actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

A belated salute to our US veterans!

Although my dad’s olive green sergeant’s jacket hung from a beam in the attic, my siblings and I grew up without really understanding what he did in the military.

My father was part of the Signal Corps in London during World War II so his work was covered under the War Secrets Act. As a result, he never spoke about his service until 50 years later when the movie, Saving Private Ryan, came out.

When I ran marketing for Bertelsmann’s Military Book Club, I was fortunate to be able to tap into my dad’s military experience. He created content marketing for our print catalogs in the form of book reviews!

Cold weather blew into New York City this week causing the Ginko tree on our block to shed its yellow fan shaped leaves carpeting the sidewalk.

With the blustery weather, New Yorkers wrapped themselves in woolens. Winter styles finally came out of the closet.

Maybe it was the drop in temperatures that pushed shoppers and tourists out. Billed as the world’s largest department store with a footprint a city block square, Macy’s welcomed tourists just as Galleries Layfayette had welcomed us in Paris a year ago.

As we cut through the store to stay warm, signs targeted at tourists were visible. In the process, we passed a couple taking a selfie. If you’re a retailer, use this couple as inspiration. 

Actionable Marketing Tip:

• Set up a place in your store where shoppers can take selfies to post on Facebook and Instagram.

There are still 2 weeks until Post-Thanksgiving sales officially kick off the holiday shopping season. But at 7:00pm Saturday, West 34^th Street was jam-packed with shoppers between Fifth and Seventh Avenues.

From a retail perspective:

People = Lines = Sales (Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching)

But this week’s actionable marketing tip is from my favorite local knitting store, Knitty City. Owner Pearl Chin invited a local small-batch indie yarn dyer to promote her wares.

The indie dyer took over the front table where she displayed her yarn and engaged shoppers as they entered the shop.

This partnership was a win-win! In addition to more sales, Knitty City expanded its offering without investing in additional inventory while the indie dyer got to expand her reach to a broader audience who might otherwise never find out about her. And, knitters are always ready to buy an extra skein of special yarn if you give them a good reason.

As an astute marketer, here’s how you can use this partnership idea.

• If you’ve got a base of prospects and customers, assess related products your audience might be interested in that you don’t offer. Reach out to quality sources to assess partnership potential. Before offering these products, test them out to ensure that they’re on a par with your offering.

• If you offer a product that needs a broader audience, make a list of potential partners who serve your idea customers. Test out their purchase process to ensure that it’s aligned with yours. It helps if they already sell other people’s products.

In either case, you’re seeking a win-win situation like Knitty City.

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

​​​​​​​Social Media Marketing World 2018 is just around the corner (February 28 - March 2, 2018, at the San Diego Convention Center.)

Brought to you by Social Media Examiner, this is the conference for anyone wanting to learn how to make the most of social media and meet the companies and experts in the field.

Join me at this exciting event. Don't delay – the current promotion ends Friday!

• Heidi Cohen gave her insights on 2018 SEO planning in OptinMonster's post, Strategic SEO Tips From The Experts, Check it out to improve your content and social media for 2018 and beyond.

  

• Andy Crestodina’s Orbit Media’s Blog Survey is a comprehensive look into how businesses use blogs today. It’s also well worth your time since every business (B2B, B2C, NFP or solopreneur) needs a home base. Heidi Cohen added her insights to this research.

• Heidi Cohen was selected as one of 18 Digital Marketing Influencers You Need To Follow On Twitter by AdHawk. If you’re looking to fill your Twitter stream, we suggest that you check out this list.

• Regardless of your position or the amount of public speaking you do, I strongly recommend that you take the time to watch this Ted Talk Cambridge spotlighting Michael and Amy Port. They’re trained actors who’ve applied their experience to public speaking.
  
  Everyone needs to improve his skills whether you’re on the big stage or giving a wedding toast.
  
  BTW, I also recommend that you read Port’s book, Steal The Show.
  
  

• Additionally, I strongly recommend reading Margaret Magnarelli’s editorial on Contently, Understanding Pain Is The Key To Customer Centric Marketing. The article is based on solid research and makes a strong case for empathy in building customer connections.