nca 09 brand building presentation by lois k. geller
DESCRIPTION
Lois K. Geller's presentation to the National Dry Cleaners Association on marketing in turbulent times. Lois covers brand, internet and social media for service industries. http://www.loisgellermarketinggroup.comTRANSCRIPT
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Building Your Relationships and Your Brand... Virtually
By: Lois K. Geller
1Lois Geller Marketing Group
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When Ann Hargrove invited
me to talk...
I was delighted!
NCA Brainstorming
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The topic she assigned me is:
“Building Relationships and your Brand on the Internet”
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Why would someone want a relationship with a dry cleaner?
Trust
Security
Sense of community; belonging
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Why should you want a relationship with your customers?
Because your best customers are the ones who come back week after week, year after year
$$$
Word of Mouth Marketing
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So how do you begin the relationship?
Personality
WIIFM
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How does Zappos do it?
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How did you hear about Zappos?
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Most likely you heard about it from someone else...
Word of Mouth
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Zappos Interesting Facts
Over $1 billion in sales, is one of the Web's fastest growing shopping sites.
The company has 7.4 million customers, nearly half of whom have purchased in the last 12 months.
75% of sales come from repeat customers.
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How do they do it?
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I Heart Zappos
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Zappos understands that securing and solidifying the relationship with it’s customers is its best marketing or advertising effort it can engage in.
Zappos utilizes these online tools to stay connected
They know their USP - free shipping and free returns
They have a presence where their consumers are
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Zappos
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Zappos Website
Not the Flashiest, Stylized website
But....
Loads extremely fast
Information is where it needs to be
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Zappos and Twitter
Zappos.com is successfully using Twitter to put a human face on the company and engage with customers more deeply.
CEO, Tony Hsieh of Zappos has:
Given away shoes on Twitter
Sent out an open invitation to a company barbecue and solved a service problem a customer left in a blog comment.
Hsieh sees it as part of a larger strategy to build Zappos into a brand on par with Virgin.
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Zappos Employees on Twitter18
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"We think our brand is going to be
different because we want people to feel
there's a real person they're connecting with, whether it's
when they call us or through Twitter or
any way they come in contact with us”- CEO, Tony Hseih
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Before you run and start an Online and Social Media Plan...
Be sure that you have developed a solid business brand.
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Brands
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So You Have...A Logo
Maybe even a Tagline
Story
Location
Sell Sheets
Business Cards
That’s Great!
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Before you can successfully promote your
brand, you have to be able to understand and
explain what it is...
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Dunkin’ Donuts =
everyday, hardworking American
against phoniness and fluff.
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The Brand Process
Background
Competitive Analysis
Positioning
SWOT-F
Take Action!!
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Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
Brand Positionin
g MapConservative
High Cost
Trendy
Low Cost
Conservative
Conservative
Conservative
Discover your USP…
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USP
Unique Selling Proposition
What makes you different
You each have one…
Dry Cleaning is not just a convenience business
Brand…
More than a logo or a slogan
It is the clients TOTAL service experience
For a brand to succeed it must STAND OUT from Competitors
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A Brand “Stands Out” when it
routinely provides distinctive
customer SATISFACTION & often
goes above and beyond what is
normally expected
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Apthorp Cleaners
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Apthorp CleanersServices
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Apthorp CleanersThe Stain Gallery
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Apthorp CleanersContact Us
5 Steps of Relationship Branding
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1. Putting a Human Face on Your Company
Make sure your company shows a human side
Use:
Humor
Compassion
Generosity
Understanding
Helpfulness
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Discover Your Brand Voice
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2. Listening to Your Customers
Look at their behavior - Action speaks louder than words
Are they responding to your efforts?
Are they referring your business?
Ask for Feedback
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3. Share with them… including stories
Keep your clients informed
Adds to your human element.
People relate through stories
40Zoots Dry Cleaner
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4. Making Customers Feel Secure
They must feel that you will always be honorable in your dealings with them
100% guarantee
NCA
BBB
42Hallak Cleaners
43Hallak Cleaners
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5. Creating Friendships That Last
To keep customers, brands need to establish other attributes along with trust, like a “care for me” relationship style that includes empathy and reciprocity.
This must be embodied in every interaction every where.
45SLATE NYC
So how do YOU
apply it
Virtually?
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Be ThereYou can’t play the game if you’re not in the game
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Why do you need
a Website?
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You need a website because...
Your website helps convey a professional image
It will promote your business 24/7
You can reach customers locally, nationally, or worldwide
You can track traffic, growth and results of your marketing campaigns
What do you think makes a good website?
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Splendid Dry Cleaners51
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KM Laundry and Dry Cleaners
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Tide Dry Cleaners
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Dry Cleaner
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West Bank Dry Cleaning
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Chris French Cleaner site
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Web Sites
Your Shop Window... open 24/7
a world of opportunity
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Website Overview
Your website is an employee. meaning it works for YOU.
Successful web sites are more than just graphically pleasing.
They are the result of in-depth research, market comprehension, careful planning, and execution.
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Effective Web Design
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Neat and Easy Navigation
Navigation of links on your site plays a big role in determining the stickiness of your site
SITE has to be readable
Ask yourself this, What do visitors do as soon as they open your site?
61Meurice Garment Care
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Content and Timely Information
Original Content is the most important trait of a great Web Site
Provide valuable and timely information
Websites should be updated regularly.
Information should be well-edited
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Be Interactive
Interactivity is the second most important trait on the web.
Sites that involve the user and have a sense of fun or adventure will get more traffic
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Chicago Dry Cleaner
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Fill a niche and dominate
Be different. Discover your USP and utilize it.
Research your competitors. Find what they are
and are not doing.
Dominate the market. The goal is to be the premiere dry cleaner in the US?, NY?, Bronx?, etc.
You become the expert, publish a column on
your website
So how do we get visitors or customers to come
back to your site?
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Pick Up and Delivery Options
Coupons and Deals
Products and Services
FAQ or Q&A Information
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Content Is King
Write about dry cleaning and tailoring tips...
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The Ultimate Goal
Is to Build Loyalty
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Email Marketing
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Dry Cleaning By Dorothy Case Study
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Drycleaning by Dorothy
Family owned business
Wanted to interact with customers on a more personal level.
Teamed up with a marketing agency to design a email marketing campaign
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Dorothy posted sign up sheets and offered $5 off dry cleaning for anyone that signed up
4yrs later… list grows by 30 – 45 names per week.
Using the sheets and other acquisition efforts
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Dry Cleaning By Dorothy
The business cost of the special offers in his e-mail marketing is not a big concern for Dorothy.
“I'm not trying to make a profit off my e-mail promotions,” he says. “My first aim is to solidify current customer relations and make new ones.”
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Dry Cleaning By Dorothy
They always track their campaigns and learn what works and what doesn’t
Forwarding to Friends is a must on all their campaigns
Have acquired many new customers as a result.
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Effective use
of email can
add value to
almost all
kinds of
businesses.
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5 Great Things About Email
Low-Cost
Relationship Building
Targetability
Flexibility
Trackability
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Plan, Schedule and Set Goals
Plan out your emails for the year or season and build campaigns around holidays and seasons
Like every other marketing function… you must set goals for your efforts.
Test to learn what works and what doesn’t
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Create a Calendar
Email 09 Calendar
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Keys Points for Emails
Email can be sent only to people who had "given their permission" by providing their email address.
Email communications should contain timely messages.
Deploy your emails on a scheduled basis. Try every Wednesday around the same time.
Subscribers learn to expect the mail on a regular schedule and that adds to its impact
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Email is Great for Retention... Not Acquisition
So focus your efforts on building and cultivating the relationship
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Hallak Email
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Email Tracking Report83
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Email Example
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Griffin’s Dry Cleaning
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SEM and Online Advertisement
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Most Internet users enlist the help
of one of the major search engines Google,Yahoo, or MSN
every time they access the web.
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Search Engine Marketing is the science of understanding how
your business can appear more frequent in the search rankings.
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Two General Types of SEM
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SEOImproving the volume and quality of traffic to your site through natural search results
Optimizing your website so it is easily searchable
Use:
Internal/External Links
New Content
Text Wisely
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Paid Search
Selecting keywords and phrases to bid on
Operates like an auction
Example:
Google Adwords
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Did you know the majority of small businesses draw
customers from within a 50-mile radius?
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Local Search is Evolving
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If you serve mainly one area...
Your efforts should be focused on that area
So What is Local Search...
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Local Search
People doing local searches for a local business or service provider.
Customers come to local search with an existing or anticipated need.
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So what are people searching for?
You... Yes You
In a recent study: 59% are searching for a restaurant or entertainment 41% seek information on local services, dry cleaners and lawyers.
People want the basics: 52% said they searched specifically for a business phone number or address
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Get Listed, Be Included
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There are many to choose from
Find out what your customers use in your area...
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It’s Growing and ChangingGoogle put Local Search in the palm of your customers hand
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Blogs and Social MediaFor Dry Cleaners
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Social Marketing in a Nutshell
Consumers now seek advice
through social networks,
prediction markets, micro-
blogging, location-based,
networked mobile phone
applications and even virtual
worlds.
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Blogs
It gives them a reason to come back
Starts the conversation on your website
Gets your customers interested in you.
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Benefits of a BlogIncreased sales
They get more traffic from search engines and social networking engines like technorati.com
News agencies are more likely to do a story on your business
Real-life stories and tips warm up your web presence
Free!
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Ecolave Blog
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Show your expertise and begin relationships
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Only do it if you can post often
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Social Media
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Social Media is a fast, professional, easy and effective
way to market your business
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Sites such as:Linkedin
Myspace
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What can it do for you?
Strengthening brands
Create positive buzz
Build word of mouth
Build relationships
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Southwest Airlines uses twitter to let customers know of special deals and offers.
GM is using Twitter to keep their followers updated on the on-going crisis and their development of new technologies.
Facebook has had the capability to build groups and companies have taken advantage of that.
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Starbucks Twitter
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Louis Vuitton Facebook
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Viral Marketing
The idea behind a viral marketing campaign is to create a novel or unique concept that can be spread all over the web
Think of it as a virtual word of mouth campaign on steroids
This technique can catapult a business into pop culture overnight, but it is not guaranteed to work
The key is it is governed by the users not the creators
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Dove Evolution
New Stuff
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Joy of Direct Marketing
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Lois’s Favorites
Plaxo
Active Rain
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On LinkedIn you can
keep track of your
database
Email them questions
Find out about suppliers
Make friends in the area
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Test a Vertical Social Media Website
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Your Ideas...
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Plastic? Why not give a cloth bag?
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Eco Products
Offers
BOGO
2 for 1
Spring Cleaning
Win a closet organizer
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Try Something Viral
The 10 weirdest things someone left in their pockets
Out-takes of a commercial or filming
Contests and Co-Brand
California Closets
Clothing Companies
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Nora Nealis
Goes to Washington and spends all her time and resources
campaigning….
So busy there’s no time to focus on
herself
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NCA-I Current Site
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NCA Professional
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NCA-2
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NCA Johnson Box
When you consider your website:
Develop a creative that represents your personality
Position yourself in a unique way
Consider some of your great stories - and use them on your site
When you consider your website:
Remember Debra Kravet’s Site: “The Westside’s Cleaner”
Busy Streets
Interactive
Humorous
• Get their email address
• Email them on a schedule
• Do something special for them!
Be Creative
