Tag Archives: Marketing Plan


Chicken Soup for the Marketing Director’s Soul

Chicken SoupWhen I first started out in this crazy world of advertising and marketing, I had a co-worker who had been in the business for a while (think of the show “Mad Men”) who would pass on “things to know” in endless supply. One of those things that I’ve remembered over the years has to do with the difference between knowledge and wisdom. It goes like this: knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing that you shouldn’t put it in a fruit salad. I’ve said this so many times to friends, co-workers, my kids, etc., that I’m surprised I’m still not tired of saying it.  But there’s so much truth in it and it applies especially to the discipline of marketing.

As marketing folks, regardless of the industry or size of the firm or marketing department, we’re busy trying to learn as much as we can so as to stay up with the times.  And there’s so much to learn. Whether it’s new research telling us about how certain demo groups are behaving towards specific marketing channels, to new online tools, to the best lead-generation software, it’s all coming at us at lightning speed.  But we have to remember the need to use good judgment given all of this knowledge.  You see knowledge – having specific familiarity or understanding about something – is a bit different than having wisdom – being able to discern or judge what is true, right or lasting. In short, to be wise.  

So, while all of this knowledge is important — and it is — we need to know what we can depend on and what is just a fad. What will apply tomorrow after “the next best thing” in marketing has burned out and we’re on to the next “next big thing.” So indulge me in the passing on of some marketing wisdom. Think of it as Marketing “Chicken Soup for Soul,” if you catch my drift.

Marketing wisdom is knowing…

  1. …that “do-it-yourself” marketing is pervasive….but hardly ever persuasive.
  2. …that when you know what you’re doing is right, perseverance will pay off.
  3. …that our primal desires, urges and wants (what motivates us) mostly remain the same even in this world of new apps, websites, social networks, etc.
  4. …that it’s OK to have some people not like your brand because if you’re not eliciting a negative response from someone somewhere, then you’re probably not that fascinating to anyone. No one remembers lukewarm!
  5. …that you shouldn’t be over-thinking your content. People want information but most prefer authentic and credible, real-life stories. That’s when relationships start developing.
  6. … the difference between strategy and tactics.
  7. … how to talk to current and prospective customers in a way that they understand and with messages that they’ll listen to. It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.
  8. … that copy length is meaningless, provided that your sales story is compelling and hits an emotional sweet spot with the customer.
  9. … today the best idea does not win; the best idea does not get credit; and, the best product does not win if nobody pays attention in the first place.
  10. … when those so-called “experts” are furthering their own agenda by “smoke and mirrors.”
  11. … not to retreat into marketing nothingness or “into the middle of the herd” by doing what everybody else does or doing it the way they do it.
  12. … that the outcome of an effective social media strategy isn’t about what you post or how many times you tweet, etc., but rather it’s all about what others say or tweet about you!
  13. … that while “best kept secrets” might be seen as good for restaurants, traffic shortcuts and travel destinations, but they’re NOT great for business.  Don’t get lost in the noise.
  14. … that people will pay more attention to what you want to tell us by not dishing out plain vanilla marketing but rather by scooping out interesting flavors (think “Cherry Garcia,” “Chubby Hubby,” or “Chunky Monkey”, etc.)
  15. … when to cut rope on holdover marketing programs that the company has “invested” in over the years.
  16. … that if marketing is about building relationships with customers, over-marketing is the best way to kill the relationship and send the customer or prospect heading for the door.
  17. … that while hearing from the customer is great, spending quality time listening to what they’re really saying is what separates good companies from great ones.
  18. …the difference between what people in the company want and doing what the company actually needs.
  19. … that within the world of social media, brands are not built by influential people, but by influential ideas.
  20. … that while it’s fine to try things to attract new customers to your business, be sure to spread a little love around to those who are already in your camp and are supporting your business.

So, when you open up your next Google Alert about a specific marketing subject or if someone from upstairs decides to drop off an industry trade journal with a Post-It note saying “maybe we should try this,” it might be worth remembering “Marketing wisdom is knowing what to put in your fruit salad or keep out of it.”

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Rolf Gutknecht is vice president, director of account services for LA ads. To discuss your thoughts with Rolf on this blog or any marketing matters, email via this link, or visit www.LAadsMarketing.com.  You can also connect with Rolf on LinkedIn.

 

The Big Yawn.

“The truth isn’t the truth until people believe you, and they can’t believe you if they don’t know what you’re saying, and they can’t know what you’re saying if they don’t listen to you, and they won’t listen to you if you’re not interesting, and you won’t be interesting until you say and do things imaginatively, originally, freshly.”  – Bill Bernbach

Over the past couple of weeks, in both my personal and business life, it just seems like everywhere I turn, I’m seeing the most uninspired, blah, boring, and unenthused advertising and marketing messaging. From credit unions to food products to retail delivered through TV, direct mail, outdoor, one-sheets/brochures, whatever. You know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s as though A LOT of people got the same memo: create only lifeless, sigh-inducing marketing that doesn’t say anything.  As a result, I recall something that the comedian Billy Connelly once said about people who create this kind of stuff. He called them “Beigests” – as in the color beige.

For the purposes of painting a picture of who a “Beigest” is, let’s describe them as constantly striving to turn everything around him or her lukewarm and mediocre. The kind of person who’ll suck the life out of all meaningful messaging, attempt to censor or dilute anything that they don’t get (forget that their audience does get it), water down any sort of strong rationale with weasel words & steer it towards the middle, and constantly strive for “consensus” as they make the world “user friendly” (i.e., rather than make an executive decision, they ask everyone for their opinion.  I sometimes wonder if people making the advertising or marketing decisions are genetically incapable of recognizing messaging that stands out, that they simply default to that never vibrant but never offensive color beige.

Let me ask: who loves the color beige?  Not many people will respond saying that beige is one of their favorites.  But it’s a color, right?  So why aren’t more people expressing their love for it…like they do for reds, blues, purples, or whatever your favorite color is.  Because beige is insanely boring!  It totally lacks enthusiasm which makes the marketing messaging as dull as an accountant’s office.

Our lives are way too busy for us to be attracted to “beige” things.  Yet, too many marketers don’t project that same line of thinking toward attracting customers. Decisions are made daily to keep producing and running the same run-of-the-mill, uninspiring stuff…week after week, month after month, year after year.

Keep in mind that when you as a consumer see anything from a company, either your opinion of that company is enhanced or it’s not. There’s no middle ground. You either like them a bit more or you go in the other direction.  So, if that’s the case, why do too many marketers turn that compelling, money-making value proposition into a beige “me-too” that each and every one of your competitors could say. Why do you think for one second that someone is going to acknowledge your message? And not only acknowledge it, but take the time to respond, and make a purchase.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been bored into buying something. And I’m even going to say that 99% of your customers are with me on this. The marketing you do for your company is an extension of you. You’re the person who’s responsible for communicating the passion of your company. When you talk about your business with others, hopefully your eyes twinkle, your heart begins to race, your voice becomes more dynamic and people are instantly attracted to you. When that show of enthusiasm and excitement happens, no one would confuse you with being boring, right? Of course not.  So look at your marketing stuff and see if it reflects that same level of specialness.  Or you could always ask friends, colleagues, suppliers or anyone who will be candid with you, “Does this marketing make you want to pick up the phone and call us or know more about us?”  If the answer is not an enthusiastic “yes,” then it’s time to start over. Because spending money that can’t produce results never makes CEOs happy. They’re eventually going to see what you produced for the market.

Save your company from being seen as beige.  Be a welcomed splash of red. And listen, not only is it possible for you to create a business that is as fascinating as you are, it is necessary. Life’s too short to settle for “blah.”

Your Business Needs a Good SWOT in the Pants.

SWOT ArtAs an agency who is always looking to team up with marketing-centric, growth-oriented companies, I’m constantly baffled by the number of prospective clients who tell me that their competitive edge is that “we’re honest,” or “we care about our customers,” or “hey, we’re very good at what we do.” The next obvious question then is how many of their competitors say they are not very honest, they don’t really care about their customers, and they’re not very good at what they do?

We’ve all gotten so wrapped up in what we perceive to be our strengths, what we “know” the market wants, what the reasons are that customers purchase our products and services (or at least should do) that we are in danger of not seeing the forest through the trees. We spend our time thinking up strategies, putting time against newer ways of reaching customers and prospects with the ever-increasing tactics of social media, etc.  But we seldom, if ever, take the time to stand back and reflect where the company stands in the real-world, as the marketplace sees us.

As marketers, we know the importance of doing a SWOT analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats – usually before companies rebrand themselves or new products are launched. SWOT needs to be a central part of our marketing efforts before the strategy development, before the tactical implementation, before undertaking new methods of communicating and measuring the effectiveness of our communications. In fact, when was the last time your organization or your marketing partner put together a brutally honest, no-holds-barred SWOT analysis? If you’re like most, it’s been a while.

In larger companies, marketing departments have annual planning cycles. In smaller companies, the routines are not as formalized, and planning has a tendency to be less frequent and with less time devoted to it. Generally this process looks more at budget allocation, new initiatives to be considered or implemented, staff/services cut-backs, etc. But hardly ever (ok, with less frequency than one would think) does this planning examine not just the strategy and tactics employed but how marketplace changes may have changed the company’s strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats at the most basic level.

This needs to be done on a regular basis before time and resources (financial, staff, etc.) are committed to a strategy, an approach, or new tactics. Important questions need to be asked, and too often the most basic questions are not asked.

We all know them: What are our strengths? Are the strengths recognized by customers and prospects? Do our competitors have the same strengths? What are their strengths? And so on. How has the marketplace changed? Where are the new opportunities? Are our products/services adversely affected by emerging trends? How are our competitors reacting to the changing marketplace? Etc.

So I am NOT suggesting that the Marketing Department doesn’t know how to approach the marketplace or that we don’t know what we need to know. I am, rather, suggesting two things:

1. We need to set aside some time, on a regular basis, to carefully put all these questions and the answers together, and only then plan, create the strategy and implementation tactics.

2. We need to test our assumptions – every time – against what is happening in the real-world, on the ground, where the customers live and where our revenues come from.

With everything on Marketing’s plate today, and the urgency in which it needs to get done, there’s a real danger of losing sight of the basics. Who has the time, right? Well, if we lose sight of the need to regularly and carefully look at what we think our company is (warts and all), look at all that we do, and all the resources we use/spend, in the ever evolving marketplace – not just our guesses about it and our customers – we risk losing all that we work so hard to achieve: increasing revenues and market share.

The time tested marketing adage of “If you don’t really know where you are, it is much more difficult to get where you want to be” has never been more true.

To Rebrand or to Refresh, that is the question.

PaintbrushOver the weekend, my daughter wanted to update the look of her bedroom to reflect, as she told me on more than one occasion, …the “new her.” Well, as we finished painting and as she started moving the furniture around and bringing new stuff into the room as well, it occurred to me that she was just “refreshing” the look of the room and not “rebranding” who she was as a person. You see, while the color of her room had changed,  a lot of other things remained the same because they spoke to who she is and what’s important to her.  And the same thing holds true for companies…maybe yours, as well.

And herein lies the question: When the need arises, should you be rebranding or just refreshing your brand?

As we know, rebranding your business can be an intensive process that can literally redefine a company from the ground up. It’s more than just slapping on a new coat of colors. Instead, a rebrand is a complete redo of an already established brand because the brand has become somewhat stale, insignificant, or are just dated. This often happens when the brand has been around for a while, regardless of size or industry. Contributing factors include: aggressive competition, becoming “lost in time” with an aging customer base, or industry changes that begin to turn a company’s brand irrelevant.

However, rebranding a company from the ground up might not be the best bet for several reasons. For one, rebranding a company tends to erase history in the mind of the customer and you not only run the risk alienating current customers but confounding prospective customers. Oh, and don’t forget about the money that’s involved. Still, for many businesses, it’s necessary in order to stay competitive.

However, it is possible to take a small-scale approach by simply refreshing your brand. Think of it as remodeling your home. It’s still the same house that keeps you safe and warm; you’re just replacing the dark brown shag carpeting with hardwood floors and the yellow tile countertops with granite. It’s more of a remodel of your existing brand than a complete rebuild.

Ok, so why should you be considering this option? Well, if your company has been around for a while, maybe it’s time to revitalize your dated look, or make it more appealing to a contemporary audience, or  target a new audience, or address current market conditions. This involves revising/reinvigorating a brand’s positioning and branding imagery to ensure that the messaging is not only strategically sound, but that the brand’s look is up-to-date while still keeping much of the brand’s equity.  In short, it’s less of an overhaul, and more of a clarification. The brand name is left untouched, but there are changes in the logo design.  Maybe it’s the sizing, placement and type of images and graphics to be used or additional shades of brand colors.  It could be a new look to your website, packaging or a change in the tagline.

With this in mind, here are five things are worth considering:

  1. Regardless of the reason, make sure to clearly define why it’s necessary to rebrand or refresh a brand and then share your rationale with your team members and other key company stakeholders to encourage buy-in.
  2. Going back to the remodeling metaphor, you wouldn’t grab a hammer and just start knocking down walls around your house without plan. The same holds true for refreshing your brand. In short, have a plan in place that takes into account budget, timeline, parts of your business that will be affected (i.e., marketing materials, logos, signage, etc).
  3. You don’t want to invest in a major brand refresh only to have to do it again anytime soon. Stay away from the flavor of the month or trends that are popular today but may not have the staying power to keep your brand current long-term.  That said, it would be a good idea to consult with marketing experts who know how to do this. I’ll say this respectfully….don’t think you can do this yourself. You can’t.
  4. If you can, it’s never a bad idea to let your most important customers know what you’re doing. You don’t have to let them know everything up front but it would be good to give them a “heads-up” prior to the rest of the world seeing it.
  5. Don’t change for the sake of change. Don’t refresh or redesign your brand simply because you’re tired of it. It should be a clear-headed business decision that has a purpose.

Refreshing your brand is no walk in the park. It takes a lot of preparation and hard work to do it right, but it can help to ensure your brand stays fresh and continues to resonate with your customers. What better way to say “hey, we’re changing with the times” than to refresh your company image.

The Silver Bullet? Not!

Silver BulletBusinesses everywhere are searching with ever-increasing frenzy for the wonder drug that’s going to help their businesses do more sales. A few years ago it was search engine optimization. Today it’s social media marketing.  My take on this is to do your company a favor and save your money because using social media as a pathway to sales is almost certainly not going to work to the degree you want.  What? Heresy you say?

You see, while social media can be a valuable marketing tool, it’s not magic, it is not a miracle, and it cannot and won’t replace everything that came before it. By itself, social media doesn’t work well.  I realize what I’m saying is not likely to be well-received, especially with the hundreds of people who have set themselves up as social media experts over the last year. I can understand why people think social media will cure everything, but I challenge anybody reading this to produce a real success story that has led to an actual increase in sales.

Just take a look at the top brands on Facebook (www.fanpagelist.com/category/brands) to see which brands people Like and Follow on Facebook and Twitter respectively. It’s hard not to be amazed.  The #20 brand (Skittles) has more fans than there are people who live in Texas! Yup…Texas. Wow!  Who needs paid media when you can reach a mass audience for free?   Surely that’s an opportunity just too good to miss, right? Surely it makes sense to place a chunk of your limited and stretched marketing budget on a social media expert who promises to get your message out there so that the profits will roll in. Right?

Well, hold on for a reality check. One significant fact is that most of the top social brands continue to invest heavily in traditional media.  Coke is near the top of the top brands on Facebook with more than 70 million followers. WalMart has over 30 million.  The route to social media success, it seems, runs through traditional channels.  Even the exceptions like YouTube and Starbucks are worth looking at. They obviously didn’t grow into superstar brands using Facebook and Twitter but rather use social media to capitalize on brand equity they have already built-up.  In fact, when Google started getting serious competition, they started running TV ads.  When there’s a product launch, a sale or just about any other occasion where you need to reach a mass audience quickly and effectively, there’s still no substitute for paid media…and the dot com’s know it.

Social media is a long, hard row to hoe. There’s no quick success and very few programs break through. Ask any company in the country and they’ll tell you they have some kind of social media program in place. Some of the more active companies write a few blog posts a week; reply to comments and questions on a daily basis; and update their Twitter and Facebook feeds repeatedly. A tiny, tiny proportion of them are having anything that resembles significant impact. Fact is, Coca-Cola says it can find no correlation between “buzz” on Twitter and actual unit sales. Auto manufacturer Nissan admits it has no idea if social media helps it shift cars. MasterCard can’t tie its social investment to revenues. In fact, there remains little evidence social media does anything to boost brands’ bottom lines.

Our firm’s experience has been pretty much the same.  Although LinkedIn groups were helpful in the beginning, Facebook and Twitter were almost useless for the first year.  It took awhile to build a following and learn how to develop it before we saw any benefits that justified the effort.

Oh, and let’s not forget about that group of mysterious online people out there that supposedly hold all the cards … the “Influentials.”  Tap into them and they’ll disperse your message to the masses, or so some would have us believe. The fact is that in-depth research into the matter finds this whole idea completely baseless. Brands like Apple, Harley Davidson and Trader Joes, for instance, have been able to build an army of passionate followers without an “influencers” strategy.

That doesn’t mean that influence doesn’t exist.  It does.  TV show host Oprah Winfrey  is very influential as doctors are when it comes to health issues, clergy for spiritual issues and so on.  However, there’s nothing mysterious about them.  Marketers have long used celebrity endorsements, trade marketing and community outreach where appropriate.  The truth is that brands are not built by influential people, but by influential ideas. The problem is that so called “influencers” aren’t that much more influential than anybody else.  Don’t take my word for this. Go online and do your own research and see for yourself.

Again, social media by itself is not a great way to build a brand.  You’re just inserting yourself into an ocean of jumbled voices and are unlikely to stand out. Marketers like to complain about the clutter in traditional media, but in social media it’s so much more cluttered.

So then why use social media at all?  The reason is that it is an impactful vehicle for empowering advocacy and we know that’s extremely important for brand health and profitability.  Social media, if done right, can capitalize on what brand equity your company has already built up.

So when I hear social media “experts” who make outrageous claims, who state misleading research, who use everything from stories to rumors to masquerade as facts, whose bias renders them short of perspective, and who completely dismiss the power of ‘traditional’ advertising… they’re ONLY, ONLY, voicing their opinion and not “showing me the beef.”

While social media is a vitally important component of an overall effort, it’s no replacement for sound marketing principles.

Touchpoints: There must be 50 ways to leave your message

TouchpointA few weeks ago, I was faced with needing to find a new dentist. So, the search began and the more I looked around, the more it showed just how many touchpoints came into play prior to – and after – a selection being made.

As we know, customers experience your brand in numerous ways and each of these touchpoints molds the customer’s impression of your company’s brand. If the brand is a promise you make, then the customer experience is the fulfillment of that promise. The customer experience can’t be left to chance. It has to consistently reinforce the brand promise across every customer touchpoint or the value of the brand itself is at risk.

So, after thinking about what your brand stands for and what sets it apart, it’s time to look outward. After all, if a brand is built and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? In not-so-distant marketing past, reaching consumers meant connecting through just a few channels: a catalog, a radio spot, a store visit, a customer service line, a salesperson…You get the idea. However, the number of channels for reaching customers has exploded in recent years. Think about it: when was the last time you made a major (or even not-so-major) purchase decision, personal or for business, whether a product or service, through a single channel? In fact, it’s more likely that your purchasing decision was made after being reached through a variety of interconnected touchpoints, from social media, to word-of-mouth, to advertising messaging, to conducting research online, to comparison shopping in the store.

Despite the desire to “silo” marketing channels, they’re far more effectively used together than individually. In a Forrester’s research report, it was noted that 33% of new customers involve two or more “trackable touchpoints,” and nearly 50% of repeat customers visit three or more “trackable touchpoints.” And despite the fact that nearly a 50% of the surveyed people believed that social media channels are a great place to discover new products, less than 1% of sales resulted directly from a social media referral. Online search (i.e., Google) and email were much more effective at closing a sale.

That said, your ultimate goal is to have each touchpoint reinforce and fulfill your marketplace promise. The best way to do this effectively is to look at each of your marketing, selling, and servicing processes which then allows you to create a simple touchpoint chart or map that defines your customers’ experiences with your brand.

Keeping this in mind, let’s use the process in looking for a new dentist:

  • Influencing Touchpoints: You ask friends for recommendations on Facebook and look around trusted review websites (Yelp, Angie’s List) for patient ratings and testimonials. Maybe you remember seeing a local dentist on the news commenting on a new dental procedure. (Touchpoints: Social Media, Patient Ratings, Word of Mouth, Testimonials, Referrals)
  • The Pre-Purchase Experience: You check out the web pages of some of the dentists that have piqued your interest. You decide to call one and are thrilled with how pleasant the receptionist is and how quickly you’re able to come in for an appointment. (Touchpoints: Marketing, Appointment making interaction, PR, Online video, Blog, Website, Phone System)
  • The Purchase Experience: You arrive at the dentist’s office and are greeted by the receptionist who has a smile on her face. You sit in the nicely decorated and comfortable lobby before seeing the dentist. The dentist knows her stuff and answers all your questions. On the way out, you stop at reception desk to pay and the scheduler, dressed in a uniform with the doctor’s office logo on it, smiles and tells you to have a great day. (Touchpoints:. Building Exterior, Office Lobby, Receptionist/Office surroundings, Examination Room, Employee Uniform)
  • The Post-Purchase Experience: The office staff sends you home with a card containing useful information. On the card, you see the dentist’s blog and social media pages which offer dental hygiene tips. Someone from the staff calls after your appointment to check on you, and a couple of days later, you receive a handwritten card with a small token of appreciation for becoming a new patient. You go to a rating website and share your experience with others. (Touchpoints: Thank You Card, Follow-up Call, Online Bill Pay, Billing Statement)

That said, all touchpoints are not created equal. Some will naturally play a larger role in determining your company’s overall customer experience.  To determine the touchpoints driving your customers’ overall experience, your organization can use a wide array of techniques ranging from quantitative research to institutional knowledge.

Yes, it’s simple….almost absurdly simple. But stepping into consumers’ shoes is an exercise absolutely too many executives neglect when marketing. We forget to become our own customers–with real, day-to-day concerns–and in the process, we lose sight of the most valuable touchpoint opportunities. Each one is a chance to present your brand and what you stand for.

In other words, having a more refined sense of “touch” has a big impact on how your prospects feel.

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Special OfferWhat does this popular country song by Johnny Lee have to do with this blog post? Well, this week my neighbor received a really attractive offer from a company with whom I’ve had a long standing relationship. When I called the company and asked if I could get the same offer, I was told “Sorry. That’s for new customers only.” When I then asked what offers did they have for current customers, I was told they’d get back to me on that. I have yet to hear from them.

So, with that in mind, have you noticed how many companies offer deals only to new customers? Sign up for our new program and the first month is free! Special gift for new customers only!  Try our new product and we’ll give you more than you asked for! Here’s the problem with those type of offers: They focus on new customers and not the ones you already have. As a loyal customer of that business, it would be nice if you could take advantage of some of those special offers too. Trouble is that they’re for new customers only. You, on the other hand, have been supporting the business for years but you get nothing. Nothing for your dedication and loyalty.

Most people think that growing a company’s sales means getting new customers.  Well, yes and no. Yes, new customers are constantly needed, but truly successful companies prosper on their ability to keep the customers they’ve already acquired. The reason is simple. Finding new customers is expensive and time consuming.  For example, let the following research statistics wash over you….

  • The cost of acquiring a new customer is estimated at 6 to 7 times what it costs to maintain a current one.
  • The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 – 70% while many companies consider a “get new customers” campaign successful if just over 5% of the prospects contacted end up buying.
  • You are twice as likely to close business with a lost customer than you are with a prospect.

Not to mention that current customers give invaluable feedback on “how we did” or “how the product/service is doing” along with being a major source of referrals, etc. That’s why losing a good customer to the competition is always a bad thing.  You have to work more than 10 times as hard to get enough new customers just to make up the revenue lost with your departing one, and forget about profit.

Which brings me to the question that begs to be asked: “Why do customers leave?”  Curiously, most business owners and managers have the exact wrong idea about why customers leave. Most people believe that customers leave because:

  • They found a lower price.
  • Their needs changed.

(Drum roll please)…Wrong!

According to an in-depth study by the research firm CRMGuru, the reasons customers give for taking their “business down the road” are:

  • Bad customer service: 74%
  • Poor quality of product: 32%
  • Pricing: 25%
  • Functionality/Needs change: 15%

As you can see, when it comes to keeping your existing customers, customer service is 3 times more important than price–and 5 times more important than functionality. Which obviously means that if you want to keep the customers that you’ve got, you should think about reversing priorities and pay more attention to customer service and quality–and, consequently, less attention to functionality and price. I fully realize that this runs contrary to 90% of what most people think is important, probably because price and functionality can play a large role in new customer acquisition.

So what can be done to maximize the value of your most valuable asset? Here are five quick thought starters:

  1. Anyone can “satisfy” a customer. But only when you continually make them happy will they keep coming back. Do this consistently, and you will have a customer for life.
  2. Give personal attention to customers who are going to reciprocate by being consistently good purchasers of your product or service. The more your customers feel as though you are treating them individually, the more likely they are to continue their relationship with you.
  3. Provide a meaningful, and I mean meaningful, loyalty program. Whether it’s in the form of preferable rates, bonus products or service offerings, to programs that promote multiple purchases, etc., do something to show them you care.
  4. Keeping in touch with your customers is about relationships. Customers are most likely to keep buying from you if you have a strong relationship – if they trust you and your product/service. “Reach out and touch them” through email, social media channels, etc.
  5. Ask them for referrals and then show them your thanks…you know how to do that, right?

Regardless of what you’re selling, your long-term profitability is largely dependent upon your ability to keep current customers, rather than acquiring new ones. While it’s fine to try things to attract new customers to your business, be sure to spread a little love around to those who are already in your camp and are supporting your business. Don’t forget, every now and then, to “dance with the one that brung ya.”

Why you don’t sell cars to cowboys

crystal ballThe year is 1913.  The automobile is more than a novelty by this time.  It is here to stay, and already, in the big cities, cars are beginning to outnumber horses on the major thoroughfares.  Every young and growing family of any means has one of these contraptions.  And the Ford Motor Company is pumping these babies out as fast as his factory will allow.  In fact, if you’re Henry Ford, in 1913, you can’t imagine that ANYONE would want to be without a car, given its obvious speed, convenience and ability to vastly improve commerce.

But that same year, anyone who is over 50 has grown up with the horse and buggy and they are far from abandoning the most dependable and affordable form of transportation there is.  Out in the countryside, they’re even more locked in to the old ways. Of course, they’re all a dying breed – literally – and one day, maybe in another decade or two, Mr. Ford will be right.  But in the meantime, it still pays to be a blacksmith.

The year is 2013.  Social Media is more than a novelty.  And the digital universe will continue to play a growing role in how one makes choices in every area. But there’s a market divide here as well: those under 50 who, growing up, depended on television and now the Internet as their major information sources, and those over 50 who grew up with newspapers, books and encyclopedias, news magazines, radio and eight channels of TV to inform their world view.  Those gray-haired Baby Boomers and pre-Boomers aren’t ready to give up the old medium forms or use the full potential of Internet the way their younger counterparts are.  They still rely on traditional media and the power of face-to-face relationships to form their opinions.  It’s how they’re hard-wired, even though many Boomers and older seniors may have Facebook accounts and smart phones.

For the visionary marketer under the age of 50, little wonder that he or she sees the future the way Henry Ford did in 1913. Soon, EVERYBODY will be wired, interactive, and engaged in the multiplicity of online touch points.

But whoa!  If you’re reaching buyers over 50, which is the absolutely dominant market for health care, retirement living, destination travel, hospice care and funeral services, it still pays to know how to shoe horses!

I spoke last week to a senior services industry group, most of whom were Boomers or older, and they were very clear on the fact that for the next decade at least, Boomers and the older generations will remain the primary target audience. In fact, it was fascinating to note how many of these industry professionals struggled to understand how to use Facebook.  Well, they’re over 50, just like their buyers!

If you’re under 50, you might chuckle at these old codgers and say their ways are fast coming to a close.  But do remember, if you’re selling anything to Baby Boomers and older, these old-school marketers are more on-target than you are.

Young emerging marketing directors need to know how to employ the technological and social changes that are underway. But if you’re marketing to Boomers and older, automotively speaking, this is still 1913, not 1930.  The changes that should be happening right now aren’t so much about how to use Facebook and Twitter but how to speak to the Baby Boomer better, understand their culture better, speak their language better and show up where they are.  That means more relevant branding, more choices of products and services, adroit use of surprise, humor and respectful irreverence in marketing, and the avoidance of anything that reeks of clichés and stock or traditional messages.

Visionary thinking is wonderful, but while you’re looking well down the path, it pays to watch where your very next step will be as well.

Dead Veep Walking – the Marketing Director

VP TombThe life of a hummingbird rarely exceeds four years.  The life expectancy of a Marketing Director (or CMO or VP of Sales & Marketing) at any given company is even less than that. The typical tenure these days is a little more than 3 years and this is up from about 26 months in 2004.  In fact, as you stroll through the offices at many companies, it’s an easy bet which executive is a dead man (or woman) walking: the Marketing Director.

What are some of the reasons causing such a short tenure? What are some things a Marketing Director can do to be successful? How much of that is on the company and how much is brought on by the individual?

  • It starts before the hire is made. It’s been said that over 60% of companies don’t know what they’re looking for when they recruit a Marketing Director.  In many cases, these companies can’t spell out coherently what the person would be accountable for.  Are you and the President/CEO on the same page? I’ve heard it more than once: “I was brought in to drive change, but the organization wasn’t aligned behind the change agenda.” Whose fault is that?!?
  • There are sky-high expectations surrounding what a Marketing Director can and should do.  The best Marketing Director can’t turn poorly made or poorly priced products into marketplace winners every time, nor by themselves create a culture of innovation to make sure new, exciting products are always being developed.
  • As I wrote about in my last blog, everyone in the organization thinks that they know how to do that “marketing thing,” so they have no compunction in second-guessing the marketing strategy or the creative. Everyone’s an expert even though they’re not.
  • There is an impatience in the effectiveness of marketing. People want results right away and it is probably because the economy has been in the toilet for a few years.  So there is a pressure on reporting how marketing is working for a brand and the CEO/President is looking for a more immediate payoff.  It doesn’t help that chief executives and chief marketers often have very different imperatives.
  • Some companies are finally realizing it is time to ramp things up and yet there are too many Marketing Directors ‘hiding under the table,’ relying on the same old people…internally as well as their external marketing “partners”. Think: Different horses for different courses.
  • As more is written about different ways to seize on new business revenue, you have a Marketing Director who is being forced by a company President/CEO to incorporate these “must haves” into the organization’s marketing activities.  As important as social media platforms are, for example, they are not necessarily of equal worth or equally effective for all businesses and all products.  But it is a brave and daring CMO who can resist CEO pressure to devote scarce resources in chasing what “everyone knows” is today’s “marketing must.”
  • There is more confusion than there should be between sales and marketing roles, what they can do, and how they must work together.

Ok, so how much of this is do you see or experience in the world that you live in? If you’re like the vast majority of Marketing Directors in this country, you see any of these issues popping up on a fairly regular basis. Here are a few things to consider in order to make sure you’re not having to call your executive recruiter anytime soon.

  • Do not become stale in the way that you market, from the strategy to the creative to the channels to your thinking. The status quo is a communicable disease that will infect everything you touch if you let it.
  • Be personally inquisitive about new technology and new markets and the social implications of new technology.
  • Become the voice of the customer. And what’s important is not just understanding the customer ….but the end user.
  • Be responsible and accountable for nurturing, growing and protecting the brand. Successful marketers truly must understand the convergence of product, brand promise and experience and get the company to understand that convergence as well.
  • Listen to align the rest of the organization around the need to build “our change agenda” not “my change agenda.”
  • Continue to make an investment in your own education to keep yourself exposed to things out of your comfort zone. From books and seminars to online webinars and articles you find on your LinkedIn groups. There are so many invaluable resources!
  • The need for a strategic marketing partner is imperative. Now and in the coming years, it will be more important than ever to partner with an agency that doesn’t simply fulfill projects for you, but one that offers you the advantage of broad strategic experience in the trenches. One thing is certain about the years to come: companies will have to stay nimble and adjust strategies on the fly.  Who you choose to have on your team is going to mean everything.
  • And, I would suggest, too little effort is made to educate and promote the marketing role within the organization.  It is the Marketing Director’s job (another one) not merely to develop and define strategy but to explain it – not only to customers and prospects but to employees and other senior level executives.

While the marketing landscape changes so quickly, the good news is that a Marketing Director can succeed in the face of headwinds no matter which way he/she faces. It may be more challenging than it should be, but stand true to your brand, be current and always in the know, and be bold enough to make a difference….otherwise, chances are, you might be dusting off that resume.

“Give It to the Amateurs” or Marketing by Abdication

I had a phone call with a previous client last week and during our talk she told me more than once how she felt like the role of her marketing department was being marginalized. Apparently, over the course of the last few years, various internal departments who relied on the marketing team to support their activities are now more or less telling them what they want said and how they wanted it represented in the various forms and channels. They’re playing Copywriter and Art Director. The reason why this has happened was summed up by what more and more people in organizations think: “Anyone can do Marketing.”

Unfortunately, there are people in C-suites around this country, self appointed ‘marketing experts’ on the web (who are generally selling something), etc., who believe that to be the case.  In fact, the marketing department is also occasionally to blame. How’s that? Well, have you noticed any of the job postings for marketing people? Some of the position descriptions are impressive and ask for proficiency in a number of specialties like SEO, CRM, social media, Photoshop, along with more traditional marketing areas.  And then comes the kicker: 2-4 years experience required. What??? Obviously, marketing management who wrote the job spec doesn’t view its role as that complicated or requiring suitable experience to do the job correctly. No wonder respect is hard to come by.

As we know, businesses depend on professional attorneys to oversee their legal affairs and experienced accountants to manage their finances. But some executive level business people don’t think twice about turning over their revenue-producing marketing efforts to someone who doesn’t have a clue what the 5 P’s of Marketing are. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “Troy, I know you’re a engineer by training but you took a class in junior college about law, didn’t you? Hey, would you mind doing some international patent registration for us?” Yet a very similar conversation happens with marketing.

Misguided companies everywhere assign the marketing role to anyone who they think is “creative” or can write. And people in your company know people outside of your organization who fit that bill. So why should they think that you’re different? What’s been done to offset that perception?

In the organization I mentioned, the marketing department first let some things go that they shouldn’t have and ultimately as a result they’ve abdicated their role as experts and brand stewards.  They’re now seen as mere fulfillers.  In their zeal to make people happy, they took the thoughts offered up by the internal stakeholders as the easy way out in order to get through the work in their queue.  Having overseen a creative services team for a large financial services company, I know how this can happen and how tempting it can be when it “just needs to get done ASAP!”  But you’re just opening up Pandora’s box when you go down that road.  So what are a few ways for people to better understand the value that marketing offers? Here goes:

  1. Don’t accept work without setting up a meeting to discuss. If it’s important to get the work done, then it’s important for the time to be spent up front getting it right.
  2. Come to the meeting prepared with questions that need to be answered…thoughtfully, like, for starters, “Why does this need to be done?  What should be the outcome?” Show the value of why these questions are being asked.
  3. Bring research that can help in addressing the issue but also ask for research as well (this stops a lot of opinion-giving). Talk about ways that the work could be repurposed.
  4. Set clear expectations on a timeline because some of these people think it can done in a day or so (remember, this is the group that believes “anyone can do marketing”).
  5. Bring insights into the equation…not just facts. Facts are “on the surface” while insights are “beneath the surface” and give birth to the type of emotional messaging that connects with your audience.
  6. When the time comes to present your ideas/creative, make sure they’re really good. Not sort of good but really good. Anyone can rely on clichés (“For all your ______ needs.”) or rip offs (“Got ____?”) or poorly executed puns.
  7. Should things not go splendidly when the work is presented, do not let yourself be pushed around in order to accept the ideas initially offered up by the internal stakeholder. If you do, you’re really not accomplishing anything and in fact, you’re seen as a roadblock to getting work done quicker.
  8. Make the process standard operating procedure and non-negotiable and stick to it.
  9. Distribute finished work to various internal departments for awareness purposes

At the end of day, the value of your department or specifically, your job, is more at stake than you might imagine. A so-so marketing plan, a mediocre tradeshow booth or ad or collateral piece, a ho-hum status quo “integrated” campaign…they all make you look more like a fulfiller of marketing needs and less like the marketing professional that the company is counting on to drive revenue, awareness, brand preference, etc.  In fact, not showing value is the quickest way to have the work you do be discounted as nothing special.

So if your organization believes that “Anyone can do Marketing,” consider whether or not you have a role to play in that notion.

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