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SUE WADDINGTON’S SALES AND MARKETING COLUMN
I am afraid to say that life is really a series of popularity contests. You may not want to admit it or believe it and your parents may well have told you that it isn’t true but actually if you are well liked then you’re much more likely to do better when it comes to selling. Mark McCormack, the now deceased founder of International Management Group, perhaps the most powerful sports management company in the world, once said: “All things being equal, people will do business with a friend: all things being unequal, people will still do business with a friend.” If a potential client perceived you as the most credible and likeable, you will probably get the sale – even if you aren’t the candidate with the most experience or expertise. So how can you make yourself likeable? Here are some tips:
A certain modest quiet confidence is, basically, highly attractive and makes others feel at ease.
Lean into greetings, make eye contact and prepare short conversational bits to eliminate awkward silences.
Say less and ask more questions. Then show you were listening. Even if it is boring.
Pull out your genuine enjoyment for others and always be willing to laugh at yourself.
Be well intentioned, well mannered and share compliments generously.
Once you have your clients’ or potential clients’ attention, they will begin to listen and hear what you have to offer. Remember: you also need to be credible. In order to be credible you have to be trustworthy. Trustworthiness, I fear, is not something I can give you tips about. Either you are a trustworthy person… or you are not.
A video is worth a thousand photographs
Remember how people used to say a photograph is worth a thousand words? Well, I believe that an online video is now worth about a thousand photographs. YouTube demos featuring seemingly mundane products such as blenders and mattresses have attracted hundreds of thousands of viewers online. And getting noticed doesn’t require high production values from professional studios. Even a company on a shoestring budget, using just a basic camera and simple editing software, can produce an entertaining demonstration that reaches thousands of prospective customers. If you want an example, check out a video by a firm called Front Point Security, which sells an inexpensive home security system that you can install yourself. Apparently, since the company filmed and ran its video, sales have increased by 250%. Anyway, here is a list of tools and services that may be able to help you:
Camtasia Studio (www.techsmith.com). This fantastic software captures video of your computer screen allowing you to demonstrate software features. It also allows you to add a voiceover.
Ooyala (www.ooyala.com) enables users to distribute videos across multiple sites and track statistics such as how quickly people stop watching.
Wistia (www.wistia.com) lets companies distribute parcel-protected videos to employees and clients through email. Very clever. Allows sales and marketing teams to track which messages within videos are most popular.
Turn Here (http://video.turnhere.com/turnhere) offers a video package for small business that includes filming and distribution to YouTube, Daily Motion and other sites. It only works in the US but might do a deal if you were able to send them your products.
Iview (www.iviewdigital.com) creates and distributes business videos and provides analytics. Again, it only supplies its services in the US but may be willing to take something on if you can send your materials to them there.
Advertising on Facebook
Well, it appears that Facebook now has over 100 million unique visitors onsite every single month. That is a lot of people. And what is interesting is that Facebook advertising is turning into an affordable alternative to the high pay-per-click rates for keywords on Google’s Ad Words. The trouble is it isn’t easy to make your ad stand out among the Facebook status updates, party photos and comments, so here are a few tips to get you started.
Choose your target. People who use social networks often divulge a plethora of personal information in their profiles which can prove useful to advertisers. Facebook lets you pick and choose which groups you would like your ads to reach. Companies can target ads based on a user’s profile information, such as age, gender, location, relationship status etc. You can choose to target people who mention certain words in their profiles or status messages.
Test, test – test some more. Ad prices on Facebook are determined by auction, as they are on Google Ad Words. You can pay based on either the number of times people see the ad or the number of times people actually click on it. The majority of Facebook advertisers (with good reason) choose the latter. Still, it is worth testing which works best for you. Test different ads, test different markets, test different offers. In other words, test, test and test again.
Do your own tracking. Facebook keeps tabs on how many times your ads are shown and the number of clicks they receive, but it doesn’t track what users do after they click – did they make purchases or just browse and move on? That is the largest drawback of Facebook’s ad service. Therefore, you should combine Facebook with analytical programs such as Google Analytics and, possibly, Hits Link, both of which will help you get a better grip on how successful your advertising has been.
Make your ads stand out. Companies write their own ads, which may include a short headline and copy of up to 135 characters and a small image. Ads must be crafted carefully, because it is tough to get noticed. If you put up a traditional ad, you are probably going to be ignored. Edgy advertisements seem to do better with many markets. Incidentally, Facebook will reject your advertisement if you use an image that is deemed too risky or language that is deemed offensive or lewd.