Traditional Media? Social Media? “New” Media? The Message is What Matters

By Cinda Orr

During my career, the advertising industry has gone through a monumental paradigm shift. When I was growing up, there were basically three television networks, at least one daily newspaper in every city, relatively few consumer magazines, and billboards lining virtually every highway.

Cable television splintered what was once a monolithic audience, magazines sprang up for every possible consumer interest, and people started losing the habit of reading a daily newspaper. Lady Bird Johnson’s highway beautification program brought down the billboards even as it cleaned up the litter along America’s highways.

Then, along came computers, cell phones, the internet, email, iPhones, TiVo, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, and the techniques of marketing a message to a discrete audience changed forever.

Or did they?

Traditional media – properly used – can still be highly effective communications channels. For example, consider how receiving an email marketing message compares with receiving a package in the real mail. The challenge in both cases is to get the recipient to open the mail and get the message, but the promise of opening the email is — at best — that you’ll be momentarily entertained by some music or animation. The promise of opening the physical package, on the other hand, is that you get something physical. You know it’s not going to be a bar of gold, but not knowing what’s inside is usually all the motivation the recipient needs to tear open a dimensional package.

Once he or she does, they have something with your name on it that they can hold in their hand, interact with, and possibly even feel mildly indebted to you for. Which message do you think is more likely to be remembered?

Real mail has another advantage over email, in that it’s much easier to acquire a targeted list, vetted for accuracy, so the chances of the right people receiving your message go up enormously.

I don’t mean to imply that “new” media can’t be effective – it’s been proven repeatedly that it can. The point is that a marketing program of today has essentially the same objectives as one of 50 or even 100 years ago, namely, to repeatedly expose the same prospect to a consistent and persuasive message. Our job is to figure out the best way to do that for each individual client, and we’ve learned it sometimes means a Facebook page, email blasts and regular “tweets”, and other times it means a tradeshow booth, magazine ads and direct mail.

Advertising is a lot more complicated in the digital age, but people haven’t changed. If you can get their attention and demonstrate how your product or service can make their life better, you’ll get just the reaction you need.

Start the Year Off with a Solid Strategy

by Cinda Orr

It’s January. A new year, a new beginning. We all know the clichés associated with a new year—yet it truly is a time to take stock and set the course for a successful 2010.

In a moment of reflection, I glanced around the office. On my bookshelf is a plethora of business books—most were “all the rage” in their era and some have stood the true test of time. The ones that have stood the test of time offer advice that appears to be common sense. Let’s all start our new year on the right foot and keep in mind what it takes to achieve our goals.

Strategy
All great companies have a strategy. Period. Every organization needs a blueprint to achieve its goals; it is the backbone of your organization. Develop a strategy, plan before you act, hold yourself accountable—if an action does not put you closer to your stated goals and objectives, question moving forward with it.

Know your audience
Critical to any business foundation is an understanding of the target audience—what are their wants and needs? What motivates them to select your business offering over the competition? Why do they buy your service or product? Taking the pulse of your audience is necessary to set the stage for your marketing message and to evaluate performance.

Promote your business regularly and consistently
I am in the business of marketing so this may seem slightly self-serving, but truly great businesses own their message and promote their brand on a regular, consistent basis.

Evaluate your opportunities
This is a broad, overarching statement. Opportunities come in many shapes and sizes. As a marketing firm, one of our core responsibilities is to drive leads (prospects) to your business development team for effective follow-up and evaluation. Clearly, it is also imperative to have a firm grasp on your competitive landscape.

Make business planning on ongoing, regular priority
Your strategic document cannot be completed at the beginning of the year and then dusted off when another year rolls around. SCORR Marketing recommends a quarterly evaluation of the strategic road map to ensure all milestones are being met, the tactical plan is being executed to meet objectives and business decisions are still aligned with strategy.

Creating a successful brand identity is a process, not a project

By Cinda Orr

Numerous businesses try, but many fail to create a successful brand identity. Often, this is because they perceive the brand as little more than a logo and tagline, when in fact those are just a small part of a much larger corporate strategy. While how the company name is visually expressed in a logo and carried throughout the communications is undeniably important, the brand itself is actually how customers perceive your company and the associations and inherent value they place on your business.

The first mistake companies often make in developing a brand identity is in not effectively identifying the favorable market position—what is it your audience wants, desires and needs? The process of identifying the target position is a mix of external and internal assessments, through a process of market research and knowing your strengths and weaknesses through a thorough, honest, and objective analysis of what you do best.

Once you have a viable brand position, you have to commit to it completely. Sometimes economic pressure or other influences cause companies to stray from established messaging and imagery, but in most cases, this does nothing but confuses your steady customers and presents an image of inconsistency and confusion.

Hand in hand with a successful brand strategy is a well-thought-out marketing plan. Brand-building is about communicating your brand promise to your audience, so it can’t take place without a thorough understanding of your audience(s) and the channels you use to reach them.

Developing an effective brand for your company is not something you do once, nor is it something that can be done overnight. It may start with a logo and tagline, but if done properly, it is an ongoing process that will ultimately impact all of your company’s operations. It’s not easy, cheap or quick, but nothing else we know of will do more to increase awareness and recognition; differentiate you from competitors; make your message meaningful and memorable; allow “premium” pricing; enhance customer loyalty; and ultimately increase sales and profits.

ROI at Trade Shows

By Cinda Orr

Over the last several months, SCORR has attended numerous trade shows ranging from local events to those with a large international contingency. Recently wrapping up the last major event of the summer, the timing seemed relevant to discuss how to maximize the return on a trade show investment. Here is a refresher course on how to get the most bang for your buck at trade shows:

Strategy
An effective trade show begins with an effective strategy—one that targets the specific audience in attendance with a message that highlights your brand identity and compelling characteristics. This strategy will establish goals and objectives.

Pre-selling
Memorable marketing initiatives are implemented before you ever attend the event and should take a personalized approach to encourage potential attendees to visit your exhibit space. Pre-promotional activities can take the form of a direct mail or email, event posting on your Web site, calls from your sales force to high-level prospects or a personalized letter.

Make the most of the space
Whether you have a large island booth or a tabletop display, make the most of your space! The appropriate display takes into consideration graphic design, lighting, product features and other accessories to maximize the space and meet your objectives. It is an opportunity to tailor a message to a target market and build brand awareness.

Booth personnel
It never ceases to amaze me how many people I see sitting in their booth reading email acting completely oblivious to all of the potential leads walking down the aisle. Effective booth personnel are engaging with attendees, are fully versed in your company benefits and love nothing more than to generate leads and sales.

Don’t forget the press
Trade shows are often attended by editors and journalists, all looking for the next story or feature. Make the most of this opportunity by developing press kits and developing well-timed media announcements.

Post-event
You have the prospects’ information, you have made an impression, now is the time to follow-up—and rapidly—on any commitments made during the trade show. Effective post-show marketing can serve to entrench your corporate identity and continue to build your own company database.

Remember, trade shows are a unique form to not only meet face-to-face with potential new customers, but also to fully understand the positioning of your competitors.

Consistency is the key to dealing with long sales cycles

By Cinda Orr

Only a relatively few times in my career have I had the luxury of working with clients that have a product or service that people might buy on an impulse. Far more often, we seem to be dealing with technically complex and expensive services or products that can be months or even years between the initial contact with a prospect and a successful sale.

What these marketing challenges nearly always have in common is the requirement for a lot of up-front knowledge and a number of (not necessarily consistent) internal buying influences. It also frequently means that only a tiny fraction of the total audience is in “ready-to-buy” mode at any given moment. If you hope to influence a particular purchase decision with your marketing in this arena, you’d better have laid the groundwork months or even years before.

The only effective way we know of to deal with a long sales cycle is to plan ways to stay in front of your prospect, once identified, for the long haul. Of course, you’ve already planned a consistent media campaign in the publications your prospects read, along with regular press releases and trade show appearances, and you’ve probably supplemented with direct mail and online promotion as well.

Another good way to keep in touch with potential customers while they’re in the information-gathering stage is with a newsletter. And while some companies still print and mail a traditional paper copy, many are opting for the more inexpensive, efficient and environmentally-friendly, e-newsletter. So many companies have done this, however, that many people are suffering from e-mail overload.

The one way around this inbox overload is to make sure your e-newsletters deliver news your customers can use, not come-ons or puffery. They must be personal and individual in tone, and must arrive in the user’s inbox with a reliable frequency. Think of how you react to e-newsletters; the ones you read are of particular interest to you and what you do. They are usually compact and streamlined in the way they’re written, quickly summarizing salient points and only offering depth and detail as a “click-here” option. Any copy or design element that leads the reader to put it aside for later perusal (e.g. if it looks too long or complicated) has been scrubbed in favor of a read-it-now immediacy.

If you have more to say or if your news is more immediate, consider publishing a blog to stay in front of prospects. To be effective, though, blogs have to push out new, relevant information on a regular basis – don’t start one if you don’t think you can carry through or your readership will suffer.

Blogs and e-newsletters can be extremely effective and inexpensive marketing tools that will help you strengthen your bond with clients and prospects, making them feel closer to you; more like an insider. More importantly, newsletters and e-newsletters can help keep your brand top of mind and your customers more informed and therefore more likely to buy from you when the moment of truth finally comes.

Plan ahead to get more out of trade show appearances

By Cinda Orr

If part of your promotional budget is invested in trade shows, conferences or conventions, you know how expensive that kind of marketing can be. Even small booths, if they are well designed and constructed, are pricey. And when you add the booth space, shipping and logistics, setup and tear-down fees, rentals, travel, personnel and other expenses, it becomes pretty obvious that you have to do some serious business to make it all pay off.

Start by remembering that a trade show is isn’t a vacation or a boondoggle; it’s a head-to-head selling opportunity. You can see more clients face-to-face in a couple of days than you typically can see in several months. To make sure you get bang for your buck, you need to start with a trade show plan that includes:

Clearly defined show objectives

Pre-show promotion

Lead generation (you want to bring home more than a pile of business cards)

Staff plan and booth schedule

Pre-show training –

- Spend time practicing and anticipating questions

Follow-up plan for qualified leads

Here are a few more tips to help you make your trade show appearances pay off:

Pay attention to booth design. Design your booth so it’s easy to get in and out of. Make it look inviting, but keep it simple. Plan on supplemental lighting. Make sure your company and brand name are clearly identified, then concentrate on communicating the main points of your sales story.

Use signage effectively. Use signage to put across the key benefits and features. There won’t always be a salesman handy, and even when there is, some people prefer to shop alone.

Tie booth graphics to advertising. Don’t have one theme or look going in your national advertising campaign and something completely different in your booth. Unify your themes and you’ll get more mileage ⎯ and memorability ⎯ from them.

Don’t let prospects walk away empty-handed. Anymore, it’s common practice to get a prospect’s name and send them literature after the show, but it’s still a good idea to give them something to take along that re-emphasizes key selling points.

Remember the trade press. Have a professionally prepared press kit available for journalists that may drop by. Better still, make the effort to specifically invite key editors to your booth, and then give them access to top executives and information they can really use.

Target key prospects. Send a pre-show invitation to your customer and prospect lists. Tell them about your participation in the show and specifically invite them to visit your booth or hospitality suite. Telling your story face-to-face is almost always the most effective marketing you can do.

To get the most out of your trade shows, conventions and conferences, plan the details of your appearance well in advance.

Direct mail can yield big results – if you know how to use it

By Cinda Orr

Direct mail is a powerful medium. It’s tangible. It’s personal. The latest electronic databases and other technologies have transformed direct-mail methods in recent years, and with appropriate lists and laser-targeted customers, direct mail’s reach and credibility can produce results well beyond other marketing tools.

But it’s not cheap. By the time you pay for the list, creative and production, printing, postage and mailing, it’s much more expensive per-impression than other media. So, it just makes sense to plan the details thoroughly and well in advance. Even if your company uses direct mail only occasionally, you can benefit from some of the wisdom professional mailers use.

Take care of the list first. Nothing – not the product, not the offer, not the layout, design or copy – is more important to success of a mailing than the list. Your in-house customer list is your most valuable asset in this regard, and it’s worth the effort to build and maintain it. If you do buy lists, spend time researching which lists are most clearly directed to your target and prefer these regardless of the cost.

Make an offer – then sell the offer. The fundamental benefit of direct mail is its ability to precipitate an action. But it’s the rare product that is so unique it can fuel a direct mail program entirely on its own. You’ll get better results by creating a compelling offer with an expiration date to give it a sense of immediacy. Whatever it is – a special introductory price, a free “test drive” or premium with purchase, make sure the offer itself is desirable enough to drive a response.

Use dimensional mail. In terms of lead generation effectiveness, dimensional mail is second only to telemarketing. As a tool for producing executive-level leads, a unique package, an envelope with a bulge or anything mailed in a box can usually be counted on to make it past the mailroom and onto the big guy’s desk. A similar technique, if you have the money for it, is to use overnight mail. When it says FedEx on the outside, the package gets opened — and usually right away.

Don’t be dull. You know from going through your own mail how hard it is for a particular mailer to stand out and grab attention. Be provocative. Be outrageous. Do everything in your power to make sure your mailing is noticed, opened, remembered and acted on.

As a medium, direct mail is more targeted, personal and flexible than print or broadcast advertising. It’s also much more measurable. By tracking and analyzing your results, you’ll see what’s working and can make adjustments to future mailings as needed.

Whether as the backbone of your promotional program or a special tactic for special audiences, direct mail is still a powerful tool in the advertising arsenal, one it pays to know how to use.

Maintain marketing now to make bigger gains when the recession ends

By Cinda Orr

It seems as if no matter where you turn, one economic prediction is gloomier than the next. Even here in Kearney, a relative bright spot in the economy, orders for many companies are down, sales are off and customers are becoming increasingly scarce.

Faced with declining sales and profits, the natural thing for businesses to do is cut back on their marketing and preserve their cash, right?

Actually, that depends on whether you think the current downturn is ever going to end — and though it may look endless now, every economic recession the world has ever encountered, including the Great Depression, eventually gave way to economic growth and prosperity. This recession will be no different. So while cutting back on your marketing may seem the right thing to do, the opposite is true, and here’s why.

Thirty years and more ago, research at the Harvard School of Business established a positive correlation between awareness, market share and profits. HSB said that, generally speaking, as a awareness of a product or service goes up in a particular market, its market share also rises, and that as market share increases, so do profits. When the economy goes into recession, consumers spend less, manufacturers manufacture less and advertisers advertise less…but media usage by consumers remains stable or trends slightly up.

That means now is a great time to buy “share of voice”. (“Voice” in this context is the total marketing and advertising expenditures aimed at a particular market segment or audience.) In a recession, if you merely continue marketing and advertising at the same levels while your competitors cut back, it gives you a greater share of voice and a chance to build awareness — and consequently market share — at bargain-basement prices.

In this recession, we are making three basic recommendations to clients:

Stay the course. No matter how troubled the times, some sales are always being made and they’re usually being made by brands people know and trust. Now is no time to disappear from your customers’ radar.

Concentrate on target marketing. Now more than ever, you should be talking to the customers you want most, with a message they want to hear. Win their loyalty now.

Reassure your customer base. Remember, it’s usually more profitable to build incremental business from your existing customers than to acquire new ones. Spend some time, money and energy in rewarding past loyalty with special discounts or other frequent-buyer perks. Cross-sell. Call customers to inquire about their needs and concerns. Maintain a reassuringly high profile with your bread-and-butter customers to make sales now and position yourself to make solid gains when better times return.

Don’t be afraid of a recession. Instead of viewing the current economy as a disaster, see it instead as a buying opportunity — one that could really benefit your market share, and profits, down the road.