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Are you standing in the dark, winking at women?
A business without advertising is like a man standing in the dark winking at a beautiful woman. He knows what he is doing, but no one else does. For some reason marketing is one of the first “expenses” people cut when times get tough. It should be the last. I see marketing as an investment, not an expense. I believe a lot of business owners and top level CEOs choose not to see the obvious. In marketing, advertising is just one of many elements. So how do you turn on the light to let people see what you are doing when your electricity bill is so high? Well, with some creative thinking and a dash of guerilla marketing, companies could easily extend their budgets and get a better Return On Investment. Here are three of several important keywords in my bag of tricks: “COMMUNICATE” – sounds obvious doesn’t it? However, good communication skills seem to be missing from a lot of companies. “FREQUENCY” – if you can’t afford those big ads, divide them into many smaller. It’s better to be in front of a target audience all the time than once in a while. “TEAM EFFORT” – I am not talking about people, but media channels and your marketing materials. Strengthen your message by “teaming up” your marketing efforts towards a common goal. Hint: your website will play a big role in this.
So, are you ready to turn on the light and let people see what you are doing, or are you waiting for women with flash lights to find you?
Promises, promises and truth in advertising.
The famous advertising guru David Ogilvy once said: "Never write an advertisement which you wouldn't want your family to read. You wouldn't tell lies to your own wife. Don't tell them to mine."
Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. I have always been a proponent of Relevance, Originality, and Honesty in advertising so when I saw this hand written sign posted right by Figueroa Street in downtown LA, I was curious. There was something about the sign that made it "irresistible", and I couldn't help but read it. It said: "Reunites lovers for eternity - even if taken by others! Call now."
Wow! Now that's a promise! I wonder how they do it? Do they break up marriages, beat up the husband or threaten the wife so they leave? I am sure they have a strategy, or maybe not? Is it just an empty promise to trick you into trying their service? Maybe they can't fulfill their promise at all? Sounds like some other ads or commercials I have seen. I guess it is not that unusual to make promises you really can't keep. I guess this is what Jacques Seguela was thinking about when he wrote the line "Don't tell my mother I work in an advertising agency - she thinks I play piano in a whorehouse." Fortunately there are some really good admen out there. Advertising may draw attention. But wise people broadcast only what they can deliver. In my experience you can be very successful and make an impact in the marketplace by being honest, relevant and original. Now that's a recipe for success!
Step away from the templates
It’s very easy to create a website these days. Even if you don’t know anything about programming, marketing or design, you can have a website up and running in a few minutes. Sites like wix.com and hundreds of companies that offer so-called “professional” templates, have made it very easy to establish an online presence. Seems pretty good doesn’t it? Cheap, fast and “professional”. So what’s wrong with this picture? Well, let me put it this way; how many times have you found something generic that is as unique as you are? Generic and template means “not unique”. Stock photos and generic designs have made thousands of potential stars into “a dime a dozen” company online.
If you are serious about your business, it’s time to step away from the template factories and the website designers who really don’t have a clue about marketing. There is no such thing as a free lunch, and it is as true here as in any other industry. You cannot expect to pay for a bicycle and get a Mercedes. It just doesn’t work that way.
The only way you can get a unique web presence that really works is to personalize your site. A website needs an idea and a marketing concept. Brand it. Make it real. Make it you. A good example is our latest website creation for Habitat Hospitality Design (in progress). Check it out at www.habitathospitalitydesign.com – I am sure you can see why generic designs and stock photos would never work for a business like his. If you are a business, think twice about templates and cheap website designers with no marketing background. They will do you more harm than good.
Branding is back, trust is key
Especially now, trust is more important than ever. With so many disappointments and failures how can consumers trust your brand, your products and services? It’s all about perception. Not what you think – what consumers think. How important is trust now? Even Starbucks CEO said Wednesday: “We want to be trusted”. Oh, and yes, then we have the banks and finance institutions. Now we just heard that only 8% of American consumers have full confidence in banks and other financial service companies. (according to a new study from independent PR shop Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.) Big surprise right? Beleaguered GM continues to turn to Brand Integration as it reins in spending. Hotels too. How can a small business spend money on branding instead of “sale, sale sale”? Branding is part of a customer-retention strategy. Can you afford not to pick up hints that customers are about to defect your brand because they don’t trust you? Sales does not create trust. Branding does.
Give Your Website a 10-point tune-up
Like a car that needs a tune-up once in a while, your website will benefit from this 10-point tune-up list.
1. Add an analytics tool to your website like Google Analytics or VisiStat.
2. Check your bounce-rate (how many people go to your site, but leave again very quickly from your landing or home page.
3. Create relevant landing pages for each search term use to find your site – and to optimize the results from your Google ads.
4. Add different relevant titles to every page – displayed in the title bar at the top of this browser window.
5. Submit a Sitemap XML file to the search engines.
6. Name the pictures you have with real relevant titles – not DSC001.jpg
7. Write a keyword optimized text for your home page with important keywords heavily weighted at the top 15% of the text field.
8. Define descriptions and keywords in your meta-tags. Even though there is a discussion in the SEO community about how valuable they are, just do it.
9. If your site is FLASH only, search engines cannot search it. Create html pages with Flash embedded instead – or as a popup for viewing.
10. Constantly tweak your site – remember it takes time for SEO to work properly. Don’t expect it to work overnight.
People are always your best assets
You have a top, luxurious hotel. It has the best views, most luxurious crystal lamps, and the most comfortable beds in the country. Even the food is good. Actually it’s all good. But it’s worth nothing unless you have really good people around. Not only do you need dedicated, honest, hard working people, you need to care for them as well. Rule by fear has never worked, but I still see it in certain places. How hard can it be to understand that happy employees make happy customers? The reason why your customers come back is because of your treatment of them. It’s because your employees are willing to go the extra mile for them. The secret of returning customers always starts at home. It’s all about the people, and therefore “people-focused” marketing is a great way to go in hospitality. It’s not about the hotel, it’s about how you are treated at the hotel.
Is "better" or "different" better?
We all want to be better. Better than our competitors. Better than yesterday. Better then everyone else. But is it realistic to rely on a “being better” strategy for a company that looks like every other company out there? Being better requires a lot of hard work, a lot of investment in branding, people and product development. Can you convince your target audience that you are really ‘better’ than your competitor? And by the way, what is “better” anyway? Many times we find that a company’s perception and the perception of the target audiences are very different. That’s when they realize that sometimes better really is very subjective.
So, what about “different”? Now here is a simple strategy that doesn’t require the same measure of investment to really work well. Original, but still relevant. Not different just to be original. When you are different, you are unique. When you are unique people take notice. Now that you have their attention, you can give them your sales pitch. Every company has a story to tell that is unique. It just depends on how you tell it, where you tell it and the timing of it. Why do you think that storytellers have been the center of attention for thousands of years? So, what’s your story?
The relationship between you and your target audience is much more complex than you may think.
A long time ago we learned that a key component for strong sustainable branding is identifying and emphasizing the “marketing touch points” that impact overall marketing efforts and operations.
Well-planned touch point strategies (TPS) must be in complete alignment with your overall core business strategy. TPS can help define your company’s values and culture, but it can also force perspective on every aspect of the marketing communication program; including public relations, advertising, promotions, and sales. TPS spells out how you will acquire and retain customers; how you will fight attrition and keep customers coming back.
A whole series of touch points precede the actual consumer experience, there are touch points throughout the experience, and even some that come afterward. And here’s something else that may surprise you: the entire sequence of touch points determines customer attitude and loyalty. We make use of marketing touch points in many ways. But first of all you have to be aware of them.