Archive for April, 2010

Fight Recession with Marketing: “Recovery” or Denial?

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Marketing is both your best offense and defense against recession.

Since 1945, America has faced ten self-correcting recessions.  This one is different.  Optimism is important, yet unemployment has reached record levels.  Recovery over the next one to two years is questionable and could reach into the three to five year range.

What’s your  marketing strategy to combat this recession?

Economic “shock therapy” through government stimulus plans is suspect.  Toxic debt caused the problem, so many question how more government debt will solve the problem?  Imagine taking water from the shallow end of a pool and pouring it into the deep end. No matter how much water you transfer–the water level stays the same.

Some economic reports are more positive, yet the base numbers were so low that even minor upticks seem like “major recovery news.”  Be cautious.

No long-term job growth equals no recovery.  Period.

Stay the course with a strategic, long-term marketing plan.  Be optimistic, yet guard from subjective, economic blinders that denies sustained, long-term facts and trends.

What do you think?

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Posted in Recession Marketing | Comments Off

Ten E-mail Marketing Questions for Your Small Business

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

E-mail marketing: Questions and Action Items

1.  Do you have explicit permission from every contact on your e-mail list?

2.  Does your e-mail newsletter mirror the branding and look of your Web site?

3.  How often do you send your marketing e-mails?

4.  Do you have a topic map for the next twelve months?

5.  How could you have improved your last five subject lines?

6.  What day and time did you send out your last five marketing e-mails?

7.  Rank the depth and quality of your e-mail content.

8.  Does your e-mail service provider supply detailed metric reports?

9.  Based on your reports, what changes can you make to your newsletter strategy, topics, and content?

10.  What are some creative ways you can add contacts to your current e-mail list?

Your thoughts and comments are welcomed…

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Posted in Email Marketing | 1 Comment »

Social Media: Short-term fad or Long-term Fact?

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Social media—is it a fad that’s fleeting or a fact that’s here to stay? I can see why some doubt its value. With Twitter, for example, how can sending a micro text message limited to 140 characters extend your brand? And why would anyone want to know what I am doing every minute of every day?

I believe there is marketing gold behind the social glitter. The first social media site was SixDegrees.com, and it started in 1997. Since MySpace and LinkedIn arrived on the scene in 2003, various evolutions of the social media medium have surfaced for both personal and business use.  In fact, Facebook now has more followers than many countries do citizens!

From a marketing standpoint, I find this space fascinating. It’s a new marketing frontier.  The consumer is indeed the decision maker.  Twitter reminds me of a micro press release generator. Instead of 300 words, it’s 140 characters. Those 140 characters are free! In fact, some would say that social media is the wave of the future and is here to stay.

In a fascinating 2009 domestic and international study of 3,700 marketing and advertising executives, the following data was gathered:

  • 77 percent of marketers are increasing social media ad spending; 11 percent are decreasing spending.
  • 76 percent of marketers are increasing search marketing ad spending; only 7 percent are decreasing it.
  • Mobile marketing is increasing ad spending by 75 percent; 11 percent of marketers are decreasing mobile marketing.
  • Analytic and online video ad spending is increasing by 60 percent.
  • E-mail marketing is increasing by 58 percent.

Note that these increases are occurring during the worst worldwide recession since the Great Depression. And the largest increase in online spending, 77 percent, was in the social media category. The transition from old media to new media is underway. Newspapers, magazines, radio, and television are under assault and are losing market share to Web-based and cell phone–based networking vehicles in both the standard and social media arenas.

Many would also say the small businesses that fail to embrace, learn, and apply these new social communication tools run the risk of failure. Because the social media phenomenon is so new, it’s a bit premature to land on a conclusion. However, my “marketing gut” tells me to stand up, listen, and learn, no matter where the future of social media may lead.

Your thoughts?

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Compelling Small Business Facts

Saturday, April 17th, 2010

If you currently own a small business or are thinking about starting one, you are not alone. One of the strongest economic growth trends is found in the creation and maintenance of the modern, digital-age small business.  Of all U.S. jobs created in the last decade, 70 percent came from small businesses.

There is something to be said about running your own show. Many Americans are now seeing the benefit of taking one’s own financial future and economic destiny into their own hands. Why work for someone else when you can work for yourself? The rewards can be significant, but the challenges are many.

In a recent report by the Small Business Administration, entitled, The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President, the following growth trends were highlighted:

  • There are 27 million small businesses in the United States.
  • Small businesses provide half of the nation’s non-farm GDP.
  • In the first quarter of 2007, 74 percent of all new jobs created were in firms with less than 500 employees.
  • Over 20 percent of jobs created in 2007 were in small businesses with 20 or fewer employees.
  • Half of all Americans work for a small business.
  • Small businesses are a primary job generator for the U.S. economy.
  • Small businesses are a major source of first-time job training.
  • Small businesses are showing strong growth in both women and minority businesses.
  • The number of self-employed individuals in the U.S. under the age of 25 increased by over 30 percent between 2000 and 2006, and for the 55–64 age group, it increased over 44 percent.

One of many conclusions: small businesses will be a key economic driver for recovery…

What do you think?

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A Tiger in Your Tank: PR Marketing Lessons from Tiger Woods and Toyota

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

From the tabloids to the highways, we are hearing much from the marketing engineers of both spin and speed. Tiger and Toyota are household names, yet now the story is different. They were persons and products of skill, envy, quality, and wonderment. Now, both are trying to “drive” the road of reputation and recovery. This long and winding road is indeed long, as both have discovered. As we watch this journey unfold, we can learn a great deal regarding small business marketing and public relations strategies.

Here are some lessons so far:

  • Go for blunt honesty first. Get the dirt out fast, furious, and direct. There is no room for the “spin doctors.” Shock and awe works well as an introduction rather than a conclusion. Arnold Palmer’s advice to Tiger was to “be open” about the issues. It appears the robotic rather than the open approach is still the best approach. Ironically, Arnold’s advice applies to Toyota as well.
  • Keep the message simple and clean, but don’t attempt to over control the media. An unwillingness not to answer questions only leads to more questions. If you wait too long, the mythological and false answers stick with the public. You are the source of accuracy and honesty. In a vacuum of silence and rumor, the media may distort the facts, unless you are willing to operate with complete transparency from the start.
  • Respond rather than react. Gather the facts and chronologies. Study the details. Then, be human in your marketing communications. No room for “robotic” catch phrases here.
  • Again, act fast. Time is your enemy…
  • Get help from outside the inner circle. If you are the PR person in charge of marketing communications and you have worked, lived, and invested your career with this person or company, be prepared to humble yourself and step back. You may be too close to the crisis. Be open to fresh analysis and opinions. Seek the fresh, objective brains that can see through the fog of PR waters.
  • Learn from history: Enron, Watergate, the Governor of South Carolina, Ford and the Pinto, Firestone tires, Tylenol, and so forth. What did they do right and wrong?
  • Deal with the central issues and leave out innocent bystanders such as family and friends.
  • Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you the general public, your fans, shareholders, and your customers.
  • We are human. Tiger is human. Toyota is run by humans. Thus, who can cast the first stone? None of us. However, our choices have consequences. Take responsibility. If you broke it-you own it. Now, fix it.
  • Remember: words are cheap but necessary. In the long-run, only your actions and behaviors will keep you out of the ruff and repair center.

I played competitive golf growing up and still play the game. I also own a Toyota Camry. Both Tiger and Toyota are some of the best at what they do. I will continue to play golf and will not sell my Toyota.

Yet, I will still observe, learn, and ask the hard questions.

What do you think?

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Posted in Public Relations | 3 Comments »