Monday Mornings with Madison

Category Archives:
Traditional Marketing

November 3, 2014

Basic Marketing Tips for Startups

Issue #351

As a result of the downturn in the real estate and financial markets beginning in 2007-2008, many professionals changed careers. From realtors to lenders and from developers to appraisers, people left the lending, construction and real estate industries in droves. As the market contracted, many small companies went out of business. However, in recent years as the market has rebounded, professionals are slowly returning to these industries. Many are starting new businesses. Also, the adult children of real estate moguls and successful entrepreneurs see this as a good time to leave the parental nest and start businesses of their own. Moreover, changing market conditions has created opportunities for new businesses that never existed before such as crowd funding and trailer document tracking. For these reasons, real estate, building and lending startups are springing up at every turn.

Even though many of these startups are being led by seasoned professionals, starting a new business can be a challenge for even the most experienced businessperson. It is especially true for any startup on a tight budget which, let’s face it, includes most startups. While professionals launching a business in real estate, construction or finance may have a lot of technical knowledge and industry experience, they may not necessarily have much marketing know-how. Here are some basic marketing tips to keep in mind for any folks starting a new company or expanding their business with a new division.
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August 11, 2014

When a Company’s Brand Sends Mixed Signals – Part 2

Issue #340

In many ways, the brand is the Achilles heel of the corporate world. As companies shift more and more to being all about brand meaning and brand image, the more vulnerable they are to attacks on image. That is why it is increasingly critical for companies to protect every aspect of their brand, and work hard to avoid having any mixed messages about the company’s purpose and position. That includes guiding – as much as is possible or practical – what the company’s own people say about the company. This is a challenge for even the most successful businesses.

In fact, last week, LinkedIn’s CMO Network — the #1 Group for Chief Marketing Officers — posted this question for discussion by some of the top marketing minds in the world: “We are so sensitive about the language in our marketing campaigns and websites. How do we ensure our employees use the right words and tone while talking to customers?” There is an understanding at the highest levels of leadership that all brand cues must align in order to avoid mixed messages. Marketing cannot be saying one thing while sales is saying something else altogether. Materials cannot tout one image while leadership makes decisions that communicate the total opposite. While there are strategies (such as a clear Social Media Policy, scripted telemarketing dialogue, templated sales letters and emails, training sessions and a sales manual) that can help ensure sales efforts align with the company’s position, protecting a company’s brand goes far beyond that. Whether it’s a company’s marketing strategies, business tactics, or its approach to customer service, a business brand should obey the three Cs: be clear, cohesive and consistent.
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August 4, 2014

When a Company’s Brand Sends Mixed Signals – Part 1

Issue #339

Every company, no matter its size or purpose, has a brand. Regardless of whether the owners and leadership know what the brand is or what it stands for, the company brand exists. In theory, a company’s brand speaks about its purpose, voice and values. The brand reflects what the company does and does not do and how it wants to be viewed by the world. In practice, it also reflects what others – customers, potential customers, vendors, investors, and the general public — think about it. A brand reflects how the company is actually perceived by the world.

So a company’s brand is not just its logo or iconography, such as Nike’s swoosh or Apple’s bitten apple. Nor is a brand just it colors or fonts. That’s all just window dressing. A company’s brand is comprised of a multitude of elements that feed into the total picture or image (or in some cases the façade). Values. Voice. Personality. Corporate integrity. Product quality. Service delivery. Look/style. Marketing. Customer engagement. Approachability. A company’s brand is a reflection of all of this… combined. The better a company manages all of the elements that comprise its brand, the more likely it is to thrive long-term. To succeed, a company should be genuine in what it stands for and authentic and on point in everything it says and does. All of the messages should align.

But sometimes the messages don’t align. What happens if a company’s brand – this myriad of messages – sends mixed signals? What happens when there is a ‘disconnect’ between a company’s values and the quality of its products, or between its marketing messages and the actual service it delivers, or between its public voice and its online engagement? What happens to a brand where there are mixed messages muddying the brand’s image?
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June 2, 2014

Attention Deficit, Part 2

Issue #330

Defined as “the concentration of attention or energy on something”, focus is clearly a behavior that businesses want from their staff and customers. Employers want employees to focus on their work. Companies want clients to focus on the marketing message, sales pitch, product displays or services being offered. But, with all the diversions and noise that compete for our attention and energy in today’s world, it is very easy to fall prey to distraction. If everyone is being driven to distraction, just how much is this lack of focus affecting business, and what – if anything – can be done about it?

Some economists and business strategists see focus – not ideas or talent — as perhaps the scarcest and most desirable resource today. In a sense, focus is seen as the distilled, concentrated part of a person’s mind. Focus is what puts a person “in the moment”. It is the difference between hearing and listening. It is the first essential element upon which all business transactions start. Some experts have even gone so far as to say that only companies that learn to effectively capture, manage, and keep attention — both internally and out in the marketplace – will be able to succeed in the increasing information-cluttered world of tomorrow. So how does a company capture, manage and keep focus, especially that of customers?
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May 19, 2014

The Power of A-B Testing – Part 2

Issue #328

Last week we looked at the power and purpose of A-B testing. We defined A-B testing as a simple random experiment with two variables or options, A and B, which are the control and treatment in the experiment. As the name implies, two versions (A and B) are compared, which are identical except for one variation that might affect the behavior. Version A might be the currently used version (control), while Version B is modified in some respect (treatment).

A-B testing is used in all kinds of applications, business and otherwise. Given today’s complex marketplace, companies often use it to either determine or validate the best approach for sales and marketing efforts. In marketing, it can be used to test the effectiveness of digital ads, web pages, online tools, web offers, client preferences, and email, among other things. While it is an illuminating approach for assessing and optimizing sales and marketing efforts, A-B testing requires patience, tracking and lots of data analysis. A company’s leadership must be willing to commit the resources and provide the tools to be able to do A-B testing effectively. Let’s look at best practices for A-B testing in sales and marketing and debunk some myths and mistakes related to this powerful tool.
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May 12, 2014

The Power of A-B Testing – Part 1

Issue #327

What, When and How To Test

Imagine this scenario. The sales manager and production manager are working with marketing to create a promotional email for the company. After deciding on a message, they discuss what time of day to deploy the eblast. Sam thinks it should be sent at the beginning of the workday, around 9am, as usual. Mike disagrees and thinks it should be sent at the end of the day, around 9pm.

To make his case, Mike cites a recent study by Experian Marketing Services which analyzed the best time of the day to send emails. The study found that emails sent between 8pm and 11:59pm had the highest unique open rate (21.7%), highest unique click rate (4.2%), and highest transaction rate (0.34). Those were all considerably higher than during any other time of day. It was also the time of day when recipients received the lowest volume of emails. Sam is unconvinced. He cites a DEG study that found that the highest email open time ran from around 8am to about 1pm, with a small dip around 11am. Moreover, the DEG study indicated that statistically the worst open rate time was 8pm. With such different results and opinions, what should the marketing department do? If the marketing department is savvy, the answer is to do both. Say hello to the power of A-B testing. Continue reading →

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March 31, 2014

Effective Email Marketing in 2014 – Part 2

Issue #323

The four letter word in the world of email marketing is SPAM. No marketer wants its emails to be considered spam. No company wants to be labeled a spammer. Certainly no business wants to be blacklisted. And yet, it is estimated that there is anywhere from 200 billion to upwards of 1.5 trillion spam email messages broadcast daily. Just exactly what is considered spam email and what isn’t spam? Email spam — also known as junk email or unsolicited bulk email — involves identical or nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients via email. Definitions of spam usually include that 1) the email is unsolicited and 2) that it is sent in bulk. However, based on that, when any company sends an email to all of the contacts in its database (for whom typically it does not have explicit permission to email), that is spam. Spam email was named after Spam — the luncheon meat — which is considered ubiquitous, unavoidable and (to many) undesirable.

Because of the widespread deployment of spam email, Internet Service Providers have been and continue to be focused on developing ways to identify and eliminate spam (or at least reduce the volume of it) without preventing ‘permissioned’ email activity. It is a challenge. New strategies and metrics are being developed to decrease spam email deliverability. The focus is a one-two punch. First, ISPs are punishing unprincipled email senders who deploy unsolicited, bulk emails. Second, ISPs are rewarding compliant email senders that are sending ‘permissioned’ emails. For companies that want to not only behave respectfully and ethically but , it is important to use legitimate, proven email marketing strategies. As an added bonus, email compliant senders also enjoy improved email deliverability and therefore get better results. Thus, employing email marketing best practices is a win-win. Continue reading →

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March 17, 2014

Clean Data is the First Step to Effective Sales and Marketing

Issue #312

What is the biggest source of waste for many businesses? Few would guess that at many companies it is ineffectual sales and marketing efforts resulting from poor database management. If the contact information for prospects and customers in a company’s database or CRM system is muddy, missing or just plain wrong, it cannot be used effectively for sales or marketing. Bad contact data also makes it impossible to effectively service existing clients. Data quality is crucial to operational and transactional processes within every enterprise and to the reliability of business intelligence and reporting.

Yet, maintenance of contact information for both prospects and customers is one of the most neglected, mishandled and inconsistent processes at many companies… and for good reason. Managing such ever-changing information is a tedious, difficult, thankless and never-ending job. Database managers are seldom praised or promoted for maintaining impeccably accurate records. Yet, if neglected or even ignored completely, dirty data can be the biggest source of waste at any company. Think of the wads of money and time that go down the drain by sending emails, letters, mailers, catalogs, promotions or newsletters to bad addresses… year after year. An unmaintained database will significantly reduce the impact of most marketing efforts and waste the time of every salesperson and leader. It is a shame to implement sound business development strategies for cultivating relationships with people who are ‘unreachable.’ The question is: how can a company achieve consistently clean customer data?
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December 23, 2013

Storytelling = Marketing

Issue #309

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, marketing is defined as “the activities that are involved in making people aware of a company’s products (or services) and making sure that the products (or services) are available to be bought.” Based on that definition, every employee is really engaged in activities that either make people aware of what the company is selling / providing or make sure it is available for purchase. Each employee is involved, in one way or another, with increasing awareness and availability of what is being sold. From an entry level clerk to the highest level of leadership, every person is involved in marketing their place of employ.

There are countless ‘marketing’ opportunities in the stories about what makes a company – any company — great. Every company has great stories about its products or services, its people, the ways that the company goes above and beyond, or the ways it helps the community. Every company has a multitude of stories, that when told strategically, have the power to convert lookers into buyers, prospects into customers, critics into fans, and one-time customers into loyal followers. A well-told, strategically-delivered story has the power to engage, encourage and enchant. You may wonder what story can the average worker have to tell and how can it be deployed strategically if the person doesn’t work in the marketing department or isn’t a great writer? You’d be surprised.
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August 19, 2013

101 Questions to Ask When Considering Marketing Strategies

Issue #294

The best marketers know that, when it comes to marketing, variety is necessary in order to cut through the fog of competition and the vast noise of the marketplace and be able to reach each customer where he or she lives. Regardless of the industry, there is no single marketing channel that is best. The key to successful, long-term marketing is to reach people in the myriad of ways in which they prefer to receive or are most open to accepting messages about products or services. Just as people come in all different shapes, sizes, colors, religions and cultures, so do their preferences for interaction and their receptivity to messages. Some people prefer email promotions. Others look at direct mail circulars. Still others are influenced by billboards. And others listen to radio ads. Some even look at good, old-fashioned print ads.

A marketing channel that is totally ‘outdated and passé’ to one person, such as a branded desk calendar, might be ‘old-school cool’ or just plain practical for someone else. And a new edgy marketing strategy that may make no sense to one person, such as mobile ads, may hit the bulls-eye with someone else. The key is to not fall into the trap of thinking “This doesn’t speak to me, so therefore it won’t appeal to anyone else.” The smartest marketers keep an open mind.

But keeping an open mind and embracing variety has a price. While a diverse marketing program is important, that approach – if unchecked – can also be prohibitively expensive. Given the ever-broadening number of marketing channels available, it is impossible to advertise or promote a company everywhere all the time. So how does one decide which strategies to try and which to ignore? It is a matter of analysis and assessment. The first step is to ask a lot of questions. Continue reading →

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