Sell services to grown-ups-

If you sell accounting, legal or computer services you are probably very concerned about your brand.  You want to look appropriately serious in your marketing materials so that your clients take you seriously.  Your clients are making serious, numbers-based decisions.  You’ve got to prove your professional caliber in front of your clients.

Here-here!  Just remember: every one of the decision-makers and influences in your clients’ organizations was a little kid before they grew into business consumers.  Even your gruffest and toughest customers were trained as humans first and in their vocations, second.  As such, they still have emotions and it is critical in your marketing to factor in their emotions. Read the rest…

Here’s a crucial business question many small businesses don’t stop to ask:  “Are we a marketing-driven company supported by our sales force; or does our sales team take the lead and our marketing plays a support role?”

Does the answer matter?  Absolutely.  The answer influences the caliber of salespeople you hire as well as marketing plans and budget.  In this first of two posts we’ll examine the case of the Sales Force that is supported by its marketing.

Marketing Plan To Increase Sales Leads

If you are a “sales-oriented” company, then salespeople are your front-line in actually closing the sale.  Typically, your $$ value is $300 or more (and yes, if you are a hotel or an airline this dollar value may not apply).  Typically, the higher the dollar-value of the product or service you are selling, the more important the sales person’s skill set is to increase sales.

Typically you are going to be hiring salespeople who are hungry to close and very much money-oriented.  Whether your sales cycle is long or short, a conservative approach or an “overcome the objection at all costs” approach, you usually are looking to hire hunters who want to go for the kill, not farmers who are interesting in tilling the soil. However, a seasoned hunter is appreciative of the gunsmith that puts a fine rifle in his hands, or the maker of the scope that allows him to see his quarry.  Just so, the wise salesperson is aware of the value of the marketer who gives him the opportunity to take many shots at the prey he seeks. Read the rest…

In an previous Funmarketer post I wrote on how to use three of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to launch a bank’s marketing campaign. In that example, the bank targeted parents with children. The goal of the campaign was to build savings accounts, for which I used three needs:

1. Safety Needs (concern for child’s future money well-being)
2. Love – (parent loves the child, wants to ensure child’s future)
3. Esteem – (inner-directed esteem, not “pat-on-the-back’ esteem)

How To Write A Headline

As a small business, don’t worry about writing the ad that will sound the cutest or grab an award. Instead, write an ad that stops the prospect long enough to cause them to take an action. Read the rest…

As discussed in our last post, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is one tool you can use in your marketing toolkit as you develop advertising campaigns. This post discusses how to promote your business using the Hierarchy of Needs. Specifically, I will create one specific hypothetical advertising campaign for a financial institution; in this case, a bank.

Example Of An Advertising Campaign

As I mentioned above, in this hypothetical example our client is a bank. On the surface a bank offers services such as: checking accounts, loans, safety deposit boxes, brokerage accounts …and a whole host of other services. However, in this advertising campaign exercise I want to focus on using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to develop a marketing campaign that is designed to attract new customers looking to open a saving account. Read the rest…

Marketing Tip

I may appear a bit archaic in discussing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. After all, it’s more than 65 years since he wrote the original article, and it’s been commented on many times by marketers and the psychology community. However, the Hierarchy of Needs can be a valuable tool in a sophisticated marketer’s toolbox. Quickly, the basic needs are:

• physiological
• safety
• love
• esteem
• self-actualization

Human Motivation and Marketing

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs

An understanding of Maslow is more complex than what one gathers from a quick glance at any chart of the basic needs. Unfortunately, that is about all of us receive in most marketing books — if they mention him at all; which in my opinion is a shame. Why? Because in studying the Hierarchy of Needs you will find new perspectives when creating your ad campaigns. You will gain insight and understanding on motivation, leading to better conversions on direct mail, pay per click and other marketing campaigns. In the end the investment in studying Maslow’s hierarchy will help increase your campaign’s return on investment (ROI). However, what you will not find is a theory that answers all questions about human motivation. It is not an “end-all, be-all” answer to what motivates us.

Marketing Tool

There is no magic wand in marketing, there are only tools. I found Maslow is most useful Read the rest…

Marketing Tip of the Week

OK, previously we’ve discussed the price vs. timing issue of the postcard vs. self-mailer or oversized postcard. Now, let’s go to the inevitable question — does size matter?

The answer, once again, is…it depends on your goals!

Self-Mailer

If you have an audience-specific offer that needs explanation in any detail, I would spend the extra money on the larger format. A postcard is 4 1/4 by 6, but a self-mailer (letter rate) can go clear up to 6 1/8 by 11 1/2. That is more than twice the surface area of the postcard.

Post Card

A postcard can suffice if you are mailing to a multi-faceted audience and want to quickly get across a ‘brand-building’ message. A photo/headline combination on the non-address side of the postcard can be very powerful Read the rest…