Archives for creative strategy

29¢ Water for $50 – An Offer Your Customers Can’t Refuse

May 8, 2012

Ice cold and irresistible!
Ever been in a situation where you’re dying of thirst and you’d pay just about any amount of money for an ice cold bottle of water? Seriously, you’re so thirsty and so far away from any kind of precipitation, you’d pay $50 for a 29 cent bottle of water.

A compelling offer is just like an ice cold bottle of water in the middle of the Mohave. Irresistible!

How do you make your offer this irresistible? In the building products industry, it doesn’t always feel that easy, does it?! You’ve got these amazing widgets to sell and you send your sales team out there to beat the streets, pound the pavement, drop in on customers and convince them why they need train loads of your stuff. Why are they still beating you up on price? Why don’t they understand how irresistible your quality products are?

Remember, first you need to sell what people WANT to buy. Then make sure you’re talking to the right people at the right time. You know that old saying, “right place, wrong time”…sometimes you have the right audience, but you’re talking to them at the wrong time. And, be still my heart, sometimes you’re not talking to them at all. This boils down to knowing what your audience is struggling with; knowing how to solve these challenges and knowing what they want to buy.

Then you take your product or service and craft it into a compelling pitch … an offer they can’t refuse. If the value is clear, the decision is easy.

Here’s an exercise from author, Chris Guillebeau, that will help you put together the offer your audience won’t be able to refuse.

Remember the Magic Formula:
The Right Audience + the Right Promise + the Right Time = 
Offer You Can’t Refuse

BASICS

  • What are you selling? _______
  • How much does it cost? _______
  • Who will take immediate action on this offer? ________

BENEFITS

  • The primary benefit is ________
  • An important secondary benefit is ________



OBJECTIONS



What are the main objections to the offer?

How will you counter these objections?

TIMELINESS

There’s Good News
The good news is that when you understand what your customers want and how they want to buy your job and that of your sales people gets so much easier. When an offer they can’t refuse comes along at just the right time the perceived value is much higher. Remember to think about value the way your customers do, not necessarily the way you would like them to.

As you follow your marketing blueprint, think carefully about how you can create a more compelling offer. Then take it out into the world! 

Here’s to making your presence felt and quenching that thirst.

Allison DeFord POSTED BY: Allison DeFord| 1 Comment

How Enchanted Are Your Customers?

August 24, 2011
Slightly enchanted?
Positively enchanted?
Uber enchanted?
OR Unenchanted?

If you haven’t checked out Guy Kawasaki’s new book, Enchantment, you may want to. I’ve been reading it and thinking about how this idea of enchantment relates to the building products industry. At first, it made me chuckle. Enchanted customers in the building products industry floating around with wings a flapping and sprinkling fairy dust all around the office. Sorry, this is what I actually thought of.

Guy describes enchantment as “causing a voluntary change of heart and mind and, therefore, actions.” The goal is not to sell them your tool or product or widget, but to fill them with great delight and completely transform the relationship. Enchantment reshapes, converts and changes behaviors. Enchanted customers are more loyal. They are changed for having done business with you.

You must know what your customers are thinking. Kawasaki uses an example from when he worked for Apple in the 80′s. Apple failed to sell Macs to the business market because they didn’t understand what their potential customers were thinking. They were so enchanted by their own product that they couldn’t understand why everyone else didn’t feel the same way. Apple was “me” focused instead of “you” focused. They were more enchanted with themselves than with addressing the needs and concerns of their customers.

Are you and your team focused on enchanting your customers or in selling them on why your brand is so enchanting? It’s tough. It’s easy to get caught up in selling instead of serving. Relying only on traditional marketing instead of evolving with customer trends. Engaging customers. Conversing with them. Listening to them. Giving them something they didn’t even know they needed.

Now, some of you have already figured out that potential customers are enchanted with video content on YouTube. Greg Jarboe is the author of YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. He says that video content that is enchanting must provide intrinsic value to the viewer. He states that this value comes in four forms:

  1. Inspiration

  2. Entertainment

  3. Enlightenment

  4. Education

The idea is for you to supply a regular stream of video online that inspires, entertains, enlightens or educates your audience. This is a great way to enchantment current and potential customers. I can’t tell you how many manufacturers and distributors in the building products industry are not taking advantage of this fantastic medium. The ones that have are benefitting greatly.

I also encourage you to enchant your employees, but that is another conversation. Until then, please comment on this idea of enchantment. How are you enchanting your customers? What would move them?

Allison DeFord POSTED BY: Allison DeFord| 1 Comment

10 Ways to Create a Sensation Around Your Brand
Part 10

January 20, 2011

CREATE FANS


A Strategy For Putting Ideas into Action
Deciding which tools and techniques make the most sense for your company, who’ll implement them, how and when to do it requires a strategy. Or as we like to call it, a play book.

[This can seem daunting if you’re a brand in a crowded market with multiple competitors, few meaningful points of difference and too few viable positions. If that’s the case, look for new product or service offerings that create marketable points of difference.

Are you currently a CATEGORY OF ONE brand? Build on a strength you already have, such as creativity and innovation, and instead of “selling tools to the construction industry” you’re the brand that’s “reinventing building.” This can then be translated into a tagline, marketing campaign and a guiding force in strategic business decisions.

Four Steps to a (Sensational) Brand Strategy

1 | DEFINE YOUR BRAND
Conduct a brand audit, an assessment of the current state of your brand. The primary goal is to learn, through surveys, personal interviews and website/blog conversations, how customers and prospects feel about your brand today.

Define your brand’s personality. Bold and brawny? Fun and friendly? Honest and hard-working? Smart and sensible? (If your first thought is bland and boring, or you’re just not satisfied with your current brandhood, decide which traits you’d like your brand to embody and work to make them a reality.)

Be the customer. Define your primary and secondary audience members and give each group a persona—Joe Customer, if you will. Literally create a page for each in your brand strategy document, complete with representative photo and profile of likes, dislikes, behaviors and patterns. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll mull an idea and wonder what would Joe think?

Create a positioning statement. Simply put, your brand does what for whom to support the why.

2 | CREATE A BRAND MAP
First, identify all points of contact with Joe Customer. Most B2B’s have at least 100 points of contact, many that have become dormant. Include the points you’re already taking advantage of (you advertise in an industry journal he subscribes to) and others you could be, per the profile you developed (he fans your competitors on Facebook, but you’ve yet to set up an account). Determine the best ways to connect, and develop a plan for integrating your brand.

As you move to Step 3, take a moment to review the first nine installments in our e-series via the links at right. They’re chock full of ideas and how-tos for making your brand the one to follow.

3 | SET GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Sales goals are always a top priority, however, our concern here is brand awareness. The corresponding objective: To maximize the recognition of, and sustained interest in, your brand via communication touchpoints. (And ultimately, convert more prospects into repeat customers.)

Specific goals depend on the marketing tools you have in place and the results of Steps 1 and 2. Your goals might be to increase website traffic, page views or search rankings…grow your e-newsletter subscriber list (or its frequency)…boost your following in social media…or simply to put more product samples into hands at the next trade show.

4 | DEVELOP A STYLE GUIDE
The key to any brand strategy is consistency (visual and literal) and this is the bible for maintaining it across all platforms. Basic components include rules for logo size, color and placement, as well as guidelines for using taglines and other brand messaging.

Whether your style guide is five pages or 500, make sure it’s comprehensive, current and most important, consistently used.

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Some of you may still be wondering why a B2B brand in the building products industry needs a brand strategy. Isn’t selling quality products and offering great customer service enough to set you apart as the leader?

We get that question a lot, and the answer is NO. Your competitors are saying the exact same thing that you are.
So who stands out? Who’s garnering the loyal fans?

Even if you’re a big fish in a little pond, confident in your brandhood, it’s critically important to solidify your brand promise and work to grow your following.

How are you winning over your fans? I’d love to hear from you.

Here’s to creating a sensation! Let’s get started.

Allison DeFord, Trailblazer
allison@felteverywhere.com

Allison DeFord POSTED BY: Allison DeFord| 1 Comment