Business

What clear signals do you suppose you’re missing?

August 8, 2012

I had a few little electrical projects that needed to be done around the house. So I turned to my Angie’s List favorites.

Once I found the right business, I had an array of choices in terms of how I wanted to connect with them.  I clicked on the email icon and jotted a quick note, describing exactly what I needed to have fixed.

Within a few hours the electrician emailed me back with this message: “Sounds good Drew, give me a call to discuss.”

Um, no.  I didn’t accidentally click on the email icon.  I made a conscious choice.  It’s not that I am anti-phone.  Heck…ask AT&T how pro-phone I am.  But, during business hours, I just don’t have time to talk to him.  I’m in meetings, on the phone with clients and on the run.  Which is why I emailed him to begin with.

What could have been an easy sale is now tangled up because he didn’t pay attention to the very clear signal I sent.  I don’t have time to call him…so odds are, the work just won’t get done for a little while.  A lost sale.

What clear signals do you suppose you’re missing?

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Have you built a marketing megaphone?

August 1, 2012

I spent a few days in Vegas recently and the 24/7 chaos was overwhelming. It’s pure overload for all your senses – tons of people everywhere, driving billboards, TVs in the restrooms, a wide array of smells, and a cacophony of sounds at full volume.

It’s a little like how we’re assaulted by marketing messages every day. Over 5,000 messages a day – aimed at all of our senses, pretty much 24/7.

As consumers — it feels like an attack we have to guard against.  As marketers — it’s like a mountain we have to scale.

But somehow our message needs to fight its way to the top and actually be heard. How do we make that happen?

We need a marketing megaphone. (Download 8.5 x 11 version by clicking here) Something that amplifies our message so it gets right where it needs to be.

But that megaphone has to be built in the right order and contain the right elements.  Otherwise, it’s just more noise.

Here’s how to construct a marketing megaphone that actually works.

It starts with you: To break through the clutter – you need to be crystal clear about your core messaging. You need to completely understand how you’re different from your competitors, why you matter to your customers and how you can improve their world.

Imagine your voice in the din of over 5,000 messages. You’re whispering and counting on the next layers in the marketing megaphone to magnify your message. So it sure better be the exact right words/sentiment.

Once you know yourself, you need a plan: Marketing doesn’t happen by accident. You need a clear-cut vision for how you’re going to get out the word. Over 90% of businesses operate without a marketing plan and yet they wonder why they have to work so hard for new sales.

A marketing plan eliminates stutter (you hurry up to market when you’re slow and then stop when you get busy, losing all momentum along the way) or inconsistent marketing.

Your inside advantage: One of the most costly mistakes made by companies is that they forget how vital their employees are to their marketing efforts. A team that’s left in the dark can’t possibly help amp up your message. In most cases, they have the contact with your customers and prospects. So why wouldn’t you want them to be completely plugged into your core messaging and your marketing plan for spreading the word?

Be worth bragging about: Another way to turn up the volume in your marketing megaphone is to give your current customers something to talk about. If you delight them or are the kind of organization they’re proud to be associated with – they’ll shout it to the world via their social networks, their in person networks and through referrals.

All too often, we forget to romance them once we actually get the sale. But, by making them feel wanted and special – you not only create recurring revenue at a lower cost of acquisition but you create a legion of cheerleaders, all out there, putting some oomph into that megaphone.

The exact right prospects: One of the key benefits of truly understanding your brand is that you learn who your perfect customers are. You will identify who really needs what you offer and who would be elated to buy it from you. When you have a profile of exactly who that is – you can aim your marketing megaphone right at their ear and not worry about the rest of the world.

Getting heard isn’t easy but with the help of a properly built megaphone, your message can rise above the din and get to the right audience every time.

Want a full-sized jpg for your own? Click here to download one.

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Any brand can become talkable

July 28, 2012

Are you talkable?

On this blog, we often explore the importance of brand and the power of word of mouth. It seems that many business owners/leaders believe that you can just plan on something being spread by word of mouth and voila, it happens. (Sort of like planning for a video to go viral).

The reality is — to become a brand that is worthy of being talked about is hard work.

It’s about being very purposeful in every little detail of your business.

That’s why I love this video series by John Moore from Brand Autopsy.  John’s listed a bunch of attributes (29 to date) of a talkable brand — like believable, measurable, and emotional to mention a few.  And he’s done a video for each “able” that makes your brand talkable.

The videos are part education, part entertainment and part inspiration.  I think you’ll enjoy the short (less than 4 minutes each) offerings.

Check out the series (click here) and then come back and tell me which of the “ables” you think your business has already mastered.

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Is your company ready for social media criticism?

July 18, 2012

A vast majority of CEOs agree that a company’s corporate reputation is more important today than it was five years ago. New technology and social networks are reshaping the landscape of how society convenes and campaigns on critical issues.

So you would expect those CEOs would be mindful of the importance of being ready for an unexpected problem online.  But a recent study shows that 72% of companies that have been subject to social media criticism however strong (ranging from a single complaint to a full-scale campaign) rated their preparedness as average or below, with 20% being completely unprepared, according to a July 2012 report by Ethical Corporation and Useful Social Media. Just 15% of companies reported that they were fully engaged with the problem.

This finding follows from research showing that social media users believe that companies are out of step in their use of the social tools. In fact, according to a Allstate/National Journal report from June, 64% of these users want to see an increase in companies using social media to respond to questions and complaints. 73% believe that companies use it chiefly for advertising.

What should those CEOs being doing to ready their companies?

• Create a robust crisis communications plan
• Learn from other’s mistakes and make adjustments
• Be prepared to take immediate steps if you are criticized online (but be sure you should respond)
• Don’t abdicate responsibility for your social media efforts

Bottom line — prepare, adapt, respond and take ownership.  Don’t be like the 72% who talk a good game but aren’t ready to respond in the heat of the moment.

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Marketing in the Round (is your marketing a 360° effort?)

July 13, 2012

You know those people who modify who they are, based on who’s around or where they are? They behave one way at work, one way on Friday nights and another way on Sunday mornings. I think it’s difficult to trust people who don’t live one, integrated life.

We react the same way to brands and companies. Part of what creates a sense of trust for us as consumers is consistent, integrated behavior.

That’s why I’m recommending you check out a book called Marketing in the Round by Geoff Livingston and Gini Dietrich. (click here to buy*)

It’s not about social media. Or new (or old) media. It’s media agnostic. No matter what media you use (and you should use several) it’s about weaving them together so they are all stronger.

I got a chance to ask author Geoff Livingston a few questions and think his answers will give you a good sense of what the book might offer you and why I think it’s a must read.

If you had to describe the content of your book in a single sentence (no run ons) what would it be?

GL: Somewhat conservative methods to approach integrated multichannel marketing in the digital era.

What one book that you’ve read do you wish you could claim as your own?

GL: Oh man, if I could only claim From Good to Great as my own!

In your opinion, what is the one trait that all uber successful business people possess?

GL: Tenacity. We all face trials and failure, but successful people in all walks of life get up and move forward. Successful business people usually find a new way or approach to make their original idea work.

What’s the biggest business mistake you’ve ever made and what did you learn from it?

GL: Naming my company after myself. I think Livingston Communications had the right premise – social media boutique – at the right time 2006-9, but was limited by its ties to me. I could not sell accounts and have other people service them very easily. Also, it was harder to attract top senior talent.

If I was smarter, I would have insisted on a different name that would have made scaling easier. I have learned this lesson in other ways since then, too. I’ll never build a multi-person business again that revolves solely around a singular personality.

Why did you have to write this book? What truth or insight was missing from the human consciousness — that you’ve now answered?

GL: I don’t know if my co-author Gini Dietrich and I made a difference in the human consciousness, but I do think we restored some basic integrated marketing values to the general conversation.

Social media dominates marketing publishing titles for past five years to the point that the sector has grown myopic. Ask most CMOs which tactics are driving ROI, and almost all of them will say direct marketing, not social media.

It’s not that social media is a bad thing. Fractured interactive media have produced these very important eddies of conversations for businesses. At the same time, no one person I know consumes only social media.

We need a more holistic picture. I think this book has redirected the conversation in some ways towards that comprehensive view.

After someone is done reading your book — what do you hope they do as a result?

Step back and think from the stakeholder’s perspective. And if they do, they may use the same marketing tactics, but they should be more inclined to make them work together to better serve people.

 

 

*Affiliate link

 

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Hello? Is there a human inside?

July 11, 2012

Honestly — haven’t you felt that way more than once when you’ve dealt with a business?

Either their marketing materials are so full of corporate speak that you can’t figure out what the heck they’re talking about or the service you get is lackluster at best and that’s being kind.

As consumers continue to get more jaded coupled with the fact that every business has plenty of competition out there — what consumers want and need from us is to know that we’re human.  They don’t expect perfection.  They just want to know that you’re real, that you care and that you’re not blowing smoke up their skirt.  That’s how they are going to choose.  They’re going to pick the company they like the best and they can’t like you if you are invisible to them.

So the question becomes — how do you show your human side?  How do you give your customers and prospects a sense of who you are and what matters to you?  If you and your brand are playful — how do you reveal that?  If you have a deep passion for what you do, where does that show up?

I don’t think too many businesses ask themselves those kinds of questions.  But we need to.  We need to actually make a connection long before the cash register rings.  Depending on your business — you might be able to do that in a one-to-one way.  But for most organizations, that won’t cover it.  They need to find a mass produced way of being real.

Yup — a mass produced way of being real.  How?

Here are two great examples.  One is the note from the company CEO that comes inside every package of Cold-EEZE.  The second is a grocery bag from Capital Market. (Hat tip to Tom Narak for sharing the grocery bag photo with me)

 

Can’t you just hear their voices?  Can’t you feel their spirit and don’t you have a sense of what it would be like to interact with them?  I don’t know about you, but I want go to that grocery store.  I’d expect to be completely delighted by the experience.

I can hear you now.  “But Drew, those are consumer products.  In the B-to-B world, we can’t do things like that.”  I call bull on that.  Yes, you can.  Every company has a spirit.  We can call it your brand or your true north or your core reason for being.  But it’s there.  And it’s your job, no… your responsibility to show it to us.

All of us, every consumer on the planet, desperately wants to know if there’s a human inside.

Show us.

 

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Twitter and Facebook ROI

July 8, 2012

This has to be one of the biggest questions banging around marketing conferences, blogs and social media gatherings.  “How do we measure the return on my investment (ROI) for the time, money and effort we put into Twitter and Facebook?”

To truly answer that question, you need to define your own ROI. If it is a dollar for dollar equation, then you need to be able to quantify/tie a value to the time spent, calculate the dollars invested and then put the proper tracking/measurement tools in place to link your social media contacts/connections to actual sales.

Are sales the only worthy ROI?  Probably not. Like all marketing — you start by knowing what result you want.

• Are you trying to create a community that will tell the world about your new book, product or ?
• Do you want people to sign a pledge or commit to a cause?
• Do you want email addresses because your sales cycle requires a lot of education and time, so you want to create a drip campaign?
• Do you want to identify like-minded business people so you can create a safe place to generate thought leadership?

I have nothing against sales.  It’s how we all pay our mortgages.  But I just want to remind you, there are many worthy outcomes of any marketing effort.  And that’s certainly true of Twitter and Facebook. As Stephen Covey taught us, begin with the end in mind.

This infographic from InventHelp (click here to check them out) begins to dig at the question and explore potential answers.  Take a look at it and then tell me — what do you want from your social media efforts?

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The “how to” of business blogging

July 2, 2012

Blogs, once described as the vehicle for narcissistic over sharers and people who found cats amusing, have certainly come into their own.

Today, while there are still plenty of hobby bloggers out there, the tool is being embraced by businesses and thought leaders in record numbers.

The benefits a blog can bring to a business are multifold:

• Blogs, when built properly, can have a significant impact on search engine results and traffic to your site
• Blogs can establish expertise and credibility for a business
• Blogs can drive traffic to your web presence
• Blogs can shorten the sales cycle by establishing a relationship long before the first inquiry
• Blogs can encourage thought leadership within your organization
• Blogs can lead to other media interviews/opportunities
• And many more!

Sadly, most companies who launch a blog either do it badly or don’t sustain the blog for more than a couple months. If you’re thinking of launching a company blog, here are some basic best practices that will help assure you a solid start.

Build it on a platform optimized for blogging: I can’t imagine why anyone would build a blog today on anything but WordPress. It is relatively inexpensive to use, it is constantly being improved with new updates and plugins, the search engines love it and it has a very simple interface so that anyone who can work with Microsoft Word can add, modify or remove content.

There are other blogging specific platforms out there that are also good alternatives to consider. Whatever you do — don’t let anyone talk you into building your blog on proprietary software that doesn’t allow you to change hosts, servers and control your own site.

Have a strategic plan/editorial calendar: Don’t put your first finger on the keyboard until you have thought about why you’re doing this in the first place. Put some SMART goals in place, know what audiences matter to you and map out the logistics of writing/maintaining a blog. We literally invest most of a day with clients who want to map this out properly. Don’t short-change this critical step.

Write to/for your audience: A blog is not a place for you to put your press releases, talk about what’s on sale or push your products. You need to know who your audience is and you need to know what matters to them.

Unless other marketing tactics, a blog is permission based. People choose to read your content or not. If all you do is talk about yourself, they will not choose to keep reading.

Practice before you publish: For many companies – blogging sounds great in theory but when it comes to actually having both the discipline and the desire to sustain it over time – they fall short. To blog well and right – takes a significant time commitment. Not only do you need to create the content but you also need to respond to readers who ask questions or add to the conversation.

We have all of our clients actually blog for 30-45 days “behind the curtain” so we can help them find their voice, identify potential problems and they can get a taste for what blogging is all about. That way, if they decide it’s not something they can sustain – we haven’t publicly launched something new and then have to explain why it’s already going away. Or worse – is just left there, dormant.

For many businesses, a blog should be a no brainer. But, a blog is an organic, constantly evolving marketing tool that at best, you have some control over. But by it’s very nature – it’s going to grow and change in ways you can’t imagine. So it requires some forethought, careful planning and a watchful eye.

Make it work for you by doing the work to get it right.

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Age of Conversation 4 — want to be one of our authors?

June 28, 2012

We know… it’s crazy. But Gavin and I are ready to do it again. This time, we’d like Age of Conversation to take on a much more personal tone… how is social media impacting you, your work, your family and your view on life? Your chapter might be as elaborate as a real case study or it might be as simple as your best time saving trick. But it’s about you and how you “do” social.

This time, we’re doing both one and two page chapters. (see below)

Here are the sections for the book:

ONE PAGE CHAPTERS

One page chapters are grouped into “sections” to provide a sense of cohesion to the topics covered. (One page = 400 words or so) This year’s sections are:

Secrets – what is a secret, what is your secret and what are the limits of privacy in the Age of Conversation?
Transparency – what does it mean for a business to be transparent? How do you go about making your brand or business transparent? And what happens if transparency fails?
Authenticity – what does it mean to humanize a brand? What happens when business gets personal and how does so-called “authenticity” impact you on a personal and professional level?
Unexpected Consequences – anything from a painful lesson learned to an unexpected cross the globe friendship. Share your journey in this Age of Conversation
How Do I … – share your tips and tricks on social media. What do you do well and how do you achieve the outcomes you want?

CASE STUDIES – TWO PAGE CHAPTERS

We’d love to have your case studies. (Two pages = 750 words or so) They need to be projects that you have worked on or have been responsible for. You must include measurable results of some sort. We’re not going to get into the whole ROI discussion…but you need to show how it played out. Please don’t propose case studies based on other people’s work.

Want to join in on the adventure with us? We’d love to have you with us!

To sign up —  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dGhydDdoTmVtZXFLT3V0YzY2ampDUlE6MQ

We’ll be closing the sign ups pretty quickly so if you’re serious about writing a chapter — sign up soon!

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How do you create urgency?

June 6, 2012

I’ve been in several conversations with clients and other business owners of late all surrounding the issue of creating urgency in potential buyers.

You’ve probably found yourself in the same situation. You know your product or service has incredible value but no one seems in a big hurry to buy it.

How do you move someone from “that might be nice” to “I need to have it now?”  Especially if you don’t consider yourself a sales person.

The canned sales training answer to this question would be to create an artificial incentive or fear that can be relieved by making a purchase.  These might include:

Limited quantity — Hurry, because we only have 20 of these left in the warehouse and once they’re gone…. they’re gone!

Limited time — These grand opening prices will never be seen again so get in here before Sunday or say goodbye to these incredible savings!

The bonus — If you buy the cookware set today, you’ll also get the matching knife set and a year’s subscription to Foodies Magazine.

Each of those techniques can and does work.  But…you have to be careful.  Your customers and prospects are:

• Pretty jaded
• Pretty smart
• Pretty onto the tricks

If the limited quantity, time or bonus items are legit — then give it a whirl.  But recognize that your audience is still going to smell promotional trickery, even if it isn’t there.  (Remember, pretty jaded).

If people just aren’t buying as quickly — maybe you’re talking about the wrong things.  Are you still talking features rather than benefits?  Or have you dug deeply enough to get at the real “why they’d buy?”

I think in many cases…we get a little lazy here.  We think that people want to come to a home show because they like looking at new ideas for re-decorating their home.  But if you dig a little deeper and push through another couple “whys” you might take this path:

• I’m thinking about going to the home show because it’s fun to get re-decorating ideas.
• I’ve been in my house for 10+ years now and things are feeling boring/stale.
• We can’t afford to move to something newer/bigger because we’re upside down on our mortgage.
• I feel stuck in our house and it’s making me notice everything that’s wrong, dated and old about it.
• By investing in some paint and elbow grease, my old house will feel new again and I’ll  fall back in love with living there.  I’ll go from feeling like I have no choice to being happier with the choice I do have.

This is a simplistic example…but you can see I drilled down about 4 “why” levels to get to a very human truth. If I were writing ad copy or blog posts about the home show — rather than just pointing out all the booths that were touting re-decorating ideas, I’d focus on the idea that everyone’s home could use a little help here and there…and the result is that you’ll fall back in love with your home.

My point — before you create an urgency gimmick, drill down a few more ‘why” layers and see if you can find a human truth that will serve as a much better urgency creator.

 

Photo courtesy of www.BigStockPhoto.com

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