This is the second installment in our series on The 12 Biggest Marketing Mistakes.  The team here at MetaMorph Strategies came up with a list of what we think are the 12 Biggest Marketing Mistakes made by small businesses today.  So, for the next four weeks, we’ll be profiling each of the twelve mistakes in this blog.  The second Biggest Marketing Mistake is Not Monitoring Your Marketing Return on Investment. 

One of the most important things you can do for your business is to measure your company’s return on your marketing investment (ROI).  Most companies make marketing decisions with blindfolds on.  They don’t have any real scientific way to determine if their marketing efforts are bringing in new clients. 

Let’s run through a scenario.  Say that you do a multi-faceted advertising campaign which includes television, radio, and print.  Afterwards your business booms.  When the campaign is over you have to decide which of the three advertising outlets to maintain.  How do you choose?  Do you make the choice based on which one is least expensive?  Do you try to find out from your customers how they heard about you?  If you’re going to use these means to decide which form of advertising to continue you may as well just flip a coin.

If you’d measured your ROIs, you would have known exactly how many customers came to you through the television ads, how many came from the print ads, and how many heard about you from the radio ads.   Furthermore, since ROIs can be measured in real time, if you’d realized halfway through the campaign that the print ads weren’t really bringing in enough clients to justify their cost, you could’ve cancelled the mailings that were scheduled for the remainder of the campaign.

If all of this sounds too good to be true, it isn’t.  As a matter of fact, it gets even better. 

Measuring your ROIs can be one of the least expensive things you’ll do in your marketing campaign.  Whether your use unique landing pages, proxy phone numbers, or web analytics, technology has made it easy and inexpensive to learn exactly how your new customers heard about you.  Since measuring the effectiveness of your marketing campaign is so simple and so inexpensive, there is almost no reason for small business owners to not be doing it.

If you really want to learn more about why and how to measure your ROIs, then you may be interested to know that MetaMorph Strategies’ own CEO, Mona Moore is conducting a workshop through the Association of Small Business Owners.  The details are listed below.  If you can’t make the workshop, but you know that you need to start measuring your ROIs, then just give us a call.  We can set you up with all the tools to start tracking the effectiveness of your company’s marketing campaign. 

The details of the workshop are as follows:

“Marketing ROI: How to Measure Leads from Every Aspect of Your Marketing Campaign and Evaluate Effectiveness.” 

Hosted by the Arizona Small Business Association. 

“Have you ever wondered just how effective that print campaign was?  Or how many actual leads you are getting from that radio commercial you spent so much money on?  Measuring campaign effectiveness is critical to small businesses – especially in a tough economy when marketing dollars need to stretch as far as possible.  Join us as we present various ways to track leads and sales for each of your marketing efforts.”  Presented by MetaMorph Strategies.  Fees: Members are free, Non-Members are $20.00.

The ASBA workshop will take place on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 4130 E. Van Buren St., Suite 150, Phoenix, Arizona. 

To register, please visit the ASBA website at http://www.asba.com/events/details.aspx?EventID=4465.

Today we’re kicking off our 12 Biggest Marketing Mistakes blogs.  The team here at MetaMorph Strategies came up with a list of what we think are the 12 biggest marketing mistakes made by small businesses today.  So, for the next four weeks, we’ll be profiling the 12 mistakes.  We’ll talk about why each mistake made the list and we’ll offer some solutions to help business owners get on the right track. 

The #1 Biggest Marketing Mistake made today is not having a website. 

Many small business owners still don’t have websites for their companies.  Some may feel that it’s too much to think about, others may think that they can’t afford one; while still others might believe that having a website would require a lot of routine updating.  The good news is that none of these suspicions are true.  In this blog I will shatter the myths about company web sites and will provide hints to help you get the ball rolling to start your own company website. 

Here are some reasons why you should absolutely have a website for your business: 

1. Potential customers can connect without committing.  A website is one of the easiest ways for potential customers to preview your business without having to commit to any actual human contact.  

2. A website gives you the chance to highlight whatever you want about your organization.  With a website, you’re in the drivers seat when it comes to first impressions with potential customers.  You can emphasize whatever qualities about your product or characteristics of your brand that you think will be most effective at turning lookers into buyers. 

3. Round the clock hours.  A website allows you to be open for business 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  You’re even open on holidays!

4. If your competitors have websites, then you’re in trouble.  Don’t let the competition get ahead of you by having a web presence when you don’t.  Get in the game and get online. 

What does not having a website say about your company?

1. You’re stuck in the dark ages.  No matter what your industry – really, no matter what your business is – people want to think that they’re doing business with someone who is aware of what is happening in the world around them.  Your customers may not be expecting you to have 007 abilities in the technology department, but they will expect that you can grow and change with the times. 

2. You don’t care.  Not having a website sends the message that you aren’t interested in making your customers lives easier.  A website is a huge convenience for people.  Almost every adult has access to a computer, even if it’s just for a few hours at the library.  Customers want to be able to check you out before they connect.  Not having a web presence can be frustrating to someone who wants to learn more about what you do.

When you decide to build a website:

1. Only use your cousin if his name is Steve Jobs.  In other words, don’t just toss some information about your company into an online template and call it a day or have a buddy do the same for you.  This will send the message to potential customers that you don’t have the resources for a solid website.  Times have changed.  Having a website professionally designed does not have to cost an arm and a leg. 

2. Don’t worry about updating your website.  Many companies have websites that operate like a brochure.  They don’t need to be updated daily or even monthly.  When these websites do need to be updated, they often utilize content management systems. 

Although, once you get your website up, you may find that you’d like to blog and track what clients do once they get to your site. 

Whether you have a simple or a multi-faceted website, you need to make sure that you at least have one.   If you still feel overwhelmed about building a website for your company, then give us a call and we’ll take care of the rest.   

One of the most important aspects of web marketing is linking.  The overall concept of linking is very simple.  The more websites that contain links to your website, the better your ranking will be with the top search engines and the more likely you are to get visitors to your site who help to grow your business. 

Sounds simple doesn’t it. 

Actually, the process of using manual linking to increase traffic and search engine rankings is one of the most intricate and complicated processes in web marketing.

The reason for this is that the search engines aren’t stupid.  They have developed complicated systems to help determine a quality link from a link that exists just to get more traffic and higher rankings.  For example, some companies get desperate to increase their search engine rankings and traffic, so they join link farms. 

Wikipedia has a very simple definition for them, “a link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to every other site in the group…A link farm is a form of spamming the index of a search engine.” 

Link farms and nonsensical links (ones that exist just to have a link, but where there really is no connection between their site and yours) are basically a way that businesses try to beat the system.  They try to increase web traffic and search engine rankings without really generating true buzz for having a quality site with exceptional content.

Search engines, like everyone else, hate spam.  Once they realize that you’re website is part of a link farm or that you’re trying to beat the system through link back tricks, they’ll cut you off.  Literally, your site will be blacklisted, which is much worse than just taking the time to naturally build your link back marketing plan. 

If all of this sounds overwhelming, we’re here to help.  We actually have people here at MMS who are experts at the linking back process.  They’ll work closely with your company and your website to increase your traffic and your rankings through the use of an intensive link back web marketing campaign.  Give us call, and leave the linking to us.

Whether you run a consulting business or your company has several locations and hundreds of employees, you need to do customer satisfaction surveys. 

If you work on your own, you have to realize that many clients won’t want to hurt your feelings or may fear confrontation, so they simply may not share with you the areas where they would like to see improvement. 

If you have employees who interact with your customers, you may only find out that there’s a problem when sales start to suffer.  Customers usually give feedback by simply not using your business again or by becoming loyal customers.  It’s usually only the most irate or deeply troubled customers who will take the time to track down someone in management to tell them that their experience was not up to par. 

If you want to know if your customers are truly getting that extra special care, you will have to ask.  

To be clear, customer surveys aren’t just about trying to find out if something is wrong.  It may be a customer that gives a great idea about how to save costs while still meeting customer needs.  You may have a program or a policy that you think is a great idea, but your customers may think it’s inconvenient or unrealistic.  There may be a service that you thought most people wouldn’t utilize, but all of your major clients can’t wait for you to adopt it.

A good customer survey allows you to stop and take the pulse, so to speak, of the relationship between your company and your customers. 

There are a number of ways to conduct customer satisfaction surveys.  If you’re the only staff member in your company, you may want to think about hiring an outside customer review specialist to handle this for you.  They can interview clients face to face or send out surveys.  Then they can get you the information without revealing which client shared which details.  You are much more likely to get honest responses in a format like this one.

Another option for large and small businesses is to use an online survey form.  Clients and customers can leave their reviews anonymously.  The cost can be fairly minimal.  A few services that offer this are Confirmit, Zoomerang, and the National Business Research Institute.

Of course, comments cards are still a useful tool.  They are most effective when paired with a giveaway.  For example, each week someone receives a free lunch for filling out a comment card. 

Decide for yourself what will be the best avenue for seeking client feedback.  Just be sure that you implement an effective system for getting in touch with what your customers really think.

In my last blog I talked about the importance of defining your audience.  In this blog let’s talk about making sure that after you define your target audience, you market yourself in a way that will reach them.

Most small business owners work hard to create products and services that will be useful to consumers.  They strive to understand the needs and wants of their potential customers.  Unfortunately, too many business owners stop there.  They don’t translate what they know about their potential customers into a useful marketing message. 

Remember, you may only get one chance to make your case to a consumer.  In a very short amount of time, a potential customer needs to 1) understand exactly what you sell, 2) what your company’s product or service claims it will do for the consumer, 3) why you are better than the competition, and 4) how to get the product from you, your contact information, etc. 

Since so many things need to be communicated in a marketing campaign, doesn’t it make sense to start by speaking the consumer’s language? 

If a potential customer is spending all of their time trying to figure out what your company does because there is too much noise in your ad, then you’ve probably already lost that sale.  On the other hand, sometimes noise is a good thing. 

Soda pop commercials are almost never boring.  They can be hard to look away from because they usually include a variety of stimuli, including music and vibrant colors.  Most of these commercials are trying to talk to a younger, fast moving generation.  On the other hand, commercials that offer to have prescription medicine mailed to a consumer’s house are usually slower paced.  They tend to provide alot of information and concrete details. 

As simple as it may sound, this is an area where many small businesses seem to stumble.  Do the research and ask the tough questions to find out who you should be marketing to.  Then craft messages that will appeal to that group.  A well executed marketing message should create a connection with the consumer that feels effortless and natural. 

When you set out to market your company and its products and services, one of the most important things to do is to define your target audience.  Are you marketing to 18-25 year old males?  Are you marketing to families with young children?  Are you marketing to people who are trying to live healthy lifestyles? 

While you may feel that your product or service is ideal for everyone, the odds are that it’s not. 

Why is it important to know who your audience is?  Marketing is a way of initiating a conversation with people who may want to buy what you have to sell.  In order to know how to approach these potential customers, you must gain a basic level of knowledge about them. 

Defining your target audience will save you time and money.  Rarely does it make sense to market to a group of people who are highly unlikely to ever buy or use your products.  In other words, targeted marketing means less money spent on advertising and other forms of marketing that won’t increase your bottom line. 

Defining your audience also means that you’ll know how best to reach them.  If your audience is teenage boys, then advertising in a video game may be the way to go.  Not so if you are marketing to the elderly. 

There are several ways to determine your target audience.  Many of them begin with some simple questions like: who is most likely to buy this product?  Or, who is most likely to need this product? What age range will your potential customers be in?  Will they be male, female or both?  What level of education will your potential customers have?

Continue constructing questions until you have created a solid set of parameters for your most likely customer base.  Remember the goal here is not to weed out customers, but to be honest with yourself about who is most likely to buy your product. 

Another important thing to remember is that you don’t want to narrow your audience too much.  If you are only marketing to people who wear red shoes, carry yellow purses, and don’t own computers, then you may have a hard time getting more than one customer in the door! 

If all of this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry.  Here at MetaMorph Strategies we have experts who specialize in this type of market research.  They study your products and services, and then work their magic to figure out where you should expend most of your marketing efforts. 

Check out my next blog when I will talk about tailoring your marketing message to fit your target audience. 

Here at MetaMorph Strategies we pride ourselves on the fact that we provide our clients with the training to update their own websites.  Of course, some of our clients want us to maintain and update their websites for them, and we are happy to do so.  However, some clients prefer that, after we have designed their site, written and manipulated their code, and crafted quality content, they are given the tools to make small changes themselves.

For instance, if a client wants to update their online monthly specials, send out an e-newsletter, or add a special event to their website, they can do it all on their own.  All they need is minimal instruction from one of our wonderful trainers.  One of whom, Claire Yar, recently explained the ABC’s of web content management to me. 

According to Wikipedia and confirmed by Claire, “a web content management system is a CMS [content management system] designed to simplify the publication of web content to web sites, in particular allowing content creators to submit content without requiring technical knowledge of HTML or the uploading of files.”

So, if you have ever used Facebook, MySpace, or even posted a blog, you have used a web content management system.  Once you log in you can add pictures, change your status,  or type text.  Then your updates magically appear on the web with all of the wonderful formatting that was designed and developed by the experts. 

These systems have several benefits.

• First, anyone can input content online without knowing an ounce about web programming.  There is absolutely no HTML or programming knowledge required. 
• Second, you can make quick content changes to your site.  This is important for web traffic.  Search engines give higher rankings to sites with content that is regularly updated. 
• Third, you’re not paying a programmer to make simple changes that you can do yourself.

Here at MMS, once we have set up a content management system for our clients, we provide them with a one hour training session so that they can update and change their site whenever they like.  Now, that’s a good value.

In my last blog post, I talked about the importance of using a professional trainer within your organization.  Professional trainers can be critical to your business, but they can also be expensive.  If you have no choice but to cut your training budget, or if you have never been able to afford professional trainers, there are some options for your company. 

Some companies may need their employees trained in areas that are fairly general.  For instance, you may need a staff member to learn Microsoft Access.  While some of the training required in your company may be learning a complicated software that is only used within your industry. 

Either way, we have solutions for you.

Claire Yar, our website administrator who has a vast background in training, provided me with some low and even no cost ways to train employees when professional trainers are not in the budget.
If there is no way to avoid trimming your training budget or if you simply never had one to begin with, there are a few things you can do to get proper training for your employees.

1. Use Computer Based Training (CBT).  Claire recommends the following sites, but was quick to add that there are countless CBT’s out there.  Search for them online.

•  www.howstuffworks.com,
• www.microsoft.com/learning/plan/default/mspx
• www.marketingprofs.com

2. Write it Down

• Have each employee contribute content for a Policies and Procedures Manual.  Writing things down will force the person doing the job to standardize their procedures.  Another advantage here is that if the person responsible for a certain job gets overwhelmed and needs help or becomes ill and is not able to work, someone else can easily step in to help out with minimal supervision.  

3. Partner with another small company to hire a trainer.

• If there are a specific set of skills that several of your employees need to master, but you cannot afford a trainer, consider pooling your resources with another company that may be in the same situation that you are. 

4. Books

• The Dummy Series.  When these books first came out they were sticking to fairly mainstream topics.  But now they cover everything from Building Facebook Applications for Dummies to Heartburn and Reflux for Dummies.  If you need to know how to do something, the answer will probably be in one of these books.

Trainers are a valuable part of a company’s infrastructure.  If it is at all possible, keep them on board, even in tough economic times.  They usually add to the bottom line much more than they take away from it. 

Years ago I worked for one of the top brokerage firms in the nation. They had a large and effective training department.  This enabled them to hire smart people, right out of college, and train them in under two months to pass the exam required to become certified as a stock broker.  This exam is hard. 

Most brokerage firms at the time, were hiring people and having them service clients, all the while expecting them to study for the exam on their own time.  These firms usually gave their new employees anywhere from six months to two years to pass the exam. 

My firm, that trained their staff in-house for two months, had one of the highest rates of employees passing the exam in the industry.  They knew after only investing two months, instead of two years, whether or not their new hires were going to be a part of building their business. 

Professional training works and saves businesses money in the end.

The last few decades have seen a boom in corporate training.  Small businesses and big corporations alike realized that the ability to train others is a skill that not everyone has.   Being an expert in something does not automatically qualify a person to be a trainer.  Trainers are more than just experts in one particular area.  They are also experts in communication and in how people learn.  Over the years, many companies who developed in-house training programs saw the performance and efficiency of their staff increase.  

But don’t just take it from me.  I recently sat down with Claire Yar, our Website Administrator, to pick her brain about training.  Claire has a strong training background, and is known here at MetaMorph for translating the complicated into everyday language for our clients and for the less technical members of our team.

According to Claire, cuts in training almost always equal cuts in performance.  Cuts in performance usually lead to a loss of revenue.  Unfortunately, many companies see training as a noncritical component that can be cut when the finances get a little tight. 

If it is at all avoidable, don’t cut your training budget.  Letting go of good trainers can spell disaster for the rest of your staff.  Many employees become frustrated when asked to perform tasks that they have not been properly trained for.  You may end up having to let people go who are not able to pick up certain skills or they may leave to seek employment at a place where they can receive training or where their present skills are enough for the position. 

This means that the business owner will have to hire additional staff that is already trained with the specific skills needed.  These new employees will most likely demand a higher salary for their higher level of expertise.

Don’t set your employees up for burn out.  Make sure that they are properly trained to perform the tasks required of them. 

For many companies, there may be no way to avoid letting go of your on-staff trainers or, you may have never had the funds to hire trainers to begin with.  Claire also had some great ideas for companies who need to look outside of the box for training.  Look for these ideas in my next blog.

Advertising and marketing are not the same.  Advertising is, essentially, one slice in the marketing pie.  Marketing, on the other hand, is everything you do to identify and meet the needs of customers.  Marketing includes research, pricing, promotion, public relations, networking, customer loyalty programs, and of course, advertising. 

Advertising is about getting the attention of consumers.  Marketing is about making sure that you are getting the attention of the right consumer, multiple times, and that the encounter includes just the right messages in order to increase the likelihood of a sale. 

It is very important for business owners to know the difference between marketing and advertising.  Many people go into business believing that being the best at what they do, and simply letting potential customers know their location, is going to be enough to build their business.  While excellence in your business is admirable, it is just the beginning.  To grow your business into a profitable enterprise, you will need to market it.