| Trend #1 Fighting for Attention | | | | ½ the results from the previous same efforts |
| The average consumer is bombarded with more than | | | | are commonplace. |
| 4,000 commercial messages per day. And that | | | | As the popularity of Search Engine Marketing has |
| number is even HIGHER for business owners. | | | | increased, so have the costs of playing the game. |
| Attention has become the scarce resource of the | | | | Pay-per-click advertisements are being driven up in |
| information economy. The advertising and information | | | | costs as the demand for online advertising space |
| clutter only worsens when it comes to your email | | | | increases. Organic search engine marketing is a |
| In-box, with countless hours wasted with spam. | | | | long-term, uncertain and often costly endeavor. |
| More and more are joining the "Do Not Call" registry | | | | The recent postal rate increase is inflicting HIGHER |
| and many consumers are purchasing ad blocking | | | | COSTS on small publishers. |
| technologies. Consumers feel they are constantly | | | | Newspaper advertising rates and Yellow pages |
| bombarded with too much advertising. | | | | advertising costs are also increasing. |
| Trend #2 Customers Leaving You for Perceived | | | | Plus Brand Loyalty continues to decrease, changing |
| Indifference | | | | from 56% in 2002 to just 39% in 2007. |
| Why customers leave you... | | | | Trend #4 Lagging Behind With Internet Technology |
| 1% Death 3% Move 5% Buy from a friend 9% Sold | | | | Now, more than ever... companies MUST utilize and |
| by a Competitor 14% Product Price | | | | actively embrace the newest technologies like: RSS |
| 68% Perceived Indifference | | | | Feeds, Social Networks, Blogging, Streaming Video, |
| Major global corporations now lose, and must replace, | | | | Webinars, etc. |
| HALF their customers every five years. A typical | | | | Over 50% of internet marketers surveyed, are now |
| company's customers leave at a rate of 10 percent | | | | utilizing or expect to pilot the following marketing |
| to 30 percent per year, and this number GROWS | | | | channels because of recent market shifts: - RSS - |
| annually. | | | | Podcasts - Interactive Banners - Ads Within Online |
| "Most companies spend their hard-earned marketing | | | | Video - User-Generated Content - Blogs - Social |
| and sales effort attempting to attract elusive new | | | | Networks |
| customers when they probably have most of the | | | | Most Small Businesses are racing to play catch-up |
| business they will ever need sitting on their | | | | with companies that are prospering with Web |
| database." - Jay Abraham | | | | applications that establish interaction, dialog and deep |
| A typical business hears from only about 5% of its | | | | connections with their Customers, Prospects, |
| unsatisfied customers. Fully 95% just leave most will | | | | Employees and Partners. |
| never come back. | | | | The Internet has shifted the balance of power to |
| 60%-70% of the customers who complain to you will | | | | the customer, and companies that fail to empower |
| do business with you again if you resolve their | | | | customers - risk losing them to competitors who are |
| problem. If they feel you acted quickly and to their | | | | only a short click away. |
| satisfaction, up to 96% will do business with you | | | | Trend #5 Increasing Competition & Increasing |
| again, and they will probably refer other people to | | | | Business Failures |
| you. | | | | We are in the midst of the largest entrepreneurial |
| If you do a great job your customers will tell 2 | | | | surge the world has ever seen. |
| people about it, where as if you dissatisfy a | | | | Nearly 672,000 new companies with employees were |
| customer they will tell 22 people about it. | | | | created in the U.S. in 2005. That is the biggest |
| It costs five to six times as much to get a new (first | | | | business birthrate in U.S. history! |
| time) customer as it does to keep a current one, and | | | | 30,000 more startups than in 2004, and 12% more |
| it takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for | | | | than at the height of dot-com boom in 1996. |
| one negative incident. | | | | 96% of ALL businesses Fail within the first 10 years... |
| Trend #3 Increasing Marketing Costs and Decreasing | | | | 80% of those Fail within the first 2 years. |
| Effectiveness | | | | Many Reasons Include: Lack of planning, Poor |
| It now costs 3 X more in 2008 than it did in 1992 to | | | | management skills and Failure to seek professional |
| reach your prospective buyers. In 1992 - it took an | | | | assistance. |
| average of 4 attempts to reach your buyer. | | | | The next step... |
| In 2008, it now takes 8.4 attempts. Therefore, | | | | |