Hot Ideas & Hot Air

Marketing hype drives me crazy.  I understand the need to be compelling, persuasive, and time-critical, but do marketers really have to underline and highlight every third word?  When I respond to an interesting marketing offer, and find a landing page filled with marketing hype, I just want to abandon the page.  Personally I’m turned off by 2000-word pages, 3-5 testimonials, and fake price slashing that’s done to convince me I am getting a great deal.  Am I the only one?  This marketing tactic must be effective (or must have been greatly effective at one time), because so many people use it.

Tell me please, readers, am I missing the boat?  Does the marketing hype make you want to buy?

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m a big fan of social media for small business marketing – but I haven’t always been. While I don’t have a Twitter following like some people and I’m not a big believer in “promiscuous linking” on LinkedIn, I believe that social media is going to revolutionize marketing for small businesses. Never before has it been so easy, and so affordable for a regionally-based small business to get prospective customers to know, like and trust them.

But starting any new endeavor a challenge – and social media is no exception. You don’t really know what to do at first. Should you trust the people and the information they’re providing? How do you start to build trust?

Many of the new social media sites and software-as-a-service sites give you a free trial or tour that allow you to familiarize yourself with their offerings at your own pace. (Twitter allows you to take a tour, so does Flickr.) Basecamp allows you to create a free project. Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers a free trial. Getting people to TRY is a critical first step.

Your customers feel the same way when they are thinking about working with you. They don’t know whether to trust the information you give them, or worse, they don’t know if they even need you! So, think about ways to give your prospective clients a way to get to know you. A sales pitch disguised as a free consultation is often too big and scary. Give them a smaller, less threatening way to engage.

Do you give your customers a “free trial” or a bite-size appetizer? Can they download a free whitepaper, or join a free webinar, before they have to commit to working with you?

Giving your potential clients a way to ease into working with you is one of the quickest ways to gain their trust and alleviate some of the fear. Next time you are wondering why a customer has reservations about working with you, think about it from their perspective. You are a big scary new thing - they want to test the waters before jumping in with both feet. Figure out a way to let them do that, and you’ll have a much easier time proving your use.

What other ways do you use to give your customers a way to ‘test you out’? Do you trust companies that let you ‘look around’ more than those that don’t?

For some of us, social media is like breathing.  We check Twitter every day (ok, 10-15 times a day).  We blog every day (or at least try).  We have a group of friends on Facebook, MySpace, FriendFeed, plurk and all of the other creatively named social sites. But for others, like Landon Ray, the CEO of Office AutoPilot, jumping into social media is scary.  What business owner has extra hours in the day?  None I know.  And for Landon and others like him (including some of our clients), social media seems like an endeavor that might suck away valuable time for questionable return on investment.

I am definitely a late joiner of social media.   I just started Twittering and blogging this year.   ( see our posts about deciding to use Twitter.)  I vividly remember being all alone on FaceBook, wondering who would be my friend, how I’d find them, and whether it would be be of any benefit (business-wise) to have more “friends.”  

You see, most of my clients are professional service companies who sell software such as Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Mas 500, QuickBooks, and Deltek.  Most of the owners of these businesses aren’t on the social media sites - at least not yet.  

So how do I justify my Return on Investment in Social Media?  I measure my ROI though:

1.  Fabulous Search Engine Optimization.  My stats have increased significantly every month.

2.  An Incredible Wealth of Knowledge.  Clients turn to me to be a marketing expert - but I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know everything about marketing.  Marketing is constantly changing. By keeping in the loop with other marketing experts like myself, I can learn about and think about new tools, tips and technologies that will speed up their return on investment.

3.  A Network of People to Turn to.  If I don’t have the answers or skills to do something, social networking has put me in touch with people who do. 

4.  An Opportunity to Show Clients Who I Am.   Anyone can look good on a 10-page website or a glossy brochure, but blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. but the more casual format of social media gives clients more insight into the authenticity of the person and the company that they’re hiring.

5.  An Early Opportunity.  It’s true that most of my ideal clients aren’t using social media yet.  So what! Some of them are.  I’ve been able to connect with lots of Microsoft Executives because they’re early adopters too. Once my ideal clients do get on board, they’ll see that I’ve been doing it for YEARS…. And they can still find be better than they could before because social media has given me such great search engine optimization. 

The way I see it is that by spending 30-60 minutes EVERY DAY on social media, I avoid spending signficantly more time and money getting clients to know, like and trust me through traditional mediums.

Want to be my friend?  Join me:

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/amachina

Facebook: http://profile.to/adriannemachina/

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/adriannemachina

Most people start blogs about a topic they are passionate or knowledgeable about. They think that because they love a topic or know a lot about it - it will be easy to maintain daily posts. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. Despite your passion or knowledge, you don’t always have a brilliant idea on the tip of your tongue. But, the best bloggers, the ones that post 4-5 times a day and have a great readership, seem like they always do.

So - How do they do it?

They employ the use of drafts, notebooks and files of information on possible topics and interesting articles from other experts in the field.

For anyone who is getting starting in blogging, or who has been blogging for a while and run into a mental block should take this tip to heart. Starting today, begin to collect articles that you find interesting, put them in files on your computer or files in your office, and the next time that you have a mental block you can pull out an article and put your opinion on the words of the author. Also, if you have a day where you are overly creative and full of ideas, try writing more than one blog and saving them in your drafts. Then, if another day is busy or you are unable to come up with something, you have a back stash of great ideas already put together.

Do you have any other great tips to share about coming up with blogging topics? Let us know!

THANK YOU JOHN JANTSCH!

Recently I spent some time trying to explain Twitter for business to a client. After the conversation, I kept thinking ’someone should write a guide’ but just didn’t have the time. Well thankfully I wasn’t the only one in need, and John Jantsch has answered my request. If you are wondering about Twitter for business uses too, check out the rest of John’s blog and his free beginners guide.

Are your marketing messages crafted through a business owner’s eyes or through a potential client’s eyes? 

A business owner sees the cost, the time, the effort and energy that goes into creating a marketing piece. The business owner’s perspective is that marketing is meant as a means to sell something. A potential client sees an opportunity - to save money, to learn something or to look or feel better - based on the offer, the ‘what’s in it for me’, and whether or not it captures their attention. 

If you get too caught up in the business owner’s need of marketing and selling vs. the potential client’s need to be educated and informed, you will be off-target in your messaging, making your marketing expenditures less effective.

Owner focused:  We’re offering a 25% discount if you buy before 8/31!
Customer focused:  You can save 25% if you act before 8/31!

Owner focused:  We’re the best in the country, and have won the grand-poobah award 10 times!
Customer focused: Our award-winning team will make sure you achieve fantastic results.

Now, what can you do about it? Start looking at your marketing from a different perspective - the perspective of the people that buy your product! Before you say it - yes, there are thousands of reasons that people buy your product, and no, you can’t realistically figure them all out, BUT you can ask your current clients why they buy, and then use those ideas to find more clients!

At 11:42am this morning a 5.4 earthquake hit Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside County.

When it hit, I was on a conference call, trying to absorb Microsoft’s presentation about a new marketing program being offered to Microsoft Dynamics Channel Partners. A big jolt made me decide to temporarily abandon the telephone for the security of the door frame.  The house seemed to shake forever…..but in truth, the Orange County earthquake only lasted about 20 seconds.  It was a scary 20 seconds to be sure, but in the end, a pretty harmless 20 seconds - just enough to get my heart racing.

After I calmed down, finished that call and the one that followed it, I started thinking about the earthquake.  An earthquake is not exactly a surprise, especially if you live in California. You always know that an earthquake could happen any day, but it’s always a surprise when the earthquake hits.  Orange County earthquakes are a predictable disaster.

Isn’t the same thing true for business?  For example, you know your employees will quit. Their departure is also a “predictable disaster.” It is a fact of business.  Employees move on; no one will stay with you forever, but you don’t know when they’lll quit or how they’ll leave. Typically employees provide two weeks notice, but what if an employee were to become (heaven forbid) deathly ill? You wouldn’t get 2 weeks. What would you do? How would you handle it?

What about your clients?  What would you do if the client that basically keeps your business in the black were to move on and work with someone else? Would your business leave with them, or could you survive?

After thinking about emergencies and business, I’ve decided there is something to be said for those elementary school drills that tell you what to do when emergencies happen.  The people - the companies - that survive are the ones who are prepared for the emergency. 

Are you prepared?

1. Do you have central files where everyone stores critical client data?
2. Do you back up all your data - even remote employees’ laptops?
3. Is your back up stored offsite or online?
4. Do you have your key procedures documented?
5. Do you have a network of other people you could hire if a key employee left?
6. Do you make sure to diversify your client portfolio? 
7. Do you have insurance?

The time to be thinking of these things is now - BEFOREyour company has a predictable disaster.  And to all my Orange County and Los Angeles friends, I hope you are OK.  Let’s NOT do that again!

My friend and fellow Duct Tape Marketing Coach Randy Vaughn of MarketingTwins.com sent me this hilarious video.  Well, for those of you who HIRE designers, this might not be so funny, but for those of us that are sometimes asked to deliver on impossible demands, this video definitely struck a nerve.

Graphic Design Process of Designing a Stop Sign

How could this team have produced a better outcome?  Here are 5 tips for companies hiring graphic designers and marketing agencies.

1.  Begin with the end in mind.  What do you want done?  Leave the “how” to the professionals.  For example, if you say, “I want a big, red blinking box that says STOP” – that’s what you’ll get.  But if you want someone to STOP, a graphic designer can often find a less obnoxious, but more effective way to accomplish that same objective.

2.  Every partner logo does not need to be on everything. 

3.  Every perspective does not need to be included.  You absolutely CAN get “too many cooks in the kitchen” and end up with nothing but stone soup.   (That’s a story from my childhood, where every kid comes in and asks for something to be removed from the soup recipe. “I don’t like carrots.”  ”I don’t like onions.”  “I’m a vegetarian, no chicken please.”)   Pick a voice.  Stick with it.

4.  Marketing research has its place, but PLEASE apply common sense to your findings.  Just because you market to women doesn’t mean you have to make everything PINK. 

5.  Don’t feel obliged to have all the answers.  Give the graphic designer or marketing agency an opportunity to speak up.  They are trying their best to please you!  But they can’t read minds.  And they don’t want to be rude.  You may know your company and product better than anyone else on the planet.  But you have presumably hired a graphic design or marketing expert, someone who has spent years honing their craft.  Usually they are thrilled to tell you why they are making the suggestions they’re making.  You just have to ask, then come together as a team to make a collective decision.

If you continue to do what you’ve always done,
you’ll continue to get what you’ve always got.

Any other suggestions for working with a graphic designer or marketing agency?     

I was sitting and watching TV with my husband last night and one of the Volkswagen “autobahn for all” sales event commercials came on. We have a DVR so it is rare for us to watch the commercials, but I am actually entertained by the Volkswagen ones. They are clever, well put together and keep my attention. Unfortunately, my husband informed me (he works for VW) that they are going to be changing from their clever advertisements to a more ‘industry standard’. That means good buy unique messaging and hello car specifications and boring statistics.

Now, we all know that marketing is more than just a pretty graphic and a creative tagline. But, sometimes having something a little creative can help! It differentiates your messaging, and makes people think a little more. The problem is - marketing teams often get sick of their own advertisement before the message actually gets a chance to work. A company will test out a new message, and after a few tries, will give up if it is unsuccessful. This is the case for Volkswagen. They are not seeing the results from the advertisement immediately, so they are blaming it on the images and the messaging in the ad. So they are changing their messaging. But, are they changing the right thing?!? I think not.

I think they are forgetting the basic formula for any marketing campaign:
40% of the success is based on the target market/audience/list that you send it to
40% of the success is the offer that you are giving (see “Fishing without bait” for ideas of good offers)
10-20% of the success of a marketing piece is actually the creative/message

Volkswagen is looking at the 10-20% and making it the 80%. They assume that it isn’t working - so it must be the creative. What about the fact that you only see a Volkswagen ad once in a while vs Honda who bombards you every commercial break! Or what about their offer? There is no call to action - it just ends!

Now I know that this is a very high level example and that 99.9% of our audience will never run a television ad, but the message still holds. Before you discard your marketing piece because the first couple touches haven’t worked - take a look at ALL aspects. Are you targeting the right people? Do you have the right offer? Then look at the creative.

What do you think of the Volkswagen ads? Is there another company that you think has great ads?

So far in John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing Coaching Excellence Series, we have had some amazing interviews, and the next session looks to be no different. On August 18th from 12pm-1pm CDT (10am-11am PDT) , John will be interviewing Stephen M.R. Covey.   They will be discussing Covey’s book ”The Speed of Trust” and cover a range of topics including leadership and authenticity.  Stephen M.R. Covey is the son of the “other” Stephen Covey of Franklin-Covey fame.

Anyone who has been in business for any amount of time knows the importance of building relationships and building trust — especially in professional services.  Professional services are invisible to the eye, difficult to measure, and nearly impossible to compare in quality until you are a customer.  That’s what makes trust so important.  The more TRUST people have in you, the QUICKER you can convert prospects into sales.  The Duct Tape Marketing refrain is: Getting people to know, like and TRUST you is what marketing is all about! 

REGISTER/LEARN MORE:  Duct Tape Marketing Coaching Excellence Series

PURCHASE THE BOOK:  Steven M.R. Covey’s “The Speed of Trust”.