I know what marketing is!
Here is my frustration, just because you know what marketing is, does not mean you know how to do it correctly. If you want to go down that road, I know what open heart-surgery is, yet I should not do it. For some reason there seems to be a misconception that marketing is easy and has no real “idea behind it”. This is frustrating for two reasons, one it is wrong and second, for a group of people (marketers) dedicated to creating a message that compels and attracts people, we quite frankly suck at our job.
Here are some common misconceptions about marketing. It’s all about getting customers, no matter where they are from. Speak to everyone so your message hits as many people as possible. We need to be everywhere, that way everyone will see us. While there are many more, these are a few that bug me the most.
First off, yes the point of marketing is to get customers in your door, whether it be a building or online. However it is getting the right customers in the door. If you are selling airplanes, which would you rather have, a group of 100 college students or a group of ten fortune 500 CEO’s. It is about quality not quantity. Actionable Tip: Instead of looking at purely how many people you will reach, look at who they are. Anyone that comes to you and asks for advertising without this info, is not worth your time.
Along with the paragraph above, one major misconception people have with marketing is that your message should speak to everyone. When the truth is, the more direct your message is, the more it speaks in the voice of your customer, the better results you will get. Actionable Tip: Instead of focusing on a general and generic message, create shorter and compelling messages for each segment of your target market or line extension your company offers.
Finally wrapping up, just because your advertising is out there does not mean people are paying attention to it. A key to marketing is determining where your target market is looking and where they pay attention. It has been estimated that people see over 1,500 advertisements per day (http://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/faqs/adexposures.pdf) however the real question is, how many do they remember? Just because you have an ad out there does not mean it will be seen. In fact most of the ads today because of the overload are just white noise that no one pays attention to. Actionable Tip: I will focus on placing my advertising where it will be seen and heard, even if it means a drop in “total reach”. I will instead focus on reaching the right people at the right place and time.
We have just gone over three of the foundations for marketing. They are customer segmentation (who are your customers and what compels them), messaging and channel distribution (where are you placing your marketing). If you start to determine these, your marketing will get a lot of help.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Live Extraordinary
I have fought the daily battle of trying to be ordinary or being extraordinary. From now on, I will choose to be extraordinary. I do not want to blend in, I want to stand out. My dreams involve changing the world, it is impossible to this if I choose to blend in.
Let me first make a few things very clear on what not blending in does not look like. Choosing to not blend in, does not mean you have to be at the front of the attention every minute. Not every decision that I make will go against the grain, be a world changing vision or be the best decision I should have made. Making the choice to be different does not mean you have to be obnoxious. It goes beyond your actions and the day to day life, it is a choice to create a mindset where you focus on not just breathing but living.
So why live the extraordinary life? Well lets just be honest, it sounds a hell of a lot more fun than just blending in. I promise I do have some “actual” reasons to stand out. The first being, it prevents you, your organization or community to settle for mediocrity. Secondly I do not believe that when you choose to blend in, you can make a difference, because you are not different. Choosing to blend in, you are directed where to go, instead of choosing where to go. Lastly blending in does exactly that, you blend in and no one can tell you apart. Redundant yes, don’t worry I have formed a committee to look into this and made sure that committee has a committee.
Choosing to blend in fuels mediocrity, it begs you to stick with status quo, not to go the extra mile and worse yet, not have an idea that will change the world. Choosing to stand out, breaks you free of status quo, gives you the freedom to change the world and the lead the life you love. There is no greater or scarier feeling than realizing the choices you make, will create you future. I beg you to not blend in, go out and choose to be extraordinary. Create a dream and go out and live it, do not let anyone demand that you are different.
You are far to0 awesome and amazing to choose a life where you blend in. It is my belief that God does not have time to just put anyone on this earth; we are all here for a reason. An idea that may seem dumb to you could very well change the world. Do not be offended or angry at those who try to stop you, many of them mean well. They are also scared to live outside of their comfort zone and try to change the world; they are letting their lives be driven by fear, not freedom. Do not be mad at them; help them realize the awesome potential they have if they choose to be different.
Go forth and set the world on fire
St. Ignatious Loyola
PS: Don’t think this relates to marketing, I can prove you wrong. As consumers rarely do we look for something ordinary, we want something extraordinary, it is just within a different body. We want a product or service that speaks to us in an extraordinary way. We choose based on what our heart and mind tells us will help us. This message is not canned or a fill-in the blank, it is unique. The fact of the matter is, you cannot talk to everyone effectively, you can try but it will not work. You need to develop extraordinary marketing plan, that identifies your customer, gives them a voice and helps you deliver a solution to their problem.
Let me first make a few things very clear on what not blending in does not look like. Choosing to not blend in, does not mean you have to be at the front of the attention every minute. Not every decision that I make will go against the grain, be a world changing vision or be the best decision I should have made. Making the choice to be different does not mean you have to be obnoxious. It goes beyond your actions and the day to day life, it is a choice to create a mindset where you focus on not just breathing but living.
So why live the extraordinary life? Well lets just be honest, it sounds a hell of a lot more fun than just blending in. I promise I do have some “actual” reasons to stand out. The first being, it prevents you, your organization or community to settle for mediocrity. Secondly I do not believe that when you choose to blend in, you can make a difference, because you are not different. Choosing to blend in, you are directed where to go, instead of choosing where to go. Lastly blending in does exactly that, you blend in and no one can tell you apart. Redundant yes, don’t worry I have formed a committee to look into this and made sure that committee has a committee.
Choosing to blend in fuels mediocrity, it begs you to stick with status quo, not to go the extra mile and worse yet, not have an idea that will change the world. Choosing to stand out, breaks you free of status quo, gives you the freedom to change the world and the lead the life you love. There is no greater or scarier feeling than realizing the choices you make, will create you future. I beg you to not blend in, go out and choose to be extraordinary. Create a dream and go out and live it, do not let anyone demand that you are different.
You are far to0 awesome and amazing to choose a life where you blend in. It is my belief that God does not have time to just put anyone on this earth; we are all here for a reason. An idea that may seem dumb to you could very well change the world. Do not be offended or angry at those who try to stop you, many of them mean well. They are also scared to live outside of their comfort zone and try to change the world; they are letting their lives be driven by fear, not freedom. Do not be mad at them; help them realize the awesome potential they have if they choose to be different.
Go forth and set the world on fire
St. Ignatious Loyola
PS: Don’t think this relates to marketing, I can prove you wrong. As consumers rarely do we look for something ordinary, we want something extraordinary, it is just within a different body. We want a product or service that speaks to us in an extraordinary way. We choose based on what our heart and mind tells us will help us. This message is not canned or a fill-in the blank, it is unique. The fact of the matter is, you cannot talk to everyone effectively, you can try but it will not work. You need to develop extraordinary marketing plan, that identifies your customer, gives them a voice and helps you deliver a solution to their problem.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Set them up for success
Are you setting your goals up for success or failure? Are you investing resources and talents or holding off? If you expect people to be successful you better set them up for success. In my view there are a few simple tools you need for this to happen. The first is trust and it is the most important, it creates the culture. Second is making sure you have the resources. Set clear expectations of what you want, and what success looks like.
Do you trust that people will do what you want them to? More importantly do you trust that even though they will make mistakes along the way, they will still get the solution? Trust is a huge factor in success, if people do not feel they are trusted, they will not give their all, they will not speak their mind and they will not fully get behind the plan. As they should be, they will be looking out for themselves. If you want success, make sure you trust not only that it can happen but more importantly the people you are with can make it happen.
You cannot make a fire without at least some materials, depending on how resourceful you are, you may be able to get by with less, but the fact remains you need something. If you want a roaring fire you better have enough wood to do so. This goes right with making sure we are successful, make sure you have the resources available for success to occur.
If you want success make sure you know what it looks like, if we don’t know what it looks like, how will we know when we get there. If your favorite excuse is “I do not have time to explain what I want”, then stop complaining you never get it. If you are not going to take enough responsibility to explain what you want, do not get upset when you do not get it.
Not taking the time to explain, does more than just create confusion among the people you work with. It creates a culture that is not filled with trust, questions linger of why, not everyone is on the same page, why the whole story was not laid out and what is going to happen if I do this. Second, if you constantly find yourself having to deal with “fixing others mistakes” and are not sure if you gave a clear explanation, chances are you are a contributing factor. This means instead of taking 10 minutes to explain it, you spend 30 minutes fixing it. The cut runs deeper still, the person you asked to help you now feels, like they let you down and the trust is broken down, even just a bit.
If you want success, you need to make sure you are ready for it. Create a culture where trust is relevant and real. Let people make mistakes and know they will get it right, everyone does. Have the materials that you need to build the fire for success. Finally make sure you are taking the time to explain what success will look like.
Do you trust that people will do what you want them to? More importantly do you trust that even though they will make mistakes along the way, they will still get the solution? Trust is a huge factor in success, if people do not feel they are trusted, they will not give their all, they will not speak their mind and they will not fully get behind the plan. As they should be, they will be looking out for themselves. If you want success, make sure you trust not only that it can happen but more importantly the people you are with can make it happen.
You cannot make a fire without at least some materials, depending on how resourceful you are, you may be able to get by with less, but the fact remains you need something. If you want a roaring fire you better have enough wood to do so. This goes right with making sure we are successful, make sure you have the resources available for success to occur.
If you want success make sure you know what it looks like, if we don’t know what it looks like, how will we know when we get there. If your favorite excuse is “I do not have time to explain what I want”, then stop complaining you never get it. If you are not going to take enough responsibility to explain what you want, do not get upset when you do not get it.
Not taking the time to explain, does more than just create confusion among the people you work with. It creates a culture that is not filled with trust, questions linger of why, not everyone is on the same page, why the whole story was not laid out and what is going to happen if I do this. Second, if you constantly find yourself having to deal with “fixing others mistakes” and are not sure if you gave a clear explanation, chances are you are a contributing factor. This means instead of taking 10 minutes to explain it, you spend 30 minutes fixing it. The cut runs deeper still, the person you asked to help you now feels, like they let you down and the trust is broken down, even just a bit.
If you want success, you need to make sure you are ready for it. Create a culture where trust is relevant and real. Let people make mistakes and know they will get it right, everyone does. Have the materials that you need to build the fire for success. Finally make sure you are taking the time to explain what success will look like.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Believe in what you want.
With the New Year freshly on its way, there is one key thing we all must remember. The biggest wall for most of our resolutions, coming true is we believe they cannot happen. We think we are stuck where we are at, and we cannot do better. However maybe on some off chance, we may just be able to do it. After all why wait until start of a new year?
Think of how backwards that is, we want to change, yet do not believe we can do it? We do not believe we are good enough to accomplish our biggest fears or dreams. This is why so rarely any resolutions is ever accomplished, not because we can’t, but because we think we can’t. I truly believe that people have amazing talents that will help them accomplish whatever they want. Far too often we doubt ourselves (me included) about if we are “good enough”, we all are.
I believe that the words you choose every day help you create the future of not only yourself but the people, businesses and organizations you touch. A simple word switch from “wish” to “will” can make a world of difference. Are we more likely to get behind “I wish we could be more strategic” or “We will be more strategic”, which sentence would you rather hear?
Take this into the workplace, personal life and wherever it still remains true. Far too often we wish for things that we never think can happen, after all it is a “wish”. I say we stop wishing and start believing.
Getting into the mindset of “this can never happen” will ruin you. It creates a self fulfilling prophecy, which we continuously create a filter that shows us exactly what we think we need to see. If you want something, you better believe it can happen, or it won’t.
Think of how backwards that is, we want to change, yet do not believe we can do it? We do not believe we are good enough to accomplish our biggest fears or dreams. This is why so rarely any resolutions is ever accomplished, not because we can’t, but because we think we can’t. I truly believe that people have amazing talents that will help them accomplish whatever they want. Far too often we doubt ourselves (me included) about if we are “good enough”, we all are.
I believe that the words you choose every day help you create the future of not only yourself but the people, businesses and organizations you touch. A simple word switch from “wish” to “will” can make a world of difference. Are we more likely to get behind “I wish we could be more strategic” or “We will be more strategic”, which sentence would you rather hear?
Take this into the workplace, personal life and wherever it still remains true. Far too often we wish for things that we never think can happen, after all it is a “wish”. I say we stop wishing and start believing.
Getting into the mindset of “this can never happen” will ruin you. It creates a self fulfilling prophecy, which we continuously create a filter that shows us exactly what we think we need to see. If you want something, you better believe it can happen, or it won’t.
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