Marketing In an Us vs. Them World

In today’s competitive business world, many businesses market their products or services using comparisons. Comparison marketing can give your business the opportunity to highlight your advantages over the competition. However, when you compare your business to your competitors, it is important to focus less on the shortcomings of other companies and more on the benefits you can provide.

Here are a few tips on how to research the features your audience is seeking, as well as those that your competitors are already offering:

  • Talk to your customers. Find out who your customers used before and why they switched to you. Ask questions when you lose a customer, as well, and try to identify why they switched to your competitor.
  • Join industry associations, and attend industry trade shows and conferences to learn about your competitors and their products.
  • Monitor your competitors’ blogs, Facebook posts, and tweets to stay up-to-date and in touch with their promotions and products.
  • Conduct a survey to see what people think of your products and why they are (or aren’t) buying from you.
  • Gather competitive collateral, and see how your competitors are positioning themselves. If you offer the same outstanding warranty as your competitors but don’t advertise it, you could be losing sales by default.
  • Join the conversation by using social media to see what consumers of your products or services are seeking.
  • Don’t be afraid to sit back and watch people as they make buying decisions at your business or a competitor’s business. You’d be surprised how much you can really learn just by watching.

Learning from Apple’s Powerful Marketing Secret Sauce Recipe

You have no doubt seen some of the many Apple ads shown on TV, billboards, and magazines. Besides entertaining and attention-getting, these ads also provide valuable lessons you can learn from and adapt to your own marketing and advertising efforts.

Many of these ads use very hip, young, 20-to-30ish-year-old models and actors. Obviously, these young people are one of the target markets for Apple products like iPods, iPads, and iPhones. But there is also a more subtle reason for using these models that may not be as readily apparent.

Many young adults may be able to afford an iPod, but not as many in this demographic can afford the many other, more expensive models in Apple’s product line. So why would Apple’s marketing team decide to use this group to showcase their products? Because Apple fully understand the power of association.

Apple understands better than most that many of us want to associate with “coolness,” even though we may not have a clue what being hip today means. The power of association allows a person who puts on iPod headphones to at least temporarily feel like they are as cool as one of the hip, young models in the TV ads. The rest of the world knows better, but that is beside the point. Who can forget the ads portraying the cool, young actor as a Mac computer versus the poor guy picked to represent the PC? That is the subtle but very real power of association.

So when you are deciding on the message and the market you want to target, don’t necessarily try to appeal to everyone with a bland, broad message. Your message may end up not appealing to anyone. Instead, target your message to the group your audience would most likely want to associate with. This seems to work quite nicely for Apple.

Need a Little Boost with Focus and Productivity?

It seems that the faster we run around to get things done, the faster the world spins around us and demands more of our limited time.

The more we turn our wheels, the harder it becomes to focus on the task at hand. Thankfully, there is a low-tech, free tool available to give us a hand. It is called the Pomodoro Technique. What is the Pomodoro Technique? Here is the explanation from the website:

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method created by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. It can be used for any kind of task and enables you to view time as a valuable ally in accomplishing what you want to do.

The technique uses a timer to break down periods of work into 25-minute intervals (referred to as “pomodoros”) separated by breaks. It’s based on the idea that frequent breaks can improve mental agility.

There are five basic steps to implementing the technique:

-Decide on the task to be done.
-Set the pomodoro (timer) to 25 minutes.
-Work on the task until the timer rings, and record the task status.
-Take a short break (5 minutes).
-After every four “pomodoros,” take a longer break (15-20 minutes).

You can either use a simple cooking timer for setting the time intervals or you can go to this website to download a simple and free digital version to download for your computer (there is both a Mac and a PC version):
http://www.focusboosterapp.com

If the Pomodoro Technique can help you get just one extra task done, maybe you can devote that time to what is really important in your life.

Sell By Asking Questions

Many salespeople spend too much time pitching and not enough timing asking questions. It is easy to forget that while you don’t have to ask questions to sell, you will sell a lot more if you do ask questions.

Why are questions so important? Because the answers will help identify a prospect’s real objections, as well as their emotional hot buttons.

We all know that knowledge is power. This is especially true in negotiations. The more questions you ask, the more knowledge you gain about your prospects and customers, and the better you can provide the products and services they desire. The more efficient you become at giving them exactly what they want, the more likely they will be to become loyal customers.

Here are a few helpful questions to consider to get the sales ball rolling:

  • What can you tell me about your organization… and yourself?
  • What do you like about your current situation?
  • What don’t you like about it?
  • Can you describe your ideal product or service?
  • What are your organization’s priorities?
  • What influenced you to start this project now?
  • What can you tell me about your decision-making process?
  • What other options are you considering?
  • Can you tell me about the people involved in this process?
  • Do you have any obstacles in the way of moving this forward?
  • How will the funding for this project be justified?
  • Does this have support at the executive level?

The Marketing Magic Pill

It seems that everywhere we turn, we are being bombarded with the latest marketing “magic pill.” One person claims Facebook advertising is the cure-all elixir. Another trumpets YouTube videos as the best way to reach everyone. Others say tweeting, blogging, and texting coupons are proven methods to get your message out. With so much information coming from so many different angles, it’s hard to decipher it all and keep it straight.

When the World Wide Web began taking root, businesses large and small were told that they must have a website, so many did just that — with no real thought and planning behind the why and what their website should accomplish. So websites that were basically glorified brochures popped up everywhere on the net.

Nowadays, social media is paid this same reverence. All businesses must be involved in all of the major social media outlets. Why? Because your competitors and the rest of the breathing world is in that space, that’s why!

Of course you need to interact with your audience wherever they happen to be, but if you want to actually accomplish anything worthwhile, you must first have a clear, focused strategy in hand. What objective does this initiative need to meet for your business? Does it help get you closer to your goals? Without clear answers to these questions, no matter how cool the new social media initiatives may be, they will only turn into the new version of the brochure websites that still clog the web today.

Your overall marketing strategy needs to always take into account the fact that different people consume your marketing messages in different ways. Some like to receive emails. Some enjoy receiving relevant direct mail. Others like to engage via social media. And many like some sort of combination.

The fact is there is no magic pill for effective marketing campaigns. The fundamentals of successful marketing are the same today as they’ve always been, with the added benefit of more outlets available to reach your prospects and customers. So find out what solutions your ideal customers are looking for that relate to your product or service. Provide useful, relevant, and valuable information through multichannel marketing campaigns aimed at your target audience. Let your prospects and customers receive information the way they prefer. And don’t let the self-proclaimed “experts” tell you any different!

When Was the Last Time You Said Thank You?

When was the last time you received a personalized note or phone call to say thank you for your business?

Thank-you cards have become a thing of the past for many businesses. Likewise, so has the value of relationship building. While sending thank-you cards is time-consuming, it leaves a valuable, lasting impression that helps customers remember you for future business. This is especially important considering that competitors everywhere are eagerly awaiting your customer service faux pas.

If someone had a positive experience with you and left feeling appreciated, they will likely return to you again and again — not to mention spread their positive experience via word of mouth, exponentially increasing your advertising opportunities and sales revenue. It is easy to see how thank-you cards can be a powerful, yet often overlooked building block in relationship building.

Want to increase the impact of your thank-you cards? Include your business card, or design a tear-away card so customers can keep your contact information conveniently within reach. Add a valuable coupon or discount in your thank you, as well, to encourage customers to return soon to redeem their reward.

No matter how you choose to say thanks, your customers will appreciate your effort.

The end of Christmas trees?

Can you imagine a day when there would be no more Christmas trees? Today, Christmas tree farms are still a viable industry, but if everyone changed to fake trees or just quit buying them, there would be no reason to grow Christmas trees anymore. The tree farms would go neglected. Left unmanaged, they would probably eventually vanish.

Whether we like it or not, economics still influence many environmental decisions. One of these economic decisions being played out today is the use of paper versus the many electronic devices available (like the iPhone, iPad, laptops, and smartphones).

Most of us love our digital devices, and there is no doubt they hold a valuable place in our lives. E-devices are here to stay and are a part of our daily life. But due to misinformation and false perceptions gone unchecked over many years, there is a popular belief that paper consumption is bad for the environment because it leads to deforestation. The flood of digital devices has helped feed this cycle of incorrect assumptions. For self-serving reasons, digital device manufacturers never reveal how much power it takes to keep all of these devices operating; from server farms that require massive amount of energy to operate to the environmentally harmful lithium batteries inside of these electronic devices, there’s a big tradeoff in the rapid switch to digital. Electronic does not mean free and definitely does not equate to clean energy.

What is conveniently left out of the discussion is that paper is 100% recyclable. The paper and forest industries work together to grow and harvest trees specifically for the making of paper. The trees are grown in well-managed forests that have the side benefit of protecting land from other uses like real estate and commercial development. When you print on paper, you create a demand for these types of trees, which helps perpetuate the cycle of continual growth of these managed forest areas.

We not only work in a print company, but we also live in a community we’re proud to call home. We understand the need for environmentally friendly procedures and probably recycle more than most businesses.

Here is a quote from an excellent, unbiased article about this issue. The full text is available here: Informed Choices Save Trees:

“Centuries ago, the widespread adoption of paper and printing resulted in a spread of literacy that ended the dark ages, spawned a renaissance, and changed our world for the better. Despite these advances, our environment now faces challenges on many fronts that call for a new literacy about the state of the environment and the “hidden” lifecycle impacts of the media choices we make. The widespread adoption of sustainable print and digital media supply chains can change our world again and help us restore our environment. On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to be misled by false dilemmas or deceived into making unsustainable choices, distal concerns about destruction of the environment and the decline of our forests will soon become a harsh and uncomfortable reality.”

To learn more about this topic, please visit http://www.PrintGrowsTrees.com.

Now, in regard to that little blurb at the bottom of some emails that encourages you not to print the email or all the solicitations you get about switching from paper billing to electronic billing to save trees, hopefully you see that the only thing being saved is extra money going into the pockets of the company using this tactic. They may not be doing this knowingly. So do us a favor. Print this blog and mail it to anyone who sends you these kinds of solicitations, so they can learn, too! And you have our permission to print all the emails you want, as long as you promise to recycle them, so the paper comes back to us over and over again. We love Christmas trees and our sustainable forests.

More Than Just a Card

Everyone knows that a firm, attentive handshake with eye contact and a smile will help you make a good first impression. However, in this digital age, many people often overlook another easy way to create a lasting impression — business cards.

While traditional printed business cards may be an old-fashioned marketing tool, they continue to be very reliable and effective. What’s more, they never lose power, crash, or need software updates.

Here are a few ways to add a new-age twist to an old classic:

  • Try a die-cut shape that will stand apart from the competition and create front-of-mind awareness.
  • Include your photo to not only add a personal touch, but also help prospects and customers connect a face with your name and remember who you are.
  • Create a folded card, and utilize the extra space to add something useful, such as a discount punch card, events schedule, map, or coupon.
  • Design the back side of your card as a mini-billboard advertisement.
  • Use your business card as an opportunity to promote your website, blog, and other electronic links.
  • Consider supplementing your traditional cards with business card stickers that look just like business cards but easily stick to quotes, envelopes, and literature without getting lost.

Overall, the quality, design, and content of business cards can say a lot about you and your business. What does your card say about you?

The Sweetest Words in the English Language

When we first came kicking and screaming into this world, we were the center of attention. After all that time hanging out in the womb by ourselves, it makes perfect sense that we would believe everything revolved around us.

As we get older, some of us figure out that there are actually others out there, too. But one thing we never outgrow is the joy we get out of hearing our name. Successful retailers have learned that customers are much more likely to become loyal to their establishment if they get to know them well enough to greet them by name.

Studies have shown that when informational and advertising direct mailers are personalized with relevant information, including the recipient’s name, interaction and response rates rise dramatically. This form of personalization is also referred to as Variable Data Printing (VDP). VDP allows not only text to be personalized but also the graphics and the images to be changed for each individual printed piece.

VDP allows you to reach your customers and prospects in a much more personal way. It’s effective because it plays on our enjoyment and appreciation for seeing our name in print, as if we are hearing our name out loud. It evokes some of the deep-seated memories from our childhood that made us feel that we were the center of the world. Of course, this is only the first step to a hopefully long-term, mutually beneficial relationship, but it gives your company a much better chance to get past just hello.

Marketing as an Underdog

Have you ever watched a small, passionate business overcome challenges and succeed when the odds are against them? While getting your feet off the ground may be tough, there are actually several advantages to marketing as an underdog. Here are a few reasons why customers love and support the underdogs, especially during difficult economic times:

  • Customers relate to the underdog’s passion and determination to succeed against the odds.
  • Underdogs often start local. By supporting them, you are also supporting your community.
  • Underdogs will work harder at keeping your loyalty, while business giants may view you as just another fish in the sea.
  • Underdogs often resolve any issues much faster and change rules or policies easily to better accommodate their customers.
  • Underdogs are often smaller and can take on creative opportunities or risks that business giants won’t consider.
  • Even if companies grow large, people identify with them easier when they understand the journey the company has had to endure along the way.

As Vince Lombardi once said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.” If your business has an encouraging story to tell about how your business persevered, share it in your marketing materials, website, blog, etc. Stories about overcoming adversity are a great way to connect and strengthen relationships with prospects and customers.