Marketing

In lead generation — knowing your target matters

March 15, 2007

We’ve talked about it before — people don’t like to do business with strangers.

And they don’t like to be called "hey you!" or by the wrong name.  Which means knowing who they are and what actually matters to them –should matter to us.

RainToday.com‘s new research report’s (What’s Working In Lead Generation) 2nd insight is all about the customer.  And how well we know them.

 

No big surprises here.  The more you know about your prospect, the more successful you will be.  So why do you keep sending out the "dear neighbor" or worse — "dear customer" communications?

Marketing isn’t rocket science. But it does require some sweat equity and effort.  You need to qualify your lists.  Is that some heavy lifting?  Sure.  But the chart above shows you that you’ll enjoy a 40% increase in lead generation if you actually know the name of the decision maker. Isn’t that margin of success worth the extra effort?

Note:  The full RainToday.com report shares 6 key insights which I’ll be exploring over the next several days with you.  In the meantime, if you’d like to download their free 21-page summary, you can grab it here.

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A shirt only a mother could love!

March 14, 2007

                     

                                                       

Do you think anyone has actually bought one of these?  (Shhh, I am getting my mom one for Mother’s Day!)

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It isn’t easy being green

March 14, 2007

                                                                                                 

Does your company turn your competitors green with envy?  If not — why not?   

And what are you going to do about it?  How could you become more enviable?

flickr photo courtesy of hey joe…

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What’s memorable about you? (part one)

March 12, 2007

If you had a client/customer who took their business to a competitor for a year or two and then decided to come back…how would they complete this sentence… 

"Do you guys still….."

What do you do for/with your clients that is so memorable that even 2 years later, they’d hope it was still part of your company’s culture?

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Sampler platter marketing?

March 10, 2007

Last night, I ate at a restaurant called Buddakan.  It’s offers modern Asian cuisine and since I was part of a large group (15) they served everything family style.  But their version of family style was lots and lots of small sampler sized items.  Everyone got to try a little of everything, but no one felt "stuck" eating just one thing.

Which got me thinking.  First about my agency brothren and sisters:

How good are we, as agencies, at offering clients that option?  Do you offer a "sampler platter" of marketing tactics or must a new client sign on for the whole kit n’ kaboodle?  Can a prospect take you on a test drive?

For the non-agency readers: 

How about you?  Does anyone in your industry offer a bite of this and a bite of that so the customer can determine the best option?  If no one is doing it, is it worth trying?

I wonder if this strategy isn’t a reasonable one for a business whose price of entry scares off otherwise viable prospects.  What do you think?

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Steve Jobs – $400 million smart

March 10, 2007

The front page of US Today’s Money section offers Apple a big pat on the back for their iPhone launch in January.

The article quotes a Harvard Business School professor who says that Apple has generated over $400 million in free publicity and Peter Sealey is later quoted, calling Steve Jobs is the best marketing CEO in the business.

Citing the 80% market share that the iPod enjoys (which now generates 50% of Apple’s revenues) the article goes on to list the high points of what they deem the Apple marketing manual.

• Make innovative products
• Keep it simple
• Create truly memorable ads
• Find an enemy
• Offer surprises
• Put on a show

Just listen to that string of words:  Innovative. Simple. Memorable.  Hero (my edit). Surprises. Show.

Wow.  (Not like a Microsoft wow…a real wow!)

What do you think?  Which item on this list do you think most businesses are best at?  Worst?

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In lead generation – branding matters

March 7, 2007

It’s sort of a duh, isn’t it?

If someone knows who you are, they are more likely to listen and be influenced by you.  We covered that in the Don’t talk to strangers post.  And yet, there are many out there who will tell you — branding doesn’t matter.  Just go out there and sell. 

RainToday.com‘s new research report What’s Working In Lead Generation sides with me on this one.  (Or maybe it is the other way around?)
 

The numbers tell the story.  Those companies that have are better known have greater success in chasing new business.  As we talked about in the first segment of this series, the research shows that companies are gearing up to be more aggressive out there. 

So reality check here.  Your competitors are going to be making more noise in the market place.  If they are also ahead of you in terms of brand recognition, you’ve got some serious trouble on your hands.  What can you do about it?

• You can be brave enough to brand.  Be willing to be something significant to some, rather than trying to be everything to everyone.
• You can teach your employees about your brand.
• You can teach your current customers about your brand.
• You can introduce your brand to potential customers.

And then you’re ready to learn more from the research document.  More insights from the report are on the way….

Note:  The full RainToday.com report shares 6 key insights which I’ll be exploring over the next several days with you.  In the meantime, if you’d like to download their free 21-page summary, you can grab it here.

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Putting lipstick on a pig!

March 6, 2007

I have met the master!

Phil Gerbyshak at Make it Great has created a multi-part interview (part 1, part 2, part 3) with me.  He makes me sound pretty darn good!  And that’s no small feat.

In his interview he covers branding and a whole host of other marketing and life-related topics! Even if you skip  over my interview, Phil’s blog is a guaranteed pick-me-up!  Check it out!

Many thanks to Phil for putting my best face forward!

Flickr photo courtesy of thornypup.

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Help me give college grads a fighting chance

March 5, 2007

It’s Spring.  The birds will soon be chirping, the flowers blooming and the college grads descending like locusts on every marketing agency, marketing department and media outlet.  They all want one thing — their first real job.

I remember how scary it was.  20+ years later, I shake my head at the mistakes the grads make while trying to vie for my attention.  So I decided we (yes WE) could give them a gift that will put that digital camera to shame.  We can help them get that job.

Here’s how you can help:

~ Post your answer to one (or more) of the following in the comments section:

• How I landed my first job (war/success story)
• What I wish I knew when I was trying to get my first job
• My advice for someone trying to break into the marketing/advertising business
• Words of wisdom about careers in general

~ Point to this post on your blog and encourage your readers to come over and add their 2 cents so we can gather even more answers and advice.

We’ll gather up all the comments, thoughts and stories and create an e-book for the grads to download and study.  Who knows — maybe we’ll get some great employees out of the deal as well!

Come on — someone helped you once upon a time.  Time to return the favor.

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Play to your strengths

March 5, 2007

I’m not a native Iowan.  I’ve been here for about 15 years and its a great place to raise a family, build a business and enjoy a quality of life that is tough to beat.

But as long as I’ve lived here, I’ve noticed that Iowans are constantly apologizing or putting down their own state.  They lament that college kids seek the big cities and that there isn’t enough night life for the single set.  Both true.  And probably not going to change.

For years, Iowa has tried to overcome that perception (again — remember its accurate) with media campaigns and catchy slogans.  Surprise — they didn’t work.

Why would you put the spotlight on a weakness and then shout "nuh uh!" and try to disprove it?

That’s why I was thrilled to see Patrick Schaber’s post about Iowa’s newest campaign.

For the first time that I can remember, the state’s push for people to consider bringing their business and/or their family to Iowa is not apologizing — it is celebrating all that makes it such a terrific place to live.

They’re running ads in magazines like Fast Company and built a pretty impressive website.

Also on their site is the creative, like this outdoor board, that they’re running.

The print ad series touts some of the perks of Iowa life and spotlights families who’ve made the move.  This PDF ( Download haldeman.pdf ) talks about Iowa being the 8th safest state to live in.  Not a bad message these days.

Another ad (–>) talks about Iowa’s reasonable housing costs.  What makes this campaign so strong is that Iowa finally stopped trying to put lipstick on a pig.  Marketing campaigns that make you something that you’re not but really, really wish you could be, do nothing but muddy the waters.

Congrats Iowa for getting it right!

Read what some of my fellow Iowans say about why Iowa.

Mike Sansone
Todd Mundt
Tom Vander Well
Adam Steen
Andy Brudtkuhl
Cory Garrison

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