What do you do after you connect with someone – IRL or on a social media platform? Here’s a few ideas.
Marketing – general
Email Lists – Part 1: Bulldozer vs Relationship
Introduction
As a business owner or marketing executive, having an email list for your business is imperative. If you don’t control access to your prospects and clients, then you’re at the mercy of whoever does.
I’ve worked for international companies, large US based firms, small businesses, and mom-n-pop shops. More importantly, I’ve subscribed to email lists from businesses of all sizes. Broadly speaking, there’s a philosophical difference in how lists are built and managed between large corporations and small businesses. But before I get to that difference –
Many small business owners want to run their operations like they see large corporations being run, and that is a HUGE MISTAKE. Small businesses can’t afford to market to prospects and clients the way large companies do.
I call these two different ways of operating the bulldozer method, and the relationship method. Local and regional businesses don’t have the same pool of prospects and clients that a national or international company does. They literally cannot afford to treat prospects with dismissive, “my way or the highway” marketing and sales tactics.
Large Corporations
Many (not all) large businesses seem to have the idea that there are always new prospects out there. If the business blows its horn loudly enough, people will consume their marketing and buy their products. When people lose interest, or for some other reason quit consuming the company’s marketing, there will always be new prospective consumers coming along. They view leads, prospects, and consumers as a game of numbers. You’ve heard that phrase. It means that if you hit enough people with your marketing materials, sales will be enough to sustain the company. Sure, some folks will die, or otherwise drop off the sales train, but that’s why the business keeps dredging up new people.
Blasting people on their list with sales messages or new product announcements day in and day out can grow very tiring for their audience. I’ve been on lists where I got two emails per day – one morning, and one in the evening – doing nothing but trying to get me to buy, Buy, BUY! Even though they insist on collecting your name along with your email and/or mobile number, they almost never use it when contacting you.
Small Businesses
Many (again – not all) executives of small businesses realize their pool of potential prospects is small. Perhaps you’re limited by region – say, a coffee shop in a small town. Perhaps they are limited by the size of their potential market. Maybe they have a niche product or service that few need, or can afford. These marketers realize that building a relationship with their prospects and clients is essential. And by “relationship,” I mean letting them get to know your business and business philosophies, as well as learning something about the owners and perhaps employees. Just as importantly, the marketer asks the prospects and clients about themselves – their opinions and thoughts.
Size Matters
In marketing, one big difference between large corporations and small businesses is the size and focus of the marketing departments. I’ve seen businesses where the “marketing department” is one of the (or the only) executives. Other businesses have several people, some who create marketing content like graphics, or video, or marketing copy, and one or more people who oversee the direction and focus of the messaging.
Some marketers are focussed on the reach of the message – how many people will see a particular message. Some marketers are focussed on results – what percentage of the people reached take action.
People are impressed by large numbers; having a mailing list with over 2 million names on it can seem a lot more impressive than having a 63% open rate.
Metrics
Larger corporations often have employees who are concerned with having large numbers. Marketing department heads can be more concerned with the raw number of names on an email list. Smaller businesses may often look at the percentage of people who are opening and reacting to marketing messages, regardless of the number of people to whom the message was sent.
Larger businesses may have marketing departments divorced from the sales department. But that philosophy isn’t necessarily dependent on revenue numbers, or the number of employees. I once worked for an environmental engineering firm of less than 250 individuals where the often expressed opinion was that the marketing department spent money, while the sales department made money.
Numbers can be deceiving: 100,000 people opening an email can sound impressive, but if the number of people on the list is one million, that’s only a 10% open rate. I have one nonprofit client with only about 300 people on their list, but we get a 70%+ open rate, and those readers donated $20,000 (half the nonprofit’s operating budget) in one day in 2023.
KLT
There’s an aphorism that goes, “People buy from those they know, like, and trust.” While I’m not aware of any systematic research comparing the steamroller style vs the relationship approach, it’s my belief that – regardless of the size of the business – it’s a good idea to foster a relationship between the consumers and the business and employees.
Now, I didn’t say that building a giant list is a bad thing, as long as it’s cleaned on a regular basis. I think it’s good to have a large pool of people who are willingly signing up to consume your marketing efforts. And I’m not saying that emails that only try to promote a product or service are negative – they’re not. What I am saying is that, if people buy from those they know, like, and trust, then using marketing emails to build that relationship will influence a percentage of your list to respond favorably when you send out a message exhorting people to spend their money on a product or service. If your list knows, likes, and trusts your business, they’re more likely to respond by doing what you ask them to do.
SMS/Text
Many companies are also putting together lists of mobile numbers, and sending texts or SMS messages directly to their list members’ mobile devices. However, these short form messages are best used for immediate action on the part of the consumers. People also consider messages coming directly to their phones very personal. Sending a message directly to a mobile device is not the best way to build a relationship. It’s also not a great avenue for mass consumer goods, like soup or vacuum cleaners. That’s one of the reasons I’ve kept my discussion to marketing messages sent via email lists.
Up Next
In Part 2 of this article, I’ll go over some recommendations for building and managing an email list, and some suggestions for constructing your messages to achieve maximum impact. If you have any questions or comments, please share them!
The PASCU Ad Template
I had a client contact me recently about running advertisements for their business. This would be their first venture into advertising, and wanted some information on the best type of ad to create.
While the word “best” is a loaded word, I suggested that since they were just starting out, the ads should be built using the PASCU template. It’s a simple formula, easily understood by both the creator and the consumer, and it tends to work well for almost all businesses.
PASCU is an acronym for:
- Problem
- Agitate
- Solution
- Call to action
- Urgency
You state a problem a prospect might be having, and then you agitate the prospect – perhaps by carrying the problem to an extreme. The advertiser suggests a solution that they provide, and gives a call to action with a short deadline. Let me give you an example, based on my client’s business.
Did winter weather damage your driveway? Don’t let it destroy the resale value of your home! Smith Brothers fixes most driveways in under 8 hours. Call today to schedule an estimate in the next seven days.
The first sentence brings up a problem the prospect is having. The second sentence takes the consequences of that damage to an extreme. The solution is the third sentence, the remedy for the problem that my client is selling. The final sentence tells the prospect what action to take (“Call”), when to do it (“today”), and the quick reward for doing so (“estimate in the next seven days”).
There are other types of advertisements that might be better, depending on the service or product you’re selling, but PASCU is a great first step towards advertising.
If you have any questions about ad creation, please feel free to reach out to me today.
The Only Reason To Have A Show Booth Is To Turn A Profit
People decide to get a booth for their business at trade or business shows for several reasons. They decide it’s a good place to show off new product, or to make industry contacts.
Sometimes, they decide that the show is being held in a location they’ve always wanted to visit (Vegas!) and they can write off the expense.
The most common reason I’ve heard over the years is that their competition is doing it, so that person needs to have a booth at the show, too.
I have one rule for trade and business shows, and I know I sound like the obnoxious SOB I am, because when my clients try to tell me their reasons for going to the show this year, I repeat the acronym below louder and louder. I talk over them until they get the idea and go quiet. It’s pronounced exactly the way it’s spelled.
TORTHASBITTAP. Remember it.
The Only Reason To Have A Show Booth Is To Turn A Profit.
All other “reasons” are excuses. If you don’t have a process in place to turn a profit, don’t go.
Profit is usually defined as the money a company receives above and beyond the cost associated with producing a good or service. In other words, “buy low and sell high.”
However, it can have a wider meaning. Let’s say you work at a not-for-profit business, and decide to go to a show. The fact that you’re not in business for the money is in the definition of your type of business! In this case, “profit” could mean you’re looking to leave a show with more of something than you came with. Donors (that is, money), but also volunteers, material, publicity, and so forth. The only way to turn a profit is to make a sale.
Selling is generally described as exchanging money for goods or services. A broader definition might be that you convince someone of the value of an idea via a discussion. For instance, I have a non-profit client that runs a small cat rescue organization. If they want to generate funds from donors, they might engage in a discussion of Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) programs, and convince their target audience of the value of trapping members of a feral cat colony, performing spay & neuter services on the cats, and releasing them back where they were picked up. Their talk might catch the attention of a local journalist, who writes an article about TNR. A retired person volunteers to pick up the feral cats and drop them off after their surgery. My client has profited from dispensing information at a show, even though money has not changed hands. That is, as long as they consider the acquired publicity and volunteer efforts to be more valuable than whatever money they spent to attend the show.
When considering getting a booth at a show or conference, please keep the concept of TORTHASBITTAP in the back of your mind.
Prepare Your Promotions Preemptively
Which is to say, start working on creating your promos before you need them.
How Early Should you Start?
If you know you’ve got a “normal” promotion you’d like to run, I recommend starting 3 months, or 12 weeks ahead of time. If you’ve got a large promotion – think Black Friday – then it’s not unreasonable to start your preparations a year in advance.
Set Your Goals
Maybe you want to increase your sales. Maybe you want to add customers, or increase your email list. Maybe you want to introduce a new service or product. Decide what your primary goal is, and perhaps a secondary goal.
Plan Your Process
Once you’ve determined your goals, you need to set up a process to reach them, and then a process for how you’re going to measure your attempt. Will you be using a system that’s already in place, or do you need to build or refurb a system to facilitate your attempts? Knowing your goals, and they system used for attaining them, will drive your creative efforts.
Create – Then Wait
I come from a writing background. I recommend to people that they develop their creative – text, visuals, storyboard for videos – early. Complete your first draft, and then set it off to the side. Work on something else. Give your work enough time (at least a week, and maybe even up to 6 weeks if needed) so that when you come back to it, you can evaluate it with fresh eyes. You want to pare down your work, hone it to the sharpest edge. The creative should deliver your entire message clearly, and not detract from it.
How Late Is Too Late?
I try to begin my efforts at least 8 weeks ahead of time. I begin worrying when I’ve got 6 weeks left before the starting bell. In the past, I’ve run a successful campaign with less than a week’s lead time, but it involved dropping everything else, and working long hours. I don’t recommend it!
I would recommend that you plan on using as much time as you can give yourself, and then a little more. If you know you can pull off the planning, creative, and execution in eight weeks, try to give yourself at least ten weeks, and twelve is even better. Once you have your promo process in place, and you know it always takes you 7 weeks, then set aside nine for your next project.
Always expect the unexpected! Sickness, accidents, unexpected celebrations – it’s all hiding just around the bend, out of site. There’s nothing wrong with having everything in place three weeks before the ball drops. It’s like insurance: when you’re making plans, you hope you’re wasting time and money. It’s always better than the alternative.
What’s Your Situation Like?
How far ahead do you start working on regular promotions? How about large-scale promotions? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave your comments below.
More Famous In Death Than In Life
Five years ago, a small family-run diner opened near my house, half an hour north of Syracuse, NY. I already had a couple clients in the plaza, so I visited it fairly often anyway. I ate at the new diner, and found it was pretty good. The owners, a husband and wife team, asked me to help with their social media.
In addition to making regular posts on Facebook and (at that time) Twitter, I also contacted a few media outlets on their behalf. Although none of the local papers or blog sites deigned to write about them, they developed a steady stream of regulars. Closing during the pandemic actually helped their numbers. They often had people standing outside their door, waiting for a table to become available.
Bill was a retired truck driver. He and his wife Fran opened the diner as a place to earn more income for themselves, and a place to employ their daughters and grand daughters. When they found that many of their regulars were veterans, they put together a display of photos and name plaques on one long wall of their restaurant, honoring the regulars and other visitors who supplied pictures and info about their service.
This Wall Of Honor is the only thing that inspired a story by the media. Even then, they relied on pictures I took, and made a phone call to interview Fran and Bill – from Iowa. Amazingly, the journalist sold the story to a news outlet in a small city close to us.
Just as the restaurant was recovering from the after effects of COVID, Bill began having coughing fits. He went to his doctor for a checkup, and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Since the diner was run by family, it was often understaffed, or even closed, while Fran and her children took care of Bill.
The disease progressed rapidly, and within eight months, Bill passed away, and the diner was closed for over a week. Shortly after they re-opened, their daughter-in-law announced she was pregnant and would soon be leaving to stay home with the baby.
With all the time being closed, regulars began to slip away. The diner closed first on Tuesdays, going from being open seven days a week, to only six. Last fall, they began to close on what had been their busiest day – Sundays.
Still, my efforts to entice the media to visit were being ignored. Even a regional “food review show” that charged restaurants for promotional visits told me they weren’t interested.
Just after the first of January, Fran took me aside and told me she’d made the difficult decision to close the diner. She would be shutting the doors after business on Saturday, January 27th. I offered to help her find buyers for the diner’s equipment. I made a single phone call, which hasn’t yet been returned.
This week, there have already been three stories on the diner closing it’s doors – one in a local paper, and two stories on local media websites. Amazingly, they focused on two things: the fact that the closing was a hard decision, and the hours the diner was open.
People have been crawling out of the woodwork to like the (about to be terminated) Facebook page, and to message Fran about how the diner will be missed.
As a popular meme says, “Don’t bother to cry at my funeral if you couldn’t be bothered to visit while I was alive.” I find it jaw-dropping that the diner, on the eve of it’s impending demise, is suddenly popular with people who couldn’t be bothered to visit, or write about it’s impact on the local population. And why would you want to make sure you posted the hours of operation for a restaurant about to shut it’s doors?
So, what am I trying to say with this article? A couple things, I suppose.
First, if there’s a local place you like doing business – or have thought about visiting – then by all means, go. Take a friend. Tell your family about them. If you like the place, buy gift certificates to pass out to people in your circle. These places are run by people just like you, who need to cover housing and utility bills. They’re folks following their passion, trying to live their best lives.
Second, that the media – and people in general – are more interested in celebrating a death than they are celebrating a life. And I think that’s pretty damned sad.
Launch It! finals judge – 2023
I was honored to be a judge for the finals of the Launch It! entrepreneurial competition at SUNY Oswego this year. Here are a couple pix from the Friday afternoon finals. One with all the students (including one telepresenting from Yonkers!), educators, and judges (except for me). 2nd pic is the winning team, Anonymous Athlete, plus School of Business assistant dean Dr Irene Scruton and Dean Prabakar Kothandaraman.
Looking for a special non-profit
Agile’ provides marketing services to small- and medium-sized businesses. I also provide services to non-profits.
I’ve decided to bring on one more non-profit client for 2024 and beyond. I’d like to ask for your help in suggesting an organization which Agile’ might be able to help. Ideally, I’m looking for –
- a non-profit (need not be a charity)
- with a budget under $250K
- anywhere in the US
For the right non-profit, I’m willing to offer –
- a $1/year contract for services
- an audit of their current marketing efforts
- social media post design and scheduling
- email/SMS list creation & management
- website design, hosting, and management
- copywriting
- quarterly media releases
- online giveaways
- staff and event photography (within driving distance of Syracuse, NY)
- limited fundraising activities
- Facebook advertising at-cost
- other specialized marketing services
If you know of an organization that needs new or additional marketing assistance with their mission, I’d like to ask for a mutual introduction between their director and myself by end of business on Friday, October 27th. I’ll spend November learning about the referred non-profits and their staff, and they and I can mutually decide if it’s a good fit.
If you personally don’t know of a non-profit that could use help with their marketing, feel free to mention my offer to your connections.
Thanks for your time and attention! I look forward to hearing your positive reply.
Marketing Defined
Marketing is a two-way interaction with the public, prospects, and peers to present them with the best face of a business. You do this to inform and persuade them of the benefits of dealing with that business.
LinkedIn: What the hell’s the point?
LinkedIn isn’t quite like “Facebook for business,” although you can waste hours there reading posts, watching videos, and participating in arguments – er, I mean discussions. It’s also not meant to be a digital version of the Old Boys Network.
It’s very confusing when you’re introduced to it. “There it is! Isn’t it glorious?”
“Yeah, but what do I do here?”
According to their own stats, by May of 2023 LinkedIn had over 930 million users. But what are all those people doing on LinkedIn?
The Questions
The way I see it, there are three questions worth asking about LinkedIn:
- What is it?
- Why do I want to be on it?
- What good can it do for me?
What is LinkedIn?
LinkedIn calls itself “the largest professional network on the internet.” But that’s just a description. Once you sign up for LI, you can post a biography and job history, along with a list of skills in which you’re proficient. You can write short posts or longer articles, as well as read those written by others. You can also post video and audio clips. You can join groups built around shared interests (“Yak Fur Marketing”). There are pages run by companies, where owners and employees theoretically hang out.
A basic LI account “doesn’t do much.” In order to really use LI, you need a Premium (aka Paid) account to get access to stats & info on other businesses, generate leads, and send mail to people you don’t know. At least – that’s what folks (and LI itself) will tell you. That’s not necessarily the truth. You can accomplish a lot for yourself with a no-cost Basic account.
Why do you want to be on LinkedIn?
At its heart, LI is a professional network. It’s a singles bar for business people, where you’re meant to mix and mingle, get to know other folks and make friendly connections.
Note: I didn’t say “make friends,” I said “make friendly connections.” Making true friends is a bonus. LinkedIn’s idea is that by connecting with others, they make business people “more productive and successful.”
So, why do you want to have an account on LI? In order to be seen.
Why do you want to be active on LinkedIn? So that by networking, you can meet others, help them and receive help in turn.
What kind of “help?” Job assistance, or learning something new. Experiencing a different viewpoint. Meeting new friends, and finding out your interest (maybe in marketing yak fur?) isn’t as esoteric as you’ve been lead to believe. Maybe just to see a friendly face, to offer a comforting word or a sympathetic ear.
Connecting is much more than just collecting a list of names. There are millions of accounts that do only that, each one of them seeming to think, “I win the Internet because I have a bigger list of connections than you do.”
What good can you get from being active on LI?
It doesn’t matter if you have a Basic account, or a Premium one. The important point is to be active. By “active,” I mean that you interact with other people. Say hello. Congratulate them when they get promoted or change jobs, have a work anniversary or a birthday. Read their posts, and give them a “thumbs up” response when you finish. Better yet, leave a short written comment (hopefully positive, if you can) to let the author know you read their words or watched their video, and considered them.
One of the best ways to get noticed is by noticing others. That is, interact with the content they’ve produced (posts, articles, videos, etc.) and demonstrate you’ve consumed it. Respond – hopefully in a positive manner. Give it a “thumbs up,” comment, or share it. Essentially, you want to be seen being a good connection. Promote others, do positive things for them – help them – and you’re likely to be helped in turn. If you can, create some content to share on LI, and let your connections know it’s there.
As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats.
What’s next?
I’d love to have your comments. Please feel free to ask questions as well. I’m just one guy out of 930 million with my own ideas and opinions, and I’ll happily give you my answers. And feel free to visit my personal LinkedIn account.