Speaking Frankly…

If you were to ask a hundred consumers what the most annoying thing about marketing was, then it is a safe bet that at least a quarter of them would use the word “lie” in some form. They hate being lied to, and they are less likely to take notice of marketing every time someone tells them a lie. This has led to a cynical market out there which is very difficult to nail down through conventional marketing. If you tell them that something is too good to be true, then they’ll believe that it is – and therefore must be a lie.

There is a lot of mileage in being honest to the customer. This doesn’t mean saying to them: “If I were you, I’d go elsewhere. I know another shop that sells this item at about half the price.”. What it means is that you concentrate on the facts and avoid making your product out to be the answer to all their problems when all they really want to hear is that it will make their life easier, more enjoyable or more convenient. It may even be that the product is better than you make it out to be, and when that is the case they are even more impressed.

Gaining a reputation for straight talking is worthwhile. People who are fed up of being lied to will really value the word of someone who is prepared to be less hyperbolic and more constructive in their marketing. Don’t undersell yourself, but be prepared to tone down the rhetoric. In the long run, people will spend more when they trust the salesman.

Insulting The Competition – Is It Going Too Far?

When you are marketing your company, the one thing you can be absolutely sure of is that you want the public to think of you as the only company they want to come to in your sector. This means putting yourself above the competition, and this in itself can be a tricky proposition. Obviously you have confidence in your company, but you are biased. How do you convince someone who has no vested interest in giving you money to go ahead and do just that, instead of going to another company?

The fact is that people have free will, and will choose between companies by judging them on their merits. This leads some companies to run hostile advertisements, actively attacking their competition in one way or another. It will usually be somewhat subtle, but it is usually completely graceless. The idea that you can convince people to choose your product by telling them that it is “better than that other company’s product” is pretty misguided. If you sell your company by referencing another, rather than talking about all the great things yours does, it’s a risky strategy.
Apart from anything else, you risk being drawn into a tit-for-tat war with another company, who will probably find things that they can attack about yours. This is a needless situation to be in, as it makes you look immature and amateurish when by focusing on your good points you could be selling yourself far more effectively.

You Snooze, You Lose?

One of the most popular forms of marketing on the Internet is known as “viral” marketing. If you are not already aware of this, it is a form of marketing which involves placing advertisements on the Internet and creating a buzz around them by targeting them in a way which makes it almost impossible to avoid noticing them. Whether it is in the form of an off-the-wall video clip, a free game or a character blog, it can be immensely effective.
Viral marketing is possible without the Internet, but is a touch more difficult to achieve without the instant connection that the web gives to users. It requires a little more trickery to make it work, but if you are prepared to put the time in it can be as effective as the Internet form. You need to start by arousing curiosity. People need to think “what is this about?”. It could begin with a letter to a local newspaper which makes some outlandish claim, getting people to respond and building into a local news story.
The idea is that you build up hype around the product without revealing what it is. People will be keen to join in the guessing game so that they can be the one to say “I was right!”. When you eventually reveal what the fuss was about (and it is a good idea to have something pretty special to show the customers at this point), you will have the attention of a large group of people, something that advertisers will pay huge money to get.

The Perils Of A Big-Hitting Strategy

Many companies who are looking to make themselves more prominent in the public eye will go for a big-hitting strategy. Although it is expensive and maybe a risky strategy, they will buy TV time and record an advertisement to be shown on a local or regional station. Alternatively they may take out a full page ad in a newspaper or place short, repeated ads on the radio. By spending maybe more than they should, they hope to pull in customers.
The problem with this approach is that no matter how much you spend, you cannot guarantee success. It is very hard to predict the future with any sort of accuracy and, if you place advertising on national TV (on a certain station), you can never be sure that something will not happen between the placing of your advertisement and the time it is meant to run, causing everyone to watch the other side and losing you that marketing punch. It may be unlikely but you cannot guard against it, and it shows the perils of putting all your eggs in one basket.

If you want to bring in customers, history shows that you need to build attention from the ground up. As you get more attention, it gets easier to increase your pull. Doing this gradually rather than going for it all in one hit is the way to go. When you can afford to place TV advertising, go for it – but as a gamble it just doesn’t represent odds that are worth taking.

Is There Such A Thing As Free Publicity?

Companies do not like to spend too much money on advertising because it is one of the few things in a budget for which you cannot quantify the return. Yes, you may bring in more people in the aftermath of an advertising campaign, but how many of them were motivated by the marketing and how many just stumbled across the company? It can often be hard to make any sense of marketing returns, and unless you know a technique will work it is unwise to commit too much money to it.

So what is the solution? Can you advertise for free? The answer is yes, to an extent. You don’t need to spend money advertising your company, but money makes it a lot easier. If you want to advertise your company without spending a lot of money in doing so, then you will need to have a very good strategy.
You can use word of mouth marketing, getting members of staff to “sell” the company to friends and family, but those friends and family may already be customers through loyalty to their loved one. You can get yourself in the public eye by participating in community events while wearing your company logo – but this is a hit-and-miss strategy at the best of times.

If you want to market yourself and avoid spending too much by doing so, then your best approach is probably to demonstrate your value to the community by offering special deals to schools and offices, showing your community spirit. In a way this might cost you money, but if it creates new business it is sound marketing.

How Aggressive Marketing Turns People Off

Advertising is something that demands a modicum of common sense. Will any company sell more of its product by insulting the customer? Of course not. Will they lose out by being connected in people’s minds with something that they find abhorrent? Yes, they will. Is it hard to strike the right balance between convincing people to spend money and reassuring them that you aren’t just looking to make a quick buck? Without a doubt. The tricky thing in all of this is that you have to make decisions without knowing the outcome.
Some companies think that the best way to market themselves is to launch themselves at the customer. Without putting it in so many words, they will seek to put across the message that anyone who doesn’t buy their product is a moron. Their product is far and away the best and this is because they themselves are geniuses. Why would anyone turn to any other company? They must be idiots, surely?

Of course, even the most arrogant marketers are a little more subtle than that, but the fact remains that they can be very aggressive in selling their product. But how successful is that tactic? It has been noted that people like a company to just tell them the facts and make a case for why the customer should select them. Of course you want people to be enthusiastic about you, but often the flip side of building yourself up is that you insult someone else by doing so – and this does not play well with most.

Sponsorship – A Sound Idea?

Trying to market a business without overspending can be difficult, so it is important to try and make your advertising budget go as far as you can. In doing this, you have to consider every possible angle. Spending money is pretty much unavoidable when it comes to online marketing, so you have to think of a way to make sure that what you spend is justified in terms of the number of people who see your advertisement. In that respect, one sound move may well be to think about sponsoring a local sports team.
Of course it depends on how popular the sports team is. If they are followed closely by the people in your locality, then the chances are they get good attendances at their games as well as coverage in local and regional media – and possibly further afield. If the team is popular, you also get the benefits of association with them which plays well into people having a positive view of your company. If you make a deal to pay for the team’s equipment – or some part of it – then you can have a presentation ceremony which allows you more publicity again.

If your company is a family-oriented one – for example, a local convenience store or a garage – then sponsoring a little-league team is a good idea. At the team’s games there will always be parents, and it is well-known that most advertising is directed at families, as they are always likely to have some need of what your company does.

Thinking Outside The Box

When deciding on an offline marketing strategy, it is important to consider how best you can get your product or company name in front of people without spending too much money, but without appearing to be a penny-pincher. It is also important that you do this without irritating people and without underselling your product. This is why good advertising executives get paid so much money – when you describe it as above, it is a job on a par with juggling chainsaws while walking a tightrope with itching powder in your underwear.
Or is it? A lot of people voice the opinion that good marketing is all about one word – simplicity. A good, simple advertisement will draw in a lot of people. If you can grab their attention, put the message across and leave them thinking “I now know all I need to know, and am interested in that company” you are doing a good job. This may be more simple to do than a lot of people think. First you need to get their attention – depending on the medium this can be done with stirring music or a bold typeface. Then you tell them what you need them to know.

It’s that simple. Or is it? A lot of money is spent by marketing companies trying to find ways of attracting customers using subliminal techniques. Surely they wouldn’t throw money away when it’s so simple to just grab the attention? Perhaps the main driving force in this way of operating is that you need to differentiate your brand. That seems to be where the marketing gurus come in.

Know Your Customer

Marketing comes in for a lot of criticism, with much of the anger directed at the perceived unsubtlety of the advertising we see today. Most of us have probably switched over when an annoying advertisement comes on TV, or voiced our displeasure at that ad being on again. In fact, many of us tune out when a certain ad comes on and it is only on the 20th viewing that we stay alert enough to remember what the advertisement is for. If you are on a budget for marketing, this is exactly the kind of response you do not want.

Knowing your customer is an essential rule of marketing. Most businesses cannot claim to appeal to everyone equally. Think about it – does your product or service strike you as the kind of thing that a 79-year-old woman will find useful in exactly the same way that an 18-year-old boy will? If it does, then you have a sure-fire winner, and your marketing campaign should be a cakewalk. But most products and services appeal to a specific market, and it is to them that you need to reach out.

If you have a product that is perfect for young male professionals, then it is best not to run radio advertisements during office hours – see if you can get them during the afternoon “drive time” period. If it appeals to seniors, then you should probably avoid advertising it during a live rock show. It is about getting your message into the eye line of the largest number of people and getting value for money in doing so.

No Time To Be Modest

There have been very few television advertisements that could be accused of being “understated” when it comes to pushing a product. The main point of an advertisement is getting the product or service brand name front and center in the eyes of potential customers. Ideally, it is best if you can do this without resembling a marketing robot and endlessly repeating the brand name, but it is a harder balance than you would think it is.
The main note of importance is that you should avoid being too modest. Yes, in real life people like a bit of modesty. It creates a buzz because people think “what are they not telling us?” and because people routinely and correctly hate anyone who shouts too loudly about their good qualities. In marketing, things rarely work this way. Trying to promote your product by saying “Try this. It is quite good … well, I think so anyway but it’s up to you. Buy my product. Please?” is a guaranteed ticket to marketing failure.

You have to make people realize that your product is right for them, and if possible do so without looking like you are pressuring them. Striking this balance requires a little bit of thought, but involves explaining why your product is useful and how it could make their lives easier. Giving it due prominence is another issue altogether, and depends on who you are trying to reach. It is something that requires you to identify a target strategy.

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