Narrow Minded Marketing

Narrow Minded Marketing

by | Mar 18, 2024 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

The goal of your advertising should be to increase both your sales and your brand identity. But all too often we overly focus on analytics or demographics when creating our media plans.  Narrowly targeting often means you are missing the much larger population of people not in your core demographic.

As the “New Media” (digital and social) emerged, many businesses, large and small, made the move to these platforms believing that laser-focused targeting was the answer to their advertising dreams.

Wrong!  In fact, Tide, the #1 selling laundry detergent, found that while they were focusing on the people who fit their “typical profile”, they were missing the much larger target of those who were not using their product. In other words, they were eroding their brand’s awareness and missing the target of “new and future” users. Ultimately, their sales started to decline.

In a swift move, they moved the majority of their budget back to traditional media, and sales and brand identity rebounded.

In another example, it might not seem unreasonable for a baby-products retailer to target “women 18-49 with infants”, but according to the market research firm Scarborough, nearly half of those who bought infants’ clothing, roughly 47%, were from households without children.

The same research from Scarborough found that nearly a quarter of all women’s cosmetics and perfumes, 23.5%, were bought by men.

In Roy Williams’ Twelve Causes of Advertising Failure, #9 is Overconfidence in Qualitative Data. “In reality, saying the wrong thing has killed far more ad campaigns than reaching the wrong people. It is amazing how many people become the ‘Right People’ when you are saying the right thing.”

Being too narrow-minded and focusing on only the core audience is actually eroding your brand. Hundreds and thousands of people are not in the market for your product or service today, or even soon, but someday they will be.

Thinking beyond the traditional demographics your competitors are targeting with their advertising can help you reach untapped markets to increase your sales well into the future.

Click here to read how to reach and influence “purchasers” rather than “demographics”.
 
 
Now I’ve worked in both mass media and niche media.  I’ve done mass appeal and hyper-targeted campaigns.  I would welcome the opportunity to review any advertising proposals that a typical ad salesperson presents to you to see exactly what the focus is and if it’s a good match for what you want to accomplish.
It’s Not Just The Facts Ma’am

It’s Not Just The Facts Ma’am

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, Sound ADvice

First a few facts…

We’ve gone thru a challenging number of years in the political world as divisions between Republicans and Democrats have become more prominent, at least at the national level in our country.

Those on the left accuse those on the right of not telling the truth and those on the political right accuse those on the left of not telling the truth.

Both sides accuse the news organizations they don’t like as Fake News.

As someone who knows how media works and who observes all of this on radio, TV and online, I can not only see the biases, but I also understand the why’s behind them.

But I’m not going to go all political on you right now, I’m just going to use that as an example of Facts versus Emotion.

We may think we operate and make decisions based on logical facts but most of us are actually ruled by emotion and then we find the facts to support what we believe.

There’s another part of this that relates to how customers decide what to buy that subscribers to my Sound ADvice newsletter read about recently and I’ll share it right now.

Some consumers make purchase decisions based on relationships and some make them purely on price. They are referred to as either relational or transactional customers.

If your business sells on price alone, this information may not pertain as much to you. If you would like to sell more on relationships, pay close attention and heed this information.

Chris Lytle, author of The Accidental Salesperson, says “If you become known for what you know instead of what you sell, buyers will come to you for help and advice instead of the lowest price.” The good news is that they will pay you more for your knowledge than they will for just the product!

Chris goes on to explain “To become known for what you know, you have to actively market your knowledge instead of your product.”

A group of hugely successful auto parts stores created a strong market position in the DIY category by promoting and exploiting the knowledge of their employees. They had employees who loved Ford and others who knew Chevy, Chrysler, or Dodge inside and out. Even some who were more specifically knowledgeable about the older “muscle cars”. This knowledge took the focus off the price and put it squarely on the fact that they had people with the knowledge, and they had the parts!

As they say, knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you are perceived to have, the more people will look at you and your company as the “experts”.

In the 10 Ways to Market Your Knowledge, the author suggests, “Have an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page on your website. Monitor the questions your customers are asking and publish your answers clearly in layman’s terms. Allow your prospects and customers to ask questions online, and always be prompt in posting your answers. Most importantly, take credit for your answers and make sure the public recognizes that the answers came from you.” 

Click here if you would like to see the 10 Ways to Market Your Knowledge. 
If you would like to receive my Sound ADvice weekly newsletter, send me an email to Scott@ScLoHo.net.
A few more thoughts on Relational versus Transactional customers:
Transactional will usually only be loyal to you as long as you are the lowest price.  That’s a losing game because there is always someone else that can underprice you, even if they do it as a loss just to gain that customer.  It’s called a loss-leader.
Relationship based customers are going to be less sensitive to increases in price.  Just the other day when I was stopping to pick up my breakfast, I heard them tell a customer that the prices had gone up 20% and they said that’s fine and paid the new price.  Relationship based customers are also more forgiving when there is a problem and you explain to them the situation.
I urge all of my business owner friends to pursue the Relationship based customers, they’re the ones that will keep you growing in business.
One more fact to share with you and that is starting today, I am returning to a weekly schedule for publishing and podcasting due to changes in my schedule and the requests from readers and listeners.
Timely Marketing Principles That Are Timeless

Timely Marketing Principles That Are Timeless

by | Jul 30, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Media, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

It’s been two full decades that I’ve been in the advertising, media and marketing world in Fort Wayne, Indiana, non-stop.

During the past twenty years, there have been a lot of changes in technology and how the world operates.  However, no matter what the technological advances, there are certain principles that you can follow to be successful.  You just need to see how to apply them to whatever your marketing options are at the moment.

First a little backstory.  In was 25 years ago this month of August, that I moved back to my hometown after my Dad passed away and I thought it was going to be for a couple of months to help my Mom downsize and move to a smaller place.  But I neve left.  Instead I got married again, and my wife and I have moved a few times, all on the northeast side of town including our last move 9 summers ago that was half a mile from our old home.

My media and marketing background is much longer than 20 years.  I was a teenage radio disc-jockey and pursued that career path for 10 years before moving my family to Detroit and working in the advertising side of the radio business.  I left radio in the mid 90’s and know how to drive a fork truck, run a tool crib and operate a thermoformer.  At least I did until technology changed and improved processes with automation.

April 2003 was my return to radio advertising and I took a whole, big-picture consultive approach.  While I earned my money from the advertising I sold, I really wanted to help businesses succeed and that was more of a motivating factor than money for me.

The past two decades, I’ve worked in radio, also website development, a niche newspaper, and was the social media voice for a multi-million dollar e-commerce company.  I mention my background not because I’m bragging, but to give some substance and add some credentials to what I’m sharing.

The Timely Marketing Principles That Are Timeless transcend the limitations of technology and get to what is the most important.

What is the Most Important?

Human Relationship Marketing Principles.

  1. Your Reputation Matters.
  2. People Need to Know About You Before They Will Spend Money With You.
  3. It’s Best to Be Known BEFORE You Are Needed
  4. That last one, it’s all about Top Of Mind Awareness.
  5. Build Relationships With People, not machines.
  6. We Want To Trust, so Don’t Blow It.
  7. If You Do Blow the Trust Factor, Apologize and Make it Better.
  8. Everyone is either a potential Customer or person that can refer potential Customers to YOU.
  9. Value is the sibling of Trust.

Apply these 9 Principles to what ever you do to market your business and you’ve established a foundation for success.

Now here’s a few more Timeless Tips:

The environment of your message matters. Take the old-fashioned standby of roadside billboards. If you are a roofing company looking to sell metal roofs to homeowners, the wrong place for your message is probably the sign next to the 40 year-old apartment complex.  A better location could be the road that the exclusive golf course is on.

The content of your message matter.  Don’t yell and shout at your potential customers in a radio ad, instead talk to them as individuals, in a friendly trust worthy manner.

Be strategic and consistent with your message. A lot of business people are looking for instant results.  When they think that something isn’t working they stop it and move on to something else.  Or they are having an identity crisis and sending multiple messages out that don’t fit a strategic master plan.  Apply human relationship principles of dating to your business marketing.  Most of us are not going to commit to a long term marriage relationship on the first date.  Or on the first attempt to get a date.  You can date one person for 50 dates and get a better result than if you were to go on 50 dates with 50 different people.

And Finally…

Be where your current and future customers are so you can connect with them.  If they are radio listeners, pick the radio station that has listeners that are a good fit to become your customer.  If they are on social media, use the social media channels that are also a good fit.

Be prepared to try something new, but don’t stop doing what works, without a solid reason.

And if you need help learning how to apply any and all of this to your situation, reach out to me.

Win Their Hearts Or Lose Their Business

Win Their Hearts Or Lose Their Business

by | Apr 16, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom

Numerous times I’ve talked about Trust being the biggest Human Relationship Factor that you and your business need to earn and protect when it comes to the success of your business in the eye of the public.

I just saw an article published by MarketingCharts.com that talks about consumer trust outside of advertising, but just as important:

Trust is a key component of brand loyalty, but it’s hard-won and easily lost. According to a Razorfish and GWI survey of almost 1,700 consumers ages 16-64, 58% of respondents said it was a “somewhat slow” or “very slow” process to gain trust in a brand that they recalled building a relationship with.

By contrast, when thinking about a time they lost trust in a company, 70% said they lost that trust quickly.

Now this article was focused on multiple factors that can build trust or destroy it including data privacy policies, online reviews from consumers, compatibility with political views and causes and so on, but to me what really stood out was how challenging it can be to win the hearts and trust of consumers and that it simply takes time.

But more than time, it takes multiple positive touches.

On the other hand, it’s really easy to lose a consumers trust.

When we run advertising campaigns for our clients, we work on under-promising and then over-delivering.  The opposite can destroy a company.

Here’s a link to the article: https://www.marketingcharts.com/customer-centric/privacy-and-security-229090 

If you want help or guidance creating trust for your company, reach out and we’ll talk.

 

Google is the Wrong Answer

Google is the Wrong Answer

by | Mar 21, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Web World, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

I was in a meeting with a business owner this month and as we were doing our usual “Discovery” meeting, one of the questions that was asked was:

Where are your current customers coming from?

He answered, “Google”

Bzzzzzz.  Wrong answer.

Well, perhaps it was really the wrong question.

Google for advertising veterans is the new Yellow Pages.   

For those under the age of 45, before Google was launched last century in 1998 and became the top search engine about 5 years later, consumers would use the Yellow Pages section of a phone book to get the phone number to a business they wanted to call or visit.

Yellow Page ad salespeople trained their business customers to ask new people calling, “How did you get our number?” and a sizeable percent of the answers were the phone book.

I mean it made sense, the phone book is where I got the number, so technically the answer was correct.  This is how the Yellow Page ad salespeople sold ads, by “proving their worth” and getting the business owner to buy a bigger ad each year.  

In the old days of the phone book or today of Google and smart phones, the answer to the question is predictable.  If I’m in front of my laptop, I’ll Google it.  Otherwise, I’ll ask my phone, because I can search with my voice.  Siri, Alexa, and Hey Google are all similar current replacements for the both the phone book and laptop versions of Google.

Here’s why that’s the wrong question to ask if you are attempting to decide where your customers are coming from or where to invest your advertising dollars.

Google is the last step in a long series of steps that your new customer made to connect with you.  We call it the Zero Moment of Truth.  

All they need is the phone number, or if I’m searching from my phone, I don’t even need the actual number, I can call without even knowing the number.

The question you want to know is what are all the other influencing factors that prompted your customer to Google you?  Was it word of mouth from a friend?  Was it a 10 second video ad they had to watch before YouTube played a cat video?  Was it the radio ad, the endorsement from the podcast host?  The highway road sign they drive by daily or even the Pay Per Click Ad they saw when researching the kind of stuff you sell?

That’s what you should measure, and make it multiple choice because odds are it’s a combination of multiple influences that were the steps that lead to that final step of connecting with you because they Googled you.

Google is not the answer to your business success, it’s just the final step that connected them to you.