FunMarketer Lesson of the Week

Craig, I’m on a limited budget. Should I send out one expensive promotion or several cheap ones?

It’s a great question – and a perennial marketing conundrum. Those of you who’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point are familiar with his explanation of Stickiness. One of the case studies mentioned prominently in the book was Lester Wunderman’s use of a gold box in a promotion for Columbia Record Club. The use of the gold box – and the customer interaction with the ad, helped make the ad extremely “sticky”. It beat the conventional ads Columbia was using.

But how many of us are at Wunderman’s level when it comes to marketing? How many basketball players are at Michael Jordan’s? Not many, that’s for sure.

Yes, the world-class “sticky” package or ad is the goal. But, there is also a place for solid “block and tackle” marketing – the type that works every day to keep your company’s name in front of your customers. It’s why we suggest an ad campaign every week here – to help jumpstart your brain’s idea factory.

Enter Frequency. Frequency of good, solid communications with customers is vital. In direct marketing, like the Columbia ad, you often have one shot to snag the customer. However, in longer sell cycles, and especially if you market to businesses, the frequency and the repetition of the marketing message will sustain your brand in front of the customer until they are ready to buy.

Hey, what good is it getting a great promotion in front of a prospect that has zero immediate need for your product? Columbia Record Club was offering a rather ubiquitous product to an audience – millions of people enjoyed records. What if you are trying to sell IT services to a Network Administrator at a small company? You can easily be six months either side of his purchasing window. It takes one extremely sticky package to last six months with a client.

So the short answer – for most marketers there’s not a competition between Stickiness and Frequency. It takes a blend of both for marketing success.

Call me for more ideas at 402-423-2444 or email me at funmarketer@marketinghawks.com

FunMarketer Free Campaign Idea of the Week

Trust is a key theme right now. Look at how most financial services companies try to portray trust – in a full-page ad from the president, or a letter from the president, or some other wordy (waaay wordy!) letter from an authority figure; usually a male.

Here’s a photo that builds trust. The young lady doctor/nurse has on the lab coat and stethoscope, so there is a bit of implicit authority there. But this shot is tinged with the other component that people need in stressful times like this – caring. See the two people next to the patient in the background? They are obviously taking good care of her and she looks reassured.

Imagine this as a headline/photo for any company that has a client base that might be nervous with the current negative economic news. Here’s a headline for an accounting firm.

Photo: iStock #3709313

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup/people/3709313-young-caring-doctor.php?id=3709313

Headline: We’re On Call When Your Business Needs a Financial Checkup
Subhead: Acme Accounting – Taking Care of One Client at a Time Since 1985

FunMarketer Tip of The Week

Surprised I used a “medical” photo for the accounting headline? Well, it’s not a medical photo to me. To me it’s a “Trust and Care” photo – and that’s what I’m trying to use to differentiate the accounting firm.

Use the right blend of photos of the hardware you use and the people who use it. Many times technical and professional people want to focus and highlight the machines they use in providing their service. An accounting firm may focus on a 10-key, an IT firm may use lots of zeroes and ones in their imagery.

A little of that is OK – it helps the customer instantly identify what you do. But too many hardware photos and too few people photos will leave the customer knowing exactly what you do – and not connecting how it relates to them. You need people photos throughout your marketing messages.