Marketing Evolution in 3 Infographics

marketing evolution - 3 infographichs

In many ways, marketing is as old as civilization itself. Since before the times of ancient Greece, culture has based its trading and selling upon the ability to move products faster than the man next to him. As a result, marketing was born–a concept birthed from the need to set an individual or group apart from the crowd. In many ways, marketing seems akin to Darwin’s “survival of the fittest.” The recent marketing evolution is a small part of this bigger picture and it is about survival.

To help you up your marketing game, we’ve put together 3 visual representations of the marketing evolution of recent years. Most of us don’t want our businesses to merely survive–we want to thrive. Transistioning to the new era of marketing is the only way to maintain (or gain) a position as a frontrunner or at the very least, stay in your client’s view.Continue reading

Social Media Marketing: Free Or Not Free?

Jemully Media - Is social media marketing free or not free
Social media is free. This is commonly accepted. I participate in several personal accounts with all the usual suspects: Facebook, Twitter (three different handles), LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest—plus a few other niche platforms—and I’ve yet to spend a cent on any of them. I also work with many clients to establish or nurture social media presences for their businesses. Establishing accounts for these businesses was also free in the fact that the social media platform did not charge a fee for the business to own an account. But this is where the free-ness of social media, and social media marketing, becomes a bit more complicated, and even a misnomer.

It turns out that having social media is not synonymous with doing social media well.

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7 Proven Steps to Defining Your Target Audience

Jemully Media free target audience checklist

Download Our Free Target Audience Checklist.

It starts with the right questions. It ends with the right answers.

Here is an example of how the scenario goes in our agency. The table was set with the usual fare: fruit, cheeses, and a touch of something sweet (usually a muffin or two). Along with small porcelain plates, the notepads and pens were positioned by each place. The flat screen was displaying the company website. When we finished the get-acquainted pleasantries between our team and our new client, I directed the conversation to the purpose of the gathering—learning about his target audience.

“Thank you for sharing a little bit about yourself and the background of your company. So, as we begin to formulate a marketing strategy, help us understand exactly who is your target market—your ideal customer—for the business?”

“Everyone,” he replied with a little chuckle as he glanced at each person around the table, looking for signs of affirmation. “Everyone needs what we sell.”

Jemully Media conference table target audience meeting.
Photo credit: Stock Pic Shop

Every week our team sits down with business owners who participate in a similar scenario. It is our team’s goal to learn about each company so we can help the owner develop a strategy for growth. The answer to the common question, “Who is your exact target audience?” is one of the first questions a business owner should answer. The description in this answer impacts the effectiveness of whatever game plan is implemented. Not only will the answer be a guiding factor in the channels the business uses for the promotions, but it will also influence the content of the message that is going to be communicated.

When the first answer to the audience question is big, and wide, and inclusive, it is our job to ask more questions that will begin to draw smaller and smaller circles on the target. The final result of the questions and answers will be a central sphere that encompasses just the right persons for the product.

Defining the target audience for your business.

If your answer to the question is similar to the one we often get—”everybody!”—then our free seven-step checklist is for you. This checklist is our series of questions we use with clients. You can take this tool and answer the questions as they apply to your business. This set of questions helps you sift through the whole world and shake out which type of potential customer will benefit most from what you offer. After answering the questions, you will have a clearer picture of who the ideal customer is for your business. Knowing your ideal customer will help you focus your marketing efforts so they are tailored to reach the right segment of “everybody” who needs your product.

OUTLINING THE TARGET AUDIENCE PROCESS

In our free Target Market Checklist, you will work through a simple process of answering questions about your business that will help you:

  1. Define your brand and your niche.
  2. Define your unique value proposition.
  3. Describe your ideal customer.
  4. Describe what your ideal customer needs most.
  5. Craft your brand promise.
  6. Choose your marketing channels.
  7. Define your goals and measures.

We appreciate your interest in our Target Market guide! With this checklist in hand, you are well on your way to hammering out an effective marketing plan. Sometimes, knowing the right questions to ask is just as important as having all the answers.

DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST

To get your free downloadable PDF version of this content, simply fill out the form below. This form will also subscribe you to our newsletter where you will get access to other useful marketing tips. Don’t worry, we won’t overload your inbox, just our newsletter a few times a year with more helpful tips and links to some of our popular blog posts!

More resources for refining your target.

After you you answer the questions on our checklist, you may want to refine your audience even more. Additionally, we recommend some competitor research as well. Here are some resources that will help you take a deeper dive in your strategic planning.

Brand Identity: “Be Like the Cool Kids”

Brand Identity: Be Like the Cool Kids

Yeah, they’re invincible, and she’s just in the background.
And she says,
“I wish that I could be like the cool kids,
‘Cause all the cool kids, they seem to fit in.
I wish that I could be like the cool kids, like the cool kids.

Cool Kids by Echosmith

If you’ve listened to a pop radio station in the last year you’ve heard Cool Kids by Echosmith. The simple and repetitive lyrics express the familiar teenage feelings of not fitting in to the cool crowd.

It’s also illustrative of dynamics in the marketing world. The marketing cool kids are doing something right, and thousands of marketers are wandering around the internet trying to nail down what it is.

Brand identity. It’s how who you are affects how you do what you do. Got it?

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Tips for a Simple Business Plan

simple business plan feature

In most things, we like to follow Henry David Thoreau’s advice to simplify, simplify, simplify. His advice is perfect for creating a simple business plan.

We like simple.  You don’t have to have your MBA to write a compelling yet simple business plan. You need a vision, and you might need to do a little market research. But if you are starting or running a business, you likely already do these things. Get it down on paper, and your whole company will benefit.

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How to Use Twitter for Business

How to use twitter for business cover pic

So what does Twitter offer your business?  And how-in-the-hashtag does one use it effectively?

Twitter has a clean layout and an easy process, and it has established itself as one of the more enduring social media marketing tools for businesses. All the top social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram) work to attract brands and all have similarities, and the best strategy is to use the appropriate platforms for your business.

Check out these 4 ways that Twitter sets itself apart as a quality marketing resource, each accompanied by a tip for how to use Twitter effectively.

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What Does Social Media Strategy Mean for Small Businesses?

social media strategy imagery

The concept of “social media strategy” is not new. Facebook, the flagship of social networking worldwide, has already been around longer than a decade. Since the inception of the Internet, people have used the web to make purchases, express opinions, and share content. For an artist, “media” means such things as wood, watercolor, and celluloid. For a journalist, media includes print, radio, and television. As social creatures, our media for interacting with one another include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and all the other platforms made possible through the magic of the Internet. Looking at it this way, it’s fair to say that the Internet has been used for social media all along.

Just as commercialization occurred in earlier eras of the Internet, businesses are coming in droves to sit at the table of social media. The food is there, but feasting can be difficult for businesses that don’t know where to start. At Jemully Media, we’ve seen that social media and especially forming a social media strategy can be confounding for uninitiated business owners. How can something be simultaneously so personal and impersonal?

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Is Facebook for Business Worth It? 4 ROI Tracking Tips

Is Facebook for business helping you grow ?

If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably asked these questions, at least once: Should I be on Facebook? Why? Will I get any real conversions from it? We are constantly engaged in conversations with each other and with clients about the importance and the role of social media in business. This article is a great read and got our wheels turning. You have to think differently about ROI when it comes to Facebook for business. Let us show you why – and how to make the most of it.

#TweetableTakeaway (if you just want the bottom line):

Facebook ROI’s are different from that of traditional marketing and other online marketing like Google Adwords. Learn to use it to your advantage.

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