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Here is your NoSpin Debunker for June 2, 2003
Tom "Letterman" Ranseen's Top 10 Excuses for Not
Marketing 10. "Ran a couple ads back in January-so we've got
it covered this year." Probably didn't get a lot of results either....A
cardinal sin is to waste marketing dollars on a couple ads or a
couple direct mail pieces--or a couple of anythings. It simply
doesn't work. Doing things regularly--maybe not all of the time--and
doing more than just one thing is what gets results. A corollary:
websites that go unattended for months. Truly a crying shame...and
missed marketing opportunity. 9. "I forgot." Marketing dementia is truly rampant. Are you one who
is too busy, frazzled and hassled to even ponder finding more good
prospects for your products and services? You must remember to tell
people who you are, why you're different and that your business is
alive-with some frequency. Marketing
is a discipline like exercise. Here
are some marketing things that I remembered myself at the end of
2002. 8. "That's nuts. The economy stinks worse than in
'29." Oh really, you were around back then, were you? Yes,
the economy is still pretty lousy, but commerce is hardly at a
standstill. It's a perfect time for businesses to grab market share
from others that have gone into their shells-and be poised to make a
large move when things do improve. A very good time to rev up your
marketing is in a tough economy. 7. "Why bother? Heck, we've got sales babes who all
look like Halle Berry." Nothing the matter with that as long as your Halle
look-alikes know who to go after, how, what to say--and then how to
close. Do yours? If they are clued into Marketing, they'll be even
more effective. 6. "Not needed--Our sales boys' rolodexes are as
golden as their Rolexes." A lot of sales get done via existing relationships and
existing clients. That's great. But still, these known prospects and
clients need to regularly hear what you have to offer, how you're
different, how you can save them money or make them money. Nobody
has enough golf time or lunches to do that. Marketing leverages
those relationships and expands the base of potential buyers. Use
your relationships AND
market. 5. "My sales folks aren't the brightest bulbs and
wouldn't take advantage of 'it'
anyway." Hopefully, you're lucky enough to have some good,
smart ones, but sales people who don't "get it" (marketing), choose
to ignore the information they are provided and fail to FOLLOW-UP
should be fired-and replaced with sales people who do get marketing.
End of story. 4. My VP of Sales says that "Weenies market--Big
Boys sell." If so, your VP is an idiot. Probably one of those that
also has a phony "Marketing" tacked on to his or her title.
Marketing makes Big Boy (and Big Girl) Sales people successful by
locating the right prospects so that Sales can bag them. Big boys
are often terrible at finding the right birds to shoot, how, when
and where-and that's not their job anyway. Smart Big Boys make more
money for themselves and their companies if they play ball with
Marketing-and focus their energies on closing. Get a
real Chief Marketing Officer. See
my presentation: Marketers are from Jupiter-Sales Folks Are From
Saturn. They are different breeds with different
skills. 3. "We're more broke than the Clampett's before
they moved to Beverly Hills." Money is tight at lots of companies, but look
carefully around your business. There's money that you're tossing
away right now on lots of things (and I don't mean the employees'
coffee), I promise. Re-direct that waste to growing your business.
Just do it. Increase
your productivity and invest more in Marketing.You
can afford it.How
to market on the cheap. 2. "Anybody we care about already knows us better
than Coke." The corporate ego gone amuck...Sorry, you may think
that in your particular industry niche(s) or market(s) that everyone
knows about you, but you're not top-of-mind with hardly
anyone--ever. You have to remind them with the right messages, the
right vehicles, and with some frequency. That's why Coke spends
millions of year just on advertising-as one marketing vehicle. Your
company can't do that but you can implement cost effective marketing
initiatives in your own bailiwick-if you know how and you execute.
Is
your CEO fooling himself or herself about his/her marketing
prowess? 1. "I'd rather toss that money away in Vegas like
Billy Bennett--and at least have some fun." There are no sure things in business, much less
marketing (as a key business function). It takes hard work,
investment, and execution-with no guarantees. So yes, there is some
level of risk always-but at a lot better odds than Billy Bennett has
faced in Vegas. And yes, you should make prudent investments and
track ROI, but you have to give your Marketing a reasonable shot at
succeeding. Next time, I promise to get back to discussing in
greater detail how to get started in Pay-Per-Click and what I've
learned about the vagaries of bidding for keywords using Google
Adwords and Overture. Tom Ranseen
615.383.7157 |
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