Repair Before Marketing Failure…The Planning Principle

Posted on March 13, 2012 by admin

Would you board a commercial airliner knowing the maintenance plan for the airline was to wait until an engine fails, then fix it?

Even where lives are not at stake, “prevent it” vs. “fix it” can mean the difference between success and failure.  In my oil business days I had the occasion to be on the world’s largest dragline shovel at a surface coal mine in Southern Ohio.  Its sole job was to remove the massive “overburden” above a coal seam so that smaller machines could mine the coal itself.  The shovel itself had a capacity of over 200 cubic yards; enough to hold several small trucks.

This was a BIG expensive machine to do a BIG expensive job.  When it was not working, downtime cost racked up at $90,000 an hour…in early 1980’s dollars!  A plan had to be in place from maintenance procedures and supplies to when and where to position the machine to keep it constantly working.

Whether it is keeping an airliner safely in the air or a machine constantly doing its job requires planning.  Likewise, for marketing to work, the planning principle is essential.

Best practice marketing is a holistic endeavor of many parts and processes working together.  Your marketing plan should tie and coordinate all the parts and processes together so they act in unison to achieve your marketing imperatives.  Proper planning enables “prevent it” vs. “fix it.”  And, that means avoiding nasty outcomes like duplicate effort, wasted expense, inconsistent tactics and the often heard, “We tried that and it didn’t work.”

Tip #1 – Resist the temptation to jump right into tactics.  Good planning starts by thinking in the right order – goals first…strategy second…tactics last.  Start with your key marketing imperatives, then establish an overall strategy and finally determine which tactics fit the strategy.

Tip #2 – Don’t underestimate the details and process steps required to pull off even the simplest looking tactic in your plan.  The devil is in the details.  This is where the help of an outside experienced marketing advisor…who has been there and done that…will more than pay for itself.

Tip #3 – “No battle plan ever survives the first meeting with the enemy.”  Don’t make your plan so rigid you cannot adjust to changing conditions.  The marketplace is a fluid environment.  Buyers wield enormous discretion and your competitors are just as eager to sell their products and services to your customers and prospects.  Unless perhaps you are selling something no one else provides…like toys for parakeets.

Look for my next Blog, Great Marketing’s Greatest Virtue

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“We Tried That and It Didn’t Work”

Posted on February 14, 2012 by admin

Wish I had a dollar for every time I have heard, “We tried that and it didn’t work.”  Or, it’s close cousins, “We tried direct mail and it didn’t work,” “We tried e-mail and it didn’t work,” We tried marketing and it didn’t work.”  Insert any noun related to marketing and sales…have heard them all.  Think social media, internet or mobile marketing are any different?  Nope, heard them too.

So, if so many businesses have tried “it” and it didn’t work, why are there others who tried “it” and it did?  The common reasons why marketing fails to live up to expectations can be traced to the failure of a few simple principles.  Simple, yet elusive to many who attempt to market and sell their products and services.

Starting today and in forthcoming posts, I will reveal these principles.  Let’s examine the first – Holistic Thinking.

Recall the fable of the blind men who are each told to feel just one part of an elephant.  Then each is asked to tell what it is.  Each states with confidence it is something other than an elephant.  Why?  They were not able to see or feel the whole of the creature.

Marketing is frequently mistaken in the same way.  To say that I am marketing when I place an ad in a newspaper is true but only because here, ‘marketing’ is used as a verb.  But, a newspaper ad, direct mail, internet ad banners, e-mail, telemarketing, etc. are individual parts of the marketing whole.

Holistic adjective – thinking about the whole of something, and not just dealing with particular aspects.  Syn: all-inclusive

The true definition of ‘marketing’ is a noun.  It is the sum of all the acts and processes to promote, sell, and distribute products or services. Failure to view marketing as the sum of its parts leads to a collection of “one-off” marketing (verb form) that generally leads to disappointing results like confusing or conflicting messages, bad timing, wasted expense, poor ROI and a diminished brand.

If your marketing is a series of stand alone, uncoordinated efforts then step back and examine the big picture.

Tip #1: First, think what, not how.  Ask, what is the most important thing I need to accomplish with my marketing…and in what order?  Most obvious and often mentioned:  To generate demand.  This is certainly an outcome marketing should accomplish.  However, if your business is new or if you are adding/changing your product or service offering, then I suggest your #1 marketing imperative should be to establish awareness for your brand and products and services in the marketplace.  Then again, your #1 marketing imperative might be to first talk with customers and prospects to clearly understand their needs so you can build products and services that will be eagerly adopted by them.

Tip #2: Resist the temptation to try something without first confirming it fits into your marketing and sales big picture.  Will it complement your total effort?  Or, is it something you want to try because it sounds like a “hot” idea?  The road to failed marketing is paved with “hot ideas.”  There is no magic marketing bullet that works every time, everywhere, with everyone.

Tip #3: Think and act holistically.  The best marketing results come from the right combination of acts and processes integrated as a whole.

Coming up next:  Repair Before Marketing Failure

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Relevancy and individualism: Marketing’s greatest challenge…or opportunity?

Posted on October 6, 2010 by admin

Do your customers listen to your marketing message?  Or do they consider your message just more of the unwanted marketing overload they encounter every day, from every direction?

If you’re part of the latter, my friend, be concerned.  As many as 2/3 of your customers could be at risk of defecting to your competitors.

1,000 Consumers say no to mass marketing

A recent landmark research study of 1,000 consumers by the CMO Council and InfoPrint Solutions Company (a division of Ricoh/IBM), found that:

“Consumers agree the era of mass messaging and blanket communications is no longer acceptable.”  

The study goes on to reveal the biggest challenge any marketer will face in the foreseeable future:

“Consumers overwhelmingly stated that regardless of channel, relevancy and individualism is what is valued, if not required, to ensure a sustainable relationship.”

Other key findings of the study are eye-opening:

  • A majority of consumers opt-out of communication because the communication is simply not relevant to them.
  • 22% of consumers studied who received irrelevant promotions decided to no longer buy…and another 41% said they would consider doing so.
  • Consumers will consider disconnecting altogether if they continue to receive irrelevant messages.
  • Marketers are failing to connect with new customers and existing ones as a staggering 73% say they have received promotional offers on products they have already purchased from companies.
  • Many consumers still rely on a mix of both traditional print and e-mail messages.  51% say traditional mail is still their preferred method of contact.
  • More than ever, consumers are seeking product information and proof from trusted sources and online networking rather than relying on the claims of commercial messages.

So the question is, does this shift in consumer attitudes present a challenge or an untapped opportunity?

How are you adjusting to these new rules of marketing – relevancy and individualism? 

What tactics are you using to create messages and promotions that your customers want to hear?

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What is “precision marketing” and why should anyone care?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by admin

Is your marketing relevant?  It better be.  If your message isn’t welcome and wanted by your customers and prospects, you’re dead in the water.

Some people will tell you that creating outstanding marketing messages is an art form.  To them we say, “Not so fast, cowboy.”

Marketing is science, not art.  Or should I say, effective marketing is science.

It’s not hard to do.  You just need the right data.  And that’s what precision marketing does.

Precision marketing puts data at the center of your marketing strategy.  Here’s how.

1. Know as much as you can.

Before you can begin to create the right marketing message, you need to know as much as you can about your customers and prospects.  You need to know who they are.  What they buy.  What they don’t buy.  And why. 

Turn the microscope on yourself, too.  How can you help them?  How do your products or services create value?  What proof, in the form of testimonials, statistics or references, can you provide for why they should buy from you?

Use this information to create and deliver your marketing message.

2. Measure, refine, target again.

When you put your message out there, measure the results it gets you…response rates, inquiries, leads, sales, referrals.  Measure the results of every single marketing tactic you use.  Use the knowledge gained to constantly refine your message and your tactics based on actual results achieved.  Send out your refined message, via your refined tactics.  And then measure again.  And so on and so on.

By gathering and, more importantly, by using ever-increasing knowledge about customer and prospect needs and behavior, your results will be worth the effort.  You’ll be consistently delivering the right message, to the right people, at right time, at the right cost.  Furthermore, the data will allow you to validate that you’re getting a high ROI for your marketing spend.

Being relevant to your customers is especially critical now, when so many customers are tuning out the marketing overload out there.  Use data-driven precision marketing techniques to be relevant, targeted and individualized, so that you are welcome and wanted.

In the end, it all comes down to what you know.  If you don’t have hard facts, there’s just no science to marketing.  But with the right information at hand, the world is yours – because you’ll be communicating with customers about what’s important to them.

What’s your approach for gathering and using information about your customers to keep your marketing relevant?

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