Gumas. Marketing Smart

One of the biggest benefits of direct response marketing (this includes snail mail or email) is that you can get almost immediate feedback from your market. You should be constantly testing to see if you can beat your “control” mailing.

So what should you be testing? Obviously, you should always be testing your lists. Today, you can refine and redefine your target audience to the nth degree. Don’t be afraid to segment and sub-segment.

You should also test your offers. Does a certain dollar-amount discount create more inquiries than a percentage-off deal? What if you add in something free rather than money off? How about putting in a deadline or shortening the current one? What does that do to responses?

Those are the basics. But where do you go from there?

Copy length: Many direct response writers swear by the maxim “the more you tell, the more you sell.” While some still argue that’s true, we point to the USA Today mentality of today’s audiences. They want it fast, visual or bullet pointed.

Headlines: This is the make-or-break-it moment. The headline either lures the reader in or tells them not to bother going any further. Your headline should be the “once upon a time” part of the story. It sets the stage and tells the reader what’s in it for them.

The P.S.: In readership studies, the P.S. is one of the most read elements of any direct response piece. In many studies, a piece with a P.S. outperforms 3 to 1 over the same piece without the P.S. So be sure to include one.

In today’s social media marketing world, sometimes the tried and true strategies are overlooked. It’s a rare marketing tool that can be so specifically tracked, measured and analyzed. Take advantage of these features to maximize your response.

Be sure to check out our new book, Marketing Smart–a collection of proven marketing strategies and tips to help Challenger Brands take on their larger competitors… and win! www.marketingsmartbook.com

Ordinary companies have bought into the belief that you can’t reach C-level executives through online communications.  Challenger Brands know that there is simply no truth to that common misperception, but they welcome the opportunities it provides them.  In a recent study by Forbes Insight in cooperation with Google entitled “The Rise of the Digital C-Suite: How Executives Locate and Filter Business Information,” it was discovered that senior-level executives considered the web to be their most valuable resource for gathering business information.  The results of the study indicated that the web far outpaced other sources, including personal networks, trade publications, seminars and trade shows.  Challenger Brands know that, contrary to common belief, C-level executives are far more involved online than are other members of the management team.  And Challenger Brands also know that the younger generation of C-level executives who have grown up in the era of the web are bringing about monumental changes to the manner in which market and product and/or service research is conducted.  Challenger Brands know of these things instinctively as well as intellectually.  Are you a Challenger Brand?

Imagine for a moment it’s the early 1950s and you’re the CMO (or senior-most marketing executive of the day) at Colgate-Palmolive Company.  You’re about to invest tens of thousands (millions in inflation-adjusted dollars) in the sponsorship of a radio or television program.  While you would have faced challenges in the process, the one challenge you would not have had to face was that of a Challenger Brand trying to do something similar.  Smaller, less affluent competitors could not afford to produce and broadcast such programs.  Fast-forward to the second decade of the next millennium, and that same CMO would be faced with a multitude of challenges from Challenger Brands.

Thanks to vod-casting, pod-casting, vlogs, blogs, etc., anyone with a flip video and/or handheld recorder can create, produce, direct and even star in a broadcast-quality video or audio production and deliver that message to an even broader audience for literally pennies compared to that 1950s investment.  And Challenger Brands are doing just that with startling results.  The world has shrunk even further as a result of the Internet.  Small Challenger Brand companies are making substantial inroads in ways in which they could never have even imagined just a few short years ago.  Challenger Brands are leveraging this advantage and making significant progress in absorbing marketshare from their less nimble and formerly formidable competitors.  Challenger Brands are embracing and leveraging technology as fast as it is made available.  They are using it to their full advantage to consistently lead popular culture somewhere new.  Are you leveraging technology to its fullest?  Are you a Challenger Brand?

Challenger Brands realize that brand identity and business promotion are now the domain of every dedicated employee.  That’s why Challenger Brands encourage their employees to participate in the promotion of the business through one of the more readily accessible forums for targeted communications: blogging.  Instead of restricting such activity to the corporate communications department, Challenger Brands embrace the Internet as an equalizer that levels the playing field and allows them to appear as large as the better-funded competition.  Fortunately for Challenger Brands, various recent studies show only about a quarter of all companies utilize blogging.

But what if an employee posts a controversial opinion, you ask?  Challenger Brands set obvious guidelines (don’t slam the competition, don’t divulge corporate secrets, etc.) and leave the rest to the imaginations of their discerning employees.  Challenger Brands realize that communication from inside the organization (R&D speaking to individuals with a similar mindset, engineering speaking passionately with folks with like minds, accounting, production, HR, etc.) trumps a single-focus communication from the communications department.  Blogging permits all of that communication and brand identity to be accomplished by folks who share common interests with your audience, and that equates to a different level of passion in the communication itself.  So take the lid off and let your brand be exposed.  Make the call now for “all hands on deck.”  There’s a whole world out there waiting to hear your organization’s multiple voices.  Challenger Brands satisfy that desire.  Are you a Challenger Brand?

There seems to be more and more pressure on marketing professionals these days to deliver greater results, with fewer resources and in less time. As a result, many marketing professionals are taking shortcuts to get there faster.

The fact is there is no fast way to greater results. No marketing department or advertising agency should have a drive-up window. Shortcutting the process is an extremely dangerous proposition. The fastest way to generate the greatest returns from your marketing programs is to make the strategic planning process the mainstay of everything you do.

So before you decide to “whip up” your next ad, brochure, direct mailer or digital marketing campaign, remember this:

• If you can’t describe how you are truly unique and relevantly different from your competitors, DON’T START.
• If you can’t describe your ideal target customer in detail, DON’T START.
• If you don’t have a detailed plan, complete with realistic objectives and goals, DON’T START.
• If you can’t describe the results you are expecting to achieve, DON’T START.
• If you don’t have a plan to follow up on the leads you generate, DON’T START.

Don’t shortchange the process. Rarely do shortcuts yield the results you want. If you take the time to go through the proper strategic planning process up front, your programs will actually get produced faster and more cost effectively.

Check out our new book, Marketing Smart, at www.marketingsmartbook.com

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Sure, traditional interruption marketing still has its place.  But rarely do Challenger Brands have the resources available to conduct the type of sustained print, broadcast or out-of-home advertising campaigns that are necessary to achieve the brand recognition and ROI that would justify such an expenditure.  Challenger Brands recognize the cost-effective impact Internet exposure provides. However, Challenger Brands do not act like advertisers of a product online; they act like publishers of information.  The difference is dramatic, and necessary, in this social media-driven world. Challenger brands generate an online presence that their target audience is eager to consume for its educational value.  Challenger Brands create a virtual front door that their target audience is eager to link to.  Challenger Brands recognize that they need to share their knowledge and expertise with a world that is seeking the information they have to offer.  Challenger Brands recognize that, as the authoritative source, sales and revenue streams will follow by default.  Are you a Challenger Brand?

It’s called your corporate identity. Others call it a logo. But whatever you call it, you can never overestimate the critical importance of a powerful corporate identity. It’s one of the most important elements of any company’s brand.

We believe that creating a clean, simple logo that effectively communicates the unique essence of your company, without trying to say too much, is your number one goal.

So what are some of the objectives we set forth when creating a new corporate identity for our clients? The following are some of the basics we always follow.

Keep it simple
Many logos tend to be designed by committee. Everyone wants to add one more element, thinking that the logo has to literally tell the company’s story. Great logos don’t have to explain the company’s history; they simply need to be the recognized symbol for your story.

Does it work in black and white?
Think of all the places your logo appears in black and white. A powerful logo must be designed to work in those situations. You should view initial logo concepts in black and white first and not add color until the final logo is chosen. If color is introduced too soon, it can influence the decision for the wrong reason. We believe if it doesn’t work in black and white, color won’t help it.

You don’t have to be literal
Is your business in San Francisco? Don’t put the Golden Gate Bridge in your logo. Are you a law firm? Don’t use the scales of justice. Have a hair solon? Don’t use scissors. Predictable or trite images are forgettable. Take the extra effort to discover the true essence of your brand and develop a logo that gets noticed and remembered for the right reasons.

Don’t use ordinary colors
There are literally thousands of colors to choose from. Unless you want the image of your company to be ordinary, try to explore colors that effectively convey the essence and emotion of your brand. Consider using colors different from those of your main competitors. Color can be incredibly subtle or connotative. Be sure to use it to make your logo memorable.

Don’t get too trendy
Your logo should be “evergreen.” When you design your logo, it should be for the long haul. Try to avoid trendy fonts or colors. You want to avoid the standard fonts, but you also want your logo to stand the test of time and become an icon to your target audience.

Predictable logos are forgettable. Powerful logos become icons and deliver benefits for years to come. Your logo is at the heart of your entire brand. Take a look at your existing logo to see if it breaks any of the above rules. If it does, you may want to consider making some adjustments.

Challenger Brands by definition are thought leaders.  They are constantly seeking to lead popular culture somewhere new.  They recognize that it is no longer a “sell to me” world, that they need to stay ahead of the curve by providing their target audience with valuable information. Think about that for a moment.  If a brand is telling you what you already know, is that leadership?  Would you respect them for it?  Would you buy from them?  If a brand is leading you somewhere new, opening exciting new vistas, providing you with knowledge to make informed decisions, is that not a brand you will respect and trust?  Thought leadership is demonstrated by answering the questions the audience didn’t think to ask.  A Challenger Brand gains sales traction in subtle ways by delivering authentic thought leadership that brands the organization as a serious player that you want to do business with.  Are you a Challenger Brand?

According to author and entrepreneur Simon Sinek (Start With Why), ordinary companies know what they do: they sell products or services, hopefully at a profit.  The better companies know how to organize that process in a manner that becomes systematic, and the replication turns into a successful and hopefully profitable routine.  The most successful companies (what we refer to as “Challenger Brands”) know why they do what they do. That distinction of purpose transcends everything, including profit.  In following that passion, Challenger Brands inspire a movement or lead culture somewhere new that results in a deep connection with discerning, loyal customers who become advocates and/or evangelists for that cause.  In the long run, the customers of Challenger Brands don’t buy what those brands produce; they buy why they produce it.  Profits follow as a matter of course.  Are you a Challenger Brand?