A few years ago we designed and wrote an innovative self-paced marketing education program targeted at small business marketers and owners. I find that today, more than ever, smart marketers must continually educate themselves on marketing on three levels:

1. Continue to learn the fundamental marketing philosophy from the “old masters” of marketing and advertising.

2. Learn the “hottest trends” in online marketing (where most of the change is rapidly occurring).

3. Deepen their understanding of their own industry’s evolving marketing-place from both customers, suppliers and competitors.

Since my teens, I have been involved in a variety of leadership positions. Most of us are, if we stop really think about it. And every successful leader must develop into an effective teacher or else their message isn’t carried very far. As a marketer the role of teacher is especially important. You must help develop your company’s brand ambassadors — your customers and your employees. If you don’t develop effective messages for these ‘carrier pigeons of the brand’ to spread to their contacts then you severely limit the potential growth of the company you work for.

One of the best ways to become a good teacher is to first become a good student. If you continually learn from the marketing masters of old and then integrating that knowledge with the newest marketing tactics coupled with stunning business intelligence from suppliers and customers — if you learn like that, then when it comes time to teach you will be so well prepared the teaching will come out naturally.

Funmarketing Free Campaign Idea of the Week

You know I love the discipline of writing a powerful headline to go with an iStock photo. Well, don’t just limit this to iStock photos. Any ads you find in the paper, or any postcards or direct mail pieces you receive — feel free to write your own ads to go with them. It’s a great way to stretch out your creative brain as well as build up a backlog of ideas. Never know when you’ll need them on a rainy day.

My youngest son just returned from the Inauguration of President Obama. Believe me, it is a 16 year-old’s dream to be in DC for any Presidential Inauguration; but to be there for one this historic–wow! So just now DC is on my mind. Here’s a general, uplifting type of campaign you can use as a reminder to your customers that you are hanging in there with them during these tough economic times.

Headline — Tough Days? Plenty. Remember, Renewal is Around the Corner

iStock photo 1792363

Thanks and Happy Almost-Spring

Craig Lutz-Priefert

Mention “Enriching the Customer Experience” and in our mind’s eye we envision a customer surrounded by an elegant showroom, with sophisticated, beautiful salespeople waiting on her. Images of Champs Elysees, Fifth Avenue or Orchard Road spring to mind.

But there is another way to enrich the customer’s experience, and that is to reduce the customer’s pain.

Less glamorous? Yes, but quite effective.

Every service business lugs along certain baggage. Dentistry involves pain and Fast Food means waiting in line at lunch time. No amount of smoke and mirrors advertising is going to change that fact.

The good news – your competitors are shackled by the same set of constraints.

The first thing to do is improve the service you deliver. If you are a dentist, then engage available technology to minimize pain; if you are in fast food, run people through line as fast as possible.

And that is where most small businesses stop–they only improve their product or service. And customers often fail to notice the improvements – because the company failed to tell them about the improvement.

This key to customer satisfaction must be a constant companion to product improvement–Subtly tell your customers you are minimizing their hurt.

For that dentist, a first step in communicating a pain-free office can be the waiting room. It should be bright, with prints of people smiling and laughing and having fun. The effect need not be in-your-face, but a few photos of smiling people sprinkled about helps the patient remember the benefit of why they came to the dentist to begin with.

And don’t forget – a big smile from the receptionist is always a pick-me-up.

What about that fast food line? Brightly colored Tensa-belts, floor graphics for the latest kid’s toys, balloons–any device to keep people looking about and distract their minds as they wait in that line.

Remember: Improve your Service, then immediately Consider the Customer and ease her pain. It may seem like common sense, but at the end of a long day it’s the last thing your staff is thinking about.

But the Chief Marketer must.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

OK, we’re trying to keep your clients from being bored…but here’s a photo that captures boredom and turns it to your advantage.

Photo: iStock #4266563

Headline: Boys Parked In Front of the Big Game This Saturday?
Subhead: Treat Yourself to a Facial at Acme Spa!

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

Try and watch two or three TV shows at once. If you have the “picture-within-a-picture” function on your television you can use that; or just park your laptop on your TV and run a DVD while at the same time watching, say, the news.

Distracting, isn’t it? No matter how smart you are or quick you are, you must keep shifting your attention back and forth between the two screens.

How many times do we do the same thing with our ads?

Make sure your ads have a Focal Point.

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert

Craig, should I use Greed or Fear in my copy?

The FunMarketer answer is: Often you can combine Greed and Fear into a one-two punch that is just about unbeatable. It is fast and it works.

A powerful formula is to leverage the OFFER to play on GREED (2 for 1, fifty percent off, etc) and then have the Call to Action push the Fear button.

This is a powerful, tested formula. The best copywriters and retail salespeople use it all the time. I bet you’ve ran into this in a retail store or when you were buying a car. It works.

But why?

Part of Greed/Fear effectiveness relates to Maslow and the hierarchy of needs. When you employ greed and fear as motivators, you can play directly into the basic, physiological needs without requiring your copy to engage the higher needs, such as esteem. Let’s look at trying to:

1. Get somebody to buy a hamburger
2. Get somebody to buy a diet-drink
3. Get somebody to eat healthy.

With One, the hamburger, you simply play on greed: “I’m hungry and I’ve got to eat now!” Greed isn’t always about money – sometimes it’s about food. So, you super-size the burger (a double layering of greed) and then you garnish with a limited-time offer that they won’t want to miss out on.

Using Two, the diet-drink, you just play on the basic hunger need, barely touch on the esteem need (a higher-level need), and then garnish with sex. It is no secret that “skin is in” for so many diet ads. With the diet ad mix-in the basic need for sex with the basic need for hunger–you are playing to the prospect’s Greed with two powerful basic needs. For the fear factor, you can either play off the fact that they won’t be thin in time for swimsuit season, or that they will be left out from their friends. Here you are bouncing up the ladder to the esteem needs again, but it’s almost inevitable in a diet-drink pitch

OK, how about #3 – eating healthy? With the hamburger, you apply techniques to play on the the greed for the basic physiological need of “hunger”. With the diet drink, you must consider the esteem needs, but you can double-down on greed by leveraging the basic sex need. But, to incent people to eat healhy, you must kick in the higher needs, needs for esteem. But beyond that, you also must involve the safety needs.

Much harder.

Now your copy and graphics must be muscular enough to go two or three levels higher up the ladder. #3 is much tougher sell to a general audience. It is why it is so important that when dealing with a #3 type of customer, you already have them thinking about the higher needs already.

So, if your audience for #3 is reading a health-related magazine, they are already predisposed to eating healthy and already engaged in thinking about the need for esteem and for safety.

Here the “greed” you are going for is more life. In reality, you are probably going to use “salvation” more than greed in this sell. I suppose one could say salvation is being greedy for more life. Here’s a link to a Denny Hatch article that has solid info on eight copy “emotional hot buttons” put together by Bob Hacker and Axel Andersson.

What if your #3 target is reading a general interest magazine? Now you may need to reverse the Greed/Fear order I’ve suggested above and lead with Fear. Your headline and graphic may have to jolt them into instantly afraid for their health, and kickstart their mind into immediately thinking about the safety needs.

There are other examples when we can lead with Fear, but those we’ll discuss another day.

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Photo: Istock #5012478

Headline: I Just Spent My Last Buck and Now You Tell Me Acme Burgers are on Sale?

Alternate Headline: The Tooth Fairy is On Strike?
Subhead: At Least Acme Burgers are Still on Sale -

Got any great ideas of your own? Just reply to the Funmarketer blog with your istock number and your headline and subhead (Clean Only, Please).

Oh, if you do use the campaign, make sure you give credit where due.

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

Boredom is your enemy. Anytime the customer is anywhere near your store, your website, or your presentation, you must surround them with distractions to keep them from being bored. Boredom puts the customer into a negative mood.

Isn’t your kid happier when she’s coloring or playing with a doll? If you want her to do something, such as pick up toys or help tote in a small bag of groceries from the car, won’t she be much more likely to perform such a chore without backtalk if she is seamlessly sliding from a pleasant activity rather than sitting at idle bored out of her mind?

It’s the same with your grown-up customers. Whether they are going to buy something from you, return something to you, or complain to you, your chances of a positive customer expereince are much better if you can keep them from being bored before they interact with your company.

Remember, not everything you have to engage them with to shoo away that spectre or boredom has to be sales-related material. A nice cup of coffee and a tv and a magazine to browse through is better than nothing.

Remember that little girl with the crayons that took in the groceries? She’s your customer, now.

FunMarketer Phrase of The Week

“Scared Speechless”. Oh, if only it would happen to the presidential candidates. Have No Fear of that happening any time soon….

Happy Marketing!

Craig Lutz-Priefert