Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing Posted on December 4, 2013June 24, 2016 by Lindsey Stroud Often when meeting with clients, I am asked the question “What exactly is inbound marketing?” There tends to be confusion surrounding inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing. I’ve searched high and low to find a comprehensive infographic to explain the key differences between each! To recap some common differences: Inbound Marketing focuses on getting found by people searching for what you offer while Outbound Marketing focuses on pushing the message out to people Inbound Marketing typically uses Search Engines, Blogging, Social Media, and Opted In Email Lists to drive sales, while Outbound Marketing focuses on Advertising, Trade Shows, Direct Mail, and Cold Calling to drive sales Inbound Marketing is cost effective, while Outbound Marketing can be costly
Make sure your Small Business Stands out this Cyber Monday Posted on December 2, 2013June 1, 2016 by Nicci Troiani How did your Small Biz fare this Small Business Saturday? The statistics are in and it looks like it was a big day for small business! According to the Huffington Post an estimated 103 Americans shopped at small businesses this Saturday which exceeded the projection of 89 million made before Thanksgiving! Forbes states that $5.5 Billion was spent on Small Business Saturday! Miss out on Small Business Saturday? Or want to make sure that you can expand on that success? Here’s a great infographic found on Mashable (http://mashable.com/2012/11/21/small-business-online/) on how to optimize your small businesses online presensce- Just in time for Cyber Monday! This cyber Monday, don’t forget to utilize your social media channels and reach out to your current contact via email marketing with special offers and coupons! Good luck! 🙂
Why you should be Thankful to work for a Small Biz Posted on November 25, 2013 by Nicci Troiani There are many advantages to working for a small business. With Thanksgiving in a few days and Small Business Saturday this weekend, it got us thinking about why we should be grateful to work for a small business: Flexibility If you need a day off, most likely, you can take it. The flexible schedule of working at a small business is one of the biggest perks. Your Co-Workers Whether you are the owner or an employee, you get a say in new hires and the people that work around you. The people you spend such a great amount of time with, can greatly impact your day. By surrounding yourself with people that are intelligent and that get along with you, you can ensure a more positive working environment. Customer Relationships Big businesses don’t have the bond with customers that small businesses do. You get to listen to your customer’s suggestions and actually put them into play. Small businesses thrive on the customer relationship and it’s what makes doing business with a small business so unique. There are so, so many more benefits to working and shopping small. Let us know your favorite part of working at or owning a small business!
Best of Small Business: Small Business Saturday Resources Posted on November 22, 2013June 1, 2016 by Lindsey Stroud Two of the BEST days of the year are fast approaching, Thanksgiving and Small Business Saturday! Did you know that 103 million Americans participate and around 5.5 million is spent on Small Business Saturday? The awareness that has been raised in the past few years is remarkable. After all, small businesses drive the economy and are the heart of America. We’ve compiled some great Small Business Saturday articles and resources for you to enjoy: Black Friday Week: 5 Tips For Keeping Your Small Business In The Game: http://www.forbes.com/sites/thesba/2013/11/21/black-friday-week-5-tips-for-keeping-your-small-business-in-the-game/ – Within this article, Forbes gives you 5 unique and easy-to-implement tips for competing with big box retailers the week of Thanksgiving! Why promote your business one day of the week when you can participate the entire week? 5 Tips For Small Business Saturday Procrastinators: http://batchbook.com/blog/small-business-saturday/ – Has your small business recently been busy and neglected to even think about Small Business Saturday? Check out this blog from Christelle Lachapelle that gives you 5 last minute ideas for participating in SBS! Free Resources For Small Businesses: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2012/small-business-saturday-free-resources/– Unsure of the resources available for your Small Business on SBS? Check out this great resource guide full of free offers available to you! We love Small Business at Hatchbuck! If you have any last minute email marketing questions related to Small Business Saturday, do not hesitate to reach out to us!
Hatchbucker Highlights: STL Rent A Box Posted on November 20, 2013 by Lindsey Stroud With ‘Small Business Saturday’ approaching we are excited to highlight one of our St. Louis clients (STL Rent A Box) on the blog! The Eco-friendly company has taken the headache and waste out of the residential and commercial move. STL Rent a Box offers an eco friendly alternative to cardboard boxes! They rent industrial strength plastic moving crates to those who are relocating in the St. Louis area. The boxes are dust proof, stack-able, lockable, cleaned after each rental, weather resistant, can come with file folder holders, AND can be used over and over (unlike cardboard). The best part? They are recyclable, have ergonomic handles, and they are very a budget friendly alternative! STL Rent a Box is a small start-up that evolved between a husband and wife who have background in real estate and small business ventures. They developed their business plan and the company began to grow!The hardest part of them starting their new business? Keeping all of their information in one location. Hatchbuck came into focus when they realized they needed a marketing plan that pulled all of their ideas and new business connections together under one roof. So it began… Their contact list grew, and their connections turned relationships into building blocks of their future. STL Rent A Box is celebrating their 1st year Anniversary this month! A year of success, and fond community and business connections that will continue to put them into the future where they want to be! Their goal is eliminate as many moving boxes in the landfills as possible, one move at a time – Keepin’ It Green! Here at Hatchbuck, we love our clients! We would like to wish all of our clients a Happy Small Business Saturday, and a special Happy 1st Anniversary to our wonderful friends at STL Rent a Box – Cheers to many more years of success! To find out more about STL Rent a Box, check out their website: http://stlrentabox.com/
Recycle your content Posted on November 18, 2013August 4, 2017 by Nicci Troiani Hey guess what! You can reuse your content and actually you should reuse your content. Creating content sometimes can seem like climbing Mount Everest to a small business marketer. Most likely, on top of creating content, you are doing a zillion other things. So, when you sit down to write and know you need stuff to market across your blog, email, social and direct mail channels, you might feel a tad overwhelmed. Here are a couple of easy ways to save time and don’t let that already-created content go to waste: 1. Re-post old blogs across your social channels When blogs have been sitting on your site for a while, most likely people aren’t going to your blog archives to read them. A couple of times a week, take good, old blogs and re-post them across your social channels as archived blogs, retro blogs, a blast from the past or whatever you would like to call them! This helps you drive some traffic back to your website/blog and gets that old content some love. 2. Blogs are great email content Many marketers stress over great email copy. While your email content and subject line are SUPER important, remember that you most likely already have blogs that can educate your prospects on the same topic. Because no one likes to read copy-heavy emails, keep it short and sweet. Introduce your topic and link back to your blog. Again, this achieves the goal of getting your email recipients to click through and go to your website (who knows, maybe they will look around and actually be interested in your business) and it’s also a great use of those great, older blogs that are just sitting around, waiting to get read. 3. Turn your blogs into longer pieces Blogs tend to be shorter and focused on points (notice my 3 points here!), but they are a GREAT starting point for longer pieces like eBooks or whitepapers. You should have some sort of statistics on your blog to know which topics have been the most popular. Take your most popular blogs and use them as a starting place for a longer, education piece that can be used as incentive for filling out a contact capture form. (How do I do this?) Now, you are not only finding a creative way to use that already-created content, but you are (hopefully) capturing some new leads with it! See– super easy and resourceful!
Best of Small Business, Week of November 11, 2013 Posted on November 15, 2013June 1, 2016 by Nicci Troiani Once again, Happy Friday! Here are our small business article picks of the week! 1. How Small Businesses Should Plan For Disasters by Karen E. Klein The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that one quarter of s businesses that are hit by disaster fail as a result. Get prepared in case disaster hits. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-06/how-small-businesses-should-plan-for-disasters#r=hpt-fs#prclt-ih6F19F9 2. Yet Another 6 Ways to Use Social Media Branding by Anita Campbell Campbell has some really great, easy tips on how your small business should be utilizing social media. http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/yet-another-6-ways-use-social-media-branding 3. Thinking of Starting a Blog? Tips to Help you Start, Maintain & Grow a Small Business Blog! by wreynolds Blogging can be an important addition to your marketing and SEO business. If you’re thinking about starting one, check out this article! http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/community-blogs/small-business-matters/thinking-starting-blog-tips-help-you-start-maintain-grow-small-business-blog
Small Business Tips to Survive the Holiday Season Posted on November 13, 2013June 1, 2016 by Lindsey Stroud With the holidays right around the corner, you may be wondering if the season will bring your Small Business holiday joy or horror. To help prepare your Small Business prepare for the busier times ahead, I’ve compiled some tips to help you survive the holidays. Send a Holiday Email vs. Handwritten Card – I love handwritten cards, and I do think they have a time and a place for a Small Business. However, the holidays may not be one of them. They can end up taking valuable time you may not have to spare (besides the fact that it can also cost a fortune!) Why not take a load off of your Small Business this holiday and put together a holiday email? You can save money, time, and have your communication received instantly. You can still attach valuable coupons or discounts to reward your customers with holiday cheer! Start Early! – According to a statistic just released by National Retail Federation, 53.8% of shoppers have already started their holiday shopping. If your Small Business plans to promote its products or services this holiday, now is the time to start promoting it. Don’t lose valuable sales to your competitor who started promoting their holiday offers earlier than you. Hire Helping Hands – One of the most important things your Small Business can do during the busy holiday season is provide excellent customer service. The customer experience is directly related to whether or not a customer is likely to do repeat business with you. Make sure you have the helping hands you need to accommodate a potential increase in business. Offer Exclusive Deals to Past Customers – The holidays are a great time to drive repeat business. According to Visa, email marketing is the #1 most effective way to encourage online customers to return! Offer coupons and discounts exclusively for past customers. Let those who have done business with you in the past know how important they are to you, and make it worth their while to continue doing business with you. Don’t Forget Small Business Saturday – While big box retailers are prepping their marketing for Black Friday, don’t forget that Small Business Saturday is your time to shine! Now is the time to start planning a marketing strategy to help drive sales during Small Business Saturday. Make sure your social media pages and website are up to date. Also, don’t forget that there are great (FREE) resources available for your use – check out www.smallbusinesssaturday.com to start your preparation! My last tip for the holiday season is to relax and enjoy the time of year. It’s a great time to celebrate people in your life, and enjoy their company. Planning ahead will ensure you have time to spend creating stress free memories for your Small Business.
Social Media Mistakes for your Small Biz to Avoid Posted on November 11, 2013June 1, 2016 by Nicci Troiani Social media can be a great way for a small business to promote and grow their brand, but there are also a lot of opportunities for mistakes. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid with your social media efforts: 1. Unrealistic Expectations Social media is not going to be your #1 sales effort. Social is a great way to do outreach, commit to great customer service and get your brand known. However, your audience does not go to social media to be sold, so most likely, your social channels are not going to close a ton of sales. If you can promote good, educational content through your social channels, you can nurture your audience through content and hopefully drive them back to your website for more information. 2. Promoting yourself Again, social media has become a marketplace for marketers, but that isn’t what the general public heads there for. Be conversational, friendly and post good, educational material to keep your audience engaged. Posting special offers and discounts is fine, but only posting sales materials will guarantee that your contacts will hit the “unfollow” button sooner rather than later. 3. Too much talk There’s a reason Twitter only allows you 140 characters. Just because Facebook and LinkedIn don’t limit you, does not mean you should write page-long posts here. Social should be about quick updates, and when you need to post longer content (like blogs), you should link back and keep the post short. 4. One-way Communication The great thing about social media is that it gives anyone a voice. While social is a great place to post your content, it should not be used only for blasting out your material. It can be a great customer service tool. Make sure to check your mentions and respond in a timely manner. A great way to keep up with your customers is to make a list on twitter. As you get new customers, add them. Now you have a real-time stream about what your customers are talking about. Reply or re-tweet them to stay in the conversation. 5. Treating all social channels the same Your audiences across all social channels are different so your approach should not be the same. On Facebook, most people are seeing your posts on their timeline, but may visit your profile to check out interesting photos or to get to your website, see your business hours, etc. You should respond to any comments or messages here quickly. On Twitter, most likely, visitors aren’t going to your profile, but are seeing your content when it hits their timeline– so you may want to post content you want read more than 1 time a day (4-6 times is optimal). You should respond to any mentions here quickly. Pinterest and Instagram are for more visual content. There is less conversation across these channels so your visual content should be interesting enough to spark interest in your business. With social media outlets who allow hashtags (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook) don’t commit hashtag overload. Try to keep it to 1 or 2 a post. On LinkedIn, stay professional. Post to groups that are relevant to your business and monitor the conversation when you can. Reply to any comments on your posts to keep the conversation going.