Marketing 2010

Another new year is just around the corner. One business model I see continuing to flourish in 2010 is the growth and expansion of social media marketing.

Here are some thoughts on social media marketing and how your business -- whatever it may be -- will benefit from it:

1. Marketing will continue to benefit from social media interactions. This is a great way to engage people in your business and get information about who you are out there.

People with large lists of followers on Twitter, and a large number of friends on Facebook, really have an advantage when they get to know these people. You certainly can play the numbers and just send people directly to a website or landing page.

However a simpler way is to meet people doing social networking. A certain percentage of these will have an interest in your business as they get to know you and trust you.

2. Internet based products can quickly turn into a worldwide business.

Whenever possible find a network marketing business to join the allows you to enroll people all around the world, and provides a product that fills a need.

3. Developing an email marketing list is still a great way to promote.

The larger your list the more potential income it can bring to you. This is especially true when your subscribers get to know you and you get to know more about them.

You can build a very large network just by emailing out offers to your list. This is a very low cost marketing tool that is a must for 2010 and beyond. Really if you don't already have this in place you are missing a great way to market your products and services.

4. Joining various groups expands your reach.

Virtual communities are out there -- you just need to reach them and engage them in what you do. No matter what your business is or how targeted your products or services are.

These are a few things I see happening with social marketing in 2010. If you are not taking advantage of the opportunities to grow your brand online then you are missing a large part of a virtually "free" audience to get in front of. What other medium in marketing allows you to broadcast information about your company for nothing?

Contact me today and find out how I can help you with your social media: info@bmarketingtoday.com

Social Media Marketing

What to do when you are unable to do your own social media marketing, probably due to too many things on your plate, or you simply don’t want yourself directly involved on the day to day routine you must have in place to be effective. If you would rather hire a company to shoulder the responsibilities delicately on your behalf to expand your business through social media marketing, here are some of the things you must look for:

1. Don’t expect it all: It’s obvious you cannot get everything done all at one time. Keep your expectations in check.

2. Create a game plan: Create a clear game plan outlining what you expect the hired company to do for your business and how much time is there to get it completed.

3. What tasks to be assigned: You must be very clear in what to assign to the company you hire. This could include writing articles, uploading video, replying to friends and followers, postings, writing blogs, participating in discussions, and other important activities.

4. Who to connect with: You should have very detailed instructions with how to respond to questions, and issues, who to connect to and why.

5. Workload: The person you are hiring for your social media marketing should have sufficient free time to work for you.

You have to allow time to grow your followers and provide good content so your audience will listen to what you have to say. Social Media Marketing takes time.

If b. marketing can help you with your SMM plan please call us at (561) 715-7705 today or send an email to: info@bmarketingtoday.com.

Email Marketing Provides a Cost-Effective Way To Build Relationships

Email marketing is an amazingly cost-effective way to build relation-
ships that drive business success. In today’s challenging economic
times, this cost advantage makes email marketing arguably the most
powerful tool for building any business.

But the main advantage of email marketing is not cost. Email is
simply the most effective way to stay in touch with most of your cus-
tomers. If you’re like many businesses, the 2009 recession forced you
to hunker down and focus on driving business and sales from those
most likely to buy—people you already have a relationship with—and
that’s what email marketing is all about.

Email marketing is powerful, but it’s also a challenge because the
inbox is a hostile environment. Whether your email is noteworthy
or not-worthy depends on your ability to stick to the fundamentals
of authentic relationship building with your customers. That’s what
this book is about—how to use email to build long-lasting customer
relationships.

Call b. marketing at (561) 715-7705 and find out how we can create a dynamic email marketing plan for your company!

Bing to strike deal with Twitter and Facebook...Interesting!

Later today we will all hear if Microsoft will integrate status updates into the Bing search engine. This will really heat up the competition for Google since Bing -- a newer search engine -- would give Google a run for it's money by beating it to the punch with this feature.

I don't know about you, but the world of social media -- and keeping up with it -- is vast and I find it hard to keep up with it all.

Goodness knows that we could use some additional tools to help us update and sort this information overload.

If you use a Mac, one really great free app is Flock -- try it and you'll be amazed at the time it saves you.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

b. marketing on branding: find your "unique factor" and market it!

5 seconds is all the time you have to make a good impression.

If you don't stand out, you'll just look like one of the crowd. So if you're not saying something differenet now, then you'd better find something different about what you do from everyone out there. Because a message, look or tactic that looks like what your competition is currently doing might as well be an advertisement for them.

Build a foundation that speaks to standing out with a strategic angle. This should include brilliant creativity, consistency and a media
mix that's targeted rather than scattershot.

Call me today to find out more about b. marketing and The Buzz Agency: (561) 715-7705

October Boca Raton magazine features b. marketing president Hope Bruens

Pick up the October issue of Boca Raton magazine and in the Women in Business section you will see a full page on Hope Bruens, President of b. marketing.

Creating successful integrated marketing strategy for local and national companies, b. marketing has formed an alliance with The Buzz Agency (www.thebuzzagency.net), which is a consortium of marketing and public relations professionals to service mid-to-large clients. The Buzz Agency is a new model in the agency world with only seasoned pros as members, clients are sure to get the best and the brightest working for them.

Don't miss this exciting issue of Boca Raton magazine...

Are You Marketing Your Product or Service From Your Customer's Perspective?

Ever wonder why it is sometimes so hard to determine where to start with your marketing plan? That's primarily because it's hard for all of us to really take a look at our own business from an outside perspective. What I mean by an outside perspective is that we are so concerned about the day-to-day items that it's hard to step back and really look at how we are viewed by others.

That's where b. marketing can help.

Looking at your business from the customer's point of view is what we do best. We really get in and analyze what your saying, how you are saying it and how it is being distributed. This is called Touchpoint Analysis. We look at each and every imaginable way that a customer interacts with your brand. This is the start of launching a successful new marketing plan or campaign.

If your message is not fully integrated into all of the touchpoints then your message is not consistent, nor are you really taking advantage of all the ways (sometimes at no added cost!) to reach your customers with your message. And why in the world would you not want to reach them?!

Often we hear that one segment of the business is not as "busy" as the owner would like. Well, first off please ask whether you have communicated that segment of the business to all your customers who come to you in the other areas of your business. More importantly, have you told them the best reasons why they should come in for that particular item or service?

Call b. marketing today and let's take a look together at how you are marketing your company. We can help...(561) 715-7705

Looking for unique marketing ideas in South Florida?

When your dollars are stretched and you want to find a new and innovative way to market your product or service, call b. marketing.

Creating unique and interesting ways to reach your target audience is what we do best. Marketing your company is the most important aspect of your business plan, why leave it up to just anyone?

Call b. marketing today at 561-715-7705 for a complimentary analysis of your marketing plan.

Know how to step back and look at your marketing clearly?

Understanding how to take a step back and look at your marketing and communication from a birds-eye perspective is difficult. It is especially difficult if you have been in your company or position for a long time, or if you have been in your industry for just as long.

That's why a consultant can help! Hiring someone who can look at all of your customer/client touch-points and really analyze them -- from a consumer/client point of view -- is vital.

This is what we are experienced at doing: analyzing your marketing messages and how you connect (or not!) with your customers/clients. Call us, we can help.

Consultations are always free of charge so let us take a look at how you are marketing to consumers/clients and you may be surprised to find out how much more effectively you could be!

(561) 715-7705

Great marketing starts with great customer service

It's really a simple strategy that often is overlooked: provide great customer service. That's a great first step to starting out your marketing journey.

Funny how we overlook how vital this is to everyone's business. Now the hard part is getting your entire staff on-board even when they have an employee has had a bad day. Their bad day is not something you want them to bring to work - and especially show your customers.

This topic seems like a no-brainer but it's surprising how often I encounter very poor customer service. And in this economy we just can't ignore this very, very important start of all of our marketing...

Call me at (561) 715-7705 to find out how to get a free marketing consultation.

Decrease marketing in this economy? Why that's not smart business.

This economy has made all of us take a hard look at ways to cut back, and it is unfortunate that marketing seems to always be one of the first things on the chopping block.

Cutting drastically back on marketing your business won't help you nearly as much as you'd think -- consider these reasons to CONTINUE to market your company as aggressively as ever for the remainder of 2009:

1. Be different. Create a way to really stand out from the competition and market that aggressively so when the economy rebounds you have a very solid value proposition in place.

2. Create loyalty. Building even stronger relationships with your current customers should be a key element in your marketing plan. Referrals are the best way to obtain new customers and keeping your current customer base loyal assists with this process.

3. Ramp up your online exposure. This may include an audit of your current website and improvements to it, to creating a Google Adwords campaign. Creating the most exposure you can on the web is a huge key to customers finding you.

4. Communicate with the media. This is the perfect time to ramp up your public relations efforts. The media, as all of us know, have cut back on staff and are often LOOKING for content. Many of them are getting "ultra-local" to further carve their niche in the media world.

5. Analyze all customer touchpoints. Serving the customer is what growing business is all about. Both with your incoming calls and email and outgoing, your company should have a consistent and customer-centric plan in place. And the consistency of all touchpoints much be constantly looked at. If you create a consistent message, and take care of each and every customer, your brand will grow and succeed.

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South Florida marketing veteran Hope Bruens forms new marketing firm

Boca Raton, FL (June 2009) – b. marketing LLC has been formed by marketing veteran Hope Bruens to provide marketing consulting services to local, regional and national companies.

“The economic environment has resulted in marketing budget downsizing, and an even tougher selling environment, which we believe will result in a significant need for increased outsourced marketing solutions,” said Hope Bruens, b. marketing’s president. “We help organizations who need a fresh, new look at current marketing plans and practices to maximize marketing dollars which remain in the 2009 budget.”

b. marketing consultants have the target marketing and audience development skills necessary to plan, implement and integrate both traditional and new media. The company offers a full spectrum on marketing knowledge to assist organizations. This includes creating marketing plans, assisting in the implementation of these plans, public relations and event planning, circulation development and the creation of loyalty programs, an area of expertise. Most recent employer, the venerable restaurateur Burt Rapoport, has become b. marketing’s first client.

“I believe we are at a tipping point in our industry. The result of the economic crunch, along with emerging new media make where to spend your marketing dollars a much more complex proposition. I formed b. marketing, which has so many resources, because I saw a need for a company that can not only provide superior solutions, but we can create a literal ‘dream team’ for any company depending on needs,” said Bruens.

Ms. Bruens is a 20-year veteran of the marketing industry and has worked over 12 years in the media industry for some of the area’s leading media companies including the Sun-Sentinel and JES Publishing, publishers of Boca Raton magazine. Ms. Bruens also has worked for some of South Florida’s leading advertising agencies managing major accounts in the region. 

What have you done to market your company today?

Marketing your company is often hard when you don't know where to start. And there are usually a lot of other daily tasks that have to be done before you can focus on marketing - we know.

That's why it's so vital you work with a marketing team that can help you on a daily basis make your company stand out among all of your competitors.

Here are a few ways you can gain more business today:

1) Go online! Comment on articles, posts and make a blog of your own. This is a ZERO cost way to get attention and network.

2) Share your work online! Yes, show people what you are doing and get them excited about your offerings.

3) Join and actually attend networking events! This is a great way to meet and really find people that you may -- one day -- convert into a customer. 

4) Cross promote! Another ZERO cost way to get your message in front of a large audience that costs you nothing. Find someone that augments your product or service and cross-pollinate.

5) Contribute articles to both online and offline newsletters that would welcome your expertise! 

6) Sponsor an event! Use this sponsorship as a way to hand out brochures/cards to the attendees. Make sure your content targets your audience and has a "hook" to get them interested in calling you.

7) Optimize your website! You go to the expense of creating a website, why not make sure your content -- what you do -- can be found in searching? This is something b. marketing can do for you.

8) Add your company to every directory and listing for your type of business! Find out where these appear and make sure you submit your information.

9) Create a webinar, podcast or create a video! These are all great ways, that are relatively cost effective, to get your message out there.

10) Lastly, you really should....b. marketing today and every day. So call us: 561.715.7705.

b. marketing is in business!

Hi! Happy May 1st!

We are so happy here at b. marketing. Why? Because today is day 1. 

Yup, It's official and we are celebrating like crazy.

This is an occasion for a lot of positive thoughts and good wishes. So we at b. marketing wish you the best weekend possible and hope that you...

b safe

b kind

b fantastic

b smart

and most of all you should...

b. marketing emerges

Hope Bruens, vetern marketer, is opening May 1, 2009 a marketing company aptly named: b. marketing. This company will handle a wide variety of clients and will offer a wide range of services including:

• Marketing planning and positioning
• Audience/circulation development and analysis
• Direct response marketing
• Integrated marketing program creation
• Event planning and development
• Presentation and proposal creation
• Partnership and cross-promotional marketing
• Email campaigns and social marketing
• Visual merchandising, POP and packaging development
• Loyalty and retention programs
• Publication design and repositioning
• Website design and creation
• Sales analysis and expertise
• Community outreach and involvement
• Press release development

Please call Hope Bruens today for more information on services offered and to discuss your specific needs.
561.715.7705