The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 2
This one will be short and sweet… Most of my clients know that I’m not a big ‘fan’ of advertising – NOT because it doesn’t work – but because of the fact that I feel there are far BETTER ways to invest your marketing dollars. And here’s a quick piece of advice – for EVERY dollar you spend, please please please have a way to track your ROI (return on investment). If you spend $5000 on a magazine ad….how much business did it bring you? If you’re a small business owner, and you can’t answer this question, you’re wasting your money. Here’s an example from one of my clients… A fitness club was spending $1000/month on newspaper advertising. When I asked about the ROI on these ads, they had no idea. So I asked them to let me spend the following month’s $1000 budget on something different. The Result? $14,000 in new membership sales. (When was the last time you invested $1000 and got $14,000 in return, within 30 days?) Want to know what I did? Contact me!! : )
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The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 2
Feel The Love!
You’ve heard the old adage, “if it weren’t for customers, running a business would be a lot of fun”. While this line brings a smirk to our face, it really is the wrong attitude to take if you want your customers to bring you more business. Businesses who truly have a dislike for their customers, no doubt also have a large turn over of customers. If you are in the professional industry like myself, you have to take an active interest in your customer’s businesses.
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Feel The Love!
The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 1
So let’s start with some definitions. For me, ‘marketing’ is all of the things you do to get a cheque in your hand or to get the cash register to ring. ‘Advertising’ is when you pay for media, whether its a newspaper, TV commercial, or direct mail flyer. I often hear from business owners about their experiences with different forms of advertising media. For example, I’ll hear something like “I tried newspaper advertising, and it didn’t work for me.” Here’s the problem… Its NOT that the specific type of medium doesn’t ‘work’….there are a few variables in play. FIRST – who is the target audience? If your demographic is teenagers, and you advertise in a publication targeting seniors, you have a problem (I know, this example seems obvious, but you can’t imagine how many people get this wrong) SECOND – Is the timing right? Are people expecting to see your message? THIRD – This is what I consider the most important….WHAT IS YOUR MESSAGE? It costs you the same amount to advertise in that newspaper…whether you get zero sales or 100. So the important factor is to have the right MESSAGE in the right MEDIUM. I’ll explain how to craft a great message in a future post, but if you have a specific ad you’re working on and need my help please contact me at marsicomarketing@gmail.com
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The Problem With Advertising: Lesson 1
Heard It Through The Grapevine
Okay…this isn’t really a marketing lesson. More of an observation about human behaviour that has fascinated me over the years. Each day, people spread buzz about the latest trends. We talk about things that interest us, things that are newsworthy, things we’ve ‘heard’. That’s my favourite….when people say “I heard…”. Let me give you an example. A few co-workers, hanging around the water cooler, start talking about a movie that’s coming out…when one of them says “I heard its supposed to be the biggest movie of the summer.” Here’s what kills me…they ‘heard’ it in an AD FOR THE MOVIE!!! (But they make it seem like they got it from a trusted news source or from their best friend) My next favourite thing is when people say “Everyone thinks….” For example – “Everyone thinks our prices are too high” (when really, only 1 or 2 people made the complaint…out of 100,000 potential people that could have made the complaint) Yes, its not my usual post. Just something to make you say “Hmmmmmm….”
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Heard It Through The Grapevine
Your Invisible Assets
One of the main objectives of taking my clients through my ‘Marsico Marketing System™’ is to leverage and capitalize on what I call a company’s Invisible Assets™. These are the assets that won’t show up on a balance sheet, but are just as (or maybe more) important than the ones that do. A company has 3 Invisible Assets – their (1) Reputation (2) Relationships (3) Knowledge 1) Your Reputation – who you are, what you do, why you’re different and unique, your story, your message, who you serve, and how you benefit them. 2) Your Relationships – with your clients, your prospects, your vendors and suppliers, your employees, and with the marketplace. 3) Your Knowledge – your wisdom, your experiences, your expertise, your skills, and your capabilities. Many of my upcoming articles will be focused on specific strategies which help leverage and profit from these assets. Until next time…
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Your Invisible Assets
The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox
Here’s a fun conversation I have with small business owners. It usually goes something like this… ME – “..so how much of your new business comes from referrals and word of mouth?” SMALL BUSINESS OWNER – “We get around 70-80% of our clients from referrals” (note – any good company gets a tonne of referrals…it can range anywhere from 50-100% depending on the industry) ME – “How much of your marketing budget do you allocate for word of mouth and referrals?” SBO – “Huh? What? What do you mean? I guess, nothing…they just happen.” ME – “Amazing. So, 80% of your business comes from referrals, and you spend all of your money chasing the other 20%?” SBO – “Doh.” The moral of this story? Maybe its time to invest some of your hard earned marketing dollars into a form of marketing THAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR YOU. (Sorry…I’m a little passionate about this). : )
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The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox
DNA – The Evolution of The Unique Selling Proposition
In the 1940’s, advertising legend Rosser Reeves developed the term ‘USP’ or ‘Unique Selling Proposition’. Many sucessful businesses develop a USP as the basis of their marketing campaigns. Well, I say USP’s aren’t good enough anymore…with so many companies, products, brands, and a bombardment of media, being ‘unique’ isn’t unique enough. A classic example of a USP was the Domino’s 3o minute guarantee. Fantastic. But how many other pizza joints offer a time guarantee now? Is it truly unique? Saying that you’re the fastest or cheapest or biggest might work, but what truly makes you different – not only from your direct competitors, but from EVERY company? I developed the term DNA, or ‘Distinct Natural Advantage(TM)’ to describe this process of becoming truly unique. We all know what ‘DNA’ means in terms of science and heredity. Its what makes each of us ‘one of a kind’. I propose that, in business, to succeed in the long term, you need to be ‘one of a kind’ as well. I’ve created a process to help a business develop their DNA using what I call the Seven P’s… (1) Purpose (2) People (3) Pain (4) Promise (5) Proof (6) Positioning and (7) Packaging. In future articles I will go into more depth for each topic. Stay tuned!
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DNA – The Evolution of The Unique Selling Proposition
Copycat Marketing: The Sequel
The other major ‘copycatting’ mistake I see is that small businesses look to big businesses for advertising ideas…and they end up using ‘awareness’ advertising. Listen…your marketing budget is not $100,000,000 (if it is, give me a call…lets talk!) Which means that every dollar you spend should be tracked. If you do ANY form of advertising you should be able to calculate the return on investment. And now with all the online options like pay-per-click advertising you really have no excuses to create an ad that says ‘Here’s my company name, here’s a pretty picture of what we do, and here’s a life size replica of our company logo’.
Copycat Marketing: Small Business Marketing Mistake #1
So one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to small business marketing is what I call ‘copycatting’. Here’s what happens… A small business owner knows they needs to market and promote their business, so they look to others in their industry to find out what they are doing and figure ‘Hey, that guy is doing well…so whatever he’s doing must be working…and I’m just going to copy him’. The fact is, 80% of companies within any industry all copy each other..WHETHER THE TACTIC WORKS OR NOT. If you want a true competitive advantage, do what I call ‘Synergizing’. Don’t just look at the major players in your industry – start looking OUTSIDE your industry for success practices, strategies and tactics that you can apply to YOUR business. Your competition will be too busy copying each other to realize what you are doing and that you are slowly stealing all the business away from them.
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Copycat Marketing: Small Business Marketing Mistake #1
The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox
Here’s a fun conversation I have with small business owners. It usually goes something like this… ME – “..so how much of your new business comes from referrals and word of mouth?” SMALL BUSINESS OWNER – “We get around 70-80% of our clients from referrals” (note – any good company gets a tonne of referrals…it can range anywhere from 50-100% depending on the industry) ME – “How much of your marketing budget do you allocate for word of mouth and referrals?” SBO – “Huh? What? What do you mean? I guess, nothing…they just happen.” ME – “Amazing. So, 80% of your business comes from referrals, and you spend all of your money chasing the other 20%?” SBO – “Doh.” The moral of this story? Maybe its time to invest some of your hard earned marketing dollars into a form of marketing THAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR YOU. (Sorry…I’m a little passionate about this).
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The “Word-of-Mouth” Paradox