Maybe you bought the car with the better specification, or that new chocolate bar caught your eye in the shop?

Sound familiar?

In some cases, your change of mind and change of purchase decision will have been a fluke. You just happened to change your mind because, well, that’s your prerogative.

But in other cases, those clever marketers may have steered your purchasing process down a path that ended in you buying the product they always wanted you too.

Let me explain.

We market product A, to sell product B.

There is an assumption for many businesses that if they want to sell more of a particular product or service, they should therefore market that particular product.  Not always true.

As with all marketing, the focus here is the customer, not the product. In other words, if the same customer could potentially buy product A and product B, then there is the option to market product A to the customer, but actually with the intention of selling them product B.

But why would we do that?

Well, lots of reasons, but it could be that product A is marketed first as a more effective method of gaining customer attention whilst at the same time introducing product B. It could be that product A is a cut-down version to gain a price advantage, but product B is then subsequently offered as a great value upgrade. It could even be that product A is simply a loss leader (a free course, advice guide, or free gift etc) in order to earn the opportunity to sell product B.

Dell and BMW have been doing this for years. They will promote a particular model, but it’s no fluke that many customers will end up paying 25% more for a version of that model (or a totally different model) with a higher specification.

So, if you are having a tough time trying to market your ‘product B’, consider the following:

• Define the typical customer profile for that product.
• Consider whether this customer profile can be attracted by marketing another of your products that is easier to promote, or,
• Consider what complimentary services (such as tutorials, events, research papers etc) you can market to gain the attention of your target customer profile.
• Once you have the customer’s attention, use the opportunity to demonstrate how your product B is the best option for them.

Happy marketing.

Pre-exhibition preparation

Your exhibition might be weeks or months away, but the sooner you start your pre-exhibition preparation, the better. An exhibition is one marketing activity with a deadline date that will not move if you find you’re not ready come the big day.

I will discuss each of the below items in more detail later, but in summary form, here’s what you need to consider if you want to run a successful stand at an exhibition:

• Your stand position
• The key offering/s you will promote at the exhibition
• Promoting your attendance
• Your stand and materials
• Your stand staff
• Driving traffic to your stand
• Other exhibitors as allies and customers
• How attendees will be followed up after the event
• Any other obvious logistical items that need to be considered (e.g. hotels/travel etc which I haven’t discussed in more detail here).

So, let’s tackle each of these in order…

Your stand position

Whilst your stand’s position within the exhibition is not everything when it comes to successful exhibiting, a good stand location can certainly help increase footfall. When you are making your stand booking with the exhibition organiser, make sure you confirm your stand position at the same time.

Try to avoid positions that are too far from ‘core’ areas. Book a place that will be in the centre of activity or in a place where people will obviously congregate or walk past. Avoid being tucked away somewhere or in a position that feels a little ‘out on your own’. It almost goes without saying, but the earlier you book with an exhibition organiser the better the choice of stand positions you will have.

Extra Tip: If you are attending a larger exhibition that is using a typical shell scheme system (example here), try to also position yourself on a stand corner. Being on a corner spot means you will see the walk-by traffic from two sides of the walkway rather than just one – potentially doubling your footfall.  The other benefit is that a corner stand of a shell scheme usually has two walls (rather than three) so your costs to cover the stand walls can be reduced.

The key offering/s you will promote at the exhibition

It is worth taking some time to consider the products or services you think you could ultimately sell to the attendees of the exhibition. Make sure that:

• Your offering is wholly appropriate (if not actually tailored) for the attendees.

For example, if the exhibition attendees have something in common (e.g. they are start-up businesses, or they are all solicitors, or they are getting married, etc) try to make sure that your offering feels tailored to them. If your attendees are in a specialist market, be a specialist provider.

• The attendees can understand what you are offering in a few seconds flat.

If your core offering is actually quite complex but has huge benefits, you will probably want to distil those benefits into catchy one-liners that you can use so attendees instantly understand what your business is about. In many cases, people walking past your stand will actually make a judgement about your business whilst they are walking – if they stop to hear more, that means your offering has got through to them. Don’t try to sell the whole elephant upfront, engage people first.

Promoting your attendance

It is always worth promoting your attendance prior to the exhibition. Telling new and existing customers that you are attending an exhibition can actually help build your credibility. Those customers might not attend the exhibition, but the fact that they know you are engaging in these types of activities shows you are a serious provider in your market.

It is also worth raising your online profile with regard to the exhibition. If for instance, you have a blog, write blog posts about the exhibition in the run up and make sure they are optimised for keywords that relate to the exhibition’s name.  Remember, if the exhibition is attended by thousands of people, that means there will be lots of pre-exhibition web searches for the exhibition’s name. Your website might then pick up some website search traffic before the exhibition takes place.

If your business is also a keen user of social media, obviously it is worth updating your online networks about the exhibition prior to it starting. However, the value of social media is its real-time nature, so tweeting and updating whilst at the event; posting images, updates on competitions, thanking attendees etc, is a great way to start the dialogue early.

Your stand

When it comes to the design and layout of your stand, remember these two words: light, and, clear.

As people walk past your stand they should see it as being light, bright, and fresh. If it’s dark, drab or just a bit empty, they are more likely to keep walking – having a stand that is light and fresh at least keeps you on a level playing field with the other exhibitors. Supermarkets have adopted the same approach for years by putting flowers and fruit at their entrances to create a light and fresh feel.

Secondly, you need to be clear in your messaging. As people walk past your stand they will be skim reading your company name and a few pieces of information on your posters and banners. Try to make that information as clear as possible so they instantly ‘get’ what your business is about and its main benefits. Being cryptic doesn’t work – people will keep walking rather than take the time to understand any clever messaging. Be really, really, obvious.

Extra Tip: If your company name does not describe the type of business you are in, then for the purposes of the exhibition, consider adding a business description to your company name. For example, if you were an SEO agency called XYZ Limited, the exhibition attendees would not know the nature of your business when they only see your company name in the exhibition guide or printed at the top of your stand shell. Changing your name to ‘XYZ Limited – SEO Services’ for the exhibition, includes a description, and negates that issue.

Your stand materials

There is no shortage of stand materials you can use to decorate your stand area.  Often it is cost that limits the choice, so here are some of the core items you might want to consider as priorities:

• Roll-up banners (together with either posters or shell scheme panels)
• Table (doesn’t have to be big, but something to write on)
• Chairs (optional, but they help keep attendees on your stand if you are likely to have longer conversions)
• Brochures or sales pack (either a relevant company/product brochure or a folder made up with relevant inserts)
• Small hand-out leaflets
• Business cards
• Promotional items (optional, but branded pens/sweets/drinks etc can help draw attendees in)
• A data capture tool/method: a method for recording attendee information (e.g. simple contact sheets, or pay the exhibition organiser for a badge scanner).
• Your marketing ‘hooks’…

The last on this list are your ‘hooks’. These are worthy of explaining in more detail…

Your hooks are the marketing materials that help hook passing traffic at the exhibition. For instance, asking attendees to put their business card in a bowl to win a magnum of champagne is a ‘hook’. Or asking people to ‘guess the weight of’ or ‘play a game of’ are hooks. Hooks draw people in, they require attendees to provide their contact information in order to take part and finally, they allow you to engage in a conversation. Make sure you have at least one hook you can use to attract attendees.

Your stand staff

One of the most important considerations for your upcoming exhibition is your stand staff.  Who will you have on the stand?

From experience, the types of people who suit working on a stand best are confident, motivated and disciplined. Don’t choose someone who is brash or loud but who actually might not have the discipline to give 100% until the exhibition ends.

Remember, your stand staff’s job is to speak to everyone, all day and for however many days the exhibition runs for. That takes someone who has the confidence and the discipline to keep going even if they are hitting brick walls with the people they speak to. And don’t assume the stand staff should only be your sales staff or company directors. Some people are great at selling in a normal business environment, but an exhibition will require them to repeat the same conversation with potentially hundreds of attendees – some staff will find it too monotonous and all will find it hard graft.

Obviously, you also don’t want staff to be gathering in groups, playing with phones, wandering off too frequently, loitering at the back of the stand or generally lacking the open and friendly nature that invites attendees in.

Finally, your stand staff should also know how to conclude a conversation with an attendee who is interested in your offering. If the staff member is working to an ‘ideal outcome’ that you have given them (e.g. to book a meeting, or take contact details, etc) they know where the conversation should lead and how it should be concluded.

Driving traffic to your stand

Question: where is it written that at an exhibition, you can only speak to the attendees who walk past your stand?  Answer: it’s not written anywhere!

The truth is that a percentage of the exhibition attendees will not properly see your stand. They might simply never walk past your stand, or they might be distracted when they do walk by. To help address this problem, it is always worth having one, two or more people ‘roaming’ the exhibition, encouraging attendees to visit your stand.

That does not mean hassling people in the walkways. But do try the following:

• Make sure your roaming staff are branded – put them in bright T shirts displaying your company name, your main message/offering and your stand number in big letters.
• Give them a ‘hook’ to use (refer to what ‘hooks’ are above) such as a small leaflet to hand out with a specific offer or incentive, or…
• Get creative – some exhibitors use mobile banners, staff dressed in costumes, or are carrying a whole range of objects that grab attention. They then use their hook to encourage people to visit their stand. (NB. If you have plans for anything creative, it’s worth running them by the exhibition organisers just to be sure you aren’t breaching any specific health and safety rules or similar restrictions).

Other exhibitors

Your fellow exhibitors have the potential to be exhibition allies and possibly, customers.  Don’t overlook them.

Exhibitors as allies

It is always worth taking the time to befriend your neighbouring exhibitors. If you hit it off, there is no reason why you can’t come to some agreement to refer attendees to each other. So, when a neighbouring exhibitor has finished speaking with an attendee, they can suggest the attendee pops next door to speak to you. You then return the favour with the attendees you speak to.

The purpose of doing this is obvious, but it also helps address a specific problem: attendees who spend some time on a stand will then often leave that stand and skip the next few. It’s an unconscious behaviour caused by the attendee a) still thinking about the conversation they have just had as they walk away, and b) them wanting to see the whole exhibition, so are more reluctant to stop at the very next stand.

Exhibitors as customers

If your fellow exhibitors also fit the profile of your potential customers, don’t waste the opportunity to make yourself known to them. The fact that you are at the same exhibition gives you some common ground and mutual respect, so carefully consider them as a potential target audience.

However, there is certainly a right and a wrong way to sell to your fellow exhibitors. Please take note of the following:

• Only approach other exhibitors when they aren’t trying to speak with attendees. The end of an exhibition day can be a good time (as long as aren’t trying to pack up their stand).
• Make it quick. You still risk overstepping the mark if you are trying to oversell to another exhibitor. Just a quick summary of who you are, what you do and how you think you can help them should be enough.
• Give them something that is tailored. There is also no harm in offering the other exhibitors an ‘exhibitor only offer’. If the exhibitor sees that they are benefitting from a special offer simply because they are an exhibitor, they are more likely to hear you out.
• Take their details. Your sales pitch at the exhibition will be short, so you will want to follow that up with more information when they have more time after the exhibition is over.

Post exhibition follow-up

Straight after the exhibition (if not during), your follow-up process should kick-in. All attendee details will need to be recorded and the ownership of their follow-up assigned to relevant staff.  Speed is obviously important, so all the attendees who you wanted to follow-up should be contacted within a few days of the exhibition taking place.

It is also worth having a communications plan for the attendees who aren’t yet in a position to do business with. Adding them to your regular communication plan will make sure they are frequently reminded of your business until they are in a position to buy.

The very best of luck with your next exhibition and if you need further marketing advice, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

This might in itself seem simple.  But the number and variety of complicated marketing messages being communicated every day suggests many businesses are getting it wrong.  And to an extent, it’s easy to see why…

Having clear and simple marketing messages requires that a) you know what your customers really want from your offering and b) you are brave enough to exclude aspects of your messages so you can keep focused.  If you are not totally clear about what really motivates your customers then the temptation is to not exclude anything from your marketing messages.  The thinking being that by promoting everything you do, you will appeal to the widest audience.  This ‘generalist’ approach is usually less successful and often more complicated to communicate.

So, what about if you know what motivates your customers and actually it could be one of several messages?  Sound familiar?

No problem, you can still appeal to a variety of motivations, but tackle them individually.  Focus each marketing campaign on one or two groups of customers with one or two core messages.  Taking this approach also gives you more to say to your customers over a period of time.  Rather than trying to throw every message at them in one go, you carefully present them with your messages one at a time, one campaign at a time.

Here is a quick example.  This product no doubt has some complex science behind how it works but none of that is communicated here.  A very simple (and cheap) video that now has over 100,000 You Tube hits.

The show will be held at the O2 Arena over 3 days on 18^th to 20^th March.  There will be 200 workshops and 200 seminars for businesses of all sizes – alongside which will be some very large exhibitors (with large announcements) including Google, Microsoft, and Nokia.

Our stand will be at the centre of the show (Stand C20) and we will be talking to delegates about all things marketing.  If you want to increase your growth whilst taking your marketing to the next level, come and see us.

Never?

Well, there seems to be one type of software that all too often remains untested until after it’s been purchased: content management systems.

Just to be clear, a content management system (or CMS) is the generic term used for the admin software that a business owner or their staff members can use to update the content of their website.  Using a CMS, a non technical person can log into the software, change and add web text or images, upload files, write blog posts and generally keep the website up to date.

However, what I find interesting is that almost without exception, the people I speak to tell me they didn’t trial their CMS before they bought it as part of their new website.

If you have had a new website developed with a CMS included, is that true for you too?

Not all content management systems are created equally

Some content management systems are just plain bad.  If, for example, a CMS requires you to add in bits of code in order to format your text, or if it doesn’t allow you to add new pages easily or it doesn’t allow you to add new images where you want, then avoid that CMS.  It’s already not fit for purpose.

However, you will need to do a more thorough test of the CMS to know if it’s the right one for you. A proper trial would involve you using it in the way you expect to use it in the future.  Add new pages, change page text and formatting, move and add images, upload documents, add blog posts and (if relevant) use the shop/ecommerce function to add and change product information, so you know it will do what you need.

There are quite a lot of ‘off the shelf’ content management systems and some are perfectly adequate for many websites (though there is no such thing as a perfect CMS).  Good examples include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and ExpressionEngine.  But they each come with their flaws.  The ways in which you intend to use the CMS will to a greater or lesser extent expose the flaws in any given system.

From experience, the businesses that use content management systems which are best suited to them are much more likely to have a ‘living’ website that is updated regularly and (very importantly) is feeding their website visitors and the search engines with regular and timely content.

Don’t get stuck with a CMS that discourages you from keeping your website updated. Try before you buy.

So does that mean social media is the right choice for your business?

Well, not necessarily.

As mentioned, social media, is at its core, a communication tool.  Websites such as Twitter allow you to listen to what’s happening in your market and of course also allow you to connect with customers and key influencers.  Social media is obviously ideal for some markets – many consumer markets in particular can be reached very effectively using social media.

But as a marketing professional, I would not be doing my job properly if I made a sweeping statement like ‘all businesses should be using social media’.  Because frankly, not all should.

Social media, like any other communication tool, should be weighed up in relation to your business and your customers.

First things first: don’t believe [all] the hype

Social media has become a key part of many aspects of our lives.  But it’s not become a key part of all aspects of our lives.

When I want to read a good story, I don’t refer to Twitter, I pick up a book (or ebook reader). If I want to find a good local dog-sitter I ask local dog owners, I don’t search facebook.

The point is that though social media is valuable in many ways and for many people, it’s not valuable in all situations.  So whilst some might claim social media to be the obvious choice for all businesses, common sense tells us that this can’t be the case.

Here’s a quick example:  An established and successful author was interviewed regarding the advice he could give to aspiring writers. The author had an active presence on Twitter, so the interviewer asked if the author found Twitter a useful tool for connecting with his audience.  The author was dismissive, saying that only his publicist used his Twitter account and he would suggest other aspiring authors avoid social media as it can be a constant distraction from what’s really important: writing.

Before that interview took place, most would assume the author was using social media to reap rewards.  However, for him and his business, it’s actually a threat to his time and his focus.

Which leads me on to the next point…

Social media requires time and effort

As you will no doubt already know, building a business takes up your time from every angle – sales, suppliers, finances, staff, customer care – the list goes on.  And social media will add to that list.

Some might say that ‘not enough time to manage social media’ is a poor excuse not to get involved.  But the fact remains, there are other more important business activities that require your time, and if social media can’t be fitted into your routine properly, you risk making a half-hearted attempt which could be worse than no attempt at all.

Social media requires money

Ask yourself a question:  If social media websites charged for their use (let’s say £3000 per year) would you still use them?

If the answer is ‘no’, you might want to rethink the reasons why you are using/considering social media.

The truth is that ALL marketing activities cost money and social media is no different.

For example, if for every working day of the year (approx 260 days) an employee spends one hour using social media, that could translate to thousands of pounds invested in man hours every year.  Add to this the fact that there are only so many working hours in the day, and that time invested in social media could mean another marketing activity is therefore not conducted.

So, if ALL marketing costs money, and your money has a limit, does social media fit into your budget above your other marketing options?

Social media requires interaction

Whilst social media can certainly be a useful tool to listen to your market, at some point, you need to interact with people. You aren’t going to be part of the party if you don’t say anything.

This however, leads on to another problem: are there people to interact with?

In other words, social media requires interaction to be effective, but if your market does not use social media (or doesn’t use it to interact in your market place), then you might well find yourself using social media to talk to no one.

It’s a fundamental marketing question and it applies to social media as much as any other marketing activity: are you operating where your customers are? If not, move your focus.

Social media might not generate new customers

Depending on your market, (and B2B markets tend to be more typical of this), social media might never generate any clear new business opportunities.

That’s not to say that social media can’t work in a softer way to build your brand in your market place, but if your expectation is that customer enquiries will come directly via social media interaction, you could be disappointed.

If, rightly or wrongly, your objective for using social media is to generate enquiries, think very carefully whether your market is likely to use social media to enquire.

Please don’t be mislead into thinking that I am not a fan of social media.  I am.  But I am a greater fan of using the best marketing activities for any given situation, and that may or may not include social media.

Well maybe, but that wouldn’t be my first approach. Instead, I would first try Google Adwords.

Not the answer you were expecting?

In case you are not familiar with Google Adwords, this is the system you would use to run sponsored text adverts so they appeared at the top and down the right hand side of a Google results page.

OK, but what has Google Adwords got to do with understanding what motivates my market?

In simple terms, if you ran a Google Adwords campaign, your text adverts would appear if people typed in a search term that matched one of the search terms you had pre-defined. For example, an architect firm (we’ll call them ABC Architects) could set up their Adwords campaign so that their adverts appeared when someone searched for the term ‘architect’.

The beauty of the Adwords system, is that it will then tell ABC Architects what search terms people actually type into Google that include the search term ‘architect’. This provides an extremely valuable window into the thinking of prospective customers. Adwords will give ABC Architects an insight into what their customers really want.

So, for instance, ABC Architects might perhaps think their market is motivated to work with highly qualified architects as a priority.  But, looking at Adwords, the results could perhaps show that people are more interested in searching for the ‘best architect’ or a ‘London architect’ or perhaps an ‘award winning architect’. It might become apparent that people may almost never search for a ‘qualified architect’.  That’s not to say they don’t want a qualified architect, it just suggests that the market isn’t motivated by an architect’s qualifications as a first priority.

If the above hypothetical Adwords findings were true, ABC Architects could then focus their marketing and website efforts on demonstrating that they are one of the best in their field and that they are local to their clients in London and that they have independent awards to prove their expertise. These messages might then take priority over promoting ABC Architects’ qualifications.

Whilst Adwords is not the only method for gaining an insight into what motivates a market, it does provide real intelligence. I say ‘real’ because, the intelligence is not based on what customers say or think they will do, it is based on what they are actually seeking.

The presenter then argued that actually, the reason we should be in business today is to be in business tomorrow. His point being that the greatest and ultimately most profitable businesses don’t just focus on making profits. Instead, they focus on building a business that stands for something that their customers can buy into.  In other words, building a business with a purpose first then supplying products or services that demonstrate that purpose.

This might not be a ground breaking insight into marketing and business strategy, but it did remind me of a video I watched a little while ago that made a similar point in a very simple way.

So, today’s video is another great example from the TED library. Simon Sinek speaks about the simple difference between businesses that build a following and those that sell products or services.

Firstly, is paid search relevant to your business?

A fundamental characteristic of paid search is that for it to work, people have to be looking for your product or service online or looking for a related issue/product/service that has a logical connection with your business. In other words, if no one is searching online for anything to do with your, say, industrial widgets or speciality services, then no one will click. In that case, for the most part, gaining a profitable ROI from paid search is going to be tough. Your paid search campaign must use keywords that are searched for in sufficient numbers online to generate traffic to your website that is made up of prospective customers.  If it doesn’t, consider putting your marketing budget elsewhere.

Secondly, what is your average profit per sale?

Assuming that your market/product is searched for in sufficient numbers online, then how much profit are you likely to generate from each sale? Will you spend more on clicks than you could ever make back in sales?  This might seem like an obvious question, but unfortunately there is no shortage of businesses making a loss on their paid search campaigns.  It’s worth doing the simple sums…

For example, if you need an average of 25 paid search clicks to generate one enquiry, and it takes an average of 10 enquiries to make a sale, that makes 250 clicks per sale. Could you then make a profit if you were paying £2 per click?

Obviously all ratios and click costs are different for different businesses and industries, but doing some simple sums upfront could save you money down the line.  In fact, it’s not uncommon for a business to adapt a product or service’s pricing so that it does generate sufficient profit to fund a paid search campaign.

Thirdly, is your campaign being managed with ‘intelligent common sense’?

For want of a better term, the phrase ‘intelligent common sense’ is one I coined a few years ago in attempt to try and describe the approach businesses should take towards their marketing strategies and messages. For paid search, it means using the intelligence you can gain from tools such as Google Adwords and Google Analytics regarding how people are finding, clicking on and using your website, but then importantly, applying some common sense as to how you use that information.

For instance, Adwords might be telling you that certain keywords are gaining a healthy click-through rate, so now is a great time to sit down and use your common sense; what new/related keywords can you add to the list that perhaps Google’s own keyword tool has missed? Or, can you update your advert text so it grabs the prospective customer’s attention but also stands out against the other adverts appearing alongside yours? But remember, keep applying that common sense – you don’t just want as many clicks as possible, you want clicks from good quality prospective customers, so the text should also be balanced to gain the right mix of volume and quality. This aspect of constantly using the data/intelligence and interpreting it with common sense is critical for you to ultimately improving your enquiry numbers.

This is the first of several paid search posts I will be adding, so check back for the next article.

Malcolm Gladwell

This is a eloquent reminder about the importance of offering products or services that genuinely make customers happy (and also that some customers don’t know what will make them happy until you give it to them). Filmed at the TED Conference in 2004.

David Meerman Scott

David is a big supporter of using social media and viral marketing. In his video (which I warn you is quite long but worth it) he discusses how ideas and marketing messages can go viral. If you learn nothing else from this video, it will show you that any business in any industry has the ability to create and execute a successful viral campaign.  Filmed at the BMA Conference in 2009.

Seth Godin

Where would a list of classic marketing videos be without the inclusion of Seth Godin!? Seth has several videos online, but this particular one highlights the importance of looking at your business and seeing where your customer processes or customer communications are ‘broken’. This immediately gets you thinking about how you can reconsider your processes to make them delight your customers.  Filmed at Gel 2006.