Is Your Marketing Toxic?

Most people think that the purpose of marketing is to sell stuff.  

I hear this frequently from clients who load up their emails and face book content with offers to buy their “stuff”. 

Whether it is bowling, hardware, admission tickets to an entertainment venue, automobiles, auto parts, restaurant meals or computer chips, it happens all the time.

So I ask a lot of questions of my clients; here is just a sample.

Why do you create content that only talks about you and not about your customer?

Why do you use so many registration forms in front of your content; don't you think that discourages people to read further?

Why do you use social media to promote products that very few people want?

Why do you send so many emails to your list as response rates drop and op outs become the norm?

Why do you create little teasers in your blog or newsletter and force the customer to  click to read more which results in, you guessed it, a sales pitch?

The answer I always get is: “Fred, we are in the business of selling stuff. We have to show real results or get real leads or because the Boss told me to do it.”  “We just can’t keep giving stuff away.”

I get it. I know about those pressures.

I also I know that there is a time and a place to us registration forms, a time to place coupons in your email and a time to send a selling email. 

But at what cost?

Bad content and only talking about yourself is simply the biggest mistake of 21^st century marketing.

Don’t take my word for it. Test it. Send some of your paid search to a blog site, and then measure it if they share it.  

Measure the effect of that traffic and the benefits of free traffic and then convert those to leads

Have a great call to action with great content that “Provides Real Information “and “optimize it”. 

Don’t use the registration “gate”; let the content become the lead generation machine for your business.

Because you need to realize that the PURPOSE OF YOUR BUSINESS IS TO SERVE CUSTOMERS and when you stop offending customers and prospects with constant sales messages, your business WILL begin to get many sales. 

Because serving customers, sells. 

What Is "Touch Point Marketing?"

There are only a few ways to gain market share, which is always a good strategy, in a slow growth or flat market.

1. New product development or product line extension. Think apple computers; new product category (I pod); product line extension, Mac Book Air (the new thin one!)

2.    Great customer service to differentiate your product from others in your category.  Think Southwest airlines.

3.    Price reductions; in the short term because long term, you become Montgomery Wards. Think Lexus when they introduced their flagship vehicle UNDER their cost to steal share from Mercedes.

Of these strategies, the one that you can control the most is #2, customer service.

But let’s break it down a little more. Lets call it “touch point” strategy.  A touch point is any place in your business where the customer has a memorable experience; an experience that you have diligently created.

Some people make the memorable experience at the front desk/customer area.  Others make a memorable experience in the restaurant.  Others make a great experience in the entry way. And still others focus on the bathrooms.

In the entry way, have you put a “welcome to our fun place” sign or a voice activation system that’s says hello every time someone comes in?

At the front counter, is your staff dressed in bright fun costumes or are they still wearing a ‘ hasn't-been-cleaned-recently- golf shirt with your logo?

Is your restaurant a fun place where kids can get crayons, adults can get engaging waiters and waitresses and where the food is presented in an eye catching and mouth watering way?  Do you have a mascot greeting the customers and kids?

Is the bathroom a different experience? Check out what the Las Vegas Hilton did.  Ina city known for “over the top experiences”  the Las Vegas Hilton actually has people coming to their casino to see the bathrooms. More importantly, it is driving sales in a very flat market.

Kind of gives new meaning to a “ touch point strategy.”

Hurricane Sandy: The Follow Up

For those of you who have asked what happened to my friend at his "hurricane party, here's what happened:

After considerable urging and death threats from his friends and family, he made the decision to move out about 10 minutes before the wall of water flooded his basement and added 8 ft of water to his first floor, destroying everything on that floor; kitchen, living room, den, bedroom, bathroom and dining room.
                                                                                        He was one of the lucky ones.                                      The house behind his burned to the ground.

If you would like to contribute to the relief fund for the Rockaways, here is a link:  http://www.facebook.com/RockawayRelief

The Wisdom of Tom Coughlin's All In Philosophy

I woke up last night with a message in my head about “imagining the moment” and then something about “turning the moment into action”.  I get these messages now and then from some part of my brain that has lain dormant all these years only to be stimulated just enough to send me a message.

Weird?  You bethca!

In following up with clients, I sometimes find that they are stuck. Yes, stuck. Sure they know what to do. They know what they are supposed to do. They know how to do it. They even know how to make sure it gets done right.  But they just don’t do it.

Why?

Perhaps it is because they haven’t had many wins lately or maybe it is because they feel that the bowling Gods have not been kind to them. Or perhaps they feel a sense of deep frustration, or worse, a sense of futility.  Is it because they have been counting on someone else o help them out?  Or they think that the best strategy to have is “hope?”

Well I am here to tell you: only you can help yourself.

Don’t count on any big brother association, manufacturer or sponsor to do it all for you.  It’s your ball game to win or lose.

This is a beautiful, wonderful industry with many cool people who have overcome adversity and risen out of the ashes to become successful. Learn from them. Learn from other industries and their leaders. Learn all you can about contemporary marketing methods. Read all the books you can. Attend all the courses you can.  Never ever stop learning and never stop doing.

Because as an old friend once told me when you are stuck and just not “getting to the issues”, then the only thing to do is to do something.  I don’t care if it’s reorganizing the office. I don’t care if you take up yoga or want to become a sheep herder or lose 15 pounds.

Just do something that you can see a result. Then do something else.  And then something else. Until you get back into the habit of doing something at your maximum potential. Not half baked. Not half heartedly. Not half assed. But as Tom Coughlin said, the coach of the Super Bowl wining NY Giants - "ALL IN."  Its not enough to show up, do your job and go home. 

You have to be ALL IN, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. And you have to have people around you who are ALL IN also.

Because if you're not ALL IN, you will never know how damn good you really are!  

And wouldn't that be a shame to wake up one day and say "I coulda been somebody."

P.S.   My friend, who lived on the island and refused to leave, right before the hurricane,  finally came to his senses and did leave. His hurricane party came to a sudden end;  packing and leaving with his family just in time before the wall of water hit his house.  He was one of the lucky ones. His house was completely flooded, 8 feet of water on the first floor.  His neighbors houses burned. 

Did Your Guy Win?

No matter who wins tonight, think about how many homeless people, how many hurricane victims could have benefited from the ungodly amount of advertising spent to sway opinions and ultimately votes for "their guy." 

Estimates in Ohio alone were that combined advertising by both parties exceeded $20 million.  

Yikes.

Yes, I know there is a great deal at stake, but there's something about that level of expenditure, (and I'm a marketing guy) that almost, almost seems sinful (IMO)!!.

But now you have the opportunity to give back to some folks and transform your bowling center into a fund raising machine where your tribe of followers can raise money for their causes and you can raise a little revenue for your cause.J

What about an adult child league for the local school that needs to raise money for their band?  Every team pays (I.E.) $20. On a two game program, you keep $10 and the school keeps $10. They bowl for 6 weeks or 8 week. 

Based on 12 teams, that’s $120 per week for the school. Multiply that times 8 weeks and it’s almost a cool $1,000 bucks you have helped them raise. What about churches and Kiwanis groups? How about softball teams, little league groups, hospitals, businesses who sponsor charities?

You get it, right?

Do that a couple of times starting ASAP and you could be looking at several thousand dollars in new revenue each month.

It’s not a grand slam. But it’s not chicken feed either.

Are You There Yet?

Creativity comes from the strangest places and from the strangest circumstances.

Or as the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention.”

In lower Manhattan as residents found themselves in the dark, they all found that they were without their mandatory issued Android or Apple cell phones, iPods, iPads, and laptops, which of course need power.

Some hiked uptown with their electronic gear to find a friend with power, a Starbucks, a restaurant or even a bank to plug into. 

One guy, probably an engineer type (with a marketing mind), figured out how to hook up a bicycle to power a generator to drive a bunch of extension cords which people could use to power up their devices.

One woman, probably a strategic thinker (with a marketing mind) brought her grill down to the streets. Others followed suit and pretty soon a line of people were cooking food for the neighborhood they would have had to throw out.

It’s amazing what we can do when we have to.

Are you at that point yet?

Because if you are then you are one step closer to your best innovation and creative idea. Yes!

On one other note, please run a fundraiser for the folks living in Staten Island, Long island and the Jersey Shore. Contribute it to the American Red Cross.  Your customers will applaud you and enhance your brand.

Besides, giving back is what its about isn't it?

Five Social Media Trends That Will Rock Your Business

In the aftermath of Sandy and among the many images I have been absorbing for the past 48 hours, I have to get away from it and get back to my marketing.  It’s what you read this blog for and I promise to give you some valuable information.

So I thought that today, I would delve a little deeper into some social media statistics that are shaping your business.

When the web was new it was about information; then it was about overthrowing Arab dictators.  Now it’s about you. It’s about the collection of information about you, your purchasing patterns, what you eat, when you go out, what foods you like, what movies you see, what clothes, cars and vacations you buy.

The end result is an Orwellian look at what businesses know about you. As one digital maven said, “Personal data is the oil of the new digital marketing age.”  

And while you might not think this is relevant to you, it is very relevant to your business because if you are not getting more data about customers, you will fall behind in this new “Hyper – Personalization -Era” of marketing.”

Here are a few numbers that depict the impact, Facebook in particular, are already having on your world:

3 Billion:  That’s the number of Google searches every day.  Compare that with 7 billion people in the world and Google has more information about you every day than it had the day before, whether you like it or not.

12 to 18:  The number of months it takes for the amount of online sharing to double. Sharing content is now on the same growth curve as processing power.

1500:  the number of new retailers, per week, that join Pavment, Facebook’s social commerce site that allows users to set up stores on Facebook. And this week, Facebook set up “Facebook gifts” which will allow users to send gifts over Facebook. Get used to “F-Commerce.”

3.3 Million:  The number of Tyra Banks Twitter followers and the reason why her new book skyrocketed to #1 on the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles site after ONE week!!

48 hours:  This is the number of hours of video that is uploaded on YouTube every minute. Stop. Reread that.  This is where the communication trend is going and you need to be in a YouTube mode to reach your customer.

Get to know these numbers. Get to know your customers better. Get better data. 

Because if you don't,  your competition will!