog is to connect with your target audience. If you are successful grabbing a few eyeballs, then half the battle is won.

Employ a variety of writing technique. Good bloggers engage in techniques which are easier to read and appealing to the eyes of the readers. Neatly list the points rather than essaying it up and never go overboard in formatting your text.
Keep your readers attention engaged by limiting the length of your blog.
Keep your title short, simple and easy to understand.
Visual representation is great for grabbing instant attention. So be generous in using images.
Include links to useful resources.
Proof read your blog content for grammar and spelling before publishing.
Give a killer title to your blog.

Now all you need to do is identify your niche and start blogging your way to effective marketing.

CustomerCare@SocialMedia

2010-03-23T23:52:00.000-07:00

We explore how you can harness social media to enhance customer experience

In 2005 when Jeff Jarvis wrote of the ‘Dell Hell’ in his blog, the company retaliated with ‘We do not respond to customer complaints through blogs’. Dell was criticized for their ‘look don’t touch’ policy when it came to blogs. Today, Dell has a Direct to Dell community which features blogs by its officers, forums and even customer support. Dell’s also on Twitter and Facebook, out to solve client issues. Many big brands including Starbucks, HP, Comcast, Ford are using social media for customer service. It’s safe to say that the customer service canvass has been repainted thanks to the social media. Presenting a few tips that’ll help you jump the bandwagon of social media customer service-

1. Listen—browse around social media sites. Have your eyes and ears open for what people have to say. Before you jump in to defend your brand, listen and understand what the customer’s saying.

2. Act—so, now you know what’s really bugging your customer. This is the time to act. I was surfing the net and came upon a blog where the blogger said that he hated HP. As I scrolled down the comments section, I noticed that one of the HP guys had responded, ‘Sorry that you had a bad experience with us. Can we touch base and discuss this?’. Sometimes, hapless customers dash off complaints and type out all their frustrations onto their blog/Facebook page. Once they get it out they’re generally much calmer and would be willing to speak. Or may be they just wanted to be noticed so that their problem can be solved. So go head and start acting the way that helps solve their issue.

3. No scripting—be yourself on your blog/Facebook/Twitter interactions. Do not, and I repeat, do not use scripted answers. Remember your clients should know that your company cares. They are not looking for an automated response.

4. Don’t ignore—if you’ve got your brand on the social media, then you have to be diligent. Never ignore customers. Sure, you may have someone asking the simplest of questions, but they’re putting those questions to you because they need help. Revert at the earliest.

5. Don’t bluff—this rule applies to customer service through any channel, not just to social media. But bluffing on social media can prove even more costly. Your inability to stand good on your promise could be broadcasted to net surfers around the world.

6. Ask—the best thing about social media is it puts you directly in touch with your customers. Use this powerful medium to talk to your customers. Ask them what you can do to make their lives simpler. That’s the easiest way to increasing customer satisfaction and retention…give them what they want! Check out Dell’s IdeaStorm page to see what I’m talking about.

7. Customers, your brand builders—Brand building has evolved. It’s not just about advertisements or discounts any more. Today, a brand is all about service and value addition. What more, your company’s not the one building the brand anymore. It’s your customers who’re doing it for you.

8. Encourage your team—while it’s great to have your top management blog and be in touch with customers, it’s even better to have your team interact with customers. Let’s face it, your front-line team is the one in contact with customers in the off-line world. So, let them play to their strengths online too!

Customer service through social media has made its debut and is here to stay. The best bet is to use it to your advantage. Make every client interaction positive, so that when people Google you, they read about happy customers…and your brand is built already!

Don’t have the time for social networking online? How about having us do it for you?

For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Tweet Your Way to Success!

2010-03-03T04:32:00.000-08:00

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an employee, chances are you already know about the storm created by Twitter. You’ve heard how helpful it proves when building your business’s brand online. Twitter helps you remain virtually connected to your peers and customers 24/7X365, the Tweets and ReTweets help your company’s search engine optimization efforts, it announces your presence et al. And you’ve even created a Twitter account. Now you’re probably wondering how to make an impact in 140 characters or less. Here are a few tips that can help.

Managing your online reputation—the first thing you need to do is learn to manage your online reputation. Word of mouth marketing and publicity is the strongest because your brand is being referred to potential customers by one of them. So, make sure they’re saying good things about your brand. One poor comment and your brand will soon be all over the place on the web taking a beating.
Fix the gaps—we spoke about ensuring that the good things said about your brand stay online. But that doesn’t mean you block all negative feedback. Pay attention to what your detractors are saying. Twitter not only allows you to know the major problem areas, but you have customers telling you very clearly what they want. It doesn’t get better than this!
Be yourself—Okay, we are not asking you to put down all your hopes, dreams and fears. But it would help if you write something about yourself that makes your followers feel you’re a real person, not just another automated Tweeting program. You can upload pictures, talk about stuff that’s important to you—even if they are not linked to your brand.
Don’t oversell—talking about your brand on Twitter is just fine, but yakking about it all the time is a definite no-no. While it may be true that you created a Twitter account to connect with your prospects, remember that it’s basically a networking tool, not a sales program.
Be direct—Twitter allows you to send direct messages. Use this feature rather than sending Tweets directed to one person publicly. By using the direct messaging system, the message you’re sending across is ‘You Care’ and so you took the time out to talk to that particular person. But take care not to spam their inbox. Regular updates are best sent through Tweets and not as direct messages.
Participate—be active in the Twitter community. Being active doesn’t only mean Tweeting; it means being actually involved in discussions. ReTweet what you find to be relevant or value adding, even if it doesn’t relate to your brand.
Personalize—your Twitter page can convey a lot about you. Personalize the theme, look and feel to reflect your brand. Otherwise you will seem like any other uninterested user, who opened an account so that they can sell.
Add value—add value to the Twitter community by providing useful information. You can help people who have questions in areas related to your expertise. That way you’ll build a strong relationship with your followers that will go beyond sales and marketing.
Use tools—there are many Twitter friendly tools available online that make Tweeting easy. On the go? Tweet using your phone. The URL you want to Tweet is too long? Shorten it with tinyurl.com.
Use other Social Networking Sites to build up your followers—try to connect to your Twitter followers on other social networking sites as well. This way, if someone is more active on FaceBook and LinkedIn rather than Twitter, you can create an impression there. Do you have a blog? Add a Twitter widget there so that visitors to your blog know what you are Tweeting about.

And lastly, don’t forget that consistency is the key to success on social media. Twitter is no different. Stay involved. Stay genuine and you’ll stay successful. Happy Tweeting!

Market to succeed in 2010

2010-02-09T02:53:00.000-08:00

2009 saw marketers experiment with varied strategies in the hope that something will yield results. These experiments along with the current economic conditions have shaped the marketing strategies for 2010. This article outlines some of the up-coming marketing trends.

1. Value addition: The recession is just lifting and people are still cautious. They don’t want to spend too much too soon. People are willing to put their money only where they get real value addition. What you need to do is position your brand in such a manner that it reflects value.

2. Meet expectations: We spoke about value addition above, the next challenge is to meet consumer expectation—ensuring that what you offer is of value to your customers. People now want more for less. To make your brand truly successful, it is important that you offer them what they perceive to be of value and importance.

3. Enhance consumer experience: Does your company perennially put clients on-hold? Does your site take too much time to load? Now is the time to look into these areas and fix any discrepancies. People are still lethargic when it comes to spending money. You need to be proactive and make every interaction your prospect has with you, a positive experience.

4. Use Social Media effectively: We all remember the buzz created by e-mail when it entered the marketing world. Today, it’s the Social Media that seems to be all-set to take the center-stage. In fact, a report published by the Social Media examiner states that a startling 64% of marketers spend over five hours each week on social media. Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, My Space, Blogs, You Tube have become solid platforms for networking and improving business relations.

5. Content: Update all your customer touch-points with relevant content. Whether it’s your website, blog or your social networking profile and wall, make sure it reflects the latest on your brand. If you send newsletters to your prospects/clients, ensure they reach them consistently. And last but not the least, try and keep the content customer-centric.

6. Personalize: Don’t want to spend too much at Pizza Hut? How about the pizzeria at the corner of the road? More and more people are turning towards local businesses. This is time to make your presence felt locally. Get to know your customers, personalize your communication with them.

7. Intelligent Marketing automation: So you have a marketing automation software program or intend on using one to take the pressure off you. Sounds good, but make sure that the program you deploy is intelligent. An archaic automation model that helps you send mass e-mails won’t suffice. What you need is an intelligent marketing automation tool that can integrate the various modes of customer contact and thus enhance your marketing efforts.

Marketing in 2010 is not shouting from roof-tops about what you have to offer. It is all about anticipating what your prospects want and giving it to them even before they ask for it.

MindMatrix is a leading provider of marketing automation software programs and marketing support services including creation of marketing materials and Virtual Assistant services.

For more information, please contact us at:
MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net
Web: www.mindmatrix.net

SOCIAL NETWORKING—THAT’S WHAT EVERYONE’S DOING

2010-01-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

Social Networking has become the new marketing mantra. Almost every business worth its salt has a profile on some social networking site. If you are new to the scene of social networking, you’re probably wondering how to increase your followers and strengthen your network. Here are some handy hints that you can use as you journey through the new roads of social networking.

Look for connections: The first thing to do, once you sign up at a social networking site is to look for relevant connections. Search the site for your target audience. Ask questions like:

Who are you looking for—are you looking for potential clients, employers or vendors?
Where can I find them—think about which communities your target audience would be a part of and join those communities.
Other constraints—do you want to focus on a particular market segment by geographical location or by age group or by income group?

Set your parameters first and then search accordingly. Otherwise it’s very easy to get lost in the huge web of social networking sites.

Personalize: Once you decide on your target audience, the next thing to do is send ‘Friend’ requests to them. When doing so, personalize your communication. Don’t just send the program generated request. Greet the recipient by name, add on a line or two about hat you do and why you are interested in adding them to your network. A little bit of personalization goes a long way in creating fruitful business relationships.
It’s a two-way street: One mistake most marketers do is thinking that the social networking sites are broadcasting/advertising platforms. Sure, they serve as a good medium to get your voice heard, but that’s not the only purpose they serve. Social networking sites are essentially a platform for sharing information. You’ll have more people joining your network if you provide something of interest to them.
Network, don’t spam: Tempting as it may sound, don’t use your networking account to explicitly advertise your products/services. The aim of networking is to forge relationships that are beneficial to you and your followers, not shouting about your offerings from roof-tops.
Add value: Join groups where you can be of help. Answer questions that are being put up at online forums. Add value to the users of the network and they’ll automatically start following you.
Get noticed: Obviously, sooner or later you’ll want to push your presence in the network. You can do so by adding your company information to your signature blocks. This way, when you converse, the users tend to take note of what your company does. Chances are high that they start following your company online. Similarly, tell your website visitors how to catch you online in the popular networking sites. Add your social networking contact details to your visiting card and other company literature.
Update your profile: Once you’re on the social networking site, it is important to ensure that your profile is regularly updated. Have you added on a new service line or launched a new product? Your profile should reflect this information. Also, updating profiles at regular intervals tells others that you’re actively involved on the site.
Respond: When you have people interacting with you on the social networking platform, make sure you respond to them. Your contacts should feel they’re in a relationship with a real person, not an automated user.
Handling the double edged sword: The best part about being on social networking site is that it enhances your visibility. The worst part is also just that. One poor comment about you or your company will soon be all over the place on the web causing irreparable damage. Some sites offer moderation option where a comment will be published on your wall only after a moderator approves it. Where such options do not exist, make sure you check your profile often.
Connect offline: Once you’ve established a pretty good relationship with your online contacts, you could start getting in touch with them off the social networking site as well. Ask if you can e-mail them your company newsletters. Call your contacts and see if you can have a lunch meeting. While the web is a great way to connect initially, it’s nice to follow-up on important links offline as well.

Don’t have the time for social networking online? How about having us do it for you?

For more information, please contact us at:

MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |

Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Why Know your Customers?

2009-12-03T05:26:00.000-08:00

Knowing your customers and their preferences is the easiest way to customer retention

Why know your customers? Initially, the seller-purchaser relationship was tilted in favor of the seller. This was because competition was less and purchasers had fewer choices. However, the last two decades have seen a consistent power shift. With technological advancement and easy availability of information, the buyer now has an upper hand. If your business doesn’t provide what’s required, a competitor is just around the corner to grab the opportunity.

Customers today have become more demanding and expect innovative solutions. Merely meeting customer needs is not enough. The goal is to exceed their expectations so that they return to do more business with you. Studies have shown that about 80% of a company’s business comes from its existing customers. In such scenario, customer retention assumes increased importance. In order to retain customers and ensure that they do not move on to your competitors, it is essential to understand the customer and customize your product/service offering to suit their interests and needs.

How to get to know your customers better? Businesses today don’t function like the corner shops anymore where there’s face-to-face interaction with the customer everyday. Today, customers may be interacting with the business without the business even knowing about it. A visit by the customer sto the business’s website is an example of one such interaction. The key is to capture such interactions, understand the customers and predict their future behavior based on these interactions and use that to anticipate customer needs before they arise. This way the business will be adopting a customer-centric approach to its offering. Knowing the customers will also help your business to make smart decisions that enhance customer experience. Every decision being made can be looked at from the customer’s point of view. However, for this ideal customer-centric approach to become a reality, it is also essential that the commitment towards customer focus is top-down. Only when the CEO and the Board is committed to customer relations will the other employees believe in the concept. Until your business adopts a proactive approach to customer satisfaction, this would not be easy.

What are the benefits of knowing your customers? Knowing your customers better can help you boost sales .This is because once you know what could be of potential interest to the customers, you can cross-sell or up-sell relevant product/service offerings. Also, you can save considerably on costs incurred in acquiring/retaining a customer, since your marketing efforts would now be more focused and yield better results. Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty are some other benefits that will arise.

What are the core requirements in this process? To know your customers and be able to understand them, your business needs to adopt an integrated approach to the whole process. All the functions should be well co-ordinated, especially, marketing and sales. Your marketing strategies should be highly customized, running primarily on customer activities that arise as a part of client interaction. The information gathered from the customers should be stored in such a manner that it can be retrieved in a timely fashion and makes sense to all who would be using it. A good marketing automation software which has analytical functionality can help you with this. Without proper co-ordination between marketing and sales, the efforts put in by the business to know your customers can fail.

Want to create personalized marketing materials such as database-driven flyers, postcards, newsletters, proposals, and other print-quality documents? Try MindMatrix’s inVision—a leading marketing automation software that can bridge the gap between marketing and sales. Whether it is through E-mails, Print, HTML templates, Flash or PowerPoint presentations, MindMatrix offers solutions to suit all your marketing needs.

For more information, please contact us at:

MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |

Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

Building Better Customer Relations with Personalization

2009-10-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

Personalization is the number one strategic action your business can take

Why Personalize?
Marketing today has evolved into something much more than creating advertising collaterals and sending them to everyone in the company database. Marketers can no longer survive with a blindfolded approach to prospecting. This is because the prospect profiles have changed radically. In today’s internet age, prospects are more informed than ever before. They also have a lot of choice when it comes to selecting the right vendor. In order to strike a chord with the prospects in such environment, the marketing team has to focus on establishing a personal, one to one relationship with the prospect. Only building this relationship and cementing it over a period of time will enable the business to gain an edge over competition. In this scenario, Personalization becomes an indispensable tool.

Personalization-The Concept
Personalization involves understanding customers, anticipating their needs and positioning the business’s solutions in a manner so as to add value to the customers. The spectrum of personalization is very wide. At the lowest end lies something as simple as sending out e-mails that address the recipients by their names and further up lie custom landing pages and the ability of the business to anticipate and offer products/services tailored to suit the individual customer needs.

Cases for Personalization
A study conducted by the Aberdeen Group states 87% of retailers believe that personalization will bring about significant changes to their business. 41% of the retailers mentioned that personalization helped their business attain higher levels of customer satisfaction. The study also listed Personalization as the number one strategic action that a business needs to take. The US Banker magazine carried an article in which the chief marketing and innovation officer for AXA Equitable mentioned that the return on investment with respect to dollars spent on personalization was almost 5 times.

Key Ingredients
Personalization requires three key ingredients to be in place. One—Collection of prospect information, Two—Availability of this information in real time, Three—Ability to act upon this information so as to add value to the prospect/customer. Once a business has these three key aspects in place, the only thing left to do is to find a platform that will enable a seamless integration of all these three to enhance customer experience.

For more information, please contact us at:

MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |

Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

RECONNECTING AFTER RECESSION

2009-08-13T04:24:00.000-07:00

Economists all over are now predicting that the end of recession is near. While the Feds won’t still acknowledge that, it makes sense for your company to be ready to play the game again. But, the recession has caused a paradigm shift in consumer behavior. Consumers will now think twice before parting with their dollar and expect more value for money. What should your marketing strategies be so that you are all set to face the recovering markets? Read on…

1. Reconnect: It’s great that your company managed to stay afloat through the recession. Reconnect with your customers and tell them you are still around. Something as simple as e-mail flyer would do. Since your customers will now look to stretch that dollar to the maximum, offering online discount coupons is also a good idea.

2. Learn more about your customers: This is a good time to understand and get to know your customers better. This way, you are better equipped to meet their needs once the clouds of recession lift. Use this time to study customer patterns. If you are using a marketing automation software, start generating relevant reports and studying them. If your firm does not use a marketing automation tool, this would be a good time to migrate to one.

3. Be selective: One common mistake companies make at this time is getting too desperate. Don’t fall into this trap and bombard all the prospects in your database with marketing e-mails that resemble junk. Instead, target those areas intensely, which are expected to be brimming with opportunities once recession lifts. A good example would be sending personalized HTML e-mails or e-newsletters to your best prospects rather than sending a generic e-mail advertisement to everyone on your database. Do not compromise on customer privacy or permissions. Try too hard and you may be perceived to be as annoying as the telemarketer who calls up during dinner time…

4. Provide value, restore faith: Provide value to your customers. The term value here doesn’t only mean monetary value. Define value from the customer’s perspective. The first step involved in doing this is to understand what the customer values. Recession has caused an erosion of faith in all corporate brands. To regain that trust, you have to enhance customer experience at every chance you get. Remember that by providing more value, you can create more business.

5. Changed conditions: While it’s true that no pessimist can be an entrepreneur, don’t expect things to return to normal too soon. You might have to make changes in the way you currently conduct business. Do majority of your sales happen online through credit card transactions? Post-recession, you may want to offer other payment options to your clients, as many of them may be wary of buying too much on credit. Anticipate your client needs and start working towards satisfying them.

The ideas mentioned above will not require any major increase in your marketing budget, but, on the other hand, can offer you handsome paybacks in the form of happy clients.

For more information, please contact us at:

MindMatrix Inc|2403 Sidney Street Suite 150 |Pittsburg, PA 15203 |

Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net| Web: www.mindmatrix.net

7 WAYS TO MAKE ME READ YOUR E-MAIL

2009-07-29T02:59:00.000-07:00

E-newsletter is a marketer’s best friend—easy to create, not very expensive and can reach out to hundreds of prospects. If used right, e-newsletter can be the most productive marketing tool, the keyword being ‘right’. As someone who spends over 12 hours a day on the web, I am well acquainted with the ‘junk’ that gets accumulated in my inbox every hour. I have devised a strategy to keep such e-mails at bay—creating a new e-mail ID solely for such advertisements. Supposing I have to register my e-mail ID at a site to download any information, I register using this ID. All future e-mails and advertisements are directed to this ID, which I happen to check about once a month. If I find any newsletter genuinely worth, then, I redirect it to my regular e-mail ID. So, how to make sure that your newsletter is one of those that are redirected? Here are a few things that I look for when trying to determine what is really useful:

What’s this all about? When I get an e-mail, the most prominent thing is the subject line. If it says something like ‘1000 year old secret to wealth finally revealed!’ or ‘Become a millionaire overnight’, I don’t even bother to give it a second glance. On the other hand, an e-mail with a subject line like ‘7 Effective ways to boost your sales’ is opened and read. The subject line of your e-mail is the key to hooking your prospect. An exaggerated or vague subject line will only push them away.

It’s not You, it’s ME: Experts say one easy way to get someone to talk to you is to get them to talk about themselves. Let’s face it, as a prospect; I am least bothered about what breakthrough achievement your company made. All I want to really know is how it will benefit me? Good newsletters are those that get the message across without sounding as if the company is blowing its own trumpet. As an intelligent and busy reader, I give my time to only those e-mails that result in some value addition to me.

I’m not faceless! We all know how irritating it is to find a post card addressed to ‘The Current Resident’. E-mail is no different. ‘Dear Reader’ e-mails are not as welcome as those which address me by my name. If you want your clients to feel that you care about them, help them realize that they are not just another faceless e-mail ID for you. Take some effort, dig into that database and get their names. Good marketing automation software can do this for you. In fact, using the right tool you personalize your e-mails to the extent that they seem almost tailor-made for the prospect.

I don’t read…I scan: Time is one of the scarcest resources in my life. So, when trying to sort through the chunk of e-mails I receive, I merely skim through the body text. If I find something interesting, I give it a closer look. E-mails that look like they have been written to give me a crash course in vocabulary are a no-no. When you send e-mails or newsletters out, make sure they don’t contain flowery language. Just keep it short and simple. Break long sentences to smaller ones, have short paragraphs. The aim is not to show off your language skills, but to provide information that your prospect finds easy to read and absorb.

Out of sight…out of mind: I once subscribed to a website that e-mailed me free weekly horoscopes. But a couple of weeks later, I heard from them only when they wanted me to ‘Unlock the tremendous power that unique silver pendant’ held. Needless to say, they made it to my ‘Spam’ list soon. The idea is to be consistent, whether you send a fortnightly newsletter or quarterly, make sure you do it in a consistent manner. A friend of mine who owns a small real estate service firm was always big on this consistency theory. Even as the giants were being wiped out during the recent recession, his firm would send out e-newsletters to prospects and existing clients alike. “I just want them to know we’re still here”, he said. The result—with the industry beginning to look up, he’s now flooded with work.

Be easy to reach: Sometimes, I end up spending more time trying to find out how to contact the sender than what I spend on actually reading the e-mail. There have been times when I’ve given up too! Since e-newsletters are generally auto generated, it makes sense to provide the reader with clear contact information. It can be very frustrating for your reader to search for the contact information and this can sometimes cause a doubtful prospect to even change their mind.

Unsubscribe: As a reader who has subscribed for a newsletter, I’d like to think I’m in charge. I feel companies that provide an easy way for me to unsubscribe give me that control and respect my privacy. Always help the user with the option to unsubscribe to your e-newsletter. This way you also convey that you don’t want to bombard their inbox with information that they find irrelevant.

Want to create personalized marketing materials such as database-driven flyers, postcards, newsletters, proposals, and other print-quality documents? Try MindMatrix’s inVision—a leading marketing automation software that can bridge the gap between marketing and sales. Whether it is through e-mails, print, HTML templates, flash or PowerPoint presentations, MindMatrix offers solutions to suit all your marketing needs.

For more information visit www.mindmatrix.net or contact us at:

MindMatrix Inc.,
2403 Sidney Street, Suite 150, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Ph: 412.381.0230|Fax: 412.774.1992|E-mail: Khera@mindmatrix.net