Smart Marketing

The Sounds of Marketing

My daughter and I srolled  into my favorite coffee bar yesterday for a Sunday morning daddy-daughter bonding event. After ordering, we took our seats and it was then that we noticed the music playing. It was a grunge/metal band, heavy on the yelling, that played over the loudspeakers at entirely too loud a level.

Since we were 2 out of just a few people in the joint at the time, I walked up to the counter and asked if there was any chance of listening to a different CD. My request was met by the manager of the place with a steely-eyed look and the words "We don't honor music requests ".

I couldn't help but notice another worker, who was far less severe in her attitude, watching with great interest, but deference just the same.

After getting our orders, my daughter and I proceeded to talk over the music for a couple of minutes. Then, I noticed,  out of the corner of my eye, the other worker turn the music down. The rest of the morning went just fine and my daughter and I had a great time after that.

But the whole incident raised two questions in my mind:
1) Do you think music influences the mood of a retail environment?
2) Is it right for customers to request a change in music? Should the owners comply?

How to get marketing and sales to work together

It's no secret there's an inherent friction between the marketing and sales staffs at most companies. Borne of different personalties and shaped from different experiences, these two fields often fight like starved cats over a mouse.

But it doesn't have to be this way. I've posted an article on my website called "Cut bickering between sales and marketing with these tips"  Check it out.

Here are a few kernals from the article:

• Sales thinks in days; Marketing in years
• Marketing’s view is 30,000 feet; Sales’ is 3 feet
• Marketing must schedule ride-alongs with Sales
• Sales must let Marketing develop the messaging

What else needs to be accounted for between these two groups?

Your buyers want control

I just received an apology letter from WorldVision, an organization through which my family and I sponsor an African child. Here is a portion of the letter:

"We sent several notices to you over the past months stating that we planned to increase your monthly commitment UNLESS you contacted us to say that you wanted to remain at the lower rate. We recognize now that we needed to ASK you, rather than simply assume you would join us."

First off, kudos to any organization that can admit its mistake so honestly. More importantly, the apology indicates a bigger trend in today's marketing: the buyer has control.

Increasingly, marketing efforts must have an opt-in mentality to them. Buyers are swamped with spam, telemarketing calls and unsolicited direct mail and a backlash is brewing. As a result, buyers are choosing which companies they want to market to them, and which they don't.

Do your marketing efforts have the buyer's choice at the center? Are you making it easy for buyers to opt-in (and conversely, opt-out)?

The need for focus in your marketing

For a while now, I've ranted about the importance of focus in a business' marketing effort. Now, the Big Picture Small Office blog comes out with a post today about how valuable focus would be to this large, public company.

Read it carefully, then refine your focus to just one marketing priority this week. Your company's very survival may be at stake.

Service marketing tips

What are the #1 and #2 ways buyers are most likely to learn about your service business? Referrals from colleagues (#1) and referrals from other sevice providers (#2).

Now what are the next 3 biggest ways for buyers to learn about you?

• Presentations at conferences or events (75%)
• Personal recognition or awareness of service provider (69%)
• In-person seminar (67%)

These facts, and dozens more like them, can be found in the latest guide from the folks at RainToday.com called How Clients Buy.

If you hve a service business, you owe it to yourself to check out this handy resource. In fact, I found this report so valuable, I'm going to try to post aother set of data next week.

PS - One lesson that can be drawn from the data above is this: If you are a service provider, you must do some form of public speaking to draw new leads.

Agree? Or is there another tactic that you service providers have found particular fruitful?

Brochures - The James Brown of your company identity

A brochure is your company’s James Brown: the hardest working tool in your identity kitbag. Just think of all the ways a brochure is used in this world and you’ll come to appreciate its overall importance to your marketing effort.

A good brochure helps your company:

· Establish credibility in a buyer’s mind

· Build consistency for your visual company brand

· Craft a unique image for your company

· Standardize your marketing messages

· Move prospects along to the next step in the buying process

· Remain in your buyer’s in-basket

· Appeal to those who prefer to read

From acting as a leave-behind after sales calls to a pass-out at trade shows to a download on your website, your marketing brochure is the most versatile and powerful marketing tool there is.

What else does a brochure do for a company?

Color in marketing - A need for contrast

Contrast is created when colors with opposing qualities are used together. The dissimilarity of the colors actually works to benefit marketers. The most basic example of this (and one that I see violated all the time) is the contrast between the background color and the text you want people to read. One job of yours as a marketer should be to always insist upon successful contrast between any background and the text appearing on it.

Look at this page for a moment. What do you see? Black type against a white background; one of the most effective (and popular) contrasts possible. There’s a reason for this: it’s easy to read.

If your objective is to get readers to read what you’ve written, choose readability over creativity.

3 Reasons to position your company

Markets are crowded these days. Too many companies competing for too little share. One good reason to properly position your business is to avoid the “muddle in the middle”. This amorphous lump of competitors usually happens at the mid-price range because higher end products position themselves as “prestige” items, while lower priced ones naturally assume the “low-price” label.

All other mid-priced companies, without properly positioning themselves on a choice attribute, risk getting lumped together in the middle price tier. Not standing out from this “muddle in the middle” is dangerous. Instead, find a positioning that aligns with the true essence of your company. Then, you’ll find your company identity spreading like mushrooms after a spring rain.

Good positioning also helps your company defend its turf.  If you can find a slot in your buyer’s mind, you will naturally be seen as the most obvious choice for that slot. This will help ward off attacks by your competitors who don’t fully understand how to position their companies.

Finally, good positioning can reduce your marketing expenditures. Well-positioned companies enjoy a unique point of difference from their competitors. If buyers and prospects get who you are and why you’re different, then you won’t have to shout so much. That’s a good thing because shouting costs a lot of money these days.

Do you agree or disagree...?

A Wrigley Field Dream Realized

As a huge baseball fan, lover of the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins, and 46 year old kid, I have to confess I've always dreamed of catching a foul ball at a game. Well, this weekend it happened. But what was interesting is that it didn't happen at all like I expected it to.

I'd always dreamed of an high pop up, slowly arching its way back to me. I visualized a group of people outstretching their hands and at the very last second, saw my hands  rising above theirs to snatch the foul ball away.

Fast forward to this weekend where I was enjoying a beautiful day in Wrigley Field with my son, brother and nephew. The batter, Ronny Cedano, was at bat and he sent a screaming line shot right towards me. In a split second, I lunged for the ball, knocked it down under a row of seats and dove head first under the seats to get it. Then a guy dove on top of me, and at one point started dragging my hand away from the ball so he could get it. We wrestled around under the seat; resulting in a nasty bruise to my shin, elbow and kneecap.

The whole thing couldn't have taken more than 5 seconds, but it felt like 30 minutes. Anyway I finally got the ball and stood up and showed the ball to the crowd. My son, right behind me, let out a whoop when he saw I had ended up with the ball. 

I gotta tell you, dreams really do come true. But not always the way you dream them...

Lipe's code of marketing ethics

There are too many ethical lapses in marketing today. In my humble opinion, marketers should be made to accept a code of ethics. Here's my take on what that Code should look like:
               
                     Lipe's Code of Marketing Ethics

• We will always be clear, straightforward and truthful in our marketing communications.
• We will never intentionally deceive or mislead our customers. If we do we’ll apologize, immediately.
• We will fully disclose, in the large print, all pricing information.
• We will always respect the privacy of our customers.
• We will always give buyers the ability to opt-out, quickly honoring their desire to do so.
• We will stand behind our products if they fail to deliver on their promises.
• We will listen to our customers’ needs and concerns, and make every effort to incorporate their input.
• We will not use strong-arm tactics to get people to buy.
• We will always document claims, testimonials and comparative statements.
• We will always accept responsibility for the consequences of our actions.

What have I missed?