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Marketing tip #83: Less but better

February 29, 2012

I just wrapped up a 4-part webinar that focused on creating a marketing plan that you’ll actually use.  The final element we covered was marketing tactics.

Now that I know why I am doing this (goals), who I am talking to (best customers), what to say to them (key messaging), how much I can afford to spend (lifetime value of a customer) and the stories I can tell to generate interest, word of mouth and attraction — WHAT am I going to do?

Most people are looking for some secret answer.  The one marketing tactic that they hadn’t heard about or the trick to doing something in a way that no one else has heard of.  That’s actually not the secret.

The secret is — before you add more marketing tactics, take the time to examine what you’re already doing and ask yourself — could we do this better?

You’re far better off to do fewer things but do them better.  Less but better is greater than more.  Seriously – repeat after me.  Less but better is greater than more.

Look at the marketing tactics you’re already deploying.  Could you do it:

• Better?
• More often?
• More consistently?
• More fun/funny/memorable?
• More professional look/feel?
• Shift from being about us to being about them?
• More storytelling and less telling?
• Give up some control and let your audience drive the conversation?

Before you add a thing — add some quality, value and depth to what you’re already doing.  That may be exactly what needed to be added.

No small business has the resources (time or money) to be everywhere.  So be significant and memorable in the few places you choose to be.  Less but better really is greater than more.

 

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What are the digital jobs of the future?

February 27, 2012

What digital talent will be in demand down the road?

Wondering where the marketing and digital marketing jobs will be down the road?

Look no further than this chart.

As you can see, content creators/writers are in huge demand right now.  With the push to creating quality content, I don’t suspect this need will diminish any time soon.

I’m pleased and relieved to see that strategic planning/thinking is still in demand as well.  I worry that too many companies will leap without looking simply because digital/social is easy and/or cheap.  It doesn’t matter how fast you can climb a ladder if you’ve propped it against the wrong building.

Whether you’re a college student trying to decide how to direct your studies, a marketing professional thinking about course corrections or you’re responsible for hiring within your agency or corporation — this is your future.  Better introduce yourself.

Note: This chart is part of the 2012 edition of The SoDA Report, from the Society of Digital Agencies.*

*If you haven’t heard of SoDA — the Society of Digital Agencies was created five years ago to advance the industry through best practices, education and advocacy. Their membership is made up of digital agencies and production companies throughout the world, on five continents in 24 countries.

They also have a Peer Collaboration Group program with 350 members across 12 disciplines.

For the last four years, they’ve done this research and produced the SoDA report. (click here to download the entire 96 page 2012 report)

In terms of who participate in the research: 53% of the participants were marketers representing corporate brands (25%), consumer brands (30%) and other related industries (45%). The remaining 47% were creative service leaders from traditional agencies (23%), digital agencies (64%) and production companies (13%).

Over 76% of respondents were key decision makers and influencers (CMOs, senior executives, VPs and directors) with annual marketing budgets ranging from under US$1M to over US$100M and whose key markets are North America (57%), Europe (19%) and APAC (11%).

 

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Let’s talk business, social and joy!

February 25, 2012

I’m fortunate that I am invited to guest blog in some of the most prominent and cool spots on the web.

Every once in awhile, those opportunities converge and it’s raining Drew‘s thinking everywhere you turn.

Come join in these conversations around the web:

Marketing Profs Daily Fix: In this post, I suggest that many business owners would be smart to think differently about how size matters.  By staying focused on your organization’s sweet spot — you can actually get smaller while your profits, reputation and opportunities get bigger.

Come read what I had to say and join in the conversation by clicking here.

Marketing Executive’s Networking Group’s Blend: In the social media space, we sure seem fascinated with toy talk.  Pinterest is our latest obsession.  But we often lose sight of the most important social media tool of all.  Do you have it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  Click here to read/share.

IowaBiz:  Some companies just exude a cultural joy that makes you want to do business with them.  And guess what — that doesn’t come from some company manual or marketing plan.  It comes from letting the employees share their genuine joy.

Come see a very real example of this sort of joy and tell us where else you’ve see it by clicking here.

I’d love it if you wanted to jump into any or all of these conversations!

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How tweet chats work

February 22, 2012

Have you wanted to attend a Tweet Chat but weren’t sure how it worked?  You are not alone, my friend.  Let me see if I can boil it down.

Tweet Chat:  A moderated discussion that happens on Twitter.  They range from business focused topics like leadership (like the one led by Lisa Petrilli and Steve Woodruff) and blogging (like the mega popular BlogChat led by Mack Collier) to crime news and gardening.  And everything in between.

Here’s how it works:  You find a tweet chat that interests you by scrolling through the list kept on Google Docs or one of your favorite bloggers might mention (or host) one.

Each chat has its own hashtag (like #blogchat) so you can follow along.  To participate — you can do that in several ways.

1) Within Twitter itself, you can click on the #hashtag and you’ll see all the recent tweets using that hashtag.  But if it’s a popular one, that gets crazy in a hurry.

2) You can use a tool like Tweetchat.com (there are plenty of others too) to follow the conversation (by entering the chat’s hashtag, it searches for and scrolls the conversation for you).  You can just listen or jump in.

If you’re going to participate, there are some expectations:

• Use the hashtag if you’re asking a question of the moderator (or another chatter)
• If you’re responding to something that was said, use the person’s Twitter handle and the hashtag (if what they said is too long to RT and respond)
• Retweeting is welcomed and encouraged to invite your network into the conversation
• It’s not cool to go off topic and use the hashtag
• It’s even less cool to use a chat to market your wares

That’s it.  Very simple and a great way to extend your Twitter network, smarts and typing skills!

Looking for some chats that might be up your alley?  Check out this list: 25 twitter chats every entrepreneur must know.

 

 

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What is the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement?

February 20, 2012

This seems to be a question that torments organizations of all kinds and size.

What is the difference between a mission statement and a vision statement?

Here’s how we explain it to clients:

Your mission is what you do best every single day, and your vision is what the future will be like because you deliver on that mission so brilliantly every day.

Each one should be no more than 10 words apiece.  No long paragraphs, no lengthy missives.  Not 3 things or 5 things.

10 words for each.

Can you do it?

 

 

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The psychology of color

February 13, 2012

Color (or the lack of color) triggers a very powerful emotional response in us.  We can use insight as we select company colors, design logos, create ads, build websites and even create products.

Check out this fascinating infographic on how we react to color.

 

Bravo to CertaPro Painters for creating this and Cool Infographics for originally sharing it.

Related articles

• The Psychology Of Color In Design | designrfix.com (designrfix.com)

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Put your email auto response to work

February 11, 2012

With the volume of emails we all get every day, we can’t afford to let our emails go unattended.  We don’t want the people who email us to think we’re ignoring them, so if we’re going to be out of the office — most of us use some sort of an automated response system.

You know what I’m talking about:  “I will be out of the office until Tuesday, March 3rd.  If you need assistance, please call my co-worker Biff at 555-123-4567.”

And that does the trick.  They don’t freak out if we don’t answer within an hour or two.

But if you’re at a conference, spending the day shooting a TV spot or attending a strategic planning retreat (or doing anything else that establishes your expertise) why not let your your email auto response do some marketing for you?

I’ve spent the last couple days conducting a workshop.  During the workshop, I emailed a link to the participants and got this back from one of them:

I am attending a conference of leading PR/MarCom agencies from around the country to discuss new MarCom trends and techniques and will be out of the office through Friday, February 10th. 

I will be checking my email periodically.

Brilliant!  What did this auto response tell this person’s email senders?

• That he’s considered one of the leading PR/MarCom agency professionals in the country (otherwise, he wouldn’t have been invited)
• That he’s honing his skills and staying current
• That he believes in investing in his professional development

Who wouldn’t want to work with him?  We certainly get a better sense of who he is and what he’s about than if he’d used the standard language.

Often we think marketing has to be complicated, expensive or done over a long period of time.  But every once in awhile — it can be just this simple.

How could you leverage this idea?

~ Drew

 

Stock photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

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The 5 things that will derail your marketing in 2012

February 8, 2012

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade but the truth is — most organizations’ marketing efforts stink.  And they stink for reasons well within the marketing department’s control.

If you’re worried that your own efforts might fall short — beware of these five danger zones that can derail you in a blink!

Inconsistency:  Does your monthly newsletter go out 5 times a year?  Does your copy tone/style fluctuate between somber and casual?  Are your weekly sales calls happening every week?

Inconsistency not only waters down your results but it also waters down your brand. If you can’t get your newsletter out on time — why in the world would I, a prospective customer, think you can deliver what you want to sell me on time?

Not having a plan:  One contributing factor to inconsistency is the wishy washiness that comes from winging it.  Without a document that maps out where you are going…in the rush of the day, you end up on detours you never intended.  Or worse, you end up on the sidelines trying to figure out your next move, rather than moving forward.

A marketing plan doesn’t have to be a leather bound edition, but it does need to be in writing and it needs to be something you reference at your weekly/regular marketing meetings.

Trying to do too much:  I want to hear a collective sigh of relief as you read this.  You simply cannot do it all.  So stop trying.  You are far better off to do a few things consistently and well, than try to manage too many marketing tactics.

The average sized organization can only successfully produce and monitor a handful of initiatives at once.  So plan it out carefully so you can deliver consistency and quality.  Every time.  That will be far more impressive than doing more every once in awhile.

Not matching your budget with your appetite:  I see this happen all the time.  A big company is stingy with their marketing dollars and does so little, they don’t even show up on the radar screen.  Or the flip side — a small company saves up all their pennies and launches a huge splash but can only sustain it for 60 days and then goes quiet.

Marketing is for the long haul.  You need to know you can sustain your efforts or their effect will be fleeting.

You.  Yup, I said it.  You’re actually the biggest risk to the marketing efforts.  Why? Because you know when you’re doing something that isn’t going to work.  You know what you can and can’t pull off.  You know that you talk about yourself too and don’t talk with the audience  about the stuff they care about enough. You know you should spend/do more and be more consistent.  Maybe you even know you can’t do it by yourself but you’re too cheap to hire some help (either staff or an agency).

So what are you going to do to get out of your own way?

What do you think?  Would you have a different set of obstacles?  Want to add any to my list?

Stock photograph courtesy of Big Stock Photo

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Crisis communications – don’t wait to create a plan

February 6, 2012

Does your organization have a crisis communications plan that you could actually put into action at this very moment?

All of the hubub surrounding the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding Planned Parenthood and then their reversal of that decision following a 72+ hour firestorm of public outrage should have scared the bejesus out of you.

If an organization as large, powerful and well respected as Komen can get into that much hot water — and is that ill-prepared to handle it then what in the world would happen to you if there was an accident on your job site, if your CFO embezzled funds or if made a mistake that cost your client a huge sum of money?

Don’t be so naive to think your organization is immune to a crisis that would put you in the crosshairs of the media and the public.

Odds are you are not well prepared.  You don’t have a real plan.  You aren’t ready to respond.  Can you say, Danger Will Robinson? (a reference for my 40+ crowd)

One of the presentations I am often asked to give at conferences etc. is on this very topic.  I decided to share it with you here so you can liberally steal some ideas that will help you get your organization prepared. (email subscribers — click here)

In the presentation, I outline the 5 key elements to a successful crisis communications plan.

1. Be prepared – you can’t wait until you are in crisis.  News today is spread in seconds, not days.
2. Listen and monitor – be on the look out for trouble before it hits.  Put out the single flame before it becomes an inferno.
3. Be human and humane – everyone makes mistakes.  But you’ll be judged by how you handle the mistake.
4. Over communicate — silence or “no comment” don’t fly.
5. Create community – build supporters and advocates before you need them.

[slideshare id=11418636&doc=crisiscommunications-120204101816-phpapp02]

We’re doing a lot of this sort of planning with clients today.  But most companies will choose not to invest the time and energy, thinking it will never happen to them.

Don’t be that foolish.

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Don’t add frill until your core is rock solid

February 2, 2012

A couple times a month a cleaning company comes into our house and does a deep clean.

Every time I walk into the house after they’ve cleaned… the toilet paper rolls and tissues sticking out of the boxes are folded in some sort of origami art.  Sometimes, they leave a truffle on the kitchen counter.

I get what they’re trying to do.  And it’s a lovely little extra.  Unfortunately, I also find things like:

• Every waste basket in the wrong spot (they’ve been cleaning the house for over a year)
• The back door unlocked or a window left open
• A few lights left on
• Bathroom area rugs still hanging on the door (where they put it while they cleaned the floor)
• Cleaning supplies left in random places because they forgot to pack them up

The net result?  I walk around the house, fixing what is wrong and being frustrated that these simple things can’t be mastered.  It’s not that the house isn’t clean — it’s that they don’t care enough to do a final walk through and put the house back in order.

And when I see the origami art — I think “if they can take the time to fold my Kleenex, why can’t they take the time to put the rug back on the floor?”  I suspect that’s not the reaction they’re going for.

Here’s the lesson for all of us.  Everyone is looking to include some value add into their offerings.  But you can’t do that if you’re not already knocking it out of the park on your basic services/product.

You can put lipstick on a pig…but that doesn’t change the fact that underneath is still a pig. Before you add any window dressing — do a tune up in these boring, mundane but necessary areas:

• Billing/Invoicing
• Production schedules/On time delivery
• Customer service — access to real people
• Operations — do you do what you say you’ll do when and how you said you’d do it?
• Ease of use — are you easy to do business with (functioning website, phone gets answered etc.)

 

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