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"Tired of being overwhelmed by marketing advice? Customer, LLC: The Small Business Guide to Customer Engagement & Marketing" was written to help small business owners break up with overly complicated, time-consuming, and distracting marketing advice. Customer LLC provides a simple perspective that can organize all of your marketing strategies into a powerful plan that will give your small business a realistic, but powerful advantage without breaking your budget, to-do list, or stress level.

Customer LLC: The Small Business Guide to Customer Engagement & Marketingis designed for small business owners who want effective marketing that doesnt feature a call to action on every single social media channel or online outlet. It redirects attention away from the distracting chase of higher social media numbers (without the accompanying increase in revenue) towards a more comprehensive and budget-friendly system that helps small businesses connect with customers on a deeper level in the era where customer loyalty can change with a click.

Customer LLC wants small business owners to stop chasing Facebook Likes and Twitter Retweets. It offers recommendations for marketing strategies to hold a customers attention beyond a momentary click. Small businesses, author Hilary Berman suggests, should focus on their distinctive area of expertise, customer expertise. While big businesses, like Amazon and Google, can collect boatloads of data on customers, they cant match the unique experience and relationships offered by a small business.

This distinctive combination of customer expertise and relationships mixed with technology is the key to small business competitiveness in Customer LLC.

For small businesses to leverage their competitive advantage, they need to use their marketing resources (money, time, ideas) effectively. Using these resources effectively requires small business owners pay attention to their customers and allow this relationship to direct their efforts. Instead of placing all of their bets on time-consuming or expensive marketing campaigns, small business owners should invest their primary efforts in becoming customer-centric. Customer-centricity, as defined in the book, is a whole-business approach that focuses on optimizing the entire customer experience rather than aspects of it. For example, a restaurant that engages its Twitter audience through coupons but then charges them for parking would not fall under the category of customer-centric.

Customer LLC helps small business owners take a look at all of the traditional marketing advice (social media, newsletters, etc.) to see if it applies to small businesses in the same way. Small businesses dont have the same resources as a large business, the book argues. A small business isnt left hopeless, however. It can tap into its greatest asset (customers), however, and achieve a closer and more fulfilling relationship than a large business ever could.

Bermanis the founder of Popcorn and IceCream, a business providing marketing consulting for small businesses. Berman graduated from Syracuse University and began her career on Madison Avenue. She is the mother of three budding entrepreneurs.

In a confusing (and growing) wave of marketing advice, Customer LLC offers a beacon of hope for small business owners. The distinctive factor in this book is that the author tackles a big chunk of marketing advice from a small business owners perspective. Instead of focusing exclusively on social media or advertising, the book delves into the underlying principle behind it all. In other words, Customer LLC is designed to help small business owners, no matter what technology or type of marketing is popular at the moment. That is a definite plus because many small businesses fear getting left behind.

Customer LLC is not designed to be a comprehensive marketing guide. Instead, it is designed to demonstrate how small businesses can use a specific strategy (customer centricity) to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. It is not designed to provide an in-depth guide to each section. A brief look at Chapter 21 (Pay for Play) would show this. The chapter, which covers advertising, trade shows, community events and sponsorship, introduces the topic but does not even come close to digging into the resources or strategies for getting started. The point is to introduce readers to the various options available.

Customer LLC is the perfect book for the small business owner who knows marketing is important but has no clue about how to tie it all together. Customer LLC demonstrates how one simple approach, customer-centricity, can be used in strategies that can fit every single budget, whether your marketing budget is zero or a million dollars. It untangles small business owners from the confusing advice and brings marketing back down to Earth. At the end of the day, Customer LLC continually reminds readers, marketing isnt about the number of Likes you get on a Facebook post. Its about the amount of revenue that is generated by those customers behind those Likes.

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Customer LLC: Moving From Social Media Hype to Deeper Customer Expertise - Small Business Trends

In a world where (according to an Adweek study), over 90 percent of businesses say social media is crucial to their overall marketing strategies, solopreneurs arguably have the most to gain and lose via social networks.

Related: 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing

Sure, those platforms often have a reputation for being total time-sinks or wastelands of marketing ROI. But savvy solopreneurs understand how to use platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to spread the word about their businesses. In many cases, these same solopreneurs are growing those businesses and bottom lines without spending a dime.

But, when you're using social media to pursue networking opportunities or seal the deal with new customers, how do you know whether you're using your time wisely or merely spinning your wheels?

Fear not. The following checklist is a guide for solopreneurs looking to pinpoint their social strategy and use their time on these platforms wisely, to build their investment in their business.

Simply put, you need to decide on a single social channel that's going to command most of your attention. That's not to say you can't focus on both Facebook and Instagram, for example, but trying to be in multiple places at once will inevitably burn you out.

For many solopreneurs in the B2B space, Facebook is the number one channel to focus your efforts. There's a good chance that your clients and customers are already connected to the platform in some way, shape or form, especially considering that users spend an average of 50 minutes on Facebook per day.

Niche businesses, however, are booming on Instagram, especially those within B2C industries such as fashion and beauty. Growing and monetizing Instagram followers is arguably easier than ever; meanwhile, Instagram has one of the highest average order values via ecommerce, at $65 per order.

When in doubt, you can pick your primary channel by answering one simple question: "Where are my clients and customers hanging out?" If there's a clear answer, then you know where to start.

Despite popular belief, you don't need to be active on each and every social site. In fact, there are no "must-have" networks for solopreneurs, truth be told.

Related: Don't Believe Those Reports You're Hearing About the Death of Social-Media Marketing

But, think about it: There's absolutely no way you can effectively manage a presence simultaneously on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and LinkedIn by yourself. If you try, you'll neglect at least half of your social sites.

Solopreneurs have two options when it comes to attacking the various social channels available.

For example, apps such as Buffer and Sprout Social allow solopreneurs to curate and queue content to their social network of choice without lifting a finger. While such solutions do require a monetary investment, they allow your brand to be in multiple places at once, so to speak.

The old adage, "Always be prospecting," rings incredibly true for today's solopreneurs on social media.

There are seemingly endless opportunities to connect with new clients, win over customers and share your business's content all at once. Private Facebook groups based around your industry represent potential gold mines of new business. Likewise, sites such as LinkedIn put you on the same level as CEOs and industry bigwigs.

Oftentimes, making yourself heard via social media means playing the role of a bigwig yourself. By positioning yourself as an influencer, you grow your authority within your niche and make yourself more attractive to potential clients and customers. Some smart yet simple positioning strategies on social media include:

Any combination of these strategies not only puts your name out there, but also publicly displays your commitment to your industry.

Especially if you're a new solopreneur, social media represents a great place to curate social proof on behalf of your business.

Ever leave a comment that got tons of positive feedback? Created pieces of content that just about went viral? Have clients who've given you a digital "thumbs up" or a public "thank you" via social?

If so, you can use such social proof as a way to seal the deal with future clients and customers. By highlighting your positive social experiences either on site or throughout your marketing materials, you can break down the trust barrier for any skeptics who may not think you're the real deal.

This point is crucial but so easy to ignore: Something as simple as your professional headshot can make all the difference when it comes to networking via social media.

If you want to be taken seriously, present yourself accordingly. Bathroom selfies and party pics aren't going to cut it if you really want to make an impression on your audience.

Finally, don't let your social presence fall to the wayside. Period.

Consistency is key to gaining followers and traction via social: The more you post, the more you will grow an audience that's hungry for what you have to say.

Related: How Social Media Marketing Generated $7 Million in Affiliate Sales for This Entrepreneur

On the flip side, if a certain channel is netting you absolutely no engagement, don't be afraid to cut it loose for the sake of your time and energy.

Today's solopreneurs are living and dying by their social presence. By sticking to this checklist, you can save yourself from scrambling for a social strategy and focus on what really matters: growing your business.

Nathan Chan is the publisher ofFoundr Magazine, a digital magazine for young, aspiring and novice stage entrepreneurs. He has had the pleasure of interviewing rock star business leaders to find out what it takes to become a successful...

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The 7-Point Smart Solopreneuer Social Media Checklist - Entrepreneur

Asos has admitted that while it relies heavily on social media to communicate with and market to its millions of customers, its relationship with sites such as Facebook and Instagram is not always straightforward.

Speaking on a results call yesterday (13 July) following Asoss third quarter results, CEO Nick Beighton said: [Going forward] we dont know whether [social media] will be a drag or an enabler. But certainly with potential buy buttons coming through social media, they are actually attempting to capture the customer journey; thats a potential threat but also an enabler.

Beighton added that there is not a binary answer as to whether social media would continue to have a positive impact on the company. Asos has more than 20 million followers on social media on every conceivable channel because Beighton believes it is important to be wherever its customers are.

And despite concerns about the threat it could pose, Asos plans to migrate more of its marketing effort from email to social.

READ MORE:Amazon takes on Asos with the launch of Prime Wardrobe

Email is still a very effective communications tool but actually well be migrating far more of that through social, some of which is free, paid social and through digital marketing, explained Beighton.

Well also just re-evaluate what we do with marketing going forward, the role of marketing and whether we try out some things we havent tried for a while.

Beightons comments come as Asoss sales surged in the four months to the end of June on the back of strong international sales and Asos holding its price when other online retailers increased theirs.

The retailer also credited its focus on customer experience, which Beighton said had moved to a whole different game due to artificial intelligence (AI) and data science.

Every customers that comes through the app is getting a better experience the next time they come in and actually the journey they are following is enhancing the journey for the next person. Thats where data usage through data science and AI will go, he said.

Asos implemented 300 tech updates (not including things like bug fixes) in the quarter and Beighton expects this number to rise as the pace of change in digital increases. For example, visual search is now live in the UK and the retailer is using AI and data to personalise that further.

READ MORE:Asos on the shortfalls of Amazon and Netflix-style personalisation

It is also testing a virtual assistant dubbed Ava (for Asos virtual assistant) that Beighton called pretty amazing and is using data and AI tech to give customers greater confidence in the sizes of its products.

We have continued to innovate at an even faster pace across all areas of our business, from product to technology to proposition. This sets us up really well for the future, Beighton concluded.

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Asos: We don't know if social media is a threat or an enabler - Marketing Week

Before the internet took over the economy, "marketing" used to mean spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a creative team, communications staff, and messaging. And that's before the billboards, print ads, and TV spots necessary to get a brand in front consumer eye-balls.

Now all thats changedtheres been a major disruption, says Mike Heller, founder and CEO of Talent Resources , in an interview with Fortune senior editor Anne VanderMey. When you have an influencer that has 30 million followers, 20 million, five millionthats more powerful than any of the other traditional media outlets out there."

Talent Resources, a company with an inconspicuously understated name, is one of a number of new firms now transforming the advertising industry by championing the new, growing business of influencer marketing.

Influencer marketing capitalizes on social media's reach, by paying Internet celebrities of varied levels of fameincluding pets to tout products in their social media accounts to their followers. It's gaining popularity among brands who would rather not shell out for the relatively inefficient and hard-to-measure traditional advertising tactics. Even Internet behemoth Amazon is looking to recruit influencers with its recently launched social influencer program .

One key advantage, other than the relatively lower costs and ease of production, is that influencer posts dont get shut down by ad blockers and can be highly targeted. People trust and identify with the celebrities they follow, which often means they'll like the same brands favored by their favorite starsas long as the brand aligns with the influencers lifestyle. Weve turned down millions of dollars on products that just arent aligned with the talent and their lifestyle, says Heller. It has to be authentic.

Influencer advertising certainly raises some ethical concerns. While the consumer thinks theyre looking at the Instagram feed of people whose style and lifestyle they admire, they might in fact be looking at a feed of advertisements. One of the most recent examples is the lawsuit against the now-infamous Fyre Festival , where numerous celebrity influencers such as Kendall Jenner and other Instagram stars were paid to tout the ultra-exclusive and expensive music festival, which turned out to be less glam than advertised , and the celebrities paid were not even at the festival.

Of course, social media itself is not exactly authentic in the first place, and looking at someones social media posts is basically looking at a manufactured version of what they want to display of their lives, complete with image filters and other enhancements that show them in the best light. That's legal, of course, but when money changes hands it a different story. The FTC requires such advertising to be disclosed to the users, though the sheer number and speed of production of such posts can make it hard to oversee. In April, the FTC published a press release to remind influencers and brands to disclose their connections.

Legal technicalities aside, the influencer marketing trend seems to be here to stay and is expected to become a $5 to $10 billion market within the next five years, according to mediakix .

For the inside track on how the sausage gets made, watch our interview with Talent Resources founder and CEO Mike Heller above.

Link:
Brands Are Relying on 'Influencer' Marketing More Than Ever - Fortune

Segment has raised $64 million in Series C funding, with the Y Combinator Continuity Fund and GV leading the round.

The continuity fund is the $700 million fund led by former Twitter COO Ali Rowghani. It selectively writes checks for YC startups as they raise bigger rounds.

As part of the deal, Rowghani will be joining Segments board of directors. In the funding announcement, he said the startup is on a path to be among the most successful Y Combinator companies.

Three of Segments founders, including CEO Peter Reinhardt, dropped out of MIT to participate in YCs summer 2011 program. The companys products allow businesses to send their online data to different analytics and marketing tools, and to combine that data with customer information from services like Stripe, Salesforce, Mailchimp and Zendesk.

Reinhardt argued that the need for this kind of data infrastructure is only growing.

For the last five years, a lot of investors have been saying that at some point, this industry needs to consolidate you cant have more and more email marketing tools, he said. But instead, Companies are piecing together these best-in-class tools rather than these broad suites People like more and more specialized, niche tools for companies of their size or their geography or their industry.

And as companies employ a broader arsenal of marketing and analytics products, Reinhardt wants Segment to serve as their central customer data platform.

The product is already used by more than 15,000 customers, including Intuit, Atlassian and Gap. Reinhardt said that while Segment was initially adopted by startups, theres a big opportunity in selling the technology to large enterprises.

Hes also hoping to see Segment turn into a broader platform, where third parties can build products that tap into its data he said there are already more than 200 tools built on top of Segment, with 30 percent of them created by partners, rather than Segment itself.

The new round brings Segments total funding to $109 million. Previous investors Accel, Thrive Capital, SV Angel, and NEA also participated.

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Marketing data startup Segment raises $64M - TechCrunch