THE MYTH OF LOYALTY-BASED MARKETING
Tags: Marketing
Simply stated… loyalty based marketing seldom works. This is because it contradicts at least 2 underlying loyalty principles.
First, marketing does not create loyalty… personal sacrifice creates loyalty. Neither email blasts, direct mails, coupons, discount offers, nor any other large, institutionalized efforts will make your clients feel loyal. At best, it will temporarily discourage them from fleeing. Don’t mass-mail or bribe your clients into being loyal. Instead, serve them.
Secondly, people are not loyal to companies. People feel loyal to people. Suppose your physician leaves the clinic from which he or she has previously served… Would you stay, and remain loyal to the clinic? No. Your loyalty lies with your physician, and you’d likely move on with him or her to the next clinic.
For 2008, determine a 12 month plan for how you’ll make your clients feel special. Then, do it. But remember, avoid mass approaches. For example, avoid sending the same Christmas gift to all of your clients. Avoid sending a greeting, with nothing more than a signature. Sending “nothing” works better. Your clients and customers want to feel important, and they’ll frown at any gesture that implies… “You’re just another face.”
IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID
Tags: Bloomingdales, Branding, Business, James Carville, Marketing, Nieman Marcus, Wal Mart
James Carville said… “It’s the economy, stupid,” and helped to win the presidential campaign for Bill Clinton. This campaign relentlessly focused on the economy… and the results? Well… you know the rest of the story. Bill Clinton was the “economy” candidate. Focus won. Clinton won.
Here’s another example. Sears used to be America’s department store. Now… they’re a casualty. Consider their competitors though…
NEIMAN MARCUS – Stuff to die for.
WAL MART – Good stuff so cheap you won’t believe it.
BLOOMINGDALES – Shopping as entertainment.
Sears focused on everything, and ultimately nothing. If you do not have a focus, you may soon not have a business.
WORD OF MOUTH ADVERTISING WORTH $1 BILLION
Word Of Mouth (WOM) advertising is arguably the world’s oldest form of marketing, and it’s on the rise as advertisers pour even more into this discipline.
What’s consumer word-of-mouth advocacy worth to marketers? According to AdAge.com: try $1 billion. That’s how much marketers spent on WOM in 2006, according to an independent research report on the field that will be unveiled during a session at the annual
“Word-Of-Mouth Conference” in Las Vegas today. The analysis, believed to be the first in-depth look at word of mouth, reports that spending on the emerging discipline has increased from $76 million in 2001 to $981 million in 2006 and is expected to grow to approximately $3.7 billion by 2011.
Equally important to the success of WOM marketing may be the research suggesting it is more effective than other forms of advertising. For instance, a recent Nielsen Global Survey of over 26,000 people found that nearly 78% of respondents trusted “recommendations from consumers,” a total 15% higher than the second-most credible source, newspapers. And this trust; according to some, leads to more sales at the cash register.
When you compare WOM as a strategy [to other methods], trusting a friend or influential person is the most determining factor when someone decides to purchase a product.
A ROCKING CHAIR IN A DARK ROOM
Tags: advertising, Business, James D. Webb, Marketing
“A business owner that doesn’t advertise is like an old man rocking his chair in a dark room. “He” knows what he’s doing, but nobody else does.”
JAMES D. WEBB
AIM FOR SECONDARY EXPLOSIONS
Tags: advertising, Marketing, public relations, Taco Bell
TACO BELL HITS A HOMERUN
Advertising Buy… $5.6 million, Potential Giveaway Cost: Under $1 million, Publicity Value…Priceless. That could well be the marketing brief at Taco Bell, which scored a PR home run with the promise of a free taco to any American who wants one if a base was stolen in the World Series. Luckily for those hungry masses, Red Sox rookie
Jacoby Ellsbury stole second base in the bottom of the fourth inning in the series’ second game. Taco Bell’s promotion gave every American a free taco.
According to Nielsen Monitor-Plus, Taco Bell is one of the top 10 advertisers in the series, spending $5.6 million (General Motors Corp. is the heaviest hitter, at $13.2 million).
It’s expected that figure includes all the extra airtime Taco Bell got on the broadcast — plugs from TV anchors and sports figures about the promotion and a live interview with Rob Savage, COO of Taco Bell — not to mention a mention of the promo from a player in a “candid” conversation between Sox shortstop Royce Clayton and Mr. Ellsbury the evening before the big steal.
“It’s definitely driving the conversation,” said Pete Blackshaw, CMO of Nielsen BuzzMetrics. It’s hard to argue with good buzz.
SECONDARY EXPLOSIONS
One measurement of success by our military when bombing our enemies, is the discovery of secondary explosions. Secondary explosions indicate that the bomb landed on stored vehicles/aircrafts, fuel dumps or ammunition depots… indicating maximum effectiveness for the risks and costs incurred.
Who’s talking about your product or service? While nobody’s likely to lead that effort more aggressively than you… it’s important for you to develop smart strategies that engage and encourage “others” to talk about you. Taco Bell successfully landed some secondary explosions with their advertising.
Aim your marketing, PR and advertising efforts at targets that will deliver “secondary explosions,” delivering your business maximum returns for your investment.
THE BLACK HOLE PHENOMENOM
For years… physicists have discussed an important phenomon… the “gravitationally completely collapsed object.” Then, a creative physicist, devised a better name for it… he called it… a “Black Hole.” Suddenly the world was interested.
Your words matter. One word or metaphor can quickly define your concept and uniqueness, and make your concept compelling.
If you are selling something complex, simplify it with a metaphor.
TOP 6 REASONS FOR UTILIZING EMAIL MARKETING
Tags: email marketing, LOUD! Creative, Marketing, Technology
More and more… businesses of all sizes are harnessing the power of email marketing. In years past, email marketing was only utilized by Fortune 100, 500… and perhaps “some” of the larger Fortune 1000 companies. Today, even the smallest local businesses are realizing the power of this great marketing vehicle.
For those of you that might still be sitting on the fence… I thought I’d share with you the top 6 benefits of email marketing.
1.) VIRAL MARKETING: Unlike web and print marketing, email marketing allows your recipients to conveniently forward your event, product or service promotion to as many additional recipients as they’d like. The “Forward To Friend” feature allows your message to penetrate a much larger market than you may have originally anticipated. Additionally, these forwarded emails have even greater credibility and marketing power, because the email was forwarded from a familiar friend, as opposed to being sent from an unwelcomed stranger, vying for attention in their inbox.
2.) INCREASED WEB TRAFFIC: An effectively designed email marketing campaign will significantly increase traffic to your website, exposing your services and products to a greater audience, and increasing your potential for new business development.
3.) COST SAVINGS: Email marketing is considerably more cost efficient than direct mail and other any form of print advertising. Email marketing reduces the need for postage and print costs… creating an enormous savings for your you and your business.
4.) TIME SAVINGS: Email marketing allows your business to get your message out faster. No printing down-time or delays at the post office. Email marketing can be scheduled to go out and reach your recipient and the precise moment you’d like.
5.) INTELLIGENT RESPONSE: Unlike many other forms of advertising, email marketing allows you to guage the response of your audience. You can measure what promotions are successful and what are not. This allows you to adjust and improve the focus of your marketing efforts.
6.) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: Strong community development is always good for business and brand. Email marketing is a great vehicle for offering free tips and advice in the field of your experise, announcing the philanthropic activities of your company, and providing loyalty based promotions, like discounts and special offers for your specifically targeted audience.
MAKE YOUR SERVICES EASY TO BUY
Think how often you’ve been virtually sold on something, but chose not to purchase because it was too difficult to buy. The sales person offered all kinds of options, or made you worry about the value of an extended warranty, or offered complicated financing packages that you could not intelligently choose among.
Now think of your opposite experiences. Something appealed to you… a little… not necessarily a lot… and it was simple, so you made the purchase. Good marketing must focus on the buy. How clear is your offer? Can the prospect sample the service thereby reducing their risk? How clear is the price? How easy is it to buy?
In his book The Paradox Of Choice, author Barry Schwartz says that contrary to conventional wisdom, giving people many choices is often bad for them.
When presented with many choices, many people experience “choice paralysis” and do nothing, even when doing nothing is the worst possible choice. For example, give people 20 choices of mutual funds in their 401k, and many more will just let their money sit in a low-yield money market fund than if they only had a few choices.
Additionally, when people “do” select from a large field of alternatives, they usually experience greater “buyer’s remorse” than those who had selected from a small number of alternatives.
Make your service easy to buy.
By the way, If you don’t have time to read the Schwartz’s book, you can watch the 1-hour presentation Schwartz delivered at Google.
FUEL FOR SUCCESS
A BEAUTIFUL DAY AND A CLEAR BLUE SKY
Imagine a beautiful day, a clear blue sky, and nothing but the long road in front of you. You and the family are packed, and headed to a 5 star resort on the beach for a well-deserved vacation. You’ve worked hard to earn this time away. You’ve made preparations at the office, you’ve saved the money, you’ve asked your neighbors to watch your house and water the lawn while you’re gone, you’ve prepaid the bills that are to be due while you’re away, and you’ve made all of the necessary hotel and entertainment arrangements for the entire week of your get-away. It’s white sands and crystal clear water or bust!
Now… what if… half way there and 850 miles from your vacation destination, you decide that you’re simply not going to stop for gas anymore. It’s inconvenient to keep pulling over, it slows you down, gasoline is too expensive, and your hands smell of fumes after handling the fuel pump. By not stopping for gas, you’d remove the expense, inconvenience, and risk of getting your hands dirty, but you’d also remove any possibility of successfully making it to your vacation destination.
AFTER ALL, IT’S BETTER THAN OTHER STUFF THEY’VE SEEN
Sounds like a dimwitted decision… right? But this is exactly what I see business owners and professionals doing more often than you’d imagine. They just stop. They stop prioritizing and focusing on their marketing efforts. They stop updating their website with relevant information and inspiration. They discontinue their email marketing efforts because it’s too time consuming during their busiest season. They refrain from updating their print marketing collateral because it’s expensive, and after all… it’s better than other stuff they’ve seen… right?
JUSTIFICATION WILL SCREAM YOUR NAME
Hand-in-hand with your brand, consistent marketing is the primary source of fuel that allows you to reach your ultimate destination… a successful and profitable business. You must endure inconvenience to make it happen. Yes, there’s a price… but successful marketing is an investment, not an expense. Resist the temptation to justify your marketing neglect. “Justification” will scream your name from the sidelines of the race… “Quit, you’ve run far enough… take it easy!” But justification will not lead you to victory.
DON’T BE A DIMWIT – SOAR WITH THE BEST
Besides… if your competitors thrive, and your business fails… you’ll know a truer and more intimate definition of the words… “expense” and “inconvenience.” Don’t be a dimwit. Relentlessly fuel your business with consistent and effective marketing, and you’ll soar with the best.
THE VALUE OF ADVERTISING
There are six peaks in Europe higher than the Matterhorn… Name just one.
Get ink. Advertising is publicity. If you want publicity, advertise.
LOUD! CREATIVE RANKED IN TOP 20 WEB FIRMS
Tags: Houston Business Journal, LOUD! Creative, Marketing
The esteemed Houston Business Journal ranked LOUD! Creative Group to be in the top 20 web development firms of Houston, Texas. We couldn’t be more proud! After just a few short years, we’re honored to be ranked so quickly amongst the best, in such a large and formidable market.
LOUD! Creative partners with businesses; large and small, in their web, print and email marketing efforts. We specialize in elevating the image of our clients in the eyes of their prospects. Our clients desperately need to be heard. That’s where we come in.
SELL BETTER BY SELLING FASTER
When selling your company’s products or services to your prospects, tell them quickly in a way that stops them, engages them with the necessary information, and nothing more. Skip the fluff, filler and balderdash, and tell them succinctly what they need to hear.
Learn from crime novelist, Elmore Leonard, author of Get Shorty. Asked why his novels are so popular and easy to read… his answer was… “Simple, I just leave out the parts that readers skip anyway.”
Business’s often wonder how long their key sales brochures and marketing collateral should be. The best answer is… use as many words as you need to say exactly what the readers want to know, and not one word more.
Communicate like Elmore Leonard, catch my eye, catch my attention and quickly tell me what I want to know. Tell me quickly and clearly.
ARE YOU REALLY THE BEST?
Tags: David Ogilvy, Marketing, Ogilvy and Mather
David Ogilvy; who turned his genius for advertising into the famous Ogilvy and Mather Agency, once stated that marketers were wrong to emphasize superiority. Ogilvy argued that you could accomplish just as much by convincing a prospect that your service was… “positively good.”
I experienced this truth on a personal level. I was recently meeting with a LOUD! Creative prospect that owns a very successful engineering firm in Houston, Texas. He shared with me; in a relaxed and comfortable tone, that he really wasn’t launching an exhaustive search to find the “best” web marketing firm… he just wanted one that was compatible as his new marketing partner, and capable of sufficiently meeting his needs.
Think about it…
1. How often are you really looking the very best babysitter, or the best lawn care service, the best dry cleaning service, auto mechanic, seafood restaurant… or accounting service? Not often.
2. How often do you even know the best when you find it? Not often.
3. How long are you ready to look for the very best, when someone very good is readily available? Not long.
4. How much are you willing to pay for the very best, especially if very good is good enough? Not much.
5. How good does anything have to be to satisfy you? Only very good. Anything extra is a bonus.
Additionally, how do you respond when a service tells you that it’s the very best? Skeptically. It sounds like bragging and puffing.
Let your prospects know that you are simply… positively good.
5 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL MARKETING
One of my more recent reads includes a book by Seth Godin, titled “All Marketers Are Liars.” Seth is a best selling author and another leading expert in branding, marketing and advertising. Seth shares 5 important steps for you to consider as you approach your marketing efforts. They are as follows…
Step 1: A consumers world view got there before you did… A consumers world view affects how they notice things, and understand them.
Brian’s Comments: You can try to change their world view, but understand that this is a long and dangerous proposition.
Step 2: Consumers only notice something new, and then make a guess.
Brian’s Comments: In other words, make sure you’re constantly, constantly, constantly freshening up your website, your advertising, your print marketing collateral. Don’t be stagnant! You’ll inevitably regret it.
Step 3: First imressions start the story. A first impression causes the consumer to make very quick and permanent judgment.
Brian’s Comments: I think we all recognize the gravity of this one. Regrettably, I can remember more than one occasion in which LOUD! lost a new client opportunity because of something that adversely affected the prospect’s first impression of our team or organization. Your first impression might be your last. Make it a good one.
Step 4: Great marketers tell stories we believe… about what consumers notice.
Step 5: Marketers with authenticity thrive.
Brian’s Comments: Be real. Businesses and marketers that use cheap gimmicks and tricks communicate something to their prospects. They are unwittingly telling their prospects that they’re willing to lie to them. This only reduces their credibility. Be real. Always.
You and your business must effectively convince your prospects that your premium is worth it, and why they should abandon their current product or service in order to embrace yours.
LEARN FROM THE MARKETING TACTICS OF THE BELLAGIO HOTEL
Have you ever been to the luxurious Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas? If not… you’re really missing a treat. The Bellagio upholds its lagacy of beauty, elegance and luxury by exceeding guest’s expectations with unparalleled excellence and amenities.
The Bellagio; just like every other hotel in Vegas, is undoubtedly amongst the world’s best when it comes to strategic and effective marketing.
There is inevitably one answer to virtually every question you could ask… “Where do I check-in?” “Where can we find a place to eat?” “Could you point us to the swimming pool?” “Where can I get change for a twenty dollar bill?” “Where are the restrooms?” The answer is intentionally the same…
“Through the casino.” “Through the casino.” “Through the casino.”
The Bellagio and every other successful luxury hotel on the Vegas strip understand that the more they can direct you to and through the casino floors, the more likely you are to spend money. Is it any wonder that the Las Vegas Strip alone grossed over $6.6 billion in revenue in 2006, according to the American Gaming Association?
Where am I going with this? So many businesses and organizations spend significant time and budget resources to engineer their website marketing efforts. But so frequently that is the last chapter of their anti-climactic story. There was a big bang on launch day… and then the show is over.
Your website should be less like a July 4th fireworks presentation… and more like the Las Vegas casinos. You should be constantly updating your website with fresh content, new success stories and recent case studies. Be relentless in creating buzz and providing a prospect with motive to continuously visit your website.
“Where do I signup for an event?” Through the website. “Where can I find out more about your business?” Through the website. “Where can I find pricing, newsletters, stories, accolades, articles, news, affiliations, incentives… “Through the website.”
Every piece of communication you produce should be announcing your website to the world. Your brochures, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, slideshow graphics, billboards, print, radio and television ads, print collateral, proposals and invoices, press releases, your staff’s email signatures… everything. Tell them loudly. Tell them often.
Learn from Las Vegas and The Bellagio Hotel. Be intentional. Your website is the foyer of your business to your world of prospects. Make it count. Get them there. Keep them coming back.