Four States Small Business Blog

Does Your Restaurant's Website Include These 4 Things?

Posted by Pam Larimore on October 19, 2017 at 8:00 AM

If you own a restaurant, you know how important having a great physical storefront and interior dining experience is to your business. However, there’s another important branding aspect that makes a huge impact in terms of how customers view your business - and that’s your restaurant website.

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Topics: Small Business Resources, Integrated Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Restaurants

People Don't Buy Products or Services—They Buy Promises

Posted by Chad Elliot on October 17, 2017 at 8:00 AM

Instead of just buying a product, most people actually buy what those products or services can do for them—what the product or services promise the customer. So, it’s important for businesses to always highlight the promises (or benefits) of their products.

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Topics: Marketing Strategy, Advertising Creative

Avoiding Cliches: How Your "Friendly Staff" and "Great Customer Service" are Killing Your Creative

Posted by Mark Zimmer on October 12, 2017 at 8:00 AM

You’re all geared up and excited to finally be putting together your new marketing campaign. You’re full of great ideas—words, phrases, and slogans that you’ve heard others use, so you know they’re attention-grabbers. But is using the tried and true the best choice? Or could it be getting a little (or a lot) tried and true…and tired?

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Topics: Consumer Behavior, Advertising Creative

Branding is NOT Marketing: Getting to the Heart of Your Business

Posted by Mark Zimmer on October 10, 2017 at 8:00 AM

You know something about marketing, but want to learn more—that’s why you’re visiting this site and reading tips shared by some of the best Joplin marketing pros. But when discussing marketing efforts, you definitely don’t want to leave the importance of branding out of the conversation.

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Topics: Marketing Strategy

3 Reasons Why Local Politicians Need Great Websites

Posted by Pam Larimore on October 5, 2017 at 8:00 AM

A big challenge for any local politician is staying in touch with the community. You gained their support to get elected, but now that you’re in office, it’s not possible for you to go out and shake each and every hand like when you were on the campaign trail.

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Topics: Integrated Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Consumer Behavior, Government

How Best Of Contests Energize Local Businesses

Posted by Mark Zimmer on October 4, 2017 at 8:00 AM

Every region has its collective favorite local attractions and businesses. These might include diners, parks, landmarks, hotels, historical downtowns, or amusement parks. They could include restaurants; for example, when we know we have family and friends coming to visit us, we'll make reservations at our favorite local eateries so our friends can have a taste.

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Topics: Small Business Resources

Your Logo is NOT Your Brand

Posted by Pam Larimore on October 3, 2017 at 8:00 AM

Sometimes companies make the mistake of thinking, if they have a great company logo, they’ve done all they need to do in terms of branding. Your logo represents your brand, but it is not, in fact, your brand. In this post, we’ll discuss what your brand is, why it’s important, and why having a good logo is not enough.

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Topics: Marketing Strategy

Why Branding Is Critical During a Political Campaign

Posted by Mark Zimmer on September 28, 2017 at 8:00 AM

Branding is a term that was once reserved for business marketing, but it’s expanded far beyond that now. Celebrities and entrepreneurs have personal brands that are as valuable and powerful as the organizations and companies that fill our marketplace. Recently, however, political branding has taken center stage. Applying brand to a political campaign isn’t actually new, but adapting the corporate terminology that surrounds branding is new in the mainstream. (This is, perhaps, most clearly demonstrated by the film, Our Brand Is Crisis, which centers around two consultants who are, essentially, political marketers.)

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Topics: Marketing Strategy, Joplin Market, Government

Put Radio Personalities to Work for Your Business

Posted by Chad Elliot on September 27, 2017 at 8:00 AM

I’ve been in the broadcast industry for nearly 30 years. To this day, I still remember how excited I was to get started. Just imagine, a 19-year-old boy so excited he could barely control himself. I knew I would be talking to thousands of people at once, playing their favorite songs, and keeping them company throughout the nighttime. For a 19-year-old kid, this was a dream come true.

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Topics: Radio Advertising

Why Procter & Gamble Had to Cut Its Digital Budget: Trendy Tools Don’t Mean Winning Results

Posted by Chad Elliot on September 26, 2017 at 8:00 AM

At the end of Q2 2017, Procter & Gamble, the biggest advertiser in the U.S.A., announced that due in part to the fact that it cut back its digital marketing budget by as much as $140 million, it was able to beat earnings expectations. Specifically, despite a slump in consumer spending, P&G reported a 15% rise in all-in net earnings to $2.3 billion, or a percentage point of profit margin, and at least half that gain is a direct impact of cutting its digital advertising budget.

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Topics: Radio Advertising, Marketing Strategy, Marketing ROI, Digital Marketing