Market Research You CAN Afford

Before coming to Imagine, I worked as a marketing manager for a small business. Working for a small business meant that sometimes I had to get creative with ways to stretch our marketing dollar. We knew who we wanted to target and we knew who our customers were. Social media tools like Facebook, Twitter and Mail Chimp were all great, inexpensive ways to reach our customers. Cross promoting with complementing businesses was a no brainer. Using trade or gift certificates in lieu of cash for sponsorships? Done.

Traditional media like radio and television were a bit trickier. Media sales reps would parade in and out all day with reports and numbers about how their station was number one! Granted, that could mean anything since they could be number one…from midnight to 2am with 65-75 year old men. Since we didn’t have the means to do formal market research and find out more detail about what and how our customers watched, listened and read, I used a much easier method. I snooped.

Free market research is all around us. One of my favorite places to monitor people’s television viewing habits is at the gym. Most gyms now have individual monitors on every treadmill, Stairmaster and elliptical machine. Vary your workout times and you’ll quickly learn which programs and channels are most watched and who is watching them. Stop by your local library, take a stroll through the computer area and you’ll see which sites are being visited the most. Eavesdrop at a restaurant or coffee shop by major work places the day after a highly anticipated show airs and hear who’s talking about it and what they’re talking about. Roll down the windows in your car and you’ll get snippets of what people listen to in their car. Satellite radio and MP3 players may be taking over but in severe weather or traffic jams, the first and easiest place drivers turn to is their local radio station. Even something as simple as striking up a conversation in line at the grocery store can lead to new revelation in your research…and make sure to take a peek into their grocery cart to see what their buying habits are while you’re at it!

Too often, we’re quick to dismiss the idea of traditional media and “old school” methods. This is a dangerous mentality. Traditional media still works, especially when supported by the new media. Using this non-traditional method of market research can help you learn more about your current and potential customers – no matter how you chose to market your business.

*A portion of this blog published originally on: Nadia's Notes

Nadia Zerka works on the Client Relations team at Imagine Marketing.
Contact Nadia at nzerka@imnv.com

Brilliance doesn’t just happen

Working in a creative business, we are expected to always be thinking of new ideas. Sometimes this can be a challenge. After all, brilliance doesn’t just happen. Great ideas don’t happen in a vacuum (usually). Sometimes we all need a little push outside of our comfort zone to remind us where good ideas come from.

Over the last few months, I have participated in a monthly conference call with my co-worker, Nadia, and various marketing and sales professionals from all over the country. The purpose of the calls is to discuss and brainstorm about various social media ideas. The discussions only last an hour, but during that short time, something amazing happens. I find myself becoming reenergized and excited, and the ideas and questions begin flowing even faster than usual. I am able to take this newfound energy and re-focus it back into the work I am already doing. Without consciously knowing it, participating in these teleconferences has been the push I need to be the best at my job.

We can’t sit behind our computers and expect great ideas to just appear. Innovation comes from collaboration and is allowed to flourish and grow when inspiration is added to the mix. It’s easy to fall into the routine of only attending meetings that are required and brainstorming only when there is a need for a new idea. Instead, shake it up and find new ways to collaborate with others. You’ll find that new ideas or solutions will come to you for challenges you didn’t even know you had.

Here’s a few ways I have discovered lately that have not only broken up the monotony of the work day, but have reinvigorated me and reminded me why I love being part of a team that is encouraged to find and implement the next big idea:

Organize discussions. Pick a topic and use your networks to bring together others who have the same interest. For example, if you would like to discuss new ways to network, reach out to your friends on Facebook and Twitter and see if anyone else has any interest. Your group doesn’t have to be large to be effective. Once you have a few interested participants, choose a platform to get together. If everyone in your group lives in the same area, having breakfast or coffee together works well. If geography doesn’t allow you to meet in person, a conference call or video chat is the better alternative. Establish a time, topic and moderator and let the ideas flow.

Collaborate with the competition. Being in the same line of work doesn’t mean you can’t have constructive conversations with someone else in your industry. Without sharing too much information, you can talk through issues, empathize and even brainstorm with your competitors. These conversations can even pave the way for sharing leads later on, once you understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Attend events with experts. Attending events that focus on a topic you are interested in is not only a great way to network within your industry, but it’s also a way to educate yourself about the latest trends and gauge how well you measure up to others doing the same thing you do. Occasionally I have found myself attending an event only to realize I might just know more than the expert. This is a great way to stay on top of your game and can also be a little confidence booster from time-to-time.

Hold impromptu brainstorm sessions. In a perfect world, we could go to work every day and accomplish everything on our list without any distractions. Not only would that be unrealistic, but it would also be pretty boring. Sometimes the best ideas come from unplanned discussions that have little to do with the task at hand. Give yourself flexibility to allow these discussions to happen; you never know what you might miss.

Bookmark places of inspiration. When you come across websites that get you excited about your industry, bookmark them so you can revisit them later. Here are a few sites I visit when I am looking for some inspiration: http://www.colourlovers.com, http://www.springwise.com and http://sethgodin.typepad.com.

It’s so easy to get wrapped up in everyday tasks and forget that there is an opportunity not only to do the work, but to create the work we want to do.

Now I will throw it to you, the reader. How do you reenergize and refocus your mind?

Megan Lane is part of the client relations team at Imagine Marketing.
Contact Megan at mlane@imnv.com.

Service: from a customer’s point of view

As a customer, I always want to retain my identity and not become faceless in a crowded store or on a customer service line. Lately, however, it seems like some companies are slipping in their otherwise satisfying customer service. “Have a nice day” is about as considerate as some service representatives get today – at least with me – which is funny because, in a tough economy, I thought the idea was to retain customers. However, bad experiences allow me to learn. If the notion “one person’s bad experience is another’s learning experience” is true, here are some tips I’ve collected over the last few weeks:

• Listen. There is nothing worse than telling a story over and over because a customer service representative isn’t listening.
• Recall. Remembering even a little about a client goes a long way. My tax preparer works with hundreds of people every year, and she remembered things about me this year that really helped me with my tax return. Customer for life.
• Focus. Being distracted while you’re speaking to a customer or client makes you seem disinterested. Focusing on customers’ needs helps them feel important, and since they like to feel important, they will keep coming back.
• Pay attention to detail. This one sounds more difficult than it looks. Spelling a person’s name correctly is a small detail that can mean a great deal to a client, especially when it’s a difficult name no one ever seems to get correct.
• Be nice. In a customer service world, being nonchalant isn’t going to cut it anymore. Being genuinely nice will go a long way. Don’t let a bad day ruin a good experience for a customer.
• Be helpful. Even when you can’t solve a customer’s problem, try. As much as I love Yoda, his mantra, “Do or do not; there is no try,” doesn’t apply here. Doing what you can will let customers know, again, they’re important and their problems matter. Even if their problem can’t be solved, at least they are left with a pleasant conversation.
• Know your limits. Know your customers. Before I went back to my old tax preparer this year, I tried someone new. When I made the appointment, the receptionist should have asked a couple questions to make sure I was given a preparer with experience in difficult tax returns. However, because she didn’t, I ended up with a sweet, inexperienced preparer who was way over his head. Had I not jumped ship and went crawling back to my old preparer, I would’ve lost nearly $1,000. Sometimes a couple questions saves time and money for the customer and the business.
• Be confident. If you know what you’re doing, act like it. Don’t be afraid to show your skills. Nothing is worse than working with someone with that uneasy feeling in your stomach that he or she has no clue.

While I’d rather not have racked up enough bad customer service experiences over the past few weeks to flesh out an entire blog, I hope some of my experiences can benefit you and your business in some way. After all, it’s often the little things that truly make or break your clients’ view of your company.

Tiffannie Bond serves as media relations specialist for Imagine Marketing.

Contact Tiffannie at tbond@imnv.com.