James T Noble

What Women (and Men) Want! How To Understand Your Customers

James T Noble — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:18:45 +0000

In this post I’m sharing some simple, effective tips to help you get inside the minds of the most important people in your business… your customers!

Understanding your customer is vital

Understanding your customers sounds like common sense. Everyone knows they SHOULD do it… but few know WHY or HOW! So here’s some pointers to get you started.

Why?

Having a good understanding of who your clients are and what they need means you can deliver a product/service more closely aligned with those needs. This means sales are more easily made (prospects feel as though your solution was made just for them) and customers stay for longer. Advertising for new customers is MUCH more expensive than selling to your existing customers, so happier customers directly results in more money in your pocket.

Happier customers staying with you for longer means a better reputation, more repeat business and more (free) referrals. All good, right?

Understanding your customer means you have valuable insight which will help you make informed decisions and improve not only your products and sales, but also your marketing strategies, content and customer service!

How?

Customer insight is a great idea in theory… but how can you GET it in practice?

Here are some tips to get you started:

Ask your customers directly: What do they want? do they want a problem solved, an answer to a question, a particular product?
Ask yourself: Why are your customers interested in your business, what are their objectives, what information do they find hard to find? What makes them choose a competitor over you… or vice versa?
Use your website: Include a query form with a call to action like ‘Ask our Experts’, or install a search box and track what people are searching for
Use Google Analytics to find exactly what terms visitors to your site are searching for when they come across your site
Use social media to gather information directly and interact with your customers on a personal level (this is a form of qualitative research)
Use surveys and polls to get customer feedback both before and after a sale
Pay attention to comments on your blog posts, they can tell you a lot about your customers opinions, likes/dislikes and (most importantly) what they WANT but haven’t found yet
Keep current and research trends to be aware of how your business may need to evolve to meet the needs of your customers (TrendWatching, Springwise and TrendHunter are great resources)
Listen to customer compliments and complaints and look for patterns (if you want to get super-advanced, automatically analyze the most common words submitted via your inquiry forms or help desk)

Remember: Understanding your customer means that you can create products and services that meet not only their current needs, but also their evolving and future needs. This helps you keep on trend and helps you develop a long term, loyal customer base

So use the easy practical tips and invest the effort to get better acquainted with your customers. If you care about them and look after their needs better than your competitors, they’ll return the favor by buying your products, enrolling on your courses, signing up for your services and (very powerful) they’ll want to share your business with their friends and colleagues!

Photo credit: highersights

Weekly Wrap Up: 4th May

James T Noble — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:41:17 +0000

Hi there – happy Friday to you!

This one is particularly happy for me because I’m swapping
an unseasonably wet London for vacation starting…… now!

But, before I leave I have your weekly dose of news,
resources and inspiration for you and your business.

These are a small selection of the material my team and
I have been looking at this week… I’ve picked out the
ones I think would be most valuable for you.

Spend a few minutes today or over the weekend to
update your knowledge and get some inspiration!

Big news this week… Facebook is to go public, valuing
the company at nearly $100 billion. There’s doubts over
the long-term value of the company, though – see below.
Google’s latest updates are still causing chaos. Oh, and
if you fancy a challenge, Goldman Sachs are looking for
a social media manager!

MARKETING

BUSINESS

RESOURCES

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NEW Google Analytics – A Guide

James T Noble — Tue, 01 May 2012 08:14:33 +0000

It’s exciting news at Google, as over recent weeks some seriously useful NEW features are being rolled out for Google Analytics!

As we all know social media means big business, but how do you quantify how well your social media campaigns are doing? Well according to Google, their exciting new social analytics reports will measure exactly how your campaigns are benefiting your business’s bottom line.

You will now be able to track over 400 social media sites to find out really useful information such as how many visitors you are getting from specific social networks and measure how those visits are converting. Let’s take a more in depth look at the reports…

Social Conversion

The new conversion reports have been created to specifically focus on social media sites. Firstly, you need to tell Google what it is you are trying to achieve with your social media marketing. This could be anything from making a purchase or registering a user, to simply having someone click on your ‘about’ page. By linking visits to your defined goals and ecommerce transactions, these reports enable you to see conversion rates and the monetary value of those conversions.

They will also tell you what your customers want by highlighting which content is driving your conversions. This clearly shows how social media impacts your business and how well it is helping you achieve your goals.

Social Source

The aim of this set of reports is to help you refine where you should spending the most time to make the most of your social tactics. This is done by showing you how people are interacting with your content on social media sites and which social networks and sites refer the highest quality traffic. For example, these reports can show whether visitors from a specific network entered your site through a particular product page and also if they continued on to other pages on your site.

Armed with this information you can prioritise your time effectively and focus only on the most productive social networks.

Social Sharing

For those of you who have social media buttons on your sites, these reports tell you which buttons are being clicked and for what content. You can find out which articles are most commonly shared and recommended, and on which social networks. Another great aspect of these reports is the ‘Activity Stream’ which is a URL-based method of tracking the ways that people are engaging with your content away from your site. By analysing this kind of information, you can ascertain how to create more engaging social media messages.

You can find all these new reports under the ‘Standard Reporting Tab’. They are easy to use and offer valuable information that will help you make informed, data driven decisions with YOUR social marketing strategies – so jump in and get analysing!

Photo credit: seocamberley

Weekly Wrap Up: 27th April

James T Noble — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:07:40 +0000

Image: St Paul's Cathedral across the River Thames

Hi there – greetings from a very wet City of London! I’m not complaining though… I love the way this city looks when it rains!

Lots of activity this week at team JTN… Mastermind calls detailing a specific sales process that works VERY well for our business and our clients. PLUS advising clients who are launching new products and services all over the place. It’s that time of year!

Need help launching your product or service? Get in touch and we’ll see if we’re a good fit.

Now, this week’s news and resources… These are a small selection of the material my team and I have been looking at this week… I’ve picked out the ones I think would be most valuable for you.

Spend a few minutes today or over the weekend to update your knowledge and get some inspiration!

MARKETING

BUSINESS

RESOURCES

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How To Use Facebook Polls – Tips & Tricks!

James T Noble — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 08:56:06 +0000

Find out what YOUR target audience is thinking! Facebook polls and surveys can be a great way to engage your fans with questions that provide you with valuable feedback, market research and insight. This information can be used to build a larger, more loyal Facebook community and ultimately lead to more sales, and best of all it’s completely FREE!

Facebook polls are so effective because they reach a huge number of people. This is for two reasons:

Facebook wants to encourage people to use polls, so they show them in a greater percentage of your audiences’ news feeds, for a longer period of time;
Each time a person answers a question, all their friends will see it, so even if two of them choose to respond the number of people grows exponentially.

There are a number of polling methods on Facebook, from the in-house ‘Facebook Questions’ which allows either open ended questions or a multiple choice poll with up to 3 options, to more complex services like ‘Poll for Facebook’ which allows more advanced features such as additional options, adding images, privacy features and creating a custom URL. Whichever method you choose, you will need to remember these essential tips:

Ask the right questions

You need to strike a balance between finding out what you want to know and making your question interesting so people are actually going to want to answer it. Self serving questions don’t work. Pose your question in a conversational way and contain incentives, motivations and a competitive edge to keep people actively engaged. Be friendly, passionate, fun and dynamic! Try to get constructive feedback about your products or ask what your customer would like to see more of.

Top Tip: Make it topical - If there is hot news that is relevant, integrate it with your poll question to stimulate more votes.

Keep it simple

Fewer options mean people can click without having to engage too much or spend too much time. Try to limit yourself to a maximum of three options but add an option allowing people to comment to you get as much valuable information as possible.

The right options

The answers you offer your fans are just as important as the questions you ask. Only the top 3 answers will be visible to non-voters, so make sure these are the best ones. Keep your options light and entertaining and request that fans add their own answers if they don’t like yours!

Get fans involved

People will be more likely to want to answer your poll if they understand your motives. Get people excited by telling them why you are running the poll and ask them to invite their friends to answer.

Top Tip: Make your poll even more exciting by turning it into a competition!

Summary

Decide on your objective: Whether it is exposure, honest feedback or loyalty… having a goal in mind gives you focus and make your polls more useful.

The result is a lot more votes, comments, invites and valuable data.

Polls are quick and easy to set up, and with a little thought you have got an effective research tool right there at your fingertips – so get polling!

Photo Credit: LWVC

Weekly Wrap Up: 20th April

James T Noble — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:38:40 +0000

Hi there – this is your weekly wrap-up of news, resources, tips and tutorials for your business.

Lots of wicked strategery happening this week at team JTN. I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you! (ok ok, you’ll find out in good time!)

Take some time today or over the weekend to check out the resources below. It’s important to continually update your knowledge and inspiration. These are a selection of the resources my team and I have been reading this week… all good stuff!

MARKETING

BUSINESS

RESOURCES

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18 Best FREE Social Media Icons

James T Noble — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:17:24 +0000

You’ve done the hard work of getting someone to your site… now, make sure they can follow you in whichever way THEY want.

If you’re active on social networks, encourage your readers to subscribe to you there too by adding these social media icons to your blog or website. They’re totally free and look great! Take a look at some of our favorites below and click on the pics to download from the designers’ sites.

(The icons are divided into 3 categories: Simple, 3d and Stylized)

P.S. When your visitors “like” or subscribe to you on social networks, this is an incredibly powerful way to influence a wider audience. It’s a recommendation from someone they trust, so it’s one of the best and quickest ways to build YOUR reputation and your audience!

Simple

3d

Stylized

Weekly Wrap Up: 13th April 2012

James T Noble — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:43:31 +0000

Hi there – welcome to your weekly wrap of up news, tips and resources for your business.

Another short week for team JTN this week, but we still squeezed in super-popular Mastermind calls about email marketing. I provided Mastermind members with cut and paste techniques to immediately boost their email results.

If you’d like to join the Mastermind group to learn these kinds of advanced techniques for your business (as well as receive personal help with any challenges you’re facing) contact the team and we’ll send you the details.

Next: Take some time today or over the weekend to check out the resources below.

They’re a small selection of the things my team and I have been reading this week… all great stuff!

MARKETING

BUSINESS

RESOURCES

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Weekly Wrap Up: 6th April 2012

James T Noble — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:36:35 +0000

Image: The Big Fabergé Egg Hunt taking place across London

Hi there – happy (almost) Easter from London, England!

Today is a holiday in the UK, so it’s a short week for us. We still managed squeeze a ton of development in, though! New offices (we’re growing), new training production, lots of client calls (GREAT progress there) and lots more!

This is your weekly wrap-up of news, tutorials, tips and useful resources for your business.

(Did you modify your Facebook Page for the new timeline layout yet? BTW, here’s my updated Page…)

In this week’s resources… thoughts on the future of Facebook, LOTS of Google changes that affect SEO pros and retail businesses, lessons from business leaders and tips on how to close more sales.

MARKETING

BUSINESS

RESOURCES

Simple Sales Tracking App (Reply if you’d like an invite code)

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Low Cost Ideas for Getting Media Attention

James T Noble — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:06:52 +0000

Ok, so you want great media exposure for your business but can’t afford an expensive marketing campaign? Need to get the right message in front of the right people at the right time? The good news is that media coverage is totally achievable on a low budget! Here are some high impact, low cost ideas to create media buzz…

Build relationships in advance of pitching

Connect on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, forums and other social media. This has made a BIG difference in my business and also my clients who take the time to do it, too.

As well as building up your profile, these platforms are a great way to build rapport with bloggers, writers and journalists in fields relevant to your business. Befriend them. Earn their respect. Regularly comment on their posts then invite them to write about your products and services in their publications and on their sites.

Articles and Interviews

Magazines, ezines, bloggers, writers… they all need content, so give them what they want! Be proactive and contact them with an offer to provide insights and new perspectives on your industry and trends. Many on and offline publications offer FREE business spotlights too, so watch out for these.

Only contact those in a relevant field. This saves YOU time and increases your chances of success. Another tip… you’ll probably find smaller publications with more specialized readerships more receptive. Target these first and then move up to the big boys, using your smaller-mag examples as a demonstration of your credibility.

Press Releases

Make it exciting, interesting and informative, and a good press release can generate media buzz and get your business all the free advertising you could want or need. The key thing to remember is you need a newsworthy angle. You can promote your company event, product or service, or even a blog… but it MUST be tied to an “event” of some kind.

Grab the reader’s attention in the first two sentences and then keep it simple and to the point. Clearly explain why the event is of interest for their readers.

Distribute your press release on distribution sites like PR Web (best) and dBusinessNews (free!)

Give to Get

Give a little for free and get a lot in return. Donate products or service to a media-savvy charity event or fundraiser to be auctioned or given away as prizes.

Give free webinars/seminars and let the media know about it.

Offer the media the chance to test your product or service and get them to put a review out there in the public eye. TIP: Bloggers LOVE to get free samples, and these non-mainstream writers can still have HUGE passionate audiences!

Run a competition and choose a fantastic prize from your range of products or services. Advertise it through social media and press releases. Invite the press to be present when the prize is awarded, to get some more free publicity. Use these ideas to generate buzz and awareness for your business and have great fun doing it!

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Most important: Know your target market and where you can FIND them in the media. Then brainstorm ways you can HELP these shows/publications with content that is easy for them to feature, and interesting for their audience.

The best marketing campaigns combine a number of different media mentions, so use the ideas above to get creative and create a maximum impact for minimum cost!