Are we bent on getting single impressions with as many people as possible, or do we focus on achieving enough interaction through multiple touch points to help convert prospects into clients, and clients into loyal advocates?
Here’s a quick illustration of two scenarios I see over and over:
Business person #1 has enough money to make 10,000 impressions, so he makes a single impression with 10,000 people. His conversion rate is 0.5%, so he gets 50 new buyers.
Business person #2 also has enough money to make 10,000 impressions. She chooses to make five impressions each with 2,000 people using the same budget. She achieves a 5% conversion rate, yielding 100 new clients—twice the number for the same money.
As impressive as that is, here’s where the real difference comes into play…
Business person #1 does the same thing again to get the revenues he needs for next month. Sure, some of the people who have bought from him in the past make additional purchases, but he doesn’t do much to foster a long-term relationship with them. His focus is always on bringing new people through the doors (literally or virtually).
Business person #2 knows if she keeps a large percentage of her clients active, that’s good for her business in the long run, so she reallocates half her marketing budget for client retention activities. This means she’s only bringing in 50 new clients a month now through her initial acquisition activities, but well over half the clients she brings into her fold stay and keep buying from her because of her proactive relationship-building efforts. Furthermore, they become her ambassadors, bringing new clients into the fold with simple incentives that add to their positive experience with #2 and her company.
Over the course of just a few months, #2’s client base is multiple times that of #1’s. Over the course of years, you can image the difference.
Simple? Yes. Easy? Apparently not, since business person #2 represents an extremely small percentage of the business owner population.
In the end, #2 isn’t #2 at all. She’s #1 in the minds of her clients. She’s their #1 choice for what she provides. And her company is #1 in client acquisition, client retention, revenues, and profits.
Here’s to our being #1!
Bryan Waldon Pope
No fluff. No hype. Just real-world marketing insights for real business decision-makers
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Instant Gratification (and other marketing campaign flow considerations)
I had an experience this week that made me pause and think about how mechanical we get in creating marketing that doesn’t fit the needs of our prospects and clients. In one respect or another, this undoubtedly applies to all of us.
Early afternoon on Saturday I went to the website of the theater we go to almost every time we see a movie somewhere besides our own family room. There were two movies playing that interested my children.
As I was looking down the listings, I noticed, on the left side of the web page, something I hadn’t seen before (and I consider myself to be quite attentive when surfing). It was an ad offering me the opportunity to get on the theater’s email list to receive weekly updates along with a special coupon for concession treats good only that week. Sounds great! I’m sure we’d frequent that theater more if I didn’t have to think to check and see what is playing. And to get some type of concession deal for being on the list…that’s a no-brainer. So I signed up.
When I was finished, I ended up at a sterile “Thank You” (sort of) page with a couple of paragraphs of legal mumbo-jumbo in eight-point type. That’s it. No mention of when my deal would show up in my email. No notification of when the weekly emails are sent. And, most importantly, NO INSTANT GRATIFICATION.
Let’s think through this for a moment: I was obviously at the site looking at current listings. I’m going to assume that most of the time when someone is doing this, it is because they are ready to make a purchasing decision, as I was. I checked my email for 15 or 20 minutes, curious as to what kind of deal the theater might be offering me. Should I buy my tickets online, or does the “deal” happen some other way? I certainly didn’t want to move forward, then find out I should have waited. Maybe there would be a link in the email. I didn’t know what my next step was.
The short version of the story is that we decided to do something else. I was at the site, ready to buy. And I would have made a purchasing decision without the “deal” ad if it hadn’t been there, just like I have so many times before. But an expectation was set by the ad on the site—one that was, in my mind, going to be a step up from prior experiences. Being taken off my regular course, then let down, led me to abandon my pursuit. We decided to do something else altogether.
We’ve all done this to our clients; unwittingly, of course. Each case will be different as we carefully consider how to avoid stepping in this same mire. In this theater’s case, it would have been as simple as sending me to a landing page that said, “Thank you for joining our weekly email deal club. Here’s your first members-only deal!“ This timely message, followed by a graphic of the coupon I could print out and use RIGHT NOW, would have led me to complete the transaction I went to the site to make in the first place. Clearly, this theater has some thinking to do on the flow of their offer.
I’ll be interested to see when my weekly emails show up. If they show up each week at the same time—which, in Saturday’s case was hours after I had been on the site—they will always arrive after we’ve made our plans. I’m going to assume this won’t be the case. They’ll likely go out Thursday or Friday so I can make weekend plans. Which leads me to my last point: How simple would it have been to have a question as part of my registration asking me when I’d like to receive my weekly deal coupon? If I’m a religious, every-Wednesday-night movie goer, but I’m receiving my email with the deal in it on Friday mornings, the time the strategic gurus at the theater have determined is best to send the email to everyone, I will likely never use the deal because of the time lapse between each Friday and the following Wednesday when I will be going to a movie again. Therefore, I may or may not go to this theater. Their deal will not help retain me as a client.
Neither of the corrections I’ve suggested for this campaign are difficult. It’s just a matter of remembering that we’re serving clients, not marketing campaigns.
Gather your team. Involve your best clients (the ones who will be painfully forthcoming with you). Look at your campaigns. Where is the prospect/client experience getting derailed for those who may otherwise make purchases?
Here’s to thinking through the flow of our marketing campaigns!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Early afternoon on Saturday I went to the website of the theater we go to almost every time we see a movie somewhere besides our own family room. There were two movies playing that interested my children.
As I was looking down the listings, I noticed, on the left side of the web page, something I hadn’t seen before (and I consider myself to be quite attentive when surfing). It was an ad offering me the opportunity to get on the theater’s email list to receive weekly updates along with a special coupon for concession treats good only that week. Sounds great! I’m sure we’d frequent that theater more if I didn’t have to think to check and see what is playing. And to get some type of concession deal for being on the list…that’s a no-brainer. So I signed up.
When I was finished, I ended up at a sterile “Thank You” (sort of) page with a couple of paragraphs of legal mumbo-jumbo in eight-point type. That’s it. No mention of when my deal would show up in my email. No notification of when the weekly emails are sent. And, most importantly, NO INSTANT GRATIFICATION.
Let’s think through this for a moment: I was obviously at the site looking at current listings. I’m going to assume that most of the time when someone is doing this, it is because they are ready to make a purchasing decision, as I was. I checked my email for 15 or 20 minutes, curious as to what kind of deal the theater might be offering me. Should I buy my tickets online, or does the “deal” happen some other way? I certainly didn’t want to move forward, then find out I should have waited. Maybe there would be a link in the email. I didn’t know what my next step was.
The short version of the story is that we decided to do something else. I was at the site, ready to buy. And I would have made a purchasing decision without the “deal” ad if it hadn’t been there, just like I have so many times before. But an expectation was set by the ad on the site—one that was, in my mind, going to be a step up from prior experiences. Being taken off my regular course, then let down, led me to abandon my pursuit. We decided to do something else altogether.
We’ve all done this to our clients; unwittingly, of course. Each case will be different as we carefully consider how to avoid stepping in this same mire. In this theater’s case, it would have been as simple as sending me to a landing page that said, “Thank you for joining our weekly email deal club. Here’s your first members-only deal!“ This timely message, followed by a graphic of the coupon I could print out and use RIGHT NOW, would have led me to complete the transaction I went to the site to make in the first place. Clearly, this theater has some thinking to do on the flow of their offer.
I’ll be interested to see when my weekly emails show up. If they show up each week at the same time—which, in Saturday’s case was hours after I had been on the site—they will always arrive after we’ve made our plans. I’m going to assume this won’t be the case. They’ll likely go out Thursday or Friday so I can make weekend plans. Which leads me to my last point: How simple would it have been to have a question as part of my registration asking me when I’d like to receive my weekly deal coupon? If I’m a religious, every-Wednesday-night movie goer, but I’m receiving my email with the deal in it on Friday mornings, the time the strategic gurus at the theater have determined is best to send the email to everyone, I will likely never use the deal because of the time lapse between each Friday and the following Wednesday when I will be going to a movie again. Therefore, I may or may not go to this theater. Their deal will not help retain me as a client.
Neither of the corrections I’ve suggested for this campaign are difficult. It’s just a matter of remembering that we’re serving clients, not marketing campaigns.
Gather your team. Involve your best clients (the ones who will be painfully forthcoming with you). Look at your campaigns. Where is the prospect/client experience getting derailed for those who may otherwise make purchases?
Here’s to thinking through the flow of our marketing campaigns!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, August 29, 2011
Offer Our Best First
Too many of us tend to offer our mid-line or low-end products and services first with a hope of capturing our audiences’ attention with a deal. Consider the value of offering our best products and services up-front instead.
Doing this sets a benchmark that will cause many people to make purchases above the level they would have otherwise. At the same time, it makes less expensive products and service seem an even better bargain for those who are price conscious. We don’t lose those buyers. And they may upgrade with future purchases.
Am I saying discounting or leading with a killer deal has no value? Of course not. Clearly this approach has its place, just like leading with our finest offerings has its place. My point is simply that in testing our options, we often forget this alternative approach that has proven effective for many companies in a wide variety of industries.
Gather your team. Look at how leading with the best you have to offer may open doors that aren’t available when competing on price. You just may find you’ve been missing out on a world of opportunity.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Doing this sets a benchmark that will cause many people to make purchases above the level they would have otherwise. At the same time, it makes less expensive products and service seem an even better bargain for those who are price conscious. We don’t lose those buyers. And they may upgrade with future purchases.
Am I saying discounting or leading with a killer deal has no value? Of course not. Clearly this approach has its place, just like leading with our finest offerings has its place. My point is simply that in testing our options, we often forget this alternative approach that has proven effective for many companies in a wide variety of industries.
Gather your team. Look at how leading with the best you have to offer may open doors that aren’t available when competing on price. You just may find you’ve been missing out on a world of opportunity.
Here’s to your marketing success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, August 22, 2011
A More Effective Use of Prospecting Time
We all fight the same battle of balancing the time and resources we invest in prospecting for new clients with maintaining a pricing structure that upholds the integrity of our business and its products or services. It’s tempting to slash prices to generate revenues; but being busy without being profitable is a guaranteed trip to the poor house.
Maintain your image and message with prospects, and keep working to bring in new clients; but in the mean time, here’s a way to fill excess capacity in a fruitful way. It’s beneficial in the big picture and sustainable over the course of years.
We all have clients who have been loyal to us. They like what we have to offer. We spend our time making a positive difference for them with whatever we are providing, and not addressing petty complaints or engaging in other time-wasting activities. These are the clients we’d like to clone and with whom we’d like to fill our books of business. Good news! We can.
Go to these clients with an offer that makes sense for them and represents a significant deal beyond the good value they already receive from us. Let them know we’re making this custom-tailored, one-on-one offer because of their history with us--a “Thank You” gift, if you will. Be sincere, and make an offer that is truly something they simply won’t get elsewhere.
In doing this, we accomplish two things: 1.) We fill our time with guaranteed revenue-generating activities that would have been spent on prospecting, and 2.) We build even greater loyalty with those who are already our best clients. Everyone wins. And you know what? Chances are good these happy clients will become your best salespeople as they send quality referrals your way.
Gather your team. Think outside your normal parameters. What do your most loyal clients need that you can offer but are not currently providing to them? Get creative. Get aggressive. Fill that wasted capacity with meaningful, paying work for those who have already said, “We like what you have to offer!”
Here’s to your win-win revenue-generating success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Maintain your image and message with prospects, and keep working to bring in new clients; but in the mean time, here’s a way to fill excess capacity in a fruitful way. It’s beneficial in the big picture and sustainable over the course of years.
We all have clients who have been loyal to us. They like what we have to offer. We spend our time making a positive difference for them with whatever we are providing, and not addressing petty complaints or engaging in other time-wasting activities. These are the clients we’d like to clone and with whom we’d like to fill our books of business. Good news! We can.
Go to these clients with an offer that makes sense for them and represents a significant deal beyond the good value they already receive from us. Let them know we’re making this custom-tailored, one-on-one offer because of their history with us--a “Thank You” gift, if you will. Be sincere, and make an offer that is truly something they simply won’t get elsewhere.
In doing this, we accomplish two things: 1.) We fill our time with guaranteed revenue-generating activities that would have been spent on prospecting, and 2.) We build even greater loyalty with those who are already our best clients. Everyone wins. And you know what? Chances are good these happy clients will become your best salespeople as they send quality referrals your way.
Gather your team. Think outside your normal parameters. What do your most loyal clients need that you can offer but are not currently providing to them? Get creative. Get aggressive. Fill that wasted capacity with meaningful, paying work for those who have already said, “We like what you have to offer!”
Here’s to your win-win revenue-generating success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Big Middle
Most companies position themselves in the big middle of the spectrum of their industries. They are “me too” businesses. They lack any quickly discernible differentiating factors that would draw prospects to them exclusively. They have not entered the marketplace with a specific focus that speaks to well defined potential clients. Because of this, they struggle.
As business decision-makers, why do we do this to ourselves, our businesses, and our audiences?
Discovering how our market (or potential market) views us, defining ourselves in a way that makes us providers of choice, and remaining true to our focus are all necessary elements of being standouts instead of generics.
How many no-frills price leaders have we seen add features to their products or services until they are lost in the sea of their competitors? And how many times have we witnessed a niche business attempt to go mainstream, only to realize (sometimes too late) that what made them successful was their laser-tight focus?
If we’re not currently meeting our businesses’ goals, we need to identify why. We must invest in discovering our competitive advantage (or developing it, if it doesn’t exist). Being “good” isn’t good enough anymore. We need to be uniquely accessible to and specifically effective for our clients.
Gather your team. Look at your position in the marketplace. Are you differentiated appropriately? Are your prospects clear on why they should choose you? Do you stand out, or are you lost in an ocean of me-too options? If changes are needed, have the tenacity to move forward with confidence in getting your company out of the bog of the big middle.
Here’s to your positioning success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
As business decision-makers, why do we do this to ourselves, our businesses, and our audiences?
Discovering how our market (or potential market) views us, defining ourselves in a way that makes us providers of choice, and remaining true to our focus are all necessary elements of being standouts instead of generics.
How many no-frills price leaders have we seen add features to their products or services until they are lost in the sea of their competitors? And how many times have we witnessed a niche business attempt to go mainstream, only to realize (sometimes too late) that what made them successful was their laser-tight focus?
If we’re not currently meeting our businesses’ goals, we need to identify why. We must invest in discovering our competitive advantage (or developing it, if it doesn’t exist). Being “good” isn’t good enough anymore. We need to be uniquely accessible to and specifically effective for our clients.
Gather your team. Look at your position in the marketplace. Are you differentiated appropriately? Are your prospects clear on why they should choose you? Do you stand out, or are you lost in an ocean of me-too options? If changes are needed, have the tenacity to move forward with confidence in getting your company out of the bog of the big middle.
Here’s to your positioning success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, July 18, 2011
The Reason We Should Make More Money
I’ll be the first to admit, I’ve had a problem in the past with the idea of making a significant amount of money. I’ve watched it ruin too many people. I believe in the old adage, “Money doesn’t create character, it reveals it.” I guess I was a little concerned to find out who I really was.
But a truth regarding money has emerged for me. Here it is:
Assuming what we’re doing to make money is legal, moral, and ethical, the more money we make, the more good we are doing.
At first blush, this may sound like one attempting to justify a pursuit of riches; but this isn’t the case at all. When we are successful, we create value. We provide employment. We enrich others’ lives. And the payoff for doing this well is money.
Even though I believe in this principle, I still believe that money should not be the main focus of our business efforts. When it is, we tend too often to drop off on the important things when the money begins rolling in. Of course, this is a very personal thing. One person may create a better business and serve more people by focusing on the financial side of the business, while another may not. It’s up to each of us to examine ourselves and see what motivates us and how we can best keep our focus.
In the end, if we’re offering superior value, the money will follow. And if we’ve done our part correctly, we will have benefitted many people in the process.
Here’s to your financial success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
But a truth regarding money has emerged for me. Here it is:
Assuming what we’re doing to make money is legal, moral, and ethical, the more money we make, the more good we are doing.
At first blush, this may sound like one attempting to justify a pursuit of riches; but this isn’t the case at all. When we are successful, we create value. We provide employment. We enrich others’ lives. And the payoff for doing this well is money.
Even though I believe in this principle, I still believe that money should not be the main focus of our business efforts. When it is, we tend too often to drop off on the important things when the money begins rolling in. Of course, this is a very personal thing. One person may create a better business and serve more people by focusing on the financial side of the business, while another may not. It’s up to each of us to examine ourselves and see what motivates us and how we can best keep our focus.
In the end, if we’re offering superior value, the money will follow. And if we’ve done our part correctly, we will have benefitted many people in the process.
Here’s to your financial success!
Bryan Waldon Pope
Monday, July 11, 2011
Becoming a Great Marketer
I’ve been listening, once again, to Earl Nightingale’s “The Strangest Secret” as I’ve been traveling. If you’re not familiar with this classic piece, I strongly suggest you get it and absorb it.
To oversimplify Mr. Nightingale’s message, he tells us that we become what we think about. He cites Napoleon Hill and others throughout history as having shared this same truth.
Think about this principle in the context of being a marketer. That may be your full-time job, but more likely it is just one of the hats you wear in the course of running your business. So how do you become a great marketer?
Let me pause here and state clearly that I don’t believe you can simply see yourself as a successful marketer and have it become so magically. It takes effort and dedication. It takes time. But it can’t happen if you don’t see yourself as such, even with effort, dedication, and time.
There are many truths in our world. The truth that we become what we think about is one that has become increasingly important and apparent to me. What a powerful nugget this is. We are, and will continue to become, who we want to be at the level of our core beliefs. How empowering it is to know how to direct that reality from its foundation.
Here’s to your thinking like a great marketer!
Bryan Waldon Pope
To oversimplify Mr. Nightingale’s message, he tells us that we become what we think about. He cites Napoleon Hill and others throughout history as having shared this same truth.
Think about this principle in the context of being a marketer. That may be your full-time job, but more likely it is just one of the hats you wear in the course of running your business. So how do you become a great marketer?
Let me pause here and state clearly that I don’t believe you can simply see yourself as a successful marketer and have it become so magically. It takes effort and dedication. It takes time. But it can’t happen if you don’t see yourself as such, even with effort, dedication, and time.
There are many truths in our world. The truth that we become what we think about is one that has become increasingly important and apparent to me. What a powerful nugget this is. We are, and will continue to become, who we want to be at the level of our core beliefs. How empowering it is to know how to direct that reality from its foundation.
Here’s to your thinking like a great marketer!
Bryan Waldon Pope
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