Strategy Archives - Page 18 of 53 - McLellan Marketing Group

David Meerman Scott’s sequel is better than the original!

April 2, 2010

David Meerman Scott wrote an excellent book a few years ago called The New Rules of Marketing and PR. I have been recommending it to people for a long time.

Of course, the very use of the word new meant that David was in "trouble." After all, things can't be new forever. And when we're talking about the blur of change that viral marketing brings — new is a very fleeting concept.

Fortunately for all of us, David just released a 2nd edition. (check it out or buy it here) Even better news, this edition is not just a refresh of the old book. There's a huge amount of new content for the generalists and marketing pros alike.

Many of the "new media" books written today cover the same material and the same case studies. If you've read about Zappos once, you've read about them a million times.

The case studies in this book are varied and cover just about every type and size of business you can imagine. David's clearly searched high and low…and come up with plenty of variety to not only help illuminate his points but to trigger "hey, we could do something like that" sort of thinking.

This book is part high level examination of the dramatic shifts we're all experiencing in communicating for business today, but it is also equally a practical workbook — walking readers through very applicable steps so they can quickly leap from theory to action.

Are you a newbie — wondering how/where to dip your toe into the social media waters? This book will ease your concerns and help you evaluate the best tactics to help you achieve your goals.

Are you a seasoned marketing pro — wondering how to take your efforts to a higher plane? This book will show you how some incremental shifts in your strategies can be a game changer.

Smart, practical and very hands on. This is a rare case of when the sequel is in fact, better than the original.

[Note: David sent me a copy of his book so I could read it and review it if I chose to. Hopefully you know me well enough to be confident…the review above is because I mean it, not because I got a $15 book in the mail.]

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Sometimes, your baby is just ugly

March 24, 2010

Thick skin.

We had a lively discussion on that very topic at work this week.

As marketing professionals, it's our job to come up with compelling ideas (writing, design, etc. etc.) that will trigger actions and reactions from the intended audiences.

To discover those ideas requires a great deal of collaborative thinking and working together to sift through, push, pull and generally heat test each of them to see if they can stand up. That can be brutal if you've made the fatal flaw of falling in love with your own idea.

Brainstorming has this "warm and fuzzy" image. Who wouldn't like to just sit around and think up ideas? It sounds so wistful and charming.

But in the pragmatic world of marketing, you don't really have time to putter around in the ideation stage for too long. You need to shift back and forth — generating ideas, evaluating ideas, building off each other's ideas and twisting and turning someone's ugly baby into something interesting and curious.

Sometimes to get to the truly genius idea — you have to pop the head off of someone's ugly baby. There it is… the cruel truth about brainstorming.

You might be the poor shlub who has to watch his idea get trampled in the quest for the really, really remarkable solution.

I don't know about you, but when I'm trying to be creative — I have to go through a lot of horrific, trite, pun-like ideas before I get to the good ones. And usually in the early stages, I sometimes come up with an idea or two that I think is just about as smart as anything could possibly be.

Until someone starts knocking holes into it. When I was young (both in age and professional maturity) I'd get upset and defensive. It hurt. After all… that was MY idea and it was THE answer. I clung to it, fighting off the enemy who wanted to attack my baby. I was sure it was THE answer.

Of course… it wasn't THE answer. And by putting it through its paces and criticizing it out loud, my co-workers were able to riff off my mediocre idea to get to something fresh and new.

My ideas — the good ones, bad ones, off the wall ones — even the ugliest babies in the bunch are a part of the process. And my job isn't to create "art" and defend it to the death. Our clients can't afford for me to fall in love with the ugly babies just because they're mine.

How about you — do you make it okay for other people to tell you that your baby is ugly?

Photo thanks to MetsBallers

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A marketing tip from Tiger Woods

February 22, 2010

The world is abuzz about the Tiger Woods apology. It seems like the big question is…"was it sincere?"

What a remarkable marketing reminder for all of us.

We're going to mess up with a client, prospect or employee. It's inevitable. Whether it was the result of a bad but conscious choice or human error — for this conversation, is irrelevant. Let's just nod and agree, sooner or later, we're going to screw up.

Now we can write or verbally deliver the most eloquent apology known to man, but that alone doesn't cut it. Words are lovely but you know what they're waiting for….a behavioral apology.

Otherwise, it was just gratuitous lip service. (Which by the way, only compounds the problem!)

What do I mean by a behavioral apology? It can come in several forms but basically, they want to be able to trust you again. Being sorry is swell but what they really want is to know it won't happen again. After all, isn't that the implied promise in any apology. Not only are you sorry about what you did…but that you're also going to fix it and prevent a repeat occurrence?

So there's the real marketing (and perhaps human) challenge. How do we genuinely demonstrate our apology and our pledge that we'll do all that we can to prevent it from happening again?

Change a policy/process: If something in the way you do business caused the problem — then why not learn from the mistake and make an adjustment. The key here is communicating back to the disgruntled customer that their experience triggered an internal audit and based on what you learned — you've made a change.

Fix it x 2: You delivered the flowers to the wrong address or on the wrong day? Don't just re-send what they ordered — up the ante. If they ordered a dozen roses, deliver two. Or offer to correct the problem now with an accurate delivery AND say you'll deliver a dozen red roses on Valentine's Day to the person of their choice. This is about going above and beyond so get creative.

Follow up: After you've made good on whatever your mistake was — pick up the phone or drop by their office. Demonstrate that days/weeks later — you are still concerned about having done them wrong.

Thank them: I know it sounds weird but it's good manners. You might thank them for helping you discover a flaw in your process. Or you might thank them for their patience in letting you work out the proper solution. You might say thank you for how they handled their complaint (no yelling, biting or kicking) or that they gave you a second chance.

While the reason for doing any of these is to truly impress upon the other person that our apology wasn't just fluff, it shouldn't go unsaid that when you craft a meaningful behavioral apology — you can also generate remarkable buzz and good will.

Our clients and employees will forgive our humanness and mistakes but they will celebrate and talk about our heroics when we rise to the occasion and craft a behavioral apology of note.

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Are you playing your competitor’s game?

February 10, 2010

I'm not good at sitting idle. So if I am stuck waiting for some reason, I get antsy. To kill that time, I'll fire up my smart phone and play a game (or two) of Hearts. In the game, by default I am player south. (4 players sitting around a table, each designated by a direction.)

My arch nemesis is player north. He is the shrewdest of the computerized players and if anyone is going to beat me, it's him. (Stay with me, I promise there is a marketing message in here!)

I have played Hearts (usually with real people so don't feel too sorry for me!) for many years and I'm pretty good. I have a sound strategy that has been time tested so I rarely need to vary from it. But…the fact that north is good and is my most worthy opponent throws me off that track.

I find that I play differently when I am overly-conscious of trying to beat him in particular. And in fact, the more I purposely change the way I play to thwart him….the more I lose. If I stay disciplined enough to play my own game my own way — I rarely lose.

(Did you notice the marketing message I snuck in there?)

We all run the same risk in running our businesses and planning our marketing. Way too many businesses invest too much time and energy worrying about what their competitor is doing. Then, they change their own game plan to chase after the other guy — emulating or trying to outdo.

It's a game you are destined to lose. One of three things is going to happen.

Your competitor is doing something in their sweet spot and you can't really compete so you look second rate.
Everyone recognizes that you're reacting/copying your competitor and you look like a 'me too" brand.
You spend so much of your time and money executing their tactics that you never have the resources to do what you know will advance your business.

The only way to win marketshare, customers' love and brand dominance is to do it your way. All the time. Regardless of what the competition is doing. Reacting to the other guy rarely plays out in your favor.

Look at the recent TV commercial war between Verizon and AT&T. (watch their commercials by clicking on their names) Who do you think is winning? AT&T looks like they're whining and making excuses. Why? Because Verizon sucked them into their game.

Should you know what your competition is up to? Yes. But only if you can then be disciplined enough to stay your own course. If you can't resist playing their game…you're actually better off staying in the dark.

Always play your game. That's the only way companies like Apple, Zappos and Southwest Airlines won. Same goes for you.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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How long will it take to get marketing results?

September 16, 2009

We get asked this question all the time. Prospects and clients alike want to know when they can expect to see results from their marketing efforts. Ah, if only it were that cut and dried.

There are many factors that influence reaction time to a marketing tactic. Let’s take a look at a few of them and you’ll begin to see that this is not an exact science but there are things you can do to impact your effectiveness.

How often do people need/want it? If you run a restaurant or sell ice cream – you’re in luck. Mail a coupon on Tuesday and you might see the family, coupon in hand, by Saturday. But on average, someone buys a car every 3-5 years. Own a car dealership and you might wait 18+ months after your first ad or tweet to see that person in your door.

Who the heck are you? Does the consumer recognize your brand? Do they know what you are all about? Do they know what makes you different from your competitors?

Who else is talking? Just like at a party, if you are the only voice talking, it’s a lot easier to be heard. But, if you are one of many and others are talking louder and faster – you can easily get lost in the din.

Where are you talking? What would happen if you stood up right in the middle of a church service and started talking? You’d get noticed, wouldn’t you? That’s because you are doing something unexpected in an unexpected place.

What are you saying? The most important factor of all. Are you talking about what the consumer cares about or are you talking about you?

How are you poised to influence any or all of these factors?

(If you want to read a really smart book on the topic of consumers and their own sense of timing, check out Stopwatch Marketing by John Rosen.)

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Do you know what you need?

July 28, 2009

Every business wants to generate new business. That’s the commonality. But that’s just about all that’s the same.

Some sell high-ticket or very specialized items and services. They only need a handful of new clients to meet their goals.

Others are all about volume. They have a large ability to deliver quantities of their offerings and they want the pipeline full.

This is where the “one size fits all” marketing theories fall apart.

The high-ticket/specialty client can and should spend more money per client acquisition. Their efforts need to be about honing in on exactly the right prospects. They are likely to spend more money on profiling prospects to make sure they don’t waste a lot of time talking to buyers who have no interest or no ability to buy their wares.

Once they’ve identified “the who,” they can get down to telling their story. Because the numbers are small, the marketing tactics that most often make sense for them are ones that allow them to speak directly to those potential buyers and no one else. Direct mail, opt-in e-zines, topic specific blogs, niche newspapers or TV shows and peer-to-peer referrals are all effective options.

On the flip side, the volume-focused client’s goal is to reach a much wider audience.

They’re willing to catch a few undesirables in their net, as long as they can harvest a lot of prospects all at once. Because a wider group of people fit their target parameters, they don’t need to invest in a lot of prospect profiling. They’re looking for a wide reach and frequency to encourage that initial trial. Tactics that might fit the bill for these marketers include couponing, mass media (newspaper, radio, TV, outdoor) advertising, product placement and sampling.

Which set of tactics fits what you really need?

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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Keep topping it off

June 24, 2009

I drink a lot of water. This can be directly linked to 30+ kidney stones. The more water, the fewer stones.

I like water cold. Really cold. I'm talking seriously ice cold water, please. When I am at home, I almost always have a huge insulated glass nearby, filled to the brim with ice water. Because I prefer the water to be frigid cold, I don't let the level in the glass get too low before I re-fill it.

(I can hear you…what in the heck does this have to do with marketing?? Stay with me….)

I've discovered if I keep topping off the glass, the water I am adding gets colder faster (or the flip side, does not warm up the water already in the glass.) I am sure this ties to some scientific theorem that I should know…but I am just telling you from experience that this is true.

If I get really engrossed in something and absently drink the water until there's almost nothing but ice left in the glass….it takes a long time for the newly added water to reach the optimum temperature.

To recap….topping off means the water is always very cold (consistent temperature) as opposed to if I have to re-fill almost the whole glass, it takes a long time to get the water cold (inconsistent temperature).

And the marketing point is…..(shame on you if you jumped right down here!)

The same is true of our marketing efforts. Some organizations go hot and cold on their marketing. They're aggressive or at least active one month or one quarter and then are dormant. Or other companies market like crazy when sales are down and when they get busy, marketing falls off the radar.

Or maybe you're particular version is that you only deliver the first half of the one/two punch. You drop the direct mail piece but you never follow up with the phone call.

Regardless of how or why — the inconsistency of your marketing hurts you. It turns a warm prospect into a cold one, by the time you get back around to marketing again.

You would be far better off to sustain a defined level of marketing (remember the drip method, as opposed to the downpour technique) and then just "top off" your efforts with some add-ons, be it seasonal or situational.

When you are consistently present and either creating or participating in dialogue — the "water level" of your prospect's awareness and interest in you stays consistent, so you can build on it over time.

How are you keeping your marketing consistent and then just topping it off? Or if you're not…why not?

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5 tips on getting them to open your direct mail

June 17, 2009

Let's assume that people would really benefit from using your product and the special offer you've got going is genuinely incredible.

Isn't it a shame that most of them will never even have a shot at discovering just how much they'd love both your price and your product — because they'll never open the envelope?

We have all sorted mail over the garbage can. Each piece has less than 2 seconds to either catch our attention or flutter down into the circular file cabinet. So what will make yours pass the 2 second test?

Try one of these five ideas on for size:

Size, color & shape matter

The most common USA envelope size is a #10. In much of the rest of the world it's just a hair bigger and called an A-4. You know exactly what this sized envelope looks like – you receive a handful of them every single day.

As you might imagine…they don't get you a lot of extra attention.

But…both smaller and larger envelopes can greatly affect response. Whatever size you use – every so often test other sizes to find the best performer.

Color can also make a huge difference in response. Test color.

Just as size matters, so does shape. If you have a product or service that makes sense, why not try an odd shape. A round or even square envelope will get immediate attention.

Teaser copy

Don't wait until they open the envelope to start talking to them. Let teaser copy catch their attention and pull the reader inside to take action.

If you are addressing your own customers, teaser copy may not be needed. They see your logo, they know you, they'll open your mail.

But for those prospects, why not start on the outside and give your reader a reason to go in.

Graphics

Our world is graphic. And three-dimensional. And bright!

Your audience expects graphics. So, give them what they expect. And begin on your envelope. Let your piece dictate the tone of the visual. Illustration versus photograph is a worthy discussion. A chart or graph can be effective on your envelope, too.

But catch their eye and you will catch their attention.

Do something different

Print your envelope upside down. Or front to back, with the flap on the front rather than the back.

Do something out of the ordinary for your business or for your industry. Look at what everyone else is doing and run in the opposite direction.

Be bold…be noticeable. And be something they can't resist opening.

Embrace your lumpiness

3-dimensional works.

People always open a box, a tube, a bubble pack, or any other lumpy package. Let's be honest — it feels and looks like a present. Who isn't going to open that?

And more to the point…when the boss gets a lumpy package, who is going to risk opening it? What if it is something he ordered from a catalog you don't want to know anything about?

How about we put them all together….imagine an over-sized, bright silver colored lumpy bubble pack envelope with some teaser copy on the address label? I guarantee that no matter what you put inside…it would get seen.

How do I know this? I've seen the beast itself. And at MMG, we're going to be using some. My friend Mitch Matthews scored 48,000 of the envelopes you see in the photo at the top of the post. He's selling them below wholesale cost and I bought a bunch. But he still has a bunch more. He's offered to let my readers in on the deal…so I am telling you about them. Check them out and see if you can benefit from getting these envelopes opened!

I don't make a dime…I just want your mail to get opened. If you can get a bargain to boot, who is going to argue with that?

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Are you listening?

June 14, 2009

I'm a generous tipper — always have been. Because over the years, I've worked several jobs that depended on tips, I've always had a soft spot for those who are doing so now.

With one noted exception. Cab drivers.

I travel a lot. Which means I ride in a lot of cabs. Most trips are uneventful. The cab drivers are a little rude. Typically they are either talking on their cell phone (hands free, of course) or they're listening to a radio station that I do not understand.

Basically, I am invisible.

So I have no inclination to be a good tipper. If only those cab drivers knew how easy it was to get me to open up my wallet….

A few weeks ago, I had an in/out trip to DC. Fly in Wednesday afternoon and out Thursday night, after a day long meeting. But my friend Jean (who owns the excellent agency Fixation) was able to get us Nationals tickets for Wednesday night.

As I got into the cab around 4:30, the driver actually spoke to me. He asked if I was in town for business and I said yes…but I was hoping to get to the baseball game that night, if the rain held off. The conversation could have ended there….and it would have been better than most. But then, the cabbie surprised me. He said, "the weather is on every 10 minutes on XYZ radio station. Let's turn it on and see what they're saying about tonight's weather."

And with that, he turned on the radio and we both listened to the dismaying news. Odds were not good that I was going to get to see Randy Johnson throw his 300th win. (They ended up canceling the game and Johnson recorded the historic win the next night)

I gave the driver one little clue. I was hoping the rain would hold off so I could see the game. He could have ignored it, made a simple comment or just went on with his usual driver behavior.

But he was really listening. And it paid off for him.

I think this happens to every one of us — each and every day. Clients make a casual comment or an aside…and in our rush to get the work done or the information we need, we rush right by it.

We don't ask the follow up question. We don't probe a little more. And we miss incredible opportunities.

I want to challenge you. This week — listen harder. Always ask a follow up question. See where it takes you. Remember all our talk about exceeding expectations and surprising our customers?

This week — do it.

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Word of mouth: What will they talk about?

June 6, 2009

A few weeks ago, I introduced you to Andy Sernovitz's Word of Mouth marketing book and his five T's.

The first T = Talkers
The second T = Topics

You've got to give your customers something to talk about. And guess what…doing a good job is not enough. Customers don't even notice when you meet their expectations. You've got to grab their attention.

This isn't about force-feeding them your tagline. This is about doing something they don't expect or going far beyond their expectations.

We serve warm, homemade cookies at every client meeting. At the first meeting — our guests are floored and delighted. And then, when they become clients…they love the smell of those cookies baking as they walk into our space.

On average, about the third time they're dining on our cookies, they realize that the M&M colors match our logo colors. Purple, green and orange. And that's it. Now…they can't stop talking. And they begin to understand that building a brand is filled with little details that take it to a new level. (It's fun to watch them realize we special order the M&Ms just for their cookies.)

Another excellent topic is anything that lets your customer look like they're connected or the big man/woman. How about a "give your buddy twenty bucks" coupon (make it easy to pass along..maybe they just enter in e-mail addresses)? Or a special invitation that allows them to bring a friend to an exclusive event.

Make your customer look like a star…and they'll take you right along with them.

What do you think your clients are saying about you? What about your business or product gets them talking?

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