Jul 3, 2014 | Communication, Customers, Management, Marketing, Small business
Have you ever been in a conversation where despite the language being clear, the subject of the conversation is absolutely muddled?
I have, many times, and it occurs particularly where there is an individual in the conversation who has a barrow to push, and irrespective of anything else said, responds from the barrow.
Now it is happening every day with websites I see.
The site is talking about themselves, their particular barrow, when those looking for something are not interested in their “news” they are looking for stuff that is in their interests.
B2B sites seem to make some pretty consistent mistakes, talking about:
- The size and geographic reach of their business
- What they have done to shape markets
- Their latest “innovation” which more often than not is just a paint job
- Their great record of corporate social responsibility
- The sustainability steps they have taken.
There are many others, but you get the picture.
By contrast, B2B customers seeking goods and services via the web are looking for:
- Information on how the product or service offered will perform
- Delivery and after sales service arrangements
- Evidence of the expertise claimed
- Technical information on the design and performance parameters
- An open, simple and transparent communication process pre and post sale
And so on.
The marketing challenge is to see your products and services from the perspective of the customers, and potential customers.
To me it seems blindingly obvious, but clearly, a large percentage of B2B web site managers have no idea, and their marketing needs some intelligent thought.
Jun 24, 2014 | Change, Communication, Management, Marketing, Small business, Social Media
I asked that question a week or so ago of a group of SME’s, most of whom did not have any digital presence.
None said their businesses would survive without a phone. Why is it then that they think they can survive without a website and social media presence? These tools are as integral to success as the phone, but like the phone, need to be used well, as they are just a tool.
Last week (July 19, 2014) the ABS released a report “Summary of IT use and innovation in Australian Business”
web presence by size
Web presence by industry
Businesses with 4 or less employees 35% penetration, 19 or less employees, 60% penetration, overall about 50% of enterprises have no web presence.
Lowest web penetration is, obviously in industries with many SME’s, agriculture, transport, and distribution.
It is a report that highlights the paucity of digital capability amongst SME’s, which are the backbone of the Australian economy, and back up previous reports by Sensis and others pointing out the shortfall.
The building of digital capability by SME’s is not just necessary to compete, it is vital for survival.
Social media use
The pattern is repeated in social media, but is more pronounced, most SME’s do not even use the simplest forms to market their business.
I remain “gobbsmacked” that so many still seem not to have got the message,
That is where your customers are!!!
But what opportunities there are for improvement and leverage, it just takes a bit of energy and time.
Jun 20, 2014 | Communication, Social Media
not an algorithm
There are platforms that will automate social for you, do everything, except the one thing that really counts, make a person to person connection.
“Social Media” badly used is a terrible misnomer, it is often anti-social media, an effort to remove people from the process.
Maybe we will develop an app to do that, but I suspect not, we are social animals, it is in our DNA, and you cannot substitute that for some digital metaphor.
Our bullshit detectors are enormously sensitive.
Last week, I got another email, personally addressed , so it passed the first test, but the font of my name was slightly different, Boom! Bullshit detector cuts in.
I guess it was better than the Dear Mr. Allen Roberts, or even Dear Mr Roberts Allen, but really it was only just more obviously a machine that had been poorly set up, a SPAM, or the result of my email address being scraped from somewhere I would rather have had it remain private.
Authenticity matters, and it is hard to scale. The tools will get us part of the way, like all tools, but it is how we use them that really counts. Using tools to get you to the point of eyeballing is sensible, a logical leveraging of technology, but few people are happy to eyeball a device and call it “Sally”, and really mean it.
Technology can get you so far, but usually is still requires people to close the social loop
Jun 6, 2014 | Communication, Small business
Marketing is about telling stories, engaging people with them, which builds awareness, affinity, preference, and with luck, persistence, and good management, can lead to a transaction, or two.
Metaphors, when well used can make a complicated point in a memorable and understandable way.
Couple of weeks ago in a talk to a small group of SME owners about the rugged terrain of modern marketing, I used an old metaphor, a throwaway, in the midst of the conversation. I was surprised firstly that nobody had heard it before, and secondly at the sudden clarity it delivered to a complex message.
“When you go to the hardware to buy a 10mm drill” I said, “you do not really want a 10mm drill, what you want is a 10mm hole”.
An oldie but a goodie.
This morning on the copyblogger site I saw another one I really like. It goes something like: “To make a restaurant successful, you don’t really need the best location, best service, lowest prices, fascinating menus, and all the rest, you just need a starving crowd”.
Obviously, all the good features you will see touted around as people flog bum-spots in restaurants in a crowded market all helps. They are part of the means to the end, the way you deliver the service, but to be outrageously successful, what you really need is a starving crowd.
A good metaphor, like a good picture, clarifies, simplifies, amplifies, and makes memorable, the outcome of a complex conversation.
May 29, 2014 | Branding, Communication, Customers, Marketing, Social Media
http://tomfishburne.com/?s=word+of+mouth&x=0&y=0
This morning a friend was telling me about a product he had used recently, and how it changed his life. Well, made a small piece of it better at least.
Next time I am looking for a product in that category, I will try it. Very little to lose even if I do not share the enthusiasm, and I value my friends opinion.
Word of mouth marketing.
Free marketing for the product supplier, right?
Consider how much effort went into making the product right, managing and optimising the value chain, in creating the programs that engaged and made an advocate of my friend, and gave him the stories to pass on to me.
Word of mouth is very effective, the most effective form of marketing we humans have ever seen, and on the surface it is free, but beneath the surface, there is frantic paddling going on.
Word of mouth marketing works but is not free, it is earned.
May 27, 2014 | Branding, Communication, Marketing, Strategy
‘Rich red Fountain Tomato sauce”
Fountain Tomato Sauce used to be the market leader in NSW, daylight was second and third. This was a long time ago, and responsibility for the Fountain brand was my first real job as a product manager who had real accountability, and the power to make lasting brand and resource allocation decisions.
I walked into the job just as Franklins (remember them) launched a “No Frills” tomato sauce, at 0.69c on shelf against the 0.73 for Fountain. Our volumes immediately took a huge hit.
I still remember the details, and the near panic that ensued.
“No Frills” was the first real housebrand of the type that 25 years later would play a role in the demise of the Australian food processing industry.
The immediate instinct was to drop the price of Fountain, and compete aggressively, certainly that is what the sales people insisted on, but we took a different tack.
We increased the price, to 0.81c, improved the product a fraction by adding a few percentage points more of tomato paste, and advertised, giving consumers a reason to pay the extra. When it was just 3 cents, chances were the products were pretty similar, but when the difference was 0.12 cents, consumers recognised they were not the same, both might be tomato sauce, but they were not the same, and they had to make a conscious choice.
We set about telling people why Fountain cost more, and why it was a great choice over the “cheapie” delivering real value to them and their families, and they paid the extra, willingly. Our sales went up, margins were up, the MD was very happy, and I was over the moon.
Point was, we gave consumers a reason to buy Fountain, we told a story, entertained, informed, it was a significant premium, but not one that would break any budget, and the product was better, much better, and consumers felt better buying it and having it on their table.
“Rich Red Fountain Tomato Sauce, Australia’s finest red”.
Wish Youtube was around then, and I had copies of the radio ads, they are still the ads I am most proud of over a long marketing career, with many successful ad campaigns.
