Business Development Articles
March 8th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
You know that Hispanics are a huge, and growing, market in the United States—but did you know that your business might be missing out on profits if you aren’t targeting an unexpected group of Hispanic customers? I’m talking about Hispanic men.
While conventional wisdom might suggest Hispanic moms are the primary decision-makers about household purchases, a new study from Mintel reports that 42 percent of Hispanic men and 55 percent of Hispanic fathers are primary decision-makers on household expenditures.
The older the men are, the more likely they are to be key decision-makers in the family or household. Among Hispanic men aged 45 to 64, 54 percent make the final household purchasing decisions; among those aged 35 to 44, 50 percent do; and among those 25 to 34, 44 percent do.
“Everywhere we look, marketers are directing their focus on Latinas, but brands are forgetting to talk to Hispanic men,” explained Leylha Ahuile, senior multicultural analyst at Mintel, in announcing the research. “Ignoring Hispanic men is an unwise mistake as this growing group, like most men in the U.S., has taken on a greater role with household chores, caring for children and shopping for the household.”
In addition to having the primary say in household purchases, Hispanic men from higher-income households were the most likely to actually take on shopping duties. More than three-fourths (78 percent) of Hispanic men in homes with incomes over $100K report purchasing clothing or food products in the last year, compared to 67 percent of those with household incomes under $25K.
How can marketers more effectively target this niche market?
- Don’t stereotype. Two-thirds of Hispanic men believe that advertisers unfairly stereotype them. In contrast, half of them believe that the media largely presents positive images of Hispanic women. If necessary, enlist an advertising agency or copywriter familiar with Hispanic culture to ensure that your ads are culturally sensitive.
- Focus on value. Discussing how Hispanic men, and Hispanic dads in particular, can gain good value from buying your products or services can set you apart from the competition. Value doesn’t just mean low prices; Hispanic men are more willing than Hispanic women to pay a little more for their favorite brands, so showing them how your product or service is worth the extra cost can pay off.
- Use sampling. Some 44 percent of Hispanic men say they bought a new product after first sampling it in a store.
- Market with social media. Word-of-mouth, both online and off, is important to Hispanic men. Some 42 percent say they made a purchase after a friend or family recommended the product. Make it easy for your target customers to pass on emails, share information about your product on social media or otherwise let their friends and family know what they think of your product.
- Use niche media. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of Hispanic men say they are more likely to be influenced by ads on Spanish-language TV than on English-language TV. Also consider advertising in Spanish-language magazines, newspapers and websites.
Image by Flickr user Moodboard (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Marketing, niche market, sales process, small business
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March 7th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich
Ontraport
So many tasks to do and so many software programs handling them all, if only there were a way to combine it all into one easy technology. Ontraport wants to be your solution by tackling the challenge with an integrated business and marketing automation platform including content management, sophisticated lead tracking, social media scheduling, marketing analyzing data, online payments, billing and more. A new interface and workflow tool is easy to navigate even for the non-technically inclined.
And if you have to leave a task in the middle, you can bookmark your progress so you can get back to the task when you’re free.
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Tags: Marketing, marketing automation, sales process, small business resources, Technology
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March 4th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
With Black History Month just behind us, multicultural marketing agency Ameredia took a look at the buying power of the African-American consumer in America. Here are some of the interesting statistics they cite regarding the power of black consumers.
- The total African American population is 42.6 million, or 14,468,417 households.
- Cities with a large proportion of African Americans include New York City (the leader, with a population of 3.2 million African Americans), Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Memphis, Detroit and Houston.
- The median household income of African American families is $33,460.
- Some 24 million African Americans age 25 and up are pursuing higher education. 18.3 percent African Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher; 32.6 percent have an associate’s degree or have attended some college.
African Americans make more shopping trips than the average consumer. They are more likely than average to buy beauty and ethnic products, children’s cologne, toiletries for both men and women, frozen meats, and fresh vegetables and grains.
As shoppers, African Americans are influencers and trendsetters whose purchasing habits affect others. They set trends in their purchase of apparel, autos and food and in their use of social media.
Speaking of social media, nearly three-fourths (72 percent) of African American adults have a profile on more than one social media network. Twitter is extremely popular with African Americans.
When they are using social media, African Americans are likely to be doing it on a mobile device. More than 54 percent own smartphones, and these consumers are heavy users of mobile data—they’re likely to be texting, emailing and surfing the Web, along with downloading music, videos and photos to their devices.
How can you reach this important niche market?
- Be positive. Ameredia cites Nielsen research that 51 percent of African Americans say they are more likely to buy a product if its advertising portrays the black community in a positive manner.
- Use niche media. A whopping 91 percent of African Americans in the Nielsen study say that black media is more relevant to them than generic media outlets. Advertise with cable TV shows, radio shows, blogs, websites and publications targeting the black community.
- Don’t “lump” all African Americans into one category. As Ameredia points out, the black community in the U.S. comes from many different backgrounds, including Africans, African Americans, Afro-Latin Americans and Afro-Caribbeans. “Each distinct group contributes their unique diverse cultural experience, language, identity and migratory journey to the mix,” Ameredia cautions.
- Know your market. Depending on where your business is located, you may have many different subcategories of African American consumers in your market, and you will need to understand how each group wants to be communicated with, sold to and marketed to.
Image by Flickr user Abode of Chaos (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Business Development, Marketing, niche marketing, sales process, small business, trends
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March 1st, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
Is your small business reaching out to Hispanic consumers on their mobile devices? If not, you’re missing out on a big opportunity. New research reported by eMarketer shows that Hispanic consumers are not only far more likely than non-Hispanics to use mobile devices, but are also far more likely to use them to shop.
A study from Acosta Sales & Marketing found that Hispanic consumers, in particular, are more likely than the average shopper to use a smartphone (51 percent of Hispanics vs. 41 percent of all consumers), regularly use text messaging (47 percent vs. 42 percent) and use mobile apps (19 percent vs. 14 percent).
According to a study from Leo Burnett and Lapiz, Hispanic consumers are 7 percent more likely than non-Hispanic consumers to use their mobile phones to shop (56 percent vs. 33 percent of non-Hispanics). They’re also more likely to shop with a tablet (43 percent of Hispanics do so, vs. 25 percent of non-Hispanics).
The same Leo Burnett/Lapiz study reports that Hispanics are far more likely than non-Hispanics to make shopping a social activity, whether they’re shopping online or off:
- Nearly half (48 percent) of Hispanics use social networking sites as part of their shopping activities, while only 31 percent of non-Hispanics do so.
- Hispanics are twice as likely to share their opinions of products or brands and write product reviews on social media sites (36 percent of Hispanics do so, vs. 18 percent of Non-Hispanics).
- Hispanics are more than twice as likely to reach out to friends and family for help with shopping decisions (37 percent of Hispanics do so, vs. 17 percent of non-Hispanics).
What do these numbers mean to you? First, with Hispanics a growing segment of the U.S. population, there’s scarcely a business out there that shouldn’t be reaching out to them. To attract these super-shoppers, consider:
- Creating a mobile app for your business that lets customers do something more easily, whether that’s getting product quotes or making purchases directly on their phones.
- Making it easy for consumers to share information from your website or ecommerce site or social media accounts with friends and family, whether via email, social media or text messaging.
- Have an active presence in social media and make sure your business is represented on ratings and review sites.
- Taking advantage of text messaging, since Hispanic consumers are actively engaged in it. But be careful: Don’t overstep your welcome or send too many texts.
Image by Flickr user moodboard photography (Creative Commons)
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Tags: hispanics, Marketing, Search Marketing, small business, social media
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Email Marketing, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Technology | No Comments »
February 28th, 2013 :: Karen Axelton
By Karen Axelton
During this past holiday shopping season, media reports were full of stories about how brick-and-mortar shoppers were “showrooming”—viewing products in-store, then checking their mobile phones to find lower prices at other retailers or online. The trend struck fear into the hearts of retailers, but those fears may be unfounded, according to a new report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Consumers are using mobile phones while shopping like never before—that much is true. The report, In-Store Mobile Commerce During the 2012 Holiday Season, found that nearly six in 10 cell owners used their phone inside a physical store for assistance or guidance in making a purchasing decision during the 2012 holiday season. But they’re not just comparing prices. Here’s what they’re doing:
- 46 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to call a friend or family member for advice about a purchase they were considering. Women and young adults (age 18 to 29) are more likely to do this.
- 28 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to look up product reviews to help them decide whether to buy a product it or not. Young adults (18 to 29), smartphone owners, and those with at least some college experience are more likely than average to use their phones to search for product reviews in-store.
- 27 percent of cell owners used their phone while inside a store to look up the price of a product and see if they could get a better price either online or at another retail store. Young adults, smartphone owners and those with some college experience were most likely to do price comparisons.
Altogether, more than half (58 percent) of cell owners used their phone for at least one of these purposes. As you might expect, young adults and smartphone owners led the way, with 78 percent of those aged 18-29 and 72 percent of smartphone owners using their phones for at least one of these purposes in the 2012 holiday season.
But here’s the good news: Even among those who look up prices in-store, a majority end up either buying the item in the store or not buying it at all. Some 46 percent of “mobile price matchers” report they ultimately bought the product in that store. That’s an 11-point increase from the 35 percent who said this in last year’s study. Just 12 percent ended up buying the product online, compared to 19 percent who did so in last year’s survey. So while consumers are becoming more sophisticated in using their cell phones to become savvier shoppers, what they learn from doing so is persuading more of them to make purchases in-store.
Image by Flickr user Rebecca L. Daily (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Customer Service, sales process, small business, social media
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February 25th, 2013 :: Rieva Lesonsky
By Rieva Lesonsky
For a long time, the number of women-owned businesses whose revenues top $1 million has been far disproportionate to the numbers of women starting and running their own businesses. According to U.S. Census data, the number of women-owned firms grew by 28.6 percent between 2002 and 2012, outpacing the 24.4 percent increase the number of U.S. businesses overall. But while women are launching businesses in ever greater numbers, just 2 percent of women-owned companies have sales over $1 million.
But there’s some good news hidden in that statistic. Recently, American Express OPEN and Womenable decided to drill deeper into Census data about women-owned businesses that had over $1 million in sales. They broke the businesses into three revenue categories: $1 million to $4.9 million, $5 million to $9.9 million, and $10 million-plus. Their findings, published in Growing Under the Radar: An Exploration of the Achievements of Million-Dollar Women-Owned Firms, show that among the over-$10-million category, the number of women-owned businesses has surged by 56.6 percent since 2002.
That’s 47 percent higher than the 38.4 percent increase in all businesses (both male- and female-owned) with sales of over $10 million. And in addition to outpacing $10-million-plus firms overall in growth, women-owned $10-million-plus firms are growing at a whopping 98 percent faster pace than women-owned businesses overall.
How do the $1-million-plus women-owned businesses break down overall? Some 87 percent have under $5 million in sales, and 10 percent fall in the $5 million to $9.9 million range. Only 8 percent of the $1-million-plus women-owned businesses make $10 million or more. That’s similar to the way that the majority of all small businesses fall on the lower end of the sales spectrum.
There’s good news of another kind in the study’s findings. While in the past, Womenable president and CEO Julie Weeks says, most women with firms in the $10-million-plus category had inherited the businesses from fathers or husbands, today most of them are heading companies they started themselves. Womenable believes the greater visibility of and support for high-profile women in business and government is a contributing factor in the growth.
So in what industries are women most likely to head $10-million-plus companies? Wholesale trade (20 percent of women-owned firms there have passed the $10 million mark), finance/insurance (12 percent), transportation/ warehousing (11 percent), and arts/entertainment/recreation (10 percent) topped the list. Womenable says the fact that these industries tend to be more scalable than most has undoubtedly helped the women-owned firms in them expand.
Image by Flickr user (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Business Development, small business, women business owners
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February 21st, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich
By Maria Valdez Haubrich
Social media is growing by leaps and bounds, but email is still the best way to reach out to the most customers and gain their loyalty, reports a new study by ExactTarget. Called Marketers from Mars, the study found significant gaps between how marketers think customers want to be marketed to, and how customers actually want to interact with brands.
The clear winner? Email, which was named as the most valuable marketing tool for building loyalty by both customers and marketers. Ninety-three percent of consumers subscribe to at least one brand’s email, while about half (49 percent) have made a purchase as a direct result of email messages. One-third of consumers want marketers to invest more in email marketing.
However, while marketers were highly focused on mobile marketing, customers aren’t quite there yet. About one-fourth of marketers thought mobile apps were an effective marketing tool, but just 7 percent of consumers thought so. Instead, consumers were more likely to want brands to invest more in marketing on their traditional websites.
Consumers were more likely than marketers to want to interact with brands on Facebook. More than half (58 percent) of consumers have “Liked” a brand on Facebook, up 20 percent from the prior survey in 2010. About one-third of consumers with a smartphone and one-fourth of consumers who do not own a smartphone say they prefer to interact with brands on Facebook, making it the second most common place consumers go to connect with businesses online.
While just 21 percent of consumers have made a purchase as a direct result of a Facebook message, 22 percent of consumers say they want marketers to invest in creating a better Facebook experience. This suggests that there is great potential for Facebook to grow as a sales and marketing channel.
While marketers are highly engaged with Twitter, consumers are far less so. Some 61 percent of marketers follow at least once brand on Twitter, but only 12 percent of consumers do. That was an increase of just 7 percent from the prior survey in 2010.
What’s the takeaway? If you’re involved in small business marketing, you’re on the cutting edge of new trends and technologies—so don’t make the mistake of assuming your habits mirror those of the average consumer. Always do your research to understand exactly what your target customers are doing and how they want you to market to them—it may not be how you’d like to be marketed to yourself.
You can download the complimentary research from Exact Target or view an infographic of the survey.
Image by Flickr user (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Email marketing, Marketing, sales process, small business, social media
Posted in Branding, Business Development, Email Marketing, Marketing, Sales Process, sales process, Small Business, small business, Social Media, social media, Thought Leadership, Web Design | No Comments »
February 19th, 2013 :: Karen Axelton
By Karen Axelton
While the idea of shopping directly through social media (such as making a purchase from within Facebook) is frequently touted as the next big development in retail, it’s still got a long way to go, a new study from PwC reports.
Last year just 12 percent of shoppers globally made a purchase directly via social media. And even social media’s much-touted ability to drive sales is not so strong as you might expect: Just 18 percent of shoppers who are active social media users were driven to make a purchase as a direct result of social media, PwC found.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t strong potential for social media to drive purchases going forward. The study found that consumers are rapidly growing more willing to interact with businesses on social media. Fifty-nine percent say they follow brands on social media, compared to 49 percent last year, and 27 percent report having discovered new brands via social media, up from 17 percent last year.
PwC’s report divides shoppers into three categories and assesses each group’s likelihood of becoming social shoppers. Here’s what they found:
- Brand lovers: Accounting for 38 percent of consumers, Brand Lovers follow brands on social media and are also voracious multichannel shoppers. More than half (53 percent) actually go into a physical store at least once a week and 45 percent buy something online at least once a week. PwC says this group has the most potential to become social shoppers.
- Deal hunters: Accounting for about half of consumers, this group is savings-motivated and social media will drive them to click through and purchase if the offer is good enough.
- Social addicts: This small group is most active interacting with brands on social media, which they use to share shopping experiences, find information and reviews, ask their friends for recommendations and directly give feedback to companies. “These very active online users tend to have huge social media networks and wield an outsized influence,” the report concludes.
Conclusion? While social shopping isn’t yet a major force, it’s likely to become one—so keep working your social media tools.
Image by Flickr user birgerking (Creative Commons)
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Tags: Marketing, small business, social media
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February 15th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich
Haiku Deck
Haiku Deck is a free presentation app for iPad, designed to simplify creating exciting and beautiful presentations. The founders of Haiku Deck wanted an easier way to tell a story, pitch an idea, share some news, give an update, show your stuff, enliven a meeting, inspire a group and more. Once you download the app, the process is as simple as entering some text, choosing an image and selecting a layout to present it in. Repeat until your presentation is done. To share your story, go to the main menu, click on “share” and you can share your presentation via email, Facebook or Twitter.
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February 14th, 2013 :: Maria Valdez Haubrich
By Maria Valdez Haubrich
eConsultancy recently highlighted the top 7 reasons people buy from online ecommerce sites instead of brick-and-mortar stores. Based on research from MIT, Facebook, Google and Target, the key drivers of online shopping are:
- Value – 75 percent say online prices are more competitive. Can a small business always offer the lowest price? Clearly not, so how can you compete? eConsultancy says despite the emphasis on low price, 81 percent of those surveyed report they have paid more to get better service. If you can’t beat big-box retailers’ online prices, make sure you provide something else that’s special to make up for it.
- Open – 63 percent prefer being able to shop at any time of day or night. Be sure your site is up and running as smoothly in the middle of the night as it is during the day, and that you can handle increased traffic at any time. Also be sure that your customer service options—such as live chat or the ability to call and talk to a customer service rep—are 24/7.
- Delivery – 59 percent are persuaded by free delivery. That doesn’t mean you have to offer free shipping on everything, of course. You can keep it affordable for your business (while still meaningful to consumers) by setting limits such as “free shipping on all orders over $50.”
- Speed – 55 percent like being able to get products the next day. Again, that might be tough to offer, but in a separate eConsultancy survey about holiday 2012 shopping habits, 26 percent of consumers said they had paid extra for next-day delivery.
- Ease – 48 percent say online shopping is just easier. Make sure it’s easy by having a website that’s simple to navigate, allows for ease of sorting and searching, provides all the information a customer might want about products (including reviews from other customers) and has a wide range of product shots and even videos.
- Range – 46 percent like being able to see what’s in stock and available at a glance. Make sure your site is well stocked and your inventory management/fulfillment system is top notch. Also enable customers to sort for specifics such as size and color quickly.
- Choice – 40 percent cite the ability to buy new or otherwise unavailable merchandise. This is where small online retailers can really shine. Design your site, write your copy and develop your marketing materials so they emphasize the unique, custom or hard-to-find aspects of what you sell. Make it clear this isn’t your average big-box retail site—this is something special.
Keep these 7 key factors in mind, and you’ll do better at converting visitors to your site into buyers—and return customers.
Image by Flickr user ganesha.isis (Creative Commons)
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Tags: ecommerce, small business, Technology
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