By Van Coker

If there is one undeniable truth in small business advertising, it is this: Business owners are more concerned about the media they choose than the message they choose to communicate.

If you don't believe me, just stop by your local coffee shop early in the morning. Ask one of the business owners enjoying his or her morning cup. Entrepreneurs are easily identified. They are always up at the crack of dawn, (probably because they just can't sleep) and the last people on the planet to put head-to-pillow. Always thinking. Always worrying. Always looking for a better way to attract customers. Always quick to offer an opinion regarding the advertising media. Which media works poorly...and which do not work at all.

They've tried absolutely everything under the sun with limited success. Newspaper, television, radio, yellow pages, billboards, pens and pencils and door-to-door coupons. They've spent money on quarter-pages, half-pages, full-pages. They've written checks for cable and local affiliate television. They've tried to connect with every radio station's morning-drive, afternoon-drive, and day-time listeners---even the overnight crowd that can't sleep, either. The yellow pages rep told them their troubles would disappear if they would simply "buy a bigger ad" and "add color." While every other media sales rep advised they were "just not reaching the right people."

Before you spend another dime attempting to attract customers to your business, consider---the message. Is the message in your ad...commercial...billboard...or whatever of any interest to your most likely customers? Does it offer anything of real value? Does it communicate what you can do for them? Is there anything in your message that might cause me to consider doing business with you? Or are you just one of the many "friendly"..."courteous"..."bigger selection" and "whatever your (fill in the blank) needs" businesses that offer nothing of any real consequence?

Don't get me wrong. Your choice of media is a very important decision. But no advertising media can possibly work if your message is missing the mark. It is important to reach the right people...but you must also make certain you reach them with a message that makes a difference.

What about your message? Is it making a difference? Or are you just wasting money on insignificant drivel? If you're not sure, give me a call or send me an email at Marketing Firepower. I'll be happy to listen and offer some thoughts about how to make your message relevant.

Van is vice president of Marketing Firepower with decades of experience in helping small business succeed through the effective use of advertising.

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Tags: marketing, advertising, media, message

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has a Marketing Bridge. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

Recently I was privileged to speak to a group of like-business owners from the Midwest on the topic of improving sales through effective marketing and advertising. With the current economic conditions, there were many valid concerns. And many questions asked of me about advertising. Such as, “With so many consumers using the internet these days, what should we do about our Yellow Pages advertising?” Or, “We thought we could stimulate sales by lowering our prices, but our business has actually gone down….any suggestions?”

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Tags: marketing, advertising

By Van Coker

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has one. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

Almost everybody has heard the old saying, “He could sell iceboxes to Eskimos.” And for our friends in the southern hemisphere, they may be more familiar with, “He could sell sand to the Sahara desert.” These adages, of course, refer to a super sales person who can supposedly sell anything to anybody, even if the need doesn’t exist. The hidden truth is this; you can’t sell products and services to people who don’t need your products or your services. If you don’t know that there is no perceived need for ice, you will go bankrupt trying to sell ice. You have to know what customers need.

So how well do you know your customer? Do you really know what your customer wants or needs…or are you just guessing? Do you really know why your customer likes to do business with you…or are you just assuming? Only when you really know can you make progress on bringing new customers to your business. You will attract new customers for the same reasons you attracted your current customers. It’s just that simple.

Guessing the answers to all of the above questions won’t cut it. As management consultant, Peter Drucker, once stated, “What the people in the business think they know about the customer and the market is more likely to be wrong than right. There is only one person who really knows – the customer.”

One of the single biggest marketing mistakes I see repeated by businesses large and small, is “guessing” what attracted current customers to do business with them in the first place. Guess correctly and you might get by. But incorrectly assessing what attracted your current customers can be most detrimental. You will waste a great deal of time and money by throwing the proverbial you-know-what at the wall and seeing how much sticks.

A friend who owns a chain of highly successful convenience stores was ready to discontinue an in-store customer loyalty program. He thought it was costly, time-consuming, cumbersome and unnecessary. In his opinion, the customer loyalty cards made no positive difference and could be taken off the table with little or no consequence. He later discovered how wrong he was.
By interviewing his customers, we discovered how important clean restrooms were to the customer. Many, many customers were impressed with the friendliness of the cashiers. But the selling advantage mentioned most frequently was the customer loyalty card. Customers liked the fact that it required only five purchases to get a freebie…rather than ten or twelve like other convenience stores. The customer loyalty program that was almost discontinued turned out to be a huge competitive advantage.

Imagine what would have occurred if the customer loyalty program had been discontinued. Customers would have been disappointed, dissatisfied, and open to any and every invitation to do business with any other convenience store. They would have seen a gradual decline in customer count…a gradual decline in daily sales of coffee and soda…a gradual decline in sales at the gas pumps…and a certain decline in profitability.

When you really know why your current customers are choosing you over your competition, you will know what to communicate to attract new customers. Customer comment cards won’t do it. Having employees ask customers won’t get you the real answers. It takes someone with real skill and training to extract the real reasons why customers do business with you. Otherwise, you’ll end up with meaningless information like most everybody else wastes in their advertising. You’ve seen it; “friendly, courteous personnel,” and “for all your (fill in the blank) needs.”

That’s why the Marketing Firepower “Value Story Discovery” process makes such difference for small business success. When a business knows why consumers should do business with them, and know why current customers do conduct business with them, they will possess the information necessary to attract new customers. It means the difference between productive marketing and wasting money. And that can mean the difference between business success and business failure.

Don’t leave this information to guesswork. Invest in worthwhile information that will make a difference.

Van is vice president of Marketing Firepower with decades of experience in helping small business succeed through the effective use of advertising.

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Tags: marketing, marketing bridge

By Van Coker

The most essential ingredient of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise. Every business has one. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, Norton E. Warner, also happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower.

It has always interested me how many business owners tend to point fingers and cast blame when advertising expectations are not met. It could be the 3-day weekend sale that failed to deliver the anticipated traffic or sales results. It could be quarterly sales figures that fell short of the previous year. Or, worse yet, it could be a serious decline in the year-end figures. More and more often, the first area blamed is...advertising.

Actually, advertising may deserve some of the blame. It may be an improper use of a particular advertising medium. Expecting big results from too small a budget. Not allowing enough time for consumers to react in the desired manner. It could be poor timing. It could be a poorly designed offer that did not interest anybody. Maybe the weather was too bad…or, too nice.

It’s so easy to look for something to blame for poor performance, but I would challenge you to take a serious look at one particular plank in your Marketing Bridge – your Merchandising.

Is your store of office as neat and clean as it could be? What does the customer perceive when he or she first walks in the door? Are the floors and windows clean? Is the showroom neat and tidy? What perception do people get when they simply drive past your business? Does it look like you are successful? Does it send an inviting message to the customer? Does it look as good, or better than, the competition? Does it look like the trash man must be on vacation? Or does it look like times are tough and we may not be around much longer?

If you have a changeable sign in front of your business, do you keep it current and up to date? Nothing shows lack of attention like displaying “Happy Fourth of July” while people are driving past your business on July 7th.

What about product pricing? Is your merchandise properly marked? Or do people have to ask the price and wonder if it’s the same price for everybody else? Don’t make it difficult. Don’t be deceptive, or give the impression that you might be.

What about your website? Do you carefully monitor and update the information? Does it help consumers gather timely information about you at their convenience? Or does it show outdated information? If the customer perceives lack of attention on your website, they will also assume the same lack of attention when it comes to customer service.

I remember the story about a major airline (now extinct, by the way) that queried their passengers about the service they received. One of the discoveries showed that passengers who noticed a soiled headrest also perceived poor engine maintenance. So if that was the passenger’s perception, how likely do you think it would be to fly that airline again? The engines may have been perfectly maintained, but perception is everything. Perception is the customer’s reality.

Pay close attention to all the signals your business sends out, whether on purpose or by accident. Poorly executed merchandising will hinder your advertising and marketing efforts. Strong merchandising will help good advertising perform up to its potential. Take a look around you and make some improvements in your merchandising. Do it today. Do it every week.

Van is vice president of Marketing Firepower with decades of experience in helping small business succeed through the effective use of advertising.

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Tags: marketing bridge, merchandising

You’ve heard of the 80-20 rule, right? Ask a business owner what the 80-20 rule is and he or she will tell you 80% of the sales come from 20% of the customers. The opposite side of that equation is also true, 80% of your customers account for only 20% of your sales.
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Tags: statistics, 80-20 Rule, marketing, advertising, small business

Advertising and marketing are much different. You can see advertising. You can hear advertising. In many cases you can even touch advertising. But in most cases, it’s extremely difficult to precisely measure the results of advertising.
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Tags: marketing, advertising, marketing bridge

Longtime professor of advertising at Harvard University, Neil H. Borden, defined advertising as, “the chief means by which businesses communicate with the customers about their products or services to bring about an exchange.”

Professor Borden did not define advertising as “building store traffic” or “selling” merchandise or services. The keyword in the definition is “communicate.” “The chief means by which businesses communicate with customers about their products or services to bring about an exchange.” Read More...

Tags: advertising, marketing, small business, sales

By Van Coker

One of the most essential ingredients of any successful business is an effective Marketing Bridge. If you are unfamiliar with the term, “Marketing Bridge” refers to all the forces that combine to make a sale and create a customer for your enterprise---or any enterprise. Every business has one. Most don’t even realize it. Some are in good shape. Some are in need of major repair and reconstruction. The inventor, designer, and creator of the Marketing Bridge, also just happens to be the founder of Marketing Firepower, Norton E. Warner.

In future articles, we’ll focus on each and every element necessary to build your successful Marketing Bridge. This month, let’s talk about “price” and “value.” Read More...

Tags: marketing, advertising, price

If you look at a picture of a big airplane that’s close to the ground, it’s difficult to determine if it’s taking off, or coming down. Landing gear is down. Nose is slightly up. Yet you can’t really tell if it’s landing or taking off. But watching the airplane in motion makes everything obvious.

A similar phenomenon occurs when you look at a business. You may see a well-kept, modern facade, nice parking lot and beautifully lighted at night. But just like the airplane, you have to see the business “in motion” to determine if it’s going up or coming down.

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Tags: marketing, advertising, marketing bridge, business, improvements

No matter how hard you try, you can’t escape hearing, seeing, reading, or talking about the recession…or somehow feeling the results personally. See for yourself today. Nearly every news story involves the economy and how it will shape our lives. Read More...

Tags: attitude, recession

The other day a restaurant owner and I were discussing the challenges he’s facing in these economic times. His food costs are up...utilities are up…health insurance for employees is always going up...taxes are higher, and on and on and on. Everything is headed up---except his sales volume. Read More...

Tags: recession, marketing, advertising

Why is it most business owners do all the wrong things when tough times hit? It’s almost like they have a death wish.

Think about it. What’s the one thing you must have enough of…plenty of…even more of during a recession? I’m not talking about money. I’m not talking about time. Read More...

Tags: advertising, marketing, small business, mistakes, recession

That magnificent 6-inch orb that rests on top of our shoulders is really an amazing contraption. It has the capability of understanding, analyzing, predicting, and improving the most complex, abstract, and intricate of concepts. Read More...

Tags: small business, marketing, advertising

It’s absolutely amazing how business owners tend to blame poor sales figures on the back of advertising.

“Weekend traffic was down…must be the advertising.”

“Pretty good traffic this weekend but no sales…must be the advertising.”

“We seem to be getting more and more grumpy customers…we must be talking to the wrong people with our advertising.”

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Tags: advertising, marketing, small business

Have you ever made a decision that turned out to be a bad decision? Maybe it cost you a lot of money. Perhaps it cost you a friendship or your marriage. We all make decisions, even very important life-altering decisions, based on information we have gathered or our personally held attitudes and beliefs. Read More...

Tags: decisions, direction, mistakes, small business, marketing, advertising

Entrepreneurship has been defined as “the art of finding profitable solutions to problems.” It’s the successful entrepreneur who studies a problem…researches possible solutions…implements change…and stays the course while the solution is given proper time to work.

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Tags: advertising, marketing, small business, success, problems

Ask 100 small business owners what the most important factor is when a consumer chooses where to do business---and about 90 of them will say “low price.”

Is that really how people shop? Is that really the predominant factor in buying anything? Read More...

Tags: price, competition, marketing, advertising, selling

Over the past 30-plus years of working closely with small businesses of all sizes, from “Mom-and-Pops” (some were so small they were just “Pops”) to businesses with several locations, one of the proclamations I fielded with great frequency was, “Word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising.” Read More...

Tags: advertising, marketing, small business, word of mouth

How many business owners have you known that thought yellow pages “advertising” was money well-spent? That’s what I thought. Not very many, if any. Read More...

Tags: Yellow Pages, advertising

Every employee…every manager….and, most likely, every business owner gets extremely frustrated with customers from time to time. You know the kind. There’s the customer who asks for a “little extra.” The customer who can’t make the buying decision as quickly as you would like when you’re busy. The customer you spend hours with only to see them actually buy from your competitor. What a great business this would be if it weren’t for the customers. Read More...

Tags: small business, marketing, service, customer service