Marketing…the Ouija Board of Business

When times get tough and more revenue is urgently needed, business owners and managers reach for marketing. They open up the closet door, grab the Ouija Board of business, marketing, and seek answers. Similar to laying their hands on the Ouija Board cursor and asking a question, they call in the marketing department or contact a marketing expert and ask, “What marketing can we do to get more sales immediately?” This initial question is followed closely by two more, “How much should we spend?” and “When can we expect results?”

These same executives would never dream of delaying their accounting until a tough time when they desperately had to know how much money was available to them. They would not ignore making a deposit of revenue until they might need it. No, they give accounting and recording of revenues daily attention.

Which begs the question, “Why not give marketing daily attention?” After all, it is the sole function of business which generates revenue.

Why do business owners and managers often avoid marketing until pushed by circumstances?

Mostly, they don’t understand marketing and its revenue-generating function. Even though the SBA cites “a lack of effective marketing” right along with a undercapitalization as the major reason for business failure, most business people would give undercapitalization attention long before they would give marketing attention. That’s because they feel comfortable discussing capitalization. In reality, they might not be any more well-versed in capitalization than in marketing. However, capitalization seems concrete while marketing seems elusive. Discussing numbers is easy; figuring out how to achieve those numbers is difficult. They’ve thrown money at marketing and haven’t seen any results, or, at least, not the results they wanted, whatever those were.

Their frustration with marketing has lead them to put marketing in a category with other concepts whose understanding evades them, such as insurance. They rely on the insurance salesperson to get them the insurance that they need, and, likewise, they rely on the advertising salesperson to get them the marketing that they need. Unfortunately for them, marketing and insurance are not even remotely similar concepts and, therefore, are not wise to treat in the same manner. Insurance is a protection against loss while marketing generates revenue. Insurance may be purchased and reviewed annually. Marketing requires your direction and involvement on a daily basis. To pigeonhole both as something others can do for your business is a major mistake.

This is a mistake which is made every day by many business people. Executives find marketing easy to ignore, preferring to attend to those tasks which they find comfortable. This inattention to marketing on a daily basis loses businesses revenue every day, but, unfortunately, executives do not see what they are missing. Only when times get tough do they feel the necessity for marketing and acknowledge marketing‘s revenue-generating function. When revenues are down, executives turn to marketing to fix the problem and do so quickly.

That’s too late.

Marketing is not a Ouija Board or a magic wand that can be sought suddenly to fix sagging revenues. Marketing is a process. To run a business profitably, marketing must be given attention daily. Just like accounting, marketing must be set up and worked as a system. We are about to start a new year. With a challenging economy, there is no time like the present to fix your marketing now, whatever your revenues, and give daily attention to your business’s marketing.

Start with a written marketing plan.

Merry Christmas!

At this time of year that overflows with expectation and excitement, I was challenged to write a revised Christmas Eve plan for Santa to help him cope with these economic times. As a Christmas present to you, I have this available for you to read at your leisure. Go here and enjoy!

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

It's That Time of Year

"The only thing that will make women take their clothes off this Christmas."

This opening to a PajamaGram TV ad caught my attention. Beyond being a fantastic promise, the statement is very intriguing, especially to men. That is a good thing because men are its target audience. It's that time of year when men buy their Christmas presents.

I know this firsthand from working in retail. Our store was a couple of doors down from a bar which was a popular after-work hangout. Every year, each day closer to Christmas brought more guys staggering directly from the bar into our store to buy their wives or girlfriends a nice gift for Christmas. These guys were fun to work with not because they were drunk and not because they were desperate but because when I had finished helping them I always felt that I had really helped someone. I had made it a Merry Christmas for him and his wife or girlfriend.

I could always tell when one of these guys was approaching. He walked hesitantly toward the women's clothing department, acting like he would get burned by being there. Hovering around the outer parimeter, he would call me over. "She's about your size," was a usual comment. Sometimes he would say that she was slightly shorter or taller, smaller or bigger. Never ever did one of them refer to her being heavier or lighter. These guys knew not to go into that minefield.

When we had found a gift that he thought might work, he would timidly ask, "Could you wrap that for me, too?"

I learned how to wrap different gifts of different sizes very, very well. As he accepted the wrapped package, he spilled thank you after thank you. Sometimes he passed me a tip. I have never experienced this depth of gratitude at any other time in my life.

That is why PajamaGram.com, many jewelers, and other companies targeting men who want gifts for their wives or girlfriends are advertising heavily now. Now is the time that many men buy their wives and girlfriends a present. These guys procrastinate on this task until the last minute, and good marketers such as PajamaGram know it. PajamaGram also knows that these guys do not want to shop. Consequently, PajamaGram is making it easy for them to get what they want. They want a sexy gift that they can easily select and don't have to wrap. They can order PajamaGram online without leaving home, and the gift arrives overnight. These guys don't have to take much time with this purchase. They can handle it during halftime of a football game.

That is where I saw the PajamaGram commercial.

PajamaGram placed its commercial at the right time and in the right place directed toward the right target market. When you know your target market and its habits, being right is easy. Remember this when you target your market. First, find out what your customers want. Next, find out how they want to buy. Then, time your message so that you talk to them when they are ready to buy.

By following these three steps, just like PajamaGram, you will reach your customer at that time of year which is important to them.

What's in It for Us?

In the aftermath of Paul Newman's passing, a survey found that 86% of respondents would switch brands if a competing brand supported a good cause. How does this survey relate to Paul? In his later years, Paul became known for more than his acting. He and his daughter developed Newman's Own, a line of natural food products. All the profits from Newman's Own go to charities. At this point in time, that is a staggering $250 million since 1982. Paul Newman was willing to forgo profits from his company and give them to others who needed them more.

Along Paul's line of thinking, yesterday I heard that 64% of those in another survey said that they would take a 5% pay cut if it meant that others in their company would be able to keep their jobs. That figure amazed the talking heads who were delivering it. They were very surprised that workers in a company would be willing to sacrifice for their fellow workers.

In this season of sharing, these surveys indicate that, as a people, we seem to be more concerned about others than in recent years. Whether we show that concern through our purchases or in the workplace, there appears to be a shift in our attitudes toward "What's in it for us?" rather than just "What's in it for me?" While I think that we will always be concerned first about ourselves, these surveys indicate an expansion to a concern for those around us, too.

How does that affect your business?

First of all, if you have an inclination to tie your business to a good cause, more than ever your efforts will be noticed by consumers. More importantly to your business, consumers indicate a high likelihood of responding to your efforts by doing more business with you. In other words, good deeds will get rewarded in the marketplace.

Second, through these good deeds your business can give to those who desperately need the assistance, especially during a time when contributions have fallen due to the economy. Food pantries' stores are pitifully low. Charities that distribute warm winter clothing are pleading for help. Humane associations are bulging at the seams with surrendered pets that people cannot afford to keep. While supplies for all these charities has decreased, demand has increased. Your business can take a leadership role in adding to their coffers.

Your business can be a good citizen to your community.

As you focus on your business every day, remember that whatever product, service, or information your business offers, your most important function is serving the customer. In a broad sense, your community is your customer. Thus, serving your community is ultimately serving your customer.

That's "What's in it for All of Us."

Yes, Consumers Do Want More

In anticipation of "Black Friday," last week there was a great deal of talk about retail sales. As a consequence of daily doses of dire economic commentary, consumers were curtailing spending. Bluntly put, they were worried about their incomes, their mortgages, and their financial stability.

One story on this subject that I watched reported retailers were "doing their best to lure customers into their stores with deep discounts." However, that promotional technique did not work in October. No matter how deep or ridiculous the discount, consumers were not prompted to purchase.

As a result, the story continued, some retail outlets were turning to other methods. A mall manager commented that they were focusing on "creating a festive environment and an enjoyable experience for shoppers." That mall was tapping into the spirit of the season and giving consumers a reason beyond price to shop there.

Another story about a couple of local businesses supported that approach. Owners from both of these businesses said that "personal attention worked very well." One noted that their store carried "one-of-a-kind pieces which made a more unique gift." The other stated that their customers kept coming back, and, because of that, the store's sales were even with last year. "If we can stay even with last year in this economy, we'll be fine," the owner said.

For years, the chain stores have based their sales on price and promoting the price of items. They have grown their revenues by opening new stores. They have masked the financial health of their businesses with this growth. They have not paid attention to developing their customers. They have not paid attention to what their customers want.

Customers want more than a cheaper price. Customers decide to buy a product, a service, or information because of what it will do for them, not because of its price. Once they have become interested in a product, service, or information, they may be lured into a store by a price. However, after making that purchase, they have no reason to return to the store unless the store offers another cheap price on something the customer decides to buy. This requires the store to get into a vicious cycle of offering the "cheapest" prices on the "hottest" items.


The underlying problem for these stores which base their sales on price is where they enter the picture in the customer's buying cycle. They are entering after the customer has decided to buy and before the customer has made the purchase, which is a very narrow window of time. This narrow window requires them to advertise special pricing heavily, especially during known buying times such as Christmas. If they stayed close to their customers as the two local businesses noted above did, they would be in the picture earlier in the decision, allowing them to sell the customer earlier in the cycle and make more profit doing so.

Yes, consumers do want more than the cheapest price. They want to be developed as customers and given personal attention. Are you doing this with your customers?