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Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Marketing In A Recession - September Update

Marketing in a recessionAnd now an update on Marketing In A Recession 101, the Surfaces 2010 unlike-any-other, must-attend 3 hour workshop that three brilliant marketers -- Scott Perron from Big Bob's of America, Paul Friederichsen from BrandBiz, Inc. and I -- will present on Monday, February 1st, 2010 from 9am to noon. Be there!

We've just had a working teleconference during which we walked through a first draft of our workshop content. We're having fun with our hypothetical retailer. By the time we are done, I do believe that our fictitious 'Bob' will have come to life...

I'm finding the discussion thought-provoking: we each have unique perspectives on the marketplace.

We spent a good bit of time exploring 'complacency' in business. It's often a byproduct of abundance [sound familiar?] and leads to the attitude of "nothing's broken, so why fix it?" Definitely what got our 'Bob' in trouble.

That then led to a discussion about listening which dovetailed beautifully with observations about social media marketing.

It also inspired my recent post on listening titled "Simple Marketing Starts With Listening."

My section about integrating social media into our retailer's marketing strategy generated the following questions. I'll be addressing them here and in the workshop:

1. How relevant is social media to a category like floor covering with such a long purchasing cycle? If customers are in the market for a new floor on average every 5 – 7 years, what kind of dialog do I, as a dealer, have with customers and how does it result in additional business for me? Do I get a meaningful return for that effort?

2. How do I do all these things and still run a business ... and I can’t afford to hire anybody to do it for me?

3. What do I need to do, and in what order or priority?

4. What dealers out there are doing this and how are they successful with it?

5. Who should I follow on Twitter? What websites should I have bookmarked? Etc...

Great questions, I thought.

What others would you add to the list?

Stay tuned for more.


Previous posts in the series that tracks our progress as we prepare for our groundbreaking Surfaces 2010 3-hour workshop:

1. Connecting With Retail Consumers
2. Marketing In A Recession - Strategy Series

I was tickled to come across this article about a third generation carpet retailer: The Carpetman - A Family Business That Still 'Cuts A Rug' by Andrea Aurichio, whose business is in far better shape than that of our fictitious retailer!


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