agency323 » Marketing

Hey, Bud, you forgetting something? The Gekko phone call?

admin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 14:56:59 +0000

It’s the last day of the week and you’re already thinking about the beach, the barbeque, the baseball game, etc. –ad nauseum. You do it, I do it, heck we all do it. If you’re a marketer of any kind though you may be leaving more than 20% on the table if you don’t take the opportunity to reach out to clients and prospects during the much heralded TGIF. We’ve likely all read countless articles on which day is best to prospect. I’ve personally seen studies conducted by universities on the best day and hour to call. At the end of the day all of the data that’s analyzed is someone else’s, and bears very little relevance to you today.

In college I bet on a few football games and won, so I bet on a few more and lost-BIG. After winning the few that I did win a friend of mine suggested I read some book, the name of which escapes me, (likely selective amnesia) about football statistics. It had every variable you could imagine, on the road, during a short week, outdoors, on grass, under 40 degrees in December Team A has never failed to cover the spread 98.8% of the time. Guess what? They failed the Monday night I bet, and for some poor sap who read the next year’s version of that book in the hope that they would glean some secret insight to ensure their successful wager the number was probably 97.5% which while it sounds statistically significant, it still means nothing. What I learned is there are 22 guys on the field that are completely different than the 22 that played in any of the last 10 years worth of games they analyzed. All of whom make six to seven figures a year to play a game. All of whom have issues, injuries, etc. that we don’t know about. A center in a contract year might play with the flu, and get pushed around by another 300+lb guy for three hours that night like a shopping cart at Safeway, when the average office worker wouldn’t get out of bed to check his or her email.

My point is that while there are plenty of articles that will tell you that statistically Wednesday from 4pm to 5pm is the best time to make a call or send an email, unless you’re reading this on a Wednesday at 3:30pm the best time is now! And today is Friday. Before you leave to play golf, or have the celebratory lunch for a week well done-make five extra calls and send five extra emails. Don’t sell yourself, your career, or your company short. Who knows, maybe it will be your Bud Fox/Gordon Gekko moment? Happy Friday & happy selling!

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We work hard-so you don’t have to!

admin — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:04:49 +0000

Remember the product? It worked hard so you didn’t have to. Simply squirt some in “the bowl” and voila-sparkling clean in minutes without the elbow grease and quite frankly gross task that makes anyone but Adrian Monk long for a live in house cleaner.

What do scrubbing bubbles have to do with marketing? Everything. If you can illicit the same demand for your product by illustrating how effective it is at eliminating an undesirable task that your perspective customer doesn’t have the time, desire, or stomach for then half the battle is won. The other half, and where many marketers fall short, is in A. Reaching their target audience with their message, and B. providing a clear and compelling call to action.

If your marketing message is poorly packaged, and/or poorly delivered, then chances are it will be poorly received. Or, to put it bluntly-you’ll miss your projections, targets, and goals for market share and revenue. As far as a “marketing in bottle” elixir that you can simply apply …it doesn’t exist. If it did agencies like ours wouldn’t. If you would however like someone to do the messy, dirty, and undesirable marketing work you’ve been avoiding for far too long, and you’re worried the smell and stain on your old campaign may be permanent-give us a call and we’ll work hard-so you don’t have to! Incidentally, I do know a great company that does bathrooms….

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now what?

admin — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 12:57:07 +0000

First off let me start by saying my nine year old daughter regularly cuts my hair for me (insert joke here) so I’m not knocking anyone for being thrifty. Quite the contrary, I love a good deal as much as the next person. I believe wholeheartedly that if you can do something yourself, and it doesn’t bother you or you actually enjoy doing it, then why not? After all there’s a whole series of TV shows, magazines, and websites based on the DIY brand right? While there is a whole DIY industry, the show also necessitated the need for another show called “Over Your Head!” which is all about projects that get started, but go sideways. This happens in the virtual world as often (maybe more) than the brick and mortar world. I added “website therapist” to my Twitter profile in 2008, because 8 out of 10 people who contacted and started a dialog about their “web related issues” seemed to want to vent as much as they actually wanted technical assistance.

So when do you throw in the towel? That’s a tough question to answer as it’s different for everyone. A few years ago, before the “economic downturn”, many individuals and companies would seek expert assistance with any project that wasn’t related to their core competencies. While times have changed for everyone from the Solopreneur to the Fortune 500 companies, there is an economic maxim you can apply which should help in your decision making process:

What is the “opportunity cost” associated with you spending several evenings trying to figure out how to answer the question “What are you doing?” in 140 characters or less in an effective way to promote your product, service, and brand?

All kidding aside, I know several attorneys and doctors who’ve told me exactly that story. At that point you have to realize that if they made a show about web marketing projects gone wrong-you could be staring on your own episode! This may or may not be you, heck it could be someone you know-the old “friend of a friend” was asking how to link Twitter updates to their Facebook Fan Page at the water cooler, and you just wanted to give “them” an answer on Monday when you see them. If you or “your friends” project doesn’t pass the sanity test, you might be in over your head. As for the hair cut there are three solutions when things go awry. One more hair products, two a hat, and three it will grow out eventually-unfortunately those solutions don’t work for your website!

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