Marketing Done Modern

Christmas is Over, Now What?

First off, I do have to apologize for my lack of posting for the past several weeks.  Being the holidays, I have been out of town for two weeks and now I am preparing for a whole new year.  The start of a new year is very exciting.  It's a chance to do things differently.  Personally, I am trying to be more conscious of my spending habits, continue working out, and in general, be a kinder person.  Although I can say these are my resolutions, they are more goals that I am working towards.  This is also a good time of year for businesses to have resolutions.  Where do you want your company to go in 2009?  Do you want to have more loyal customers?  More customers in general?  Higher profits?  Just stay in business?  Redesign?  What is it that you want to do?

This is a great time for businesses to look over what happened in 2008 and determine what it is you want out of the next year.  But it doesn't have to be a year long plan.  Start by planning the next month, the next six months, the next year, and so on and so forth.  Sure, you could continue the strategy that you are currently using, but maybe it's time to look where your company is going, rather than where it's been.   For example, you decide you want to have a sale to draw in new customers.  Think about when your target market is going to be purchasing your product.  Do you own a candy store?  It might seem obvious but special discounts around Valentine's are always a big draw.  Do you specialize in children's clothing?  How about a sale during the Easter season?  I always got a new dress for Easter. 

Another idea is to go through the books and determine slow times of the year.  Come up with a few ideas to bring new people in during your slow times.  For example, if you own a ski and snowboarding store (depending on your geography) my bet is that you're busiest between November and March.  What can you do the rest of the year?  Well, you are a ski and snowboarding store, why don't you sell water skis and other water sports paraphernalia.  It's just an idea.

There are many ways that looking to the past can help you in the future.  Just make sure that when you are looking to the past to help your future that you don't get stuck there.

Happy Marketing!!!

Unlike in High School, Different Can Be Good in Business

I remember my freshman year of high school.  I was still sort of the new kid (I moved the year before) was short, going through my "awkward stage", had braces and was just a little different.  This was also one of the hardest years of my life.  The other kids weren't mean, but they also didn't accept me for who I was.  It took me almost a year to find out where I fit in.  I am really glad that business is not like this. 

When I was in business school they kept talking about finding your niche.  Sometimes you don't have to find a niche and you create mass appeal.  For example, let's look at the Swiffer.  There are a million ways to clean the floors.  You can use a broom, a mop, get on your hands and knees, a waxer, a buffer, a sander, etc, etc, etc.  About 10 years ago the people at P&G introduced the world to the Swiffer.  While cleaning floors is not a new concept, the way the Swiffer cleans is.  The Swiffer has replaceable pads that are sort of like dirt magnets.  While it's not the same as mopping (they have the Swiffer WetJet to solve that problem) it's a good way to keep your floors clean.  I don't know if I know anyone who does not own a Swiffer.  It's different, but it has mass appeal.  Being different and unique can be good.  Time to gather around children, it's story time.

This summer, a girl I know won a free engagement photo session.  I love pictures and photography.  I also love looking at wedding and engagement photos.  Who doesn't like pictures of people that are in love?  It's almost as great as looking at pictures of babies and puppies.  So off I went to Beautiful Union Portraits.  I was extremely impressed with the pictures that I saw.  They weren't the traditional sit-here-pose-and-make-it-look-like-it's-spontaneous kind of pictures.  While on their website, I looked through their blog and their gallery.  What I found was incredible.  They do wedding pictures with a photo journalistic style.  It catches the emotion of the day.  They state that they will do the traditional stand up and pose at the front of the church photos, but what really caught my eye was everything else.  They really have an eye for detail and for beautiful photography.  I was completely blown away.  I hope one day, if I get married, that they will take the photographs for me.  This style may not suit everyone, but it's different, it's unique, and it really appealed to me. And that's why I liked them, they're different.  Anyone with a good camera can take a nice picture, but it's something else to take photos that make a complete stranger feel like they were there. 

Happy Marketing!

The Price Must Be Right

Have you ever walked into a home decor store and found the perfect accessory for a bedroom?  Then noticed that the price tag is 4 times what you thought it would be?  I have.  Just this past weekend I was shopping with my mom in my hometown at a place called Perennial Accents.  I am currently looking for a little basket to put my boyfriend's parent's Christmas present in.  My mom pointed one out and it was beautiful.  However, it was over $50.  I understand that somethings are worth more like Longaberger baskets which do have a higher price tag.  But there was nothing special about this basket.  It was pretty and had some decoration on the side of it, but I didn't think that it was worth the price tag.  Plus, I had never heard of the company that made it.   And I did't blame the store, however.  I happen to know that this is a reasonably priced store that sells high quality products.  I have bought many a Christmas present for my mom from.  But I started thinking about how many times we look at something and don't feel that it's worth the price.

When it comes to pricing, we have to be sensitive.  Not only do we need to know how much our product is worth, but we need to find out if our customer is willing to pay what we charge and if we're making a profit.  One thing that always comes to mind for me is truffles, and I don't mean the mushrooms.  A handmade chocolate truffle can bring in about $3 per truffle.  I used to think that this was extravagant until I made truffles myself.  There's a lot of work that goes into them.  I understand now why they cost so much.  Plus, they are delicious.  But would I pay for a truffle if it was $5.  Or would I think it was really cheap if it were only $0.50. 

In research we use a technique called the Van Westendorp Pricing Sensitivity Meter.  It is a few questions that ask about pricing.  From the data, we are able to determine the optimum price.  We also can determine what is considered too high that it isn't worth price and what is too low that makes customers question the quality.  It's a really interesting technique.  I'm not saying everyone needs to do marketing research to price every thing in their stores, but price does have to be a consideration.  If you get a lot of people in your store and you know that you're selling a great product but you aren't selling much, it may have to do with your price.  Sometimes you have to start lower and work your way up so that people recognize the value of the product that you are offering.  There's a reason that Rolex and Mont Blanc can charge really high prices for their products while Seiko and Cross have more reasonably priced offerings. I guess you have to look at your pricing and determine if you're charging a Rolex price for a Seiko product.

Happy Marketing!!!

Consider Your Customers, And Where They Come From

Location, Location, Location.  This adage is one of the most well known sayings in business.  But location is more than being situated on a busy street or having the prettiest building.  Being in research, this is something that I think about a lot.  Who knows, one day I may want to open a bakery, I need to know where to locate it to bring in people who are truly interested in my product.  If you are already set with your location and don't plan on moving, that's fine.  This is a lot easier to do if you don't have a brick and mortar location yet or you're looking to move locations. But you need to think about where your customers are.  If your product appeals to soccer moms that live in the suburbs, then opening a store in a large, downtown, urban area is not a great idea.  It may be a great location, but are you really getting to your customer. 

Ok, today we are going to pretend that we are a jewelry store.  Let's say you want to set up shop in a college town.  Remember, not all college towns are based solely on the college, there are other things and other people in the area.  There are two locations.  One is on a very busy street, there is a lot of foot traffic that walks in front of the store.  This same location is also across the street from the university.  To the left of you would be a pizza place, to the right is an off-campus bookstore.  The other option is in a different part of town.  It's a quieter part of town and there would be less foot traffic.  The road, while not as busy as the other one, leads to a few new subdivisions.  There are several shops in this area and it's like a mini-downtown.  The shop to your left would be a gourmet food market and the shop to the right is a boutique clothing store.    I'm hoping it would be easy for you to determine which location is better from these two simple descriptions.  There are countless reasons why you shouldn't choose the location near the campus.  Although there is a lot of foot traffic, it's probably from college students who don't have the money to buy jewelry.  Also, if you're next to a bookstore, unless you have good sound protection, you'll probably hear a lot of what's going on in these stores, especially during the season when shelves are being stocked.  Not to mention, do you want to smell pizza all day long?  The other location caters to the type of clientele that you want.  It may not be as busy, but you're closer to the clients that you want and it's likely that if they are shopping at the stores on either side of you, they may have the money or the interest to stop into your store.

In my college, there was a video rental store called Video Hits Plus across the street from campus.  Being poor college students, a good night for us was renting a movie and picking up Jimmy John's to take back to our dorm.  It was reasonably priced to rent from there, plus, instead of getting a card, all you had to do was show your student ID.  It was perfectly situated.  While other video rental places are probably going under, this one is thriving.  Location does matter.  A lot.

Happy Marketing!

Business is Like a Relationship, We Look For A Great Personality

Ok, so you've started your own business and you're pretty successful.  Business is good, your product is selling well, and you're making enough money.  But would you like more business?  If the answer is no, then just stop reading.

This may sound like common sense, but there is something really simple you can do to help your business.  It's simple when it's second nature, but getting there may be a little difficult.  But you must get personal with your clients.  And I'm not talking about creating a personalized product, although that is important.  But you need to get to know your clients.  Talk to them, get to know them.  Customer experience, at times, may be more important than the product itself.  People like returning to a store that has a staff that have good personalities.  This is important in any kind of business. 

For example, let's say you own a coffee shop and bakery.  You notice the same elderly couple comes in every day around 10 am for coffee and a bagel.  You could very easily say that you notice that they come in frequently and would like to introduce yourself.  This gives you a way of finding out their names so that when they come in, you can greet them personally.  There are other ways to personalize.  You may notice that the lady often orders different flavored lattes.  Let's say you're developing a special flavor, like an almond joy mocha.  It includes shots of almond and coconut flavorings as well as the regular mixings of a mocha.  The next time they come in, ask the lady if she would be interested in trying your drink, on the house.  The reason you are giving it on the house is because it isn't exactly what she was probably planning on ordering, plus, you're getting an opinion from an obviously loyal customer.  This is actually an example from my younger days of working in a bagel  shop. We were developing new coffee concoctions and one of our loyal customers that came in daily helped us to develop a really delcious mocha. 

I know everyone isn't the best at talking with people, but there are great ways to overcome this.  I am currently taking a Dale Carnegie course.  His book, How to Win Friends and Influence People is really great.  I was a skeptic at first, but have found it to be very useful, especially in my personal life for relating and working with other people.  If you really wanted, you could take a Dale Carnegie course, or even a public speaking course at a local community college.  But getting out there, getting to know your customers, and using their loyalty to your advantage can really be a win win situation.

Happy Marketing

Let Others Do Your Work; Why Public Relations is Worth It

Especially with the current economy, many companies are pouring money into advertising.  However, this won't last long.  Companies will soon learn that their return on investment for their ad dollars won't be what they anticipated.  But there is a way to increase business without spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on goofy TV ads or annoying radio commercials.

Public Relations

I am currently reading a book called The Fall of Advertising, The Rise of PR. It discusses how advertising is a great tool for maintaining a brand, but that using PR is the best recipe for building a brand.  While, I wouldn't use the book as a manual on how to launch and build a product, it does carry some very interesting points.

A third party can really create buzz about a new product.  For example, there is the Oprah Effect.  Look at her book club for one example.  Many titles that had never been heard of by many people are now best sellers.  Just today when looking at amazon.com, the first thing that pops up is "Kindle is Oprah's New Favorite Product."  My bet is that sales of this little gadget will increase significantly, now that it's been endorsed by Oprah.  If you aren't aware of what a Kindle is, it's a wireless reading device that is a product of Amazon.

While Oprah is a big and famous name, she's not the only one that can create appeal for a product just by talking about how great it is.  Many people look to Consumer Reports when they are trying to determine which product to buy.  But PR is not limited to well known names.  It could be as simple as an article in the local newspaper or a story on a radio station.  Sometimes we can't control the PR we get, but other times we can by supporting a little league team, sponsoring a cancer walk event, or even providing a prize for a local fund raiser raffle.  We have to remember that advertising isn't the only way to get our name heard and remembered.

Happy Marketing!

Get Professional or Get Lost

And I don't mean the sort where I say "Scram, you're bugging me."  Like I discussed last time, if you want customers to actually use a program - be it loyalty, discount, etc - you need to provide them with some form of marketing material.  This is sort of the second half of that.  I find this topic to be very important to me, therefore, as a head's up, this is a more verbose article.  This means a lot to me so I'm typing out very plainly for all to see.

Provide professional looking marketing materials.

Now, I go further in depth on this one.  Anything that a potential client has a chance to look at should look as if it's professionally made.  I am not saying everything that you print and hand out has to look like a work of art, but it should look nice.  Plus, you don't have to spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on printed material.  But by spending a few dollars, it may give your clients a more favorable opinion of you.  I'm going to start with a few ways that you can still get high quality printed material for far less than going to a design studio to produce it.  Then, I will give you an example of how this can be really lucrative for you. 

Business cards are one thing that you should definitely have if you own your own business.  If you're just starting out, I'm sure you don't have a $250 budget just for printing business cards.  You don't have to spend that much, but too little can make your material seem cheap.  For example, one thing I really dislike is getting a business card that has perforation marks on it.  In my mind, this person isn't legit and they are too cheap to get business cards made.  They also may not be serious about their business or the product they are providing for you. But the thing is you don't have to buy 2,000 business cards and spend $150.  You have options.  You can go to Office Depot and purchase Avery Business Card products that have clean edges and come in quantities of 30 to 2500.  Another idea, that I personally love, is using an on-line printing company.  There are other places besides Kinkos.  A site that I really like is called VistaPrint.  Several times I have gotten personalized return address labels.  They aren't that expensive and they really show off my personality.  But VistaPrint offers many products including premium business cards.  They also offer free business cards if you aren't dedicated to a logo.  They offer several different templates that range from whimsical to very business like.  Granted, you may have to pay $5.45 for Shipping and Handling, but it's still 250 business cards for roughly $0.02 a card.   

Besides business cards, make sure all pamphlets and handouts look professional too.  I know that it may be easy to just type something up on the computer and print it out.  But take some time.  And you can print it out at home, but make sure you have a nice color printer and high quality paper.  And DON'T PHOTOCOPY!!!!  I have nothing against photocopying for somethings, but doing it for all of your material is unnecessary.  Changing the color of the paper also doesn't change the fact that it's a photocopy.  It may be cheap, but I hate getting photocopied material where some piece of information is missing because it wasn't scanned in properly.  I could literally write for hours about the need for personalized folders (if you provide a lot of information), glossy finish tri-fold pamphlets, high quality paper stock vs. generic ink-jet paper, but I won't.  I will explain how spending a little bit more for nicer materials can really pay.

Every year for the last three years I have had to move. I like choices when looking at apartments.  My last move occurred in May of this year and I visited about a dozen different complexes before deciding.  As petty as this sounds, if an apartment complex had a crummy looking marketing folder, they were automatically off my list.  Giving me a piece of paper which is supposed to include amenities but the last word is cut off just doesn't cut it with me.  Also, complexes that had information, but it had been written on rather than reprinted also bugged me.  It made me feel like they were more interested in getting me to sign a lease rather than making me feel at home in my new community.  I ended up renting an apartment, not only that I liked and fit all of my criteria, but they had a very nice folder with glossy inserts, no missing words, and it was all organized very nicely.  Considering I spend about $950 a month on an apartment, that's a pretty sizable chunk of my income.  $950/month * 12 months = $11400  While the marketing material wasn't the only contributing factor that lead to choosing where to rent, it didn't hurt anything.  Other apartment complexes lost out because I didn't even want to look at what they had to offer.  Just goes to show how something so little can pay off so big. 

Happy Marketing!!!

Provide Information, Produce Customers

Many companies offer discount/loyalty programs.  If you live near a Kroger, I'm sure you have a Kroger Card with you wherever you go.  Lots of people, including myself, have a Best Buy Reward Zone card.  The great thing about both of these programs is when you sign up, there is a lot of promotional material to explain exactly what it is you're signing up for.  Hundreds of companies offer discount programs, but not all of them offer promotional materials to accompany you.  I understand that it costs money to print promotional material, but is it worth the $0.25 it's going to cost you to print a brochure to lose a loyal customer?  A simple page can be printed easily, if you want it to look more profession, take it to Kinkos.  In my opinion, it's better to go with a more professional look, but we'll get to that on a different day.

Last week my boyfriend was visiting.  I gave him a Nikon D60 as a birthday/Christmas/anniversary/Valentine's Day gift.  While he was visiting he wanted to get a camera bag to protect the camera on his trip home.  After not finding precisely what we wanted at Best Buy, we went to Ritz Camera.  We found a great Tamrac bag and a couple of other items.  That's besides the point.  So while we are checking out, the girl tries to sell us a loyalty program where you get some discount on printing using their services.  The reason I'm so vague is because we really didn't know anything about the program.  When my boyfriend asked for some material to take with him to think about, she responded that she didn't have anything, just what she told us.  We say no thank you and move on to another store.  As we continue to shop, my boyfriend mentions that if they had some type of material, he would've considered it.  The other problem was that the program didn't offer any immediate benefit. 

Now, if they had provided some type of material for us to look over, we might have considered it.  But, now we will get our prints wherever we feel like rather than being repeat customers.  That's a lot of money if you consider that we just got a new camera, we sometimes scrapbook, giving pictures is one of my favorite fall back gifts, and I love to frame pictures.  They could have made a lot of money if they had just provided a little information.  A little information goes a long way.

Happy Marketing!

Take Advantage of Your Strengths

Many times people go into business because they feel that they can provide a product or service that either other companies can't provide or that they can do better than the competition.  Look at Burger King and McDonald's.  Biases aside, they provide a very similar product.  They are fast food hamburger restaurants.  They both have a signature sandwich, the Big Mac and the Whopper.  However, in the minds of consumers, they are different.  McDonald's slogan of "I'm Lovin' It" automatically brings to mind the jingle.  Burger King has "the king."  But each has found customers who are loyal.  Growing up, I wouldn't touch Burger King with a ten foot pole.  As an adult, however, I went over 3 years without touching McDonald's and have become a devoted Burger King fan.  They have managed to coexist for decades offering very similar products.  Sure, the burgers are slightly different, but the premise is the same. 

So what if there are 45 other restaurants town, yours is different.  But step back for a minute and ask yourself why.  What makes you different from the other 45?  And how can you use that to your advantage?  First you need to find out why you're different.  If you are exactly the same as 10 or 12 other restaurants, it may not be long before you fold like so many others have done before you.  Next, use your differences to your advantage.

In St. Joseph, MI, where I grew up, there is a wonderful restaurant called Schu's.  Schu's is a great restaurant and has awesome food, but is really well known for one thing, their potato soup.  It is, in a word, scrumptious.  It's thick and creamy, comes topped with bacon, chives, and cheese, and completely sinful.  It's the perfect compliment to a meal or perfect as a meal itself on a cold Michigan night. I am not the only one who feels this way.  While Schu's is always busy, let's create a scenario where they need a little help. 

Let's say they are very busy Thursday through Sunday and closed Monday.  Since tourist season is over, Tuesdays have become dead.  If I worked there I would suggest using our potato soup to our advantage.  People know about it, they love it, let's provide it for them.  From October to March, I would do a Soup Tuesdays once either every other week or once a month, depending on what is monetarily feasible.  I would advertise that on Tuesdays, every customer, that was interested, would get a free cup (not bowl) of soup with their dinner. Use your strength to draw in customers on a slow day.  Most people can't make a meal out of one cup of soup so it's more than likely they will buy a dinner and a drink as well.  While you may not make as much as if the soup was full price, you're bringing in more money on Tuesday than you were previously. 

Maybe you're a pizza joint that uses a special kind of mozzerrella on your pizza.  Don't limit it just to your pizza, use it in manicotti and even on top of salads.  Use what makes you different and brings customers in to your advantage.  Don't assume that they will come on their own, entice them.  "If you build it, they will come" may have worked for Kevin Costner, but it doesn't always work in real life. 

Happy Marketing!

Work Together, Not Alone, It Will Help Your Business and Theirs

Many companies think of what will be best for them.  Which is understandable.  You want what's best for you, your company, and your customers.  Sometimes, the best thing for you is also the best thing for your neighbor.  A lot of times people forget that they can be symbiotic with another company.  Many companies work with non-profit organizations, but few seem to work with other companies.  Sometimes you need to work with someone who does something different from you in order to help yourself.  Here's an example.

There's a small boutique clothing store in my home town.  It sells beautiful clothing but I've never been there when a lot of people are.  I can't even think of the name, that's how unmemorable this place is.  This small company really needs to do something to get it's name out there.  Here's my idea.  Think, who loves clothes and has a lot of disposable income?  Teenagers.  Teenagers are worth $179 billions dollars a year. A YEAR!!!  I would recommend that this company holds a fashion show at the local high school.  Not only that, have girls volunteer to be the models.  Charge a couple of bucks per ticket at the high school auditorium and donate the proceeds to one of the clubs at the school like Key Club or the Boosters.  If you have girls modeling, they will bring their friends, their parents, and even their parents friends.  It's a great way to sponsor a fun event as well as show off your goods and get your name out in the public. 

You can work with other local companies as well and all be sponsors.  Get together with a salon to do the girls hair and make-up before going on stage.  Talk to a bakery to provide cookies and other desserts for after the show.  Not only do people see your product, you're helping a local organization, and getting other companies (that aren't your competitors) noticed as well.  And it doesn't have to be a high school, it could be a newcomers club, Rotary club, or Kiwanis club.  Work together to help everyone and get noticed more.  It's a win-win.

Happy Marketing!