Marketing Refresh, new ideas

[TheRealChipA]

So, this year I’m deciding to double-down on online marketing.  I’ve decided to expand into Instagram, for example, and will be cross-posting between it and Facebook which I’ve used a lot.  I’ve also expanded my advertising with one of our local news sites so that I don’t just run an ad that redirects visitors to my website, but I’ll be adding newsworthy posts to their socials every few months during ice cream season.

Also, I’m updating my logo.  I’m adding things like a rainbow filter (for Pride month, assuming that Pride isn’t banned by executive order, ha!).  I’ve also made different versions of my logo — one just the plain logo, one with “Ice Cream Bar” for those times I want that to be emphasized, on with our motto “It’s time for something different” for use when that’s the point of a post, and one with all off that.

And I’ve starting having a third-party company animate my logo for use in social media posts.  I’m adding a few of those below.  The animations were quite inexpensive, actually, and there are lots of companies online who offer this service (just search for animated logos).  

Anyway, what new marketing tricks are you going to employ this year?  Do you have any unique or promising ideas that won’t cost an arm and a leg, especially since it seems like we all will be dealing with a new round of higher inflation and will have to cut costs to stay ahead of that, again?

[TheRealChipA]

I’ve decided to give the Square Marketing integrations a go, too — FB, Google, and even am going to see how Marketing Assistant works.  I’m open to any experience, strength and hope from anyone who has also done this.  Or words of warning! LOL

[DinaLRosenberg]

We love the Square integration and especially rely on a once weekly text message and email blast! We also have the integrations turned on around birthdays as well as loyalty, lapsed customers, etc.

[sugarlab]

I keep meaning to look into Meta ads more; I haven't done one in YEARS but last I looked at my dashboard, my account was restricted. But there wasn't a way for me to report. 

The biggest thing I struggle with lately when it comes to social marketing is staying consistent. I'm just so burnt out trying to be a business owner, a cake decorator/baker, and a content creator. Too many hats but not enough money to outsource. At least that's what I tell myself. Not that I'm too controlling to let go of my social media haha

[TheRealChipA]

@sugarlab Consistency is the key. My goal is to keep my local audience (radius of 15 miles) engaged without feeling bombarded, which means one post a week on each platform, max. That seems to work for me. 

Right now, my web site traffic comes from  Google, Meta platforms, Yelp and my local news blog. I refuse to patronize Yelp as they are exploitative, mafia-like, and entitled. I tried. They took advantage of me once and I’ll never forgive them, most likely. Sigh. 

I’m going to try Google ads on a limited basis this year. And, like I said, Instagram. My first Instagram ad has been submitted. I’ll watch that closely. 

Like you, I still wear too many hats. But I’m still a small business, so that’s what it is. My media marketing partner has an open offer to assist and eventually I’ll take them up on it. But that will be after I’ve learned how all of this works! I might be old, but I still have all of my faculties. I’ll learn, then delegate where it makes sense. 

One more thing directed to Square. I love the Google ingratiation. I love the Meta integration. I have ideas for a better Marketing ecosystem that is monitored by my Square account. Let’s talk. You’ve made a great start, from what I can see. It can be better. 

@isabelle  pass this on to whoever needs to see it. Square is on a good track for controlling and monitoring our social media integrations. You folks just need to get more bold and aggressive. Let’s chat. 

[doc_choc]

@TheRealChipA I'm with you there on wearing so many hats! I enjoy hat wearing but it's just finding the time to learn the individual jobs well and then keep on top of it.

We too have been experimenting with Meta ads, we also did a little of the Google ads before Christmas. There is a real art to these ads, from the tech side of setting up to the creative assets generation and more importantly the message to deliver. I don't think we have really nailed it yet though!

[DinaLRosenberg]

It's definitely a lot of responsibility and requires a ton of time and attention. We have someone that comes in 2x a month and shoots content - we create a schedule of what we want to push/shoot but we post it so it's all in our "voice". 

[ChickenRacer]

This was my goal this year, to focus on marketing, but instead have purchased a second venue, so next year! Will still do some things and always trying to move forward, but not a major focus.

My family got my logo tattooed on all of us (small albeit) so don't know if I can ever change that!

[CareyJo]

I love the Easter bunny one!!  Super cute!!

We don't pay for anything other than two tiny ads in our very local, small town papers.  I'm not going to change up my marketing but I am going to put into practice an idea I came up with that came out of reading Unreasonable Hospitality in book club!  

[TheRealChipA]

All I’m going to say there @CareyJo is I think the Book Club is going to be sorely missed.  I wish I had time to head that up, but alas an entrepreneur’s work is never done! LOL

[CareyJo]

Yes, if it ends.  I cannot attend the meeting this week because I'll be at a Women's Summit for three days.  I'm so upset!  And like you, I don't have the time to head it up.  I have toooooooo much on my plate as it is.  I HATE to see it go!!!  I hope someone volunteers!!

[WoodCandleCo]

Nice update!

I'm hoping to get better with distributed marketing this year. I've always been pretty good with keeping social media active, but email/text marketing I lack in! I'm planning to leverage Square's email and text platforms. I also hope to use their automations so I can continue touchpoints without having to think about it!

I also want to integrate loyalty into the mix. I expect this year to be a tough sales year, so rewarding customers sounds like just the treat they deserve. 🙂 I'm hoping with these changes, I'll be able to bring in more customers! 

[TheRealChipA]

@WoodCandleCo Starting Square Loyalty a few years ago was the best thing I’ve ever done.  Even though we Champions don’t pay for the subscription fees, I still track how much I would have paid (per sales dollar) for loyalty rewards I give in the form of discounts, as well as how much those fees would be if I did pay them.  As I recall, last year that theoretical cost was less than $0.01 per sales dollar.  Also, my stats for last years showed that loyalty customers spent, on average, around $27 per visit where the non-loyalty customers spent $14 per visit.  That’s incredible in my book!  I currently have amassed around 2,600 loyalty customers over two seasons.  I used to be a cynic about these things, but Square has made it easy and painless for me and my customers.  I can’t recommend it enough.

Also, I use Square Marketing — emails, texts (for Loyalty only), and I just integrated it to help me do Facebook posts.  I love having it all in one place, and hope that they soon give us the ability to also do Instagram posts. In fact, I’m going to submit a feature request for that!

[WoodCandleCo]

I agree! Loyalty is great if used/set up properly (there's so much psychology that goes into it!).

The business I managed used Loyalty. One of the projects I lead was rebuilding the loyalty program from scratch. The rebuilt program has been so much more successful. The BIGGEST success we had was with text marketing and double point days. People LOVE getting double points. They would often mention they got the text, double checking that they'll get double points, etc. So if you're not doing that, highly recommend.

My personal business is primarily eCom or at markets so Loyalty sign ups can be difficult. The program isn't as effective for me, but still worth it. I'm hoping I can use loyalty to further drive the eCom business!