By Judy Kirkland

Maybe we should all pay as much attention to our internal communications as we do to marketing messaging … especially if we care about profits!

I was chatting on the phone with a young friend of mine who works for a mid-sized company.  “Gotta go,” she said. “Our ‘leader’ has called us all into a big meeting to us get up to speed on some new customer service strategy.” 

About 5 minutes later, she forwarded me a note from her Blackberry.  It was a lusciously tempting HTML email from The Cheesecake Factory offering a special — just $1.50 a slice.  When I scrolled through the chain of people who’d forwarded the email, I saw at least four people I knew were also attending that meeting.  Yikes!    At least 25% of ‘Our Leader’s” audience was out to lunch – and actively thinking about dessert.

“Pay attention!” I texted.

“Can’t,” she texted back.  “This PowerPoint’s pure valium.” Wow. That’s a wake-up call – literally! 

That marketing message from The Cheesecake Factory was carefully targeted, beautifully crafted and had one heck of a good value proposition.  No such investment had been made in the internal communication because it was “just for employees.”

That’s common, yet it’s also alarming.  After all, what was at stake in that presentation was the company’s ability to engage employees to improve customer satisfaction, retention, and repeat business.   

Afterwards, I asked my friend what the customer service strategy was. Her answer, “We’re supposed to pretend we’re interested in customers.”  Oh gosh! That’s not at all what “Our Leader” wants.  He wants employees to be proactive, helpful, cheerful, resourceful … and really interested in customers. 

What was the disconnect?  There was no value proposition:  Why does taking an interest in customers matter? Well, maybe it will help the company grow (so staff can enjoy better salaries and advancement opportunities). Maybe the company will give the staff free vacation time for a 30% increase in customer retention. Maybe it will take away stress and help staff get home on time and in a better mood.  The point is, if you’re trying to engage any audience – even a captive one – you need the right value proposition.  And the sweeter you make it, the faster you see results.

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By Judy Kirkland

Nick and I were talking with a new client, a home improvement franchisor who recently launched his concept and has seven franchisees on board. He asked us what he could do to generate leads for people interested in buying one of his franchises.  We asked what he had tried.  He mentioned some IFA shows and newspaper advertising.  “But,” he said quickly, “advertising doesn’t work.  I spent $25,000 on the newspaper and didn’t get a single bite.”  Not even ONE bite???

Turns out that entire $25,000 was spent for a tiny ad in the “Business Opportunities” classifieds that run each week in The Wall Street Journal’s Franchising section (there’s an online version, too). Our client had been to a seminar with a franchising guru who told attendees this was the #1 advertising medium for reaching people thinking about buying a franchise. Well, for our particular client that so-called best practice meant $25,000 down the drain.

“Who is your ideal franchisee,” we asked. The more we worked through the answer, the more it became clear that his best franchisee prospect probably never even reads the Journal.  Instead, there are a handful of building-trade publications they probably do read —word for word every month. In these publications, $25,000 would buy a heck of a lot more than a tiny ad. Plus, by targeting his exposure to people already in the building trades, the people coming in through this channel would be pre-qualified and would have the best skills and background for getting their franchise off to a quick, successful start.

Whether you’re a franchise, an association or a business, the take-away here is the same: Knowing who you want to reach determines what tactics to use.  In fact, it can also knock out tactics you don’t want to use.  For example, if you have a limited budget and you’re trying to reach Baby Boomers (age 41-61), then search marketing and e-newsletters may not give you as big a return as print media. Why? Forrester research shows that people in this age group favor print and are most likely to arrive at a Web site because they’ve seen the URL mentioned in a print ad, packaging, book or article. 

Bottom line: Take “best practices” and the things “everyone is doing” with a grain of salt!  Start with what you really know about your audience. 

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When the economy gets tough, marketing is the one thing not to cut. But you don’t have to spend a fortune on marketing, either.

Case in point: my mailbox brims with beautifully produced newsletters from mortgage brokers, insurance agents and realtors. They’re slick, well-written, gorgeously designed, and cost a pretty penny to produce. But they’re filled with canned articles and I get so tired of looking at those same stock photos of edgy young people wearing black-rimmed glasses. I hardly glance at these gorgeous marketing pieces. But there is a newsletter I read top to bottom…

Continue reading Marketing: “It’s got a great personality”

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Ever hear that analogy about boiling a frog? The frog’s in a pot of cold water and the burner gets turned on low. The frog’s fine. Turn it up a few more degrees, he’s still fine. But keep at it and eventually you boil the frog.

Well, consider me a boiled frog: I decided to unsubscribe to some eNewsletters. One of them was for a cosmetic site. I figured that since I shop the site regularly, I didn’t need the newsletter and I hit the “unsubscribe link.” Here’s the message I got back:

Continue reading How boilerplate messaging burns a brand

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