Kuehl Marketing Strategies and Best Practices

Attention Marketers: Advertising more is not going to get you sales.

2011-08-31T19:41:40Z

A common discussion among my clients usually starts with them saying "We need more advertising". My response is usually along the lines of "What is it you want the advertising to do"? Typically the answer is something that advertising won't impact, such as, leads.

I'm writing about this because of the frequency with which C-level individuals pose this to me. I've come to find out most companies do not know tactics for getting business beyond sales people and advertising. The key for B2B marketing is to understand your sales cycle, or sales funnel, and match your content and tactics depending on which aspect you need to impact.

My Favorite AIDA Chart outlines this simple process that all buyers go through. The speed at which they move through the stages varies depends on many factors and marketing can certainly assist sales if you can move people through the cycle faster. The point I want to make now, however, relates to objectives versus tactics.

Knowing what you want to impact will help determine tactics. I usually get a better response from executives when I ask "What are your barriers to achieving your objectives". Sales Executives particularly get it when I ask, "Where do you struggle in this process". They easily articulate at which point they have the most trouble.

Perfect. When there are limited budgets, this is a good way to understand the current barriers to address which will then help move prospects/customers to a close.

Pretty basic but a great way to align marketing to sales.

What do you think?

Jackie

When big companies fail to see their true value: Case Study Motorola Xoom.

2011-08-13T13:10:24Z

Every now and then, as a professor, I get to gloat about a prediction made to students. Makes me feel validated. This one I LOVE because it involves a big company, Motorola. The reason this is especially satisfying is that I find it so unbelievable that little ole me saw this clear as day. So why couldn't a large company with resources see it? Must be Myopia. Here's the thing:

Motorola launched their tablet Xoom at a higher price than Apple's IPad. This would suggest a few things:

1) The Motorola name has greater equity than Apple. Not really.

2) The Xoom has better features that consumers perceive and will pay extra for: Not the case. If it was the case, they didn't make that clear.

3) People who prefer the Android platform will pay more for it. Not necessarily proven.

4) Few competitors: Geez, didn't every business publication write about all the new tablets coming on the market?

So, I stated the above case in my marketing strategy classes when Xoom was launched. My prediction was the Xoom wouldn't gain much traction and the price will be lowered. Ta Da. The Wall Street Journal on Friday, August 12, 2011 states: Motorola says sales of its Android tablet were hurt by high prices, which it dropped, and expects shipments to fall ahead of new models.

If there is one thing I want my students to remember when it comes to pricing and value is the simple equation for value: Value = perceived benefits/price. PERCEIVED benefits.

If the Xoom had these benefits that demanded a higher price, they certainly didn't communicate them clearly. But more fundamentally, did they have information to suggest those benefits were relevant so the target consumer would pay more for them?

Companies never have to have the lowest price. However, the marketplace doesn't operate in a vacuum. Your 'value' is relative to other options in the marketplace. If you have it, shout it. If you don't...think again about your product's true differentiation. Don't be myopic.

Thoughts?

Jackie

Two easy ways to start a content marketing plan.

2011-08-09T13:16:28Z

When it comes to a company implementing a content marketing strategy, the words of Nike 'Just Do It' do not always apply. For some, I would say, "Don't Do It". Content is the rage and the buzz for social media, online marketing, and probably everything marketing. Having worked with a number of clients regarding their B2B marketing goals, naturally content is an issue. Yet some of my clients have more pressing issues to meet their objectives. In those cases, I propose to wait. As anything in marketing, chasing the buzz-word is not smart unless it gets the company closer to their goals.

I have not a posted a new blog entry due to lack of resources and time and more pressing priorities. That tends to be the case with many small to mid-size businesses. However, my clients do as I say, not as I do. If you do need to start a content strategy, two things I always recommend to get started:

1) Re-purpose: The best way to use content is to recycle and re-purpose. A unique article is not required for every blog article, newsletter, Twitter post, Facebook update, Press release, LinkedIn update, white paper, etc. Use one topic, write the article, then re-use the same information across all your content updates. Your customers and prospects will not be bothered by the repetition. Actually repetition is good to get your point across and break through. When I pose that idea to clients, it doesn't sound overwhelming.

2) Calendar: Create a calendar of topics going out as far out as possible. Brainstorm ideas with your employees then plan resources to write. I hired a writer to write content for my clients. We determine the topic. The professionals write. Write in advance if possible so articles are ready. When last minute pressing news comes up, adjust as needed. The key is you will always have a topic ready to go.

All authors know the difficulty of just starting with a blank piece of paper. Just do it. It will get easier.

What do you think?

Jackie

What marketers and company leaders can learn from Egypt.

2011-02-14T23:24:00Z

The power of social media has never been so evident or powerful as the current Egypt situation proves. This I didn't realize the uprising was just about 100% due to social media. For a great overview, 60 minutes ran a piece titled "Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age Revolution Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age Revolution" which is a fascinating look at how it happened from the person at the center of the revolution. My post today is a little off my usual topics to encourage viewing the interview as it's a fascinating story on how social media empowered people to oust their leader.

The situation is a case study in social media. We hear stories of companies improving customer service and products due to social media pressure. This is the first time that I am aware of social media facilitating and enabling the overthrow of a leader. Company leaders and Presidents should take note: could this happen to a company leader? Wall Street and Boards of Directors can oust a CEO. Now can the employees? Customers? I don't know of an example yet where that has happened but would love to know if there is a documented case.

Today's world is about transparency. No longer can companies squash bad publicity or bad leaders. So what's the point? I think it's about doing the right thing, being ethical and straight up. Bad leaders and jerks can't hide and cover their a-- for long. Eventually they have to face the music.

What do you think?

Jackie

More best practices for Marketing alignment with Sales: Easy.

2011-01-18T20:23:00Z

Just today I came across two articles citing best practices for sales and marketing alignment. B2B marketers talk and write about this; so, I wondered if B2B sales professionals talk about this. My guess is NO. They are concerned with bringing in revenue. If they don't like the tools marketing provides, they just don't use them. B2B Marketers, on the other hand, need sales. We need to prove our worth over and over again. It's easy for Sales to prove their worth, just look at their revenue numbers. How does marketing prove their worth? One way is to make it easy for Sales.

They prove their worth by determining up-front, before a program is executed, how they will measure the leads and impact? Probably with sales help. I had a client tell me 'they (sales) are never going to get that information back to me". My answer: the easiest way to do this is to hire an intern and have that intern follow-up with sales on a regular basis. My experience has shown following up with marketing is typically not top-of-mind with sales. The intern/employee can do a quick recap with each sales person. Then those results go into a scorecard to be updated regularly.

Even if a company has software like Salesforce, it's still the salesperson's responsibility to input results. A fact of life is if you want something from someone you should try to make it easy for them. So make it easy for Sales. They don't care about the results of a marketing campaign. They care about closing the sale. Marketing needs the results to prove the assist to sales. So, don't make a bunch of requirements.

Next, align your program tactics with the sales cycle. Learn from sales about the barriers at each stage of the cycle then show them how you can assist in each stage. Create something relevant to the prospect and usable by sales. Think of your website content in terms of the sales cycle too. Can prospects easily access information relevant to their knowledge and experience with the company?

A few simple things to start off in the right direction. What do you think?

Jackie

Marketing MIA? No, just PDB.

2011-01-10T17:35:00Z

New year and finally a new post from me as I've been PDB (pretty darn busy). But who hasn't? I'm actually making the time. I should practice what I preach to clients which is "If you are serious about a blog, you need to make a calendar and post regularly". I'll make that a goal for 2011. I have a few suggestions for others regarding the new year, resolutions, goals, and relevant marketing tips:

1) Skip resolutions and make goals. So simple. Resolutions tend to come across as things one needs to change or stop. Goals mean an accomplishment. Sounds much more positive and with positive may come progress. Another goal for me in 2011 is to learn Italian. We'll see how that works out.

2) If you are a marketer, make a goal to align your tactics with strategies and goals. Are your tactics moving the needle? The best way to write a marketing goal is to determine a barrier the company must overcome in very specific terms. That becomes the marketing goal: Build awareness, increase retention, educate customers, etc. Especially in times of decreased budgets, if you can show the CEO or President how you are breaking down barriers, you may get to keep your budget. Which leads to #3...

3) Measure. Take the time to think through how you will measure your marketing success BEFORE you launch a program. That lack of foresight can kill you and your accountability to the rest of the organization. Be smart about it and align the organization if needed to measure outcomes. In B2B marketing, that demands alignment with sales. Do it.

Nothing profound: just relevant, basic marketing tips.

Happy 2011. See you soon.

Jackie

Marketing and Sales alignment. Not so difficult if marketers play nice.

2010-09-24T13:34:00Z

I'm fairly amused every time I see a white paper or webinar on "Sales and Marketing alignment". Amused because it's such a problem. Amused also because, really? It's such a problem? Here are my observations on the topic with suggestions on how to bridge the sales and marketing gap based on my experiences:

1) I started my career in sales and flipped to marketing after receiving my MBA. More money is in sales; but, my passion is marketing. While trying to get into marketing, marketing executives told me many companies do not want to hire sales people into marketing because sales people don't think out of the box. Too realistic. That set me back. So instead we will pay marketers who know nothing of the sales experience to think out of the box, with unrealistic tools they think sales needs. That ends up to be a BIG waste of money. Sales receives these so called tools that marketing thinks they need and throws them away.

2) Marketing doesn't take the time to understand the sales process in sales terms. Where are barriers for sales people? Is it awareness? Closure? Where do they get stuck in the sales funnel? Then develop programs to help that process along. I have first hand experience here. Using this chart below, I have been able to show sales executives where their prospects match-up to the sales cycle and how marketing could help, we were walking in the same path.

3) Leads. Do you agree on what makes a qualified lead? Probe the sales team. Marketers may have ideas for new targets. Test some things and have sales let you know if it worked. Then modify and test again. If the sales team knows they are part of that process, they want to close sales. They will help.

4) Maybe the sales team is not even equipped with the right messages. Do they know the key differentiating points of their product? I'm hired by companies regularly that do not have sales people saying the same things. When they talk to a prospect, they don't have that 30 second unique selling point. Marketing can own that and step up to provide real value.

5) Databases: Marketing and Sales have different objectives when it comes to needs within the database. Marketers want information to enable relevant messages, programs, and to hopefully tie prospect activities to marketing activities. Sales people need contact information and notes. Often marketers require so much information of sales people, the sales people stop using the contact management software accurately. They may not even post prospects and all the information needed because it's too time-consuming. Get together and discuss needs from each side then give and take. Prioritize information needs. Critical vs nice-to-know.

5) Finally, marketers need to be sales people internally in their organizations. Marketers need to prove their value everyday, more than any other function. We cannot have our head in the clouds because we need to show sales how we can help them. Show finance how our money is impacting sales. Show the C-Level how we are aligned and impacting company objectives.

Marketers: We are an expense that will be cut first in a crisis. Sales people bringing in revenue are valued. It's time marketers realize this.

What do you think?
Jackie

Marketing is really one big test.

2010-08-12T13:53:00Z

I love the emails I receive from www.whichtestwon.com. Each email provides an A/B test letting you check your gut for the version which performed best. It's fun, short, to-the-point, and insightful. I like to tell clients and students that "Marketing is one big test". Naturally, most don't know what I'm talking about and probably think I'm making light of my career. But think about it. When starting any plan, tactic, marketing program, we use the most information at hand to make a decision. We execute. We measure. We modify. Execute. Measure. Modify...and so it goes.

This underscores the need for information, analytics, and measurement. I am guessing that many marketers don't do A/B testing. It's easy with e-mail. Easy with paid search. Easy with landing pages. A bit more expensive with print, tv, and radio. However, if you think through the measurement BEFORE you execute while in the planning stages, it's easier to implement. Testing will improve effectiveness and relevance of marketing activities.

Armed with this information, create a scorecard to benchmark each program statistics which enables you to continually increase your performance with the understanding of the variables impacting success.

No wonder marketers need to love data!

What do you think? Share your testing stories.

Jackie

Online Marketing Summit tips and key take-aways

2010-07-01T12:43:00Z

I attended the Chicago leg of the Online Marketing Summit tour on Wed, June 30th (which may evolve to the Online Marketing Institute tour). This is the fourth year in Chicago and glad to see the conference growing. The goal of OMS is education so you do not get salesy content. The presenters are extremely accessible versus running out the side-door like some other events I've attended. Here are a few take-aways from the conference:

Naturally, Social Media was covered, almost too much, but that is OK as companies still try to figure it out. I've written (and preached) about companies jumping on the band wagon without a clear objective of why they need social media. So the best quote at the conference for me was from Patrick Bultema, CEO of a neat company 'Codebaby '. His unique company uses social media a lot and he said "(everyone is into social media, but I've found it's a) Cobble of a bunch of crap". Maybe I was the only one who laughed out loud because it can be true. It's trendy, fun, cool, but at the end of the day, is it doing anything for the business?
Analytics: Enough said. Online marketers have embraced analytics to the point there was a question of 'is it too much'? Don't forget your customers are people. Don't embrace analytics too heavily at the expense of experience.
Lead Scoring: Loved the sessions on lead scoring as it can sound like analytical scariness but really simple to implement. Do you know how to analyze leads on the spectrum of qualified to not for a nurturing campaign? I'll write more on this another time, but if interested, here is a great company to check out:Genoo .
Facebook is becoming the social behemoth online. Interesting idea: companies are building out fan-pages versus landing pages and making it robust with cool apps that are easily available. This can be easier than driving web-site traffic. And once you have a customer 'fan' you, you can engage with them (with something relevant).
Facebook is also making it easier to share your web activity with Facebook Connect. The benefit for individuals is being able to sign-in to websites with Facebook (I like not needing to remember sign-in info). Good news for marketers is more robust information for providing relevant content.
Not much on mobile marketing integration with online reason being: it's fragmented. Carriers and manufacturers have unique agendas and platforms which make it difficult. According to Patrick Bultema "Text is the only thing ubiquitous" making mobile easy right now.

I encourage you to check out the links above as they contain some neat resources. Let me know if you have any comments or questions. Look forward to hearing from you.
Jackie

Is LinkedIn losing effectiveness? Overused?

2010-06-23T14:35:00Z

I am listening to a conversation about networking and the value of social networking featuring my friend, Jim Matorin, at 678partners.com. Something caught my attention as I have been finding this myself: Is LinkedIn losing it's effectiveness as a networking tool? I would say yes and no. For Business Development professionals it is probably still useful for finding decision makers. To gather information about a person's business skills, it is still relevant. But is it still relevant when it comes to recommendations or job search? Here is why I ask:

As a medium grows en-mass, it loses relevance as a targeted vehicle. What I see happening is people trying to build a network of masses to add connections to those they don't know. Like a popularity contest. I get connection requests from people who see my name from a group, and ask to connect. People I've never heard of or engaged in any conversation. I think most people accept these connections sight unseen. Suppose I accept this connection? Next week I receive a request to connect this person to someone in my network for a business request. If I do, how relevant is my passing the connection? I don't know this person.

Personally, I only link to people I have engaged with and know in some respect to be able to recommend (or not). I wonder if this is the exception to the rule which is why LinkedIn is becoming watered-down? I have made connections with people through LinkedIn which are relevant and useful so it isn't bad. Just wondering at what point does this mass networking tool get chipped away by other more targeted social networking options? As another side-bar, what's up with Plaxo? Was that ever relevant?

No profound thought here. Just wondering.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Just saw an article today after publishing this entry about new features LinkedIn is adding to be more like Facebook. Perhaps LinkedIn is finding the above to be true? See article here: http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/22/linkedin-takes-groups-to-the-next-level-with-likes-follows-and-more/

New catch-phrase in marketing and social media is alignment. How to do it.

2010-06-09T13:14:00Z

Alignment seems to be the key word this week. I attended the PR MKTG Camp where the theme was alignment of PR and Marketing because of Social Media. Then I received another email regarding alignment of Sales and Marketing. This is comical and sad. Comical that we need conferences devoted to the topic. Sad that we need conferences devoted to the topic. Key take-aways and suggestions:

1) The advent of social media has large and small organizations wondering what department needs to manage social media? Marketing? PR? Customer Service? A comment was made at the conference that the public owns social media. My observation is there is quite a bit of territorial posturing going on in large companies for who 'owns' the customer conversation. Companies wondering how to manage not only the public conversation but employee conversations. Take United Airlines and repercussions of potential negative employee comments.

2) Ryan Evans of Rand Media Group suggested, "The day is coming that all your employees are on Twitter. What is wrong with them discussing your business?" Maybe not such a big deal with small companies, but the large organizations in the room were aghast.

3) Does the customer care who from the organization joins in the conversation if the response is relevant and considerate?

I believe social media has made organization alignment inefficiencies VERY obvious. How many employees of large organizations understand the true mission and tone and are empowered to act accordingly? Studies by Harvard Business School prove people want to have a purpose in their life and jobs. I've experienced organizations treating employees like potential threats instead of partners. If a person doesn't have the skill set for the job, move them. (View the video 'Drive' by RSA referencing the study on motivations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc).

Next, social media has made very obvious organizations that do not walk the talk. The world is now transparent.

My suggestion is for senior management to create a mission and tone for employees. Explain to the organization the goals and objectives for the year and future. Align department goals accordingly. Ask for groups to create cross-functional teams able to address customer situations immediately. The most appropriate person able to address the conversation issue should be able to. Then walk the talk (Top down as this can't happen bottom up). Empower the organization to just 'get it done'. Here is the objective, here is what we stand for, and just make it happen. Then monitor, measure, tweak, act, monitor, measure, tweak, act and so on.

One way to do that is have a person or department responsible for monitoring social media. Product issues are routed to product management. Marketing problems routed to marketing and social responsibility routed to corporate communications.

This is easier said than done which is why is isn't being done as proof from thePR MKTG conference .

What do you think should be done? Who is doing it well?

Jackie

Millenials brand loyalty. Is it social media or differentiation?

2010-04-16T14:30:00Z

Much has been written about the Millennials and their lack of brand loyalty, so, I decided to test the concept in my classes at DePaul University with college seniors. Small sample but the results are directional. There were two separate situations addressed:

Retailing: I asked students in my Science of Retailing class 'Which stores are you loyal to"? The response: None. Why? They said because you can get anything everywhere. I would argue that isn't lack of loyalty but lack of differentiation.
Consumer Products: While discussing a case regarding energy drinks, I asked which energy drink brands they like. No surprise that Red Bull, the category leader, was the clear winner. Why not other brands? The answer wasn't about image, style, or availability. The answer was 'they taste awful'. Again, not lack of loyalty but a bad product. A few students gave examples of 'Venom' being given away for free in their neighborhoods. They don't want it even free because it tastes bad. No amount of promotion or social media will get around that fundamental problem.

Implications for marketers are simple. Start with a GOOD product or service that appeals to a target audience and has a CLEAR differentiation or reason for being. Communicate that differentiation and why people should care. Don't list dozens of benefits. People can only remember two things. One solid reason is best. With that, word can spread. Then use tactics such as social media in your tool kit to help them easily spread the word. No amount of promotion or social media spending can help a faulty product. (Note: ALL students in all of my classes love Apple. It can be done.)

Retail implications: The proliferation of products has an endless variety of choices for consumers. Thank goodness for Category Management to help understand productivity of those items. But don't loose track of your target audience. Have you defined it properly? Are you trying to be things to all people? Retailers tend to lack marketing strength. Promotions and advertising (sans Target) seem to say the same things. Kmart is finally waking up to that fact and actually has had a slow increase in same store sales. In a recent Brandweek article, CMO Mark Snyder states"...a proof point to the organization about how important differentiation is when everyone else is saying the same thing".

It's not lack of brand loyalty. It's lack of good product/services to be loyal to.

What do you think?
Jackie

Do you crave the human touch? Prefer live bodies to tweets?

2010-03-16T13:36:00Z

Pandora rocks, right? Doesn't everyone love www.Pandora.com? My students don't listen to the radio anymore. I asked them "how do you find out about new music"? The answer was Pandora. It's also one of the most popular smart phone apps. It's a genius music application which fascinates me. Mapping music DNA. How to begin to do that? An article from the Wall Street Journal's Magazine which came out Saturday (March 2010) had an interview with Tim Westergren, founder of Pandora which answered how they map music DNA. The tiny little blurb that caught my attention was this:

"With increasing technology, people will actually go to concerts more than ever. The irony of technology is you become on one hand more connected, on the other hand more disconnected. People are going to yearn for that real live human engagement."

My friend, Jim Matorin, will LOVE that quote. Technology is fabulous for connecting, reconnecting, & keeping in touch. But can you build a relationship from technology? THAT can be debated. I keep in touch with friends through email and Facebook. But I knew them, personally, live, flesh and blood, first. The relationship was crafted and technology helps me stay in touch. Think: Would Lagy Gaga be all the rage by music only without her personality and character?

Marketers shouldn't forget this lesson. The best way to develop a relationship is from personal contact. Use technology to stay top-of-mind and build word-of-mouth. B2B marketers should have a leg-up here given the importance of sales and client service.

Another case in point: Marketing Charts recently published information that 'Consumers Don't Strongly Identify with Brands' (anymore). Scary and surprising is that retailer lead the pack of brands consumers don't trust. Surprising to me is that retailers have physical people in stores able to make connections. And they are not doing it well.

More on this topic to come. I'm providing the reminder to not loose sight of personal connections, face to face. Hugs and kisses.

Let me know what you think.
Jackie

Mobile marketing anyone? Think before you text.

2010-03-11T14:28:00Z

Absolutely the next frontier in marketing is Mobile. It's happening now so be prepared. Prepare your marketing plans and prepare for the onslaught. A few tips and things to remember:

First and foremost: Don't jump in. Don't. Not unless you have aligned your mobile tactic to a business objective. Please. Antsy marketers ruin it for the rest of us and make the medium less effective. Let email and social networks be a lesson. Without an objective that can be measured, you can't know if you succeeded. Is your objective promotional? Do you want to be viewed as a thought-leader? Awareness? Top of Mind? Customer Input? Each objective would have your communication strategy, including mobile, take a very different approach. Why are marketers failing to understand the 'value' and 'metrics' for social media? Most likely because they didn't have a measurable objective to know what they were measuring.

Ask people getting mobile updates today about relevance. The companies setting expectations with customers for what they will receive and then provide that value, are successful. Companies that jump in to the new technology 'just testing' sending random information will see their opt-out rates soar.

Once you lose someone, it's 10 times harder to get them back.
Next: Whether you are ready or not for mobile, start data capture of your customer and prospects mobile numbers. Email has recently been the 'currency' of choice in a database. I suspect mobile numbers may take over in the near future. Set yourself up now for the future when you are ready.
Know your customers and prospects and ask them first how they prefer to communicate with your company. Don't assume. Poor assumptions about email communication started SPAM and filtering. Don't ruin your brand and value by making assumptions.
If you have a solid objective it is easier to craft a communication strategy that is relevant to the objective and relevant to your customers.
Repeating: Don't be a tactical marketer. New media and technology is fun and exciting. But think first. What are you trying to achieve?

Let me know what you think,
Jackie

Is Sears turning away from retail and evolving to manufacturer?

2010-02-25T19:22:00Z

Sears announced recently it's intent to begin to distribute it's private label Craftsman tools to Ace Hardware. Interesting because retailers use private label brands as a draw to try and create brand equity and loyalty for their stores. Good move or not?

Next. Sears is completely revamping and relaunching Kenmore products, their appliance private label brand. Craftsman and Kenmore brands have great brand equity; however, Sears as a retailer does not (nor does K-mart really). Makes me wonder if Sears has a long-term strategy to get out of the retail business and become a manufacturer? Or sell the brand names?

It is clear they do not have a great differentiation strategy or equity beyond the value of those private label brands. I have been fascinated by the Sears quagmire which is to me: Major mall square footage they need to fill but have brand equity for products to fill half the store. They are left to do something with the additional space and fill it with products that do not turnover, marginalizing their GMROI (had to throw that in). I regularly ask students, 'What does Sears stand for?" They go blank. One student said 'Craftsman tools are awesome'.

So the fact that they are allowing distribution of Craftsman to other retailers is interesting. It may add incremental revenue in the short-term, but, certainly will start to erode a reason to go to Sears for tools over-time. Given the spending on updating and upgrading Kenmore may mean similar intentions with that brand. Can Sears as a retailer sustain this strategy?

Let me know what you think.

Jackie

3 keys to social media success: Take it from Lady Gaga

2010-02-25T17:49:00Z

Does it get any better than two of my favorites colliding? Lady Gaga and Marketing. Much has been written about her success with social media as a best practice to grow her fan and revenue base. She absolutely has embraced the medium to work for her. But her success really isn't due to just social media. I believe her success is due to three factors:

GREAT Product. At the core, Lady Gaga is a great product. She has the talent, the creativity, the music, and personality to back-up ANY marketing tactic. Any marketing strategy, especially social media, is fruitless without a product that is solid and appeals to your target market.
Distribution strategy: She is distributing her product in a medium that her target market embraces. When selecting a channel strategy, companies need to understand how their customers want to buy. Where is the target market and be accessible. A company can have the greatest product in the world; however, if your target cannot reach you, it is wasted.
Social Media/Word of Mouth/ and Buzz: In order for social media tactics to create buzz, become viral, and generate referrals, two things need to be at the core: uniqueness and visibility. Lady Gaga is every bit unique. People can embrace her originality, personality and talent. I personally can't get enough of her (including my stint as Gaga for Halloween which is another story). People will not spend time discussing mundane or boring products/personalities. Some products and services become watered down or vanilla to appeal to the masses. That just doesn't create energy.

As for visibility, her distribution strategy has enabled her to make it very easy for people and her target audience to share content which enables viral-ability.

Let me know what you think.

Jackie

Should this be the first rule of marketing?

2009-12-01T16:24:00Z

I don't think the theory of 'managing expectations' receives enough press. It's not vogue, it's not new. It's a pretty straight forward concept. Yet, it could be the most important foundation in marketing, business, and just life in general.

I am reminded of this constantly when teaching. 9 times out of 10 when I grade student papers and something does not meet my expectations, it's my fault, not the students. I have to look back to how I set my expectations for grading and the assignment. I cannot take off points for something I did not make clear. Every quarter I have to make my expectations VERY OBVIOUS and clear. You cannot blame a customer for mis-interpreting something you did not make obvious. Obvious is better than fancy or subtle. I say this all the time, "No body will take more than 20 seconds to figure you or your business out."

Think about how you are managing expectations with your marketing efforts. It starts with the foundation of your differentiation and positioning. Are you specific and realistic about what a customer can expect? Or why they should do business with you versus a competitor? I find many companies weak in this foundation of all marketing. If you are not clear, your customers will fill in the blanks for you. From the initial encounter with your store or website or salesperson: the customer will get an immediate reaction based on your message, tone, and look.

Here are a few more points to ponder relative to the Marketing 4 P's:

Pricing: Are you clear upfront? Any hidden fees? Don't you HATE making a purchase on eBay only to find the shipping cost is more than the product (after the fact?). I can't stand Ticketmaster taking on extra fees AFTER you hit the 'purchase' button. People abandon carts for this reason.

Promotion: If someone signs up for your newsletter, do they know how often you will 'ping' them? What is the content? Do you sell your newsletter as news, when it is actually a promotion notice? I had a client do this to find unsubscribe rates fairly high.

Product: Volumes can be written about this. Does your product/service deliver on it's promise. I've written before on companies communicating points they aspire to be vs. what they can deliver. It's not worth it. You have to work 10 times as hard (and spend a lot more money) to win back a customer when they are disappointed.

Place/Distribution: Do customers know where to find your product/service? Can you guarantee supply and stock? Think through your entire supply chain. Don't start promoting until you have your channel secure. Even more, don't promise a date for new product to launch before you have the product done. We learned this lesson at my former employer when Product Dev couldn't get bugs worked out in time for launch. That delay was embarrassing.

Everyone knows the phrase "Underpromise. Overdeliver." which is managing expectations. Sounds much simpler than it really is to deliver. Are you doing it all the way through your marketing efforts?

What do you think?

Jackie

Social Marketing is so 2008. Mobile Marketing so 3008.

2009-11-18T18:57:00Z

Most likely, marketers are aware of the next big wave (or band wagon) we are going to experience: Mobil Marketing. That is probably not a big surprise. However, my husband, a finance guy, shared an 'Early Look" article from a financial analyst, Rebecca F. Runkle, Managing Director at ResearchEdge stating the following:

"The Mobile Internet has the power to pull us out of the current economic downturn. That's how powerful this innovation cycle is and will be over the coming years. It will impact every consumer with an Internet-enabled mobile phone (meaning everyone) and it will alter the way every business does business."

A few points came to mind I would like to share:

I've been hearing and reading about Mobile for quite some time and knew a year ago this was the next 'thing'. This may be new to functions outside of the marketing or product development departments. Made me realize, marketing really IS at the forefront of understanding implications to various technology on reaching and connecting people. Not every channel is right for every company, but marketers are generally the first in an organization to know "what's out there".
Whether mobile is right for your business now, or in the future, you may want to start thinking about capturing mobile phone numbers from your customers now. That way, if and when you are ready, you have the database.
A note to dumb marketers: Please don't ruin it for the rest of us. While discussing mobile technology marketing applications with my marketing classes, the students first reaction was, "Ugh. That is going to be such a bother." Their first thought was mobile spam.

And they are right. So, for those marketers finding mobile technology an important tactic in the toolbox, please tread forth respecting your customers and prospects. Understand your message isn't the biggest thing in a person's life. If you send a mobile message, PLEASE be relevant. Make sure it is something they asked to receive and that it is valuable information.

Example: One student had a great experience with mobile text messages from the Chicago Blackhawks. She said every message has a point or great offers or great information. Another student had a terrible experience with a company I will not name. She said the company bombarded her with 'stupid' messages. So, she unsubscribed.

The utility of mobile applications can be great if marketers act responsibly and smart. Otherwise, your unsubscribe rates will soar and you will have to work 10 times as hard to get them to reconnect.

I guess that is my lesson for the day.
What do you think?
Jackie

Trust Me. Marketers know what they are doing. Really!

2009-11-02T19:24:00Z

I'm compelled to write about building relationships through marketing because I don't think most companies really get right.

Harvard Business Review recently posted an article on Brand Authenticity titled 'The Downside of Branding'. In a nut-shell, the author takes issue with attaching labels to brands that are not accurate but aspirational. I have had experience over and over with companies branding with messages they hope to be true, but actually are not. If building relationships is about TRUST, customer and potential customers cannot trust a brand or firm that has in-accurate messaging or a product that doesn't at least meet expectations.

I'll make my point on marketers building relationships with a basic friendship analogy.

You first meet a person at an party. They seem charming and you have things in common. You both really like fine art and cooking. You may want to see them again. Marketing relevance: this is breaking through the clutter with a message that is appealing. Building awareness.

You keep in touch with this person, on occasion, and hope to see them again at another gathering. Some of these friends like to keep in touch by phone. Some by email. Some in person. Marketing relevance: Ask how the customer wants communication.

You see this person again and realize, you do have a lot in common. You share the same values and you now want to meet out for lunch regularly. Marketing relevance: This is engagement. More relevant messages that draw a link to why the prospect should want to do business with you. They enjoy your company.

What if; however, upon meeting that person a second time, that fine art you thought they liked, was 'Dogs playing poker'. Further, you find when they said they loved to cook, well, microwaves don't count. Your expectations are let-down. You don't have an accurate picture of this person and may be hesitant to believe them (trust them). You're finding you really don't have anything in common. For marketers: You have not met expectations. Your credibility is shot. The next time you want to communicate with this person, they may not listen; and you have to work harder for their attention. When you keep trying harder you may just annoy them.

If you send out messages that are wrong, you will attract the wrong target. If your product isn't right for your target yet you keep hammering that target, that doesn't work either.

Social Media success is basically finding customers who have strong feelings about you and spreading that word. In the above scenario, you can try and try and try with social media tactics. If the product and message don't mesh or if your credibility is shot, you will spin your wheels.

Unsettling is there are many companies out there in this situation wondering why they can't get great referrals or word of mouth. It isn't always easy to keep an outside perspective and get away from internal rhetoric.

Make your product great in a way that is different from competitors and in ways customers appreciate. Be honest. Then tell people why they need you and what problems you solve. Don't lie or embellish.

Trust me.
Jackie

Pondering the future of Twitter: A conversation.

2009-09-02T12:32:00Z

A good friend of mine, Jim Matorin, Business Catalyst, founder of SMARTKETING called me yesterday. We had not connected for a while. Twitter was one of the main reasons Jim called. I'll share some of the highlights of our discussion as this seems to be a regular conversation I have and is cause for much speculation regarding revenue models of various forms of Social Media. How long can they last?

Jim Watched a Charlie Rose rerun over the weekend. An interesting interview conducted back in February with Evan Williams, co-founder & CEO of Twitter. Interview Link It reminded me that you and I have not talked about Twitter lately. What is your latest spin?

Jackie Twitter seems more relevant to businesses and the ability to share information, versus a social application like Facebook’s updates. That has been somewhat validated by surveys taken where people find information links to be most valuable. How about you Jimmy?

Jimmy Two things resonate for me right now. First, I think Twitter is still in its infancy, a toddler, thus evolving. Twitter’s potential is great, especially as it relates to business. It will be a great tool for companies to have real time conversation with their consumers. Second, on a personal note, I am totally fascinated by people’s need to connect with other people, exhibit transparency, even if they are total strangers. As a result, Twitter, along with Facebook are having a major impact on modern relationships. I find today’s relationships more ephemeral compared to those we formulated prior to the advent of social media. There is no substitution for face time when it comes to connecting.

Jackie Agree face to face is still key to formulating one-on-one relationships. Social networks enable you to find someone with like interests or someone you may want to reach out to and meet in person (what a concept) to add to your circle of real friends. Beyond that, social media can be viewed as entertainment and education.

Jimmy At what point do you think Twitter will make money?

Jackie I’ve always thought Twitter’s value is more a business application versus ‘friend’ application, like Facebook. Twitter has figured this out because I have read they are launching a metrics product. I can see Twitter also trying to model themselves after Google and offer something like ‘paid search’ too.

Jimmy We are on the same page. Based on what I have read, Twitter is working on how they will make money via its information seeking capabilities activities rather than advertising...

Jackie We must be reading the same feeds.

Jimmy You’re a consumer marketing guru. Think about the power of providing some form of detailed metrics as it relates to tweeting a targeted audience. For example, if a company launches a new product, Twitter should be able to provide some form of measurement: tweets by market, by time of day, etc. It would be extremely powerful if they could slice and dice it by demographic as well.

Jackie Let me build on that. The fundamental question is what people find valuable about Twitter and how to enhance their experience for a revenue generating application. Google is about information, so it makes sense they offer paid programs to get relevant information to users. Facebook is about social interaction which is why I believe advertisement on Facebook seems less than stellar. People do not go to Facebook for information (generally), but for interaction. User groups and fan groups are more effective on Facebook.

Twitter’s value is in the ability to share information, a lot of information, from sources people deem credible as they choose to follow. I do believe an analytic revenue model makes sense; making sure companies are connecting with people looking for their information. I wonder if in this analytic model, Twitter would offer a company (or blogger) the ability to ‘ask’ someone to follow them. Tweet Deck has a field of ‘recommended’ Twitters. Perhaps companies can pay to be on that list based on key terms. At any rate, eventually there will be a consolidation of social media networks. SM is new and growing like any other industry in the growth years. Eventually, there is only so much room and time to get on a person’s consideration set. I see things coming together.

Jimmy What are your thoughts about Twitter building an advertising revenue model?

Jackie If the advertising model is similar to a banner ad on Facebook, I think users would find that intrusive. If it’s advertising as in paid search (with limits), that might work. What do you think?

Jimmy I apologize Jackie. I would like to share my thoughts, but I have to go now. I need to follow Andy Roddick’s latest tweets to see what is going on at the U. S. Open today. I will speak to you later.

Please feel free to weigh in.
Jackie