True
but if your product doesn’t,
at some point,
go viral,
it won’t ever be successful.

If the only reason someone tries your product
is because you asked them to
directly
through marketing
(the seven to nine times on average needed
to convert a prospect to a customer),
the cost of the product is too high
to make a profit on.

You NEED that viral marketing,
that word of mouth recommendation,
to decrease your selling costs.

So yes,
don’t count on viral marketing
but please
design your product
to make viral marketing easier.
(Including designing tools
to help your existing customers
sell your product.)

Or so the myth goes.

Today, that won’t work.
Marketers have to be part
of product design.
Packaging is marketing.
Site design is marketing.
The flavor of juice is marketing.

This is especially true
of any online business.
A site is often both the product
AND the marketing.
The site should be designed
with social media in mind.
It has to consider SEO.
The list goes on.

That’s why I talk about
project development teams.
Product development teams include
both
product designers
AND
marketing
(plus finance, sales, tech folks, etc).

So why do companies,
including the ones I’ve worked for,
advertise at bus shelters?

My theory is…
because executives like
bus shelter ads.
They’re big and glamorous
and high profile.

That’s fine if you’re a Fortune 500 company
with cash to burn.
Not so great if you’re a start up.

Don’t simply follow the marketing programs
of the big guys.
And when marketing companies pitch to you,
ask for SALES numbers,
not awareness.

None of it will convert into traffic.

Why?

Because they are asking their marketing
to do two things.
First, they need to sell prospects
on going online.
THEN, they need to sell prospects
on going to their site.

It is damn difficult to get prospects
to do ONE thing.
Impossible to get them to do two.

There is a reason Coca-Cola’s slogan was
‘Within an arm’s reach of desire’
and that is because
advertising works best
when it is closest to the product.

If you are an online company,
advertise online.
If you’re a restaurant on a busy freeway,
buy a billboard on that freeway.
If you sell beverages to grocery stores,
put up a shelf talker
or take out a flyer ad.

Make it EASY for your marketing dollars
to work.

This year,
due to layoffs and cost savings,
many of these events
have been canceled.
Companies can’t layoff on Thursday
and have ice cream day
the following Friday.
It doesn’t look right.

This creates an opportunity
for ambitious employees.

A loved one hosted ice cream day
last Friday.
He brought in ice cream
and toppings,
using his own cash,
and then dished it out
over his own lunch hour.
The response was terrific.

It cost him less than $50,
was easy and quick to organize,
yet it immediately put him
in the leadership category.

Could you do the same?

Do you treat them differently?

Take today.
It is July 1st, Canada Day
(think July 4th).
Did you tweak your July 4th special offer
for your Canadian customers?
Swap Happy July 4th to Happy Canada Day?
Change the flags?
(Fireworks are universal)

Did you send a simple email
wishing them a Happy Canada’s Day?

I bet you haven’t.
Why?
Because in all my years
of working with major companies
(with serious cross-border trade),
I’ve never heard of a company doing this.

That creates a wonderful relationship building opportunity
for the clever company that does.

Ummm… no, it isn’t.
The names may have been shocking
but that three well known people
died in one week?
Not.

Why?

Because the number of celebrities
you and I know
is 100 times (or more)
the number of celebrities
our grandparents know.
That’s a by-product
of the information age.

Combine that
with boomers,
the demographic bulge,
getting older,
and celebrity deaths are bound
to be regular news reports.

The networks are counting on it.
You see, they have obituaries
and remembrance reels
already written for all the major celebrities.
They are prepared
and plan to profit from it.

There are opportunities
in EVERY situation,
no matter how morbid.

(Great because I can
focus my efforts)

A friend needed thousands of pens.
She ordered 100 from a manufacturer
as a test.
They failed,
delivering late
and with a sloppy product.

Very rarely will you
receive a huge order
as your first interaction
with a customer.
They will test you
with a small order first.

Treat your ’small’ customers well.
They are tomorrow’s large customers.

Why?

Because my customers take the bus.

It is the same reason,
I listen to radio
(including the commercials)
and eat in family restaurants.

It is very challenging
to sell to someone
you don’t understand.
The best way to understand your customer
is to BE your customer.

It also immediately gives you
a common base
to leverage off of.

Commute with your customers.
No one sells product
from an ivory tower.

What do you do?

If you truly believe in the project,
you’ll do it anyway
(on your own time,
sucking up minimal company resources).
Yes, it may get you fired
(the more company resources involved,
the greater the chance
they’ll fire your ass)
but it may also catapult you
into super stardom.

That’s what Michael Jackson did
with ‘Beat it.’
CBS said no to the video.
Michael Jackson fronted the cash
and shot it anyway.
It is, decades later,
still considered one of
the best videos of all time.

If you believe in your project,
find a way to make it happen.