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Actual for You - Great Marketing is Like Making a Great Movie
A recent issue of Entrepreneur magazine included a marketing story with five important questions all business owners should be able to answer about themselves and their competition.Understanding these five critical areas will help you better develop and implement your marketing plan, and sell more to your customers and prospects.1) What does my customer buy?My clients know I am a big believer in the principle that customers don’t necessarily buy what we think we’re selling. (Al Lautenslager, owner of The Ink Well in Wheaton, Illinois, and co-author with Jay Conrad Levinson of Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days taught me this approach many years ago.) The classic example is people don’t b
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work
Checking the Better Business Bureau is good, but checking the person himself is better.Would you be willing to take an extra moment to check the background of your future employee? Who knows, you might discover some criminal past - people aren't always what they seem to be externally.Every serious business owner or employer uses background check services everyday, do you?If you don't then just think of all the news that we constantly hear about how a new nanny was torturing a little kid, or the caregiver who was hitting the old lady... Yes, this is very common especially when you hire somebody to work at your very own home - even the plumber, the lawn person, the roofer, the salesper
The Oscars will be handed out soon, and it’s a perfect time to keep this in mind: If you’re a business owner or manager, it’s wise to think of yourself as a great film director who’s telling a story. Having directed films, stage, television, and stage productions we noticed that the principles of great directing or filmmaking apply exactly to great marketing.
OK, so you don’t need the baseball cap or the megaphone like a film director. But in order to attract the right “audience,” you do need to communicate something critical – the talents and services of your company. And, you need to connect with your audience – so they will appreciate what you have to offer.
Think about it: When you’re positioning your company, you’ll craft an intriguing ‘script’ which you know as ‘promotional messages’. You’re conveying the fact that you offer something of interest, you do it well, you’ve hired the best talent (even if Tom Cruise isn’t available) and really connect emotionally with those who need your services.
In great drama, you want to evoke emotions and meaningful reactions in your audience to make them laugh or cry. In great marketing communications, you want your audience to buy. They won’t, if they feel there is no compelling reason . . . just as they won’t cry watching a film if the heroine dies and they simply don’t relate to her — or if they’re emotionally conflicted or confused.
CREATE THE BUZZ
Now consider the last film you absolutely loved. It gripped you, didn’t it? You wanted to tell all your friends about it, because it had such an intriguing affect on you, right? In marketing, it’s all about creating that “buzz” — you want to evoke that reaction in your audience (or target market) through your marketing materials, your print ads, TV commercials, presentations, networking, and of course … by doing great work, which offers lots of value!
In a film, the director carefully builds and develops each character so the audience can get to know her, to laugh with her or feel her pain, and to understand how she acts and reacts. In marketing, it’s all about reaction — you want your audience to grow with you, to feel connected, and to relate to and trust in you. And you especially want them to learn about the enormously useful solutions you offer.
But, first you have to understand your audience. And that requires that you have in-depth knowledge of your existing clientele. In that way, you can attract more clients like the ones you already have and cherish, and enjoy helping.
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work
Within the corporate world, there are the ‘living dead’, which are the sick companies that go on a wretched existence, without any hope of turnaround. These companies need a miracle such as a resurrection from the dead. Many of these companies need a change of DNA or business models. They are technically commercially insolvent and the owners will face the fate of bankruptcy if they close down the operations. Therefore, these ‘living dead’ just hang around, waiting for the death sentence. For some, the death sentence may take years before the owners decided not to throw in good money anymore to chase after bad money. For others, the bubble keeps getting bigger such as the construction comp
Think about it: When you’re positioning your company, you’ll craft an intriguing ‘script’ which you know as ‘promotional messages’. You’re conveying the fact that you offer something of interest, you do it well, you’ve hired the best talent (even if Tom Cruise isn’t available) and really connect emotionally with those who need your services.
In great drama, you want to evoke emotions and meaningful reactions in your audience to make them laugh or cry. In great marketing communications, you want your audience to buy. They won’t, if they feel there is no compelling reason . . . just as they won’t cry watching a film if the heroine dies and they simply don’t relate to her — or if they’re emotionally conflicted or confused.
CREATE THE BUZZ
Now consider the last film you absolutely loved. It gripped you, didn’t it? You wanted to tell all your friends about it, because it had such an intriguing affect on you, right? In marketing, it’s all about creating that “buzz” — you want to evoke that reaction in your audience (or target market) through your marketing materials, your print ads, TV commercials, presentations, networking, and of course … by doing great work, which offers lots of value!
In a film, the director carefully builds and develops each character so the audience can get to know her, to laugh with her or feel her pain, and to understand how she acts and reacts. In marketing, it’s all about reaction — you want your audience to grow with you, to feel connected, and to relate to and trust in you. And you especially want them to learn about the enormously useful solutions you offer.
But, first you have to understand your audience. And that requires that you have in-depth knowledge of your existing clientele. In that way, you can attract more clients like the ones you already have and cherish, and enjoy helping.
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work
In an ideal world, each person would find his highest and best uses to society and apply himself to them.He’d be paid in a manner that is precisely commensurate to his contributions.He’d happily dispatch himself to work on time because he would appreciate how blissful it is to be well matched to one's job.As a manager, you wouldn’t have to push him or cajole or entreat him to do his best, because he’d gladly give 100% all of the time, finding joy in challenges, while embracing change.It sounds like a fairy tale world that I’m painting, doesn’t it?But how different is this vision from that of organizational development gurus who believe that we can get the best contribut
CREATE THE BUZZ
Now consider the last film you absolutely loved. It gripped you, didn’t it? You wanted to tell all your friends about it, because it had such an intriguing affect on you, right? In marketing, it’s all about creating that “buzz” — you want to evoke that reaction in your audience (or target market) through your marketing materials, your print ads, TV commercials, presentations, networking, and of course … by doing great work, which offers lots of value!
In a film, the director carefully builds and develops each character so the audience can get to know her, to laugh with her or feel her pain, and to understand how she acts and reacts. In marketing, it’s all about reaction — you want your audience to grow with you, to feel connected, and to relate to and trust in you. And you especially want them to learn about the enormously useful solutions you offer.
But, first you have to understand your audience. And that requires that you have in-depth knowledge of your existing clientele. In that way, you can attract more clients like the ones you already have and cherish, and enjoy helping.
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work
Memphis is the largest city in Tennessee and is the home of perhaps the busiest cargo airports in the world. It is renowned for its manufacturing units such as textiles, automobiles and truck parts. It has a few fortune 500 companies as well as numerous businesses from all parts of the world.People are aware of the importance of eating healthy and nutritious food as compared to eating greasy junk foods that satisfy the taste buds but do nothing significant perhaps other than making a person prone to obesity. Therefore, smoothie outlets have recorded a tremendous response on account of the tasty yet nutritious value of the smoothies.How to Start a Smoothie Factory Franchise Business:I
In a film, the director carefully builds and develops each character so the audience can get to know her, to laugh with her or feel her pain, and to understand how she acts and reacts. In marketing, it’s all about reaction — you want your audience to grow with you, to feel connected, and to relate to and trust in you. And you especially want them to learn about the enormously useful solutions you offer.
But, first you have to understand your audience. And that requires that you have in-depth knowledge of your existing clientele. In that way, you can attract more clients like the ones you already have and cherish, and enjoy helping.
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work
Friends and family can either be your best asset or your worst enemy. Those same people who nurtured you when you were young and supported you in your endeavors may not be the best people to take your business advice from. Simply looking at the average citizen who is heavy in debt, fearful of their jobs and watch more television than they do in other activities should give you some idea about whether or not these close friends and family will be a help or hindrance to you.Friends and family have a great influence on our lives. Our memories of them are filled with good and bad times. Most importantly, they are seen as people who have a general interest in how well or poor we are doing. To earn a go
FINDING YOUR IDEAL MARKET
We recommend a method for truly understanding your clients, and finding out what they value in the work you provide—having a third party interview them—but only one highly experienced in marketing interviews. When you fully understand what makes your clients tick (and more importantly, what they love – or don’t love -- about doing business with you), you can promote those qualities to other potential markets.
In this investigative work many wonderful surprises emerge. You might find that your clients need other services you could offer, or that you are undervaluing your services and could easily raise your prices (this is actually a very common discovery). Also, you might find that a simple change to your invoice system would make everyone much happier — your “audience” will laugh instead of cry. Or, you might learn that even though you believe you offer lightning-fast response time, your clients don’t perceive it that way. From this information, you can often make improvements that lead to significantly more income.
Generally, your clients won’t share this information directly. Most humans want to please others, and steer clear of offering suggestions that might provoke an uncomfortable or unwelcome response. And sometimes clients are fearful of hurting your feelings. While this is understandable, you might be missing some valuable lessons your clients are dying to share with you, that could benefit your business enormously. Or maybe they just need some prompting to think more deeply about the real value your business offers so they can share that with you.
BREAK FROM HO-HUM MARKETING … IT’S TOO BORING!
Using the “great films as marketing” metaphor, think about how many classic films have taken radical departures from the ordinary … from “Schindler’s List” to “The Wizard of Oz” to “Gone With the Wind.” These movies were huge attention-getters in their day, and became major cultural influences. Don't you want your work to be recognized as a significant influence, too?
Once you break from ho-hum marketing, and learn to put your deeper beliefs and values into your promotion, a remarkable thing will happen: You will attract precisely those clients who really need and appreciate the products or services your company provides. In other words … once you know what your clients really value, making it available to them will be an incredibly simple process.
We firmly believe: “Knowledge is Bliss.”
MARKETING IS AN INVESTMENT. SPEND IT WISELY.
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