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.

The Long Game

The Long Game

by | May 30, 2023 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

When I say the word “Future”, how far off in the future does your mind think?

Is the Future 5 years away?

Is the Future 20 years away?

Is the Future next week or even next month?

Does it hurt your brain to think beyond today?

Here in the United States we live in short time spans, relatively speaking compared to some other countries around the world.

We elect a President every four years which for many countries is very unstable.  And the election cycle has become shorter and shorter.  If you like your President then, you want them to last not just 4 years, but 8 years.  However if you don’t like your President, you start talking about the next election as soon as possible, sometimes within 6 months.

I find it interesting that we elect government representatives who then create laws that outlast their term in office or in some cases, the laws don’t come into effect until after those that wrote them are out of office.

But enough about government and the Future, let’s talk about business and the Future.  In my world of radio broadcasting, I work for a radio station that is now 98 years old. WOWO radio began broadcasting in 1925 and was one of the first AM radio stations.  This year there was big news about the death of AM radio because certain automakers announced that they were not including AM radios in their new vehicles.  Ford was the big one that caught peoples attention.

The National Association of Broadcasters rallied their members and lobbyists to save AM radio and due to the bad press or pressure either publicly or privately, Ford reversed course and their CEO announced: “For any owners of Ford’s EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update”.  As a broadcaster who knows how radio broadcasting works, the “software update” made me suspicious.  If all it takes is a software update, that means the hardware was built-in all this time.

Anyway, the future of AM radio accessibility in Ford manufactured vehicles is safe for now.

On the other hand, there has been a lot of noise in government regarding the social media app TikTok.  The concern is that users information is being given to the Chinese Communist Party for evil and it endangers all of us.  The app has been banned by one state and the Federal Government is prohibiting it from being downloaded on devices that are connected to government sites.

Changes are coming as the Future continues to move closer and closer.  How prepared are you for the changes that could occur next year?  Forget about 5 years down the road or 20 years into the future… I bet there are changes that are taking place in your industry that are going to impact your business in the next 18 months or sooner and you have not prepared for them yet.

The idea of The Long Game which is what I titled this piece is not that you need to stick with doing everything the same way forever and ever, but to look to the Future and plan for what is coming or could be coming.

As I announced in May, WOWO radio prepared for the future by adding a strong FM signal, 92.3 to our options for listeners to tune in while they are driving in case their vehicle doesn’t have AM radio.  We were prepared and you need to be prepared too in your business.

When it comes to inviting people to spend their money with you and your business, I have tons of options and ideas that you should consider.  Some are nearly 100 years old, while others are in their infancy.  Contact me and let’s play the Long Game together for today and the Future.

3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise

3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise

by | Oct 4, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

There are 3 Fundamental Questions You Need To Ask Before You Advertise.

I’ll tell you what they are and also go a little deeper.

Question 1:

Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

Question 2:

Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

Question 3:

What is the Math Needed to be Profitable?

Now, let’s dig in starting with the first question, Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

I want you to think about basic demographics such as age and gender but also deeper than that. Income, lifestyle, values.  Once you develop what we call a persona or two or three of your ideal customers, you will be able to decide where to advertise.  Most advertising choices have a particular audience and you want to find the audience that matches your ideal customer.

As I tell my advertising sales team at WOWO Radio where I am the General Sales Manager, it’s our job to find business that want our radio audience to become their customers.  It’s that simple on our end, and reverse it for you as a business owner and you’ll be able to decide where to advertise, or at least where NOT to advertise.

Let’s move on to the second question and dig in. Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

This should be an easy question to answer and on the surface it is.  You can say, because we make really good  ___________. That is just the start.  Because, you are not the only one offering what you are selling.  Before Apple introduced iPhones, we had cellphones.  Many were what we now call dumb-phones, with the ability to text and talk and take a low quality picture.  Some people, those who were more advanced had a Blackberry phone, which were nicknamed Crackberries because it seemed like people were addicted to those phones.

I’ve never owned a Blackberry or an iPhone.  I went from slider and flip phones to a Samsung Android Smartphone when I joined a tech company back in 2011.  Now, it seems like everyone has either an iPhone or Android, and my old Nokia 6170 and Motorola Razr sit in the back of my desk drawer just waiting to be tossed out a dozen years later.

The Why You Question is so important, yet so overlooked.  It is the reason that people will switch from what they have been doing or using and try you instead.

The reality is that not everyone that knows about you will abandon their current provider right now, if they don’t have a reason.  The reason for someone to switch is a combination of what makes you appealing and a dissatisfaction with the status quo.  This is a topic I can do a whole series on in the future, but for today, let’s keep moving.

Question 3 is about Math.  Math involving money and customers.  How much do you need to sell to break even?  Take a step back… How much should you price your goods and services so you will break even?  You need to know these numbers because you need to know how to make money.  Yes I mentioned break even, but that’s because you need a baseline number.  You can then increase your prices on paper to set up a decent profit margin.  Then you need to also come up with alternative formulas to get to the end result.

Here’s an example using small numbers.  If you need $100 to break even, there are a few ways to do that.  You could sell 50 items at 2 dollars each.  Or you could sell 2 items at $50 each.  Or you could sell 10 items at $10 each.  All of these options add up to $100.

In retail, it is common to double the wholesale price to get a retail price and make money.  Take those formula’s we just talked about and and double the dollars so now you’re bringing in $200 instead of $100.  You have to know your numbers.  This gives you a foundation for when inflation hits and your costs climb, you can raise your prices appropriately.

It’s also important to know your numbers for advertising.  Many advertising and marketing sales people are afraid to talk about Return On Investment but my team isn’t.  We want to know that they money you invest with an ad campaign with us has reasonable goals and we can use those goals along with your tracking the results to decide the success rate and make appropriate moves in the future.

One more time, here are 3 Fundamental Questions To Ask Before You Advertise:

Question 1:

Who Do You Want to Invite to Spend Money with You?

Question 2:

Why Should Those People Spend Money with You?

Questions 3:

What is the Math Needed to be Profitable?

Reach out to me for help and guidance.

 

How to Deal with Inflation Realities

How to Deal with Inflation Realities

by | Sep 27, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo

In sales, there is a visual description that we use that describes our on-going goals, Up and to the Right.

If you visualize goals over time, that is how most companies want to see their growth.

Inflation however can be a real kick in the pants.

When the costs of things are following that image of Up and to the Right, it affects nearly everyone.

I was talking with a friend last week who had a new home built and he was explaining how he was fortunate that they locked in prices before prices started climbing.  He still had to deal with some of the challenges his builder was facing including inventory issues that included not having materials available due to supply chain issues and what was available was now priced much higher.  Staffing shortages also contributed to the issues that created a delay in the completion of his family’s home.

In this case the builder had to eat the increased costs and his profit margins shrunk.

I’ve watched other businesses that have had to decide how to handle inflation and many of them resisted raising their prices and it hurt their business.  I understand the reluctance, however over my career I’ve urged many business owners to raise their prices as the cost of doing business increased and they were losing operating profit.

That’s kind of a made up term, Operating Profit.  One time I was working with an HVAC company and wanted to create an R.O.I. or Return On Investment formula so we could calculate how many new customers we needed to bring them to pay for the ad campaign and the owner was very insistent in pointing out that in his eyes, there was no “operating profit”.  To paraphrase what he said, “Every dollar we bring in goes somewhere, we don’t just toss it in a bank account as profit.”

Yes, that is true with most small and medium sized businesses, the ones that are not publicly traded on the stock market.  Those are the size of businesses I usually work with. But this is also the difference between Gross Profit and Net Profit.  The reality for the HVAC owner is that that were able to afford a decent personal living lifestyle due to the success that had operating their business.  Their staff was happy and their customers were happy too.

Profit is not a dirty word as some news media like to focus on the money being made by the really big publicly traded companies that are required to disclose money numbers.  We live in a country that likes to offer opportunities to anyone and most of us are employed by or work in the small business world.

How do you as a business owner deal with the inflation realities?

Make adjustments.  You have to continue to make a profit.  Before inflation and before Covid disrupted everything a few years ago, (if you were in business before 2020) you had a formula for setting your prices.  Customers were used to paying you for your products and services based on the prices you charged which you set at a level to make a gross profit.

One thing you need to do is raise your prices.

Another thing you can do is offer a lower price option that is simply a smaller portion or less than the more expensive option.  I’m thinking of the restaurant business.  Huge plates of food that were way too many calories for a single meal that you were offering in 2019, we don’t need that much.

If you are in a service industry you can do the same thing.  For your old price, offer something a little less and for those who want the same service, mark it up.  Give us, the consumers a choice of higher prices or same prices and we will adjust.

Inflation is a reality and instead of wishing it away or driving yourself out of business because you are afraid to adjust, do what needs to be done and be honest about it.  Your customers make not like it, but they still want what you sell and will figure out what works for them.

Make The Right Adjustments

Make The Right Adjustments

by | Aug 30, 2022 | Marketing and Advertising Insights, ScLoHo's Fort Wayne, The Not-So-Secret Writings of ScLoHo, WOWO Fort Wayne Radio Advertising with Scott Howard

“We gotta do something”

That’s been the theme for 2022 from many business people.

So they prepare to Make Adjustments.

Making Adjustments is neither good or bad.  Actually it is something that all of us are doing all the time.

The question that often comes up is “What adjustments are we going to do?”

I urge you to stop for a moment and take a few deep breaths before making any decisions.

As hard as it is, now, more than ever, is time to remove emotions from your decision making process.

Emotions can be temporary, and decisions can have lasting consequences.

If you are running a business and you don’t have a strategic plan in place, it’s time to create one.

If you have a plan, but it was created before March 2020, it’s time to review it and see if it needs updated.

If the plan you created isn’t working right now, it’s time to see why and take a look at the whole picture.

For nearly 6 years I have served on the Board of Directors of Homebound Meals of Fort Wayne and I am in my final 6 months.  Besides myself, there is one other board member who has been there as long as me and his term expires early next year like mine.  The organization has been around since 1971 and during that time there have been dozens of board members, hundreds of volunteers, and thousands of recipients of the lunch time meal program.

Their mission has never changed.  The strategy and tactics used to fulfil the mission have certainly evolved over time including the last few years.  I am confident that the partnership between the board and Executive Director will keep the organization around for many more decades as people come and go.

Making the right adjustments is also something I have seen take place at the church my wife and I attend.  We’ve been members for nearly 20 years and have seen numerous changes take place in leadership as some Pastors retire or are called to other places to serve.  Besides the church, we also have a school and they have had people changes too over the past 77 years too.  This summer their Executive Director, Mark Lange stepped down to move forward with other areas he and his wife Sue are being called.

I bring up Mark’s name specifically because I’ve known him and his wife Sue since I was 13 years old and we went to the same high school.  Our church and school, Holy Cross Lutheran in Fort Wayne was going thru some transitions that many older churches have gone thru and that was simply changes in the make-up of the congregation that was part of what was going to have an impact on the finances of the church and school.

A few years ago, I was one of a dozen who were asked to serve on a task force to explore the future needs and future circumstances using demographic studies, internal surveys, and antidotal stories.  Mark showed me how each year we had a financial plan and each week he would release numbers that showed how our income compared to the plan. He also included the actual expenses which were the reality of what was spent and I learned in my conversations with Mark how we were making adjustments as the year progressed.  Besides having the initial plan or budget, we also had a plan on what adjustments to make as needed.

No matter what business you are in, there are a few things you need to always include in your plan:

  1. Products and Services to sell
  2. Have the People and Infrastructure to create those Products and Services
  3. Invitations to potential customers to buy your stuff and ongoing marketing to keep those customers.

Some of you have had to change the portfolio of products or services you sell.  I’m not talking about completely abandoning everything, I’m talking about making adjustments. Fast Food places that were short staffed ran drive-thru only and closed their dining rooms for awhile.  Some restaurants limited their menu to their best sellers.

I’ve also seen some of you expand and not shrink.  Two ways to do this have been to add more products to sell to your customers.  One company added a second business that went hand in hand with their primary business and it’s created more opportunities.

The other way to expand has been to raise prices.  Too many businesses have been afraid to pass along increases to their customers because they were afraid of losing customers.  But inflation is one of the biggest headlines of 2022 and you really need to pass along your additional costs to your customers.  They are expecting it.  No, they won’t like it, but they will understand, (most of them).  You will also lose some.  A few years ago I told one of my clients that she needed to raise her prices which she resisted at first for those same reasons. However this is the ideal time to do it.

Some of the adjustments you may be tempted to make is to cut your advertising.  To which I say, maybe.  However the answer is probably maybe not.

It really depends on your overall strategic plan, not just current circumstances.  While I sell advertising on WOWO Radio and lead a team of advertising sales pros, I’m also a marketing and advertising consultant.  I want what is best for you and your company now and for the future.  If we can help with using the advertising resources of WOWO radio and our online options… great.  But I don’t want you to buy advertising from us or anyone that isn’t in your best interest.

More on what happens when you cut advertising in a future article.  For now, I urge you to Make the Right Adjustments for the Right Reasons, based on a Strategic Plan, not emotion.  Need help?  Contact me.