I'll Try Anything Once...

I was recently talking to a business owner about his organization's communications strategy. He had recently purchased an ad package on a local info-mertial only cable station. The station runs ads that range in length from 5 to 30 minutes.

I asked him why he had decided to try out this method of communicating. He responded that he was willing to try anything once, and that it was the only way for him to see what worked for his marketing communications arsenal.

This is not uncommon. Failing hard evidence of how a communications medium will work for them, business owners will often "all-up test". "All-up testing" was developed by NASA in the Apollo program to speed the process of reaching the moon. Instead of testing the components of a rocket, say each stage of the rocket's propulsion system one at a time, the all-up test would use a complete rocket and test it via a live launch. The approach worked for NASA - they did land men on the moon with the result of "all-up testing"...the Saturn V rocket.

For business owners, willingness to "all-up test" with "live" dollars, is driven by the same desire that NASA had - get there faster. Business owners see a new avenue to communicate with potential customers and they want to try it now to see if it will work. Could this new idea be the "one thing"? (see 5/5/08 post of this blog for explanation of the "one thing")

What business owners are not sometimes aware of is that they are not just testing a medium when they throw an ad on cable tv or buy a new type of ad specialty or place an ad on a website. They are testing the medium, the message, the position, the timing, and perhaps two or three other variables.

This may not seem like a big deal, but I've met many business owners who bought a certain medium and complained "It worked for a while, but then all of a sudden, nothing!" They want to know why...

I don't know (I wasn't there to test it), but I have a guess - one of the untested variables was changed. They changed the offer, the message, the way the product or service was presented, timing, etc. So while it appeared the medium stopped working, in reality, some other variable in the mix (or combination of variables) was/were the driver of the responses. But since these different aspects of the mix were not tested for their impact on success, there was no way to understand what happened. Leaving the business owner (and probably also the salesperson who sold the medium) frustrated.

It is better to breakdown the parts of the whole and test the new medium carefully. That way, you can continually improve your results and instead of trying new ideas once, you can build a true arsenal - tried and true marketing "weapons" that work for specific markets, products, messages, offers, promotions, etc. Genius!

SLE

What's the One Thing that Will Grow Sales?

I talk to a lot of people about marketing and sales, whether in a business or other settings. Often I am asked a question or series of questions that in the end boils down to this- "What is the one thing I should do to build my business (or sales)?"

Ah yes, the silver bullet, the golden key, the one thing that will solve all the problems...and hopefully do so at very little cost! We all try to do this in our life and work- it is really an attempt to take the complexity out of what we are trying to do so we feel more control over the results we achieve.

When considering marketing and sales, it is understandable to try to break the clutter of complexity. There have never been more options for promoting your product or service. Never been more ideas for creatively packaging your message. Never been more media choices to target your audience.

So, what is the "one thing"? When I'm asked this question I usually respond with "a plan". I know, not as jazzy as spouting off the latest trend like "create a campaign around a green theme" or "use a text message strategy".

No, a plan isn't jazzy. Yet it is the one thing you can do to optimize the resources you have and make wise decisions on how to reach out to your prospects and customers. It provides the framework for testing what works and allows for both fun and creative idea generation while considering the important matters of resource allocation (i.e. how much money, time, people and energy we have to put towards marketing).

Sometimes this opens up a great discussion about process and organizational pressures and long term goals. That's a great place to start on the journey to the "one thing".

Conversely, sometimes my response leads to a follow up question, "Yeah, but I'm thinking about doing a (insert creative idea here) and am just wondering if that will bring in the sales I need." Uh oh. Red flag. I know I am talking to a business owner who will continue to chase the latest, greatest creative or media idea a sales rep can bring him/her. A business owner who will probably always struggle to understand from where sales really come. And maybe, struggle to stay in business.