Issue 3: Navigating November
How To Better Serve Your Clients & Customers
Previously on… “Get in my funnel!”
Last week we covered specific reasons why gathering feedback from your clients and customers is a no-brainer.
I’ve since thought of one of the best examples - the ‘Happy or Not’ red or green button feedback machines you see in airports when you exit security. You know the ones?
Anonymous feedback tends to be more honest.
Think about it. If you’re not in the mood to explain to someone why the service you received wasn’t great, it’s easier to passively say ‘yeah all good’ and then make a mental note to go elsewhere next time. But a red button at the door? Sure, I’ll use that.
I might even use something similar before I exit your website or mobile app (especially if it’s presented in a mildly amusing way). People appreciate a bit of light-hearted humour.
Intent to do something is usually the accumulation of suggestions. Speaking of which…
Marketing & Promotion Trap
Print through your letterbox, local radio, regional TV and organic visibility (SEO) would like a word with your marketing plan for 2022.
Repeat after me - “We need a healthy marketing mix”.
Never leave yourself at the mercy of any one Big Tech company.
Successful businesses understand the perils of becoming overly reliant on any one tactic to attract new clients or customers. It’s the first thing an investor or new partner will point out and red flag. Especially when there’s always the temptation to go all-in on that one thing that is working the best.
Eggs and baskets and all that.
People Make Emotional Decisions (Why You Need To Think About Your Company Brand)
Google once released a case study that says the average car buyer will interact with over 900 pieces of information (a.k.a. touchpoints) before deciding exactly what make and model of car to buy. This is why brand matters. It bypasses logical comparison and goes straight to the emotional.
You want the best barber’s haircut in Aberdeen or Dundee? You go to Hard Grind. You want to find the wedding dress of your dreams? Glasgow’s Joyce Young is famous for that.
From pet walking services to IT waste management, when there’s more than one type of a certain business in your local area you can either join the price race to the bottom (bleurgh..!) OR give people more reason to care about you and your company brand.
There’s plenty of local causes and charities to sponsor even if you think your brand is a bit dull for regular advertising. Here’s one of the best named companies in Scotland - Let’s Talk Shred.
If I ever write a tagline as perfect as “Document Destruction” I can retire happy.
Scottish Charity Spotlight
The Night Before Christmas.
For its seventh year running, the Night Before Christmas Campaign will give local children facing poverty the Christmas gifts they deserve.
The empty giftbag display at our local 'The Remedy Cafe' caught our attention.
If you pop over to Remedy Cafe down at Ayr beach front, you can take a red bag & fill it with a little something from the list they give. They're hoping to collect everything by the first week of December.
Your gift will make its way into the charity's Christmas Boxes destined for local kids to open this festive time. The Big Pond team are each going to fill a bag. Feel free to join in the giving & sharing!
Check out their Facebook page for more info.
News
Connecting Scotland fund application deadline is today [Nov 12 2021] - LINK
Sandy Kennedy of Entrepreneurial Scotland talks about an optimistic future - LINK
Ayrshire Chamber News Roundup for 2021 - LINK
Aberdeen Cyrenians asks local community to light up Aberdeen in Winter Wonderland Festive Trail - LINK
V&A Dundee will present major exhibitions on Michael Clark and plastic in 2022 - LINK
COP26: Top 10 bizarre moments of the Glasgow climate talks ranked - LINK
Edinburgh print and design firm with 30 staff moves to employee ownership - LINK
Funded support helps Scottish women returners to benefit in job market - LINK
2022 Saltire Scholar Programme Has Launched! [Internships] - LINK
100th episode of this excellent ecommerce podcast will donate £1 for every listen - LINK
Local is digital: Connecting Christmas shoppers to you [Google slidedeck] - LINK
Links and Brand as SEO Ranking Factors: 2021 Correlation Study - LINK
How to make video content standout in Google search results - LINK
Google November spam update is fully rolled out [ranking impact] - LINK
Brand building with Peter Weinberg of LinkedIn - LINK
And finally…
One of the smartest Facebook ad experts on the planet shares his thoughts on what’s working at ‘Top of Funnel’. By that we mean introducing your company to new potential clients and customers. Spoiler: Lookalike audiences are now pretty rubbish, and interest-based as well as broad is doing much better. Why you ask? Well, that’s for another newsletter where we geek out on the scalability of machine learning in advertising. Phew! Try saying that 3 times quickly.
Until next time - good luck!
Andrew @ Big Pond
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