What’s the best way to Market to Millennials: Just Tell a Good Story

There’s a new kid in town and they’re looking to spend. Yes, our latest young professionals that have been coming online in recent years are from the millennial generation. And these aren’t your parent’s consumers. If you’re looking to get a piece of their pocketbook, you have to understand how to change your marketing message to grab their attention—and there’s a lot of noise for them out there. Here are a few ways to have some impact in the market. Find Your Zen If you’re going to market to millennials you have to think about your business holistically. You can’t force marketing on your product or a millennial won’t buy your product—or your message. Product design and the marketing message are inseparable. Think Apple. So take a look at your products and truly understand the “why.” This will give your marketing meaning. Get Real Millennials can smell a rat. They’ve grown up sharing their lives with the world. They want authenticity in their relationships, and that includes relationships with the companies that sell them their stuff. The easiest way to understand how you can market to them is to listen. This will give you an opportunity to weave your product story into their story and show them that they’ve been heard. Speak in their language. The casual tone may bother you at first because it may feel unprofessional. But the kids will dig it if you do. Let All of Those Emotions Out If you develop a good story around your products, it humanizes your brand. Now you’re a person talking to a person. That’s the foundation of human existence. That vulnerability may have you squirming in your seat, but you’re going to build a level of trust that millennials crave

3 Startling Customer Service Statistics—Trust Us, You’ll Want to Take a Look

Want to see a startling statistic? No? Well, shut your eyes. The average business hears from 4% of dissatisfied customers. Many businesses make the mistake in thinking that if they don’t hear from customers, those customers had a positive experience. WRONG. Few people are going to take the time to tell you what you did wrong. They have their own problems to take care of, and solving yours isn’t one of them. The solution? Constantly strive to improve your service, even if you aren’t being flooded with complaints. Don’t let the problem get to that point. Identify it in its infant stage so it can be more readily taken care of. Want real feedback? Create an incentive for them to sacrifice their valuable time. Next fact: it’s up to 7 times less expensive to keep existing customers than to acquire new ones. Granted, in order to grow your business you need to acquire new customers. We accept that fact. However, you can’t acquire new ones at the expense of losing your old ones. In other words, customer acquisition can’t happen without customer retention. And considering that 86% of consumers will quit doing business with you after a bad customer experience, you could say that this fact goes hand in hand with fact #1 above. And finally, speed kills. (No, we’re not using some urban slang phrase.) We mean to say that the “help ‘em fast” attitude isn’t necessarily in your best interests. Taking the necessary time to truly understand your customers’ problems and skillfully solving it will go a lot further than getting them out the door as soon as possible. And here’s one bonus fact to startle the apathy right out of you: 80% of companies claim they have superior customer service. 8% of customers think these same companies deliver said superior service. Like we said above, most companies are in denial: “Who? Us? Bad service? Impossible. My employees are the best.” The lesson? Evaluate your service constantly and look for successes and shortcomings. Find different metrics that give you some real feedback on how your company is doing. And remember, don’t assume that just because you aren’t hearing any complaints that things are peachy—you could be oh so wrong. Don’t wait to find out.

3 Ways Successful Marketing is Like a Great Football Team

It’s officially football season. You’ve made it through the drought that is summer. Time to crack open a beverage, toss on your favorite team’s jersey and enjoy. But before you turn on the big game or hop in your car to go tailgate, let’s take a moment to think about how your organization’s successful marketing campaign parallels a great game plan for your beloved football team. Devise a Set of Consistent Goals Throughout the entire football season, a coach is responsible for tracking the progress of his team toward their goals. And in order to achieve this, he must continually research, train and adjust what works for his unique combination of team members for that particular season. This principle holds true for marketing. To achieve your sales goals for this quarter, you should outline specifically what you want to accomplish. Then design a marketing game plan around that goal. It may consist of a number of marketing tactics, whether it’s direct mail, new in-store signage or email marketing. Work as a Team It’s typically easy for a coach to get the team behind a common goal of winning the big game. Think of your entire staff as one team. Everyone should be aware of the marketing plan and how each person contributes to the success of the messages you’re putting out into the world. Whether it’s delivering the products on time or employing top-notch customer service, your marketing words should mirror your staff’s actions. Build each other up (but skip the celebratory chest bumps in order to avoid problems with HR) and celebrate your success. And if there’s a team member not being fully utilized, ask them for their input. Be a good coach. Utilize all of your players for their unique strengths. Learn to Adapt We’ve all seen this scenario played out on the field: the all-star quarterback gets injured and the coach is forced to put in the rookie who everyone doubts. But ultimately that rookie shocks and delights the stadium. Game-winning pass. The stadium roars. Cheering. Game over. This principle holds true for marketing. Sometimes the game plan must change in order to achieve success. If your plays aren’t working, you need to adjust your strategy. In most instances, marketing plans only need slight adjustments to make a big difference. Just be ready to creatively problem solve. Marketing is an ever-shifting discipline. Like a coach, you must adapt or lose.

Make Your List and Check It Twice: Plan Now For the Holiday Season

You might not be decking your halls yet, but when it comes to your marketing plans, those sugarplums better start dancing. The holiday season is just a few months away, and it’s time to start planning your marketing strategy (if you haven’t already). Email marketing can be particularly effective during the busy holiday season when people are watching their inboxes for special sales and promotions, and can be easily integrated with a direct mail plan. Here’s where to start. Update your mailing lists. Even if you’re using the best email marketing software, you still need a good list in order to get results and avoid being accused of spamming. Use this time now to collect and update your customers’ email and physical addresses. Focus on one key message. One of the most common mistakes is planning a holiday campaign with too many messages. People have a short attention span when they’re busy. Plan now for the one main message you want to convey or the particular call to action you’d like to include. Create all your assets based on that message. Give your emails a hook. Shoppers love to think they’re getting a bargain—tap into that desire by offering your customers a special deal. This can include free shipping, a bonus product or a coupon. Even the smallest incentive can go a long way in attracting more business. Don’t think of email marketing as a last-minute channel to bolster sales. Make it an effective part of your holiday marketing plan, and most importantly, be sure you have updated lists so your message will end up in the right place

Back-to-School Marketing Ideas

Nights are getting cooler, days are getting shorter and kids are getting more restless lounging at home. That can only mean one thing. It must be August, and it’s time for school to start. Companies everywhere are looking for innovative ways to tie in the beautiful autumn season into next quarter’s marketing plans. Need some jumping off points? We’ve got few to get you started. Send Your Brand to School Unless your company sells school supplies or school clothing, you can’t directly market as a “back-to-school essentials” brand. However, there are many great ways to market your services within the back-to-school season. For example, a health clinic might advertise school immunizations or physicals needed to participate in school sports. A printer could market to schools that are getting updated banners posted for sports and student council activities. A cleaning service could advertise “student packs” for first time college students who’ll be tidying their rooms without their parents’ help for the first time. Aim High For the most part, parents purchase school items for kids (especially elementary and middle school). Keep parents in mind as your target audience when marketing back to school services. Additionally, kids returning to school typically means that parents will have more time for their own activities. A gym could advertise specials during school hours for parents to enjoy. Hair stylists or any other pampering services could offer celebratory deals for “they’ve-gone-back-to-school” appointments. Restaurants could create newer updated menus for those now child-free lunch dates. Get Out That Shiny Red Apple Offer special treatment to teachers. Hard-working teachers don’t get enough credit for the wonderful jobs they do educating our children, so offer them some nice perks. Special deals available to teacher only, a free dessert for the first month of school or a teachers-only discount card.

What We Can Learn From the Twinkie’s Sweet Comeback

Question: How many Twinkies have you eaten this past month? Answer: Probably not as many as we have. If you haven’t noticed yet, the beloved cream-filled sponge cakes are back in the stores, and the sorrowful demise of the Twinkie is now history. After months off the shelves, Hostess relaunched their major brands last month with a campaign they called The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever. Failure is not always the end of the world, and second chances exist. Here are some takeaways from the Twinkie’s successful re-emergence back into the marketplace. Simple works. Why do people have such a sentimental bond with the Twinkie? It could be partly due to its 82-year history. But it’s also likely due to the Twinkie’s simplicity. It’s a combination of two basic elements—sponge cake and vanilla cream. Kind of like the M&M. People tend to respond to simplicity. Adapt and streamline when necessary. The new Twinkie now has a longer shelf life (45 days), a smaller size and way fewer jobs. The new Hostess employs 1,500 nonunion workers. The old Hostess had 15,000 union members on its payroll. The company also plans to use just four of its eleven factories. The company says it can make the cuts and still hit the same capacity as the old version. Listen to your customers. The triumphant return of Twinkies is also a victory for social media. When Hostess went bankrupt and Twinkies disappeared, consumers retorted through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Apollo Global Management listened and today Twinkies are back. The lesson? Pay attention to the consumers in your networks and find out what products they want and need. Social media gives them a clear voice. And FYI: The previous owners of the Hostess brand did try to respond to America’s cry for “healthier” junk food last summer (before they declared bankruptcy) when they introduced a lighter and leaner Twinkie. A single spongy treat now has 135 calories and weighs 38.5 grams, compared to the traditional Twinkie, which weighed in at 42.5 grams and had 150 calories. The change may not have saved the previous owners from bankruptcy, but the new brand owners are packaging the slimmed-down Twinkie, so you can snack without guilt and those extra whopping 15 calories.

Attention is Filtered

One of the most renowned marketers in the world Seth Godin says, “smart companies abandon worry and embrace change”. This post is inspired by some of his thoughts on marketing: People see right through fake. It melts away instantly (along with your money). Everyone in every type of business needs to be a marketer these days. From the sandwich guy down two floors to the kids trying to differentiate themselves by selling Kool-Aid rather than lemonade. As a result, a lot more bad marketing is contaminating the air. There’s no rulebook to great marketing. In fact, the greatest marketers are the ones who take the supposed “rulebook” and toss it out the window (or probably something more unique like light it on fire or cut it up into an art piece). However, as difficult as it is, marketing is a necessary component of every business. Marketers think that the more they can get their messages across, the better—bus ads, bench ads, banner ads, and any other obnoxious placement that will get, let’s face it, ignored. Interruption marketing rarely works (unless you’re showcasing puppies or babies). Anymore, you have to ask to access consumers. You have to put your offer on the table and leave it there, hopefully wafting temptingly in their direction so they want to examine it closer. Attention is filtered. You have to earn trust before consumers are willing to listen. So, how do you get heard? By being consistently remarkable. We know that’s a tall order, but just look at companies that have managed to do it. The first one that comes to our mind is Apple. They have people literally lining up at their doors when they release a product. Why? Because they never disappoint. And they’re unpredictable. Their innovations are worth sharing. People get amped up over a leaked phone schematic as if it were dirt on the President. And it’s not. Often times it’s a simple scribble left accidentally on a bar napkin by some tired Apple Genius. But nevertheless, it spreads. Apple is trusted. People know that, when their new products are finally released, it won’t be average. And Apple has swagger. They know that they’re excellent at what they do. And how do consumers respond? By trusting them more. Confidence is an indication of quality. Because consumers aren’t dumb. And they know that marketers won’t boast a product unless it can stand up against the competition. Swagger without substance will result in a permanent loss of clients.