Selling is the distribution arm of marketing, and it works best when it’s done face-to-face. This type of interaction allows for a dialogue where in the seller can listen to the potential buyer and fill his or her needs. Direct selling isn’t only expensive in terms of employee costs; it can also be expensive in terms of opportunity costs. If you’re the only salesperson for the company and you’re talking to a potential customer who doesn’t buy, you may have missed being able to talk to other customers who would have bought. You can’t make products if you’re in the process of selling, either.
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The Journey to Better Marketing: Networking Goals
When you decide to start networking, the first thing you need to do is to make a networking plan with goals. The first goal should be centered on how many events you plan on attending in a month; a minimum should be two, but more is definitely acceptable.
Continue readingThe Journey to Better Marketing: Business Networking
The hardest part about networking is understanding the difference between it and socializing. While some socializing is networking, networking isn’t always socializing. According to “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days (affiliate link)”, networking is making contacts to establish relationships that lead to business, often through referrals. Networking isn’t about doing business, unless you happen to run into someone who fits your target market exactly. Instead, it’s about forming relationships that will lead to a referral for your business.
Continue readingThe Journey to Better Marketing: Advertising
Advertising takes patience. The statistics say that people notice one in nine ads; the rest are tuned out. If it takes seven times for them to remember the ad and 10 times for them to buy something based on the ad, you’re going to need repetition, consistency, focus, and positioning to be successful. You’ll need to run the same ad 90 times before someone buys something based on the ad – assuming you’re hitting your target market. This is an estimated average. Some people may buy before then, and the same number of people may buy with more ads. Still, if you aren’t prepared to run 90 or more ads, save your money for something else until you are ready.
“Advertising is reminding. Once is not enough,” according to “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days (affiliate link).” The reason why large, well-known brands like Coca Cola and McDonald’s continue to advertise is to remind their market about the love they have for the product. Each commercial reinforces the ardor of the fans and works to convert others to the brand. Coca-Cola needs to remain people that “It’s the Real Thing.”
Ads need to be brief and compelling. “Got milk?” “Just do it.” “I’m lovin’ it.” “The quicker-picker upper.” “Where’s the beef?” “They’re great!” None of these messages is overly complicated, and I bet you know which products or companies they are advertising.
People will see your ad before they see you; it becomes your identity. Make sure that it accurately reflects your business and how you want to be perceived.
Advertising won’t be your only expense. It works best in conjunction with other marketing communication tools.
Different media have different personalities and cater to different kinds of people. Make sure you’re choosing the media that best suits your brand.
Adapted from “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days (afilliate link).”
The Journey to Better Marketing: Identity
Identity is a strong motivator. When people identify themselves with a company, a religion, a personality trait, a band… whatever it is, they protect that identifier and do their best to make it a part of who they are, even if it’s to their detriment. Disney fans still take a trip to the movies or an annual pilgrimage to one of the Disney properties, even when it hurts financially. Homeless people refuse help because they don’t any handouts. Identity allows people to believe what they want to believe even when the evidence says they shouldn’t. Batman uses it to justify everything he does.
For a company, your identity should permeate and is made up from everything, including your logo, tagline, the way your business looks, your radio jingle, and everything else you and your employees do and say. Identity is everything your clients hear about you and everything they remember, even when that memory is false.
In order to avoid a negative identity, it should be created from a place of honesty and truth. In reality, people have complicated identities that are situationally influenced. For your business, your identity needs to be clear and consistent. Do not confuse your customers with constantly changing identity markers. A consistent identity is a successful one. You may need to reevaluate your identity periodical to make sure that it aligns with new products and services.
Information adapted from “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.”
The Journey to Better Marketing: Creative Planning
Your creative plan is the one that will direct your marketing communication at the right target audience. It will use a benefits approach that looks and feels like your company and provide you with the instructions that allow for continuous evaluation and improvements to the marketing plan. Your creative plan reminds you to think about marketing results and not how much you’ve spent. It will also regulate how often you communicate, avoiding communicating too often or not often enough.
Your creative plan is related only to your marketing materials and communication, and each type of communication requires its own creative plan. In the creative plan, you need to state the purpose of the communication, how you intend to achieve the purpose and the tone of the communication.
For example, “The email list will provide a continuing connection to readers and Penguinators. We will send out a weekly email which lists what’s been posted on the blog, and a separate email every month that will inspire creativity and joy. Our happy emails will be a light in the darkness.”
Your communication should get attention, be believable, and motivate for action.
Information adapted from “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.”
The Journey to Better Marketing: Marketing Communication
You can have the greatest products and services in the world, but if no one knows about you, you’re not going to sell much. Advertising is a smaller part of marketing communication, which encompasses everything you do to communicate about what you offer.
According to “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days,” “Communication is the key factor in determining whether a customer is retained, whether the customer spends more with you, and whether you outsell the competition.” It can be verbal or visual.
Your marketing communication should be clear, be focused on the benefits of your products and services to the customer, grab attention, and provide enough information to persuade the customer to buy. It should be easy to read without a lot of clutter. Oftentimes, too much text is off-putting. Look at the Google search bar when you start, there’s the word Google (or the Google doodle), a search bar and a choice between two buttons to push. The rest is white space.
You can build your credibility in your marketing materials through testimonials, case studies, correct grammar and typo-free content. Hire an editor to read through it for you at least once.
This information is adapted from “Guerrilla marketing in 30 Days.”
Three Benefits of Our Stuffed Penguin Plush Toys
Life is too serious. Our penguins help to lighten things up and provide laughter and joy to prevent the darkness from closing in. As a soft and squishy companion, our stuffed penguin plush toys provide a pleasing and calming tactile experience.
Talk out Your Problems
When you’re faced with a problem and you have no one else to go to, a stuffed penguin can listen to what you need to say. The mere act of verbalizing a problem is often enough to see it in the light that it deserves.
When you talk out a problem, even to a stuffed penguin, you are giving yourself the opportunity to state the problem I a way that you can understand it. Too often, people let a problem roam the mind where the imagination grabs it and allows it to grow out of control.
Giving voice to your fears allows you to get a handle on them. When you can label the problem, you can begin to understand it. Our penguins act as your confidante giving you a way to talk to someone without receiving judgement from that person. The essential part of this act gives you emotional and psychological protection, you may not otherwise experience. Our penguins always understand you.
Express Your Emotions
Our penguins reflect your inner emotions. Each face is unique and created so that your personality shines through them. Because of their innate cuteness, they help to make the emotions softer, so that you can deal with them better. Introverts can use our penguins as the starting point for their social media interactions or as a way to express themselves to friends and family when it would be too painful or difficult otherwise.
Boost Your Creativity
Our stuffed penguin plush toys bring out the child in you. They allow you to practice using your imagination and telling stories. When you exercise your abilities to be childlike, you are practicing for creativity. Every interaction with a stuffed penguin will help you grow your creativity. Take photos with it, tell its story, and find its personality. You will find joy, friendship, travel and penguins in your imagination.
The Journey to Better Marketing: Benefits vs. Features
The basis of capitalism is “the individual will do what’s good for the individual.” When you consider marketing your product or service, you need to consider it from your customers’ perspectives. What’s in it for them?
If you talk about how cold your refrigerator is, you’re talking about a feature. The refrigerator is cold. So what? What does that mean to your customer? The refrigerator will keep food fresher longer because of its cold temperature. The feature is “cold;” the benefit is “fresher food.” Too many businesses list features and think they are benefits.
A feature is not a benefit. A benefit explains how a product or service will make the consumers’ lives better, and just because it’s a benefit for you, doesn’t mean it’s a benefit for someone else. The most compelling benefits are emotional or financial.
A competitive advantage is a special kind of benefit. It is one that is unique to you or it is something that only you talk about. It’s a benefit that gets the buyer’s attention, sells your product, keeps customers coming back, and causes people to talk about your product. The right competitive advantage buries your competition and should become the focus of your overall marketing plan.
Adapted from “Guerrilla Maketing in 30 days.”
The Journey to Better Marketing: Build a Marketing Plan
A marketing plan requires information, brain power, and initiative. Brain power is broken down into analysis, ideas, creativity, and imagination.
You can make a seven-sentence marketing plan. It should include the purpose of the marketing, the target market, the niche, the benefits or competitive advantage, identity, the tools you have in your marketing bag, and your budget. Guerrilla Marketing adds “investigate new markets in the coming year.”
A good marketing plan requires you to know the market, what customers expect and want, and how to satisfy them. Plans need to be flexible. They should include how to attract potential customers, how to convert those potential customers into purchasers, and how to keep them coming back.
Adapted from “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days.”
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 