Blog - Page 66 of 181 - McLellan Marketing Group

Meet your company’s spokesperson

February 11, 2011

Is he your new spokesperson?

Take a few minutes and walk through your place of business today. Really look at the people who work for you. Your goal — identify the employees who are just there to get the paycheck.

Maybe it’s the 16 year old part-timer who calls in sick about as often as she shows up.
Or the employee who has been there for the past 20 years and is just biding his time until he hits retirement age.
Or the employee who is still bent out of shape because they got passed over for a promotion and goes out of his way to sabotage the woman who got the nod while he looks for another gig.

Congratulations — you just met your organization’s new spokesperson. There is no “off the record” anymore. Because we’re always on the record. Just ask former Congressman Christopher Lee.

The idea that a disgruntled or disengaged employee could say something unfortunate is not new. But in the good old days, they might tell a few friends over a beer or vent to their family, but it was pretty contained and isolated. And as soon as the words left their lips…they evaporated in thin air. No record, no residual.

Not today. Any employee can shoot off their mouth on Facebook, Twitter or another social media outlet and literally infect thousands of people with their opinion in a matter of seconds. And thanks to Google, screen shots, archives and savvy web users — those words never disappear. They are etched in digital stone.

Whether you like it or not, this digital age means that every single employee you have represents you 24/7. On your time, on their time. On your communications tools and on their own.

Before you start breathing into a paper bag — recognize that this isn’t an inherently bad thing. It can be a wonderful thing, if handled right. But it does require that you understand the risks, the potential rewards and how you can set your employees up to be fantastic representatives of your brand.

I will dig into that on Monday, so stay tuned.

More

Learn why we unthink

February 9, 2011

When I finished reading the galley for Harry Beckwith’s latest book, Unthinking, I shot him an e-mail that said:

“Unthinking is a fantastic read. Your other books gave readers the what and sometimes the how — this book provides the why. It’s a perfect companion to your earlier works. What I love most about it is that you follow your own advice — you delight and surprise readers from beginning to end. Storytelling at it’s best!”

As you know, Harry Beckwith is a part of my trifecta of the best business writers I’ve ever read (along with Steve Farber & Joe Calloway) and his new book may be his best. In it, he explores how our mind and experiences “play tricks” on our buying decisions.

Through his brilliant, understated storytelling, Harry shows us what’s behind our consumer behavior and…of course as marketers, how we can use those insights to better connect with and serve our customers. Here are some examples of the stories/lessons you’ll enjoy.

What do Howard Hughes and 50 Cent have in common, and what do they tell us about Americans and our desires?
Why did Sean Connery stop wearing a toupee, and what does this tell us about American customers for any product?
What one thing did the Beatles, Malcolm Gladwell and Nike all notice about Americans that helped them win us over?
Which uniquely American traits may explain the plights of Krispy Kreme, Ford, and GM, and the risks faced by Starbuck’s?
Why, after every other plea failed, did “Click It or Ticket” get people to buy the idea of fastening their seat belts?

Harry would argue that the answers to these questions can be found in our childhood, our culture and from our eye’s view. Drawing from dozens of disciplines, always enlightening Harry Beckwith answers these questions with some surprising, even startling, truths and discoveries about what motivates us.

This is really a must read for anyone who deals with customers. (As are all of his earlier works if you haven’t already read them). Buy it by clicking here. (Amazon affiliate link)

You can also enjoy Harry’s foray into blogging at Psychology Today.

More

Marketing tip #56: Walk a mile in their moccasins

February 8, 2011

I believe this is one of those marketing tips that we all nod our heads at and think, “gosh, I should do that one of these days” but really rarely get around to doing.

We get so caught up in our processes and getting the job done that we forget that we’re doing it “to” and “with” a human being. And those pesky human beings sometimes need a little hand holding or explanation — especially if they’re new to the task.

It’s so easy to get frustrated with yet another question or request that takes you off “the path of the plan.” But honestly — if you find yourself reacting that way — then shame on you. Yes…shame on you.

If a customer is pushing back, or asking more questions or seems unable to pull the trigger it’s because you left something unexplained. The more firmly you dig in your heels and hold them to the process, the more unsure they feel. Which just leads to…yup, more questions and concern. It’s an ugly cycle.

I’m reminded of this truth as we work with a new vendor to McLellan Marketing Group. While they’re quite good at what they do, they have the customer service skills of a grumpy drunk. I have often found myself wondering if they have any concept of what it’s like to work with them. My guess is… no.

Our experience with them has me very mindful of how we’re treating our own clients. Are we taking the time to really walk out the next steps with them? Are we in tune with their hesitations or worries? Do we dismiss their concerns or ideas because “we know” what’s right? And do we even bother to explain the why?

I find myself wanting to be able to experience us… as a new client. What do they see and hear? Do they feel welcome and important? Or do they feel rushed and confused? Are our procedures confusing? Our bills clear? Our gratitude evident?

We can’t step into their shoes, but we can ask for their feedback. We can be more mindful of how it must feel from their position. In our quest to create love affairs with our customers — this would seem to me to be pivotal.

How about you? How do you balance conducting business in a way that is efficient and effective with customer care? How do you stay in touch with what it’s like to do business with you?

More

Drew’s blog gets a makeover!

February 7, 2011

For many of you, my blog comes via your e-mail inbox or RSS feed reader. So you probably haven’t even noticed that something is looking a little different.

I decided it was time to give Drew’s Marketing Minute a fresh look and take advantage of some of the most current technology (plugins etc.) as I made the leap from Typepad to WordPress. We’re still making some minor tweaks, but for the most part — I’m excited to share it with you.

If you’re reading this remotely — give us a click and come tour our new home. As always, I welcome your feedback. Anything you’d add? Or miss from the old version?

More

Best social media/marketing conferences for 2011

February 2, 2011

I often get asked — what social media/marketing conferences should I go to? Ask 100 people, you'll get 100 answers, I suspect.

But here is my answer, based on the following criteria:

~ You are a marketing professional or a business owner who wants to get a handle on how to connect with your prospects and customers through social media and/or content generation or curation. (In other words, you don't make your living just by blogging)

~ You want tangible, practical ideas you can implement when you get back to the office.

~ You want to meet some smart people who live in your world and know your challenges, pain and why you do what you do.

~ You want to hear examples of organizations your size/shape — not just Zappos and Dell.

~ You want to the leaders of the conference to be human, approachable and someone you can/will stay in contact with long after you get home.

If you nodded your head at each of those…. check out these conferences:

SOBCon: April 29-May 1 in Chicago

The speakers are excellent, the topics interesting but what makes this a must do conference is the structure. Lots of "workshop" like small group thinking. You will meet many small business owners and people in the trenches — and you will create new alliances that will serve you for years to come.

MarketingProfs B2B Forum: June 13-15 in Boston (sorry no link for event registration yet, but keep checking here)

These guys always do it right. An incredible array of approachable, knowledgeable speakers, plenty of practical how to stuff and the participants will be people you can steal plenty of ideas from — because they'll gladly share. Tons of resources/ideas will be shared here.

Content Marketing World: Sept 6-8 in Cleveland

From David Meerman Scott, my pal CK Kerley to Ann Handley – the speakers line up is staggering. Lots of B2B thinking here… as well as plenty for you B2C folks. Lots of case studies, and you're going to want to bring two people, just to cover the "how to" break out sessions.

You probably can't go to them all — but do your best to get to at least one. It will be one of the best marketing investments you make all year long.

More

Using personas to shift your focus to the customer

January 31, 2011

If you look at most marketing copy — it's about the "thing" — whatever is being sold. We get features and generic benefits but our focus and the thrust of the message sits squarely on the shoulders of the product or service.

And it's no wonder. When you focus on something, you tend to write/talk about it.

Let's demonstrate.

If I asked you to write a headline for an ad selling these red shoes to the right — what would your headline say?

(Seriously, take a couple minutes and jot a few down…play along!)

Okay, for many of you your headlines probably ran along the lines of:

Isn't it time to get sassy?
Give your feet some sassy for Valentine's Day
Stop traffic without lifting a finger

Nothing wrong with those…but they are a bit generic. They be be speaking to anyone of any age, income bracket, marital status, etc.

Why? Because we don't actually know who we're talking to…other than we probably assumed it was a woman, so the copy tends to be generic. The more generic your audience (in your mind) the more generic the copy. Which forces us to focus on the "thing."

Which is why personas are so critical to your marketing success. Do you know who your business is talking to? And don't say everyone. Every business should know who their best customers are. These are the people who create the core of your customer base. Creating personas based on this customer base is critical to targeting your message. I wrote about personas and shared some examples a few years back. (click on the link to read).

Let's try the shoe example again but now I'm going to tell you about the customer. Her name is Leslie and she's 15. She's in that awkward half girl/half woman stage and she wants to grow up so badly. She's a good kid, active in school and loves to hang at the mall with her friends. She spends much of her free time texting, reading fashion magazines and watching MTV's reality shows.

I could add (and should if this was a real persona) much more depth but you get the idea. Now try your headline again.

Mine might be: Your dad is going to hate these shoes

Very specific and very much about my audience — rather than about the product. That's what personas do. They shift our focus to the prospect rather us talking about ourselves. You can't create a love affair with a generic customer. Getting to know your personas and really seeing them as a living, breathing person

Using personas is a very helpful trick for writing stronger copy, creating content that gets shared, developing customer service programs, making your website sticky and driving sales. If you haven't developed 3-4 personas for your brand — put it on your to do list for Q1 of 2011. It will make the rest of the Q's

P.S. If you want more info on personas, Marketing Profs is doing a webinar on February 10th specifically about the topic.

More

Marketing tip #4: Better pay attention to mobile

January 28, 2011

About 12 months ago, people thought I was crazy for launching the Drew McLellan app for both the iPhone and the Droid (download it for free by clicking on the link in the sidebar) but I was just jumping on a trend's tsunami of a wave — all to get my ideas and recommendations out to you.

If you prefer to access information with your smart phone, I want to be there too. It's that simple. Is your company thinking along the same lines?

The trend's wave, if anything, is getting larger. The usage numbers are staggering and I think we're at the tip of the iceberg here. Watch this short video and imagine the numbers in 2 or 5 years. (e-mail subscribers, click here to view the video)

If you haven't asked yourself and your team these questions — you'd better get to it:

How are we going to reach our customers, prospects and/or employees via mobile?
How quickly can we get started?
Are our competitors already using mobile? How far behind are we?
If we'd be first — how far ahead would we be?

Experts predict that by 2020, most of us will be using our mobile device as our primary tool for accessing the web.

Will you be on board with mobile by then?

More

Do you know who you’re selling to?

January 27, 2011

Selling isn't a one size fits all proposition. I'm not telling you anything new when I say — the more you know about your prospect, the better the experience for all concerned.

We've all read the sales books that talk about being observant when you walk into someone's office. You know — noting that they have pictures of their Irish Setter, their golf outings and their twin boys on their desk — you strike up conversations about those interests and make a connection between you and the prospect.

That's all well and good but especially if you have a product/service with a long sales cycle you'd better know who they are long before you step foot in their office.

RainToday ran a very smart article that talked about the 8 buyer personas. (click on the link to read) The article describes each personas' personality and how to best sell to them. Well worth the read. You will meet:

Decisive Danielle
Collaborative Claire
Relationship Renee
Skeptical Steve
Gradual Greg
Warp 9 Walt
Analytical Al
Innovator Irene

But for many of us — in this world of social media, consumer driven content and a 24/7 world — we start talking to our customers before they're even on the radar screen as a customer. They're aware of us long before we're aware of them.

How do you make sure you're talking to them about what matters? One of my favorite ways is to create personas…not based on their buying style but based on who they are and what they care about. I wrote about that, using this blog as an example several years ago. (click on the link to read)

I have to tell you, as this blog has grown and gained more attention — I still write for Ian, Erin and Patrick with every post. And I'm guessing you are very much like one of them or you wouldn't keep coming back.

Keep in mind what selling is all about. (or at least my opinion of what it's all about) It's about putting yourself out there as you genuinely are and inviting people in for a look. If you attract the right people — they'll buy.

As I said in the opening paragraph — the more you know about your prospects, the better the experience. Part of what makes that experience good is that you aren't trying to sell ice to eskimos. You're attracting the right kinds of buyers — people and companies who truly need or want what you sell. You don't have to ram it down their throats. People hate being sold to — but they want to buy.

Use both versions of personas (mine and RainToday's) to have a good, honest conversation with the right prospects. Talk about them, what they care about, and where they need some help.

Then, be ready to make the sale.

Remember — RainToday is closing their Selling Consulting Services course on Friday, January 28th. You can check it out here. Once you click the link, you can also download their free report (whether you sign up for the course or not) The New Rules of Selling Consulting Services in 2011.

Full Disclosure: While RainToday has offered to pay me a small commission if anyone signs up for the course, I am sharing this with you because I think you’ll find tremendous value in it. Otherwise, I wouldn't put your trust on the line.

More

Walt Disney’s marketing tips

January 24, 2011

My greatest teacher when it comes to all things marketing was not a professor or professional mentor.

It was Walt Disney.

Somehow, in the midst of ROI, measurability, counting clicks and studies that can track a person’s eye movements to see what part of an ad captures their attention first — we have forgotten that marketing and branding is ultimately about wooing and winning someone’s heart.

But Walt never did.

At MMG, we talk a lot about creating a love affair with your customer… but Walt knocked it out of the park and his cast members continue to do it today, with every guest interaction and every new story told.

A few years ago, in the midst of one of our annual pilgrimages to the Mouse, I wrote a series of blog posts that later became an e-book spotlighting some of the many ways that Walt Disney demonstrated his marketing chops.

These are tips that any business — B2B or B2C — can employ. I'd love to share it with you and have you share it with others.

Download it by clicking on the link: Walt Disney's marketing tips

A hat tip and a hug to CK for being the one who said… "you know, this would make an awesome ebook" way back when.

More

Groupon: Winner or Goat?

January 22, 2011

The whole world is abuzz about Groupon. And who doesn't love $10 worth of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream for $5? But is Groupon right for your business?

Groupon and other social-coupon sites (like LivingSocial and SocialBuy) all work the same way — a specified number of people have to pre-purchase the coupon for the deal to be activated. In theory, that's how everyone wins. Groupon makes a prescribed amount, the buyers get a super deal and the retailer gets a guaranteed influx of cash and in theory, new customers.

But it's not always a bed of roses. You've probably heard the nightmare of a story from Posie's Cafe and their Groupon experience. Many businesses are declaring themselves "not interested" and as Chicago wine and cheese shop owner Greg O'Neil states — why replace full margin business with lower margin business?"

As with most things, there isn't a one size fits all answer. My Age of Conversation co-author and Texas based marketing guy Jay Ehret believes social coupons aren't smart for most businesses. On the flip side, Duct Tape Marketer John Jantsch gives it a thumbs up.

There are plenty of studies and academic opinions on the topic too. Check out what Harvard Business School and Rice University had to say.

But…is it right for you? Here are the big pros and cons, as I see them.

Pro:

Big advertising boost. Groupon subscribers number in the tens of thousands or more in most cities. This is a very efficient way to generate a significant word of mouth buzz, especially if you get creative in your offer.

Exposure to many new customers. It stands to reason that you're going to see a lot of new people coming through the door. Impress them and hopefully they'll come back again and pay full price.

A way to test a new product or service. Want to know if the market is interested in something new? If the Groupon coupon tips — you might well have a winner!

Con:

Does the math work? Keep in mind that Groupon takes a pretty good sized cut. Half the rate charged plus 2.5% interest per transaction. (Here's a Groupon ROI calculator you can use). So depending on your cost of goods and how many people actually redeem the coupon, you could lose your shirt like Posie's Cafe.

What does it do to your customer/vendor/employee experience? Can your business handle a huge influx of buyers? How will the increased traffic impact your loyal customers? Your vendors? Your employees? Be sure you take all of that into account before you sign up.

What does it say about your brand? Do you want to be seen as a deep discounter? Does offering a 50% off price say something about your quality, margin or pricing strategy? How will your regulars feel about the fact that they've been paying full price all this time?

Lots of opinions out there but really, it's something you need to examine for your specific business. Use the ROI calculator, weigh the pros and cons… and make the call.

The cartoon is courtesy of Tom Fishburne, the Marketoonist.

More