Alberta Business Marketing

Tags: Bank of Canada, BizBeat - Editor's Blog, dollar, interest rates, loonie, Mark Carney, U.S.
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Wall Street was on the big screen. Big hair bands were on the music scene. And traditional media ruled. Fast forward to 2010 and oh what a difference a few decades make. I lived the traditional media craze. If you had the numbers you had the advertisers – big business, government, franchises, retailers – everyone was clambering (will not quite clambering) but certainly willing to hear your story and pay your prices to have their message reach the masses.

A funny thing happened when technology i.e. the internet came on the scene. No longer were you forced to love what the majority loves; you had options. Think 70’s television – 3 networks – prime time, a hit show – bingo you’ve reached 70% of America. Try to reach that same audience today - with over 100 television stations and a myriad of entertainment options – prime time television ain’t what it used to be – your cost would be through the roof.

So what does this mean to business/advertisers? If you’re media plan hasn’t changed a lot you’re missing a ton of opportunities. I know of a restaurant that funnelled a good chunk of their ad dollars into the yellow pages – not online yellow pages – traditional phone book yellow pages. Unfamiliar with google ad words they were sceptical that the internet could actually bring in customers and astounded that you don’t pay unless people click and view. Six months later with a new web-site, a face book fan club, an e-newsletter and google ads the web is outperforming their traditional media in leaps and bounds. They’re attracting customers from a much wider geography and customers are dining their more often.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not suggesting you ditch all of your traditional media. I am suggesting you get really clear on your target market or as my friend Marty refers to it your “unique buying tribe” and connect with them where they hang out so to speak. You wouldn’t think of wearing big shoulder pads with a bad perm and a matching suit and earrings – think Working Girl (if you’re female) or donning a pink tie and puff (if you’re male or of course Donald Trump) today so why would you stick with the same advertising strategies? Fashion and advertising in 2010 is very different and hopefully more ah tasteful.

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Is your business at risk of being broadcasted as some who pays their bills late?  More and more immature businesses are turning to social media to air their grievances with those who they serve.  Right or wrong it is happening and what is the risk to your business if would happen to you?

I was speaking with a client of mine on Thursday about a rough spot he is in with a cloud-based data provider.  For a number of years he contracted a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management solution from a vendor who supplied this service.  All was great while my client and his service provider got along and bills were paid and services were provided.

But, one day the relationship soured and continued on a downhill slope until the day, yes the day, Solicitors may get involved.  And everyone hates when we need to do this, because you know the old saying…the Lawyers are the only ones that win.  Differences started to appear in how the contract was interpreted and my client terminated his agreement with his data provider.  He gave them several months notice and ended the relationship at the end of the calendar year, as per the agreement.  All he wanted was his own business data back from the database, however the Internet application provider wasn’t prepared to hand over this critical business information.  Thus, the firestorm began to spread, and the hosting company turned to blogs and social media to tell the world how bad of a guy my client is and how he was treating poorly.

Are we all at risk of having our soured relationships exposed on Social Media?

What type of person turns to a blog to voice his or her concern about something as sensitive as Accounts Receivable?

In discussions with many of peers on this topic every one of us came up with the same conclusion.  The person who posted the negative items is the one who risks alienation in the business world, not my client.  Would you do business with someone who has a track record of broadcasting your affairs with them on a blog or via Facebook?  I believe this guy just shot himself in the foot.

Would love to hear what you think…just add a comment.

Tags: Business, Business Success, Business/Finance, corporate reputation management, economics, Facebook Inc, Goods, Internet application, online business, Peer-to-peer, service, Technology/Internet
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