by Scott Howard | Oct 17, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
30 years ago I began my adventure into the world of advertising and marketing. I took a job in Detroit creating campaigns for radio advertising clients.
I’ve spoken to 100’s of business owners, managers,and entrepreneurs. I’ve interviewed the customers, clients, front-line workers and support staff. And I’m still learning.
My definition of marketing is everything that presents you and your business to your “marketplace”. Your “marketplace” includes your current, past and future customers and clients. It also includes influencers who may not buy from you, but they have the power to influence those that will.
Number 1: You have to get your entire business moving in the same direction to create harmony and forward momentum. Think Big Picture. Really BIG PICTURE. All of your employees need to know what the mission is and that each one of them is responsible for contributing.
Number 2: You need to create a long term identity that will define who you are in all economic climates. This identity, also called your Brand, will not change over time, it will only be adapted.
Number 3: Your brand and your mission will be known by your customers and clients. If you are unsure what your brand is, perhaps you need to ask your customers and see if you are both on the same page.
Number 4: You need your own website. Not a Facebook page, you need something that you control. In 2016 if you don’t have your own website, you don’t exist as a legitimate business.
Number 5: You need a presence on Facebook. This is not a contradiction of number 4. Social Media is a communication tool. Your website is to show that you are real. Odds are Social Media will be just as important as your website, but for a different reason. Think of it this way. A retail store is like a website. Social Media is like a phone number. See the link?
And Number 6: You will need to optimize your website for mobile. More people access the web via smartphones than laptops. This means smaller screens and if you have not created a mobile version of your online presence you will eventually be behind your competitors.
Do you agree with my list of 6? Are there others you would add?
By the way, I originally wrote this in 2011, except for a couple of date references, this list has been timeless.
by Scott Howard | Apr 4, 2016 | ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo
I’m going to take a second and talk to you about websites and your business marketing.
A dozen years ago, the rage was for your business to hop on the website bandwagon. A marketing friend of mine and I were talking about how having a website was fine and dandy, but how are consumers going to find you online? 
Since my friend and I worked in radio, we began urging our radio advertisers to include their website address in their ads.
Similar things were done in all mass media marketing including print and television ads. Eventually people thought that the key was to be found by Google.
I even left the radio world for awhile a few years ago and worked for a website development company that talked about the reasons for and methods to use to be found online organically with something you’ve probably heard about: S.E.O.
S.E.O. stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s basically the stuff you do to your website to Optimize it so the Search Engine’s (Google, Yahoo & Bing) can find you. The concept is that if your site is optimized then when people are looking for what you have to sell, your website will show up when people are searching online.
This is not a job for amateurs, and not all professionals are equally skilled at S.E.O.
But before I lose you in all this tech talk, let me use some terminology that you as a business owner understand.
Think of your website as a storefront. It is a capital expense of doing business. You can’t really measure the direct return on investment in your website alone, just like you can’t measure the direct R.O.I. of having buying a truck for your business.
Just because you now have a “storefront online” (website), your business is not going to automatically be found by potential customers. All you have done so far is open your store.
Next you need to do what every business needs to do: Invite People.
There are multiple ways of doing this, and part of my job at WOWO Radio is to offer all kinds of appropriate online marketing solutions through our Federated Digital Solutions division.
I am amazed at the results I have seen several of my advertising partners receive, but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The first step in working with me is to determine what the end result is that needs to be accomplished and that usually takes a meeting or two. Contact me and we can set that up.
But I want you to remember today that just because you now have a website, you still need a strategic marketing plan to invite people to spend money with you. I can help.
by Scott Howard | Nov 18, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom
The folks at MarketingCharts.com released a whole bunch of data this month that says that most retailers can expect at least a 3% increase in sales this holiday season compared to last year. 
There are a whole bunch of qualifications to that statement and you can read the report here, but for now, I’ll share some of the items that caught my eye.
- Almost half – 46.1% – of all holiday shopping will be conducted online, says the NRF, Free shipping/shipping promotions will be an important factor for close to half (47%) of holiday shoppers’ decisions on where to shop.
- About two-thirds of consumers expect to use mobile devices while shopping in-store.
- Buying online and picking up in-store appears to be a key trend this holiday season (as identified in the NRF survey), and an Accenture study suggests that two-thirds of consumers who engage in this activity will likely buy additional items during their store visit.
- The quality of the website experience is as important as the physical store experience to shoppers this year, with about half considering each of these when choosing a retailer, according to a study from MarketLive. The survey also finds enthusiasm for personalized product recommendations and mobile alerts.
- Gift cards remain a popular gift across studies, with the Brand Keys study being very buoyant on this front, indicating that virtually all (96% of) holiday shoppers will purchase one this year.
So as a local retailer, what are you going to do to make sure you get your piece of the pie, (or fruitcake) this year? Want help? Contact me.
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