MarketingMoment

The biggest mistake businesses are making right now is failing to pay attention to the changing consumer mindset…

There is so much vying for our attention nowadays – online links, information, ads, video, music, the latest social-media craze – that consumers end up with little time or inclination to notice the messages that are targeted at them.

You could say that consumers have moved beyond reaching saturation point, and have simply switched off.

This is a major setback for companies who provide goods and services –especially via e-commerce. Because they are wakening up to the fact that the real commodity for any successful company isn’t consumers, per se, but rather the attention of those consumers.

The challenge, therefore, is to capture and hold the attention of those consumers they wish to attract – despite the increasing number of demands for that attention. Their message or brand has to stand out as if it were the only one wearing a high-visibility vest on a foggy internet motorway.

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One of the largest and most efffective forms of marketing on the planet. That is what direct marketing is. And it works. Boy, does it ever. Just spend a little time Googling the term with the word “success” or “results” and you’ll see what I mean.It has many advantages over advertising and most conventional forms of marketing, including:

1. Direct marketing is trackable. And, of course, by being able to account for every pound or dollar spent, there will never be a question mark over what works – and what doesn’t.
2. It has publicity value. It lets your prospective customers and clients know that you exist in the first place. While they might not act immediately on your offer, there is no telling when a prospect might pull your direct-mail piece out and get in touch.
3. It’s perfect for small businesses and entrepreneurs because of its simplicity. It doesn’t take much –  in terms of time, cost and effort – to product an effective direct-mail package.

So whether business is slow right now, or you need to test a new product, you owe it to yourself to at least give direct marketing a go. 

If you want help with your direct mail, join my FREE VIP newsletter for practical tips and strategies on ALL aspects of marketing: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/marketing_cfs_newsletters.htm

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Holding a competition is a great marketing tool, giving you:

• brand recognition
• positioning in the marketplace
• goodwill in the community
• publicity
• the ability to fish for product name ideas
• leads
• new customers and/or sales

It needn’t be complicated or costly to set up, either.

If you’re looking to build your customer base, then a simple ’send-in-and-win’ tear-off reply coupon is sufficient. You can do the same via email (”Send the answer to the following question to contest@yourdomain.com”). 

You can also get ideas for a new product or service. For example one of my colleagues is giving away $1,000 (approx £550) for the person to come up with the best title for his forthcoming book. This is all being done via social media. 

If you’re a life coach with a local client base, you can ask your clients and prospects to choose their best restaurant, doctor, supermarket checkout assistant, bus driver, milkman or postman and give away six months of coaching to the winner. 

If you’re a gardener, hold a “name that tree” competition, and then donate a tree or two to the local park in both your names. You can do the same if you’re a carpenter, only donate a bench instead… 

The ideas are endless. You just need to get a bit creative. 

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I heard on the news (BBC) this morning that supermarkets are spending more on advertising and less on branding, in an attempt to lure shoppers and defeat the credit-crunch fallout.

Does this mean that you should follow suit?

Advertising – whether it’s advertising in magazines, newspapers, the trade press or online – CAN be yield a good return on business. But it’s generally more appropriate for larger brands with the advertising budget to match their size.

That said, advertising DOES work, and it can work for you . . . providing you advertise the right things to the right people in the right places and in the right way.  

If you do wish to dip your toe in the advertising arena, then I would suggest spending your budget very carefully to ensure you receive maximum returns for your expenditure.  

My step-by-step, lead-generation system High-Powered Ads that Generate Sales reveals where to place your ad – and where NOT to advertise – as well as how to triple the results of ANY ad you write . . . guaranteed! For more information, point your browser to: http://mediaminister.co.uk/products.htm#HPA 

But back to the question of whether you should ditch your branding efforts. I think not. Branding is crucial to any business – at any time and regardless of the state of the economy.

It can reinforce your image so that you stay in your existing customers mind, as well as grab the curiosity of potential new customers. 

Central to effective branding is the concept of consistency. No matter what you do, you absolutely MUST be consistent with your core marketing message. That’s because you want your business image and brand to be easily recognisable, and you want your prospects to conclude that your company is a confident, credible and stable one.

To really strengthen your brand image, as well as being consistent, you should be educating your potential customers about WHY they should buy your product or service (no one likes to be sold, right?). The use of case studies and testimonials is a great way to achieve this. You’ll find plenty of other ideas in posts here on MarketingMoment.

So what about you? How are you educating your customers to increase sales?

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Top web advertisers and marketers favour search and email marketing, according to a recent survey carried out by industry leaders ad:tech and MarketingSherpa. The annual survey is a good indicator of what’s working online and what’s to come.

Behaviorally-targeted ads rated higher than any other online performer. The advertisers and marketers questioned plan to invest more in PPC and behavioral ads this year, and move away from poorly-targeted display ads.

Other top tactics include:

- House email lists.

- Testing. Marketers are measuring, testing and split-testing more than ever in almost all categories surveyed.

- Search engine optimisation (SEO) is delivering a strong return on investment.

- Agencies are urging marketers to explore viral marketing and advertising in mobile phones, online video sites and virtual worlds.

The latter reflects the changing landscape of the online advertising world. 

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The lead article in the latest issue of MediaMinister’s Communiqué for Success reveals that far from being the kind of lovely lady who rejoices in handing out cough drops while sipping chamomile tea, Aunty AIDA is more akin to Checkpoint Charlie in character.

AIDA is in fact one of the most useful formulas for keeping your creative thinking on tap. And it has the potential to substitute flagging sales with a roaring trade . . . BUT only if you pay attention.

To read the full article and gain hidden links to recent CfS newsletter editions, you’ll have to become a subscriber. As well as being FREE, you’ll receive a business-building report and audio CD simply for signing up and trying it out. 

Subscribe here.

Recent CfS newsletter issues cover:

• The Most Important Action You Can Take For Your Business This Year 

• Recession-Proof Your Business
• Stand Apart From ‘Me-Too’ Competitors 
• Stop! Don’t Post that Letter!
• Common Mistakes that Can Kill Business
• When Push Comes to Shove
• How to Bolster Trust on Your Website 
• Just How Believable Are You? 

Subscribe here. 

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“Brace yourselves: We’re heading for a recession…” says one paper. “We’ve never had it so good,” says another.

While pundits argue (and confuse us) about whether there is an official ‘recession’ on the horizon – or not – what matters to those of us who are self-employed is how are we supposed to survive the very real credit crunch ‘fallout’.  

Some solopreneurs and SMEs are cutting costs where they can. Unfortunately, this happens to be in the very area where no one interested in staying in business can ill afford to ‘downsize’: marketing.

Experts agree that now is NOT the time to wind down your marketing spend. On the contrary, you’d be wise to up the spend. For investment in marketing now will help shield against any future revenue losses.

As the study Turning Adversity into Advantage: Does Proactive Marketing During a Recession Pay Off?, shows organisations that a) value marketing, b) feature a corporate culture that rewards risk-taking, and c) are willing to up the ante on marketing efforts are those who come out on top.

“The firms that had all three characteristics did very well in a recession. But firms that are missing any one of them, they’re in trouble,” says As Dr Gary Lilien, one of the report’s authors. 

It’s true that when times are tough competitors often fall by the wayside. Any steps you can take to enhance your efforts to find new customers/clients, and to turn existing ones into loyal long-term buyers of your goods/services will help you come of any recession [whether real or imagined] really, really well.

So do yourself a favour: Be bold and rejuvenate your marketing. You’ll thank yourself in the long run – regardless of whether or not we slide into a full-scale recession.  

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At any given point in time, there are a number of major ‘conversations’ going on inside the heads of your prospective customers. This is partly down to the increasing demands on our time and attention… What’s more, your target market will only be aware of a small portion of this inner talk.

So you can appreciate why trying to sell anything – online, via a classified ad, or a letter, wherever – can be nigh on impossible. Until you find a way to stop all that mind chatter. And it’s your opening, or headline, that gets you noticed.

As well as grabbing that all-important attention, a great headline will help pull your readers into the body copy, so compelling them to read the rest of your message.

Here are three top headline formulas that have, over the years, proven to be winners. Try one or all of them in your own advertising and marketing materials, and see your response rates change for the better.

1. The ‘how-to’ headline

Perhaps the most used (and abused) headline of them all. When done well, the ‘how-to’ headline has the ability to dramatically improve the response. I use this type of headline all the time. What you’re selling here is how to achieve a given result. Some examples of ‘how-to’ headlines include:

• “How To Have a Long and Healthy Life”

• “How a Computer Crash Can Be Good For Business”

• “How to Open Your Own Online Shop in Just 15 Minutes”

• “How to Lose the Bloat (Safely) in Just 10 Days”

2. The question headline

Another winning headline formula I use often is the question headline. This can be a very effective way of using headlines, as the question will (or should) appeal to your prospects’ emotions. It’s a good way of engaging your readers, too. When they read a headline written in the form of a question, they’ll usually answer the question in their mind. Examples include:

• “Are You Making These Five Marketing Mistakes?”

• “Want to Stop Spam Once and For All?”

• “Are You Sick and Tired of the Daily 9-5 Routine?”

•  “Does Your Partner Do Any of These Embarrassing Things”

3. The testimonial headline

This is a very powerful headline technique IF you have specific and exceptional customer testimonials you can use. Examples include:

• “Everyone Keeps Commenting on How Well I Look – and I Feel Years Younger Already…”

• “My Website Traffic Increased by 315% In 31 Days…”

• “I Made £276 Yesterday Alone Using Your Marketing System! I Didn’t Think This Was Possible – Especially As I’m No Marketing Expert Myself.”

• ”Tom Jones’s Consulting Is Magic – My Sales Have Increased by 25% Over the Past Two Months!”

Tip: To appear credible, always include your clients’ full names and their websites or the cities they live in. Oh, and be sure to get permission first!

Your headlines literally have the power of making or breaking your marketing efforts. So, take your time and test the different formulas above to see which works best for you. By testing and refining, you should hopefully see your sales grow considerably.

(C) 2007 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved 
Article first published in the August 2007 of CfS –– a free newsletter aimed at helping entrepreneurs, solo professionals and small businesses: 
 

 gain more customers
 secure more sales
 increase website hits
 and generally be more successful in today’s fierce marketplace.

Want to use this article on your own blog, or website, message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it’s due. You MUST include the following: 

Tracey Dooley of MediaMinister (www.mediaminister.co.uk) is an experienced copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent 14 years crafting compelling concepts and copy that successfully sell, inform, educate or entertain. =====>Get a FREE business-building audio CD by signing up for her freebie business-building tips, marketing and publicity pointers: www.mediaminister.co.uk.

***Would you like some help in developing or polishing your headlines? I would be glad to help or act as a facilitator for you and your team… Just let me know.

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