It is the first of March. What is your advertising talking about?
I saw a business marquee the other day that said Merry Christmas. To give the business credit, they are closed for the off season -- but that sign should still be promoting their reopening date.
A big part of your marketing is making sure that you are saying the right things at the right time. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Create an outline of your marketing. What will you be talking about when? Put together a timeline of what you need to be doing.
2. Create your copy as far in advance as possible.
3. Make sure that all your marketing is talking about the same thing. Your marquee needs to reflect your print, which should reflect your broadcast, and your web. Try to have one message in all your advertising.
4. Make sure your front line people know what you are talking about. I could tell you horror stories of people advertising a huge discount or sale and the associates did not know about it. Make sure everyone and everything is working together.
Have a great week.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
It was a breath of fresh air, a real shot in the arm
Last Friday was a great day for me. I had the opportunity to meet with a client (since I did not ask his permission, I will protect his identity)who truly "gets it."
He has a grasp on his industry and what is going to be happening in the next ten years. His beautiful new building is a great example of how he has been preparing for these changes.
There are a lot of things that we can learn from this person. I am limiting our talk today to just four things.
1. He was patient. His previous building offered very little space. However, he was able to understand his plan, work his plan and keep his employees excited about the future. He is more than an owner, a manager, he is a leader.
2. He understands the importance of people. He treats his employees in a such a way the best of the best want to work for his company, sometimes even at a lower pay scale. Don't mistake this for being a push over boss, he knows what he wants and he expects his people to make it happen. However, they are treated in a such a way, they are excited about going to work.
3. He has a clear picture/understanding of his business. He is not trying to be all things to all people. In fact, an affiliated company was making it difficult for him to take care of his customers. He simply refused to do business with them.
4. He is brave enough to dream. By preparing for the future now, while the economy is down, he realizes when the economy comes back, he will be ready for an explosion of growth and profit.
The question this week, what can you learn from this man? I encourage you to have a real conversation with the person in the mirror and rate yourself on these four listings. Good Luck.
He has a grasp on his industry and what is going to be happening in the next ten years. His beautiful new building is a great example of how he has been preparing for these changes.
There are a lot of things that we can learn from this person. I am limiting our talk today to just four things.
1. He was patient. His previous building offered very little space. However, he was able to understand his plan, work his plan and keep his employees excited about the future. He is more than an owner, a manager, he is a leader.
2. He understands the importance of people. He treats his employees in a such a way the best of the best want to work for his company, sometimes even at a lower pay scale. Don't mistake this for being a push over boss, he knows what he wants and he expects his people to make it happen. However, they are treated in a such a way, they are excited about going to work.
3. He has a clear picture/understanding of his business. He is not trying to be all things to all people. In fact, an affiliated company was making it difficult for him to take care of his customers. He simply refused to do business with them.
4. He is brave enough to dream. By preparing for the future now, while the economy is down, he realizes when the economy comes back, he will be ready for an explosion of growth and profit.
The question this week, what can you learn from this man? I encourage you to have a real conversation with the person in the mirror and rate yourself on these four listings. Good Luck.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
The Marketing Moment, Volume 7
This week concludes our discussion on the top 6 mistakes advertisers make. Let's recap our first 5:
1. Advertising without a goal or objective.
2. Having a small "presence" in a number of different mediums.
3. Placing ads instead of a campaign.
4. Treating mediums as a commodity.
5. Trying to build a business with Yellow Pages
The number 6 is listed below:
Having a Them vs Us attitude with your media representative. You need to work with reps who understand marketing and want to help you grow your business and not just sell. However, you have responsibility with that too. If you have the us vs them attitude or think it is your job to beat them up on price, etc -- The best of the best will not want to work with you.
Like any industry there are top notch pros and bottom feeders who sell advertising. That truth is real in every medium. To be a successful advertiser, you need to find and work with the top notch pros. As stated above, you have some responsibility with that as well.
If you are an advertiser who enjoys beating up the sales rep, getting the lowest price, than taking forever to pay, you are not creating a partneship that will serve you in the future. A good rep (admittedly sometimes is hard to find) will help you. They will offer you suggestions, give you advice, and will do their best to get you in on limited opportunities. If you are beating them up, you probably will not be notified about the limited avail options.
Business is hard enough for you, you need to surround yourself with people who will help you be successful. You don't need a yes person or someone who is solely worried about having a great relationship with you. You need a pro who will provide honest, direct feedback and information, even if you don't want to hear it.
Sometimes there will be personality conflicts with your rep. You may not like them. But before you pick up the phone and ask for a new rep, give them a little time. Are you looking for a friend or do you want help in building your business? If that person provides quality ideas, great customer service and honest feedback, why do you need to like them? To me, confidence and respect are much more important than liking someone.
Take care of the great reps and they will take care of you. Good Luck.
1. Advertising without a goal or objective.
2. Having a small "presence" in a number of different mediums.
3. Placing ads instead of a campaign.
4. Treating mediums as a commodity.
5. Trying to build a business with Yellow Pages
The number 6 is listed below:
Having a Them vs Us attitude with your media representative. You need to work with reps who understand marketing and want to help you grow your business and not just sell. However, you have responsibility with that too. If you have the us vs them attitude or think it is your job to beat them up on price, etc -- The best of the best will not want to work with you.
Like any industry there are top notch pros and bottom feeders who sell advertising. That truth is real in every medium. To be a successful advertiser, you need to find and work with the top notch pros. As stated above, you have some responsibility with that as well.
If you are an advertiser who enjoys beating up the sales rep, getting the lowest price, than taking forever to pay, you are not creating a partneship that will serve you in the future. A good rep (admittedly sometimes is hard to find) will help you. They will offer you suggestions, give you advice, and will do their best to get you in on limited opportunities. If you are beating them up, you probably will not be notified about the limited avail options.
Business is hard enough for you, you need to surround yourself with people who will help you be successful. You don't need a yes person or someone who is solely worried about having a great relationship with you. You need a pro who will provide honest, direct feedback and information, even if you don't want to hear it.
Sometimes there will be personality conflicts with your rep. You may not like them. But before you pick up the phone and ask for a new rep, give them a little time. Are you looking for a friend or do you want help in building your business? If that person provides quality ideas, great customer service and honest feedback, why do you need to like them? To me, confidence and respect are much more important than liking someone.
Take care of the great reps and they will take care of you. Good Luck.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Marketing Moment, Volume 6
We are up to 5 in our common mistakes that advertisers make. This one will upset some folks, I will be gentle. To recap our first 4 mistakes:
1. Advertising without a goal or objective.
2. Having a small "presence" in a number of different mediums.
3. Placing ads instead of a campaign.
4. Treating mediums as a commodity.
The number 5 mistake is listed below:
Trying to build a business with Yellow Pages. The yellow pages is a directory. When people have made their decision, they may go to the yellow pages to get a number - so the yellow pages might be the last thing they saw before coming to your business, and when asked, the customer mentions that they saw you in the yellow pages. But no one has ever built their business with yellow pages.
I am proud of the fact that I have worked in radio for nearly 30 years. I am proud of the work that the stations have done and I continue to be blessed to work with true professionals. When I decided to do this blog, my intention was to talk about all types of advertising and not down play everything but radio. You might read this blog and question that statement.
People are wasting money in Yellow Pages. There is nothing pro-active about yellow pages, it is a directory. Once the decision is made, people will look in the yellow pages and find your number. By the way, they will also find all your competitors numbers. Since you are listed with your competitors, your yellow page rep will tell you that you need to have a bigger ad to get noticed.
Additionally, they will push you to add some color, bold listings, pictures, etc. By the way, do you know that the only way most yellow page reps earn commission is selling you more this year than last year? That puts the rep in the position not to worry about what you need, but what they need.
Taking that same money and investing in a proactive medium, like internet, billboard, newspaper, radio (at least I put it last) you can gain share of mind with your prospects; something that yellow pages will never provide for you.
If you still feel like you must be in the yellow pages, please think about reducing your ad size greatly. Good Luck.
1. Advertising without a goal or objective.
2. Having a small "presence" in a number of different mediums.
3. Placing ads instead of a campaign.
4. Treating mediums as a commodity.
The number 5 mistake is listed below:
Trying to build a business with Yellow Pages. The yellow pages is a directory. When people have made their decision, they may go to the yellow pages to get a number - so the yellow pages might be the last thing they saw before coming to your business, and when asked, the customer mentions that they saw you in the yellow pages. But no one has ever built their business with yellow pages.
I am proud of the fact that I have worked in radio for nearly 30 years. I am proud of the work that the stations have done and I continue to be blessed to work with true professionals. When I decided to do this blog, my intention was to talk about all types of advertising and not down play everything but radio. You might read this blog and question that statement.
People are wasting money in Yellow Pages. There is nothing pro-active about yellow pages, it is a directory. Once the decision is made, people will look in the yellow pages and find your number. By the way, they will also find all your competitors numbers. Since you are listed with your competitors, your yellow page rep will tell you that you need to have a bigger ad to get noticed.
Additionally, they will push you to add some color, bold listings, pictures, etc. By the way, do you know that the only way most yellow page reps earn commission is selling you more this year than last year? That puts the rep in the position not to worry about what you need, but what they need.
Taking that same money and investing in a proactive medium, like internet, billboard, newspaper, radio (at least I put it last) you can gain share of mind with your prospects; something that yellow pages will never provide for you.
If you still feel like you must be in the yellow pages, please think about reducing your ad size greatly. Good Luck.
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