RC: A lot of contractors have optimized sites and/or are using PPC campaigns. What differentiates that type of marketing from buzz marketing? Is buzz marketing active, vs. SEO and PPC being passive?
MG: PPC and search oriented marketing are based on the idea that customers are looking for a product or a way to solve a problem and they don’t know who to contact. It begins and ends with that customer initiating a search. So they’re in control and they’re often at the point where they’re prepared to make a buying decision. Buzz marketing, on the other hand, has a different objective. It aims to create interest, top-of-mind awareness. So prospects know who you are before they make their buying decision.
It’s an investment in positioning your company for the long term. For instance, you create buzz through your association with groups and causes. That doesn’t mean someone is going to see that and call you up that day and say: I want to do business with you. But…when they get around to replacing the roof or windows, your name will pop in their head. The company that’s thought of first is always the company that’s likely to be called first. That should be the goal of every company’s marketing: to be thought of first.
RC: Where do product and service fit into this?
MG: There are 59 factors that Google uses to compute who gets to the top of any search request. Most people aren’t aware of them. It’s always much better when you can establish who you are and what you’re famous for ahead of the purchase. So they don’t have to look at all your competitors.
RC: Where does email marketing come in?
MG: Emails can create buzz but it depends on what’s in them. It’s the difference between trying to sell vs. trying to inform. We’re so anxious to get someone to buy something, so anxious to close the deal that we speak in a sales-driven tone all the time. The better approach is to spend time educating, informing, enlightening, commenting on what you know about. That’s what people are interested in. That’s what they’re going to be talking about at the water cooler or the dinner table. They’re not interested in having conversations about buying things. We all like to buy but we don’t like to be sold.
RC: So social media helps create and drive that buzz?
MG: Absolutely. Social media and blogging are the places where people are going to be most receptive to hearing messages that are unusual and enlightening. It’s a way to get the word out to people who ordinarily wouldn’t find you. With the right key words, they’ll find their way to you. It may be a Twitter tweet, or a Facebook post that links to your blog. The idea is to say interesting things. You’re reaching out to people.
RC: How would a contractor who’s doing little or no marketing of this sort get started?
MG: First, it’s imperative that you do something. Secondly, you’ve got to devote some time to it. If you’re not adept at these technologies, you’ve got to find someone-a wife, son, daughter, grandchild, key person in the office-who can take on this responsibility. It can take five or ten minutes a day, not hours. For those who’ve invested in a newer website, that uses a content managing system, you can incorporate these functions into your site. There are a lot of free tools online that, for instance, allow you to update all the social media from one dashboard.
RC: What are some of those tools?
MG: Two good ones are Hootsuite and Seoquake. Hootsuite will give a daily update on social media, and allow you to update multiple networks in one step, among other things. Seoquake gives you a way to evaluate other websites; you can go behind the scenes and see what makes them effective. For instance, if you have a competitor whose site draws more traffic than yours does you can quickly see how they’re doing that.
RC: How do I ‘become famous for something?’
MG: You’ve got to focus on something. What it is you’re good at doing. That you like doing and that needs to be done. It means digging down deep into a subject, becoming an expert in that particular area and then promoting yourself as an expert. It doesn’t mean that because you focus on that that you don’t focus on other things. If you do garage re-organization, for instance, people can reasonably assume that in addition to being an expert at that, you also do projects like windows or siding. But find a niche that isn’t filled and fill it. Find a problem someone needs a solution to. Make yourself famous for that.
