Marketing Ideas!

I’ve been at — and have consulted for — more than one company that wondered why their competitor seems to be winning all the new deals. Why all the praise seems to go their way. Rumor has it that they have really good customer service, but it’s really not that different from ours — is it?

To be honest, it may be difficult to see the forest through the trees, so you’ll have a tough time self-discovering if your customer service is up to snuff. But there is another way, and it won’t require hiring high-priced consultants or conducting surveys. But it might require a stop to a donut store or two…

While it might be next-to-impossible to assess your own organization, it is much easier to evaluate someone else’s. So my suggestion to you is to find another business — the more dissimilar to yours the better. In fact, the less you know about the business the better. For me, this meant going to a donut shop.

My youngest son plays t-ball, and after one of his games we decided to go to a donut store (Shipley’s Do-nuts on Brodie Lane) for a mini celebration. They were really busy, and parking was a bit of an issue. Once inside, the line was long, but moved at a good pace. We could see them making donuts through a glass window, which was good for the kids, but I was a little disappointed they didn’t carry my favorite type of donut (glazed chocolate cake). It was a little dirty, not a lot of table space, but overall, it wasn’t a terrible experience. But I began wondering if someone did it better. As it just so happens, there’s another donut shop directly across the street.

Parking was easier at the second donut shop (KC Donuts — I’d like to their site but there isn’t one). There was a line, but despite being shorter, moved slower. As it turned out, there was a lot of apologizing by the staff as people requested items that were sold out. This obviously slowed the line down as people had to find a new item. We didn’t see anyone making donuts — apparently this was done behind a closed door. Instead, people coming in the front door saw a sheet hanging over something … perhaps something under construction. There was no sign with an apology for the dust or explaination for the sheet. We couldn’t see the selection available, so we had to wait until we were up at the counter to order.

We did find that KC Donuts had a different selection (they did have my favorite donut, but there was only one left), and I opted for some items that I couldn’t get at the other shop: kolaches. While it turned out it was pretty cool to get something different, the kolache was doughy and the cheese was goopy (to be fair, apparently the sausage kolaches were very good, but they happened to be sold out of them while we were there).

The customer experience, as least for me, was significantly different. Even though KC Donuts has my favorite kind of donut, I was so unimpressed with the rest of the experience, I will probably not go back.

What do you gain from this experiement? You might see parallels on how your organization operates. Sure, you have have the one item your competition does not, but if you place enough barriers to accessing it, your prospects might give up, chosing to do business with your competitor instead. Use this as a way to evaluate similar experiences as new (or existing) customers come to do business with you. For example, how do you welcome your customers and prospect? Do they see the equivelant of a sheet over some construction?

It turns out that @AaronMSB, last night’s presenter, passed his youth away by playing a lot of jazz. While he may have missed out, by his own admission, on many other pop culture experiences, he’s now well entrenched into the social media scene. And he’s got an interesting take on it. According to Aaron, jazz is a lot like social media.

For starters, social media, just like jazz, was a way for insiders to share information with each other. You had to know people to get connected and then there’s typically a code or shorthand that only insiders know. This system of communication evolved with the addition of new instruments (in the case of jazz) or tools (in the case of social media). And, unlike many other types of music, jazz is very loosely organized, providing a low barrier to entry — virtually anyone can play jazz, just like virtually anyone can participate with social media.

Call and Response

A popular technique in jazz is call and response — Aaron demonstrated this by playing Cab Calloway’s Minnie the Moocher. In this style, an instrument or singer plays a line and it’s then echoed by another instrument or singer.  This is really very similar to how we all learn to communicate. Babies do this when learning how to talk. We also do this in our everyday conversations — when someone is talking to us, we repeat what they say, nod, make affirmative sounds, to let them know we are listening.

Participate Now, Lead Later

Another important concept that Aaron shared with the group was the concept of space. In jazz, the notes you play are just as important as the ones you don’t play. In the world of social media, this translates into choosing your places to comment, repsond, and discuss.

It Don’t Mean a Thing if You Ain’t Got that Swing

Just as Louis Armstrong sang, it isn’t the melody, it’s not the instruments … it’s the swing. Translate that to social media … it’s not the message you deliver, it’s not the tools you use, it’s all about the relationships.

Pay Your Dues

In the jazz world, you have to pay your dues. You don’t just jump up on stage with someone and start playing. The goal is to slowly improve your visibility and get invited to play with the big cats. And this is true with social media as well.

How Big is Too Big?

At the end of the presentation, there was a healthy question and answer session, most of it revolving around Twitter (as well as questions on why all the questions were about Twitter). One of my favorite insights from the evening was in regards to how many people can you follow on Twitter? Is there a magic number? How many is too many?

The answer was multi-faceted, but can be summed up like this. First of all, those you follow on Twitter are kind of like a playlist. You may not like all the songs all the time, but the list gives you good content most of the time. You don’t always hear all the songs all the time, especially if you have it on shuffle. Your Twitter stream, populated by those you follow, is a lot like this. You may not read everything that is put out on Twitter, but what you are exposed to is generally stuff that you like.

But how many people should you follow? Some argued for the Dunbar number of 150. Others said it’s a matter of how good your “chops” or skills are. @mikechapman mentioned that he learned that @chrisbrogan is just a prolific writer and at one time had at least 8 blog posts written and in the queue ready to go. Most people I know don’t write like that.

So what does all that mean? Just like a world-class musician, if you want to get the most out of your social media efforts, you need to practice, practice, practice, be open minded, listen, and learn from everyone around you.

This post is in response to an article from MediaPost News. I tried to post a comment there, but their registration process requires at least three steps and responses to about 20 questions. A little too much work for me to make a comment, so I am writing my rebuttal here.

The underlining message of the above referenced article is that direct mail is becoming too expensive and undesirable, so people are turning to email to do their direct marketing. The implication is that email marketing can easily be used as a direct marketing tool. This is, in fact, not completely true.

One of the biggest hurdles for virtually any marketing or sales effort is to have an audience big enough to market or sell to. Frequently the easiest and quickest solution is to buy a list. And this simple act is where we separate email marketing from traditional direct mail.

Yes, email marketing can be — and frequently is — used as a direct marketing substitute, but this is not the best way to use email marketing. In fact, there are specific rules against using it in this way. As previously stated, most direct marketing campaigns start with purchasing a list. While this is an allowable (and arguably ethical) practice with traditional direct marketing, no credible email marketing solution provider allows their customers to upload purchased lists.

In fact, the CAN-SPAM regulations forbid it. So unless you want to possibly incur a fine of up to $11,000 per incident, purchasing a list for the purposes of email marketing is not the best course of action.

This is not just about SPAM, per se. Email — especially as a direct mail campaign to someone who doesn’t know you — has a critical flaw: viruses. The standard operating proceedure is to not open email from people you do not know. Why? Because this is one of the ways computer viruses spread. So this isn’t just about the ethics of sending unwanted email, this is about serious computer security.

Here’s how we advise our clients. If you need to buy a list, great. We have relationships with several firms that do a great job with buying and selling lists, and we can help you do this. But you need to use the list for a direct mail campaign — not on email, but with traditional direct mail. Use this campaign to get people online, and convert them into an email address. Now, because the person has opted-in to your list, you can use email marketing to help build the relationship, and walk them through the sales process.

So, you see, there is — and there must be — room for both traditional direct marketing techniques and email marketing campaigns. Email marketing works best when it is integrated into other marketing channels. In fact, all of your marketing efforts will work better if used in conjunction with each other. Just like tools in a toolbox, consider the strenghts and benefits of each marketing tool and use the right tool for the job at hand.

More and more organizations are looking to use social media outlets, such as Facebook and LinkedIn, along with email marketing campaigns to announce events, promotions, or other similar efforts. And while in principal this seems like a good idea, there are a few things to watch out for:

1. Cross Post — Carefully. Many of your audience (followers, members, friends, etc.) obviously follow you on at least one of these platforms … and it’s entirely likely that they follow you on more than one. Don’t bore them with the same exact message. Give them an opportunity to find some new information on the various platforms you post on. However, make sure your core message stays the same.
2. Plan when your messages will go out. When you are sending a message via Facebook or LinkedIn, you are giving up a lot of control as to when and how your messages will be received. Your audience can choose to receive email notifications daily, weekly, or not at all. Thus, make sure you allow for plenty of time for your message to get to the right people.
3. Stagger your delivery. If you plan on announcing your upcoming event through email, Facebook, AND LinkedIn, be aware that many people are on all three, thus, they’ll see your message at least three times. While this can be a good thing, it can also overwhelm the recipient. Time your releases so that the first announcement goes out on say Facebook, followed a few days (or perhaps a week) later on LinkedIn, then a little while later via an email marketing campaign. This will maximize your visibility without overwhelming recipients all at once.