I recently wrote a post about problems I had with my phone line. What I didn't write about was the result of that call for help to the phone company.
Things didn't start out well. I called on Saturday afternoon and was told that the soonest they could send someone out was "Tuesday morning between 8 and noon." Less than thrilled to be without phone, and especially Internet service, for so long, I accepted my fate and made arrangements to take Tuesday morning off of work to be here when the phone company arrived. Trips to the library and to local restaurants that offer free WiFi allowed my wife and I to check email and take care of some work we had to do.
Imagine my surprise and delight when I got a call Monday afternoon from the phone company repair guy who said he was on they way to our house and wanted to talk about the problems we were having. My delight was doubled when he told me that the problem was most likely on the outside and that I didn't need to meet him at the house. In a final example of excellent customer service, this gentleman had the courtesy to call me back, tell me what he had done (most of which I didn't understand) and tell me that everything should be working again. This was a classic case of someone exceeding my expectations.
I think over promising has to be one of the most common mistakes made by marketers. More and more companies, in order to make a better first impression, are making claims and promises that are closer and closer to the best possible outcomes their consumers should expect for their products and services. While that might be effective in garnering more first tries, when the average customer experience falls below the marketing assertions, the majority of your first tries will also be last tries.
The company that under promises and over delivers is taking a long term marketing path toward building a strong customer base. While a company taking this approach might engage fewer customers early on, many more of their customers who do try their product or service, will continue to be customers if their expectations are exceeded.
If the phone company had told me the repairman was going to be there Monday, I would have gotten the exact same service, but my expectations would have been different. I would have been less thrilled with the outcome.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Repost: Even in Science, Everything is Marketing
"In science the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs."
Sir Francis Darwin 1848-1925
(son of Charles Darwin and a recognized botanist on his own)
Even in science, everything is marketing!
Some recent posts you might enjoy:
4.6 Billion People Can't Read This Blog
Primary Elections and Local Ads
Sir Francis Darwin 1848-1925
(son of Charles Darwin and a recognized botanist on his own)
Even in science, everything is marketing!
Some recent posts you might enjoy:
4.6 Billion People Can't Read This Blog
Primary Elections and Local Ads
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
4.6 Billion People Can't Read This Blog
My wife and I came home from a trip recently to find that our land line and Internet service were not working. A call (on my cellphone) to the phone company indicated there was "a break in the line."
In addition to wondering why it was going to take them 4 days to get someone out to look into it, this has made me realize just how dependent we have become on the Internet. We use it to look up phone numbers, recent news, movie show times; to Skype with our kids in college; to retrieve documents from our computers at work; to write and post blogs...a lot of things. Is it any wonder that marketers want to be online?
Statistics from the US Census Bureau, Nielson Online and others indicate that Internet usage in North America has reached 78.6% and 32.7% worldwide. That is a lot. But is also means that means that 21.4% of North Americans (including us last weekend) and 67.3% of the population worldwide are NOT plugged into the Internet. That is more than 74 million people in North America and 4.6 billion worldwide who can't read this blog. Would you mind printing it out for them?
I can't think of any companies that would consciously thumb their noses at a market of more than 4.6 billion people. Not even Wal-Mart. I think that companies would be wise, as they engage their enthusiasm for the bright, shiny social media, to take a careful look at their market and make sure that a good portion of it isn't a part of the 4.6 billion.
In addition to wondering why it was going to take them 4 days to get someone out to look into it, this has made me realize just how dependent we have become on the Internet. We use it to look up phone numbers, recent news, movie show times; to Skype with our kids in college; to retrieve documents from our computers at work; to write and post blogs...a lot of things. Is it any wonder that marketers want to be online?
Statistics from the US Census Bureau, Nielson Online and others indicate that Internet usage in North America has reached 78.6% and 32.7% worldwide. That is a lot. But is also means that means that 21.4% of North Americans (including us last weekend) and 67.3% of the population worldwide are NOT plugged into the Internet. That is more than 74 million people in North America and 4.6 billion worldwide who can't read this blog. Would you mind printing it out for them?
I can't think of any companies that would consciously thumb their noses at a market of more than 4.6 billion people. Not even Wal-Mart. I think that companies would be wise, as they engage their enthusiasm for the bright, shiny social media, to take a careful look at their market and make sure that a good portion of it isn't a part of the 4.6 billion.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Boom and Bust of the Last Buggy Whip Manufacturer
The last buggy whip manufacturer must have done very well for a while.* Buggy whip purchases undoubtedly declined rapidly with the advent of the automobile. Nevertheless, there was still a demand for them as some people were reluctant to adapt to the new "iron horses," some people couldn't afford the new transportation option and others couldn't get one because there was no one selling automobiles in their area.
As demand for buggy whips faded, buggy whip manufacturers would go out of business, consolidating the market with fewer and fewer companies. At some point, there was probably only one company making the whips in a market. For a while, enjoying 100% market share, things were probably pretty good for that last company. But since demand continued to decline, eventually business would turn sour for that last company, eventually forcing them to close their doors.
Unless.
Unless that last buggy whip manufacturer looked up from their work long enough to see the dark clouds on the horizon. Unless that last company invested in the future, figuring out how they could leverage their expertise into something new. Perhaps manufacturing items for Mr. Ford's assembly line. Perhaps getting out of transportation altogether and finding a niche somewhere else.
Things haven't really changed that much in the last 120 years. We have a lot of buggy whip manufacturers these days. Some are thinking things are OK because market share keep going up, not even realizing they are the last one of their kind around. Others are innovating and changing their future. We live in times of rapid change. Just about the only thing you can be sure of these days is that sooner or later, you will be working for a buggy whip manufacturer. Be prepared.
*All buggy whip-related statements are pure conjecture on the part of the author. No research on the rise or fall of the buggy whip industry was conducted. If a reader HAS done such research and finds my conjecture lacking, I ask them to please explain my oversights and shortcomings in the comments. Please also explain why you are doing research into the rise and fall of the buggy whip industry.
As demand for buggy whips faded, buggy whip manufacturers would go out of business, consolidating the market with fewer and fewer companies. At some point, there was probably only one company making the whips in a market. For a while, enjoying 100% market share, things were probably pretty good for that last company. But since demand continued to decline, eventually business would turn sour for that last company, eventually forcing them to close their doors.
Unless.
Unless that last buggy whip manufacturer looked up from their work long enough to see the dark clouds on the horizon. Unless that last company invested in the future, figuring out how they could leverage their expertise into something new. Perhaps manufacturing items for Mr. Ford's assembly line. Perhaps getting out of transportation altogether and finding a niche somewhere else.
Things haven't really changed that much in the last 120 years. We have a lot of buggy whip manufacturers these days. Some are thinking things are OK because market share keep going up, not even realizing they are the last one of their kind around. Others are innovating and changing their future. We live in times of rapid change. Just about the only thing you can be sure of these days is that sooner or later, you will be working for a buggy whip manufacturer. Be prepared.
*All buggy whip-related statements are pure conjecture on the part of the author. No research on the rise or fall of the buggy whip industry was conducted. If a reader HAS done such research and finds my conjecture lacking, I ask them to please explain my oversights and shortcomings in the comments. Please also explain why you are doing research into the rise and fall of the buggy whip industry.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
11 year old boys
Everyone in marketing and public relations knows that they should be involved with social media and the internet. Every company that markets (which means every company) knows that they need to have a presence on the internet because 1) It makes them look modern and "with it," 2) that is where they think their customers might be, 3) everyone is talking about social media so that must be where things are happening, 4) it doesn't cost anything to send an email so why not? or 5) all of the above.
The trouble is knowing you should and knowing how are two different things. As I read recently in Fast Company magazine, "[companies and] brands on the internet are like 11 year old boys. They know that they want girls to talk to them, but when they do, they don't know what to say."
It seems to me, many companies are putting the cart before the horse. Instead of deciding you want to jump into social media and then figuring out what you should say, instead you should be deciding what your story is BEFORE thinking about the best venue or venues to tell it. Often the nature of the story will dictate the appropriate media to tell it in. While many stories work well on the internet, some are best told on radio, or by postcard, or an in-store display.
Like that 11 year old boy, you should figure out what you want to say before you start passing notes in class!
Some of my other posts you might enjoy:
The trouble is knowing you should and knowing how are two different things. As I read recently in Fast Company magazine, "[companies and] brands on the internet are like 11 year old boys. They know that they want girls to talk to them, but when they do, they don't know what to say."
It seems to me, many companies are putting the cart before the horse. Instead of deciding you want to jump into social media and then figuring out what you should say, instead you should be deciding what your story is BEFORE thinking about the best venue or venues to tell it. Often the nature of the story will dictate the appropriate media to tell it in. While many stories work well on the internet, some are best told on radio, or by postcard, or an in-store display.
Like that 11 year old boy, you should figure out what you want to say before you start passing notes in class!
Some of my other posts you might enjoy:
- The Marketing Value of Social Media http://allismarketing.blogspot.com/2012/03/marketing-value-of-social-media.html
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Smart "Phones"
I have been shopping for a new phone recently and decided to end my Luddite ways and get a smart phone. There is a lot of information available about the various and sundry "smart" phone options. The only thing I can't seem to get is which smart phone actually works well...as a phone. Hmmmm.
Other posts you might enjoy:
http://allismarketing.blogspot.com/2011/10/babies-and-bathwater.html
http://allismarketing.blogspot.com/2011/06/luddites.html
Other posts you might enjoy:
http://allismarketing.blogspot.com/2011/10/babies-and-bathwater.html
http://allismarketing.blogspot.com/2011/06/luddites.html
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Primary Elections and Local Ads
There was a primary election yesterday in my home state of Illinois. Voter turnout was extremely low, at around 24%. The CBS Chicago reported that it was the lowest turnout for a presidential primary in more than 70 years.
What I find interesting about voter turnout is it inverse relationship to the importance of the election. Turnout is always lowest for the elections that have the most direct impact on the voters' lives. Local elections, where we elect city and county officials, school board members and judges, are the elections which pick the people who will be passing the laws that determine speed limits, library hours, parking rights, community development, etc. In retrospect, the President, whose election always has the best voter turnout, really does little that directly impacts your day to day life.
I was thinking that this is not too different from how we look at ads. There is always a lot of conversation and discussion about the ads that run during the Super Bowl, when those ads are largely branding campaigns. These image ads are the topic of water cooler conversations and Yahoo articles for days or weeks after the big event. The ads that really make a difference in your day to day life, ads that tell you that grapes are on sale or that your favorite band is playing in town or what the phone number of your local barber is, are ads that you hardly even notice, even though you use them daily.
Perhaps we would start getting better voter turnout at local elections, if we could figure out a way to help people see the impact they have on their lives. I suspect the same is true of local ads.
What I find interesting about voter turnout is it inverse relationship to the importance of the election. Turnout is always lowest for the elections that have the most direct impact on the voters' lives. Local elections, where we elect city and county officials, school board members and judges, are the elections which pick the people who will be passing the laws that determine speed limits, library hours, parking rights, community development, etc. In retrospect, the President, whose election always has the best voter turnout, really does little that directly impacts your day to day life.
I was thinking that this is not too different from how we look at ads. There is always a lot of conversation and discussion about the ads that run during the Super Bowl, when those ads are largely branding campaigns. These image ads are the topic of water cooler conversations and Yahoo articles for days or weeks after the big event. The ads that really make a difference in your day to day life, ads that tell you that grapes are on sale or that your favorite band is playing in town or what the phone number of your local barber is, are ads that you hardly even notice, even though you use them daily.
Perhaps we would start getting better voter turnout at local elections, if we could figure out a way to help people see the impact they have on their lives. I suspect the same is true of local ads.
Mistakes: A great Opportunity for Great Customer Service
Obviously, when you are in business you want to avoid mistakes. Especially mistakes that involve customers. But mistakes, when they happen, are not the end of the world, or even the end of the relationship with that customer. Some of the best customer service opportunities come from problem resolution.
While I would NEVER suggest that companies should deliberately make mistakes just to create customer service opportunities, I would strongly recommend that we should run toward our mistakes, not away from them!
While I would NEVER suggest that companies should deliberately make mistakes just to create customer service opportunities, I would strongly recommend that we should run toward our mistakes, not away from them!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Missteps of Komen
There has been a lot written about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure decision to discontinue funding of programs with Planned Parenthood. If you somehow missed this story, here is an article from Reuters that seems as good a summary as any.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-usa-healthcare-komen-idUSTRE8111WA20120202
This story generated a lot of opinions. Most of the marketing/PR based opinions I have read about this incident seem to feel that Komen did something wrong, but they vary widely in their analysis of the facts, or even what they feel the facts are. One perspective that I haven't seen discussed much is the lack of openness and honesty that Komen used when they first unveiled their decision to no longer work with Planned Parenthood.
When Komen spokespeople announced the decision to no longer fund Planned Parenthood, they said it was because they "had a new strategy that barred money from going to groups that were under investigation by US authorities." They said their decision "reflected a new strategy aimed at using donation money more effectively by eliminating duplicate grants and tightening eligibility rules." Regardless of if this was a genuine reason or a canard designed to deflect criticism, the justification rang hollow. That was in part because Planned Parenthood was the only organization that was impacted by their new criteria.
It is clear that the Komen organization spent a great deal of time discussing their decision to change their funding process. There were reports of heated internal debates and at least one person quitting in protest. I suspect that since this was a controversial decision internally, they were trying to avoid additional controversy when they went public.
One of the basic goals in crisis communications is to try to keep the story in as few news cycles as possible. The best way that you can accomplish this is to be honest and forthright with information. Don't leave anything for a reporter to "discover." Rather, tell the whole story, especially if it is a story that does not reflect well on your organization. It is better to have one day of really bad news but with your organization being open and upfront than to have the story drag out over days or weeks, making headline after headline, as new facts emerge. That is what happened to Komen.
To make matters worse, as the issue became more and more controversial, the explanations kept changing at Komen. This led to mistrust of their message, their messengers and their veracity. It also kept them in the headlines for weeks.
I can't help but wonder if things would have gone smoother if Komen, an organization that had an excellent reputation and thousands and thousands of deeply dedicated supporters and volunteers, had simply told the truth. If they had come out and said:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-usa-healthcare-komen-idUSTRE8111WA20120202
This story generated a lot of opinions. Most of the marketing/PR based opinions I have read about this incident seem to feel that Komen did something wrong, but they vary widely in their analysis of the facts, or even what they feel the facts are. One perspective that I haven't seen discussed much is the lack of openness and honesty that Komen used when they first unveiled their decision to no longer work with Planned Parenthood.
When Komen spokespeople announced the decision to no longer fund Planned Parenthood, they said it was because they "had a new strategy that barred money from going to groups that were under investigation by US authorities." They said their decision "reflected a new strategy aimed at using donation money more effectively by eliminating duplicate grants and tightening eligibility rules." Regardless of if this was a genuine reason or a canard designed to deflect criticism, the justification rang hollow. That was in part because Planned Parenthood was the only organization that was impacted by their new criteria.
It is clear that the Komen organization spent a great deal of time discussing their decision to change their funding process. There were reports of heated internal debates and at least one person quitting in protest. I suspect that since this was a controversial decision internally, they were trying to avoid additional controversy when they went public.
One of the basic goals in crisis communications is to try to keep the story in as few news cycles as possible. The best way that you can accomplish this is to be honest and forthright with information. Don't leave anything for a reporter to "discover." Rather, tell the whole story, especially if it is a story that does not reflect well on your organization. It is better to have one day of really bad news but with your organization being open and upfront than to have the story drag out over days or weeks, making headline after headline, as new facts emerge. That is what happened to Komen.
To make matters worse, as the issue became more and more controversial, the explanations kept changing at Komen. This led to mistrust of their message, their messengers and their veracity. It also kept them in the headlines for weeks.
I can't help but wonder if things would have gone smoother if Komen, an organization that had an excellent reputation and thousands and thousands of deeply dedicated supporters and volunteers, had simply told the truth. If they had come out and said:
- "We share a mission of women's health with the Planned Parenthood organization. Nevertheless, Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood each approach women's health issues from different directions. Recently, given the media and political attention that certain aspects of Planned Parenthood's operation have been getting, we are uncomfortable continuing our relationship. Fortunately, in most areas, there are other options for mammograms and other services we support. We will be switching our funding to some of those other options."
or
- "We are a women's health organization, not a political one. Increasingly, an organizations we fund has become increasingly political. While we don't fund anything related to abortions or family planning, Planned Parenthood does get involved in these things. We have become increasingly uncomfortable with that and have decided to find other ways and venues through which we will continue to support women's health issues."
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Bringing Up The Past
I was reading some older entries in one of my favorite blogs on marketing Seth Godin"s Blog and came across an interesting quote: "A significant
byproduct of the connection revolution is that things that were private because
they were difficult to measure will no longer be private. When devices can talk
to each other, the information rarely remains private."
We have certainly seen this to be true in recent years as politicians and business leaders have to contend with statements and video clips, often taken out of context, of their earlier deeds and misdeeds.
Facebook now lets people see messages you sent and received from years ago. With online newspaper logs and a wealth of resources online, not only does information rarely remain private, but the past no longer stays in its place.
I wonder, however, if we are getting close to a point where someone's incongruous past will cease to be sensational or to have a significant impact. Kind of like tattoos; if everyone has them, they no longer have the power to shock.
We have certainly seen this to be true in recent years as politicians and business leaders have to contend with statements and video clips, often taken out of context, of their earlier deeds and misdeeds.
Facebook now lets people see messages you sent and received from years ago. With online newspaper logs and a wealth of resources online, not only does information rarely remain private, but the past no longer stays in its place.
I wonder, however, if we are getting close to a point where someone's incongruous past will cease to be sensational or to have a significant impact. Kind of like tattoos; if everyone has them, they no longer have the power to shock.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
In the Pink: The Branding of a Color
This blog is being reposted.
I complimented a colleague the other day, who was looking sharp in a new pink dress shirt. "It's salmon," he corrected me.
It got me to wondering how pink got so strongly identified as the color of femininity (and to a much lesser extent, blue as the color of masculinity.)
I think most brand managers would kill to be able to have a brand association as strong as the association of females and pink (or light red as another male colleague always calls it.)
I complimented a colleague the other day, who was looking sharp in a new pink dress shirt. "It's salmon," he corrected me.
It got me to wondering how pink got so strongly identified as the color of femininity (and to a much lesser extent, blue as the color of masculinity.)
I think most brand managers would kill to be able to have a brand association as strong as the association of females and pink (or light red as another male colleague always calls it.)
Friday, March 9, 2012
I Recognize the Value of Recognition
Yesterday, I wrote a blog titled The Fallacy of Awards. In it I questioned the value of awards like the ADDYs or the Academy Awards. I questioned the value of awards that (often) stray from the primary mission of the activity (increasing sales or selling movie tickets.) My comments should NOT, however, be taken as casting of aspersions on the value of recognition.
Recognition can be a powerful tool. Most lists of top things employees are looking for from a good workplace will include "appreciation," "respect" and "recognition" near or at the top, well ahead of good pay. Customers respond to recognition the same way. I went to a certain dry cleaner for years because the woman who worked the counter always remembered my name and phone number and, if she was with me, that my daughter liked Tootsie Rolls. After she retired, I became a number. I had to give them all of my information every week. Shortly after that, I found a new, cheaper dry cleaner.
But recognition only works when it is genuine and sincere and when it provides true value to the targeted person. My kids could not have cared less about the participation trophies they got in Pee Wee soccer because the didn't do anything extraordinary to earn it. On the other hand, I have stayed with Netflix, despite being upset by their pricing and listing fiascoes, because their recommendation tool already has thousands of my movie reviews loaded into it and does often make inspired recommendations. They recognize my tastes in movies and create value out of that recognition.
Awards are great, if they recognize and encourage actions and behaviors that support the mission and purpose of the organization. Often, however, the recognition of a simple "thank you" and "good job" delivered honestly, directly and in a timely manner can be just as effective or more so.
Recognition can be a powerful tool. Most lists of top things employees are looking for from a good workplace will include "appreciation," "respect" and "recognition" near or at the top, well ahead of good pay. Customers respond to recognition the same way. I went to a certain dry cleaner for years because the woman who worked the counter always remembered my name and phone number and, if she was with me, that my daughter liked Tootsie Rolls. After she retired, I became a number. I had to give them all of my information every week. Shortly after that, I found a new, cheaper dry cleaner.
But recognition only works when it is genuine and sincere and when it provides true value to the targeted person. My kids could not have cared less about the participation trophies they got in Pee Wee soccer because the didn't do anything extraordinary to earn it. On the other hand, I have stayed with Netflix, despite being upset by their pricing and listing fiascoes, because their recommendation tool already has thousands of my movie reviews loaded into it and does often make inspired recommendations. They recognize my tastes in movies and create value out of that recognition.
Awards are great, if they recognize and encourage actions and behaviors that support the mission and purpose of the organization. Often, however, the recognition of a simple "thank you" and "good job" delivered honestly, directly and in a timely manner can be just as effective or more so.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Fallacy of Awards
If you produce a movie, your primary purpose is to sell tickets.
If you create or purchase an advertisement, your primary purpose is to get people to buy what you are selling.
Which makes me wonder, what is the value of industry awards like the Academy Awards and the ADDYs? You should be able to track the winners and losers by box office numbers and by increase of business for the advertiser. Everything else, it would seem, is meaningless.
Given that, are the Oscars are like those participation trophies my kids got when they were 7 and playing soccer?
If you create or purchase an advertisement, your primary purpose is to get people to buy what you are selling.
Which makes me wonder, what is the value of industry awards like the Academy Awards and the ADDYs? You should be able to track the winners and losers by box office numbers and by increase of business for the advertiser. Everything else, it would seem, is meaningless.
Given that, are the Oscars are like those participation trophies my kids got when they were 7 and playing soccer?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Marketing Value of Social Media?
I have to admit that while I see social media as a valuable communications tool, I have had a hard time figuring out how to make some social media make sense from a marketing perspective. The Ad Contrarian blog has an interesting take on this in the blog Farcebook. Your thoughts?
Some of my thoughts on social media: Social Media: Quality vs. quantity
Some of my thoughts on social media: Social Media: Quality vs. quantity
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
An Inside Job: The Importance of Internal Marketing
A friend of mine recently spent a lot of time and money developing a very good marketing campaign. He was very excited about the project and had seemingly done everything by the numbers. He even tested the campaign before launching it, scoring very well with the test audience.
A few weeks after the launch he was dismayed. The beautiful (and expensive) campaign had not yielded the results he had hoped. Sales hadn't really increased. Testing showed that even his reputation and similar scores weren't changing.
It wasn't until a customer cornered him and told him about the negative things that she had heard an employee saying about the company that my friend realized that he HAD NOT done everything by the numbers. He had forgotten to market to his internal customers. While he was sending out positive, marketing-focused messages out the front door, his staff (or at least some of them) were sending out negative complaint-focused messages out the back. Any marketing who has been working in this field for 30 minutes can tell you that negative word-of-mouth trumps positive word-of-mouth almost every time.
My friend tinkered with his campaign to make it appropriate for his internal audience and shared it with his staff. Slowly but surely, as his staff understood and bought into his campaign, sales started to improve.
In my blog It's All About Relationships, I talk about the value of developing good relationships with your customers. The same holds true with your employees. You not only have to treat them well as a "boss," but you need to keep them informed and up-to-date as potential spokespeople. An informed employee is an extension of your marketing efforts. A misinformed or uninformed employee is the worst enemy to your marketing efforts, often unintentionally.
Readers, please share any stories or tips you have on marketing to the internal audience! Thanks!
A few weeks after the launch he was dismayed. The beautiful (and expensive) campaign had not yielded the results he had hoped. Sales hadn't really increased. Testing showed that even his reputation and similar scores weren't changing.
It wasn't until a customer cornered him and told him about the negative things that she had heard an employee saying about the company that my friend realized that he HAD NOT done everything by the numbers. He had forgotten to market to his internal customers. While he was sending out positive, marketing-focused messages out the front door, his staff (or at least some of them) were sending out negative complaint-focused messages out the back. Any marketing who has been working in this field for 30 minutes can tell you that negative word-of-mouth trumps positive word-of-mouth almost every time.
My friend tinkered with his campaign to make it appropriate for his internal audience and shared it with his staff. Slowly but surely, as his staff understood and bought into his campaign, sales started to improve.
In my blog It's All About Relationships, I talk about the value of developing good relationships with your customers. The same holds true with your employees. You not only have to treat them well as a "boss," but you need to keep them informed and up-to-date as potential spokespeople. An informed employee is an extension of your marketing efforts. A misinformed or uninformed employee is the worst enemy to your marketing efforts, often unintentionally.
Readers, please share any stories or tips you have on marketing to the internal audience! Thanks!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
After Midnight
After Midnight.
Patsy Cline goes walking. Eric Clapton lets it all hang out. And retailers turn out the lights and lock the doors. Or at least they used to.
In the new internet-based, global economy it makes sense to be open 24/7. Your customers are getting used the the "always there" nature of the internet. Who among us hasn't, at least once,browsed the virtual aisles of Amazon or Macy's at 2 am?
But it is not just on the internet. More and more bricks and mortar establishments, including fast food restaurants and big box discount retailers are staying open 24/7. They are realizing that we are no longer a 9 to 5 economy.
There are many reasons for this. Fewer and fewer jobs are the types that you can "punch out" at a certain time and head home. Work hours are getting longer (the average work day is 8.7 hours long according to some sources) and commutes to and from work are getting longer (26 miles each way is the average work commute in the US.) More families have both parents working at least one job. That means that people are looking for the convenience of a quick dinner or the ability to do their personal shopping when it is convenient to them.
Successful businesses are open when their customers are looking for them. More often than not that is after midnight.
Patsy Cline goes walking. Eric Clapton lets it all hang out. And retailers turn out the lights and lock the doors. Or at least they used to.
In the new internet-based, global economy it makes sense to be open 24/7. Your customers are getting used the the "always there" nature of the internet. Who among us hasn't, at least once,browsed the virtual aisles of Amazon or Macy's at 2 am?
But it is not just on the internet. More and more bricks and mortar establishments, including fast food restaurants and big box discount retailers are staying open 24/7. They are realizing that we are no longer a 9 to 5 economy.
There are many reasons for this. Fewer and fewer jobs are the types that you can "punch out" at a certain time and head home. Work hours are getting longer (the average work day is 8.7 hours long according to some sources) and commutes to and from work are getting longer (26 miles each way is the average work commute in the US.) More families have both parents working at least one job. That means that people are looking for the convenience of a quick dinner or the ability to do their personal shopping when it is convenient to them.
Successful businesses are open when their customers are looking for them. More often than not that is after midnight.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Could I have a few moments of your time?
The other evening, I got a call asking me to participate in a survey. As I am a marketer and a communicator, I know the value survey feedback can provide and I am usually an easy mark when it comes to surveys. I agreed after being told that the survey would only take "a few minutes." 15 minutes into the survey, with no signs of things slowing down, I was reminded of how a recent AP article reported that people are getting tired of being asked for feedback. The article indicated that people in general are feeling fatigue when it comes to surveys.
Undoubtedly it is a good thing to ask your customers and other stakeholders for their input. Without question, a company should consider customer feedback when evaluating new or changing product features. And it is so easy these days! Google the phrase "free survey tools" and you will get pages of options that let you send out quick little electronic surveys that look good and automatically tabulate the results for you. You can generate charts and graphs of the results in seconds. It is a beautiful thing!
Nevertheless, cheap and easy survey capabilities may actually be doing marketers a disservice. When it costs thousands of dollars to even think about doing a survey, those hosting a survey have to carefully consider the questions they are asking and the value of the answers that they will get back. Questions that yield answers that are not actionable are (usually) eliminated. Redundant questions are culled. Heck, some companies even pre-test their surveys! Companies who pay to have their surveys done professionally have a financial incentive to make sure their surveys were tight and targeted and purposeful.
With the preponderance of cheap and easy to implement survey tools (Survey Monkey I'm talking about you!) it has been too easy to just dash off a quick survey without giving a lot of thought as to what the question is really asking, or what the results of the question will provide as far as usable and actionable data. This means not only do we get approached to take more surveys on the computer or the phone, but the surveys themselves are more and more frequently confusing, inane, highly biased or just plain no fun to take!
So, if you are a marketer who is surveying your audience, my advice is to act as if you are paying thousands of dollars to have each question asked. If you aren't going to get at least thousands of dollars of value from the answers, don't ask the question.
You might also like:Newspaper Survey
Undoubtedly it is a good thing to ask your customers and other stakeholders for their input. Without question, a company should consider customer feedback when evaluating new or changing product features. And it is so easy these days! Google the phrase "free survey tools" and you will get pages of options that let you send out quick little electronic surveys that look good and automatically tabulate the results for you. You can generate charts and graphs of the results in seconds. It is a beautiful thing!
Nevertheless, cheap and easy survey capabilities may actually be doing marketers a disservice. When it costs thousands of dollars to even think about doing a survey, those hosting a survey have to carefully consider the questions they are asking and the value of the answers that they will get back. Questions that yield answers that are not actionable are (usually) eliminated. Redundant questions are culled. Heck, some companies even pre-test their surveys! Companies who pay to have their surveys done professionally have a financial incentive to make sure their surveys were tight and targeted and purposeful.
With the preponderance of cheap and easy to implement survey tools (Survey Monkey I'm talking about you!) it has been too easy to just dash off a quick survey without giving a lot of thought as to what the question is really asking, or what the results of the question will provide as far as usable and actionable data. This means not only do we get approached to take more surveys on the computer or the phone, but the surveys themselves are more and more frequently confusing, inane, highly biased or just plain no fun to take!
So, if you are a marketer who is surveying your audience, my advice is to act as if you are paying thousands of dollars to have each question asked. If you aren't going to get at least thousands of dollars of value from the answers, don't ask the question.
You might also like:Newspaper Survey
Friday, March 2, 2012
Good Cheap or Fast
There is an old saying that I first heard from a printer. "You can have the project good, cheap or fast, pick two."
I wonder, with technology today making collaboration and delivery faster and cheaper, can we finally get all three?
I wonder, with technology today making collaboration and delivery faster and cheaper, can we finally get all three?
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