Category — Marketing Tips

Yogi Berra once said, “If people don’t want to come to the ballpark, how are you gonna stop them?”

I love that quote, and I think about it often as I work with clients on their marketing campaigns. In his charming, convoluted way, Yogi presented a very basic but essential marketing principle: It’s far easier to tap someone’s desire than to create desire in someone who doesn’t have it. If you want to fill the ballpark, identify and market to the baseball fans rather than trying to “stop” nonfans from choosing another option.

Email marketers often forget this principle. Email is inexpensive, easy to create and quick to deliver. That’s the problem. Because email is so easy, e-marketers often send everything to everybody. In other words, they send baseball promotions to people who don’t want to come to the ballpark.

The following case study – also from the sports world – demonstrates the point.

A small, Midwestern university wanted to promote its women’s basketball program. The women had a breakthrough season the year before, winning the conference championship, but the arena was nearly empty on most nights.

The athletic department had a list of 8,000 people, collected from booster club rosters, ticket order forms, website registrations, alumni lists and other sources. These people had opted in to receive information from the university, but the athletic department had no idea who they were.

The university sent several emails to the list, all covering multiple topics. Each email included sales promotions for women’s basketball. The emails weren’t working. In fact, they backfired. With each subsequent email, the open rate dropped and the opt-out rate grew.

The athletic department’s marketing director asked me to help. “How can I use this list to promote women’s hoops?” he asked.

Yogi’s quote echoed in my head.

“You have 8,000 people on that list, and I bet more than 7,000 have no interest in women’s hoops,” I said. “You can send them 100 emails, and it won’t help. If people don’t want to watch women’s basketball, you can’t force them.”

Worse still, if you continue to send mailing after mailing to people who don’t care about women’s basketball, those people will stop opening your emails and opt out from your list. Then you’ve lost the chance to promote other sports to them.

At first the marketing director heard only one thing: More than 7,000 people on your list won’t respond to your offer.

“I guess we shouldn’t use email then,” he said.

He was missing the point. He was like a gold rush pioneer looking at a river full of gold and thinking, “More than 90% of that riverbed is just worthless pebbles.”

But about 10% of that riverbed held gold. He just needed to find it.

“We need to find the people in your email list who like women’s basketball,” I said. “Then we can market aggressively to them without wasting time and effort selling to the others.”

We devised a plan. The university would send emails twice monthly to the entire list. Those emails would include short summaries about multiple sports: men’s basketball, women’s basketball, wrestling and others.

Each summary would not be a direct sales pitch, but each would include a link allowing the recipient to read more. For example, the women’s basketball summary might be a brief summary of upcoming games (or a recap of past games) with a link to the rest of the schedule (or to more news).

“But why don’t we just promote ticket sales directly in this email?” he asked.
“Because the goal of this email is not to sell tickets. The goal of this email is to find the prospects we’ll target,” I said.

If you ask people to “buy now” or “click to purchase,” they need to be in buying mode to act. You’re not offering them anything other than the transaction. If they’re not ready to buy, they won’t click. That’s fine if you’ve already identified your targets and plan to send promotions to them regularly.

But at this point you simply want people to raise their hands, to show you they’re interested in women’s basketball. You’re separating prospects from suspects. The sales will follow.

If you ask them to “read more” or “learn more,” you’re offering them something that has immediate value and involves little risk. Far more people will click these links than the “buy now” link.

We also planned to include a brief survey with the email. Among other questions, the survey asked which sports the readers followed. The list of checkboxes included, of course, women’s basketball.

The university began to send the general interest newsletter (with a survey included) to the list. Using the email software’s tools that automatically track who clicks which links and who checks which survey boxes, the marketing director identified roughly 900 people who were interested in women’s basketball. Those people either clicked the women’s basketball link in one of the emails or checked the box in the survey.

Over the next four months, the university sent weekly emails to the 900 people on the women’s basketball list. The emails included detailed game summaries (the local newspaper didn’t even include box scores for the games), player profiles and prominent ticket offers.

The results were great. On average, more than 60% of recipients opened each email (a great open rate for a weekly email). Over the four months of the campaign, only one person opted out of the list. (Meanwhile, the thousands who showed no interest in women’s hoops were not bombarded with weekly emails and consequently remained on the master list.)

Most important, ticket sales spiked. The university didn’t fill the arena, but attendance increased noticeably. Because it identified the 900 people out of 8,000 to target, the university was also able to create a print promotion. It would have been too expensive and inefficient to send that mailing to 8,000 people. But because it used email – and a low-risk call to action – to identify prospects, the university had a great list to help it focus the postal mail program.

So, in the end, the university heeded Yogi’s advice. Rather than “stopping” nonfans from ignoring women’s basketball, it found the real fans and marketed aggressively to them.

You can apply this lesson to any business, any industry. The music store that wants to clear its classical inventory can identify those who like classical music before selling to them. The nonprofit that wants to promote a planned giving program can find the people interested in planned giving before sending them more detailed information on this delicate topic. The pet store can separate dog lovers from cat lovers. And so forth.

To do this well, you must remember that each email serves a different purpose. Some emails are designed only to identify prospects. Others are designed to sell.

Do you have an email signature? If you’re like most people, you may have one that lists your name and basic contact information, but you most likely don’t see it as a marketing opportunity.

You should think of your email signature as an opportunity to promote your business and capture leads.

Here’s the signature I use for people who are not already MarketVolt clients:

p.s. Get Free E-Mail Marketing Tips:
“10 Secrets to Write Email Subject Lines that Sell”

http://www.marketvolt.com/SubjectlineTips

p.p.s. Please check out my twitter feed — http://twitter.com/marketvolt.
Daily interactive marketing tips and other ideas and observations to help you grow your business.

(My contact info follows the p.s. and p.p.s)

A p.s. is an effective copy writing technique. Readers tend to look at a p.s., even if they skim the content above. The first p.s. offers readers something of value — that’s free. The topic reinforces MarketVolt’s expertise in the field while simultaneously offering a favor — free assistance — to the reader.

Those who click through and get the report are added to my prospecting database and begin to get follow-up emails from me. The first actually explains how I executed the campaign. That shows them how powerful the MarketVolt system is and how they could do the same thing with their marketing.

The p.p.s. invites people to check out my twitter page. Twitter is not for everyone so I don’t expect everyone to click through. But those who do click will most likely follow me. That opens a new communication channel for me to promote products and services to this prospect, and it puts me one degree of separation away from many others who are connected to this prospect.

I used to put only my contact info in my signature. But since I put an interactive call to action in the signature, I’ve generated several leads that I might otherwise have missed.

The following article was first published in St. Louis Small Business Monthly’s May edition

When I was a teen, I loved to order Domino’s pizza. I would call the neighborhood shop, order my favorite (a small pepperoni), note the time of my order on a slip of paper, and then wait with breathless anticipation.

My excitement had little to do with the quality of the pizza. In fact, there were plenty of other pizza joints in town that, in my opinion, delivered better pies.

Why did I choose Domino’s over all of the other pizza places?

I chose Domino’s because it offered me something no other restaurant would: “Fresh hot pizza delivered to (my) door in 30 minutes or less…or it’s free.”

So time and time again, I would order this pizza—which I liked less than other brands—and wait for my reward.

Domino’s cornered the pizza market in the late 1970s and 1980s because it convinced millions of pizza lovers to value fresh and hot, fast or free over some other benefit.

Domino’s didn’t promise delicious. Domino’s didn’t promise big. Domino’s simply said, fresh and hot, fast or free. That was Domino’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP). It still stands today among the greatest USP’s in marketing history.

Why should your prospects choose your business over all of the other options they have? Your answer is your Unique Selling Proposition. If you don’t have one, get to work.

Your USP must be the foundation of all your marketing and sales materials. It must appear in your emails, on your web site, in direct mail, and broadcast. Everywhere you connect with prospects and customers, your USP must be prominent.

Here are some questions to help you create or improve your USP:

What benefits do customers realize by choosing your business?

As you answer this question, make a distinction between features and benefits. Anti-lock brakes and air-bags are features. Getting your family there safely is the benefit. High-speed pizza ovens and efficient delivery systems are features. Satisfying your hunger quickly and avoiding the frustration of waiting endlessly are benefits. Businesses frequently lead by listing features. Prospective customers are shopping for benefits.

What makes your business unique?

We don’t call this a unique selling proposition for nothing. At the time, Domino’s was the only pizza place that could deliver consistently in “30 minutes or less.” Even if others could deliver as quickly, Domino’s staked the claim as the one and only that would.

As you consider what makes you different, don’t forget that distinction between benefits and features.

Next time you’re waiting for a pizza delivery, browse the Yellow Pages (if you still have them) in a competitive category, such as electrical contractors. This is a great way to see the difference between ads that emphasize features and claim nothing unique (you’ll find many) versus ads that emphasize unique benefits. I found one with the following headline; “Electrical Problems? Save Money!!! We Charge by the Job…Not the Hour!! No surprises. Know the price BEFORE We Start”

It’s a great ad—unique (no other ad claimed to charge by the job) and focused on benefits (save money and avoid surprises).

Can you offer a guarantee?

Every time I called Domino’s I knew I would either get the pizza quickly (Good! I’m hungry!), or I would get it free (What do I have to lose!?). Domino’s eliminated the risk.

Guarantees work. Sure, Domino’s had to give away plenty of pizzas over the years, but they sold far more because of the guarantee.

The question really is not can you offer a guarantee; the question is what guarantee will you offer?  If you offer the guarantee, teamed with a unique benefit, more prospects will buy.

If you have nothing unique to offer, if you promote the same features as every competitor without identifying the benefits, if you don’t mitigate some of the risk for the buyer, you give prospects reasons to hesitate, to price-shop, and to choose your competitors. That’s the wrong approach at any time. That spells disaster in this economy.

As noted above, I count Domino’s USP among the best. But it’s not my favorite. That honor goes to Mike Diamond, a southern California plumbing contractor. His USP: “I guarantee my plumber will show up on time and smell good or your house call is free!”

This brilliant USP has all the ingredients. It’s unique. It emphasizes benefits. And it has a bold guarantee. Plus it’s funny. (If there are any plumbers or plumbers’ relatives who are not laughing, please send comments or complaints to Mike Diamond, not me).

More Marketing Tips from the Pizza Parlor

On the very day I began writing this column, I read an article in the New York Times about Domino’s. If you believe the PR mantra “all news is good news,” you didn’t see the YouTube video in which a Domino’s employee stuck cheese up his nose, and then put the cheese on sandwiches that may have been delivered.

The frenzy that followed that video—and the social media lessons that can instruct your business—will be the topic of next month’s High Voltage Marketing column.

The following article was first published in St. Louis Small Business Monthly’s April edition

As I drove to my office this morning, I heard a radio advertisement for a local technology firm (let’s call it Acme Technologies) that sells a service I might need. At the end of the ad, the spokesman recited the firm’s toll-free telephone number and said, “Call today to get started.”

“I’m not ready to get started,” I thought. “I may be interested soon, but not today.”

I didn’t call. In a few weeks, if I’m more ready to buy, I may remember the ad and may call the firm. Meanwhile, Acme has no idea I exist and no way to court me further.

Thousands of people heard that ad. Most are like me. We are the maybes. Marketers frequently ignore us.

If you want to sell more, you must court the maybes. I purposely chose that word court to remind you of courtship, as in dating and romance.

Imagine you’re single, looking for a new long-term relationship. You enter a room full of strangers and see someone whom you find attractive. You walk over, introduce yourself, and strike up a conversation. You masterfully deliver some of your best material—funny anecdotes about yourself, details about your high-powered career, evidence of your passionate, yet sensitive side. The stranger is smiling at you, laughing at your jokes, making eye contact, enjoying your company.

And then you deliver the call to action: “Please marry me!”

Whoa, now, Romeo! Not so fast.

Juliet dashes out the door.

Seems crazy, huh? Then why do so many marketers follow the same playbook when courting new leads?

Let’s give Romeo a do-over:

…The stranger is smiling at you, laughing at your jokes, making eye contact, enjoying your company. And then the call to action: “May I have your email. I’ll send you some pictures of my mountain climbing expedition I told you about…”

Juliet is happy to oblige. Will she marry him? Maybe. What are Romeo’s chances? Hard to say. But he’s in the game. He’ll email those pictures to her, invite her to lunch, and see what develops from there.

Now let’s give Acme Technologies a do-over:

…Listeners are enjoying your ad, thinking that your firm offers good products and services. And then the call to action: “Our experts have prepared a special report called 10 Steps You Can Take Today to Reduce Technology Costs and Increase Sales. Go to acmeSTL.com/10 steps to get this free report. Or if you’d like to get started with Acme right away, please call today.”

Listeners are happy to oblige. They go to your website where they enter their names and emails to get the free report. Will they buy? Maybe. What are Acme’s chances? Hard to say. But Acme can now send emails to those maybes and see what develops from there.

Courting is a process, not an event. Same with marketing and sales.

Why does Juliet give Romeo her email? Because she has little to lose. It’s a low-risk action with potential reward. She gets pictures and friendship immediately. And since she may be interested in something more, she’s happy to connect, gradually, with Romeo.

Rather than watching her dash out the door, Romeo now can connect with Juliet, court her further, and hopefully achieve his ultimate goal.
Why does the radio listener enter his email address on Acme’s web site? Because he has little to lose. He gives only his email address (low-risk) and gets a rewarding report in return. Since he may be interested in Acme’s services, he’s happy to connect in this way.

Now Acme can connect with this listener, court him further, and hopefully achieve its ultimate goal. Acme can court this maybe and convert him to a yes.

So how do you court the maybes. Here are a few tips:

Evaluate your marketing content. Review it all—your print advertisements, your brochures, your web site, your broadcast pieces, and so on. Think of the maybes—people interested in the products and services you sell, but not ready to buy. Do your marketing pieces include an explicit call to action for them—something other than buy now?

Give the maybes a reason to say yes. Imagine you’re a maybe and complete this sentence: I’m not ready to buy, but I would be willing to _______________.  What can you put in the blank? Get a free report? Subscribe to a weekly tips column? Receive a free gift? Prospects will give you their contact information if they receive something in return. Present a compelling, explicit call to action that invites the maybes to engage with you.

Plan the courting process. You have Juliet’s email address. Now what? First a lunch date. Then a dinner date. If that goes well, plan a weekend away. Have dinner with your parents when you return. It’s a process, leading hopefully to a lifelong engagement. Sales is the same. You’ve successfully turned a cold lead into a warm prospect who has given you contact information. Now you need to act. What steps will you take?
Of course, the steps will vary depending on your business and resources, but all businesses can do something to court the maybes.

I’ll use my business as an example. MarketVolt is an interactive marketing firm that specializes in email marketing. We recently created a special report called 10 Secrets to Write Email Subject Lines that Sell.

We offer the report at marketvolt.com/SubjectLineTips. Visitors must enter their name and email to get the report.