Spotlight on Marketing
A Wealth of Marketing Experience
When it comes to marketing, I often say it's in my blood. Both of my parents were in the retail business. My dad began his professional life as a small town grocer. Mom's first job was at Duke & Ayers. At the end of their lives they had both climbed the ladder of success, but they were both still in retail. Merchandising, pricing and sales strategies were often served at dinner, as side dishes to pork chops and meatloaf.
My first paychecks came from a telemarketing company, but I only got a few from them, because I quickly learned I hated that particular type of enterprise. Soon I had moved over to retail and began my own climb up the ladder of success, cutting my teeth on endcap displays, signage, dressing mannequins, fitting rooms and inventory.
When I figured out that people in the retail business were usually working while everybody else was having fun, I moved over to banking. There I got the opportunity to manage my first marketing campaign - introducing our customers to a new-fangled machine - the ATM. I was told we'd be lucky to get a 2% response to the mailing of atm cards we sent out. We got more like 25%. I learned something very important in that campaign. Nothing beats the personal touch.
We're Living in the Digital Age
Fast forward until today. Here we are in the digital age. The bulk of Spot On Images' business is related to online marketing. Real estate photos for the MLS, building websites, and creating content for webpages and social media fills our days. This online content is critical to success. You can't do with out it. No matter what business you're in, you need a web presence. Some businesses only live on the web. There is no brick & mortar store, no live salesperson and no service tech to show up at your door. But that's not most businesses and it never will be, especially in careers like real estate.
The digital approach works with some products and services, but not for everything and no matter how well it works, it can usually be beat if you can find a way to make a personal connection to your potential customer. Take books, for instance. Amazon makes a fortune each and every day selling them on the internet, but if you visited Roma's Books in Rockwall, TX, you might lose all interest in ever buying another book online.
It's the very nature of online marketing that makes the personal touch so effective. Let's say that after working on it for a very long time, you actually manage to have a post go viral and millions of people see it. Unless you're selling widgets, exactly how many of those people will call you up and do business with you? Perhaps none - especially if you are a real estate agent, which so many of our customers are. You might remind someone you actually know to call you, but it's unlikely someone in Pakistan, who likes your post on Instagram, will ever give you a call.
So please call us, when you need help with your online marketing. We're going to do a great job for you, but please don't think that an MLS listing, website, blog post or tweet is enough. Get out there and visit your current customers, ask them for referrals, network with your vendors and competitors, meet your next door neighbor, give your card to the cashier at the grocery store - keep making those personal touches. That's golden!