Marketing Events are supposed to be good for your reputation

An acquaintance of mine recently sent me a solicitation for a marketing event. It ended up killing any respect I had for them. I host webinars, I know how hard it is to put yourself out there. I don’t mind invitations, people invite me to things all the time.  If it looks interesting or valuable, I’ll try to attend. But this one was different – it got my attention – but in the wrong way – I couldn’t believe how many things they had done wrong – way wrong.

What did they did right

The event organizers had done a couple of things right:

• The event had an Eventbrite page – it looked like they were at least trying to manage attendees
• The email invitation wasn’t generic – they had personalized it with my first name.

Why was the rest of the campaign a complete failure?

There were many things that could have been done better, but there were some things about how they marketed the event that were flat out wrong:

1. The person inviting me had only just met in the past month. We were the barest of acquaintances. The first I hear from him is an invitation to a paid event he’s organizing (and not a cheap one at that), made me feel like I was only an income generating object. If he had bothered with even the slightest attempt at engaging me before the invitation, it might not have felt as slimy.
2. The first time I hear about the event is less than 24hrs from the event start. Nothing like feeling cheap and rushed.
3. The message to me had major typographical and grammatical errors, and it lacked a clear logical flow. The trust part of the relationship was already shaky, and poorly constructed, confusing message didn’t make me feel any better.
4. I reread the message and even clicked the link to the Eventbrite page. I read both twice. I studied their “best” marketing materials and I still couldn’t figure out what was in it for me – and yes, if you are going to ask me to something that isn’t purely a charity or social event, there has to be something in it for me. And maybe there wasn’t. The  materials I could find looked like it was all about them.
5. The copy is full of jargon, buzzwords, and name-dropping. In my experience, any one of the three tell me someone doesn’t know what they are talking about or is trying to bamboozle you. (Do you know how long I’ve been waiting to write a blog post with “bamboozle” in it?) All three together flashed “stay away.”

What might have worked?

If it was legitimate event (I have my doubts) what could have made it better?

• Some warm up – a stronger relationship with the “friend” who’s inviting me, or at least some other contact that wasn’t selling me something.
• Some warning – I get using a sense of urgency in your marketing, but most people can’t show up somewhere with only 24 hour’s notice
• Some solid copy that described the event in layman’s terms and let me know what I would be getting for my entry fee, and maybe some detail on what the vendors would be offering
• Testimonials or other social proof

It really comes down to trust. If you want someone to part with their money (or even their time), they have to trust you. If you are going to invest in sponsoring a live marketing event, make sure you’ve gone through the steps to build trust with audience when (and before) you invite them.

Have you experienced something similar? What was the thing that really turned you off?

I’m sure that many of you received a shiny, new iPad during the holiday season, so I thought I’d update my original article on favorite iPad apps.

I’ve been using my iPad for a year and a half

I’ve owned my iPad (original version “1″) since summer 2010. Rare is a day where I’m not spending an hour on it. I’m a big-time consumer of information and love the portability and ease of use. I have a 16GB Wi-Fi version – I primarily keep it around the house and occasionally bring it to work, both of which have solid Wi-Fi connections.

I don’t use it much for content creation, but I do read, browse, save and share. This list has direct links to the app store – just click and go!

Entertainment

Kindle for iPad – easy to use, seemless integration with Amazon.com. Though the iPad isn’t as light as the Kindle tablets, the reading experience is the same.

IMDb – if you like movies, this is great to have along for the ride. You can look up the actress who’s name you can’t remember, or find out that Brad Pitt was an extra in Less Than Zero.

Words with Friends HD – my 9 year-old daughter hooked me on this one, and if you like the game, it plays great on the iPad.

News and Sports

Bloomberg – still one of my favorites – great for a quick look at the markets or business news.

Wall Street Journal – one of the few items I try to read every day. Worth the subscription.

The Weather Channel – I admit I’m a weather junkie – this gives a solid (if slow) read on the local weather.

Hurricane HD – if you live near the East Coast, this is a great app to track those Atlantic Monsters.

ESPN ScoreCenter XL – if you like to follow sports – this is a quick hit for scores and schedules.

iPad for Social Media, etc.

HootSuite – my favorite way to browse my social networks. I use HootSuite on the web, my phone and my iPad. Because I help clients with their social presences, I need something that allows me to not only browse, but also post to multiple accounts.

Facebook, and Twitter apps. Both iPad native, and all good. Because I use HootSuite for most everything, I only jump on them occasionally.

Yelp and Moviefone – if you are trying to find something to eat or watch these two apps are really handy.

Flipboard – still a favorite when I just want to browse my personal social networks – great for consumption, but not great for management.

Business Utilities

Note Taker HD – great for taking “hand written” notes on the iPad, but works much better if you are using a stylus.

Dropbox – great way to get things back and forth. No yucky connection and transfers.

MailChimp – because we use MailChimp for our clients, I find their utility a must have.

Evernote – I have it on my phone, desktop and a link in my browser. If I know I’m going to want it in the future, I stash it in Evernote.

iThoughtsHD – if you like to Mind Map, this is one of the better and easier to use apps.

Dragon Dictation – If I’m in the mood to talk to my iPad this app captures what a say and leaves me with a text file for my next blog post, article or to-do item.

That should fill up a couple of screens.

What are your favorite apps?

Not just questioning your assumptions, but asking the right questions, is one of the keys to success in any marketing campaign.

A bad assumption can ruin the best online marketing plan

I regularly give online marketing webinars. My bad assumption started when someone gave me an innocent suggestion about when I should hold them. They suggested that lunchtime would be ideal. Most really bad assumptions start off making sense – at least initially. Lunchtime made sense, and as I created my campaigns, I really never thought about the timing again.

But I had a problem – attendance wasn’t so great. I thought it might be my landing page, so I worked on it. Then I thought it might be my email promotions, so I worked on them. Finally I thought it might be the titles of the events, so I worked on updating them.

Sometimes you just have to ask

I was getting tiny improvements, but still didn’t get the bump I was looking for. Then I turned to that old stand-by – I asked. And the results were to say the least, enlightening.

I found out I made more than one bad assumption

Not only had I missed on the time of day, but I also (on my very own) picked the wrong day of the week for my audience. But that wasn’t all. I assumed shorter would be better, but the audience wanted something that was not too short and not too long. I made the changes, and guess what? Attendance went up, and continues to do so.

How to avoid bad assumptions

We all make mistakes, but if you are having problems with getting traction in your marketing, it might be your assumptions. There a few things you can do to avoid falling into bad assumptions.

1. Obvious Alternatives – Review your assumptions, or at least what you think they are. Are there alternatives to your approach? If so, have you carefully considered them?
2. Know the knowable – If you have a choice – like the day to hold an event– can you get more information on potential conflicts to help you make your decision?
3. Ask your audience – When all else fails and you don’t know what your audience wants, it’s OK to ask. Just make sure to only ask the important questions, and don’t ask too often.
4. Test Alternatives – When you can’t find it or ask it, sometimes the only way to get it right is to test your assumptions. Try your campaign with various alternatives and see which one produces the best results. It’s not the most efficient method, but it does give a solid answer.
5. Ask for someone to check your work – Ask someone who understands marketing to check your work. If you don’t have a relationship with a marketing professional or a marketing agency, maybe you should consider a marketing coach.

The better you are at checking your assumptions, the more likely you are to avoid bad ones.

Small businesses have to stay up to date on marketing trends or risk falling behind their competition. Unfortunately the pace of change in online marketing continues to speed up, and our ability to absorb information isn’t increasing fast enough. Advice and how-to information in the various disciplines of marketing is out there, but you have to find it.

Know what you need to know

You just can’t master every subject. The key to your success is focusing on the items you really need to know. For example, unless you are an accountant, it doesn’t make much sense for you to follow the ever-changing details of tax law – it’s a full time job, and would keep you from yours.

Three types of information

I like to divide the wide, wide world of information into three classes:

Areas where you need expertise. These tend to be core functions of your job or your business. If you are a builder, understanding the building codes is a must.

Things you need to understand. This covers items that you need to understand because you use it every day, and things you need to know in order to supervise someone else, like a vendor or an employee. Most business people don’t need to be an expert at computers, but they do need to understand how to use one.

Nice to know, but not necessary. These are things that interest you, but don’t have a direct impact on your business or your job. Origami is nice, but it probably won’t improve your email marketing.

You need to focus on the first two areas, with a more intense focus on your area(s) of expertise. Try to find sources that will summarize information in the areas you need to understand but don’t require expertise.

Find the right sources for your information

The difference between those who successfully keep up and those who get bogged down isn’t so much in the ability to absorb information, but in the ability to select the right sources of information.

There is plenty of information out there. But not all information sources are equal. Some are good, some are great, and some are a flat-out a waste of time. How do you find the good (or great) ones?

Here are some ideas on how to find quality sources:

• Rely on your experience. If a person or group has been a reliable source in the past, chances are they will continue to be in the future.
• Recommendations from others. Listen to what others are using – both online or offline. Look for those who regularly share the things they like and the places to avoid. Find a few to follow. You’ll get the benefits of multiple experiences and perspectives.
• Look for signs of Trust. This is especially important online. Is the information source respected, quoted, shared by others you respect? If they are, it’s a very good chance that they will give you the quality you need.
• Keep a critical eye. It would be wonderful if everyone is trustworthy, but they aren’t. Occasionally step back and ask yourself if the person or organization appears to be worthy of your time and your trust.

What do I recommend?

I regularly post commentary and helpful links from sources I trust on Facebook and Twitter. If you can’t find what you are looking for, feel free to ask me.

You really don’t care about me

That’s OK, I struggle to care about you, your products or your services too. Nothing personal, we are just hard-wired by thousands of years of evolution to care only about ourselves and our immediate family. That doesn’t mean I won’t care, it just means that I have to work at caring. And guess what – work isn’t so much fun.

We don’t like to work at it

Most people don’t want to do the work, you have to help them. If you start your marketing with “I” “me” “our” or “we” you just made it harder – it’s not about us, it’s about you. It doesn’t mean you can’t eventually talk about yourself, you just don’t start talking about yourself early and often.

Don’t be that person

We all run across them – the person at a meeting or a party that is all me all the time. Your online marketing is no different. If it’s all about you, you won’t get your audience’s attention. Without their attention, they won’t engage. You have to provide something that is interesting, useful, or valuable to them. Only then will their first instinct be to tune in to your message.

Sometimes the light just goes on

I always hammer my clients to be more focused on the “you.” While I was at ALTAs National Convention for a speaking engagement of my own, a slid into a presentation from Sue Hershkowitz-Coore. She had a great idea on how to take the “me” out of one-on-one interaction (don’t worry Sue – I won’t give it away). It made me think on how to get more engaged in interactions online – testing some of them now.

Lots of food for thought – I’ll save that for future posts.

Where do You start?

That’s right, this is about you. The first thing you need to do is review. Take a look at your existing content. Is it all me all the time? If it is, it’s probably time for a serious makeover.

A Tale of Two Experiences

Earlier this year our family visited Orlando.  In the course of a week we hit the two major theme parks – several times each. You might think that amusement parks have nothing to do with marketing, but the good ones are in the business of delivering an experience.  I would argue that marketing – especially online marketing – has everything to do with experience.

We had great and not so great experiences.  The differences were really quite simple.

Hurry up and wait

One of the keys to success in delighting your audience is properly setting expectations. Ride wait time is a perfect example of how setting expectations can work for or against you. In our favorite park (and we did have favorites), you could count on the wait time to be generally accurate and at some times slightly exaggerated.  The small error didn’t matter, because when the wait was shorter, it was a pleasant surprise.

In the other park posted rate times felt random.  Long, short, right or wrong, who knew? It got to the point where it was a game to see how accurate they might be.

There are two points here:

• Getting information right is important – once you break trust with your audience it is nearly impossible to get it back.  Make sure any information is correct and up to date.
• Setting an expectation, then meeting or beating it, creates not only trust, but higher satisfaction for your visitors.  Set expectations for your audience and keep your commitments.

Attitude sets the tone

You can tell when someone cares – and so can your audience.  In our favorite park (the one with the ears) the staff was always in character – friendly and helpful to a fault.  Their energy and enthusiasm carried over to us – you wanted to have fun too.

In the other park, the employees were (to put it kindly) less than enthusiastic.  In fact, many of them were miserable.  “Have a nice day” was repeated in a tone of voice that was anything but nice.    After a while, it affected your mood.

Again, two points:

• Good attitudes set a tone for higher satisfaction.  Make sure the tone of your marketing materials and your staff is positive and upbeat.
• Bad attitudes tend to be infectious too – everyone catches them.  Don’t tolerate bad behavior in your online presences or from your staff.

What does this mean for your online marketing?

While you might not be operating an amusement park, you are attempting to “entertain” your audience with information, advice, or other useful content.  Don’t undermine your marketing efforts by failing to deliver a positive experience.

How do you know if you have too much on your plate?

One of the great promises of online marketing is the vast array of opportunities to create, join, participate, connect, and share. The nearly effortless entry into most online marketing makes it far too easy to overindulge in a good thing.  How do you know when you are doing too much?

You have to push the online marketing envelope

Professional athletes will tell you that you can’t reach your potential unless you’re consistently pushing yourself for better performance. Online marketing isn’t that different. You have to experiment, test your tactics, and push the tools to their maximum potential. But you have to be careful not to push your organization or your audience too far.

Case in point – my webinars

I recently embarked on an aggressive schedule of webinars – once a week.  I recognized that this was pushing me and my audience.  To keep to quality high and promote them adequately, I set up a tightly focused plan.  I lightened up the content (in duration, not quality), and went with a minimalist email promotion schedule.

But doing webinars the right way, even if minimalist, is a time-consuming proposition. So I committed to review my progress and timeline on a daily basis.  Earlier this week, I was reviewing my monthly marketing calendar and recognized even minimalist promotion of a weekly series of events was asking too much of my email list.  Two weeks into my program I knew that I had pushed too much.   I hadn’t lost any subscribers and my open and click rates were still very good, but eventually I’d burn people out.

Unacceptable choices

Just as important, I realized that I was going to develop an issue with getting things done. I wasn’t willing to compromise quality of my webinars or my client delivery in order to keep up the quantity of webinars.

I only had one option left – to reduce the frequency. And that’s what I did. My weekly webinars are now biweekly.

Making the right decisions

Pushing the envelope doesn’t always work out.  By paying attention my progress, my commitments, and the needs of my audience, I was able to quickly realize that I had a problem brewing.

Online marketing tools can be so easy that you don’t realize you’ve gone too far until it’s too late.  Make sure you build regular reviews into your routine so that it doesn’t happen to you.

This article originally appeared in my Coach’s Corner email.  Sign up and be the first to know.

The wrong questions will get you the wrong answer

I get this question all the time: “what should I do?”  Invariably it turns out what my new friend is really asking is how to use a specific online marketing tool or feature.  And that’s the wrong way to start any online marketing discussion.  It may seem harmless, but they’ve succumbed to one of the biggest mistakes you can make in marketing – focusing on tactics before strategy.

I need to be on Facebook

Someone will call me and declare that they need to be on Facebook.  Of course, I ask why.  The answer is usually a variation of “everyone else is.”  At the risk of sounding parental – just because everyone else is doing something doesn’t mean you should also.  But it’s a signal that you should consider if your online marketing strategy is missing something.

What – no strategy?

Don’t let tactics drive your online marketing

It’s easy to jump right into tactics.  Online marketing tools are easy to use and virtually, if not literally, free. Hand someone a hammer, and their first instinct is to use it.  Why else would you have a hammer?  Consider this: The reason most people wield a hammer is to get something done.  Whether it’s building something or pulling a nail, spoken or unspoken, there’s a goal in mind.

For some reason online marketing tools turn off our sense of reason – we don’t even consider our goals, too often we just jump in and “just do it” (thank you for that pearl, Nike).

You need to think strategically before you start using online marketing tools – even if you are just “test driving” them.

It’s the “who” that really matters

Audience. Audience. Audience. In case you didn’t hear me – AUDIENCE. If you don’t know who you’re trying to reach, tactics are immaterial. After you’ve nailed down your audience, then you can determine your message to (or relationship with) that audience.  Only then are you ready to think about where you are going build that connection and deliver your message.

Tools come last

Tools and tactics are only important in the context of audience and message.  Once they are defined, you are ready to consider how you can make it work – you’re ready to ask “what should I do?”

Maybe you do need to be on Facebook.

But only if it makes sense for your business.   And the only way to figure it out is to approach your market strategically and find out if the audience you want can be found there.

Here’s a twist: Collecting good online marketing examples is helpful, but sometimes you can learn more from studying the bad examples.

Sometimes things stick with you

In my second year of NROTC, an instructor remarked that he was able to learn as much, even more, from a bad example as a good one. He went on to describe his method of observing bad behavior and recording it in a notebook for future reference.

Very few things stuck with me in my sophomore year. For whatever reason, his simple suggestion to observe and learn from poor examples has stayed with me my entire professional life.

By trade I’m a consultant – an observer of people, processes, and technology. My greatest insights grew from the observation of the imperfect. By paying attention to what shouldn’t be, it has been easier to see a better way.

What does this mean for local business online marketing?

It’s too easy to ignore things that aren’t “right.” But if you block them out or move away too fast, you may a missed a golden opportunity. What don’t you like about your competitor’s, partner’s, or your vendor’s online marketing? Why don’t you like it? How could of it been better?

Get yourself a notebook (or a online document). The next time you receive junk mail, spam email, or the unwanted cold call, stop for a second and ask yourself, why is that organization’s marketing failing to capture your attention? Was it the timing? The method? The attitude? The content? Note what didn’t work (this is where the notebook comes in).

Review your results periodically and try NOT to do the same thing yourself when you have a similar opportunity. The change in your results will be dramatic.

What are your favorites?

My current “favorite” bad example are the “bait and switch” links on social networks – they promise something of value but take you to a  site offering something else.  Might have got the click, but sure isn’t going to get the sale.

What are some of your favorite bad examples?

Written by Dave Wirsching

Photo credit: Silenceofnight

When does your marketing turn the corner? When do you move from chasing every lead to where people are finding you? After all that’s the promise of online marketing.

When does success occur?

The other week I was having coffee with Chris Visco (PJs and Coffee, The Best of Food). We were discussing her social networking clients and their successes. Chris mentioned that while employing certain tactics would produce success, the timing of the success wasn’t always easy to predict.  There aren’t a set number of followers, updates, or links that predict the exact point when results would occur.

My clients online marketing experience is similar. My own experience with Twitter is a great example – 1,200 followers appeared to be my “magic number.” Before I hit 1,200, I was averaging 4-8 new followers who “found” me a week. After I hit 1,200 followers, 8+ new followers found me each day.  Why that number? It’s probably a combination of who I connected with and what I was sharing. Exactly what caused it – a mystery. When it happens I like to think of it as a tipping point.

Tipping points and network effects

Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point (affiliate link) provides some insight on how these things occur. It should be required reading for anyone remotely interested in marketing. Gladwell defines a tipping point as “the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point.” He goes on to provide examples and discuss exactly how he believes things “tip” and who can influence that event.

Online marketing has another dimension that impacts success – the network effect. In marketing terms, the more people in your network, the more valuable the network becomes. Larger networks provide more exposure to you and your message. Online marketing has an additional dimension – quality.  The quality of the connections magnifies your network’s impact. But remember, without a sufficient network size, the overall impact of even a high quality will be muted, so you need both size and quality.  It goes without saying that a large, low-quality network will have limited impact also.

How you can accelerate your marketing

Once you understand the impact of networks and the unpredictability of tipping points you “get” the rules of the online marketing game. Success requires you to be strategic in your approach, consistent in your interaction, and persistent in your efforts until you reach your tipping point. Accelerating your arrival at your tipping point requires you learn how to best interact with your network and use the right engagement tactics.

When did your network “tip?”

Photo credit: the bridge