My son and I are enjoying a hot chocolate at Graham’s 318, our local coffee shop, on this cold Winter’s day – and it occurs to me that I have been remised in writing for this blog over the past few weeks. So, I’m going to take advantage of this time (and the free wi-fi) to update you on the latest video series that we have been working on at Quill.com.
Over the past 18 months I have been writing about how businesses can leverage eMarketing techniques to drive business online. As more customer interaction moves online, companies are finding that they are interacting with their customers less than before. . . but this doesn’t need to be the case. In fact, by leveraging various social media techniques, you can actually strengthen your relationship with your customers.
We have begun a new video series at Quill.com called Ask Quill. Through this effort, we are able to put a face (and persona) to our company. While we will be rolling this out on our site and in or blog over the next few months, it is currently on our YouTube page. Take a look and let me know what you think – I’d appreciate your thoughts and feedback.
My son’s done with his hot chocolate and his magazine, so it’s back out into the cold. I hope you are staying warm this Winter and I hope you are finding ways to leverage your Web 2.0 rich media.
I been thinking about the power of video recently and when I had the opportunity to read a Forrester white paper by Laura Ramos that outlined the “Five Approaches for Creating Online Video Value” and I knew it was something I wanted to share. Here are five great reasons to add video to your marketing efforts.
1) Use video to extend the marketing message.
Making cold-calls is a difficult way to begin any business relationship. However, innovative marketers are finding value in leveraging videos to create a positive first impression. By strategically placing a video on your web site or embedding it in an email, Ramos explains that you have the opportunity to “put a face on the new sales person”.
2) Incorporate customer feedback into videos on your web site.
There has been a great deal of discussion about how adding customer reviews can help you sell more online. The same can be said for customer testimonials when you are trying to sell complex products. “Stories”, states Ramos, “unlike data or fact sheets, appeal to business buyers’ emotions and motivations, particularly when the tales mention the stumbles and detours that can occur en route to a successful implementation.” Every customer wants reassurance that they are making the right purchase and Oracle is a great example of a company that has used video to help “capture interviews with customer engineers and software developers to validate [their] technical claims and product capability.”
3) Turn corporate spokespeople into video stars.
Andy Warhol told us that “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” and with video, the future may be today. “Product designers and technical experts” says Ramos, “are the best people to shed light on the journey that brought a new product to market or on the subtle differences between offerings. Top marketers turn the video spotlight on these internal experts and, as a result, broaden their marketing team.”
4) Extend live events to larger audiences.
Let’s face it, with the economy struggling right now, we all have to cut costs and Travel is the first thing to go. So if you’re seeing a decrease in the number of people attending your seminars, you should seriously consider using video to take your message to your customers.
5) Build brand and generate new interest with a viral component.
“As the cost of video production drops, B2B marketers eye viral video as a way to build awareness or generate interest without incurring the high price of broadcast advertising,” states Ramos. However, “few B2B videos make the viral cut, but those that do combine entertainment with education.” An example of video content that does make the cut is Greg The Architect. Here you will find a light hearted view of the software industry as Greg tries to understand Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) . . . yep, I have no idea what SOA is either – but if your not an I.T. Geek, you’ll find this video fun and interesting.
The point of any branding exercise is to build an appropriate image with your customer base. Your marketing efforts should build upon that image and generate a relationship with each customer. Whether you are building a brand or building a relationship, don’t underestimate the power of video in today’s marketplace.
We’ve seen it coming for a while now. In the last few weeks, the economy has taken center stage as every news cast and talk show tells more stories of how home values have fallen or 401k balances have dropped. In the midst of all this turmoil, many businesses may be planning to reduce their expenses by cutting their marketing budgets.
But, in the words of Lt. Nick Holden, “In confusion, there is profit.” It’s one of my favorite scenes from Blake Edwards’ 1959 movie Operation Petticoat and I think it provides a great lesson for us today.
Most of your competitors are pulling back on their marketing spend. While astute marketers should focus their resources, this contraction in marketing spend actually provides an opportunity to gain market share.
If you have been fortunate enough to build a strong business relationship with your customers, you may be able to both protect that relationship with current customers as well as extend it to prospective clients.
While I have been discussing this topic with colleagues over the past few months, it was an article in Deliver Magazine by Meg Mitchell Moore that prompted me to write this post. Her article pressed the point that “a recession might be just the time to increase marketing spending, thereby taking advantage of listing competitors and capturing the attention of cash-strapped consumers.”
No doubt that in order to survive during the next 12 to 18 months, you will need to be competitive with your pricing. The question is, can you provide additional value to your customers and if so, can you successfully tell that story?
On his blog, Achieve Your Success, Terry Brock recently had a great interview with Jim Cathcart. Cathcart explains that while you need to be providing incremental value to your customers, you need to keep in mind that the “value is always determined by the recipient, not the giver.”
Although we have seen gasoline prices fall during the past few weeks, Moore lists Meijer, a Grand Rapids based retailer, as an example of a company providing value to their customers. Founded in 1934 and #19 on Fortune’s 2008 Top Private U.S. Companies, Meijer is a regional Superstore (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky), that sells groceries, apparel and even gasoline.
In order to provide value to their customers, the company “offers you the opportunity to know when the price of gas at Meijer is going to go up before it actually increases at the pump.” The Meijer.com web site continues, stating “by registering your cell number into the Meijer Gas Alert program, you agree to receive text messages from us that will notify you in advance when Meijer gas prices are going to increase.”
The key is this, as the economy begins to cause your competitors to talk to their customers less frequently, you have the opportunity to enter the conversation. If you can successfully articulate your value proposition, you may find the Lt. Holden’s axiom to be true.
When I was younger there were only three networks on TV and each one worked very hard at creating new shows each year. Today we have hundreds of channels to choose from and each one struggles to create content that speaks to its audience. In all of this comes a rise in talk shows and reality TV. While TV.com may feel that The View is the top rated talk show, Starburst feels differently.
Through the work of Dan Meth and Mark Vitelli, Channel Federator has changed the way Starburst advertises to their customers. Nite Fite is now a weekly series and is available on iTunes, YouTube and the Channel Federator site.
Every company has a different persona and Starburst is definitely targeting a younger crowd. Check out their videos and keep an eye on Penalty & Lloyd. They are changing both the world of advertising and the world of talk shows.
On my way home today I stopped for a quick Chicago Dog at Portillo’s. I’m not sure if you are familiar with this restaurant, but if you’re visiting the windy city, stopping at Portillo’s is a “must”.
Dick Portillo started the chain of restaurants in 1963 with a small trailer. Over the years he won a number of “Silver Platter” awards and built 45 locations serving Hot Dogs and Italian Beef.
While the restaurant has a great theme centered around a 1920’s Speak Easy, the way they handle their drive-thru business is worth mentioning. Customer service is something that is becoming harder and harder to come by in today’s economy. As slow sales cause companies to cut back, Portillo’s has placed employees outside to take orders and collect money as you wait in line. In fact, they feel that there is no reason to wait for the customer in front of you to have their order filled if your order is ready to go. They will have an employee walk your order to your car as you wait in line . . . so “don’t get to close”, your order may be ready sooner than you expect.
If you are out of town, you may not be able to use their drive-thru, but you can order online. Check them out at www.Portillos.com – you’ll enjoy it!
The old advertisement told us that 4 out of 5 dentists chewed Trident Gum. What it didn’t tell us, was that the last dentist was busy online updating her MySpace page. “A recent study by Ipsos Insight found that one in five adults has visited a social networking site,” reports ClubSymantic. “Some sites, such as Growing Bolder and Eons, cater specifically to people 50 and older.”
If your goal is to build a corporate blog that your customers find interesting, the first step is to ask them what’s on their mind. “Send out a survey”, states Lee Ericson, “asking customers where they go for information about job-related issues. What are their favorite blogs, online publications, organizations, and associations?”
Many times, the conversation may have already started. If so, specific sites are already generating traffic as the community begins to center around a select number of key influencers.
Key influencers are people in the community whose opinion matters. Every writer aspires to have Oprah recommend their book to her community of viewers. The same is possible in your community of customers. Individuals who have a large network of contacts and whose opinion is held in high regard, can influence the actions of the community.
An easy way to find these key members of the community is to use Google Blog Search or Technorati. With a little research, you can quickly identify highly trafficked blogs that deal with topics of interest to your customers. The next step is to enter the conversation yourself. No-one knows your business better than you, and by establishing yourself as an active member of the community, you begin to establish credibility and build an audience.
It is becoming more apparent that in order to manage the brand, companies need to be actively involved in social networking. People are out on the net and they are talking about you. The trick is to get your advocates (customers) talking about you.
One way to help facilitate this type of discussion is to start a corporate blog. “More and more companies”, writes Mitch Joel, “are looking at the power of corporate blogs”. In Joel’s latest post, he does a great job outlining the seven basic types of corporate blogs:
· Industry
· Idea Storm
· Individual
· CEO
· Departmental
· Parody
· Customer Service
But, as with anything you do, even this type of customer contact needs to serve a purpose. If your readers (customers) don’t find your blog interesting, what good have you done?
Did you see Jake McGee’s post about the Graco blog? In this post he outlined several key components of a successful corporate blog. First and foremost it must have good content. “The Graco blogging team clearly understands that they’re here to connect with parents,” writes McGee, “and what better way than to talk about parenting?” Along with the content, the Graco blog makes it easy for customers to interact and become involved in the conversation. They keep the content fresh by enlisting a number of bloggers rather than relying upon a single individual.
Spreading the work load among several people certainly has its advantages. However you need to enlist volunteers rather than draftees. Otherwise you run the risk of being exposed as shown in this news excerpt from Barely Political.
Valentine’s Day is coming up and I’m starting to see red shaped hearts all over the place. Now, after having been married for almost 20 years, I should be shopping for a nice piece of jewelry and attaching a note in a heart shaped card. However, I have the urge to buy my wife something green.
Why? Because green “says I want you. Love you. Need you. Like red never could.”
I remember back in high school when my buddy Mike bought a couple bags of M&Ms, emptied out the contents and then placed the green ones into one of the bags. The urban legend was that green M&Ms sent the “right” message. Apparently, Mike was ahead of his time.
While looking through the Sunday paper, I came across a coupon for bags full of Green M&Ms. Over the years we have enjoyed the M&M personalities come to life in various commercials, but lately there has been a new girl in town . . . and she is sexy! Apparently, Ms. Green may be “hot”, but she melts for no-one.
The people at Mars have done such a great job creating the M&Ms brand, these characters have become a part of the American culture. Keep an eye out for how they continue to tell the story of Ms. Green.
It seems to me that there are two different types of Website Usability that a company can employ. The first is to capture customer feedback (both potential customer and current customer) and incorporate it into your site’s design. The second is to build your site without this input and obtain usability feedback via your customer’s spending . . . or lack thereof.
I’m amazed at the number of times I hear of websites making changes without getting any substantial input from customers. Leveraging information obtained from outside sources is easy to do if you have sufficient funds to incorporate data from companies such as Usability Sciences, BizRate, or Omniture. However, if you are a small company and can’t afford these services, at a minimum you need to enlist help from current customers through email surveys. You will be surprised to learn how many customers will accept the offer to provide feedback to a well run (home grown) survey program.
Ultimately you will receive the customer’s opinion of your website design. If they find it difficult to navigate, or your internal search results are not helpful, your customers will go elsewhere. Remember, your current customers are your competitor’s prospects.
Did you see it in today’s newspaper? Juan Valdez will be a guest star on Nip/Tuck. Well, I might have some facts wrong on this. However, it appears that Juan will be getting a makeover.
In today’s Tribune, I saw an article that stated Juan would soon be “younger, more vigorous, more eco-conscious”. About time something has been done about him. When I was a kid, I wasn’t afraid of monsters under my bed, I was afraid of Juan Valdez creeping into my house and making coffee.
Apparently this isn’t the first time that Juan has tried to target a younger crowd. In the 1990’s, Juan was part of the “grab life by the beans” campaign which focused on the “surge of espresso bars which brought with them a new generation of younger coffee drinkers.”
Juan will have a hard time getting in touch with today’s younger crowd. While it isn’t difficult to find the closest Starbucks, even here, Juan is under pressure. Starbucks offers a wide range of coffees from all around the world – and now with the economy having problems, Starbucks seems to be struggling.
It will be interesting to see how the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Columbia leverage the Juan Valdez brand on the Internet in the coming months. Although I’m not personally invested, I don’t consume ANY caffeine, I’ll keep my eyes open for the way Juan builds excitement on the web.
Well, I’m running low on my Diet Mountain Dew (does that have any caffeine?).
Running a successful business can be a “sink or swim” proposition. Once you have “jumped in the deep end” you have to create enough promotional excitement to get customers to enter your site (store). Just because they visit your site does not mean they are going to make a purchase. A merchant’s job is not only selecting the right products and building a strong assortment, in the end, it is all about driving top line sales dollars.
Unless you are entering a brand new category, the first step in understanding your business model is to review the history. Past successful (and unsuccessful) campaigns will show exactly what your customers want from you. By understanding margin percentages and sales velocities of your products, you can reconstruct the financial model that your company needs to meet its’ budgeted targets.
While the marketer in you will be focused on driving people to the store through building a promotional cadence that showcases your compelling offers, the merchant in you will determine which items receive prominent placement on your web site and/or printed material. By this time you have already completed the initial negotiations with your vendors and have obtained additional marketing funds from them to enable a win-win situation for selling their products on your site. You should have also done enough competitive shopping to identify those products that have an elastic demand curve and those that have an inelastic demand curve. In other words, some items react negatively to price increases (you must match the market) while other items do not (you can increase prices to stretch your margin results).
At this point, you may be able to envision your Econ I teacher from your college days. If so, I’m putting you to sleep – sorry about that. But here is the exciting part. Prices have been set and the promotions put into place. As customers come to your site and begin purchasing, you will begin to identify your favorite items. Which products are your favorites? The items that sell the most.
Keep Your Head Above Water
All good merchants are both “left brain” and “right brain”. While you need to be able to identify changing trends in the marketplace (in order to adjust your product assortment), you also must understand the sales information coming from your data warehouse. Your margin rate will be pulled up or down (usually down) by the weighted average effect of your sales efforts.
This is why it is important to understand the past sales history. Your margin rate will not be calculated on a straight average across all your products. Your “loss leaders” and “profit drivers” sell at different rates per order. Therefore, you must take into account the sales mix across your product assortment.
The next step is to determine how you want to handle the promotional markdowns from your marketing efforts. This decision may be driven by the capabilities of your finance team. While the effect of some promotions may easily be tied to the exact products that they drive, a number of promotions must be applied across either specific customer groups, product categories, or the entire business.
Understanding how these promotions drive your business will enable you to make the necessary changes to your merchandising plan.
In the end, you can't be worried about getting all wet. Allow your creative side to generate the excitement needed to draw customers to your site, while enabling your analytical side to manage your margin. By understanding these metrics, you can drive the needed sales and margin results to ensure your success.
Managing the Brand
