The Old School's Demise Has Been Greatly Exaggerated

As a marketer, I'm always interested in the latest and greatest, the cutting edge, the newest, freshest way to "do" marketing.  I think, as a profession, we tend to draw people who are naturally interested in the shiniest, newest toys to play with.  It's interesting and fun.

Back in my day, we hit customers with baseball bats to
sell our products, and they liked it!

However, I also know that just because it's old or traditional, doesn't mean it isn't useful, valid, or relevant in my marketing mix.

I admit, I get my hackles up whenever I read generic statements like:

"Direct Mail doesn't work and is too expensive"
"Email is old-school and nobody uses it"
"Stop wasting time on promotional materials"

These are all paraphrased from a variety of sources that I've read over the past few months.  Sure, sometimes, people say this in order to be provocative and get attention (and views, shares, likes and comments).  But most of the folks posting this stuff probably believe it.

Some of us like to act like if it isn't on the cutting edge it's useless, and older tactics are so antiquated we might as well be using cuneiform on clay plates.

I'll grant that they could only be using technology less than 10% of the population uses in order to drive a gajillion dollars in sales. It's possible. Sure.

Did that sound a little skeptical?

Just because it's more than a year or two old, doesn't make it obsolete!  It's marketing, not a cell phone or tablet!

For example, I literally laugh out loud when people call email marketing "old school". I remember when it was going to be the absolute death of direct mail - which, by the way, was the cheap channel compared to broadcast and display advertising - and that was in this century, mind you.

Yet, I do still get lots of direct mail pieces in my mail box every day. Weird.

So let's say you keep chasing that shiny object and never develop skill in these supposedly "old school" techniques.

If you're not using iCrown©, you're a dinosaur!

What happens when you engage a company that doesn't have a sophisticated CRM software but still needs to do targeted direct marketing and customer relationship management right now? Do you know that you can do it without a CRM tool?  Do you know how?

What happens when you work with a business whose customer base isn't that wired?  Just because you're on Twitter and Tumblr and Snapchat and Instagram and whatnot, it doesn't mean your customer base is.

What happens when a massive system failure happens (and it will, my friends), and you can't execute a cutting-edge marketing technique?  What do you have as a backup plan?  How else will you reach your customer if you can't do it online?  Will  you just... not market?

I think you need to make sure you have more in your arsenal than only the latest and greatest.  I think you need to make sure you're not projecting your love of a new technology or technique onto your customers and clients.  I think you need to take another look at the old school, because they do still work much of the time!

Above all, keep this front of mind:  Tactics and techniques should always be 100% focused on what the customers want and need.

Sometimes, that means an old-school technique is the preferred and most effective method to use (usually, it's more complex than that, but still...).  Be open and prepared for that, as a marketer, and as a business owner.

Got an "old school" channel working wonders for you?  Don't know how to fix the CRM problem above?  Think I'm a crotchety old coot, waving my cane around yelling at you kids to get off my lawn? Let me know!

Bombs Gone Wrong (Part 1)

On Tuesday, I wrote about marketing tactics, using the metaphors "farms" for slow growth long-term tactics, and "bombs" for short-term high-impact lead generation tactics.

I love the smell of marketing in the morning.

A bomb tactic will generate a lot of leads or attention or revenue, but the impact is very short-term. This would include promotions, events, sales, grand openings, coupons, sweepstakes, giveaways - anything that makes a big noise but has very little ongoing effect after the fact.

Setting off a marketing bomb is awesome and fun, but done poorly, it can be very bad news.  Setting one off the wrong way can at best waste your money, and at worst, damage your business (sometimes irrevocably).

Here's some examples of bombs going wrong.

Follow-Up Failure

You bought a booth at that big, well-attended, high-visibility expo.  You gave out a tons of stuff, collected a lot of leads, talked to a lot of great people, and got a lot of attention.  You just really had an awesome show...

... and then you just dropped the ball, as you did not plan time and process after the event to follow up and close with the leads.  Eventually, you might have gotten around to it weeks or months later, but by that time, it's no use, the "halo" of your event is now gone and those leads are now stone cold.

I'd bet this is the number one mistake we make with this kind of tactic - the lack of adequate follow-up.

When you set off a marketing bomb like an event, you MUST have a follow-up plan in place.  If you have to do it yourself, clear time in your schedule and put a process in place.

If you don't follow up, don't waste your time and money with the event.

Coupon Collapse

Or let's say you decide to send coupons out to drive business during a specific period.  Awesome, you have a huge uptick in leads, trials or sales during the coupon redemption period.

The coupon equivalent of the unmarked bill.

You didn't have in place a way to measure redemptions associated to sales nor did you plan out time after the redemption period to do this analysis.  So you're not really sure, objectively, what your margin erosion on sales associated to those coupons was nor what lift you may have had vs. a non-coupon redemption period.

Also, you decided to saturate the community with these coupons - and now, you've given away tons of margin without any way to follow up with the individuals who redeemed the coupons.

You've got to track what any tactic does for you!  You've got to have a way to follow up with customers!  Without that, you are just giving money away.

I'll continue expounding on this in Part 2 on Tuesday.

Need help with the issues I bring up here?  That's right up my alley!  Let me help - contact me today or leave a comment below!

Farming, Demolition, and You

When you "do" marketing, do you ever get frustrated when it takes a lot longer than you'd like?  Or how about the opposite problem - you do something that takes off so quick, it's hard to keep up?

Coming soon:  a fresh crop o' sales leads.

That's because marketing tactics (basically) fall into two categories.

Some tactics take a long time and lots of work to start generating leads, but when they do, they keep bearing fruit as long as you maintain and monitor them.  These tactics are "farms".

Others are quick hits for a big spike in business, but have little to no "tail" afterward, like a bomb going off.  These will generate a lot of leads quickly, but can't be maintained to continue producing leads (they must be replaced with a new campaign).  These tactics are "demolition".

Farming tactics include:

• SEO and web sites
• Leads Referral Marketing
• Content marketing

Demolition tactics include:

• Events
• Discounts, coupons and "sales"
• Sweepstakes, contests and promotions

A good marketing plan will include both categories of tactics, strategically placed in your marketing calendar, with the right measures and expectations in place.

Got any stories of the results of bombs or farms in your marketing plan?  I'd love to hear about it!

Doing Things On The Cheap (DOTC): Leads (Referral) Marketing (aka "networking")

Leads (or referral) marketing activities can be one of the best, most effective tools in your arsenal as a small business.

These groups work by bringing together people in a variety of industries for the express purpose of creating relationships so you can confidently refer people to each other.

It is very common for these kinds of groups to be industry exclusive - once a member from a specific industry "locks in" membership (and how to do that varies from group to group) no other person in that industry is allowed to participate in the group.

It's a great way to meet other business people who are there for the purpose of meeting you and learning more about you.  They’re also great if you need to practice speaking in public (as you will usually do at least a 30 second “pitch” about you and your business).

So wait, which color of wine goes with my business card, again?

There usually are several groups in your area – some completely free, some cheap, some pricey.  I’m going to focus on finding the first two rather than the latter (if you are interested in the latter, check out groups like BNI or NetWorkz.  Also, many local Chambers of Commerce have these sorts of groups going for their members - if you are a Chamber member, use this service!) 

Go to Meetup and set up an account for yourself (do it as your business, not you, personally).  Make sure you use a good - and accurate - picture of yourself and fill out your profile completely.

Search for meetups within your target geography (typically not too far from your house or center of business) using the following interest keywords:

Referrals, small business owners, network marketing, business referral exchange, referral marketing, small business marketing, marketing strategy, business entrepreneurs.

You should also add any special terms related to your ideal customer base (as some groups may be industry specific).  Over time, additional terms will be suggested to you by Meetup in order to find more groups.

Several meetups should appear, unless you live in a very small place.  If none do anywhere near you, and you're the organized and outgoing type, you could try starting one yourself (I'll write about that another time).

Join a few on Meetup, go to the meeting, do one-on-one meetings with the people you meet there, develop relationships, and above all, learn as much as you can about the group members and do your very best to refer leads to them as much as you can.

They will pay you in kind, at least, a good group will (I talk about "bad" groups in "Five Reasons Your Leads Referral Group Sucks" Part One and Part Two).

Be aware it can take a while to get traction in a group, so don't expect a ton of leads on your first visit.  This marketing tactic requires patience and time to develop trust, and you must do your best to contribute to the group by bringing in new members as much as possible.

Many, if most, of the groups you find on Meetup either are free (they are at a restaurant and the expectation is that you buy something to eat - you can keep your cash expense down by ordering just ice water or a soda or something) or have a very small fee of some sort.  So, essentially, the major investment here is your time, especially as you also need to have stand-alone one-on-one meetings outside of group meetings to get to know the members better.

Of course, you will need to evaluate the investment in time and money versus the return (generally measured in leads) like any other tactic.  Be objective, but also don't discount the "vibe" of the group in your decision making process.

You may need more than one group, but don't do too many, as the "pool" of people you can refer business to will be too large to be meaningful.  The key here is building relationships and being known as someone who actively seeks leads for the rest of the group.

So sign up for Meetup and get going - let me know how it's working for you!