Is Facebook Approaching the End of Its Product Life Cycle? Ostensibly, Yes.

 

Dec. 21, 2011

If you’re a prospective Facebook stakeholder looking to profit from the social-networking site – as an investor or major advertiser – beware of all the Facebook hype. Yes, Facebook has 800 million users worldwide and appears to be in the proverbial catbird seat. However, caution is advised.

“You can’t be serious,” you’re probably thinking.

But my sense is that the seemingly constant Facebook buzz appears to be masking some serious red flags, especially, if you’re a major investor or marketer counting on it as an advertising medium Why? Published data indicates Facebook is showing signs that it might have advanced too far along its product life cycle (PLC) for you to reap a significant return on your investment.

A PLC, of course, ranges from the time when a product is introduced to market to when it’s no longer viable because of what the marketplace considers superior competitors.

The PLC stages:

1. Introduction
2. Growth
3. Maturity
4. Decline

In marketing, the PLC is important. In the introduction stage, sales are insignificant until the branding takes effect. Think in terms of a bell curve. The steeper the slope of the growth stage, the higher sales revenue you enjoy.  Maturity is the stage when a product achieves saturation. Decline is just as the term implies.

Recent data demonstrates that a savvy investor or marketer would want to think twice about Facebook. That’s because Facebook appears it’s in the downward slope of its PLC curve in key markets. Yes, as amazing as it seems, Facebook appears to be already in its PLC stage 3 of reaching maturity – en route to stage 4 of a decline in popularity in many of the world’s most-important markets.

The first red flag about Facebook’s PLC appeared in this headline: Facebook Sees Big Traffic Drops in US and Canada … – Inside Facebook. (Here’s my previous analysis: Facebook’s Popularity Drops in U.S., Canada and Europe, but Inches Toward Highly Valued IPO)

“Most prominently, the United States lost nearly 6 million users, falling from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of it,” wrote  Eric Eldon. “This is the first time the country has lost users in the past year. Canada also fell significantly, by 1.52 million down to 16.6 million, although it has been fluctuating around that number for the past year. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Norway and Russia all posted losses of more than 100,000.”

Strangely, Inside Facebook reports the social networking site grew to 687 million members. But how?

“Most of the new users continue to come from countries that are relatively late in adopting Facebook, as has been the trend for the past year,” explained Mr. Eldon.

Facebook later denied it’s losing members in North America and Europe.

Facebook’s demise is illustrated by other indicators.

WebProNews published some eye-opening data from YouGov BrandIndex covering Jan. 3 to June, 13, 2011, which shows Facebook has had some serious erosion in word-of-mouth. (Note: In my experience, WebProNews articles should be taken seriously.)

To determine its Buzz score, which can range from 100 to -100,  YouGov BrandIndex asked respondents: “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?”

In compiling the answers, the firm’s Buzz rating is then determined by subtracting the negative response from positive. Equal negative and positive responses lead to a zero score.

The eye-opening YouGov BrandIndex scores:

• Adults, 35-49, the Jan. score of 28.5 plummeted to 10.4 in June
• Adults, 18-34, the Jan. score of 36.2 dropped to 22.7 in June

Meanwhile, consider Twitter’s success as reported in this NewsFactor Network headline, Pew Study Finds Meteoric Growth in Twitter Usage.

“A meteoric rise in Twitter usage has been reported by the Pew Research Center, even though only 13 percent of online adults use Twitter,” stated NewsFactor Network in the article’s summary. “Pew also found that about half of Twitter users access the service on mobile phones, and African-Americans and Latinos have high Twitter adoption rates. Twitter expects more growth with photo sharing.”

In my experience, Facebook does not work in B2B advertising. Understand, however, if you’re marketing anything, you still need to maintain a presence on Facebook to keep your Internet ranking strong. Facebook’s marketing strength is B2C. But if you’re counting on Facebook to generate a strong return on your advertising investment, my sense is recent indicators are not positive. That’s true, too, for investors in Facebook’s expected IPO in early 2012.

Just remember to what happened to Myspace.

From the Coach’s Corner, if you’re determined to advertise on Facebook, here’s how to maximize your odds: 11 Tips to Make Money onFacebook.

“Things are not always as they seem.”

_________

Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Marketing Checklist to Measure Your Brand’s Personality

Here are two key questions about your marketing: 1. How much have you invested in your brand and personality? 2. How’s it working?

These are important questions. However, many companies – large, medium and small – can’t accurately answer the questions. That’s especially true regarding their return on investment. Yet, ROI is critical to measure.

New research shows how to gauge your brand’s personality appeal – if it’s suitable to yield sales.

“We developed this means of measuring brand personality appeal (BPA) so companies can figure out how favorably their brand personality is viewed by consumers – and what they can do to enhance that personality’s appeal to their market,” says Dr. David Henard, an associate professor of business management at North Carolina State, in a press release.

The paper, “Brand personality appeal: conceptualization and empirical validation,” was co-authored by Henard; Dr. Traci Freling, of the University of Texas-Arlington; and Dr. Jody Crosno, of West Virginia University. The paper was published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.

“Until now, researchers have only been able to determine whether a company has a brand personality,” Henard says. “The only existing scale was Aaker’s Brand Personality Scale, which could determine whether a brand personality is rugged, sophisticated, competent, exciting or sincere.

“What we’ve done here is develop a system that digs deeper to help companies link brand personality to concrete outcomes. For example, does the brand personality actually make people want to buy their product?”

The study lists 16 questions to ask about your brand in three variables: Favorability, originality and clarity.

The press release explains: “Favorability is how positively a brand personality is viewed by consumers. Originality is how distinct the brand personality is from other brands. Clarity is how clearly the brand personality is perceived by consumers.”

The press release offers more explanation about the three variables.

“For example, a company may find that its brand personality has a moderate rating on favorability, but is viewed as highly original and clearly defined. High marks for originality and clarity make the brand personality more appealing than the moderate favorability rating might indicate. It also tells a company that it needs to focus its efforts on improving its favorability rating, rather than distinguishing itself from competitors, in order to boost the brand personality’s overall appeal.”

The 16 questions:

1. This brand’s personality is unapparent…apparent
2. This brand’s personality is distinct…indistinct
3. This brand’s personality is satisfactory…unsatisfactory
4. This brand’s personality is obvious…not obvious
5. This brand’s personality is unpleasant…pleasant
6. This brand’s personality is common…distinctive
7. This brand’s personality is attractive…unattractive
8. This brand’s personality is ordinary…novel
9. This brand’s personality is positive…negative
10. This brand’s personality is bad…good
11. This brand’s personality is vague…well-defined
12. This brand’s personality is poor…excellent
13. This brand’s personality is undesirable…desirable
14. This brand’s personality is predictable…surprising
15. This brand’s personality is routine…fresh
16. This brand’s personality is unclear…clear

The study provides interesting food for thought, right? Munch away.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are more resource links to increase profits:

Checklist to Build Your Brand on a Budget

Study Provides Vital Lessons for Web Sites Seeking Profits

Checklist: 19 Quick Marketing Tips for New Entrepreneurs

“What”s a brand? A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect.”

- Al Ries

Terry Corbell is a business-performance consultant and profit professional.  Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

Senate Leadership: Kerry, McCain with Sensible Do-Not-Track

 

April 16, 2011

 

A lost art in leadership has come to the rescue of marketers and consumers, alike.

Long ago, it was a pleasure to watch politically opposite leaders – President Ronald
Reagan and House Speaker Tip O’Neil – work congenially. The focus was on
principles, not personalities. Another example from Congress and the Presidency was Gerald Ford.

Yes, I met all of them. As a young broadcast journalist, I separately interviewed Mr. Reagan before he became president, Mr. O’Neil when he was Speaker of the House, and I broke the story nationwide about Mr. Ford’s plans after leaving the White House.

They were indeed leaders. After meeting them, political compromise was naturally taken for granted. Since then, however, it seems to be a lost art.

However, we experienced a joyful return to yester-year after the bipartisan bill entitled, Commercial Bill of Rights, was introduced by Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

By way of explanation, changes in commerce and the Internet have led to debate.

Admittedly, as a consumer, online privacy is a concern. Trust is important. Consumers have a basic right to protect themselves against predators.

Conversely, my marketing side has been concerned by over-reaching of consumer advocacy groups in discussions over do-not-track legislation. Marketers have understandably been worried about the loss of visitors’ data. That is, until now.

(Disclosure: Visitors data is used for data to make this business portal as relevant as possible. It indicates which columns are popular and those that aren’t, and from where visitors come and how long they spend here. Tracking makes it possible for advertising to be inserted adjacent to certain content that interests users. By using key words, readers are able to find helpful information and insights.)

But the Kerry-McCain bill is a cavalry of sorts coming to our rescue. It requires a code of conduct, but do-not-track legislation is excluded. In this digital age, much of the economy depends on it.

“Americans have a right to decide how their information is collected, used, and distributed, and businesses deserve the certainty that comes with clear guidelines,” said Sen. Kerry.

“Our bill makes fair information practices the rules of the road, gives Americans the assurance that their personal information is secure, and allows our information-driven economy to continue to thrive in today’s global market,” he added.

In general, here are the bill’s basic components:

• Accountability and security – marketers must use security
  measures for data.
• Access, consent, correction and notice of information – clear notice must be given to consumers as well as their right to opt-out.
• Constraints on data – Marketers are restricted on the data they collect to enable transactions or to provide services.
• Enforcement will be provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Attorneys General in each state.
• The FTC will be allowed to approve programs by nongovernment organizations to monitor initiatives providing safe harbors or protections.
• The Department of Commerce will help coordinate safe harbor applications for privacy and sharing of information.

Sounds good. Let’s get it done, and encourage more bipartisan leadership!

From the Coach’s Corner, here are two resource links:

Five Attributes of LeadershipAre Needed Now

Here’s the video of the senators’press conference.

 

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

— Robert C. Gallagher

________

For a complementary chat about your situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

 

 

Analyses: Are You Up-to-date to Capitalize on Major Web Events?

Updated – Feb. 27, 2011

 

February has been an eventful month for the Internet and marketers. Developments include the major players – Bing, Facebook, Google, and Twitter. Are you positioned to capitalize?

Here’s an update:

Google. Because it’s the longtime mega search engine, let’s consider Google first. Depending on which research firm you prefer, such as ComScore or The Nielsen Company, Google has about a 66 percent search market share. So whatever innovations it makes, it’s important.

Google has made a major change in how it ranks search results probably because it’s been under siege for being manipulated by certain Web sites.

The vaunted Google algorithms – its tools that determine how it ranks Web sites – have been fine-tuned to reward publishers of original content. Unique valuable information, if you will. That certainly includes in-depth thought leadership. Google says it involves about 12 percent of search queries. That might not sound like a lot, but 12 percent of millions and millions of search queries is meaningful.

You might recall numerous recent news stories: JC Penney, for example. The 2010 $17.8 billion retailer was chastised for dubious Internet practices. The retailer denied it approved spam-like behavior by its search-engine optimization company, SearchDex. But right after the story broke, SearchDex was fired.

Indeed, it must have been an eye-opener to the search giant to be labeled as the “tropical paradise for spammers and marketers” by a U.C. Berkeley scholar, Vivek Wadhwa. Hence, its algorithms upgrade.

Another search development: The Google Chrome Web browser now permits sites to prevent other sites from appearing in their results. (Its competitor, Blekko, does the same.)

So, Google has taken action to disallow Web sites, with little or no unique value, to dominate in search results.

My sense: The jury is still out on Google’s changes. In my sampling, I haven’t seen a positive noticeable change, especially in its key word results. Otherwise, if successful, Google is to be commended for dealing with a crisis confronting its quality of relevant search and its image. (Candidly, as a business-performance consultant, I’ve always advised clients on the importance of frequent, strong informative content.)

Bing – social search. Bing grew to a 13 percent market share at the start of this month. But it’s created new buzz by adding Facebook “likes” that allows Internet users to see the results that their friends like.

Here’s how it works: Pictures of your friends appear when you search after you connect with Bing with your Facebook account. You can disable it easily if you choose.

Bing now includes related Twitter features (so does Google).

My sense: The new development in the Bing-Facebook partnership is unique and it affects word-mouth-marketing – as businesspeople and consumers make buying decisions. This helps to make marketing fun. It’s also a reminder that content, search-engine optimization and social media should be synergized and orchestrated in your overall marketing.

This includes:

1. Listening to Internet-user preferences
2. Interacting with them to maximize your opportunities
3. Continually measuring results
4. Fine-tuning your approach

From the Coach’s Corner, Bing’s partnership with social-media giant Facebook should remind you to capitalize on Bing search.

Here are valuable tips: Get Busy With Bing Webmaster Tools.

Winners and Losers in Facebook’s Invasion of Google’s Turf

The world has been buzzing about Facebook’s achievement over Google. Harness the power of Facebook, but don’t let it make your Web site irrelevant. 

 

Sept. 13, 2010

It seems the world of marketers and net users – cyber citizens – have been buzzing about Facebook’s achievement over Google. That being the comScore data indicating cyber citizens spent more time on Facebook than the Google sites in August.

Cyber citizens spent an aggregate 41.1 million minutes on Facebook — 9.9 percent of their search-time. That beat the 39.8 million minutes, or 9.6 percent, on all of Google’s sites.

It’s noteworthy because Google, of course, is the leading search engine and has Google News, Buzz, Gmail and most-importantly, YouTube.

With more than 500 million cyber citizens, Facebook’s achievement was over-shadowed by the unveiling of Google Instant, an innovative new feature, which speeds the pace of search.

However, it would appear there are other questions to consider:

1. How does Bing profit as Facebook’s Web search partner?
2. What should businesses do in marketing on Facebook?
3. What precautions should businesses take to make certain their Web sites are not obliterated by Facebook?

Facebook’s time spent viewing can only mean increased search share for Bing vs. Google.In 2008, for $240 million, Microsoft bought 1.6 percent of Facebook. (You might wish to read Why Facebook May Be Inching toward An IPO.)

To maximize the marketing investment, businesses should consider establishing a Facebook page.

For a Facebook presence, Website Magazine’s Linc Wonham recently published some basic tips:

• Set goals for your Facebook page and monitor your progress
• Make your page interesting and informative, and update it as often as you can
• Promote your Facebook page on your business website and elsewhere; add a Find us on Facebook button wherever you can
• Reward your Facebook Fans with discounts and special promotions
• Create a Facebook user group that will be of interest/useful to your audience
• Join other Facebook user groups that pertain to your industry or niche
• Take advantage of Facebook’s tools; track your success with Facebook analytics

“Businesses can add a Facebook Place to their Facebook Page, or the two can be combined,” according to the Website writer. “The result of either option is getting your company’s address, map, phone number and other data in front of Facebook’s massive user network and giving them a way to share the information with friends.”

Mr. Wonham specifies the benefit: “The result of either option is getting your company’s address, map, phone number and other data in front of Facebook’s massive user network and giving them a way to share the information with friends.”

His tips for Facebook ads:

• Be as specific as possible with your keywords and demographic selections
• Use compelling images, titles and copy in your ads
• Make your ads as interactive and engaging as you can
• Frequently update and refresh the images and copy for better results
• Be vigilant about testing your ads and monitoring the results
• Bid high to get your ads approved faster by Facebook
• Start with CPC ads if you have a very small budget, otherwise CPM is the better bet
• Use Facebook Ads Manager, which can be downloaded and installed on Firefox

However, it’s important to take precautions – there are two dangers to Facebook marketing:

1. Facebook tends to supersede the importance of your Web site in the minds of cyber citizens.
2. The most successful companies achieving success on Facebook have done it by slashing prices and offering coupons.

For more on this angle, see this column: Aside from Privacy, Security Issues — Facebook is a Threat 2 Ways.

But always remember what drives cyber citizens to your Facebook page and Web site — broadcast advertising and strong PR – the ultimate keys to your marketing mix. To target credit-worthy or high net-worth customers, broadcast news is your best bet.

So, harness the power of Facebook, but don’t let it make your Web site irrelevant. You want to dialogue with consumers on your own turf. Use these measures and you’ll be a winner in Facebook’s invasion of Google’s Turf.

From the Coach’s Corner, in view of the news reports that burglars have used Facebook to target victims, syndicated columnist Kathy Kristof provides these privacy tips:  6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook.

Aside from Privacy, Security Issues — Facebook is a Threat 2 Ways

 

Facebook is well-known for its privacy and security issues. I’ve written multiple columns about social media and how it can harm businesses, especially when employees are not trained about using it on your company’s computers.

For example: 3 Studies – New Concerns about Internet Security and 5 Safety Measures to Thwart Mounting Social-Network Attacks.

But my sense after reading two articles in AdvertisingAge Magazine – a must-read for the advertising profession – is that Facebook raises the specter of two other ramifications for business: Facebook is becoming more of a threat in marketing.

Consider two headlines: What Happens When Facebook Trumps Your Brand Site?” and “The Top Five Brands on Facebook.”

First, so what happens when Facebook becomes more relevant than your Web site? “…the social network has quietly become something else: the biggest relationship-marketing provider for many brands,” writes Jack Neff.

He points out 37 Facebook pages have a million or more fans even though most Web sites have difficulty attracting 100,000 visitors. That means, of course, Facebook is outperforming their sites.

For example, Mr. Neff cites Coca-Cola with 10.7 million Facebook fans, but its Web site’s unique visitors dwindled to 242,000 unique visitors in July, 2010.

The danger is that all these people are identified with social media, which is owned by Facebook. Brands will have to pay to advertise on their own Facebook pages, and Facebook collects all the revenue.

Starbucks may be one of the rare companies to have a strong Facebook and Web site presence.

Mr. Neff provides other interesting insights – for the full story, see the article here.

Also, at AdvertisingAge, Matt Carmichael writes about the top five brands Facebook. But it appears their top ranking is for dubious reasons.

“According to new research from ExactTarget and CoTweet, it’s pretty simple: coupons and free stuff,” he explains.

He reports the top five: Oreo, Walmart, Victoria’s Secret, iTunes and Dove.

See his article here.

So, it’s imperative protect your brand by not cannibalizing it to the extent that it has less power than Facebook. Use the necessary due diligence in strategies to use Facebook to drive traffic to your Web site. Or, you’ll pay the price.

From the Coach’s Corner, here are related columns on promoting your Web site:

Facebook Users Favor Online News Sites.

Web Publishers: Are You Optimized for Bing?

Startup Toolkit – How to Make a Hit on the Internet

5 Tips If Your Web Site’s Traffic Slows in Summer Months

Facebook’s Popularity Drops in U.S., Canada and Europe, but Inches Toward Highly Valued IPO

Updated – June 14, 2011

 

Many analysts believe Facebook is now set to go with its widely anticipated initial public offering in Q1 2012. What’s astounding is Facebook has lost ground in North America and Europe, but analysts are predicting a valuation as high as $100 billion.

A Web site, www.insidefacebook.com, reported the irony regarding Facebook’s popularity in this article: “Facebook Sees Big Traffic Drops in US and Canada as It Nears 700 Million Users Worldwide.”

It explained where and why Facebook lost members in the month of May:

• U.S. lost almost 6 million down to 149.4 million
• Canada dropped by 1.52 million to 16.6 million
• UK, Norway and Russia each lost more than 100,000

Ostensibly, Facebook’s privacy issues are having an impact.

So, why is Facebook growing? Inside Facebook indicates the site gained 11.8 million users among Third World populations that have recently started warming up to the thought of using the social networking site.

Meantime, many marketers started allocating more of their budgets for Facebook ads, according to a report in Website Magazine, www.websitemagazine.com, as early as Aug. 2010.

“Two years ago the big brands were experimenting with us,” Website Magazine’s senior editor Mike Phillips quotes Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. “They started buying with us a year ago. Now, they’re going big.”

Mr. Phillips writes that she claims the social medium’s top advertisers are now investing 10 to 20 times more dollars.

“Facebook appears to be positioning itself for an IPO in 2012,” confirms Francis Gaskins, a widely quoted and respected IPO expert. “Here’s an interesting article.”

If Facebook is inching toward its initial public offering in 2012, shouldn’t it show it’s making profits from ads.

So, what about Facebook as a marketing tool?

“For most companies, it’s not yet completely clear whether Facebook ads are truly effective at generating quality leads or increased conversions/revenue,” Mr. Phillips astutely points out. “What is clear, however, is that Facebook continues to grow its user base.”

He says research firm comScore reports Facebook has overtaken Yahoo as the nation’s No.1 display advertiser.

“Now might be the time to get involved in Facebook advertising,” suggests Mr. Phillips. “Prices have remained steady, the website is still the hottest property online and you can expect those prices to increase sooner than later. You can run a few simple campaigns on the cheap, look for results and optimize in no time at all. There is plenty to gain here.”

As a business-performance consultant, I concur. To quote my good friend, Cork Platts, now a retired Los Angeles marketing guru, a basic marketing tenet is “test, test, test.”

For me, that’s especially true when it’s an inexpensive marketing investment. But be careful to get a return on your investment, and don’t cannibalize your brand. I wouldn’t want a Facebook presence to trump my Web site. Facebook should merely part of overall marketing. Consider:  Winners and Losers in Facebook’s Invasion of Google’s Turf.

Meantime, my biz coach sense is that an IPO with a $100 billion valuation doesn’t make sense for a social networking site that’s lost ground in the U.S., Canada and parts of Europe, especially when we’re not sure about its revenue.

Such a high valuation on dubious earnings is reminiscent of all the hype and countless failures in the dot.com bust. Was it that long ago?

From the Coach’s Corner, here are related social-media resource links:

11 Tips to Make Money on Facebook

5 Strategies to Sell More from Your Web Site

Invigorate Sales with Customer Retention, Referral Strategies

Mr. Gaskins’ resource links:

• His Company
• Blog
• Twitter

(Note: Mr. Platts is also founder of Consultants West, www.consultantswest.com, an association of veteran consultants that meets regularly in Los Angeles. Mr. Gaskins is also a member, and I’m proud to be associated with them.)

“Privacy is dead, and social media hold the smoking gun.”

-Pete Cashmore

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Columnist Terry Corbell is also a business-performance consultant and profit professional. Click here to see his management services (many are available online). For a complementary chat about your business situation or to schedule Terry Corbell as a speaker, why don’t you contact him today?

 

Why Small Business Prospects Are Trending Up

 

May 8, 2010

Two studies about small businesspeople provide inspirational insights.

A new “Signs of the Times” study by FedEx Office shows 72 percent of responding U.S. businesses believe they’ll help lead the charge to business recovery. Conducted in April, 2010, it included small businesses with five to 100 employees with minimum revenue of $100,000.

The temporary help company, Kelly Services, funded a global study which revealed 20 percent of respondents are working as entrepreneurial independent contractors and another 50 percent aspire to work for themselves. It was a survey of 134,000 people in 29 nations in Asia, Europe, and North America.

The FedEx study:

Fifty-one percent of responding businesses indicate they’re already recovering or will be in great shape by the start of 2011. That’s quite a change. In 2009, 54 percent were worried about the economy.

Eighteen percent are now looking to hire workers compared to just 9 percent in 2009.

Marketing will have a bigger priority – 42 percent will budget for marketing this year. Thirty percent will increase budgets for sales activities.

“Small businesses are definitely getting it right when it comes to identifying and investing in the tools that will help them bounce back from a difficult period,” said Randy Scarborough, vice president of marketing for FedEx Office. “From print ads and direct mail campaigns to online marketing programs and a social media presence, small business owners today are smart and savvy about how to maximize their budgets while connecting effectively with new and existing customers down the street and around the world.”

The FedEx study highlights the wisdom of small businesses on the importance of marketing.

In the early stages of the recession back in 2008, a previous FedEx study revealed relatively few small businesses were fully aware of the effects of the downturn.  That’s when 41 percent said they anticipated increasing their marketing budgets. But in 2009 when virtually every business felt the negative impact of the downturn, 44 percent were looking to increase their marketing budgets.

The current study indicates 34 percent slashed their marketing in 2009, but 31 percent regret making the cutback.

Eighty-seven percent believe in the importance of print marketing collateral, and 61 percent believe traditional marketing tools will yield a better return on their investment than the Internet.

Ironically, 51 percent of the 18 to 34 year-old demographic advocate banners, posters and signs vis-à-vis 36 percent of those aged 55 and older.

But many of the respondents say they will embrace the Web more – 46 percent online and 36 percent on social media.

But the study’s red flag: Many small businesses have not designed a cohesive logo and tagline.  Sixty-four percent admit their messaging is “somewhat consistent,” 23 percent can’t afford to design messaging and branding, and 13 percent admit spending too much because they don’t have the ability or time to research possible deals.

The Kelly Services survey:

It’s not just about companies cutting back to save on employee benefits, according to Kelly Services. Uncertainty about economics is what is really triggering the trend for entrepreneurship or independent contractors.

The increase in free agency: Twenty-six percent in North America,19 percent in Asia and 17 percent in Europe.

Nearly 25 percent of all respondents indicated a desire to launch a business, especially 48 to 65 year-old males.

“The economic downturn has resulted in a new way of thinking about careers and job security. Many people have watched their jobs disappear and now want to do something that puts them in more control of their career,” says Kelly Services Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, George Corona. “These are often people with many years of experience, who may have been displaced and who have taken an entrepreneurial approach to marketing their skills.”

Other results:

• Some 20 percent are  freelancers, consultants, independent contractors or free agents. That’s 28 percent of baby boomers, 20 percent of Gen X and 18 percent of Gen Y.
• Another 12 percent would love to be independent.
• Younger people are worried about failing and older folks fear healthcare costs.
• Thirty percent of Gen Y would like to start their own business, but only 22 percent of Gen X and 14 percent of baby boomers would like to do so.
• Forty-eight percent feel they abilities are adequate. Fifty-four percent of baby boomers and Gen X and 40 percent of Gen Y feel confident.

“Many of those who lost their jobs as a result of the global economic crisis have had to reinvent themselves as independent contractors, freelancers and consultants. This self-employment trend may continue as more people become attracted by the autonomy, independence, and flexibility of working for themselves,” Corona added.

In conclusion, these studies demonstrate the ability and fortitude of entrepreneurs.

And, use a metaphor like Reggie Jackson once said about his Mr. October capabilities as a New York Yankee: Entrepreneurs “are the straw that stirs the drink” in economic growth.

From the Coach’s Corner, Jerry Savin, an authoritative consultant at Cambridge Technology Consulting Group, has a reminder about your online presence:

“Today, we received a frantic call from a former client asking why their website was down,” writes Mr. Savin. “As it turned out, their domain registration had expired. Oops.”

His suggestions:

1. Check the expiration dates of your current domain registrations.
2. Confirm that the Administrative Contact on the Domain Registration is current and the contact’s email address is correct.
3. Pay attention to the email reminders. Domain Registrars send out multiple domain registration expiration emails.
4. Renew your domain registrations before they expire.

“Google gives slightly more weight to domains with longer registrations,” he adds. “So registering domains for 5 years or longer makes sense.”

His Web address: http://www.ctcg.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeraldsavin

Tweet: www.twitter.com/CambridgeTech

How to Win Your Major Marketing Campaign

 

In major marketing campaigns – in business or politics – there’s nothing more frustrating than losing. But a lack of funds or a small war chest is not the salient reason for defeat. It isn’t necessarily how much you spend.

There are many reasons for marketing failure of a campaign.

Here are 14 of the more important reasons:

1. Inadequate analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
2. Drawing incorrect conclusions from the analysis (leading to ineffective overall strategic planning)
3. Unrealistic budgeting
4. Ineffective testing of ideas and messaging
5. Arrogance – over confidence
6. Poor coordination with centers of influence
7. Not developing effective teamwork and communication among stakeholders
8. Targeting the wrong market
9. Lack of job descriptions – who will do what and when?
10. Wrong people in many key positions
11. Poor positioning in attributes and benefit statements
12. Ineffective allocation of promotional funds – wrong mediums preventing top-of-mind awareness in customers, or voters
13. Unproductive evaluation of the campaign and return on investment
14. Unsuccessful responses to negative surprises and failure to capitalize on opportunities

Two basic rules include: “Know thyself” and “Know thy audience.”

Not to over-simplify, in essence, the key is to properly plan but only after you perform a strategic analysis.

Identify your centers of influence and strategic partners, quantify your goals, make a budget, identify your target audience, test your messaging, implement your plan, create a positive image, create a call for action, continually evaluate your progress, and respond to challenges and create opportunities.

No detail is too small: In collateral, from colors to font choices, or in developing centers of influence for the multiplier effect. But don’t get paralysis from analysis.

Plan your campaign to reach each person in your target audience with a positive message for a minimum of five times. That’s the magic number for optimal results. And be consistent to develop trust.

Remember the difference between marketing and advertising, and developing the right message.  Broadcast advertising is all about frequency, reach and cost per thousand. Internet advertising is concerned about cpm, pay-per-click, pay-per-lead, and cost-per-action. Yes, despite what you’ve heard about social media, TV, especially, TV news remains the most powerful of mediums. Radio is still strong. But marketing is not simply creating a radio, TV or Internet advertisement or harnessing social networking tools. Advertising is merely one component of marketing.

Marketing pertains to the big picture. Marketing is the understanding of your target audience for the cost-effective process of selling the right product or service at the right time and at the right price. It’s a systematic development, coordination and implementation of a myriad of initiatives – proactive events to establish a dialogue – not just a bunch of advertisements.

Social media

Make certain to orchestrate and synergize your advertising with public relations, videos, word-of-mouth and social media. Thanks to the new Digital Age, consumers are in charge. Set up a dialogue, not a monologue.

For example, if you’re targeting young adults or teenagers, it’s sad to say, but they are getting their “news” from their social media.

Your communication plan should contain timelines. Press kits are helpful, but in this green age, they are not necessary. Regarding relationships with journalists, here’s a hint: Reporters like to deal with experts. So portray yourself as one.

Choose wisely. Insert and distribute effective videos and provide the right motives for people to share. The right content has to be presented in right place.

Follow the trends to see how to get the most attention. For example, Digg.com can be helpful but remember it’s mostly a young audience – big on tech and off-the-wall stories.

Just like reporters, every generation likes experts and stories. Storytelling holds great power for you. So tell a good story, write a good headline, deliver on your promises, and cite outside participants for proof in your claims.

Value perceptions

In marketing, whether its products or political candidates, people base their buying-decisions on emotion.

To keep things simple, the following explanations refer to business but are applicable or transferrable to politics.

About 18 percent of people – blue-collar and professionals, alike – will only buy your products and services at the cheapest cost in the marketplace.

The most-valued prospects are the people who are affected by their five value perceptions – motivating them to positively respond to your call-for-action.

The five perceptions and their percentage of importance in decision-making:

Employees, Spokespersons – 52 percent. The key characteristics are integrity, judgment, friendliness and knowledge.

Remember, about 70 percent of your customers will buy elsewhere because they feel they’re being taken for granted. And customers normally will not tell you why they switched to your competitor.

Image of the organization – 15 percent. They are concerned about the image of your company in the community. Cause-related marketing is a big plus in forging a positive image. So is cleanliness and good organization.

Quality of Product or Service Utility – 13 percent. The customer is asking the question – “What will this do for me?”

Convenience –12 percent. Customers like easy accessibility to do business with you. That includes your Web site, telephoning you, and the convenience of patronizing your business. 

Price – 8 percent. Price is important, but it’s the least concern among the five value-motivating perceptions.

Seven marketing elements

Once you understand what motivates the customer to buy, there are seven steps you must take for creating a happy buying environment. Fear is a great motivator. But Americans are tired of negativity. Yes, the marketing process goes a lot easier if you can make buying fun.

For marketing in a downturn or not, every PR or advertising message should – as much as possible –contain these seven elements:

1. FEE. This is an acronym for establishing a common ground for a foundation using the principles of event and empathy. Every purchase is an event in the life of a customer – no matter how big or small.  It also helps to show concern about the welfare of the customer.
2. Research/focus groups on attitudes. Use tools to get the prospect to open up.
3. Agreement on Need. Get the prospects to agree on their need to buy a product or service.
4. Generic Value Proposition or Benefit Statement. Here’s where you explain your value proposition. Remember the difference between features vs. benefits to answer the basic marketing questions, such as the acronym, WIIFM , “What’s in it for me?” or “So What?”)
5. Fill Prospect’s Need. Depending on your audience, use more specific benefit statements.
6. Commitment – Ask for the order using a non-threatening, closed-ended question.
7. Seal the Deal. This final step has three components –

• Use the magic words:  “Thank you.”
• Prevent buyer’s remorse – remind the customer of benefits they’re receiving
• Look for an opportunity to provide the person with unexpected, perceived added value without hurting your bottom line.

How to overcome objections: If you’re at a meeting and encounter an objection, be careful with your response. Always empathize. Your first statement should be a note of empathy even if you disagree.

If you don’t know how to answer the person, explain you need more information and will get back to them later ASAP: “How about if I call you at 4?”

If you do know how to respond and in order to overcome an objection, it’s still important to use empathy.

Here are the three steps to overcoming objections:

1. Get the prospect to restate his/her concern. Then repeat the person’s words:  “If I understand you correctly, you feel…?”
2. Empathize:  “I can see how you feel that way”…or “You know, someone said the same thing last week.”
3. Overcome the objection with facts.  (Then recap the seven steps.)

After you’ve won, best-practices also call for follow-up and laying a foundation for an infrastructure that promotes long-term success.

From the Coach’s Corner, do you want a fun look back at the top 100 advertising campaigns of all time?

Here are the top 100 campaigns: http://adage.com/century/campaigns.html

Need Sales? Use Old School/New School Marketing

 

A reader, who was a marcom professional, once asked me for help with her employer.

“I’m new to my company as a Marcom professional, but my boss already has high expectations and is pressuring me to generate revenue fast. That includes attacking our competitors. Help!”

It appeared to me her boss was desperate and expected miracles in marketing and communications. If you are in a similar situation, consider until you develop trust and respect from your new employer, you’ve got a tough job.

Otherwise, you’ve got two choices: Find another job or develop a successful strategy and market your ideas to your boss.

Also, the value of marketing is often underestimated and it’s the scapegoat when other factors should be blamed for poor sales. Marketing professionals often complain about a lack of senior management respect or lack of access to the CEO.

What’s more, marketing budgets are the first to be slashed during tough times. Ironically, that’s the time to increase marketing. A marcom professional needs to know how to sell ideas inside the office as well as outside. 

Accelerate sales by asking yourself these four questions:

1. What in my past has prepared me to deal with this challenging situation?
2. What is needed short-term and long-term?
3. How can I maximize customer loyalty?
4. What new initiatives are needed?

In other words, use old school/new school thinking.

Del Sharbutt, the legendary broadcaster with a cavernous voice, was one of my radio mentors in the mid-1970s. (Del Sharbutt, 90, a Broadcast Announcer – The New York Times; Del Sharbutt – Entertainment News, Obituary, Media – Variety.)

He was retired when I met him. I was news director at an all-news radio station.

Del’s career included being a news anchor for the Mutual Broadcasting System, which had been the world’s largest radio network. He was an emcee for Frank Sinatra’s big band concerts, and was the creator of two hugely successful advertising slogans: “LSMFT, Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco” and Campbell Soups’ “M’m! M’m! Good.”

When he spoke I listened. Even though my radio station had jumped from last in the ratings race to second place in just one year, it had challenges attracting young women in a competitive California market. Del suggested I interview elementary school kids about what they wanted for Christmas. It was an old idea but the results were astounding.

One of his responses still pays me dividends: “Kid, every experience is a learning experience.”

Hence, the question: What in my past has prepared me to deal with this challenging situation?

For challenges in customer loyalty, I turned to my interest in sports. Defense in sports is a good metaphor for effective customer loyalty programs. Baseball teams win the World Series essentially because of great pitching and error-free play in the field. So protect your turf with a strong customer loyalty program while you also strategize for new opportunities.

A case study of a high-tech company

One of my firm’s clients, a life sciences imaging company, contracted me to analyze why its sales were flat. The marketing manager was frustrated so I suggested that I interview a cross section of their customers. One of the keys was to ask open-ended questions to get comprehensive answers instead of  yes or no answers.

The marketing manager liked my research approach, but he only wanted me to talk with the disloyal customers. My goal was to get a snapshot of the big picture – an overview of what all the client’s customers liked and disliked. I persuaded the client to allow me to interview high-volume satisfied customers; second-tier customers; and customers who stopped buying altogether.

The client sent letters to 25 of its worldwide customers to expect a telephone call from me. The most helpful solutions evolved from an interview with one of my client’s biggest customers, who told me: “We like them a lot.” When I asked the customer what he liked the least, he said: “They’re great people and we like everything about them.”

But in a follow-up question, I asked: “If you had a magic wand, what would you change about the relationship?”

The customer answered: “When we have a problem, their customer service is a nightmare.”

Also, my recollection is that the client’s technicians and customer service reps rarely – if ever – said thank you to their customers.

The nightmarish quote was a shock to the marketing manager. He asked me to present my findings to the company’s board of directors. The board was astounded.

For a solid foundation, these areas need to be addressed for an effective customer loyalty program:

1. Make certain that everyone in your company has an attitude of gratitude and says thank you to customers either for their purchases or for even just considering your company’s products.
2. Enhance trust by soliciting feedback from your customers. Act on their comments quickly.
3. Make certain customers are fully aware of your full line of products.
4. Develop a customer rewards program and value-added programs to multiply sales.
5. Develop a customer-privacy policy. Communicate it with customers.

Avoid Comparison Ads

Regarding your boss wanting to attack competitors, you never want to be known for such tactics. Always take the high road. When the media or customers ask you for a comment on your competitors, immediately respond with a compliment. Then, toot your company’s horn. Otherwise, you will turn off customers and you’ll find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to cut prices.

So when I was a young dedicated journalist, Mr. Sharbutt also stunned me with another tip: “Radio is not a music medium or a news medium. It is an advertising medium.”

That was also true for TV and newspapers. The same could be said today about the Internet – an estimated $22.8 billion sector in 2009.

Video ads are particularly effective in targeting young adults and teens. For a case study, here are campaign samples that were successful in synergizing TV with social networking:

• 15 Expo
• Sample of Social Networking Video

So, remember: If you use old school/new school thinking, good things will happen.

From the Coach’s Corner, here is a source for good tips on leveraging the Internet: Entrepreneur.com, visit Online Advertising Strategies for Small Businesses. 

 

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