find, keep and grow your customer

May 29, 2008

I Know What I Said, I Was There When I Said It…

Filed under: direct response marketing, branding/differentiation, marketing strategy, General —

Todd Schnick, President of the Intrepid Group, LLC, www.intrepid-llc.com 

Words matter.  They mean things. 

Yet, when it comes to marketing, a lot of businesses don’t take the time to carefully think through the messaging for their marketing campaign. 

How does this happen?  Each day business people are bombarded with all kinds of marketing tools, tactics, programs, special offers from vendors selling various marketing tools.  (Not to mention getting slammed from the everyday necessities of running a business…)  As a result, too many companies throw together their marketing strategy as if they were wandering aimlessly through the aisles at the supermarket – throwing miscellaneous food items into their shopping cart without any idea what recipe they want to prepare. 

As a result, they can’t possibly cook a decent meal because you don’t have the right ingredients.  And what happens when this same concept occurs with your marketing?  The message is lost.  You have inconsistency.  A hodge-podge.  Confusing or conflicting messages. 

To put it simply, most small businesses don’t develop their USP, or unique selling proposition.  Their differentiator.  The very thing that allows them to stand out from their competition.  And even if a business does produce a workable USP, they don’t necessarily talk about it in all their hodpe-podge marketing mediums. 

When I confront clients about this problem, I usually get a response similar to the title of this entry, one of my favorite John Belushi movie quotes.  My clients, and most business owners, truly believe they are on message.  And that everybody in their organization, and/or all mediums used in their marketing are on message too. 

At the end of the day, your marketing is supposed to help you be memorable.  It is supposed to make it easy for a customer to purchase from you.  To achieve this, you must: 

  1. Have a clear and memorable Unique Selling Proposition.
  2. Consistently convey that USP in ALL your marketing.
  3. Have everyone in your organization singing the same tune.

When you think about it, achieving those three things, (thus, your marketing) is pretty simple.  Unfortunately, most small business people complicate it.  Using a line I often tell my political candidates, you must “STAY ON MESSAGE!”

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May 28, 2008

New Release From MarketMate: “Never Fry Bacon” Audio Book / Training Tool

Filed under: Resources, sales team development, sales process optimization, General —

GrowthANSWERS Guest Columnist, Stone Payton released the “Never Fry Bacon In The Nude” Audio Book / Training Tool today.  3 Hours 11 Minutes of Fast, Frank, and Fun guidance on producing Better Results In Less Time.

Available as: Individual Purchase (7 segmented user-friendly mp3 files), Organizational License for Unlimited Internal Use, and Training / Consulting License for the Independent Practitioner.

Check Out SAMPLE (Part One) Here

Enjoy . . .

Congratulations, Stone !

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May 12, 2008

One Serving Is Just Never Quite Enough…

Filed under: direct response marketing, General —

Todd Schnick, President of The Intrepid Group, LLC www.intrepid-llc.com

Virtually every business owner or sales person I talk to understands that direct response marketing can be an important part of any marketing program.  And there are a lot of factors that come into play to build a successful direct response marketing program: message, good copy, a targeted audience, call-to-action, etc

But there is one word that describes a successful mail campaign:  Sustained.  Persistent.  Repetitive.

   

Okay, maybe not one word.  But you get the idea. 

You’ve heard of the concept that one must see a television commercial SEVEN times before the message is deeply ingrained in their consciousness?  It should not come as any surprise that the same principle applies to direct mail.

Some things to think about: 

• You will likely get responses from your first mailer.  Especially if the message resonates and the target audience is the right one.  But you won’t get enough initial response to build a sustainable growth enterprise. 

• You know that some people will take your mailer and set it aside – with the intended purpose of revisiting it down the road when they have time – or a stronger need.  This is a good thing.  This means they are interested – but just not ready to take action at that moment.

• When you send a second mailer – you will achieve three things:  One, you will receive some immediate response from those newly interested.  Two, the people who set the first mailer aside will be reminded to take action – and some will do so!  Thirdly, a new crop of prospects will set the second mailer aside for action down the road.

• And this cycle repeats itself over and over – and over time – a sustained effort will start filling your pipeline with interested prospects.  Just like the seven times you must view a television commercial – over time a sustained direct mail effort will yield results.

A sustained direct response marketing program – OVER TIME – will help you achieve more prospects.  The key – as with anything in marketing – is repetition and persistence.  In this case, One Serving Just Won’t Be Enough. 

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