Are you out- foxing your competition with your marketing efforts?

Phew. I'm finally back on my home turf after spending the majority of the month of January speaking at trade shows across the world-- literally. I love gettting to spend time with retailers from every walk of life and learn about their businesses and all the good associated with owning a retail endeavor. But the one thing that never ceases to amaze me is when retailers tell me -again and again- that don't do marketing on a regular basis. What?

I know the economy is challenging, and that marketing budgets are slim,but you must continue to find low-cost or no cost ways to engage with your customers on a regular basis-or your competitors will! With so many tools available today to connect with customers affordably and effectively, you must put together a marketing program that will reach customers where they are watching.

Within any given month, here are 5 different ways to connect with your customers-mix them up,create a schedule that works for your business and start marketing on a regular basis today!

1. Facebook Fan Page. Simply put, you have to be here for your business on a regular basis. With over 500 million users, many of your customers and potential customers are on Facbook- and your business should be too!
2. Email marketing For many of you, this tool has become an effective way to reach customers. While social media is the darling of marketers (and highly effective) you can't abandon email all together. You can however include inks articles and information that is found on your social media sites to introduce those marketing tools.
3. You Tube Video Millions of videos are viewed and uploaded every day. This powerful tool offers a unique way for retailers to share information, education and store personality- all in 10 minutes or less! ( But don't go more than 3-4 min per video-folks get bored)
4. Blogging Writing short articles like this on topics relevant and interesting to both existing and new customers can highlight your knowledge and help build trust and credibility for your business.
5. In Store events. I bet you thought we'd leave out traditional marketing tools based on the emergence of social media. Wrong. Creating in-store events that bring like-minded customers together will drive sales and raise awareness for your business. (And look at all the tools above as places where you can promote your events)

Now that you've got some tools, it's time to mix them up,create a schedule that works for your business and start marketing on a regular basis today!


Lynn Switanowski is the founder of CBCG a retail consulting firm which helps retailers of all size to create and develop effective marketing and social media strategies. Contact CBCG at info@cbc-group.net

42 Ways Retailers Can Improve Their Presence on Social Media

We've just returned from presenting social media seminars at some of our favorite trade shows. Retailers attended the sessions in large numbers as they were looking for tips and tactics on how to create social media strategies for their businesses in 2011. Based on the excitement and energy from the sessions, I can't wait to see the exciting ways that retailers will engage customers using Facebook, Twitter and so many other social media tools this year!

Whether it was the San Francisco Gift show, Philadelphia Gift Show, or the Snow Show in Denver, we were constantly getting asked about how to improve engagement and performance using social media. With all this interest in learning how to create the right type of engagement, we thought we'd repost our 42 tips on how to improve your social media presence. We hope you find it helpful.

1. Be Remarkable - Somebody Worth Making A Remark About
2. Sharing is Caring. Become A Trusted Resource for your Fans and Followers
3. Have Your Own Unique Brand Personality
4. Be Vocal And Opinionated – Politely, of course - Within The Community
5. Don’t Flood Followers With Requests. Follower Fatigue is Not What you Want!
6. Invest Time Into Social Media – Have A Strategy And Stick To It!
7. Produce And Share Content That YOUR AUDIENCE Will Love
8. Listen To What’s Being Said. Monitor Constantly. Respond Regularly
9. Become A Real Member Of The Community
10. Ask and Answer Questions - constantly
11. Provide Value To The Community
12. Get People Thinking- And Talking. Be Controversial when Appropriate.
13. Create Your Own Voice. Me Too doesn't Work in Social Media.
14. Contribute Regularly. Schedule Posts If Neccessary To Remain Present.
15. Don’t Be Negative—Or A Jerk. Neither One Works In Social Media.
16. Make It Easy For People To Share And Bookmark Your Content
17. Listen To The Community
18. Make At Least One New Connection Every Day
19. Engage Yourself In Conversations
20. Become The Conversation
21. You’re There To Make Relationships, Not Hard Selling
22. Take Time To Focus On Building A Loyal Following
23. Give, Give, GIVE!
24. Treat Social Media Like A Cocktail Party
25. Be Supportive
26. Syndicate Your Content Across All Social Media Platforms
27. Encourage Others To Syndicate Your Content Onto Their Sites
28. Fully Research The Community To Understand Your Market
29. Be Fun
30. Get To Know The Unwritten Laws Of The Community
31. Create An Attractive, Unique And Professional Profile
32. Use A Cool Avatar/Picture
33. Use The Same Avatar For Each Social Media Service
34. Don’t Disparage Others ( No Trash Talking Allowed)
35. Know What Your Followers/Friends Want And Give It To Them
36. Form Reciprocal Arrangements With Others
37. Monitor Your Noise Level
38. Never Cheat The System
39. Help Others Unconditionally
40. Be Yourself
41. Gain Credibility. Establish Trust.
42. START TODAY

There are certainly more ways than we have time to list, but we hope it's a start. If you have others, please leave a comment and tell us how you are successfully engaging your customers. (and don't forget to leave us your fan page or twitter address so we can follow you too!)

Revitalize Your Retail Business in 2011

For most retailers I have talked to, 2010 ended with a healthy December sales trend that will add some much needed profits to the coffers this year. Signs point to this upward trend continuing into 2011 for retailers across many product categories. We look forward to the positive momentum continuing and for 2011 to be the year where retailers return to strong sales and profits all year long.

But what if the year didn't end with a bang, but instead, finished with a wimper? What are you going to do differently for your business in 2011 that will garner different results all year long? As we end 2010 and head into a new year where you have another 365 days to make all things possible for your retail business, CBCG offers up 5 ways to revitalize your retail business - and yourself in early 2011~

1. Make time for a strategy day. Take 1 FULL Day AWAY from your business early in the year to sit down and PLAN the coming year. Take yourself and any staff you think are needed to help you think strategically about your business. No phones, no customers, just the focused effort that your business deserves as you head into a new year. Think about marketing, staffing, sales goals and products you want to add or get rid of this year. Remember the 5 P 's of EVERY successful business: Prior Proper Planning Produces Profits for all!
2. Talk to the best. Choose 10 of your best customers and ask them to tell you what your businesses' biggest shortcomings are. These are people that love your business (and probably shop frequently) They are not fleeting and won't stop shopping (even if they think you can do some things better) Most importantly- they will give you honest feedback. Assuming these big spenders are like your typical average customer, asking them for ways to make the business even better will certainly help your business in 2011 -  and well beyond!
3. Get SOCIAL If you haven't started a social media program for your retail business, 2011 is MOST DEFINITELY the time to start. It's no longer IF you should engage customers with these powerful tools, but HOW OFTEN. If you are already using social media, set goals for your programs. How often will you participate? What types of programs will you run? How will you engage customers regularly with your programs? As with any marketing program, if you are spending time using social media, you need to establish goals and you need to be accountable toward making them!
4. Go to school. Take some classes that can help you and your business grow in 2011. Need to know more about marketing and using social media? Attend a trade show seminar or a local business seminar on the topic. Are your lack of computer skills holding your business back? Find sessions that can give you tips and the tools you need to make your business prosper. Don't let your lack of knowledge (or your staff) hold your business back in 2011.
5. Take a break. You must find a way to take a short vacation (or long one) early in the year. Time away from your business will help you recharge your batteries and will allow you to see the big picture even better. Extend your trade show trips one day - or take a long weekend somewhere. The additional energy you will have when you return will do great things for your business in 2011!

Do you have other ways you plan on revitalizing your retail business in 2011? Drop us a line and let us know. We'll make sure to share! lynn@cbc-group.net

We wish all of our retail partners the best of luck in 2011! We hope you go out and make it a spectacular year. We'll be here along the way to cheer you on with ideas and solutions to your retail problems.

Lynn Switanowski and the CBCG Team.

It's all about balance of content on facebook. Read FB guru @marismith view on things...http://bit.ly/cZnmYQ for another opinion (we agree!)