By Arie Abecassis In recent years, there has been an increase in celebrity investing of tech startups. Although official statistics are hard to come by, as a group, these investors are putting in tens of millions of dollars to work each year. From Hollywood stars to professional athletes, market participants have included Ashton Kutscher, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lebron James and Shaquille O'Neill. There have also been tech startup investments made companies that are involved in the production of entertainment, like Disney, Comcast, WME Ventures and CAA.
A question I often hear from entrepreneurs is whether taking in such money really provides any additional value? In the past several years, I have been fortunate enough to get a front-line view on this very topic as I have been active in startups which have received investments from a range of performers and public figures such as Beyonce, Troy Carter, Carmelo Anthony and Barbara Corcoran. Given the choice, private companies that can secure celebrity capital can benefit in five ways. Related: 8 Celebrities Getting (Financially) High Off of the Budding Legal Weed Business 1. Market awarenessBy definition, many celebrities have prominent public profiles and substantial social media followings that can number in the millions (Ronaldo has 48MM Twitter followers alone). Generally speaking, when they disclose an investment, it tends to get covered in the business and tech press. This can help a startup that's trying to make a name for itself gain market recognition and provide PR value that would be expensive or difficult to achieve otherwise. Such heightened awareness tends to get noticed by many of the company's important stakeholders, including potential business partners, customers, investors and employees. 2. Closing a roundIf a celebrity investor is perceived as strategic, his or her involvement can also help a company close its round, either by helping lure other celebrity investors (as they say, birds of a feather flock together) or financial investors. Even if the strategic value of the investor is not obvious, don't underestimate the drawing power a celebrity investor has with potential co-investors who'd like to get a seat at the table, and who want to chat up the fact that they have co-invested with Bono or Ashton Kutcher. While it likely won't help them get tickets to a concert or a dinner party invitation, it can help bolster their profile in the investment community by increasing their "cool factor". Related: 5 High-Powered Animal Celebrities Who Earn More Than You Do 3. Commercial opportunitiesSince many of these types of investors generate tons of media impressions and have a social network that tends to be made up of other influencers, they can be helpful in terms of opening up doors to folks in your industry. Imagine a sports drink or the latest social networking or communication app that have mass appeal. Many celebrity investors, and their business managers, have access to television networks, advertisers, agencies and other business organizations that they regularly interact with. For the right company, these relationships can open up new doors or may even help accelerate discussions. 4. Traffic explosion Many celebrities invest in consumer products or tech because this is what they're familiar with the most, and it's an area where they can have real impact. If your company sells a product to consumers, a celebrity can help drive bursts of traffic to your web and mobile sites. This can drive short-term sales and be good for SEO and the collection of consumer information, like email addresses. Entrepreneurs should understand that the organic reach that this can provide is not a substitute for a sustainable and effective marketing strategy. But it does tend to yield consumer interactions that should be capitalized upon. Related: 15 Celebrities Who Had Epic Fails as Entrepreneurs 5. Employee moraleIt may be a bit more subtle, but an investment by an individual or firm that is widely recognized can also boost employee morale. In addition to serving as another form of validation, it provides a sense of momentum that sometimes can make employees feel like they are part of something special. The more the celebrity associates him or herself with the product, the stronger the affinity that employees may feel. Although this will not offset deeply-rooted problems with company culture or morale, it can provide a timely, albeit temporary, rallying point for staff. So, if you are in the hunt for capital, and spark interest from a celebrity investor, once the flattery wears off, keep in mind the different ways their involvement can help your business hit a new chord. Source:https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/285650 By Annie Pilon Technology has made a mark on so many different areas of business — including sales. There are plenty of tech tools and techniques you can use to gain more customers and make more money.
If you want to make more sales for your small business, you can take a look at some of the tips from members of our small business community below. Remember the Major Digital Marketing MistakesWhen it comes to your online marketing, there isn’t necessarily one right way to do things. But there are some common mistakes that can sidetrack your efforts. If you want your digital marketing efforts to be successful, avoid the mistakes in this post by Kevin Donnellon of Macali Communications. Learn How to Use Messaging in Your eCommerce BusinessMessaging apps are becoming increasingly popular with online and mobile consumers. And they can also apply to eCommerce businesses as well. Here, Aliona Surovtseva discusses what eCommerce businesses should know about messaging apps and services. Study the Major Trends in B2B MarketingFor B2B businesses, marketing trends can differ from those that apply to B2C businesses. Sam Hurley identifies some significant B2B marketing trends in this Sparklane post. And BizSugar members share their thoughts on the post here. Engage Customers With Experiential MarketingWhen attempting to sell products to customers, it can help if you create a whole experience for them. In this Target Marketing post, Candice Simons shares how businesses can utilize the concept of experiential marketing to sell products to customers. Master the Basics of Customer RetentionIt’s not just a matter of bringing new customers in but also of keeping the ones you have with the hopes of increasing sales from those who have already bought from you in the past. Here‘s a look at how to improve that process by Shayla Price at Kissmetrics with some additional thoughts from the BiSugar community here. Set New Financial Goals for Your Small BusinessNo matter what changes you have planned for your small business in 2017, you always need to keep finances in mind. But there are some changes you can make to ensure a better financial future for your business, like the ones listed in this CorpNet post by Christa Donovan. Have a Unique Selling PropositionWhen attempting to make sales, you need to have a unique angle to really convince customers to do business with you. That’s where your unique selling proposition comes in. If you don’t currently have one, read why you need to change that in this GetEntrepreneurial.com post by Ron Finklestein. Stop Overthinking Your ContentContent marketing has proved to be a powerful tool for small businesses. But some tend to overthink their content strategies, as Sujan Patel expresses in this Content Marketing Institute post. You can also see commentary on the post over on BizSugar. Use Live Video Chat to Reach Out to CustomersAs technology evolves, businesses constantly get new opportunities to reach out to customers. Live video chat is one of those new opportunities. You can read more about why your business should use live video chat in this Biz Epic post by Ivan Widjaya. Learn How to Prevent Data BreachesWhen you use technology to support your small business operations, you might find that you’re vulnerable to data breaches. But there are ways to prevent them, as Liz Green points out in this Smallbiztechnology.com post. Source:https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/02/10-tools-techniques-can-use-make-sales.html By Tarun Mittal In today’s digital world, maintaining a strong social media presence is crucial for any business. Establishing a strong identity on social media sites increases your brand’s credibility and reach, thereby increasing the number of potential customers. But trying to cultivate large audiences and develop the same level of engagement on every social media site is a foolhardy task. You will end up spending substantial time and effort without reaping the expected rewards.
That's why it's better to target a specific site, or two, and focus all your efforts into establishing a strong presence there instead of maintaining a sub-par presence on multiple sites. Here's how you should go about identifying which social media site is right for your business: Identify your target demographicEvery business has a different target demographic which yields the most customers. For example, Nike Football's customers tend to be young males while a cosmetics company like Lakme has exclusively female customers. It's important to establish a niche and then research which demographic is most likely to use or buy your services and products. Find where your potential customers spend most timeOnce you've identified your customer base, the next step is to figure out which social media site they spend most of their time on and focus your efforts on building credibility on that site. If your potential customers are over 50 years of age, it would make sense to stay away from sites like Instagram and Snapchat, which are more popular among younger internet users. Select a site that best matches your contentSelecting a site that best matches the content you plan to post will help propagate said content in a more effective manner. Image-centric businesses like travel and photography fare much better on Instagram than on Twitter, while business-related content would gain more traction on LinkedIn than on Facebook. It's important to remember that you don't have to restrict yourself to only one site. Fashion-related businesses, for example, should target Pinterest, since most of its users are frequent online shoppers, along with Instagram and Facebook. Identify your goals and do what works for youThe site you select also depends on your goals. Do you want to increase sales or just awareness? Do you simply want to increase traction to your blog or bring relevant people to it? The social media sites you select will depend on the answers to such questions. If your brand focuses on a small niche catering to a select customer base, using unconventional social sites like Reddit, Quora, and Medium can be highly beneficial as compared to the mainstream powerhouses. Similarly, if sales matter to you more than awareness, stay away from the likes of Snapchat and Twitter and focus more on Facebook. Also keep in mind that a social media strategy that works for a similar brand as yours may not necessarily work for you. If you've selected a site and find that isn't working for you even after a few months, don't hesitate to ditch it and try something else instead. Finding one or two sites that can check off all these criteria is an improbable task. But it's certainly possible to narrow it down and then begin experimenting to find the best fit. Trial and error is key for marketing your business on social media, and as the saying goes, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ Source:https://yourstory.com/2017/02/social-media-for-marketing/ By Brad Jefferson When I shared my predictions on the video space with MarTech Advisor around this time last year, online video consumption was on a steady rise. Today, video consumption is at an all-time high -- in fact, in 2017, video content will represent 74 percent of all internet traffic. And as a result, more marketers than ever will be using the medium to connect with consumers.
Here are four trends we can expect to see this year: 1.�Businesses embrace more than just video; they embrace video marketing strategy In November 2014, Mark Zuckerberg predicted that the majority of Facebook traffic would be video in five years. The rate of growth of video on Facebook has consistently increased. In 2014, Facebook saw two billion daily video views on their platform. A recent report from Facebook shows that, in just a year, the social media platform is now driving over 8 billion video views per day. Numbers like this show that it will be vital for large and small brands alike to make video a part of their marketing strategy if they want to remain competitive. 2. In 2016, SMB’s followed big business marketers. Now, big businesses turn to smaller businesses for social video inspiration Last year, we predicted that SMB’s would be adopting the marketing trends of big brands, and they did, with more small businesses than ever embracing video. But now we’re seeing this theme reverse itself. This year, big brands and marketers will be following the trends of SMB’s, whose approach to social media relies heavily on DIY video creation. Professional marketers at large companies will become “DIY Marketers,” trading highly produced videos for scrappy but timely and engaging ones -- even if they don’t have any video experience. 3. Video marketing will become a must-have job skill For recent college graduates and job seekers, video marketing competency is a highly marketable skill that will grow in demand throughout 2017. College graduates have a native understanding of using video on social, which is an asset for companies who want to tell their story using video. In a survey Animoto conducted this year, surveying more than 1,000 professional marketers and 1,000 small- and medium-sized business owners, respondents said they view video marketing skills as a more desirable skill for their team in the next 12 months compared to email, design, and written marketing materials. (Animoto’s 2016 Social Video Forecast) Hubspot’s CEO, Brian Halligan, agrees-- his advice? “Stop looking for that blogger and start looking for that videographer. 50% of your content mixture should be text and video. You need to make the shift to what your consumers are on.” 4. Business video uploads to Facebook will triple In Facebook’s Q3 2017 earnings call, the company reported that 3 million businesses uploaded at least one video to their Facebook Business page per month. This number has doubled in the last six months, and I predict that pace will continue to gain steam. As video becomes an essential marketing tool, and software is available that makes it easy for any size business to create compelling video, I see there being 10 million businesses uploading video to their business page each month by end of 2017. Whether you are a marketing video expert, or just beginning to experiment with the possibilities, 2017 will offer a great opportunity to expand your video marketing efforts and take advantage of all the medium has to offer to connect with your customers. Source:https://www.martechadvisor.com/articles/video-marketing-ads/4-predictions-for-video-marketing-in-2017/ By Julia Gulevich The term ‘permission marketing’ speaks for itself. It is an approach to marketing and selling goods and services when a prospect has explicitly given consent to receive information. Opt-in emails, which users subscribe to in advance to receive information about particular goods, is an example of permission-based marketing. Other examples include social networks where “follows” or “likes” give targeted consent, YouTube subscriptions, signups at events to win prizes, and subscriptions to access content on websites where a reader gives permission to be contacted via email or phone. We’re going to focus more on permission-based email marketing. Email remains popular for most businesses due to its affordability, ease, cost effectiveness, and coverage. If you care about your deliverability and customer experience, permission-based marketing is the way to succeed. There are two common types of permission: Implicit PermissionIt is the weakest form of consent. Implicit permission refers to an assumption that you have permission to send messages to a contact because you had a prior relationship with them. Jarom Adair of Solopreneur Marketing developed a case study, which revealed some interesting things.
Finding 1: “During the same time it took for my double opt-in list to gain 1,000 subscribers, my single opt-in list grew to 1,249 subscribers.” Finding 2: “Over the course of 5 emails via autoresponder, the overall percentage of people who opened and clicked through on email links were: Double opt-in open rate: 57.6% Double opt-in click-through rate: 15.6% Single opt-in open rate: 63.8% Single opt-in click-through rate: 17.0%” Finding 3: “Sending out an identical sales email to each list resulted in: Double opt-in sales: 12 Single opt-in sales: 14″ I was surprised, honestly. However, Jarom doesn’t write anything about the complaint rate and bounce rate both lists generated. These metrics are critical. We don’t know how the two lists will convert during their lifetime. The case study shows everything should be tested, tested, and tested again. Even if your theory is good, you should test the opt-in process with your audience, offer, and content specifically. Test email deliverability, analyze open rates, click rates, sales and proceed. There is a handy spam testing tool called GlockApps. Run your subject lines and email’s content through the app to ensure your emails get to the inbox of your subscribers. You do not want to force your subscribers to search for your emails in their spam folders. Permission-Based Marketing Best PracticesNo matter how you add subscribers to your mailing list, you should comply with the laws and respect your email recipients. To develop a solid permission-based email marketing program, consider these 10 best marketing practices:
For a marketer, the main benefits are: Quality: It collects prospects who have interest into what you have to provide, minimizes complaints and protects your reputation. Higher conversion rate: As it targets interested people, they are more likely to buy. Personalization: It allows gathering the information about the prospects to help segment the list and send more targeted campaigns. Long-term relationships: Permission-based marketing instills more trust and confidence and builds a long-term relationship between a prospect and a marketer. Good reputation: Reputable marketers know that marketing starts with permission. If you want a higher quality list, more engaged subscribers, better deliverability, higher open rates, and conversions in the long term, only start marketing after obtaining a permission from your prospects. Source:http://www.business2community.com/brandviews/mainstreethost/grow-business-permission-based-marketing-01776679#l3gU0Lz7eJZ7Bhzl.97 By Ben Allen It’s easy to separate your marketing efforts from everything else that goes into running a business, especially once people are inside your restaurant. When people think about marketing, its only purpose is to get guests in the door, but it’s so much more than that. It’s about improving the restaurant dining experience, too. Marketing creates expectations and impressions of your restaurant well before a guest walks in. It can also influence their opinion of you when they leave. Here are some tactics to implement that will increase the number of guests, improve their experience, and get you more positive reviews. Managing Your Website and BrandingIf people haven’t visited your restaurant or bar before, they’ll more than likely do some research. It’s a common practice to check out your menu, website and reviews before visiting. Outside of perhaps driving by a few times, this is their first real impression of your business. So what pops up when potential customers search your business name? If you are on top of the ball, the first result should be your website, but often that isn’t the case. Especially for smaller restaurants and bars, it’s easy and cheaper to simply put your menu on a third party site (like UrbanSpoon or Yelp) and call it good. This is a mistake though, as it raises concerns with consumers as why you don’t have a site and whether the menu is accurate. But let’s say you made the smart decision to get your restaurant a website. Be critical for a minute and take an honest look at it. Is it a good looking website? In the world today, with easy to use software, anybody can build a website, but making it professional is a little harder. Either take the time to learn how to build a great website, or hire somebody to do it for you. Branding your site gives customers a glimpse of what to expect when they visit in person. Lots of images are helpful with this, including pictures of food, your establishment, and even some of your staff. That way, people will feel more comfortable going to your restaurant because they have an impression of your place. They have an idea of what to expect. Your Online MenuYou’ve probably spent hours upon hours and many a sleepless night agonizing over your menu. So when it comes to put your menu online, you might have simply put your menu and short descriptions up and called it good. Unlike a printed menu, where space is an issue, you can do a lot more interesting things with an online menu. For example, every item could, and should, have a picture on your site. Pictures are much more appetizing than a simple description, and people will get much more excited to eat it. Another thing your digital menu can do differently is more thorough descriptions of each dish. No longer are you restrained to a couple of sentences to describe your food. You can even have unique pages for each dish that details ingredients and how it’s cooked. This is especially useful for people with allergies and restrictive diets. Another benefit is giving customers the power to filter and search your menu if there are specific things they like or dislike. These include options like vegetarian, spiciness, common allergens, cold versus hot meals, and other things relevant to your business. Offering Unique Ways to OrderHow we order and pay for food is changing thanks to technology. Many of these, like Square and Ziosk change how guests pay for their food and interact with your staff, removing uncomfortable situations or the need to wait for a waiter to order or pay. One major advance is the ability to order food electronically without calling. This is slowly becoming commonplace with fast food places, so if you don’t have the capability, get it. Especially if you have a lot of dine out orders, you can help ease the burden on your staff and give people the option to order how they want. Another point to consider is whether you should start delivering. Clearly it’s a trend that growing, with brands like Uber developing their own delivery services, and you can make a name for yourself locally by offering delivery. Not every food travels well, but if yours can, consider it. The Power of Word of Mouth MarketingNothing is as powerful as word of mouth marketing. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family. This is huge compared to other marketing tactics. It casts your restaurant in a positive light which can lead to great experiences. Instead of having to prove yourself, these new guests come expecting a good time, making it much easier to please them. Now, it’s obvious that you want your customers to have a good time, and in turn, tell their family and friends to come. But there is another source of people who can recommend your restaurant. Your employees.
Keeping your employees engaged with your business not only improves their productivity, but also their opinion of their workplace. Focus on keeping employees happy by acknowledging their hard work and success. This will help them feel more connected to their management and the business. Happy employees are going to feel more at ease inviting their family and friends to eat at your restaurant. When they do, give them the flexibility to serve and treat them, so their guests have a very positive experience. Not only will this make more happy customers, but your employee will be happy about the experience, too. Marketing is more than getting people in the door, it should impact every part of your business. Keeping your marketing tactics at the front of your mind can help you find new ways to improve customer satisfaction, and in turn, how successful your restaurant is. Source:http://nextrestaurants.com/restaurant-marketing/improving-dining-experience-marketing-tactics/ By Jenna Bruce
What is branding exactly? It’s the development of a public persona, one that causes an instant emotional connection within consumers. When you think of great branding, what comes to mind? Nike’s swoosh? Coca Cola’s red can and white lettering? Or maybe McDonald’s golden arches? As a small business owner, you’ve probably dreamed of reaching such branding success. You’ve also most likely become instantly overwhelmed at the mere idea of taking on what can be an expensive and demanding initiative. The good news is, effective branding is much easier and more cost-effective than you might think, provided you avoid the following 5 common mistakes.
But… Did you know that branding is also valuable for SEO marketing? It’s no secret that Google prioritizes branded listings in its organic search results. They do this because branded websites are more likely to get the clicks. More clicks mean happier search engine users. Hence, don’t be shortsighted. Undertaking a branding initiative could lead to both awareness benefits and a boost in website traffic. 2.Failing to Implement Branding Guidelines Your branding efforts will be sabotaged by a lack of cohesiveness. This cohesiveness can only be reached by implementing branding guidelines. Doing so will allow your brand to be instantly recognized no matter which marketing channel you use. People recognize Coca Cola in their TV ads as well as their print ads and social media campaigns. What should your guidelines include?
3.Not Keeping it Simple Small businesses can learn a lot from Coca Cola when it comes to keeping their brand image simple. Take a look at how their logo has changed – or not changed – over the years. While the fonts have varied a bit since the soft drink giant launched in 1887, the logo in general has had the same look and feel over the last 127 years. Also worth mentioning is that look happens to be very clean and simple. It may be tempting to “go all out” and add more variables when initiating your branding process. But, a logo with five colors and four different graphic elements will confuse your audience and overcomplicate things. Take a note from Coca Cola and keep things simple. 4.Being Vague I already mentioned the importance of keeping your brand image and logo clean and simple. But don’t confuse this will dull and vague. Your brand’s elements must reveal something about your company and its value proposition. Catchphrases like “Best-selling” “award-winning” or “new and improved” have been so overused, they no longer hold any meaning with consumers. Focus on creating clear language, logos and imagery that highlight your company’s value proposition. 5.Not Monitoring Your Brand’s Usage Developing and launching your small business’s brand is only half of the branding equation. The other half is making sure you’re monitoring how others are using your brand image on your behalf. If you let this task slide, you risk publishing partners using your logo but with the wrong colors, or a review website using the wrong URL link. Or, worse, a competitor using a tagline that sounds strikingly similar. While branding takes thought and comprehensive planning, it doesn’t need to be overly complicated. As long as you avoid these 5 common mistakes, you should be able to develop a brand that is instantly recognizable and connects with your target audience. Source:http://www.mediaspacesolutions.com/blog/5-common-branding-mistakes-that-will-kill-your-small-business |
Marcus Guiliano
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