Rose Anne Huck, manager of our Poplar Bluff office brings you today's book review.
Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers.
By Seth Godin
Internet marketing pioneer Seth Godin says we must change the way almost everything is marketed today.
Our author, Seth Godin, speaks to us about the demise of the age of interruption Marketing with the arrival of Permission Marketing. In this groundbreaking book, Godin describes the four tests of Permission Marketing:
With case study after case study, Godin walks us through good and bad examples of using the power of Permission Marketing to grow a business and customer base.
We are encouraged to follow-up with a full “suite of follow-up messages” for permission given. The suite of messages is a leveraged sequence of communication designed to strengthen our position and build trust.
You can easily do the math. Drive traffic to your site to collect their contact information. For every x percent who give you permission, you’ll generate $Y in sales. To finish the equation all you need is your conversion rate which you may be able to pull from your sales and marketing records.
The key is not to focus on permission acquisition on-line but rather build to it into what you’re already doing in your marketing efforts.
Think of it this way: an Interruption Marketer is a hunter. A Permission Marketer is a farmer.
Seth Godin uses a charming analogy to demonstrate the differences between Permission Marketing and Interruption Marketing.
First Scenario: A man gets a new suit, shoes, all the accessories and heads to a singles bar. He has an engagement ring in his pocket. He proposes marriage over and over hoping for someone to take him up on his offer. As you can imagine, he suffers many rejections.
Second Scenario: A man chooses a likely prospective date. Asks her out to dinner and a movie (appropriate incentives). They spend time together. Go out again. Meet the family. Eventually he proposes marriage and gets an emphatic “Yes!”
This approach is about building quality connections where there is mutual trust which in the long-term should result in greater sales per contact than any other system.
When we look at it this way, it is hard to imagine doing marketing any other way. It is also obvious that Permission Marketing requires a greater investment of time and resources. Permission Marketing results grow over time. They is measurable. These are the opposite of Interruption Marketing.
One hundred years ago small businesses ruled the world. They were responsive, trusted and capable. They offered samples or use of products before purchase and the company owner or sales person spent extra time with customers before the sale. It would not have been unusual for the company owner to be your neighbor. Oh my, how times have changed for most companies.
The KEY to Permission Marketing is in building a series of steps designed to get prospects to take the next step in the process. Let’s take a look at this example: Camp Arowhon
At each step the goal is to expand permission, not to make the final sale.
By not focusing on the sale, marketers are able to get far more out of their expenditures. Response rates to free samples, an affinity program or birthday club is 5 to 10 times higher than responses pushing for the sale.
When you are making your offer, the less you ask and the bigger the bribe, the more likely the consumer will bite. This guarantees your chance to deepen the permission with the next level.
Three important keys to keep in mind:
The first sale is the beginning of the relationship, NOT the ultimate goal. The Ultimate Goal is mutually beneficial - a relationship which grows over time. You supply their need. They pay you. You provide more. They buy more and so forth and so on.
If you find need to start with high cost interruption marketing, you want to leverage the cost of the first interruption across multiple interactions. In this instance it definitely pays to approach your audience in as many ways as possible.
TRUST is EVERYTHING! Without trust there are no sales. Trust means the prospect believes in the product and the company. Think of it this way, you have a different level of trust with a high-end jeweler versus the guy on the street with a briefcase of jewelry.
Building trust is a Step by Step process which requires time, money and commitment. Frequency builds familiarity and familiarity builds trust. When you first run your ad 10% of your market will remember it. If you run 30 days in a row, by the law of averages, eventually everyone will remember your ad. Frequency causes the consumer to focus on the message. Like repeating yourself to a 4-year-old helps get the point across - or training a dog or horse.
Statistically when you increase your frequency by 100% you increase your effectiveness by 400%! Frequency and trust outweigh reach and its glamour.
This book is packed with the fundamentals needed to connect with you audience in a way that resonates with them and will lead to relationships that are beneficial for you both.
One of my favorite examples used in the book is the LL Bean catalog company. Their inventory stays relatively unchanged year after year. There are a few tweaks but nothing extensive. LL Bean sends out catalogs over and over again even though the last book you got probably has not changed very much. Their loyal followers welcome these new books and peruse them and continue to buy from them year after year. This is the relationship we all need. Customers and prospects who are happy to receive our sales message and who trust us to deliver quality.
Permission Marketing was written in 1999 but remains an authoritative source of information. Many if not most of Godin’s predictions have come true. He was and is so far out front that even now, we are still working to implement what he preached then.
One last suggestion: Read it and read it soon.
To find out more about Seth Godin's Permission Marketing book, visit http://sethgodin.com/sg/
We’re so excited for the opportunity to present a workshop at the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce on May 29! The topic up for discussion is how to Make the Most of Social Media.
We know that Social Media can be a real headache. Especially for business owners who need to focus on business, but know that social media can be an integral part of business growth.
This workshop will give you the information you need to effectively manage your social media without eating up your time. You’ll learn how to use social media more effectively, best practices in social media and how to make it manageable. Plus, we’ll talk about content management, how to determine which networks and platforms are most beneficial for you, and when it’s time to hire someone to help you out.
The workshop will be from 10 a.m. to noon on May 29, at the Poplar Bluff Chamber of Commerce.
Fish Where the Fish Are
Spend your advertising dollars where the market is. The same concept can apply to social media. Use the platform the reaches your specific audience! If you’re customers aren’t using Twitter, but ARE using Facebook, put your time and effort there!
Also, browse our blog for more great marketing tips!
Do you want more tips?
Comment below and let us know what topics are really giving you troubles, or topics you'd just like to know more about!
Today's review comes from our owner, Sally Poole.
Enchantment
by Guy Kawasaki
Build your company by building trust.
“The best overall treatise on interpersonal relationships since Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
— Michael Gartenberg, Research Director, Gartner
If you haven't read anything by Guy Kawasaki, it's time to start. His books are entertaining and filled with usable information you can apply to your business or organization right away. Guy started out as the chief evangelist at Apple and he knows business and marketing.
In Enchantment, he talks about winning over people to your company, product or service. It's much more than persuasion or influencing. It's about providing a lasting benefit to others that transforms people and relationships. It cements customers to you. And the process is outlined in this book.
A few of the chapters include: How to Achieve Likability, How to Achieve Trust, How to Prepare, How to Launch, How to Overcome Resistance, How to Make Enchantment Endure.
I'm going to highlight pertinent points from a few of the chapters. Kawasaki talks about how to align yourself with others by becoming more likable through smiling, acceptance of others and even dressing in similar ways. He talks about building trust by being transparent and fully human. That means admitting mistakes and acknowledging personal flaws and passions. He suggests giving for giving sake.
He gives examples of products and companies that enchant, such as Virgin America, and Apple Macintosh. What makes them different is that they are deep, well designed, intelligent, complete, empowering and elegant. I personally love design and to me this is what great work is all about. Thinking a product or service through so that it provides the best possible experience.
I love this book because of all the working examples and the tools he gives you to succeed. One important part of the book is about giving to others. He suggests you give with joy, give early, give often and generously and give unexpectedly. This is part of what builds trust and relationships in business. He even gives you ideas of how to use technology in a better way. For
instance, the six sentence email. Many emails are too long and don't get read. I've even heard of a SIX WORD email. Try it and see what success you have.
Finally he talks about enchanting your employees, your boss and even how to avoid enchantment! Guy Kawasaki covers it all and you'll enjoy his style and information. It's a quick read and it will help you, your business or organization.
To find out more go to: http://www.guykawasaki.com/enchantment/
When the Internet became a household tool a lot of things changed. When landlines and desktops turned into cell phones and tablets, even more things changed. It’s hard to measure exactly how much our lives have changed through technology, but our personal lives aren’t the only thing that changed – so did the customer.
Customers today are very different from what they used to be and that means the way businesses market to and connect with customers must evolve to keep up.
Let’s look at four characteristics of new customers and how you can adapt your strategies to suit them.
Customers know more than you do.
Customers today have access to virtually all the information they need before you know if they are even interested. They’re armed with greater information and influence than ever before. They use technology to make their decisions and influence the buying patterns of others making them feel empowered and knowledgeable. They may know as much or more about your product and your competitor’s product than you do. Be ready for them.
Customers are social.
“If you make your customer happy they will tell someone; if you make them unhappy they will tell 10 people.”
This adage describes the practice of word-of-mouth. Online platforms have transformed word-of-mouth into what is called “user generated content” or UGC. When customers post online about their experiences, questions, praise or condemnation of products, services and general behavior in the marketplace, it’s like word-of-mouth on steroids. Be a positive social information generator.
Customers make their experiences and opinions about businesses and their products/services known to millions. They are blogging and posting about it on Facebook and Twitter. And not only are they telling their own experiences, they are reading everyone else’s. Referrals and recommendation are coming from anyone but you (unless you have testimonials – which we’ll talk about later.) Which leads us to…
Customers tell you what they want.
Customers today tell you how to interact with them, and when and why they will or will not do business with you. This is directly connected to the previous point. They are posting on blogs and social networks telling not only what they think, but they are telling you what they want. Listen carefully.
Customers judge books by their cover.
Customers are influenced by who they believe that you are before they consider your products and services. Customers care about what your brand stands for as much as they care about what you offer. Consumers have the power to shape what you stand for if you don’t do it for them. Share your “why?”
How to adapt:
Stay on top of your game, adapt to the customers wants and needs and the avenues by which the obtain information and your business will grow hand in hand with your customers.
Here's something to think about when planning for 2013. Many companies spend a lot of their marketing dollars talking about their company, products and services. That's marketing from the inside out. Customers would rather know about how you can help them solve their problems, make money or save time. The most effective marketing is built by putting yourself in your customer's shoes. That's marketing from the outside in. Focus on answering the needs of your customers first and then your products and services will sell themselves.
This week I want you to define your target market. Every business has one. Your target market includes demographics like the main type of person that does business with you. Think about the distinct age group of people you serve. Are your customers more male or female? Are your customers other businesses or the general public? Where do they live? Can you define the region where you do most of your work? Defining your target market helps you know where you need to be advertising. Think about your target market this week and think about what kind of advertising or marketing will best reach your unique target market.
