Help in the Storm

My friend Neal Greibling is busy helping people find work they love. This includes an intensive process for uncovering what the individual is passionate about and how that passion might lead to a new career or business.

Neal was recently featured in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and provides a free consultation to anyone who is looking for a change to a more fulfilling worklife, or in the middle of a job search.

For companies considering workforce layoffs, he can help reduce unemployment compensation costs through his programs to help shorten time to find new jobs...even in this economy. Finding Work in a Recessionary Economy is free to employers...that’s right, an outplacement partner that adds no cost to your organization. The program includes:

• Group Workshops or One-to-One Coaching
• 12 hours total in 2-hour weekly segments
• Create your career design
• Cover letters and resumes - the pros & cons
• Work with (not against) your fears and resistance
• Define your career niche
• Identify and cultivate personal and professional networks
• Master the art of the informational interview
• Enter the hidden job market through word-of-mouth referral networking
• Develop and work your plan

Learn more about Neal from the P-G article or through his website.

SLE

The New Normal

Talking with a client about his salesforce and the decision to add sale staff. Shifts in the industry and economy have required him to rethink sales goals, staffing and quotas. Seems his analysis shows that though the sales activities are still fruitful, and the process is still solid, the salesforce isn’t able to close as much per call/activity/prospect count.

Another company I know is increasing networking activity and direct contact marketing elements. “Conversions just aren’t as high as they were two years ago.” states the company owner. Again, analysis shows that the message, call-to-action and targets are right. Just lower results.

I know what you’re thinking, “You’re the marketing expert! What should they be doing differently or adding to their marketing activities?” Great question, and in both cases we are testing some new marketing tactics and tweaking some existing elements to see if we can regain the results.

There is another possibility...it’s The New Normal.

I’m wondering if the changes business owners and marketers are seeing will become the standard – response rates, conversion to sales rates, cost per sales rates. The New Normal being at lower levels than in the past. If (and I do mean “if”) that is the case, what to do?

There is a tendency when things aren’t good to compare longingly with the past. That’s a mistake. (Okay, it is not a problem to wax eloquent with some friends about your college days this weekend.)

In marketing, there never were any good old days...our focus should be constantly on determining what the current results are and how to change the mix to make the results better. That means considering a number of things. To name a few:

• Testing – tactics, messages, the call to action and other variables should be tested, but always one at a time! (I cover why at length in “Marketing in a Downturn”.) The goal is to determine if changing one variable increases results.
• Measurement – implicit to testing, being able to tie results to particular or a series of activities is key. Too many business owners know that some of their marketing works...but aren’t sure which tactics.
• Revisiting strategies – even if you’re business isn’t landscaping, things change seasonally. Not simply because of the tilt of the earth and our position to the sun, but because of ebbs and flows in the business climate. Certainly in the current climate, the psyche of customers has been battered. Strategies that may have been abandoned for “not working” can be reconsidered now or in coming quarters.
• New media – Web 2.0 is changing the way people collect information, research and make buying decisions. If you’re not asking questions about how to use social media marketing or other web platforms, you may be missing a market (to quote our Geek Ambassador).

Looking back doesn’t help...unless it is in the context of determining based on results how to move forward. Now is the time to recalibrate your marketing efforts to the New Normal. Email me if you want to talk about your situation.

SLE

Go Direct with PR Ideas

“How does a smaller company like mine get stories in the press?,” asked a customer.

Back in the day (five years ago?), the answer was simple: submit newsworthy items to editors and reporters, and work on getting to meet those same folks. It was recommended to send stories via mail, as well as email, and maybe even by fax. Get to events and meet the editor or reporter if at all possible. Follow-up with phone calls. Good integrated contact strategy.

Electronic (internet) submission is becoming more valuable. Reporters and editors receive feeds from providers and internet news sources that include press releases and they can use tools to aggregate information into a meaningful stream. So releasing via the web is important in order to get into the editors’ news feed.

As the speed of life continues to increase, less is more. Clearly, sending a news release to a big city news provider seems counter productive. Who reads their mail anymore? With smaller, niche or community news outlets, a press kit and story ideas may be welcome via mail...but they might be better held until requested.

Email is now imperative. Most newspapers and other news outlets publish their emails in the publication or on the web. Direct contact is preferred, but be smart...do you want to receive an email with pages of information, attachments and oversized media files? Neither does a reporter on the run using a handheld to access email.

The takeaway is to make your note short, the subject newsworthy, and the subject line becomes critical. Just like when you read email! Give the critical (did I mention newsworthy?) information quickly, clearly, and get out.

Another tactic to consider is using social media marketing (for an overview of how to use social media in all aspects of marketing and growing your business, try our webinar series). Follow an editor on Twitter, tweet when you have something worthwhile. Fan a Facebook page of a news outlet and comment on items and subjects on which you are an expert or affect your industry or customers.

Short, direct contact bursts of information seem to be more and more prevalent...and commanding attention. Getting a reporter or editor interested in a story is all that is really required...not writing the whole story for them, wowing them with your news release format, or inundating them with paper via mail. Did I mention make it newsworthy?

If you’d like to talk more about developing a publicity/PR process in your organization, email me at genius geniusmarketing.com. Also if you have a question about what is news and worth submitting, I’d be glad to talk to you about it.

SLE

Brand Evangelists

Interesting article in Forbes magazine about Brand Evangelism. Article gives some good ideas for engaging customers to help market your product via word of mouth. Not a new idea, but a new platform for identifying and encouraging word of mouth...social media marketing.

Take a read. Be aware that these programs track into three categories:

. 1.Organized promotions (such as the cruise line example in article) in which the company advertises for customers to become spokespeople for the company;

. 2.Sponsored endorsements in which you incentivize activity by customers, but isn’t promoted as a campaign; and

. 3.Informal viral activity.

I was tempted to call that last one “honest word of mouth”, but that overstates it. The warning is simply that when engaging in word of mouth, consider how to organize and “compensate” participants. I’d shoot for the first or last option. Promotions are fun and can be very creative and with Web 2.0 can include video entries, online voting, and lots of other fun elements...and they are clear in their intent.

So is the intent of the informal - or unsponsored - activity. Yes, there is less control, but paying for evangelists does lessen their credibility. There are ways to give benefit without paying for word of mouth - think insiders club with no membership fee, no barriers to entry, and only additional information about the company as the only benefit.

If you’d like to brainstorm a promotion idea, or discuss how to implement a word of mouth campaign, email me at genius geniusmarketing.com. We can determine the platforms, strategies and elements that will provide the greatest return on investment for your situation.

SLE

Twitter Me This

I attended an interesting event this morning, hosted by the Pittsburgh Business Times and moderated by Editor Lauren Lawley Head. The event’s focus was getting your story into print, and there was much excellent information.

A side benefit for me was learning more about the Times staffs’ use of technology. They confirmed some of what I knew: they are very accessible (if you have news for their publication) with email their choice of contact methods. They also use RSS, news reader feeds and subscribe to eNewsletters that bring them news (after all it is all about the news!).

Of note was their use of Twitter. They push out headlines to followers, who can follow up on the Times website with more details. That makes sense. They also find stories on Twitter. Times Web Editor Kim Lyons said she first saw a “tweet” on the G-20 coming to Pittsburgh, confirmed the story, and broke it 20 minutes later on the Times website.

Ms. Lyons also commented that everyone is still figuring out how to use social media and that there are no “Social Media experts”.

In the open time before the presentation I met a woman who works for a nonprofit advocacy group. She told me how she met some of the Times staff on Twitter and came to the event to meet them in person. Via Twitter she had placed a story with the Times. That anecdote was worth the price of the event!

Ironically, this same businesswoman said she can’t understand how to use Facebook for business. I commented in the same vein as what Times staff said later – it is still too new for there to be definitive strategies...so we agreed to connect online and share more about the benefits of each platform.

Yes, here comes the sales pitch... Our own Geek Ambassador has put together an excellent resource for understanding how to use Social Media to help build your business. No, GA isn’t the end all expert, but if you aren’t sure which platforms are for you, aren’t sure how to get started or need some ideas for strategies and tactics, this recorded webinar series is for you.

Give it a try...we’re all on the learning curve together!

SLE

Tactics for the Upturn

“It seems like things are improving with the economy,” she said.

I was talking with an IT expert and a small business banker at a networking event. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard someone say almost these exact words. In the media, talking to business owners, clients, friends...many people are hopeful that the recession is ending and things are looking up.

Of course, I live in Pittsburgh, and the Steelers won their first preseason game last night, so the joy of the Steelers’ return to play may skew our view here. Is the economy improving? Or are the naysayers right that it will be even worse next year. I don’t know, but I do know what you should be doing regarding marketing due what will happen with economy in the next year.

Although I have a degree in Economics, I must admit my favorite economics anecdote comes from the cartoon “Bloom County” - the boy awakes to find the monsters from his closet replaced by two economists. To his horror they start to discuss the economy, disagree and the nightmare is the ongoing discussion to prove their positions. And that “nightmare” is playing out on just about every news and business/finance network right now.

To your marketing, it shouldn’t matter. Sure, the economy might affect your budget, but it shouldn’t. If you think you need to cut back on marketing because of the downturn, it probably comes from not having confidence in your marketing.

If you don’t have confidence in your marketing now, why do you have confidence in it in a good economy?

Here’s the point: Do you know what is working and what isn’t working? Are your marketing strategies and tactics and therefore your budget tied to your financial and strategic goals and built from the ground up? Or do you pull a number out of a hat based on what you think you can (or should) spend on marketing?

What if you could know how much to spend on marketing based on the results you want?

Here’s the takeaway: the ongoing downturn is the perfect time to look at what we’re doing and tie the success of our tactics to the results they show and result in the budgets they deserve.

And you know what? A coming upturn is the perfect time to look at what we’re doing and tie the success of our tactics to the results they show and result in the budgets they deserve.

Let me know (genius geniusmarketing.com) if you’d like some help developing such a discipline in your company.

SLE

Appreciate and More

“It was great, we had customers, a couple prospects and our employees there. Great event!”

He was excited. This partner/owner of a small professional services firm was recounting a customer appreciation event. Such events are not an uncommon practice. And knowing this firm, it wasn’t a one time thing. That’s good...especially in this economy.

Client appreciation is always important, and it is critical now. During a recession or down market, market share is up for grabs. Here’s why:

• customers price and/or term shop – sometimes because of need (to reduce their cost or exposure due to the economy), sometimes out of the knowledge that the buyer rules in a down market;
• sellers and providers typically pull back – everyone is looking at budgets, staffing and marketing, this opens the door for aggressive and/or long-view companies to grab clients from competitors even if it means lower profitability;
• smaller accounts look more attractive – larger companies that typically wouldn’t touch a smaller RFP or order size are suddenly VERY interested in all sizes of business;
• any project will do – specialty firms may “spread their wings” into lines of business that weren’t their specialty...until the recession hit!

These and other forces at play in this economy make holding your share of the market imperative. There are a number of ideas, strategies and tactics to this end in Marketing in a Downturn...it’s not just about seeing or calling your customers more (although that is a healthy thing to do!). Here are a couple ideas to get you started:

• Have a plan for maintaining relationships and continue to “sell” your current customers on the merits of their good decision (to buy from you!);
• Reinforce the key buying variables;
• Add value to your current offerings to customers...there are a number of cost-effective ways to do this;
• Communicate the strength of the organization, leave no doubt that the organization is committed to the customer, the industry, the product offering, etc.;
• Consider changes to terms (on your terms!) and bring them to customers (rather than having to react);
• Partner with other organizations to bring needed information that isn’t directly related to your product (For instance, I am available to provide talks on marketing in the recession...email me!).

This is the time to be creative and genuine with your current customers. Don’t hide! The downturn can be a great way to solidify relationships and bring more value to lock in your share of the market.

Of course, gaining new customers is also important! We’ll take that up in the next article (or see the archive...it’s not like a marketing blog has never discussed gaining new customers!)

If you need some help getting your tactics in order, check out the book, or email me to discuss your situation or providing your customers with a seminar on Marketing in the Downturn!