QR Code Mania

QR Code Mania

by | Feb 12, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Media, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Sometimes technology comes before it’s needed and then there is a triggering event that propels that emerging technology towards mainstream use.

This is the story of QR codes.

Do you use them in your business?

They’ve been around for quite awhile and some of the early uses left people wondering “Why?”

The triggering event that propelled them into the mainstream consumer world happened in 2020 and 2021.

You recall a mere 4 years ago when this coronavirus with the name Covid-19 created a huge upheaval in our world.

Initially at the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 we were told it’s no big deal, just a few isolated cases in the world and if it came to America, we could isolate it.  But a few weeks later a different strategy was urged. First we were told to stay home and shelter in place for a few weeks. Different government agencies and groups were giving conflicting advice and the whole thing turned political instead of just a health issue.

It was up to states and local governments to create and enforce rules, while solutions were being fast-tracked that led to millions getting vaccine jabs and others saying it was a hoax, or at least not as big of a deal as the media was portraying it to be.

A lot of confusion and upheaval but also a few changes in the way businesses operated.

One shift was the move back to one-time use items instead of reusable.  For years, climate change advocates were moving us away from plastics and even some paper to old fashioned alternatives.  In my life, the local Taco Bell that I would stop at for my breakfast burrito used to give me my food on a tray.  When the pandemic hit they were drive-thru only but when they reopened the dining room, it was no more trays, here’s your food in a paper bag.

I’ve seen other restaurants switch from glassware and silverware to disposable in order to eliminate potential cross contamination.

And we’ve finally seen the rise of QR code use.

Useful QR Code use, not the silly QR code use from a decade ago.

Many restaurants and drinking establishments switched from having printed menus that would get touched by 100’s of people and were big germ spreaders to placing QR codes on the table so we can scan and view the menu on our phones.  Some establishments also have a set up where i can pay my bill with QR code technology.

Let me be clear that in case you are unaware of what these QR codes do, they are simply a way for a consumer to get to a place online by scanning a QR code.  This makes it possible for you and I to visit a website without typing in a URL or doing a Google Search or any of that.

A QR code is a tool that the camera on your smartphone or tablet can read and interpret as a hyperlink to something online. That’s all it is.

From a business standpoint QR codes can be a money saver too because instead of printing hundreds of menu’s and then tossing them when they have changes or simply are worn out, the business can update the online page.  Someplaces update it weekly to reflect their specials.  This was prohibitively expense when all we had was ink and paper.

QR codes can by a shortcut to trackable hyperlinks too which helps businesses but doesn’t look scary to the consumer.

In 2012, I wrote an article about Idiotic QR Codes that I’ve linked here.  The Air Force Reserve was running a traditional billboard campaign that you would see as you’re driving and expected people to have their phones handy to be able to scan a giant QR code while speeding down the road.  Talk about the dangers of multi-tasking distracted driving!

I’ve written other articles about QR codes in years past that you can find here.

A big challenge in advertising and marketing is the ability to track results. and while the use of QR codes is not a solution for everyone, everywhere, I discovered a marketing success story from URL shortening service Bit.ly that was used by cat food company Smalls in New York City.

Smalls recently launched an advertising campaign throughout the New York City subway system that scratched just the right itch for cat parents in the Big Apple. These adorable ads had the power to make even the most dogged commuter pause and purr with delight. according to the article.

Signage on the subway system included QR codes.

Knowing that this campaign marked their grand entrance into the world of big-city advertising, Smalls wanted to get the most out of their efforts by leveraging QR Codes to drive viewers to their website across every ad placement.

And what were the results?

By putting the spotlight on these irresistibly photogenic cats and pairing them with concise, compelling messaging, Smalls managed to not only create brand awareness but also guide people toward their ultimate goal—interacting with the brand on their website. With smartphones in hand, subway riders could easily scan the Bitly QR Code and enter the Smalls universe.

As a result, Smalls reached up to 3.6 million subway riders and 500,000 New York City cat parents, building more brand awareness and driving new traffic to their website.

I’ve used the free Bit.ly services for years along with Google’s URL shortening service.  Both offer free and paid versions of QR Code generation.  A couple years ago when I was looking to add people to my team, I created cards that I handed out at career fairs with a QR code that potential candidates could scan to go online and see our openings.  We’ve also used them at a fund-raising event to make it easy to receive online donations.

Need help deciding if you should include QR codes in your business?  Reach out and let’s talk.  I’d also like to hear from those of you who are already implementing QR codes and how you’ve incorporated them.

 

 

Your Customers ALWAYS Have A Choice

Your Customers ALWAYS Have A Choice

by | Feb 5, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

Only fools believe their business has no competition.

There are multiple ways to think about who your competition is, however, I’m going to define it in the simplest terms for businesses and that is customer money.

If I have a need and you could supply that need for a price, but I choose to satisfy that need by spending my money with someone else, that someone else is your competition.

This weeks Sound ADvice newsletter talks about competition and  I’ll share that with you in a second but first I want to broaden your idea of competition.

Today, I ate breakfast.

I had the choice of eating something I already spent money on and was in my kitchen…

Or I could leave my house and spend money somewhere else.

Often, business owners only look at their direct competition.  Today I spent a couple of bucks for a breakfast burrito and a diet Mt. Dew. Yesterday I spent 6 times that for a breakfast sandwich and white mocha from my favorite coffee shop. Tomorrow, I’ll have a bowl of cereal.

See, sometimes the competition isn’t direct, but an alternative, however they all are ways that involve my money and my desire for breakfast.

Now let’s look at the SoundADvice I’m sending out in my weekly newsletter this week. (and if you want a free copy emailed to you every week, just let me know).

Have you ever heard someone say, “We don’t worry about our competitors, we just focus on what we do”?

Sure you have! It sounds nice, but the truth is that most successful business owners have a very keen eye on their competitors and know as much about them as possible. If not, there is no way to know which cards you can or should play or when to play them.

More than likely you know “who” your competitors are, but “how much” do you know about them? It’s not so much about knowing them so you can be like them, but, the more you know them, the more you can make sure you differentiate your business from theirs.

Motivational and self-help speaker Jim Rohn was known for his witty one-liners. One of his best was directed at people and businesses and it encouraged them to be different.

“Walk away from the 97%. Don’t talk like they talk,
don’t act like they act,
don’t go where they go, don’t do what they do,
don’t specialize in what they specialize in”.

In other words, Jim is saying, be yourself, make your own mark. Make sure you and your business are clearly different than your competitors.

Why is it so important to know your competitors?

In any given market, large, medium, or small, there is only so much business. Capturing your fair share and growing your share is the path to success. Only when you know what their strengths and weaknesses are can we know how you can best position your business to compete with them and grow your share of the market.

When we are armed with this knowledge, we can communicate our true value to consumers, adapt our brand and communications strategy accordingly, and win market share.

“If you know thy enemy and know thyself,
you need not fear the result of a thousand battles”.
– Sun Tzu

Identifying what differentiates your brand, product, or service from other players in the industry is only one of the benefits of analyzing your competitors. It’s crucial to increasing sales with your current customers, building customer loyalty, and attracting new customers. It will also help you identify the following:

  • Understanding industry standards so that you can meet and exceed them.
  • Discovering untapped niche markets.
  • Fulfilling customers’ desires and solving their problems better than competitors.
  • Distinguishing your brand.
  • Standing out in your marketing.

In today’s multifaceted world, competitions come in many forms. Direct competitors are easy to identify. Indirect competitors are sometimes harder to uncover and can come from anywhere. Grocery stores had no idea they would be competing against Amazon. Tire stores and hearing centers didn’t imagine they would be competing with Costco and Sam’s.

While the process of evaluating and knowing your competition can be taxing, the benefits of knowing can open an array of opportunities for your business.

If you would like to see nine ways to help you understand your competition, click here.

What Happened to Our Newspaper?

What Happened to Our Newspaper?

by | Jan 22, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Fort Wayne, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

I get to work with all kinds of businesses, new ones, old ones, online only and brick and mortar only along with many that are some kind of combination of all these factors.

This is the final few months for one of my favorite clients in Fort Wayne, a retail shop that has sold coins since 1976.  They used to also sell stamps and then switched over to jewelry along with the collectable coins and related supplies.  They were a big advertiser in the local newspaper when they began and only in the past decade have stopped their newspaper ads.

The reason they are closing is their business has changed.  Michelle is the youngest of the owners at 58 and her partners are 70+.  When their lease expires this summer, they will have liquidated all the gold, silver and collectables and either retired or picked up something else to do with their time.

The store closure is a sign of the times as many businesses have closed as the owners have decided to call it quits.  Some are sold to new owners, some are passed down to another generation, but those that last have made some changes over time.

Another client of mine recently completed an ownership transition as the previous owners sold the company to some of the management staff.  That company is over 70 years strong and will continue for a few more decades I predict.  They also used to run newspaper ads and don’t anymore.

Two decades ago when I returned to the radio advertising world in Fort Wayne Indiana, the major media sources that you could use to advertise with were radio stations, television stations and newspapers.  Fort Wayne had a pretty healthy newspaper business with both a morning paper and afternoon paper and it was filled with ads and local news.

This would have been 2003.  We had the internet, but MySpace was the primary Social Media platform until Facebook launched a couple years later and grew to be the dominant online site in the world.

Traditional media has made adjustments, as radio and TV have evolved and added services to keep and grow their audiences so businesses could continue to advertise and invite those viewers and listeners to spend money with them.

Newspapers however have not faired as well.

Earlier this month, on Facebook,  I posted a picture of the building that used to house our two daily newspapers.  All day long and for a few more days, people were commenting about how much has changed with the newspaper business.

For starters, the afternoon paper finally ceased publication a few years ago and more recently the morning paper dropped from publishing 7 days a week to just 6 with a combined weekend edition for Saturday and Sunday.

As I was sharing some of my insider knowledge about the reasons the newspaper has become so small with a fraction of the number of pages, I decided to also share some data that I received with actual numbers.

For a long time the Radio Advertising Bureau was able to provide me with personalized reports that were verified and audited for our local papers.  My access to this service ended in 2015 but the numbers tell the story.

In a snapshot in the time from 2009 to 2014, the number of households in our area climbed 2.6%.  That’s good.

Newspaper subscriptions to the morning paper fell by over 34% during those 5 years.  The number of subscribers to the afternoon paper declined by over 40% in those same 5 short years.  In an attempt to hang on, the newspapers increased their advertising rates on their rate card by 18.5 percent.  That’s bad.

If you were unable to cut a deal with the paper you were paying over 18 % more to reach between 30% and 40% less people than you had 5 years before.   That’s a spread of over 50% that is not in your favor if you were a newspaper advertiser.

This downward spiral of decreased subscribers which lead to decreased ad revenue (despite the attempted ad rate increases) has lead to less pages in the daily paper.  Less reporters too along with less people overall.  In short, that’s what happened to our newspaper.

The last set of circulation numbers for the afternoon paper was less than 13,000 and the morning paper 42,000. Population figures in my reports indicate there were over 300,000 people in our area back in 2014.

I tell this not to gloat about how great radio is compared to our papers.

While it is true we have more radio listeners to WOWO and our sister stations at Federated Media then the remaining paper has subscribers, and I can help you invite those listeners to become your customers…

… I am saddened by the demise of our local paper.  The journalists and the people who supported them are a type of news media that needs to find a way forward.  Long form investigative reporting along with seeing the news about your family or neighbor making a positive impact, that’s good news worth keeping alive.

The ROI Problem

The ROI Problem

by | Jan 8, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

I’m going to start off the new year with a story.

In 2023 I was invited to be a guest speaker at Trine University and ended up presenting information to a class in October and was invited back to be on the judges panel for the students final project.  The students had been divided into 4 groups and each group was a make believe advertising agency.  The judges were to evaluate each group including asking questions as if we were the company that was looking to hire one of these four ad agencies.

Students were given certain guidelines and requirements and along with the judges, Professor Snider was going to be grading their final project.

When it came time for me to ask the students a question, I asked the first three groups to explain the Return On Investment that I (as the business owner) would receive on their plan. This was kind of a trick question.  Each of those groups promised a dollar amount in sales volume.  But here’s why that was a trick question and why I didn’t ask that question to the 4th group.

The last group’s presentation started off with a keen understanding of the big picture goal and while they gave us specifics of how they were going to spend the money, they also created and shared a bigger picture plan that didn’t need to be justified in short term sales revenue.

The problem with justifying most advertising and marketing expenditures is that it’s simple impossible to accurately track even digital ads.

Readers of my Sound ADvice newsletter got a perspective recently on ROI that went like this: 

In normal day life, the meaning of “cause vs effect” is fairly simple. It’s the relationship between two things when one thing makes something else happen. For example, if we eat too much and do not exercise, we gain weight. Eating too much without exercise is the “cause”, and weight gain is the “effect”.

When it comes to advertising, it isn’t quite as simple, or is it?

The quest to measure advertising’s ROI (Return on Investment) and what was and wasn’t successful has been going on ever since the late 1800s when department store magnate John Wanamaker said, “I know half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.”

Over the years, businesses have put coupons in their newspaper ads, Yellow Pages and magazines have issued separate “traceable” phone numbers, and some misguided radio and TV stations have run ads that said, “Say you heard it here”, to prove the advertiser was getting a return on investment.

In the late 1990s, it was the dot com kids in Silicon Valley who made millions capitalizing on marketers’ thirst for measurable advertising results, promising measurable click-throughs and responses.

But online marketing expert, Ari Rosenberg, wisely says that online media taking credit for consumers’ actions is “like taking credit for the sale of coffee because you work the cash register at Starbucks.”  

Human action is always preceded by a complex chain of influences that take place over time, long before action is actually taken. Before any action or purchase, our minds travel from unawareness of a product to awareness, from awareness to interest, from interest to liking, from liking to preference, and on to finally actually taking action.

The dangerous and underestimated irony in this process is that the closer we get to measurable action or response, the less opportunity marketers have to influence or change that action. 

Marketing and business consultants agree, “Once the consumer has clicked on the Ford truck website or has their checkbook out to buy the Ford truck, it is difficult to persuade them that the Chevy might be a better truck.”

Our problem is that consumers don’t really know why they do the things they do, so the last point of contact, a Google search for a product or service, or a search for a specific business website, receives credit for the purchase decision. Again, it’s like giving the person at Starbucks’ cash register credit for the coffee sale.

There is an old saying, “The game never changes, only the names of the players.” 

The marketing game really has not changed since Wanamaker’s famous quote, only the names of the media available to advertisers have changed. But it is a chain of players and platforms during the game that results in a goal. And the player that scores that goal could not have done it without the other players on the team.

If you would like to discuss how to build a marketing chain that covers the entire decision-making process from pre-awareness to measurable results, contact me.

Send me an email to start getting your weekly copy of my Sound ADvice newsletter.  My email is Scott@WOWO.com

64 years ago

64 years ago

by | Dec 11, 2023 | Really? The Personal ScLoHo, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

It’s birthday week for yours truly.

And there’s not much that I want, because if I really want it, I usually buy it myself.

Of course the best things in life aren’t things that you can buy anyway.

I’ve been doing a lot more reflecting on things lately, compared to a few decades ago, even more than 5 years ago.

The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 kind of turned some of us to become more introspective because at the beginning, there was so much unknown and conflicting information.  We were told that we just needed to stay home to flatten the curve for a few weeks and then as weeks became months, well you were there too.

25 years ago, I returned to Fort Wayne, Indiana to help my Mom downsize after the death of my Dad.   I was just 38 that summer and my Mom had just turned 65.  I’ll be that age next year, but my health is much better than hers was back then.

Last month, I happened to visit the radio station that gave me my first full-time on-air job as a teenager, and low and behold, there was a guy named Jim who had worked there all those years ago and he was there when I visited.  He was having a birthday that week and turning 75, and still working in sales and on the air.

A few days later, I had coffee with my friend Lee to talk about a client.  Lee’s a few years older than me and I’ve known him since I worked on the air at WMEE in my early 20’s.

And one more connection to my past happened back in October when I spoke to a college class at Trine University at the invitation of an old acquaintance of mine that I met nearly 20 years ago.  He’s a professor now and invited me to speak to his class.

There’s also been the death’s of a few friends and family members in the past few years that have made me introspective and finally, I think one of the last items that has influenced what I’m sharing today was the role I had in our company from early 2020 until a couple months ago.  I was the General Sales Manager of WOWO radio and then also a few other stations before returning to active sales a few weeks ago.   As the General Sales Manager, a big part of my role was to hire, coach, train, and mentor my team.  Now I get to lead by example again.

My desire is to pass along knowledge.  It’s kind of weird, because I’m a curious person looking to learn myself and so as I talk to my elders, I want to know what they can teach me.  And I’m at that age where I’m passing along and passing down what I’ve learned too.   In a moment I’m going to share with you some resources that helped me and could help you too.

But first I recall when I was about 30 years old and creating advertising campaigns for businesses in Detroit.  I had clients in numerous and varied businesses and I took what I learned from observation, from conversations and from experimentation, using their money and improved all of them.  There was a guy Steve who had a transmission shop, a doctor named Tim who was working with his wife to build a health care practice, another man named Mike who ran a rental car business until we transformed it into the best used car dealership in the area and another favorite was a family headed up by Ed and his wife Sharon who created a small mortgage company with their daughters and we transformed it into a debt-reduction vehicle for thousands of homeowners.

This website started out years ago as a blog to save stories and articles online in case my laptop crashed and burned, and has become a resource for others as well as a creative outlet still for me.

So besides this website which will live as long as I pay the hosting fees, there are a few others that I recommend.

I also need to add this disclaimer that I read a lot less books than I did 30 years ago.  Instead I listen, watch and research.  With podcasts and online videos being available in much greater accessibility that 30 years ago, you may find a format other than paper books to be a preferred resource too.

Here we go with authors whose books I’ve bought and read and recommend to others:

Sales Leadership: Mike Weinberg.  I’ve read three of his books and was a regular listener to his podcast when I was a sales manager.  I was part of his launch team for his latest book, First Time Manager: Sales.  Check him out here: https://mikeweinberg.com/  

Marketing guru Seth Godin.  A thought leader and I see he also has a podcast that I’m going to subscribe to:  https://www.sethgodin.com/   

Roy H. Williams, aka The Wizard of Ads, besides his books on marketing, he publishes a weekly newsletter called the Monday Morning Memo that includes a rabbit hole that often is fun and intriguing. http://www.rhw.com/youll-laugh-youll-cry/ is the link to his books and here’s the link to his MMM: https://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/

Art Sobczak has sales books that I’ve bought along with a podcast and blog at: https://businessbyphone.com/

There are three others that I’m going to recommend that had an impact on my 20, even 30 years ago:

Harvey MacKay https://harveymackay.com/   Harvey’s first two books on sales were so influential that my first year as sales manager I gave my team their own copy of them for their own use.

Trout & Ries.  Al Ries and Jack Trout launched a series of books on Branding and Marketing in the 1970’s that I discovered when I started in the ad world in 1986.  Al passed away just last year and his partner and daughter continues his work. https://www.ries.com/books/

The last recommendation is a book that I re-read every few years as a reminder of how to approach sales. Frank Bettger penned the book How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in the 1940’s and here’s an Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Raised-Myself-Failure-Success-Selling/dp/067179437X 

I urge you to be curious no matter how young or old you are and continue to seek knowledge and share with others too.