The Boston Globe this week showed their annual picture of a large truck driving all of the Boston Red Sox equipment down to spring training in Florida. This is a much anticipated photo for Boston sports fans, as it signals the end of winter and lets us dream about what our beloved Sox will do this summer. For me, it also strikes me as a reminder about the length of the baseball season.
Spring training gets going in February and the World Series does not end until late October - 8 months! Between now and then, you will probably shovel snow, cut the lawn many times, wish your Mom a happy Mothers' Day, maybe take a vacation, rake leaves, see the kids finish one school year and start another. For baseball players, this is one long season with many ups and downs.
Like a baseball season, your marketing season (which basically never ends) will have those peaks and valleys. A baseball season lasts 162 games and teams will have both winning and losing streaks, there will be injuries, there will be high times and low times. A marketing season will have at times an abundance of leads and opportunities to work on - and there will be be "slow" times. There will be marketing campaigns that work and some that don't. Either way, you will have to persevere through the entire season.
Like a baseball team, your marketing program will have strengths and weaknesses. A baseball team might have a great infield, good hitting but poor pitching. A marketing "team" might have strong creativity and proactive ideas but poor execution. Either way, your strengths need to compensate for the weaknesses so, as a team, you win at the end.
Like a baseball game, you will have many opportunities to score. A baseball game consists of nine innings and each inning allows three batters (at minimum) to make something happen. In a marketing game, you get many chances to make something happen. It will be up to your marketing team to be resourceful (like a good baseball team) to execute a plan for maximum "runs scored."
As your favorite baseball team relies on key areas such as hits, runs and good defense, your marketing team should focus on key areas like lead generation, data appending, promotional imprinted products, and mail order fulfillment services. As the baseball managers rely on statistics to manage and guide their team, a top direct marketing agency uses statistics like ROI, sales conversion, and profit margin to manage their team.
So as we see that infamous truck head to Florida with all the bats, gloves, and balls, it makes you remember the long season ahead for both baseball players and marketing people alike.
Play Ball!
The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off a Tuscan Island the other week - no doubt a major story as lives were lost and the lives of over 4000 passengers were in jeopardy. However the offshoot of this story has been the behavior of the ship's captain Francesco Schettino. The captain has been accused of abandoning his ship while there were passengers still on-board. In addition to this being a major "no-no" in the maritime world (remember the captain always goes down with his ship), Schettino faces possible manslaughter charges, which could carry a sentence of 12 years in prison! Whatever news account you hear might be a different version but clearly the captain made a huge error in judgment when he abandoned his ship.
How does this relate to Marketing and Business Development Professional Services? It all relates wise decision making, good judgment and not abandoning your "marketing ship." Whatever role you play in your company's marketing effort, "abandoning ship" is not an option. If you are in a decision-making role, you are responsible for setting the right strategy; if you are not making the decisions, it is your role to follow the directives set forth my management. Either way, you have a role to fill!
As a strategic marketing consultancy, The Allied Group works with clients to help them understand what roles are and how people should fill them. When one person abandons their role, it does affect the whole marketing program (not unlike the behavior of Captain Schettino, who abandoned his role during a crucial time for the Costa Concordia).
Data Appending. Lead Generation. Redesigning Websites. Not everyone can be involved with all things but you owe it to yourself and the company to know what you have to do. As an example, on a personal level, it is not my job specifically to manage the CRM system; but I do have a role of maintaining my contacts and their information so our marketing team can adequately do their job.
Each of us has a job to do with Marketing; you don't need "Marketing" in your title to be aware of these efforts and act on them.
How will you stay aware and not "abandon ship" when it comes to your company's marketing efforts?
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The featured guests included the "A" list of the worldwide speaker tour: Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Lou Holtz, Terry Bradshaw - and best of all, everyone's favorite TV dad - Bill Cosby. These powerful speakers brought personal stories and interesting anecdotes all touching on three important themes: God, America and Business.
In between the speakers, the "pitch" was on. The room was full of people hungry for expert wisdom and guidance on how to become wealthy, independent and widely successful via Internet based: investing, real estate and affiliate marketing. For a very low monthly investment - you can join the ranks of millionaire's from ages 4 to 85 who have used these tools to become wealthy in just 90 days.
Now, it's possible that these tools could work and you could be a millionaire in 90 days. In full disclosure - I am a big fan of God, America and Business. I am also a big fan of ROI and of success. I've also seen some exciting business development programs - but none of them worked their magic in quite the same way.
Some bad news.... Managing and growing your personal brand or your corporate brand takes time. There is no panacea, no cure all, no "get results overnight guaranteed" program. Marketing and Sales success evolves from a prolonged, diversified, and intentional effort. Whether you are in Sales and Marketing in Medical Devices, Higher Education, Non-Profit, Insurance or any other field - the keys to success are the same.
Success is the result of nurturing prospects and clients, providing them valuable content and solving problems. Not exactly rocket science. Good old fashioned business sense. Success comes from working with a Strategic Marketing Consultancy or a Business Process Outsourcing Solutions Provider who will help you build the right model:
- Research and Analysis: who are your best prospects?
- Data Appending: what is of interest to them?
- Nurture Marketing: how best to speak to them?
- Lead Generation: how can they easily interact with you?
Some good news.... This infomercial - was free.
What could this book possibly have to say about Marketing, Sales, Lead Generation, or Business Development? How does it apply to The Allied Group - or any other business in 2011?
Not surprising, was the valuable insights into Operational concepts, Financial Implications, and the need for constant adaptation.
So - what can we learn in Sales and Marketing 2300 years after Sun Tzu wrote his blog:
"War is a grave concern of the state; it must be studied... the 5 factors are moral influence, weather, terrain, command and doctrine..."
- Moral Influence: The people (sales, marketing, finance, operations) must be in harmony with the leaders.
- Weather: The interaction of natural forces that affect the conduct of operations in accordance with the season. A direct mail campaign for snow blowers in July ???
- Terrain: Whether the ground is traversed with ease or difficulty, whether it is open or constricted, and the chances of life and death. If closing the sale requires a live demo - will the product travel well, can sales do the demo, are the prospects near each other, are there tariff or tax implications that will complicate the deal?
- Command: The General's qualities of wisdom, sincerity, humanity, courage and strictness. I liked all of the qualities of a Sales and Marketing VP right up till "strictness." Who wouldn't love a boss that was wise, sincere, humane and had the courage to try new things....and we all know that no one likes a boss without a spine.
- Doctrine: organization, control, assignment of appropriate ranks, regulation of supply routes, the provision of items. What a waste if Marketing designs a cool new campaign - but it mails late because no one funded the USPS escrow account... or Sales has a killer blitz but operations can't keep up with the incoming requests...
- There is no General who has not heard of these five matters. Those who master them will win, those who don't are defeated. Nothing new under the sun - we all know the right way to manage our Sales and Marketing efforts...
So how do we do it ?
- Invest in an Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign
- Research
- Data Appending
- One to One Communication
- Lead Generation
- Stealth Programs
- Nurture Marketing
- Customer Acquisition
- Loyalty and Rewards
- Cross Selling
- Referrals
- Strategize - Execute - Measure -
- Repeat Step 3.
- Read and recommend a book......
OK - I am officially on Social Media overload. Despite all my efforts to confine my use of it as a tool - I have been assimilated by the Borg and now consider myself part of the collective. I give up.... I pledge my allegiance to the blog and to the go public strategy for which it stands, one Twitter, under Linkedin, completely visible, with Facebook, Networking, and Branding for all.
It seems that you can no longer have a conversation without spending at least half of the time discussing Social Media.
Lead Generation, Web Design, Data Appending, Sales Training, Marketing, SEO, Blogging, Public Relations, Direct Mail, Business Development, Loyalty - no matter what the topic - doesn't it seem to now center on Social Media?
In the last three weeks I have been to three events and participated in two webinars all of which focused on Social Media ROI. Not one person had a case study that showed any proven ROI that Social Media had made them money.
But can you live without? How will people find you, how will people trust you, how will people view you if you don't have a robust Social Media presence?
In our Brave New World....
1. We all self-educate before we make a decision. The fastest and easiest way to do the research is generally on the web. Social Media make info is accessible.
2. We trust people we know. Relatives, neighbors and friends have always influenced our decisions. Social Media extends the circle and reduces the time to get opinions.
3. We want community. Humans crave affiliation and want to be part of something. Church groups, Elks, Rotary, PTA - these are all ways that we connect with people of similar interests... it helps us feel normal! Social Media offers a gateway to join groups, follow trends, get information without having to go to meetings, get on committees or sell brownies as a fundraiser.
We may not always like it or even understand it - but Social Media - like every other major shift in how we communicate - offers benefits and hurdles. Radio didn't kill books or newspapers, TV didn't kill radio, Movies didn't kill theater, Cable didn't kill movies, email didn't kill the USPS, Texting has killed email, and Social Media won't kill Sales and Marketing. It will change us forever....
Progress brings new worlds, new opportunities and new markets. Social Media is a game changer, but the game isn't over.
Are Sales and Marketing like the Offense and Defense for the Patriots? Players with two different sets of skills supporting each other with a common goal.
Or, are they like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton... On again - Off again.... From newlyweds to jilted lovers and back again.
Responses to a recent LinkedIn survey overwhelmingly agreed that most organizations have some degree of friction between Sales and Marketing - and all agreed that bridging that gap is critical for success.
What they didn't agree on is who is owns:
- Lead Generation Methods
- Marketplace Research and Data Appending
- How we improve Customer Service
- Do we need Direct Mail Marketing
- Do we need Promotional Products
- How do we maximize our CRM
This blog will try to bring together these diverse opinions and find some common ground from which we can all benefit.
Have any thoughts??? Email me at kriley@thealliedgrp.com
Admissions officers and higher education marketing firms know that it’s very hard to encourage a student to inquire or apply if he/she won’t even read your Search letter or email. Student Search is one of the most critical aspects of higher education marketing. As the recession pushes down admissions yield rates, having a sufficient number of inquiries and applications becomes even more important.
Searching Overburdened Students
Marketing to prospective college students is becoming ever more challenging. As Strauss and Howe’s research revealed, the Millennial generation is one of the most stressed-out generations in history. Students feel understandable pressure to get good grades and take part in a myriad of extracurricular activities. When the Search season begins, most prospective college students will be buried under an avalanche of Search letters. Many will look very similar. And the student’s electronic inbox will resemble their mailbox; it will be totally clogged with admissions Search email messages. Which messages will they read and what will encourage them to respond?
This will be no problem for institutions with a great brand. A Search letter from Harvard, Princeton or Yale will certainly by opened – it may be framed. But there are many high quality but less famous institutions that could be a perfect fit for individual students. Due to time pressures, many of their letters and emails will go unopened by both students and parents. What’s an admissions marketing staff to do?
Research to the Rescue
Research can come to the rescue. Both marketers and psychologists have conducted controlled scientific studies to uncover what makes busy people, particularly teenagers respond. Social psychology research is particularly helpful here – most of its research subjects are college students. Whether your college’s admissions department sends emails, or letter/post card mailings, what are some factors that research shows can help get your admissions marketing communication noticed?
Aside from strong branding, perhaps the most important is personal relevance. A key study cited by eminent social psychologist and author Elliot Aronson, PhD found that college students carefully evaluated information only if they found it personally relevant (Petty, Cacioppo & Goldman). It will often take a lot of careful evaluation for a student to decide to enroll at your institution. Sending a personally relevant Search piece is a good start.
Making Search Personally Relevant to Students
Prospective college students who have recently taken the SAT or ACT have provided fresh information on their academic interests. There's no need for data appending. Featuring their intended major has gotten good results in the past. According to a Hewlett-Packard report, Albertson College increased its Search response rate from 2.2% to 18.7% a few years ago by highlighting students’ intended major and varsity sports interest (where applicable).
Clearly, having fresh, accurate data can help you make your Search letters, postcards and emails personally relevant to students, which will get them read. But students change their minds, and unless your database is up to date the major you feature may no longer be pertinent. Featuring it would make your Search efforts yesterday’s news.
What if your Data isn’t Fresh?
Would a mass marketing approach be better and safer to use? That approach could mean that your letters, postcard mailings and emails will look like what everyone else is sending. How will the students to whom you’re marketing determine whether or not to open and read your communication? The research cited by Dr. Aronson showed that when the communication wasn’t personally relevant to students, they used decision shortcuts or heuristics to judge its value. What decision shortcuts do prospects use? You can read about a number of them in the white paper, The Psychology of Search. To get a copy, email me at lrondeau@thealliedgrp.com.
For those of you that believe that email and the internet will be the answer to your advertising woes, Google knows differently. Their direct mail pieces have become a common sight in the postal carrier’s bag for the past 18 months. Offerings range from $100.00 credits for their services to referral rewards of gift certificates for a Latte at Starbucks.
Continuous communication is the KEY to a successful direct mail program. Google knows this and is reaching out with a direct mail campaign that touches their prospects a minimum of 10 times per year.
While there may be irony in the world’s largest internet search engine using direct mail, Google knows that nothing can target a market better. Not radio, not TV, not newspapers and not a search engine.
In my humble opinion, Google is giving a "thumbs-up" to Direct Mail. So if you need more than post card mailing service, The Allied Group can develop a program tailored to your specific marketing needs. You might not have Google’s budget but chances are Direct Mail will work for you too. Call us for a consultation and let’s talk about it.
We are the experts in marketing to college students, medical marketing consultants, data appending, contract packaging 3pl, full service fulfillment, coupled with web design branding and supply change management strategies.
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