Crumbs from the Scone
“You’ve heard the branding gurus’ mantra,” says Jane Schulte, author of Work Smart, Not Hard! “Brand or be branded. Well, it’s true. If you don’t go about the process of creating a personality for your company, one will be created for you.” She outlines this process for ensuring your brand doesn’t happen by accident:
Start with two lists. One should contain words that describe your company’s current personality; the second should describe the company you want to be. They might be similar lists; in this case, they’ll help you to focus on consistency as you grow. If they differ, you can make a conscious, concerted effort to move toward the brand you envision.
Determine what your company looks like. From Web site design and taglines to colors and logos, make choices that work together to build your brand.
Reinforce the brand throughout your organization. “It cannot be an act,” says Schulte. “You have to make sure, just like your mission statement, that you can easily carry [it] off in everything you do, from marketing [to] advertising, client service and employee relations.” And give your team the resources they need to make this happen—otherwise, they’ll devise ad hoc solutions that might send the wrong message about your brand.
Source: Article by Jane Schulte.
Crumbs from the Scone
In a recent blog post, Patrick Byers talks about an email he received from a ski resort announcing the opening dates for each of its mountains. “I don’t recall signing up to receive these notifications,” he notes, “but I was there last season, and might have provided my email address somewhere to someone.” Because of his probable permission, Byers didn’t consider the message to be spam. He did, however, visit the website to unsubscribe from further contact. But when he reached what appeared to be the appropriate page, he faced a substantial menu of options, none of which seemed to apply to his situation.
Option 1, Byers reports, was completely irrelevant to the message he received: “Please do not send me summer-related emails. I’m only interested in receiving emails about Winter at [name of the resort].” Beneath this, under the general heading Option 2, were listed six other promotion categories and a confusing comprehensive-looking choice. All had unchecked boxes.
“Did they add me to every email list they have?” he asks. “Is it possible this simply shows I’m not subscribed to any of their lists? Was this actually an opt-in form?” Or, he wondered, could it simply be an opt-out form with a bad design?
“[T]his isn’t what I’d expect from [this resort],” Byers says. “They can do better.” And if your opt-out form leaves customers scratching their heads like this, so can you.
Source: Responsible Marketing.
Crumbs from the Scone
Once upon a time, when customers didn’t have enough money to make an immediate purchase, they would put it on layaway. Laya-what? you ask facetiously. “Doesn’t that involve some kind of a system where you pay for the merchandise BEFORE you take it home?” notes the Direct Dispatch blog. “We remember this quaint practice from our early days in retail sales … [before] it was a common practice to extend oneself beyond one’s means with credit cards.”
But in a tumultuous world of shaky finances and increasing unemployment rates, the concept has made a 21st-century comeback. According to Direct Dispatch, Kmart is among the companies offering the layaway option to its customers. The retailer outlines details of the eight-week pre-payment plan at its Web site:
Select your items.
Bring them to the layaway counter and make a down payment.
Make your payments every two weeks at your Kmart store.
Take home your items once your payments have been completed.
A holiday promotion from Sears, meanwhile, offers a similar service with the tagline: “Get them what they want today with $15 or 20% down.”
“Wonder what other old-fashioned sales tactics will work in this economy?” asks Direct Dispatch in a question loaded with Marketing Inspiration.
Source: MarketingProfs enewsletter
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“Testimonials are critical to any website that’s marketing or selling products or services,” says Rick Sloboda of Webcopyplus. To make his point, he cites the Robert Cialdini book Influence: Science and Practice, which posits that “we determine what’s correct by finding out what other people think is correct.” Customers feel more comfortable if they believe that others have made the same choice—and Sloboda gives this advice for enhancing their comfort level:
Real people, please. Always attribute your testimonials to people with full names. “Donna M. just doesn’t cut it,” he says. “In fact, it diminishes your credibility on the already suspect Web.”
Address common concerns of potential customers. Highlight one or two key qualities with each testimonial. While one praises the quality of your product or service, another might tout your exceptional dedication to quick turnarounds or customer service.
Proportion testimonials to the demographics of your audience. “Going after the average Joe?” asks Sloboda. “Quote average Joe. Is your market upscale? Showcase sophisticated people. Do women make up 90% of your target market? Then 9 out of 10 customers providing testimonials should be female.”
Give customer acclaim a prominent position. Sloboda warns against burying testimonials on a dedicated page where no one will ever see them—instead, spread the wealth around, placing at least one on every page of your Web site.
Source: Article by Rick Sloboda.
Crumbs from the Scone
If you use Twitter the way Mack Collier does, you might feel overwhelmed as you try to keep up with the constant stream of conversation, and stay connected with actual friends and colleagues.
In an attempt to get a handle on his situation, Collier decided to cut back on the number of people he followed. “[But] while this made it easier to keep up with my friends on Twitter, it created a new problem,” he says. “Many of the new followers I would pick up would unfollow again if I didn’t follow back. Which is understandable, and I do the same thing.”
Fortunately, Collier found Twitter salvation in TweetDeck, a tool that enables users to organize tweets in multiple columns. “I have one column with all the tweets from all the people I follow,” he says, “a second column with tweets from the people I am friends with, a third column for my replies, and a fourth column for DMs.”
Collier also recommends it for business applications. In a screen shot at his blog, he illustrates his point by showing how Apple, for instance, could monitor conversations about the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod and iPod Nano on a single screen. “They can see which features are popular with customers, and which ones are not,” he notes.
Any tool that makes Twitter even more effective is Marketing Inspiration in our book.
Source: MarketingProfs enewsletter
Crumbs from the Scone
Things are going great with your new customer. She’s interested in that fabulous product you just showed her. You’re about to go into a sales pitch to get her to upgrade to a pricier model, but just as you begin, the phone rings—and you have to grab it. Drat! Sale interrupted. There goes any hope of the upgrade, right? Well, not necessarily.
New research is showing that an interruption in the sales process can actually boost the likelihood of customers choosing a higher-priced item. That’s because, according to this researcher, after an interruption in a given transaction, people exhibit less price sensitivity.
For instance, when vacationers in Florida were offered a sedan as a rental, then distracted with another task, they were more willing to upgrade to a higher-priced model when they returned to the negotiation. Why did this happen? This research says it’s because, when we’re first dealing in a spending situation, we approach it from a bottom-up, data-driven perspective (What’s this cost?). When our focus is interrupted, we return to the negotiation from a more top-down, goal-driven perspective (Let’s get this done, shall we?).
The message for marketers? Don’t worry too much about distractions on the sales floor: if they interrupt your pitch at the right time, they may help you make a bigger sale.
Source: Focusing on Desirability: The Effect of Decision Interruption and Suspension on Preferences. Liu, Wendy. Journal of Consumer Research.
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Let’s say you’ve been working around the clock on an improvement for your product, service or online interface. Because you know all about your upgrade, why it’s needed and how much value it offers, you might forget that it will be a completely new concept to your customers. A post at the Service Untitled blog gives this advice for keeping them apprised of an upcoming change:
Use multiple communication channels to make an announcement. Most of your customers won’t actively check for updates at your Web site, but they will monitor control panels, email accounts and text messages. “The key is to be creative and to understand how customers prefer to be contacted,” says Service Untitled.
Outline the change they can expect—and why it’s happening. Don’t expect lots of buy-in if you don’t explain how an upgrade will make a customer’s experience easier or more efficient. Be explicit about what’s in it for them, and you’ll likely discover a more receptive audience.
Be realistic about timelines. Give your customers honest estimates for the time a product or service might be unavailable—during implementation, for instance—and how frequently such periods will occur in the future.
Anticipate customer queries. “Communication almost always results in questions,” says Service Untitled. Be prepared with clear, concise answers and a friendly, helpful attitude.
Source: Service Untitled.
Crumbs from the Scone
“In the two weeks leading up to the November 4th election, email messages came fast and furious from both campaigns,” writes Morgan Stewart in an article at MarketingProfs. “I saw … commonly held best practices to be emulated, other [elements] that should be avoided … and a few new concepts that … [may] inspire email marketers to take their programs to the next level.” Based on what he learned from the campaigns, Stewart encourages marketers to:
Leverage the power of streaming video. Many Obama emails contained links to the Illinois senator’s inspirational speeches. “Perhaps of more interest,” says Stewart, “was the fact that many of these videos were displayed on vanity landing pages with key messages contained in the URL.” For instance, the address barackobama.com/keepfighting appeared in the body of one email.
Balance your objectives with value to the customer. In the last weeks of the campaign, he notes, the Obama team aggressively pursued donations. “[T]he fundraising tone became dominant to the point of minimizing other messages.” The McCain camp, by contrast, presented what Morgan considers a more balanced mix, from a marketing standpoint, of updates and requests for participation.
Says Stewart, “[W]e need to applaud instances where established marketing channels are leveraged in innovative ways. I, for one, plan to incorporate these [tactics] into existing email programs to help drive them to the next level.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Crumbs from the Scone
When Ann Handley waxed philosophical on the subject practical jokes in a post at Annarchy, her readers filled the comment section with stories of their own favorite stunts. Most were personal in nature, but Mike Volpe of HubSpot noted that some of his best work-related memories center not on business accomplishments, but on zany pranks. “We work too hard not to have fun,” he said. “As part of this, we play jokes (admittedly geeky) a lot.”
To tease a germophobic colleague, for instance, the HubSpot crew created www.JonahsGerms.com, a collection of germ-centric factoids and photographs of various co-workers “infecting” computer equipment with their fingers, sneezes and—even—tongues. The heading “Executive Germs” included this helpful reminder that anyone can contaminate a workspace: “Did you think that germs are for the poor and the weak? Think again! People in high places can pass their germs to you just like the destitute and homeless on the T!”
“[W]e also keep an internal wiki called ‘HubSpot Lore & Mythology’ where we keep track of funny quotes and happenings in the company,” said Volpe. “It is a great way to keep all 60 (and growing) of us up to date on the company jokes, [and] a good way for new employees to hear about the past jokes.” In a fast-growing company like HubSpot—which had only five employees in early 2007—this documentation has the added benefit of making hire number 60 feel instantly connected to a quickly evolving corporate culture.
We see lots of Marketing Inspiration in the idea of building a more effective team with pranks and practical jokes—just remember to take photographs for the internal wiki.
Source: MarketingProfs enewsletter
Crumbs from the Scone
“During your annual planning ritual do you study and analyze the current situation in your market and then move on straight to setting your goals?” asks Dan Herman in an article at MarketingProfs. “Common practice—but a big mistake!” According to Herman, this practice actually encourages underachievement by placing artificial limits on your ambition. “Nowadays,” he argues, “most business successes result from early identification of market opportunities and a rapid and creative move to capitalize on them, maximizing profits.”
Herman’s methodology, called the Opportunity Scan (or O-Scan), comes in two stages:
What’s now? The first stage involves researching and analyzing the current market situation.
What’s possible? The systematic exploration of opportunities.
Answering these three questions will lead you from current reality to potential achievement:
What shouldn’t be? Place everything from wasted resources to customer frustrations in this category.
What could/should change? In other words, asks Herman, “[W]hat are the outdated or plainly dumb unwritten rules of the game that the players in this market stick by?”
What could be? Determine how your company can excel with a product or service your competition is unlikely to develop.
Source: MarketingProfs.
