reputation | The Genuine ScLoHo aka Scott Howard

Marketing Perceptions are Messy

by Scott Howard | Oct 10, 2017 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Let’s talk about your brand and reputation because Marketing Perceptions are Messy.

I am currently working with a local branch of an international organization that understands the importance of being accurate in their marketing messaging. So much so, that they have a compliance department that reviews all of their marketing and advertising outreach including what we, WOWO Radio are going to be doing with them this month.

I usually don’t need to jump through as many hoops as I have with this company to put together an advertising campaign for most of the people I work with, but this is fine. They understand the power of bad publicity and in this social media world how bad stuff can go viral.

I sometimes wish my local business owners were as aware of this and so that’s what we are going to talk about today.

You can control the content of your paid advertising messages because you approve those ads ahead of time.

But what about the other marketing messages that are out there?

The way your drivers behave when they are driving your company vehicles for example?

The words and actions of your staff when they are at a customers home or business?

The words and actions when your people are enjoying lunch at their favorite restaurant?

Here’s one that I take into consideration every week:

The words that are spoken that are not necessarily the words and policies of your company, but are said by a representative of your company?

Do you have a policy in place for any of this?

When I began the podcast version of my weekly website articles, I decided to play it safe and every recorded version includes the following disclaimer:

THERE IS A ROUGH TRANSCRIPTION OF THIS PODCAST ONLINE AT THE WEBSITE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME. IF YOU WANT TO GO BACK AND READ OR CHECK OUT THE LINKS I MAY MENTION, YOU’LL FIND THEM THERE. SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME.

I WILL BE UPDATING THIS PODCAST EVERY WEEK HOWEVER IS ADDITIONAL MATERIAL THAT I WRITE THAT DOESN’T MAKE IT IN THE PODCAST VERSION BUT WILL BE ON THE SCOTT HOWARD DOT ME WEBSITE.

AND EVEN THOUGH I AM RECORDING THIS AT THE FEDERATED MEDIA STUDIOS IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA AND I WORK FOR WOWO RADIO AND THIS IS BEING PROMOTED BY MY EMPLOYER. EVERYTHING I SAY OR WRITE IS STRICTLY MY OWN THOUGHTS AND NOT NECESSARILY THE OPINIONS OF FEDERATED MEDIA OR ANY OF THEIR AFFILIATIONS AND OR ADVERTISERS.

Click above for the link to the podcast

I wasn’t asked to include that disclaimer, but I did it as a “just in case” preventative move. I’ve been writing and publishing these stories and articles every week for years, over 6 years now at the ScottHoward.me website and other sites before that.

When I joined the WOWO advertising sales team 4 years ago, I asked and received permission from my management team to share the stuff that I write and talk about publicly. I don’t have a compliance department overseeing this before it’s published and my radio bosses don’t ask for preview copies either. They simply trust me to have the common sense to do what is right and appropriate.

Last year they came to me and asked if I would consider doing a podcast version of my website, and that’s how the Genuine ScLoHo Media & Marketing Podcast came about. There are links to it on the WOWO.com website. It’s a win win situation for them and for me because of the trust factor.

That trust factor is what I want you to consider as a take away from this article and podcast. You really need to let your staff know what is expected of them when they are representing your company. Put it in a company handbook, make it part of their employment contract, or what ever is most appropriate. Don’t bury it the fine print either.

You need to trust your staff to be responsible and that starts with letting them know what that means. Your customers and potential customers are watching and this is even more powerful than your paid advertising messages. Marketing Perceptions are Messy. Your job is to do your best to keep it clean.

Want help? Let’s talk.

How To Create A Real Marketing Strategy Plan: Part 2

by Scott Howard | Jan 21, 2016 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

Last year I kicked off the new year with a brief series to help you be more successful when deciding how to spend your advertising and marketing budget.

This week I am sharing that information again with some updates.

Today we will go over the last 3 items on this list from a couple days ago:

You need to know who you are from 4 different perspectives:

Your insider knowledge of who you are
Your current customers perspective of who you are
Your competitors perception of who you are.
Your best potential customers perception of who you are.

Yesterday I gave you a big assignment and it is impossible to have completed it in the past 24 hours because it takes a few days to just do the bare minimum. Read it here.

However some of you want to know how to do the other three (#’s 2, 3, and 4 on the list above) so I’ll give you some help today. Save this in your bookmarks or favorites for future reference so you can do these exercises after you complete the first one.

What is your current customers perspective of who you are? You should already be doing this kind of research by asking your customers about their experience with you. I know a muffler shop that would give you a discount on your next visit if you left them a review. There are tons of ways to do this including an online survey with a service such as SurveyMonkey and others, but guess what? Your current customers are already telling others about you online, if you know where to look.

Besides the social media conversations and rants that occur on Facebook and the like, there are also plenty of review sites where your customers are talking about you. The problem you face is how to get this important information in a timely manner. I’ll tell you how in a moment.

What are your competitors perception of you? Have you ever hired an employee who used to work for your competitor? Ask them. It’s that simple. You can also do some “secret shopping” and send an intern to your competitor and have them ask what they think of you, but that is somewhat complicated and probably not necessary.

The question I often asked when I ask the business owners about this, is why is this important? Depends on the business environment you are in. Sprint, AT & T and Verizon are in a heated battle and all claim to be the best, so they’ll talk smack about each other to keep their customer base.

What are your best potential customers perceptions of who you are? In order for someone to consider doing business with you, they want to feel good about giving you their money. We now have the ability to research nearly anything and anyone that we are considering doing business with by going online. The same information that your current customers are sharing online is being read by your potential customers.

This is why your online reputation is critical. The difficulty is knowing what is being said and having the ability to respond in a timely manner.

I have a solution. I work for Federated Media in Indiana. Specifically for WOWO Radio in Fort Wayne. But I also have the ability to help you with one of the services from Federated Digital Solutions, our online division.

We offer a Social Engagement and Reputation Management Solution that can help you with all of your online reviews and social media activity including monitoring what others are saying about you. You do not need to be in Fort Wayne, or Indiana, just somewhere in the United States for us to be able to take care of this for you. Every client gets a custom quote for this service, because we only want you to purchase what makes sense for your business. Want more information? Drop me a note to: Scott@WOWO.com and we can begin the conversation about how to stay on top of all of this while you continue to run your business.

What Do People Say About You?

by Scott Howard | Oct 28, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Your reputation matters. It always has. Even before social media and the entire web.

People will talk about you, good or bad. Look at this survey:

This world wide survey shows that if you and your company provide a good job, more than half will tell friends and family about you. Less than 20% would share it on social media. (I don’t have the data but when someone screws up, people can get very vocal on social media.)

Just because you don’t hear about it directly (21% in the above chart), people are talking about you. We call it Word Of Mouth when it’s good. And when they are talking bad about you, we call that your worst marketing nightmare.

Give this some thoughtful consideration and if you need help, reach out to me.

Before You Buy Advertising, What Do Others Know About You?

by Scott Howard | Jan 8, 2015 | Marketing and Advertising Insights

Kicking off the new year with a brief series to help you be more successful when deciding how to spend your advertising and marketing budget, today we will go over the last 3 items on this list from a couple days ago:

You need to know who you are from 4 different perspectives:

Your insider knowledge of who you are
Your current customers perspective of who you are
Your competitors perception of who you are.
Your best potential customers perception of who you are.