Is There a Stronger Brand Than Apple?

The power of the Apple brand never ceases to amaze me.  The iPhone 4 launched today, and loyal Apple fans rushed to be among the first to have the newest generation of iPhone.

Crowds Queue Up Across U.S. For iPhone 4

Is there any other brand that generates such a consistently high level of anticipation for new product releases?  Apple has done it with each version of the iPhone, with the iPad, and to some extent with iPods (maybe there's too many versions of the iPod for it to seem so special).  Google and Microsoft are their closest competitors in most categories, and I can't imagine people forming lines several blocks long to purchase the latest device from either of them.

Congratulations to Apple for yet another successful launch.  I can't wait to see what they roll out next!

How Quickly Do You Respond?

How quickly do you respond to voice mail, email, and social media messages?

• Does it depend on the message?

• Does it depend who sent the message?

• Does it depend on what's going on that day?

• Is there a specific time in your schedule when you address messages?

• Do you respond to these communications as quickly as you expect others to respond to you?

Simple Branding

I've been spending much of my time lately on brand management, and it reminds me of what I've always disliked about marketing.  Don't get me wrong: brand management is important, and failing to manage a brand appropriately can spell disaster.  But how do you go about managing your brand effectively?

According to wikipedia a brand is "the identity of a specific product, service, or business.  A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol,color combination or slogan."

It seems like there's a huge emphasis on brand design (the name, sign, symbol,color combination or slogan) and how to best display those image factors in a marketing campaign. 

Shouldn't most of the emphasis be placed on the first part of that definition?  A brand is a representation of a product, service, or business.  So if you want to improve your brand's image, why not focus on improving your business and the products and services it offers?

It's easy for businesses to get side tracked into making their brand look pretty, but while that type of branding might attract new business, you won't be able to keep that business if you can't deliver products and services that customers care about.

Any thoughts on this from others with differing insights into branding?

Permission Marketing Is NOT Quid Pro Quo

I'm a big fan of Seth Godin.  I subscribe to a handful of blogs, and his blog is probably the one I enjoy reading the most.  So when I heard someone misuse the concept of permission marketing this week it bothered me.

I was listening to a lecture, and the presenter was telling us about a marketing campaigns he ran.  His client sponsored an event where people could have their pictures taken with a particular celebrity.  Once their picture had been taken the client would ask for an email address where they could send the picture.  The presenter claimed that their client now had "permission" to email the client, and they could then begin sending them promotional offers.

I don't agree.  The people only wanted their picture, nothing more.  Maybe a few of the people at the event would have been willing to receive promotional information from the company, but they were never asked.

There's a big difference between permission marketing and quid pro quo.  Of course nobody explains the difference better than Seth:

Permission Marketing

Quid pro quo (santa math)

Another Sales Failure

Last week I wrote about a door-to-door sales experience that bothered me (posts here and here).  This weekend another salesperson knocked on my door, and it didn't go much better. 

The salesman said he was from a well known cable company whose service I had used in the past (I'll save them the embarrassment of mentioning which one).  I let him know that I'm happy with my current cable service, WOW.  I told him it's a great service, there are almost no outages, and I pay a reasonable low rate.  When I told him how much I pay each month he said it was a shame that I didn't qualify as a win-back customer, because if I did he could have offered me a lower rate than what I currently pay.

What a horrible thing to tell a prospect!  He just interrupted my weekend to tell me that I'm not a priority to his company!  Unlike last week's sales rep this guy was an adult, so I didn't feel obligated to explain his error to him.  Instead I said "well, that would've been nice" and closed the door.

Who's To Blame?

Monday I wrote a post about a teenager's use of shady sales tactics.  I got several comments here and on LinkedIn, and everyone agrees that it's incredibly sad that teenagers and young adults are taught to use sleazy sales methods.  I couldn't agree more.  There will always be companies that view sales as a zero-sum game, and unfortunately they often hire eager young people to do their dirty work.

But shouldn't the kid take a share of the blame?  After all, he's the one tricking people to into buying magazines they don't want. 

We don't overlook an adult's use of rotten sales methods just because that's how his company trained him, and I think the same standard applies here.  If a 10 year old tries to trick me into buying candy bars I can blame her age, but a teenager should know better than to manipulate people for his own gain.

Does anyone agree with my assessment, or am I judging this kid too harshly?

Shady Salesperson

Friday a teenager rang my doorbell.  Usually when kids come to my door they're trying to sell me crap that I don't want, but as I prepared to say "no thanks" he let me know that his motives were not financial.  He told me he was in a group for young entrepreneurs, and as part of an effort to practice speaking in public his assignment was to go door-to-door and introduce himself.

They were having a contest, and if I voted for him it would help him win a trip to Europe.  He was very charismatic, and since entrepreneurship is near and dear to my heart I agreed to vote for him.  I figured he'd then direct me to a website to vote, and he could then begin planing his European vacation.  That's when he informed me that to "vote" I would need to purchase a magazine subscription! Not surprisingly I turned him down.

There will always be individuals and companies that are willing to do anything to make a sale.  This kid tried to dupe me into purchasing a subscription to a magazine I didn't want, and I'm sure his methods worked on plenty of other people.  I'm guessing the kid was duped into believing he has a real shot at winning an all expenses paid trip to Europe (assuming there is a trip) if he can sell more subscriptions than anyone else. 

I hope the kid learns one day that tricking people into buying from you doesn't make you a salesperson; it makes you a con artist.

Strategy or Tactics?

Which is more important in social media, strategy or tactics?  That's the question asked this week by TopRank's Online Marketing Blog in great posts here and here.  They asked the question to several marketing and web professionals, and the consensus is that strategy must come first.

Why, then, do so many companies try to grow their online presence before they have a clear strategy? 

Using eMarketing tools like social media, SEO, and online advertising can help you reach a large audience for little or no money.  That can lead to wonderful things for a business that is ready to handle the attention, but it can be disasterous for those that are unprepared.

On Monday I wrote a post about a company that contacted me to offer their services.  My interest was piqued, and I clicked on the link to their website.  However, the content on their website was so inept that I quickly deleted their message.  I will never do business with them, even if they fix their mistakes. 

Their tactics were effective enough to get me to their website, but their lack of an effective marketing strategy turned me away.  Consequently they're worse off than if they never contacted me at all.

Has anyone else had a similar experience they'd like to share?

Know Your Strengths

This weekend I received a message from a marketing research firm offering to provide me with high quality marketing services, including email campaigns and data collection.  However, their website contained a great deal of grammatical errors and phrasing that didn't quite make sense.  Why would I consider outsourcing my marketing communications to a company that doesn't communicate effectively? 

Knowing a few things about SEO and web design does not make you a marketing professional.  I wouldn't hire a mechanic just because he knew how to drive, so why would I hire a technology firm to run a marketing campaign?

Deciding Who You Aren't

Monday I wrote a post asking why customers should choose you instead of your competitors.  It lead to lots of great conversations, particularly one with Mike Klassen in the comments section of that post.  (Not a surprise considering a previous conversation I had with Mike lead to one of my more popular posts.) 

Anyway, the discussions here and in LinkedIn got me thinking about how many companies try to be everything to every customer.  It's a nice idea, but it doesn't work.  In order to find your place in the market you have to decide who you are, and more importantly who you aren't.

• Are you high quality or low price?  
• Are you the fastest or the most reliable?  
• Are you the sexiest or the safest?

Lots of companies do a variety of things reasonably well.  But if you do just one or two things incredibly well then you'll have a much easier time distinguishing yourself from the competition.  Then you'll find customers that appreciate you for who you aren't.

Why You?

Why should someone choose you instead of your competitor?

Are you faster?
Cheaper?
Smarter?
Safer?
More reliable?
More flexible?
More effective?

If you can't answer these questions, your prospective customers probably can't either.

e-Marketing Isn't Magic

I recently came across a definition of e-Marketing that I really like:

Very simply put, eMarketing or electronic marketing refers to the application of marketing principles and techniques via electronic media and more specifically the Internet.

Yes, it sounds very simplistic, even obvious.  But if you take a look at many of the websites and blogs dedicated to e-Marketing the use of "marketing principles" is severely limited.  Many people like to focus on hot topics like SEO, social media optimization, Google AdWords, etc., but it rarely seems to be part of an overall, holistic approach to marketing.

Using internet and social media as tools can be a fantastic way to carry out a well though out marketing plan.  Using them instead of a real marketing plan can be a disaster.

Struggling With Social Networking

A post I wrote Friday about struggling with increasing my network got an incredible response!  I received a ton of great comments on this blog and in the LinkedIn discussions where I posted a link .  One comment in particular was so compelling that I asked the author if I could re-post it here for everyone to read. 

Below is the comment I received from Mike Klassen. I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. 

I've been wrestling with this a bit myself... more-so with LinkedIn and Facebook. With Twitter, as long as there's some sort of possible common thread (usually in the realm of sales, marketing, consulting, etc.) I'm happy to connect with people there.

I do tend to stay away from the folks whose career seems to only be posting every passing thought on Twitter. I unfollowed one gal who seemed like a very nice person. (She was consultant.) But her tweets were constant. I couldn't figure out how she had any time to work with clients with the daily stream she sent out.

I saw Lewis on the Rise to the Top podcast, too. There's probably a comfortable spot between only connecting with people you know and connecting with everyone who has a pulse. :)

I think what I'm finding these days is that I'm willing to connect with more people I don't know well. The reason is that as my network grows, I may run into folks who need services I don't have direct, personal connections with.

It would be nice to tell those folks, "While I don't know _____ personally, I've been following him/her on _______ and they seem like they know what they're talking about. You might want to check him/her out."

I also appreciate it when people who want to connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook take just a moment to explain why they want to connect.

It might be as simple as, "I'm in direct marketing and see that you are, too." Otherwise, it almost feels like they're wanting to connect just to boost their numbers which is something you can get a lot here on LinkedIn.

I don't know... am I not catching the true spirit of social media? Should I be connecting with everyone who passes by me on the Internet? Perhaps if I had clearer goals in this area, it would be easier to come up with an answer.

If you'd like to read more from Mike be sure to check out his blog at http://magalogguy.com/blog/.  I had a chance to read a few of his postings over the weekend and they're every bit as good as his great comment here.  Thanks to Mike for letting me re-post this, and thank you to everyone for all of the great comments.  I'd love to hear more of your concerns and suggestions!

Increasing My Network

As I mentioned in a recent post I have kept my social network very small.  Everyone in it was someone I knew personally, and therefore everything I sent and received felt more personal. A couple of things this week have made me rethink this strategy.

1)  I've been reading a few posts from Lewis Howes.  He is a very strong proponent of using LinkedIn to connect with other professionals, and he posts many helpful suggestions on how to use LinkedIn more effectively (as you can see in this post). 

2)  I saw a tweet suggesting to use TopFollowed to help increase my Twitter network.  I signed up for it, and my network is in fact bigger.  I did already have to unfollow a couple of accounts that weren't for me (I hate when people tweet every thought in their head!), but it's too early to tell whether this will help me make any positive connections.

In all I think it was definitely time for me to reach out and begin expanding my network.  I'm still going to look for quality connections rather than quantity. 

Does anyone have any helpful suggestions or similar experiences?  As always feel free to comment.

Nobody is Great at Everything

I spent some time this weekend working on a SWOT Analysis for my consulting business.  I've done them before, both as an undergrad and as a grad student, and I've always found them easy.  But this one has been particularly difficult.

It's tough to analyze ourselves because it forces us to admit there are things we aren't so good at.  That's never fun on a personal level, and it isn't fun for a business owner either, particularly when it's a one-person business.  But it's necessary to recognize the things we don't do well so that we can structure our businesses accordingly.

If you're bad with finances hire a bookkeeper.  If you don't understand technology hire an IT professional.  If you need help with marketing hire a consultant (like me!).  If you are really good at performing a specific function (like a doctor, lawyer, plumber, etc) but have no business skills maybe you should consider taking on a partner.

It's best to determine your strengths and weaknesses up front so you can plan your business accordingly.  As for my SWOT Analysis, I still have plenty of work to do.  I think I'll need to outsource a few things (like web development) so that I can focus on playing to my strengths.

Social Media Groups: Taking the Good with the Bad

Monday I wrote a post about The Joy (and Pain) of Social Networking.  Another opportunity/challenge that social media presents is joining and participating in groups.  I have joined a few groups on Linked In and Facebook, and so far I've had mixed results.  I've found several excellent articles from these groups (like this and this).  But as with anything online I have to sift through the scam-my stuff to find these gems. 

This sours an otherwise enjoyable experience.  I tend to put off checking my group discussions until last: I'll go through my email, catch up on blogs in my Reader and updates on my Tweetdeck, then maybe I'll look at a group or two if I have time. 

Are you having a similar experience?  Am I joining the wrong ones, or do they all have their share of junk posts?  Is there a better way to approach groups?   Please leave a comment if you have any thoughts or insights.

The Joy (and Pain) of Social Networking

I've been increasing my online presence this year, and it's going quite well.  I've made friends on Facebook.  I've connected with colleagues on LinkedIn.  I have a few of tweeps on Twitter.  I have a handful or regulars that read this blog (thank you, by the way).  Recently I started a website and a Facebook fan page.  I've enjoyed it much more  than I'd expected.  I love reading tweets from @iannarino, blog posts from Seth Godin, and status updates from my friend Tracey. 

There have been a few people along the way that make the experience less enjoyable, particularly on twitter.  You know who I mean: the people who follow your tweets hoping that you'll follow theirs.  The ones that send a personalized message that is clearly scripted.  Those who send several updates a day with a link to their website hoping to drive traffic.  I quickly remove them from my contacts, but in doing so I usually notice something disturbing: they have thousands of followers!  Thousands of people who are bombarded with spam from their "friends" because they are trying to make new contacts.

I'm currently following 6 people on twitter.  Only 6.  But I find them all interesting, and I enjoy getting new tweets.  I only have 34 friends on Facebook.  But I know most of them personally, and I love seeing how life is treating each of them.  I follow 15 blogs, and I look forward to new posts appearing in my reader (a list of the blogs I currently follow is on the home page). 

I purposely keep all of my social networks small so I can manage them.  I keep them small so I can be more social.

Small Business Use of Social Media Increases

A recent survey by the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business showed that the rate at which small businesses are using social media doubled from 2008 to 2009 (12% to 24%).  There's a great article about it posted here on Mashable and another here on Marketing Pilgrim.

As this graphic suggests most small businesses that are using social media use Facebook and LinkedIn.  Twitter usage is relatively small, even smaller than blogging. 

Interestingly 50% of small businesses complained that using social media takes more time than they expected.  17% believe social media gives customers an forum for complaining, and 6% believe social media has hurt their business's image.

The main takeaway from this data: Social Media is a great resource for small businesses, but it isn't magical.  Any marketing campaign takes effort and planning, and that includes social media.

Should Companies Focus on New or Existing Customers?

I've read two very interesting articles this week about customer focus:

In Keep Those Customers! on Inc.com Howard Greenstein says that companies focus so much of their energies on obtaining new customers that they ignore the customers they already have.  Christopher Penn, Vice President, Strategy and Innovation at Blue Sky Factory Email Marketing, quantifies this perspective:

A good marketer in general can move 10% of the attention they create into qualified leads. With good customer retention, good service, good product, you have a huge amount of control about keeping your customers. They’re yours to lose.

Not everyone agrees.  In Dear Catalog CEOs: New Customers, Kevin Hillstrom at MineThatData.com points out that no matter how customer-centric your company is there will always be customer turnover.  He addresses the idea of building customer loyalty directly:

If there were easy ways to increase customer loyalty, everybody would be doing it and loyalty would dramatically improve and the economy wouldn't be a mess, right?

His suggestion: "Focus a disproportionate amount of time and energy on finding new customers."  His point is that there are far more ways for companies to acquire new customers than ways for them to improve their customer retention rates.

A successful company should strive to both earn new customers and to please existing customers, but often resources are spread thin.  Which should be the priority?  Should companies give the majority of their focus to existing customer relationships or to creating new customers?

Tiger's Apology Is Too Little, Too Late

I have tried my best to ignore everything about the Tiger Woods scandal.  His personal life is of no interest to me, and frankly I'm sick of hearing about it.  That being said, I had to watch his recent apology to see how he handled it.  If you haven't seen it yet check out the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs8nseNP4s0

I'm not sure many people watching will view his apology as sincere.  Why did he wait for 3 months to issue an apology?  Did he think it would blow over?  Did he think people would just forget about it?  He had an opportunity to speak up early on (he did vaguely apologize for his "transgressions" on December 2nd) but this press conference only took place after he lost several sponsors. 

Businesses tend to make this same critical mistake.  They often try to salvage their image by denying any wrongdoing:

Ford and Firestone blame each other for deadly tires

Occasionally companies do it the right way:

Tylenol's quick recall causes only slight dip in stock prices

Don't wait for the public to demand an apology.  Once a mistake has been made get in front of it as quickly as possible.  Accept full, unconditional responsibility.  Apologize.  Then perhaps you can move forward.