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Craig Barnes on Monday, June 1st, 2009 |
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I often get a quizzical look from prospects and clients when I tell them there is a difference between “generating” leads and “capturing” leads.
What do I mean?
Companies spend money to generate leads, right? ( if you’re in retail substitute customers for the word leads)
Once generated it’s time to maximize return by capturing as much information as possible about that lead. Most important is capturing contact information. With this in hand you can now initiate an organized lead nurturing program. You will likely have to provide something of value in return for that information. It could be a free report, a time sensitive discount offer, etc.
Let’s face it, every lead doesn’t convert immediately. And depending on your particular enterprise, your conversion cycle may be longer than others. You can’t afford to let leads simply evaporate because you couldn’t convert them today.
I’ll talk about the essentials of a lead nurturing program in a future post. Take time to hone your lead capture process and boost your marketing ROI.
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Craig Barnes on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 |
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What is the last thing you said in an ad … an email … a conversation with your prospects that actually got them excited about your business or service? If you can’t remember, it’s time to get to work.
Which of these do you think a prospect is more likely to respond to:
1. Our Services Can Save You Money.
2. Every New Customer Saves At Least 35% When They Use Our Service
Obvious, isn’t it?
Think about it … If you’re spending money to generate business, the surest way to boost your marketing ROI is to make certain that what you say, and how you say it is compelling and offers the prospect every reason to make you their preferred choice. It does not matter if you’re selling software, solutions to combat eye wrinkles, engineering services … the same applies.
I know it sounds simple, but simple is often overlooked.
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Craig Barnes on Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 |
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Have you ever wondered why so many small businesses were successful years ago? The answer is simple. They really knew their customers.
I’m reading a book about Latonia, Kentucky right now. It’s where I grew up. A couple of chapters are devoted to stories and images of small businesses in the town and how they served their customers.
My grandparents owned and operated a jewelry store in Latonia that my great-grandfather started in the 20’s. 
As I read the book I was reminded by the way my grandparents nurtured their customers. They would (mostly my grandmother) would send handwritten notes to those who made purchases thanking them for their patronage. They also sent birthday and anniversary greetings. If they saw an engagement announcement in the paper they would cut it out, laminate and mail it to the bride’s family with a congratulatory note. Railroaders needed to have their watches regulated (I guess at some point trains ran on time) and they would mail reminders so that the engineers and yardmen would all be in sync.
Here’s the lesson from those stories that can help you boost your marketing ROI.
It’s critical to fully leverage the customer relationship to maximize lifetime value. While my grandmother kept a card file of names and addresses, we can utilize data mining and automated delivery systems to stay in front of our customers. And because my grandparents’ customer universe was small, they could get to know those who traded with them personally. Today, we have sophisticated profiling tools today that help us know our customers and enable customizing communications based on those understandings.
Occasionally it’s good to look back to see where you can go.
By
Craig Barnes on Monday, March 9th, 2009 |
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I was in San Francisco for meetings the past few days and one of the city’s growing number of panhandler’s offered up a marketing lesson in cutting through the clutter.
As we were walking to a restaurant on the wharf we encountered no less than eight or nine individuals asking for money. Some had cups they simply held out, some were standing, and others sitting and making a general motion in our direction, suggesting what they wanted.
But one guy had a sign that read: “Why lie. I’m gonna spend it on booze.”
This is not to minimize the struggle of those who find themselves in desperate situations or the issue of alcoholism
But, this particular individual was grabbing the attention of everyone who passed by and his cup was full. Talk about effective direct marketing.
The point is that if you are in a highly competitive, cluttered market, you need to make sure that your message manages to stand out, and as a result you boost your marketing ROI.
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Craig Barnes on Monday, March 2nd, 2009 |
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I subscribe to blogs that offer practical insight and inspiration. As a rule I don’t re-blog about what I’ve read, but there’s exception to every rule. Right?
Today, Seth Godin’s blog about “Looking for Yes” was very insightful and inspirational.
Seth contrasts experiences at the post office and FedEx. It’s about the importance of looking for a “yes.” You know, those encounters where someone tells you “no”, what you want is not possible versus those where you hear, “yes”, we can get that done for you.
It made me think about the impact a “yes” can have to boost your marketing ROI. If the common denominator of a customer or prospect interaction is “yes”, it creates incredible leverage for establishing a lasting relationship.
What a mistake it is when employees think of a prospect or customer encounter as an interruption of their work. The customer is the reason for the work.
And as we persevere in this economy, I can’t think of a better way to improve business than finding a way to say, “yes.”
By
Craig Barnes on Thursday, February 19th, 2009 |
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In the high stakes, winner take all game of internet marketing, if you’re not on the first page of Google, it’s game over.
These marketers go to great lengths, using all types of tools to put themselves in that coveted first position. It’s worth about 40% of the clicks from the prospective searchers.
Let’s assume you have a brick and mortar business. Can you imagine if 40% of the traffic driving past your store were to stop and come in. What would that mean to your business?
You want your prospective customers to find you, right? Why not take the time and resources to ensure that they can do so. Managing your Web site’s effectiveness is an excellent objective if you want to boost your marketing ROI.
Search engine optimization is certainly the first step. But there are many more legitimate tools you can and should use to get your site on Google’s first page. Google makes it easy to follow their guidelines.
Even if you are in a crowded space like weight loss or eye skin care or lasik surgery, you can separate yourself from the competition and make it easy for your prospective customers to find you.
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Craig Barnes on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 |
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So the groundhog says there will be six more weeks of winter. But, six more weeks of winter may mean something entirely different to someone in Waterville, Maine than it does to a guy in San Diego.
And that’s the lesson on this first Monday of February.
A predictive model is not “one size fits all.” You have to understand your audience.
To the person in Maine who has been buried under five feet of snow since November, winter won’t be anywhere near over in six weeks. In San Diego, it will probably be just another 74 degree day accented by a nice soft breeze.
Beware of marketing using broad assumptions. Segmenting your customers and prospects into specific categories and then applying that understanding to your marketing efforts will boost marketing ROI.
And, today’s economic reality mandates that companies get maximum return out of every marketing dollar.
Now’s the time to market aggressively with a intelligence-driven campaigns that resonate appropriately with the target.
Remember, you have to power to create your own marketing forecast!
By
Craig Barnes on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 |
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My wife was complaining last night about the dentist our two college age kids see. She was upset that the dentist’s schedule has little room and flexibility during the college holiday break schedule. The dentist happens to be a friend of ours, so I called him with a “customer relationship” suggestion.
I asked him if he wanted to, was it reasonably easy to access his database and produce a list of all of his college age patients. He said, “sure, why?’ I relayed the perception my wife has about the scheduling issues.
I suggested that he might want to think about sending out an email in October to those parents of his college age patients and informing them of special holiday break appointments he has reserved for those who will be in town during that time.
I told him I thought it would accomplish several things:
1. Using your data to communicate with customers about a specific idea or proposition is always a good idea and strengthens the relationship.
2. By letting parents know that you have special times for their kids set aside during the holiday period signals that you care about their needs and helps distinguish your level of service/brand from others.
3. Regardless if they avail themselves of the offer, it creates good “word-of-mouth” and nothing increases marketing ROI like WOM!
All of us have an opportunity to leverage our customer data and transform it into actionable efforts that will boost marketing ROI.
As for the dentist, he liked the idea and said he looked forward to thanking me in person at my next visit. Uh,oh.
By
Craig Barnes on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 |
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Can you boost your marketing ROI in 2009? Sure you can. Here’s nine ideas you can put into motion today.
1. If you are like most, the 80/20 rule applies in your business. Segment you customer data and identify those producing the most revenue. Send them a personal note thanking them for their loyalty.
2. Stop marketing to the dead leads on your list. Replace them with leads that better match your best customer profile.
3. Don’t have a best customer profile? Mine your data and develop one.
4. Demand that every marketing dollar spent in 2009 will be measured.
5. Provide information to your prospects and customers that will help them impact their business.
6. Create a digital dialogue with your customers. Notice I said “dialogue.” Ask for feedback.
7. Find ways to add value to the product or service that you market.
8. Actively reengage warm leads.
9. Smile when you talk. Even if you’re on the phone. It works.
There’s no reason to believe that 2009 is going to be any easier than 2008. And, this makes it a perfect time to dedicate yourself and your team to doing everything you can to ensure dollars are deployed strategically and everything has a metric attached to it.
By
Craig Barnes on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 |
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OK, I’ve had it. In almost every conversation I have these days, someone has to do the “woe is us” speech. Instead of “woe”, I say, WHOA.
Let’s stop talking right now about what’s wrong and focus on what we can do that’s not only right, but likely profitable.
There has never been a better time for companies to commit to building market share through intelligence-driven marketing. Taking the time to understand customers and prospects will yield sustainable growth. But, it requires action.
Engage your customers and your prospects in a digital dialogue. Invite them to share their perspective and then tailor your message to their needs. Create a “drip” stream of communications that highlight your solutions, approach or products that will enhance their efforts.
Develop a bond based on shared knowledge and commitment to delivering exceptional value. Even if they aren’t buying now, they will again sometime. And, it might as well be from you.
If you don’t have a segmented database with full customer profiles you can still engage your marketplace. There are plenty of tools available to create a robust digital dialogue. Better yet, find a marketing group eager to help you build share through on-target, systematic communication.
For every minute I hear someone focused on what’s wrong, I’m going to spend five working as hard as I can to be a valued resource and boost marketing ROI for our business partners.
