Marketing & Advertising

A client of mine, Jeff McCauley tipped me off to this recent Seth Godin post (Jeff and I are both big Seth fans.)

Seth Godin writes:

If you want to grow, you need new customers. And if you want new customers, you need three things:

1. A group of possible customers you can identify and reach.
2. A group with a problem they want to solve using your solution.
3. A group with the desire and ability to spend money to solve that problem.

You’d be amazed at how often new businesses or new ventures have none of these.

Wow… End of class!

My wife and I both went to school over in West Michigan. I went to Western Michigan - she went to Calvin College…yeah, she’s smarter than me - I can admit it!

A few months back we traveled back to West Michigan for a day trip and ate at the wonderful Rose’s Restaurant in East Grand Rapids. Being the marketing nerd I am, I signed up for their e-mail newsletter.

Last night I received an e-mail from them and thought it was a great example of smart marketing. Everyone is going to be buckled down in Michigan today as we are getting quite a snow storm (6 inches where I am and it’s not close to being done…)

Rose’s and their sister restaurants knew lunch traffic would be down on a day like today and tossed a great 50% OFF offer to their e-mail list (see image below.) I’m certain this offer will draw some folks out who otherwise would have been staying warm and toasty at home…

I’ve been checking out a Social Media platform called Twitter for a little while now (you can follow me on Twitter here) - I’ll save some thoughts on the Twitter platform for another post…

Today, I wanted to share this little nugget that I read on Twitter (it was posted by matthomann):

Never assume your current clients understand all you can do for them, or believe your former clients remember all you did for them.

Reach out to both in these hard times and new business will follow.

Great Advice. Great wisdom. How can you apply it in your business?

Read this the other day in a marketing publication I subscribe to:

The dealership blames the bad economy for their demise. But I doubt that was the problem. In the time I bought my 4 trucks from them, I never once received a thank you note. Never once received a call to see how I was doing with my vehicle. Never once received an invitation to come in and try one of the new models (my history was to buy a new one every 4 years — would have made sense to start sending me notes at year 3). Never once received an invitation to a VIP reception. Never once received a birthday or anniversary (wedding or purchased date) card. And the list goes on and on.

All the items this gentleman listed are practical marketing and sales strategies.

Instead of your salespeople sitting around twiddling their thumbs and feeling sorry for themselves - why not write a handwritten note? Why not make a call to the client - not to sell them anything, but to simply ensure they are satisfied with their purchase?

A little time spent on these activities will go a long way and help offset the economy we find ourselves in.

Is that Yellow Pages ad you are running profitable? How about the ads you run in the county newspaper?

I met with a business owner last week and we reviewed all of his marketing/advertising activity. His answer to the questions above were: “I don’t know.”

He’s not the first small business owner with that response.

Your advertising should be accountable and measurable. Getting ready to renew your Yellow Page advertising? Consider using a tracking number that will allow you to see how many calls the ad generates (as well as the duration of each call and a recording of the call!)

I guarantee in a few months you’ll know if that ad is profitable or a money suck.

Hold your marketing and advertising dollars accountable! Track and Measure!

Please take a look (and feel free to leave a comment!) at my blog post that was featured today on the very popular American Express OPEN blog:

You don’t know me. Want to get married?

Top Experts Best Kept Marketing Secrets

Good stuff - read, learn, absorb! Take ONE idea and run with it…

Here’s an interesting idea for you….

Do you have competitors that go out of business? If the answer is Yes, go to the next question…

Do they have listings (and even better) ads in the Yellow Pages? If the answer is Yes, go to the next question…

Now that they are out of business - who is going to be answering the calls they receive? They will be receiving calls from the phone book, business cards, their invoices…their previous and potential customers will be finding their phone number in any number of places.

Why don’t you do this?

1. Go to the phone book, start calling your competitors…look for numbers that are “out of service” - AKA: Company is out of business.
2. Call the phone company and ask if the number is available to purchase.
3. If it is….spend $20/month and BUY it.

You will now be receiving all the calls from this company’s previous and potential customers. They may be confused when you answer instead of the company they expected - but you can simply tell them, “We are happy to now be servicing their customers, how can I help you today?”

Give it a shot….I have seen this work numerous times. It’s an inexpensive way to generate leads and sales.

My client, Ron Goch, is a Sports Ticket Sales guru. Here’s a recent post from one of his blogs:

Our kids received a Ron Jon Surf Shop sticker when they visited the Cocoa Beach shop and this is what the back of the sticker states:

“Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a Ron Jon Sticker. The coolest and most recognized sticker on the planet. The Ron Jon Sticker won’t make your car get better gas mileage but it will say something about who you are and how you live your life. So stick it on. Enjoy it! You’ve made the passage to the World’s Most Famous Surf Shop! Be sure to honk and give a friendly wave the next time you see someone with a Ron Jon Sticker on their car, RV, moped, motorcycle or riding lawnmower!”

The same type of message could be shared with your sports fans on the back of stickers you distribute to your season ticket holders and fans as they attend your sporting events.

Stickers are inexpensive and a great way to extend the visibility and awareness of your sports team.

Other uses for stickers can be thought of for your business…take a page out of Ron Jon’s playbook and make your stickers unique…memorable. Tell a story…people love a story and SHARE stories with their friends (that’s what Word of Mouth Marketing is all about…)